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General Chat => Film & TV => Topic started by: SmallBlueThing on 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM
Because we don't have a thread along these lines- or if we do, it's buried very deeply and no one uses it.

Over the last few days ive been watching the two movies based on arthur c clarke's 'space odyssey' novels. Although that's not entirely true, bearing in mind the complicated process that led to clarke's novel and kubrick's film, but for now i'll treat 2001 as an adaptation of the book, and not treat the book as a novelisation.

2001 is just astonishing. Completely linear, lacking in any confusing subtext, and so blatant that its reputation as a 'difficult, unknowable' film can surely only come from the audience's disbelief that what is on screen is actually what you're getting. But my grud, it's beautiful in its simplicity. Long, slow sequences, accompanied by perfectly judged classical music, that just ramps up the feeling of 'otherness'. I found the movie deeply moving, and very frightening- the implications of the monolith as the movie's scientific 'god substitute' as effective to this atheist as the omen's devil child, or the exorcist's possession. The film's been discussed to death, but it needs restating just how much of 2001 was borrowed by later scifi. From dr who's slitscan title sequence, to discovery's engine parts being later mirrored in the tech of star wars. It even has the line 'i have a bad feeling about this...'. I must also sing the praises of the ape makeups at the start- i know they are men in suits, but even i was questioning that at times.
Loved it beyond words, and even the much-discussed differences between it and clarke's book (which have implications should the later novels be adapted) didnt bug me. Utterly wonderful.

2010, on the other hand, not so much. Aside from the cosmetic similarities with kubrick's film, this seemed much closer to the source, and as a result made the unfathomably strange quite pedestrian. Great cast (sheider, mirren, lithgow), cant raise this above being just another scifi movie. Richard edlund again demonstrates he's a (admittedly competent) 2nd string
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 February, 2011, 12:46:53 PM
(Phoned reached its capacity there) effects artist. The visuals are good, but dull.
The main issue here are the small changes from the novel that undermine it. The world war three subplot needs bowman to appear, in orbit, as the star child and blow up the orbiting weapons platform- here he has no influence until the end. The russians are movie-russkies, all potato faces and beards and sultry females, gruff and distrusting of americans, whereas the novel paints them as human. The chinese subplot, so important later in is missing, and as a result, the entitety of the europa sequences are fudged. It all comes together, just, but to no real end. The only reaction is 'so what?'.

Does anyone know if 2061 and 3001 have ever been optioned, or developed?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 04 February, 2011, 01:02:20 PM
Last film I watched was The King's Speech. I don't get out much. Most of the other audience members were over 50 and about a third were over 60. I was offended by the advertising reel, which contained two cars ads and holiday ads that suggested I might like to visit Italy or South Africa. It was almost as if they were expecting that the audience for this film in particular must have money for things more expensive than mobile telephones, vodka, razor blades and antiperspirant.

The promo film for holidaying in South Africa was interesting because although it looked like an expensive do, it didn't look like an advert aimed at old people. It was all kayaking, 18-30 barbecues and bicicle tours of Soweto with other young, white trust fund adventurers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the shutdown man on 04 February, 2011, 01:08:49 PM
Watched I Love You Phillip Morris last night. Still one of the funniest films of recent times.

Before that, I finally got around to watching Seven Samurai for the first time. I was not disappointed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 04 February, 2011, 01:17:39 PM
Watched 'The Reef' last night. Was ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2011, 01:30:44 PM
Watched Carnal Knowledge (1971) last night with Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel. Quite a poignant drama of two men who can't or refuse to form lasting relationships with women that aren't just about sex. A very confident and measured film, the type of which you rarely see these days about such a subject without going into actor histrionics of some sort. Also confirms to me Nicholson was the best on-screen actor in the 70's. He had quite a range of different performances unlike his often more touted peers. His best work was done back then:

Five Easy Pieces

Carnal Knowledge

The King of Marvin Gardens

The Last Detail

Chinatown

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest



Six brilliant yet different and unique performances in the space of five years. After the Shining I think the personality of Jack took over and he became a bit of a parody.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2011, 01:41:57 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM
I must also sing the praises of the ape makeups at the start- i know they are men in suits, but even i was questioning that at times.


There is the oft repeated story of how in the same year, Planet of the Apes (1968) was given a Special Honorary Oscar for John Chambers' outstanding, convincing makeup (there was no Best Makeup category until 1981) - the Academy members presumably didn't realize the superior, too-believable makeup in the opening scenes of 2001 that included both human actors with life-like masks and infant chimpanzees.


We can ramble about the greatness and ingenuity of 2001 for days but I have to say it's still the most ambitious film in both ideas and execution Seeing it one Saturday afternoon on BBC 2 in the mid 80's, around the age of 12, it's the film that got me interested in how films are made and in Kubrick and what having a style meant. That one cut between the falling bone to the satellite- between that cut lies the evolution of mankind, the ability to dream and the ingenuity to reshape the environment from those dreams, a sequence of one cut; that a huge and powerful idea could be encapsulated in a single edit made me become an editor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 04 February, 2011, 01:54:42 PM
I watched "I Saw the Devil" the other night. It reminded me of a poor mans "Oldboy".


At 2.5 hrs its half an hour too long but overall was alright. Some really strange and pervy up skirt shots mind, I don't know if that's a recommendation or not?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 04 February, 2011, 01:56:57 PM
I finally got round to seeing Toy Story 3 recently and was very pleased to find it really is as good as everyone had told me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 04 February, 2011, 02:00:22 PM
i believe my last movie was Nude Nuns with Big Guns, um title says it all really it did not dissapoint on the Nude Nuns however I expected the guns to be bigger.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 February, 2011, 04:12:40 PM
In Bruges.  I've seen it before on the telly and loved it so when I saw it going for £4 at HMV I couldn't resist picking it up.

A brilliant film. The shots of Bruges alone are lovely (I've actually been there and it really is pleasant. I never entirely bought the main character's referece to it as a 'sh$t hole', but then again I guess that's part of the joke.)

I think I enjoyed this second viewing as much as the first. A mark of a good film in that it can take you to the extremes of emotion, laugh out loud hilarious at one point, heart breaking the next. A great film.

The film I watched before that (which I also picked up in that visit to HMV) was Let the Right One In.
Another great film. I'm not usually keen on romances, but this was actually very sweet... yet dark too. Curious how a story can be both dark yet strangely innocent as well. And of course, it's a vampire film, but don't let Twilight et al put you off. (To be fair I haven't seen all the Twilight films, and for all I know I might like them. I like other films people despise. Considering the subject matter of teen romance, though, I doubt it.)

I found the bit at the end  (don't click unless you don't mind it spoiled)[spoiler]in the swimming pool very amusing, a bit of an air punching moment. I also felt a bit guilty, aware I probably shouldn't be feeling that way considering what is actually being depicted. Everyone likes to see bullies get their comeuppance but.... well. That was a tad extreme wasn't it? So why was I chuckling?[/spoiler]

I watched the film a second time with the director and writer commentary. [spoiler]It wasn't until I heard this that I got the second implication of Eli's statement "I'm not a girl." I took it to be a reference to the fact that
a) she's a vampire and
b) actually rather old.

It's not stated how old in the film but according to the book (which I haven't read) she is around 200! It can certainly be interpreted that way but Lidquist's second explanation was slightly shocking. It fits with the whole theme of the kid's romantic relationship being rather innocent (well to a point), asexual and pure.

I think I prefer the fact that this aspect of Eli's identity is left ambiguous in the film though rather than being spelt out clearly as it is in the book though.  It leaves it subject to interpretation, and I see her as a girl, albeit a rather strange dangerous one.[/spoiler]

Oh, and the CGI cat attack bit was funny.

For a film which actually has a very basic plot and story, it is very layered.

My box set of Knowing, District 9 and Moon arrived a couple of days back. I've yet to watch them, but if the last two are as good as I've read online, I've been spoilt for good films lately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 04 February, 2011, 04:25:03 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2011, 01:41:57 PM

We can ramble about the greatness and ingenuity of 2001 for days but I have to say it's still the most ambitious film in both ideas and execution Seeing it one Saturday afternoon on BBC 2 in the mid 80's, around the age of 12, it's the film that got me interested in how films are made and in Kubrick and what having a style meant. That one cut between the falling bone to the satellite- between that cut lies the evolution of mankind, the ability to dream and the ingenuity to reshape the environment from those dreams, a sequence of one cut; that a huge and powerful idea could be encapsulated in a single edit made me become an editor.

2001 is incredible. I was thinking of Kubrick and editing recently when I was watching the Shining. One of my favorite scenes is where Jack begins to interact with the hotel. Him walking into the empty ballroom sitting at the bar and just talking in what you first think is him goofing off or mildly losing it. And the camera changes position and there's the bartender. No CGI will match the magic of that cut for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2011, 04:37:03 PM
I have always found 2010 a more satisfying movie experience than 2001, which I get the impression you're supposed to like so's to not be thought of as a pleb who didn't do film studies in college.  Yes it's great as a bit of film-making, but it's cold, soulless and bleak, with 2010 condescending to its audience by trying to make you care about what happens to its characters.  The bit with the monoliths swallowing Jupiter shit me up when I was a nipper, and as an adult I found the Cold War trappings to actually lend the film a kind of alternate-reality whimsy it didn't have at the time.  Not sure where SBT's getting 'sultry Russkies' from, either, as apart from a female crewmember who shows up scared shitless at one point and then pretty much sticks to the background for the rest of the film, there's only Helen Mirren and she seems more of a stereotypically pragmatic Soviet officer (a traditionally male role) who's well aware of the one thing most people tend to overlook about the Cold War - that the Soviets were simply the other superpower and not actually our enemies.

The most recent films I can recall seeing are Tangled, Never let Me Go and Masters of the Universe.  Never Let Me Go looks great, but (and I shan't spoil the specifics of the story for anyone who hasn't seen it as it's worth a gander) asks too much of its audience in letting a lot of obvious and important questions go unanswered, not least "what does Joe Bloggs make of that situation?" in a world where it's 2011 and people still don't approve of genetically modified food.  These are called 'wallbangers' in the trade, and usually denote some sticking-point in logic so huge it spoils the rest of the story, and the abandonment of logic for emotional manipulation falls rather flat for me when the rest of the film is so devoid of warmth or anything approaching personality in the main characters.  For others this might not be an issue.
Masters is a great bit of camp, though admittedly little to do with the originating franchise.  It stars Tom Paris from Star Trek Voyager, one of the annoying ones from Friends, one of the Universal Soldiers, Bruce Willis' wife from Last Boy Scout, the principal of Marty McFly's school in Back to the Future, her with the wonky eyes from They Live, and Frank Langella doing the impossible by playing Skeletor both too campy and yet somehow not campy enough at the same time.  It's a dumb as fuck film, but really hard to dislike given its main failings aren't so much the story as instances of ambition outstretching the film's effects budget and the cast's abilities as thespians.  Innocent fun, though, and not nearly as homoerotic as you might secretly hope expect.
Tangled is a good movie, but very, very firmly aimed at young girls as a collective marketing demographic.  Some spectacular use of 3D here and there help it, but you get the impression that the script isn't quite filling in the holes you expect it to, with the lead couple not entirely convincing and the male lead not showing anything to support his later heel/face turn beyond that being what you expect of the film at that point.

I'd mention The American, too, but I nodded off a couple times during it and probably missed if I was right about [spoiler]that serial killer in the background being Clooney's character[/spoiler], but I nodded off during it and felt that worth mentioning.  Seemed alright, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 February, 2011, 04:46:35 PM
Re sultry ruskies, well, you have two women on board- one of whom is mirren, looking her mid eighties best, and the other is young and pleasantly angelina jolie-esque. The rest are male, with big beards and heavy, workers' features. Except one, who has no beard but a face that is probably described in the actor's who's who as 'slablike'. The russian ship is grim and industrial, more nostromo than discovery, their worksuits are utilitarian, it's set against escalating coldwar tensions, and they get ordered to split up and go back to their ships by their respective governments- none of which is in the novel. I can see why hyams did it, but to my mind it twists a nice point clarke  was making, about the distance between 'now' and 'the future' and science and then-current politics, and turns it into a mid eighties cold war drama.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2011, 04:59:26 PM
You just wanted to bang mid-1980s Mirren, you dirty boy.  No shame in that.

QuoteThe russian ship is grim and industrial, more nostromo than discovery, their worksuits are utilitarian, it's set against escalating coldwar tensions

I'd put this down to the different production aesthetics of the mid-80s that came about after Star Wars and its low-budget knock-offs rather than a deliberate attempt to portray Soviet tech as visually oppressive -you'll note how other tech like Scheider's suitcase-sized laptop and medical equipment during Bowman's Earth visit look less organic than Discovery's interior, or the original movie's space station.  Cold War tensions are also a mid-80s thing, but Clarke's humanist themes remain even there, as the two crews deliberately discard politics based on nothing but trust, while the actual politicking is never portrayed in a positive light at any point.

As for potential sequels, I'm pretty sure Tom Hanks optioned 3001 as a potential movie, but don't know what became of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 February, 2011, 05:01:21 PM
Speaking of Clooney, I rewatched Up in the Air last week - and enjoyed it just as much as the first time.

A gorgeous looking film that is funny, has a superb cast (nice appearances by first rate comic actors such as Danny McBride, Zach Galifianakis and Jason Bateman), well acted and overall is slick and entertaining to watch. If you don't like Clooney it probably won't win you over, but it's undoubtedly a role he is perfect for.

Despite the cover making it look like a sappy rom-com, the overall tone is genuinely bleak, with some hugely uncomfortable sequences. And just when it looks as if [spoiler]we're going to get a nice, happy, Hollywood ending, the film punches you right in the gut with a final twist (admittedly I did guess the twist on first viewing, but only did so shortly before the reveal).[/spoiler]

Also rewatched Adventureland - a film I actually enjoyed more the second time round - I first watched it nursing a same-day hangover so had forgotten loads of things about it. A superior teen movie on the surface, but it's natural audience is probably a fair bit older than that - probably explains why it didn't do too well. While it's a very funny film the humour isn't quite what you'd expect from the director of Superbad - quite understated in comparison. I thought Ryan Reynold's character was especially well-observed - he certainly reminds me of people I have encountered in my life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 February, 2011, 05:33:47 PM

My last was 'The Supergrass' from 1985 which was the big screen debut of the Comic Strip cast and quite enjoyable too despite a few too many coincidencesused to drive the plot along.

I'd also recommend 'Gentlemen Broncos' by the writer/director of 'Napoleon Dynamite' which sees a young sci-fi writer getting his story nicked by an established cheezy hack straight from the Garth Merenghi school.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 04 February, 2011, 05:43:42 PM
Last film I watched must have been a French horror film from 1980 called 'Night of Death!': at times a rather black comedy, at other times a wonderfully atmospheric piece, set in a cannibalistic nursing home for some very creepy geriatrics. Very enjoyable, with a few welcome but not wholly unpredictable twists, and some genuinely unnerving sections as the residents stalk the corridors en-masse.

Oh, and an Italian 70s zombie comedy called 'Io Zombo, Tu Zombi, Lei Zomba'. In Italian. With no subtitles. And I can't speak Italian. (It was pretty inexpensive and I've seen virtually every other 70s / 80s Italian zombie movie, so I felt compelled to seek this obscurity out.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Strontium Claw on 04 February, 2011, 05:47:12 PM
I watched Inception for the first time the other day and found it to be pretty disappointing. It's very well directed and has some amazing sequences, but it's let down by the screenplay which has two significant weaknesses:

1. It has no story. None whatsoever. The plot is very straight forward and nowhere near as intelligent as it purports to be.

2. The characters were poorly developed so I didn't care what happened to them, a  particular problem given the dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream scenario which  means there's no sense of threat or danger.

Tom Hardy was the best thing in it but he still wasn't given much to do. I really wanted to like it, but it just seemed cold, clinical and efficient.


Just to add:

2001 is a masterpiece, it instills a sense of wonder and awe about creation and the universe like no other movie,
I pity anyone who says they find it boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2011, 05:51:33 PM
Quote from: Strontium Claw on 04 February, 2011, 05:47:12 PM
I watched Inception for the first time the other day and found it to be pretty disappointing. It's very well directed and has some amazing sequences, but it's let down by the screenplay which has two significant weaknesses:

1. It has no story. None whatsoever. The plot is very straight forward and nowhere near as intelligent as it purports to be.

2. The characters were poorly developed so I didn't care what happened to them, a  particular problem given the dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream scenario which  means there's no sense of threat or danger.


I disagree with those points and ther relevance to the value of the film but I do not like the Bondesque snow scene which is just a silly indulgence much like the game theory boat rubbish at the end of Dark Night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2011, 06:51:12 PM
Regarding the differences between 2001/2010 and the books, I made the mistake of only reading 3001, and being a bit confused. Only really have myself to blame for that I guess.

Last movie I watched was a rewatch of Grindhouse on blu-ray. I always find it interesting that people find Death Proof too slow and talky, because watched in the proper format (and granted, with a shorter cut of both films) I think it works brilliantly. Planet Terror is so energetic that by the time it ends it's been a bit exhausting really, and I find the contrast of DP really welcome. In fact I'd go so far as to say that PT loses a lot of the fun on subsequent watches but DP I think I could watch over and over again and still love. Also, there's the fact that the women are incredible and the car chase is probably the most excited I've been by cars going fast.

As a kid I thought car chases were exhilarating, but Hollywood can't seem to do it right these days. Maybe it's all the CG that goes around these days, those kind of scenes feel very sterile and empty these days. Not so with DP though. The fake trailers aren't quite as funny at home as in the cinema, but Thanksgiving is still the best thing Eli Roth has ever put his name to by a mile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 04 February, 2011, 08:01:17 PM
Last one watched was Hellraiser: Inferno. Not bad, considering it was the first one Clive Barker didn't have a hand in. And nice to see the Pinhead story crossing over into a completely different kind of genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2011, 08:25:03 PM
Quote from: strontium_dog_90 on 04 February, 2011, 08:01:17 PM
Last one watched was Hellraiser: Inferno. Not bad, considering it was the first one Clive Barker didn't have a hand in. And nice to see the Pinhead story crossing over into a completely different kind of genre.

I recall enjoying that one too, it was a nice change of pace after 3&4 I thought. Much better than I expected. Haven't ever got around to the later films (don't think they ever got a UK release) so Inferno was as far as I got.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 04 February, 2011, 09:08:03 PM
The Evil Dead on the Horror channel.

It's clearly plasticine their using for the 'melting effects' at the end but it doesn't matter it's just one of those films like 'An American Werewolf in London' that is a cult movie classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 04 February, 2011, 09:37:42 PM
well the last one was zatoichi but i "taped" carriers the other night which i shall watch with a brew later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 04 February, 2011, 10:36:24 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 04 February, 2011, 09:37:42 PM
well the last one was zatoichi but i "taped" carriers the other night which i shall watch with a brew later.

Which Zatoichi? There's a bunch of those guys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 February, 2011, 10:39:56 PM
THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

Not seen it for nearly twenty years and nearly as good as I remember it. Snappy dialogue, lovely plot and characterisations and that knowing wink to camera of the story within the story all work for me.

Tiny Tips pointed out one of the weaknesses though; the final assault on the castle is too straight (nearly dark) compared to the rest of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 04 February, 2011, 11:29:39 PM
The last movie I watched was Tangled about 3 hours ago (again and again and again etc), at the moment it is Sophie's flavour, The last one was The princess and the frog.
What I can't understand is why they went for Tangled as the title instead of Rapunzel. Considering all the other fairy tale movies were aptly named, i.e. Snow White, Cinerella et-al.
I don't think I will be able to stomach much more as I am not a fan of the Disney mush. It keeps Sophie quiet though.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 04 February, 2011, 11:40:24 PM
The Mechanic. It was OK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: doggettX on 05 February, 2011, 12:26:05 AM
Romeo + Juliet.

If he'd only waited another 30 seconds...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 05 February, 2011, 12:40:24 AM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 February, 2011, 11:29:39 PM
What I can't understand is why they went for Tangled as the title instead of Rapunzel.

Yes, it's stupid. On Radio 4 they said it was because Disney didn't want to restrict the film's appeal to an all-girl market by giving the film a girls' name for a title. It won't work, because even little kids aren't stupid. By opting to jettison the more obvious title, Disney may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 February, 2011, 12:45:52 AM
I enjoyed Tangled. The songs weren't that great but the animation was wel worth looking at and none of the characters were annoying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 05 February, 2011, 01:06:39 AM
Quote from: House of Usher on 05 February, 2011, 12:40:24 AM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 February, 2011, 11:29:39 PM
What I can't understand is why they went for Tangled as the title instead of Rapunzel.

Yes, it's stupid. On Radio 4 they said it was because Disney didn't want to restrict the film's appeal to an all-girl market by giving the film a girls' name for a title. It won't work, because even little kids aren't stupid. By opting to jettison the more obvious title, Disney may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

I can see why. Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid etc all box office poison.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 February, 2011, 05:30:27 AM
District 9
I know I'm late, but I get there in the end.

Great film, and a very original take. Alien Nation had a somewhat similar concept but those spotty heads were more integrated. As an extension of the apartheid premise, this was different.

[spoiler]I'm not clear why a bit of fluid from a ship fuel cell (or maybe it was just some kind of ignition fluid) would alter a human's DNA thought. I think they should have thought that through a bit more. I.e. It could have been something specifically made to do that, i.e an alien plot to make humans like themselves. Alternatively it might have been a defence mechanism but why do that? Wouldn't an electric shock or squirted acid make more sense?[/spoiler]

It didn't spoil the main plot though. I'll admit, I wasn't too sure how it would be when faced with the extensive documentary style, but it ended up working well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2011, 09:47:53 AM
Last night pulled a double bill of Dead Snow and Alien.

Dead Snow is quite good, although it takes a while to start working. During the set-up it's not really that clear what it's going to be, it seems like a fairly straight-faced horror movie (and not a very good one), then about an hour in it settles on being a Braindead-style splatter comedy and pulls that off quite nicely. Some good deaths and a few laughs, not enough for a place in cult classic valhalla, but a fun and forgettable way to spend an evening.

And then to Alien. First time in HD for me, and it looks and sounds better than ever. The main thing that struck me this time round was that I must have seen this movie at least a dozen times (probably more like twice that) and even with that familiarity and in knowing exactly what's going to happen, I was still completely lost in it and on the edge of my seat. The tension is incredible, and it's amazing that even with it's age and that familiarity that it all (thoe Nostromo corridors, Tom Skerrits scene in the ducts, Ripley's incredible pants etc) still has the same effect on me, and while I'm not quite eagle eyed enough to spot what's been removed from this cut it does seem to roll along a lot better than the theatrical version. An astonishing movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Strontium Claw on 05 February, 2011, 09:50:27 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2011, 05:51:33 PM
Quote from: Strontium Claw on 04 February, 2011, 05:47:12 PM
I watched Inception for the first time the other day and found it to be pretty disappointing. It's very well directed and has some amazing sequences, but it's let down by the screenplay which has two significant weaknesses:

1. It has no story. None whatsoever. The plot is very straight forward and nowhere near as intelligent as it purports to be.

2. The characters were poorly developed so I didn't care what happened to them, a  particular problem given the dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream scenario which  means there's no sense of threat or danger.


I disagree with those points and ther relevance to the value of the film but I do not like the Bondesque snow scene which is just a silly indulgence much like the game theory boat rubbish at the end of Dark Night.

The points I made are entirely relevant to my enjoyment of the film. As ever, your mileage my vary.  ;)

The snow sequence was silly, however it's one of the few moments where the film allowed itself to have some fun, I half-expected Roger Moore to show up and raise a quizzical eyebrow at the proceedings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 05 February, 2011, 10:36:56 AM
I watched The Road last night, and really enjoyed it in a gloomy depressing kind of way. One of the few films in recent times that has lived up to my expectations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 February, 2011, 11:12:18 AM
Is it just me that gets a bid fed up of people saying Inception "isn't as clever as it thinks it is"?

It's a big summer blockbuster effects movie, and comparing it to the likes of Transformers, yeah, it is pretty clever.

It's hardly purporting to be a deeply cerebral work of high art - it's a sci-fi action movie that gives you a little to think about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 05 February, 2011, 12:05:53 PM
I watched a vampire flick on beeb1 last night. Perfect Creature? Something creature...it started off visually, better than most recent vampire flicks. The Australian address and the steampunk setting were ultra-cool to begin with. The story dips a little bit with dismissal of the brotherhood material in its artillery, focussing more on the mad brother. Some unusual ideas though. And it wasn't that disappointing with its prophetic ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 05 February, 2011, 02:04:04 PM
I finally got around to watching Predators last night and although it was better than the recent AVP movies, it was still a bit meh. Very formulaic stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 05 February, 2011, 03:43:46 PM
Yeah, Predators was a real let-down. I don't know why I keep going to see Robert Rodriguez movies. On paper they sound like exactly the sort of films I want to see, but when I see the finished product...

I did sort of enjoy Machete, but it could have been a lot better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 05 February, 2011, 03:47:13 PM
Quote from: Jared Katooie on 05 February, 2011, 03:43:46 PM
Yeah, Predators was a real let-down. I don't know why I keep going to see Robert Rodriguez movies. On paper they sound like exactly the sort of films I want to see, but when I see the finished product...

I did sort of enjoy Machete, but it could have been a lot better.

I thought Planet Terror was a work of genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 05 February, 2011, 03:49:17 PM
I watched Salt followed by The Green Hornet in the wee hours this morning, mainly due to boredom.
Salt was an enjoyable action flick with some excellent action sequences, even if it was just a wee bit far fetched. On the other hand I found that The Green Bee Hornet was very of it's kind and the only thing that saved it was the Kato fight sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 05 February, 2011, 03:57:50 PM
Quote from: Ignatzmonster on 04 February, 2011, 10:36:24 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 04 February, 2011, 09:37:42 PM
well the last one was zatoichi but i "taped" carriers the other night which i shall watch with a brew later.

Which Zatoichi? There's a bunch of those guys.

the one with the tap dancing routine at the end.

we just got back from "tangled" brilliant stuff. fave character had to be te old man in the snuggly duckling


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2011, 04:20:51 PM
Just back from TANGLED myself.  A well above average effort with some great songs (Mother Knows Best and I Have A Dream), a believably spunky heroine, lovely use of light and colour (OK, the hero is actually orange and teal), a brilliantly evil witch who isn't an evil witch at all (and more than a little foxy) and great animal sidekicks.

They should have kept one of the three standout sequences (Flynn's first encounter with Maximus, the birthday dancing and the sky lanterns) till the end though.

And Tiny Tips points out that the hero, like Aladdin, starts off as a thief. So all of you gangster movie naysayers will hate it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2011, 05:50:02 PM
Just gave Aliens and Alien 3 a watch there (still working through the new boxset. Oddly 3 seems to have dated the most effects-wise. I seem to remember even at the time thinking the Matte-lines(is that what they are) around the puppet work and the animated debris blowing around in the outdoor scenes looked a bit ropey, as does [spoiler]Ripley's act of sideywise[/spoiler]. Other than that I still like 3 a lot, effects aside it looks pretty gorgeous. I always find the scene at the end [spoiler]where Henrikson's ear is hanging off a bit distracting and needless. I get that he needs to get an injury so you can see him bleed to prove he's not an android, but the fact that it looks so over the top makes it seem a bit fake, and has even had the opposite effect on some people I know (who think the ear hanging off is confirmation he's a droid).[/spoiler] Would still like that Anderson fella to explain to me how Henrikson can be in AvP playing the same character.

Aliens rocked as always. I'm fully aware that Alien is the better movie (and watching the 2 so close together makes that even clearer) but I saw Aliens first as a kid and the style of it just seemed to have a profound effect on my young mind which has never worn off. I like space marines, what can I say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: spireite68 on 05 February, 2011, 05:56:19 PM
Watched the first 3 Die Hard movies over the course of last week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 05 February, 2011, 06:17:21 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2011, 05:50:02 PM
Would still like that Anderson fella to explain to me how Henrikson can be in AvP playing the same character.


I always thought it was one of his ancestors in AvP, although haven't watched it in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 05 February, 2011, 06:37:56 PM
silent bob and pascal the chameleon seperated at birth?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 February, 2011, 06:55:51 PM
Amelie. Hadn't seen it before. It's a gloriously beautiful movie, but I fear Jim may not like the colour scheme...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 05 February, 2011, 07:47:58 PM
I think the colour scheme in Amelie is one of the few instances where the choice makes sense. Reminds me of early red/green technicolor films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 05 February, 2011, 09:25:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 February, 2011, 06:55:51 PM
Amelie. Hadn't seen it before. It's a gloriously beautiful movie, but I fear Jim may not like the colour scheme...

If you think that's pretty, get a copy of 'A very long engagement' by the same bunch..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 February, 2011, 10:16:05 PM
Quote from: chris_askham on 05 February, 2011, 06:17:21 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2011, 05:50:02 PM
Would still like that Anderson fella to explain to me how Henrikson can be in AvP playing the same character.


I always thought it was one of his ancestors in AvP, although haven't watched it in a long time.

Yeah, it's definitely not exactly the same character. If the Bishop 2 of Alien 3 actually is human then Weyland is an ancestor. On the other hand, if Bishop 2 is another kind of android made to look even more human than his predecessors* (hence the red blood) then he is just another android based on the original template, Weyland. (Or a descendant.) Either way it works.

*In an interview concerning AvP Lance Henriksen seemed to subscirbe. Of course this raises the question as to why Call, an more advanced android from Alien Resurrection still has the snot-like blood. One explanation is simply that Bishop 2 was specifically designed or altered to fool Ripley. I.e. he is meant to be mistaken for human. The other android (whatever their model) weren't really, although they can pass for it as long as they don't bleed.

I'm not convinced of this though, but I thought it interesting in the scene shortly after Bishop 2 is hit. He states "I'm human!" then follows quietly with "I am!" almost as if he is trying to convince himself. In which case, maybe he was actually originally programmed to think he was human to complete the deception, and his hanging ear has cast doubts has made him question himself. Of course it could just be interpreted as a further appeal to Ripley though. It could go either way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 February, 2011, 10:55:33 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 05 February, 2011, 09:25:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 February, 2011, 06:55:51 PM
Amelie. Hadn't seen it before. It's a gloriously beautiful movie, but I fear Jim may not like the colour scheme...

If you think that's pretty, get a copy of 'A very long engagement' by the same bunch..

Yeah someone else has recommended that one too- we've already ordered it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2011, 11:03:16 PM
Silver Hawk is good fun.  It's a straight-up superhero flick where a wealthy model moonlights as a globe-trotting masked superhero and you can tell within the first five minutes if the rest of the film is for you as the first thing she does is jump the Great Wall of China on a motorcycle, then has a kung-fu fight on top of a moving truck that's absconding with a kidnapped baby panda in the back.  There's plenty of slapstick, great fight scenes, and a decent hammy turn from Luke Goss as the bionic-armed supervillain of the piece.  It's rare to see straight superhero stuff from Hong Kong as it's usually some form of emulation of Kato from Green Hornet (Black Mask) or part of an ensemble piece (Wonder Woman in Heroic Trio), but here it's exactly what you'd expect a superhero to be, with the whole enterprise shot in English for some reason, though it's clearly not some of the cast's first or second language.

Luke Goss also appears in Death Race 2 (sequel to the James Statham-starring remake of Death Race 2000), which is also a bit of a hoot to the point that you can overlook the troubling treatment of women as objects (not sex objects, mind - actual objects that come as accessories with a car) as given how the rest of it's played, you can put it down to piss-taking of the genre and to a certain extent the audience rather than some kind of insight into the screenwriter's divorce proceedings.  It's at least as good as the Statham outing, but there's a bit near the end [spoiler]where the main character is burned alive[/spoiler] that reminds you this is a prequel and which is a bit audacious in how it leaves the story and characters in limbo rather than giving the DTDVD audience their expected payoff for a night of pizza, beer and DVDing.  Still good for a laugh, and I think I actually prefer it over the original - though I grant you for some this is no recommendation at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 February, 2011, 11:32:54 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 February, 2011, 11:03:16 PM
the James Statham-starring remake of Death Race 2000

I genuinely can find no logical reason for why I watched this movie, but it sets out its stall early on, and proceeds to deliver exactly what it says on the tin. Accepting that, I found it ludicrously entertaining.

Most recently watched film was Up. I'd seen it before, but decided it was time to have my regular incomprehensible-Pixar-argument with my wife, whereby she decides (despite having enjoyed every Pixar movie we've watched thus far) someone she knows says something that "puts her off" the current offering. I then have to basically force her to watch the film and she enjoys it and has to admit she was wrong.

Up: no exception. Quite brilliant. I can't imagine a film from another studio encapsulating Carl and Ellie's absolute heartbreak with such economy and restraint and then go on to give us the joyful exuberance of Doug; the plaintive charm of Kevin. Quite, quite brilliant.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SquashedFly on 06 February, 2011, 12:50:23 AM
Inception for me as well.

During the first 20 minutes or so I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy it that much,but it gradually pulled me in as it went on. The action scenes didn't do much for me, but same can be said of most modern films. It was good overall though.

I did see Predators recently as well, it is fine. It lacked alot for me. the Predators seemed incredibly awkward in places and it just wasn't that exciting. The nods to the original were a bit much as well. As I said, it's fine. I haven't seen Predator 2 in a long time but I remember liking it, I think I will give it a watch soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 February, 2011, 04:58:20 AM
Moon.

A very good film! [spoiler]Not the first time this particular subject matter has been dealt with, but the way it's dealt with is still interesting and intriguing. I wouldn't have minded if they'd kept the suspense a bit longer though, i.e. play on the hallucinations the character has at the start, but that's a small criticism, if even that.[/spoiler] The short included on the DVD was interesting too. I could imagine a future shock adaptation of that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 February, 2011, 09:45:04 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 February, 2011, 04:58:20 AM
Moon.

I found myself standing in my local Blockbusters yesterday afternoon, holding in one hand the DVD of Moon and in the other, the BlueRay. One was a fiver, the other a tenner, and I was weighing up which to get. In the end, neither- but I do need to actually get a BlueRay disc to test out the ps3 we've had for nearly a year.

Moon, I really want to see. But I spent my tenner on the BFI Film Classics: 2001 book.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2011, 10:40:35 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 05 February, 2011, 10:16:05 PM
Quote from: chris_askham on 05 February, 2011, 06:17:21 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2011, 05:50:02 PM
Would still like that Anderson fella to explain to me how Henrikson can be in AvP playing the same character.


I always thought it was one of his ancestors in AvP, although haven't watched it in a long time.

Yeah, it's definitely not exactly the same character. If the Bishop 2 of Alien 3 actually is human then Weyland is an ancestor. On the other hand, if Bishop 2 is another kind of android made to look even more human than his predecessors* (hence the red blood) then he is just another android based on the original template, Weyland. (Or a descendant.) Either way it works.

*In an interview concerning AvP Lance Henriksen seemed to subscirbe. Of course this raises the question as to why Call, an more advanced android from Alien Resurrection still has the snot-like blood. One explanation is simply that Bishop 2 was specifically designed or altered to fool Ripley. I.e. he is meant to be mistaken for human. The other android (whatever their model) weren't really, although they can pass for it as long as they don't bleed.

I'm not convinced of this though, but I thought it interesting in the scene shortly after Bishop 2 is hit. He states "I'm human!" then follows quietly with "I am!" almost as if he is trying to convince himself. In which case, maybe he was actually originally programmed to think he was human to complete the deception, and his hanging ear has cast doubts has made him question himself. Of course it could just be interpreted as a further appeal to Ripley though. It could go either way.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, I guess the fact that it can even be interpreted in different ways is a very, very cool thing.

We watched Forgetting Sarah Marshal last night, which I like fair bit (it's a 3 star film for me). It's an amusing and likeable romcom with an amusing and likeable cast, and if you can watch it without falling madly in love with Mila Kunis then you're a stronger man than I.

I'd seen it once before in the cinema, but the projectionist had botched it so that you could still see boom mics and equipment moving around (not to mention the 'nude suits' for some scenes) which was really distracting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 February, 2011, 12:15:57 PM
Wasn't too keen on Forgetting Sarah Marshall (though I enjoyed Brand in it), but as a rule I am a sucker for the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd school of comedies. I'd recommend I Love You, Man - very underrated film from a few years back which features a winning performance by FSM's Jason Segel (I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with this Muppets film he's doing atm).

Role Models is also very enjoyable, but avoid Observe and Report like the plague - I could only stand about 30 minutes of that before I turned it off. And don't let anyone tell you that it's "misunderstood" or "edgy" - which is what hoodwinked me into watching it - it's neither, it's just painfully unfunny. Funny People is alright, but very self-indulgent, not funny enough and insanely overlong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2011, 01:04:54 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 February, 2011, 12:15:57 PM
Wasn't too keen on Forgetting Sarah Marshall (though I enjoyed Brand in it), but as a rule I am a sucker for the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd school of comedies. I'd recommend I Love You, Man - very underrated film from a few years back which features a winning performance by FSM's Jason Segel (I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with this Muppets film he's doing atm).

Role Models is also very enjoyable, but avoid Observe and Report like the plague - I could only stand about 30 minutes of that before I turned it off. And don't let anyone tell you that it's "misunderstood" or "edgy" - which is what hoodwinked me into watching it - it's neither, it's just painfully unfunny. Funny People is alright, but very self-indulgent, not funny enough and insanely overlong.

Yeah I don't remember strongly disliking Observe and Report but I did forget it almost instantly. I do like that group of actors though, they work so well together (and I'd imagine improv a lot) so the dialogue always seems really naturally funny. Haven't seen I Love You, Man so will give it a rent. Paul Rudd especially really cracks me up so that sounds like a good shout, thanks for the tip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 February, 2011, 02:11:44 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 February, 2011, 09:45:04 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 February, 2011, 04:58:20 AM
Moon.

I found myself standing in my local Blockbusters yesterday afternoon, holding in one hand the DVD of Moon and in the other, the BlueRay. One was a fiver, the other a tenner, and I was weighing up which to get. In the end, neither- but I do need to actually get a BlueRay disc to test out the ps3 we've had for nearly a year.

Moon, I really want to see. But I spent my tenner on the BFI Film Classics: 2001 book.

SBT

You might have the other films already, but might I suggest this? (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00450AFY2%3FSubscriptionId%3D035HRQETZS3GCGBJ3F82%26tag%3Dfindhotelinth-21%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953)

It's a box-set including Knowing*, District 9 and Moon. I think I actually bought this from Zavvi for a cheaper price during the sale but it's gone up now so Amazon seems cheapest now, (according to this (http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/dvd/Knowing-District-9-Moon/1104474.htm) anyway). I still think that's a good price for three films.

That's if you don't mind going DVD instead of Blu-Ray obviously. I haven't checked to see if there's a blu-ray version of that box-set.

*I've yet to see this one, but the other two are good albeit in different ways.

Oh and appologies for the bad grammar and spelling in that previous post:
QuoteIn an interview concerning AvP Lance Henriksen seemed to subscirbe.

That should of course be:
"In an interview concerning AvP, Lance Henriksen subscribed to this view."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2011, 04:38:04 PM
Star Trek: Nemesis was playing in the gym today (via Film 4), and while I still think it a charmless mess of a film, there are moments it rises to the occasion, such as the remaining officers sharing the bottle of Chateau Picard (probably the last bottle in existence) given to the captain by his now-deceased brother when they toast Data's memory near the end, followed by Picard/Riker bromance underlined with Picard's parting words to B4/the audience about Data that are actually about changing and moving on, then a final shot of the Enterprise not jizzing off into a space-warp as usual but rebuilding and preparing for the future.  Not great, but has its moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 February, 2011, 04:39:19 PM
Megamind.  Took the young'un to a 2D showing this afternoon, he'd been banging on about it for ages but we hadn't been able to swing the time.  Apart from being more than a little reminiscent of Doctor Horrible The Movie (no bad thing), it was pretty good fun, with more than a few very funny set-ups, including Megamind's eventual resolution to his pre-credits predicament, which bordered on genius.  On the whole it totally lacked The Incredibles' well-defined believable characters, but Tina Fey's Lois Lane analogue was surprisingly engaging.   Some of the too-infrequent superhero battles were quite spectacular, which I wasn't expecting, and there was an  endless parade of well-done movie homages from Flash Gordon to Superman I and II, and even (shudder) the 90's Godzilla.  

It also did the whole origin-thing for both 'hero' and 'villain' in the same opening five minutes - superhero reboot movies please take note.  I do wish we'd found out what Megamind's parents had actually said to him as he was being loaded into the rocket though...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 February, 2011, 08:30:21 PM
Saw Juno on Film4 the other night after the cheese and port was finished. I found the character and the film very endearing. However, I do have a very high tolerance for self-consciously hip references and kooky indieness. Plus I was quite drunk at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 06 February, 2011, 10:33:31 PM
Not technically the last film I watched-that accolade goes to The Green Hornet 3D, which was mediocre in the extreme, but I'm looking forward to booting this little bad boy up for my bad movie night-a double bill with Leprechaun in the Hood!

Now after me-Drop that zero and get with the hero!


(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/mubhceeb/512hjkjBoSL.jpg)

A film so shit it's genius!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2011, 11:24:01 PM
Aw, man - Cool As Ice is craptacular!

"When a girl has a heart of stone, there's only one way to melt it - just add Ice!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 06 February, 2011, 11:37:24 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 February, 2011, 11:24:01 PM
Aw, man - Cool As Ice is craptacular!

"When a girl has a heart of stone, there's only one way to melt it - just add Ice!"


Youz knowz it dawwwg!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 07 February, 2011, 04:09:47 AM
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsjgijm2Q1qffh4no1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1297138096&Signature=SlV7dckDVz0k1FGeAq%2BzirI3S5o%3D)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 February, 2011, 09:52:46 AM
Ha, I've still never seen that! I don't think it could live up to the movie in my head.

Girlfriend bought Whip It yesterday so we gave that a watch. I loathe Drew Barrymore but she used my fancying Ellen Page and Zoe Bell to get me to watch it. I knew it wouldn't be too bad as Amy doesn't really do chick flicks, and I found myself enjoying it. It's very girly, and massively predictable but actually quite fun. Barrymore's not even that bad in it, and she seems to have done an alright job with the direction (although the actual roller derby scenes seem really lifeless). A fun but unexceptional 3 star movie for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 February, 2011, 11:37:53 AM
Cool as ice in an art house stylee? Brilliant!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 February, 2011, 11:38:12 AM
My girlfriend likes the chick flicks so as a compromise we ended up watching The Switch the other night. I say compromise because as these things go the cast is actually pretty good - I'm a big fan of Jason Bateman and Jeff Goldblum, and Juliette Lewis is in it too.

To be fair it's a cut above 99% of chick flicks, but if I was to sum up the film in one sentence it would be "phoned in". From the script to the direction to the acting, everything about the film had the air of "Will that do?" about it. Goldblum especially seems half-asleep or drunk in most of his scenes.

It's also got one of the most unintentionally funny endings to a film I've ever seen. The finale happens so suddenly and unexpectedly and makes so little narrative sense I initially thought it was a fantasy sequence. It's like the filmmakers suddenly ran out of money and had to abandon the third act and instead end the movie with a short dialogue scene instead.

She also watched Love Actually while I was working on the computer yesterday. What a strange film that is. It somehow remain watchable because of the sheer amount of talent onscreen (and it is a fantastic cast), but there is a lot wrong with it and it is at it's heart a deeply cynical, manipulative movie.

I noticed yesterday just how many boob-shots there are in it, which seem totally out of place... until I twigged that they have been meticulously put there to pacify the 'blokes' that end up having to watch the movie with their partners. Like I said, cynical.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 February, 2011, 11:48:42 AM
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/mubhceeb/juliette.jpg)



Juliette Lewis is pretty much a good enough reason to watch any movie!
Shame about the scientology thing, but you can't have everything!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 February, 2011, 01:04:16 PM
I watched 'Cool as Ice' the other week.
I like the way he knocks on doors with one single thump and I like the way he says 'let's gee oh' instead of 'let's go'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 07 February, 2011, 04:40:50 PM
Can't quite remember the last movie I watched but I'm thinking it's probably 'The Bishops Wife' on Christmas eve.

Crackin old Christmas film with David Niven and Carry Grant and one of my fave films evah!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 February, 2011, 07:31:40 PM
Tomorrow When The War Began, a Red Dawn rip-off based on the first volume of a series of Aussie young adult novels.  It's not terrible, but does take too long to get going and the pace for the rest of it is stops and starts.  The characters are pretty lightweight, with the only sympathetic one being the generic bible-thumper who considers the consequences of murder and ultimately accepts them by not wallowing in self-pity like the rest do even before they've actually done anything.  The rest are faceless by-the-numbers, not helped by some pretty terrible dialogue that sometimes sounds like the cast are just reading off casting notes or something.  It also ends abruptly.
Nice explosions, though, and the few action scenes have the benefit of being easy to follow rather than simply comprising of shaky camerawork and lens flares.  All in all, you'd need to have run out of anything better to watch to have to resort to this, but it's not that terrible, just banal in its competence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 February, 2011, 07:39:36 PM
Not the last movie i saw, but certainly on my list to see sharpish: Titanic 2. 'On the centennial of the original disaster, a new luxury liner is named titanic 2 and sets out for new york... Into the path OF A TSUNAMI!'

This film will be mine, oh yes. And as it's only £7 on first day of release, it'll be three quid in no time.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 07 February, 2011, 07:41:44 PM
Double bill at the picture house for me today.

The Fighter was better than I thought it would be, but that's mainly down to the performances. Bale is a bit showy at times but I won't baulk if he wins the Oscar. Amy Adams is a real titan of an actor.

Even better IMO was Rabbit Hole. I steeled myself beforehand in case OBositiy prevailed, but this was just a great movie, undercut throughout with torrents of grief that never overwhelm the script's wicked sense of humour. I know a bunch of people don't like Nicole, but she's really tremendous here and I'd like to see her do more villainous roles in future. Also there are a bunch of awesome Dash Shaw illustrations to gawp at which came as a welcome surprise. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 07 February, 2011, 08:25:49 PM
Had a bit of a movie day on Saturday, when I watched:

Dragonwyck (not bad, Vincent Price)

Big (didn't actually watch it all and still never seen it from beginning to end, but still a great movie)

The Man With One Red Shoe (a Tom Hanks comedy wtih Jim Belushi, which I'd never even heard of before - not great, but a few laugh out loud moments)

Jane Eyre (pretty good, nice atmosphere, great performance from Orson Welles, but I expect a lot of the original story was been cut)

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 February, 2011, 09:00:00 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 07 February, 2011, 08:25:49 PM
Had a bit of a movie day on Saturday, when I watched:

Dragonwyck (not bad, Vincent Price)

Watched that as well and rather enjoyed it... some wonderfully florid dialogue, a young Vincent, and a touch of deliciously gothic ambience. Quite agreeable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 07 February, 2011, 09:19:02 PM
How to Train Your Dragon, which I was hugely impressed with. Gotta love those Scottish Vikings  :-\

More recently The Road to Perdition. I know, it's been ages, but never caught it before, great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 February, 2011, 12:31:42 PM
I started watching STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MAURADER on Five last night.  I'm not sure I'll make it to the end...

(and not because they've somehow made Jolene Blalock look hideous)

Somebody please explain to me why I should watch the remaining hour and a half.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: noodles on 08 February, 2011, 08:04:59 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 February, 2011, 12:31:42 PM
I started watching STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MAURADER on Five last night.  I'm not sure I'll make it to the end...

(and not because they've somehow made Jolene Blalock look hideous)

Somebody please explain to me why I should watch the remaining hour and a half.

That was incredible!!! Jolene Blalock looked unshaggable -that was an achievement surpassing any of James Cameron's visual tricks.

The remainder of the 'film' itself was unwatchable -they managed to make anything with Danny Dyer in look good...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mrpepperami on 08 February, 2011, 09:08:21 PM
That women has a great future in front of her. I have kept abreast of her career and even though she has her knockers, I like her front.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 08 February, 2011, 09:14:56 PM
I saw Tangled in the cinema last night. Some good laughs, nice animation, some great characters all marred by horrible, dreadful clichéd 'broadway show-tune' style songs

Oi Disney...there is no need for the songs, even kids don't like them ! just stop
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 09 February, 2011, 10:50:08 PM
What Johnny said. The horse and Cupid were bloody ace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 09 February, 2011, 11:08:11 PM
Quote from: Kerrin on 09 February, 2011, 10:50:08 PM
What Johnny said. The horse and Cupid were bloody ace.
An old stumpy sot in a nappy? What porn are Disney trying to peddle onto our kids.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 February, 2011, 11:09:52 PM



NAZI-PORN
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 09 February, 2011, 11:33:44 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 09 February, 2011, 11:08:11 PM
An old stumpy sot in a nappy? What porn are Disney trying to peddle onto our kids.

The whole scene in the Snuggly Duckling cracked me up.

Maybe I'm just sick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2011, 11:37:40 PM
Apart from the bit he said about the songs.

You don't go see a musical and then complain there were songs in it.

(OK, except me when I went to see WICKED last year.)

But I guess if you are saying it would have stood on it's own without the songs, that's a reasonable point to make but for me, I think they gave it something you don't normally get in cartoons these days; ORIGINAL songs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 10 February, 2011, 01:17:39 AM
I'm watching Matrix: Revolutions at the moment and it's pretty damned good.

This film gets a lot of stick but really... what were you expecting.. it's visually stunning has great action sequences and machines designed by Geof Darow... that pretty much sums up a summer blockbuster popcorn movie in my book.

How anyone can like Avatar and piss on this.. I'll never know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 10 February, 2011, 01:27:07 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 07 February, 2011, 08:25:49 PM

Jane Eyre (pretty good, nice atmosphere, great performance from Orson Welles, but I expect a lot of the original story was been cut)

Regards

Robin

Welles was ripped in that movie! Saw it after I watched Touch of Evil and screamed in shock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: flip-r mk2 on 10 February, 2011, 01:32:32 AM
Hellboy 2 The Golden Army, finally got round to watching it all the way from start to finish without interuptions.



filip
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 10 February, 2011, 02:02:35 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2011, 11:37:40 PM
Apart from the bit he said about the songs.

You don't go see a musical and then complain there were songs in it.

(OK, except me when I went to see WICKED last year.)

But I guess if you are saying it would have stood on it's own without the songs, that's a reasonable point to make but for me, I think they gave it something you don't normally get in cartoons these days; ORIGINAL songs.

I didn't know it was a musical

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 10 February, 2011, 02:48:20 PM
Saw Tombstone for the first time t'other night. I don't normally go much for Westerns, but the impressive cast won me over and I thought I'd give it a go. Pleasantly surprised on all counts, I don't really have a bad word to say about the film. Top entertainment.

Whatever happened to Val Kilmer?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 10 February, 2011, 02:52:50 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 10 February, 2011, 02:48:20 PM
Saw Tombstone for the first time t'other night. I don't normally go much for Westerns, but the impressive cast won me over and I thought I'd give it a go. Pleasantly surprised on all counts, I don't really have a bad word to say about the film. Top entertainment.

Whatever happened to Val Kilmer?

Oddly I saw Tombstone the other night too (Tuesday). Not the first time as I had the good luck to see it in the cinema. We were discussing it could well be Kilmers best performance. As for what happened to him, judging by recent photos, someone has been inflating him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 10 February, 2011, 03:03:06 PM
*quick google image search*

Yikes! You're not wrong.  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Wils on 10 February, 2011, 04:32:11 PM
American Splendor. Low-key brilliance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 10 February, 2011, 07:45:45 PM
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death.

Only vaguely acquainted with Rathbones Holmes (I'm a Brett man myself) but saw a boxset of all the films cheap in HMV and couldn't resist.

'...Faces Death' is not a great film but has a distinct advantage over it's two predescessors in that it is an actual mystery story rather than than slightly ridiculous Holmes Vs Nazi bobbins.

Rathbone is as good as he's cracked up to be and even comedy Watson has failed to piss me off just yet but I'm told he becomes even more of a cartoon as the series develops so that may change.

The commentary tracks on these films, by Holmes/Doyle experts, are a bit dry and are obviously prepared speeches being read verbatim rather than spontaneous observations or even semi-spontaneous with notes. As a newbie to the series they are telling me facinating stuff I don't know but it's just a shame they don't sound as interesting as they actually are, if that makes sense. They're sometimes a little hard to stay focused on.

Will be rationing the rest of the series. As good as some of the films (and Rathbone) are, this isn't really a 'marathon session' boxset.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 February, 2011, 09:10:44 PM
TOMBSTONE.   "I'll be your huckleberyy".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 10 February, 2011, 09:15:14 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 10 February, 2011, 02:52:50 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 10 February, 2011, 02:48:20 PM
Saw Tombstone for the first time t'other night. I don't normally go much for Westerns, but the impressive cast won me over and I thought I'd give it a go. Pleasantly surprised on all counts, I don't really have a bad word to say about the film. Top entertainment.

Whatever happened to Val Kilmer?

Oddly I saw Tombstone the other night too (Tuesday). Not the first time as I had the good luck to see it in the cinema. We were discussing it could well be Kilmers best performance. As for what happened to him, judging by recent photos, someone has been inflating him.

Loved Chubby Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 10 February, 2011, 09:22:04 PM
Top secret was kilmer's best performance..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 10 February, 2011, 09:46:53 PM
Blue Valentine, this evening. Superb. Lovely, and very sad. No cheap sentimentality and manipulation, just truth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 February, 2011, 10:00:41 PM
TOP SECRET is brilliant. much under rated and unseen. so many great gags (and songs)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 February, 2011, 03:39:29 AM
The Lovely Bones.
(There might not be a 'the in the front'.)

Interesting, intriguing enough film, but it felt like it was trying too hard and wasn't as good as it thought it was. I usually gobble up supernatural stuff and (while I don't like to admit it) I can be pretty sentimental but this didn't quite work for me...

To be fair, the acting, characterisation and ideas were good. And I did miss a bit. My friend started washing up during the film, bless her heart, and the sploshy sounds meant I missed some of the dialogue. I don't think I missed anything of note though.

It may well warrant a rewatch though. I just thought they could have done more with the haunting concept and bit less of the grantedly spectacular, abstract flights of fancy stuff.* And made more use out of the psychic girl. Although to be fair, the film might appear a bit of a rip off of that film with Richard Gere and Whoopie Goldberg if they did that. (And it felt slightly weird that the girl looked way younger than her 'not quite boyfriend' although to be fair, at that age, kids mature quite fast and a couple of years can seem a lot.)

I was rather unsatisfied with the ending too. (Don't look if you haven't seen the ending: [spoiler]Did the ghost push him? Or did he just slip? I know she had possessed the psychic girl a bit before, but this bit was unclear to me.[/spoiler])

To be fair, I understand this film is based on a book and maybe all this was true to that story.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 11 February, 2011, 07:46:51 AM
If only someone would write suprnatural like Kurt Vonnegut writes scifi. Then, I would indeed," gobble it up."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 February, 2011, 01:21:04 AM
Saw Never Let Me Go this evening. I think I might've liked it if it the whole experience hadn't been marred by a gaggle of twelve year olds up the back yapping and sniggering through every quiet moment. Of which there are a lot.

I don't think I'd've liked it at their age but, then, I probably wouldn't've gone to see it either.
Quote from: House of Usher on 10 February, 2011, 09:46:53 PM
Blue Valentine, this evening. Superb. Lovely, and very sad. No cheap sentimentality and manipulation, just truth.
Yeah. I saw this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was quite marvellous. Really stayed with me, but also led to some odd conversations with people who seemed determined to see it as one or the other's "fault."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 February, 2011, 01:43:25 AM
Zombieland.

It runs out of steam very quickly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 February, 2011, 09:44:57 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 February, 2011, 01:43:25 AM
Zombieland.

The Social Network - another Jesse Eisenberg effort and a lot better than the above. Compulsive viewing but they come across as such a horrible, greedy lot that your first instinct is to delete your Facebook account.

Justin Timberlake does well as the Napster guy who arrives late in the day to grab a piece, as he's the most repulsive, manipulating weasel you'll see this year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 February, 2011, 10:36:54 AM
District 9- at long last.
Very good indeed, and not at all the movie I expected. Well, I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 February, 2011, 11:32:58 AM
I really liked Zombieland, though I agree that the first half is much better than the second.

Watched a bit of The Social Network recently, but got to admit that it didn't grab me at all - I just didn't find the story that interesting and it seemed too cinematic and stylised to be convincing as a true story.

They can try and make out all they want that the creation of facebook was this world-shaking event, but at the end of the day, facebook wasn't that original - it succeeded because it was like MySpace, but it looked nice so it appealed to adults. I can't help thinking that Zuckerberg, though obviously a smart guy, fluked it somewhat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: noodles on 12 February, 2011, 05:29:49 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 09 February, 2011, 11:09:52 PM



NAZI-PORN

Yeah?

Well take this!(http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/2781/1246364834m_SPLASH.jpg)

and this!
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQsXQOu1NtGBS3_0Cxo2N9_RCid3h5N0nEMPNI6y0lvPzAYzM7Z)

'nuff said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 12 February, 2011, 05:40:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 February, 2011, 10:36:54 AM
District 9- at long last.
Very good indeed, and not at all the movie I expected. Well, I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.

A lot of the same crew is, eh.. was on Dredd.. Just so you know..

Now,, Last movies watched: Muppets take Manhattan and Saving Private Ryan. In that order.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Misanthrope on 12 February, 2011, 09:16:38 PM
Iron Man 2. Utter pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 12 February, 2011, 09:18:11 PM
the empire strikes back...intersting film,i'd like to see a prequel of sorts charting that darth vaders early days .
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 12 February, 2011, 09:36:54 PM
I got Son of Rambow today for £3 in Tesco.
An enjoyable little film I thought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 12 February, 2011, 09:39:56 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 12 February, 2011, 05:40:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 February, 2011, 10:36:54 AM
District 9- at long last.
Very good indeed, and not at all the movie I expected. Well, I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.

A lot of the same crew is, eh.. was on Dredd.. Just so you know..


Is it mainly the same producer, gaffers, grips, lighting, set construction or what else...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 February, 2011, 11:20:10 PM
Kingdom of Heaven directors cut- got it for £3 in Tesco. It is ridiculously epic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 February, 2011, 11:21:29 PM
Yogi Bear.  Admittedly I was more distracted by Anna Faris' weight seeming to go up and down randomly during the film, but I still didn't think much of it.  Ackroyd was good as the voice of Yogi (though still clearly doing an impression of the voice from the cartoon shows), but the humans dragged the thing down by being center stage with their need for a "story" to hang their presence upon rather than the makers just doing 90 straight minutes of Yogi being a furry thieving bastard in 3d.
The CGI Yogi is pretty good, and the mix of CGI with live-action is seamless with only one back-projected bit on some rapids letting the side down.
But the kids loved it, and I imagine that's the main thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 February, 2011, 11:34:15 PM
Me and a mate have decided to have a regular movie double bill night where we pick a movie each that the other person hasn't seen.

His pick was Assault On Precinct 13, which was great. I'd seen the remake, and everything else Carpenter's done (apart from The Ward) so it was really nice to see the original. A lot of tension on a miniscule budget, good going there.

I stuck on Phantasm, which he's always wanted to see. I don't actually rate it that highly, it's got a great dreamy atmosphere going on but doesn't really stand up very well. It is again a good example of a young director with no money making something pretty interesting though. It's one of those rare examples where I enjoy the sequels a lot more because once Reggie starts kicking ass proper it's great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 February, 2011, 01:44:48 AM
True Grit. Fairly entertaining and the girl is great but I'm utterly bewildered at the over the top critical reaction to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 13 February, 2011, 01:52:42 AM
Watched isnt quiet right for these 2 ......21 BULLETS all going well until about 20 secs in when doubts started to form...and 45 secs when the title actually came up as L'IMMORTAL...not that i'm bothered but the wife has an aversion to reading movies....the blurb on the front is a bit of a bastard mind .. "Jean Reno..the professional is back!"..........what could go wrong i thought as i snatched it of the shelf.

And Pineapple Express....£3.so cant complain too much. Never saw the ending, after 45 mins of Seth and his dealer shouting at each other and falling over i decided that Sky and their multitude of shite would be a beter waste of my time.

Really hoping the other 3 films i bought this week will be better....44 Inch Chest, 21 & Black Death, just so i haven,t wasted all my cash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 13 February, 2011, 05:57:26 AM
Just saw True Grit. Enjoyed it. Whole affair was spoilt by the morons who must've thought they were watching Benny Hill or something. Everything was so funny. Arrived later than wanted due to London useless bus service (6mins=20mins in London Bus time). Caught beginning but had little choice of seats and ended up in front of Mr Laughaminute. No carpet on floor and Laughaminute kept on tapping his feet. After I turned round the third time his Mrs said something to him and that stopped. Felt my chair moving and wasn't sure if it was due to people on the same row or if fuckwit behind me was pushing it with his legs. Guess this belongs in another thread but that's it for me and the cinema. Never again. Grrr.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 13 February, 2011, 10:35:19 AM
Ooh, just change viewing schedule SS, choose a different bus route/ time/ service and a more quiet viewing day. Sundays can be quite bare of Matinee-ers. I know you shouldn't have to, but there is some fun in turning a problem into an opportunity. I'm hopeful you will return anyway.

Young Frankenstein cracks me up still. Lest we forget a little overuse of the Nazi stereotype once again, it strikes more of a personal note in the film the older I get. Lest I forget. Marty Feldman is magical. And if he thought the task beneath then his character was the perfect vehicle to express it. Gene Wilder was more than brilliant as the good Doctor, the little girl scene, the blind man scene, the vaudeville scene and the carry on moments. Sheer sparkling madness.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 13 February, 2011, 11:07:07 AM
I'm (re)watching Lord of the Rings. Although I've seen Fellowship before, I've never seen the 2nd and third films at all!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 February, 2011, 12:32:35 PM
I hope im in time, wayne. STOP IMMEDIATELY! EJECT THE DVD AND WALK AWAY! you do not need to watch the second and third rings films, in the same way you dont need to buy a keeping up appearances box set. Just back away.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 February, 2011, 01:02:18 PM
(Note that I don't hold SBT's viewpoint against him -- and have no real interest in arguing this point: I can understand entirely why LotR is largely an all or nothing deal; both books and films although for different reasons.)

Assuming that you enjoyed Fellowship, though, there's no reason at all why you shouldn't enjoy the other two. Make sure you have the extended version of Two Towers, however. I can't stress how much better a movie the extended version is over the theatrical cut.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 13 February, 2011, 01:08:57 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 13 February, 2011, 10:35:19 AM

Young Frankenstein cracks me up still. Lest we forget a little overuse of the Nazi stereotype once again, it strikes more of a personal note in the film the older I get. Lest I forget. Marty Feldman is magical. And if he thought the task beneath then his character was the perfect vehicle to express it. Gene Wilder was more than brilliant as the good Doctor, the little girl scene, the blind man scene, the vaudeville scene and the carry on moments. Sheer sparkling madness.   

I love this film. Watched it again last night. Juts great. Not only is it very funny but it's beautifully shot too
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 13 February, 2011, 01:34:44 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 February, 2011, 01:02:18 PM
Make sure you have the extended version of Two Towers, however. I can't stress how much better a movie the extended version is over the theatrical cut.


Ah balls! I've only the theatrical cut (the extended edition box set cost twice as much as the standard box set)  :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 February, 2011, 01:41:10 PM
I'd only watch the extended editions for all of them, especially the first two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 February, 2011, 01:44:24 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 February, 2011, 01:34:44 PM
Ah balls! I've only the theatrical cut (the extended edition box set cost twice as much as the standard box set)  :'(

If you get the chance, definitely watch the EE of Two Towers out of all three. It's bizarre, the film is 44 minutes longer but the pacing is so much better, it feels shorter than the theatrical cut.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 01:49:01 PM
I'd definitely recommend sticking to the theatrical versions if this is your first time  watching LOTR - the extended editions are only for hardcore fans and they're even longer versions of already very long films.

The original cut of Fellowship in particular is much more easily digestible - the theatrical cut just rattles along at an exciting pace, whereas the extended version feels a little bloated and slow in comparison.

Though I do wish they'd get their arses in gear and release the EEs on Blu-Ray!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 February, 2011, 01:56:01 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 01:49:01 PM
I'd definitely recommend sticking to the theatrical versions if this is your first time  watching LOTR - the extended editions are only for hardcore fans and they're even longer versions of already very long films.

I disagree quite strenuously about Two Towers. I think the narrative is actively damaged in the theatrical cut. The pacing in the EE is better, and it makes more sense. That's got nothing to do with whether I'm a fan -- I'd agree that the EE of Fellowship essentially adds back hardcore fan stuff like Galadriel's gifts, but there are holes in the theatrical Two Towers that disrupt both the pace and the plot.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 February, 2011, 01:58:08 PM
In the case of the LOTR EEs I'd disagree with what the Rad says about them being "only for Hardcore fans", I think FOR has a far better opening and Rivendell doesn't get shortchanged, two things I think are rather important to the rest of the story and improve viewing. As Jim has stated for the TT, the pacing is better and I think it applies to FOR too, better pacing makes better films. A film with too many scenes/cuts badly paced will seem long and tiring  as will a slow film with bad pacing. Nothing to do with film length (that's how it's so easy to watch multiple seasons of a good box-set in a day or two, it compels through good pacing and intention) but horses-for-courses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 13 February, 2011, 02:19:25 PM
just watched All Star Superman, fricken cool, not quite on the level of the comic but pretty close.  This is the live action Superman story they should make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zPv6DiA_eM

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 February, 2011, 03:22:27 PM
God I'm dreading the All Star Superman 'toon after the horrendous adaptation of For the Man Who Has Everything, which I am apparently alone in thinking a dumb, hateful and pointless reworking of a classic Superman tale by a team who arguably could have done much better if they'd gone their own way with the material rather than shoehorning the Moore original into an extant continuity.

Another vote for the EE of LotR, as I never thought I would say this but they are movies that are improved by more Sean Bean.  The strand that follows his family across a couple of generations between the three films adds a lot of heart to what in the theatrical cut amounted to a huffy teen falling out with his grumpy working-class dad.
I have to say that while I comprehend a lot of the perfectly valid criticism of the trilogy, I don't understand the idea that the films are reviled from some quarters for anything other than their accessibility and popularity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 03:25:26 PM
Well imo Fellowship EE takes an age to get going - the one and only time I have tried to get my girlfriend to watch LOTR she was bored before they even left Rivendell (which is the bit when it starts to get exciting). I suspect that if I had had a copy of the theatrical cut to hand, she would have liked it more - my abiding memory of seeing FOR in the cinema was how pacy and exciting it was.

Little things like the 'concerning hobbits' opening v/o, the giving of the gifts, the bit where Frodo and Sam see the elves in the forest... they're hardly essential to the overall plot and from the point of view of the casual audience all they do is slow the pace down. The casual viewer couldn't give two shits about minor plot points, they're just there for the spectacle.

For a lot of people, just knowing a film is 3.5 hours long is enough to put them off it. Don't get me wrong, I prefer the EEs, but if I were to invite some family round to watch LOTR, it would definitely be the theatrical cuts that I put on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 February, 2011, 06:39:14 PM
We just watched I Love You, Man and really, really enjoyed it. A very funny film and actually pretty touching, and most guys will probably relate to it. The whole bromance rom-com angle is pretty different and handled really well. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 07:42:45 PM
Glad you enjoyed it Keef - I thought it was a really sweet and funny film - the plot was refreshing in that it didn't at all go where I expected it to - the trailer and tagline (He Needed a Best Man, He Got the Worst) leads you to think that Jason Segel's character is going to be some sort of boorish oaf, but he's actually really likable and appealing.

Have you seen Swingers Keef? If not you should definitely track down a copy - it's broadly in the same genre of comedy as ILYM and is similarly smart and funny. The naturalistic shooting style and dialogue  makes it seem like it belongs in the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd family of comedies and gives it a fresh, contemporary feel despite being almost 15 years old. One of my favourites.

(http://img.filmous.com/static/photos/35313/poster.jpg)

Also, I've a feeling that you might like Hot Rod - a comedy vehicle by Andy Samberg (who plays Rudd's brother in ILYM) it's very, very silly and has no pretensions of being anything other than a dumb formulaic comedy, but it's well worth a watch. Shockingly it went straight to DVD in the UK, so it might have sailed under your radar...

(http://www.impawards.com/2007/posters/hot_rod.jpg)

You've probably see Office Space, but if you haven't, get hold of that too - another one that didn't make it to cinemas AFAIK. That film is absolute genius, and is such a spot-on satire of work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 February, 2011, 07:58:00 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 07:42:45 PM
You've probably see Office Space, but if you haven't, get hold of that too - another one that didn't make it to cinemas AFAIK. That film is absolute genius, and is such a spot-on satire of work.
Incredibly, this is on Film4 in an hours time. It is pretty funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 08:08:25 PM
Ha! I recently watched Idiocracy, Judge's follow-up to Office Space, but it's nowhere near as good. There's the bare bones of a good film there but it never lives up to it's concept. Apparently it was a troubled production and the budgetary issues are very evident on-screen. Probably wouldn't watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 February, 2011, 09:57:27 PM
I think the debacle over it's release was more troubling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 13 February, 2011, 10:15:51 PM
Not a movie but I just watched S2E2 of Breaking Bad; "Grilled". Jesus Fucking Shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 February, 2011, 10:54:59 PM
Thanks for the heads-up on Office Space, peeps.  The missus and I just watched it with two bottles of our first homebrew batch of Pinot Grigot as our Valentine's substitute, and it was most amusing.  Hot Valentines tip:  some of M&S' 'Valentine Meal at Home' elements haven't been selling as well as expected in Tallaght, so they're flogging 4 Orkney crabs for €3.  I know there's cheaper ways to get crabs in Tallaght, but these are pretty nice with wine aged for a generous fortnight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 February, 2011, 01:05:27 AM
Revolver

It lost me. Partly my own fault as I missed a bit, and it's the kind of film you really have to be paying attention. It seemed rather confused and while I'd usually find the stuff portraying characters flashing between their inner and outer worlds interesting, this was used too much and ended up grating.

Good ideas, but after all, not very good. I guessed one of the twists though. [spoiler]And the bit when the accountant looking hit-man character decided he'd had enough was brilliant.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 February, 2011, 08:55:04 AM
Quote from: radiator on 13 February, 2011, 07:42:45 PM
Glad you enjoyed it Keef - I thought it was a really sweet and funny film - the plot was refreshing in that it didn't at all go where I expected it to - the trailer and tagline (He Needed a Best Man, He Got the Worst) leads you to think that Jason Segel's character is going to be some sort of boorish oaf, but he's actually really likable and appealing.

Have you seen Swingers Keef? If not you should definitely track down a copy - it's broadly in the same genre of comedy as ILYM and is similarly smart and funny. The naturalistic shooting style and dialogue  makes it seem like it belongs in the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd family of comedies and gives it a fresh, contemporary feel despite being almost 15 years old. One of my favourites.

(http://img.filmous.com/static/photos/35313/poster.jpg)

Also, I've a feeling that you might like Hot Rod - a comedy vehicle by Andy Samberg (who plays Rudd's brother in ILYM) it's very, very silly and has no pretensions of being anything other than a dumb formulaic comedy, but it's well worth a watch. Shockingly it went straight to DVD in the UK, so it might have sailed under your radar...

(http://www.impawards.com/2007/posters/hot_rod.jpg)

You've probably see Office Space, but if you haven't, get hold of that too - another one that didn't make it to cinemas AFAIK. That film is absolute genius, and is such a spot-on satire of work.

Yeah, have seen those ones (I loved them though so your recommendations are spot on). Hot Rod is pretty fun, like you say it's very very silly, but I like how it pushes that in some more bizarre directions than your more generic teen comedies ('cool beans' is a bit of a catchphrase round here now).

Swingers and Office Space are both fantastic, it's been a while though so will need to give them a rewatch. Even if it means hearing Vince Vaughn's laugh again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 10:41:38 AM
Watched Burn After Reading last night. I'm not an aficionado of the Coen Brothers - if I'm honest I tend to find their films to be pretty overrated in general. I liked Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, but stuff like Oh, Brother... just flies over my head.

I enjoyed it - twisty turny plot, some funny bits, great cast - JK Simmons is amazing in everything, isn't he?

This sounds like a massively back-handed compliment, but one of the things I most liked about it was that it was short and sweet - pretty much 90 minutes on the nose. Too many films are too long these days, it's refreshing to see a film that doesn't outstay it's welcome. 90 minutes is the perfect length for a movie, and should be the standard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2011, 11:04:59 AM
Quote from: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 10:41:38 AMToo many films are too long these days, it's refreshing to see a film that doesn't outstay it's welcome. 90 minutes is the perfect length for a movie, and should be the standard.

Whilst I don't think any film should be made to a 'target' length, I will cheerfully agree that there are a great many two-hour films that could quite comfortably see 20-30 minutes trimmed out of them, and that Burn After Reading* is perfectly paced to its refreshingly compact running time.

Cheers

Jim

* Once I overcame my disappointment at discovering that it wasn't about an arsonist's tour of the dormitory towns of Berkshire...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 11:18:47 AM
I reckon that the reason that most cult 1980s movies are still held in such high regard is, nostalgia aside, that they're by and large quite tightly written and generally about 90 minutes long, which seemed to be the standard back then. Strange that, when attention spans are shrinking, the average running time of movies seems to be creeping ever upwards.

Quotethere are a great many two-hour films that could quite comfortably see 20-30 minutes trimmed out of them

Yeah - take Inception - I really enjoyed it, but have never felt the urge to rewatch it because it was so bloody long - anything longer than 100 minutes and it seems like a big time commitment to sit down and watch it. Someone made a point earlier about bingeing on TV series box sets - I think a large part of the appeal of them is the low commitment factor - each episode of something like The Sopranos is like a bite-sized movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 February, 2011, 11:31:50 AM
Absolutely. I have a hard line cut off point of 100mins. If something is longer than that, i probably wont rent or buy it, largely because we watch films between 8.30 and 10pm, give or take. I no longer watch films because im massively interested or obsessed with the medium. I watch them, as most people do, for easy entertainment in the evenings. From time to time, something will come along that briefly fires the long lost cinephilia i used to have (a new romero zombie, a new carpenter, etc) and then id bend those rules as appropriate. But mostly, not.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 11:43:43 AM
Now that physical media in general seem to be winding down and I have plenty of options for renting or viewing things online, I tend to try and limit myself to only buying DVD/Blu-Rays that are either all time classics, or films that I can watch again and again without tiring of them (and thus are actually worth owning) - the latter tend to be those classic Sunday afternoon comfort films - 1980s/1990s comedies and family films mostly...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 February, 2011, 11:45:24 AM
My kids have taken to saying "Apart from it being twenty minutes too long, what did you think?" when we come out of the cinema because that's pretty much teh first thing I say.

Noteable exceptions being The Lord of The Rings films, the Nolan Batman films and Inception all of which I just wanted to carry on and on (especially fellowship).

The problem I had with BURN AFTER READING was that it just seemed to stop dead. In an amusing way.  But I got the impression they just thought "Quick wrap it up with the bloke telling us what happened."  (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN also seemed to end dead in the middle of a great monologue.)  I've not seen these for a while so could be mistaken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 11:58:12 AM
Yeah, BAR does seem to just suddenly stop, but it worked, I thought. I was impressed by the audacity of it, and all the plot threads got nicely wrapped up.

One thing I did think was odd about it was the music, which sounded like something from the Bourne films and very at odds with the off-beat, largely light-hearted sensibility of the rest of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 February, 2011, 12:14:52 PM
I've often found Coen Brothers movies don't really resolve in the traditional sense. I still haven't seen one I haven't enjoyed (but I did avoid their Ladykillers remake), but you often get the impression they don't come up with the structure before writing. 'The Man Who Wasn't There' in particular seems to go off on some tangents, it's almost like they start writing the script with a general idea, rather than having the major plot points mapped out first, which I'd assume is the more common approach. It's part of their charm I think, but it does mean the endings sometimes feel like they're tying things up a bit quickly, as if they've written themselves in a direction they hadn't expected and need to wrap it up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 February, 2011, 12:37:51 PM
Since we're on the subject of LOtR, I've just been informed that Play.com are currently offering the whole trilogy on Blu-Ray for the insanely bargainous sum of £9.99.

It's only the theatrical cuts, mind. I'm waiting on the Extended Editions to be released myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 February, 2011, 06:21:59 PM
I watched Alien Resurrection today (finishing off the blu-ray boxset) and quite enjoyed it to be honest. It's definitely my least favorite, and isn't even playing in the same ballpark as the first two, but it's kind of fun. Also I like the look of it (although of the blu-rays the first movie actually looks the best, this one's a tad grainy). I wish they'd had the guts to do something without Ripley, and dramatically I've always thought of Alien as a trilogy ending with 3, but I still think of this as fun in the same way as I do the comics, not canon but alright as it's own separate thing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 14 February, 2011, 08:38:40 PM
Saw True Grit today which means I've now seen all but one of the Best Picture noms so now I'm going to rank them from worst-to-best because I have nothing better to do. Didn't get round to seeing 2010: A Lesbian Odyssey :(

9. King's Speech - TBH I enjoyed all of the noms, but this was the most obvious OB, and that Hitchens takedown did sour me on this somewhat. I have no problem with Col winning Best Actor as it's the best performance technically as well as artisticlikeally.

8. 127 Hours - Franco is fantastic but jeebus is Danny Boyle's directing style in this fucking annoying. It worked in Slumdog but here he just seems to take it too far. TOO FAR. Appropriately enough the best scene [spoiler]He finds some help whilst the music goes all GYBE on us[/spoiler] is the one which most glaringly highlights the weaknesses of the film [spoiler]No dialogue, yo.[/spoiler]

7. The Fighter - Somewhat OB, but hugely amiable and entertaining with a stellar cast. If anything, I think it felt a bit safe, but in doing so it prolly avoided some pitfalls.

6. Inception - To me, this feels most like the film making up the numbers. Nolan still hasn't made his masterpiece, but this is an excellently stentorian film, where the pieces that listen to their director obey to the listen and where the parts that are compelled to reject such an imposition don't get up to too much mischief.

5. True Grit - A long way off from the Coen's best work (and a steep step down from Larry's travails IMO) but I can't find any real faults with this. What I find to be the unifying theme in all of the best Coen films is the sense of transience. No matter how monumental the events we see depicted are, there is always going to be something else that comes along that we, as observers, are going to find more gawp worthy, even as we leave our protagonists to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

4. Winter's Bone - If this was nominated to make up numbers, I'm glad they did it as it deserves to be seen by all. I guess what I really like about this movie is it's steadfast refusal to cast judgements on those kerazzy hillbillies whilst still allowing us to cast judgement and not casting judgements on our casting of judgements. The only bad aspect of Jennifer Lawrence's performance is how she is way more attractive than everyone else. John Hawkes should get Best Supporter.

2 co-habiter. Toy Story 3. Very close to number 1. A great way to introduce children to the wonderful world of melancholy.

2 co-habiter 2. Black Swan - Far from perfect, and I probably wouldn't even say it's "better" or maybe even "as good as" my 4 and 3, but this is easily the most gleefully chaotic and fun of all the nominees, even as it takes it self so very seriously. It would clearly fall apart without our liddul preencess, but Portman just does an amazing job in holding it all together and is the easy pick for Best Actress in a very strong category. The ending is absolutely magnificent and marks this as a film with the most sincere desire to uphold its principles.

1. The Social Network. The snarky tone is what most obviously stops this film from holding up as truth, but as fiction it compels a film with flawless foundations to dizzying heights. Just a perfect movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 February, 2011, 10:59:13 PM
We've just had a very romantic evening with 'The Last Exorcism'; an in your face mocumentary following a fundamentalist preacher with a crisis of faith as he attempts to use tricks and psychology to 'help' a girl in louisiana, whose father believes her to be possessed.

Absorbing, very clever, convincing and very frightening in turn, only to make one narrative turn too many in the last ten minutes, riunding it all up in a brilliantly deranged manner that'll have long time fans of hammer and dr who's metal dog chum grinning from ear to ear, while sensible people moan.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 February, 2011, 07:46:34 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 February, 2011, 10:59:13 PM
We've just had a very romantic evening with 'The Last Exorcism'; an in your face mocumentary following a fundamentalist preacher with a crisis of faith as he attempts to use tricks and psychology to 'help' a girl in louisiana, whose father believes her to be possessed.

Absorbing, very clever, convincing and very frightening in turn, only to make one narrative turn too many in the last ten minutes, riunding it all up in a brilliantly deranged manner that'll have long time fans of hammer and dr who's metal dog chum grinning from ear to ear, while sensible people moan.

SBT

Yeah, I moaned! Was quite enjoying it up to a point, but I didn't ever find it scary to be honest. It was also guilty of the old sin of throwing in some creepy shots in the trailer which weren't in the film, always annoys me a bit. Not bad, but a bit disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 February, 2011, 08:18:41 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 February, 2011, 07:46:34 AM
Yeah, I moaned! Was quite enjoying it up to a point, but I didn't ever find it scary to be honest. It was also guilty of the old sin of throwing in some creepy shots in the trailer which weren't in the film, always annoys me a bit. Not bad, but a bit disappointing.

I didn't see the trailer- I rented it entirely based upon a review I read somewhere (may have been the Meg, or may have been elsewhere) and the cover. I didn't even read the back of the box, except to check the running time! It's just the kind of movie made for Valentine's Day chez-BlueThing.

As for the end, I was just impressed with their audacity- as I honestly thought that an ending like that was thirty years dead. Didn't expect to see that again, and it made me very happy. But I can see why others would be annoyed or let down.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 February, 2011, 02:49:56 PM
All Star Superman.
Far too literal in places yet stitches those moments together with bad dialogue and clumsy animation.  It also omits the standout emotional moments that made the source material something other than a cold repackaging of Silver Age silliness ala the horrendous Batman/Superman: Public Enemies - though fair play that was coming from an awful story with no redeeming creative value and there's only so much turd-polishing even talented film-makers can accomplish.
The episodic nature of ASS is especially noticeable where it becomes obvious something has been omitted (the Bizarro segments, the death of Johnathan Kent, Jimmy Olsen's Doomsday turn) as Superman makes a really big deal about going off into space to save the Bottle City of Kandor and makes a big farewell to Lois, then less than five seconds later he's back on Earth two months later and doesn't mention what happened in the interim.  Jimmy Olsen's plot arc being omitted is also problematic as the script still retains moments where he wears women's clothing and it's treated as a joke, giving proceedings a slightly hateful undertone that wasn't in the comic.
The rest is a condensation of a lot of the comic joined by improvised improvements (sic) that only holds together for me because I've read the original and know what's missing, but as an objective bit of animated film-making this is a mess.  It comes so close here and there because there's so much potential in the book to work from, but the end result is a pointless work devoid of the joy of the original, with the complete destruction of the Lex Luthor/Leopold Quintum subtext a sad indication of just what a journeyman effort it all is.

Still, nice explosions, and Supes manages to have some fights here and there.  I imagine that's all that really matters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2011, 08:31:27 PM
Gnomeo and Juliet.

On paper it probably looked good. The computer animation vibe of Toy Story, the dramatic writing of Shakespeare and the songs of Elton John

What you get is the dramatic writing of Elton John,  the computer animation skills of Shakespeare and the songs of Toy story (sorry Randy).

Utterly. Fucking. Dire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 15 February, 2011, 08:36:56 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2011, 08:31:27 PM
Gnomeo and Juliet.

Utterly. Fucking. Dire.

Shit. And I had such high hopes after watching the trailer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 February, 2011, 09:06:06 PM
Was it twenty minutes too long?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 February, 2011, 09:12:08 AM
Reported.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 February, 2011, 10:17:13 AM
Gnomeo and Juliet I really enjoyed- and I was opposed to watching it walking in. However it was delightfully silly in places and good fun.

However last night I trekked to Leicester to Watch True Grit with Mini-Bolt. Awesome film with superb performances all round.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 16 February, 2011, 10:34:08 AM
Megamind.

Like Tordelback, I loved it. Lots of good laughs, nice twist on the superhero/villain thing,and just good fun all around. Even my 3 year old sat quietly in his seat for the whole thing and only asked once if it was "nearly over" that was a first (he usually asks that question about fifty times from about minute 3 onwards).

I didn't know Will Ferrel was the voice actor until the closing credits. Damn, another Will Ferrel movie that I loved, the guy can do no wrong for me. The last movie I watched before this was The Other Guys and that had me in stitches as well.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 February, 2011, 01:52:23 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 16 February, 2011, 10:34:08 AMDamn, another Will Ferrel movie that I loved, the guy can do no wrong for me.

I can cure you of this affliction quite easily: Bewitched.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 16 February, 2011, 04:58:00 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 16 February, 2011, 01:52:23 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 16 February, 2011, 10:34:08 AMDamn, another Will Ferrel movie that I loved, the guy can do no wrong for me.

I can cure you of this affliction quite easily: Bewitched.


Haven't seen it!!! Better not!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 17 February, 2011, 11:02:55 PM
Last film I watched (this evening) was a Mexican film called Leap Year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Big Man on 18 February, 2011, 10:45:57 AM
I watched The Haunting In Connecticut yesterday and I'd really like those 90 minutes back. The extras on the DVD were a lot better than the film. Modern horror film-makers are so bloody lazy with their insistence on using sudden music stings and fast cuts to tell the audience when to be scared.  >:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 18 February, 2011, 10:55:13 AM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 16 February, 2011, 10:17:13 AM
Gnomeo and Juliet I really enjoyed- and I was opposed to watching it walking in. However it was delightfully silly in places and good fun.

I'm curious to know: in the end, does Gnomeo commit suicide by poison, having killed Paris in a knife fight, and does Juliet do herself in with Gnomeo's dagger upon seeing his lifeless corpse? Just wondering.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2011, 11:07:33 AM
Quote from: House of Usher on 18 February, 2011, 10:55:13 AM
I'm curious to know: in the end, does Gnomeo commit suicide by lawnmower, having killed Paris in a Fishing Rod fight, and does Juliet do herself in with Gnomeo's pointy hat upon seeing his lifeless corpse? Just wondering.

This is what the wife and I concluded after some speculation.  Cheery stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 18 February, 2011, 12:30:17 PM
Quote from: The Big Man on 18 February, 2011, 10:45:57 AM
I watched The Haunting In Connecticut yesterday and I'd really like those 90 minutes back. The extras on the DVD were a lot better than the film. Modern horror film-makers are so bloody lazy with their insistence on using sudden music stings and fast cuts to tell the audience when to be scared.  >:(

Agreed. I've pretty much given up on US horror, but therre have been some real gems from Europe in the last few years - Rec & Rec 2, Rare Exports, Martyrs, Frontiers... the French in particular are producing some truly disturbing stuff lately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 February, 2011, 12:32:43 PM
The ending to Gnomeo and Juliet...

[spoiler]After chatting to a statue of William Shakespeare about the tragic ending of his play(a phoned in performance by Patrick Stewart), Gnomeo heads back to Verona Drive where all hell is breaking loose. The Blue Gnomes are seeking vengence as they believe Gnomeo was crushed by a truck and have unleashed a Terrafirminator Lawn Mower on the Red Gnomes.  The lawn mower goes mental and starts destroying all in it's path.  

It's heading for Juliet when Gnomeo arrives on the back of a plastic pink flamingo. He leaps to save her... and fails.

There is a massive explosion and the gigantic water feature on which Juliet was fixed is destroyed, half the garden levelled.  Miraculously none of the gnomes are hurt. Not even Gnomeo and Juliet who were slap bang at the heart of the explosion.  

Everybody gets up and for some reason agrees to live happilly ever after.  

They don't even go to the abandoned garden that was set up as a possible home for them in reel two.  There's no reason given as to why they survived the explosion (just luck) or why everyone decides to live together (they just do).  

They then make some jokes along the lines of "See, I told Shakespeare we could come up with a happier ending" and do a very poor song and dance number in which dead characters (Tybalt) come back to life.[/spoiler]

The credits list about 8 writers (Shakey is notably absent from the list) none of whom could even be arsed to apply the slightest bit of logic or thought to the ending.

As a parent, you often get dragged along to films taht you don't want to see. Pixar have totally raised the bar over the last dozen years so when you end up at something as cack-handed as this, it really grates.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 18 February, 2011, 09:30:49 PM
Disney's The Black Hole.

First time since original cinema release in 1980, this was. I only got a copy because I'd read they were gearing up for a remake, and I figured they may well follow the same pattern they did with Tron, and make it unavailable to the paying public beforehand. So, Ebay was my friend.

As a ten year old, I remember this as being alternately boring and terrifying in equal measures. It was the one sci fi movie I didn't beg my mum to take me to see multiple times- once was enough. Though I also remember having and loving the action figures- which lived in my Star Wars figure box quite happily for years and probably dissappeared when I flogged them all to Polly Lewis's little brother so I could buy a BMX. Never rented or bought it on VHS and didn't even know it was available on DVD.

It was only when I read about the possible remake that I started thinking about it again. A quick check revealed it was only 95 minutes long, so I thought I may as well get it.

Oh bejeezus. Yes, the script is toss. Yes, the acting is an exercise of watching nominally "good" actors give up the will to live gradually over the course of an hour and a half- though Tony Perkins comes out more or less intact and Roddy MacDowell is consistently great as the voice of VINcent. And yes, the science is just ridiculous... but, bloody hell!

The visuals! So many gorgeous, terrifying and terrifyingly beautiful pictures! The ship- the Cygnus- is all girders and horrifyingly bleak industrial gubbins... then the lights come on, and suddenly it's a glorious caged lantern in space. The actual effects are wonderful- there's barely a shoddy shot, barring a couple of obvious matte lines. It's still hard to work out just how did the floating robots.

But it's the incidental nastiness that impresses- there's some very vivid imagery that seems designed to scare the hell out of little boys. Despite having no conscious memory of most of the film, every single image turned out to be burned into my brain at a depth of thirty years- and every one popped up as the movie unfolded. Too much to go into here, but the visuals in conjunction with the sound design are just so impressive- The humanoid reveal, Maximillian screaming like a baby as he meets his end, the jaw-dropping meteor sequence and most especially the ending, [spoiler]with the merging of Maximillian and his creator (Actor Maximillian Schell, in Maximillian's shell, in Maximiliian's Hell) to stand like a demonic spider atop a humanoid-infested rocky outcrop in a literal Inferno, while the "goodies" follow an angel to... somewhere else.[/spoiler]

Breathtaking in it's attempt to be a cross between 2001 and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Unbelievable that they got so much right- so much resonates over thirty years. But also amazing that so much is so wrong. A better script, a more convincing cast- it could have been a kid's Alien.

But, just pure mentalist brilliance, of a kind, I thought.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2011, 09:56:56 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 18 February, 2011, 09:30:49 PM
Disney's The Black Hole.

Did you say Disney's The Black Hole?  I'm truly shocked.  ;)

I don't think I've seen this film since I saw it in the cinema, but I still have vivid memories - possibly due to having numerous bubble-gum cards to remind me of the highlights.  Must track down a copy. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 18 February, 2011, 11:28:23 PM
Up to me to lower the tone a bit....with Knucklehead.

A complete load of unoriginal tosh.....but highley enjoyable (if you dont expect much)and/or have kids to amuse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 February, 2011, 11:49:50 PM
The Black Hole has a great sound track too.

I remember my mum won the record. (I can't remember how or why she entered the competition.) Very atmospheric music.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 February, 2011, 12:24:35 AM
That movie had a pretty intense effect on me as a kid too. I wasn't born when it came out so must have seen it on video, but I remember the ending sticking with me for years (I even get chills thinking about it now). Think it's because I was probably too young to have really thought about [spoiler]where you go when you die, and I took the ending to be a heaven/hell scenario and there was something really disturbing about it to me because I hadn't really visualized hell at that point.[/spoiler]

For a Disney film it's definitely pretty harrowing for a youngster!

Can't remember much else about it to be honest so it might be worth a re-watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SquashedFly on 19 February, 2011, 12:50:27 AM
I watched Predator 2 finally earlier today. It's been a long time since I have seen it.

I enjoyed it alot. Much better than Predators at least, and..well at least it wasn't set in fucking Antarctica. I really like the way it is shot, and it's attempts at fleshing out the actual Predator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 19 February, 2011, 01:43:08 AM
Excalibur.....brilliant flick.....even with the tractor going over the hills in the distance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2011, 07:00:34 PM
For some work-avoidance reason I watched The Butterfly Effect the other night, which I had previously studiously avoided, understanding it to star Ashton Kutcher, and taking it to be a college rom-com with added time travel 'hilarity'.  Other than the Kutcher thing I was way out.  It's a relentlessly downbeat but rather involving Quantum Leap affair.  Kutcher still irritates the crap out of me (although I suspect he's meant to here), and the premise was far from original, but I confess to being gripped from quite early on, particularly from the point where the unlikeable protaganist has successfully faced down a couple of serious problems, only to create other far more intractable ones.  Surprisingly good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 19 February, 2011, 08:18:00 PM
The bit with the fake stigmata scars made no sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2011, 08:42:13 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 19 February, 2011, 08:18:00 PM
The bit with the fake stigmata scars made no sense.

Thought that too, but it was never very clear how the whole thing worked - in the same way that the former GF sort-of recognised him in the final scene (beyond having met him at a party when she was 6), and that he appeared to have carried the same number of brain-damage episodes between 'lives', I think there's some wiggle room in how 'impermeable' the timelines actually are: possibly by involving the cellmate so closely, there was a gap in readjustment to the new 'reality'.  Or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 19 February, 2011, 09:23:51 PM
If you enjoyed The Butterfly Effect, I suggest you check out the Director's Cut ending; which is very, very different from the ending shown in cinemas/on TV.

The "real" ending makes a lot more sense, and is much more original, but bizarrely I actually preferred the one the producers insisted on. Probably because I saw that ending first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 20 February, 2011, 09:16:56 AM
Actually got round to watching a couple of DVDs that have been collecting dust on the coffee table last night. First up was 'The Social Network' which was excellent. Superb performances all round with Timberlake particularly good as the chief douchebag. Next up was 'Black Dynamite'. I was in absolute stitches. Not really a spoof of 70s Blacksploitation movies but a loving homage. Hugely quotable and well worth a watch if you haven't already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 February, 2011, 10:07:56 AM
Yesterday we watched True Grit in the cinema, then got Chinese food and came home and watched Inception on dvd- both were astoundingly good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 20 February, 2011, 10:17:07 AM
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Pretty cool!

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 February, 2011, 06:17:26 PM
Went to a screening of Silent Running last night with a live musical accompaniment. The whole experience was a bit of let down. The screens were neither big nor bright enough for the size of the hall (a major problem during the long outside shots of the ships) and the music, enojoyable as much of it was, often overpowered the film, particularly when they were playing over some of the dialogue.

On the bright side, I do have a more positive impression of the film now. The only time I'd seen it before was watching it on telly with my dad when I was about ten when I had concluded it was boring rubbish with stupid robots regardless of the moral rectitude. Rewatching now, Bruce Dern gets a handful of great scenes in it. I still hate the stupid robots though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 February, 2011, 06:53:10 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 February, 2011, 06:17:26 PM
I still hate the stupid robots though.

That soul of yours must be a small, dark affair indeed. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 20 February, 2011, 07:13:34 PM
RED.

Thoroughly enjoyable brain in neutral sort of flick.

Plus I was surprised to see Ernest Borgnine in it, I thought he'd died years ago!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrJomster on 20 February, 2011, 10:19:34 PM
Saw "Confessions" in the cinema today. A Japanese film about revenge set in a secondary school. It made me realise how glad I am not to have gone to school in Japan!  Japanese school kids are scarily good at bullying, not to mention scarily into extreme acts in a bid to find some sort of meaning or status in the grind of life.  :o

They unnecessarily blew a wedge of budget on some sfx near the end for some reason too.

The film's good but up against some stiff competition at the moment and so gets the prize for Third Best recent film after King's Speech and Black Swan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 February, 2011, 10:24:17 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 February, 2011, 06:17:26 PM
I still hate the stupid robots though.


:'( Why do you hate so much?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 20 February, 2011, 10:46:46 PM
The Prestige is on BBC 2 now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 February, 2011, 01:05:47 AM
Faster, starring The Rock as a crim who does his dime for armed robbery and then sets out to murder everyone who got him banged up in the first place.  It started well until the words "Billy Bob Thornton" appeared onscreen but that didn't ruin things in the end.  While it's a very Grindhouse affair, at one point when the Rock stands at the back of a church I got the impression we're supposed to view him as the Devil or summat, only the direction was a bit too journeyman for that and the rough edges that might have made it a cult classic are instead replaced with a bland competence where the whole thing works just fine, but there's no distinctive character to any of it that might have shone through in flaws in ability or failure of ambition.
It's a solid revenge flick rather than an action movie, though it's not quite essential.  Still worth a watch, all the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 February, 2011, 10:46:51 AM
This weekend I watched Paul - which was good, but too hit and miss to be truly great - and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which I thought was superb. It pretty much won me over from the title sequence onwards, where it is trumpeted as "A Film By... A Lot of People".

The whole thing is shot through with this absurd, irreverent, and smart sense of humour - kind of what you'd expect from a film that has the likes of Bruce Campbell, Mr T and Bill Hader in it's voice cast. Certainly the best non-Pixar cg animation I've seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 21 February, 2011, 10:48:52 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 February, 2011, 06:17:26 PM
The only time I'd seen it before was watching it on telly with my dad when I was about ten when I had concluded it was boring rubbish with stupid robots regardless of the moral rectitude. Rewatching now, Bruce Dern gets a handful of great scenes in it. I still hate the stupid robots though.

You have no soul. That film still makes me cry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 February, 2011, 11:05:30 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 February, 2011, 10:46:51 AM
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which I thought was superb. It pretty much won me over from the title sequence onwards, where it is trumpeted as "A Film By... A Lot of People".

Surprisingly fun film that, especially the final gag with Eyebrow Dad.  Another terrific joke was the weather forecast that predicted that the food-based devastation of the planet would commence in cities with famous landmarks before moving onto less well-known areas later... Mind you I was left pondering the fate of the island, which had gone from pretty f'ed to utterly f'ed over the course of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 February, 2011, 11:26:43 AM
Quote from: Jomster on 20 February, 2011, 10:19:34 PM
Saw "Confessions" in the cinema today.

ooh which one? Window Cleaner? Holiday Camp? I think Driving Instructor was my favourite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 21 February, 2011, 11:30:01 AM
Quote from: Jomster on 20 February, 2011, 10:19:34 PM
Saw "Confessions" in the cinema today. A Japanese film about revenge set in a secondary school. It made me realise how glad I am not to have gone to school in Japan!  Japanese school kids are scarily good at bullying, not to mention scarily into extreme acts in a bid to find some sort of meaning or status in the grind of life.  :o

I think you'd have been ok. I'm pretty sure it's not a documentary. :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 21 February, 2011, 11:43:06 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 20 February, 2011, 10:46:46 PM
The Prestige is on BBC 2 now.

Watched that (seen it before) with the girlfriend and we both came away with completely different views on what was going on.

I thought that the machine worked and Angier was making duplicates of himself (well, I actually think there are three Angiers 'alive' at the moment he's doing the trick - the original who appears on the balcony at the end of the trick - the duplicate that is created in the process of the trick and the duplicate that is drowned in the process of the trick.

I believe it is this new duplicate that is then drowned when the trick is next performed... and in fact it is only duplicates that are drowned and the original Angier is always there to receive the prestige of doing the trick.

Until last night I thought Broden had duplicated himself but now take it that they are twins.

She thought that the machine didn't work and that it was all done with doubles, although that doesn't explain who that was that appeared when Angier first used that machine, and who was in all those tanks at the end of the film.

Confusing but still a great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 February, 2011, 11:55:12 AM
QuoteSurprisingly fun film that, especially the final gag with Eyebrow Dad.  Another terrific joke was the weather forecast that predicted that the food-based devastation of the planet would commence in cities with famous landmarks before moving onto less well-known areas later...

Ha, must have missed that. The line "You can't run away from you own feet" pretty much summed up the tone for me - so refreshing to see a 'kids' movie that is genuinely funny - a lot of the attempts at humour in these sorts of films are just dire and irritating - Shrek and the like (again, excepting Pixar - Toy Story 3 especially has some hilarious moments).

Also: Spoiler tags, people - I would actually like to watch The Prestige at some point!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 21 February, 2011, 12:17:19 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 February, 2011, 11:55:12 AM

Also: Spoiler tags, people - I would actually like to watch The Prestige at some point!

Ah yes... noted.
[spoiler]Sorry 'bout that.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 February, 2011, 01:11:50 PM
Another movie that I watched for the first time recently was Rocky. I'd never been remotely interested in seeing it before, but my girlfriend convinced me, and I must say - I thought it was great. It actually left me with a much greater admiration for Stallone than I have had previously - the young Sly is really charismatic and cool in the film, and the fact that he wrote the script is also impressive.

Overall I really liked it - it has a really nice tone and it feels very evocative of a specific time and place. The characters were well drawn and I found the training montage, despite being so heavily referenced and parodied, still really effective and powerful....  BUT I have zero interest in watching any of the sequels. To me, the ending was perfect - and the trailers I have seen for the other films look very cheesy compared to the sparse, gritty and largely downbeat original. Balboa becoming a successful boxer (even world champion?) seems totally at odds with what is established in the first film - [spoiler]after all, he is no great fighter - he doesn't even win the fight at the end, but holding his own against Creed is a personal victory for Rocky, and is all the more effective for it.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 February, 2011, 01:26:01 PM
rE: THE PRESTIGE.  My take was:

[spoiler]The machine does work. It makes a double of Angiers.  When the machine first works, Angiers immediately shoots and kills the double it creates.  Then he resolves to set up Borden for murder. He does this by doing the trick every night.  A double is created on the balcony (who takes the applause), the original falls into the water tank below to drown.  Every night, Angiers effectively walks to his death just to get back at Borden. But nobody cares about the man in the box.

The only bit that confused me was how he knew on which night Borden would turn up and go back stage so he could be set up (I'm guessing he looked out for him every night and on the night when he sees him on-stage examining the kit, he resolves not to reveal himself for the prestige.

Also, a bit of a coincidence that the Tesla wild goose chase Borden sends him off on, actually ends up with a working machine and the whole doom of both of them.[/spoiler]

But I liked it a lot; intensely unlikeable but understandable, driven characters. (But twenty minutes too long)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 21 February, 2011, 01:52:13 PM
I really do not like Silent Running. I thought it was superb when I was a kid, but after three or four viewings it lost most of its charm for me and is just a big downer. It's a bunch of hippy crap, and the plot makes little sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 February, 2011, 01:56:03 PM
Quote from: House of Usher on 21 February, 2011, 01:52:13 PM
It's a bunch of hippy crap, and the plot makes little sense.

That's the weltschmerz talking!  What doesn't make sense about moving giant greenhouses to space and then [spoiler]blowing them up[/spoiler]?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 21 February, 2011, 02:01:00 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 February, 2011, 01:26:01 PM
rE: THE PRESTIGE.  My take was:

[spoiler]The machine does work. It makes a double of Angiers.  When the machine first works, Angiers immediately shoots and kills the double it creates.  Then he resolves to set up Borden for murder. He does this by doing the trick every night.  A double is created on the balcony (who takes the applause), the original falls into the water tank below to drown.  Every night, Angiers effectively walks to his death just to get back at Borden. But nobody cares about the man in the box.

The only bit that confused me was how he knew on which night Borden would turn up and go back stage so he could be set up (I'm guessing he looked out for him every night and on the night when he sees him on-stage examining the kit, he resolves not to reveal himself for the prestige.

Also, a bit of a coincidence that the Tesla wild goose chase Borden sends him off on, actually ends up with a working machine and the whole doom of both of them.[/spoiler]

But I liked it a lot; intensely unlikeable but understandable, driven characters. (But twenty minutes too long)

Re The Presitge...

Scarlett Johansson... [spoiler]is a complete BABE![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 February, 2011, 02:35:49 PM
Quote from: House of Usher on 21 February, 2011, 01:52:13 PM
I really do not like Silent Running. I thought it was superb when I was a kid, but after three or four viewings it lost most of its charm for me and is just a big downer. It's a bunch of hippy crap, and the plot makes little sense.


I suppose you hate Joan Baez as well?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 February, 2011, 05:20:10 PM
Ghost Rider. Well, the last part of it, but I have seen it all the way through before.

Daft. Almost wince-worthingly* corny in places. So why did I enjoy it?

I also found it amusing how the attractive love interest had the first 2-3 buttons of her blouse undone exposing her lovely cleavage. Seeing young ladies in low cut tops in films is quite normal, but this wasn't a low cut top!  Not that I'm complaining.

Yes the film was ridiculous but I found it a lot of fun. [spoiler]I wish they'd made more use of the cowboy dude at the end though. 'One last ride' turned out to be just that. Cool sequence though it was.[/spoiler]

*yep, I invented a new word!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 21 February, 2011, 06:55:12 PM
44 inch chest.

Another recent purchase that i'll never get see the money or get the time back for.

Its not that its really bad, i actually managed to get the whole way through it, but it just wasn't memorable and will now sit in the area "films we will never speak of again".

Looking at the dvds i have watched and not been overly impressed by i have noticed a common theme. All of them proudly boast on the cover that they have been awarded 4 stars and acollades such as "awesome","great" etc by NUTS and/or LOADED. Think i will now use this as an indicator that the movie contain is going to be,lets say,less than brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 21 February, 2011, 07:14:06 PM
Here's to you, House of Usher and Joe Soap
Rest forever here in our hearts
The last and final moment is yours
That agony is your triumph


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Darren Stephens on 21 February, 2011, 08:40:17 PM
I recently watched (or should I say sat through...)a film called 'the Humanoid'. A terrible Star Wars rip off that you just have to see to believe. It was on the SyFy channel, I think. It's also on Youtube. Witness the shitness...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o)  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 21 February, 2011, 09:27:07 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 21 February, 2011, 08:40:17 PM
I recently watched (or should I say sat through...)a film called 'the Humanoid'. A terrible Star Wars rip off that you just have to see to believe. It was on the SyFy channel, I think. It's also on Youtube. Witness the shitness...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o)  :lol:

Was it really on SyFy? It was on the Horror channel the other day, too.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 21 February, 2011, 11:37:55 PM
Burning, the Mogwai live film. Stunning. In fact, I immediately whipped out the plastic and bought a couple of tickets to see them in Manchester this saturday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Darren Stephens on 22 February, 2011, 05:53:52 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 21 February, 2011, 09:27:07 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 21 February, 2011, 08:40:17 PM
I recently watched (or should I say sat through...)a film called 'the Humanoid'. A terrible Star Wars rip off that you just have to see to believe. It was on the SyFy channel, I think. It's also on Youtube. Witness the shitness...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qRFFU4kp7o)  :lol:

Was it really on SyFy? It was on the Horror channel the other day, too.

Regards

Robin
Heh, yeh, might have been the horror channel. Certainly makes sense...it was horrible!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 February, 2011, 08:18:39 AM
When I was 8 I had a school friend who was obsessed with The Humanoid.  Nothing was as good as The Humanoid, not Star Wars, not Raiders, not Close Encounters - The Humanoid was where it was at.  Indeed, there was a distinct suspicion that many of these films might be rip-offs of The Humanoid, chronological evidence be damned.  One of my abiding memories of watching The Black Hole is having him turn to me in the cinema and say "these robots are just copied from The Humanoid".  I of course had never seen The Humanoid, but after a while I was fairly sure that (a). it was a deeply cerebral high-quality adult entertainment and (b). I hated it. 

I blame Galixana.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 February, 2011, 09:23:37 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 21 February, 2011, 11:37:55 PM
Burning, the Mogwai live film. Stunning. In fact, I immediately whipped out the plastic and bought a couple of tickets to see them in Manchester this saturday.

It really is a brilliant film, captures them perfectly. I'm particularly pleased that it's got 'Batcat' on it, I've always thought that song sounds pretty tame on record compared to how apocalyptically incredi-huge it is live. Enjoy the gig!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 22 February, 2011, 01:26:00 PM
Cheers Keef!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 26 February, 2011, 10:06:10 PM
........Inception.

Or did I?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 26 February, 2011, 10:07:55 PM
I'm performing Inception on you right now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 February, 2011, 11:18:48 PM
Fool's Gold, which is a tropical treasure-hunting movie that doesn't have much action, isn't terribly funny, and I don't know about anyone else but for me the leads didn't seem to have much chemistry - in fact the only chemistry seemed to be between two actors playing a father and daughter and the guy playing the father is Donald Sutherland not looking a day over a thousand - but y'know, it was alright - it didn't offend me and came across at worst as aimless and a bit clumsy.
Seems to have been panned something rotten, but I've definately seen worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 27 February, 2011, 01:42:19 AM
LifeForce, man what were my parents thinking letting me watch that on video when i was 8, nightmare city.  Watching it now the young space vampire lass is rather tasty and some decent effects for its time with a suitably apocalyptic story.  Oh and you cant go wrong with PATRICK STEWART in your movie.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 February, 2011, 02:10:58 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 27 February, 2011, 01:42:19 AM
LifeForce, man what were my parents thinking letting me watch that on video when i was 8, nightmare city.  Watching it now the young space vampire lass is rather tasty and some decent effects for its time with a suitably apocalyptic story.  Oh and you cant go wrong with PATRICK STEWART in your movie.

Cu Radbacker

That was Tobe Hooper was it not? I seem to remember it being mentioned in his Masters of Horror doc and thinking I'd like to give it a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 February, 2011, 09:36:34 AM
Absolutely love Lifeforce. Saw it when it came out and it immediately appeared to me to be "Doctor Who, on the big screen, crossed with a 2000AD story, and directed by a pervert.". How could I not love it? Mind you, haven't seen it for twenty years, so who knows what it's like now. I may have to pick up a copy.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 February, 2011, 09:53:48 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 27 February, 2011, 09:36:34 AM
Absolutely love Lifeforce.

Mathilda May certainly appeared to be in possession of a world-class pair of breasts, and the rest of the movie is splendidly silly. Very hard not to like it, TBH.

The wife and I watched Public Enemies last night -- Bale and Depp were excellent. The movie could have been 20 minutes shorter, but really only through some very judicious pruning rather than the wholesale excision of padding, of which there was very little. Also refreshingly short on the orange and teal, although I thought the digital video showed its inferiority to film in a couple of scenes.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: satchmo on 27 February, 2011, 11:02:35 AM
I watched Monsters last night. I watched it again this morning. What an incredible film. I'm about as predisposed to giant monster films as a human can be like  :D but this wasn't what I was expecting at all. Intimate and thoughtful and scary, it's the best film I've seen in ages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 27 February, 2011, 01:45:18 PM
Trolljegeren / Troll Hunter

Absolutely excellent and reminded me of Alpha's time travelling escapade.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 27 February, 2011, 03:42:30 PM
The Road. Not horrible but not quite right. The performances were uniformly good as was the cinematography, but there was something not clicking. Can't quite figure it. Maybe it was the voice overs, maybe too many flashbacks, but it couldn't communicate the drive the book had. Yes the book was dismal but it was a page turner no question.

The Sting. Confessed to my bro I hadn't seen it and he was appalled. A classic for a reason. All charm though I had my doubts while they were setting up Redfords motivation. Robert Shaw did seem to have a sixth sense for getting into good 70's thrillers: The Sting, Jaws, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

First part of Carlos. Its a five and a half hr movie about Carlos the Jackel, a famous terrorist from the seventies. It's been filling in a sense of context for films or books I've enjoyed in the past: The Little Drummer Girl, The political/plotless films of Goddard, Cortazar's Hopscotch, Bolano's Distant Star, One Day in September etc etc. Makes me think Speilberg should have left Munich to a Frenchman. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 February, 2011, 05:14:50 PM
Quote from: Ignatzmonster on 27 February, 2011, 03:42:30 PM
The Road. Not horrible but not quite right. The performances were uniformly good as was the cinematography, but there was something not clicking. Can't quite figure it. Maybe it was the voice overs, maybe too many flashbacks, but it couldn't communicate the drive the book had. Yes the book was dismal but it was a page turner no question.

I just saw that recently. I think my response is the same. I did like it, but it certainly wasn't a favourite.

I also found myself (perhaps unjustly) annoyed at the wife/mother from the flashbacks. [spoiler]She seemed selfish. She might have gone outside because she felt the others would have more chance of surviving but that didn't seem to be the impression. It looked like she just gave up. Of course that's easy for me to say, not being in her situation, but  I just felt she should have fought more.

I mean, I didn't entirely like the man's hard heartedness at times, but I understood where he was coming from and why he would act like that, and his son was at least a softening influence, but I found her hard to empathize with. [/spoiler]

I don't think that's what I dislike about the film as a whole though, as such people do exist and we don't have to like every character in a film to enjoy it (which to be fair, I largely did).

Quote from: Radbacker on 27 February, 2011, 01:42:19 AM
LifeForce, man what were my parents thinking letting me watch that on video when i was 8, nightmare city.  Watching it now the young space vampire lass is rather tasty and some decent effects for its time with a suitably apocalyptic story. 

LifeForce! I've seen it a couple of times (although I'm not sure I've seen it all the way through) but I can't remember all that much except the space vampire lass wandering around through a large portion of the film in the noddy. Trust my one trek mind...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 February, 2011, 05:25:50 PM
Was at Frightfest this weekend, so....(deep breath)

Little Deaths - 3 short stories, all with a bit of a kinky side. They were all pretty decent, little terror tale type affairs, with more cock and spunk than I'm used to seeing outside of specialist cinema.

I Saw The Devil - Was a bit blown away by this. Is about 20 minutes too long, which could easily have been fixed, but it's a really nice spin on the serial killer cat and mouse game in that it's about a cop out for revenge who torments a serial killer. Very violent and very, very funny in places. It's got that chap from Oldboy in it but even without that connection it would sit very nicely alongside the Mr Vengeance/Oldboy/Lady Vengeance movies.

Machete Maidens Unleashed - Doc about Filipino-shot exploitation movies. It's by the guy who made 'Not Quite Hollywood' (a doc about Australian exploitation movies) and is perhaps even more entertaining. It's snappy, funny and has some great talking heads from John Landis, Joe Dante and Sid Haig.

Rubber - Absolutely brilliant, and easily ten times more bonkers and surreal than the trailer makes out. The fact that it's about a psychic, head exploding evil tyre and that's one of the least odd things about it is commendable. Really unique and funny stuff.

Territories - Apparently this is getting renamed 'Checkpoint' when it gets a release, which isn't as good a title for it imo. It's a really powerful film, which manages to cover the horror of a Guatanamo Bay type situation without actually going for torture porn levels of gore. The torture is far more mental, and it's a pretty upsetting downer of a movie. Hard to forget.

The Shrine - Didn't think I was going to like this one, about half an hour in the dodgy exposition and cheap tv-film look had turned me off, but it turns out to have some really good ideas up it's sleeve, even if it doesn't quite have the budget or the directorial flair to do them justice. Basically a variation on the 'evil small town cult' movie, I ended up really enjoying this.

Mother's Day - Thought this would stink up the place, as it was the most mainstream-looking movie shown. It's got some recognizable faces and has that Hollywood gloss to it, but is actually pretty nasty in places. It's one of those old school home invasion movies where some innocent folks having a party find some fugitives descending on them and forcing them into all kinds of horribleness. The worst movie of the weekend, but given that it was actually alright shows how strong the fest was this year. It's also got Deborah Ann Woll in it from True Blood, who I could look at until my eyes stopped working. And they might.

Hobo With A Shotgun - Fucking brilliant. It's the grindhouse, Planet Terror deal, but made with a genuinely low budget and a hell of a lot of love and energy. It's really, really funny, and Rutger Hauer plays it brilliantly. It reminded me a lot of Troma films at their manic best, a really exhilaratingly crazy movie. The director seems a nice chap too, he suggested we all took off our shoes and trousers to watch it. No-one did, but like a trooper he took off his anyway. I'll be buying this when it gets a release, instant classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 27 February, 2011, 06:49:55 PM
Kick-Ass.

Christ knows why it took me so long to watch it.

No idea how similar it is to Millar's comic - I don't really have much interest in his comic work since some of the shit he served up on 2000AD - but I might check it out after this.

Absolutely delirious ultra-violent genius. Loved it!

Although obviously, it would only be about 65% as good without Hit Girl.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JUDGE BURNS on 27 February, 2011, 06:53:58 PM


The wife and I watched HOT FUZZ last night .....brilliant funny film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 27 February, 2011, 07:44:46 PM
I've watched more films in the last week than the  year previously I reckon.

Including: The Spider Woman   Probs the best of the Rathbone Holmes that I've watched so far. At least he Universal ones.)

All Quiet On The Western Front which took me a little whie to settle into early style with the overacting and strange cuts - I'm a philistine I know - but yo can't help but be sucked in and moved by it)

Race To Witch Mountain. The new one with The Rock. Thought the kids were good and the denoument was surprisingly violent for a Disney movie. Carla Gugino sadly seems to be starting to show her age.

Last One I watched though as The Strangers, this very afternoon. Nicely creepy in places and quite gruelling to watch in the last 10 minutes or so but I was kinda pulled out of the moment by the fact that the villains seem to have taken it upon themselves to change Liv Tylers outfit between [spoiler]knocking her out [/spoiler] and [spoiler]tieing her to the chair.[/spoiler]  Enjoyed it over all though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 February, 2011, 07:45:14 PM
I think I'm in a minority of people who preferred the film to the book of The Road. The book was good, and a page-turner as Ignatz said, but I simply didn't get the emotional charge from it which so many did while the film I did find very affecting. I actually thought the flashback scenes to the wife added poignancy to The Man's (NB my biggest problem with the book is that I have a real dislike of works where the characters are only referred to by deliberately-distancing-but-supposedly-universal and portentous soubriquets) situation and showed another approach to the situation they find themselves in.

I think they've both given up, but she decides she can't live when there is no hope and the only purpose is to delay the inevitable whereas he can even if there is no point. I don't think either way was really preferable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 February, 2011, 08:02:04 PM
Quote from: Paul faplad Finch on 27 February, 2011, 07:44:46 PM
All Quiet On The Western Front which took me a little whie to settle into early style with the overacting and strange cuts - I'm a philistine I know - but yo can't help but be sucked in and moved by it)

I think we all acknowledged this as being an issue with the film -- you absolutely have to accept it as a product of its time, but I think the bare decade between the end of the war and the film being made brings it a certain amount of immediacy that a more recent production would (and, indeed, did) lack.

There are a thousand and one things a modern film maker would choose, possibly rightly, to do differently, but the mud, the machine gun pan, the hands on the wire... there's real power here.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 27 February, 2011, 08:23:38 PM
Oh absolutely. I think it was only really the very early sections,in the schoolroom and training barracks, that caused me any problems (the schoolroom especially, with the teachers naive but patriotic rant).

Once Paul and co reached the front you'd need to be dead inside not to be able to overlook those - I almost typed flaws but not even that really, just products of the time.

It's just a shame that I know most people of my acquaintance wouldn't even sit down to try. The fact that it's b/w would be enough to put most of them off.

   
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 27 February, 2011, 08:53:49 PM
QuoteLast One I watched though as The Strangers, this very afternoon. Nicely creepy in places and quite gruelling to watch in the last 10 minutes or so but I was kinda pulled out of the moment by the fact that the villains seem to have taken it upon themselves to change Liv Tylers outfit between knocking her out and tieing her to the chair.  Enjoyed it over all though.

Based on the French/Romanian film is saw on Film 4 last night. Which itself is based on a true story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 February, 2011, 09:02:57 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 27 February, 2011, 08:53:49 PM
QuoteLast One I watched though as The Strangers, this very afternoon. Nicely creepy in places and quite gruelling to watch in the last 10 minutes or so but I was kinda pulled out of the moment by the fact that the villains seem to have taken it upon themselves to change Liv Tylers outfit between knocking her out and tieing her to the chair.  Enjoyed it over all though.

Based on the French/Romanian film is saw on Film 4 last night. Which itself is based on a true story.

Is that 'Them'? I remember seeing the trailer for 'The Strangers' and thinking it looked really similar, but didn't think it was actually based on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 27 February, 2011, 10:03:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 27 February, 2011, 09:02:57 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 27 February, 2011, 08:53:49 PM
QuoteLast One I watched though as The Strangers, this very afternoon. Nicely creepy in places and quite gruelling to watch in the last 10 minutes or so but I was kinda pulled out of the moment by the fact that the villains seem to have taken it upon themselves to change Liv Tylers outfit between knocking her out and tieing her to the chair.  Enjoyed it over all though.

Based on the French/Romanian film is saw on Film 4 last night. Which itself is based on a true story.



Is that 'Them'? I remember seeing the trailer for 'The Strangers' and thinking it looked really similar, but didn't think it was actually based on it.

Yes, 'Them' or 'Ils' as it's known as. It is quite a well made, harrowing portrait. Sorry about disregarding those spoilers.:-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 February, 2011, 10:18:31 PM
Human Centipede. As the person who lent it to me put it: "Why? Why would anyone make this?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 27 February, 2011, 10:33:08 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 27 February, 2011, 10:18:31 PM
Human Centipede. As the person who lent it to me put it: "Why? Why would anyone make this?"

That's on syfy this week, twice  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 February, 2011, 11:21:02 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 27 February, 2011, 10:33:08 PM
That's on syfy this week, twice  :D

Heh. I saw it advertised. I'm wondering if I should watch it. It comes across as a really sick idea... but its likely the type of thing to make me chuckle. Puerille, warped person that I am.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 28 February, 2011, 03:27:06 AM
While the wife and I were watching The Sting I made the pointless comment, "Fuckin' Robert Shaw was a legend." To which she asked what else he'd been in, and I ended up discovering she'd never seen Jaws. So guess what we watched for breakfast? Her screaming and spilling tea all over herself did my husbandly heart proud.

Have to say Robert Shaw wasn't the only legend in that pic. Always thought Roy Scheider was criminally underated as an actor. Take for instance his delivery of one of the best comebacks in film history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSo5fNkNKlw  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSo5fNkNKlw)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 February, 2011, 09:08:15 AM
The human centipede is brilliant. It's not peurile, or 'so bad its good', it's an amazing little horror film, with an astonishing central performance from deiter laser, a shockingly nasty conceit, a lot of interesting things to say, and a hell of a bitter aftertaste. It's not "torture porn", it's like something hammer amicus or tigon might have made, if censorship had been different. It's utterly glorious, and by far my favourite horror film of the last few years.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 28 February, 2011, 01:19:30 PM
Yes! Everyone should see the Human Centipede. You know, if you want to. Pretty much what SBT said.

More recently, just watched Splice. Another splendid (slightly emo) Adrien Brody performance, with some really creepy genetic engineering stuff. Exec produced by Guillermo Del Toro, which showed more than I thought it should really, was reminded a lot of the "eyes on hands" creature from Pan's Labyrinth, as well as something spoilery so I won't say what that was.

Pretty good, not brilliant, definitely very creepy. Also a bit Cronenbergish I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 28 February, 2011, 03:47:12 PM
Hancock... liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 February, 2011, 05:41:39 PM
I went to see Animal Kingdom, an Aussie crime film about a family of MURDEROUS THUGS. I thought it was really good, even better than Winter's Bone or Un Prophete.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 February, 2011, 07:56:52 PM
I watched 'Thirst' today, which was really good. I did get a bit bored at points mind you, but I think when the last movie you watched was 'Hobo With A Shotgun', going to something like this next is a huge change of pace. I liked the humor, and despite not liking the characters a great deal I still found myself very touched by the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 28 February, 2011, 08:36:15 PM
Watched Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey with the son yesterday and we both enjoyed it, Robbie got a bit scared when they were sent to hell.
It has been well over 15 years since I last watched this.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 28 February, 2011, 11:23:00 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 28 February, 2011, 05:41:39 PM
I went to see Animal Kingdom, an Aussie crime film about a family of MURDEROUS THUGS. I thought it was really good, even better than Winter's Bone or Un Prophete.

That's one good recommendation. Wanted to see it the second I heard about it. My kind of monster movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 March, 2011, 09:27:20 PM
True Grit. What was that -- an hour and forty-five? Definitely not twenty minutes too long. Quite splendid; a real sense of desolation and wildness, in both the landscape and the people, a pleasing undercurrent of character-based humour punctuated by bursts of unglamorous violence and the inevitable sense of an age passing.

"I have grown old."

Indeed.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 01 March, 2011, 10:05:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 01 March, 2011, 09:27:20 PM
True Grit. What was that -- an hour and forty-five? Definitely not twenty minutes too long. Quite splendid; a real sense of desolation and wildness, in both the landscape and the people, a pleasing undercurrent of character-based humour punctuated by bursts of unglamorous violence and the inevitable sense of an age passing.

"I have grown old."


Thanks Jim. With so many of my fellow boarders were speaking of True Grit dismissively I was starting to think I was the only one who liked it. Didn't think it was so-so either. Thought it was fuckin' brilliant. Oh well, I championed Big Lebowski when it came out to a muttering of "meh"s. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 March, 2011, 10:10:27 PM
We live 75 miles from the nearest cinema, so go rarely- but we made the trip to see True Grit last week, and boy was it worth it.

Just watched A Mighty Wind, which I haven't seen in years. It is magnificent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 March, 2011, 08:20:09 PM
The X-Files (second movie)

It didn't strike me as very good. To be fair, being at a friend's house I did miss some bits though, but I don't think my assessment will be changed.  The main story elements weren't that bad though. If they'd removed the fluff and corny stuff and shrunk it down it would have made a decent episode. Not that they're making those any more, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Oh and The Human Centipede is on tonight at 9 on the Syfy channel.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 March, 2011, 08:26:24 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 02 March, 2011, 08:20:09 PM
Oh and The Human Centipede is on tonight at 9 on the Syfy channel.

Scratch that. It's on at 10pm. (Sorry for repeat post, I timed out before noticing my error.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2011, 08:51:46 PM
I wasn't keen on that X-Files movie either, it struck me that even if it had been an episode it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable or noteworthy one. Seemed really strange that given the one-off chance to do another slice of X-Files they went with that story. It did reawaken some Scully emotions though. Mmmmmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mrpepperami on 02 March, 2011, 11:36:00 PM
Watched double bill of true grit and then drive angry 3d afterwards. True grit was superb although thought the ending was slightly sloppy. Drive angry I think was total shit but also enjoyed it as it knew it was and went with it( if that makes sense). Girl in was really fit as well which probably helped offset watching nic cages' gurning mug for 2 hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 03 March, 2011, 12:04:55 AM
Late to the party I know but I just saw 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' at the cinema. Absolutely fucking brilliant. Noomi Rapace is a real turn up for the books as Lisbeth and the whole thing was filmed in those wonderful washed out Swedish tones I love so much from Wallander, (the Swedish one, not that Brannagh bollocks). Not surprising when it was made by the same people, Yellowbird. Must see the other two now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 03 March, 2011, 08:05:51 AM
If yo can Kerrin, see them as  a double bill because the second one is slow with no definite end - very much a to be continued.

Worth persevering with though as all the threads come together in the third which is almost as good as the first
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 March, 2011, 02:16:55 PM
Finally picked up a copy of Big Man Japan after seeing a clips here yonks ago. Brilliantly bonkers - bizarre monsters, great fights, and the between-fight interview bits were much funnier than I expected; but the last ten minutes - WTF was that? Can anyone explain that dreadful ending to me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 March, 2011, 03:55:59 PM
Went to see The King's Speech yesterday - wasn't too fussed about going, but my girlfriend was very keen. Really liked it, much to my surprise. Extremely well made film, with great performances throughout. A shameless crowd-pleaser through and through, but a charming film - I'm glad it has done so well.

When we got in we watched Thank You For Smoking, which I picked up for £1.50 on PlayTrade the other day. It's a black comedy about the tobacco industry with a top notch cast featuring Aaron Eckhart, William H Macy and - JK Simmons, who seems to be in every other film I watch these days (but he's so cool I don't mind!).

We both really liked it - it's actually broadly similar to Jason Reitman's other movie Up in the Air, but a little less accomplished. Still great though, and very much recommended. Again - central to my enjoyment of it was that it clocks in at under 90 mins, which just zips by.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 March, 2011, 04:23:12 PM
Last night we watched (I'd seen them, my mate hadn't) Doomsday and The Orphanage.

I was actually pretty rough on Doomsday when I saw it in the cinema, but watching it with a pizza in good company I actually enjoyed it a lot this time. It's ripping off Escape From New York, Aliens, Mad Max 2 and Gladiator, but it's not shy about it and just managing to combine all that stuff is pretty impressive. And Rhona Mitra is quite something.

And The Orphanage is still one of the best horror movies of the last few years, brilliantly creepy and with a fair bit of emotional substance in there too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 06 March, 2011, 05:34:06 PM
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Insane but fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 06 March, 2011, 07:17:00 PM
The Adjustment Bureau. More like The Adjust-MEH-nt Bureau, amirite fellas?


Seriously though, this would have been a lot better off as a low-budget comedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2011, 07:31:29 PM
Bram Stoker's Dracula. The frankie Coppola version, which i listened to more than watched as my service users put it on this afternoon. Despite its obvious keanu, winona and hopkins-shaped flaws, i cant help loving it. Nearly twenty years old (which means reeves is twenty years closer to retirement, yay!) but it's still the best vampire movie since, oh i dunno, Scars of Dracula, he says arbitrarily.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 06 March, 2011, 08:47:16 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2011, 07:31:29 PM
Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I still have the comic adaptation of that featuring art by Mike Mignola.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2011, 08:49:21 PM
So do i, along with the little plastic bags they came in, and the trading cards. Although, thinking about it, i may have sent them to locusts for his war effort.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2011, 08:54:11 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2011, 07:31:29 PM
Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I love that movie, hopeless garish noisy mess that it is.  In my mind it captures the same level of OTT gothic romance that the original must have had at the time. And like a positron meeting an electron, Tom cancels out Keanu in an energetic burst of boobs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 06 March, 2011, 10:42:42 PM
Me and the missus watched The Human Centipede tonight, Karen fast forwarded quite a few bits of it but we still managed to reach the end. Still unsure what I make of it.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 March, 2011, 11:00:50 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 06 March, 2011, 07:17:00 PM
The Adjustment Bureau. More like The Adjust-MEH-nt Bureau, amirite fellas?


Seriously though, this would have been a lot better off as a low-budget comedy.


Not a romantic bone in your body, even the semi-floppy one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 March, 2011, 11:07:15 PM
Tron: Legacy ... which, I have to say, I didn't think sucked as badly as the reception it received here led me to expect. Perhaps having my expectations pre-lowered accounts for this, but there seemed to be enough plot to carry me through two hours, and a couple of times I found myself thinking: this is something I genuinely I haven't seen before... parts of the Light Cycle sequence and particularly [spoiler]the dog fight sequence at the end, combining with the soundtrack into something remarkable and unusual beauty.[/spoiler]

Digital Flynn didn't bother me as much as some, either. Rather, digital Flynn did and I wish they'd found another way to do those sequences. The slightly unnerving edge of unreality the CGI conferred on CLU, however, seemed entirely appropriate.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 March, 2011, 11:31:18 PM
Dark City.
Watched this with a mate of mine, who despite being a huge film buff, had suprisingly never seen it.
I haven't watched this since it first came out to rent. Bloody good fun. Much superior to its contemporary The Matrix. I like its style.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 07 March, 2011, 01:07:47 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 06 March, 2011, 10:42:42 PM
Me and the missus watched The Human Centipede tonight, Karen fast forwarded quite a few bits of it but we still managed to reach the end. Still unsure what I make of it.


V

I watched this the other night. Wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Think it was relatively well done, though the acting by the two girls was atrocious. Not that good acting is what you come to a movie like this expecting to see. The guy who played the doctor was pretty good though, as was the Japanese guy. Some terribly frustrating horror-movie cliches though - [spoiler]the main girl had a perfectly good opportunity to escape and go for help after getting out of the pool and she blew it by going back to try and bring her buddy with her , and why the Japanese dude didn't just kill the bastard when he had the chance instead of leaving him alive with the knife stuck in his leg I don't know... If I'd just gone through everything he had and had a chain of chicks stitched to my asshole, I wouldn't have hesitated to slice the fuckers throat!![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 07 March, 2011, 02:12:52 PM
Watched INCEPTION on Saturday night.

Very average.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 March, 2011, 05:36:31 PM
Quote from: Buddy (previusly Uncle Umpty) on 07 March, 2011, 02:12:52 PM
Watched INCEPTION on Saturday night.

Very average.


In what way average, what would you measure it too?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: davethomson on 07 March, 2011, 05:50:11 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 03 March, 2011, 02:16:55 PM
Finally picked up a copy of Big Man Japan after seeing a clips here yonks ago. Brilliantly bonkers - bizarre monsters, great fights, and the between-fight interview bits were much funnier than I expected; but the last ten minutes - WTF was that? Can anyone explain that dreadful ending to me?

I saw the film a few nights ago thanks to you reminding me about it. I had heard about it ages ago and then totally forgot about it. I agree that it was excellent.

The ending (as far as I can tell) is a piss take of Ultraman, a very popular series in Japan that never made it out to the wider world apart from a SNES game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 07 March, 2011, 06:07:46 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 March, 2011, 05:36:31 PM
Quote from: Buddy (previusly Uncle Umpty) on 07 March, 2011, 02:12:52 PM
Watched INCEPTION on Saturday night.

Very average.


In what way average, what would you measure it too?

Very average in that I was expecting a powerful psychological thriller full of twists and turns with the whole dream within a dream... is what I'm watching a dream or reality kinda thing.

What I got was a reasonably straightforward thriller in which they 'traveled' to various 'levels' of dreams to reach their goal with each dream level having it's one wee set piece (a freight train traveling up the city street, the zero G corridor fight... the James Bond like attack on the fortress).

I don't think it's a bad film at all. Just not as good as I was expecting after all the praise that had been heaped on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 March, 2011, 06:37:35 PM
Rango- went to see it with the children having no idea what it was about- I only knew that Depp did a voice.
Bloody incredible. Astounding animation and a cracking script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 07 March, 2011, 10:56:35 PM
The rutles.. Classic..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 10 March, 2011, 12:07:49 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 07 March, 2011, 06:37:35 PM
Rango- went to see it with the children having no idea what it was about- I only knew that Depp did a voice.
Bloody incredible. Astounding animation and a cracking script.

I concur yer Lordship. Incredible animation and great fun. Loads of little film references and Depp is superbly funny. The textures, realism and lighting in this are a new level for what I've seen. There's a beautiful moonlit desert shot where I honestly couldn't tell if it was film or CGI. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SMOKESCREEN:ED:9 on 10 March, 2011, 12:58:34 AM
UM BUNGO! the musical...Laconic. :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 March, 2011, 02:25:15 PM
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Now, I'm remarkably tolerant of put-your-brain-in-neutral-and-watch-stuff-go-BOOOOOM movies, but that was fucking rubbish.

Mind you, I'd stopped reading comics when they introduced the whole "bone claws" thing, the brain-melting idiocy of which still stops me short every time.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 March, 2011, 04:00:15 PM
I think you're being overly harsh, Jim.  Wolverine goes through hundreds of years of life without ever having to bend his wrists - once you accept this, and that he has those same muscles the rest of us have that make things extend/retract from our arms, the film makes perfect sense.  I'm also pretty sure that the US government has already developed a magic amnesia bullet, too.  And that the human brain actually does heal itself.  And that if you hit an 'impenetrable' metal with another bit of impenetrable metal one bit will pierce the other - that's just common sense.
Gymkommentary do a great Wolverine 'director's commentary' that veers between disbelief at the levels of stupidity on show and outright admiration for it, and it's very friendly to the comics buff.

Tron: Legacy.  Pretty good atmosphere, but Tron himself was hardly in it [spoiler](Rizler not counting in my book)[/spoiler] and her off House was a singularly useless action hero to the point it detracted from enjoyment.  Liked the end, too, [spoiler]which thwarted expectations of the usual hero/villain pagga, though I suspect this had more to do with technical limitations than design.[/spoiler]

The Day After, which is one of Steve Guttenberg's funnier films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2011, 06:53:47 PM
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which was recommended to me by my mum. There were several points where I felt awkward just knowing she'd watched it though, pretty brutal in places! Very good film though, and I have to say I fell a bit in love with the lead actress. Will definitely be watching the other two asap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 14 March, 2011, 02:41:11 AM
Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of he Dawn Treader.  servicable fantsy guff but not outstanding (pretty much like all the Narnian movies so far) think it erred a bit too much on the whole christian anolagy thing at the end when Aslan just basicly says he's known by another name (God, Jesus?) in our world. I know the books have a whole christian thing goign on in them but is it ever specificaly stated?

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 14 March, 2011, 08:19:01 AM
Young Frankenstein. So familiar, it's like a comfort blanket.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 March, 2011, 10:36:53 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 14 March, 2011, 02:41:11 AM
think it erred a bit too much on the whole christian anolagy thing at the end when Aslan just basicly says he's known by another name (God, Jesus?) in our world. I know the books have a whole christian thing goign on in them but is it ever specificaly stated?

He says a similar thing at the end of the book too, although he doesn't mention Jesus by name. I think he adds something along the lines 'you will have to travel across a wide river to find me'. That's off the to top of my head, and I read the book a long time ago. In fact Dawn Treader was the first of the Narnia books that I read.  It's the only place where it's that explicit I think. (Well apart from the obvious death and resurrection in the first story.)

I've yet to see the film, but I get the impression it's a major departure from the book otherwise, ([spoiler]doesn't the White Witch feature in the film? I think I spotted her in the trailer,[/spoiler] Heh.) so it's interesting that they left that bit in.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 March, 2011, 10:47:29 AM
Jurassic Park: The Lost World (the watered down ITV2 edit) - which reminded me what a piss-poor sequel it is to the wonderful original. Though it does at least have some effective action sequences and it's still better than the truly awful JP3.

The problems with it jump out much more now that I'm a bit older - what the hell were they thinking when they dreamt up the silly ending? It makes literally no sense whatsoever  (who or killed the people on the boat?) and just seems like a desperately tacked-on and contrived way of getting to see a T Rex run amok in a city - presumably to try and compete with the 1997 Godzilla movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 March, 2011, 11:23:32 AM
heh, yeah I watched that last night too. It's amazing how after the boat crew are slaughtered by a giant T-rex (which then puts iteslf conveniently back into it's cargo hold), the boat continues to steer itself precisely onto the very pier it was heading for. That was some pretty accurate course-plotting there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 March, 2011, 12:05:29 PM
I think they were killed by Velociraptors that stowed away and then jumped ship afterwards. Duh. Been thinking lately of reading the first novel again, that was brilliant.

We watched Salt last night. It wasn't my pick, and I thought it would be awful. It is pretty bad, but alright for a bit of mindless sub-Bourne fun on a Sunday night. It's unintentionally very funny in places too thanks to some ludicrous ideas that should never have got off the drawing board (particularly chuckleworthy is where [spoiler]Angelina Jolie puts on a rubber face, fake eyebrows and a Tom Cruise wig in one of the least convincing disguises in movie history[/spoiler]. Biggest problem isn't the mental plotting but the fact the action scenes show no directorial flair or dynamism at all. A bit like watching a fight scene in a tv show or something. There's a ton of really obvious wire-work too, it seems like anytime she takes a step she's assisted by a full wire-fu team. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 March, 2011, 12:21:20 PM
I Googled it and came across a hilariously in-depth and far-fetched discussion on a Jurassic Park fan site, where the consensus seemed to be that the T Rex killed them all, but a few survivors managed to lure it back into the cargo hold before succumbing to their injuries.

I think also that someone seriously posits Keef's theory, that raptors stowed aboard, killed everyone, then jumped off the ship!

Weirdly, no-one suggests that it's simply because the script is a plot-hole laden, lazy rush job.


I remember really enjoying the original Crichton novel too - in fact it may have been the first 'proper' book I ever read from start to finish. ISTR that loads of chapters in it were rather shamelessly repurposed into the movies of The Lost World and JP3, like the girl on the beach being attacked by the little dinos, the Pterodactyl aviary and the T Rex/waterfall scene - perhaps even the Allosaurus chase too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 14 March, 2011, 12:57:01 PM
Paranormal Activity 2....was okay, I guess, though a bit of a damp squib.
Had a couple of freaky moments but overall seemed to lack as much punch as the first, which was genuinely frightening. I didn't really like the way they tried to 'explain' the reason behind what was happening, and what that reason was. Think it works better when there is no reason, you don't know why its happening, it just IS.
Still, the addition of the dog and child made for a couple of tense scenes so it wasnt a waste of time and was a good enough watch.

Also watched Yogi Bear with the kids. God that was dire. Even for a kids movie, its target age range didn't extend past 4 or 5 years old, it was nothing more than pre-school fare. My two boys got bored and went to bed, and even they are only 3 and 4 years old! I watched it for Anna Faris, who is usually great in stuff, but even she couldn't save this. The Scooby Doo live action movies, as derided as they were, are ten times better than this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 March, 2011, 01:36:24 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 14 March, 2011, 12:57:01 PM
Also watched Yogi Bear with the kids. God that was dire. Even for a kids movie, its target age range didn't extend past 4 or 5 years old, it was nothing more than pre-school fare. My two boys got bored and went to bed, and even they are only 3 and 4 years old! I watched it for Anna Faris, who is usually great in stuff, but even she couldn't save this. The Scooby Doo live action movies, as derided as they were, are ten times better than this.

search for "Booboo kills yogi" on youtube (can't find link as I'm at work just now) - and then show THAT to the kids. They'll probably cheer!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 14 March, 2011, 03:44:45 PM
On Sunday I watched, (yet again,) The remake of The Time Machine starring Guy Pearce - fantastic film, perfect Sunday viewing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 March, 2011, 04:25:49 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 14 March, 2011, 12:57:01 PMAlso watched Yogi Bear with the kids. God that was dire. Even for a kids movie, its target age range didn't extend past 4 or 5 years old, it was nothing more than pre-school fare.

"I demand my money back!  I expected more from a film about talking bears voiced by Dan Akroyd and Justin 'The American Robbie Williams' Timberlake!"
See also: "I expected more of a remake of a 1980s television show featuring a talking car driven by David Hasselhoff" and "I didn't expect that movie based on the A-Team to be so silly."

Seriously, I can't tell you how low my expectations were going in to Yogi Bear (I had resolved to see it because of my hastily-conceived New year Resolution to see all movies that I know to feature bears), but it was pretty much what I expected apart from not recognizing Anna Farris until about halfway through.  Nowt against the woman, I think what she's doing with her career - picking the most horrendously unfunny project she can and then starring in it so she acts as a sort of human signpost so I can avoid it - is very noble, a bit like that priest who insisted on being shot by Nazis because Jesus was Jewish.  Kids loved it, all the same.  Guess it's a bit like Where the Wild Things Are, where enjoyment differs upon gender and age of the audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 March, 2011, 08:43:33 PM
I quite like JP3. It's just one great big chase used as an excuse to get cool dinosaurs on screen. And has a great Barney gag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 March, 2011, 08:49:42 PM
Saw Battle: Los Angeles this evening. Expectations were low but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheesy, formulaic and explodey. It was like a fun version of Independence Day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mrpepperami on 14 March, 2011, 08:50:33 PM
Watched taken on channel 4. Plot was terrible but was good mindless action. The girl was played the 17 year old daughter completely overacted the role. At the start in the cafe running to her dad like a goofy 13 year old. Don't know about you guys but the 17 year old  I see dont wanna be seen dead with their parents and are too adult for their own good. Also what happened to luv besson? He only writes mindless pap now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 March, 2011, 09:37:39 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 14 March, 2011, 08:49:42 PM
Saw Battle: Los Angeles this evening. Expectations were low but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheesy, formulaic and explodey. It was like a fun version of Independence Day.

Good to hear, I like the look of that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 March, 2011, 09:43:01 PM
"Arn: Knight Templar." Based on a trilogy I've never read by a writer I've never heard of, but really rather good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 March, 2011, 01:08:51 AM
Quote from: Mrpepperami on 14 March, 2011, 08:50:33 PM
Also what happened to luc besson? He only writes mindless pap now.
Well, to be fair, even his best stuff was always supremely stylish pap, he's written or produced half the most fun B movies of the last ten years and his most recent effort looks like a lot of fun although it's only really played at the odd arthouse cinema over here:

Adele Blanc-Sec (http://www.adeleblancsec-lefilm.com/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 March, 2011, 09:08:19 AM
I (tried to) read the first few Tardi Blanc-Sec books years ago, they were great - must try to see the film.  Trailer has the most gratuitous booby shot in the history of cinema, but it was anticipated and much appreciated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2011, 12:40:12 PM
I quite enjoyed taken.  There was a nice simplicity and brutality about it that gets obscured in a lot of movies.  And compare and contrast it's depiction of the mechanics that support prostitution to that seen in most Hollywood movies.


Caught most of I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY.  Still trying to figure out who it offended most.  (Not previously a fan of almond faced  Jessica Biel but she is awesomely hot in this)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 March, 2011, 01:02:17 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2011, 12:40:12 PM
I quite enjoyed taken.  There was a nice simplicity and brutality about it that gets obscured in a lot of movies.  And compare and contrast it's depiction of the mechanics that support prostitution to that seen in most Hollywood movies.


Caught most of I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY.  Still trying to figure out who it offended most.  (Not previously a fan of almond faced  Jessica Biel but she is awesomely hot in this)

I've never seen it, but I remember the tv spot playing a lot around it's release. I'd just had a bit of an operation so had to refrain from certain activities for a couple of months, and the sight of Jessica Biel's arse constantly appearing on tv was a torment like no other. Too much information?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 15 March, 2011, 03:03:03 PM
Carlos Parts Two and Three: Finally got to finish this on break. Long as it is, I do suggest it. Illuminating but never boring. Part three should be called Aaaaand Shit Does Not Go Well. I spent a great deal of time talking at the movie. The three things I said the most were, "Holy Shit!" "Are you kidding me!?" and the most frequent, "Well what the fuck did you expect?"

A Single Man: Good melancholy movie. You can tell the director is a fashion designer and an OCD sufferer.

The Thing: Love this movie but hadn't seen it in over a decade and the wife had never seen it. When the wife asked worriedly during the opening sequence if the dog was going to live I had the pleasure of saying "Baby the dogs going to be just fine." Oh the looks of hate I got later. So worth it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2011, 04:28:14 PM
QuoteI'd just had a bit of an operation so had to refrain from certain activities for a couple of months, and the sight of Jessica Biel's arse constantly appearing on tv was a torment like no other. Too much information?

Certainly understand.  I was in a similar situation and thought I'd be safe watching gritty death row drama MONSTERS BALL.  It cost me six stitches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mangamax on 15 March, 2011, 05:17:57 PM
Saw "Battle Los Angeles" yesterday. It was okay in a turn-your-brain-off way and the effects were good.
But could've done without all the gungho BS, the constant jerky camera motion and, yet again, Michelle Rodriguez alternating between blankface and scowlface.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 15 March, 2011, 05:29:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2011, 04:28:14 PM
QuoteI'd just had a bit of an operation so had to refrain from certain activities for a couple of months, and the sight of Jessica Biel's arse constantly appearing on tv was a torment like no other. Too much information?

Certainly understand.  I was in a similar situation and thought I'd be safe watching gritty death row drama MONSTERS BALL.  It cost me six stitches.


Don't watch 'Pirahna'
Not for a while yet, & defo take the 3d glasses off

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 March, 2011, 08:57:52 PM
Ouch Tips, I'm squirming in sympathy! I'm happy to say it was a while back, I can look at all the boobs and bums I like now. And I do.

And do get back on-topic (and to spare me embarrassing myself further), Biel is lovely. She might be the reason I even enjoyed Blade Trinity (I fear I've just embarrassed myself again).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 15 March, 2011, 10:00:12 PM
The Book of Eli.
Good story, a few ridiculous moments, some good actors involved and always a pleasure to see Tom Waits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 March, 2011, 10:19:27 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 March, 2011, 08:57:52 PM
And do get back on-topic

That should have read to get back on topic. Otherwise it looks like I'm telling you off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 March, 2011, 10:54:21 PM
Battle: Los Angeles - given my review of it's main competition can be summed as "Fuck Skyline in the ass", I wasn't going to need much from this beyond that I leave the cinema without the overpowering need to punch the makers in the face, and while it delivered on that front there's still a good old-fashioned gung-ho action movie about Our Boys giving it to the space-Nazis to be enjoyed if you can make it past the Fucking Omnipresent And Inappropriate Shakycam that reduces action scenes to visual noise where you simply have to wait until it's all done or wait for audio clues to figure out who's winning or who bought the farm.  I enjoyed B:LA, but from now on I'm not paying a penny to see anything with shaky camerawork.  I'm past "over it" and now onto "detracts from enjoyment to the point I can do without anything that features it."

Otherwise, good matinee or pre-pub entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 15 March, 2011, 11:00:14 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2011, 04:28:14 PM
Certainly understand.  I was in a similar situation and thought I'd be safe watching gritty death row drama MONSTERS BALL.  It cost me six stitches.

Did you have a monster's ball afterwards?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2011, 12:30:06 PM
I don't understand why so few people can manage to do shakycam correctly?

It's been around for donkeys and there are fantastic mainstream examples of how much you can get away with while still allowing the viewer to figure out what is going on. (I thought "Saving Private Ryan" was a great use).


Is BATTLE: LA suitable for a birthday party of 11 year old boys? Or will they end up too confused?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2011, 01:20:17 PM
There's only one f-bomb that I can recall and not much in the way of gore beyond seeing alien innards.

Shakycam at this point isn't being used for contextual effect, it's being used because everyone else is using it, a bit like slo-motion panning around something in the foreground or jumping towards the camera while something blows up in the background.  For a good few minutes at the start of BLA it looks suspiciously like a Found Footage movie is gearing up, but it's just the overuse of shakycam to film scenes like some guys drinking beer, someone running along a beach, and in possibly the worst moment, two middle-aged men sitting at a desk talking in a laid-back fashion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 16 March, 2011, 01:21:45 PM
Quote from: Mangamax on 15 March, 2011, 05:17:57 PM
Saw "Battle Los Angeles" yesterday. It was okay in a turn-your-brain-off way and the effects were good.
But could've done without all the gungho BS, the constant jerky camera motion and, yet again, Michelle Rodriguez alternating between blankface and scowlface.

More Michelle? That's me sold! Which brings me to the last films I watched...

Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Kind of what you'd expect. Rorschach not being as good as Rorschach or indeed, Robert Englund. Seemed like a mix of the first 2 originals. Brainless fun I guess, probably better than...

Saw, the FINAL chapter, thankfully. More of the same where it's got to the point where that you just don't care about the clever(?) twists. So thankfully "that's the end of that chapter". Neither as good as...

Machete. Bloody fantastic! Completely over the top Rodriguez brilliance! Also, I found that Michelle Rodriguez (any relation?) was actually hotter than Jessica Alba! Have I gone insane???  :o Maybe it's a crossover thing, Michelle looks like a boy in that boxing film but gets sexier as she gets older, whereas Jessica was incredibly hot in Dark Angel and she's losing the looks a bit as she gets older? Surely not. More research definitely required  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 16 March, 2011, 04:15:07 PM
Well i watched best of the best  and invasion usa yesterday, both classics in the cheese department. Not as good as i remembered them being first time around.

But still worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 16 March, 2011, 11:23:54 PM
The Adjustment Bureau, puts the Guff in MacGuffin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 March, 2011, 12:50:34 AM
Currently watching Hard Target on ITV4.

Sometimes Jean Claude Van Damme kicks people, and then he shoots them.

Sometimes Jean Claude Van Damme shoots people, and then he kicks them.

Since it's a John Woo movie, doves/pigeons flutter all about the place occasionally. And people get out of cars in slow motion.

Incredible stuff
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 17 March, 2011, 01:35:20 AM
Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire.. tonight with my 13 year old son... he loved it.... I thought it was very entertaining.

He's been getting into Potter a lot lately and I have to say, not being a fan, the films are rather good.... four more to go!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 March, 2011, 09:19:12 AM
Quote from: Buddy (previusly Uncle Umpty) on 17 March, 2011, 01:35:20 AM
Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire..

Mmmmm Clemence Poesy...


(22 at time of filming, honest)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 March, 2011, 09:20:47 AM
I've always wondered whether the later films (4 onwards) would make any kind of sense to someone who hadn't read the books.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2011, 12:21:40 PM
Mostly - Harry and gang have something to do and some baddies get in the way.

But there are an awful lot of things that I am taking for granted will be explained later (and if they aren't, they are ridiculous coincidence or holes in plot).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 17 March, 2011, 12:56:47 PM
Soloman Kane

It could have been better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 17 March, 2011, 01:49:44 PM
Cannibal Holocaust, while drinking Grim Reaper ale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 March, 2011, 11:28:58 PM
Just watched Alphaville. Either I wasn't in the right frame of mind or it was mostly a lot of hoary old toss. What is this thing called love and so forth. Well made toss, to be fair, with a couple of brilliantly staged and lit scenes to prove the shonky looking bits are deliberately so.

Also, being French and from the sixties, the leading lady is absurdly gorgeous.
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2011, 12:30:06 PM
Is BATTLE: LA suitable for a birthday party of 11 year old boys? Or will they end up too confused?
If they can make sense of Dragon Wars then I don't think they'll have a problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 March, 2011, 08:24:39 AM
Me and my mate had our regular movie day yesterday (I pick something for him, he picks something for me and we pick a 3rd movie that we both want to watch). We watched...

Clerks - This was my pick because he hadn't seen it. I hadn't watched it either in years, and I have to say I found it even funnier than I remember. When I was shopping for it I was pretty gobsmacked that the blu-ray is £29 in HMV. £29 for a film which blu-ray will add nothing to. Still, classic.

Pontypool - His pick. I really liked it, it's a horror movie of the 'something awful and zombie-esque happens in a small town' variety, but with the neat twist that the whole film takes place in a tiny radio station so the characters (and viewers) only know what you learn from call-ins and reports. It's not going for all out horror, it's a bit quirky and funny in places, but the set-up made for the odd moment that I found amazingly creepy. The idea behind what's going on reveals itself slowly and could either be seen as barmy and stoopid or really unique and clever. I liked it a lot.

Hellraiser - The joint pick, and because we'd both seen it it was ok to banter through it. Most of the banter related to which effects still hold up and which look dated (pretty much the only really ropey ones are the animation moments), where the hell the thing is supposed to be set (it seems obvious the american daughter is over visiting her dad who has married an English woman and moved to Britain, so why is everyone in Britain dubbed by American actors?!), and how genuinely stunning Ashley Laurence is. Gorgeous. It's a total classic movie too, still holds up brilliantly, and I'd be keener on them doing a bit of a George Lucas on the ropier effects than doing a remake, which I can't imagine being any cop.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 20 March, 2011, 10:16:25 AM
The missus and I went to see Fair Game last night. Compelling fact based political thriller with some excellent performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.
Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 20 March, 2011, 10:58:54 AM
The Happening. Channel 4 last night.

Utter, utter pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 March, 2011, 11:05:32 AM
Slumdog Millionaire- it really is very very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2011, 11:31:37 AM
Despicable Me. Also very good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 March, 2011, 11:39:11 AM
The Happening, on ch4. Have seen this already, but couldnt be arsed to turn over. Terrible nonsense from the briefly mighty Mid.Night Shaggerman, featuring a blissfully panicked Marky Mark who visibly cannot believe what he's signed up for and so has no idea how to pitch his performance.
That said, i find the movie hugely enjoyable, as it's basically a seventies BBC serial writ large, and like the seventies BBC day of the triffids/ nightmare man, is now hilarious. Sadly, this one never had its moment in the sun, never was at the cutting edge of adult sf, and has always been stilted and laughable.
But i watched it all the way through and no doubt i'll watch it again some time.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 20 March, 2011, 12:07:43 PM
I watched The Happening all the way through... mainly because I couldn't actually believe what I was watching and just wanted to see how bad it got.

I'll not be watching it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 March, 2011, 12:14:12 PM
Quote from: Buddy (previusly Uncle Umpty) on 20 March, 2011, 12:07:43 PM
I watched The Happening all the way through... mainly because I couldn't actually believe what I was watching and just wanted to see how bad it got.

That was my experience the first time too. "I'm talking to a plastic plant!", "I'm still doing it!". It's shockingly bad, no question.

However...

Quote from: Buddy (previusly Uncle Umpty) on 20 March, 2011, 12:07:43 PM

I'll not be watching it again.

Inevitably, you will. Sometime it will be on again. Time will have elapsed. Surely it can't have been quite as awful as you remember? It's M Night Shyalaman for goodness sakes- didn't I watch The Sixth Sense the other week, and wasn't that quite good? Isn't it about a myseterious "terrorist attack" that turns out to be something far more environmentally sinister? Vague images of wind rippling eerily through fields of corn will spring to mind, people walking backwards, spouting nonsense, jumping off buildings, The End of The World... "Oh, I'll just give it ten minutes", you'll think.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 March, 2011, 01:16:52 PM
To be fair to the Happening, the writer of Outcasts clearly thought it was worth stealing from.

Invaders From Mars - the Tobe Hooper version from 1986, which I watched based entirely upon its reputation as a horrid, horrid piece of cinema, which is pretty much a red rag to a bull as far as I'm concerned.  I thought "how bad can it be?" and for a while it was okay, if not quite managing the air of surreality needed for a film where ultimate danger exists OVER THE HILL OUTSIDE TIMMY'S WINDOW but then it just goes fucking mental and stuff just seems to happen and the invaders are revealed to be one of the baddies from the videogame Doom and some leftover Muppets from Dark Crystal - though never more than the same two Muppets onscreen at any one time.  In the latter portion of the film it actually seems like no-one even bothers to act except the General, who plays things strictly panto-level, and the relationship between the little kid and the school nurse is just bizarre, like the kid was originally written as an adult and one point it even looks like he and the nurse are going to make out.  I can't shake the notion that it was deliberately made to be awful to emulate B-movies, but that doesn't help it any as the end result is still a bad film - a straight-up fucking terrible film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 20 March, 2011, 03:58:44 PM
I watched The Happening as well last night and was very non-plussed by it. I'd hard all about it but wanted to see for myself if it was as bad as it was made out to be. It was. I dont get how anyone thought this would make for a rivetting movie experience. Thank God I didn't shell out to see this in the cinema. And yeah, I was waiting for the big, trademark Shyamalan twist at the end (who doesn't when watching one of his films, as unfortunate as that is for the poor guy) and there was nothing. It was such a limp film.

Also watched Land of the Lost which was also pretty poor, sadly. I recently stated how much I love Will Ferrel and that his presence in a movie usually guarantees I'll be happy. Not in this case. It looked fab and everything but was a very weakly scripted affair. The kids (8 and 4) thought it was hilarious though (cos of all the childish potty humour) and they love dinosaurs so they enjoyed it. For me though, it was a rare Will Ferrel movie that didnt put a smile on my face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 March, 2011, 01:34:32 AM
"Death Race" on 5.

What a load of rubbish! But glorious rubbish. I didn't expect to finish it, but I did. All that iron and all those guns would weigh so much that the cars would be lucky to get to 16mph and would handle like rhinos on roller skates. Still, you don't watch films like that for their engineering accuracy, do you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 March, 2011, 10:43:09 AM
I was really disappointed with Death Race, went to the cinema excited about seeing some cars smush into each other and twirl across the screen, but it was all shot super close-up with so many edits you didn't get a chance to enjoy the smushing when it did happen!

We watched Daybreakers last night. I'd seen Undead and thought the guys had potential to do a Peter Jackson and become Hollywood darlings, and someone else must have thought so too because this looks like it cost a fair bit of money. I think they did a good job, it was a more interesting take on the vampire thing than I'd seen for a long time. Just an example of a good glossy popcorn flick really, I thought on several occasions that it was a bit like what Ultraviolet would have been like if Ultraviolet hadn't been utterly abominable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 21 March, 2011, 10:52:02 AM
Death Race was alright - Death Race 2 (which is a prequel about Frankenstein) was great though. It was only a TV movie but you'd never know by looking at it. I enjoyed it a lot more than the first one (by which I mean the remake not the original Stallone one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 21 March, 2011, 10:52:57 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 March, 2011, 01:34:32 AM
"Death Race" on 5.

What a load of rubbish! But glorious rubbish. I didn't expect to finish it, but I did. All that iron and all those guns would weigh so much that the cars would be lucky to get to 16mph and would handle like rhinos on roller skates. Still, you don't watch films like that for their engineering accuracy, do you?

"5 inches of solid steel armour.." TONGGG TONGGG TONGGG.. Priceless..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 March, 2011, 08:50:29 PM
Kill Bill, vols 1 and 2, with my wife this afternoon. Finally managed to convince her to watch after literally years of trying- and she really enjoyed them. Her natural revulsion to anything connected to Quentin Tarantino softened somewhat by him not actually being in these at all.

I share her horror and hatred of the man, and these are the only two I can stand- please don't tell me the others are great, I've seen Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and loathed them, and have no interest in the others. But I caught KB1 on BBC THREE one night and was really impressed, went out and bought them both for a pound each, and they've sat on the shelf ever since.

I know all the best bits are lifted from elsewhere, but I'm not that into the kinds of movies the pilfering is from, so this kind of 'glossy best of' works well for me. The swordfight in the snow at the end of Vol One is a masterpiece of set design, lighting and choreography; utterly beautiful, and the clincher when it came to me actually parting with cash for them. Nothing in Vol Two is independently quite as good, but on the whole it's the stronger film, with the eyeball snatching and Chinese training sequences particularly noteworthy.

More importantly, I can't believe I've actually watched two discs from our 'to watch' pile! If this carries on, I may have gotten around to Moon, Predator, Predator II and Candyman before Xmas!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 21 March, 2011, 08:52:35 PM
Saw Despicable Me on Saturday night and rather enjoyed it.

On Sunday I watched The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for the first time, and it's a rather good film. Not at all what I expected it to be about - only partly about war (and not really anti-war or anti-military), but more concerned with growing old, regret, change, and the passing of time.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 March, 2011, 09:03:45 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 21 March, 2011, 08:52:35 PMOn Sunday I watched The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for the first time, and it's a rather good film. Not at all what I expected it to be about - only partly about war (and not really anti-war or anti-military), but more concerned with growing old, regret, change, and the passing of time.

It takes the long view all right -reminds me of Pal's the Time Machine- and has that great Technicolour/B&W thing goin' on and plenty of nutjob scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Misanthrope on 21 March, 2011, 09:04:38 PM
Paranormal Activity 2.

Please don't make me watch again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 21 March, 2011, 09:23:44 PM
I finally got to see The Searchers

loved it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 21 March, 2011, 10:14:09 PM
Just finished watching Bad Taste on you tube. Classic B movie.
"Suck my spinning steel shithead"





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: exilewood on 21 March, 2011, 10:33:34 PM
Quote from: johnnystress on 21 March, 2011, 09:23:44 PM
I finally got to see The Searchers

loved it

That's a great film.

I just saw the Scott Pilgrim film. (I know, slow or what? Maybe not in comparison to having just seen The Searchers.) - that's a good film too.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 March, 2011, 11:41:26 PM
The Big Lebowski.

Because sometimes you just want to spend the evening with an old friend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 22 March, 2011, 07:25:10 AM
Flash Gordon. On the big screen. My local independant cinema has had a Mike Hodges retrospective and shown some fantastic films.

Dragged the wife to this after she admitted she had never seen it all the way through (she's not a sci-fi fan) and even she liked it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 22 March, 2011, 08:01:04 AM
didn't quite make it through to the end (late night) and had the chaos of a house move so haven't managed to see the end but watched Dragon Slayer the other day.
Never seen it before had never even heard of it (which is strange because i've seen or at least heard of most 80's fantasy good and bad), suprised that its a Disney movie bit violent (quite a graphic burning early on) and nice bit of 80's PG nudity.  Seems to be played fairly straight and the Stop motion Dragon FX are pretty much as good as they come.  Does anyone know if this was a massive flop as i really am supprised i've never heard or seen it before.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 23 March, 2011, 11:29:51 AM
Nightmare on Elm Street remake---which bored me silly. How??? I was a huge Freddy fan back in the day, have all the Robert Englund series on DVD, even the crappy Freddy's Dead (they saved the best for last my bollox). Thought the big budget remake would at least keep me interested but it was terribly bad. For a start, the cast  - both the characters and the actors playing them - were the blandest, most uninteresting, lamest collection of horror movie 'teens' I've seen in a long time. The girl playing Nancy was particularly snore-some. I didn't care about any of them as none of them had any personality and just moped around from the get-go. It was like a great big emo-fest. The story itself was basically a plotpoint for plotpoint redo of the original movie, a few changes here or there but essentially the same thing. Iconic moments such as Freddy coming out of the wall over Nancy's bed, sticking his hand up out of the bath water between her legs, Tina (Chris in this film) being dragged up to the ceiling to be killed are re-created....poorly. How a 2010 film can make the ceiling death scene look less visually interesting than a 1984 film is beyond me. This movie put me to sleep and I wasn't even tired. I got as far as the bit where Nancy goes to the hospital to have her dream patterns analysed - another lift from the original. Why do they bother doing these remakes if all they are going to be is a pale imitation of something that already exists and DOESN'T NEED remaking. Why not just throw a shed-load of money at the existing movie, polish it up, add in a few snazzy CGI effects if you want to, and re-release it? Or if they really want to target a new generation who might not be keen to watch an 80s movie, at least come up with a new goddamn script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 March, 2011, 11:56:14 AM
Oh dear, I was unaware that this had been remade. Is Englund in it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 23 March, 2011, 12:02:20 PM
Not that I could see. Whoever plays Freddy is atrocious at it. He tries to be a bit Englund-y but doesn't have the charm or charisma (as much charisma as a burnt, scarface monster can have) to pull off any of the "witty" one-liners. Even on Englund's worst outing he was better than this!!! Well, clearly I'm not the target audience for this, its probably aimed at the current 17 year old dating scene, but still, they have to assume when making this kind of movie that people who liked the originals will watch, and that audience should also be considered. I will endeavour to get through the second half of it tonight, as painful as that proposition seems!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 March, 2011, 12:44:20 PM
The Elm Street sequels are a matter of diminishing returns and the remake is no exception.  I can at least admire that they stepped back from the outrageous dream scenarios that followed Dream Warriors to make something more intimate and potentially frightening, but otherwise the latest effort is those involved making a franchise rather than a movie, all lip-service to what they think constitutes 'scary' or 'creepy' from other, better films, yet no effort is made to integrate all these elements into a seamless whole.  Still, kudos to those involved for making a worse Elm Street movie than Freddy's Revenge.

Watched Rango on Sunday.  Brilliant kiddie-western.  That cameo might have been a bit forced (though understandable given John Wayne was unavailable), but the mix of the outright surreal with events happening in the 'real' world is a great touch.

Slipstream - not sure what to make of it.  Didn't know why people were doing the things they were doing.  Maybe the movie was an improv thing?
It was not great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 23 March, 2011, 12:51:26 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 23 March, 2011, 12:02:20 PM
Not that I could see. Whoever plays Freddy is atrocious at it. He tries to be a bit Englund-y but doesn't have the charm or charisma (as much charisma as a burnt, scarface monster can have) to pull off any of the "witty" one-liners. Even on Englund's worst outing he was better than this!!! Well, clearly I'm not the target audience for this, its probably aimed at the current 17 year old dating scene, but still, they have to assume when making this kind of movie that people who liked the originals will watch, and that audience should also be considered. I will endeavour to get through the second half of it tonight, as painful as that proposition seems!

It's the guy who played Rorschach in Watchmen. As you say, he wasn't very good, despite being awesome as Rorschach. No one could out-Freddy Englund.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 23 March, 2011, 12:53:19 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 21 March, 2011, 10:14:09 PM
Just finished watching Bad Taste on you tube. Classic B movie.
"Suck my spinning steel shithead"





V

He he, one of the best films ever! Very much paid tribute to in Return of the King  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 24 March, 2011, 06:55:57 AM
Season of the Witch - I think its quite confused this one, script is a total mess but hey I like Nick Cage and Ron Pearlman so i gave it a go.  The tone swings from weird buddy cop vibe to well I've got no idea what its trying to be by the end but it involved a very unconvincing CGI demon and people reading from a book, weird.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 24 March, 2011, 07:54:20 AM
Battle: Los Angeles. Bloody awful. The effects were good, the firefights were good but the script and dialogue sucked shit so badly it cancelled out any visual positives. Way, way too much shaky camera work. And people reckon Skyline is even worse? Holy shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 24 March, 2011, 09:23:36 AM
Buried
Pretty cool. Impressed how they kept the tension throughout the film with the limited setting.

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2011, 12:28:50 PM
Quote from: Kerrin on 24 March, 2011, 07:54:20 AMAnd people reckon Skyline is even worse?

I came out of Battle: Los Angeles quite happy.

That is how bad Skyline is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 24 March, 2011, 01:06:48 PM
I'm really hoping I don't hate Battle LA. TBH, I didn't hate Skyline... it wasn't a great film or even a good film, but it wasn't as bad as I was led to believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2011, 01:26:04 PM
That is because your mind cannot process how bad it was.  It's essentially laying in a prison shower sobbing right now after being bummed by Nazis, but it will come out the other end stronger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 March, 2011, 07:41:46 AM
Zombieland. I'd seen it but Amy hadn't, we had a good laugh. It's a fun film, not as witty or funny as it aims to be, but it's got it's moments and overall it's an enjoyable romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 March, 2011, 09:56:29 AM
That 'Legend of Ron Burgandy' thing on the telly the other night, with that bloke in from those American comedies. It was alright.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SMOKESCREEN:ED:9 on 25 March, 2011, 01:39:38 PM
Baywatch the movie. Directors cut. Wet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 March, 2011, 12:09:34 AM
Pearl Harbor.  Very, very funny, and probably my favorite Michael Bay movie.  The Affleck/Beckinsale love letter scene was hilarious, as was seeing xenophobic Japanese imperialists keep track of the days with a huge English-language calendar, A Japanese soldier not seen before or after praying to his ancestors in Engrish, and there's a jaw-droppingly funny moment when Kate Beckinsale's face lights up as she sees the best friend of the guy she's waiting for get off a plane, then he turns and starts pulling the guy's coffin off the plane with impeccable comic timing.  It's just hysterical, and my main gripe is that it has the Pearl Harbor attack slap bang in the middle of things.  "Here's a half hour of cool-looking footage of Our Boys being exploded by terrorists" Erm... okay.
The black guy shoehorned into things for no reason whatsoever was also kind of funny, as was the brave yanks off to avenge Pearl by firebombing civilians and then being captured by the human versions of the goblins from Lord Of the Rings - because seriously, do not let anyone tell you the Japanese are portrayed as anything other than cowardly subhuman scum in this - and then the whole internment thing is not even remotely addressed even though the poor treatment of black soldiers... well, okay, that wasn't addressed either, it was just sort of alluded to.
Then to cap it all off, a craptacularly awful Faith Hill song that is somehow also funny, even though it is actually quite terrible.

The Incredible Hulk.  Hulk's a bit rubbery, there's far too much "yak yak yak" and Leonard Samson is played by Ed O'Neill's son-in-law Phil from the tv show Modern Family so I simply cannot take him seriously at all, but when it stops winking at the camera - which it does far too much - and gets to the Hulk snapping a car in two and then wearing it like boxing gloves to wail the shit out of Abomination, or pulling the bone out of someone's arm to stab them with it, it's great fun.  The space between the fun stuff is just too large, and it really needs a massive Hulk wobbler to start things off rather than waiting twenty minutes to only give us a glimpse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 March, 2011, 12:15:59 AM
"Burn After Reading" on ITV1.

Better than I thought it would be - basically intelligence guys trying to make sense out of things that make no sense. Clooney really has that mildly insane thing off to a tee, now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 28 March, 2011, 01:21:44 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 March, 2011, 12:15:59 AM
"Burn After Reading" on ITV1.

Me too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 March, 2011, 01:45:15 AM
Kick-Ass.

[spoiler]They're more costumed vigilantes than super-heroes in my mind considering the death toll, (particularly  Big Daddy and Hit Girl). I suppose that makes sense when you carry the theme through to it's conclusion: i.e. if you have no powers and you are outnumbered by armed mafioso, it's basically a case of kill or be killed.

It's not just the armed guys who get slaughtered though! What about the hand-cuffed guy in the car? Sure he was a scum-bag, but it wasn't as if he was doing anything.[/spoiler]

That's not really a criticism though. I enjoyed it a lot. Great film. I just have an idea my concept of superheroes might be a bit outdated.

I've yet to read the collection. So far I've just read a chunk of Kick-Ass 2 as shown in Clint, (up to the rottweiler 'sic balls' scene) and the very first comic issue of the first run. (The DVD came with a mini version of the first issue. Unfortunately they seem to skimp on the DVD extras for this particular release.)

I'm watching a curious film at the moment. It's one of those low budget films on the Syfy channel: Paradox. It's a kind of film noir type film about a world who's technology is based on magic instead of science. Then a dead body turns up killed by a mysterious projectile that was forced through the air at high speed without magic! Shock, horror!

Actually it's quite fun. I've missed bits though. That's what I get for reading stuff on this site and typing posts at the same time. (Muli-tasking isn't my strong point.) I wonder if it's based on a comic. They keep showing comic book style panels on certain changes of scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 March, 2011, 02:15:05 AM
Ugh. [spoiler]Sappy ending.[/spoiler] I love the concepts though.

Oh, and one google later, turns out it IS based on a comic. But then a lot of you probably knew that already.
(http://backseatcuddler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/paradox_cover1_12299767881.jpg)


(Bear with me, I like comics but I'm a bit behind on a lot of them.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 28 March, 2011, 02:48:11 AM
there is a new Asylum (you know the company that release low budget but similar name mockbusters straight to DVD just as the big name blockbuster is on at the cinema
0 relaease called Battle for (or of) LosAngeles, this is now ready to watch tonight and i dare say it wont be any good.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 March, 2011, 02:56:00 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 28 March, 2011, 02:48:11 AM
there is a new Asylum (you know the company that release low budget but similar name mockbusters straight to DVD just as the big name blockbuster is on at the cinema
0 relaease called Battle for (or of) LosAngeles, this is now ready to watch tonight and i dare say it wont be any good.

CU Radbacker

Seriously, don't watch it.

A beyond terrible film, it's not just an Asylum film, it's an Asylum co-production with fucking Syfy - you'd think it impossible to accelerate once you hit the bottom of the barrel, but they found a way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 28 March, 2011, 04:51:43 AM
thanks for the warning Prof but I like to liquify my brain with seriously bad movies, its like an S & M thing i enjoy the pain.  ;)

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 March, 2011, 11:50:07 AM
Fantastic Mr Fox, which I enjoyed a lot. I'd actually forgotten that as a kid I adored the book and read it over and over again, but it all came flooding back watching this. It was also pretty interesting how much it felt like one of Wes Anderson's live action films, despite being about stop motion animals.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TOMMIE on 29 March, 2011, 05:21:26 AM
I have watched many Movies last time, I would like to share all these movies in form of list below


China Cry
Troy
The Chronicles of Narnia
Evil Dead

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 March, 2011, 08:12:40 AM
THE CLONE WARS
It looks like it's 3 or 4 episodes of the first anuimated series stitched together (do forgive me, I am a little behind the times here) and has a plot (of sorts) about Anakin having to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son (Stinkie or Punkie or something) from the droid seperatists who are trying to manipulate things here and there and make people be bad.

Despite the massive amount of fights and explosions and cool spaceships and hardware and lightsabres, a couple of enjoyable set pieces aside it really is quite tiresomely dull. (These are the same issues I had with the prequels in general)

I like the vertical assault on the monestary, Anakin's pupil taking on those four droids that have anti-lightsabre staffs but that's about it.

There's something wrong about Tatooine being the centre of so much action; I do recall a very clumsily constructed line in Star Wars "If there's a bright centre to the universe, your on the planet that it's farthest from" and having Jabba THe HUtt be a massivly influential galactic criminal and having Jedi and Sith and everybody visit the planet every ten minutes just doesn't seem right.

Interesting to hear an actor doing an impersonation of Ewan macGregor doing an impersonation of young Alec Guinness.

Still, it was only £3 for Tiny Tips birthday and he seemed to enjoy it more than me so job done, I guess.

THE A-TEAM (pilot episode/movie - Mexican Slayride)
Another purchase for Tiny Tips birthday - he loves THE A-TEAM (not the recent movie) which is convenient because during the early eighties (when I was old enough to know better) so did I.

As ever, they end up working for next to nothing to free a captured american journalist and a whole village who have been forced into growing marijuana for local mexican bandits and rebels.  Various gun fights, a short and good natured bar fight and armoured car shenanigans ensue with Hannibal doniing plenty of disguises, Mr T "ain't getting on no plane", Murdoch bbeing howling mad and Face scamming everything they need to right wrongs by pretending to be a film producer.

I'd never actually seen this before and it is still remarkably good fun. Some of the stunts and action seem a little off compared to today's standards but they do throw jeeps (and stereotypes) about with gay abandon.  Mr T is much more talkative than in the main show.  Triple A is as cute as I remember her and has a brilliant line about "And I have access to a computer for research" which I had to explain to Tiny Tips who probably has more computing power on his 3DS than she has.

A curio is the original Faceman.  Tim Dunnigan, I think, poor fella ditched from a series that went on for five or six years. I wonder what happened to him.  It's hard to tell because obviously Dirk Benedict is just sooo good as Face but they probably ditched the fella for being slightly too young looking.  He certainly didn't have a charismatic impact that you'd expect from a Faceman.  I (don't) wonder what happened to him.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 March, 2011, 08:34:59 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 29 March, 2011, 08:12:40 AM
Still, it was only £3 for Tiny Tips birthday and he seemed to enjoy it more than me so job done, I guess.

My eldest loves the movie, but I agree, it's a bit of a disaster.  I'm not sure what possessed Lucas to literally re-edit three existing episodes with some additional material and present it as a cinema release (he supposedly described it himself as 'an afterthought') - it's a fabulous cartoon in a 22 minute format, but exposing a cobbled-together version of its earliest efforts to critics on the big screen was madness.  

I'd strongly recommend the First Season boxset of the series if you can find it cheap, the five episodes on the first disc alone are pure gold.  For a real visual shock, I'd also recommend the two-parter that has just closed the third season - the quality, depth and range of the animation has exploded, plus it has a note-perfect turn by Chewbacca in his chronologically-earliest adventure.   It's a strange show, with all sorts of discordant angles being tried (a mid-season episode where R2 and 3PO go to a market to buy fruit and R2 ends up being pampered in a pervy droid spa while 3PO is horribly tortured seems to be a particualrly bizarre homage to the Droids cartoon), it often seems to be let down by bad editing within episodes, and it seems to jump the shark almost every second episode but somehow to recover in time for next week, but it's seldom dull (except when it is).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 29 March, 2011, 01:56:19 PM
Sucker Punch.

It's like a 110 min pop video made by a 15 year old horny schoolboy... with LOTS of slow-mo.

Lets hope he grows up a bit for Superman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 March, 2011, 02:26:19 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 29 March, 2011, 01:56:19 PMIt's like a 110 min pop video made for a 15 year old horny schoolboy... with LOTS of slow-mo.

Fixed that for you.

Also, you have to appreciate that without comic panels to emulate, Snyder has to use slo-mo to emulate the storyboard.  Personally, I think this dedication to the limited repertoire of his particular equine is to be admired - he's consistent in pushing Snyder the brand rather than Snyder the talent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 29 March, 2011, 03:45:32 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 29 March, 2011, 02:26:19 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 29 March, 2011, 01:56:19 PMIt's like a 110 min pop video made for a 15 year old horny schoolboy... with LOTS of slow-mo.

Fixed that for you.

Also, you have to appreciate that without comic panels to emulate, Snyder has to use slo-mo to emulate the storyboard.  Personally, I think this dedication to the limited repertoire of his particular equine is to be admired - he's consistent in pushing Snyder the brand rather than Snyder the talent.

Good point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 30 March, 2011, 11:47:31 PM
The Lincoln Lawyer, very enjoyable with a nice twisty plot and some excellent performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 31 March, 2011, 03:09:00 AM
Watched Evangelion 1.11: You are (Not) Alone, in anticipation for Evangelion 2.22: You can (Not) Advance's immanent release on Blu-ray. I'm not a fan of the show, but the movie is pretty good. And I hear 2.22 deviates from the TV series significantly.

I've also been jonesing recently to rewatch Akira. Its been a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 08:49:22 AM
Daredevil, admittedly while digitising drawings.  Oh dear.  A pompous, whiny, overly serious mess that still might have been almost worth watching were it not for the execrable faux-metal soundtrack.  What were they thinking?  Two Evanecsence numbers in the space of 30 minutes?  

Affleck's Murdock was perhaps surprisingly okay, even if he's an utter charisma void only highlighted by Jon Favreaus's amusing Foggy; Colin Farrell's twitchy Bullseye was very entertaining and he seemed to be the only person having fun in the entire film; Michael Clarke Duncan's Kingpin was basically unexplained and largely inexplicable as a character ("I was raised in the Bronx.  This is something you wouldn't understand" -nor I, as it happens).  The gorgeous Jennifer Garner's Elektra should have been great, but she basically did nothing but hang around waiting for her father to be killed so she could take to the rooftops and get killed herself in short order.  She also spent a great deal of the film being irritatingly miserable.

While I can forgive the ropey CGI (who really cares), and physics-defying leaps somehow permitted by 'radar senses', the film is also bloody sloppily made - they can't seem to decide if Murdock has scaring around his eyes or not, it seems to come and go randomly, as do his various cuts and other scars; the dialogue looping also seems completely out of sync in several places - characters' mouths continue to move after they've finished speaking, presumably due to re-writes without re-shoots.  Bah!

Oh, and the great Joe Pantaliano's hat was so annoying I could barely look at him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 March, 2011, 09:03:23 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 08:49:22 AM
She also spent a great deal of the film being irritatingly miserable.

Give the Elektra movie a wide berth, then -- that's basically a summary of the whole two hours.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 09:58:55 AM
I suppose I should have noted the few things I did like.  The Daredevil costume, while looking pretty awful on posters and such, worked well with the film's lighting to look scary and intimidating - I hadn't really thought about the devil aspect of the get-up before, having thought of it more as an impish circus acrobat's costume.  This worked well with the murderous character that Daredevil is in the first part of the film - a properly homicidal vigilante, and pretty unlikable (always a good combination with Affleck), providing a good base for a journey to a more enlightened hero. That was a refreshing change, and along with the not-badly done origin story and nice effects used for Young Matt's emerging senses in the hospital, it gave me short-lived hope for the rest of the movie.  Ah well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 31 March, 2011, 10:01:23 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 March, 2011, 09:03:23 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 08:49:22 AM
She also spent a great deal of the film being irritatingly miserable.

Give the Elektra movie a wide berth, then -- that's basically a summary of the whole two hours.

Cheers

Jim

Indeed- Miss Garner is so gorgeous that it makes my brain hurt, but I could not watch more than the first few minutes of the Elektra movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 March, 2011, 10:08:43 AM
Daredevil, along with the second hulk film, is my favourite of the marvel movies. If only because it's not as relentlessly cheerful and homogeneous as the spidey or fantastic four efforts, or as irritating as the xmen. I love the aesthetic of daredevil, and colin farrel's a laugh, especially in the 'irish pub scene', complete with 'im a leprechaun' gangsta rap in the background.

One caveat is that i dont really give a monkeys about any of the marvel films, or comics films in general, so it's no big deal either way. To me, there isnt a huge difference between something like iron man and, say, judge dredd. Though of them all, i'll take v for vendetta and watchmen thanks.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 31 March, 2011, 10:26:35 AM
I remember the theatrical release of Daredevil being excrement but seeing the original cut, it is a vast improvement. The Electra/Murdock stuff was badly handled but when he's Daredevil the film works really well, surprisingly so, and the costume is on-the-nose. It's an under-rated, maligned film -a lot due to going with the wrong cut for theatrical release- but it's got more going for it than Superman Returns. As has been noted it's got a more original ending, handled in an unpretentious way, than most other superhero flicks whose endings bore me to tears ie. Iron Man 1 & 2, Batman 1 & 2.


The non-metal/incidental music works really well too- strikes a great character tone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 March, 2011, 10:31:56 AM
I agree with most of the DD comments, a pretty good film, but both DD and Eleektra were pretty charisma-free characters; and no I didn't understand why growing up in the Bronx meant you should dismiss your guards and take on a superhero one to one (or why the Kingpin had to be black for that matter).

Colin farrell ws the ebst thing in it as Bullseye, though when he said "I want a costume" I was hoping for the traditional balck and white mask, not just a long leather coat. And why was DD's costume an odd purple colour rather than striking scarlet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 10:48:22 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 March, 2011, 10:31:56 AM
...or why the Kingpin had to be black for that matter...

I imagine that was more a specific desire to cast MCD for his sheer mass and signature easy turn from charm to menace and back again than any decision about race.  He was good in the role, I just got no clue from the movie as to who, why or what Fisk was.  

I can't agree that it was anything resembling a good film, but there were good solid elements, hidden somewhere under the ghastly music, strobe-lit fight scenes and pouting. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 March, 2011, 01:49:29 PM
There's no reason for the Kingpin to be white.  His race has nothing to do with the character, it never has.

I liked the Daredevil movie and think it's just as good as the first Spidey outing.  Yes, it's a little overblown and melodramatic and wallows relentlessly in misery, but these things are what the comic book is known and revered for, from Frank Millar's iconoclastic but borderline-parody noir, to more recent runs like Bendis and Brubaker's that treat the thing like a telemovie about breast cancer but without the upbeat ending - just more misery leading into more misery leading into more misery and stories about THE PAIN and THE ANGST of being a super-lawyer by day and a radar man who looks like Satan and punches supervillain drug lords in the head by night, though only if he's not fighting zombie ninjas, being king of the zombie ninjas, hanging out with Thor and Iron Man, or beating up genocidal space-robots with a club on top of a mountain of skulls.

The movie is aimed at teenagers.  Most forget that, and the trappings (wangst, moping, soundtrack) are entirely appropriate for something that's just supposed to be flashy and kill an hour or two of their time so they aren't out doing knife crimes for their next fix of Red Bull.  Director's cut is much better, all the same.


For those not willing to watch Elektra, which I imagine are many, at least check out the 'Making of' featurettes if you can.  Some of the actors - particularly the lass who plays the poisonous lass - are so hilariously vacuous that I'm not sure that the documentary is some kind of Spinal Tap-style meta-joke I'm incapable of comprehending.  God Bless Terence Stamp for keeping a straight face as Stick, though.  Dude's a trooper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 March, 2011, 03:00:39 PM
Just watched Martyrs. It'll probably be a while before I know exactly how I feel about that one, but I know I don't feel particularly happy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 31 March, 2011, 07:26:43 PM
ridley scott's robin hood... not too bad a film but could have been called anything as it was a sort of prequel that felt all the gang shoehorned in there for bums on seats puposes only...

   a bit of a let down after alien,black hawk down and the hovis ad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 31 March, 2011, 07:30:11 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 31 March, 2011, 07:26:43 PM
ridley scott's robin hood... not too bad a film but could have been called anything as it was a sort of prequel that felt all the gang shoehorned in there for bums on seats puposes only...

   a bit of a let down after alien,black hawk down and the hovis ad.

They way I hear it, the move was suppose to be called Nottingham, and it was suppose to be from the Sherif's perspective. But that changed during the preproduction/script writing phase. Which is why its such a hodgepodge of a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 31 March, 2011, 10:20:10 PM
i would ve liked that hte sherrif was probably the best character in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 31 March, 2011, 10:33:15 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 March, 2011, 10:48:22 AMI can't agree that it was anything resembling a good film, but there were good solid elements, hidden somewhere under the ghastly music, strobe-lit fight scenes and pouting.  


Quite, and I've yet to see a moment as interesting in any other super'ero flick as interesting as DD standing atop a roof saying to himself 'I'm not the bad guy, I'm not the bad guy...'. He is Marvel's 'Batman' after all and it dramatised that 'moral' conflict in a simpler, better way than the Nolan flicks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 01 April, 2011, 02:11:10 AM
I just watched Choke. By the first ad beak I thought, the writing is really good. So, on checking Wiki about it, it turns out its based on Chuck  of Fight Club writer's book Choke. And Sam Rockwell fast becoming the laid back, US version of Gary Oldman, he's great in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 April, 2011, 09:50:48 AM
Quote from: Krombasher on 01 April, 2011, 02:11:10 AM
I just watched Choke. By the first ad beak I thought, the writing is really good. So, on checking Wiki about it, it turns out its based on Chuck  of Fight Club writer's book Choke. And Sam Rockwell fast becoming the laid back, US version of Gary Oldman, he's great in it.

Really enjoyed that movie, I reckon Sam Rockwell's massively underrated as he's brilliant in everything he does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 01 April, 2011, 01:32:59 PM
I saw Where The Wild Things Are the other night, which was pretty strange.

I was originally going to watch it with my 7 year old daughter, but she found the first 20 minutes or so too freaky and wanted to watch something else, so not really a kids film I don't think (which is pretty bizarre considering it's based on a picture book). I think the themes of the film are too incomprehensible for kids, and the monsters aren't funny or cute enough.

In fact, the monsters are down right scary. There's is something deeply unsettling about all of the Wild Things. They're dangerous, unpredictable and violent. Wild things, basically. I really enjoyed the film, but it was too much for my 7 year old. And if she was any older, she would probably dismiss it as being too childish without attempting to watch it(kids today...!). Maybe I'll try again when she's 20 or so, and can maybe appreciate Spike Jonze.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 April, 2011, 02:29:06 PM
I took girls aged 4, 6 and 10 to that film and they loved it.  Found it a bit bleak myself, but then again that ties into Max's isolation after alienating himself from his mum and not being able to entirely separate the eventual shape of his imaginary world from the influence of his guilty conscience (the only female presence on the island being a calming and rational voice who lives in isolation, for example).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 April, 2011, 01:33:18 AM
I'm currently watching Excalibur on ITV2 - I've loved this movie a long time! (Adolescent crush on Helen Mirenn notwithstanding)

I really love versions of classic stories that can be constantly retold (King Arthur, Robin Hood, Romeo & Juliet, Alice in Wonderland etc) and this is my favourite of all the Arthur films.

PS:
Fvourite Robin: the one with Sean Connery as an old Robin, or the TV Robin of Sherwood
Favourite Romeo & Juliet: Baz Luhrman's version
Favourite Alice: Jan Svankmajer's 1988 animated freakfest
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 02 April, 2011, 01:37:22 AM
Watch out for the tractor
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 02 April, 2011, 04:07:48 AM
Some shat Vampire flick with Burnside out of The Bill as the villian......i should have known better but i watched it all the same.

Tedious is the best word for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 02 April, 2011, 10:22:41 AM
Battle: Los Angeles.

Not too bad. The battle sequences were fairly realistic and the effects were top notch.

A few plot mehs and some schmaltzy American ID4 stuff in the last third spoiled it a bit, but the performances were ok.

When the [spoiler]officer died[/spoiler], I couldn't help feel it was playing out like an episode of Sharpe.

I don't understand why [spoiler]the mission had to end in a war turning revelation[/spoiler], either. IMO I think if they had ended it with [spoiler]the rescue of the civs and then getting stuck back into the alien slotting[/spoiler] that would have been a more sobering end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 April, 2011, 11:25:38 AM
Lethal Weapon, man thats a arsom piece of action they just dont make movies like it anymore even the sequals while enjoyable (well number 2's ok but dont think much of 3 or 4) pail.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 April, 2011, 04:01:40 PM
Wake Wood: Boring.

Troll Hunter: Magnificent!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 02 April, 2011, 04:30:24 PM
Battle for los angeles: Rubbish!

Probably my favourite line of dumb dialogue in a film stuffed with dumb dialogue gems was "I'm a veterinarian."

The ghost of Leslie Nielsen stalked this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 02 April, 2011, 06:27:51 PM
Dead Snow. Hah! What a horrid little film that turned out being! Brilliant from beginning to end. Some genuinely scary moments in the build up and just pants down in the pub tastelessness followed it. As nasty as cold creamy cabbage. And, I liked greatly, the logic of why the situation had come about.

Halloween H20 was drab and mediocre and we all wanted Lee Curtis to get her life back. No real stand out moments unless you count pertness. Well I can say its been watched now.

Usual Suspects and Hannibal and Once Upon A Time... In the West for some classic advert dodging aswell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 02 April, 2011, 09:58:34 PM
His Girl Friday. I wish people still talked like that, ya hear me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 02 April, 2011, 11:09:50 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 02 April, 2011, 04:30:24 PM
Probably my favourite line of dumb dialogue in a film stuffed with dumb dialogue gems was "I'm a veterinarian."

That was hilarious, though I did feel a niggling doubt afterwards over whether that was an intentional joke or not. Still, given that the whole rest of the movie was fairly po-faced, I'm guessing not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 April, 2011, 09:14:15 AM
Three movies yesterday. Gleaming The Cube, which is a lot slower than I remember. I'm surprised I had the attention span for it as a kid, but I guess the fact that it was totally radical and tubular etc. still made it super cool. Total eighties cheese  :)

Trick 'r Treat, which I'd never even heard of, which is odd considering it's got a recognizable cast and was produced by Bryan Singer. Don't remember it ever getting a release. It's actually a lot of fun, an Creepshow style anthology where the stories all run alongside one another and cross each other's paths. Very glossy and not scary, but fun.

Survival of The Dead, which while I agree with popular opinion is Romero's weakest zombie movie, is still great I think. The acting is ropey, the dialogue is cheesy and the poor CG makes you wish badly that he'd stick to physical effects. I think I mainly like it because in terms of story and setting it's very different from any other zombie films out there, which isn't easy at this stage. I find it pretty touching actually. Plus zombies make anything Win.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 April, 2011, 09:39:17 AM
Of Romero's 'second trilogy' (though of course, it's actually a fourth thematic original, then a reboot and a direct sequel) i have to say that Survival is possibly my favourite. It's funny, has some great characters, i love the script, the effects are exactly what i wanted to see, the music is the best since his masterpiece (Day) and he breaks his own rules, therefore throwing the industry of hangers-on that slavishly follow everything he does into panicked disarray. "Lets have zombies ride horses! That'll fuck with their heads!" he seems to be saying. And it has a hilarious and audacious plot twist. Excellent, Romero more or less invented the zombie, let him play if he wants.

I'm more of a fan of Land/ Diary and Survival than i am of just about anything else in the world. I love that Alan Van Sprang is in them all, and is now more closely linked to the series than anyone except Romero himself. I love that Romero took it back to the start (in so many ways) following his epic Land. I just wish we had a clear notification that he was doing a seventh, with AVS, to wrap up. Then an eighth, to begin a third story...
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 April, 2011, 09:48:11 AM
In fact, and as usual, merely discussing Survival of the Dead has made me want to watch it again. It always happens. I think Romero has made his equivilent of The Wicker Man with this. His movies are always hated on release. Day was a 'massive disappointment' in 1985, and it took years and years before people began to treat it as his masterpiece. Nearly ten years on, Land is beginning to be reassessed; Diary and (more especially) Survival will have their day in the sun.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 03 April, 2011, 10:14:32 AM
Just been watching 'Day of the Dead' yet again (as in, just finished watching it 10 minutes ago.) For me, it is indeed the greatest of all Romero's zombie films: the effects are stunning, the atmosphere is second to none, it has some of the choicest, most endlessly quotable dialogue (although 'Dawn...' would rival it in this respect.) It's the one I return to time and time again.

As for the most recent three... I like 'Land...', it's a great film. 'Diary...' on the other hand strikes me as a weak film. There is so little in it that does anything for me, much as I would want it to. I detest the CG effects: like Keef Monkey, I only want to see physical effects in a zombie film. There are flashes of genius (zombies in the swimming pool) but they are few and far between. 'Survival'.... well, it's better than 'Diary'. Once more, some strong moments and some great ideas, but I found it very uneven, and again, I am no fan of CG in general, least of all in a genre that relies in part on its viscerality for impact. I can see 'Survival' might grow on me, but 'Diary', probably not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 April, 2011, 11:56:27 AM
Day is simply one of the best horror movies ever made, on a par with  The Thing, Halloween and The Exorcist. Its atmosphere reeks of oppression, its genuinely nightmarish and yet has flashes of high comedy throughout. It's without any doubt the strongest of Romero's zombie film and is an absolute masterclass of genre filmmaking. Everything, every note, is spot on perfect.

But it was loathed on first release, and bombed. We had it for five and a half days at our local cinema in 85, as snow delayed its arrival. I saw it three times; most memorably with five friends, who were visibly shaken on leaving, one complaining 'it was like being in a morgue for two hours'. It's always been my favourite; a real, proper, horror film that scares the absolute shit out of you, stays with you, and makes you think. Ive lost count of the times ive seen it now, and id imagine i'll never stop rewatching.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 April, 2011, 03:19:03 PM
Interesting reading this. I tend to get the impression Dawn...was most people's favourite from the original trilogy! (Mind you, it probably still is. 2 or 3 blokes on a thread expressing love for Day... hardly sways that after all...) And while it is a very good film, I think Day...has always been my favourite of the original trilogy too!  Loved the trained zombie in particular.

Of the new trilogy, I quite like Land.... I've never really seen Diary... all the way through. Either my mind wandered, or likely I was doing something else while it was on. (I often visit web sites on my computer while there's something on in the background. The idea being, if there's something decent on, I can switch between the two. Turns out,my mind can't multi-task that way.) I've yet to see Survival....

Strangely, of the Romero films, the only one I actually own on DVD is  Night. Good film though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 April, 2011, 04:14:26 PM
Funnily enough, of them all, Dawn is the one i like least. I find it massively overlong, and it doesnt deliver the prerequisite grue, having as it does some pretty basic makeups from an early Savini. I discovered Romero (and zombies) in the prosthetic-heavy Day, so the blue-faces of Dawn were never going to impress. I also find it all over the shop, tonally. I understand why it's so popular, but feel it's so of its time that 'you really had to be there'. To the generation who discovered Day first (of which i am a member) i think Dawn is simply wayyyy too seventies.
Heresy it may be, but id honestly prefer to watch Snyder's remake, even if the fuckers run.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 03 April, 2011, 04:31:19 PM
I believe I am a wee bit younger than SBT, so saw none of the original three in the cinema: 'Dawn' was the first one I saw, and for a long time I would have called it one of my favourite films ever. The length didn't put me off... to be honest, I would happily have had another hour of it. That said, 70s US horror is one of my favourite genres of cinema, particularly low budget stuff like Messiah of Evil, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things and Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural, so the 70s-ness of the whole affair only makes it more endearing to me. But... as the years have rolled by, I find that I revisit 'Dawn' more rarely and yet come back again and again to 'Day', which simply seems more resilient to repeated viewing. It's tighter, nastier and has more Joe Pilato. (He's in 'Dawn', of course, but as a bit-part.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 03 April, 2011, 05:09:41 PM
Source code.

Very, very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 04 April, 2011, 02:36:11 AM
Battle for Los Angeles: For an action packed film it was yawn inducing!

Many things made me laugh, including the Chinooks that were quiet enough to have a chat in, the squad being bunched up in the alley, etc...

Best bit was near the end when they advance on the enemy and the Staff Sgt is firing his side arm and in the next shot we see him ditch is rifle and bring the side arm into the aim  :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 April, 2011, 09:18:34 AM
All this Romero talk has got me wanting to watch them all again! My girlfriend has only seen Survival, so maybe I'll subject her to them.

Day has always been me and my brother's favorite too, Dawn is great but you just can't beat how massively bleak Day is. You really feel like you're watching the last humans on earth, and the fact that all is pretty much lost from the get-go makes for a really dark film.

I do hope that Diary and Survival go on to gain respect, as my immediate reaction to Diary was disappointment but watching it recently it's already grown on me in a big way. It's got a nice balance of humor and darkness, and I like how in the last act they more or less [spoiler]wind up making the movie they were shooting at the start but for real[/spoiler], gives me a chuckle. Survival I liked straight away, CG aside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2011, 12:25:58 PM
TAMARA DREWE - Quite enjoyed it actually. Gemma is loveliness on a stick and there are some good gags and, though everything ends up as you'd expect, it takes a few twists and turns on the way to the end that lift it above your average rom-com.  In fact, quite refreshing that there is lots of [spoiler]"Well, sod that, I'll just sleep with this person instead."[/spoiler]  And note how Tamsin Greig has moved from quirky girlfirend to quirky mother character.


I really do struggle to see where the love for LAND and DIARY OF THE DEAD come from. Both pretty much pointless exercises that I didn't think added anything worthwhile to zombie moviedom.  And both with some utterly appalling writing and dialogue. But yeah, DAY is great and you've convinced me to rewatch (though if I recall, it was a bit suss that everyone was a crackshot taking out zombie brains from 200 yards with pistols while on the run).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 April, 2011, 12:43:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2011, 12:25:58 PM
TAMARA DREWE -

Wow, didn't know this existed, and I really enjoyed the comic graphic novel book.  Posey Simmonds is a massively underrated comics creator.   I also make a point of following the careers of the Black Books alumni, so that's two reasons for giving this a look...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 04 April, 2011, 12:52:00 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 April, 2011, 09:18:34 AM
All this Romero talk has got me wanting to watch them all again! My girlfriend has only seen Survival, so maybe I'll subject her to them.

Oh, good god! That's an emmergency situation right there - please, please show the poor girl some *proper* Romero. Survival was not his finest hour...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 04 April, 2011, 02:35:18 PM
Wake Wood - disappointing after all the glowing write-ups I read. Was hoping for a genuinely creepy low-budget indie horror but I didn't get one. Plus the old theme of a couple grieving for a lost child in these sort of films is just too tired now.

Somewhere - I've adored Sofia Coppola's efforts so far - including Marie Antoinette - and this was... ok. Just sort of washes over you (even more so than her previous films), but I wouldn't say I adored it. But never mind.

Spawn - saw it last night for the first time in about 13 years - man it hasn't aged well! It had it's moments though. I still think Leguizamo made a good clown, and I'd completely forgotten that Merlin from Excalibur was in it. All in all, a bit poo, but I'd still like to see a really visually dark & moody Spawn movie, a la the Ashley Wood Hellspawn comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 04 April, 2011, 04:01:10 PM
I think McFarlane is/was working on a follow up film... but it never seemed to materialise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 04 April, 2011, 04:10:07 PM
Probably reckon all this 'Dead' stuff needs it's own thread, but out of curiousity, what is the 'new'(ish) version of 'Day Of The Dead' like? Mite go pick it up it's pretty cheap

Cheers

CHi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 04 April, 2011, 04:38:12 PM
Incredibly bad. Utterly shite. Please don't put yourself through it Chi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 April, 2011, 05:00:11 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 04 April, 2011, 04:38:12 PM
Incredibly bad. Utterly shite. Please don't put yourself through it Chi.

Seconded, it was on telly a while ago and I lasted about 20 minutes. It's ridiculously bad, and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 April, 2011, 05:03:48 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 April, 2011, 05:00:11 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 04 April, 2011, 04:38:12 PM
Incredibly bad. Utterly shite. Please don't put yourself through it Chi.

Seconded, it was on telly a while ago and I lasted about 20 minutes. It's ridiculously bad, and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the original.

Don't even consider it. The closest link is that some of the characters have similar names and the climax takes place in an underground bunker. Other than that it has running, jumping, wall-crawling super-zombies, and is a whole bucketful of shit.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2011, 05:07:51 PM
And if I recall, the good looking characters don't even take their tops off.

TIME BANDITS - not seen this for ages.  A bit slow by today's standards, and given it's episodic nature it is very hit and miss but David Warner is just class throughout and overall it gets a big thumbs up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 04 April, 2011, 05:18:25 PM
Duly warned!!

Cheers guys

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 04 April, 2011, 08:19:33 PM
Winter's Bone.

It was alright, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 04 April, 2011, 08:32:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2011, 05:07:51 PM
TIME BANDITS - not seen this for ages.  A bit slow by today's standards, and given it's episodic nature it is very hit and miss but David Warner is just class throughout and overall it gets a big thumbs up.

There is almost no film that can't be made better with a dose of David Warner. Even that colossal abomination men know as 'Titanic' is livened up when he starts taking shots at Di Caprio. As for Time Bandits, the line that is indelibly burned into my brain remains Warner's delivery of: "Of course you can't, you silly little man. I control them."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 April, 2011, 08:58:23 PM
Very hungover yesterday I watched Before Sunrise for about the ten millionth time. It is still absolutely wonderful.

Saw Source Code on Friday night and was underwhelmed. Despite everything I've read about it mentioning an emotional core, it left me cold and unengaged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 April, 2011, 10:44:01 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 04 April, 2011, 08:32:23 PM
There is almost no film that can't be made better with a dose of David Warner.

Star Trek V benefits from his presence not one jot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 April, 2011, 10:56:43 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 April, 2011, 10:44:01 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 04 April, 2011, 08:32:23 PM
There is almost no film that can't be made better with a dose of David Warner.

Star Trek V benefits from his presence not one jot.


That's the film's fault rather than his.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 April, 2011, 11:02:56 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 April, 2011, 10:56:43 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 April, 2011, 10:44:01 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 04 April, 2011, 08:32:23 PM
There is almost no film that can't be made better with a dose of David Warner.

Star Trek V benefits from his presence not one jot.

That's the film's fault rather than his.

Well indeed.  After all, he owns Star Trek VI. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 April, 2011, 10:13:55 PM
Ghostbusters on DVD (well, rip from DVD to the digital library). This was a Christmas prezzie from the missus that we've only just got round to watching this weekend. Not seen it in a decade, and I'd forgotten what a fucking brilliant movie this is. Enjoyed every minute of it.

Rango tonight at the cinema. Bloody brilliant. The CGI animation is superb, the design, characters, sets and costume (no, really, the attention to detail on the costumes is breathtaking -- check out the bank manager's frayed shirt collar) are excellent. The humour alternates between broad and very funny, and sharp and sly. The western tropes are riffed on effectively and with obvious affection, and I thought I detected a couple of sly visual jabs at Verbinski and Depp's previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies into the bargain.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2011, 10:52:44 PM
Armor of God.  Lauded as a minor classic in action cinema, I'm surprised by how bloody slow it is, with long and unfunny comedy scenes that I am admittedly prepared to overlook given that star and director Jackie Chan probably had to pace himself a bit after self-knobbling during one of the earliest stunts - and you can see where it happened onscreen as his hair is actually several inches longer between scenes filmed before and after he had to slow down a bit to concentrate on not being dead by having his head's contents fall out the brand new hole he'd made in it.  When the action scenes kick off, mind, it's great fun - not just the kung-fu stuff but even the car chase through a town made of empty cardboard boxes and just-offscreen ramps.

Lost In Space.  A total mess, I'd forgotten how bad this actually was.  So much of it is  actually objectively good, it's just that none of it gels with any of the rest of it and almost every last bit that strikes you as impressive is undermined by an atrocious script that cannot at any point of the production ever have been good, the characters interacting like the writer has never in his life met an actual human being.
But there's lots that I enjoyed, like the Jupiter 2 racing through a collapsing planet, the now-anachronistic but still impressive use of models and huge sets over CGI, even some matte background paintings that lend the thing a charm that admittedly evaporates seconds later when characters open their fucking mouths but is still there nonetheless.  The production design is great, just all over the place and never creates a coherent visual whole, though with a hefty does of comedy that actually worked and a Will Robinson that was not terrible, this might have been much more fondly remembered than it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 April, 2011, 11:15:43 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 April, 2011, 10:52:44 PM
Lost In Space.  A total mess, I'd forgotten how bad this actually was.  So much of it is  actually objectively good, it's just that none of it gels with any of the rest of it and almost every last bit that strikes you as impressive is undermined by an atrocious script that cannot at any point of the production ever have been good, the characters interacting like the writer has never in his life met an actual human being.

I have to say, I rather like Lost in Space. ISTR at the time a lot of SF films seemed to be other genres given a bit of science-fiction set-dressing, and I gave LiS a lot of credit for being a movie that could only have been a science fiction movie: space travel, time travel, robots, aliens... it was actually an SF movie. And, having watched it quite recently, I was surprised how well the FX stood up.

But, yeah, the character work is woeful.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 05 April, 2011, 11:45:27 PM
I remember seeing an interview with one of the cast members (can't recall which, Hurt I think) when Lost in Space came out that said they'd all signed up for 5 films! They're certainly taking their time on the second one, I should imagine it will be mindblowing.

I thought the effects and design were good but a great deal of it sucked shee-it. The teenage girl should have been jettisoned from an airlock at the soonest opportunity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 April, 2011, 12:51:36 AM
The girl who played Penny was alright, she just didn't have a character with anything to contribute to the story.  The kid actor who plays Will Robinson, mind - he is fucking terrible.  He delivers lines like "have you met our parents?" without any cadence, which simply isn't how kids talk, he just has this flat delivery all the way through the movie while his older sis seems to be making a decent fist of things with emotional highs and lows, however unconvincing some of those may be in practice - plus she had horrible, horrible hair, which for some reason I quite liked about the character's appearance.
Matt LeBlanc is all over the shop with his portrayal of Don West, too.  Sometimes he's sharp and laconic, sometimes he's blathering and dumb as a post, like they changed his thick-headed military man halfway through filming to be more like his character off Friends.  Hurt is one-note and his arc is unconvincing mainly because suddenly the film is revealed to be all about him rather than the family as a whole, Oldman's Dr Smith is the wrong kind of panto villainy, Heather Graham is a bit flat but, again, has nothing to do, and Mimi Rogers... well, she's more convincing here than she was in that film where she spent ten years as some dude's beard, but that's not saying much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 06 April, 2011, 12:24:13 PM
The social network  i enjoyed it but not as much as i thought
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 06 April, 2011, 12:34:41 PM
My best mate raved about it and we watched it, na denjoyed it too. However I had the unshakeable feeling that I'd find it very irritating second time round, and I was right. A bit too smug and self-satisfied (but that's Sorkin dialogue for you).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 06 April, 2011, 12:38:47 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 06 April, 2011, 12:34:41 PM
My best mate raved about it and we watched it, na denjoyed it too. However I had the unshakeable feeling that I'd find it very irritating second time round, and I was right. A bit too smug and self-satisfied (but that's Sorkin dialogue for you).

In all fairness i was going use C**T in my post but smug would do just as well. it appears to be a film where all people involved say its accurate and the people its based upon say its all but fiction. either way i didnt feel i could invest any emotion to the characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 April, 2011, 09:41:05 PM
Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain. Crazy Kung-Fu madness. The Special Effects were very special.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 April, 2011, 12:26:24 AM
Not so much 'watched' as 'watching'. Excalibur. It's just started on ITV3. I've seen it a couple of times before. It was a good while ago though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 08 April, 2011, 01:36:00 AM
Helen Mirren's well slutty as Morgana.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 April, 2011, 05:39:01 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 08 April, 2011, 01:36:00 AM
Helen Mirren's well slutty as Morgana.

Isn't she just! [spoiler]Her own brother, no less![/spoiler]

I enjoyed that, although some parts feel a little clunky at times. (I don't intend that as a big criticism. It does lend to the charm somewhat. Not meaning that to be patronising.)

I love the depiction of Merlin. Remains the best Arthurian Legend film adaptation there is, I reckon. Possible exception being Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but that's a different kind of film altogether.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 08 April, 2011, 06:51:18 AM
...

But that's a different kind of film..
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 08 April, 2011, 10:08:15 AM
But that's a different kind of film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 08 April, 2011, 10:20:06 AM
Watched: Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (Blu-ray)

Got my Blu-ray copy (via Amazon) watched it, and... welp. That happened.

I've pretty much gone into Rebuild of Evangelion cold, the few episodes of NGE that I watched left me cold. I thought the characters were annoying, the premises boorish (oh boy, ANOTHER anime about 15 year olds intrusted with super robots), and the symbolism over done. Also the complete collection boxsets have always cost a small fortune, so I've never felt the need to spring for the DVDs.

I picked up Rebuild 1.11 on Blu-ray because I'm a HD animation junky, also... might as well see what all the fuss was about, since I never gave original much of a chance. Surprisingly I liked 1.11. A lot actually. A lot of my problems with the the series seemed to have been addressed. Characters and reasonings seem a tad more believable this go around. However in watching the first movie, with the 3 Angel attacks, it really felt like three episodes of a TV show glued together, with some character stuff slipping through the cracks (mostly concerning Shinji's school friends, which is actually fine, since 'High School Drama' is one of my larger annoyances with 'Teen's with super robots' anime). But overall it flowed well.

Now we have 2.22. And... well... things seem a little more, I don't know.. rushed? Slapped together? The movie's got so much going on it never seems to find time to breath. New characters are showing up left and right, and never given time to develop very much. There never seems to be a sense of time between Angel attacks. And then the ending sort of goes bananas.

BUT. And this a big but. I'm still intrigued by what's going on. To the point I'm sort of pissed that Rebuild 3.03 hasn't even premiered yet in Japan. So... that's a long ass way off to see what happens next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2011, 10:46:44 AM
Someone loaned me an Evangelion movie once (think it was called Death And Rebirth). It looked nice and was quite disturbing in places, but I couldn't work out what was going on at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tombo on 08 April, 2011, 12:05:21 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2011, 10:46:44 AM
Someone loaned me an Evangelion movie once (think it was called Death And Rebirth). It looked nice and was quite disturbing in places, but I couldn't work out what was going on at all.

That's because you'd missed out 22 episodes and another movie (or two, can't remember).  The two new Rebuild Movies (with a third on its way) start off following the same basic story as the original show but from 2.2 onwards its a totally new show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 April, 2011, 12:46:23 PM
Watching the series might not have helped much given Gainax's penny-pinching and the most significant events having a tendency to happen offscreen.  When you're talking about stuff like where the embryonic angel is being hidden you can probably get away with that, but the deaths of several main characters and the extinction/forced evolution of the entire human race happening offscreen is arguably another matter entirely.

It is a good show, but highly overrated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 08 April, 2011, 07:06:21 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2011, 10:46:44 AM
Someone loaned me an Evangelion movie once (think it was called Death And Rebirth). It looked nice and was quite disturbing in places, but I couldn't work out what was going on at all.

As Tombo said, Death & Rebirth is the conclusion movie of the TV series, so you might have missed out on a few... details.

Rebuild of Evangelion is a retelling of the TV series in four feature length films, only 2 have come out so far Evangelion 1.11 You are (Not) Alone & Evangelion 2.22 You can (Not) Advance. While the movies follow the TV series, they soon start to deviate from the original so they start to become their own thing.  If you're at all interested in EVA, I recommend checking out Eva 1.11 and 2.22.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2011, 08:23:36 PM
Thanks, I might actually do that. I liked what I saw, just couldn't comprehend it! Not sure why someone would loan me that as a starting point actually...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 April, 2011, 07:56:17 AM
Doublepost, but watched The Good The Bad The Weird last night and absolutely loved it. Rented it on the strength of Tale of Two Sisters and I Saw The Devil, and I would now consider Jee-woon Kim one of my favorite writer/directors. This was so different to those movies but still pulled off with the kind of flair and energy you know Hollywood wishes it could muster. Really funny, action-packed stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 April, 2011, 11:29:12 AM
THE EAGLE - Solid if unspectacular with a charisma void at the centre. Good roman stuff, nice scenery but goodness me it's violent for a 12a.

HUBBLE 3D at IMAX - It's a while since I've seen a space shuttle take off on telly let alone on a cinema screen let alone on an IMAX screen let alone in 3D so consider me gobsmacked. The 8 to 11 year olds I was with also thought it was awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 April, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 April, 2011, 11:29:12 AM
THE EAGLE - Solid if unspectacular with a charisma void at the centre. Good roman stuff, nice scenery but goodness me it's violent for a 12a.

Tookey was right!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 April, 2011, 12:59:10 PM
There's a pretty full on decapitation (you even see a spurt of blood) and the effects of blades on chariot wheels on legs is also shown.  Tiny Tips (now 11 so I'll have to stop referring to him as Tiny) didn't have a problem with it as the context was fine. 

(As compared to say the gleeful punching through of a chest and driving a car with you hand through the abdomen in the 12a Terminator 3).

Anyway, I remember Eagle of the Ninth being one of my favourite books back when I was 11 (even though I can't remember any of the detail of it) so it was nice to move it along a generation.

Oh and finally saw the last two episodes of OUTCASTS as well. They made the last episode exciting in a way that only the whiteout episode had managed.  It was just too slow.  And Liam Cunningham has the appearance of gravitas (that voice, that worn face) but not the actual charisma to go with it; which means again, there was a void at the heart of the show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 09 April, 2011, 01:17:33 PM
SOURCE CODE - Hugely overrated. Its a future-shock without an editor, inception-lite. Very disappointed . Lots of nice bits (the kiss had a few ladies present weepy) and well acted etc but it clunked due to its unconvincing inconsistently carried out clunky premise. Moon has similar scripting problem (why did he save the robot then go on earth media to reveal the big bad which would implicate the robot again) so maybe Mr Jones needs a tharg as much as tharg could do with a mr jones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 09 April, 2011, 03:50:04 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 April, 2011, 07:56:17 AM
Doublepost, but watched The Good The Bad The Weird last night and absolutely loved it. Rented it on the strength of Tale of Two Sisters and I Saw The Devil, and I would now consider Jee-woon Kim one of my favorite writer/directors. This was so different to those movies but still pulled off with the kind of flair and energy you know Hollywood wishes it could muster. Really funny, action-packed stuff.

Jee-woon Kim is great. I think three of my favorite living genre directors are Korean. They remind me of what a med student friend of mine complained about psyche patients: Those guys will NOT play by the rules!! Hugely envious you've gotten to see I Saw The Devil, Keef. I am crazy geared up to see that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 April, 2011, 06:04:54 PM
I like that description of Korean directors! I particularly love it when they seem to be setting out to make something that sounds pretty standard on paper (like The Good, The Bad, The Weird) but it comes out skewed. There's often a particular balance between humor and darkness which you don't really find anywhere else.

I Saw The Devil is a good example, I'd never heard of it and saw it at a horror festival and it blew me away! It's horrifically dark and you know you should be appalled but it somehow manages to be laugh out loud funny pretty often. I definitely can't imagine even a great Hollywood director managing to pull it off. I'm particularly impressed that the 3 Jee-woon Kim movies I've now seen have been 3 different genres, all handled brilliantly.

Hope you like it when you do catch it, will be interesting to see what you think because I can imagine the unpleasantness making it a real love/hate movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 April, 2011, 08:56:06 PM
Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  If you have the faintest interest in either: art, prehistory, the human condition, charming French and German weirdos, Herzog's bizarre documentary style or albino crocodiles that live in the heated water from nuclear powerplants (and that's 6 out of 6 for me), you must see this in 3D, and in the cinema.  Go, now.  Don't delay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 April, 2011, 11:12:13 AM
Had the flat to myself last night so spent it in the dark watching Blade Runner: THe Final Cut. Hadn't seen it on blu-ray yet (and hadn't seen The Final Cut version at all), it's total eye sex. The 5.1 mix is stunning too, I couldn't quite believe how fresh and amazing the movie looks.

Similarly to the Alien director's cut I love how Scott tweaks and perfects things when he revisits his movies, instead of doing a Lucas and getting over-excited and pooping all over it. The adjustments he makes suggest he genuinely has a considered eye for what made the movie special in the first place. Although changing the line 'I want more life fucker' to 'I want more life father' now means it's not the same as the lyric in 'More Human Than Human' by White Zombie, so maybe they should do a special edition of that for continuity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: doggettX on 10 April, 2011, 12:02:58 PM
Mamma Mia

It was on ITV1 and I had nothing better to do.
I feel no shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 April, 2011, 02:08:10 PM
Went to see Submarine last night - really enjoyed it, but it's obviously one of those films that is only ever going to appeal to a niche audience (two blokes walked out of the cinema halfway through).

I was surprised at how funny it was, and it reminded me of Wes Anderson's work, at least on a superficial level, though it is shot in a more energetic way.

The two leads are very sweet - the main character having previously appeared as the teenage vampire in Being Human, and the cast overall are superb - especially the deranged performance of the ever-reliable Paddy Considine.

My only criticism would perhaps be that it does fall into cliched 'indie' movie territory from time to time, and that it possibly drags a little towards the end. Still - well worth a watch if you're a fan of this sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 10 April, 2011, 10:03:56 PM
Cabin Fever 2:Spring Fever.
Which was confusing to me , as I only ever saw the last ten minutes of the first Cabin Fever and I never sought it out to see it all. By all accounts, Cabin Fever 2 was a bit of a mess, with the director disowning it and everything, but I thought it was pretty enjoyable. The cast were mostly good, the main guy was likeable and not your usual American High School pretty-boy type. His nerdy friend was cool too. It had a really wierd vibe about it, pretty funky directing (Directed by the same guy who made House of the Devil, a GREAT film although it ends too abruptly after a looooooooooooooong build up). The gore was off the chain but despite all the people exploding, melting, coming apart etc, it was the scene where one guy pulls a fingernail off that just got to me and made me turn away from the screen. Can't handle the 'so real it could be real' scenes at all. Good music in this one as well. The ending was an oddity though - the main story didn't seem to really end at all, just segued into a totally different 'side' story for the last ten minutes. Having read about this online, it seems that the director bailed before finishing the shoot and so the producers ended up shooting a totally different ending to tack on. Shame though. I dont get the directors problem really, it wasnt THAT bad.

Enjoyed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2011, 10:28:25 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 April, 2011, 08:56:06 PM
Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  If you have the faintest interest in either: art, prehistory, the human condition, charming French and German weirdos, Herzog's bizarre documentary style or albino crocodiles that live in the heated water from nuclear powerplants (and that's 6 out of 6 for me), you must see this in 3D, and in the cinema.  Go, now.  Don't delay.


Can't wait to see this. Herzog has improved so much over the decades.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2011, 10:37:28 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2011, 10:28:25 PM
Can't wait to see this. Herzog has improved so much over the decades.

It is fucking brilliant.  Haven't stopped thinking about it since*.  It's the first time I've seen 3D put to entirely indispensible use.




*I should add that I went to see Chauvet Cave last year, even though you can't get in - just to see the entrance, just to see where it was, and I've previously been to most of the publicly accessible decorated caves in France.  So I may not be the most neutral reviewer when it comes to the subject matter.  Even so, the style of the documentary is so unique, so completely outside my expectation, that it was way more interesting than I was hoping.

The fact that it was the first time I've ever been in a completely full, completely silent cinema suggests I may not be that biased.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 April, 2011, 10:38:39 PM
Even more annoyed about missing this now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 10 April, 2011, 11:12:38 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2011, 10:28:25 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 April, 2011, 08:56:06 PM
Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  If you have the faintest interest in either: art, prehistory, the human condition, charming French and German weirdos, Herzog's bizarre documentary style or albino crocodiles that live in the heated water from nuclear powerplants (and that's 6 out of 6 for me), you must see this in 3D, and in the cinema.  Go, now.  Don't delay.


Can't wait to see this. Herzog has improved so much over the decades.

Once this hits wide release in the US I'll be there opening night. I've loved every single documentary of his I've seen, and could not get enough of Encounters at the End of the World. Good on France for having the sense to hire Werner for this job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2011, 11:21:15 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 April, 2011, 10:37:28 PMEven so, the style of the documentary is so unique, so completely outside my expectation, that it was way more interesting than I was hoping.


Considering his older doc-films about mirages and the burning oil-fields of the first Gulf-War, it should be interesting...


Whatever about aul Werner, he still has tireless artistic integrity.


and I love 'Even Dwarfs started Small', Time Bandits on Ibiza.


(http://www.pinglewood.com/pinglewood/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Even+Dwarfs+Started+Small3.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 April, 2011, 04:30:09 AM
Thir13en Ghosts

I've seen it before, but it was still fairly enjoyable.

Classic quip from the Nanny character:

[spoiler]"So the lawyer had to split, huh?"

And the bit when she actually saw what had happened to the lawyer:

"Is that half a lawyer?... He's looked better."[/spoiler]

Guess I have a sick mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 11 April, 2011, 01:16:12 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 April, 2011, 04:30:09 AM
Thir13en Ghosts

I've seen it before, but it was still fairly enjoyable.

I've been meaning to grab this one for quite a while. It gets mixed reviews, which may have put me off...

I watched WHISPER, starring Josh Holloway (Sawyer from LOST).

Basically, an okay horror/ thriller flick.

I give it a quick review here:

http://waynesimmons.org/blog/?p=408
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 11 April, 2011, 01:26:59 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 07 April, 2011, 09:41:05 PM
Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain. Crazy Kung-Fu madness. The Special Effects were very special.
Did you watch the original or the butchered westernised version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 11 April, 2011, 02:44:24 PM
The Hole. (keira Knightly).
I was expecting a horror but still enjoyed this one.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 April, 2011, 04:02:47 PM
Just watched Dangerous Days, the 3 hour plus documentary on Blade Runner. I had to sit in while our new boiler got fitted and it seemed a good way to pass the time. A great doc, with a ton of unseen footage in it (including a saucier love scene with some Sean Young booby action for anyone who's into that, I'm above such things).

Harrison Ford comes across as a right grump about the whole thing, although it is amusing to hear the voiceover recording sessions where he's very vocal about how ridiculous it is that he's having to do it, and rightly so. There's a talking head from Guillermo Del Toro where he defends the voiceover though and says he specifically watches the old laser disc version because he prefers it to the director's cut. Madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 April, 2011, 05:13:12 PM
I always reckoned Blade Runner needed the voice over for teh first 45 minutes or so and then it could quietly fade away.  It's needed for some basil early on, otherwise a fist time viewer wouldn't have a clue what was going on but by the time Rutger is releasing doves into the sky, it's completely un-necessary.

But I shall have to watch the documentary to confirm this. And not to look at Sean Young's breasts. Oh no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 April, 2011, 07:34:36 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 11 April, 2011, 01:26:59 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 07 April, 2011, 09:41:05 PM
Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain. Crazy Kung-Fu madness. The Special Effects were very special.
Did you watch the original or the butchered westernised version?

It had subtitles. Is the butchered, westernised version a variant cut? Or did the yanks remake it because reading's too difficult?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 11 April, 2011, 09:31:50 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 April, 2011, 05:13:12 PM
I always reckoned Blade Runner needed the voice over for teh first 45 minutes or so and then it could quietly fade away.  It's needed for some basil early on, otherwise a fist time viewer wouldn't have a clue what was going on but by the time Rutger is releasing doves into the sky, it's completely un-necessary.

But I shall have to watch the documentary to confirm this. And not to look at Sean Young's breasts. Oh no.

I've only ever watched the Director's Cut and the Final Cut and have never heard Harrison Ford's narration. Ever. And I have never had a problem following what was going on. The text scroll at the beginning is plenty of exposition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 April, 2011, 09:48:14 PM
I don't think the narration is vital to the plot of Bladerunner. But I would say it has an effect on the mood and tone. Gives it a bit of a gumshoe vibe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 11 April, 2011, 09:57:09 PM
Legion, the evil granny was great but that was about the only highlight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 April, 2011, 01:04:49 AM
Police Story. Like a Bollywood movie bunging in songs, Jackie Chan's 1980s Hong Kong efforts crammed in far too much broad comedy mid-movie, but when they kick off, they kick off big time and it does not pay to be a pane of glass in this movie.  There's this bit right at the end where Chan is basically furious with this dude who walks into the scene wearing unbroken glasses and slaps the shit out of him, then uses another guy to break a display case in another part of the building.
The bloopers reel is as entertaining as ever, with comedy moments like paramedics rushing to see if the guys who flip their car driving downhill through an occupied shanty town are dead, paramedics rushing to see if Jackie has been electrocuted, paramedics rushing to see if Jackie has broken someone's neck, paramedics rushing to see if Jackie has broken his own neck, and on the paramedics' day off, some random guys from the crew trying to extinguish a house they've accidentally set on fire and they could not look more bored because for them this is like Tuesday or something.  It's very entertaining.

Reign of Fire.  Not sure about the dragonslayers' skills - they pretty much just show up and the dragon goes "rargh" and they die and Matthew McCaugnaghy looks a bit sad and then they kill the dragon.  Not much of a story but as a film it's alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 12 April, 2011, 07:00:51 PM
THE BLEEDING - Bloody atroicious flick. To be honest i wasn't expecting much as the "stars " are Michael Matthias (who he?)and Vinnie Jones (as Lord of the Vampires, Vinnie the Vamp who thought that would work?).There was a hope that Michael Madsen and Armand Assante might make it watchable but the former was obviously a bit strapped for cash and needed the work and the latter had 3 lines.

Utter bilge, its like a really really bad B movie.Script,editing,acting,everything is woeful.The only plus to it was the run time of 79 minutes.
Everyone involved should pay any money they made into a fund to gather up every copy of this film and burn them,then bury anything that reamins, on the sea floor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 12 April, 2011, 09:29:05 PM
Quote from: Kerrin on 11 April, 2011, 09:57:09 PM
Legion, the evil granny was great but that was about the only highlight.
Watched this yesterday...the highlight for me was the credits,tbh im not a fan of the actor that played jeep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 13 April, 2011, 07:00:34 AM
SOURCE CODE. Pretty good, not as great as Moon was. But solid science fiction at its most heady.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 April, 2011, 09:32:25 AM
Quote from: klute on 12 April, 2011, 09:29:05 PM
Quote from: Kerrin on 11 April, 2011, 09:57:09 PM
Legion, the evil granny was great but that was about the only highlight.
Watched this yesterday...the highlight for me was the credits,tbh im not a fan of the actor that played jeep.


Rented this a while back, we knew it wouldn't be particularly great but were still a bit disappointed. There were some cool moments (the ice cream van was quite creepy), but I kept being reminded of The Terminator and Night of The Living Dead constantly and it could only suffer in comparison!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 13 April, 2011, 10:43:57 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 April, 2011, 07:34:36 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 11 April, 2011, 01:26:59 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 07 April, 2011, 09:41:05 PM
Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain. Crazy Kung-Fu madness. The Special Effects were very special.
Did you watch the original or the butchered westernised version?

It had subtitles. Is the butchered, westernised version a variant cut? Or did the yanks remake it because reading's too difficult?

IIRC the westernised cut has an added start and end to try and make more sense of it, setting the original film in a dreamworld, and various other cuts throughout. Apparently just being batshit crazy isn't enough reason for a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 13 April, 2011, 01:43:34 PM
The Prestige - twists and turns at every step, are you watching closely?!

amazing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 April, 2011, 01:44:29 PM
My girlfriend got me for my birthday (amongst other things) the DVD of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original 1971 version, not the 2005 remake).

Always a favourite of mine, I hadn't seen it in years and was an absolute joy to watch again. It's weird how films you grew up with seem so much shorter when you watch them now!

I really appreciated the songs and music a lot more on this viewing, whereas I used to fast forward through most of them as a kid - admittedly I did still skip over Mrs Bucket's Cheer Up Charlie song (it's interminable and stops the film dead imo), but Pure Imagination - in fact the whole scene featuring that song - is just perfect.

It's a pretty weird film to look at (weren't character actors ugly back in the day?) and it has that old school effect of over-saturating the colours which gives everything a sickly feel, but it's all part of the charm. My girlfriend and I especially appreciated the film's attitude to (and treatment of) children - a pretty cathartic watch in today's world of spoiled brats - I suspect a modern film wouldn't dare to be so scathing - most children's films are so bland and sugar-coated these days.

By contrast, I find the aforementioned Tim Burton remake utterly unwatchable - everything about it is deeply off-putting, especially the art direction - generally a highlight of any Burton movie. I didn't even like Depp in the role, and he's usually great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 April, 2011, 07:06:36 PM
I have a t-shirt of Gene Wilder as Wonka, flanked by 2 Oompa-loompas. Printed beneath is the word DRUGS

Burton's remake is terrible, but at least he didn't do it in his cliched faux-victoriana style
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 13 April, 2011, 07:08:28 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 13 April, 2011, 07:06:36 PM
Burton's remake is terrible, but at least he didn't do it in his cliched faux-victoriana style

Surely Burton is the perfect choice for a Steampunk movie... or am I forgetting one he has done already?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 13 April, 2011, 07:13:28 PM
Well today i watched the crazies and zombieland....im not really a zombie/horror fan but found both entertaining and enjoyable to watch and wound recommend watching them.

few questions though

1. Sky + screwed up at the end of [spoiler]zombieland what happened after woody and jesse turned up at the amusement park?? i got up to the bit with jesse running to help the girls[/spoiler]

2 I assume at the end of [spoiler]the crazies the sheriff and wife were killed? or were they just contained?[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 April, 2011, 07:47:45 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 April, 2011, 01:44:29 PM
By contrast, I find the aforementioned Tim Burton remake utterly unwatchable - everything about it is deeply off-putting, especially the art direction - generally a highlight of any Burton movie. I didn't even like Depp in the role, and he's usually great.

Perversely I like them both - they're sufficiently different that each can be appreciated on its own merits.  Whereas the edge is much sharper in the '71 version, and Wilder is deeply weird in it, the '05 one has Deep Roy, squirrels, and some great songs and dance sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 13 April, 2011, 08:39:38 PM
Eh. Just read the book both movies are pretty poor representations of the original material. Same goes for Wizard of Oz.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 April, 2011, 09:07:43 PM
Quotewhat happened after [spoiler]woody and jesse turned up at the amusement park?? i got up to the bit with jesse running to help the girls
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]They rescue the girls and all ride off into the sunset together, Columbus breaking his rule of 'Don't Be The Hero' in the process.

It feels to me as if the makers were intending to kill off Talahassee at the end (it certainly seems to be heading that way) but then realised that he's by far the best thing about the movie and decided that they might want to wring a few sequels out of it so they best keep him alive.[/spoiler]

I think Zombieland previously appeared on this thread - my take on it was that it's a very enjoyable film that falters slightly in the third act, which veers slightly too far into comedy with not enough horror - the [spoiler]Bill Murray[/spoiler] section especially. The first half is truly great, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 April, 2011, 09:29:28 PM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 13 April, 2011, 08:39:38 PM
Eh. Just read the book both movies are pretty poor representations of the original material. Same goes for Wizard of Oz.
This. When I was a kid I absolutely loathed the film of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I never knew there was a cartoon version of Pooh until I was quite a bit older, but I probably wouldn't have liked that much either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 15 April, 2011, 08:56:28 AM
Strangely enough, the upcoming Winnie the Pooh Disney film (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRNi6GUs1BU&) is looking to be AMAZING. It looks like they're adapting several of the stories in the book that haven't been adapted yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 15 April, 2011, 07:59:31 PM
Think we might be watching LET ME IN later on (the remake of John A. Lindqvist's LET THE RIGHT ONE IN for those unversed). I've medium to high hopes for it, even though it's a remake... 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 April, 2011, 07:31:19 AM
We watched Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland last night. I enjoyed it more than I expected, but still did nothing for me really. Depp was good value in places, although whenever he slipped into his Scottish accent I couldn't understand a word (and I'm Scottish). That bit at the end where [spoiler]he did a weird dance[/spoiler] made me cringe massively for some reason. I shouldn't be too harsh on it, it's a kids film and not an awful one at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 April, 2011, 08:52:39 AM
Shopgirl. Watched while trying to work last night.  I have a soft spot for Clare Danes, and few people have made me laugh as much as Steve Martin has over the years, but this seemed to be an oddly-pitched attempt to make another Lost in Translation.  Odd elements of farce sat badly with the rather tragic main plot.  Couldn't seem to decide whether it was a romance or a rom-com, but it was nicely shot and mildly diverting. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 April, 2011, 09:42:35 AM
Blade Runner, again. But with Scott's commentary for added trivia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 17 April, 2011, 08:19:11 PM
The missus is watching Space Camp at the moment. Just recognised the snotty little kid as Joaquin Phoenix.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 17 April, 2011, 10:04:14 PM
Clash of the Titans, the new one.

I enjoyed it but the set up and narration dragged a bit for me at the start and I thought that Ralph Fiennes, as Hades, was just playing Voldemort again.
Very interesting to see the location in Wales that was also used for Judge Minty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jared Katooie on 17 April, 2011, 10:24:20 PM
Watched Limitless.

I expected a thriller by numbers type thing, but it was quite good. The opening sequence was very impressive as it zoomed down a long street, through car windows, on and on. I remmeber thinking "this would look great in 3D", and then feeling ashamed of myself.

I'm glad the plot wasn't like the trailer made it out to be, but it does contain annoying semi-spoilers for the film, so if you want to see the film, don't watch the trailer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 18 April, 2011, 01:38:58 PM
Hawk the Slayer and inseminoids  both worth a watch if you like a bit of cheesy cheap budget horror and fantasy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 18 April, 2011, 01:41:41 PM
The Girl Who Played With Fire. I haven't read the books but I fucking love these movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 April, 2011, 08:33:02 PM
Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick may have been a genius, but he didn't half make some weary-arsed films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 18 April, 2011, 08:37:26 PM
In honour of he who posted above, I watched this today

(http://www.blogomatic3000.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/S-Shark-Poster-450x578.jpg)

I think it took 15 minutes, as I fast forwarded through most of it! It was on SYFY (or whatever they call the channel now) and I was waiting for the stage when it went from being so bad that it was good but that stage never arrived  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 April, 2011, 08:51:10 PM
I can't see a film title there, but are you talking about Swamp Shark?! I was channel hopping and landed on it just as it launched through the air and munched someone in one of the greatest displays of awful CG I've seen in a while! Kept popping back to it to try and catch more awesome, but didn't get any.

I was sure I recognized the actress though, and a quick imdb check confirms that Kristy Swanson has fallen on hard times. Sad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 18 April, 2011, 08:52:57 PM
That's the one, didn't the amazing movie poster appear!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 April, 2011, 09:13:40 PM
Cool Hand Luke

I really want a boiled egg now
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 18 April, 2011, 09:15:47 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 18 April, 2011, 09:13:40 PM
Cool Hand Luke

I really want a boiled egg now

Just one?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SMOKESCREEN:ED:9 on 18 April, 2011, 09:50:20 PM
Mork and Mindy, the Bollywood Edit.

(With a Hindi version of Ice Ice Baby to boot.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2011, 11:03:05 PM
THE HURT LOCKER

Ooh, there's a bomb but it's OK, I'm a maverick.
Ooh, there's a bomb but it's OK, I'm a maverick.
Ooh, there's a bomb but it's OK, I'm a maverick.
<Repeat until any tension is eroded>
Wonder "What was that all about?"

With only one tiny little piece of humour ("I was at a whorehouse") and a nice touch where Renner's character keeps a [spoiler]collection of bomb parts under his bed (I assume in an attempt to understand who the enemy really is because it's not meant to be the people on the streets), [/spoiler] it was good but I don't think I'll watch again.

And top marks for the DVD jacket people showing a cast of Guy Pearce [spoiler](two minutes screen time, half a dozen lines, one of which is "Aaaargh!"), [/spoiler] Evangeline Lily ([spoiler]two minutes screen time, two lines, one of which is "Pass the cereal") [/spoiler] and Ralph Fiennes ([spoiler]two minutes screen time, 5 lines - one of which is "Aaaargh!")[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2011, 11:05:10 PM
Oh and my nephew is working through Lord of the Rings with his dad (Big Al, who says that dogs can't look up).  He gets to the flashback with Elrond and Isildur where Isildur is corrupted by the ring and decides to keep it:

He asks: "Did he not destroy the ring so they had something to do in the other two films?"

The boy knows how Hollywood works.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 April, 2011, 01:03:38 AM
To be fair the novels did it before Hollywood (although I don't think Isildur went right to Mount Doom with Elrond. He just took the ring for himself there and then, but I guess that's less dramatic).

Last film I watched was and Indian film called 3 Idiots. (Or something like that.)

It was kind of corny in places and the hero worship of Rancho got on my nerves...

... yet I genuinely liked it. It was very funny in places and an all round warm good natured film. It had it's sad* tragic bits but they actually aided the warm stuff rather than pull it down. And yes, I liked the corny dance numbers too.

*I use the word 'sad' in the literal meaning of the word. That goes for all the words that are taken nowadays to mean the opposite, such as 'wicked' (that started when I was a kid), sick (that's a pretty new one) and bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 April, 2011, 08:00:54 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 19 April, 2011, 01:03:38 AM
That goes for all the words that are taken nowadays to mean the opposite, such as 'wicked' (that started when I was a kid), sick (that's a pretty new one) and bad.

Don't forget gay.  Has any word ever experienced such a transformation of meaning in under a century?  Bright and cheery, to homosexual (derogatory), to homosexual (celebratory) to a general condition of pathetic crapness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 21 April, 2011, 08:15:34 PM
The Eagle, bar the fact that the vocal track kept crapping out at the showing we went to, not bad. It's a fairly small Film 4 production and the main action scenes show that up, lots of shaky camera to hide the fact there only three people on screen. Barring that, the camera work is quite arty but in a nice way. The performances are good, not amazing, but there's no real stinkers. For some reason the Romans all have American accents, even the British actors playing Romans have American accents. So we're treated to Legionaire Mark Strong of the Bronx. Ha ha haa! Jamie Bell is the stand out act but my favourites were the Seal tribe, nice lads but they could do with a wash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 21 April, 2011, 09:24:27 PM
Watched The Wrestler. Wasn't as good as the reviews would suggest but better than I expected, given just how 'wrong' most mainstream media get it when they touch on pro-wrestling, even the well intentioned ones who don't set out to take the piss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: fresno bob on 22 April, 2011, 06:33:22 AM
Up The Academy (1980) The one and only film produced by Mad Magazine. A guilty pleasure to be sure.Stars Ron Leibman,Ralph Macchio,Ian Wolfe, Barbara Bach,and Tom Poston as a gay Sgt major.Directed by Robert Downey Sr.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 23 April, 2011, 10:06:25 AM
Having just endured the Mordor-Manchester trip and back again I took in a few movies on the flight.

The remake of True Grit was pretty good. I'm not a huge John Wayne fan (apart from The Searchers) so anything was an improvement on the original for me. That said, it was a good film with more than a hint of Deadwood about it.

The American was a passable thriller with a somewhat predictable ending.

The Expendables was bloody awful. I can see what they were aiming for, but all of the characters were pricks and I honestly didn't care if they lived or died. The big scene featuring Arnie, Sly and Bruce seemed too forced and pointless.

Red was ridiculously over the top but funny in places so killed a couple of hours.

Megamind was probably the best film I wathed on the first leg and though it didn't hit all of the buttons, it was still quality stuff with some cracking moments.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel could have been done in 15 minutes. Most of the jokes fell flat and I just wanted the logic police to raid the story about an hour in so I wouldn't have to watch the rest. The plot had more holes in it than a Christchurch street.

Monsters was an interesting premise, but poorly executed. Maybe it was the jet lag, but I just didn't understand what point it was trying to make. It was just dreary for the most part.

Tron I had never seen until the flight. Typically 80s, it skimped on character depth and went straight for the cool nerd vote. I know people who have said it was better than The Matrix. Without any nostalgic reflection, it clearly isn't and I thought it was highly overrated and dated. Depressingly, David Warner seemed to phone in his performance.

Tron Legacy was visually impressive if only for Olivia Wilde's ass, but the story seemed to lack passion and logic and replaced these with quick fix CGI-porn and Michael Sheen (no, I have no idea either). Quick thought- The discs worn on the backs are essentailly the memory/essence of the user so why are they being hurled about the place like shit in a monkey house? Awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 April, 2011, 10:24:06 AM
PREDATORS.

Meh. It was okay, I guess. Although there only seemed to be two predators in it, and they moved so slowly they may as well have been from a fifties 'b' movie. Silly set design too- at one point they wander into a knockoff from original Star Trek/ Plain of Stones from Planet of the Daleks. Lots of times the human characters react to something and the camera cuts to a cg-augmented wideshot that makes no sense visually and you just cannot tell what they are supposed to be looking at. It's also not very gory, which was a massive letdown.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 23 April, 2011, 12:46:51 PM
Raiders of the Lost Ark or as it's called now Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark which has to be one of the longest film titles ever... (well maybe not)

It was on BBC4 or 3 or some BBC channel last night and a welcome surprise as I was looking at an early night as telly was looking so crap.

It's still a crackin film and the must have broadcast a digitally remasterd version as the picture quality was pin sharp and squeeky clean!

Foed is great in this and genuinely looks like he's having a ball making it... the rest of the cast are faultless... Karen Allen, Denholm Elliot, John Rhyse Davies and the rest played it to a tee.

Temple of Doom is on tonight with the other two following the next two nights... no coincidence they are showng The Last Crusade on Easter Sunday as it's all about the baby Jesus pint mug.

And for all it's flaws I still very much enjoyed The Crystal Skull.

So that's my Easter telly sorted.

Came across this just now on youtube...... very cleaver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUPDuQq9GsM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 23 April, 2011, 12:54:58 PM
Prince of persia-the sands of time,not a bad film though not quite what i was expecting...what was i expecting? i dont know this just wasnt it.

Not a bad film but not a good one either, i wouldnt wish for a sequel.

Some of the actors just didnt feel right in there roles and felt a little like a miscast. but thats just a personal feeling.

Would recommend it just to say you have.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 April, 2011, 05:09:06 PM
THOR. I raved about it in the dedicated thread, over there ->, but it really is the best movie I've seen in ages and ages. Can I go again now, please?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 25 April, 2011, 06:26:14 PM
Prince of Persia-Sands Of Time.
Bad move.
Negative points- Plot holes you could ride a dinosaur through, miscasting and video game logic.
Plus point- Gemma Arterton

I'm really going to have to be more discerning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 April, 2011, 12:37:00 PM
In between various DIY projects (800 kilos of sand and cement lugged up the garden...) I have slumped down in front of a telly at night and watched...

Source Code - see seperate thread

Planet of The Apes - Sat down with Tiny and Mrs Tips to watch this having not seen it myself for twenty five years and I don't think they had ever.  I dozed off in the slightly wordy middle but woke up to find that everyone else was still gripped. Tiny Tips was impressed with THE twist and generally thought it was a great movie.


Conan the Destroyer - no, couldn't watch it. Gave up after twenty minutes. And then deleted the recording because I didn't want to subject any of the rest of the family to it. It gets *everything* wrong.

Rocketeer - It gets *everything* right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 April, 2011, 01:50:42 PM
I got them as part of a bargain Blu Ray box set recently, so on Saturday night I watched Shallow Grave and Trainspotting back to back - having not seen ether of them in many years, maybe even a decade. I think Trainspotting especially has reached that level of being so iconic and heavily referenced in other films and media that I needed a long, long break from it to get some distance to be able to watch it again.

Enjoyed both, but Shallow Grave seems somewhat dated, and in the cold light of day, isn't a particularly well-written film - the plot seems pretty silly to me now) and I found myself very unconvinced by the character's actions this time round. I think the fundamental problem is that all three principal characters are very underwritten - only McGregor has any sort of discernible personality, and even that is very simplistic. I think the script would have worked better if there had been a lot more emphasis on the decision to keep the money - it seems like a very easy choice in the film to the extent that it seems to have a sort of 'aren't yuppies horrible?' message - perhaps that's the point? I still have a lot of affection for the film, though.

Trainspotting seems a lot fresher in every way, from the soundtrack to the clothes - I was surprised by how timeless it feels.

It also goes without saying that both films contain some pretty horrendous mid-nineties dance music - Trainspotting less so, the Underworld tracks at least still sound pretty good to my ears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 28 April, 2011, 07:45:53 PM
Centurion and In Bruges.

I really liked Centurion. Nice historical details and the Witches house took me back to my school history books. There were also other things straight from the books too. The stuff about wolves. And something early on in the camp brawling.

In Bruges has Ralph in fine monstrous form. Colin does his best not to get on my nerves and Brendan does his hard man with a heart bit with aplomb. All in all a black comedy measured and poured a little stiffly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 28 April, 2011, 08:27:04 PM
Skyline.
A rather poor alien invasion movie where nearly all the budget was spent on effects and not on decent actors or a decent script writer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 April, 2011, 10:31:27 PM
...not really a movie, but by the end it almost felt like one:  Doctor Who Series 31 (Relaunch series 5).  Only saw the first few last year, and have been watching the whole season over the past week-or-so:  to my pleasant surprise it's absolutely fantastic, by far the best of the new run.

I had totally lost enthusiasm for what had become a loud, screechy, nonsensical and ultimately frustrating mess in recent years, and while a re-watch of some of the better Moffatt stuff (Weeping Angels and The Library etc.) had given me enough interest to give Smith's season a go, I was about as far from a DW fan as I had been at the nadir of the McCoy years.

However, Smith's Doctor is terrific, a real mix of old and young, silly and serious.  I also think Amy works well as a companion, and while I don't like her much as either a performance or a person, the addition of Rory more than makes up for it.  The WWII Dalek one was the only mild wobble for me, largely made up for by sheer joyful silliness.  However, the real winning aspect was a collection of stories that were interesting and satisfying individually, but contributed to and fitted into a clever overall plot which was actually given time to breath. The well-paced final episode was about as good as Nu Who ever gets, and the Doctor's willful be-fezzed violation of causality in a universe that had already been destroyed was a delight.

All set to get caught up on the current run now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 29 April, 2011, 12:13:11 AM
Just back from How I Ended This Summer, a two-hander set around an isolated Russian weather station on the Arctic coast. It all kicks off when the younger of the two doesn't do something he should. Understandable as it is, you spend the next hour in knots waiting for him to man up and get it over with. Of course, by the time he does, it just makes things worse. It loses its way a bit at the very end but overall, especially taking into account all the nice long shots of fog and ice, this is an excellent, gripping watch. Give it a chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 29 April, 2011, 09:15:15 AM
Source Code- whcih was utterly fantastic.

Fast and Furious 5- I had only seen a couple of minutes of the first one so had little clue what was who. However- this was bloody awesome brainless entertainment. The Rock is worth the priceof admission alone. Just don't think at all while watching this and you should have a great time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2011, 10:13:11 AM
I actually had a dream last night that I watched a really good Harry Potter film and then posted on here raving about it. Oddly, I really don't like Harry Potter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 29 April, 2011, 07:06:09 PM
Valkyrie.
Wasn't as bad as I thought although it did have a bit of a meander away from historical fact. Thought the performances were quite muted, though. Some of the conspirators came across as neurotic until Maverick stepped up to the plate.
Speaking of the couch jumping fool, I didn't really rate him in this and haven't seen him in anything good since Tropic Thunder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 29 April, 2011, 07:46:00 PM
I finally watched Red this afternoon to get a good look at Karl Urban. I was pretty pleased with what I saw, while not having any chin to speak of, he had presence in spades. Here's hoping he'll do a good job...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 April, 2011, 08:07:26 PM
I decided I wasn't all that interested in watching two strangers get married. So after a quick perusal of my shelves before work, I grabbed Once Upon a Time In the West and my laptop. Got into work, grabbed a chair and sat watching in the sunny (empty) car park.

It has Sergio  Leone's fingerprints all over it. I'll accept his style isn't to everyone's taste, but, as far as I'm concerned, not one single millimetre of celluloid gets wasted. Some great one liners. I should also like to add that Claudia Cardinale is very very pretty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 29 April, 2011, 08:11:07 PM
Saw Certified Copy last night. I tend to have expectations when going to an arthouse film that the audience will know when to shut the fuck up, but there were more jabberers than the last time I went to the dollar theater. What's worse was the awful pretension of the jabbering. At least at the dollar theater I just have to put up with three year olds running around the aisles during horror movies and people sceaming, "Look out!" at the movie.

Gorgeously shot and Binoche brings the pain to every other actress working today. Kiarostami is famous for using non-actors in his films, but Binoche feels realer than real in this pic. It felt somewhat slight and disjointed while watching it, but I'm still thinking about it a day later so I give it a thumbs up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: kriss_kringle on 29 April, 2011, 08:13:20 PM
The last movies I saw were Source code and a french one called Malefique.Source code was good but was kind of sappy near the end and I didn't like that but Duncan Jones is on the right track with this second effort.The french one was bad,4 guys in a cell find a book about black magic and try to use it to escape.A bunch of random events happen,really horrible writing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 29 April, 2011, 11:18:50 PM
I've mainly been watching stuff on the horror channel lately. I know, I like torturing myself watching low budget, z-grade crap. It's a hobby! And every so often you find a good one.

There was one on last week called Salvage. A British urban-horror thingy, which was basically like an episode of Brookside where Brookside close is suddenly swarming with trigger-happy marine types who are hunting...SOMETHING...and can't let anybody in the estate leave until they have found it...and possibly even after. It's a pretty decent little flick, well acted, nice bit of suspense. It more or less all takes place inside a couple of semi-detached houses on the estate with characters moving from house to house as they try to escape/figure out whats going on. The SOMETHING being hunted is fairly interesting - and scary - too. I enjoyed this one.

Then there was another one called Lonely Joe. This was bad. Very very bad. Took me four attempts to get to the end of it (you know you're in trouble when a movie keeps putting you asleep at the same point) but I had to see it all because I did want to know how it ended. Interesting premise I guess. But wasn't worth it after all that. Avoid.

Finally, last night I saw 11:11. This was very good. Nice spooky shenanigans, good cast, some fun deaths and it kept me guessing to the end. It porports to be based on some real-world predictions about (that old chestnut) the end of the world, and some of the stuff it came out with, frankly, freaked me out. This movie was made a few years ago but it goes on about how 2011 is meant to be the year when the world all starts going to Hell and there are going to be huge calamities and worldwide disasters, much more extreme weather etcetera. Yeah, I know you could say this about every year and it would turn out to be true, but watching this with the ongoing situation in Japan and the hurricanes in the US yesterday made me go...hmmmm! It was an enjoyable watch though...ending was a bit limp and disappointing, but I find that with most films anyway!

Now...what fresh treats will they have in store for me this weekend!!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 01 May, 2011, 11:38:12 AM
ALIEN.

Still gobsmackingly good Geigers creature design is still mesmerizing.

The old, dark house set in space but it's story of an unhappy Haulage crew being sacrificed to a ruthless Capitilist doctrine says something to me about our time now even more than when it was released over thirty years ago.

Aresome!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 May, 2011, 12:57:54 PM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I seem to end up watching every month or two.  It starts so very well, there are some terrific set-pieces throughout, but aside from Connery and Sayle all the new cast members are awful, and after the arrival in Venice it just unravels into a disjointed inconsistent mess that even a cameo by the Sheard can't really save.  Compared to the tightly-filmed Raiders (which I watched a few days ago) it's a shambles.  But at least Kate Capshaw isn't in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: John Caliber on 01 May, 2011, 05:16:37 PM
I enjoyed the Last Crusade novel when it came out, and didn't see the movie until it came out on video. Very disappointed with it at the time - it had a cheap look about it, as though Spielberg couldn't be bothered and had instead saved half the budget for his next movie. Same, laid back sense of direction that blunted Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I didn't enjoy watching Marcus Brody and Sallah reduced to a pantomime double-act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 May, 2011, 07:37:10 PM
Quote from: John Caliber on 01 May, 2011, 05:16:37 PM
I didn't enjoy watching Marcus Brody and Sallah reduced to a pantomime double-act.

I actually found Brody to be one of the stronger points of the movie - you can never have enough Denholm Elliot, and he didn't have much to do in the original.  Sallah, on the other hand, is an entirely different and infinitely more irritating character than the suave streetwise charmer of Raiders.  I should say that I do enjoy Last Crusade (why else would I watch it half a dozen times a year), it's just... sloppy.  I almost hesitate to suggest that I preferred Crystal Skull, which apart from some  truly ghastly moments (you know the ones) is a far more faithful sequel to the original.  Also, Karen Allen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 May, 2011, 08:17:20 PM
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v1QOWAfK7O0/TBak5Tj46NI/AAAAAAAADgo/m9ccbxhpaac/s1600/the-big-tits-zombie-3d.jpg)

I felt the need to include the poster in this post, just in case anyone thought I was making it up. And also because it's a pretty awesome poster. The Big Tits Dragon, or Big Tits Zombie as our copy was called. Neither title is particularly accurate, there aren't any dragons and the tits are on the people fighting the zombies. And it's atrocious. Really unbelievably atrocious. It's got one real action scene, which obviously took up so much of the budget that it appears twice in full (really) and while the ladies are obviously fantastic to look at it's nowhere near as saucy as you'd think, with the (tit)ular breasties only popping out once I think.

It didn't help that we watched it in '3D'. It's the red/green old school specs style, and only tiny 20 second bursts are actually in 3D, and a cheddar countdown appears anytime you need to get your glasses ready, and then the image gets so frazzled you can't even read the subtitles anymore.

It's a good thing we'd done a rewatch of the brilliant The Good, The Bad, The Weird beforehand or the night would have been a total bust (ha)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 May, 2011, 08:25:41 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 May, 2011, 12:57:54 PM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I seem to end up watching every month or two.  It starts so very well, there are some terrific set-pieces throughout, but aside from Connery and Sayle all the new cast members are awful, and after the arrival in Venice it just unravels into a disjointed inconsistent mess that even a cameo by the Sheard can't really save.  Compared to the tightly-filmed Raiders (which I watched a few days ago) it's a shambles.  But at least Kate Capshaw isn't in it.



Tis a pity cos they had the best material but still the Temple of Doom excites and has some rather scary moments which the Last Crusade truly lacks as does the Crystal Skull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 May, 2011, 10:56:52 AM
Burlesque (2011)

I enjoyed this far more than my wife did, that's for sure. She's a burlesque performer herself, and so had been making vague noises about seeing this since it was on cinema release- but because the world and his wife loathed it (especially the Burlesque community itself, which I think would strangle each and every person involved in the film's production if they could), she was somewhat torn.

Personally, I thought it was fun- in a kind of "Moulin Rouge's cheap kid sister" kind of way. I confess I love musicals, am completely in love with Cher, don't mind Christina Aguillera, really like Stanley Tucci and was very pleased to see Alan Cumming in the cast. The trouble is, it spends much of its running time pretending not to be a musical- and so we are deprived of Cumming's 'That's Life' turn (except in the deleted scenes), which also makes a marvellous, jaw-dropping nonsense of the scene in which a very sad, money-betroubled Cher leaves the show late one night, only to bump into the lighting guy who reminds her she was due to rehearse a song, which she begrudgingly does; launching into a number about being very sad and money-betroubled. It's the single worst worst segue into a song in musical cinema history- and there's no need for it. If they'd've let the film have a few more musical numbers (that weren't just Xtina doing her pop video thing) it would have worked just fine.

Needless to say it has nothing whatsoever to do with actual Burlesque, barring one routine Xtina does with fans, which is actually not too bad. The name of the movie happens to be the name of Cher's nightclub. It may as well have been called 'Fanny's'.

Anyway, she grudgingly said it was okay but ranted for a bit about people getting the wrong idea about her chosen career. I just thought it was a pleasant enough way to pass two hours. Songs are mostly crap though, which may be why they chose to downplay the musical angle.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 02 May, 2011, 11:34:49 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 01 May, 2011, 08:25:41 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 May, 2011, 12:57:54 PM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I seem to end up watching every month or two.  It starts so very well, there are some terrific set-pieces throughout, but aside from Connery and Sayle all the new cast members are awful, and after the arrival in Venice it just unravels into a disjointed inconsistent mess that even a cameo by the Sheard can't really save.  Compared to the tightly-filmed Raiders (which I watched a few days ago) it's a shambles.  But at least Kate Capshaw isn't in it.



Tis a pity cos they had the best material but still the Temple of Doom excites and has some rather scary moments which the Last Crusade truly lacks as does the Crystal Skull.

I seem to recall quite a lot of fanboys thinking that Doom was a retrograde step and relied too much on shock tactics and lazy racial stereotypes. Like the Nazis in the other films were anything other than charicatures. I didn't care because I was about 12 when I saw it, and loved every rollercoaster second of it.

As for being scary, I'm pretty sure it did require some cuts, and the heart scene in particular caused some minor media outrage.

In some ways it's my favourite, although obv I love Raiders and The Holy Grail is great too.

I saw Crystal Skull on a plane, shich I'm sure didn't help my enjoyment of it, but it was a bit ordinary and by far the worst of the series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 02 May, 2011, 11:48:34 AM
Crystal Skull is like watching an old man going to a fancy dress party dressed as Indiana Jones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 02 May, 2011, 12:07:53 PM
Nothing wrong with 'old' Indiana Jones, it's old George Lucas I worry about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abir_ahmed on 02 May, 2011, 03:31:09 PM
The Tourist  is a 2010 romantic thriller film, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. It is a remake of the 2005 French action film Anthony Zimmer. Despite the negative reception from the critics, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with a debate arising over the question if it was a comedy or a drama. But I really enjoyed the movie very much. 

botão espião
(http://www.chaveiroespiao.com/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 02 May, 2011, 03:40:57 PM
Thor.
Saw the 2D version. Thor is one of those Marvel characters that kind of passed me by and like most here I rather enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 May, 2011, 04:09:29 PM
The Only Sci-Fi Movie You Need to Watch for the Rest of Your Life, apparently...

http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life (http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 02 May, 2011, 05:33:55 PM
Watching Film 4's Films for Life I uncovered a hidden gem that I was not going to watch at first. Ken Loach is largely heralded for such dreary drama for grown ups like My Name is Joe. A film I tried to be hip to but found it really difficult. Not because of the personal demons but because I could not understand some sort of documentary style drama set in echoic empty flats and sense of isolation it portrayed. I needed to suspend my disbelief more than in Empire Strikes Back when a little green man lifts a 50 tonne spacecraft, " with his mind" , to stop thinking about all the camera crew and luvvies sharing cucumber sandwiches behind the scenes.

" The Wind That Shakes the Barley" looked like more of the same. Even Cillian Murphy's been in some dire cinema. (I hate Disco Pigs). Then I read some more and... I got interested.1920's. Northern Irish disputes. A chance to actually get a more informed gauge on the troubles, from a unique perspective and period. " I'll give it a look, why not?"

Turns out it's a great film. A real drama with strategically placed action sequences and political edges with no fat on them. I don't know how accurate it is and I'm not too concerned. I trust Loach wouldn't handle this subject with too much procrastinate and would imagine many eyes are on it for its delivery. So I'm going to go out on a limb and tell you all, it was a well observed piece of cinema. From my comfortable armchair anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 May, 2011, 06:31:55 PM
Just watched Eyes Wide Shut, which was much better than the critical kicking it got would suggest. Maybe people expected too much, because I found I was engrossed throughout. My main criticism would be the performances and dialogue were very stilted and stiff, other than that it's a decent piece of work with that very Kubrick quality of taking it's time to draw you into the frame, making the long running time go by in a daze almost. Left me on a massive downer mind you, not wholly sure if that's the point, maybe that's just the way I'm feeling today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 May, 2011, 06:55:33 PM
Die Tür (The Door, 2009). Very satisfying little film concerning love, betrayal, murder and time travel in a leafy German town. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 May, 2011, 07:01:53 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 02 May, 2011, 04:09:29 PM
The Only Sci-Fi Movie You Need to Watch for the Rest of Your Life, apparently...

http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life (http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life)

Dear me. That NMA animation, insensitive as it was, cracked me up. Naughty people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Merlin on 03 May, 2011, 06:40:38 PM
Watched Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 1. Just as boring as the book but managed to sit through it. Just glad it was on dvd and not at the cinema. Looks like I'll give part 2 a miss on the big screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 May, 2011, 10:36:15 PM
MOON - both me and the missus most impressed. Simple story, great perfromances by Sam Rockwell, reasonably happy ending.  Oh and love the  special effects. Very good and not the slightest bit flashy or intrusive.  Would CGI or bullet time have helped them tell the story any better? (No).

KNOWING - about half way through this and I think I'm tending towards the "quite good" camp despite another bland performance by Cage (he played a barely functioning alcoholic so well in Leaving Las Vegas but here seems to be channelling a soap opera.  Some nice carnage in the two disaster scenes so far (though, thankfully, the poor people in flames didn't look realistic).

(Next up is District 9. Yes, I bought that 3 films box set for about six quid (instead of an Easter Egg).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 04 May, 2011, 01:06:05 AM
Jonah Hex.....four quid from Asda....i was never going to pay full price after the reviews.

It wasn't that bad a film.....but the music didn't go well. The pacing was fractured and the direction seemed a bit shoody in places, but for £4 i aint gonna bitch too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 May, 2011, 02:03:42 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 May, 2011, 10:36:15 PM
(Next up is District 9. Yes, I bought that 3 films box set for about six quid (instead of an Easter Egg).

I took the 3 films box route a while back too. Knowing was the weakest for me, but only comparatively speaking. (The father/son hand gesture thing was dreadfully corny.) I think Moon was my favourite, but District 9 was good.

[spoiler]Never did quite work out why the fluid from an alien ship's engine systems would turn a human into an alien though...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 04 May, 2011, 11:09:34 AM
Quotehttp://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life

I actually saw Robot on the plane back from Blighty. It veers between madness and creative lunacy in the space of a minute, then drives the car over the cliff by the time of the ball/snake thing.
Batshit insane.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 May, 2011, 11:41:01 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 04 May, 2011, 11:09:34 AM
Quotehttp://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life

I actually saw Robot on the plane back from Blighty. It veers between madness and creative lunacy in the space of a minute, then drives the car over the cliff by the time of the ball/snake thing.
Batshit insane.

What am I supposed to be looking at here? The link just seems to have loads of stuff about Osama Bin Laden.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 May, 2011, 11:49:42 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 02 May, 2011, 04:09:29 PM
The Only Sci-Fi Movie You Need to Watch for the Rest of Your Life, apparently...

http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life (http://gizmodo.com/#!5744805/the-only-sci+fi-movie-you-need-to-watch-for-the-rest-of-your-life)

Quote from: JamesC on 04 May, 2011, 11:41:01 AM
What am I supposed to be looking at here? The link just seems to have loads of stuff about Osama Bin Laden.

Yeah, I got that too. But judging from Orlok's comment they're talking about Robot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthiran). I saw some of this recently and it truly is insane!

Oh and as well as Osama, the link did have a bit about lego sci-fi guns, but they kept calling them 'legos'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bhuna on 04 May, 2011, 01:14:45 PM
Recently upgraded to blueray, so picked up Wall E and UP during the recent 2 for 1 Disney offer (not the greatest Disney fan... Give me Warner Bros any day). Fantastic films.

I had tears in my eyes whilst watching 'Growing up together' scene in UP. Beautiful story telling at its best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 04 May, 2011, 01:27:01 PM
The Rite. The Shite more like. Didn't Anthony Hopkins have a bit of a breakdown a few years back and complain that he'd wasted his life and should have worked down pit instead or something as it would have been far nobler than this acting dodge. What happened to all that guilt?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 May, 2011, 06:41:53 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 04 May, 2011, 01:27:01 PM
The Rite. The Shite more like. Didn't Anthony Hopkins have a bit of a breakdown a few years back and complain that he'd wasted his life and should have worked down pit instead or something as it would have been far nobler than this acting dodge. What happened to all that guilt?

For some reason whenever I hear about The Rite I get it mixed up with The Shrine, which came out around the same time and was actually a bit of a low budget gem (ropey effects aside). I'm always ready to jump to it's defense until I realize it's a different film being slagged! Will be sure to avoid The Shite Rite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 May, 2011, 12:41:53 PM
Finished KNOWING.

I was not expecting it to end like that*.  They seemed to forget the alcoholic bit in the second half and just had Cage's character looking all lost and confused (which he did well considering he has a lot of "cool" baggage that comes with him) and then when he found his solution [spoiler]and peace, and the reveal that there were hundreds of spaceships/angels/whatever[/spoiler], it was actually quite uplifing. So overall, a thumbs up from me.


* Possibly because I got this mixed up with another Nic Cage film where he can predict the future but uses the ability to dodge bullets/shage Eva Mendez or some such. Can't recall the name of that one now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 May, 2011, 10:30:52 PM
Quote from: chris_askham on 02 May, 2011, 11:48:34 AM
Crystal Skull is like watching an old man going to a fancy dress party dressed as Indiana Jones.

Oddly that was probably my favourite aspect of the movie.  I liked finding out What Indy Did Next, I liked that he had a long exciting life during and after the War, and I liked that he got the girl (and what a girl) in the end.  Combined with the better aspects of Young Indiana Jones it makes for a very complete biography.

I didn't like the fact that a man pushing 60 didn't bruise or even bleed when punched hard in the face by various Soviets.  In other words, I could have done with him being a bit older.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 May, 2011, 11:18:15 PM
Being 'old' never hurt the Wild Bunch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 05 May, 2011, 11:29:53 PM
I've yet to see Crystal Skull. If you'd told me at any poiint in my twenties that a new Indy film would come out and that it would have Karen Allen in it, and that I would have almost no interest in seeing it, many moons after it's release, I'd have laughed in your face. Not really sure what happened. I'm sure I'll get around to it one day.


Watched Final Destination 2 the other day. I quite fancy AJ Cook and Michael Landes is very underrated imo but besides their prescence the movie had little to offer. Did get a little thrill from the fact that comedy relief copper was Chief Tyrol, pre middle aged spread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 05 May, 2011, 11:33:28 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 May, 2011, 10:30:52 PM
Quote from: chris_askham on 02 May, 2011, 11:48:34 AM
Crystal Skull is like watching an old man going to a fancy dress party dressed as Indiana Jones.

Oddly that was probably my favourite aspect of the movie.  I liked finding out What Indy Did Next, I liked that he had a long exciting life during and after the War, and I liked that he got the girl (and what a girl) in the end.  Combined with the better aspects of Young Indiana Jones it makes for a very complete biography.

I didn't like the fact that a man pushing 60 didn't bruise or even bleed when punched hard in the face by various Soviets.  In other words, I could have done with him being a bit older.

Watched Kindom of the Crystal Skull again tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it.... it's a great film and probable my second fave after Raiders.

Yes it has silly bits but they all do.. The raft falling off the cliff in Temple of Doom... The library digging in Last Crusade.. the leap of faith in Last Crusade.. in fact Last Crusade is probably the silliest of the lot. But it's still great fun.

I thought Ford looked great in it and certainly wasn't showing his age. My biggest complaint with it is that we had to wait 20 years to see it!!

We could have had about 10 Indiana Jones movies by now if Lucas wasn't such a twat (I think i'm right in saying he was delaying things until 'the right story' came about). I'd have loved to have seen Frank Daradonds script filmed when it was supposed to be happening about ten years ago, as I'm sure he'd have dome a bang up job on it.

I like all the Indy flicks and just hope they get a few more made before Ford needs a zimmer frame to get about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 06 May, 2011, 10:54:12 AM
Watched Detroit Metal City the other night. I've never read the manga or watched the anime and if they are anything like this dreadful film, I never will.

I found it so annoying. All the characters are irritating, it's impossible to relate to the main character in any way as he's such a loser and the plot just doesn't make sense.

I get that it's supposed to be a 'zany' comedy but it's just not funny either. The best thing about it is that Gene Simmons makes a cameo appearance as a rival, old-school British metaller whose best selling album is called 'Fuckingham Palace'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 06 May, 2011, 09:58:04 PM
Just watched '9' with my 8 year old and my 3 year old. About half way through, I noticed its actually a 12s rated movie but they seemed to be totally fine with it and were thoroughly engrossed. My 3 year old especially, who cant sit still for five minutes, gave this his complete, undivided attention for an hour and a half.

It's very good. A little scary (for kids) in places and a little sad as well. No spoilers but it has a large-ish cast of characters and, as is the norm with these things, a few of them fall during the course of the adventure. And they really fall, and stay fallen, no miraculous Disney resurrections around here. It's probably the first time I've watched something like this with the kids. I remember when I was about 7 or 8 watching a movie called Space Firebird, which had a similar type of ensemble cast of cartoon characters, most of which were killed during the course of the movie. That movie has stayed with me ever since and is the one I remember most powerfully from my childhood. I got that same kind of feeling from watching 9. Brought a lump to my throat I don't mind admitting.

It wasn't a Tim Burton movie but I wasn't at all surprised to see his name pop up in the credits as a producer. It had a very Tim Burton feel.

Worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 May, 2011, 12:20:26 AM
Quote from: Van Dom on 06 May, 2011, 09:58:04 PM
a few of them fall during the course of the adventure. And they really fall, and stay fallen, no miraculous Disney resurrections around here.

Even the youngest kids have absolutely no problem with concepts like this. Fairy stories are gruesome, kids get it! The majority of child-centred 'product' is so pathetically sanitised that a 3 year old can see through it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 07 May, 2011, 08:06:37 PM
Finally got to see Source Code. Very good and clever in places.
I balked a bit at the [spoiler]happy ending[/spoiler] but for the most part damn good.

Loved the Quantum Leapesque mirror scene in the bogs and noted with interest that the main character's dad was played by none other than Scott Bakula.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 07 May, 2011, 08:08:24 PM
13 Assassins. I was expecting some over styalized House Of Flying Daggers type affair and got a solid old school samurai epic. Takashi Miike isn't Kurosawa but he gives it a bloody good go. Some of the characters seemed to be lifted from Seven Samurai but I'll forgive him that. I'd highly recommend it to any fan of the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 07 May, 2011, 08:14:05 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 07 May, 2011, 08:08:24 PM
13 Assassins. I was expecting some over styalized House Of Flying Daggers type affair and got a solid old school samurai epic. Takashi Miike isn't Kurosawa but he gives it a bloody good go. Some of the characters seemed to be lifted from Seven Samurai but I'll forgive him that. I'd highly recommend it to any fan of the genre.

Off to see it tomorrow James Stacey san.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 May, 2011, 08:34:49 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 07 May, 2011, 08:08:24 PM
13 Assassins. I was expecting some over styalized House Of Flying Daggers type affair and got a solid old school samurai epic. Takashi Miike isn't Kurosawa but he gives it a bloody good go. Some of the characters seemed to be lifted from Seven Samurai but I'll forgive him that. I'd highly recommend it to any fan of the genre.
Not seen this yet, although I'm planning to. However, it is a remake of a sixties samurai film and I'm guessing there are some pretty stock characters in there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 May, 2011, 10:07:24 PM
Endhiran. Take a bit of Frankenstein, mix it with a pinch ofBicentennial Man, add a smattering of Terminator and crumble in a couple of ounces of The Matrix before baking in the Bollywood oven at Gas Mark THX 1138 and serving with a liberal dollop of The Sound of Music and you have Endhiran, a film about a robot. With songs.

It's a pile of utter pap, but absolutely the best pile of utter pap you will ever see in your life. I loved every minute of this, but I really can't tell you why. Well, this may have something to do with it...

(http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2010/07/194382,xcitefun-endhiran-wallpapers-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 07 May, 2011, 11:54:00 PM
Yeah, I'm with you on that. It did make my viewing of Robot (obviously given an English title for the blissfully ignorant Emirates flyer) all the better for having the lovely Aishwarya Rai in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 07 May, 2011, 11:55:47 PM
Those look suspiciously like original BSG Cylons in the background!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 May, 2011, 01:20:52 AM
There's a background?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 08 May, 2011, 11:11:32 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 07 May, 2011, 08:34:49 PM

Not seen this yet, although I'm planning to. However, it is a remake of a sixties samurai film and I'm guessing there are some pretty stock characters in there.
So it is, that might explain the character choices. Although according to Wikipedia it's also based on a true story which I'm surprised at unless it's 'loosely based' :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 08 May, 2011, 11:06:15 PM
Cedar Rapids, pretty good little film, an outstanding boorish performance from John.C.Reilly.

TT3D, fuckin' awesome. I was hoping for plenty of 3D onboard footage but it was not to be, I'm guessing Real3D cameras are still big old units. Conor Cummins' crash, (which he miraculously survived) elicited a collective, "F-u-u-u-u-c-k" from the audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 10 May, 2011, 03:50:41 PM
Let Me In
The US remake of Let The Right One In
Almost exactly the same so...
Arsom!...I guess


Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 11 May, 2011, 07:10:11 PM
Robin Hood (2010) not bad or good quite watchable...i enjoyed it and didnt get to wrapped up in folk lore and RH mythology.

It seemed to end in a way that would suggest sequel (to me atleast) whether they bother with a sequel with russell crowe or some one else remains to be seen.

BUT should a sequel EVER be on the cards i'd prefer to see russell take the lead role again despite the critics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 11 May, 2011, 11:38:36 PM
PRIEST, in 3D. Oh. My. God. Biblically atrocious. Heaven knows how much money they spent on this unholy abomination but every single cent of it was a sinful transgression. Bad film!

Just about the only redeeming feature is Karl Urban hamming it up in a Defoe hat.

Piss poor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 May, 2011, 03:38:43 AM
Yeah, Jonah Hex felt similarly vacuous. I was prepared to like it best I could. But directing and editing were really stilted. Why do the after-death conjecture? And why build in a comic style prologue that's not a prologue and totally drain any Western style tension out of the film patronising the 15-year-olds desperate for this film to pull their ideals out of the doldrums?

If this film had a word that underpinned its its central narrative it has to be; doldrums.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: kriss_kringle on 14 May, 2011, 09:59:43 PM
Last night I rewatched Buffalo soldiers.Good movie and quite funny at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chris_askham on 14 May, 2011, 10:09:47 PM
The original Last House On The Left - a bit disappointing really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 15 May, 2011, 05:57:35 AM
Scott Pilgrim and Inception. Both enjoyable audio-visual feasts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 May, 2011, 12:12:06 AM
Saw Attack the Block this evening. A lot of fun with some ingenious alien effects that did a really good job of getting by on a budget. I suppose the obvious reference point would be Shaun of the Dead and I'd say it was substantially better than that.

Then made it a double bill with Fast Five. Simply glorious in its own way. From the first ludicrous set piece to the last manly cliffhanger this is B movie heaven.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2011, 06:29:41 AM
Saw attack the block on Friday night, a sold out screening which was followed by a q&a with the director Joe Cornish and most of the young cast. I absolutely loved it - and I'd agree with cosh to a point - I found that the characters have more satisfying narrative arcs than in Shaun, which I've always thought has a relatively weak third act.

Really great atmosphere in the packed out cinema, and the q&a after was a lot of fun too - Cornish was hilarious and the cast were
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2011, 06:46:19 AM
Arse, having a bit of trouble posting on my phone! Can't seem to edit in tapatalk.

...the cast were sparky and entertaining. I've seen a lot of negative comments about the trailer around the net - largely based on the fact that the characters are hoodies and speak in slang, and it would be a real shame if that puts many off going to see the best British sci fi film in years. It's a really smart little film, and I'll be buying th blu ray on day one. Can't wait to see what Cornish does next.

By contrast, watched Get Him to the Greek last night - a film that probably cost ten times what AtB did, but was lazy, bloated and largely unfunny in comparison to the tight as a drum AtB script. Shame as I really wanted to like it - and usually enjoy any apatow production. There are moments where you get glimpses of the film it might have been, but overall, dont bother. Ended up very relieved that i didnt pay any money for it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 May, 2011, 08:27:43 AM
30 DAYS OF NIGHT: There's nothing like a good horror film just before you go to bed. And that was...

THE DIARY OF ANN FRANK meets PIRANHA but with Vampires.

There is some good gore (sometimes casually done as opposed to a look at me set piece) and there are a couple of nice ideas in there (the main story conceit, the bloke who does NOT want to live for ever, how different people react to the vampires, [spoiler]the fact that the ending does not consist of the hero luring the vampires to one spot and destroying them with a large bomb/solarium/vat of holy water[/spoiler] as is the norm for these pack monster films) but it's a bit of a mess really with a very, very silly ending.

I know most people have their own take on vampires adding or taking away from the myth as they see fit but this pack of ravening monsters with only one of them seemingly able to converese intelligently doesn't suit them.

The internal logic seems slightly skewed: they start out all powerful and fearless gorging on the buffet of a whole town laid out before them but then appear to sit back and do feck all for thirty days.  Their strength and abilities seem to vary  and if they can smell blood, how come they never chased the survivors down earlier.

There's a big jarring tone jump early on as well when all of a sudden, the vampires are in full on attacking mode after a few bits of sneaking around in shadow. I'd like to think it was the film maker turning my expectations on their head but it just seemed poorly thought through.

And why didn't they just make a stake out of Josh Hartnett; he's wooden enough for the job.

I think less would definitely have been more here in this case: a smaller town, a smaller group of vampies and smaller more suspenseful individual attacks over a period before the heroes realise they have a problem and definitely a less silly resolution.

I know they are cut off a bit but does nobody really come visit or get in contact with these towns in the thirty days of night?

What's the comic like? I can imagine it being a bite sized walking dead style treat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 May, 2011, 01:30:17 PM
Another double bill yesterday. First part was 13 Assassins which I thought was okay but disappointing after the enthusiastic reviews I'd read. Ultimately, the cast is too big (nearly twice as good as the Seven Samurai!) for all of them to be developed to the point where you care; it would perhaps have done better to make the central group smaller but there you go. The central dynamic between Shinzaemon and Hanbei was very good, full of all that respect between opponents and ties of honour bollocks that makes a good manly film work.

The burning cows were good too.

Followed that up with Hanna, which I thought was fantastic but a friend was put off by the odd pacing and lack of action in a film about a teenage assassin, so it might not be to everyone's taste. For me the weird little touches and occasional self-conscioulsy arty shots, while they did get a bit out of hand towards the end, elevated it above the average and helped give an interesting backdrop to the thumping fight scenes when they come.

Even the "What is this thing called love, Captain?" subplot which takes up a good part of the film is handled in a far more interesting way than the mawkish tedium of something like Unleashed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 17 May, 2011, 08:34:22 PM
Play Misty for Me. A very early instalment of the obsessed girlfriend/fan slasher. Handled really well by Clint in his first departure as a director.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 May, 2011, 09:25:13 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 17 May, 2011, 08:34:22 PM
Play Misty for Me. A very early instalment of the obsessed girlfriend/fan slasher. Handled really well by Clint in his first departure as a director.

I attempted to download this about a year ago. I got a porno instead. This fact has been a running joke ever since
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 17 May, 2011, 10:07:11 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 17 May, 2011, 09:25:13 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 17 May, 2011, 08:34:22 PM
Play Misty for Me. A very early instalment of the obsessed girlfriend/fan slasher. Handled really well by Clint in his first departure as a director.

I attempted to download this about a year ago. I got a porno instead. This fact has been a running joke ever since

Ha! Well Clint mentioned he'd been "working on some other stuff" with the screen-writer. It had crossed my mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 May, 2011, 10:22:05 PM
CATFISH: Interesting but I was expecting much more of a reveal. Or did I miss something?  After all, we know that [spoiler]Queen Bou is actually a 55 year old trucker called Bob.[/spoiler]

Incidentally, it was in C4s TRUE STORIES slot which made me think it was pukka real but then seeing some of the names in the credits (JJ ABRAMS) made me think it may have been some elaborate but very convincing take on the "recovered film" genre. If they were actors, they were very good actors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 19 May, 2011, 10:34:59 AM
This is now on my list...

http://youtu.be/PdnnC43Cotw (http://youtu.be/PdnnC43Cotw)

:o :o :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 19 May, 2011, 11:38:57 AM
Thor.

Liked it but was expecting more.

Left the cinema with a real motherfucker of a headache. Not sure if it was the 3D or just my bad head.

Thor sequel? I'd go see that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 22 May, 2011, 04:05:07 PM
Saturday Double Bill:
Cargo - German Sci-Fi which is part Alien, part Bladerunner. Very good, very 2000AD. Sadly runs out of steam the last ten minutes but definitely deserving a wider audience

The Black Swan - hilariously bad. If it had been about Jazz Dance or Street Dance nobody would have paid it a blind bit of notice.. well aside from the sex scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 22 May, 2011, 07:25:42 PM
The Disappearance of Alice Creed.

It was good in a twisty-turny, low-key thriller kind of way. I had read/ listened to some really good reviews, though, prior to watching it and it kinda built it up for me - perhaps unreasonably. Some lovely direction going on, especially at the beginning and end of the film. I'd definitely recommend it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 May, 2011, 11:33:33 PM
The Warrior's Way.  Quite dreadful, I have never more appreciated the PS3's ability to play films at 1.5 times their normal speed, as this was the only way I could make it through the constant slow motion.  There is actually a decent no-brainer action film in there somewhere, it's just lost behind the unnecessary bandwagon-jumping filming techniques that make it look like a 5 year old episode of Smallville.

City Hunter.  Forgettable Jackie Chan actioner from the early 1990s, I think this was actually one of several he made purely as favors to mates in the Hong Kong director's guild or something.  It's all over the place in terms of tone, with one subplot being the main character agonizing over the fact that he promised he'd never shag the girl he's raised as his own daughter making me go "What? WHAT?" for longer than I'd like.  The scraps are fun even if the Street Fighter homage was painful to watch, and there are reliable 80s/90s action movie vets like Gary Daniels and Richard Norton padding out the cast of villains.

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.  I remember this being a lot better, but it really is a goofy big cartoon adventure that's hard to dislike even if everyone is now playing a parody of their own characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 May, 2011, 12:23:53 AM
Saw Point Blank for the first time the other night. An interesting and striking film with an entertaining amorality at its heart. Lee Marvin is a bad bastard!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 23 May, 2011, 02:24:32 AM
housemates G-friends choice on Saturday night - The Tourist, these friggen things are designed to make women just grab them of the shelf and scream this'll be good look its got these two stars in it - STARING JOHNY DEPP & ANGELENA JOLIE, needless to say five minutes in I was on the PC making a bid for Shogunite of Japan in Total War.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 23 May, 2011, 07:48:05 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 22 May, 2011, 11:33:33 PM

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.  I remember this being a lot better, but it really is a goofy big cartoon adventure that's hard to dislike even if everyone is now playing a parody of their own characters.

I felt that about The Voyage Home as well. I mean, Spock with an 80s headband - What's not to like?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 May, 2011, 11:10:38 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 22 May, 2011, 11:33:33 PM
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.  I remember this being a lot better, but it really is a goofy big cartoon adventure that's hard to dislike even if everyone is now playing a parody of their own characters.

Mmmm, I remember taking this quite seriously in the cinema, subsequent rewatchings have exposed its many flaws - notably a completely nonsensical plot.  It is however great fun, and you can't go too far wrong putting William Shatner in a bearskin, Christopher Plummer in an eyepatch, and David Warner in a lumpy forehead.  Still think the zero-G assassination sequences are pretty cool looking, and Captain Sulu is a hammy delight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 May, 2011, 08:21:04 AM
Wristcutters: A Love Story

Watched this last night. It was a pretty random pick from LoveFilm by my wife based on the fact that she's going through all the films with the mighty Tom Waits in them at the moment (I stirred her away from Dracula) and my oh my what a fantastic film this is. Love it when a film you've never heard of and have no preconceptions about gives you a warm hug and peck on the cheek like this. Best film feel good film about suicide I have ever seen.

Fantastic stuff and highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 May, 2011, 10:22:13 AM
Not a film, but I've been working my way through The World at War, which I picked up a few months back. I've ripped it all onto my iPhone and watch a couple of episodes a day on my commute.

Despite being almost 40 years old, it's still a really powerful series - utterly chilling and absorbing. It's really shaken my somewhat romantic view of WWII. Hard to believe that ITV used to broadcast this sort of thing!

Being a fairly broad overview, it has kind of left me wanting more information and context - a lot of things are really brushed over, but there is a lot of supplementary material on the DVDs, so hopefully this will help flesh things out a bit.

Band of Brothers up next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 24 May, 2011, 10:53:56 AM
OK so I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but .. Van Helsing. Not sure which was worse, the acting, the CGI or the accents. Either way it was shite
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 24 May, 2011, 11:44:26 AM
Quote from: James Stacey on 24 May, 2011, 10:53:56 AM
OK so I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but .. Van Helsing. Not sure which was worse, the acting, the CGI or the accents. Either way it was shite

I quite liked Van Helsing... but that may have something to do with Kate Beckinsale in a corset and tight pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 24 May, 2011, 01:06:04 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 24 May, 2011, 11:44:26 AM
Quote from: James Stacey on 24 May, 2011, 10:53:56 AM
OK so I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but .. Van Helsing. Not sure which was worse, the acting, the CGI or the accents. Either way it was shite

I quite liked Van Helsing... but that may have something to do with Kate Beckinsale in a corset and tight pants.

Yeah that kinda kept me watching to the end
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2011, 01:16:49 PM
Kate Beckinsale does nothing for me - the end result of never starring in good films is that a section of your audience will develop a Pavlovian response to your presence in anything that eventually overrides the need to fawn over the human form.  See also: Stuart Townsend, Milla Jovovich, her that played Terminator 3.

Drive Angry, which has Nic Cage on cruise control if anything.  A pretty enjoyable grindhouse movie that's not quite as funny, clever or inventive as it thinks it is, it is still very good in places, and to its credit will make you wonder why you're still watching the rather hateful and juvenile Supernatural.
The motel shootout really grates, though.  I'm pretty sure I am not the only one thinking that entire action scenes shouldn't take place in slow motion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 24 May, 2011, 03:22:31 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 24 May, 2011, 01:16:49 PMI'm pretty sure I am not the only one thinking that entire action scenes shouldn't take place in slow motion.

Ooh dear.. Then maybe skip Dredd..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 May, 2011, 04:26:06 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 24 May, 2011, 03:22:31 PM
Ooh dear.. Then maybe skip Dredd..

I'm hoping for Green Hornet-style slo-mo action scenes, rather than 300 pecs-and-spittleporn variety.  The GH stuff was amazing, and best of all the techniques used varied in almost every scene so it never got dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 24 May, 2011, 05:06:23 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 24 May, 2011, 11:44:26 AM
Quote from: James Stacey on 24 May, 2011, 10:53:56 AM
OK so I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but .. Van Helsing. Not sure which was worse, the acting, the CGI or the accents. Either way it was shite

I quite liked Van Helsing... but that may have something to do with Kate Beckinsale in a corset and tight pants.

I also quite liked Van Helsingnot for the same reasons ofc i think sometimes it just helps not going into watching something like that and expecting much from it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 24 May, 2011, 05:56:03 PM
Ven Helsing is brilliant fun. I'd deck anyone who said different if I didn't have this chronic case of RSI.

Last movies I watched were Green Hornet - I had low expectations, and it was utterly fantastic. Also saw 'Grown Ups', which was a fun slice of good natured nonsense, and 'Due Date' which was a helluva lot better than reviews had led me to believe. Robertt Downey Jr plays those sorts of roles really well. he's uncomfortably believable as an irascible  douchebag.

Ow. My hands.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2011, 06:26:41 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 24 May, 2011, 03:22:31 PMOoh dear.. Then maybe skip Dredd..

You just put me off it, Mick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: uncle fester on 24 May, 2011, 06:46:06 PM
Last movie I watched (last night) - LA Confidential. Never seen it before. Great story, great cast.

Yep, that's me, finger on the movie pulse...  

And the other night we went to see Attack The Block. Which rocks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 May, 2011, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 24 May, 2011, 06:26:41 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 24 May, 2011, 03:22:31 PMOoh dear.. Then maybe skip Dredd..

You just put me off it, Mick.

What? Wasn't a picture of a car with wheels enough to tell you it was going to be pish?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 May, 2011, 07:12:11 PM
Watched Panic Room for the first time the other day, not exactly Fincher's best but a good tight little thriller.

Also went to see Julia's Eyes, from the people who brought you The Orphanage. It's no Orphanage, but it's still a pretty decent movie. Like The Orphanage it's more of a mystery than a horror, although it's got some very creepy ideas in it. And some very cheesy ones, that negate the good work a tad. It's got the same actress too, who looks blooming gorgeous throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2011, 07:45:13 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 24 May, 2011, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 24 May, 2011, 06:26:41 PM
Quote from: Michaelvk on 24 May, 2011, 03:22:31 PMOoh dear.. Then maybe skip Dredd..

You just put me off it, Mick.

What? Wasn't a picture of a car with wheels enough to tell you it was going to be pish?

I liked the idea that the production seemed to be deliberately emulating the aesthetics of my favorite 70s and 80s post-apocalyptic movies, but constant slow motion puts that notion to rest as those films had a gleefully anarchic energy that slo-mo saps whenever it's used onscreen.

I have come to absolutely hate slow motion because no-one who uses it seems to know what it's for beyond emulating other movies and/or music videos.  If it was necessary to make the 3D effect work or something, that I would understand, but as it is it's not even used to make sure the audience is in no doubt as to what's going on in a scene, it is just there even in visually incomprehensible films like Battle: Los Angeles and Transformers.  I will likely download Dredd for the Playstation so I can watch the slo-mo bits in 1.5, but I think I'll be giving the cinema version a wide berth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 May, 2011, 08:08:46 PM
John Woo is the master of slo-mo. For some reason even though he is blatantly over-using it, it is never not awesome. For some reason I've never found it has much impact elsewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 May, 2011, 08:13:37 PM
I must admit that I was a little concerned when I heard about the [spoiler]'Slo-mo' scenes in Dredd, and worried that it might be a 'bullet time' kind of deal, but I have faith that the people making Dredd (and there are some very smart people involved) are too clever to be merely imitating something that was all the rage 12 years ago.

I think the slo-mo scenes are going to be quite different visually - indeed they should be something special as the whole plot apparently revolves around the concept. The word 'painterly' has been mentioned, and I believe the script suggests that the 'slo-mo' effect will be hazy and iridescent, transforming the scene from urban hell into something strikingly beautiful.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2011, 10:52:05 PM
At Tiny Tips request:

Back to the Future.

Go on, say a bad word against it? You cannot, can you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 24 May, 2011, 11:21:53 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2011, 10:52:05 PM
At Tiny Tips request:

Back to the Future.

Go on, say a bad word against it? You cannot, can you?

The dog was unconvincing. I mean, he's called Einstein, but he doesn't really look that clever.

Other than that, perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 May, 2011, 11:50:36 PM
BttF is perfect - was even better when we saw it at the cinema last year.

I know it probably won't have many fans around here, but Knocked Up was on when I got in, so ended up watching that again. Seth Rogen tends to divide people and Judd Apatow's output has kind of nosedived in recent years, but I love Knocked Up - it's probably one of my favourite movies in the last few years, and one of those rare films that I can watch again and again.

I especially like the characters of Debbie and Pete - apparently, Apatow's next film is going to be a spin-off based on them - hope it's better than Funny People!

Very much looking forward to catching Bridesmaids this summer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 27 May, 2011, 09:21:11 PM
As it's the centenary of Vincent Price's birth, my local cinema has just shown The Tingler - not many screams to be had during the blackout, just a few shrieks of laughter, but a damned fine tribute to the man himself just the same!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 27 May, 2011, 10:11:31 PM
The last film I saw was THOR tonight!!!! That was great. It had loads of great elements from the comics, in a story that made sense, with some really spectacular action scenes, in which the Destroyer was a stand-out special effect. And isn't Chris Hemsworth a handsome fellow? My goodness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 27 May, 2011, 10:19:26 PM
CENTURION
Nowhere near as bad as i was especting for a straight to DVD release.Granted some of the plot a blind man on a galloping horse could see coming but enjoyable nonetheless.
Pity that it tells the story of the 9th legion in Britain and will be swallowed up and forgotten by the release of The Eagle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 27 May, 2011, 10:20:10 PM
Having a lovely night in, drawing up a comic strip and enjoying a double bill of Escape From New York and Tremors!

Hmmm, what to watch next?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 27 May, 2011, 10:31:30 PM
Quote from: Emp on 27 May, 2011, 10:19:26 PM
CENTURION
Nowhere near as bad as i was especting for a straight to DVD release.Granted some of the plot a blind man on a galloping horse could see coming but enjoyable nonetheless.
Pity that it tells the story of the 9th legion in Britain and will be swallowed up and forgotten by the release of The Eagle.

I enjoyed that too. Plenty action compared to King Arthur (kind of similar) and just very convincing all round. Less of a story as you say, but well, plots are for TV shows these days it seems.

'mon the Picts! Or Norts if you prefer  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 May, 2011, 11:13:45 PM
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Dead Black Man's Pearl Chest at the End of the World's Strange Tides - in 3d. Watchable, but disappointing. There's not much of the exuberance, imagination and downright good fun of the prequels on show here. There's a lot of wandering around in jungles, presumably to give the characters something to do while the film makers decide what's going to happen next - which turns out to be not much. Ian McShane is good value as always, but every time I see him I expect Tinker to turn up and try to sell him a kettle.

The biggest saving grace? Well...

(http://0.tqn.com/d/movies/1/0/N/Z/X/pirates-stranger-tides-photo-penelope-cruz.jpg)

Ah, Penélope (in 3d)...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 27 May, 2011, 11:18:06 PM
Thanks for that Lovejoy reference...i now will be unable to see McShane in anything without thinking the same :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 May, 2011, 11:40:37 PM
Quote from: Emp on 27 May, 2011, 11:18:06 PM
Thanks for that Lovejoy reference...i now will be unable to see McShane in anything without thinking the same :D

It is quite distracting. Every time a mysterious c0<£$*<£ing stranger walked through the c0<£$*<£ing saloon doors in Deadwood I expected it to be Tinker with a c0<£$*<£ing kettle.

Ruined it for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 27 May, 2011, 11:50:28 PM
and now so it shall be for me........misery loves company....thanks
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 May, 2011, 12:25:42 AM
Yeah Chris Hemsworth was awesomely handsome as kirk's dad but if anything he is even more shaggable as Thor.

there are big things ahead of him (and I don't just mean my erection).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 28 May, 2011, 01:58:14 AM
Saw3
Indescribably awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 02:01:55 AM
Only Saw3...you have a load of shite to trawl through yet
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 28 May, 2011, 06:43:45 PM
Watched the new tron film and scott pilgrim vs the world (early fathers day presents)
enjoyed both,and pleased there in my collection.

Would recommend atleast watching them once...though ive watched it 3 times now (tron) with my son.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 28 May, 2011, 09:28:21 PM
QuoteOnly Saw3...you have a load of shite to trawl through yet

Saw the first 2 pretty much as they came out and had this bastard on the hard disc for years as the missus recorded it. Needless to say she has resolved to quit while she is behind and go back to her love of the Twilight and Final Destination series. Here's hoping they make a crossover.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 09:33:25 PM
Think its on 6 now and they keep leaving it open for more.

After killing of the main protaganist you'd think they's stop but no...the cash cow obviously has not run dry.

Once films start geting to "5" its usually a sign that they are going through the motions (some don't even make it that far without turning to shite).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 28 May, 2011, 10:16:11 PM
Rob Zombie's Halloween 2.
Man. This has to be one of the ugliest pieces of shit I've ever seen. It was just. So. Bad. Now, I wouldn't be the biggest Rob Zombie fan but House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects were at least watchable. I saw his first Halloween movie when it first came out and while I didn't think much of it - HATED the girl they got to play Laurie Strode and she was such an unlikeable character - it didn't completely piss me off like 2 did. How the heck do you make a movie in which every single character is a detestable, obnoxious asshole. Apart from, possibly, the Sherrif but he didn't have much to do in it anyway so it doesn't matter. The lead heroine in a horror movie like this is supposed to be likeable, the whole point is you are supposed to want her to live. My god, this incarnation of Laurie Strode....I just wanted Myers to turn up and kill the miserable bitch already. As for Myers, okay, I get it, hes a killer, but there was so damn much killing in this thing that I just got bored after about the fiftieth bludgeoning. I ended up fast forwarding through the end I'm afraid.

Oh dear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 10:18:09 PM
That much killing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 28 May, 2011, 10:40:01 PM
Yes! Really!Every single person he meets!!! (Sounds brilliant, but it honestly gets tiresome as hell!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 10:41:10 PM
i suppose there are only so many ways it can happen...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2011, 10:51:39 PM
The Green Hornet.  Why was I not informed?  Why isn't this the top-grossing film of 2011?

That was absolutely brilliant, I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be about or like, had never seen any older Green Hornet stuff - I actually got the DVD from my brother-in-law for my 40th and was, well, nonplussed...  but I just loved it.  I'm no fan of Seth Rogan, but he now has a free pass as far as I'm concerned - his affable ad lib style of delivery works so well (and so inconrguously) here it's scary.  Constantly visually inventive, technically accomplished, beautifully designed, genuinely funny and unpredictable, and most importantly Christopher Walz gives the best bad guy I've seen in years.  It's Batman meets Inspector Clouseau and Jackie Chan.  I've never regretted not seeing a film in 3D before.  F'ing top. 

I liked it.  It's good. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 10:57:42 PM
Was also featured in Mythbusters.....as well, erm...every big scene being a load of crap. Still it wont stop me watching it :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2011, 11:20:51 PM
Oh, it's utter crap alright.  But in the best possible way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 May, 2011, 11:27:03 PM
Sure you don't work in government? Cus that sort of U turn is usually reserved! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 28 May, 2011, 11:29:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 May, 2011, 10:51:39 PM
and most importantly Christopher Walz gives the best bad guy I've seen in years. 

He's bloody brilliant, ain't he? His first scene was absolute genius!

Top movie. Well worth a watch for those who haven't seen it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 01 June, 2011, 07:02:36 AM
Whip It.

I approached this film with a measure of caution as it was picked by the missus. Directed by Drew Barrymore it tells the story of a 17 year old girl's (the gorgeous Ellen Page) efforts to find her own path in the world, hampered by small town life and the expectations of her parents (a football mad father and a pageant obsessed mother). Standard tropes follow, girl meets a boy in band, boy becomes a douche, she has to overcome adversity and win the respect of her parents and peers.

All standard stuff, except...it explores these themes using an all girl roller derby.

Girls in hotpants beating the shit out of each other, Juliette Lewis looking like a spaced out skanky ho, a sleazy compere, good soundtrack and a tactics obsessed coach.

It's a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 01 June, 2011, 07:25:14 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 01 June, 2011, 07:02:36 AM
...Juliette Lewis looking like a spaced out skanky ho...

Wait - is that the part she's acting, or are you just speaking generally? Coz either works, in my opinion. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 June, 2011, 08:43:39 AM
Saw Benjamin Button on the telly the other night - a great film, reminded me of Vonnegut in it's scope and atmosphere; but those fantastic aging effects that everyone was raving about weren't that impressive - he seemed to turn overnight from being a grey-haired old man to, well, Brad Pitt, and then stayed the samme for about 30 years, whilst Daisy reached her 30s and then aged the next 30 years by putting on a pair of glasses.

Also watched Clash of the Titans again - Haryhausen rocks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 June, 2011, 12:14:04 PM
Working my way through Band of Brothers atm. It's just amazing isn't it? Only on episode 5, but can already see myself rewatching this in the near future.

So many likable actors keep turning up (Damian Lewis, Marc Warren, Ron 'Office Space' Livingston - never knew James McAvoy was in this, and I just recognised one of the Lost Boys from Hook!) - it's heartbreaking to know that most of these characters probably won't be making it til the end of the series...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 01 June, 2011, 12:19:56 PM
Yep, a true classic of modern TV. Is it your first time Rads? I'd also recommend The Pacific - doesn't have the cameraderie of BOB as the story is cobbled together from the autobiographies of a couple of guys and what is known of Purple Heart winner John Basilone, who operated in separate units ISTR, but still really powerful stuff. It builds real momentum too as the US forces island-hop ever closer to Japan, with the defenders' tactics growing ever more desperate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 01 June, 2011, 12:21:43 PM
got clerks and love & death today.

want to get clerks 2 but apparently miramax has been sold so i'll have to wait for a re-issue.

not a film but currently watching season 9 box set of smallville - can't wait to get to the [spoiler]JSA[/spoiler] episodes
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 June, 2011, 12:54:59 PM
QuoteYep, a true classic of modern TV. Is it your first time Rads?

Pretty much - I remember watching the pilot and a coupe of odd episodes when it was on BBC2 about ten years ago, so I keep remembering little bits of it as I watch, but it's so so much better watching it right from the beginning. I'm watching it on the train on my iPhone, which is actually a really good way to watch stuff I'm finding - the headphones really help to immerse you, and it's rare that I'd sit down and give something my full attention at home - too many distractions!

It kind of goes without saying that the battle scenes are incredible - it's made me wonder why so far videogames have yet to even remotely capture that sort of Saving Private Ryan atmosphere and aesthetic. The closest I've seen was an old Xbox game called Brothers in Arms (a rather shameless BoB rip-off admittedly), but even that was compromised somewhat. It was quite a brave game in that combat was limited to small skirmishes and the emphasis was on suppressing and outflanking the enemy. It managed to nail that feeling of running to and from cover with bullets zipping around your head, and the sight of a tank rolling into view was genuinely panic-inducing. Completely unlike Call of Duty which seems to cast you as some sort of superhuman fighting in WWII as directed by Michael Bay.

I've heard mixed things about The Pacific - have heard that it's kind of just one relentlessly grim battle scene after another with very little character stuff in between - will still probably give it a go after BoB though.

What I really love about BoB is the characters though - you get surprisingly little backstory about who they are on civvy street, it's all down to the individual actor's charisma that makes you root for them and hope they survive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2011, 01:06:18 PM
I only saw a couple of episodes of Pacific but it just seemed more... "written" than Band of Brothers. And that didn't seem right.

I think the third episode CARENTAN is just about my favourite hour of telly ever. It packs sooo much in that I keep remembering it as 3 different episodes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 01 June, 2011, 02:51:49 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2011, 01:06:18 PM
I only saw a couple of episodes of Pacific but it just seemed more... "written" than Band of Brothers. And that didn't seem right.

I think the third episode CARENTAN is just about my favourite hour of telly ever. It packs sooo much in that I keep remembering it as 3 different episodes.

Band of Brothers is by far the better of the two IMHO i like both...but found that BoB gave people time to fall in love with the characters,pacific didnt appear to do that seemed more of a rush to get straight in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 01 June, 2011, 02:53:38 PM
Last film watched Star Runner horrible simply horrible wouldnt recommend this serenity/pitch black/firefly rip off to anyone.

Give it a miss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 June, 2011, 02:21:11 AM
Triangle.

Very confusing but interesting stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 02 June, 2011, 07:01:45 AM
Band Of Brothers still tears me up.

Tom Hardy (soon to be Bane) appears too.

Best bit? Lots to choose from, but loved the transition of everyone's war story villain Ronald Speirs to the hero they all could rely on when the shit hit the fan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 June, 2011, 07:09:11 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2011, 01:06:18 PM
I only saw a couple of episodes of Pacific but it just seemed more... "written" than Band of Brothers. And that didn't seem right.

I think the third episode CARENTAN is just about my favourite hour of telly ever. It packs sooo much in that I keep remembering it as 3 different episodes.

For me 'Why We Fight' is the one- every single person should be made to watch this. And the last line tears me up every single time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 June, 2011, 10:16:23 AM
I think what has made watching BoB even better is that I watched The World at War immediately before it, so I understand the context and timeline of all the battles.

QuoteTom Hardy (soon to be Bane) appears too.

Wow - didn't know that. Damian Lewis, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Tom Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, David Schwimmer, Marc Warren, James McAvoy, Stephen Graham, Ron Livingston,...

That is one hell of an ensemble cast!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 02 June, 2011, 09:32:59 PM
Kingdom of Heaven - Director's Cut

Surprisingly good, and looks amazing on High-Def Blu-ray. Glad I was the DC first, as I hear the Theatrical Cut is a pile of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 June, 2011, 08:38:24 AM
Yeah - I think I enjoyed Kingdom of Heaven. I assume I saw (most of) the directors cut because it was very long (and I missed the last 20 minutes due to a recording glitch).

BOOGIE NIGHTS - Paul Thomas Anderson's love letter to the 70s porn film (as opposed to video) industry. It's billed as a comedy drama on the EPG but it's closer to tragedy.  He seems a little too fond of his subject matter and I didn't like the notional happy ending but it is brilliant, sprawling stuff. 

My favourite bits are mostly silent; the director and the cameraman and their understated reaction to when Dirk Diggler first shows his stuff & then Dirk himself at Alfred Molina's pad realising where he is in his life. The camera lingers on Mark Wahlberg for nearly a minute and you see his eyes darting about, remembering, worrying and nearly breaking down.   And of course the money shot at the end "I am a star!" is ludicrously in your face. 

I'd seen it years ago but I can't recall if you ever see Little Bill's wife in the movie; I missed the first half hour and she's a functional shadow in the bits I saw. I think I'd be disappointed if you actually did see her. 

Flaws: If any it's ambition undoes it. There are so many character to cram in that some of them come off as trite and seen that before. And also, by the end, it seems to lose that authentic sense of time and place that it had at the start. And yeah, that does look like a happy ending. That can't be right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 June, 2011, 08:47:13 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 June, 2011, 08:38:24 AM
I'd seen it years ago but I can't recall if you ever see Little Bill's wife in the movie; I missed the first half hour and she's a functional shadow in the bits I saw. I think I'd be disappointed if you actually did see her.  

Prepare to be disappointed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTvWZn95mZQ

It's a good film, but I can't say I actually like it.  Apart from a radiant Julianne Moore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 June, 2011, 09:42:18 AM
Really liked Boogie Nights, and also found it really tragic. It seems to walk a pretty fine line between really funny caricature and genuinely distressing stuff when the dream starts collapsing. I don't know how many things Tom Jane has to be great in before he gets some recognition (although I guess he has a regular tv gig now).

I didn't find the ending particularly happy to be honest, I was left miserable! Haven't seen it in a while though so I may have read it wrong.

I watched Mic Macs the other night and reeeeeeally enjoyed it. Of Jeunet's stuff I've only seen Amelie (which I forgot pretty quickly to be honest) and Alien Resurrection (which probably wasn't his comfort zone) but I'll be watching more after this. Like an Oceans 11-esque caper movie but so surreal and quirky that it's nothing like that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 03 June, 2011, 03:11:48 PM
I don't think Boogie Nights has a happy ending. The only character who does is Buck when he opens his stero store. Everyone else is basically in exactly the same place as they were at the start of the film. Except for Dirk, who can't even manage an erection so won't have porn films to be in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 June, 2011, 11:49:30 PM
Ish.

That whole tour around Jack Horner's home scene, Reed doing his magic tricks, everybody back as a happy "family" together in the place and doing the things they did when they were at the top of the curve. And given that Eddie is back in role as Dirk as Brock, isn't he just about to "perform" again.  I read the flaccid penis simply as "we can't show you an erect one" rather than he can't get it up.

But yeah, it's not entirely happy (I think I did put "notional" somewhere above).

Just seen Jolene Blalock on CSI. Now that gives me "motivation"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 June, 2011, 01:06:28 AM
It's a long time since I watched it, but I remember the ending of Boogie Nights being everything crashing down to the tawdriness it was. Dirk giving it handjobs in carparks and Roller Girl going from a sexy free spirit to a tired whore*.

* I have terrible problems using that word because of its connotations which, oh fuck I can't be arsed to try and tease out here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 June, 2011, 01:51:21 AM
I could go on about how great I think Boogie Nights is-probably the best American film of the 90's- but the end is quite a, dare I say, profound one. I'm sure life in the porn-industry can be a miserable, degrading affair but not everyone ends up dying of AIDS, a drug addict or getting-fucked to-death and while the enjoyable flair of Boogie Nights may allow some viewers to mislead themselves as to the point of Boogie Nights, Dirk does really lose and eventually find himself at the end. He returns to the only family he has, as dysfunctional as it is, made completely of surrogates acting out their familial roles.

Dirk's reveal of his cock at the very end -the only time we see it- is as powerful a scene as it should be. Affirmatively Dirk accepts his role in a family of underachievers/underdogs wanting to be a little more than they are, Jack Horner wanting to be a 'film-maker', Reed Rothchild a 'magician', DIrk an 'actor', Amber a 'mother' and so forth. They aren't particularly smart characters but they're survivors.

There's plenty of desolation, despair, some paedophilia and a little suicide along the way while they reach for their ideal lives some of which are ordinary domestic fantasies of a 'normal' life. Happy/sad ending is a rather bland description of it.

If the cock scene had come anytime before the very end it would have meant nothing, as in, it's not just a cock by then and that's the point, it's his identity and a little more, he's accepted it and his place in the world. Whether he dies a á la John Holmes after that is another story.


All that and it works in a secret history of the death of celluloid and the birth of video, embraced by the underdogs of cinema, the porn industry much like how embraced the older cinematic underdogs, super 8 & 16mm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 June, 2011, 01:58:29 AM
...plus it made this song famous:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKpByV5764&feature=related
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 June, 2011, 02:01:40 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 June, 2011, 01:58:29 AM
...plus it made this song famous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKpByV5764&feature=related
Your first post made me really want to go and watch the film again so I could have an informed opinion about it.

Luckily, I can save time and effort by hating you for this shite. <insert smiley if you need to>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 June, 2011, 02:06:29 AM
Shite has been sublimated, ignorance is your etenal loss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 04 June, 2011, 08:10:31 AM
QuoteI watched Mic Macs the other night and reeeeeeally enjoyed it. Of Jeunet's stuff I've only seen Amelie (which I forgot pretty quickly to be honest) and Alien Resurrection (which probably wasn't his comfort zone) but I'll be watching more after this

Track down City of Lost Children (starring Ron Perlman) and his earlier Delicatessen for more quirkiness!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 June, 2011, 01:01:05 PM
Delicatessen is FANTASTIC!

I love the rooftop fight. Dominic Pignon is always great!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 June, 2011, 11:39:59 PM
X-Men First Class - pigging awful.
There's a real problem with criticising it because as soon as you do you'll get "OH SO YOU WANT A FILM ABOUT THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS BEING STOPPED BY MAGIC FLYING MUTANT CATMEN TO MAKE LOGICAL SENSE DO YOU?" but there's only so much that can excuse from a film's terrible dialogue, painfully unfunny 'comedy' moments ([spoiler]Wolverine [/spoiler]cameo aside), unconvincing characters and just plain bad marriage of script and visuals.  It looks fantastic but a polished turd is still a turd, and any movie whose central premise is 'posh guy who's never worked a day in his life and lived in luxury through the war thanks to his parents' money lectures death camp survivor about why he doesn't have the right to kill the Nazi scientist who shot his mum in front of him while laughing' is in trouble long before you even realise what an unlikable prick Charles Xavier is, setting himself above everyone else morally despite our only seeing him until that point drinking or using his powers to pick up chicks and this is the guy who's going to teach a Nazi hunter how to do things?  There is no reason on God's green Earth to listen to a word the guy says yet the film takes it as read that he's in the right despite his great philosophy being "it's okay to be different as long as you don't rock the boat" so I imagine he's not a big supporter of gay marriage, while Magneto's philosophy is that society should accept people that are different and get on with its day - the bad guy is the only one making any kind of sense, the good guys at best preach about the virtue of lies, conformity and isolation.
And then there's basic internal logic like three guys falling for about half a minute so a teleporter saves them by... making solid ground appear underneath them.  Seriously, I can understand not taking physics in high school, but if you've managed to get to middle age without playing Portal or Angry Birds at least once you're doing something wrong.  Likewise there's a scene that hinges on explaining that a character uses wings to glide because he can't actually fly under his own power, yet later he carries someone one-handed while staying aloft using only one of those wings - which isn't even extended or even catching the wind - to fly horizontally through mid air: I am pretty sure the laws of physics that you have just explained twenty minutes ago onscreen do not work like that.  Then the wing becomes a plot point by being shot out so the guy has to crash - the logic flip-flops and is neither one thing or the other and it doesn't even try to pretend to be camp to escape criticism, it puts on a very serious face and tries to bluff it out and somewhere along the lines things just become terrible or hilarious depending on your temperament.
Personally, I was in hysterics when Prof X was wheeled out in his wheelchair for the first time and it has these huge Xs on the wheels like you'd see on a small child's plastic bicycle, then they star going on about "We're like G-Men - but without the G--" and my brain pretty much just gave up, though not before it offered "hang on now, we saw magneto kill two Nazis by crushing their tin hats when he was 8 years old and didn't know how his powers worked, but an hour later as a grown adult he doesn't know how to kill someone who is wearing a metal helmet that covers all of his head?"

An awful, awful fucking film that at least looks fantastic so broadsheet reviewers can pretend it's 'brainless entertainment' or whatever it is they call something palpably bad but which looks like it might be popular with the oiks.
So yeah, I thought it was pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Peter Wolf on 05 June, 2011, 12:12:34 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 June, 2011, 11:39:59 PM


An awful, awful fucking film that at least looks fantastic so broadsheet reviewers can pretend it's 'brainless entertainment' or whatever it is they call something palpably bad but which looks like it might be popular with the oiks.


:lol: :lol:

10/10

Thank you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 05 June, 2011, 09:46:20 AM
Well, me and the missus sat and watched Toy Story 3 last night and it was great. What a perfect ending to the franchise, Mrs Pete blubbed like a baby for the last five mins.

The scene in the incinerator when they all accepted their fates then held hands had my heart pounding! Masterful stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 05 June, 2011, 02:01:01 PM
X-Men: First Class for me too.

Professah Byah makes some good points about this in his post but hey, it's a movie based on comics and I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 June, 2011, 02:05:04 PM
QuoteWell, me and the missus sat and watched Toy Story 3 last night and it was great. What a perfect ending to the franchise, Mrs Pete blubbed like a baby for the last five mins.

The scene in the incinerator when they all accepted their fates then held hands had my heart pounding! Masterful stuff!

Yep - pretty much a perfect movie imo. My girlfriend got me the Toy Story trilogy Blu Ray box set for Christmas last year - just an amazing set of films, and they all look arsom in HD.

We watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off last night - still a smash!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 05 June, 2011, 04:40:49 PM
Kung Fu Panda 2.

Very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 June, 2011, 11:02:26 PM
X-Men First Class. Really good, and probably my favorite of the X-Men films (certainly much much better than the last couple).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 June, 2011, 11:36:12 AM
X Men: First Class for me too. Overall really enjoyed, with a few caveats. I thought the film was a little too long, there were slight problems with pacing (too much plot crammed into the running time at the expense of character development), a dodgy cut here and there, and I thought a lot of the sfx shots were pretty cheap and naff-looking - evidence of the rushed production?

It also suffers from the usual problems of being a prequel - there's something a bit mechanical and contrived about things being 'set up' for the existing movies - reminded me of Revenge of the Sith a little in this regard. I'd agree with other comments that the film doesn't make enough use of it's period setting - was expecting it to be a lot more stylised and evocative of that era. It felt a bit half-hearted, like they didn't want to alienate the audience. They could at least have had an authentic 1960s soundtrack rather than the likes of Take That and Gnarls Barkley!

Finally, I didn't really like how, once again, Mystique is center stage - a rather marginal character in the comics from what I gather. She is a completely different character from how she is portrayed in the other films, and loses some of her 'mystique' as a result.

Still, hugely enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. Fassbender - dodgy accent aside - is superb. His Magneto is a total badass. Rest of the cast also very good indeed - obviously the casting director is a big fan of 80s movies - not only Kevin Bacon and Oliver Platt, but Michael Ironside too! Haven't seen him in anything in years! Bonus points for that.

Here's hoping this one does well enough to warrant a sequel, and it's a completely bonkers silver-age lycra camp-fest, [spoiler]as seems to be hinted at with the glimpse of fully caped-up Magneto at the end[/spoiler]. Vaughn has said they want to do a trilogy, and have the second film kick off with [spoiler]Magneto guiding the bullet that kills JFK.[/spoiler]

Out of Prof Byah's nitpicks, the only one that is genuinely valid is the one about Xavier's moral superioty - though tbh it's not something that really occurred to me as I watched the film.

It's a fair point, and to an extent they are relying on the audiences' prior knowledge of the character to trust what he says.

As for this:

Quote"hang on now, we saw magneto kill two Nazis by crushing their tin hats when he was 8 years old and didn't know how his powers worked, but an hour later as a grown adult he doesn't know how to kill someone who is wearing a metal helmet that covers all of his head?"

[spoiler]Shaw is pretty much invincible - it was pretty clear to me that Magneto is only able to kill him very slowly - using the coin - so that Shaw is not able to absorb the attack. I doubt crushing his helmet - even if he'd had the time and opportunity - would have done the trick.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 06 June, 2011, 12:47:50 PM
The Breakfast Club - Judd Nelson is f*@king harsh man, Molly Ringwald pouts, Estevez power-dances around the library, Anthony Michael Hall needs looking after and Ally Sheedy is just plain adorable (until the makeover). Still a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 06 June, 2011, 12:51:41 PM
Saw X-men first class and Hangover II over the weekend. X-men was cracking and did a pretty good job of redeeming the franchise after the abhor-rations that were the second two.. Hangover II wasn't as good as the first one, no surprise there, but there is an extremely, extreeeemely wrong moment about halfway through.. Toe curlingly wrong..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 06 June, 2011, 01:01:02 PM
Few days ago I watched the Big Lebowski on a flight back from New York. I tried watching it on the flight from the UK but nodded off so I watched it from the beginning on the way back. I didn't know a thing about that film – I think one of you guys recommended it. Fantastic. Totally nuts of course. It cracked me up many times. Surprised to read it had mixed reviews when it was released.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 June, 2011, 01:10:02 PM
Rambo 4 and Soldier I flipped between them and realised they were in fact the same movie. Utter tosh yet I guffawed  anyway at the more and more inventive and horrible deaths of the "baddies" versus the psycho/supersoldier "goodie" saving da community.

At least Soldier had a nuke in it aka Aliens. The lead "actors" (I use the term loosely) Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell were completely interchangeable. One was at least pretending to a sociopath. But I just couldn't ya which.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 06 June, 2011, 01:11:58 PM
Misery again. What a movie. Little did I know about Spinal Tap man, Rob Reiner producing and directing it. I still think the search in the snow by the ancient sleuths in that film was ripped by the Coens in Fargo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 June, 2011, 04:37:23 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 June, 2011, 11:36:12 AM
Out of Prof Byah's nitpicks, the only one that is genuinely valid is the one about Xavier's moral superioty.

That's not really a nitpick as much as it is a failing of the script to realise that the film is essentially the story of an old-money white protestant conservative telling a jewish death camp survivor to get over it.

A nitpick would be pointing out that the film establishes very firmly within it's own internal logic that falling from a couple of dozen feet will kill you dead (in the attack on CIA headquarters) - then later three characters fall several hundred feet through the air onto solid ground with no ill effects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 June, 2011, 06:05:56 PM
QuoteThat's not really a nitpick as much as it is a failing of the script to realise that the film is essentially the story of an old-money white protestant conservative telling a jewish death camp survivor to get over it.

You can make pretty much any film's story sound dodgy if you spin it a certain way. What's that one about Batman? 'Millionaire playboy gets his kicks by assaulting the disadvantaged and the mentally ill'...

QuoteA nitpick would be pointing out that the film establishes very firmly within it's own internal logic that falling from a couple of dozen feet will kill you dead (in the attack on CIA headquarters) - then later three characters fall several hundred feet through the air onto solid ground with no ill effects.

But the scene with the [spoiler]attack on the CIA compound demonstrates that Azazel can survive a fall if he teleports in time... Unless you're referring to Angel, Havok and Banshee, in which case the fall isn't hundreds of feet from what I recall - and they land on sand rather than concrete.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 06 June, 2011, 06:42:30 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 06 June, 2011, 01:01:02 PM
Few days ago I watched the Big Lebowski on a flight back from New York. I tried watching it on the flight from the UK but nodded off so I watched it from the beginning on the way back. I didn't know a thing about that film – I think one of you guys recommended it. Fantastic. Totally nuts of course. It cracked me up many times. Surprised to read it had mixed reviews when it was released.

I watched it for the first time a week ago.. Couldn't understand what the fuss was all about..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 June, 2011, 06:59:29 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 06 June, 2011, 01:10:02 PM
Rambo 4 and Soldier I flipped between them and realised they were in fact the same movie. Utter tosh yet I guffawed  anyway at the more and more inventive and horrible deaths of the "baddies" versus the psycho/supersoldier "goodie" saving da community.

At least Soldier had a nuke in it aka Aliens. The lead "actors" (I use the term loosely) Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell were completely interchangeable. One was at least pretending to a sociopath. But I just couldn't ya which.

Caught bits of Soldier last night, there were a couple of references that sounded familiar (the Tannhauser Gate being one) so I gave it a wiki, and learned it was apparently written and intended as a spin-off from Blade Runner. The soldiers are essentially supposed to be the replicants, keeping the peace on the off world colonies. Didn't watch the whole thing so don't know if that angle was done away with, but it looked like fun in a cheddar sort of way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 June, 2011, 07:02:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 June, 2011, 06:59:29 PMCaught bits of Soldier last night, there were a couple of references that sounded familiar (the Tannhauser Gate being one) so I gave it a wiki, and learned it was apparently written and intended as a spin-off from Blade Runner. The soldiers are essentially supposed to be the replicants, keeping the peace on the off world colonies. Didn't watch the whole thing so don't know if that angle was done away with, but it looked like fun in a cheddar sort of way.


It's a sidequel plus it was written by David Peoples, the script-doctor on BR.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 June, 2011, 10:21:11 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 June, 2011, 06:05:56 PM
You can make pretty much any film's story sound dodgy if you spin it a certain way. What's that one about Batman? 'Millionaire playboy gets his kicks by assaulting the disadvantaged and the mentally ill'...

Except the Burton flicks were fucking terrible films, too, so I'm not sure what your argument is.  The only movie that comes close to being deconstructed with this description is Dark Knight, which is actually all about Wayne dealing with the mentally ill people he inspires one way or another and how he'd rather stop doing it - it is about Batman and how he impacts his world, while First Class is not about anything.  It starts by creating a juxtaposition between Xavier's privilege and concentration camp victims, yet does nothing with it - in fact, against all reason it's the guy we first see explaining to us that his servants usually bring him hot chocolate who ends up being the voice of experience and wisdom, rather than the man who's survived the Holocaust, successfully integrated into society, and uses his powers to track war criminals.  First Class has nothing to say, it's just some stuff that happens and I already admitted that it looks fantastic - my issue is with its - intentional or unintentional - subtext where a rich white conservative tells an Auschwitz survivor to get over it and do what society wants him to do rather than what makes him comfortable, even though what makes him comfortable is preventing a Nazi from starting a nuclear war.

Quote[spoiler]But the scene with the [spoiler]attack on the CIA compound demonstrates that Azazel can survive a fall if he teleports in time... Unless you're referring to Angel, Havok and Banshee, in which case the fall isn't hundreds of feet from what I recall - and they land on sand rather than concrete.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

That scene also establishes internal logic for the film - you fall and you go splat and die.  Later, the characters you mention do indeed fall for hundreds of feet through the air because acceleration of a free falling object is 32 feet per second per second and they had time enough to have a wee chat before teleporting several feet above solid ground.  Unless you're suggesting the sand made a difference - but hitting water at terminal velocity would kill you just as sure as hitting solid steel.  Sand?  You're also pizza if you hit that.

I have no idea why I'm dissecting the logic of this piece of shit movie: there's a bit where the lass says "I'll never tell them where you are, Charles" despite the fact that Charles is quite clearly living in his family mansion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 06 June, 2011, 10:25:47 PM
Took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda 2 today - great movie, really enjoyable, and even my 3 year old sat still for the lot of it and didn't start running up and down the steps and in and out of the aisles like he usually does.

I was a bit disappointed though. Being a big Jean Claude van Damme fan, I was happy to hear he was finally branching out a bit and doing a bit of voice-acting work. And he did a good job of Master Croc...there just wasn't much of it. I'd say he had 4 or 5 lines tops. I was expecting way more.

But nevertheless - top flick! Will watch again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 06 June, 2011, 11:07:03 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 June, 2011, 04:37:23 PMThat's not really a nitpick as much as it is a failing of the script to realise that the film is essentially the story of an old-money white protestant conservative telling a jewish death camp survivor to get over it.

Alternatively, it's a story about one man understanding another man's pain and begging him not to be consumed by it, but still believing in him and calling him friend even when he is consumed.

Mostly, however, it's yet another story proving that comic and movie writers don't have the first fucking clue about evolution or science beyond a few buzzwords... but also proving that some of them are rather good at providing a couple of hours of worthwhile entertainment.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 June, 2011, 11:14:50 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 June, 2011, 10:21:11 PMFirst Class has nothing to say, it's just some stuff that happens and I already admitted that it looks fantastic - my issue is with its - intentional or unintentional - subtext where a rich white conservative tells an Auschwitz survivor to get over it and do what society wants him to do rather than what makes him comfortable, even though what makes him comfortable is preventing a Nazi from starting a nuclear war.


What is your issue with that though, is it just that you don't personally like it? I don't see a problem with those characterisations, it's what fuels their personal conflict or maybe you'd prefer they were more black and white morally? X-Men, Fantastic Four & Avengers et al. have always been about maintaining the status quo, they aren't radicals, it's always the villains who are the radicals in comics that's why they're more interesting. Superheroes are like council members, city fathers and mayors...boring fucks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 June, 2011, 12:30:36 AM
Just watched a claymation film on Film4. It was called Max and Mary. It was perfect
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 June, 2011, 01:22:00 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 06 June, 2011, 11:07:03 PMMostly, however, it's yet another story proving that comic and movie writers don't have the first fucking clue about evolution or science beyond a few buzzwords

Is that really an issue with any kind of entertainment in and of itself?  If you apply actual working real-world science to all entertainment rather than its own internal logic, you'll pretty much render all sci-fi invalid.  I just watched a movie where a dude with a bionic heart kung-fu'd his way from San Fran to LA and which ended on a shot identical to the final shot from Rush Hour 3, and I'm about to watch the season 1 finale of Buck Rogers in the 21st Century - I have no problems with dumb entertainment, but I do have a problem with entertainment that thinks I'm dumb.  By all means be a stupid movie, but trust me to be able to keep track of how your fantasy world works, please.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 06 June, 2011, 11:14:50 PM
What is your issue with that though, is it just that you don't personally like it? I don't see a problem with those characterisations, it's what fuels their personal conflict or maybe you'd prefer they were more black and white morally?

I didn't like it, as it happens, and said as much.  As for the characterisations, they're pretty black and white, certainly: Magneto wants revenge on a man who
1 is a Nazi
2 killed Magneto's mum in front of him while laughing
3 tortured magneto as a child to see what would happen
4 murders a child in front of his friends
5 murders dozens of CIA agents for pretty much no reason at all
6 wants to start a nuclear war
7 fails so he decides to wipe out the Russian and American fleets
8 aided in genociding the jews
9 is actively trying to genocide humanity

That's pretty black and white, but from the wrong direction, as Magneto is clearly in the right yet it's Charles we're supposed to sympathize with despite his doing nothing to earn that indulgence beyond that he is Professor X from X-Men, except this being an origin story he isn't even that.  Magneto here is entirely justified and if he doesn't kill the baddie millions will die - there's a deep and complex moral argument to be explored here, but the entire story hinges on your accepting that Magneto is bad because he's Magneto and Prof X is good because he's Prof X and I am sorry but I think that this is weak sauce.

Not all bad, though: Michael Ironside's delivery of "God help us all" was great.  As was the Rooskie cap'n's "Congratulations, Comrade, you have saved us all from a nuclear war - take him to the brig."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 June, 2011, 05:26:51 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 27 February, 2011, 10:18:31 PM
Human Centipede. As the person who lent it to me put it: "Why? Why would anyone make this?"

Just read that the BBFC have refused a certificate for Human Centipede II - They said that no amount of cuts would make it suitable, and that it poses a "real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 07 June, 2011, 06:01:30 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 June, 2011, 01:22:00 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 06 June, 2011, 11:07:03 PMMostly, however, it's yet another story proving that comic and movie writers don't have the first fucking clue about evolution or science beyond a few buzzwords

Is that really an issue with any kind of entertainment in and of itself? 

No, not really, which was why I included the follow-on comment about entertainment.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 07 June, 2011, 07:50:09 PM
SPOILERS**********






Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 June, 2011, 01:22:00 AM

That's pretty black and white, but from the wrong direction, as Magneto is clearly in the right yet it's Charles we're supposed to sympathize with despite his doing nothing to earn that indulgence beyond that he is Professor X from X-Men, except this being an origin story he isn't even that.  Magneto here is entirely justified and if he doesn't kill the baddie millions will die - there's a deep and complex moral argument to be explored here, but the entire story hinges on your accepting that Magneto is bad because he's Magneto and Prof X is good because he's Prof X and I am sorry but I think that this is weak sauce.

That's not what happens though. It's clear from the very first scene that we're intended to sympathise with Magneto, and it's reinforced throughout the movie - it's blindingly clear where he's coming from, and given what we know of human nature in the real world, and human nature in the movie, we can easily understand his reasoning.

Also, Magneto's reason for killing Shaw is ultimately revenge, not saving millions of lives. He could easily have slowly bound and secured Shaw with metal just as he did Emma Frost. Even so, it's hard if not impossible to condemn him for it.

By contrast, Xavier is not set up simply as a good guy for us to root for - he's egotistical, inconsiderate of his sister's feelings (perhaps because he genuinely has kept out of her mind), and has a remarkably naive faith in human, and mutant, nature. And then there's more than a touch of arrogance. Arguably, his faith in human nature is one of his redeeming features... and that is shown to be clearly diminished by the end the film as evidenced by his final action.

The story quite clearly does not hinge on Xavior good, Magneto bad. The story, at the points where it is most interesting, hinges on a man who is being consumed by his pain, and the man who will always be his friend, even when they fight.

Outside that, the film has some other interestings things going on. There are issues of misogeny (women are the playthings of powerful men, they get seduced by cheesy lines, patronised by their brothers, they fetch ice for drinks, and they have no place in the CIA). There's criticism of the military (they mindlessly follow orders, are incabable of acting without new orders, when they avert WWIII they are punished for it, and when cowardly bureaucrats order them to commit murder they do it without hesitation). Sadly, there's no time for these things to be developed, as least not if you want to satisfy the target audience.


Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 June, 2011, 08:01:11 PM
The sexism point is a fair one, which initially troubled me, but I kind of saw it as an homage to the swinging 60s/Austin Powers/Bond girl vibe they were going for. It doesnt excuse it though to be fair. As for the 'women have no place in the CIA' line, were clearly supposed to be laughing/rolling our eyes at the men in that scene.

Regarding the observation about xavier hiding out in his family mansion, this is a man who can wipe people's memories and create mental projections.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 07 June, 2011, 09:33:53 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 June, 2011, 08:01:11 PM
The sexism point is a fair one, which initially troubled me, but I kind of saw it as an homage to the swinging 60s/Austin Powers/Bond girl vibe they were going for. It doesnt excuse it though to be fair. As for the 'women have no place in the CIA' line, were clearly supposed to be laughing/rolling our eyes at the men in that scene.

I felt that it was an attempt to make a point about the attitudes of time rather than being a homage, but that there was no room (or need or willingness) to develop it as a theme.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 June, 2011, 11:44:04 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 07 June, 2011, 07:50:09 PM
Arguably, his faith in human nature is one of his redeeming features... and that is shown to be clearly diminished by the end the film as evidenced by his final action.

I agree if you mean that bit on the beach after he's been accidentally shot and needs to be the better man he keeps harping on at Magneto to be, yet instead gets on his high horse with a clearly repentant Magneto and tells him in no uncertain terms to go fuck himself, completely undermining any kind of moral authority he might have possessed until that point.  The entire movie he tells Magneto to get over it, yet when the shoe's on the other - now crippled - foot, it's "fuck you, buddy - NO FORGIVENESS!"

Also, Shaw couldn't be restrained because it wasn't the fact that he was free that made him a danger, it was the nuclear energy he'd stored and intended to release after having his natter with Magneto.  He was going to explode to kill as many people as he could and that's why he had to buy the farm.  Regardless of his motivations, Magneto had little choice in the matter.

His immediate and unconvincing heel turn after he leaves the sub and puts on an Irish accent, on the other hand?  I have no idea what prompted that.  He just does because he's Magneto and Magneto is the bad guy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 08 June, 2011, 06:05:59 PM
SPOILERS*************************








Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 June, 2011, 11:44:04 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 07 June, 2011, 07:50:09 PM
Arguably, his faith in human nature is one of his redeeming features... and that is shown to be clearly diminished by the end the film as evidenced by his final action.

I agree if you mean that bit on the beach after he's been accidentally shot and needs to be the better man he keeps harping on at Magneto to be, yet instead gets on his high horse with a clearly repentant Magneto and tells him in no uncertain terms to go fuck himself, completely undermining any kind of moral authority he might have possessed until that point.  The entire movie he tells Magneto to get over it, yet when the shoe's on the other - now crippled - foot, it's "fuck you, buddy - NO FORGIVENESS!"

You're rephrasing - as negatively as possible - what's actually said to suit your argument. The point Xavier is trying to make to Magneto is much simpler and quite clear: his actions will have consequences and he cannot shift the blame to others.

The bit I was referring to was Xavier's final action of the film, namely the memory wipe, demonstrating his lessening trust of humans.



QuoteAlso, Shaw couldn't be restrained because it wasn't the fact that he was free that made him a danger, it was the nuclear energy he'd stored and intended to release after having his natter with Magneto.  He was going to explode to kill as many people as he could and that's why he had to buy the farm.  Regardless of his motivations, Magneto had little choice in the matter.

I'd need to see the film again, but given that Xavier didn't want Shaw killed and was also fully aware of the situation one presumes there was another option. While Xavier obviously didn't want Magneto to kill him, he was hardly going to let Shaw go.


Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2011, 08:42:35 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 June, 2011, 11:44:04 PM
His immediate and unconvincing heel turn after he leaves the sub and puts on an Irish accent, on the other hand?  I have no idea what prompted that.  He just does because he's Magneto and Magneto is the bad guy.


I don't think Fassbender needs to 'put on' an Irish accent, he is Irish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 June, 2011, 09:43:08 PM
I intended to give up arguing this, but as the Smallville thread proved, Joe - you love it, you tart.  For the record, I'm not saying people aren't allowed to enjoy the movie, I'm just saying that it's a dumb film and liking it makes you worse than Hitler.

I'd guessed Fassbender was Irish, but that bit near the end is the only time his accent really slips onscreen.  I assume they shot that scene before others and he hadn't nailed the accent he used in the rest of the flick.  Well, that, or Fassbender was rendering a meta-commentary on the idea of Magneto at that point becoming a terrorist by using the language of terrorism - an Irish accent.

Quote from: Robin Low on 08 June, 2011, 06:05:59 PM
You're rephrasing - as negatively as possible - what's actually said to suit your argument.

I rephrase for humorous intent - clearly those words are not from the film.  I do however explain my point, and those words sum the matter up: Xavier tells Magneto to be the better man and forgive, yet fails to do just that himself when the time comes.
A dick and a hypocrite.

QuoteThe bit I was referring to was Xavier's final action of the film, namely the memory wipe, demonstrating his lessening trust of humans.

I dunno... Superman did it, so can it really be that bad an action to take?  If Superman raped a nun I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

QuoteI'd need to see the film again, but given that Xavier didn't want Shaw killed and was also fully aware of the situation one presumes there was another option.

If there was, the script failed to enlighten us - it did however go out of its way to reinforce that Shaw needed to die.  Killing him was hardly the means to convincingly demonise Magneto, though his wobbler with the missiles and the fleets did at least offer further explanation - albeit one slightly marred by the presence of a teleporting chap and at least two people capable of flight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 09 June, 2011, 07:16:07 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 08 June, 2011, 09:43:08 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 08 June, 2011, 06:05:59 PM
You're rephrasing - as negatively as possible - what's actually said to suit your argument.

I rephrase for humorous intent - clearly those words are not from the film.  I do however explain my point, and those words sum the matter up: Xavier tells Magneto to be the better man and forgive, yet fails to do just that himself when the time comes.
A dick and a hypocrite.

At what point does Xavier fail to forgive Magneto? As I remember it, Magneto blames MacTaggert for the bullet that hits Xavier, but Xavier, bluntly but truthfully, points out that it's Magneto's fault. Pointing out the truth is not the same as failing to forgive. Also, another reason for him to be so blunt is not to be unforgiving, but to bring the point home to Magneto (his actions have consequences) and also save MacTaggert from his anger, grief and guilt (the emotions that are ultimately controlling him).

Quote
QuoteI'd need to see the film again, but given that Xavier didn't want Shaw killed and was also fully aware of the situation one presumes there was another option.

If there was, the script failed to enlighten us - it did however go out of its way to reinforce that Shaw needed to die.  Killing him was hardly the means to convincingly demonise Magneto, though his wobbler with the missiles and the fleets did at least offer further explanation - albeit one slightly marred by the presence of a teleporting chap and at least two people capable of flight.

It's likely there there's a problem with the script at this point. However, as it stands I still don't think the dialogue or the actions of the characters supports what you're saying about them.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 June, 2011, 11:22:16 PM
A good thing, then, that I have proved it with science.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rogue Reader on 10 June, 2011, 02:26:21 AM
I saw x-men the other day was a bit disapointed maybe expected too much after kick-ass. Was it just me or were the fight sceens a bit flat?
I saw Triagle yesterday the horror film set on a criuse ship it was not scary but had some good idears init.
QuoteCaught bits of Soldier last night, there were a couple of references that sounded familiar (the Tannhauser Gate being one) so I gave it a wiki, and learned it was apparently written and intended as a spin-off from Blade Runner. The soldiers are essentially supposed to be the replicants, keeping the peace on the off world colonies. Didn't watch the whole thing so don't know if that angle was done away with, but it looked like fun in a cheddar sort of way.
Talking of Soldier wasnt it ment to be the Rogue Trooper film we were promised in the Rogue Trooper annual?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 10 June, 2011, 09:01:12 AM
On the subject of Soldier I remember reading somewhere that it was set in the same universe as Blade Runner (with the Tannhauser Gate ref) and Event Horizon as well as Aliens/Predator/Terminator. Apparently there is a Blade Runner spinner and a T-800 endoskeleton in the junkyard scenes, but I never looked that closely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 10 June, 2011, 09:13:54 AM
The Bourne Ultimatum
Enjoyed it, but was a bit freaky that Bourne is not only a super-assassin but also apparently part Terminator. He was [spoiler]blown up, fell off a building and was apparently drowned (but came to and just swam off)[/spoiler]. The fuck?

Escape From New York
Not seen this film in about 15 years so sat down to watch it with the missus.

10 minutes in she was pointing out that it was so hammy it probably could only be watched by infidels. She was right. And she thinks Twilight is "cool", so that's how wrong she usually is.

Looking at this with new eyes it's full of truly remarkable coincidences.

Snake just happens to be at Liberty awaiting his transfer (due in 2 hours) when the President's plane takes a tumble.

The Doctor at Liberty just so happens to have those micro charges on standby. Why do they have them in the first place?

Snake is just getting friendly with a girl when the Crazies break through the floor exactly where she is standing.

After being chased by said Crazies, Snake blindly zig zags through a building and down a back alley. Astonishingly, Cabbie (who he had met several blocks away) just so happens to show up at the end of that alley to save him.

Cabbie has been driving the same cab in NY for 30 years. How is he in a Max Security prison that has only been in place for 9 years? Did they just wall him in and he didn't notice?

Cabbie takes Snake to see Brain, who just so happens to be a buddy of Snake's and knows exactly where the Pres is. Handy.

Snake flew the Gullfire over Leningrad and amazingly Bob Hauk just happens to have one on standby. What are the odds?

The scrutiny doesn't end there.

I found it puzzling that everyone in the prison seems to know who Plissken is and assumes he is dead.
Now, consider this. Cabbie knows him by sight and reputation (presumably from the fabled bank job which took place right before this film according to the deleted scene- Plissken is even wearing the same clothes in said scene). Cabbie remarks he has been driving the same cab in NY for 30 years. This implies he has been there since the prison's inception in 1988 as for him to have left the cab in 1988, been naughty enough to warrant a Max Security stretch and imprisoned eight and a half years later seems utterly ridiculous. So, how does he know who Snake is and what he looks like if he has been banged up in NY for the last 9 years? The same goes for every prisoner who knows Snake. How could they possibly know anything about him unless he has been on the run for nearly 10 years after becoming public enemy numero uno?

Brain has a map of the bridge mines from a bloke who got all the way across and was shot dead. How did they get the map if he didn't make it back? If somebody went back for it, then they must have navigated the mines too so why don't they just rely on this person's info as they seem to know where the mines are? Unless the map was on a very long piece of elastic.

The Gullfire is a "jet glider". The name makes it sound like Airwolf and cutting edge military tech but it doesn't seem to have a jet engine (it even has to be towed to take off) so is pretty weak as a rescue vehicle.
It also seems to have one seat so how is the President meant to get out with Snake? Is he going to hang on the tail?
The safest bet would have been to parachute Snake in to land on the WTC, get him to rescue the POTUS and then airlift the pair of them off the roof. Too simple and won't involve an explosive cab ride?

The secret safety catch on the tracker bracelet is visible from Mars.

How do the prisoners eat? Even a Max Security prison feeds the inmates and a lot of them look well fed (especially Cabbie and Isaac Hayes), so where is the grub coming from? It ain't rats or dead bodies, either.

Women and men are confined in the same prison which seems utterly ridiculous. And if this place is Maximum Security, what are Cabbie and Maggie doing there? They don't look like hardened crims.

In short, fond teenage memories pissed on.
Now, where's my copy of Commando...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 June, 2011, 09:38:49 AM
Orlok man, you got it bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 11 June, 2011, 01:11:00 AM
THE MECHANIC

did exactly what it said on the tin and showed Statham off to his best, not too much heavy dialouge and people getting fucked up.
Long as yer not expecting greatness but mereley eye candy you cant go wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 11 June, 2011, 03:01:42 AM
QuoteOrlok man, you got it bad.

I just found AvP Requiem on the hard drive. Maybe that will shake me out of my depression... ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 June, 2011, 12:48:33 PM
Currently two episodes into State of Play - the BBC TV series from 2003 - not the (inferior) Hollywood movie adaptation from a couple of years back.

It's a really slick and polished conspiracy thriller with a pretty incredible cast and crew. Directed by David Yates (Harry Potters 5, 6, 7 and 8), written by Paul Abbot (Shameless, Cracker), and with a hugely likable cast including David Morrissey, John Simm, Philip Glenister, James McAvoy, Kelly MacDonald, Bill Nighy, Marc Warren, Benny Wong and Sean Gilder.

It's surprisingly funny too - lots of nice little character moments amongst all the serious stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 11 June, 2011, 11:04:42 PM
Just wrapped on THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. Pretty decent thriller. Couldn't get on with the books at all but - so far - really enjoying the flicks. Bit of Scooby Doo action at the end, with the reveal, but overall a decent flick. Definitely worth a spin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rogue Reader on 12 June, 2011, 02:53:19 AM
I watched all three they are good but the first is the best by miles.
I saw the trailer for the remake the other day looks goods but for some reason I thought they would be setting it in the US to give it a new spin but no it looks like its going to be a sceen by sceen remake for thick people who dont want to read sub titles.
Has anyone here seen the blue ray of Payback I got it the other day, I have been going about it to my girl friend saying it is a good revenge film and one of the last good Mel films before he really went "Mad". We watched the directors cut over the theater cut as I thought it would just cosmetic changes how wrong I was it started off with just a few sceens that were different and it seemed slower and not as cool as I remebered then I relised they had gotten rid of Kris Kristofferson completely replacing him with a womens voice on an intercom so the whole ending is different, it now ends with a crap shoot out on a train station. My girlfriend now has no idea why I liked the film, I did think this must have been the first draft that went to preveiw sceenings and had changes made before release but there is a doc on the disc which I still have to watch that seems to be saying this cut was made for blue ray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 June, 2011, 08:18:32 PM
Quote from: Orlok on 10 June, 2011, 09:01:12 AM
On the subject of Soldier I remember reading somewhere that it was set in the same universe as Blade Runner (with the Tannhauser Gate ref) and Event Horizon as well as Aliens/Predator/Terminator. Apparently there is a Blade Runner spinner and a T-800 endoskeleton in the junkyard scenes, but I never looked that closely.


If you look at the main character's war record on the computer screen, you'll notice even more references, including refs to levels from the original Doom as past campaigns in which the soldiers were deployed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 12 June, 2011, 09:41:53 PM
Rec 2.
Was initially a bit disappointed when it began because somehow I'd gotten myself confused with the originals and the re-makes and thought this was a sequel to the American one. So when this came on in Spanish, after I was all set with my tea and choccie piccies, I was a bit..awwwwwwwwww.... Wasn't really in the mood for subtitles! But, as it happened, this was bloody brilliant. And flippin' scary. Good job I seen it too, as seemingly the sequel to the American re-make (called Quarantine) isn't going to follow the plot of Rec 2 at all and instead will be a new story altogether.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 13 June, 2011, 12:39:05 PM
Have to agree with you there Van Dom - Rec 2 is one of my favourite horror movies of recent years. The first one was pretty good but I didn't find it to be particulalry memorable, whereas the second one just blew me away. I'm aware that statement sounds odd - especially when the second film picks up exactly where the first one left off and is basically a retread of the same sets and situations. But there's just something so frantic, urgent, and downright terrifying about it.

I'm sure I'll watch the US remake, but I'll probably regret it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 June, 2011, 11:08:14 PM
The Clone Wars.

I've seen some of the episodes from the series that run on Cartoon Network, but I'd never seen the animated movie that spun it off.

Very enjoyable! I understand that it pretty much started out as 3 episodes strung together, but it works well as a film. Only thing negative I'd say is that it's perhaps a bit padded. A snip here and there (boom boom) to tighten things up wouldn't go amiss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 14 June, 2011, 07:37:52 PM
I watched X-Men first class today and quite enjoyed it. Some very dark scenes amongst all the fun and action. Loved the cameo  ;)

P.S. I have not left the house  :o!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 14 June, 2011, 08:41:45 PM
Super 8. It was pretty good, yeah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 June, 2011, 09:09:36 PM
Watched a good chop socky film the other night. It was called Ip Man, and was loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee's mentor. I learned two things from this movie; Ip Man was a one man punching festival, and I really should find out more about the Sino-Japanese wars
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 June, 2011, 11:51:45 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 14 June, 2011, 09:09:36 PM
Watched a good chop socky film the other night. It was called Ip Man, and was loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee's mentor. I learned two things from this movie; Ip Man was a one man punching festival, and I really should find out more about the Sino-Japanese wars
I would highly recommend Flashpoint, by the same director and star. Donnie Yen isn't quite in the Tony Jaa spectacular stakes but he's still totally nails.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: exilewood on 15 June, 2011, 12:44:03 AM
Just watched two films by Jacques Rivette - La Belle Noiseuse & Historie de Marie et Julien - both starring Emmanuelle Beart.

The first of the two (twenty years old now - I think it's fairly famous; hadn't seen it before) is a fantastic film about art, the creative process & the implications & effects of that process. It's a wonderful film & not just because Beart spends much of it as God surely intended.

The second was very dull indeed & I'm not sure what it was meant to be. Beart was still staggeringly gorgeous though, but even that wasn't enough to save it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 15 June, 2011, 12:51:37 AM
if you just watched the two then take it you watched the shorter version of La Belle - the 5 hour one is a weekends viewing in itself. If your a Beart fan then Un Coeur en Hiver from the same period as La Belle is a very good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: exilewood on 15 June, 2011, 01:03:04 AM
Quote from: BPP on 15 June, 2011, 12:51:37 AM
if you just watched the two then take it you watched the shorter version of La Belle - the 5 hour one is a weekends viewing in itself. If your a Beart fan then Un Coeur en Hiver from the same period as La Belle is a very good film.

Yes - Divertimento. I'll probably seek out the longer version soon.

Interestingly, Bob Dylan made a film - 'Renaldo & Clara' that explored very similar themes that also ran at over four hours, later followed by a re-cut two-hour version that was nowhere near as good. Dylan did the re-cut under duress though, I think, (or it may have been done by someone else, against his wishes) whereas Rivette's (as far as I can tell from the liner notes) is more than just an edited version.

Oh - ta for the recommendation too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 15 June, 2011, 03:04:21 AM
no worries, suddenly remembered the name of another I'd not seen since its original release - J'embrasse Pas - which has her looking foxy as a ingénue with gangster connections who leads a farm-boy astray.  Warning tho, it does contain an fairly shocking 'midnight cowboy by force' moment that may leave the male viewer slightly 'eeks!'.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 15 June, 2011, 09:02:28 AM
Watched Mysterious Skin for the first time last night - brilliant, poignant and very well acted. A hugely difficult theme to tackle, but it drifted along with a dreamlike quality and the final scene left me with a lump in my throat. Gorgeous soundtrack too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the shutdown man on 15 June, 2011, 11:42:41 AM
Saw The Runway last night, lovely little Irish film, loosely based on a true story of a small plane crash landing in a small town in Cork in the 80s, and the whole town getting together to build a runway so the pilot could take off again. If anything, it's a lot like the Dish, similarly quirky, small-town humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 June, 2011, 07:46:09 PM
Quote from: exilewood on 15 June, 2011, 12:44:03 AM
The first of the two (twenty years old now - I think it's fairly famous; hadn't seen it before) is a fantastic film about art, the creative process & the implications & effects of that process. It's a wonderful film & not just because Beart spends much of it as God surely intended.

Mmmm, I watched the long version many years ago - I came for the gloriously nude Beart, but ended up really enjoying the film too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 June, 2011, 08:46:21 PM
I watched Star Trek: First Contact again. It occured to me that it's a lot like a Zombie Movie. Except the Zombies have robotic attachments and lazers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 20 June, 2011, 09:23:04 PM
Herself rented two movies yesterday. First on was The sorcerers apprentice. Pretty enjoyable, nice effects and impressive how they can stretch a 15 minute single scene short into a 90 minute movie..

Second up was what I refer to as 'Hetero Male Teflon".. Twilight eclipse.. After 10 minutes of vapid, pointless, boring tedious crap I was feeling very emasculated and decided to right all things wrong by grabbing one of my airsoft rifles and field stripping it in the bedroom just to do something manly.. Oh dear God! It was so horribly, horribly bad! They should have everyone who has anything to do with the production of those films tarred, feathered and shot.. Except for the grips. They don't know any better..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2011, 09:31:36 PM
I thought X-Men First Class wasn't too good and I'm alone in that, so that means that most of you can look forward to really liking Green Lantern because I thought it was a fucking terrible film.  Ryan Renolds doesn't do any of his usual smartass schtick and comes off as charmless, there's a painful lack of comedy or wit to the script, the big baddie is a space octopus made of smoke and fear that actually looks good in one or two bits but they don't know what to do with it, and there's no character arc to speak of to make this anything other than a collection of videogame intro scenes strung together - is Hal afraid and needs to conquer fear to beat the octopus?  If so, why does the octopus still affect him?  And why [spoiler]kill it in the sun?[/spoiler]  That's just a big asplosion, they could have killed it from afar by shooting a space nuke at it if that was the case, but earlier in the film there's no clear indication that the space octopus is a physical entity that can be sun-asploded, he's supposed to be made of smoke that comes from people when they're ascared.  And what's with the Leader from the Hulk?  He destroys a top secret military base that he's being held in by the US military and murders servicemen and a US senator, gets beaten by Green lantern and then... he goes back to his apartment, gets into bed and goes to sleep?  WHAT?

Writers have shown you can make this material interesting, or at least animators have as recently as the last couple of years proven you can do a half-decent Green Lantern origin story, but this film... man, this film bites dick.  They want really bad for the lead to be their Tony Stark but there's no levity or charm in the character and he just comes off as vapor, the script is everywhere, and it just comes off as something you want to hate or pity.  I can't believe so many people were involved in making something this sub-par, but here we are.

But like I say, I hated X-Men, so y'all might like this anyway.

Quote from: Michaelvk on 20 June, 2011, 09:23:04 PMThey should have everyone who has anything to do with the production of those films tarred, feathered and shot.. Except for the grips. They don't know any better..

"I was only doing what I was told.  I didn't know the big picture" didn't work at the Nuremberg trials, Mike.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 20 June, 2011, 09:42:50 PM
Have you ever met a grip? I still can't work out if they're listed as crew or equipment.. But point taken, Prof..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 June, 2011, 11:58:47 PM
I declare this thread to be spoilerific.........
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 June, 2011, 09:23:05 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 20 June, 2011, 11:58:47 PM
I declare this thread to be spoilerific.........
Indeed - Thanks to Prof Byah for concealing about 5 words while spoilering the rest of the film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 21 June, 2011, 11:27:35 AM
Fire In Babylon - documentary on the great West Indies cricket sides of the 70s/80s. Really excellent film, could have done with being a bit longer and containing more match footage but I'd still advise people to go and see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 22 June, 2011, 01:36:44 AM
The Horde
French Zombie Die Hard
Does exactly what it says on the tin
Pretty rockin'

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 22 June, 2011, 12:57:18 PM
Kaboom!

On a bit of a Gregg Araki tip lately, after finally watching Myserious Skin (and rating it very highly) I managed to track down to of his earlier efforts - the Doom Generation (which I'd seen about 15 years ago) and Nowhere (which was new to me), and now his latest effort.

I must say, everyone is so highly sexed and attractive in his films and yet they couldn't be further from your typical lusty teen fare. I dig him! And the soundtracks are fantastic too.

Back to Kaboom - I felt this wasn't quite as successful as his earlier efforts, although I enjoyed Juno Temple's character 'London.' Thomas Dekker of John Connor fame wasn't too bad either, although he's no Gordon Levitt. It was a shame in a way too to see regular contributor James Duvall as an older, more grizzled stoner has-been. As time has moved on and the actors gotten older, Araki's obsession with the rawness of youth has remained, meaning his semi-regular stable of actors need replacing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 June, 2011, 01:36:21 PM
Is Nowhere the one with the running joke about "there's this guy in my Global Pandemics class" and so on? If so, that was great fun. I also remember one of his films opening with about five minutes of some guy having a wank in the shower to the sound of a Slowdive record.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 June, 2011, 01:10:51 AM
A Town Called Panic was on Film4 tonight. The Meg said some nice things about it, so I gave it a go. It was bloody bonkers, difficult to describe really. I think it inspired that cravendale milk advert. Really clever, eccentric,surreal animation
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 June, 2011, 10:10:14 AM
Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrells was on the telly when I got in from work the other night, so I ended up watching that for the first time in about ten years. Used to love the film when it first came out and always thought that it never deserved the bad rep it got tarnished with. Its predictably pretty dated now, and borderline irritating at times but worth a watch for old times sake. What really struck me about watching it was the shocking level of acting. Most of the cast can't act for shit, and a lot of the line deliveries are excruciating. Was surprised to see a young Rob Brydon playing the traffic warden!

Watched Labyrinth with some mates on Friday night. I have a huge amount of affection for it as it was the first film I ever saw at the cinema. I won't try and defend it as a great film, but it has so much charm that it's immune to criticism in my eyes. When it finished we put on the making of documentary on the DVD, and I was delighted the following morning to hear Adam and Joe discussing the film and doc on their 6 Music show!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 June, 2011, 08:49:02 PM
Quote from: radiator on 23 June, 2011, 10:10:14 AM
Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrells was on the telly when I got in from work the other night, so I ended up watching that for the first time in about ten years. Used to love the film when it first came out and always thought that it never deserved the bad rep it got tarnished with. Its predictably pretty dated now, and borderline irritating at times but worth a watch for old times sake.


Never liked 'flashy Guy Geezer films, he should be tied to a pole and made watch Get Carter until he knows better...and irritating is the word.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: exilewood on 24 June, 2011, 12:42:57 AM
Just saw the Coen's True Grit - a great film. Can't be arsed to go any deeper than that right now.

Jeff Bridges is in so many of my favourite films. That cat is a true star.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 24 June, 2011, 02:00:37 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 23 June, 2011, 01:10:51 AM
A Town Called Panic was on Film4 tonight. The Meg said some nice things about it, so I gave it a go. It was bloody bonkers, difficult to describe really. I think it inspired that cravendale milk advert. Really clever, eccentric,surreal animation

Yeah, really liked that one. Half way through my wife walked into the room and asked WTF and I had one Hell of a time explaining how the characters had gotten to that moment. A bit like El Topo in that regard.

Super 8: Quite liked this even if it does kind of get too soppy at the end. I'd rather more people emulate 70s-80s Carpenter, but Speilberg did do three of my favorite movies of the time period: Jaws, Close Encounters, and Poltergeist (I know it's Tobe Hooper but...). The bit with the kids making their film was the best part, [spoiler]kind of wished the monster had fucked off or that he had been more interesting[/spoiler].

Tree of Life: If you can take slow and gorgeous like say Solaris, Russian Ark, or Double Life of Veronique, then you should go see this and see it on the big screen. I knew that it was going to place a kitchen drama along side the workings of the cosmos, but I was surprised at what I came away with after the juxtaposition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 24 June, 2011, 02:55:31 AM
Burke and Hare; Not funny but a great film.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford; At about the same time this is happening across the water. I love the music by Nick and the *other Warren Ellis? The sepia filters and cinematography aren't bad either. I shrivel a little at Bradgela's portrayal sometimes but his psychopathic and sinister silences/easiness makes up for this.

Unbreakable; Just love Sam L. J.'s depiction of Mr Glass and his advocacy of comic art. " Do you see any tellytubbies in here?" Heh.  I think its a very under-rated film too. Come to think of it Shylaman (sp)and Bruce need to finish the Semi-hero trilogy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 June, 2011, 03:45:48 PM
The Terminator is currently on iPlayer! Just watched it - still awesome.

I'm working my way through A Game of Thrones at the minute. Wasn't sure what to make of it after the first episode, but I'm on ep 6 now and thoroughly addicted. I just love it, so many cool characters. Current favourite is Tyrian Lannister - that guy rules. In all honesty I could do without some of the more gratuitous 'shock' moments of boobies etc - the show doesn't need them.

It blows my mind that a series like this can actually get made - thank God for HBO! Really hope they're going to adapt all the books - I know series 2 is already in production. I would quite happily stump up hard cash to pre-order every series right now on the strength of this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 June, 2011, 06:33:13 PM
I find it hard to believe that something as good and gorgeous as Game of Thrones is edited and post-produced in the heart of Dublin, we usually taint anything TV-cinematic round here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 25 June, 2011, 11:21:36 PM
SENNA

Fucking brilliant.... tragic end to an incredible sportsman.

So many incidents came together that resulted in the loss of his life... so many what ifs... the race he died in should never have happened, anoher driver was killed the day before during practice... that race should have been cancelled... the change in regulations that banned driver aids for that season... even the crash at the start of the race impacted on what was to come.

Add to that what Senna was doing to fight poverty in his home Barzil, setting up charities to aid children get a better life in a shocking city. So much was lost to millions of people when he lost his life.

Even if your not an F1 fan this is a great story, go see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 26 June, 2011, 01:10:59 AM
Happy Go Lucky- A Mike Leigh special about fuck all that I had to endure with the wife. Even she turned to me at the end (I was flicking through the latest Prog) to say "that was shit!", so it must have been dire.

Punisher War Zone- Exraordinarily violent. An opportinity missed as they never quite seem to get Frank Castle right on screen. Also, plot holes you could drive his van through and Julie Benz being annoying.

Eden Log- Crazy, crazy shit. Very atmospheric and clever in places but something you should never watch while intoxicated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 26 June, 2011, 01:17:00 AM
Black Death with Sean Bean. Great stuff. Thought it was going to be absolute shite but far better than you'd believe. Very creepy in places...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 June, 2011, 02:04:51 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 26 June, 2011, 01:10:59 AM
Happy Go Lucky- A Mike Leigh special about fuck all that I had to endure with the wife. Even she turned to me at the end (I was flicking through the latest Prog) to say "that was shit!", so it must have been dire.

Whaaat? Apart from that strange interlude with the tramp, I loved this film.No-one can make 'fuck all' as engrossing as Mike Leigh. Although I really couldn't decide whether I wanted to marry Poppy or slap her silly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 26 June, 2011, 08:42:14 AM
I wanted to slap her annoying face after the first 10 mins. It had moments of humour but I like a film to have a few bare essentials, the first of these being plot. Maybe I am just being greedy there.
I thought it was going somewhere when [spoiler]the kid in her class was being abused[/spoiler] but that soon fizzled out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 June, 2011, 10:32:37 AM
As I get older, I find I have less and less time for these "quirky" characters and Happy did indeed need a good slap.  The driving instructor chap was good though.

GOLDEN COMPASS: As beautiful as it looks, it's just scene after scene of relentless basil. Case in point of how not to adapt a dense idea filled book.

GIRL WITH DRAGON TAT: Enjoyable stuff - was slightly disappointed that it ended up in [spoiler]serial killer [/spoiler] territory
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 June, 2011, 10:46:18 AM
Watched 'The Mechanic' starring Jason Statham which was great fun - I was actually quite surprised when he [spoiler]shot Donald Sutherland in cold blood[/spoiler]

The DVD had a trailer for another Statham film called 'Blitz' which also stars Paddy Considine and David Morrissey - I think I'll have to try to get hold of it - it looks like a good old over the top 'cop on the edge' film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 June, 2011, 10:55:05 AM
Last movie i watched was Moon, on my birthday last week. I confess to being disappointed and bored by it. Started off well enough, but as soon as the main thrust of the story was revealed (and revealed to be the least interesting way the story could have gone) it went rapidly downhill. All very pedestrian, and i was left scratching my head over who the dark haired girl he saw at the start was supposed to be. Meh. Though the Space 1999 style effects were neat.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 June, 2011, 02:00:52 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 26 June, 2011, 10:55:05 AM
All very pedestrian, and i was left scratching my head over who the dark haired girl he saw at the start was supposed to be.

I believe it was [spoiler]his (well not strictly 'his', but you know what I mean) daughter all grown up[/spoiler].... but it's been some months since I've seen it.  [spoiler]As he has only seen her as a child on the video I think it was meant to be a bit of foreshadowing of the twist to come.  As to why he saw her... I'm not totally sure, but I think it was meant to be a kind of psychic cross pollination if that makes sense, possibly triggered by the start of his deterioration. You know how twins sometime feel each others pain, etc?

I'll admit that's a bit of a stretch for a sci-fi film, and I'm not sure that quite works for the more realistic world they're portraying, but as it's just brief I don't think it messed things up.[/spoiler]

I enjoyed Moon, although I can see why others didn't. I think if the film had ended with the twist that [spoiler]he is a clone[/spoiler], that would have been poor, but the fact they ran with it and the implications worked for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 June, 2011, 05:10:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 June, 2011, 10:32:37 AM
GOLDEN COMPASS: As beautiful as it looks, it's just scene after scene of relentless basil. Case in point of how not to adapt a dense idea filled book.

What's worse, despite becoming mind-numbingly dull in spooning out the exposition (which is notably absent in the book), it then has an ending which is the exact opposite of the book's, and retrospectively changes the entire plot into something utterly pedestrian and predictable.  Apart from looking gorgeous it's a complete disaster. 

This is a film that has ARMOURED PLOAR BEARS FIGHTING EACH OTHER, EVA GREEN AS A SEXY WITCH IN SEE-THROUGH CLOTHES and TEXAN SHARP-SHOOTERS FLYING HOTAIR BALLOONS ACROSS THE ARCTIC (sounds like a Pat Mills pitch actually...) and it's still boring as hell - in many ways that's a serious achievement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2011, 12:06:34 AM
I think I know where you are coming from but please expand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 June, 2011, 12:57:26 AM
Where Eagles Dare. No further explanation required, I should hope.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 June, 2011, 01:03:04 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2011, 12:06:34 AM
I think I know where you are coming from but please expand.

Assuming you aren't pulling my leg (very poor sarcasm detection abilities this weather), the book ends with [spoiler] Lord Asriel murdering Roger (by excising his daemon) to make a gate between worlds - making him the villain rather than the 'Daddy will make it all better' figure the film leaves us with as the chums sail merrily into the aurora borealis. In the book Lyra thinks she's bringing her father the alethiometer, and rescuing Roger  - in fact what she's bringing him is Roger, to kill.  In the book Asriel also reunites with Mrs. Coulter, somewhat undermining the conflict with the (declawed) Magisterium, and a betrayed and defiant Lyra heads through the gateway into another world...[/spoiler]. 

I'd say that leaving that little out lot turns the underlying plot of the book completely on its head.  The argument made was that these scenes would "work better" at the start of the putative second film - although allegedly they were shot as part of this one.  There might actually  have been a second film if they'd left the powerful and shocking ending in rather than the sugary nothing they ended up with. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 June, 2011, 01:32:15 AM
Just caught the second half of 'Heat', with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.

Thi sfilm's amazing. It has that special quality of being able to still involve me every time I see it, even though I've seen it God-knows-how-many times.

That scene where Pacino finds Xander Berkely in his apartment is just classic, classic stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 27 June, 2011, 08:12:41 AM
Doubt
Cracking film with quality performances from the big three (Streep, Hoffman and Adams). If you want a thoughtful film with a great plot and top notch cast, have a butcher's at this.
Unless Indiana Jones IV is on, in which case, just shoot your TV.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 27 June, 2011, 08:35:09 AM
Yep, The Golden Compass was an absolute travesty of a film. Art direction = good, everything else = totally misguided and wrong. What do you expect when you hand a treasured property like this to a hack director like Chris (American Pie) Weitz? Presumably Weitz was given the job because he was the sort of director-for-hire who would do as he was told by the studio - hence the fatal compromises made to the story...

The only good bit of casting was Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby - everyone else was totally miscast, especially Ian McKellan as Iorek, Daniel Craig as Asriel (always imagined Terence Stamp in the role) Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter but most of all the girl playing Lyra was wrong, wrong, wrong. Just so 'stage school' and lacked any of Lyra's charm, charisma or attitude. The casting of child actors can make or break a film, and in this case they messed up badly.

Would have liked to see The Subtle Knife (my favourite of the books) on the screen - though if it was anything like the film of Northern Lights it would have been totally watered down and toothless. God knows how they would have made a family film out of The Amber Spyglass - would have been fun to watch them try though!

Thinking about it, the whole series would have worked far better as a BBC TV series - the BBC audiobook versions are superb. They wouldn't have had the budget to do much in the way of spectacle, but they could have stayed far truer to the source material. They could have ran it at Christmas like they used to do with The Box of Delights and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 June, 2011, 09:02:39 AM
One of the things I did enjoy about film of The Golden Compass were the attempts by cast and crew to refute allegations that the book was anti-Christian and anti-religion.  It might be a teensy bit veiled in the first one, but read on...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 27 June, 2011, 12:08:01 PM
I s'pose yesterday I did technically sit through THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE but I'll say STAKE LAND. Which, unlike the former, is pleasingly nasty in parts; in particular, some casual horror at the beginning involving a baby.

The very inclusion of vampires at times almost undermines the all-pervading grim realism but they're of a non-supernatural nature [spoiler](except, for shame, when the film decides to ignore all that for a bit of heightened drama towards the end)[/spoiler]. A coupla of subtle subversions (such as the rescue of a middle-aged nun which, on a subconscious level, seems to preclude the idea of any romance between the main characters) suggest a film that, at least for the first half, fancies doing something a bit different to most studio fare. The ending's a touch unsatisfying (and doesn't really make sense when you consider it's the whole point of the film), but hey! Vampires that are neither broodingly good-looking nor mope!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2011, 12:48:29 PM
Oh I actually just wanted you to talk more about Eva Green as a sexy witch in a see through dress.

I didn't realise that they's filmed the proper ending - just assumed that they were heading into a happy fantasy quest type world and if they had made sequels then these two would have just used the characters and design elements to spin their own tale from.

I personally thought Nicole Kidman did a reasonable job in her role.  James Bond seemed shoe-horned in to up the box office chances (as probably was Gandalf). And did I spot Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee?  It's an incredible cast they have available to them; just the wrong cast for a film of the book.


TRANSPORTER 2: You probably know the drill for these by now. A loosely connected set of set piece fights and stunts. The level of violence and gore is slightly off (too much for a 12, not enough for a 15).  And similarly for the "sexiness". For my mind it could do with having more light-hearded ness, more slapstick and meanness and less birds.

Some set pieces work better than others and Statham deserves an oscar for holding it all together through sheer force of will (not quite in the same way that Bruce Willis holds most films he appears in through sherr charisma but nearly). 

Some very ropey special effects make for a less than convincing finale but a great piece with a hose pipe could have been pure Jackie Chan.

Transporter 3 is on Tuesday night - I think I'll be turning in and vetting it in advance for the little fella.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 27 June, 2011, 04:58:17 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2011, 12:48:29 PM
Oh I actually just wanted you to talk more about Eva Green as a sexy witch in a see through dress.

I didn't realise that they's filmed the proper ending - just assumed that they were heading into a happy fantasy quest type world and if they had made sequels then these two would have just used the characters and design elements to spin their own tale from.

I personally thought Nicole Kidman did a reasonable job in her role.  James Bond seemed shoe-horned in to up the box office chances (as probably was Gandalf). And did I spot Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee?  It's an incredible cast they have available to them; just the wrong cast for a film of the book.


TRANSPORTER 2: You probably know the drill for these by now. A loosely connected set of set piece fights and stunts. The level of violence and gore is slightly off (too much for a 12, not enough for a 15).  And similarly for the "sexiness". For my mind it could do with having more light-hearded ness, more slapstick and meanness and less birds.

Some set pieces work better than others and Statham deserves an oscar for holding it all together through sheer force of will (not quite in the same way that Bruce Willis holds most films he appears in through sherr charisma but nearly). 

Some very ropey special effects make for a less than convincing finale but a great piece with a hose pipe could have been pure Jackie Chan.

Transporter 3 is on Tuesday night - I think I'll be turning in and vetting it in advance for the little fella.

Saw all three (I think), the third one is by far more enjoyable!!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 June, 2011, 12:30:23 AM
A Town Called Panic - wonderfully insane full length French animation by the guy who did those Cravendale adverts. Loads of laugh-out-loud moments - I was LOLing all over the place!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 30 June, 2011, 06:24:00 PM
Transformers 3.. I loved it, but I'm a shameless fanboy..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 July, 2011, 01:38:21 AM
I just saw Transformers: Dark Of The Moon as well. And I enjoyed it! Crash bash action, to be sure, but dear lord, 'twas gnarly as hell!

However, most definitely NOT a fan of my favourite character's death scene. utterly pointless, and had zero impact on the rest of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 July, 2011, 09:13:49 AM
Little Big Soldier. I love me a bit of Jackie Chan, and this was wonderful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 July, 2011, 11:24:44 AM
Funny People.

As with all of Judd Apatow's films to date, I warmed to this a lot more on the second viewing, having not seen it since it's cinema release a couple of years ago. In many respects a lovely film; sweet, brutally honest and funny (it's more understatedly amusing than laugh out loud, though there are some great lines).

Its a much more mature film than either Knocked Up or The 40 Year Old Virgin - and I can totally understand why it failed to find a mainstream audience.

It's also - sadly - an insanely self indulgent and overlong film. With such a bloated story and gargantuan run time it's unlikely to be a film I'll revisit often which is a shame - if the 145(!) minutes was cut down to 90 or 100 (and its easy to see where the cuts should have been made) it would probably be up there with my favourite recent comedies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 03 July, 2011, 11:49:30 AM
Christine.

I forgot how good it was though maybe it felt a bit slow in places. My attention span is obviously going.  John Carpenter of The THING fame directed it. Trouble was Verhoevans blast-a -thon Total Recall was on Sky 1 so I kept flipping the channels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: auxlen on 03 July, 2011, 05:53:41 PM
session 9. watch immediately. a chiller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 03 July, 2011, 10:32:43 PM
Transformers 3.

Pure pish. Pishness enhanced by the most wooden, forced performance by anyone allowed to call themselves an actress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 July, 2011, 10:53:22 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 03 July, 2011, 10:32:43 PM
Transformers 3.

Pure pish. Pishness enhanced by the most wooden, forced performance by anyone allowed to call themselves an actress.


...and after two other previous pieces of shit, you went to see the third installment?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 03 July, 2011, 11:46:26 PM
Transformers 1 on channel 4 tonight, just had it on in the background while we farted around doing other stuff.

It was utter crap, the only highlight being the wife saying "Is that Samantha Fox" while pointing out the more orange, less chesty Megan Fox.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 04 July, 2011, 12:02:22 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 03 July, 2011, 10:53:22 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 03 July, 2011, 10:32:43 PM
Transformers 3.

Pure pish. Pishness enhanced by the most wooden, forced performance by anyone allowed to call themselves an actress.


...and after two other previous pieces of shit, you went to see the third installment?

I was taking my son... You don't honestly think I'd willingly go and put myself through that.

Though even he said he was bored about half an hour from the end. I thought we've come this far, may as well sit it out.

But never again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 04 July, 2011, 12:04:37 AM
Just watched sunshine on c4.

Thought it was great. If Garlands script for Dredd plays put half as good it'll be a cracker!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2011, 12:13:22 AM
Yesterday I went to see A Separation, an Iranian film about a couple looking to get divorced. A slightly unlikely event leads to things getting completely out of hand and into a spiral of injured pride, stubbornness and all too believable reactions and overreactions. Reasonably grim, but two excellent performances from the main couple would commend it to the interested.

This evening I half watched Transformers on telly because I never had. Didn't seem to be as awful as I was expecting, but I was mainly rereading Shakara while it was on in the background.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 July, 2011, 12:17:00 AM
Hey, I will go to bat for Transformers 3 - it's not as terrible as Transformers 2.
It's far, far too long, though, and I am not even joking when I say that losing the slow motion would solve that problem.


Also, it's hard to blame the actress for that performance as she isn't actually an actress, she's an underwear model Bay took a shine to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 July, 2011, 05:54:48 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 July, 2011, 12:17:00 AM
Hey, I will go to bat for Transformers 3 - it's not as terrible as Transformers 2.
It's far, far too long, though, and I am not even joking when I say that losing the slow motion would solve that problem.

I'll second that. For me, the problem was extended sequences of human characters doing their stuff. BOOOORRIIIING!!!

Also, Rosie is absolutely dreadful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 July, 2011, 01:05:19 PM
I saw Transformers last night and thought it was great fun. Loads of great action sequences, great eye candy a a couple of nice nods to Leanard Nimoy's past.

I can't believe people are still criticising these films for the bad acting.
It's so bad it's good - even John Malcovich turned his usual over the top 'wacky' turn up a notch. I really think Bay is just ticking boxes for character archetypes he likes to see in action films - Cocky Hero (Shia)? Check, Super hot bimbo (Rosie)? Check, Comedy double act (the parents and the little robots)? Check, Government arsehole (Francis and that skinny bloke out of the last two)? Check .

I really think Bay is just having fun pushing this stuff as far as he can, and lets face it he's never going to get a better opportunity than when he's at the helm of a multi-million dollar franchise based on a set of transforming toys. Give me this crash bang wallop style over the pompous animated movie any day. I think the bits where they are being pompous are just a piss take.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 04 July, 2011, 02:17:30 PM
Last movies watched? Home Alone 1 & 2 on Saturday night. LOVED both of them. Forgotten how much fun they were

And Transformers 3 on Wednesday, cant wait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 04 July, 2011, 02:30:05 PM
WATCHED
Seven Samurai

I'd never seen it before, at 3 hours 45 minutes it is the definition of EPIC. I now see why its so revered. Amazing film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 04 July, 2011, 02:32:23 PM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 04 July, 2011, 02:30:05 PM
WATCHED
Seven Samurai

I'd never seen it before, at 3 hours 45 minutes it is the definition of EPIC. I now see why its so revered. Amazing film.

Hidden Fortress next if you haven't seen that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 July, 2011, 02:44:03 PM
The Road. Bloody hell that was grim. I'd read the book so knew what to expect, but still...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 04 July, 2011, 03:27:18 PM
Instead of seeing Transformers 3 I will be repeatedly smacking myself in the balls with a wooden ruler. For 3 hours.

I watched Sucker Punch at the weekend and while the cartoon plot, unrealistic characters and predictable storyline were all pretty dire, (me and the wife laughed out loud at the simplistic opening featuring the [spoiler]ridiculous 'nasty uncle'[/spoiler]) the fit lasses in stockings, fighting robots, dragons and nazi zombies more than made up for it.

Warning - do not attempt to watch this film sober. Your brain will reject it outright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 July, 2011, 05:15:03 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 04 July, 2011, 01:05:19 PM
I saw Transformers last night and thought it was great fun. Loads of great action sequences, great eye candy a a couple of nice nods to Leanard Nimoy's past.

I can't believe people are still criticising these films for the bad acting.
It's so bad it's good - even John Malcovich turned his usual over the top 'wacky' turn up a notch. I really think Bay is just ticking boxes for character archetypes he likes to see in action films - Cocky Hero (Shia)? Check, Super hot bimbo (Rosie)? Check, Comedy double act (the parents and the little robots)? Check, Government arsehole (Francis and that skinny bloke out of the last two)? Check .

I really think Bay is just having fun pushing this stuff as far as he can, and lets face it he's never going to get a better opportunity than when he's at the helm of a multi-million dollar franchise based on a set of transforming toys. Give me this crash bang wallop style over the pompous animated movie any day. I think the bits where they are being pompous are just a piss take.

I like this post a helluva lot!

I have a regular argument with one fella online about how (he claims) the 1980s animated Transformers movie was a 'masterpiece'. It's not. It's rubbish.

I think Bay's Transformers movies have been good fun for the most part. But I DO wish there was more emphasis on the Transformers as characters themselves. They seem pretty one-dimensional in most of the movies. It's telling, I think, that I know people who have seen all three movies, and can't remember the names of the robots. If I have to answer the question 'Which one's Ironhide? ' one more time, I'll scream.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 July, 2011, 06:14:05 PM
Hey, HdE- which one's Ironhide?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2011, 06:53:24 PM
Thankfully, as mr forces arranged the sourhern contingent forum meet for Saturday, i got out of seeing transformers 3 and wife had to go instead. Result!

Eldest boy said 'it was awesome!'. At which point i battered him with a plank shouting 'ITS ARSOM! ARSOM! HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING!'. Youngest boy said he liked it but 'it was very, very long'. And wife hasnt spoken to me since except to say 'the divorce papers are in the post' while stamping on my bleeding scrotum with her six inch stilettos.

No, she said the 3D was good and didnt give her a headache.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: nev on 05 July, 2011, 12:48:22 PM
My friend was trying to drag me to the cinema but there was no way I was going to sit through Green Lantern so we ended up seeing something called The Conspirator which was actually very good.

I didn't even want to punch James McAvoy in the face. Much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 05 July, 2011, 04:36:00 PM
All Quiet on the Western Front. Vintage TV movie starring John-Boy Walton, with Ian Holm and Donald Pleasance in supporting roles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 05 July, 2011, 04:40:57 PM
GI JOE: The Rise Of Cobra.

It was rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 July, 2011, 06:12:00 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 04 July, 2011, 06:14:05 PM
Hey, HdE- which one's Ironhide?

AHHHH! YOU WENT AND DID IT! DAMN YOU!!! DAMN YOU TO HEEEEELLLLLLL!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2011, 10:40:59 PM
World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2.

The first one was bloody awful, and sticks in the mind only for some misjudged sexual violence, and while this one takes that particular aspect and runs with it, the result is a far more cohesive film. It manages to be moderately suspenseful from time to time, has proper, shambling, zombies and some army men shooting guns.

Yes, the handheld camera is as annoying as always, and here so contrived as to make little sense. But, in amongst the shaky shit, people and things partially illuminated by only the camera's built-in light or the nightvision, lots of 'fucking hell, you cunt! fuck off!' dialogue, and (let's be kind) 'naturalistic actors' running around, it manages to tell a nice little story, and has a wry ending, that will disturb the easily-upset.

A huge improvement over the first, but again take no notice of the dvd art. Never happens, and no cities are seen-overrun by zoms or not.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 July, 2011, 10:53:32 PM
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Both wife and mother have been nagging me to read the book for ages, which naturally makes me physically unable to do so, but I thought we'd give the (original) film version a go.  Good stuff, a nice simple murder mystery, well told, with a clever twist.  Wife informs me the book is far better, and far deeper, but well, it was a movie adaptation, what can you expect.  I certainly enjoyed what we got, unpleasant [spoiler]rapes[/spoiler] aside.

For those that know the book and remember the details better than my missus, I have a few questions:

[spoiler]How come Bloomkvist is allowed into Australia when he's waiting to serve a prison sentence in Sweden? 

By the same token, how come every police dept. they visit cheerily opens their unsolved murder files to a disgraced journalist and convicted libel, and a convicted murderer on (what appears to be) lifetime probation?

Is there any explanation in the book as to why nobody noticed the bible references in 40 years?  'Cos I got them straight off, and I'm pretty dumb.[/spoiler]

Finally, should I go back and read the book or would I be okay starting into the second book now?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 06 July, 2011, 07:03:20 AM
88 Minutes[/
Fucking preposterous.

I will complete this review by simply looking at Al Pacino and silently shaking my head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 July, 2011, 10:29:34 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 06 July, 2011, 07:03:20 AM
I will complete this review by simply looking at Al Pacino and silently shaking my head.

Best movie review ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2011, 02:03:27 PM
Quote from: Orlok link=topic=31824.msg615276#msg615276 date=1309932200I will complete this review by simply looking at Al Pacino and silently shaking my head./quote]

'bout time you got your own place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 06 July, 2011, 05:17:10 PM
just got back from Dark or the Moon, my what an shit tonne of FX.  New girl looks good but completely forgetable, damn does Bay know how to film action.  Props to the poor cameraman that had to squirrel suit with a 3D camera on his head aren't those things big? best 3D i've seen yet (didn't have 3D cinema when Avatar came out).  Very violent no wonder the kids love it, lots of oil and fluid flowing as limbs were ripped off.  Mate pointed out somethhing quite funny, nearly every Transformer that died has his head pop off.
Wpouldn't mind seeing more but maybe this is something worth re-booting regularly, feels like Bay has told his story (such as it was) they do it in the cartoon al the time.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 July, 2011, 07:20:59 PM
QuoteBoth wife and mother have been nagging me to read the book for ages, which naturally makes me physically unable to do so

Curious, I have exactly the same problem (except wife and mother-in-law).


If I recall, Jonathan Ross reviewed I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER with "A film, and I'm choosing my words carefully, that is even worse than it's title suggests".

And some wag reviewed a Mariah Carey album with "It is enough that good men do nothing to allow evil to flourish."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 July, 2011, 12:31:42 AM
Dersu Uzala. Something of an oddity, a late period Kurosawa film in Russian. It's about a Russian army captain mapping the eastern reaches of Siberia at the turn of the 20th century and the eponymous nomadic hunter who ends up being his guide and mate. It's got all the elegantly composed, long, static shots of something like Ran or Kagemusha, transposed from feudal Japan to the tangled forests and empty spaces of Russia. The print could've been in better condition but it was still lovely looking.

With it's unsubtle message about living in balance with the natural world and the depressing coda where the aging Dersu can't adapt to the city, you could argue for hints of both Slaine and Crocodile Dundee in there.

A deceptively simple story, well told.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2011, 01:17:11 AM
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned what an unlikable prick Shia LeBouf plays in Transformers 3.  I guess it must be okay to treat women like that...

Les Miserables, the 1998 version starring Liam Neeson and Geoffry Rush.  Takes quite a few liberties with the novel, going as far as to omit Valjean's death and the roles of several supporting characters.  Claire Danes plays Cosette and is oddly fascinating in how she veers between awful and okay, but Rush is so detestable as Javert to the point that it's pretty much impossible to see him taking his own life when he does, or why Valjean would describe him as "a stern man, but just" when he clearly delights in the cruelty he administers via a system of inequality of which Valjean has firsthand knowledge and which the entire film is centered around his trying to escape.  Valjean is also oddly quick with his fists against Cosette in a way that I don't think is entirely faithful to either the source material or Neeson's reading of the character, but he's good, as is Rush, their parts are just a little ill-realised by the script.

Bran Nu Dae, an Australian period musical about an Aborigine kid who runs away from catholic school and begins his journey back to his shithole village accompanied by a vagrant and a couple of annoying hippies.  It's not great, but has a charm that defeats the occasionally-palpable tone of smugness and some rough edges.  Good music, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 07 July, 2011, 07:26:56 AM
Conviction

Not bad. Predictable but still well made, well written and well acted by the leads. Hilary's Wank doesn't top her Billion Dollar Baby performance and Sam Rockwell does a good turn as the innocent (but still very much a prick) captive, but I enjoyed watching them.

At the end of it I was still conviced that just in The Big Meg, everyone's DNA should be on file. Yeah, there will still be fit ups by unscrupulous bastards but it'll catch more scumbags than it hurts and speed up identification of that hooker they dug out of my back garden last week. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 July, 2011, 09:13:41 AM
Green Lantern

It was okay. It didn't make me grin like a loon like Thor did, but on the other hand it didn't bore me like Superman Returns or annoy me like X-men 3. I didn't care for the way they mashed up so many GL story elements into one tale, but the visuals were excellent and there were enough good scenes for me to forgive them. Sinestro was excellent and this bodes well for GL2
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2011, 05:58:52 PM
Terminator 2 on Blu Ray.

Still just as awesome 20(!) years on.

I was watching the Extended Special Edition and wasn't expecting the very cheesy alternate ending, which is set in the future where we see Sarah Connor in old lady make up, and John Connor playing with his daughter. Never even heard such an ending existed! Much preferred the ambiguous ending of the original cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 July, 2011, 07:10:37 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 July, 2011, 05:58:52 PM
I was watching the Extended Special Edition and wasn't expecting the very cheesy alternate ending, which is set in the future where we see Sarah Connor in old lady make up, and John Connor playing with his daughter. Never even heard such an ending existed! Much preferred the ambiguous ending of the original cut.

I've seen that ending as a 'deleted scene'. Have they actually added it to the end of the film on the Blu-ray? If so... yeah I agree. Bad form. The original version was better. As an interesting deleted scene, it's worthwhile though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2011, 07:27:42 PM
There's three different versions of the film on the BD - the Special Extended cut you have to access by entering a PIN code.

In addition to the alternate ending, there's a scene where the T1000 searches John's room in a creepy way, and a couple of other bits and bobs (I think).

Harry Potter spoilers follow: [spoiler]Old person make up always sucks. I heard a suggestion that they'd cut the '19 years later' epilogue from the final Potter movie because the old person make up was looking too comedic - be interesting to see what makes it into the finished film.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 July, 2011, 07:28:05 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 July, 2011, 07:10:37 PMI've seen that ending as a 'deleted scene'. Have they actually added it to the end of the film on the Blu-ray? If so... yeah I agree. Bad form. The original version was better. As an interesting deleted scene, it's worthwhile though.


What would be wrong with adding it as an option on the blu-ray?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 July, 2011, 09:59:01 PM
Evil Dead 2, with both my boys.

A bit of a red letter day this, as they've been a bit reticent to watch this as it looked 'way too frightening', apparently. Tonight, i told them i was putting it on and they were welcome to come down and join me if they wanted. A couple of minutes later, they sheepishly poked their heads around the door and crept in.

An hour and a half later Sam Raimi has two new fans. They absolutely loved it, beyond words. They laughed at all the right bits, got scared at all the right bits, and declared it 'awesome'.

As for me, ive not seen it in about a decade, if not longer, and its still one of the best possible ways ever invented of spending 85 minutes. Sheer brilliance for every lunatic second.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 09 July, 2011, 10:44:01 PM
Evil Dead 2 is in my top 5 favourite movie list. Once again, cant imagine watching this with my kids just yet, but I think its cool you can do that with yours. Wish  my dad was as awesome as you! Wish I was as awesome a dad as you!!! :) But you know, my kids get scared of Doctor Who episodes, scared to the point of wanting to turn them off, so.....horses for courses I guess! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 July, 2011, 11:33:09 PM
Yeah, gooses and ganders, etc. My two have had horror stuff around them since birth, and know if they want to watch something or not, and refuse if they dont. They still get scared of bizarre things- my eldest runs howling from the room if that ccbc show with the puppet hyenas is on! But both love makeup effects and seeing how they're done. Im sure i have two budding savini /nicotero /bottin wannabees on my hands.

What i tend to do is go by my gut instinct and then check it out if i cant remember the details, using the parents guide on imdb or, for a massive laugh, capalert.com. It's really the general theme and tone im thinking of, along with any sex and language. Nudity is fine, 'fuck' makes me think twice (for the record ED2 has one 'fucking', but it's quick and they missed it), but fantasy horror (poltergeist, the fog, evil dead 2, army of darkness, etc) is usually a safe bet. Sadly, American Werewolf and The Thing fail due to sex and language, which is a bugger. Bram immediately ran to the shelf and grabbed Drag Me To Hell and asked for that next...
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 July, 2011, 10:49:09 PM
SBT - probably no help at all, but I've found digital copies watched on the PS3 to be handy for navigating around saucy bits when younger viewers are in the room as you can push the square button on the controller and it brings up a little bar along the bottom that shows tiny little thumbnails of the film in increments of 15, 30, 60, or 300 seconds.  Just enough to get around the sauce without skipping entire scenes, and the thumbnails are just small enough that if you're flicking past them nobody can make out what they are unless they know ahead of time.
You might also want to introduce them to the new Teen Wolf show, too - it might be about teenagers who want to have sex, but there's no actual sex in it and the werewolf stuff (apart from some goofy Big Wolf On Campus-style makeup on the regular cast) is done sparingly and effectively for the most part.  Not a great show (it is, after all, made by and for MTV), but clearly someone on staff at some point realised that what they really needed to do was forget about making a teen comedy about a hairy kid who wants to get laid and instead get all the 8 year old girls watching Vampire Diaries to think Teen Wolf was more of the same and then they would make them shit themselves.
But hey, it's a show made to make people stop watching Vampire Diaries - it deserves props just for that.


Space Battleship Yamato - on one hand it's sad to see Japanese cinema lose some of it's proprietary quirks in favor of Hollywood-style bombast and asplosions, but on the other, it's fun to see how easily they make a daft, loud, overlong and visually impressive space epic that pretty much doesn't need a US remake.
The plot has been a little tweaked form the original show: Earth is an irradiated wasteland after being bombarded to buggery by evil space aliens, so beardy Captain Akito takes the planet's last starship on a desperate mission to a planet on the other side of the universe that promises an anti-radiation device to rejuvenate Earth - except the mission is nothing but bullshit concocted by the terminally-ill captain to give the people of Earth hope in their final days.  The Gamilus aliens have been redesigned, the Yamato is a new ship rather than a retrofitted wreck, and the ending has been lifted almost entirely from the terrible Arrivederci Yamato despite that being so reviled it was ignored in Yamato canon even by the people who made it, but all in all it's a good update and a decent shooty spaceship thingy with none of the questionable female objectification that usually plagues Japanese sci-fi - all the more impressive in a summer when US films like X-Men First Class can't say the same thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 July, 2011, 11:13:12 PM
How to Train Your Dragon.  With the exception of a wholly inappropriate voice for the lead and the inexplicable inclusion of Jonah Hill (a ubiquity law that needs to be repealed), that was pretty much a perfect movie.  Some lovely design, and some beautiful flight-and-fire animation.  Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 July, 2011, 12:05:39 AM
Machete. Expected more to be honest. Still, Michelle Rodriguez. Just...gosh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 July, 2011, 12:27:48 AM
JACKASS 3 which was quite enjoyable and it helped pass the time while 3 other films finished downloading  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 July, 2011, 02:49:22 AM
SAW 3D, please dear God let this be the last one! Obviously the death scenes are quite elaborate but the story just winds me right up but then again the deaths just draw me in, like a moth to a flame  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2011, 08:38:42 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 July, 2011, 10:49:09 PM
SBT - probably no help at all, but I've found digital copies watched on the PS3 to be handy for navigating around saucy bits when younger viewers are in the room as you can push the square button on the controller and it brings up a little bar along the bottom that shows tiny little thumbnails of the film in increments of 15, 30, 60, or 300 seconds.  Just enough to get around the sauce without skipping entire scenes, and the thumbnails are just small enough that if you're flicking past them nobody can make out what they are unless they know ahead of time.

When you say "digital copies", I take it you mean "not DVDs"? I'll check into it, but we ususally just stick a disc on. Thanks for that though, anyway- it's always nice to have options. It'd be good to remove the shower/bed scene from American Werewolf for them. Mind you, I'm still waiting to see the infamous "twenty minute licking-out scene" that Trevor Slater assured me was in the uncut version, back in 1984. Unless HE WAS LYING!  ;)

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 11 July, 2011, 01:03:10 PM
Saw Spaceship Yamato in Japan last christmas....it was the second movie in a run of two however and by that stage my internal Japanese translator was shutting down on me so I couldnt concentrate enough on the language to figure out what was going on. Looked lovely though. I've never seen the anime so not sure about how true to that it was. I need to check this out again though, with subtitles, for proper understanding. (Scifi stuff is always hard to understand in Japanese because they tend to use words and language you dont learn in books or classes!)

Seconded about Saw ....they do scream out "watch me" to me, and every time I do watch one I want to punch the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2011, 01:24:03 PM
Chicago.

Oh, dear grud. Now, in principle, i have nothing against musicals. In fact, i quite like them, and im a big fan of the kind of sleazy, 30s chicago, murder, sauciness and songs that this promised. But, snekking drokk it was dull. You probably know the songs, but i can tell you quite honestly that each and every song ive seen better performed by drag queens in backstreet bar burlesque revues. Queen Latifa's 'momma be good to you' is utterly dismal, and cz-j's 'all that jazz' so badly choreographed as to be hilarious.
The cast are, to a man, dreadful. Cz-j is flat and completely lacking in the kind of damgerous charisma the role needs, warren beatty is just an arse, full stop. And her from bridget jones in the lead role as Roxie Hart is skeletal, gawky, saddled with unflattering hair and cant seem to decide if she's in a farce or not.
Just horrible, all told.

The big screen is kind to some of the dance routines, using cinematic techniques to lift them above their stage-bound limitations, but there's never an iota of the imagination displayed, that was spurting all over the screen in the sublime Moulin Rouge.

Mildly more professional than Burlesque (the cher/xtina one), but not as entertaining.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 July, 2011, 10:38:23 PM
I remeber enjoying Chicago more than I thought I would but that's about it.  I don't recall Warren Beatty being in it at all.

Anyway, talking of dance routines, just saw ZATOICHI for the first time.  Great stuff.  So many bonkers little bits of plot and character that don't actually go anywhere and possibly the most wtf fininsh to a movie I've seen in a long time.  It took me a minute or two to realise that it was Hatochi's wife commiting sepuku and not the Naruta girl. At least I think that's what it was. 

I do love the perfectly mannered nature of these films - like English period drawing room mysteries where everybody circles each other politely rather than just going "Bugger! They are on to me" and starting a big fight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 11 July, 2011, 10:51:09 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 July, 2011, 02:49:22 AM
SAW 3D, please dear God let this be the last one! Obviously the death scenes are quite elaborate but the story just winds me right up but then again the deaths just draw me in, like a moth to a flame  :-[

Story...that end about 3 films ago this is the epitomy of milking something!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 12 July, 2011, 07:43:08 AM
Fast and Furious
Number 4 in the series, though I had only seen the very first one before watching it. I thought the first one had an advantage over this one due to factors of a story, less ridiculous stunts and originality.
And number four? I lasted about 30 minutes into this garbage before I binned it. The opening stunt of Vin Diesel driving under a poorly cgi'ed flaming fuel tanker as it rolled down a hill was preposterous enough but the next scene opened with the obligatory post sticking-it-to-the-man party with the supercars fanned out like a hand of cards as bevvies of scantily clad eye candy gyrated to the music being pumped out. You know, because it is really like that.
And then the film started to get really stupid. I just hated it so much my eyes began to bleed.
I can see why these films are popular amongst a certain breed of people (chav vermin mainly), but having seen real street racing first hand I can attest that none of the competitors looked like Vin and co but instead looked like rat boys and gang bangers. The obligatory arm candy looked less like high street honeys and more like back street crack whores.
They should screen this film in high schools and if the viewers actually enjoy it, they should report for immediate sterilisation.
Avoid this film at all costs.

The Blind Side
Being a committed misanthrope I'm not a fan of heart warming dramas so approached this with a sense of dread. The fact that it was about sport was also not drawing me in as I can't abide watching it. On the way back from the USA I was once subjected to a film called Rudy starring the Fat Hobbit and it was an absolutely pointless tale about a midget wanting to play football and gloriously making one memorable tackle as his team still lost.
However, The Blind Side was excellent. Well acted (a deserved Oscar for Bullock there) and with just the right amount of "action" to keep the story ticking over smoothly. It was a very uplifting story.
I felt they could have gone more into the investigation carried out after Oher's appointment to Ole Miss, but apart from that it hit the mark with the right balance of drama, humour and message.
The pictures at the end also show what a man mountain Michael Oher is in real life. There is no way he could get into Mister Frodo without serious rectal trauma.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 July, 2011, 07:44:06 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 July, 2011, 10:38:23 PM
I remeber enjoying Chicago more than I thought I would but that's about it.  I don't recall Warren Beatty being in it at all.

That's because, my wife tells me, it's Richard Gere! D'Oh! In my defense, I really don't care one way or the other and doubt I'd pick either of those gentlemen out of a police line-up.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 12 July, 2011, 11:38:26 AM
Netherbeast Incorporated. Recorded this on the Horror channel at the weekend and watched it last night. An entertaining little vampire movie with quite a nice set up. Worth watching for the discussions of the general failings of scrotal engineering and the merits of the Tortoise and the Hare as an analogy, and the ventriloquist thing.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 12 July, 2011, 11:57:20 AM
Saw Rango the other night. Thoroughly enjoyable. Folowed it up with the first episode of Deadwood. I now have an odd compulsion to play some more Red Dead Redemption...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 July, 2011, 12:33:16 AM
Universal Soldier: Regeneration. A surprisingly good DTV/Channel 5 addition to the franchise. I'd heard a lot of good things about this and it really is head and shoulders above the standard for this sort of fare. Both Dolph and van Damme are back for this one. Dolph's role is the smaller of the two but, like The Expendables, he really steals the show with the unhinged oddness of his character. Unlike The Expendables, the fight scenes are largely filmed in that unpopular style where you can see what's going and whose hitting who. This is a good thing.

The opening scene is gripping and well-staged, belying the B-movie budget. With just a little more cash to paper over some of the failings of the production, this would be a very good action movie. As it is, it's well worth catching when it's next on ITV4.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 13 July, 2011, 07:36:08 AM
At the risk of spoilers, wasn't Dolph's character put through a wood chipper at the end of number one? That is a pretty good comeback...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Matt Timson on 13 July, 2011, 12:46:09 PM
Impaled, I believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 July, 2011, 01:07:30 PM
That could make quite a good thread topic - characters in movies who inexplicably return for the sequel despite being very clearly killed off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 July, 2011, 02:10:00 PM
or Harry Callaghan now a cop again in Magnum Force after quitting at the end of Dity Harry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 July, 2011, 04:05:41 PM
Good point chaps. Luckily, the basic premise of Universal Soldier involved experimenting on men who'd already died in combat, with Jean-Claude's character troubled by memories of his old life. The new one adds a side order of genetic manipulation to this, so it's not much of a stretch to come up with a plausible-ish explanation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 13 July, 2011, 04:46:23 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 July, 2011, 01:07:30 PM
That could make quite a good thread topic - characters in movies who inexplicably return for the sequel despite being very clearly killed off.

Whistler in Blade 2. I don't think you see his body in the first film but the clear assumption is that he's been killed yet he turns up in the sequal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 14 July, 2011, 07:32:00 AM
Quote from: Matt Timson on 13 July, 2011, 12:46:09 PM
Impaled, I believe.

True, but then he was put through the wood chipper and spread over a wide area. I do recall the movie skirt asking where Dolph was only to be told by JCVD (very Arnie like) that he was "around".

That cracks up the clean up squad at CSI every time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 July, 2011, 08:00:36 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 14 July, 2011, 07:32:00 AM
True, but then he was put through the wood chipper and spread over a wide area.

I'm sure the Eye of Zoltec could sort that out in a jiffy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 14 July, 2011, 08:39:10 AM
Conan O'Brien : Cant stop

Kinda surprised he let it go out as he comes across as a bit of a dick in a lot of it. Like theres a scene with him meeting the family of one of his backing singers and being all friendly that goes straight to him afterwards bitching about it.  Did prompt me to go online and buy the book about the story behind the whole O'Brien / Leno thing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 14 July, 2011, 10:15:12 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 July, 2011, 08:00:36 AM
Quote from: Orlok on 14 July, 2011, 07:32:00 AM
True, but then he was put through the wood chipper and spread over a wide area.

I'm sure the Eye of Zoltec could sort that out in a jiffy.

I'm sure retcon Tharg could do an equally good job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Wils on 14 July, 2011, 12:06:28 PM
After falling asleep both times I attempted to watch it before, I spotted and bought Hardware on Blu-Ray for £6.07. After one of the longest hour and a halves I've ever had, I decided that I paid £6.08 too much for it. What a dull, pretentious pile of shite; desperately trying to force sci-fi into arthouse. Malchi keeps quoting the Shades bit at the end in the shower which keeps giving me flashbacks to its terrible, *terrible* script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2011, 12:14:36 PM
Yep, i felt the same on its original release. Bloody awful.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 14 July, 2011, 02:12:39 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 13 July, 2011, 12:33:16 AM
Universal Soldier: Regeneration. A surprisingly good DTV/Channel 5 addition to the franchise. I'd heard a lot of good things about this and it really is head and shoulders above the standard for this sort of fare. Both Dolph and van Damme are back for this one. Dolph's role is the smaller of the two but, like The Expendables, he really steals the show with the unhinged oddness of his character. Unlike The Expendables, the fight scenes are largely filmed in that unpopular style where you can see what's going and whose hitting who. This is a good thing.

The opening scene is gripping and well-staged, belying the B-movie budget. With just a little more cash to paper over some of the failings of the production, this would be a very good action movie. As it is, it's well worth catching when it's next on ITV4.


Great Movie. And, yes, I am a massive Van Damme fan but that doesn't mean I have rose-tinted glasses on when it comes to all his movies. He's had some pretty shit ones out the last few years, but then you get stuff like this, JCVD, Wake of Death, After Death etc... The fights in this are bone-crunchingly awesome.

There's another installment in post-production, once again directed by John Hyams (who did this one) and starring Van Damme and Lundgren. This one's going to be released to cinemas, seemingly, and in 3D to boot, which....well, snore really, I couldn't give a toss. Although, the word is its going to be pretty cool. An MMA style action flick in 3D......If the fights are anything like the ones in this installment, it should make for some fun viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 14 July, 2011, 05:03:50 PM
Watched the movie 'Sword Of The Stranger' last night. It's anime, to be more precise, but WOWZAH does it have some brutal, stunning action towards the end! It's animated by Studio Bones, who always excel at action sequences.

Anyone else seen it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 July, 2011, 08:56:22 PM
Ferocious Planet, starring Gimli from Sliders and one of the blokes from Stargate Atlantis.  Filmed entirely in Ireland and you can sort of tell from the generic forest park setting and everyone but Gimli struggling and failing for the most part to hide their Irish accents.  It's basically one of those old stop-motion FX monster movies where all the bluescreen happens in the background and the actors are in the foreground reacting to it, only with CGI instead of stop motion.  I'm not sure what the reviewing parameters are for something like this, as objectively it is quite dreadful on every level, but relative to other movies that begin with the words "Syfy Presents" appearing onscreen it's probably average.

Knights of Bloodsteel, which is one of them exhibits for the prosecution in the case of Christopher Loyd's career being deeply in the shitter.  It starts off recapping something that was never filmed, then goes about looking like a high-budget episode of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, but without the attempts at humor.  It's not good.

When Worlds Collide.  I suspect the science in this is slightly awry, but what the hey - a sci-fi melodrama about the end of the world that's dated badly, but then anything that doesn't have computers or mobile phones in it usually doesn't look the best in a modern viewing.  Effects are a bit off, the tidal/earthquake catastrophe is oddly punctual (characters have it calculated to the minute and sit around a clock waiting for it to happen), they jump onto another planet without checking if it has an atmosphere first, and there seems to be a bias towards Christian theology in it , but it's enjoyable guff.

Blue Thunder - I don't know if this was a theatrical movie spun off into the tv show or an actual pilot and I can't be arsed Googling it, but it's an enjoyable thriller with an oddly grounded approach to conspiracies: a bloke tries to stop the hero's girlfriend from blowing the gaff by delivering incriminating evidence to a reporter by waving his gun around in a room full of people screaming "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" before getting the shit pistol-whipped out of him by an aging security guard who looks like Stan Lee - no elegant cover-ups here and it's all the better for it, feeling like everything is just holding together by the seat of its pants.  There's some clumsy foreshadowing with the tape, the fuse, "you looped a chopper?" and nobody wondering why the lead copper kills his partner, or why the copper doesn't turn the evidence into his superiors immediately, and so on, but it's still entertaining enough way to kill 90 minutes or so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 14 July, 2011, 09:22:55 PM
Blue Thunder is da bomb!! It was originally a movie. Roy Scheider is awesome in this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 July, 2011, 10:51:44 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 14 July, 2011, 09:22:55 PM
Blue Thunder is da bomb!! It was originally a movie. Roy Scheider is awesome in this.

As a kid I loved the naked yoga scene.  Watched the TV series religiously hoping for more of the same, but alas!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 July, 2011, 11:21:57 PM
All we got was Jaffa, undead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 15 July, 2011, 07:44:09 AM
Shouldn't that be JAFO?
Unless you are casting aspersions on his virility...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 July, 2011, 09:07:56 AM
Let's not foget his 'grounded' brother Rolling Thunder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 July, 2011, 01:32:59 PM
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two (2d).

I thought it was good, not great, and that's coming from an unapologetic fan of the films - especially the third, fifth and seventh ones.

I just thought something seemed a bit off about it. Key scenes from the book just seemed flat the way they were shot, like they were awkwardly going through the motions - and there were a few iconic moments that seemed to me to be rushed, skipped over, or lacking the requisite tension and excitement.

It's also a bloody depressing film, at times overbearingly so - with few moments of comic relief  or triumph to liven things up. There's also the usual problems inherent in trying to condense Rowling's insanely convoluted plot down to a manageable narrative - if I were in charge I would have stripped he story down much more and streamlined the fiddly details (perhaps reducing the amount of horcruxes, or making the deathly Hallows and the horcruxes one and the same).

Theres also a few curious - or even downright weird - creative decisions that have been made during the making of this film, resulting in quite a few moments of unintentional laughter from the audience i saw it with. The epilogue scene in particular will no doubt live on in infamy...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 July, 2011, 08:51:06 PM
Yeah, I really liked the BLUE THUNDER movie when it came out originally. Absolutely hated the TV series.  JAFO was great and so was the "Then delete them all" line.  Was it John Badham directed it?

As for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, I think that was the first film I saw that made me realise that I wouldn't always be entertained by fights and things blowing up. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 17 July, 2011, 02:40:57 PM
Nazi Dawn an incredibly below average  horror channel film. There's one bald, "ghost" nazi who appears at the end and has somehow merged with the ship and the evil can transfer to other people, or something by which time i'd lost the will to do anything other than admire the old Liberty ship it was filmed on.

Some background modern stuff about torturing prisoners (i.e  just like the NAzis kids in case you didn't get it), and Lance Henrikson  "starred" doing a great impression of himself. Some amusing deaths and father- son cliches only Hollywood could  like, vaguely interesting until the predictable indestructible- killer- is -now- on- the -loose -near you ending.

No amount of bilge pumps could really save this.

Made for a princely £ 350,000. It looks it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 July, 2011, 08:26:17 PM
DOOM (or as I'm sure every review back in 2005 probably pointed out GLOOM - god it's dark).  Actually I quite enjoyed this - probably not enough to defend it in an argument but it had it's moments.

I've not played the game for many a year so can't recall much of the game plot vs. film plot. 

Not enough different kinds of monsters but a nice bit about "evil" which could spur a nature vs, nurture debate if you felt inclined and I was genuinely suprised about how they handled "The Rock".

Urban and Rosamund Pike both likeable and pretty leads and a clever ending that they'd given you just enough information about to make you think "Oh, yeah, that would work."

And the few minutes of  first person shooter view was very well done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 July, 2011, 08:49:22 PM
Saw the Liam Neeson flick 'Taken' with the family last night.

Friends had been telling me for ages 'Aw yeah! You should see that movie! It's REALLY good!'

No it isn't. There's some cringingly lazy dialogue in the script, and DEAR GOD is it a contrived set up.

'Daddy, I want to go to Paris'

'I don't want you to go to Paris, sweetie.Something bad might happen!'

'What did you do for a job, Daddy?'

'I was a double-hard bastard and I worked for the government. In fact, I might not be able to tell you exactly what I did. because it's TOP SECRET and almost CERTAINLY entailed me killing people and blowing shit up.'

Can you guess what happens?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 17 July, 2011, 08:51:02 PM
Watched Despicable me today and want to watch it again properly without interruptions. Really enjoyed what I saw.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 17 July, 2011, 09:50:32 PM
I quite liked Taken. Yeah, contrived as all hell of course but for a revenge thriller type thing it ticked all the boxes. Liam Neeson was great in it. I thought it felt like a super-violent, extreme version of an episode from an old 80s tv show,and as such enjoyed it immensely.

Despicable Me is also all kinds of brilliance.

Havent seen any new movies lately. I've somehow gotten hooked on Midsomer Murders and since all the episodes of that are movie-length, its eating into my movie-watching time. In fact, I'm off to watch another one now. Need my daily fix of 'quaint'. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 July, 2011, 11:29:49 PM
I think the biggest problem with Taken was the enormous amount of overt racism in it.
Everywhere that is Not America is a dangerous place full of evil dark skinned white slavers. And they're Arabs to boot!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 17 July, 2011, 11:35:44 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 17 July, 2011, 11:29:49 PM
I think the biggest problem with Taken was the enormous amount of overt racism in it.
Everywhere that is Not America is a dangerous place full of evil dark skinned white slavers. And they're Arabs to boot!

That's probably another reason it put me in mind of an ultra-violent, extreme version of some random 80s tv show episode!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 19 July, 2011, 03:52:01 AM
Just finished watching Smokin' Aces 2 - Assassin's Ball and found it equally as mad as the first one. Vinnie Jones plays Vinnie Jones, as per the norm! The film is the same type of set up as the first one with Lazlo Soot making a welcome return alongside another batch of the insane Tremor family. Gunshots and explosions galore kept me happy for 90 minutes  :D

Followed this up with Skyline just to see how bad it was from what everyone said at the time. It had an interesting premise but I hate endings like that, so that marks the film down straight away. It's a pity because I actually enjoyed it, makes a change with such a bleak outlook but we never really know. I enjoyed the [spoiler]nuke scene[/spoiler] and it's lead up, none of that Independence Day guff. Just a pity it didn't conclude the story, probably didn't know how to really!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 July, 2011, 01:24:28 PM
Taken is like an overly complicated version of Commando with the one-liners and camp baddy removed.

John Matrix would kick Liam Neason's character down the stairs and then make a joke about it. Maybe something like:

'Where's Liam Neeson's character?'

'He's Taken a nap'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 19 July, 2011, 02:47:06 PM
Had a bit of a film day yesterday, watched Dead Silence a final destination film(something to do with racing?), chaw, the last ginger snaps film and Woochi the Demon Slayer
I had hyped myself up quite a lot for chaw as the trailers looked brilliant but it was a bit of a letdown.
the creature designs in both Dead Silence and Woochi where brilliant, loving the goblin bunny, brilliant.
:D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 23 July, 2011, 09:59:58 AM
Ive just watched the nightmare on elm street reboot and whilst now the old nightmare films seem camp. The reboot just paled in comparison.

Would i recommend it ummm yeah just to say you had given it a chance BUT really its not one for the dvd collection

And just afterwards i watched halloween 2 Rob Zombies second outting........i felt angry in all honesty to much violence and not enough story imbetween for me at least. It didn't help that the female lead [spoiler]did nothing but scream and whine [/spoiler] no real hero's in this film except for me sticking it out till the end
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2011, 10:13:16 AM
Yeah, h2 is a real disappointment after zombie's blissful stab at the remake. I dont know exactly what he was trying to do there, and even now the story seems jumbled and messy. Not sure about 'too much violence' though. I dont remember it like that at all. This talk of mr myers does make me want to watch the remake again.

Last film watched for me was Batman Returns, with the boys last night. Better than i remember it, slightly, but still the usual tim burton boringly-designed yawnfest with the usual thin story and paper characters whose motivations never convince. So much you can rip apart it almost seems unfair to do so. Burton's a talentless shyster arse and it's best to just avoid his rubbish unless forced to watch. The boys were entertained by devito as penguin, and youngest fell in love with catwoman. But even they asked what happened to batman's mascara when he rips his mask off for no reason at the end.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 23 July, 2011, 10:22:14 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2011, 10:13:16 AM
Yeah, h2 is a real disappointment after zombie's blissful stab at the remake. I dont know exactly what he was trying to do there, and even now the story seems jumbled and messy. Not sure about 'too much violence' though. I dont remember it like that at all. This talk of mr myers does make me want to watch the remake again.

Last film watched for me was Batman Returns, with the boys last night. Better than i remember it, slightly, but still the usual tim burton boringly-designed yawnfest with the usual thin story and paper characters whose motivations never convince. So much you can rip apart it almost seems unfair to do so. Burton's a talentless shyster arse and it's best to just avoid his rubbish unless forced to watch. The boys were entertained by devito as penguin, and youngest fell in love with catwoman. But even they asked what happened to batman's mascara when he rips his mask off for no reason at the end.
SBT

Maybe were the violence was concerned i meant that it seemed that at times it was there for the sake of it MM would randomly turn up to kill some one that really played no part to the story IE [spoiler]the 2 kids in the van yeah maybe MM stumbled upon the guy but the girl was in the van out of the way and just seemed like one of the old 80's horror cliches kids having sex must die.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2011, 10:30:02 AM
Ah, i seem to remember that was my response too: that it was a number of different films wodged togerther. It was trying to be a legitimate sequel to zombie's more realistic, psychologically-driven remake, a bizarre ghostie-show with dream women and white horses, and a very nasty eighties-style slasher, all rolled together. Didnt really work for me, but i'd have to see it again.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 23 July, 2011, 11:14:01 AM
Jaws followed by Blade Runner. Perfect viewing a Friday night to die for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 23 July, 2011, 11:47:52 AM
Agree about H2 I think I have a post about it further back in this thread. A complete shambles and too many OTT murders just for the sake of having OTT murders --- got very bloody boring to be honest! And YES the lead 'heroine' was so damn annoying, I would have killed her myself if I could have climbed in to the telly.

Nightmare on Elm Street remake was similarly pants. Took itself way too seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 23 July, 2011, 01:53:47 PM
I've had a week off this week, so have been catching up on the mountain of back progs and stack of dvd's that have been building up over the last few months, when I clearly should have been doing something constructive.
Watched The Ghost with Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor - good, but some real nonsense plot points and a bit of a cop out at the end. Recommend it, though.
Also Edge Of Darkness with Mel Gibson - again, very good, some plot holes but a nice turn by Mel.
And Little Big Man, with Dustin Hoffman. One of my favourite Westerns of all time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 23 July, 2011, 10:05:30 PM
Cars 2 today with the kids. Man. How disappointing was that. We all LOVE the first movie, my sons watch it over and over again. Love the "Cars Toons" 5 minute shorts they have out as well. We were all really looking forward to this, have been all year......it pretty much sucked! They came up with this ridiculous story, not at all suitable for young kids, an espionage thing about eco-sabotage that even I struggled to follow. Got off to a good start but about 20 minutes in it was losing me and when I looked at my kids ---- they were just so visibly bored and confused by it. It was so disappointing, when they'd been so excited about seeing it. Normally we come out from a movie and talk about it for ages, reliving the funny moments, discussing our favourite bits.... came out of this one and although I attempted a half-hearted "who was your favourite character" "what was your favourite bit" I got ZERO response from the kids, they just looked at me blankly before mumbling "Mater". Of course. Cos Mater is all they saw for the whole 2 hours.

This must be the first dud Pixar have come up with. Its so cynical. I could tell, halfway through, that the only reason this film exists is to introduce new vehicles that they can make toys out of and sell.... Bah!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 July, 2011, 11:23:05 PM
Pathfinder, with our future Dredd Karl Urban. Wasn't too bad, had vikings and lashings of stabbings and beheadings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 25 July, 2011, 02:05:36 PM
Jennifer's body and Inglorious Basterds

Jennifers body wasnt a bad film neither a good one would i recommend it? only if you dont have anything else to watch.

Inglorious Basterds i enjoyed and would recommend ive been putting off watching this for sometime which now seems a shame. its always nice  to see the good guys getting a kicking aswell as the bad guys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 July, 2011, 02:29:22 PM
[spoiler]Waltz with Bashir[/spoiler] - bloody hell that was hard going. A brilliant, brilliant movie though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 July, 2011, 02:36:33 PM
My sister and her husband came to stay this weekend, and chatting to my brother in law as we wondered round Forbidden Planet, he said that he'd never seen District 9, which I resolved to put on when we got home.

I had a strange feeling of anxiety as we sat down to watch it later that evening - the pair of them have a rather.... conservative taste in movies - they only tend to watch the big blockbusters like Bond/Pirates etc. Was fun to watch my brother in law shaking his head in disbelief and my sister turning away from the screen and covering her eyes during the more gruesome bits (I always forget just how much gross-out stuff there is in the film!).

Thankfully, the result was that they ended up enjoying it quite a lot - my brother in law actually seemed quite dazed afterwards, mumbling how it wasn't anything like he expected, and that he couldn't think of anything to compare it to!

As for me, I enjoyed it just as much as I always do (third time watching it now). A tremendous film - one of my absolute favourites of recent years. If DREDD (which shares a few cast and crew members with D9) has half of it's energy and style I'll be very happy indeed!

Put on Rocky II last night at my girlfriend's request. I really enjoyed the first one, but thought it stood alone as a nice little slice of life and had no interest in seeing the sequels, which from what I've seen just get more and more ludicrous. As it turned out Rocky II just seemed very, very cheesy and lacked the charm of the original. Seemed like a low budget TV movie in comparison to the first one. About half an hour in there was a problem with the streaming, and we were unengaged enough not to bother trying to fix it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 25 July, 2011, 02:39:00 PM
nanny McPhee when I was babysitting over the weekend. I wasn't paying much attention to it but it seemed ok from what I saw.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 25 July, 2011, 03:54:07 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 23 July, 2011, 10:05:30 PM
Cars 2 today with the kids. Man. How disappointing was that. We all LOVE the first movie, my sons watch it over and over again. Love the "Cars Toons" 5 minute shorts they have out as well. We were all really looking forward to this, have been all year......it pretty much sucked! They came up with this ridiculous story, not at all suitable for young kids, an espionage thing about eco-sabotage that even I struggled to follow. Got off to a good start but about 20 minutes in it was losing me and when I looked at my kids ---- they were just so visibly bored and confused by it. It was so disappointing, when they'd been so excited about seeing it. Normally we come out from a movie and talk about it for ages, reliving the funny moments, discussing our favourite bits.... came out of this one and although I attempted a half-hearted "who was your favourite character" "what was your favourite bit" I got ZERO response from the kids, they just looked at me blankly before mumbling "Mater". Of course. Cos Mater is all they saw for the whole 2 hours.

This must be the first dud Pixar have come up with. Its so cynical. I could tell, halfway through, that the only reason this film exists is to introduce new vehicles that they can make toys out of and sell.... Bah!

Agree 100%

Took the boy to see this at the weekend.

Pixars first dud movie.... I fear they may be beginning to believe they can do no wrong and just put out anything and everyone will lap it up.

You mentioned the Cars Toons... this is like one of those but filled with crap to stretch it out to almost 2 hours.

Was really looing forward to seeing this but ended up very, very disappointed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 25 July, 2011, 04:55:26 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 25 July, 2011, 03:54:07 PM


You mentioned the Cars Toons... this is like one of those but filled with crap to stretch it out to almost 2 hours.



Exactly,you hit the nail on the head right there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 25 July, 2011, 09:53:10 PM
Lemmy - The Movie.
It was on BBC4 last week. I've been meaning to get the DVD but it came on TV before I got round to it. I'll probably get it eventually as I believe there is lots of extra stuff on there.
I'm a big fan of Lemmy and Motorhead and this documentary on the great man was excellent. He came aross exactly as I expected him to be. Clever, witty, sometimes grumpy and very likeable and approachable too. He has certainly lived his life his own way and it's not totally a life I'd choose but my hat goes off to him once again. Long live Lemmy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 25 July, 2011, 10:09:43 PM
Harry Potter 7
Glad i had my 3d glasses on, i was filling up on Severus' scene
(Who u calling a jessie?)
and 127 Hours
a tough man's film i tell ya!
(both Arsom)

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 July, 2011, 12:13:58 AM
Saw the Liam Neeson flick 'Unknown' last night. Surprisingly good stuff! I could see the 'surprise twist' a mile off, but it was well staged and didn't feel out of place. I wish i'd watched that last week instead of 'Taken'!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HatefulCactus on 27 July, 2011, 01:15:48 AM
I had a Paprika and Inception double feature.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 July, 2011, 03:33:33 AM
By 'Paprika', do you mean the Satoshi Kon movie?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HatefulCactus on 27 July, 2011, 04:09:56 AM
Yup. Sorry about the confusion.
(http://www.bollycircle.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/paprika1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 July, 2011, 06:25:58 AM
Nah, just checkin'. Saw that movie last year. Can't say as I enjoyed it much, but there was undeniably a TONNE of visual cleverness in it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 July, 2011, 10:30:02 PM
Super8

Really enjoyed it. It probably helped that I had very little idea of what to expect.
I think some people will say it's a bit mawkish and there were probably a ton of plot holes but I never seem to notice them on first viewing. It definitely gets a recommendation from me and I'd say it's quite evocative of films I watched as a child in the 80's.

[spoiler]I'm not sure if it's supposed to have anything to do with Cloverfield - there were rumours that it was related early in its development and the alien definitely looks like it could be related even though its much much smaller.[/spoiler] 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 27 July, 2011, 10:38:00 PM
Quote from: HdE on 27 July, 2011, 03:33:33 AM
By 'Paprika', do you mean the Satoshi Kon movie?

But what did you think??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 July, 2011, 01:29:22 AM
Wolverine.

Most of the reviews I've read of this have been negative. I rather enjoyed it though. I'm not sure I buy the idea they came up with for Logan's loss of memory at the end though.

[spoiler]I can understand why a sure tough substance could penetrate another less tough. But two substances the same? Okay, even if it were possible if one of those objects were  moving at a fast velocity, what did that mean at the end? That he has now healed but now has a permanent hole in the metallic covering over his skull?[/spoiler]

I think they could have kept with something else, even if were only [spoiler]the trauma of having his body flooded with liquid metal that caused his memory loss[/spoiler]. Of course, that would mess up the final act somewhat and would require some restructuring...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 July, 2011, 03:08:17 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2011, 01:29:22 AM

[spoiler]I can understand why a sure tough substance could penetrate another less tough. But two substances the same? [/spoiler]


Clearly you've never played Minecraft
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 28 July, 2011, 06:58:55 PM
THE EAGLE

Starts off well enough, some nice fight scenes with the Roman army doing what it did best - trampling undisciplined barbarians and the like and then it just goes downhill.

It suffers from that old problem of the trailer showing the best of the film and the rest is really a bit wank.

Think the greatest crime in is that although the 9th were wiped out to a man [spoiler]and then they find one survivior who managed to escape and hide from the tribes who were mercilessly hunting down any fleeing Romans. I have no problem with that at all, but when he turns up later with 30 others who also managed to escape the ambush,the subsequent hunting of those that fled, lived behind enemy lines for near 20 years and still have their fucking kit is when i start looking for things to throw at the TV. the endings pretty predictable too. [/spoiler]

All in all I think THE CENTURION is a better film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HatefulCactus on 30 July, 2011, 04:43:56 AM
A Rango and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas double feature. Here's why. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ehoco2acQ&feature=related
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 01 August, 2011, 09:33:25 AM
PIRANHA 3D (but in 2D)

Just... wow! I'd been putting this off, as i thought it'd be unbearably shit, but much to my surprise the opposite turned out to be true.

You know the story: teenagers get eaten by fish. But what we have here is a tour de force from greg nicotero and howard berger giving the gore an edge and, for me, finally pushing them out of savini's shadow. Much carnage ensues, all lovingly crafted and for the most part seemlessly merged with the convincing cgi.

It is, of course, a titty flick- and there are multiple tremendous gnorks on show; most notably our own kelly brooke (ex of big breakfast), who really should receive the queen's award for industry, or the nobel prize, or something. She's gorgeous, and she's naked a lot of the time, canoodling with another naked lady underwater in scenes reminiscent of the creature from the lagoon. But with more potential for trouser damage.

Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss turn up at various points, to lend the movie some genre cred, it has plenty of jumpy bits, and all the right buttons are pressed.

There's even a glorious cgi cock-eating sequence which is the one and only time ive ever wistfully rued not having the crowded cinema shared experience of seeing a 3D penis floating in front of my face.

Plot holes galore, but if you're the type who cares about that then just stay away. The end promises a sequel, and i'll be first in the queue. Magic!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 01 August, 2011, 09:41:10 AM
I'm currently watching Disney's Jungle Book with my little girl and she's absolutely spellbound! I'm thrilled, it's bringing back so many of my own memories...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 August, 2011, 06:20:32 PM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 01 August, 2011, 09:41:10 AM
I'm currently watching Disney's Jungle Book with my little girl and she's absolutely spellbound! I'm thrilled, it's bringing back so many of my own memories...

My dad (now 80) absolutely loved this movie, and in the pre-VHS days, whenenver this came back around at the local cinema, he'd drag us all down, whether we wanted to go or not!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 02 August, 2011, 04:27:58 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 01 August, 2011, 09:33:25 AM
PIRANHA 3D (but in 2D)

Just... wow! I'd been putting this off, as i thought it'd be unbearably shit, but much to my surprise the opposite turned out to be true.

You know the story: teenagers get eaten by fish. But what we have here is a tour de force from greg nicotero and howard berger giving the gore an edge and, for me, finally pushing them out of savini's shadow. Much carnage ensues, all lovingly crafted and for the most part seemlessly merged with the convincing cgi.


It is, of course, a titty flick- and there are multiple tremendous gnorks on show; most notably our own kelly brooke (ex of big breakfast), who really should receive the queen's award for industry, or the nobel prize, or something. She's gorgeous, and she's naked a lot of the time, canoodling with another naked lady underwater in scenes reminiscent of the creature from the lagoon. But with more potential for trouser damage.

Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss turn up at various points, to lend the movie some genre cred, it has plenty of jumpy bits, and all the right buttons are pressed.

There's even a glorious cgi cock-eating sequence which is the one and only time ive ever wistfully rued not having the crowded cinema shared experience of seeing a 3D penis floating in front of my face.

Plot holes galore, but if you're the type who cares about that then just stay away. The end promises a sequel, and i'll be first in the queue. Magic!

SBT

Ive cast a quick look at this due to the fact im about to watch this now.

Ive just watched a film documentry called Catfish i was hooked all the way through. ill have to watch grizzly man again another film documentry i would recommend watching.

Both flawed but equally good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 August, 2011, 04:45:13 PM
Monsters- what a load of shite. It's not often I say that about a movie, but I was bitterly disappointed in this. And blah blah yadda yadda low budget. Don't care- the story made absolutely no sense at all. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 August, 2011, 05:00:53 PM
Anyone catch Frankenstein on telly last night? I switched over hoping for a version of Mary Shelley's classic, maybe the 1931 Universal picture or the 60s Hammer one; but it turned out to be a  pilot for an American cop show featuring a pretty detective and her partner hunting down Dr Frankenstein and his murderous creations, assisted by the original monster, who's gone all deep and poetic and lives in an abandoned theatre with a wise old black woman.

I hope to Grud this never got made into a series. MY eyeballs still hate me for watching it to the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 02 August, 2011, 08:14:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 August, 2011, 04:45:13 PM
Monsters- what a load of shite. It's not often I say that about a movie, but I was bitterly disappointed in this. And blah blah yadda yadda low budget. Don't care- the story made absolutely no sense at all.

Aw, I liked it!

Watched Captain America last night and bloody loved it. Got 'Super' lined up for tonight's viewing - I've heard good things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 03 August, 2011, 08:03:13 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 August, 2011, 05:00:53 PM
Anyone catch Frankenstein on telly last night? I switched over hoping for a version of Mary Shelley's classic, maybe the 1931 Universal picture or the 60s Hammer one; but it turned out to be a  pilot for an American cop show featuring a pretty detective and her partner hunting down Dr Frankenstein and his murderous creations, assisted by the original monster, who's gone all deep and poetic and lives in an abandoned theatre with a wise old black woman.

I hope to Grud this never got made into a series. MY eyeballs still hate me for watching it to the end.

In all honesty i didnt really know what the hell i watching was it a pilot for a american cop show along the same lines as X-files but not as good or was a watching a tv movie that featured 2 promising actors that whose careers seem to have took a dive?

The end was sh*t and left me wondering if there was going to be another episode/movie of this abomination....apparently not,as my  4year old would say "What a mess"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 03 August, 2011, 08:45:52 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 02 August, 2011, 08:14:05 PMWatched Captain America last night and bloody loved it.

Enjoyed it here too. I think my favourite moment was the bit with the grenade.

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 03 August, 2011, 09:41:44 AM
It's been a busy week in the Orlok household...

Predator
A rescue team (and not assassins) kill about 100 people and are picked off by an alien Jeffrey Dahmer.
Caught bits of this the other night and I forgot how homo-erotic it is in places. Dutch and Dillon obviously had a thing going on in the past and can't resist holding hands there for about a minute. Seriously, it couldn't have been more obvious if this reunion was re-enacted by John Barrowman and Andi Peters doing jazz hands at each other while shrieking.
It's still a good movie but you see it with different eyes once you get past the cheesy one liners, Dillon's [spoiler]extra arm in his death scene[/spoiler] and people running around on fire. My main problem is that I simply cannot watch this without hearing the Predator Rap (http://youtu.be/tpnUP_tWEyc (http://youtu.be/tpnUP_tWEyc)) in my head all the way through.
[spoiler]'Before triggering a timer to set off a bomb, cos they're all bad losers where the predator comes from"[/spoiler]

Best moment? Get to the chopppaaahhhhh! or Hawkin's massive specs. Tie.


Airforce One
Die Hard on a plane.
Harrison Ford is a bad actor. There I said it. He can do Deckard, Indy and Solo and that's it. In every other film I have seen him in he has been utter pants. He's that generation's Keanu Reeves.
This is a terrible, terrible film. Cheesy Americanism, feckless terrorists and utterly ridiculous scenes make this one to be avoided at all costs. The opening speech about the US not putting profit over morality must really have upset the director when the Iraq thing kicked off.
A mere 30 minutes in I was shaking with rage at plot holes, preposterous situations (secret service agents who are worse shots than Stormtroopers) and really bad dialogue.
Gary Oldman does a decent Russian accent (though a mate of mine says the spoken Russian is waaaay off) and tries his best to lift the film, but that is about it for the credibility stakes.

Best moment? The [spoiler]MIGs fire just one missile at the fleeing plane, sportingly let it try countermeasures instead of peppering it with a barrage of air to air death[/spoiler]. Fortunately [spoiler]an F15 is able to fly into a missile to take the hit for the Commander In Chief[/spoiler]. Sniff. No really, it did happen. I saw it.


Kill The Irishman (aka Bulletproof Gangster)
An Irish American takes on the mob.
An intriguing tale of Cleveland hoodlum Danny Greene and his rise to union boss and mob enemy. Some nice set pieces and touches in there and Ray Stevenson does well in the role.
This was interspersed with actual footage of the Cleveland mob war aftermath, which I found more disturbing than the filmed brutality.

Best moment? Christopher Walken fails to drive away safely.


The Taking Of Pelham 123
Scientologist whack job holds a train hostage and attempts to woo a married father of two.
Not a bad update of the original, which still ranks as a fondly remembered classic in my book. By making the heist more about [spoiler]a Wall Street deal than a simple extortion plot[/spoiler] and the character of Garber [spoiler]not so squeaky clean[/spoiler] it was an interesting diversion.
Denzel was good (as usual) and Travolta kept himself in check for once and didn't seem to overact too much. Maybe his Thetans were aligned that day.

Best moment? The sudden realisation that a helicopter is faster than New York traffic. No shit.


X Men Origins Wolverine
Immortal mutant loses memory, girl, shirt.
Entertaining but ridiculous tale of inexplicable shirt loss, forgotten prequel interaction and plot devices so far fetched you'd have to have them air mailed to you. From Pluto.
Things I noticed...
1. A kindly old couple take in a super-powered individual and form a bond with him for the son they lost/never had. I may have read something similar in a comic once.
2. Logan leaves his girlfriend [spoiler]apparently dead in the woods after the obligatory screaming at the sky bit. I suppose it would have been less of a twist at the end had he have buried or cremated her[/spoiler].
3. Wolverine is a cool guy who doesn't look at explosions.

Best moment? Stryker's realisation that the [spoiler]bullets he has been espousing for most of the film won't actually kill Wolverine but will in fact...take away his memories[/spoiler]? Seriously?

12 Rounds
Terrorist gets revenge on the cop who put him away and killed his woman.
The most implausible film I have seen this year, and that takes some doing.
At the end of this film the hero should be facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit for property damage and trauma. He should also pull in a lot of prison time.

Best moment? [spoiler]Helicopter debris failing to land on the hero and his beau[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 03 August, 2011, 09:55:23 AM
Love your reviews, Orlock!

QuoteDillon's [spoiler]extra arm in his death scene[/spoiler]

My understanding is that this is only seen because of the screen ratio on TV screens..?

QuoteAw, I liked it!

And you're allowed to be wrong!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 04 August, 2011, 10:24:53 AM
Yup, the [spoiler]arm effect is normally matted off when projected, or transferred as a widescreen print.[/spoiler]

1.85 aspect ratio movies are either shot hard matted or open matted for 4:3 TV Broadcast, so you often end up with effects showing up (there's a shot in Gremlins where you can see 2 puppet Gizmos for example)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 August, 2011, 10:27:05 AM
And famously multiple boom mics in Out of Africa, and the rod operating the hero spider's attack at the climax of Arachnophobia.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 August, 2011, 02:10:34 AM
Watched The Expendables last night, it was okay. Does what it sets out to do pretty well, and I was surprised at how pleased I was to see Dolph Lundgren again. I did spend most of the movie feeling disappointed that there wasn't as much action as I'd expected, but then the grand finale was pretty spanking in that regard.

One thing that really stood out was Stallone's face, he appears to have had some work done and has wound up looking oddly like his mum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 06 August, 2011, 08:22:11 AM
I saw The Expendables on a plane during my last Mordor-UK run and wasn't that impressed. I dunno, I expected a dumb action movie but thought it would be funnier somehow. The much touted scene between the 'big three in the church' failed to live up to the hype. Maybe they will do better with the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 August, 2011, 08:39:26 AM
Yeah there weren't really any laughs to be had, it probably takes itself way too seriously for what it is. Even that scene you mentioned is so forced and so desperate to make you chuckle that it just falls flat sadly. I'll still watch a sequel though, because if nothing else I did genuinely find some thrills in that last chunk of action.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 06 August, 2011, 11:00:02 AM
Mad Max 2. Still great after 31 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dr Feeley Good on 06 August, 2011, 04:42:50 PM
Watched Super the other night and really enjoyed it !
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 August, 2011, 06:26:18 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 04 August, 2011, 10:24:53 AM
Yup, the [spoiler]arm effect is normally matted off when projected, or transferred as a widescreen print.[/spoiler]

1.85 aspect ratio movies are either shot hard matted or open matted for 4:3 TV Broadcast, so you often end up with effects showing up (there's a shot in Gremlins where you can see 2 puppet Gizmos for example)

I only found out about that stuff when I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall and a projectionist error meant mics were moving around all over the place, crew members were standing around at the edge of screen and the actor's 'nudey tights' were always visible. It was mental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 August, 2011, 07:23:01 PM
The A-Team.

Somebody force-lent me this a month ago and so I thought it was about time to return the thing. I watched it out of politeness, thinking I'd probably give up on it half way through and say "I tried."

So I approached this apparent travesty with no expectations at all. But, bless my soul, it was enormous fun. [spoiler]Flying a tank[/spoiler] was just hilarious and inspired. Sometimes, it's good to be wrong!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 August, 2011, 07:27:42 PM
Been to the DVD shop for the first time in years. I mean years; my membership had expired.

Went for a Blockbuster 5 for £5 deal. Got the following for the next week:

1) Splice
2) The Losers (don't tell the wife it's based on a comic)
3) Repo Men
4) Unthinkable
5) Hot Tub Time Machine

As I handed over my money, I couldn't help but think that I would be better off with Source Code, and that in any event it and the five chosen would all be shite.

Highest hopes are for Splice. The hope is I get to the end. Dark horse could be Hot Tub Time Machine - at least it doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't.

Reports may follow. If they don't, assume I gave up on them all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 07 August, 2011, 12:54:27 AM
Watched Paul tonight, good amiable fun, a few laughs, not as good as their first two films but still worth a watch.

Source Code, enjoyable film, but I had an idea of what was going on from the [spoiler]time the oxygen went out in the capsule[/spoiler]. Something different, and that is rare for any film, its a cross between Groundhog Day and Inception, kinda.

Limitless, I really enjoyed. Remindes me of 2000ad for some reason, its about a guy who takes a smart pill and the conquences. best thing about the film is the end. You know when you are watching a film and you are thinking 'this is really good, the end better match'! recommended.

David
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 01:41:22 AM
Incredibly this is my Eleventy-Eleventy-First post, and vaguely like Bilbo I had intended to mark it with an indulgent Post of Special Magnificence, possibly replete with remarks about liking half of you half as well as you deserve (but it's generally the bottom half), and possibly even some sub-contracted fireworks from Istari Inc.

However, I just finally watched Watchmen, a film I've been avoiding for about 2 years now, and had more-or-less convinced myslelf I would never watch.  But y'know, working late in front of the TV, too much wine, Malin Ackerman's thighs, and it just sort of slipped in there, so to speak.

Feck me jeebus crust almighty I HATED IT.  And I'm not a man much given to hate.  If ever there was a cast-iron proof that comics and film are not interchangeable media, this appalling waste of time, talent and not a little genius, is it.

The visualisation is almost pure majesty, so many scenes are exquisitely recreated, so much detail is squirrelled in despite the crippling demands of a reasonable running time, some of the performances are fabulously authentic (Jon, Laurie and Rorshach in particular), so much love and care and respect for the source is lavished on every shot... for absolutely no return in my enjoyment.

It's the cinematic equivalent of Frankenstein's monster:  intelligence, inspiration, labour and daring poured into a singular creation, all the right bits acquired and assembled in the right order, a perfect imitation of life, the switch thrown, and see!  It moves!  It lives!  But it's a f**king abomination, destroying everything it touches that actually matters in its relentless efforts to be loved.

Did no-one involved stop to ask themselves even once why there are bloody superheroes in a film of Watchmen?  Not some rather tragic costumed vigilantes and one inhuman freak, but actually f**king superheroes? Superheroes that kill muggers and walk off, for that matter?  Madre de grud, I despair.

Would the absurdity of everyone's superpowered kung fu cool have actually mattered if the film had been less slavishly worshipful of the comic?  I doubt it.  An actual adaptation, rather than a frame by frame recreation, might have been its own enjoyable thing (in fact I thought many of the more elaborate changes to the plot worked reasonably well, whereas some of the visual recreations, particularly the ones involving the smiley, were actually utterly laughable).  Something so close, yet so utterly missing the point, indeed almost all the points, was a soulless disaster.

Anyone who suggests that a big-screen big-budget Dredd movie should look and sound and act exactly like the comic, well, I hope this piece of unnatural foulness pisses in their eyes and sets them straight.

Yes, yes, I know.  I am going.  I am leaving now.  Goodbye.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 August, 2011, 02:03:01 AM
Wowzah, TordelBack! I can't believe the timing of that post!

I saw Watchmen for the first time a couple of nights ago. now, I've not read the book, as it just never appealed to me. But for £3.00 at Tesco (with beer, sushi and other assorted snackums) I felt like I could afford to indulge some mild curiosity.

And DEAR GOD -- I honestly think it's the worst film I've seen all year. It starts really well, but quickly barrells downhill. Besides Rorschach, I honestly felt nothing for any of the characters, and I found myself thinking at several points 'Uh... what's going on with the narrative here?' Really NOT a fan of the device of 'characters discuss predicament shortly before random outbreak of violence.' 

I did wonder if maybe Watchmen would have made a better TV series than a movie, because it's obvious there's an expansive story there to be told. A 2-hours-plus movie just ain't gonna capture it. I just didn't feel at all involved in what was playing out on my TV.

Also, I've never been so irritated by a performance as I was by the guy who played Ozymandias / Adrian Veidt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 07 August, 2011, 02:09:37 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 01:41:22 AM
An actual adaptation, rather than a frame by frame recreation, might have been its own enjoyable thing (in fact I thought many of the more elaborate changes to the plot worked reasonably well, whereas some of the visual recreations, particularly the ones involving the smiley, were actually utterly laughable).  Something so close, yet so utterly missing the point, indeed almost all the points, was a soulless disaster.

I suppose the reaction to Watchmen proves the observation of Yahtzee from the Zero Punctuation series - "fans are clingy complaining dips**ts who will never ever be happy for any concession you make." (and, God help me, I should know, I've been a fannish geek since I first read Sonic the Comic) After years of simmering outrage from the comic's self-appointed protectors, they were given the painstakingly, agonisingly faithful film version that they had clamoured for... and then had to contend with the discomfiting realisation that the translation, actually, was rather underwhelming.

Still, I think that it's important not to be too downbeat about Watchmen - despite the mixed critical response (and I have a certain suspicion that a clique of tastemakers were plagiarising each other's opinions there), it was a reliable success. It made 150% of its budget at the box office, and when you add on DVD and merchandising sales it will still have turned a healthy profit for the studio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 02:23:25 AM
Quote from: Robert Frazer on 07 August, 2011, 02:09:37 AM
After years of simmering outrage from the comic's self-appointed protectors, they were given the painstakingly, agonisingly faithful film version that they had clamoured for... and then had to contend with the discomfiting realisation that the translation, actually, was rather underwhelming.

Well put (although I personally never wanted to see a film version of Watchmen, and now wish I never had) but the problem with an 'agonisingly faithful' version (which this isn't, in many more important ways than it is) is that almost everything that's good and special about Watchmen is that it's a comic.  Maybe a film that tried to do the kinds of things Watchmen did with comics but with film (and I have no idea what that even means), rather than trying to film the things the comic does, would have been a lot more interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 August, 2011, 03:45:17 AM
I rewatched Watchmen today too, (actually I missed the start), the first time being at the cinema.

I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it this time as well.

[spoiler]I do have mixed feelings concerning the level of violence in the alleyway scene, mind you. On one hand, having these particular characters kill people was rather extreme, and I'm sure they just beat the guys up in the comic. On the other hand, if you're going for realism and your that far outnumbered (and bearing in mind these two have no powers...  supposedly) you might well do whatever it might take to protect yourself. It was way too cold though. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 August, 2011, 09:33:23 AM
I really enjoyed Watchmen. I've read the comic loads of times so I know the story pretty much inside out and I think the film did a pretty good job.
I was never looking for anything deeper than the basic plot of trying to foil a baddy who turns out to be a strange sort of goody.
Watchmen is, in part, a comic about how comics work but the film isn't a film about how films work. I wasn't looking for that though.

Last night I watched 'Drive Angry' with Nicholas Cage. It was a right load of old bollocks but quite a good laugh - it was very much like Ghost Rider in fact. I was intending to rent 'Driven' but all the copies were on loan at Blockbuster.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 11:05:09 AM
Quote from: Robert Frazer on 07 August, 2011, 02:09:37 AM
It made 150% of its budget at the box office, and when you add on DVD and merchandising sales it will still have turned a healthy profit for the studio.


Which makes it a flop. Successes are films that make about 3-4 times budget. 50% profit doesn't justify the investment if Watchmen even got that. Consider that District 9 cost $30 million, made $210 million and Kick-Ass cost $28 million and made $96 million and these are moderate successes compared to the Dark Knight with a budget of $185 million and earnings over $1 billion.

Even more scary is Avatar: Budget of $240 million and current earnings are approaching $3 billion and it ain't that good.

Watchmen cost $130 million and made $185 million.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 12:08:33 PM
Quote from: Robert Frazer on 07 August, 2011, 02:09:37 AMAfter years of simmering outrage from the comic's self-appointed protectors, they were given the painstakingly, agonisingly faithful film version that they had clamoured for... and then had to contend with the discomfiting realisation that the translation, actually, was rather underwhelming.


...but Watchmen is not a 'faithful' adaptation, it's a xeroxed copy that looks more contrasty and lacking detail, important detail that let's people know when and where they are in the story and who and what's important, textually and subtextually. Yes, no one should expect a 2-3 hour adaptation to contain everything but Snyder's attitude seemed to be, just copy the iconic comic panels and whatever we leave out of the story doesn't matter as long as we keep the bigger bits everyone remembers most.

There was no effort to tell the story cinematically which does not just mean nicely composed moving pictures with music, but should include structure, pace, character, beats...all the things Snyder seems to ignore -adding bits of Apocalypse Now doesn't make it cinematic either. What's worse is that they added superfluous scenes with Nixon et al which are caricatures?

The best test of Watchmen the film is to show it to someone who has never read the comic, if they can follow it and understand it, it's a success, if they can't, it's not and that seems to be the general case with it. No one knows what the fuck is going on and an audience shouldn't be expected to be primed with a 400 page comic before they watch a film. Snyder didn't care enough or understand enough about the story to communicate it properly. As an example, the jumps in time are not clear enough -playing KC and the Sunshine band under a scene is not enough to say 'we're now in the 70's'- nor is there any real attempt to make the differences in period feel different, the whole film feels like a pastiche of other movie sets new and old that forgets the characters and to tell the story of Watchmen.

Watchmen the film -unlike Watchmen the comic which is about comics and comic heroes- shouldn't be referential to other films like Apocalypse Now, Dr. Strangleove, Raging Bull, Man Who Fell to Earth etc. because the story of Watchmen is not about other films.

The translation to film doesn't translate as 'well if Watchmen is about 'comics' then Watchmen the film should be about 'films' and we should really point up how we reference them...which is wholely unfortunate cos there is some really good stuff in the film that works but the story is forgotten.


Snyder makes pastiche films, that have no interest in the audience or compelling them, he didn't understand how Watchmen could be a film and what that meant. A pity Greengrass didn't follow through with it after it collapsed at Universal, his direction was on the right course. We don't need direct translations of comics, that's pointless, we have the comic, now expand it a little, make it breathe in different ways that films do better than comics and tell us the same story from a different vantage point and that shouldn't mean sacrilege.

Fans would be far richer with 2 versions of Watchmen rather than 1 and it's poorer imitation.

Never give the fans what they think or you think they want...they'll hate you for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 August, 2011, 12:28:35 PM
Just watched Saturn 3.

I'd seen this years ago when I was a kid but couldn't remember much about it other than it had a killer robot and you saw Farrah Fawcett's boobs.

It's one of those films where everyone looks a bit uncomfortable and it has the crappest robot since that one in Logan's Run.
The special effects and designs are really terrible. It's hard to believe this was made three years after Star Wars. Forbidden Planet had better effects and a more believable robot about 25 years earlier.
The screenplay is a bit of a mess and it's badly directed but I got the feeling that this is one of those rare polishable turds. I really think this film could be remade into a pretty good thriller. It mainly depends on the robot being believable and scary which is much easier to do these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 August, 2011, 12:47:47 PM
Well, i really like watchmen. Im not a particular fan of the comic- bought it when it came out, bought it again in trade, but each and every attempt to plough through it leaves me bored and unfulfilled. And the ending is shit.

The film though, is beautifully realised, makes just enough sense to keep you watching (except the sudden glut of what can only be super powers- even rorscharch is the amazing leapy man) and is faithful ENOUGH to the good bits of the comic (Dr Manhattan on mars, etc) that it doesnt feel like Snyder's taking the piss. The cast is good, it feels like an intelligent event movie (even if it's not really) and i'd definitely put it in the higher bracket of comics adaptations.

And the ending's better than the comic, too.

As for people not knowing the comic being unable to follow it- nonsense, my wife really enjoyed watchmen. If asked, she'd probably say it was her second favourite film based on a comic ("but dont ask me to read it!"). Her first being V For Vendetta, which is as it should be.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 12:52:52 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 12:08:33 PM...the whole film feels like a pastiche of other movie sets new and old that forgets the characters and to tell the story of Watchmen.

'Ride of the Valkyries' playing over Jon disintegrating Viet Cong on a crappy greenscreen soundstage may just be the most misjudged thing I have ever seen committed to film.  Instead of being a flashback to SE Asia in an alternate 1971, it's a flashback to a cinema in 1979, or more properly Hotshots Part Deux in 199X.  And let's not even mention Tears for Fears playing as a wimpy sneery Adrian fails to monologue his backstory to the Bilderburg Group.  And then there's Nixon and Kissenger, who seem to have wandered in from a Pete and Dud sketch, with a similar make-up budget.  There is no bottom to my dislike of this movie, despite so much that it does right.  I'd best draw a line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 01:06:13 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 12:52:52 PM'Ride of the Valkyries' playing over Jon disintegrating Viet Cong on a crappy greenscreen soundstage may just be the most misjudged thing I have ever seen committed to film.


The worst for me is old Nite Owl punching his way through Cavalleria Rusticana and Knot-Tops slo-mo in the long version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 01:30:31 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 01:06:13 PM
The worst for me is old Nite Owl punching his way through Cavalleria Rusticana and Knot-Tops slo-mo in the long version.

At least I was spared that.  I did wonder though, why was anyone surprised that Vedit caught the bullet when it looked like any of them could have done it before breakfast? 

On the subject of Veidt, who was the the victim of the one really terrible piece of core casting (Robert Wisden's Nixon aside) amongst otherwise solid choices, I have no idea why they denied him any kind of backstory (beyond 'I like Alexander, me') and took his ending (heh) away.  I have no real problem with the squid switcheroo, it was just a different answer to the same problem, but the failure to even try to communicate the process or the horror, the essentially global nature of the response, in a medium that surely is well suited to depicting exactly that sort of thing.  Replacing the aftermath with a crater, another terrible Nixon impersonation and some mumbling - and then handing Jon's closing verdict to Laurie so that Adrian never even receives his final judgment... hrrrnnnghhh.   

Lawks, I suddenly know exactly how you-know-who feels all the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 07 August, 2011, 03:30:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 01:30:31 PMLawks, I suddenly know exactly how you-know-who feels all the time.

Then for Dog's Sake, don't read this (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,24366.0.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 August, 2011, 03:36:48 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2011, 01:30:31 PM

On the subject of Veidt, who was the the victim of the one really terrible piece of core casting


Yeah he was shite and was misguided in his performance by Snyder. Surprised they didn't go for such a decent actor like Baker as a candidate for Ozy, his star was rising at the time too:


(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ELlQu4X_KBM/TgJR_eQrZaI/AAAAAAAABQs/YT3VbVhrR5g/s1600/600full-the-mentalist-photo.jpg)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 August, 2011, 03:56:35 PM

I saw 'Watchmen' at the cinema and although I enjoyed it I wasn't inclined to have a second look. It was just too faithful to the book meaning there were no surprises and I found myself anticipating dialogue before it was said.

With the wife away for the weekend I had a great old movie fest watching double bills of 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantum of Solace' and a salesmen under pressure double feature of 'The Boiler Room' and 'Glen Garry Glen Ross'.

I'd recently read a few of the bond novels on my Kindle so it was interesting to see what was kept - quite a lot really although they change the carpet beater to a knotted rope for the torture scene - did keep the 'The bitch is dead line' which was nice. Hadn't seen 'Quantum' since the cinema and it was better than I remembered - title song for a start. Lots of chases - why doesn't he set off earlier? and some cracking set pieces. The ending with an exploding hotel was a bit of a let down but over all good stuff.

'The Boiler Room' was enjoyable too although I wasn't buying Vin Diesel as a smooth talking broker. Giovanni Ribisi was good in the lead and it's a pity he's not been seen more - 'Flight of the Phoenix' remake was the only other thing I could place him in. End was a bit of a cop out and it's a shame they didn't go with the alternative ending of the bankrupted investor going on a shooting spree.

Glen Garry was as great as always and if you see a better cast and dialogue you'll be a lucky person. When Spacey blows Pacino's deal you almost wince in anticipation of his reaction - turns out to be quite a measure deluge of extreme swearing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 August, 2011, 04:07:17 PM

Oh, I freakin' LOVE Glen Garry Glenn Ross!

The amazing thing about the movie is that it's not onlya great cast, but they're all on top form. And, given the subject matter, you'd not expect it to be so riveting.

Good stuff... and I'm reminded I need to buy the DVD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 August, 2011, 04:28:34 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 07 August, 2011, 12:47:47 PM
As for people not knowing the comic being unable to follow it- nonsense, my wife really enjoyed watchmen. If asked, she'd probably say it was her second favourite film based on a comic ("but dont ask me to read it!"). Her first being V For Vendetta, which is as it should be.

Yeah. I watched Watchmen with a girl who'd never seen the comic as well, and I don't think she had any trouble following it, either.

When I told her Mr Manhattan was the only one who actually had powers, I think she was a tad surprised though. (After watching it, I mean.) ;)

I've yet to watch the film adaptation of V for V all the way through, although I think I've seen most of it.

A little aside, but I think I prefer the GN of V for Vendetta to Watchmen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 07 August, 2011, 06:56:38 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 August, 2011, 04:28:34 PM

A little aside, but I think I prefer the GN of V for Vendetta to Watchmen.

Y'know what? Me too. Or at least I tend to reread it more. Maybe because I'm more of a David Lloyd fan overall, or maybe because Moore is more heartfelt in it, or maybe because its the perfect comic to read while listening to punk-synth tracks of the past. Liked it's movie adaptation better too, even if it did pull too many punches. Compared to Watchmen it was just more-whats the word?- watchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 August, 2011, 08:21:03 PM
Quote from: HdE on 07 August, 2011, 04:07:17 PM

Oh, I freakin' LOVE Glen Garry Glenn Ross!

The amazing thing about the movie is that it's not onlya great cast, but they're all on top form. And, given the subject matter, you'd not expect it to be so riveting.

Good stuff... and I'm reminded I need to buy the DVD.

Absolutely, love that movie. I'd never heard of it and it came free as a newspaper insert a few years ago so I stuck it on and was completely lost in it. Great writing brilliantly performed by fantastic actors. Need to watch that again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 08 August, 2011, 10:44:43 AM
The Medallion, Jackie Chan film set in Ireland. It was atrocious.Jackie is just way too old for his jumping around schtick now, all he could manage was jumping on a few walls, or climbing a few fences. The acting was diabolical as well. I don't mean Jackie, you don't watch Jackie Chan for his acting, but everybody else was dire - Lee Evans, Claire Forlani  and Julian Sands in particular.  Claire Folani has lovely eyes. And hair. Lee Evans...can rub his head quite well. I had to keep watching to see how much worse it could get. The answer was - a lot. Travesty.

Anyone know what was the last good Jackie Chan flick. And when I say "good" I don't mean "good", I mean....an entertaining Jackie Chan flick!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 August, 2011, 11:01:30 AM
I agree with a lot of points made about Watchmen.

QuoteAfter years of simmering outrage from the comic's self-appointed protectors, they were given the painstakingly, agonisingly faithful film version that they had clamoured for... and then had to contend with the discomfiting realisation that the translation, actually, was rather underwhelming.

If you thought Snyder's Watchmen movie was a faithful adaptation, perhaps you don't really 'get' the comic book. It was so close visually, but the tone was dead wrong. For me, making all of the characters into superpowered murderers just killed it - especially in the case of Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl - unforgivable. The fight scenes actually reminded me of a Mortal Kombat videogame.

There is violence in the comic, but it is a brutal, shocking, deeply unpleasant thing. In the movie it's gratuitous, glorified, fetishistic - almost played for laughs. Having Nite Owl scream a Hollywood "NOOOOO!" when Rorschach is killed feels like a betrayal, and is just one of many little things that indicate that the filmmakers didn't really understand the source material.

It's an interesting watch - the art direction fantastic, the casting - one or two bad choices aside - is almost perfect and there are some stunning cinematic moments (the Dr Manhattan montage is largely excellent, as is the opening title sequence), but that's all it is - a series of individual moments with little to connect them or give us reason to care about any of it. Cutting all of the street-level civilian stuff takes away any sense of what is at stake.

As with the Star Wars prequels, I'm willing to forgive it a hell of a lot, and will still watch it, but I would find it hard to recommend to anyone else. It's a fascinating failure - a bold attempt with a lot going for it, but ultimately a seriously flawed movie.

Anyway, yesterday we had some friends over and we watched a double bill of Ghost World - one of my favourite films. It's a film that really resonates with me - it's still excellent and went down well with everyone. Then after dinner we watched Super. My word, what a bonkers film that is! Definitely not for everyone, and arguably it goes a bit far at certain points (not one to watch with you in-laws, let's say!), but we were all in stitches throughout. Hilarious, outrageously violent and oddly sweet. I keep watching the animated opening titles over again on Youtube. Just great, I'll definitely be buying the Blu Ray, possibly the soundtrack too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 August, 2011, 11:09:06 AM
QuoteAnyone know what was the last good Jackie Chan flick. And when I say "good" I don't mean "good", I mean....an entertaining Jackie Chan flick!

Little Big Soldier is brilliant. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319718/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 August, 2011, 11:13:08 AM
30 days of night: dark days.

It was shit.

but the head vampire woman was a bit saucy.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 08 August, 2011, 11:13:50 AM
The problem with the Medallion was it was shit, not that Jackie Chan was shit. It was, I seem to remember done as a favour by Chan and filmed over a long period whenever he had a break in whatever he was doing.
Also don't watch the Tuxedo. The Rush Hour films are the only passable Chan films he's done in the states (anyone remember 'Battle Creek Brawl' ? ugh)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 08 August, 2011, 11:30:58 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 August, 2011, 11:09:06 AM
QuoteAnyone know what was the last good Jackie Chan flick. And when I say "good" I don't mean "good", I mean....an entertaining Jackie Chan flick!

Little Big Soldier is brilliant. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319718/

Cheers Richmond, I'll check that out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 August, 2011, 01:18:02 PM

Quote from: HdE on 07 August, 2011, 04:07:17 PM

Oh, I freakin' LOVE Glen Garry Glenn Ross!

The amazing thing about the movie is that it's not onlya great cast, but they're all on top form. And, given the subject matter, you'd not expect it to be so riveting.

There was a funny line in the IMDb triva that during filming the cast refered to the film as 'Death of a Fucking Salesman'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Orlok on 09 August, 2011, 08:01:40 AM
The Day The Earth Stood Still
If it wasn't for the original being seared into my brain, this wouldn't be too bad film, but it did suffer from several weak points.
Firstly it depicted the US Govt as utter cocks that go all shooty bang bang when faced with someone from a different cult-, oh, hang on that's probably accurate. Strike that.
Next it had Keanu Reeves playing Klaatu as a disassociated galactic exterminator. You might think that Keanu would be perfect in this emotionless role as he is usually so wooden he is sponsored by Cuprinol, but he is really terrible in this. It amazes me how he is still employed so he must have the same agent as Harrison Ford.
The special effects were a bit ropey in places, too. I know that you can't get it perfect every time, but as they skimped on character development I thought they might throw a bit of extra cash at it.
The family unit of the heroine was also a pointless move and the kid served no purpose whatsoever except to dob in the alien and bitch about stuff. Pointless.
Lastly, the bit at the start [spoiler]set in 1928[/spoiler] made no sense to me with regard to the rest of the film. I thought that [spoiler]Sherpa Reeves would be abducted and serve as the spokesperson[/spoiler] but it seems they just [spoiler]borrowed a bit of his DNA [/spoiler]or something. This was never explained, though. It would have made more sense if this were [spoiler]James Hong's character who was "touched" by the sphere and became an observer, but it was clearly "Da Plank" with a snowy beard[/spoiler]. Again-pointless.


Capitalism- A Love Story
Michael Moore's eye opener on the state of the US Economy, the bail out and the deregulation of banking. It made me both depressed and angry at the same time, much like reading Junker or Dry Run. It can be said that Michael Moore is a Socialist (he has never publicly admitted this to my knowledge) and that is a phrase often bandied around like a dirty word. To many a brainwashed American, Socialist=Commie=Bad guys from Red Dawn.
Michael Moore's view of things is that from a Democratic perspective, the people are getting shafted by the elite. If the reversal of that can be called Socialism, then we should all sign up for it. I'd rather see a dozen gobshites who show off their fleets of cars on Cribs whacked with a 90% tax bill than see a single family forced out of their homes due to "hidden" interest hikes.
The revelation about the complex banking equations, insurance policies taken out by the company to cash in on the deaths of workers and the poorly paid airline pilots is jaw dropping stuff. You wonder just how they got away with this, and then you see the vacuous chops of Ronald Reagan and the grinning monkey face of George W Bush and know full well how it all came to pass.
The very start of the movie comparing Rome to modern America also rings truer than I would like to believe is happening.
Good film but it made me teary eyed to see the little people stamped on by folks who are only in it for the benjamins.

Star Trek
Really enjoyed the reboot.
Chris Pine shines as Kirk (especially if you watch the extended Kobayishu Maru scene with extra green cleavage), Zachary Quinto hits the mark as Spock and future Old Stoneyface Karl Urban channels the spirit of DeForest Kelley to pull off a brilliant McCoy.
Though I love Simon Pegg to bits, his Scotty was the one weak point in the film. Well, that and Eric Bana's underdeveloped Nero.
The SFX was top notch, the opening scene with the USS Kelvin was great (though probably upset the purists more than the [spoiler]Spock/Uhura[/spoiler] thing) and the fan service moments were well executed.
Here's hoping the next one is as good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 09 August, 2011, 06:59:01 PM
SUPER

Not exactly what i was expecting - the trailer made it look quite funny & light hearted in places and blurbs on the box proclaim it to be better than Kick Ass. Neither of these things are true.

Other than a few scenes which could be considered moderatley funny its is unrelentingly bleak and more than a little tedious.
After it was over i actually watched a documentary about the Rev Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre which seem like light relief in comparrison.

Paid £8 for Super and it was seven quid too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 09 August, 2011, 07:17:29 PM
Quote from: Orlok on 09 August, 2011, 08:01:40 AM

Star Trek

Though I love Simon Pegg to bits, his Scotty was the one weak point in the film.

I felt much the same way. I recently discovered that this chap auditioned for the part:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_Beckett

Personally, I think he would have suited the role and done a much better job (although to be fair to Pegg, I think Scotty was scripted very badly).

Regards

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 09 August, 2011, 07:41:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 August, 2011, 11:01:30 AM
...Super. My word, what a bonkers film that is! Definitely not for everyone, and arguably it goes a bit far at certain points (not one to watch with you in-laws, let's say!)...

Oh, good grief. It reminds me of one fatal evening when I was hit particularly hard with the derp-stick and thought that it'd be a good idea to watch Kill Bill 1 with my grandmother. I think we reached meltdown a little before Buck showed up to... uh... weave baskets at an evening class.  :-[

Wonderful film, one of my favourites, and one that elevates action into art (The Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves should be in film textbooks for how neatly it encapsulates the principles of cinematic combat) but at times you think the rating should read 18-30, not 18+!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 09 August, 2011, 09:15:29 PM
Pandorum and Resident Evil: Afterlife not bad films to be honest considering ive only watched the first RE it wasnt bad and if i had played the games and/or watch the other RE films have a better idea of what was going on.

Pandorum ummm an odd one for me i liked it but not enough to have in my dvd collection i read there was a possibilty of sequel's yeah i'd watch them but i wouldnt go out of my way to do so.

No Country for old Men ive yet to watch it fully but the first half was brilliant a bad guy i can believe is bad!!! that makes a pleasant change.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 August, 2011, 10:53:22 PM
Splice: Predictable as a bad futureshock. But with an oddly sexy human hybrid thing.

The Losers: Sorry. Wanted to like it, what with Andy Diggle and Jock and all that, but it felt like a bad pilot for an A Team reboot. Dunno how faithful it is to the comic and put off enough not to find out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 August, 2011, 11:13:48 AM
QuoteSUPER

Not exactly what i was expecting - the trailer made it look quite funny & light hearted in places and blurbs on the box proclaim it to be better than Kick Ass. Neither of these things are true.

Other than a few scenes which could be considered moderatley funny its is unrelentingly bleak and more than a little tedious.
After it was over i actually watched a documentary about the Rev Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre which seem like light relief in comparrison.

Paid £8 for Super and it was seven quid too much.

Ireally liked it. If it's the Blu Ray you have I'll buy it off you if you want?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 11 August, 2011, 06:42:57 PM
Sadly its only dvd and as such will join that part of my collection in the bottom right hand corner known as "lets never speak of it again"!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 August, 2011, 06:49:45 PM
Dark Star - haven't seen this for about 20 years - rather dated and a bit slow in retrospect, but still has some brilliantly funny moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 August, 2011, 01:10:56 AM
Finally got around to watching Black Swan. Holy shit! Aronofsky has an extraordinary ability to create such a fevered intensity in his films that the ludicrously OTT excesses of the plots are rendered completely inconsequential. My heart was in my mouth for the last twenty-five minutes. I recommend it.

Which reminds that I watched Book of Eli the other night. I really only watched it because of Chris Weston. It had the potential to be a good looking and interesting sci-fi action film, but it was simply dull. A couple of stylish touches around one or two of the action scenes didn't make up for an overall lack of excitement or sensible plot. What went wrong for Denzel and the Hughes brothers? From Malcolm X and Menace II Society to this rubbish. I wouldn't recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 August, 2011, 01:27:41 AM
Mila Kunis double bill though. Mmmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 August, 2011, 05:31:02 PM
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Just a couple of days back.

I've seen it before, but I'm not sure I've ever watched it all the way through. A very good film.

It was interesting recognising certain actors among the inmates, which passed me by the first time I saw it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 13 August, 2011, 09:10:56 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 13 August, 2011, 05:31:02 PM
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Just a couple of days back.

I've seen it before, but I'm not sure I've ever watched it all the way through. A very good film.

It was interesting recognising certain actors among the inmates, which passed me by the first time I saw it.

One of my favourite films of all time. Worth reading the book too - the film is rather ambiguous about whether the Chief is really mentally ill, but as the narrator of the book you're left in no doubt he's absolutely batshit crazy.

I watched Clockwork Orange and Lethal Weapon 1 last night, a very satisfying double bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 13 August, 2011, 09:21:25 PM
Under the Red Hood DVD- A Batman animated film. I always liked the dark deco animation and whilst this isn't quite up to that it's still a very good watch and in a similar vein. A fight sequence between the Reddie Hood, Bats  and mercs is a particularly fun one.

Quite dark with torture, "real" death (well real as in various types get offed not just hurt or injured) and as I had no idea as to the content a neat-ish twist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 August, 2011, 11:32:03 PM
Paranormal Activity 2.

I admit, i'm a sucker for this kind of thing, this 'found footage' mockumentary nonsense. Ghost Watch, Blair Witch, Diary of the Dead, Zombie Diaries, Last Broadcast, etc, and the Paranormal Activity films are up there with the best of them.
Now, i have no belief in the supernatural whatsoever, and they always spark the same arguments with my more credulous wife, but i'm happy to admit for the course of the running time i'm completely enthralled and as scared as the most fervent paraninny.

This one doesnt have a single scene to equal the woman being dragged out of bed in the first one- though it tries hard at one point by ramping the same idea up a couple of notches. But equally nothing this time is as stupid or drags you out of the narrative as much as the spontaneously combusting ouija board last time, so it all evens out.

Again, we have a family attacked by an evil presence in their house. This time they have a baby, to increase the tension and have a slightly more convincing reason to have cameras all over the house after a suspicious 'burglary'.  Nothing particularly frightening happens for an age (and nothing particularly clever happens for its entire length) but when it kicks off- and listen for the low barely-audible rumble on the soundtrack to cue you in- it's briefly terrifying.

They're making a third; which will be much the same or will flop. These things can't go too far past their initial limited premise or they lose their impact. They are all about isolating the audience from logic and sense and beating them with the scary stick before they have time to think. I love that, you may not. I'll be buying 3 when it comes out and no doubt cacking it and then arguing with my wife all over again.

Now you'll have to excuse me, i just heard a noise in the kitchen and i've got to and investigaaaAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH! FUCK! RUUUUUN!!!!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 August, 2011, 01:18:31 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 13 August, 2011, 09:10:56 PM
One of my favourite films of all time. Worth reading the book too - the film is rather ambiguous about whether the Chief is really mentally ill, but as the narrator of the book you're left in no doubt he's absolutely batshit crazy.

That's interesting, because by the end of the film, [spoiler]I came to the conclusion The Chief probably wasn't crazy (although as you say it's ambiguous).  I figured he was a guy who perhaps had been through some terrible things early in his life then got himself committed to escape the world. Although arguably, that's a bit insane too.

One curious bit in the film is that bit when we find out that most of the main character, many who do seem rather nutty, are at the asylum voluntarily. Although they have a genuine reason for being there, there's the suggestion by Jack's character that the real reason they're there is because they think outside is worse. That maybe they're hiding away from the real world too.  At that spectacular ending I got the impression the chief was the one who finally did something about it.[/spoiler]

I think I'll have a look for the book. It would be interesting seeing things from The Chief's POV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Misanthrope on 14 August, 2011, 12:16:33 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 August, 2011, 11:32:03 PM
Paranormal Activity 2.

I admit, i'm a sucker for this kind of thing, this 'found footage' mockumentary nonsense. Ghost Watch, Blair Witch, Diary of the Dead, Zombie Diaries, Last Broadcast, etc, and the Paranormal Activity films are up there with the best of them.
Now, i have no belief in the supernatural whatsoever, and they always spark the same arguments with my more credulous wife, but i'm happy to admit for the course of the running time i'm completely enthralled and as scared as the most fervent paraninny.

This one doesnt have a single scene to equal the woman being dragged out of bed in the first one- though it tries hard at one point by ramping the same idea up a couple of notches. But equally nothing this time is as stupid or drags you out of the narrative as much as the spontaneously combusting ouija board last time, so it all evens out.

Again, we have a family attacked by an evil presence in their house. This time they have a baby, to increase the tension and have a slightly more convincing reason to have cameras all over the house after a suspicious 'burglary'.  Nothing particularly frightening happens for an age (and nothing particularly clever happens for its entire length) but when it kicks off- and listen for the low barely-audible rumble on the soundtrack to cue you in- it's briefly terrifying.

They're making a third; which will be much the same or will flop. These things can't go too far past their initial limited premise or they lose their impact. They are all about isolating the audience from logic and sense and beating them with the scary stick before they have time to think. I love that, you may not. I'll be buying 3 when it comes out and no doubt cacking it and then arguing with my wife all over again.

Now you'll have to excuse me, i just heard a noise in the kitchen and i've got to and investigaaaAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH! FUCK! RUUUUUN!!!!

SBT

You hated Batman, but you love Paranormal Activity?

I would have been more scared watching an episode of the Royale Family that was interrupted now and then by some one shouting boo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 August, 2011, 12:29:17 PM
Well, no you wouldn't- because glib generalisations aside, The Royle Family doesn't go out of its way to show absolutely nothing happening without even the distraction of amusing dialogue, simply to set you up for some creepy moments. And it's not a horror film.

Being scared by a horror film is not a sign of decreased masculinity- it's the appropriate response, if it's been done well. PA is very effective in what it does- as is PA2. The telling point to make is it's business- both were extraordinarily popular, and both received incredibly good word of mouth. That doesn't happen, usually, with horror films unless they are genuinely effective.

As for Batman: It's shit. End of.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 14 August, 2011, 03:13:07 PM
Limitless.
Which had a rather limitless ability to make a good story rather boring. I didn't mind it but thought that with a different director and some changes to the script it could have been a much better film.

I also watched Gnomeo and Juliet. We get lent these kids films by by my partner's grandsons and we always make the effort to watch them. Some are great, some not so great. But....I have to say I was expecting nothing from this and rather enjoyed it.

Next up is Yogi Bear, not expecting much from that either but I'll give it a go. It can't be as bad as the second Chipmunks movie........can it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 August, 2011, 05:49:32 PM
QuoteAs for Batman: It's shit. End of.
No, it's not. End of.  (THis might go on for some time).


Anyway, EXCALIBUR - John Boorman's well mounted (fnar, fnar) Arthurian fantasy wasn't as awesome, rude or gory as I remembered it but still pretty damned good. Helen Mirren is weapons grade sexy.

ERAGON: I know that, given Lucas' and Star Wars proclivity to nick things from other sources it would be churlish to point out that this is just Star Wars done with dragons but, really. Fuck me, it's Star Wars done with dragons.  It matches up almost exactly in terms of characters, back story, themes, plot points.  Except it's really pretty poor with a charisma less lead, no ambition and anachronistic dialogue all over the shop. I reckon John Malkovich shot his scenes in one afternoon he puts so little effort into it.

Even Tiny Tips started nitpicking. "Hang on, half an hour the dragon couldn't carry three people and now it's wearing and flying in a full suit of armour." "Hang on, they said dragon riders couldn't do magic if their dragon was dead but he just lit the fire with magic.  Can I be a film critic like you, Dad?"

Amusing that they set themselves up for a sequel that never appeared.

(Only if he starts all critiques with "20 minutes too long.")
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 14 August, 2011, 11:20:46 PM
300
Haven't watched this in a while, it fukn ROCKS!

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 August, 2011, 12:06:19 AM
Watched The Good, The Bad, The Weird this evening. A tremendously entertaining Korean pseud-Western made with a whole barrelful of style, panache and fun. Watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 15 August, 2011, 04:15:06 AM
The Green Hornet - very entertaining but missing some ingredient to make it special.

Eragon has got to be the worst movie I've ever seen (and i really like some shite movies).

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 15 August, 2011, 06:46:02 AM
I watched Almighty Thor on SyFy the other night and it only took me about 10 minutes, as I fast forwarded through most of it.

This was one of those films that are so bad that they actually really are that bad  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 15 August, 2011, 08:10:28 AM
QuoteI watched Almighty Thor on SyFy the other night and it only took me about 10 minutes, as I fast forwarded through most of it.
I'm friken starting to hate this lot, asked a mate the other day if he'd seen Thor said yeah but he couldn't bleieve it had actually got a cinema release, the biggest load of toss he'd ever seen, of course it was the Asylum Thor.  F%$k you asylum.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 15 August, 2011, 08:42:29 AM
Watched Super over the weekend. Really funny with lashings of the old Ultraviolent. It actually manages to grab you emotionally towards the end too, which came as a surprise.

And Ellen Page is 'Super' hot. Am I too old to fancy her?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 August, 2011, 09:07:03 AM
Me and my girlfriend have finally got round to watching the cult 1999 Judd Apatow Tv series Freaks and Geeks. It never got a DVD release in the UK, and I think it's only ever been shown over here on E4 back when that channel first launched.

It's really amazing, and the cast is like a who's who of modern comedy talent - including Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Jason Schwarzman and Rashida Jones. The subject matter is nothing especially original - high school life in 1980s USA complete with geeks, jocks, cheerleaders etc, but it's handled with such confidence and lightness of touch that the result is utterly charming and joyous. It's also laugh out loud funny while somehow being subtle - the humour is always underplayed, and never feels artificial or OTT as in something like The Inbetweeners. Its also very sweet and touching but never feels manipulative or overly sentimental. Great use of music, too.

It's a crime that a show of this quality only gets given one series, while the likes of the bloody awful Big Bang Theory go on to great success.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 August, 2011, 09:16:51 AM
The A-Team. Bloody brilliant entertainment. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 August, 2011, 12:20:18 AM
Machete. I enjoyed it but it was more of a missed opportunity than anything else. I'm sure it's a barrel of fun for Rodriguez and his mates to sit around planning out where to incorporate absurd cuts and so forth but with the cast and enthusiasm here they could easily have made a legitimately good action film.

Cheap old films are good in spite of their limitations not because of them. I'm sort of deliberately missing the point, but the whole enterprise seems a bit like getting together a bunch of great old artists and writers for a new comic and deliberately printing it on bog roll and including lengthy recaps at the start of every story just because that's how stories you used to like were presented.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 August, 2011, 03:18:03 AM
I watched two films in Film 4 horror season, thing tonight. (There were actually three but I have Let the Right One In on DVD, and I tend not to watch what I can grab at any time. Which is probably silly, but anyway.) Cracking film though that is.

Okay, I watched Near Dark and British film The Disappeared.

I've seen Near Dark before a couple of times, but last time was a while back. I remember it not being very good, but I thought I'd give it another chance.  I still don't think it's particularly good, although it was watchable, and it was interesting recognising certain actors who passed me by last time.

For example, I suddenly recognised that the girl who plays Henricksen's character's girlfriend is she who played the lady with the huge gun in Aliens and the foster mother in Terminator 2, Jenette Goldstein. Just checked her Wiki, to catch the name and she's 51 now. My time flies! Oh and I recognised a young Adrian Pasdar (I had to look his name up again, I'm good with faces but not names so much), he who played the older Petrelli brother in Heroes as the main character Caleb.

Anyhow, an interesting modern(ish) take on vampires but not very good, as I said.

The Disappeared turned out to be rather good. It only came out a couple of years ago and it somehow passed me by. A mixture of ghost story, murder mystery and drama about emotional trauma. I guessed some of the outcomes including the killer ([spoiler]I actually wished they'd chosen someone else considering relatively recent headlines, but anyway,[/spoiler]) , and it sometimes fell into cliche territory but it was genuinely creepy and had some good twists and turns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 22 August, 2011, 06:44:06 PM
The Humanoid 1979. An Italian Star Wars rip off starring Richard Kiel ("Jaws" in the Bond movies) as the Humanoid -mind meltingly mad with special effects by Kellogg's and dialogue by Chip 'n Dale.

Beyond description really. The shock of it still hasn't worn off. True trash film fans should see this utter celluloid train wreck. Even Barbara Bach in leather can't save it. :o


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2011, 07:07:32 PM
Ridely Scott's Robin Hood. It really is indescribably bad. And I do not enjoy saying that- I like most of old Ridley's stuff, but this was a total mess. And it was the apparently better director's cut we watched too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 August, 2011, 07:21:42 PM
Hobo With a Shotgun.

I know this is supposed to be ironic and all, but that's no excuse for something this abysmally bad. Awful, just awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 August, 2011, 07:31:36 PM
Xtro
Yeah, as far as schluck movies go, this was prity good.
By low budget sci-fi-horror standerds, it was probably one of the better examples.
But by movie standards it was a mess.
I still kinda liked it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 August, 2011, 07:46:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2011, 07:07:32 PM
Ridely Scott's Robin Hood. It really is indescribably bad. And I do not enjoy saying that- I like most of old Ridley's stuff, but this was a total mess. And it was the apparently better director's cut we watched too.


It's no wonder he's goin' back to the well that granted him his career. Hopefully his next efforts are more than an old crooner singing cover versions with a lyric prompter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2011, 08:15:35 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 22 August, 2011, 07:46:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2011, 07:07:32 PM
Ridely Scott's Robin Hood. It really is indescribably bad. And I do not enjoy saying that- I like most of old Ridley's stuff, but this was a total mess. And it was the apparently better director's cut we watched too.


It's no wonder he's goin' back to the well that granted him his career. Hopefully his next efforts are more than an old crooner singing cover versions with a lyric prompter.

Funnily enough, I did comment last night that it was no surprise his next work is a not-sequel to his best loved work. Funny he picked that now, just after a string of flops.
Although I will say that I love the extended cut of Kingdom of Heaven.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 August, 2011, 08:57:39 PM
The cosmetics/sonics/aesthetics of Blade Runner are relatively faultless and these are the main- I would say only- reasons admirers return to it. Certainly they're the only reasons I stuck with it since it's release and they're the elements that have been most influential in the sci-fi produced by the generation that followed.

Most of the enduring conversations/discussions concerning story/meaning are generally of a philosophical bent mostly because of it's connection to Dick and the source material rather than it being particulary developed dramatically in the film. The is he/isn't he a replicant has always been a red-herring and messy add-on that brings nothing to the film and more than likely reduces any message it has.





As far as Blade Runner goes I hope Scott recognises the film's biggest faults:

Virtually no pacing- for a slow film not having a sense of pace/rhythm is death. Believe me I like slow, measured films but BR is not a good example of one, Ridley Scott isn't Bill Forsyth and Blade Runner is no Local Hero. Takeshi Kitano films and 70's films like Electra Glide in Blue, Chinatown are excellent examples of the slow-burner.


Lacking in incident- stretching what feels like enough material for an 80/90 minute film out to 2 hours doesn't help.


Make the mood/opressivenes/aesthetics of the scenes an asset rather than a hindrance that weigh the film drama down too much in artistic voyeurism. Se7en is a nice example of the aesthetics being a character of the story rather than just being a nice picture that's more interesting than the drama.






One of the underused elements of Blade Runner was the animal factor -the sense of magical realism in the background akin to Night of the Hunter- Scott seemed to draw little out of this or exploit it in the narrative which is a pity since animals play such a major part in the book and had the most interesting dramatic possibilities concerning status/plot.










Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 August, 2011, 09:03:31 PM
Watched a handful over the weekend (I got mild food poisoning so was on the couch in between voms for most of the weekend).

Dreamscape, which I think I first saw mentioned on here so put it on my rental list. It's very dated, in that way that '80s movies just seem to be a different language to current movies. Still enjoyably cheesy though and with some nice moments (I liked the Harryhausen-esque effects in places and the ideas are very proto-Inception). Good fun.

The Road. Everyone was heading out clubbing for Amy's birthday but as I still felt awful a mate offered to stay in too and watch a movie with me. It was very thoughtful, and the sentiment cheered me up, even if his choice of movie didn't. Seriously, that's a real downer of a movie. I'd read the book and found it a bit of a chore, aside from the admittedly powerful writing the story just didn't get me the way I thought it should. With the movie missing that prose it just felt empty, even if it did look stunning in places. I've never been one to criticize a movie for being too much of a downer (and I've been known to wallow in some dark films when I'm feeling blue) but for some reason The Road just lacks something to me. I find the ending, as with the book,[spoiler] far too convenient and a bit of a cop-out too[/spoiler]. There was a lot right there though, like the brilliant Cave/Ellis score, some nice cinematography and a fantastic performance from Mortenson. Part of me suspects that the reason I don't like it is because it strikes some sort of nerve in me that I can't put my finger on, which would probably suggest it's actually brilliant. It confuses me basically.

Black Dynamite, which I'd seen and Amy hadn't. She fell asleep halfway through, and to be honest I didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as I did the first time, but it still has some great moments. For an 80 minute movie the joke definitely wears surprisingly thin though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 22 August, 2011, 09:06:20 PM
Quote from: Albion on 14 August, 2011, 03:13:07 PM
Next up is Yogi Bear, not expecting much from that either but I'll give it a go. It can't be as bad as the second Chipmunks movie........can it?

Oh yes. Yogi Bear is even worse than Chipmunks 2. Awful, just awful.
Still waiting for the "grandsons" to lend us Rango. I likes the look of that.

I have also recently seen Bob The Builder in 4D at Legoland. Much better than crappy Yogi and a lot shorter too.

I might watch a film for people over 5 soon too but I'm not sure I want to tax my brain too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 22 August, 2011, 09:34:12 PM
Yogi Bear is diabolical. Really. Eventhe lovely Anna Faris couldn't help me get through this one. Even my kids got bored and went to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 August, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors? No one had ever heard of them, they were never popular, and they are evidently evil, vicious bastards who deserved extinction. He should have stuck to Brachiosauruses. Maybe just one T-Rex.

Super.
Now there's a film that is very very wrong in many many ways. It's very funny one minute and then the tone shifts in very jarring fashions. It was good craic nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 August, 2011, 09:16:19 AM
QuoteSuper.
Now there's a film that is very very wrong in many many ways. It's very funny one minute and then the tone shifts in very jarring fashions. It was good craic nonetheless.

It's a strange on. My review should be going up in the next couple of days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 09:32:28 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 23 August, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors?

He didn't though, did he?  The ones in the book are clearly Deinonychus, the ones in the films more like a small Utahraptor (infamously only discovered during the film's production).  Velociraptor mongoliensis* was about the size of a large turkey, but Crichton liked the name.  Also, as all the animals in the book are actually a cross between dinosaurs/pterosaurs and frogs, species may be irrelevant...

And Deinonychus was always pretty popular round my way!



*The species name used in the book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 August, 2011, 12:32:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 09:32:28 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 23 August, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
Why oh why did John Hammond breed Velociraptors?

He didn't though, did he?  The ones in the book are clearly Deinonychus, the ones in the films more like a small Utahraptor (infamously only discovered during the film's production).  Velociraptor mongoliensis* was about the size of a large turkey, but Crichton liked the name.  Also, as all the animals in the book are actually a cross between dinosaurs/pterosaurs and frogs, species may be irrelevant...

And Deinonychus was always pretty popular round my way!



*The species name used in the book.
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.
Acording to some resorces I have read claim said Dromeosaur played a big role in the design of the Velocoraptors in JP.
What interested me was how in JPIII the Raptors had feathers, as if the production mean had payed attention to revolutions in China when some species where found with feathers. Doesn't stop the fact i HATE JPIII!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 01:17:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 August, 2011, 12:32:14 PM
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.

As far as I can remember, Utahraptor elements were indeed first recovered in the '70s by 'Dinosaur' Jim Jensen (along with just about every other North American dino), and thus these would be the type-specimen, but the genus wasn't named or described until a spate of finds in the early '90s. The story sticks in the mind because the species (I think there's only one) was to be named U. stephenspielbergus or something similarly cringeworthy, in return for research dosh and reciprocal publicity.  Mercifully I don't think this ever happened.

You may well be right about the Dromaeosaurus - still a good bit smaller than the ones in the film, though.

And welcome, Hawkmonger - I think I missed your intro thread last week.  I trust you're salivating at the prospect of the new Flesh trade as much as I am?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 August, 2011, 05:38:28 PM
Nerds.

The Bonds in order over a slow work week, and so far I've got through Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, Man With the Golden Gun, the Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker.
All terribly dated in technology, politics (not just the Cold War stuff, but DAF's pro-South African diamond miners plotline) and attitudes (such as Bond's "run along now, love"/slaps bottom "man talk"), but I'm more resolute than ever that Connery's Bond wasn't all that, if only because he never smoked a cigar while hang gliding as Moore's did.
The thing that strikes me about the films is that they tend to drag on a bit, especially OHMSS, which could have been much better if it was at least forty minutes shorter so stuff like the stock car race and bobsleigh showdown could make it seem like the ludicrous action movie it really is rather than an unconvincing espionage thriller.  I get the impression Diana Rigg isn't held up as one of the better Bond girls but I don't know why as she looks great and her response to being threatened isn't to call for Bond's help but to smash the end off a bottle and try to stab the nearest thug in the face with it, while the look on her face as she drives some crappy eurocar into the middle of a stock car rally is fantastic - not worried in the slightest beyond winning the race.  Lazenby is okay as Bond, but the lengthy middle of the film where he's impersonating someone else goes on forever and distracts from his decent turn.  Moonraker is still pretty good fun, but marks where the series had overtly lapsed into cartoonish self-parody, particularly in Jaws turning from a menace into a buffoonish foil.

Machete - not enough of the grindhouse sensibility to be a stone classic, but full of moments like Machete abseiling down a building via a still-living thug's intestines and some funny deaths.  Worth a watch at least once, but only if there's nowt else on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 August, 2011, 08:23:54 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 August, 2011, 01:17:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 August, 2011, 12:32:14 PM
Utahraptor's discovery was just about 22 years before Jurassic park was released.

And welcome, Hawkmonger - I think I missed your intro thread last week.  I trust you're salivating at the prospect of the new Flesh trade as much as I am?
Of cause!
Can't blooming wait!

I watched three episodes of Mystery science theator 300o today!
622-Angels revenge
903-Pumaman
319-war of the colossal beast
"Bless you mr Servo"!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 August, 2011, 11:45:26 AM
Watched Possession this morning, and it was pretty interesting. I was maybe a bit too dazed to get a great deal out of it though, as I did find it a bit of a slog. It's definitely a unique movie, and there's plenty in there to chew on, but I expected to be a bit more riveted than I was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:02:15 PM
We watched the final episode of Freaks and Geeks the other day.

Can't quite express how much I love that series, it's just amazing. Just so well observed, well acted and authentic. Laugh out loud funny, but so sweet and heartfelt. Unbelievable that it got pulled off the air before the season even ended. Bittersweet that there are no more episodes to watch, but perhaps it's for the best that it stands alone as a perfect TV series. The 'ending', while obviously left open for a continuation, actually works perfectly as it is, capturing that transient, melancholic sense of being a teenager and making your way in the world.

Highly recommended!

Keef - I know you're a fan of the Apatow movies - if you haven't seen F&G, you really, really need to see it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 August, 2011, 12:16:18 PM
There was the 'sequel' Undeclared, nowhere near as good but worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:20:48 PM
Yeah, I'm watching Undeclared next, and I've heard very mixed things about it so hopes aren't high. Someone told me that it follows some of the characters from F&G to college, but then I read somewhere that it's set in contemporary times rather than the 1980s period setting of F&G, so that doesn't really make sense...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 August, 2011, 12:21:48 PM
No, it's not related character/story-wise but some of the same actors are there that's the only continuity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 August, 2011, 02:26:22 PM
Quote from: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:02:15 PM
Keef - I know you're a fan of the Apatow movies - if you haven't seen F&G, you really, really need to see it!

Actually, I haven't! Something else to stick on the rental list, ta!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 02:37:13 PM
It isn't available on R2 DVD so you'll have to torrent it or track down the R1 box set I'm afraid!

Well worth the hassle though - I'm sure you'll love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 August, 2011, 02:47:21 PM
Or watch it all on youtube.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 25 August, 2011, 02:59:26 PM
F&G is really great. I can't believe I haven't watched any of it in years. I'll have to put that right and dust off the box set.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 25 August, 2011, 03:55:10 PM
The Inbetweeners... very good.

Watched The Smurfs last week with the son and found it surprisingly not rubbish!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 August, 2011, 06:17:17 PM
The Inbetweeners Movie, which was superb. Much laughter, great characters, genuinely touching at times (especially with regard to Jay and the very lovely Jane) and just the right level of absurdity. I sincerely hope they leave it there, but at the same time i demand a sequel. Perhaps Jay and Neil to go visit the others in their first term at university?
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 06:48:53 PM
I've yet to see the film, but in an interview with all four of the guys I heard the other day, three of them seemed to have a 'wait and see' attitude, but the guy that plays Jay - who, it must be said came across as a little spiky throughout - was pretty adamant that he won't be doing any more Inbetweeners, ever.

I'm sure they'll end up doing more, though - that film is making silly money at the box office.

I'm sure I'll end up seeing it at some point, but I do find The Inbetweeners a bit broad for my tastes, I prefer my comedy to have a little more subtlety these days. Sometimes implying or hinting at something is actually funnier than showing it explicitly, or repeating the joke again to really hammer it home. I think it would be a much better show if the writers showed a bit more restraint, but then I guess going for the big laugh every time is what has made it so popular. For it's target audience, thouh - it's perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 August, 2011, 07:03:05 PM
Although im really quite old school comedy, Dad's army, Open all hours, sorry!, Last of the summer wine (Especialy the Compo and Cleggy years) ETC, The Inbetweeners is rediculously funny.
Along with Outnumbered, The IT crowd, and The big Bang theory it is perhaps amongst the few modern comedy's I would happely watch anytime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 August, 2011, 01:51:55 AM
THE PARENT TRAP - the one from around a dozen years ago with Lindsay Lohan and Dennis Quad and one of the Richardson girls (possibly the one that died recently, I'm not sure).

Either way, it's actually pretty enjoyable. Lohan is a precocious young talent, Dennis Quaid really should be more famous than he is,  and the movie doesn't have any of the false "Oooh they break up twenty minutes before the end" crap, it all follows nicely and logically*.



* Once you accept that loving parents can split up twins and never let them know of each others existence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 August, 2011, 11:09:07 AM
Quotebut I'm more resolute than ever that Connery's Bond wasn't all that

Absolutely agree with you on that.

The Host - again we're late to the party. Bloody hell this was a great movie. I now want to steal the trick of [spoiler]revealing your monster in an offhand way at the beginning of the first act[/spoiler] for something I witre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 August, 2011, 12:18:09 PM
Swamp Shark

Bought for three quid from tesco, along with MONSTERWOLF, i wasnt expecting much. Ninety minutes later, id had a fantastic ninety minutes in the company of a great cast, a fun story, some scary bits, some tolerable cgi and practical effects and a brilliant cajun soundtrack. A real surprise, top stuff.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 27 August, 2011, 12:24:48 PM
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane.
Well!
Thought this would just be another average "teens go on a weekend away to get slaughtered one by one by some sadistic killer" movie. It WAS, of course, but a little bit more as well. The ending really caught me off guard, completely so,and turned a ho-hum "seen it all before" movie into something just that little bit different. I ended up really enjoying this one. And Amber Heard is awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 27 August, 2011, 12:46:55 PM
Columbo - Prescription: Murder

One of the original pilot tv movies

I had the pleasure last year of seeing the theatre version with Dirk (Face) Benedict playing the part of Peter Flak playing the part of Columbo. Great stuff
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 August, 2011, 01:36:23 PM
Manimal- Pilot movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2011, 01:38:58 AM
In my Bond marathon I've reached Licence To Kill, the gritty and more realistic Bond movie in which Bond does wheelies in an oil rig, hijacks planes in mid-air using a helicopter, fights ninjas, and narrowly avoids being shot in the face by a laser hidden in a camera.
Like a lot of the 1980s Bonds, the action sequences in this have become retroactively more impressive because of the lack of CGI and occasionally journeyman direction that lets it sink in just how epic some of what goes on actually is, like the ludicrously large explosions at the end that you realise someone actually made happen in real life rather than on a computer in post production.
I sort of see why people didn't take to Dalton's version of the character as he plays it quite cold, though this is deliberate, I think, and it otherwise can't all be laid at his door as there was clearly a paradigm shift in the way the films were made that happened when he took over the lead.  There's the odd moment when he really nails it for me, like the end of LTK when Bond has killed the baddie and he just slumps, and it becomes clear from Dalton's expression that the character takes no pleasure in it and you remember earlier in the film when there's a reference to his late wife and how he never found any fulfillment when he killed Blofeld for her murder in Diamonds Are Forever and For Your Eyes Only, and in fact he actually dissuades someone from setting out on revenge in the latter - Dalton plays it at the final hurdle as a man who already knows revenge is hollow and has simply done what needed to be done according to his own brutal and practical view of the world, but it's a brief and passing moment before the facade goes back up when he's rejoined by his latest bedwarmer.  There are other little touches, especially the constant re-use of "Universal Exports" to reinforce that this is a man playing a carefully-crafted and maintained character at all times just so he can better go about his business of killing people and the James Bond characters meet is a bluff on them but also a bluff on the audience, as the whole premise of Licence To Kill is that Bond goes rogue seeking revenge when he's more likely just seeing an end to the job he started.
But it's also a damn good mid-80s actioner in its own right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 28 August, 2011, 01:55:56 PM
At the piccies, watched and enjoyed Rise of the planet of the apes ....... and last night on dvd, Dawn of the Dead '78 (again)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 28 August, 2011, 10:49:11 PM
Conan the barbarian. I've tried slamming my head on the key board until something interesting to be said about this movie would come out. It didnt work. I then tried slamming my head on my desk hoping to forget the last 112 minutes of my life (although it's more like 140 now, I've literally just come back from the cinema). It didnt work.
However, a couple of days before this I had the pleasure of seeing rise OF THE planet OF THE apes.
I thought that was great, especially [spoiler] The little snippets we saw on various tv screens about a mission to the dark side of mars in a ship called icarus (the ship from the original) had gotten lost, and a cleverly edited clip of Charlton Heston in a space station or something, obviously just edited stock footage of him. These were blink and miss 'em moments though.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2011, 11:27:05 PM
Just watched Going To Pieces - The Rise And Fall of The Slasher Movie, wasn't a brilliant documentary and most of the insights and anecdotes will be pretty familiar if you're already a big fan of horror, but was pretty good fun as a bit of a nostalgia trip through stabby movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 29 August, 2011, 12:58:40 AM
Wolfhound, a pretty entertaining Russian fantasy effort which could make for a half decent entry in the 100 movies starting with W blog. Nothing much unexpected happens (young boy sees his whole village massacred, is sold into slavery, grows up to be hard as nails with a burning sense of what's right and comes looking for the bastards responsible) but it's done with fair amount of verve and ingenuity and the central relationship between our man and the inevitable princess works well enough to offset some ropy CGI backgrounds.

Probably better than the new Conan and, at two quid from Fopp, I was able to justify buying a copy on the grounds that it was cheaper than renting it.

Oh, and he has a pet bat, but it's not really like Beastmaster or anything.

During the week  I caught Last Year at Marienbad, a film so willfully open to interpretation that interpretation should be wary of going off with something so desperate. Nothing is properly explained, multiple potential histories emerge. Visually it alternates between long shots of elegant hallways receding away into the distance, mirrored salons and uncomfortable tableaux vivants. Scenes are repeated from different perspectives; present and possible pasts are deliberately confused; one incident is described in voiceover while another unfolds on screen only for the first to be played out later; narration obscures what characters are saying and there are frequent scenes where it seems that not all the characters are aware of each others presence.
After putting all that down, it sounds great to me. Sadly, the cumulative effect was one of overwhelming tedium.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 August, 2011, 11:32:28 AM
Captain America: The first Avenger
It's not as funny as the 99 movie, but it's probably one of the best marvel movies I have ever seen [spoiler](That can easily be achieved by not having the Director of Evil Dead introduce a dance scene with an emo Peter parker)[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 August, 2011, 04:50:18 PM
Cowboys and Aliens, which is neither particularly good nor particularly bad, it just sort of exists.  If it had jammed in a bunch of cliches about cowboys and/or aliens in a Silverado fashion, it might have been a great romp, but as it is it comes off as a competently made SyFy movie from back when SyFy weren't just making shit like Piranhaconda and pretending it was supposed to be bad.  That probably sounds harsh but it's not meant to be - as I say, it's neither bad nor good and you'd have to be a particularly grumpy and/or snobby sod to begrudge it for moseying on into the cinema and keeping you occupied for an hour and a bit.  One thing it gets right in my book is not showing the cowboys having steampunk technology, which has worn out its welcome for me, but again this feeds back into the whole thing being unexceptional in any particular area of production.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 29 August, 2011, 10:17:05 PM
MONSTERWOLF

Another three quid movie from tesco and the syfy channel. Nasty oil people headed by star trek's hologram doctor reawaken a vengeful native american spirit: a massive wolluff that then kills everyone connected to the company, manifesting as either vaguely competent cgi or a comedy puppethead with snaggle teeth. Mixed-parentage lawyer girl, recently returned to louisiana to work for the oil people has to work out where her allegiances lie, before the woolluff kills everyone she loves.

Again, a likeable cast, a not too shit script and a couple of directorial decisions- including a blatantly budget saving animated segment- render it nowhere near as bad as you'd expect.

Connossieurs of not-very-special effects will enjoy the woolluff. I did.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 29 August, 2011, 10:27:44 PM
Saw The Inbetweeners Movie this afternoon and found it to be very entertaining. Maybe two episodes worth of jokes across three episodes running time, which is pretty good going when they have to sustain the plot for feature length.

Yesterday afternoon, I didn't switch over while Charlies Angels: Full Throttle was on. I find these films silly and fun. They take the right approach to unconvincing CGI in action movies, playing up the absurdity of it rather than trying to fake realism. NB I don't really have anything against CGI in action movies, it's the "unconvincing" part I'm opposed to.

Also, the Angels look nice in outfits.

Something I forgot to mention about Wolfhound. He is so hard, he always takes a minute to tie his hair back before getting stuck into the battle, safe in the knowledge that nobody will try to fuck him up until he looks his best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 August, 2011, 01:46:53 AM
Your battle with the guards was magnificent. Your skill is extra-ordinary
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bhuna on 30 August, 2011, 12:29:17 PM
Watched 'Watchmen' yesterday. Now there's three and a half hours of my life I'll never get back  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 August, 2011, 01:01:48 PM
Quote
Licence To Kill - I'm a huge fan of this. I like the way it applies epic Bond film values to what is essentially a television show problem.

I would have loved to have seen more of Dalton. It's often little bits of mime that show the bext bits of Bond (even Brosnan mananges a couple of nice silent tics in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies)

Strangely, it's not the ludicrous action that jars with the "gritty and realistic" bit of this for me, it's the use of women. They are written as if they belong in an entirely different movie altogether and I just cringe with embarassment especially in the coda.  Lupe, in particular, has the least going on inside her head of *any* female character ina Bond movie. No, really. 

And as mentioned, they do drop the ball on a couple of the action sequences (the shark and the warehouse could be much better) but the helicopter fishing for plane, the barefoot waterskiing escape and the completely OTT oil tankers exploding at the end more than make up for it.

The villains, despite the fact you could accuse them of being Miami Vice knock offs, are very funny - Robert Davi has some great lines.  And my hasn't Bencio Del Toro eaten some pies since making this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 August, 2011, 03:33:56 PM
I'd argue Rosie Carver, Kissy Suzuki or Mary Goodnight were the most anemic Bond girls for various reasons, but Lupe is supposed to be pretty vacuous as she serves little purpose in the story beyond ultimately being second choice to Bouvier - who admittedly isn't particularly interesting either - and on that level she's functional as a plot device.  Though fair point as a character not so much.
It's only now I've hit the Brosnan era that I find the women to be suspiciously easy faced with Bond's charms, though at this stage the films were a little more involved in their characters so perhaps it's just that "Bond shags X girl because he is Bond" isn't a convincing argument anymore, but we get that rationale with pretty much every Bond conquest from thence onward up until Casino Royale showed him putting in a bit more effort to get his oats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 August, 2011, 12:29:29 PM
Oh I'd forgotten about Mary Goodnight. Point conceded. 

Anyway, one welcome change that came with Brosnan was the rejuvination of the opening titles.  Whether you like the songs or not is an entirely other debate but the Maurice Binder stuff had descended into a pale rip off of himself. 

But with Goldeneye and Die Another Day we get brilliant little pieces of storytelling nehind the titles.  Goldeneye in particular shows the Soviet Union coming crashing down by having scantilly clad models take chunks out of statues of Stalin and Lennin while weilding the tools of soviet industry. Just a pity about Tina Turner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 31 August, 2011, 12:42:07 PM
Watched The Troll Hunter at the weekend. It's another Blair Witch/Cloverfield handy-cam mockumentary featuring a group of young film students investigating, initially, illegal bear hunting in Norway.

There's very little in the way of characterisation which is traded off for a more realistic and naturalistic style. Now there has been a few of these handycam films, you start to notice that similar techniques are used such as the 'night vision reveal', and you sometimes think "why is he still filming? RUN!" but if you can suspend your disbelief slightly, it's very enjoyable.

The special effects are great and the Trolls all look distinctive and believable, despite the fact that they also look like they've stepped out of the pages of a story book. Particularly impressive is [spoiler]a battle with an absolutely enormous Troll in the frozen moors[/spoiler].

Definitely recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2011, 01:38:01 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 August, 2011, 12:29:29 PMAnyway, one welcome change that came with Brosnan was the rejuvination of the opening titles.

Fair point, but in Binder's defence the opening credits were always just some sort of visual stuff happening rather than something actually related to the rest of the film - don't get me wrong, there's never ever a bad reason to have a naked girl using a trampoline in your film, but what this has to do with the story for Spy Who Loved Me is anyone's guess.

I didn't mind Tina Turner's theme as much as Madonna's, which was so terrible that if you watch the opening credits of Die Another Day it actually looks like the Koreans are torturing Bond by making him listen to it for 14 months.

The Fast And The Furious I had never watched until now because I dismissed it as a male fantasy, and it pretty much is just that.  I can't remember the names of a single character mere hours removed from viewing but the basic plot is that Smolder Bluebadge is an undercover cop with greasy hair who infiltrates the street-racing gang of Drives Fastington (Vin Diesel) and they work out their daddy issues by driving really fast until someone crashes and then they exchange a bromance look and go their separate ways.  It's not complicated to the point that Speed Racer owes it a huge visual and storytelling debt, though for me the biggest sticking point wasn't the stupidity of the plot or the thin characters but the fact that everything hinges on a racing event featuring a different ethnicity of driver in every car that is called Race Wars, which is unfortunate, but not deliberate, I think, because it's that kind of flick.
Dumb, but oddly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:14:36 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 31 August, 2011, 12:42:07 PM

Particularly impressive is [spoiler]a battle with an absolutely enormous Troll in the frozen moors[/spoiler].


How is that a spoiler?

"Oh, I'm not going to bother watching Trollhunter now, I already know they fight one in it so there's no point"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 06 September, 2011, 02:20:23 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:14:36 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 31 August, 2011, 12:42:07 PM

Particularly impressive is [spoiler]a battle with an absolutely enormous Troll in the frozen moors[/spoiler].


How is that a spoiler?

"Oh, I'm not going to bother watching Trollhunter now, I already know they fight one in it so there's no point"

Better safe than sorry. Relax.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:25:12 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 06 September, 2011, 02:20:23 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:14:36 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 31 August, 2011, 12:42:07 PM

Particularly impressive is [spoiler]a battle with an absolutely enormous Troll in the frozen moors[/spoiler].


How is that a spoiler?

"Oh, I'm not going to bother watching Trollhunter now, I already know they fight one in it so there's no point"

Better safe than sorry. Relax.

I am relaxed, I was gently taking the piss out of you for over-zealous - but comedically pleasing - adherence to Forum conventions
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 06 September, 2011, 03:45:05 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:25:12 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 06 September, 2011, 02:20:23 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 06 September, 2011, 02:14:36 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 31 August, 2011, 12:42:07 PM

Particularly impressive is [spoiler]a battle with an absolutely enormous Troll in the frozen moors[/spoiler].


How is that a spoiler?

"Oh, I'm not going to bother watching Trollhunter now, I already know they fight one in it so there's no point"

Better safe than sorry. Relax.

I am relaxed, I was gently taking the piss out of you for over-zealous - but comedically pleasing - adherence to Forum conventions

No bother. The only reason I spoilered it was because it's the final scene and it sort of builds to it. Didn't want to ruin it for anyone.

Anyway, it's really good.

Watched Attack the Block this weekend and that's another winner. Laaahdan kiddie-gangsters take on aliens in a council block of flats.

Funny and action packed. The kids seem like despicable little thugs at first, but as the film goes on and you get to know them, you start to sympathise with them, and then root for them.

And the music is bare good innit. You feelin' me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 06 September, 2011, 03:58:10 PM
Attack The Block was a very good, well paced & acted film. Only gripe, [spoiler]it was all wound up a little too neatly & quickly at the end.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 September, 2011, 10:58:33 PM
Just watched Escape From Alcatraz, for the very first time, after reading up about 'great escapes' at work the other day and becoming fascinated with how they did it. What a great movie! Barring a couple of niggly bits where siegel plays a bit fast and loose with it (especially the fake head/ here comes the guard/ oh its really clint bit) it's seemingly pretty close to what happened. Except they probably drowned and there were no chrysanthemums.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 September, 2011, 10:02:05 AM
I once tried to do that welding trick with coin-scrapings and matches - it doesn't work!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 September, 2011, 10:42:51 AM
QuoteWatched Attack the Block this weekend and that's another winner. Laaahdan kiddie-gangsters take on aliens in a council block of flats.

Funny and action packed. The kids seem like despicable little thugs at first, but as the film goes on and you get to know them, you start to sympathise with them, and then root for them.

And the music is bare good innit. You feelin' me?

Really liked that film, a real shame it didn't do better at the box office - hopefully it will find a bigger audience on DVD/BD/VoD. I've heard so many people dismiss it simply because "the main characters were horrible thugs and I wanted them to die", which I find quite shocking and reactionary. As if the audience is never asked to sympathise with or root for with a morally ambiguous protagonist (Snake Plissken, Dirty Harry, Judge Dredd). My theory is that because AtB feels quite authentic in it's portrayal of the youth gang, the characters perhaps feel a little too close to home which brought people's prejudices into play, and sadly a lot of them couldn't get over that to enjoy the film.

I thought it did a very good job of presenting the flawed 'heroes', with perhaps one or two moments where it felt a little like an apology (in particular [spoiler]the moment when one character says of the mugging at the start of the film "We were more scared than you", [/spoiler]which didn't ring true), and possibly [spoiler]the build up to the finale, where Brewis gets 'accepted' by the gang.[/spoiler] Overall it didn't cop out and make them too cuddly or likable, which I admired. And besides, the [spoiler]one character who we clearly are supposed to root for - Moses - had a very satisfying story arc. While the other gang members will probably revert to their previous lifestyle after the events of the film, there is no doubt that Moses makes the right decision, takes responsibility for his actions, and comes out of the film a man rather than a boy.[/spoiler]

Great film, looking forward to getting my hands on the Blu Ray - I'm sure Mr Cornish has stuffed it full of extras. And yes, the soundtrack is superb - like a blend of 50s alien invasion movie, John Carpenter soundtrack, and bassy dubstep. Been listening to it quite a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 08 September, 2011, 09:07:23 AM
Quote from: radiator on 07 September, 2011, 10:42:51 AM

Really liked that film, a real shame it didn't do better at the box office - hopefully it will find a bigger audience on DVD/BD/VoD. I've heard so many people dismiss it simply because "the main characters were horrible thugs and I wanted them to die", which I find quite shocking and reactionary. As if the audience is never asked to sympathise with or root for with a morally ambiguous protagonist (Snake Plissken, Dirty Harry, Judge Dredd). My theory is that because AtB feels quite authentic in it's portrayal of the youth gang, the characters perhaps feel a little too close to home which brought people's prejudices into play, and sadly a lot of them couldn't get over that to enjoy the film.


"Shocking and reactionary"?

Not really. Most normal people don't really like the "type" of characters in ATB, because they are rather too close to the tooth-sucking, slang-talking, illiterate, feral halfwits that they encounter all too often in their day-to-day lives, most of whom I'd quite happily watch being killed by aliens.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 September, 2011, 09:10:18 AM
I rest my case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 08 September, 2011, 09:50:22 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 September, 2011, 09:10:18 AM
I rest my case.

Not really. You're just lazy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 September, 2011, 11:50:30 AM
Quote from: brendan1 on 08 September, 2011, 09:50:22 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 September, 2011, 09:10:18 AM
I rest my case.

Not really. You're just lazy.

You sounds like a nice guy(!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 September, 2011, 12:08:09 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 08 September, 2011, 09:50:22 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 September, 2011, 09:10:18 AM
I rest my case.

Not really. You're just lazy.

Yes, it really was quite lazy to write a polite, intelligent and considered reply outlining his thoughts, rather than making a glib, ignorant and reactionary Daily Mail style comment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 08 September, 2011, 12:19:15 PM
I can confirm Troll Hunter is a film worth watching. Better than Cloverfield, more akin to Blair Witch. The Trolls are a nice touch. It's almost like a new genre in itself. Thumbs up from me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 September, 2011, 12:44:37 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 September, 2011, 10:42:51 AMI've heard so many people dismiss it simply because "the main characters were horrible thugs and I wanted them to die", which I find quite shocking and reactionary.

We've had twelve Friday the 13th movies made on the assumption that audiences want to see kids get skewered with a swordfish by the mentally disabled - it might be pissing in the wind to hope that a film full of ASBO yobs would be viewed in a different light.

Although I never understood why we're supposed to take delight in the deaths of the cast of Starship Troopers, so what do I know?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2011, 08:00:33 PM
I was always under the impresion that the slasher genre was only intended to induce shock (or very least surprise) as apposed to develope a bond between the viewer and the charactors.
Having seen most of the 13th films (I have yet to watch the remake, dont have high hope's for it) I would say that the Nightmare on Elm street films and Pumpkinhead where far superior supernatural thrillers, with predator (Yes, I do count it as a slasher film) toping the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 September, 2011, 10:55:14 PM
The Friday the 13th remake is not good.  it stars on of them off Supernatural, but it's not even as good as most of the bad episodes of Supernatural.

Slasher flicks do indeed trade in shock value, but they still need lead characters and once you have leads you have an investment in how things turn out.  In theory, anyway.  I don't think anyone believes that people were watching the Elm Street/13th flicks for any reason other than their murderous antagonists and the increasingly inventive ways they went about killing teenagers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 September, 2011, 11:13:36 PM
I find it quite a strange attitude. Does it follow that you wouldn't watch Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from the New York or The Warriors as the heroes are all criminals?

Personally, I thought Attack the Block was great and what it brings to my misty mind's eye is something like Stand By Me (group of kids forced to stick together and confront the way their lives are going while having a fun adventure) but more realistic. The setting was one of the things that made it stand out too. Recognisable British kids as opposed to the American variants of spoilt rich kids, smouldering emo teens, comical stoners or mouthy gangbangers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 September, 2011, 11:49:42 PM
Exactly. I was going to mention The Warriors. Quadrophenia too. I suppose the 'feral' youths in those films are acceptable because they wear fruity 1970s costumes or 60s clobber and the scenes of brutal gang violence are bathed in cosy nostalgia?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 September, 2011, 11:59:30 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 08 September, 2011, 11:13:36 PM
I find it quite a strange attitude. Does it follow that you wouldn't watch Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from the New York or The Warriors as the heroes are all criminals?

Well, apart from Batman or Ace Ventura you don't watch movies just because of characters, you watch them for the story in which those characters appear.  In theory I shouldn't like Goodfellas because everyone in it is a total dick, but the story isn't about them being dicks, it's about how their being dicks is their undoing.  Context is everything: the Warriors are scumbags, for instance, but they're also victims of circumstance and the underdogs in the movie's story, making them sympathetic.  Snake Pliskin is a terrible human being, but his quest is a worthy one, his foes much worse than he is, so while he's not entirely sympathetic in Escape From New York (his only motivation is self-preservation, after all), you're still invested in his story and hope he succeeds.
Of course, these are good movies that you mention - if you'd only mentioned shit movies, people would likely have pointed at unsympathetic main characters as part of the films' problems.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 September, 2011, 12:00:13 AM
Growing up I never watched films like 'the Goonies' cos I hated the kids, they were too 'nice', cocky, talkin' shite most of the time and the worst thing about 'Temple of Doom' was Short-Round, cocky little fuckers like that made me cringe back then. E.T. had a great and measured approach to the young 'uns but I just about made it to teen-fest 'Back to the Future'...if it hadn't been for Doc Brown...

Give me cynical middle-aged men any day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 September, 2011, 12:19:47 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 08 September, 2011, 11:59:30 PM
Snake Pliskin is a terrible human being, but his quest is a worthy one, his foes much worse than he is, so while he's not entirely sympathetic in Escape From New York


Agreed, I've said it before, if the foe is worse than the protagonist, character-nastiness can be a sliding scale for all personae in a film. Plissken, his cynicism/lack of respect for all things except himself is still the better alternative for the viewer than the Duke of New York. This is something the producers of Dredd '95 always seemed to miss/avoid. It was a trope of many films in the past -film noir et al.- that had somehow fallen-down-the-back-of-the-sofa during the atrocious 80's and irregularly pops-back-up.

People can be easily led into getting behind a questionable protagonist and with a character like Dredd pulling the old switcheroo on the audiences' expectations of what they find acceptable can be interesting. Unfortunately we've yet to see somone -other than Wagner in the comics- really exploit this vital element of how Dredd as a character and story-device can function in a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 September, 2011, 09:33:03 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 08 September, 2011, 11:13:36 PM
I find it quite a strange attitude. Does it follow that you wouldn't watch Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from the New York or The Warriors as the heroes are all criminals?

Personally, I thought Attack the Block was great and what it brings to my misty mind's eye is something like Stand By Me (group of kids forced to stick together and confront the way their lives are going while having a fun adventure) but more realistic. The setting was one of the things that made it stand out too. Recognisable British kids as opposed to the American variants of spoilt rich kids, smouldering emo teens, comical stoners or mouthy gangbangers.

I can relate to the kids in The Goonies or Stand By Me, because they seemed vaguely familiar to me.

However, I've occasionally sat on the top deck of a South London bus - Not often, thankfully - and the tooth-sucking retards garing sullenly at me over the shit, tinny, r&b racket emanating from a mobile phone rather depress me, and therefore a film featuring an entire cast of these dead-eyed dimwits doesn't appeal, unless I can watch them all get killed.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 September, 2011, 11:22:46 PM
The Last Broadcast

Oh, i cant be bothered. Just utter drivel. Badly conceived, badly made, laughable bollocks, with a voice over that makes you want to hurl rocks at the screen. No wonder it only magically appeared after the infinitely superior Blair Witch Project had broken records.

Some people apparently think this is the 'better' film. I think those people shouldnt ever be allowed to watch a film again.

Just shit. In every way.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2011, 09:13:06 AM
Well, I watched the first 20 minutes of Time Crimes before the disc become unreadable. I don't blame lovefilm, it's surprisingly rare that it happens and they'll send you out a replacement and an extra film as soon as you report it. Pretty damn frustrating though, I was getting right into it! Also, if you treat a DVD with respect and care then there isn't really any reason it should ever become scratched, some folks are just morons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 10 September, 2011, 01:00:03 PM
please dont start to hurl things at me, its not something I'd usually watch but as I'm visiting the parents we decided to take in a family movie and watched Zoo Keeper.  I feel bad about it but i haven't laughed so much at the cinema in a long time, maybe it was because i was with the family (they live 3000kms away so i dont see them often).  Very predictable but less pee and poo jokes than i'd thought there'd be and some fairly funny slapstick, the gorilla ruled.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 10 September, 2011, 03:59:14 PM
Re-watched Steamboy the other day with my pal and his little lad, who enjoyed every minute of it.

I see a LOT of negative, super-nitpicky crap talked about this movie, but it's bloody brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 September, 2011, 06:00:32 PM
QuoteHowever, I've occasionally sat on the top deck of a South London bus - Not often, thankfully - and the tooth-sucking retards garing sullenly at me over the shit, tinny, r&b racket emanating from a mobile phone rather depress me, and therefore a film featuring an entire cast of these dead-eyed dimwits doesn't appeal, unless I can watch them all get killed.

What a thoroughly unpleasant sentiment.  It looks like the ignore files were also lost in the server move.  Back in you go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 11 September, 2011, 05:20:46 PM
Another kids film for us......Legend of the Guardians.

I was expecting to hate this computer animated tale of owl armies battling each other but to my surprise I liked it. It was like Star Wars and Lord of the rings....with owls.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2011, 05:35:27 PM
KARATE KID with Jackie Chan.

I actually enjoyed this despite the annoying little Will Smith clone running around. A bit too mushy; it should have just stuck to bullies plus kung fu and lost the love interest for the 12 year old leads.

Needless to say that when Chan struts his stuff it is a great scene but it is only ONE scene.  I could also have done with him slapping down the bad sensei even though I guess the point was that he doesn't do Kung Fu to fight.

Oh and the routine with the jacket and it's pay off is inspired.


(Modified to spell Jackie Chan correctly. Jakie Chan would be in an entirely different (but also entertaining movie - The Buckfast Boy)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2011, 08:05:30 PM
I'm a die hard fan of the original so I was a bit hesitant about the remake with Chan. But to my surprise I found it stood by itself as a decent movie. Sadly I can concern that we do live in a world where twelve year olds take there relationships to seriously, but putting that aside it was a dream come the Jackie having a bunch of scummy bullies hit each other. XD Classic Chan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 September, 2011, 10:28:41 PM
Hatchet.

What we have here is a man who wishes they still made Friday the 13th films like they used to, teaming up with Kane Hodder- a man who has in the past demonstrated a worrying degree of paternal demand about the character of Jason Voorhees (a character he played multiple times on screen, but notably not in the good ones) and together making what's basically an alt.world F13, where Jason looks as good as he did at the end of part one/ part two (sans bag on head) and goes through the motions of offing the cast in ways the original movies couldnt do.

A decade is a long time in practical effects, and here Hodder gets to wallow in some oldskool non-cgi slaughter, and is clearly having a whale of a time in his full bodysuit of hilarious Joseph Merrick-inspired prosthetics.

It's set on the bayou, and the swamp is as good a location as any if you're trying to recall Camp Crystal Lake and at the same time be a thousand miles away.

Hodder plays Victor Crowley- who is Jason (no more needs to be said) and also Crowley's dad in flashback, which must have pleased him no end. Robert England (Freddy) has a brief cameo at the start, and Tony Todd (Candyman/ Final Destination) pops his head out of a door and mugs for the camera a bit.

Quite a lot of tits are shown, the cast do their best to highlight the script's direct referencing of various Friday movies (I got seven laughs out of this, but my days of being a True Fan are well past), and there's some quality grue. However it's all a bit lighthearted and knowing for my taste, and while it never succumbs too much to parody, it does get close on occasion. If they'd've stuck a mask on Victor, it would have been a far better F13 movie than the boring remake, and i'll be picking up Hatchet 2 this week.

It only cost me £3 from HMV too. Worth it for the special features and the lengths the director went to indulge Hodder when filming. I have noticed the sequel shares the same writer/director, which automatically loses it points as a Friday homage.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 September, 2011, 11:08:21 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 September, 2011, 10:28:41 PMbut notably not in the good ones

Gonna ask what F13s you rate, as I'm wondering if I'm the only one reckoned Freddy/Jason was a bag of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 September, 2011, 07:01:44 AM
I would take Fredy vs. Jason over the F13 remake anyday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 09:12:27 AM
Well, that's the question isnt it. When i was 14/15 and had just discovered a nearby newsagent that sold Fangoria, the F13 movies were obviously very important to me. No one ever claimed they were 'good films', but to be honest, being 'good' isnt what they're about. You have to be of a certain mindset to even tolerate them, and even now a damn good way to get chucked out of my house is to sneer at my dvd collection and say 'neuh, you have friday the thirteenth films but i dont see goodfellas/ the godfather/ lord of the rings/ whatever.'

Some are better than others. The original is as close as they came to actually frightening, but time hasnt been kind and it now seems very second-rate. Part 2 is a quickie cash-in with much of what made the first so entertaining taken out. Part 3 is probably the leanest, most oiled-up and ready to rock of them all. Even 'flat', the 3D is hilariously effective and its still the benchmark by which i judge 3D movies. Part 4 is notable because they killed jason off (ha ha) and for the still censored in the uk climactic slide down a machete.

Part 5 tries to be funny, but isnt (not a criticism, none of them are) and does at least try something different within its narrow remit, but only inasmuch as it jettisons the one character people were willing to pay to see.

Jason Lives! is my favourite, and is still the one i watch most- entirely due to its marvellous pre-credits sequence, where it gets all postmodern and sets Jase up as a hero in the mysogenistic Bond mode. Audacious use of a grave, too, as he was 'cremated'- or so we were told last time. Jason Lives! is largely rubbish in all other respects however, but C J Graham's Jason is probably my favourite.

Then it all goes wrong for a while, Part 7 is a mess, adding psychic powers to the mix and giving Jason a typically dreadful John Carl Buechler makeup job. He directs as well, and it's not pretty.

Part 8 (takes manhattan/ does dallas/ on the love boat/ goes to vancouver) is very boring for much of its length, and is (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 09:28:55 AM
(cont) notable only in my house because my wife is apparently in it, but in eleven years of knowing her, we've never checked.

Jason Goes To Hell again plays with the form, trying to be an entirely different movie with Jason possessing people. It doesnt work at all, and its offputting so far into a franchise to change the rules so badly and with little thought. Jason X is massively fun, but is hamstrung by the 'new' Jason and an 80s Dr Who aesthetic. Which brings us to Freddy Vs Jason- a movie that should tick lots of boxes, but misses every one, winking at the audience all the way and never once considering that what they were making was effectively 'scarface vs bob monkhouse'. Freddy had become a cuddly, bumbling gagster by this point, and jason was still an unstoppable killing machine. It was never going to work. And the remake is, as ive said, just boring.

None of them are 'good'. Of the lot, the remake is the most competent and stylish, but it fails dismally because the maniac in the woods ceased to be scary once blair witch showed how it should be done. If they'd've taken that approach, we may have had a genuinely terrifying film. As it is, Jason was shown to be an anachronism; a reminder of more innocent days when we were scared of being away from our parents and home comforts, and people who were 'different' were threatening.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 12 September, 2011, 10:40:19 AM
It's been a long time since I last saw it, but doesn't Jason Takes Manhattan end with him being covered in toxic waste and being somehow changed back into a little boy? How did they get round that in the next film or did they just not bother?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 11:15:58 AM
They just didnt bother. I suppose you could argue that many of the Fridays exist in parallel universes- certainly post part four, or five. (six where he wasnt cremated, seven where psychic powers exist, nine where he didnt get turned back into a child, jason x where he didnt go to hell, fvsj where dream demons are real, and the remake where none of the others happened), but you'd have to be mad to do so.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 12 September, 2011, 11:26:34 AM
I used to absolutely LOVE the Friday the 13th films. To the extent where I drew my own comic book adaption of Jason Lives. (I only got as far as doing a 4 page comic based on the intro). I've seen all of them and went to the cinema to see Freddy vs Jason, just for old times sake. I enjoyed it on a nostalgic level I suppose but it didn't make me want to see any more.

I haven't seen any of them for a while but the last time I watched one (Part 3, in 3D on Channel 4), I found it very boring.

Just like He-Man, Transformers and Findus crispy pancakes, the Friday the 13th films are an 80's phenomenon that I've simply grown out of. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 12:14:13 PM
I agree entirely, and i find them a chore to watch beyond a gleeful 'fastforwarding to the effects' evening of gore. That said, in principle i love them intensely, and would happily see the series continue past the point where it stalled at the crap remake. If movies like Hatchet, Baghead and Backwoods Maniac (or whatever its called) can still get made and released, what is thete to stop whoever owns the rights ignoring the last one and making 'the thirteenth friday'? But if they do, i want a credit for that title.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 September, 2011, 12:41:42 PM
I really don't undferstand this - you say they're not good films and they're a chore to watch and yet you love them intensely - as old scifi robots used to say - DOES NOT COMPUTE. I can understand loving a film that isn't technically good, according to generally accepted film criticism, but only if you enjoy watching it. If it's crap AND not enjoyable to watch, what's to love?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 01:05:36 PM
Ahhh, DDD, (leans back on his rocker, takes long drag on dogend, faraway look in his eyes), you had to be there man. The eighties- finding out who was doing the next one, and more importantly who was doing the effects, the advance word in fango, rumours of fx sequences that would 'never make it to the uk', and the films themselves almost unobtainable legally. Clustering round a well-thumbed copy of fango in the common room, grossing the girls out, writing potential sequels in school exercise books, realising that with a camera and some ketchup it was entirely possible to actually make something like it and then doing so (interesting fact: director mark davis, of noel clarke's 4.3.2.1 'fame', made his first movie, with me, in his shed in eastbourne. It was a friday the thirteenth-inspired short, to see if we could do it).
It was the posters, the trailers, the sheer volume of the films- 5, 6, 7, no sign of stopping... when only Bond and Carry On could claim high numbers. But most of all it was the transgressive nature of them. Cinematic excrement to most, we used to giggle at the thought of barry norman reviewing one and exploding, we'd imagine jason interviewed by russell harty or wogan, where his only word was 'bum', or ocassionally 'bumbum'. They were just glorious in abstract- and always, always, disappointing in actuality. But the iconography kept us coming back: the hockey mask, machete and that logo, crazy ralph, kevin bacon with an arrow through his neck, crispin glover, corey feldman in a bald head wig... Ah man, you just had to be there.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 12 September, 2011, 01:52:59 PM
Season of the witch. A rather bland knights and witchcraft thing with Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 September, 2011, 06:43:38 PM
After reading all about them I picked The Goonies up from The Works for 2.50.

You know it still makes me laugh. The penis thing on the miniature David is outrageous comedy. Chunk's, " starting from the VERY beginning?" and it just begins to peter out and bore me just in time for the end to roll on.

Girl at The Works had to say how she enjoyed it as a KID to the whole shop. So I said, so did I and wasn't it on such a long time ago? YOU'RE REALLY SHOWING YOUR AGE NOW!!

It could've been a gift for all she knew. Anyway still enjoyable and anybody who can't define children in movies and the unscripted ones from real life really ought to get over themselves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 12 September, 2011, 07:08:47 PM
"carriers"  starring chris "kirk" pine ...it wasnt great...

watchimg "jarhead" tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MikeONeill on 12 September, 2011, 08:44:13 PM
...was the Judge Stallone movie (don't hit me). I was morbidly curious to re-watch it after all this time and see what I thought of it.

To be fair on the movie, I must have been about 8 or 9 when I first saw it (I think we rented it on video) and I remember it being pretty cool. It had cool robots, guns that electrocuted people and had lots of different rounds, awesome futuristic cities with flying cars. I didn't really come away with much of the plot - but that was probably for the best. It was after seeing the movie that I started getting my parents to pick up the Megazine for me in our local newsagent and from there I started reading 2000AD. So no matter how bad the film is, I suppose I have to give it credit for getting me on to Dredd proper. A gateway movie if you will.

Re-watching it as an adult, it's of course not very good. I still enjoy the 'Block War' scene - silly version of the Judge uniform notwithstanding there's at least something recognisably 'Dredd' in that scene. Blasting into a block, blowing perps away with a variety of rounds, handing out an inordiately long sentence to the film's comic sidekick-to-be (Dredd clearly knew what was coming). It was cheesy and watered down, but at least there was something of the comics in it, however scarce.

Of course from that point on it just becomes a Stallone action flick. The specific problems have been gone over on these message boards enough, no doubt. Then of course there's the ending - which to me bears all the hallmarks of a hastily written conclusion trying to tie up all the loose ends the film has left dangling. One youtube comment I saw summed it up nicely:

'Wait... why is everyone cheering when nothing has been resolved?'

So in conclusion... I enjoyed it at the time, and I can watch it as a brainless action film now... but roll on 2012!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 10:36:07 PM
Hatchet 2.

Same lot behind the camera, but a change of lead actress as she magically becomes Danielle Harris from the middle Halloween films. Tony Todd gets a proper go this time, and is joined by a cameoing John Carl Buechler (dir. F13pt7) who's actually better portraying a piss-drinking one eyed hick than he is at making movies. R A Mihailoff turns up (keen eyed viewers will know him as Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw 3) along with a bunch of other folk known to we Fangorians.

Kane Hodder gets to play both Victor Crowley and his dad again, only this time in scenes shot four years apart. It would be unkind to Hodder to point out that the interim time has resulted in massive physical changes in the man, as it could well be as a result of some illness- but he's basically grown an enormous flabby neck and this does rather detract from the carefully edited sequences somewhat.

Lots of splashy gore, some inventive use of powertools (sander, chainsaw, etc) and a man being strangled with his own intestines til his head comes off.

Basically, despite fewer overt references to other films (no one says 'do you want some candy, man?' to tony todd, which is a shame i feel) it's brilliant. Really liked that one. Hope they do a third.

Oh, and excellently, someone gets beheaded while fucking his not-fiance from behind. A lesson to us all there.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 September, 2011, 01:24:31 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 September, 2011, 10:36:07 PM(no one says 'do you want some candy, man?' to tony todd, which is a shame i feel)

Richard Roundtree in Steel while holding the main character's magic space hammer and commenting "just admiring (pause) THE SHAFT" remains the benchmark in stupid references in films.

Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is an immensely stupid film, but my main complaint is that it just isn't as stupid as it could be.  The story is every plot from any 1980s/1990s low-budget kung-fu flick about a teenage protagonist learning fighting arts and then challenging the guy who kills his master at the end of the third act, except instead of martial arts, he learns drifting (briefly releasing the accelerate button on your controller when you hit a corner), which he has somehow never heard of despite being a race jock.  There's a bit in the second act where he even learns the secret technique of drifting on a remote Japanese mountain so I'm going to go ahead and assume the writers at some point were doing it on purpose, but somewhere along the way got lost in tropes left over from their days writing some sort of American teen drama, and that shit is just dull, overloads the ludicrous elements to the point they become obscured by emo whining and eventually drags the whole thing down by seeming to want to be seen as a sensible drama even though the plot is inescapably batshit insane and should be fast and funny and exciting rather than too long and full of dull races - there are some effective shots of the cars burning about, but otherwise the race sequences tend to drag on a bit.
The treatment of women also remains reliably problematic for a racing movie, with at least one girl who stars in every scene featuring the main characters new Japanese chums not having a single word of dialogue in the entire film, the first scene features a girl offering herself up as a prize to the winner of a car race and the main beef of the flick boiling down to who gets to possess a schoolgirl, but I'm reasonably sure that the misogyny is part and parcel of how these films are marketed towards boy racers first and foremost.

An okay third entry in the series, I guess, but like I said above, it's not overtly stupid enough to be really entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 September, 2011, 02:52:45 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 13 September, 2011, 01:24:31 AMFast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is an immensely stupid film,


You really are asking for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 13 September, 2011, 04:29:32 AM
Quote from: MikeONeill on 12 September, 2011, 08:44:13 PM
Of course from that point on it just becomes a Stallone action flick. The specific problems have been gone over on these message boards enough, no doubt. Then of course there's the ending - which to me bears all the hallmarks of a hastily written conclusion trying to tie up all the loose ends the film has left dangling.

That wasn't the original ending, supposedly, Mike, what I heard was Stallone took over the show and demanded changes in the script, including the ending - whilst they were onset and about to shoot the thing - leading to Danny Cannon becoming so disdainful of the Stallone-mandated changes, he very nearly walked off the whole project, which he probably should have, and publicly let it be known what happened behind the scenes, not to mention have his name taken off the director credit, I know I would have...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MikeONeill on 13 September, 2011, 09:02:57 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 13 September, 2011, 04:29:32 AM
That wasn't the original ending, supposedly, Mike, what I heard was Stallone took over the show and demanded changes in the script, including the ending - whilst they were onset and about to shoot the thing - leading to Danny Cannon becoming so disdainful of the Stallone-mandated changes, he very nearly walked off the whole project, which he probably should have, and publicly let it be known what happened behind the scenes, not to mention have his name taken off the director credit, I know I would have...

Yeah you can tell that something wasn't right with the ending - even by the pretty low standards of the film up to that point. The culmination on the movie also relies on an event that wasn't foreshadowed before or explained afterwards - 'Central broadcast the Janus plan after Rico's death!' - why?! The film-makers have clearly realised that at no point have they given any reason for the other Judges to stop pursuing Dredd, so they just make something up to cover themselves.

Still, I console myself with the fact that by movie's end Rob Schneider is still guilty of having absconded from a prison shuttle, re-entered MC1 as a convict and murdered at least one SJS Judge while resisting arrest. So when he gets carted off on the stretcher you can rest safe in the knowledge that he was patched up and then sent to Aspen for a 40-year stretch.

And everyone lived happily ever after.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 13 September, 2011, 10:34:02 AM
Book Of Eli I'd heard vastly conflicting reports of it so thought I'd better make up my own mind. I actually really enjoyed it. The story is a bit bunkus but the imagery was beautiful. Makes me want to pick Fallout 3 back up again. Didn't see the twist coming and will have to watch it again to see how it works knowing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 September, 2011, 10:36:56 AM
Quote
That wasn't the original ending, supposedly, Mike, what I heard was Stallone took over the show and demanded changes in the script, including the ending - whilst they were onset and about to shoot the thing - leading to Danny Cannon becoming so disdainful of the Stallone-mandated changes, he very nearly walked off the whole project, which he probably should have, and publicly let it be known what happened behind the scenes, not to mention have his name taken off the director credit, I know I would have...

Yeah, there are quite a few contradictions in the Ezquerra-drawn comic adaptation that came out at the time. For one, Fergee dies while reprogramming the ABC Warrior (as per the original script I believe). And I'm pretty sure that Hershey kisses Dredd on the cheek, instead of full-on snogging him. Still a crime against the comic, but at least it's a sign of friendship rather than romance between them, which as others have pointed out, seems to spring from nowhere at the end of the film - there's no obvious attraction between the two up until that point.

If you ask me it's all indicative of the schizophrenic tone of the finished film - it doesn't know whether it wants to be sci-fi adventure, R-rated action or crowd-pleasing blockbuster and so falls awkwardly somewhere between all of them.

The one thing that can be said of the new film is that the makers know exactly what sort of film they are making (and the lead actor this time seems to want to put the story in front of his own ego!).

Still, you have to feel sorry for Cannon - he was a very young man at the time - still in his twenties IIRC, and he was working on his dream project, which ended up getting totally compromised by studio inteference and Stallone's ego. There's no doubt in my mind that what made it onto the screen isn't the film he wanted to make.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 September, 2011, 12:23:00 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 13 September, 2011, 10:34:02 AMDidn't see the twist coming and will have to watch it again to see how it works knowing it.

I rewatched it recently, and the main character is [spoiler]clearly looking at stuff and interacting accordingly during the film - the looter's boots, his ipod, and the contents of the pawn shop come to mind[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 September, 2011, 01:52:10 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 13 September, 2011, 04:29:32 AMThat wasn't the original ending, supposedly, Mike, what I heard was Stallone took over the show and demanded changes in the script, including the ending - whilst they were onset and about to shoot the thing - leading to Danny Cannon becoming so disdainful of the Stallone-mandated changes, he very nearly walked off the whole project, which he probably should have, and publicly let it be known what happened behind the scenes, not to mention have his name taken off the director credit, I know I would have...


I think the flaws were inherent in the script, it never really worked (clones being added/humour/romance? etc) and it became apparent on-set and in editing. I know there were some re-shoots/re-edits Stallone directed in Vancouver involving Fergie according to the studios wish to make it 'funnier' -the 'kiss' by that stage was trivial to the mess- but who really knows, blame can apportioned to all and according to celebrity status. It really comes down to one person being in charge which there clearly wasn't and it should've been the producer sticking to one vision and managing the relationship between Cannon & Stallone accroding to it as such.

Danny Cannon was never going to walk off the film, not at such an early point in his career, if he did he most definitely wouldn't have continued working in much, if any capacity in Hollywood again. At that stage no one knew if Dredd would be a success or not despite the quality of the end product so he as much as anyone else was hoping it'd at least bring 'em in at the box-office and his own name would be made. It's idealistic to suggest walking-off. It would've been career suicide for someone so young to shirk the responsibilty of such an expensive studio film so late in the day or even to take his name off afterwards, especially since Cannon had no real directors bio to fall back on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 September, 2011, 03:31:51 PM
I wouldn't feel too sorry for Cannon given he went on to write, direct and produce a great chunk of CSI in all its various forms.  Apart from the cash and the pull it's given him in Hollywood, it's also a fair bet that more people have seen one of his many episodes of CSI than watched Judge Dredd.  From Cannon's point of view - and I suspect it is a point of view formed in a giant vault full of money through which he swims like Scrooge McDuck - Judge Dredd was a learning experience he probably needed and to some extent expected at the time, as regardless of his enthusiasm for the project he must surely have known there'd be interference given the money being spent, problematic main character and the average IQ of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Plus, y'know, the movie could easily have been much, much worse if someone else had been making it.  Imagine Tim Burton's take on Mega City One and the resultant knock-on effect it may have had on the comic "I see it as a city of hedonism and no rules, so everyone is no longer ashamed to be openly goth like I am, and the Judges are like the fashion and fun police, with glowing batons and neon badges and Dredd has frizzy hair and wears mascara" and so on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 September, 2011, 04:02:14 PM
Quoteregardless of his enthusiasm for the project he must surely have known there'd be interference given the money being spent, problematic main character and the average IQ of a Hollywood blockbuster.


Knowing and realising are different things especially for 25/27 year olds. It probably didn't really sink in for Cannon till he heard Stallone was directing re-shoots. He was more than likely badly advised in the first place...and cocky. He had to do it to learn it, there was nothing he could've done while shooting it and he was well in over his head but he's still a young man and may prove himself yet on the big-screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 14 September, 2011, 08:03:49 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 13 September, 2011, 01:52:10 PM
I know there were some re-shoots/re-edits Stallone directed in Vancouver involving Fergie according to the studios wish to make it 'funnier' -the 'kiss' by that stage was trivial to the mess- but who really knows, blame can apportioned to all and according to celebrity status.

Danny Cannon was never going to walk off the film, not at such an early point in his career, if he did he most definitely wouldn't have continued working in much, if any capacity in Hollywood again. At that stage no one knew if Dredd would be a success or not despite the quality of the end product so he as much as anyone else was hoping it'd at least bring 'em in at the box-office and his own name would be made. It's idealistic to suggest walking-off. It would've been career suicide for someone so young to shirk the responsibilty of such an expensive studio film so late in the day or even to take his name off afterwards, especially since Cannon had no real directors bio to fall back on.

I never said he was going to walk off the movie Joe, I said he very nearly  walked off, which he very nearly did, but you are right that his career would've been over if he bailed on an $80m mega-project, which is probably why he stayed to the bitter end - although he was very vocal about his utter disdain for the script changes at the time - as far as me saying he should've walked, that's just a bit of hyperbole on my part!  On the re-shoots in Vancouver, I NEVER heard about that, Joe dude, I always heard Stallone just took over principal photography and re-shot scenes while still at Shepperton studios, where the hell did they find time to re-shoot scenes in Vancouver, shooting on Judge Dredd wrapped in late January 1995 and the film was released in North America on June 30th that same year, where did you hear/read about re-shoots in Vancouver, would love to know...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 14 September, 2011, 04:36:11 PM
watched on stranger tides last night ....meh

and, "13 assasins " which was bloody good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 10:02:56 AM
The Devil Rides Out

Following a read of 'devil worship in great britain', i got hold of this to see what causal links i could find in the early sixties satanism panic. Basically, Dennis Wheatley, the hackmeister general, has a great deal to answer for.

Richard Matheson's script is a lark- and through the lips of chris lee, patrick mower, charles gray and paul eddington (yes, basically played jerry) every alarmist and portentous utterance becomes swathed in serious meaning. Matheson must've had a laugh when he saw the cast, knowing how they'd play it.

It's hamstrung by what they couldnt show; the ritual orgy scenes look like a disco, and there's no nudity at all. Not even a solitary tit. The only bloodletting happens offscreen, and the scenes of demonic attack in the early part of the film are melodramatic and uneffective.

However, following an exciting car chase, from the moment 'the goat of mendez' appears on the rock, it steps up a gear. Even now there's a frisson at the realisation of satan, as if it's somehow transgressive even to show him, despite looking as if he's just stepped out of the bbc's narnia adaptations. I remember as a small boy finding the idea that a film 'showed the devil' very frightening indeed.

The final battle is nicely done, but better in concept than in execution; though the giant spider is very well done. The angel of death is pathetic however- did they run out of cash, or was Matheson having an offday?

The resolution's at least ten times dumber and more mawkish than it first appears to be, and actually elicited a groan chez-sbt.

Wheatley, and Hammer, were largely resposible for the moral outrage surrounding 'satanism'. He responded to the permissive society by placing it in a mystical, satanic context, literally putting the goat of mendez at the heart as a threat to english values. Hammer rightly made it ludicrous, but the public ignored that and used it to fuel their own fears. Hammer had a hit, and fifty years later i had an entertaining night in front of the telly.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 15 September, 2011, 10:41:45 AM
Quote from: mogzilla on 14 September, 2011, 04:36:11 PM
"13 assasins " which was bloody good

You're not wrong there. Fantastic it was.

The guy who played the evil and sadistic Lord who the assassins are out to kill was played by Goro, a member of SMAP, Japan's long running, wholesome and family-friendly boyband (and my wife's teenage crush). The English equivalent would be to have the villain played by Howard from Take That.

He did a bloody good job though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 15 September, 2011, 10:59:07 AM
Really enjoyed 13 Assassins. Ticked almost every box for me. They just don't make movies like this any more. . well they clearly do, but only when it's a remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 September, 2011, 03:46:59 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 10:02:56 AM
Hammer had a hit, and fifty years later i had an entertaining night in front of the telly.

'The Devil Rides Out' is undoubtedly one of my all-time favourite films – pride of place in my living room goes to a big, red, lurid original quad poster for the movie. The story is slightly hindered by lopping off the last section of the novel where, divorced from linear time, the heroes travel to Paris and then onto a damned monastery (in Greece, I think... I re-read it quite recently). The book's ending is still a bit of a near-literal deus ex machine, but it is foreshadowed fairly effectively. That said, the film just about gets away with it - "Yes, Simon. He is the one we must thank" - though the fact they have to commune with Tanith to find out where Richard's daughter is and it turns out to be exactly the same place they were the other night   seems like rather a waste of necromancy. But by God, Lee lends that film a remarkable weight (portentous utterances is indeed the perfect description of his delivery), Eddington is the perfect Richard Eaton, Patrick Mower is wonderfully tormented as Simon and Gray as Mocata is sublimely sinister (it's all in the eyes - he's far superior to the novel's Mocata, a shameless Crowely-lite figure.) The 'inside the circle' sequence is one of the great horror cinema set-pieces, only marred by the fact they forgot to stick in a background for the bit when the Angel of Death is revealed. (I don't mind the comparative naffness of the Angel - by that stage, the film, and Lee in particular, has sold the idea so well that it almost doesn't matter.)

An absolute classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 September, 2011, 04:15:38 PM
Quote'The Devil Rides Out' is undoubtedly one of my all-time favourite films

Mine too.
It is not for nothing my Xbox name is rexvanryn
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 September, 2011, 05:45:41 PM
Street Fighter- Legend of Chun Li
Oh dear sweet god this fucking sucks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 15 September, 2011, 08:09:53 PM
Only eight years behind most people but last night I watched Daredevil.

Mrs Albion turned the TV on to BBC3 just as it was about to start so I decided to finally watch it.
Oh dear.....not the best Marvel movie is it? I've never really been a fan of Daredevil so didn't expect much. I have heard about the longer and apparently much better directors cut so maybe in another eight years or so I'll watch that.
I thought Colin Farrell as Bullseye was bloody awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 September, 2011, 08:15:53 PM
The longer version is better -not great- but unfotunately Ben Affleck is still in it. What is really stupid is that the director had the choice which version to release theatrically. Even though he believed the longer version to be better, he released the other.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 08:18:33 PM
Quote from: Albion on 15 September, 2011, 08:09:53 PM
Only eight years behind most people but last night I watched Daredevil.

Mrs Albion turned the TV on to BBC3 just as it was about to start so I decided to finally watch it.
Oh dear.....not the best Marvel movie is it? I've never really been a fan of Daredevil so didn't expect much. I have heard about the longer and apparently much better directors cut so maybe in another eight years or so I'll watch that.
I thought Colin Farrell as Bullseye was bloody awful.

In the spirit of disagreeing with everything you say this week Mr Albion  :D  I have to admit to really liking Daredevil. It used to be my favourite of all the Marvel movies- back when the best they could manage was Spidey or XMen. Of course nowadays we've had the far superior THOR, Captain America and arguably (well, I love it) The Incredible Hulk. Also, I haven't seen it in years, so memory may cheat.

Anyway- I remember it as being dark, fun, grimy and with an excellent villain in Bullseye. I especially liked the rap music that introduced him in the pub scene; "I'm Irish! I'm a leprechaun!". Oh, and Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin is class. I liked that it used all the religious iconography of the more recent Daredevil comics (that I had read at that point), and that it reminded me of 'Man Without Fear', or whatever that series was called- the JRJR one.

Anyway, each to their own and all that!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 15 September, 2011, 08:32:23 PM
I watched that Fast and Furious 5 the other night and thoroughly enjopyed the mindless spectacle paraded across the screen in front of me. I watched the first one in the series and didn't bother with the rest. The only reason I wanted to 'eventually' watch this was because I knew The Rock would have to have a fight with Vin and their confrontation didn't disappoint.

The start of the film with the bus scene was hilarious as everyone survived, which was amazing. We then had the train action piece which was fun but let down with the editing as the bridge approached but still I found it entertaining, especially the climax. Then we have the robbery with the safe, I absolutely loved the utter balls out madness to this, the carnage was fun to watch. Even though I enjoyed these sequences I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot outs and all the weapon play.

Overall this was a decent Friday night film (although I watched it on a Wednesday)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 15 September, 2011, 08:32:49 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 08:18:33 PM

In the spirit of disagreeing with everything you say this week Mr Albion  :D

Of course nowadays we've had the far superior THOR, Captain America and arguably (well, I love it) The Incredible Hulk. 

Oh, and Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin is class.

And disagree we shall my friend. I haven't liked either of The Hulk movies.  :)

But I will agree that the Kingpin was very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 September, 2011, 11:07:33 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 08:18:33 PMIt used to be my favourite of all the Marvel movies- back when the best they could manage was Spidey or XMen.

/nerd
Spidey was a Sony Pictures movie, X-Men a Fox product.  Marvel now have a studio to make their own movies like Captain America, Thor, Avengers, Iron Man, and to me, this explains why Spidey 3, X3, Wolverine and First Class were the messes they were - the studios literally had to make any movie at all within a certain time frame or the rights revert back to a rival studio.
Oddly, I am still looking forward to Amazing Spider-Man.  Shitty costume and all.

I like Daredevil a lot, especially the Director's Cut.  I have no idea why it's hated beyond that some of the cast inspire an emotional reaction from some pundits - and that's fair enough, because whatever the reasons you don't like it you don't like it and that's that - but find the notion that it's a benchmark in bad superhero movies an odd one.
Mind you, I don't rate Daredevil much beyond one or two stories from the 1980s and a run by Ann Nocenti that gets ignored because she committed the crimes of remembering that (1) Daredevil is a superhero comic and (2) was a woman.  Since then every story seems to be about how Matt Murdoch's life gets suckier and then he became the king of the zombie ninjas and I figured it was time to call it a day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 September, 2011, 11:24:44 PM
It is quite a difference between both versions of Daredevil, not the same films at all. When I saw the theatrical version it just felt like half the film was missing and as I found out later that's actually what it was, half of another film mixed with some sex scenes. Although it still has many problems, the director's cut is in no way the worst of the hero flicks but the theatrical version probably is.


I would consider it on a par with the last X-Men flick which suffers from far too many useless/uninteresting/superfluous secondary characters -all X-Men films do- and a sloppy plot.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 September, 2011, 11:31:47 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 15 September, 2011, 11:07:33 PM
/nerd
Spidey was a Sony Pictures movie, X-Men a Fox product.  Marvel now have a studio to make their own movies

Yes... I actually meant "Movie about Marvel characters", you big nerd.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 16 September, 2011, 11:35:05 AM
I enjoyed both versions of Daredevil. The Directors cut is probably the better of the two but the original cut is still a very enjoyable film. I might even watch it tonight in a double bill with X Men 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 September, 2011, 12:26:16 PM
Haha! Excellent, Colin- that's right, goad them, GOAD THEM!!

In fact, i myself may watch a double bill of my new favourite MARVEL MOVIES: Man Thing and Ghost Rider. No, hang on, Punisher: War Zone and Electra! Haha! Yes, this is fun!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 16 September, 2011, 01:20:56 PM
I caught the end of Daredevil on TV the other night. Terrible.

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet but I saw Super last night. I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

A real grown up version of Kick Ass with much deeper and more interesting themes. Ultra violent and chocked full of gore. Great acting, crazy characters. Very disturbing and very emotional. Proper hardcore superhero film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2011, 01:30:10 PM
I also saw FAST & FURIOUS FIVE (bought as a blu ray to test my new player) and it is indeed ludicrously entertaining.  The opening bus crash sets the tone for the rest of the movie and like CF says, the big set pieces don't disappoint: Train Heist, Million Dollar Quarter Mile, Vin vs. The Rock and the final heist.

Picking holes in the plot (there are many WTF? moments) would be pointless; it's all about the muscle whether that's in the cars or on the leads and all is shown magnificently so (The Rock is especially good).

I think it's down the the sheer belief the crew, director, producer and actors have in what they are putting on the screen. They genuinely believe that the cars and the Vin/Rock fight tell you a bit about the characters.  And they are right, they do.

I'm actually going to go so far as to RECOMMEND it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 September, 2011, 01:55:22 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 16 September, 2011, 01:20:56 PM


Don't know if it's been mentioned yet but I saw Super last night. I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

A real grown up version of Kick Ass with much deeper and more interesting themes. Ultra violent and chocked full of gore. Great acting, crazy characters. Very disturbing and very emotional. Proper hardcore superhero film.

I enjoyed 'Super' all right but it'll more than divide an audience. The tone is unexpectedly well handled throughout for what could have been a completely awful viewing -watching clips of it isolation hints at that- but it manages to beat Kick-Ass at the same conceit -what it would be like if real people became vigilantes- but with K-A it's a false premise cos by the end the characters more or less become 'Super-human' in skill and the premise is dropped becoming a typical 'supe' film, albeit superior than any of the DC/Marvel final acts.

Kick-Ass is still incredibly enjoyable, better constructed, slicker than 'Super' and worth the watch alone for Cage's powerhouse performance as he takes down a warehouse of baddies -surprisingly it could be the best version of 'the Dark Knight' ever on-screen- but 'Super' is the braver, more uncomfortable and 'true' execution of the idea.

I wouldn't want to see more superhero films like 'Super' as it does go the whole way of putting on a costume, hurting people, the consequences that follow and is more or less saying this doesn't work unless you're a very troubled person.

What struck me most is the delibreate decision to not show any effective law-enforcement presence in either film. An interesting comment to make.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 16 September, 2011, 02:31:26 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 16 September, 2011, 12:26:16 PM
Haha! Excellent, Colin- that's right, goad them, GOAD THEM!!

In fact, i myself may watch a double bill of my new favourite MARVEL MOVIES: Man Thing and Ghost Rider. No, hang on, Punisher: War Zone and Electra! Haha! Yes, this is fun!

SBT

I'm not trying to goad anyone. Unless I get hammered and stay in the pub too late this evening then at least one of X3 or DD will be watched.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 September, 2011, 06:10:47 PM
Watched The Guard last night.

:lol:

It was better than I was expecting. Brendan Gleeson's performance is faultless, he is one of the World's Finest Living Actors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 September, 2011, 01:19:36 AM
Went to see Troll Hunter today. Not really scary enough to qualify as horror, and the plot could have been better, but overall I enjoyed it. Some really funny moments - a very likeable film. Recommended.

One of those films that would have been better if I hadn't seen the trailer beforehand, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2011, 08:52:25 AM
JUST GO WITH IT.

I do have a (rational) dis like of Adam Sandler but he reels in his obnoxious man child persona enough to make this an enjoyable rom-com. 

Sure you know exactly how it's going to end, there are absolutely ZERO consequences shown to the web of lies that have made up the plot, they don't play around as much as they could have with the multiple leveles of parallel lying going on but there are some good laughs to be found, the child actors are absolutely fantastic (Including a brilliant "Cor Blimey, Guvnor, it da rippa, e' dun annuver" turn) and the two female leads out-hot each other in bikinis.


This was my first go at streaming a movie from Sony's QRIOCITY.  We had a couple of glitches - which we thinkl may be a dodgy phone line giving us the problem - but otherwise the experience was pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 September, 2011, 06:04:52 PM
Hammer double bill, with Horror of Dracula, an X-rated flick in its day and now something that you could show on a Saturday morning.  Does watching Chris Lee be a vicious bastard ever get old?  I don't think it does, but for some reason he's a decent chap in The Devil Rides Out, which has a bit where everyone gets into a huge protective circle because the Devil is coming, then just leave their kid in the next room.  These people are terrible parents.

It being the fourth outing for the dumb as a bag of hammers Fast And The Furious series, it's probably too late to start mentioning dodgy racial stereotypes or how Vin Diesel seems to be getting confused what characters he's playing in his films - this time out not even flinching when shot but looking kind of grumpy in a sort of "You don't fire bullets at Vin Diesel you fire Vin Diesel at bullets" Vin Diesel Facts kind of way like he's playing a parody of himself rather than an actual human protagonist as seen in the first film - and Michelle Rodriguez bugs me in anything on account of being a cock so it was nice that she got killed off in this so I don't have to worry about her mug in fast Five when I get to it, but these are mad criticisms for this kind of film because it's not like I can say "I expected more from this third sequel to a Vin Diesel film about car racing" so instead I shall use visual aids to explain all three acts of Fast And Furious:
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/redhotchillis/completeplotoutline-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 September, 2011, 07:25:25 PM
Sadly, I watched Cobra yesterday.
There was no G.I.Joe's to be seen. :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 September, 2011, 12:51:32 PM
I caught a bout twenty minutes of Cobra a while back. It has (in particular, the action) dated very badly.


Tom Cruise and Steven Speilberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS.  Tiny Tips declared it to be "the best film he has ever seen!".* 

He particularly liked the bits where they have to keep quiet as alien probes come into the cellar looking for them.**

He also liked that Tom Cruise played against type and wasn't a cool action hero in full control.***

The sheer spectacle of it all hides some pretty intense stuff (humans blown to dust, victims being spiked and blood drained and sprayed to feed the red weed, careering locomotives in flames, rivers of corpses) but actually it felt like a pretty good update to me. Except [spoiler]the son miraculously turning up [/spoiler] at the end.


*I naturally pointed out that it's not even the best film Steven Speilberg or Tom Cruise have made

** I naturally pointed out that it's not even the best bit that Steven Speilberg has filmed where they have to keep quiet as probes come looking for them

*** I naturally pointed out that it's not even the best film where Tom Crusie played against type and wasn't a cool action hero in full control
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 27 September, 2011, 03:46:25 PM
Julia's Eyes.

Spanish thriller which has some effective scenes, but is largely absurd and nonsensical and not at all scary. Think Guillermo may have produced it, certainly had some "From the ...blah blah...Pan's Labyrinth" on the sleeve, to give it some gravitas that it scarcely merits.

Main actress has great tits, though, especially for an older lady.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 27 September, 2011, 04:51:18 PM
Attack the Block - turned it off after about 20 minutes. Hated it. Maybe I just couldn't adjust to the tone of it, having just watched all 5 series of The Wire beforehand. But I suspect I'm making excuses for it - I think I would have hated it regardless.

Jane Eyre - cold and detached, not a patch on the BBC version from about 5 years ago. I love Fassbender but it was all gothic brooding without even a dash of humour. And Mia Wasikowska wasn't nearly plain enough - her bone structure is far too sophisticated!

Limitless - best film I've seen in a while, better than Source Code by miles too (the nearest film of recent times I can compare it to)

Red State - absolutely frikkin' brilliant, breath-taking and like a punch in the face (in a good way). And I'm not even a Kevin Smith fan anymore, haven't been for years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 01:28:17 PM
X Men Origins Wolverine last night followed by X Men First Class.

Enjoyed Wolverine but was underwhelmed by First Class.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 30 September, 2011, 01:48:05 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 01:28:17 PM
X Men Origins Wolverine last night followed by X Men First Class.

Enjoyed Wolverine but was underwhelmed by First Class.

You obviously live in backwards land.

Actually, I haven't seen Wolverine but I've heard it's crap from my Wolverine loving mate (and pretty much everybody else who's seen it).

I thought First Class was first class though, Ha Ha!... sorry. It's definitely in my top 5 super hero films along with The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man and Thor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 30 September, 2011, 01:52:54 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 27 September, 2011, 04:51:18 PM
Attack the Block - turned it off after about 20 minutes.

I watched it a couple of nights ago and I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

Also recently watched Brighton Rock. It was OK but not as good as I hoped it would be. Some good performances but it seemed to plod along a bit at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 03:32:49 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 30 September, 2011, 01:48:05 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 01:28:17 PM
X Men Origins Wolverine last night followed by X Men First Class.

Enjoyed Wolverine but was underwhelmed by First Class.

You obviously live in backwards land.

Actually, I haven't seen Wolverine but I've heard it's crap from my Wolverine loving mate (and pretty much everybody else who's seen it).

I thought First Class was first class though, Ha Ha!... sorry. It's definitely in my top 5 super hero films along with The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man and Thor.

Yeah, I'd heard Wolverine was crap too... imagine my surprise!
I liked First Class but just thought it was a bit 'is that it?'.

Spider-Man 2, Iron Man great... Thor good.... Dark Knight was piss poor though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 30 September, 2011, 03:47:20 PM
Watched Snowtown this afternoon, brilliant film, but i dont feel too good after
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 September, 2011, 08:36:46 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 03:32:49 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 30 September, 2011, 01:48:05 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 01:28:17 PM
X Men Origins Wolverine last night followed by X Men First Class.

Enjoyed Wolverine but was underwhelmed by First Class.

You obviously live in backwards land.

Actually, I haven't seen Wolverine but I've heard it's crap from my Wolverine loving mate (and pretty much everybody else who's seen it).

I thought First Class was first class though, Ha Ha!... sorry. It's definitely in my top 5 super hero films along with The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man and Thor.

Yeah, I'd heard Wolverine was crap too... imagine my surprise!
I liked First Class but just thought it was a bit 'is that it?'.

Spider-Man 2, Iron Man great... Thor good.... Dark Knight was piss poor though.
Film Heathen!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 September, 2011, 08:51:12 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 03:32:49 PM

Yeah, I'd heard Wolverine was crap too... imagine my surprise!
I liked First Class but just thought it was a bit 'is that it?'.

Spider-Man 2, Iron Man great... Thor good.... Dark Knight was piss poor though.

I also expected Wolverine to be a crock of shite, and was pleased when it turned out to be a perfectly serviceable superhero movie, no better or worse than the other XMen films. Haven't seen First Class- and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever will. I think having seen essentially the same film four times already (X1-3+Wolvie), I'm kind of done with them. This is probably the reason I've not bothered to watch iron Man 2 or Hellboy 2 either- I've "seen" Iron Man and Hellboy, and don't need to see them again in further movies, however much I might have enjoyed the first ones.

And yes, Dark Knight was atrocious- deeply boring, pretentious, wanky arsewater. But to be fair, all the Batman films are a bit like that- and I find batman such a boring character in general that I don't think any film version is ever going to do it for me.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 30 September, 2011, 09:26:18 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 30 September, 2011, 08:51:12 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 30 September, 2011, 03:32:49 PM

Yeah, I'd heard Wolverine was crap too... imagine my surprise!
I liked First Class but just thought it was a bit 'is that it?'.

Spider-Man 2, Iron Man great... Thor good.... Dark Knight was piss poor though.

I also expected Wolverine to be a crock of shite, and was pleased when it turned out to be a perfectly serviceable superhero movie, no better or worse than the other XMen films. Haven't seen First Class- and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever will. I think having seen essentially the same film four times already (X1-3+Wolvie), I'm kind of done with them. This is probably the reason I've not bothered to watch iron Man 2 or Hellboy 2 either- I've "seen" Iron Man and Hellboy, and don't need to see them again in further movies, however much I might have enjoyed the first ones.

And yes, Dark Knight was atrocious- deeply boring, pretentious, wanky arsewater. But to be fair, all the Batman films are a bit like that- and I find batman such a boring character in general that I don't think any film version is ever going to do it for me.

SBT

I should watch Wolverine really. I intended to watch it last weekend but forgot.

I was under the exact same impression about First Class. My brother urged me to watch it as he'd seen it at the cinema but I was less than enthusiastic. How wrong I was! It's just so nicely done, the 60's setting is perfectly realised, all the actors are fantastic, the story, effects and everything else is just perfect!

Honestly SBT, I was of exactly the same opinion as you but I ended up watching the entire film with a huge grin on my face (and there's a hilarious cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine too). It was miles better than all the other X-Men films and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Also, if you liked Iron Man and Hellboy, you should watch the sequels. Both are superior in almost every way.

I won't get into the Dark Knight thing because I hated it when I first saw it at the cinema. A home viewing made me appreciate it and now I love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 30 September, 2011, 10:09:24 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 30 September, 2011, 09:26:18 PM
Also, if you liked Iron Man and Hellboy, you should watch the sequels. Both are superior in almost every way.

I liked Hellboy 2 but I thought Iron Man 2 was nowhere near as good as the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 September, 2011, 11:39:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 30 September, 2011, 08:51:12 PMI also expected Wolverine to be a crock of shite, and was pleased when it turned out to be a perfectly serviceable superhero movie,

My response to this was initially WHY DO YOU SAY THESE THINGS? But then you went and qualified it with

Quoteno better or worse than the other XMen films.

and all was a lot clearer.

As with SBT's attitude to Batman, so too do I view the X-Men films with puzzlement, seeing them as these big loud messy splodges of perfectly competent but ultimately banal film-making.  X-Men 1 was little more than a trailer for X-Men 2, X-Men 2 was more of the same, X-Men 3 was like someone shouting "GAAAH!" in your face every three minutes and First Class was a good attempt to make a successful but boring series a little more eventful but fell foul of dodgy storytelling that assumed the viewer was always going to invest in one character's philosophy (Xavier) despite accidentally doing too good a job making the opposing viewpoint (Magneto's) seem like a rational response to what was happening to him and his mates.

That said, I didn't rate Wolverine much at all and thought if it had a tenth of the budget to work with a much better film would have been the result.  It's basically as good as the Daredevil/Hulk and Thor/Hulk tv movies from the late 1980s, which I liked, but can admit were not good.

Fast Five - fifth installment in the Fast and Furious series.  Less overtly dumb than its predecessors, but still pretty thick enough that some of it had me straight-up laughing at the screen in a good way.  Stuff like cops having a high speed chase with a bank vault, the "oh no you d' 'int!" moment where the Rock fucks up Diesel's car, "stay the fuck outta my way", and basically every action scene which will have you going "and they know that nobody will be killed by their doing this HOW?"  The only blot on the landscape of a very enjoyable action flick - they've pretty much dispensed with the street racing premise in this one - is the post-credits scene that [spoiler]threatens to have Michelle Rodriguez in the sequel[/spoiler].  Not cool.
Grey Lady Down - submarine rescue flick which is a bit slow but decent enough once you get past the irony of seeing David Carradine trying his best to stop people choking to death.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 02 October, 2011, 09:40:33 PM
"Stakeland"

Wow, that was aces!

Quite redolent of "The Passage" in many ways.

poor title though. I mean really? Stakeland??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: john_s on 02 October, 2011, 10:18:13 PM
"Snowtown" is well nihilistic and depressing, but nowhere near as depressing as Lars von Trier's new one, "Melancholia".  (The first half is a bit of a drag, but essential to set up the uber-depressing second half.  Even Jack Bauer can't save the day!)

I'm desperate to watch "Kill List" but it's had a very limited release.  His first film, though, "Down Terrace", is pretty bloody good.  It's a kinda naturalistic set-mostly-in-one-house gangster film, with moments of random violence that are genuinely thrilling/chilling.  For an ultra-low budget first film, it's fucking ace!

(Thanks to The Emperor for pointing it out to me!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 02 October, 2011, 10:21:49 PM
Started watching 'Tony, a London serial killer' the other night was too knackered to stay up. Will have to try to catch this one again.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 October, 2011, 10:47:24 PM
Having had a bad experience with a scratched rental DVD 18 months ago, I finally saw the rebooted Star Trek this evening. I'm sure if I was a real Trekhead I could argue that it wasn't really Trek or somesuch but I'm not and I thought it was tremendous fun. One or two elements jarred (Scotty in particular) but it was a success as a big sci-fi action movie and easily the best Trek film since Undiscovered Country. Is there a new one due out soon?

Saw Attenberg at the pictures the other day. A fairly tiresome Greek film about, well, nothing much really. It focuses on a young woman with an unspecified (and curiously unremarked by anyone) disconnect from society who tries to view human interaction from the perspective of a detached observer like the eponymous tv naturalist. The lead is pretty good and there is quite a touching relationship between her and her father as he undergoes treatment for cancer but most of what surrounds that is a load of art/film school wank.
A lot of the same people were involved with a film called Dogtooth which I really liked. It had a similarly ridiculous premise - teenagers deliberately isolated from the outside world by their family and taught that cats were evil - but followed it through with a lot more rigour, style and absurd humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SquashedFly on 02 October, 2011, 10:59:24 PM
Caught the second half of Book of Eli this morning.

Did nothing for me, seemed fairly boring and lifeless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 02 October, 2011, 11:09:58 PM
'Drive' - just wow. A perfect movie, in every sense - direction, script, acting, casting, cinematography and soundtrack. Blown away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 03 October, 2011, 12:18:37 AM
Quote from: john_s on 02 October, 2011, 10:18:13 PMbut nowhere near as depressing as Lars von Trier's new one, "Melancholia".  (The first half is a bit of a drag, but essential to set up the uber-depressing second half.  Even Jack Bauer can't save the day!)

See, I actually prefer 'Justine' to 'Claire'. Part Two loses its way for me once Jack bau's out. No idea if it was von Trier's intent but, as much as I adore someone with BPD accepting the end of the world better than those about her, 'Claire' does come across as accusing science of being smug and weak-willed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 October, 2011, 10:26:35 AM
Nowhere Boy was on last night so ended up watching that.

Really enjoyed it, and though I don't know enough about John Lennon to tell, I imagine that it's on the same level of historical accuracy as The King's Speech. Very cinematic rather than authentic, complete with predictable character arcs etc. Enjoyable nonetheless.

Good performance by Aaron Johnson, I liked his transition from cocky youngster to swaggering rock star (was Lennon really such an arrogant prick at that age?) but I thought the kid playing McCartney was very miscast - he looked about ten!

I remember this film being really hyped as the next big thing before it came out, but then pretty much sank like a stone on release. They did a really crap job marketing it IMO, the poster was dreadful and didn't really communicate what it was about at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 October, 2011, 01:10:12 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 02 October, 2011, 10:47:24 PMI finally saw the rebooted Star Trek this evening. I'm sure if I was a real Trekhead I could argue that it wasn't really Trek or somesuch but I'm not and I thought it was tremendous fun.

I'm a Trek fan of long standing and I enjoyed it because it did little that we haven't seen in Trek before, be it Phase 2's shaky-cam space battles or Enterprise's tendency towards fist fights on something huge and barmy (like the fight between Archer and the Galaxy Quest alien on a giant Doomsday weapon or the Archer/Robocop scrap on a flying mining rig/death ray complex).  The movies are always much more accessible, action-packed and prone to jokes than the tv show, the reboot no more or less so than usual, though I could have done without the forced slapstick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 03 October, 2011, 01:29:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 October, 2011, 10:26:35 AM
Nowhere Boy - was Lennon really such an arrogant prick at that age?

I liked that film too. I read a book about him too and seems to me he was a knob all his life. didnt contact his son when he left his wife for yoko, no birthday pressies or anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 05 October, 2011, 12:35:59 PM
I'm an embarrassingly huge fan of the manga Gunslinger Girl, so after finding a DVD in the bargain bucket I sat down to watch one of GSG's chief sources of inspiration, Leon: The Professional, which is memorable for introducing Natalie Portman as an adolescent assassin a good fifteen years before Chloe Moretz sassed into frame as Hit-Girl.

It's an interesting film, and one which develops in unexpected ways - while the tempo sometimes misses a beat and there are a few plot dimples, it's an effective piece and with Portman's precocious skill a successfully emotional one as well. Now I just have to lament frustratedly that due to studio bickering the follow-up Mathilda will never be produced...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 October, 2011, 12:52:14 PM
Leon's an odd one - I thought it was amazing when it came out but imo it hasn't aged terribly well. The tone is all over the place, and the Director's Cut - the version I own - has some pretty dodgy stuff going on.

I still enjoy watching it, though - it really captures something of the time it was made in - the soundtrack and visuals are so 1990s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 October, 2011, 04:18:11 PM
I found Natalie Portman (I didn't even know it was her until a good while later) was great in Leon. I often find child actors annoying or bad (or both) but she played a great character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 October, 2011, 10:48:42 PM
Insidious.

PG-13 horror that manages to be very, very, VERY scary, while at the same time being a remake of the Poltergeist series before turning into a partial remake of Nightmare On Elm Street 3, with Darth Maul in the Freddy role.

Craig Nelson lookielikey and his family lose a child in a house, ghosties come to get them, they move, ghosties follow. Maybe the house isnt haunted, but the child. Before you can say 'dont go into the light carole-anne' all manner of manifestations occur, youve jumped out of your seat several times, and Nightmare producer bob shaye's wife lyn has turned up in the zelda role.

Loses points for last third being ridiculous, gains points for being extremely frightening up to then.

Directed by the guy who made Saw- but it more closely resembles his Dead Silence; which like this is destined to be an underrated gem.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 06 October, 2011, 08:53:09 PM
RED STATE. Kevin Smith IN almost very good film SHOCK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 October, 2011, 10:09:21 PM
The House By The Cemetery.

Classic Lucio Fulci ex-video nasty, given a lovely dvd release by cult box/ arrow video. Beautiful transfer, uncut as far as i can tell at first glance- and certainly more explicit than my vhs pirate copy, which can now be consigned to the bin.

House... is, for fulci, a fairly straightforward story (which i shan't ruin for anyone here), but is stuffed with typical unfathomable fulci-isms: why is the cleaning up of a massive blood smear never mentioned, despite it being done in front of a main character? Why does everyone walk about with echoing bangy footsteps? Who is the crying child who's sobs are heard throughout- is it freudstein's daughter, as the editing suggests, or freudstein himself, as inferred by the closing caption? Is the resolution a death, or time-travel? Does Bob *become* freudstein, with the ginger girl his wife? Or just what? Bloody what? Argh!

Anyway, extras include a docu on fulci, u.s and euro trailers, tv spots, and a deleted scene ('we were unable to locate the sound' says the intro- look in the euro trailer, fools, it's part of that!).

A few years ago it would have been inconceivable that i could legally sit down with my wife to watch this. It was judged 'likely to deprave or currupt' by the filth police. However, it's now legal, and can be revealed to have depraved and corrupted no one at all. And yet, despite this, our country still finds it appropriate to ban films. When will we learn?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 07 October, 2011, 08:59:47 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 October, 2011, 10:09:21 PM
The House By The Cemetery.

Classic Lucio Fulci ex-video nasty, given a lovely dvd release by cult box/ arrow video. Beautiful transfer, uncut as far as i can tell at first glance- and certainly more explicit than my vhs pirate copy, which can now be consigned to the bin.


I remember borrowing a pirate video of this from a mate at school when I was about 12 and watching it with my brother when my parents were out.

We were bloody terrified! Especially the scene where [spoiler]Freudstein rips the dad's throat out in the cellar[/spoiler], I'd never seen anything so gory in my life. Gave me nightmares for years but I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2011, 09:57:12 AM
Yeah, the gore quotient is rather high, isn't it? And done so well, too. Oscar worthy, should they ever go mad and start awarding them thirty years after the fact to sequences designed to make the audience vomit.

Ive always loved the Italian splatter cycle, and time was when i knew them all inside out. However, the passing of years and their (let's be kind) 'dreamlike' narratives have rendered them a miasma of foggy misrememberances, and so i came to House... almost afresh.

There's much to love. I will admit that Italian horrors of this period have a peculiar style that doesnt sit well to modern eyes. It's not so much that they have dated (the climax here is as petrifying now as it was back then), but they were never overly competent in the first place- at least in comparison to slicker, Hollywood, features. It's the non-adherence to established film grammar, the cuts to silence in the middle of a musical flourish, the dubbing, the 'interesting' casting of character actors who have a face for radio, and the willingness to go sailing past any perceived limits of taste that render them odd and difficult to watch. Not to mention they are, at their heart, trying to be something they're not: american, and so give us a weird skewed glimpse of what italians in the 80s thought foreign audiences would like to see. I suppose, in that, there's a level of artifice that it's hard to get through.

House... is no exception, it drags in parts, has an incredible cast of bland, comely wenches and ugly men (the library helper is a stand-out, and deserves a subplot of his own- something about necro wanking, possibly) but when it explodes into violence, or creepiness, demonstrates fulci's mastery of those particular things. Much is baffling, but in a good way- the comedy eyes in the cellar are deeply troubling for instance; who's are they? Not freudstein's, he has none. And the childlike sobbing that accompanies him is horrible.

Im off to track down decent copies of The Beyond and City of the Living Dead now.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 07 October, 2011, 11:01:07 AM
watched a few films while trying to get some work done last night.
I saw the devil (totally brilliant serial killer madness)
Hatchet 2 (not so good, but watchable i suppose, tony Todd is always good)
Simon Says (terrible Slasher rubbish)
and Silver Bullet (which I've seen a few times before but it's always enjoyable. not the best werewolf effects but Gary Busey's in it and the guy playing the priest is pretty good, kind of reminds me of the wonder years but with werewolves and gore,nice)  :D

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 October, 2011, 11:58:57 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 October, 2011, 10:09:21 PM
The House By The Cemetery.

Classic Lucio Fulci ex-video nasty, given a lovely dvd release by cult box/ arrow video. Beautiful transfer, uncut as far as i can tell at first glance- and certainly more explicit than my vhs pirate copy, which can now be consigned to the bin.


I have the Region 1 version, though my first exposure to it was the crappy old Vipco R2 release. It's probably the classic Fulci film I have rewatched least ('City of the Living Dead' has rather inexplicably become my favourite, ousting long-time holder of the crown, 'The Beyond'.) The final section of 'House...' is definitely an absolute cracker though – I admire Fulci's stated desire to show you exactly what it would look like in the lair of the sort of monster that threatened our fervid childhood imaginations. (He and John Carpenter have a lot in common in this respect - 'In the Mouth of Madness' is virtually a tribute to Fulci, via Lovecraft.) Wonderfully haunting ending, though the idea of Bob becoming Freudstein never occurred to me... I saw it as a sort of temporal trap, like 'The Beyond'.

As I say, 'City...' seems to have become my favourite. It is unremittingly nasty and features the wonderful Giovanni Lombardo Radice. What more could you ask for? One of the things I love about Fulci is the way that plot effectively goes out the window - things are set up and never followed through, things happen that make no rational sense and don't connect to anything else - and it doesn't matter a bit. His command of atmosphere is second to none, and everything else is pretty much irrelevant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 07 October, 2011, 12:10:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2011, 09:57:12 AMIm off to track down decent copies of The Beyond and City of the Living Dead now.

In that case, I'd recommend:

DvD Compare (http://dvdcompare.net)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 07 October, 2011, 01:10:48 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 02 October, 2011, 11:09:58 PM
'Drive' - just wow. A perfect movie, in every sense - direction, script, acting, casting, cinematography and soundtrack. Blown away.

Aha, thought this might be here already. Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. Great director, quite like David Lynch but without the weirdness. I was reminded of the more "normal" bits of Lost Highway and especially the general quietness of a lot of scenes. Was also reminded of Tarantino a bit, but without the humour, possibly cos Ryan Gosling reminded me of Tim Roth, was also convinced the diner scene was the same place as the stick up in Pulp Fiction. I know it probably wasn't but still, maybe just the Tim Roth thing. None of it felt like a copy of either, the film as a whole had its own distinct feel to it, looking forward to more of his stuff. I'd read it was inspired by Bullitt and you can see that too, especially (or more like obviously) the Chevy/Mustang chase.

The other almost homage was the intro. The scenes, 80s style music and in particular the pink font was totally Vice City  :D

Much better than expected, definitely not your cheesy action film it seems to be at first glance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2011, 08:57:45 PM
Moulin Rouge!

Few things in this world are perfect. Moulin Rouge! is one of them. And that's why my wife and i saw it five times at the cinema and have seen it countless times since. And will continue to rewatch until we die.
Just sheer cinema perfection.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 07 October, 2011, 09:50:26 PM
Have spent the week watching some crazy-ass Japanese splatterfest movies. Nearly all of them have been incredible. The one that wasn't - Big Tits Zombie - promised so much (namely, a zombie with big tits) but failed to deliver. There were zombies, and there were tits, just not quite in the same package. Must be one of those translation error things. It was a good laugh alright but nothing to write home about.

After that - everything was a winner.

Samurai Princess is gore-tastic if very very cheap. We're talking a blood-soaked version of Power Rangers here, the monster villain even looks like something left over from a Power Rangers episode. On the plus side, it was damn good fun, the Samurai Princess herself (another translation error, the actual title of the movie in Japan translates as Demon Princess) is awesome and the blood quotient is pretty high.

Alien Vs Ninja is fantastic. Everybody needs to see this film. Reasonably high budget though the aliens are still quite clearly of the men-in-costumes variety. Doesn't matter. This movie takes the piss out of itself but contains some of the coolest, funnest action scenes I have ever seen committed to celluloid. The final battle between samurai and alien has to be seen to be believed, I was belly-laughing at the screen it was that funny - and cool as shit as the same time!

Machine Girl. Wowzers. I've seen a lot of gorey, bloody films but this has to be one of the bloodiest things I've ever witnessed. Evil Dead 2 is not a patch on it. Thing is, its also amazingly well made for a film of its nature, the action scenes and choreography are fantastic and I had great fun with this one. Some of the scenes were quite disturbing though, as this wasn't a fantasy movie with aliens or demons, this was just about regular people, so was a bit more realistic....well, realistic is not the word for it really...but more grounded in reality at least. The Drill Bra bit....shudder!!!!

Robogeisha is by the same director who gave us Machine Girl and while not as cool, its still completely and utterly nuts and wonderful. Completely insane action and another good helping off blood and gore. I actually exclaimed "Holy Shit!" a couple of times during this one.

I've got more of these to watch - Mutant Girl Squad, Frankenstein Girl Vs Vampire Girl, Rika the Zombie Killer - but will be taking a break tonight....not because all this gore has made me squeamish...but because I picked up the new Van Damme movie Assassination Games today and I am going to spend a pleasant hour and a half in the company of the Muscles from Brussels. And I WILL enjoy it, no matter how good or bad it is. Because I always do!  He the man!! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 08 October, 2011, 09:06:27 AM
Quote from: Van Dom on 07 October, 2011, 09:50:26 PM
Have spent the week watching some crazy-ass Japanese splatterfest movies. Nearly all of them have been incredible. The one that wasn't - Big Tits Zombie - promised so much (namely, a zombie with big tits) but failed to deliver. There were zombies, and there were tits, just not quite in the same package. Must be one of those translation error things. It was a good laugh alright but nothing to write home about.

After that - everything was a winner.

Samurai Princess is gore-tastic if very very cheap. We're talking a blood-soaked version of Power Rangers here, the monster villain even looks like something left over from a Power Rangers episode. On the plus side, it was damn good fun, the Samurai Princess herself (another translation error, the actual title of the movie in Japan translates as Demon Princess) is awesome and the blood quotient is pretty high.

Alien Vs Ninja is fantastic. Everybody needs to see this film. Reasonably high budget though the aliens are still quite clearly of the men-in-costumes variety. Doesn't matter. This movie takes the piss out of itself but contains some of the coolest, funnest action scenes I have ever seen committed to celluloid. The final battle between samurai and alien has to be seen to be believed, I was belly-laughing at the screen it was that funny - and cool as shit as the same time!

Machine Girl. Wowzers. I've seen a lot of gorey, bloody films but this has to be one of the bloodiest things I've ever witnessed. Evil Dead 2 is not a patch on it. Thing is, its also amazingly well made for a film of its nature, the action scenes and choreography are fantastic and I had great fun with this one. Some of the scenes were quite disturbing though, as this wasn't a fantasy movie with aliens or demons, this was just about regular people, so was a bit more realistic....well, realistic is not the word for it really...but more grounded in reality at least. The Drill Bra bit....shudder!!!!

Robogeisha is by the same director who gave us Machine Girl and while not as cool, its still completely and utterly nuts and wonderful. Completely insane action and another good helping off blood and gore. I actually exclaimed "Holy Shit!" a couple of times during this one.

I've got more of these to watch - Mutant Girl Squad, Frankenstein Girl Vs Vampire Girl, Rika the Zombie Killer - but will be taking a break tonight....not because all this gore has made me squeamish...but because I picked up the new Van Damme movie Assassination Games today and I am going to spend a pleasant hour and a half in the company of the Muscles from Brussels. And I WILL enjoy it, no matter how good or bad it is. Because I always do!  He the man!! :)

Van Dom have you seen Ninjas Vs Vampires watched that the other day, low budget bit odd at points but still an ok movie. Also if you like Jap Gore have you seen Ichi the Killer? one of my favs
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 08 October, 2011, 10:31:58 AM
Priest-it was fun and Karl Urban was excellent as the big bad. Appeared to be "inspired" by Dredd,Wh40k and martial arts movies. The vampires though harked more towards the Aliens from er Alien IMHO. Not too long either and it's always good to see Christopher Plummer and Brad Dourif still earning a crust!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2011, 12:50:30 PM
Robocop- The real original Dredd movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 October, 2011, 01:39:35 PM
After a third attempt, the Souster woman and I finally managed to watch the rest of LEGION. Without being particularly good, it's kinda fun. It's also one of those movies, such as SKYLINE, I somehow enjoy for what it could have been.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 October, 2011, 02:36:32 PM
Not a movie, but my girlfriend and I are currently addicted to the US sitcom Modern Family. I know it's a huge deal in the states (highest rated programme at the moment, as I understand it) but it's yet to really take off over here as it's only shown on Sky.

Caught a few episodes while abroad, and was so impressed with it I bought the series box set as soon as we got back.

Try to picture a slightly more restrained and less demented Arrested Development - the Dunfys are an unconventional family unit, rather than the downright dysfunctional Bluths - but the style of comedy is very similar, rapid-fire gags, densely-plotted episodes with a similar faux-documentary/handheld camera aesthetic (plenty of nervous glances to camera etc).

Super tight, pitch perfect writing, endlessly quotable dialogue, superb (and largely unknown) cast, laugh out loud funny (impressive considering it's designed for family viewing, so very little swearing etc), and very sweet-natured while never being overly sentimental or cloying.

Great stuff. If only one of the British broadcasters could produce a broad family sitcom anywhere near as good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 October, 2011, 07:32:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2011, 08:57:45 PM
Moulin Rouge!

Few things in this world are perfect. Moulin Rouge! is one of them. And that's why my wife and i saw it five times at the cinema and have seen it countless times since. And will continue to rewatch until we die.
Just sheer cinema perfection.
SBT

I would classify anyone who watched "Moulin Rouge" FIVE TIMES at the cinema - or indeed anywhere - as "insane".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 October, 2011, 11:46:55 PM
I've always avoided Moulin Rouge because it looked like Glee for people too sniffy to actually watch Glee, but  - and don't take this the wrong way, Brendan - now you've slagged it by insulting those who would watch it, I'm off to watch it on principle.

TO THE BAT-TORRENTS!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 07:08:41 AM
It's what, ten years old now? Back then, Glee didnt exist, and i'll happily let you know it's nothing like it! What it is, is a jawdropping visual spectacle, at times hilarious (jim broadbent is beyond brilliant), at times pitch black, and at times just thrilling and eyeopening. The songs are so well staged, so well integrated into the story, that you cannot help but love them (despite not being a musical, or music, person myself) and the entire cast is just perfect, from ewan mcgregor to the narcoleptic argentinian.

It's very, very easily in my top five films- and ive often found that those who go overboard in their 'hatred' of it are just reacting to it being a musical, and are just scared of its impact on their perceived sexuality.

It is, without doubt, fucking brilliant.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 October, 2011, 08:37:45 AM
I'd just like to stick my oar in and say that I thought Moulin Rouge was horrible, predictable, embarrassing dog-shit. It's a rubbish romantic musical comedy with tacked on rubbish songs sung by rubbish singers.

I hated every second of its gaudy, tasteless, eye-and-mind-fucking 'showbiz' awfulness.

Not because it threatened my sexuality or because it's a musical (I loved Hedwig and the Angry Inch for instance) but because I just thought it was horrible.

Having said that, full respect to you, SBT, for standing up for something you love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 October, 2011, 08:46:23 AM
Big fan of 'Moulin Rouge', not as big as Small Blue Thing, but think its a great camp fun yarn and visually quite stunning. Jim Broadbent singing 'Like a Virgin' is a true piece of cinema gold.

Oh and Kylie as a fairy delightful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 09:01:58 AM
Jim broadbent singing 'like a virgin' actually made me cry with laughter- and still does, whenever i see it. In fact, Harold Zeidler in general is one of my favourite movie characters, up there with Stevie Wayne and Sergeant Howie. His introduction, along with his diamond dogs, is one of the best bits of cinema ive ever seen.

Even just writing about Moulin Rouge makes me want to watch it again.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 10 October, 2011, 01:13:49 PM
SmallBlueThing - were you in the movie the Fisher King???
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2011, 01:23:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 07:08:41 AMIt's what, ten years old now? Back then, Glee didnt exist, and i'll happily let you know it's nothing like it!

Not Glee specifically, just what Glee is in general, as I'm pretty sure the cover old songs in a new story approach was a well-trodden path before MR got there otherwise it wouldn't have been the basis for two Xena episodes, and at least one episode of some late 80s hospital drama whose name escapes me.

I've nowt against musicals, either - in my opinion anyone who does not like Muppet Christmas Carrol is dead inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpb9EbmvM5M
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 01:55:24 PM
Was i in the fisher king?!

now; i could take that several ways. I could f'rinstance imagine you were asking me if im robin williams- no, im not. Im not that hairy!

Or are you asking me if im the fragrant and desperately sexual mercedes rhuell. Well, no im not, but id occupy the same space were the opportunity to arise. That brooklyn accent caresses my balls like you wouldnt believe.

Or- you could be asking if im the skinny bald drag queen. In which case i'd have to say, yes, i could be. Only im not that skinny. I'd happily do drag queenery though, should the material be good enough. My wife would like that, as drag queens make her hawt.

So no, im not in the fisher king, and i havent seen it for far too long- but yes, i do like it an awful lot!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 October, 2011, 04:33:19 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 01:55:24 PM
So no, im not in the fisher king, and i havent seen it for far too long- but yes, i do like it an awful lot!

It's a while since I've seen it, but me too.

Last two films I've seen: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Sweeny Todd (The Burton version.)

It's the first time I've seen either of them. I've heard plenty of bad things about Transformers 2... but I confess I rather enjoyed it. The story isn't great though, and I'm still not sure where actually The Fallen came from. I know he is a Prime who turned traitor, but I'm referring to the scene where Starscream just flies somewhere and ... there he just is. To be fair I was doing a couple of things at once so I probably wasn't paying close enough attention.

The story was actually rather rubbish. La Boeff's character's parents were annoying rather than funny (okay they were sometimes funny) as were the two new robot car characters. (I think the racism accusations were blown out of proportion though. Sure they do act like an inaccurate stereotypical view of how some 'street' African Americans  behave, but then again there was a real black character, a soldier guy, who was nothing like that at all. They're cartoon characters.) And I'm not so sure about turning that little decepticon character (the radio controlled car) into comic relief either. There were elements of that in the first film with the stereo-bot, but you still got the impression it was lethal force to be reckoned with.

I quite liked the grumpy old man version of Jet-fire, but again I thought they piled on the comedy a little too much. I'd also have preferred a version closer to the big red jet version we saw in the original toon/toys. That was an awesome design. For some reason I kept getting Jet-fire and The Fallen mixed up. Their heads looked very similar to me.

That leads to another somewhat frustrating area of the film, something the first suffered from too. Telling the bots apart. And again some of the action was too quick and hard to make out.

The story was rather slight. (The prophetic "It will take a Prime to defeat the Fallen." Why? This is sci-fi not fantasy surely?) So... I agree with peoples comments that it was rather rubbish. But... I still quite enjoyed it, but that's probably largely due to thinking big transforming robots rather cool. Oh, and it was good to see Optimus Prime as a force to be reckoned with again. You get the impression this version could hold his own against Megatron. ([spoiler]Yeah I know Megatron killed him in this -or was it the Fallen?- but he was outnumbered rather than battered into submission one on one like the first film.[/spoiler]) Oh, and I liked their design for Ravage.

I look forward to picking up the third film. I understand that's an improvement.

As for Sweeny Todd, I enjoyed that too, although I missed a chunk of it being in the other room.

It had an almost old-school musical feel to it, despite the blue Burtonesque filter, and it worked out pretty well. At the end I found myself yelling at the screen: [spoiler]"So what happened to  the other two then?" referring to the daughter who was left upstairs by Todd, and the lad who left her in Todd's flat. I guess they weren't too fussed it being Todd's story. Fair enough.[/spoiler]

Oh and I guessed [spoiler]the twist concerning the beggar woman, but it was nice to be confirmed right. I'm glad his daughter didn't get the same treatment, although that would have made the tragedy all the greater. I'd just find that a bit too bleak. It's nice to think a couple of characters came out of it traumatised but alive and may have gone on to make a life for themselves.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 10 October, 2011, 04:48:25 PM
Insiduous
Arsom, please refer to SBT's review a few posts back

Limitless

Meh... bit pointless i thought

Stay tuned for more insightful, in-depth reviews!

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2011, 05:25:11 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 October, 2011, 04:33:19 PMI look forward to picking up the third film. I understand that's an improvement.

Link plz.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2011, 12:32:32 PM
HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU
An ensemble rom-com that ends up in pretty predictable territory and commits the cardinal sin of not having enough com to go with the rom. 

There's a likeable central performance from Ginnefer Goodwin (I think) and a couple of twists and turns that mean not all of the threads turn out happy but for every clever bit
there's a stupid bit
Jennifer Anniston EXPLAINING, just in case we hadn't got it, that all of her friends husbands were a-holes.

Ultimately, I don't think it knows what it wants to be - straight drama, comedy, insightful look at romance, diatribe against husbands (they are all portrayed as idiots) - it even has some "unscripted" straight to camera pieces from "real" people that fizzle out half way through.

But at one point Jennifer Connolly is flashing her underwear while trying to molest her hubby in his office so that makes it the GREATEST film ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 11 October, 2011, 12:42:47 PM
I watched Die Another Day last night for the first time since it came out about ten years ago. This film really pissed me off when I saw it and the years haven't made me change my mind. It's ok in places but overally the film is just stupid (I realise how ridiculous this sounds when talking about a Bond film.) The opening set piece is entertaining, while Rosamund Pike is absolutely gorgeous in it but apart from that it's just a let down. The invisible car still makes me as angry now as it did ten years back, the plot is all over the place and the CGI is dreadful when it's used. Then there's Madonna. Not content with letting her sing one of the worst Bond themes of all time they compound the problem by letting her have a cameo in the film. A return to basics as was done with Casino Royale was desperately needed after this mess of a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2011, 12:49:56 PM
DIE ANOTHER DAY is pish - my least watched of all the Bond films.  I couldn't even bring myself to buy it for my collection (but the Mrs got me it as a present when it hit £5).

To the good bits you mention, I'd add:
- the titles being a continuation of the plot (though as some wag pointed out earlier, it makes it look like listening to Madonna was the torture)
- the first part of the Cuba sequence - seems almost like something from an Ian Fleming novel
- Halle coming out of the sea (before she has to spout any of the terrible dialogue they saddle her with)

So much of it is terrible it beggars belief.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 12:55:17 PM
... And on the other hand, Die Another Day is absolutely my favourite Bond film (after realising recently that Live And Let Die is pretty dull, and i think was only so beloved by little men because it was 'a bit like a horror film' in the days before i could watch horror films). Do you wanna know why i love D.A.D Colin? Do ya? Do ya?

It's because i love madonna's title song, and i love the invisible car, and because pierce brosnan (who i had down as horribly miscast from back when he drags his skinny, all-over-bodyhair frame out of the pool in Mrs Doubtfire) finally plays it right: all huge hair and roger mooresque campness. I love the baddie, and i love that you can tell at exactly what point brosnan lost the role: it's during the swordfight with madonna when brosnan's middleage spread wobbles from side to side, trying to keep up with his momentum, in medium closeup, as he changes direction.

The later films (ive only seen casino) look terrible, as if anyone really wants a 'serious' bond! and craig david makes for the worst secret superspy since inspector cluesoe. Gah!

But D.A.D is an instant camp classic, and i love it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 October, 2011, 01:54:03 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 12:55:17 PM
... And on the other hand, Die Another Day is absolutely my favourite Bond film (after realising recently that Live And Let Die is pretty dull, and i think was only so beloved by little men because it was 'a bit like a horror film' in the days before i could watch horror films). Do you wanna know why i love D.A.D Colin? Do ya? Do ya?

It's because i love madonna's title song, and i love the invisible car, and because pierce brosnan (who i had down as horribly miscast from back when he drags his skinny, all-over-bodyhair frame out of the pool in Mrs Doubtfire) finally plays it right: all huge hair and roger mooresque campness. I love the baddie, and i love that you can tell at exactly what point brosnan lost the role: it's during the swordfight with madonna when brosnan's middleage spread wobbles from side to side, trying to keep up with his momentum, in medium closeup, as he changes direction.

The later films (ive only seen casino) look terrible, as if anyone really wants a 'serious' bond! and craig david makes for the worst secret superspy since inspector cluesoe. Gah!

But D.A.D is an instant camp classic, and i love it.

SBT

I honestly and sincerely wish that you'd change your user name to 'Devil's Advocate'. It would be far more apt.

You could have this in your signature - "Is a film generally considered to be good? Then I hate it! Is a film generally considered to be bad? Then it's my favourite film of all time!"

I'm joking of course, i enjoy your refreshingly original opinion on these things and I already feel bad for needlessly coming down so hard on Moulin Rouge in this thread. It is though, along with Matrix Revolutions and The Phantom Menace, one of a handful of films that actually angered me to the point where I felt I was owed a refund.

PS. Craig David as Bond? Proper bo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 11 October, 2011, 02:01:36 PM
I don't mind the Bond films having an element of camp in them - I really enjoy the Moore films. It's just that DAD is done so badly. The directing is pretty poor as well, with lots of rubbish and pointless slo-mo at various stages as well. And it's got an invisible car, which is just stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 11 October, 2011, 02:03:08 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 12:55:17 PM
.....craig david makes for the worst secret superspy since inspector cluesoe.

Craig David as Bond!  :o Surely you mean Daniel Craig? 



Personally I think all Bond films are crap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 11 October, 2011, 02:08:55 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 11 October, 2011, 01:54:03 PM
one of a handful of films that actually angered me to the point where I felt I was owed a refund.

When i was a kid i actually got a refund from the cinema. It was clash of the titans and i had strict instructions to be home at a certain time so started to leave to get the bus home, the lady working there asked me why i was leaving, i didnt want to appear soft so i said the film was rubbish in my hardest voice so she gave me a refund.

True
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 02:13:50 PM
Haha, yes Lee- yes, i know. Dont worry about slagging MouRou, as im very aware it's a film that divides folk. Far better that than a bland 'it was ok' from everyone.

But, im really not being contentious for the sake of it. Im always totally honest in my thoughts about movies, and im schooled enough in film theory through film studies, media studies then a media degree then working 'in the industry', to be able to back up my opinions when i feel it necessary. And when i like or dislike something for no good reason, i'll say- like my hatred of the blues brothers being entirely based on my hatred of people who think its the best thing ever and turn up at parties dressed like them, and acting like them. It's circular illogic i know, and i'll always admit it.

Im not at all reactionary when it comes to films- i treat everything exactly the same whether it's The Kings Speech' or 'Party Pissers'. I dont always agree with the concensus (ask me one day, not today, to give you my thoughts on Blair Witch 2 and Hooper's Texas Chainsaw 2) but i always aim to tell the truth and find a way for someone to admire or detest a movie, having fun with either.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 October, 2011, 02:47:53 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 02:13:50 PM
But, im really not being contentious for the sake of it.

Never thought you were. You always back up your opinions.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 02:13:50 PM
like my hatred of the blues brothers being entirely based on my hatred of people who think its the best thing ever and turn up at parties dressed like them, and acting like them. It's circular illogic i know, and i'll always admit it.

I know what you mean. I've got a friend who absolutely HATES Withnail and I because of the people who like it. I just know that when I watch Blues Brothers or Withnail and I, I always enjoy them and laugh my arse off.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 02:13:50 PM
'Party Pissers'.

Party Pissers 2 is better. More piss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 03:03:22 PM
Anyone who has "Die Another Die" as his favourite Bond film is not cute, or contentious, or amusingly wilful.

They're fucking mentally ill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 October, 2011, 03:05:56 PM
Live and Let Die is fantastic: Bond hang gliding while smoking a cigar with one hand and leaning on the steering bar with his free arm, "that's some disguise you got there", the only decent thing Wings ever did, "You some kind of doomsday machine, boy?", "pimpmobile" being an actual make of car according to the CIA, the boat chase, Baron Samedi...

On the other hand, there's two good Bond movies in Die Another Day, it's just that the 'suave and aging imperialist assassin being sold out, nearly broken in captivity and then seeking revenge'film does not gel with the 'superhero fights a cyborg with an orbiting death laser' film, and I don't mean the disparate elements are put together badly, I mean they are actually at odds with each other, with the North Korea/Hong Kong/Cuba sections about a guy whose trade is being canny, brutal and low key (Dalton, Connery), and the London/Ice Hotel/plane fight bits being about someone who is quite clearly an international celebrity stumbling into occasionally ludicrous fights (Lazenby, Moore) that may or may not include Power Rangers cosplay and/or lasers.  Either would have made a great Bond separately - together, not so much.
And the theme song is terrible not just as a Bond theme but as a Madonna single, being nothing more than a B-side from the Music era at best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 October, 2011, 03:17:48 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 03:03:22 PM
Anyone who has "Die Another Die" as his favourite Bond film is not cute, or contentious, or amusingly wilful.

They're fucking mentally ill.


...and there I was, worrying about slagging off Moulin Rouge. You really know how to get people on your side don't you brendan? Cheezus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 03:20:16 PM
Reporty reporty report report.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 03:22:39 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 03:20:16 PM
Reporty reporty report report.

SBT

You're a strange, sad little man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 03:25:26 PM
And you, Brendan, have no friends and no social skills whatsoever. I really, really pity you- you just dont seem to be able to help yourself! In your own way, you're quite amusing at times, but bloody hell...

And reported again, by the way.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 October, 2011, 03:32:05 PM
I've just finished watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and it was typical bollocks from Bay. Slow motion shots, no one can shoot straight, low angle upward shots of characters, editing all over the place, explosions galore but hardly anyone dies, etc... I was amazed that I didn't fast forward it at any time, then again I am bored waiting for my Mongrol vid to bloody well upload.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 03:43:17 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 03:25:26 PM
And you, Brendan, have no friends and no social skills whatsoever. I really, really pity you- you just dont seem to be able to help yourself! In your own way, you're quite amusing at times, but bloody hell...

And reported again, by the way.

SBT

For what? Saying you're strange? You are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 October, 2011, 04:12:31 PM
Take some drugs, Brendan.  Don't be such a square.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 11 October, 2011, 04:14:37 PM
Foldy-roll . . .
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 October, 2011, 04:17:10 PM
Don't take drugs Brendan, you may end up at the place my good lady works  :thumbsdown:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 October, 2011, 04:36:21 PM
At this stage I think the potential benefits outweigh the risks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 October, 2011, 04:36:52 PM
I'm waiting for the Tim Burton remake of Moulin Rouge just so we can watch SBT's head explode with conflicting opinions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 October, 2011, 04:43:23 PM
I've never seen Die Another Day. It's the only Bond film apart from Quantum that I haven't seen (not for any particular reason, just haven't got round to it).
I really want to watch it now to see what all the fuss is about!

My favourite Bond film is 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. Love Roger Moore, love Jaws, sexy bond girl, union jack parachute. Brilliant! And on top of that there's a submarine Lotus Esprit!

Back on topic the last film I watched was Stephen King's 'IT' (technically a TV mini series).
It was pretty good. Typical Stephen King childhood nostalgia and a decent monster but the scariest thing was the 90's fashions (particularly the hair cuts) and piss poor soundtrack.

There's something about 90's American tv soundtracks that is just unbelievably awful (Masters of Horror and Outer Limits suffer too). Everything sounds like it's off one of those 'Copyright free' CDs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 October, 2011, 05:46:30 PM
Tim Burton remaking Moulin Rouge? Bring it on- i love a good moan! No, id love to see Baz remake a few Burton movies- just imagine a huge, spectacular version of Batman with songs and dancing, or Sleepy Hollow rendered not boring. You could even keep the same cast, but jazz it up a bit. Make it look like it wasnt designed by whoever paints those 'vampire lady' cards you find in new age shops.

And re: It, oddly i almost bought that today for a fiver in hmv's Halloween promotion. However, thete's no way i'd ever get my eldest to watch as he's petrified of tim curry as pennywise, having just seen pics in old fangorias.

I have new Brit/African zombie epic 'The Dead' to watch tomorrow night, which ive been looking forward to for about a year.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 07:23:17 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 11 October, 2011, 04:12:31 PM
Take some drugs, Brendan.  Don't be such a square.

I do take drugs. In moderation.

And I'm not a square. I resent that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 11 October, 2011, 09:39:51 PM
X-Men First Class: An okay movie, I bear it no ill will. What impressed me the most was Fassbender. I'm pretty convinced he DOES have magnetic powers after his performance. Someone should call the men in charge, he should locked away to protect future generations. Or at least future actors that he makes look amaturish when when they act along side him.

Drive: This one divided my house right down the line. The missus couldn't stand it, and I fucking loved it. Slow with beautiful cinematography, great acting, and punctuated by ridiculous amounts of gore works for me. The rhythm of it reminded me a little of Beat Takeshi's stuff without the comedy.


Has anyone seen Tinker Tailor? It's not out in the States yet and I'm dying to hear about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 October, 2011, 09:45:32 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 07:23:17 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 11 October, 2011, 04:12:31 PM
Take some drugs, Brendan.  Don't be such a square.

I do take drugs. In moderation.

And I'm not a square. I resent that.
You can neither take a joke, nor hand them out.
You have failed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 09:52:12 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 October, 2011, 09:45:32 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 07:23:17 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 11 October, 2011, 04:12:31 PM
Take some drugs, Brendan.  Don't be such a square.

I do take drugs. In moderation.

And I'm not a square. I resent that.
You can neither take a joke, nor hand them out.
You have failed.

Monger, we've been through this before. It's not a useful way to spend your time. You have an unfortunate predilection for picking the wrong fights at the wrong time. Just relax. You are who you are. Accept it, and try to make the best of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 11 October, 2011, 09:52:21 PM
Assassination Games. As you may or may not know I am a massive Van Damme fan and although a lot of his recent output has been pish, this one was pretty decent. Not fantastic or anything, but well made, well directed, well acted and entertaining from start to finish. Only dragged ever so slightly for a few minutes in the middle. Van Damme used his acting chops again in this one (dont smirk, he's actual turned into a very bloody good actor of late, see JCVD, Wake of Death, Until Death, In Hell to name but a few) moreso than his martial arts ability (well, he is 50 I suppose) but luckily he had Scott Adkins on hand to supply a few nice little combo-moves. Van Damme's character was a bit of cnut in this one, a soul-less mo'fo hitman, dead inside from all the years of murdering people for money. And it shows. There's one part in particular where you go....I can't believe he just did that. Strong stuff.

Gripes with this----not the usual ones I have, about location, dodgy supporting cast, bad dialogue, as they were all pretty good. For some reason though, the director shot this in sepia, so it just looks like you are looking at the movie through a filter of piss. Strange -and annoying - choice. Film didn't need it, no need to be trying to go all arty on something like this. The other gripe is they COULD have fit in a bit more martial arts action, there were loads of opportunities but they didn't bite. I get it - they were going for 'realism' and 'realistically' a hitman wouldnt put his gun down to indulge in five minutes of kicking some armed villain around the place when he could just shoot him. Still...realism doesn't always equals fun in a movie!! Although I loved the ending of this (nice twist) I was also a bit disappointed it wasnt a five minute long sequence featuring lots of kicking.

Good flick though, and will be watched repeatedly! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 October, 2011, 10:05:52 PM
Quote from: Ignatzmonster on 11 October, 2011, 09:39:51 PM
The rhythm of it reminded me a little of Beat Takeshi's stuff without the comedy.


and without Takeshi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 October, 2011, 10:54:03 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 07:23:17 PM
I do take drugs. In moderation.

Take more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 11 October, 2011, 11:42:29 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 11 October, 2011, 10:05:52 PM
Quote from: Ignatzmonster on 11 October, 2011, 09:39:51 PM
The rhythm of it reminded me a little of Beat Takeshi's stuff without the comedy.


and without Takeshi.

:lol: Decent point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2011, 11:58:02 PM
I'm another one who finds your (SBT) ability to find something to love in the most terrible of films utterly charming.

I know I can always trust a film review from SBT - I won't always watch the films because I know they aren't my bag.

LIVE AND LET DIE ain't all that though, Byah.  Quite a lot of it is cringe inducing if you have to watch it in a public place (like a cinema) and I think it has a pretty unlikeable message about race going on in there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 October, 2011, 12:27:44 AM
That's part of the charm, Tips - that middle aged white English blokes thought blaxploitation was just another bandwagon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 October, 2011, 07:33:19 AM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 09:52:12 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 October, 2011, 09:45:32 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 11 October, 2011, 07:23:17 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 11 October, 2011, 04:12:31 PM
Take some drugs, Brendan.  Don't be such a square.

I do take drugs. In moderation.

And I'm not a square. I resent that.

You can neither take a joke, nor hand them out.
You have failed.

Monger, we've been through this before. It's not a useful way to spend your time. You have an unfortunate predilection for picking the wrong fights at the wrong time. Just relax. You are who you are. Accept it, and try to make the best of it.
This doesn't even deserve a face palm for your stupidity. Shame on you man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 October, 2011, 10:12:04 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2011, 11:58:02 PM
I'm another one who finds your (SBT) ability to find something to love in the most terrible of films utterly charming.

Thirded. Anyone else who wouldn't say no to Monsieur SBT should be displaying his monthly (ahem) wares in the Meg?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 October, 2011, 10:17:37 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 October, 2011, 10:12:04 AM
Thirded. Anyone else who wouldn't say no to Monsieur SBT should be displaying his monthly (ahem) wares in the Meg?

I think Kim Newman provides a much better service over at SFX or Empire or whatever it is he writes for, with his Video Dungeon, but thanks! That's actually one of the reasons why I like the movie reviews in the Meg- because though I seldom agree with anything he says, it's great to have different opinions beyond the ususal "Everything (director a) does is marvellous and nothing (director b) has done since 1986 has been worthwhile." Take each and everything as they come, but don't be afraid to trust your instincts when it comes to seeing/ not seeing stuff", that's what I say. And never, ever, listen to reviews when it comes to choosing what to see.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 09:27:26 PM
DRIVE. A glorious '80s pastiche that on occasion almost verges on parody. I'm sure there are films to better compare it to (and I've no idea if it does march to the Takeshi of a different drum) but the minimal dialogue and haunting sountrack had me thinking of THE HITCHER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 09:29:15 PM
We now return you to the SBT love-in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 12 October, 2011, 10:29:33 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 09:27:26 PM
DRIVE. A glorious '80s pastiche that on occasion almost verges on parody. I'm sure there are films to better compare it to (and I've no idea if it does march to the Takeshi of a different drum) but the minimal dialogue and haunting sountrack had me thinking of THE HITCHER.


Well you can compare it to direct inspiration:


Walter Hill's, the Driver (1978)

Car chases. Minimalist filmmaking. Rarely-speaking, taciturn and un-named main character:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/TheDriverPoster.jpg)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Driver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b-Mg27nyQ0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43zcvKPnc60

Whole film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1bNhQ5fr8c&feature=related

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 10:59:14 PM
Ah, crap. A Walter Hill film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 13 October, 2011, 08:48:15 AM
Hanna - see it - buy the soundtrack

it's fucking awesome

blanchett is amazingly cold and evil
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 13 October, 2011, 09:24:36 AM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 09:29:15 PM
We now return you to the SBT love-in.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 13 October, 2011, 10:15:04 AM
Can everybody tell me how great they think I am next please?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 10:20:12 AM
I think you're lovely. Your hair makes grown men weep.

That do ya?

;)

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 13 October, 2011, 10:34:03 AM
Ill say you are great, but only if you confirm that you were in The Fisher King
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 October, 2011, 10:42:46 AM
SBT's film reviews are essential, and are very important to me when deciding what to watch.

If it's a film he likes, I avoid it. If he doesn't like it, I'll give it a go. Never fails.

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 13 October, 2011, 10:44:24 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 10:20:12 AM
I think you're lovely. Your hair makes grown men weep.

That do ya?

;)

SBT

Thank you. I spend ages putting all these grey tints in.

Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 13 October, 2011, 10:34:03 AM
Ill say you are great, but only if you confirm that you were in The Fisher King

Who me? I've never seen The Fisher King so I don't unnerstand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 October, 2011, 12:29:34 PM
QuoteIf it's a film he likes, I avoid it. If he doesn't like it, I'll give it a go. Never fails.

Plus as mentioned above, there's joy to be had in the reasons behind it all.

Anyway, ROXANNE.  A superior rom-com (with much emphasis on the com both in the actual main plot and in lots of incidental background character).  Steve Martin hasn't often been better. And Daryl Hannah looks as ravishing as the countryside around them. Big smiles (and some belly laughs) all round in the Tips household - which is pretty good considering I've seen it several times already.

(I recall there was a Gerard Depardieue version of Cyrano De Bergerac out about the same time which is also great)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 13 October, 2011, 12:35:31 PM
an interesting reaction to DRIVE - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 October, 2011, 12:38:18 PM
Man I love those early(ish) Steve Martin films. Just about anything up to and including LA Story are all good to various degrees.

Anyway I've tried to be good and not rage here but last weekend my wife and I settled down to finally watch Jonah Hex... now I knew it wasn't week received but really who knew it was that crap. I think we lasted 35 minutes. The last 25 of those only due to our shared love of the comic. What a steaming pile of poo.

I know I know we should try for constructive critics but that's as constructive as I can get. It made me sad and angry in equal measures. I dread the fact I still have The Spirit on my LoveFilm list!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 12:46:14 PM
As a kid, i read a couple of issues of Jonah Hex, but didnt like it as being 'a mildly scary western' it freaked me out a little. More recently, i bought the (tim truman? Joe lansdale?) mini series and seem to remember 'quite liking' it, but other than that it's a blank.

Is the movie really so bad that i- with next to no history with the character, and hoping for only a 'sort of scary western' featuring a hero with a strange mouth- would be disappointed? I ask, because ive been eyeing it up with a view to renting.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 13 October, 2011, 12:51:18 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 13 October, 2011, 12:38:18 PM
Man I love those early(ish) Steve Martin films. Just about anything up to and including LA Story are all good to various degrees.

Anyway I've tried to be good and not rage here but last weekend my wife and I settled down to finally watch Jonah Hex... now I knew it wasn't week received but really who knew it was that crap. I think we lasted 35 minutes. The last 25 of those only due to our shared love of the comic. What a steaming pile of poo.

I know I know we should try for constructive critics but that's as constructive as I can get. It made me sad and angry in equal measures. I dread the fact I still have The Spirit on my LoveFilm list!

I enjoyed the Megan Fox bits  :D But yes, it was crap, I watched it with a hangover and thought I should have liked it, but there was something very wrong. Bits were ok on their own but it just didbn't seem to hang together well at all. My sister was there also (with similar hangover) and while she usually enjoys comic based films, she didn't this time. I was also reminded of the baseball coach from The Cleveland show  :D

Good hangover film: Transporter 3

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 October, 2011, 01:47:31 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 12:46:14 PMIs the movie really so bad that i- with next to no history with the character, and hoping for only a 'sort of scary western' featuring a hero with a strange mouth- would be disappointed?

I have no investment in Jonah Hex beyond watching the stories in the various Batman cartoons in which he appeared, but I did watch the film thinking it couldn't be that terrible.  I guess if you liked the Will Smith version of Wild Wild West but thought it had too many jokes you might like Jonah Hex, but otherwise I'm stumped to figure out who it's aimed at - it isn't funny or scary, there's not that much in the way of steampunk tech or horror, no archetypal comic book moments, no likeable characters, no standout action scenes or scenery chewing from the cast, no witty lines, no clever twists - it's like someone somewhere decided they just needed a movie featuring the character and made one and then moved on with their day.  It just exists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 13 October, 2011, 01:54:10 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 13 October, 2011, 12:35:31 PM
an interesting reaction to DRIVE - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer)

Idiot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 01:56:22 PM
Cheers prof, i'll give that one a miss then!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 October, 2011, 02:59:12 PM
No no no, SBT, now you tell us why Wild Wild West was brilliant.  To do otherwise sends us mixed messages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 03:08:04 PM
I believe Wild Wild West starred Mr Wil Smith. Therefore i am unable to comply as i have never seen it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 13 October, 2011, 04:01:21 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 12 October, 2011, 10:29:33 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 October, 2011, 09:27:26 PM
DRIVE. A glorious '80s pastiche that on occasion almost verges on parody. I'm sure there are films to better compare it to (and I've no idea if it does march to the Takeshi of a different drum) but the minimal dialogue and haunting sountrack had me thinking of THE HITCHER.


Well you can compare it to direct inspiration:


Walter Hill's, the Driver (1978)

Car chases. Minimalist filmmaking. Rarely-speaking, taciturn and un-named main character:


Ah Walter Hill. Gotta love the guy. Yeah a definite inspiration, though the action in Drive is criminal on criminal. I can see what you mean Eric about the eighties flick homage stuff being close to parody. It's there from the florescent pink titles. Also the plot is stripped down to practically nothing, and that kind of  makes everything feel almost mythic or unreal. Does that make sense? I have my doubts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 13 October, 2011, 04:05:52 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 13 October, 2011, 01:54:10 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 13 October, 2011, 12:35:31 PM
an interesting reaction to DRIVE - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/woman-sues-drive-trailer)

Idiot.

Well Drive is apparently an inspiration for all kinds of idiots.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/man-claims-drive-inspired-him-to-throw-hot-dog-at,63311/ (http://www.avclub.com/articles/man-claims-drive-inspired-him-to-throw-hot-dog-at,63311/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 October, 2011, 07:41:26 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 03:08:04 PMI believe Wild Wild West starred Mr Wil Smith. Therefore i am unable to comply as i have never seen it.

I say we sponsor SBT to watch a bunch of Will Smith films and then at length tell us only the good things about Wild Wild West, Independence Day, Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2, and Jersey Girl - a Kevin Smith film which for plot reasons goes to great lengths to point out that Will Smith is a great human being.
Just like I paid money that one time to see a man trampled into broken glass, I am willing to pay to hear someone give a logical defence against my conviction that anyone involved in making Bad Boys 2 needs to be publicly stabbed in the face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 October, 2011, 07:45:52 PM
I gave up on Bad Boys II after 10 minutes. And I'd thought Bad Boys had been passable filler.

But stabbing in the face is a tad harsh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 07:55:47 PM
Having recently received a ban from gallifreybase for jokingly suggesting (in a 'films you hate' thread) that anyone professing a liking for either Grease or The Blues Brothers should be reported to 'secret kgb assassination squads', as 'post cold-war they have little to do and stocks of radioactive poisons dont keep forever', i cannot possibly condone stabbing wil smith fans in the face.

Im sure that, 'joking or not, threats of violence are not tolerated'. I fully understand why dr who fans might not be able to tell the difference...

However, i will say that the only wil smith films ive seen are Indepence Day (boring and stupid) and I Am Legend (which wasnt as fun as the porno version I Am Cock, and that's saying something).

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 13 October, 2011, 08:13:17 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 13 October, 2011, 12:38:18 PM
I dread the fact I still have The Spirit on my LoveFilm list!

You are right to dread that.
I saw The Spirit in the cinema and absolutely hated it. One of the worst films I have ever seen. I can't compare it to the comic as I've never read it but the movie was just stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 October, 2011, 08:14:16 PM
I've probably done a few similar jokey death critques myself in the past (probably even recently).

It's a tricky one - sometimes it can be very amusing to read but other times with less talented writers, it just sounds unpleasant and rubs off badly on us all.  So in an attempt to be consistent, I was thinking of pointing it out as harsh whenever anybody did it and maybe it would tone down.

But now I type all that it sounds stupid. 

So pretend I didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 10:32:47 PM
The Dead (2011).

Genre-savvy Earthlets will have been following this production for a while now, and will be aware of the horrendous trials undergone by the British filmmakers, while shooting in Africa. It's become somewhat mythic in itself, and were it an American film, or concerning itself with the supernatural, we'd be hearing that it was 'cursed', a la Poltergeist or The Exorcist.

Thankfully, this is a much more prosaic film, one that follows two characters (one, African star Prince David Osei, in a breakout performance) across Burkino Faso, trying to escape the shambling zombies who have overrun the continent (and maybe the world). Rob Freeman, our white American military mechanic is trying to get out- while Osei is looking for his son.

What follows is a road movie of sorts, shot against the stunning scenary of Africa, featuring locals as zombies and some of the most astonishing, breathtaking fx makeup sequences you're ever likely to see.  It's beautiful, classy stuff, devoid of humour and played absolutely for real- so avoiding any comparison with Romero's zombie epics, and going some way to rescue the genre after the shocking affrontary of bloody Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. No corpses run here, they are most certainly dead not 'infected' and nobody thinks its ironic or hilarious- it's just a sweaty, gorgeously-filmed, very clever survival horror that might just be the best example of 'dead cinema' since Romero's Day of the Dead.

10/10, easily, and i recommend interested parties to look up the story behind its production, and prepare to be amazed and in the end heartened by the basic nature of humans.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 October, 2011, 10:52:35 PM
Just watched The Box.

Vauguely unsettling for the first hour or so, then confusing, then lapsing into an unfair morality tale where the consquences of your decision to hurt someone innocent is that someone innocent of your decision is punished...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 October, 2011, 12:07:05 AM
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - real slow burner, demands lots of patience. Nice to see a good few familiar faces from British t.v. in supporting roles in amongst the big guns of Oldman, Hurt et al.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 October, 2011, 12:20:35 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 October, 2011, 07:45:52 PMBut stabbing in the face is a tad harsh.

I rather hoped the extreme nature of the punishment would speak as to how seriously one should take the suggestion.  Clearly I was in err and apologise.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 October, 2011, 07:55:47 PMHaving recently received a ban from gallifreybase

I am confused - the nature of your post suggests this was a punishment rather than a blessing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 14 October, 2011, 04:27:51 AM
I watched Seven Pounds the other day and in a way it relates to The Box article from X too. An unsettling beginning while I settled into the idea of a "departure" for Will Smith. Then confusion as to where its head and its tail was. Then the conclusion that the moral of the tale is that anyone crashing cars because of mobile phones should kill themselves in a bathtub with a jellyfish and donate their organs to strangers come friends. Hilarious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 14 October, 2011, 10:37:49 AM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 13 October, 2011, 10:44:24 AM

Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 13 October, 2011, 10:34:03 AM
Ill say you are great, but only if you confirm that you were in The Fisher King

Who me? I've never seen The Fisher King so I don't unnerstand.

SBT was in the Fisher King, I'm just trying to establish whether you've both worked together
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 14 October, 2011, 11:42:06 AM
I watched Daybreakers yesterday. It's a vampire flick where the vamps, who became vamps due to a plague have taken over and their blood supply is running out. Yes folks that's the humans are running out!
It's not the best of films by a long way but I found it very entertaining. Some superb visuals and some over the top, I have to admit, especially with some of the deaths but never the less it didn't detract from the plot.

I won't go into the plot as you can find that on IMDB but I did enjoy the way that the [spoiler]cure[/spoiler] came about, a nice twist. This also leads to a slight problem, especially near the end when you sit back and think how will that be spread, without more carnage!
They also showed an underclass of vamps due to lack of blood and drinking their own they mutated into feral beasts and I was expecting a mass war with them but it never came. One scene of execution with these beast by the vamps was well portrayed and reminded me of Amistad on the prison ship!

I think it was all the little touches that added to my enjoyment of the film. The daylight modes for vehicles, the cityblocks with tubes running between them, the child at the begining. It was these bits that took it above your standard vamp flick.

7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 October, 2011, 12:44:29 PM
Which Tarantino films has Tim Roth been in? Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 14 October, 2011, 12:55:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 October, 2011, 12:44:29 PM
Which Tarantino films has Tim Roth been in? Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and...

Four Rooms, if you can count that, as it's only 1/4 a Tarantino film. I'd look it up for any others but that'd be cheating  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 14 October, 2011, 01:39:03 PM
Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 14 October, 2011, 10:37:49 AM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 13 October, 2011, 10:44:24 AM

Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 13 October, 2011, 10:34:03 AM
Ill say you are great, but only if you confirm that you were in The Fisher King

Who me? I've never seen The Fisher King so I don't unnerstand.

SBT was in the Fisher King, I'm just trying to establish whether you've both worked together

Sorry, you've lost me pal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 October, 2011, 01:41:53 PM
And me :/ . I feel there's a gag brewing, and i hope it lives up to all the groundwork being laid...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: fresno bob on 15 October, 2011, 07:09:38 AM
Just finished Batman:Year One http://www.movie2k.to/watch-Batman-Year-One-online.html// an almost panel for panel adaptation of Miller & Mazzucchelli's story. Enjoyed it,but while all reference to Gordon smoking was omitted, they had no problem including an under age prostitute stabbing Wayne in the leg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 October, 2011, 10:23:04 AM
We watched Fanboys the other night, looked like it could be good brainless fun. It wasn't sadly, as there just weren't any laughs. It was one of those comedies where the situations probably looked gold on paper and the plan was probably to put funny people on camera and let the chemistry do the rest, but it all gets very forced and awkward.

It does however have Kristen Bell in the slave Leia outfit, and she wears it like a champ.

(http://www.projectsilence.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/kristen-bell-leias-gold-bikini.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2011, 10:44:44 AM
I don't know who she is, but she looks great in that, and I probably would. As for the Year One film- that looks great! I don't have the patience to watch online, but will be ordering the DVD fairly soon, I think.

The last thing I watched was a night of the extras on the 2 disc edition of George Romero's Survival of the Dead- which arrived yesterday, after a year of having to suffer the vanilla UK version.

I know I'm in the minority, but I really loved Survival- it's a great story, with likeable characters, a fantastic cast and Romero plainly having the time of his life. It being a Western, of sorts (based upon The Big Country), opens the series up to opportunities previously unexplored. It has a magnificent, and hilarious, twist two thirds of the way through that only George could possibly get away with, and some nice, competent (rather than spectacular) effects work. As a Romero Dead junkie, I realise I look at these things differently than you might, but for me his zombie films are the pinnacle of entertainment, and that he's made six pleases me no end.

Of the extras, there's a feature length documentary that follows the filming, umpteen tiny shorts in the form of interviews or gags, a short film called 'Sarge' featuring Alan Van Sprang that takes place after the events of the movie, screening footage, storyboard comparisons and a 'How to make zombie bites' instructional video that I'm yet to watch. Plus a commentary with all the usual suspects.

Most excitingly for me, Romero is revealed to be in rude health throughout, despite his advancing years- showing no evidence of slowing down, and reveals he has plans to make "two more" Dead pictures at present. He acknowledges that time isn't on his side, and says that he'd PREFER to take a break and go make some other kind of movie first, but admits that realistically that's not going to happen. He cites funding and the studio system as the main obstacles to this, so concedes that as he loves his zombies so much, and has so much fun making them, and has found in Toronto a group of people who he enjoys working with as much as he did Savini, Buba et all in Pittsburgh, he's likely to get a seventh (and hopefully eighth) Dead picture underway next.

Of course, all this was shot back in 2008/ 2009, and as yet there's been little if any movement on a new one- but it's heartening to know that we might possibly get a third instalment of the 'Sarge' story (and a fourth Alan Van Sprang romero zombie film) made under the circumstances under which Romero so obviously thrives.

Bring 'em on, George!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 October, 2011, 02:32:14 PM
That sounds like a great package! I also really like Survival (although not quite as much as Diary, which I wasn't initially sure about but which I now love), and was pretty gutted when I bought the blu-ray and saw the lack of extras.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2011, 02:48:19 PM
Yeah, glad to hear it. I think like each and every Romero zombie flick since Day, initial audience-disappointment will eventually become acceptance then love as the years go past. I, too, love Diary. Romero's Dead movies are all so different, and NONE of them are in any way like Dawn- you either appreciate that, and embrace what he does each time... or you dont, and mourn the fact he's not interested in making another one like that. Personally, ive learned to trust him and the thought of two more has me more excited than any number of other movies.

And the dvd has a brilliant 'turny two ways to make the picture move' cover (whatever that's called, i forget) that features a hand bursting out of the ground and a close up of the featured zom from the back of the uk box- only here, he's got bad, chipped, teeth.

I got mine off ebay for about nine quid. Best purchase in ages.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 October, 2011, 03:44:14 PM
There's another Romero Zombie film? Did Survival.. go straight to DVD? The last I Dead film I heard of was... I think... Island of the Dead which I've yet to see.

I think Day of the Dead is my favourite in the original trilogy, although the previous two are good and probably more in the public mind*.  I enjoyed Land of the Dead. As for Diary..., I confess I mentally switched off while I was watching it. I think I was probably doing something on my laptop while it was on and so wasn't giving it my full attention, but I remember getting a bit bored with it.  I'd be happy to grab a copy at some point and give it a proper chance though.

This Survival... seems to have flown straight under my radar.  It does actually ring a bell, so maybe I read some 'in production' blurb somewhere. I like the idea of a Western with zombies, although I'm curious if it's a western in the traditional Old West sense or more a modern red-knecks in trucks thing. I'd watch either although I'd prefer the former. A kind of post apocalyptic western would be welcome too.

*I could have replaced those five words 'more in the public mind' with the one word 'iconic' but that's become a bit of an overused cliché. I think it applies here though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2011, 03:54:27 PM
Island... was the rumoured working title for Survival. They shot the whole movie under the title '? of the Dead', and apparently no one can remember where the final title came from, or who suggested it. Romero's favoured title was 'Enough of the Dead!', though he also liked the pun inherent in 'Isle of the Dead' (I Love the Dead).

So you havent missed one, youre just looking for it under the wrong name. It's the sixth Romero Dead film (Night, Dawn, Day, Land, Diary, Survival)

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 October, 2011, 03:59:26 PM
Hmm. That's curious. I'm sure I've read an entire (rather negative) review under the old name a good while back. Maybe it was from a preview screening when the name was still undecided.

Or my memory is playing tricks.

EDIT- Don't get me wrong, I believe you.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2011, 04:02:35 PM
Oh, and its a western in the sense that it takes place on an island off the coast of Delaware, where two families control the industry and agriculture. The muldoons are farmers, the o'flynns are fishermen, and both are at odds with the other over their approach to dealing with the zombie problem (now a month or so old). There are no cars on the island, and the iconography and themes are right out of The Big Country.

Into this come the national guardsmen who held up the winnebago in Diary, encouraged by old man o'flynn's promises of a 'safe' eden on the island. Lots of cowboy hats, revolvers and rifles, and horse-chases ensue. And zombie carnage.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 15 October, 2011, 05:00:01 PM
I watched the remake of The Crazies yesterday and I must say I was impressed.

It was quite tense throughout the whole film, from the baseball scene at the start to the ultimate climax. Okay we have the normal just in time saves here and there but I was well chuffed that the Sheriff was actually quite switched on and we didn't go down the cliche route.

Some disturbing scenes are played out with the military and their quarantine drills that they place upon the town. This also helped it look like a lost case for the Sheriffs wife when she's been quarantined and the infected bloke walks into her ward with the pitch fork  :o

Great stuff and some shocking scenes take this way above the expected in this genre. I put that down to the gravity of the situation and how the actors all play their parts so well, you really felt for them as the shit hit the fan.

9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 15 October, 2011, 07:06:34 PM
Survival Of The Dead is shit.

It's probably less shit than Diary Of The Dead, and about as shit as Land Of The Dead.

Some truly appalling acting, some ropey effects and - unforgiveably for a zombie film - rather unexciting.

Stick with the original classic trilogy of Night, Dawn and Day, and pretend the rest didn't happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 15 October, 2011, 07:11:16 PM
I watched Horrible Bosses last night. It's very funny actually with some good performances from top names and the 3 lead characters. The most The Hangover like comedy i've seen since well...The Hangover.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2011, 07:15:53 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 15 October, 2011, 05:00:01 PM
I watched the remake of The Crazies yesterday and I must say I was impressed.

It was quite tense throughout the whole film, from the baseball scene at the start to the ultimate climax. Okay we have the normal just in time saves here and there but I was well chuffed that the Sheriff was actually quite switched on and we didn't go down the cliche route.

Some disturbing scenes are played out with the military and their quarantine drills that they place upon the town. This also helped it look like a lost case for the Sheriffs wife when she's been quarantined and the infected bloke walks into her ward with the pitch fork  :o

Great stuff and some shocking scenes take this way above the expected in this genre. I put that down to the gravity of the situation and how the actors all play their parts so well, you really felt for them as the shit hit the fan.

9/10

Oh! Watching this tonight.

Got 5 DVDs for £5 from Blockbuster: The Box (middling); Triangle (an average Twilight Zone episode); The Crazies (tonight); Buried (Sunday) and Valkyrie (Monday/ Tuesday)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 October, 2011, 10:44:12 PM
Quote from: fresno bob on 15 October, 2011, 07:09:38 AM
Just finished Batman:Year One http://www.movie2k.to/watch-Batman-Year-One-online.html// an almost panel for panel adaptation of Miller & Mazzucchelli's story. Enjoyed it,but while all reference to Gordon smoking was omitted, they had no problem including an under age prostitute stabbing Wayne in the leg.

I guess if you just want a verbatim adaptation - and given how whiny the nerd contingent can get about comic book adaptations and the concessions made for wider audiences I don't doubt there are many people who do - Batman: Year One is fine, but if you want something that works as a film that you could show to someone else and expect them to appreciate it as the same kind of paradigm shift that the comic book was in its day, this is not that.
After BtAS, Batman Begins, Dark Knight - hell, even the Burton gothic campfests - this kind of story is just irrelevant to a wider audience as they already know that Batman isn't like the 1960s tv show.  If this was a free dvd with the graphic novel it would probably be fine, but as something in and of itself?  Nah.

Although I do feel compelled to point out that the execution creates some inadvertent changes to the material, particularly a more modern Gotham than is seen in the comic - which is a shame given that the pseudo-Eastern European look and muted colour scheme (the 'toon is typical bright cartoony cel colours) of Mazzucchelli's Gotham was an aesthetic masterstroke as much a factor of the book's enduring appeal as Miller's script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 15 October, 2011, 10:50:27 PM
Well apparently Bryan Cranston who is in Year One had no idea that Batman wasn't like the 60s show so once again the Prof is wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 16 October, 2011, 07:45:04 AM
Watched Cool As Ice the vanilla ice story.
Christ on a bike, what a waste of time. I may as well have just painted my eyeballs with HP sauce. Apparently you shouldnt drink or swear in order to look cool but it's ok to ride high powered motorbikes next to horses and pickpocket peoples diaries.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 October, 2011, 08:58:17 AM
Heh - I quite like Cool as Ice! Especially when he says 'Let's Gee Oh' instead of 'Let's Go'.

I watched 'Stake Land' and 'Attack the Block' last night. Both were ok but nothing special.

The former had little character development and no real plot. I think it was supposed to be more about the mood and the bleak apocalyptic desperateness of the situation. It pissed me off right at the start though and didn't win me back over again - suffice to say I don't really want to see infant death or rape in my escapist genre fiction thanks.
They weren't even proper vampires anyway, just rubbish zombie type things, and the main baddie was fucking shite.

Attack the Block was better but it wasn't really very funny and wasn't scary. The best thing about it was the monster design which I thought was great. The young actors weren't up to much but the main lady was very good - I though it was Sarah Smart but it was someone who looks very similar.
The story was very formulaic but it entertained well enough. It felt a bit like a kids horror film in parts.
I'd definitely watch it again if it came on telly. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 16 October, 2011, 09:15:44 AM
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not the kind of movie to go and see on a late showing after a couple of beers and a very long week.

How I managed to stay awake through it is a miracle, it was like watching brown paint dry for 2 hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 October, 2011, 11:30:32 AM
Thor finally, didn't take itself too seriously and that was a good thing -sets and CGI landscapes looked good and quite "cosmic maahN" in it's own trippy way especially the LSD bridge.  Enjoyable hour and fifty mins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 16 October, 2011, 04:30:05 PM
Quote from: Rog69 on 16 October, 2011, 09:15:44 AM
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not the kind of movie to go and see on a late showing after a couple of beers and a very long week.

How I managed to stay awake through it is a miracle, it was like watching brown paint dry for 2 hours.

Did you not have some idea what to expect?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 16 October, 2011, 04:41:57 PM
Y
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 October, 2011, 01:23:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 October, 2011, 07:08:41 AMIt's what, ten years old now? Back then, Glee didnt exist, and i'll happily let you know it's nothing like it!

Not Glee specifically, just what Glee is in general, as I'm pretty sure the cover old songs in a new story approach was a well-trodden path before MR got there otherwise it wouldn't have been the basis for two Xena episodes, and at least one episode of some late 80s hospital drama whose name escapes me.

I've nowt against musicals, either - in my opinion anyone who does not like Muppet Christmas Carrol is dead inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpb9EbmvM5M

The hospital drama wouldn't be chicago hope would it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 16 October, 2011, 05:09:01 PM
"Hanna"

Drivel.

"POTC - On Stranger Tides"

Drivel. Despite Depp's always interesting and endearing presence, and Cruz's tits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2011, 11:02:20 PM
The Exorcist III

Havent seen this in a few years, and we had a craving tonight. Gorgeous film, that even with the infamous studio-fiddling (reshoots shoving Nicol Williamson in it, as studio heads were alarmed a movie with 'exorcist' in the title didnt actually have an exorcism in it) manages to appear perfectly-pitched.

It's very clever, magnificently intense, has a powerhouse central turn from George C Scott (who shines whenever he opens his mouth, but especially in scenes with Ed Flanders and Jason Miller) and a couple of sequences that stay with you long after the end credits.

21 years ago, at the UK premier (Splatterfest 90, at the much-missed Scala) i sat with 300 or so other hardcore horror fans and watched a mexican wave of sheer horror go through the audience at the infamous corridor sequence. It's lost none of its power two decades on, and later when nursey pulls the enormous shiny head-cutter-offers out of her bag, i once again very nearly shit myself.

Ive never liked the original particularly- Mark Kermode (he'd, thankfully, be on The Gemini Killer's list, due to his second initial. That's karma, that is) may call it 'the best horror film ever made', but to me it's always been a mildly fascinating sub-hammer infrequently unsettling experience. But then, i grew up with no religious beliefs- so satan, or pazuzu, or whatever you like to call him here, is just another horror monster like Dracula or Jason Voorhees. Exorcist III somehow manages to overcome this and be extremely frightening for its entire length.

Based on the novel 'Legion' by Blatty (who wrote and directed this), the trailer reveals it came very close to having that subtitle in the final cut- and reminds me that, when announced, one uk paper reported it would feature 'a legion of exorcists fighting the devil'. Presumably as some kind of brilliant tag team.

Anyway, Exorcist III: bloody genius.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 October, 2011, 11:21:08 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2011, 11:02:20 PM
The Exorcist III

Havent seen this in a few years, and we had a craving tonight. Gorgeous film, that even with the infamous studio-fiddling (reshoots shoving Nicol Williamson in it, as studio heads were alarmed a movie with 'exorcist' in the title didnt actually have an exorcism in it) manages to appear perfectly-pitched.


They're still looking for the original cut of this -before Morgan Creek studio interference- but so far it's fruitless. The version we have now has many moments of brilliance in the way Blatty's previous film the Ninth Configuration has but the Nicol Williamson and crucifixion additions don't really work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2011, 11:48:24 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 16 October, 2011, 11:21:08 PM

They're still looking for the original cut of this -before Morgan Creek studio interference- but so far it's fruitless. The version we have now has many moments of brilliance in the way Blatty's previous film the Ninth Configuration has but the Nicol Williamson and crucifixion additions don't really work.

Morgan Creek claims to have "lost the footage"- or so they said back in 2007. There are, apparently, rumours the French cinema cut used some bits not in the US/UK print (notably the beheading of the priest, who ends up holding his head on a bench), but the bits Blatty wants no longer seem to exist. These are the alternative beginning, where Kinderman visits Karras's body on the slab, and however it was supposed to end, before Nicol Williamson was crowbarred in. You could also claim that there's a lot of Brad Dourif that remains to be seen- as he shot all the Gemini Killer scenes, and it was only later that Morgan Creek demanded the inclusion of Jason Miller as well.

Despite all that, it hangs together really well, I think. Would it have been a better film if it more closely followed Blatty's novel? I dunno- I read that back in about 1988, so it's too long ago for me to judge. Would like to have the opportunity to find out though.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 17 October, 2011, 09:25:02 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2011, 11:02:20 PM
The Exorcist III

Havent seen this in a few years, and we had a craving tonight. Gorgeous film, that even with the infamous studio-fiddling (reshoots shoving Nicol Williamson in it, as studio heads were alarmed a movie with 'exorcist' in the title didnt actually have an exorcism in it) manages to appear perfectly-pitched.

It's very clever, magnificently intense, has a powerhouse central turn from George C Scott (who shines whenever he opens his mouth, but especially in scenes with Ed Flanders and Jason Miller) and a couple of sequences that stay with you long after the end credits.

21 years ago, at the UK premier (Splatterfest 90, at the much-missed Scala) i sat with 300 or so other hardcore horror fans and watched a mexican wave of sheer horror go through the audience at the infamous corridor sequence. It's lost none of its power two decades on, and later when nursey pulls the enormous shiny head-cutter-offers out of her bag, i once again very nearly shit myself.

Ive never liked the original particularly- Mark Kermode (he'd, thankfully, be on The Gemini Killer's list, due to his second initial. That's karma, that is) may call it 'the best horror film ever made', but to me it's always been a mildly fascinating sub-hammer infrequently unsettling experience. But then, i grew up with no religious beliefs- so satan, or pazuzu, or whatever you like to call him here, is just another horror monster like Dracula or Jason Voorhees. Exorcist III somehow manages to overcome this and be extremely frightening for its entire length.

Based on the novel 'Legion' by Blatty (who wrote and directed this), the trailer reveals it came very close to having that subtitle in the final cut- and reminds me that, when announced, one uk paper reported it would feature 'a legion of exorcists fighting the devil'. Presumably as some kind of brilliant tag team.

Anyway, Exorcist III: bloody genius.

SBT

I did like The Exorcist, but I prefer Exorcist III. I saw it on VHS when it was released in that format and watched it late-ish on a Friday night with my three brothers. And all four of us were scared fucking shitless.

The slow-burn detective murder investigation at the start is perfect, and Scott is brilliantly cast, but the ever-increasing tension that builds up is almost unbearable.

There are so many scenes that do freeze your blood in the veins; the details of the beheaded child and hideous vandalism of church statues; the confession box scene; Bard Dourif's spiitle-flecked rage and then immediate return to normality ( "the torment of your friend Father Karras as he watches while I rip and cut and mutilate the innocent, his friends, and again, and again, on and on!........It's the smiles that keep us going. The bits of giggles and good cheer. "); that fucking corridor scene with the nurse and the shears (a friend sent me a clip of it recently and I was petrified all over again, sitting in an office in the afternoon).

It's one of my favourite films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 17 October, 2011, 01:08:35 PM
Melancholia. Sublime, but will probably never watch it again (so file next to the rest of Von Trier's output).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 October, 2011, 07:23:45 PM
After SBT's ringing endorsement earlier in the thread, I ordered and watched 'The Dead', with a certain amount of trepidation. Why trepidation? Well, for one it's a zombie film post-1994. And whilst I've sometimes found the wee blue fella's tastes to be comparable to mine (mutual love of The Thing, Day of the Dead, Michele Soavi movies, mutual distaste for Shaun of the Dead), at other times, they seem quite different (the recently mentioned Diary / Survival of the Dead, for instance – Diary is due a rewatch, but I can't see it ever being a film that'd receive my unconditional love.)

Anyway, 'The Dead' then. Yeah, SBT got this one right. It's very good (much better than the aforementioned late-era Romero films.) It reminded me a lot of when Jean Rollin described how he reverse-engineered 'The Poisedon Adventure' to get the structure for 'The Grapes of Death' – x number of minutes travel, set piece, travel, set piece, and so on. But the set pieces are frequently gorgeous and thrilling – shooting in Africa has absolutely set this film apart, and nowhere more so than the 'Devil's Claw' sequence, though for tension, the situation in which the two protagonists meet is pitched perfectly. But it's the 'travel' sections that really hammer home what a relentless threat the dead are. No matter what, the dead are there, emerging from the foliage with a stately menace when our heroes pause in their journey. Much of the time, they're simply a background detail, wandering by the roadside and individually easily dealt with, but their sheer omnipresence and the inexorable peril they represent is conveyed expertly. The film never lets you feel safe. And that's exactly what I want from a movie like this.

So, a thumbs up from me, and thanks to SBT for bringing this 'un to my attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 October, 2011, 08:04:53 PM
For wantonly mentioning the late, great, Jean Rollin in a public place, i sentence you to endless dull and largely one-sided conversation from me regailing you with my thoughts of why Les Deux Orphalines Vampires is one of The Best Films Ever Made, and how i had dinner with the great man AND accompanied him to a cemetary.

Or maybe i'll just say: yeah, The Dead. Is groovy. And youre the second person to mention it to me today. Hopefully word is spreading!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 October, 2011, 08:43:02 PM
Oh, and if you watched on dvd and not some newfangled online delivery method, did you find The Dead sort of froze in several places? At first i thought it was a stylistic thing, but its obviously not. My dvd player is literally a week old and this is only the third or fourth time ive used it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 October, 2011, 08:54:03 PM
Exorcist III is fantastic! I actually saw it before the first one, and I'd imagine I must have been very young because at the time horror to me was Freddy and Aliens, so I wasn't quite prepared for the kind of creeping evil that the movie deals in. Freaked me right out, and I was so scared at that particular previously mentioned scene that I missed the big scare thanks to burying my face in a cushion. Everyone else in the room yelped, and I only saw it years later (where it still shat me up big time).

We watched The Witches of Eastwick as it was on the telly and Bea hadn't seen it. It's another one I saw very young (although I doubt I understood it much as it's far saucier than I remember) and it's still a lot of fun. Nicholson is fantastic in it, in a role pretty much perfect for him. Cher was pretty hubba hubba back then too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 October, 2011, 09:06:35 PM

Die Hard... that is one of best action films!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 October, 2011, 09:09:41 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 17 October, 2011, 08:43:02 PM
Oh, and if you watched on dvd and not some newfangled online delivery method, did you find The Dead sort of froze in several places? At first i thought it was a stylistic thing, but its obviously not. My dvd player is literally a week old and this is only the third or fourth time ive used it.

Watched it on dvd, and no, didn't notice anything you could describe as freezing - ran fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 18 October, 2011, 11:23:53 PM
Right then... John Carpenter's 'The Ward'. <rolls up sleeves>

It is impossible to explain how much I love John Carpenter. For my entire film-watching life, he has been a constant presence- from those early teenage days continually renting The Thing, The Fog and Halloween, through his less-popular middle period and They Live, Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness, to his later projects Ghosts of Mars, Vampires and Cigarette Burns. And everything in between: Christine- his glorious collaboration with Stephen King, his unloved comedy Memoirs of An Invisible Man, his Kurt Russell star vehicles and even his student films. The man is a fag-smoking, tight jeans-wearing, laid back genius of the first order. Everything he touches thrills me, and I'm prepared to accept it may be some kind of ungodly man-crush.

There's so much to love: the classic Carpenter hero, Tom Atkins or Kurt Russell (or later, James Woods), his perfect eye for composition, his steady hand on a story, his mastery of the sudden scare- and of course, his music. There's nothing like a Carpenter soundtrack and no film composer can possibly touch him. Ennio Morricone? Pah! Danny fucking Elfman? Carpenter wees on you, while stinking of Brut. And drinking beer.

In recent years, Carp has come under a barrage of criticism for "not being as good as he once was". Obviously, this is the kind of complete bollocks bandied about by shandy-drinking filmschool Knobheads with absolutely no sense whatsoever, that all right-thinking people should laugh heartily at, while smoking fags and stinking of Hai Karate. Not Calvin Klein, like those effeminate strokey beardy gimps.  Yes, his early films had a massive, hammering social impact: Halloween changed the landscape of horror forever, The Thing- after a dismal run at the box office- went on to be in absolutely every intelligent person's Top Five Films Ever, and Escape From New York defined every action film for the next twenty years. But Carp never "lost it". It's just that audiences became inured to his techniques, they were copied elsewhere by lesser filmmakers, the Law of Diminishing Returns hit hard- and his later movies never found the wide audience appreciation that his early ones enjoyed. But Christ, we're talking about some of the best genre films of their decades here- each and every one. Oh sure, he slips up from time to time. I can't, in all honesty, find much to love in his remake of Village of the Damned for example, but even his derided later films like Ghosts of Mars are chocka with typical Carp. Ghosts is a rufty tufty sci-fi action pic that seems to have slipped through time from the early eighties- it should be looked at in the same light as Escape From New York as it features similar themes and resembles it in too many ways to list.

So we come to The Ward- just out on DVD- and positively reeking of Carpenter. Brilliantly, we have a near all-female cast. It's a shame that he didn't cast women in the few male roles, or we could have had a brilliant thematic reverse on The Thing- especially as all the horror here is of the (traditionally female) psychological bent, as opposed to the visceral masculinity of his earlier classic. But he doesn't, so we can only comment on how near it came. Which is a pretty good review of the whole thing, to be honest: It's very nearly great. The comparison to The Thing is doubly apt- but for reasons I can't possibly reveal to people who may not have seen it, but I can't help thinking it's an amusing coincidence that Carp unleashes this- which has so many similarities to his earlier film- at the same time we see that film remade and about to go on release.

We have a female psychiatric ward, in a mental hospital in 1966. Into this comes Kristen, arrested for burning down a farmhouse. She doesn't remember why she did it, but soon finds out the ward is seemingly haunted by a rotting zombie girl, picking off the patients one by one.

And that's basically it- tension is ramped up, we find out stuff, and it builds to a climax that will, as the sleeve says, "set you thinking". All the boxes are, if not confidently ticked, then at least slashed at by a master filmmaker wielding the tools of his trade in an effective manner. The sudden jumps are all present and correct, it's nicely filmed, some bits will make you squirm, the creature is pretty horrible and like I say (without ruining it) there are some strong thematic echoes and reversals of The Thing. The music- here not by the man himself- is very much in his style, and if we can't expect him to break out his Bontempi every time he goes to work, then at least we can be glad others appreciate his music enough to ape it when given the chance to work with him.

Is The Ward going to change the mind of anyone who whinges that "Carpenter hasn't made a decent film in mehmehmeh (makes yappy motions with his hand, while screwing face up to suggest a ponce)? No, obviously not. Is The Ward going to make the man's fans happy and give them the same kind of thrills and chuckles they've loved ever since they first saw his name appear on the screen? Yes, it is.

I may watch it again tonight, just because it's Carp.

7.5/10

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 October, 2011, 03:40:43 PM
DEATHPROOF.
Nope. Don't get it. What was the point of that again?  If that had been the first film Tarantino had made, I think it would also have been the last.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 October, 2011, 07:00:45 PM
Deathproof is ace! I don't know why, it just is!


I like the sound of The Ward - I read about it ages ago but was expecting a cinema release. I'll definitely be renting it out to see if it's as good as I'm hoping.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 October, 2011, 07:25:58 PM
SBT, I skimmed your post due to spoiler fear, got The Ward on blu-ray last week and am planning to watch it at some point soon (still trying to get the tv at an opportune horror movie hour). Glad to see you seem to have liked it judging by the score, I personally don't think Carpenter has fallen as far as many make out (Ghosts of Mars is his only truly bad step in my mind) and as his Masters of Horror episodes were great (particularly Cigarette Burns) I'm confident he still has the suspense chops.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2011, 11:34:55 PM
Stakeland

The zombie apocalypse, only with 'vampires'. Zombieland, only played straight. A road movie set in a post-apocalyptic America, after a vampire happening. Our young boy hero teams up with a grizzled vampire killer in an attempt to drive across country to 'New Eden', where it's safe, in Canada. Along the way they pick up Kelly McGillis (from Top Gun) and Danielle Harris (from Halloween 5 and Hatchet 2) and run into a lunatic christian cult who dog their tracks throughout the movie.

It's very good- the vamps are mindless, snarling zombies (basically, they're zombies, it's a zombie movie) who have added interest in that they burn in daylight. There's plenty of gory action, and the most interesting name in the credits is that of producer Larry Fessenden, whom you may know as the talented director of the brilliant Wendigo and The Last Winter, which this echoes quite a lot.

Fessenden is a fairly new name in horror cinema and one that's truly worth keeping an eye on. His work is imbued with a melancholy lyricism, notably in his use of locations, their interaction with the cast, and his singular soundtracks. Check out the odd foley in both his directorial features, and how it mixes with the dialogue and the music; it's almost mesmeric- and i detect his hand in the look and soundscape of Stakeland. Which, if that were the only thing i could recommend, would make it worth watching in itself. Thankfully, the movie is a cluster of good bits- and the overall package is more than the sum of its parts.

Not perfect by any means- the plot mechanics that result in the climactic showdown are lame, but not lame enough to ruin it.

Double disc comes with a bunch of extras: two commentaries, a docu and a gaggle of prequel 'webisodes' being the main attraction.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 22 October, 2011, 12:07:25 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2011, 11:34:55 PM
the vamps are mindless, snarling zombies (basically, they're zombies, it's a zombie movie)

Film zombies are pretty much identical to folkloric vampires.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Misanthrope on 23 October, 2011, 02:20:44 AM
Shaun of the Dead.

I'm sure this movie gets better every time I watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 23 October, 2011, 02:01:58 PM
I watched The Book Of Eli the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's a bit Mad Max in it's take on the future but with an above average story, helped by the calibre of actors portraying the main characters. Could that book still hold so much power in such times, an interesting theory for definate and could be discussed for ages. After all, the pen is mightier than the sword!

My main love of this film was due to the visuals. I watched virtually every scene unfold with amazement at the cinematography. The backgrounds, the colours, the angles of shots and the composition on screen really took this film into a league of its own. I felt it really was that good.

Washington (and his stunt double) pulled off some interesting fight sequences and again these were all filmed beautifully on screen.

My one tiny fault was during one scene when Washington [spoiler]walks away in the town and is shot at twice before he does anything[/spoiler]. Other than that I highly recommend this film.

9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 October, 2011, 03:42:15 PM
Swamp Shark

Have i done this one before? Anyway, just watched it again, this time with the boys. They responded very well to the various shark attacks, yuck yuck yucking their way through the largely cg-created gore. The lack of swearing and nudity makes this pretty good sunday afternoon fun, and the vivid characters are child-friendly even if the bad guy's motivation took some explaining.

Fun. With a great cajun soundtrack. Yee haw!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 23 October, 2011, 06:51:39 PM
I second SBT's endorsement of Stakeland...very, very good. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 October, 2011, 08:25:05 PM
Having really enjoyed Pearl Harbor I took a chance with Armageddon and was a bit disappointed, mainly by technical shortcomings in editing and direction that made a lot of it visually confusing, such as the shuttle crash sequence where it seemed to be quite clear that the bloke who played the demon in Drive Angry was the pilot of the crashing shuttle, yet a few seconds later he's piloting the other one, making the deaths of several characters lacking in any kind of gravitas.  Apart from the visual chaff, though, it's a hoot, with lots of manly handshakes and salutes and definitively non-gaysexual "I love you!"s between dudes in the face of the Ultimate Sacrifice, "let's turn this bomb off!", and all the usual Bay visual tropes come off as parody rather than someone taking things deadly serious.  The only thing that stood out as really poor was probably the Mir space station choosing that particular moment to explode even though there's a handy meteor shower excuse to give a plot-related reason for it to happen, and the 'psychological tests' sequence was painfully unfunny and all I could think was "chin up, mate, you'll make Human Centipede one day", though complaining about forced and unfunny comedy in Michael Bay movies is always an argument not worth starting so I let it slide.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 October, 2011, 09:17:12 PM
Drive. Pretty good stuff, though it is a little bit style over substance - normally a film as self-indulgent would try my patience, but it was well-made and engaging enough to not put me off.

Girlfriend absolutely loved it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 October, 2011, 09:22:21 PM
Just Watched Hot Shots Part Deux. I had forgotten how much I love this stupid, silly film
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 October, 2011, 09:40:20 PM
Oh, and also been watching the third series of Modern Family - sadly the quality has dropped off at an alarming rate - still the odd good episode but overall nowhere near the standard of series 1&2, which are pretty much family sitcom perfection as far as Im concerned.

So often the case with these types of shows that characters very quickly become caricatures of themselves and it loses it's subtlety and charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 October, 2011, 11:05:04 PM
Just watched 3 Musketeers.
Utter shite from beginning to end and there's a blond girl in it who is literally the worst actress I have ever seen.


The unexpected appearance of James fucking Corden didn't help matters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 23 October, 2011, 11:43:42 PM
CONTAGION: Very well made and has a genuine respect for public servants. The tone was still slightly too detached though. And Jude Law (as Peterwolf) was rubbish.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN: The best film of the year. Just amazing. The sound mixing is astonishing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 24 October, 2011, 10:00:40 AM
The Other Guys
Brilliant! Funniest Will Ferrel's been since Anchorman (not saying much i guess)
but really funny & mental!

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 October, 2011, 11:17:59 AM
Red State, one of the better Kevin Smith offerings, based on the "what if?" notion of the Westboro Baptist Church ending all pretence of being christians and becoming full-fledged nutcase cultists.  It's very scattershot and the latter twists where the Feds turn murderous on a dime is forced enough to take me out of it, but John Goodman is always watchable, and the chap who plays the Fred Phelps analogue is really good, eschewing scenery-chomping in favor of a gravelly-voiced preacher like what you may find any old place - even around my home town shouting on streets through loudspeakers on market day - but if you look closely you notice that his congregation seems to consist of the captive audience of his immediate family and extends slowly outwards to their spouses where cracks in the armor are beginning to appear.  There's a keen observation at work there that sadly doesn't extend much into the rest of the film, but it's still very watchable and commendable for keeping Smith from writing more Batman comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 October, 2011, 12:41:30 PM
"Just watched Three Musketeers.
Utter shite from beginning to end and there's a blond girl in it who is literally the worst actress I have ever seen.
The unexpected appearance of James fucking Corden didn't help matters."

How odd? We took the Family Tips along to this last night and everybody enjoyed it.  There are many faults e.g.
- that blonde (though have you seen Transformers 3?)
- some very dodgy effects
- tedious speedy up/slowy down action scenes (is there a term for this? Snyderising?)
- not enough time spent on the charismatic main musketeers
- charisma vaccum where D'Artagnan should be
- terrible anachronistic dialogue
- it keeps riffing badly on superior movies

but the first half is nothing less than an extended love letter to the gorgeousness that is Milla Jovovich (reminded me of Kill Bill in that respect) and the second half delivers heists on the tower of London and steam punk dirigibles duking it out in the skies above France.

Those bodices and corsetts work well in 3D.

And it's better than at least three of the Pirates of the Carribean movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 October, 2011, 01:33:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 October, 2011, 12:41:30 PM


And it's better than at least three of the Pirates of the Carribean movies.


Have to disagree with that.

I really did think that this was probably the worst film I've seen in a very long time.

To answer some of your points - yes I've seen Transformers 3 and agree thta the girl in that can't act either. She at least had a sort of 'rabbit in the headlights' likeability though - and she definitely had sex appeal. This girl in musketeers really was just like a mannequin.

Two other points you make pretty much nail why i hated the film so much. ie - it's called the Three Musketeers (who were actually all pretty good) but these characters are reduced to supporting roles.
The film is all about D'Artagnan but the actor playing him is absolutely bloody shite and looks about 10! He was in way out of his depth. The script was rubbish anyway - even the foreshadowing where his dad (an inexplicably American accented Dexter Fletcher) shows him that sneeky combat move didn't ever come to anything.

As for the airship battle - rubbish.

Ogling Mila Jovovich was the only thing that kept me in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 24 October, 2011, 02:38:38 PM
I am number 4.

I quite enjoyed it though ive never read the book which i guess is better than the film??? and the ending seemed to leave it open for a sequel. is this just based on 1 books and does it tie everything up?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 October, 2011, 04:23:40 PM
Watched Liar Liar for the first time in years. It had me laughing out loud at some of the absurdities Jim Carrey spewed out. Many of which I'm sure we've all wanted to say at some point.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2011, 08:08:34 PM
Cat O' Nine Tails from that ever so classic director Dario Argento. Damn this movie is fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 October, 2011, 09:00:58 PM
Captain America. Loved the aesthetics with all the retro-futurism and all the chunky buttons and dials everywhere
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 October, 2011, 12:06:10 PM
Sink The Bismarck!  I normally don't approve of all this touchy-feely stuff up in my war snuff porn but here it feeds into the Stiff Upper Lip atmosphere.  The bit with the Cap's son being lost at sea is a bit contrived but all told a decent WW2 boat flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Teivion on 25 October, 2011, 01:42:48 PM
Zombie Diaries 2- Because it was 95p on watch On Demand and the DVD shelf was too far away from my glass of red.

For a low budget film it was nicely done. The opening setup and link-in to the movie almost had me giving up in the first 5 mins however, and some of the 'hand held' camera sequences didn't work as well as others, ( Blair Witch has a lot to answer for-and does any recorded playback video really have a flashing REC button on display in a higher resolution than the footage its recorded ?)
Effects were minimal but nice, I'd like to have seen more 'dirt' on the zombies clothes as without the weathering it was quite clear most of them were probably just locals and mates of the film crew who turned up for the day to be extras ;-)
There was one scene which some people might find uncomfortable viewing as entertainment but the main cast were actually very good, especially considering the constraints of the synopsis.
Good viewing as a benchmark to see what can be done on a budget, tightly directed and well done.
Will def try to see part 1 because of it.7/10

I also caught 90% of THE ROCKETEER, a massively enjoyable film from start to finish, hugely underrated and some of the nicest period production design work to this day.
I'm pretty sure Timothy Dalton's home is largely decorated using the same tiles as used in Deckard's apartment in BladeRunner, and the rocket pack effects are awesome, mainly thanks to Joe Johnston I expect (Id like to see how they shot some of the airplane flying sequences too). 9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 25 October, 2011, 08:28:03 PM
I saw about 20 minutes of Batman And Robin last night withthe old man.

Oh dear.

I've never seen it before, and all I coudl think was 'Oh man... oh man... this is bad. Really bad.'

And yet... still oddly watchable, in a 'can't look away' fashion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ignatzmonster on 25 October, 2011, 10:19:13 PM
Quote from: Teivion on 25 October, 2011, 01:42:48 PM
I also caught 90% of THE ROCKETEER, a massively enjoyable film from start to finish, hugely underrated and some of the nicest period production design work to this day.
I'm pretty sure Timothy Dalton's home is largely decorated using the same tiles as used in Deckard's apartment in BladeRunner, and the rocket pack effects are awesome, mainly thanks to Joe Johnston I expect (Id like to see how they shot some of the airplane flying sequences too). 9/10

I concur! One of the best comicbook movies out there. Could be wrong, but if it's the one I'm thinking of, the interior shots are filmed in the same house in LA built by Frank Lloyd Wright. It shows up in more than a few movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 October, 2011, 06:00:39 PM
The People under the Stairs was on the other night on Syfy so I watched part of it. I only watched the start as something else cropped up which took me away from the telly for a while, but I've seen it 2-3 times before. It's a very enjoyable film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 October, 2011, 10:25:49 PM
watch Severance on BBC3, it okay horror with twist of slasher.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 26 October, 2011, 10:31:47 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 26 October, 2011, 10:25:49 PM
watch Severance on BBC3, it okay horror with twist of slasher.

No it's not it's fuckin' shit with Danny Dyer in it - The Blues Brothers is on ITV4, watch that instead - just at the Bob's country Bunker bit right now - looking forward to 'Shi-it'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 October, 2011, 10:37:53 PM
Well I like Blue Brothers, but did studio with it while ago, so nice to be chill out tonight with fun horror film! lol I know it with annoyed Danny Dickhead Dyer, but it good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 October, 2011, 12:14:22 PM
What's wrong with Danny Dyer? I think he's quite funny - and he doesn't take himself too seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 October, 2011, 12:18:14 PM
And his early scenes in Severance are quite good if I recall. (When he's [spoiler]drunk/"e"d of his tits).[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 October, 2011, 12:55:02 PM
He's fine if you like mockney twats.

North Sea Hijack, a late-70s British action movie starring Roger Moore trying to play against type but failing because he is Roger Moore and even having a cat named after Enoch Powell is endearing.  The slow pace of action movies made before the 1980s is always a problem for me, but I like Moore on film despite/because of his range as an actor and here he pretty much holds this together, with Anthony Perkins over the place as a terrorist mastermind and some aimless crew-mutiny shananigans padding things out a bit too much.  If you don't get on well with Moore, I imagine it would be a hard watch, though.

The Emissary, the pilot episode for Deep Space Nine which I am watching having come by a season 1 dvd set and my God, but this was a lot more appalling as a show than I remember, especially The Passenger, in which Alex Siddig (Dr Bashir) is the best bad actor in all creation.  Some episodes are fascinatingly terrible (Move Along Home, Storyteller, If Wishes Were Horses, Dramatis Personae), but there's no denying the promise of the opener, which plops the oh-so-perfect Federation slap bang in the middle of Eastern Europe while the Soviet Union is going tits-up and yet makes the show more than just about the UN-in-space thanks to some good character work and the McGuffin-ish but eventually interesting wormhole hook.  Despite the dated SFX, space battles, and clumsy exposition and character building (a lot of which - particularly Kira, Rom, Quark and Bashir - becomes redundant or retconned quite early in the series), Sisko's arc as a grieving husband underpins everything as his mourning for his wife is integral to his meeting with the extradimensional Prophets, and while Avery Brooks hasn't quite nailed the character down just yet, his renewed purpose at the end is a believable and admirable turn that makes the show about the hope necessary to rebuild after loss which typified the show at its absolute best in episodes like The Visitor, Duet, and The Quickening.  Pity the episodes that followed directly on from this were so gash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 October, 2011, 01:20:06 PM
"I like Moore on film"

I think this may be because he's a genuine STAR with proper presence.

And he, amusingly, knows his limitations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 27 October, 2011, 03:36:03 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 October, 2011, 06:00:39 PM
The People under the Stairs was on the other night on Syfy so I watched part of it. I only watched the start as something else cropped up which took me away from the telly for a while, but I've seen it 2-3 times before. It's a very enjoyable film.

It's another of my favourites. Some great comedy, some thrills, some horror, a dash of sadism and general wrongness, a superb child hero, and a whole host of quotable lines:

"Your father's one sick mother, you know that? Actually, your mother's one sick mother, too!"

Aces
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 27 October, 2011, 03:36:59 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 October, 2011, 12:14:22 PM
What's wrong with Danny Dyer? I think he's quite funny - and he doesn't take himself too seriously.

What's wrong with Danny Dyer?

Jesus Christ.

Everything?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 October, 2011, 05:34:58 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 27 October, 2011, 03:36:59 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 October, 2011, 12:14:22 PM
What's wrong with Danny Dyer? I think he's quite funny - and he doesn't take himself too seriously.

What's wrong with Danny Dyer?

Jesus Christ.

Everything?

Nah, he's alright, I like him.
If you ever see him interviewed he sems like a genuinely nice guy.

I thought he was really good in 'The Business'.An underated film in my opinion.

His 'documentary' about UFOs was hilarious. He seemed to have genuine affection for a lot of the nutters he met despite being pretty bemused by most of them. it had a really cool ending too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: klute on 27 October, 2011, 05:40:48 PM
I  had the misfortune of watching slaughter high.What a steaming pile of shite the best part of the film was seeing the end credit's i wouldn't recommend it to anyone
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 October, 2011, 10:50:50 PM

Batman Returns on ITV2, it okay film with some good scenes, like the cruel opening, cool way of Bat-signal into Bruce Wayne's living room (wonder what happens if he got guests there??)

Batman's cape became the wings! Christopher Walken! Catwoman, hot!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 October, 2011, 11:19:07 PM
Hellraiser

Havent seen this in twenty years, and was interested to see if it holds up two decades on. Short version: no, not really. Shockingly paced, with awful dialogue, only ashely lawrence and doug bradley come out unscathed and with reputations intact. Much of it was bad at the time, of course. Bob keen's effects were always ropey- his frank bodysuit doesnt convince, the resurrection sequence was laughable on original release and is even more so now, and his rubber monster on a unicycle, that attacks kirsty cotton twice probably looked good on paper...

The opticals are cartoony, none of it makes much sense, its micro budget is writ large, and by christ clare higgins annoys just as much now as in 1987.

Its all quite dull, with a ridiculous ending. And it was never, ever, in any sense 'frightening', just proud of nudging some taboos, and a bit unpleasant. It's neither of those things now, and watching it i was strongly reminded of lesser hammer films.

A big, fat, meh.

Oh, and also An American Werewolf In London, earlier today- which is still a masterpiece that never puts a paw wrong.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 28 October, 2011, 08:56:18 AM
Yeah, I've never seen what the fuss is about with Hellraiser. I thought it was crap when it came out and it certainly hasn't improved with age. Hellraiser 1, 2 and 3 are all in Poundland at the moment if anyone fancies a laugh.

I watched Labyrinth the other night with the kids and it's still brilliant. The bairns loved it and even got a bit scared in places. The characters are all wonderful, especially Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didimus.

Some of the songs are a bit dated and cheesy now but it added to the nostalgia for me. Even the Thin White Duke does a decent job as Jareth.

After I explained who Jareth was played by, my 4 year old daughter announced that she is changing the name of her teddy bear to David Bowie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 28 October, 2011, 09:03:25 AM
Quote
Nah, he's alright, I like him.
If you ever see him interviewed he sems like a genuinely nice guy.

I thought he was really good in 'The Business'.An underated film in my opinion.

His 'documentary' about UFOs was hilarious. He seemed to have genuine affection for a lot of the nutters he met despite being pretty bemused by most of them. it had a really cool ending too.

Yes, I did think he was quite good in The Business - I'd forgotten that one.

I suppose his recent forays into "Real Villains/ Real Football Factory/ Hardest Men in Britain" stuff has coloured opinion: "pwopah nawty beyaveeyah" etc

And I think most of his recent films have been risible
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 October, 2011, 11:43:29 AM
I remember Dyer's performance as being the highlight of horribly dated noughties rave movie Human Traffic, but it's all been downhill since then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 28 October, 2011, 01:01:19 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 27 October, 2011, 12:55:02 PMat its absolute best in episodes like The Visitor, Duet, and The Quickening.

Ah, yes. 'Duet'. I seem to remember the ending being something of a cop-out but FUCK ME. Yarris Hulin as Marritza. Quite possibly THE best performance in the entire series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 October, 2011, 01:55:28 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 27 October, 2011, 12:55:02 PM
North Sea Hijack, a late-70s British action movie starring Roger Moore trying to play against type but failing because he is Roger Moore and even having a cat named after Enoch Powell is endearing. 
I vaguely remember seeing this at the pictures. Rog has a great line about never taking ten minutes to finish the Times crossword.

No wonder he was the best Bond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 October, 2011, 03:14:53 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 28 October, 2011, 01:01:19 PMAh, yes. 'Duet'. I seem to remember the ending being something of a cop-out but FUCK ME. Yarris Hulin as Marritza. Quite possibly THE best performance in the entire series.

I have a soft spot for Andrew Robinson in The Wire, where his drug-addled rambling is a tissue of lies that - if you watch the show to the very end - is gradually revealed as mostly truth, the rest his interpretation of an abusive and lonely childhood.  Apart from that, though, the show seems to be a storytelling desert until the Klingons show up - and this is coming from someone who not only never liked Klingons and thought they had a disproportionate amount of affection directed their way by Trek fandom over the years, but who found Mr Worf to be a tedious and embarrassing character second only to Mr Fucking Data.  That Worf later became one of DS9's best characters is nothing short of a miracle.

First Knight - I know Jerry Zucker directed Ghost, but he's arguably better known for stuff like Naked Gun, Airplane! and Hot Shots, and I think he knows it because there's no way he directed this sucker as anything other than a comedy - it is fucking atrocious, and in that it is also really entertaining, with Sean Connery's Arthur screaming "WHYYYYYY?" at the heavens and Richard Gere's Lancelot having his own personal soundtrack that makes it sound like the Superman theme is playing everytime he swings his sword about and a villain called Malignant.  Like all the best jokes, it's played deadly straight - a pity, then, that none of the straight stuff works as it should, particularly the Lancelot/Guenevere romance, which for the most part just makes Lancelot look like an egotistical prick and Guenevere a flighty tart.  There's no reason to empathise with Lancelot as he's driven by nothing more than a hard-on to pursue a toff who doesn't want him, while Guenevere has every opportunity to back out of a marriage to Arthur yet chooses to stay - then changes her mind precisely when it will do the most harm and all for a bit of rough with no redeeming virtues beyond that he's the only skilled murderer she's met so far that hasn't tried to rape her.  Connery's Arthur is in the rough ballpark, even with a tendency to go - politely - off the handle when faced with a slight marital hiccup that could be resolved if he actually spoke to the parties involved, but otherwise he's too old for the role.

A terrible straight-up Arthurian movie, but as an action comedy it's pretty entertaining stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 29 October, 2011, 09:37:19 AM
Night of the Living Dead (the original, not Savini's remake, or the 3D remake, or the animated version, or the Welsh one)

Not a review as such- other than to say, the boys and I watched this last night as their introduction to the world of zombies. It's very talky, obviously, but they sat attentive throughout and squirmed in all the right places. I'd wanted to watch this over halloween, but sometimes find it's a film that beats me if I start it too late and I'm too tired. Watching it at 6pm, when I was fully awake, and with the added bonus of two small boys whose reactions I wanted to enjoy, it was an absolute pleasure. Extra bonus points for starting a conversation about civil rights- which Bram has either been learning about at school, or has read about somewhere, and the treatment of Ben at the end. Bram seemed aware that "black people had once been slaves, and fought back in the 1960s". That they had this conversation while pretending to be zombies on their way to brushing their teeth, made me very happy.

Anyway, I enjoyed Night like I haven't in years. And for those with small children and similar concerns: the "inappropriate content" rating for NotLD stands at:

No sex, no swearing (barring a "bastard"), all gore implied. Scariest bits: the dead woman's face at the top of the stairs, the zombies finally breaking into the house, and Ben getting shot.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 29 October, 2011, 01:14:27 PM
The Village Directed by M Night Shaymalan.

One long shaggy dog story but well made and effective in IMHO. Very post 9-11 though. Back to a more Innocent age was the hope but ultimately you could say that the message of the Film is rather a bleak one.

You have to rule by deceit and then break your own Laws in order to bring a sense of Justice to the World. Not very positive comment on America despite the idyllic setting though Ivy's determination to face down the odds despite being blind shows that the human spirit will endure no matter what .
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 October, 2011, 06:12:50 PM
Just grudgingly watched How To Train Your Dragon, and am very glad a did. Brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 October, 2011, 09:07:56 PM
Last night we had some friends over for a Halloween double bill of The Blob (1980s remake) and Dawn of the Dead (1978 original).

Both films I'd seen before, but both thoroughly enjoyable. The Blob is surprisingly good (Frank Darabont popped up in the credits as a screenwriter, much to my surprise) and there's some pretty good creature fx, quite reminiscent of John Carpenter's The Thing. Some quality screen deaths too.

Tonight we watched Half Nelson on iPlayer. What a boring, meandering, overrated, pretentious film that was. Have no idea what point it was trying to make, nor I suspect did the film's makers. No discernable narrative and nothing to engage the viewer. Avoid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 31 October, 2011, 11:52:40 AM
Ides of March. A bit Oscar-baity but enjoyable enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 31 October, 2011, 12:11:36 PM
Flash Gordon.

Perfect, absolutely perfect in every way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 October, 2011, 02:49:14 PM
Watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger was brilliant as Joker.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 31 October, 2011, 03:11:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 30 October, 2011, 09:07:56 PM
Last night we had some friends over for a Halloween double bill of The Blob (1980s remake) and Dawn of the Dead (1978 original).

Both films I'd seen before, but both thoroughly enjoyable. The Blob is surprisingly good (Frank Darabont popped up in the credits as a screenwriter, much to my surprise) and there's some pretty good creature fx, quite reminiscent of John Carpenter's The Thing. Some quality screen deaths too.

I really like the 'modern' (80s) Blob... it pulls a nice twist early on, and it stands proud amongst other decent-budget 80s films that feature people getting melted or otherwise coming to pieces. (Robocop, The Fly.)

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 31 October, 2011, 11:52:40 AM
Ides of March. A bit Oscar-baity but enjoyable enough.

Saw that on Friday. Interesting, but a bit predictable... the sort of film one damns with faint praise. Plus the last shot kinda annoyed me. I kept thinking [spoiler]'Don't look at the camera, this isn't 'Avatar'[/spoiler]...' but he did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 31 October, 2011, 03:44:38 PM
John Carpenter's "The Ward".

Fucking shit.

Although Amber Heard is rather stunning. Is that her name? Anyway, she's great, the film is unoriginal, laughable, turgid and boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 31 October, 2011, 04:38:08 PM
Due Date (Robert Downey Jr) - basically Planes, Trains & Automobiles from the director/makers/whatever of The Hangover. I didn't switch it off so yeah, not bad for a sunday night giggle. Compared to P,T&A it's not so great, but a few bits made me laugh a fair bit despite thinking it was going to annoy me mostly. Couple of good cameos, particularly Danny McBride.

I guess they can say it's not a remake cos there are no trains in the film  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2011, 10:39:10 PM
DEATHWATCH - a World War I spookathon with brave Tommies lost in a spooky trench.  It gives the game away in about teh first minute thereby rendering the whole exercise pointless.  Not that scary either - surely a crime for a horror movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 31 October, 2011, 10:49:11 PM
Hitman. Shitman, more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2011, 10:50:47 PM
Damn - wish I'd thpught of that.

Can I change my review please.


DEATHWATCH? More like Shitwatch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 01 November, 2011, 10:37:51 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2011, 10:50:47 PM
Damn - wish I'd thpught of that.

Can I change my review please.


DEATHWATCH? More like Shitwatch!

I would also like to change my review of John Carpenter's The Ward.

John Carpenter's The Ward? More like John Carpenter's The SHIT!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 01 November, 2011, 10:54:41 AM
Shit sandwich.

(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvhq50rFvx1qzvqipo1_400.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 November, 2011, 12:09:21 PM
Watched Midnight Meat Train last night.

More like Shit Shite Shit Train
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 01 November, 2011, 12:52:40 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 29 October, 2011, 01:14:27 PM
The Village Directed by M Night Shaymalan.

I guessed the twist to that within 15 seconds, shurely shome kind of record
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 November, 2011, 01:43:53 PM
Quote from: The Satanist on 01 November, 2011, 12:52:40 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 29 October, 2011, 01:14:27 PM
The Village Directed by M Night Shaymalan.
I guessed the twist to that within 15 seconds, shurely shome kind of record
I've never seen it but somebody told me what the twist was and I was slightly confused as I had assumed from the trailer that was what was meant to be happening all along.

Anyway, saw most of Beowulf last night. Beowank, more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Teivion on 01 November, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
WOLFMAN was my choice for a Sunday night. I'd met a few of the VFX cast a way back and they were all buzzing over it, but I'd read some mixed reviews at the time and it fell off the to-do Radar until recently.
I enjoyed it - notably Hugo Weaving's Police Inspector ( his lines to the village landlady were great). Anthony Hopkins plods through well enough, Benicio Del Toro kept it together, although I wonder if he wasn't a little miss cast- if the hero was a little more weedy, the transformations would have had far more impact, but as he looks quite feral anyway, well............;-)
I watched the 'Extended Cut' and was really confused over [spoiler]the man who handed him the silver walking stick on the train[/spoiler] Every time that was shown later on it was a real distraction, as if it was going to be a massive plot twist that never came to be. Am I missing something ? reference to an original story or something?
As for my main interest- the VFX, I couldn't tell what parts or the transformation were CG or not- I cant work out if that's a good thing or not,  and seeing as they were done by Rick Baker, I though the overall design of the wolf was really lame. The teeth appliances, for instance, looked like the ones you buy in joke shops ...shame.
Good fun though, and worth a look now its in the bargain bin....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 01 November, 2011, 04:13:14 PM
Quote from: The Satanist on 01 November, 2011, 12:52:40 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 29 October, 2011, 01:14:27 PM
The Village Directed by M Night Shaymalan.

I guessed the twist to that within 15 seconds, shurely shome kind of record

Yes, I think I was close behind. It was horribly obvious, and I'm not usually great at that type of guesswork. Partly because I can't be arsed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 01 November, 2011, 04:49:29 PM
Green lantern, i found it perfectly good fun. Not perhaps a match for thor but i enjoyed it anyway. The alien bits were too short imho.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 01 November, 2011, 09:36:57 PM

No Country for Old Men on FilmFour, that Coin toss scene so brilliant!

Anton Chigurh, what a villian!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 November, 2011, 10:15:08 PM
A recent trip to Naples (bit of a dive if I'm honest) inspired me to finally watch the 2008 movie Gomorrah this afternoon, which had been sitting on my shelf for ages.

I found it almost impossible to follow due to the sprawling nature of the multiple narratives and lack of any explanation or exposition - to the extent that I almost gave up on it an hour in, and embarrassingly had to resort to Wikipedia to get up to speed on the plot. Overall it was ok, but nowhere near as good as I was expecting it to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 November, 2011, 01:29:32 AM
Scream 4 (Scre4m).  Utterly fucking insufferable within the first 6 minutes and never recovers.  There's a bit where characters sit around going "aw, man, what can we do that hasn't been done - even if we do the opposite it's been done and people expect it!"  They literally say it out loud on camera, then they complain about horror movies being too meta, then they complain that they don't know what meta means and are only copying what someone else said.  That's not clever writing, that's a mid life crisis.
Also, I guessed the murderers within ten minutes, though in fairness, I did cheat by watching something other than shitty horror movies since 1996 so I had an advantage over the typical viewer who actually finds this kind of incestuous lampshade-hanging toss entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2011, 12:21:27 PM
So for SCRE4M you really mean SHI4T?

I thought Beowulf was pretty good myself; a good way to bring to life and update a (genuine) classic.  It took me a while to get into it at the cinema but subsequent viewings have increased it's appeall to me.

But some bits of it are definietly Beowank but maybe our terminology is being used for different purposes?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 02 November, 2011, 12:28:18 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 02 November, 2011, 01:29:32 AM
Scream 4 (Scre4m).  Utterly fucking insufferable within the first 6 minutes and never recovers.  There's a bit where characters sit around going "aw, man, what can we do that hasn't been done - even if we do the opposite it's been done and people expect it!"  They literally say it out loud on camera, then they complain about horror movies being too meta, then they complain that they don't know what meta means and are only copying what someone else said.  That's not clever writing, that's a mid life crisis.
Also, I guessed the murderers within ten minutes, though in fairness, I did cheat by watching something other than shitty horror movies since 1996 so I had an advantage over the typical viewer who actually finds this kind of incestuous lampshade-hanging toss entertaining.

I've seen Scream 4 and I can't remember one thing about it, other than that I'd still love to rattle Courtney Cox.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 02 November, 2011, 12:42:00 PM
My Halloween night's viewing consisted of - Halloween and Captain Kronos.

Maybe you had to be there first time around for Halloween - or maybe I've been spoiled by access to the twenty years worth of horror cinema that's come since. Surprisingly slow, slightly cheap-looking (in a bad way), a villian who makes no real sense (they don't even try to explain how he's able to drive a car after spending fifteen years locked in a pysciatric institution since the age of six, for instance, even after specifically flagging this up as an anomaly!), and then it just sort of... ends. Maybe the sequels try to make more sense of things, but I
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 02 November, 2011, 12:52:38 PM
...wasn't impressed overall - and before SBT or someone bites my head off, this is coming from someone who loves the first Friday the Thirteenth and most of Carpenter's other work; Prince of Darkness is a personal fave, for instance. Still, it was nicely suspenseful in places and Donald Pleasance (who I didn't know was in it!) is always good value.

Captain Kronos was much better, and managed to make its cheapness part of the charm. Quite simply oodles of fun, even if the lead's a bit wooden - razor-sharp dialogue, likeable characters, nicely witty, tries a different take on the vampire mythos, plenty of heaving-bosomed Hammer babes, and a genuinely impressive finale with a twist I didn't see coming. Such a shame the proposed TV series never emerged.

To be honest, the difference between the two - made roughly at the same time I believe - just goes to show why I generally prefer British horror to American.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 November, 2011, 04:23:36 PM
The years being unkind to Halloween is something im acutely aware of, jimbo. It's a great film, no question, but is it my favourite carpenter? Not on your nelly. It's also why i honestly prefer rob zombie's remake these days: it's more psychologically truthful, removes all the mystical shit (at least until zombie shovels it all back into the mix with the sequel) and is more threatening. As a film on its own, it's nowhere near as important as the first, obviously, but taken in comparison with the original i think it comes into its own. It's so patently at odds with the intent and execution of carpenter's film that there's no way the two are even reconcilable, in my opinion.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2011, 05:51:02 PM
Michael Myers is the bogeyman. That's the explanation. That's all the explanation there ever should have been.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 02 November, 2011, 05:56:37 PM
Any of the sequels worth a watch? I'm assuming not, but...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 November, 2011, 06:17:33 PM
(Rolls up sleeves, again)

Halloween 2 is interesting, in that its a direct continuation of the first- picking up as the original ends (but count the gunshots at the start). To those of us of a certain age, its impossible not to consider it just the second part of a three hour film. It's nowhere near as good a film, but rosenthal ramps up the gore (to make it compete with its newfound competition in the f13 movies, etc) so watched back to back, it's like it all kicks off in the second half. H2 also introduces all the backstory that everyone assumes was there in carp's film, but wasn't. It's this backstory that eventually sinks the series several films later.

H3 is a whole other topic. Unrelated to the Michael Myers story, it's either a brilliant, beautifully told horror film in its own right, or a waste of time, depending on your point of view. I love it.

H4 is the belated attempt to jumpstart the franchise, and is a watchable, superior slasher pic, that continues with that backstory i mentioned but takes massive liberties with established continuity for the good of the plot. 5 is a direct sequel to 4, except not as good, and 6 is like a fanwank tribute movie- which we've never seen the director's cut of. 6 also sees the end of the myers-plot as started in 2.

Then we have another gap, and H20: Twenty Years Later, which is a taut, jumpy suspense film much like the original and sees the proper end to the franchise... which was then fudged by the makers of the piss-awful H:Resurrection, in the worst entry in the series to date. Then the rob zombie remake and his troubled sequel.

H3D is in development.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2011, 09:53:19 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 02 November, 2011, 06:17:33 PM
H3 is a whole other topic. Unrelated to the Michael Myers story, it's either a brilliant, beautifully told horror film in its own right, or a waste of time, depending on your point of view. I love it.

Me too. I'm not a fan of slasher movies but this was unlike any other horror movie I'd seen, it's just so off the wall. That TV commercial music haunted me! And  I loved the whole big sci-fi concept behind it, it was a very Dr Who-ish story I always thought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 02 November, 2011, 10:43:57 PM
finally got round to watching the hurt locker today ,,,ok, but not mind blowing like black hawk down.


if i dont go into manchester tomorrow i may watch "the american"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2011, 11:52:43 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2011, 09:53:19 PM
Me too. I'm not a fan of slasher movies but this was unlike any other horror movie I'd seen, it's just so off the wall. That TV commercial music haunted me! And  I loved the whole big sci-fi concept behind it, it was a very Dr Who-ish story I always thought.

The first draft of the script was by Nigel (Quatermass) Kneale. He asked for his name to be taken off the film after the producers wanted more gory bits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 November, 2011, 12:02:45 AM
Quote from: mogzilla on 02 November, 2011, 10:43:57 PM
if i dont go into manchester tomorrow i may watch "the american"
You're probably best going into Manchester. Slow, but not in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 03 November, 2011, 12:04:12 AM
Cosh is wrong. You should watch The American just for the epic titttaaaayyyyysssss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 03 November, 2011, 08:42:35 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2011, 09:53:19 PM
this was unlike any other horror movie I'd seen, it's just so off the wall. That TV commercial music haunted me!

All this week I've been singing that to my kids.

All together now;

'Happy happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, happy happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 03 November, 2011, 09:55:51 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 03 November, 2011, 12:04:12 AM
Cosh is wrong. You should watch The American just for the epic titttaaaayyyyysssss.


roger's well thought out balanced argument wins....besides i cant be arsed going out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 06 November, 2011, 08:31:25 AM
Just this minute finished watching The Mist by Frank Darabont (from a Stephen King novella) and I bloody loved it. I heard about this from the movie show on Radio 5 the other night with Dave Aldridge. He said it had a great ending, so I followed his advice (he's never let me down yet) and my God he wasn't wrong. That was just the type of ending that I love. I won't say what happens  at the end, as that would spoil the whole film.

Small town America, religion, military, people turning against each other, great acting and excellent effects made this highly enjoyable. The hero of the story goes to the towns main store with his son and while he's there a strange mist rolls into town. The problem is, inside the mist are numerous creatures that are killing the locals. The people inside the shop barricade themselves in but an extremely religious woman quickly divides the group.

As the story unfolds we find out how the creatures have managed to get here, horrible consequences for the person who is held responsible due to that. The interplay between the characters is excellent, especially when the shit hits the fan and it does many a time in and around the store.

I won't rabbit on about it too much, as to reveal scenes would mean that anyone wanting to watch it would lose the tension that is built up.

8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 November, 2011, 11:05:11 AM
The Mist is fab!

I saw Max Payne and knowing only vaguely about it's gaming origins i found it nicely shot in a frozen looking Noo Yawk, but the plot seemed to meander about. Enjoyable in many bits but odd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 November, 2011, 12:18:52 PM
Love The Mist, it's up there with the few King adaptations that have really done the business for me. Tom Jane is brilliant in it too, as he is in most things to be fair (Hollywood, why you no give him more roles?!)

Watched Monsters last night and really liked it. It's a very different movie to what I expected, more of a quiet road movie/drama/romance/social commentary with the creatures themselves being on the outside of the real action and more of a catalyst than anything else. Really good movie, with some haunting moments that lingered with me through the night.

Also watched John Carpenter's The Ward quite recently after the blu-ray arrived (I rarely do the cinema thing now unless it's a special occasion) and enjoyed it too. It's not up there with his best, and the actual style of horror and scares wasn't particularly Carpenter I thought. By that I mean it felt there were a lot of concessions to modern mainstream horror, some cheap cat-in-cupboard-esque jump scares and gore, which has never struck me as his style. What I've always thought he excels at is the slow build creeping dread and tension style of horror, and there were enough flashes of that old Carpenter that I still liked it a lot. It's not up there with his very best, but it's a worthy addition to the Carpenter collection, and worked for me more than Ghosts of Mars or Vampires. His Masters Of Horror episodes show he's still got the horror chops so I'm hoping this is the start of a real comeback for him.

My only real gripe with the movie? I'll spoiler it in case it colours anyone's viewing of it, but [spoiler]there's a twist in the tale which while works great in the context of the movie, is stolen wholesale from another film. Like I say, works fine for The Ward, but if you've seen the movie in question you might feel a little cheated by the last act revelations.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 07 November, 2011, 01:46:19 PM
Took the wife and kids to see Tintin at the weekend in glorious 3D.

Despite my initial reservations about the choice of motion-capture CGI and the creepy looking semi-realistic graphic style, I was really blown away. The story was a rip-roaring, globe-trotting adventure with action packed fights, chases and escapes galore.

The set pieces are wonderfully inventive with [spoiler]a high speed motorbike chase through the streets of Morroco and a 'sword' fight using two massive cranes[/spoiler] being stand-outs.

The characters are really well designed and animated and despite the highly stylised look, they feel human and realistic. Captain Haddock in particular is marvellous and provides many of the moments of humour.

The only criticism I can find is that [spoiler]the ending seems a bit sudden and leaves the story hanging, leading very obviously into the sequel[/spoiler].

Everyone enjoyed it although my 4 year old had trouble following the plot. My 7 year old thought it was brilliant and expressed an interest in reading the comics.

I loved it so much that, despite never having read a single Tintin book, I went out to Waterstones and bought the complete Tintin box-set for £45. If the film makers wanted to instill people with a love of the character and cause them to seek out the source material, they did their job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 November, 2011, 02:36:02 PM
Similar reactions to TinTin at TordelTowers.  I brought my senior sprog to see it as an end-of-mid-term treat, and we both enjoyed it no end.  At 5 years, it was his first 3D flick and it was a distracting joy to watch him trying to catch the various gubbins that projected into the negative space over his head, exactly as I did at Jaws 3D nearly 30 years ago.  I OTOH received a brain-splitting headache from the combo of contacts and specs, 'cos I'm old now, so very, very old. 

I thought it was an enormously faithful adaptation (even where it mashes-up elements from several books, necessitated by the understandable decision to focus on the 10th(?) book first), with some nice additions and very little that didn't fit.  Of particular interest was how well Hergé's designs translated into backdrops and outlines for some terrific action sequences.  The opening device of [spoiler]a Hergé stand-in as a marketplace portrait painter[/spoiler] shouldn't have worked but it really did.  I also loved the visual references to the titles and maguffins from other volumes, which gave me plenty to keep my brain busy and away from nit-picking.

Snowy's [spoiler]car-chasing [/spoiler]early in the flick was splendid, as was the whole Bagharr sequence, but the huge energy of the [spoiler]flashback pirate battle[/spoiler] was the highpoint for me, easily eclipsing the later Pirates of the Caribbean films and whetting my appetite for Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists.  The Boy's favourite bit was [spoiler]the tank blundering about carrying the facade of a hotel with it[/spoiler], and I can't fault him there.  Haddock in a pink dress also had him laughing out loud, so job done there.

I didn't think Thompson and Thomson (or was it Thomson and Thompson?) were used particularly well, since their scenes seemed to be wordy distractions from the main plot (no real harm done, but I could see my boy shifting in his seat as they bantered on), but then they don't really shine in the earlier books either.  Buttonman's recent diet was shown to be unnecessary, as the CGI versions are so plump that no-one could have mistaken him even at his most corpulent.  Maybe his recent well-photographed visit to the heavyweight eating championships in US the are an acknowledgement of this?

As with Lee's eldest, my boy expressed an interest in reading the comics, which I heartily endorse, having failed to find any Thor comics that I could readily match to his enthusiasm for that most brilliant of superhero movies. 

The mo-cap quasi-relastic style?  Honestly didn't notice it after the first five minutes, too distracted by the beautiful backgrounds and period detail.  I think it worked by remaining faithfully cartoony in its exaggerations, albeit hyper-detailed ones, rather than striving for Beowulf-style photorealism.

Lastly, Bell and Serkis were surprisingly excellent in their roles.  Serkis in particular is making quite a play for cinematic polymath of the 21st C. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 November, 2011, 03:07:36 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 November, 2011, 02:36:02 PMhaving failed to find any Thor comics that I could readily match to his enthusiasm for that most brilliant of superhero movies.

Thor: Ages of Thunder, Thor/Power Pack, Avengers Disassembled: Thor and Thor: Vikings are enjoyable, completely accessible comics with a different take on the character in each, though Vikings is a Max title because of the zombie-smashing and gore, so vet first, and Disassembled is the character's swansong, full of mythic resonance and brings great closure to a 40-year run as a Marvel mainstay - it really does feel like this is the end of a decades-long story.  If you can get them in bargain bins, Dan Jurgens' Thor ongoing with John Romita Jr is a fantastic run of stories that shares a great deal with the films in terms of tone, scope, and massive fights, and there's also a great bit in it where Thor's diplomatic skills are employed to explain to a small child why Jesus probably does exist even though he's never turned up at a Marvel crossover to chip in with Zeus and Odin and all the other real gods.  I'd always viewed Jurgens as a journeyman writer, but he absolutely kills on the title and it just feels... epic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 07 November, 2011, 03:58:06 PM
Tintin.

Though it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 November, 2011, 06:00:38 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 November, 2011, 03:07:36 PM
Thor: Ages of Thunder, Thor/Power Pack, Avengers Disassembled: Thor and Thor: Vikings are enjoyable,

Many thanks for the pointers there, Prof.  I don't have any of those to hand, as I was really going on the county library's holdings which are pretty limited Thor-wise, but I'll keep a fresh eye out.  I wonder if I have Thor/Power Pack boxed-up somewhere, as I was a big Power Pack fan many years ago.  In fact, I wonder if I should go ahead and disinter the whole lot to read with the Boy - there's an all-ages comic to be proud of. 

The boy is Norse-myth-obsessed at the moment, and a recent DVD viewing of the superb Thor movie was the icing on the cake, opening up the idea of Thor et al in the modern day, as well as the idea of multiple interpretations of the same myths and characters, which is all good.

On another note, I have been illegally keeping up with the recent run of Journey into Mystery, which has been absolutely fantastic, but it's a very Thor-free book.  But I'm dragging the thread off-topic now...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 07 November, 2011, 07:04:34 PM
my girl loves "how to train your dragon" and theres a sequel coming to dvd!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 November, 2011, 08:19:08 PM
What's that?  A forum thread going off-topic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHj0dtSwxqQ

Thor/Power Pack is actually a more recent effort, being one of Marvel's all-ages outings made to look like a cartoon, though the script by improv comic Alex Zalban has a few Marvel references only fanboys will spot and errs towards the romanticism of the Happy Ending.  I know a lot of old-school PP fans hate the cartoony stuff - and making the family upper-middle class suburbanites rather than working class project dwellers does alter the dynamic drastically from the original books - but they're enjoyable on their own terms and may serve as a gateway drug to the original.  It's a digest collection, too, so it's quite cheap compared to the 20 odd quid being asked for the reprints of the 1980s PP title.

Quote from: TordelBack on 07 November, 2011, 06:00:38 PMThe boy is Norse-myth-obsessed at the moment, and a recent DVD viewing of the superb Thor movie was the icing on the cake, opening up the idea of Thor et al in the modern day, as well as the idea of multiple interpretations of the same myths and characters, which is all good.

Avengers Disassembled: Thor may then be a must.  Brian Bendis for some reason insisted upon terminating all the Avengers tie-in titles before he relaunched that book and Dan Jurgens' Thor was one of the first casualties, even though it was then roughly a third of the way into a multi-part storyline set in an alternate future and had an in-built means to keep out of the way of any Avengers event.  Nonetheless, spinning out of an event doesn't make the story difficult to get into: Thor and the populace of Asgard discover they're trapped in a perpetual loop of the same few mythological tropes and stories playing out again and again over the span of eternity and set to bringing about Ragnarok so it will finally come to an end.  It gets a bit heavy and it's probably no spoiler to tell you that everyone dies because that is entirely the point of the story, but it's well worth a look as it comes off less superhero-y and more like a Manowar album with even more vikings and death than usual, an while quite gruesome and gory (the cast do die and lose body parts to gain wisdom, after all), it's not particularly graphic so may be good for younger readers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 07 November, 2011, 09:05:08 PM
going off thread? how? i last watched "how to train your dragon" again cos my nipper loves it and watches it all the time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 09 November, 2011, 08:41:34 PM
I watched Wayne's World for the first time today and it was indeed excellent! I was expecting the film to be self-consciously zany and so I was surprised when it turned out to be relatively subdued and 'realistic', but I have to agree with Roger Ebert in his reviews when he says tha Wayne and Garth just radiate beguiling easy-going good-natured goodwill, spiced a little with a pinch of playful mischief. Even though you'd expect a film like this to date quickly as pop culture moves on, it still felt fresh and vivid; I just had a huge warm smile on my face throughout.

And yes, Tia Carrere was schwingingly babe-dacious. :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 November, 2011, 09:29:53 PM
I love Wayne's World, but IMO it hasn't dated terribly well. Still a nostalgic pleasure though. Wayne's World 2 was always a bit pants, mind. Much the same with Austin Powers - the first one is a classic IMO, but the sequels get worse and worse. Never been able to sit through Goldmember. Apparently Ap4 is in production now (shudder).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 10 November, 2011, 02:11:31 PM
Dogville and Manderlay. Can't get enough von Trier at the moment, thought both were thoroughly engrossing and thought-provoking films, and although initially wary of the stage device used, after 5 minutes it wasn't an issue at all. In fact, if anything, it made the performances even more engrossing because the set was pretty much stripped down to the bone. Apparently there's a third planned to round of the trilogy, although it has been 6 years siince Manderlay and he's been busy with other unrelated projects since.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 11 November, 2011, 07:48:25 AM
STRAW DOGS. Not the PeckinPAH version and all the better for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 November, 2011, 11:27:56 AM
The Incredible Hulk, which was a pretty ideal way to slob out on a Saturday night. Have never read Hulk, so most of my interest in the character comes from nostalgia for the tv show I loved as a kid, and it ticked all the boxes for what I want to see in a Hulk movie (the Ang Lee version didn't actually tick any of them if I'm honest, although Jennifer Connelly was in it and that's a box not enough movies tick).

Good (mostly) angst-free superhero smushing times, and when I realized it was going to climax in the hero/villain fighting in the street and flinging cars and whatnot at each other I was happy as larry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 November, 2011, 01:19:06 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Much to my surprise this was much more fun than Hellraiser- despite my Very Serious Teenage Horror Fan Memory telling me it was awful. It's still hamstrung by Claire Bloody Higgins, although this time she's joined by some of the most hilariously bad actors in the history of film, so at least she fits in.

Any "review" I could do would quite rightly be seen as just shouting my unbridled joy at the ludicrousness of many of the scenes, the dialogue seemingly written to put your teeth on edge and leave you slack-jawed at its awfulness, the magnificent cheapness of the sets- using techniques straight out of early sixties television to suggest corridors, and heavy stone walls which ripple when actors collide with them... which the director then films them doing many times, the grating obviousness of the imagery (Frank's personal Hell is a personal highlight of tawdry sub-student filmmaking, trying to be transgressive and failing in every respect), and the hilarity caused by Bob ("He may not be good, but at least he's Keen") Keen's effects (Dr Channard flying about on the tentacle and Julia slipping out of her skin and flying down the tunnel are very hard to beat).

It is, all told, spectacularly awful- but still manages to be far more entertaining than Hellraiser and I loved every second.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 November, 2011, 08:32:24 PM
Clear and Present Danger - about fifteen minutes from the end when Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan hurls his blubbery middle-aged carcass across the room at Joaquim Almeida's Felix Cortez and it looks like someone's dad tripping over a sofa, it finally twigged that this was not a disappointing political thriller about what happens when the Prez makes a bad call and nor was it an overlong and underexciting action movie, it was a film where Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) fights his evil double.  It was a head-slapping moment, too, as the phrase "a Latin Jack Ryan" is used no less than four times throughout the film, and there's one scene where Jack and his evil twin are both trying to figure out what caused an explosion and both come to the same conclusion at exactly the same time.  Too subtle, Philip Noyce movie - too subtle by far.
It were okay, I guess, with an economic use of slow motion (believe it or not, there was actually a time when slow motion was used for something other than making action scenes unexciting) and even some first-person footage of blokes firing guns and that like in Calla Doody, but the political stuff falls a little flat and could have done with some David Mamet rewrites or something, as there's a couple of scenes that could have been absolutely killer with the right mix of dialog and smarm, but as they are they just come off as people being huffy.

Not great, but a decent time filler that - apart from having scenes with Movie Computers logic and brick-sized cellphones - has dated quite well.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: KingMonkeysUnkle on 16 November, 2011, 10:12:24 PM
Strippers versus Werewolves
Watched the trailer for it the other day, and as you can imagine the title appears to be the ONLY good thing about it!

Sent from my LG-P920 using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 18 November, 2011, 07:44:55 PM
I'm not sure about this forum's tolerance level for anime so forgive me if I'm breaching a social rule, but the anime racing movie Redline was released on DVD this week and it's a cracking spurt of adrenal fun. Imagine if Wacky Races grew up in the punk era and was lashed onto the canvas by graffiti artists, and you'll have a sense of its style - an slick quality of studied anarchism which would suit the early 2000AD well, in fact. Riot grrrls in dayglo costumes, spectacular pompadours, piston-headed robots and unobtanium-fuelled nitro boosts - I know it sounds like a cliché, but it honestly is a rollercoaster future-fantasy experience that'll knock you back into your couch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 November, 2011, 11:55:34 AM
We watched Your Highness last night. It's subjectively a bad movie, but was pretty much what our minds were up to after a long week so we actually found it a good laugh. Whether you can enjoy it probably depends on your tolerance for Danny McBride, we're Eastbound and Down fans so we can take a fair bit of his schtick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 20 November, 2011, 10:19:50 AM
Attack The Block
It was sick, blood
(ie highly entertaining, gentlemen)

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 20 November, 2011, 12:36:19 PM
Devils Double.

Fantastic. An excellent story. How Dominic Cooper managed to play both parts was brilliant. But i wished they didnt have the stupid obligatory 'Love Scene'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 November, 2011, 12:42:56 PM

Really enjoyed 'DRIVE' last night - cracking retro soundtrack and some top notch brutality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: starscape on 20 November, 2011, 03:19:22 PM
The Awakening.

Great atmosphere (a bit like The Others - ghosts in post-WWI). One or two jump out of the seat moments.  Truly terrible ending.  Plot holes everywhere.  Convoluted and just plain stupid. If you're going to see it, walk out after half an hour and make up your ending.  It'll be a much better film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 November, 2011, 09:02:11 AM
Watched Arthur Christmas on Saturday night, which was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half. Seems weird that it has been released so early - I would have preferred to watch it closer to Christmas but my girlfriend is a big Aardman fan and insisted. I didn't even mind the 3d, despite my usual niggles with the format.

Great voice cast and nice design work, though I thought some of the gags were a bit flat. I expect kids would love it, and it's certainly a step above the usual cg cartoon nonsense - we had to sit through trailers for Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 and Happy Feet 2 beforehand, both of which looked wretched. What is it about snarky cg characters singing contemporary pop songs that turns my stomach? And it's sad to see the once-great Jason Lee reduced to drivel like Alvin!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2011, 11:06:07 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 November, 2011, 09:02:11 AM...we had to sit through trailers for Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 and Happy Feet 2 beforehand, both of which looked wretched.

I saw the Happy Feet 2 trailer in front of Tintin, and if it had been a minute longer I'd have had to leave the cinema.  I honestly think Happy Feet 1 was the worst big-budget kids film I've ever seen, it makes me horribly, horribly angry.  And HF2 looks WORSE.  Sexualisation of penguin chicks?  WTF?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 21 November, 2011, 11:23:31 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 November, 2011, 11:06:07 AM
Sexualisation of penguin chicks?  WTF?

Yeah but come on, some of those penguin bitchez are pretty hot. You know you'd hit dat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 November, 2011, 12:47:28 PM
i find it hard to reconcile the fact that the Happy Feet films are written and directed by George 'Mad Max' Miller!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 November, 2011, 09:26:59 PM
Captain America.  Hey, that was very good!  The Boy is utterly stoked for The Avengers after seeing this, and to my surprise I'm really warming to the idea, initially because the plot looks to be Loki-centric (and Tom Hiddleston's Loki is just an exceptional villain), but now because I can see that it has some really solid leads in Downey, Hemsworth and Evans.  With [spoiler]Weaving's Red Skull apparently Bifrost-ed at the close of Cap[/spoiler], will he make an appearance too?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 27 November, 2011, 10:40:22 PM
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS. Really enjoyed this, just a notch below Pixar-standard. Still suffered from "having" to cast celebrities, because God knows that I wouldn't enjoy it unless Eva Longoria is saying words. I ENJOYED THIS MOVIE.

MONEYBALL. I think it would of been better if it had been about Brad Pitt murdering the other baseball players and then feeding the bodies to Jonah Hill, but I guess I can't have everything. Half-expected a Social Network knock off, so it was a lot better than I expected. I ENJOYED THIS MOVIE.

TAKE SHELTER. This is prolly my second favourite mental-illness-a-thon of 2011 behind Kill List and ahead of Melancholia. It's also my second favourite movie this year about Jessica Chastain's weird facial structure and this one had Michael Shannon looking weird in it to boot. I ENJOYED THIS MOVIE MOST OF ALL THIS WEEKEND.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 November, 2011, 10:53:26 PM
Just watched 'Knowing' that was stacked on my PVR from the terrestrial broadcast.

Apart from a few nice set pieces and a potentially interesting premise, totally bollocks it up with a hackneyed future-shock ending, which is also pretty insulting.

Oh and yeah, those Happy Feet 2/Alvin trailers were absolutely dire. Still, not much different from me having Pinky and Bastard Perky foisted on me when I was little.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 28 November, 2011, 09:11:49 AM
Source Code

Really enjoyed this, thought the end was a bit muddled (or maybe my feeble brain struggled with the 'science' of it). I've always found Jake Gyllenhaal a bit 'meh' before but IMO he really impresses in this

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 November, 2011, 04:08:27 PM
Superman II and Superman II The Richard Donner cut.

It was interesting to the see the difference between the two versions. Donner's version was good, but the theatrical version was a little lighter and according to my wife had more charm. I wonder if Henry Cavill will be able to match Christopher Reeve as Superman. I can't wait to find out.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 28 November, 2011, 05:52:57 PM
Fright Night is quite shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 November, 2011, 08:06:20 PM
Bea was on call this weekend so we sat in and got through some movies.

Friday was JCVD, which I quite enjoyed but it literally put her to sleep. Van Damme was surprisingly good in it, was all a bit slow and ponderous but had some great moments.

Saturday was The Green Hornet which was harmless fun. I enjoy Seth Rogen and the action scenes were stylishly done, didn't quite hang together that well but was definitely a fun Saturday night flick. I'd watch a sequel if one ever happened.

Finished the weekend with Date Night, which had some nice moments early on while it sets up the relationships but doesn't really work once it becomes a caper/thrillery thing. Tina Fey is great, and Steve Carell has the odd good moment too but I couldn't see me recommending it particularly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 November, 2011, 10:39:02 PM
The Twin Peaks pilot for the first time evar!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 29 November, 2011, 06:18:05 AM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 28 November, 2011, 04:08:27 PM
Superman II and Superman II The Richard Donner cut.

It was interesting to the see the difference between the two versions. Donner's version was good, but the theatrical version was a little lighter and according to my wife had more charm. I wonder if Henry Cavill will be able to match Christopher Reeve as Superman. I can't wait to find out.

JvB

The Donner Cut hands down, in my opinion, it's a massive shame that Donner and the Salkinds couldn't have reconciled their differences to finish off Superman II in 1979, Donner clearly nailed the whole mythology in a definitive manner yet to be equalled, and his Superman II would have been more serious in tone and had a more mythic, epic quality than Lester's admittedly decent version, alas...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 November, 2011, 02:30:41 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 29 November, 2011, 06:18:05 AM
The Donner Cut hands down, in my opinion, it's a massive shame that Donner and the Salkinds couldn't have reconciled their differences to finish off Superman II in 1979, Donner clearly nailed the whole mythology in a definitive manner yet to be equalled, and his Superman II would have been more serious in tone and had a more mythic, epic quality than Lester's admittedly decent version, alas...

I think what hinders the Donner Cut is the fact that it had to use Lester's footage to fill in the gaps Donner didn't get to film. The difference in tone between the two is pretty clear.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 30 November, 2011, 07:47:56 AM
Just watched Escape from New York for the first time. Fantastic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 November, 2011, 11:10:54 AM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 28 November, 2011, 04:08:27 PM
Superman II and Superman II The Richard Donner cut.

It was interesting to the see the difference between the two versions. Donner's version was good, but the theatrical version was a little lighter and according to my wife had more charm. I wonder if Henry Cavill will be able to match Christopher Reeve as Superman. I can't wait to find out.

JvB

What is the principle difference between the two? is it huge plot-wise, or minor tinkering?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 November, 2011, 12:11:53 PM
At SBT's urging, I re-watched They Live, which was as stonkingly good as ever, and as Steev suggests, not far off a documentary.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, I rewatched the whole of '80s pants-shitters Threads and The Day After on You-Tube in alternating episodes.  I've always remembered how much the better of the two Threads is, but sweet cheeses, in a side-by-side comparison it wipes the floor with its big-budget rival.  It's like watching Hamlet and The Lion King, same subject matter, different league. 

There's some genuinely incredible images in Threads, things I've never seen before or since on film - fingers burning like candles, cats writhing in the ruins, seriously disturbing stuff worthy of John Smith.  The Day After OTOH looks like pretty much every disaster movie since (although it's better than many), and is full of pointless errors like the sound of detonations arriving ahead of light and heat blast.  I'll take Leslie Judd calmly reporting two nuclear detonations in the middle east  as the harbinger of war over AWACS officers shouting jargon at each other, and chippies fighting over wood supplies over John Lithgow watching missile launches from a baseball game, any day.  Threads' focus on milk floats and wives folding shirts, couples stripping wallpaper, then transitioning into vignettes of puke and shit and pus... the simple despair when the taps stop working - harrowing.   Amazingly affecting stuff on both the personal and global levels.

Right, off to find When the Wind Blows and my cheery week will be complete.
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 November, 2011, 04:42:22 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 30 November, 2011, 11:10:54 AM
What is the principle difference between the two? is it huge plot-wise, or minor tinkering?

The basic plot is the same Zod et. al. are released from phantom zone, come to Earth, stir things up. The difference is in how the plot unfolds.

Donner had a darker vision for S2, using more realism to move forward, whereas Lester used comedy, especially with Clark, to move the story. Donner's version could be considered more canonical than Lester's. That's probably due to the fact that Donner was filming both S1 & 2 at the same time and considered them both as essentially part of the same story arc.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 30 November, 2011, 07:55:37 PM
TAKE SHELTER. It's very good but the ending . . . I'm undecided about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 November, 2011, 08:41:30 PM
All good points, TB, but The Day After had a greater legacy than Threads, as Ronnie Reagan found the former such a bummer that he pressed forward on nuclear disarmament talks.  Me, I love that the toss-up between TDA and Threads can be summed up by TDA's glossy ending of sobbing old men in a giant grave of a city or Threads' educationally subnormal population of the future experiencing a still birth.

The Saint - the Val Kilmer flick.  I recall not quite understanding the critical mauling this got at the time, so I'll go ahead and assume I was drunk, sleeping, or the former and working on the latter when I saw this first.  The "I was named for a saint" thing and all his aliases being catholic saints was a decent schtick, but the rest... dear god, the rest... it's like a catalog of things that are clumsy and shit.
All the same, even with a dull setting, a lack of any real action - from otherwise reliable explosion documentarian Philip Noyce - and some funny-terrible chat up patter between the leads, I think this might have been okay if it was twenty minutes shorter and didn't have that ending where the bad guy sets up a cold fusion reactor in front of everyone just to prove it doesn't work, and then explains the science as to how it might have worked and how if only this one light bulb would light up he should totally be taken to jail.  I just went "what the fuck?" at the screen at that stage.  Kilmer's mugging at the end is awful, and the bit where he mouths "I love you" made me instantly think of Top Secret, but not in a good way.  Terrible.

The Sea Chase - John Wayne flick where he plays a German merchant ship captain forced to do a runner from a former BFF in the Royal Navy when war breaks out.  Not much action and the Duke as always plays the Duke, but I didn't give a monkeys when he did that in The Conqueror and I don't much find it a barrier  to enjoyment here, either.  A fun romp about men obliged to their duty and the women that love them - or sit around smoldering and crying at the occasional amputation - but not enough face punching or Wayne telling Nazis they're a cunt to their face for my liking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 November, 2011, 09:13:32 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 30 November, 2011, 08:41:30 PM
All good points, TB, but The Day After had a greater legacy than Threads, as Ronnie Reagan found the former such a bummer that he pressed forward on nuclear disarmament talks.

Cool, didn't know that!  Not surprised though, because it is powerful stuff, and quite honest - it's just all a bit... exciting?  Threads on the other hand made me feel sick, every single hideous minute of it, but in the good way of the worst nightmares.  Its escalating horrors are just so plausible - for example, where the narrator intones that even had the entire National Health Service survived intact, it wouldn't have had the resources to deal with the one bomb that falls on Sheffield.  Or the banal disintegration of the trapped emergency committee.  From an older perspective than that of the terrified teen I was when I saw it first, I could see myself in almost every situation, as almost every character. A Cradlegrave of the apocalypse.

As to Threads' ending, it certainly is a bit of a weak spot, but in its defence, it actually does virtually the same 'old men crying a city of the dead' as TDA about half way in, so it gets points for at least trying to push beyond into something even more horrible.  It's a clever way to say:  you think this is a bad situation, maybe like a really big awful version of the Blitz, but it isn't, and you won't pull through eventually - it's the bloody end. 

Incidentally, I was surprised to see that the Threads SFX still look absolutely magnificent, at least on the low-res YouTube copy - TDA was a way more impressive spectacle (flocks of silo launches, terrific stock footage of detonations), but the low-angle views of mushroom cloud and the sheer violence of the exploding buildings in Threads were much more visceral and affecting.  And the burn make-up... fuuuuuuuck, you'd think I'd have seen it all after a decade of CSI shlock shows, but not a bit of it.   

Sorry to go on about this, but I indulged a maudlin humour by watching these shows, and didn't expect to be quite so bowled over and downright moved by the achievement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 01 December, 2011, 01:22:09 AM
we watched Threads in Year 8 Social Studies (in 1988, i know the cold war was basicly over but not to my 13 year old mind) way to terrify a generation teachers, I was terrified of Nuclear War up to that point and after seeing it became absolutly certain that it was all going to end in a bright flash and crippling sickness, misery of the highest order.  Ahh the 80's such fun, kids these days dont understand, sure you could get caught up in some Terrorist incident these days but at least the whole world isn't going to get flashfried by a couple of nuts in the Whitehouse and Kremlin.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 03 December, 2011, 04:12:09 PM
Ahh Threads, what a brilliant programme, in a totally depressing kinda way.
Remember watching this when first shown on telly back in the day - along with The Day After. (The Day After was first if i recall). Being a typical teenager i watched both purely to see things blowing up. When i caught threads again, when it was released on dvd a few years ago, ..well talk about a cold shiver going up your spine. The background story of things starting to kick off in the middle east was, in the early 2000's, unsettling to say the least.
Always thought that scene of the fire engines quietly slipping away in the dead of night to be unbelievably poignant, and a good image, before a single bomb had fallen, of the "threads" of society unravelling.
Uncomfortable but unmissable stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 03 December, 2011, 05:08:04 PM
Well I've reached the halfway point of Twin Peaks, and I'm reliably informed that this is where it starts to get shit, up until the epic finale. It stills holds up really well, even after watching The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad etc first. There are certain scenes such as [spoiler]Maddy Ferguson's death[/spoiler] that you can't believe they got away with on US network television.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 03 December, 2011, 08:32:15 PM
I've seen Threads but not The Day After. Have any of the people who've seen both seen The War Game, Threads predecessor?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 03 December, 2011, 09:00:26 PM
Yeah, The War Game. Again pretty grim watching, seem to remember it wasnt until the late 80's that it got shown - even though it was made in the '60's. Wasnt the original programme banned, or held back, or something? Dont think ive seen it since then.
Might be worth tracking down the dvd and checking it out again.
Blimey,who'd ever have thought there'd come a time when we'd feel nostalgic about possible nuclear devastation,  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 03 December, 2011, 10:30:54 PM
Threads scared the crap out of me as a child but I remember being pretty much traumatised by a documentary shown a few year earlier (I think it might have been an episode of panorama) that showed the Protect and Survive public information films.

I had never even heard of nuclear weapons before seeing that and it was a hell of a lot to take in, I must have only been around 10 at the time, it gave me nightmares for weeks afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 03 December, 2011, 10:44:44 PM
You know a lot of these civil defence public information films have been collected on dvd?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collection--Nuclear-Britain--Front-Defence/dp/B003AJPXIM/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1322952036&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Protect-and-Survive-DVD/dp/B0009YVBHS/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1322951989&sr=1-1
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 December, 2011, 12:45:32 AM
inspired by this thread I just rewatched Threads. Jeez, I'd forgotten how grim that was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 04 December, 2011, 01:55:43 AM
Just watched some crazy Korean monster movie called 'The Host' on film4

Bizarre isn't the word
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 December, 2011, 02:00:56 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 04 December, 2011, 12:45:32 AM
inspired by this thread I just rewatched Threads. Jeez, I'd forgotten how grim that was.



What an uplifting ending though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 04 December, 2011, 09:00:51 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 04 December, 2011, 01:55:43 AM
Just watched some crazy Korean monster movie called 'The Host' on film4

Bizarre isn't the word

Yes!!!
I saw the trailer for this a couple of years ago and then couldn't remember the name of the movie until I googled it on the back of your post.

I'll have to keep an eye out to see if they repeat it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 04 December, 2011, 12:25:05 PM
Quote from: Rog69 on 04 December, 2011, 09:00:51 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 04 December, 2011, 01:55:43 AM
Just watched some crazy Korean monster movie called 'The Host' on film4

Bizarre isn't the word

Yes!!!
I saw the trailer for this a couple of years ago and then couldn't remember the name of the movie until I googled it on the back of your post.

I'll have to keep an eye out to see if they repeat it.

Korean films are mental

Was worth staying up for..just haha
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 04 December, 2011, 02:18:09 PM
Watched Kingdon of Heaven Directors cut today, what an epic movie musical interlude and all.  Only ever watched the original cut in the cinema and it bored the pants of me this longer more meandering cut seems to work much better, much more rounded story for the main hero (stil doesn't help that its Orlando Bloom, the epic rousing speech just doesn;t come of from him) and over all much better movie.  Still brings the shit in some nice choppy action stuff and the night time opening bombardment of the final seige is visually spectacular (even if it is a bit of a reprise from Gladiator).  i also like that the Saracens (Muslims) aren't portrayed as the bad guys, quite refreshing.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 05 December, 2011, 09:48:29 AM
ANNIE. Yes, that's right, Annie. It's a motherfuckin' hard knock life, bitchez.

Kids loved it. There are more 'skirts flying up in the air to reveal stockings and suspenders' dance moves than I remember...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 05 December, 2011, 10:27:10 AM
Right At Your Door, it's on iplayer at the moment. Heard good things about this a while back and been meaning to check it out. Yeah, it was good, very tense, a disaster movie without any explosions or exposition, which suited me just fine. Claustrophobic in the classic John Carpenter sense, and pretty brutal in its portrayal of our handling of such an event (dirty bombs detonated in major city).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 December, 2011, 12:06:50 PM
Was Right At Your Door the one that was all "stay indoors and shun outsiders, America" until it became "STAYING INDOORS IS WHAT WILL KILL YOU" at the end?  I thought that was shit.  The only good thing about it was that I was forced at girlpoint to watch it, thereby absolving me of all blame.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt1.  Boring, overlong and joyless.  Washed-out colours, dour characters, and at least one character death that I am reasonably certain wasn't supposed to be funny.  "We will bury him properly - without magic!" also confused me on an existential level, as the dead chap was a magical being and thus a non-magical burial is surely a kind of slap in the face?  Like burying a Muslim with a side of bacon or something.  Also not sure Harry and Hermione making out in the nuddy was really necessary for a kids' film, but to be honest, I don't think there were many of those at this, as it seems to be aimed at the audience of the first few films on the assumption that they have grown up and got an attention span of more than five seconds, but that doesn't change that the plot is "find the seven crystals" and then "no, scratch that, find the three other crystals instead" and then it just ends.  Unsatisfying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 05 December, 2011, 01:04:21 PM
Yup, that's the one  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2011, 06:25:41 PM
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Unlike the Prof, I really enjoyed the gently paced, pared-back character-based Potter film that was Part 1.  Part 2 on the other hand predictably and perhaps inevitably goes entirely the other way,  explosions, explosions, more explosions and somewhere in between half-glimpsed and bizarrely off-screen deaths for major characters whose introductions once took up most of an entire film.  I think Ron and Hermione were in it, but I'm not sure where...  In fairness, when you view this as the second half of one film, those two did get their moment in the spotlight too.  Not so everyone.

The book, and the whole series, has three real strands, Harry's story, Snape's story and Dumbledore's story - of which Snape's is the most engaging, and Dumbeldore's the most intriguing.  This film (consistently at least) keeps its focus on Harry, but throws Snape a bone in the shape of a brief if illuminating flashback sequence.  Dumbledore's entire story is relegated to pretty much one line, possibly a good thing considering the surprisingly poor performance by a woefully miscast Ciaran Hinds as Aberforth.  I must seem like a glutton for punishment, but I'd really love to see an extended DVD version that covered Albus' obsession with Grindlewald, and all that meant for him and his family. 

On the plus side the explosions are good explosions, the monsters are good monsters (Voldemort in particular mugs and capers wonderfully), and while there's absolutely nothing new visually this time (Shell Cottage is a missed oppotunity), the action sequences are quite intense and sustained.  Neville's moment in the sun is certainly there, and I appreciate the time he and Luna are given, but by eliminating a lot of his suffering it lacked the punch it had in the book.

Topically Warrick Davis shows us the origins of his Too Short character in the superb Griphook, a wonderful if-probably-construable-as-horribly-racist caricature who was pretty much my favourite thing in the film.  All hail practical make-up and a decent actor. 

It's a pretty good series finale as these things go, and credit is due for just keeping it all together over 8 films and taking no prisoners in terms of its expectations of its audience, but it does seem to miss the point that the actual climax of the book is not the Big Battle, but the revelations about its main characters, and the resolution of their character arcs.  That said, the epilogue was very well handled - the aging of the characters was very restrained, and the details quite sweet.  I'll have to see how it works watched back to back with the first part as a single film, but as a Potter fan it was certainly worth a watch.
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 11 December, 2011, 08:11:41 PM
The stylistically-baffling IN TIME. GATTACA for cheese enthusiasts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 December, 2011, 12:23:31 PM
ZULU DAWN - Well, it's always going to pale in contract to the brilliant, brilliant original but it falls even farther short than you'd think possible.  It fails almost entirely to give you any engaging characters (save a brave try from Simon Ward and Burt Lancaster) and spends far too much time at the garden party. (The only cool and clever bit is the arrival of the Zulu ambassador type at the Krall being juxtaposed aaginst his arrival at the garden party).  But my goodness, did they really just take 5000 people and plonk them in South Africa and film them?

THE MUMMY RETURNS  - The Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Stephen Sommers etc. version from the turn of the millenium. 

More like "The Shit Returns". 

And if you can imagine how unpleasant it would be if a shit did actually return from whence it came, you are getting close to what it feels like to watch this film. The Rock is awesome in the earlt scenes though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 December, 2011, 12:49:47 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 December, 2011, 12:23:31 PM
pleasant it would be if a shit did actually return from whence it came, you are getting close to what it feels like to watch this film.

It's incredible how bad this film is, for no good reason.  The first one was light and inoffensive, John Hannah aside, but this... ugh, I can't even force myself to think about the specifics of its awfulness.  Through some appalling luck I ended up seeing this thing in the cinema three times.  I began to see the appeal of having one's brain liquidised and extracted through the nose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 December, 2011, 01:50:49 PM
QuoteI don't think there were many of those at this, as it seems to be aimed at the audience of the first few films on the assumption that they have grown up and got an attention span of more than five seconds, but that doesn't change that the plot is "find the seven crystals" and then "no, scratch that, find the three other crystals instead" and then it just ends.

That's more a fault of the (in some ways poorly-plotted) books than the films, though.

In all honesty, the first thing the screenwriter should have done is combined the Deathly Hallows and the Horcruxes into one thing. As it is there's an almost comical amount of Maguffins.

QuoteUnlike the Prof, I really enjoyed the gently paced, pared-back character-based Potter film that was Part 1.  Part 2 on the other hand predictably and perhaps inevitably goes entirely the other way,  explosions, explosions, more explosions and somewhere in between half-glimpsed and bizarrely off-screen deaths for major characters whose introductions once took up most of an entire film.  I think Ron and Hermione were in it, but I'm not sure where...  In fairness, when you view this as the second half of one film, those two did get their moment in the spotlight too.  Not so everyone.

The book, and the whole series, has three real strands, Harry's story, Snape's story and Dumbledore's story - of which Snape's is the most engaging, and Dumbeldore's the most intriguing.  This film (consistently at least) keeps its focus on Harry, but throws Snape a bone in the shape of a brief if illuminating flashback sequence.  Dumbledore's entire story is relegated to pretty much one line, possibly a good thing considering the surprisingly poor performance by a woefully miscast Ciaran Hinds as Aberforth.

I also seem to be in the minority that preferred Part One to Part Two - the latter seemed to come across as somewhat flat to me - imo most of the important character beats were fudged or glossed over, and though I enjoyed his scenes, there was a borderline-damaging amount of focus on Neville (a very marginal character, especially in the films thus far) to the point where he almost becomes the main character. In contrast, I thought Part One was a very interesting, subdued, well-paced road movie with a bit of substance to it.

Imo they should have entirely jettisoned the Albus/Aberforth Dumbledore strand - could never work out why any of that stuff was given so much prominence in the book in the first place. I would have dedicated a lot more time to Snape - by far the most interesting character in any of the films or books.

I still can't for the life of me work out why they didn't make the Gringotts bank heist the climax of Part One, it would have provided a bit more of a satisfying ending than what we got, whilst leaving time for more character stuff in Part Two...

Quotethe epilogue was very well handled - the aging of the characters was very restrained

You have got to be kidding - it had the entire audience in stitches - me included - when we saw it. Dan Radcliffe was the only one who looked in any way convincing in the old make-up - and the girls looked like teenage girls playing grown-ups in a school play - the hair, the clothes - it was excruciating. Right up to the last minute there were suggestions that the whole thing had been cut because they couldn't get it to work, and while that would have been a shame, I wish that they'd explored other avenues for doing it - perhaps as an animated scene over the end credits or something..?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 12 December, 2011, 03:03:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 December, 2011, 12:49:47 PM
Through some appalling luck I ended up seeing this thing in the cinema three times.

How on Earth was that possible, If I didn't like a film there is no way anyone would be able to make me watch it again and then again, for good measure. Please inform us of the technique that was used to catch you out, so that we can all avoid it  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 December, 2011, 06:14:55 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 December, 2011, 12:23:31 PM
THE MUMMY RETURNS  - The Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Stephen Sommers etc. version from the turn of the millenium. 

More like "The Shit Returns". 
If we can keep this going, I really hope I don't enjoy the new Batman film. In fact I may pretend it's rubbish anyway just so I can use the line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 December, 2011, 06:30:06 PM
I might go and watch Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, for similar reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 December, 2011, 06:35:25 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 12 December, 2011, 03:03:57 PM
How on Earth was that possible, If I didn't like a film there is no way anyone would be able to make me watch it again and then again, for good measure. Please inform us of the technique that was used to catch you out, so that we can all avoid it  ;)

It's a tragic if unsurprisingly boring story. Having enjoyed the first one, I had arranged to see the second with the missus, but before we got a chance to go I ended up in the pub with some old friends and the next thing I knew we were in the cinema, drunkenly watching and probably disrupting The Mummy Returns.  Obviously I couldn't stand-up the good woman, so I suffered through another more sober viewing, which made even less sense.   I thought that was the end of the matter.

The very same week, we were having a work outing, with different 'surprise' bits organised by different people: one group did drinks and snacks in the office, then one group arranged a trip out, and one group organised a meal and dacning afterwards.  The 'trip out' component was, well, you're way ahead of me. No quantity of apertifs could make this bearable, but as the then-boss, I also couldn't run out.  It was even worse than the Sing-along-a-Sound-of-Music of the previous year, or the excruciating Karaoke night of the following year.  There's something to be said for going bust.

Quote from: radiator on 12 December, 2011, 01:50:49 PM

Quotethe epilogue was very well handled - the aging of the characters was very restrained

You have got to be kidding - it had the entire audience in stitches - me included - when we saw it.

Ah, well I'd heard this was the case, and was literally bracing myself for terrible prosthetic wrinkles and those awful white splodges at the temples that they were always using on Commander Riker to indicate 'even further into the future' in ST:TNG.  As it was I thought Harry and Ginny looked just right for well-preserved mid-late 30s, as did Malfoy - Hermione and particularly Ron were less successful, but it certainly wasn't jarring.  It should be noted that the legitimate, shop-bought DVD I watched was possibly the worst-quality legal transfer of a modern movie I've ever watched - everything kept slipping out of focus (presumably something to do with converting from 3D, maybe?), almost constantly in terms of background but more disconcertingly on foregrounded faces.  So that may have mitigated any obvious howlers.

Love your idea for an animated sequence instead though, maybe picking up on the (rather lovely) shadow-puppetry from the Three Brothers/Deathly Hallows animation in Part 1.

As to the Aberforth/Albus stuff, I loved it in the book, but I think even Rowling feels she failed to make the story clear - Dumbledore's love for Grindlewald, and his battles with his own thirst for power, should have given the whole thing a bit of much-needed 'depth' (insofar as such a thing is possible in Potterland).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 12 December, 2011, 10:32:35 PM
Harold & Kumar 3D. Having not seen the first two movies in this series I felt somewhat bewildered by some of the more esoteric references to the rich & nuanced mythology that has clearly been developed, but this was a decent enough time waster. Enjoyable turn from Danny Trejo as Danny Trejo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 December, 2011, 01:26:45 PM
I accidentally ended up seeing BATMAN RETURNS twice in one day. And having beer and pizza to accompany it.  But that was me thinking a bird had stood me up so we went to see it with my mates only for her to turn up later in the evening. So I pretended I hadn't seen it (or eaten pizza and drank beer) and we went out to do exactly what I'd done six hours previously (well, not "exactly"...).

But I quite enjoyed the film (and her company) so didn't mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 13 December, 2011, 02:08:37 PM
I was on a long flight which was shit and then got even shitter when they showed Jack Frost with Michael Keaton as a dad reincarnated as a snowman. Imagine my joy when I had to change to another plane just as it kicked off all again. Jack fucking Frost twice in one day.

I suppose I didnt HAVE to watch it again but I was tired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 December, 2011, 02:22:15 PM
Didn't you have anything more entertaining to do? Like jabbing a fork into your thigh repeatedly.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 December, 2011, 04:16:19 PM
I saw Up recently - I didn't really know what to expect as I didn't really care for Ratatouille and I thought Wall-E was a bit overrated, but ended up loving it.

It provided pretty much everything I look for in a movie - it was touching, action-packed and hilarious ('Kevin' is a wonderful creation and is undoubtedly one of the best bits of animation I've seen - so much character).

Got me a little choked up, too.

The villain reveal was predictable, yet still very unlikely (wouldn't he have been about a hundred years old?), but overall it didn't really spoil my enjoyment.

Beautiful film in every way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 13 December, 2011, 04:21:32 PM
The remake of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

Not really sure it needed remaking, although Fincher does his usual good job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 December, 2011, 06:16:59 PM
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt2 - Eh.  Just... eh.  Not sure what I was supposed to make of it, but I'm not the target audience, really, as I like films and read all the Harry Potter books.
As TB mentioned, lots of explosions with FX ranging from okay to great, people dying off a lot without much fuss or bother, and the kids destroying four of the seven magic McGuffins and then declaring that "the snake is the last one!" had me reasonably sure that maths doesn't work like that, but then if there was anything that could wave its hands and say "a wizard did it" it's this franchise.
There's no focus on any theme or character arc, just reveals piled up in the hope it all looks like a grand plan coming together rather than a rush of flashes and loud music.  I didn't like the epilogue, either, but that was more from wanting to see how Draco redeemed himself given he's at least as significant a heel in need of a face turn as Snape at this point, surely?  Yet all we get is a nod of the head between him and Harry, and while heartening to see the good will out in even utter rotters, I want to know how this came about and the film offers no explanation.  Plus, he seems to have called his kids Scorpion and Childstabber, which is not generally a good sign in any fictional universe where someone called Lupine turns out to be the werewolf.

Black Death - in which Sean Bean continues his quest to become the English Bill Paxton by showing up to play in anything at all as long as he can have his clogs popped horribly around the third act.  It's an awful film, made with that shaky camerawork approach that only serves to make it look like a fan film by some cosplayers who shelled out for a van to drive them to a particularly nice-looking patch of woods, even though there's been perfectly serviceable fan films made on just that premise in the past that aren't nearly as bad as this.  Case in point (and it even has a Bean connection): http://stagevu.com/video/oisricamiqjy

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: The Movie: Fateful War - which I watched because it was in old-school 3D with the red and green glasses, which is not really an ideal approach given how colourful your average Super Sentai movie tends to be, but nonsensical plot, terrible effects and dire acting aside this was a gas.  And my word, but those are some pretty ladies for a kiddie show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 December, 2011, 07:06:42 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 13 December, 2011, 06:16:59 PM...the kids destroying four of the seven magic McGuffins and then declaring that "the snake is the last one!" had me reasonably sure that maths doesn't work like that...

I'm sure you don't care, but the seven horcruxes were:

[spoiler]Tom Riddle's Diary - Destroyed by Harry in HP2.

Gaunt's Ring - Destroyed by Dumbledore between HP5 and HP6, leading to his fatal injury (note that the stone in the ring is also one of the Deathly Hallows, the Resurrection Stone).

Slytherin's Locket - Swapped for a fake by Sirius' Black's brother Regulus, stolen by Mundungus Fletcher between HP6 and HP 7 and recovered from Umbridge and destroyed by Ron in HP7.

Ravenclaw's Diadem - destroyed by Crabbe in the book, and Harry in the film (HP8).

Harry Potter - Unintentionally created when Voldemort murdered Lily, and destroyed by him in HP8.

Nagini - A lapse in Rowling's imagination, but destroyed by Neville in HP 8 (fulfilling the ambiguity of Prof Trelawney's prophecy raised in HP6).[/spoiler]

Note that in the books each one is destroyed by a different person, in the films Harry does two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 December, 2011, 08:06:15 PM
Harry had to do two because Crabbe was written out of HP8 for being a naughty boy.

I did not realise that the various Horcruxikeseses were scuppered in earlier films.  Maths has been saved for us all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 December, 2011, 08:13:16 PM
Tbh, the whole horcrux thing was really poorly communicated in both book and film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 December, 2011, 08:26:03 PM
In the films certainly, with partial explanations being spread across three movies but never really pulled together.  In fact the films frequently dropped the ball in terms of explaining their plots, Prisoner of Azkaban (probably the best of them) perversely being the worst offender.  The failure to tackle the significance of the Deathly Hallows in the second part of the current flick, having set them up as a major issue in the first, was even more annoying.

The books, I'd disagree there - a lot of the fun of reading the last two books was puzzling out the horcruxes and keeping track of them, the ongoing confusion was a real part of the style, and I suspect intentional.  I also loved the horcrux switcheroo at the end of Half Blood Prince, which was a pretty inspired kick in the teeth.

As to Draco, he Narcissa and eventually even Lucius it wasn't so so much that they were redeemed or reconciled, as that they discovered they much as they loved power, they just didn't have the balls for the evil that offered it to them - essentially they loved each other, and couldn't square that with having to be egoless tools of Voldemort's regimes.  Draco couldn't kill Dumbledore, he couldn't betray Harry to his death, and in the end all the family wanted was to get away from Voldemort. They weren't good, they just weren't as bad as they pretended to be. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 December, 2011, 08:41:22 PM
Imo the actual plots are not the Potter books strong point - too contrived, too complicated, and massively overlong. They always go off on boring tangents and frequently make little sense (or break the rules of their own logic). It was always the characters and the sense of wonder that kept me reading them.

With the benefit of hindsight, I think the screenwriters should have been even more brutal when pruning and simplifying them for film - rolling multiple characters or magical objects into one etc etc.

I remember reading Deathly Hallows and wishing everyone would stop banging on about Dumbledore and just get to the action! Likewise with Order of the Phoenix - what on earth is all that fluff about Grawp? Endless, tedious chapters devoted to him, but he literally does nothing of consequence for the entire series, bar turning up for a few seconds in the final battle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 13 December, 2011, 08:45:14 PM
Watched Killer Elite the other night and realised that it was based on The Feather men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes quite early. Highly enjoyable action romp with some excellent design work as it was set in the early 80's. Just look at those cars, clothes and the groovy facial hair  :o

The way the story unfolds with the hunters becoming the hunted is quite clever especially when the government is suddenly brought into action in one major scene. The only let down (but only if you know why) was the part when [spoiler]Fiennes is about to be executed as we all know he is alive today[/spoiler] but otherwise it moved rapidly along with no flaws.

Best part for me was the Statham/Owen fight scene, nice and brutal with some excellent moves employed by both actors. Great to see the final put down in the scene, so simple but so effective.

8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 December, 2011, 09:03:05 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 December, 2011, 08:41:22 PM
Imo the actual plots are not the Potter books strong point - too contrived, too complicated, and massively overlong.

You're not wrong, but one of the interesting things about the books for me is the dominance of form and structure over plot.  Because each book takes on a year (or ten months) an awful lot goes on that really has very little to do with the individual plot of each book, or even the overall plot of the series. I actually like that, that you almost need to winkle out the plot from in between the 'normal' goings on of the cutesy magic world, boarding school life and teen angst.  The in-filling of the pages in between unravelling the deal with this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is what I find charming, which is probably why Half Blood Prince is my favourite book. 

You do however identify one of the biggest shortcomings of the books for me - the investment you make in characters like Grawp, Lupin, (Fake) Mad Eye, hell even Dobby, only for them to hang about in the background of subsequent books and then basically die.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 December, 2011, 09:45:58 PM
...don't forget Sirius!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 December, 2011, 11:06:03 PM

I know this is Movies thread, but enjoy This Is England '88 tonight, so good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 December, 2011, 11:26:14 PM

The In-Betweeners Movie which was OK and pretty much what you'd expect except for an unwelcome bit of character development and growth which was counter to all of the 3 series gone before. Couple of laughs though, and suitably offensive. It's no 'Kevin and Perry Go Large' though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 13 December, 2011, 11:51:14 PM
Darts person Ted "The Count" Hankey said that K&PGL is his favourite film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 December, 2011, 09:56:47 PM
The Thing - which is a decent sci-fi about a CGI monster chasing some folks around.  There are a lot of monster vagina faces to the point I wonder if Bob Byrne might be onto something about the film-makers being a bit distracted about getting fanny into the film at all costs, but while it's not what I'd call great or anything the only real problems it has are any connections to the original which make enjoying it objectively a bit of a bother because you're being taken out of a perfectly serviceable creature feature and reminded that it's a cash-in.
It's okay, like, it's just doing itself no favors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 December, 2011, 03:09:16 PM
Had a bit of a movie night last weekend with a friend, where we watched...

The Ward, which I'd seen but my mate hadn't so it was my pick for him. I like it a lot, it's not The Thing or Halloween, but it's also not Ghosts of Mars so I'm happy to count it as one of Carpenter's good 'uns. I'm sure I mentioned on here before that the ending is lifted from another movie so doesn't hit very hard, and the threat isn't particularly effective when seen in plain sight (although there are some great shots where the face is largely obscured to play up the eyes which works a treat) but other than that it's an above average horror movie.

The Devil's Rejects, which I still find a very fun film with a lot of lines and moments that still make me chuckle. There are things which are deeply unpleasant, but it is a horror film and I still find it bizarre that Zombie managed to get me rooting for these evil characters despite all the nastiness. They're just too much fun to hate.

And we also finally got round to watching A Serbian Film. I don't normally go near pirated movies, but given how censored the UK version is we sourced an uncut rip of it, as if you're going to watch a banned movie to see what the fuss is about, you kind of want to actually see what all the fuss is about.

I can certainly see what all the fuss is about, as possibly for the first time it was a nasty that lived up to it's reputation. It's a strange film to discuss or evaluate, as it's very well made (it looks great and the performances are brilliant) and has a very profound effect which will stick with you (possibly forever) but it's so brutal that I'd have trouble recommending it to anyone. I'd also worry that anyone I told to watch it would worry that I should be locked up. The really contentious scene (the "newporn" scene) isn't actually as horrific as it looks on paper. It's still in concept probably the most awful thing I've ever seen in a film, but it's mainly implied and very brief, so that doesn't actually turn out to be the upsetting part.

What does leave a mark is the extent to which the abuse escalates towards the end, and even the early scenes are fairly disturbing, with the way they seemingly comment on the downward spiral that extreme porn seems to be on. The political analogy which has been used in it's defense is totally lost on me, but it seemed to me to be equally about the effect that some porn could possibly have on attitudes towards relationships, women and basic right and wrong. If people are always chasing something more extreme then where is the line basically. I'm not anti-porn, but I'm sure we've all stumbled on stuff that takes things a bit too far. The film also doesn't seem to be throwing gore and unpleasantness around to titillate gorehounds, everything about the way the graphic moments are set up and scored is designed to make you feel uncomfortable about what you're seeing.

So yeah, not for the faint-hearted, but if you want to see a film which will evoke a reaction in you and linger in the mind (and to be fair, any good film should) then it might be worth a look. Personally I think it's a great film, but not one that I think I'll ever watch again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 December, 2011, 11:13:21 PM
Oh dear grud, I've just finished watching the new Conan The Barbarian.

I really don't know where to start. It's not just that we've seen it all before so many times. It's not just the charisma-vacuum that is Jason Momoa, or the overuse of massively rubbish cgi establishing shots of various locations that then bare no resemblance, either in feel or lighting or anything, to the physical location. It's not even just the site of various middle-aged men in ridiculous 80s Mad Max haircuts or Rose McGowan dressed up like Aurra Sing from Star Wars but wearing cheap 90s goth finger-claws and using them in a crap homage to Freddy Krueger, or even the boring humdrum carnage which basically comes down to a fountain of cg-blood and the victim somersaulting away from the blow over and over again. It's not the blandness of the whole production; the locations chosen make the whole thing feel like an extended, expensive version of the BBC's 'Merlin' or the more repetitive bits of 'Robin of Sherwood'. It's certainly not just the script- which doesn't have a single memorable line, or idea, or beat. Or the editing, which resembles the line between the cut-scenes and gameplay in an early Playstation game. Or the decision to cast Ron Pearlman as Conan's father- then have him look exactly like 'Harry' in 'Bigfoot and the Hendersons'. Or the meandering, boring, garbled opening narration by Morgan Freeman, or the first sequence on the battlefield, where Pearlman displays astonishing midwifery by performing an impromptu caesarian without even looking and whips out the most unconvincing baby since that one sewing its mouth shut on the pillar of souls in Hellraiser II. Christ, it's not even just the music- which is so lacking in any kind of chutzpah as to be almost hilariously inappropriate at times. 

This is just one of those times when everything comes together in one massive shitstorm of boring, overlong, pissy crap that everyone involved should be utterly ashamed of. It's not just worse than the original, it makes Conan The Destroyer and Red Sonja look like masterpieces.

At one point young Conan is pursued through a BBC Robin Hood forest by the cast of Duran Duran's 'Wild Boys' video- who emit dubbed lion roars and strut on all fours. I should've hit 'stop' at that point- as that's when the wife and I started to take the piss. In the end, even the pisstaking became boring and I'm forced to admit it's probably the worst film I've seen in a good few years. Nothing to recommend it. Nothing.

EDIT: At one point a man on a horse is shot by an arrow, and the horse immediately dies. And a nun becomes Spider-Man when the script demands it. And, best/ worst of all, there's a terrible Mills & Boon sex scene in a cave; which is inexplicably kitted out with a floor of hay. This hay-filled cave is the bridge between two locations (a beach and a forest) and bares no resemblance to either. I will shut up now, before I get cross and can't sleep.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 December, 2011, 09:49:22 PM
I'm not convinced Conan the Barbarian isn't actually some sort of three-episode pilot for a tv show since everything makes it look as such, from no-mark actors to episodic script to a visually middling production standard.  I liked how, after the love scene in the cave on the beach the lass walks back to the ship via a forest somehow.  GEOGRAPHY FAIL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHoHaAYHq8

Contagion - which is a very sober take on a Spanish Flu outbreak in the present, with some nice parallels drawn between viral communication and the panic it causes being as bad as the viral spread of a disease.  There's a matter-of-factness to how events play out that probably flummox the popcorn-chomper who went in thinking it's a big dumb star vehicle of some description with asplosions and that, but the lack of bombast helps underscore the horror of what's happening offscreen as numbers like "12 million dead" are bandied about without our ever seeing the full scale of such an epidemic beyond how it impacts locally, like trash piling up on deserted streets and high school gyms and football fields being re-purposed as hospitals and mass graves.  A nice touch is that there isn't any "it gets worse!" twist at the end, it really is just a drama that postulates what might happen in microcosm in such an event rather than a visceral horror splatterfest.  Worth a watch, and if you've seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes, you can sort of squint at this and pretend it's kind of related to that.

Intruder in the Dust - a 1949 flick about a black farmer in America's deep south being stitched up for the murder of a redneck, which goes down not too well with the latter's family.  A couple of young lads and an uppity spinster get ideas in their head about fairness and doing right by someone maligned for his colour, and so set about disinterring the victim to do their own autopsy much as the Hardy Boys might do.  It's odd for me to see such a stance in a mainstream 1949 film given that as late as the 1980s blacks in the media were still segregated from whites on the screen, but the sentiment that this is a bad thing we do to ourselves is unambiguously expressed here and is still a welcome one to see reiterated.  Good film.

The Rising of the Moon - an anthology of tales set in early 20th century Ireland from director John Ford and abridged by Tyrone Power standing in a doorway like he's been accosted by a milkman into being in the film.  When he says "we're a peaceful people" it sounds like a threat to me, but the tales err towards blarney gobshitery for the most part until the last one, which touches upon the Troubles and the 'old' IRA without really taking sides in the matter beyond that any story that's against capital punishment is by default taking a side against the ruling body.  The tone is twee and sentimental even then, mind, and while the whole thing is decent and not overly stagey given the source material, it's hardly essential viewing for Ford fans or lovers of general paddywhackery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 December, 2011, 10:06:46 PM
The great thing about Contagion is despite its 'objectivity' and jargon filled banter, it still remains affecting on an emotional level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 December, 2011, 10:33:56 PM
Yeah, Gweneth Paltrow's character has a couple of great moments: when it twigs with her husband why she was in Chicago and [spoiler]the first few minutes when you're thinking she's going to be part of the main focus of the film in some way and then... "already?!"[/spoiler]
Also Kate Winslett's workmate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 December, 2011, 10:43:49 PM
True.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 19 December, 2011, 10:09:41 AM
Rewatched SKYLINE and I still can't understand the hostility towards it. Ditch the stupid tacked-on ending along with all the stuff shoehorned in to justify it (the pregnancy, the lead character's superhuman turn, the brain-snatching) and you have a nifty base-under-siege that ends up being Earth's last stand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 26 December, 2011, 10:57:43 PM
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4. Really fantastic stuff. Going in, I wanted a fucking Brad Bird movie and a fucking Brad Bird movie is what I very much got. It feels like a live action cartoon in the very best way, showing up most other contemporary blockbusters for the empty (and frequently nasty) confections they are.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 2K11. Definitely successful as an exercise in Fincherian atmospherics, with a good performance from Ronney Mara. But I really did not care for the frankly rote thriller that they were dressing up, and Daniel Craig's character was the most insufferable tool. Saw the twist from miles away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 27 December, 2011, 01:21:46 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 26 December, 2011, 10:57:43 PM
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 2K11. Definitely successful as an exercise in Fincherian atmospherics, with a good performance from Ronney Mara. But I really did not care for the frankly rote thriller that they were dressing up, and Daniel Craig's character was the most insufferable tool. Saw the twist from miles away.

Didn't care for this at all. It looked sleeker than the Swedish version for sure but the changes they made to Lisbeth's character to cater to an American audience were just pathetic. I dunno. Waste of everyone's time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 December, 2011, 04:06:06 AM
X-Men First Class.

A very decent film, I thought. It did raise a disparity with the other films though.

[spoiler]I'm thinking mainly of Xavier losing the use of his legs at the end of this film that's set in the sixties. In X-Men Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine we see Xavier walking, and I'm sure those time periods were set after this film. It could be argued that what we saw in those films was in fact a mental projection, or that he actually did regain the use of his legs for a limited period. The latter is a bit of a stretch, mind.

Also, I guess the young lady with the diamond power who featured briefly in Wolverine, wasn't actually Emma Frost after all, although no doubt she was meant to be at the time. That kinda works though as she is only ever referred to by her first name in that film.[/spoiler]

Anyway, a good new film in the series, arguably as good as the first two if not better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 27 December, 2011, 02:55:42 PM
Planet of the Apes. The original one. My good lady friend gave me the blu ray box set of all 7 films for Christmas (which unfortunately means owning a Tim Burton film but we can ignore that) I'm never sure what quality a film is going to end up like on blu ray. Remastering can swing from pristine to down right ropey. Fortunately Apes looks damn swanky with a very good transfer. Hope the rest look as good. The film is still pretty excellent holding up well for its age, and the ending is still one of the best ever IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 December, 2011, 03:05:32 PM
The Wicker Man remake, on 5* last night.

Obviously, since I'm a huge admirer of the sublime original, this is an abomination. Neil LaBute's dismissive attitude toward everything that made the proper film so good- notably the folk songs- is a matter of record, and yes, everyone involved with this balls-up of gargantuan proportions should burn in a wicker man of their own, for eternity. Even the rather saucy Leelee Sobriesky and the young Harry Osbourne/ Planet of the Apes man.

...but... and oh good grud, I hate to admit it, but... if you can somehow swallow your bile at the indignities heaped upon the original, if you can squint at it and pretend it's a film in its own right... if you can take it as a quirky Nic Cage thriller... then- oh the shame- it's not bad. Yes, it has him dressed as a bear punching a woman, yes he manages to deck several women over the runtime (including the aforementioned Leelee, with a hilarious karate kick), yes he shouts "HOW'D IT GET BURNED?!?!" far too many times to be anything other than chokingly funny, and yes "ARGH MY LEGS!" is the single worst bit of extraneous voice-over ever dubbed onto film... but (and this is, to my horror, the third time I've seen it) I actually quite like it a lot.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 27 December, 2011, 03:16:52 PM
Films wot I have watched recently:

The Harder They Come (1972)

Cult Jamaican movie starring Jimmy Cliff as the curiously amoral Ivanhoe Martin, a character based on the true-life "Jamaican Dillinger" of the same name. Ivan comes to Kingston with the vague intention of finding work and making a record (the titular track) and ends up a folk hero, drug dealer and murdering racketeer. Low-budget but very visually appealing (Jamaica in the early 70s is a pretty vibrant looking place), with Cliff great as the permanently untroubled Martin, a man who seems to approach the business of shooting police officers with the same kind of casualness he applies to fixing bicycles or singing. I'm no special fan of reggae, but the soundtrack is unmistakeably a strong one, the title song having wormed its way into my brain. I needed the subtitles on to fully decipher the Jamaican patois, mind you, but that's no hurdle to enjoying a great movie.

The City of the Living Dead (1980)

Lucio Fulci's zombie classic, brought out for a recent rewatch. It's a toss-up whether it's this or 'The Beyond' that's the high-water mark of Fulci. While it's often suggested that 'City...' has no plot, that's a far more valid assessment of 'The Beyond' - 'City...' actually has an extremely straight-forward plot, it's just that there's absolutely no logic to anything that happens. However, this is in fact a positive – the atmosphere is absolutely top-notch, Fabio Frizzi's soundtrack is a corker, and there are some genuinely unnerving moments. The subterranean dead in Father Thomas's tomb are outstandingly creepy and the whole 'underground' sequence is visually glorious. Great fx and make-up work – Giovanni Lombardo Radice getting a drill through his head is the best known, but there's a whole host of wonderfully revolting brain-squishing moments. Unfortunately, the last 15 seconds make absolutely no sense, and are knocked into a cocked hat by the ending of 'The Beyond' (which, admittedly, has one of the greatest endings to a horror movie ever.) Nonetheless, 'City...' is pretty much everything I want in a movie – Fulci made plenty of films, but his 'golden age' work of 1971-1981 is unbeatable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 December, 2011, 03:58:48 PM
Since it's not really xmas without Bruce Willis shooting people (and Die Hard wasn't to hand) me and my paw watched Last Man Standing for the first time. Very stylish, with some nice bang bang shooty stuff (I especially liked how bullets propelled their victims to John Woo degrees) and Willis does that sort of thing so well that it was a good night in.

On a different note, me and Bea watched Easy A which was way better than the chick flick nonsense I'd feared. It's very self-consciously post-Juno, but the script is witty enough to not suffer mcuh in the comparison and the performances were all likeable (Emma Stone is veeeeeeeeery cute).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 27 December, 2011, 04:17:25 PM
I'd heard good things (and John Hughes comparisons) about Easy A, but found it a bit cringey when I tried to watch it a few months back and so it didn't last long before I gave up on it. I should probably give it another go. Don't mind the odd chick flick so long as they're well written, and there aren't many that are.

Watched Titanic for the first time in about ten years last night as it was on telly. Was struck by how hammy it all is. So many unintentionally hilarious moments, and the script is painful at times. Some of the performances are ludicrous (Billy Zane) and there's zero chemistry between Dicaprio and Winslet - she looks about twice his age!

Then we watched The Lion King, which I'd got my gf on Blu ray for Xmas. I was astonished at how amazing it looks in hd - sumptuous and crisp with gorgeous colours,  probably only ever seen on VHS before now and was pretty blown away by it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 December, 2011, 09:07:05 PM
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Another great film! I've been fortunate with my DVD haul for Christmas. (The weakest was probably X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and I liked that too... although I suspect I'm in the minority there.)

I felt a bit like kicking myself part the way in suddenly realising the subtitle track was off and we could actually 'read' the signing,  but I don't think I missed that much.

Anyway, a strong film which took a familiar concept but did something a bit different with it. That being said there are similarities with Conquest... (or was it Battle..., I get those mixed up?) but this had a more real-world realistic setting. I like both in different ways though.

Anyway. Great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 December, 2011, 12:29:23 AM
Clan Tips enjoyed this clumsily titled film as well, Though disappointed that pretty much the whole film was given away in teh trailer, it did twist and turn enough to keep me entertained and engrossed. Truly superb work from weta to make the apes so sympathetic.  Some nice bits of side story telling going on as well (the plague, the space mission). And the confrontation on the bridge was great.

Probably the main thing I disliked was that it removed the paradox from the original films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 28 December, 2011, 06:24:12 PM
Even "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" is shoehorned in to good effect. Too busy groaning, I was caught completely offguard by that what happens next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 28 December, 2011, 11:13:31 PM
Saw the anime sci-fi racing movie 'Redline' last night.

Jeepers. Over-rated. Although I will say it crammed an impressive amount of insanity and carnage into its running time.

Of course, when the film your racing suddenly throws a sub-plot at you concerning a rampaging radioactive monster called 'Funky Boy', you have have to either reach for the off button or just go with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 December, 2011, 11:21:50 PM
RotPotA needed more Phil Hartman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 29 December, 2011, 12:09:59 AM
Captain America and X-men First Class on blu-ray (Christmas prezzies!) which I've seen before and really like, but I have a question, anyone else who owns First Class on Blur- ray or dvd, could you please tell me, does the audio occasionally drop out and get quieter for a few seconds, usually in scenes where the magneto theme is playing, and specifically the scenes when banshee is about to jump out the plane, and then the scene when he does. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 December, 2011, 09:42:09 PM
Good call on The Harder They Come, its been a while since i last watched it, so gonna have to give it a spin again. The soundtrack is a Skinhead reggae classic, brilliant stuff.

Anyways just borrowed from a friend, and thoroughly enjoyed X-men First Class . Im not a reader of the comics, nor a fan of the films, but was pleasantly suprised by this. At times i wasnt quite sure if i was watching a early James Bond, a Harry Potter, or a Austin Powers film, but it was a pretty enjoyable way to spend a hour and a half. Like i say, im not a fan of the whole X-men thing, but i would say its the best of the films released so far. Recommended.

Quote from: willthemightyW on 29 December, 2011, 12:09:59 AM
could you please tell me, does the audio occasionally drop out and get quieter for a few seconds, usually in scenes where the magneto theme is playing, and specifically the scenes when banshee is about to jump out the plane, and then the scene when he does. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Just rewatched those scenes again to check, but didnt notice any sound drop on the dvd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 December, 2011, 10:33:25 PM
Just finished watching the first series of Community. Great little show - it's like Scrubs, if Scrubs was good.

It's certainly not to everyone's tastes (I've tried and failed to get my girlfriend into it) - its very 'meta' and self-aware - the fourth wall is pretty much nonexistent, and the constant pop culture referencing goes far beyond anything I've seen before. I'd kind of written that whole thing off as a bit tired, but it somehow seems quite fresh in this case. I especially love the constant digs at Glee.

The setup - a collection of assorted mature student dropouts forging a dysfunctional family unit within a community college - proves to be amazingly versatile and allows for all kinds of imaginative stories and scenarios. The episode 'Modern Warfare', though covering very similar ground to the paint balling episode of Spaced, is an incredible piece of television.

Apparently it's circling the plug hole of cancellation at the moment, which is a crying shame. When will the short-sighted US networks learn?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 30 December, 2011, 04:39:57 AM
Community,
seasons 1 and 2 where good,
not classic to me, as some have said, but good.(though the paintball episode was brilliant)
it may be better to end it now, before it gets dragged out and dies a painful death.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 30 December, 2011, 04:42:52 AM
watched Rise of Planet of the Apes,
whilst on the plane to UK.

good, pre-equal,saw the 70s original in the cinema with family. so all the elements where good,
the lost mission to mars nod. cleverly done.
the poorly lab assistant,not in your face moments, but if you knew the movies it was an excellent link.
also the ape characters used. very subtle. 

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 December, 2011, 05:01:22 AM
Quote
Just rewatched those scenes again to check, but didnt notice any sound drop on the dvd.

I noticed a drop in sound but not in those places. For me it was when a small group go into the underground area (I think it was just before Havoc's training.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 30 December, 2011, 11:39:08 AM
Community is awesome although the third season hasn't been the best. I think its currently rated as more likely to get picked up again than not.

Last film I watched was RotPotA. Really enjoyed it. Some of the references back to the originals were a bit forced but others were nice touches. I was a little disappointed with the CG in places, well animated but had that ILM blue sheen to it that made it look like it wasn't really interacting with the scene. Looking forward to where they go next. They have clearly set up the Icarus getting lost enroute to mars, and personally I'd rather see that than the direct sequel of Caesar and the boys conquest. Not sure if the Burton remake might be too fresh in peoples minds though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 30 December, 2011, 12:11:54 PM
Eyes wide shut while wrapping Xmas presents. Felt rather short changed by the ending.

Were at inlaws on Xmas day so following (very nice meal) retired to living room to sit like zombies to watch whatever crap was on tv. Big chuck of Ice Age which is torture for me. (One Xmas I had to point out to Mo in Law that no, those are not real penguins they are made with computers which was news to her!) Then all of Ratatouille. Not my kind of film though I appreciate it is good if you are into that. Luckily I kept on falling asleep so not only did I miss lots of the film but also the Mo in Law's commentary of every single scene though the entire film! Then Gruffalo came on and enough was enough so I was out.

Painful stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 30 December, 2011, 03:35:01 PM
Well, after putting my faith in the critical recommendations of a Small Blue Thing and being rewarded with The Dead, I thought I'd trust him once more and get hold of Stake Land (2010), recommended by the little cerulean fella a couple dozen pages back on this thread. And yep, it's another good 'un, a vampire (zombie, effectively) road movie, which at times reminds one of 'The Last Man On Earth' fused with 'The Walking Dead'.  Plenty of visual flair and stylish moments (vampire-fishing with a blood-soaked teddy-bear is one stand-out), with a real and pleasing sense of setting as the characters try to make their way to the promised land of Canada. On the downside, the 'Christian' baddie brotherhood is a bit clichéd (particularly developments involving their leader, Jebedia), but their presence thankfully doesn't overshadow the film. Thumbs up from me (and cheers once more to SBT for bringing this 'un to my attention.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 December, 2011, 07:48:42 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 30 December, 2011, 12:11:54 PM
(One Xmas I had to point out to Mo in Law that no, those are not real penguins they are made with computers which was news to her!)

Heh. While I was watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes, my Dad and his wife were present. 2 or 3 times I heard her muttering 'it's a man in a monkey suit'. The first time, I actually told her it was CGI but I don't think she was listening as she said it again a couple of times later.

To be fair, I suppose she is right in a way. There were human actors behind the CGI apes after all, so I suppose it's a costume of a kind if entirely in Cyberland.

I thought her statement curious, considering that some people actually criticise the CGI for not looking real. I can understand where they're coming from - I thought it was excellent, but I could tell it was CGI albeit that didn't bother me, any more than the fact the apes in the original movie series had human proportions - but it makes me wonder how much foreknowledge of these effects colour what people notice and their views.

My Dad and his wife's continual references to the chimps as 'monkeys' bugged me a bit too, but I understand that's probably me being pedantic.

Remember the [spoiler]death scene[/spoiler] with the gorilla?

Jacienth*: That one's big!
Dad:  He's an ape. (This is after referring to the Chimpanzees as monkeys throughout.)

::)

Bless their hearts, they enjoyed the film  though, my Dad especially.

*My dad's wife.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 30 December, 2011, 09:58:08 PM
Community's fourth season is presently on indefinite hiatus, but it's likely that it will be continued. It's my understanding that if it was on any network other than NBC it would be dead, dead, dead by now. It's up against Big Bang Theory (BARF) in it's timeslot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 December, 2011, 11:24:09 PM
Apollo 18

Do you like these post-Blair Witch, "found footage" mockumentary wotsits? You do? Great! Cos so do I- amateur trash like 'The Last Broadcast' notwithstanding.

Apollo 18 posits that "there's a reason we never went back to the moon", and then shows us why via the medium of recovered footage supposedly from the [spoiler]doomed[/spoiler] astronauts of the titular mission, back in 1972.

Basically, two go down in the lander while one stays in orbit- and they find out that others have got there first.... but those that got there first are by no means the least of their troubles.

Yes, it suffers from the same tropes that all these things do. The first twenty minutes or so shows them setting up as many cameras as is humanely possible, supposedly to assist in whatever "experiment" the Department of Defense are planning (but actually just to give ample coverage), and then the remaining sixty-odd shows them strangely reluctant to drop their cameras even when running for their lives. But we accept all that as part of the form. People who find this sort of thing brings on motion sickness will probably find that here too, and people who know the inner workings of the lunar expeditions back to front will probably find a few bits to quibble over. But on the whole I thought this was one of the better examples of this controversial little subgenre that just refuses to die, twelve years after the one that started it all.

The recreation of the moon's surface is excellent and mostly completely convincing, the effects mostly subtle and at times quite frightening, and even when it blatantly nods in the direction of Paranormal Activity's most infamous sequence, the sheer alien-ness of the location allows you to forgive it and play along. And, most importantly for me, it obeys rule number two in my list of How To make Any Film Better Than It Would Otherwise Have Been; which I'm not going to divulge here, because it would ruin it for you.

Of the multiple alternative endings on the DVD, they definitely went with the best one in the commercial cut- which is a change for the norm for these things (hello PA), and if I were forced to offer some criticism it would be that it perhaps asks a little too much of the viewer's suspension of disbelief- ie) we know it's all bollocks. But then, since so many are even now convinced that the '69 landing took place in a studio and this does nothing to discredit such an idea (by looking more like the actual Moon than any "real" footage I've seen, bizarrely) maybe not.

In short, worth a watch.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 31 December, 2011, 12:03:06 AM
Insidious.

A film of two halves, the first half is vastly better than the second, and it really doesn't recover from a ludicrous [spoiler]Seance/gas mask sequence which reminded me of the sex party in the League of Gentlemen, was expecting her to start moaning Juliet Bravo at some point...

The backstory killed it for me, as well as the astral plane sequence which just looked like a meatloaf video, it felt like it started off as Paranormal Activity and then turned into Beetlejuice[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 31 December, 2011, 12:18:26 AM
Just watched 'Attack The Block'

Quite enjoyable actually  :D

Films I want to see on DVD

Troll Hunter

Kill List

Drive
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Toni Scandella on 31 December, 2011, 05:24:42 PM
I love Community.  Te scene in the Halloween episode where Abed is Batman are hilarious - and his Alien in the Season 2 Haloween special was every bit as good.  The paintball episode is especially great.  Not sure why this show isn't bigger than it is.

Just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes and was very pleasantly surpised by how enjoyable it was, especially after HATING the Tim Burton reboot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 December, 2011, 06:20:46 PM
I got the limited edition Harry Potter DVD/Blu Ray complete set a few weeks back and have been rewatching them.

The third - Alfonso Cuaron's The Prisoner of Azkhaban - really does stand out a mile from the others in terms of quality, perhaps because, as well as setting the template for the rest of the films visually (after the rather bland and flat first two films - Philosopher's Stone looks alarmingly 'Teal and Cyan' to my eyes these days), it's probably the boldest in terms of cutting down the unwieldy books to make a smoother narrative arc on screen.

Deathly Hallows Part One remains my second favourite and holds up surprisingly well on second viewing - it has a wonderful atmosphere and really resonates with that feeling of leaving school and making your own way in the world - and the animated sequence looks astounding on Blu-Ray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 December, 2011, 06:30:02 PM
Agree completely with you there, Radiator.  Azkhaban is by far the best of them, even allowing for it apparently forgetting to explain most of its plot in Harry's last scene with Lupin, and Deathly Hallows Part 1 is my next favourite, for its relaxed character-focussed pace, and for taking a totally unforgiving attitude to its audience's level of knowledge.  No muggles need apply.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 December, 2011, 10:27:09 PM
Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.  There comes a point when you just have to stop and decide not to go on, and that point is when you are watching a direct-to-dvd sequel to a film starring the Rock which does not have the Rock in it and think to yourself "I will make a catalog of the things wrong with this and share it with others," so instead in it's favor I will say that this - with a fraction of the budget and none of the "name" stars - is comparable to the recent Conan The Barbarian thing in terms of scope, SFX, not good fights and making you wonder why things are happening and if the plot has become something else for some reason while you turned to open a tin.  It was probably made for tv or something, but even so I felt it dragged on a great deal, possibly because tv movies are made to fit around advertising breaks instead of the traditional three-act structure.

Scorpion King 3.  Yep, it's christmas and I have both sequels to the Rock original.  I will say only this of part 3: a film about a pre-Christian Arabian prince has no Arabs in the cast.  And has been shot in a forest.

The Thing.  The 1982 version.  Not much point banging on about this one as you've either made your mind up already or you're in for a serious treat, but it's great to see it again if only to cleanse the palette of the recent remake, which was alright when it doesn't reference the 1982 version.  Which it does constantly.

Star Wars OT.  For some reason a mate recommended leaving these running while trying to get to sleep as they're so familiar you're unlikely to get caught up in following the plot and will drift off into snoozeytime quite easily.  With A New Hope that's certainly true, but I found myself staying awake for Empire, and nodding off to Jedi only to awaken wondering why the whole war with the Empire was a b-plot to some storyline about Han's dealings with Jabba, even though according to the Special Edition footage that simply had to be re-inserted, the two were apparently on good terms.  I am also on the fence about the Ewoks: on one hand, clearly merchandising intruding upon the artistic integrity of the storyline, but on the other, I recall loving them when I was a nipper and there's something just plain right about the power of the Empire being destroyed by its own hubris in failing to consider the native Endorians a threat.

Battle Los Angeles, which I liked at the time it came out because it wasn't the unfocussed opportunistic mess that Skyline was, but on second viewing it has a lot of problems, most especially the shaky camerawork which is omnipresent yet never actually employed in any practical way that aids the narrative as by the time it becomes contextually appropriate when all the bangs and whizzes kick off, you're used to it because it's even used when two old blokes are sitting in their office having a cuppa and a chat about their careers.

Apollo 18  Fair enough just the notion that 1970 astronauts had camcorders and nobody on Earth has a telescope are kind of deal breakers if you apply logic to this in any way, but even so, [spoiler]MOON CRABS WILL DESTROY US ALL FROM WITHIN[/spoiler] is too much unless you're willing to put in the effort to make such a ludicrous conceit work as something we should fear, as the final onscreen text clearly establishes is the case even though we see in the film that all you need to keep evil at bay is a hammer.  A poor cash-in to an already-dated genre that even the makers of Blair Witch 2 thought had passed its sell-by date.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 01 January, 2012, 12:14:23 AM
Battle LA amounts to nothing less than a watershed moment in the dumbassification of the pop-cultural discourse when it ends with one of those stupid fucking boss fights from a video game where you point a laser at something and wait for planes to blow up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 01 January, 2012, 07:21:05 AM
Jaws. For about the 87,897,000th time.

Still...um...reels me in every time in airs on TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 01 January, 2012, 01:27:33 PM
"Starship troopers 3 Marauder"-the greatest film ever in the history of the  world. Or it is after you've had loads of alcohol. Acting as corny as kansas, religion thrown in for no reason, special effects by ZX Spectrum, a world annihilated as two lovers kiss. An utter masterpiece.

I then watched "Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" the 1956 version in b&w, bloody chilling even now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 January, 2012, 06:02:51 PM
True Grit (1969). Nuff said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 01 January, 2012, 07:15:11 PM
Watched Kill List last night..if you have not seen this yet go out and buy the DVD now..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 January, 2012, 11:09:16 PM
Kung Fu Panda.  Not at all bad.  D'y'know, I'd have been a happy man if the Anakin/Obi-Wan thing in the Prequels had played out with even a fraction of the style and emotional intensity that the superficially-identical Shifu/Tai-Ling conflict did.  That's a fight between a Red Panda and his Snow Leopard former apprentice, case you haven't seen it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 January, 2012, 11:12:11 PM
Quote from: Beeks on 01 January, 2012, 07:15:11 PM
Watched Kill List last night..if you have not seen this yet go out and buy the DVD now..



[spoiler]...then murder a paedophile.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 January, 2012, 01:56:50 AM
Just watched the original and still utterly amazing first Alien movie with a friend of mine who had never seen it before.

Yeah, that's what * I * said!

Completely fantastic movie, still scary after 30-odd years, and DEAR GOD was Sigourney Weaver beautiful in 1979!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 January, 2012, 02:35:14 AM
Kung Fu Oanda 2 last night, enjoyable as the first i thought (which i liked).  Some nice fight animation and it still cracks me up watching a snake do kung fu, Jack Black at his least annoying and a rather grand plot about ending Kung-fu which links to the Panda's past conviniently.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: StrayCatBlues on 02 January, 2012, 03:57:41 AM
Last night I watched the Great Muppet Caper with my son to try and keep him awake till midnight so we could see the fireworks bringing in the New Year.

I was suprised at how many metta refs there were in it.  :lol:

I haven't been to the cinema for quite a while, the last film I saw on the big screen was probably Captain America.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 02 January, 2012, 04:43:35 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 01 January, 2012, 01:27:33 PM
"Starship troopers 3 Marauder"-the greatest film ever in the history of the  world. Or it is after you've had loads of alcohol. Acting as corny as kansas, religion thrown in for no reason, special effects by ZX Spectrum, a world annihilated as two lovers kiss. An utter masterpiece.

If Paul Verhoeven had returned to either direct or just act as an executive producer, had it been the first sequel to the 1997 awesome original (with Denise Richards and Neal Patrick Harris returning alongside Casper Van Dien), plus a bigger budget than the $9million it purportedly cost (about $20million with a better script would've been more appropriate), ST3 could've been a pretty cool little movie, and I think the whole religious thing (speaking as someone of faith myself) is supposed to be satirical, but Ed Neumeier just didn't have the directing chops by himself to convey that.  The other trouble is, it simply couldn't compete as a 'further adventures of' with the superb Roughnecks CG animated series...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 January, 2012, 07:57:18 AM
Re-watched The Losers yesterday, really enjoyed it for a second time. Definitely think that movie should have done more business than it did as I've not heard anything about a sequel, which would be very welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: StrayCatBlues on 02 January, 2012, 09:48:53 AM
LOSERS Is great, I enjoyed the film but not as much as the graphic. Maybe I just missed JOCK!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 02 January, 2012, 11:37:15 AM
Taxi Driver on Blu-ray. Seen it before and it's still brilliant, although not the best thing to watch at 1 in the morning while you're trying to get to sleep, mainly because I couldn't stop thinking about what the ending actually meant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 02 January, 2012, 05:42:28 PM
"Super", last night and "The Guard" the night before. "Super", was magnificently demented with Ellen Page particularly good as the psycho sidekick. No dumbing down on the violence either, when you get whacked in the head with a pipe wrench you get properly f*cked up. Awesome cameo from Nathan Fillion of "Firefly" fame.

"The Guard", on the other hand, was a bit of a let down. Maybe I just expected too much from the trailer which had a lot of the best bits in it.

Thoroughly enjoyed the new Sherlock movie though which was the last thing I saw at the cinema. Ritchie got rather style over substancey in the fight scenes but other than that it was very good. Downey Jr and Law are a very enjoyable double act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 January, 2012, 08:38:31 PM
Watched The Odessa File last night. A very well acted Nazi hunter film from 1974. Jon Voight's German accent leaves something to be desired, but he played the part well in other respects. The film holds up extremely well even 38 years later. And Mary Tamm is gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2012, 10:46:30 PM
Our Idiot Brother.

Normally a sucker for Paul Rudd's films but on this evidence he is coasting massively. His films always seem to have an easy, improvised charm to them but this just felt half-baked, and lazy in the extreme. The script (if there even was one) is at least three drafts away from being anything worth filming. Not funny enough to be a comedy, nor interesting enough to be a drama.

Yet another mediocre film for Steve Coogan to add to his CV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 January, 2012, 11:56:11 AM
Bah, sorry to hear that Radiator, I had that pegged as one to watch given how watchable Rudd can be. Nothing worse than when a script is quite obviously a set-up for some improv and chemistry to kick off and it just doesn't happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2012, 12:46:37 PM
QuoteNothing worse than when a script is quite obviously a set-up for some improv and chemistry to kick off and it just doesn't happen.

That's exactly what I found OIB to be. A very likable (and let's face it - incredibly attractive) cast (seriously, there are a staggering number of very beautiful women in this film), but no chemistry between them, and nothing funny or interesting for any of them to say. Emily Mortimer does a pretty excruciating American accent, too - at least Coogan plays British.

To be honest, I'm still not sure if it was actually intended to be a comedy or not (there are one or two goofy comedy moments that are reminiscent of the likes of Role Models et al), or whether it has pretensions of being a serious relationship drama - and if that's the case then the characters needed to be a lot better written and fleshed out then they are. Believe me, the script wouldn't have been greenlit in a million years without the talent who were presumably already attached to the project.

I felt the same about Get Him to the Greek - thought that was awful too, and couldn't believe the amount of good reviews it got.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 January, 2012, 01:01:13 PM
I AM LEGEND

OK, the CGI Vampzombie things are very poor when they come rushing out of the woodwork (and scaling walls) and having superhuman strength and speed but I really enjoyed this. Will Smith is good, the devestated New York is expertly realised and it has some very tense moments and some good scares. And I'm a sucker for the [spoiler]upbeat [/spoiler] ending.

You can try and convince me it's crap because it's "hollywood" or you hate Will Smith or the original novella was better (it might be, I've never read it) or the Charlton Heston version is better (it might be, it's so long since I saw it but I don't think it was). 

But I still enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 03 January, 2012, 02:58:58 PM
Lol the original novella certainly was a lot better than what we got in the film adaption (which seems more like a failed  attempt at making a blockbuster version of 28 Days Later than anything else) , what saddens me the most is that we will most likely have to wait a long time for a truer film adaption. Aw well I suppose I can always watch Daybreakers or the fangtastic Stake Land for my hit of vampiric post apocalyptic madness. (sorry got a slight problem with that film, just cause i looove the book so much).

But anyway watched Kill List the other day, pure brutal brilliance can't say much else for fear of spoilers, defo my fave film of 2011 just in front of Troll Hunter. Michael Smiley needs to be in more films
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 January, 2012, 04:14:30 PM
I'll stick up for 'I am  legend' I've not read the novella so can't compare but I really enjoyed the film as a bit of mainstream fun. Except [spoiler]when the dog copes it,[/spoiler] that made me sooo sad!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 January, 2012, 04:19:12 PM
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.  Not a film per se, and the missus' choice of boxset, not mine - I've only seen glimpses of the original, quite liked the 300-ish aesthetic and wonderfully OTT gore, but my unreasoning hatred of John Hanna (and indeed everyone involved in Sliding Doors and The Mummy Returns) put me off chasing it around the schedules.  I've been pleasantly surprised.  It's definitely a Tapert/Raimi operation through and through, apeing superior HBO productions until it's pretty much Xena: The Deadwood Years, and there is FAR FAR too much cringe-inducing soft porn, but it's actually very entertaining stuff when it's concentrating on the backstabbing and frontstabbing.

There are problems.  The writers seem to think that emulating the foul-mouthed poetry of the beautiful dialogue in Deadwood is just a matter of using the word 'fucking' in every sentence, and they're wrong.  Rob Tapert seems to think that everyone wants to see his wife's (very nice) boobs as much as he does, and he's wrong - especially when they're being gnawed on by John Hanna. 

But it's more than made up for by some lovely casting in the supporting and guest roles (Temuera Morrison, Peter Feeney and Jeffrey Thomas are particularly great) and some quite superb fight sequences which must rank as some of the best I've ever seen.  It's also great fun playing spot-the-Hercules-and-Xena alumni, if you like that sort of thing - personally I love the way the Raimi crew stick together in production after production, right down to Loduca on the music. 

And Lucy Lawless really is always good value, if only she'd stop rubbing herself like she has all-body crabs. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 January, 2012, 04:22:21 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 January, 2012, 04:19:12 PM
And Lucy Lawless really is always good value, if only she'd stop rubbing herself like she has all-body crabs.

DON'T LISTEN TO HIM LUCY! You just keep rubbing yourself as much as you like. mmmmmmmmmm....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 03 January, 2012, 06:27:39 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 02 January, 2012, 04:43:35 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 01 January, 2012, 01:27:33 PM
"Starship troopers 3 Marauder"-the greatest film ever in the history of the  world. Or it is after you've had loads of alcohol. Acting as corny as kansas, religion thrown in for no reason, special effects by ZX Spectrum, a world annihilated as two lovers kiss. An utter masterpiece.

If Paul Verhoeven had returned to either direct or just act as an executive producer, had it been the first sequel to the 1997 awesome original (with Denise Richards and Neal Patrick Harris returning alongside Casper Van Dien), plus a bigger budget than the $9million it purportedly cost (about $20million with a better script would've been more appropriate), ST3 could've been a pretty cool little movie, and I think the whole religious thing (speaking as someone of faith myself) is supposed to be satirical, but Ed Neumeier just didn't have the directing chops by himself to convey that.  The other trouble is, it simply couldn't compete as a 'further adventures of' with the superb Roughnecks CG animated series...

I'd totally forgotten about that series-shame they seem to have messed up the distribution and other things so well.  :(Still as St 3 apparently made money there will probably be a ST4. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 03 January, 2012, 07:40:27 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 03 January, 2012, 02:58:58 PM
Lol the original novella certainly was a lot better than what we got in the film adaption (which seems more like a failed  attempt at making a blockbuster version of 28 Days Later than anything else) , what saddens me the most is that we will most likely have to wait a long time for a truer film adaption.

To be fair we have had a really good adaptation of I Am Legend (which proved very influential on George Romero) and one looser one*, so I suppose it made sense to pick it up again for another outing after the success of 28 Days Later, and you wouldn't have to stick too closely to the book if you didn't want to.

Oh and definitely read the book - it is a quick read and really gets you inside the head of the protagonist.

* I have yet to see I Am Omega, I will obviously watch it (I have The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man on DVD, I've seen I Am Legend and have a copy of the novel knocking around here somewhere, so it'd be rude not to try and catch it at some point), although
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2012, 07:52:41 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 03 January, 2012, 07:40:27 PM

To be fair we have had a really good adaptation of I Am Legend (which proved very influential on George Romero) and one looser one*

Don't forget 'I Am Cock', The Amy Reid-starring porno version.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 03 January, 2012, 08:06:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2012, 07:52:41 PM

Don't forget 'I Am Cock', The Amy Reid-starring porno version.

You'd think they'd at least have gone for something that scanned similarly - "I Am Bell-End", maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 January, 2012, 08:16:21 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 03 January, 2012, 07:40:27 PM

To be fair we have had a really good adaptation of I Am Legend (which proved very influential on George Romero) and one looser one*, so I suppose it made sense to pick it up again for another outing after the success of 28 Days Later, and you wouldn't have to stick too closely to the book if you didn't want to.

Oh and definitely read the book - it is a quick read and really gets you inside the head of the protagonist.




Vinny's is the best version, done in an almost realist style, a pity they didn't have the cash to do it better.

Producers don't seem to get why the book is so well liked. It's a simple, small-town story with epic ramifications about a man realising his place in the world, not a Hollywood/b-movie uber-stake-fest with a 'successful' ending.


I am Omega misses the point, and tone, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2012, 08:26:28 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 03 January, 2012, 08:06:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2012, 07:52:41 PM

Don't forget 'I Am Cock', The Amy Reid-starring porno version.

You'd think they'd at least have gone for something that scanned similarly - "I Am Bell-End", maybe.

Heh. I got it sent to me on a disc with 'Porn of the Dead'- an anthology zombie porn flick that manages to be somehow better and more fun than 90% of the zombie films that appear for £7 in HMV with a cover showing thousands of living dead against a burning city background, all seemingly photoshopped by the same, very bored, designer deep in the bowels of El Cheapo Media Marketing Ltd.

Oddly, "deep in the bowels" does sum up much of 'Porn of the Dead'- but 'I Am Cock' gets my initial vote because the title made me laugh so long and hard.

Oddly, "long and hard" does sum up much of 'I Am Cock'- and it goes to enormous lengths to replicate the look and feel of the Wil Smith version.

Oddly, "enormous lengths" does... etc, etc.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 03 January, 2012, 08:28:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2012, 07:52:41 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 03 January, 2012, 07:40:27 PM

To be fair we have had a really good adaptation of I Am Legend (which proved very influential on George Romero) and one looser one*

Don't forget 'I Am Cock', The Amy Reid-starring porno version.

I had to Google that as I thought you were pulling my... leg-end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2012, 12:11:28 AM
I quite enjoyed the Will Smith movie too, but I also think the book's vastly overrated.

On New Year's Day, a mate and I had a lovely, romantic afternoon watching Tekken. I don't know about you, but if I was planning to make a film based on a computer game which is solely concerned with fighting, I'd probably start by rounding up a bunch of third-rate martial artists and have them knock each other around for a bit. Sadly, this idea doesn't seem to have occurred to the makers of this film. Instead we get an inoffensive pretty boy trying to avenge his mother's death by fighting a load of preening dancers and pretty girls in revealing costumes. Gary Daniels is the only proper hard man in it and Luke Goss is probably the best actor.

I imagine there may even be a Scojo figure out there somewhere bewailing the liberties they've taken with the fascinating Tekken backstory. Worth watching if you can't move and you find entertainment value in trying to identify the characters before anyone says there name.

So, like the game, it's better than Street Fighter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 January, 2012, 01:54:53 AM
Jesus, is that the Tekken movie with the lesbian incest and very little actual fighting despite having Gary "at this stage of my career I will fuck you up for food" Daniels knocking about?  That film gives trash a bad name and makes Double Dragon look good.

Things To Come, a 1936 sci-fi flick that's a bit stagey but foreshadows some things quite well, particularly the rise of air warfare, World War 2, and even post-peak oil methods of space exploration.  Some of the post-apocalyptic stuff is unnecessarily rosy on account of the atom bomb not being on HG Wells' radar when he wrote the script, but the feudal warfare that follows the establishment of the first postwar societies has a charming feel to it, like seeing a really posh BBC remake of Mad Max that's all about farmers and coalminers having harsh words.

Peace On Earth - a charming christmas cartoon from the 1930s about animals learning where all the humans went.  You can have a butchers here if you fancy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8OYvHPpGDY

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I didn't hate it as much as the first time I saw it, but the cgi still overpowers the visuals, like the jeep chase which has analogues in Raiders and Crusade but looks far too fake and is thus lacking in tension here.  The tone is also all over the place, being a bit too panto here and there, and Ford looks far too old for the role even though that's the entire point of his character.  Fun, mind, and that's the main thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 04 January, 2012, 04:31:13 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 January, 2012, 01:01:13 PM
I AM LEGEND

OK, the CGI Vampzombie things are very poor when they come rushing out of the woodwork (and scaling walls) and having superhuman strength and speed but I really enjoyed this. Will Smith is good, the devestated New York is expertly realised and it has some very tense moments and some good scares. And I'm a sucker for the [spoiler]upbeat [/spoiler] ending.

You can try and convince me it's crap because it's "hollywood" or you hate Will Smith or the original novella was better (it might be, I've never read it) or the Charlton Heston version is better (it might be, it's so long since I saw it but I don't think it was). 

But I still enjoyed it.

Have you checked out the DVD director's cut (which was actually shown on the Irish language TG4 channel very recently), it's a better and more rounded version, in my opinion, and the ending is more faithful to the spirit of the source material, the only trouble with it is that it still should not have had the rather intrusive black title-card at the beginning (save it for the end credits), and Will Smith should have vocalised what Richard Matheson spelled out in his book, that is;[spoiler] he has become a living myth, a breathing urban legend, and he has become what we once held vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc as, hence why he leaves the city, which he recognises as legitimately mutant territory[/spoiler].  All in all, I actually thought it was a refreshing and excellent little movie, a pity the CGI wasn't a little better (the director wanted another six months but the studio wanted it out, same old story), but a very good film nonetheless...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2012, 12:54:56 PM
Out of curiosity, would this extended cut have more of the woman that started the virus (Kripps?) because I swear the photo they showed was Emma Thompson - and it would make sense if she actually had a bigger part in the film.

It was only the vampire/lions CGI that was crap; I thought all the environmental stuff was really well done.

SHERLOCK - A scandal in Belgravia
(does this count as a film? It was long enough).
Thoroughly enjoyed this - first one of this modern interpretation that I've seen.  I like the various techniques for showing texts and computer stuff (why has nobody done this before? Or have they) and Holmes' deductive powers. 

Thought it kept the nudity/sauciness on the right side of the line; important to the storytelling and underpinned with some clever humour. A nice mix of puzzles you could work out and puzzles you couldn't and top notch performances from the three leads (the lass that played Irene was really good and not just because she was easy on the eye).  Even Mark Gattiss didn't get on my wick. 

Some bemusement in the first five minutes because  I thought these were standalone tales and didn't get the Moriarty stuff. 

Moffatt must be having a ball writing these - it's very dense with an abundance of clever ideas and some utterly fantastic dialogue (some of it tossed in so casually when a lesser writer/cast/director would have emphasised the setup/punchline)

I'd have been chuffed just with the one clever use of "The trouble with disguises is that they always end up being self-portraits" but to do it twice and have the solution to the recurring phone lock puzzle hanging off it was inspired. 

The Tips family shall be watching more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 January, 2012, 01:46:28 PM
QuoteOut of curiosity, would this extended cut have more of the woman that started the virus (Kripps?) because I swear the photo they showed was Emma Thompson - and it would make sense if she actually had a bigger part in the film.

We saw it in the cinema, and she's in the movie getting interviewed on the TV about a new cancer cure drug.
Which annoyed me no end, because that was an idea I had had for a zombie story too...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 05:10:47 PM
I saw Sherlock Holmes 2 and I thought that the direction was far too restrained.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DoomBot on 04 January, 2012, 07:18:21 PM
Watched the new Conan film last night. I'm a huge R.E.Howard fan so I was expecting to sit and mutter about how wrong it all was all the way through. I didn't...much. I thought Jason Momoa makes a good Conan. Some of the environments I felt were spot on too. But it needed to be darker and grittier.

Oh and the plot/story was just rubbish

Ho hum  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 January, 2012, 08:03:47 PM
We watched Smart People, which is a bit of a Quirky Indie Rom-comTM. It was okay, Dennis Quaid's character could have just been unlikeable in another actor's hands but he makes you root for him even though he's a bit of a dick. I found it quite forgettable, but it did warm my cockles a bit so I'm glad I watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2012, 09:36:33 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 January, 2012, 01:54:53 AM
Jesus, is that the Tekken movie with the lesbian incest and very little actual fighting despite having Gary "at this stage of my career I will fuck you up for food" Daniels knocking about?  That film gives trash a bad name and makes Double Dragon look good.
That's the one. I completely forgot to mention the glaring absence of fighting so thanks for that. Can't remember if I ever saw Double Dragon but I might look it up now.

Saw Escape From LA all the way through for the first time last night, as when I went to the pictures it started about fifteen minutes in. Annoying as that was, at least it meant it was fifteen minutes shorter. A totally pointless exercise in beat-by-beat recreation of the original but with less excitement, fun or wit in every scene. Snake's effortless cool just about carries you along but ultimately, what was the point?

Georges Corraface (?) is no Isaac Hayes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 09:53:27 PM
If you like lesbians and fighting games the King of Fighters has Vice and Mature in it. And it also has Ray Park as Rugal and they let him say things in this movie.


How much of a resemblance to their digital counterparts do "Nina" and "Anna" bear? I have a friend who is very eager to know this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 January, 2012, 11:19:15 PM
Like most men, I like lesbians because I think I might get to join in, it's just the incest stuff in Tekken that loses me.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 09:53:27 PMHow much of a resemblance to their digital counterparts do "Nina" and "Anna" bear? I have a friend who is very eager to know this.

(http://www.craiglotter.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nina-and-anna-williams-candice-hillebrand.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 11:26:26 PM
That is one of the least erotic things I have ever seen.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2012, 11:56:47 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 11:26:26 PM
That is one of the least erotic things I have ever seen.
Later they wear ninja suits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 January, 2012, 12:00:58 AM
See, the Williams sisters is what I thought of first, but Michelle and Julia Chang would be more interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 January, 2012, 12:14:01 AM
Xiaoyu and Panda.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 January, 2012, 01:00:05 AM
See, Virtua Fighter has both the least horrifying incest (Sarah and Jacky) and the most horrifying (Pai and Lau). Or maybe even Kage and Dural.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 05 January, 2012, 04:55:01 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2012, 12:54:56 PM
Out of curiosity, would this extended cut have more of the woman that started the virus (Kripps?) because I swear the photo they showed was Emma Thompson - and it would make sense if she actually had a bigger part in the film.

No, it doesn't, it just re-arranges/extends some scenes, and the ending is somewhat different, as Will Smith [spoiler][spoiler]doesn't sacrifice himself, but leaves the city with the girl and her son, and they drive away from the city over the bridge[/spoiler], and that's it, no last human colony[/spoiler] like in the studio-mandated theatrical version...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 07 January, 2012, 12:23:06 AM
I am watching Justified season 2. I am looking forward to the new season which starts in two weeks. Timothy Olyphant is an attractive young man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 January, 2012, 02:01:46 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 January, 2012, 11:19:15 PM
Like most men, I like lesbians because I think I might get to join in, it's just the incest stuff in Tekken that loses me.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 04 January, 2012, 09:53:27 PMHow much of a resemblance to their digital counterparts do "Nina" and "Anna" bear? I have a friend who is very eager to know this.

(http://www.craiglotter.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nina-and-anna-williams-candice-hillebrand.jpg)

Serious question: are they CGI?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 January, 2012, 04:22:49 PM
The Gorgon (1964)

Hammer. Bray Studios. Terence Fisher. Peter Cushing. Christopher Lee (from around the halfway mark onwards.) Scenes of gorgon-induced petrification. What more could you want from a film? Not one of the more frequently championed Hammer movies, but standing strong in my view alongside The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile, the latter of which seems the closest touchstone. Fisher's command of atmosphere is masterful throughout, and it's hard to fault the fatalistic grimness which seems to consume the plot. Loved it, not least 'cos since I was a kid, the idea of things being turned to stone seemed unfeasibly exciting (you can imagine the impact of Clash of the Titans on me.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2012, 11:45:24 PM
SUPER 8
Had me hooked from the very opening shot. Fantastic stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 08 January, 2012, 08:26:36 AM
Attack the Block, smart movie really went from activly disliking the scum to going for them.  Even felt sympathy towards the end[spoiler] when its revealled Moses is 15[/spoiler] good moment, like the alien design kinda Critters crossed Space Invaders (they really look like the art off the Old Space Invaders cabinet).
Also watched Final Destination 5 today, good clean gory fun, I quite like the final destination movies I like the whole death is  inevitable angle and the stalks and kills are very inventive with in its genre.  Also nice little twist at the end [spoiler]oh look its really Final Destination 0! boom plane crash[/spoiler].

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 08 January, 2012, 11:34:14 AM
Watched 3 films in the last couple of days which is pretty unusual for me:

Jonah Hex - not familiar with the comic but quite enjoyed this.  Like the speaking to the dead feature and Malkovich was good, but not overly on the script.  Not sure if it has happened in the comic but would prefer a more supernatural plot line e.g. battling the undead

Let Me In - havent watched the Swedish original so went into this with no preconceptions (but probably expected this as a US remix to be too flashy).  I did enjoy it but felt it went downhill a little towards the end, and was surprised to find it had such good reviews from when it was released.

The American Best of the 3 I watched - Clooney was great, lovely setting, it felt like a high brow Bourne film.  Slightly disappointed with the ending but you cant have everything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2012, 01:12:08 PM
Was hanging out with some friends last night, and as I arrived late didn't get any input on what films would be watched, so these are films that I would never have chosen to watch myself in a million years.

The Expendables: Rubbish. Fails even as brainless action movie, or throwback/homage to 1980s action movies (which I like). Absolutely terrible script and incoherent story, with dreadful acting and mumbled, unintelligible dialogue. They couldn't even manage to write any decent cheesy Arnie-style one-liners - "Remember me at Christmas". Unbearably dull stretches between the acton set pieces, and a colour palette so 'Teal and Orange' it nearly made my eyes bleed. Wank.

Drive Angry: Hard to criticise because it very obviously knows it is rubbish, but still pretty offensively bad. Some of the very worst visual effects and compositing I've seen in a contemporary mainstream movie (massive white halos around characters who look like they've been comped into the same shot from different takes). Just about rendered watchable by William Fichtner's performance and some other funny bits, but not something I'd ever watch again. It brought Preacher to mind due to several similarities in the story and tone - I really hope that property never makes it to screen.

I came to the conclusion that though I love action movies, I've only really got time for those that have something else going for them besides the action. Life's too short for 99% of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 January, 2012, 01:30:03 PM
QuoteThe Expendables: Rubbish.
Very poor, wasn't it?
Also worth pointing out that of the three female 'characters', one was a prostitute that Rourke could not remember the name of, and the other two were victims of domestic violence.
Classy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2012, 01:43:26 PM
QuoteAlso worth pointing out that of the three female 'characters', one was a prostitute that Rourke could not remember the name of, and the other two were victims of domestic violence.
Classy.

I also got a laugh out of Jason Statham's sub-plot (which btw was totally superfluous and went nowhere), in the way that his love interest went from one violent thug to another - the irony of the situation was apparently lost on the filmmakers.

Speaking of Rourke, why get him to appear in the film if all he's going to do is smoke a pipe and cry like a big girl?

And why call your film 'The Expendables' if you don't have the balls to actually kill any of your characters?

We had to put the subtitles on because we couldn't hear what any of the characters were saying, and at one point, one of the them, during a gunfight, remarks "Your lucky ring stinks!". God knows what that was about, but we got a big laugh out of it.

This could have been a fun movie if it had been a bit self aware, didn't take itself so seriously, and made use of it's own premise - aging soldiers coming together to relive their glory days on one last suicide mission, but it was a total misfire from the off.

Just depressing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 January, 2012, 01:46:39 PM
Saw 'Final Destination 5' which was exactly what I expected and that's no complaint. Why they needed to tack on the black cop's detection anngle and the spooky coroner I don't know but the 'mousetrap' stryle set ups are fun and although some of the splats looked a bit CGI it was good fun.

Also saw 'Kill List' which I enjoyed especially after I read some more informed opinions and had it explained for me. Lots lof clues about [spoiler]"Cat brings me rabbits" - then Tyres off 'Spaced' brings him rabbits![/spoiler] and smart enough to not spell it out. Always enjoy these sinister society films.

'The Expendables' was shit but I think that was pretty obvious from the off - if you are looking for strong female characters I think Dolph, Sly and Jason on the cast list may offer some clues as to the content.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 08 January, 2012, 06:40:00 PM
The Expendables is the male equivalent of the Sex and the City movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2012, 06:48:56 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 08 January, 2012, 06:40:00 PM
The Expendables is the male equivalent of the Sex and the City movies.

Jeebus, it's not that bad is it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 08 January, 2012, 07:31:28 PM
A documentary type thing that was on more 4 about a year ago apparently, that my friend had recorded, and still has, called Mafia Hunters. I managed to catch the beginning and the end, and it looked really interesting. Problem is this friend lives down in the land of Plymouth (saw a bit of it while I was visiting him) and it's recorded on his free view box :( I've looked around, it was part of more 4's true stories season, and it was pulled from 4oD when channel 4 apparently (I don't know for sure) ran into troubles with the "state of Calabria"
in Italy, where it was filmed, the Calabrian mafia was that that was exposed in this documentary, so loads of people obviously think there were some shady dealings etc, but I now don't know where I can watch it. Does anyone have any info? help would, as always, be much appreciated! Thanks!
:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:22:24 PM
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, in the IMAX. Very nice to see something that's obviously been made with IMAX very much in mind, the Dubai scenes are genuinely breathtaking and made for the format. I find quite often action/stunt scenes leave me pretty cold these days (probably because of the fast cuts and CG used) so it was brilliant to see something like that where what's going on is genuinely exciting enough on it's own and Brad Bird obviously had the confidence to let it breathe. I'm not great with heights and my heart was in my chest! Apparently Tom Cruise did his own stunts, so maximum respect as there's no fecking way I'd step out on there! That sequence aside it's a fun caper, I've always enjoyed the MI movies immensely and while I loved how the 3rd movie went pretty dark, this one feels like a big enjoyable James Bond-esque romp (and more James Bond-esque than James Bond is these days).

Also, there was a 6 minute scene from The Dark Knight Rises, which looked tremendous. The action was really spectacular and Bane looks really menacing, but he's completely unintelligible for most of it. I think I picked up about 2 lines and it rendered everything quite confusing as he seemed to be explaining what was going on for most of it. Something will definitely need to be done about the digital effect they're using on his voice, or the movie might be a bit of a strain. Still, it really did look amazing and I'm sure with enough feedback Nolan will iron that out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2012, 08:28:28 PM
Pretty much totally agree with Keef up there.  Bane was actually easier to understand before they took his hood off.

Ghost Protocol also rocked - the Indian bit was a bit of a let down after the Dubai shenanigans but Bird pulled it out of the bag with the Car Park scene (which reminded me of the end of Monsters Inc.) 

I'd rather we had IMAX screens everywhere than 3D screens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:52:04 PM
Absolutely with you on that, it adds far more to the experience and to immersion than 3D ever has for me. Also the Monsters Inc. thing is a very good point, not sure if this is Brad Bird's first live action film but he's certainly managed to carry across the energy of his animated stuff really well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 09 January, 2012, 10:54:15 AM
This weekend I was mostly watching:

The howling 3 the Marsupials. Which isn't really as bad as most people make out.

The Howling 4 the Freaks: which is as bad as most people make out.

Big Trouble in little China: brilliant as always.

Re-watched Sucker Punch: same conclusion as before looks nice, brilliant fight scenes and that's it, horrible confused mess of a film (in my opinion) but saying that I could watch that first fight with the Oni over and over again.

Man-Thing: which was actually ok, enjoyed the more hard edge horror take on this character, kinda makes me yearn for a Swamp thing reboot tho.

and Transformers Prime Darkness Rising: which was a pleasant surprise, as usual most of the human characters where fairly annoying but all the robot centric plot lines where pretty interesting, and the Megatron character design is the only redesign of this character I have actually liked, combines the classic design and the (rubbish) movie design perfectly, pity tho as i really didn't like any of the other Decepticon designs (looked a little bland). Plus it's got transformer zombies (which have been done before) so it's a win for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2012, 01:20:53 PM
Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows.

I liked it - very action packed and fast paced and everyone looked like they were having fun.

The one thing I didn't understand was why Colonel Moran shot the guy through the window when he was about to get blown to smithereens by a bomb anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DoomBot on 09 January, 2012, 07:42:51 PM
Just watched Cowboys and Aliens. What a wasted opportunity. Dull dull dull
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 11 January, 2012, 12:27:49 PM
Watched Tracker last night - Ray Winstone is a Boer War veteran who has moved to New Zealand.  Takes a job to track a Maori fugitive with some British soldiers.  Great cinematography, fight scenes, Ray Winstone with an Afrikaans accent, and a good twist in the tale. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 11 January, 2012, 01:09:17 PM
Sounds interesting Davek, and made me think of The Proposition straight away, which is one my favourite films ever, so I'll check that out.

Recently watched Kill List - what a complete headf*ck that was. Don't want to say too much for those who haven't seen it, but I think I liked it (still trying to decide). I enjoyed it's David Lynchisms anyway.

Also just seen The Thing, and I know this will probably get me banned from the internet but I liked it. Before you start, I'll just point out that Carpenter's is my all time favourite movie and probably always will be, so bear that in mind. Obviously it was never going to be bale to compete with that version, but in it's own right it was harmless fun and I enjoyed every minute. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was a fine lead, contrasting nicely with macho Kurt, and with more than a few Ripley-esue moments. The effects have had a lot of criticism but they were not a problem for me at all, thought they were suitably grotesque and technically fine. One particular criticism was that the CGI creatures are given far too much screen time, but you could argue that Bottin's beasties were given the same treatment in Carpenter's.

So yeah, it'll never be in the same league as the '82 version, but personally I'm glad it was made. It'll be interesting to see how I feel on repeated viewings though...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CYCLOPZ on 11 January, 2012, 07:16:01 PM
The Kill List and The Woman, that was a very interesting double feature. The Woman had quite a controversial showing at Sundance I think and now I see why. If you mis-construe the intentions of the director it can be taken as quite offensive.
The Kill List was very atmospheric and nicely acted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 January, 2012, 11:17:23 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 11 January, 2012, 01:09:17 PMOne particular criticism was that the CGI creatures are given far too much screen time, but you could argue that Bottin's beasties were given the same treatment in Carpenter's.

Their use in the Carpenter version was for shock value, as the nature of the film was that it was about how nobody knew who was or wasn't an alien, while the new version uses the creatures not as punctuation but as text, with lots of sequences with the monsters chasing people about at length compared to the 1982 version only having one such sequence right at the end of the film.  The monsters' behavior in the new flick is also odd - why does that woman just go all "arg" on Romana Flowers that time, or why does that monster fuse to that dude's face a bit and then leave it at that?  This does not seem like "blending in" to me.  Also why the bit in the spaceship, and did I miss the bit where it blew up when I took that slash?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 12 January, 2012, 09:22:15 AM
Saw a bit of Inglourious Basterds last night

It could have been much better. Some great scenes; the initial farmhouse scene , the cafe ....so well done

I liked the relationship between the German war hero and the girl, Col. Landa is great, Michael Fassbander's character too..all good

Then it's all spoiled by silly hip and retro -chic graphics from 70's blaxploitation movie and music from a spaghetti western

If you could cut out all that crap it could be a much better movie

bah






Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 January, 2012, 09:27:28 AM
Quote from: johnnystress on 12 January, 2012, 09:22:15 AM
Then it's all spoiled by silly hip and retro -chic graphics from 70's blaxploitation movie and music from a spaghetti western

If you could cut out all that crap it could be a much better movie

But one unlikely to be made by Quentin Tarantino.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 12 January, 2012, 09:32:13 AM
good point
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 January, 2012, 01:05:18 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 11 January, 2012, 11:17:23 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 11 January, 2012, 01:09:17 PMOne particular criticism was that the CGI creatures are given far too much screen time, but you could argue that Bottin's beasties were given the same treatment in Carpenter's.

Their use in the Carpenter version was for shock value, as the nature of the film was that it was about how nobody knew who was or wasn't an alien, while the new version uses the creatures not as punctuation but as text, with lots of sequences with the monsters chasing people about at length compared to the 1982 version only having one such sequence right at the end of the film.  The monsters' behavior in the new flick is also odd - why does that woman just go all "arg" on Romana Flowers that time, or why does that monster fuse to that dude's face a bit and then leave it at that?  This does not seem like "blending in" to me.  Also why the bit in the spaceship, and did I miss the bit where it blew up when I took that slash?

I also watched this recently and really enjoyed it. I didn't think the creature seemed to be acting odd to be honest. It seems to me it woke up in a strange place with potentially hosile creatures around it and it's plan was to camoflage itself (so it attacked the dog), get strong and get back to it's ship (presumably with the hope of repairing it and escaping the planet). Things go awry but it maybe it would have left the planet if it had been able to get distance from the camp and then take over the helicopter (perhaps it could have even used parts of the helipcopter to make repairs). Maybe it went 'arg' on Romana because she was the one who'd buggered up its hope of escape.
After that it's more of an all out battle although there is still some paranoia as to who is and who isn't a Thing. During this portion of the film it seems the Thing's intention is still to get back to the spaceship and escape - which it almost achieves (with a secondary objective of leaving part of itself on Earth maybe to colonise or maybe just as self preservation). Unfortunatley for the Thing it is attacked and as a result the spaceship is further damaged presumably this time beyond repair.
The remaining dog-Thing left at the Norwegian camp now has an objective to escape its enemies, stay camoflaged and infiltartate another centre of civilisation where it can bide its time while building a new craft in which to escape the planet. This accounts for the slower paced nature of the second (in story terms) film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 12 January, 2012, 01:57:08 PM
Just Watching Went The Day Well? 1942 Channel4

Quote
All These Story About Invasion! The News Papers Keep Makeing Up Just To Scare
Us!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 14 January, 2012, 07:04:03 PM
Shame - I found that the directorial voice was perhaps overly insistent but still less than invasive. I would like to see a genre film from this fellow. A couple of bits did fail to ring true but this was mainly because these bells had been rung before. Also could have done with more Fassbender wang.

Margin Call - Had an unpleasant type of B-list stank about it (Penn Badgely, I'm sorry, but you are just not going to happen) and it frequently became crashingly obvious to the point of being crass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 January, 2012, 12:31:48 AM
Just got back from seeing The Artist. Knew next to nothing about it going in, but was pleasantly surprised. Was expecting something a bit, well, arty, but it's a crowd-pleaser, and a good one. Beautifully shot, lavish production and art direction, and well-acted - the lead actor who I've never seen before, is absolutely brilliant - a huge talent and perfectly cast, and it's always good to see John Goodman too.

Perhaps a little overlong in parts, and a bit silly in places, like the 'lassie' scene, but a big thumbs up from me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 January, 2012, 12:20:17 PM
Me and Bea watched Sucker Punch the other night, which we'd been meaning to see for a long time after ooh-ing and ah-ing at the trailer when it popped out (just like everyone did I think).

Hmmmm. It was very Zack Snyder, lots of flash and not a lot of substance. The story wasn't as bad as I'd heard but it wasn't told particularly well and came off as thinking it was far smarter than it actually was. Even the eye candy fell pretty flat for some reason, despite it being essentially incredible-looking women in fetish cosplay gear in various massively over the top anime-style action scenes, it was all just a bit too clean and glossy to ever actually be exciting (either from an action or lady watching standpoint). Great trailer though, and some of the designs are pretty cool so it wasn't a total loss.

Also watched Child's Play, which I was given as a secret santa gift and despite seeing the sequels have never actually seen. Bea confessed she had nightmares as a kid about it, but hadn't ever seen it either so I suggested watching it would dispel that fear (I had nightmares about Kreuger before I saw Elm Street, then wasn't too bothered about him). Not sure if that was the case, as she demanded the lights on the instant it finished! It's a fun movie, not all that scary these days although there's some great creepy moments. Not familiar with the director but he seems to have/had a great sense of how to really sell a very hokey idea. Good stuff.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 January, 2012, 01:12:42 PM
I really wanted to like Sucker Punch, and still do really want to like it, but it is just poor.

ANyway - we watched Che part 2 last night. Very powerful stuff. It's a disgrace that Del Toro did not win an oscar for this role, he is astounding in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 January, 2012, 01:25:38 PM
Snyder makes astounding trailers, and even certain scenes in his films like the opening credits and the Dr Manhattan origin in Watchmen are fantastic pieces of work but in my experience the actual films fall some way short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 January, 2012, 01:31:00 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 January, 2012, 01:25:38 PM
Snyder makes astounding trailers, and even certain scenes in his films like the opening credits and the Dr Manhattan origin in Watchmen are fantastic pieces of work but in my experience the actual films fall some way short.

Yeah, I really do think there's a good film maker in there trying to get out, but he needs to work out all the flashy bang bang stuff first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 15 January, 2012, 01:34:42 PM
Burke and Hare - pleasant surprise this, typical John Landis style which suited the film perfectly.  Throw in a great supporting cast (e.g. Ronnie Corbett, Paul Whitehouse cameo, Bill Bryson to name a few) and this lighthearted look at the story is well worth a watch.  Serkis and Pegg are great in the lead roles.  Favourite line in the film comes from Simon Pegg - 'I had confidence in a fart once, I shat all over myself'  :lol:

Henry's Crime - quite a slow plodding crime comedy with Keanu Reeves and James Caan.  Reeves and Caan are ex cons plotting a bank robbery.  Wouldnt overly reccomend it but I was strangely compelled to watch the whole thing so it cant have been all bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 January, 2012, 01:37:14 PM
QuoteBill Bryson

Bailey?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 15 January, 2012, 01:52:20 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 January, 2012, 01:37:14 PM
QuoteBill Bryson

Bailey?

Yep  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 January, 2012, 09:04:28 AM
A friend invited us over on the weekend to watch a couple of films, one of them being Tommy Wiseau's The Room.

I'd heard about it and seen clips on YouTube, but tbh I was a bit skeptical - im not really a fan of ironically watching 'so bad they're good' type films as they tend to get very boring after five minutes. I was surprised at how entertaining it actually was - just mind-bendingly, mesmerisingly bad. Indescribable. I laughed more during the film than I do at pretty much any actual comedy.

I wouldn't watch it again, but everyone should see it once - ideally with a few beers and friends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 January, 2012, 02:37:53 PM
Pan's Labyrinth.

I've seen it a few times now but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly watching it with a friend who'd never seen it all the way through. (I bought her the Del Toro boxset also including Cronos and The Devil's Backbone for Christmas.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 January, 2012, 05:14:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 January, 2012, 02:37:53 PM
Pan's Labyrinth.

I bought her the Del Toro boxset also including Cronos and The Devil's Backbone for Christmas.

Get in there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 January, 2012, 10:29:01 PM
Saturday before last I picked up the three extended editions of Lord of the Rings for a pound each and last week I watched the lot. It's the first time I've sat down and watched them all in sequence since they were at the pictures and, in truth, I was a little worn out by the end. Anyway, may dig out the appropriate old threads and illuminate them with my ruminations at some point but the short version is: Fellowship of the Ring - fabulous; Two Towers - adequate; Return of the King - excellent.

On Thursday night I took a break to watch The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Those Shaw Brothers films of that period are a bit of a puzzle: the straight fight choreography is definitely a step backward from what you had in Bruce Lee's films but they do tend to have some inventive use of ridiculous weapons and this one is enlivened by what must be the ultimate in ludicrous kung fu training sequences. Good fun and I'm even contemplating watching it again to hear the commentary by The Rza.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 17 January, 2012, 12:38:31 AM
I,ll Have To Admit I Think Underworld Evolution Is Classy, And Kates A Babe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 January, 2012, 08:13:21 AM
Harry Potter 1&2, in a double bill yesterday, interrupted only by hacking coughs from myself and youngest boy- off work and school with lurgi.
Both films are overlong and terribly twee, yet at the same time manage to feel like a light pass of the novels, missing out the texture. The narrative is pared down, and jumps around dissappointingly, but the young cast is promising, except when required to do greenscreeb work like the quidditch matches, when they overact magnificently. The slytherin team are especially guilty of this.
The adult cast are distracting due to their fame, with only hagrid and dumbledore really inhabiting the characters as written. And the special effects are atrocious- really very bad indeed... which lends them a certain charm i admit.
On the whole i can see why me and the wife stopped bothering with them after these, but as the boys and i are currently working our way through the novels (second half of azkaban at present), i sort of look forward to seeing if they get any better.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 17 January, 2012, 10:04:10 AM
I,ll Have To Admit I Also Think GIJOE Rise Of Cobra Is Classy,
And Sienna Is Also A Babe!  ;) ;)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 17 January, 2012, 10:47:57 AM
Finally watched "Kill List" from the bloke who did suburban gangster film "Down Terrace".

It's ace. Although that doesn't mean it's perfect. Or makes any sense whatsoever.

It's part grim urban hitman/ revenge film, part Wicker Man and all mental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 17 January, 2012, 11:33:19 AM
the Howling 5 the Rebirth: not a bad film I suppose, shows a lot of promise but nowhere near enough werewolf action going on here, I'm all for keeping a makeup in low light if it's not going to look effective on the screen otherwise (especially in the case of low budget productions) but they are somewhat taking the piss here only eye, teeth and hand inserts and about four seconds of a badly lit full body suit (which actually looked ok so dunno why they didnt really use it). Also didn't realise Philip Davis was in this, great actor.(it's got a good but cheesy soundtrack too).

And The Dead: an African zombie film. It was ok, good solid concept but didn't really keep my attention for very long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 17 January, 2012, 12:12:35 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 17 January, 2012, 11:33:19 AM
And The Dead: an African zombie film. It was ok, good solid concept but didn't really keep my attention for very long.

Is that the one with the beardy, silent woodsman and plucky punk rock chick fighting zombies created by aliens?

I loved that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 17 January, 2012, 12:23:09 PM
nope, its this one:

"When the last evacuation flight out of war-torn Africa crashes off the coast, American Air Force Engineer Lieutenant Brian Murphy (ROB FREEMAN) emerges as the sole survivor in a land where the dead are returning to life and attacking the living.
On the run in a hostile and inhospitable parched landscape, where sudden death lurks around every sun-burnished corner, Murphy has to use his wits and ingenuity if he is to get home alive to his family.
When Murphys path clashes with that of Sergeant Daniel Dembele (PRINCE DAVID OSEI), whose village has been torn apart by the reanimated dead, they join forces.
The two desperate men from two very different cultures fight side by side to survive across the incredible vistas of Africa as the world succumbs to the deadliest of viruses."

(thanks IMDB less typing for me lol). its a good idea and it's nice to look at, but its missing something cant put my finger on what it is. The American actor is pretty wooden aswell.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 17 January, 2012, 12:23:44 PM
Exorcist (which I watched on Friday 13th). Okay the head turning bit is a bit naff but that film still spooks me – in particular the voices the possessed girl makes. That speaking backwards which sounds like a radio being tuned in freaks me out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 17 January, 2012, 12:34:39 PM

Yea I love that film (the exorcist) one of the few films that manage to creep me out after years of pumping my brain full of horror imagery. Just everything about it is good. Anyone here ever read the book, it's even better if that's possible.

I have a wee Regain painting I'm working on at the mo so may stick it up on the cc thread at some point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 17 January, 2012, 12:38:23 PM
Stallone's Judge Dredd...would you believe. on dvd....just to see if it was as bad as i rememeber it being when i saw it way back in 1895.... yep it still sucks. To be fair though the fight scene between Hershey & Joan Chen (cant remeber character name) was quite good in fact almost stimulating at times !

Seriously now (fnarr,fnarr,) I'm watching Frankenstein. Fantastic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 January, 2012, 10:55:41 PM
Couldn't pass up the chance to see one of my favourite films at the pictures: Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Really lovely, vibrant print too, with the colours pinging out at you. Far better looking than my DVD copy. Everything was going so well right up to the first conversation between Aguirre and Pizzaro when it turns out it's only bloody dubbed into American. On the bright side, dialogue is kept to a minimum and Klaus Kinski does most of his acting with his body and his awesome, mad starey eyes. On the less bright side, I got home, stuck the DVD on and was pretty shocked to see that  in the very first scene, the dubbed dialogue completely changes the sense of the conversation. Hmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 17 January, 2012, 11:10:07 PM
You Will Find The Exorcist On TV Tonite 12.25 ITV4  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 18 January, 2012, 04:23:13 AM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 17 January, 2012, 12:34:39 PM
Yea I love that film (the exorcist) one of the few films that manage to creep me out after years of pumping my brain full of horror imagery. Just everything about it is good. Anyone here ever read the book, it's even better if that's possible.

Ah, The Exorcist, probably my favourite film of all time - second only to the matchless Jaws - and, if you believe Mark Kermode, the single greatest film ever made, and he's probably right; it's either a profound and deeply spiritual film on the mysteries of faith and the eternal battle of good vs. evil, or just a schlocky old 1970's horror flick, it leaves the viewer to decide, and what you get from the film is pretty much what you put into it, I just wish William Friedkin had left the film alone and not went back and totally desecrated it with that horrendous 'Version You've Never Seen' extended cut (I truly wish I HADN'T seen it)...

Of the scenes re-edited back in, only the first medical examination, the little exchange between Karras and Merrin on the stairs, and the original coda between Fr. Dwyer and Lt. Kinderman should have been restored, as the novel's author/movie screenwriter William Peter Blatty always felt they should never have been cut in the first place, and desperately pleaded with Friedkin to put them back in, and Friedkin finally did it as a personal favour, which I understand, but he should only have put those three scenes back in, and left the rest of the film untouched, not the other crap he threw in as well, and the completely ridiculous and OTT so-called 'spider walk' sequence should have been left on the cutting room floor, whatever version it is... Friedkin stated on the DVD interview an artist should leave his art alone after painting it, I wish he had followed his own advice!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 18 January, 2012, 12:42:17 PM
A genuinely scary black and white British film from 1957 - yes! "Night of the Demon" This film is the most psychologically creepy one I've ever seen. The sense of mounting hysteria that the strange series of coincidences infects the characters with give this flick a real chilling aspect to it. Paranoid? Oh yes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 January, 2012, 01:22:08 PM
Quote from: wonkychop on 18 January, 2012, 12:42:17 PM
A genuinely scary black and white British film from 1957 - yes! "Night of the Demon" This film is the most psychologically creepy one I've ever seen. The sense of mounting hysteria that the strange series of coincidences infects the characters with give this flick a real chilling aspect to it. Paranoid? Oh yes!

Was it on TV? Haven't seen that for years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 18 January, 2012, 01:50:48 PM
Justified season premiere. Timmy Olyphant doing Timmy Olyphant stuff. Walt Goggins doing Walt Goggins stuff. All is right with the world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 18 January, 2012, 01:58:11 PM
Quote from: MARVELMAGPIE on 17 January, 2012, 11:10:07 PM
You Will Find The Exorcist On TV Tonite 12.25 ITV4  :o


Guess they cancelled it ? (Its In the radio times page 78)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 18 January, 2012, 07:27:07 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 18 January, 2012, 01:22:08 PM
Quote from: wonkychop on 18 January, 2012, 12:42:17 PM
A genuinely scary black and white British film from 1957 - yes! "Night of the Demon" This film is the most psychologically creepy one I've ever seen. The sense of mounting hysteria that the strange series of coincidences infects the characters with give this flick a real chilling aspect to it. Paranoid? Oh yes!

Was it on TV? Haven't seen that for years.

It hasn't been on for a while - I last watched ont' telly, winter 2010 ,on BBC 2 during a dull phase of the Ashes series down under, at around Midnight I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 January, 2012, 11:37:48 PM
The Battle of Algiers, which Lovefilm informs me I have had at home since 11 Nov 2010. Powerful stuff.

Really excellent, haunting incidental music too.

Now I must get round to watching Persepolis which it seems I've had since August 2009.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 January, 2012, 11:48:47 PM
Been catching up with some films/shows I've been meaning to watch for ages:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - seems very dull so far, like a videogame cutscene. No real story to speak of. Is it all like this?

Firefly - that's more like it. Seems - so far - to be as good as everyone says. Only at the end of ep 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 18 January, 2012, 11:58:55 PM
"You don't know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed."  Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds Serenity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2012, 12:16:16 AM
Firefly is, in my humble, one of the best Sci-Fi series of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 19 January, 2012, 12:22:00 AM
The Man they call Jayne!   :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 19 January, 2012, 12:48:06 AM
How come I don't have a spaceship?

I should have a spaceship.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 January, 2012, 12:51:52 AM
Quote from: MARVELMAGPIE on 19 January, 2012, 12:22:00 AM
The Man they call Jayne!   :lol:

Heh. Classic song.

"He took from the rich and, he gave to the poor.
Stood up to the Man and gave him what for..."

I can't remember the rest (and that's probably incorrect) but it was a very funny scene.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 19 January, 2012, 07:48:09 AM
Quote from: radiator on 18 January, 2012, 11:48:47 PM
Been catching up with some films/shows I've been meaning to watch for ages:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - seems very dull so far, like a videogame cutscene. No real story to speak of. Is it all like this?

I think you've upset George radiator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 19 January, 2012, 04:02:02 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 19 January, 2012, 12:51:52 AM
Quote from: MARVELMAGPIE on 19 January, 2012, 12:22:00 AM
The Man they call Jayne!   :lol:

Heh. Classic song.

"He took from the rich and, he gave to the poor.
Stood up to the Man and gave him what for..."

I can't remember the rest (and that's probably incorrect) but it was a very funny scene.


Found this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceKPTwfDcwE&feature=fvst
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2012, 05:32:26 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2012, 12:16:16 AM
Firefly is, in my humble, one of the best Sci-Fi series of all time.

Yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2012, 06:24:59 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2012, 05:32:26 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2012, 12:16:16 AM
Firefly is, in my humble, one of the best Sci-Fi series of all time.

Yes.

S'right. All the more so because it wilfully ignores so many SF conventions and just gets on with it.  Consistently fun characters in consistently fun situations, looks good, no need for the audience to ever think about the nonsensical 'verse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 January, 2012, 07:32:22 PM
I groaned when I heard the concept of firefly; "You know, like a western in space with many western trappings" and avoided it studiously.

Then I borrowed a box set.

And loved it.

But the concept still seems ridiculously hokey. How on earth did they get it to work. (Well, Tordelback has sort of answerd that already).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 19 January, 2012, 07:52:01 PM
Watching logan`s run film four, (RUN RUNNER!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 January, 2012, 12:21:46 AM
Never really got the love for Firefly. Too many characters spread too thin and suffers very badly from Next Generation Syndrome, i.e. no tension between characters as everyone gets along famously, even the characters like Jayne who're meant to come across as bad eggs are secretly lovable.
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 14 January, 2012, 07:04:03 PM
Shame - I found that the directorial voice was perhaps overly insistent but still less than invasive. I would like to see a genre film from this fellow. A couple of bits did fail to ring true but this was mainly because these bells had been rung before. Also could have done with more Fassbender wang.
I liked it because you sawed all minges and the wanky man was funny. And he done good acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 20 January, 2012, 12:35:56 AM
I also liked the fact that doggy style is still the kinkiest type of sex that people have in movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 January, 2012, 12:43:54 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 14 January, 2012, 07:04:03 PMAlso could have done with more Fassbender wang.



I could give him your number?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 20 January, 2012, 12:47:30 AM
So you're saying that all Irish people know each other? RACIST.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 20 January, 2012, 12:53:44 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 January, 2012, 11:37:48 PM
The Battle of Algiers, which Lovefilm informs me I have had at home since 11 Nov 2010. Powerful stuff.

Cosh, you've mentioned two of my favourite films on the last few pages here: 'Aguirre: The Wrath of God' and 'Battle of Algiers'.

I've only seen both of them once and have been looking out for them. Neither are on iTunes so I better check out Amazon. 'Aguirre...' is available in a Werner Herzog boxset so might go for that. I love the whole concept of that film.

I first heard of Battle of Algiers when I read that the US military would study it in order to get into the head of insurgents in Iraq.

Both cruel, gripping, powerful films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 January, 2012, 12:56:56 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 20 January, 2012, 12:47:30 AM
So you're saying that all Irish people know each other? RACIST.


Only those with more wang than others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 20 January, 2012, 04:47:22 AM
Has Aguirre: Wrath of God  ever been screened on British or Irish telly, I've been looking for that movie to be broadcast for what seems like a veritable ice age, still one of those films I really wanna see, but never seems to come on, is it any good (I've heard all the crazy stories about it's production, and the insane antics of both Herzog and Klaus Kinski)...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 20 January, 2012, 07:34:16 AM
Danton, with Gerard Depardieu in title role. I'm normally to lazy to watch subtitled films, but this one had me gripped. Robespierre's surveillance of Danton and subsequent orders for his thugs to destroy his shop and printing press is truly spinechilling, and sets the mood of political paranoia throughout the rest of the film. The Robespierre character is portrayed as being almost vampiric, a damned soul. For all his evil however, somehow sympathy for him is evoked in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 January, 2012, 12:41:38 PM
SUNSHINE

I'd seen this ages ago but Mrs Tips had the hairdryer going causing the signal to blockout so I'd missed out key parts of the plot.

So pleasantly suprised to find out where Pinbacker came from  - I'd assumed he was just some physical manifestation of the sun as god theme that was running through the film (and actually, I still do).

Really enjoyed it - the influences are everywhere though - even it's own "let's have a dreamy eyed, floppy haired physicist played by Cillian Murphy who, coincidentally looks a lot like the dreamy eyed, floppy haired physicist who was the science adviser on the film".

Oh and the music was fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2012, 01:13:00 PM
I love Sunshine, and don't agree at all with the consensus that the ending lets it down. I think the third act needs that jolt of energy and change of pace - how else would they have ended it? I also really like how Pinbacker was visualised.

There is a great commentary on the DVD by Dr Brian Cox, where he admits that - yes - Cappa was to some extent based on him.

Apparently the filmmakers didn't think it would be believable to have a great physicist be young and fresh-faced until they met with Cox.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 January, 2012, 06:07:52 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 20 January, 2012, 12:53:44 AM
I've only seen both of them once and have been looking out for them. Neither are on iTunes so I better check out Amazon. 'Aguirre...' is available in a Werner Herzog boxset so might go for that. I love the whole concept of that film.
The Herzog/Kinski set is well worth it. Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo and the accompanying documentary are all riveting and the other three films are worth a look too. However, Edinburgh and Glasgow have both had short Herzog seasons in the last month to show off new prints of some of the films (although, as noted, at least one is dubbed) so it's probably worth checking if your local arthouse cinema has the same thing planned.

Quote from: radiator on 20 January, 2012, 01:13:00 PM
I love Sunshine, and don't agree at all with the consensus that the ending lets it down. I think the third act needs that jolt of energy and change of pace - how else would they have ended it? I also really like how Pinbacker was visualised.
Agree. Sunshine is easily my favourite sci-fi film of recent years and one which has joined the pantheon of films that I can stick on after a night out or on a hungover Sunday and let wash the cares away. It manages to do a hell of lot very simply and, I assume, cheaply without ever looking cheap.
Boyle's films always use music well, but I really have to mention the sequence where they have to go out and repair the shield. Fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2012, 09:56:08 PM
I find pretty much all of Danny Boyle's earlier films endlessly rewatchable - I even have a soft spot for A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach. Millions would probably be the exception - though it has it's moments. I enjoyed Slumdog and 127 Hours, but they didn't have that same energy for me - haven't gone back to them since seeing them at the cinema.

Shame Boyle didn't do Alien Resurrection (which he was offered IIRC)- could have been a much more interesting film than it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 20 January, 2012, 10:40:39 PM
Watched Black Swan in two parts, 1st half earlier this week and 2nd half tonight.  Was really surprised by how disturbing and thought provoking it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 January, 2012, 10:52:01 PM
Troll Hunter- which was joyous, hilarious, beautiful fun of the highest order. Gorgeous scenery, brilliant creatures, perfect effects, and a faitytale Roald Dahl meets Blair Witch feel.

I now want to hang about in woods at night and shout "TROLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!" while running past afeared hikers.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 21 January, 2012, 02:07:17 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 January, 2012, 06:07:52 PM
The Herzog/Kinski set is well worth it.
Cheers, I will look out for it.

Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 20 January, 2012, 04:47:22 AM
Has Aguirre: Wrath of God  ever been screened on British or Irish telly...?
I have only seen it once and that was on British tv. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 21 January, 2012, 06:57:09 AM
Why did I feel sorry for the grotesque brainbug alien at the end of Starship Troopers :-*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2012, 03:42:15 PM
Super, which despite everyone I know referring to it as 'that thing that's like Kick Ass' couldn't really have been any more different to Kick Ass. It's a pretty dark movie, and not really the knockabout comedy that all the marketing positioned it as. That's not a bad thing though, as it's still really good in it's own disturbing way (and dare I say it I like it a lot more than Kick Ass), and the only times it missed a step for me was when it occasionally did play up the comedy elements and fell a bit flat.

It reminded me a lot of a movie I saw a while back called Special, which seems to be so unknown that I wonder if I made it up. A guy takes part in a trial of a new anti-depressant and starts to feel that he has powers and decides to fight crime. It's a similar 'real life superhero' idea but again very dark, was pretty powerful and handled the mental illness angle incredibly well. Shame it didn't make a mark, as it's better than Super or Kick Ass in my eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Durendal on 21 January, 2012, 04:37:09 PM
War Horse
More like 'Spielberg Continues to Hate on Germans'.
It's difficult to watch a movie where one of the main characters talks like the Wurzels or believe that a farmer would buy a racing horse to plough fields which is like buying an Ariel Atom instead of a combine harvester.
You would enjoy this movie if you are either a: american or b: one of those weird horsey people who thinks that horses are awesome and not just dog food or super glue.

Love Exposure
I don't even know where to begin.
It's a four hour long movie involving.. religion, ninja upskirt photography, love-obsession, crossdressing, lesbians, cults, general japanese bat-shit craziness and penis amputation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fxa5NuVrqU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Exposure

It's pretty much the greatest movie ever
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 21 January, 2012, 04:45:14 PM
Love Exposure trailer looks good. Might have to get me a piece of that action.

Started to watch Conan the Barbarian last night. Made it in about 20 mins before boredom. Maybe i'm just too old for sword and sorcery films!?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Durendal on 21 January, 2012, 05:01:02 PM
I picked up Norwegian Ninja from HMV a couple of weeks ago too. I was expecting a shitty b-movie with an awesome name but it's really good.
It's a fictional account of the life of a Norwegian politician who was convicted of treason in the 80's for passing state secrets to the russians and iraqis.
In the film he's tasked by the king of Norway to lead a secret ninja force to save the country during the cold war using stealth, kung-fu, no-budget scale models and many ninja movie tropes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wNVjI9bJIk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 21 January, 2012, 06:04:50 PM
Watched another classic Spielberg film that never fails brings a tear to the eye "E.T". Ahh.. kids and aliens...so cute. :lol: Not as enjoyable as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", John Williams' film score is as much part of the movie as the special effects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2012, 06:06:21 PM
Best Worst Movie - a documentary about the fabled 'worst film of all time' Troll II, made by the former child star of said film.

It's a great piece of work. Evidently everyone - with one or two exceptions - who worked on Troll II is absolutely nuts, which leads to scenes that are at times funny, painful and bleak.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 January, 2012, 06:16:04 PM
I saw Troll II when it originally came to vhs rental, sometime in the mid  nineties, and at the time had it pegged as the worst film id ever seen. It annoys me somewhat that enough people obviously agreed with me foer it to become a 'cult classic', as its now become a boring and cliched answer to that particular question. I cant remember anything about it now, except a thereas a kitchen table in it, and have no intention of ever seeing it again, but i hope someone makes a worse film soon so i can name that instead.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2012, 06:49:00 PM
Troll 2 is an incredible movie, just heroically bad! I was really big on the first movie as a kid mind you, was pretty shocking to see Troll 2 is in no way related seemingly.

Been keeping an eye out for Best Worst Movie for a while but it doesn't seem to be out here (certainly lovefilm and amazon don't seem to have heard of it), although it does appear Troll 2 has a blu-ray release which I'm sure adds a lot to the experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 21 January, 2012, 07:00:12 PM
Tonight's TV viewing is a toss up between 

South Park Bigger Longer & Uncut 10.15 5Star

The Abyss 11.30 channel 4

UFOs the Secret Evidence 11.55 More 4

Underworld Evolution (Again) 12.50 Film 4

Oh Choices Choices Choices?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2012, 07:06:33 PM
QuoteTroll 2 is an incredible movie, just heroically bad! I was really big on the first movie as a kid mind you, was pretty shocking to see Troll 2 is in no way related seemingly.

Been keeping an eye out for Best Worst Movie for a while but it doesn't seem to be out here (certainly lovefilm and amazon don't seem to have heard of it), although it does appear Troll 2 has a blu-ray release which I'm sure adds a lot to the experience.

I was posting about The Room earlier in the thread - have you seen that Keef? Not normally a fan of self-conciously watching 'bad' movies but that one's an absolute riot (if you can get past the first 15 minutes, which is essentially a bad soft porn film).

Best Worst Movie doesn't seem to be available on R2 DVD.

I've never seen Troll II, but vivdly remember the (entirely unrelated) original Troll. The scene of the Troll turning that bloke into a plant with his magic ring haunted me as a kid.

QuoteIt annoys me somewhat that enough people obviously agreed with me foer it to become a 'cult classic', as its now become a boring and cliched answer to that particular question.

How is it possible to be so snobby and elitist about Troll II, of all things?  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 21 January, 2012, 09:37:34 PM
I know of a film made in 1970 that had a kitchen table in it ,and someone turning into a plant and that was called "The Grandmother",  by David Lynch. Maybe he influenced this Troll film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 21 January, 2012, 10:29:53 PM
The scene of the Troll turning that bloke into a plant
with his magic ring haunted me as a kid!

The Quatermass Experiment did the same to me,
Freaky cactus space man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 January, 2012, 11:08:57 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 January, 2012, 07:06:33 PM
I was posting about The Room earlier in the thread - have you seen that Keef? Not normally a fan of self-conciously watching 'bad' movies but that one's an absolute riot (if you can get past the first 15 minutes, which is essentially a bad soft porn film).

Hehe, never seen it but I did have someone else tell me to watch it recently too. They said it's got such a cult following that the director now does Q&A screenings. A friend had gone to one and said the director has done a bit of a back-pedal on seeing how much of a reputation it has, and now claims that it's deliberately bad. My friend says on watching the movie there's no doubt whatsoever that isn't the case. Morbid curiosity dictates I must see this movie now!

Edit: Searching for The Room on Amazon, the 'Customers who viewed this also viewed...' list is made up of Troll 2 and Battlefield Earth, which I guess cements it's place in bad movie history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 January, 2012, 12:12:29 PM
I must admit that I initially suspected that it was all a big wind up, but having seen the film, it's clear that it's the real deal. It's such a transparent vanity project by the 'auteur', he plays this martyr figure and the whole film is about what a wonderful person he is - literally even the bit part characters remark on what an amazing guy he is. And then his best friend and girlfriend stitch him up. It's so clearly based on something that happened to him in real life, it's painful.

Part of the charm is that English isn't Wiseau's first language, so the entire script sounds like it has been run through Google translate several times, characters coming out with bizarre statements like "Keep your stupid comments in your pocket!".

Then there's the bonkers subplots that are introduced and never referenced again, roles obviously being recast halfway through the film, the inexplicable decision to use a terrible green screen set for exterior scenes, the excessive use of stock footage...

It really is quite something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 22 January, 2012, 02:01:55 PM
DA,.. DA,... DA,.... DADUM!.... 2001 A Space Odyssey. Again this would only be half the film it was if it wasn't for the music soundtrack. Not a 3D movie but when it was first shown in cinemas three screens were used.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 January, 2012, 03:02:18 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:22:24 PM
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, in the IMAX. Very nice to see something that's obviously been made with IMAX very much in mind, the Dubai scenes are genuinely breathtaking and made for the format.
You and Tips weren't the only people to recommend the Imax version, but it was certainly a factor. This is the first time I've seen a proper film in the format and it was very impressive. I enjoyed this, and I love the commitment to crazy stunt sequences involving higher and higher buildings, but I didn't think it was up there with 2 or 3. The main reason for that was Simon Pegg's character. I think it's fine to have someone like that in the film for a bit of comic relief in a couple of scenes but when he becomes part of the main team bringing his schtick to the whole film it becomes grating very quickly.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:22:24 PM
Apparently Tom Cruise did his own stunts, so maximum respect as there's no fecking way I'd step out on there!
Yeah, I think he's big on the climbing. Didn't he do the free-climbing bit in the opening sequence to MI:2 as well?

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:22:24 PM
Also, there was a 6 minute scene from The Dark Knight Rises, which looked tremendous. The action was really spectacular and Bane looks really menacing, but he's completely unintelligible for most of it.
This is odd. Both my mates said the same thing, but I had absolutely no problem with it.

I know it's probably intended in the same way as the pre-credit sequence in a Bond film, but that scene was beyond ludicrous. Amazing stuff and has me really excited for the film: IMAX will be a must.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 January, 2012, 03:07:53 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 January, 2012, 03:02:18 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2012, 08:22:24 PM
Apparently Tom Cruise did his own stunts, so maximum respect as there's no fecking way I'd step out on there!
Yeah, I think he's big on the climbing. Didn't he do the free-climbing bit in the opening sequence to MI:2 as well?



He must be so far up the Scientology OT scale that he can fly now.



Quote from: The Cosh on 22 January, 2012, 03:02:18 PMI know it's probably intended in the same way as the pre-credit sequence in a Bond film, but that scene was beyond ludicrous. Amazing stuff and has me really excited for the film: IMAX will be a must.


Yes, it's absolutely ludicrous, probably why we eventually got to see it for free, which is pretty mad since it was probably the most expensive scene in the film. These are the type of scenes I dislike most in Nolan's films. If he loves Bond so much why doesn't he just take over the franchise instead of shoe-horning this type of scene into his latter films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2012, 11:49:38 PM
I was commenting to a mate the other day that Tom Cruise is kind of like a Bizarro Michael Barrymore, in that the tabloid press got the knives out when the latter was confirmed as gay*, while they got the knives out for the former when he was confirmed as straight.  Anyhoo, saw MI3 and liked it a lot, even if the bit at the end confused me - why was he holding his head?  Why was that important?  Was the bomb thing making a noise as well?  Some good stunts, but the best part of it was the incidental recreation of the Hunt character as a grown adult rather than the eternal adolescent beloved of the American action hero genre, becoming a teacher and investing in the future, starting a family... basically it's like seeing the action movie try to grow up and get away from central characters who are total jerks, which I think is welcome.  Probably the best of the first three films.

*And boy did they not half think it was Christmas when that poor bugger died in Barrymore's pool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2012, 11:54:00 PM
Absolutely ludicrous - yes, but aren't comics full of absolutely ludicrous things?

Anyway, STAR TREK - FIRST CONTACT, which is one of my first choices for stagger in slightly drunk and watch at 1 am movies.  Patrick Stewart gets to say 'The line will be drawn HE-YAH!' and then quote Moby Dick and Data gets a blow job. And fantastic score and special effects. Loved it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 January, 2012, 12:04:52 AM
Despite being an artificial man, Data has a functioning cock, which we know from one of the very first episodes of TNG.  Because Gene Roddenberry decided we needed to know these things.

The 80s were crazy times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 23 January, 2012, 12:07:10 AM
Just ask PB's mom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 January, 2012, 12:10:07 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2012, 11:54:00 PM
Absolutely ludicrous - yes, but aren't comics full of absolutely ludicrous things?
I, for one, meant it in a positive way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 January, 2012, 12:21:53 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 22 January, 2012, 11:49:38 PM
I was commenting to a mate the other day that Tom Cruise is kind of like a Bizarro Michael Barrymore, in that the tabloid press got the knives out when the latter was confirmed as gay*, while they got the knives out for the former when he was confirmed as straight.


When was Tom Cruise confirmed straight? I don't think anything can be confirmed of this enigma of a man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 23 January, 2012, 12:51:37 AM
Tom Cruise jokes, eh? Yet more cutting-edge humour from the house of Soap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 January, 2012, 01:39:38 AM
Godpleton is Xenu's peg-boy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 23 January, 2012, 07:58:48 AM
Another David Lynch film : "Dune".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 23 January, 2012, 11:29:29 AM
Just watched The Guard starring the brilliant Brendan Gleeson as a cynical small town Irish copper who get's reluctantly embroiled in an FBI investigation into a gang of drug dealers.

Really funny with some excellent, laugh-out-loud dialogue. Gleeson is really likeable despite his character's flaws and there is some great support from Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham as philosophy-loving gangsters.

Laughed my head off. I like how Irish people unnecessarily say 'sure' too often.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 23 January, 2012, 11:32:22 AM
Oh to be sure to be sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 January, 2012, 11:47:12 AM
44 Inch Chest (it was on Film4).

What a load of old crap.

It didn't have a proper story - just some kind of message about relationships that I couldn't be bothered to think about as the film had already annoyed me by featuring lots of my pet hates.
The worst in this instance being characters talking about a dream that's supposed to have some relevance to the character and story.
I hate it when writers use dreams to give you an insight into what the character is thinking - it's rarely done well and is almost always far too literal and sounds nothing like the sort of dreams that people actually have.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 January, 2012, 12:16:19 PM
QuoteQuote from: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2012, 11:54:00 PM
Absolutely ludicrous - yes, but aren't comics full of absolutely ludicrous things?

Cosh said - I, for one, meant it in a positive way.

Me too. But in my rush to defend all things "Dark Knight", I fear I may have misinterpreted Mr Soap.

Did you really have no issue with Bane's dialogue? I was fine with the trailer but really struggled in the prologue bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 23 January, 2012, 12:25:35 PM
"84c MoPic".  A supposedly routine reconnaissance mission goes wrong in "indian Territory" in Vietnam.
Unbelievably gripping viewing. A film technique which Blair Witch ripped off! W######s
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 23 January, 2012, 12:49:08 PM
Tour of Duty. Class TV!

Opening TV Series Theme
Paint it Black by Mick Jagger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9-RbEVYXUM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 23 January, 2012, 01:53:03 PM
I watched The Thing back to back with The Thing.

Whilst I enjoyed The Thing I think The Thing is the better of the two films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 23 January, 2012, 02:58:05 PM
You'd probably enjoy watching "The Blob" then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 January, 2012, 03:08:52 PM
Continuing with the documentary feel I watched The King of Kong, and rewatched Dig!.

The King of Kong is a strange one - basically chronicling the battle between two fully grown men bitterly vying for the all-time Donkey Kong high score. It was OK, but I couldn't really get involved in the narrative as it's all just so pathetic and bleak.

Dig! is the more entertaining of the two - it's a rock documentary charting the fortunes of two mid-nineties rock bands, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Things start out friendly between the two, but over the years descend into bitter jealousy and ultimately disillusion and self-destruction. Despite various talking heads popping up during the film to tell us how important both bands are, there's little evidence of this in the actual material - they're average at best. The joy of the film comes from the human weakness it exposes - the egos, the hypocrisy, the bitching, the compromises (The BJM frequently sabotage their chances of success in a confused effort to remain authentic, while The Dandys get their big break from a Vodafone commercial) the rivalries, the vanity, the pretentiousness and posturing. Ultimately these people seem far more interested in living the lifestyle than making great art.

Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 23 January, 2012, 03:58:53 PM
Quote from: radiator on 23 January, 2012, 03:08:52 PM
The King of Kong is a strange one - basically chronicling the battle between two fully grown men bitterly vying for the all-time Donkey Kong high score. It was OK, but I couldn't really get involved in the narrative as it's all just so pathetic and bleak.

Which was precisely the reason I enjoyed it so much. I could hardly believe these people were real but they are. Incredible.

The plucky underdog (can't remember his name) seemed like a nice guy, mad but nice, and Billy Mitchell seemed like a wierd ego-maniac.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 January, 2012, 04:00:50 PM
QuoteWhich was precisely the reason I enjoyed it so much. I could hardly believe these people were real but they are. Incredible.

Whereas I didn't really find it that hard to believe, and thus just thought they were quite sad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 January, 2012, 05:00:34 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 January, 2012, 12:16:19 PM
Did you really have no issue with Bane's dialogue? I was fine with the trailer but really struggled in the prologue bit.
Yes, I had no problem. Having seen the comments here, maybe I was prepared for it, but I don't think it would've been an issue anyway. However, as I was the only one out of five people to feel this way, it's clear there is a problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 23 January, 2012, 05:01:53 PM
watched "127" days last night and even flinched at the amputation scene!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 January, 2012, 05:47:43 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 23 January, 2012, 05:01:53 PM
watched "127" days last night and even flinched at the amputation scene!

Bit squeamish with owt like this, so had to change channels till that part was over. Im a wuss i know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 January, 2012, 05:52:49 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 23 January, 2012, 11:29:29 AM
Just watched The Guard starring the brilliant Brendan Gleeson as a cynical small town Irish copper who get's reluctantly embroiled in an FBI investigation into a gang of drug dealers.

Really funny with some excellent, laugh-out-loud dialogue. Gleeson is really likeable despite his character's flaws and there is some great support from Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham as philosophy-loving gangsters.

Laughed my head off. I like how Irish people unnecessarily say 'sure' too often.

We watched this at the weekend - excellent movie. Gleeson is up there with the greats when it comes to best screen actors in the world arguments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 January, 2012, 06:51:37 PM
...and his son is in Dredd!

As for that scene in 127 Hours, it's surprisingly not really that gory at all - its more the audio/visual effects that make it so intense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 January, 2012, 10:45:24 PM
Persepolis. Loved the animation style. Intensely disliked the central character/narrator/author/whatever combination thereof is appropriate thus could not fully engage with the story. I did like the grandmother and would happily watch a prequel following her early adventures.

If anyone is actually interested in the recent history of Iran and the Islamic Revolution, I would highly recommend this BBC documentary series from two or three years back which is available on youtube: Iran and the West (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iar_1OKOmc).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 January, 2012, 11:09:03 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 January, 2012, 10:45:24 PM
Persepolis. Loved the animation style. Intensely disliked the central character/narrator/author/whatever combination thereof is appropriate thus could not fully engage with the story.

I haven't seen the film but loved the book, and I've heard a lot of people say they had the same reaction as The Cosh.  In the book it's very clear (to me, anyway) that you're not supposed to particularly like young Marjane, she's presented as a self-absorbed madam, as most of us are at those ages of course.  In the comic, this has the effect of giving her POV character a flawed normalcy, and more importantly lends her memoirs a real sense of authenticity - Satrapi is giving us a warts-and-all portrait of herself that is all-too believable, so by extension we trust that her very partial view of events is an accurate one too.  I gather the same effect isn't achieved in the less-intimate medium of animation.  Have to give the film a try and see for myself.

The granny is cool though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 24 January, 2012, 12:47:50 AM
My reviews of Red Tails and Haywire:

http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/movie-reviews-red-tails-and-haywire/

One of them is the worst on-screen abomination since Liz Taylor ate Richard Burton whole in the sequel to Cleopatra. The other is Haywire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 24 January, 2012, 03:32:19 AM
just watched Almost Famous,
yes its not a new movie, but i missed it when it was in the cinemas.then did not catch up with it till it was on iTunes for 99cents

What a great movie,with the tiny dancer on the bus being a bloody awesome scene.
truly enjoyable entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 24 January, 2012, 08:06:41 AM
Spinal Tap This is Spinal Tap

I really thought this was an actual docementary at first :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 24 January, 2012, 06:52:28 PM
Coriolanus. Two hours of Greatest Living Englishperson Ralph Feinnes shouting at people. Vanessa Redgrave doing angry stares. A bunch of knife fights. See this movie now.

Haywire. Lots of fun. Soderbergh directs good in this movie. Fights are really cool looking. Not unlike Drive. Cool ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 24 January, 2012, 09:19:00 PM
That's an uptodate costume Coriolanus, looks good, bringing erudition to the masses.

On youtube I have been watching the 1954 animated film version of "Animal Farm". This is powerful stuff. Really makes you stand back and think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 January, 2012, 10:48:00 PM

There is great western to watch/recording tonight at BBC1 Open Range.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 January, 2012, 01:50:46 AM
Blacula, which is better than you might expect.  Ropey in the usual 1970s way where it's not quite camp and takes itself maybe too seriously, despite clear budget problems that mean the window in someone's spare room has to double for a police station, but the guy who plays Blacula/Mamuwalde is awesome, as is the soundtrack.  Love it when Mamuwalde politely gets in racist Dracula's grill, too much of a gent to bring the hurt the occasion deserves and the exchange - which includes Dracula screaming "I curse you with an eternal lust for blood!" - ends as well as you might expect.
Fun, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 25 January, 2012, 09:17:07 AM
Charlton Heston version of "The Planet of the Apes". I notice this is similar to Frankenstein. Cornelius being an ape is far more intelligent and civilised than the shocked humes expect. Also in "Return..." the emphasis is on science making a mistake and creating a so called monster that resents the fact of it's own existence and the creators who bestowed life on it.

This has happened to George and his creation Star Wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 25 January, 2012, 11:53:23 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 25 January, 2012, 01:50:46 AM
Blacula, which is better than you might expect.  Ropey in the usual 1970s way where it's not quite camp and takes itself maybe too seriously, despite clear budget problems that mean the window in someone's spare room has to double for a police station, but the guy who plays Blacula/Mamuwalde is awesome, as is the soundtrack.  Love it when Mamuwalde politely gets in racist Dracula's grill, too much of a gent to bring the hurt the occasion deserves and the exchange - which includes Dracula screaming "I curse you with an eternal lust for blood!" - ends as well as you might expect.
Fun, though.

He he, that took me back to Futurama...

"[To Fry] There's only three real monsters, kid: Dracula, Blacula and Son of Kong. Now quit picking your nose and knead that dough!"
    ―Mr. Pannucci[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2012, 12:26:37 PM
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN(or it might be called ESCAPE or RETURN)

As the title suggests, it's just a race/chase piece hampered by the fact that they have
a) no budget and
b) The Rock not knowing how he is meant to be playing it.
but I'm actually enjoying it (not quite made it to the end yet...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 25 January, 2012, 01:22:47 PM
The scene in the Guard at the payoff had me howling with laughter!

[spoiler]"Is the Money all there."

"Well ofcourse its fucking all there, this is the payoff. Why would I arrange this meeting then not bring the fucking money..." etc[/spoiler]

A very good movie that I somehow put off watching for no good reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 25 January, 2012, 01:48:38 PM
Warhorse. Had to turn it off after about half an hour. Utter dross, and I don't believe Spielberg even left his house during the entire production. What a missed opportunity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 January, 2012, 02:12:31 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 25 January, 2012, 01:48:38 PM
Utter dross, and I don't believe Spielberg even left his house during the entire production.

A case of the absentee director meets the absentee cinemagoer.  I hear Beckett had that plot in mind for his next one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 25 January, 2012, 03:11:40 PM
The 1965 classic "Battle of the Bulge".  Along with Henry Fonda and Robert Shaw, tough guys Charles Bronson and Telly Savalas give sterling performances. Even Judge Dredd could learn a thing from these guys.
An entertaining two hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 January, 2012, 07:54:18 PM
The Shawshank Redemption. One of those films that i have to watch whenever its on telly.
Reading about The Kill List on here, i really wanna catch this (checked out the clips on utube, looks great) so as ive still got an HMV voucher from Xmas to get rid of, and ive a day off on Friday, thatll be my next one i think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 January, 2012, 07:35:11 AM
1962 Orson Welles version of Franz Kafka's "The Trial". Anthony Perkins of Hitchcock "Psycho" fame plays K. and there is an appearance made by Welles who plays the Advocate. Kafka meant this story as a comedy and I think lots of people have misinterpreted it as being a tragedy. The whipper part in it I found hilarious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2012, 08:06:34 AM
Quote from: wonkychop on 26 January, 2012, 07:35:11 AMKafka meant this story as a comedy and I think lots of people have misinterpreted it as being a tragedy.

Surely it's both?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 January, 2012, 10:33:31 AM
I personally don't think so Tordel. K.'s character is not heroic enough, as say a Hamlet type character, to be seriously considered tragic.

Joyce's characterisations are the same. This is one of reasons, apart from the style they were written in, that modernism, when it first appeared, was so violently rejected by the literary establishment and the reading public. The human condition was being portrayed as insignificant and alienated. The characters did not become involved in any portentuous events, they were mundane, mediocrities.

The T. S. Eliot poem "Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock" is another good example of a character who's lack of heroism and election is a cause for laughter and scorn, and not admiration.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2012, 11:15:36 AM
Quote from: wonkychop on 26 January, 2012, 10:33:31 AM
I personally don't think so Tordel. K.'s character is not heroic enough, as say a Hamlet type character, to be seriously considered tragic.

That seems a fairly narrow definition of 'tragedy' you're using there, but literary criticism isn't really my thing. All of Kafka's work that I've read elicits both laughter at and sympathy for the situations the characters find themselves in - reading The Trial as purely a comedy seems very strange, since I'd be fairly sure Kafka intended us to empathise with K.'s predicament in order to see the horror of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 January, 2012, 12:28:46 PM
Kafka was very strange.
Sympathy is a key word here, I'm glad you used it. In Frankenstein, which is an unmodern novel, we are invited by the narrator to feel sympathy for characters in his account.

Walton explicitly asks the reader to participate in the relating of the events by asking the reader to feel sympathetic feelings towards Victor and his monster. In fact Victor created his predicament by creating the monster; he doesn't confess even to his family he's created an abomintion of nature and so spare their lives from the wrath of his monster.

In The Trial, it's not explicitly said in the story, there is no sympathy for K. at all. He is merely foolish. A joke of an identity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 26 January, 2012, 10:20:49 PM
The Sound Of Thunder. Based on a Ray Bradbury short, but looks very much like an old Future Shock made into film. Can any uberfans enlighten me to which time-loop story consisted of breaking up the present with the accidental demise of a butterfly in the Cretaceous period thanks to a money making Time Safari ??

As for K being comedic, it goes much deeper than that. Sharply satirical in his beligerent ignorance is possibly more to the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 January, 2012, 10:28:56 PM
I started watching Sound of Thunder but got put off by some of the ropey FX, and then whilst distracted realised it was an expansion of an old Ray Bradbury Theater episode of the same name - which means it was originally a short story, I would imagine.  It also bears remarkable similarities in story and visual terms to an old Future Short, too.

Might give it another look later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 27 January, 2012, 12:06:48 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 26 January, 2012, 10:28:56 PM
I started watching Sound of Thunder but got put off by some of the ropey FX, and then whilst distracted realised it was an expansion of an old Ray Bradbury Theater episode of the same name - which means it was originally a short story, I would imagine.  It also bears remarkable similarities in story and visual terms to an old Future Short, too.

Might give it another look later.

Are you meaning the particularly ropey time plank?  That is particularly ropey. Then the shoddy insect swarming in the first wave had me reaching for the off button. If it wasn't for the fact I needed something a bit fresh to me for some doodling motivation it may have ended there.

Then, there're some nice creature designs coming up after that and the story rolls a bit less choppy as it gets into a stride of some sorts. It's strapped together with some really bad muguffins but what the hell, thoughts of that old Shock kept me in play.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2012, 12:37:48 AM
The first 3 episodes of ALIAS.

Fab stuff. I think I'm nearly as much in love with Jennifer Garner as the producers were.

I have all five seasons for a fiver. Hope it maintains the quality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 27 January, 2012, 12:44:00 AM
Got the complete Arrested Development. This is one funny show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 January, 2012, 01:32:02 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2012, 12:37:48 AMI have all five seasons for a fiver. Hope it maintains the quality.

You might want to call it a day around season 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 27 January, 2012, 07:15:27 AM
"The Invisible Man" another film that's had many versions. I have not read the book, so maybe someone on the forum knows whether the film sticks close to the original plot or not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 27 January, 2012, 07:19:50 AM
Quote from: George Dread on 26 January, 2012, 10:20:49 PM?

As for K being comedic, it goes much deeper than that. Sharply satirical in his beligerent ignorance is possibly more to the point.

That's interesting, I sometimes see K's character as Chaplinesque, but without Charlie's thick layer of sugar coating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 28 January, 2012, 10:27:22 AM
John Wayne's last film from 1976 "The Shootist". This film has it all for a cowboy film. An opening montage of John Wayne westerns documenting the evolution of this genre. A commentary on how this myth of the old west evolved through the sensationalised ghost written autobiographies by unscrupulous hacks trying to make a quick buck. An exsistential approach to the theme of death and the Nietszchean impulse to transcend the human condition. On top of this there is plenty of action and violence, and Lauren Bacall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 11:37:07 AM
Great film that. Love True Grit as well. Didn't much the remake though. Not terrible just not the 'Big leggy' version. Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 28 January, 2012, 12:34:28 PM
You can't beat a good old western movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 12:47:06 PM
loved 'Assassination of Jesse James, with Bradly in it. Great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 28 January, 2012, 12:52:02 PM
Hurumph...

In Time

Is it meant to be Logans Run or Fun With Dick and Jane

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 01:06:48 PM
Not seen it. My daughter liked it though. Justine Trouser Snake isn't it? lol. Thought the premise was kinda interesting. Some thing almost original form main stream Hollywood!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 28 January, 2012, 01:50:39 PM
Bought a couple of DVDs yesterday with a HMV voucher i had left over from Crimbo. I guess their both nominally in the horror genre - The Kill List; now i dont usually cold buy (is that the right term?) DVDs/CDs but this film has piqued my interest, so looking forward to seeing it, and the other is The 'Burbs, which ive seen manys a time.

Quote from: wonkychop on 28 January, 2012, 10:27:22 AM
John Wayne's last film from 1976 "The Shootist". This film has it all for a cowboy film.

Quote from: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 11:37:07 AM
Great film that. Love True Grit as well. Didn't much the remake though.

The Shootist is a superb film, as is True Grit. Havent seen the remake of True Grit, but wouldnt mind tracking it down. As i understand it, its a lot closer to the novel? Now, ive never been a really big John Wayne fan, but i got to admit his later films i do have a soft spot for. McQ, is another fave of mine as well. Wouldnt mind a copy of this, but dont think this has had a R2 DVD release?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 January, 2012, 01:59:30 PM
Saw a couple yesterday.

War Horse. Too much horse, not enough war. How on Earth this is in the running for an Oscar is beyond me. One from the sentimental, heavy-handed side of Spielberg: I burst out laughing when the camera pulled back to reveal the big pit full of dead horses.  However, being Spielberg, he can't help put have some worthwhile bits in it. The sequence leading up to the cavalry charge at Quievrechain is exciting and, as they appear from hiding in the wheat field, visually arresting. Other than that, well, the goose is excellent.

I thought the film would've been vastly improved by shifting the action to WWII and building on the absurdity of the horse having a big horse mate who it looked out for all the way through. The logical next step would be for the plucky British underhorse to have an ongoing rivalry with a dastardly, monocle-sporting Nazi horse. Preferably one from aristocratic stock so you could include a bit of class war subtext.

Haywire was a much needed palate cleanser after that. I liked the way Soderbergh brings his own sensibilities to a fairly straightforward action thriller. Something as simple as the way the initial backstory unfolds in overlapping flashback layers and the viewer is expected to keep up and sort it out as you can is a refreshing assumption of intelligence.

I was a bit freaked out by his other weird stylistic choice to film the fight scenes in full frame without any frenetic jump-cutting so you can actually see who's doing what to whom. I don't know if it'll catch on but here's hoping. The one drawback of this is that it accentuates the fact that you have a proper hardwoman fighting a bunch of fey acty types. Still a good one though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 January, 2012, 02:00:38 PM
The Coen's True Grit is fantastic.

Watched Drive Angry last night, and while every fibre of my being screamed that it was rubbish and that Nic Cage was monumentally bad in it, I bloody loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 02:02:48 PM
McQ F##kin rocks. Kill List is heavy so prepare yourself mate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 28 January, 2012, 02:05:56 PM
'Drive' anyone? Loved 'Bronson' and even 'Valhalla Rising', Refin is well good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 January, 2012, 02:15:10 PM
The other great thing about Haywire is the obvious Archer reference.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2012, 12:04:07 AM
X Men First Class on Blu Ray. If anything enjoyed it even more the second time round. Tremendous film, especially considering that it was made in such a short space of time.

It seems to be doing well on DVD and Blu sales, so fingers crossed for a sequel!

On a related note, I just picked up the 4 other X-films in a Blu ray box set for £10 from play.com - noticed that it's since been reduced to £7.99, so there's a tip if you want to grab a bargain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2012, 01:16:04 AM
Just tried to watch Origins: Wolverine. Bloody hell, what a stinker. Every bit as bad as I'd heard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 29 January, 2012, 04:28:51 AM
I always thought X-Men should've been a one-off film, a socio-political allegory wrapped in a commercial vehicle along the likes of Planet of the Apes  or Invasion of the Body Snatchers .  Once you've made the initial statement of intent on prejudice and bigotry, all the sequels are pretty much recycling the same old same old.  The first X-Men was excellent (apart from a slightly dodgy final reel that held back too much for sequels), but the two sequels, not to mention the simply terrible ...Origins...  (next year's The Wolverine will hopefully rectify that situation), were just retreading old ground, but ...First Class seems like a genuinely fresh and highly engaging new spin on the mythology, I have yet to see it though - I'll take the mighty radiator's word for it though!

As far as great films just watched, may I present David Fincher's utterly superior Zodiac, just shown Saturday night on RTE 2, brilliant film all round...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 29 January, 2012, 07:39:06 AM
I agree about X-Men sequels, and a lot of others. They seem pretty pointless after the first statement is made. I think Dredd could fare better if handled with a bit of respect from the film makers. He is an anti-hero, he's worse than the villains he brings justice to and I think this makes him just a bit more interesting as a character. One of the political statements Judge Dredd seems to make is that the state's crime will always outweigh the crimes of the criminal.

Just watched "Sleeper" by Woody Allen. Don't know what the message of this film is? Too much science and you'll end up with enormous vegetables? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2012, 09:34:21 AM
There are undoubtedly cringe moments in all the X Men films, but Wolverine is just wall to wall cringe from the off. Just bad, bad writing. I feared the worst when I saw Will.I.Am listed in the credits. Really crap pacing too - nothing is given any weight whatsoever, feels like someone has gone in a cut all of the establishing shots and pauses in the dialogue.

Some shockingly cheap-looking cgi too - I had to rewind the bit where Sabretooth tries to kill Logan with a load of spectacularly unrealistic looking cgi timber. Hilarious. That's the sort of cgi I hate - when it's totally pointless (would it have killed them to , you know, just shoot some actual falling logs?) and jarring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 January, 2012, 09:42:28 AM
Have to say I thought X-men 2 was the best of the lot. Much like the Spider-man films come to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2012, 09:55:39 AM
Yeah X2 is great, whereas I think X1 suffers for having relatively poor action scenes, X2 got the balance right.

I still don't mind X3, it's clearly the weakest of the three, and is quite clumsy hack work in a lot of ways (it really short-changed the Phoenix story after the great tease at the end of X2), but I find it perfectly watchable.

Overall I'd say First Class is my favourite of the lot. It's not without it's problems, but it's just so enjoyable and probably has the best action set pieces of them all. Superb casting and soundtrack too, and the script is for the most part fresh, smart, funny and economical - its impressive how the whole thing doesn't collapse under the weight of all the characters and concepts at play.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 29 January, 2012, 10:02:58 AM
Super Thanks for asking

This was great, just as fun as Kick-Ass but with a bit more emotional punch. The two leads are awesome.

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 29 January, 2012, 11:21:04 AM
Loved the Ange Lee 'Hulk'. Not so much the second one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Durendal on 29 January, 2012, 01:17:10 PM
Special
It's a little bit funny but mostly sad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo18EMnTY6o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 29 January, 2012, 02:19:08 PM
Finally watched The Losers last night on Lovefilm online. Nice, enjoyable fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 29 January, 2012, 05:05:20 PM
The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 29 January, 2012, 06:44:31 PM
I can see what you mean, but he seems a bit to sorta 'jolly', if that makes sense? Gotta have that flinty, granite hard look and feel you get offa Jim Baikies' stuff. Legend!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 January, 2012, 06:52:00 PM
The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 29 January, 2012, 07:03:09 PM
Your gonna watch it again!!! Fair play to you mate. I thought once would be enough. Not that its a bad film, just creeped the life out of me, and that ending. Dang!!! Any fans of the film 'Primer'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 January, 2012, 07:18:14 PM
Yeh another viewing is on the cards, but not today though, as its dark outside now  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 29 January, 2012, 07:19:41 PM
Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 January, 2012, 12:22:57 AM
Day of the Dead

The new version. I caught this on ITV on Demand.*  I say 'new version' rather than 'remake' because it's not much like the original film at all except from the fact it involves army personnel against zombies and [spoiler]an underground research bunker, but that didn't feature in this film until the end, and it's purpose was different.[/spoiler]  The credits stated that it was based on the screenplay from the original Romero film, but the story was rather different. Well... apart from essentially being [spoiler]a survival story against zombies[/spoiler], but the emphasis here was [spoiler]more on survival while the original was concerned with abuse of power.. along with survival of course[/spoiler].

At the start I thought it might be a typical film about a bunch of pretty teenagers being killed off, but it wasn't ([spoiler]although pretty teenagers do get killed off[/spoiler]). It wasn't all that original really, but I thought it was pretty good if not great. It's a shame it didn't have a different name rather than cashing in on the Romero classic.

And kudos for including a [spoiler]lovestruck vegetarian zombie[/spoiler] although I'd imagine that smegged off some viewers.

*Incidentally my On-Demand service has really been playing up lately. It keeps pausing in werid ways and making a clicking noise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 30 January, 2012, 12:29:35 AM
Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 29 January, 2012, 05:05:20 PM
The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd


Is he not a little too hot-blooded for Dredd?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 30 January, 2012, 12:33:50 AM
Quote from: The return of Judge Jack on 29 January, 2012, 06:52:00 PM
The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5



Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 January, 2012, 12:43:58 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 28 January, 2012, 02:15:10 PM
The other great thing about Haywire is the obvious Archer reference.
If only I knew what Archer was, I wouldn't have missed this. The other other great thing about Haywire was the way they always took care to cover each other and clear one room before moving on to the next. I hope Commando Forces appreciates this if he ever watches it.

Saw Black Dynamite tonight and thought it was great fun. A loving homage to blaxploitation cinema, it's very much the film that one half of Machete wanted to be but wasn't. Mr Michael Jai White is both an engaging performer and an intimidating physical presence.

Then stuck on Black Death which I wasn't expecting much from at all but which I ended up really liking. Sean Bean leads a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the nefarious secret lurking in a village which has not been affected by the eponymous plague. Despite the historical setting it feels more like a post-apocalyptic setting that the characters are placed in. Despite a fairly ropey performance from the young monk who joins them and an unnecessary epilogue this was a very tight and effective little film. From the outset it works hard to build an atmosphere of tension, unease and paranoia which later shoots off on different directions of faith, conviction, belief and violence. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 30 January, 2012, 05:27:19 AM
Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 29 January, 2012, 05:05:20 PM
The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd

Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be a pretty cool Dredd, but apart from the already-cast Mr Urban, I always thought ever since I started reading Judge Dredd in the mid-1980's that the only person who was right in almost every way to don the helmet and Judge armour was Michael Ironside, a bit old now, but was certainly viable in the late 80's-mid 90's...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 30 January, 2012, 06:15:22 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 January, 2012, 12:29:35 AM
Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 29 January, 2012, 05:05:20 PM
The guy from losers "Jeffrey Dean Morgan" was in watchmen. I think he may have played a better Dredd


Is he not a little too hot-blooded for Dredd?

He played a good emotionless drone in The Losers. Meaning he was so wooden I could carve my name in him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 30 January, 2012, 07:53:09 AM
Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange" still a shocker after all these years. Though the events that "inspired" ,bad use of the word there, Burgess' novel were awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 30 January, 2012, 10:15:28 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 January, 2012, 12:33:50 AM
Quote from: The return of Judge Jack on 29 January, 2012, 06:52:00 PM
The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5



Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.

I really enjoyed the Kill List, but I do think that for all the chat about how it is oblique, mysterious and a "cinematic puzzle" is just a load of words to maks the fundamental truth that it makes no sense at a very fundamental narrative level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 30 January, 2012, 10:52:13 AM
Quote from: brendan1 on 30 January, 2012, 10:15:28 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 January, 2012, 12:33:50 AM
Quote from: The return of Judge Jack on 29 January, 2012, 06:52:00 PM
The Kill List. Well, just finished watching this film for the first time, and while i dont think it totally lives up to the hype (...how many films do?), its pretty darn good nonetheless. Thought Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley were good as the hitmen, with the banter between the two raising a smile and lightening the mood now and again.
Struan Rogers, suitabley creepy, also impressed as The Client. Yeah, the violence is a bit hard to take ( the Librarian scene), but all goes to maintaining the intense atmosphere.
The ending does feel slightly out of place, even thought there are clues to it throughout the film.
Liking (and equally frustrated by...) the fact that nothing is explained in any great detail, but thats how it should be. I guess most people can at least join up some of the dots themselves, and debate about the film is plentiful on the net. Another viewing beckons i think.
3.5/5



Kill List is an intense experience, I thought the only thing that let it down was the end, which was a little too obvious given the references to that other film from the 70's. The inevitability is part of the point but it needed something a little extra.

The most shocking thing is they pulled something this good off for half-a-million squids.

I really enjoyed the Kill List, but I do think that for all the chat about how it is oblique, mysterious and a "cinematic puzzle" is just a load of words to maks the fundamental truth that it makes no sense at a very fundamental narrative level.

But that's what made it great!

Just watched Fincher's remake of Dragon Tattoo. Still don't understand what all the fuss is about with this franchise. I get it that Lisbeth is quite an iconic character and I thought Rooney Mara was as good as Noomi Rapace. Yes, it had the trademark Fincher atmos and grungey feel, but for me it was all still a bit pedestrian. Which is fine, not knocking that in itself - but to repeat my first observation, I don't get how this series has become one of the biggest properties in the world.

Anybody watch Birdsong btw? I know it's TV rather than a movie but thought I could mention it here rather than start a new thread (I know a film version was in the works, which morphed into this production). I thought it was a triuimph. Read the book about 6-7 years ago, and have long been wondering what the first day on the Somme could look like on the screen. Whilst not on a Spielbergian scale of course I thought the BBC worked wonders with the battle scene. Eddie Redmayne was good, Clemence Poesy was superb, but Jospeh Mawle as Firebrace was the heart and soul of it all.

All made Warhorse look even more redundant and borderline offensive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 January, 2012, 11:33:26 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 30 January, 2012, 10:52:13 AM

Anybody watch Birdsong btw?

Bollocks knew this was coming but didn't realise it'd been on already. Absolutely love the book. Oh well sure it will be repeated soon enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 30 January, 2012, 11:37:10 AM
Both episodes are on iplayer I think Colin, deffo worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Third Estate Ned on 30 January, 2012, 12:47:51 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 30 January, 2012, 12:43:58 AM
Then stuck on Black Death which I wasn't expecting much from at all but which I ended up really liking. Sean Bean leads a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the nefarious secret lurking in a village which has not been affected by the eponymous plague. Despite the historical setting it feels more like a post-apocalyptic setting that the characters are placed in. Despite a fairly ropey performance from the young monk who joins them and an unnecessary epilogue this was a very tight and effective little film. From the outset it works hard to build an atmosphere of tension, unease and paranoia which later shoots off on different directions of faith, conviction, belief and violence. Well worth an hour and a half of your time.

Agree with thoughts on Black Death. I find Sean Bean thoroughly entertaining in a pantomime villain sort of way, especially when he's trying to act serious/cover up the Sheffield accent (not seen Game of Thrones yet but he's hilarious in Red Riding where he gets to use his accent to maximum effect). In this he was more convinving than usual, though. I thought there was a strong anti-religious theme, in addition to (spoiler) [spoiler]a pretty brutal scene with some horses[/spoiler]. Even my wife, who hates that sort of thing, enjoyed it and she's by now sick of everything swords/zombies/spaceships.

Saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night and mostly enjoyed it. Next bit a little spoilery...







Testament to my anal retentiveness, my suspension of disbelief held throughout the whole preposterous thing until the apes started effortlessly crashing through plate glass windows unharmed. It was that that really annoyed me and spoiled the film for me. That and James Franco's boss needing only an off-the-cuff corridor chat with [spoiler]a quasi-discredited scientist on the intelligence enhancing properties of the drug[/spoiler] to completely turn his views around. Other than that, it was fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 30 January, 2012, 01:34:48 PM
Don't often come across anything worth mentioning (or that hasn't already been mentioned) but watched a Canadian independent film called Pontypool last night and it was bloody great. It's a 'kind of' zombie film, though in a 'War of the Worlds' type way. Small cast (only 4 characters that appear on screen), single location (a small radio station) and oodles of suspense and dread. It's a very well done piece that shows what can be done with a very small budget. You don't need to see all the murder and killing and entrails-ripping and blood flying everywhere to be freaked out. By taking the viewer and putting them in a situation with a bunch of people who can't quite make out what the hell is happening 'out there', this movie really draws you in. It's a really fresh take on the whole zombie apocalypse thing, and the cause of the virus is very clever and unique as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The acting - especially by the lead actor - is top notch as well. Highly recommend this one to anyone who likes their sci-fi/horror a little bit different from the norm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 30 January, 2012, 05:20:22 PM
Well, despite saying i wouldnt, i did watch Kill List again last night.
Still think its a very good film and that from start to finish, still makes kinda sense (minor quibbles aside), though i also think parts could have been written better, and as freaky as it was, the ending is the weak point.
A bit less [spoiler]Hammer Horror/Wicker Man[/spoiler], and a bit more like how they came across at the Hotel would have been far scarier. As always in Horror, the less you see, the more terrible you imagine it to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2012, 06:06:36 PM
Quote from: Dr. Dog on 30 January, 2012, 12:47:51 PMTestament to my anal retentiveness, my suspension of disbelief held throughout the whole preposterous thing until the apes started effortlessly crashing through plate glass windows unharmed. It was that that really annoyed me and spoiled the film for me.

I used to work in a glazier's, and knowing how glass works has ruined a lot of scenes in movies.  Ever see someone - like a cat burglar or whatever - use a diamond cutter to break into something?  Glass don't work like that - you have to apply pressure from the opposite side on which the cut was made (yes, from inside what they're trying to break into) otherwise it's no different than just smashing at the glass.  Also, any glass over four feet off the ground has to be either flame toughened (the kind that smashes into a million little harmless pieces when compromised), or laminated safety glass that breaks but stays in place because of the plastic sheeting in the middle of it that you can't jump through while shooting uzis as it's like jumping at a wall that cracks on one side and then slices the shit out of you before bouncing you back the way you came, bleeding like a motherfucker.  The latter is what gets used most as it's cheaper and easier to replace than the former, meaning jumping through windows in the average building is deeply unlikely.

Having said all of that, you don't need to know one single thing about glass science to know that an animal sanctuary wouldn't have glass in the windows that an animal could just jump through.  I mean, I know the film went to theatrical lengths to show how terrible a place the animal sanctuary was (it was run by Draco Malfoy, ffs), but that's like showing a jail with no bars.  I also got a vibe off the sanctuary like it was just like a dog pound or something, like San Fran is swarming with unwanted ape housepets - although this might be the case for all I know of SF.  If so, awesome town.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 30 January, 2012, 07:22:04 PM
I felt Kill List was merely ticking off a few taboos, left over, not shown until it, on British film in such a way. At the end of the day it was a film already made and waiting for a time for release.

It was more; "Well there we go, that's that one out of the way. "

It's really good in that sense. Of doing for people, who've been waiting for it, for a long time, to happen. It recreates the fantasy of itself near verbatim right down to the pace of the film. Arriving just after it had been long forgotten, it's timing of arrival is the most misplaced thing about it and weighs heavy on it's dating very quickly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 January, 2012, 08:50:02 PM
Finally got to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Really enjoyed it. The book is better, but they always are.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 30 January, 2012, 09:04:19 PM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 30 January, 2012, 08:50:02 PM
Finally got to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

On my list, both film and book. Been holding out to read the book, in fact, before watching the film.

I watched Young Guns 2 for the first time since I saw it on the big screen! Back then Young Guns was one of my favorite films and I just really loved all of those characters - so to see them all [spoiler]killed[/spoiler] in the sequel was heartbreaking. Now I think the downbeat - almost depressing - tone of the film is perfect for the story told. Wonderful soundtrack, too (the Silvestri one, not the Bon Jovi one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 30 January, 2012, 09:18:20 PM
The Descendants. Pretty good. Could have ended a bit earlier. Nice seeing Judy Greer doing uncomedy.

The Artist. Went in expecting in twee Oscar bait so as to be pleasantly surprised. Can't fault the craft from all involved but this still comes to be but a confection. The [spoiler]dream sequence[/spoiler] was very disappointing. The girl is adorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 31 January, 2012, 08:14:44 AM
Isn't the dog up for an award?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 31 January, 2012, 09:34:12 AM
Watched True Grit.  Used to be a massive fan of the Coen Brothers but none of their films since Big Lebowski have really excited me.  They just dont seem to be as funny in that quirky Coen Brothers style that they used to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 31 January, 2012, 10:32:22 AM
Thought True Grit was full of old school Coen-isms myself. Especially the line 'You give out very little sugar'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 31 January, 2012, 10:44:11 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 31 January, 2012, 10:32:22 AM
Thought True Grit was full of old school Coen-isms myself. Especially the line 'You give out very little sugar'.

Nothing like their older stuff IMO - take True Grit and No Country for Old Men (their most lauded films of recent years) and compare them to a Lebowski, Barton Fink or Millers Crossing.  The latter are proper laught out loud films.  I find some of the Coen-isms in the newer films a little contrived - like they are trying to do Coen for a mainstream audience that have now accepted them.

I cant put my finger on the exact reason why, but I just dont enjoy the newer stuff as much as the old.  Just noticed that Joel used to take all Director credit, and now it is shared.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 31 January, 2012, 10:51:31 AM
Quote from: Davek on 31 January, 2012, 09:34:12 AM
Watched True Grit.  Used to be a massive fan of the Coen Brothers but none of their films since Big Lebowski have really excited me.  They just dont seem to be as funny in that quirky Coen Brothers style that they used to be.
I agree mate. Loved so many of their early films especially 'Blood Simple' (just so good!) and 'Rasin Arizona'. Never watched 'Barton Fink' or the 'Hudsucker Proxy'. Been a whiles since I last watched 'Miller's Crossing' too. have to rectify that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 31 January, 2012, 10:52:05 AM
Read a biography of the two of them some years back - apparently that was just something they agreed upon at the start, that Joel would take the director credit and Ethan producer, although in truth they've always collaborated on both. I noticed the change too, not sure why they've done that. ISTR they used split it because the Director's Guild wouldn't allow 2 people to be credited as director - remember when Robert Rodriguez was booted out because he insisted Frank Miller get equal billing for Sin City?

Although thinking about it, there have been other brother directing teams - the Hughes Brothers, the Farrellys - how did they do it I wonder?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 31 January, 2012, 11:58:08 AM
Watched the wretchedly funny, and poignant, "Dead Man's Shoes" a film from 2004. Good soundtrack to this film from "Warp Records".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 31 January, 2012, 12:10:16 PM
Quote from: wonkychop on 31 January, 2012, 11:58:08 AM
Watched the wretchedly funny, and poignant, "Dead Man's Shoes" a film from 2004. Good soundtrack to this film from "Warp Records".

Unsurprising, given that Warp also made the film. Do they soundtrack all their films?

They're a great record label and I am full of admiration for how they've developed their creative footprint into films so successfully.

Music: Aphex Twin, Autechre, Plaid, Black Dog, B12, Speedy J, Two Lone Swordsmen, Luke Vibert, Squarepusher.

And now Kill List, Dead Man's Shoes, This is England, Submarine, Four Lions.

Coolest creative company ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 31 January, 2012, 12:17:26 PM
Remember the film being what has become a sort of Shane Meadows trade mark.
Slowly building tension and or unease followed by shocking and all to believable violent bits.
The scene in 'Dead Men's' where you get the back story as to why he goes after the gang of local thugs is hard to watch.
Same thing happens in 'No room for Romeo Brass when Paddy Considine's character goes all dark and sinister and mad.
I struggle with Shane Medows films.They upset me! :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 31 January, 2012, 06:19:54 PM
Since catching the excellent Smalltime on a late night showing many many moons ago, i thought Shane Meadows was the one to watch out for, but ive been left disapointed, for the greater part, in his subsequent films.
...but having said that Dead Mans Shoes is just superb, and one ill watch and rewatch time and again. The soundtrack is just fantastic as well. Fits the film like a glove.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 31 January, 2012, 09:24:19 PM
It's a film that has always struck a chord and resonated with me. Christopher Morris (4Lions) is the best comedy writer we have. Gervais and that crew don't do anything for me by way of laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Teivion on 01 February, 2012, 02:07:24 PM
OUTLANDER  which was on TV last night.
Loved it. Really nice production design and effects, decent acting, a really good, enjoyable watch.
It looks like it bombed at the cinema, and online has mixed reviews- saying not that its bad, but a 'bit silly in places'.  Odd really as the film hardly sets out to promise anything it doesn't deliver in bucket loads, its hardly trying to be Shakespeare.

Geek fact : Karl Urban was originally up for the lead role. Hmm. that name rings a bell. Anyone?

Funny review which sums it up nicely :
http://outlawvern.com/2009/05/19/outlander/

Def worth watching. I might grab it on DVD just for the brilliant combat suits worn in the beginning.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 February, 2012, 11:31:24 PM
I quite enjoyed Outlander, but Vern has been my number one film critic for about a decade!

Couldn't face hanging around town in the cold for three-quarters of an hour to see Coriolanus tonight so came home and watched Legion on DVD instead. I definitely know who got the shitty end of that stick.

To give the film its due, the first twenty minutes weren't bad. You get a Terminator style entrance, a bit of action then cut to a decent assembling of the cast in a manner reminiscent of Precinct 13 by way of the diner episode of Sandman. Nothing too heavy-handed at this point. Just a flash of the short order cook's dog tags and so forth. Then the first demonically possessed old lady turns up and it all goes to shit in a hail of ropey effects badly edited (or heavily cut) unexplained timeshifts, rubbish fight choreography, overlong and underwritten character scenes and angels with machine guns.

The unexplained sounding of a heavenly trump for several minutes in anticipation of Gabriel's appearance was a nice touch. Not as good as the goose from War Horse though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 02 February, 2012, 04:35:37 AM
Quote from: Teivion on 01 February, 2012, 02:07:24 PM
OUTLANDER  which was on TV last night.
Loved it. Really nice production design and effects, decent acting, a really good, enjoyable watch.
It looks like it bombed at the cinema, and online has mixed reviews- saying not that its bad, but a 'bit silly in places'.  Odd really as the film hardly sets out to promise anything it doesn't deliver in bucket loads, its hardly trying to be Shakespeare.
Geek fact : Karl Urban was originally up for the lead role. Hmm. that name rings a bell. Anyone?
Funny review which sums it up nicely :
http://outlawvern.com/2009/05/19/outlander/
Def worth watching. I might grab it on DVD just for the brilliant combat suits worn in the beginning.

Ah, Outlander, the movie that John McTiernan's The 13th Warrior should have been, if McTiernan had helmed Outlander, it would have been awesome - as long as the gorgeous Sophia Myles is still in it, that is!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 February, 2012, 10:28:33 AM
Tropic Thunder. - had high hopes but it was shit. A handful of good gags, mainly from Downey Jr, but I find Ben Stiller incredibly annoying at the best of times, more than usually so in this film. I couldn't work out why the scenes with the producer were so lengthy and indulgent (an d not very funny), until I realised at the end who was under the make-up. *sigh* The fake trailers at the beginning were the funniest part of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 03 February, 2012, 04:52:08 PM
Martha Marcy May Marlene. Just a superlative feature. Elizabeth Olsen is this year's most glaring Oscar omission, especially as she wipes the floor with Rooney Mara's showy Batman-impersonation. John Hawkes may just be one of the best character actors working today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 03 February, 2012, 06:15:14 PM
My daughter wants to see this film so we're off to the Corner House in Manchester to catch it. Read the blurb. Sounds interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2012, 07:54:37 PM
Lined up a giant robot quadruple bill, followed tomorrow by all three 1950s Creature From The Black Lagoon movies and Journey 2 - the Rock and Michael Caine?  Like I could ever pretend I wasn't going to validate that motherfucker with cinema cash!

Watched G Savior - the American (actually made in Caneda) Gundam movie, and Robot Jox so far.  Robot Jox fails spectacularly in so many ways, but apart from a duff script, it's not for lack of effort - the robot scraps are pretty impressive for a no-budget flick whose biggest star is the human from the Alien Nation tv series, and trite and unconvincing as the ending may be, there's something fucking awesome about giant robot pilots fist-bumping as the credits roll that could only be better if they were doing it while having sex with the same woman from different ends.
BUY THIS MOVIE and make sure you get beer in.  It has a character called Tex who wears a cowboy hat.  You know you want it.
G Savior sucks ass.  I say that less as a Gundam fan and more someone with eyes and ears.  Don't do it.

Air Force One, which I actually watched at 5am this morning when the bastard workmen woke me up with their hammering in the downstairs flat, so maybe it was my sleep-deprived mind imagining it but this movie is amazing.  15 years on and I still can't believe they made something this fucking stupid with a straight face, but they did.  Harrison Ford plays the president of America who walks around killing communists or saluting people, he has no neutral setting.  After he - SPOILER! - kills the bad guy, there's at least two action setpieces still to come, and one of them - an airman takes a "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" bullet for the Prez while flying a plane - had me laughing like a drain.  It also has Glen Close as Vice Prez, Al from Quantum Leap doing something, and him from CSI, who also takes a bullet for the Prez and still has the energy later to say how awesome the President is.  And he's right.  I'd easily watch this again when roused by unruly workmen but for the fact I have already resolved to go downstairs and kill them with a hammer instead, but give this a watch if it comes on telly, it's a real hoot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 03 February, 2012, 08:07:19 PM
Any fans of 'The Keep' by Micheal Mann?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 03 February, 2012, 08:07:20 PM
I feel so sorry for your one-percenter person that you may be awoken by humble workmen, oh vaunted doctor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2012, 08:32:20 PM
Don't rub your oik status in my face like it means anything, I'm the one percent, and "Workmen" is misleading - it's one guy who is actually worth millions.
He bought the flat when there was only rats in it and occasionally he smashes holes in it at odd hours, but never finishes any of the jobs he starts on it and it now basically looks like that colony bit in Aliens where they're walking about discussing what Newt's family are up to.  I went down like a bear at 5am to shout at him but he wouldn't answer the front door, so I went outside and looked in the rear window and he was crouched and hiding behind a door in the back room pretending he wasn't in.  According to an uncle of mine, this guy is up at odd hours because "He can't settle - there's men after him."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 February, 2012, 08:37:08 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 03 February, 2012, 08:32:20 PM
He bought the flat when there was only rats in it and occasionally he smashes holes in it at odd hours, but never finishes any of the jobs he starts on it..  [...]  ...he was crouched and hiding behind a door in the back room pretending he wasn't in.  According to an uncle of mine, this guy is up at odd hours because "He can't settle - there's men after him."

Wow, you actually met Buttonman?  I thought he was just a story they tell to scare postmen...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 03 February, 2012, 08:48:25 PM
Maybe he lives in a Benny Hill sketch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2012, 09:08:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 February, 2012, 08:37:08 PMWow, you actually met Buttonman?  I thought he was just a story they tell to scare postmen...

In this part of East Tyrone "there's men after him" actually does carry an implication that there are gentlemen with guns - possibly explosives - in the equation, rather than just comics nerds with hammers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 February, 2012, 09:14:21 PM
Ah, that's a different type of Buttonman so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 04 February, 2012, 12:57:58 AM
The Guard.; Funny but could have been funnier. A little too reclined.

TinkerTailorSoldierSpy. Still couldn't keep up with the plot and had to let the show just tell me at the end. Oh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 04 February, 2012, 09:10:04 AM
Setup
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748197/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748197/)

Bruce Willis and some rapper called 20 Pence

Take all the cut scenes from GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and GTA IV and stick them together randomly.
Crap
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 February, 2012, 10:53:37 AM
Went to see Young Adult last night. I'm a huge fan of director Jason (son of Ivan) Reitman, but for me this fell some way short of his previous offerings Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up In The Air - the latter being one of my favourite films of recent years.

There's some great performances - Charlize Theron was perfectly brittle and damaged in the lead role, and Patton Oswalt was great too in support, and there's a nice, bleakly comic tone - but it just felt like something was missing. It also felt like a conscious effort to make a more 'mature' film, which to me translated as the whole thing seeming a bit ponderous and ever so slightly boring, especially during the first half. Could have done with certain characters being fleshed out a little more, a bit more to get your teeth into. I also wasn't quite sure, by the end, exactly what the film was trying to say.

Not helped by a few twats in the cinema who chatted throughout, especially annoying during what is a very quiet, subdued film. What really got me was it wasn't even as if they got bored with the film, which would have been understandable as its certainly not for everyone and those expecting Bridesmaids 2 will be disappointed - they didn't even give it a chance and were talking even during the opening scene.

A shout of "shut up!" only made them talk louder. You can't win with Arseholes like that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 04 February, 2012, 12:02:58 PM
Things like that is becoming common. The advent of the mobile phone is a godsend for annoying idiots, it's the world we are creating for ourselves unfortunately.


You've read the book now see the film
(http://i.imgur.com/sDNXw.jpg)

John Ford's famous 1940 adaption of Steinbeck's novel. Migrant workers looking for better wages. Ironic that a film that was accussed of being pro-Communist was banned by Stalin in the Soviet Union because it depicted American citizens who were too poor to own a car. With films it is always a fine line between art and propaganda.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2012, 12:51:37 AM
For the rest of my giant robot marathon, I watched Crash and Burn, Robot Wars, and Real Steel.  Crash and Burn only has a giant robot at the end, despite what the cover may imply with its "the weapons of the future are alive" tagline, which is misleading again as this actually refers to a Terminator-type robot that chases the cast around a warehouse for most of the film in between scenes with a young Megan "Dark Skies" Ward pouting at the viewer/into a mirror while mashing her baps.  It's alright, I suppose, but looks very cheap and isn't the best-acted thing you'll come across.
Despite being billed as a sequel to the trashy-but-fun Robot Jox, Robot Wars has nothing to do with that film, and does try to have a lot more going on than there was in Jox despite not having much of a budget to work with.  It charts a day in the life of an arsehole bus driver (I imagine that narrows it down), except instead of buses, they have giant robot scorpions armed with lasers in the future, and the scorpions get shot at by pirates and for some reason people think this is a safer mode of transportation than flying.  I would have so many reasons not to take the interstate roboscorpion even before someone mentioned that mutant pirates shoot at it with tanks, but this is the future and they do things differently here, like having huge showdowns between giant scorpions (that look copyright-threateningly close to a certain Zoid design) and a giant robot wrestler that cap off a film and which just ends in the middle of the fight with nothing resolved and the baddie still alive and his big robot still functional and then the credits roll.  That is bullshit, the main character is a prick, and no-one says anything amusing.  This flick should have been great but is just dull.
I did not expect to like Real Steel, but it is surprisingly fun.  It's the kind of film where a character says "What I want, dad, is for you to fight for me!" in the context of a conversation about contested legal guardianship of a child, but which the dad thinks means "beat someone up even though this in no way will reward you with legal custody" and the dad is 100 percent right and anyone who brought common sense to this film - which opens with a rodeo fight where a robot does a suplex on a bull in the middle of a fistfight with it - is doing it wrong.  Hugh Jackman is a total asshole until he suddenly isn't for some reason, and there's this bit where he comes into the bedroom of this woman he's basically had an adversarial relationship with - not even flirty - while she's asleep and gets into bed with her and snuggles up and rather than wake up screaming and going for a knife, she just sleeps on like it's nowt - the human relationships in this film are really strange, with plots looking like they might go somewhere but then don't, even the robot seeming to have a plot suggesting intelligence or emotions ("he's like no robot I've ever seen", then long close-ups of the robot silently observing people or sitting alone staring into space) that goes nowhere at all.  There's also lots of anachronisms like non-digital photography and Bing still being around in thirty years when it's a huge failure in the here and now, but even though it doesn't make any sense and lots of scenes are unnecessary and meaningless, it's just so unrelentingly dumb you'd have to be a real jerk to hate it, if for no other reason than it's a film about robot boxing and you know what you'll get going in.  It's loud and stupid, and if that's your bag, you'd maybe like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 05 February, 2012, 03:00:45 AM
Just watched Brighton Rock and as the story goes the original stands out a mile, in tension building and dramatics. As cinematography goes it beats Tinker Tailor by a mile. All the olive and tan sepia filter thoroughly clogged up the story. Most of the time your eyes are wading through mould to see any interpersonal communication. Or plot development. Or feel tension building.

Both fail on bringing to the screen anything more than subdued realism of humdrum lives through the acting. I really do wish people were that unpredictably calm. Everywhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2012, 05:37:31 PM
We watched Insidious last night and despite being quite hardy horror fans I'm ashamed to admit a little bit of fear poops came out here and there. It's really refreshingly old school, in a sort of eighties Poltergeist-esque haunted house thrill ride sort of way, and genuinely fecking creepy for it. The scares tail off at times (it does better when it's teasing the hauntings instead of giving them a ton of camera time) but overall it was a very good ghost house movie. Also, great title sequences seem to be a dying art but the titles in this film are lovely, very subtle and atmospheric and with a super old school title card. I approve.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uks9qGwV4lM/Tgtr5COcb3I/AAAAAAAAAqs/YjlMjK88Ayk/s640/insidious+2.jpg)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 February, 2012, 05:43:54 PM
Saw 'Limitless' and 'Sherlock Hlmes' last night at a friend's.

Limitless was a movie I had very low expectations of, but it's actually pretty good. Neat premise, and it's that rare beast - a modern movie that DOESN'T completely waste Robert DeNiro.

I'd not seen the first Sherlock Holmes movie before. Pleasantly surprised. Robert Downey Jr. makes a great Holmes. Rachel McAddams  would make a better Mrs. HdE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 05 February, 2012, 10:30:33 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/hqY8G.jpg)

All the snow outside put me in the mood to stick my feet up by the fire and watch this before bedtime.
I love it, a charming horror film a bit in the style of Hammer films. Inspired a song by the group "Bad Brains".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2012, 12:50:49 AM
Creature From The Black Lagoon is pretty awesome for an old flick.  The Gill Man is still really impressive in the underwater bits, a mix of terrifying and creepy when he's swimming about under hot tamale Julia Adams, especially when you realise that rather than just not grabbing her and dragging her to her watery grave because the director is drawing things out for cheap tension, the creature is engaging in a kind of mating dance and doesn't realise he can't be seen.  There's some spooktastic bits like the monster just coming on board while people are sitting around having a chat and murdering whom he pleases, and the odd genuine jump.  Great flick.
Revenge Of The Creature sees him reduced to more of a fishy stalker who farts out the top of his head when he swims now for some reason, and isn't as good as the first one, but there's some solid moments in there, like his total lack of horror movie monster logic by not hiding or engineering the best moment to jump out on people for maximum scares, he just clambers out of his fishtank and starts throwing people around and roaring at kids while tannoy announcers pretty much just shout "THE FISH MAN IS COMING TO KILL YOU ALL" as people shit kegs and run like billy-o all over the place, which is probably sensible since he starts throwing cars rather than walk around them at this point.  The last bit of the film is just him skulking about being a fishy rapist before the exact same shot of his "death" is re-used from the first film.  Still a good flick, mind.
The Creature Walks Among Us has a scene early on where someone says "let's find the creature and fix the only weakness that has allowed him to be stopped during previous rampages."  This plan does not end well.  Diminishing returns has set in by this stage, but there's still the odd bit that's good, like the atypical (for the 1950s) shotgun-toting trigger-happy totty and still-impressive Gill Man suit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 06 February, 2012, 08:51:11 AM
Reviews of The Grey, and Chronicle!

http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/movie-reviews-chronicle-the-grey/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 06 February, 2012, 09:26:46 AM
I agree about Creature frm the Black Lagoon, I saw it for the first time about a 2 months ago and was very impressed by how well-made it was, particularly the underwater scenes. The costume was great.


I watched a movie called Train last night. Another one of those slasher/serial killer/torture porn type things. This one worked very well though and ticked all the right  boxes for me. Good cast, characters I actually worried about and wanted to see survive, despicable, horrible villains who I couldnt wait to see get what was coming to them...and Thora Birch. I really like Thora Birch, she seems to elevate anything she is in from what could be mediocre or meh to something highly watchable. She was great in this. Enjoyed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buddy on 06 February, 2012, 11:48:09 AM
Watched A History of Violence on Sat night... Seen it before but it's a real crackin film, only spoiler in it is William Hurt hamming it up with a silly beard... and he got oscar nominated for it too!

This was followed by The Fly (Film 4 doing a Cronenberg double bill).. loved it on initial release and it still holds up very well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 06 February, 2012, 03:14:22 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/VgUxi.jpg)

"They don't like it up 'em. And it's true you know, they don't."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 06 February, 2012, 03:24:09 PM
I actually saw that a few years ago and it was horrible, horrible, horrible, and not in an enjoyable way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 06 February, 2012, 06:44:11 PM
It was a low budget film, so the sfx weren't all that good. Was that why you didn't enjoy it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 06 February, 2012, 06:55:25 PM
Quote from: Buddy on 06 February, 2012, 11:48:09 AM
Watched A History of Violence on Sat night... Seen it before but it's a real crackin film, only spoiler in it is William Hurt hamming it up with a silly beard... and he got oscar nominated for it too!

And the horrible "Philly" accents.

Like, you know when the Sopranos was really big and everyone walked around trying to do "Big Pussy" impersonations? Remember how horrible that sounded? That's the way the accents in A History of Violence sound to the ear of a native Philadelphian. Viggo's in particular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 06 February, 2012, 08:11:03 PM
Quote from: wonkychop on 06 February, 2012, 06:44:11 PM
It was a low budget film, so the sfx weren't all that good. Was that why you didn't enjoy it?

I don't think it was that, I'm not that bothered about fx really. From memory it was just a bit too surreal for me. I have a feeling copious amounts of alcohol and/or drugs being consumed beforehand would make it much more enjoyable! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 06 February, 2012, 09:51:19 PM
Nah! It ain't that kind of film. It's just a riotous romp through violence. It pokes fun at films in general methinks. The part where he changes into a woman/hooker and dances on stage was really grotesque. I wouldn't call it surreal, but it's definitely nightmarish. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 07 February, 2012, 08:39:43 AM
Cool. My memory of it could be wrong. Maybe it was the jester character himself who annoyed me, I just know something about it rubbed me up the wrong way.

Since I've signed up for the months free trial of Netflix I'm picking a movie at random every night to watch. I seem to be getting more misses than hits, though I do like the service. It's like a game, in a way, the more you watch, the more you unlock. Every time I log in to it new movies are appearing based on what I just watched the night before. This is somehow strangely rewarding, and compelling! Although since I mostly watch horror and slasher flicks, the list of categories it has created for me now reads like a serial killers shopping list! Last night I got a dud though - The Devil's Tomb. I suppose I should have been tipped off by the fact it starred Cuba Gooding Jr ,but it also had Ron Perlman, Bill Moseley and Ray Winstone so I thought it might be okay. It was pretty poor though, one of those very cheap efforts where the whole thing is set in an underground lab, running around in circles all the time. It was basically an Aliens wannabe but watered down to nothing. Directed by Jason Connery, I'm sure dad Sean can't have been overly impressed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 07 February, 2012, 11:31:23 AM
What probably rubbed you up the wrong way were the Michael Cainesque asides to the camera. People either love or hate this kind of thing; it breaks the illusion of the film and reminds the viewer that we are watching something made up and not reality.

A sadistic dwarf dressed in motley dishing out medieval type punishments will always get my vote.

Maybe your last film seemed like a dud is because you've watched that many on NetFlix they're all starting to look the same to you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 07 February, 2012, 04:56:19 PM
Just reworking my way through the Blade Runner 5 disc box set from a couple of years ago.
Tonight will be Disc 2. Dangerous Days - the feature length making of... (three and a half hours long!)
Im hard pressed to think of a better, or more definitive DVD package than this. Brilliant stuff.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 07 February, 2012, 05:28:56 PM
Like Van Dom, I've just got NexFlix...I've been watching zombie films, lots and lots of zombie (or infected films, if you prefer, but the scenarios are all the same).

After slogging through a bunch of duds (Quick and the Undead, anyone) I met with a bit of success last night, watching Quarantine 2: Terminal - and finding myself surprised that I liked it. Sure, it wasn't a good movie by any means, but the lead actress had charisma and there were a few tense moments. And the filmmakers abandoned the "documentary" approach, which I've never particularly liked. I always wonder why the hell someone would keep the camera rolling instead of running for his life!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 07 February, 2012, 06:52:26 PM
LOD do you have Pontypool? Have you watched it. It's a zombie movie with a difference, very very good. (I thought anyway). Worth a look, mate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Third Estate Ned on 07 February, 2012, 08:04:11 PM
Whatever you do don't watch I, Zombie: the chronicles of pain. It's possibly the most tedious film involving the murder and eating of innocent friends of the film crew ever recorded. I've seen a fair amount of crap in the search for anything that equals the Romero ilk and, fortunately, this is the only one I've seen featuring a zombie having a wank. Worse still, the outcome of the act is predictable.

Info (if you care): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210740/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210740/)

Can anyone tell me how to hyperlink so that you get clickable blue text, rather than pasting and showing the URL?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 February, 2012, 08:19:43 PM
Quote from: Dr. Dog on 07 February, 2012, 08:04:11 PM
Can anyone tell me how to hyperlink so that you get clickable blue text, rather than pasting and showing the URL?

You do it like this. (http://www.bbcode.org/reference.php)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 February, 2012, 08:44:42 PM
I've wonderd about that for ages! legendary Shark, you are a ... um... a...

...

A legendary shark?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 07 February, 2012, 09:27:32 PM
Film about an evil djinn Ahura Mazda, released in 1997.

(http://i.imgur.com/Ej3nD.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 07 February, 2012, 09:28:58 PM
Now that one I really enjoyed. Sequels weren't up to much but the original was pretty cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 07 February, 2012, 09:33:26 PM
You like a bit of the black magic, eh? I love the old hammer versions of Dennis Wheatley novels. It reminded me of those in a way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 07 February, 2012, 10:05:10 PM
Finally got round to watching Source Code. Very, very good, I thought.
Looking forward to Duncan Jones' next outing, whatever it turns out to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 07 February, 2012, 10:46:54 PM
Just finished the last episode of Arrested Development. This has to be the best written television of all time, at least the best plotted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 08 February, 2012, 01:18:11 AM
Quote from: Noisybast on 07 February, 2012, 10:05:10 PM
Finally got round to watching Source Code. Very, very good, I thought.
Looking forward to Duncan Jones' next outing, whatever it turns out to be.

Not his preferred choice, a properly mad and crazy Judge Dredd movie with Judge Death and the League of Fatties... more's the pity!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 08 February, 2012, 08:43:15 AM
You never know what might happen further down the line. There's always room for sequels...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 08 February, 2012, 02:38:06 PM
Very much enjoyed Martha Marcy May Marlene the other night. She's really the little sister of Mary-Kate & Ashley?? The mind boggles. John Hawkes is fantastic.

Gonna follow it tonight with the new Conan (despite multiple warnings not to bother!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 08 February, 2012, 05:53:16 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 08 February, 2012, 02:38:06 PM
Gonna follow it tonight with the new Conan (despite multiple warnings not to bother!).

Have I given you that warning yet? If not, don't watch it. ...my conscience is clear.

Quote from: Van Dom on 07 February, 2012, 06:52:26 PM
LOD do you have Pontypool? Have you watched it. It's a zombie movie with a difference, very very good. (I thought anyway). Worth a look, mate.

I watched this last night. What a strange film. I completely bought into the scenario - great tension, having an epidemic unfold via radio reports. The actual disease...I found that a bit wonky, but overall I enjoyed it. I tried Waking the Undead as a chaser and only managed about 15 minutes of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 February, 2012, 07:47:06 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 08 February, 2012, 02:38:06 PM
Gonna follow it tonight with the new Conan (despite multiple warnings not to bother!).

As much as I HATED Conan, if you are not a Conan fan you might like it. My wife has only ever seen the Conan the Barbarian from 1982 and she said she enjoyed it as a sword and sandal type film.

If you've ever read any Robert E. Howard stories though you will be dismayed.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Third Estate Ned on 08 February, 2012, 07:51:55 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 February, 2012, 08:19:43 PM
Quote from: Dr. Dog on 07 February, 2012, 08:04:11 PM
Can anyone tell me how to hyperlink so that you get clickable blue text, rather than pasting and showing the URL?

You do it like this. (http://www.bbcode.org/reference.php)

Thanks, that's very kind, Legendary Shark. Until I hovered over the link and saw what it was, though, I thought you were just being cheeky. Ta or the info.

Back to the thread, watched Polanski's new one Carnage. Appreciated that they wanted to create a close, claustrophobic feeling so that the characters seem trapped in each other's unwanted company BUT the whole time I was thinking: just leave the f'ing flat, will you! Everyone else seemed to like it but me, which was the inverse reaction to Terminator Salvation at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 08 February, 2012, 09:05:10 PM
Read a review of Carnage. Doesn't it have Kate Winslet in it.? From what you've said Drdog it sounds similar to a Jean Paul Satre play No Exit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 February, 2012, 10:45:02 PM
Zombieland.

Very enjoyable if a bit predictable in places.* Not a bad thing,  though. It still managed to do something different. And it was funny in places.

*Don't highlight unless you've seen it: [spoiler]Who didn't forecast what would happen to BM when he played that trick, for one thing. Actually the whole ending scene after that was kinda odd... I didn't really buy the tragedy, but I think maybe that was intentional what with the girl laughing and all. The bit after that was genuinely heart rending though.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 February, 2012, 11:15:53 PM
Three Musketeers, which is the most willfully stupid film I can recall seeing - and that's coming from a man who within the last seven days has watched a film that opened with a fistfight between a robot and a bull which then got stupider.  It's so dumb that it actually caught me off-guard several times with the depths of stupidity it could plumb, which does not actually happen very often.  Airship battles, laser tripwires, ninja fights, Aramis as Batman, the Duke of Buckingham cosplaying as Adam Ant, and a theme song which features the lyrics "and then we were traveling at the speed of love", this is easily one of the most entertaining things I've seen in ages and if you can't find it in your heart to enjoy it then I think you're a jerk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 09 February, 2012, 11:27:11 AM
Quotefistfight between a robot and a bull
Sounds awesome.

Watched The Human Centipede 2 last night. I liked how they integrated the previous movie. Nice touch. The rest of the film is just depraved.

It's a decent film and the lead character is well played considering he doesn't speak for the entire movie. But...my god is this film a wrong un. They've gone for it, all guns blazing, to make the most horrible film they could possibly make and for that I applaud them because they sucedeed. It's truly disgusting. Do yourself a favour, don't watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 09 February, 2012, 03:53:30 PM
You do realise telling me not to watch Human Centipede 2 just makes me want to watch it more than I did before, don't you. :)

Watched the remake of Amityville Horror last night. It sucked. Ryan Reynolds did well enough with his role I guess and there were a couple of genuine good scares, but overall it was all a bit plodding and tedious with a predictable ending (which was actually nearly avoided) .

Also started to watch something called The Strangers, with Liv Tyler, but after 15 minutes when the two leads were still moping around their house because the girl had just turned down the guys marriage proposal I was bored out of my brain and had to turn it off. Has anybody seen this? Is it worth going back to?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 09 February, 2012, 10:03:31 PM
Film set in Johannesburg called "Tsotsi". This is good, based on a novel by Athol Fugard, I won't give the story away but it involves a ganster/thug who is more or less "on the road to Damascus". It's good 10 out of 10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 February, 2012, 12:35:09 PM
Bronson - demented and entertaining biopic of the other Charles Bronson. Amazing performance by Tom Hardy.

Valhalla Rising by the same director - after a promising start, it quickly descends into ponderous, self indulgent, plotless bollocks. Clearly a lot of talent involved in the direction, cinematography, editing and acting, all of which (IMO) counts for very little without an engaging story. And I twigged the twist - if you can call it that - about half an hour in. Avoid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 11 February, 2012, 12:47:15 PM
Now see I'm the other way round - loved Valhalla Rising, found it very immersive, cinematography and score and Mads Mikkelson looking all fucked up and primal. But Bronson I found a bit too self aware, despite looking forward to it a lot and also loving 'Drive'. Maybe I built it up too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 February, 2012, 12:52:32 PM
PONTYPOOL

Loved it. A great character piece and underplayed zombie madness with a really cheery ending ([spoiler]the main characters find a way to cure the infection but are bombed to pieced by the miliraty before they can tell anyone[/spoiler]).

Nice variation on the infection, too: infected words make you go zombie, so speaking is a problem - especially as the film is set entirely in a talk radio station!

It's based on the book Pontypool Changes Everything, which I tried to read years ago but found to be a confusion mess. It may have been written to be a confusing mess (it's from the point of view of the infected as they go mad) but that didn't make it readable.

It's kicking about the Horror Channel, if anyone fancies it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 February, 2012, 01:17:12 PM
I didn't love either film to be fair, but at least Bronson actually had things happening in it, some humour and a memorable central performance. A sloppy but entertaining film.

Really don't understand how anyone could appreciate Valhalla Rising on anything other than a superficial technical level. As I said, lovely looking, atmospheric film and clearly made by talented people, but it's a plotless, pretentious bore through and through. Felt like a big budget student film.

Out of the six of us watching it, two fell asleep long before the end. I was astonished to find afterwards that it was just over 90 minutes long, as it felt like well over 120.

Drive felt to me a lot more focused and restrained. A gorgeous looking, stylish and sweet film with a real sense of menace and an engaging relationship at its heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 February, 2012, 01:27:20 PM
QuoteReally don't understand how anyone could appreciate Valhalla Rising on anything other than a superficial technical level. As I said, lovely looking, atmospheric film and clearly made by talented people, but it's a plotless, pretentious bore through and through. Felt like a big budget student film.

Yes, it was a real waste of talent I thought. Particularly the endless middle section with a load of thesps pondering in an obviously studio bound boat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 11 February, 2012, 02:28:41 PM
I f##kin love that bit. I think it should be viewed as a kind of earth based Space journey as they travel from the their world to the 'New World' and trip the f##k out when they eventually get their. Such a great movie. I've said it before earlier in this tread but Refin ROCKS!! Put that in yer pipe and smoke it. Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 11 February, 2012, 02:41:07 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 09 February, 2012, 03:53:30 PM
You do realise telling me not to watch Human Centipede 2 just makes me want to watch it more than I did before, don't you. :)

If the stories you've written are anything to go by, you would probably enjoy it, you sicko :) It is a good film, i watched the uncut version which prob didn't help.

Valhalla Rising - What a waste of my life that was. Resent that film for looking like it should be brilliant and being so so rubbish.

Watched Dale and Tucker VS Evil last night - Quality film. A must for fans of college students hunted by hillbillys movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 11 February, 2012, 02:51:50 PM
Your so wrong about 'Valhalla Rising'. Like sprouts, your filmic taste buds may hate it now but you will eventually come to love it as they mature. Trust. Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 February, 2012, 03:42:39 PM
Quote from: bigjobs67 on 11 February, 2012, 02:28:41 PM
I f##kin love that bit. I think it should be viewed as a kind of earth based Space journey as they travel from the their world to the 'New World' and trip the f##k out when they eventually get their. Such a great movie. I've said it before earlier in this tread but Refin ROCKS!! Put that in yer pipe and smoke it. Lol.

It should be view as that, you're right. But is was painfully obvious it was nothing but filler (and ploddingly written filler at that) that was there because they hadn't got the budget to film any more on the water.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 11 February, 2012, 04:13:47 PM
Maybe! but still affecting and not a cliched epic sea voyage type thing in any way shape or form.
A bit of the 'Kubrick' about it I thought.
Also loved the scene where they all get messed up on some strange viking 'Peyote' with Mads Mikkelsen character (incredibly brutalized but ultimately sorted) the only one to hold his shit together as everyone else starts freaking out.
Gonna watch this again on Blue ray with a gin+juice and a big fat doobe! Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 February, 2012, 06:24:51 PM
Narrative is a cage. I thought Mikkelson was electrifying in this and the score was almost as good: http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=24797.0
Quote from: The Cosh on 16 November, 2010, 10:06:48 PM
Story - 3/10
Atmosphere - 11/10
Bug-eyed intensity - 9/10

Looks and sounds amazing and Mads Mikkelson is fabulous in this. Admittedly, almost everyone else is awful. I'd love to see him fight Snake Plisskin for the title of World's Hardest Monocular Man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 February, 2012, 06:33:42 PM
QuoteNarrative is a cage.

I disagree completely with that. Narrative is essential - without one I get bored very quickly. Pretty pictures aren't enough on their own to sustain my interest for 90+ minutes. If you're just making what is essentially a mood piece, then why make it a very padded feature length film - Valhalla Rising would have been infinitely better as a short film. I thought the soundtrack was ok, but bordering on distracting/irritating at times.

Out of interest, would you watch it again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 11 February, 2012, 07:03:39 PM
Over and over and over! lol. You on for a bit of 'Quatermas and the Pit'? BOYYY!!!!. The Copper talkin about 'Hobbs End'. shits me rite up every time. get this on blue ray. Trust.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 11 February, 2012, 11:19:23 PM
Because I'm a masochist I went to see The Phantom Menace 3D-it's still a load of bollocks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 11 February, 2012, 11:21:13 PM
Just watched an excellent film called "The Secret Agent". It's a 12 cert so I didn't think it would be much good after reading the book but I was really pleased with it. It's got a good cast : Bob Hoskins, Gerard Depardieu, Christian Bale and Patricia Arquette are in it, along with Robin Williams who plays a loony of a terrorist. I was totally carried along by the story and great acting.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 12 February, 2012, 02:19:17 AM
Tucker & Dale Vs Evil.

Claims to do for rednecks what Shaun of the dead did for zombies.....and it fails. Not that its a bad film but its no Shaun of the dead.
Its clever in that the high school kids only ever hear the worst parts of any conversation and jump to the wrong idea and it shows how classic scenes may have been misconstrued.

Not a brilliant flick but not the worst 80 odd mins i ever sat through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 12 February, 2012, 07:20:41 AM
I finally got round to watching Scott Pilgrim last night. Quite enjoyed it and, as ever, Edgar Wright was wonderful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 February, 2012, 03:28:53 PM
Quote from: radiator on 11 February, 2012, 06:33:42 PM
QuoteNarrative is a cage.
I disagree completely with that. Narrative is essential - without one I get bored very quickly. Pretty pictures aren't enough on their own to sustain my interest for 90+ minutes. If you're just making what is essentially a mood piece, then why make it a very padded feature length film - Valhalla Rising would have been infinitely better as a short film. I thought the soundtrack was ok, but bordering on distracting/irritating at times.

Out of interest, would you watch it again?
Good question. I think I would, although I probably wouldn't go out my way to and I might get fed up halfway through. I wouldn't argue that it may have been more effective as a short but, for me, the problem with it overall wasn't the lengthy posing around in funny colour scenes but how wooden every other performance is when compared to Mikkelson. That is particularly problematic during the boat scene.

As for narrative, well I don't think every film should be a freeform collection of sense impressions and jarring cuts, nor would I want everything I watch to be like that. However, I do think there are a lot of different things that can be done in film and telling a story is just one of them. I'm not suggesting they're equivalent but look at something like Pulp Fiction. The actual plot is so slight that even chopping it up and showing it out of sequence it's almost non-existent. Instead, almost everything worthwhile and memorable about it is simply texture and mood: a series of neat vignettes connected only in the loosest of fashions by the same characters.

There are also some pretty obvious similarities between Valhalla Rising and Bronson: both clearly start with the idea of a strong central character, get a good actor in to play him then attempt to explore, if not necessarily illuminate, him in an unusual way. Actually from what I remember of Pusher it fits that template to an extent too and Drive sounds like a Hollywoody variation on the same theme, although I haven't seen it yet.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a fabulous film but I did enjoy it and still find it interesting even though I know it's up itself. Did you know what to expect from it? I ask because most of the ire I've seen directed at it was from people who had been expecting more of a straightforward action outing whereas I knew in advance what I was getting.

I guess we have differing tastes on the music too. I actually waited for the credits to roll so I could see who it was by before leaving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 12 February, 2012, 04:01:14 PM
The DVD cover, poster and trailer I saw made it look like a non stop action movie with battle scenes and blood aplenty. Might have appreciated it more if I hadn't seen these things first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 12 February, 2012, 09:26:41 PM
Hard Candy.
Well.
That was....fun.
Heavy material very well played by Ellen Page in particular.
That 'castration' scene though...holy fuck. I had to hold on to my balls and avoid direct eye contact with the tv screen throughout its ten minute duration......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 February, 2012, 09:42:35 PM
THE CHANGE UP

Stiff lawyer Jason Bateman and his womanising stoner buddy Ryan Reynolds accidentally exchange bodies and hilarity ensues while they learn a little bit about each other and a lot about themselves..

OK, you know  exactly where it is going but it has two good central performances and some fantastic gags (and top swearing).

Oh and Olivia Wild. Yum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 12 February, 2012, 11:32:41 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/EAfpp.jpg)

1975 film set in Hollywood in 1930's. Bunch of wannabes trying to find success in films. Hollywood is depicted as a vast dream dump where every human dream in the collective unconscious is debased and turned into cheap entertainment. Human longings and desires are titillated but never fulfilled by this industry. A huge riot at the end of the film shows where such manipulation leads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 12 February, 2012, 11:45:13 PM
Watched Centurion last night.  Eagle the night before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 13 February, 2012, 12:00:10 AM
I went to watch 'The Woman In Black' today at the cinema and it was actually quite frightening

Really surprised it has a 12A rating

Good film
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 February, 2012, 12:37:51 PM
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
I'll admit I was disappointed in this. I was looking forward to a lush, romantic tear jerker (no, really) with some elements of time travel in it but the emotional core just seemed slightly off.  Not a tear in sight come the ending even from Mrs Tips who cries at *everything*.

Eric Bana is often the best thing in the things he's in but not this time - he seemed far too blase about his condition [spoiler]and resigned to a fate when he didn't need to be[/spoiler].  And he didn't sparkle with grown up Rachel in the slightest.

There were a couple of cute time travel elements (the old meeting out of order thing and her shagging [spoiler]the pre-op version of[/spoiler] him) but they missed the chance to explore other bigger  things; [spoiler]what if he comes back in ten years time when she has moved on to another man?  what can the (slightly creepy) daughter do to control her time travel?[/spoiler]


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 13 February, 2012, 09:27:15 PM
'Dark Star' re issue on Blue Ray. It's the 'BOMB'. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 14 February, 2012, 08:32:12 AM
Scary Movie 4. Thought I'd seen all of these but turns out I missed this one somehow. Expected it to be shit but I laughed pretty much non-stop throughout its 80 minutes, so how can you begrudge it, job done.
God I love Anna Faris. She's just amazing/enthralling/captivating to look at. She even made The Hot Chick watchable (no mean feat).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 14 February, 2012, 02:19:19 PM
Heartless: a British indie horror film complete with Demon hoodies.
not a bad wee watch nice creature design but a little confusing at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 14 February, 2012, 03:35:23 PM
Watched Adjustment Bureau and The Tourist in the last week.

Adjustment Bureau was good - Matt Damon is normally watchable.

The Tourist was not quite as good - Johnny Depp seemed out of place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 February, 2012, 09:59:22 PM
Murder By Decree, the story of Sherlock Holmes' pursuit of Jack the Ripper which is just as ludicrous, garish and anachronistic as the lambasted From Hell adaptation from about ten years back.  If you're into the screaming of the average Hammer outing this might be more your type of thing than it was mine, as all it seemed to me was a bunch of angry moustaches shouting at the working classes, who - alongside the upper classes - were portrayed as scum to a man, the only decency coming from middle class Dr Watson, and even he is vocally derisive of the notion of social equality and treats the oiks like housepets.  It can be argued I might be overthinking a lurid melodrama, but in my defence it started it by shoehorning in a sub-plot about the anti-monarchist/anarchist movement that contributes nothing to the overall story.  I liked Christopher Plummer as Holmes and James Mason as Watson, but that's about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 14 February, 2012, 10:11:23 PM
Chronicle

Really good, original take on the superhero thang, in a Blair Witch/Cloverfield stylee

Only bummer was having to sit thru what felt like a 15 min trailer for This Means War
I thought i was sat in the wrong theatre for a while
What a humongous pile of shit! :)

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 February, 2012, 11:29:55 PM
Seen quite a few lately.

Like Crazy. Fairly standard low budget indie two-hander about the relationship woes of a couple of attractive, talented and quirky twentysomethings trying to carry on a transatlantic relationship. It was all a bit actor's workshop but had two or three really nicely handled scenes and a wonderfully ambiguous ending.

Underworld: Awakenings was fun. Much like the Resident Evil franchise, I've always had a very suspect soft spot for this series and this is probably the best of the bunch, although I didn't see the last on account of the lack of Beckinsale. Certainly not a landmark in the history of cinema but a decent bit of schlock with a couple of decent action scenes and the promise of yet more sequels to come.
I certainly didn't expect this to be the film that would change my mind about 3D but I think it did. At least to the extent that I now think it can be a fun addition to a film rather than an automatic irritant.

Martha, Marcy May, Marlene. Been mentioned earlier but this was an excellent film which practices restraint and understatement to wonderful effect. Think I'd be captivated if Sol from out of Deadwood wrote a song for me too. It's only in retrospect that you wonder at the madness of it. On another day I would've loved the ending but coming so soon after Like Crazy, the uncertainty went unappreciated.

Over the weekend I watched Fresh, a very neat little ghetto gangster film from the early 90s. The eponymous hero is a 12 year old kid who's caught up amongst a couple of different crews of drug dealers trying to make ends meet and work things out for his family. It features all the usual elements and stock characters of this kind of film – the loudmouthed one, the smart one, the talented one, etc – and much the same social background but doesn't have the overtly moralistic tone of, say, Boyz in the Hood.
Samuel L Jackson has a pretty good part (hard to believe given the complete lack of snakes or light sabres) as Fresh's estranged, chess hustling dad. It's almost a cheesy metaphor that runs right through to The Wire - "You come at the king, you best not miss" - so it's a shock when you finally realise exactly how this little kid has set up all the opposing groups in order to take them all down. Some of the other kids are a bit ropey but the Sean Nelson is rock solid in the lead and this is well worth a watch.

Half watched Ghost Rider on Channel Five the other night. It seemed reasonably fun but almost an hour of origin before he even goes on fire felt like a bit of a liberty. Has actually got me thinking that the sequel might be worth a watch if it's on when I'm town, which certainly wasn't the case.

Finally, this evening, My Childhood, the first part of Bill Douglas's autobiographical trilogy. If it's grim up North then it's double fucking grim growing up in Scotland in the mid 40s. Inappropriate reaction: I pissed myself laughing when they come home from the air raid shelter to find [spoiler]the cat eating the canary[/spoiler]. The boot was on the other foot a couple of minutes later when his big brother smashes fuck out of the cat, right enough.
Memorable, and not even Tips would think it too long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 16 February, 2012, 05:18:12 PM
Just about to sit and watch 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'. This may sound like sacrilege but I think I like more that the first. Anyone else agree?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 February, 2012, 05:30:26 PM
No.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 16 February, 2012, 05:46:41 PM
Fair do's. It's still a great film.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 February, 2012, 06:17:06 PM
Surely nowt beats the original?

Always thought the Apes sequels were a load of pants, but i caught Battle for.... recently and loved every cheesy moment of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 16 February, 2012, 06:38:02 PM
Yeah. I caught that too and agree. I've always loved the whole run of movies and bought them all on a box set recently.'Beneath' is a great film. Well worth a watch. Mutant humans with super mind powers that live underground in whats left of New York City and who worship a full operational Nuclear Bomb! Whats not to like.  :) (Some amzin,for their day, sets to boot).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 16 February, 2012, 07:23:32 PM
Also it contains the creepiest rendition of the hymn 'All things bright and beautiful' your ever likely to hear, Ever!!! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 16 February, 2012, 08:24:30 PM
Nude Nuns with Big Guns,
Yes its really called that. And its about as bad as you might imagine.
Does have plenty of nude nuns though. Not so much big guns.
(Am I the only one who watches these crazy films?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 16 February, 2012, 08:55:58 PM
Yes Van Dom you are - no one else wants to see Sister Wendy in the nip wielding a Kalashnikov!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 February, 2012, 09:13:36 PM
What's it about, postmodern irony?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 February, 2012, 11:49:56 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 16 February, 2012, 08:24:30 PM(Am I the only one who watches these crazy films?)

You only think you like crazy films, Dirk.  I can remember being inappropriately excited to get to see Werewolf in a Women's Prison, which is not ambiguously named, and after something like twenty years after first glancing the trailers for Rollerblade 7 (starring Frank "brother of Sylvester" Stallone) and Robot Wars at the start of some low-budget travesty that probably starred Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi or Olivier Gruner, I made a night in watching them recently.  Awful, awful films devoid of appeal even as artifacts of postmodern irony, but they task me...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 17 February, 2012, 10:32:16 AM
Possibly it's just the love of a structure of a narrative that makes you want to watch those kind of films?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 17 February, 2012, 10:49:54 AM
I just like to watch movies that are a bit off-kilter, not the norm kind of thing. Every so often this means you come across something really unique and cool. More often that not though, you just sit through shite. But, I don't even mind that so much. Sometime's shite can be entertaining (See The Cosh's thread on wiping, for example).

I also have a huge love of Straight-To-DVD martial arts/action movies. Anything with Van Damme or Lundgren is a must-see for me. I absolutely love 'em. Most recently I've been enjoying Scott Adkins movies as well, as he is the 'new kid on the block' for these things. Last night I watched Ninja, which was a damn fine slice of low-budget, completely-ludicrous chop-socky action. These movies come complete with not so much plot-holes as plot-craters, but that's all part of the charm with them. Brilliant stuff! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 17 February, 2012, 12:03:48 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 February, 2012, 12:37:51 PM
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
I'll admit I was disappointed in this. I was looking forward to a lush, romantic tear jerker (no, really) with some elements of time travel in it but the emotional core just seemed slightly off.  Not a tear in sight come the ending even from Mrs Tips who cries at *everything*.

Eric Bana is often the best thing in the things he's in but not this time - he seemed far too blase about his condition [spoiler]and resigned to a fate when he didn't need to be[/spoiler].  And he didn't sparkle with grown up Rachel in the slightest.

There were a couple of cute time travel elements (the old meeting out of order thing and her shagging [spoiler]the pre-op version of[/spoiler] him) but they missed the chance to explore other bigger  things; [spoiler]what if he comes back in ten years time when she has moved on to another man?  what can the (slightly creepy) daughter do to control her time travel?[/spoiler]




Right, I didn't read all of that but I watched it too and have not watched the Lake House. I'd still say TTW is the better of the two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 February, 2012, 02:29:16 PM
I found the Time Traveler's Wife too cold to be genuinely moving, but also think it strange that it [spoiler]paints Bana's jumping randomly through time naked until he's eventually shot to death as being a bad thing, yet when their child displays the same tendencies they're all "isn't this a fun bonding experience for us as a family?"  THIS IS NOT GOOD PARENTING.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 February, 2012, 08:03:47 PM
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Given the success  of the telly series and the fact that Joss Whedon was the writer, I was expecting a smart, sassy, funny, sexy film that was dark  and scary in places.

I actually don't think I've seen a more inept piece of film making since, well, ever.

It really is ludicrously poor. Chunks of the plot make no sense (one second Luke Perry is leaving town, next he just happens to be fixing a motorcycle in time for a chase. And the baddies have a chat with Buffy and then in the next scene are shocked when she turns out to be the slayer).

It's not scary in the slightest (you actually feel sorry for some of the goofy vampires).

And crucially for something that isn't scary, it's neither funny nor sexy.

It also has the lamest chief vampire and second in command.

everybody involved sleepwalks through their lines.

And it looks like it had a budget of 26p.

More like Buffy the Vampire Shitter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 February, 2012, 08:25:21 PM
It's incredibly bad, isn't it?  I actually avoided the Buffy TV series for ages because I'd seen the film, against the advice of Barry Norman,  might I add - never a good plan.  The vampire make-up and, err, demeanour are so poor that you wonder what they were thinking.  And as for the No. 2 vampire, and his 'historical' incarnations... ay caramba.  It's a miracle Whedon ever got the greenlight for the series, even more incredible that the series actually references the film, and even featured the return of Pike! 

I on the other hand last watched the always-magnificent The Princess Bride with the Boy, who I'm pleased to report got extremely agitated by the Screaming Eels et al at exactly the same times as Fred Savage, and with almost identical objections.  I tip my hat to S. Morgenstern, and his pal William Golding, and oh Rob Riener too I suppose.  Man I miss Andre the Giant, but what a great character to leave behind!  This time round, however, Christopher Guest's Count Rugen stole the show for me - what a performance!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 February, 2012, 08:37:06 PM
Goldman.  I meant William Goldman.  Although I tip my hat to William Golding too - his Close Quarters trilogy is one of my all-time favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 17 February, 2012, 10:12:30 PM
Mysterious Island anyone? Escaping confederate soldiers land on said 'Mysterious Island' in a stolen hot air balloon and battle a variety of Ray 'The Don' Harryhausen stop motion creatures which include a giant crab. An elephant bird and giant wasps.
Then to top that off Hebert Lomb pops up as Captain Nemo.
Fuckin awsom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 17 February, 2012, 11:01:47 PM
Sounds weirder than van Dom's naked Nuns with machineguns, bigjobs. They must of been smoking goood shit in those days to come up with a story like that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 17 February, 2012, 11:10:03 PM
Mate from the sounds of it you have not seen this movie. Check it out now. I'm tellin you this whilst relatively sober so trust. It is ace.
Have you read my post re 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'. Check that motherfucker out ASAP. If that film didn't influence Wagner in some way then I lick my own ball sack.
Belive!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 February, 2012, 11:15:55 PM
Is it me, or is bigjobs67 and wonkychop a same person?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 17 February, 2012, 11:20:16 PM
Man, Archer is just the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 17 February, 2012, 11:38:14 PM
What the fuck is Archer? Is it a Scott Bukula thing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 February, 2012, 12:06:50 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 17 February, 2012, 11:15:55 PM
Is it me, or is bigjobs67 and wonkychop a same person?

If that person is S****, then yes.

Quote from: bigjobs67 on 17 February, 2012, 11:10:03 PM
I'm tellin you this whilst relatively sober so trust. I lick my own ball sack.
Belive!

or maybe Roger, im confused now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 12:23:21 AM
I'm not 'He who shall not be named'. just Bigjobs. But 'Chops of Wonk' may well be my bredrin? if he so wishes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 18 February, 2012, 07:41:03 AM
Cheers!

Quote from: Goaty on 17 February, 2012, 11:15:55 PM
Is it me, or is bigjobs67 and wonkychop a same person?

It's you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 12:22:57 PM
QUATERMASS AND THE FUCKIN PIT for cryin out loud. Call yourselves SciFi fans. Has no one on this board seen this fuckin film. Writen by Nigel Kneale and staring for my money (apart from the 'ledge' John Mills) the best Quatermass, Andrew Keir. Hobs fuckin end dudes.Lol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 February, 2012, 12:42:21 PM
Final Destination-the first one with Devon Sawa who looks remarkably like a young-ish Mel Gibson. 

Anyway I was surprised how much I enjoyed it though I was imbibing a whisky on the rocks which would probably make anything, even one of those atrocious Sci Fy Channel Movies seem good.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 01:02:47 PM
Second ones pretty good. I love the opening highway multi pile up scene. Bone crunchingly good stuff. And the deaths later are a real treat. They're pretty clever and inventive films workin off of a nice original premises. I think that's why they stand out for me. Not seen past the second one though but I was really tempted to go see number 5 in 3D @ the pics in a sort of guilty pleasure way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 18 February, 2012, 01:29:43 PM
Saw the original movie of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" last night, as part of Film Four's "vampire" season. Amazing that it went on to be such a popular TV series when the source material was so flawed. Some of the early vampire scenes are quite eerily done, but the final showdown is a bit of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 03:04:53 PM
Isn't Rutger Hauer in it? May be wrong on that score as I've only ever watched about 15mins of it @ anyone time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 18 February, 2012, 03:19:37 PM
Quote from: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 03:04:53 PM
Isn't Rutger Hauer in it? May be wrong on that score as I've only ever watched about 15mins of it @ anyone time.

Yeah, under some heavy make up and (unsurprisingly) playing the chief villain. Oddly enough, I found the bits with the regular vampires a hell of a lot more interesting than the ones with him in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 04:03:59 PM
Thought so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 February, 2012, 04:05:45 PM
Quote from: strontium_dog_90 on 18 February, 2012, 01:29:43 PM
Saw the original movie of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" last night, as part of Film Four's "vampire" season. Amazing that it went on to be such a popular TV series when the source material was so flawed. Some of the early vampire scenes are quite eerily done, but the final showdown is a bit of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sort of thing.
Didn't realise it was on. For some reason, when I got in last night I had a hankering to watch the first couple of episodes of the series to see if it was still as fun as I remembered. It was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 07:09:27 PM
It was fuckin awsum. Me my girlfriend and the kids would sit every Friday and watch it on this old school TV channel called BBC 2 (or some shit) and we loved it. They got into Babylon Five as well I seem to remember! Even though it was a big pile of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 February, 2012, 07:13:28 PM
Don't dis the Bab, man. B5 rocks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 07:14:24 PM
Watchin 'Outland' with Sean 'The Big Yin' Connery. Fuckin ace. Its set on Jupters moon Io. How cool is that!!(I don't mean literally of course)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 07:18:20 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 18 February, 2012, 07:13:28 PM
Don't dis the Bab, man. B5 rocks.
Lol. Soz mate. Just couldn't resist the 'Spaced' reference. It will always have a special place in my heart will B5. What did happen to B4?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2012, 07:48:02 PM
Quote from: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 07:18:20 PM
Lol. Soz mate. Just couldn't resist the 'Spaced' reference. It will always have a special place in my heart will B5. What did happen to B4?

Sinclair/[spoiler]Valen[/spoiler] travelled back in time with it and gave it to the Minbari to use as a base during the previous Shadow War.  Presumably it was destroyed then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 18 February, 2012, 07:52:50 PM
Sweet! So what happened to the other three?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2012, 08:04:51 PM
Blown up by sabotage while still under construction, but I don't recall who by.  The Centauri, maybe?  They seem like the types.

I do miss Babylon 5.  It was three-fifths of a really great series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 February, 2012, 08:14:51 PM
Pulled through time by Valen, the Minbari Not Born of Minbari, to be a base in the last Shadow War.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 18 February, 2012, 08:23:12 PM
Babylon 5 is the second best "Babylon" thing to come out of the 90's. The first being Babylon Zoo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 February, 2012, 01:32:22 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 February, 2012, 08:04:51 PM
Blown up by sabotage while still under construction, but I don't recall who by.  The Centauri, maybe?  They seem like the types.

I do miss Babylon 5.  It was three-fifths of a really great series.
Dreadful scripts, terrible acting and ropy effects but still great. I'll never work that out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2012, 01:41:33 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 19 February, 2012, 01:32:22 PM
Dreadful scripts, terrible acting and ropy effects but still great. I'll never work that out.

Well put!  There was a sense that they were pushing for some kind of critical mass of terrible acting by adding more and worse actors every season, maybe to balance out the genius of Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik, who despite being slathered in scales, accents and comedy eyebrows out-performed everyone in sight.  It's certainly saying something when the late-lamented Jeff Conaway was the third-best actor on the show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 February, 2012, 04:40:17 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 19 February, 2012, 01:32:22 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 February, 2012, 08:04:51 PM
Blown up by sabotage while still under construction, but I don't recall who by.  The Centauri, maybe?  They seem like the types.

I do miss Babylon 5.  It was three-fifths of a really great series.
Dreadful scripts, terrible acting and ropy effects but still great. I'll never work that out.

I think the answer is: story. It's pretty good, and the over-arcing plot draws one in.

Funny enough, I didn't take to Babylon 5 much at all when it first came out. It seemed like a soap opera to me, just set in space. I went back to it years later and saw a series when things were getting exciting, and wondered at what I  had missed. I then caught earlier episodes, including the stuff I had disliked earlier, and saw it in a whole new new light. I think I prefer it to Star Trek now, although I have a soft spot for the films. Interesting how attitudes can change.

And I agree, the alien characters were probably the most interesting, the most three dimensional* of the characters there, although Garibaldi had his moments.

*Sorry for the cliché.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 February, 2012, 10:36:47 PM
Despite not having one of my favourite suit designs or performances, Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is one of the best entries in Godzilla's Millennium Series, with a decent human plot and some of the most impressive kaiju sequences you'll see, thanks to a mix of clever presentation and sheer ambition that admittedly isn't always matched by production values.
The US Godzilla was a camp romp that had moments of jeopardy that felt out of place as a consequence, but GMAAA shows people being killed and having their lives destroyed by Godzilla's baffling trail of unstoppable destruction that you gradually come to realise is driven by his utter hatred of humanity rather than his being a misunderstood animal - there is a moment in the film where he literally stops to torch a car park full of fleeing people with his lasery death beams, and while we don't see their deaths onscreen, we do see the aftermath as the resultant mushroom cloud casts a literal and figurative shadow across a school full of children.  Godzilla is not fluffy here, he is a straight-up Bad Mother Fucker to the point that people are actually happy when King Ghidorah shows up.
The monster battles are good fun, but this is the first time I can recall seeing such unambiguous onscreen deaths for kaiju in the Godzilla films, especially [spoiler]Gidorah, who is asploded into a gazillion meaty chunks that rain down on Tokyo harbour[/spoiler].  And if you think you hate that US Godzilla? Trust me, you got nothing on the people who made this movie, which shits all over it at the drop of a hat, with characters commenting that "the monster which attacked America's east coast wasn't Godzilla", and the military declaring "attack him from the side!" shortly before being toasted - even the ending [spoiler]shows Godzilla's heart defiantly still beating[/spoiler] as a last fuck you to the US version's death scene.
It's a great kaiju flick, but I'd worry that it goes on a bit too long with the human stuff, especially at the start, where it takes 40 minutes for Godzilla to even show up for the first time, but when it does kick off, it's really entertaining and the playful mean-spiritedness of some of the humour might take you by surprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 February, 2012, 10:48:35 PM
Chronicle. A promising film that could have been great with a bit more focus, polish and a few more script drafts. I felt there were story problems - the film seemed confused as to who the protagonist was, and the 'hero' character was underused and underdeveloped. I was also anticipating a twist that never came.

It's fair to say that the budget is stretched far beyond breaking point. Understandably there's some very fake looking vfx, but also some very fake looking non vfx shots. I could be wrong but i suspect much of the film was shot on green screen as the sets and backgrounds have a weird plasticky, unreal quality about them. IMO the producers should have been more aware of their limitations -  it's like a small budget indie film that thinks its a $200m blockbuster.

The film very much peaks early on with the three characters discovering their powers, and the scenes of them mucking about are by far the strongest in the film. After that it all gets a bit silly, building up to a ludicrous shark jump of a finale.

I also had the same problems that I had with Cloverfield - namely if you're going to do the found footage thing, have the courage of your convictions and make it actually look like found footage. It always looks too clean and polished, and filmmakers seem strangely incapable of convincingly mimicking the look of camcorder, CCTV or orher low resolution footage.

All of which isn't to say I didn't like the film - I did - but i was expecting it to be a bit better. A 7/10 for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 20 February, 2012, 09:08:19 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 19 February, 2012, 10:36:47 PM
Despite not having one of my favourite suit designs or performances, Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is one of the best entries in Godzilla's Millennium Series, with a decent human plot and some of the most impressive kaiju sequences you'll see, thanks to a mix of clever presentation and sheer ambition that admittedly isn't always matched by production values.

Haven't seen this one but there is a later movie, Godzilla Final Wars, which kicks all kinds of arse in (I'd imagine) similar fashion. And it even has the CGI US 'Zilla in it, getting thrashed by the rubber-custome Japanese one, which is just sheer brilliance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
I introduced Tiny Tips to the many delights of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.

He loved it.  It is pretty much bonkers - never quite sure what is going to happen next - but Kurt Russell's Jack Burton is a great character; in turns funny, stupid, full of bravado and doing things because he feels they are expected of him rather than becauce he actually believes in doing them.  A little too slapsticky at times but forgiveable.

"Hold the fort, keep the home fires burnin' and if I'm not back by dawn (wink), call the President."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 February, 2012, 12:36:08 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
I introduced Tiny Tips to the many delights of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.
A film I've never seen but which I'm increasingly unwilling to try for fear that not having seen at as a kid will render it rubbish like Goonies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 20 February, 2012, 12:59:08 PM
I watched Big Trouble in Little China with my kids a few weeks ago and they loved it as well. I think it still holds up after all these years, definitely one of Carpenter's (and Russell's) best.

Give it a go Cosh, I don't believe it suffers in the same way as Goonies might for a first time viewer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 20 February, 2012, 07:49:17 PM
"This is gonna require Kracker Jack timing Wang". ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 20 February, 2012, 08:00:29 PM
Surrogates: Some nice ideas squandered on a formulaic glossy actioner. Disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 20 February, 2012, 08:42:22 PM
We're bangin on about "Little China" dude. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 09:01:02 PM
Give it a go Cosh - it's not a kids film like Goonies - it just happens to be enjoyable by kids as well as adults.

Goonies on the other hand - I missed the lesson where it was decreed to be a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 February, 2012, 09:24:11 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 09:01:02 PM
Goonies on the other hand - I missed the lesson where it was decreed to be a classic.

I think you had to be a certain impressionable age when it came out.  My youngest brother is a rabid fan, I have nowt but complete apathy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bigjobs67 on 20 February, 2012, 11:32:12 PM
It has certain charm and a very young Josh Brolin. Plus a malformed inbred guy locked inna cellar who must've been abused pall'in up with the the fat outsider kid. Makes you think don't it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 February, 2012, 04:14:25 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
I introduced Tiny Tips to the many delights of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.

WooHoo. I love Big Trouble. My Da-in-law and I have a running joke about this film. I love it. He hates it. I'll drop some Jack Burton wisdom on him once in a while and then casually mention it's from BTILC. He'll then rant for a few minutes about how much he hates it. Great fun. For me anyway.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 21 February, 2012, 07:57:16 PM
A DANGEROUS METHOD. Fairly uneven throughout, there's a couple of scenes where it honestly feels like you're watching a bunch of grown adults playing dress up. There are some very nice shots of pretty buildings and junk. Fassbender is probably the best movie star we have at the moment but he still has a ways to go before he beats Tim Olyphant to the top spot on my list of guys who I am totally gay for.

THE MUPPETS. Slightly disappointing, as it felt slightly too arch at points and it has at least one too many storylines, but it's still enormous fun and it contains the only incidence of "We Built this City" being affecting in an unironic fashion. Amy Adams is adorable as all get out.

Also I saw the fourth episode of Luck, which is where the show starts to get really amazing. The horse race will probably be the most astonishing piece of filmmaking that will be broadcast on screens small or large.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 22 February, 2012, 05:59:02 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
I introduced Tiny Tips to the many delights of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.
He loved it.  It is pretty much bonkers - never quite sure what is going to happen next - but Kurt Russell's Jack Burton is a great character; in turns funny, stupid, full of bravado and doing things because he feels they are expected of him rather than becauce he actually believes in doing them.  A little too slapsticky at times but forgiveable.
"Hold the fort, keep the home fires burnin' and if I'm not back by dawn (wink), call the President."

"We may be trapped"... :lol: everytime!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 22 February, 2012, 06:53:03 AM
Luchino Visconti's adaption of Thomas Mann's novella "Death in Venice". What to say really? Judge Dredd it's not. Beautiful music throughout, and Venice as the backdrop to the film's story of a dying composer's last days, played with such aplomb by Bogarde.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 February, 2012, 01:19:01 PM
A remake of the 1984 film of the same name, Footloose takes the original's allegorical narrative which utilises the stages of grief as a structure around which to build an affirmation of the virtues of secular government and the value of personal responsibility and reimagines it as a film about some feet which are loose.
It is impossible to evaluate it objectively because it takes pains to reference the original even if only to shit all over it, such as the retake of the tractor chicken scene from the original which here sees a character drive a tractor... over to some buses which they then race instead of tractors.  Why does he drive a tractor over to these buses instead of walk 5 feet?  To reference the original, of course - objectively, this action makes no sense unless it is an overt reference to what happened in the film of which this is a remake.  Oh, and this small, arse-end-of-nowhere town has a Nascar track, because of course it does, all Southern American towns have a Nascar track where they have school buses remodeled like vehicles from Twisted Metal just sitting around that no-one will notice are missing and which high school kids can race and explode without anyone thinking "perhaps it is not the dancing but the taking drugs and then racing burning school buses which we should be discouraging".  A mate walked into the cinema when the scene with the slow country ballad version of I Need A Hero was playing and coined the word "shitification", and I think that sums this up nicely, because it is without a doubt one of the worst films I have ever seen, with me sitting there going "fucking hell" at some new low for nearly two hours, be it the opening scene of kids graphically killed in a burning car so that we know Shit Has Got Real, the camera lingering on 8 year old girls grinding, a "big city nightclub" in which everyone is line dancing, the main character's past as an international gymnast, the bus race, the unlikeable female protagonist (you know you've got problems when your girlfriend-beating scene has the audience rooting for the boyfriend), and a finale which clearly takes place on a sound stage.
An awful, awful film - and I say that as someone who not only enjoyed Clerks 2, but was willing to both give this a fair go (the original is not great), but enjoy and like it even if it was terrible.  This film is so terrible even SBT won't like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: exilewood on 22 February, 2012, 03:02:37 PM
I have a strange, deep & possibly unaccountable love for the original 'Footloose'.

Talking of '80's movies - I saw "Near Dark" for the first time last night. How can a film so cool & made twenty-fucking-five years ago have managed to pass me by until now?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 February, 2012, 07:22:59 PM
Groupon are currently offering six months of LOVEFILM streaming service for 9.99.

That seems quite a bargain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 22 February, 2012, 07:27:21 PM
Professer Byah, I am amused at your post and in no way want to discourage you. However, I believe this process of "shitification" you have identified as taking place in the films you've (apparently painstakingly), studied, is a concept that could be applied to any film irrespective of its' content, and as a methodological tool for the evalution of films, it is an arbitary construct. Why, you could use the principle of "shitification" on Thomas the Tank Engine if you were so inclined.

I find it constitutes a kind of "higher boasting" to pick on unknown films and publicly "dis" them the way you do. Still you seem to enjoy the exercise and this shows in your posting, which I've mentioned is amusing.

At the end of the day, let us be clear about this, enjoyment of a film is natural, and does not require any further justification than that.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 February, 2012, 07:38:08 PM
I like films about naked people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 February, 2012, 08:33:02 PM
Quote from: fonky on 22 February, 2012, 07:27:21 PM
Professer Byah, I am amused at your post and in no way want to discourage you. However, I believe this process of "shitification" you have identified as taking place in the films you've (apparently painstakingly), studied, is a concept that could be applied to any film irrespective of its' content, and as a methodological tool for the evalution of films, it is an arbitary construct. Why, you could use the principle of "shitification" on Thomas the Tank Engine if you were so inclined.

You misunderstand - "shitification" was a word used to describe, specifically, the cover of cheesey synth-rock classic I Need A Hero (which recently experienced a resurgence in non-ironic cultural relevance when used as a standard in the videogame Saints Row The Third) as a slow country ballad, but which can also broadly be applied in the same context as used there to the Footloose remake as a whole because it is a film which has been remade from an existing film - "covered", if you will - and as such a side-by-side comparison can be made not just of the story but of specific scenes and the realisation of certain characters, hence one thing can be observably and quantifiably said to have been made more excremental during the process of recreation.
By this rationale, you cannot evaluate Thomas the Tank Engine on the basis of shitification because that was not remade from an existing film, it was recontextualised from television to the medium of film, an entirely different discussion which, admittedly, does not preclude that some may find the film shit in comparison to the tv show, or vice versa.

As you say, "enjoyment" of film does not require justification, but equally 129 pages of board users simply saying "I liked this, so I shan't bother to evaluate it" would get old rather quickly, which is why I felt it necessary to go into a little detail as to why the Footloose remake is a film only a jerk would like.  Which I can prove with science.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 February, 2012, 08:42:29 PM
I believe that it has been scientifically proven already that all remakes are shite. Except for the ones that aren't of course.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 22 February, 2012, 09:36:35 PM
Thanks prof. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 22 February, 2012, 09:52:42 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 February, 2012, 07:38:08 PM
I like films about naked people.

Yes Shark, I hear they're quite a popular genre. :lol: Just as long as it doesn't invole kids or animals I don't have a problem with it. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 February, 2012, 10:12:43 PM
Pontypool.

Fucking hell. What a load of old bollocks!

I can't believe so many on here recommended it - what's wrong with you people?

It was overlong, thought it was ten times cleverer than it was and I'm not convinced the premise actually makes any sense.
[spoiler] I mean if the virus (or whatever you want to call it) is transmitted via language, where does the whole attacking and eating people thing come from? Surely the virus should make people just talk insistently at each other a lot - and maybe shout things out - like zombie tourettes.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]It reminded me a bit of that old Future Shock with the new idea that's actually an alien life form. That was great and all wrapped up in 6 pages! [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 24 February, 2012, 08:28:17 AM
Hey James - If time is an illusion and all events happen simultaneously, then...

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 24 February, 2012, 08:31:23 AM
I watched that 127 Hours last night and found it quite enjoyable. Very uplifting ending and some excellent acting by James Franco  :thumbsup:

That is all
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 24 February, 2012, 10:40:52 AM
I watched a good one the other night, "High Anxiety" by Mel Brooks. This man's deadpan humour is just so funny, and being interested in psychology I found his parody of psychoanalysis in this film hilarious, especially when he lectures on the oedipus complex and penis envy and suddenly realises there is a ten year old boy sitting in the front row! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 24 February, 2012, 02:26:37 PM
I'm finding more and more modern films to be unwatchable these days. In the past couple of weeks alone I've been thoroughly underwhelmed by 'Real Steel', 'Cowboys & Aliens', 'Warhorse' and 'The new Conan'.  In fact, I've turned them all off after 10-20 minutes. I'd also agree that Pontypool is a very flaky concept and not a very well-made film overall.

I even fell asleep during 'Tinker Tailor', which was excruciatingly well-made but just not very thrilling. I did make it all the way through 'In Time', mainly because Amanda Seyfried looked pretty stunning with that noir-bob hair. 

Come on Hollywood, you used to try, even just a wee bit.

Anyway, TV's the new film. Only a couple of months til the new Game of Thrones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 February, 2012, 02:40:19 PM
Quote'Real Steel', 'Cowboys & Aliens', 'Warhorse' and 'The new Conan'

To be fair, though I haven't seen any of those, I can surmise from the odd review/general word of mouth that I probably wouldn't enjoy any of them, and as a result have no plans to see them.

For recent blockbusters, I have been catching up on all the Marvel films in anticipation for The Avengers, and can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. All three verge on silliness at times, but are very well made films.

Marvel seem to have struck a winning formula for these films - and the key to their success seems to generally be casting a charismatic lead who can handle both action and comedy scenes - Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans are all great in their roles - and hiring a decent director, not some Brett Ratner/McG type hack.

X Men First Class was bloody good, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 24 February, 2012, 02:46:44 PM
I quite enjoyed Pontypool. Shouldn't I have ? :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 24 February, 2012, 02:48:34 PM
Dorian Gray with Colin Firth and Ben Chaplin amongst others.  I hadnt read the book - thought the film was enjoyable although the ending seemed to go a bit 'Hollywood' (I suspect the ending is not entirely faithful to the original)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 February, 2012, 03:01:38 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 24 February, 2012, 02:26:37 PM
I'm finding more and more modern films to be unwatchable these days. In the past couple of weeks alone I've been thoroughly underwhelmed by 'Real Steel', 'Cowboys & Aliens', 'Warhorse' and 'The new Conan'.  In fact, I've turned them all off after 10-20 minutes. I'd also agree that Pontypool is a very flaky concept and not a very well-made film overall.

While I agree that the others are a mix of terrible and workmanlike exercises, I expected less than nothing from Real Steel, but have to admit that as flawed as it is even as an exercise in predictable by-the-numbers film-making and feelgood cliche, it's entertainingly committed to its daft premise.  A mate of mine saw it at the same time as I did and seemed surprised when I brought up that it starts with a fistfight with a bull which is quickly followed by the bull being on the receiving end of The Angle Slam, so I think you - like he - might just be suffering from concept fatigue and missing the good stuff when it happens.  Try some low-budget film-making, or seek out films you know you'll hate and try watching them and you might be surprised by what you end up enjoying, as I will go to my grave refusing to admit I enjoyed the Smurfs movie, BUT IT WILL BE A LIE.

I agree with you about Pontypool, all the same, though I should admit that I'm drawing a graphic novel at the minute that is also about an outbreak of a memetic virus, so PP was disappointing in that it seemed to have the basic idea but nothing beyond that - an idea but not a story, if you will.  If the premise intrigues you, though, you could do worse than pick up Stephen King's Cell, or Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, which both explore similar territory to Pontypool but - Snow Crash especially - are much, much better stories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 24 February, 2012, 03:18:09 PM
For me my enjoyment of Pontypool came from the acting and characterisation, especially of the lead character, the radio DJ. I thought the movie was more a character-piece than anything else and all of the characters really worked, and were very well portrayed I felt. Whoever played the DJ was very commanding though, and if not for him I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. I really should look it up and get his name, and possibly try to track down more of his work.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 February, 2012, 04:18:24 PM
Quote from: James Stacey on 24 February, 2012, 02:46:44 PM
I quite enjoyed Pontypool. Shouldn't I have ? :(

No!

Take yourself off for a good flogging!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 February, 2012, 04:26:31 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 24 February, 2012, 03:18:09 PMWhoever played the DJ was very commanding though, and if not for him I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. I really should look it up and get his name, and possibly try to track down more of his work.

I would advise against it, as Stephen McHattie is an actor who wouldn't turn down a part if his life depended on it, which has the side-effect of giving the impression that he is often the best thing in anything which he appears.  He may also be familiar to internet meme-watchers as the Romulan senator who says "it's a faaaaaaake!" - actually, come to think of it, go watch that episode of DS9 from which that meme derives (In the Pale Moonlight), as it's pretty great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 February, 2012, 08:53:13 PM
The second part of my Kurt Russell (well, he is gorgeous) double bill with SOLDIER.

It's great - if you don't know it's Rogue Trooper meets Shane and starts and ends in brutal fashion. Kurt only has about three lines (And those are "Yes, Sir") and for an old film with, I guess, a pretty small budget it still looks quite smart (even though the models don't always mesh with the backgrounds).  Director Paul Anderson doesn't up his game much (he even fails to get the chain fight sequence as good as it should be) but the person that designed and built the two mighty impressive crawlers deserves a pat on the back.

The story, by David Webb Peoples - who writes a lot of good stuff I'm beginning to notice - is slight and the characte arcs are predictable and I could do without the tears but gosh darn it, I like it.

And at least the kid doesn't suddenly speak.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 February, 2012, 10:37:58 PM
District 9

Flarping, grunting brilliant. Had been putting this off as something about it didnt appeal, but sat down with my lady to watch tonight. Stunning stuff, and i loved it. Started off terribly though, and almost got the double groan/ press eject within the first ten minutes, but picked up soon after and left us gasping. None of it made a great deal of sense- not the fluid turning him alien, or the massive guns the aliens had laying about yet happy to live in poverty, or the twenty year plan, or what they were trying to do throughout, or basically anything. But none of that mattered one jot. The most '2000AD' film ive ever seen, seemingly ripped from the pages of our favourite comic. And i now want them to do a sequel showing christopher's return, immediately.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 February, 2012, 09:22:05 AM
Saw a ton of movies over the weekend at Frightfest, most of them really entertaining (Evidence, Rites Of Spring, Wang's Arrival, Cassadega), some brilliant (Corman's World, The Day, Crawl, Penumbra) and only one total clunker (Tape 407).

The last movie though was the UK premiere of The Raid, which blew me away so much that I know I'll be annoyingly enthusing about it for years. During it I remembered how it felt to watch Hard Boiled as a kid and just have my mind blown, and I realized that I haven't actually felt that since. It's not that I haven't enjoyed a ton of action movies since then, I just haven't seen anything where I've felt like the way I look at action has completely changed in the space of a couple of hours. This is really astonishing, I can't praise it enough. It pulls off something that most movies can't by actually being the relentless wall to wall 90 minute fight that the trailer makes it out to be, it seriously never takes a breather for more than a couple of minutes. The movie got an incredible response too, people were cheering and yelling through the fight scenes and it got a lengthy standing ovation, I've never seen a cinema respond as intensely as that. Also, we met Iko from the movie, who as it turns out is a really sweet, friendly guy. It was quite surreal after watching him kill his way through a bazillion people.

I'm just going to gush continuously if I keep typing (which would be messy), so I'll just post the trailer here. Please, I urge everyone who likes action to go and see this, you'll lose your minds!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlmhMSnVdM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlmhMSnVdM)

(http://www.cityonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/The_Raid_Poster_Final.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2012, 09:43:55 AM
As ever with movies these days it seems never heard of this but by George that does look good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 26 February, 2012, 11:41:20 AM
Neck chopping-ly, head shooting-ly, ass kicking-ly good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 26 February, 2012, 12:00:39 PM
The Eagel - good Roman soldier adventure past Hadrians Wall for a lost gold Eagle standard (lost by teh 9th Legion).  Enjoyed this as it focussed a lot on the tribes of the north - noticed a Slaine esque salmon leap from the tribe's warriors in one of the fight sequences  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 26 February, 2012, 12:18:44 PM
RAMPART

This is best described as "busy", attempting as hard as it may to transcend genre-fluff status, inevitably vomiting a confused mess onto our laps. The script (from bullshit-artist extradordinare James Ellroy) contrives to make our anti-hero a failed lawyer fluent in legalese which lends what could generously be termed as a sub-Milchian sheen to the words. Woody Harrelson puts up a valiant effort but a bewildering array of quirks (for this is what they are) suffocate character development for the sake of a supposedly indifferent plot.

The direction utilizes some gimmicky lighting and gimmickier shots, culminating in a bizarre and wholly superfluous rave scene.


In summation: More like WETFART, AMIRITE BRAHS.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 February, 2012, 01:20:42 PM
Yeah it sounds crap having an ex lawyer as main character. Pish!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 26 February, 2012, 01:27:01 PM
I said "failed", not "ex."


You're the worst character ever, Towelie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 26 February, 2012, 02:19:36 PM
QuoteThe last movie though was the UK premiere of The Raid, which blew me away so much that I know I'll be annoyingly enthusing about it for years. During it I remembered how it felt to watch Hard Boiled as a kid and just have my mind blown, and I realized that I haven't actually felt that since. It's not that I haven't enjoyed a ton of action movies since then, I just haven't seen anything where I've felt like the way I look at action has completely changed in the space of a couple of hours. This is really astonishing, I can't praise it enough. It pulls off something that most movies can't by actually being the relentless wall to wall 90 minute fight that the trailer makes it out to be, it seriously never takes a breather for more than a couple of minutes. The movie got an incredible response too, people were cheering and yelling through the fight scenes and it got a lengthy standing ovation, I've never seen a cinema respond as intensely as that. Also, we met Iko from the movie, who as it turns out is a really sweet, friendly guy. It was quite surreal after watching him kill his way through a bazillion people.

I'm just going to gush continuously if I keep typing (which would be messy), so I'll just post the trailer here. Please, I urge everyone who likes action to go and see this, you'll lose your minds!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlmhMSnVdM

Rather familiar plot on this one [spoiler](Cough Dredd cough[/spoiler]), cops raid a huge buiding, get stuck inside, wiped out and one super cop has to fight way to the top and take on a king pin of crime!  One of those film coincidences where two similar themed fims come out close together.
this does look arsom though.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 February, 2012, 03:26:41 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 26 February, 2012, 01:27:01 PM
I said "failed", not "ex."You're the worst character ever, Towelie.

Thanks Roger, coming from a toe rag like you that's quite a compliment. :-\

I watched a really crap one, James Cameron's "Titanic". An overblown love story cum disaster movie, tarted up with stupidly expensive special effects. This was to pander to a modern audience who would most likely have been bored into nonexistence with yet another hackneyed retelling of the Titanic disaster. Di Caprio as usual couldn't act his way out of a paper bag and was about as convincing playing an Irish immigrant as a bank manager telling us he's sorry for taking his huge bonus.  It goes without saying the only thing that kept this movie afloat was the size of Kate Winslet's tits. I got so pissed off with this dreck I stopped watching it halfway through, so cannot tell you how the film ended.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 February, 2012, 03:56:39 PM
Quote from: fonky on 26 February, 2012, 03:26:41 PM
I got so pissed off with this dreck I stopped watching it halfway through, so cannot tell you how the film ended.

I could even if I hadn't seen the ending.

[spoiler]It involves a giant lump of ice! It wasn't happy.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 February, 2012, 04:55:00 PM
Last night i dusted off the DVD of 10 Rillington Place - A great film starring a very creepy Richard Attenborough as the real life killer John Christie, and also featuring a brilliant early performance by a fresh faced looking John Hurt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 February, 2012, 05:49:32 PM
Well it turns out LOVEFILM INSTANT streaming servive is pretty much the equivalent of going to a Video shop at 930 on a Friday night.  There's no good/recent films there at all. I don't doubt that I shall manage to get my £10 worth in the next six months though...


RED
Didn't realise this was based on a Warren Ellis comic.  It's pretty dumb action comedy movie stuff but has likeable performances and a couple of cracking set pieces (though front loaded). Willis has just morphed into a smirking Homer Simpson and Urban was very good. Kept holding my hand up to the screen to see what he'd look like as just a chin.

SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY
RIght enjoyed this. IIRC, it simplifies the DOOMDSAY and WORLD WITHOUT SUPERMAN stories down to teh bare minimum and has two epic slam downs in it. It's quite brutal for a cartoon as well - lots of heads being squelched and blood all over teh place - it's there for a reason though.  Anne Heche is good as Lois, Adam Baldwin less so as Supes (and what was going on with the lines in Supes' face?) but the action is good, the bad Superman suitably evil and all in an hour and twent well spent.  Have to quiblle with the ending though - [spoiler]I don't doubt that Supes had no choice but to kill Doomsday but to kill the clone as well? [/spoiler] That seemed way off.

TRON
Enjoyable and the design is still outstanding. It's probably twenty years since I last saw it and I'd forgotten how the tone is all over the place. Slapstick and sneaking and cheese mixed up with cruel deaths etc. Tiny Tips thought it was good so we'll track down LEGACY next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 February, 2012, 06:05:10 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 February, 2012, 03:56:39 PM
Quote from: fonky on 26 February, 2012, 03:26:41 PM
I got so pissed off with this dreck I stopped watching it halfway through, so cannot tell you how the film ended.

I could even if I hadn't seen the ending.

[spoiler]It involves a giant lump of ice! It wasn't happy.[/spoiler]


So they didn't manage to make it to the life raft? Kate wouldn't need a lifebelt with her gozonkers keeping her afloat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 February, 2012, 06:11:23 PM
Quoteyet another hackneyed retelling of the Titanic disaster

Yeah, they're fairly churning those Titanic movies out. It's been only, what, 15 years since the last one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 February, 2012, 06:18:40 PM
Pah! All the usual cliches are there in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 February, 2012, 06:20:14 PM
Quote from: fonky on 26 February, 2012, 06:18:40 PM
Pah! All the usual cliches are there in the film.

Iceberg... sinking ship... I see what you mean!

(PS, I kind of agree with you, but I have a soft spot for that movie for some reason.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2012, 06:53:01 PM
These days my only real beef with Titanic, apart from that song, is that all the best bits are nicked virtually word-for-word from the far superior 1950's A Night to Remember - i.e. not from any historical source, but from another movie, which is a bit cheeky.  Jack's [spoiler]death scene[/spoiler] is silly, but all the set work on the ship is stonking, and I find the actual sinking sequence, especially the view of the lights flickering off from Molly Brown's lifeboat, to be quite affecting.  Not to forget that Rose's boobies are quite pleasant to gaze upon also.  Probably helps that I find diCaprio to be a pretty good actor, and Billy Zane a top villain. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 February, 2012, 06:55:38 PM
Quote from: fonky on 26 February, 2012, 03:26:41 PM
It goes without saying the only thing that kept this movie afloat was the size of Kate Winslet's tits. I got so pissed off with this dreck I stopped watching it halfway through, so cannot tell you how the film ended.

Quote from: fonky on 26 February, 2012, 06:05:10 PM
So they didn't manage to make it to the life raft? Kate wouldn't need a lifebelt with her gozonkers keeping her afloat.

[spoiler]Leo dies but Kate makes it to dry land, not sure how to spoiler a photo, but hey.....[/spoiler]

[spoiler](http://i.imgur.com/4tQEX.jpg)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 26 February, 2012, 06:57:31 PM
LOL @ "Billy Zane."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 February, 2012, 06:59:56 PM
I like Jim Cameron movies. I don't get the hate, I really don't. He's making entertainment. His films are the equivalent of an airport novel. They're not great art, they just deliver a fun night out.
And I doubly love that nobody has learned to stop laughing at his crazy movie schemes... a movie about the Titanic? It cost how much??? A 3D movie in CG? It cost how much???
The man knows what people want to watch and he delivers it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2012, 07:00:42 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 26 February, 2012, 06:57:31 PM
LOL @ "Billy Zane."

Ah now, he's a riot as a baddy, a proper sweaty bug-eyed moustache-twirler.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 26 February, 2012, 07:25:40 PM
Scary that the last unread post link (which seem a little unreliable at the moment) takes me to this:

Quote from: Van Dom on 16 February, 2012, 08:24:30 PM
Nude Nuns with Big Guns,
Yes its really called that. And its about as bad as you might imagine.
Does have plenty of nude nuns though. Not so much big guns.
(Am I the only one who watches these crazy films?)

No. I got this as one of my film recommendations the other day, along with Zombie Women of Satan, and realised I'd have to watch them both at some point. However, I'm a bit wary of such films at the moment because after Doghouse (and before that Lesbian Vampire Killers, Zombie Strippers and Sucker Punch), I fear that any more rampant misogyny might (and stupidity) might just tip me over the edge into a pit of misanthropy (or possibly misandry) that I might not emerge from again. So these might have to wait, although my disappointment at the lack of big guns might make me take this off the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 February, 2012, 07:34:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 26 February, 2012, 06:59:56 PM
I like Jim Cameron movies. I don't get the hate, I really don't. He's making entertainment. His films are the equivalent of an airport novel. They're not great art, they just deliver a fun night out.


For all his pushing of the envolope, always thought his films were a bit Meat and Potatoes.
Dont have any real hate for them, not the earlier ones anyway. Jim Cameron himself though is a bit of a mouthy dick, maybe that colours peoples perception of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 26 February, 2012, 08:50:29 PM
It's not so much hate, Cameron's made his fortune out of his films, I never will, what does it matter what I say about the film to him? All I have to answer to are his fans on this forum. ;)

Next up I'm watching "Shakespeare in Love", so be prepared people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SKD on 26 February, 2012, 08:55:45 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 26 February, 2012, 07:34:21 PM
[For all his pushing of the envolope, always thought his films were a bit Meat and Potatoes.
Dont have any real hate for them, not the earlier ones anyway. Jim Cameron himself though is a bit of a mouthy dick, maybe that colours peoples perception of them.

I'm sure that I read once that the crew who worked on Aliens had T-shirts proclaiming 'You can't scare me - I work for James Cameron'

Stew.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 February, 2012, 10:46:47 PM
Saving Private Ryan on Blu Ray - looks and sounds absolutely astounding, as id only ever seen it on VHS previously. Everyone harps on about the opening, but for me the closing battle on the bridge is equally as intense and memorable.

Really could have done without the rather tacked-on last five minutes though, slightly spoiled what otherwise would be  a subdued ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DoomBot on 26 February, 2012, 11:27:59 PM
Transformers: dark side of the moon.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible

Overly long. Confusing story (or what passed for a story). Loose ends galore. 150 minutes of wasted life, no refunds given...

Did I mention it was terrible?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dr Feeley Good on 27 February, 2012, 12:05:22 PM
Watched shark night 3d yesterday, dreadful ...some of the worst shark effects ever !!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 February, 2012, 12:19:36 PM
Yeah, the battle at the end of Ryan is great.  They look like proper Tigers.

It doesn't have quite teh same impact for me as the opening sequence because everybody gets there own little bit to do [spoiler]and then dies  [/spoiler] whereas on the beach landing, you aren't sure who the cast are yet so don't know who will live or die at random half way through a line (Tom Hanks being the obvious exception - it's almost a relief when the camera gets back to him).

I also liked the fact that they had the courage to end it with a gag ([spoiler]the pistol, the tiger and tankbuster[/spoiler]) in a very serious film. 


I'll be using that LOVEFILM instant as much as I can over the next six months to catch up on stuff like RED, THE LOSERS etc. that I might have contemplated buying on impulse when they got down to £3 or £5 on DVD in ASDA.  But a fiver a month after that? I don't think so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 February, 2012, 10:48:17 AM
I watched 'Evil Dead' for the first time in years last night, probably since I was a teen even, (from our subscription service which I have to say I think is great value and encourages you to try things you otherwise might not...anyway) and... well I have mixed feeling.

The first hour is simply brilliant and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it still, really is well done schlock horror, atmospheric and genuinely creepy at time. The end however I was surprised how little I enjoyed it and how it all went a little over the top.

Good reflection of the whole franchise you could say then!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 29 February, 2012, 12:31:14 PM
FAME. This is good entertaiment for an hour or so. Why don't they make films like this any more? A group of students are sitting around bored; one is tapping with a spoon on the table, another is swinging his foot against a radiator and somewhere a broken old fan in the ceiling is clattering away. Next thing you know the whole college is alive with students singing, dancing and cavorting and performing impossible acrobatic feats with one another. So much so they end up dancing in the streets in the middle of New York and bring the city to a standstill! Their teachers watch all these proceedings with wry knowing smiles on their faces.."There's Leroy again, doing the double splits on the roof of that city cab."

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 February, 2012, 03:52:25 PM
Quote from: fonky on 29 February, 2012, 12:31:14 PM
FAME. This is good entertaiment for an hour or so. Why don't they make films like this any more?

The Hairspray remake of a few years back came close to capturing the energy and charm of older musicals, but a few performances and script quirks let the side down and stopped it becoming a real classic.  Still recommended, though, and "be kind to each other" is a message that really can't be said enough.

Vaguely on a similar topic, I watched Lethal Weapon for the first time in about fifteen years and found it unintentionally hilarious in some scenes thanks to blunt dialogue and certain content becoming ubiquitous cliches in the decades since this was made.  One thing I thought even on first watching was that good as the rest of it is, Richard Donner couldn't direct an action sequence to save his life, and while he has since become far from the worst in terms of incoherent fight scenes, the climactic MMA fight between Mel Gibson and Gary Busey is dreadful but at least happens in real time rather than slow motion.  Amusing to see Busey playing someone seemingly normal but in reality quite dangerous and Gibson playing a total and utter fruitloop given we know now that their roles are the reverse in real life, but otherwise this hasn't dated terribly well, though has the odd good moment.

Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a bit plodding and I was disappointed that so much effort went into making so many mundane scenes, but there are some spectacular setpieces that make full use of the otherworldly look of the film to create something that could never work in animation or live action, yet here seem natural to the odd mix of the two, especially the pirate ship battle, crane duel and long tracking shots of the ship escape and motorcycle chase that are unquestionably someone just showing off but none the less amazing to behold.  As mentioned, it suffers from a plodding and uneven pace, and the plot relies a bit too much on coincidence, but all told I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 29 February, 2012, 09:13:56 PM
These remakes just seem exercises in post modern irony to me Proffesah Byah. They seem more like a critique of contemporary tastes through the medium of remaking once popular films/t.v shows. Fame was something unique, it was serialised into a weekly T.V. show, I even went out and bought the double album. Films nowadays, especially remakes, seem very bland by comparison, cleverer, but not as much fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 February, 2012, 09:29:14 PM
The Commitments. Great film with great music. Andrew Strong's voice is truly a gift. My favourite of Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy. Probably because the film lives up to the book.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 February, 2012, 10:46:22 PM
Quote from: fonky on 29 February, 2012, 09:13:56 PM
These remakes just seem exercises in post modern irony to me Proffesah Byah. They seem more like a critique of contemporary tastes through the medium of remaking once popular films/t.v shows. Fame was something unique, it was serialised into a weekly T.V. show, I even went out and bought the double album. Films nowadays, especially remakes, seem very bland by comparison, cleverer, but not as much fun.

Hairspray is a remake of the Broadway musical based on the John Waters movie rather than a straight remake of the movie itself, and as such doesn't have a lot of postmodern irony as much as it has anachronisms brought about as a consequence of trying too hard to replicate the occasional panto moment from the stage show that comes off as pandering to younger moviegoers, though I do take your meaning.

With Fame, it's worth remembering that it glorified performance art and stage show sensibilities rather than pop culture standards as something like Glee or Smash does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 01 March, 2012, 11:09:52 AM
My favourite episode from FAME is the one where Leroy is unable to afford a pair of ballet shoes, and so after school starts dealing crack on the streets and pimping himself. I think one of his teachers told him off for this and he had to miss a day off school as punishment.


If ever there was an example of po mo irony it is the film adaption of Angela Carter's "Company of Wolves". Four seperate stories about wolves in the forest are interlaced with the main Red Riding Hood themed story in this film. Oh, and Red Riding Hood ends up turning into a wolf and disappearing into the forest with grannny's murderer.


                                     (http://i.imgur.com/F2Gve.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 March, 2012, 07:37:45 PM
A Prophet - A French prison film from 2009 thats been described as being a cross between Scarface and Scum.
Caught the first half on Film4 last night and watched the taped second half this afternoon. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 02 March, 2012, 09:40:25 PM
I absolutely love 'The Company of Wolves'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 02 March, 2012, 10:40:52 PM
Me too Grimm. I love films that have a happy ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 March, 2012, 12:07:13 AM
Crazy, Stupid, Love.

That rarest of things - a truly great romantic comedy.

It's a bit cheesy from time to time (goes with the territory) and almost stretches suspension of disbelief too far at points, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some darkly funny moments, a clever twisty turny plot, and an incredible ensemble cast.

A solid 4/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 04 March, 2012, 08:09:24 AM
Westworld.

An oldie but a goodie. Michael Chrichton's precursor to Jurassic Park with the iconic Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger still stands up today - great stuff
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 March, 2012, 08:24:39 AM
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  The laziest movie ever made.  If there's a tired cliché they didn't use, I must have dozed off and missed it.  Occasional decent action scene, mired in dull plodding 'plot' and astonishingly flat design.  The Blob's fat suit alone should have made someone pull the plug.

Kung-Fu Panda 2:  Not quite as good as the first one, but not bad!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 March, 2012, 10:47:15 AM
Wolverine is a rubbish film, I switched it off about 40 mins in. To be fair on it  though, the opening credits montage, though a little daft, was very cool. Felt like they blew most of the budget on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 March, 2012, 06:09:37 PM
The best thing about the Wolverine movie is the tie-in videogame, even though the story is even more nonsensical and stupid than the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 04 March, 2012, 07:29:49 PM
Hanna - superb film about a girl brought up to be defend herself against to people coming to kill her. Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett. Some nice weirdness in it and the young girl's really good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/

12? Seriously? Yeah, the cert, not the girl. That's kind of surprising, but I guess as long as there's no tits in it you can kill as many people as you like these days. Bit fucked up but there you go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 04 March, 2012, 08:30:31 PM
Apollo 18. Short but fine little horror piccy -some genuine scares but bits at the end looked like out of a bad music video.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 March, 2012, 11:02:04 PM
Zombieland.

I bought it this year, and I've seen it before, but I had a friend round today and I thought she might get a kick out of it.

She loved it!

I remember finding the ending sequence [spoiler]rather predictable[/spoiler], first time round. I still feel that way (although the [spoiler]amount of characters who survived[/spoiler] is unusual in this kind of film) but it's definitely one of the good ones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 05 March, 2012, 12:00:12 PM
The adaption of the Virginia Woolf novel

                                     (http://i.imgur.com/DtUSP.jpg)

I loved the depiction of Elizabethan England in this film along with Quentin Crisp as the Queen, who bestows eternal youth on Orlando. This is a film that is exploring identity. It's a film that includes another amazing metamophoses when Orlando falls to sleep and wakes up in a female body.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 March, 2012, 01:02:49 PM
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS.
Tiny Tips started watching this and I got suckered in - don't think I'd ever seen it all the way through before.  It's a great family film. They keep it deliberately light and knockabout - befriending and riding an ant! - because a true mini people walk through a garden would be too terrifying a la the insect pit out of King Kong.

Rick Moranis is his usual likeable self, Matt Frewer gets some good sympathy for being a deeper than usual antsy neighbour and the kids all do the transition from self absorbed to team quite well.

I thought the stop motion sequences were good but lacking that "character" that you get in the best stop motion work. 

So a thumbs up - not perfect but a good way to kill 90 minutes.

And wouldn't it be great if inventors in real life had wacky inventions like they do in the movies? What would Mr. Dyson's house look like?

<Edited so it didn't look like CL"K had written it>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the 'artist' formerly known as Slips on 05 March, 2012, 01:04:50 PM
500 Days of Summer.  Quirky romcom which isnt as bad as most romcom's.  Though that may be saying its the best way to remove a tooth without any anaesthetic  :-X

With a soundtrack of the alternative 80's UK indie scene (the Smiths being the most quoted in the film), its non traditional ending and its not too likeable main characters made me think its writers and directors where Brittish.  I have no idea though, havent bothered to check either.  I still get anoyed by Zooey Deschemal's voice though.  Its the same in Elf.   Irritating. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 05 March, 2012, 02:32:03 PM
Highly recommend THE RUINS. Quirky little horror about killer plants (seriously).

Really enjoyed the 'making of' too, as it showed how well they mixed CGI effects with standard make-up.

Some filmmakers have got very lazy with CGI. HARRY BROWN, for example - great movie, but CGI blood? What?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 March, 2012, 05:28:40 PM
This Means War

A really fun action-rom-com that gets the balance just right between these three components. I thought all three stars did a great job and even the obligatory 'wacky best friend' character didn't outstay her welcome.
I reckon it's the perfect date movie that stands a good chance of keeping the girliest girls and manliest men entertained in equal measure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 05 March, 2012, 10:05:49 PM
I Am Number 4 - Alien teen hiding on earth gets super-powers, turned out to be far more enjoyable than I expected. Bad guys reminded me of the bad alien from Dark Angel.

Also Chain Letter, latest teen slasher, turned out to be just as bad as I expected, shouting at annoyingly bad plot and not very clever cop. Still, it had Brad Dourif in it as a creepy teacher, who never fails to impress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 06 March, 2012, 02:12:17 AM
Recently I watched:

Norwegian Ninja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Ninja), and really you might as well watch the trailer because all the best bits and the amusing concept are in there. Stretching that out into a full length film just watered everything down to a rather unappetising soup.

The Dead, a film that I was expecting much from and I was really impressed. The switch of location really changed the emphasis and the stacks of dead bodies brought to mind some of the worst moments in recent African history, especially Rwanda. The special effects were very nicely done, considering the budget, and it is nice to see the return of the slow zombie after the dominance of the fast zombie/infected in recent years - they work really well in keeping the pressure on the main characters. Not perfect but it is one of the better zombie films of the last decade (and I have watched more than most people would consider sensible, more than I think is wise given the awful quality you can find out there).

Ice From the Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_from_the_Sun), a film I'd read about when it came out but never got around to watching and when I did it really wasn't worth it. The concept is high enough but the delivery is dismal - huge chunks of cod fantasy exposition clunkily dropped in and even the gory scenes fans say make up for the cheapness were pretty weak fare. Some of it was stylishly filmed but other parts were worse than you'd have thought someone could manage with a cheap video camera and their friends sitting around, all of which made the film feel like the odd collision of a budget early NIN video and a low quality home movie. It is going to be quite a while before I see any other films from Eric Stanze unless someone can give him a budget to match his vision.

Immortal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_(2004_film)), a worthy attempt to create a cinematic graphic novel although it felt a bit odd mixing CGI characters with real ones and some of the former looked a little shaky. It is all very high concept, but they did rather over-emphasise the rape aspect (it is what the old gods do, I get it, let's move along now) and I'm not sure it blew my socks off though.

Martyrs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_%28film%29), a truly punishing film, I thought I might need to stop it and take a break when I realised that I was only half way through but soldiered on as it managed to keep ramping the brutality up. I was glad I did as the ending was suitably dark and nasty. One of the more thought-provoking of the recent torture porny films (as a lot of the New French Extremity films have been), although one of the thoughts was "it might be a while before I can watch that again." ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 March, 2012, 10:38:57 AM
Fright Night (2011). Good fun and a fine updated tribute to the first version. Tennant is great but everyone involved seemed to have a good bit. Lines like "Fuc**ng e-bay!" are classic. Even Chris Sarandon makes an appearance. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 06 March, 2012, 11:28:47 AM
Olivier's 1983 film for t.v. version of Shakespeare's play "King Lear". I prefer to see this acted in contemporary costumes and settings, rather than watching actors performing in modern day suits as
I think it spoils the atmosphere of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 06 March, 2012, 12:04:58 PM
We watched Final Destination 5 last night. Really enjoyed it, even if it is a mirror image of the rest of the series. The bridge scene at the start was excellent (even if a little sloppy with the ol' CGI). Loads of gorey kills and silly humour. The ending was particularly clever, wrapping the series up rather nicely.

It's big, stupid fun with a capital F :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 06 March, 2012, 12:43:19 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 06 March, 2012, 02:12:17 AM
Recently I watched:

Norwegian Ninja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Ninja), and really you might as well watch the trailer because all the best bits and the amusing concept are in there. Stretching that out into a full length film just watered everything down to a rather unappetising soup.

The Dead, a film that I was expecting much from and I was really impressed. The switch of location really changed the emphasis and the stacks of dead bodies brought to mind some of the worst moments in recent African history, especially Rwanda. The special effects were very nicely done, considering the budget, and it is nice to see the return of the slow zombie after the dominance of the fast zombie/infected in recent years - they work really well in keeping the pressure on the main characters. Not perfect but it is one of the better zombie films of the last decade (and I have watched more than most people would consider sensible, more than I think is wise given the awful quality you can find out there).

Ice From the Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_from_the_Sun), a film I'd read about when it came out but never got around to watching and when I did it really wasn't worth it. The concept is high enough but the delivery is dismal - huge chunks of cod fantasy exposition clunkily dropped in and even the gory scenes fans say make up for the cheapness were pretty weak fare. Some of it was stylishly filmed but other parts were worse than you'd have thought someone could manage with a cheap video camera and their friends sitting around, all of which made the film feel like the odd collision of a budget early NIN video and a low quality home movie. It is going to be quite a while before I see any other films from Eric Stanze unless someone can give him a budget to match his vision.

Immortal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_(2004_film)), a worthy attempt to create a cinematic graphic novel although it felt a bit odd mixing CGI characters with real ones and some of the former looked a little shaky. It is all very high concept, but they did rather over-emphasise the rape aspect (it is what the old gods do, I get it, let's move along now) and I'm not sure it blew my socks off though.

Martyrs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_%28film%29), a truly punishing film, I thought I might need to stop it and take a break when I realised that I was only half way through but soldiered on as it managed to keep ramping the brutality up. I was glad I did as the ending was suitably dark and nasty. One of the more thought-provoking of the recent torture porny films (as a lot of the New French Extremity films have been), although one of the thoughts was "it might be a while before I can watch that again." ;)

Thanks for that Emp, been wanting a couple of new things to track down. At first I thought you meant the dreadful 'Immortals', which was the latest in a recent long line of films to be switched off in our hourse after 20-30 minutes. But the link to that one looks interesting. Martyrs I have seen and have a lot of admiration for - sounds odd to phrase it like that I know, but I don't know how else to say I liked it without actually saying 'I liked it'. Because like is wrong, but it's a great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 March, 2012, 01:15:28 PM
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director's Cut, which on a whim I decided to swap with Star Wars as the movie put on to help me nod off of an evening.  It really is a very slow film, but not actually uninteresting.
I think their plan was to emulate 2001 with all the slow pans of the Enterprise ("it's only a model!") and long tracking shots through Vger's interior, but this isn't the script that would justify such trappings, it's a retread of a plot the show saw a couple of times already by that point and nothing seems to be developed significantly to be interesting enough to hold the film together, be it the Decker/Baldy Woman lovestory, Kirk's being too rusty to be a space hero, the Enterprise not being ready for service, Spock's personal journey, and so on - nothing seems to go anywhere or be resolved in any meaningful way, not even allegorically as might be assumed by the joining of Decker/Baldy Woman and Vger at the end.  It is pretty good for nodding off to, I must admit, and I will always find TNG just straight lifting the theme from this to be hilarious, though I can't tell you why.
Shatner doesn't seem to really be playing this as Kirk as much as he is a generic officer type absent the smarmy charm that makes him so iconic, Decker is not a great acting turn by any stretch, and there is not enough of Spock the anti-hippy and his magnificent 1970s hairdo, but the production side of things is pretty great, especially the brief glimpse of Vulcan which made a kind of comeback in that better-than-I-thought-on-first-viewing Enterprise two-parter where you find out that it really is a total shithole of a planet to live on.  If continuity-watching is your bag, Spock seems to be taking the Kolinar thingy to purge emotions in this, but the rebooted Trek establishes this as something he took as a very young man (long before he encountered Kirk's altered timeline) rather than as a magnificent anti-hippy.
In all, I'm not sure what I make of this: it's a competent film full of snooze-inducing scenes and I find it hard to muster animosity about any of it, but I would recommend it to no-one to actually sit down and watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:32:08 PM
Oddly, it's by far my favourite of all the trek movies (though i confess ive never seen a couple of the next generation ones because, well, life's too short!) and what i love most of all is, as you rightly mention, the attempts to mirror 2001 in the visuals and stately pacing of the story. There's a certain pretension toward intellectualism about st:tmp that is familiar if youre aware of the post-tv show, pre-next gen novels and contemporary star trek fandom in general. There was a time when trek was honestly lauded as the only 'proper' science fiction on the screen- as challenging and mind expanding as the novels of clarke, asimov and heinlein, etc. I see st:tmp as an attempt to continue that, to do sf 'properly', in reaction to star wars and its thinly-disguised fantasy of wizards and evil tyrants.

Yes, its an abject failure in that respect- and much of the most interesting bits were recycled by later trek, so now seem cliched. Decker and Ilia are Riker and Troi obviously, even down to the structure of
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:34:55 PM
(cont) their names, and their relationship is identical. Bu for all that, i love its slow pace, lack of gunfights, and that it at least tries to have something to say.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2012, 04:38:14 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:34:55 PM
(cont) their names, and their relationship is identical.

SBT

Yup, if memory serves the new characters of ST:TMP are all stolen from Star Trek 2, the mooted 70's precursor to ST:TNG, the unfilmed scripts for quite a few episodes of which survive (I had a book of them that I lent to a Canadian, never to see it again).  Not content with recycling them and killing them off for the movie, they were then used again, along with several plots, in Next Generation.  Almost as thrifty as Lucas, that Roddenberry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 06 March, 2012, 04:49:24 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 06 March, 2012, 12:43:19 PMThanks for that Emp, been wanting a couple of new things to track down.

And some to avoid I hope too - I couldn't recommend Ice From the Sun to anyone, although I'm sure there are people out there who would like it more than I did (and who aren't friends of the director ;) ).

If you fancy giving The Dead a spin* then make a double bill of it with Stake Land (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stake_Land), if you haven't seen it already - another pleasant surprise that breathed a bit of new life into a genre in danger of getting stale.

Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 06 March, 2012, 12:43:19 PMAt first I thought you meant the dreadful 'Immortals', which was the latest in a recent long line of films to be switched off in our hourse after 20-30 minutes. But the link to that one looks interesting.

Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 06 March, 2012, 12:43:19 PMMartyrs I have seen and have a lot of admiration for - sounds odd to phrase it like that I know, but I don't know how else to say I liked it without actually saying 'I liked it'. Because like is wrong, but it's a great film.

Yes, telling someone who managed to sit through it all (there are tales of people retching in the cinema and others walking out) that you "liked it" might make them them reassess whether they'd want to be left alone in a room with you. ;) I certainly... appreciated it, as it wasn't just violence for the sake of it, in some ways [spoiler]the viewer goes through an ordeal alongside the girl, we just don't quite get the same moment of enlightenment at the end, which is as it should be, explaining it couldn't possibly meet our expectations (in some ways it is a bit like Kill List).[/spoiler]

* It has split viewers but if you look at IMDB most of the haters are people who firmly believe that the slow zombie should be a thing of the past, of course, they are countered by those who believe the fast zombie to be heresy, so if you are in the latter group, or are with me in a group of people who'd like to crack all their silly heads together** then you should be OK. ;)

** There is clearly room for both and the type gives you a different feel to the film. Luckily all those pointless arguments have inspired a story I'm in the early stages of planning out, so it has some uses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 March, 2012, 05:50:02 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:34:55 PMi love its slow pace, lack of gunfights, and that it at least tries to have something to say.

Wrath of Kahn proved you didn't have to be quite so boring as ST:tMP to be a worthy character piece and comment upon larger themes, being as it was packaged and marketed as a shlocky b-movie yet is ultimately a story about a man's midlife crisis.  I'm all for giving credit for trying even if you fail, but Trek tried and succeeded with Kahn, retroactively making tMP a lesser enterprise in my eyes.

As for skipping later TNG flicks, I do envy you your self-control in keeping away as you can at least cling to the belief that they might possibly be good films rather than serviceable pulp adventures ruined by the constant presence of Mr Bastard Data and his stupid fucking face that I hate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 07 March, 2012, 01:39:58 AM
The TNG movies had such potential, but all were ultimately hamstrung by poor and/or rushed scripts, overly tight post-production schedules, and the need to serve The Franchise rather than serve the material, a shame as I really loved the series... and the second, third, fourth, and sixth Star Trek movies are still classics that wipe the floor with Abrams' reboot (as good and entertaining as it was)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: WhitBloke on 07 March, 2012, 02:22:56 AM
Every Which Way But Loose.  What can I tell you?  I reread "Death of a Politician" and missed Mayor Dave.  ("Right turn, Mayor Dave!")
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 March, 2012, 02:37:29 PM
Godzilla 2000.

Bonkers, brilliant fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 March, 2012, 03:10:32 PM
I have a soft spot for Godzilla 2000, and feel compelled to point out that it was remade on the cheap as Reptilian by Korean film-makers with an American cast.  It's theoretically a remake of the Korean 'Zilla rip-off Yongary and even as a lover of kaiju flicks I would charitably call it utterly terrible, but there something admirable about the shameless way they go about things, and their inclusion of jet-packing soldiers is pretty fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8lwUP0mJg4
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 March, 2012, 11:46:36 PM
I have to admit, having watched nothing but the late '60s / ear;y '70s Godzilla movies, and this being a comparatively recent offering, I was a little dubious about what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that teh stuff that made those older movies so much fun had been left largely untampered with.

I confess, I tend to spend more time laughing and giggling at those movies than anything else, but even so, GREAT fun was had. I particularly liked the bit where Godzilla twatted the big shiny alien bicycle seat with his tail and sent it carving through the city!

Followed it up tonight with 'Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla', which pulled off the neat trick of actually being a decent little movie in its own right, and holding up as a decent story. Of course, wacky OTT kaiju-stomping fun was still there in abundance.

(I've actually taken to calling this movie 'Godzilla Against The Machine', in hopes that it'll inspire a rap-rock album someday.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 09:54:42 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:34:55 PM
(cont) their names, and their relationship is identical. Bu for all that, i love its slow pace, lack of gunfights, and that it at least tries to have something to say.

SBT

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is one of the shittest, dreariest films ever made. And it's perfectly natural that there will be a geeky revisionist "Oh, wait, it wasn't THAT bad, look it's actually a bit like 2001"

Yes. A bit like 2001 in that fuck all happens, and there's an attempt to have deep, pseudo-intellectual debate about space exploration and the impact on humanity by technological and extra-terrestrial intelligence.

So, great. It's also a shit version of 2001.

I saw it as a very young kid, who loved watching James T Kirk and co, every week on the telly. And this big screen abortion almost moved me to tears of frustration and boredom. Thankfully, the roars of complaint from the millions who flocked to see it and correctly fucking hated it, meant that they ensured The Wrath Of Khan had some fucking action in it, and was duly ace.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 09 March, 2012, 09:55:13 AM
Well, we watched PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 last night.

I love this series and the third instalment didn't disappoint at all. A little more money spent, so expect more profound effects. Still the same creeping sense of dread as the first two entries, of course.

Nice Satanic Panic element thrown in to boot.

Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 09:57:11 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:32:08 PM

Oddly, it's by far my favourite of all the trek movies (though i confess ive never seen a couple of the next generation ones because, well, life's too short!) and what i love most of all is, as you rightly mention, the


It's not odd at all. Every film you like is shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 10:24:57 AM
I watched the Fright Night remake.

It was OK. ish, but I got the uneasy feeling that it was made purely because someone thought Farrell would be perfect casting for the vampire, based on looking a bit like the bloke in the original. And yes, he is pretty good in it.

I would certainly like to smash the girl in it. Super fit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the 'artist' formerly known as Slips on 09 March, 2012, 10:49:55 AM
Quote from: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 09:54:42 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2012, 04:34:55 PM
(cont) their names, and their relationship is identical. Bu for all that, i love its slow pace, lack of gunfights, and that it at least tries to have something to say.

SBT

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is one of the shittest, dreariest films ever made. And it's perfectly natural that there will be a geeky revisionist "Oh, wait, it wasn't THAT bad, look it's actually a bit like 2001"

Yes. A bit like 2001 in that fuck all happens, and there's an attempt to have deep, pseudo-intellectual debate about space exploration and the impact on humanity by technological and extra-terrestrial intelligence.

So, great. It's also a shit version of 2001.

I saw it as a very young kid, who loved watching James T Kirk and co, every week on the telly. And this big screen abortion almost moved me to tears of frustration and boredom. Thankfully, the roars of complaint from the millions who flocked to see it and correctly fucking hated it, meant that they ensured The Wrath Of Khan had some fucking action in it, and was duly ace.
I actually agree with this to an extent. 
The thrill of Star Trek, especially TOS, is zooming around space killing alien bad guys and shagging alien birds.  Its made better by the OTT style of the acting that Shatner et al brought to it.   Im a hero!  Wooo.   Look at me Im f*ckin' handsome, etc. 

Forward on, we have ST:Motion Picture and the template for the bore fest that was the Next Generation. Now Im all for high brow intellectual stuff, but STNG wasnt.  It was dull, lets go around and try to make peace everywhere.  Lifted by some good acting in places and the occasional decent idea.  Sure update series and ideas, but try not to lose sight of what made it fun in the first place.  Having said that the next 3 Star Trek films where pretty good, Wrath and Search being stand out.   

PS - this is not the first time Ive said this on these boards.  Wont be the last either I suspect.   :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 March, 2012, 11:07:12 AM
Quote from: Slips on 09 March, 2012, 10:49:55 AM
The thrill of Star Trek, especially TOS, is zooming around space killing alien bad guys and shagging alien birds.

I dunno Slips, I've been a big-style Trekkie in my time, and there wasn't as much of this in TOS as people like to make out.  I think the appeal of TOS is the chemistry of the three leads, the wider world it hints at (but rarely shows) and yes, the topless fist fights, but it was hardly an all-action all-the-time proposition.  It was, however, infinitely more action-packed than the Slow Motion Picture, which I do have a soft spot for (who doesn't love beardy McCoy and Lt. Ilia's infinite legs?), but seldom watch.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 March, 2012, 11:10:49 AM
Well, out of all the Star Trek films, TMP does seem like the odd one out, and very much like a work in progress, but i agree with SBT, as its as my favourite also.
Who doesnt love that opening with the Klingons? Great stuff.
Not that it doesnt have its ropey moments - but then again so do all  the Star Trek films.
And shame Paramount couldnt supply a decent print to Wise and co, when it came to do the Directors cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 09 March, 2012, 11:30:42 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 March, 2012, 11:07:12 AM
Quote from: Slips on 09 March, 2012, 10:49:55 AM
The thrill of Star Trek, especially TOS, is zooming around space killing alien bad guys and shagging alien birds.
I dunno Slips, I've been a big-style Trekkie in my time, and there wasn't as much of this in TOS as people like to make out.

Spurred on by my excitement about the new Star Trek film, I've just bought season 1 of the original series on DVD (the new re-mastered version with the CGI bits in which, I think, work brilliantly and enhance an already excellent show).

Now, I haven't properly watched the original series since I was a kid and I'm enjoying it tremendously.

It's generally more thoughtful and slow paced than I remember. I think the child in me only retained images of aliens, spaceships and phaser play. The one thing that caused a Spock style raising of an eyebrow was the staggering amount of breathtaking male chauvinism inherent in virtually every episode.

Once I've got my hands on and watched seasons 2 and 3 I'm planning to get the 6 film box set too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 March, 2012, 12:52:52 PM
TOS has some great episodes but the first season in particular is hampered by having some very samey episodes.
In the frist half a season there are about 4 variations on the theme of a goodie suddenly turning into a baddie.
It's almost as bad as TNGs reliance on Holodeck malfunctions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 09 March, 2012, 02:03:46 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 10:24:57 AM
I watched the Fright Night remake.

It was OK. ish, but I got the uneasy feeling that it was made purely because someone thought Farrell would be perfect casting for the vampire, based on looking a bit like the bloke in the original. And yes, he is pretty good in it.

I would certainly like to smash the girl in it. Super fit.

I haven't actually seen the original. Worth getting?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 March, 2012, 03:26:24 PM
QuoteI haven't actually seen the original. Worth getting?

It's an 80s cheese-fest but it does have Roddy McDowell in it. I like it! If you can find it cheap it's worth a punt
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 March, 2012, 04:42:59 PM
SNOW BEAST (£3 from Tesco)

Possibly a remake of the 70s original- possibly just a cheap movie about a snow beast with the same title. Who knows? It's 12 rated, which means no tits or gore to speak of, no swearing, and precious little else except a man in a low budget Wampa suit running around a Canadian forest, thwacking people and dragging them back to his cave.

There is no reason whatsoever to like this, but I did. It isn't scary, isn't surprising, and isn't clever- but it's strangely comforting, and the snow beast himself has an air of Rawhead Rex about him, and as Rex is one of my favourite movie monsters ever, I'm allowed to like it for that.

Also available in the a boxset with SWAMP SHARK (excellent- haha!) and MONSTERWOLF (average, let down by being too long and having dodgy cgi. Buoyed by having a story and some close-up puppetry).

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 March, 2012, 07:03:59 PM
SBT, don't take this the wrong way, but: are you secretly a PR person for SyFy?  You seem to be recommending the cheapo films they have on heavy rotation - some of which they actually part-financed themselves - and which drove me to cancel my Sky subscription.  Failing that, has someone made some kind of bet with you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 March, 2012, 07:22:28 PM
Haha! It's more that i cant resist a bargain when im up at tesco, like monster movies of all flavours, and have a special affection for really cheap american ones. I dont get the syfy channel, so never know where these things come from.

However, should they wish to employ me to publicise their output, id be happy to do so.

Also see that one with teenagers caught in caves full of spiders and a spider-worshipping cult, man-thing, spiders 2, flying virus (killer bees... on a plane!) and turbulance 2: heavy metal (killer goths... on a plane!).

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 09 March, 2012, 07:36:24 PM
I don't know where you find the time to watch all these films between reading your Spiderman comics and wanking yourself off. Well done you. I'm impressed.

Just watched "A Handful of Dust". Not as famous as "Brideshead Revisited" or "Sword of Honour", this adaption of Evelyn Waugh's novel remains close to the novel in it's caustic portrayl of the upper classes. Waugh certainly hated them. This film includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Dame Judi Dench and James Wilby as the hapless Tony Last who manages to lose himself in a South American rainforest. This kind of biting satire makes you feel glad that you haven't been born with a silver spoon in your mouth. I wish they'd show this to the Upstairs Downstairs Downton Abbey mob!  ;)

                                             (http://i.imgur.com/OgtVb.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 March, 2012, 07:41:00 PM
Careful Fonky, i think someone's relaeased finnegan's wake in klingon- that's another language for you to cum over.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 09 March, 2012, 08:06:37 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 09 March, 2012, 07:41:00 PM
Careful Fonky, i think someone's relaeased finnegan's wake in klingon- that's another language for you to cum over.

SBT

Arf!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 09 March, 2012, 08:51:03 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 09 March, 2012, 07:41:00 PM
Careful Fonky, i think someone's relaeased finnegan's wake in klingon- that's another language for you to cum over.

SBT

ooooohhhhh! hhhiiisss sssphhhhittt! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 09 March, 2012, 10:20:07 PM
Boys, boys. Put your cocks away, plleee-eaze!  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2012, 12:17:02 AM
I really should not like Lake Placid, as it has a low body count for a monster movie (3 persons, and one of those happens offscreen several years before the film's story even begins), a rubbish monster (sorry, [spoiler]croc[/spoiler]-lovers!), a relatively banal setting and a cast that walk around being jerks to each other, but it all just works for me, especially the tack it takes where it counters the assumption that lovers of slasher/monster movies just want cheap jumps and rampant misanthropy in place of a decent script.  Fonda could do with eating a pie or two, and Pullman could have held out for some personality for his character as most of the work seems to have been put in by Fonda, Gleeson and Platt, the FX hold up well for a thirteen year old movie, and it's a decent little flick that proves you can do a monster film without just throwing gory deaths at the viewer every ten minutes.

Not a classic, but a pleasant surprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 March, 2012, 07:41:37 AM
I bloomin' love Lake Placid. Not much of a monster picture as you say but the characters are great, particularly Brendan Gleeson as the Sheriff and its really all about how they interact. Great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 09:12:35 AM
As the wife was away for the night, and my creative endeavours hit a brick wall, I decided to relax with something I never get to watch, usually- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Original version, not the recent awful sequel to excellent remake.

Ahhh, we go way back, me and Two-y. The dark days of the mid-eighties when this was released, and got banned almost immediately. Poor old Jim Ferman couldn't countenance a release in the UK, so we all had to go illegal and get copies off the black market. Mine was an nth generation that rolled incessantly, suffered colour dropout and sometimes sounded like everyone was speaking from inside a tin box. But my grud, I loved it, and watched it many many times.

These days it's easy to pop on a beautiful, spruced up DVD copy and enjoy what is effectively a tour-de-force of eighties horror heaven. Hooper's direction is probably the most assured it ever got, Savini's gore effects are still hungry for the limelight and Dennis Hopper brings a certain Hollywood respectability to what is at heart, a nasty, funny little film. There's so much here that still stands out- the Sawyer's underground carnival of horrors, Leatherface's chainsaw penis sequence (still grotesquely uncomfortable), Chop-Top's metal skull piece, and his scritch-scritch-scritching at it with the hook until you notice. "Sure cured my hems!", Stretch having to wear her friend's face, and best of all the final twenty minutes- and that incredible last shot of Stretch, clearly driven mad in a bizarre alien landscape of what appears to be termite hills and ricketty bridges totally cut off from civilisation- a woman who has somehow survived hell and who used to communicate for a living, now isolated beyond belief both from the wider world and any form of sanity, screaming incoherently against a backdrop that might as well be Mars... and then a truck goes past in the background, and you realise she's only a few metres from the highway. Still sends shivers up my spine.

Chainsaw 2 is often unfairly dismissed as the lesser sequel- but I've always felt that in many ways it's as good as, or superior to the original. Not to take anything away from Hooper's undoubted masterpiece- the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the Great American Horror Films- and in fairness Chainsaw 2 never offers anything quite so horrible as Leatherface's introductory sequence. But it tries very hard indeed, and- if you like your horror to batter you with sensory overload- is a supremely satisfactory experience.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 March, 2012, 10:35:26 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 09:12:35 AM
The dark days of the mid-eighties when this was released, and got banned almost immediately. Poor old Jim Ferman couldn't countenance a release in the UK, so we all had to go illegal and get copies off the black market. Mine was an nth generation that rolled incessantly, suffered colour dropout and sometimes sounded like everyone was speaking from inside a tin box.
SBT

Ahh, yes the old pirated shit quality VHS copies.
I caught Silence of the Lambs in that way, and it made it scarier as you couldnt quite make out what was going on. Watching it on telly a few years later it was like watching a different film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 10 March, 2012, 12:14:12 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 09:12:35 AM
Chainsaw 2 is often unfairly dismissed as the lesser sequel- but I've always felt that in many ways it's as good as, or superior to the original. Not to take anything away from Hooper's undoubted masterpiece- the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the Great American Horror Films- and in fairness Chainsaw 2 never offers anything quite so horrible as Leatherface's introductory sequence. But it tries very hard indeed, and- if you like your horror to batter you with sensory overload- is a supremely satisfactory experience.

SBT

Interesting. I had avoided all the sequels, believing the grapevine that told me they were terrible. Two worth a shot, then? It's not comedy horror, a la Friday 3 - 7 (with the exception of 4)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 12:44:28 PM
To be honest wayne, the only one that MUST be avoided is the fourth film- 'the next generation,' with renee zellwegger and matthew mcconaughy. That really is the most dire piece of cinematic garbage you can imagine. 2 is, as i say, glorious. 3 is written by david j schow and direced by the guy who did The Stepfather and stars ken foree. It was new line's attempt to start a new franchise, and is possibly one of the weaker ones but still a lot of fun. I love the remake, the sequel is dull but competent and the upcoming TX3D is one of my 'exciting things of the year'.

But yeah, definitely watch 2, 3 and the remake.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2012, 01:58:21 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 March, 2012, 07:41:37 AM
I bloomin' love Lake Placid. Not much of a monster picture as you say but the characters are great, particularly Brendan Gleeson as the Sheriff and its really all about how they interact. Great movie.

I don't wish to alarm you, but they made a sequel and the biggest name in it was John Schneider, better known as Bo from the original Dukes of Hazzard tv show, and latterly as John Kent, the homophobic redneck dad of Clark Kent in Smallville.  I am happy to say that I have no intention of ever watching this.

I'm happy to say it, but it is a lie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 March, 2012, 02:00:10 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 March, 2012, 01:58:21 PM
I don't wish to alarm you, but they made a sequel and the biggest name in it was John Schneider, better known as Bo from the original Dukes of Hazzard tv show, and latterly as John Kent, the homophobic redneck dad of Clark Kent in Smallville.  I am happy to say that I have no intention of ever watching this.

I'm happy to say it, but it is a lie.

I think that's a case of ignorance truly being bliss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 02:13:13 PM
There's also a lake placid 3, and john schneider is in snow beast as well...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 10 March, 2012, 02:39:34 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 12:44:28 PM
To be honest wayne, the only one that MUST be avoided is the fourth film- 'the next generation,' with renee zellwegger and matthew mcconaughy. That really is the most dire piece of cinematic garbage you can imagine. 2 is, as i say, glorious. 3 is written by david j schow and direced by the guy who did The Stepfather and stars ken foree. It was new line's attempt to start a new franchise, and is possibly one of the weaker ones but still a lot of fun. I love the remake, the sequel is dull but competent and the upcoming TX3D is one of my 'exciting things of the year'.

But yeah, definitely watch 2, 3 and the remake.

SBT

Seen the remake and quite enjoyed it. I'll have to pick up the others, then. On an old-school horror binge these days. Cheers, bud!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2012, 02:52:41 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 02:13:13 PM
There's also a lake placid 3, and john schneider is in snow beast as well...

SBT

If you think I don't have both sequels to Lake Placid in my living room already, you're only fooling yourself, SBT, as it's not a question of if I will ever watch lousy movies, it's a question of when.
As in "do I watch Lake Placid 3 before or after Dinocroc versus Supergator?"  This is an actual dilemma for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 10 March, 2012, 05:06:55 PM
"The Color Purple" adapted by Steven Spielberg from a novel by Alice Walker. It's the story of someone graduallly being able to tell their story. Celie is that part of Southtern State American society of the 1900's to the 1930's that had no voice. Not just politically, socially, financially, but sexually and in the home. She represents the subjugated of the subjugated. Being a Speilberg film there is a sentimental happy ending with Celie gaining her independence, family and fortune in much the way "Jane Eyre" does in Charlotte Bronte's classic. Given the performance of Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey this is an eminently watchable adaption of Walker's novel.

                                             (http://imgur.com/Q3LXD.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 10:34:30 PM
CURSED from the Scream team of wes craven and kevin williamson. Saw this years ago, but the uk '15' version, which is the us 'PG13' cut- and ive wanted to see the unrated one ever since. Last year sometime my wife brought the dvd back from her north american tour, and we finally sat down and watched it tonight.

To be honest, i didnt notice any differences at all. But again, i enjoyed it. Jesse Eisenberg is always good value, as is Christina Ricci, and the early werewolf attacks are well done. The story- siblings bitten by a werewolf have to work out who the baddie is before they too wolf-out- is thin, and manages to reference just about every wolfy pic you can mention, from the wolf man to teen wolf (as youd expect from williamson), but it all falls apart in the second half, when it gets crap and stupid and goes for laffs rather than scares. The wolf itself is overreliant on cgi, but retains some of the appeal of rick baker's classic snaggletoothed 'london' design.
It's craven, so manipulative jump (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 10:39:17 PM
(cont) scenes are only ever five minutes away, and while a reasonable critique could be made that his technique never evolved past what was acceptable in 1986 (as evidenced by a slly elm street dream sequence partway through) craven knows this material well, and youre in safe, if pedestrian hands.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 11:03:43 PM
One thing i forgot to mention- there's an example of one of my pet hates in Cursed. Well, two if you count the sequence where a main character goes to a fancy dress party and is confronted by extras wearing costumes pertaining to the theme of the movie- a theme unknown to anyone except the audience. But the one that particularly annoys is when a character leafs through a comic (here about werewolves, natch) and there are absolutely no speech bubbles. Page after page of crap, mocked-up artwork, yet no dialogue. I think in return all comic creators, instead of using their projects as a pathetic begging bowl to hollywood, should ensure that each and every time a character in a comic goes to see, or even mentions, a film, it should be made explicitly clear that they thought it shit and not as good as reading comics.

That'll learn em.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 March, 2012, 02:27:43 AM
Nothing will learn 'em, SBT.  They're making a sequel to Superman Returns.

John Carter - a little overlong and not as hectic as might be expected, possibly these two things are not unrelated.  It moves away quickly from being what looks like a new Star Wars to instead be the new Stargate and don't get me wrong, I like the Stargate movie probably just as much as I like any of the Star Wars movies - likely a little more - but it's not something you can bung on over and over again and wonder at the extent of the world building on display in the same way you can with Star Wars or Star Trek.  I enjoyed JC a good bit, but wonder how many times I could watch it again - once, maybe.  Liked it, though, and definitely recommend it.  If you worry about such things, there's little in the way of gore, no nudity, and no swearing, so it's safe for kids to view.

Lake Placid 2.  No.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 11 March, 2012, 12:56:07 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 March, 2012, 10:34:30 PM
CURSED...

I think this one passed my by at the time, although I vaguely remember it. Might look it up, then. Always enjoy a good wolfie flick.

Me? Last night I ordered Aussie horror, IF A TREE FALLS. Looking forward to seeing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 11 March, 2012, 02:19:58 PM
The Loved Ones, grim Aussie horror movie.  Starts out like ususal tortureporn (god i hate that terminology) but changes to something quite Cravenesque (as in Wes) towards the end [spoiler](think people Under the Stairs)[/spoiler]. The main baddie is quite a piece of work and it got a bit of a cheer when they got their comeuppence.
Also watched most of Real Steel, nice light entertainment, very solid FX work on display.  Sure it was nearly a direct rip of Rocky but it has boxing robots so thumbs up from me (really think they missed atrick but not calling it Rock em Sock em Robots.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 11 March, 2012, 04:07:52 PM
Reviews of John Carter, and Wim Wenders' latest film. Originals can be found here: http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/movie-reviews-john-carter-and-pina/


John Carter directed by Andrew Stanton

When discussing the most anticipated geek-friendly films of 2012, there's some pretty obvious talking points: Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, Spidey, Prometheus, etc. And while I'm definitely excited about all of those, there's one more on the list that I've been looking forward to as much, if not more, than the rest: John Carter.

Why? Because in a lot of ways, a strong case could be argued that without Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom books, those other films might not even exist. While H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley preceded Burrough's novels by decades,  the influence of A Princess Of Mars is still keenly obvious in modern works like works like Avatar, or Star Wars. In a lot of ways, Princess (written in 1912) was the first science fiction epic.

And now, a century later, its a gazillion dollar movie made by the guy that directed Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Anticipation high, yes?

John Carter (played by B.C. actor Taylor Kitsch, who I had never heard of before but have been informed by my wife that he starred in Friday Night Lights, which apparently is a TV show about football that isn't as horrible as it sounds like it would be) is a retired Civil War infantryman, just trying to make his fortune. The guy from Breaking Bad tries to get him back into the Confederate army, but Carter isn't having any of it. He escapes, ends up in the desert, finds a magic amulet, gets transported to Mars, and discovers that while he's there that he has gained the super power of being able to magically repel clothing from his body, since he spends the rest of the movie half-naked. He also has super strength and can jump pretty high.

He then gets kidnapped by Ewoks (in this movie Ewoks are green, 9 feet tall, and have 4 arms. But they're Ewoks nonetheless), and then stumbles into the middle of a huge Martian civil war;  and by stumbles I mean he lets his dick lead him around for the rest of the film in as he chases after a Martian princess who seems to be as clothing-averse as he is, and who gets kidnapped a lot.

There's a lot to recommend about this movie, but I can't say that it's the fantasy masterpiece that Stanton was obviously going for. It's fun, with a solid script, and a decent cast. It's got some great special effects, and the CGI is relatively clean. It's also quite clunky, and tries to cram about 4 hours of plot into half that time. As a result, the film feels extremely rushed, and we never really get to learn much about any of the characters other than: Bad Guy or Good Guy. Now, that's in keeping with the tone of the original novel. Not a lot of character subtlety going on there. But because we're not given a lot of background on these Martians, it's hard for us to figure out why John Carter ends up caring so much about them (other than the obvious answer that he really wants to plow the Martian crap out of one of them.)

But it's entertaining as hell, with some amazing action scenes, and an easily accessible story. It's a fun space fantasy a la Avatar, but it a) doesn't take itself as nearly as that film did, and as a result, b) ends up being twice as fun.

Rating: B+


Pina directed by Wim Wenders

I know as much about modern dance as Republican women seem to know about trans-vaginal ultrasounds. But just like their ignorance about the basics of the human body doesn't get in the way of their trying to regulate what medical procedures be done in the name of religion, my lack of knowledge about the intricacies of the world of modern dance didn't get in the way of me enjoying this captivating tribute to the works of the famed choreographer and dancer, Pina Bausch.

Usually one's interest in a documentary rests and falls on one's passion for the thing that movie is about. It's a rare documentary that transcends its subject matter, and that makes you care deeply about something you barely knew existed 5 minutes before the movie began. Pina is one such documentary. And that's probably because it's not really a documentary at all.

It's a collection of dance pieces, planned well ahead of Bauch's untimely death in 2009. The film cuts between said pieces, and the recollections of her dancers, reminiscing about their years with her troupe. These interviews aren't so much about imparting information as they are about imparting emotional response, and those that are looking for a Behind The Music-style dish session should look elsewhere. This isn't gossip, it's creators missing a collaborator.

But it's the dance pieces themselves that are the real story here, and Wenders manages to one-up Werner Hertzog's beautiful Cave Of Forgotten Dreams with how effortlessly he uses 3D to capture the dancers performance. He's not filming a dance performance here; this is a fully realized film, and his camera use and judicious editing manage to create something new out of already beautiful pieces of work.

If it sounds like I'm gushing a bit, it's because I am. Pina is a truly beautiful movie, and one that must be watched by anyone interested in where 3D technology is taking film. But it's also a loving tribute to a true artist, one that left her medium a better place than than when she found it.

Rating: A

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 March, 2012, 10:34:17 PM
THE MUPPETS

I grinned long and hard from beginning to end, laughed out loud on more than one occassion and tapped my feet to all the musical numbers. I felt like standing up and applauding at the end. Great. Fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 March, 2012, 10:39:44 PM
John Carter

I absolutely loved it!
It reminded me a bit of Flash Gordon and a bit of classic old adventure films like Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

It's one of those times when I just can't accept negative reviews without thinking that the reviewer just doesn't get it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 12 March, 2012, 11:25:08 AM
Mythology becomes actual fact in this Ken Russell adaption of Bram Stoker's "The Lair of the White Worm". I love this sort of film because you get a story within a story, Russell's version of Stoker's version of the famous Lambton Worm myth; then in the film you get Jim Capaldi as the young archaeologist who pieces together the legend through his excavations in the area of the River Wear round the Lambton Estate. There is also the usual connotations of the serpent and original sin coming into the world, as the ending is a bit like "Fearless Vampire Killers" where the hunters become contaminted and spread the vampirism. A good cast of actors make this film an enjoyable watch.

                                             (http://i.imgur.com/kK08G.jpg) 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 12 March, 2012, 02:54:23 PM
Hot looking 80s lady there, Fonky!  ;)

Watched Kevin Smith's RED STATE last night. 

Not normally A Smith fan (loved CHASING AMY, hate pretty much everything else he's done) but this shoot-out/ siege/ hostage movie is good. Of course, I come from a time/ part of the world where the madness of religion is all too palatable, and I think that made this story particularly vivid.

Some fantastic performances, including a po-faced John Goodman (who oddly seems not to have aged much from the 90s, but has definitely lost a pie or two). All in all, highly recommended, albeit slightly marred by Smith's need to introduce some ill-timed slapstick humour that frankly doesn't work. And Smith's political agenda for the movie seems a bit forced at times. But if you can stomach all that, you're in for a gorey good time with this one. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 March, 2012, 05:30:10 PM
Quote from: fonky on 12 March, 2012, 11:25:08 AM
Mythology becomes actual fact in this Ken Russell adaption of Bram Stoker's "The Lair of the White Worm". I love this sort of film because you get a story within a story, Russell's version of Stoker's version of the famous Lambton Worm myth; then in the film you get Jim Capaldi as the young archaeologist who pieces together the legend through his excavations in the area of the River Wear round the Lambton Estate. There is also the usual connotations of the serpent and original sin coming into the world, as the ending is a bit like "Fearless Vampire Killers" where the hunters become contaminted and spread the vampirism. A good cast of actors make this film an enjoyable watch.

                                             (http://i.imgur.com/kK08G.jpg)

Ah, only watched this the other week, Not the biggest Ken Russell fan but Amanda Donohoe is something else in this, thats for sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK61O6H3E9s
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
OK another batch:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 March, 2012, 10:50:24 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Baise-moi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baise-moi) - from the earlier wave of New French Extremity and while it still transgressive and has the power to shock, even with all the violence and unsimulated sex it doesn't seem as strong as the more recent wave.
Hmm. I'd put Baise Moi alongside Irreversible rather than stuff like Ils or Martyres. That might just be me.
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Naked Weapon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Weapon) - granted it is exploitationy ([spoiler]they are told to kill the men after having sex with them[/spoiler]) but it is s decent story with some reasonable gun-fu and wire-fu (although some of it sneaks over the border into silliness territory - [spoiler]like when she ends up standing on his head during the final fight[/spoiler]), so I suspect it is best watched with friends, after quite a few beers.
How on Earth have I missed this? Naked Killer is an old favourite round my manor and the prospect of naked Maggie Q is an extremely interesting on.

Just watched Drive. Really great looking film and manages to make what could've been a load of boring driving around seem gripping. At least for the first hour. The moody driving and the interesting dynamic between Gosling, Mulligan and the kid propels the first half but it loses its way a bit when it gets down to the standard gangster thriller double-crosses. Really loved the overpowering music used throughout and it'll be interesting to see if that seems dated or still just right in five years time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 13 March, 2012, 12:26:35 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 March, 2012, 10:50:24 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Baise-moi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baise-moi) - from the earlier wave of New French Extremity and while it still transgressive and has the power to shock, even with all the violence and unsimulated sex it doesn't seem as strong as the more recent wave.
Hmm. I'd put Baise Moi alongside Irreversible rather than stuff like Ils or Martyres. That might just be me.

Horses for courses I suppose, but I found Martyrs a lot more gruelling than Baise-moi, with a stronger story. It certainly seems to be the one that stick with me longer, but only time will tell...

For those on LoveFilm it is free to watch, just don't watch it with the family:

http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Baise-Moi/11415/

Quote from: The Cosh on 12 March, 2012, 10:50:24 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Naked Weapon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Weapon) - granted it is exploitationy ([spoiler]they are told to kill the men after having sex with them[/spoiler]) but it is s decent story with some reasonable gun-fu and wire-fu (although some of it sneaks over the border into silliness territory - [spoiler]like when she ends up standing on his head during the final fight[/spoiler]), so I suspect it is best watched with friends, after quite a few beers.
How on Earth have I missed this? Naked Killer is an old favourite round my manor and the prospect of naked Maggie Q is an extremely interesting on.

Oh well then Naked Weapon is a must-see, it is certainly one of the slicker Asian girls-with-guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_with_guns) films and free to watch instantly on LoveFilm:

www.lovefilm.com/film/Naked-Weapon/15273/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 13 March, 2012, 02:20:23 AM
I just saw a Japanese movie called 'Returner'. BLOODY HELL was it awful.

One of those films where the writers felt it was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to do each and every one of the plot strands to death.

RANT #37A, subsection 2b: I was taught IN PRIMARY SCHOOL, that when you write a story, you keep it punchy, and you don't labour over details unnecessarily. Methinks my English teachers were frustrated writers, somehow...

Point of interest about this movie: Fans of Bang Zoom!'s anime dubs will hear not a few of their actors on the English language dub track. I spotted Dave Wittenberg, Kari Wahlgren and Richard Epcar at least - plus another guy whose name escapes me.

That aside - yeah. Total crap. Give it a miss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 13 March, 2012, 10:30:01 AM
Quote from: Emperor on 13 March, 2012, 12:26:35 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 March, 2012, 10:50:24 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Baise-moi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baise-moi) - from the earlier wave of New French Extremity and while it still transgressive and has the power to shock, even with all the violence and unsimulated sex it doesn't seem as strong as the more recent wave.
Hmm. I'd put Baise Moi alongside Irreversible rather than stuff like Ils or Martyres. That might just be me.

Horses for courses I suppose, but I found Martyrs a lot more gruelling than Baise-moi, with a stronger story. It certainly seems to be the one that stick with me longer, but only time will tell...

For those on LoveFilm it is free to watch, just don't watch it with the family:

http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Baise-Moi/11415/


MARTYRS is an awesome film. But definitely hard on the eyes, at times.

The French have taken the horror crown from the Japanese and South Koreans, I think. Other classics are INSIDE and SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE (aka HAUTE TENSION). Another cracker is FRONTIERS. And MUTANTS is one of the best zombie flims I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 March, 2012, 11:40:03 AM
Dinocroc - I am pretty sure a crocodile is already a dinosaur, but who am I to argue with boffins if they tell me there is not enough dinosaur DNA in something?  In a break with the usual movie trend of everything going swimmingly when someone splices up a better kind of killing machine in a low security laboratory, the dinocroc escapes and terrorises the local area, only it does so in a way that is very inexpensive to realise on a screen - yep, this is a SyFy movie with about three seconds of CGI that is still somehow utterly terrible to look at despite being the money shot of films like these.
This is not a good film by any objective evaluation, but by the nonexistent standards of the average SyFy flick I would tentatively call this "not the worst" despite a rubbish monster that looks more kangaroo than dinosaur and a vacuum where the actors should be - the late and already-missed Charles Napier aside.  There's a couple of amusing fake-outs, though, like [spoiler]the overly-graphic death of the token kiddie who usually comes out unscathed, and a false ending where everything finishes up in a neat little package - soundbites are uttered, cast members disperse to the winds after saying their goodbyes and expressing grudging respect, music swells - and then the monster gets right back up again and goes on a rampage.[/spoiler]
I have seen worse, but that's usually a SyFy movie too.  Statistical probability seems to finally be kicking in for them at last, as I thought Lost Future was an equally servicable post-apocalyptic romp from the same outfit that I enjoyed more than I'd like to admit.
Never understood the venom The Postman received from some quarters as it was far from being the worst movie I've ever seen the first time around, and I've seen a whole new level of shite films since then so I'm not inclined to think worse of it now.  Looking back, a lot of the criticism - while not unfair - seems more a Freudian slip on the part of reviewers still pissed that Waterworld wasn't the worst thing ever like they'd hoped it would be, particularly the criticism that the movie is a love-letter to Costner because they make a big statue of him at the end - telling that this criticism is essentially "this guy ain't so great."  I liked it fine, and think it makes for a better post-apocalyptic missive about the importance of hope in desperate times than the dreary and pointless adaptation of The Road that everyone was fapping about a few years ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 13 March, 2012, 12:20:14 PM
The Task - reality show contestants spend the night in an old prison. Really, really bad but kind of does the scary thing reasonably well here and there. Don't let that make you think it's worth watching though. For a reality show with a horror twist you're far better off with Wrong Turn 2 (I think it's called) or Live! for by far the best take on reality stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 13 March, 2012, 08:48:15 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 March, 2012, 10:30:01 AM
Quote from: Emperor on 13 March, 2012, 12:26:35 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 March, 2012, 10:50:24 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 March, 2012, 07:20:25 PM
  • Baise-moi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baise-moi) - from the earlier wave of New French Extremity and while it still transgressive and has the power to shock, even with all the violence and unsimulated sex it doesn't seem as strong as the more recent wave.
Hmm. I'd put Baise Moi alongside Irreversible rather than stuff like Ils or Martyres. That might just be me.

Horses for courses I suppose, but I found Martyrs a lot more gruelling than Baise-moi, with a stronger story. It certainly seems to be the one that stick with me longer, but only time will tell...

For those on LoveFilm it is free to watch, just don't watch it with the family:

http://www.lovefilm.com/film/Baise-Moi/11415/


MARTYRS is an awesome film. But definitely hard on the eyes, at times.

Indeed, there will be people who don't make it all the way through, but it is definitely worth it.

Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 March, 2012, 10:30:01 AMThe French have taken the horror crown from the Japanese and South Koreans, I think. Other classics are INSIDE and SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE (aka HAUTE TENSION). Another cracker is FRONTIERS.

I agree. There has been a bit of a backlash against the Japanese ghost films that seemed to be everywhere a decade ago (an article in 2005 (http://www.midnighteye.com/features/death-of-j-horror.shtml) asked if J-horror was dead) - in Japan you get the Takeshi Miike raising the bar in his own special way, as well as the more cartoony violence of the New Japanese Gore films, in the English-speaking world you got the Splat Pack's movies that got labelled "torture porn" but it does seem to be the French who are now leading the field.

Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 March, 2012, 10:30:01 AMAnd MUTANTS is one of the best zombie flims I've ever seen.

Welllllllll leaving aside fact that the monsters are four-nostrilled orc-a-likes (I've got stricter in my definition of what makes a zombie film over the years) I'm not even sure if it'd count as my favourite French "zombie" movie (I preferred The Horde). Amongst recent zombie films I'd suggest Zombieland and Planet Terror were better although perhaps a little too self-concious, The Dead delivered some old school chills and there is Dance of the Dead, Deadgirl, The Dead Outside, Outpost, [Rec], [Rec] 2 (and the Quaratine films if you must), Dead Snow and half a dozen others I've yet to see. It has a good start but gets a bit loose in the middle, and the ending was obvious about half-way through. I seem to recall being niggled by some plotholes  when watching but can't think what they were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 March, 2012, 10:18:40 PM
Sorry. What I was getting at is that stuff like Martyrs is outright horror and I don't think something like Baise Moi is really coming from the same direction at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 March, 2012, 10:33:30 PM
Paranormal Activity 3

Not much to add about this that hasnt already been said. If youre predisposed to hating this kind of thing, it wont change your mind. Personally, i found absolutely fucking terrifying, just like the last two. Franchise fatigue may have set in though, as a couple of times i found myself scoffing at the contrivances used to make sure everything was filmed. A less-obvious soundtrack this time, and a couple of standout sequences- one being the best use of a sheet in a horror movie since michael myers wore one in Halloween.

However, the trailer for 'The Devil Inside', also on the disc, is by far the scariest thing ive seen in years. If the movie is as good as this makes it seem, i may have a Film Of The Year.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 March, 2012, 10:44:31 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 March, 2012, 10:33:30 PM
However, the trailer for 'The Devil Inside', also on the disc, is by far the scariest thing ive seen in years. If the movie is as good as this makes it seem, i may have a Film Of The Year.
This is not a dig. It just never ceases to amaze me how people can have such radically different opinions about the same thing. It's like an object lesson in subjectivity.

Quote from: The Cosh on 08 February, 2012, 12:40:31 AM
This trailer makes the film look so hilariously awful that I'd be tempted to think it was an internet joke knocked up in somebody's spare time if I hadn't seen it at the pictures tonight: The Devil Inside (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyT7xMPurgw).

Seriously. Did nobody involved watch that before it was released?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 13 March, 2012, 11:01:59 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 March, 2012, 10:33:30 PM
Paranormal Activity 3

Not much to add about this that hasnt already been said. If youre predisposed to hating this kind of thing, it wont change your mind. Personally, i found absolutely fucking terrifying, just like the last two. Franchise fatigue may have set in though, as a couple of times i found myself scoffing at the contrivances used to make sure everything was filmed. A less-obvious soundtrack this time, and a couple of standout sequences- one being the best use of a sheet in a horror movie since michael myers wore one in Halloween.

Absolutely agree with this - cracking film and a cracking franchise. I'd love to see more films in this series, although I'm not sure just where they could take it.

QuoteHowever, the trailer for 'The Devil Inside', also on the disc, is by far the scariest thing ive seen in years. If the movie is as good as this makes it seem, i may have a Film Of The Year.

Yeah, really looking forward to that one. Long live Satanic Panic, eh?  ;)

Me? Watched CONTAGION last night. Mixed feelings. Tried to be a little too clever for its own good and ended up being kinda dull, kinda detached and kinda entertaining. Felt more like a trailer for a 22 episode series as opposed to a film in its own right. For a much better version of this kind of thing, go for low budget thriller RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 March, 2012, 11:02:13 PM
It's horses for courses, cosh, isnt it? These kind of things are guaranteed to put the willies up me, so naturally i love them. I hope it's as scary as it seems, i really do.

Some people watch trailers for Tinker Tailor or The Dark Knight Rises and get excited- they mean nothing to me. But promise me something that'll chill me and make me jump, and im panting like deranged puppy.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 13 March, 2012, 11:05:39 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 13 March, 2012, 10:18:40 PM
Sorry. What I was getting at is that stuff like Martyrs is outright horror and I don't think something like Baise Moi is really coming from the same direction at all.

Oh yes, well I suppose so but it looks like the NFE is a broad church running from the violent to the sexual (Base-moi occupying the middleground there) and the horror films that tend to get lumped in don't have much supernatural horror (well Martyrs, etc., something like Malefique is and The Horde/Mutants is more traditional horror but they are only part of the broader resurgence in French horror), so tend to fall into the more realistic home invasion/torture porn/backwoods horror territory. Which suggests they operate in similarish territory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 14 March, 2012, 12:25:35 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 13 March, 2012, 10:33:30 PM
Paranormal Activity 3

Not much to add about this that hasnt already been said. If youre predisposed to hating this kind of thing, it wont change your mind. Personally, i found absolutely fucking terrifying, just like the last two. Franchise fatigue may have set in though, as a couple of times i found myself scoffing at the contrivances used to make sure everything was filmed. A less-obvious soundtrack this time, and a couple of standout sequences- one being the best use of a sheet in a horror movie since michael myers wore one in Halloween.

However, the trailer for 'The Devil Inside', also on the disc, is by far the scariest thing ive seen in years. If the movie is as good as this makes it seem, i may have a Film Of The Year.

SBT

The Devil Inside is fucking shit. A moronic, one-note shaggy dog story that is like The Exorcist remade as a Scooby Doo cartoon.

So given all that, it probably will be your Film Of The Year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 March, 2012, 12:45:23 PM
The most surprising thing about Devil Inside is that it is a real film and not a parody trailer.  Being aware of the sound arguments of an object existing in a theoretically infinite number of states until observed, I can allow that it might not be terrible, but the trailer makes it look terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 15 March, 2012, 06:45:51 AM
It feels like I've watched more than just one film after seeing the "Man Who Fell To Earth". On one level it is a great science fiction yarn. From another perspective the film is an indictment of modern day society, morality and values. Then again it seems to be a film concerned with producing surreal imagery and montage, disrupting normal filmic continuity. Then in the last analysis it comes across as a film about David Bowie. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 15 March, 2012, 08:35:53 PM
Got THE KILL LIST lined up for the player tonight, courtesy of those good people at Blockbusters and their free movies for 2 weeks deal  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 15 March, 2012, 08:45:57 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 15 March, 2012, 08:35:53 PM
Got THE KILL LIST lined up for the player tonight, courtesy of those good people at Blockbusters and their free movies for 2 weeks deal  :D

When you've watched it nip over the the KL thread:

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,34347.0.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 15 March, 2012, 09:35:07 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 15 March, 2012, 08:45:57 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 15 March, 2012, 08:35:53 PM
Got THE KILL LIST lined up for the player tonight, courtesy of those good people at Blockbusters and their free movies for 2 weeks deal  :D

When you've watched it nip over the the KL thread:

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,34347.0.html

Oh, will do, Emp :)

Hey, you going to Bristol?

(Did I ask you that before?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 March, 2012, 11:52:48 PM
I watched 'Godzilla Vs Destoroyah' last night, and found it to be depressingly rubbish.

Now, I know that the rubber suits, naff acting and wonky script are all part of the charm of these movies. But this one just wasn't good enough at being bad, and indeed was sufficiently bad enough at being good, that it it wasn't even good enough to be so bad it was good.

Got that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2012, 01:34:42 AM
Destroyah is one of the 1990s G-duffers, but the big fella melting did make my nephew cry, which I found greatly amusing. I also think the fake-out death of Godzilla Jr and the final image made for a great ending, just for a different era such as the Millenium series where G was allowed to be a total bastard again, as Destroyah's ending is essentially the humans knowing they've given it their best shot but they're fucked now, which is out of place in a film where Godzilla (and Jr) is an essentially benevolent creature.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 16 March, 2012, 02:43:48 AM
My problems with Godzilla Vs Destoroyah are legion.

I mean, the film fumbles a lot of what should be its best key ideas. Destoroyah coudl be a really cool baddie if only it was developed a little more with a more satisfactory explanation of what it actually is. I don't think that's generally an essential thing for these movies, but in this case, it would have been appreciated.

Also, the whole 'Godzilla Jr.' thing wasn't very clearly handled - I wasn't left with a clear impression that he was alive or dead by the end of the movie, which bugged the hell out of me. That final shot is filmed in such a way that it risks the audience putting their own interpretation onto it, I think, when it should really spell the ending out.

Also: a beastie who's clearly intended to be as big a deal as Destoroyah was should really go down in a blaze of glory. Instead, he disappeared in a cloud of dust. A BIG cloud of dust, yes - but I expected more.

Ah well.

It's rare that those movies DON'T put a smile on my face. But I didn't dig that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 16 March, 2012, 08:34:15 AM
Watching a lot of Japanese movies lately, in preparation of the move. (Every additional word learned is a bonus).
Retribution by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse) was very good. You might easily classify it in the J-horror/long black haired ghost category but theres luckily a lot more to it than that, its more a mystery thriller, as a cop investigating a series of murders, committed by different people but with the same m.o, starts to question his own sanity as he becomes more and more implicated in the crimes himself. It's a great story, well acted and produced. You can even overlook the long haired ghost cliche as the story doesnt hinge on it and its done in a much different way than usual.

Kaidan is a ghost story set in feudal Japan, directed by Hideo Nakata, of Ring fame. Nakata is usually pretty good and I've been looking forward to seeing this for years. It was quite disappointing though. The story was meandering and unfocused, it took way too long to get started and then didn't seem to have anywhere to go when it finally did. It was also very slow, but in a boring way, not a compelling way like Ringu was. Oh well.

Then there was Wife to be Sacrificed. A 70's.....porn film basically. This was a strange one. I put it on purely on spec, knowing nothing abuot it, and got a bit more than I bargained for. A bit too much. It's basically about this bastard who molested a child and was sent to prison when his wife reported him. Years later he gets out of jail and tracks his ex-wife down, kidnaps her and takes her up into the mountains to get his revenge. There's a lot of nudity and sex (fairly graphic), lots of hot wax torture, bondage etcetera. It is actually very competently made and the male lead probably has the 'honour' of playing one of the most dispicable, disgusting, horrible characters ever to appear on screen. But I have to say, when his torture techniques expanded to include forced enemas........yeah.............that's when it kind of lost me..... :) Fucked up shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 16 March, 2012, 10:14:39 AM
Quote from: Van Dom on 16 March, 2012, 08:34:15 AM
Watching a lot of Japanese movies lately, in preparation of the move. (Every additional word learned is a bonus).

I went through a lot of Asian Horror about 5-6 years ago.

Some classics are the RING series (of course) and DARK WATER from Japan. The South Koreans excel too, with films like A TALE OF TWO SISTERS and DOLL MASTER (kinda J-horror slasher). There's THREE EXTREMES parts one and two as well, which are very cool little shorts. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 16 March, 2012, 11:32:00 AM
The thing that bugs me about the trailer for The Devil Inside is the utterly meaningless claim: "This film is not endorsed by the Vatican". So what? Neither was Yogi Bear. In my limited understanding, the Vatican is not in the business of endorsing movies, regardless of quality or subject matter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 March, 2012, 12:04:55 PM
Seem to remember reading about the Vatican endorsing 2001: A Space Odyssey for some reason.
Anyways, it turns out they like a lot o' film -  http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/vatican-endorsed-films-10953176
Who'd thought the Blues Brothers would have got the thumbs up?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 March, 2012, 04:59:03 PM
Did the Vatican endorse Finnegan's Wake?  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 March, 2012, 05:32:06 PM
Possibly one of the most divisive films of all times is Schindler's List.

                                               (http://i.imgur.com/m8jTr.jpg)


Is it possible to turn the Holocaust into a subject for a film? Can the Holocaust only be truly spoken of by the victims who experienced it? Why is the film told from the perspective of a German? What was the final message of the film; as when it was released in 1993 such crimes against humanity where again being perpetrared in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, while Britain and America once again looked on and didn't act?

After watching such a film I do not know whether it will deter me from taking the path of least resistance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2012, 06:06:57 PM
Schindler's List sanitised a lot so it could get a lower age rating.  Personally, I have a low opinion of making popcorn fodder of an atrocity, but that's just me.

Defcon 4, which takes the novel approach of having the blurb on the box be about a different film entirely.  I kind of understand why as the actual film is a bit shit, one of those countless 1980s post-apocalyptic films that just sort of wallowed in the cliches of the genre without bringing anything new to the table, and if it was made toady would have death scenes that last a half hour and lots of close ups of anguished expressions so that we can get right in close to the misery of othes.
Cannibalism?  Check.
Women treated like chattel?  Check.
Ramshackle feudal dictatorship from which characters must escape?  Check.
Promised land of some sort to escape to?  Check.
Pointless rubbish.

Star Trek: Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis, to complete my tour of the crapper entries in the Trek filmic canon.  Final Frontier is still a guilty pleasure with some good ideas and fun character moments, and after the three-film Hero's Journey arc of Kahn, Search and Voyage, makes the sensible decision to get right back into the usual Trek business of high concept adventure, fistfights and Kirk being awesome.  Naked Uhura - for this iteration of the crew - is a stupid idea and always will be, but there's something just plain right about seeing a Trek romp where characters with chemistry get out and solve their problems rather than sit around moping like Nemesis does.  There's tons about Nemesis that's pretty great, like the occasional bit of banter between the cast, the space battle that takes up the last quarter of the film, the general production side of things and the nicely subdued ending, but there's a ton wrong, like little continuity niggles - such as beaming through shields, Worf's presence, the "Warbirds" - to bigger objective problems like the rape scene or Picard wussing out at the last minute even though just seconds before he was a homocidal maniac beating dudes to death with his gun - he wusses out, of course, so that Data can stink up the screen yet again with a death scene, forever being the single worst thing about the TNG movie outings as the writers shoehorn him into every bloody movie script while sidelining better characters as they labor to make him the new Spock despite working with a fraction of the novelty and none of the charisma, and it is saying something about Nemesis that I can still dislike it even when it kills the fucker off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 16 March, 2012, 06:58:11 PM
Got RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES ready and waiting, again with the compliments of Blockbusters.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 16 March, 2012, 07:40:49 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 16 March, 2012, 12:04:55 PM
Seem to remember reading about the Vatican endorsing 2001: A Space Odyssey for some reason.
Anyways, it turns out they like a lot o' film -  http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/vatican-endorsed-films-10953176
Who'd thought the Blues Brothers would have got the thumbs up?

I stand corrected! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 16 March, 2012, 09:33:03 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 16 March, 2012, 06:58:11 PM
Got RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES ready and waiting, again with the compliments of Blockbusters.  :D

Oh dear. File under FREE WILLY 2  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 12:04:03 AM
Beyond Re-Animator (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222812/) on the Horror Channel. I've always had a soft spot for Jeffrey Combs since his work on Star Trek and he does make a suitably creepy Herbert West. The film itself is a fairly amusing piece of hokum - but the highlight for me came during the end credits, where we see the shadows of a re-animated rat fighting with a re-animated [spoiler]severed penis.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 12:17:14 AM
Beyond ReAnimator ending credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTkzAEU-NM) (1min).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 17 March, 2012, 12:22:33 AM
Quote from: fonky on 16 March, 2012, 05:32:06 PM
Possibly one of the most divisive films of all times is Schindler's List.

                                               (http://i.imgur.com/m8jTr.jpg)


Is it possible to turn the Holocaust into a subject for a film? Can the Holocaust only be truly spoken of by the victims who experienced it? Why is the film told from the perspective of a German? What was the final message of the film; as when it was released in 1993 such crimes against humanity where again being perpetrared in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, while Britain and America once again looked on and didn't act?

After watching such a film I do not know whether it will deter me from taking the path of least resistance.



I much prefer:


(http://assets.diyfail.com/hashed_silo_content/fa2/d8a/d9f/resized/schindlerlifts.jpg)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AdzYnFPetQ
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2012, 01:24:15 AM
Enter the Void. A film so far up itself there's even an internal POV shot of its own erect penis thrusting out of the screen at the audience. I certainly couldn't recommend anybody watch it but I'm sort of glad I did. It concerns the lives and misadventures of a small group of unpleasant ex-pats living in Tokyo and seemingly spending most of their clubbing, buying or selling drugs. The entire film is shot from the point of view of one young man who dies very early in the proceedings and we then follow his spirit forward and backward in time from that point.

After an hour I was thinking: okay, this has some good ideas but it's starting to drag a bit now. After two hours I was pretty fed up but it seemed to late to give up. Then, for the last twenty minutes everything seemed to come together as a lot of elements ramped up to ludicrous levels and I found myself drawn back in and ultimately left with a sort of confused grin on my face.

So, the story's pretty slight, the acting is mostly pretty ropey and all the characters are pretty unpleasant. What's undeniable is that it has an astounding visual style. There are a couple of drug trip sequences which are really just updated Orb videos. It's the depiction of the real world which is particularly impressive. Everything is coloured and filtered and screwed around with to make it seem different or claustrophobic or disconnected or whatever might be needed. A scene with two men walking down a street is manipulated to the point it looks totally unreal. There's a neon model of a city which becomes interchangeable with the real city to the point that there are scenes where you're not sure if it's a model made to look real or a real street/truck/whatever. It's the neon part that's worth repeating here. The colour scheme is all lurid greens and purples and oranges.

I couldn't help thinking what you could do with such a fantastic visual style allied to an actual plot or story. That some ludicrous Frenchman can come up with something so distinctive and fabulous looking while $50m action B movies languish in gothic tedium or bleached out, post-apocalyptic mediocrity is a crying shame. It pisses all over the likes of Sucker Punch or Tron.

If it was an hour shorter this would be destined to become a cornerstone of the wanky stoner student's film collection. As it is, it's destined to be a little seen curio. I can't imagine I'd have sat all the way through it at home. Or, if I had, it would've been in the background with one eye on the internet or the paper and I wouldn't have had the same experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2012, 11:55:38 AM
DOA: Dead or Alive. This is undoubtedly the best film I have ever seen based on a fighting game. In fact, there's a strong argument for it beng the best based on any game. Perhaps not one for the Library of Congress but it does a number of simple things right which none of its peers seem to have managed. First, there is fighting and plenty of it. Second, the silliness of the enterprise is wholeheartedly embraced. There is a ludicrous plot about an evil tycoon attempting to use nanotechnology to steal and sell people's fighting ability but none of the risible, po-faced seriousness of Tekken or Mortal Kombat.
Naturally, much of this comes from the source games. Where MK has a dark, apocalyptic setting, the DOA franchise has always been somewhat more light and frothy; the developers more concerned with modelling the physics of bouncing breasts than blood spatter patterns. Yes, it does feature a beach volleyball match.
The TnA approach does cause some problems. None of the top billed characters are genuine martial artists so there are a lot of fight scenes which jerk back and forth between the kick and the kicker. On the other hand, everyone likes the idea of pretty ladies beating them up and they take it with vim and gusto. Also, there are enough decent fighters in the lower orders to allow for one or two pretty good action scenes. The one with that bloke out of Matrix 2 fighting his way into the secret lab probably the standout.
Naturally, these films have to include as many references as possible for fans of the games. As ever, this leads to really stupid finishing moves in the fights but it also provides some fun moments as each of the leads gets her own little Bond style intro movie, fights are broadcast on big screens with running commentary  - "K. O." - and one or two scenes of amusing visual invention.
Intrigued by how much I'd enjoyed this, a quick trip to imdb revealed the director to be Corey Yuen, the chap behind the first Transporter - one of my favourite B movies of recent years - and co-director (with Samo Hung) of Dragons Forever: comfortably the best Jackie Chan film never shown on Channel 4 with an intro from Johnathan Ross.
Recommended, but bear in mind that I like Charlies Angels: Full Throttle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 17 March, 2012, 12:18:14 PM
I love DOA too. I'm a big fan of the 'hot chicks kicking ass' genre, such as the Jolie Tomb Raider films and Milla in Resi Evil. You can't go wrong with some sexy girls being all tough and shit. Big fan of Jaime Pressly too so that was extra bonus points for D.O.A.

The only film of this type which I didn't like that springs to mind was another Milla one - Ultraviolet. Sweet Jesus that was just so bad. I don't even know who was to blame, Milla did her schtick, the story was alright-ish.... I think it had to just be the direction and editing of the thing, it rendered it practically unwatchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2012, 01:33:46 PM
Not a fan of the Tomb Raiders (although 2 has a good coat) but the Resident Evil series is like a sordid and destructive relationship that I can't quit. Same goes for Underworld!

I'm guessing you'll already be familiar with some of the Hong Kong variants like The Heroic Trio and Lethal Panther Force but there they are, just in case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 17 March, 2012, 02:27:56 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 17 March, 2012, 01:33:46 PM
Not a fan of the Tomb Raiders (although 2 has a good coat) but the Resident Evil series is like a sordid and destructive relationship that I can't quit. Same goes for Underworld!

Another vote for the Resis and Underworlds. Very entertaining McMovies! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 17 March, 2012, 03:48:46 PM
Only ever watched the first Underwold - yeah. I think I enjoyed it. Must look up the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2012, 04:22:51 PM
See, I like Data. But then I never saw him as a Spock replacement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 04:39:44 PM
Spock is better than Data but Picard is better than Kirk. Then again Scotty is better than Geordie, Dax is better than Chakotay, Archer is better than Janeway and Tuvok is better than Checkov but Paris is inferior to Sulu.

The Trek Universe is indeed an odd place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 March, 2012, 04:58:20 PM
I meant more in that someone clearly thought he should be the second lead and a distinctive visual associated with TNG in the same way that Spock was visual and conceptual yardstick for TOS (and arguably for sci-fi in general).
I don't actually recall hating Data in the show or for the first two movies (even though there's far too much of him in First Contact), but at some point someone had to step in and say that they'd gone to the well often enough with that character and moved onto someone else like Worf, or even Riker and his dumb beard (the one on his face, not Deanna), as Data is central to every movie story, and to me this became grating because he just isn't that visually distinctive or interesting as a character, a charge I feel holds out when you look at how often the movie plots recycled one of his stories from the tv show (emotion chip, evil double, missing memory, etc).

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 04:39:44 PM
Picard is better than Kirk.

Obvious Troll is not even trying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 09:16:08 PM
Perhaps this conversation needs another thread?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 18 March, 2012, 12:22:39 AM
Well, we rented DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK tonight.

Three words: GREMLINS without Gizmo  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 18 March, 2012, 11:56:31 AM
The DAY OF THE DEAD remake. Much earlier in this thread, i referred to it as "a whole bucketful of shit". My considered reappraisal is that you may in fact need two buckets.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 18 March, 2012, 12:11:11 PM
If you watch it a third time will you need three buckets?  :lol:

                                                (http://i.imgur.com/bSD7a.jpg)


Watched the film "The Mummy" last night. The usual rubbish of finding ancient Egyptians remains and ressurrecting them through ritual sacrifice and "The Book of the Dead". The usual treasure hunters and Mummy's curse. Really monotonous, unimaginative bilge lacking any spark of charm or humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 18 March, 2012, 02:55:13 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 18 March, 2012, 11:56:31 AM
The DAY OF THE DEAD remake. Much earlier in this thread, i referred to it as "a whole bucketful of shit". My considered reappraisal is that you may in fact need two buckets.

Yeah, it's really, really, really bad. REALLY bad. Very uncool movie  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 March, 2012, 09:41:03 PM
WINGS OF DESIRE
Which I always thought I'd seen but hadn't. It was great. I think I could have watched more of the first hour - the Angels just observing and calming.

RUMOUR HAS IT
Wouldn't it be a great idea if we made a sort of sequel to THE GRADUATE starring jennifer Anniston and Kevin Costner where we try and derive laughs from the thought that Jennifer accidentally sleeps with her own father. Wouldn't it be great?. No. There is a lot wrong with this film (and I have  very high Anniston Tolerance) and to even get it to work, Costner would have to be the most charismatic man on the planet.  And he ain't all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 19 March, 2012, 12:04:03 AM
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER.

We enjoyed it. Pretty much typical Marvel fare; perhaps my least favourite of the current crop, but still pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SquashedFly on 19 March, 2012, 01:07:16 AM
Hobo With a Shotgun.

It was just the right amount of messed up. I quite enjoyed the look of the film and anything with Rutger Hauer is worth at least a watch. It made me think of the Punisher Max Series and the second movie with Ray Stevenson, as shit as it was it looked alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 19 March, 2012, 02:17:29 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 18 March, 2012, 11:56:31 AM
The DAY OF THE DEAD remake. Much earlier in this thread, i referred to it as "a whole bucketful of shit". My considered reappraisal is that you may in fact need two buckets.

The truly WORST thing about that movie is it was a genuinely wasted opportunity to film George Romero's original script for Day... (all 160-odd pages of it), considering the greater cost-effective affordability of practical and visual effects in 2008 compared to 1985, it would have been doable for a relatively modest sum, plus with DVD and Blu ray, you could have had both a (inevitable) tight R-rated theatrical cut as well as an extended and unrated (meaning full-on Savini gore galore) version, alas...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 19 March, 2012, 11:28:26 AM
Quote from: SquashedFly on 19 March, 2012, 01:07:16 AM
Hobo With a Shotgun.

It was just the right amount of messed up. I quite enjoyed the look of the film and anything with Rutger Hauer is worth at least a watch. It made me think of the Punisher Max Series and the second movie with Ray Stevenson, as shit as it was it looked alright.

I enjoyed "Hobo" too. As OTT and ridiculous as the title would suggest, and Hauer gives it some acting gravitas by playing the titular Hobo totally straight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 19 March, 2012, 11:36:44 AM
I liked Hobo... too,felt like it came straight out of the 80's what with all the neon and the Mad Max-style punks and everything. Hauer played it brilliantly. I think I preferred this to Machete.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 March, 2012, 05:54:05 PM
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) - I've been reading the books again, and decided to give this another chance. I've not seen it since it was released, and unfortunately it was still a little bit shit.

I realise, however, that were two things that brought it down for me. First is the score. The music never seemed to fit the action on the screen and is maybe just too in your face for something as witty as Hitchhiker's.

The second is Sam Rockwell. He was probably the worst single choice for Zaphod they could have come up with. His bipolar portrayal of the supercoolhip Zaphod was a tragedy.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 19 March, 2012, 09:09:24 PM
For the umpteenth time I watched "Kelly's Heroes". This is one of my favourite films. I love the cast and the humour of it and the pastiche elements of Western/War movie. Like I've explained, it's one of my all time films because the characters are watchable and not dull pretentious types. It's an antidote to nerdy sci-fi and monster movies such as "The Mummy". :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 March, 2012, 11:22:04 PM
Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun Li. Extraordinarily bad. Let's break it down.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 March, 2012, 03:47:15 PM
If you look vaguely Asian, Cosh, or in some cases just have an Asian-sounding name (like Reiko Aylesworth), Hollywood will cast you as an Asian of any sort.  Like Tia Carrere always getting cast as Japanese or Chinese despite being Hawaiian.  Lost's Daniel Dae Kim has played Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian - I also recall the bloke who played Harry Kim on Voyager complaining on day one that Kim was a Korean - not Chinese - name but the producers were all like "eh, whatever."  But yeah, Legend of Chun Li is just awful on every level - it's like it was made to cash in on the upcoming Dead Or Alive's mix of fights and cheesecake and then didn't bother adding fights or cheesecake.  And "Malachy" Bison?  Fuck that noise.

The Descendants, which is probably one of the better Wes Anderson movies not made by Wes Anderson.  It takes some liberties with the novel for the better, I think, but for the most part cruises by on The Clooney Factor, which is a minor drawback as I'm not entirely sure that the central conceit of someone choosing Shaggy Doo's slimy married banker over Clooney's quiet and decent lawyer is convincing even if it was someone else in Clooney's role, though they try to make him look even older than he actually is with super-grey hair, except when it catches the wind he looks like a Super Sayin from Dragonball, making this probably the best live action Dragonball movie yet made.  I did wonder about my pavlovian hostility to Clooney's elder daughter but then it clicked she was in that awful Secret Life of the American Teenager show, which even I couldn't watch, although she can actually act when she wants to if this is any indicator, meaning she likely has a long career of American Pie spin-offs ahead of her.  The rest of the cast are serviceable, though for some reason I laughed at the sight of Beau Bridges and can't understand why - possibly I am amused by him starring in something other than rubbish genre telly.  He's okay here, mind.
Good flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 20 March, 2012, 04:04:19 PM
Actually there were 5 SF characters in Chun-Li. Chris Klein's character was Guile's best pal that got murderised by Bison.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 20 March, 2012, 05:15:00 PM
Haven't even heard of this Streetfighter, Chun Li movie but based on the two reviews here I think I'll stick with the Van Damme one. Which, by the by, is also extraordinarly bad but somewhat chucklesome. And Raul Julia rocks it as Bison.(Also, you can't go too far wrong with a little bit of Kylie).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 20 March, 2012, 08:01:28 PM
Quote from: Van Dom on 19 March, 2012, 11:36:44 AM
I liked Hobo... too,felt like it came straight out of the 80's what with all the neon and the Mad Max-style punks and everything. Hauer played it brilliantly. I think I preferred this to Machete.

Ohh. That does sound good. Adding it to the ol' wishlist as we speak :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 March, 2012, 09:57:29 PM
I like the Van Damme Streetfighter.

Kristin Kreuk was lovely (if a little whiney) as Lana Lang in Smallville. And despite the fact that everyone in taht programme turns into a kick ass ninja at some point, I can't see her doing martial arts. I did think she had a slight bit of exotic dna in her though. (sadly, not mine)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 March, 2012, 10:48:58 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 20 March, 2012, 04:04:19 PM
Actually there were 5 SF characters in Chun-Li. Chris Klein's character was Guile's best pal that got murderised by Bison.
Good to know. I am unfamiliar with any fighter who appeared after SFII. I don't actually remember him fighting anyone, although I think he shot a few guys.

In other news I have just discovered there was a live action Mortal Kombat series which I now feel compelled to watch at least a few episodes of as part of this absurd exercise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 21 March, 2012, 01:16:49 AM
I remember that series! It was part of Channel 4's unmissable line-up of cheesy, crap-tastic zero-cred TV shows, way back when. Was actually good fun, but I HATED the ending.

I confess - I used to stay up for 'Bits' - not coz I had any interest in video games, but Emily Booth... rowr!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 21 March, 2012, 01:38:31 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 March, 2012, 10:48:58 PM
In other news I have just discovered there was a live action Mortal Kombat series which I now feel compelled to watch at least a few episodes of as part of this absurd exercise.

Let us know how that goes. I recently found the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action tv series on netflix and watched in the horror (yes, every episode).

Just watched Battle for the Planet of the Apes. I love the old Apes films - I imagine something similar to Battle will be the third reboot Apes film (Conquest being next).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 March, 2012, 04:26:08 PM
The Mortal Kombat series is pretty awful, and then ends on a cliffhanger.  It does have an awesome Quan Chi, though.

American Werewolf In Paris.  I wanted to enjoy this, and it does have the advantage of being derived from such an untouchable classic that it doesn't have to do that much to be entertaining because no-one could sensibly expect it to be better, or even as good as American Werewolf In London so the pressure is pretty much off - as least as far as I'm concerned - and to be fair it does do the important stuff right (the transformations, the setting), but the bad and the mis-steps outweigh anything in its favor.  The problem is that quite early it establishes that the emphasis is on whacky gross-out humor and unreliable internal logic, with echstreem Eyeful Tower bungee jump rescues, "whoa, dude, I am totally sniffing this chick's butt" scenes, comedy arguing zombie sexual tension and cgi slapstick taking up too much screen time and not enough of it devoted to werewolf rampages.  There's some stuff that's pretty good, like the bit with the werewolf's eyes in the sewer, the feaky-ass legless wolfman in Julie Delphy's basement, the start of her transformation - but I am pretty much convinced based on everything else that these happened by accident rather than design, or at best they are an example of throwing enough shit at a wall.
No doubt there are media students who can explain to me that I'm watching it wrong or something, but I found it too dumb to be enjoyable, and didn't manage the right balance of horror and comedy.  Abott and Costello proved over five decades earlier that you can do good slapstick and comedy werewolf movies that lean more towards slapstick if you want to. This doesn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 22 March, 2012, 04:53:40 PM
Quote from: HdE on 21 March, 2012, 01:16:49 AM
I remember that series! It was part of Channel 4's unmissable line-up of cheesy, crap-tastic zero-cred TV shows, way back when. Was actually good fun, but I HATED the ending.

I confess - I used to stay up for 'Bits' - not coz I had any interest in video games, but Emily Booth... rowr!

Now there's a defence that would stand up in any court of law  :)

Just watched Last House of The Left, the recent re-make version, and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the tremendously unpleasant bit at the end. Not seen the original version, though - anyone know if it's worth seeing, if there were many changes made?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 22 March, 2012, 11:55:10 PM
Fast Five
Started watching before I realised it was a Fast & the Furious sequel, which was of course obvious in not very far hindsight. As big dumb action films go it was great, bit of bank job type thing about it which is always good and of course loads of mental car chases/crashes, while trying to outdo the Blues Brothers for cop cars smashed up. It didn't, but then what could?  :D

Most cheesetastic non-sensical line from Vin - "You ain't in America no more. This is BRAZIL!!!" Ummm...

As Fast & Furious films go it was pretty good too really. Extra laughs from Dwayne thingy (The Rock) being in it too. Oh, and the guy that was Bucho in Desperado as the bad guy  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 23 March, 2012, 01:03:20 AM
TinTin and the Golden Unicorn.

On finally getting round to see it, the conclusion is that there is naught wrong with it on the the developing storyline and general humour. Beautifully made and stunning sets and art. My shit tv speakers didn't allow the actors to breath life into the characters much. But nor were there any chance for the wet humour to dry out. Pour example; The closing in on Snowy after a particularly heroic doggy do in Bagghar didn't hold it long enough on the close up. Excitement must be built up and the storyline followed that rule of thumb all the way, although the linking between acts failed to give smooth enough fluctuation. The Thomson twins were very rushed through too.

John Williams score was fantastically written but a little too grandiose in some areas. Nevertheless (<great word), As the credits rolled, the music may have impressed Mozart himself with its vibrancy. Or Brahms in Dmajor. And it will get a second viewing with the sound system plugged in this time.

Tower Heist- What's wrong with it? It's not bad. Except it starts out wild and ends a bit too neatly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 23 March, 2012, 11:44:42 AM
Almost finished 'Yakuza Weapon' a deliberately cheapo silly movie about an unstoppable Yakuza who has a machine gun grafted onto his arm.  Worth it for his girlfriend who throws boats when annoyed. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 23 March, 2012, 06:36:45 PM
The Hunger Games - Really enjoyed this one, doesn't treat the yoof like a bunch of dumbasses at all. Their is a bunch of shipping blather, but the plot does slightly subvert the whole process and encourages you to think about in terms beyond "OMG peeta is totes hot!!!!!!!! <3<3<3." The "grown-up" cast is full of reliable hands (always nice to see Paula Malcolmson getting work) but the kids are a bit ropey, and J-Law runs rings around the rest of them. The girl's a star.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 23 March, 2012, 06:41:06 PM
Shaolin Soccer- Impenetrably funny.  Everything about it shone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 March, 2012, 11:18:39 PM
Orphan.

Oh dear grud. I really cant say anything nice about this, even that its heart and intentions were in the right place, because its a cynical little horror/ thriller hybrid that fails to be in any way scary or at all suspenseful. Id imagine the same type of people who responded to 'the hand that rocks the cradle' and 'sleeping with the enemy' first time round will find it 'terrifying' and go on about the 'twist'- which is incidentally so bloody obvious from the off that i stopped the disc fifteen minutes in, wrote it on a bit of paper, put it in my pocket and produced it at the end to impress my wife. Her response? 'well, duh'.

It goes through the motions at the end and moves to an climax so foreshadowed as to elicit only laughs. In short, just a dreadful, inexcusable film and im tempted to give away the twist here and now, because it doesnt deserve even the sniff of respectability or interest that such a thing seems to generate. But i wont- although you can guess it from the poster.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 March, 2012, 09:16:00 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 22 March, 2012, 11:55:10 PM
Fast Five
Started watching before I realised it was a Fast & the Furious sequel, which was of course obvious in not very far hindsight. As big dumb action films go it was great, bit of bank job type thing about it which is always good and of course loads of mental car chases/crashes, while trying to outdo the Blues Brothers for cop cars smashed up. It didn't, but then what could?  :D

Most cheesetastic non-sensical line from Vin - "You ain't in America no more. This is BRAZIL!!!" Ummm...

As Fast & Furious films go it was pretty good too really. Extra laughs from Dwayne thingy (The Rock) being in it too. Oh, and the guy that was Bucho in Desperado as the bad guy  :D

I bloody love that silly, stupid, wonderful film. The Rock's super shiny arms has to be one of the best sight-gags in any movie ever.

21 Jump Street. The remake. For the most part it was a a bland movie with some cringey meta-humour about the old show, but the suprise [spoiler]appearance of Johnny Depp was quite funny.[/spoiler]. If'n I were you I'd just look at that spoiler, I don't think it's worth watching the whole film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 24 March, 2012, 09:19:59 PM
I actually found Channing Tatum to be likable in that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 24 March, 2012, 10:38:37 PM
just took a chance on John Carter and, as I said in the John Carter thread, was pleasantly surprised to find it a good fun flick.  Not timeless genius, but a good fillum all the same
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 24 March, 2012, 10:58:36 PM
WAZ (Although the 'A' doesn't have the stepladder bit in the middle). Very downbeat, hardboiled 'Seven-meets-The-Wire' type thriller, filmed mostly in my native Belfast. Very good flick if ruined only slightly by the fact that Melissa George - who I normally find to be very strong in genre films - was just a little too pretty and clean-cut to play the hardened female cop. Also, I could see the "twist" a mile off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 March, 2012, 01:17:14 PM
The Hunger Games.

I was sligtly disappointed in this. I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of the film but thought that the actial 'games' themselves were a bit of a letdown.

My main problems being:

[spoiler]All of the contenders in the games were basically 'goodies' or 'baddies'. The baddies really enjoyed killing people and thought it was great fun were as the goodies were just total victims, never killed anyone and basically just hid in the bushes. A couple of times a character did something if backed into a corner (like the bit with the wasps and when the black guy killed that girl as revenge for killing the little girl).

Anyway, my point is that I thought the film was missing a character who was simply resigned to the situation and played the games simply to try to survive - not an evil character just someone resigned to killing for necessity who would do their best to win. If I was there I'd have been straight up a tree shooting passers by with arrows.

The film spent so much time making us believe in a society that would be prepared to do this to their children that it seemed strange that so few of the children - the products of said society - were prepared to do what was needed in order to win the game.

I realise that killing someone with your bare hands isn't an easy thing to do but they didn't even take easy opportunities - for example when the bags with the much needed supplies were left out, wouldn't you take more than one bag? Just as an easy way of scuppering another contestant?

My other main gripe was that they acknowledged the usefulness of camoflage early on and then pretty much ignored it for the rest of the film.[/spoiler]

I came away thinking that I enjoyed other films with similar themes much more than this - for example The Running Man and The Condemmned (with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones)!
I'd rather watch a knowingly dumb action film than a wannabe intelectual thriller/social parable that misfires.

Reading this back it sounds like I'm being very hard on the film. I think it's something I'd probably enjoy more the second time once i've gotten over all the things that annoyed me about it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 March, 2012, 03:58:07 PM
I approve that you don't mention Battle Royale, JC, which Hunger Games is in no way a copy of in any form whatsoever because the writer of the original novel went to very great lengths to state as much.

The biggest problem with Hunger Games for me is that it doesn't have a clue what it's actually saying about anything at all, it's just a copy of a copy of a copy of a staple plot from movies, comics, tv shows and cartoons, a pointless exercise guilty of the crimes it claims to be commenting upon.  The film, mind, at least makes it look nice.  I suppose you could argue that it's guilty of the sexualising trauma thing, but in modern cinema that is unavoidable and your choice is either like it or lump it.

The Muppets: funny without being cynical, aware without being smug, earnest without being patronising - no bullshit, I think this might be my film of the year (so far).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 26 March, 2012, 04:15:00 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 26 March, 2012, 03:58:07 PM
I approve that you don't mention Battle Royale, JC, which Hunger Games is in no way a copy of in any form whatsoever because the writer of the original novel went to very great lengths to state as much.

Heh, that's exactly what I thought of when reading that and the vague snippets I've heard about it.

Seems to be popular though, made as much as John Carter didn't  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 March, 2012, 04:16:21 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 26 March, 2012, 03:58:07 PM
I approve that you don't mention Battle Royale, JC, which Hunger Games is in no way a copy of in any form whatsoever because the writer of the original novel went to very great lengths to state as much.



I didn't mention Battle Royale because, although I'd seen it, I couldn't remember if it was any better, worse or on a level with Hunger Games.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 March, 2012, 04:29:35 PM
If it helps, all the things you list as problems with Hunger Games, Battle Royale avoids.  12 years ago.



Further to my comments about the author of the original Hunger Games novel disavowing all knowledge of Battle Royale, I am sure it is also total coincidence that the the sequel to Hunger Games - Catching Fire - covers exactly the same ground as Battle Royale 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 26 March, 2012, 10:25:26 PM
Well, it's not the first Japanese film to be copied as we all know  :D

I just watched Passion Play

It's had a bit of a slating it seems (just from a glance at IMDB, but you know...) . The kind of slating you'd expect of a film with Megan Fox as a girl with wings that gets whisked away from Rhys Ivan's freak show by Mickey Rourke. Also Bill Murray [spoiler]as a gangster that whisks her away from him in turn[/spoiler].

Anyhoo, I enjoyed it a lot. For me, the main metaphor (as I saw it) was as subtle as District 9's townships and given that, the ending was [spoiler]a bit of a suprise, if completely obvious in hindsight, but then I tend to accept things as they're happening in some films rather than revel in prediction. [/spoiler]

I can see why it could be hated, but I guess I was just in the right frame of mind for something quiet, weird and romantic. If it was done by Lynch it would have been weirder and possibly better, so a bit like Drive in that respect. Just a bit, it's nothing like Drive really, or as good, so don't take that as any indication.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 March, 2012, 11:56:42 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 26 March, 2012, 10:25:26 PMWell, it's not the first Japanese film to be copied as we all know

Never having seen Perfect Blue 15 years ago when it was covered by even the mainstream press, I think Black Swan is a very original film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 March, 2012, 12:09:23 AM
It's as much a rip-off of Battle Royale as BR's a rip-off of Lord of the Flies or Rollerball. I'd rather they made a film that's like Battle Royale than remake the original because it's not in Amero-English.


The same goes for Perfect Blue and Black Swan, very similar, yet different but both excellent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 27 March, 2012, 12:23:23 AM
Black Swan is automatically better than Perfect Blue merely by not being fucking anime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 March, 2012, 12:40:40 AM
Battle Royale's writer is very forgiving of the similarities and basically says that even if you don't buy into the notion of a collective creative experience channeling the same influences and thus statistically it's inevitable that people come up with similar end products from different starting points, the idea isn't actually an original one, and he then cites examples going back decades of similar stories in various media.  By contrast, the writer of Hunger Games is adamant that she got the story from channel-surfing between war coverage and reality gameshows and nothing else, and my comments derive not from the belief that she's lying but that this an oddly defensive and precious stance that is ripe for mockery.

It doesn't actually bother me that movies aren't original, otherwise I wouldn't keep going to see comic book films* or movies based on plays, tv shows or novels - but it's fun to take the piss, Joe.  Life is better for laughter.  Go on - pop over to the Trek Versus Babylon 5 thread and tell them B5 is a bit like Lord of the Rings done on an Amiga.  They'll love that.




* In which 90 percent of the time, the plot is about a superhero being pursued by authorities.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 March, 2012, 11:15:52 PM
CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

Blimey, Ray likes to make things hard for himself. Three flying creatures, a mdeusa with a head full of snakes and multi limbed scorpions and Kraken.

It's still fun stuff if ever so slightly stiff. The Kraken is the biggest disappointment in this but the Medusa Temple sequence is simple but incredibly effective and tense even by today's standards.

Oh and nudity!

What's the remake like?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 March, 2012, 11:18:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 March, 2012, 11:15:52 PM
CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

What's the remake like?

It's like watching your parents having sex. You know this kind of thing goes on, but it's something you really don't need to see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 March, 2012, 11:24:48 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 March, 2012, 11:18:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 March, 2012, 11:15:52 PM
CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

What's the remake like?

It's like watching your parents having sex. You know this kind of thing goes on, but it's something you really don't need to see.



You're really selling this, aren't you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 29 March, 2012, 05:36:47 AM
The Clash of the Titans remake is nowhere near as bad as seeing my parents have sex (more to the point, nowhere near as bad as thinking about that) but it's pretty uninspiring.  Worthington could be a great action actor but he needs a better movie  than this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 March, 2012, 11:12:14 AM
I thought the Clash remake was fine, but lacked the charm of the original and arguably didn't do itself any favours with that scene where they're picking their weapons and they all at the clockwork owl from the original and are all like "what is that fucking thing?  It's totally stupid and we will now laugh at it."  That seemed an unwise stance to take, even leaving aside that the owl appears without any kind of context.  There is also rather too much of stuff coming towards the viewer - I know all that was necessary for the 3d gimmick in the cinema, but if you're watching at home it gets old really quick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the 'artist' formerly known as Slips on 29 March, 2012, 11:26:31 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 March, 2012, 11:18:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 March, 2012, 11:15:52 PM
CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

What's the remake like?

It's like watching your parents having sex. You know this kind of thing goes on, but it's something you really don't need to see.
It was Granny Pants..... 

Id add that everyone else in the film looks like they need a good wash and look, well sort of Ancient Greek.  Worthington wanders about with crew cut clean and a bit american.  He just looks like he swanned out of Avatar into this film, without a break in filming.  In fact almost like they just changed the backdrop.  He looks like a squaddie in ancient greece and acts as wooden as one as well!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 29 March, 2012, 01:01:32 PM
I suspect they just took some Avatar footage of Worthington and overlaid a different background on the green screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 March, 2012, 10:56:19 PM
Finished watching series 2 of Community, and now I'm re-watching series 1. Just a monumentally good show, and one that actually improves on second viewing. Some of the jokes and scenarios are so inspired that I'm genuinely staggered by their cleverness. I can't believe they did an entire episode in stop motion animation!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 30 March, 2012, 01:09:59 AM
Stop Britta'ing the movie thread with TV reviews.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 31 March, 2012, 12:33:16 AM
Just finished watching indie horror/ thriller, BURNING BRIGHT.

Great wee flick.

Think Laymon-style final girl slasher with our heroine trapped in a remote farmhouse. Only instead of a Jasonesque boogeyman stalking her, you've got a big fuck off tiger. And instead of our heroine's disposable sidekick(s), you've got her twelve year old autistic brother.

I really enjoyed it. Very tense movie with some great acting.

Definitely recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 31 March, 2012, 07:53:31 AM
Quote from: radiator on 29 March, 2012, 10:56:19 PM
Finished watching series 2 of Community, and now I'm re-watching series 1. Just a monumentally good show, and one that actually improves on second viewing. Some of the jokes and scenarios are so inspired that I'm genuinely staggered by their cleverness. I can't believe they did an entire episode in stop motion animation!

My favourite part of each episode of Comm S1 are the post script bits unattached to any of the plots. Chevy really finds his stride in it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 01 April, 2012, 11:01:14 PM
I just watched

'We Need To Talk About Kevin'

Real Dark and thought provoking..great film..uncomfortable watch though

My Mrs has read the book but said it was a fair adaption
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Adrian Bamforth on 01 April, 2012, 11:03:30 PM
Have just watched The Hunger Games, and agree with the comment that it had absolutely nothing to say at all...

[spoiler]Not only that, but even a message as simple as 'don't make kids fight each other to the death' is undermined by making half the kids suddenly evil and inhuman, like experienced serial killers, just to make it easier for us to watch them die.

In addition, they also have to be seen to be as stupid as Bond villains as they are picked off: "let's sleep under this tree and wait for her to come down" - she didn't even need the nest of genetically engineered killer wasps conveniently placed on the next branch (she didn't seem to notice it for several hours), presumably introduced again to make her less morally tainted as the 'bad' kids, who use blades, and somehow more heroic to us for using such an imaginitive device (hey doesn't that make us as bad as those watching the show?)

The overriding problem is that the film makes no success of conveying why any such future society, who probably spend half their day just getting dressed, and who have access to technology to make anything real via computer - "hey, I've made some wolves" / "Great! Let's put them into the game!" (question: why not use real wolves?) - would embrace such a needless tournament, which doesn't even seem to make good TV; the matter seems to be dealt with purely by putting a few Roman statues about the place. This trip into the future said nothing about anything about society, entertainment or government today, and no adults, apart from the distraught family, show any humanity, however misguided; we are expected to care for the main character simply because she has been placed in an environment of engineered peril.

[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Onlyverysmall on 01 April, 2012, 11:53:27 PM
I finally got my hands on "Made", the Jon Favreau/Vince Vaughn followup to the excellent "Swingers", and watched it today.
   I found it a very interesting and engrossing film, but while Vaughn was loveable in Swingers, he comes across as wilfully annoying in this. That aside, it is definately worth watching, but if this will sway anyone, the goodwill for the actors from having seen Swingers does help to give the viewer a more forgiving attitude towards scenes that don't work.
   There were problems in hearing it properly, but that's probably just me, I've had that with many films.

Reading that back, it reads like a D grade gcse essay, sorry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 April, 2012, 01:29:28 AM
Quote from: Adrian Bamforth on 01 April, 2012, 11:03:30 PM
Have just watched The Hunger Games, and agree with the comment that it had absolutely nothing to say at all...

The funny thing is, if you look at it as a remake of Battle Royale - which the lawyers say it isn't - then Hunger Games actually works a lot better than as an adaptation of a shallow and unoriginal novel.

Outland.  I'll go to bat for Peter Hyams as being a terribly underrated director - I'll even lend my voice to the minority opinion that 2010 is more enjoyable than 2001 - but there's a real confusion to some of the visual geography of the battle outside the mining station at the end of this.  Still a good film, mind, but horribly dated in so many ways, even if only in how stilted the body of text used in electronic communications seems to us in the age of emails and text messaging, though possibly if you were a big enough nerd you could pretend it was some kind of space-age telegram or something, as essentially the film is a western in a sci-fi setting.  Could everyone in space really just smoke away like that, though?  I don't mean so much for the amount of oxygen burned up as much as the amount of harmful chemicals this would introduce to a contained atmosphere.  Eh.  Still a good flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 April, 2012, 08:14:22 AM
Alien - It's still got it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 April, 2012, 06:00:22 PM
On a whim I sat down and watched one from the DVD shelf that I bought ages ago on the understanding that "yep, I'll maybe not watch that today, or tonight, or tomorrow, or even next week, but I will get some mileage out of this purchase at some point in the future and there's no point pretending otherwise":  Ghostbusters was the first time that I became aware that there was a place called New York and that the people there were very proud of the fact that they were wallowing in poverty and usually angry at something, a stark contrast to something like CSI New York which paints the place as a dour shithole of coffee shops full of boring people who seem to have access to a holodeck.
I love Ghostbusters' grubby working-class cast chain-smoking their way from one plot point to the next, never realising that they only have a job because Armageddon is upon them until some stiff only working there for a paycheque points it out to them, and it's full of great character moments and quotes ("we get him laid we don't have a problem").  Some ropey effects and no real climactic showdown to speak of, but that's okay, this is a film that can always cruise by on its quirky charm - and it does.  As soon as it was over, my first thought was "why did I take so long to watch that again?"
Fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2012, 11:05:11 PM
WRATH OF THE TITANS.

More like Wrath of the shite 'uns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Onlyverysmall on 04 April, 2012, 12:52:30 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2012, 11:05:11 PM
WRATH OF THE TITANS.

More like Wrath of the shite 'uns.

Did you steal that review from Barry Norman? I'm watching you...nyehh!...still watching...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Onlyverysmall on 04 April, 2012, 01:04:01 AM
Here's how you do it;

'Wrath Of The Titans'? rubbish film more like! It was rubbish. It was a very rubbish film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 04 April, 2012, 01:22:25 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2012, 11:05:11 PM
WRATH OF THE TITANS.
More like Wrath of the shite 'uns.

:lol: , and there it is ladies and gentlemen, easily the best line of the day...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 04 April, 2012, 02:06:40 AM
Ghost Busters is my favorite movie ever (with strong competition from Gremlins, Aliens and Robocop), Bill Murray at his best, Sigorney weaver at her sexiest (my 9 year old brain got its first taste of sexosterone that year), some of the most mindblowing effects at the time (which i'll disagree with you and say the optical ghost effects still hold up pretty well today, Mr Staypuft compositings is a bit dodgy though).  Shame about the sequal though, some good bits but hust doesn't connect the way the first did. Must dig out my Dvd of it, anyone know if it has a Blue Ray release?.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 05 April, 2012, 11:35:41 AM
The grand themes of power, murder, corruption and manipulation in 15th Century France is the subject of the film "The Hour of the Pig". Did I mention madness? Lawyers from Paris escape to a village called Abbeville and put a pig on trial for a racially motivated murder of a Jewish boy. This is scapegoating in the extreme. The law is definetly an ass in this film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 April, 2012, 11:59:28 AM
Boy, you sure are subtle...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2012, 01:35:11 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 04 April, 2012, 02:06:40 AMSigorney weaver at her sexiest (my 9 year old brain got its first taste of sexosterone that year)

The bit where arms come out of the chair and grab her, whoever is doing the arm on Weaver's left is clearly having a mash in several of the different takes used to film the scene.  Don't see the attraction myself because of the 1980s hair - it might not be the decade that invented the perm, but it sure did perfect it.

The Creeping Flesh - I seem to remember this being a lot better, but it's just naff and silly so I put my previous reverence down to my being 12.  And thick as pigshit.  The plot meanders all over place and we're asked to take a lot for granted: Cushing just finds the Devil's corpse, the looney just walks out of the asylum, the girl instead of turning evil turns mad like her mum, etc.  Cushing and Lee pretty much sleepwalk through parts they've played a dozen times before, but they're always watchable.

The Land That Time Forgot - much-loved cheesey old duffer of a flick with rubber dinosaurs versus Nazis and mobile plank Doug McClure as unlikeable arsehole Yankie McUnclesam, who leads German warmongers fresh from killing a boat full of civilians in their search for oil, which they steal from an unspoiled wilderness full of irreplaceable natural wonders until the place is razed to the ground.  Naturally, we're on the side of the American, even though the Nazi captain is the only person approaching being sensible or likable.  They seem to wander around killing dinosaurs unprovoked a lot in this flick, and then everything burns to the ground as usually happens in these types of old British genre offerings and it ends.  It's a bit shite, really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 05 April, 2012, 07:47:37 PM
Quote from: fonky on 05 April, 2012, 11:35:41 AM
This is scapegoating in the extreme. The law is definetly an ass in this film.

Strangely, I felt the goat deserved worse than he got. This is one of the few times I felt the law just wasn't harsh enough. "Hour of the Pig", indeed, struck at 04 April, 2012, 06:32:52 PM.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2012, 11:02:55 PM
THE LOSERS
Really wanted to enjoy this more than we did. Best scenes at the beginning, ludicrous funale (the plan was to run at all of the armed guards - really?) and am I the only person who doesn't find Zoe Saldana attractive?  I like Chris Evans though.

BATMAN - UNDER THE RED HOOD
We really liked this. These straight to DVD Bat and Supes cartoons are certainly tougher than the usual animated fare (lots of blood) and the fights can be really brutal. And normally with good reason as the plots wouldn't make much sense without the violence.  I was aware of the "reveal" (as would anybody with a passing knowledge of the comics) but Tiny Tips wasn't and thought it was great and all made perfect sense. Except Red Hood and Bats just happening to end up in a room with Joker in the closet. Was expecting more of Bender as the Joker though.

WORLDS FINEST - PUBLIC ENEMIES
Enjoyable enough romp with some fun fights - though Batman takes a LOT of punishment and keeps on going.  You can tell it's editted highlights of a longer comic though - it really does just jump from fight to fight and a little more plotting and character would have been welcome. The focus is on Luthor who Clancy Brown does quite well but ultimately it's an unsatisfying package despite some great animation and Bat moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2012, 11:06:00 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2012, 11:02:55 PM...am I the only person who doesn't find Zoe Saldana attractive?  I like Chris Evans though.

Now there's an interesting Venn diagram.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 April, 2012, 11:07:08 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 April, 2012, 01:35:11 PM

The Land That Time Forgot - much-loved cheesey old duffer of a flick with rubber dinosaurs versus Nazis and mobile plank Doug McClure as unlikeable arsehole Yankie McUnclesam, who leads German warmongers fresh from killing a boat full of civilians in their search for oil, which they steal from an unspoiled wilderness full of irreplaceable natural wonders until the place is razed to the ground.  Naturally, we're on the side of the American, even though the Nazi captain is the only person approaching being sensible or likable.  They seem to wander around killing dinosaurs unprovoked a lot in this flick, and then everything burns to the ground as usually happens in these types of old British genre offerings and it ends.  It's a bit shite, really.


It's where Pat Mills got all his stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 April, 2012, 11:21:44 PM
Zoe Saldana is just that bit too thin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2012, 11:24:50 PM
QuoteNow there's an interesting Venn diagram.

Wait till you hear me go on about The Rock.

Spot on Godders - that's exactly what I was thinking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 April, 2012, 12:45:36 AM
Robocop 3 - when I bought the Robocop Trilogy blu-ray, this was my first choice of viewing from all three films.  It's not good, ruined by actively bad direction from Monster Squad's Fred Dekker, but even gash acting and direction can't kill the odd good moment, especially one sequence where Robo finally stops moping and decides he's going to go kill the English-accented main villain right now even though it's only the second act, a decision which leads directly to Robocop chasing someone in a burning pimpmobile.  Robocop in a jetpack is also great, and "why does Robo need a jetpack?" is the same kind of question as "why does a T-Rex need a flamethrower?" - because there's no such thing as being too awesome.
Momentary brushes with greatness aside, it's still a shite film, which is a shame because it could at least have been better than Robocop 2 with tighter editing, having an objectively interesting turn for the character when he's not just the usual 'hero on the run' cliche but an actual terrorist in what seems to be the final days of the American empire when the implacable OCP monolith of the two previous films (and tv series) finally crumbles at the hands of the capitalist system it embodied.  Robocop 1 was about the excesses of capitalists, 2 was about the excesses of consumers, and 3 is about what happens when all of that has failed and all that's left is for communities to circle the wagons in the streets and defend what little they've been left.
I also can't believe Frank Miller co-plotted this film - not because it's so terrible, but because Robocop 3 is about the failures of capitalism and how it destroys lives and communities without giving anything in return, and I cannot picture such sentiments coming from a soulless corporate whore like Miller.

The Guard.  Essentially an extended Father Ted sketch but without the internal logic stretching whatever way necessary to make a gag, the unassuming mix of the absurd and the tragic is oddly compelling and Gleason is on top form - the deadpan way he danders through the wreckage of a boy racer come off the roads was something I felt guilty for laughing at as hard as I did.  Very funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 06 April, 2012, 12:53:57 AM
What did capitalism ever do to you, jerkface?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:54:25 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 April, 2012, 12:45:36 AMI also can't believe Frank Miller co-plotted this film - not because it's so terrible, but because Robocop 3 is about the failures of capitalism and how it destroys lives and communities without giving anything in return, and I cannot picture such sentiments coming from a soulless corporate whore like Miller.


Didn't he only become the extremist-jingoist-capitalist post-911 whereas he was more of a run-of-the-mill Republican before?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 06 April, 2012, 01:21:20 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:54:25 AM
Didn't he only become the extremist-jingoist-capitalist post-911 whereas he was more of a run-of-the-mill Republican before?

With respect Joe (and I mean that sincerely), watching your fellow citizens jump to their deaths from a hundred-odd floors of a skyscraper rather than burn to death after a passenger-laden airplane slams straight into it one sunny September morning would make even the most moderate Republican want to go get the people responsible... and if the rest of the world doesn't like that, well screw them, and I agree!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 April, 2012, 09:55:03 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 06 April, 2012, 01:21:20 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:54:25 AM
Didn't he only become the extremist-jingoist-capitalist post-911 whereas he was more of a run-of-the-mill Republican before?

With respect Joe (and I mean that sincerely), watching your fellow citizens jump to their deaths from a hundred-odd floors of a skyscraper rather than burn to death after a passenger-laden airplane slams straight into it one sunny September morning would make even the most moderate Republican want to go get the people responsible... and if the rest of the world doesn't like that, well screw them, and I agree!

If they wanted to "get the people responsible", how come the US still hasn't invaded Saudi Arabia?  Come to that, what does Robocop 3, a film made in 1993, have to do with 911?  "Nine Eleven, man... NINE ELEVEN!"  Is not actually an argument, and if it is, it's not one you want to start here.

I am not sure Miller's views on anti-capitalist demonstrations can reasonably be argued to be informed by his patriotism, otherwise he wouldn't have denounced the ex-servicemen and women who lent their voices to the Occupy movement as rapists and thugs when Miller hasn't served a day in his entire life.  I think the argument you want to be having is Miller's views on Islam, which would be reasonable if they were directed at the extremist wing of an isolationist and regressive religious movement rather than anyone with dark skin, but Holy Terror and Miller's online comments are clearly the work of a cowardly and entitled crybaby who doesn't grasp the idea of what a community is, and thus has no place retreating behind such as justification for being an arsehole much as the vast majority of the American right does when called out on their shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 06 April, 2012, 09:56:12 AM
Plus it cost, like, a trillion dollars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 06 April, 2012, 11:19:22 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 06 April, 2012, 01:21:20 AM
With respect Joe (and I mean that sincerely), watching your fellow citizens jump to their deaths from a hundred-odd floors of a skyscraper rather than burn to death after a passenger-laden airplane slams straight into it one sunny September morning would make even the most moderate Republican want to go get the people responsible... and if the rest of the world doesn't like that, well screw them, and I agree!

Agree.

Back to movies I last watched, True Grit, the remake.

Who knew American was a foreign language?! I think I understood maybe 40% of what came out of their mouths. Still, the girl was really impressive, acting wise.

And Paul, which was nowhere as good as Shaun or Hott Fuzz. Shame, since aliens and Roswell and Comic-Con and road-trip sound brilliant, individually, you'd think mashing them up would work too, especially in the hands of Pegg et al.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:34:53 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 06 April, 2012, 01:21:20 AM


With respect Joe (and I mean that sincerely), watching your fellow citizens jump to their deaths from a hundred-odd floors of a skyscraper rather than burn to death after a passenger-laden airplane slams straight into it one sunny September morning would make even the most moderate Republican want to go get the people responsible... and if the rest of the world doesn't like that, well screw them, and I agree!


With respect, that argument doesn't really fit with Miller's recent non-sensically impotent old-man rantings, an act he continues to allow fester and infect his work to an unreadable degree. Things aren't that black & white, the last 12 years of dick-waving, over-stretch, economic collapse and venturous blunderings in multiple Middle-Eastern states that had tenuous links to whatever terror network was in their heads have borne that out.

I find that reasoning understandable in a reflexsive emotional way but short-sighted and ignorant after this amount of time and dead bodies -mostly innocent people from other lands- on all sides
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:53:24 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 06 April, 2012, 01:21:20 AM
... and if the rest of the world doesn't like that, well screw them, and I agree!


I'd expect that from a 12 year-old not an adult and indicative of a certain mind-set especially when the subsequent actions actually involve the rest of the world to a great degree and less a bunch of rogue terrorists from Saudi Arabia and of course the dire consequences that followed. They can do what they want within their own borders but not in countries/regions that had no involvement. Using a terrible attack as a pretext for a wider war is not the solution.

Nothern Ireland taught us enough lessons in sustained violence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 06 April, 2012, 09:47:00 PM
Anyone else watching Gentleman Broncos?

Genius!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 01:03:11 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 06 April, 2012, 12:53:24 PM
I'd expect that from a 12 year-old not an adult and indicative of a certain mind-set especially when the subsequent actions actually involve the rest of the world to a great degree and less a bunch of rogue terrorists from Saudi Arabia and of course the dire consequences that followed. They can do what they want within their own borders but not in countries/regions that had no involvement. Using a terrible attack as a pretext for a wider war is not the solution.
Northern Ireland taught us enough lessons in sustained violence.

I acknowledge and understand your well-made points (as always), Joe dude, but it's not childish to treat terrorism as terrorism, I can't speak for Miller but the U.S. can - and DOES - need to protect their homeland from threats on foreign shores, and if you think Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda were not in cahoots (not on 9/11 specifically), then read Stephen Hayes' The Connection  book, which goes into very specific details about the operational co-operation between the two entities... and just for the record, I happen to disagree with the invasion of Iraq, it simply wasn't worth the amount of blood and treasure spent relative to the goal and/or eventual outcome, period! 

And on the subject of da nort', you wouldn't had sustained violence if the Brits had hammered the IRA into dust when they had the chance in 1921 or 1974, but chose the negotiating route, the terrorist infrastructure survived and innocents paid for it with life and limb (one of my own family members included)...

Anyhoo, back to movies, haven't seen the True Grit remake, but heard seriously impressive things about it, how does it compare to the John Wayne version, Defuzzed dude...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 01:24:55 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 01:03:11 AM

and if you think Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda were not in cahoots (not on 9/11 specifically), then read Stephen Hayes' The Connection  book, which goes into very specific details about the operational co-operation between the two entities... and just for the record,



Rumsfeld had a working relationship with Saddam too -after Saddam was removed from the terror list in 1982- and he sold them weapons/hardware to fight the Kurds. In response to the gassing of the Kurds, sweeping sanctions were unanimously passed by the US Senate that would have denied Iraq access to most US technology. The measure was killed by the White House. Do the Kurds have the right to stage an attack on America in retaliation for supporting Saddam?

It is not easy or simple to support a war complex on either side that are ultimately amoral no matter how they paint it because they have prioritised strategies that are not only about punishing terrorists. It never works as a method for justice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2012, 02:06:36 AM
I just thought it was cool when Robocop came into the room and set that guy on fire just after he'd asked someone if they had a light.  Frank should have stuck to doing stuff like that instead of publicly being a huge tool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 02:18:24 AM
Well Frank always wanted to be like the characters he wrote, too bad he couldn't bring himself to drop the pen, pick up a gun and go fight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 02:45:53 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 01:24:55 AM
Rumsfeld had a working relationship with Saddam too -after Saddam was removed from the terror list in 1982- and he sold them weapons/hardware to fight the Kurds. In response to the gassing of the Kurds, sweeping sanctions were unanimously passed by the US Senate that would have denied Iraq access to most US technology. The measure was killed by the White House. Do the Kurds have the right to stage an attack on America in retaliation for supporting Saddam?

This particular rotten conspiracy theory needs to be clarified (with all respect intended Joe dude); Donald Rumsfeld did not - and I'll repeat that, DID NOT - sell Saddam Hussein chemical and/or biological weapons in the 1980's, the U.S. did however sell them weapons, ammo, and various military hardware in their conflict with Iran between 1980-88, the reason being to set the two regional powers against each other to effectively keep each other in check, a strategy that actually worked until Saddam decided to invade Kuwait, a foolhardy move that turned the West against him, and which ultimately led to him swinging from a noose. 

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 01:24:55 AM
It is not easy or simple to support a war complex on either side that are ultimately amoral no matter how they paint it because they have prioritised strategies that are not only about punishing terrorists. It never works as a method for justice.

Tell that to Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden... sometimes to catch a thief, you have to burn the forest down (courtesy of Alfred Pennyworth), sorry if that sound simplistic Joe my friend (meant with all sincerity), but I believe it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 07 April, 2012, 03:38:12 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 06 April, 2012, 09:47:00 PM
Anyone else watching Gentleman Broncos?

Genius!


Yeah, I have Beeks. Have you seen the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon? I think a rendition of the writer with the funny voice is on there too.

So true about girls asking you for money for tampons. Heh, urgh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 07 April, 2012, 08:38:44 AM
Quote from: George Dread on 07 April, 2012, 03:38:12 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 06 April, 2012, 09:47:00 PM
Anyone else watching Gentleman Broncos?

Genius!


Yeah, I have Beeks. Have you seen the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon? I think a rendition of the writer with the funny voice is on there too.

So true about girls asking you for money for tampons. Heh, urgh.

That's Jermaine from Flight Of The Conchords the writer!

Funny!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 07 April, 2012, 12:08:27 PM
Beaky, the remake is worth watching if only for the sheer quality of the girl and I wish I had a better memory for names but eh - so yeah, interesting. However, funwise, I prefer the Wayne version. New westerns always come out colder and bleak for some reason, but then again, I'm a pretty diehard Sergio Leone fan so I come from a pretty strong bias.

(And by the by, I honestly thought Cowboys and Aliens would break the trend for bleak and yep, brighter, but oh so boring dammit!)

In both TG versions though, the older man crushing on the girlchild still wigs me out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2012, 02:59:24 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 01:03:11 AMAnd on the subject of da nort', you wouldn't had sustained violence if the Brits had hammered the IRA into dust when they had the chance in 1921 or 1974

I agree.  The Shoot To Kill policy worked out great for all concerned and the British would have had no problems at all in the long term if they'd simply massacred anyone involved in small-scale civil protests.  The Americans should take notes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 03:20:33 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 02:45:53 AM


This particular rotten conspiracy theory needs to be clarified (with all respect intended Joe dude); Donald Rumsfeld did not - and I'll repeat that, DID NOT - sell Saddam Hussein chemical and/or biological weapons in the 1980's, the U.S. did however sell them weapons, ammo, and various military hardware in their conflict with Iran between 1980-88, the reason being to set the two regional powers against each other to effectively keep each other in check, a strategy that actually worked until Saddam decided to invade Kuwait, a foolhardy move that turned the West against him, and which ultimately led to him swinging from a noose. 


So I take it you agree it's all right to support a genocidal maniac while he massacres other people except when they're white Americans. Need I say anymore about how the Yanks supported the dictatorship of the Shah -a lovely chap- for years. Playing both sides when it suits them, that's a really great moral stance. I think the term is blowback.


Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 07 April, 2012, 01:03:11 AM


And on the subject of da nort', you wouldn't had sustained violence if the Brits had hammered the IRA into dust when they had the chance in 1921 or 1974, but chose the negotiating route, the terrorist infrastructure survived and innocents paid for it with life and limb (one of my own family members included)...



and you don't think there'd be anybody left in Ireland to take their place? It would've compounded the problem and made it worse, throughout the country. I believe it was the working class Protestants -Ivan Cooper- who started the civil rights protests in '68 due to how badly they were being treated by their own government. Should they have been shot too?


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 April, 2012, 04:36:57 PM
I'm having to work very, very hard not to join in here (stupidity loves company), so is there any chance you chaps could take this over to the Political thread so I can stop stumbling across it by mistake? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 04:40:07 PM
Sure thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2012, 04:50:15 PM
The political thread is the forum bike at this point*, and Robocop's political views demand a thread of their own.  I ask only that a passing mod start "The Robocop 3 Thread", dedicated to how awesome Robocop is, and how killing your own citizens is the best way to combat civil unrest.


* sometimes, I make it too easy for Roger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 04:54:16 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 April, 2012, 04:50:15 PM
The political thread is the forum bike at this point, and Robocop's political views demand a thread of their own.  I ask only that a passing mod start "The Robocop 3 Thread", dedicated to how awesome Robocop is, and how killing your own citizens is the best way to combat civil unrest.



Deffo. We need to discuss Corporate Wars and Frank Miller's decrepitous gait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 07 April, 2012, 05:34:25 PM
Reviews of Hunger Games, and Raid: Redemption.

http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/movie-reviews-raid-redemption-and-the-hunger-games/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2012, 07:51:08 PM
Loved The Raid, loved it so hard (got a review of it myself at http://pizzazombie.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/frightfest-glasgow-day-two-saturday-25th-feb-2012/ (http://pizzazombie.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/frightfest-glasgow-day-two-saturday-25th-feb-2012/)). I need to own it on blu-ray so I can watch it a ton of times.

We watched Tucker & Dale Vs Evil last night. It's a really nice spin on the whole "college kids go into the woods for the weekend and get tormented by pyscho hillbillies" genre, in that the hillbillies are really sweet characters who the college kids assume are psychos through a misunderstanding. One misunderstanding leads to another, which leads to a few amusingly gory deaths. It's not a flat-out classic, but it is really likable and occasionally very laugh out loud funny, and Tucker and Dale are really lovable characters thanks to the performances being pitched brilliantly (one of them is Wash from Firefly, always good to see him).

Would link the trailer, but a lot of the comedy comes from the unexpected deaths and the trailer for some reason shows you almost every one of them. Better to go in cold, but if you like good comedy horror and slapstick gore I'd recommend watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: the 'artist' formerly known as Slips on 08 April, 2012, 12:59:56 AM
Fright Night 2012

Not bad, not awful.  Leads not too bad, Colin Farell hams it up awfully, as does David Tennant.  The young cast have fun..... thats about it really!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 08 April, 2012, 03:40:36 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 07 April, 2012, 02:59:24 PM
I agree.  The Shoot To Kill policy worked out great for all concerned and the British would have had no problems at all in the long term if they'd simply massacred anyone involved in small-scale civil protests.  The Americans should take notes.

I wasn't talking about civil protests.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 07 April, 2012, 03:20:33 PM
So I take it you agree it's all right to support a genocidal maniac while he massacres other people except when they're white Americans. Need I say anymore about how the Yanks supported the dictatorship of the Shah -a lovely chap- for years. Playing both sides when it suits them, that's a really great moral stance. I think the term is blowback.
and you don't think there'd be anybody left in Ireland to take their place? It would've compounded the problem and made it worse, throughout the country. I believe it was the working class Protestants -Ivan Cooper- who started the civil rights protests in '68 due to how badly they were being treated by their own government. Should they have been shot too?

No, it's never right to support a genocidal maniac and unfortunately it has blown up in the West's collective faces of late.  And the ordinary Catholics had no truck with the Provos, and hated them as much as anyone until Bloody Sunday handed the 'Ra ammunition on a silver platter, and I would argue the Unionist administration was largely a very effective one, minus some mistakes made along the way...

Quote from: TordelBack on 07 April, 2012, 04:36:57 PM
I'm having to work very, very hard not to join in here (stupidity loves company), so is there any chance you chaps could take this over to the Political thread so I can stop stumbling across it by mistake? 

That's it, I'm done now, sorry all (and Joe if I sounded argumentative, 'twas not the intent), resume normal business...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 08 April, 2012, 03:59:56 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2012, 07:51:08 PM
Loved The Raid, loved it so hard (got a review of it myself at http://pizzazombie.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/frightfest-glasgow-day-two-saturday-25th-feb-2012/ (http://pizzazombie.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/frightfest-glasgow-day-two-saturday-25th-feb-2012/)). I need to own it on blu-ray so I can watch it a ton of times.


Nice review. I've seen that Hard Boiled comparison a lot...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 April, 2012, 07:33:02 AM
Inspired by another thread posting a picture of young Sigourney Weaver I decided to watch Alien last night for the first time in years. For a film that is 33 years old the effects are astonishingly good. All of the tension still works, even though you know what is going to happen.
My only concern was the creature escaping from the table after bursting out of Kane's body (should I have spoilered that? Surely everyone knows that bit?!). The chest bursting is great, but I feel the alien should have scuttled or slithered away - not sat upright and whizzed away as if it's sat on a rollerskate going wheeeeeee!. It's the one bum note in the whole thing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 April, 2012, 10:10:30 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 08 April, 2012, 07:33:02 AM
The chest bursting is great, but I feel the alien should have scuttled or slithered away - not sat upright and whizzed away as if it's sat on a rollerskate going wheeeeeee!. It's the one bum note in the whole thing

Like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU1MAokrrUk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2012, 10:39:41 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 08 April, 2012, 07:33:02 AM
My only concern was the creature escaping from the table after bursting out of Kane's body (should I have spoilered that? Surely everyone knows that bit?!). The chest bursting is great, but I feel the alien should have scuttled or slithered away - not sat upright and whizzed away as if it's sat on a rollerskate going wheeeeeee!. It's the one bum note in the whole thing

Yeah, that and the alien drifting away from the ship are the only two effects shots that look ropey to me, but that's not bad going at all. Actually, after rewatching them all when the blu-rays came out recently it was the first one that looked the best of them all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 April, 2012, 06:20:08 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2012, 10:39:41 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 08 April, 2012, 07:33:02 AM
My only concern was the creature escaping from the table after bursting out of Kane's body (should I have spoilered that? Surely everyone knows that bit?!). The chest bursting is great, but I feel the alien should have scuttled or slithered away - not sat upright and whizzed away as if it's sat on a rollerskate going wheeeeeee!. It's the one bum note in the whole thing

Yeah, that and the alien drifting away from the ship are the only two effects shots that look ropey to me,

I know what you mean. When you see the creature drifting away in spacefrom behind, you can tell it's a bloke in a suit. It actually reminds me a bit of how Godzilla looked in those old Japanese films. A good example of how lesser is often better.  But boy did they get that right pretty much everywhere else in the film!

I think the only other point that looked slightly dodgy was when you see the shadow showing the Alien's silhouette crouching down, shortly before ambushing someone. (I think it was Lambert.) Again the shape and movement is suspiciously human-like. At this point, it does sort of work, though as it can provide a bit of misdirection for people watching it for the first time. And one of the main concepts of the creature is that, while it is very alien in some ways (particularly the life-cycle, that skeletal look and the head, which actually reminds me a bit of a Sperm Whale) it's takes aspects from the host too. 'Cain's son' as one character (I think it was Dallas) says.

I do have a soft spot for the more stalky sauropod look of the Aliens from Resurrection though. They're bipedal, so they've adopted something from the human host, but there's no sense of humanity there. They looked really predatory. If you're going to see the whole thing, that's not a bad way to go, although I'm glad they toned it down for the AvP films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 08 April, 2012, 06:56:46 PM
I just watched The Godfather all the way through for the first time, and I can say that I have seen better films, for example 1982's Zombie Bloodbath. Marlon Brando's scene in the funeral parlor after Sonny's death isn't a patch on the scene where a bunch of zombies walk into a propellor blade but then they clog up the propellor blade and then they eat the pilot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 April, 2012, 07:28:20 PM
Contact the CDC, It looks like the SBT Virus has broken out of the Hastings Alienation Zone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 April, 2012, 11:32:42 AM
Finally got around to Source Code, really enjoyed it. I didn't like it as much as Moon but it does share some of that film's atmosphere and is, like that film, one of the most interesting sci-fi films of recent years. I was a little worried from the trailers that after Moon being a bit of an indie darling this would be more generic Hollywood fare, but while it does seem more commercially targeted it's way more interesting than your average blockbuster, and has a similarly emotional pull without overdoing the schmaltz (just about). If this is what a more commercial Hollywood-style movie from Duncan Jones is like then I'd be more than happy to see more.

Also, I still think Gyllenhall is a great actor with a ton of presence, even if most of the folks I know seem to bash him a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 09 April, 2012, 11:50:11 PM
[spoiler]What's great about both of the Duncan Jones films is that both protagonists have an unofficially happy ending. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 10 April, 2012, 03:50:04 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 08 April, 2012, 06:56:46 PM
I just watched The Godfather all the way through for the first time, and I can say that I have seen better films, for example 1982's Zombie Bloodbath. Marlon Brando's scene in the funeral parlor after Sonny's death isn't a patch on the scene where a bunch of zombies walk into a propellor blade but then they clog up the propellor blade and then they eat the pilot.

Hahahahahahaha!

I am guessing this is a slight dig at the man with the worst taste in everything, small blue thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2012, 04:03:06 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 10 April, 2012, 03:50:04 PM
I am guessing this is a slight dig at the man with the worst taste in everything, small blue thing.

Except women, comics and books.  All the important things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 10 April, 2012, 04:47:03 PM
Awakening.

Some lovely cinematography. Which kind of ruined the chill of it. All in all we do do a nice ghost yarn though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 10 April, 2012, 04:48:22 PM
Made it through fifteen minutes (yeah, its more than you would!) of Uwe Boll's latest masterpiece Blubburella. As impossible as it might seem, he is actually getting worse. He seemed to be going for Airplane/Top Secret style comedy stylings with this but it was so brutally filmed and put together that every attempt at humour came off cringe-worthy. There were maybe 2 or 3 instances of witty storytelling from the script, which made me smile, I'll admit, but the direction/production of the movie was so dreadful, even getting to the fifteen minute mark was an almighty feat.
Anyone else have a crack at this one?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 04:59:26 PM
And sunglasses. I've never tried to look like Bono. Mine are much better.

Now then- I've been sitting on this for a while, trying to get my head around it. Last week I saw the 2011 remake/ prequel to The Thing.

Derided right across the board, I've been very wary of all the criticism I've read. So much of it was, frankly, from people whose opinions on films are basically the babble of confused children, or the elitist wankery of smug twats. That's not to say they'd prove wrong in this case- if ever any film was going to have to work overtime to receive even a cursory nod of approval it was going to be this. After all, John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the greatest films ever made, in any genre. More than that, it's a seminal movie of my generation's shared youth, and the poster boy in the 'war' between those who champion special effects of the practical, prosthetic kind over the keyboard-tapping variety. In a climate of endless pathetic Hollywood remakes of the films we love, if anything was going to feel a perhaps disproportional outpouring of disgust, it would be this. Unless it somehow broke a similar number of taboos as Carp's film, it was going to get slaughtered. And it did.

But really, what did they expect? There are thirty-one years between the Christian Nyby original and Carpenter's remake. And twenty-nine years between Carpenter and Matthijs van Heijningen Jr's 'prequel'. Instead of a complete reimagining, as would befit that length of time and would serve to show the timelessness of John W. Campbell, Jr's story, van Heijningen Jr choses to in all senses that matter just remake Carpenter. I'm reminded of the similarity of intent and execution between Halloween and Halloween II- except there at least Halloween II benefited from an increased bodycount and more gore to make up for the lack of directorial elan calling the shots. The new Thing cannot possibly offer us anything really new- for one, obviously, we know how it ends. And secondly, there's no way Rob Bottin's effects can be bettered- they can't be made more gruesome, or get under our skin any further. With some practical rubberwork and a lot of cgi, the new film only just about earns its '15' rating. yes, flesh bubbles and little tentacles move under skin in ways Bottin couldn't manage- but the dollar per second ratio cuts these scenes down to the minimum required by the story, so we don't get the kind of lingering looks that Bottin's rubber, plastic and goo horrors could afford us. Nothing elicits a response as honest as "You've gotta be fucking kidding...", though they do try very hard and come close at times- notably the brilliant arm monster. But then, nothing moves very far from Bottin's template and is always scuppered by a quick, cash-saving, cutaway.

So, why am I bothering to go into a fair bit of detail about a movie everyone and his wife has written off as a piece of shit? Well- because, despite all that I've said above... I really, really liked it. It tries very hard not to undermine the Carpenter movie. Everything looks right, and the cast is mostly spot-on. They have beards, they have lived-in faces, they are rugged. Only the token women (there are two) seem out of place- notably because there is no attempt made to make them appear as if from 1982. Both sport "attractive 2011 hair", for instance. They should've had the full Farrah Fawcett or at the very least maybe a Toyah. But really, there is no need for them being women at all- neither character behaves in any way that necessitates her being a she. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the original, first draft, lead was the bad professor's male assistant, until he was sidelined by an executive who demanded women be included. The assistant is there from the off, follows behind the lead throughout and could easily be swopped with no real change to the narrative. Even his 'death' is inconsequential and could be swopped with any of the other characters. Indeed, that the lead is female is irrelevant throughout, except right at the end, when it suddenly becomes a major plot point. That the ending is both potentially as affecting as the Carpenter film's AND totally fluffed at the same time, is a perfect example of how fine the line is with this movie. if only they'd made more of her relationship with the American pilot, the ending would have made sense and been so much more confrontational. As it is, well- I won't ruin it- but it's about half as powerful and you have to take a bit of a leap to really 'get it'.

So- was it worth it? I'd say yes. In the end, The Thing (2011) is a very expensive fan-film, no more 'important' than the Dark Horse series of comics from years back, in comparison to the 1982 film. But if you take it as a fan-film, it's one made with a real love for the material and a typically fannish fear of moving too far from the source. if you accept that, and share the obvious love for the material as van Heijningen Jr and his cast and crew, and if you're in a forgiving frame of mind, you might just find yourself loving this one just a little bit, as I did. And until John Carpenter decides to revisit the material and make a sequel, or until a clever director decides that Carpenter got it wrong and the REAL story of 'Who Goes There?' should be told like THIS... it will have to stand as a bloody good try that was crippled by having to live up to what is probably the best film any of us will see in our lifetime.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2012, 07:11:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 04:59:26 PMDerided right across the board, I've been very wary of all the criticism I've read. So much of it was, frankly, from people whose opinions on films are basically the babble of confused children, or the elitist wankery of smug twats.

Not sure what reviews you were reading, SBT, as the ones I read here on the board seemed to be of the opinion that it was a competent film whose greatest failing was connections to the Carpenter version, a point you make yourself.
For some, mere competence wasn't enough, while for others it was the best - or better than - they'd hoped for, and to get that much I think it's doing pretty well given the venom being spewed at it by purists before it was actually released.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 07:30:22 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 April, 2012, 07:11:20 PM

Not sure what reviews you were reading, SBT, as the ones I read here on the board seemed to be of the opinion that it was a competent film whose greatest failing was connections to the Carpenter version, a point you make yourself.
For some, mere competence wasn't enough, while for others it was the best - or better than - they'd hoped for, and to get that much I think it's doing pretty well given the venom being spewed at it by purists before it was actually released.

I agree entirely. As I said about the reviews, "so much of it..."- and that was the ones I'd accidentally stumbled across, as I'd purposely avoided everything I could for the last year or two. Now I've seen it, I've done my usual check on the 'Loved it'/ 'Hated it' reviews on IMDB and other places- and, as you say, the sheer vitriol directed towards it is shocking.

To be honest, I could have rambled on for ages, as I've been thinking about it for much of the last week or so- the attempts to mirror the paranoia of the first, which fall a little flat but which cement it as more a remake than a prequel to my mind; the creature design- which is pretty damn good throughout... and then completely ballsed up in that ludicrous sequence in the alien spaceship; and the film's almost-descent into generic monster runaround in the last third.

It would have been far more interesting if, rather than tying up to the Carpenter version with the dog, they'd have somehow bypassed it completely- perhaps shooting the mutt and throwing the audience a curve-ball, only to reveal Kate was a Thing after all, as she escaped and was en-route back to civilisation. I dunno. But, as a film in and of itself, I really liked it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 10 April, 2012, 07:36:01 PM
Well if anything SBT you've actually made me think about giving it a whirl again

I was a little excited when I heard it was going to be made..then wary..then hostile..then indifferent...then hostile again when I read some reviews

I..like you..grew up with this film buried in my psyche..so I feared another 'Phantom Menace' moment

After that thoughtful and honest review I might have a rethink
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 07:54:50 PM
Beeks, yeah, do it. It's absolutely no phantom menace- nor is it 'the fog' remake (which still smarts), or 'the wicker man' (which doesnt, as ive grown to like it as the demented extension of nic cage's personality that it is). And most importantly, it's not steve miner's 'day of the dead' either. You can watch it without feeling like youre punching carpenter in the face, which is more than i could when watching miner piss all over romero.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2012, 09:12:40 PM
The Fog remake just made me feel sorry for Tom "Smallville" Welling more than anything else.  I don't mean that in a mean or sarcastic way, I mean that I thought he would end up carrying the can for the film even though he wasn't anywhere near the worst thing about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 10:18:26 PM
'Roger Corman Presents CAMEL SPIDERS'

A fiver from HMV this morning. One day, someone will put together all the fantastic myths about these fearsome little beasties and make an excellent little horror film that will seriously disturb many people. However, this isnt it.

What this is, is a very generic killer-spiders movie, with some okayish cgi critters accidentally brought back from Afganistan by some US military types, who then chow down on the residents of hicksville. All blood is cgi, nothing explicit is shown, and if you do watch it dont invest anything in the four teens who hole-up in the deserted house. Because unforgivably, their story is never finished. In a move of shocking incompetence, their story runs parallel to the main plot, they eventually make a break for freedom, the main plot ends... and the two never entwine, and the characters are last seen screaming in a car, with no closure whatsoever. Horribly, even i cant recommend this, much as i dearly wanted to.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 11:14:08 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 April, 2012, 09:12:40 PM
The Fog remake just made me feel sorry for Tom "Smallville" Welling more than anything else.  I don't mean that in a mean or sarcastic way, I mean that I thought he would end up carrying the can for the film even though he wasn't anywhere near the worst thing about it.

And then he DIDN'T get the role of Supes in the new movie. How much legwork does a man need to do to get a job?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 10 April, 2012, 11:16:51 PM
First time watching Escape From LA on ITV4

Jesus Wept

Why?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 11 April, 2012, 01:44:19 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 10 April, 2012, 11:16:51 PM
First time watching Escape From LA on ITV4

Jesus Wept

Why?

You're mouth is full of wrong! Escape from LA is awesome! Camp as all get-out but stilll....awesome!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 11 April, 2012, 08:58:20 AM
Quote from: Van Dom on 11 April, 2012, 01:44:19 AM
Quote from: Beeks on 10 April, 2012, 11:16:51 PM
First time watching Escape From LA on ITV4

Jesus Wept

Why?

You're mouth is full of wrong! ....

I love that response! My very first laugh-out-loud moment of the day, thanks for that :) And also, totally agree with you.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 April, 2012, 11:14:08 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 10 April, 2012, 09:12:40 PM
The Fog remake just made me feel sorry for Tom "Smallville" Welling more than anything else... 

And then he DIDN'T get the role of Supes in the new movie. How much legwork does a man need to do to get a job?

SBT

I was actually more upset with Michael Rosenbaum not getting the Lex Luthor role. His Lex was the only one I could realistically see becoming President and the common folk blind to his BTS menace, sincerity and charm oozing out of him. Every other Lex came across as sleazy, wouldn't trust them at all.

And talking of Supes, saw the poster on the bus for The Cold Light of Day and the man and the name didn't ring any bells, and yet he was first billed over Weaver and Willis. And then I went ohhhh and realised he was the new Superman. I could be totally out of the loop and the majority is familiar with him, which is possible since I rarely make it to the movies (my last was Dragon Tat and MI4) and catch up on shows years after everyone else (currently watching SGA for the first time) - but still, can't help thinking its box office would be better if released after Supes. Unless Supes sucks, of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 11 April, 2012, 10:56:15 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 April, 2012, 04:03:06 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 10 April, 2012, 03:50:04 PM
I am guessing this is a slight dig at the man with the worst taste in everything, small blue thing.

Except women, comics and books.  All the important things.

I don't have time to indulge any of those three as much as I'd like. At the moment I'm reading and watching Game Of Thrones, 2000AD is the comic of choice, I'm playing Mass Effect 3 and that's about it for "fun".

No new comics, not even keeping up with The Walking Dead. As for music, fuggedaboutit.

Apart from Man vs Food. there's always time for Man vs Food.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 April, 2012, 12:59:33 PM
Mrs Tips is away so I went for a horror "cabin in the woods" double bill of DEAD SNOW and TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL.

Both of which purport to try and subvert a few of the genre cliches - TUCKER & DALE doing a better job of the two but neither of which manage to be clever or funny enough (TUCKER & DALE sets out it's stall as a comedy quite early on whereas DEAD SNOW seems to come to the decision to be funny quite late on it's running time).

I think DEAD SNOW's biggest problem is that it doesn't know what it's monsters are. They clever and fast and use tools and obey orders and use tactics which pretty much takes them out of zombie territory but given that one character calls them zombies, what else are we meant to think of them as?  They are effectively Nazi Hillbillies (or the pirates returning from the grave a la THE FOG). The film also lacks an internal logic (phones work and don't work depending on how scary/funny it is and exactly what have the zombies been doing/eating for sixty years?).

TUCKER & DALE on the other hand just outstays it's welcome despite likeable performances from the titular characters. It would have been a great hour but stretching it to 90 minutes brings some unwanted repetition.


KABOOM.  Polysexual goings on amongst hot students who never study.  Again, the out and out comedy doesn't come to the fore until quite late on and it jars with the earlier stuff. Ridiculous amounts of basil at the end and it still doesn't make much sense and the ending is about as big a cop out as you can get (and spoilered by [spoiler]the film title[/spoiler]).  Actually, there is a worse ending they could have done "The whole thing is just a bad trip" which is possibly one way of reading it.  Wasn't impressed but I guess I'm not the target audience.


In the end my marathon got down to a choice of Jenny Skavland or Hayley Bennett? (Mmmm. Off to the underware thread)

   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 12 April, 2012, 10:34:06 AM
Four Lions, much more funny than the 'drama' around its release lead me to believe. Felt guilty sometimes, laughing in some places, but I think it was more because I felt I should feel guilty rather than because they did anything wrong. Because they didn't. They handled the subject matter amazingly well and I am honestly surprised by that, didn't think that was possible at all.

And their run with the bags reminded me so much of the Monty Python walk, in a mirrorverse maybe! Anyway, fun, well-written, well-acted and also, surprise!Sherlock aka Benedict Cumberbatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 12 April, 2012, 11:16:46 AM
The Darkest Hour.

The Big Waste of an Hour (and a Half) is what it should really be called. Rubbish invisible aliens vs young and stupid people in Russia. I strongly advise giving it a wide berth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 April, 2012, 02:23:27 PM
Darkest Hour is from the makers of Apollo 18 and Right At Your Door, so I would argue you deserved everything you got if you still went to see it with that pedigree.

Seattle Superstorm - a SyFy original movie which seems pretty terrible from the bits I was paying attention to for the first half hour or so, but then I started daydreaming about what Enterprise would have been like if they'd cast Ronny Cox or Lance Henrickson as the captain.  I think it would have enlivened things even if the scripts were still sub-par.  Then I left the room, got distracted, then went shopping, which makes Seattle Superstorm the second film - after Just Married - which I have walked out on when it was playing in my own home.

Frenzy - much-maligned later Hitchcock outing about an impulse killer, though I thought it was decent enough, especially the sudden turnaround at the end which has you going "haha" until you realise that someone has been raped and murdered offscreen.  There's a an onscreen rape scene where the rapist/murderer is saying "LOVELY!" with each thrust, which sounds exactly like the old adverts for the Sun they showed on telly and played on the radio where they'd say what was in the latest issue and a cockney bloke would say "LOVELY!" after each item, which I think says plenty about The Sun that they would latch onto this as a catchphrase.

Moon 44 - an early Roland Emmerich outing, cited in some quarters as one of the worst movies ever made.  It's not that by a long stretch, but it's not great either, with some particularly bad acting from Dean Devlin, who probably made the right decision when he chucked in the acting lark and took up writing and producing instead - and given he wrote and produced Godzilla and Independance Day, that gives you an inkling what his acting is like - but leading man Michael Pare is pretty wooden and charmless, too.  I gather this is a low budget affair, but the effects - occasional dodgy model shot aside - and set design are pretty impressive even if the traditional sight of the rulers of the galaxy taking meetings in a room the size of a hotel greets you far too often, though the setting is not convincingly sold by the sets, effects, direction, acting or editing, with claustrophobic corridors and dorms undermined by constant distant shots and poor lighting, and external establishing shots unwisely dropped in where unnecessary.  Not sure what the story was supposed to be about, either, or who the enemies actually were, or why it was so important to hold Moon 44 when they lose it at the end but then say "we'll be fine if we have the shuttles", and I would say all in all that it was pretty bad, but grudgingly, because - sleepwalking lead actor aside - there's palpable effort on show here from all concerned that makes me really want to like Moon 44 even if the end product falls short as a whole.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 April, 2012, 08:25:21 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 02 April, 2012, 08:14:22 AM
Alien - It's still got it.

Aliens - Its still got it BUT not quite as much.

Used to love this film so much, its still good but has dated a little.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 13 April, 2012, 12:16:50 AM
My review of Cabin In The Woods!

http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/movie-reviews-my-entirely-spoiler-free-review-of-cabin-in-the-woods/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 13 April, 2012, 03:02:45 AM
Human Centipede 2. Showed up on Netflix so I had to, didn't I? This may have been discussed here already. It's a truely horrible piece of film with no redeemable features.Well, I suppose the guy who played Martin did a bang-up job with a horrible role, he actually did look like he was going to keel over and die on a number of occassions (I hope that was acting, at least). And yeah I guess it did out-do the first one in terms of sheer grossness and puk-acity, if that was the intention. The mutilation bits were pretty hard to stomach. The major problem with it was that it didnt have any protaganist. It was just a series of horrible acts, and the recipients of these acts were either total assholes or complete nobodies, so you didnt even care what was happening to them. Even bringing in the girl from the first movie as 'herself' didn't work as she only got about a minute of screentime before being relegated to human-prop material. With the first film, although the protaganist females were played by fairly poor actresses, you did at least empathise with them and sympathise with their plight. You did want them to escape somehow. You rooted for them. You dont get that in this version, with any character. And this kind of movie really needs that, or you just get bored watching random people suffer.

Also, the shit scene was truly rank.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2012, 01:24:20 PM
Continuing my "Films Mrs Tips won't watch so watch them while she's away" I went for:

DAY OF THE DEAD (Romero, 1985) - Was eating a vegan omelette while watching this which felt illogical. Nowehere near as good as I remember (last seen in early 90s) despite some spectacular, really spectacular
gore.  I imagine this is how most of you lot view The Walking Dead when you say it's got no likeable characters and all they do is talk (or in this case shout) at each other.  And, I know Romero's sympathies have always been with the Zee but the learning, talking, tool using, sarcastic "Bub" zombie is an utter disaster.

LAKE PLACID 3 - Willfully incompetent with the most useless leading man I can recall seeing in this kind of movie.  About a third of the way through, the director latches onto the fact that one of his cast is rather easy on the eye and has her disrobe at various points and then run around in a tight t-shit and jeans with her elbows tucked into her side but her arms held high so that she jiggles just so.  Primeval would be ashamed of the special effects and since when could crocodiles leap so far when out of water.

Biase Moi - more like Baise Merde.  I went in with vague ideas of a pRono version of Thelma and Louise but in French and all arty and relevant like.  But it really was just a pRono version of Thelma and Louise.  The directorial choices did strike an authentic chord with what little pRon I've seen. Though I didn't time if it stuck to the 18 minute rule. Still struggling to see what it was meant to be about? Were the two protaganists a metaphor for something - if so, the obvious choices didn't quite get followed through at the end?  Was Karen Bach's character motivation only that she had nothing better to do? It was blissfully short. Still, at least it made me think a little meaning that it did have some artistic merit and so, by definition, isn't just pRon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 13 April, 2012, 01:39:36 PM
All of the Kermode clan watched Napoleon Dynamite last night and loved it - very funny and sweet-natured sort of flick.  It has the basic structure of a lot of teen-nerd comedies, but doesn't go for the obvious punchlines. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 14 April, 2012, 03:48:05 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2012, 01:24:20 PM
And, I know Romero's sympathies have always been with the Zee but the learning, talking, tool using, sarcastic "Bub" zombie is an utter disaster.

Really, Tiplodocus dude, I thought Bub was one of the few highlights of that film, it made sense that the authorities would try to experiment on the dead to find some cure for the reanimation process or weapon against them (other than chronic head trauma), and his scenes were the only ones in Day... where you got some actual (black) humour in an otherwise unrelentingly grim and downright depressing movie...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 April, 2012, 09:29:35 AM
Watched Escape From LA which I'd recorded off the telly the other night.

I hadn't seen this film for ages but remembered liking it when it first came out. I was actually quite shocked at how bad the CGI is in this film - real Playstation stuff! The effects didn't spoil my enjoyment at all though - in fact they just added to the B-Movie appeal.
I love films like this that just revel in their own genre - this is pure pulp sci-fi action. It's just such a fun film and Snake Plissken is an utter, utter badass. My favourite bit was when he tried to machine gun the two military types before he got in the submarine!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 April, 2012, 01:28:16 PM
I've never understood the animosity from Carpenter purists towards Escape From LA, but then I also find Ghosts of Mars to be one of JC's more outright entertaining efforts, too.  EFLA is a big goofy adventure through a comically exaggerated world based on the California of the 1990s in the same way New York was derived from an exaggerated view of the Big Apple in the 1970s, but if I did have a criticism, it's that Pliskin is a little too knowingly camp in his second outing and it takes a little away from some of the potential humor.  Otherwise it's a decent remake of New York.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 April, 2012, 01:32:37 PM
Prof, did you just pay a compliment to Ghosts of Mars? I thought if there were two people who liked it on any continent, the world would end or something. The only carp films i really dont like are dark star and village of the damned- everything else hits the spot.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 14 April, 2012, 07:59:44 PM
Sucker Punch Possibly covered already but I'm not searching... Took a while to decide whether it was the worst or the best film ever, but you know, it turned out to be pretty good really. Aside from obvious reasons (as a healthy bloke), it was a bit more reasoned than I'd first thought and it's a bit of a blast through various fantasy lands of giant samurai robots, steampunk nazis and a rather cool dragon. Kind of sad (in the proper sense of the word, not geeky sad, depending on your point of view, but I assume I'm safe saying that here  :D) in the end (and throughout really) and very enjoyable overall.

Also enjoyed Thor last week, though my love of Natalie helped a lot. As it did in Your Highness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 14 April, 2012, 11:30:03 PM
I would suggest that the main problem people have with Escape From LA is that it is a emphatically shit film, made even shitter by the knowledge that the man who made it is creatively bankrupt and is churning out risibly shit films on a fairly regular basis, about 20 years since he last made a good one.

I don't know how the fuck anyone bankrolls Carpenter, or who watches his shit films.

Christ knows, The Thing, Halloween, Escape from New York and They Live are among my favourite films. It makes me weep trying to sit through tramp wank like EFLA and fucking Ghosts of Mars.

Also, can anyone tell me who - apart from Zack Snyder - thought spending 100m on Sucker Punch was a good idea. Who, apart from lonely 14 year old boys, would watch that laughable piece of shit? It's probably one of the worst, stupidest, most ill-advised films I have ever seen half of.

Glad it flopped. It fucking deserved to. Abomination of a film. Almost as bad as anything John Carpenter has released in the last two decades
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 April, 2012, 03:04:20 AM
What's it like being crazy, Brendan?  Do you even see the same colours I do?

Another Earth - sci-fi is a funny old genre: on one hand Captain Kirk getting in a wonky teleporter and coming out as two people - one who reads Twilight novels and calls his mates at all hours of the morning just to see what they're doing and another who's addicted to rape and brandy - who can only resolve their differences not with fisticuffs but with a big hug is just dandy for me, while on the other hand something like Never Let Me Go is really down to earth and focussed on character and drama and is dull as fucking ditchwater on top of being so up its own hole that none of holds water as science or drama.  Another Earth falls into this trap, being about another Earth that appears in the sky that is a mirror duplicate of our own world, right down to the shape of our continents and our history, including that time the world was thrown out of the orbit of the sun and traveled to another solar system and nobody died along the way because we didn't have a sun, or that time a planet appeared in the sky and the tides were all right.
The drama is equally dumb, being lots of long tracking shots to sad music and a character at one point taking a hard look at herself in a mirror.  It is cringe-inducing stuff that I would describe as being on the level of an amateur Youtube film made by bored teenagers, only I've seen some of those that have actually been better than this, and a fraction of the running time.  An awful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 April, 2012, 03:11:29 AM
I quite enjoyed Another Earth, although not enough to watch it again. To me it seemed to be saying that the answers we all need are not in other places or times or on other planets or in mirrors or in other people, but firmly fixed within each and every one of us. Not a particularly novel idea, granted, but I think that we all need reminding of this fact from time to time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 April, 2012, 03:33:29 AM
My tolerance for pretentiousness is significantly lower than my indulgence of camp and possibly this has a great deal to do with why I didn't get on with Another Earth, though its reactive characters are also problematic as I couldn't buy either of them being capable of the initiative to connect to each other in any meaningful way, making their relationship as unbelievable as the science.  It also does not help that Futurama covered the same ground - several times over - with more believable characters and a more interesting and adult take on the story and themes, though I suppose not being as good as Futurama at science, drama and characters is no great criticism if I think about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 April, 2012, 03:40:27 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 April, 2012, 03:11:29 AMNot a particularly novel idea, granted, but I think that we all need reminding of this fact from time to time.


Should it take 90 minutes of arse-time to tell you that though?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 15 April, 2012, 09:44:34 AM
Saw Fast and the Furious and Fast and Furious on the TV last night, back to back.

Forget bromance, it's total romance! Hot chicks about, do they get eyefucked? Hell no. That's saved just for Dom and Brian. It's awesome, actually, the sheer blatant gall of it all.

People can criticise it all they want, I find it a fun franchise, perfect popcorn movies. Even enjoyed two, not so much 3 though but that's more down to the fact that movies set in Japanese cities make me feel claustrophobic, irrational but true.

And Five was just a crazy show of massive car destruction. With Plot. Loved it.

The director, Justin Lin, is supposed to be handling the Highlander reboot, and going by the sheer fun and gorgeous visuals he brought to these FF movies, I can't wait to see what he does with immortals and beheadings and quickenings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 15 April, 2012, 11:29:10 AM
I've got an awful feeling the last movie I watched was The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford.

I saw a lot of films over the Bank Holiday, including -

Death Race (2008)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
The Likely Lads (1976)
George and Mildred (1980)
The Magnificent Two (1967)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Deadline (2009)
Funny Girl, (1968) and
The Way We Were (1973)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 15 April, 2012, 11:37:51 AM
THE THING [2012]

Not bad, worth viewing certainly. Prequel to Carpenters 1982 classic I felt it achieved  the setting and atmosphere right though some of the backgrounds looked very like Matte paintings.

I thought the characters were ok-ish  though they obviously parachuted the Americans in for as bit of audience identification. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was very good as the Paleontologist sent to investigate the Alien body found by the mostly Norwegian Research team. She doesn't have much to do except look confused,scared then really pissed off while firing a Flamethrower. Were Flamethrowers standard issue for Norwegians in 1982?

Having the Norwegians played by what appeared to be genuine Scandinavian actors was a nice touch but I'm afraid they didn't last too long!

Indeed you didn't quite get long enough to know enough about the characters in order to feel truly involved in their obvious peril. 

The 'Thing' itself sometimes looked a bit ropey effects wise and the designs tended to be of a similar vein large, chomping, circular, mouth with spiny arms, tentacles sprouting off. The 'double header' horror is  good too but it's a occasionally very obvious it's a cgi creation. Even the best design [for me] the 'end beast' which was very Cthulian and horrible would look a little ropey particularly with someones head poorly mapped onto it!. Some of the effects particularly the helicopter scenes looked like something you'd see on Sci Fy Channel.

Some good moments though and there is a Brit at the Station who reappears in Carpenters Film. [spoiler]He died human though! [/spoiler]

Worth seeing but don't expect to many jump out your seat moments. There's a little bit of a twist at the end and you see the events that lead up into the 1982 Film. Fun and I was drinking Nutty Black beer so I was bound to be in a good mood while watching it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2012, 04:19:07 PM
Quotethought Bub was one of the few highlights of that film, it made sense that the authorities would try to experiment on the dead to find some cure for the reanimation process or weapon against them (other than chronic head trauma),

While I agree that they would be doing research into how to stop Zombies without resorting to killing them, it's the actual results they get that bug me. It's tantamount to "humanising" the ultimate horror bad guys and therefore, I reckon, is stupid. ST: TNG did it with the Borg in various shows and I disliked that too.   Nobody tries to show you that Great White Sharks have feelings too. If "Bub" is the whole point of the film then Romero became shite earlier than I'd previously given him credit for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2012, 04:26:04 PM
2012
A dumb as you can get disaster movie that does exactly what it says on the can. Dumbly, I missed the sort of twist about the spaceships.

The destruction on display is spectacular and at times genuinely terrifying.  The plot holes, inconsitsencies and narrow escapes on display are equally so.  And hey, we're back to a happy nuclear family at the end.  But I knew those elements would be rubbish before going in so was just happy to enjoy the effects. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 April, 2012, 04:52:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2012, 04:19:07 PM
While I agree that they would be doing research into how to stop Zombies without resorting to killing them, it's the actual results they get that bug me. It's tantamount to "humanising" the ultimate horror bad guys and therefore, I reckon, is stupid. ST: TNG did it with the Borg in various shows and I disliked that too.   Nobody tries to show you that Great White Sharks have feelings too.

Great White Sharks are a very different kind of monster to zombies though. I actually think it's the fact that zombies are essentially, human, yet equally essentially not*, which is part of what makes them so scary.

Even the ordinary bitey kind strike me as quite sad melancholic creatures. I liked what they did with Bub and the humour was welcome. It certainly made more sense than the reasoning behind the humanised zombie of the new film of the same name** [spoiler]who is basically that way because he fancies the main female lead[/spoiler].

Anyhow. The last film I watched was Predators.  I can understand peoples criticism that it was too much like the first film, but I thought it pretty good just the same. I found it rather slow moving at the start, yet thought that quite good as a lot of modern films tend to get to crazy stuff pretty quickly.

I'm not really sure what purpose his new breed of predator served though. The designs were good, but, apart from the fact [spoiler]these guys seem a bit less honourable, (although I'd argue it's more about sport than honour even with the previous predators. They might not kill you one on one if your unarmed, but they'll willingly nuke you and the entire neighbourhood if they find themselves in a no win situation.), but the creatures in the other films seem equally as tough. Until they're pitted against one of the uberpredators in this film of course.[/spoiler]  I think it might have made more sense if [spoiler]the original predators had a larger role, so that we see more of the conflict between these two breeds,[/spoiler] but I can understand why they didn't go that route in what is essentially a reintrodction to the Predator series. If there's a sequel I hope we see more of the conflict and an explanation of the two kinds.

At least we got to see a fight between individuals of the two kinds. [spoiler]And I'm glad the original iconic guy got to hold his own for a bit.[/spoiler]

So yeah.  A decent film but I think maybe more should have been done with it. I saw that twist with a certain character a mile off though, as I'm sure many other viewers did too. It wasn't unwelcome though.

*I'm aware that looks like a contradiction, but, think about it...

** I wouldn't really count it as a remake as the stories are very different. The second one isn't even set in a military complex although it is mainly about army guys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 April, 2012, 07:23:51 PM
Last night I introduced my mate to Slither because he hadn't seen it and it is ace. Some great Fillion moments and lots of splatter and laughs. In return he made me watch Yo Yo Girl Cop. It was not good. I thought Yo Yo was the girl cop's name, but it is in fact a reference to the fact that her only weapon is a yo yo (and a weird but not unattractive armoured catsuit that she whips out from nowhere at one point). It was truly awful, completely unintelligible and seemed to exist solely for the 5 minutes of actually quite fun action that happened towards the end. The rest was a lot of weird teen angst that I couldn't make any sense of, and a lot of off-screen explosions. When an on-screen explosion happened it was fairly obvious why they kept the others off-screen. The heroine is very easy on the eye, but that's not enough to get you through it and I struggled to stay awake for most of it.

Apparently from the director of Battle Royale 2, which made me a bit glad I've never gotten round to watching that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 15 April, 2012, 11:36:30 PM
Cabin in the Woods, The. Worth seeing just because it has Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford having a ton of fun. I'm weary of anything Whedon does just because his fanbase is so annoying, but when he delivers it's always top shelf stuff. Plus I always have time for [spoiler]Fight CLub style "fuck all y'all" endings.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 16 April, 2012, 09:50:08 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 15 April, 2012, 11:36:30 PM
Cabin in the Woods, The. Worth seeing just because it has Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford having a ton of fun. I'm weary of anything Whedon does just because his fanbase is so annoying, but when he delivers it's always top shelf stuff. Plus I always have time for [spoiler]Fight CLub style "fuck all y'all" endings.[/spoiler]

Oh, I really want to see this, but is it worth the babysitting money?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 April, 2012, 11:54:34 AM
I really enjoyed Cabin in the Woods - great fun.
One of the things I liked most about it was that you could argue most horror films from the last 30 years are a part of this film's universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 16 April, 2012, 12:01:30 PM
Interesting re Cabin, it's got lots of moments from movies past and instead of people crying hackjob and copycat etc etc, it's being praised for it. Do it right and everything old is new again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 18 April, 2012, 11:31:46 AM
Drive – Michael Manns slow moving, violent lovechild and I quite enjoyed it. Couldve done without the synthi-pop though, that was a rip off tribute too far.

And Walter Whites in it too which made me happy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 April, 2012, 12:39:46 PM
Walkabout.  Now I would have sworn in court that I'd seen this film all the way through at least twice in my childhood and early teens, and retained very fond (false) memories of a distantly-bathing Agutter, but on watching it the other night with the wife (who'd read the book, but not seen the film) it bore little or no resemblance to what I remember, from its savage beginning to its second inexplicable suicide(?) and the copious close-up oogling of Jenny with and without underthings.   I'd always understood it to be one of those 'noble savage/repressed whitey/ corruption of modern life/ majesty of the earth primeval'-type things, but it seemed to take an indecent interest in naked schoolgirls to get that across.  Indeed it took a visit to the IMDB and some quick sums to reassure me that I wasn't ready for the Nonce Wing quite yet. 

All I can figure is that my Dad must have been a master at sending me out to make a cup of tea at (numerous) appropriate moments.

Still, I loved the cinematography, the use of stills and intercut images and bizarre interludes. Clever boy, that Roeg.  Pervy, but clever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 18 April, 2012, 01:02:50 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 16 April, 2012, 09:50:08 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 15 April, 2012, 11:36:30 PM
Cabin in the Woods, The. Worth seeing just because it has Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford having a ton of fun. I'm weary of anything Whedon does just because his fanbase is so annoying, but when he delivers it's always top shelf stuff. Plus I always have time for [spoiler]Fight CLub style "fuck all y'all" endings.[/spoiler]

Oh, I really want to see this, but is it worth the babysitting money?

It is great fun and definitely worth a punt even the logic of the thing never really rings true. Nice cameo too. And yeah, you can never get enough of Richard Jenkins- loved his work since Flirting With Disaster. What a great film that is, even if it does star Ben Stiller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 April, 2012, 01:23:36 PM
Immortals - which I stopped watching about twenty minutes in because my tv broke.  I was trying to watch the film but the picture was too dark and I couldn't make out a bloody thing that was going on, while some of the cast seemed to be mumbling nonsense rather than human speech.  Clearly there is something wrong with the television, like that time it broke during the Hangover and I didn't laugh once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 18 April, 2012, 04:58:32 PM
God Bless America

I watched this last night and enjoyed the one upmanship over Falling Down. I'm sure you've all seen the trailer and know what goes on but believe me the best bits are not just left in that. One of my favourite scenes is with the baby but I'll leave you to see what I mean  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judo on 18 April, 2012, 11:49:04 PM
I reaaaaally want to see cabin in the woods - its looks exactly my sort of film - but fucked it up today and saw a french film about fostering called something that's translates roughly as 'The Kid with the bike'. It was actually quite a good film but it wasn't quite the same as expecting to see cabin in the woods.

Just watched alien vs predator 2 and I loved it... Except for the humans. Like cut every single scene with the humans out cept when they're getting killed and itd go from 3/10 to 10/10. Also the aliens and predator have blatant sexual tension and should just go for dinner x
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 19 April, 2012, 02:09:49 PM
Quote from: Judo on 18 April, 2012, 11:49:04 PM
Just watched alien vs predator 2 and I loved it...

I enjoy the AVP flicks more than most, particularly the much maligned second film. Don't know why folks rag on them so much.

Well, I've got a few flicks coming my way: Dario Argento's DEMONS 1&2 and a UK indie flick called SPLINTERED. Thoughts to follow...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 19 April, 2012, 03:48:37 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2012, 04:19:07 PMIt's tantamount to "humanising" the ultimate horror bad guys and therefore, I reckon, is stupid . . . If "Bub" is the whole point of the film then Romero became shite earlier than I'd previously given him credit for.

Been several years since I last watched DAY so I might be misremembering. Bub's champion and mentor, however, is portrayed as a bit of loon and one whose philosophy and methods are opposed by the lead character, yes?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 April, 2012, 04:53:18 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 19 April, 2012, 02:09:49 PM
Quote from: Judo on 18 April, 2012, 11:49:04 PM
Just watched alien vs predator 2 and I loved it...
I enjoy the AVP flicks more than most, particularly the much maligned second film. Don't know why folks rag on them so much.

I dont mind the AvP films, ...well, actually i do, they be pants of the highest order, but ill usually watch them when they pop up on telly. Think the whole Giger Alien by this point is pretty worthless, but the Predator is still good value for money. Gotta say though, the 2nd AvP is just too dark, you can hardly make owt out..
and that hospital scene with the heavily pregnant women, im not that squeamish, but blimey.... :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 19 April, 2012, 06:32:48 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 19 April, 2012, 02:09:49 PM
Quote from: Judo on 18 April, 2012, 11:49:04 PM
Just watched alien vs predator 2 and I loved it...

I enjoy the AVP flicks more than most, particularly the much maligned second film. Don't know why folks rag on them so much.

I think the first movie loses something with every re-watch, personally... but the second is a solid effort. The only issue I have with it is the brutal offing of the kid and the woman in teh maternity ward. That stuff was just gratuitous and added nothing to the story.

On the plus side - Predator power punch makes me grin from ear to ear!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 19 April, 2012, 09:17:22 PM
It was called 'Two Headed Shark.'

It was on the Sci Fy Channel.

Women in Bikini's got eaten a lot by the two headed shark in gloriously bad, cgi splat deaths.

Then protagonist was a female who was afraid of water after 'child hood trauma' at the Beach. She overcame her fear to [spoiler]destroy the two headed cgi shark[/spoiler]. Another actor unfortunate enough to be in this Movie-and last to the end helped her.

Carmen Elecktra tried to out act the wooden deck but failed.

If you ever see this film and keep your sanity your a better man/woman than dribble boy here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 April, 2012, 10:46:29 PM
ULZANA'S RAID
A pretty bleak and ponderous (by today's standards) but ultimately awesome 1972 western from Robert Aldritch.  Burt Lancaster looks like he's carved straight out of the rocks of Arizona and I don't think I've ever seen Bruce Davison look so young as they bandy about race and the nature of man. There are some fantastic lines despite the nihilistic tone ("I ain't about to argue with an Apache about horse shit" "He ain't fixing to fight you. He just wants to kill you").

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 20 April, 2012, 11:18:06 AM
Last night I watched Day of the Dead (2008). It was really terrible. I went to bed before it ended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 April, 2012, 09:46:05 PM
Quote from: House of Usher on 20 April, 2012, 11:18:06 AM
Last night I watched Day of the Dead (2008). It was really terrible. I went to bed before it ended.

Good man. Now please never, ever, try to watch it a second time "just to see if it's as bad as you remember". I did this, and am forever sorry. It is a complete load of old shit.

Now then, The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

I hadn't seen this in years (or even decades, possibly) and wanted my boys to experience it before they got too old and lost that naivety that I think is essential for the first viewing. Watching it through the wide-open eyes of my eight year old and (especially) my seven year old, I gained a whole new appreciation of Whale's masterpiece. And it really is a masterpiece.

If you've never seen Bride, or maybe think it a stuffy and ancient, clumsy, primitive attempt at filmmaking from the very early days of Hollywood, with nothing to interest the modern viewer, raised on Tim Burton, Scorcese, Star Wars and Michael Bay... then you're wrong. And possibly a twat. The Bride of Frankenstein is never more than one scene from something so jaw-droppingly audacious and entertaining that it will burn itself into your head forever. There's a reason people harp-on about it being "the superior sequel" and why my old film teacher called it "the best horror film ever made", bless him. The riches are abundant, the performances incredible- Dr Praetorius alone is worth it- a camp, threatening, archly-predatory and bitchy nasal old queen who tries to literally drag Henry Frankenstein from his marital bed with the promise of a much better way of making new life than boring old sex with a woman. Praetorius wants Henry Frankenstein to assist him in his diabolical experiments- and the scene in which those experiments are revealed is not only an absolutely eye-watering example of effects brilliance, but also the moment you can watch a first-time viewer lose their mind and wonder just what the hell they've let themselves in for.

As you'd expect for this type of thing, the scenery is beautiful- entirely studio-bound and looking at least three times more fantastic than the humdrum cack that Tim Burton's bored set designer could paint-by-numbers on his best day. Just check out those backdrops and the care that's gone into those fake forests! Look at that entirely convincing gentle hill outside the blind violinist's hut... and yes, it's here that we see that scene much parodied in later movies. The monster meets the blind man and makes a friend. Only it's funnier than Mel Brookes would have you think years later- and here's the point: It's supposed to be, because Bride is an awesomely dark comedy. So the monster smokes cigars, drinks wine and learns to talk- and just when you worry that he's become a figure of fun, does some awful things that remind you just what he is. And through it all Karloff gives him a pathos and a dignity that Hollywood still tries to ape with their creatures, and never quite manages.

I don't think Bride misses a note. Elsa Lanchester's double-role is perfectly judged- her creature is a droolsome beauty given to birdlike head movements, who stares startled at a world she can't understand and then, tragically, can only scream at how ugly it is. You can build the perfect woman, but you can't make her do what you want, or love who you want her to love- as an expression of early feminist cinema from a gay director, it's pretty spot-on and powerful.

Watching it through the eyes of the kids, I saw them react to all the right bits. They backed the monster completely. "Oh no, Franky, get away, run!" said the youngest when Karloff was in peril, "Why don't they understand he just wants a friend?". I reckon I saw the exact moment- for Bela at least- where he fell in love with monsters- just like his mum and dad did all those years ago. With luck, he'll never need any other type of movie as long as he lives.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 20 April, 2012, 09:49:30 PM
Watched DEMONS. 80s zombie trash and what the hell's wrong with that, I ask you? :)

Got the second one ready and lined up for late night viewing. Meanwhile, Ms HOO-HAA and I are loving a bit of ANGEL rewatching. Noir and vampires and pretty much the birth of Urban Fantasy, I'd say. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 21 April, 2012, 10:44:37 AM
The Irrefutable Truth about Demons

Because it has Karl Urban in it and made in NZ, around the time of LOTR maybe. It's about a college professor, a doctor of anthropology, who is obsessed over his brother's death, believing it to have been due to Satanists.

Interesting, entertaining. Not a high budget horror, at all, but who cares. There's blood and monsters, chains and chainsaws, nekkid women, quite a bit of Urban skin too, insects, crazy, crazy talk.

And going by the behind-the-scenes feature, those insects in a certain orifice was real. Crazy actor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 April, 2012, 05:48:29 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 April, 2012, 04:53:18 PM
Gotta say though, the 2nd AvP is just too dark, you can hardly make owt out..

That's my main problem with that film. I attempted to watch it for the second time the other night and lost interest partly because of that. (The other reason was that I missed a bit doing something in the other room.)

I don't dislike the AvP films as a whole though. The Wolf Predator in AvP:R was a pretty cool tough character. And I have a soft spot for the first AvP film with the Antarctic pyramid although I think the predators are a bit too big and having the lady outside in the Antarctic cold wearing just a thin top* was ridiculous.  [spoiler]I wonder if she just froze to death after all that trouble, and being awarded a telescopic Predator spear too! The preds could have dropped her off somewhere at least, but I guess they're not really into that... unless they're going to make a go of it  collect a few more skulls and spinal columns.[/spoiler] I suppose it could be argued that heat from the Pyramid heat-source leaked outside....

*Well, not just a thin top, she had trousers too. Heh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 April, 2012, 08:12:08 PM
Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)

Twenty years on from Bride of Frankenstein, and Universal finally complete their set of classic monsters, with the gillman. Most surprising things this time were the blatant sexuality of the creature's famous swim with the object of his affection, and his very scary 'crocodile death roll' treatment of his victims in the second half. The creature costume is, from a design point of view, flawless- with it being most effective when the 'land' version (with proper eyes) is submerged in the water cage, and it becomes a little too uncomfortably lifelike; and again when it stalks into big close-up for the only time, bladders pumping his gills open and shut maniacally. He's just gorgeous. Both boys loved this one too, and have gone to bed to play 'gillman vs frankenstein' upstairs.
They're going to freak tomorrow, when they watch House of Frankenstein!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 April, 2012, 11:54:40 PM
Roger Corman's 1994 Fantastic Four movie. They only made it because otherwise the studio would lose the rights, and it was never actually released, so you can only find poor quality bootlegs online.

So fair enough, it's cheap and the effects aren't very good, but I've gotta say I enjoyed it easily as much as those multi-million dollar turds we got later. Dr Doom camps it up a bit too much,  but at least he LOOKS like Doom; and Reed's stretchiness only seems to affect his right arm in a straight line, but it's goofy fun.

Biggest WTF moment comes near the end - Doom  has fired his diamond-focused laser death-ray at New York from his castle (presumably in Latveria, but I don't think the location is ever mentioned) - all seems lost! So after a brief chat, Johnny Storm flames on, takes off really slowly and then CHASES AFTER AND OVERTAKES THE FUCKING LASER BEAM  :o He turns and then somehow stops the beam - by SHOOTING FIRE AT IT  - the beam and flames struggle, but gradually he manages to push the beam back, all the way across the Atlantic where it blows up Doom's death-ray machine.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 April, 2012, 12:05:50 AM
Good thing they never told the crew that it was never intended to be released otherwise it wouldn't have come out as good as it did.

In the end the ploy worked for Constantin Films as they ended up co-producing the last two big-budget F4 films 10 years later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 April, 2012, 12:49:49 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 April, 2012, 11:54:40 PM
Roger Corman's 1994 Fantastic Four movie. They only made it because otherwise the studio would lose the rights

Hey now, rights-squatting has got us cinematic classics such as Superman Returns and X-Men First Class!  And also the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man, though its quality remains unknown beyond generic and noisy trailers.
Never really had a problem with the later F4 movies myself, though granted they weren't classics.  Fun and inoffensive, all the same.

If you liked Corman's take on superheroics, give the Black Scorpion movies a gander - they're pretty low quality, but Corman was clearly trying to invent his own mainstream franchise by this stage instead of just churning out shlocky B-movies for a living.  I am in no way only recommending you check the movies/series out (I recall the lot costing less than fifteen quid on dvd a few years ago) because 90 percent of the supervillains are played by Penthouse and Playboy centerfolds, oh no - there were episodes where Adam West played a bad guy called Breathtaker (who goes around breathing heavily, but given his co-stars I don't blame him, etc etc) and what comics fan could resist seeing that kind of ham?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 April, 2012, 01:03:33 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 22 April, 2012, 12:49:49 AMHey now, rights-squatting has got us cinematic classics such as Superman Returns and X-Men First Class!  And also the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man, though its quality remains unknown beyond generic and noisy trailers.



Good thing Disney never gave a shite about Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 22 April, 2012, 04:57:03 AM
checked out Hancock last night, as a way of relaxing with the family.  Will Smith was surprisingly good, as was the story, but I just couldn't get interested in the supporting character or why Hancock would give a rat's rear end about him - there's a scene in which the advertising-dude-with-a-heart-of-gold spends ages asking Hancock to be polite to police, which is supposed to show us that this guy is a really good bloke and  made a big difference to Hancock.  Neither idea was convincing, but it's in line with the popular movie idea that what black people really need is to be told how to get it together by the nice white people. 

yours, not off to lecture some Sudanese-Australians on how to behave themselves,

Floyd
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 22 April, 2012, 09:18:46 AM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 22 April, 2012, 04:57:03 AM
checked out Hancock last night, as a way of relaxing with the family.....but it's in line with the popular movie idea that what black people really need is to be told how to get it together by the nice white people. 


You gets what you gets, I guess, but speaking as a non-white person, that's not what I got from the movie.

The movie had its faults, one of which was it could have been so much more, but despite that I enjoyed it. And I usually don't like movie/tv bleeding hearts, makes me want to grab their necks, pull it out of that unicorn's ass and rub their noses in stinking reality - but Bateman played it so well, like yeppers he sees stinkng reality but regardless, he chooses to push that boulder uphill, all brave and steadfast and hell yeah, I'd paint the moon for him too.

Also, this movie made me crave meatballs and spaghetti.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 22 April, 2012, 07:37:58 PM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 22 April, 2012, 04:57:03 AM
checked out Hancock last night, as a way of relaxing with the family.  Will Smith was surprisingly good, as was the story, but I just couldn't get interested in the supporting character or why Hancock would give a rat's rear end about him - there's a scene in which the advertising-dude-with-a-heart-of-gold spends ages asking Hancock to be polite to police, which is supposed to show us that this guy is a really good bloke and  made a big difference to Hancock.  Neither idea was convincing, but it's in line with the popular movie idea that what black people really need is to be told how to get it together by the nice white people. 

yours, not off to lecture some Sudanese-Australians on how to behave themselves,

Floyd

Is there a word that is like "cringe" but more extreme?

Fuck me
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 08:09:07 PM
House of Frankenstein (1944)

"From an original story by Curt Siodmark" it says. Siodmark, if you didnt know, was the Universal genius who invented everything you know about werewolves. However, i can only assume when it came to House, he was having a bit of a laugh. Perhaps obligated by contract, this is what he wrote:

There's this mad doctor in jail with his hunchback assistant, see? He was jailed fifteen years ago for trying to put human brains into dogs. (for giggles, we'll have him played by Boris Karloff, despite everyone really wanting him in the monster makeup one last time). The prison is hit by lightning, collapses, and the mad doctor and hunchback escape...

...and run into a travelling horror show that just happens to have Dracula's staked skeleton as an exhibit. The hunchback murders the showman, and they set off under new aliases swearing revenge upon those who put them in jail.

They bring Dracula back to life to kill one of their jailers, but the count (played by a gaunt not-lugosi)
(cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 April, 2012, 08:16:40 PM
...so far I think I'd quite like to see that but do go on...  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 08:17:57 PM
(cont) is destroyed soon after the deed, while the doctor and his hunchbacked friend head off to 'frankenstein' (which is now the name of a town, as well as the monster and his creator- oh, and the mad doctor 'used to work with baron frankenstein' and wants his notes so he can continue his experiments on dog brain men. With me?) they get to Frankenstein, where the hunchback falls in love with a wild gypsy woman, who joins them on their travels. Up at the castle, they discover the frankenstein monster and the wolf man frozen in ice. They then decide to thaw them out as 'they will help in our quest'.

At this point even my youngest was heard to say 'yes, that'll work well.'

The creature is played by Glenn Strange, who always looks wrong, but the wolf man is Lon Chaney (jnr) so there is some versimilitude with the earlier films.

House is like being licked all over by a demented horror puppy. Presumably one with a human brain. But even that cant save it from being in final analysis, not very good.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 April, 2012, 08:26:40 PM
Okay. Maybe not. I was hoping they'd do something with those bones, but I suppose you could argue that would be predictable. They did include all the other monsters though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 22 April, 2012, 08:33:06 PM
Well, I dunno about you, but even with the 'not actually any good' caveat, he's still pretty much sold me on it. Besides, I'm a sucker for John Carradine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 08:42:55 PM
John Carradine! Yes, of course- thanks! But it's J Carrol Naish as Daniel the hunchback, who really impresses.

Although it's not very good- at least in direct comparison to Bride and Black Lagoon (watched over the weekend too), it still remains impossible not to love, if only for the incredible sets, backdrop paintings and character actors milling about. There's a studio shot of the town of frankenstein in this, which id love to know how it was acheived. The remnants of Castle Frankenstein loom over the actors and appears completely real. Painting? Glass shot? Dunno. Fantastic though. And as ever, Chaney jnr appears to be warping not into a wolf, but into walter matthau before your eyes. His Larry Talbot is so bloody miserable, it's a relief when he... No, i wont ruin it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 22 April, 2012, 08:58:03 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 08:42:55 PM
Although it's not very good- at least in direct comparison to Bride and Black Lagoon (watched over the weekend too), it still remains impossible not to love

At the risk of sounding like I'm film-stalking you (again), I happened to buy 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' recently (I'd run into it on tv a couple of weeks back and been so enthralled I had to get hold of a copy asap) and it has sparked something of a renewed penchant in me for the Universal Monsters and their foul ilk, so 'House...' may be another one for the list. Anything would suffer placed next to 'Black Lagoon', mind you, it really is stunningly good - a high-water mark of the genre (pun intended.) Impossible not to be cheering the Gill-Man on, particularly when he grapples with Richard Denning. Yet to see the sequel though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 09:21:37 PM
My wife and i were talking about this yesterday. We both watched all the universals as kids, then again- but on very late night tv- as teenagers, and as a result we have it in our heads that a) we love them, and want the kids to love them too, but b) they can send us to sleep at times. Thing is, we are beginning to realise that b) is entirely a result of those late night teenage viewings and that actually, theyre mostly well-paced, quick and hugely entertaining. We're going through them at a rate of knots. Youngest has Frankenstein requested for tuesday night, and has gone to bed overlooked by his model gillman, julia adams in her racy swimsuit and karloff as the mummy. His bedroom is beginning to look like the kid's from salems lot.

Thankfully, HMV has a bunch of universals at between three and six quid- but still has revenge of the creature at twenty-two! And no Ghost of/Son of Frankenstein or my personal favourite of them all, Dracula's Daughter- with the gorgeous Gloria Holden.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 April, 2012, 09:31:33 PM
Oh, and if the universal bug bites deeper, id strongly recommend picking up a copy of David J Skal's 'The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror'. I did have two copies until recently, but i stupidly left it outside in one of my ocassional book-purgings, otherwise idve sent it to you. It's everything youve ever wanted to know about the early days of horror in one fabulous book, and along with marc scott zicree's twilight zone companion, one of my most prized possessions. Im about to get it down now and seif it knows about the castle shot in 'house'...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 22 April, 2012, 09:43:25 PM
Thanks for the recommendation - sounds cracking! I might just see about tracking a copy down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 April, 2012, 11:11:13 AM
The Hunger Games.

It was ok, very silly in places - Peeta's camoflage looked like something out of The Mighty Boosh - and rather contrived/nonsensical in others. I thought it was a bit of a shame that the filmmakers felt the need to spell everything out for the audience - I thought the tournament worked better in the book where we never see anything outside the arena, there's something a lot more menacing about unseen hands pulling the strings.

It's a nice looking film with a pleasing colour palette and I really liked how the hallucinatory bee sting sequence was handled. I was pretty shocked/impressed with the level of violence, and the casting was absolutely spot on, for the entire cast. I really like Jennifer Lawrence - she is very attractive but has a refreshing naturalness about her - I find a lot of actors these days look like Calvin Klein models, and I often find it hard to buy into them as believable characters.

Overall a bit too long, but a decent enough way to spend a couple of hours.

3.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 23 April, 2012, 12:36:35 PM
My review of indie horror flick, SPLINTERED:

I'm a huge fan of old-school horror cinema. Franchises like FRIDAY THE 13th and HALLOWEEN entertain the hell out of me. I love the slasher genre, how those films take elements of Noir cinema, such as the damsel in distress and the mysterious killer, and give them a gore upgrade. I love the suspense, the twists and turns, the hack and slash: all of it works for me.

SPLINTERED, the first feature-length production by co-writer and director, Simeon Halligan, is by this definition old-school horror. It's a final girl movie. The set-up is familiar: five teenage friends go to the woods where a mysterious killer is known to lurk. One of the five, troubled goth Sophie, finds herself isolated and must confront her fears – as well as the ghosts of her past – in order to survive.

But there's more to SPLINTERED than meets the eye. The story flirts with a variety of tropes within the horror genre, from werewolf mythology to rape revenge. It feels very much like a film made by fans of horror for fans of horror; paying homage to the genre as much as being a strong entry in its own right.

Famed as the first UK production to use the new Red Camera technology, SPLINTERED has the look and feel of a movie that vastly exceeds its budget. The children's home where most of the action takes place provides an eerie moonlit set, albeit at times a little on the dark side to make out what's happening onscreen. Action sequences are slick and tense. Special effects are solid, use of CGI subtle and effective.

Holly Weston puts in a great performance as our leading lady. Development of the remaining cast, with the notable exception of Stephen Martin Walters' antagonist, may be light, but it's Sophie's emotionally charged journey that drives this story towards its conclusion, and the payoff is both powerful and rewarding.

The bottom line: SPLINTERED is an entertaining slasher film, packing an emotional punch more powerful than many of its peers.

(originally posted: http://waynesimmons.org/blog/?p=1205)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 April, 2012, 02:24:16 PM
Robocop, and like Star Trek 6, my opinion is somewhat different from what I expected it to be based upon my own shonky memory.  It's still a great flick, but man has it dated badly, especially the facial recognition bit that looks less like a late 80s sci-fi concept and more like an early 1970s one.  Robo's crazily dangerous USB jack and Detroit looking like a Hill Street Blues episode date things further, and if I'm honest, if this wasn't put together quite so well it'd be just another schlocky low-budget B-movie, because the script is dumber and more illogical than I recall, the acting really panto-ish (though by now we can assume this is how Verhoevan likes it), and the SFX are really glaring, especially the less-impressive-than-I-recall ED209 stop motion model work and[spoiler] Dick Jones' baffling Mr Fantastic stretchy-arms when he falls to his death.[/spoiler]

It's still really entertaining, though, even with the mish-mash of homages like the cops turning on Robo being the bit where the villagers come after Frankenstein's monster, but Weller playing it as superhero camp complete with "corporate America is Robocop Kryptonite" gurning when he encounters Directive 4, and the unmasking sequence is pure Frankenstein, too.  I especially enjoyed spotting all the actors who went on to other (no)things, like The Dad From That 70s Show, That Lawyer From Harry's Law, and Ray Wise From Stuff Starring Ray Wise.  It's always great to see Ronnie Cox as a villain, too, though granted I'm maybe in the minority there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 April, 2012, 04:01:27 PM
I still enjoy Robocop and I agree that Ronnie Cox always made a great villain. He was also great in Total Recall as Cohaagen.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 April, 2012, 08:05:59 PM
Frankenstein (1931 james whale/ karloff)

I wont go on about this much- everyone likely to watch knows it's nowhere near as good as the sequel, and serves merely to properly kick off the whole universal cycle.

So, with that said, i'll acknowledge that it's a bit dull at times, but equally at others it's astonishing. "rubbish and brilliant at the same time" as my youngest put it.

Two things of note: the three cut silent zoom that whale chooses to introduce the monster after he backs into the lab is still creepy 81 years on, and showcases jack pierce's landmark makeup (arguably the single most important piece of special effects work in cinema history) at its very best. And secondly, the climax, with the monster trapped in the attic of a burning windmill and screaming in terror like a child and then trapped under a fallen beam, is shocking and horrible and powerful and nasty and lingers long after the dvd is back in the box. 

There is much wrong with Frankenstein- but as it's the best part of a (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 April, 2012, 08:14:02 PM
(cont) century old, is an acknowledged and celebrated classic and was carving out an entirely new genre with every frame, i think we'll let it off. Concentrate on Karloff's performance as the monster and you'll see why, when humanity lies in ruins and the embers of civilisation smoulder many centuries from now, one of the recognisable icons still around will be an image of his face. He really is superb- his lumber, his snarl, his expressive and pleading hand gestures and even the way he lets one arm dangle limply from the elbow while the other is firm as he walks down the steps on his way out of the castle, suggesting the monster's piecemeal nature- it's all brilliant.

Tomorrow, we temporarily leap forward a few years and leave Universal behind, as we journey to the himalayers to introduce the boys to Hammer's Abominable Snowman.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 24 April, 2012, 08:22:44 PM
Sounds like you could use a trip to Branson, Missouri Prof.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 April, 2012, 08:31:55 PM
My favourite make-up FX is the one in Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1932:


http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/222834/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Movie-Clip-Transformation.html


How they made his facial features change -in one shot- without prosthetics or cutting is still amazingly clever and showcases how great black & white film is for doing FX.


[spoiler]The secret of the transformation scenes was not revealed for decades (Mamoulian himself revealed it in a volume of interviews with Hollywood directors published under the title The Celluloid Muse). Make-up was applied in contrasting colors. A series of colored filters that matched the make-up was then gradually passed across the lens during the shot, changing the contrast, which enabled the make-up to be gradually exposed or made invisible. The change in color was not visible on the black-and-white film.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 24 April, 2012, 08:52:33 PM
finally got round to watching captain america enjoyable enuff and better than thor!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 April, 2012, 09:15:40 PM
That jekyll and hyde transformation had me stumped for years, and is indeed one of the cleverest bits of filmmaking i could name. It's curious how effects can fool the eye- or not- for specific lengths of time. I remember the rubber arnie heads in both the terminator and total recall being utterly realistic when i saw them first, and- especially in total recall- fooling the audience to such a degree that when it splits into sections, the crowd gasped in unison and went wild, so 'seamless' was the effect. Watching it recently on telly i was struck that it's a bad waxwork of arnie, with a squint that never, at any point, looks in any way 'real'.
Is there a plottable curve as to the impressiveness of a given effect, i wonder? How come pierce's frankenstein is effective 80 years later and yet avatar looks crap within the year? How come max shreck's graf orlok makeup upset my kids so much when they saw it as part of universal's 'Boo' short, that they were shaking with fright- ninety years after it was (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 April, 2012, 09:20:04 PM
(cont) applied to his face, and yet neither of them bat an eyelid about seeing 'the best bits from the elm street and friday the 13ths'?

I wonder what process the brain goes through that accepts the effects in star wars as 'perfect' in 1978 yet in 2012 as far less so, even with a bit of cgi tinkering?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 April, 2012, 09:28:11 PM
I think it's partially to do with black & white film's inherent break with what we experience/expect in our everyday technicolour reality which, as the years go by, becomes more and more like looking at a different planet, plus its simplicity in hiding the 'seams'.

I think the same holds for the change in colour film stocks through the 70's/80's/90's and eventually on to the less forgiving modern digital. Looking at older footage is like a different reality impression compared to the crisp modern look we're now used, older footage seems to have/develop its own physics/rules as time passes and can therefore look not 'fake' somehow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 April, 2012, 09:42:32 PM
How we are used to seeing things/textures on-screen ties in to the recent uptake of shooting and projecting at 48fps- twice the frame-rate of normal 24/25fps.


10 minutes of the Hobbit was screened today at CinemaCon and this reaction is very interesting and not what most expect but it makes perfect sense technically:


http://badassdigest.com/2012/04/24/cinemacon-2012-the-hobbit-underwhelms-at-48-frames-per-secon/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 25 April, 2012, 01:42:56 AM
Just seen Godfather 2 for the first time and I can report with authority that there are better movies that have been made. This didn't even have a scene where maggots or whatever eat someone from the inside out and we see their eyeballs dissolving and stuff, fer chrissakes.

People say that it's a tragedy that John Cazale died young. But you don't hear anyone giving the due respect afforded to Peter Blanch, the visionary behind Killfeast IV: Night of the Sharp Knives. He was a victim of his own ambition and genius in an unfortunate accident involving the giant drill-scythe he built with his own two hands because Paramount were too afraid to fund this movie just because it might show every single movie out there up for what they really were.

It's fitting that there is a character called Hyman in Godfather 2, because people who like it are pussies. Your're just pussies who are scared to see a woman being experimented on so that they can make her into a woman that has a lathe for a hand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 25 April, 2012, 01:00:41 PM
THE WOLFMAN (remake) with Benico Del Toro and Hannibal ( :D )

For me, this started off really well: the mist in the woods, the howl, our first kill leading to the titles - it had old-school written all over it. But while performances by unlikely thespian, Del Toro, and Hopkins were pretty good, Emily Blunt's female lead fell flat. The script seemed patchy - meandering for a while in the middle, trying to pad things out. Not to mention the oh-so-lazy CGI.

I was watching the Director's Cut so perhaps the theatre cut would have held my interest better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 26 April, 2012, 12:19:14 AM
My review of Morgan Spurlock's new Comic-Con documentary can be found here : http://fourcoloursandthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/movie-review-comic-con-episode-iv-a-fans-hope/

Or here:

Comic-Con. Two small words, but to those of us who love comics, movies, or video games, they mean so much. It's a 150,000 person nerdgasm that happens every year in San Diego, California. There are literally dozens of other cons that happen all over the world, but when you say Comic-Con, you mean San Diego. It's the largest event in geek culture.

And this, the latest in Morgan Spurlock's endless stream of "documentaries" that don't actually document anything, is about that event. Or at least that's what I thought it was about. Unfortunately, it's not about the San Diego Comic-Con at all. In fact,  there is almost no mention of the history, or current status, or anything really, about the con at all, other than that it's a) really big and b) people really like it.

What this film is really about, is a dream.

You know the dream. Everyone has it, really. It's not specific to comics or movies though. It could be sports. Or chess. Or Nigerian barrel juggling. It's the dream to be more than what you are, and to succeed at your secret desires. And while those dreams may be admirable, they're probably more appropriate for a film about an inner-city basketball program, or a spelling bee featuring kids with last names I can't pronounce. In this context, they just come across as a longbox full of maudlin sentimentality.

Spurlock divides his movie into 6 or 7 major segments, each focussing on a different personal story. And so we are introduced to the young lovers who met at the previous con, the struggling artists wanting nothing more than to work for Marvel one day, and the costume designer wanting to become the next Jim Henson. They are all admirable endevaours, and each are entertaining in their own way. Watching people follow their dreams is always a recipe for success, and Spurlock shows a steady eye for good storytelling here, something that has often been missing in his other films.

But any documentary that starts with such a bold assumption (that is, that the event we're documenting is inherently a good thing), isn't really a documentary at all. And this definitely isn't. What it is, is a 2 hour commercial for a trade show. A trade show where you can have the chance to meet a lot of people that feel the same way that you do about Klingon mating rituals,  sonic screwdrivers, and bikinis worn by Carrie Fisher in 1983.... but a trade show nonetheless. While almost every story covered here is entertaining and worth watching, they are stories that could have been transported into almost any interest: Stamp collecting, sports, 1dancing with failed celebrities, etc. We are told a lot about the people going to the con, and why they're going there. What we aren't told, is almost anything to do with the con itself.

It's mentioned in passing that the con is bigger than it used to be, and that comics are barely even covered there anymore. But what isn't covered is why. No one reads comics anymore, even though geek culture is bigger than every before. Sci-fi literature sales are dwindling, yet action movies that pretend to be sci-fi are massive. To me, that's the real story here, but Spurlock chooses to gloss over that and instead showcase a fabricated public marriage proposal that wouldn't have been out of place on Hockey Night In Canada.  It's entertaining, but it tells us nothing about what the movie says it's actually about: Comic-Con.

Comic-Con is important because it showcases everything that is good, and that is bad, about today's geek culture. What used to be a burgeoning subculture of underground comics, films, and novels, has been bought and paid for by multi-national corporations. And as a result, everyone who likes movies is now part of the club. Let me tell you something folks. Liking The Matrix doesn't make you a geek. Reading Shaolin Cowboy, the comic created by the guy who did production design on The Matrix makes you a geek. But in this new, homogenized world of geek acceptance, everyone is granted access.  Liking shows that everyone else watches, and reading books that everyone else reads, isn't geeky. It's mainstream. And if it's mainstream, then it's not special anymore. And if it's not special, then why does this movie go out of it's way to pretend that they are?

These are important questions to ask as geek culture changes and grows, and the answering of those questions would make an interesting movie. Unfortunately, Morgan Spurlock didn't choose to make that movie. What he chose to make was perfectly serviceable TV quality puff piece about nice people that like to own things.  That they happen to like to own some of the same things that I do, doesn't make it any better.

Rating: C+
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 26 April, 2012, 09:30:38 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 25 April, 2012, 01:42:56 AM
Just seen Godfather 2 for the first time and I can report with authority that there are better movies that have been made. This didn't even have a scene where maggots or whatever eat someone from the inside out and we see their eyeballs dissolving and stuff, fer chrissakes.

People say that it's a tragedy that John Cazale died young. But you don't hear anyone giving the due respect afforded to Peter Blanch, the visionary behind Killfeast IV: Night of the Sharp Knives. He was a victim of his own ambition and genius in an unfortunate accident involving the giant drill-scythe he built with his own two hands because Paramount were too afraid to fund this movie just because it might show every single movie out there up for what they really were.

It's fitting that there is a character called Hyman in Godfather 2, because people who like it are pussies. Your're just pussies who are scared to see a woman being experimented on so that they can make her into a woman that has a lathe for a hand.

Hahahahahahahaha
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2012, 09:36:46 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 25 April, 2012, 01:42:56 AM
It's fitting that there is a character called Hyman in Godfather 2, because people who like it are pussies. Your're just pussies who are scared to see a woman being experimented on so that they can make her into a woman that has a lathe for a hand.

Best review evah, especially the spelling of 'your're', which I will be adopting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 26 April, 2012, 09:39:24 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 24 April, 2012, 09:20:04 PM
(cont) applied to his face, and yet neither of them bat an eyelid about seeing 'the best bits from the elm street and friday the 13ths'?

I wonder what process the brain goes through that accepts the effects in star wars as 'perfect' in 1978 yet in 2012 as far less so, even with a bit of cgi tinkering?

SBT

Yeah. How come the audience fled in terror when "arrival of a train at La Ciotat" was shown?

The process the brain goes through is called "experience" and "learning", and is driven by cultural change and technological advances. This means that cinemagoers now wouldn't watch the train arriving at the platform and think it was going to hit them.

Same principle applies to special effects, although personally, I thought Arnie's rubber head in Total Recall and Terminator looked rather a lot like a rubber head.

As for Max Schreck, some images are just rather unsettling and don't rely too heavily on technological advances and marvels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2012, 02:47:29 PM
Quote from: Evil Pants on 26 April, 2012, 12:19:14 AMThese are important questions to ask as geek culture changes and grows, and the answering of those questions would make an interesting movie.

Spurlock also missed out on the more obvious geek-culture insights to how Comic-Con has morphed over the years from a convention about comics to a trade show that includes genre fiction stars and porn stars side by side.  There's probably something interesting to be said about how it could be either that the strands of popular culture pull tighter together in an information age to create a microcosm of the geek interests of comics, sci-fi and wanking (or as I like to call it: 9am to 11am), or it could be a symptom of the death-knell of print comics that so much else has to be in play at the cons in order to make them financially viable.
Comic-Con could have been an invaluable insight to a vast section of once-niche pop-cultural consumers who now seem to be deliberately-targeted thanks to a combination of a low bar (set by years of being ignored and/or marginalised in culture) and large amounts of disposable income, but as you point out, it centers on human stories specific to the culture rather than the culture itself, though I can understand why Spurlock went there in order to make his documentary more relatable to... uh, well, to the large amounts of 'regular' people who would want to watch a documentary about people who like comics, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Evil Pants on 26 April, 2012, 03:03:45 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 26 April, 2012, 02:47:29 PM
Quote from: Evil Pants on 26 April, 2012, 12:19:14 AMThese are important questions to ask as geek culture changes and grows, and the answering of those questions would make an interesting movie.

Spurlock also missed out on the more obvious geek-culture insights to how Comic-Con has morphed over the years from a convention about comics to a trade show that includes genre fiction stars and porn stars side by side.  There's probably something interesting to be said about how it could be either that the strands of popular culture pull tighter together in an information age to create a microcosm of the geek interests of comics, sci-fi and wanking (or as I like to call it: 9am to 11am), or it could be a symptom of the death-knell of print comics that so much else has to be in play at the cons in order to make them financially viable.
Comic-Con could have been an invaluable insight to a vast section of once-niche pop-cultural consumers who now seem to be deliberately-targeted thanks to a combination of a low bar (set by years of being ignored and/or marginalised in culture) and large amounts of disposable income, but as you point out, it centers on human stories specific to the culture rather than the culture itself, though I can understand why Spurlock went there in order to make his documentary more relatable to... uh, well, to the large amounts of 'regular' people who would want to watch a documentary about people who like comics, I guess.

Good point. I think that in order to gain the access he did, he had to avoid talking about anything that could possibly critique what Comic-Con has become....not to mention the fact that he wanted to keep it accessible to the "regular" folks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2012, 03:18:21 PM
It's always fascinated me how the concerns of those who control the media (in whatever form) eventually dominate so much of the content of a culture.  When the written culture of ancient Egypt was in the hands of the pharonic patron class, everything was about their glory.  When the only literate people in Ireland were priests and monks, expressions of culture were dominated by religious groveling - even secular conflicts over cattle and slaves were memorialised and disseminated as the power of one saint's foundation or another.  Now the geeks have been handed the means of production global culture will soon be reduced to porn, Joss Whedon and Glee.  Well, two out of three ain't bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2012, 03:54:30 PM
If you watch Family Guy, we're there already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 April, 2012, 06:56:29 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 April, 2012, 03:18:21 PM
It's always fascinated me how the concerns of those who control the media (in whatever form) eventually dominate so much of the content of a culture.  When the written culture of ancient Egypt was in the hands of the pharonic patron class, everything was about their glory ... Now the geeks have been handed the means of production global culture will soon be reduced to porn, Joss Whedon and Glee.  Well, two out of three ain't bad.

That'd be 'the pictographic culture of ancient Egypt', and your image as a louche, Radio-Four-listening aesthete is compromised by taking your conclusion from the title of a Meatloaf song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgK6dBefpu8).

I take your point though; I enjoy Renaissance art despite its (specious) religious purpose. Though the point at which the Impressionists decided that an arresting image posessed a value in and of itself is probably what led us to our current state- in which porn, celebrity and CGI toy/comic book movies are consumed indiscriminately and uncritically, and promoted to the level of the sublime.

I agree that there's a more interesting documentary to be made on the topic of the hegemony of geek culture. Spurlock's doc sounds like it'll be largely uncritical, gently mocking and affectionate; rather than insightful.

The decision to construct the film around human interest stories is predicated upon the mistaken assumption that audiences are interested in other humans; whereas the success of BGT, BB and CDWM demonstrates that what humans are really interested in is seeing flawed individuals fail, being humiliated, derided and ostracised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2012, 08:23:38 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 26 April, 2012, 06:56:29 PM
That'd be 'the pictographic culture of ancient Egypt'...

See, this kind of polite semantic argument is just what I want, at least until Woman's Hour comes on. 



(Hieroglyphics are writing, just writing where the meaning or phoneme is conveyed through visual resemblance to something). 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 April, 2012, 12:31:14 AM
How does it handle abstraction?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 27 April, 2012, 02:17:30 AM
The new Apatow comedy is 124 minutes long. What the actual fuck?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 April, 2012, 08:24:12 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 27 April, 2012, 12:31:14 AM
How does it handle abstraction?

Sorry, listening to Today.  That Sarah Montague, so insightful.

(If I remember aright, by adding a third determinative symbol (in addition to phonemes or pictorial representations), heiroglyphs could be used to represent abstract concepts, like 'knowledge'.  The disadvantage was that they were cumbersome to produce, even compared to similar pictographic systems like cuneiform)). 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 27 April, 2012, 11:36:55 AM
Chronicle – 3 teens get superpowers and how they cope with it. What it lacks in budget it makes up for in enthusiasm. Very predictable script but it was like they looked into my head and filmed my dream super fight. I mean someone gets a bus LOBBED at them! But not how you'd expect.

Enjoyable popcorn fodder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 April, 2012, 12:10:56 AM
The Wolfman (2010)

The thing to remember about the Universal remake of The Wolf Man (did you see what they did to the title? It's a fucking disgrace!) is that the original is one of only about a handful of good werewolf films ever made in over a century of cinema. So when you turn it off at the end, slightly disappointed, keep in mind that- with the exception of the Chaney Jnr original, Landis's seminal parody, The Howling, Dog Soldiers and possibly the Oliver Reed one if you're in a forgiving mood- that's likely how you'll respond to any of them. Werewolves have had a pissy life on screen, the poor old things. No work of classic literature to wet the knickers of those for whom horror is only tolerable if it has roots in big shirts and suicidal poets, you see. Instead, everything comes back to Curt Siodmak and his screenplay for Universal's 1941 film- which is why this one sticks pretty close to the earlier film, and why it panics and loses its head when it realises it has almost twice the screentime to fill.

So yes, the romance is clumsy and yes, Anthony Hopkins's alpha daddy-wolf is ridiculous and the final battle so dumb as to be straight out of a wrestling video, but- ah fuck it, I love this movie. There, I said it. No use denying it. I love it because it takes the brilliant Chaney jnr monster and recasts him as Benicio Del Toro- who is basically Chaney's slightly unkempt time-twin- then puts him in a makeup that's just Rick Baker having a massive laugh, and then lets him do all those fantastic things that Chaney never could. So he eats human liver (in the film's best visual gag), runs like a monkey, knocks heads off with a single swipe, eats people while they're alive and gets to play on a film set that would have had the original Universal crew from 1931-45 crying like babies. Rip out the long sequences of Del Toro exploring Talbot Manor, and the fauxmance and you've got about an hour of cod-gothic entertainment, some pretty spectacular bloodshed, a couple of fairly magnificent transformations and at least one scene that deserves to be a lot more well-known than it is; when Talbot transforms in the lecture hall.

This was requested by my boys- specifically Bela, who at seven, doesn't remember watching it already a couple of years ago. His response this time was to declare it "too gory! too scary!" and hide his eyes for a few minutes until he worked out he was missing bits. Bram guffawed through all the gore and decided he'd "quite like to be a werewolf". When his brother, quite shocked, pointed out this would mean he's have to kill people, Bram responded with "No, I'd be a good werewolf. I'd eat steak instead of people and fight crime." Both of them thought it too long, and both asked to see the original some time next week. And I'm off to track down The Monster Squad, for when we inevitably run out of black and white classics.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 28 April, 2012, 03:25:51 AM
Well. I should be asleep now. But I'm not. Because I just watched Thor.

I actually enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would. Probably moreso than Captain America, which I thought was solid if slightly lacking in storytelling punch.

Anthony Hopkins, great as usual.
Rene Russo (still gorgeous) also great.
Eyepopping visual effects - eyepopping.
Thor getting tasered mid-Asgardian-posturing - priceless!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 28 April, 2012, 07:25:03 AM
Me, I spent a bit of Anzac day watching The Avengers.  I really liked it.  The characters were  mostly good - the Black Widow didn't do anything for me, but all else was quality.  The guy who played Hawkeye, although nothing like the comics Hawkeye, reminded me a lot of Daniel Craig.  The main men worked well together.  I did get a bit explosioned out by the end, but overall it was damn good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 05:47:45 PM
X-Men First Class. It was all a bit dull really. Can't summon up the energy to be bothered about it one way or the other.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 April, 2012, 07:37:16 PM
Red State, the only thing I knew going in was that it was a Kevin Smith film and as such it really wasn't what I expected. At all. Pretty good, with some really unexpectedly horrific moments and some really unexpectedly funny moments and a really brilliant performance from John Goodman. I'd like to see Smith do more of this sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 April, 2012, 08:50:58 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 05:47:45 PM
X-Men First Class. It was all a bit dull really. Can't summon up the energy to be bothered about it one way or the other.

I derive some amusement in pointing out that the first we see of Chuck X he's living in luxury while America is starving and Europe is in flames, then the next time we see him he's in Poshbridge University For Toffs using his powers to trick women into sleeping with him and for some reason the film never once lets us question that this guy - and his philosophy of "stay in the closet, don't make waves" - is the person who should be in charge and not someone who lived through the Holocaust and now hunts genocidal super-powered Nazis for a living (and who tells people they have nothing to be ashamed of just because of the way they were born).  Chuck seriously spends two hours telling a jewish guy to get over the Holocaust already, but when Erik accidentally causes Chuck to be hurt chuck is all "this is all your fault I HATE YOU!  No, I don't care that you're sorry, go on, piss off, I don't need you."  And the film still paints him as being in the right, despite failing to practice what he's been preaching for the entire time he's known Erik.

It's a spectacularly incompetent bit of character-building, but on the plus side it at least detracts from the film's message that rich white American conservatives are our natural superiors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:11:30 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 28 April, 2012, 08:50:58 PM
but on the plus side it at least detracts from the film's message that rich white American conservatives are our natural superiors.


or just rich white Americans.

SOX & FONY would be better off selling Marvel's characters back to them or at least giving Marvel creative control while they just distribute.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 09:35:44 PM
Quotethen the next time we see him he's in Poshbridge University For Toffs using his powers to trick women into sleeping with him

Yeah that bothered me. Well, not bothered as such, I thought it was a potentially interesting character arc they could have taken him on, but they decided to ignore it completely.
Magneto was certainly the one with the most compelling argument here, but I think much of that was down to the brilliant Fassbender rather than any sort of competence in the writing.

For example: Beats come up with [spoiler]a cure for the his mutation[/spoiler] that would... erm... [spoiler]make him look 'normal', but still let him keep his powers... now, maybe I'm missing something here, but aren't his big feet PART of his power? I'd like to see him climbing on buildings and stuff with yer ordinary human feet.[/spoiler]


And there you go, you got me talking about it..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:41:16 PM
If they'd ditched all the boring secondary mutants -a flaw the other X films suffer- they could have had a proper film with enough time for the real characters.

It's like trying to make the Avengers every time they do an X-Men film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 09:44:26 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:41:16 PM
If they'd ditched all the boring secondary mutants -a flaw the other X films suffer- they could have had a proper film with enough time for the real characters.

Yup. That whole 'let's give each other cool names!' scene was very annoying. Why the flip spend time introducing these characters and then not use them, or worse, use them badly?
I mean, can someone please explain to me why exactly the [spoiler]fairy winged girl[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Mystique[/spoiler] decided to side with the 'bad guys'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:45:59 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 09:44:26 PM

I mean, can someone please explain to me why exactly the [spoiler]fairy winged girl[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Mystique[/spoiler] decided to side with the 'bad guys'?



Cause Fassbender's an absolute ride.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 09:46:00 PM
I enjoyed seeing January Jones's movie career figuratively dying in front of our eyes as she spent the entire movie looking like someone was farting in her stupid face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:47:07 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 09:46:00 PM
she spent the entire movie looking like someone was farting in her stupid face.


Fassbender too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 09:52:05 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 09:45:59 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 09:44:26 PM

I mean, can someone please explain to me why exactly the [spoiler]fairy winged girl[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Mystique[/spoiler] decided to side with the 'bad guys'?



Cause Fassbender's an absolute ride.

Fair dos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 09:54:39 PM
Wasn't originally supposed to just be the Magneto origin story? If it had been 100 minutes of Fassbender owning Nazis it would have been one of the greatest movies of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 April, 2012, 10:07:35 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 09:54:39 PM
Wasn't originally supposed to just be the Magneto origin story? If it had been 100 minutes of Fassbender owning Nazis it would have been one of the greatest movies of all time.

True dat.
His Jimmy Bond as a superhero bits were cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 10:08:04 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 09:54:39 PM
If it had been 100 minutes of Fassbender owning Nazis it would have been one of the greatest movies of all time.



True, isn't that basically what Tarantino almost did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 10:13:40 PM
Tarantino put him in the same scene as Post-Love Guru Mike Myers, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 April, 2012, 10:21:58 PM
Mike Myers gotta eat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 April, 2012, 11:09:34 PM
I think that's a matter of opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 28 April, 2012, 11:27:39 PM
The Legend of Korra is a good show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 29 April, 2012, 08:10:42 PM
Godfather 3. What an awful movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 29 April, 2012, 08:23:40 PM
(marvel) Avengers Assemble.

I assembled with my son & two of my chums.  Late showing last night (son is 18 but we've snook him in to the 18 only late showings for three years now... well not now as we don't need to sneak him in...

We laughed muchly at the jokes.

We all appreciated how well the solo acts were used.

All in all it was a top notch experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 May, 2012, 02:47:19 PM
MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

See dedicated thread I guess, but safe to say I was wiping away tears of sheer joy throughout. Really want to go back and see it again- this time in 2D, as I found it a wee bit dark (for the first time with 3D, although others claim this to be a problem constantly)

THE WICKER TREE

I had no great expectations that Robin Hardy would pull magic out of his pagan pants with his very belated sort-of-sequel, The Wicker Tree- but by crikey he did! As lopsided and celebratory of its absences as the first one, and as reliant on music, comedy, weirdness, mystery and late-coming horror. It's hard to gush about something so new- we'll let it bed-in for a few years, shall we, before we proclaim it a classic, but it's the Wicker Sequel I wanted to see. Nicolas Cage and Neil LaBute- Do you see now? DO YOU?

I should add that, like the original, many will utterly hate it and be slack-jawed at the possibility that anyone could like this piece of shoddy crap- and everyone else will claim to hate it until they meet someone else who liked it for the first time, at which point they will feel relieved and slightly less dirty, and realise they loved it. It's sort of The Wicker Man meets Murder She Wrote meets Songs of Praise meets a Confessions film meets a bit of 28 Days Later, but with some of the really important scenes removed on purpose to make you work harder. Oh, and the end is pure Amicus. Madness, utter madness and strangeness. Christopher Lee even appears in flashback via a painting- probably accompanied by a wibbly wobbly time travel noise. Sheer brilliance from beginning to end.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

Meh. Didn't do much for me, I'm afraid. Loud, brash and with Tom Cruise pretending that jumping off buildings holds an element of danger for him- though insurance would suggest otherwise. Much the same as all the other Mission Impossibles, I would think (I've seen one of them- it was the same as this one) and also to most other big budget Hollywood blockbusters. But at least Avengers had the benefit of characters I like. I find it impossible to enjoy a Tom Cruise film, based on Tom Cruise being a repulsive mentalist- made tolerable here only by laughing at his ridiculous new hair.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 02 May, 2012, 10:32:28 PM
Dodging Avengers reviews as i'm going on Friday. Seems to be the last movie lots have seen.

Just watched In Time. Awful film. *Insert amusing quip about wanting to get my time back* interesting premise but made no sense when explored beyond the surface. Style over substance. Weak acting, even from Cillian Murphy who is usually ace, he barely seemed bothered. Thumbs down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 May, 2012, 10:49:04 PM
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN

And still we surge on through the Universals. This one has everything: Lon Chaney (now having dropped the 'Jnr') back as Lawrence Talbot, Bela Lugosi as the Frankenstein Monster, an utterly mesmerising and wonderful first ten minutes when grave robbers break into the Talbot family tomb on a full moon to steal gold rings and money from the body of the deceased Chaney (in a very real sense- D'oh!) and come acropper, some great miniatures, singing and folk dancing in a big musical number and a much-delayed but entertaining MONSTER FIGHT, at the end. That there is the dictionary definition of 'everything', in my book.

You could guess the story: Chaney wakes up in his tomb in deepest Wales, and finds he's now immortal, but gets put in a hospital in Cardiff, where he wolfs-out at night and murders people. He escapes and goes off to find the gypsy woman whose son bit him in the first film, with a view to discovering a cure or a way to kill himself. She takes pity on him and decides to take him to to Dr Frankenstein- in Bavaria or somewhere like that- by horse and cart. Wales, to Frankenstein's village, in a horse and cart. Yes. They get there, and of course the doctor is dead- having been killed in Bride. Larry tries to find the doctor's diary; which he is sure will have the secrets to life and death in it, but finds the Monster instead, so releases it from its icy tomb.

Here, Lugosi looks a bit weird, stumbling around with his arms outstretched, groping frantically (and so giving rise to a zillion Frankenstein impressions ever since)... until you realise he's playing it as if the creature were blind. Then it makes sense why Talbot has to grab him by the arm to calm him, and guide him around. Then it doesn't make sense any more, as the creature appears to regain his sight a bit, but still walks the same way. Oh well.

The daughter of Frankenstein is introduced, there is a fiesta, Chaney is a heartbreaking stillpoint of dreadful sadness in the middle of all this (presumed) colour and life, and you really feel sorry for him. It's easy to laugh at these old films now- but one thing watching them has reinforced to me is the acting accomplishment of the likes of Chaney and Karloff. When Chaney freaks out at the singing and dancing man, it hits you right here. Anyway, yadda yadda, it all ends up back at the castle, where the monsters fight and then [spoiler]supposedly die[/spoiler]... until they are found at the start of House of Frankenstein.

Not my favourite by a long chalk- I love Chaney's Wolf Man with all my heart, but he's not in any way scary. Not now I'm all grown up anyway. And Lugosi's stab at the creature is buggered by either a terrible editing decision or poor direction, so ends up looking remarkably daft- especially in comparison to Karloff's incredible performance a decade earlier. But it all looks great, and the musical sequence was appreciated. I give it three hunchbacks out of five, or two-thirds of a complete graveyard. My boys (for it is they for whom wife and I are supposedly watching these) were divided; youngest thought it was "just okay" and eldest said "it was brilliant".

Tomorrow we jump into colour and Hammer's DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 03 May, 2012, 11:14:33 AM
Tintin

Surprisingly good. I loved the comics so I was wary, despite Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's involvement, hence why I waited so long until I watched it.

The motion capture is amazing, and the whole visuals of it was just lovely to watch. Didn't get dizzy or eye-weary at all, and I'm pretty susceptible to all that when it comes to effects. The tone, colours, voices, it all was like the comic was directly translated to film, fantastic.

And Snowy was the star, as always, and rightly so :)

Also, fast-moving fun. The boys loved it (11 and younger), much more than they liked Avengers. How's that for surprising? Although I think that was due to the humour going over their heads a bit in the Avengers (I laughed, they said what? what?) and maybe because they love new and Tintin was very new to them.

But could have done with less of the twins, despite my love of Pegg and Frost.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 03 May, 2012, 11:52:48 AM
Albert Nobbs - Except he doesnt because he's Glenn Close dressed as a man so she can work in a 19th century irish hotel. No hilarity ensues.

Its a day later and I still dont understand how I ended up watching this but it was alright if not quite my bag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 May, 2012, 12:24:57 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 03 May, 2012, 11:52:48 AM
Albert Nobbs - Except he doesnt because he's Glenn Close dressed as a man so she can work in a 19th century irish hotel. No hilarity ensues.

Its a day later and I still dont understand how I ended up watching this but it was alright if not quite my bag.

This sounds like the worst premise for a film I've ever heard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 03 May, 2012, 01:25:43 PM
Also not much much of a stretch for Glenn Close to look like a man. Ever since the film where she kills the rabbit I've hated her with a passion. Always been told I'd love The Shield, but I refuse to watch anything that bitch is in! Completely irrational I know, but that was a performance that stuck with me. I really hated that film. Can't even remember what it was called now, so please don't tell me!

Leonard Nimoy is Spock.
Glenn Close is an evil manipulative pychotic cunt.

Oh and the last film I watched was Cap'n 'merca. Yep, was good, far better than any previous ones and was good that it didn't have half of it in the present day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 03 May, 2012, 02:42:26 PM
The Gate.

Wow. Havent seen this in....must be 20 years easy. Really couldn't remember a thing about it. Watched it with the kids this afternoon and well thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit scarier than I expected and there were a couple of times where the kids were genuinely freaked out and I had to consider turning it off...but, of course, as soonas  I suggested that they were like "No, daddy, its fine!" :) A few of the jump parts were real genuine jumps, got a good few screams! It was great fun and its a thoroughly enjoyable and well made movie, with more substance and ingenuity to it than most modern flicks of its kind. Compared to Super 8 - which barely registered with the kids (and me) - after this was over they couldn't stop talking about it for hours, discussing the best bits, the scariest bits, the funniest bits. We honestly havent enjoyed a film as much as a family in.....ever I think!

Well worth a re-watch if you havent seen this in years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 May, 2012, 02:55:03 PM
Havent seen The Gate since vhs rental release! Seem to remember i wasnt overly keen at the time- but that probably had more to do with expectations attached to its 15 cert; which in the mid to late eighties got translated as 'horror film without gore' and therefore was doomed before we pressed play. It would be interesting ti see what time has done to it. And The Keep- another written-off possible gem.

Hmmm....

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Third Estate Ned on 03 May, 2012, 04:54:12 PM
Den of Geek did a retrospective on The Keep a while back where they said it isn't available anywhere on Bluray or DVD because of legal issues surrounding Tangerine Dream's soundtrack. Here it is:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/856378/will_we_ever_see_the_keep_on_bluray.html (http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/856378/will_we_ever_see_the_keep_on_bluray.html)

You can stream it from Netflix, if you want to see it badly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 May, 2012, 08:34:47 PM
Cheers, I'll look for the vhs, as I'm not sure what Netflix is, even!  :o

Now then- yesterday I lied. Or rather I didn't mean to lie- but my kids changed their mind (perhaps worried by the jump to colour horror) and chose THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933, James Whale/ Claude Rains) instead of a Hammer Dracula. In retrospect, I have gained a new appreciation of their developing taste- because The Invisible Man is bloody fabulous.

I'd never seen it. I think I'd never seen it because I'd "done" the story with the BBC adaptation back in the mid-eighties, and- really- how exciting can a story where you can't see the monster actually be?

It turns out the correct answer there is "very exciting indeed" .The '33 version is head and shoulders above most of the other Universals we've been watching lately, and sits at the top of the pile along with Bride of Frankenstein, also directed by Whale. There's a certain approach that Whale took that gives these movies a life of their own, even removed from their original context by the best part of a century. At this point I'd give a working theory that the longevity of the wider Universal Monster cycle in popular consciousness is due to their relationship with the central Whale/ Browning films. We respond to House of Frankenstein because of the echoes of Bride of Frankenstein therein, etc.

Whale populates his movie with some of the most distinctive faces you're ever likely to see- it really is Heaven for spotters of early talkies character actors- the police, villagers, all have the kind of amazing faces and accents that existed nowhere in the world, ever, other than the Universal backlot; homunculi conjured into life by the magic of James Whale. Among them the frankly incredible Harry Stubbs- rubber-faced stalwart of many a Universal picture, and the glorious Una O'Connor; later to play another screechy servant in Whale's Bride, and later still to deliver testimony in Billy Wilder's Witness To The Prosecution. She was fifty-three when she did The Invisible Man, and do you know what- she's lovely, and fast becoming one of my favourite actresses of the pre-war period. A time-travelling me definitely would.

Of course, it's the effects that define The Invisible Man. They would, really, wouldn't they? And here, they're still impressive after all these years. Among all the floating crockery, thrown-bicycles and people being hit by nothing, there's a repulsive unmasking which goes to great lengths to show Jack Griffin's head as an empty, invisible skull, leering at his potential victims- which is then gleefully mirrored in the film's final effect; Griffin achieving visibility again only in death. Whale knew what scared people- and the first reveal shut my two kids up immediately.

Oh yes, the kids. "The best one we've watched so far" said Bram, after seventy minutes of barely-contained excitement, gasps, giggles and squeaks. Bela, silent throughout, proclaimed it "absolutely fantastic!". Remember this film is black and white and seventy-nine years old. They completely responded to its humour- which is as black as pitch at times- and yet were able to appreciate its immediate switch to high horror. Bram had said he hoped it was going to have "less talking and more action" than Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. I don't think he was disappointed. Neither are ready to leave the Universals just yet- given the choice of The Monster Squad, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Poltergeist III or The Phantom of the Opera with Claude Rains for Saturday night... guess which they went for?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 04 May, 2012, 08:56:19 AM
Rango

A pet lizard gets lost in the desert. Johnny Depp does the voice and for one glorious minute, I thought Clint Eastwood did the voice for The Man with No Name. But alas, credits show it was Timothy Olyphant who is good in Justified (terrible in Hitman, forgettable in Die Hard 4) but is no Eastwood.

Story? Something about water shortage and a snake with a gun for a tail.

More importantly, what is it about Depp and white face paint? Fetish? His films, past present and future, seem to involve a great deal of the stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 May, 2012, 12:12:06 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 02 May, 2012, 02:47:19 PM
THE WICKER TREE

I had no great expectations that Robin Hardy would pull magic out of his pagan pants with his very belated sort-of-sequel, The Wicker Tree- but by crikey he did! As lopsided and celebratory of its absences as the first one, and as reliant on music, comedy, weirdness, mystery and late-coming horror. It's hard to gush about something so new- we'll let it bed-in for a few years, shall we, before we proclaim it a classic, but it's the Wicker Sequel I wanted to see. Nicolas Cage and Neil LaBute- Do you see now? DO YOU?

I should add that, like the original, many will utterly hate it and be slack-jawed at the possibility that anyone could like this piece of shoddy crap- and everyone else will claim to hate it until they meet someone else who liked it for the first time, at which point they will feel relieved and slightly less dirty, and realise they loved it. It's sort of The Wicker Man meets Murder She Wrote meets Songs of Praise meets a Confessions film meets a bit of 28 Days Later, but with some of the really important scenes removed on purpose to make you work harder. Oh, and the end is pure Amicus. Madness, utter madness and strangeness. Christopher Lee even appears in flashback via a painting- probably accompanied by a wibbly wobbly time travel noise. Sheer brilliance from beginning to end.

SBT

As somebody who loves the original, i really need to catch this. Its out on DVD now isnt it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 May, 2012, 12:42:43 PM
Yep, HMV have the dvd for a tenner ansd blu-ray for thirteen. The blu-ray has a ten minute puff-piece docu and some deleted scenes/trailer. Id imagine it'll go up in price monday, as these things usually do, so try to pick it up this weekend. Or online, obviously.

Hope you enjoy it as much as i did, and more than my wife!
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 May, 2012, 04:35:07 PM
Well, just got back from popping into town. Yeah, the dvd is a tenner at the moment - bit of a con that they couldnt put the rather limited set of extras onto the DVD, that would have clinched the deal.
I am hoping to upgrade to Blu-ray soon-ish though.The players are cheap enough now, so ill buy it then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 05 May, 2012, 10:30:59 AM
This Means War

Fun. So much wrong with it but ignore it and it's fun :) The chemistry between Tom Hardy and Chris Pine is fantastic, which you'd expect since they tend to have chemistry no matter who they're partnered with, but then why the distinct lack of chemistry between them and Reece Witherspoon? It's not because it's so bromance there's no room for anything else, since Hardy manages lovely scenes with his other female interest.

So you'd think obviously it's Reece's fault, except she's not bad at all. I could have done with less of her best friend, words words so many words, and that cheeto sex was just stomach-turning.

This would have been great as pure Hardy-Pine action comedy without the romance angle, but still, like I said, it's a fun ride regardless of everything wrong with it. And there's a lot, helluva lot. Kinda mind-boggling really, but true nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 May, 2012, 02:33:35 AM
I recently ordered Thor and Captain America to prepare for the Avengers film.
Unfortunately there's delays with Asda sending Captain America (they mailed me to apologise).  Thor arrived promptly.


I found it a bit too dark at the start (although that might be an issue with my TV) and I felt that some of the action scenes fell into that usual trap of being way too fast to make out. Strangely I found it difficult to get a sense of scale between the Asgardians and the Jotun at the start. I.e. the latter are meant to be giants yet they seemed the same size as the Asgardians (and humans) to me. It was only later that I could see they were a good deal taller.

These small issues aside, it was a great film. I think it was a good move to play some of the Earth based stuff for laughs. If they'd taken it too seriously it could have gotten corny. Okay, I suppose it did get a bit corny but the humour made it work, if that makes sense.

Oh, and nice post-credits scene. [spoiler]I assume that cube originated in The Captain America film. I remember that being used in a recent CA collection I read, The Winter Soldier.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 07 May, 2012, 09:10:54 AM
I found it a bit too dark at the start (although that might be an issue with my TV)

It is pretty dark, and I remember people complaining about that when it came out.

Top Gun

Just watched this again after years, possibly decades, and it's still good fun - especially on a big screen with the music deafening. And having seen Taps a few months ago, all puppy fat and nothing like a Hollywood hunk, seeing Cruise in this is amazing. Whoda thunk? Anyway, the 'loving feeling', the upside down stunt, the Iceman oiled up on the beach... - those iconic moments are still as potent as ever :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 May, 2012, 05:08:36 PM
I watched Green Lantern last night... and wished I hadn't.

The way this movie jumps and lurches from one scene or plot point to another is really laughable. I laughed out loud at the bit where Ryan Reynolds waks out of the kid's bedroom, and is immediately seen STEPPING OUT OF HIS CAR! Jeez - those old classic motors must be helluva roomy inside!

Aside form that... yeah. Not a great movie. Way too much in-yer-face obvious CG, a weak set up with the jilted-friend-turned-baddie, and a forgettable turn by Tim Robbins.

Give it another 10 years, and maybe we'll see a decent second attempt, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 May, 2012, 08:25:50 PM
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The first thing to note is that they don't. They do, however, meet Frankenstein's Monster, here played by Glenn Strange, who we last saw in House of Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi as Dracula (who last played the Count seventeen years previously) and Lon Chaney (Jnr), who here completes his cycle of films as Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man.

Abbott and Costello were, charitably, the Laurel and Hardy of their day... or perhaps uncharitably, The Chuckle Brothers. As a kid, I remember liking their brand of knockabout comedy, and thirty-odd years later I was pleased to find it wasn't as excruciating as I feared and was at times pleasingly witty at times. A couple of the set-piece routines are well written and choreographed. Nothing to equal the heyday of Hollywood's comedy double-acts, and you can see why they achieved a certain popularity, and made thirty-seven films over nineteen years.

Kids really liked this one- the last minute [spoiler]"appearance" of the Invisible Man, voiced by Vincent Price- or at least a sound-alike[/spoiler] really made their day. Bought this in a double-bill with ...Meet The Mummy, for £3 from HMV. I have a feeling we'll be watching that one very soon.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 May, 2012, 08:32:07 PM
I watched Thor again the other night with some mates - there's something quite 1980s about the film - a sort of Splash/Crocodile Dundee fish out of water vibe.

Really like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 08 May, 2012, 09:36:37 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 08 May, 2012, 08:25:50 PM
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The first thing to note is that they don't. They do, however, meet Frankenstein's Monster, here played by Glenn Strange, who we last saw in House of Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi as Dracula (who last played the Count seventeen years previously) and Lon Chaney (Jnr), who here completes his cycle of films as Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man.

I have very strong memories of seeing this one as a child, though I haven't seen it for years. I had a general obsession with werewolves at the time, so when [spoiler]the Wolf Man grabs Dracula and jumps off a cliff with him to their mutual doom at the end, I was gutted, and decided to draw a picture of the Wolf Man swimming away to safety[/spoiler]. Can't remember much about Abbott or Costello in it, but who cares about them when you're 7 and there's exciting monsters about? I do wonder if it would hold up to adult viewing for me though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 May, 2012, 09:48:54 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 08 May, 2012, 09:36:37 PM

I have very strong memories of seeing this one as a child, though I haven't seen it for years. I had a general obsession with werewolves at the time, so when [spoiler]the Wolf Man grabs Dracula and jumps off a cliff with him to their mutual doom at the end, I was gutted, and decided to draw a picture of the Wolf Man swimming away to safety[/spoiler]. Can't remember much about Abbott or Costello in it, but who cares about them when you're 7 and there's exciting monsters about? I do wonder if it would hold up to adult viewing for me though.

Yeah, absolutely. It's a [spoiler]terrible end for Talbot's story- and makes absolutely no sense. why would falling out of a window into the sea kill the Wolf Man and Dracula? [/spoiler] [spoiler]I reckon your picture is more or less canon- there's no way they didn't just swim off to new adventures.[/spoiler] [spoiler]Somewhere out there in an alt universe is a brilliant 1952 movie where Talbot wakes up in Atlantis.[/spoiler]

And re Abbott and Costello- the revolving wall gag, where Costello keeps coming face to face with the Monster and Dracula, while Abbott remains disbelieving and contemptuous, had my kids in stitches. I think I even remembered it from my last viewing- in about 1978!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 09 May, 2012, 02:31:49 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 May, 2012, 08:32:07 PM
I watched Thor again the other night with some mates - there's something quite 1980s about the film - a sort of Splash/Crocodile Dundee fish out of water vibe.

Really like it.

I saw Thor for the first time about two days before going to see The Avengers. Nabbed it in Tesco, reasoning it might help me to enjoy The Avengers when I saw it.

Never been keen on Thor as a character - but the movie was unexpectedly good fun! I heartily recommend it to anyone who's not yet taken the plunge.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 09 May, 2012, 11:02:13 AM
Watched Chronicle on the weekend, wow that was pretty damn good for a Found Footage style movie, a style that really just doesn't grab me usually.  Could've been one of the best super movies ever if they had the budget but they still did really well with what they had and the first time they fly while looking a bit cheap is probably one of the best flying scenes in a movie (you really can feel the joy).  Reminds me a bit of Akira in a good way, the main character reminded me alot of Tetsuo.  Certauinly worth an hour or two of your life.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 13 May, 2012, 03:03:22 PM
Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Kid's adventure on the river movie, actually quite good fun with camping and pirates and walking the plank. It had those kid voices you find in older movies, you know, the ones which sound like grown-ups putting on a high voice and voila kid voice. So annoying. But, despite this pet hate, good nostalgia piece.

And all I could think about was 'not in this day and age' - I mean, look, not a life-jacket in sight! And no adults. Kids alone, on a boat, camping on an island at night, fishing and cooking it over a fire.

We've gotten so afraid and it's a shame, but at the same time I can't help cringing at the thought of my kids doing all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 May, 2012, 03:54:08 PM
I'm not sure I've ever seen that, but I remember reading a couple of the books, which were pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 May, 2012, 05:05:34 PM
Love the film and the book(s), but agree about the voices grating.  And I still find it hard not to giggle at the name 'Titty'.  Implausibly my father reports exactly the same shenanigans as a slightly-older kid in the 50's, taking sailing dinghies out into Dublin Bay and camping on islands, all life-jacket free - and he can't swim. 

As the safety officer of a local sailing group myself, I can report that life-jackets are a damn good idea for anyone.  The survival statistics are pretty convincing.  But I wouldn't be adverse to my kids doing the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 13 May, 2012, 10:45:05 PM
Watched 'Let Me In' yesterday. nice take on Vampirism. Thumbs up here.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 May, 2012, 01:12:29 AM
That's one I haven't seen. I've seen the Swedish original Let the Right One In though, and I really enjoyed that. I read the book after, and while I liked it (and it did have more material as you'd expect) I think I prefer the film. That's unusual, as it's usually the other way round.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 14 May, 2012, 09:21:32 AM
The only problem with Let me in is that I guessed the outcome from the off.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 14 May, 2012, 10:12:32 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 May, 2012, 05:05:34 PM
I can report that life-jackets are a damn good idea for anyone.  The survival statistics are pretty convincing.  But I wouldn't be adverse to my kids doing the rest.

Absolutely to both. You want them to have adventure, safely, but balancing it is so tricky. I remember running over rooftops and jumping off to trees and then jumping down to the compost heap below and that was only one little thing I used to do - but now, will I let the kids do that? Hell no! Being a grown-up is so hard.

Let the Right One In - I saw that when I heard the director was going to do Tinker, and I have to say, I wasn't all that impressed. There was that stillness and silence thing - but that's really not new in northern European entertainment, is it? Their films/TV offerings are practically drowning in slow, silent, detached melodrama. Cold, washed out colours too - to, you know, belabour the point even more.

You'd think I didn't enjoy the movie but I did. I just didn't see why the hype and accolades. It was a different spin on the vamp flick, a serious spin, and something new, so I enjoyed seeing that. But that's all I got from it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 14 May, 2012, 10:27:10 AM
Watched the Fincher remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Oddly, I fell asleep at one point and woke up with Craig's character chained up by the bad guy, so I missed a chunk and then fell asleep again before the end.

Annoyingly - and rather strangely - this sleep pattern was repeated almost exactly when I watched the original, so I have no idea what happens at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 May, 2012, 04:01:21 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 14 May, 2012, 10:27:10 AM
Watched the Fincher remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I've got a series of the original three films on loan from a friend. I haven't gotten round to watching them yet... maybe I should.

They're actually pirated copies she got from another friend. I have issues with watching pirated stuff. On the other hadn't I don't like to say 'no' when friends loan me things. Worried it might seem like I'm disinterested in their, um, interests. (It's a good thing trying not to offend people but I think I worry about it too much sometimes.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 May, 2012, 05:40:04 PM
ALIENS Special Edition with Tiny Tips.

I thought this was a 15 (not an 18) so my thinking was that a 25 year old 15 rated movie would be OK to watch with a 12 year old.

He loved it.  Particularly impressed by the fact you don't see an ALIEN for the first hour and he loved all the suspense and tension and the action scenes.  He also started listing similarities with AVATAR once he knew it was the same chap.

And I really enjoyed it too - something good about watching it with a fresh pair of eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 20 May, 2012, 01:01:57 PM
The Thing prequel thing
Pretty poor, fell asleep & missed a big  chunk in the middle, altho could have something to do with the time i started watching it & the booze consumed before. Did the same with Troll Hunter the difference being i will go back & watch the bit i missed in that

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 May, 2012, 02:26:14 PM
All the Presidents Men.
One of my all time faves. Always best to watch this Paranoid political thriller late at night and with the lights out.
Shame [spoiler]Mark Felt[/spoiler] had to go and reveal himself as being Deep Throat, and take some of the mystery out of it.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 21 May, 2012, 12:24:31 AM
Mark Felt, thought it was Hal Holbrook :D...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 21 May, 2012, 09:11:12 AM
Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows

What absolute kak. You hate Bale's Batman voice? Listen to RDJ's Sherlock voice and thank your lucky stars you have Bale. Bloody hell. There was nothing good in this movie, nobody and nothing. At all. It blows my mind this wasn't a flop, but then again, people seem to enjoy RDJ beyond all comprehension.

Please tell me there's no third on the way. Such a waste of money hurts my soul.

I had to stop watching mid-film, it really just needed to stop. But I went back and saw the rest because maybe it got better? Wishful thinking. Oh so wishful.

It suffers so badly, so so badly, in comparison to BBC's Sherlock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 11:19:52 AM
yes but did you like it?  :D

I picked up a DVD of the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. This was was one of the first albums I bought when I was about 12, and I still love it. I've always wanted to see the stage show but have never been able to find anyone willing to pay the high ticket price to go with me, so when I saw this cheap DVD I had to have it.

Hmmm. It's not exactly bad, but replacing the late great Phil Lynott (not a technically great voice but bagloads of charisma and craziness) with Russell Watson (great operatic voice, as much charisma as a plank of wood) was a very bad decision!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 21 May, 2012, 12:17:12 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 21 May, 2012, 09:11:12 AM
Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows

What absolute kak. You hate Bale's Batman voice? Listen to RDJ's Sherlock voice and thank your lucky stars you have Bale. Bloody hell. There was nothing good in this movie, nobody and nothing. At all. It blows my mind this wasn't a flop, but then again, people seem to enjoy RDJ beyond all comprehension.

Please tell me there's no third on the way. Such a waste of money hurts my soul.

I had to stop watching mid-film, it really just needed to stop. But I went back and saw the rest because maybe it got better? Wishful thinking. Oh so wishful.

It suffers so badly, so so badly, in comparison to BBC's Sherlock.

It's hardly a fair comparison. One was designed for TV. The other for global cinema audiences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 21 May, 2012, 12:53:52 PM
Both covered before but...

Troll Hunter: I generally hate fake video handheld stuff (Blair Witch onwards) but this was cool enough. Freaky things trolls so well worth a watch.

Kill List: Dear Grud that was fucked up. Was lucky to keep watching after the first while, the whole soapy bitching couple thing really depresses me and I think it was only "Tyres" that kept me interested (was pretty obvious that his partner was evil, she was in HR ffs!  ;)). Wasn't at all what I expected, more of a Hammer Horror type thing in the end. Possibly the most horrible ending to a film ever! Gah, had nightmares after that, really grim stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 21 May, 2012, 01:03:37 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 11:19:52 AMI picked up a DVD of the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. This was was one of the first albums I bought when I was about 12, and I still love it.

Wasn't Jeff Wayne s'posed to be releasing an animated version of the musical version of?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 01:29:21 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 21 May, 2012, 01:03:37 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 11:19:52 AMI picked up a DVD of the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. This was was one of the first albums I bought when I was about 12, and I still love it.

Wasn't Jeff Wayne s'posed to be releasing an animated version of the musical version of?

Wouldn't be surprised. He's been milking this one piece of work for decades now!

Funniest thing about the DVD was the intervview with him in the extras - his comments were phrased as to be casual and off the cuff, but he's a dreadful actor and was obviously reciting them word for word.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 21 May, 2012, 02:01:36 PM
I just finished watching the Twilight Zone movie for the first time since seeing it at the movies when it first came out.  John Lithgow was a wonderful as ever.  The story about the kid who could do anything was kind of stuffed up by the ending - just a bit of niceness was all that was needed (admittedly from a super smoking hot school teacher lady - but the kid was too young for that to matter to him), the 'racism is bad' segment was so stupid I almost felt sorry for the Nazis and the lovable old people's home made me glad I'm not diabetic.  I still chuckle at Dan Akroyd's bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 21 May, 2012, 02:29:02 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 11:19:52 AM
yes but did you like it?  :D

I picked up a DVD of the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.

It deserved my spew, it really did!

That's not the music behind Richard Burton's radio War of the Worlds, is it? With that 'oh Nathanial no!' lyrics and creepy instrumentals that make it entertaining driving music.

Quote from: brendan1 on 21 May, 2012, 12:17:12 PM
It's hardly a fair comparison. One was designed for TV. The other for global cinema audiences.

That's usually the defence given for the TV show version. Still, if that was a defence for the movie? - well, no, it's no defence, because what was wrong with it was 75% actors' fault and the rest splurged around script and direction.

If you liked it, good for you. I wish I'd liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 21 May, 2012, 02:44:02 PM
I watched Drive at the weekend..what a great film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 21 May, 2012, 03:05:34 PM
I second that. Drive Is fantastic, awesome music and cinematography, I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 May, 2012, 03:12:52 PM
Apparently the director of Drive is making the Button Man film...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 03:31:01 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 21 May, 2012, 02:29:02 PM
That's not the music behind Richard Burton's radio War of the Worlds, is it? With that 'oh Nathanial no!' lyrics and creepy instrumentals that make it entertaining driving music.

That's the one, but it was an album originally, realeased in the 70s. It ws made into a stage show much much later and still tours occasionally. It was narrated by Richard Burton (who appears in the stage show as a weird CGI hologram projected onto a big floating ball) and starred Phil (coolest man to come out of Dublin) Lynott as Parson Nathaniel and David Essex as the Artilleryman.

Not to be confused with the legendary 1930s radio version by Orson Welles which was so realistic it caused huge numbers of middle America to panic thinking they really were being invaded!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 May, 2012, 04:19:01 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 11:19:52 AM
I picked up a DVD of the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. This was was one of the first albums I bought when I was about 12, and I still love it. I've always wanted to see the stage show but have never been able to find anyone willing to pay the high ticket price to go with me, so when I saw this cheap DVD I had to have it.

Saw the stage show about 3 years ago, as a last-night-out-before-baby-No.2-arrives-and-ruins-everything treat for the missus, who had introduced me to the delights of the album when we knew each other as kids. 

It was actually a very good show, apart from some sound problems which were almost certainly the (then new) venue's fault.  It includes the bits of CGI animation that were (I presume) intended to form part of the film version, but they already look horribly dated - they should have stuck with the album-insert style.  The Giant Floating Head of Burton is technically impressive, but it doesn't add much - this is in contrast to the Absolutely Giant Martian Fighting Machine which is bloody impressive, and its raisings and lowerings do add to proceedings.   An added bonus was Jennifer Ellison as Beth, who I've always thought was rather comely, and original cast member Justin Hayward, who was pretty good (if not as goodly pretty). 

Worth the shekels if you can find them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 21 May, 2012, 10:39:32 PM
The Buttonman movie has already been made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S5PhoGCues
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 May, 2012, 11:23:47 PM
TRUE LIES - I'd forgotten what jolly good fun this is despite a deeply dodgy 30 minutes in the middle where he terrorises his wife (but it's OK, there are some laughs to be had as she writhes around in only her tims). The bridge going up is still one of the best movie explosions ever and the high jinx with the Harrier also a lot of fun.

Is it just DVD upscaling that makes it a lot easier to see Arnie's stunt doubles or was it always so?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 May, 2012, 12:12:30 AM
I've always liked True Lies but, in my head, I sometimes do it down as I feel it unfairly gets plaudits which should more rightfully belong to Last Action Hero. This probably isn't very reasonable.

For some reason, Roadhouse was one of those films that I'd always heard my mates talk about but never actually seen. That all changed last week. A gloriously ludicrous slice of 80s cheeseball action starring a glistening Patrick Swayze as the philosophy graduate turned best bouncer in the business brought in to clean up the roughest bar in six counties. In time honoured fashion, he does things his own way but inevitably finds his own sense of moral rectitude and natural justice forces him to take on the corrupt local establishment along with the yahoos smashing glasses in his bar.

From the hairdos through the uneasy attempts to have an American dramatist performing his own martial arts scenes to the straight-faced delivery of lines like "Nobody wins a fight" this is so joyfully of its time that the only way I can think of getting the same authentic whiff of nostalgia would be to break into the Blue Peter garden and dig up Petra's corpse.

Quite marvellous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 22 May, 2012, 06:52:40 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2012, 03:31:01 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 21 May, 2012, 02:29:02 PM
That's not the music behind Richard Burton's radio War of the Worlds, is it? With that 'oh Nathanial no!' lyrics and creepy instrumentals that make it entertaining driving music.

That's the one, but it was an album originally, realeased in the 70s. It ws made into a stage show much much later and still tours occasionally.

I had no idea. Awesome. Will keep an eye out for the show. Might take the kids too since every time we put it on on long drives, they love it. Calms them right down.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 May, 2012, 11:23:47 PM
TRUE LIES - I'd forgotten what jolly good fun this is despite a deeply dodgy 30 minutes in the middle where he terrorises his wife

Love True Lies. I do think it was Arnie's best 'acting' role - misquoting terribly, probably: "they were all bad, honey" - and first time I'd actually seen him have chemistry with a woman. Loved the bashing of the dogs at the beginning (I love dogs, don't get me wrong, just cool move) - and when he swam under that firewater, great visuals there. Loved Tom Arnold and his lucky lamp-post. And Jamie totally deserved the best body acclaim that year. And I had no idea the hotel chase scene was CGI until I saw the BTS.

Top stuff. Wouldn't mind a sequel at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2012, 08:06:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2012, 12:12:30 AM... a glistening Patrick Swayze as the philosophy graduate turned best bouncer in the business brought in to clean up the roughest bar in six counties

One more argument for Godpleton's elevation to modhood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 22 May, 2012, 12:28:51 PM
Yep after the first ever full viewing it turns out that i actually love Road House. Truly brilliant film that I think I'm going to have to add to the DVD collection.

Recently watched a film called War Wolves which despite the exciting premise turned out to be one of the worst films I've seen in a long time, bad casting, bad acting and reeeeeally bad facial prosthetics (which really appear to have been purchased at a pound land somewhere in hell). I know its low budget picture (a lot of my favourite films are) but it's a good example of very lazy film making. Some of transitions just don't make sense and there are several points where scenes vital to the flow of the film take place off screen, leaving you thinking "how did we get to here"! I can only assume they were cut due to budgeting constraints and lower cost alternatives where just never filmed. Truly terrible, rant over
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 May, 2012, 10:38:14 PM
Doctor Phibes Rises Again (1972)

I bought this donkey's years ago, along with the magnificent first film- but my old DVD player wouldn't play it. New machine, and finally a chance to watch tonight, as wife had requested a Vincent Price movie.

You've either seen this, or you haven't. So you either know what it is or you don't. Whether you do or not, no attempt by me to sum up its strangeness will be adequate. If you really don't know about the Doctor Phibes films, go here: http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article72.htm. I don't approve of his usage of the word "retarded", but he does a pretty good job of summing them up. And yes, they are that good, and that weird.

I will just throw it open to the forum here, with the following questions: Who do you think Vulnavia is? The article I linked to claims "robot in the first, ethereal spirit in the second". I favour acid-dop-out hippie student and Phibes' sometime toy- hence two entirely different girls in two movies.

And- In a third film, made now, who would you have as Phibes? We settled on Donald Sutherland or Geoffrey Rush.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 May, 2012, 11:12:03 PM
The Dr. Phibes films are right up there with the best. Shockingly under-appreciated.


Some of the outlines/screenplays for the proposed threequels make me salivate but also sad that we'll likely never see them. My favourite is the one from 1981:


Phibes is revived in 1981 and sets sail for New York aboard his 98-foot yacht. The city's diseased squalor is contrasted with Phibes' seafaring Art Deco idyll, replete with Clockwork Wizards, Vulnavia and of course the dearly departed Victoria.
Ensconced in a resplendent penthouse apartment, Phibes plans to resurrect his bride and build a new life in America. His activities rouse the interest of the Wormwood Institute, an elite "think tank of glorious eggheads" led by the 80 year old Hector Seneca Cicero Wormwood. Each of the six Institute members, we learn, leads a "strange private life".
Astrophysicist Bulwark Stanton, the most devious of the group, is obsessed with little girls and keeps a mechanical effigy of one at home. Lester is threatening to disprove Einstein's theory of general relativity at the age of 12; he's champing at the bit to match wits with Phibes. The Smith Brothers, experts in economics and nuclear weaponry, are identical twin transvestites. Wormwood himself wet nurses directly from the tap, laboring under the illusion that such is the key to eternal life.
When the old man smashes Victoria's glass coffin, she dries out and decomposes. Phibes is enraged and vows revenge. He kills off each of the Institute members according to their greatest love; the germ warfare expert Mr. Nim enjoys chocolate, and is summarily transformed into a chocolate statue, etc. Phibes concurrently conducts an urgent search for the essential salts to restore Victora's vitality.


Geoffrey Rush would be a better fit or possibly Ian McKellen?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 May, 2012, 09:18:37 AM
It's such a shame, as you say, that we'll never see that particular script on screen, joe. Even a 'reboot' is unlikely to feature death by paedophilia, unfortunately.

It's an odd starring role, phibes. The movies are well-loved among those who have seen them, and the image of phibes' decayed face even further known through its overuse in just about every large format 'horror films' book ever published. And yet, as an acting role, its so limited by lack of speech and so elaborately camp, that i cant imagine anyone wanting to do it now. Rush could- he's played Price successfully before, but would he. Robert Englund could also do it- but it needs a better actor, oddly, and a more mainstream star. Hugh Grant would be magnificent.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2012, 05:47:36 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2012, 12:12:30 AMuneasy attempts to have an American dramatist performing his own martial arts scenes

Swayze was actually a low-budget star who lucked into mainstream success*, so I suspect he knew his way around a fight scene (because he expected to be doing them a lot) even if the odd director he worked with did not coughcoughPoint Breakcoughcough.  If you liked Roadhouse, check out Steel Dawn for his post-apocalyptic ninja chops.

Speaking of post-dubya ninjas, I watched 1975's The Ultimate Warrior, which I had never heard of before spotting it on Youtube, which no-one seems to care to delete, such is the regard in which it seems to be held.  It's actually a pretty decent Yul Brynner vehicle where he plays a nomadic bruiser in post-apocalyptic 2012 (?) New York who's employed by Max Von Sydow to defend a budding community of farmers from terrifying overlord "The Carrot", and it's written and directed by Enter The Dragon and Game of Death's Robert Clouse, though there's not much in the way of memorable scraps as Brynner is really only convincing at handing out bullish wallops or jamming a penknife in someone's guts to get the job done.  He is literally the worst hero possible, tasked directly with the safety of four people throughout the film, all of whom end up dead within minutes, including a baby - and babies never die in these films, so that gives you an idea of how useless he really is.  Then again, this at least gives you the impression that there's something at stake as he can fail at any minute, which isn't something which happens a lot in these kinds of flicks as the hero's usually an infallible chess-master thinking three moves ahead, but Brynner's Carson is entirely reactive, playing the whole thing by ear and it's only afterwards that it occurs he's maybe not so much a ninja master or something but an unhinged transient traumatised by his experiences in the wasteland, making the final shot of him [spoiler]absconding with a weakened young woman and her newborn infant[/spoiler] terrifying rather than poignant.  Readers of the The Road may at that point be thinking of a certain kebab.
Still a fun watch, though.


* Dirty Dancing, the charming story of a romance between an adult and a 15 year-old, was a no-budget straight-to-video movie that hit it huge in a contractually-obliged theatrical run that was supposed to last a week at most but was extended when video pre-orders broke the 1 million mark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 May, 2012, 08:03:22 PM
Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy (1955)

In which our hapless heroes become involved in murder, theft, the search for ancient gold and the horror of a walking mummy (eventually).

Six years on from '...meet frankenstein', the guys are that bit more polished- or maybe so polished the sheen is wearing off. Im not sure which, only that their slapstick made the kids howl with laughter, the wordplay amused me and the music, costumes and dancing entertained my wife. If it all seems laboured to you, rest assured there's a fantastic extended gag right at the end involving a dinner suit and snake charming that's better than anything that precedes it- even if the upshot of the movie is 'arabs: dont worry that the west wants to plunder your cultural heritage! Open yourselves to tourists and turn your history into cabaret, and all will be well!', but i admit that's a purely modern perspective and not one that's at all relevent.

My favourite thing about this was, despite being listed in the credits as playing (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 May, 2012, 08:09:57 PM
(cont) two named characters, both stars blatantly refer to each other as bud abbott and lou costello throughout, seemingly sick of the pretence. There's also far more playing to the camera and knowing looks than in '...meets frankenstein', with the fourth wall being smashed down almost as often as those of the sets, as costello runs screaming from another scare.

A few things to look out for: there's a great acrobatic dance sequence near the beginning which would make those arses from britain's got talent green with envy at the, er, talent involved. And, for a light comedy, some of the dessicated corpses abbott stumbles into along the way are disturbingly lifelike. Someone backstage knew their egyptology.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 25 May, 2012, 02:37:11 AM
Broke my cinema-drought by going to see Sadako 3D last night. Hmm. Had mixed feelings about it. I'd been looking forward to it a LOT but sadly it didn't meet expectations and I was a little bit disappointed. Though that could be due to missing out on a couple of plot details (it was in Japanese with no subtitles so I was relying on my Japanese ability to get me through it - the majority of it I could follow just fine, but when they started getting into the explaining of stuff, everyone was talking so fast I kind of lost it).

As a 3d film, it is absolutely brilliant. This is some of the best 3d I've seen, infinitely superior to anything I've seen on a cinema screen in Ireland. It was exceptionally bright throughout, and the film-makers really had fun with getting as much out of the medium as possible. I mean, look - Sadako is MADE for 3D. What is her 'thing'? Crawling out through tv screens/monitors etc in a "3D" fashion to enter the real world. Seeing that come to life in actual 3D was pretty damn cool I have to say. And boy did they make sure you got a lot of it. TV screens, computer monitors, mobile phone screens, digital advertising billboards, vending machine digital displays...if it had a screen, that bitch was sticking her arm, hair, head or whole body out of it, and it was very effective and cool. They really went to town on the 3d, there seemed to be something coming at you every 2 or 3 minutes....


...which is pretty much the reason why, as an ordinary, everyday movie - its pretty mediocre. Take the 3d out of this and....you aren't left with very much more than a typical Hollywood teen-slasher type flick, with people running around the place being chased by someone/something which keeps popping out at them. Yes, there are a lot of 'jump' moments (I admit to jumping during this a lot more than I usually do at this kind of film) BUT those jumps are nearly always down to the absolutely DEAFENING trumpet blast that accompanies the 'reveal'..... It's the sudden blast of music that makes you jump, not the actual 'events' themselves, which aren't really that surprising. The story SEEMED a bit flimsy - I can't fully comment, as I didn't catch EVERY single word of explanation for the events, but I got 90% of it and based on that and filling in the blanks with what was shown, it doesn't seem to make any sense. There are a lot of really dumb plot holes as well (just as one example, although Sadako can only manifest in this world by coming out through some kind of digital screen, there's one part in the movie where a character is standing on the edge of a roof - and Sadako's arm literally  reaches in from the side of the screen to grab her and try to pull her off. So the arm was just apparently coming out of thin air? This was dumb, especially since the character was holding a mobile phone and they could have had Sadako reach out of that.) Most annoyingly of all though, the deaths aren't particularly interesting, with most of them occurring -annoyingly - offscreen. We don't really get to see much. There's certainly no gore, apart from in one little scene. I guess they were marketing this at the teenage dating crowd though, so what can you do. They don't do ratings here in Japan but I would say this one is little more than PG, possibly 12s.

Overall, I had a good time while watching it. Lots of jumps, fantastic use of 3D, and a very cool end sequence which I can't talk about. (Not the very, very end, which was weak, but the big action sequence leading up the very end). I will say one thing - CGI Sadako is nowhere near as good as "real-actress-walking-funny" Sadako. The CGI is great in this, and very realistic, but you still can't beat good old-fashioned reality.

I would definitely recommend seeing this IN 3D. I don't usually do that, as I'm not actually a big 3D fan, but as I said at the start, this movie and character is made for 3D and needs to be seen that way. Without the 3D, I'd imagine it would be a fairly pedestrian experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 25 May, 2012, 06:29:36 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 24 May, 2012, 05:47:36 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2012, 12:12:30 AMuneasy attempts to have an American dramatist performing his own martial arts scenes

* Dirty Dancing, the charming story of a romance between an adult and a 15 year-old, was a no-budget straight-to-video movie that hit it huge in a contractually-obliged theatrical run that was supposed to last a week at most but was extended when video pre-orders broke the 1 million mark.

I had no idea! About the straight-to-vid thing, but when you put the adult and 15yr old thing like that, that sounds remarkably sleazy too. I thought she had at least reached the age of consent. I'll blame my ignorance on the fact I watched it years and years ago. During puberty.

Into the Blue - Jessica Alba, Paul Walker. Clothing optional. Drugs. Treasure. Pretty sea scenes. Unbelievably pretty people, like, stratosphere. Watch on a hi-def huge screen with the sound really low and just enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 27 May, 2012, 12:47:59 PM
Men In Black III - good fun but not awesome.  I don't feel compelled to quote from it or tell my mates to see it.  Jermaine from 'Flight of the Conchords' was fun as a villain (I could have sworn it was Tim Curry at first), Josh Brolin was good as a young Tommy Lee Jones, and Will Smith was exactly the way he is in every film of his I've seen.  Lots of clever jokes but nothing exhilarating. Me I wanted to see Iron Sky but I was overruled
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 May, 2012, 01:25:00 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 May, 2012, 10:38:14 PM
Doctor Phibes Rises Again (1972)

I bought this donkey's years ago, along with the magnificent first film- but my old DVD player wouldn't play it. New machine, and finally a chance to watch tonight, as wife had requested a Vincent Price movie.
SBT

Excellant films, i havent seen these in ages so im gonna watch the first one tonight.
Always loved Theatre of Blood (1973) which i always felt fitted in nicely with the Phibes films.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg73nPNSKh0
Distrubing and deranged stuff these films, no wonder they freaked me out as a kid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2012, 02:33:17 PM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 27 May, 2012, 12:47:59 PMI don't feel compelled to quote from it

"For future reference, just because a black man is driving a fancy car, it doesn't mean he stole it.  Although, yes, I did steal this car - but not because I'm black."

The Light At The End Of The World, based on a story by Jules Verne, is a family matinee of the old school, by which I mean there's a mere three nightmare-inducing onscreen deaths and only the one gang rape.  Kirk Douglas' character seeks solitude in a lighthouse because he has a terrible habit of shooting his best mates dead, but pirate captain Yul Brynner hijacks the place and uses it to scuttle and rob passing ships.  The stage is thus set for a battle of the ages betwixt Spartacus and the King of Siam - AND ONE MUST PERISH!
It's good fun, but for a kids' flick remarkably bloody and grim, and even has a bit where the comedy foreign sidekick is strung up and has strips of skin pulled off his chest with a giant hook, which even in Hostel 8 and Saw XIII times is pretty strong stuff, as is the rape/exploding of Samantha Eggar's flighty piece.  It's worth a gander before they find it and remake it, I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 27 May, 2012, 10:11:09 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 May, 2012, 10:38:14 PM
And- In a third film, made now, who would you have as Phibes? We settled on Donald Sutherland or Geoffrey Rush.

Given Phibes mechanically stilted way of speaking, it'd probably be entirely possible to have all the dialogue done by Price himself, constructed from old recordings of his voice, having Phibes sound pretty much identical to the way he does in the first two films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 27 May, 2012, 10:24:36 PM
I just watched Paddy Constantine's directorial debut Tyrannosaur

It was uncomfortable viewing at times and although good..it didn't live up to the hype that surrounds it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2012, 03:17:55 PM
Curse of the Undead, a western about a black-clad gun for hire who rides into town and takes advantage of a violent feud between ranchers to ply his trade.  As an afterthought, the gunslinger also happens to be a vampire, so when he says his life is death he is not being florid.
Surprisingly good stuff, it reminds me of some of the better Twilight Zone episodes, and the vampire being one of the old-school variety who can walk in the sun and became cursed by an act of murder and suicide rather than being necked by a foreigner is a nice touch.

In The Name Of The King 2: Two Worlds, being a sequel to Uwe Boll's best film and a remake of the fantasy opus that was Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time.  I have not seen a Dolph Lundgren vehicle in years beyond that last Universal Soldier sequel, but here he is a juddering shambles of a man, barely able to move and I hope it's just the role he's playing rather than anything health-related.  The film has the germs of a few good ideas, but it doesn't hold together and the pacing isn't good enough enough to hide the shortcomings of a pedestrian plot that looks like it's building up to a grim twist ending but then just sort of stops.  The fights - main selling point with a DL flick - are pretty unremarkable, though the scenery is lovely, with Vancouver looking more like a fantasy realm than the actual fantasy realm.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is the fourth flick where Ethan Hunt goes rogue against orders and this time those in charge don't even bother with the notion he might be wrong to do so, with his boss being all like "well, I guess when we stop talking you escape or something and go sort this out for me" , which he does.  There's a passing scene where the Cruiser says "we're all alone and this is all we got for this mission", but it has no relevence to what follows, what follows being the usual MI schtick of a few hi-tech heists that go wrong at the end and result in some chases and a few scraps in strange locales.
Logic is an unwelcome intruder (there being at least two glaring instances of the script second-guessing its own stupidity in an attempt to hand-wave it away) and the remixed theme over the opening credits is just awful in its aggressive banality, but otherwise it's a big daffy romp from the ever-reliable Cruise.

Darkest Hour. Shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 May, 2012, 03:26:33 PM
Speed Racer - Glorious piffle from start to finish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 May, 2012, 03:50:17 PM
Captain America- Enjoyable. Kinda cheesy in places but it didn't take itself seriously. Actually some funny stuff too, particularly the musical number showing his career in the War Bonds business. Oh, and nice getting more of an explanation on that cube thing*.  And Nazis with laser guns kinda worked, although it shouldn't.

Oh, and I loved the Red Skull's car. A fabulous machine.


*The Tesseract. I actually looked it up on Wiki, and was interested to see the term is actually used to describe a fourth dimensional construct. Essentially to cubes in four dimensions what cubes are to squares.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2012, 05:24:27 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 28 May, 2012, 03:17:55 PM


Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time.  I have not seen a Dolph Lundgren vehicle in years beyond that last Universal Soldier sequel, but here he is a juddering shambles of a man, barely able to move and I hope it's just the role he's playing rather than anything health-related.  The film has the germs of a few good ideas, but it doesn't hold together and the pacing isn't good enough enough to hide the shortcomings of a pedestrian plot that looks like it's building up to a grim twist ending but then just sort of stops.  The fights - main selling point with a DL flick - are pretty unremarkable, though the scenery is lovely, with Vancouver looking more like a fantasy realm than the actual fantasy realm.


Dolph Lundgren isn't in the Beastmaster films - it's Marc Singer (one of those 'what have I seen him in' actors*)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001743/




* 'V' probably
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2012, 06:09:36 PM
You seem to have somehow missed that I was talking about another film entirely...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 May, 2012, 07:06:05 PM
I saw Pirate Radio yesterday. It was surprisingly enjoyable. The cast was excellent and Bill Nighy heads an excellent group of actors that, for me, have not been embraced by the public as well as they could be. I don't want to give anything away, but if you want to see an entertaining film with an excellent soundtrack I would definitely give this one a look.

JvB
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 May, 2012, 08:17:30 PM


QuoteDarkest Hour. Shite.

Come now, Prof. That review should surely read:

Darkest Hour. More like the Shitest Hour

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2012, 08:53:41 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 28 May, 2012, 06:09:36 PM
You seem to have somehow missed that I was talking about another film entirely...

Oh yeah - it was the bold title on a new line that threw me! ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2012, 10:59:19 PM
Just watched Skeleton Key, a twisty hoodoo horror film from 2005 starring Kate Hudson and John Hurt who doesn't say anything.
I actually really enjoyed this much more than I was expecting to - I'm not a fan of Kate Hudson usually and this film completely passed me by when it was released. It's hard to describe the story without spoiling it but it's really creepy and great fun with a proper nasty baddie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 29 May, 2012, 12:28:43 AM
IRON SKY - it pass hour and half good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 May, 2012, 12:34:15 AM
The Darkest Hour - more like THE SHITEST SHIT.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.  Do not engage your brain at any point and you might enjoy this, but dare to form any kind of coherent thought before the credits roll and no good will come of it.  You'll be shouting "NO NO NO - THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE AT ALL" at the screen roughly once every three minutes, assuming you make it past the one minute mark where the deeply unlikable main character is introduced to the strains of a soft rawk song by teenagers who like to pretend they're mad at daddy but secretly love him very much because he bought them a record company.  Seriously, the main character is a jerk and only makes it worse every time he opens his gob, essentially introduced to the audience while he's treating the Rock like dirt for keeping the kid from going to prison - it's a really bad bit of character setup that is never resolved, so the kid is basically an entitled prick from the off.  The 3d is really obnoxious, and the high point is probably when it is applied to the female lead's arse as it wriggles out of a cave - she needs to eat a pie (the Rock is in this so I will clarify that by "eat a pie" I do not mean she should nosh fanny).
"Stupid"is a deeply inadequate word in this instance, but it is all I have to offer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 29 May, 2012, 12:38:32 AM
In America they use the word fanny to refer to rear ends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 29 May, 2012, 12:01:08 PM
I decided to try that "Girl with de Dragon Tattoo".  I enjoyed it after avoiding it because of a suspicious amount of sudden love from nowhere for these films. She, the girl, is courageous and cool. The partnership is loving but unforgiving. Retribution is served well and the stories come together in sweet orchestration. In result, the follow ups will be attended.

One question: Any one know which Kurt  Vonnegut book he was burning at the house of investigations?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 29 May, 2012, 08:12:54 PM
MIB 3: There is no real need for this movie to exist but it's surprisingly fun thanks to a solid supporting cast. Nice to see Big J getting to ham it up in a big proper Hollywood movie and Bill Hader is always fun to have around. Shame that I wanted to punch Larry Gopnik in his character's stupid fucking face though.

Moonrise Kingdom: This is a Wes Anderson Movie. It looks lovely, and Bill M and Franny McD are their typical awesome selves, but this basically crossed the line into unintentional-self-parody a hundred times over. After a whole bunch of stupid crap involving stupid fucking children the whole thing descends into a frankly insulting action movie parody that brought me *this* close to walking out. Wes isn't danger of falling behind W in the Anderson race but he sure isn't catching up to PT any time soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 May, 2012, 12:57:28 PM
FINAL FANTASY: SPIRITS WITHIN
I slept through this at the cinema years ago but this time round, I rather enjoyed it.  Thematically and in the way the action sequences are set, it really does feel like a japanese video game turned into a film

But I love the resolution and there is some cracking design work and animation throughout.  I don't know if it was mo-capped or not but I think I actually preferred it to later stuff like BEOWULF as FF lacks the "dead-eye" feel and FF characters also seem to move a little faster.   

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
My annual rewatch. Still love it - outstanding cast, well sketched characters (exception being the very written bible quoting sniper), fantastic action and top WWII hardware on display. 
I increasingly love the three bits just before the final fight; Upham talking about Edith Piaf , Reiben talking about the dress shop and Ryan talking to Miller about his brothers. "No, that memory is just for me."
I know nobody likes the bookend scenes but really, aren't they the point? 

The cheaty bits still stand out:
Various bits of historical or tactical innaccuracy; but I'll let them off as it's clearly an AMERICAN film. And who wants military accuracy over drama (apart from Commando Forces).
How is Ryan recalling what went on in Hanks platoon at D-DAY?
Why, after brilliantly emphasising the sheer random luck and instant death of any battle do each of the platoon get a little piece to do [spoiler]before dying [/spoiler] heroically in the final engagement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 31 May, 2012, 12:41:01 PM
Quote from: George Dread on 29 May, 2012, 12:01:08 PM
I decided to try that "Girl with de Dragon Tattoo". 

...I have no idea what you just said. Did I watch a different film - was yours the original one, by any chance? Anyway, my point is - eh? It may be I've been gardening too long and am slightly messed up, but after re-reading a few times, still can't figure your words out.

The Killer Inside Me - Sadomasochism and misogyny. Uncomfortable watching. Jessica Alba gets her ass belted if you're into that sort of thing. Cute ass, but like I said, uncomfortable all the way through. Kate Hudson gets punched, kicked and humiliated. There's a fire. I have to tell you, I didn't actually get much of the story because I was too busy waiting for the train wreck to get worse and worse. And it did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 31 May, 2012, 10:27:33 PM
I decided to try the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo out as in watched it because I watched the first 15 minutes and thought I'd try it.
It was the American remake, but the book Daniel Craig tears up in desperation to keep warm in the house given to him for research by his client, played by Chris Plummer, is a Kurt Vonnegut book. I, being a fan of Kurt, wished to know which of his books was making a cameo. As it's title is in another language. I thought this would be an interesting question to ask here.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 May, 2012, 11:50:47 PM
Love film really need to start listing the actors in the film descriptions. I've just accidentally watched a Danny Dyer double bill.

STRAIGHTHEADS - Gillian Anderson and her outstanding nipples and Danny Dyer in a low key drama/revenge thriller. Too salacious and lurid and literal to make any decent points.

AGE OF HEROES - Ian Fleming gets Sean Bean to create a commando squad with cockerney geeza Dyer on a budget of approximately 36p. Very Boys Own.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 31 May, 2012, 11:52:50 PM
Danny Dyer is your're favourite actor and you want to marry him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2012, 08:56:59 AM
That would actually be The Rock or Tom Cruise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 June, 2012, 12:20:36 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 31 May, 2012, 11:52:50 PM
Danny Dyer is your're favourite actor and you want to marry him.

If you said this to my girlfriend you would actually be correct!

To be honest I quite like Danny Dyer. he's been in some shit films but I think he seems like a nice bloke. The Business is really good and his documentary on UFOs is one of my favourite pieces of TV ever - it's hilarious (especially when he goes to see Patrick Moore at his house).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1RaIWZq5Q8
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 01 June, 2012, 11:29:40 PM
THE GREY (2011)

Liam Neeson is a wolf-killer working a drilling station up in the frozen north, whose plane crashes in the middle of nowhere and has to lead a bunch of tough types to safety, while being hunted by a pack of man-eating wolves.

Sold as a balls-out gory action movie, it's massively not. What we have instead is terrifyingly bleak exploration of loss. It's nowhere near the thriller you hope for, but when it remembers that's why you're watching it does step up pretty well. There's nothing too silly and much to like. How much you like will be down to how tolerant you are of Neeson's burly honest irish shtick.

Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger did the animatronics, so you can at least watch some quality wolf-work, however you feel about qui-gon collins.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 02 June, 2012, 05:18:30 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 01 June, 2012, 11:29:40 PM
THE GREY

SBT

I thought you were going to watch Osombie. 

Or Dexter.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 June, 2012, 08:01:20 PM
We went with liam neeson instead, mr albion. The reanimated bin laden and his evil zombie hordes may happen tonight, if the kids would ever go to bed!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 June, 2012, 10:33:47 PM
OSOMBIE (2012)

I cant believe this forum has an entire thread dedicated to a yawnarama like 'prometheus' (havent seen, dont intend to) and yet nothing is said about this. In case you were unaware, this is a zombie movie in which Osama Bin Laden injected himself with zombie formula before being shot, so comes back to life, staggers out of the sea, and is immediaty seized by the taliban and used as a figurehead in their ongoing war.

Let's not have a discussion about whether this is in poor taste- let's firstly note the most remarkable things about 'osombie': that's it's not a comedy and that it is very good indeed. In fact, along with 'the dead', i'd say it's one of my favourite zombie flicks of the last mumblety years.

The cast is likeable, the humour coming from their characters and not forced upon them as you would expect from a movie that sounds, on the face of it, so fucking stupid. The story, if you're familiar with world events post-2001 sort of writes itself, the film itself is sensitively (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 02 June, 2012, 10:35:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 02 June, 2012, 10:33:47 PM
I cant believe this forum has an entire thread dedicated to a yawnarama like 'prometheus' (havent seen, dont intend to)


It's shit, you'll love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 June, 2012, 10:43:01 PM
(cont) and at times beautifully shot with some fantastic compositions unexpectedly thrown into the mix, and the effects (while mainly of cgi bloodletting variety) are copious and splattery. Makeup fiends will enjoy the zombie prosthetics, which are gorgeous for what they are- with bin laden himself being a suitably memorable creation.

Seeing as it's about soldiers, parallels to 'dog soldiers' come naturally to mind, and it held up pretty well, i reckon. Grud knows what commando forces will make of the military bits, but i reckon it'll give him plenty to get his teeth into. There's one sequence in a tunnel, featuring the katana-wielding skills of the groups lady-soldier that is bound to get up big jb's arse, and during which i could hear his teeth grinding- but which for me was a sensual highlight of a movie that is far more of a banquet of textures and layers and lovely bits than you'd assume. Zombie movie fans will love it. Everyone else's opinions dont matter anyway.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 June, 2012, 10:55:38 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 02 June, 2012, 10:35:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 02 June, 2012, 10:33:47 PM
I cant believe this forum has an entire thread dedicated to a yawnarama like 'prometheus' (havent seen, dont intend to)
It's shit, you'll love it.

Ha! You split SBT's post like the Black-fucking-Dahlia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 02 June, 2012, 11:12:05 PM
So "your're" isn't funny but the brutal murder of women is? I see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 02 June, 2012, 11:15:48 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 02 June, 2012, 10:55:38 PM

Ha! You split SBT's post like the Black-fucking-Dahlia.


I cut Elizabeth short.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 June, 2012, 11:24:35 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 02 June, 2012, 11:12:05 PM
So "your're" isn't funny but the brutal murder of women is? I see.

That Josh Hartnett film was a documentary?

Your're 'your're' is plenty funny, but so was my post. I'd always assumed that everything you posted was conceived in a spirit of mischief, written with detached irony and laced with pitch black sardonic humour.

The idea that Your're more like Cyberleader than I'd previously imagined will make reading your're future posts even funnier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 June, 2012, 11:25:52 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 02 June, 2012, 11:15:48 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 02 June, 2012, 10:55:38 PM
Ha! You split SBT's post like the Black-fucking-Dahlia.
I cut Elizabeth short.

This, this is funniness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 June, 2012, 01:37:25 AM
The Grey - despite not having werewolves in it, probably the best werewolf movie I've seen in donkeys, and certainly a lot better than the obnoxiously cloying Dog Soldiers, a film I watched instead of Werewolves Versus Strippers.  Lesson learned.
The Grey is dead good, all the same, the oppressively desolate setting often breathtaking all on its own.  Some story beats you maybe see coming too soon, but that ain't no biggie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 03 June, 2012, 01:48:22 AM
I'll try and watch that OSOMBIE now thanks to SBT saying I'll love the military stuff. Let's hope it's available somewhere!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 June, 2012, 02:14:54 AM
just watched a weird drunken channel hopping hybrid of FAME, CARLITO's WAY and ALIEN, which will be forever conflated in my mind into one glorious dance-slash-shoot-fest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 03 June, 2012, 03:01:47 PM
Oz thriller, COFFIN ROCK (from the same director as WOLF CREEK). Cracking little yarn with some wonderful performances and a tight script. Very highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dracula1 on 03 June, 2012, 10:31:30 PM
Just had a skeg at John Cater .... of Mars! with the family. What a wonderful film with an engaging script and lots of fab effects. Highly recommended if you and yours have'nt seen it yet. :o :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 June, 2012, 12:13:37 AM
District 9 - didn't really appeal to me when it was out, but it was excellent
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 04 June, 2012, 12:32:45 AM
Just watched IRON SKY with those Nazis on the moon. Quite a good laugh in places with a couple of Allo Allo scenes thrown in for good measure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 June, 2012, 12:44:20 AM
I tried giving Scott Pilgrim a re-watch earlier, but had to turn it off twenty minutes in - I just find it really, really cringeworthy.

So I watched Y Tu Mama Tambien instead. Superb film, loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: W. R. Logan on 04 June, 2012, 12:44:20 AM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 04 June, 2012, 12:32:45 AM
Just watched IRON SKY with those Nazis on the moon. Quite a good laugh in places with a couple of Allo Allo scenes thrown in for good measure.

I thought it was quite fun, can't beat Nazi's in Space
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 June, 2012, 02:52:15 AM
Iron Sky - as others have stated, well worth a gander for the spectacle and black humor - the final shot is especially bleak - even if the actual story is a total mess, often nonsensical (the Earth warships from nowhere), and the satirical element fails spectacularly.

Shame - in which we see a man reach the absolute lowest a human can go by having gay sex.  I have no idea why this is a problem for a man we are told loves his sex - gay folk say they quite like like gay sex - so I can only assume it's the lowest a person can go because HOMOSEXUALS ARE ICKY.  A dreadful film which is little more than a catalog of first world problems I find it impossible to care about.

Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance - this would be great if Ghost Rider was in it, but it's a boring Eurodrama with some CGI skeleton stuff here and there and yet more distance from the notion that Nicholas Cage can actually act.  I am pretty sure he can, but he stars in such awful films that gets hard to remember.  The CGI skeleton stuff at the end is pretty good fun, just not worth waiting 80 minutes for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: KingMonkeysUnkle on 04 June, 2012, 07:49:53 AM
Quote from: radiator on 04 June, 2012, 12:44:20 AM
I tried giving Scott Pilgrim a re-watch earlier, but had to turn it off twenty minutes in - I just find it really, really cringeworthy.

So I watched Y Tu Mama Tambien instead. Superb film, loved it.
I did the same with Pilgrim. I have to say I just didn't get it. Shame.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 04 June, 2012, 11:10:44 AM
QuoteShame - in which we see a man reach the absolute lowest a human can go by having gay sex.  I have no idea why this is a problem for a man we are told loves his sex - gay folk say they quite like like gay sex - so I can only assume it's the lowest a person can go because HOMOSEXUALS ARE ICKY.  A dreadful film which is little more than a catalog of first world problems I find it impossible to care about.

Also it uses doggy style as shorthand for "loveless".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 June, 2012, 11:38:23 AM
There's nothing short about Shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 June, 2012, 10:54:51 AM
I watched two films last night, 'The Ides of March' and 'The Terminator'.

The first was an interesting one-off, showing the backstabbing, paper-thin idealism and general hypocrisy of a presidential campaign. I enjoyed it, but it'll probably be the one and only time I watch it.

The second was, of course, a classic I have seen many a time, and never fail to enjoy.  If you ask me, it's the only good Terminator film in the entire series. Even the shonky stop frame animation still carries over well, in this CGI age, and the whole 'is it dead or not?' thing going on at the end really added to the whole premise of 'it will not stop'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 June, 2012, 05:59:58 PM
Two films today: The Road and Prometheus.

The Road was very, very good but quite grim. I thought the little boy was excellent - usually American kids in films get on my tits. Does anyone know the relevance of the stumpy thumbs?

Prometheus was a bit frustrating - it seemed to dangle carrots of interest and excitement in front of the viewer and then steer itself in a totally different direction throughout! More thoughts on the dedicated thread...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 June, 2012, 06:16:04 PM
IN THE NAME OF THE KING (Director's Cut).  - Aah, so that's why Uwe Boll gets the piss ripped out of him so much.  Bland, bland, bland with some terrible stuff added just to spice it up a bit.

Sorry, that should read:

More like "IN THE SHIT OF THE KING".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 09 June, 2012, 03:53:46 PM
On a bit of a Fulci bender at the moment: watched CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE BEYOND (for the first time!) back-to-back and loved them! To call these zombie movies is missing the point, I feel: they're much more like ghost stories to me, and, from what I read, it was this that Fulci set out to create. Whatever your take, these are fun and wonderfully engaging movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 June, 2012, 05:54:32 PM
They are indeed, mr haa. Two of the finest zombie/ ghostie films ever made. Especially The Beyond, which is a film i use to separate the spods from the decent folk.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 09 June, 2012, 11:44:07 PM
The Grey

Really good, Liam's always good, and as someone mentioned, some of the wolves are a bit 'American Werewolf..' which can never be a bad thing

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 June, 2012, 11:12:17 AM
Repo Men, I think it might have been rubbish but I still enjoyed it. That happens occasionally for some reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 June, 2012, 11:34:32 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 June, 2012, 05:59:58 PM
The Road was very, very good but quite grim. I thought the little boy was excellent - usually American kids in films get on my tits. Does anyone know the relevance of the stumpy thumbs?

Brilliant film - even though it rips off The Last American,  ;)

http://thepoplartree.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/a-few-thoughts-on-missing-thumbs-in-cormac-mccarthy%E2%80%99s-the-road/
Dont think a explanation was ever given, though there are hints. More a case of drawing your own conclusions. Bit like, what exactly was the nature of the disaster that had befallen the world?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 June, 2012, 11:38:53 AM
To wash away the taste of Prometheus, I went to see a the restored version of Hammer's Dracula last night. It was awesome to see on the big screen.
Same cinema is showing The Plague of The Zombies in a couple of nights time - I may go to that, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 10 June, 2012, 11:48:46 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 09 June, 2012, 05:54:32 PM
They are indeed, mr haa. Two of the finest zombie/ ghostie films ever made. Especially The Beyond, which is a film i use to separate the spods from the decent folk.

SBT

Yeah, rewatched THE BEYOND last night (2nd time in the one week!) with Ms Haa. It's a wonderful flick. That scene on the bridge with Sarah Keller's character and Dickie the dog coming into view is breathtaking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 14 June, 2012, 06:21:37 AM
Well, last week, I found The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for less than a fiver in Tesco and decided I'd give it a whirl. A week later, I'm still thinking about the movie.

I absolutely loved it! Gritty, well staged, superbly acted... I was thoroughly absorbed. So much so that I just ordered the complete trilogy in their extended TV format (basically six 90-minute TV movies that were re-cut into the theatrical movies we all know and are sick of hearing about).

Come to think of it, I wonder if you can still get the original 'Insomnia' on DVD..?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 14 June, 2012, 12:51:13 PM
Quote from: El Chivo on 09 June, 2012, 11:44:07 PM
The Grey

Really good, Liam's always good, and as someone mentioned, some of the wolves are a bit 'American Werewolf..' which can never be a bad thing

That's the one I last watched too. Really, really enjoyed it but the ending was kind of frustrating in that I desperately wanted to see what happened next. I appreciate why they ended it there, but still - the next bit would've been AWESOME.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 June, 2012, 01:17:13 PM
Moonrise Kingdom.

I liked it overall - certainly a big improvement on Wes Anderson's previous live-action film The Darjeeling Ltd, but it kind of teetered of self pardoy for the entire running time.

It was a sweet story and I liked the two leads, though the boy looked much younger than the girl to me and it took a fair bit of a stretch to believe she'd be attracted to him. Good to see Bruce Willis in something decent for a change - it's easy to forget how good he is playing subtle and subdued. I loved the atmosphere and location too.

Would watch again, but still can't say I've truly loved an Anderson film since The Royal Tenenbaums.

A couple of walk-outs in the cinema, as seems to be the usual with Anderson.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 June, 2012, 02:47:15 PM
Quote from: GordyM on 14 June, 2012, 12:51:13 PM
Quote from: El Chivo on 09 June, 2012, 11:44:07 PM
The Grey

Really good, Liam's always good, and as someone mentioned, some of the wolves are a bit 'American Werewolf..' which can never be a bad thing

That's the one I last watched too. Really, really enjoyed it but the ending was kind of frustrating in that I desperately wanted to see what happened next. I appreciate why they ended it there, but still - the next bit would've been AWESOME.

You didn't watch the post-credits scene, then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 June, 2012, 06:41:40 PM
The Grey for me also. Really really loved it. A superb examination of grief, love and loss of hope. As well as having some great action and all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 June, 2012, 09:07:14 AM
Red State I had to watch this in two sittings as my girlfriend made me turn it off the first time as it was too distressing.
I thought this was a great film and it challenged my expectations quite a bit. Even the scene where they [spoiler]first meet the woman who they think is going to give them sex is quite surprising. If this had been a more mainstream film she'd have been a more traditional 'milf'. In this she was much older and less glamourous than I would have expected - and less than the boys expected but they were going to go for it anyway.[/spoiler]
Great ending too. [spoiler]I always assume that these cult leader types don't actually believe in what they're preaching - it's just a way to exert power over others. This guy was a true believer though and the actor played it brilliantly.[/spoiler]

Double Jeopardy was pretty rubbish really. Like a sort of chick flick version of The Count Of Monte Cristo.
The whole [spoiler]prison section was totally undeveloped. She did all this training and learned from the cons in prison (as is the formula for these sorts of films) but when she got out she was still pretty crap at being on the run. [/spoiler]
It's one of these films where the baddie is much better than the hero. I thought he was quite cool even though he was a total shit! [spoiler]How did they not suspect that he might have a gun in his office at the end though? By rights he should have shot them both and got away with it![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 16 June, 2012, 09:26:51 AM
Straw Dogs (1971). Very 70s feel to this caper: kinda reminded me of The Wickerman meets Clockwork Orange. I enjoyed it very much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 16 June, 2012, 05:38:54 PM
Cosmopolis - Well, this was frustrating. Robert Pattinson is really good here, and I'll be interested to see what he does next, but the film as a whole wallows in inertia unbecoming of its themes. I haven't read the book, but you get the sense that Cronenburg is trying to put on as literal an adaptation as possible, what with the endless static close-ups. I enjoy DeLillo speak as much as anyone else, but it isn't generally something that translates well to being spoken out loud. There were a bunch of walkouts, and I very nearly succumbed during the endless last scene, which only grew more clumsy as it built to the inevitable bullshit Sopranos tribute.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 June, 2012, 11:08:34 PM
Stretching the topic a wee bit- we're currently going through a bit of a classic star trek phase, having introduced the kids to it a while back. Fifteen random episodes in, and loving it all over again.

Also watching tales from the crypt series six- with tonight's being a crappy alaskan vampire thing that apparently predates 30 days of night by about forty years (...) and a brilliant piece of early digital technology-porn where we had an entire episode featuring humphrey bogart. As always with tftc, however good the stories are, the glue that holds it together is kevin yaegher's work with the crypt keeper- on these particular episodes of both an unbelievably high technical quality and charmingly witty.

We also tried selected episodes from the 90s live action swamp thing tv show- but it's literally unwatchable. 'cult classic' my arse, it's just shit.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 16 June, 2012, 11:21:05 PM
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Really good, quite arty psychological thriller, puts me in mind of [spoiler]Gus Van Sant's Elephant[/spoiler] (bit of a spoiler that, now that i think about it)

Great performances from two really creepy kids & that woman with the weird face

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 June, 2012, 11:23:09 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 16 June, 2012, 09:26:51 AM
Straw Dogs (1971). Very 70s feel to this caper: kinda reminded me of The Wickerman meets Clockwork Orange. I enjoyed it very much.

I found that scene very uncomfortable. I appreciate it was all part of how the situation was going to play out, and I certainly appreciate it's a good film, but I probably couldn't watch it a second time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kirbs on 16 June, 2012, 11:27:16 PM
Final got around to watching Let The Right One In. Not as good as I thought it was going to be after all the good reports I'd heard. Enjoyable but not a all time classic in my opinion anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 June, 2012, 02:29:45 PM
The man who would be King (1975). Glorious fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 June, 2012, 03:44:32 PM
"Detriments! Detriments, is it? It was detriments like us what built this bloody empire, and the Raj! 'Ats on!"

I love that film :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 June, 2012, 06:32:47 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 17 June, 2012, 02:29:45 PM
The man who would be King (1975). Glorious fun.

I absolutely LOVE that film! -
"Peachy - look at this ruby"
"Nah Danny boy - THIS is a ruby!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 June, 2012, 07:58:32 PM
Days Of Darkness - cheap as heck zombie flick which has bits of  the odd sci-fi classic like Day of the Triffids and Night of the Comet, but also a smattering of "women ruin everything" (thanks for rebooting that trope, BSG remake!).  Some bad acting and scripting are offset by grossout moments like a fetus cut out of a zombie's pus-filled scrotum and an abortion sequence (that makes the one in Prometheus look like the height of common sense) which basically entails a womb jumping out of a woman's vagina and trying to throttle the hero - all in all if you just want an illogical splatter movie about a bunch of unlikable pricks being killed off one by one, this might be for you.
The final scene, though, is completely hilarious in a way I don't think was intentional, [spoiler]as the two survivors of the massacre* - having discovered that the aliens are repelled by alcohol** - grab shotguns and run around getting drunk as fuck and shooting things at random, laughing their balls off while doing so.  Clearly it's supposed to be a cathartic moment where we discover that the aliens can be repelled, but it just looks like the two characters are stereotypical rednecks.


* although one character, the butch latino lass, just disappears between scenes and is never seen again, so might have survived for all I know.
** SO WHY INVADE A PLANET THAT IS FULL OF IRISH PEOPLE?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 June, 2012, 09:24:02 PM
Cowboys And Aliens - which I really liked.

Well, I say 'really liked', but if I'm honest, the pacing went a little bit wonky about halfway through, and things seemed to jump ahead of themselves. Hollywood needs to knock that crap on the head. Now.

Other than that, good fun. Even Damon Lindelhof's name in the credits couldn't hurt it too badly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 18 June, 2012, 09:54:01 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 16 June, 2012, 05:38:54 PM
Cosmopolis - Well, this was frustrating. Robert Pattinson is really good here, and I'll be interested to see what he does next, but the film as a whole wallows in inertia unbecoming of its themes. I haven't read the book, but you get the sense that Cronenburg is trying to put on as literal an adaptation as possible, what with the endless static close-ups. I enjoy DeLillo speak as much as anyone else, but it isn't generally something that translates well to being spoken out loud. There were a bunch of walkouts, and I very nearly succumbed during the endless last scene, which only grew more clumsy as it built to the inevitable bullshit Sopranos tribute.

I can't help feeling that lots of the very wordy chunks of dialogue were included simply because if trhey weren't, the film would be about half an hour long.

It's really more of a "novella"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2012, 05:06:44 PM
Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins and Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Lake Monster - two kid-oriented spin-offs of the mostly tiresome SD franchise made for a US kids' digital channel.  They're both very cheap to the point Scooby doesn't interact with people or objects much to keep the budget lower (which is really saying something considering how cheap CGI is these days, especially of the quality seen here), and the acting is... well, let's be charitable and say "variable", but for the life of me I can't bring myself to say these are worse than the SyFy budget dvd horror releases I watch every now and again, because their structure is basically the same as a horror b-movie, only the use of slapstick actually makes pointless scenes that go nowhere seem to have a viable purpose in the Doo films, whereas in stuff like Swamp Shark or whatever they just feel like clear evidence of shitty film-making.
Occasionally rubbish Scooby aside, the CGI creatures in Lake Monster are pretty good, with a decent mid-film rampage through a crowded party and some freaky last-scene cave runarounds.  The oh-so-tiresome-but-in-2012-obligatory meta-awareness is kept largely to a minimum apart from Lake Monster's fun music video after the end credits where the cast swap roles, but I would actually rate Lake Monster as a better meta-horror than Scream 4 as it genuinely manages to wrong-foot expectations with the reveal of the (human) villain and its use of guest stars who contribute nothing to the plot beyond making you assume "they must be onscreen for some reason", but nope - Uhura is just there to keep you guessing.
Lord knows they are not great films by any stretch, but they are entertaining and daft, and if you can get past the acting, nowhere near as hatefully smug as the big-screen live-action outings from years back.  Surprisingly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 June, 2012, 11:35:09 PM
The Raid. Honestly, it probably really is the best action movie I have ever seen. Relentless in pace, astounding in execution.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 01 July, 2012, 12:51:27 AM
Rubber - Fantastic. Complete madness, but basically like any 80s horror film, completely nonsensical and pointless, but somehow brilliant, unlike any 80s horror film. Loved it.

The Rum Diary - No doubt Jonny Depp will get slagged for it for being himself but loved this too, very Hunter Thompson (obviously).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 July, 2012, 07:20:36 PM
The People under the Stairs.

I've seen it  few times (although a most of those weren't all the way through) but it's always enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 01 July, 2012, 08:21:10 PM
Love People under the stairs. One of my fave films.

Been trying to catch up with classic horror movies I've never seen but should have. Saw Phantasm this week which was cool but week before watched Return of the Living Dead which was down right brilliant. So inventive and so funny. Awesome movie.

Will try Rubber this week if it's as good as Mr Mudcrab says it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 July, 2012, 11:50:43 PM
Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog, the tale of a rookie police detective tracking down the handgun stolen from him by a pickpocket.  Set as it is in the Japan that's just had its arse handed to it in WW2 and centering on the lower class areas and populace displaced directly by the war, the scene is set admirably with actual stock footage shot for the film that make you really feel like this place is fucked, but it's sobering to see the rebuilding from the ashes of an empire up close like this compared to the one-dimensional comic-book society of wannabe samurai or yakuza Japan is still being painted as today in western noir fiction, and the characters are wonderfully flawed and rounded.
You could probably write an essay on the larger meaning of the film being about the Japan(ese) emerging focused from the war with new direction versus the Japan(ese) who see only the devastation, rationing and massive population displacement, but taken as it is, it's still a good noir detective story - albeit one without an identikit antihero protagonist.
Damn good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 02 July, 2012, 12:08:49 AM
KILLER JOE: Not to be confused with Killer of Joe, the movie of the book they write about my life. An interesting exercise in the MPDG tradition, casting her as siren, but alas she is still annoying as fuck. Mostly good times are here to be had, with a bunch of creeps and idiots digging their own graves. Cynical types may claim that Matthew McConaghey is angling for some actorly credibility but he acquits himself well enough and I wish him well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 July, 2012, 10:27:24 AM
Last night we watched Spider-man (2002). In all honesty it really hasn't aged terribly well and I was surprised by how naff a lot of it is. I've never been a huge fan of the series, and rewatching it now I'm reminded why.

Occasionally weak and uber-contrived storytelling, obnoxious product placement, soap-opera level bad acting (the aunt and uncle especially, but Maguire himself isn't great tbh), truly terrible rubber-man cgi and some downright bizarre editorial choices along the way. My girlfriend never saw it first time round and thought it was pretty crap, and even James Franco couldn't hold her attention in this.

It's been well-documented, but the design of the Green Goblin is truly awful, and a huge waste of what could have been a great villain. Dafoe is one of the best things in the film, but loses all of his menace the moment he appears in that shit costume. I saw the original make-up tests and that could have been incredible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEZBhL5lpqg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEZBhL5lpqg)

Hope Spider-man 2 holds up better!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 02 July, 2012, 05:16:20 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 July, 2012, 07:20:36 PM
The People under the Stairs.

I've seen it  few times (although a most of those weren't all the way through) but it's always enjoyable.

I watched it too.

I do sometimes wonder if my affection for it is largely nostalgia-driven because it is one of the many classic films me and my brothers rented out (several times) from our local video shop for the weekly Friday night gore-fest when we were all back at home.

Then I watch it again, and nope, it's still fucking great fun and is on our all-time favourite list of films we all watch over and over again. cf Tremors, The Hidden, The Thing, Aliens, Predator, They Live, In The Mouth Of Madness, Excorcist III
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2012, 06:32:53 PM
Finally got around to watching Donnie Darko. I taped this off the telly years ago, but once I know I can watch something at any time, I never get around to it. This weekend I was chucking out some old videos and realised that I still hadn't seen it.

Wish I'd seen it long ago now,as it was brilliant. I understand there's a 'directors cut' version - anyone know if it's worth finding, or if it's significantly different?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 July, 2012, 06:48:11 PM
Short answer - Yes.
Apart from the extra footage, the DC boasts a better picture quality, and the audio has been re-done, as have some of the effects.
The DC does tend to spell things out a bit more, and lose some of the mystery, but both versions are excellant. Wasnt there a ultimate DVD type of package that included both cuts, plus all the extras released a few years ago? Might be worth tracking that down, if you can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Taryn Tailz on 02 July, 2012, 10:48:46 PM
Just watched "The 13th Warrior" tonight after getting a copy off Amazon for a penny. It's not a perfect film by any means, but I think its actually pretty good and deserves a proper rerelease on DVD (as the dvd was released way back in 1999 with no special features at all).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 03 July, 2012, 03:55:14 AM
Quote from: Tim Tailz on 02 July, 2012, 10:48:46 PM
Just watched "The 13th Warrior" tonight after getting a copy off Amazon for a penny. It's not a perfect film by any means, but I think its actually pretty good and deserves a proper rerelease on DVD (as the dvd was released way back in 1999 with no special features at all).

The 13th Warrior could have been a little classic, it had everything going for it; John McTiernan directing, a fantastic premise, a charismatic leading man, and lots of potential for epic and bloody battles scenes to rival anything before it, alas, it wasn't meant to be.  McTiernan was hired as a gun-for-hire by producer Michael Crichton (who also wrote the source novel Eaters of the Dead, a much better title that should have remained the title of the film adaptation), who went on to butcher McTiernan's original 127-minute cut by filming extensive reshoots, hacking it to pieces beyond any coherence or cohesion, changing the title (because his neighbor hated the aforementioned original title, no kidding!), and basically turning it into a $160m total mess... no wonder it was dumped by the studio in the graveyard release time of August 1999 and subsequently flopped!

Had they gotten someone like Tom Stoppard or Walon Green (whose Crusades script remains one of the finest unfilmed epics to date) to write the script from scratch, and to not be precious about Crichton's source material (changing and altering where deemed necessary), with McTiernan insisting on having final cut approval (with a hard R-rating in mind during principal photography), that film could've been a fine and entertaining historical action pic that dealt with issues like superstition, prejudice, cultural perceptions, etc., all mixed with big and bloody battle scenes and striking cinematography.  There's been a petition campaign on the 'web for a good while to try and get Disney to release McTiernan's original 127-minute cut (with the original Graeme Revell score) on DVD and Blu-Ray (it exists somewhere in the vaults 'cause it was shown to test audiences in mid-1998), but hasn't happened yet, a pity, a full 'special edition' re-release with both cuts of the film, plus a McTiernan audio commentary, a documentary on the troubled history of the project, and the original (and rare) Eaters of the Dead teaser trailer would be a must-buy in my opinion...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 03 July, 2012, 09:39:42 AM
The Woman in Black, creepy film with Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame. Surprisingly scary-I'd seen the stage play but this felt even creepier. Alas too much "shock 'em with a stab of music" bits but some genuine chills -I'll never look at a rocking chair with anything but foreboding now. A real horror film ending too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Taryn Tailz on 03 July, 2012, 02:45:17 PM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 03 July, 2012, 03:55:14 AM
Quote from: Tim Tailz on 02 July, 2012, 10:48:46 PM
Just watched "The 13th Warrior" tonight after getting a copy off Amazon for a penny. It's not a perfect film by any means, but I think its actually pretty good and deserves a proper rerelease on DVD (as the dvd was released way back in 1999 with no special features at all).

The 13th Warrior could have been a little classic, it had everything going for it; John McTiernan directing, a fantastic premise, a charismatic leading man, and lots of potential for epic and bloody battles scenes to rival anything before it, alas, it wasn't meant to be.  McTiernan was hired as a gun-for-hire by producer Michael Crichton (who also wrote the source novel Eaters of the Dead, a much better title that should have remained the title of the film adaptation), who went on to butcher McTiernan's original 127-minute cut by filming extensive reshoots, hacking it to pieces beyond any coherence or cohesion, changing the title (because his neighbor hated the aforementioned original title, no kidding!), and basically turning it into a $160m total mess... no wonder it was dumped by the studio in the graveyard release time of August 1999 and subsequently flopped!

Had they gotten someone like Tom Stoppard or Walon Green (whose Crusades script remains one of the finest unfilmed epics to date) to write the script from scratch, and to not be precious about Crichton's source material (changing and altering where deemed necessary), with McTiernan insisting on having final cut approval (with a hard R-rating in mind during principal photography), that film could've been a fine and entertaining historical action pic that dealt with issues like superstition, prejudice, cultural perceptions, etc., all mixed with big and bloody battle scenes and striking cinematography.  There's been a petition campaign on the 'web for a good while to try and get Disney to release McTiernan's original 127-minute cut (with the original Graeme Revell score) on DVD and Blu-Ray (it exists somewhere in the vaults 'cause it was shown to test audiences in mid-1998), but hasn't happened yet, a pity, a full 'special edition' re-release with both cuts of the film, plus a McTiernan audio commentary, a documentary on the troubled history of the project, and the original (and rare) Eaters of the Dead teaser trailer would be a must-buy in my opinion...

I had heard that there was a lot of footage that had been cut from the film. It was only a few hours after watching it last night that I realised the character of the Prince just seems to disappear about half way through the film. We see his friend get killed in the Viking Duel scene, and then the Prince storms off never to be seen again. I can only presume any further scenes featuring him were cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 04 July, 2012, 02:23:11 AM
Quote from: Tim Tailz on 03 July, 2012, 02:45:17 PM
I had heard that there was a lot of footage that had been cut from the film. It was only a few hours after watching it last night that I realised the character of the Prince just seems to disappear about half way through the film. We see his friend get killed in the Viking Duel scene, and then the Prince storms off never to be seen again. I can only presume any further scenes featuring him were cut.

It was Crichton's fault, the whole fiasco, a good reason why the author of the source novel should NEVER also be the producer, they just can't stand any re-interpretation of their 'baby', and will inevitably insist on reshoots to 'correct' their vision, which basically means more cost, an inconsistent final cut (being a film of two directors and two visions ultimately), and a big flop at the cinema.  Now Crichton's popped his clogs - so to speak - it would be an ideal time to release McTiernan's original 127-minute cut, don't know if it'll ever happen though (ditto Jeremiah Chechik's original 115-minute cut of The Avengers  that is actually rather good, supposedly)...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 06:49:26 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2012, 06:32:53 PM
Donnie Darko...I understand there's a 'directors cut' version - anyone know if it's worth finding, or if it's significantly different?
Different? I'll say. They essentially start off with a great film and shit all over it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sapperjack91 on 04 July, 2012, 06:57:15 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 06:49:26 PM
They essentially start off with a great film and shit all over it.
like the did with the 'ultimate' directors cut of the warriors
i love that movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 07:02:22 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 01 July, 2012, 11:50:43 PM
Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog
...some stuff about post-war Japan...
Damn good stuff.
You'll love Drunken Angel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:05:01 PM
ALIEN

The other night, while i couldnt sleep due to my knackered shoulder, i thought i'd put this on- hadnt seen it in donkey's years.

Sad to say it bored the absolute tits off me. Not in the least scary, slow, drawn-out, with a boring script, and the usual camp hamming from ian holm and john hurt. Not a single scare that wasnt telegraphed in advance like a clumsy film student trying his hand at horror, 'cos it's easy, roight?'. Absolutely hated it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 07:07:20 PM
Quote from: brendan1 on 02 July, 2012, 05:16:20 PM
Then I watch it again, and nope, it's still fucking great fun and is on our all-time favourite list of films we all watch over and over again. cf Tremors, The Hidden, The Thing, Aliens, Predator, They Live, In The Mouth Of Madness, Excorcist III
Is that the one with Kyle MacLachlan and the dog? That's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 July, 2012, 07:44:25 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 06:49:26 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2012, 06:32:53 PM
Donnie Darko...I understand there's a 'directors cut' version - anyone know if it's worth finding, or if it's significantly different?
Different? I'll say. They essentially start off with a great film and shit all over it.

:lol: maybe not then...

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:05:01 PM
ALIEN

The other night, while i couldnt sleep due to my knackered shoulder, i thought i'd put this on- hadnt seen it in donkey's years.

Sad to say it bored the absolute tits off me. Not in the least scary, slow, drawn-out, with a boring script, and the usual camp hamming from ian holm and john hurt. Not a single scare that wasnt telegraphed in advance like a clumsy film student trying his hand at horror, 'cos it's easy, roight?'. Absolutely hated it.

SBT

Add this to the long list of great movies that you don't like!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:57:41 PM
DDDm it was absolute pish. Until thother night, i had Alien down as the only Ridley Scott film that wasn't a complete load of boring, pretentious wank. At least i can happily draw a line under that particular erroneous anachronism.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 July, 2012, 09:59:26 PM
I'll admit I found the start of Alien quite boring, but then it got pretty good. (I wonder if disliking it is a much to do with having seen it before and know what will happen as anything?)

The Director's Cut version didn't drag nearly as much for me. A poster on another site I frequent criticised that version as they reckoned it messed up the tone, or somesuch. I think it genuinely improved on it. You still have the slow build up, but it doesn't drag nearly as much.

I still think the theatrical cut is a good version though and wonder if my reaction is as much to do with knowing what will happen, as said above. I remember being on edge the first time I saw it, but I think it did drag a bit then too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 July, 2012, 10:12:01 PM
While I'm no Alien worshipper and never found it particularly scary, I will say I find the the locations and the class-system amongst the characters interesting enough - it's probably the best film Ridley Scott could and did make. Still a B-film made with A-list actors and an all right script. I think the slow pace works in a way that it didn't in Blade Runner, probably because it had better characters and paid attention to its plot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 04 July, 2012, 10:20:42 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 04 July, 2012, 07:44:25 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 July, 2012, 06:49:26 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2012, 06:32:53 PM
Donnie Darko...I understand there's a 'directors cut' version - anyone know if it's worth finding, or if it's significantly different?
Different? I'll say. They essentially start off with a great film and shit all over it.

:lol: maybe not then...

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:05:01 PM
ALIEN

The other night, while i couldnt sleep due to my knackered shoulder, i thought i'd put this on- hadnt seen it in donkey's years.

Sad to say it bored the absolute tits off me. Not in the least scary, slow, drawn-out, with a boring script, and the usual camp hamming from ian holm and john hurt. Not a single scare that wasnt telegraphed in advance like a clumsy film student trying his hand at horror, 'cos it's easy, roight?'. Absolutely hated it.

SBT

Add this to the long list of great movies that you don't like!  :D

It's not as long as the list of utterly risible shite films he does purport to like.

But that's his schtick: the lone wacky voice of this website - and I suspect many others - taking that 'hey wait a minute' stance that demands everyone to re-evaluate and have a stunning moment of realisation as he tears down the flimsy walls of accepted opinion about films, books, comics and music.

And that would be great. If he wasn't wrong about absolutely *everything*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 10:29:34 PM
Except that you're an absolute prick.

Anyway- watching The Wicker Man on ITV4 at the moment, and as usual it's just about the best thing there is. I look over at our collection of between four and five hundred DVDs, and think sometimes I could hack it down to just five: this, American Werewolf, The Thing, Day of the Dead and North By Northwest. Just sheer joy.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 July, 2012, 10:40:21 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 10:29:34 PM
I look over at our collection of between four and five hundred DVDs, and think sometimes I could hack it down to just five: this, American Werewolf, The Thing, Day of the Dead and North By Northwest. Just sheer joy.

The first three are crackers (and I only don't include the last as I don't know it.) And I think Day of the Dead is my favourite of the Romero Zombie films. (Most people seem to pick the, also good, Dawn..) Not meaning to brown-nose*, but proof that you're not wrong about *everything*.

*That's a vulgar image. Who thought that one up?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 July, 2012, 10:53:18 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 10:29:34 PM
The Wicker Man...American Werewolf, The Thing, Day of the Dead and North By Northwest. Just sheer joy.


Well I can't argue with that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 July, 2012, 12:36:05 PM
Using the Sky package at my sister's so I don't have to pay to see:

PRIEST: Post apocalyptic schtick with vampires (based on a comic!) starring Paul Bettany and Karl Urban.  It's so packed full of cliche in setup, design, characterisation and script that you could play bingo with it. Woeful.

GREEN LANTERN: This should have worked. Charismatic lead who can handle action and comedy. Plenty of money thrown at it. Some cool alien world designs. Improbably attractive test pilot/love interest/CEO. Use of the ring should be amusing enough to difffernetiate it from usual superhero slugfests. It had it all. Oh, except for a decent story and script.  The animated version GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT was better.

SUCKER PUNCH:  Felt like I needed a shower afterwards. And not a cold one. It was like INCEPTION but written by a fourteen year old mid-wank. Pretty poor stuff.  Was the ending (i.e. [spoiler]the clinic is real, it is the brothel that was a fiction[/spoiler]) meant to be the "shock" it was made out to be?  The film just really wasn't set up to support it. And what's with Scott Glenn on the bus?

Sorry, let me rephrase that:
PRIEST: More like PISH
GREEN LANTERN: More like GREEN SHIT
SUCKER PUNCH:  More like SHITTER PISH
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 12:57:27 PM
Sucker Punch makes perfect sense if you accept it's not a movie and is just stock footage for Youtube MVs  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS5gr3T2gPI and on that front it's pretty boss.  As a story... eh, well, I haven't seen it in a while so I'm probably forgetting the subtleties, but I thought it was cool the way it didn't pander to movie goers by rationalising stuff cribbed from videogames in terms that made sense, like powering up or retrieving items to unlock a door to move to the next level and so on.  I am also not sure about the reading of events as being bookended by "reality" as represented by the asylum sequences, as this would render absolutely everything seen in the film as nonsensical anachronism - basically, the asylum bits have to be the fantasy and the videogame levels the reality for it to be cohesive as a story.  Dunno how this works in practice, but then I guess I'm just not smart enough to understand it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 05 July, 2012, 01:15:17 PM
Men in Black III. It was perfectly watchable but felt more like a tv drama than a film comedy. And as usual Jermaine from the conchordes is badly written for.

Lockout. Some good dialogue, good crims, very Harry Twenty, but a bit cheesy too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 05 July, 2012, 03:20:50 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:05:01 PM
ALIEN

The other night, while i couldnt sleep due to my knackered shoulder, i thought i'd put this on- hadnt seen it in donkey's years.

Sad to say it bored the absolute tits off me. Not in the least scary, slow, drawn-out, with a boring script, and the usual camp hamming from ian holm and john hurt. Not a single scare that wasnt telegraphed in advance like a clumsy film student trying his hand at horror, 'cos it's easy, roight?'. Absolutely hated it.

SBT

Proof, to me, that you live in a parallel dimension where good is bad and bad is good.

Alien is my absolute favourite film of all time and is perfect in every way. There's no 'camp hamming' from anyone, each performance is subtle, restrained and naturalistic. The scares and uneasiness come from the atmosphere and the sense that there's nowhere to hide. Terror lurks round every corner on that claustrophobic ship.

Leave the good stuff to us film fans, you go off and watch Zombie Eye Gougers 14 - The Splattering by Fulccino Georgino.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 03:31:43 PM
I don't like Alien that much, but it's a well-made film with a good pacing and solid performances, so I am not entirely sure what SBT was watching.  Possibly the diner scene from Spaceballs on a loop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-sBROXalU4&feature=related
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 03:37:37 PM
I think he's beyond medical help in this regard alas - he thinks The Godfather is crap too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 04:12:27 PM
So do I.  I found it to be a dull fairytale reinforcing the ludicrous notion of gangsters as honorable feudal lords rather than organised bullies with no more honor than a rattlesnake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 04:15:02 PM
yes, but told in an incredibly well made movie!

<gives up and stomps away muttering about philitsines....>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sapperjack91 on 05 July, 2012, 04:27:17 PM
i watched 'Tucker and Dale vs Evil' for the first time last night, i thought that was quite funny!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hazy efc on 05 July, 2012, 04:33:56 PM
Ive never seen 2001 but ive always wanted 2 so im gunna check it out 2night as 4 the last movie ive watched BLADE RUNNER the final cut 4 me as good as a film can get
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 04:53:10 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 04:15:02 PM
yes, but told in an incredibly well made movie!

Tim Burton's Batman is an incredibly well made movie, but it's still a rotten one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 July, 2012, 06:15:19 PM
In a bizarre coincidence I was going to start a thread about comic adaptations of films that are actually better than the films.
2 on my list would be Jack Kirby's 2001 (not necessarily better but I'd rather read the comic than watch the film) and the Batman movie adaptation that has some really nice art and moves at a faster pace than the dull film.
I also have a special place in my heart for the Robocop 2 adaptation - mainly because it was all I had to read on a childhood family holiday and I studied each page for hours!



Back on topic - the last movie I watched was Troll Hunter which I really enjoyed. Lovely creature design - very traditional nordic look to the trolls and reminiscent of Jim Henson creature design in many ways.
I've found that I really like the 'found footage' type of film - I don't think I've seen one that I haven't found entertaining. It seems like a really efficient way of catapulting the audience into the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2012, 06:24:13 PM
Yes, exactly- 'found footage' is a shortcut to the kind of immediacy other films waste too much time on traditional script trying to acheive. As an alternative to the method of filmmaking perfected across the decades, it sits well with me and i confess that the promise of potentially a good one is always far more exciting to me than a movie filmed traditionally. For all the cinema verite of the original Night of the Living Dead, can you imagine its impact had it been shot hand-held?

As for 2001 (incidentally where this thread started), i'd love the opportunity to read marvel's adaption and continuation, but the comics are both rare and pricey. Do you know if it's been collected, or reprinted in uk weeklies (and therefore cheaper to get nowadays)?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 July, 2012, 06:25:28 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 04:53:10 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 04:15:02 PM
yes, but told in an incredibly well made movie!

Tim Burton's Batman is an incredibly well made movie, but it's still a rotten one.

You could say that for nearly all of Tim Burton's films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 06:50:58 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2012, 06:24:13 PMAs for 2001 (incidentally where this thread started), i'd love the opportunity to read marvel's adaption and continuation, but the comics are both rare and pricey. Do you know if it's been collected, or reprinted in uk weeklies (and therefore cheaper to get nowadays)?

SBT

It's legal-limbo tosh like this that convinced me to get a cheap-ass ereader.  I will grudgingly admit that for this purpose it has been most useful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2012, 07:45:52 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 04:53:10 PM
Tim Burton's Batman is an incredibly well made movie, but it's still a rotten one.



Is it well made? Burton can't direct a narrative to save his life, never could.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 July, 2012, 08:42:08 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2012, 06:24:13 PM
Yes, exactly- 'found footage' is a shortcut to the kind of immediacy other films waste too much time on traditional script trying to acheive. As an alternative to the method of filmmaking perfected across the decades, it sits well with me and i confess that the promise of potentially a good one is always far more exciting to me than a movie filmed traditionally. For all the cinema verite of the original Night of the Living Dead, can you imagine its impact had it been shot hand-held?

As for 2001 (incidentally where this thread started), i'd love the opportunity to read marvel's adaption and continuation, but the comics are both rare and pricey. Do you know if it's been collected, or reprinted in uk weeklies (and therefore cheaper to get nowadays)?

SBT

I don't think it has which is a shame. Lots of Marvel's 70's output seems to have soared in value in the last few years. 10-15 years ago ROM, Logan's Run, 2001 or New Universe comics were worth hardly anything - there used to be a local market stall with box loads of these types of comics going for about 5p each, now I kick myself for not buying the lot!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 July, 2012, 09:34:38 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2012, 06:24:13 PM

As for 2001 (incidentally where this thread started), i'd love the opportunity to read marvel's adaption and continuation, but the comics are both rare and pricey. Do you know if it's been collected, or reprinted in uk weeklies (and therefore cheaper to get nowadays)?

SBT

The treasury sized movie adaptation is pricey but the follow-up issues can be tracked down an a reasonable price (well depending on what you call reasonable) and are some of my favourite 70 Kirby issues, well the first 7 issue pre Machine Man (which are fine and all but not as good) issues. well worth looking for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: brendan1 on 05 July, 2012, 10:42:12 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 05 July, 2012, 03:20:50 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 July, 2012, 07:05:01 PM
ALIEN

The other night, while i couldnt sleep due to my knackered shoulder, i thought i'd put this on- hadnt seen it in donkey's years.

Sad to say it bored the absolute tits off me. Not in the least scary, slow, drawn-out, with a boring script, and the usual camp hamming from ian holm and john hurt. Not a single scare that wasnt telegraphed in advance like a clumsy film student trying his hand at horror, 'cos it's easy, roight?'. Absolutely hated it.

SBT

Proof, to me, that you live in a parallel dimension where good is bad and bad is good.

Alien is my absolute favourite film of all time and is perfect in every way. There's no 'camp hamming' from anyone, each performance is subtle, restrained and naturalistic. The scares and uneasiness come from the atmosphere and the sense that there's nowhere to hide. Terror lurks round every corner on that claustrophobic ship.

Leave the good stuff to us film fans, you go off and watch Zombie Eye Gougers 14 - The Splattering by Fulccino Georgino.

Hahahahaha!

And: Yep
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 05 July, 2012, 11:05:59 PM
Prof Byah might like Godfather 3. That has helicopters in it and a guy gets stabbed in the neck with some spectacles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 05 July, 2012, 11:12:56 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 04:12:27 PM
I found (The Godfather) to be a dull fairytale reinforcing the ludicrous notion of gangsters as honorable feudal lords rather than organised bullies with no more honor than a rattlesnake.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 05 July, 2012, 11:05:59 PM
Prof Byah might like Godfather 3. That has helicopters in it and a guy gets stabbed in the neck with some spectacles.

Please tell me that the first post (above) is employing the same sarcastic and ironic tone as the second.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 05 July, 2012, 11:20:16 PM
Last night I re-watched Seven Samurai for the first time in years and found myself completely captivated, as if I had never seen it before. Unlike Yojimbo, Sanjuro and Ran - all of which I watch quite often - I only take in Seven Samurai every few year s(no, not every seven years) and each time I do so I'm astounded how much more there is to "get"; it's truly remarkable on every level, from action film to character study to social commentary, incredibly layered with text and subtext.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2012, 11:39:27 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 05 July, 2012, 11:12:56 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 04:12:27 PM
I found (The Godfather) to be a dull fairytale reinforcing the ludicrous notion of gangsters as honorable feudal lords rather than organised bullies with no more honor than a rattlesnake.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 05 July, 2012, 11:05:59 PM
Prof Byah might like Godfather 3. That has helicopters in it and a guy gets stabbed in the neck with some spectacles.

Please tell me that the first post (above) is employing the same sarcastic and ironic tone as the second.

Roger is not being sarcastic.

And Godfather remains a crime fairytale to me - a dynastic tragedy about misunderstood and honorable Robin Hood types - compared to something like Goodfellas, which feels like a far more accurate portrayal of that kind of scumbag: violent, selfish, amoral and delusional about their own importance in the world.  That to me rings true.

Though if you're interested in such things, there's an interview on the How Did This Get Made podcast with Jack O'Halloran, who's the son of the guy Don Corleone was based upon, and despite being a podcast about what an "odd duck" Superman 2/3 director Richard Lester was, there are some humorous asides about the time O'Halloran throttled Christopher Reeve and when some cops said it was okay if he wanted to beat the shit out of their colleague for giving O'Halloran a parking ticket.
http://www.earwolf.com/episode/superman-iii-live-bonus/

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2012, 07:45:52 PM
Is it well made? Burton can't direct a narrative to save his life, never could.

He's a truly awful action director, too, but on a production level, Batman is superb on almost every level, from Anton Furst's gothic noir-deco set design to Danny Elfman's score (this being before he got a bit played out) to Dave Lea's stunt work positing Bats as more robotic martial arts machine than quirky-themed detective.
But yes, the script.  Terrible, just terrible - but then there's only so much you can do with a story about a bloke dressed in a gimp outfit who drives around in a car with a giant dildo on the front looking for working class and mentally disabled people to beat up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2012, 11:47:26 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 04:12:27 PM
So do I.  I found it to be a dull fairytale reinforcing the ludicrous notion of gangsters as honorable feudal lords rather than organised bullies with no more honor than a rattlesnake.


Isn't that the point though, they play up to the bullshit romantic myth yet they all still lived and died from paranoia and vengeful grudges, hence Mick Corleone ending up pretty much on his own after killing or pushing away his enemies and his family. ultimately, at the end of the day, business was business and family played second-fiddle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 05 July, 2012, 11:58:19 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2012, 11:47:26 PM
Isn't that the point though, they play up to the bullshit romantic myth yet they all still lived and died from paranoia and vengeful grudges, hence Mick Corleone ending up pretty much on his own after killing or pushing away his enemies and his family. ultimately, at the end of the day, business was business and family played second-fiddle.

That's exactly the way I see it. The Godfather films are very ugly underneath the glamour. And there was a time in the history of the mob where the big Bosses - Vito's generation - were "honorable" (check out A Man of Honor by Joseph Bonnano) in their way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 06 July, 2012, 12:41:47 AM
Prof B's opinion isn't a miscarriage, it's an abortion. An abortion, Bryan. Just like our forum is an abortion, something that's unholy and evil. I didn't want your son, Byron Virgo, I didn't want to bring another one of your sons into this world. It was an abortion, it was a son, a son and I had it killed because this must all end. I know now that it's over, I knew it then there would be no way you could ever forgive me. Not with this Irish thing that's been going on for two thousand years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 12:52:05 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 06 July, 2012, 12:41:47 AM
Not with this Irish thing that's been going on for two thousand years.



We have long mickeys and long memories, deal with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 06 July, 2012, 03:02:47 AM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 05 July, 2012, 11:05:59 PM
Prof Byah might like Godfather 3. That has helicopters in it and a guy gets stabbed in the neck with some spectacles.

I like Godfather III, it may not be up to the standard of it's two predecessors, but it's a pretty decent conclus-






... I'll get me coat...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 08:24:51 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2012, 11:47:26 PM
Isn't that the point though, they play up to the bullshit romantic myth yet they all still lived and died from paranoia and vengeful grudges,

The Cost Of Doing Business, is a big part of the fairy tale, as is Being A Man - Godfather may be a film about the myth of the gangster, but it's also an example of it in action, kind of in the same way as someone chucking themselves on a grenade is horrible but ultimately admirable.  Godfather takes that route - for my money, anyway.  Opinions are varying things otherwise everyone would see how awesome Batman and Robin is.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 09:04:08 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 July, 2012, 08:24:51 AM
The Cost Of Doing Business, is a big part of the fairy tale, as is Being A Man - Godfather may be a film about the myth of the gangster, but it's also an example of it in action, kind of in the same way as someone chucking themselves on a grenade is horrible but ultimately admirable.  Godfather takes that route - for my money, anyway.



In the same way you could argue the stylish and equally cinematic Goodfellas makes gangsters look edgy, funny, sharp, glamorous and cool as a continuous rock soundtrack plays over tracking shots of them, but at the end of the day, it's a myth too, and killing is their business.

Neither the Godfather or Goodfellas are verite but they both play with convention and a certain truth while presenting it as genre entertainment to make their point. Neither is any more or less valid than the other.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 06 July, 2012, 09:25:00 AM
QuoteOpinions are varying things otherwise everyone would see how awesome Batman and Robin is.

I hated it when it came out but like you have now come the conclusion that it is infact it is arsom, especially if you like the 60's series.  I've sat with my adopted family (best friend, his mum, his Brother and his GRan) and watched it on cable once and every one had a really good time, we laughed, we cried, we shouted at the TV but overall we all enjoyed it.  You just have to see it as the daft 60's throwback that it is.  I think Prof B has defended it earlier in this thread (opening couple of pages IIRC) and his empassioned views made me watch it again and actually enjoy it.

Wow Battleshit really is crap isn't it, couldn't even get through 30 minutes of it and I'm the sort of person who likes Bay's Transformer movies.  Just goes to show if you want to make a Bay movie hire Michael Bay to make it.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 09:36:01 AM
If more people accepted I am always right, we would have less problems.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 09:04:08 AM
In the same way you could argue the stylish and equally cinematic Goodfellas makes gangsters look edgy, funny, sharp, glamorous and cool as a continuous rock soundtrack plays over tracking shots of them, but at the end of the day, it's a myth too, and killing is their business.

If you think Goodfellas made anyone look cool or glamorous I cannot help you.

Though fair play it was set in the 1980s, when it was physically impossible to look cool.  Science will back me up here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 10:45:47 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 July, 2012, 09:36:01 AM
If you think Goodfellas made anyone look cool or glamorous I cannot help you.

Tthe fact that Scorsese has repeatedly returned to the genre, and it bringing out the best in him, may attest to its seduction for him. The sizeable fan-base too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 July, 2012, 12:45:29 PM
It never dawned on me to approach SUCKER PUNCH as anything other than a traditional movie so i guess that's where I got lost. It might work better to think of it as web page vs. book but it would need to be much more of a game changer for that to work and  Snyder's eye is still full of wrong.

On the Godfather/Goodfellas glamourising gangsters gebate. I think they do.  They pretend not to. But they do. Like PLATOON and it's "war is hell" message (followed by a huge wink and a "but also awesome and cool").  But that's OK, I can see that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 July, 2012, 01:05:12 PM
Of course there's a certain allure to the gangster way of life - it wouldn't be a popular genre if there wasn't.

For me, what's so great about Goodfellas is the contrast of the glamour/bling/whateber you want to call it and the unpleasant reality.

Haven't seen The Godfather so I can't comment, but I take issue with this concept of disliking a film because you don't morally agree with the characters or world it represents - or if said characters aren't somehow 'punished' for their crimes like they are in soap operas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 July, 2012, 02:07:43 PM
I've never seen the Godfather either - mainly because I find Mafia films boring.
I quite like other sorts of gangster films but the whole Mafia family/dynastic thing really bores the tits off me.

It's amazing that Goodfellas is based on a true story - characters like the Joe Pesci one in Goodfellas always get killed off when they're about 20 in British gangster films (and quite right too)! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 02:53:29 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 July, 2012, 01:05:12 PM
I take issue with this concept of disliking a film because you don't morally agree with the characters or world it represents - or if said characters aren't somehow 'punished' for their crimes like they are in soap operas.

Then I don't think you'll enjoy this thing we have called cinema as it has these things called "protagonists" who you are explicitly supposed to empathise with, and this other thing called a "three act structure" which kind of hinges on closure and/or resolution of conflict.  There are exceptions, of course, but you'll still have a time with the argument that someone is not allowed to dislike a film just because it has a central character who eats babies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 06 July, 2012, 05:17:22 PM
See, I was just thinking about Tommy Lee Jones and his choice of roles. He always works a protagonist who doesn't ask to be empathised with. He does this brilliantly in his countless sheriff, ranger or marshal roles. The most recent [I watched] about a Louisiana detective, in the surreal " Into the Electric Mist". Good strong cast and sparse on action. Still, TLJ, gives that performance, that says, he could give a rat's ass if you empthise with him, or not which, in turn allows you to, much easier, as his characters are full of subtle remorse and never praise hunting. Like Al Pacino, like Marlon Brando and Joe Pesci in those gangster flicks. As it is more humanist, what they play.

They all have their bad days. Tommy's two face in Batman Whatever for instance. Even then he wasn't doing much wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 06 July, 2012, 05:46:05 PM
In the cinema: Dark Shadows. Liked Depp, but I always do. Overall though it was overlong and dull and didn't know what it wanted to be. But my children loved it, even though I had to explain to them that [spoiler]Alice Cooper[/spoiler] was a real person.
Watched Jurassic Park a couple of nights ago and by god it's still great. The SFX of the T-Rex attack on the jeeps still hold up today, Winston's models are amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 July, 2012, 08:10:31 PM
While everyone was discussing italian american crime families and other such things that matter NOT ONE JOT and could be wiped from human history without being missed at all, i was enjoying dracula, the wolfman, frankenstein's monster, the mummy and the creature from the black lagoon all getting together and having a party in midtown america at what could be the end of the world. Yep, THE MONSTER SQUAD (deluxe two-disc twentieth anniversary edition) finally got watched with the boys. What a corking film. Havent seen it since 1987, and to be honest, as seventeen year old i didnt like it very much, it being too family-friendly and cutesy in part. Now however, as a forty-two year old dad of a seven and a nine year old, i absolutely bloody loved it. Everything- nearly- is right: tom noonan's frankenstein monster is probably the best such performance since karloff, the wolfman looks great, the gillman is (dissappointingly) redesigned, but the new look is quite cool and the mummy is hilarious. Only
(cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 08:21:11 PM
Typical bloody SBT - too good to join the debate, and too good to even finish a sentence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 July, 2012, 08:22:49 PM
(cont) dracula lets the side down, proving- as does the much later van helsing movie, that there are few actors who can do it. Lugosi, Lee, arguably Oldman, and that's about it. Duncan regehr has a decent stab, but he's too lacking in charisma to pull it off.

Fred dekker's movie has grown something of cult following in recent years- but honestly, what hasnt in these days of the internet? But while much shit is passed off as wonderful simply because two people agree on a forum and can quote some moron critic from a provincial newspaper or, worse, a dreaded blog, that accidentally gave it a good review in a week when everyone else liked something else, the monster squad is deserving of outpouring your love. It's made with real heart and fondness for the universals of old, is never cynical, and stands up for the little guy (or fat kid) throughout. The gags mostly still work, wolfman's still got nards, and the poignancy of scary german guy's concentration camp tattoo ('you really know about monsters')
(cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 July, 2012, 08:32:00 PM
(cont) and frankenstein's relationship with the little girl are still pitched just right.

This is one i hope hollywood never remakes, but im sure it will. Both my kids loved it- it's my eldest's 'best movie ever', predictably. And i hope that it has only further cemented their love of monsters, which i hope they will take with them through their lives. We dont do football, sport in general, soap operas, godfather films, lord of the rings, or heavy metal in our family- we bond and connect over horror movies and comics. Tomorrow night is poltergeist 2 ('god is iiiiiin his holy tem-ple') and i cant bloody wait.

See you next wednesday!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 July, 2012, 08:42:29 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 05 July, 2012, 11:39:27 PM
Godfather remains a crime fairytale to me - a dynastic tragedy about misunderstood and honorable Robin Hood types - compared to something like Goodfellas, which feels like a far more accurate portrayal of that kind of scumbag: violent, selfish, amoral and delusional about their own importance in the world.  That to me rings true.

The main character's the worst cunt in the world. His soul is gradually eaten away by his insatiable desire for control, leaving only the dead eyed, empty shell of part two's final frame. Everyone else is a venal idiot or a hypocrite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 08:44:19 PM



Quote from: radiator on 06 July, 2012, 01:05:12 PM
I take issue with this concept of disliking a film because you don't morally agree with the characters or world it represents - or if said characters aren't somehow 'punished' for their crimes like they are in soap operas.

Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 July, 2012, 02:53:29 PM
Then I don't think you'll enjoy this thing we have called cinema as it has these things called "protagonists" who you are explicitly supposed to empathise with, and this other thing called a "three act structure" which kind of hinges on closure and/or resolution of conflict.  There are exceptions, of course, but you'll still have a time with the argument that someone is not allowed to dislike a film just because it has a central character who eats babies.



It's a slightly confused issue between those two posts but, in the 70's, the moral balance seemed ambiguous in many great films - American films especially seemed all the better for it. Of course this is all by degrees, as are the measure of our morals, but empathy does not equal likability.


I don't agree with anything Dr Phibes does but I love the films and his Quixotic character, that's empathy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 July, 2012, 08:46:58 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 06 July, 2012, 09:36:01 AM
If you think Goodfellas made anyone look cool or glamorous I cannot help you.

Henry Hill, ripped to the tits on coke with Debi Mazar hanging off him didn't look cool?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 08:50:06 PM
Prof's moral turpitude circuit wasn't engaged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 July, 2012, 08:55:56 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 July, 2012, 01:05:12 PM
For me, what's so great about Goodfellas is the contrast of the glamour/bling/whateber you want to call it and the unpleasant reality.

The key to Goodfellas's take on the superficial appeal of thug life is Lorraine Bracco's voice-over, where she's describing the contrast between the expensive clothes and jewellery of the wives, and how they have really bad skin and hair. The metaphor of a shiny apple which- underneath the surface- is writhing with maggots would make sense to a good Catholic boy like Scorcese.

See also, the bit in 1984 where Winston picks up a prole prostitute who looks okay under a streetlight ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 08:58:00 PM
We had this exact same exchange further back in the thread, Joe.  My response then was something about Snake Pliskin being a jerk but we still want to see him come out on top - something along those lines.

In general, though: taste is subjective, and I'm allowed to find Godfather's central conceit dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 09:02:54 PM
Francis Urquhart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards) on the other hand...


To paraphrase PKD: 'some characters dominate us completely by charming us constantly'.



It can depend a lot on the Antagonist of course, if V didn't have a fascist totalitarian government to blow up he wouldn't be half as appealing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 July, 2012, 09:52:38 PM
Never seen House of Cards thanks to the BBCs love of daylight robbery when it comes to pricing dvds of stuff I've already paid for.

I don't recall it being touched upon in the film, but the fascist leader of Britain in the V comic was kind of sympathetic as there wasn't much doubt that he was part of a generation fucked in the head by what had happened during the war and how they built their state in the aftermath.  In the film I think he was just Space Hitler or something, but the comic had this recurring motif of a kind of lost generation who never spoke about or faced what they did, feeding back into the themes of V where only the young could go forward with building something better.
But the comic didn't have the V-Cave, slo-motion ninja fights, or V declaring his wuv for Evey so their relationship could make proper sense like, so it's swings and roundabouts, really.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 10:05:56 PM
I got the impression the leader was more or less withdrawn or disassociated lost in his techno-fetish, like the fella with his dolls, but there is a tragic sense to all the characters. The film is lazy nonsense - V completing his plan only out of love rather than for any anarchist ideal he spent his adult life preparing for was an insulting sell-out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 July, 2012, 10:12:38 PM
I'm always amazed how many sensible people think well of the V movie.  Despite low expectations I was still shocked by how poor it was, despite decent cast and design. I'm obviously missing something, because as Moore adaptations go I think I preferred LXG.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 July, 2012, 10:25:18 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 July, 2012, 10:12:38 PM
I'm always amazed how many sensible people think well of the V movie.  Despite low expectations I was still shocked by how poor it was, despite decent cast and design. I'm obviously missing something, because as Moore adaptations go I think I preferred LXG.

It's perfunctory, apart from the final scenes of everyone being Spartacus. Weird that such a pedestrian film could have such interesting real world applications- it's like finding out that Aung San Suu Kyi was inspired by Dave Lee Travis.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 July, 2012, 10:27:10 PM
David Lloyd draws a great mask.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 07 July, 2012, 04:11:28 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 July, 2012, 10:12:38 PM
I'm always amazed how many sensible people think well of the V movie.  Despite low expectations I was still shocked by how poor it was, despite decent cast and design. I'm obviously missing something, because as Moore adaptations go I think I preferred LXG.

The Wachowski siblings handed it over to James McTeague, the 2nd Unit director on the Matrix sequels, because they were "pooped" after those two movies, a pity, kinda wish they had taken a break then done ...Vendetta  themselves, it would have been a much better film, methinks...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2012, 09:24:05 AM
The V for Vendetta film is bloody awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 July, 2012, 10:11:43 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 07 July, 2012, 04:11:28 AM
The Wachowski siblings handed it over to James McTeague, the 2nd Unit director on the Matrix sequels, because they were "pooped" after those two movies, a pity, kinda wish they had taken a break then done ...Vendetta  themselves, it would have been a much better film, methinks...


They wrote the film, they wouldn't have fixed all the bad things in it that they were happy with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 07 July, 2012, 10:14:12 AM
I thought V was okay.  Not perfect; I didn't like Steven Fry's character and certainly didn't think it was as interesting as the comic, but, for me, the story was pretty good, there was some quality acting and the idea of the comic came through okay
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 07 July, 2012, 12:51:35 PM
Watch Comboys n Aliens last night. Well, that was a hell of a lot better I than expected really, had horrible expectations/memories of Wild Wild West. Daniel Craig was awesome and had a chuckle at whatsisname from Justified.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 July, 2012, 04:07:07 PM
God, I hated Cowboys and Aliens.  I had high hopes, which were dashed mercilessly.

The kids have been on a Studio Ghibli craze lately, so I have seen almost their entire back-catalogue, some several times. Arrietty may be beautiful, but if I have to watch it one more time I'll scream! 

I'm quite happy to sit through My Neighbour Totoro a few more times though, and so far that has been my fave of the lot. Very little actually happens, but it's just delightful. The kids and I howl with laughter every time we see the wee girl discover Totoro for the first time.

Grave of the Fireflies I vetted first, and am glad I did. I found it incredibly upsetting, and no doubt the kids would too.  That one can wait until they're older.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2012, 06:09:37 PM
From firsthand experience I know that kids are made of sterner stuff when it comes to that flick.  It's adults that tend to be shattered by it.
Although from a different studio, you might want to grab Princess Arete for them from Youtube if they like Ghibli and can follow subtitled films.  It was never released over here after being deemed "too slow" by potential distributors, but I thought it went by pretty fast and think it probably got passed over in this neck of the woods because the princess of the title is presented just as a clever and curious child rather than the traditional super-capable babe savants you get in Disney films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 07 July, 2012, 08:43:46 PM
David Lloyd said he liked the V movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 July, 2012, 08:56:46 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 07 July, 2012, 08:43:46 PM
David Lloyd said he liked the V movie.

He didn't write it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 July, 2012, 10:03:58 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 07 July, 2012, 08:43:46 PM
David Lloyd said he liked the V movie.

Jordan is unaccountably quite fond of Harvey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 July, 2012, 10:56:28 PM
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 07 July, 2012, 08:43:46 PM
David Lloyd said he liked the V movie.

Hey, if you bought me a house, I'd say I liked you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 July, 2012, 11:05:09 PM
It'd want to have a swimming pool, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 July, 2012, 11:09:46 PM
Will Blessington Lakes do?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 July, 2012, 12:21:21 AM
POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE

Twenty-six years since i saw it last, still the only thing of note, really, is Julian Beck's turn as the Rev. Henry Kane/Caine, which is just as menacing, horrific and downright terrifying as it had been in my mind this last quarter century. Everything else is mostly a load of toss- tequila monster aside- and lacking in any threat whatsoever. That said, the new audience liked it, though my seven year old was disappointed it wasnt as scary as the first one. The threat of Poltergeist III now looms large, which i might have to schedule for when im out.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 09 July, 2012, 12:12:10 AM
I found Cowboys and Aliens massively disappointing. It had Bond and Indy and cowboys and aliens, so many good things, how could it suck, and yet it did.

Shooter, 2007. I'm always surprised Mark Wahlberg gets acting gigs, but he sucked much less than usual here. Still sucked, but less. Danny Glover didn't have the gravitas to pull his part off. Wide-eyed nurse accomplice thing needed to be less wide-eyed. Rhona Mitra, hot but way too highstrung and whispering vehemently and looking around guiltily is not covert (covert peeps, take note). Only good thing was Michael Pena.  But! - it was enough of a dumb action movie that I really enjoyed it nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 July, 2012, 01:36:50 AM
Wolfhound, a medieval fantasy-ish romp which seems to be Eastern European of some sort - not sure which part, but there's an unmistakeable whiff of communism off this thing.  Not so much in the story, though, which is an episodic and slightly christian fable of one man's celibate quest for rewengay against the man who killed his faddah, and the Conan similarities don't end there but unlike the last Conan outing, this isn't entirely shit.
It somehow works really well even though Conan tried the same kind of stuff and failed (hairy bloke defending a princess needed to bring angry gods back to the world kind of thing), with some of the production work being far superior to the later Conan remake even though that came years later and wasn't made in third world countries.  I also really liked how they do the angry fog with dry ice rather than just throw CGI at the screen.  If you don't mind Conan with a beard and running about forests with a lame bat sidekick - who against all probability is actually quite awesome - then you might get a real kick out of this, but be warned it's 135 minutes long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 09 July, 2012, 04:59:24 PM
Saw Apocalypto again last night, have seen it before but the girlfriend hadn't. I know it didn't get the best reviews and there are a few unexplained points in the movie, but for some reason I really enjoy it. The second half of the film is by far the most enjoyable, and I even manage to make myself forget that Mel Gibson made it long enough to enjoy it. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 10 July, 2012, 03:17:07 AM
Quote from: Fisticuffs on 09 July, 2012, 04:59:24 PM
Saw Apocalypto again last night, have seen it before but the girlfriend hadn't. I know it didn't get the best reviews and there are a few unexplained points in the movie, but for some reason I really enjoy it. The second half of the film is by far the most enjoyable, and I even manage to make myself forget that Mel Gibson made it long enough to enjoy it. :D

Apocalypto is the business (despite it not being shot on film, if it had, that film would have looked just breathtaking), say what you want about the Gibbo (and many people have), but the man is either mad, a genius, or a mad genius, 'cos no-one make movies like he does, and I firmly believe him to be one of the very best directors in the world today, I so hope he puts his recent troubles behind him and gets stuck in to making his long-mooted Viking epic, Bezerker, that would be simply AWESOME...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 10 July, 2012, 03:54:14 AM
what did you like about Apocalypto, Fisticuffs? I'd like to see it.  I have no trouble separating Gibson's repellent personality (and actual anti-semitism) from his work.  The last thing he did that I liked was that crime-revenge flick - can't remember the title, but it was excellent. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 10 July, 2012, 04:49:23 AM
Fisticuffs indeed :lol:, love ya mate!  I liked Apocalypto because it was a window into a world long gone, because it was a relentlessly entertaining action movie (which is what it was designed to be), and because it was completely batpoop demented, period... you'll know what I mean when you see it, wired to the moon, it is...

Mel certainly has dropped some clangers in the last few years, and I won't defend what he (supposedly) said in a highly drunken state in 2006, but anti-semitic?  The producer and director of his last film, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, are both Jewish, his manager is Jewish, and many in the film industry (most of whom are likely Jewish, they pretty much own California) have stuck up for Gibson during his recent troubles, and I don't know what's in his heart, but to put it bluntly, I don't believe a word that Joe Eszterhas has said about Gibson recently, he's just pi**ed that Warner Bros and Gibson rejected his allegedly dire script for the Maccabees movie.  That being said, he's done himself no favors by utterly flipping out with Esztehas and that gold-digging floozy he was with for about five minutes, and being caught on tape doing so, it looks bad even if there was a justifiable reason for it, and unfortunately, perception is everything in Hollyweird.  I hope he gets some anger management help, finds his faith again, and for the love of God, quits the booze...

I think that film you're thinking of was Payback, watch the director's cut, it's a whole different film...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 July, 2012, 08:12:24 AM
Apocalypto is tremendous, one of the most magnificently over-the-top, and yet simplest, action movies ever made.  The way it conveys how overwhelmed the forest people are by the City by overwhelming the viewer to almost the same degree is remarkable, and the decision to use the Yuctatec Maya language was spot-on in enforcing this strangeness and dislocation.  Even the terribly predictable ending is entirely forgiveable because it's kind of right there in the title and throughout.  Great stuff. 

What a pity that I've completely forgotten who made it, hopefully it wasn't some insane misogynistic bigot 'cos that would be a shame. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 July, 2012, 08:31:07 AM
We are at war with Eurasia. We have always been at war with Eurasia...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 July, 2012, 09:00:49 AM
Thoughtcrime!  Someone needs a trip to Miniluv.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 10 July, 2012, 09:58:12 AM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 10 July, 2012, 03:54:14 AM
what did you like about Apocalypto, Fisticuffs? I'd like to see it.

This! -

Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 10 July, 2012, 04:49:23 AM
Fisticuffs indeed :lol:, love ya mate!  I liked Apocalypto because it was a window into a world long gone, because it was a relentlessly entertaining action movie (which is what it was designed to be), and because it was completely batpoop demented, period... you'll know what I mean when you see it, wired to the moon, it is...

It's so completely different to most of the pap Hollywood churns out, it really is a window into a long lost past, and when Jaguar Paw goes all Ray Mears on his pursuers is just awesome. It drags you in so much that when a character has his throat cut towards the start of the film my brother went into shock when he first saw it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 July, 2012, 10:33:56 AM
Quote from: Fisticuffs on 10 July, 2012, 09:58:12 AM... it really is a window into a long lost past...

Urge to pedantry rising...

No. Nononononono. It's a heavily fictionalised composite that draws on different aspects of various points in the Yucatan's human past and mixes them up with modern ideas to create a strikingly original environment for human drama and ultra-violence... 

Which is as it should be in this kind of excellent entertainment, but I wouldn't be lured into thinking it accurately represents any sort of 'past'.  Even when various cultural elements are faithfully presented, they are from widely disparate periods (as in 1,000 years apart) and social contexts, and bent to the service of story and imagery: it's a fantasy adventure drawing on a region's cultural heritage, effectively the Slaine of Meso-America.

Nothing at all wrong with this, BTW, I just wouldn't want anyone to come away thinking they'd been presented a vision of Guatamala ca. 1500AD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 10 July, 2012, 01:33:34 PM
Crank, 2006.

Awesome. Jason Statham. Any guy that can run around with his butt hanging out his hospital gown, and his rock hard dick sticking out the other end, and still look badass is a total badass :) - I heard him say he wasn't a very good actor, but in my mind, he is one of the best action actors out there. I'm curious to see him handle an non-action role, just to see if he comes across just as naturally then too and I do suspect he will - but I do enjoy his action movies, and so if that's what he sticks with, I am perfectly fine with that.

MI3, 2006.

I like all the MI movies, with the first one being my least favourite, and I like it that having different directors gives a different 'taste' to each of them. And I like Tom Cruise. Great actor, totally under-appreciated. Emotions, action, fully commits to it and makes it believable. And in MI3 he goes through a whole gamut of emotions and it's fantastic.

Which reminds me - I am looking forward to his turn as Jack Reacher. Saw a brief taster clip, and it looks like my cup of tea. Do I care he's much shorter than Reacher is supposed to be? Not in the least. I might do if I was a hardcore fan of the book!Reacher, but since I'm not, I don't give a shit. Thank the lord Karl Urban ain't a shortie though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 10 July, 2012, 01:46:40 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 July, 2012, 10:33:56 AM
Urge to pedantry rising...


Of course not, but it's damn entertaining and a very original setting. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 July, 2012, 01:53:44 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 10 July, 2012, 01:33:34 PM
Crank, 2006.

Awesome. Jason Statham. Any guy that can run around with his butt hanging out his hospital gown, and his rock hard dick sticking out the other end, and still look badass is a total badass :) - I heard him say he wasn't a very good actor, but in my mind, he is one of the best action actors out there. I'm curious to see him handle an non-action role, just to see if he comes across just as naturally then too and I do suspect he will - but I do enjoy his action movies, and so if that's what he sticks with, I am perfectly fine with that.


Have you seen Crank 2? It 'cranks' up (DO YOU GET IT?) the nuttiness to fucking ridiculous levels.

I'm a big Statham fan aswell but I wish he'd stop trying to do an American accent. It's absolutely feeble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 10 July, 2012, 02:21:14 PM
Damnation Alley

With George Peppard and Baby Rorschach: who knew?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 10 July, 2012, 03:31:55 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 10 July, 2012, 01:53:44 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 10 July, 2012, 01:33:34 PM
Crank, 2006.

Awesome. Jason Statham. A


Have you seen Crank 2? It 'cranks' up (DO YOU GET IT?) the nuttiness to fucking ridiculous levels.

I'm a big Statham fan aswell but I wish he'd stop trying to do an American accent. It's absolutely feeble.

He was trying to do an accent? Heh. Didn't notice. Probably because he failed methinks.

I have seen Crank 2 and yes, ridiculous is putting it mildly. Like falling off that plane!! I definitely prefer the first one, just like with Transporter too, possibly because I had no idea what was coming and both were such a good surprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 July, 2012, 03:33:59 PM

Quote from: darnmarr on 10 July, 2012, 02:21:14 PM
Damnation Alley

With George Peppard and Baby Rorschach: who knew?

I watched that via YouTube after learning of its similarities to Cursed Earth and thought it was rubbish but fun. Well worth watching as a piece of Judge Dredd trivia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 10 July, 2012, 04:08:42 PM
Yeah, I quite liked it as a bit of hok-um.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 10 July, 2012, 08:10:44 PM
John Carter of Mars. Sort of Jason and the Argonauts with Phantam Menace aspirations and Avatar evolved effects and storyline. I liked it well enough. The humour was well achieved and one does enjoy the early industrial timeline that sets the tone of design.

The Raven. What was I saying about settings? This is a lovely detective tale gleaning some of the best of its material from a maverick innovator of the genre. The maverick innovator. It could have been made in the seventies and the pace could have slowed a bit more but it was still a pleasing viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 10 July, 2012, 10:24:22 PM
I saw Cannibal Holocaust for the first time last night. The only film that has ever made me want to turn my head away. Still traumatised now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 11 July, 2012, 01:59:09 AM
I've got Netflix on my Wii, best thing I ever did! Been steadily making my way through all of Cracker, Saxondale and The League Of Gentlemen, and discovering gems like Portlandia, but....

just watched Troll Hunter. Been meaning to watch it for ages, and today it turned up on Netflix.

What can I say? One of the most brilliantly entertaining movies I've seen in years. Bonkers and fun. And jaw dropping in its' beauty when we see that last one walk into sight through a cabin window.

Absolutely LOVED it. Can't recommend it enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 July, 2012, 02:38:14 AM
Invasion USA, a 1952 flick that follows the stories of a half-dozen people drinking in a bar after they leave it to get back to their homes in various states of America during a successful invasion by an un-named commie army.  To cut a short story shorter, every last one of them dies and it is your fault for being a capitalist pig.  I have no clue what this film is about, as it seems to be telling you that commies are evil, so we have to become commies to fight them.  Or something.  Also the film has a fantasy twist of sorts that is just mental.  An entertaining b-movie.
Invasion USA, a 1985 flick about homosexuals infiltrating the boy scouts of America and only Chuck Norris can stop them.  It seems to be a lot higher budget than I'd expect of a Chuck film, associating him more with low-fi head kicking as I do, but it's entertaining enough if you ignore the clumsy direction, lack of central focus and what a massive prick the lead actor has turned out to be.
36th Chamber of Shaolin, watched on a whim after all these years thanks to the Kung Fu thread and it's still fantastic.  The dub seems to be on a separate planet from the subtitles, making the motivations of the main character baffling as he seems to be a pacifist who truly values forgiveness until one day he just decides to just start killing people with his terrifying superhuman fighting skills, but the subs reveal that it's all very in keeping with the tracts of Buddhism, which is kind of like Scientology for ancient China.  Well worth a gander.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 11 July, 2012, 03:43:37 AM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 10 July, 2012, 01:33:34 PM
Awesome. Jason Statham.  I'm curious to see him handle an non-action role, just to see if he comes across just as naturally then too and I do suspect he will.

Have you seen The Bank Job, more of a crime drama than an outright action movie, he's pretty decent in that... it's also the first film shot in digital that I thought looked shot on film, it was then I realized that film was doomed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 July, 2012, 10:13:17 AM
Nazi's at the Centre of the Earth.

Yes it's Sci Fy Channel brain chowder again. Undead Nazi's in the Antartic! Yes everyone, beneath the Planet of the Apes lies a Hollow sphere world ruled by the master Race who preserve themselves by flaying unfortunate visitors of their flesh queue gory face scalping. 

But these interlopers are American dammit. So though they are Scientist, abused and sexually molested by mouldy Uber mensch they rebel against the nasty Deathless ones who are led unbelievably by an Actor who appeared in the Katy Perry video 'Hot and Cold' as the Priest/Vicar. Jake Bushey [named ReichStag here: yes subtlety is not this films strong point] was another American who turned Nazi then back again to good old Uncle Sam [spoiler]blowing up the Nazi super saucer in heroic self sacrifice.[/spoiler]

'Why did he do this you cry?! ' unable to control your feverish excitement for this bilge water Tv trash? 

To destroy [spoiler]ADOLPH HILTER[/spoiler] no less reborn and badly computer animated as a giant cyborg intent on leading the world back into his beneficent clutches!!

It doesn't get bigger than that and this Film helped me regain my faith in nothingness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 July, 2012, 10:16:44 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 10 July, 2012, 10:24:22 PM
I saw Cannibal Holocaust for the first time last night. The only film that has ever made me want to turn my head away. Still traumatised now.

I felt sick all the next day after watching this. Funny really as it's not particularly graphic (unless you watched the uncut version with all the animal butchery intact).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 July, 2012, 10:52:14 AM
A persistent cough and a headful of stressful thoughts have moved me to insomniac nights on the couch in front of a TV I normally shun*.  Like the not-man says, I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. 

Exhibit A:  Passchendaele.  Evokes the horror of the trenches by presenting a viewing experience that is even more horrible.  The Canadian John Barrowman Paul Gross trots out an appalling unholy mismatch of Legends of the Fall, Saving Private Ryan and Blackadder Goes Forth-played-straight that seems to want Ypres to be the backdrop for some kind of redemptive magical-realist romance featuring everyone's favourite comedy Mountie.  Impressive vistas of shell-pocked landscapes aside, this was a vile mess of ludicrous coincidences, moustache-twirling English baddies, noble Bosch, endless repetitions of gag-inducing dialogue and ugly, ugly lighting.  Say 'neurasthenia' again, I dare you.  Made all the worse because the central character is 'based' on and named for Gross' grandfather, who must surely be rolling in his grave.  Avoid, avoid, avoid.


*conventional non-Board usage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 11 July, 2012, 11:06:46 AM
Why oh why are we up for using WWI as a backdrop for  melodramatic romances??? Atonement, I can stand but shit like Passchendaele? I tried watching 2 minutes of it and switched over. I tried this about 3-4 times and decided it was all tripe and no silver lining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 11 July, 2012, 11:10:38 AM
Quote from: Beaky Smoochies on 11 July, 2012, 03:43:37 AM
Have you seen The Bank Job, more of a crime drama than an outright action movie, he's pretty decent in that... it's also the first film shot in digital that I thought looked shot on film, it was then I realized that film was doomed.

I have seen it - (pretty much seen everything he's been in except for the more recent ones, including In the Name of the King which was *shudder* SO SO BAD. So bad. You will look at the cast names and get intrigued and watch it - and you will regret it forever. Don't do it!!) - but I have no eye for film/digital so had no idea about all that. You're right about the less action, but I'd still like to see him in a completely non-action jobby, some serious thinky drama where he doesn't flex his muscles at all. Doesn't even play tough.

Saw John Carter of Mars recently too. I think marketing really was to blame for this being a flop, because it was entertaining all the way through whereas when I saw the trailers, I wasn't in the least bit interested in seeing it in the cinema. However, it didn't leave me hankering after a sequel - even though Taylor Kitsch was amazingly confident, and good, for someone new to being a lead man.

Caught Passchendale last night too! About ten seconds of it - enough to make me get meself to bed instead and this despite loving Due South. Loved that show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 July, 2012, 11:23:00 AM
Willem Dafoe attempts to track down the Tasmanian Tiger in The Hunter. Plenty of long slow shots of wilderness, heaps of intense brooding, a smidgen of unwanted emotional awakening and a nice line in wry dialogue. Add to this a couple of child actors who manage to avoid being twee or irritating and you've got a pretty good film here.

Quote from: Professah Byah on 09 July, 2012, 01:36:50 AM
Wolfhound, a medieval fantasy-ish romp which seems to be Eastern European of some sort - not sure which part...this isn't entirely shit.
It's Russian and, while quoting yourself may be the worst form of vanity, I always like to point out the coolest thing about Wolfhound..
Quote from: The Cosh on 29 August, 2011, 10:27:44 PM
He is so hard, he always takes a minute to tie his hair back before getting stuck into the battle, safe in the knowledge that nobody will try to fuck him up until he looks his best.

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 July, 2012, 03:33:59 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 10 July, 2012, 02:21:14 PM
Damnation Alley with George Peppard and Baby Rorschach: who knew?
I watched that via YouTube after learning of its similarities to Cursed Earth and thought it was rubbish but fun. Well worth watching as a piece of Judge Dredd trivia.
Never seen the film, but the book is well worth a look. It's in the best "shot glass of rocket fuel" tradition of 60s/70s sci-fi. A short novel, probably knocked out in a couple of weeks, with a strong central idea, an unpleasant lead and more concern for telling a rattling yarn with plenty of incident than building a cohesive fictional world.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 11 July, 2012, 11:51:12 AM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 11 July, 2012, 10:16:44 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 10 July, 2012, 10:24:22 PM
I saw Cannibal Holocaust for the first time last night. The only film that has ever made me want to turn my head away. Still traumatised now.

I felt sick all the next day after watching this. Funny really as it's not particularly graphic (unless you watched the uncut version with all the animal butchery intact).

That's the one. Don't mind watching humans get sliced up but didn't really enjoy the killing of baby animals.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 July, 2012, 12:19:45 PM
Passchendaele - This did indeed suck mightily - and not in a good way. I was dragged in by the opening sequence where the cuddly mountie bayonets a helpless soldier but after that it was very, very poor.

It's a while since I glanced up at ATONEMENT while reading a comic but wasn't it set in World War II? I'm pretty sure I remember an epic tracking shot across Dunkirk beaches.

My review of ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES disappeared when history was rewritten but short version: really enjoyed it with many great gags (sight and dialogue). Raul Julia was fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 11 July, 2012, 12:27:42 PM
I enjoyed John Carter Or Mars, but I think it suffered from two major problems, the first being that it was about 20 minutes too long, and the second being that although it was written decades ago, the ideas it contained have been pilfered so much since then that despite being the original it looks like the derivative.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 11 July, 2012, 01:32:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 July, 2012, 12:19:45 PM
Passchendaele - This did indeed suck mightily - and not in a good way. I was dragged in by the opening sequence where the cuddly mountie bayonets a helpless soldier but after that it was very, very poor.

It's a while since I glanced up at ATONEMENT while reading a comic but wasn't it set in World War II? I'm pretty sure I remember an epic tracking shot across Dunkirk beaches.

My review of ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES disappeared when history was rewritten but short version: really enjoyed it with many great gags (sight and dialogue). Raul Julia was fantastic.

Ah, yes. Right you are Tips. followed later by the bombing of London. pfft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 09:25:48 PM
SALEM'S LOT (TV, Tobe Hooper version)

Continuing the education of the boys, we moved on to this two-part 1979 mini-series, starring David Soul and James Mason. This must have been broadcast over here around 1980, and like everyone who saw it at that age I've never forgotten the vampire kid at the window or Mr Barlow himself, played by an underused but iconic Reggie Nalder.

In truth, it's a bit slow. Hooper has difficulty juggling the many characters and their plots- despite the script scything through King's novel and ripping the heart and soul, and most of the people, from it. But for once, none of that matters, because the TV Salem's Lot is its own beast, not reliant upon the book whence it sprung. King wrote this as a retelling of Dracula, just upped and moved to his part of America. As such, it's as proof against screen-friendly tampering as Stoker's original, and the slimmed-down narrative just makes it more resonant for its intended audience.

There are some misfires- Boom-Boom Bonnie and her affair sticks out as a grafted-on attempt to make it more "adult" and is therefore unnecessary, adding nothing but extra minutes to the first episode. Even the payoff is only half as scary and jump-inducing as the earlier attack upon the Glick brothers. Remove Bonnie and her protestations of rape, and there's almost nothing in the three-hour running time that pushes Salem's Lot out of 'Goosebumps' territory. Or at least, 'Goosebumps' if people like me made them and didn't pull back from each and every vaguely scary scene or idea in case they offended someone.

Kids love scary stuff. They love it more than just about anything else in the world. My two giggled and jumped and screamed and cuddled up to us throughout. After part one last night, when I went out into the yard, gaffer-taped one of our giant bats to a ten-foot bamboo cane and knocked it against their bedroom windows, I got shrieks of delight and and cries for more, not nightmares and wet beds.

They remade this in 2004 with Rob Lowe, making many of the same changes to the narrative, but removing much of the stuff that made the original so memorable. Mr Barlow was no longer a snarling beast, but more akin to the character in the book. As a result it lost nearly all the greatness of Hooper's version and memorable sequences. King's book is one of his best, and a must-read for anyone interested in the man or the genre, but like Stoker's novel it works best on screen when fiddled with. They'll eventually do it again and do it 'like the book'- I wonder if it'll have an ounce of the impact the '79 version had on those of us who saw it?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 July, 2012, 10:25:54 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 09:25:48 PMAfter part one last night, when I went out into the yard, gaffer-taped one of our giant bats to a ten-foot bamboo cane and knocked it against their bedroom windows, I got shrieks of delight and and cries for more, not nightmares and wet beds.

No chance you're looking to adopt?  I'm more-or-less toilet trained and I'll eat almost anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 July, 2012, 10:45:17 PM
Dammit! I was watch Crash on FilmFour for first time! and that Mexican's daughter with shooting scene.... that got me cried like a river, that was powerful scene! That girl got same age as my niece, wow....

And the film looks crap anyway!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 10:59:52 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 July, 2012, 10:25:54 PM

No chance you're looking to adopt?  I'm more-or-less toilet trained and I'll eat almost anything.

Haha! It was a fantastic gag- and my wife's suggestion, so she takes the credit. I'm in the process of ordering a Zumi doll off the internet, for similar shenanigans once 'Trilogy of Terror' has been watched.

Amusingly, our neighbours (our house is backed onto by the houses of the parallel street, and overlooked by many windows) had earlier in the day watched my wife and I take our black eight foot by five foot rug out into the yard, hang it over the washing line, then stand underneath it like a tent and rhythmically beat it with our hands while loudly chanting in the American Indian manner popularised by the medicine man in Poltergeist II, in just our underwear. I have no excuse for this, other than it was very funny at the time and our hoover had packed up.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 July, 2012, 11:02:28 PM
I always wondered whatever became of Tom and Barbara Good... Do you still keep in touch with Margo and Jerry? :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 July, 2012, 11:06:18 PM
(http://laydenrobinson.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/trilogy.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 11:07:20 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 July, 2012, 11:02:28 PM
I always wondered whatever became of Tom and Barbara Good... Do you still keep in touch with Margo and Jerry? :D

There's more truth in that than you'd imagine Sharky- I was brought up by mum and dad doing exactly (well, almost) what the Goods were doing in the show. We had a fully-stocked garden, chickens and my dad made his own double-glazing, did all the DIY and decorating and even used to wrap presents in newspaper. I think some of it may have rubbed off!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 11:09:57 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 11 July, 2012, 11:07:20 PM
chickens and my dad made his own double-glazing,

Clarification: Chickens did not help my dad make double glazing.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beaky Smoochies on 12 July, 2012, 03:31:28 AM
Just watched Brooklyn's Finest on BBC1 (HD), a rather excellent slice of gritty police business, pity the corporate lackies at 20th Century Fox put back the 24 movie until next year because they were being ridiculously tight with the budget (producers wanted $45m, studio only wanted to spend $30m, go figure!), had it went ahead this year, Antoine Fuqua would have directed it, and after watching his work on ...Finest tonight, he would've been the perfect choice to helm some major Jack Bauer action on the big screen, sigh...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 July, 2012, 09:07:14 PM
The Amazing Spider-Man

Didn't expect much, and was quite prepared to dislike it due to the inclusion of all that nineties confused gubbins about Peter's parents, the redundant new take on the costume and a massively rubbish Lizard.

However, much to my surprise it was massively entertaining and the retelling of the origin surprisingly both worked and improved upon Raimi's version. Andrew Garfield inhabits Parker just as Tobey McGuire did in the first one, gains points for having better material to work with, but loses them for being too gangly and not matching my (Romita/ Romita Jnr/ Ditko inspired) ideal as to what he should look like. But I'll live.

The costume has been changed purely so disreputable foreign companies can't repackage unsold action figures and cheekily flog them at inflated prices. There is no other reason for the metal shoes and alterations on the 50-year-old design- but it's never dwelt upon, so doesn't matter. The Lizard is more problematic- both my kids declared that it "didn't look like The Lizard" and was "wrong". "The Hulk with a tail" and "a muscley man painted green" were the considered comments. When pressed, neither felt it mattered because the Lizard scenes were "exciting and scary". The silent fight behind Stan Lee was picked out by all of us as the film's highlight.

Bram felt Spidey unmasked himself too many times, which was "stupid" and "too many people knew who he was". As usual with a Spidey movie, he was completely right.

From my point of view it's the best of the four- certainly the most interesting, "adult" and exciting, with the best action scenes and closest to the comic as I know and love it. I hope it does so well we get 'The Spectacular Spider-Man' in a couple of years. Our trip home consisted of a discussion of who should be the villain- I went for Mysterio, Bram for Carnage or Kraven and Bela for Morbius.

I can't really leave the trailer for Batman Rises unremarked upon. I really cannot believe so many people seem so excited about this- the very epitome of taking a bold, comic-idea and battering it into boring mundane pseudo-reality. Ooh, how grown-up. I've seen the last two Batman films and won't be seeing this, as it looks to be even worse, and I didn't that possible. Thank grud it's the last one. The argument that wider audiences somehow "won't suspend their disbelief" to allow comic films to be done properly would hold so much more water if the trailer wasn't attached to a film about a teenager in a red and blue suit who fights a talking man-lizard while cracking gags and forgetting to buy eggs. Poor old DC/ Warner- they'll never sell any comics off the back of that.

Anyway- Amazing Spider-Man was just that; amazing. Can't wait for the next one. Oh, and 'The Life of Pi'- or whatever it's called (bloke in a boat with a tiger and flying fish) looks great!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 July, 2012, 09:51:10 PM
Ohhh. Hadn't even considered Kraven for the movies. That would ROCK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 July, 2012, 10:03:59 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 July, 2012, 09:51:10 PM
Ohhh. Hadn't even considered Kraven for the movies. That would ROCK.

As long as he was the proper, Russian Kraven- not the Steve Irwin character from Ultimate (or am I misremembering?)

Now they have a hit, it's fairly obvious that this new trilogy is being set up to reveal Norman Osborn was behind Peter's parents disappearance/ death and will turn up as the Goblin in probably the final film. I'd imagine that was him in the extra bit during the credits at the end. So, if we write off Gobby for the next one, I reckon it'll be Morbius and The Vulture. But it could easily be Kraven, Electro, Mysterio, Hobgoblin, The Rhino (and I'd LOVE that!) or Hydroman (bit probably not that last one). Spidey's plethora of villains is so strong these movies could happily go on forever.

Brilliantly, during the the extra bit in the credits, my eldest got to his feet and shouted "MORLUN!" at the screen. Quite how he came to that conclusion I have no idea, but it made me laugh.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 13 July, 2012, 11:14:09 AM
84 Charing Cross Road, 1987.

An interesting slow piece, based on real life correspondence between the American author and a British bookseller. Romantic but not quite a romance. Fascinating insight into life on both sides of the Atlantic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 July, 2012, 12:17:03 PM
Tiny Tips also declared AMAZING SPIDER-MAN to be amazing. His sole complaint was that Spidey was a bit too powerful and invulnerable at times (a fault with the Raimi films also).  I never went to see it with him sorta wish I had now.  Still reckon that first hor of the first Raimi Spider-Man is as good as superheror origin movies can get.


As for DARK KNIGHT RISES, I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea but I always feel that one of the strengths of Batman is that he is far more open to many different styles of interpretation than most superheroes.  He can do camp and funny super knockabout stuff (he'd have easily fitted into an AVENGERS style movie) but can equally be treated in the grim, gritty psuedo-realistic style or goth fairytale.  All are equally valid and I'm happy they exist. 

Same true to a large extent of DREDD. 

Something like SUPERMAN or DOCTOR WHO on the otherhand, just looks daft if you try and do it as grim and gritty or realistic; it always has to be treated with a mythical touch. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 13 July, 2012, 02:29:33 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 July, 2012, 12:17:03 PM

Something like SUPERMAN or DOCTOR WHO on the otherhand, just looks daft if you try and do it as grim and gritty or realistic; it always has to be treated with a mythical touch.

I don't know - take away the phone box and you could do quite a realistic take. But then it won't be Who without the phone box, the fans cry, and I can well see sometime in the future this exact clash when 'remake Who' enters the minds of TV execs again. As for grim and gritty, they manage that fairly well already sometimes.

Man on a Ledge, 2012.

Sam Worthington. Had no idea it was him I was watching until the credits. Looks very different to when he was in Terminator Salvation; he was a lean machine then, now, squat came to mind. Maybe it was my TV at fault? The movie itself wasn't bad, but it all felt old, tired. A bit like Ed Harris who looked very gaunt.

Tower Heist, 2011.

I love Ben Stiller. I remember loving Eddie Murphy during his Beverly Hills Cops days and the last few years, I've been dying to love him again. And this had Alan Alda too! MASH4EVA! So I wished to love this movie. Unfortunately, it's quite a strangely unlovable one. Strangely un-actiony and unfunny for an action comedy too. Disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 July, 2012, 03:31:17 PM
Possibly one for the Kung Fu Fighting thread but hey ho. Raging Phoenix is about as much fun as you can have with an ass-kicking Thai girl in your own living room. I've been meaning to get a hold of Chocolate, Jeeja Yanin's first film, for ages but this has shot it to the top of the list.

It's the sort of film where the kicks and punches often visibly fail to connect but it's full of such fun and inventive fight choreography that I'm happy to let that go. You've got a couple of guys whose fighting style appears to be a strange mix of capoeira and breakdancing. Sounds ridiculous but works surprisingly well in context. This then leads to our heroine being taught a form of drunken Thai boxing where the alcohol is used to sublimate emotional pain into fighting spirit!

The nuttiness doesn't stop there as the standard sex-trafficking villains morph into a gang deriving a lucrative perfume from the sorrowful tears of beautiful women. Visually, the film frequently fidgets into strange camera angles, jerky hand-held shots (although that might just be my broadband) and garish colour saturation. This is occasionally used to highlight story elements and never really gets too annoying as they always remember to knock it on the head when a fight starts. Tremendous fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 13 July, 2012, 03:39:04 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 July, 2012, 12:17:03 PM


As for DARK KNIGHT RISES, I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea but I always feel that one of the strengths of Batman is that he is far more open to many different styles of interpretation than most superheroes. 

Same true to a large extent of DREDD. 

True. As much as I like Urbans gritty, hard-edged Dredd, I long for a more easy going, loosely adapted movie. They could even include a sidekick character for light comic relief to counteract Dredds personality.









Wait a drokkin' minute....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 July, 2012, 09:19:16 PM
ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (1951)

There's a little gag routine in this, involving the palming and pocketing of money, that is so clever and amusing that it completely justifies spending an hour and a half watching a sixty year old vehicle for two comedians nearing the end of their time in the spotlight.

In this, Bud and Lou graduate as detectives and immediately take on the case of a boxer who was wrongly convicted of murder and promptly escaped from the big house. Along the way, he visits his doctor pal and gets injected with Griffin's invisibility serum as a way of clearing his name and exposing the seedy underworld of fight fixing.

Bud and Lou do their thing and another Universal horror character escapes unscathed- the invisibility effects are excellent and there's a respect for the source material that highlights Bud and Lou as a class act. For years we've looked at these movies as 'what happens when horror runs out of steam', but the truth seems to be that they are just as (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 13 July, 2012, 09:24:42 PM
(cont) interesting and worthy of note as the now more-popular 'straight' horrors. And Lou Costello was a real star- he's brilliantly judged and measured even when he's clowning- which is surely the mark of an exceptional talent.

By popular demand, we're apparently watching '...Go To Mars' tomorrow... After a hilarious mix-up where i thought they were asking to see 'Ghosts of Mars' and explained in some detail why that was unsuitable and wasnt going to happen, over tea.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 13 July, 2012, 09:30:17 PM
HANNAH - bought simply because it was cheap and the blurb stated it to be " A modern day Leon" (which made me feel a little old I have to admit).

I was lied to, apart from a few decent fight scenes it was shite. Whoever was in charge of photography decided to use everything he'd ever seen in anything else..we had the shakey hand held stuff, running with the cameras so there was plenty of shots of pavement and spinning it around so people were running upside down. The film itself could have been 20 minutes shorter if all the scenes of the main character jogging along either to or from somewhere were trimmed.

To be honest, by the end I couldn't give a toss how it ended, just as long as it did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 14 July, 2012, 01:19:05 AM
I've just seen a really good French flick called 'Comme Tout Le Monde' (Australian title: 'Mr Average').  It's about a bloke who is a one-man representative sample, ie his tastes match most peoples.  An advertising company sets him up with a flat full of hidden cameras  and a girlfriend who keeps asking him to choose things, so they can find out which products will succeed.  The French president gets in on the act.  It falls apart a bit towards the end, but overall it was interesting and enjoyable.  My son liked it, but not as much as 'B-13'*, which is a 12 year old's idea of a perfect French movie.



*not as you might think, the Bannanas in Pyjamas latest member, but a Froggy version of 'Escape from New York', with parkour
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emperor on 14 July, 2012, 02:27:46 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 July, 2012, 10:13:17 AM
Nazi's at the Centre of the Earth.

Yes it's Sci Fy Channel brain chowder again. Undead Nazi's in the Antartic! Yes everyone, beneath the Planet of the Apes lies a Hollow sphere world ruled by the master Race who preserve themselves by flaying unfortunate visitors of their flesh queue gory face scalping. 

But these interlopers are American dammit. So though they are Scientist, abused and sexually molested by mouldy Uber mensch they rebel against the nasty Deathless ones who are led unbelievably by an Actor who appeared in the Katy Perry video 'Hot and Cold' as the Priest/Vicar. Jake Bushey [named ReichStag here: yes subtlety is not this films strong point] was another American who turned Nazi then back again to good old Uncle Sam [spoiler]blowing up the Nazi super saucer in heroic self sacrifice.[/spoiler]

'Why did he do this you cry?! ' unable to control your feverish excitement for this bilge water Tv trash? 

To destroy [spoiler]ADOLPH HILTER[/spoiler] no less reborn and badly computer animated as a giant cyborg intent on leading the world back into his beneficent clutches!!

It doesn't get bigger than that and this Film helped me regain my faith in nothingness.

The Jake Busey character made me laugh every time he appeared on the screen - those teeth!! that hair!! he's a scientist??? His name is Reichstag??

The film was awful, obviously, but a notch or two better than the usual Asylum/Syfy films but what amazes me is that they don't have someone with half a brain go over the script and tighten it up. They went to the bother of hiring actors, throwing a lot of CGI at it and it was both an interesting concept and a rather outrageous implementation but it often felt slack where a bit of extra tinkering would have done he world of good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 10:08:58 AM
Since hearing about Nazis At The Centre of the Earth, ive wanted to see it, and am pleased to inform those without Rupert Murdoch's Evil TV box, or the one advertised by the goat of mendez Richard Branson and his offspring David Tennant, that it comes to dvd at the end of this month.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 July, 2012, 10:24:24 AM
I don't know how anyone in their right mind could actually sit through one of those SyFy/Asylum shit-fests. Life is way too short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 10:36:56 AM
It really isnt- life's quite long, and getting longer. But yes, i'd agree with you re the asylum in general, sort of. I wouldnt choose to watch any of their usual output- but nazis appears to be something a bit special.

My biggest problem with these movies is that somehow they get justified by roger corman having done the same with budgets and speed of production back in the sixties, and italian cinema doing the same with regard to rip-offs of big u.s productions throughout the seventies and eighties. So what's the difference? And how are the asylum different to troma or charles band's studios?

Well, they just are and it's not the same. The end result seems so unloved that comparisons can't be drawn. But 'nazis at the centre of the earth' may be the film that changes that. There may be a laudable lack of pretention toward making films that are any kind of (hock, spit) 'art' and a complee embrace of enterainment and p t barnum showmanship, but the business-led cynicism so far outweighs the joy.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 14 July, 2012, 10:55:04 AM
You can see the Logic behind Asylum's thinking.

For a million or two Dollars you can produce a Film that will be seen almost Worldwide on Network Television and Cable TV. The English speaking global audience is pretty large and so while Film makers struggle to get their Movie seen outside their own Country via Cinemas Asylum have a much more direct method of getting their 'Product' viewed -Television.

If you can get a million dollar Movie distributed across several Continents your bound to make money and this all before DVD sales.

I don't think me not watching another Sci Fy shite Film is going to impact Asylum's sales much. 

I spelt [spoiler]HITLER[/spoiler] wrong didn't I? Mr[spoiler] HILTER[/spoiler] is Monty Python I do believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 11:11:18 AM
Absolutely, and were i to win the lottery tomorrow and have the clout to get films financed and in production, my business model would be umpteen very low budget (sub two million) exploitation films concentrating on tits, arse and monsters/violence, distributed via download and pay-tv.

I would just hope they'd be a little less, i dont know, cynical perhaps, than the asylum's output up til now.

I think you either get that or you dont. You either think the epitome of filmmaking is to make the absolute best and most artistically-sound picture possible and see increased budgets as a way of realising your vision more exactly- be it by hiring better and more expensive actors, location shoots, hd cameras, special effects or whatever- or you think 'i want to make a nazi monster movie this month, but next month i want to make a sex-vampires-in-iraq gulf war film, because there's a demand for both. Then i want a month off before making that department store santa vs zombies thing in time for the xmas market'.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 14 July, 2012, 11:27:28 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 11:11:18 AM
my business model would be umpteen very low budget (sub two million) exploitation films concentrating on tits, arse and monsters/violence,..
...I would just hope they'd be a little less, i dont know, cynical perhaps, than the asylum's output up til now.
SBT

Nothing cynical there. ;) Oh dear me no. Exploit the public for all their worth I say.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 July, 2012, 12:50:37 PM
Of course I'm not suggesting thar DREDD should be more like the Stallone version.

But you could be faithful to the comic and deliver a 12 certificate action movie that's lighter in tone. That happens very regularly in 2000ad; not every episode of Dredd has exploding heads and drug use.

I totally appreciate tne direction they've taken and am looking forward to what they've made but would also like a DREDD That I can take Tiny Tips to see. And that is possible with the character and source material.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 July, 2012, 01:07:13 PM
After last nights BBC4's Roy Orbison Fest, Blue Velvet got a welcome airing. As unsettlingly good as it always was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 10:39:33 PM
FINAL DESTINATION 5 (the latest one)

It's not often a horror movie series gets to part five and you can honestly say the most recent is probably the best since the first- but here, you can. Not going to say much, other than the disaster here is the collapse of vancouver's lions gate bridge (or 'north bay bridge', as it pretends to be here), whereupon our hapless cast try to escape death and inevitably fail in spectacular fashion. The deaths are utterly glorious this time round, although there is an overreliance on cg blood as is par for the course now and which never, ever, looks convincing. Dredd clip, im looking at you.

Top bits this time: laser eye surgery goes a bit wrong, a thai massage and acupuncture doesnt help a man feel better, a gymnastic splat, the opening bridge carnage itself and the magnificent twist ending, which is still making me grin like a loony. All are hilarious and scary and just... well, it's highly recommended, if you like this sort of thing.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 July, 2012, 10:51:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 July, 2012, 12:50:37 PM
Of course I'm not suggesting thar DREDD should be more like the Stallone version.

But you could be faithful to the comic and deliver a 12 certificate action movie that's lighter in tone. That happens very regularly in 2000ad; not every episode of Dredd has exploding heads and drug use.

I totally appreciate tne direction they've taken and am looking forward to what they've made but would also like a DREDD That I can take Tiny Tips to see. And that is possible with the character and source material.

I have doubts. Simply because of the concept you might end up with an R/15 even of you're playing it safe, and end up with a watered down version of the character that pleases no one. Isn't that basically what happened with the 1995 version?

Maybe if it was very stylised, even animated...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 July, 2012, 10:57:45 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 11:11:18 AM
making that department store santa vs zombies thing in time for the xmas market'.

I think I'd like to watch that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 14 July, 2012, 11:04:25 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 14 July, 2012, 01:07:13 PM
After last nights BBC4's Roy Orbison Fest, Blue Velvet got a welcome airing.

Great minds - just doing the same now, haven't seen in it in nearly 20 years. Loving it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 July, 2012, 11:11:39 PM
Of course you would mardroid! Down-on-his-luck department store santa leads kids and their surviving parents to safety from an xmas eve zombie uprising. Despite being a drunk, he comes to realise the kids believe he really IS santa, so he has to come through for them. It writes itself, and combining holiday shmaltz with zombies and horror guarantees an audience- as 'alternative programming' over the festive period, much like 'bad santa'. The secret would be not to pump shitloads of cash into it, but to do it quickly. Shoot the first draft- as long as the script hit the right beats, it'd be fine. A week to write and prep. Shoot in two weeks. A week in post. Then move on to the next project.
Edit: zombies could be replaced by whatever crowd-pleasing monster has proven successful this year. I may be inclined to go for vampires, purely due to that abraham lincoln film being on dvd before xmas and the final twilight coming out.

Anyway got a spare half-million?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 15 July, 2012, 08:56:06 AM
Awake, 2007.

Just caught the last few minutes of this yesterday before I toddled off to bed, and it was twisted enough to make me want to watch the whole thing. I say twisted, not believable, but I know people can be nasty, nasty things so what the hell do i know. Gonna hunt this time and hope the rest is as good as the ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 July, 2012, 10:37:19 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 July, 2012, 12:50:37 PMI totally appreciate tne direction they've taken and am looking forward to what they've made but would also like a DREDD That I can take Tiny Tips to see. And that is possible with the character and source material.

Agree with you completely, Tips.  I really love how Dredd appears to be shaping up, but I honestly would have preferred a version I could have taken my son to.  They chose one direction out of many, it looks like it was successful, but it doesn't stop me wishing for something lighter: the ultra-violence has never been the core appeal of Dredd for me.  However, I think Radiator's point about the risk of watering it down until it pleases nobody is sadly on the money.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2012, 11:22:13 AM
True. But if you have the same creative bods on board and the same consultation with Wagner etc. surely it could end up undiluted.  The DREDD stories that don't have lashings of the old ultra-violence aren't as a result of somebody saying to John Wagner "That's a bit much, can you tone it down a bit. And have Dredd kiss someone at the end."


PS: I just couldn't help myself typing "lashings of the old...". Is that a quote from somewhere that has lodged itself in my brain without me realising it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 July, 2012, 11:31:13 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2012, 11:22:13 AM
True. But if you have the same creative bods on board and the same consultation with Wagner etc. surely it could end up undiluted.  The DREDD stories that don't have lashings of the old ultra-violence aren't as a result of somebody saying to John Wagner "That's a bit much, can you tone it down a bit. And have Dredd kiss someone at the end."


I think it's more to do with the fine line drawn by the film classifiers and unfortunately Dredd uses his Lawgiver quite frequently even in the old 'fun' Dredd stories and I'd hate tho think he couldn't shoot anybody, use different types of bullets, or shoot someone and not be able to see any blood, that's more insulting. Films aren't comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 15 July, 2012, 11:53:20 AM
I saw Kubrick's The Killing and Huston's Asphalt Jungle to other night. Great films, especially The killing. The pun of the time he'd get for robbing small vs large dollars really summed it up beautifully in the end: "Eh what's the difference" haha.

And I just saw Pi. Quite mad with great photo. A work of art. For me it felt more interesting than good. I'd recommend it  to people to make their minds up about it.

I think i'll continue this journey through very "grey" movies shot in black and white with Tirez su pianiste and Rififi tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 July, 2012, 11:54:30 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2012, 11:22:13 AM
True. But if you have the same creative bods on board and the same consultation with Wagner etc. surely it could end up undiluted.  The DREDD stories that don't have lashings of the old ultra-violence aren't as a result of somebody saying to John Wagner "That's a bit much, can you tone it down a bit. And have Dredd kiss someone at the end."


PS: I just couldn't help myself typing "lashings of the old...". Is that a quote from somewhere that has lodged itself in my brain without me realising it?

"That was a real kick and good for laughs and lashings of the old ultraviolence" from A Clockwork Orande, which itself refers to The Famous Five and the enthusiasm for ginger beer exhibited by Enid Blyton's prose.

I don't think films should shrink from the showing the brutality and ugliness of violence and the casual manner in which it's often used, and a Dredd film that didn't deal with that would be missing a good deal of the point of the character and the system he embodies.

The ratings system and market forces dictate that, once you've made that decision, you have to target a fairly narrow spectrum of the film audience- for whom Otto Sump and Eck Muttocks would represent an unwelcome distraction from all the disintegrating jaws and flayed flesh.

A decent animated TV show would represent our best chance of seeing a screen adaptation that managed to balance representing Dredd's uncompromising methods and retaining the wit, invention and glorious designs of the Megacity One we all remember. I don't see anything wrong with having one Dredd for the kids and one for fans of John Woo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 July, 2012, 12:00:15 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 15 July, 2012, 11:54:30 AM
I don't think films should shrink from the showing the brutality and ugliness of violence and the casual manner in which it's often used, and a Dredd film that didn't deal with that would be missing a good deal of the point of the character and the system he embodies.

He wouldn't be Judge, Jury & Executioner in a 12A film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 July, 2012, 12:10:38 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 15 July, 2012, 11:54:30 AMA decent animated TV show would represent our best chance of seeing a screen adaptation that managed to balance representing Dredd's uncompromising methods and retaining the wit, invention and glorious designs of the Megacity One we all remember.

The level of sentient-on-sentient gunplay apparently acceptable in the The Clone Wars cartoon would be quite sufficent for a workable Dredd, IMHO.  When you have the heroes using flamethrowers (complete with writhing, burning victims), shooting wounded aliens and indeed each other, and baddies shooting prisoners in the head and dumping their bodies in space to drift slowly towards the camera, I think six kinds of ammunition should be fine. 

Again looking at TCW the main problem with a computer-animated feature seems to be populating a megapolis.  They nail MC-1-alike Coruscant perfectly as an environment, but even after four seasons the background human/alien character models are appallingly repetitive.  The same Hammerhead wanders in and out of frame repeatedly, sometimes wearing a different coloured tunic. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 July, 2012, 12:29:58 AM
I'm half-heartedly watching Hellboy 2 on the telly and it's not very good. In fact I'd pretty much decided to go to bed but then there was a pretty cool bit after they'd had a big fight with Swamp Thing. Now it's gone all X-Men "they hate us because we're different" so bed it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 July, 2012, 11:15:39 AM
Arlington Road.  Andy Dufresne and the Dude in a tense psychological suburban terrorist conspiracy thriller amongst the neatly trimmed lawns of suburban DC!  How could this not be worthy of investing some after-midnight insominiac hours!  HEAVY SPOILERS follow., but trust me, I'm doing you a favour.

Oh look, it's the credit sequence from Millennium, ah well, made in 1999, what can you expect.  Hang about, here's Debbie Jablinsky from Addams Family Values, playing... Debbie Jablinsky from Addams Family Values.  That's odd casting for someone whose believability were supposed to be unsure about, as the major plot point.  Wow, that Flynn gives some very strange classes, some unstructured shouting and some slides, a field trip to the scene of his wife's death, and some more shouting.  That must be one very relaxed university. 

Wait now, sure this bit doesn't make any sense?  Nor does this bit.  Nor this one.  Nor this.  And they put the bomb where?  Was that before or after they intentionally rammed the car at high speed?  What were the chances that he'd actually get that car into the basement - he has no security clearance to enter FBI HQ, he has to run a gauntlet of armed guards, drive across a tire shredder thing and jump a barrier ramp, and then presumably has to park at an apppropriate place, all without knowing he's supposed to be doing it.  And that's an awfully impressive and precise piece of demolition for a single bomb that fits comfortably in the boot trunk of a hire car randomly parked in a basement.

And then, afterwards is no-one, absolutely no-one, going to notice that this 'lone bomber' and the previous one were both involved with the Cub Scouts, indeed with the self-same troops as was his good friend and neighbour, the convicted pipe-bomber?  The one who his son is staying with?

What a disappointing heap of poo that was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 July, 2012, 01:32:12 PM
SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD.I think this was an improvement on LAND and DIARY but I just don't know. Really I don't. Almost a zom-com but not quite. That can't be right.

NINE SONGS
Neither me nor Mrs Tips get what this was supposed to be saying.  The minimal dialogue leaves you guessing what people are meant to be thinking and seeing as the camera doesn't focus much on their faces (well, not both at the same time!) that makes it hard.  yes, hard. That was intentional.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 16 July, 2012, 01:51:43 PM
Avatar was on Film 4 on Saturday, so I watched it for the first time. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd been led to believe. Yes, it was simplistic and the characters were either VERY BAD BADDIES or VERY GOOD GOODIES and it po-facedly runs through every 'noble indigenous peoples' cliche in the Hollywood book, but it was exciting and good looking enough to sustain my interest over its 3 hour runtime.

The effects were fantastic for the most part. I only occasionally felt like I was watching a cartoon. I did wonder why such a big deal was made of the fact that [spoiler]taming the big dragon thing was so difficult, only 5 others had done so since records began. It looked like a right doddle to me.[/spoiler]

Overall - Big dumb enjoyable Hollywood film which succeeds by throwing money into my face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 July, 2012, 06:07:38 PM
Megaforce.  I am not entirely sure what I just watched.  Someone in 1982 basically decided to pre-empt any future GI Joe movie and made a flick about some hippies who show the English bloke from Knight Rider how awesome their toys are for around forty minutes, then the rest is about driving about on buggies and dirt bikes in the desert while wearing uniforms from the tv version of Buck Rogers shooting lasers while things explode, then the head hippy turns on his bike's flight mode and everyone cheers as he gives a thumbs up to a fit Persis Khambatta.  I suspect I may not have been drunk enough to appreciate this fully, but it is intermittently entertaining, particularly the laughable bluescreen flying bike sequence, the digital clock that counts down the amount of time the heroes have to complete their raiding mission, the hero knocking on Henry DiSilva's tank to "come by to tell you the good guys always win - EVEN IN THE 80S!" and the shrill metal shredding of the - YES - proprietary theme tune where someone is clearly getting their Journey on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EUmWhITPOA
It's not good, but it is one of those films a few mates can get mileage out of laughing at.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 July, 2012, 06:23:40 PM
and it cost twice as much as Star Wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 July, 2012, 06:37:41 PM
And every penny spent on "the most sophisticated weapons ever seen on a movie screen." I subjected myself to the trailer as well. I won't put a link in to save you all. Their bikes do produce smoke though. Lots of it so you can zero in on them more easily.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 July, 2012, 09:34:26 PM
ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS (1953)

I missed most of this, due to a bath, but what i caught was great. Not only did it have some of the best model shots and visual effects ive ever seen in a 50s movie, but latterly takes place on venus: man-less planet of scantily-clad glamour-girls.

Unsure of what went on before, but they land on venus, get captured and lou costello briefly becomes king. Only when shown a video of some body-builder types- the men of venus before they were exiled 400 years ago- do the venusian women cease desiring our heroes. Even then, a number agree to be crammed into cargo holds and cupboards on board their ship to be smuggled back to Earth... until the excess weight gives them away and puts paid to lou's plan of sex.

They return to Earth (in an excellent fx sequence) and lou snogs an earth-girl, necessitating an intergalactic custard pie on his head, as revenge.

All good fun, ruined somewhat by the shitty sound quality on this disc- a double bill with '...meet the invisible man'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hoops on 17 July, 2012, 10:09:18 PM
Jonah Hex...£3 from Tesco and worth every penny  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 July, 2012, 10:15:18 PM
How did they pay you the £3?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hoops on 17 July, 2012, 10:18:04 PM
Clubcard vouchers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 July, 2012, 10:21:53 PM
I paid a pound, a pound, a shiny pound for jonah hex- and as yet it remains unwatched.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 17 July, 2012, 11:08:26 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 17 July, 2012, 10:21:53 PM
I paid a pound, a pound, a shiny pound for jonah hex- and as yet it remains unwatched.

SBT

Its probably worth that for the very shiny Megan Fox. Literally. I distinctly remember thinking "ooh, shiny"  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 July, 2012, 12:58:11 AM
Even allowing for it's dubious satiric or edgy intent, Ex Drummer was a thoroughly unpleasant and misogynistic watch. A successful writer in search of a new story hooks up with a set of inept punk clowns in their quest to win the local battle of the bands. Each of them has some unpleasant character trait or family strife which the writer mercilessly manipulates to ensure the worst possible outcome for everyone except himself. I kept watching in the hope that the Man Bites Dog undercurrent might spring to life but, an occasional bleak laugh aside it didn't.

Stylistically, it owes a significant debt to Trainspotting. Given the obvious low budget, what they manage to achieve is pretty impressive and that energy would maybe tempt me into watching another from the same people. Pretty good soundtrack too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2012, 02:05:09 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 17 July, 2012, 10:21:53 PM
I paid a pound, a pound, a shiny pound for jonah hex- and as yet it remains unwatched.

SBT

I will pay you a pound to never watch it ever.

Arrietty.  God but this is a depressing film, and it's not even like I'm deliberately overthinking it as a parable about a people who destroy their lives, the lives of their children, and eventually their own race and culture through isolationism and an inability to trust people from other cultures because one of the fucking characters comes right out and says just that in the bloody film, and this is in keeping with his character because he's gloomy because he'll die two days after the film ends.
The Borrowers are a doomed people and there's little chance that this subtext is accidental given that the only people who know of their existence are old people or dying kids, and that their numbers are so depressingly small that the family of urbane Borrowers do a Battlestar Galactica and abandon everything they own on the slim chance of being able to hang out with a whole three other people even though those three other people are cave-dwelling savages who grunt rather than speak and dress in rags and from what I can glean of the finale they use the barely-pubescent Arrietty as some sort of bargaining chip to get themselves a place to stay - very old world, if you ask me, but in keeping with the regressive worldview of the characters and relentless depression which isn't alleviated by Cecile Corbel's downbeat theme that centers entirely on conveying how lonely the main character is and how little friendship and free will matter in a cruel world buffeted by the whims of an angry God.
Kids, I imagine, will love it, especially all the wandering about nooks and crannies in the house during really well-done sequences that convey the sense of scale of the Borrowers compared to humans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 18 July, 2012, 07:23:45 AM
My kids love Arrietty, and have watched it over and over and over.  I now officially hate it.  It's one of the few Studio Ghibli films I find to be a total drag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 July, 2012, 09:50:19 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 18 July, 2012, 07:23:45 AM
It's one of the few Studio Ghibli films I find to be a total drag.

Faithful adaptation, so.  I read The Borrowers to my eldest last year and could not believe how depressing I found it.  Well written, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2012, 11:10:08 AM
I have vague reccollections of the books being depressing affairs, but the makers of Arrietty clearly thought they weren't depressing enough, as the Boy is changed from someone recovering from a fever (in the books) to someone dying of congenital heart failure, and who has been abandoned by his mother mere days before he's to have an operation that will probably fail.  He speaks curtly about how fate is what it is and there's a passing flirtation with resolving to hope for the best, but tellingly no-one in the story ever defeats the machinations of fate and are merely slaves to the inevitable, with grand adventures having dire consequences and everyone seeming to live in a state of fear or resignation.
Basically I came away thinking Ghibli's next project should be The Diary of Anne Frank.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 18 July, 2012, 12:50:03 PM
Reading between the lines, Professor, I'd say your view of Arietty is less than completely and wholeheartedly positive.  I haven't seen Arietty myself, but I'll approach it with caution.  Ghibli don't always get it right, that's for sure. My favourites of theirs are Tottoro and Spirited Away.  I also really liked the Lupin III film that Miyazaki did.

I've  just finished 'Summer Heures',  a French flick in which almost nothing happens.  An old woman who used to be shacked up with a famous artist dies.  Her kids decide to sell her beautiful house.  One of the kids is upset about it.  ummm, that's about it.  It had moments where I thought 'how cool. How unhollywood of them to let things trail off like this', but a lot more moments that made me think 'how dull.  Wish I was watching 'Last Action Hero' or 'Buckaroo Banzai' instead.  It has the chick from 'Three Colours Blue' but is way less annoying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 18 July, 2012, 02:38:07 PM
Ah the Jonah Hex film is a stinker. I love the comic and Josh Brolin is well cast but the plot?.... Nah
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2012, 06:27:39 PM
36th Chamber of Shaolin, Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber and American Shaolin.  The former three comprise a rough trilogy, though there's enough of a difference between the sequels and the original to justify their being made, particularly the move to comedy that occurs with Return and continues to new obnoxious heights with Disciples as the series tries to move away from the physical lessons of Fighting Buddhism to the spiritual ones, but muddies the water a little by having plots powered by pay disputes or cultural elitism from either side of the Mongul/Canton divide.  They're classic chop sockies, all the same, though if I had to pick I'd likely go for Return's knockabout scraps as helping form the most likable film of the three, although they do all suffer from slightly arrogant leads who basically turn into bullies in the final reel.
Flipping the script on that notion, American Shaolin seems at first a cash-in on the Shaolin brand for a US audience as a brash white kid insists centuries of tradition be changed to make his life easier so he can learn to beat up the guy who pantsed him (no, really, this is his actual motivation), and there's clearly a lot that's been drastically altered or omitted to make the Shaolin tradition more accomodating to the 3 act structure and western viewers, particularly the recasting of sifu as actual drill instructors, the omission of any mention of Buddhism, and all conversations relevant to the plot being held in English even when there's only Chinese people in the room, but with all that's wrong with it, I can't recall seeing a martial arts flick in years which has its heart in the right place in the way American Shaolin has, emphasising the learning of patience, discipline, sacrifice and loyalty over seeing dudes get kicked in the head by other dudes in sandals, although there's a ton of that and very impressive some of it is, too.
Rather than a love-letter to martial arts movies, the script is a love letter to martial arts themselves, and while there is plenty of fighting to gawk at, AS is essentially a movie about the journey rather than the destination, about learning as an end in itself rather than a means.  It won't win awards for cinematography, acting, or pretty much anything at all, but if you've ever been serious about martial arts, competitive sports or even just made friends through some daffy hobby you indulge, you'll recognise a lot of what is here once you get past the silly motivating factors and staple characters which I am retroactively realising may have been a commentary on the preconceptions about martial arts in general.  Also a ridiculously young Daniel Dae Kim is one of the lead actors, if such a thing interests you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 July, 2012, 06:49:20 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 18 July, 2012, 11:10:08 AM...as the Boy is changed from someone recovering from a fever (in the books) to someone dying of congenital heart failure, and who has been abandoned by his mother mere days before he's to have an operation that will probably fail....

Ay caramba.  :o

Eagerly awaiting Studio Ghibli's Nil By Mouth. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 July, 2012, 07:23:25 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 18 July, 2012, 02:38:07 PM
Ah the Jonah Hex film is a stinker. I love the comic and Josh Brolin is well cast but the plot?.... Nah

Arh that film is just terrible. Both me and my wife love the comics. I think we got about 30 minutes in watching, exchanged a saddened glance, nodded and without out word stopped the film, put it straight back into its Lovefilm envelope and tried to pretend the whole sordid affair never happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 19 July, 2012, 03:56:14 AM
X-Men: First Class, 2011.

Saw this for the first time today and it was actually quite entertaining. Not as good as I'd heard, but not as bad either. Didn't feel much for anyone except Magneto and even then, there was something lacking. And too many times, it felt like they were 'acting', pausing to let the other one say their line - all quite forced. That diamond girl was probably the worst but the much acclaimed James McAvoy didn't shine much either. I heard about the chemistry between X and Magneto but again, it came across very forced to me. And the big showdown was a big letdown, and I could have done without the training scenes.

Now I've written it down, I'm finding it hard to make the good bits list. It's one of those movies that's good fun despite itself. But the best thing was the three secs of Wolverine and at the same time, I wish they'd cut ties with the previous set and made this all new.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 July, 2012, 12:28:29 PM
I loved the giant wheels on Xavier's wheelchair in a deeply unironic manner.  Also the way someone was talking about racism and the camera zooms in on Darwin was hilarious, as was Xavier's trying to talk ex Nazi hunter Eric down from killing the soldiers at the end by offering that "they're only obeying orders."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 19 July, 2012, 12:29:18 PM
It's been there since time immemorium with X-Men. Losing your head does not compare with losing your legs. That's the whole reason the film got made. Why everybody's suddenly backing Magneto's play is beyond me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 July, 2012, 12:34:10 PM
Quote from: Keys Tone Head on 19 July, 2012, 12:29:18 PMWhy everybody's suddenly backing Magneto's play is beyond me.

If I had to guess, it was because he's a Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and makes a point of telling everyone racism is wrong and to stand up for themselves.  Charles, on the other hand, is a rich white dude who tells them there's something shameful in what they are and that they should hide from the world.  I know which one I'd listen to in a pinch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 19 July, 2012, 01:18:53 PM
HE'S LOST THE USE OF HIS LEGS AND IS STILL ALIVE!

I can't bring myself to the point of choosing which loss is more ridiculous. Magneto's loss humanity through lack of humanity or Dr X's atonal loss of legs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 July, 2012, 10:29:26 PM
IP MANEven though I know nothing about the man himself (or martial arts movies for that matter), I'm guessing this was not historically accurate. Who cares though? It's fucking great with fine central performance (Donnie Yen is fantastic) and great little fights that don't outstay their welcome.  Is IP MAN 2 worth a punt?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 19 July, 2012, 10:40:07 PM
NEKROMANTIK

Something of a guilty pleasure, jorg buttgereit's infamous film still proves shocking after- what is it, 20something years?

Subtitled, cack-handedly directed, and never once convincing, it caused something of a moral panic back in the day, but nowhere near as big a fuss as those with a financial investment would have liked. Briefly, it's features a couple into necrophilia, who remove corpses from road accidents, bring them home and fuck them. She runs off with a corpse, and he ends up stabbing himself in the stomach while wanking until his spurting cum turns crimson.

Or it would if my vhs copy wasnt so old and warped that it remained either black and white throughout, or that odd green and blue stripeyness that only nth generation videos ever display.

To be butally honest, i was very tired and fell asleep partway through, missing the bit where they kill and skin a rabbit. I felt this no loss.

It would be easy to dismiss nekromantik as a load of shit made at the arse-end of (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 19 July, 2012, 10:47:40 PM
(cont) a period where amateurs with access to cheap equipment for the first time tried to outdo, and cash in on, the 'video nasty' movement of a few years earlier. If buttgereit hadnt gone on to do interesting stuff afterwards (not least tv scifi show 'lexx') you'd rightly put this with such other contemporary 'classics' as 'violent shit' ("made by the violent shitters"- oh my sides) and whatever jake west did next.
But he did- notably 'der todes king', which i hope to watch next if i accidentally find my video copy while looking for old episodes of filthy rich & catflap, like i did with nekromantik the other night.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 July, 2012, 11:21:54 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 July, 2012, 10:29:26 PM
Is IP MAN 2 worth a punt?
I enjoyed it, but it's not in the same league as the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 20 July, 2012, 12:33:54 AM
Just watched Lockout. Not very good. But it was cool to see a action hero who smokes again. And in space too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2012, 12:43:37 AM
Like that guy in Prometheus with hash in his space-helmet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 July, 2012, 10:29:02 AM
I don't recall Harry Twenty on High Rock smoking? Oh yeah, it's not an adaptation of that, is it... I keep forgetting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 20 July, 2012, 12:34:52 PM
another thing that made Prof X much less worth following than Magneto-to-be is that the young X looked alarmingly like David Cameron.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 20 July, 2012, 01:02:13 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2012, 12:43:37 AM
Like that guy in Prometheus with hash in his space-helmet.

Heh, one of my Simon Davis Sin Dex originals has got Finnegan smoking inside his space helmet  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hoops on 20 July, 2012, 04:28:25 PM
Went to the cinema for a Batman Begins/The Dark Knight double bill last night...great to see them on the big screen again
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 July, 2012, 04:40:24 PM
Quote from: hoops on 20 July, 2012, 04:28:25 PM
Went to the cinema for a Batman Begins/The Dark Knight double bill last night...great to see them on the big screen again

Dear me, your botty must have been severely numb after that. Could you walk? I like both films (although I think they're overrated, particularly the second) but the each of them is pretty lengthy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hoops on 20 July, 2012, 04:55:56 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 July, 2012, 04:40:24 PM
Quote from: hoops on 20 July, 2012, 04:28:25 PM
Went to the cinema for a Batman Begins/The Dark Knight double bill last night...great to see them on the big screen again

Dear me, your botty must have been severely numb after that. Could you walk? I like both films (although I think they're overrated, particularly the second) but the each of them is pretty lengthy.

Yeah, it started to get pretty numb around the four hour mark  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 22 July, 2012, 02:50:35 AM
Just watched BURIED staring Ryan Reynolds and what a performance he gave, for a change!

As the title says, he's buried and without giving anything away he's a contractor in Iraq and the shit hits the fan. He has to react against voices on the other end of the phone, as he goes through the torture of his ordeal. The tension mounts up as he tries to contact the people who can try and get him out of this mess. All the while his battery on his phone is doing the inevitable.

Thoroughly enjoyed the ending but I won't give that away, even with spoiler tags  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 22 July, 2012, 11:19:56 PM
Real Steel, 2011.

Surprisingly fun, despite an annoying Kate from Lost and an annoying boy who resembled annoying little Anakin Skywalker and a Hugh Jackman with distracting even white teeth. Did he have those teeth as Wolverine? So white. And even.

Robots fight robots in a ring. I know. And yet, it is fun. And no, I don't have an explanation for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hoops on 23 July, 2012, 05:23:29 PM
The Dark Knight Rises

Pretty dreadful stuff i have to say, so many things wrong with it i don't think i'll even start...and that's depressing for a Batfreak like me :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 July, 2012, 06:17:04 PM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 22 July, 2012, 11:19:56 PM
Real Steel, 2011.

Surprisingly fun, despite an annoying Kate from Lost and an annoying boy who resembled annoying little Anakin Skywalker and a Hugh Jackman with distracting even white teeth. Did he have those teeth as Wolverine? So white. And even.

Robots fight robots in a ring. I know. And yet, it is fun. And no, I don't have an explanation for it.

It's hard to hate any film whose opening gambit is a fistfight between a robot and a bull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2012, 09:22:06 PM
JAWS

At my youngest's request, as our evening movie. Granny is staying with us, and despite being told he doesnt need the reassurance, her constant "oh! Dont worry dear, it's just pretend!" never ceased to drive me to distraction. Along with her coughing, immediately followed by a small "oh dear!" ("HACK!oh dear! HACK!oh dear!") i ended the film very much wishing i was quint. Or that we had compressed air cylinders around the house.

Her eyesight and hearing not being good, when brody hands his smallest child to ellen after his eldest is discharged with mild shock, she squeaked in horror "why did he give her a severed leg?" and ended the film with "whatever happened to the nice policeman in the glasses who wanted to close the beach?". "He shot the shark, mom, that was him" says my wife "Oh, are you sure?" she replied. I wonder who she thought she was watching...

Anyway, again JAWS is fantastic and never gets old. And quint dies 30 years to the day after he was pulled out of the water during the (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2012, 09:24:04 PM
(cont) war, when his ship went down. Id not noticed that before.

Also: TRILOGY OF TERROR

Well, the final karen black story with the zuni fetish doll, anyway. Granny didnt approve, thinking it far too scary for small boys. But granny fucks off in ten days, so i dont care. Boys want to buy her a zuni fetish doll for xmas. Heh, heh and indeed, heh.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 23 July, 2012, 09:49:43 PM
Killer Joe - it's okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 July, 2012, 10:11:19 PM
Iron Sky - Not played straight at all. They're really really trying to be a naff and shite, it's very endearing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2012, 10:49:34 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2012, 09:22:06 PM
Her eyesight and hearing not being good, when brody hands his smallest child to ellen after his eldest is discharged with mild shock, she squeaked in horror "why did he give her a severed leg?" ...

Best thing I'm likely to read all week! 

It also never hurts to reiterate the obvious: this film is magnificent.  Among a mound of other interesting details we finally picked up on on our recent cinema viewing was the way each of the three main characters is established in a separate act - Brody in Act 1, Hooper in Act 2 and Quint in Act 3.  Each given a lovely bit of room to strut their stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 24 July, 2012, 12:47:37 AM
I liked Buried too,CF, a brave move, it could have been so bad.
I watched 'Goon' over the weekend, and really enjoyed it despited not knowing anything about ice hockey, other than it apparently has its origin in Shinty/Hurling.
Sean William Scott is the star, so it might suffer from the better-than-I though-it-would-be syndrome, I was expecting some form of American Pie. Worth a watch, if only to see Scott do his usual, but to good effect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 July, 2012, 10:00:58 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 July, 2012, 10:49:34 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 July, 2012, 09:22:06 PM
Her eyesight and hearing not being good, when brody hands his smallest child to ellen after his eldest is discharged with mild shock, she squeaked in horror "why did he give her a severed leg?" ...

Best thing I'm likely to read all week! 

It also never hurts to reiterate the obvious: this film is magnificent.  Among a mound of other interesting details we finally picked up on on our recent cinema viewing was the way each of the three main characters is established in a separate act - Brody in Act 1, Hooper in Act 2 and Quint in Act 3.  Each given a lovely bit of room to strut their stuff.

Yup. I find it hard to articulate how much I love this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 July, 2012, 11:19:37 AM
While we were camping this weekend with a whole bunch of friends, my daughter who is 3, made a really good friendship (in the way 3 year old do) with the 4 year old daughter of a friend of mine. They were inseparable... trust me this will get on topic.

We get home and last night my daughter asks me instead of a bit of telly before bedtime can she watch Star Wars. I had to fight back the tears of joy. We only managed the first 15 minutes, but the fact that Princess Leia (any Princess will do) was there at the start means she loved it. Asked a million questions, loved R2 and was scared by the Jawas (not Darth yet disappointingly). When I said it was bedtime she wasn't happy and I said we could watch it next time we have the telly. I'm so proud.

So it turns out Jasmine, my daughters new friend was telling Bethan (my daughter) all about it when we were away.Jim (the father of this lass) is a massive Star Wars fan and I owe him big time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 24 July, 2012, 11:34:56 AM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 22 July, 2012, 02:50:35 AM
Just watched BURIED staring Ryan Reynolds and what a performance he gave, for a change!

Caught this in the cinema, was hardly anyone there when I was watching so it added the atmosphere...really liked it. Anyone see the homage to it in the BBC3 sitcom White Van Man?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 July, 2012, 12:53:09 PM
Arena, a 1989 b-movie about space boxing.  Unsurprisingly, it's dreadful, but entertaining enough if you let it be.  The biggest names are probably Babylon 5's Claudia CHristian, or DS9's Mark Alaimo and Armin Shimmerman.  I have literally never heard of the lead actor in this and it's not hard to see why, but it's written by the guys who made the Flash tv series, so there's lots of getting on with things rather than wallowing in angst or camp.  It's basically just a tv movie of the week that just happens to be about space boxing.
Daft, but passes the time pleasantly enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 25 July, 2012, 01:31:25 PM
The Eagle, 2011.

Scoffed at the thought of this when it came out - I mean, Channing Tatum? So never went to see it. Glad I didn't because it wasn't worth going to the cinema for, but it's an interesting enough movie. Lots wrong or annoying or both in it, but still, good fun to watch. And it turns out Tatum ain't that bad an actor - this is the first time I've seen past that thick neck and disturbing blankness in his eyes. I heard he's good in 21 Jump Street too, so going by his turn in the Eagle, I might actually believe those opinions and give that movie a looksee too.

Back to the Eagle, think buddy cop bromance thing rather than Roman Empire historical epic, throw in some savage natives, huge lashings of emotional manipulation and manpain. Have fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 July, 2012, 10:10:00 PM
JAWS 2

When i was a kid, i had the Jaws 2 log, which for those not of certain age, was a paperback sized 'making of'. It promised, if i remember correctly, a number of illicit thrills including bikini-clad teenagers, tits, and gore.

I dont think i'd ever actually seen the movie until tonight- and my good grud almighty it's absolute bollocks. Just... awful, in every way.

Paper-thin, with absolutely no shocks or jump scenes, it seems to believe that just showing the shark is enough to send the audience into fits of terror. It's not. There's no suspense, no characterisation of it's friday the thirteenth-style gawky teenage cast and nothing lingers in the memory beyond the shark 'eating' a helicopter and the silly 'scarred' shark itself. Quite why it was designed like that, i dont know- they couldnt possibly be insinuating it's the reanimated zombie of the first one, could they? Surely not. And yet, maybe they are, and that's why the film itself is a lifeless corpse of (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 July, 2012, 10:20:42 PM
(cont) a copy of the first one.

Granny (still with us) provided the most entertainment, by claiming to be cold and putting both a jumper and her coat on, despite it being 27 degrees in my lounge with the window open. She then moaned long and loud about my eldest- laying on his giant blue ballbag (edite: beanbag, but im leaving that in because my phone makes me laugh sometimes) in just his underpants in front of the fan- claiming he'd 'catch a cold and get sick'. Then coughing all over him.

My wife paused it halfway through to make refreshments and i contemplated a getaway to the pub. It wasnt to be.

The main problem was the time wasted on scenes nowhere near the water. When your antagonist is a shark, there is little pertinent drama in bars and courtrooms. When it finally does go to the ocean it's shot with all the style and finesse of a roger moore bond movie- none at all. 

One good point: lorraine gary continues to be the sexiest woman ive seen in a movie for aaaages. Hubba.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 26 July, 2012, 03:44:02 PM
Ink: a modern day dark fairytale-esque fantasy film done with the style of Terry Gilliam on a budget after having watched Dark City. A bloated description, I know, but it's hard to truly sum up this unique and fantastic film. A must-see as far as I'm concerned. Really wish it was better known.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: P-BOT/1138 on 26 July, 2012, 04:10:28 PM
Watchers
freaked me out when i was a kid. now its just a bit pants. there is a really good film in there.  but you kinda have to squint to see it, though. :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 July, 2012, 05:07:05 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 July, 2012, 10:10:00 PM
JAWS 2

When i was a kid, i had the Jaws 2 log, which for those not of certain age, was a paperback sized 'making of'. It promised, if i remember correctly, a number of illicit thrills including bikini-clad teenagers, tits, and gore.

I dont think i'd ever actually seen the movie until tonight- and my good grud almighty it's absolute bollocks. Just... awful, in every way.

Jaws 2 is one of those films, like the sequel to the French Connection, that when you havent seen them for a good number of years, you get to thinking 'oh - their pretty good - ill have to watch them again', and then its 'Oh dear - whats this shit!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 26 July, 2012, 07:00:38 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 26 July, 2012, 05:07:05 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 July, 2012, 10:10:00 PM
JAWS 2

When i was a kid, i had the Jaws 2 log, which for those not of certain age, was a paperback sized 'making of'. It promised, if i remember correctly, a number of illicit thrills including bikini-clad teenagers, tits, and gore.

I dont think i'd ever actually seen the movie until tonight- and my good grud almighty it's absolute bollocks. Just... awful, in every way.

Jaws 3D, on the other hand, was absolutely brilliant, albeit only if you saw it in 3D. 
Jaws 2 is one of those films, like the sequel to the French Connection, that when you havent seen them for a good number of years, you get to thinking 'oh - their pretty good - ill have to watch them again', and then its 'Oh dear - whats this shit!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 July, 2012, 12:02:22 AM
For some reason I now have a hankering to watch Jaws: The Revenge.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 29 July, 2012, 04:31:37 PM
watched Repo Men last night after 3 episodes of Fringe season 2 lol

I thought Repo Men (which is one of those movies that owe a great debt to Judge Dredd!) was a great movie until the bloody end [spoiler]where they did the cliched Brazil type thing of showing that half of the film was actually an induced dream and that the equilibrium happy resolve never happened really.[/spoiler] Plus it was a performance by Jude Law I actually liked!!! - besides his stints as faithful wooden colleague Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films. I think the fact he's losing his hair is effecting his acting ability lol mind you....he'll probably get plugs and go back to the same old dulled wooden acting we're used to from Law (i.e. most parts he's played, defined by his remake of Alfie) lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 29 July, 2012, 05:04:36 PM
Me and Missus Pete watched Children of Men last night and we both hated it. What's wrong with us?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 July, 2012, 05:14:47 PM
Accepting that you have a problem is the first step. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 July, 2012, 05:19:46 PM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 29 July, 2012, 05:04:36 PM
Me and Missus Pete watched Children of Men last night and we both hated it. What's wrong with us?


You have children.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 29 July, 2012, 07:12:23 PM
Children of Men is one of those films I always watch when I find it on the box, and I could rewatch it again and again....though I'm not entirely sure why lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1IoWXR1QwY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1IoWXR1QwY)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgrwNP_gYE&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgrwNP_gYE&feature=related)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 July, 2012, 09:07:09 PM
Snow Beast, which I erroneously assumed was a remake of the 1977 schlock telemovie classic of the almost identical name, starring John "What's a Memory Like You (Doing in a Love Like This)" Schneider - whose career of playing overbearingly sanctimonious Christian fatherly types who are always right is utterly fascinating to me for reasons I have yet to fathom -  and some cast of nobodies.
There is something barmily entertaining about the monster in this, and the way he lurks behind a tree or a mound of snow waiting until someone looks the other way and then pokes his head out like he's being Batman or something despite clearly drooling blood and going "rarg" from off-camera all the time to the point that eventually I was subconsciously doing the Jaws music when he was "lurking" - he's just great - but this is a poor film.  Incompetently made and shot so you can actually see the joins in the polystyrene in the "ice cave lair", I'm not really spoiling anything in pointing out that the humans win, but in the final moments something goes "rarg" because their method of killing the snow beast that has survived millions of years in the coldest mountains on Earth is to try burying it in snow and then not check if he's still there, even when everyone says the humans must be crazy and imagined it or be lying but let's not make any legal case of the people they were with who are now missing, let's just say the humans are being silly and leave it at that so they can joke about their dead mates in the final reel.
It makes no attempt to make sense or be a functional script, it's just a big pile of tosh that would be unwatchable if not for the incompetence in filming the monster to the point he is in no way scary at all.  He is less scary than Harry from Bigfoot and the Hendersons, and all his extra fur just makes me wish I had a plushie of him because he is adorable, like a big cuddly St Bernard with a pug face.  I would watch a sequel to see what he gets up to, but I'd hope they ditched the horror angle and had him be in a spring break frathouse comedy of some sort where nerds get him drunk and parade him around a parTAY dressed in a beer hat to try and get themselves laid.  It would be the point human civilisation peaks and it's all downhill from there, but I would be willing to take that risk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 29 July, 2012, 10:57:23 PM
Nice to see a bit of grudging love for the dear old SNOWBEAST there. Saw it fairly recently and mentioned it in this very thread and, while i cant remember the details, think i felt similarly.

LAUREL & HARDY: GOING BYE BYE! and DO DETECTIVES THINK?

Two shorts, from different periods of the boys' career- one silent, one talky- which have similar set-ups. In the silent 'detectives', they play a couple of london bobbies assigned to protect a judge from the murderous attentions of the escaped lunatic he had previously sentenced to death. Bearing in mind the whitechapel murders were in living memory when this was made (39 years later), some of the gags and imagery are very interesting- and the routine around 'the whitechapel graveyard' is a great bit of physical comedy from stan. The murderer is, i think, played by the same actor who turns up again as an escaped lunatic in 'bye bye'- this time with a grudge against stan and ollie, after stan asked for him to be hanged at his trial. They need to leave (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 29 July, 2012, 11:04:59 PM
Watched Dragnet tonight - not the cop show thingy from the 40s or whenever - the 80s film featuring a post Ghostbusters Dan Ackroyd and a chirpy youthful Tom Hanks. I have to say, the plot and script for this film was terrible in places - but for the most part the film was funny whether it meant of be or not in places lol I'd say it's due for a remake...but quite how they'd go about it I don't know, and films like The Other Guys have kind of done remakes already.

(http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/dragnet/slides/mgp00003.idx.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 29 July, 2012, 11:05:10 PM
(cont) town fast, so leave a small ad asking for a companion to split the petrol costs... and, obviously get the criminal's moll, just as he escapes and cmes to visit her. She  hides him in a trunk, which then locks, and the boys attempt to free him- with drills, saws and hoses, etc, with bloody hilarious results. At times sidesplittingly funny, 'please excuse me, my ear is full of milk' has become a catchphrase in our house now.

My boys had never seen THE boys, so the idea of this was to introduce them to some of the funniest material ever put on film, with the hope that in years to come the likes of adam sandler and jim carrey will pale in comparison for them. It seems to have worked.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 30 July, 2012, 09:04:11 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 29 July, 2012, 11:05:10 PM
My boys had never seen THE boys, so the idea of this was to introduce them to some of the funniest material ever put on film, with the hope that in years to come the likes of adam sandler and jim carrey will pale in comparison for them. It seems to have worked.

SBT

Great idea. I plan to do the same when my brother manages to dig out his 'Complete Laurel & Hardy' DVD box set to lend me.

I think it's a real shame that you don't see Laurel and Hardy on TV anymore. I used to look forward to watching L & H or Harold Lloyd after school every day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 31 July, 2012, 09:55:54 AM
The Dark Knight Rises, 2012.

Watched this again for the final time. Final. I mean it this time. Bigger screen, better sound. Absolutely wonderful. Actually noticed Teal'c this time round, where before my eyes were pinned to JGL.

I am happily anticipating Dredd beating this as my favourite movie of the year, but until then, I'm still on the high of a story well told. It leaves you wanting more and yet quite happy with where it has left you, unlike the 2nd film which left me wide-eyed and wounded.

The story and chemistry between Marion and Tom is lovely, easily seen in a few seconds, and I prefer Bane to Joker, easily. Sacrilege to some, but his story here is so much more than that of a crazy criminal, his motivation, loyalty, bravery - all that, so much more. Also, love Bane's voice. Stands out from the herd alright.

And Bale has such a light touch when he plays Wayne, a real pleasure to watch. I read an interview somewhere where both he and Hardy, at different interviews, talked of wanting to work together again, this time unhampered by masks. Can't wait to see that.

As for JGL, saw the trailer for Looper before TDKR. Looks fantastic. I'm still quite amazed how the tiny, skinny kid from Third Rock has turned into one of the big names in Hollywood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 31 July, 2012, 10:18:34 AM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 31 July, 2012, 09:55:54 AM
The Dark Knight Rises, 2012.

Watched this again for the final time. Final. I mean it this time. Bigger screen, better sound. Absolutely wonderful. Actually noticed Teal'c this time round, where before my eyes were pinned to JGL.

I am happily anticipating Dredd beating this as my favourite movie of the year, but until then, I'm still on the high of a story well told. It leaves you wanting more and yet quite happy with where it has left you, unlike the 2nd film which left me wide-eyed and wounded.

The story and chemistry between Marion and Tom is lovely, easily seen in a few seconds, and I prefer Bane to Joker, easily. Sacrilege to some, but his story here is so much more than that of a crazy criminal, his motivation, loyalty, bravery - all that, so much more. Also, love Bane's voice. Stands out from the herd alright.

And Bale has such a light touch when he plays Wayne, a real pleasure to watch. I read an interview somewhere where both he and Hardy, at different interviews, talked of wanting to work together again, this time unhampered by masks. Can't wait to see that.

As for JGL, saw the trailer for Looper before TDKR. Looks fantastic. I'm still quite amazed how the tiny, skinny kid from Third Rock has turned into one of the big names in Hollywood.

we'll have to agree to disagree about the story being well told towards the end - as well as the relationship between Tom and Marion.

Nevertheless of course a grand film from the Nolan clan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2012, 03:27:02 PM
Yeah, I remember sitting down to Brick and thinking "Oh there's that kid from 3rd Rock" and by the end of it thinking he was one of the best actors I'd seen in years. To be fair he was great in 3rd Rock too, so we probably should have seen it coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 31 July, 2012, 03:37:30 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2012, 03:27:02 PM
Yeah, I remember sitting down to Brick and thinking "Oh there's that kid from 3rd Rock" and by the end of it thinking he was one of the best actors I'd seen in years. To be fair he was great in 3rd Rock too, so we probably should have seen it coming.
Heh. Yup, I think we've all had that!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 31 July, 2012, 04:24:47 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 31 July, 2012, 03:37:30 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2012, 03:27:02 PM
Yeah, I remember sitting down to Brick and thinking "Oh there's that kid from 3rd Rock" and by the end of it thinking he was one of the best actors I'd seen in years. To be fair he was great in 3rd Rock too, so we probably should have seen it coming.
Heh. Yup, I think we've all had that!!

Brick was quite an eye opener alright, as was Mysterious Skin and Manic. Keep meaning to hunt down Hesher but haven't got round to it yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 July, 2012, 09:25:09 PM
JAWS THE REVENGE

No, we didnt jump jaws 3D, they watched it while i was at work the othenight, thankfully.

What is there to say about the most recent, twenty-five year old, installment of the franchise that hasnt been said already and doesnt rhyme with 'mucking tit, gut shaved guy bike-all pain'? It is indeed fucking shit, but saved by michael caine.

Ellen Brody from the first couple is back, with her grown-up sons- youngest son dies in the opening sequence, so she flees to the bahamas (where great whites dont go). Chief brody has been killed by a heart attack (blamed on the shark) and so ellen becomes obsessed with the mad idea that her family is being supernaturally stalked by demonic sharks... And, guess what? THEY ARE!!

Blah blah blah, duhhhh-duh! Duhhhh-duh! Dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum, michael caine, blah blah. In the end, ellen brody goes out for a one-to-one with the fish, the fish eats michael caine, then he escapes, then it eats mario van peebles, then he escapes, then she rams it (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 July, 2012, 09:29:57 PM
(cont) with the splintered sharp bit of the boat... and the cash visibly runs out because the remainder of the film, the big pay-off fishy death, is a bunch of clips from the first film. Fucking cheating cheating cheaty shallow-pocketed bastards.

To be fair, it's better film than 2 and what i remember about 3, with a better script. But, aside from michael caine, it's very dull and the shark is crap.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 01 August, 2012, 09:47:19 PM
EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS

Continuing our season of movies designed to keep granny quiet in the evenings, we ran out of giant sharks eating people and moved on to spiders. Actually, there are many more giant shark movies we could have gone for tonight, but a line had to be drawn somewhere, and frankly i couldnt stand another evening of her calling them 'killer whales'. I should, in retrospect, have found a copy of 'orca: killer whale', if only for the comedy value- but a) we dont have it, and b) my memories of it are so strong that i dont want them polluted by actually seeing it again.

Given a choice of 'from beyond the grave' (the cushing one), 'hands of the ripper', 'halloween III' and 'long leggedy beasties' (as its known in our house, in tribute to that family ghostie comedy with richard harris, the name of which i cant remember just now) they all went for the known quantity- except bram who wanted H3, and sulked because he didnt get his way.
So- its been a while since we saw '8LF', and in that (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 01 August, 2012, 10:01:15 PM
(cont) time its inexplicably improved no end. Yes, the spiders' voices are still annoying, and yes the decision to give spiders voices in the first place as a sop to the large portion of the audience terrified of the things, is an example of everything that is wrong with modern genre cinema. Except this isnt very modern anymore, as demonstrated by some of the cgi being, to my eyes now, a bit rubbish.

But aside from that, it's a good, comforting, familiar, idea done well. If giant spiders terrorising a hick town doesnt raise a smile on your face, we're probably never going to agree on anything, so best not to bother trying.

As always though, the director's short black and white movie 'larger than life', here an extra on the disc, impresses the most. If your interest in giant spiders only runs to giving up ten to fifteen minutes of your time, then track it down on the web (heh). You wont regret it: search 'ellory elkayem larger than life', and prepare to chuckle.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2012, 12:07:16 AM
Gorgo and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, both wonderfully schlocky giant monster creature features from the dawn of time, though Beast looks to have more money spent on it than I would have assumed for a b-movie, with some surprisingly high production values for the time even if there's no getting around some dated SFX and clumsy compositing.  As with many b-movies of its type, there's a lot of build-up and then the monster goes on a rampage and then he's stopped by whatever and the movie comes to an abrupt halt.  it's kind of jarring and there's no resolution to some character work, but it was amusing to see the old duffer going on about his upcoming holiday as I was all but shouting "THREE DAYS UNTIL RETIREMENT" at the screen every time he ambled on to offer advice.  Dated, but still very fun.
Gorgo is basically a British Godzilla, right down to a British Steve Martin declaring doom upon the world as he provides a running commentary for The Blitz pt2.  Some decent monster work, particularly after the reveal halfway through when the ever-so-slightly cuddly giant dinosaur on the rampage is shown to be the baby and the real wrecking match hasn't even begun until his twenty-times-bigger mamma shows up, but even then there's some some great suit work with the infant Gorgo stomping around an Irish fishing village while the slack-jawed tree-climbing yokels grapple with the revolutionary idea of fire.  Surprisingly good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 August, 2012, 07:48:12 AM
Gorgo is indeed a wonderful movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 August, 2012, 08:39:50 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 31 July, 2012, 09:25:09 PM
JAWS THE REVENGE ...  It is indeed fucking shit, but saved by michael caine.

This is the film of which Caine famously remarked: "I haven't seen the film. By all accounts it's terrible. But I have seen the house it built, and that's bloody lovely!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 August, 2012, 08:42:58 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 August, 2012, 08:39:50 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 31 July, 2012, 09:25:09 PM
JAWS THE REVENGE ...  It is indeed fucking shit, but saved by michael caine.

This is the film of which Caine famously remarked: "I haven't seen the film. By all accounts it's terrible. But I have seen the house it built, and that's bloody lovely!"
That is a bloody good quote!
I haven't seen it for many years, but doesn't the shark somehow make a building explode at one point?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: QuickQuag on 02 August, 2012, 11:02:06 AM
Quote from: DeFuzzed on 31 July, 2012, 04:24:47 PM
Brick was quite an eye opener alright, as was Mysterious Skin and Manic. Keep meaning to hunt down Hesher but haven't got round to it yet.

Yep, Brick was someting special. Mysterious Skin was quality, but a bit too bleak for me (a bit like the other 'Skin' movie I sometimes confuse its title with, 'The Reflecting Skin'). I don't even think we've seen the best of JGL yet.

Last movie I Watched was... JOHN CARTER. I stopped mself before I could type "Of MARS" at the end of that, but boy I wish I could have. Quite quite underrated, with a couple of actually great action scenes an some genuine LOLs. No classic, but few movies are, and it didn't deserve its yellow press. A sequel, please, and get Stanton off the horse next time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 02 August, 2012, 09:44:43 PM
Triple Cross from 1966. Christopher Plummer playing Eddie Chapman in a true story made into good movie fun. He sleeps with women, blows up safes and plays both the limeys and krauts when his real alliance is to himself, a real charmer. And the intro theme is, well amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw_uUzTY0-w
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 August, 2012, 12:39:47 AM
Kris Kristofferson is The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Bought it for a couple of quid in Fopp not knowing anything about it other than that Kristofferson is great in Convoy. Turns out to have been an excellent investment.

Young widow Sarah Miles falls for him while her teenage son, Johnathan, is torn between hero worship and Oedipal resentment. You initially assume the relationship between the two leads is going to dominate the film but it quickly becomes apparent that the dynamic between Johnathan and his weird little gang of mates, dominated by a truly appaling, precocious brat (NB character not actor) assured of his own cleverness and able to browbeat the others into following his lead. Despite an unavoidable stage school plumminess, the kids are generally pretty good and ,as this strand develops, parts of the film become really quite unsettling.

The ringleader of the gang has an anti-adult philosophy which sees them all as having failed or betrayed themselves and their kids. A sort of extremist version of Holden Caulfield's obsession with goddamn phoneys. I've never read the book this is based on but I have recollections of similar stuff from other Mishima books: the group of beautiful youths striving for perfection in the face of inevitable corruption. I take this to be one of the key things that gives the film its unusual edge.

Being made in seventies, it's not afraid to let characters and scenes be quiet and take their time to develop either. Also features an unintentionally hilarious scene with a seagull and a banger which predates the sad demise of Brother Crow in Four Lions by some thirty years. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 August, 2012, 06:28:25 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 03 August, 2012, 12:39:47 AM
Kris Kristofferson is The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Bought it for a couple of quid in Fopp not knowing anything about it other than that Kristofferson is great in Convoy. Turns out to have been an excellent investment.


Wow did not know there was a film of that book, love the book, must check this out.

So jealous you still have a Fopp, I miss Fopp...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 03 August, 2012, 10:58:20 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 03 August, 2012, 06:28:25 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 03 August, 2012, 12:39:47 AM
Kris Kristofferson is The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Bought it for a couple of quid in Fopp not knowing anything about it other than that Kristofferson is great in Convoy. Turns out to have been an excellent investment.


Wow did not know there was a film of that book, love the book, must check this out.

So jealous you still have a Fopp, I miss Fopp...
I'm a Dapper Dan man myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 August, 2012, 02:19:32 AM
Born Of Hope, a fan-made Lord of the Rings film made for the huge sum of 25 large, and yet still a fair bit better than... well, pretty much every fantasy film I've seen made in the last decade or so, even that one that was Moby Dick with dragons and had Vinnie Jones as Stubb.  The fights in BoH aren't great as you might expect given the twin drawbacks of a limited shooting schedule and being directed by a woman, but the odd human touch to the characters in the course of the story will likely win you over as it did me, unless you're one of those types who hated LotR because, I dunno, it didn't have enough zombie rape or something, in which case I direct you to Pound World where you can get Zombie Virus On Mulberry Street for a pound, which should keep you happy for ninety minutes until something on the internet angers you again - probably me telling you how shit Farscape is and laughing in your stupid muppet-loving face.
BoH is pretty good, but the low budget is really apparent in the odd bit, especially the cave troll attack, but hey, it's a 25 000 pound film you get for free off the internet and you're getting a troll attack in it - in my day you actually had to pay someone to let you rent Hawk The Slayer.  You lot don't know you're bloody born.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qINwCRM8acM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: QuickQuag on 04 August, 2012, 04:07:20 AM
I'm curious, Prof - has BoH led you to check out its chum 'The Hunt for Gollum'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 August, 2012, 08:20:02 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 August, 2012, 02:19:32 AMThe fights in BoH aren't great as you might expect ... being directed by a woman,

Boom! Take that Bigelow!  :D Sounds interesting thjough, I'llk check it out.

Saw Terminator:Salvation last night - Didn't have high hopes, but it was a lot better than I expected.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 04 August, 2012, 10:01:48 AM
'Zombie Virus on Mulberry Street' (or to give it it's proper title, 'Mulberry Street') is an absolutely fantastic take on zombies (actually more rat-humanoids here) that ive been championing for some years now. I loved it very much indeed, and would advise anyone to pick it up long before they encourage people to make more (shudder) lord of the rings "fan-films"- and believe me, a greater argument for the death penalty being reintroduced for copyright theft ive never seen.

SBT 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 August, 2012, 11:19:10 AM
Last film I watched was UNDISPUTED, courtesy of channel5. Truly one of the great awful films... I'm actually tempted to buy it just so I can insist on friends viewing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 August, 2012, 02:50:37 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 04 August, 2012, 10:01:48 AM
'Zombie Virus on Mulberry Street' (or to give it it's proper title, 'Mulberry Street') is an absolutely fantastic take on zombies (actually more rat-humanoids here) that ive been championing for some years now. I loved it very much indeed, and would advise anyone to pick it up long before they encourage people to make more (shudder) lord of the rings "fan-films"- and believe me, a greater argument for the death penalty being reintroduced for copyright theft ive never seen.

SBT

(http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/006/026/futuramafry.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 August, 2012, 03:43:41 PM
I suppose if we can have Minty, they can have theirs.

BoH is an aping mash-up of Jackson's more Mills & Boon scenes reshuffled and reappropriated with plenty of hugging and talky exposition. It's well acted and made with ok FX but waffly and reliant on too many of Jackson's tricks. It'd make more impact cut in half and with less clunky narration. A little less covnversation, a little more action, please. Better than any Star Wars fan-fic, at least.


I await 50 Shades of Aragorn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 August, 2012, 04:05:42 PM
Fair play BoH is a mopy love triangle about Aragorn's dad, but I found that was why it actually worked.  Just look at all the low-budget SyFy offerings that concentrate on action scenes over their character arcs - BoH rightly concentrates on what can be done well with the cast and the budget available.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 August, 2012, 04:12:16 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 04 August, 2012, 04:05:42 PM
Fair play BoH is a mopy love triangle about Aragorn's dad, but I found that was why it actually worked.  Just look at all the low-budget SyFy offerings that concentrate on action scenes over their character arcs - BoH rightly concentrates on what can be done well with the cast and the budget available.


I think it works because they never forgot their story. It's the 'oh that reminds me of that scene' factor that brings it down more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 05 August, 2012, 01:59:52 AM
Triple bill movie night tonight :

Bernie : I can now say I like a film starring Jack Black. Great stuff and as always Shirley MacLaine rules. True story and all the talking heads in the film are real people talking about the real...um... people. Def worth a watch

This Means War : Total fluff and a bit of a chick flick but entertaining enough with a few good laughs in it. If you're in the mood for a no brainer you could do worse.

God Bless America : Fucking beautifully written and really well made. Kind of a next gen Falling Down. Loved it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 August, 2012, 10:56:51 PM
NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY

To be honest, we're only partway through this as it purports to be 360 minutes long(!) and we've only just finished the 'dream warriors' bit, about two hours in.

If you like, or ever liked, the 'nightmare' movies then this is not just a recommended purchase, but it's pretty much essential, and ive never seen a documentary like it. Okay, some of the more famous faces are missing- notably depp and arquette- but who really cares, and anyway it's the likes of chuck russell, kevin yaegher and mark shostrom- mark shostrom! my teenage self can hardly believe i just watched the behind the scenes footage of shostrom's "freddy stretches out of jesse" effect; the effect that first piqued my interest in all things gory, back in the pages of fango- who are really of interest.

As usual with these things there's enormous fun to be had seeing who's aged best and worst (kim myers and 'no running in the hallways' girl respectively), and worrying about the obvious health (cont) 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 August, 2012, 11:07:34 PM
(cont) of a few of the principle faces. This is really an embarrasment of riches- clips, backstage footage, anecdotes, bitching (dick cavett reportedly on zsa zsa gabor, as an explanation of her appearance in 3: "the stupidest person i knew and the one i'd most like to see killed") and a history of how and why they made them and why they became the phenomenon they did. All wrapped around brilliant little stop motion vignettes repeating the series' best bits.

Best of all, so far, was an indepth investigation into just how gay 'freddy's revenge' is. Answer: massively so. This is so gloriously celebratory that really, to still maintain it's the weakest film in the series (as many do to this day) is to invite accusations of homophobia. And this is all disc one! There's a whole disc of extras to come! Ten quid from HMV, and so packed i may have to camply bottom-bang the box closed while wearing elton john shades.

Officially the best dvd ive bought this year.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 August, 2012, 12:18:39 AM
I always wondered why they called the second one "Freddy's Revenge" when he was after revenge in all the films.

The Secret of Roan Inish, an Irish all-ages film dealing as with the universal themes of loss and identity through the use of folk tales, most prominently the Selkie myth, which is possibly better known to the world as The Swan Bride or The Little Mermaid, though each is as valid a reading as the last of the basic story and in keeping with the film being based on a novel originally set in Scotland - universal themes, see?  And in keeping with universally-identifiable themes, the characters are readily identifiable as Irish because they're gullible simpletons whose stupidity results in an infant death and then they steal a house.  I have to admit that this is a fair summation of the Irish as a race, though feel compelled to point out that we are also the original Al Qaeda and drunkenly beat our spouses in between frantic bouts of prayer to an imaginary friend.
It's a bit stagey and panto-cheesy in places, but the surprisingly pervasive melancholy keeps the attention.  Admittedly the accents of the cast are all over the place, but on the other hand SEALS ARE ADORABLE and I would seriously think twice about having to club one after seeing this.  If I had to, yeah - but I'd be conflicted much as I am about opossums.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 06 August, 2012, 08:21:18 AM
Seconded on Elm Street Legacy. Brilliant documentary, loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 06 August, 2012, 08:42:01 AM
Robin Hood: Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe.

Makes Kevin Costner look like Errol Flynn: makes Ridley Scott look like Ridley Scott.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 August, 2012, 11:11:33 PM
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE

Finally! My huge stack of dvds arrives from my mate, including most excitingly all the invisible man sequels, womaneater, dracula's daughter (with the lovely gloria holden) and the two black lagoon sequels. Since youngest child is mental for all things gillman, that's where we started.

Revenge is twenty minutes too long- nothing pertinent happens after the creature escapes from sea world and makes for the sea. Up til then its been a surprisingly entertaining and touching tale of science's inhumanity to the poor old gillman; captured, brought to florida and exhibited to the public while being zapped by an electric prodder and taunted with glamour.

Much of revenge is fantastic, from the strong dialogue for the female lead (a undergraduate scientist!) who is then patronised into an engagement ring by the male lead in the space of ten minutes, to the magnificent gillman himself, again utterly convincing (especially when being revived in the pool, 'like a shark' and grabbing (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 August, 2012, 11:19:20 PM
(cont) a heron from the surface of the black lagoon and dragging it under).

It is, though, way too long. It also repeats the ending of the first by splicing in the 'dead creature' shot from the previous film in an attempt to give it closure, even though he'd been seen getting away in the very last cut. Ah well, the boys liked it and id not seen it since the scala in kings cross showed it in 3D back in 1990.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 August, 2012, 11:59:50 PM
Still the unfortunate The Creature Walks Among Us to go, though.  After that, Gillman's only significant appearance was in Monster Squad (and the Darkstalkers games and cartoons, I suppose).

Lifeforce: Astronauts find an alien ship in the tail of Halley's Comet and bring the occupants back to Earth with them - unsurprisingly, this turns out to be a terrible idea, but fair play, Mathilda May's boobies are quite lovely and I'd probably take them back home with me given half a chance even if there are thousands of giant humanoid bat creatures floating in the next room that I've seen enough horror and sci-fi to know are almost certainly the true end-form of human-looking beings with perfect boobies and I would absolutely take that chance because the long odds still result in a motorboating I'll be telling the grandkids about.  Anyway, long story short: space vampires, Captain Picard, the end of Quatermass and the Pit.
Admittedly I was going "yes, okay, you've read Dracula so you have the vamps arriving in a ship full of dead people" and there's some dated FX work, but the zombies are still creepy, the bat-creatures - however briefly glimpsed - are still fantastic, and the ambiguous ending seems to suggest the vampires swan off to destroy even more worlds rather than get their comeuppance.  It's a great, garish, gothic slice of fun and doesn't get half the recognition it deserves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 08 August, 2012, 05:34:17 AM
QuoteLifeforce: Astronauts find an alien ship in the tail of Halley's Comet and bring the occupants back to Earth with them - unsurprisingly, this turns out to be a terrible idea, but fair play, Mathilda May's boobies are quite lovely and I'd probably take them back home with me given half a chance even if there are thousands of giant humanoid bat creatures floating in the next room that I've seen enough horror and sci-fi to know are almost certainly the true end-form of human-looking beings with perfect boobies and I would absolutely take that chance because the long odds still result in a motorboating I'll be telling the grandkids about.  Anyway, long story short: space vampires, Captain Picard, the end of Quatermass and the Pit.
Admittedly I was going "yes, okay, you've read Dracula so you have the vamps arriving in a ship full of dead people" and there's some dated FX work, but the zombies are still creepy, the bat-creatures - however briefly glimpsed - are still fantastic, and the ambiguous ending seems to suggest the vampires swan off to destroy even more worlds rather than get their comeuppance.  It's a great, garish, gothic slice of fun and doesn't get half the recognition it deserves.

I have memories of this one when i was but a lad of 7 or 8, had never seen so much boob in my whole life to that point and what was that hairy bit down there that was certainly new to me :o
Very efective movie though and the ending is pretty damn epic (as much as they can manage on the budget) and IIRC you are right the Vamps do get away to do it all again to another planet, cant remember but i think ours had pretty much had it by the end, rampant vampirism spread everywhere, and they are all starving to death because there aint any living left to feed off, bit of a downer of an ending really..

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 August, 2012, 01:24:48 PM
The "Budget" for Lifeforce was actually 25 million - which is very respectable for the mid-80s.
SPOILERS for Lifeforce: [spoiler]The space vamps have a two-hour feeding cycle and London was under military quarantine, so by the end the infection had been contained to the city and burned itself out, as you can see when Caine leaves the cathedral and the city is entirely dead (the vamps having sucked the place dry, too).  Basically, London was screwed, but everywhere else was probably fine.  I am also unsure if the ending is as clearly-cut a downer as we assume, as the space vamps' fate is ambiguous seeing as there weren't any male vamps left - the males being needed to collect energy from humans and the females to convert/collect it for the vamp starship - and the female vamp was run through.  I'm not sure if the chamber where the vampire humanoids are originally found was supposed to be some kind of egg hatchery, mind, but that would make sense given the prominence of seeing it energised towards the end of the film, and would explain the vamps being there at the start when all the others are dead.  Well - it does if you ignore that "she's destroyed entire worlds" comment from the middle of the film, at any rate, though again this could be a reference to the vampire race rather than the individual creature.[/spoiler]
Damned entertaining flick, all the same.  I shall have to seek out the director's cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 09 August, 2012, 09:47:48 AM
John Carter. I really enjoyed it not terrible, quite fun in a bonkers sci-fi/fantasy pulp type way. I also liked the Moog beastie in it as identified by Noisybast. I even watched bits of it again this morning. Some not so great acting but Lynn Collins was gorgeous! Was it worth $250 million dollars? Um,no, but it wasn't the utter disaster I was expecting.Lots of British actors in it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 09 August, 2012, 08:15:28 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 09 August, 2012, 09:47:48 AM
John Carter. I really enjoyed it not terrible, quite fun in a bonkers sci-fi/fantasy pulp type way. I also liked the Moog beastie in it as identified by Noisybast. I even watched bits of it again this morning. Some not so great acting but Lynn Collins was gorgeous! Was it worth $250 million dollars? Um,no, but it wasn't the utter disaster I was expecting.Lots of British actors in it too.

I've been meaning to see this....I've always kind of suspected it probably wasnt as bad as people made out - but people really jumped on that film didnt they - that poor guy who played the lead - was also in Battleship and that flopped as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 09 August, 2012, 08:52:54 PM
Quote from: judgeblake on 09 August, 2012, 08:15:28 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 09 August, 2012, 09:47:48 AM
John Carter. I really enjoyed it not terrible, quite fun in a bonkers sci-fi/fantasy pulp type way. I also liked the Moog beastie in it as identified by Noisybast. I even watched bits of it again this morning. Some not so great acting but Lynn Collins was gorgeous! Was it worth $250 million dollars? Um,no, but it wasn't the utter disaster I was expecting.Lots of British actors in it too.

I've been meaning to see this....I've always kind of suspected it probably wasnt as bad as people made out - but people really jumped on that film didnt they - that poor guy who played the lead - was also in Battleship and that flopped as well.

All I can say judgeblake is that I liked it. Didn't feel I'd wasted my £4 or whatever the download price was.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 August, 2012, 09:16:15 PM
Womaneater (1957, Columbia Pictures)

No one knows about this film. It may as well not exist. And indeed, I'm sure some would rather it didn't, such are the attitudes on display: "Now, be warned, Professor Moran has a native servant. Don't let him scare you, he's harmless.", "Margaret, when are you going to stop this middle-aged jealousy? You should know I see you as a thing of the past. Like all women, you've let yourself go." "Oh I've loved you from the moment we met. I know I'm decades older than you, but that doesn't matter. It's happened many times before.", "Where does that come from- some savage country I'll wager?"... From our self-important modern perspective the gaffes just keep on coming, far more so than in any fifties film I can remember seeing recently. Mind you, I still have Abbot and Costello in Africa Screams to go, and am hopeful that may be worth its weight in gold in that department.

Womaneater is the story of Professor James Moran (played by George Coulouris, from Citizen Kane)- a "scientific fellow" who hears that "up the Amazon" is a tribe with the secret of bringing the dead back to life. Off he goes with his doomed expedition, who are murdered by savages after they try to stop some offense-to-god ceremony involving a witch doctor, some snakes, Tanga the gay Bangladeshi drummer, various men of different ethnic backgrounds who were "exotic" enough to fool the audience of the time into believing they came from the same place, and... a beautiful woman being sacrificed to a flesheating plant. Turns out that you have to feed the plant with beautiful women for it to pump out the juice that brings the dead back. Oh, and the plant has fleshy penises that wrap around the women's heads as it "absorbs them". Moran somehow singlehandedly conquers the tribe, probably because he's British, and brings the plant and Tanga back to the Home Counties and his stately pile. He shuns his wife (allowing her to remain his housekeeper only) and continues his experiments with the aim of becoming "the most famous man in the world!".

His experiments naturally involve the sacrifice of beautiful young girls to the plant- which Tanga the "native servant" clearly relishes, hoping I expect to get them out of the way so he can have a pop at the prof. Sadly for oiled-up, bulging pants-wearing Tanga and his bongos, this particular rural village is absolutely swimming in quim, and I don't know about the plant but Professor Moran certainly fancies a bit of "womaneating". At one point the police show him a "recent photograph" of one of the girls who have gone missing locally- and it's a topless glamourshot. He replies that he's "more interested in things with six legs than two", but I think the police are the only ones who believe him, the randy old goat.

In amongst all this appalling behaviour and unintentionally hilarious performance (watch Jimmy Vaughn as Tanga, he's magnificent), something really odd happens- and suddenly the film becomes something else. There's a sequence in which Moran stalks a potential victim through London, off Picadilly Circus after dark, that is truly something special- and recalls those fabulous 60s shockumentaries about the underbelly of sleazy swinging London, like 'London in the Raw' and 'Primitive London'- only this was shot in 1957. It's a stunning sequence, and we watched it three times here just to soak it up. He follows the woman he selects (after ignoring two prostitutes) through the neon-lit streets and we see it all from the camera car- headlights providing the only "film lighting" and illuminating her arse- as real life passers-by turn and gawp. Without getting all pretentious and film studiesy, there's a different filmstock used, a sharper distinction between the blacks and whites and a whole other kind of feel is created, a million miles away from the staged "horror" of Moran's clunky set- all test tubes and hollow-sounding "stone" staircase (thunk-thunk-thunk). For the five minutes Womaneater hits the backstreets of Soho, it's an entirely different and better film. Then we're in a drinking club, Moran's captured his prey, the Chinese barman has done the "He no pay! You Pay now, or call porice!" routine and we're back to normality.

There's a romantic subplot running through it, involving a hula dancer from the circus and her mechanic boyfriend- but it's dull, and of course she's going to end up as the Womaneater's last victim. Many people die at the firey climax and Tanga gets his come-uppance. Late in the game we discover he's just been having a laugh at the professor's expense and the whole "life after death" juice thing is a bit of a lie. None of that is anywhere near as interesting as those five minutes on the streets of Soho though, and that's what you remember afterwards. In that respect, Womaneater is much like real life.

For more, go to http://www.bmoviecentral.com/bmc/reviews/79-the-woman-eater-1957-71-minutes.html

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 August, 2012, 10:26:41 PM
That must be the longest you've ever gone without a cont.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 August, 2012, 12:08:51 AM
Steady on, Jimbo!

Monster From Green Hell, which is a wee bit gash, though it ends with a volcanic eruption that destroys the evil space wasps' nest, so the characters' whole trek to darkest Africa could have been skipped entirely.  Then the big white guy looks on at the stock footage of lava and says "nature has a way of correcting its mistakes" even though I'm pretty sure this flick starts with him and his mates sending those wasps into space to be irradiated by Fantastic Four-type space rays.  NATURE DID NOT INVENT SPACE ROCKETS.

Ondine, the second film I've seen in the last week that turned out to be about Selkies (seals that are also humans), which Colin Farrel's character has to be told about by virtually everyone else in the village (including Eastern European immigrants) despite his being a blimmin' fisherman.  It's a grungy modern-day take on a typical fairytale story and quite well done.  It's devoid of anything too horrible or any real surprises, so I think it was meant to be an all-ages film or something.  Worth a watch, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 August, 2012, 10:23:47 AM
The sheer luxury of having access to the laptop in the evening, jimbo. The wife was rehearsing, so it was all mine! I did think about peppering my post with vague and blatant allusions to cunnilingus- with a title like 'womaneater' of course i did- but felt that was too obvious a route to go down.

Tonight, we're doing the third 'black lagoon' film (which im quite looking forward to, despite the prof's disdain). However, already my oh-so-amusing phone is asking me if i meant to type 'the creature wanks a monkey' for the title. I have a feeling that later tonight i will wish it had been so.

SBT

Note: in case you think im lying about my phone's capacity for 'hilarious' predictive/suggested text errors, let me assure you im not. Unless i turn the functions off, it even replaces 'SBT' with 'pathetic'. Apt, i think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 10 August, 2012, 11:35:24 AM
Micro-bolt and I watched Cowboys and Aliens. Which I very deliberately lowered my thrill receptors for so that I could enjoy it. And I did. It is ridiculous nonsense of the highest order, though. If a twelve year old can point out that the film doesn't really have a plot, then beleieve me when I say that you should only approach this carefully.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 12 August, 2012, 12:53:32 AM
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars:
I'm a big fan of John Carpenter's back catalogue, but for some reason I have never managed to watch Ghosts of Mars - maybe because I always thought it looked naff lol But having watched Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China and The Ward in recent weeks I was optimistic going in.
However, after watching the film, Ghosts of Mars falls in to the category of Carpenter's back catalogue entitled 'misfires' alongside Escape from Los Angeles.

For me Carpenter's formula for making b-movies on a budget and thrusting them into the A-movie realm with high-concepts and originailty comes unstuck in Ghosts of Mars as it did with Escape from L.A. Whereas you can watch Carpenter's 80's b-movie cult classics like They Live, Big Trouble...and even Prince of Darkness in geeky glee - when Carpenter hits the 90s his movies start to look cheap and there is little novelty of aura around the films. Vampires is actually an exception to Carpenter's latter misfires in my opinion mainly due to a stronger script, and a good cast. But Ghost of Mars' cast, clad in outfits that are a blend of gestapo, blaxploitation and special ops gear, are miscast and do not gel together. GOM also seems to follow that token b-movie trait of adding the token rapper-turned-actor to the cast.

Carpenter's budget seems to have been too low and his ambition too high – the FX are dire, and even though made in 2001 they are more akin to the mid-90s spate of sci-fi efforts (Judge Dredd, Batman & Robin) on the cusp of new technology and the future use of CGI that would grow to be essential in the 00s.

The movie can be fun at times with a tongue-in-cheek approach (also watching it in 'chapters' as I felt I needed to lol) with a strangely short-lived cameo from Pam Grier. The action is confined to working the mediocre plot around the same 'set' (due to budget?). Awful acting supplied readily from Ice Cube and Jason Statham. Though a notable role for the Blade Runner star Joanna cassidy - as well as Natasha Henstridge who has to date been an underated actress as she has slowly faded into obscurity after her fame rose in the Species franchise and then waned through a few b-movies as she stopped acting in movies (and married Pop Idol wannabe Darius!) If GOM had not have been such a messy flop perhaps Henstridge could have been Carpenter's female Plisskin/Kurt Russell and acted in a number of collaborations with Carpenter?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 12 August, 2012, 08:16:42 AM
They've been playing the Die Hard nmovies the last couple of weeks, love Die Hard 2 - as a teen after watching and being blown away by the first me and my mates joked that the second one should eb called Die Harder which it was, we were all apropriatly smug when it came out and I have a bit of a soft spot for it and its my favorite in the series.  Some wonderfully violent fights (icicle in eye springs to mind) and arsom squib work (bad dudes just dont get appropriatly shredded in current action movies which Dredd looks likely to remedy) and wickedly final fight on the wing of the Jumbo including man through engine just tops it off.  Appropriatly bigger than the first.
Die Hard with a Vengence was on last night and aside from the stupid title (although appropriate I guess with the main bady being a Gruber) I enjoyed it more than i had on other occasions, once again some wonderfully bloody confrontations that you just dont see in action movies anymore (guy cut in half by the cable a nice nasty one).  Mclain takes a step further towards Super Heroness in this one i swear he's lost several litres of blood by the end and he goes from limping all fucked up tio super shot a bit too much.
Watching these recently even though i didn't mind it on release i realise how water down and fornmula the last one was.

Watched a new Starship Troopers CG movie today, seems to be a directish sequal to the original movie with the humour removed.  NOt too bad to look at for a CG feature and a nice bit of Mech porn towards the end to keep fans of the book happy.  CGI boobies are not that nmuch of a turn on though.  Worth a watch to anyone who enjoyed the original and have managed to sit through the sequals (wiching for better).

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 August, 2012, 01:20:00 PM
Finally got round to seeing Kill List last night. The worst film I've seen in ages and I watched Ultraviolet last Tuesday.

I have no problem with ambiguity, lack of explanations, weirdness or allusive pretension but I do have an issue with a film having all that and still being boring. Ultimately, this wasn't interested in working as a straight, narrative-led film but it was also wholly unsuccessful in capturing the implied disorentiation of the main character or of sustaining sufficiently interesting or unusual imagery to make it worthwhile as a mood or tone piece.

The one part of the film I enjoyed was the initial sequence of the boys back on the job. The dreary, everyday troubles of life as a Midlands hitman would've made for a good Jam sketch. Other than that, this was portentous guff with the most laughable ending this side of Don't Look Now. I suppose I should just be thankful they didn't have one of those "this is how we did it" scenes replaying all the missed clues sprinkled throughout. If they were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 August, 2012, 01:40:54 PM
'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' - great fun retread of 'Walk the Line' with cracking songs and great cameos - check out the Beatles!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 August, 2012, 01:50:17 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 12 August, 2012, 01:40:54 PM
'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' - great fun retread of 'Walk the Line' with cracking songs and great cameos - check out the Beatles!
This film originally scored 20/23 Ws (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/no159-walk-hardthe-dewey-cox-story.html). How does it hold up to repeated viewing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 August, 2012, 02:04:33 PM
Good call Cosh!

Pulled from the 'W' archives when I remembered Jenna Fischer talking dirty in 'Let's Duet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP5YFr4SkCQ)'and really enjoyed it second (probably third or fourth) time around.Especially like the drummer who keeps repeating 'you never paid for drugs', the casual nudity and the father who asks the Doc to ' Speak English, we're not scientists (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3kTAZ4MgA)'when Dewy's brother is diagnosed with a bad case of being cut in half.

Still great and certainly better than 'Kill List' which I thought was OK but a bit too keen to be a bit culty from the off. Tyres out of 'Spaced' got it pass marks from me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 12 August, 2012, 03:08:28 PM
The Rite (2011);
Starring Anthony Hopkins who has always been an actor I've loved - with his definitive performance being in Silence of the Lambs, afterwhich Hopkins duely got the Oscar, and since is less picky about his performances and roles he chooses and only on occasion shows the true genius of acting class he's capable of. Hopkins is such a good actor - that he can provide a brooding and reverential presence, even when he is in supporting or bit roles in a film (much as Brando could do in his career) as he does in films like Thor. In The Rite Hopkins is at his best adding depth and eccentricities to his character that were clearly above and beyond the script.

Any movies based on the concept of good vs evil and exorcism are compared to Friedkin's The Exorcist - as that is such a seminal movie. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the only other movie about exorcism that holds it's own that comes to mind. The Rite also rises to the challenge set by The Exorcist to provide credibility and character exposition to the good vs evil narrative that The Exorcist set such a high standard in creating. Indeed, the same priesthood archetypal relationship between old-man mentor and young doubtful student is replicated well but not so obviously, with Michael Kovak (played very well by Colin O'Donoghue) being also the archetypal repraisal of the Father Karras character - Donoghue an underused actor in my opinion considering his talents, starring recently in Storage 24. Alice Braga is another underated actress who has a number of standout performances under her belt to date (Predators, I Am Legend, Repo Men).

The script is a by the numbers example of inner struggle and doubting personal faith, as well as exorcism and the fight between good and evil - but it is the flourishes that make the film standout coming from the casting and calibre of acting, as well as certain standout scenes e.g. [spoiler]Father Trevants' (Hopkins) possession, Rutger Hauer's eerie voice from beyond the grave, and the demonic horse. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeblake on 12 August, 2012, 05:44:19 PM
Justice (2011);
Despite the popular opinion that Nicolas Cage is a god awful actor, synonymous with overacting, I am however a fan of Cage and believe he's 'interesting' even when he's awful and misfires every so often (like Brad Pitt). Cage is at his best when conveying anger - but at his worst when conveying distraught behaviour or rather he is at his most vulnerable to overacting and open to critique. However, Cage seems to me to be maturing as an actor although he is still inconsistent - as Big Daddy Cage puts in some brilliant character acting mimicking Adam West's batman for the role, Cage was also great in the wired cop in Bad Lieutenant.... however in Ghostrider 2 Cage misfired with his acting and poorly conveys certain emotions.

In Justice Cage plays a great role as a guy seeking justice after he is pressured by an organization that seeks vigilantism above the law and has lost control of it's sect and morality, and Cage displays an interestingly vulnerable side he rarely displays in his films....mainly due to his poor performances every now and then. But I was impressed when Cage actually cried in a scene rather than just getting hysterical and overacting to convey that he was distraught. Cage is also backed up by a great little supporting cast; i.e. January Jones (who Cage should play alongside more), Guy Pearce, and Lost's Harold Perrineau.

Basically this is worth a watch as it does what it says on the tin - akin to b-movie-ish A-list efforts at revenge movies e.g. Taken, Death Wish etc
 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 August, 2012, 08:29:19 PM
BATMAN: YEAR ONE

Aside from this suffering from that anime thing where characters dont move a hell of a lot, other than their mouths opening and eyes narrowing, i thought this was aces and probably the best batman thing ive ever seen on screen. Mind you, im a big admirer of the original comic, so i was always half-sold. It's just a shame it hasnt been done as a proper bigger budget cartoon movie with better animation, but this will do until they get round to it.

The catwoman short film on the same disc though, is just horrible. And has a bit too much pole dancing, tit-revealing and gangsta-stylee misogeny to justify its '12' cert, and im forced to wonder if the bbfc actually watched it, or just passed it quickly to get an afternoon off.

The other extras, some DC epg puff pieces for upcoming cartoons, make them look terrible, though moore and gibbons get mentioned, and frank quitely's art is splashed around a lot.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 August, 2012, 08:24:27 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 August, 2012, 01:20:00 PM
Finally got round to seeing Kill List last night. The worst film I've seen in ages and I watched Ultraviolet last Tuesday.

Only caught Kill List myself quite recently, and while I didn't dislike it as strongly as you I was definitely disappointed. It seemed to have stolen most of its more interesting ideas from other, more memorable films. To say what they are is pretty much a spoiler, but the fact that I came away from it reflecting on [spoiler]A Serbian Film[/spoiler] and [spoiler]The Wicker Man[/spoiler] and not Kill List is a bad thing.

We just saw The Bourne Legacy yesterday, both being huge fans of the Damon trilogy. We enjoyed it, but it's not a patch on the others. It's nice that it pulls out and gives you the wider picture of what's going on with Treadstone, and I thought Renner was really engaging and did a great job in a tough position, but the action/suspense scenes fall really flat in comparison to the other films.

The main problem is the direction, particularly during the main chase/set-piece. During it a lot of really pretty arsom stuff happens, but the camera seems determined to stop us from seeing it, shaking constantly and jerking away from the action and with so many cuts per second it's almost hilarious. At points it's unintelligible, and while I know Greengrass got a bit of stick for a similar approach with his Bourne films I thought it worked really well for him.

New director Gilroy was saying in Total Film this month that there was a definite aim to cut really fast because people's attention spans are such these days that they can take in information more quickly, so for a scene to be exciting you have to keep updating that information constantly. Maybe he's right, and I'm just slow and stoopid, but more likely I think he's just done a bad job and it's a poor approach.

I certainly didn't dislike the film, and would like them to continue with more Renner Bournes, but I'd like to see another director next time around, or for Gilroy to learn some lessons from this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 August, 2012, 08:29:32 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 August, 2012, 08:29:19 PM
BATMAN: YEAR ONE

Aside from this suffering from that anime thing where characters dont move a hell of a lot, other than their mouths opening and eyes narrowing, i thought this was aces and probably the best batman thing ive ever seen on screen. Mind you, im a big admirer of the original comic, so i was always half-sold.

Interestingly, I got my wife, who quite likes Batman movies but has never read a Batman comic in her life, to sit through this recently, and she thought it was excellent, as did I.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 August, 2012, 09:19:00 PM
Quote"At points it's unintelligible, and while I know Greengrass got a bit of stick for a similar approach with his Bourne films I thought it worked really well for him."

He just about kept it on the right side of the fence for me. And I took it as a story point; the speed and the reactions of these people is such that us mere mortals can barely keep up. 

I don't buy the attention span bollocks. Certainly, I think the trend is for an action scene every five minutes otherwise Timmy turns off the DVD but that action scene doesn't have to cut every 1/2 second to keep Timmy happy.  The younger members of Clan Tips often complain that you can't see what's going on in Transformers etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 August, 2012, 09:49:09 PM
I cant quote on my phone, but responding to Jim:

Yes, same here. My wife has to be physically dragged to anything superheroey, doesnt like cartoon movies, and has no time whatsoever for batman in any of its forms. She's also no comic-reader. But she watched year one with the kids and me, and when questioned afterwards said it 'wasnt bad' and admitted she'd 'probably watch another one if we put one on'. And this is the woman who turned to me halfway through toy story 3 and begged to be allowed to leave the cinema'. High praise indeed for the cartoon guy in tights.

I know they're doing dkr, which im looking forward to, but have any of you seen 'the batman vs dracula', the full-length (84mins) movie from a few years ago? Weve had it a while and i confess to not having seen it in anything other than bits at a time, but what i have seen looks great (if not quite the 'red rain' adaptation i would hope for) and the kids say its one of their favourite dvds full stop.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 August, 2012, 12:35:08 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 August, 2012, 08:24:27 PM
New director Gilroy was saying in Total Film this month that there was a definite aim to cut really fast because people's attention spans are such these days that they can take in information more quickly, so for a scene to be exciting you have to keep updating that information constantly. Maybe he's right, and I'm just slow and stoopid, but more likely I think he's just done a bad job and it's a poor approach.
No, he's not right. This sort of horseshit does my head in. People (well, me) don't like this style of filming action, it just happens to have been used in some successful films which then means it gets used in more. In my view it's little more than an excuse for being either unable or unwilling to spend the time properly setting out and choreographing an action scene or a way of covering shoddy stunt work.

The older Bourne films (certainly the first, I haven't seen the others as often) are an interesting example of where a hectic jumpy editing style does actually work because it's used in an intelligent way. Tips mentioned that it's illustrating the enhanced speed and reactions of the Treadstone agents. I also think it's intended to remind us that, at this point, Bourne still doesn't really understand what he can do or why, his body just reacts. More importantly, however, irrespective of how it's shot or edited, someone has actually sat down and planned out each sequence. Here's the fight in Paris flat:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFnmq5PPScA

This is most certainly not the end of The Expendables where they've filmed a bunch of men running about from various angles while fireworks go off and then spliced it all together in a haphazard fashion. Prior to this, we've already seen the layout of the apartment so we know where Bourne is leading his assailant; despite the quick cuts we are constantly aware, without having to be shown, where each of the three characters are in relation to each other (and when it cuts back to one and our assumption is proven correct, our absorption in the action is reinforced); we don't often see Matt Damon's face, but we get frequent almost full-frame shots of the two antagonists so we can see blows swung and landed. In this case, the editing actually increases the intensity and enjoyment of the scene. However, that takes a shitload of work to manage and so most people can't be arsed.

Now here's a scene from Thai action film The Raid (or "some pretentious foreign crap that's only been seen by about a dozen people" as I believe it was described on the Dredd film thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOF4yNpYEkg
There are some initial quick cuts and weird angles to illustrate our man's disorientation and desperate search for an exit but as soon as the fighting starts, boom. Lengthy shots from a static viewpoint showing several men battering each in full frame.

Maybe I'm too old as well, but if anyone wants to try and tell me that some incoherent, epileptic Transformers bullshit is more exciting or action packed than that then I'm perfectly happy to go round to their house and call them a fucking moron in person.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 August, 2012, 01:41:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 15 August, 2012, 12:35:08 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 August, 2012, 08:24:27 PM
New director Gilroy was saying in Total Film this month that there was a definite aim to cut really fast because people's attention spans are such these days that they can take in information more quickly, so for a scene to be exciting you have to keep updating that information constantly. Maybe he's right, and I'm just slow and stoopid, but more likely I think he's just done a bad job and it's a poor approach.
No, he's not right. This sort of horseshit does my head in.

^^THIS^^

Hollywood does trip over its own bullshit all the time to the point that I don't think they're being malicious when they outright lie to their audience, they're just incapable of seeing the world like the rest of us do anymore - and fast-cutting action scenes is visual whitenoise to obscure poor craftsmanship, plain and simple.
Watch any Jackie Chan or Samo Hung flick from the early 1980s and note that you can not only tell what is actually happening onscreen during a scrap, but it is exciting, too, despite being composed of shots that can occasionally last an attention span-threatening 3 seconds.  And this is the early 1980s we're talking about - in Hong Kong for fuck's sake, where some of these films were shot with the equivalent of a camcorder.  Police Story is fantastic to this very day but it looks like someone filmed it with their cellphones after they got some finger grease on the wee camera lens somehow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvkpuTRQbGs and I won't lie - I'm off to watch it now.  Did I mention it was fantastic?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 August, 2012, 01:55:44 AM
Fast-cutting is generally a sign of bad direction in Hollywood. "Quick, hide the mistakes. Make them think it's fluid and fast."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 15 August, 2012, 09:07:40 AM
Screaming in High Heels. Documentary on the top three Scream Queens of the video boom
I say top three, I didn't recognise the name of one of them even though most of the clips they showed were bringing back fuzzy memories but I definitely remember Linnea Quigley and the lovely Brinke Stevens... who I didnt realise till watching this was the model used for the character of Betty in The Rocketeer

Very niche film but if you were a Fangoria reader back in the day whose video rental choices boiled down to "Which horror film havent I seen yet?" it's well worth a look.

(http://paracinema.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Screaming-in-High-Heels.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 August, 2012, 09:48:56 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 12 August, 2012, 08:16:42 AM
They've been playing the Die Hard nmovies the last couple of weeks, love Die Hard 2 ... Appropriatly bigger than the first.

Yeah, DH2 is terrific fun, and my favourite of the 4-or-however-many-there-are-now.  I occasionally find it a little difficult to reconcile two of the major plot points: no-one on the ground can communicate with the planes AND people on the plane keep communicating with the ground, but then there are snowmobiles and maintenance ducts and I just relax and enjoy Colm Meaney's accent. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 August, 2012, 11:04:16 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 15 August, 2012, 12:35:08 AM
Now here's a scene from Thai action film The Raid (or "some pretentious foreign crap that's only been seen by about a dozen people" as I believe it was described on the Dredd film thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOF4yNpYEkg
There are some initial quick cuts and weird angles to illustrate our man's disorientation and desperate search for an exit but as soon as the fighting starts, boom. Lengthy shots from a static viewpoint showing several men battering each in full frame.

Maybe I'm too old as well, but if anyone wants to try and tell me that some incoherent, epileptic Transformers bullshit is more exciting or action packed than that then I'm perfectly happy to go round to their house and call them a fucking moron in person.

Funnily enough The Raid sprung to mind as I walked out of Legacy, it struck me that it was a movie where there was enough confidence in what they'd choreographed and staged that it was enough just to film it and let the audience enjoy it. I'm not saying it wasn't a very well directed/edited movie, rather that the director's hand was skilled enough to be invisible. If only more movies put the work and energy into the planning and performance of action instead of, like you say, focusing their efforts on making it exciting in the editing room, then modern action movies probably wouldn't be leaving me cold as often as they do.

I hadn't been able to put my finger on why the style worked in the original Bournes, so it's really interesting watching that clip for comparison. It's fairly obvious that again it's largely down to things being very meticulously planned and choreographed, and the fact that the layout of the area and the reference points are so clear throughout the fight mean you don't get disconnected from the action. I guess it highlights the stark difference between an assured director who knows what he's doing and someone who's seen it done and is attempting to ape it (like in Legacy's case).

That clip has really made me want to rewatch the Damon trilogy, and I'm pretty sure it'll still hold up great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 August, 2012, 12:36:41 PM
I watched Bourne Legacy last night.
To be honest I don't think it stands up very well as a film in its own right. I'm not very familiar with the other Bourne films (saw the first two when they came out - haven't seen the third) and for the first 20 minutes of this one I didn't know what anyone was talking about.
I went to the cinema to see some exciting action scenes but, as has been said previously, these weren't that great either.
I thought the leads were both pretty good and Edward Norton was the same as he always is (to me he always seems like a bloke doing a Jodie Foster impersonation).
The bits in Alaska were the best thing and I think it would have made for a better film if he'd hve stayed in the forest and gone all 'First Blood'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 August, 2012, 09:24:11 PM
Clone Wars Volume 2. That's the DVD of the second series of the original Clone Wars cartoon that came out between the last two Star Wars Prequels.

I believe this first came out in 15 minute chunks - so more to work with than the first volume, and it makes for more involved stories than the first series which was in 5 minute chunks I think. I watched it all in one go on the DVD so it was basically like watching a film. It worked very well, and was very enjoyable.

I like the newer CG The Clone Wars cartoon*, but this holds up well in it's own way.

*I hope to pick these up at some point too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 August, 2012, 10:28:01 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 15 August, 2012, 09:24:11 PM
Clone Wars Volume 2. That's the DVD of the second series of the original Clone Wars cartoon that came out between the last two Star Wars Prequels.

The best thing about the whole prequel project. I alternate between Vol 1 and Vol 2 as my favourite, but basically it's telling that of the fifty squillion SW DVDs at their disposal, from ANH through Robot Chicken and on to Clone Wars Season 3, these are the two my kids watch over and over and over.  Distilled genius sorely lacking elsewhere in 'recent' Star Wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 August, 2012, 11:36:44 PM
I'm glad I bought it. I actually just ordered volume 2 at the end of last week, and it was on  my mat today, which was nice. I had today off work so had a nice cooked breakfast and watched Clone Wars. (I'd bought the first volume a year or two back.)

I did watch some of them on the telly but today was the first time I saw volume 2 all the way through. Great stuff. I enjoyed volume 1 too. Both slightly different flavours that work in their own way.

General Grevious shouldn't be coughing in the new version though. Too early.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 August, 2012, 12:08:15 AM
My favorite season was either that one with the Predator rip-off but with kids being hunted and then the story where they met Grand Moff Tarkin that went on for something like seven episodes, or that one where witches use magic to bring Darth Maul back to life and it goes on forever.

Dune, Alan Smithee's (hmm) three-hour version of an old Star Trek novel or something.  I think we are supposed to hate this but it has a dated charm to it, although I could do without the homophobic undertones and the staginess of some scenes like where they meet the Fremen in the desert where it suddenly looks like an episode of Stargate or Galaxy Quest where the makers are self-consciously mocking cheesy melodramatic sci-fi full of made-up space words, or at least mocking people's perception of it.  It's full of ideas and notions, not all of which make sense (like the Harkonnen invading Arakis, bombing the House of Atreides, killing the Duke, and then declaring they'll leave Paul and his mum in the desert because "there must be no evidence!", or the force shield which doesn't stop knives or bullets, so why do they..? Ah, fuck it), and the scale of what's attempted is impressive in itself, but this cut seems to have lots of narrative exposition and lengthy shots of production paintings like a live-action comic book or something, which I approve of as I think it works well even if a lot else doesn't - all the same, it takes about fifteen minutes before a single moving frame is seen as it opens with a massive infodump and shots of pre-production sketches and explanations about wars against the machines that have not a jot of relevance to what follows.  It's a mess, no argument, but an ambitious and watchable one in many places, even if those places are scattered over three hours of film.

Backdraft.  Do all Ron Howard's movies now look like parodies of the film-making of their respective periods, or just this one?  Heavy on cliche and light on wit, my main thoughts were that Robert DeNero and Kurt Russel couldn't ever have looked that young.  It is not good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 16 August, 2012, 05:02:33 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 16 August, 2012, 12:08:15 AM
Backdraft.  Do all Ron Howard's movies now look like parodies of the film-making of their respective periods, or just this one?  Heavy on cliche and light on wit, my main thoughts were that Robert DeNero and Kurt Russel couldn't ever have looked that young.  It is not good.

I clearly remember seeing a clip of it when it was first released and thinking it looked like cheesy, cliched guff with silly slow motion bits, and that I should probably avoid it.

That was 1991?

Holy crap...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 August, 2012, 07:43:06 AM
Yes, ive never seen Backdraft either, entirely due to the trailers at the time which made big deal of the 'flowing, liquid fire' slow-motion effect and which, along with the six milion dollar man, cemented the use of slow motion in drama with extreme and stinky fromage in my head. Ive not seen any ron howard movies, i believe, as they all look so inspid and like bloodless imitations of proper films.

Last movies ive seen are 'the creature walks among us' and 'cult of the cobra'. In the final 'black lagoon' film  the gillman suffers forced-evolution into a mammal and as a result cant go back to his beloved water. His scales and gills are burned off, his secondary lungs kick in and he's left very unhappy indeed. We quite liked it all told, and decided he managed to get back to the sea in the end and found peace. 

'Cult of the cobra' is a universal chiller in which a squad of american airmen, on leave 'in asia', investigate a local snake worshipping religion for laffs. Turns out people CAN turn into (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 August, 2012, 07:54:15 AM
(cont) snakes- but western eyes must never see this. As result of their intrusion theyre cursed by the priest to die one by one. Sadly, what could be a brilliant early example of the 'ten little indians'/'friday the thirteenth'/'final destination' model of filmmaking is crippled by a lousy and weak romantic plot in which the cult's shape-changing assassin is... a (not very) beautiful girl, who falls in love with the lead. Sigh. The snake kills are poor, there are no makeup or special effects to speak of (the evidence of 'snake women' at the start is a dancer in a leotard filmed backwards) and the most interesting thing is that it blatantly rips off 'cat people' in its re-use of that film's celebrated motif of sudden shocks, driven by the soundtrack. There's even a brilliant bit where the audience is asked to be scared of an arm becausit looks bit like a snake, maybe.

While it fails to be in the least frightening, or as visually interesting as the better universals, there's enough here storywise (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 August, 2012, 07:58:55 AM
(cont) to entertain the viewer not concerned at the lack of spectacle. It also has a pretty good cast, some nice setpieces and a number of lovely contemporary sequences shot in new york at night, which is always fascinating.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 August, 2012, 09:25:44 AM
QuoteMy favorite season was either that one with the Predator rip-off but with kids being hunted and then the story where they met Grand Moff Tarkin that went on for something like seven episodes, or that one where witches use magic to bring Darth Maul back to life and it goes on forever.

For all the sarcasm, it sounds like you carried on watching every single episode, so you can't dislike it that much.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 August, 2012, 11:34:00 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 16 August, 2012, 12:08:15 AM
My favorite season was either that one with the Predator rip-off but with kids being hunted and then the story where they met Grand Moff Tarkin that went on for something like seven episodes, or that one where witches use magic to bring Darth Maul back to life and it goes on forever.

Foolish Bear!  That's The Clone Wars (2007-present).  The grown-ups are talking about Clone Wars (2004-5).  And while I agree completely about the worst-idea-ever rebuilding of Darth Maul (Season 4) and the interminable 'Captain' Tarkin episodes (Season 3), the Most Dangerous Game duology (S3) was top notch.  It had Chewbacca in it, and he was cool as. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 August, 2012, 02:00:19 PM
It's all the same canon, TB - George Lucas says so.  Even the stuff that contradicts other stuff, and the stuff that invalidates other stuff entirely - just keep buying it!

Quote from: radiator on 16 August, 2012, 09:25:44 AMFor all the sarcasm, it sounds like you carried on watching every single episode, so you can't dislike it that much.  ;)

I actually gave up during the Dart Maul storyline, about three episodes in, and that was after giving the show a second chance after the Tarkin storyline that genuinely felt like it would never fucking end - it felt like they were trying to create as many multi-part storylines as possible to bring out as feature-length edits, despite the multi-parters being the weakest episodes, and I'd just had enough.  I wasn't a fan of the Predator rip-off partially because the Predator aliens were highly similar to the Predator aliens from Star Trek Voyager (complete with "dad does not understand me" operatic sub-plot) to the point I wondered if you could be sued for ripping off someone's rip-off, but mainly because like the Darth Maul stuff it relied too heavily on nastiness to smooth over the plot cracks and lack of originality.  There are too many good cartoons on telly (Thundercats, Gravity Falls, Legend of Korra, Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated) to waste time on Clone Wars anymore. 
I was by that point only sticking with it out of habit, anyway, but I do note that despite jettisoning Phantom Menace's lamentable pretence of SW's universe being a place of "science not magic" with the Darth Maul Space Witch storyline, I still feel the whole thing has diminished the franchise somehow rather than repaired it.  They should have let the Samurai Jack man keep making the cartoons, in my opinion, but I gather there's too much hostility towards 2d animation for that to ever have happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 August, 2012, 02:34:14 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 16 August, 2012, 02:00:19 PMThey should have let the Samurai Jack man keep making the cartoons, in my opinion, but I gather there's too much hostility towards 2d animation for that to ever have happened.

While I agree with you re: Tartakovsky and the multi-parters, Filoni is the director of most of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and that wasn't half bad.  His jokes about George pushing unwelcome ideas on him and saying "who signs your paychecks, Dave?" do grow ever more plaintive as the seasons roll on, but there's been a lot more good in TCW than bad.  So far. 

The Maul thing was kind of a breaking point for me too.  I didn't mind the Dathomiri using what looked like out-and-out magic (from our perspective) to Hulk-out 'Randy' Savage, but magically creating robo-legs for Eric-the-half-a-Maul was a step too far.  I haven't even managed to get past that to watch the Season 4 finale yet.

As to the Predator thing, the aliens in question are Trandoshans, Bossk's folk, and they have been ascribed an entirely hunt-based culture by the EU for at least 25 years: any resemblance to the Hirogen is as likely to run the other way.  The plot and its specific accoutrements (organised hunts of captive sentients, new member being blooded), has been purloined by just about every drama and SF show ever, and is as old as the hills, with the main thrust going back at least to The Most Dangerous Game (1932).  This was a well-executed version, using established SW tropes and characters, and with an exciting guest-star filled climax.  Given the show's tendency to build some of its best episodes around explicit homage (Seven Samurai (S2's 'Bounty Hunters') and Godzilla (S2's 'The Zillo Beast' two-parter) being the real stand-outs), I can't hold it against them just because almighty crap-fest Voyager did the same. 



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 16 August, 2012, 03:12:10 PM
I watched The Raid at the weekend and thought it was fairly good. It wasn't the 'Action Film To End Them All' that I'd been promised by all the breathless hyperbole of the internetz, but it was decent enough.

I found it very hard to overlook, what I interpreted as, the plagiarism of the Dredd script to be honest. From the use of slow motion in action sequences to the basic plot, I saw the influence of the Dredd script throughout. I don't know whether the makers of The Raid read the leaked script but I would be very surprised to learn that it was all a big coincidence.

The plot is very simple, a SWAT team enters a building owned and dominated by a drug-leading gang boss, which has always been a no go area, even for the police. They sneak in undetected until a young boy raises the alarm. This results in a bloody battle, during which most of the SWAT team is killed and the boss announces to the block tenants, over the speaker system, that whoever kills themselves a cop will be awarded with a free room for life.

Many fight scenes ensue. The fight choreography was impressive but no more so than your average 80's Jackie Chan film and nowhere near as impressive, innovative, imaginative or visually stunning as Tony Ja at his best in Ong Bak or Warrior King. In fact, during a protracted fight scene in a bare room between 2 of the 'good' guys and a sub-boss, I found myself getting bored and wishing it would come to an end.

When it finally does, you're left expecting an exciting climax which never comes. The film just sort of peters out and ends without the big finale you've been waiting for.

I've seen a lot of action films, and a lot of martial arts films too, and while The Raid wouldn't come anywhere near the top of my list of favourites, it was enjoyable, throwaway fun. Just don't expect the rule book to be re-written.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 17 August, 2012, 01:57:15 PM
Jaws: the Revenge was on the tv last night. Quite why I watched this when I could have been doing something useful such as scratching my arse I have no idea. Considering how dreadful this film is, there were actually a couple of good bits in it. These are basically how bloody a couple of the death scenes are, especially the woman who gets grabbed from the banana boat. One other problem I had with the film thouugh, is that there were only three deaths in it. The first film has more, despite not being overloaded with them and 2 and 3 have got too many for me to remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 August, 2012, 02:37:07 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 17 August, 2012, 01:57:15 PM
One other problem I had with the film thouugh, is that there were only three deaths in it. The first film has more, despite not being overloaded with them and 2 and 3 have got too many for me to remember.

"How many killings?"  ;)

(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad84/ronniecraven/Stuff/ally-henry.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 17 August, 2012, 02:46:19 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 17 August, 2012, 02:37:07 PM

"How many killings?"  ;)

(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad84/ronniecraven/Stuff/ally-henry.jpg)

"...Seven."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 August, 2012, 05:20:04 PM
IP MAN 2.
My thoughts on this coincide with those I've seen from other boarders but I can't quite remember where.
(I paraphrase)
"Not a patch on IP MAN but still good fun"
"Worth watching for Sammo Hung's turn"
"Any Wilson Yip/Donnie Yen combo is worth watching".
Am I part of the hive mind now?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 August, 2012, 05:41:22 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 17 August, 2012, 01:57:15 PM
Jaws: the Revenge was on the tv last night. Quite why I watched this when I could have been doing something useful such as scratching my arse I have no idea.

That's the one with Michael Caine right?

Amusing part of that film, Caine pops up out of the sea having been off screen for a while after some major shark shenanigans with the rest of the cast.

"How did  you escape?"
"It wasn't easy." (And not other explanation.)

Or words to that effect.

Well it tickled me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2012, 07:56:19 PM
There's a great Caine quote where someone asks him why he did such a terrible film and he says something to the effect of - 'I haven't seen it, but I've seen the house it paid for, which is terrific, thanks.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 17 August, 2012, 09:09:57 PM
Fast and the Furious 5
Only seen the first one before this. As far as this one goes....

If you want a fun action/heist movie where lots of shit blows up in between serious bro-mances, you cant ask for more than this one. All the cast seem to be enjoying themselves which really comes across and you cant go wrong with The Rock as far as I'm concerned.

The way they pull of the job at the end is FUCKING RIDICULOUS, but it's also lots of fun and makes for a very cool action sequence so no complaints.

Does what it says on the tin really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 17 August, 2012, 10:45:44 PM
Urban Justice  :lol:

Steven Seagal film on Sci-Fi channel of all places. Very cheap revenge (rewengay?) film that did a far better job of a homage to the 80s than the Expendables ever could. Bit more 90s really cos it had gangstas. Slightly better than Born to Raise Hell which was Seagal revenging himself on Eastern European drug dealers. He's so crap but great at the same time. In both he managed to find a kindred spirit in one of the big bad guys, which was a brief appearance from Danny Trejo in the former!

"But all this killing, you're just as bad as they are!"
"No, I'm a lot fuckin' worse"

:D

Also watched Iron Sky at last, that was a hoot! Arsom space zeppelins and some reasonable satire in there too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 August, 2012, 11:03:03 PM
Just watched Bridesmaids finally, was a good laugh but possibly dampened a bit by the ton of expectation built up after everyone in the world ever screaming its praises. Can't fault the movie for being overhyped though, lot of very likable and fun performances and definitely several cuts above the average lady-targeted Hollywood comedy. The gag reel in the bonus features caused possibly more amusement than the film itself to be honest, looks like it was fun to make.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 August, 2012, 12:01:14 AM
I was really up for Bridesmaids, but my girlfriend saw it at the cinema and hated it, so it kind of put me off. Should give it a go but I'm not expecting much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 18 August, 2012, 12:35:16 AM
Wife finally nagged me into watching Bridesmaids... was fun enough. Can't imagine I'll every wanna see it again but I enjoyed it while it was on.  Bit too much of the Office style "comedy in cringeworthy situations" which I always find more uncomfortable than funny

That said Kristen Wiig is all kinds of good and even the fat egg from Little Britain was bearable
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 August, 2012, 02:34:13 AM
Quote from: bluemeanie on 18 August, 2012, 12:35:16 AM
Wife finally nagged me into watching Bridesmaids... was fun enough. Can't imagine I'll every wanna see it again but I enjoyed it while it was on.  Bit too much of the Office style "comedy in cringeworthy situations" which I always find more uncomfortable than funny

That said Kristen Wiig is all kinds of good and even the fat egg from Little Britain was bearable

I was forced to sit through this recently too. To be fair, it did manage to raise a few chuckles, but my main problem with it was that the main character acted like a self-absorbed bitch the whole way through and did not deserve a happy ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 August, 2012, 02:45:28 AM
I'm not buyin' this 'I was forced to watch it' excuse; you all wanted to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 August, 2012, 11:43:18 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 18 August, 2012, 02:34:13 AM
Quote from: bluemeanie on 18 August, 2012, 12:35:16 AM
Wife finally nagged me into watching Bridesmaids... was fun enough. Can't imagine I'll every wanna see it again but I enjoyed it while it was on.  Bit too much of the Office style "comedy in cringeworthy situations" which I always find more uncomfortable than funny

That said Kristen Wiig is all kinds of good and even the fat egg from Little Britain was bearable

I was forced to sit through this recently too. To be fair, it did manage to raise a few chuckles, but my main problem with it was that the main character acted like a self-absorbed bitch the whole way through and did not deserve a happy ending.

That's a really good point actually, Kristen Wiig herself is very funny and all, but the strops her character throws didn't really seem reasonable and cathartic, she just seemed like a spoilt brat who didn't give a hoot about her friend's happiness. Also, the way she treats the male love interest (irish fella from IT Crowd, very good in it actually) is [spoiler]utterly appalling, so when he appears at the end to whisk her off into the sunset I was pretty disappointed. The movie is obviously all about the female perspective but if you look at it from his point of view it's pretty sad (he meets her, she uses him because she's lonely, she's horribly insensitive and obnoxious to him, she then ignores all contact from him for the rest of the film until she needs help with something, then he appears suddenly to whisk her away). Maybe I've just been in too similar a position to really view it objectively, but I wanted to yell at the tv for him to just walk away with his dignity![/spoiler]

Still, it was pretty funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 August, 2012, 08:42:55 PM
Raid on Rommel is on 5USA

Richard Burton doing what he does best: Killing LOADS of Nazies
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 August, 2012, 12:01:41 AM
Went to see a preview of THE IMPOSTER this afternoon - a beautifully made, cinematic, and gripping documentary from the makers of MAN ON WIRE.

I deliberately avoided reading too much about it beforehand - its one of those films that the less you know about the better - and to say anything at all specific about it would spoil it, but it's an absolutely bonkers story, and a fantastic film and you should see it if you can - it opens aug 24th in select cinemas.

There was a Q&A after with the director and producer of the film, plus a guy who features in the film itself, hosted by the great Jon Ronson - such a good experience that I didn't even mind being stuck in a cinema while the weather was blazing hot outside!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 August, 2012, 12:22:52 PM
Limitless

Pretty enjoyable and nice looking film but there seemed to be quite a few story threads left unresolved. I don't know whatever happened to Anna Friel's character but it seemed like a waste of a talented actress to put her in two pretty short scenes and a couple of flashback shots.
I suspect there is a longer cut of this film in existence somewhere which ties up all the loose ends.
Robert DeNiro looks like somebodies uncle doing a Robert DeNiro impression.
Overall I was left slightly unsatisfied - even though I'd been entertained it felt a bit as though the story was taking the least interesting route possible, concentrating on characters that weren't very interesting while ignoring ones that were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 20 August, 2012, 01:58:14 PM
Bridesmaids was one of the most unfunny, diabolical pieces of tripe I have ever had to suffer. Complete tosh. The funniest bit in the movie I'd already seen thanks to it being run as a 10 minute (!!!) trailer prior to a film I'd seen the previous week.

Saw Ted yesterday though, it's pretty much a live action Family Guy. Very funny in places but not fantastic, worth watching if you'd like a chuckle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 August, 2012, 04:59:34 PM
Primer - low budget indie time travel oddity that a friend lent me. Baffling. I will have to watch it again to find out what the drokk was going on in the second half.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 August, 2012, 05:33:13 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 August, 2012, 04:59:34 PM
Primer - low budget indie time travel oddity that a friend lent me. Baffling. I will have to watch it again to find out what the drokk was going on in the second half.

I love Primer, have watched it three times now and there are still parts of it that bewildered me on the third viewing. I'm pretty good with what happens and for the most part why it happens, but it's at the point where they start putting [spoiler]boxes inside boxes[/spoiler] that my mind just explodes. Supposedly very smart people have charted the whole thing to ensure it holds up to its own internal logic and apparently it's all sound. Definitely one of the most interesting movies I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 August, 2012, 06:25:53 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Time_Travel_Method-2.svg/650px-Time_Travel_Method-2.svg.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 August, 2012, 08:07:13 PM
That's actually quite helpful, but since neither of them articulate their thought's much, it's more a problem of knowing who I'm actually looking at at any given moment and what the fuck they're trying to do.

I'm not going to try to bend my head around the time-travel conundrums - tried it in the past and it just sends you doolally, so now I have a safety switch in my brain that fills my head with pictures of kittens and naked Kylie if I try to think about temporal paradoxes for more than three minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 21 August, 2012, 12:31:06 PM
I'd love to see someone try and make one of those for Futurama  :D

(meaning the Primer time loop thingy, back a page  ;))
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 08:48:35 PM
Since everybody here is busy debating upcoming movie telly adverts and whatnot, I thought it was a good time to bury the news that I spent the afternoon with chronic diarrhea and in between bouts of hosing (yes, hosing) I watched Jonah Hex.

I don't see a lot of westerns these days. When I was a kid, yes, my weekends were full of them- as my dad was a huge John Wayne fan. These days, not so much. I haven't even seen the True Grit remake. Or Bad Boys 2, come to that. On top of this, everybody- everybody- just kept going on about how absolutely diabolical Jonah Hex was. It cost me a quid or so, several months ago, and has been sitting on my 'to watch' pile ever since with me scared to watch. Well, not so much 'scared', as unwilling to commit to a movie I'm probably going to want to eject within ten minutes.

Anyway, today- what with the bum-gravy and all- i figured that it was time. After all, if it was as awful as I'd heard, sitting with my agonising ringpiece down the bog would be a blessed release.

All I can say is: my bottom-vomit chose the ninety minutes of Jonah Hex's duration to alleviate and I would like to thank it for being so kind. I really enjoyed Jonah Hex- who knows if it was the lovely little bits where he reanimated the dead, or the amusing weaponry, or Josh Brolin's suitably snarly performance, or the distractingly shit literal makeup designed to make him look like a terrible piece of comic art that never made any sense to begin with, but whatever it was Jonah Hex- far from being utterly terrible- was an entertaining little supernatural western that never got too stupid or overstayed its welcome. Yes, the glowing orange balls and 'super weapon' plot made very little sense- but to be honest, I was enjoying other aspects of the film enough by that point not to give a toss.

My entire experience of the character in comics was the six issue (Vertigo?) limited series from the early nineties and the first ten issues of the New 52 All-Star Western series. On the whole, based on that, the movie doesn't disgrace itself and is a damn site better than most comic adaptations you end up with. if it reminds me of anything, it's the two Ghost Rider films and it's probably fair to say that if you enjoyed them, you may well enjoy this. As for the astonishing amount of vitriol Jonah Hex has received, I'm at a loss.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 August, 2012, 08:57:14 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 08:48:35 PM
Since everybody here is busy debating upcoming movie telly adverts and whatnot, I thought it was a good time to bury the news that I spent the afternoon with chronic diarrhea and in between bouts of hosing (yes, hosing) I watched Jonah Hex.

It's probably a good sign that I can completely disagree with your opinions and still look forward to your posts. I didn't hate Jonah Hex- I found it uninvolving and forgettable- but your impressions and review are much more entertaining than my own, so you win.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 09:14:29 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 21 August, 2012, 08:57:14 PM
I didn't hate Jonah Hex- I found it uninvolving and forgettable- but your impressions and review are much more entertaining than my own, so you win.

It was both uninvolving and forgettable, I agree. But then, so are most films. And I was expecting something truly staggeringly awful- you wouldn't believe the Jonah Hex movie I had made in my head- so the resultant okayishness was quite a shock. I kept waiting for something very bad to happen and it never did. A lot of the internet-hate revolves around Megan Fox, which suggests there might be a bit more to it than there first appears. I was also shocked at the talent involved- Aiden Quinn is always good value, and isn't Michael Fassbender supposed to be good? And John Malkovitch (who I personally can't stand, and who I thought did his usual phoned-in shtick here) gets good notices, I thought. But, my main point was that Hex seems to be often brought up as the nadir of modern comic films (along with Elektra and Catwoman), and I thought it was far better than that.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 August, 2012, 09:16:46 PM
I haven't seen Jonah Hex, I've been put off by reviewers who have likened it to a steaming pile of shit, but since SBT actually had a steaming pile of shit with which to compare it, I might just be tempted to give it a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 09:22:40 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 21 August, 2012, 09:16:46 PM
I haven't seen Jonah Hex, I've been put off by reviewers who have likened it to a steaming pile of shit, but since SBT actually had a steaming pile of shit with which to compare it, I might just be tempted to give it a go.

It was more of a unending stream of hot splat, to be honest.

But yeah, I was really expecting this to be the kind of movie that demands to be ejected after ten minutes and puts you in a bad mood for the whole day. But it was okay, you know.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 August, 2012, 09:58:27 PM
I think I'd rather watch SBT produce his bottom splatage, in 3D and surround sound than sit through Jonah Hex again (well the 25 minutes or whatever I lasted)...

... okay, okay I may be getting carried away in my vitriol there...

...maybe...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 10:15:45 PM
See, that's what i was expecting. But then he drags those dead bandits into town, has a barny with the sherrif, chucks him a severed head in bag, and mows all those bad guys down with HORSE-MOUNTED GATTLING GUNS. Horse-mounted gattling guns! At that point i figured it might have something to offer...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 August, 2012, 10:49:58 PM
I haven't seen Jonah Hex but I was of the impression that it wasn't so much that the film was supposed to be terrible as such - more that it was totally unrepresentative of Jonah Hex as portrayed in the comics.
I expect it's a similar case to the Dredd 95 film - fairly watchable as a Stallone vehicle but a pretty terrible Dredd adaptation.
The similarities don't end there - Dredd was inspired by Dirty Harry, Jonah by 'The Man With No Name'. Both have a dedicated but fairly small fan base and have had something of a renaissance in recent years.
I think in certain quarters fans were expecting (probably not unreasonably given the recent number of pretty decent comic movies) the Jonah film they'd always hoped for.
The Megan Fox hate campaign doesn't help either!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 August, 2012, 12:37:53 AM
I want more of a review of SBT's watery poo: for instance, has he ever had the kind that come out so fast and watery it goes sideways and ends up staining above the rim, or even spreading across the butt cheeks prompting a Fukushima-style clean-up?

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 August, 2012, 10:15:45 PM
See, that's what i was expecting. But then he drags those dead bandits into town, has a barny with the sherrif, chucks him a severed head in bag, and mows all those bad guys down with HORSE-MOUNTED GATTLING GUNS. Horse-mounted gattling guns! At that point i figured it might have something to offer...

SBT


Jonah hex is this generation's Posse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 22 August, 2012, 12:34:25 PM
All this talk of "watery poo" is making me think I'm on the Falling Skies thread  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 22 August, 2012, 09:55:01 PM
Expendables 2

FUCKING AWESOME

And yeah, Dredd trailer before which also looks cool as hell on the big screen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 22 August, 2012, 09:59:42 PM
FRIGHT NIGHT the new version.

It was quite enjoyable and it had a few funny set pieces, which is all I needed from it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 22 August, 2012, 11:04:28 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 22 August, 2012, 09:59:42 PM
FRIGHT NIGHT the new version.

It was quite enjoyable and it had a few funny set pieces, which is all I needed from it.

Yeah, man.
Thought I wouldnt enjoy this as I must have watched the original dozens of times as a teenager but I thought this re-do was brilliant. Evil Ed wasnt a patch on the original but everyone else was great and Colin Farrell tore the shit out of it. Bought it for Iz as she's a David Tennant groupie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 August, 2012, 09:24:18 AM
From Paris With Love

Fucking stupid. A bit like a Steven Segal film but without Steven Segal. John Travolta looked like one of those things where Ant and Dec dress up in prostetics to fool people.

Tango and Cash

Great fun with some very entertaining swearing and Jack Palance eating up the scenery.
My favourite bits are the mouse versions of Tango and Cash which the villain uses as a visual aid to explain his plans for revenge and the 'English' villain with a hilarious accent who says things like' Piss off you fucking sods!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 23 August, 2012, 03:55:06 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 August, 2012, 09:24:18 AM
From Paris With Love

Fucking stupid. A bit like a Steven Segal film but without Steven Segal. John Travolta looked like one of those things where Ant and Dec dress up in prostetics to fool people.

Tango and Cash

Great fun with some very entertaining swearing and Jack Palance eating up the scenery.
My favourite bits are the mouse versions of Tango and Cash which the villain uses as a visual aid to explain his plans for revenge and the 'English' villain with a hilarious accent who says things like' Piss off you fucking sods!'

You've actually made me want to watch that now!

Just watched Punisher: War Zone - mostly to see if it was as bad as everyone makes out.

It was. Though I did think a few times that the guy playing Punisher might have made a passable Dredd if Karl Urban hadn't already donned the helmet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 August, 2012, 04:38:04 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 August, 2012, 09:24:18 AM
Tango and Cash

Great fun with some very entertaining swearing and Jack Palance eating up the scenery.
My favourite bits are the mouse versions of Tango and Cash which the villain uses as a visual aid to explain his plans for revenge and the 'English' villain with a hilarious accent who says things like' Piss off you fucking sods!'

The much-missed Brion James, who was in EVERY low budget action movie you loved in your childhood, usually playing a hissable panto villain of some form.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 August, 2012, 06:31:08 PM
Boogie Night - Ive finally got my arse into gear and updated to Blu-Ray (what twisted my arm was HMV having an offer on at that moment - five Blu-Rays discs for £30), and this film just looks fantastic. And a decent load of extras as well. Top,  :).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 August, 2012, 12:58:43 PM
Right then, as I've said many times, I really have no time at all for "action movies". You know how your granny views "video nasties"?- that's what I think of films like Die Hard or Commando. And like your granny, I've not even seen them. As a kid I watched one or two- notably the Rambo films, Cobra, maybe a Missing In Action and Total Recall... but they never did anything for me whatsoever. While my friends were getting all excited because Schwarzenegger had True Lies or Red Dawn coming out, or Jackie Chan had another cheap, shitty martial arts epic hitting vhs or whatever, I was more interested in what Lucio Fulci was up to, or whether the latest Phantasm was going to cinema or video. In short, sweaty muscley men with their shirts off, spunking bullets at each other, was not then and is not now, my thing.

So, anyway, last night I watched The Expendables. I confess, the thinking here was simple:

I quite liked Rambo (the most recent one) and I like Sylvester Stallone anyway, grud help me. He makes me laugh and I feel kind of defensive towards him, as he comes in for a lot of stick and I get the feeling he can't defend himself. Rocky's a good film, and I've always found his Judge Dredd film amusing. This new Dredd movie is out in a couple of weeks and it looks to be mostly an action film. Despite stating time and again I have no interest in seeing it at the cinema and will wait til bargain bin dvd, I found Alex wossname's long and involved Q&A thingy with The Board to be massively enjoyable, full of heart, and the single piece of promotion that has come closest to making me think I'd maybe like to see it after all. I'd better watch a modern action film quick, to see if I can derive any entertainment from the genre at all, before I go see Dredd, hate it and react to the form of delivery rather than the film itself. Which would be wrong. The Expendables has Stallone and a whole bunch of Action Men in it, and is loved by people who like these types of things, I'll watch that.

So.

It was okay. I wasn't once, ever, engaged with the story. I had literally no idea who anyone was- except Stallone, Willis, Statham (who was much better than I expected), Roberts and Rourke. The rest of the goodies and baddies, who I assume were all played by famous action stars, were all unknown to me. The General/ Dictator man looked disconcertingly like John Thompson from the Fast Show, which made me snigger throughout, and when the big shooty and explodey sequences started everything was cut so fast I couldn't make out what was going on at all, so went out to make a cup of tea.

My wife and I spent the entirety of the film discussing Mickey Rourke's new face and hair, and just how gay Eric Roberts is. And also why Stallone is now looking like Leatherface wearing the peeled face of a drag queen. And why Schwarzenegger looks like a fat old lady. The homoerotic "undertones" (and really, they weren't really "under" anything were they?) were of the "slap you round the face" variety- my personal favourite being the uncomfortable scene in which Arnie enters a church like a bride silhouetted against bright light, walks up the aisle to be married to Sylvester Stallone  by the reverend Bruce Willis, the happy couple are asked if they will "suck each other's dicks"- illiciting the best camp reaction shot since Charles Haughtrey in a toilet in Carry On Screaming- they verbally josh with each other, Arnie offers Sly a big fat cigar and offers to take him out for a meal, and then dumps him- literally at the alter. Just to reinforce it, a scene or two later (and after a sequence at customs shot exactly like a similar sequence in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein for some bizarre reason), the woman destined to be Stallone's too-young love interest is introduced... coming through double doors and silhouetted like a bride against white light... exactly the same as Arnie was. The poetry was remarkable.

So- did I enjoy it? Well, yes. It was very camp, was over fast and made me chuckle. Did it make me want to rush out and catch the second one at the cinema? No. But I will buy it when it hits dvd- and I won't wait til bargain bucket this time. The Expendables cost me four pounds. I'll go up to seven for Expendables 2.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 August, 2012, 01:17:38 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 August, 2012, 12:58:43 PM
The Expendables has Stallone and a whole bunch of Action Men in it, and is loved by people who like these types of things, I'll watch that.
Small point of order. Speaking as someone who likes these types of things, you are proceeding from a false premise here. Most people managed to get through the film due to a residual affection for some of the stars but as an action film it's pretty poor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2012, 01:29:09 PM
Yeah, that's the thing about Expendables - it just wasn't a very good action film. It was dull and ponderous, rather than fun, and it was badly written, but not in a good way. Believe it or not, there's more to Die Hard and The Terminator than just the action scenes, which Expendables failed to grasp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 25 August, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
damn, and I was hanging out for Expendables 2, having not seen the first one.  May see it anyway, what with being an optimist and all.

I'm part way through a Swedish fillum called The Cellist.  It's a Henning Mankel police procedural in which a group of extremely methodical painstaking Swedish dudes who never get upset patiently take on some dead hard evil Russian drug smuggling types who will stop at nothing to....well, I'm not sure what because I haven't finished yet.  It's good anyway.  It's serendipitous because I recorded it whilst trying to record some French movie or other. 

oh and my son and heir and I just watched Addams Family Values, which was good fun.  Not genius (the 'revenge of the nerds' bit was a strain), but good Saturday night stuff and better than Expendables by the sounds of things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 August, 2012, 10:20:21 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 August, 2012, 12:58:43 PM
While my friends were getting all excited because Schwarzenegger had True Lies or Red Dawn coming out, or Jackie Chan had another cheap, shitty martial arts epic hitting vhs or whatever, I was more interested in what Lucio Fulci was up to, or whether the latest Phantasm was going to cinema or video. In short, sweaty muscley men with their shirts off, spunking bullets at each other, was not then and is not now, my thing.

Small world!  When I was a child, I was a snob too.

Carry On Columbus, which I watched because I seem to be watching a lot of Carry On movies of late and thought I'd try the last gasp of the once-great franchise that gave us Babs Windsor holding her tits and yelping as Sid James went hahaha with that sinister laugh of his.  Columbus is actually okay as a Carry On film, and as such a lot of criticisms are defused from the off: if it looks cheap, unconvincing, badly acted, poorly-written, and seems to have been shot in less than a fortnight on the same three sound stages, it is a Carry On film - what were you expecting, exactly?  I know there are purists who insist that it isn't the same if you cast new actors in the roles just because the old ones are dead, but this was alright, with even Julian Clary doing alright by utilising the panto camp he made a career of sending up in a mostly unthreatening manner.  That's the story of this film all the way, it's unthreatening because there's no blackface or slapstick rape attempts like in the old films so a lot of people were turned off and didn't realise it was a matinee flick for kids to watch on a saturday trip to the cinema, and I don't think it gets the credit it deserves for realising that the Carry On movies were still on heavy rotation on British tv screens still dominated by four analogue channels and the television and films of twenty years earlier, but that is clearly where this film is coming from, with some really obvious jokes like "what's that powder?" not turning out to be the expected drug jokes but groan-worthy and anachronistic references to the spice trade.
It also has Larry Miller, a much-underrated character actor who sadly seems to only get cast as sneering middle managers these days, but he's great as the leader of the "Indians", here portrayed as loud, New Jersey-accented guidos who trade only for guns and wine and things turn out as you might expect.  Some decent jokes, some terrible jokes, but the hit/miss ratio is above average for a Carry On outing and there's less of the contempt for the working classes that typified a lot of CO as the cast and writers got older and became more conservative - if anything, Columbus is... well, it's got Burt Kwok in it and you know how that usually ends so I'm hesitant to say "politically correct", but there's something achingly right-on and liberal-smug about the way the Native Americans take the invading whites to the cleaners and only suffer for it when they develop an uncontrolled gun culture BECAUSE CAPITALISM IS EVIL.
Jim Dale is a treasure, though -  decades away from it and he snaps right back to that gurning, exaggerated clumsiness and gormless overacting like he was doing it the day before.  My only criticism is that he's so damned free of guile as ever that when he's fleecing people or trying to be a bastard it's impossible to take him seriously.  Which I suppose is the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 August, 2012, 12:12:43 AM
I do really like that scene in The Expendables where Stallone and Rourke do some emoting, neither of them able to move their faces at all. When Stallone cries it's like someone's pouring water through a rubber mask.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 August, 2012, 02:11:41 AM
Urgh. The Expendables should have been a knowing, camp 'getting the team back together for one last job' kinda film, couldn't believe there was all that emo crap in there. Ludicrous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 August, 2012, 12:28:40 PM
I think SBT has reached a peak in his bizarro-universe of taste in movies. Expendables was loathed by most action fans; and to compare the mighty Jackie Chan (Cheap? Shitty? Wash your mouth out!) with the maker of "Don't Murder a Duckling" (yes, I had to google him) is just farcical.

As for me, inspired by the other thread, I bought Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle on DVD. Only watched the former so far - absolutely bonkers, with some hilarious set pieces. Loved the epilogue scene where everyone has learnt the ways of Shaolin, with the flying sword-wielding hedge cutter and the commuters leaping through the top window of the bus. I'll be watching the other one tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 01:14:12 PM
Oh dear- i didnt realise claiming the expendables to be popular would have so many of you ripping your shirts off, rasslin' in the dirt and growing enormous moustaches like 'stone cold' steve austin. To find out whether the expendables was well thought of i merely:
A) looked at its box office take in comparison with other action films and found it to be much more successful,
And B) asked real people who i know personally, ALL OF WHOM said it was "brilliant!", and of those who were girls, three claimed it to be "one of their favourite films ever".

It was, as i say, okay. The scene mentioned where stallone and rourke emote without moving their faces, i found particularly amusing for the fact rourke was sitting looking in a makeup mirror like a haggard old drag queen preparing for one last show. That, and his name being 'Tools'. First name 'Jenny', i suppose?

Stallone is an underrated director- and im sure all this blatant homoerotism was intentional. He didnt, as far as im aware, go that route with (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 01:20:50 PM
(cont) his fourth Rambo- which while being a far better film than the expendables, lacked the allround clout of being such a blatant crowd-pleasing pisstake.

Anyway, tonight's feature is 'Grave Encounters'- of which i know nothing, other than its a cheapo 'found footage' supernatural thing, like 'paranormal activity' et al, and both the wife and i love those. And it cost me £1.99, so saving me £8 off the price of 'The Devil Inside' or whatever it's called.

And if there's one genre i cant stand, even more so than action fims, it's martial arts!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 August, 2012, 04:13:35 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 August, 2012, 12:58:43 PM
My wife and I spent the entirety of the film discussing Mickey Rourke's new face and hair, and just how gay Eric Roberts is. And also why Stallone is now looking like Leatherface wearing the peeled face of a drag queen. And why Schwarzenegger looks like a fat old lady. The homoerotic "undertones" (and really, they weren't really "under" anything were they?) were of the "slap you round the face" variety- my personal favourite being the uncomfortable scene in which Arnie enters a church like a bride silhouetted against bright light, walks up the aisle to be married to Sylvester Stallone  by the reverend Bruce Willis, the happy couple are asked if they will "suck each other's dicks"- illiciting the best camp reaction shot since Charles Haughtrey in a toilet in Carry On Screaming- they verbally josh with each other, Arnie offers Sly a big fat cigar and offers to take him out for a meal, and then dumps him- literally at the alter. Just to reinforce it, a scene or two later (and after a sequence at customs shot exactly like a similar sequence in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein for some bizarre reason), the woman destined to be Stallone's too-young love interest is introduced... coming through double doors and silhouetted like a bride against white light... exactly the same as Arnie was. The poetry was remarkable.

The scene mentioned where stallone and rourke emote without moving their faces, i found particularly amusing for the fact rourke was sitting looking in a makeup mirror like a haggard old drag queen preparing for one last show. That, and his name being 'Tools'. First name 'Jenny', i suppose?

This is fucking brilliant, SBT. I sat through that tired piece of shit without finding anything of interest whatsoever, but you've made me want to go back and subject the whole thing to a queer reading. I love your fond reappraisals of horror classics, but I think you should open up a sideline in producing scandalous readings of genres and specific films that have become either sacred cows or critical Aunt Sallys.

The fruits of George Lucas and Peter Jackson are obvious candidates, but people are as frighteningly uptight and serious about films by Ridley Scott and Clint Eastwood, as they are reflexively dismissive of Michael Bay or something like John Carter. Stepping outside your comfort zone appears to turbo charge your critical faculties and ability to wind up your fellow boarders.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 August, 2012, 04:40:58 PM
I could make myself sound like a right tit by arguing that one dead-in-the-water trashy genre (action) is more important than another (zombies), but I like to think I have more sense than that, just like I like to think I have more sense than to insult the tastes of other forum users using accusations of homoeroticism.  I thought we were all adults here?

Besides, action films aren't homoerotic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N7pjAo8PtI
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 26 August, 2012, 04:47:09 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 01:20:50 PM
And if there's one genre i cant stand, even more so than action fims, it's martial arts!

What do you think of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton films? 'Cos that's what Jackie Chan films are, but with  more kicking and punching and sound and stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 05:09:11 PM
Oh i know all that, MIK, but i still dont like them. When i was at uni, i lived for several years with my bezzie mate, who was not only jackie chan's biggest fan (and yuen biao, samo hung, etc) but also very into kung fu himself- as a result he and i did  jeet kune do every week for too long. I understand how clever they are and all that- but they bore the tits off me and i will never watch another one as long as i live.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 10:44:31 PM
GRAVE ENCOUNTERS (2011, the vicious brothers)

Every time i mention one of these 'found footage' horror films on here, i get shouted at for having 'bad taste'. Well, in case the message was unclear, i really dont care that others judge my filmic choices harshly. My wife and I watch quite a lot of these things; from the magnificent (the original, and best, 'ghost watch', 'blair witch' and the 'paranormal activity' series) to the most horrible of old bollocks, like 'the last broadcast'. Currently, there are a bunch of these newly out on dvd vying for my attention, and 'grave encounters' won because it was cheapest.

Glad it did, because- haha!- it scared the absolute crap out of us both.

There's a secret to this particular subgenre that involves not pushing the visual aspect too far, lest you engage the rational part of the audience's mind and they laugh rather than scream. Grave Encounters comes perilously close to falling on the wrong side of this line on several ocassions, and i confess to (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 10:56:52 PM
(cont) sniggering a few times when they tried too hard. It's also a bit too long, becomes a little obvious as it draws towards its conclusion, and is very reminiscent of some other film that we saw a few years ago about a mad doctor, but which i cant for the life of me remember the title of.

But- crucially, it's very frightening when it gets going, and manages to push some excellent fantastical ideas that nudge it further into the kind of psychological terror more usually found in 'the twilight zone'.

The plot? 'Most Haunted' lucks onto a real haunted location- an abandoned asylum- and things go badly wrong.

Look, if you dont like these things you wont like this. Yes, the digital effects only partially work- although one sequence is so bizarre it appears to have come in from another film entirely (as if the asylum has landed them in the 'day of the dead' trailer for a laugh) and as a result is one of those rare and beautiful scenes you have to run back to check you saw what you thought you did. (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 August, 2012, 11:04:27 PM
(cont) and yes, if grainy black and white and green shaky footage and improvised dialogue somehow make you believe no skill has been demonstrated in its production, then it'll annoy you as much as the last one you moaned through. But hey-ho; here it goes immediately in the 'mockumentaries' section of the collection to be watched again sometime in the medium to near future.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 August, 2012, 11:23:10 PM
I have absolutely no problem with the genre - I adore the 30s Universal flicks, the Hammer and Amicus movies, Down of the Dead, The Omen, Exorcist, Elm St, Blair Witch, Shining, Wicker Man .. I could go on and on. And I thoroughly enjoy reading your your reviews, you have a wonderful turn of phrase.

It just seems like you have little quality control - you seem to love even the ones you describe as "horrible old bollocks"; and yet dismiss films like the Godfather as "crap" (apologies if that wasn't the exact word) and Jackie Chan's undeniably brilliantly made (and expensive) films as "cheap and shitty" - and then turn around and get sniffy about it all being a matter of taste. Pot-Kettle methinks. People wouldn't criticise your taste if you didn't spend so much time dismissing the opinions of everyone else on films that most people agree are classics. It goes back to the recurrent argument about reviewing strips and artists - say you don't like, it, but don't just say "it's shit" when it clearly isn't.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 August, 2012, 11:52:19 PM
My problem with found footage movies is that they don't seem to be evolving much as a genre and it took me a full minute to realise this was supposed to be a parody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M7BN_Oim2Q

Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 August, 2012, 11:23:10 PMJackie Chan's undeniably brilliantly made (and expensive) films

Expensive for Hong Kong, maybe...
HK films may be technically impressive and pushed back the boundaries of what was possible in cinema to the point that thirty years later they're still ripping off Police Story, but they look cheap as fuck, even more so than the gorno schlock SBT pretends to love so much (I know a man who secretly loves Will Smith movies when I see one) which can actually look even better the more they date and develop an anachronistic charm.  Aforementioned Police Story is still as impressive as ever on a level of sheer stunt lunacy, but fuck me it looks rough.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJACGJ_8CEs
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 August, 2012, 12:13:20 AM
'Stunt Lunacy' perfectly describes my favourite thing about Jackie Chan movies. This article from cracked.com (http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-most-needlessly-dangerous-jackie-chan-stunts/) describes his insanity pretty well.

One of my other favourite things about JC's movies is the Gag* Reel during the end credits. One of them (I can't remember the title of the movie) shows that he wasn't water-skiing behind that hovercraft using conventional water-skis, oh no. He was skiing on plastic bags wrapped around a plaster cast wrapped around his broken ankle.

*If you count people suffering violent injuries via their own misadventures to be gags

EDIT: It's from Rumble in the Bronx (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUodLjwwSBU). The shot from 0:07 is the one were he actually breaks his leg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 August, 2012, 12:30:28 AM
Yeah, he just had someone paint onto the cast on his broken so it looked like the shoe he was wearing on his other foot AND WENT BACK TO FILMING HIS KUNG FU MOVIE.  Shouldn't be surprising, though, as Armor Of God's blooper reel reveals the only way you'll keep the crazy bastard off the set is if he is physically incapable of getting to it.  And you know why?  Because he can't afford to stop shooting because no-one in Hong Kong would insure a Jackie Chan movie.
WHY IS THAT, JACKIE?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 August, 2012, 12:48:19 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 27 August, 2012, 12:30:28 AM
.... no-one in Hong Kong would insure a Jackie Chan movie.

And then someone in Hollywood flew him over to make movies with Chris Tucker. It's....it's almost like someone in Hollywood doesn't like Chris Tucker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 August, 2012, 11:15:32 PM
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

When this was "directed", did no one listen to the accents? It was impossible to watch without screaming "Why is Magneto suddenly Irish?!" half-way through. And for those of us in the room partially-familiar with the 'x-mythos' (er, me), without also screaming "why isn't Banshee Irish!?! And Moira McTaggart not Scottish?!"

All of this became so distracting- especially when Magneto completely lost it towards the end and started shouting all bejeezus and begorah- that i couldnt possibly tell you if it was any good or not. For everything that was entertaining and fun or nicely done dramatically, there was a another shot up kevin bacon's 'just give me the michael morbius role in spider-man 5' nose, another scene involving bacon's ill-defined 'powers', or his faceless band of cronies. As an aside, jason flemyng as that red nightcrawler bloke- is that from the comics, cos that was cool- but 'wind-man' or whoever that was; jeeeez, didnt he turn up in the first ghost rider movie? And as (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 August, 2012, 11:28:56 PM
(cont) for emma frost- note to filmmakers: she's supposed to be beautiful and dangerously sexy, so if you do another one, recast the part, sharpish.

Anyway, for every good bit there was all that, and beast's hilarious fluffy makeup and bodysuit, the dubious lolitaporn introduction to mystique and the just sheer plodding length of the thing. Two hours? Felt like four.

But much of it was good- michael fassbender (when he remembered to do the accent) was excellent, as was blokey playing xavier. However, it never felt like the sixties at all, and the badly-misjudged wolverine cameo is what will stay with me longest, and actually made me briefly cross. No need for a "fuck" in an x-men movie, and im disappointed marvel let that go.

On the whole, as x-films go, not as good as the first three, but better than wolverine.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 28 August, 2012, 12:01:56 AM
'The Great McGinty':

wasn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2012, 12:39:37 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 27 August, 2012, 11:28:56 PMthe dubious lolitaporn introduction to mystique

Much as I will take any opportunity to bash on XMFC (see below), you're on your own with that one.

What always gets me about X-Men First Class is that it's a film where Charles spends the whole time telling Erik to forgive, yet then doesn't do just that himself when Erik is at a moral crossroads.  For some reason, we're supposed to side with the rich white guy and take it as read that he is always right, a man who uses his psychic powers to date-rape women and who adopts the moral high ground during his first meeting with a man who hunts Nazis.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 28 August, 2012, 12:48:46 AM
Battle of Algiers. I've been looking out for it for years and recently found it in HMV in Westfield Shopping Centre of all places. It first came to my attention when I read that the US military studied it in order to understand the mindset of insurgents. A gripping, cruel film that's even handed in showing atrocities committed by both sides. No doubt the same events were more or less played out all over the world as empires crumbled following WWII and there are parallels with other conflicts today. Filmed in a documentary style with apparently only one professional actor (the French colonel). This meant that some of the dialogue had to be dubbed later. Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 August, 2012, 12:26:27 PM
THE ALAMO
John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Frankie Avalon (ffs) and 7000 Mexicans dress up and create a myth about what really happened in Texas in 1836.

Having not seen it for forty years (when I'd have been playing "Best Man's Fall" as Jim Bowie or Davey Crockett), I was expecting to be able to pick out more historical inaccuracies but I wasn't quite prepared for how overlong and talky the whole exercise was. How did this excite me as a kid?

Even the action scenes come out a bit flat; they don't take much time to establish the layout of the Alamo so things just tend to happen and you get little or no feel for strategy or tactics used. People seem to be able to wander in and out of the surrounded mission as and when they please.

And various characters (Wayne in particular) speechify so much about what it means to be patriotic and republican that I thought it must have been written as a pro-Vietnam propoganda piece*but it's too early for that.

In future I'll just stick with ZULU. At least when we Brits are mytholigising battles we have the decency to make it entertaining. (And "Men of Harlech" tops all three Texican ditties).




* Or an early draft of the Star Wars prequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 August, 2012, 12:31:49 PM
ALIAS Season 2
About half way through this and blimey this is fantastic stuff.

Just when you think they've settled down, they pull rugs out underneath you in two episodes in a row and it looks like they change the battle lines for the rest of the season.  I kept having to check we weren't watching a season finale it had so many changes.  great character moments, masses of twisty turney plot, great one on one fights, torture scenes, Rutger Hauer guesting for 26 seconds, decompressing Jumbo jets with bad guys being sucked into exploding engines, all out assaults on the bad guy's base and Jennifer Garner in TWO sets of lingerie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 28 August, 2012, 04:57:30 PM
You had me up until that last part, Tips.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2012, 05:07:15 PM
Well, if we're talking about telly now, I finally got to get stuck into the second season of Scooby Doo:Mystery Incorporated, and it's a cracker so far, with some good additions to the cast such as Community's Jim Rash and Clone Wars' Matt Lanter, but Linda "Velma from the live action films" Cardinelli is probably best as Daphne-replacement Marcy, whose "close friendship" with Velma should be a first for kids' cartoons if it actually goes where it seems to be going and isn't some wussy fake-out like they're really sisters or something, and a few episodes in I decide to not make it a marathon and spread the series out over the coming weeks seeing as I only have 1-15 on the PS3 hard drive and don't want to be stuck waiting for the last few to actually air like I was with season 1, so I decide to keep the merriment and good atmosphere going by finally sitting down to watch the whole of Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, as I have recently become a bit of a fan of Donald Sutherland in comedy roles where he plays hippy dropout characters and Kelly's Heroes was a total hoot, so when I heard he played Jesus Christ in this anti-war film, I sought it out thinking it was probably a bit like the film MASH, but it's actually more like the TV series MASH.
A meditative journey through the lifetime of silent and anguished denial experienced by Joe (future George W Bush impersonator Timothy Bottoms) as he tries and fails to comprehend what is reality, memory and delusion in the aftermath of becoming a non-responsive multiple amputee, between his despairing probing of what's left of his head with what's left of his tongue and describing what he feels to the viewer in a detailed monologue and screaming in silence at the nurses not to cut off his arms and legs, or at his dead mother to wake him from the nightmare he's having and even the dead themselves to take him with them and not leave him behind as "what I've been cut down to and still allowed to live," things pretty much can't get any worse for poor old Joe - and then the trench rats come in the lonely night and gnaw on his face.
Aforementioned Donald Sutherland plays the aforementioned part of the Jesus Joe calls to many times over the years of silence and madness that follows - though there are aspects of Joe's dad (Jason Robards) in his weary character - and he converses with Joe between trips to ferry the dead to some unknown destination on a train he drives like a madman, all the while screaming and wailing at the dark.  Occasionally they play games of chance, but Jesus is a bit of a bummer to be around and resigned to the whims of fate, while the dead don't seem to like to be around Joe and look at him with sadness and pity, so Joe eventually seeks refuge in happier - fabricated - memories of when he managed to become close to the mostly-absent father whose coldness and distance haunt Joe in a way that prevents him from creating even the fantasy of an emotional bond with the man.
It's not all grim, though, as Joe experiences some moments of happiness over the years, such as when someone finally opens a window in his room and he feels the sun on what's left of his face, or when he feels the sensation of water on his skin when a new nurse weeps at the sight of what he's become.  Eventually Joe communicates through morse code his desire to either be put on display as a freakshow attraction, or to be euthanised, but a visiting general refuses and forces Joe to live on, the film ending with Joe begging an empty room for the mercy of death.
I've sugar-coated it a bit, but that's the basic plot.  It's not one of Sutherland's funniest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 August, 2012, 10:31:41 PM
"A devil inside, a devil inside, every single one of us has a devil inside" sung michael hutchence from that band inxs, shortly before he died. But if every single one of had THE Devil Inside it would only mean a crappy entry in the 'found footage' horror boom had unexpectedly sold seven billion copies. Thankfully, there's not THAT much money in old rope, and with any luck i'll be the only one with THE DEVIL INSIDE, having stopped you lot from buying it by my scathing words here.

This is the movie "the vatican didnt want you to see"- and no, dont worry i'll resist the obvious jokes about why that could be, largely because child abuse is a far more horrifying subject than this piss-poor attempt to get us all flocking back to The Church, terrified that some mustachioed cloven hoofed goat man is after our souls. Given the choice between satan and ratzinger, i know who i find the scarier.

The plot here finds Isabella researching her mum's mental condition after mummy murdered three people while being (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 August, 2012, 10:38:47 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 28 August, 2012, 05:07:15 PM
Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun


Ah, the Metallica film. I read the book and the film's not bad. Low budget and a bit too talky but has the colour to black & white thing which I like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 August, 2012, 10:41:31 PM
(cont) exorcised twenty years ago. She's been moved to a psychiatric hospital in rome, so off goes isabella and couple of renegade priests, and a cameraman- natch- to find out if old nick is living inside. I will run the risk of incurring the wrath of spoiler-phobes: he is.

There are two main exorcism sequences, neither are at all frightening and both present a demon who has obviously seen 'The Exorcist' and is a bit of a fan- either that, or demons have a very limited repertoire.

Inerestingly, for a movie that tries to convince us 'this is how the vatican does it' (the movies pays toe-curling lip service to proving priests know the difference between possession and mental illness), one of the indicators of demonic possession is literally a Britain's Got Talent-style contortion act. I know this because the contortionist in the film is on my wife's friendslist.

Anyway, it's a load of shit. The nun on the poster is glimpsed for a fraction of a second on a bridge, and the very last thing (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 August, 2012, 10:44:15 PM
(cont) the movie does is try to get you to go to some shitty website theyve set up to continue 'investigating the rossi case'. Yes, it's that blatant. Im not going to the site, but i'd imagine there's much there about the english priest and the bits of his story that werent explained and probably a chance for you to spend money.

Just like the real thing, then.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 August, 2012, 10:45:25 PM
I love slipping between SBT's cont.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 28 August, 2012, 11:42:38 PM
Take it to a room boys!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 29 August, 2012, 11:41:02 PM
Watched expendables 2, pretty funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 30 August, 2012, 10:04:06 AM
Livid (or 'Livide', to give it it's proper French name). Visually stunning and, for the first half, genuinely creepy and eerie. A great set-up but somewhat disappointing third act. Would definitely recommend it to horror fans though, it had some neat ideas and memorable imagery. I know it's from the directors of 'Inside' and have heard good things about that but haven't seen it yet. On the strength of this I'll be tracking that down pretty soon though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 August, 2012, 12:03:56 PM
The last 2 films I watched were-Cabin in the Woods & Expendables 2.
Both films were a load of crap!

Cabin was especially bad; twists that could be seen coming from a mile away, and generally a stupid story altogether.

Sorry to those that liked it, but for me it was a lot of hype instead of substance.

Cheers  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2012, 07:10:30 PM
The Quiet Man (1952).  Why?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 August, 2012, 07:14:58 PM
John Wayne? Big fist fight?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 August, 2012, 07:25:25 PM
It's no Darby O'Gill and the Little People, that's for sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2012, 07:36:44 PM
On principle, I bought The 25th Reich as it has robot Nazi spiders in it, but I seem to have made a terrible mistake somehow even though my logic is clearly not at fault.  This is a dreadful film, but it's that particular kind of dreadful that only comes with poor decision-making on the part of the makers and bad story decisions being made that culminate with a redneck being transformed into a giant robot Nazi spider and then bum-raping a closeted Jewish soldier and you can practically hear the arguments already for proclaiming this as high art rather than turgid juvenile shit: "it has levels because the soldier is a gay jew and he is being gay raped by a Nazi because it's satire and irony because it is also a Nazi raping a American soldier but also a man who hates gays having gay rape on a gaylol."  The rest of it looks almost there, with some interesting character setup with the movie star doing his stint in the army as was popular at the time* and a dodgy secret mission to capture escaped CGI panthers in the Aussie outback, but the acting isn't quite there and the script fumbles pretty much everything and the flat direction never lets you get past that.  The scenery is nice, but that's about it, really.
I never thought this day would come, but I am seriously telling other people that a film with giant robot Nazi spiders in it is not very good.  Thanks a fucking bunch, 25th Reich.


* though the actor is far too old to be playing a movie star doing a stint in the US military as once you hit the mid-30s the USG usually classed public figures as unfit for service, and the bloke here seems to be late 40s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 31 August, 2012, 07:42:50 PM
Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 31 August, 2012, 09:25:46 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 31 August, 2012, 07:42:50 PM
Dredd.

HA HA HA HAAAAAA! ME TOO!!!! DREDD! HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!


(still on a high...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2012, 09:31:06 PM
Fucking fuck you, you fucking bunch of fucking fucks.

Cheers

Jim

(Not fucking jealous, at fucking all. Oh, no.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 August, 2012, 09:45:35 PM
I could have gone and seen it if I wanted. I just didn't because ...y'know....I'm too cool for school :cool:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 31 August, 2012, 09:55:06 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2012, 09:31:06 PM
Fucking fuck you, you fucking bunch of fucking fucks.

More! More!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2012, 10:30:59 PM
Bastards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 31 August, 2012, 10:54:39 PM
Yeah, fuck you! Get out of this thread!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 01 September, 2012, 05:25:18 AM
Now now, lads - it's only entertaining when Jim does it. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 September, 2012, 10:57:59 AM
Dredd!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Oops, sorry - Ill re-post this bit in about six days or so,  ;)


Mr Postman delivered the Apocalypse Now/Hearts of Darkness 3 disc boxset yesterday, so ive been working my way through that. I wont review the film, as i expect pretty much everyone has seen it by now.
The films look and sound spot on, though ive never really cared for the Redux version, and the Hearts of Darkness Doc is always worth revisiting. Some nice extra's and finally the films are in their correct aspect ratio. Cheap enough now on Amazon, so well worthwhile tracking down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 September, 2012, 12:17:38 AM
I wasn't going to watch the Expendables because it didn't really appeal to me as a longtime fan of the action movie - it was clearly a star vehicle rather than an action flick in the mold of Gunmen (yes, I know), and those tend not to be very memorable action films and occasionally muddled in their execution, but I read - somewhere - that there was a tremendously gay subtext in it, and paired with the presence of reliable action flick workhorse Gary Daniels I was intrigued enough to give it a gander.
The much-anticipated gay subtext is sadly nonexistent and Expendables is actually one of the least gay action movies I've ever seen,* even with Mickey Rourke's flamboyant appearance and Sylvester Stallone's laughable attempts to appear like a regular Joe, as it's essentially one long bro fist - the film even ends with one - and a deliberate acknowledgement that it's okay to be a bloke and love your mates without accusing each other of being fags.  Statham's character especially goes through the stereotypical action male tropes of beating up an abusive boyfriend and playing the white knight to faithless ho Charisma Carpenter, but his actions and dialogue betray that he's genuinely hurt emotionally and that he struggles with feelings of self-worth in the aftermath of seeing his poorly-tended relationship crumble before him rather than just feeling angry and action-movie betrayed.  Like Stallone's Barney Ross and Mickey Rourke's Tool, Statham's Lee Christmas is struggling to define what he wants in life and coming to the conclusion that he wants genuine emotional investment in people and roots of his own before he ends up like bonkers team-mate Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), desensitised to the violence he inflicts and unable to recognise friends in the people around him.  Even Jet Li's Yin Yang is having worries about where he's going and the general message is that this is okay, that it's okay to want to hang out and be dudes without being assholes into the bargain, that guys are allowed to be people, to be human beings and to actually have a feeling.
In many ways, this is iconoclastic ground for the action movie to cover, as pretty much every character of note is obsessed with legacy and/or getting old rather than remaining some sort of panto caricature forever, even the walking leer that is Eric Roberts, and it's telling that near the end Ross takes a single bullet and goes down and that he gets his ass kicked by a younger man rather than bulls his way through and comes out on top.  This is the action movie in mid-life crisis, and while I think this is appropriate for something where all the actors with the exception of Statham and Li look roughly a million years old and is great as plot backdrop, it doesn't make me want to rewatch the film any time soon as it takes up 90 percent of the running time.
It does not have a lot of action in it, and what's there is not as good as it could be.  For a start, did someone actually think it was a good idea to have some blokes dressed in black having a fistfight in a darkened hallway as a setpiece?  I had no idea who was fighting who at some points, but when I figured it out I did see what they were originally planning: Stallone/Austin pairing off for wrestling because neither were really up for the martial arts stuff, while that was left to Li/Statham/Daniels, and in theory that's good stuff, but in practice it didn't set the screen on fire, which is odd because the latter three actors have enough experience between them of onscreen martial arts that I was surprised at how much of it was no-selling punches and kicks.  It takes an age to get going - about 40 minutes in before the second action scene - after a pretty brief opening scrap, and is roughly four decent action setpieces over the guts of two hours.  It is not great as an action flick, as feared, though the character work is definately welcome.
I'd give it a cautious recommendation for a one-off watch, but mention that it's about 10/15 minutes too long.  The sequel is apparently more action-friendly to the point of parody, but I'd be lying if i said I would watch it for any reason other than to see Jean Claude Van Damme playing a bad guy called Jean Villain...


* Which really takes some doing seeing as it has Statham and Lundgren in the cast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 02 September, 2012, 12:48:39 AM
I somehow managed to enjoy THE EXPENDABLES in its pre-cut cinema version but that probably has a lot to with the kick I get from watching pensioners BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF PEOPLE without any obvious use of stunt doubles. THE EXPENDABLES PART DEUX, however, really does descend into parody. Painfully so, oh ho, when Arnolt quips:

"Who's gonna turn up next? Rambo?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 02 September, 2012, 10:38:53 AM
The Running Man was on Telly last night. Not the greatest of films but not a complete turd either. Not a patch on the book though, I think I new adaption closer to the source material is in order!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 02 September, 2012, 01:25:31 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 31 August, 2012, 07:42:50 PM
Dredd.

Quote from: Lee Bates on 31 August, 2012, 09:25:46 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 31 August, 2012, 07:42:50 PM
Dredd.

HA HA HA HAAAAAA! ME TOO!!!! DREDD! HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!


(still on a high...)

Quote from: Judge Jack on 01 September, 2012, 10:57:59 AM
Dredd!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Oops, sorry - Ill re-post this bit in about six days or so,  ;)


...

Yup, Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 September, 2012, 09:44:53 PM
POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Oh, I'm so sorry Poltergeist III, for years I've done you a disservice. For years I've had you down as a pointless piece of shit which delivers not a single memorable sequence and places some horrible show-offy 'wax' effects technique above the squishy yuck and latex, while favouring clever-clever reflect-o-fx over monsters and goo and corpses, like the earlier films. That, and Julian Beck's non-appearance as Reverend Kane have over the years cemented P3 as the really, really bad one of the trilogy.

Surprise! It's not at all. 24 years on it seems to have weathered the intervening decades quite nicely. And if Julian Beck hadn't gone and died a couple of years previously, necessitating a rubbish makeup Halloween costume version of Kane never seen in close-up, it would probably be remembered with a lot more affection than it is.

Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allan are likeable, the plot is obvious but necessarily-so if they were going to do it this way, and little Heather O'Rourke- who died after principal filming and before post (the final shot of her coming 'out of the light' is a double)- takes the character she created to the logical next level, becoming sassy and smart-mouthed, but clever and funny with it.

My boys, who have enjoyed the whole of the Poltergeist series, really liked this one- naming it the "most frightening of them all". The eldest cuddled up to me very tightly throughout, proclaiming each effects sequence more terrifying than the last... then doing that brilliant thing (when it becomes obvious that we've got him and he is forever like us) moaning when he thought it was all over, "Ohhh, that's disappointing, I wanted more!" and then shrieking when it started again.

So yes, much better than I remembered. And the mirror effects are genuinely well put together and realised. Just a shame about Beck's earlier death and the over-reliance on dry ice and wax/hot air in preference to latex and gooey monsters. And of course, a shame about the death of twelve year old O'Rourke- who would have been thirty-seven this year.

Oh- there's a brilliant credit at the end: "Reverend Kane originally played by Julian Beck". I'd like to know the story behind that!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 03 September, 2012, 01:25:45 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2012, 09:31:06 PM
Fucking fuck you, you fucking bunch of fucking fucks.

Cheers

Jim

(Not fucking jealous, at fucking all. Oh, no.)
What no Cunt in there. I am dissapointed.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 03 September, 2012, 03:00:00 PM
I watched an ace film called 'Wild Zero'. Anyone seen it?

It is the best rock 'n' roll jet movie I have ever. Basically aliens come to earth to turn people into zombies, and it's up to Guitar Wolf to use the power of "ROCK AND ROLL!!!" to kill them.

The rest of his band spend most of the time combing their hair which is also pretty funny.

Also some guy who has a beef with Guitar Wolf, (because he stole some fake gold off him) is hunting them down in his underpants while he takes loads of drugs.

Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_D9OjDoQ0

Or, watch the whole movie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_D9OjDoQ0

Check it out. Seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 03 September, 2012, 03:02:25 PM
Woops, this is the whole movie link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Zezwkb58g
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 06 September, 2012, 06:47:25 PM
I love Wild Zero far too much.

Fave bit: Guitar Wolf jumping out of the exploding building, striking a chord on his guitar and shouting "ROCK N ROOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!" as he does so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 06 September, 2012, 07:17:24 PM
Quote from: GordyM on 06 September, 2012, 06:47:25 PM
I love Wild Zero far too much.

Fave bit: Guitar Wolf jumping out of the exploding building, striking a chord on his guitar and shouting "ROCK N ROOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!" as he does so.

For my money it's hard to beat the classic line: "Love has no borders, nationalities, or genders! DO IT!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: W. R. Logan on 06 September, 2012, 08:50:40 PM
Dredd 8-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 07 September, 2012, 09:19:53 AM
Ill let you know in a couple of hours,  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 September, 2012, 03:35:52 PM
The Monster That Challenged the World, a B-movie I came across in my travels while doing research on the Salton Sea, a fascinating area of California that used to be a thriving tourist attraction until the unique nature of the "sea" caused it to become increasingly toxic and incapable of supporting life - there's a five minute movie here that bullet-points it pretty well and makes a great visual case for going there if you ever plan on scouting locations for a post-apocalyptic movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIU6Py4K_A - and presciently, this schlocky flick supposes a mutated sea snake that threatens to escape the confinement of the area and threaten the world with its man-eating nonsense.  Oddly for the time, the enemy here isn't the commies in allegorical form but runoff from the then-popular tourist and agricultural spots, so it's a mid-50s monster movie where excesses of consumer society - capitalism - is the true villain rather than something from without.
It follows the usual horror movie formula of missing people, strange wildlife activity, monster attacks, but then that's half the fun of these old films.  The monsters themselves are pretty ambitious for the budget FX of the time with their bug eyes and mandible jaws, and there's a couple of decent man vs monster setpieces and - also unusual for the time as it stepped outside the aforementioned formula - a final reel runabout after the monsters are supposedly dead.
Surprisingly good fun for a b-feature, it helps to also consider it's a film about a tourist hotspot lake where monsters are created by toxic runoff - that's basically every other SyFy movie right there, but this old-fashioned take on the material has a lot of charm that comes from being so dated and earnest, and bonus points for having an actual physical effect for the creature rather than now-ubiquitous super-cheap CGI.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rog on 07 September, 2012, 04:01:44 PM
DREDD and jolly good it was too :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 07 September, 2012, 04:33:44 PM
Just got back from watching Dredd. Really good film, it went well beyond my expectations. Brutally ultraviolent. Quality  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 September, 2012, 04:45:35 PM
Oh, there's a Dredd movie out?  I hadn't noticed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Alski on 07 September, 2012, 05:22:56 PM
DREDD

http://cool-stuff-you-will-like.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/dredd-3d-film-review.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: WhitBloke on 07 September, 2012, 05:52:53 PM
Quote from: W. R. Logan on 06 September, 2012, 08:50:40 PM
Dredd 8-)

I knew you'd say that.   :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 September, 2012, 06:32:59 PM
The last two movies I watched were Dredd  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DoomBot on 07 September, 2012, 11:24:57 PM
Brave, which was rubbish

But tomorrow I'll be able to say Dredd.

Is it tomorrow yet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 07 September, 2012, 11:37:48 PM
Well sod you lot, I just watched Dre.... oh, crap

Anyway. Yeah. Awesome. Loved it. Thank FUCK for that. If it had been anything less than brilliant at this stage it woulda been horrendous

Next film I plan to see? Attack of the 50ft cheerleader. Cant possibly see how this can be anything other than amazing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 08 September, 2012, 12:33:42 PM
Dredd, 2012.

Loved it to bits. So much fun in doom and gloom, great how they balanced that.

The Losers, 2010.

More fun than expected. Didn't like the Roque twist. Hyperactive Jensen was a blast as was grunting Cougar. But where it fell down for me - there was a trying too hard vibe and too many scenes that had been better done elsewhere. Still, not a deal-breaker and I'd happily watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DoomBot on 08 September, 2012, 05:18:06 PM
Dredd  :o

How full has the cinema been for you guys? I know Saturday afternoon may not be the most popular time but there were only five of us in the whole theatre...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: David Broughton on 08 September, 2012, 05:25:41 PM
Went to see Dredd at 4.40pm Friday so only a handful of people as the sun was blazing away.  However as I have mentioned in other forums I'm a big fan since the start in 1977 and for me Karl was Dredd! The film was AWSOME!  I will be going again next week. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 September, 2012, 05:28:52 PM
Quote from: DoomBot on 08 September, 2012, 05:18:06 PM
Dredd  :o

How full has the cinema been for you guys? I know Saturday afternoon may not be the most popular time but there were only five of us in the whole theatre...


There weren't many when I went. It was 1.30 Friday afternoon and there were about 15/20 people there. But then I do live in Exeter and the Dredd community ain't in abundance down 'ere.

Absolutely mental film though. I took 2 of my non-2000 ad friends along and they both thought it was excellent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 September, 2012, 02:45:47 PM
Dredd. It's dark, violent, gritty and bloody. Urban plays it spot on
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 September, 2012, 08:22:51 PM
House of Dracula (1945)

Poor old Dr Edelman, it just isn't your day. One minute everything is just peachy, and you're happily living in your clifftop castle with your beautiful hunchbacked assistant Nina, busily working on your botanical experiments... then suddenly, in the middle of the night, you're woken up by your old friend and neighbour The Baron, who's broken in to reveal he's actually Count Dracula and needs you to cure his vampirism. He shows you his coffin in the basement of your house and you regretfully agree to try to help him. Your plants, you think, may hold the secret.

Mere moments later, Laurence Talbot- the Wolf Man- turns up at your door, screaming for help to cure the curse. You agree to try to help him. Your plants, you think, may hold the secret. Talbot remains unconvinced and tries to throw himself off your cliff in one of his periodic queeny strops. However, it's only about a ten foot drop- and so he just basically jumps in the sea. Washed up in a cave when you find him, he then stumbles across the body of Frankenstein's Monster, deposited by a mud-slide and clutching the skeleton of Dr Neimann (last seen at the end of House of Frankenstein- keep up!)

I think this is called "House" of Dracula, in the sense that when you complete your bingo card, that's what you shout.

Right. Let me try to explain some of this: Dr Aldeman is duped by Dracula, who pumps him full of vampiric blood during a blood transfusion to cure the Transylvanian curse. When Aldeman later kills Dracula, by gently nudging his coffin into sunlight, he then falls under the spell of the lord of the vampires- which translates as some mussed-up hair, eye shadow and the desire to run around like a nutter, occasionally killing someone. While doing this, he uses his plants to cure Talbot of lycanthropy. The plants produce spores, you see, which have the effect of "softening bone"- and with this technique he can relieve the pressure on Talbot's brain that causes him to turn into a wolf. He also wants to cure Nina of her hunch by the same procedure, but never gets the opportunity due to murdering her instead.

He agrees not to reanimate Frankenstein's monster, because it has the potential for so much destruction- then does it while under the influence of the madness. Again, the Monster is used merely as a means to close the film down- destroying the lab and causing explosions and fire until "The End" appears.

Phew. Yes. Do I really need to add "not one iota of this makes any sense at all"? Of course not. But it's glorious to watch a movie that doesn't think that the audience is so boring they won't accept the more bizarre elements of the story and instead tries to make everything somehow "realistic". In truth, this is one of the lesser Universal monster pictures- Chaney Jnr by this point is sleepwalking through the Wolf Man role, and here either couldn't be arsed to shave or thinks a mustache is an interesting new character point. The Monster is played by Glenn Strange- never the best of them- and Dracula is John Carradine, complete with top hat. I can never accept him as the Count, however 'good' he may be.

The best of them is Jane Adams, as Nina the hunchback. She plays it as entirely a physical disability, never once allowing it to encroach on her mental capacity- which for Universal and their unwritten mantra of "deformed equals mad and evil", is something akin to a paradigm shift. When Dr Edelman confesses to her that the friendly old Baron is really Count Dracula, her reaction is sublime. She winces, sighs and looks shocked all at the same time- as if this was just the latest in a long sequence of catastrophes she'd seen while in his employ. Perhaps it was, and the week previously the other-side neighbours had been outed as the Mummy, the Black Lagoon Creature and The Invisible Man.

Bela gave it a six out of ten, but was more worried about his wobbly tooth. His favourite monsters are the Gillman, the Invisible Man and the Mummy, he says, sitting next to me as I type this... so I guess we were a week late as far as he's concerned.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 September, 2012, 08:55:38 PM
You'll need to check out House of the Wolf Man next.  It was actually made in 2009, but is black and white, full frame and with a monaural soundtrack, as it's shot to deliberately ape the look and feel of a Universal "House of" movie.

I also reckon the plants thing to cure lycanthropy might be a deliberate call-out to Werewolf of London.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 09 September, 2012, 09:01:49 PM
Dredd 3d for 3rd time. Catching more detail each time.

More in there cinema, couple next to me may have been on first date.

Everyone settled to really enjoy it. Animated conversations as people filled out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 September, 2012, 09:28:10 PM
The Hunger Games. Dunno what popular 'cool' opinion on it is, but I bloody think it's a great movie with something serious to say about control of the populous through the media.
So... blah blah, Battle Royale... I don't care.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 09 September, 2012, 09:55:42 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 September, 2012, 09:28:10 PM
The Hunger Games. Dunno what popular 'cool' opinion on it is, but I bloody think it's a great movie with something serious to say about control of the populous through the media.
So... blah blah, Battle Royale... I don't care.

He he, I'm quite looking forward to seeing it. While it may seem superficially similar to Battle Royale, by the sounds of the books it's a completely different affair. Besides, we've all learnt not to judge a film by superficial similarities  ;)

Snowtown - Wow, that's a grim tale. Based on true "serial killer" events in 90s Austrailia. Some really grim stuff in it, so not for the easily shocked. It's got a slightly similar feel to other Austrailian films, such as Bad Boy Bubby and Chopper, but without any of the humour, ir there was any in those. A better comparison might be some British ones, same creepy feel as Dead Man's Shoes. More of a horror film than any horror film, if you know what I mean.

Corialanus - Got half way through it, if that. It's probably quite good, if you like, or more importantly, understand Shakespeare. I just can't though. Probably a hangover from school, but I just can't get the language, it's like it's not English. It's a modern day take on it, but with what I assumed was the original text. Ralph Feinnes and Gerard Butler. Oh and Brian Cox. My mate's an english teacher and it's her favourite Shakespeare thing apparently, so as I say, it's probably quite good if you can understand it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 September, 2012, 10:04:21 PM
QuoteBesides, we've all learnt not to judge a film by superficial similarities 

Yeah, I was going to write something to that effect..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 09 September, 2012, 10:16:22 PM
DREDD! Head over heels in love with it, exceeded my expectations in every way  :)

Cinema was virtually empty (this is in Lancaster at 2-4pm), which was a shame. The critics (and the fans) seem unanimous in their approval, we just need Joe Public to go see it in numbers big enough to warrant those sequels eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 September, 2012, 10:58:09 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 09 September, 2012, 09:55:42 PM
While it may seem superficially similar to Battle Royale, by the sounds of the books it's a completely different affair.

I think the accusations of comparisons come more from the first book having the same premise as Battle Royale and the second book having the same premise as Battle Royale 2.

I've come around to not thinking it's a rip-off, though.  Battle Royale wasn't that boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 09 September, 2012, 10:59:56 PM
Dredd, at Crawley Cineworld. Thought it was spot on for the nearer future look they've gone with from the comic version. Screen we were in was pretty well full.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 10 September, 2012, 12:15:09 AM
Dredd, of course!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 September, 2012, 12:35:18 AM
Ditto!

That's 'ditto, I saw Dredd too." Not a film called 'Ditto'. Although I suppose that might not be a bad name for a film involving a copycat killer or doppelgänger, um, thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 10 September, 2012, 12:45:59 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/16/Dredd2012Poster.jpg/220px-Dredd2012Poster.jpg)
Nuff said




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Durendal on 10 September, 2012, 03:51:38 PM
Some obscure British film called Dredd
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 September, 2012, 11:11:11 PM
Dredd, which was alright.  I did think it funny when Anderson takes her clothes off (because of course she does) and it looks identical to how Leslie Nielson does it in The Naked Gun.

We'll probably be taking the piss out of it in a year's time, mind.  "Hotshot" indeed...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2012, 01:38:12 PM
CENTURION
Michael Fassbender and his wang dress as Romans and are chased across Scotland by a Bond girl who is dressed as a pict after the massacre of the 9th Legion.

I'm not entirely sure this was historically accurate*.

It felt like I'd seen everything that happened before in other better films (even the recent THE EAGLE which covers similar ground). 

Seeing as there are only about a dozen picts chasing the Roman survivors, I really don't understand why the trained veteran Roman soldiers didn't just stand and fight.

I even got bored of the scenery as there are countless shots of people standing moodily on top of hills. (How did they get up there and why?).

However, it is mercifully short (90 odd minutes) and Imogen Poots (is that really a name?) makes an impossibly attractive witch.


* (to be fair, I don't think they ever set out with that intent). 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 September, 2012, 01:39:25 PM
Final Destination 5. A load of rubbish, but watched in the right company with the right attitude a really good laugh (like all the previous instalments actually).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 11 September, 2012, 03:48:58 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2012, 01:38:12 PMand Imogen Poots (is that really a name?) makes an impossibly attractive witch.

Her full name is Imogen Gay Poots.

Not sure whether to pity her or be in awe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 12 September, 2012, 01:10:17 PM
The Tournament, 2009.

Assasins compete in London, using the city as a hunting ground. Violent stuff. Exploding people, lots of chunks and red stuff. Interesting in that it had Robert Carlyle of Hamish/Monty fame, Ving Rhames and that parkour guy from Casino Royale. And that oriental baddie woman who played that mutant in X-Men with the adamantium fingernails. And Ian whatisname with the spooky blue eyes who was in Lost and now in Vampire Diaries, playing a deranged killer in a bad suit and truly, truly bad facial scruff.

Throw in some personal vendettas and angst and puerile manipulation - and a priest - and there you have it, The Tournament.

Mindless action/gore film that does exactly what it says on the tin. Wished it had been more mindless because I did want to slap the priest silly a couple times, but the scene in the service station with the cashier more than made up for any annoyance he caused. Has to be said though, I usually like Carlyle and made myself watch Stargate Universe for him, but the priest has to be his worst role yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 September, 2012, 10:12:27 PM
Remember seeing that trailer before a few films in the run-up to its release and thinking it looked worth a pop, but then it went straight to dvd (or seemed to at least). Must rent it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 12 September, 2012, 11:59:58 PM
God Bless America, that recent Bobcat Goldthwait directed comedy involving a killing spree. Freakin' awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 13 September, 2012, 09:20:02 AM
I don't remember it at all, so it came as a complete surprise to me when I saw all the famous faces. I can understand it going straight to dvd if that's what happened, because the look of it has that cheaper feel, but that aside, still entertaining fare for a pizza night in.

Some things had me flinching back in shock, like with Dredd, so be suitably warned.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 13 September, 2012, 10:45:56 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 12 September, 2012, 11:59:58 PM
God Bless America, that recent Bobcat Goldthwait directed comedy involving a killing spree. Freakin' awesome.

Agree, absolutely brilliant film that felt worryingly close to my constant inner monologue

Last film I saw? The Queen.
Me and the wife both poorly the last few days so wanted something quiet to go with cups of tea on the sofa. Enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting and the cast were all amazing.

Do now want to see a Death Wish style movie with James Cromwell as Prince Phillip TAKING IT TO THE STREETS WITH A SHOTGUN!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 September, 2012, 01:19:44 AM
Tom Hardy is mesmerising in Bronson, the story of Britain's self-styled hardest criminal. Hardy is almost never off the screen in this dizzying, impressionistic biopic that piles artifice upon artifice in a whirl of style and energy. What relationship this portrayal bears to the real Bronson is probably not worth asking but the character created on screen is a fascinating arsehole. Mildly interestingly, this plays out with another authentic sounding 80s electro pastiche.

The great Jim Kelly is fairly ropey in Black Samurai. The jive talkin' ju-jitsu generalissimo plays some sort of secret agent, complete with flamethrowing lighter and a sports car with concealed guns. Add in the villain's black magic background and you end up with a resolutely uninspiring blaxploitation Live and Let Die.

Kelly manages one or two decent takedowns but the fight choreography, by the man himself, is mostly pretty rum. He does get to fly a jet pack at one point, so that's pretty cool. Probably the highlight of the film is the scene where our man gets himself into a party at the villain's hacienda. In a proper Bond film this would be a decadent stew of beautiful women and elaborate décor. Here it's a dozen bored looking people milling around, an overlong number from the enormous mariachi band and frequent cuts to an enormous vulture pacing along the upstairs banister. A vulture which Kelly later punches out.

Clutching at straws here. Not one for, well, anybody really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 September, 2012, 01:45:30 AM
I loved it!  You neglect to mention several fantastic bits in Black Samurai, but my favorite is probably when he squares off against the big baddie who has a vulture on his wrist, and a henchman can be seen off to one side when the baddie says "GET HIM!" and you naturally assume he's talking to the henchman - until the vulture jumps at Kelly and you have this crazy man vs vulture scrap where the vulture's POV is represented by a claw on a stick being waved at Kelly by a jumpy cameraman.

Half the fun of blaxploitation movies is watching them through your fingers and/or laughing at how wrong-headed or extreme(ly stupid) they get.  You want to give Black Belt Jones a go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bthp5UBf0TU
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 14 September, 2012, 01:07:18 PM
The last Film/Turd I watched was 'Innocence of Muslims'.
A truly awful film of Epic proportions!!!

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2012, 08:13:39 PM
KILL LIST

A sort of lynchian mash up of a movie. Horror? Gangster? Kitchen sink? Road?

Genuinely can't tell if I liked it or not. But performances, main character relationships and much of the dialogue seemed painfully real.

Btw 'lynchian' is my shorthand for plot didn't make much sense and I didn't quite understand it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 September, 2012, 09:44:05 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2012, 08:13:39 PM
Btw 'lynchian' is my shorthand for plot didn't make much sense and I didn't quite understand it.

Top film, that. Ill have to re-watch it again, when i get chance.
There's plenty of online debate about it, for those that wanna work it all out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2012, 10:29:32 PM
Was a little disappointed myself, I thought the performances were fantastic and it all felt disturbingly real, but as it went on it just kept reminding me of [spoiler]A Serbian Film and The Wicker Man[/spoiler]. I doubt it was consciously ripping those films off, but there were some spooky similarities. It meant when it finished I was just thinking about those films so Kill List was quickly forgotten which is a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 15 September, 2012, 09:49:58 AM
I was supposed to see that, totally slipped my mind. Will check it out - but it reminds me, did anyone see Killer Elite? Another one that slipped my mind.

Slumdog Millionaire, 2008.

I think, for me, the whole movie was stained by that scene, the toilet one. I can't get it out of my head. So I'm sure it was pretty and entertaining, since I lasted til the end, but honestly, my stomach is still roiling from the memory of that scene.

And then I felt a wee bit incensed for the people who toil like crazy to learnlearnlearn learn for a quiz and then this kid comes along and just -. No, I'm not a quiz toiler. Yes, I realise I'm being irrational and missing the point entirely! *g*

Good movie, humour/tragedy/action/romance, packed a helluva lot in, lot of levels, I can see why people like it.

But I prefer escapism in my movies and I found this too traumatic to watch again. Like the Hurt Locker was a great movie, I loved it - but I didn't love leaving the cinema all tense and traumatised. Never gonna watch again. Slumdog is a different kettle of fish altogether but still tragic to its core.

Going to immerse myself in my usual action-movies-with-only-a-smidgeon-of-realism to banish all the sad feels. My soul, it hurts! :(

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 15 September, 2012, 12:23:36 PM
Lockout - Sci-Fi action from Luc Besson with a superb Guy Pearce carrying off the one-liner guy very well. Lots of convicts break out of suspension in a space-prison (only just thought of the High Rock but it wasn't much like that at all) and he has to go and rescue the President's daughter (Shannon from Lost, who wasn't nearly as annoying as Shannon from Lost).

Great performance from the "funny guy" from series 4 of Misfits (who was apparently also in Emmerdale) as a Scottish nutter, though his accent kind of flitted between Edinburgh and Glasgow, while his brother was distinctly from further north  :)

All in all, good fun. Some nice spaceships n stuff and even an almost Death Star run.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 16 September, 2012, 12:54:28 PM
Well I've just took the littlun to see Mr Poppers Penguins and I'll fight any man who denies that this film is brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 September, 2012, 02:39:52 PM
Starship troopers Invasion -an animated bug hunt basically. Some odd bits especially the prevalence of digital (female) nudity-seemd to jar somewhat. Mad plot involving dodgy psychic officer who turns out to be chums with the two main lead characters. Lots of sacrificial deaths  and people being chopped/jumped on by giant arachnids. They do save Paris and there is a tiny invasion of Earth before the bugs all get blown up.

Some terrible dialogue and to have a sniper [spoiler](twice) miss a giant Queen bug when she was happily shooting smaller bugs outside on a spaceship is just a bit too much.[/spoiler]

An okay film but one shorn of the originals satirical edge. 5 out of 10. Not without fun bits, the power suits are very remincient of HALO. At one point I was cheering on the bugs.  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 18 September, 2012, 02:38:38 PM
Doomsday, the 2008 film by Neil Marshall of Dog Soldiers/The Descent fame.

Despite being a fan of his previous two films, I'd have to generously describe Doomsday as 'a big fucking mess'. It seems to be at least three completely unrelated films cobbled together with no consistent atmosphere, look or feel to tie it all together.

The plot was obviously concocted by a 2000 AD reader as it 'borrows' several elements from the 'Cursed Earth' story in Judge Dredd. After an uncurable virus takes hold in Scotland, the British government decide to cut their losses and just wall the bastards up and let them all die. Anyone attempting to scale the wall into England will be cut to pieces by automatic machine gun fire.

A little girl is amongst the last to be rescued by the army before the whole country is put on 'Jockdown' (a better title for the film I think you'll agree) and, 30 years later, we see that she is now a fit baaaadaaaass working for the government, shooting baddies in the face and getting her partners killed due to gross incompetence.

Despite this, when the virus inexplicably surfaces in the middle of England, she is chosen to lead an expedition into Cal-hab wastes to confront a scientist who was trapped there whilst working on a cure all those years ago. You see, living people have been spotted in the ruined streets of Scotland and if they've survived, there must be a cure. Right?

Anyway, badass lady leads her team into Scotland in their two Land Raider tank things and look for survivors. They soon discover that the survivors have modelled their new civilisation on a 1980's film interpretation of a punk nightclub. They're all tattoos, mohicans, fishnet vests and screaming. Yes, their main means of communication is screaming.

Badass lady - 'How did you all survive?'. Cliched punk leader - 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!'.

Badass lady kills cliched punk leader's annoying, grinning girlfriend. Cliched punk leader - 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!'.

Me - 'This film is shit...'. Cliched punk leader - 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!'.

So, after the cliched tacky punks have held a sort of 'Britain's Got Cannibalism' song and dance routine making use of ropey music by Adam and the Ants and Fine Young Cannibals (HA! DO YOU GET IT? THEY ARE CANNIBALS!) they EAT SEAN PERTWEE who was a scientist with badass lady. They all go 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!' and then badass lady escapes with a prisoner who she has freed who turns out be the scientist's (the one they're trying to find in Scotland, remember?) daughter, who tells badass lady that, SHOCK HORROR, Cliched punk leader is her brother!!! This has literally no impact on the story or any of the characters.

Aaaaaanyway. They eventually find the community which has been formed by old scientist guy and they've gone in a very different aesthetic direction to the 80's new romantic punks. They have modelled themselves on a Lord of the Rings cosplay club. Yes, they're all 'swords and horses' and live in a big castle and have gladiator fights, erm, and decide to kill all the badass lady's team for some reason.

Buuut, most of them escape and drive off in a posh car that is hidden underground and neeeearly get away, but as they're getting near the wall, the cliched punks turn up at either end of the very long road in their Mad Max cars, buses, bikes and what have you.

How did they get there? How could they have possibly known that badass lady and her team would be there? Or even which direction they were going in? And why are they bothering to send 50 people, expending gallons and gallons of presumably dwindling and precious fuel to chase after them? 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!', that's why.

After all the punks have been messily killed to the strains of 'Two Tribes' by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (by which point me and my wife are nearly helpless with derisive laughter at this stinking mess of a film), badass lady hands old scientists daughter over to the shady government man so he can do a blood test on her and find the cure.

Badass lady, disillusioned with the shady goverment man, decides to drive all the way back to 80's new romantic punk land where she throws the head of cliched punk leader to the floor, symbollically taking over leadership of the despicable, cannibalistic wankers with their shit taste in music. The shit punks eye her warily. What will be their response? Then, the cry goes up! 'RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!' they say.

My wife and I laugh uncontrollably throughout the end credits. What a right load of bollocks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 September, 2012, 02:47:14 PM
RAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!

excellent review!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 18 September, 2012, 02:51:47 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 18 September, 2012, 02:38:38 PM
Doomsday, the 2008 film by Neil Marshall of Dog Soldiers/The Descent fame.
review

Thanks mate, you just saved me a DVD rental!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strontium_dog_90 on 18 September, 2012, 04:35:30 PM
Jockdown would have been a much better title, it must be said.

Just watched "Rec: Genesis," which aparently some purists are complaining about because it has more of a sense of humour than the first two. But it's great fun, just as violent as the first two but slightly less grim - plus the wedding setting, I would argue, lets you get to know the two main characters a little more than in the first two films.

That and the actress in it looks pretty good in a wedding dress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 September, 2012, 04:55:53 PM
One Eyed Monster, in which porn legend Ron Jeremy comes a cropper when his cock rips itself off his body and goes on a murder spree in a mountain lodge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3nBU4KGnW4

It's awful, surprisingly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 18 September, 2012, 05:30:59 PM
I'm very tempted by Jockdown - it sounds so bad it could be good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 18 September, 2012, 06:18:51 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 18 September, 2012, 02:51:47 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 18 September, 2012, 02:38:38 PM
Doomsday, the 2008 film by Neil Marshall of Dog Soldiers/The Descent fame.
review

Thanks mate, you just saved me a DVD rental!

Everything Lee says is correct, but I still kind like it. He didn't mention that the bad guy's girlfriend is bloody gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 September, 2012, 08:26:14 PM
Doomsday is great fun and very silly - and there's nothing wrong with that!
I think the closest thing to it is Escape From LA.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 18 September, 2012, 08:51:10 PM
I suppose that while the overwhelming feeling for me and the missus was "What the hell is this rubbish?", it did entertain us in some way because we couldn't stop laughing at the silly bollocksness of it all.

The ending really did us in. During the battle with the scream-punks in their punk-buses and punk-cars, when vehicles start exploding FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER and the cliched punk leader, clinging to the roof of badass lady's car, is beheaded whilst crashing through a flaming bus.

His head flies directly into the camera AND HE'S STILL GOING 'RAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!'. My wife was fucking helpless with laughter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 September, 2012, 09:20:17 PM
My mate lent me a ton of his dvd's (he's an addict) that ive not even looked at, since he brought them round a good month ago, but this film has intriqued me, and lo and behold, its amongst the pile. So its now dug out for a spin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2012, 12:06:27 AM
THE GENERAL

The brilliantly expressive Buster Keaton, a stolen train and a pretty girl. Genius stuff. Tiny Tips loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 September, 2012, 11:16:16 PM
Four Rooms

Tim Roth plays a bellhop in once grand hotel, and over the course of one New Year's Eve, he has some very strange encounters with the guests of FOUR of the ROOMS. ::)

Each of the encounters is written by a different writer, among which are Tatantino and Robert Rodiriguez, who provide the final installments. The first two are dire, I can't remember the names of the writers and couldn't be arsed looking them up, but, Tarantino and Rodriguezs' efforts are pretty good. The main problem is consistency. Tim Roth is the only constant, but because his character is written by four different people, he comes across completely schizoid. He just doesn't manage to carry it.

The biggest sin in all the inconsistency is that the whole thing fails to gel together. Each of the FOUR different ROOMS presents us with a mini-farce, and I was expecting all the farces to compound together to produce one massive convoluted shit-storm. Not so. It's just four unrelated vignettes.

But the biggest sin this movie commits overall, is in the Tarantino section. Tarantino stars in it. This section is called 'THE MAN FROM HOLLYWOOD' (there's a wee title screen for each room).

DID YOU KNOW THAT TARANTINO KNOWS A LOT OF HOLLYWOOD/AMERICANA/POP CULTURE TRIVIA? Bruce Willis redeems the whole scene though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 September, 2012, 05:20:55 PM
Killing Them Softly

Boring them Stupid more like.
Really frustratingly boring and talky. The first few scenes are pretty good but after that it feels like one of those mid-nineties crime films that were trying to rip-off Quentin Tarantino.
Most of the scenes just go on soooo long. Some directors, like Tarantino or Leone can hold my attention over a long scene with entertaining dialogue or just pure tension. This just had me checking my watch.
James Gandolfini's character is fucking pointless - I'm sure it's acted well, but fuck me, life's too short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 22 September, 2012, 09:44:21 PM
Quote from: Lee Bates on 18 September, 2012, 02:38:38 PM
Doomsday, the 2008 film by Neil Marshall of Dog Soldiers/The Descent fame.
So, after the cliched tacky punks have held a sort of 'Britain's Got Cannibalism' song and dance routine making use of ropey music by Adam and the Ants and Fine Young Cannibals

Oh Lordy. Well, its certainly a film, or several films, isnt it.
I think i did more eye rolling than the main female lead did, watching this.
And those fat kilted men dancing along to Bad Manners' can can - the very definition of WTF.
Complete and utter bollocks from start to finish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 September, 2012, 11:22:18 PM
Piranha 3DD made a misogynist out of me, because I was going "just hurry up and die you stupid big-titted cow" at the screen so many times - though to be fair, it is really lazy how the 3D jump-out-at-screen bits are set up and the cast-in-danger sequences just drag on for far too long, not being exciting, well filmed or edited.  The Hoff gets the best lines ("once these idiots get out of the water it's not like the fish are gonna follow them home"/"you little ginger moron") and the best bits were in the extras: "You wanna see how David Hasselhoff picks a script? (flipping through pages) Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit (stabs finger into manuscript) ME, (flips) bullshit, bullshit, (stabs) ME - and do I get to sing on the end credits?  YES.  I'll do it." and Gary Busey's good-natured rambling is always fun ("I hope you understand me, because I do not").
It's just a shame none of the backstage good humor and self-awareness extended into the film proper beyond that the 3D is so glaringly shoehorned in and signposted that it's practically a joke in itself that outstays its welcome.  P3DD is in practice so dreadful, SBT will probably give it a good review just to annoy people, though I suspect with the 3D gimmick and the thankfully short running time I might have been one pair of glasses and three beers short of being the ideal viewer for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Delboy on 22 September, 2012, 11:42:37 PM
The french movie Untouchable. A tad sentimental maybe but a lovely feel good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 September, 2012, 12:41:55 PM
Dredd. Finally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 23 September, 2012, 09:20:19 PM
I watched Raw Deal with a friend yesterday.

Fun action flick if not a bit soapy but the whole cast is still better then Arnold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 24 September, 2012, 04:04:11 PM
CABIN IN THE WOODS. Mental. Just mental. Brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 September, 2012, 06:08:48 PM
The Ramen Girl (2008). Brittany Murphy plays a girl stranded in Tokyo by her boyfriend and finds solace in learning how to cook ramen. This is a really enjoyable film and I was quite surprised by this find. Toshiyuki Nishida is the Ramen cook that takes Murphy on and is hillarious. It's kind of Karate Kid but with ramen, but it's still a good film.

Be sure to have some noodles handy because you'll want them after seeing this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 September, 2012, 08:33:09 PM
Lawless. Pretty good. Not as good as The Proposition, but some superb performances and set pieces. Tom Hardy is incredible.

The Sound of my Voice. Very good indeed. A wee bit flabby around the middle (but aren't we all?) with a few scenes that need trimmed, but the final act more than makes up for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 September, 2012, 11:47:41 PM
Delayed post from last Tuesday:

Saw the deeply silly Premium Rush this evening. Joseph Gordon Levitt (who was in Batman on Monday night) is a cycle courier who picks up the wrong  package and has to contend with the guys who want it back. Obviously, couriers are the sort of people that even other cyclists hate. Add in the fact that he's one of these "steel frame, fixed gear" arseholes and he has to work twice as hard to get us on his side. It's not entirely successful in its attempts to make dangerous cycling look cool like a car chase or parkour but there's a certain excitement in the chase sequences and one extended freestyle routine which we could have done with more of. I found myself grinning enthusiastically throughout. Partly from the action on screen and partly from thinking how I would drop the fucker on the next climb.

The drama is determinedly low key too but the three leads are reasonably engaging and ride well together. Worth giving a spin.

Shockingly, I found The Expendables 2 reasonably enjoyable too. In some ways better by far than its predecessor; in others even more irritating.

The good first. The action scenes are all filmed much more clearly than in the first film; van Damme makes for a good villain (but isn't in it nearly enough); Michelle Yeoh is a pretty good replacement for Jet Li and her presence leads to a classic "grudging respect between unwanted allies"; the Expendables still go around in a seaplane.

The bad. Lundgren's character goes from dangerously on-edge (and dead) in the first one to comic relief; not enough van Damme; continued lack of expendability; not enough van Damme. The thing that really sinks this one is far too much knowing humour and jokes reliant on the bigger stars' real personae. I could live with an "I'll be back" but having the whole cast standing around making "Chuck Norris is so hard that.." quips is more than I can take.

Comes back to expectation though. I didn't expect great things from the first one but I still hoped and it didn't deliver. With this I was just interested to see what they did with it and, despite the caveats, was pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 September, 2012, 11:55:25 PM
District 9 very nearly lived up to the hype I've been hearing since it was released. A good mixture of Starship Troopers (unsubtle but still amusing satire and gore), Alien Nation  and The Office (well, the main guy is meant to be a David Brent style twat, isn't he?) that also delivers a surprisingly effective chase thriller plot.
On top of all that, I have a mate called Christopher Johnston who will forever more be referred to as  "you facking prawn."


Another watchable B-grade action film from the seemingly inexhaustible Luc Besson production line; Colombiana was alright if you like that sort of thing. This one revisits the super-hot assassin revenge fantasy sub-genre with Zoe Saldana from out of The Losers making a decent stab at the lead role which does entail a modicum of smart planning and sneaking around in between shooting massive guns in a state of deshabille.

Besson seems to dig up Europop video directors at roughly the same rate as he churns out scripts. I wasn't impressed  with Olivier Megaton's first effort – Transporter 3 – but this, while retaining an unpleasantly slick veneer seems a step in the right direction. I'm interested to see what way he goes with Taken 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2012, 12:05:24 AM
Walked out on Dark Shadows.  An insufferable film.

edit: Literally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 September, 2012, 10:10:56 AM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 25 September, 2012, 12:05:24 AM
Walked out on Dark Shadows.  An insufferable film.

edit: Literally.

What did you expect? It's Tim Burton trying to be funny again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 25 September, 2012, 10:25:13 AM
hmmnn, i think my Crapo-filter is broken again I quite liked Darkshadows, not sure why i must have been drunk or something.

Watched Meeting Evil (i think thats what it was called) on the weekend, not a bad thriller with Samuel Jackson and Luke Wilson (horribly miscast).  Jackson is a serial killer/hitman (its never clear and tries to go the confusion route at the end) who's targeted/accepted a contract on Wilsons character, Jackson is one horrible evil dude in it and puts wilson through the ringer.  The end is brave but not very satisfying.  Then tried to watch some exorsist thing, pure crap borrowing from a million better movies, supposedly based on a true story but fromj what i can tell the true story is just some crazy bitch killing people not demons involved.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2012, 02:28:20 PM
Every character was trying far, far too hard to be quirky and I just wanted to punch or strangle every one of them, though fair play to the Hitgirl lass for landing a gig where she got to lounge around on sofas glaring at the audience/director with a look of contempt on her face while going "tch".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 25 September, 2012, 03:54:03 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 September, 2012, 11:47:41 PMMichelle Yeoh is a pretty good replacement for Jet Li and her presence leads to a classic "grudging respect between unwanted allies"; the Expendables still go around in a seaplane.
Just for the record, that wasn't Michelle Yeoh, it's an actress named Yu Nan. Agreed it's a fun action flick, Van Damme is too fun as the villain Jean Vilain.

My latest watched movie is Dredd of course, perfect future crime movie, nailed it. Seeing it again today too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JUDGE BURNS on 25 September, 2012, 03:56:00 PM
PARANORMAN....with the kids .  I quite enjoyed it. Some bits scared the sh*t out of my youngest sprog.
Well worth a viewing. 8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 September, 2012, 04:19:56 PM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 25 September, 2012, 03:54:03 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 September, 2012, 11:47:41 PMMichelle Yeoh is a pretty good replacement for Jet Li and her presence leads to a classic "grudging respect between unwanted allies"; the Expendables still go around in a seaplane.
Just for the record, that wasn't Michelle Yeoh, it's an actress named Yu Nan. Agreed it's a fun action flick, Van Damme is too fun as the villain Jean Vilain.
Blimey. Now I look like even more of a tit than before!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 25 September, 2012, 04:21:41 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 25 September, 2012, 04:19:56 PMBlimey. Now I look like even more of a tit than before!

Tits are good, people like tits.  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 September, 2012, 04:45:20 PM
Resident evil Retribution: I thought I'd watch it purely because I moan a lot about this particular series and I wanted to see if there was any improvement. Absolutely dire film with barely any plot and crap acting. There was about 5 mins I thought were ok involving 2 big bastards with axes which was visually quite good but added nothing to the overall 'story'.

Distinctly crap on too many levels!

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 25 September, 2012, 05:10:50 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 25 September, 2012, 04:45:20 PM
Resident evil Retribution: I thought I'd watch it purely because I moan a lot about this particular series and I wanted to see if there was any improvement. Absolutely dire film with barely any plot and crap acting. There was about 5 mins I thought were ok involving 2 big bastards with axes which was visually quite good but added nothing to the overall 'story'.

Distinctly crap on too many levels!

Cheers  :)


Did you watch the R.E. Damnation one Kev? It's the animated one just out on DVD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 September, 2012, 05:24:55 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 25 September, 2012, 05:10:50 PM


Did you watch the R.E. Damnation one Kev? It's the animated one just out on DVD.

Not seen it yet mate. I've seen the first animated one they made which I actually preferred to the Live action versions. I'll check Damnation out when I get the chance.

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2012, 07:54:09 PM
John Carter, which I enjoyed a damn sight more without the 3D and at home, though super-sharp blu-ray picture seems to be a drawback as some of the FX look a bit more ropey than I remember.  Still a slight story, and the baldy blokes seem to just ponce about facilitating a nebulous agenda instead of what seems like perfectly good drama between the various factions playing itself out over the course of the film, but an enjoyable romp all the same, He-Man cosplay aside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 September, 2012, 07:58:05 PM
CHILDREN OF THE CORN (original, not sequel nor remake)

I'd not seen this in twenty years, and was keen to see how it stood up. It's a long time since those long summer holidays when my mate and i would rent this endlessly on vhs til we knew it backwards, and malachi and isaac were watchwords in terror far more potent than freddy and jason.

In truth, it's not very good. But that didnt stop both my boys sitting wide-eyed throughout (bela adorably covered his eyes with both hands when he thought something nasty was about to happen) and declaring it "awesome!" afterwards. Both reckoned malachi and isaac to be "really creepy", which made me very happy indeed.

There's nothing particularly frightening within- the gore i remember proved to be largely invented by my brain- but the scenes of the nebraskan corn blowing in the wind still have an eerie charm. It's a very childlike film, and i think aimed very definitely at a young audience- which renders its bbfc '18' laughable (12A would be reasonable)

(cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 September, 2012, 08:04:35 PM
(cont) - it's that kind of film. A 'goosebumps' style exercise in testing children's ability to go without adults, that comfortably shows them how much they need grown-ups around. Even scary old malachi gets his arse kicked by the weedy hero, and has to lay on his back as said hero delivers a lecture on good and bad religions. In the end nothing of great import happens and all is well- the hero and his girl even adopt some cherubic munchkins, so the kid audience can see the american family at its most homely.

Despite being overlong and quite staggeringly badly directed in parts, there is something about CotC that will forever allow it shelfspace in my house. And now hopefully in my kids' houses one day too.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 25 September, 2012, 09:15:32 PM
The Raid. Thought it was bloody amazing! Hate to self pimp, but all my thoughts are in a review I wrote for kryptonianwarrior.com

http://www.kryptonianwarrior.com/2012/09/so-certain-emerald-knight-recently.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2012, 10:29:48 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. I'd be interested in the opinions of our resident horror fans on this one, as it's about the sound man on an Italian horror movie. Very funny, very strange...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Delboy on 25 September, 2012, 11:08:31 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2012, 10:29:48 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. I'd be interested in the opinions of our resident horror fans on this one, as it's about the sound man on an Italian horror movie. Very funny, very strange...
Still not got round to seeing this one yet, love Toby Jones & don't mind the odd Giallo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 September, 2012, 01:42:27 AM
Saw LOCKOUT tonight, which was great fun until somebody told Guy Pearce to stick a needle in someone's eye. Cue me very nearly being sick.

Seriously, Hollywood - why do you put that revolting shit in your movies? I'll never watch this again.

Also, just saw HAYWIRE, which looked GREAT in trailers... but turned out to be one of the most ineptly made films I've ever seen. Utter crap. Really. Avoid it like the plague. I cannot believe how noticeably the makers have struggled to fill the 89 minute runtime. We literally get long, long shots of people crossing teh road, reversing their car, walking down corridors... ugh.

A shame, as I think Gina Carano could do well in movies. But only if she gets a better vehicle than this lame duck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 September, 2012, 09:40:01 AM
I quite liked Haywire - and it had a good soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 26 September, 2012, 10:56:55 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2012, 10:29:48 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. I'd be interested in the opinions of our resident horror fans on this one, as it's about the sound man on an Italian horror movie. Very funny, very strange...

Been really looking forward to this one. So you'd recommend it Rich?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 September, 2012, 11:15:28 AM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 26 September, 2012, 10:56:55 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2012, 10:29:48 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. I'd be interested in the opinions of our resident horror fans on this one, as it's about the sound man on an Italian horror movie. Very funny, very strange...

Been really looking forward to this one. So you'd recommend it Rich?

On balance yes, I would. The final act is a bit... strange and the end is a bit sudden, but it certainly works within the context of what has been set up before hand. It is also very funny in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 September, 2012, 11:25:58 AM
I saw this recently (in a near-empty cinema) – very interesting and stylish film, with an original central conceit and with lots of little touches for the fan of Italian horror (the black gloves working the projector, various nods of the head to 'Suspiria', the fantastic opening titles to 'The Equestrian Vortex' and even apparently a reference to 'Death Laid An Egg' – not a film I've personally encountered, but it sounds suitably insane.)  Toby Jones is excellent, and I also found it extremely funny at points, particularly the appearances of Massimo & Massimo (the bit with [spoiler]the high heels[/spoiler] was superb.) I felt the first half was stronger than the second – I liked [spoiler]the notion that Gilderoy becomes increasingly troubled and the world of film and reality starts to blur[/spoiler], but I also felt as if the movie was building up to something that never quite arrived. The end seemed a bit abrupt to me too, but I did come away thinking I would like to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 September, 2012, 11:42:43 AM
Quote from: jaylcookie on 25 September, 2012, 11:08:31 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2012, 10:29:48 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. I'd be interested in the opinions of our resident horror fans on this one, as it's about the sound man on an Italian horror movie. Very funny, very strange...
Still not got round to seeing this one yet, love Toby Jones & don't mind the odd Giallo
I missed this at the pictures. The subject matter didn't appeal that much but I really liked his first film, Katalin Varga, which had a pretty interesting, off-kilter vibe.


Oh, and Haywire was great. Confidence to let the characters breathe and that the audience can follow the overlapping storylines without having everything explained to them and action scenes which, when they come, are also given space to play out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 12:40:10 PM
I enjoyed Haywire too, thought it was a lot better than it appeared to be in trailers. Sorry HdE, looks like I won't be going by your opinions  ;)

Last film I didn't bother to watch - Machine Gun Preacher. Hoping for some Avengers in this week's lovefilm lottery!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 September, 2012, 01:18:36 PM
The Darkest Hour which had Olivia Thirlby in it.

Not bad I suppose - one of those zombie type films where they substitute the zombies for some other menace. In this case the threat was a load of electrical aliens that were almost invisible. The initial scenes of invasion were the best bit and the aliens ethereal quality made them seem like a pretty unique creature design.
This was undermined by later scenes where the aliens seemed like much more generic chasey monsters.
Worth a watch if you're in the mood for a bit of light fluff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 02:05:37 PM
Ugh. Also, if I can just express my disgust at some arsehole on lovefilm. Was going to chuck Never Let Me Go on my list and made the HUGE mistake of looking down the list of reviews. Some hugely inconsiderate, bottom-feeding scumbag posted a one liner basically saying it was shit and describing what the whole film was about. So that'll be pointless now I guess. It's like bloody Homer on his way out of Empire  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 September, 2012, 02:30:09 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 12:40:10 PM
I enjoyed Haywire too, thought it was a lot better than it appeared to be in trailers. Sorry HdE, looks like I won't be going by your opinions  ;)

Nah, that's cool. Diff'rent strokes an' all that. Although I would say that for me, the exact opposite was true - great trailer, crap movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 September, 2012, 11:56:06 PM
Frankline.

I saw it on Film 4 last night. What a strange film! It's a while since I've seen a film so thought provoking. I imagine some viewers may find it slow and pretentious, but I liked it a lot. Not so much one story but three (or is it four) one of which wouldn't be out of place in 2000 AD, [spoiler]although they tie together in the end. Essentially an exploration of belief and reality in an intelligent way.[/spoiler]  The fantasy city and it's culture was particularly interesting.

One, I might pick up on DVD or Blu-ray at some point as I'm sure there's bits I missed.

Incidentally they seem to be doing an Eva Green thing on Film 4 at the moment as they're showing the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven right now. (She's quite a dark weird person in Frankline by the way.) I've seen the original and I was curious to see this as I've heard it's much better. I have to admit I haven't really been paying attention to it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 27 September, 2012, 02:16:35 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 02:05:37 PM
Ugh. Also, if I can just express my disgust at some arsehole on lovefilm. Was going to chuck Never Let Me Go on my list and made the HUGE mistake of looking down the list of reviews. Some hugely inconsiderate, bottom-feeding scumbag posted a one liner basically saying it was shit and describing what the whole film was about. So that'll be pointless now I guess. It's like bloody Homer on his way out of Empire  ::)

Tit. What a rubbish thing to do.

I'd still give it a watch if I were you as you'll still enjoy it even armed with knowledge of the plot. It's not the sort of film with a "DA-DUM!" plot twist at the end, the subtleties are leaked out gradually in a very organic way. I had a rough idea of the story before I watched it and still enjoyed it.

Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan are excellent and the screenplay was written by our mate Alex Garland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 September, 2012, 03:49:18 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 02:05:37 PM
Ugh. Also, if I can just express my disgust at some arsehole on lovefilm. Was going to chuck Never Let Me Go on my list and made the HUGE mistake of looking down the list of reviews. Some hugely inconsiderate, bottom-feeding scumbag posted a one liner basically saying it was shit and describing what the whole film was about. So that'll be pointless now I guess. It's like bloody Homer on his way out of Empire  ::)

I get the impression you might think the [spoiler]clone[/spoiler] thing (spoiler tags just in case) is a kind of twist or reveal, but it's told to the characters about 10 minutes into the film and is merely the setup for what follows.
Unfortunately, what follows is boredom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mudcrab on 27 September, 2012, 04:17:11 PM
Quote from: HdE on 26 September, 2012, 02:30:09 PM
Quote from: Mudcrab on 26 September, 2012, 12:40:10 PM
I enjoyed Haywire too, thought it was a lot better than it appeared to be in trailers. Sorry HdE, looks like I won't be going by your opinions  ;)

Nah, that's cool. Diff'rent strokes an' all that. Although I would say that for me, the exact opposite was true - great trailer, crap movie.

Absolutely, we all have different tastes, glad I didn't come across in a bad way there. Smileys work!

@Lee & Prof - Cheers, sounds like it'll still be worth a watch then. I think I did know the spoilered bit there from someone in another thread (probably Dredd 3D somewhere) about that kind of plot.From that point it's sounding a bit like [spoiler]The Island, obviously without the Bay-style uber-action[/spoiler].

Ultimately, Carey and Keira should be reason enough  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mr Walter the Wobot on 27 September, 2012, 06:03:21 PM
Hi all! Seeing as I'm still too much of a newbie to post on the Dredd film review thread, thought I'd post my opinion of it here, seeing as it's the last film I saw - just got back from watching it!

I absolutely loved it, easily one of my favourite films of the year, if not ever. Acting was fantastic, particularly Urban and Thirlby. Great dialogue, awesome action, great atmospheric score, and some genuinely stunning moments (Ma-Ma's last scene especially).

I'm off work tomorrow, and am very tempted to go and watch it again already - something I haven't done in a long time.

Really hope a sequel is commissioned - Urban's performance was so spot-on, and so utterly devoid of actorly ego, that he deserves the chance to do it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 September, 2012, 06:59:30 PM
Hey Mudcrab - no worries! The only rule in my book is that everyone should enjoy what they're entertaining themselves with - otherwise, what's the point, right? You won;t ever find me denying somebody their right to an opinion.

(And, i think we can all agree, Mr. Walter the Wobot has IMPECCABLE taste in movies!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mr Walter the Wobot on 27 September, 2012, 07:16:26 PM
Ha ha, thank you, HdE  :)

Seriously awesome film, can't stop thinking about it! Good length for it too - was over too fast but left me wanting more. Think a certain Mr Christopher Nolan could learn a thing or two from this (not meant to be a bitchy dig, just a genuine statement).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 08:47:34 PM
Dredd. Again. Took a few hours off work this afternoon (read skived) and saw it again. I think it's even better the second time round.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mr Walter the Wobot on 27 September, 2012, 08:59:19 PM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 08:47:34 PM
Dredd. Again. Took a few hours off work this afternoon (read skived) and saw it again. I think it's even better the second time round.

Is it really better? I was very tempted to buy a ticket for the next showing as soon as it finished - something I'd not considered since Avengers Assemble - but relented. I don't know if I will actually go to watch it again tomorrow as I suggested earlier, but I would quite like to watch it again before it's removed from the cinemas for good.

Hope it gets a DVD release fairly quickly!

I keep chuckling whenever I remember Dredd's "you're the psychic" line  :D

Cannot compliment Urban's performance enough. The voice was much softer than I'd expected, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2012, 09:58:52 PM
Quote from: Mr Walter the Wobot on 27 September, 2012, 08:59:19 PM
I was very tempted to buy a ticket for the next showing as soon as it finished

Ha, I was that close to doing exactly that.  Welcome to the fowum, Wobot. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 10:20:55 PM
Better in that I saw things I missed the first time. Little things like background imagery and I heard the score more this time. I made Mega City One come more alive this time since I wasn't so keyed up to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mr Walter the Wobot on 27 September, 2012, 10:36:23 PM
[quote/]

Ha, I was that close to doing exactly that.  Welcome to the fowum, Wobot.
[/quote]

Gweetings, TordelBack! Gweat minds think alike and all that  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 28 September, 2012, 05:51:33 PM
Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. The only film I'll ever refer to the honourable SBT to, for how good a film is. One of my all time favourite films I never saw, until the other night.

I absolutely adore Lon Chaney in this. As I have an inkling he may be family (jk).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 September, 2012, 08:02:27 PM
It gives me great pleasure to see someone else enjoying the delights of Universal and Bud & Lou. Many cite the "descent into comedy" as proof positive that horror was all played out, and the idea that horror always goes this way is so entrenched now as to be one of those bollocks 'truths' that mainstream shitics spout in an attempt to appear knowledgeable. This ignores just how good Bud and Lou were at their best, and how good the movies were. Glad you're enjoying.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 28 September, 2012, 08:06:16 PM
Is this the one with the candle on the coffin?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2012, 09:47:22 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 28 September, 2012, 08:02:27 PMMany cite the "descent into comedy" as proof positive that horror was all played out, and the idea that horror always goes this way is so entrenched now as to be one of those bollocks 'truths' that mainstream shitics spout in an attempt to appear knowledgeable. This ignores just how good Bud and Lou were at their best, and how good the movies were. Glad you're enjoying.

I think there's probably a kernel of truth in it, in that any entertainment eventually becomes introspective and self-aware sooner or later if only to sidestep criticisms that the act is becoming stale, and any sort of deconstruction usually leads to parody sooner or later.  Just look at the latter episodes of long-running tv shows and that's usually where you find the stories that deconstruct the format or openly mock it.
I reckon Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein works because they put a comedy property into a horror property, but the comedy was still funny and the horror was still scary so neither audience was short-changed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 September, 2012, 01:07:05 PM
How I Spent My Summer Vacation

It's a shame Mel Gibson turned into such a nutter because when he's doing this sort of thing he's bloody great.

This is a sort of unofficial sequel to 'Payback'(a favourite of mine) - it's easy to assume that Mel's unnamed character in this film is actually Porter from Payback as he acts and sounds exactly the same and the film features a very similar voice over.
This time the action takes place in a Mexcian open prison where everybody is corrupt and on the make. Mel manages to stay one step ahead of the baddies even though sacrifices have to be made.

Apparently this film went straight to pay-per-view in the states and has been something of a flop. It's well worth a watch though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Toni Scandella on 29 September, 2012, 06:39:33 PM
Killing Them Softly, because I saw the trailer when I went to see Dredd and loved the Johnny Cash tune that they used to introduce Brad Pitt's character.  Absolutely fantastic movie, I have to say.  Would be my film of the year had I not seen Dredd. Needed more Ray Liotta, but then again I can always watch Goodfellas and play Vice City again...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 September, 2012, 07:32:19 PM
Quote from: Toni Scandella on 29 September, 2012, 06:39:33 PM
Killing Them Softly, because I saw the trailer when I went to see Dredd and loved the Johnny Cash tune that they used to introduce Brad Pitt's character.  Absolutely fantastic movie, I have to say.  Would be my film of the year had I not seen Dredd. Needed more Ray Liotta, but then again I can always watch Goodfellas and play Vice City again...

Out of interest, what, apart from Johnny Cash, did you like about this film? I found it utterly boring and predictable.

Thean again, I don't like Goodfellas or GTA either!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 29 September, 2012, 09:28:37 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 28 September, 2012, 08:02:27 PM
It gives me great pleasure to see someone else enjoying the delights of Universal and Bud & Lou. Many cite the "descent into comedy" as proof positive that horror was all played out, and the idea that horror always goes this way is so entrenched now as to be one of those bollocks 'truths' that mainstream shitics spout in an attempt to appear knowledgeable. This ignores just how good Bud and Lou were at their best, and how good the movies were. Glad you're enjoying.

SBT



Comedy/Tragedy turned to Comedy/Horror. On the most primal level human beings enjoy a good scare and a good relieved laugh afterwards. Rollercoasters and Ghosttrains are fair evidence of that. So it's natural that the comedy just be amped up in respect of more universal horrors. A common backlash to this are niche horrors. Horrors with no humour though, have to be impossible or just depressing without the relief factor being evident.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Toni Scandella on 29 September, 2012, 11:26:27 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 September, 2012, 07:32:19 PM
Quote from: Toni Scandella on 29 September, 2012, 06:39:33 PM
Killing Them Softly, because I saw the trailer when I went to see Dredd and loved the Johnny Cash tune that they used to introduce Brad Pitt's character.  Absolutely fantastic movie, I have to say.  Would be my film of the year had I not seen Dredd. Needed more Ray Liotta, but then again I can always watch Goodfellas and play Vice City again...

Out of interest, what, apart from Johnny Cash, did you like about this film? I found it utterly boring and predictable.

Thean again, I don't like Goodfellas or GTA either!

The dialogue, acting and story :>  I just really enjoyed it.  Of course it was predictable - it's a movie.  They all are. I have a soft spot for tough guy gangster movies, and I thought this was a fun one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 30 September, 2012, 12:48:57 AM
Cabin in The Woods

Pretty good


Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 30 September, 2012, 09:15:27 AM
The Raid

Fucking brilliant! Mental, creative action scenes and some right gruesome deaths!

I actually winced at the [spoiler]broken back[/spoiler] scene
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 30 September, 2012, 09:40:34 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 30 September, 2012, 09:15:27 AM
The Raid

Fucking brilliant! Mental, creative action scenes and some right gruesome deaths!

I actually winced at the [spoiler]broken back[/spoiler] scene

Yeh, it was a toss up between this & CINW
Might have to go get it
Cabin's definitely worth a punt tho, the end is especially mental


Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 30 September, 2012, 02:53:02 PM
Saw Cabin in the Woods a while back and loved every bonkers minute of it  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 September, 2012, 07:48:08 PM
I thought Cabin in the Woods was just alright. They telegraphed the twist a bit, and in retrospect, it seemed like it was just a set up for One Big Set Piece. The set up wasn't bad, but it was a cliche [spoiler](although admittedly that was on purpose)[/spoiler]. It was all too self aware, the characters tongues are practically jammed in their cheeks throughout and they all but wink at the camera all too often. I had this exact same problem with the Expendables 2 and it's a trend in movies that's really starting to vex me. The set piece though; [spoiler]Thoroughly Bat Shit Insane With Giant Bats and Everything[/spoiler], one of the most entertaining half hours of cinema

But anyways, over the weekend I was in a room full of people that hadn't never seen the remake of Clash of the Titans, no how. We were drunk and fancied watching a terrible movie, and this filled the bill nicely. As Homer once said 'It's just a bunch of stuff that happened'.

The narrative we made up (because none of us could agree on what was going on, that's how ridiculously unconcerned the whole thing is with telling a story), was far superior. We even came up with a better name for it. Clash of the Titans: CLASH TIGHTER
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 September, 2012, 08:03:24 PM
It's true what they say: ye've more chance of bottling lightning than getting to the edit button on time.

Cabin in the Woods: Me and me mates came up with a better ending:[spoiler]The stoner guy kills the girl who's supposed to be a virgin (and admitted to Ripley that she really wasn't), but everything's fine. Turns out the stoner was a virgin all along.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 September, 2012, 09:07:40 PM
Wouldn't have mattered if he was a virgin in the same way it didn't matter that the girl wasn't: they were merely there to play out parts.

RE: Clash Of The Titans - it's nonsensical shite because it was written as a 3D showpiece, but with the home video version you can make a drinking game where everyone has to take a sip every time something comes directly towards the screen in slow motion.  Though fair warning your liver will be fucked about 30 minutes in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 September, 2012, 09:34:41 PM
Quote from: Professah Byah on 30 September, 2012, 09:07:40 PM
Wouldn't have mattered if he was a virgin in the same way it didn't matter that the girl wasn't: they were merely there to play out parts.

True but it would have been funny if they weren't playing the parts they were supposed to play. At least in my head anyways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 September, 2012, 11:34:11 PM
Just saw Looper - fresh, clever, grim, funny, sharp and stylish sci fi. You can see a lot of influences here and there but it still has an identity of it's own. Easily the best thing Bruce Willis has been involved with for a long, long time.

Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 01 October, 2012, 12:22:10 AM
I pretty much gave up on cinema a few years ago but this year I broke my rule and saw Avengers. Then because I enjoyed DREDD so much I was quite keen to get back into going to the cinema on condition that we pay for better seats so less wind ups.

Saw Looper today but TBH I can't really see what all the fuss is a about. Don't see why it should have so many 5 star reviews. Felt a bit too long and I did get bored. I feel that I saw a few ideas from comics in particular something from [spoiler]Alan Moore's Jack B Quick[/spoiler]. Mind you the sound quality was poor and I really struggled to understand what was being said which didn't help. Cinema was empty - about 5% full. That really surprised me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 01 October, 2012, 12:23:11 AM
I don't think you can complain about Cabin being too self referential as its a love letter to old school horror and a direct response to torture porn.  I loved that it riffs on[spoiler]Evil Dead, Friday the 13th & Hellraiser[/spoiler] but my only issue is that the ending should have been [spoiler]Lovecraft[/spoiler]

Canne wait to see Looper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 October, 2012, 07:30:32 AM
Run Lola Run.

Been thinking of watching it since the 90s, and came around doing it this weekend. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 October, 2012, 03:01:04 PM
QuoteEasily the best thing Bruce Willis has been involved with for a long, long time.

So I forgot about Moonrise Kingdom. He was also brilliant in that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 October, 2012, 03:18:28 PM
Quote from: Borntohula on 01 October, 2012, 07:30:32 AM
Run Lola Run.

Been thinking of watching it since the 90s, and came around doing it this weekend. Loved it.

Yeah, that's a good 'un. I chanced upon it once, flicking channels and was drawn in. I've seen it a couple of times since then. I guess the [spoiler]scream shattering resolution[/spoiler] was a bit out of nowhere, but it was so fun it didn't bother me much.

A clever original film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 01 October, 2012, 07:52:11 PM
I enjoyed Cabin in the Woods, it really ended up surprising me, I hadn't heard anything about it at all when me and my buddy rented it and I thought it was just going to be a generic Friday the 13th, or Evil Dead knock-off. Liked all the actors involved, Joss Whedon always does a good job in this area IMO.

I saw the Raid last week too, it was alright, but not really anything that special, the novelty of these types of martial arts movies wore off for me a few years ago to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 October, 2012, 09:03:25 AM
Just finished watching Troll Hunter what a bloody great film. Its funny that I've seen a few people debating whether its a comedy or a horror, or just what its meant to be. The point is it isn't quite either and a bit of everything, why people need such definitions escapes me.

The bloke who plays Hans does an incredible job of playing it completely straight and creates a fantastic character. At times its hilarious, at times as scary as fuck, always entertaining and an absolute little delight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 October, 2012, 10:06:37 AM
I loved Troll Hunter. In particular the creature designs were really great - they looked like very traditional Nordic trolls which served to make them totally different from almost any other modern monster I can think of.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 03 October, 2012, 10:09:04 AM
The Hunger Games - not bad actually, very surprised. Not very nice to see kids killing other kids is it? I hope that was the effect the film had on most viewers...
Cabin in The Woods - again, better than I expected, although as someone else said the ending should definitely have been[spoiler] Lovecraftian[/spoiler]
Lockout - loved the first half, riffing quite heavily on Escape From New York, Pierce does a decent Plissken impersonation and it was great to see This is England's Woody getting to have a go at a movie maniac. Lost interest before the end though.
The Wackness - checked this out because of Olivia Thirlby's involvement, it's ok I suppose, shades of Donnie Darko but without the weirdness. She was great in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 05 October, 2012, 03:54:20 PM
Cabin in the Woods. Quite good fun, and the why was interesting to work out. I'm turning into a fan of Chris Hemsworth too, charming guy alright. Good screen presence. Might even hunt down the new Snow White at this rate. Love the end, a right little fock yoo :)

Men in Black 3. Lightweight, and the baddie was such a damp squid. Bad casting. On the other hand, Josh Brolin, excellent casting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 October, 2012, 03:59:00 PM
Quotethe baddie was such a damp squid

Stop putting him on a pedal stool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 05 October, 2012, 05:12:52 PM
Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 03 October, 2012, 10:09:04 AM
The Hunger Games - not bad actually, very surprised. Not very nice to see kids killing other kids is it? I hope that was the effect the film had on most viewers...
Haven't seen it yet, a bit curious about it because I've heard various things from various people but I can wait til it's on TV. One friend did describe it to me as "The Running Man for the Twilight generation".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 October, 2012, 05:45:10 PM
That's accurate, I think: take Running Man and strip away the self-awareness, the fun and the desire to be enjoyable and you pretty much have Hunger Games.

As an aside, if you want more of that kind of aimless violent twaddle set in a feudalist future where people run around woods killing each other with knives and arrows, US tv just debuted Revolution.  If you liked HG, you'll probably get on fine with Revolution, if only because nobody watched Jeremiah when it first came out and are equally unlikely to have seen it recently and noticed the similarities.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 October, 2012, 11:42:17 PM
Killing Them Softly. Bloody LOVED it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 06 October, 2012, 11:29:20 AM
Cabin in the woods.

It was good though the first images subtly give away the twist. Certainly at the beginning I had no idea what was happening but when the twist came I'd sort of got a general idea what it might be.

It was ridiculous towards the end, so full of plot holes but it was good gory, fun. It's a sly finger wagging exercise on how our [spoiler]society sacrifices it's own young [/spoiler]  and how that might not be such a great idea after all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 October, 2012, 11:47:21 AM
they have to die so our society can live! Um the only prob I hd with CITW is the most important button in human history has no guards and no lock. After that even the horrific purge seemed rather lame.[spoiler]And only a giant hand? What, no chthulhu?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 October, 2012, 08:57:44 PM
Stephen King's SILVER BULLET (1985)

Now, this was interesting. My boys had the "novelette" upon which this was based as their bedtime story for a while last year, and ever since i've been meaning to get them the movie. The only problem being i remembered the movie as being really, really shit- and my intention is to inspire them to love horror, not put them off by showing them the worst.

Pester power prevailed, however, and in the end i really shouldnt have worried. Silver Bullet, my friends, is aces.

Of course is. Forget the direction- which is workmanlike at best (though effective when necessary, at least judging by my cowering, petrified, giggling, guffawing, screaming and cheering offspring) and dont even worry too much about Carlo Rambaldi's bobble-head werewolf suit- that's used sparingly, and is effective when shown in abstract close-up only becoming ridiculous when shown in full at the end, and even then better than most. No, what Silver Bullet's really about is (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 October, 2012, 09:08:31 PM
(cont) the beauty of Stephen King's characters and dialogue- he's on screenplay duties here, so the words are lovely- and the joy of seeing those words delivered by a dream mid-eighties cast of Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Everitt McGill and Terry O'Quinn. Busey, especially, is just in a class of his own, and i'd argue that in Busey as Uncle Red and Haim as paralysed Marty you have just about the most perfect synthesis of King's words and actors' performance put on film. It just fits and feels entirely right.

King's screenplay isnt perfect by any means, and suffers from forcing the original story into places it was never meant to go, but the dialogue never falters and is always joyfully full of the kind of Kingisms we know and love.

No one will ever claim Silver Bullet to be a classic- but watching tonight in optimum conditions (with two small boys afeared of monsters) i am prepared to concede it's a work of underrated loveliness.

Just a shame about the woolluff.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 October, 2012, 01:47:26 AM
That's one King book I've never read.

I've seen the film a couple of times though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. I'll admit it's as much about the kids adventure side of things as the werewolf itself. Not that I remember the costume being particularly bad, but then I have a high tolerance for these things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2012, 07:47:42 AM
Definitely pick up the book Mardroid- lavish colour and and b&w illustrations by Swamp Thing creator Bernie Wrightson aside, it's a beautiful thing. Originally a calender, i understand, sent to King's friends. It needed some on-the-fly editing when being read to small boys, but like the film is a scary monster-story for (mostly) all ages. Pick it up along with the Creepshow graphic novel, for a double dose of King and Wrightson horrors.

For those keeping tally- Silver Bullet contains a few "piss"es, a couple of "bitch"es, and multiple "shit"s- none of which worried me in relation to the boys (mummy's away in milan) but two potentially problematic "fuck"s. However, both are used in such a way as to drive home that it's a bad word that shouldnt be said- here, on the phone by a nice cop who admits he'd waited til the recipient had hung up before unleashing his obscenities. It's also a gag, which is better than the word being shown to have any power.

Gore-wise, there's a nice beheading that went down (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 October, 2012, 07:52:14 AM
(cont) well in my house and a couple of nicely-shot and splashy woolluf attacks. Eyes get shot out twice, but the scariest bits (if my two are any indication of such things, and they are) are the p.o.v shots of the woolluf stalking his victims and, crucially, climbing the side of a house to get to a bedroom window. We had sleepover last night 'just in case of midnight werewolf visits'.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 07 October, 2012, 08:20:05 AM
Caught the ending of Cowboys and Zombies last night on the horror channel. I have seen better acting in porn movies. Horseshit is too kind a word for it.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 07 October, 2012, 11:33:19 AM
LOOPER

It was pretty good. The acting was solid, especially JGL doing his best young Bruce Willis, all my fears about that were put to rest. I would however liked to have seen more of Bruce Willis himself, as he didn't seem to have much screen-time. I feel the same way with the city and all the cool near future stuff, rather than [spoiler]spending half the film on a farm[/spoiler] although I understand that might not have serviced the story as well, and I can't have it both ways. I think there were some really cool bits, especially [spoiler] Seths older self falling to pieces as he was running away, and they were cutting off the limbs of young Seth[/spoiler], but I don't really like the direction they took with [spoiler]the child, I knew when the mentioned TK that it would have something to do with "The Rain-maker" (stupid name by the way) but something about the kids part in it just didn't sit right with me. Oh and also, there's no way that kid was ten.[/spoiler] I would have liked to have seen more of what this [spoiler]"Rain-maker was going to do[/spoiler] as I feel I didn't really see enough to be worried about what could happen. The small glimpses we got, like people mentioning [spoiler]mass executions all at once[/spoiler] really intrigued me though. But why was [spoiler]he closing all the loops, or did I miss something? I mean, I gather that he's become the crime boss or whatever, and that loopers expect to have there loops closed, but the way they were talking about it made it seem like he was doing it too early, or doing something he shouldn't be, and the loops were being closed when they shouldn't have been, for some nefarious purpose. [/spoiler] Anyway, it was pretty cool, and enjoyable, and there were some beautiful shots in there, however, like I said, something didn't ring true for me, but I just can't put my finger on what, especially in the finale. I guess I hyped it up to much in my head, as I've been really looking forward to it. I'll watch it again though, as I said, I found it enjoyable; probably not in the cinema, I'll wait for the DVD/Blu-Ray.

Cheers,
Will

Sorry for the long post!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 October, 2012, 01:16:32 PM
Age of the Dragons, which I'd seen before but this time picked up on dvd as I wanted to reward the chutzpah of the kind of mindset that would greenlight such a project (Herman Melville's Moby Dick with dragons instead of whales) even if the execution is excruciatingly ham-fisted and knackered less by Vinnie Jones' hilarious turn as Stubb (that they handed Vinnie Jones a lengthy monologue scene is fantastic) and more by the fact that they only used the elevator pitch of Moby Dick as their plot, missing that MD is a heavily humanist tome full of timeless symbolism about the eternal struggles of man and not just some blokes throwing harpoons at a big white thing.  It also has that dodgy gender politics thing that all low budget film-making seems required by law to have where instead of just casting a woman in a certain part and then getting on with things, they shoehorn in scenes where she gets nuddy or is threatened with rape out of nowhere so the hero can establish enough cred for later boning.  It's an awful, awful film in its own right and as adaptations go it's the All Saints cover of Under The Bridge: the original is a harrowing allegory about the euphoria and dysphoria experienced during extended heroin addiction and the beauty found in even the smallest measure of human decency, while the All Saints cover is about someone who is under a bridge.
By all means buy the dvd and reward the making of audacious high-concept fantasy on a limited budget, just never watch it while sober and like Schrodinger's pussy the potential will at least be there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 07 October, 2012, 01:31:04 PM
That was on the telly last week. I saw a 2 minute clip and thought this is Moby Dick and so turned over!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 October, 2012, 02:07:35 PM
I watched Gattaca with the missus last night. It's not the first time we watched it, maybe our 2nd viewing together (and my 3rd) - and she's the one who suggested we watch it and so I popped the DVD on.

I think its a hugely underrated film, and kudos to Andrew Niccol for writing and directing a thoughtful, moving film about a 'Gene-ist' society in the future, where those born different, ie 'normal' or 'invalids' are seen as second class citizens. I loved the whole idea of our protagonists desire and dream to travel into space to see the moon's of Jupiter.

Ethan Hawke puts in a powerful performance, and Jude Law is great too aswell as Uma Thurman. I loved the 'cameo' by the late Ernest Borgnine! Any film he is in has to be worth a look!

The last scenes just before boarding the Gattaca ship, when we see the guy testing Hawke's urine find out he's an 'invalid' and say nothing, and the look on Ethan Hawkes face is really moving. Not to mention his 'going home' speech at the closing stage. I love the whole sepia toned feel of the film -  bringing a dreamy nostalgic feel to it. The music is also beautiful.

One of my fave sci-fi film's. A great film about triumph over adversity and a real gem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 07 October, 2012, 03:33:12 PM
^^^SPOILERS!!!!!^^^

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 October, 2012, 03:44:35 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 07 October, 2012, 03:33:12 PM
^^^SPOILERS!!!!!^^^

Oh damn! I didn't realise I just gave something away mid way through!  :-\

I wish I could edit it, but I can't. Why don't we have an edit option on this forum? I know you can edit but only straight after posting, even then most of the time it doesn't show.

Anyway, apologies for that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 08 October, 2012, 12:18:38 AM
Well, to totally bring the tone down, today I saw The Three Stooges and I can't remember a movie giving me so many belly laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 October, 2012, 07:19:33 AM
Yay for Pete! I saw that a few weeks back and I was the ONLY person in the cinema - it meant I could guffaw as loudly as I liked without anyone staring at me  :)
You can't beat a bit of poke in the eye with a boink effect!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 October, 2012, 09:13:08 AM
Re: Looper - Cid isn't ten years old. She was lying to put the gat-man of the scent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 October, 2012, 09:19:00 AM
In Terminator 2 the supposedly 10 year old John Conner looks and acts about 14.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 08 October, 2012, 11:00:02 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 October, 2012, 09:13:08 AM
Re: Looper - Cid isn't ten years old. She was lying to put the gat-man of the scent.

Oh yeah, my bad!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 October, 2012, 05:35:46 PM
Battle for Endor.  I stand by my assertion that there's nowt wrong with the Ewoks and there's no reason they shouldn't have their own telemovies for the kids, but that doesn't make BfE less shite.  It deserves a crown for being Mayor Shite of Shitetown, because it is that shite and more.
I have a theory that the little girl at the end of this comes back a few years down the line and the Ewoks don't recognise her because she's a grown woman now and they're still tiny bears, so they eat her thinking she's the reanimated zombie corpse of her own mother and dismemberment and eating the bits is the only way to be sure the zombie woman doesn't return and they pine a bit and have doubts about the flesh-eating until Leia comes along later and that's why they don't kill her immediately, but a quick Google reveals the little girl from the Ewoks movie came back in loads of Star Wars fanfiction spin-off novels as part of the post-RotJ SW extended universe, which I think is a bit mad.

Dungeons and Dragons 3: the Book of Vile Darkness, which I watched on the assumption that they can only get less terrible, but someone somewhere is utterly determined to prove me wrong because this is so bad it is unreal.  It's about some cunt whining that he deserves to be better than everyone around him and then goes on a quest to do something or other, eventually it turns out he was looking for his missing dad who was a king or a knight or something, but the whiny brat is put in the Girdle Of Agony and milked for his ink and... you know what?  Fuck this film, and if you actually liked it, fuck you too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 October, 2012, 08:57:38 PM

Quote from: JamesC on 08 October, 2012, 09:19:00 AM
In Terminator 2 the supposedly 10 year old John Conner looks and acts about 14.

I concur! He looks (and acts) nothing like a 10 year old!   :D

Still, a great film. Probably my favourite one out of the lot, although the first comes pretty close.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 October, 2012, 10:26:55 PM
Sometimes my policy of going to see any film containing Kate Beckinsale's arse backfires. Total Recall was one of these instances. I now can't really.

The next night I went to see Vincent Gallo play a sort of Taliban Richard Kimble in An Essential Killing. Involved in a car crash whilst being rendered to another military base he finds himself on the run somewhere in unspecified Eastern Europe. The only real difference being that he definitely did it. With no one-armed man to track down the film simply follows a desperate and exhausted man trying to elude his pursuers for as long as he can in an allegorical landscape he will never find his way out of.
Gallo has virtually no dialogue and, uncharacteristically, doesn't even get a chance to show us his tallywhacker so his performance boils down to looking intense and haunted.

In summary: rather  boring but there is a pretty funny bit where Gallo appears - Python style - in the distance, runs towards us and steals a fish from the guy in the foreground.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 October, 2012, 10:55:53 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 October, 2012, 09:19:00 AM
In Terminator 2 the supposedly 10 year old John Conner looks and acts about 14.

Edward Furlong was 14 in 1990. Judy Garland was a curvy eighteen year old nightclub chanteuse (and drug fiend) when she played ten year old Dorothy Gale. Anyone who disagrees with Hollywood's policy of casting adult actors in child parts should watch The Phantom Menace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 09 October, 2012, 12:40:56 AM
Taken 2: Shit.

Dark Shadows: OK, got some funny bits.

Sound of My Voice: Meh.

Paranorman: Pretty good.

Moonrise Kingdom: Pretty good.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 October, 2012, 09:20:27 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 October, 2012, 09:19:00 AM
In Terminator 2 the supposedly 10 year old John Conner looks and acts about 14.

More to the point, Connor should have only been 7 years old, seeing as The Terminator was set in 1984, and T2 in 1991.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 09 October, 2012, 10:45:49 PM
On catching up with Prometheus, now feel the reviews on it on that thread, are on a par with a certain Christian review site's review of Dredd 3D. Mistaken utterance.

It's got a good old adventure formula of the Warlords of Atlantis variety, classical compositions , Gods and Monsters archetypes,  all enjoyable enough. The fact they set it across deep space provides a wider canvas, " I only know the broad strokes" say's David the substitute son.

Filled with quite original set pieces even if the core concepts aren't that original for scifi horror nuts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 October, 2012, 11:21:57 PM
Prometheus is basically a massive "fuck you" to anyone who isn't Ridley Scott, and is not simply relatively terrible because I am familiar with the material, it is objectively terrible because it is a mess of a film with no clear themes, only lip-service to the idea of themes which it then abandons to lip-service other themes which it then abandons, stupid characters who do things no-one would do unless they existed in a total cultural and scientific vacuum, and an illogical plot with no linear path from one icky setpiece to another.  I rewatched it a couple of days ago and it was still a mess and still had no themes, so I stand by my assertion that Aliens Versus Predator is a better prequel to Alien (and a better film in isolation) that also does the rite of passage/legacy subtext much better, if only because it actually explores it and sees it to a conclusion.
Several things struck me as presumptuous on the second watch, especially the death of that deeply unlikable scientist bloke where the music swells and we're clearly supposed to care or be moved by this, except all I could think was "thank god that prick is dead."  Also, how did the baby space octopus grow to the size of a cow and make bones/teeth with no source of protein, calcium, etc?  It was only locked in a room for an hour or two with no food.

Saw Looper tonight, and despite being over-familiar with the plot elements and ideas still found it highly enjoyable.  Bruce Willis does another predestination paradox movie, but this time the chain of events is eventually broken.  Very good low-budget film-making, it's like what you would expect a parallel universe SyFy to be churning out instead of shit like Megamastodon vs Ultrachimpanzee or whatever, though some of the logic is dubious, like chopping off someone's hands so his future self will feel it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: WhitBloke on 09 October, 2012, 11:29:28 PM
The Secret of Santa Vittoria.  It's just one of those films that I enjoy revisiting every few years.  Just a film but it never fails to leave me feeling enriched, poorer, sober and silly all at once - so arguably one of those films that nobody makes 'em like anymore, but I don't buy into that view myself.  It's simply one of those films that not enough are made of.  With or without the ever-watchable Anthony Quinn as a wartime mayor-by-accident and Hardy Kruger as an Iron Cross tosspot cursed with an ounce of humanity.  And that poor wife!  Oh, she's just magical.  In fact, just about everything to do with this film is magical - it's just not all entirely pleasant magic, to its credit.
Tempted now to dig out Shoes of the Fisherman or Zorba the Greek just because Quinn heads those up, too, but it's too late in the day and too early in my re-view cycle.  Which is a pity, really, and probably a rule I'll ignore come the weekend.
Captain Correlli's Mandolin can piss right off.  Long live Santa Vittoria!  Long live Mayor Bombellini!  One million bottles of wine can't be wrong.
If you've never seen it, do.  Treat yourself.
If you have seen it, I guess you either know what I mean or think I'm a soppy bastard.  I can live with that.

Furthermore, I'd have to say everything Professah Byah said about Prometheus in the preceding post is, sadly, on the money.  Which confuses the fuck out of me because I still somehow managed to enjoy that film...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 10 October, 2012, 07:08:56 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 08 October, 2012, 10:26:55 PM
In summary: rather  boring but there is a pretty funny bit where Gallo appears - Python style - in the distance, runs towards us and steals a fish from the guy in the foreground.

I haven't seen this film but your description of this scene made me guffaw! Might have to watch it just for this...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 October, 2012, 12:53:59 PM
The  last  films I  watched  were:

Looper:  I  didn't  think  very much  of  this  at  all.  The  time  travel  plot  mechanics  are  laughable *spoiler-  removing  someone's  limbs  in  the  past  causing  them  to  'fall  off'  the  future  version,  (surely  he  wouldn't  have  the  limbs  for  the  30  years  that  follow?).
Over  hyped  crap!!!

Taken  2:  I  really  enjoyed  the  first  film  but  the  sequel  is  very  weak.  I  won't  spoil  any  of  the  plot (?)  but  the  sequences  involving  the  'Daughter'  are  ridiculous  in  the  extreme!!!


Double  spacing  is  a  mindfuck  on  iPhone,  keeps  putting  full  stops  in.  Edit  frenzy!!!

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 October, 2012, 01:14:01 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 10 October, 2012, 12:53:59 PM
Double  spacing  is  a  mindfuck  on  iPhone,  keeps  putting  full  stops  in.  Edit  frenzy!!!

Pardon me asking, but why the fuck are you double spacing everything? It's really annoying.

You can turn off the option to add a period after a double-space in Settings -> General -> Keyboard and turning off the "." Shortcut option.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 October, 2012, 02:03:43 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 October, 2012, 01:14:01 PM

Pardon me asking, but why the fuck are you double spacing everything? It's really annoying.

You can turn off the option to add a period after a double-space in Settings -> General -> Keyboard and turning off the "." Shortcut option.

Cheers

Jim

A friend of mine said it was good forum etiquette. I shall 'suggest' to my friend he doesn't know what he's on about. 

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 October, 2012, 02:08:22 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 10 October, 2012, 02:03:43 PM
A friend of mine said it was good forum etiquette. I shall 'suggest' to my friend he doesn't know what he's on about.

Double spacing usually refers to double spacing between lines, rather than words, but that would also be bloody annoying! I wonder if they meant using double returns between paragraphs, which I much prefer for reading on screen to other paragraph formatting...?

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2012, 03:19:13 PM
Quote from: WhitBloke on 09 October, 2012, 11:29:28 PMFurthermore, I'd have to say everything Professah Byah said about Prometheus in the preceding post is, sadly, on the money.  Which confuses the fuck out of me because I still somehow managed to enjoy that film...

Nothing confusing about that - I enjoyed Battleground: Earth, Judge Dredd 95, Star Trek V and ID4, but they are still terrible films on almost every level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 11 October, 2012, 10:32:33 PM
I'm watching Bad Taste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 October, 2012, 11:12:43 PM
Super 8. Jolly good it was too. Quite suprised to see J J Abrahms name attached to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 October, 2012, 12:15:56 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 October, 2012, 01:14:01 PM
Pardon me asking, but why the fuck are you double spacing everything? It's really annoying.

Remind me, what is it you do for a living again, Jim?  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 October, 2012, 12:36:09 AM
Paul.

I enjoyed it although I could have done without the rather heavy handed preachy atheistic message.*

Light hearted, fun and very funny in places. While not part of the Cornetto trilogy, it would fit well in that category (except then it would be a quadrilogy. Unless we're going with Hitchhiker's dubious numbering system).  And some of the line homages to sci-fi/fantasy stuff was amusing. (No doubt I missed some.)


*Actually the existence of such a humanoid alien, would support the notion of creation theory/guided evolution, surely? Sure he doesn't look human, but he's got a lot in common with us. Now, if he'd been a blob instead of a Grey...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 12 October, 2012, 09:16:07 AM
Quote from: Hoagy on 11 October, 2012, 10:32:33 PM
I'm watching Bad Taste.

Great film, and Brain Dead. The effects look a bit dated now but they are still exceptional/hilarious films.

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 October, 2012, 10:14:05 AM
I watched Dusk 'til Dawn straight after and the blowing shit away with the muzzle of your gun sticking out of the back of one of your assailant had become commonplace by this time.

Bad Taste being my first recorded viewing of the phenomenon.

Our favourite quote over here is

"I'm a Derek. And Dereks don't run."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 October, 2012, 10:14:51 AM
Still haven't seen Bad Taste, really must get round to it as I love Braindead.

I always thought they'd reissue all of PJ's old movies following Lotr, but they didn't as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 October, 2012, 11:07:33 AM
I personally like Braindead better as I saw that one first. But when you take a step back they're as good as each other.

Whole of Bad Taste online Rads...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTJuZc1fPSc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 12 October, 2012, 10:42:35 PM
Ah Braindead, the one gore flick that made me wan't to vommit as a child and still does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 October, 2012, 11:33:20 PM
But you eat the alien sick?




yup
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 October, 2012, 01:56:30 AM
Ah, Braindead. A guy at work leant me the video (yep VHS not DVD, although they were around that time) years back when he knew I liked the Evil Dead films.

Very enjoyable. I particularly like that dry kiwi humour

[spoiler]"You're mother ate my dog!"
"Not all of it."[/spoiler]

That just tickled me, sick puppy that I am.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 13 October, 2012, 09:44:00 AM
Quote from: Hoagy on 12 October, 2012, 11:33:20 PM
But you eat the alien sick?




yup

Thanks a lot, you just made me hurl my breakfast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2012, 10:15:15 AM
District 9, inspired by my love for Dredd3D.  Hey, that was really good!  Particularly loved the locations and the alien weapons, and some of the performances in the 'interviews', and was surprised to find Wikus' character arc so engaging .  Not that I think these kind of ground-level films need over-arching explanations, but does anyone have any suggestions as to what the aliens' story actually was?  Why was [spoiler]the miracle fluid in tech scattered across the settlement[/spoiler]? Was Christopher a typical alien, or were there different castes?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 October, 2012, 10:35:16 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 October, 2012, 10:15:15 AM
District 9, inspired by my love for Dredd3D.  Hey, that was really good!  Particularly loved the locations and the alien weapons, and some of the performances in the 'interviews', and was surprised to find Wikus' character arc so engaging .  Not that I think these kind of ground-level films need over-arching explanations, but does anyone have any suggestions as to what the aliens' story actually was?  Why was [spoiler]the miracle fluid in tech scattered across the settlement[/spoiler]? Was Christopher a typical alien, or were there different castes?

I also re-watched District 9 a while ago! Its a really superb sci-fi flick; Wikus is absolutely insane! I cannot wait to see how a sequel will pan out - will Wikus regain his human identity? Will he become their saviour? Its a tantalizing prospect!

I think in answer to your question TordelBack; I too do not know how the miracle fluid was scattered across the settlement. Could it be that when the small part of the ship broke off, these fluid's also fell down, getting scattered about in the process? And seeing as theres a lot of alien weaponary about, available readily - then other aspects of their technology should be available too it would seem. But its a part of the story which isn't explained too well.

As for Christopher, I don't know. He does seem more intelligent than the rest of his bretherns doesn't he? Maybe he was the pilot of the ship, or was indeed someone more higher up in their 'caste' system, if there is one. I have a feeling that maybe there was some sort of ordering in their society, but all that was lost due to their displacement and refugee status. Its a really stunning piece of film-making. And alongside MOON, some of the best output of 2009.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 October, 2012, 03:19:23 PM



Red Letter Media Talks About Prometheus on DVD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avXZVgzLP68&feature=plcp)


Pretty much says it all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 13 October, 2012, 04:09:39 PM
You miss the Prometheus thread, dont ya.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 October, 2012, 04:31:19 PM
No.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 14 October, 2012, 01:03:44 AM
just watched Iron Sky with my son.  It was good fun and pretty much exactly what I expected.  The PalinPresident was a hoot, the whole thing was a bit camp.  Would have been awesome on the big screen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 October, 2012, 02:08:15 AM
Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Manages the not insignificant trick of overcoming the fact that the title character is an odious cunt of staggering proportions to be tremendous fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 15 October, 2012, 04:05:02 PM
"Grease". This film must have cost two pence to make. I'd given up hope during "grease lightning" and quite nauseous by "oh Sandy". This would look atrocious on the big screen.  Crap costumes, crap songs and everyone talks in a silly voice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 15 October, 2012, 04:58:21 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 13 October, 2012, 10:35:16 AM
I also re-watched District 9 a while ago! Its a really superb sci-fi flick;

District 9 is a triumph, and a film to be shoved in the faces of Prometheus apologists as an example of how to leave questions and mystery whilst still maintaining a coherent plot and building an interesting universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 October, 2012, 06:26:55 PM
Quote from: fonky on 15 October, 2012, 04:05:02 PM
"Grease". This film must have cost two pence to make. I'd given up hope during "grease lightning" and quite nauseous by "oh Sandy". This would look atrocious on the big screen.  Crap costumes, crap songs and everyone talks in a silly voice.

Grease is awful. I used to feel like a spoilsport for moaning about this film in the mid-nineties when everyone seemed to think it was spun gold. It's actually a pretty horrible story with a shitty 'moral' anyway though so now I just silently judge anyone who says they like it - I find it's a useful social barometre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 15 October, 2012, 06:57:06 PM
I actually kinda have a bit of a soft spot for Grease..
My sister got dragged along to watch Star Wars with me at the pictures, and i, had to go along to see Grease. Her copy of the soundtrack LP was played constantly, so by osmosis, it all seeped in a little bit.

But 70's childhood nostalgia aside, the last time it was on Telly, i did think it was a pile of crap.
Songs are still pretty catchy, though.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2012, 07:02:23 PM
I have loathed Grease since the seventies, and have been cursed with it being the dvd of choice in every single residential home, daycentre and challenging behaviour unit i have ever worked in. The only positive is it's slowly becoming usurped by Mamma Mia.

Er...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 October, 2012, 07:56:22 PM


I much prefer Saturday Night Fever. Better class of leg-wear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 15 October, 2012, 09:12:49 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 15 October, 2012, 07:02:23 PM
I have loathed Grease since the seventies

I too have loathed Grease since the seventies. I have never seen the film but I remember the crappy songs being on Top Of The Pops for weeks on end and that is why I hate it so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 October, 2012, 09:31:27 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 October, 2012, 07:56:22 PM

I much prefer Saturday Night Fever. Better class of leg-wear.

Good girl gone bad in gynaecologically exact clam diggers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edffynKrkaE), or Tony Manero's floor dusters? Hmmm. Bolland might have used Debbie Harry's face as inspiration for Anderson, but it's Olivia Newton John's arse I see in the later pages (http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbc5gz7CzI1ql4e6oo1_500.png) of Judge Death Lives.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 October, 2012, 09:47:05 PM
Madagascar 3.

Never seen one of these all the way through before but I enjoyed it. First thirty minutes is hilarious japes in Monte Carlo and the rest is pretty batshit crazy as well with a beautifully abstract show of colour and light and 3d for the circus segment.

Was in an independant cinema in Newton Stewart a small town in Galloway. Nice art decoder affair. I wish we had a wee cinema like it in our home town.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 October, 2012, 09:47:27 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 October, 2012, 09:31:27 PMGood girl gone bad in gynaecologically exact clam diggers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edffynKrkaE), or Tony Manero's floor dusters?


They prove conclusively that Travolta has a Mangina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m9ZP_tTtLc&t=0m35s).



Quote from: sauchie on 15 October, 2012, 09:31:27 PM
the later pages (http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbc5gz7CzI1ql4e6oo1_500.png) of Judge Death Lives.



I always read that as We're through the piss-shield!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 15 October, 2012, 09:49:52 PM
Quote from: Albion on 15 October, 2012, 09:12:49 PM
I remember the crappy songs being on Top Of The Pops for weeks on end

Oh, i dont know. They had a certain charm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_MSi0MhM_c)

I can well recall my (female) cousins surreptitiously phoning up Dial-a-Disc (http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=21746) on other peoples phones to constantly listen to the songs from Grease, and me having to act as Look-out. By 'eck - its all coming back to me now,  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 October, 2012, 10:22:03 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 October, 2012, 09:47:05 PM
Madagascar 3.

Never seen one of these all the way through before but I enjoyed it. First thirty minutes is hilarious japes in Monte Carlo and the rest is pretty batshit crazy as well with a beautifully abstract show of colour and light and 3d for the circus segment.

Was in an independant cinema in Newton Stewart a small town in Galloway. Nice art decoder affair. I wish we had a wee cinema like it in our home town.

Nice to hear you enjoyed Madagascar 3! My son is a fan, and I have to say the films are a guilty pleasure of mine! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 October, 2012, 06:22:54 PM
Tried to watch "Moulin Rouge" for the first time today. This one has dated badly too, though it's at a more rapid rate of decomposition than Grease. They pull sillier faces in this than in "American Reaper". It is a film that seems full of little elves, gnomes, pixies and twee little fairies. Add to that a truly atrocious soundtrack....do people really start singing Elton John songs after visiting a prostitute? I really couldn't have cared less about the characters, they were that unlikeable, like the singing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2012, 06:54:57 PM
Quote from: fonky on 16 October, 2012, 06:22:54 PM
Tried to watch "Moulin Rouge" for the first time today. This one has dated badly too, though it's at a more rapid rate of decomposition than Grease. They pull sillier faces in this than in "American Reaper". It is a film that seems full of little elves, gnomes, pixies and twee little fairies. Add to that a truly atrocious soundtrack....do people really start singing Elton John songs after visiting a prostitute? I really couldn't have cared less about the characters, they were that unlikeable, like the singing.

I cry at your sheer inhumanity.

Moulin Rouge is one of the ten greatest films ever made- and barely a day goes by without my wife and I singing one of the medleys to one another.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 October, 2012, 07:09:17 PM
Yeah I absolutely love Moulin Rouge. Jim Broadbent singing 'Like a Virgin' is one of the great treasures of humanity (alas can't find a video version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FLwAGA4RBc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FLwAGA4RBc)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 October, 2012, 10:09:28 PM

Sorry, did I sound ever so beastly? How utterly mean and wretched I behaved. Can you forgive me?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 October, 2012, 10:16:09 PM
Quote from: fonky on 16 October, 2012, 10:09:28 PM

Sorry, did I sound ever so beastly? How utterly mean and wretched I behaved. Can you forgive me?

Only if you sing your apologies, while dancing to a funked up version of an elton john song and wearing suspenders.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 October, 2012, 10:28:10 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 16 October, 2012, 07:09:17 PM
Yeah I absolutely love Moulin Rouge. Jim Broadbent singing 'Like a Virgin' is one of the great treasures of humanity

Kylie Minogue dressed as Tinkerbell is proof of God's existence. Ewan McGregor's mistaken belief that he can sing is proof that He has a twisted sense of humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 16 October, 2012, 10:49:50 PM
...and tonight Matthew...I'm going to be "The Scissor Sisters"....

I concede the point about the late Jim Broadbent, although I'll always think of him as Slater.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 October, 2012, 10:51:18 PM
Quote from: fonky on 16 October, 2012, 10:49:50 PM
... the late Jim Broadbent...

WHEN DID HE DIE?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 October, 2012, 10:55:09 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 16 October, 2012, 10:51:18 PM
Quote from: fonky on 16 October, 2012, 10:49:50 PM
... the late Jim Broadbent...

WHEN DID HE DIE?


Some years from now, apparently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gonk on 17 October, 2012, 12:35:31 AM
Sorry Jim. One's been a total ass. Can one forgive one for one's folly??

Glad to hear some good news....

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 October, 2012, 12:27:44 PM
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE

Despite very clearly being episode 3 of 5 (and I missed episode 3) I still enjoyed this.  Nice to see that "human" Milla still possesses skills and powers that would make your average superhuman blush.

It's full of stock characters (zombie fodder), ridiculous lapses in logic, possibly the most evil of evil corporations ever to grace film (worse than most Bond meglomaniacs), over-egged slow-mo, stupid wire work and the ambition of the effects outstrips their technical delivery. 

But it also has a scene where Milla and Ali Larter take on a hammer and scythe weilding troll whie pulling off 3-point landings and taking part in a wet t-shirt competition.  Brilliant.

I may go see if Part 3 is available on Lovefilm and Part 5 is still at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 19 October, 2012, 12:48:57 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 October, 2012, 12:27:44 PM
I still enjoyed this.

Cereal?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 19 October, 2012, 10:02:42 PM
BLOODSTORM
aka NAZIS AT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

I can't review this, i dont have the words. It's at once a throwback to the days when renting cheap horror videos meant nervous giggles and mounting concern as to how far the makers were prepared to go, and the kind of movie that if it were a 2000AD strip, or an indie 'graphic novel', we'd be calling its publication the very best of times, and wearing tshirts emblazoned with the logo.

It cost about a quid, but none of that matters- the effects are magnificent and hilarious, the whole film is one jaw dropping sequence after another, culminating in what might be the most seriously repulsive and disturbing sequences in recent cinema history seguing into perhaps the most celebratory and punch-the-air moment of incredulous brilliance, where your eyes will fall out due to what they see. I cannot believe they made this. It's like they reached into my brain and pulled out the best film ever. My recomendation: a double bill with DAGON.
Just brilliant. 10/10

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 20 October, 2012, 01:19:24 PM
The sight of the [spoiler]Hitler Cyborg[/spoiler] forever removed any sanity I thought I had SBT.

You obviously saw some merit in it that I did not but for real hokum let down shlcok I declare 'The Craving' [The Horror Channel] winner of the most stupid idea ever.  Some tweenagers stalked by a leaping Ape that uses body odour to overwhelm them.Well I've never heard of that before so strike one for originality.

Evil, psychopath Cop aids the fiendish extra in the rubber suit to decimate the Youth obnoxious all to satisfy his addiction to the Ape stink. Just say no to Drugs and the B.O of experimental Monkey armpits kids. 

It ended on a cliffhanger but no...evil has resurrected itself! Filmed very badly on chepo Camera to make it look more Blair Witchy made it look like the cheap,2 penny straight to DVD cash in it was.

'It certainly made a monkey out of me.' I thought to myself as I stalked dissapointed up to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 20 October, 2012, 06:47:07 PM
Revenge of the Sith: Seen this a few times before but it was on the Telly so I sat through it again. Now I'm a fan of Star Wars (mainly the originals), but this film has some excessively shitty lines of dialogue, combined with sub-standard/wooden acting. On the plus side the Special effects and battle scenes (Wookie fight in particular) are quite amazing, as are the twin duels that happen at the end of the film. On the whole I'd say this could have been so much more but I think it's quite apparent anyway.

For the record my favorite of the lot is Empire. Mark Hamill actually 'acts' well in this one, in the battle with Vader he Plays the part of the 'lone soldier, without hope' very well.

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 October, 2012, 07:08:53 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 20 October, 2012, 06:47:07 PM
Revenge of the Sith: Seen this a few times before but it was on the Telly so I sat through it again. Now I'm a fan of Star Wars (mainly the originals), but this film has some excessively shitty lines of dialogue, combined with sub-standard/wooden acting. On the plus side the Special effects and battle scenes (Wookie fight in particular) are quite amazing, as are the twin duels that happen at the end of the film. On the whole I'd say this could have been so much more but I think it's quite apparent anyway.

For the record my favorite of the lot is Empire. Mark Hamill actually 'acts' well in this one, in the battle with Vader he Plays the part of the 'lone soldier, without hope' very well.

Cheers  :)

Out of the prequel trilogy this has to be the best...which isn't saying much to be honest. I'm a massive Star Wars fan, and like you Empire is my favourite film. Its not just a perfect Star Wars film but a great science-fiction/ fantasy film too.

ROTS is like I said, an improvement from the poor Phantom Menace and Clones. The visual effects that Lucas had been playing with from Episode 1 had been finally perfected. Theres some really gorgeous imagery on show, the stand out being the lush green Wookie planet Kashyyyk, and the planet where Obi Wan tears General Grevious a new hole! :D The Boga chase is really excellent. One qualm I had was that it felt a little too rushed toward the end - Anakin goes over to the Dark Side too quickly and in an unconvincing manner methinks. But theres still a lot to enjoy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 21 October, 2012, 08:34:36 AM
Watched Moby Dick (1956) last thursday.

Damn good epic! Gregory Peck sure knows how to put emotional rage into a performance! The practical sets of the time were pretty impressive too, especially the Whale. Most definitely a film worthy of it's classical status.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 09:38:28 AM
The Gregory Peck Moby Dick, like the novel itself, is one of my favourite things n the world. My addiction to all things fictional maritime and barnacle-encrusted knows no bounds. Not in the least interested in the reality of sea-travel, and hate boats, but set a story on the briny deep and im there.

As for 'the craving', that sounds not even for my tastes im afraid, IATS. I have a specific criteria for movies, and i wont bother to try to explain it. Unlike the hilarious comedians around here with their oh so clever quips would have you believe, it's not that i will watch and love any old shit. My tastes were formed in the fires of the early eighties 'nasties' furore and the blockbuster boom of the late seventies. I was growing out of films when, at the age of 29, i saw blair witch and that kicked my love of horror up the arse and back to the forefront of my brain.
I just love seeing things on screen that i wouldnt otherwise see. Im really not interested in movies that dont feature outlandish (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 09:49:59 AM
(cont) creatures, effects, or sights that id never see in really life. I want movies that quicken my pulse, make me sweat and make my eyes pop with amazement. Im not particularly bothered by the quality of a script, as for the most part i find others' ideas of 'great dialogue' to equate to 'contrived knuckle-chewing bollocks that no one would ever say', a la steven moffat and quentin tarantino. The worst part of this is an entire generation of dickheads who think they need to speak like they're in 'buffy' to appear cool.

I generally have no time for movies that cost upwards of 100m dollars- i cant get my head around that obscene amount of cash being spent on something as inherently worthless as a film, when there's a worldwide recession and people are suffering in the first world, let alone the third. Movie budgets, like footballers' salaries, should be capped or taxed to fucking buggery. Id rather have 100 $2m horror films than one dark knight rises. Spending that amount of cash on a film about (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 09:50:43 AM
(cont) batman is fucking immoral.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2012, 10:05:57 AM
Great rant, SBT, and some nice humorous work by your (cont).

Endeavour pilot. Two hours of my life down the drain.  Terrible casting, terrible costuming, ridiculous plot, a serious case of join-the-dots-prequelitis.  Nice cars and some good-if-inappropriate performances, but all merit was swept away by the bit with John Thaw's daughter's character thinking she recognised Morse (a-ha-ha-ha-f*ck-off), and the appalling unnecessary coda with the comedy MI5 agent and the Minister - I've never seen anything as cack-handed.

I'm a fan of the Morse books, not so much the TV series, so maybe this worked better if you liked the latter.  But I doubt it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 10:26:46 AM
That's entirely passed me by, mr back. Is that a tv show then? When was it on? Some belated spin-off, i take it?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2012, 10:35:10 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 10:26:46 AM
Is that a tv show then? When was it on? Some belated spin-off, i take it

Yeah it's a pilot for a Morse prequel series which they're apparently going ahead and making - don't know when it aired originally, I just saw it on ITV3 or 4 or something last night.  I forgot the best bit - [spoiler]at the end, Young Morse's boss asks him where he sees himself in 20 years time, so he looks in the rearview mirror of his boss' Jag and we see John Thaw's face looking back[/spoiler].  Do you see what they did there?

Jovus wept.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 21 October, 2012, 11:15:51 AM
Prometheus. Um what can I say? it didn't really work for me for example and a biologist walking away from the corpse of the an extraterrestrial -uh, no way man. What the hell was the beginning about where the Engineer equivalent of a pot noodle accidentally brings about humanity? A cosmic joke indeed.

I loved the design and bits of tech/ kit but mini cthulhu to giant facehugger just made me laugh, as did the ending. The actors struggled gamely with the deranged script Fassbender on good form but CT was even more robotic and she was human. The Captain and crew at least had a good send off and a few good lines.

It made $400 million according to imdb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 21 October, 2012, 12:39:00 PM
The Raid: aside from some excellent choreography with the fight scenes, I found the film massively Crap. The film makers HAVE BLATENTLY ripped off the early released Dredd script. I found several of the camera shots looked identical, and a few of the locations look like cheap rip-offs of Peach Trees interior locations. Even though the fight scenes were great 'eye candy', on more than one occasion it looked like they were fighting on a poorly made set/stage, rather than 'real' locations.

On the whole, far more crap than good to found here!

Not recommended!!!

Cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 01:52:39 PM
The Endeavour thing sounds terrible, i will stay away. As for The Raid, i dont think i could ever be arsed to even give it a go to be honest. Chop socky films are the lowest of the low *in my opinion*, and usually worse and more amateurish than the worst of porn. That they were embraced by underground and fan movie critics at the start of the 90s is entirely down to the dearth of good stuff coming from the usual channels and an increasing desire to champion more and more obscure films in an effort to have something new to talk about. I could kind of understand the raving over awful shit like 'zu warriors', but the lionising of the likes of jackie chan and yuen biao struck me always as truly desperate. Did anyone ever REALLY enjoy those films without the aid of substances hazardous to health? Im unconvinced. Certainly ive seen more than enough to know they are absolutely not for me. Living with a martial arts movie stoner while at uni proved that.
As for prometheus, im still tempted...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 October, 2012, 02:01:00 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 01:52:39 PM
As for prometheus, im still tempted...

Good for you,  ;)
Though i must say as an Alien fanboy, i was left very underwhelmed. Still, it has its moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 21 October, 2012, 04:13:49 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 01:52:39 PMAs for The Raid, i dont think i could ever be arsed to even give it a go to be honest. Chop socky films are the lowest of the low *in my opinion*, and usually worse and more amateurish than the worst of porn.

...well thank you for giving us porno addicts some dignity.

Anyway, just watched Casablanca and loved it! Can't really think of any praise that hasn't already been said so I''ll let you guys take it away...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2012, 05:21:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 21 October, 2012, 01:52:39 PMChop socky films are the lowest of the low *in my opinion*, and usually worse and more amateurish than the worst of porn.

Your opinion might have been worth more if the top of that page of the thread didn't have a review in which you extol the excellence of a Jake Busey film.

I'm just about to watch a chop-socky film now as it happens: Silver Hawk, a superhero flick in which the main character jumps a motorcycle over the Great Wall of China to rescue a kidnapped panda by fighting the kidnappers on, around and under the kidnap van as it is in transit, then gets her phone out to take photos of her and the panda wrestling each other.  Later, one of the members of Bros shows up with bionic arms.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2012, 05:53:48 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 21 October, 2012, 12:39:00 PM
The Raid: The film makers HAVE BLATENTLY ripped off the early released Dredd script ... a few of the locations look like cheap rip-offs of Peach Trees interior locations.

That would have to be put down to coincidence. As far as I'm aware, the only on-set snaps that surfaced of Peach Trees prior to The Raid's March 2011 shooting date were a couple of very dark corridors in Empire magazine and the pictures of some balconies Joe Soap posted here around the end of last year. Some of the hallways look a little similar to the new film, but then they look quite similar to the corridors in the 1995 film too. They're corridors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 21 October, 2012, 06:43:05 PM
Actually, scratch my throw away comment from earlier.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing linkI generally have no time for movies that cost upwards of 100m dollars- i cant get my head around that obscene amount of cash being spent on something as inherently worthless as a film, when there's a worldwide recession and people are suffering in the first world, let alone the third. Movie budgets, like footballers' salaries, should be capped or taxed to fucking buggery. Id rather have 100 $2m horror films than one dark knight rises. Spending that amount of cash on a film about (cont)

While I totally agree with this term of thinking, don't you think there are even more inherently worthless things that money gets blown on? Yes it's a sad fact that most of that money goes into the pockets of greedy executives and producers or whoever the hell runs the show, but at least films to a certain extent help keep mankind sane and occupied. I think if a film can fill you with a sense of spirit and wonder like say Lord of the Rings or the afformentioned Casablanca(don't know how much that cost btw) and Mobey Dick(again, not sure the budget for that one) then it totally earns a place in society.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2012, 07:34:37 PM
Quote from: Cursed Earth Dweller on 21 October, 2012, 06:43:05 PM
While I totally agree with this term of thinking, don't you think there are even more inherently worthless things that money gets blown on? I think if a film can fill you with a sense of spirit and wonder like say Lord of the Rings or the afformentioned Casablanca (don't know how much that cost btw) and Mobey Dick (again, not sure the budget for that one) then it totally earns a place in society.

The Return of the King (2003): production budget of $94 million

Mobey Dick (1956): production budget of $4,500,000

Casablanca (1943): production budget of $1,093,000

Even taking inflation into account, I think whoever was supplying wonder and spirit to Peter Jackson saw him coming. Beasts of the Southern Wild seems to be adopting a lower budget and overtly anti-realist approach to its special effects, and the disproportionate success of films like District 9 and The Raid should be evidence enough that films don't need to spend a fortune on effects or a fortune on anything to entertain and affect audiences.

Everyone in Hollywood's too terrified of failure to ever stop spending at least $1 million more than the last film, though. Those massive budgets are (perversely and counter-intuitively) like security blankets to nervous executives.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 October, 2012, 07:41:35 PM
Have watched Prometheus twice this week. Loved it in the cinema and am loving it on rewatches. It seems to be a real marmite film but even as a huge fan of the original Alien and going in with very high expectations I think it's fantastic. I find the whole [spoiler]Gestation of Noomi's embryo to be a bit rushed from reveal to Caesarian, and wish there was more on-ship banter between the pilots so that their demise packed more of a punch. I'd hoped for an extended edition that addresses these niggles, but alas the cut remains the same. There are a couple of deleted scenes that give the captain a bit more flesh, which if included would have made his sacrifice a little more understandable.[/spoiler]

Overall, still loving it. The much touted new beginning and ending are thankfully bonus features and aren't stitched into the film, because they would in my opinion make for an inferior film. The new intro is fairly inconsequential but doesn't have the same alien sense of mystery as the theatrical intro, and the new ending basically adds a bunch of exposition to over-explain something that me and my friends found really exciting to chat about and work out for ourselves. The documentary is fantastic though, at over 3 hours long it's a real feast, and it's great to see how much of a commitment there was to practical effects over CG.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 October, 2012, 09:10:04 PM
The 3+ hour documentary is indeed great, and the Bluray is a pretty good bundle all told. Shame that the film wasnt all it should have been.
Directors cut will be out around the same time as Prometheus 2 i'd imagine,  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2012, 09:22:44 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 October, 2012, 07:34:37 PMThose massive budgets are (perversely and counter-intuitively) like security blankets to nervous executives.

Or huge budgets help to hide how executives are pocketing the money themselves and screwing everybody else actually involved in physically making the film out of their cut: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121018/01054720744/hollywood-accounting-how-19-million-movie-makes-150-million-still-isnt-profitable.shtml
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 22 October, 2012, 01:29:19 PM
Quote from: sauchieThe Return of the King (2003): production budget of $94 million

Mobey Dick (1956): production budget of $4,500,000

Casablanca (1943): production budget of $1,093,000

Cheers!

Quote from: sauchieEveryone in Hollywood's too terrified of failure to ever stop spending at least $1 million more than the last film, though. Those massive budgets are (perversely and counter-intuitively) like security blankets to nervous executives.

I know I should be talking about this on the film discussion forum but I can't post there yet, but that is exactly why Dredd feels sooooooo refreshing! Not just to fans of 2000ad but for those of us who appreciate the less is more mentality of classic and contemporary filmmaking. Wheres films like the Raid seem only concerned with appealing to an action oriented demographic whom have plenty of such films to choose from already(still haven't seen it btw and after what's been said about the film on this thread I am not eager). I just love a film that harkens back to the days of Die Hard, Assault on Presinct 13, Robocop and the first Terminator. Sadly such nostalgia doesn't seem to have a place in todays industry.......oh wait, the T5 film and the Robocop remake....yeah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 October, 2012, 04:21:10 PM
Stardust.

A bit soppy, but charming. I'll admit I rather liked it. And I'm a bit of a sucker for other world stuff.

Also worth it for seeing Robert De Niro's airship captain [spoiler]prancing around in drag.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]"We always knew you were a whoopsy, captain."[/spoiler] Heh. What a good sport.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 October, 2012, 10:55:42 PM
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Nothing like i expected it to be, and both disappointing in the lack of time spent out on the ice in comparison to that spent in mcmurdo interviewing the inhabitants, fascinating due to exactly that, and breathtakingly beautiful when they went below. More than breathtaking actually, it's frightening. Truly alien in every sense, even in the science fictional sense of being antagonistic to human life. There's little in werner herzog's film i'll forget in a hurry, and i hope they let him tag along when they eventually go to mars.

There is little i wouldnt do to secure a ticket to antarctica and the chance to spend time at mcmurdo- it's the best and most incredible place on earth. This documentary took me as close as im likely to get, sadly. So for that im both grateful and full of ire.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 October, 2012, 08:58:59 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 22 October, 2012, 10:55:42 PM
There is little I wouldn't do to secure a ticket to antarctica and the chance to spend time at mcmurdo- it's the best and most incredible place on earth.

I have a friend who spent two years at Scott Base (near McMurdo).  Her Facebook updates were essential reading, and her photographs of the ice and its inhabitants staggeringly beautiful,  but as the southern winter came on and the last plane left you could feel the desperation rising, and the whole thing degenerated into months of alcohol, insomnia, claustrophobia and misery.  I very much doubt she'd go back for more.  I'd fancy a shot myself, even so.

I have got to see that film - I adore Herzog, nobody gets at the heart of something quite like him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 26 October, 2012, 05:09:09 PM
Skyfall. It's certainly better than the last Bond.

Javier Bardem at least looks like he could win a fight or two - much better than the protagonist in Quantum of Solace, who I felt would be a bit ... slappy in up close fight. Ben Whishaw channels Moss from the IT Crowd as Q. Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris are pretty good additions to the cast. Judi Dench and Rory Kinnear are given substantial roles this time around, but there's no David Arnold on the soundtrack and that was noticeable. One of the best parts of the film is when Bond gets behind the wheel of the Aston Martin and the Bond theme bursts out - it needed more of these beats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 October, 2012, 01:42:11 PM
A Prophet, or if you prefer - Un prophète (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prophet). Caught this film for the first time last Christmas, and have now snagged the dirt cheap Bluray. Brilliant stuff.
And an old fave of mine - Silent Running. For those that havent seen it, [spoiler]its about a crew of a spaceship that find themselves up against a 'Charles Manson' style kill-crazy Hippy. It doesnt end well for the crew,  ;)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 October, 2012, 01:56:08 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 October, 2012, 08:58:59 AM
but as the southern winter came on and the last plane left you could feel the desperation rising, and the whole thing degenerated into months of alcohol, insomnia, claustrophobia and misery.



Another 6 month Winter in neo-depression Ireland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 October, 2012, 04:25:30 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 27 October, 2012, 01:42:11 PM
A Prophet, or if you prefer - Un prophète (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prophet). Caught this film for the first time last Christmas, and have now snagged the dirt cheap Bluray. Brilliant stuff.

I had to watch the scene with [spoiler]the razor blade in the mouth[/spoiler] in isolation recently, and it is absolutely skin-crawling, fingernails in your palm stuff. Drifts a bit later on, without the focus and structure provided by the prison setting, but it's worth sticking with. Some of my favourite films are about guys in prison; on an enrelated note, does anyone else enjoy gladiator movies? Or films where grown men wrestle naked?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 October, 2012, 06:29:50 PM
Simping Detective Shakes the Clown, the 1991 writing and directorial debut of Bobcat Goldthwait, better known as the bad guy from the only good Police Academy movie, and yes, I am actually going to use that as a qualification.  Shakes is an alcoholic substance abusing clown on the run from the cops in a very noir-ish tale interspersed with what I presume to be stand-up ad-libs from a varied cast of performers that include Robin Williams and Adam Sandler, and despite the noirish MOIDAH stuff, Shakes remains a ridiculous character who elicits sympathy despite his many shortcoming and chronic unreliability, and it's really neat to see something in the noir mold that doesn't resort to the usual "he's a loner all on his own doing things his way alone" bollocks to portray Shakes as having a circle of friends who try to do right by him in spite of his drinking.  The dark elements of it are a great counterpoint to the comedy, but I am not surprised at all that it sank without trace as it's not willfully surreal, it's just a murder drama that happens to be set in a town populated with a large amount of clowns committed to their act, though the comedy moments do hit the mark when they're supposed to.  SBT was on about Abbott And Costello meeting Frankenstein a while back in the thread and that film's scary-bits-are-scary and funny-bits-are-funny approach is the closest thing I think I can compare to this - the drama works and the comedy works, and even though some elements of it are just utterly ludicrous, they work within the context of the story and the world Shakes inhabits, with none of the outre components of the story rubbed in your face, so it becomes practically impossible to grate on your nerves as I feared would be the case.  An amusing oddity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 12:13:16 AM
Desecration (a film i worked on) is now available to be viewed on youtube.
have a watch and leave some comments please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 28 October, 2012, 01:21:10 AM
Prometheus
now i can finally read that thread! ...Whaddaya mean, locked?

Anyway, I liked it

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 28 October, 2012, 10:59:55 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2012, 04:25:30 PM
does anyone else enjoy gladiator movies? Or films where grown men wrestle naked?

Well, if thats your bag, do you also enjoy films set in Turkish prisons?
If so, then Midnight Express should be right up your alley.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 October, 2012, 11:01:33 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 28 October, 2012, 10:59:55 AM
Midnight Express should be right up your alley.

F-nar!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 October, 2012, 12:29:40 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 12:13:16 AM
Desecration (a film i worked on) is now available to be viewed on youtube.
have a watch and leave some comments please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA)

Cheers for providing my lunchtime viewing, chimp. That's quite a well put together wee short; was your contribution storyboards or making the tea?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 28 October, 2012, 02:53:51 PM
Tried to watch Dawn of the Dead (1978) last night. Should I have been  laughing so hard at it? My sides were hurting and I had tears rolling down my face at some points. This hasn't aged well.





V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 October, 2012, 06:20:47 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 28 October, 2012, 02:53:51 PM
Tried to watch Dawn of the Dead (1978) last night. Should I have been  laughing so hard at it? My sides were hurting and I had tears rolling down my face at some points. This hasn't aged well.


I'll bit my lip and except that people are of course entirely welcome to their own take on such things... no I will resist the urge to scream

"HERETIC FOOL. BUUUURRRRNNNN HIIMMMMMMM!"

as its not constructive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 October, 2012, 06:48:42 PM
Nah, dawn is overlong, badly paced, full of crap effects and mostly boring. But, it's romero savagely waving his fist at consumerism. These days, the central message of dawn is so accepted by our culture that it has zero effect. Zombies are us? Well duh! Who cares? But at the time, it was- im told- astounding. Personally, while id take it to a desert island, it's only be to keep my spines looking nice. Day, land, diary and survival are MY romero zombie movies.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 28 October, 2012, 07:07:13 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 28 October, 2012, 02:53:51 PM
Tried to watch Dawn of the Dead (1978) last night. Should I have been  laughing so hard at it? My sides were hurting and I had tears rolling down my face
V

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 28 October, 2012, 06:48:42 PM
Nah, dawn is overlong, badly paced, full of crap effects and mostly boring.
SBT

One person not liking DotD '78? Well, i can put that down as being some kind of bizarre aberration.
But when SBT - of all people, joins in the chorus of disapproval... then, im lost for words and dont quite know what to make of it all,  ;)

DotD '78 - in all its glorious versions is simply Mustard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 28 October, 2012, 07:28:28 PM
V/H/S. Had more than a few scares but I'd recommend going into it cold. No trailers or reviews. Far better than it had any right to be....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 10:14:58 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 28 October, 2012, 12:29:40 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 12:13:16 AM
Desecration (a film i worked on) is now available to be viewed on youtube.
have a watch and leave some comments please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA)

Cheers for providing my lunchtime viewing, chimp. That's quite a well put together wee short; was your contribution storyboards or making the tea?



cheers Sauchie, I wrote the orginal treatment for it, then storyboards and all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 October, 2012, 12:50:56 AM
Quote from: El Chivo on 28 October, 2012, 01:21:10 AM
Prometheus
now i can finally read that thread! ...Whaddaya mean, locked?

Anyway, I liked it

Thank goodness I'm not alone. (Although I'll admit it could have been better.)

And Dawn of the Dead is good, but I found it dragged a bit too. I prefer Day... although Dawn... if doubtless the most iconic* of the Dead films. Or any Zombie film for that matter.

*Sorry for the over-used pretentious word. It seemed applicable here though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 October, 2012, 07:57:59 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 10:14:58 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 28 October, 2012, 12:29:40 PM
Quote from: chaingunchimp on 28 October, 2012, 12:13:16 AM
Desecration (a film i worked on) is now available to be viewed on youtube.
have a watch and leave some comments please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pLD2lNSqWA)

Cheers for providing my lunchtime viewing, chimp. That's quite a well put together wee short; was your contribution storyboards or making the tea?

cheers Sauchie, I wrote the orginal treatment for it, then storyboards and all that.

Congratulations, you should be very proud.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 29 October, 2012, 08:34:16 PM
True Grit - 2010 by the Coen Brothers.

I still think this is way better then the John Wayne film, the cinematography and sheer weight of the acting by Jeff Bridges and Heilee Steinfeld alone cannot be compared. And the Bear Skin dude should have won an oscar!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 29 October, 2012, 08:35:52 PM
QuoteAnd the Bear Skin dude should have won an oscar!

True dat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 29 October, 2012, 08:55:32 PM
Brilliant, isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 October, 2012, 10:34:11 PM
Quote from: Cursed Earth Dweller on 29 October, 2012, 08:34:16 PM
True Grit - 2010 by the Coen Brothers.

Ahh, ive yet to see this, and i am curious. Has this been shown on Film4, or such like yet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 October, 2012, 11:22:07 PM
Twilight. Although I didn't finish it.

I've read a lot of negative stuff about these films (to be fair largely from guys. I know my female colleagues at work like them.)  but when I saw it was on film 4, I thought I'd give it a go. Quite often when people dislike something my reaction is more positive.

In this case though... no it's not very good is it? At least the part I saw. I did find it watchable (although I wasn't that fussed about stopping) but... no. Rather soppy, I thought. But then I guess it was supposed to be.

To be fair, I'm probably not the target audience. I'm not completely against the whole 'vampire with a conscience' thing if it's done well, but it's getting rather repetitive*, and this film just felt rather derivative. I wonder the books are better? Not that I'm in any rush to read them. Or probably will, at all.

Nice scenery though.

*I liked that Canadian Vampire cop show called Forever Knight for example, although it went a bit downhill. Also, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel for example. Although my reaction to the relationship stuff was much like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 October, 2012, 10:36:23 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 29 October, 2012, 11:22:07 PM
Twilight. Although I didn't finish it.

I've read a lot of negative stuff about these films (to be fair largely from guys. I know my female colleagues at work like them.)  but when I saw it was on film 4, I thought I'd give it a go. Quite often when people dislike something my reaction is more positive.

In this case though... no it's not very good is it? At least the part I saw. I did find it watchable (although I wasn't that fussed about stopping) but... no. Rather soppy, I thought. But then I guess it was supposed to be.

To be fair, I'm probably not the target audience. I'm not completely against the whole 'vampire with a conscience' thing if it's done well, but it's getting rather repetitive*, and this film just felt rather derivative. I wonder the books are better? Not that I'm in any rush to read them. Or probably will, at all.

Nice scenery though.

*I liked that Canadian Vampire cop show called Forever Knight for example, although it went a bit downhill. Also, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel for example. Although my reaction to the relationship stuff was much like this.

I saw 'Twilight: New Moon' and thought it was awful.

The series is called 'Twilight', I'd assumed, as an allusion to the twilight world that the vampires are forced to inhabit as they can't go out in the sun. Wrong - these vampires can go out in the sun, it just makes them sparkle!
So what does the title actually mean?
As for the 'New Moon' part, I'd assumed that the moon was referencing the werewolves. These werewolves are not affected by the moon though. The moon is no more relevant to these werewolves than it is to you or me. So what does 'New Moon' mean and why use it as the title?
It may as well have been called 'Sunny Day: Pork Pie' for all the relevance the title has to the characters or plot.
Other than that it was alright as a sort of Dawson's Creek Halloween Special I suppose - I'm not the target audience.
I think that the scenes of the main character grieving for her lost relationship were over the top though. The scenes of her literally screaming herself to sleep were way over the top and I felt that it reinforced the teenage girl attitude of 'no one understands my pain' a little more than is healthy. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if she got the razor blades out and started cutting herself (Hey, Twilight fans, having uncontrollable emotional pain makes you edgy, cool and interesting to boys)!

The other thing I don't understand is what the downside is to being a vampire. Traditionally the downside is hunting your own species, not being able to go out in the day, not being able to have children, outliving your loved ones and being an abomination in the eyes of god.
In Twilight, the vampires live off animals blood, go out in the day (and go to school!), can have children, and seeing as it's not a bad life can presumable turn all their loved ones into vampires too! The only sticking point is the religious angle but seeing as this wasn't explored AT ALL in the film I saw I can't see that it would be a problem.


The whole thing reminds me very much of 'The Hunger Games' where the author treats the subject very superficially in order to concentrate on the 'Emotional Drama'. But if they just explored some of the more interesting implications of the main situation the emotional bits would carry so much more weight.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 October, 2012, 11:37:39 AM
I ended up watching New Moon as I was in the city for an all-night anime movie marathon and it was the last film before that started - buggered if I was going to dander about for two hours - and the audience was pretty much nothing but 8-16 year old girls.  Fair enough, you might think, because we've been laughing about that being the case for years now, except that they seemed to be in on the joke: when the "werewolves" showed up there was a collective sigh of "awwww" from the audience followed by howls of laughter, and the theater was in complete stitches at that scene where Ed and Bella are running through a field in slow motion like an Ormo ad, so I'll go out on a limb here and suggest Twilight is a triumph of good marketing more than it is a triumph of good storytelling - those kids were there because it was a pop-cultural event, not because they thought it was a good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 October, 2012, 11:48:38 AM
It's only a pop-cultural event because so many people bought the books.
I doubt they were reading those ironically were they?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 October, 2012, 12:02:55 PM
They sell well because they're printed in big letters and have boffing in them.  It's the YA novel equivalent of lots of clipart, maze puzzles and a free toy on the cover.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 30 October, 2012, 03:24:05 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 October, 2012, 10:34:11 PM
Quote from: Cursed Earth Dweller on 29 October, 2012, 08:34:16 PM
True Grit - 2010 by the Coen Brothers.

Ahh, ive yet to see this, and i am curious. Has this been shown on Film4, or such like yet?

I wouldn't know I'm afraid, I purchase my films on DVD almost exclusively.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 30 October, 2012, 04:25:00 PM
Quote from: Cursed Earth Dweller on 30 October, 2012, 03:24:05 PM
I wouldn't know I'm afraid, I purchase my films on DVD almost exclusively.

No probs. Being about 2 years old, i guess if it hasnt popped up on Telly by now, then it will be at some point soon.
Which, if i cant borrow a film, is were i usually catch my films for the first time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 30 October, 2012, 05:33:34 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 30 October, 2012, 04:25:00 PM
Quote from: Cursed Earth Dweller on 30 October, 2012, 03:24:05 PM
I wouldn't know I'm afraid, I purchase my films on DVD almost exclusively.

No probs. Being about 2 years old, i guess if it hasnt popped up on Telly by now, then it will be at some point soon.
Which, if i cant borrow a film, is were i usually catch my films for the first time.



Don't think it's been shown on terrestrial t.v yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 31 October, 2012, 02:10:30 AM
Watched the Amazing Spider-Man. It's OK, but seeing as the first half of the film we saw in the first one seems like an hour was wasted. Having said that, I thought the first half of the film was the best, and when it actually was about super hero stuff it got a bit shit.

Also a film called Safety Not Guaranteed. That was alright as well, definitely better then the trailer made it look.

Now for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 31 October, 2012, 09:34:39 AM
Paranormal Activity 4: it's basically the same as the first 3, with the added bonus of piss-poor acting/scene setting, and a few corporate adverts shoe-horned into the plot (xbox kinect, plus others).

Not worth watching at all!!!

Cheers :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 October, 2012, 10:43:17 PM
A Halloween Night double-bill of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (first viewing for the boys) and new Universal Studios monster shocker WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US.

I dont need to comment on Halloween, other than to say it's as great as ever. Both boys found it very tense and scary, though Bela proclaimed it "cheesey", which nearly earned him an early night i can tell you.

Werewolf:TBAU is a whoooole other kettle of fish. The bad stuff, which idiot killjoys will focus on, includes it being awfully paced, in the sense that 'stuff happens, then more stuff happens, then there's a battle and it ends', and there's way too much cgi. However, it gains huge bucketloads of points for a number of reasons.
1) this was to be the sequel/reboot to universal's 'wolf man' franchise. It still is, sort of, and so continues the century-old tradition of universal's lower-budget cash-in sequels being as hugely entertaining as their showpiece blockbusters.

2) it's massively gory. Horribly so in part. For the first time (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 October, 2012, 10:53:58 PM
(cont) ever i had to cover the boys' eyes during one particularly explicit sequence. And a note from the frontline of the cgi vs prosthetics war: it was the physically real grue that caused the queasiness- the numerous cgi head explosions, slashings and suchlike were all perfectly acceptable, but elicited only cheers and shouts of glee from we four. The boys werent happy i censored their viewing, but i know best as always.

3) it's exactly like the old ones. And i mean that- from the dialogue to the character-types to the sets to the themes, it's the most authentic attempt to conjour the feel of the old universals ive ever seen. I LOVED the del toro Wolf Man, and it was a much, much better film than this- but ignoring such things as budget and innovation, this is just as wonderful. A mash-up of 80s splatter and 40s cosiness by way of the recent attempted reboots (it owes a fair bit to Van Helsing too, but i loved that as well) i would unreservedly recommend it to anyone for whom universal horror (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 31 October, 2012, 11:03:22 PM
(cont) is the reason we bother to watch movies at all. Yes, it's all over the shop, yes it stars Stephen Rea doing his usual hangdog thing like he does in everything he's ever in. But if you're like me, you'll want more adventures of this motley band of monster-hunters (those who survive, anyway) and you wont care if the budgets get even smaller with progressive films. It's full of mad bits: one of the hunters is Richard Hammond doing David Tennant by way of Anthony Ainley, and in the extras he reveals he's excited to be in a Universal because he's bezzie mates with The Creature From The Black Lagoon's lead actress. Mad.

Anyway. If you're serious and dour and that, you'll hate it. If that's the case, have a beer first- or get kids and watch it through their eyes. But cover them up during THAT scene, fer gruds sake!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 01 November, 2012, 03:03:00 AM
Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was bad. Not exactly surprised. Also watched The Shining tonight as it was Halloween.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 November, 2012, 01:48:18 PM
Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line.
Snagged the bluray the other week, and finally managed to sit down and watch it last night.
Every time i watch this film, i cant help but think to myself that what im watching is pretty much damn near perfection. And the new HD transfer has to be see to be believed. Outstanding.
A decent set of supplements is on offer - commentary, deleted scenes et al, (ported over from the Criterion release), that goes some way to sating the appetite for more. Though the deleted scenes (about 15 mins) show the film would have been a totally different beast and more standard fare, if included - so im not really interested in ever getting to see the much talked about 5 hour cut. Malick may well have shot one film on location and ended up with another in post - much to Adrian Brody's chagrin, but as i say, perfection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 04 November, 2012, 01:57:41 PM
Last night I took my daughter to see Hotel Transylvania.

We both really enjoyed it, which was not a surprise as it was directed by Genndy Tarkatovsy (probably horrendously misspelt that) of Dexters Lab and the Original Clone wars. Really recommended 'all ages' fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 04 November, 2012, 03:16:21 PM
2001 A Space Odyssey. Slow, ponderous, overblown and over-rated. Great effects, nice music, a good piece of plot when HAL goes loopy but the first hour could have been edited down to about 8 minutes and the end should have been edited down to capsule/monolith/light show/starchild, none of the colour negative landscape lark.
Next time I want nonsensical endings and good effects I'll stick The Black Hole on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 04 November, 2012, 03:51:42 PM
Wrath of the Titans-the everyday tale of a demi god (Perseus)whose life is turned upside down by da Gods (of Olympus) a scheming to release Kronos (Titan daddy of all the Gods),whilst having the son father issues Hollywood loves but after ESB no one else does. Appallingly edited I presume to get it down to maximise the audience we at least have some half  decent CGI monsters Chaimaeras, cyclops some weirdy two bodied demon thingies but it's the crap acting (Worthington, Fiennes and Neeson vying for the wooden award) that really just sinks the whole thing faster than Atlantis. Some okay battle scenes at the end the only half watchable character was Bill Nighey s who promptly gets killed.

I have seen this movie so you don't have to. DON'T BOTHER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 04 November, 2012, 04:13:34 PM
I concur with Zarjazzer on his. Wrath of the titans is really poor. The plot didn't hold my attention after the first half hour- which was a shame as it looks good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 November, 2012, 04:29:47 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 04 November, 2012, 03:16:21 PM
2001 A Space Odyssey. Slow, ponderous, overblown and over-rated. Great effects, nice music, a good piece of plot when HAL goes loopy but the first hour could have been edited down to about 8 minutes and the end should have been edited down to capsule/monolith/light show/starchild, none of the colour negative landscape lark.
Next time I want nonsensical endings and good effects I'll stick The Black Hole on.

Said it before and no doubt I'll find an excuse to say it again but regardless of what you think of the film it (I love it) it gave us some of the greatest comics ever with Jack Kirby's follow-up series. If you every get the chance pick um up they are divine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2012, 04:31:29 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 04 November, 2012, 03:16:21 PM
2001 A Space Odyssey. Slow, ponderous, overblown and over-rated. Great effects, nice music, a good piece of plot when HAL goes loopy but the first hour could have been edited down to about 8 minutes and the end should have been edited down to capsule/monolith/light show/starchild, none of the colour negative landscape lark.

I've got an old paperback edition of Moby Dick, where I've gone through all the metaphysical nonsense with a black marker pen, so it's the straightforward story of the hunt for a big whale. You'd find it a gripping and economical read.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 November, 2012, 05:08:37 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 04 November, 2012, 03:16:21 PM
2001 A Space Odyssey. Slow, ponderous, overblown and over-rated.

Prepare yourself for the inevitable extended cut (http://badassdigest.com/2010/12/17/my-god-its-full-of-lost-2001-footage/)

Along with - certain films being un-withdrawn, different aspect ratio's for the home releases, Tim Burton 'borrowing' bits n bobs, and now The Shining being shown in its 'US cut' in the UK for the first time, i wonder what's made Stanley Kubrik stop being so darn precious about his films?
Warner Bros will no doubt be happy, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 November, 2012, 05:15:58 PM
and how many other movies give us Rigsby in Space?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 November, 2012, 05:18:11 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 November, 2012, 05:08:37 PM...i wonder what's made Stanley Kubrik stop being so darn precious about his films?

Uhh, don't quite know how to break this you...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2012, 05:31:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 November, 2012, 05:18:11 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 November, 2012, 05:08:37 PM...i wonder what's made Stanley Kubrik stop being so darn precious about his films?

Uhh, don't quite know how to break this you...

Stanley Kubrick's was getting old, so he's gone to live on a farm where there are other cerebral agrophobic auteur directors to play with and lots of space and fresh air for him to not go out and play in. We'll get a new Kubrick for you, one who won't pish on the carpet and chew stuff when we leave him on his own. Here, Fincher, Fincher ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 November, 2012, 05:46:10 PM
Reading between the lines, im begining to fear the worst. If it is indeed bad news, could you break it to me this way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI4qYsP9oME) ?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 04 November, 2012, 05:48:45 PM
Mad Max 2! Love this film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 November, 2012, 06:04:05 PM
I preferred 2010 to 2001.  I've always thought it was just more enjoyable to watch, though it is entirely possible to view it as a parody of Americans remaking arthouse movies as brash adventures full of hotdog-chomping baseball cap-wearing mavericks with a crazy idea in their head who's not going to let The Man tell them how to do things, and who will show the commies that their commie way of thinking is flawed.  I also recall being no age at all and the monoliths eating Jupiter made me frapp my pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2012, 07:04:42 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 November, 2012, 05:46:10 PM
Reading between the lines, im begining to fear the worst. If it is indeed bad news, could you break it to me this way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI4qYsP9oME) ?

That's a smart scene from a film that has an awful lot to answer for. Apart from the moon conspiracy nutters, I'm sure that particular device influenced Anal Moore's Killing Joke. Just to give everything a pleasing circularity, I'm looking forward to seeing Room 237; the documentary exploring the profusion of scholarship and fan interpretations of Kubrick's The Shining - including the theory that it's a coded declaration of the director's involvement in faking the moon landings (http://news.discovery.com/space/faked-moon-landings-and-kubricks-the-shining.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 November, 2012, 07:12:25 PM
QuoteAnal Moore's Killing Joke

If there's a better typo than that, I don't want to hear about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2012, 08:44:38 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 04 November, 2012, 07:12:25 PM
QuoteAnal Moore's Killing Joke

If there's a better typo than that, I don't want to hear about it.

To my shame, I've made the same puerile joke every time I've written or typed Moore's name since I wrote "DO NOT RECORD OVER" along the spine of the VHS tape I used to record C4's The Day Comics Grew Up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9yt_OgoNKo). I am a living exemplar of the phrase tiny things amuse tiny minds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 November, 2012, 09:15:43 PM
Without wishing to throw this thread off track, all this talk of Stanley Kubrick has had me reading online for a while.
This 2004 article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/mar/27/features.weekend) makes for a great read, and it would have been nice to find yourself in Jon Ronson's shoes - if you had a decade, or two, to spare.

Which all serves to reminds me, that when i worked for a Window Blind company, we would occasionally do work for famous types (Benny from ABBA, George Michael...), and one such order was to provide some Blinds for the film Eyes Wide Shut. Cant help but imagine now, that somewhere in those pristine boxes is an invoice signed by me,  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 05 November, 2012, 01:54:49 PM
Total rehash Recall  which I had heard was meant to go its own way but it ended up copying most of the prior films scenes. And too many knowing winks to Arnies film with a forced Mrs 3 tits and "2 weeks" being the most blatant.

Utter dogshit. I imagine I'll be saying much the same about new Robocop in a years time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 05 November, 2012, 04:17:17 PM
Watched a horror film called 'The Pact' the other night. Pretty much by-the-numbers in most respects, but one or two aspects of it were really quite creepy. I won't give anything away, but some of the scenes/ repeated imagery made me feel deeply unsettled - so much so that I was really reluctant to turn the light out when we went to bed. I love horror, watch it all the time, but I have to admit it's very rare for a film to actually creep me out like that. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Third Estate Ned on 05 November, 2012, 05:32:40 PM
Have you seen Insidious, mygrimmbrother? On the face of it it's a load of cliched horror tosh but that's the fun of it. The suspense is in waiting for the pay off you know is going to happen. It succeeded in creeping me out to the point where I had my hand over my face for certain bits. It has a good jump scare/creep out ratio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 05 November, 2012, 06:28:50 PM
Hey Ned, I have indeed, and yep - that had it's fair share of real scares too, good call!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 05 November, 2012, 07:12:51 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 November, 2012, 09:15:43 PM
Without wishing to throw this thread off track, all this talk of Stanley Kubrick has had me reading online for a while.
This 2004 article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/mar/27/features.weekend) makes for a great read, and it would have been nice to find yourself in Jon Ronson's shoes - if you had a decade, or two, to spare.

I watched the C4 documentary Ronson did detailing his rummaging. I especially liked his conclusion, that it was the cardboard boxes themselves - not what was in them - which explained the frustrating nature of Kubrick's genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 05 November, 2012, 08:06:09 PM
Pale Rider with Clint Eastwood.

This, High Planes Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales easily stand up to the a Dollars trilogy. Not sure if I like Unforgiven though.

Quote from: willthemightyWMad Max 2! Love this film!

Ditto!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 November, 2012, 10:52:13 PM
Not sure if you like Unforgiven? You should.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 November, 2012, 11:44:41 PM
Strange Bedfellows, the Aussie film that "inspired"* I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.  SB is an oddly melancholic film full of scenes where people just seem uncomfortable and there aren't many jokes, so it's possibly the only time in my life I will say with a straight face "the Rob Schneider version was much better."  Inoffensive enough, though - which is odd given it's a film about two blokes in a rural community pretending to be gay to get tax benefits, I'd chalk this up to being an interesting idea that wasn't developed enough in pre-production to be an interesting film.

* It says on legal documents issued by Adam Sandler's attorney.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 November, 2012, 12:15:54 AM
Beasts of the Southern Wild Wow! That was really something. More later, maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 November, 2012, 12:01:43 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 09 November, 2012, 12:15:54 AM
Beasts of the Southern Wild Wow! That was really something. More later, maybe.
Man. I've not been able to stop thinking about this for days. It's ages since something's become lodged in my head like this. Every so often I've tried to write down some thoughts on it and now have pages of semi-coherent dribbling. Here's an attempt at brief round up which misses out lots of the interesting tangents.

The best I can come up with is that Beasts of the Southern Wild is a sort of post-apocalyptic road(river)-trip fever dream obviously inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but deliberately divorced from real time and place to become an ecological allegory centred around a six year old girl, who could be the little sister of the kid from Mad Max 2, and her father: both outstanding performances from non-professional actors.

It's filmed almost exclusively from her point of view so, while the narrative is pretty loose and doesn't really flow the way you expect it to, it does all makes sense, even as reality and fantasy scenes interleave, and allows the filmmakers to be pretty vague about the passage of time and so on. This point of view isn't just a figurative thing, a lot of scenes really are shot from a kid's eyeline, staring up trying to make sense of the adult world around her or, as in the fantastic opening scenes, as she runs wild around the animals they keep at home. Later, the sound design is really well used to keep us in Hushpuppy's head as conversations around her are muffled while only the focus of her attention is fully audible.

There are elements of the film which could very easily be seen (not least by me, had I been in a different mood) as cheesy or irritating yet I had no problem letting most of them slide.

Joyful, sad, beautiful, fascinating and made me think about some stuff. Really worth seeing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 12 November, 2012, 12:04:30 AM
Just watched the Total Recall remake. I thought it was actually OK. Better then it looked anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 November, 2012, 12:21:21 AM
Leon. Or The Professional, as our American chums called it.
Not seen this in ages,  but still a top film. And of course, one can never have enough of Jean Reno.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 12 November, 2012, 08:55:46 PM

The original John Spaihts screenplay for PROMETHEUS (http://www.prometheusforum.net/Alien-Engineers.pdf) "Alien: Engineers".


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 November, 2012, 09:36:40 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 12 November, 2012, 08:55:46 PM
The original John Spaihts screenplay for PROMETHEUS (http://www.prometheusforum.net/Alien-Engineers.pdf) "Alien: Engineers".

Interesting. A thumbs up, or down Joe?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2012, 11:31:31 PM
Well, it was Dredd again.
But, before that, John Carter. Bloody great fun and a shame it became the victim of company politics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 November, 2012, 11:38:10 PM
Tyrannosaur. One of those films so relentlessly downbeat it becomes laughable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2012, 11:41:02 PM
Quote Beasts of the Southern Wild

Thanks to your endorsement, I think I shall be going to see this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 November, 2012, 12:10:54 AM
Salute of the Jugger. I'm never really convinced by future sports stories in any medium but this was pretty good fun, driven along by the presence of the prematurely grizzled Rutger Hauer and a young, ungrizzled Joan Chen. One thing I appreciate in a post-apocalyptic scenario is somebody taking the time to think through some weird little details like the character of Dogboy who laps water out of Hauer's hand or using nuts and bolts as currency.

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.
Was just having a look at the listings. That's quite a season you've got on up there at the moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 November, 2012, 08:46:06 AM
QuoteQuote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.Was just having a look at the listings. That's quite a season you've got on up there at the moment.

Yeah, some craking stuff on.
Going to miss Star Trek II this weekend, but have Silent Running and many others coming soon.
And as a special bonus, I had a nice little Twitter conversation with Duncan Jones last night!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fisticuffs on 14 November, 2012, 09:24:42 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.

I love Moon.

Saw Iron Sky a couple of days ago, enjoyed it immensely, glad it didn't take itself very seriously at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 November, 2012, 11:26:08 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 14 November, 2012, 12:10:54 AM
Salute of the Jugger. I'm never really convinced by future sports stories in any medium but this was pretty good fun, driven along by the presence of the prematurely grizzled Rutger Hauer and a young, ungrizzled Joan Chen. One thing I appreciate in a post-apocalyptic scenario is somebody taking the time to think through some weird little details like the character of Dogboy who laps water out of Hauer's hand or using nuts and bolts as currency.

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.
Was just having a look at the listings. That's quite a season you've got on up there at the moment.

Pretty sure I watched that movie a few times as a kid, along with Robot Jox and Arena (them were the days)!

Even watching the trailer though I can barely find a shred of it in my memory, which has made me feel old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 November, 2012, 12:06:39 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2012, 10:26:59 PM
Just back from watching Moon on the big screen. Bloody hell but that's a good movie.

Yeah, awesome film.  I really don't see why some people hate it.  It's beautifully understated.  Personally if I found out [spoiler]I was one of a long series of clones to be used over and over, for ever, I'd go nuts and tear the place apart.  I'd be lost in existential angst and rage.  However, his reaction in the film seemed to fit well, and it was a fantastic conclusion.  [/spoiler] Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 November, 2012, 12:10:08 PM
I just found Moon to be really slow and boring, I couldn't even make it to the end. I also found elements of it to be really silly and unintentionally funny, like when he catches the robot talking to the execs on Earth. Just not my cup of tea I'm afraid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 14 November, 2012, 01:53:49 PM
I thought Moon was ok, but it didn't blow me away.

Watched the Warriors last night. CAAN YOU DIG IT?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 14 November, 2012, 02:22:41 PM
Judge Minty.

Brilliant, go see it if it comes to a convention near you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 November, 2012, 03:01:45 PM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 14 November, 2012, 01:53:49 PM
I thought Moon was ok, but it didn't blow me away.

Love that film. Whenever I have to pick up a few glass bottles, I can't resist clicking them together on my fingertips singing "Wa-rr-iors, come out to pla-ay!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 November, 2012, 05:40:29 PM
It is a superb film, the Warriors that is, but by 'eck - that directors cut is crap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 November, 2012, 05:45:57 PM
I heard about that, bought the old  DVD version instead of the director's cut Blu Ray because I heard its so crap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 November, 2012, 06:33:15 PM
I didn't know there was a director's cut, it's years since I've seen it - what were the differences? (and I just realised I quoted the wrong part of the post above - d'oh!)

On another topic, has anyone seen part 1 of the animated Dark Knight Returns? I only found out about it last night from a mate  - I'd bought him the book for his birthday becaue he calims to be a comic fan but had never read it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 November, 2012, 06:53:22 PM
Quote from: radiator on 14 November, 2012, 05:45:57 PM
I heard about that, bought the old  DVD version instead of the director's cut Blu Ray because I heard its so crap.

I bought it cold, and havent watched it since - at least not in that version.
The Bluray might have been a fairly essential purchase, if it had included both cuts.

Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 November, 2012, 06:33:15 PM
I didn't know there was a director's cut, it's years since I've seen it - what were the differences?

No re-instated footage (unlike the extended U.S TV version), its just that, at a good few points throughout, animated transitional elements are now included.

(http://i.imgur.com/HMFCM.jpg)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 14 November, 2012, 07:02:21 PM
Payback
Pretty good film, doesn't take itself too seriously yet manages to be gritty* when it needs to be. I read Parker: The Hunter and absolutely loved it, so I watched this, now I'm trying to get Point Blank (the Lee Marvin one).
Probably about to watch Payback: Straight Up edition which is the directors cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 14 November, 2012, 07:25:06 PM
* don't like using that word, couldn't think of anything else
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 15 November, 2012, 02:23:12 PM
Those comic inserts to The Warriors really do make a good film so much worse. I haven't heard one person say that they like them and it's amazing how just one change can have such a massive impact on a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 16 November, 2012, 09:38:52 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 15 November, 2012, 02:23:12 PM
Those comic inserts to The Warriors really do make a good film so much worse. I haven't heard one person say that they like them and it's amazing how just one change can have such a massive impact on a film.

I can honestly say I didn't mind the inclusion of the comic segments. Although they add nothing to the story, at the same time I don't think they ruin the film.

The last film I watched was SKYFALL. First 10 mins were quite entertaining but on the whole I found the film far too long and talkie. Exposition is fine but a lot of the dialogue in this film seems woefully unnecessary. The plot itself is ok involving -*Spoiler*- the theft of a disc detailing the real identities of undercover British agents. But as a film it's poorly executed, and very boring!

I think Bond is past it's sell/use by date!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 November, 2012, 11:27:55 AM
Playing The Warriors PSP game for the first time at the moment (there were some old copies of stuff kicking about at work) and it's really making me hanker for the movie. Really fun game, captures the movie brilliantly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 November, 2012, 08:27:50 PM
Frank's long lost love letter. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fewxaAogBX8)

(http://i.imgur.com/YT3SE.jpg)

Guess this should really be in the You-tube gold thread, but at just under an hour, its practically a film in itself.

Recently discovered, and included on the US bluray,but annoyingly left off the British version.
And Lynch offers us his take on America's Got Talent around the 25 minute mark. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 17 November, 2012, 09:03:46 PM
Psycho (the original)* and then A Scanner Darkly.
I love both these films!

*How could they cast Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates in the remake? So miscast...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 November, 2012, 09:13:36 PM
The Sweeney - quite enjoyed it but it was really uneven and confusing. Winstone is good value but as an actor Plan B is a good singer. The twists [spoiler]'After this raid let's move in together' - uh-oh![/spoiler] are pretty obvious as is the product placement - would the Sweeney really be driving the latest Ford family hatchback?

Some of the action is pretty frantic but it's that annoying action where 1 million bullets equals one small hit. Could have been great but it disappointed with a 'how's that again?' ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 November, 2012, 11:07:05 PM
Wanted.

(I thought it was called The Fraternity for some reason, but one google later...)

I caught it last night. Very entertaining action fantasy*-thriller with those ridiculously over the top stunts which somehow work because they're ridiculously over the top. Oh and curving bullet stuff. Again, over the top, but something I can imagine to be theoretically possible if practically impossible. It has some deeper stuff and [spoiler]an interesting twist I should have seen coming[/spoiler] as well . But not so deep you'd take it that seriously.

I can imagine some forumites here disliking it though considering some of the slow motion (is it called bullet time?) stuff. But I liked it. I probably wouldn't get it on DVD unless I saw it going really cheap but it was fun.

[spoiler]Oh and you get to see Angelina Jolie's bare botty.[/spoiler]

*Not in the swords and sorcery sense. In the 'bending reality' sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 November, 2012, 09:06:35 AM
I really like Wanted - great fun!
It's all a bit silly but I can't help but let my inner twelve year old come to the front of my mind to marvel at the ridiculous action.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 November, 2012, 10:08:30 AM
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), as part of my ruthless indoctrinate-the-children-with-classic-stop-motion-effect-movies programme.

Probably the weakest of the Sinbad 'trilogy', it still has delights aplenty - Tom Baker is magnificently hammy as the villain, aided by some fine ageing makeup, the gorgeous Caroline Munro desperately needs to vist M&S for one of those free bra fittings (but not until after the credits roll, please), and the well-chosen Majorca locations are cleverly enhanced (as Caroline didn't need to be).  The Cyclopscentaur versus the Griffin battle is suitably Harryhausentastic, and the animated figurehead and Kali statue both have terrific presence and solidity, but the show is stolen by the superb stop-motion work on the purple homonculi, who manage to be endearing and creepy at the same time.  On the downside, the plot is barely there, very little happens in between the monster sequences and Martin Shaw's Rachid just sort of stands there providing no kind of a foil to John Phillip Law's strangely flat Sinbad.

That said, the whole family enjoyed it, although not quite as much as they did a Halloween viewing of King Kong (1933), which scared and enthralled in appropriate measure. Jason and The Argonauts next, I think, if I can't put my hands on a copy of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 November, 2012, 11:27:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 November, 2012, 10:08:30 AM
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), as part of my ruthless indoctrinate-the-children-with-classic-stop-motion-effect-movies programme.

Probably the weakest of the Sinbad 'trilogy', it still has delights aplenty - Tom Baker is magnificently hammy as the villain, aided by some fine ageing makeup, the gorgeous Caroline Munro desperately needs to vist M&S for one of those free bra fittings (but not until after the credits roll, please), and the well-chosen Majorca locations are cleverly enhanced (as Caroline didn't need to be).  The Cyclopscentaur versus the Griffin battle is suitably Harryhausentastic, and the animated figurehead and Kali statue both have terrific presence and solidity, but the show is stolen by the superb stop-motion work on the purple homonculi, who manage to be endearing and creepy at the same time.  On the downside, the plot is barely there, very little happens in between the monster sequences and Martin Shaw's Rachid just sort of stands there providing no kind of a foil to John Phillip Law's strangely flat Sinbad.

That said, the whole family enjoyed it, although not quite as much as they did a Halloween viewing of King Kong (1933), which scared and enthralled in appropriate measure. Jason and The Argonauts next, I think, if I can't put my hands on a copy of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Have you seen this one? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056904/
It was made by a different studio and is really low budget. It never comes on telly anymore but I remember being really freaked out by the big hand as a kid and the heart in a tower is still a great idea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 November, 2012, 11:38:46 AM
God I remember this too know.  There's a terrifying Jungle trek where some of Sinbad's crew get eaten by giant crocodiles or reptiles and a hydra like fire breathing monster that left me shaking behind the settee when I was a nipper. Must look it up on YouTube to see how badly it's aged and exorcise some childhood trauma! :-[ Here's a bit of a blurb.

http://youtu.be/sAJ3Ol79DXM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 November, 2012, 06:19:46 PM
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/293873_470088973035736_682628566_n.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 November, 2012, 06:55:37 PM
Treated myself to a gourmet pizza and pumpkin beer while I watched Death Line (1972) for the first time last night. Got the DVD for my birthday back in March(!) but only just now felt in the mood to watch it. Now, I love my British horror films, but most of them are bought blind and I've had sometimes had my fingers burnt - for every Brides of Dracula there's a Countess Dracula, for every House that dripped blood a Torture Garden. But - oh my. How good is this film?!

It probably helps that I love anything to do with the London Underground, particularly when used as a horror setting, but to be honest this far exceeded my expectations - in part, conversly, because it was all relatively downplayed. I knew the rough idea beforehand, and I was expecting a whole horde of inbred cannibal navvies pulling people off platforms every five minutes. Instead you get - just one, who only kills four people throughout the film, and he's actually a sad and sorry creature you can't help feeling for. It's fascinating to see him shuffling about with his victorian-era oil lanterns mumbling away into his beard and moping over the lovingly preserved bodies of his kin. The half-finished Underground station is a fantastic set (complete with skeletal hand emerging from the rubble of the caved-in tunnel) and the cinematography really makes the most of the unique ambience (the long, slow track through the tunnel arches with only the steady drip, drip of water to break the silence is cree-peeeee).

And oh, Donald Pleasance, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... It's very much his film and he plays an absolute blinder. Calhoun is a great character who really works to anchor the more outre plot elements with his defiantly down-to-earth outlook. It's a crying shame we never had more films with this character. I'm very much hungering for more Absalom now. The Chris Lee cameo is massively oversold, but hilarious, all the cast are great (even the groovy 70's teenagers, normally the weak link in these things) and the navvie's melancholy wail of 'Mind the doors!' is a great note to end on. Love love love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 18 November, 2012, 07:21:35 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 18 November, 2012, 06:55:37 PM
And oh, Donald Pleasance, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... It's very much his film and he plays an absolute blinder. Calhoun is a great character who really works to anchor the more outre plot elements with his defiantly down-to-earth outlook. It's a crying shame we never had more films with this character.

Aye, 'tis indeed a great film, and for my money, one of Pleasence's most charismatic and flat-out brilliant performances. It helps that he has some superb dialogue to work with and a very memorable character to play, but he really takes it to another level of excellence. And as you say, some wonderful cinematography - the famous tracking shot sequence through the killer's subterranean home unearths a very twisted beauty in some nightmarish imagery. If I recall, we begin the sequence disturbed and appalled, and end it feeling pity for the pathetic creature and his plight, well aware of his humanity. Masterful stuff.

Oh, and I'm pretty fond of the Wil Malone soundtrack too, particularly the 'Soho'-style opening theme.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 November, 2012, 08:23:39 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 18 November, 2012, 07:21:35 PM
Aye, 'tis indeed a great film, and for my money, one of Pleasence's most charismatic and flat-out brilliant performances. It helps that he has some superb dialogue to work with...

I laughed out loud frequently, which I didn't expect. 'He's a big shit... er, shot, at the Home Office.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 November, 2012, 08:40:10 PM
Mind the doors!
Aye its a good 'un, alright. Bought this kinda blind as well, when it came out on DVD a couple of years ago.
I say kinda blind, because as a sucker for British horror films from that period, id often flick through the brilliant Ten Years of Terror book by Harvey Fenton and David Flint, to read up on what i needed to catch. I think Death Line was one of those rare examples of the original UK release being uncut, while the US version, retitled Raw Meat, suffered the cuts.

Another film to re-watch at somepoint.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 18 November, 2012, 09:08:21 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 November, 2012, 08:40:10 PM
...as a sucker for British horror films from that period, id often flick through the brilliant Ten Years of Terror book by Harvey Fenton and David Flint, to read up on what i needed to catch.

That book seems to go for a bomb these days, Judge Jack - silly prices on Amazon and eBay. I've long wanted a copy (I've got most of Fab Press's output) but that one's eluded me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 November, 2012, 09:42:41 PM
Indeed! Had quickly looked on e-bay when i posted, and the only copy available is up for £200. Gulp!

It was an indespensable guide for many a year, and just chock-a-block full of brilliant photos/movie posters etc. 336 pages of bliss!
Hope you can track down a decently priced copy, Greg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 18 November, 2012, 10:07:52 PM
Who watches the Watchmen?




(Always want said that!  :lol:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 November, 2012, 02:07:39 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 18 November, 2012, 06:19:46 PM
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/293873_470088973035736_682628566_n.jpg)

Coincidentally I finished Out of Oz, the last book in Maguire's Wicked Years series. And it features (don't highlight if you haven't read it unless you don't care,) [spoiler]the return of Dorothy, and her being tried for the murder of the two Thropp sisters. (The so-called Wicked Witches of the East and West.)[/spoiler] Heh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 November, 2012, 10:00:19 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 17 November, 2012, 11:07:05 PM
Wanted.

(I thought it was called The Fraternity for some reason, but one google later...)

I caught it last night. Very entertaining action fantasy*-thriller with those ridiculously over the top stunts which somehow work because they're ridiculously over the top. Oh and curving bullet stuff. Again, over the top, but something I can imagine to be theoretically possible if practically impossible. It has some deeper stuff and [spoiler]an interesting twist I should have seen coming[/spoiler] as well . But not so deep you'd take it that seriously.

I can imagine some forumites here disliking it though considering some of the slow motion (is it called bullet time?) stuff. But I liked it. I probably wouldn't get it on DVD unless I saw it going really cheap but it was fun.

[spoiler]Oh and you get to see Angelina Jolie's bare botty.[/spoiler]

*Not in the swords and sorcery sense. In the 'bending reality' sense.

I'm a big fan of Wanted, I think it's great fun and has some of my favourite action scenes (the scene where he [spoiler]storms the mill, running the whole time and grabbing guns from the air along the way is pretty incredible)[/spoiler]. It's very over the top, and I love it for that.

I remember getting pretty frustrated with a friend of ours who declared it was shit because it was unrealistic. Her favourite films are Harry Potter and Twilight, so I pointed out that they aren't particularly realistic, to which she replied that they're fantasy films and Wanted isn't.

I argued that Wanted absolutely is a fantasy film, but the urban environments and the fact it uses guns instead of spells and broomsticks apparently means it has to obey the laws of physics at all times.

I can completely understand people not liking Wanted, but to declare it shit because you can't bend bullets in real life is a bit sad really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 19 November, 2012, 11:10:24 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 18 November, 2012, 06:19:46 PM
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/293873_470088973035736_682628566_n.jpg)

Words eh? I'll never believe another film review again having read this classic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 19 November, 2012, 03:17:17 PM
Finally watched GI Joe over the weekend. Bitterly dissapointed. Far too many Star Wars reference scenes in it for my liking.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2012, 11:05:20 PM
The Wolfman (2010).  That was splendid!  A movie with the courage of its considerable convictions.  A loving faithful mix of the original and elements of many of its successors, with a healthy dose of the Coppola Dracula for good measure.  Maybe a tad overlong, but gory, melodramatic and very satisfying nonetheless.  Arrooooooo! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 November, 2012, 11:08:58 PM
RED

Just watch my parents blu-ray of it, they like Bruce Willis films...

Oh my... our Karl IS THE DREDD! as when he stand in the middle of street with all police cars arrive, camera went around his face... and oh my, hello Dredd!


And it's good and crazy film lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 24 November, 2012, 11:25:18 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2012, 11:05:20 PM
The Wolfman (2010).  That was splendid!  A movie with the courage of its considerable convictions.  A loving faithful mix of the original and elements of many of its successors, with a healthy dose of the Coppola Dracula for good measure.  Maybe a tad overlong, but gory, melodramatic and very satisfying nonetheless.  Arrooooooo! 
Yeah thought it was a bit of silly, harmless fun. The end got a little too much WOLF and AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON inspired tho. You made me (unintentionally, maybe?) chuckle by taking the time to put Coppola instead of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
"I have crossed oceans of time to be with you..."
Seriously, that was ridiculously far from Stoker's Dracula!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 24 November, 2012, 11:29:44 PM
It was a bit of fun...and now sits in my shelf in the area of "might watch again if there is nothing else".....not quite made it into "let's never talk of it again"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 November, 2012, 12:20:25 AM
Seraphim Falls (still available for two more days on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qmfss/Seraphim_Falls/)), a proper old school cowboy film which plays like a potted history of the genre. It starts in the middle of the action, with the posse pursuit of Butch Cassidy leading into the wilderness survival of Jeremiah Johnson, before heading off into Josie Wales and Dollars territory, then resolves itself in the badlands of Unforgiven and El Topo.

Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan both look like they were born to wear wide brim hats and ride horses - which is something the casting directors of modern day westerns don't always seem to understand the importance of - and it wisely saves the metaphorical nonsense all cowboy films have to indulge in to some extent for the finalé. Until the last reel, it's all bullets dug out of flesh with knives, running into a succession of untrustworthy strangers, horses being gutted like Tauntauns, and a simple revenge story driving the film toward its conclusion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 25 November, 2012, 08:27:26 AM
Saw The Wolfman last night too. Del Toro didn't have much to do as Larry Talbot other than make sad eyes at Emily Blunt (who is always watchable, as is Hugo Weaving as the Inspector) but oh my, Anthony Hopkins just seemed to sleep walk through his role as the father. And when you've got one of the best latex guys in the business doing the werewolf effects why bother CGI-ing it up?

I think I shall have to go and watch Lon Chaney Jr and Claude Raines in the original version now - it's much better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 09:57:55 AM
I dont know if the original IS better, to be honest. While i love Chaney Jnr's Larry, and BITS of his Wolf Man are briliant and powerful even now, much of it is slow and stilted. I think Universal did a fantastic job with the remake- it drops the ball with the ridiculous Anthony Hopkins plot and the final battle is as crap and stupid as that godawful Jack Nicholson thing with the jumping wolves- but for the most part it looks right, feels right and is full of wonderful setpieces that stay with you long after it's over. The medical theatre transformation scene, the gypsy camp and hunt in the stone circle, are all as good a werewolf sequence as you'll find anywhere. Del Toro does a bang-up job channelling Chaney Jnr, and the more i see this the more i grow fonder and fonder of it. It does lots wrong, and is hugely bloated and overlong as all movies are now, but if you accept all that, i dont think there's been a better hollywood horror film in the last ten years.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 November, 2012, 10:37:12 AM
The Big Labowski: seen this many times and it still makes me laugh. Jeff Bridges plays the part of jobless/stoned bum very well indeed, and the script is excellent. Great film!

"We are nihilists, we believe in nothing! Give us the money!"  Hilarious.


cheers  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2012, 11:56:32 AM
Super 8.

Very disappointing, im sad to say. Glad I didn't buy the Blu Ray. A pastiche of 1980s Amblin movies that for some reason or other never quite hangs together the way the creators intended.
There's too many underdeveloped characters and there's a weird disconnect between the 1980s aesthetic and the 2010s pacing.

Some nice moments but overall the script felt a little undercooked and could have done with a lot more tightening up.

For my money Attack the Block covered the same ground far more successfully.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 November, 2012, 12:20:27 PM
Dawn of the Dead - 1978 last night, in its extended cut, on BBC2
Marvellous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 25 November, 2012, 01:00:10 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 25 November, 2012, 08:27:26 AM
Saw The Wolfman last night too. Del Toro didn't have much to do as Larry Talbot other than make sad eyes at Emily Blunt (who is always watchable, as is Hugo Weaving as the Inspector) but oh my, Anthony Hopkins just seemed to sleep walk through his role as the father. And when you've got one of the best latex guys in the business doing the werewolf effects why bother CGI-ing it up?
I think I shall have to go and watch Lon Chaney Jr and Claude Raines in the original version now - it's much better.
I'm with you that the original is much better but the Del Toro Wolfman is fun because it's silly; terrible CGI throughout and predictable, but sometimes you just have to watch a film like that. I've forgotten most of it already although I do remember thinking really early on in the film it would have been a much better 12A for the youngsters if the director hadn't insisted on in-your-face gruesome shots to try and dress it up as a movie for slightly older viewers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 November, 2012, 01:16:05 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 09:57:55 AMThe medical theatre transformation scene, the gypsy camp and hunt in the stone circle, are all as good a werewolf sequence as you'll find anywhere.

Yes indeed, the transformation in the chair was great, as was the American Werewolf shoot-out in London, and the kid in the cave was top-notch freaky too.  Yes, is very silly and the end is a bit flat and drawn out, but there's some great stuff in there and I thought it was one of the most enjoyable films I've seen in a while.  And oh hell I'm agreeing with SBT about a film, must be time to up my medication. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 02:36:39 PM
Excuse me, "terrible cgi throughout"? I am literally boggling at that! The effects in TWM are BEAUTIFUL!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Cursed Earth Dweller on 25 November, 2012, 05:22:41 PM
AAhh, the Big Lebowski! Still is and forever will be my favourite Cohen film.

Dude: What about the toe?

Walter: Forget the fucking toe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 November, 2012, 06:04:14 PM
I'm with SBT block on The Wolfman. There is some shonky cig here and there but mostly grand stuff.

Is there something in the water?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 November, 2012, 08:21:37 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJyYNMzpqO4

Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, which is that rarest of beasts, a pretentious low-budget action movie.  There are lots of action flicks which skirt around the deepest of philosophical musings in their own reliable way of head-kicking something until it makes sense or explodes or possibly both at the same time and then someone with a gun in each hand jumps towards the screen in slow motion with said asplosion in the background or - latterly - walks slowly away from said asplosion in slow motion so we can see that the asplosion is clearly angled upwards and said person doing the walking isn't very tough at all because they're not in even the smallest amount of danger, with stuff like Nemesis reducing "what makes us human?" musings to how many robot parts Olivier Gruner can get put in before he stops moping like a cunt and goes back to shooting people in the face on a waterslide or running like fuck from exploding stuff or doing that one sweep kick that looks convincing, even though we all already know that it doesn't matter how many cyborg parts you have as long as your cock is still your own and you can feel it working.  Action films can do philosophy is what I am saying, but they do it on the understanding that it's background noise to an action film in much the same way they can do relationship drama or exploring grief: asplosions and head-kicking first, then moping a bit, then more asploding kicks.  That's how America does it and it's worked out pretty well so far.
But then we get the likes of USDOR, in which John (son of Peter) Hyams has clearly seen Apocalypse Now and decided that what that film needed was less Marlon Brando and more Jean Claude Van Damme, and I won't lie, I absolutely applaud this kind of out of the box thinking, though there's no getting away from the fact that the most entertaining thing about the film - apart from that bit where someone goes to kick Scott Adkins and Adkins grabs the guy's leg, breaks it, then uses it to kick the guy in his own face - is the thought of John Hyams going around for months telling people he was going to make Apocalypse Now with JCVD as Colonel Kurtz and doing it with a straight face, possibly even having his feelings hurt when someone twigged he was serious and then went HAHAHAHAHA WHAT.
It is by no means a poorly-made film for this budget range, but the story meanders and lots of lengthy one-shot scenes attempt to put you in the action with the protagonist rather than make the action exciting and then we get to fights with Dolph Lundgren and JCVD and the one-shot take goes out the window so JC can get his contractually-mandated face close-ups and Dolph can have a sit down and a breather in between strenuous actions the filming requires of him, like taking more than two steps at a time or remaining upright.  They're decent scraps, all the same, and much better than the lengthy third-person tracking shot sequences that look like a videogame onscreen and which basically amount to a bunch of grown men playing army, jumping out on each other and going DUHDUHDUHDUHDUH and PSHEW and then falling down when Scott Adkins points at them and goes BKOW.
BUT IT IS FULL OF PHILOSOPHICAL WAFFLE between the pretty fun bits where musclemen throw each other around a small room and wreck the shit out of it and chop bits off each other and there's no real sense of why we're behind the protagonist with only JCVD's character attempting to make sense of things by opining "if you think it's real, it is", which is not helpful right at the end of the film, it's the kind of thing you need to hear back at the beginning of the film when the main character's arc is first set up and you guess right there and then what the "twist" will be.

A decent head-kicker film for beer and pizza, all the same, just about 20 minutes too long for the intended audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 10:48:09 PM
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2: UNCUT "GRUESOME EDITION".

Ive had this for a while, but hadnt watched until tonight. In fact, the last time i saw chainsaw 2 i was probably in my twenties (unless im forgetting a viewing. It sometimes happens with age, especially with films i watched to death back in the eighties and nineties).

I was especially looking forward to this, as the previous 'uncut' version i'd seen was my vhs pirate back in the day, that was so unwatchable that i was genuinely surprised the titles were red and not blue (and rolling) as i'd previously thought.

I wont dwell on why this is the best film ever made with the word 'chainsaw' in the title- it's a straightforward descent into hell, at times hilarious, beautifully performed by the entire cast (bill johnson instills more life and character into leatherface than gunnar hansen ever did- which is probably why hansen's been bitching about it ever since) and full of great dialogue.

Hooper throws all expectation out of the window (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 10:57:55 PM
(cont) and gives us an insane dripping blood-wet fantasy rather than a dusty, bone-dry docu-horror like the original. The first chainsaw stuffed your dry mouth full of chicken feathers and scared you with rattles and bones and filthy kitchens- chainsaw 2 kicks you off a precipice into a giant bucket of guts, and laughs as you fall.

The sets are still amazing, it's still the most incredibly designed film to comes out of the golan-globus cannon stable, and possibly the mid-eighties full stop. This dvd  unrated 'gruesome edition' is lovely and restores the Cramps soundtrack ('googoo muck' was missing in the last version i watched), but unbelievably it fucks up the ending. The final shot of the movie has always been Stretch, high in the sky, waving her chainsaw and as mad as any of the sawyers... as a truck goes past in the background, and you realise this 'planet of the apes'-style alien landscape that somehow exists on top of the hellish underground funfair, is mere yards from the highway. She was (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 11:05:39 PM
(cont) within shouting distance of help all along. Except- the truck's now gone. No truck passes. What happened there? I cant believe Hooper went back and recut it- he may be an infrequent and entirely accidental genius, more reliant on his collaborators for success than any of the other 80s horror heroes, but even he's not that dumb. He wouldnt completely undermine the most powerful shot in the movie- would he?

Oh well. As i say, it's still a far better movie than what came next- even the perfectly decent remake didnt fly like this one, and im sure the upcoming TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D (jan 9th) will similarly miss the target. Chainsaw 2 is probably my favourite of that glorious mid-eighties period of fx-heavy 'fangoria films', and so is therefore one of my favourite films ever. The saw is indeed family.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 November, 2012, 11:18:12 PM
Is it possible the truck going by in the background was just bad timing - the equivalent of a boom mike in shot?

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 10:57:55 PMThe sets are still amazing, it's still the most incredibly designed film to comes out of the golan-globus cannon stable, and possibly the mid-eighties full stop.

Better than G&G's Masters of the Universe, American Ninja 2 and Superman 4?  You're full of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 11:32:11 PM
I dont know about the truck. It's always been there and suddenly it's not. Ive got to dig out all my old copies of chainsaw 2 now and find out when it left and compare to see if it's been digitally removed or what. Which is a bit frustrating.

I also dont know about superman 4- but it's better than invaders from mars, and lifeforce, which were the other two golanglobus tobe hooper movies that relied upon innovative and exceptional design work. Chainsaw 2 is often dismissed a cheap, lousy rip-off sequel and the least of tobe's three efforts for cannon. It's very much not. That's what i was getting at.

I must pick up invaders from mars and lifeforce one day- saw both at the cinema and on rental, but never since.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2012, 12:07:08 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 25 November, 2012, 11:32:11 PMI also dont know about superman 4- but it's better than invaders from mars, and lifeforce

If you have never seen Superman 4, I would just go ahead and roll the dice on saying it does not measure up against something else.  Them's pretty good odds.



Lifeforce is worth a revisit.  Great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 November, 2012, 07:11:17 AM
No, f course ive seen superman 4- saw it at the cinema! Just not since it was released, and so (other than it's awful) i can say nothing with certainty...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 November, 2012, 07:55:02 AM
Never knew there was an '80s remake of Invaders from Mars, and the 50's original was one of my favourite films as a kid.  Must try to find that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 November, 2012, 08:05:40 AM
And if you find a copy, let me know, because i wouldnt mind one. It might be freely available for all i know, as ive not checked. The kid from the original is in it too.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 November, 2012, 10:20:54 AM
Finally watched Drive and Cabin In The Woods at the weekend.

Drive had perhaps been overhyped a bit for me, and a couple of the more shocking parts had been spoilerbombed, but it was still a really intense watch. I've seen Gosling in a few things now and he really is incredible. The score was perfect too, licensed songs aside it was really disciplined, bubbling away and keeping tension going when more traditional composers would have been trying to ramp things up constantly.

Loved Cabin, as a horror fan I thought it was very, very, very clever. It wasn't scary, but bucket loads of fun, and a real horror movie made for horror fans who understand the cliches and tropes of the genre. It's hard to find genuinely fresh ideas in horror these days, but this was one of them. Jolly good show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 November, 2012, 01:42:26 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 25 November, 2012, 12:20:27 PM
Dawn of the Dead - 1978 last night, in its extended cut, on BBC2
Marvellous.

It's on iPlayer up to next Saturday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b008y3d8/Dawn_of_the_Dead/ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b008y3d8/Dawn_of_the_Dead/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 26 November, 2012, 02:07:56 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 November, 2012, 07:55:02 AM
Never knew there was an '80s remake of Invaders from Mars, and the 50's original was one of my favourite films as a kid.  Must try to find that.

You won't like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2012, 03:55:38 PM
The Invaders From Mars remake is so terrible it is actually mesmerizing.  I think most people's brains will likely explode when they twig that the 8 year old boy and the 30-40-something teacher are written as unlikely romantic foils for each other to the point that at one stage the aliens are coming and the woman huddles into the kid like he's going to protect her - I thought she was maybe trying to get a better grip on him so she could throw him at the aliens and buy herself some time, but nope...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 November, 2012, 04:19:22 PM
Interesting you should use the word 'mesmerising', as that was the single word i was battling against using when talking about tcm2. There though, it's hypnotic in a positive sense- i find, when watching chainsaw 2, i often question if im awake or dreaming, so close to being an actual representation of night terrors do i find it. I remember next to nothing about invaders, other than it being terrible, and it having a similar hypnotic feel. Lots of pulsing reds and oranges, with creatures so bizarre they score a pass on the designer's chutzpah alone.

Oddly, 'hypnotic' and 'mesmerising' are words ie seen used to describe lifeforce too- and not just in the sense of there being tits in it. I remember thinking it a 'big screen dr who crossed with john constantine' during one viewing.

Must see it again!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2012, 04:23:25 PM
When I first saw the Martians I thought "fuck me!  REALLY?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 November, 2012, 07:14:44 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 November, 2012, 10:20:54 AM
Drive had perhaps been overhyped a bit for me, and a couple of the more shocking parts had been spoilerbombed, but it was still a really intense watch. I've seen Gosling in a few things now and he really is incredible. The score was perfect too, licensed songs aside it was really disciplined, bubbling away and keeping tension going when more traditional composers would have been trying to ramp things up constantly.

I just saw Drive myself, and I'd agree that it's nothing short of astonishing in places. Like its main character, the film's a great example of what you can do when you keep everything very simple and don't place any restrictions on how far you're prepared to go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 28 November, 2012, 02:41:08 PM
Avengers Assemble belatedly.

Enjoyed it, but didn't really see why a lot of people were raving about it - still, more fun than TDKR.

I did love Hulk's puny god/Tom and Jerry moment.


Oh and 21 Jump Street, which sags in the middle a bit, but I thought pretty entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 November, 2012, 02:53:15 PM
I think The Avengers really deserves to be seen in the cinema - it's such a crowd pleaser and I think the atmosphere of seeing it in a packed-out cinema really lifted the film to another level. People were going fucking nuts for it - and it was a great communal experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 November, 2012, 11:05:31 PM
IRON SKY
How do you make a movie about space Nazis boring?
I have night idea but they managed it.


EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS
Much more like it in the fun and hokum department but again, still somehow managed to miss the mark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 November, 2012, 11:35:34 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 November, 2012, 11:05:31 PM
IRON SKY
How do you make a movie about space Nazis boring?
I have night idea but they managed it.

I said the same thing about the last Superman movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 December, 2012, 09:38:26 AM
I watched Swingers last night. That was a lot of fun, very witty, and spoke to me on a number of levels. also, it's probably Vince Vaughns best role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 December, 2012, 09:56:42 AM
Swingers is one of my favourite movies. It's easy to forget how cool Vaughn once was.

I find it a bit weird how the 'money' catchphrase has been co-opted by Money Supermarket - Swingers is a pretty obscure movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2012, 01:03:20 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2012, 09:56:42 AM
Swingers is one of my favourite movies. It's easy to forget how cool Vaughn once was.

And how thin. He's eaten more turkeys than he has appeared in.

Who hasn't done the answer message thing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 02:26:52 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2012, 09:56:42 AM
Swingers is one of my favourite movies. It's easy to forget how cool Vaughn once was.

I find it a bit weird how the 'money' catchphrase has been co-opted by Money Supermarket - Swingers is a pretty obscure movie.

Yup. Absolutely love how they discuss how the single take entrance to the club in Goodfellas could never be recreated in a low budget movie, while they... wonderful!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 December, 2012, 02:36:26 PM
Quote from: Unicorn Bukakke on 26 November, 2012, 03:55:38 PM
The Invaders From Mars remake is so terrible it is actually mesmerizing.  I think most people's brains will likely explode when they twig that the 8 year old boy and the 30-40-something teacher are written as unlikely romantic foils for each other to the point that at one stage the aliens are coming and the woman huddles into the kid like he's going to protect her - I thought she was maybe trying to get a better grip on him so she could throw him at the aliens and buy herself some time, but nope...

Funnily enough I watched that for the first time t'other week. It's certainly... different, isn't it? There's a lot that I like, but it's fair to say it stomps all over the sense of creeping unease of the first one in favour of doing things 'big' - which means bright an' loud an' gory.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 December, 2012, 02:56:05 PM
It does a lot right. For instance, I like the loving recreation of that iconic shot of the winding path up to the sand dunes, the bit that most captured my young mind about the original.

(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a113/Darkjimbo2/path.jpg)

There are other great bits, like the kid walking in on the science teacher wolfing down one of the biology frogs whole. Damn creepy. But for every success they shoot themselves in the foot, like the jettisoning of the creepy sucked-into-the-sand bit, another of the original's creepiest bits. Instead it turns out that people have instead been walking up the path to the top of the hill... then walking down the other side. Then they see a cave with a glowing red light coming out of it. Then they enter the cave and walk down the tunnel and... yeah, not nearly as iconic. And because it relies on people's curiosity leading them to do all the work it loses that sense of people being stolen bodily.

And then there's the awful it-was-all-a-dream ending. But I hated the same thing about the first film, too. Overall an interesting watch, but I don't know if I'd recommend it, necessarily.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 01 December, 2012, 03:02:12 PM
"End of Watch", very much worth a watch. The two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, are a brilliant double act. Funny as hell but seriously harsh in places too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 December, 2012, 03:06:08 PM
The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) A fictionalized account of the Nazi's Operation Bernhard.
Gripping stuff. And a film that shows that remaining true to your principles - though certainly not an easy path to choose, was possible in the death camps.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 December, 2012, 04:00:30 PM
Total Recall (2012).

Oh look, it's the city from Mass Effect.
Oh look, it's that bit from Last of the Mohicans.
Oh look, it's the robots from that game Vanquish.
Oh look, it's the ship from that game G Police.
Oh look, it's the cars from Minority Report.
Oh look, it's the fight scene from Terminator Salvation.
Oh look, it's the talky scene with Colonel Sanders from The Matrix.
Oh look, it's the zero-g fight from Gundam.
Oh look, it's that scene from Mission Impossible 4.
Oh look, it's the setting from Metro 2033.

I could literally do this all day...
This was a really hard movie to watch, as I don't think I've ever seen something which takes you out of the fiction so often not because it is making a commentary on the use of things the main character may have seen that he has now woven into a delusional narrative, but because it is so shit out of ideas that every last thing it does has been cribbed from elsewhere and they don't even try to hide it.  As cynical and soul-less an exercise in creative strip-mining as you are ever likely to see, it is just an awful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 08:07:44 PM
I tried to watch [spoiler]Catwoman[/spoiler] just now, thinking that it couldn't have been as bad as they say... and is wasn't. It was much worse. It is almost transcendentally bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 December, 2012, 09:11:22 PM
Jesus Christ, man, you only had to watch the trailer to know what you were getting.

"Cream.  STRAIGHT UP."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 09:14:35 PM
Quote from: Unicorn Bukakke on 01 December, 2012, 09:11:22 PM
Jesus Christ, man, you only had to watch the trailer to know what you were getting.

"Cream.  STRAIGHT UP."

I have not had that pleasure..!

On the plus side - I have just found Star Trek on Ch4! And it's the good Star Trek - not that old shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 December, 2012, 10:00:13 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 November, 2012, 10:20:54 AM
Finally watched Drive and Cabin In The Woods at the weekend.

Loved Cabin, as a horror fan I thought it was very, very, very clever. It wasn't scary, but bucket loads of fun, and a real horror movie made for horror fans who understand the cliches and tropes of the genre. It's hard to find genuinely fresh ideas in horror these days, but this was one of them. Jolly good show.

That the original or the remake  of Cabin in the Woods you saw?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 10:08:35 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 December, 2012, 10:00:13 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 November, 2012, 10:20:54 AM
Finally watched Drive and Cabin In The Woods at the weekend.

Loved Cabin, as a horror fan I thought it was very, very, very clever. It wasn't scary, but bucket loads of fun, and a real horror movie made for horror fans who understand the cliches and tropes of the genre. It's hard to find genuinely fresh ideas in horror these days, but this was one of them. Jolly good show.

That the original or the remake  of Cabin in the Woods you saw?


Heh.
Yup, I'm a horror fan, and I found it to be tired, trite and boring...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 December, 2012, 10:15:13 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 10:08:35 PMHeh.
Yup, I'm a horror fan, and I found it to be tired, trite and boring...

Original or remake?  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 10:23:00 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 December, 2012, 10:15:13 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 01 December, 2012, 10:08:35 PMHeh.
Yup, I'm a horror fan, and I found it to be tired, trite and boring...

Original or remake?  :lol:

You're a cruel man, I really wish Cabin in the Woods was the brilliant. clever, genre breaking movie I saw in my head... but it wasn@t.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2012, 10:33:16 PM
Really? I hadn't seen anything that deconstructed all types of horror movie so well. It was certainly clever to me. Any sensible thinking film maker wouldn't dare put any of the tropes it covered in a movie again, surely?

The only similar things I'd seen were SCREAM  and TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL (which was great).

But then I don't get out much so it could all be old news.

And I don't get the "original or remake?" joke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 02 December, 2012, 12:36:00 AM
Have to agree with Tip on the fact the TUCKER & DALE vs EVIL is brilliant...its nice to see rednecks portrayed in a positive light for a change.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 December, 2012, 11:45:59 AM
The original Cabin in the Woods was a short film made by Sam Raimi and was essentially a prototype for The Evil Dead. No home video edition exists but Studio Canal own the rights, so a home video release may be on the cards with the Evil Dead remake coming out next year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 02 December, 2012, 10:15:24 PM
People, I have a made a massive mistake   :-[  I confused The Cabin in the Woods with another horror film, and I would have got away with it thanks to Hawkmonger's film trivia knowledge but I thought it better to own up to being a idiot. Sorry folks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 December, 2012, 10:45:06 PM
QuoteReally? I hadn't seen anything that deconstructed all types of horror movie so well. It was certainly clever to me. Any sensible thinking film maker wouldn't dare put any of the tropes it covered in a movie again, surely?

To me it felt very much like they were having their cake and eating it. It felt just like every other dull horror movie of the past 10 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 December, 2012, 12:42:32 AM
School of Rock - I love this film but it always annoys me when the parents boo when the School of Rock don't win - they just showed up at the end and aren't qualified to state who was best!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 December, 2012, 03:10:13 PM
The Omen - I don't know why, but my wife really wanted to watch this one again. Very creepy still and Patrick Troughton is an excellent hysterical Catholic priest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 04 December, 2012, 05:05:25 PM
ARGO. Very good. Go and see it. That is all
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: P-BOT/1138 on 04 December, 2012, 07:29:39 PM
QuoteThe original Cabin in the Woods was a short film made by Sam Raimi and was essentially a prototype for The Evil Dead. No home video edition exists but Studio Canal own the rights, so a home video release may be on the cards with the Evil Dead remake coming out next year

aren't you thinking of 'into the woods'?
it was supposed to be on the last release of evil dead. but legal issues stopped that.
ive seen it and its not that bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: P-BOT/1138 on 04 December, 2012, 07:31:51 PM
Quote

The original Cabin in the Woods was a short film made by Sam Raimi and was essentially a prototype for The Evil Dead. No home video edition exists but Studio Canal own the rights, so a home video release may be on the cards with the Evil Dead remake coming out next year



aren't you thinking of 'into the woods'?
it was supposed to be on the last release of evil dead. but legal issues stopped that.
ive seen it and its not that bad.

just checked. its called within the woods.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 December, 2012, 01:07:39 PM
I watched Asterix and Obelix meets Cleopatra, in Italian. It was ace! Gerard Depardieu is a star turn as Obelix. I loved the bit when [spoiler] Obelix kicked back one of the rocks from the Roman ballista, overshooting by several hundred miles, and taking out the pirate ship. [/spoiler] Classic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 06 December, 2012, 05:02:56 PM
I love the Asterix series with Depardieau os Obelix. I'm itching to see the new one - looks great!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Kerrin on 06 December, 2012, 07:27:55 PM
7 Psychopaths. Great fun and a brilliant cast. Sam Rockwell chews the scenery in magnificent style and for a man with such a small part (snee hee, titter), Tom Waits is fucking majestic.

Don't get up and leave as soon as the credits roll, there's an extra little bit thirty seconds or so in to them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 07 December, 2012, 03:55:10 AM
Skyfall - probably has its own thread here somewhere.  I thought it was very good, but not as awesome as various reviews had led me to expect - I think it got an unjustified boost due to people wanting the next movie to not be as disappointing as Quantum of Solace, the 50th anniversary and wanting Daniel Craig to be great.  It was good, but no threat to From Russia With Love.  Some of the character motivations make less sense than a chocolate hammock
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 December, 2012, 01:38:57 PM
The Avengers (1998) - Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery.

Bonkers, barking and bizarre but not in a good way.

Probably not a good forum to admit this but I haven't seen much of the telly Avengers.

I was a New Avengers child so obviously when I watched a few episodes of The Avengers it all seemed a bit silly. 

But even I can see that this was taking many long strides away from the word "faithful".

Kudos for biscuit references though - not many blockbuster movies dwell upon macaroons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 December, 2012, 04:43:51 PM
Finally saw The Dark Knight Rises, after my old man begged me to get it for him.

I did not hate it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 07 December, 2012, 11:28:19 PM
Fight Club - fucking amazing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 08 December, 2012, 11:33:40 AM
Quote from: Kerrin on 06 December, 2012, 07:27:55 PM
7 Psychopaths. Great fun and a brilliant cast. Sam Rockwell chews the scenery in magnificent style and for a man with such a small part (snee hee, titter), Tom Waits is fucking majestic.
Don't get up and leave as soon as the credits roll, there's an extra little bit thirty seconds or so in to them.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this one for myself- I'd compare In Bruges to the fantastic Things to do in Denver when You're Dead. Thanks for the heads-up on the credits scene, but Tom Waits in good-film-shocker, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 08 December, 2012, 07:40:51 PM
457 minutes of Nolan's Batman movies in one sitting.

In no way perfect (Loads of too much spectacle to achieve that and moments when I thought to myself how easy it'd be to cut fat and make the movie flow better), but still really powerful fun.

Especially like the ending of DKR. A bit to much focus on how many minutes that's left to save everything (Even 24 have handled it more elegantly in some of it's most "THIS IS GETTING MORE TENSE BY THE SECOND!!!"moments), but still really great in a number of ways. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2012, 09:54:24 PM
Quote from: P-BOT/1138 on 04 December, 2012, 07:31:51 PM
Quote

The original Cabin in the Woods was a short film made by Sam Raimi and was essentially a prototype for The Evil Dead. No home video edition exists but Studio Canal own the rights, so a home video release may be on the cards with the Evil Dead remake coming out next year



aren't you thinking of 'into the woods'?
it was supposed to be on the last release of evil dead. but legal issues stopped that.
ive seen it and its not that bad.

just checked. its called within the woods.
Indeed you are correct, though Cabin in the Woods is an alterantive title I believe, though I only found that out a second ago. My apologys for the mistake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Chrrow on 09 December, 2012, 07:32:58 AM
On friday I watched Silent Hill Revelation with my girlfriend and it was awesome! She was so freacking scared! xD
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 09 December, 2012, 11:23:16 AM
Siege of the Saxons a film with all the major battles lifted from another film (the Black Knight with Alan Ladd),and the cast wearing costumes exactly like their counterparts in the BK,the sheer brass neckedness of the producers simply amazed me, acting more hammy than a bacon factory. Fabulously bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 December, 2012, 09:51:33 AM
We dont have a thread for full-cast audio or audio books, so it'll have to go here, seeing as the 'what are you listening to?' thread is entirely a groove sound assault of musical coolness.

Anyway: The H P Lovecraft Historical Society and Dark Adventure Radio Theatre production of
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
(£6.50 MP3 DOWNLOAD from cthulhulives.org)

Oh my giddy aunt. Told in the style of an authentic 1930s radio broadcast, this dramatises HPL's story over an hour and twenty minutes. Aside from a misstep early on, when some of the interference-troubled audio linkups to the antarctic are near-unintelligable (i know what they say, but im very familiar with the story, so...) this never puts a foot wrong and is honestly terrifying in its later stages. The cast is brilliant, the production and sound design incredible. I cannot urge anyone with a love of HPL enough to givit a go.

Also available as a CD with knick knacks from the expedition and and other VAM. I'll be getting that later.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 10 December, 2012, 11:28:22 AM
I watched the remake of Red Dawn over the weekend. I hadn't thought it was possible to make a more pointless film than the original version but somehow they have. As much as the first film is incredibly stupid, I have a soft spot for it and it's one of those films that when you wonder why on earth it was made you just have to shrug and accept that a lot of films were made in the 80s than can only be explained by the fact that it was the 80s. The remake/reboot doesn't have that excuse. It's very similar to the first one but just lacks a bit of something and annoys throughout. There's a real gloss and sheen to this version that just makes it that very smug and much more ridiculous (I am aware that the premise of both films is utterly ridiculous already.) And it doesn't have C Thomas Howell trying to shoot down a helicopter with an Ak47 in it, so it loses out on that score as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 December, 2012, 05:25:47 PM
Someone has posted the full original Red Dawn on You-tube, so i saw it for the first time since renting it out from the local video shop, all those years ago.
I bet John Milius came in his pants when this project got the green light. Me? I think its Grade A dogshit.

Caught Full Metal Jacket on Ch5 last night. As glorious as it always was. That is all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 December, 2012, 09:58:10 PM
Predators

Distinctly average. Utterly predictable and borrowed lots of beats from the original.

Why bother with an alien planet setting of you don't make it alien?

Creatures look as cool as ever though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 December, 2012, 10:48:16 PM
Sahara.  A decent James "God took the wrong brother" Belushi flick about some tommies and yanks in the desert making a last stand against some Krauts.  Lots of balsa wood in the cast, but it's a well-enough done story, if treading a lot of familiar ground to the point I think it might be a remake of something else, and "I come here to kill Nazis - I have TOO MUCH HATE to make good Resistance" is a top quote.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 11 December, 2012, 10:54:18 PM
Osombie: The Axis of Evil Dead. I was hoping it would be the good kind of bad instead of just bad. By 12 minutes in I was already really enjoying it and by the end it was that good-bad I started to think it had to be intentional and so the film is somewhat a work of genius. As you can probably guess, the plot focuses on a special forces unit sent into Afghanistan to destroy the zombie threat. The write-up on the back of the case wins you over during the first sentence: 'Dusty, a yoga instructor from Colorado...'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 December, 2012, 10:34:24 AM
I watched Ted last weekend. It was hilarious.

I had Flash Gordon in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 December, 2012, 04:56:13 PM
Back when I had money, I went and bought the box set of the old 90's sci fi show 'Lexx'. It's sat on my shelf for over a year, but this week I finally got to watching the first four TV movies.

That is some deliciously twee TV sci-fi. I can't make up my mind whether it's really bad, so bad it's good, or actually really quite good. Brilliant fun with a beer and a curry, however you slice it.

And - oh God - Eva Habermann! [Drooooollll]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2012, 05:31:51 PM
I reckon borderline genius/madness for the original movies, genius for the tv show proper, then arsewater as it limped to an end. The point where it became arsewater is, obviously, for each of us to decide independently.
Has the dvd version got the "oh-way-oh, oh-wayyy-oh, oh-way-oh, hurrah brunen-gee!" song over the titles? My old vhs boxset had replaced it with some horrible old shit.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 December, 2012, 09:43:05 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2012, 05:31:51 PM
I reckon borderline genius/madness for the original movies, genius for the tv show proper, then arsewater as it limped to an end. The point where it became arsewater is, obviously, for each of us to decide independently.

Y'know, I actually slapped a couple of season 4 episodes on to see what I'd make of it, and was thoroughly entertained. This is a show I can't take even remotely seriously when it's at its best, though, so it's not like I have high expectations. I'll be entertained, I reckon.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2012, 05:31:51 PM
Has the dvd version got the "oh-way-oh, oh-wayyy-oh, oh-way-oh, hurrah brunen-gee!" song over the titles? My old vhs boxset had replaced it with some horrible old shit.

This also perplexed me. Each season seems to have its own opener, with slight changes to the opening sequence. From season 3, 'Yo Way Yo' is present and correct.

For poops and giggles, I got some weird looks when I stepped out of the shower this evening, having sung:

"Yo way yo!
Yo Way yo!
Huum vaa ray!
Yo Way Yoooo
Jerhume Brunen G!
Yo waaaaayy yoooo
Huum ray vaaa
Jerrr-huuuuume Bru-neeeennn geeeeeee!!!"

I am either deeply sad, apocalyptically awesome, or unhinged.

(But regardless of whichever you decide, I'm still clean and nice smelling!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 December, 2012, 09:49:06 PM
Ha. I only remembered them doing that on the Gilbert & Sullivan episode. I think I've only ever seen the first two series so my memories of the lunacy are unsullied by whatever came after. It might be mental, but it's definitely not bad.

Oh, and I respect a man's right to choose his own path through life but I always preferred the second Xev. Although I have a long history of this, preferring the second Dax, the second Romana and the second Terminator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 December, 2012, 09:51:02 PM
I am a broad church. There is room in my heart for both Zevs / Xevs / whatever. ;)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 December, 2012, 09:55:06 PM
Quote from: HdE on 12 December, 2012, 09:51:02 PM
I am a broad church. There is room in my heart for both Zevs / Xevs / whatever. ;)
You bloody liberals and your equal opportunites for every attractive German actress. She's part Cluster Lizard, you know!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2012, 10:57:50 PM
Part Cluster Lizard!!

I really want to watch Lexx now...

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 December, 2012, 11:24:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkeye McGillicuddy on 11 December, 2012, 10:48:16 PM
but it's a well-enough done story, if treading a lot of familiar ground to the point I think it might be a remake of something else


It is. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_(1943_film)) Not seen the Belushi version, but i remember the 1943 original being decent enough. Very watchable on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 13 December, 2012, 05:08:05 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 December, 2012, 10:57:50 PM
I really want to watch Lexx now...

Do it! I've just started on the series proper now, and I've been pleasantly surprised by the upswing in production values. Loadsa fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 December, 2012, 08:49:48 PM
A little-known flick called "The Star Wars: Part Four, Hope and Glory", or something.

No- haven't seen it in a good while, and realised- on catching the kids playing with their Millennium Falcon in completely the wrong way that they hadn't ever really seen the original properly. Oh, they've been plunked in front of it many times in their short lives, but not recently and not since getting to "the right ages" (seven and nine). As a result the prequels have been their number one Star Wars thing and the poor old original trilogy has languished in the backwaters of their popularity for far too long. Tonight we put that right.

As a result, I now have two boys upstairs playing properly with figures and vehicles, and youngest has borrowed my "Classic Star Wars A New Hope" Thomas and Chaykin adaptation as well as the more recent Dark Horse re-do version. Eldest, keen to show his superior knowledge, has borrowed Shadows of the Empire- by our Mr Wagner- causing me the panic of finding I'm missing an issue. Bollocks! Both demand Empire Strikes Back within the week.

Niggly bit: Matte squares around TIEs- never noticed them being so bad! We were watching the silver-spined boxset version of Special Edition from 2004. Dreadful. Havethey been cleaned up for the Blu-Ray?

Anyway- yay!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 December, 2012, 09:31:02 AM
Yeah, those matte squares really detract from the overall effect!  I'm glad it's not just me that is irked by them.

Watched 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' last night, 2008 version. My god, it was appalling.  I think the best thing in it was John Cleese.  Will Smiths son performed well too.  Otherwise, wooden performances all round, no sense of drama, shonky effects and a by the numbers ending.  If my daughter hadn't been so keen Ro watch it to the end I would have turned over 30 mins in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 December, 2012, 08:49:48 PM
A little-known flick called "The Star Wars: Part Four, Hope and Glory", or something.

No- haven't seen it in a good while, and realised- on catching the kids playing with their Millennium Falcon in completely the wrong way that they hadn't ever really seen the original properly. Oh, they've been plunked in front of it many times in their short lives, but not recently and not since getting to "the right ages" (seven and nine). As a result the prequels have been their number one Star Wars thing and the poor old original trilogy has languished in the backwaters of their popularity for far too long. Tonight we put that right.

As a result, I now have two boys upstairs playing properly with figures and vehicles, and youngest has borrowed my "Classic Star Wars A New Hope" Thomas and Chaykin adaptation as well as the more recent Dark Horse re-do version. Eldest, keen to show his superior knowledge, has borrowed Shadows of the Empire- by our Mr Wagner- causing me the panic of finding I'm missing an issue. Bollocks! Both demand Empire Strikes Back within the week.

Niggly bit: Matte squares around TIEs- never noticed them being so bad! We were watching the silver-spined boxset version of Special Edition from 2004. Dreadful. Havethey been cleaned up for the Blu-Ray?

Anyway- yay!

SBT

It'll be interesting to see what their favourite of all six films is at the end.
I'm firmly of the belief that Return of the Jedi is best with Empire a close second. I find the first Star Wars (can't get used to calling it 'A New Hope'!) is actually a bit boring and all the really good story stuff begins in Empire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 15 December, 2012, 11:15:28 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 December, 2012, 08:49:48 PM
Niggly bit: Matte squares around TIEs- never noticed them being so bad! We were watching the silver-spined boxset version of Special Edition from 2004. Dreadful. Havethey been cleaned up for the Blu-Ray?

Yep, its funny that Lucas/film probably went through ANH frame by frame with a fine-tooth comb, yet missed those - plus some other little bits and bobs throughout.
Never went the Blu-Ray option for these, but i think i read somewhere they were cleaned up.

Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
I'm firmly of the belief that Return of the Jedi is best with Empire a close second. I find the first Star Wars (can't get used to calling it 'A New Hope'!) is actually a bit boring and all the really good story stuff begins in Empire.

Thats a bit of a rarity regarding Jedi. Was Jedi the first SW film you caught?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 15 December, 2012, 11:15:28 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 December, 2012, 08:49:48 PM
Niggly bit: Matte squares around TIEs- never noticed them being so bad! We were watching the silver-spined boxset version of Special Edition from 2004. Dreadful. Havethey been cleaned up for the Blu-Ray?

Yep, its funny that Lucas/film probably went through ANH frame by frame with a fine-tooth comb, yet missed those - plus some other little bits and bobs throughout.
Never went the Blu-Ray option for these, but i think i read somewhere they were cleaned up.

Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
I'm firmly of the belief that Return of the Jedi is best with Empire a close second. I find the first Star Wars (can't get used to calling it 'A New Hope'!) is actually a bit boring and all the really good story stuff begins in Empire.

Thats a bit of a rarity regarding Jedi. Was Jedi the first SW film you caught?

No, I saw Star Wars first - on telly, then Jedi at the cinema and then Empire on VHS.
I think Empire is a close second to Jedi and it's probably the most important regarding the whole mythology but I think Jedi is the best film overall.
The whole Solo rescue at the beginning is just bloody brilliant, then the Sarlac sequence is even better (the fact that it digests you over a thousand years was something that really freaked me out when I was younger) - Jabba is probably the best puppet/model work in any film ever.
The forest of Endor is a great location and I love the speeder bikes and scout walkers. I actually like the Ewoks too and think that the whole 'Ewoks are crap' thing has just become received wisdom that people say without thinking about it.
The film ends with the best, most satisfying, space battle of the trilogy intercut with the best light-saber fight and the Emperor showing you just what a nasty git he is.

The one thing that should be cut from Jedi is the Chewbacca Tarzan call but it doesn't ruin the film for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 December, 2012, 11:50:38 AM
Watched a little known movie about some chap's stuck in a shopping center filled with zombies last night. Dawn of the something-or-nothing. It is, of cause, a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 December, 2012, 11:59:17 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
but I think Jedi is the best film overall.

I agree with pretty much all of this.

The whole "Ewoks are crap" thing is a particularly annoying bit of adult fan retro-think. I was a die-hard SW fan when 'Jedi' came out, and pretty much all my friends were, too. None of us, not one of us, had a problem with the Ewoks and the idea that we, as adults, are required to retroactively claim we didn't like things as kids because we now think they're a bit silly infuriates me.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 December, 2012, 12:27:29 PM
Sorry Jim, i was also a die-hard Star Wars fan when Jedi came out, and ALL OF US had a huge problem with the ewoks. So much so that saying "ewoks are just teddy bears and star wars is for babies" got a kid in my class a black eye from my year's biggest fan. My old school books from 1983 are covered with doodles of ewok teddies chasing said kid and the wider concensus was that lucas was just repeating and "trying to make money" (gasp! no!)- The death star- again! Tattooine- again! Ewok teddy bears! More aliens to make into action figures!

At 12 and 13, we were the original SW generation on the cusp of teenage cynicism. Those of us who still loved Star Wars and hadnt dumped it for football and girls just yet were under attack from the cooler kids- and the evidence of the ewoks was the killing blow. None of us could argue the point- they were, and are, a fucking disgrace. See Battle for Endor and Caravan of Courage for more proof.

My favourite is the original, then ESB. Jedi sits below TPM for me.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 15 December, 2012, 12:46:39 PM
I agree with James and Jim here - and I saw all of them on their original releases, yet still love everything about Jedi most of all (but you know what annoys me most of all? Changing the ewok victory song on the re-issue dvd's. Boils my piss that does. I love that tune)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 December, 2012, 12:46:54 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 15 December, 2012, 12:27:29 PM
My favourite is the original, then ESB. Jedi sits below TPM for me.

Yes, but you are such a rampant contrarian hell-bent on projecting your personal opinions onto the wider world as 'fact' that I pretty much ignore everything you say these days.

I unreservedly acknowledge that I could be the one who is consistently and brain-meltingly wrong about almost everything, but it's the only sane option for my blood pressure, TBH.

Sorry...

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 December, 2012, 01:01:52 PM
The Ewoks were so universally reviled they spawned two tv movies, a cartoon series, a comic book, and their own line of toys.  Clearly no-one liked them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 December, 2012, 01:19:43 PM
Jim, if you are so stuck developmentally in 1983 that you are prepared to get PERSONAL over ewoks, then you're not the man i thought you were, and you can consider yourself ignored from now on.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2012, 01:42:54 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
I actually like the Ewoks too and think that the whole 'Ewoks are crap' thing has just become received wisdom that people say without thinking about it.


I think that attitude just comes from someone announcing to the fan-boys the original intention was for them to be Wookies which really just sounds more arsom in comparison to however good the Ewoks are. If they had been Wookies the only difference to the scenes would be taller fur-bags otherwise they'd still be acting cute.


Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
The film ends with the best, most satisfying, space battle of the trilogy intercut with the best light-saber fight and the Emperor showing you just what a nasty git he is.


I do think the sabre fight in Empire is better directed and plays better by not being interrupted.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 15 December, 2012, 03:03:27 PM
Jedi's always been my favourite. I can pinpoint the actual moment where it all crystallises into sci-fi perfection for me: the Rebel Fleet, having detected that the Death Star's shields are still up, does a 180 degree turn and runs smack into the biggest fleet of Star Destroyers imaginable and the air becomes thick with TIEs. Gives me goosebumps every time. 'It's a trap!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 December, 2012, 04:47:09 PM
I'm not sure how much retro-fitting goes on (though I've not got big awareness of current Star Wars fan thinking)  but for me it goes a little like this.

In 83 (I was 11) I was kinda okay with the Ewoks but, by and large they weren't brilliantly received, but not derided. By the time Return was on TV (I'm guessing here) three years later the Ewoks were pretty much mocked. We didn't so much 'retro-fit' that to the past, but changed our minds as we got older. I know we (when I'm saying we by the way I'm referring to my Star Wars savvy school friends) utterly shunned the Ewok movies.

For me they are the one significent bit of the movies (first three) that didn't grow with me as such.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 15 December, 2012, 05:11:18 PM
I just have to accept the fact the Empire lost.  >:( >:( >:( Oh wait there's a remnant... :)

i think a smugglers life for me look at the benefits.

(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/reptileking_/TOTTIE.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2012, 05:17:08 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 15 December, 2012, 04:47:09 PM
I know we (when I'm saying we by the way I'm referring to my Star Wars savvy school friends) utterly shunned the Ewok movies.



Let's say no one I knew, myself included, ever sought out those Ewok films and I still haven't seen them. If it had been a Han Solo/Boba Fett film it would have been different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 December, 2012, 05:19:20 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2012, 01:42:54 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
I actually like the Ewoks too and think that the whole 'Ewoks are crap' thing has just become received wisdom that people say without thinking about it.


I think that attitude just comes from someone announcing to the fan-boys the original intention was for them to be Wookies which really just sounds more arsom in comparison to however good the Ewoks are. If they had been Wookies the only difference to the scenes would be taller fur-bags otherwise they'd still be acting cute.


Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM
The film ends with the best, most satisfying, space battle of the trilogy intercut with the best light-saber fight and the Emperor showing you just what a nasty git he is.


I do think the sabre fight in Empire is better directed and plays better by not being interrupted.

Hmm. I remember it being interrupted quite a bit by Leia and Lando's escape. 

I personally think Empire is the best, but I agree the choreography between the Endor Imperial Base, the space battle, and the lightsabers battle was executed perfectly, and makes fir some if the best sci-fi ever to hit our cinema screens.

Star Wars: A New Hope will always be dear to me, although I think it's the weakest of the three, because it was the first film I ever saw in the cinema. Can you imagine a 5 yr old sat there wondering what this cinema thing is, and then that massive Star Destroyer hoving into view? Instant Star Wars and cinema addict!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2012, 05:42:17 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 December, 2012, 05:19:20 PM
Hmm. I remember it being interrupted quite a bit by Leia and Lando's escape. 


but it has more of an actual duel in it, less cut-up, longer and is better choreographed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-DeI3ohVbY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkrGSv2cv3s
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 15 December, 2012, 06:01:55 PM
           
Ewoks are crap by Judge Jack aged 15 and a bit.


Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 11:48:50 AM

No, I saw Star Wars first - on telly, then Jedi at the cinema and then Empire on VHS.
I think Empire is a close second to Jedi and it's probably the most important regarding the whole mythology but I think Jedi is the best film overall.
The whole Solo rescue at the beginning is just bloody brilliant, then the Sarlac sequence is even better (the fact that it digests you over a thousand years was something that really freaked me out when I was younger) - Jabba is probably the best puppet/model work in any film ever.
The forest of Endor is a great location and I love the speeder bikes and scout walkers. I actually like the Ewoks too and think that the whole 'Ewoks are crap' thing has just become received wisdom that people say without thinking about it.
The film ends with the best, most satisfying, space battle of the trilogy intercut with the best light-saber fight and the Emperor showing you just what a nasty git he is.

The one thing that should be cut from Jedi is the Chewbacca Tarzan call but it doesn't ruin the film for me.


Must admit Jedi is almost the forgotten SW film for me, for numerous reasons.
Maybe i was hitting that age were its appeal was begining to wane a bit. Cant honestly remember if there was any murmurs of discontent regarding the ewoks amongst me and my friends, and at that age there may well have been. What i do distinctly remember was walking out of the cinema afterwards with both my socks having been irrefutably blown off by RotJ - and for pretty much the reasons youve given.
And ive no problem really, with the ewoks being in the film, though the TV movies, comics et al were obviously aimed at a slightly younger audience, so passed me by. I asked the original question about Jedi, as ive seldom come across the view that Jedi is the fave. (Though clearly theres plenty of love for it on here). Ive heard it spoken of before from people younger than me, and thats kinda tied in with them seeing that film first.
The OT was such a phenomenonally complete package that its sometimes hard to sit back and see the films as just simply films and to rate them individually on their own merits.
But as a 'dyed-in-the-wool ANH'er im happy to admit that TESB is a better film, but nothing gives me that warm glow that ANH does. I would argue that ANH represents George's vision the clearest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 15 December, 2012, 07:11:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 December, 2012, 08:49:48 PM
A little-known flick called "The Star Wars: Part Four, Hope and Glory", or something.

No- haven't seen it in a good while, and realised- on catching the kids playing with their Millennium Falcon in completely the wrong way that they hadn't ever really seen the original properly. Oh, they've been plunked in front of it many times in their short lives, but not recently and not since getting to "the right ages" (seven and nine). As a result the prequels have been their number one Star Wars thing and the poor old original trilogy has languished in the backwaters of their popularity for far too long. Tonight we put that right.

As a result, I now have two boys upstairs playing properly with figures and vehicles, and youngest has borrowed my "Classic Star Wars A New Hope" Thomas and Chaykin adaptation as well as the more recent Dark Horse re-do version. Eldest, keen to show his superior knowledge, has borrowed Shadows of the Empire- by our Mr Wagner- causing me the panic of finding I'm missing an issue. Bollocks! Both demand Empire Strikes Back within the week.

Niggly bit: Matte squares around TIEs- never noticed them being so bad! We were watching the silver-spined boxset version of Special Edition from 2004. Dreadful. Havethey been cleaned up for the Blu-Ray?

Anyway- yay!

SBT

It'll be interesting to see what their favourite of all six films is at the end.
I'm firmly of the belief that Return of the Jedi is best with Empire a close second. I find the first Star Wars (can't get used to calling it 'A New Hope'!) is actually a bit boring and all the really good story stuff begins in Empire.

No it won't
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 15 December, 2012, 07:17:15 PM
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on my telly at the moment, thanks to my youngest. There must be a more replusive, shitter piece of wank in the world of cinema, but if there is we don't own a copy. Thank fuck planet earth's love affair with Carrey is over and he hasn't had a hit since... well, since this probably.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2012, 08:26:48 PM
Never get the antipathy to the Ewoks, and probably never will, and I firmly believe that many people's negative impressions of them are based on the contemporary publicity spin, merchandising onslaught and especially the very poor quality subsequent kiddie spinoffs, rather than their portrayal in the actual film as vicious stone-age hunters and ingenious warrior underdogs, even if they are a very heavy-handed thematic device.  But I must have argued all this a dozen times on here alone.

.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 December, 2012, 01:14:40 AM
Kill Bill: Vol 1, which has left me wanting to watch Vol 2 now.
Wonder if we'll ever get to see a DVD/Blu-Ray release for the much talked about Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 December, 2012, 06:29:07 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 16 December, 2012, 01:14:40 AM
Kill Bill: Vol 1, which has left me wanting to watch Vol 2 now.
Wonder if we'll ever get to see a DVD/Blu-Ray release for the much talked about Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair version?

Yeah I love these movies but have never got them on DVD assuming one day Tarrantino will release some kind ultimate directors cut thingie that'll mix the entire thing together. Is 'The Whole Bloody Affair' an officiual title for such a thing or fan talk for it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 December, 2012, 12:12:57 PM
Soylent Green in the cinema. And as an added bonus, I was with someone who hadn't seen it before and didn't know that [spoiler]Soylent Green is people[/spoiler]!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 16 December, 2012, 01:49:32 PM
The new Bourneless Bourne movie which i actually found pretty good despite my missgivings of no Bourne, still cant overly remember the last couple so didn;t really matter.  Some nice action but plot like everything these days is just set up for another movie, hollywood really needs to start releasing complete movies again everything these days is the start of a trilogy, quadrology, fuckity fuckity im getting quite siick of it. 
On that note i think thats one of the many reasons Dredd rocked, it told a whole friggen story.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 December, 2012, 02:11:10 PM
The Hobbit. I might go see it again today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 December, 2012, 02:44:53 PM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 16 December, 2012, 02:11:10 PM
The Hobbit. I might go see it again today.

Any thoughts, VB?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 December, 2012, 03:36:15 PM
Star Wars Schmar Wars.

Spurned on by a lcip of Ornella Muti on Film 2012 and Brian Blessed dressed as Santa on one of the music channels today, I am about to sit down and watch FLASH GORDON with Tiny Tips.  The fact that he's twelve and not so tiny these days should mean he's the perfect "She's making me feel funny" age for this. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 December, 2012, 04:22:42 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 16 December, 2012, 06:29:07 AM
Is 'The Whole Bloody Affair' an officiual title for such a thing or fan talk for it?

Both it would seem. The original Cannes cut has had a limited cinema release in the US, and contains minor differences, but releasing that along with some decent extras wouldnt go amiss.
Bit more info - here (http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/The_Whole_Bloody_Affair).




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 December, 2012, 04:28:03 PM
And double post as for some reason in my original post i couldnt include two quotes... :-\

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 16 December, 2012, 12:12:57 PM
Soylent Green in the cinema.

Now that would be brilliant to see in the cinema. Even better would be to see that and the Omega Man as a double bill.
What cinema was showing Soylent Green, Richmond?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 16 December, 2012, 04:43:47 PM
The control panel of Ming's deadly machine is brilliant. The list of options go something like typhoon, earthquake, tsunami, hailstones. While Flash is preparing to take off, you have this natural disaster taking place and then it dies down to be replaced with hailstones that bring it all to a gentle finish. Plus you have Dalton's immortal [spoiler]the bloody bitch[/spoiler] line to look forward to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 December, 2012, 06:51:16 PM
QuoteWhat cinema was showing Soylent Green, Richmond?

Was on at my local art house cinema. They are have a great range of movies on. Missed Silent Running last week...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 December, 2012, 11:54:07 AM
Watched Pulp Fiction last night as part of my Tarantino BD collection. It's stunning as ever, and a true corner stone in cinema history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 December, 2012, 02:14:15 PM
Quote from: Big Barry PengeBack on 16 December, 2012, 02:44:53 PM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 16 December, 2012, 02:11:10 PM
The Hobbit. I might go see it again today.

Any thoughts, VB?

I simply do not want to inadvertently spoil the film for anyone that hasn't seen it yet, but I will say that I think Tolkein fans will not be disappointed. I was worried that turning The Hobbit into three films would have too much in the way of filler, but now I'm excited that there will be two more films.

The casting is pretty much spot on and I won't say any more on that.

I didn't get to see the film again yesterday, but I will definitely see it again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2012, 02:20:58 PM
Elfie Hopkins, which is probably nowhere near being the worst film ever made, even though by all rational standards of evaluation it should be.  It's so badly written and acted that most scenes are just unintentionally unsettling, with characters spouting exposition - sometimes straight-up just stating what archetype they are - to the point that in my mind I could see the director, in his one moment of clarity during production, seeing his cast trying to express their thin stereotypes through mannerisms and subtlety and then saying "no.  Just say you're a dad who's frustrated with his daughter, out loud.  To be sure, say it twice."  So they do.  Jaime Winstone playing a teenager HAHAHAHAHA is an indicator that this may have started life as a one-off play for CBeebies, which would also explain why the plot feels like the gory bits were tacked on in place of the original reveal where the evil family were smuggling animals or something.

It is dreadful.

There were some trailers at the start of it, too, for films I now know for a certainty that I will never, ever watch called THE MAN INSIDE and VICTIM, and they look appalling, a collage of familiar images that say nothing about the film even when throwing huge catchphrases at the viewer like he must face his past.  Making good trailers really is a lost art.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 December, 2012, 04:26:55 PM
I Am Legend.
Always end up watching this when its on telly. Always end up wishing it was a better film.
Talk of a sequel doesnt seem to be going away either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 December, 2012, 04:49:49 PM
FLASH gordon was, indeed, awesome.

I think it benefits from being entirely sure of its target audience when it starts.

And I had forgotten quite how many withdrawals from the wank bank were caused by Ornella Muti.

Hey, I just wrote three sentences about Flash Gordon and didn't use the word camp.

Damn!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 17 December, 2012, 05:43:04 PM
You didn't mention the hot-pants they force him to wear for his execution, neither. That bewildered me last time I watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 December, 2012, 08:03:17 PM
The Bourne Legacy - what a load of of old fupping bollocks.
A film made entirely on the understanding that it doesn't need a beginning or end and can survive entirely upon residual goodwill for what precedes it.  Nothing more than setup for the next two films, nothing of consequence happens to the characters, nor do we get any insight to who they may be or what motivates them, though my bullshit detector should have been more on the ball with a film where people go around telling other people their own jobs and what motivates them in life and why.  "You are the director of the Central Intelligence Agency" is one of the first spoken lines of dialog in the film, another character Basils with "I am a phd chemist with a degree in chemical engineering and a doctorate in theoretical " oh fuck off, piece of shit script.
It is an action film so naturally the cameraman has Parkinson's and the editor has drank so much Red Bull he cuts a shot of Hawkeye putting on a jacket from three separate angles, but there is at least one decent shot in the whole film - a single tracking shot of a character scaling the side of a house and jumping in a window, but that is pretty much it.  I suspect the director was off the set and an intern decided to have some fun - it is the only explanation that makes any sense in the context of this awful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 20 December, 2012, 12:27:17 PM
It's A Wonderful Life

Shamefully, i had never seen it before. Absolutely brilliant. Very surprising and strange in some ways, too

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 December, 2012, 12:32:40 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 19 December, 2012, 08:03:17 PM
The Bourne Legacy - what a load of of old fupping bollocks.

What I found particularly baffling about it was the fact that they made repeated references to what Jason Bourne was doing concurrently with the events in the film, essentially saying the audience: "There's an actual Jason Bourne story going on at the same time as this one, but we're showing you this story, in which you have investment, instead..."

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 20 December, 2012, 01:54:40 PM
I've never watched Bourne Legacy. The trailer made it look a bit bad TV movie with its "We've perfected him with the DNA of a cheetah to make him faster, the DNA of a bear to make him stronger..." etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 December, 2012, 03:13:30 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 December, 2012, 12:32:40 PMWhat I found particularly baffling about it was the fact that they made repeated references to what Jason Bourne was doing concurrently with the events in the film, essentially saying the audience: "There's an actual Jason Bourne story going on at the same time as this one, but we're showing you this story, in which you have investment, instead..."

I just assumed that was stuff that happened in previous films they were referring to, though I like the idea that the cameraman got lost while looking for JB and just followed some random plonk instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 December, 2012, 04:41:11 PM
Gremlins: My christmas viewing. Love this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 December, 2012, 07:33:14 PM
Paul I did not find funny at all, which is really odd because I definately remember laughing at all these jokes when I saw them in other things ten years ago.  It also suffers from a really uneven tone that's highlighted by the lack of awareness of the many cliches it relies upon, up to and including the ending of the first Pokemon movie - but hey, if that shit was good enough for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, then it's good enough for anything!  The script is also just not good.
A poor outing.

Ted is odd for a Seth McFarlane story in that it's message of "being an obnoxious dick is something you should grow out of eventually" is kind of like Nuts or Zoo running articles about how you shouldn't wank to pictures of half-dressed Hollyoaks actresses, because it is basically slapping McFarlane's fans in the face.  Ted himself should really be a detestable creature, but he just sounds like someone's dad stumbling on good advice every now and then, like when he tells Marky Mark to man up and make an effort with his girlfriend and stop whining like a child at his own bad decisions, ultimately making Ted devoid of the malice that usually mars Mcfarlane anthropomorphic creations like Roger or Brian.  Its got a predictable plot in the same way Paul has, but it makes up for it by having the bits in between actually be funny.  Surprisingly good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 December, 2012, 07:49:22 PM
Die Hard
Gremlins
Home Alone 1&2
Knowing Me, Knowing Yule
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Scrooged!

That's most of my Christmas films out the way - just need to fit The Box of Delights in sometime before Tuesday!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 December, 2012, 09:32:21 PM

The Legend of Hell House - 1973. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJhdMwOtRU)

Cheesy in the extreme, but i love it. And its made that little bit scarier by watching it at this time of year.
(The film is set late December,  ;)).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 December, 2012, 09:43:06 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 December, 2012, 09:32:21 PM

The Legend of Hell House - 1973. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJhdMwOtRU)

Cheesy in the extreme, but i love it. And its made that little bit scarier by watching it at this time of year.
(The film is set late December,  ;)).

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds this still scary- bits of Legend genuinely give me the willies. The big ghost-hoover is very silly, but surrounding that is a deeply wonderful horror film. Must watch it again very soon.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 21 December, 2012, 06:13:32 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 December, 2012, 09:32:21 PM

The Legend of Hell House - 1973. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJhdMwOtRU)

Cheesy in the extreme, but i love it. And its made that little bit scarier by watching it at this time of year.
(The film is set late December,  ;)).

Absolutely superb film (with a Delia Derbyshire soundtrack, no less!) Roddy McDowall gets some of the choicest dialogue of his career in this one: the bit where he lists all the deviant activities that have taken place in the house is pitch-perfect in its delivery and remains one of my favourite moments in a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2012, 09:19:51 AM
Watched Dario Argento's Suspiria last night. Still a stone cold classic of film making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 December, 2012, 09:58:05 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 December, 2012, 09:19:51 AM
Watched Dario Argento's Suspiria last night. Still a stone cold classic of film making.

Having seen this film not to long ago it worries me deeply. Not for the reasons its meant to but 'cos I think I'm the only person that thinks its hack nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 December, 2012, 10:01:01 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 December, 2012, 09:58:05 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 December, 2012, 09:19:51 AM
Watched Dario Argento's Suspiria last night. Still a stone cold classic of film making.

Having seen this film not to long ago it worries me deeply. Not for the reasons its meant to but 'cos I think I'm the only person that thinks its hack nonsense.
No, no you're not.
I think Agrento is a director of meagre talent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2012, 10:56:11 AM
Argento is very much a prodigy of Mario Bava, but it has to be said that Suspiria maxes the Bava chique to the extreme. It's a great film, though Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Deep red tie as my favourat Argent efferts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 21 December, 2012, 10:57:53 AM
MIB3. Really enjoyed it. Much more than I thought I would. Thought K was looking old though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 21 December, 2012, 11:01:21 AM
I just watched the Legend of Hell House last night for the first time. Its brilliant. And Pamela Franklin was a hottie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 December, 2012, 11:16:43 AM
The Hobbit (proper-ish review elsewhere)

Cringing at the thought of another six hours of this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 22 December, 2012, 08:04:19 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 21 December, 2012, 10:57:53 AM
MIB3. Really enjoyed it. Much more than I thought I would. Thought K was looking old though.

He is old
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 23 December, 2012, 04:06:57 PM
The Hobbit. Good, but I'm only gonna list the negatives, because I'm like that! Battle scenes went on for far too long! And it's not just that they dragged on a bit, like what could be said of the last fight scene in The Raid, but for me this went past the point of slightly irritant, to the stage where every time someone started running with there sword I genuinely wanted to fast forward, and by the time it came to what was the most important or pivotal (the last one then) fight of the film, I just lost interest because of how much had been taken up before hand by the same thing; I suppose that's one of the ways they intended to pad the films out! Also the visual effects were not as good as I had expected (but then again I suppose this 'journey' was supposed to be 'unexpected'! Do you see what I did there? No. Okay.), I actually felt in a lot of places they were sub-par; I feel I can say that about a film with this budget, from such creators, and with the fact that the effects in LOTR were so good (I know it's a ll relative to what they were capable of when etc) and what can be done now and the fact that WETA were involved. This was especially apparent on the wolves the orcs ride (can't remember their names, is it wargs?). And the pale-orc was just really lack lutre, mainly in appearance I suppose.
But hey, I enjoyed the film quite a bit nonetheless!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 December, 2012, 05:42:21 AM
Watched Empire and Jedi with my girls over the weekend.  Xmas just isn't complete without at least one Star Wars film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 24 December, 2012, 11:56:19 AM
Expendables 2 - Felt too much like a video game shoot-out fest too many times, but that's not why you watch this ridiculous thing - you watch it for the old timers making fun of themselves! Hilarious, regardless of the awkward deliveries and stretched thin faces. Stand-out - Jean Claude van Damme makes a brilliant villain.

Prometheus -  If we really are so stupid when we get to the space-faring stage in our evolution, we deserve everything we get. Idiots. Other than that, what a waste of Charlize. Anyway, regardless of being disappointed in the meat of the movie, I wasn't bored so there is that to say about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 24 December, 2012, 12:17:25 PM
The Wrath of Khan.
Love this film, easily my favorite of the original cast movies. Some of the special effects like a bit ropey by today's standard, but an enjoyable watch none the less.

Second best is probably Undiscovered Country, and third, the original motion picture.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 December, 2012, 02:54:47 PM
No love for the one with the whales then?  I agree though - WoK is the best by far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2012, 06:40:39 PM
Rise of the Guardians with the family today. Surprisingly, I really, really liked this. Wich is a bit of a shock because very little from Dream Works has interested or even entertained me in years, yet here is something that is really quite moody and frankly original. It was a breath of fresh air ad I found myself enjoying it more and more. One of the best movies of the year? No, but certainly one i'll be revisiting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 December, 2012, 02:05:39 PM
They're doing The Snowman and The Snowdog right now. I can't help thinking that the kid leaving his stripy mittens on the dog's sides was a rather warped design idea. It makes it appear as if the dogs rig cage is exposed.

Or my mind just has a tendency to go to a dark place. Probably that. Seriously, it doesn't look right though.

Kudos to the artjists and animators keeping the same style as the original with that lovely pastel look though.

I'm not sure why they nicked that plane since Mr Snowman has that superman thing going on, but it made for some nice visuals.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 December, 2012, 02:20:12 PM
I wonder, did his parents let him [spoiler]keep that dog? Oy Junior! Where did you get that stray? I know you just lost Fido, but you can't just take someone else's mutt![/spoiler] Heh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 26 December, 2012, 10:01:30 PM
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
A friend got me this for Christmas thinking it would be funny and I'm now wondering if I should ever talk to this person again. I'll admit- the brutal reviews I found online and the fact it has "Brilliant"- Daily Star written across the cover had me assume it would be an enjoyable kind of bad but it really isn't. This is just a bad, bad film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 December, 2012, 02:28:15 PM
The Princess Bride - We watch this one every so often and I love it every time. This has to be Rob Reiner's best film. This film never loses it charm for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 27 December, 2012, 07:06:56 PM
Rob Reiner is a seriously underrated and versatile filmmaker. To my mind there isn't a single dud among his first 8 movies - a much higher hit rate than even the likes of Spielberg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 December, 2012, 07:15:12 PM
I love the Princess Bride, but of Reiner's films I still say This Is Spinal Tap is his best one. Agreed though, he's s fab filmmaker!

I've just finished watching Brave on my shiny new 32" 3D TV (sorry, its so awesome I'm probably going to be banging on about it for some time). The story was entertaining enough, and I loved the soundtrack (memories of the homeland!) but the visuals completely won me over. The lush scenery, and fluidly characterful animations, all in flawless 3D, were just stunning. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 December, 2012, 09:00:20 PM
Princess Bride is possibly my favourite film of all time. There's a few fighting for the title but its up there. The book is brilliant too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 December, 2012, 10:42:34 PM
Is a film automatically a Western just because it's set in a particular time and place or does it need some other element? Just watched Meek's Cutoff, a rather dull film about a small group of pioneers wandering aimlessly around the empty parts of America, unsure whether their guide is malevolent or simply incompetent. Very little action and the character-driven drama which could've saved never really gets going either.

Michelle Williams is pretty good as a feister than average woman in a bonnet but there's really very little to recommend this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 December, 2012, 11:09:56 PM
I'm about to watch Don't Mess With the Zohan. Me, a Stella and a bottle of Disarono. Never seen it before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 December, 2012, 11:59:49 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 27 December, 2012, 09:00:20 PM
Princess Bride is possibly my favourite film of all time. There's a few fighting for the title but its up there. The book is brilliant too.

Yep, the book is brill - very 'fourth wall' with the narrator cutting out what he describes as massive political diatribes, wasted on the modern reader.  An excellent read, and, dare I say it, better than the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 December, 2012, 12:03:47 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 24 December, 2012, 06:40:39 PM
Rise of the Guardians with the family today. Surprisingly, I really, really liked this. Wich is a bit of a shock because very little from Dream Works has interested or even entertained me in years, yet here is something that is really quite moody and frankly original. It was a breath of fresh air ad I found myself enjoying it more and more. One of the best movies of the year? No, but certainly one i'll be revisiting.

I was the same, i used to hate every output by Dreamworks but i really feel they have come of age. Some of their recent outputs have been superb such as the Kung Fu Panda double, How to train your dragon, hell even the last Shrek was brilliant. And their animation is now maybe on par with Pixar. On the other hand Pixar seem to be losing some of their magic. Cars 2 was a big disappointment and Brave felt more like a Disney output, not a Disney-PIXAR one.

Really looking forward to watching Rise of the Guardians.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 December, 2012, 01:32:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 24 December, 2012, 06:40:39 PM
Rise of the Guardians with the family today. Surprisingly, I really, really liked this.

Yeah, the whole family (41, 41, 6 and 3) went to the cinema together for the first time Christmas Eve, and we all thought it was great - not one fidget, not one toilet break, not one demand for more food and drink (and that was just the wife).  Absolutely exquisite animation and design, some good gags, maybe a bit short on ideas, and a resolution that I would have liked to have been slightly different ([spoiler]I'd have had Pitch and his nightmares accepted as a necessary part of childhood rather than banished from it [/spoiler]), but basically it's the best Pratchett that Pratchett never wrote.  Dual-wielding Santa in particular was brilliant.  That the Easter Bunny is Australian was a bit mystifying, what with Easter and Spring being unrelated in the antipodes, not to mention rabbits.  But hey, great sustained fun, and really lovely to look at.

Also on the kiddie rabbitcentric front, I finally saw the much-derided Burton Alice in Wonderland, which despite being misleadingly named, lacking a lot of the celebration of wit of the books and featuring the compulsory completely superfluous Lord of The Rings action sequence at the end was actually very enjoyable, and generally a satisfying and quite beautiful reworking of the material.  HBC's Red Queen was superb, and I normally can't stand that woman in anything.  My attention span may have been lengthened by the prospect of the gorgeous Mia Wasikowska repeatedly slipping or bursting out of her increasingly flimsy dresses, but so what.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 December, 2012, 10:20:16 PM
...And the class kids' movies keep coming with Brave.  The wife and girl had seen this in the cinema and raved about it, but I only watched the DVD with the kids today.  Magic.  Animation-wise some powerful and subtle work on body language and facial expressions, supported by the best animated hair/fur effects I've ever seen.  As far as characters and plot go, this film is virtually unique in my experience.  A kids' animated feature where both parents are alive and happily married, where the core relationship (and driver of the plot) is that of a young woman and her mother, and where the female lead is completely unencumbered by male interests (except as comedy backdrop)? From Disney?  Amazing, gawds bless Pixar.  All this plus some good gags and comedy turns, an involving plot and setting, and gorgeous backgrounds.  A bloody treasure of a thing.  I'll be watching this again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 December, 2012, 12:17:07 AM
Demolition Man has been the only thing I have been sober enough to watch this last week or so, and while fun, the tone is over the place and I'm not sure who it was aimed at, with gory deaths and motherfucker this and cocksucker that all over the place even though there's room to excise both in the name of the work itself via commentary on censorship and San Angeles' ambiguous morality laws.
I remember being distracted first time around by what the rest of the world was like seeing as it's always clear that the city is the work of an individual resident whose death even spells the end of the city's security and prosperity, but this time around it was nagging even more because it could have been sidelined easily by a comment or two about the city being walled off from a horrible world - both feeding back into the satire on LA culture by making the entire city essentially one huge privileged gated community, but also making it an inversion of the status quo established at the start of the film where LA is fenced off from the world because it's such a shithole.
It makes a good Dredd run-through right down to the romance subplot from nowhere between colleagues and the presence of Rob Schneider, but uneven tone aside, DM has a clear idea of the story it's telling even when that story doesn't make much sense, actually making a virtue of the inherent assumption required of the audience that Stallone's character is a hard-as-nails maverick cop with the chief on his ass who causes explosions everywhere he goes and has earned the name Demolition Man as the film starts, because the story doesn't establish this at any length and it's even a major plot point that he's actually hopelessly outclassed by his tax-dodging nemesis.  The story here is that we all know we're watching ephemeral, noisy shit, and on that score, DM delivers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 29 December, 2012, 10:14:02 AM
Total Recall 2012. The designs and the look of the mega cities is great and even the plot had some nice twists especially towards the end but my God the ridiculousness of the incompetent mooks was just unbelievable. A scene where hundreds of troops mange to miss the two rebels made imperial stormtroopers look like Annie Oakley. Up till then I'd put up with Farrell playing Farrell and admired Kate Beckinsale as psycho wife from hell. After that i predicted the bad guys ending ( [spoiler]lovely if rather imporable lift through the centre of the earth mahhn crashing back down.)[/spoiler],otherwise a watchable but uneven version that became just another action movie (evil empires,and Hollywoods denial of physics -jumping off a high building to another ledge in those heels darling? Don't think so).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 December, 2012, 05:12:08 PM
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  What a very, very strange film that was.  Essentially a kids' movie that goes out of its way to not be for kids, and I'm very glad the wife and I left them with their uncle for an early morning 3D 48fps Hi-Def viewing. 

Now I love The Hobbit and LotR and I love (most of) the LotR films, and I'm a fan of Jackson as a helm as well, and I enjoyed this long cinema outing very much.  Even so I was gobsmacked by a slew of almost unforgivable flaws, almost of all of which can be summarised as unspeakably lazy filmmaking.  Acres of the film were ludicrously, pointlessly flabby, almost as if nobody could be bothered editing it or indeed adapting it and just cut a full-length reading of the book with some OTT action scenes and some heavy talky prequelism. 

I was absolutely delighted to see so much the whimsy and charm of the book represented on screen, with faithful delivery of lines and representations of some of the sillier characters and situations - Barry Humphey's Great Goblin was just spellbinding, the Trolls were suitably amusing and the Dali-like realisation of the mountain Giants was very impressive.  The dwarves' singing and washing-up routines were beautifully executed, and Ken Stott's wonderful Balin sold the whole group perfectly.  Similar in tone if not in source Sylvester McCoy's Radagast and his furry/feathered  chums were scene-stealers.  I was also pleased to see that Thorin's company weren't all tooled-up Warhammer warriors, but were well-leavened with doddery largely harmless folk.  A very pleasant divergence from the grim doom-laden atmosphere of LotR, and a very solid children's film.

Unfortunately this rather fine work was interspersed with incredibly long repetitive (if impressive) action sequences, rendered almost indecipherable by having no less than 14 heroes to keep track of amidst hundreds of foes.  Why did we need to see [spoiler]Radagast and the wargs swooping past the company[/spoiler] four times?  How many collapsing/swinging walkways can you fit into one sequence?  How many different ways can dwarves get knocked aside by trolls?  Any of the action sequences could have een halved in length and been better for it.  The hopelessly contrived almost-risible conclusion-a-third-of-the-way-through-the-book was actually the action scene that worked best, because it kept most of the characters out of the way and you could actually see some motivation and resolution rather than endless running-and-swinging.

And then there's the overindulgent nonsense, long sequences of mindless relentless exposition, a reprehensibly unnecessary scene with Frodo that derailed the opening completely, a 'Riddles in the Dark' scene that seems to be the full text of that chapter delivered slowly and ponderously... someone in authority needs to realise that is is a film, not a 20-part radio serial or 60 hour audio book.  I just can't imagine my kids sitting through this, which is a shame, because there's so much that's worth their time.

As to the look of the thing, well wow.  The 3D was truly excellent for a change, adding depth and even texture with no obvious loss of clarity of movement or darkening of lighting, or even inducing of headaches, and after a few double-takes the 48fps really seemed to infuse everything with an almost shocking realism - I thought it supported the merging of CGI and real/model elements brilliantly.  Some odd sped-up-movement effects when viewed out of the corner of my eyes, and a bit of a shock at the start, but on the whole I thought it worked great. I loved Erebor, I loved Radagast's home, I loved Hobbiton and Rivendell all over again, I even loved the insanity of Goblin Town  The New Zealand Tourist Board ad breaks every half hour or so were as wonderful as ever.

When this film was being itself, it was superb.  When it was trying to be Temple of Doom, The Mummy or Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, it was deeply frustrating.  If Jackson can spare some time to actually edit the next two instalments into actual films I have very high hopes, and I'll be first in the queue regardless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 December, 2012, 07:05:38 PM
The film versions of the Millennium Trilogy.

Is the extended versions boxset worth tracking down?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 30 December, 2012, 01:45:33 AM
Two Russian films on dvd: Come and See followed by Battleship Potemkin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 30 December, 2012, 02:46:24 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 December, 2012, 07:05:38 PM
The film versions of the Millennium Trilogy.

Is the extended versions boxset worth tracking down?

YES! I have this, and there's a fair bit of stuff in the six 90-minute episodes that was cut from the movies. Methinks I'm due for a re-watch soon.

We have visitors at the mo, so tonight we watched the first Tobey Maguire Spiderman. The action scenes are still fun, but it hasn't dated so well. Dear lord... Dafoe is awful as the Green Goblin. Real scenery chewing stuff. And the script has a few wince inducing lines that seemed so much less of an issue way back.

Still - Spidey 2 tomorrow night! And I genuinely LOVE that one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 December, 2012, 11:17:32 AM
Ive not seen COME AND SEE for ages. Great, grim stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 December, 2012, 01:50:32 PM
For two days now i've been trying to say that i saw 'Harry and the Hendersons', and each time i've lost fucking reception before being able to post.

Well, we saw it and it was bloody great, as it was when i went to the cinema to see it back in december 1988.

So there.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 December, 2012, 01:52:02 PM
Thank christ for that.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 30 December, 2012, 03:16:50 PM
Total Recall, 2012 - Interesting ideas and effects. Found Farrell, Beckinsale and Biel too bland. Actually, the whole movie could have used some spark; there was a distinct lack of something something.

Premium Rush, 2012 - Joseph Gordon Levitt biking dangerously. Good fun, and funny, ending could have been better. If you shake your fists at some cyclists in the city though, like I do, this film will show we are perfectly valid to shake shake shake.

Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012 - Stunning visuals. Chris Hemsworth again very watchable. A sequel is coming but I didn't find it interesting enough to warrant one.

Mirror Mirror, 2012 - Snow White again, the funny version. With bollywood bhangra even. Quirky, uneven, and Julia Roberts in some far out gowns.

Hunger Games, 2012 - Whoever dismisses this as a Battle Royale rip-off? Similar injustice as with Dredd and Raid comparisons. Good movie, good story. They took away a lot of the gore but the tension comes through loud and clear and Jennifer Lawrence is great.

Lawless, 2012 - I know a lot of people who want to slap Shia and this movie will just make you want to do that some more. Guy Pearce doing a wierdo outing. Without eyebrows.

Lockout, 2012 - Fun. Defo Snake in Space with a more dry and witty Guy Pearce.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 30 December, 2012, 06:01:18 PM
Point of (hopefully useful) trivia for those who are into their Total Recall (which seems to be getting a few mentions lately).

The TV series 'Total Recal 2070', which mashes Total Recall with Bladerunner, is currently available from legit sellers on Ebay for not much more than a tenner. Worth chcecking out!

Xenia Seeberg crops up somewhere, as I recall. Now that's GOTTA make it worthwhile, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 03:34:56 PM
Silent Running.

Boring as hell!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 December, 2012, 04:17:37 PM
So... the Good Lady and I got Cineworld Unlimited Cards this year, which has rather bumped up our cinema attendance. So, briefly and roughly in order:

Safe: Statham vehicle. Nicely downbeat 70s thriller vibe to it; oddly mis-paced ending.

Snow White & The Huntsman: Visually impressive. Sundry dwarves, watchable turn by Hemsworth (wandering accent notwithstanding) and a bit of a show-stealer from Theron almost compensate for the personality-free void at the heart of the movie with whatserface as Snow White.

Lawless: Cracking film. Violent. Surprisingly funny. Shameless scenery-chewing from Guy Pearce made for a truly odious villain.

Expendables 2: Oddly, I liked the first film better because it played with a straighter face. The fourth-wall-breaking playing to the audience heavily spoiled this for me.

Dark Knight Rises: Probably doesn't stand up to repeated viewing, but as an 'event' movie it rattled past at a quick enough pace to (just about) skate over its plotholes and delivered enough thrills and spectacle for me to be satisfied at the end.

The Raid: 90 fat-free minutes of bone-crunching violence. There's a point near the end where I had to physically restrain myself from shouting at the screen: "Will somebody kill this son-of-a-bitch?!"

Avengers: Now equally placed with The Incredibles as "Best Superhero Movie Ever". Insert obligatory rant about Marvel's inability to grasp the significance of the success of recent Marvel movies that resemble nothing so much as the comics that Marvel simply doesn't make any more. Enormous, joyous fun.

Looper: Nowhere near as clever as it thought it was. If you're going to try and show off how intelligent your film is, it's probably best not to have brain-fuckingly stupid plotholes and nonsensical inconsistencies riddling the narrative.

Dredd 3D: Is there any point in my typing anything here? I liked it. A couple of duff notes (for me) eclipsed by Urban's pitch-perfect Dredd and Thirlby's revelatory performance as Anderson. A no-nonsense action movie that does justice (har!) to my favourite comic character and which is practically a feminist tract? Blimey.

Brave: Not sure why this got such lukewarm reviews. A major genre movie about a girl's relationship with her mother in which all the male characters are entirely superfluous? Add in a healthy amount of charm, a plot that wanders off in a slightly unexpected direction, some decent jokes and another bar-raising set of visuals from Pixar's animators... Well, I enjoyed it!

Skyfall: A bit schizophrenic on this one. Sorry to see the leaner, meaner aspects of Craig's Bond fall by the wayside, but kind of offset by the geeky thrill of some of the classic Bond elements being reintroduced/rebuilt. Definitely felt like I'd had my money's worth by the end.

Gremlins: Special one-off showing just before Christmas. Haven't seen it for years and I'd forgotten what gleefully nasty fun it was.

The Hobbit: didn't feel like a 2:45 film. Felt like 3hrs in the welcome company of old friends. Could it have been shorter? Yes, but it didn't feel overlong to me. Delighted to see the songs preserved, and the lighter tone seemed entirely appropriate given the different tone of the book from LotR.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 31 December, 2012, 04:41:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 03:34:56 PM
Silent Running.

Boring as hell!

Philistine! Sacrilege! Burn the unbeliever (but not using trees)!

:D

Shame you don't like it. I thought it was a deeply moving film, but horses for courses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 04:46:56 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 31 December, 2012, 04:41:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 03:34:56 PM
Silent Running.

Boring as hell!

Philistine! Sacrilege! Burn the unbeliever (but not using trees)!

:D

Shame you don't like it. I thought it was a deeply moving film, but horses for courses.

I think it would have made a pretty good Outer Limits episode but the story wasn't strong enough to justify the running time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 31 December, 2012, 11:36:07 PM
Took a chance and got 'Grabbers' off of iTunes.. "Sláinte.." Classic.. Like Tremors but moist. Very cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 January, 2013, 12:48:08 AM
Avengers (Assemble).  Even better than the first time I watched it, an incredibly skilful and consistently entertaining movie that actually gives The Incredibles a run for its money and similarly manages to make superheroes both likeable and heroic.

Kickass.  I don't really get this, despite having enjoyed the comic.  It's well made, well acted and well choreographed, but it seems to completely desert its central premise early on and turn into just another overly violent superhero thing.  Ah well.

2012.  Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.  On stop, please, please stop. You just can't intercut a Universal Studios themepark ride with tear-jerking Sophie's Choice scenes of families torn apart by the end of the world and then play it as Mars Attacks and expect anyone to give a crap.  I've never seen a man look as embarrassed as John Cusack looks in this as he tries and fails to look interested in what's happening on the green screens and charmless central-casting family that surround him.  Holy crap, what a senseless waste.

Thank Grud for Jools Holland, Father Ted and cheap booze.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 01 January, 2013, 01:17:45 AM
Watched hugo tonight, the oldest two were up with us for the new year, great film, really enjoyed it. Its al about the story that makes a good film, and this has a it. Kids liked it too, Brendan didnt like to robot though, he has no problem with General Grievous and a bit of violence though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DeFuzzed on 01 January, 2013, 04:30:25 PM
Amazing Spiderman, 2012 - Surprisingly, I liked it. I didn't think I would and there were bits that were off for me, like some strained wise-cracking from Spidey, but with the dad's secret research and the clever use of the webbing, I was pretty much won over. Garfield still not my ideal Peter but he's not bad, does the whole spastic dork thing very naturally.

Looper, 2012 - Agree it's overrated. Still an entertaining movie. And the thing with JGL's face was very well done. Proper creepy little boy, like the new Cameron Bright.

Skyfall, 2012 - Gorgeous looking film. Liked Q better on second viewing. Loved the baddie and loved Bond, a great third outing.

Battleship, 2012 - Forgettable, dragged on. I thought Kitsch was fine in John Carter but his character here was very hard to feel for.

Taken 2, 2012 - Taken, in Istanbul. Prefer the first, although you could tell more money was thrown at this one.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 05:34:26 PM
Watched The Devils with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave last night. Haven't gone near the bundles of extras with it yet. Maybe a small bit over-hyped but I liked it and it made me want to pick a few French history books so that has to be a good thing, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 January, 2013, 06:23:48 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 04:46:56 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 31 December, 2012, 04:41:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 December, 2012, 03:34:56 PM
Silent Running.

Boring as hell!

Philistine! Sacrilege! Burn the unbeliever (but not using trees)!

:D

Shame you don't like it. I thought it was a deeply moving film, but horses for courses.

I think it would have made a pretty good Outer Limits episode but the story wasn't strong enough to justify the running time.

Silent Running is a great film, but very much of its time. Snagged the Blu-Ray recently, and not having seen it in a good while, i did think it had dated somewhat. Visually it has a fantstic look, and one thats been copied quite a bit. Check out Moon, for example.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 January, 2013, 07:03:14 PM
I watched Never Let Me Go, DNA's prior film to DREDD.

I liked it a lot, but it kinda left me a little unsatisfied. A gorgeous looking film, an outstanding cast (including Dredd's Domhnall Gleeson) and a compelling concept that is never quite explored as much as I wanted it to be. Perhaps I'm missing the point like those idiots who slag off Children of Men because the infertility crisis is never explained - it just IS and you have to go along with it - but I just kept wondering how the central conceit of the film worked, why characters behaved the way they did etc, and it rather spoiled the film for me.

Definitely worth a watch though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 January, 2013, 07:07:44 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 05:34:26 PM
Watched The Devils with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave last night. Haven't gone near the bundles of extras with it yet. Maybe a small bit over-hyped but I liked it and it made me want to pick a few French history books so that has to be a good thing, right?

Ken Russell's sensibility (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9c4miiUQbc/TtTZ6RFkGBI/AAAAAAAADDE/pzha7zzqFTY/s1600/ken.jpg) is an acquired taste, I suppose, but the cinematography and the boy Jarman's production design mean there's a visual feast to keep your dander up during the longueurs. Understood as the version of Nemesis which Mills and O'Neill would have made if they'd published it as their follow-up to Marshal Law - rather than as an adventure strip in a comic for wee boys in 1980 - it makes a lot of sense. Scenes of nun orgies, the figurative rape of Christ, and ossuary-wanking were tailor made for the Savage Pencil (http://www.savagepencil.com/art/) of Buster's most illustrious office boy.

I've seen myself through the dull bits in a few Clint and John Wayne films by superimposing a judge's helmet onto their heads, but you don't even need to imagine the Termite fashions (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh254/seniyisimi/thedevils5vb9op7.png) in some of the scenes in this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 08:07:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 January, 2013, 07:07:44 PMUnderstood as the version of Nemesis which Mills and O'Neill would have made if they'd published it as their follow-up to Marshal Law - rather than as an adventure strip in a comic for wee boys in 1980 - it makes a lot of sense.

Nemesis Book Seven looks like it uses as a big reference too - check out The Spanish Torquemada and Father Mignon (http://www.cageyfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Devils_20.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 January, 2013, 08:59:05 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 05:34:26 PM
Watched The Devils with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave last night. Haven't gone near the bundles of extras with it yet.

Ive yet to see this film, though the various Documentaries and reviews, along with the film's chequered past, have piqued my interest.
And while i agree that Russell's films are an acquired taste it would appear, given the subject matter, that the more OTT elements are perhaps justified on this occasion.

Is this the BFI produced DVD Ancient Otter? If so, ive given a mind to snagging this - and it does appear to come with a quite nice print of the film, plus a decent set of extras.

Warner Bros (who leased the film to the BFI for this release) lose big points though for not allowing the BFI to give it a Blu-Ray release, or allow the recently-ish found censored scenes to be either; re-instated back into the film - though annoyingly this 'full cut' has had a DVD release in other regions, albeit with a vastly inferior print quality, or be shown - in full, as a seperate feature. Though im led to believe you do see glimpses of these on one of the extras?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 January, 2013, 09:42:35 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 08:07:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 January, 2013, 07:07:44 PMUnderstood as the version of Nemesis which Mills and O'Neill would have made if they'd published it as their follow-up to Marshal Law - rather than as an adventure strip in a comic for wee boys in 1980 - it makes a lot of sense.

Nemesis Book Seven looks like it uses as a big reference too - check out The Spanish Torquemada and Father Mignon (http://www.cageyfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Devils_20.jpg)

Ah, go on, Father - you'll have a cup of tea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 January, 2013, 09:50:16 PM



The cock & balls shaped bone-dildo is my fave bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 10:03:53 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 01 January, 2013, 08:59:05 PMIs this the BFI produced DVD Ancient Otter? If so, ive given a mind to snagging this - and it does appear to come with a quite nice print of the film, plus a decent set of extras.
......
Warner Bros (who leased the film to the BFI for this release) lose big points though for not allowing the BFI to give it a Blu-Ray release, or allow the recently-ish found censored scenes to be either; re-instated back into the film - though annoyingly this 'full cut' has had a DVD release in other regions, albeit with a vastly inferior print quality, or be shown - in full, as a seperate feature. Though im led to believe you do see glimpses of these on one of the extras?

Though im led to believe you do see glimpses of these on one of the extras?

It is the BFI edition I picked up, but I haven't seen the extras. Going through the listings (http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_21668.html), I don't think it has thr glimpses of the full cut you are looking for though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 January, 2013, 10:16:54 PM
And the missing scene's where only shown for the first time earlier this year in the UK for years at a big screen showing. Doub't we'll see it on home video for a while, though I hear Crtierion across the pond have aquired the right's and will possibly be the completely uncut edition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 January, 2013, 10:28:41 PM
Thanks to You-Tube; the censored/cut scenes were shown within the Channel Four Hell on Earth documentary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xeg1yIvalSo) at around the 38 minute mark. The doc, going by the listings, appears on Disc Two of the BFI release.
Quite a decent package, and one ill have to track down. Shame that it wasnt allowed a Blu-Ray release though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 January, 2013, 12:07:07 AM
Up.

Well technically it was Robin Hood, but I didn't see that all the way through. (What I saw wasn't as bad as I've been led to believe. Actually, it wasn't bad at all.)

Anyway, back to Up. I nice touching uplifting Pixar film which wasn't afraid to be rather sad in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 01:59:36 AM
Brave.  I haven't seen all of Pixar's films so I shan't say this is the worst of them, but it's certainly the one I've enjoyed least even with all the positives in its favor.  It feels more like one of those harmless but unexciting cgi films that studios knock out when they try to move into animation but then give up and put it out on Netflix or as a dvd rather than in theatres and people go "well it was alright, I suppose."  There's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing - even that lantern bit in Tangled made sense in context.
It's not terrible, it just felt like they weren't trying very hard this time out.  Maybe the next one will be better.

Amazing Spider-Man - also meh.  Not terrible or owt, more like an above-average tv pilot than a multi-million dollar 2012 blockbuster.  Also covers a lot of the same ground as MTV's Teen Wolf (which came out long before ASM), right down to oddly-similar scenes and relationships between certain characters, with Dennis Leary even looking like the "dad of GF" character from TW.  If it had been smarter or more inventive, my having seen it all before might not have been that big an issue, but as it is it's just an MOR teen flick with no distinguishing traits.

Stolen - MOR thriller starring Nic Cage.  Not much about it that's memorable, but compared to some of cage's recent offerings - including the bizarrely-lauded but completely awful Bad Lieutenant: Nawlins - it is practically a masterpiece.  Pegged as a sort of Taken rip-off and fair enough there's some story similarity with the kidnapped daughter angle, though it lacks Taken's sadism and racism.  Pretty average all round, but watchable if you like to be reminded that Cage has a setting on his dial other than "crying" and "total loon".

Firewalker - low-budget PG-rated thriller from the mid-80s starring Chuck Norris and Louis Gosset Jr.  Dated badly, I managed about 20 minutes before thinking "hang on, this is that cunt who wants to make gay children cry" and turned off.  No regrets.

Muppet Christmas Carol - every Christmas.  No regrets.  The best adaptation of the Dickens original by a country mile because it suckers you in with puppet singalongs and then throws the sheer soul-destroying darkness of a world without love in your pie-stuffed facehole.  Michael Caine doing a musical number never fails to make me smile just as the sight of Kermit's "life is a series of meetings and partings" speech as he laments his dead child never fails to cause a teary eye.  Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 January, 2013, 09:09:01 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 01:59:36 AMThere's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing...

That the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?  I'm not sure about the specific shots, but I think the overall segment is significant enough in what is really a character piece.  There certainly is quite a bit of wilful swooshing about the scenery in the film, but it is all very pretty.  Have to say, I was massively impressed by Brave - I honestly can't think of an animated film that even attempts the things it does.  There are some uneven bits - the triplets don't get half enough to do, and the comedy witch (while hilarious) is maybe a bit incongruous.

Meanwhile, Robin Hood.  No, not quite as bad as I had imagined.  Some very nice costuming and set dressing, and the grimy Merry Men and their folk-rock hoedowns were very amusing, but deary me, Crowe and Blanchett are utterly hopeless together and the ghastly plot made me wince repeatedly ("We demand a Charter!  A Big Charter!  Or better yet, the Latin equivalent...").  There's an okay Robin Hood film there somewhere, and an okay Magna Carta film in there too, but smushed together they are a horrible mess.

*If so, 'phallic' isn't far off!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 January, 2013, 10:25:00 AM
Quote from: TotalHack on 02 January, 2013, 09:09:01 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 01:59:36 AMThere's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing...

That the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?  I'm not sure about the specific shots, but I think the overall segment is significant enough in what is really a character piece.  There certainly is quite a bit of wilful swooshing about the scenery in the film, but it is all very pretty.  Have to say, I was massively impressed by Brave - I honestly can't think of an animated film that even attempts the things it does.  There are some uneven bits - the triplets don't get half enough to do, and the comedy witch (while hilarious) is maybe a bit incongruous.

I really, really enjoyed Brave.  I watched it for a second time with the kids yesterday, and found myself laughing out loud at many places, alongside the kids, who thought it was a riot. 

Re the waterfall/phallic rock scene, that was when she was out and about 'being herself', and was all part of setting up her character - showing how, given the chance, she slips free of the bonds of responsible princess-ship and goes off and does her own thing - galloping around, firing off arrows, and exploring places few dare to tread.  As such, I thought it worked really well.  Also, it gave us an opportunity to see some really beautiful animated landscapes.  In 3D on my new TV they were particularly good.

I agree re the triplets - definitely needed more of them, though the bits they were in were amusing.  Also, I agree the witch was shoehorned because of PLOT, and they could have made her more of an intrinsic character to the piece.  Did you wait until after the end credits for the final witch gag?

Other than that though, I thought it all went at a great pace, had some superb comedy moments, brilliant visuals, a totally fitting soundtrack, and was thoroughly entertaining.  If you ever get a chance to see it on blu-Ray 3D, do so.  It's all the more stunning. It could be I have a soft spot for the film 'cos it's set in Scotland, and is voiced predominantly by some of my fave scots - Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Kelly McDonald etc etc, but even outside of that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 12:31:13 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 02 January, 2013, 09:09:01 AMThat the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?

It didn't strike me as part of a montage or travelogue*: she jumps on a horse in the castle, runs off, climbs up a willy rock, camera pans about, then cut to her riding back into the castle again.  It is entirely superfluous to the story or building her character within the story, partially because we've already seen her character being built in other scenes but mainly because she's already told you she likes to rebel against her middle class upbringing via an opening narration that borders on infodump (another big problem for me was the flat and occasionally clumsy dialog, which was a contrast to how tight a Pixar script usually is IMO).  Even the film itself doesn't think much of this scene's contribution to the narrative, as the character tries to bring up her mountain-climbing at the dinner table only for it to be ignored in favor of talk of marriage.



* It could have been used to perhaps establish the rough geography of the kingdom where the ruined castle where the bear lives or a local village - if there were regular people in the film apart from royalty and their servants - was located in relation to Meridia's home, but even that's flubbed and there's no sense of the size or shape of the place beyond swooshy landscape shots.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 January, 2013, 01:01:08 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 12:31:13 PM
Even the film itself doesn't think much of this scene's contribution to the narrative, as the character tries to bring up her mountain-climbing at the dinner table only for it to be ignored in favor of talk of marriage.

It made perfect sense in relation to the narrative - check out the reactions of each parent to that bit of info.  It established the Chief was very interested in her daughters antics, and could see a lot of himself in her.  It also showed the Queen had her head too stuck in the politics of the kingdom to give a damn what her daughter had been up to on her only day off.  This served to further set up the conflict between mother and daughter which has to be overcome to the successful conclusion of the film.  It was almost totally narrative!

I rest my case, m'lud.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 January, 2013, 01:29:10 PM
I'm with the Monkey rather than the Bear on this point.  That dismissal of her climbing adventures is actually a pretty pivotal scene in establishing the key relationships.  As to the dialogue, it was definitely looser than Pixar's usual, but OTOH it felt very natural, even appearing to be partially ad-libbed in Kelly McDonald's case (not that I'm suggested it actually was), and the consistent use of 'Mum' was both surprising and very welcome*. 

We need Roger back to mock my mawkish one-dimensionality, but this is one of relatively few films where I feel the family relationships and their consequences are something I'm really happy to have my kids learn from.  As noted earlier, there are very, very few kids' films that show a functional loving two-parent family, and explore the conflicts within that setup. as opposed to the innumerable ones where the death of one parent or break-up of the family are the starting point and/or problem to be resolved. 

(Obviously I'm not casting aspersions on the quality of one-parent or two-home families, but those situations are the bread and butter of kids' movies). 


*Quiet, you preverts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2013, 01:48:00 PM
Last night of the holidays, so instead of getting an early night to be fresh for going back to work this morning, me and my girlfriend decided instead to stay up til 3 in the morning watching The Terminator and Terminator 2 back to back - heaven!

She'd never seen the original before, and only dimly remembered seeing T2 some years ago, and loved both. Going to try and get her to watch Alien/Aliens soon (she's never seen either!).

I've always preferred T2, purely because of the fact it's the one I saw the most as a kid - but watching them back to back really reinforces how much better a film the original is. It lacks the spectacle, but is so much tighter and self-contained as a story, and tbh now I'm older there are many moments in T2 that seem a bit mawkish, goofy, over the top and cheesy, whereas the original has a really consistent tone throughout. Even the soundtrack of The Terminator now seems much cooler - I remember it sounding really dated in the nineties, but it's now swung around to being cool again - I guess because it's very John Carpenter-esque. The original also looks surprisingly awesome on Blu Ray for such an old/low budget film.

I'd literally watch both again right now if I could.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2013, 02:05:45 PM
Fair enough if you thought it added something to proceedings, my point was merely that if it was absent it wouldn't actually have made much - if any - difference to how the film played out.

As regards the two-parent family thing, I always assumed that paternal breakups being in everything was a symptom of the white collar of the average US screenwriter - mummy and daddy breaking up is a universal fear they can convincingly write about and use to connect with their audience more than "Obama made daddy's job at the slaughterhouse go away" or "the Serbs have taken my child to the rape camp."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 January, 2013, 11:19:29 PM
PROMETHEUS

Finally got around to watching this after getting it for Xmas, and really glad I did. Very much enjoyed- I assume it was telling a story about some kind of Intelligent Design and laying the seeds for a new trilogy- but to be honest, I just liked the groovy Lovecraftian monsters. The space medicine scene where Liz Shaw has the octopus monster baby taken out and her belly stapled was brilliant- and as for the the giant adult octopus that killed the big baldy bodybuilder man... well, it was R'yleh R'yleh fantastic!

None of it matters- it's just a timewasting sci-fi film- but I thought it was one of the best timewasting sci-fi films I've seen in ages. Loads of fun- Fassbender was great, as was Idris Wossname (even if his accent slipped a few times) Shame they ruined it by ending on that proto-Alien. I was hoping we'd get through the whole thing without explicitly referencing Giger's boring creatures.

A few niggles: Mainly the boring planet. In ALIEN they landed on windswept planet Hell- here, we find a planet mostly resembling Scotland in Spring. The space suits were very silly and there's no way I can reconcile that wonderful elephant-faced creature in ALIEN with a bunch of ridiculous playdoh-faced bodybuilders. Although just maybe the outrageously camp Engineers were always destined to unleash penis-monsters upon us. Maybe the whole thing is Ridley Scott's joke about God being gay- a big "fuck you" to the Church. All muscley, bald disco boys in tiny underpants. If that IS what Prometheus is all about, then I might just love it very much.

None of my niggles matter- it was massive fun and I'd happily watch the next one... when it's £7 on DVD, of course.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 03 January, 2013, 12:17:58 AM
I thought Prometheus was a bit shite, but this has made me like it just a little bit!
QuoteAlthough just maybe the outrageously camp Engineers were always destined to unleash penis-monsters upon us. Maybe the whole thing is Ridley Scott's joke about God being gay- a big "fuck you" to the Church. All muscley, bald disco boys in tiny underpants. If that IS what Prometheus is all about, then I might just love it very much.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 January, 2013, 12:21:19 AM
SBT sure does see gayness in a lot of films that other people don't.

Resident Evil: Retribution is still fresh in my memory so it is unfair to call it The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen this soon, but that is my first impulse.
Predictable, illogical, devoid of empathy or human emotion, poorly acted, fake and obtrusive CGI monsters and backgrounds, and a nonsensical script so poor that it actually gives up on its audience with the first frame which plays the opening action scene backwards and then gives you a recap of all the previous films because it so heavily references them - or at least the ones from which they could get the actors back in to make a return appearance for two whole minutes, not that I blame Colin Salmon as he's made it clear by now that he'll play in anything and isn't proud and I respect that, I really do, because he appeared in every episode of that BBC shit Some Girls and actually made an effort even when he could see he was the only one doing so.  Colin's all right in my book, I like a man who'll do panto when he wants to eat, but the rest of the cast - fuck me.  There's this one bloke playing (I presume) the guy from Resident Evil 4 and he is actually less convincing than his PS2 counterpart - I know that reads like one of those obvious "the puppet was less wooden than Bill Paxton" jokes about the Thunderbirds movie, but here it is actually completely correct, the guy barely moves when he speaks and delivers his lines like English isn't his first langidge, it's almost fascinating in itself to watch.  There's another lass - blonde woman - who in one scene just about convinced me she was standing upright, she is godawful and I am convinced she and the other dude are there only so the lead is not the worst actor onscreen.
At some point in this film series, I think it is far to say it stopped being about the videogames, and then shortly after that it stopped being about zombies, and at some point in this film it stopped even being a film, it just turned into an illogical series of retreads of scenes from Aliens and Godzilla and Lord of the Rings that make no sense even in the context of the movie's own story, which would be fine in a videogame but here is just insulting.  There's something wrong when two hot chicks dressed in skintight outfits are throwing down and all I can think is "what is this shit?  Where is it going?  How did it get here?  Is there really a God?  Can he know love as we do?"  It's just noise.  Pointless, unconvincing noise whose only positive point is that is that it is so loud and relentless that it will drown out the conversations being held in the theater by its target audience.

Complete and utter shit that fails on every level, if you like this film for any reason other than to masturbate to one or more of the cast, you need to take a good hard look at yourself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2013, 08:46:16 AM
I forget when i gave up on Resident Evil films- but it involved me wanting a movie about zombies, and instead getting a super-monster-zombie with built-in gun arm who looked like he'd accidentally strayed in from a later Hellraiser knock-off, walking through dry ice as Things Explode around him for precious little reason. Fuck that, i rightly thought.

As for wotserface, the lead woman- if ever there were an overrated piece of totty it's her. She has, numbered among her many faults, a bent face.

I'd imagine the target audience for these is several decades younger than me though, so it's a bit like slagging off 'Wolfblood' for not being 'The Howling' (except that Wolfblood is more fun than The Howling ever was).

As for the other- i have a very developed gaydar and a very strong appreciation of all things camp. You forget my oft-spoken wish to be a drag queen.

And more Prometheus campness: David (a 'perfect' man, like Michelangelo's one presumes), who buffs old men's feet and is pushed up against (cont)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2013, 08:49:17 AM
(cont) walls by a ball-breaking female commander in a catsuit, and then who, as she walks off, delivers a silent open-mouthed "ooh! Worthy of Kenneth himself.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 09:55:35 AM
I've said it before: Prometheus is a future camp classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 January, 2013, 10:27:35 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 02 January, 2013, 11:19:29 PMIn ALIEN they landed on windswept planet Hell- here, we find a planet mostly resembling Scotland in Spring.

Your point?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 January, 2013, 02:37:51 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2013, 08:46:16 AMI'd imagine the target audience for these is several decades younger than me though, so it's a bit like slagging off 'Wolfblood' for not being 'The Howling' (except that Wolfblood is more fun than The Howling ever was).

I like Wolfblood, but If I was going to slag it off, it would be for not being Teen Wolf (a high school teen drama about a werewolf that is based in a small white collar town) and for having really, really dodgy subtext like "Wild Wolfbloods" just being an analogue for Daily Mail-style thieving/kidnapping gyppos.  I also have some mild concern for the episode where the two kids spend a night on the moors together as wolves, as in the context of the show all their mates think they've been shagging, even though the viewer knows they've only been sniffing each other's bottoms.

Anyway, I don't think it's unreasonable to apply relative criticism to the Resident Evil films when they are so plainly and unapologetically derivative to the point they're now lifting scenes from other films without putting them into the context of the film you are currently watching.  I am pretty sure I would have found Retribution to be shite at any age, and I don't like the implication that just because you're 18 you can't tell when  movie has no redeeming value, if only because kids' entertainment is actually far more complex and insightful these days than it ever used to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 03:29:35 PM
QuoteI don't think it's unreasonable to apply relative criticism to the Resident Evil films when they are so plainly and unapologetically derivative to the point they're now lifting scenes from other films without putting them into the context of the film you are currently watching.

I've never seen a Resident Evil movie the whole way through, because why would I? But I saw the Red Letter Media review of the series, and as well as being hilarious, proved that those films are so, so much worse than I imagined they would be. Incompetently made, lazy and wildly derivative. It made the plot of the games look good. They showed the final fight from the fourth movie, and it's so pathetic - just one big slo mo fight, like a laughably inept Matrix parody, made a decade after people stopped copying The Matrix, and devoid of the context that made the Matrix fights make sense within the film. Apparently the fifth movie starts with a reversed fight scene, completely and shamelessly ripped off from the Dead Island trailer. It's like that Turkish Star Wars rip-off, minus the charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 03:32:47 PM
I watched one of the Resident Evil movies on tv a few months ago, and I literally had no idea what was happening from scene to scene in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 January, 2013, 03:59:17 PM
I would have put the target audience for Resident Evil movies at least four years younger than 18, prof. And at that age, they know shit-all about anything, but yes i take your point.

As i get older i really just know 90% of the time whether it's worth my while watching a movie. If im wrong, and i miss a gem- then, y'know, so what? It's only a movie, and they are the least of my pleasures. It's the reason i know i'll never see thw hobbit, or the dark knight rises, or (glimpses at the cinema as he walks past) Jack Reacher or Gangster Squad- whatever the hell they are.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 04:08:23 PM
QuoteI would have put the target audience for Resident Evil movies at least four years younger than 18, prof. And at that age, they know shit-all about anything

Disagree. I still love most of the films I loved at age 14 - teenage boys don't immediately go for lowest common denominator sludge just because it has pretty ladies and guns in it. I spotted a Resident Evil Blu Ray box set on my brother in law's shelf over christmas and he's much older than me. It's not age, it's a lack of taste and accepting safe mediocrity rather than taking a risk on something.

I've never really understood the attitude of people who sort of shrug and admit that Resident Evil/Underworld movies are shit, but continue to go and see them in the cinema regardless, because it's 'a bit of brainless fun'. If that's what you're after, I could name hundreds of brainless action movies that aren't turgid, lifeless shit that you could watch instead, you know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 January, 2013, 04:15:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 04:08:23 PM
I've never really understood the attitude of people who sort of shrug and admit that Resident Evil/Underworld movies are shit, but continue to go and see them in the cinema regardless

Surely, it's just an extension of the same play-it-safe attitude that keeps McDonald's and its ilk in business? Yes, what you're going to get will be shit, but it will be just about palatable shit and, crucially, you know exactly what you're going to get.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 04:28:52 PM
Meh - occasionally I really fancy a McDonalds. The food's unhealthy rather than low-quality.

If Resident Evil were a restaurant it'd be one of those Aberdeen Steakhouses. No one has anything nice to say about them, but they're inexplicably profitable and kept afloat because they seem to draw a crowd of gullible people from overseas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 January, 2013, 05:11:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 January, 2013, 04:15:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 04:08:23 PM
I've never really understood the attitude of people who sort of shrug and admit that Resident Evil/Underworld movies are shit, but continue to go and see them in the cinema regardless

Surely, it's just an extension of the same play-it-safe attitude that keeps McDonald's and its ilk in business? Yes, what you're going to get will be shit, but it will be just about palatable shit and, crucially, you know exactly what you're going to get.

Cheers

Jim

Apart from the fact that I really like Big Macs I think this is spot-on.

I've been to see plenty of shit films like Resident Evil at the pictures (and I've known that they would be shit) purely through compromise.

If the cinema was showing a Jennifer Anniston rom-com, Texas Chainsaw 3D and the latest Resident Evil almost all mixed-sex groups of youngsters would be in the Resident Evil screening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 03 January, 2013, 05:16:00 PM
Watching Revenge of the Sith for the first time since I saw at the cinema.

Fuck me, it's a clunker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 January, 2013, 06:07:50 PM
Mission Impossible 2, yet again. I've never understood the bad rep this film gets. It's easily the best of the series and probably Woo's best US effort*. Sure, it overuses the rubber masks but it has some great fights and setpieces, a totally ludicrous motorbike chase, no Simon Pegg and, in Thandie Newton, an absolutely stunning leading lady who is also able to handle herself and be a useful member of the team. At least until she turns herself into the damsel in distress halfway through.

Dolph Lundgren directs himself as a family man living a double life as an enforcer for the Russian mob in The Killing Machine. It's a reasonably predictable series of double and triple-crosses, but the latter-day, grizzled Dolph is just right for the role: not a young man, but still dangerous to mess with. He's also improved as a director since Missionary Man, displaying a solid grasp of building tension in a scene although he's still too fond of voiceover, slow-mo and those whooshy jump cuts where a character walking through a door is suddenly in close up.

The budget for this one has stretched to a surprising amount of action too, with regular scraps throughout rather than the normal couple of big scenes at the start and finish.

* Obviously, this is nonsense. Face/Off is the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 07:57:14 PM
I like M:I 2 as well.

The Hobbit: I liked it. Saw it twice, in fact.
Jack Reacher: Really enjoyed this too. Not interested in the fact that the actor playing the lead character was not the same height as the character in the book. Apparently, Henry Cavill can't really fly and Sir Ian McKellen isn't an actual wizard.
Seven Psychopaths: utterly magnificent.
Brave: agree with TB and SM. Brilliant, beautiful and most importantly, empowering for your girls.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 January, 2013, 08:18:45 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 07:57:14 PM
and Sir Ian McKellen isn't an actual wizard.

LIES!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 08:35:55 PM
QuoteNot interested in the fact that the actor playing the lead character was not the same height as the character in the book.

I'm more worried about the size of his noggin:

(http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/t/tom-cruise-goes-badass-in-new-jack-reacher-poster-117953-00-1000-100.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 08:37:48 PM
Heh. That is photoshop-tasic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MIKE COLLINS on 04 January, 2013, 01:45:44 PM
Finally got around to seeing Battle: Los Angeles .

Hmm. Kinda like watching your hyperactive nephew play Call of Duty (now with added aliens!) 

And why does the director insist every 'quiet' scene is shot through/past something? Was this meant to by 3-D?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MIKE COLLINS on 04 January, 2013, 01:49:19 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 January, 2013, 08:35:55 PM
QuoteNot interested in the fact that the actor playing the lead character was not the same height as the character in the book.

I'm more worried about the size of his noggin:

(http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/t/tom-cruise-goes-badass-in-new-jack-reacher-poster-117953-00-1000-100.jpg)

Yep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 04 January, 2013, 03:25:55 PM
Quote from: MIKE COLLINS on 04 January, 2013, 01:45:44 PM
Finally got around to seeing Battle: Los Angeles .

Hmm. Kinda like watching your hyperactive nephew play Call of Duty (now with added aliens!) 

And why does the director insist every 'quiet' scene is shot through/past something? Was this meant to by 3-D?

Would guess so, much like the hostage scene at the start of Dredd, AKA 'why are we looking at this through a burger stand' in 2D.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 04 January, 2013, 03:36:50 PM
Just out of studio with my work's film of the week,

King Kong (1976) - that was so crap!

I like one quote when group of men found out that girl was taken by the Kong,

MAN 1: He's taken her.

MAN 2: Someone's taken her.

MAN 3: Who the hell do you think went through there, some guy in an ape suit?

Yeah Kong was man in ape suit!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 January, 2013, 04:49:55 PM
Believe it or not, Goaty, but IT GETS BETTER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyUm8hKIj0

edit: in fairness, I showed KKL to some kids who thought it was better than the Peter Jackson one.  I'm not sure I can argue with them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 January, 2013, 07:24:14 PM
Quote from: MIKE COLLINS on 04 January, 2013, 01:45:44 PM
Finally got around to seeing Battle: Los Angeles .

Hmm. Kinda like watching your hyperactive nephew play Call of Duty (now with added aliens!) 


Oddly enough, I watched this for the first time last night, and thought it was rubbish. Very well made, polished rubbish. But still rubbish.

Writing for movies seems to be at an all time low these days. At one point, when the lead character gives his pep-talk to the kid and brings his obligatory unruly suboardinate into line with a tough guy  'here's how it is' speech, I very nearly switched the movie off. AWFUL dialogue, cliched to the point that it wasn't even funny, and hideously acted. Hard pure corn, as my old man would put it.

I think the movie earns a few points back for knowing it's tosh and the producers making a fist of it - but I was disappointed at how little actual story there seemed to be, even given its simple premise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 04 January, 2013, 09:16:29 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 07:57:14 PM
I like M:I 2 as well.

The Hobbit: I liked it. Saw it twice, in fact.
Jack Reacher: Really enjoyed this too. Not interested in the fact that the actor playing the lead character was not the same height as the character in the book. Apparently, Henry Cavill can't really fly and Sir Ian McKellen isn't an actual wizard.
Seven Psychopaths: utterly magnificent.
Brave: agree with TB and SM. Brilliant, beautiful and most importantly, empowering for your girls.

The Reacher books are risible, but I think some physical resemblance helps

Would you have been happy with Paul Giamatti as Dredd?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 January, 2013, 11:44:33 PM
Underworld: Awakening. What a pile of shit. The 3D was crap too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 09:59:07 AM
Quote from: qtwerk on 04 January, 2013, 09:16:29 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 03 January, 2013, 07:57:14 PM
I like M:I 2 as well.

The Hobbit: I liked it. Saw it twice, in fact.
Jack Reacher: Really enjoyed this too. Not interested in the fact that the actor playing the lead character was not the same height as the character in the book. Apparently, Henry Cavill can't really fly and Sir Ian McKellen isn't an actual wizard.
Seven Psychopaths: utterly magnificent.
Brave: agree with TB and SM. Brilliant, beautiful and most importantly, empowering for your girls.

The Reacher books are risible, but I think some physical resemblance helps

Would you have been happy with Paul Giamatti as Dredd?

No, that would just be silly.
Cruise is an action star, provably bankable and can get movies made, that was why he was in the role, do you see?
Now, if you had asked me if I would have been happy with Cruise as Dredd, then I'd have said yes. It would have at least made its money back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 January, 2013, 04:32:28 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 09:59:07 AM

Now, if you had asked me if I would have been happy with Cruise as Dredd, then I'd have said yes. It would have at least made its money back.

But... but... but... :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 05 January, 2013, 05:48:33 PM
But the film would have been dwarfed by his ego, shortened to the attention span of the action hero movie-goer and wittled down to nothing of the Dredd we know.

And they'd have made a fortune. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 05:52:41 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 05 January, 2013, 05:48:33 PM
But the film would have been dwarfed by his ego, shortened to the attention span of the action hero movie-goer and wittled down to nothing of the Dredd we know.

And they'd have made a fortune. ;)

And you know this how..? Can't think of any other examples of movies being 'dwarfed by his ego'..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 05 January, 2013, 05:58:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 05:52:41 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 05 January, 2013, 05:48:33 PM
But the film would have been dwarfed by his ego, shortened to the attention span of the action hero movie-goer and wittled down to nothing of the Dredd we know.

And they'd have made a fortune. ;)

And you know this how..? Can't think of any other examples of movies being 'dwarfed by his ego'..!

I am merely jesting at his supposed lack of height.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 06:02:47 PM
He's not short!
He's the same height as me, and I'm not short... ummmm... ;-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 January, 2013, 06:37:45 PM
RICHMOND CLEMENTS IS STANDING ON A BOX!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 January, 2013, 07:30:45 PM
Just watched The Darkest Hour. Reasonable popcorn fodder I suppose. Nice to see Olivia Thirlby in something other than Dredd, though I can't say it was a standout performance. Some shonky 3D effects, but streets ahead of Underworld and Shark Night 3D.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 05 January, 2013, 08:56:07 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 January, 2013, 06:02:47 PM
He's not short!
He's the same height as me, and I'm not short... ummmm... ;-)

You look tall in your pictures. I'm 5foot 8 in my heels so I'm hardly William Wallace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 January, 2013, 09:16:18 PM
Just watched A Turtles Tale. It was a fairly soppy animated tale of 50 years in the life of a greenback turtle.  It had some interesting observations about human impact on the environment, and some thrills and spills on the way. Fairly entertaining, and I expect the kids will enjoy it.

However, there was one stand-out thing about it: the 3D! I think it even beat Brave for its excellent use of the medium. Shitloads of 'pop out of the screen' stuff, but this was nicely balanced with loads of depth stuff. A journey through the middle of a coral reef was a particularly fine 3D visual feast. If you have 3D tv this is definitely one to get.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 January, 2013, 11:08:28 PM
The Cabin in the Woods.

Fun movie. Felt very 1990s, but then all of Joss Whedon's stuff does to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 January, 2013, 12:38:42 AM
Quote from: HdE on 05 January, 2013, 06:37:45 PM
RICHMOND CLEMENTS IS STANDING ON A BOX!!!

He could be doing that thing Noisybast described Urban doing when he had his picture taken with fans; rising onto the tips of his toes just before the shutter clicks, so he always looks taller than everyone else in photos. I'm hoping Richmond takes this opportunity to re-post his trophy pic of himself nuzzling the very-tall-anyway Urban, because I could do with something to beat off to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 06 January, 2013, 10:25:27 AM
Have fun!
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A2K6elDCIAAXbuQ.jpg:large)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 January, 2013, 10:51:50 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 06 January, 2013, 10:25:27 AM
Have fun!

It's the panic in Urban's eyes which does it for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 January, 2013, 11:26:57 AM
it's that incredible shirt which may have psychotropic effects built in. :o :crazy:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 January, 2013, 11:55:39 AM
I ikethe heavage he's showing.

Has that picture been on Threadjacking yet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 06 January, 2013, 01:13:35 PM
The Chernobyl Diaries

Pretty decent mutant/zombie shocker, no real surprises, nicely done (& a very attractive blonde in it to boot) pleasant surprise after watching some real stinkers lately (Red Lights take the stage please..)

Defiance

Awesome, awesome movie about Jews escaping horrid Nazis, Wolverine's brother is especially good as ..erm James Bond's brother

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 January, 2013, 01:16:56 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 January, 2013, 11:55:39 AM
Has that picture been on Threadjacking yet?

It's been on Crimewatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 January, 2013, 01:25:32 PM
Quote from: El Chivo on 06 January, 2013, 01:13:35 PM
Defiance

Awesome, awesome movie about Jews escaping horrid Nazis, Wolverine's brother is especially good as ..erm James Bond's brother

Cheers

Chi

Id marked that film off in the Radio Times as one to watch, and then completely forgot it was on.
Thank Grud for the i-player, though. So, watching this tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 06 January, 2013, 11:15:28 PM
The Iron Lady
Not as good as Iron Man but better than Iron Man 2
Nice twist making the central character evil

Nah, didn't watch it really, watched Predators instead ,shit but probably more believable

Chi

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 January, 2013, 02:23:28 AM
I admit to watching it in the company of six pints, but Green Goblin's Last Stand may still be one of the greatest things I have ever seen.  Norman Osbourne running around hallucinating Spidey had me laughing my balls off, especially when he was getting bottled in the face over and over by muggers, the costumes are terrible, the direction is at best functional... but bugger me if I didn't enjoy that way more than Amazing Spider-Man.  It's on Youtube and the "high res version" looks worse than something shot on a phone from 10 years ago, but the sight of some mad bastard in a Spidey costume swinging on a rope four stories up is more impressive than any amount of cgi will ever be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 January, 2013, 09:32:02 AM
Inglourious Basterds.

Hah, I enjoyed that very much indeed, a great premise (bad guys whose horrid demises you just can't object to), delivered with with and excitement.  The use of very, very slow scenes to build tension seemed like it was going to be a self-indulgent PITA, but ended up working very well.  The casting veered between inspiration and madness, but I thought Pitt and Waltz were both excellent, and I was amazed to see that the hitherto-dismissed-as-vapid Diane Kruger can actually act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 January, 2013, 06:34:03 PM
Cloud Atlas

Turns the structure of the book inside out, and it took about an hour for it to become coherent, but I thought the pay off was pretty good and there were some fun sequences. It passed three hours enjoyably enough, but I doubt I'll bother to watch it again.

*Edit: I have to add, Hugo Weaving is the best villain actor since Alan Rickman

Lincoln

Beautifully shot, excellent costumes and whatnot, an excellent cast with a tour-de-force performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. But when it comes down to it, I wasn't blown away. I had the same problem with Invictus, if you already know the story, it's not as entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2013, 06:41:13 PM
I've never been able to tell the difference between what Daniel Day Lewis does and shameless scenery-chewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 January, 2013, 06:48:51 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 January, 2013, 06:41:13 PM
I've never been able to tell the difference between what Daniel Day Lewis does and shameless scenery-chewing.

You make that sound like that's a bad thing. I reckon he was picking bits of (beautiful, historically accurate) scenery out of his teeth for weeks after.

I love a bit a Speilberg too. He didn't dwell too much on the Civil War aspect of the story, but when he did, he battered ye 'round the head with the whole inhuman horror of it all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 08 January, 2013, 07:00:17 PM
Superman Doomsday an animated film of the graphic novel of the comic,  enjoyable though some of the faces were a bit odd ball especially Supes,([spoiler]both of them[/spoiler]) cheekbones more like violent cuts anyway the only non plus point the rather aneamic version of Lex Luthor, and apparent lack of other capes at Supercapes "funeral". Some seemingly almost Judge Dredd influenced moments in it. Especially on [spoiler]new [/spoiler]Supes view of crims. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 January, 2013, 10:48:07 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 07 January, 2013, 09:32:02 AM
Inglourious Basterds.

Hah, I enjoyed that very much indeed, a great premise (bad guys whose horrid demises you just can't object to), delivered with with and excitement.  The use of very, very slow scenes to build tension seemed like it was going to be a self-indulgent PITA, but ended up working very well.  The casting veered between inspiration and madness, but I thought Pitt and Waltz were both excellent, and I was amazed to see that the hitherto-dismissed-as-vapid Diane Kruger can actually act.

I must admit to a bit of a love/hate relationship with Tarantino's films. Self indulgent in the exteme at times, but i am looking forward to his newie. And thats largely down to Waltz, who was the best thing about Inglourious Basterds by a mile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 January, 2013, 11:59:39 PM
I refuse to watch that film because Tarantino is so up himself he couldn't be bothered to spell-check the title and clearly no-one around him wants to be the one to point it out.  Fuck him and fuck his movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2013, 01:02:13 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 08 January, 2013, 11:59:39 PM
I refuse to watch that film because Tarantino is so up himself he couldn't be bothered to spell-check the title and clearly no-one around him wants to be the one to point it out.  Fuck him and fuck his movie.

It's as if Trout and Godders had a love child!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 January, 2013, 08:50:38 AM
As it goes I watched Inglourious Basterds last night and have to say I really really enjoyed it, mind I'm hardly one to complain about spelling and grammar errors now am I!

I thought the unsubtle movies tributes might piss me off - they didn't (though I did spend the movie wondering if other bits were similar tributes that I wasn't getting!)

I thought the Tarantinoisms; like the freeze frames and on-screen writing etc would bug me - it didn't

I thought the modern music would bug me - Fair from it.

Somehow for all these things that on paper might have pulled me out and annoyed me, held together really well and in some way they served to support the history shattering ending, after all its just a movie and he kept reminding us of that. Great stuff.

Funnily enough though I thought most of the germans, well the troops anyway, were portrayed as really well rounded characters and their ends were all the more powerful and brutal for that. The officers and above were wonderfully over the top and they got what was coming to um.

As has been Waltz was just sublime, one of the great movie villains of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2013, 10:28:28 AM
At least you feel like you've actually seen something after a Tarantino film - like it or loath it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 January, 2013, 10:31:35 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2013, 10:28:28 AM
At least you feel like you've actually seen something after a Tarantino film - like it or loath it.

In the case of Kill Bill Pt1, it was mostly my watch I saw, since I kept looking at it to see how much more of this crap I had to sit through...

(Left to my own devices, I'd have switched it off, but I was watching with friends who seemed to be enjoying it.)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2013, 10:36:02 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 January, 2013, 10:31:35 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2013, 10:28:28 AM
At least you feel like you've actually seen something after a Tarantino film - like it or loath it.

In the case of Kill Bill Pt1, it was mostly my watch I saw, since I kept looking at it to see how much more of this crap I had to sit through...

(Left to my own devices, I'd have switched it off, but I was watching with friends who seemed to be enjoying it.)

Cheers

Jim

Really? I thought that film had some really memorable scenes - when she wakes up in the hospital, when she kills Cottonmoutth and her little girl shows up, the fight with the Crazy 88 being a few examples.
I can understand people not liking it but I'm surprised you found it boring.
Horses for courses I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 January, 2013, 11:42:18 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2013, 10:36:02 AM
I can understand people not liking it but I'm surprised you found it boring.

I think it's a function of not giving the tiniest sliver of a damn about the characters. With no investment in the story, the violence becomes wallpaper. In and of itself, it's not enough.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 January, 2013, 02:44:24 PM
I'm with Jim on this - I thought it was sequence of stylish, well-filmed set-pieces but I did not know or care who these people were or why they were trying to kill each other. I had absolutley no interest in seeing if they did actually Kill Bill in part 2 (maybe they just gave him a jazz-mag and a dressing-gown cord?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 January, 2013, 02:50:04 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 January, 2013, 02:44:24 PM
I had absolutley no interest in seeing if they did actually Kill Bill in part 2 (maybe they just gave him a jazz-mag and a dressing-gown cord?)

That would've been preferable.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 January, 2013, 04:22:24 PM
Because of Kill Bill 2, I don't even bother with 1.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 January, 2013, 05:42:20 PM
I must admit i wasnt keen at all of the Kill Bill's when i first saw them. And plenty others were writing him off around then as well. But i like them quite a lot now.

The things that could bug you about Tarantino - the homages, the self indulgence, the dialogue - at times, Tarantino himself, work for me in Kill Bill. But i was hoping that he'd finally got it all out of his system after that. Though if he did that, what would be left?
After watching Inglourious Basterds recently i still found it to be mean spirited, nasty and silly. I doubt itll grow on me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 January, 2013, 05:56:52 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed Kill Bill 1. I thought it was a sequence of stylish, well filmed set-pieces each riffing on a distinct sub-genre and I didn't need to know or care who any of these people were as long as they were trying to kill each other.

Kill Bill 2 was all of the above without the fighting so it was pish.

I just noticed that my local Cineworld is showing Reservoir Dogs next Tuesday so I think I'll try and make it along to that as it's years since I've seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 January, 2013, 06:03:44 PM
He needs to pull his finger out and release the Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair package that was promised yonks ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2013, 11:22:21 PM
yEAH, i NEVER BOTHERED WITH kILL bILL 2 AFTER kb1.

fOR ME THE BEST THING ABOUT tARANTINO WAS ALWAYS HIS EAR FOR DIALOGUE (AND HENCE A NICE WEE BIT OF CHARACTER) but there appearred to be none of that in KB1.

Predictably, I thought the opening scene and the Bier Keller scene in Inglorious (as the Daily Mail is wont to call it) where the standouts. Both clever, suspenseful and subtly witty (as pieces of film and as comments on film). Great stuff.

What the fuck Death Proof was all about is anybodies guess though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 January, 2013, 01:00:32 AM
Went to see Les Mis tonight.

I enjoyed it, but many didn't; about 30-40 walkouts, probably a quarter of the entire audience(!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 12 January, 2013, 01:46:46 AM
The Quick And The Dead on More4, very enjoyable!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 January, 2013, 02:56:03 AM
I bwatched Kindergarten Cop the other day and noticed it was rated a 15!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 January, 2013, 10:13:10 AM
Harold and Kumars 3D Xmas.  Jesus Christ, why did I bother? What a fucking dismal excuse for a film.  You have to be seriously off your face to think that film is funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 12 January, 2013, 10:34:42 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 12 January, 2013, 10:13:10 AM
Harold and Kumars 3D Xmas.  Jesus Christ, why did I bother? What a fucking dismal excuse for a film.  You have to be seriously off your face to think that film is funny.

Agree, not a great film at all. I quite enjoyed the first two films though.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 January, 2013, 11:14:16 AM
Peter Weyland, and his robot brood's favourite film - Lawrence of Arabia. Epic, sweeping, majestic - you all know the score - literally. But by 'eck, it doesnt half look a treat when you re-visit it on BR.
The desert scenes always looked like an Alien planet on this film, but to see them on this disc is amazing. Much of this film looks like it was shot yesterday. Excellent stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 January, 2013, 12:45:41 PM
Spiderman 2.

Quite honestly, I don't think the first or third movies are up to much in this series - but this one is genuinely great. And it was fun watching it on my old man's brand new MASSIVE TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 13 January, 2013, 12:57:49 PM
Berberian Sound Studio

Weirdly cool gore-free tribute to 70's Italian gore-movies (of which i've never seen any)
My favourite bit is [spoiler]The Goblin[/spoiler]

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 13 January, 2013, 10:58:07 PM
Oh God, on the recommendation of a friend, I watched 'The 40 Year Old Virgin.' He said I'd dig the action figure and comics references. It was, without a doubt, the worst film I've ever seen. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 January, 2013, 11:06:44 PM
Was it the extended version? The 40 Year Old Virgin is a great movie IMO, but the extra long version is almost a bad film because its so bloated and overlong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pete Wells on 13 January, 2013, 11:11:04 PM
Yeah it was. To make it worse, it had the most unpleasant pair of boobs in it I think I've ever seen!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 January, 2013, 11:31:05 PM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 13 January, 2013, 11:11:04 PM
Yeah it was. To make it worse, it had the most unpleasant pair of boobs in it I think I've ever seen!

What no mirrors in your house?!

Arf arf!

War Witch - Best Foreign film nominee - beware the blog is back! War Witch on the 'W' Blog (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no167-war-witch.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 January, 2013, 09:16:43 AM
Quote from: Pete Wells on 13 January, 2013, 10:58:07 PM
Oh God, on the recommendation of a friend, I watched 'The 40 Year Old Virgin.' He said I'd dig the action figure and comics references. It was, without a doubt, the worst film I've ever seen.

Very strange - I thought it was great. Very funny grown up comedy with actual jokes rather than just references to other movies. Steve Carrell is fantastic in it.

COWBOYS AND ALIENS - despite havig a ton of money and talent thrown at it, I think this failed to work because they inexplicably decided to meld genres with the more serious kind of western. This could have been a great romp but was just long and dull (it was an Extended cut but I can't see how nipping a few cenes out of it wouldhave made much difference). 

And also full of nonsensical stuf that didn't appear to make any sense even according to it's own internal "logic".

Olivia Wilde is almost as yummy as Daniel Craig in his skin tight cowboy outfit including chaps - "which is not to be sniffed at".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 January, 2013, 04:45:46 PM
Well, more like 'last movie half-watched', and that would be Carlos : Part One.
Half-watched because it was work in the morning, but more than that, it looked, and was, fantastic, so i made the decision to turn it off and to search out the BR and do it proper justice.
Bit of googling reveals a 3 disc set that has the three part version along with the theatrical cut. Im buying this anyway, but does anybody have this, and has enjoyed it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 January, 2013, 08:58:15 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 14 January, 2013, 04:45:46 PM
Well, more like 'last movie half-watched', and that would be Carlos : Part One. Half-watched because it was work in the morning, but more than that, it looked, and was, fantastic, so i made the decision to turn it off and to search out the BR and do it proper justice. Bit of googling reveals a 3 disc set that has the three part version along with the theatrical cut. Im buying this anyway, but does anybody have this, and has enjoyed it?

I don't have the bluray, but I enjoyed the film. It's really strong on the difference between what Dredd terms (in Total War) the psychos, the dupes and the true believers who get involved with political terror. The major set piece is the hilariously inept hijacking of an OPEC summit and subsequent escape by airliner, but I enjoyed it just as much for the chillingly casual approach to appalling violence and the way Ilich fucks a series of partners throughout the film who are really all the same ascetic European art-girl with a Judge Hershey haircut.

It's too linear and standardly biopic-y for its own good, but it makes a great double bill with The Baader-Meinhof Complex (http://www.baadermeinhofmovie.com/).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 17 January, 2013, 01:47:29 AM
Braindead. "I kick arse for the lord!" haha.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 January, 2013, 12:35:42 PM
The Evil Dead

In preparation for the remake I thought I'd watch the original since I hadn't seen it all the way through in about 20 years.

The best thing about this film by a mile is the sense of the evil force. The camera rushing through the woods coupled with the crazy soundwork is really effective.

Other than that the film is pretty ropey and ripe for a remake. There is absolutely no character development whatsoever. Ash is the nice guy, his mate is the brash idiot, the girl who gets upset is the sensitive, sensible one and the other girls are just girlfriend 1 and girlfriend 2. The pace goes off a bit towards the end too. Watching Ash have buckets of blood thrown over him gets a bit boring imho.

I really hope the remake explores these people a little more. I don't mean loads of Dawson's Creek style emoting, but some sense of character would be nice. I can tell the remake is going to be gory but I hope they expand on the psychological horror too.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 17 January, 2013, 01:08:45 PM
Rollerball.  James Caan.  I hear the director of the new version just got a suspended sentence for tapping a producers house. He should have got life for his remake of Rollerball.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2013, 01:23:37 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 17 January, 2013, 01:08:45 PM
Rollerball.  James Caan.  I hear the director of the new version just got a suspended sentence for tapping a producers house. He should have got life for his remake of Rollerball.
Word.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 January, 2013, 07:06:06 PM
Red Tails was a pretty cheesy but nonetheless enjoyable take on story of the very small group of black American airmen serving in WWII. A decent cast makes light work of a film which is more concerned with telling a ripping yarn than Private Ryan style realism or making an issue of institutional racism. I found some of the dogfight scenes truly jaw-dropping – this is the assault on the second Death Star with ME109s – but the effects become a lot ropier when the aircraft approach the ground.

I found Berberian Sound Studio a bit of a disappointment. It was undoubtedly well made, has a strong central performance from Toby Jones and shares a similarly intriguing, enigmatic atmosphere to Strickland's previous film Katalin Varga. Unlike that, however, I felt the Lynchian final third left it feeling ultimately empty rather than haunting. I was pretty tired when I watched it though so I may be doing it a disservice.

Finally saw Up when it was on telly the other night and it was everything I'd heard it was supposed to be. Funny and touching in equal measure. There should be more films with curmudgeonly old folks as the hero.

Alien Vs Ninja, on the other hand, wasn't even as good as the title would suggest. A low budget Predator clone which not even the presence of (quoting from the box) "sexy female ninja Rin" with her implausibly tight ninja trousers and obvious directorial orders to always lean forwards or backwards, depending on the angle of the shot, at least 45 degrees could make up for some of the rubbish in this.

In advance of Django Unchained, I managed to catch Reservoir Dogs at the cinema the other night. This has never had the same cult status or heavy rotation on TV as Pulp Fiction. In fact, I don't think I can remember seeing it all the way through since its original release so this was a bit of a treat as it's still a fantastic film. It may be rough around the edges but I don't think that's always a bad thing - it's certainly preferable to being too polished – and it manages to do a lot with a little imagination.

All the recognisable Tarantino trademarks are already in place but haven't yet become something people recognise and criticise him for so what you're left with is a cracking, dialogue-driven thriller which has at its heart the unfolding relationship between Keitel, Roth, Buscemi and Madsen. As I was watching it I couldn't help thinking how easily it would work as a stage play: the flashback introductions would need a bit of planning and beyond that we see almost nothing outside the warehouse.

Tarantino is already fond of long, talky scenes here – sometimes a bit too long, but that's one of those rough edges I mentioned – and, of course, everyone does have a similarly smart mouth. From the very first scene, where Mr Pink's refusal to tip marks him out as the one constantly willing to be a dick about everything, it's great to see the way the different characters are developed through this continual talk.

He really can't act though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 January, 2013, 07:18:01 PM
I bloody love Up. Second only to the Toy Story trilogy in Pixar's catalogue IMO. Lovely, lovely film, and a future classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 January, 2013, 07:19:02 PM
I've often told people that 'Like A Virgin' is all about a girl that digs a guy with a big dick.
Surprisingly few people get the reference!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 January, 2013, 07:43:17 PM
Quote from: radiator on 17 January, 2013, 07:18:01 PM
I bloody love Up. Second only to the Toy Story trilogy in Pixar's catalogue IMO. Lovely, lovely film, and a future classic.

Funnily enough, I was having a debate with myself about this while driving earlier (hey! it's a long day!) and almost settled on Wall.E. But I have to go for Monsters Inc as my favourite. You simply cannot beat "Put that thing back where you found it or so help me!" or that genius final scene, or the room of doors...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 January, 2013, 07:57:43 PM
The Paperboy (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no63-paperboy.html) - pissing!, wanking!, shitting! Good fun but all over the shop!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 17 January, 2013, 10:44:26 PM
Les Mis, with Dad, last night in the same pokey little cinema we saw Skyfall.

Bloody loved it. Many a sniffle from Rocka Jr and Sr, loads to discuss on the journey home, and possibly only the second time I've actually felt STUNNED by a film. After a certain grim copper movie I watched last year, of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 January, 2013, 10:49:19 PM
Watched a double whammy of DREDD (yaaaaayy!!!) and Jo Nesbo's HEADHUNTERS last night - two movies so good, I felt inexplicably compelled to type their titles in all-caps.

We KNOW Dredd's fantastic, so I'll say no more about it.

Headhunters, though, was fantastic fun! A movie where I honestly had no idea where things were going, and which seemed to fully accept that its premise was preposterous, but just embraced it and went with it. And I very much liked how it ended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 January, 2013, 01:08:27 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 17 January, 2013, 07:57:43 PM
The Paperboy (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no63-paperboy.html) - pissing!, wanking!, shitting! Good fun but all over the shop!
Good to see both 100 movies beginning with W and The Definite Article back in business again, however briefly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 18 January, 2013, 08:00:26 AM
I got a reader! Have to nurture!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 18 January, 2013, 09:23:03 AM
Quote from: HdE on 17 January, 2013, 10:49:19 PM
Watched a double whammy of DREDD (yaaaaayy!!!) and Jo Nesbo's HEADHUNTERS last night - two movies so good, I felt inexplicably compelled to type their titles in all-caps.

We KNOW Dredd's fantastic, so I'll say no more about it.

Headhunters, though, was fantastic fun! A movie where I honestly had no idea where things were going, and which seemed to fully accept that its premise was preposterous, but just embraced it and went with it. And I very much liked how it ended.

Loved headhunters, what a great movie. Dredd too of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 18 January, 2013, 02:14:01 PM
Y'know, with regard to Headhunters...

I likes me some Scandinavian thrillers. Some AWESOME stuff comes out of that region. But it's not necessarily my first choice when I want to watch a FUN movie. Headhunters was both gripping AND fun, which is no mean feat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 January, 2013, 02:46:40 PM
Watched Femina Ridens (Piero Schivazappa-1969) last night in a double bill with Baba Yaga (Corrado Farino-1973) as part of the Shameless Pop Erotica Fest box set (also includes Venus is Furs-Massimo Dallamano-1969). A pair of soft core sexploitation flick's, the latter based of the stunning comic book series by Guido Crepax). Both very entertaining with Femina being the better of the two, a (originaly) missing masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 18 January, 2013, 07:07:39 PM
Headhunters for me too (which was great!), and today I went and saw Django Unchained at lunch (yeah I had a three hour lunch) which was absolutely amazing! The first Tarantino film I've actually been able to go see on the big screen, and I very nearly didn't get in, every time the guy looked like he was going to ask me for I.D, he backed out! BUt hey, I'm only a few months away now!
By the way, Django Unchained has what is IMO one of best (if not 'coolest') shoot-outs ever!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackest on 19 January, 2013, 12:33:34 AM
watched paranorman and argo both of which i enjoyed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 January, 2013, 12:30:19 PM
I intended to make Dredd more watched than Star Wars: ANH.  However, I shot this target in the foot last night by watching Star Wars: ANH again. I watched via my xbox through an HDI cable, and on my new telly.

The incredibly crisp picture didn't do it any favours though.  While the special effects still looked sharp and fairly realistic, it highlighted how cruddy and primitive some of the physical props were, most notably the control panels on the Death Star, and in the Rebel Base.

While Lucas's distillation of folk tales into one plot makes the story timeless, in other ways the film is looking quite dated.

Then I watched Dredd again, and balance was restored.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 January, 2013, 07:25:53 PM
Django Unchained. Go see it, it's brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 07:32:42 PM
Super 8. Not so much a movie as a love letter to the late '70s/early '80s. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 January, 2013, 07:49:24 PM
I really didn't like Super 8 for precisely that reason. Felt like a very deliberate, calculated, and as a result charmless pastiche of 1980s Amblin movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 07:55:28 PM
Quote from: radiator on 19 January, 2013, 07:49:24 PM
I really didn't like Super 8 for precisely that reason. Felt like a very deliberate, calculated, and as a result charmless pastiche of 1980s Amblin movies.

Heh. Fair dos.
I can't wait to make my boys sit down and watch it - I'm hoping it'll be a gateway drug into E.T., Flight of the Navigator and The Goonies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 January, 2013, 08:06:53 PM
But is it a strong enough film without the added appeal of nostalgia for those very films?

If you ask me it'd be better to cut out the middle man and go straight to ET. Do kids really distinguish between old films and period films anyway?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 08:11:07 PM
QuoteBut is it a strong enough film without the added appeal of nostalgia for those very films?

Very good question, and one I cannot answer, as the nostalgia was good enough for me.

QuoteIf you ask me it'd be better to cut out the middle man and go straight to ET. Do kids really distinguish between old films and period films anyway?

My two do. It's a struggle to get them to watch anything they would call 'old'! Of course, when they do, they usually love it, but getting them to watch it is a task.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 19 January, 2013, 08:13:49 PM
There's always Stand By Me, It and Threads to fall back on at least. Never did me any harm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 08:17:26 PM
Quote from: judda fett on 19 January, 2013, 08:13:49 PM
There's always Stand By Me, It and Threads to fall back on at least. Never did me any harm.

Stand by Me is a fucking good call. Threads... be interesting to see their reaction to it - I doubt they'd be as terrified by it as our generation was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 19 January, 2013, 08:21:57 PM
Threads followed by a few episodes of Sapphire And Steel. Or The Snowman and then Any Way The Wind Blows. Happy carefree days during the Cold War.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 08:28:13 PM
"What, you were scared of nuclear war? Seriously dad? That kept you awake at night? HAHAAHAHAAAAA! ... you're old."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 19 January, 2013, 08:38:36 PM
We'd all love to go back to the good old cold war days, especially in the current economic climate. You could by your kids a tin of beans for their shelf in the family bunker and it'd say more than any fancy ps box or i yamewotsit.

Last movie watched was Beats, Rhymes And Life, the excellent Tribe Called Quest documentary. Again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 08:43:15 PM
QuoteWe'd all love to go back to the good old cold war days, especially in the current economic climate. You could by your kids a tin of beans for their shelf in the family bunker and it'd say more than any fancy ps box or i yamewotsit.

Tru dat... tru dat...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 January, 2013, 11:06:13 PM
Hilariously, we now know that Threads was a bit optimistic if anything, because of the lack of cannibal rape gangs.

Surely ease young 'uns in with kiddie fare like War Games?  The biggest giveaway about its age is the computers and a character at one point using the tab off a soft drink can (remember those?) to fool a coin-operated payphone (remember those?), but apart from that it stands up well and explains the fears of a nuclear exchange at several points in the film so you don't have to.  Or you could osmosis it into their young minds with some Roger Moore Bond movies, as those were steeped in the culture of the Cold War even if, watching them nowadays, you realise they weren't as thick-eared about it as the Connery Bonds and there was this clear subtext that the Soviets were not actually our enemies that I don't recall picking up on at the time, with most movie stories essentially an attempt by the characters to maintain balance rather than give outright tactical advantage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 20 January, 2013, 01:05:22 AM
Dredd

Arsom! :) as expected


Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 20 January, 2013, 06:51:22 AM
Dredd was good, but not genius - no doubt it's discussed at great length elsewhere here.

I just finished 'Tomorrow when the War Began', a kind of Australian Red Dawn, but with racist overtones.  A group of lovable stereotype teens go camping in the hills near the country town where they live.  There's a Chinese Australian kid who studies hard and who lives in a restaurant where his parents - hilarity alert!- don't speak good English.  There's an attractive bimbo who brings loads of cosmetics and provides the movie's gratuituous underwear scene.  There's a religious girl who is so mousy I expected her to start growning large round ears and a tail.  Her dad speaks to her with a gigantic cross in the background because, you know, that's what religious people are like.  There is a lovable Greek Australian tearaway who isn't good at school.  The idyll is disturbed by an invasion of asian (I think you'd say oriental in the UK) dudes.  Nobody at any stage of the movie shows any curiosity as to where they're from, although one of the kids trots out the recieved bogan wisdom that asians covet Australia because where they live is really crowded and where we live is awesome.  WHerever it is (certainly not New Zealand, probably Indonesia) they are cruel and crap at invasions since they ignore the major ports and cities and only take over a few inland country towns.  Red underpants scene aside, I didn't really enjoy it. 

On a brighter note, I just finished Thunderball, which was just as cool as ever.  It ocurred to me that the modern tattoo craze has spoiled this part of the Bond movies.  In Thunderball, Bond cleverly notces a Chinese Tong tattoo on one of the evildoers and phones Moneypenny to describe it.  These days he' be on the phone for hours and she'd just tell him that tatts are ubiquitous on everyone under forty anyway. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 January, 2013, 08:27:03 AM
Tiny Tips (12) really enjoyed Super 8 and he hasn't seen ET etc.

He's downstairs playing with a camcorder...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackest on 20 January, 2013, 07:49:50 PM
watched american mary.not blown away by it as lots of people seem to be.maybe a 2nd viewing will help.just seemed a little muddled and uninteresting on 1st viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 January, 2013, 08:07:59 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters (Vis Arrow BD): Still a helluva lot of fun, certainly more so that the (slightly over rated yet still excelent) Dawn of the Dead. Hard to see why those shitters at the BBFC hated it so, it's practicly gore less and not in the sexy way at all. It's just good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 January, 2013, 08:15:38 PM
Good call. Zombie Flesh Eaters is a top film, and a staple of those old video renting days.
Whats the transfer like on the BR, Hawkmonger, Any good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 January, 2013, 08:17:34 PM
Is that the one with the Buddhist monks? That's a right laugh that is. I like the Manchester Morgue one too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 January, 2013, 08:22:53 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 January, 2013, 08:15:38 PM
Good call. Zombie Flesh Eaters is a top film, and a staple of those old video renting days.
Whats the transfer like on the BR, Hawkmonger, Any good?
Stunning! Buuuut...and this is a but. Due to three way branching on the titles (optional, American title card (Zombie), Italian title card (Zombi 2), and UK title card (Zombie Flesh Eaters)) there is 6 seconds of footage missing from the scene, as such the Twin Tower scan not be seen as the boat enters Manhattan, the mid section of the boat is the first thing we see. This has cause an uproar in some places and conffusion in others. I would have liked a complete film, and it is a bit jarring, but Arrow are working on sending out replacements for anyone who has bought one already, and are fixing it for future repressing. It's down to you if you want to wait. There's alot of great extras including a MASSIVE booklet! I'm waiting for my replacement disc to arrive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 January, 2013, 08:26:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 January, 2013, 08:17:34 PM
Is that the one with the Buddhist monks? That's a right laugh that is. I like the Manchester Morgue one too.
DP, I know. Yeah, thats the one. Manchester Morgue is also in my collection on uncut BD! Love them both, you can certainly tell that MM is intended as a Night of the Living Dead remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 21 January, 2013, 02:14:21 AM
Dredd, DVD...

I had it on while I finished my Dredd Retrospective... only slightly cheating.

http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/dredd-2012-retrospective-spoiler-heavy-intended-for-those-that-have-seen-the-theatrical-release/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 21 January, 2013, 10:01:03 AM
Django Unchained, I'm really enjoying Tarantino's revisionist history movies (this and Inglorious Basterds), for such a long movie the whole wrap up to this seemed to come in a bit quick and sorry as an aussie i've gotta really pull Tarantino up on the accent, the worst i have ever heard.  Good god they were some arsom squibs used in the shooting scenes i dont think i've ever seen that much blood from a gunshot except maybe Verhovens  opus's (Robocop and Total Recall).  Liked it lots.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 21 January, 2013, 10:17:06 AM
"I Saw The Devil" which stars the fella from Oldboy (execellent as ever) as a sadistic serial killer who is captured and then released multiple times by a vengeful, if rather stupid, government secret agent hard bloke.

Unsurprisingly violent, some lovely cinematography, rather absurd, but very watchable indeed
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 21 January, 2013, 11:47:08 AM
Lebanon.

An Israeli Tanks unhappy crew find nothing but horror awaits them as they take part in the 1982 raid into Lebanon. Claustrophobic hardly describes this film as it is shot almost entirely inside the tank, the already battle weary Commander, Loader and driver all getting on each other's nerves inside the oil soaked compartment and the  newly recruited Gunner hardly inspires confidence in his fellows by making a serious mistake in his first action,[spoiler] costing the life of one of their escort troops[/spoiler].

The Tank,a Centurian I think, travels in support of the Israeli Soldiers as they enter a Lebanese village razed by the Air Force and the horrific realistic scenes of slaughtered civilians, animals makes Tarantino wanna be Directors  look tame.Ugly violence is used by both sides against Civilians. IDF propaganda this is not.

The Tanks crew slowly begin to realize that they are in [spoiler]entirely the wrong position and possibly surrounded by a greater Force of Syrian not Lebanese troops[/spoiler].

All the more disturbing as it's based on the memories of one of the Film makers who took part in the invasion of Lebanon it's certainly worth a watch though their are some disturbing scenes, particularly the Christian Phalangists 'interrogation' of the Syrian RPG man the Escort troops have captured.

A little bit to much melodrama towards the end to be credible for my jaded tastes. Lebanon is a grim, brutally honest story about the utter misery War brings to all it's victims both civilian and Military.

You definitely won't see a re make from Hollywood.
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0164s0m/Lebanon/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2013, 11:54:07 AM
I watched Total Recall, both versions back to back this weekend.

The original version is better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 January, 2013, 12:37:28 PM
Pearl Harbo(u)r - Gosh, is there a bigger piece of cinematic poop than this?
Id forgotten just how offensively bad it was.
Channel surfing i managed to catch the main attack sequence (looked just like Star Wars!) but then turned it off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 January, 2013, 02:48:43 PM
Solomon Kane. I knew this wasn't going to be real Solomon Kane so I probably enjoyed it more than most.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2013, 04:01:04 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 21 January, 2013, 12:37:28 PM
Pearl Harbo(u)r - Gosh, is there a bigger piece of cinematic poop than this?
Id forgotten just how hilariously bad it was.

Fixed that for you.
If you watch Pearl Harbour with a straight face, you deserve everything you get.  Personally, I couldn't - it was literally impossible to take it seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 21 January, 2013, 04:32:48 PM
Dr Who and the Daleks was on the TV over the weekend. I hadn't ever seen it and not being a Who fan wondered where it would fit in with the TV series. After three minutes i realised it didn't and I assume Who fans ignore it or cough nervously if it ever gets mentioned. My word it was dreadful, although seeing Dr Who (and in this that actually is him name) reading a copy of Eagle at the start was a nice touch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 January, 2013, 04:36:58 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 21 January, 2013, 04:32:48 PM
Dr Who and the Daleks was on the TV over the weekend. I hadn't ever seen it and not being a Who fan wondered where it would fit in with the TV series. After three minutes i realised it didn't and I assume Who fans ignore it or cough nervously if it ever gets mentioned. My word it was dreadful, although seeing Dr Who (and in this that actually is him name) reading a copy of Eagle at the start was a nice touch.
Fan theory varies from 'it's a laugh' to 'GET OUTTA MA FUCKIN' FACE!' over on DWO. I personaly have a soft spot for it as it was my first exposure to the franchise as a kid, though I know it's only saving grace is Peter Cushinng.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 January, 2013, 05:07:23 PM
Yeah, I've asked if Cushing should be considered the 2nd Dr, and been answered with derisory laughter.  I think the film is not considered 'canon'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2013, 06:39:40 PM
Considering the kind of stuff that gets hand-waved in Who, I'm not sure why it couldn't be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 21 January, 2013, 06:49:21 PM
It's the Whovian equivalent of The SW Christmas Special.

Watched Wild At Heart yesterday. Hadn't seen it in ages, enjoyed it. Still as sleazy and strange as I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 January, 2013, 08:07:11 PM
Compared to the SW Christmas Special, Dr. Who and the Daleks is pure class.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2013, 10:58:26 PM
THE DINOSAUR PROJECT

Strange attempt to marry the usually scary found footage movies with a bit of a boys own yarn about dinosaurs.  It's not without it's charm (just enough to sustain the 80 minute run time) and boasts some rather good special effects (for a film of it's size) and also [spoiler]not everybody dies in quite the order you expect[/spoiler]. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 22 January, 2013, 03:46:20 PM
For no obvious reason a Joaquin Phoenix double bill of The Village (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/) and We Own the Night (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no168-we-own-night.html)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 January, 2013, 05:39:12 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 22 January, 2013, 03:46:20 PM
For no obvious reason a Joaquin Phoenix double bill of The Village (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/) and We Own the Night (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no168-we-own-night.html)
Blimey. If only Mr Phoenix was in an animal-related film such as Buffalo Soldiers, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 January, 2013, 11:00:05 PM
Les Miserables. Not my choice of movie. Not something I have ever had any interest in ever watching (despite my sister having been obsessed by it for the past 20 years). But by Grud, this was an incredible movie. Genuinely moving, with some jaw dropping scenes and performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 January, 2013, 11:31:19 PM
From Beyond the Grave - Always a pleasure, never a chore. When Amicus made a bad film it was utter dross; when they got things right it's absolute gold. And what a cast - !

Kelly's Heroes - First time I'd properly seen this, although I caught the ending on TV years back and saw enough to make a note to try to watch the whole thing some day. What a crackin' film! I'm a sucker for a WWII flick at the best of times, more so when the film has an extra special sort of something. Another great cast and a lot of good gags. Donald Sutherland utterly steals the show, though.

A Town called Panic - I hardly even know what to say about this. Almost defies description, in the best possible way. Very, very French.

Death at a Funeral - British ensemble comedy that I'd never heard of before. Great cast involved, although some of these aren't really given much to do; Jane Asher and Keeley Hawes in particular seem a bit wasted in their roles. Likewise there are one or two minor plotlines that don't really go anywhere; but everything that works is very, very funny. Conjures up lovely memories of the Ealing-type stuff of yesteryear. Speaking of which...

Passport to Pimlico - Like putting on a comfy old pair of slippers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 23 January, 2013, 12:23:29 AM
American Movie. I love this documentary about this crazy dude who loves film and has been trying to make one in particular for years. His kids quote lines from Apocalypse Now, he has a 'vodtka' loving acid casualty mate with him every step of the way, I could go on and on about this. It's beautiful and bitter sweet. If you've seen it thoughts please, if you haven't seen it please source it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 23 January, 2013, 02:00:48 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 January, 2013, 11:00:05 PM
Les Miserables. Not my choice of movie. Not something I have ever had any interest in ever watching (despite my sister having been obsessed by it for the past 20 years). But by Grud, this was an incredible movie. Genuinely moving, with some jaw dropping scenes and performances.

What have you done with Richmond?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 23 January, 2013, 10:18:48 AM
On American Movie I'm thinking of the one where they're trying to make a horror film called The Coven ("sounds to much like oven...")  but I really can't remember any kids quoting Apocalypse Now, so I don't know if I just haven't watched it recently enough or if I'm talking about a totally different film (I'm thinking of the two main people in it now and one of them does have a story about taking acid and collapsing and apparently the brain monitor picks nothing up when the doctor's examine him; the other ends up working as a cleaner in a crematorium).
On another note I'm fairly sure it was also Judda Fett who mentioned David Lynch's Wild at Heart recently, meaning one person on this forum is bound to understand why I named my second cat Lula.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 January, 2013, 01:18:31 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 January, 2013, 11:31:19 PM
From Beyond the Grave - Always a pleasure, never a chore. When Amicus made a bad film it was utter dross; when they got things right it's absolute gold. And what a cast - !

Top top film. As much as a Hammer fan as i am, i think those Amicus films are better. A staple of late night viewing on telly back in the day, these took an absolute age to come out on DVD - the last couple only coming out a few years ago.
The coffin-shaped Amicus collection that Anchor Bay released is nice - if you can track one down now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 January, 2013, 02:12:01 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 January, 2013, 11:31:19 PM
Kelly's Heroes - First time I'd properly seen this, although I caught the ending on TV years back and saw enough to make a note to try to watch the whole thing some day. What a crackin' film! I'm a sucker for a WWII flick at the best of times, more so when the film has an extra special sort of something. Another great cast and a lot of good gags. Donald Sutherland utterly steals the show, though.

Kelly's Heroes is one of my favourite WW2 film. Great stuff. Even my wife likes it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 January, 2013, 06:15:53 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 January, 2013, 11:31:19 PM
A Town called Panic - I hardly even know what to say about this. Almost defies description, in the best possible way. Very, very French.

Oh yes. Anyone who remembers those surreal Cravendale adverts (not the thumb-cats ones) will recognise the characters (Cowboy, Indian and Horse) and the bizarre animation style. Fabulously daft - recommended
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 January, 2013, 06:36:38 PM
Quote from: judda fett on 23 January, 2013, 02:00:48 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 January, 2013, 11:00:05 PM
Les Miserables. Not my choice of movie. Not something I have ever had any interest in ever watching (despite my sister having been obsessed by it for the past 20 years). But by Grud, this was an incredible movie. Genuinely moving, with some jaw dropping scenes and performances.

What have you done with Richmond?

He died.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 January, 2013, 08:42:40 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 January, 2013, 06:36:38 PM
He died.

Buried along with his name?

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 January, 2013, 08:50:46 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 January, 2013, 08:42:40 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 January, 2013, 06:36:38 PM
He died.

Buried along with his name?

Cheers

Jim

Choked to death on stolen rice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 January, 2013, 09:37:32 AM
Forbidden Zone (1982- Danny Elfman): For those of you who don't know this is my second favourate movie of all time. Zaney, bat shit insane, hilarious for all the right reasons (deliborately poor acting, set pieces made out of cardboard so as to resemble a Betty Boop cartoon) and a freaking AMAZING sound track. I adore it.  :D
Off to watch A-hnold at the cinema tonight in The Last Stand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 25 January, 2013, 09:44:00 AM
Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows and Burke and Hare. Sepia orange and teal filtered period pieces shot through now conventional British studios humour.

In Burke and Hare, Ray Harryhausen turns up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 26 January, 2013, 11:19:14 PM
The Matrix is on Channel 5 there.

I haven't watched this in years. I'm really enjoying it.

The sequels were pure cack though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 January, 2013, 12:19:58 AM
Quote from: Pops on 26 January, 2013, 11:19:14 PM
The Matrix is on Channel 5 there.

I haven't watched this in years. I'm really enjoying it.

For all it's portentousness, The Matrix has a surprisingly smart philosophical question at its heart for a big, dumb action movie. It also has one of cinema's great plot turnarounds and is paced like a metronome.

If the Wachowskis had taken the lessons of this movie and refined them, instead of turning out a piece of bloated, self-indulgent crap like Reloaded, then they could have been the Cohen brothers of science fiction...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 27 January, 2013, 12:32:42 AM
Zero Dark Thirty - which I enjoyed despite its hefty run time of 157 minutes and a lot of talk and little action.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 27 January, 2013, 01:57:43 AM
Django Unchained is the most enjoyable film I've seen in an age.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 January, 2013, 06:37:32 AM
Watched The Avengers at last and it was a big ball of fun. Its not the great movie some people talk it up to be but it does what its does very very well and The Hulk is a comedy delight in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 January, 2013, 12:49:12 PM
Django unchained - Was an OK film, i thought. Not terrible, but nothing outstanding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 January, 2013, 01:30:42 PM
Quartet. Billy Connolly was outstanding as per.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 28 January, 2013, 10:33:19 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 23 January, 2013, 10:18:48 AM
On American Movie I'm thinking of the one where they're trying to make a horror film called The Coven ("sounds to much like oven...")  but I really can't remember any kids quoting Apocalypse Now, so I don't know if I just haven't watched it recently enough or if I'm talking about a totally different film (I'm thinking of the two main people in it now and one of them does have a story about taking acid and collapsing and apparently the brain monitor picks nothing up when the doctor's examine him; the other ends up working as a cleaner in a crematorium).
On another note I'm fairly sure it was also Judda Fett who mentioned David Lynch's Wild at Heart recently, meaning one person on this forum is bound to understand why I named my second cat Lula.

Missed this before, yes Charlie boy you have the right movie, glad someone else here has seen it. The kids quote Apocalypse Now while interviewed outside together if that rings a bell.

Lula is a lovely name for a 2nd cat. My goldfish is called Bobby Peru.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 28 January, 2013, 10:36:28 AM
^^Bobby Peru... Like the country?^^
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 January, 2013, 12:42:52 PM
The Last Stand: The spirtual little sister to The Expendables series but alot more heartfull. keeping the cast an ensamble piece and not just Ah-nnold was a great thing and everyone get's a chance to shine, even the red shirts. If this had been released in the 80's it would have been held in as high a regard as Commando and Predator. Great gattling gun fun in one scene, highly reccomended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: House of Usher on 28 January, 2013, 01:07:52 PM
Probably Dangerous Liaisons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 January, 2013, 03:17:40 PM
Lincoln. Who'd have thought that two and a half hours of bearded middle aged men sitting around in smoky rooms talking could be so riveting?  And how come, even knowing the outcome of the vote, I was still on the edge of my seat as it was being counted? Incredible film making, that's how.
And Tommy Lee Jones gets the best line: [spoiler]"It opens."[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 28 January, 2013, 03:26:07 PM
Red Dawn 1984 for some strange reason? :|

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 January, 2013, 03:31:42 PM
The Day - kind of false advertising because it's actually about two days and one night in the lives of a disparate band of post-apocalyptic survivors including Iceman or possibly his brother, one of the annoying Hobbits, and this other bunch of nobodies.  Because it is the post apocalypse, everyone is very sad and they could do with fighting some giant ants or mutant bears or something, but the budget doesn't stretch to that and instead we get some people in a house getting ready to fend off a cannibal gang.  Some decent story beats even if the pacing seems a bit off and some of the character turns come out of nowhere, but for a no-budget PA film it's pretty good.  And not a zombie in sight - that's always a plus point for apocalypse films these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 January, 2013, 05:01:46 PM
Quote from: ICONIC_TM on 28 January, 2013, 03:26:07 PM
Red Dawn 1984 for some strange reason? :|
'Nout wrong with that. Better than the shitty remake thats for sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 January, 2013, 06:21:12 PM
The Raid (2011). I enjoyed it, and it was fuck-all like Dredd (2012).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 28 January, 2013, 09:06:55 PM
Watched the first and last in the Matrix trilogy. Excellent films. I never rewatch the second one, as it's fucking pretentious and boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 January, 2013, 09:10:10 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 28 January, 2013, 09:06:55 PM
Watched the first and last in the Matrix trilogy. Excellent films. I never rewatch the second one, as it's fucking pretentious and boring.

Because of the second one, I have never watched the third.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 January, 2013, 09:30:37 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 28 January, 2013, 09:10:10 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 28 January, 2013, 09:06:55 PM
Watched the first and last in the Matrix trilogy. Excellent films. I never rewatch the second one, as it's fucking pretentious and boring.

Because of the second one, I have never watched the third.

Yeah, massive waste of time. I got Reloaded DVD for Christmas back in the day. I just skipped to the big silly car chase, once. That was about the only thing I enjoyed about it. I only watched the third turd when it came on TV one Sunday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 28 January, 2013, 09:36:58 PM
Great ending the first Matrix, shoulda left it at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 January, 2013, 11:03:49 PM
Finished reading my prog and felt a strange desire to watch BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, MY FAVOURITE LAUNDERETTE and CARRAVAGIO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 28 January, 2013, 11:32:23 PM
The Hurt Locker which was on the box on Saturday. I have it on DVD but never got round to watching it.

Brilliant. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 January, 2013, 05:03:51 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 28 January, 2013, 09:10:10 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 28 January, 2013, 09:06:55 PM
Watched the first and last in the Matrix trilogy. Excellent films. I never rewatch the second one, as it's fucking pretentious and boring.

Because of the second one, I have never watched the third.

Your not missing owt. Awful film(s).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 29 January, 2013, 05:19:52 PM
Last movie I watched was Iron Fist ... some daft Kung Fu movie staring Lucy Liu Some American WWF wrestler and Russell Crowe with this ridiculos knief. Not to be taken seriously but I thought it was good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 January, 2013, 12:49:37 AM
The Tall Man - pretty neat thriller about missing children in a US smalltown crippled by This Economy.  There's a bit where the film basically breaks or doesn't - your call - but it's better come at cold, as one of the best bits for me was seeing the "36 hours earlier" flashback thing - that has been done to absolute fucking death in every bastard fucking thing fucking ever it fucking feels like to me - be subverted like you would have expected someone to do by now already considering it's a narrative device that happens in pretty much every single tv show currently being made and I fucking hate the fucking shit out of it, but The Tall Man uses it in a playful manner.
Was a bit worried by the opening salvo of a still birth that it'd just be a typical gore-rape-shock-porn fest, but Tall man is actually not that at all, and well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 31 January, 2013, 03:39:30 PM
French horror film "Frontiers".

Pretty shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 January, 2013, 04:07:48 PM
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie (AKA The Adolescence of Utena): Effin hell I forgot how tripy this movie was! As a self proffest anime nut (one of the few on here I should have thought...) I must admit the Shojo genre holds little for my interest...but I freking LOVE the Utena franchise and I don't know why or how and don't much care! Everything about the asthetics of this movie I should hate, the big flowing dresses, and roses, and the androgynus male characters, and the silly dialogue...but I just CAN'T when it's so goddamn entertaining. I love all that shit in this film (and the TV series and manga for that matter) and I adore how this was the first instance of homosexuality in anime that was criticaly acclaimed in Japan and shifted the nations view on the topic (now if only The Sun had watched it before reporting on the Dredd affair...). I can't reccomend this movie to everyone here, or even any of you, but for god's sake DON'T HATE ME FOR LIKING A GIRKS FILM!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 31 January, 2013, 05:46:08 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 31 January, 2013, 04:07:48 PM
As a self proffest anime nut (one of the few on here I should have thought...)

When anime's done right, it's a thing of unparalleled beauty.

I've never seen Utena in any way shape or form, alas. Which is a damned shame, because it looks interesting from the visuals alone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 January, 2013, 07:15:25 PM
Quote from: HdE on 31 January, 2013, 05:46:08 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 31 January, 2013, 04:07:48 PM
As a self proffest anime nut (one of the few on here I should have thought...)

When anime's done right, it's a thing of unparalleled beauty.

I've never seen Utena in any way shape or form, alas. Which is a damned shame, because it looks interesting from the visuals alone.
It's certainly style over substance but what there is is very nice even from an art house point of view. The use of holy imagery works mych better here than in, say, NGE. There's also a fair amount of character development that revolves around interaction as apossed to NGE's self reflection which works in it's favour. Be warned though, the last five minute's are amongst the most WTF did I just see i'n the history of the median, infamously so. I do love the frnachise so though, i've ordered the entire series on DVD from the states since re-watching the film. So it worked. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 31 January, 2013, 08:01:15 PM
The risible Werewolf : The Beast Among Us (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/no169-werewolf-beast-among-us.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 02 February, 2013, 12:23:53 AM
The Sweeney

The dog's bollocks, u slaaaaag!


Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Van Dom on 02 February, 2013, 01:33:51 AM
Just back from a double bill of Bullet to the Head and The Last Stand, enjoyed both immensely. Bullet to the Head is probably the most enjoyable Walter Hill film I've seen and as a Stallone flick is ten times better than The Expendables 1 or 2 (though its like comparing apples and oranges I suppose). The Last Stand is an Arnie movie that could be straight out of the 80s, has a bit of a Commando vibe about it. Great fun, some hilarious dialogue and a nice ensemble type cast. I didnt even mind Johnny Knoxville in it, and his name on the poster turned me off initially. Neither of them are in any way new or innovative but make for an enjoyable couple of hours each. Although I believe they are flopping big time so maybe I'm one of the few remaining who still likes his cinema outings to consist of this kind of thing, I dont know!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 02 February, 2013, 04:09:49 AM
Doom aand was surprised to realise I'd not taken into account Karl Urban as one of the leading men in this film. Lots of fun and game dialogue, scenario stealing. Getting quite the folio together Mr Urban.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 February, 2013, 07:05:16 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 31 January, 2013, 07:15:25 PM
I do love the frnachise so though, i've ordered the entire series on DVD from the states since re-watching the film. So it worked. :lol:

You may have to give me some info on that!

And keep me posted on how your delivery goes through. I've been wary of importing from the USA just lately, as I went through a spell of everything being hit for handling charges by Royal Mail, which I resent paying.

It got so that, at one point, I just marched into the collection office and said 'here's the deal - you're telling me I have to pay £17 for goods I bought that cost just a little bit more than that... so I don't want it. Send it back where it came from. I'll place another order and hopefully THAT won't get hit.'

For the cash I was being asked to hand over, it was a safe gamble. My replacement DVD arrived, no fees, and RM had to pay the £20 to post the first item back. The seller was also gracious enough to refund my purchase.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 February, 2013, 07:16:06 PM
Quote from: HdE on 02 February, 2013, 07:05:16 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 31 January, 2013, 07:15:25 PM
I do love the frnachise so though, i've ordered the entire series on DVD from the states since re-watching the film. So it worked. :lol:

You may have to give me some info on that!

And keep me posted on how your delivery goes through. I've been wary of importing from the USA just lately, as I went through a spell of everything being hit for handling charges by Royal Mail, which I resent paying.

It got so that, at one point, I just marched into the collection office and said 'here's the deal - you're telling me I have to pay £17 for goods I bought that cost just a little bit more than that... so I don't want it. Send it back where it came from. I'll place another order and hopefully THAT won't get hit.'

For the cash I was being asked to hand over, it was a safe gamble. My replacement DVD arrived, no fees, and RM had to pay the £20 to post the first item back. The seller was also gracious enough to refund my purchase.
I use DVDWORLDUSA, Allyourmusic or moviemars-usa at amazon market place or from amazon direct. Which ever is cheapest. In this insatance moviemars-usa, with p&p adding to a sum total of £26.23. They these people have been tried and tested many times and have NEVER been snagged. I can't give a reason for this. Investiation has indicated there is nothing about them that suggests they pay any kind of license or merit to allow there parcels through customs, but if the service does as they say, I don't much care. I should re-phrase my last statement also. I've ordered the first ARC of the series, from Nozomi. I remember the imagery in the TV series is toned down alot fro the later movie, and the sexuality between characters is also more low key (for audience perpoises I presume, the source material is fairly provocative) so it's a much more mild viewing than the movie (though due to censorship of animation, many scene's in the movie exhibit 'Barbie doll' anatomy. A pet hate of mine.).
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61B1O7JrUlL._AA1500_.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 February, 2013, 10:01:31 PM
Ah, yeah! Nozomi are a class act.

I've used MovieMars and AllYourMusic a fair bit in the past. great sellers. Unfortunately, I had shipments from BOTH intercepted by customs during the RM imports Jihad.

I've not been in a position to buy anything from overseas for a while, due to financial woes. But I may dabble again soon now that money seems to be stabilising a bit.

(The new lady seems quite taken with anime too, so... yeah could be good timing!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 February, 2013, 10:28:45 PM
One thing I feel I must point out about Utena though is the presence of my second biggest pet hate, the cutesy anthropomorphic pet creature. In this case Chu-Chu. He's hardly the worst example of this horror, but every scene he's in is slightly ruined, suffering from Jar Jar syndrome. Best ignore his scene's as I do, thankfully he's mostly absent from the film, confined to a 2 minuet cameo in a video casset tape accisdently put on by a character. Just thought I should point out that despite the fact I consider the series to be a classic doesn't mean it's above the typical failings of anime. It's not quite Cowboy Bebop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 February, 2013, 11:15:10 PM
In other news I watched Argo at the cinema last night. Great little film. Happy I saw it actualy, probably get the BD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 03 February, 2013, 02:05:03 AM
Just done an Urban double bill round at a mate's place.

Priest:
Never read it, heard the film isn't much like it... I enjoyed the film, despite some predictability. Good action and decent enough acting.

Dredd:
Why didn't anyone tell me about this movie. it's awesome! I think one or two of you guys might like it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 03 February, 2013, 11:10:55 AM
Watched Dredd  (again) this time  on download via the power of Virgin. I was worried they might chop some bits but didn't seem to be anything missing thank goodness. Watching it again just reinforced what a terrific film it is and that it really is as much Anderson's film as Dreddies.

Yeah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 03 February, 2013, 05:25:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 02 February, 2013, 10:28:45 PM
It's not quite Cowboy Bebop.

Ahh, but what is?

Oddly enough, I recently sat down and rewatched 'Cowboy Bebop : The Movie', which is properly flinkin' excellent!

And a heads up for ALL the forumers - The complete series is getting a UK re-release in the third quarter from a new distro calling themselves 'Anime Limited'. Whether anime is your thing or not, it's BRILLIANT little sci-fi show - and free of a good many of the idiosyncracies that non-fans of anime seem to regularly cite as turn offs.

I'd urge anyone who's even a LITTLE bit curious to check it out. It has great characters, superb animation, and am ending that'll punch you in the gut harder than Mike Tyson.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2013, 05:28:25 PM
Oh, HIGH praise be to Cowboy Bebop. Certainly amongst the most 'Western' of anime, glories it is and every episode oozes style with a thumping sound track and excelent animation. If anyone has the time to check out the series and/ or movie on YT then DO SO. No one will be dissapointed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 03 February, 2013, 05:43:39 PM
A trio of classics,
Crocodile Dundee, The Godfather Part 2 and The Wrath of Khan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 February, 2013, 06:39:20 PM
Flight with Denzel Washington.

Quite good but heavy going - all about alcoholism.
Cracking bit of tit and fanny in the first 5 mins though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 February, 2013, 06:47:42 PM
I see what you did there, Jack, very subtle thematic connection between all three of those films.

Searching for Sugarman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDw7OqVBT-w) last night, which made me tear up and has a great bit where someone asks the former head of Motown records where all the profits from the millions of albums Rodriguez sold in SA disappeared to. He responds with one of the most impressive displays of bluster and dissemination I have ever witnessed: "there are millions in chains because of Apartheid, and you're asking me about money?". Clay Davis would be proud.

Berberian Sound Studio before that, which just freaked me out in a Hammer Horror-meets-Repulsion kind of way. It must have been the magpies that did it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7zIfUwwoQ0).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 03 February, 2013, 08:10:31 PM
Yeah searching for sugar man was great. Watched 'Network' that was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
Jonah hex.

Jonah shit more like.





I have missed that particular review style and though I'd try resurrect it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2013, 08:52:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
Jonah hex.

Jonah shit more like.





I have missed that particular review style and though I'd try resurrect it.
Surely Jonah HACKS is the natural pun? :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 03 February, 2013, 08:58:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 03 February, 2013, 08:52:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
Jonah hex.
Jonah shit more like.
Surely Jonah HACKS is the natural pun? :-\

Yeah but the film IS shit
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2013, 09:14:46 PM
Nazis at the Center of the Earth - more like Shit in Some More Shit.
Lots of outrageous ideas and an admirable mix of the old-school Mars Attacks! sci-fi grotesque completely undone by the fact it is made by The Asylum, and much as I admire those dudes for crapping out mockbusters, there's no getting away from the sad fact that they do not make good movies on a production level - great concepts, admirable work ethic, but the actual movies are just not much cop.
It also doesn't help that the film dwells too much on some of its grotesque imagery rather than letting the imagination do some of the work, with the end result that a lot of scenes end up onscreen too long and just come off as sadism for entertainment, like the character gang-raped to death by Nazi zombies in a scene that gets built up for about five minutes beforehand, or the bit where that lady has her unborn child sucked out by Jake Busey with a hoover, or that bit with the lass getting her brain pulled out by a Nazi - stuff like this is fine in concept, but see too much of it and the rough edges tend to distract you and shatter your immersion in the fiction one way or another.
Better than most other Asylum films, but let's step back and examine that qualification for a minute, shall we?  Probably worth a pound if you have that and two hours going spare.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 04 February, 2013, 11:06:19 AM
Just re-watched the classic Django last night, along with my first viewing of Django: Prepare a Coffin (which i bought while out shopping at Sainsbury's for a measily £3). The first is ofcourse a classic and a hugely enjoyable fare, but i was quite surprised with the latter, because regardless of the fact Franco Nero and Corbucci are both absent; it was still rather enjoyable. Terence Hill does a great job as the title character, although throughout the majority of the films short running time - he gets his arse handed to him by the bad guys once too often! But when he retaliates, boy is it a thing of beauty especially in the end, surrounded by the bad guys. I just punched the air right at that moment!

Also in the evening watched Superman Returns with the family (it was on ITV3). My son in particular went barmy, running around like he was Superman singing the theme tune as best he could!  :D. Although i'm not too big a fan of the film (its not a patch on the originals which i grew up with), i always thought it was an okay re-boot, that was though until my son got really upset with the part where Luther and his goons beat him to a pulp and throw him over the side; seriously he was so upset about it i had to explain to him that Supes can never die and he'd come back up in a jiffy. Bastards. Anyway, he was fine afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 February, 2013, 11:14:33 AM
Cockneys vs Zombies.

Terrible but good fun and some very entertaining swearing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2013, 01:35:05 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 04 February, 2013, 11:06:19 AMmy son got really upset with the part where Luther and his goons beat him to a pulp and throw him over the side; seriously he was so upset about it i had to explain to him that Supes can never die and he'd come back up in a jiffy. Bastards. Anyway, he was fine afterwards.

Oh you mean the scene where the crime boss has his men gang up on a weak character in the showers while talking about how they establish a pecking order in prison, and then the goons beat him up and hold him down so the boss can "stab him from behind"?  Perfectly appropriate for a kids' film, as is that scene where Superman stalks a family for several hours before breaking into the child's room after he's gone to bed and saying "don't tell your mum about this, it's our little secret."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 February, 2013, 01:42:13 PM
Watched the first half of 21 Jump Street last night - had to stop it halfway through as it was late.

It was OK, but far from the modern comedy classic some people claim. Very patchy, with far more misses than hits.

I think the main thing I'll take away from it was that the opening scene is a high school flashback.... set in 2005!

That made me feel pretty old!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 04 February, 2013, 02:24:54 PM
Quote from: Thunders McQueen on 04 February, 2013, 01:35:05 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 04 February, 2013, 11:06:19 AMmy son got really upset with the part where Luther and his goons beat him to a pulp and throw him over the side; seriously he was so upset about it i had to explain to him that Supes can never die and he'd come back up in a jiffy. Bastards. Anyway, he was fine afterwards.

Oh you mean the scene where the crime boss has his men gang up on a weak character in the showers while talking about how they establish a pecking order in prison, and then the goons beat him up and hold him down so the boss can "stab him from behind"?  Perfectly appropriate for a kids' film, as is that scene where Superman stalks a family for several hours before breaking into the child's room after he's gone to bed and saying "don't tell your mum about this, it's our little secret."


:D,

My thoughts exactly when seeing it again last evening;  he's a voyeur/ peeping tom whatever way you look at it. Makes you think what else he gets up to..  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 February, 2013, 04:55:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 04 February, 2013, 11:14:33 AM
Cockneys vs Zombies.

Terrible but good fun and some very entertaining swearing.

Never underestimate the entertainment value of creative profanity!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 February, 2013, 11:31:29 PM
Watched the end of 21 Jump Street.

A couple of inspired gags early on lead me to believe it was going to be better than it ended up being, and i found my mind wandering before the end. Had heard really good things, but it was nothing special.

2.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2013, 11:54:41 PM
Skyfall - a bit long, but entertaining enough if you ignore some plot holes and don't try to figure out any themes.  I have no idea what it was trying to say about the older Bond movies as the tone seemed to swing between dismissive in one scene and then celebratory in another, and there's a similarly confusing attitude towards some nebulous idea of "old fashioned" espionage adventures that had me totally stumped because in this super-gritty 21st century film Bond drives a JCB on the back of a moving train, has a wrestling match in a pit full of giant man-eating lizards, meets a shadowy supervillain in his hidden island lair, chases a baddie through the hidden underground tunnels of Olde London, and escapes an exploding helicopter by fleeing through equally hidden tunnels under the Bond family mansion - it's fine to celebrate this kind of outrageous storytelling conceit through homage, but the film is rubbishing it at the same time as doing it with a straight face, so it's all a bit inconsistent.
Not sure about delving into Bond's past, either, and not so much because it seems to contradict some of what was said about him in Casino Royale as because Bond movies aren't really about him as a character, not even this one.

That all sounds very negative, though, so ignore it, as I did enjoy Skyfall, especially the bit where Bond has to set up the final confrontation somewhere desolate, remote, far from human beings and devoid of any kind of modern convenience and the screen just closes in on the word "SCOTLAND".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2013, 08:56:21 AM
Is Skyfall still in cinemas?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2013, 09:00:00 AM
DREDD on bluray. 

Paid much more attention to the music this time (and enjoyed it) and spotted some extra gore but though it's the Dredd character I wanted, it's not the Dredd movie I wanted. 

And, as at the cinema, I did find my attention wandering in the middle until the arrival of [spoiler]the Dark Judges[/spoiler].

Piss poor extras as well.

Am I allowed to stay on the forum?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 February, 2013, 11:05:12 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2013, 08:56:21 AM
Is Skyfall still in cinemas?
I had to walk out of the kast showing here in Bolton due to stomach bug on the 29th December. Pity as I was really enjoying it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 February, 2013, 11:20:55 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus
DREDD on bluray. Paid much more attention to the music this time (and enjoyed it) and spotted some extra gore but though it's the Dredd character I wanted, it's not the Dredd movie I wanted.

And, as at the cinema, I did find my attention wandering in the middle until the arrival of the Dark Judges.

Piss poor extras as well.

Am I allowed to stay on the forum?
You might have your privileges restricted but you should be alright. At least you bought it, which I have no intention of doing.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
Jonah hex.

Jonah shit more like.

I have missed that particular review style and though I'd try resurrect it.
Sorry. I'm off to the pictures this afternoon to see Denzel Washington's latest so will try and oblige.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 February, 2013, 11:28:55 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 05 February, 2013, 11:20:55 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus
DREDD on bluray. Paid much more attention to the music this time (and enjoyed it) and spotted some extra gore but though it's the Dredd character I wanted, it's not the Dredd movie I wanted.

And, as at the cinema, I did find my attention wandering in the middle until the arrival of the Dark Judges.

Piss poor extras as well.

Am I allowed to stay on the forum?
You might have your privileges restricted but you should be alright. At least you bought it, which I have no intention of doing.
Why ever not? :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 February, 2013, 11:31:47 AM
QuoteSkyfall - a bit long, but entertaining enough if you ignore some plot holes and don't try to figure out any themes.  I have no idea what it was trying to say about the older Bond movies as the tone seemed to swing between dismissive in one scene and then celebratory in another, and there's a similarly confusing attitude towards some nebulous idea of "old fashioned" espionage adventures that had me totally stumped because in this super-gritty 21st century film Bond drives a JCB on the back of a moving train, has a wrestling match in a pit full of giant man-eating lizards, meets a shadowy supervillain in his hidden island lair, chases a baddie through the hidden underground tunnels of Olde London, and escapes an exploding helicopter by fleeing through equally hidden tunnels under the Bond family mansion - it's fine to celebrate this kind of outrageous storytelling conceit through homage, but the film is rubbishing it at the same time as doing it with a straight face, so it's all a bit inconsistent.
Not sure about delving into Bond's past, either, and not so much because it seems to contradict some of what was said about him in Casino Royale as because Bond movies aren't really about him as a character, not even this one.

Skyfall is surely the most overrated movie since Avatar - I'm staggered at how well it has done. Like Avatar,  it was an enjoyable cinema experience. Nothing more, nothing less. And though I don't really care for the franchise, it seemed like a step back into playing it safe and trying to please everyone (such as the painfully obvious choice of Adele for the by the numbers theme tune after a couple of pleasingly off the wall choices of artist). The tone seemed schizophrenic as a result, gritty one minute, silly the next. Story was a mess.

Gorgeous cinematography though - it deserves awards for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 February, 2013, 05:27:48 PM
Predators - on telly last night. Only seen this once before at the pictures, and i didnt really didnt rate it much then, but i have to say i quite enjoyed watching this again last night. Not a classic, and far too much was lifted from the first film, but the Predator itself, unlike its Alien cousin, is still good value.
So until we get the film the Predator deserves, thisll kinda do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 05 February, 2013, 06:41:46 PM
Quote from: Thunders McQueen on 04 February, 2013, 11:54:41 PM
Bond has to set up the final confrontation somewhere desolate, remote, far from human beings and devoid of any kind of modern convenience and the screen just closes in on the word "SCOTLAND".

See the bit in Trainspotting where they get off the train in the middle of nowhere.

Quote from: Judge Jack on 05 February, 2013, 05:27:48 PM
Predators - on telly last night. Only seen this once before at the pictures, and i didnt really didnt rate it much then, but i have to say i quite enjoyed watching this again last night. Not a classic, and far too much was lifted from the first film, but the Predator itself, unlike its Alien cousin, is still good value. So until we get the film the Predator deserves, thisll kinda do.

Because the only thing better than the predator is a slightly bigger predator with a disproportionate heid. If Skyfall suffers because it makes too many knowing nods to previous films which don't really add anything or say anything, then Predators avoids that trap by just replaying the entire first film - including having the cast spending the first hour wondering what is this thing? what are we up against? instead of using the fact the entire audience knows exactly what it is and what they're up against to get straight into the action and tell an original story. Larry Fishburn's crazy-acting is emblematic of the film as a whole.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 February, 2013, 11:28:50 PM
Project X- What a vile, loathsome turd of a film. Hateful main characters who threaten to kill each other over pety things, destroy strangers property just because and set fire to shit just because it looks fun. Animal House on crack? No. Animal House was already on crack, but it knew when to draw the line. This is just a piece of shit that should be spat at in the streets and rejected for it's sins. A putrid sore on the face of good taste.  >:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 February, 2013, 09:14:00 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 February, 2013, 11:28:50 PM
Project X- What a vile, loathsome turd of a film. Hateful main characters who threaten to kill each other over pety things, destroy strangers property just because and set fire to shit just because it looks fun. Animal House on crack? No. Animal House was already on crack, but it knew when to draw the line. This is just a piece of shit that should be spat at in the streets and rejected for it's sins. A putrid sore on the face of good taste.  >:(

Not the one with Mathew Broderick and the chimp I presume.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2013, 09:17:45 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 February, 2013, 09:14:00 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 February, 2013, 11:28:50 PM
Project X- What a vile, loathsome turd of a film. Hateful main characters who threaten to kill each other over pety things, destroy strangers property just because and set fire to shit just because it looks fun. Animal House on crack? No. Animal House was already on crack, but it knew when to draw the line. This is just a piece of shit that should be spat at in the streets and rejected for it's sins. A putrid sore on the face of good taste.  >:(

Not the one with Mathew Broderick and the chimp I presume.
No. Thats a good little flick. I talking about the bloated, ugly, horrible 21st century Animal House rip that has negligable positive features.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 February, 2013, 10:10:06 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
I have missed that particular review style and though I'd try resurrect it.

Had a nice day out at the pictures yesterday and this is what I saw.

The Silver Linings Playbook. Silver Linings Gaybook more like.

Zero Dark Thirty. Zero Wank Thirty more like.

Jack Reacher. A Colossal Pile of Shit more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 February, 2013, 11:35:15 AM
Trollhunter.  Early contender for best movie I'll see in 2013, and definitely the best found-footage flick I've seen yet:  I bloody loved it, start to finish, big stupid grin stuff.  Terrific design, terrific atmosphere, and some great lines.  I have now taken to calling my kids Ringlefinch and Tosserlad.

Since seeing it at the weekend I've felt vaguely but persistently sad that it isn't a true story, that there aren't really Trolls roaming the mountains of Norway: a form of scando-saudade, I suppose.

Must go, that Ringlefinch is making hungry sounds again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 February, 2013, 12:33:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 February, 2013, 11:35:15 AM
Trollhunter.  Terrific design

This!

Monster design is something that's floundered since the glory days of Harryhausen with many productions putting out bland designs (recent Clash of the Titans for example) or 'difficult to work out' monsters (Cloverfield or Super 8).
Troll Hunter and to a lesser extent John Carter have impressed me with characterful, interesting designs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2013, 03:16:53 PM
The Girl From the Naked Eye - a low-budget pastiche of noir pulp detective stories.  No knowing winks or nods to the source material or postmodern witticisms or mumblecore dialogue, just a mash-up of various genres in a downbeat thriller (but not oppressively miserable-downbeat, just atmospherically kind of glum-downbeat).  Some shameless lifts from cult movies like the corridor fight from Oldboy, but otherwise pretty decent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 06 February, 2013, 05:32:42 PM
Just watched Flight. Pretty entertaining. Wasn't expecting the full frontal nudity and cocaine abuse. Nice touches. Soundtrack was pretty decent too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 06 February, 2013, 07:52:29 PM
The Apparition (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no68-apparition.html) and what a pile of crap it was.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 06 February, 2013, 08:10:54 PM
Gotta agree with Mr Eliminator Flight was very entertaining. The whole crash sequence was played out exceptionally well, coolness personified surrounded by chaos and that mobile phone footage was the icing on the cake :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 06 February, 2013, 08:33:17 PM
Also watched Leningrad Cowboys go America. GREAT movie! With a cameo from Jim Jarmusch too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 February, 2013, 08:51:29 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 February, 2013, 07:52:29 PM
The Apparition (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no68-apparition.html) and what a pile of crap it was.

Lol
Sounds like an absolute load of tripe! But the weird thing is, your review is so good that i need to see this crap for myself! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 February, 2013, 06:51:29 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 February, 2013, 08:51:29 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 February, 2013, 07:52:29 PM
The Apparition (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no68-apparition.html) and what a pile of crap it was.

Lol
Sounds like an absolute load of tripe! But the weird thing is, your review is so good that i need to see this crap for myself! :D

My work here is done. No wait stay away!

Anyway a return to form with Wreck it Ralph (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no170-wreck-it-ralph.html) - somehow the stinkers are more fun to review but this is a real gem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 February, 2013, 09:06:43 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 February, 2013, 06:51:29 PM
Anyway a return to form with Wreck it Ralph (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no170-wreck-it-ralph.html) - somehow the stinkers are more fun to review but this is a real gem.

They had me at the Hero's Duty/Hero's Doody line. Even if it is just a riff on Tron and Pixelface (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYgtgzYs9EM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 February, 2013, 09:18:15 PM
Silent Hill: Revelation is one of those films that when it ends your instinct is to immediately say to anyone in the room that it was the worst film you've ever seen, even if it's just you and the dog.  It's devoid of any kind of worth and there are countless shots where something stops, turns to directly look into the camera and then goes WUUUURRRGH for a bit because the film was originally made for 3d, and there is dialogue so unreal that even Sean Bean looks uncomfortable saying it aloud - and that Sean Bean, man he has been in some films that were really something else.
This film is not good is what I am saying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 February, 2013, 09:24:13 PM
Quote from: Thunders McQueen on 08 February, 2013, 09:18:15 PM
Silent Hill: Revelation is one of those films that when it ends your instinct is to immediately say to anyone in the room that it was the worst film you've ever seen, even if it's just you and the dog.  It's devoid of any kind of worth and there are countless shots where something stops, turns to directly look into the camera and then goes WUUUURRRGH for a bit because the film was originally made for 3d, and there is dialogue so unreal that even Sean Bean looks uncomfortable saying it aloud - and that Sean Bean, man he has been in some films that were really something else. This film is not good is what I am saying.

So many folk, including the kids at my work who worship that series, have told me RE5 is utter shite that I'm almost tempted to add it to my Lovefilm list. Speaking of which, guess who thought he'd added the Coen Brothers' True Grit to his rental list, only to open up the envelope this evening and discover a forty year old John Wayne film he knows back-to-front?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 February, 2013, 09:29:27 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 February, 2013, 06:51:29 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 February, 2013, 08:51:29 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 February, 2013, 07:52:29 PM
The Apparition (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no68-apparition.html) and what a pile of crap it was.

Lol
Sounds like an absolute load of tripe! But the weird thing is, your review is so good that i need to see this crap for myself! :D

My work here is done. No wait stay away!

Anyway a return to form with Wreck it Ralph (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no170-wreck-it-ralph.html) - somehow the stinkers are more fun to review but this is a real gem.

:lol:

Unlike The Premonition, Wreck-it-Ralph does sound very good, judging by your excellent review. I might take my son along to watch it on his birthday...thats if he recovers in time from the flu-virus.  :o

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 February, 2013, 09:35:10 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 February, 2013, 09:24:13 PM
Quote from: Thunders McQueen on 08 February, 2013, 09:18:15 PM
Silent Hill: Revelation is one of those films that when it ends your instinct is to immediately say to anyone in the room that it was the worst film you've ever seen, even if it's just you and the dog.  It's devoid of any kind of worth and there are countless shots where something stops, turns to directly look into the camera and then goes WUUUURRRGH for a bit because the film was originally made for 3d, and there is dialogue so unreal that even Sean Bean looks uncomfortable saying it aloud - and that Sean Bean, man he has been in some films that were really something else. This film is not good is what I am saying.

So many folk, including the kids at my work who worship that series, have told me RE5 is utter shite that I'm almost tempted to add it to my Lovefilm list. Speaking of which, guess who thought he'd added the Coen Brothers' True Grit to his rental list, only to open up the envelope this evening and discover a forty year old John Wayne film he knows back-to-front?

No! Bloody bastards.  >:(

I too haven't seen the recent True Grit; been meaning to watch it for weeks now...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2013, 12:03:37 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 February, 2013, 09:24:13 PM
Quote from: Thunders McQueen on 08 February, 2013, 09:18:15 PM
Silent Hill: Revelation

So many folk, including the kids at my work who worship that series, have told me RE5 is utter shite

Resident Evil 5 is a different shitty film from a survival horror game series, though like Silent Hill: Revelation, it's basically a series of scenes lifted from other films that aren't put into the context of the new film by the story - stuff just happens because it does, there's lots of CGI, and things slow down as they pass near the camera.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 February, 2013, 03:29:59 AM
Jennifer's Body.

It wasn't very good.

Positive points. Well... it was watchable. Even amusing in places. And the lead girls were attractive, but that's to be expected. [spoiler]Oh and I'll admit I liked the twist at the end. Although it was a bit predictable.[/spoiler]

Actually the idea wasn't that bad but I think they should have included more suspense. Then again it wasn't trying to take itself seriously and had it's burnt tongue* firmly in it's cheek.

About it really.

*Wasn't that bit wince-worthy? In an ouchy sense I mean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 February, 2013, 10:34:34 AM
I really like Jennifer's Body - found it really entertaining.

Watched I Give It A Year yesterday.
It was quite funny but didn't have the charm of those 90's Working Title rom coms. The main characters were both pretty unlikable in my book and I don't think the film had a 'feel good' vibe which I think these films probably need. One of those films where the secondary characters outshine the leads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 February, 2013, 11:13:16 AM
Ted (2012)-  :lol:

Tron: Legacy (2010)-  :)

Rock of Ages (2012)-  ::)

Hitchock (2013)-  :|

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1969)-  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 10 February, 2013, 11:39:30 AM
Cobra, yes that one with camp Dredd starring. Unintentional hilarity all round with  every eighties cliche in the script,tough,maverick cop  faces down the psychos (bikers) and those at city Hall (mahhnn),whilst protecting some big haired lady babe. Part of the film resembles the worst of 80's pop videos on a "fashion" shoot (it is L.A. after all) .The big shoot out at the end has SS hitting five guys mostly  on motorikes with just five shots from a pistol. The appalling music sounds like Gloria Estefan put through a mincemeat machine, and the cowardly television editing means we don't even get to see the big bad die properly. It can't be being edited for naffness for that would exclude the whole movie.

See this movie to test your sanity.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 February, 2013, 12:39:14 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 10 February, 2013, 11:39:30 AM
Cobra, yes that one with camp Dredd starring. Unintentional hilarity all round with  every eighties cliche in the script,tough,maverick cop  faces down the psychos (bikers) and those at city Hall (mahhnn),whilst protecting some big haired lady babe. Part of the film resembles the worst of 80's pop videos on a "fashion" shoot (it is L.A. after all) .The big shoot out at the end has SS hitting five guys mostly  on motorikes with just five shots from a pistol. The appalling music sounds like Gloria Estefan put through a mincemeat machine, and the cowardly television editing means we don't even get to see the big bad die properly. It can't be being edited for naffness for that would exclude the whole movie.

See this movie to test your sanity.

The Spectrum game was ace though especially when you went on the define keys screen: Up, Down, Left, Right, Murder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 12:41:12 PM
Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 February, 2013, 12:47:42 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 12:41:12 PM
Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.

Was it the Lynch or Smithee version?

I agree that Dune is still a good film, even with the flaws. I would love to see a really good attempt at Dune. Just so long as Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson are NOT involved in any way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 10 February, 2013, 01:16:33 PM
Two films that deal with obession and mania -

The Big Year : Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin compete to see who can see the most birds in one year. I liked this mostly gentle fun with some cracking locations and excellent cast - Rosamund Pike - yum!

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre : Our second favourite Dobbs goes nutty over the gold and takes on everyone including some top notch Mexicans "Badges? We no need badges...". Got the Blu-Ray and although it shows up some rear projection work it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 01:28:40 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 10 February, 2013, 12:47:42 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 12:41:12 PM
Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.

Was it the Lynch or Smithee version?

I agree that Dune is still a good film, even with the flaws. I would love to see a really good attempt at Dune. Just so long as Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson are NOT involved in any way.

Its the Alan Smithee version. (i've seen the theatrical version too).

I echo your sentiments too; if there is another attempt we need fresh perspective and a director with a big vision and scope, not to mention experience- but importantly not have soneone breathing down their neck. But i for one would love to see another go at it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 10 February, 2013, 01:30:34 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 10 February, 2013, 12:39:14 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 10 February, 2013, 11:39:30 AM
Cobra, yes that one with camp Dredd starring. Unintentional hilarity all round with  every eighties cliche in the script,tough,maverick cop  faces down the psychos (bikers) and those at city Hall (mahhnn),whilst protecting some big haired lady babe. Part of the film resembles the worst of 80's pop videos on a "fashion" shoot (it is L.A. after all) .The big shoot out at the end has SS hitting five guys mostly  on motorikes with just five shots from a pistol. The appalling music sounds like Gloria Estefan put through a mincemeat machine, and the cowardly television editing means we don't even get to see the big bad die properly. It can't be being edited for naffness for that would exclude the whole movie.

See this movie to test your sanity.

The Spectrum game was ace though especially when you went on the define keys screen: Up, Down, Left, Right, Murder.

Hey having now watched this game on youtube it's better acted than the movie. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 10 February, 2013, 02:34:21 PM
I actually feel sorry for what Lynch suffered on Dune. He had the studio pulling cast members out for promotional interviews without giving him any notice- ruining his shooting schedule, he wanted it to be a 15 but the studio wanted it to be a U to be the 'new' Star Wars- meaning a lot of great sounding scenes were removed from it, scenes he had already shot for part 2 were thrown into Dune- just odd, and then there was just the constant badgering he was getting on what the studio wanted it to be. What good came of it? He did Blue Velvet and when the studio asked for changes he said he would take a pay cut if he could have final say and they allowed it , and that is how he has worked since (with the exception of the Twin Peaks TV series).
I think it's in the latest Empire that Lynch gets asked how close he really came to directing Return of the Jedi and he says something like "I met George for dinner and we discussed a few ideas, but then he showed me a picture of something called a 'wookie'..."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 February, 2013, 02:39:19 PM
For 'wookie' read 'ewok'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 February, 2013, 02:41:29 PM
Watched the original Dune movie recently, followed shortly after by the Sci-Fi Channel version.  The first one is a better single-sitting movie experience, but the latter uses its longer runtime to create a story more sprawling in scope, and I find the blatant painted backdrops in many desert scenes to be quite charming, giving the production a stagey feel the Lynch/Smithee version lacked.  The CGI is very obvious, but it's a committed production and captures a nice multiplanetary feel compared to the film's more desert-bound romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 10 February, 2013, 02:44:35 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 12:41:12 PM
Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.

Have to give this a rewatch soon. Would love there to have been the Jodorowsky version with the Geiger and Moebius designs they started. Real shame that wasn't seen through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 February, 2013, 03:04:31 PM
Schindlers list. Havent seen this in an absolute age, but a bit of random channel surfing brought this up. Incredibily long, but one of those films you just have to watch from start to finish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 03:16:30 PM
Quote from: judda fett on 10 February, 2013, 02:44:35 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 12:41:12 PM
Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.

Have to give this a rewatch soon. Would love there to have been the Jodorowsky version with the Geiger and Moebius designs they started. Real shame that wasn't seen through.

I would've LOVED to have seen the Jodorowsky version! Some of the ideas he had were so mindbogglingly awesome! Of course sadly it never materialised; he did however go on to write The Incal with Moebius, which was basically his version of Dune (i'm nearly halfway through my reading of The Incal and i'm enjoying it immensly - its amazing because you can see how this comic inspired a new generation of writers, i even feel there's certainly some influence of The Incal in Brian K Vaughan's Saga series).
I don't know how true this might be, but apparently when Jodorowsky heard that someone else was directing Dune he was really depressed, as it was his dream to make the film. However, when he went to the cinema to watch it - he burst out laughing! Only Lynch could make a more weirder Dune than himself!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 10 February, 2013, 03:31:38 PM
Hey Mabs if you haven't seen it is recommend La Constellation Jodorowsky, documentary from the mid nineties. Interviews with Moebius amongst others and Jodorowsky talking about his comic strip work and Dune.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 February, 2013, 03:44:02 PM
Just noticed I'd failed to correct my Tips-style reviews of what I saw earlier in the week.

Not entirely sure what prompted me to see The Silver Linings Playbook, but I loved it. It's not exactly a feelgood rom-com although it shares some of the same DNA, nor is it entirely a straight drama but an interesting hybrid of the two.

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are an ill-matched couple both struggling to come to terms with their different mental health issues and gradually coming to rely on each other. I'm no expert, but it does seem like a pretty sympathetic portrait. There are times when it's played for laughs but a couple of scenes where it transitions very sharply into quite uncomfortable territory while the photography, editing and sound design are all used clevelry to illustrate the lead's changing state of mind.

It's quite touching if slightly cheesy and, ultimately, quite hard to pin down. I later found it was from the same director as I Heart Huckabees which I also really enjoyed but would find difficult to explain. Lawrence is outrageously lovely in this.

Zero Dark Thirty I appreciated more than I enjoyed. A sort of espionage procedural leading up to the execution of Osama bin Laden, it's very well put together but lacks any real narrative to make it work as entertainment and seems intent on being a sort of anti war-film (as opposed to an anti-war film.) By that, I mean that it's deliberately structured to focus on the process of intelligence gathering that leads up to the final act assault on the compound with the SEAL team being just one of many different tools used to get the job done. Normally we'd expect a film to focus on those guys coming together, training for a mission, experiencing a few setbacks on the way then finally getting the lead that lets them get the job done but not here.

My first caveat, regarding story, is maybe a necessary trade-off for what the film is trying to show: the ten year effort to chase down individual leads in amongst a barrage of conflicting information and priorities. By focussing on the efforts of one agent and, mostly, a single lead it can be extrapolated out to the overall confusion and complexity but it necessarily becomes episodic and fractured. As a result, the few scenes where it tries to add in a more traditional "lone wolf fighting her own bosses to get the job done" seem preposterous and tagged on for no real reason.

There are plenty ethical questions you could debate around it too although I think the filmmakers try to have their cake and eat by maintaining a studious policy of depiction without commentary and spurious comments about realism. I'm interested to hear what CF thinks of the fire drills and disposition of troops in that final section.

I'm afraid Jack Reacher really was a colossal pile of shite. It starts off as if it's going to be an at least entertaining collection of thriller clichés but soon descends into farcical nonsense. The only thing going for it is an entertainingly evil turn by Werner Herzog as the villain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 February, 2013, 04:06:27 PM
Reign of Fire (2002), in which Christian Bale's character undergoes a traumatic experience in an underground cavern as a child which involves a winged creature. He loses his parents, adopts a beard and an accent which are equally unconvincing, dresses like a tramp and runs off to a bleak part of the world. Can anyone not see where this is going?

He meets a foreigner there who teaches him combat techniques based on ancient principles and gives him the knowledge he needs to defeat his enemies. He then sets out to build a better world using all kinds of neat homemade technology, his house burns down, and he has a punch up with a musclebound bald guy. Maybe if Bale had worn pointy ears and spoke in a silly growl the film would have been more successful.

The scene where they perform a DIY reconstruction of Empire Strikes Back to entertain the wee kids is great, but their cheering that film's cop out cliffhanger ending stretched credulity - they would have been screaming "JUST THINK OF AN ENDING!", like I did when I first saw Lucas & Kershner's film version. Gerard Butler has been faintly rubbish in films for longer than I remembered, although I could have sworn this film was much more than a decade old. It's still up on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074fb1/Reign_of_Fire/) for 5 more days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2013, 04:22:23 PM
Quote from: judda fett on 10 February, 2013, 03:31:38 PM
Hey Mabs if you haven't seen it is recommend La Constellation Jodorowsky, documentary from the mid nineties. Interviews with Moebius amongst others and Jodorowsky talking about his comic strip work and Dune.

Thanks for the recommendation mate, i will definitely check it out. Theres another documentary also out called 'Jodorowsky's Dune' which i heard was really good. So two docs which are a must watch! Cheers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 10 February, 2013, 04:43:41 PM
Haven't seen the Dune one so I'll keep em peeled for that. He is a very interesting individual and a powerful wizard (wait til you see La Constellation) :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 February, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 10 February, 2013, 02:39:19 PM
For 'wookie' read 'ewok'?

It was going to be Wookiees until quite late in the day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 February, 2013, 05:25:16 PM
Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22 (2009)-  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 February, 2013, 01:57:37 PM
The Three Stooges (2012). I must admit I was laughing out loud at most of the gags and one liners, but I've always enjoyed the Stooges.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: vzzbux on 11 February, 2013, 03:21:41 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 February, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 10 February, 2013, 02:39:19 PM
For 'wookie' read 'ewok'?

It was going to be Wookiees until quite late in the day.
Don't forget 2 Death Stars under construction.




V
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2013, 05:50:17 PM
McBain (1991)-  :lol: ::)
Good ol' low budget fun with Christopher Walken as former soldier now liberator McBain. Not a classic action film but awsome fun none the less and one I can watch all the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 February, 2013, 07:01:47 PM
The Mechanic. Jason Statham really needs to get a new agent, or I need to marry a woman who doesn't make me watch his entire oeuvre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 February, 2013, 06:40:38 PM
I really enjoyed Flight, not just for the t&a but for a cracking crash sequence. Denzil is always good value but he was excellent here playing the bad boy Captain - loved the pivotal moment 'will he won't he?' moment with the vodka minature.

Also saw The Expatriate (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no69-expatriate.html) which was less good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 12 February, 2013, 07:50:10 PM
THE MASTER

Its is one ambiguous trip.  Nothing is definite, but its all so damn compelling.  I had to watch it twice.  The critics have been either loving it or hating it.  I will say that if you don't follow the story too well, you will still appreciate this film as a work of art.  Some scenes are so breathlessly and painstakingly staged. just to be onscreen for less than 10 seconds.

If Joaquin Phoenix doesn't get the Academy Award for this thing, then...well I don't know.

Its the story of the beginnings of "The Cause" which is most definitely Scientology.  Joaquin Phoenix is a simple hedonist who stumbles across this cult and proceeds to get indoctrinated.  However, the way the story is told, you can't tell if key sequences are dreams or not.  While that sounds annoying, it isn't.  These actors are very present, and what they portray is borderline hypnotic.  I wouldn't say its of the same caliber of THERE WILL BE BLOOD but I will say that the same directing and storytelling (ahem) mastery is definitely afoot.  There are plenty of disturbing images, that jar the viewer at the moment, but once the entire film is consumed, their presentations are softened.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is great, and has always been great, but he just doesn't chew the scenery like Joaquin Phoenix.  Wow.  Phoenix becomes this despicable character named Freddy Quell and I'm sure it must have affected his personal life.

Watch it with someone you love and go out for drinks afterward.  Guaranteed you will be chattering about it for the rest of the night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 February, 2013, 06:23:25 PM
Regarding 'Flight' no one on the IMDb boards has responded to my post so here it is for you all to enjoy :


When Denzil's alarm goes off it's showing 7:14 - 'Flight 714' is a Tintin book - a coincidence? Hardly likely!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 February, 2013, 07:05:01 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 13 February, 2013, 06:23:25 PM
Regarding 'Flight' no one on the IMDb boards has responded to my post so here it is for you all to enjoy : When Denzil's alarm goes off it's showing 7:14 - 'Flight 714' is a Tintin book - a coincidence? Hardly likely!

Absolutely everyone on IMDB is a cunt. Nice spot, Buttoneer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 February, 2013, 07:39:28 PM
Xtro (1983)- A video nasties classic! Wonderfully surreal atmosphere and imagery, it's also a flipside to ET (Not all aliens are freindly!-tag line) and some really great minimalistic effects that, in conjunction with creepy score and superb use of lighting make's you 'see' more than you really do. Genuinly frightening at times also, not easy. An instant favourate of mine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strangelysaucy on 13 February, 2013, 08:12:03 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 February, 2013, 10:10:06 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2013, 08:35:45 PM
I have missed that particular review style and though I'd try resurrect it.

Had a nice day out at the pictures yesterday and this is what I saw.

The Silver Linings Playbook. Silver Linings Gaybook more like.

Zero Dark Thirty. Zero Wank Thirty more like.

Jack Reacher. A Colossal Pile of Shit more like.

I'm a big fan of your reviewing style :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 04:41:40 PM
I watched Madagascar 3 with my son last night, and had a big laugh while doing so! Part of the reason being the big bear character called Sonya. You see he has a cousin, a 3 year old girl called Sonya. And everytime Sonya the bear popped up on screen he burst out laughing; "dad, Sonya (his cousin) wishes she was a princess, what if she see's Madagascar and finds out she's turned into a big hairy bear?" lol. Kids.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 14 February, 2013, 08:45:58 PM
Watched the Hit. Quite good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 February, 2013, 09:00:23 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 04:41:40 PM
I watched Madagascar 3 with my son last night, and had a big laugh while doing so! Part of the reason being the big bear character called Sonya. You see he has a cousin, a 3 year old girl called Sonya. And everytime Sonya the bear popped up on screen he burst out laughing; "dad, Sonya (his cousin) wishes she was a princess, what if she see's Madagascar and finds out she's turned into a big hairy bear?" lol. Kids.  :lol:

awww, that's cute. He'll be teasing her with that for weeks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 09:52:36 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 February, 2013, 09:00:23 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 04:41:40 PM
I watched Madagascar 3 with my son last night, and had a big laugh while doing so! Part of the reason being the big bear character called Sonya. You see he has a cousin, a 3 year old girl called Sonya. And everytime Sonya the bear popped up on screen he burst out laughing; "dad, Sonya (his cousin) wishes she was a princess, what if she see's Madagascar and finds out she's turned into a big hairy bear?" lol. Kids.  :lol:

awww, that's cute. He'll be teasing her with that for weeks!

I know! And i doubt his aunt'll be too pleased!  :-X :D

Its a joy watching a film with him, some of the stuff he just comes out with - and he only turned five the other day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Basilisk on 14 February, 2013, 11:04:46 PM
Two days ago i watched Hellboy 2 on Blu-ray. Man, how gorgeous it looks... seems strange, but i'm completely identified by Hellboy and Abe. Their "margination" from humanity, their lonelyness... i found them more "human" than most people i know. Del Toro made a good job with these two movies. I've read some Hellboy stories here and there, but i'm gonna get soon BPRD and Hellboy comics once and for all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 11:21:31 PM
Quote from: Basilisk on 14 February, 2013, 11:04:46 PM
Two days ago i watched Hellboy 2 on Blu-ray. Man, how gorgeous it looks... seems strange, but i'm completely identified by Hellboy and Abe. Their "margination" from humanity, their lonelyness... i found them more "human" than most people i know. Del Toro made a good job with these two movies. I've read some Hellboy stories here and there, but i'm gonna get soon BPRD and Hellboy comics once and for all.

My favourite moment in the film: a drunk Abe and Hellboy singing along to Barry Manilow.....brilliant!  :D

The look of the film is also really beautiful; especially the Mos Eisley Cantinaesque/ H.P Lovecraft inspired Troll Market scene. Absolutely breathtaking.

You have to read the Hellboy comics esp. the BPRD Collection, some of the best stuff i've encountered over the years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Basilisk on 14 February, 2013, 11:37:29 PM
Yep. "I can't smile without you..."... :lol:

Fortunately(or not, for my bank account :lol: ), there are deluxe editions of both Hellboy and BPRD here. Norma editorial has released two omnibuses of HB and one of BPRD. I'm gonna get them soon. They're waiting for the sixth Library Edition HC of Hellboy to release their third omnibus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 February, 2013, 06:00:44 PM
The Dark Knight Rises, which wasn't anywhere near as rotten as some of you lot lead me to expect. It's just Batman Forever with ideas, but I thought Bane was the most hilarious villain I've seen on screen. The disparity between how he looks and how he speaks is endlessly entertaining, and I can't stop doing the voice and quotes. I'm glad Nolan finally took the stick (halfway) out his arse and made something as funny as the character's Sixties screen incarnation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 February, 2013, 06:16:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 February, 2013, 06:00:44 PM
The Dark Knight Rises, which wasn't anywhere near as rotten as some of you lot lead me to expect. It's just Batman Forever with ideas, but I thought Bane was the most hilarious villain I've seen on screen. The disparity between how he looks and how he speaks is endlessly entertaining, and I can't stop doing the voice and quotes.

TRUTH!

I bought all three of the recent Bat-movies mainly for my old man, who USED to sneer at my interest and efforts at working in comics. However, he's alays been a huge Bat-fan, so it seemed like a clever trick to get him on-side. It worked!

BUT - Bane has been possibly the most imitated movie character of the last decade at HdE towers since we sat down to watch 'Rises'. Cups of tea are offered in his ridiculous voice. Mundane requests are made while holding onto the lapels of our jackets, in sinister tones.

I think we've had more fun with Bane OFF screen than on it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 February, 2013, 08:01:26 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 11:21:31 PM
The look of the film is also really beautiful; especially the Mos Eisley Cantinaesque/ H.P Lovecraft inspired Troll Market scene. Absolutely breathtaking.

Just recently saw HB2 for the first time a few weeks back, and I have to agree with these sentiments.  Excellent, excellent film, huge buckets of style and heart. 

I was a little disappointed by the 'we're going to the Giant's Causeway' but then actually go somewhere else entirely bit, but that was the full extent of my criticisms.  The kind of movie where you instantly lament the absence of another instalment even before the credits roll. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 February, 2013, 08:15:41 PM


Quote from: TordelBack on 15 February, 2013, 08:01:26 PM
I was a little disappointed by the 'we're going to the Giant's Causeway' but then actually go somewhere else entirely bit. 


Yeah, it looked like they'd gone round the corner to avoid the wind, strange, considering how much better it could've looked with Hellboy re-posing Houses of the Holy...Mexicans and Pat Mills do Irish Mythology so much better than ourselves...otherwise it's a class film that just about made enough money to keep taunts of a concluding chapter and an appropriate break in Del Toro's schedule, alive.


Hopefully Pedestrian Rim blows-up at the box-office and Del Toro gets the greenlights lit for a one-two punch of At the Mountains of Madness & Hellboy III.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 February, 2013, 08:22:16 PM
All down to money from what I heard - they didn't have the budget to come to NI.
Still, I saw it in Belfast and it got a cheer when they mentioned it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 15 February, 2013, 08:42:03 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 February, 2013, 06:00:44 PM
The Dark Knight Rises, which wasn't anywhere near as rotten as some of you lot lead me to expect. It's just Batman Forever with ideas, but I thought Bane was the most hilarious villain I've seen on screen. The disparity between how he looks and how he speaks is endlessly entertaining, and I can't stop doing the voice and quotes. I'm glad Nolan finally took the stick (halfway) out his arse and made something as funny as the character's Sixties screen incarnation.

Gosh how very knowing and modern!

Except Bane wasn't supposed to be funny, Nolan didn't make any attempt to inject silly, camp humour and it's nothing like Batman Forever.

But you knew that already
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 February, 2013, 08:59:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 15 February, 2013, 08:01:26 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 14 February, 2013, 11:21:31 PM
The look of the film is also really beautiful; especially the Mos Eisley Cantinaesque/ H.P Lovecraft inspired Troll Market scene. Absolutely breathtaking.

Just recently saw HB2 for the first time a few weeks back, and I have to agree with these sentiments.  Excellent, excellent film, huge buckets of style and heart. 

I was a little disappointed by the 'we're going to the Giant's Causeway' but then actually go somewhere else entirely bit, but that was the full extent of my criticisms.  The kind of movie where you instantly lament the absence of another instalment even before the credits roll.

TordelBack, if you still have the copy of the DVD/ Blu-ray in your possession (and if you have the time) then i really urge you to listen to the commentary by Del Toro, and even the extra's, its such a fascinating process and Del Toro makes for a very fun watch/ listen! I think he mention's something about the Giant's Causeway too (as Richmond has said above) i think it was budgetary reasons.

And i agree, the film has a lot of heart, on top of all the beautiful imagery and thrilling action on show. The ending in particular was really poignant especially Nuada's speech.  I for one would love to see a third film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 February, 2013, 09:31:18 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 15 February, 2013, 08:59:14 PM
TordelBack, if you still have the copy of the DVD/ Blu-ray in your possession (and if you have the time) then i really urge you to listen to the commentary by Del Toro, and even the extra's, its such a fascinating process and Del Toro makes for a very fun watch/ listen! I think he mention's something about the Giant's Causeway too (as Richmond has said above) i think it was budgetary reasons.

This I will do.  What's funny about the Giant's Causeway bit is that normally the prospect of a movie visit to Aul' Oirland would fill me with cringing dread and haunting flashbacks of Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Captain Planet - whereas in HB2 we perked right up and said 'Oh man, he's going to Ireland! Cool!'.  As it was, the substitute hillside, while not specifically Antrimish never mind anywhere near the Causeway, was perfectly acceptably Irish,  and John Alexander's legless goblin who meets them there works fine as a native.  This is high praise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 February, 2013, 09:57:15 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 15 February, 2013, 08:42:03 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 February, 2013, 06:00:44 PM
The Dark Knight Rises, which wasn't anywhere near as rotten as some of you lot lead me to expect. It's just Batman Forever with ideas, but I thought Bane was the most hilarious villain I've seen on screen. The disparity between how he looks and how he speaks is endlessly entertaining, and I can't stop doing the voice and quotes. I'm glad Nolan finally took the stick (halfway) out his arse and made something as funny as the character's Sixties screen incarnation.

Gosh how very knowing and modern!

Except Bane wasn't supposed to be funny, Nolan didn't make any attempt to inject silly, camp humour and it's nothing like Batman Forever.

But you knew that already

The thing is qtwerk, even if Nolan's Bane wasn't meant to be funny, inadvertently he is!  just the contrast between his look and speech is, in my opinion, a masterstroke by Nolan!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 February, 2013, 07:53:13 AM
Made it through Amazing Spider-man. Took me three sittings. What a frustrating film. There's times when its close to getting there and some nice nerdy friendly touches like the Alien tribute, but its not enough to make up for some incredibly 'lazy' scripting and some terrible CGI at points. I can normally let little plot holes, or bits that are a little too convenient, slip by for the sake of an entertaining film, but this is chock full of them. It really is and I say 'lazy' scripting for just this reason and the fact often there seems little attempt to explain anything and just assume the watcher will be so washed up in the excitement as it not notice or care.

I'm torn over Andy Murray's... sorry I mean Andrew Garfield's performance as Peter Parker. It was defo interesting and worth the effort, whether its right well not sure. Rhys Ifans tries way too hard to give the kinda villain performance that has defined so many great Superhero stories and in doing so gives a bloody showing cliched pastiche of all those previous effort. The script for Uncle Ben and Aunt May is so trite as to destroy any chance of the great actors playing the parts role working and Emma Stone is just so mah.

What the hell was the morkish cranes things about while I'm on one. I get that Spidey is meant to be embraced as part of the fabric of New York and in the heart of New Yorkers, but really they couldn't think of a better way to dramatize this than that. Ouch very pinnacle of the over sentimentality that cuts through this film. Though of course this I'm guessing is aimed at an audience or than 41 year old grumps like me and may well work a treat for the teen audience this film seems shot for so I need to just get over it! This is spider-man for the Twilight generation.

Finally when the hell will movie makers realise that as they are different from comics they shouldn't make these attempts to emulate them. So like Ange Lee's use of 'panels' in Hulk and here the use of freeze frames. Cos you know comics are a static medium and by freezing, or really slowing the action they seem to think they are paying tribute to the source material. All they're doing is showing a lack of understanding in my book. Spider-man is never still in comics, never. Sure the individual panel may be static, but the nature of the medium, the way reader intreact with it and the work of the great artists on the books means in the readers mind he's moving, swinging through the moment we see...

Wow for a movie that I wasn't fussed about I have a lot to say!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 February, 2013, 10:38:52 AM
Thanks Colin, you've convinced me to finally see this film!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 February, 2013, 10:50:39 AM
Django Unchained Brilliant. Wasn't expecting too much after being less than impressed by his last couple of movies, but this is a cracking bit of entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 February, 2013, 12:42:02 PM
The Keep (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no70-keep.html) - bonkers 80's Nazis vs monster epic courtesy of Michael Mann.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 February, 2013, 01:51:43 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed Arnie's comeback in The Last Stand. It's a solid, entertaining and interestingly understated action movie which has clearly had more money thrown at it than the premise would warrant with someone else playing the lead. While it does ultimately pay off in an OTT showdown, there is a fair bit of restraint shown in the first half as the characters and situation are built up.

Arnie's character seems an interesting, deliberate choice too. In some ways it's a continuation of the everyman role he's often filled but it seems less ridiculous here (he's an older guy with experience and still able to handle himself but it clearly takes its toll0, there's no love interest and he plays the straight man for most of the comic lines.

I'd hoped to do a compare and contrast between this and Stallone's Bullet to the Head but managed to miss that. I liked this a lot and am a bit disappointed it's been a failure. Looks like it's been a bad choice as the first English language film from the director of I Saw the Devil and The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Or maybe it's a good thing and he'll go back to making mental Korean films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 February, 2013, 06:31:13 PM
Keith Lemon: The Film- Dire, cringe inducing and more than a bit shit.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again- Always classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 February, 2013, 11:45:44 PM
The Guard.

Fucking amazing, an instant classic.

Brendan Gleeson is a legend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 February, 2013, 11:55:08 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 February, 2013, 11:45:44 PM
The Guard.

Fucking amazing, an instant classic.

Brendan Gleeson is a legend.
Yup. I've said it before, but for me, Gleeson's pretty much the best screen actor in the world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 February, 2013, 12:18:08 AM
The Avengers. There was certainly a lot of movement and colour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 17 February, 2013, 06:22:22 AM
Just watched Snow White and the Huntsman and it was hugely entertaining. Those two hours flew by :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 February, 2013, 09:52:43 AM
It was Sauchie who recently reignited my goal to watch the Coen Brother's True Grit, and would you believe it, while out shopping on Friday i managed to grab a copy of said film for £3! When i say grab i literally mean grab - seeing as it was the last copy...

Anyways, i managed to finally watch it last night and i must say i thoroughly enjoyed it. The thing you notice first is the magnificent cinematography by (Briton) Roger Deakins, my word does this film look beautiful. From the lush landscape, to the scene of the main characters on horseback against a white snowy back drop....its one of the most handsome films or westerns since The Assassination of Jesse James...which was photographed incidentally, by Deakins too!

As for the story, it was very engaging and mediative, not to mention thrilling in places too. Nearly all the actors do a stellar job, especially the three main characters; Hailee Steinfeld as the self assured and strong willed 14 year old Mattie Ross, Jeff Bridges as the whiskey drinking one eyed U.S Marshal Rooster Cogburn and of course Matt Damon as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf. Even actors with a minor role such as Barry Pepper (Lucky Ned) are excellent. In fact Pepper looks unrecognisable, with his manky teeth and shrivelled weather worn features.

The film cracks along at a steady speed, stopping just for a few memorable moments; such as the scene of the hanged man, and the Indian 'doctor' who, when we first see approaching on screen , looks like a bear riding a horse! The film may seem like a typical western; but it is full of these very Coen-esque moments. This is not a remake of the John Wayne film of the same name, rather a straight up adaption of the original novel. But the Coen's imbue the film with their own unique flavour and stamp.

In the end it was a very satisfying watch and as a fan of westerns and of both the Coen's, i enjoyed it. If there was one criticism it would have to be the ending which felt was too rushed for my liking, especially as the film up to that point,spent a great deal of time getting us aquainted with the characters. Nonetheless is was a sad and poignant finish to an excellent film. I wish Hollywood would make more westerns like this.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 February, 2013, 09:56:47 AM
I finally got my free copy of Avatar to go with my Blu-Ray player.  The 3D was very good indeed on my new telly, but the more I see this film the more contrived I think it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 February, 2013, 12:03:02 PM
Oh, talking of True Grit, i hope you managed to get those knobs at LOVEFiLM to send you the correct copy of the film Sauchie? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it once you do watch it!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 17 February, 2013, 12:52:04 PM
Sinister
Not expecting much from this as i don't really rate Ethan Hawke in anything much
he's done so far, but he is pretty good in this & it's not bad at all, i was slightly cacking myself on occasion (altho watching it late at night in an empty house helps i spose)

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 February, 2013, 01:52:14 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 17 February, 2013, 12:03:02 PM
Oh, talking of True Grit, i hope you managed to get those knobs at LOVEFiLM to send you the correct copy of the film Sauchie? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it once you do watch it!  :)

The knobbery was all mine, Mabs, having added the film to my rental list without noticing the picture of John Wayne's head next to the film's title. It's passé to praise the Coens now they're regular Academy favourites, but I thought everything about the film was as extraordinary as the beautiful cinematography and performances you highlighted in your post. It's a great demonstration of how there are so many more powerful and important elements to film making than plot - it sticks mostly to the story told by the book and previous film, but manages to feel and say something completely different.

If I hadn't seen the names of the Coens and Roger Deakins during the credits I would have assumed it was a Tim Burton film, from the number of black silhouettes of bare limbed, tortured looking trees jutting from monochrome landscapes, and the tone of the film is definitely Gothic (capital G), regardless of whatever other notional genre to which the film belongs. That brilliant scene with the bear on horseback is what the entire film is about, it really reinforces the feeling that the characters have crossed the river (Styx) into the land of the dead in their pursuit of justice for a corpse.

The antithetical last words of the men during the hanging which opens the film and the reactions of the crowd, the creepy scene of the hanged man in the tree whose de-toothed corpse returns draped across the back of the bear's horse, Domnhall Gleeson's concern that his corpse receive a proper burial, Little Blackie (!), Mattie proposing she should literally sleep with the dead then doing so figuratively (Grandma), the post-mortem manipulation to which Rooster subjects the corpses of the men he's killed in the witness box - everything in the film is concerned with the use to which we put the now-useless corpses of the dead which surround us. Not least Mattie, who uses the corpse of her father to escape her family and the strictures imposed on women in Victorian society.

Given that the film is so concerned with dead bodies and what happens to corpses once their story is apparently over, the ending seemed fitting to me; everybody is either dead or might as well be. Even the still-living narrator's had a sizeable chunk of necrotic tissue removed, although I don't think we learn what happened to it. Their stories are effectively over and their power diminished, like that of Frank James and the Western genre, but we get to find out what purpose is found for them after their life and story is effectively over, and what that means to Mattie.

It could be argued that making a Western today is a necrophiliac enterprise, but it probably always was, and the creepy - almost supernatural - tone of this film seemed entirely appropriate. The concern with bodies, the use to which they're put and the paradoxical concern of the living with doing right by them, all reminded me of The Three Burials of Melquiedes Estrada (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3P7wiVIhWk), so seeing Barry Pepper looking almost like an extra from The Walking Dead returning to the West as the oddly civil and fair minded Lucky Ned seemed entirely appropriate. I really loved this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 February, 2013, 02:13:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 February, 2013, 01:52:14 PM
I would have assumed it was a Tim Burton film

Wouldn't the whole 'not being shit' thing have tipped you off to the contrary? :-)

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 February, 2013, 02:31:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 February, 2013, 02:13:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 February, 2013, 01:52:14 PM
I would have assumed it was a Tim Burton film
Wouldn't the whole 'not being shit' thing have tipped you off to the contrary? :-)
Ha! Was planning to post exactly this but beaten to the punch by that man Campbell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 February, 2013, 02:31:51 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 February, 2013, 02:13:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 February, 2013, 01:52:14 PM
I would have assumed it was a Tim Burton film

Wouldn't the whole 'not being shit' thing have tipped you off to the contrary? :-)

I liked the ending (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yl2UGYk9BvM#t=269s) of Planet of the Apes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 February, 2013, 02:41:35 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 17 February, 2013, 02:31:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 February, 2013, 02:13:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 February, 2013, 01:52:14 PM
I would have assumed it was a Tim Burton film
Wouldn't the whole 'not being shit' thing have tipped you off to the contrary? :-)
Ha! Was planning to post exactly this but beaten to the punch by that man Campbell.

Yeah, but you wouldn't having been who-o-oring for some tie-in comic you stuck word balloons on...  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 February, 2013, 03:12:04 PM
@sauchie

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, mate! What you've stated in your review is spot on; the whole film does have an eerie almost supernatural tinge to it. And your metaphorical comparison of our protagonists river crossing to that of the river Styx is also spot on. And in order for Mattie to bring Chaney to justice, she has to make a sacrifice or pay a price [spoiler]which results in her losing her arm to the snake bite.[/spoiler]

Its such a great film. I will definitely watch it again when i get the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 February, 2013, 03:16:33 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 February, 2013, 02:41:35 PM
Yeah, but you wouldn't having been who-o-oring for some tie-in comic you stuck word balloons on...  ;)

I don't know what you mean. (http://www.truegritmovie.com/intl/uk/dimenovel/)

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 February, 2013, 04:55:49 PM
A Good Day to Die Hard.

Tips style review: A Shit Day to Shite Hard

Homer Simpson Style review: It was just a bunch of stuff that happened

Mr Plinkett style review: NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE AND EVERYBODY IN THIS MOVIE IS A FUCKING IDIOT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 February, 2013, 05:09:29 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 17 February, 2013, 04:55:49 PM
A Good Day to Die Hard.

Tips style review: A Shit Day to Shite Hard

Homer Simpson Style review: It was just a bunch of stuff that happened

Mr Plinkett style review: NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE AND EVERYBODY IN THIS MOVIE IS A FUCKING IDIOT
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 February, 2013, 09:51:56 PM
Big Fish. Just now. (Actually it occurs to me that 'just now' is a contradictory statement but I'm sure you get what I mean.)

Magical. Whimsical. Strange, and sentimental in a good way. I liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 February, 2013, 10:21:57 PM
Yeah I like 'Big Fish' too - always get a lump in the throat when t[spoiler]he son takes over the tall tale as the old man conks out. Also the funeral is great where all the characters turn up just a bit less colourful than described.[/spoiler]

Finally got around to 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' last night. Secret Santa gave me the Blu-ray for Christmas and I didn't really fancy 3 hours of cold detective work. Turned out to be really good. Cast of familiar faces and some cracking scenes - not for the squeamish!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 February, 2013, 10:24:22 PM
Big Fish is good Munchauseny fun alright.

As to tonight's viewing, Iron Man 2.  A bit talky and hard to figure in places, and not as good as the first one, but a very entertaining prequel to Avengers lifted considerably by Don Cheadle's well-judged Rhodey and Scarlett Johansson's truly astonishing loveliness. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 February, 2013, 12:12:04 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 17 February, 2013, 10:21:57 PM
Yeah I like 'Big Fish' too - always get a lump in the throat when t[spoiler]he son takes over the tall tale as the old man conks out. Also the funeral is great where all the characters turn up just a bit less colourful than described.[/spoiler]

Finally got around to 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' last night. Secret Santa gave me the Blu-ray for Christmas and I didn't really fancy 3 hours of cold detective work. Turned out to be really good. Cast of familiar faces and some cracking scenes - not for the squeamish!

Yeah i love Big Fish; its a really touching tale about father and son relationship. I remember watching it with a group of friends, one of them especially was in tears by the end because he too lost his parent. I haven't watched it in years, it might be a good time for a rewatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 18 February, 2013, 12:43:34 AM
Quote from: radiator on 16 February, 2013, 11:45:44 PM
The Guard.

Fucking amazing, an instant classic.

Brendan Gleeson is a legend.

great film
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 February, 2013, 02:12:20 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 17 February, 2013, 04:55:49 PM
A Good Day to Die Hard.

Tips style review: A Shit Day to Shite Hard

Homer Simpson Style review: It was just a bunch of stuff that happened

Mr Plinkett style review: NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE AND EVERYBODY IN THIS MOVIE IS A FUCKING IDIOT

I skipped out on watching this to go to the pub and drink beer all day, but when my mate (who did go) showed up at the bar later he said he'd never seen a film in his life that hated even the concept of plot as much as AGDTDH does - and considering the shit I've made him watch, that's really saying something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 February, 2013, 10:39:03 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 February, 2013, 12:12:04 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 17 February, 2013, 10:21:57 PM
Yeah I like 'Big Fish' too - always get a lump in the throat when t[spoiler]he son takes over the tall tale as the old man conks out. Also the funeral is great where all the characters turn up just a bit less colourful than described.[/spoiler]

Finally got around to 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' last night. Secret Santa gave me the Blu-ray for Christmas and I didn't really fancy 3 hours of cold detective work. Turned out to be really good. Cast of familiar faces and some cracking scenes - not for the squeamish!

Yeah i love Big Fish; its a really touching tale about father and son relationship. I remember watching it with a group of friends, one of them especially was in tears by the end because he too lost his parent. I haven't watched it in years, it might be a good time for a rewatch.

Sorry, just forgot to add something; was it the David Fincher/ Daniel Craig remake of Dragon Tattoo you watched, Buttonman? If so i need to add it on my must watch  list. I have the original versions sitting somewhere at home, still haven't watched them. :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 February, 2013, 01:43:30 PM
Tjis weekend I watched Looper, it was a tad bit confusing but had good if sad ending.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 18 February, 2013, 04:30:58 PM
I watched the very grim and bloody "Inside" starring Beatrice Dalle as an unwanted houseguest who gets very stabby.

Very stabby indeed.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 February, 2013, 05:10:42 PM
Hitchcock, not a bad little film at all. Well worth catching.
Mr Hopkins plays Hitch pretty well - its hard not to smile at his performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 February, 2013, 05:12:48 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 February, 2013, 05:10:42 PM
Hitchcock, not a bad little film at all. Well worth catching.
Mr Hopkins plays Hitch pretty well - its hard not to smile at his performance.
"She won't be naked. She'll be wearing a shower cap"
:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 February, 2013, 05:33:52 PM
A double bill of PREDATOR and PREDATOR 2.

Predator still stands up pretty well, remains endlessly quotable and had some interesting extras. I didn't know they changed monster design quite late on or that they had a break to try rustle up the money to finish it.

I cant recall thinking P2 was that good even twenty years sgo. Danny Glover is interesting casting but doesn't cut the mustard. And they fail to inject any life into the rest of the ensemble.

Or rather:

PREDATOR 2? More like Predator Poo!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 18 February, 2013, 08:04:37 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 18 February, 2013, 01:43:30 PM
Tjis weekend I watched Looper, it was a tad bit confusing but had good if sad ending.

Watching the flying bikes in Looper, I was glad Alex Garland didn't have the cash to make the vehicles in Dredd "more futuristic". I enjoyed the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 18 February, 2013, 08:34:16 PM
Watched ZERO DARK THIRTY last night.  It didn't tell me anything I didn't know.  Gone is the nuance of THE HURT LOCKER.  This could have been a tv movie.  It was rote, rote, rote.  I don't know what the big deal is...besides the fact that Tony Soprano is now pushing maximum density.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 18 February, 2013, 08:42:44 PM
Also managed to check ARGO this weekend.  Again, it was kinda rote.  If you know the actual Iran hostage crisis story, then you know that no one got smoked.  This only allows for tension in the film.  Anytime a gun is waved around, you know that hostages are safe.  This was my problem.  Well, that and the fact that Ben Affliction is just about the most soulless, dead-eyed actor out there these days.  He's lost something of his emoting skills.  I think I should have seen that zombie love movie instead.  ARGO could have been a tv movie primer to that other tv movie, ZERO DARK THIRTY.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 18 February, 2013, 10:29:59 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 February, 2013, 10:39:03 AM


Sorry, just forgot to add something; was it the David Fincher/ Daniel Craig remake of Dragon Tattoo you watched, Buttonman? If so i need to add it on my must watch  list. I have the original versions sitting somewhere at home, still haven't watched them. :-\

It was indeed the Fincher/Craig version and although disturbing it was excellent and a fast near 3 hours. I have the 3 Swedish ones but have yet to take the plunge.

Tonight I watched Wichita (1955) (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no171-wichita.html) and although not entirely charmeless it was pretty crappy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 February, 2013, 11:26:27 PM
Where the fuck are these monster movies Man of Buttons? Or was Dragon Tattoo one?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 February, 2013, 11:51:39 PM
The Howling 2: Stirba Werwolf Bitch - The darndest thing...Christopher Lee and reb Brown team up to fight Werewolf-Vampire crossbreeds in transylvania and Sybil Danning rip's off her shirt 7 time's in the closing sequence alone. Also, HOLY HAND GRENADE!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 19 February, 2013, 07:50:30 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 February, 2013, 11:26:27 PM
Where the fuck are these monster movies Man of Buttons? Or was Dragon Tattoo one?

Are you referring to 'The Creature Feature'? - it's not about monsters, silly! It's about animals and is presently in the gestation phase (Wild Geese 2 already nailed). I need to clear out the exising 'The' and 'W' films first - I can't expect people to ignore 3 blogs! 2 blogs on ignore is plenty.

I also have to watch some none 'The', 'W' or animal films to keep the wife off the scent. I mean 'Flight' - that ain't nothing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 19 February, 2013, 08:31:48 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 February, 2013, 10:29:59 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 February, 2013, 10:39:03 AM


Sorry, just forgot to add something; was it the David Fincher/ Daniel Craig remake of Dragon Tattoo you watched, Buttonman? If so i need to add it on my must watch  list. I have the original versions sitting somewhere at home, still haven't watched them. :-\

It was indeed the Fincher/Craig version and although disturbing it was excellent and a fast near 3 hours. I have the 3 Swedish ones but have yet to take the plunge.

Tonight I watched Wichita (1955) (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no171-wichita.html) and although not entirely charmeless it was pretty crappy.

I loved your review of Wichita - absolutely hilarious!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:01:09 AM
Conan, the most recent one.  Ah here, lads, if you're going to go to the bother of actually making a film is it too much to ask that you come up with a story and/or script?  The actors do a decent enough job, and looking at the list of thousands in the credits you would suspect lots of people at least turned up most days, but somebody forgot to write anything for them to work around. 

It starts well enough, with suitably portentous gubbins and some nice scene-setting where Hellboy Junior beats up some Hurons and everybody completely misunderstands the process of making iron/steel weapons and rather than be embarrassed about it make it into a Thing.  Then it sort of peters out over the remaining 90 minutes, and the all-powerful McGuffin that drives the 'plot' turns out to be totally useless at doing anything.   Conan is endlessly searching for the 6-Fingered Man, who turns out to be really, really famous and live in a giant castle, and his best mate knows all about him, and the thief he met earlier actually has keys to his basement, so he just shows up and they have a sword-fight in the Temple of Doom.  The end.

Momoa and his requisite giant man-boobs are pretty good as Conan (I like his grin), but he has nothing resembling a character to work with.  One minute he's assuring us he just 'slays and loves and is content', the next he's been on a monomaniacal 20-year quest to avenge his people.  At the start his father is telling him he needs 'ice to temper his fire', at the end he's kneeling in the ruins of Dad's forge looking satisfied with himself, but we've had no indication that any tempering took place in the interim. 

Every location is some form of natural rock-arch (I lost count) and some wind-scoured columns, every battle is the result of a some clanking army sneaking right up on Our Heroes (including on the open sea), every scrap ends with Conan yanking someone's chain (which may be a clever commentary, but almost certainly isn't). 

Bah, what a waste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 February, 2013, 09:17:07 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:01:09 AM
Conan is endlessly searching for the 6-Fingered Man...
Is he really left handed?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:41:32 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 19 February, 2013, 09:17:07 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:01:09 AM
Conan is endlessly searching for the 6-Fingered Man...
Is he really left handed?

When the story is about the son of a swordsmith who devotes his life to finding and defeating the man who killed his father in front of him, left a scar on his face, and stole his sword it's hard not to draw unflattering comparisons.   It's The Raid all over again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 February, 2013, 10:37:26 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:41:32 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 19 February, 2013, 09:17:07 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 09:01:09 AM
Conan is endlessly searching for the 6-Fingered Man...
Is he really left handed?

When the story is about the son of a swordsmith who devotes his life to finding and defeating the man who killed his father in front of him, left a scar on his face, and stole his sword it's hard not to draw unflattering comparisons.   It's The Raid all over again.

Films sharing similar plots?  INCONCEIVABLE!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 February, 2013, 11:33:49 AM
Considering it had a 90 million dollar budget, the Conan film makes a lot more sense if you go in assuming someone pocketed most of that and the film was just something they knocked out to avoid jail.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 11:39:27 AM
Quote from: Quack Addict on 19 February, 2013, 11:33:49 AM
Considering it had a 90 million dollar budget...

Crom!   :o  On this basis the average episode of Spartacus must cost twice that, seeing as they pay for a writer as well...

Forgot the other Netflix thing I almost watched last night: Iron Man Extreme. Luckily I decided to vet it before letting the kids watch it (not wanting to be one of those Outraged Parents).  What the hell is that crap?  I lasted 5 minutes, including fast forwarding, and the kids will not be watching it.

I tell you, trying to stretch out Breaking Bad by forcing ourselves to watch other things sometimes is not going well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2013, 11:59:39 AM
Tordleback, what exactly is it that's inappropriate about Iron Man Extreme? I've never seen an episode, but now i'm interested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 12:27:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 February, 2013, 11:59:39 AM
Tordleback, what exactly is it that's inappropriate about Iron Man Extreme?

It's shite.  What little I saw of it anyway: and sorry, I mis-typed, it's actually Iron Man: Extremis.  It looked like a cross between a motion comic (all static bodies and wobbling heads), a badly coloured porno-comic (inexplicably 'by' Adi Granov), and those Taiwanese animated news stories. The VO work seems to have been subbed out entirely unironically to the guys from Archer.  Within 10 seconds of the start there was a guy vomiting blood, then after the credits there's graphic suicide from a first person perspective with the subsequent dialogue: " ... I think he's dead.  Part of his head's missing.  He's shot himself in the head".  After that there's a 10 minute interview sequence with 'John Pilinger' on landmines, followed by a long board meeting about the Stark iPhone.  Skipping ahead there was some dangerous bullshit about magic mushrooms improving your eyesight.  I don't think I even saw the Iron Man armour in the time I was watching. 

In short: not one for my kids, although of course I appreciate not everything has to be.  Not Ellis' finest hour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 February, 2013, 01:35:18 PM
I liked that Ellis took the time to do some Pilger-bashing that basically amounted to "you journalists, all you do is report on things" like it's an insult rather than a job description, and in true straw man style, not-Pilger is struck dumb by someone pointing this out because 1) it has never ever occurred to him before that when reporting on wars and stuff that he should have grabbed a gun and joined in and shot some baddies, and 2) the real John Pilger has never been insulted by his interviewers before - never ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2013, 03:26:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2013, 12:27:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 February, 2013, 11:59:39 AM
Tordleback, what exactly is it that's inappropriate about Iron Man Extreme?

It's shite.  What little I saw of it anyway: and sorry, I mis-typed, it's actually Iron Man: Extremis.  It looked like a cross between a motion comic (all static bodies and wobbling heads), a badly coloured porno-comic (inexplicably 'by' Adi Granov), and those Taiwanese animated news stories. The VO work seems to have been subbed out entirely unironically to the guys from Archer.  Within 10 seconds of the start there was a guy vomiting blood, then after the credits there's graphic suicide from a first person perspective with the subsequent dialogue: " ... I think he's dead.  Part of his head's missing.  He's shot himself in the head".  After that there's a 10 minute interview sequence with 'John Pilinger' on landmines, followed by a long board meeting about the Stark iPhone.  Skipping ahead there was some dangerous bullshit about magic mushrooms improving your eyesight.  I don't think I even saw the Iron Man armour in the time I was watching. 

In short: not one for my kids, although of course I appreciate not everything has to be.  Not Ellis' finest hour.
:lol: I'll give it a shot, violence in animation I can take (Hell, most of my anime collection is extreme hyper violence. Elfin Lied anyone?)  but when it's aimed at kids you gotta be careful. Suicide is a big no-no for a start.

Watched Lincoln on sunday. Clearly OSCAR fodder but you can pick worse movies for said dubious title, Tommy Lee Jones was a POWER house in this but Daniel Day-Lewis steal's the show as the titluare president. Some outstanding performances and never dull considering the subject matter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 20 February, 2013, 12:48:27 PM
Saw Warm Bodies yesterday and it was unexpectedly awesome. Funny and exciting, with a great performance from Nicholas Hoult.

I am a 38-year old man, so not the apparent target audience, but this movie has lots to offer even those of us who are allergic to Twilight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 February, 2013, 06:38:49 PM
Shitey The Swarm (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no71-swarm.html) - there was a talk pulling this apart at the last Hi-Ex, but like a bad curry it just keeps on giving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 February, 2013, 09:46:45 PM
Django. A guy at work was passing this round and I didn't realise it was a dodgy copy until the first scene where Christoph Waltz gives a speech and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION flashes up on the screen. It was like a warning: DANGER: THIS SCENE MAY CONTAIN ACTING. The scene with the KKK is the highlight, and it's probably the funniest thing I've seen in a film in the last year. I didn't even notice the length, but I was watching at home and able to stop the film for a pish whenever I felt like it.

I was expecting it to be a bit shite from reviews I've read here and elsewhere, so my expectations were well lowered going in; consequently, I enjoyed every second of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 21 February, 2013, 12:58:36 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 February, 2013, 09:46:45 PM

I was expecting it to be a bit shite from reviews I've read here and elsewhere, so my expectations were well lowered going in; consequently, I enjoyed every second of it.

I thought the consensus on here was genuinely positive!
It's a great film! I thought I wouldn't get a chance to watch it (17, I don't really look 18), so I (unfortunately) had to find it online, and I had the 'for your consideration' thing too, luckily the next week I decided I'd try to get in and did!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 22 February, 2013, 06:40:00 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 February, 2013, 09:46:45 PM
Django

I was expecting it to be a bit shite from reviews I've read here and elsewhere, so my expectations were well lowered going in; consequently, I enjoyed every second of it.

I expected a little more on the "crackling dialogue" tip.  But that's what you expect from Tarantino.  I think that any lowered enjoyment I had from the film was simply the knowledge that this scriptwriter/director is capable of better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2013, 12:31:51 AM
Dredd.  Bog-standard DVD edition, ordinary telly and no sound system to speak of, my first viewing since my one cinema visit.  Grud, it is brilliant fun.  The wife loved it too.  The end screams, literally screams, for a sequel.  What a bloody pain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 February, 2013, 10:07:22 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 February, 2013, 12:31:51 AM
The end screams, literally screams, for a sequel.

It does that. If there was any justice etc etc.
Time for another re-watch of this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 February, 2013, 12:32:52 PM
I thought they had announced the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2013, 12:48:01 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 February, 2013, 12:32:52 PM
I thought they had announced the sequel.

I know, I just get frustrated by the uncertainty over which of the proposed spin-off projects is going to come out first, Fargoville or Insurrection?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 February, 2013, 12:52:01 PM



I think Faro's Millions is first out the gate.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 February, 2013, 01:14:05 PM
Southern Comfort. Not as brilliant as i remembered it being. And everybody goes crazy ape shit at the drop of a hat....
But still good fun, and well worth rewatching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 February, 2013, 01:39:42 PM
A dubious double header of Wild Stallion (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no172-wild-stallion.html) - no sign of Bill or Ted and The Cave (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no72-cave.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 February, 2013, 03:51:31 PM
The wife dragged me out to see Warm Bodies last night. What a load of shite. A fresh take on zombies. Yeah, right. Tries to be Shaun of the Dead without the wit or charm.

[spoiler]Like a bad Doctor Who Christmas episode love conquers all, including rampant zombieism. Bollocks.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 February, 2013, 06:09:49 PM
I have nieces aged 13, 10 and 6, and they are desperate to get seeing Warm Bodies.  I take this as a sign I am too old and too male to be the target audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2013, 11:38:19 PM
Terminator Salvation.  Why exactly did I just do that to myself?  Totally predictable and yet inconsistent mess of a thing, with a couple of redeeming sequences (the robobikes, Young Arnie).  Some of the casting/performances are embarrassingly bad (blow-up doll Bryce Howard off Spiderman 3 and sweet-cheeses-WHY-WOULD-YOU-DO-IT Helena Bonham Carter), some were mildly entertaining (Chekov), but ultimately Bale's Connor is a soulless void from which there is no escape. I won't even start picking at the clueless plot at all, but I will say if I was a sentient global computer network I'd probably build a base with considerably fewer door handles and rather less T800-melting opportunities.  And another thing: how come my car won't start if I leave it alone for more than a month, but every abandoned vehicle in a post-apocalyptic world has a fully charged battery, inflated tyres and a full tank of petrol?  Gah.

Unstoppable.  Pleasantly simple film, nice central performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 23 February, 2013, 11:52:16 PM
so much to say about that you don't like; so little to say about what you do.

You're as bad as me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 February, 2013, 01:22:41 AM
I'm with TB on Unstoppable. One of those films that feels like those films they don't make any more. Kind of Jaws with a fucking great big train instead of a shark. It's not as good as Jaws, but you kinda see what I mean...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 24 February, 2013, 02:44:12 AM
watched the last half of Tron Legacy last night, god i want a cut of that movie just done to the sound track no dialouge done right it would be mindblowing. So arsom looking and sounding until someone opens their gob.  Still want another sequal though.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 February, 2013, 09:20:26 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 February, 2013, 01:22:41 AMKind of Jaws with a fucking great big train instead of a shark.

Ah, thank you, I knew it reminded me of something.  Not in the same league, but a similar sort of thing, a few ordinary competent people trying to stop a Big Dangerous Thing despite the authorities' best efforts to screw it up, and the reasonably sensible way everyone conducted (b'dum tish) themselves. Denzel really is an amazingly naturalistic actor, almost every line feels like he's ad libbing - if he wasn't so overwhelmingly handsome you could imagine you were just having a chat with him at the bus-stop, rather than watching an actor heroically wrestling with a giant train. Pine too is quite convincing as a run-of-the-mill prick, and I mean that in a good way. 


(that long enough for you, Darnmarr?   ;))
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 February, 2013, 11:48:51 AM
Quote from: Professor J Bear on 23 February, 2013, 06:09:49 PM
I have nieces aged 13, 10 and 6, and they are desperate to get seeing Warm Bodies.  I take this as a sign I am too old and too male to be the target audience.

Definitely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 February, 2013, 11:51:18 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 24 February, 2013, 02:44:12 AM
watched the last half of Tron Legacy last night, god i want a cut of that movie just done to the sound track no dialouge done right it would be mindblowing. So arsom looking and sounding until someone opens their gob.  Still want another sequal though.

Cu Radbacker

Spot on!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 24 February, 2013, 06:52:53 PM
Avengers Assemble. Mediocre and dull first hour, then Hulk saves the film and the last 30 or so minutes are splendid, eye-popping, SMASHing fun.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 February, 2013, 08:50:49 PM
Cloud Atlas. I'm still digesting this, but I bloody loved it. Have never read the book, and knew very little of the plot when I went in.
It is a massive movie both in running time and vision, and has some incredible performances. Hanks and Broadbent in particular are nothing short of brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 24 February, 2013, 09:09:13 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 24 February, 2013, 08:50:49 PM
Cloud Atlas. I'm still digesting this, but I bloody loved it. Have never read the book, and knew very little of the plot when I went in.
It is a massive movie both in running time and vision, and has some incredible performances. Hanks and Broadbent in particular are nothing short of brilliant.

I enjoyed the book a lot. For all its self-indulgent and occasionally obtuse stylings, it displays a cyclopean ambition and pleasing coherence if you stick with it. I was dubious about how it would ever translate to a film (classically unfilmable like many other noble failures) and the very mixed reviews (and US box office disaster) bear that out, but I will certainly be watching it when it reaches the smaller screens

Although I fucking despise Hugh Grant
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 February, 2013, 09:39:17 PM
Thor: Tales of Asgard. An animated wotsit on Netflix, concerning the youth of (the Marvel versions of) Thor and Loki.  Very enjoyable, and while comics-centric works pretty well as a prequel to the rather excellent Brannagh movie.  Some amusing bits, like the Valkyries' archery targets all looking like Fandral of the Warriors Three.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 24 February, 2013, 09:44:27 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 February, 2013, 09:20:26 AM
(that long enough for you, Darnmarr?   ;))
Informative, erudite, up-beat, concise: I take it all back, you're nothing like me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 24 February, 2013, 10:45:06 PM
Miami Vice (2006) -

I've been watching the series on Netflix, so was delighted to find this for just £2 in HMV, although I had heard some rather mixed opinions to say the least, but knowing that it was Michael Mann directing, I knew I'd at the very least have an entertaining way to pass two hours, and that I did! Better than I thought it might be, I just wish we'd have Foxx as Tubbs, as he seemed to be doing a good job, but instead he got a minuscule amount of time devoted to him compared to Farrell's Crockett, who I found to be lifeless and rather uninteresting, not nearly the charismatic cop that he should be. Another thing that probably didn't win the film any favours was the partnership between Crockett and Tubbs, or lack there of. If someone turned the film on half way through, didn't know the set up, and the characters didn't were police vests and very occasionally say things like 'I'm with you partner' they'd be hard pushed to work out whether the two characters were meant to even know each other!
Having said that, it was good fun, and definitely worth the time; there's also an anecdote in the extras about Colin Farrell going along on an undercover drug deal with two retired (he didn't know this) undercover agents, it was all a set up and the result was Farrell frantically shouting things like 'I'm not wearing a wire!' as guns were being drawn!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 February, 2013, 01:08:35 PM
I watched Starship Troopers: Hero of the Federation last weekend.

Not a bad movie, but not as good as the first one either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 February, 2013, 01:10:27 PM
That was meant to be Starship Troopers TWO: Hero of the Federation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 February, 2013, 01:24:28 PM
2 Days in New York - Pile o' shite. Horrible characters who spout horrible humour. Avoid like a diseased dog.

Commando Leonard-I-Mean-Leopard- Good old macaroni war fun from the king of low budget action Antonio Margheriti.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 26 February, 2013, 02:11:33 AM
Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill. Both pretty cool Japanese 60s hitman/yakuza movies. Tarrantino definitely got some inspiration from the former for Kill Bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 26 February, 2013, 02:15:36 AM
edited my top post so this one can be deleted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 February, 2013, 03:00:56 AM
I've just switched off the TV after watching Troll Hunter.

I'd hoped it would do bigger things for me. But it was a fun way to waste 100 minutes. Those SFX are AWESOME, I have to say!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 26 February, 2013, 03:30:32 AM
I'm a big Cronenberg fan, but COSMOPOLIS just about killed it all for me.  What a spectacular waste of time, and not in a good TROLL HUNTER way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 26 February, 2013, 10:42:52 AM
Quote from: Lenny_Zero on 26 February, 2013, 03:30:32 AM
I'm a big Cronenberg fan, but COSMOPOLIS just about killed it all for me.  What a spectacular waste of time, and not in a good TROLL HUNTER way.

Hmmm, I've read the book and it didn't really scream out "MAKE ME INTO A FILM! IT'LL BE ACE!" so I was quite surprised (and largely disinterested) when a cinema version was announced.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 February, 2013, 10:46:13 AM
Cronenberg directed my favourate movie of all time, Videodrome, as well as a number of other loves (Scanners, The Brood etc) so I had to see Cosmopolis at the theaters...it wasn't great but i enjoyed it for what it was. Cronenber will always be worth my money I say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 February, 2013, 11:02:57 AM
Watching a lot of obscure, pretentious, supposedly arty indie cinema can be a pretty thankless task. Every now and again though, you get something like The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser which makes it all worthwhile. Take two Vincent Gallos, as many stunning Italian actresses I've never heard of and an androgynous female as the eponymous stranger washed up on the beach, add black and white photography, some self-conscious weirdness, UFOs, a sprinkling of Mediterranean package holiday tongue in cheek and serve without any real thought for the connections you're hinting at.

Alternatively, you can look at it as an extended promo video for the Vitalic soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqkl06CfKD4). Either way, it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2013, 11:27:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 February, 2013, 11:02:57 AMTake two Vincent Gallos, as many stunning Italian actresses I've never heard of and an androgynous female as the eponymous stranger washed up on the beach, add black and white photography, some self-conscious weirdness, UFOs, a sprinkling of Mediterranean package holiday tongue in cheek and serve without any real thought for the connections you're hinting at.

I'm guessing this isn't the Herzog version!  Sounds intriguing, been fascinated with the character since Suzanne Vega sent me on a difficult pre-google search many years ago, but this had completely passed me by.  Is it available on that video-thing yet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 February, 2013, 11:47:12 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 February, 2013, 11:27:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 February, 2013, 11:02:57 AMTake two Vincent Gallos, as many stunning Italian actresses I've never heard of and an androgynous female as the eponymous stranger washed up on the beach, add black and white photography, some self-conscious weirdness, UFOs, a sprinkling of Mediterranean package holiday tongue in cheek and serve without any real thought for the connections you're hinting at.
I'm guessing this isn't the Herzog version!  Sounds intriguing, been fascinated with the character since Suzanne Vega sent me on a difficult pre-google search many years ago, but this had completely passed me by.  Is it available on that video-thing yet?
It's not the Herzog version and I think it's still doing film festivals and the like so no DVD for a while yet.
The key elements of the story are all there but often in a pretty silly way: he's constantly listening to imaginary music on his unplugged headphones, for example. He doesn't have a backstory and no attempt is made to fill one in. Instead, we just see the other characters trying to project their own interpretations onto his blankness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 February, 2013, 12:05:51 PM
Snow White and the Huntsman

Really good fun and reminded me of 'Willow' quite a bit.
It was all very overblown and a bit silly but then I think that's the point of a film like this.
There's some really lovely design all the way through the film. Costumes, sets, everything looks great - in particular a scene set in a fairy wood.
If I worked in a TV shop I'd put this on Blu-Ray to show off the tellys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 February, 2013, 02:09:14 PM
I saw Snow White and the Huntsman a while back. Not bad, but I couldn't tell the difference between Stewart and the trees around her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 26 February, 2013, 02:26:52 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 26 February, 2013, 10:46:13 AM
Cronenberg directed my favourate movie of all time, Videodrome, as well as a number of other loves (Scanners, The Brood etc) so I had to see Cosmopolis at the theaters...it wasn't great but i enjoyed it for what it was. Cronenber will always be worth my money I say.

I don't think I've ever seen a Cronenberg film at the pictures - I was too young to get into The Fly and his earlier 18 (sorry, X-rated) films and never been interested enough in the later ones - but skimming through his imdb page, it's quite telling that I've watched about 90% of the rest on DVD/ TV.

Almost always interesting.

Apart from M. Butterfly, obviously
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 February, 2013, 02:45:54 PM
Yeah, Willow is a good call as a point of reference, though not as eventful in terms of fights.  The Stewart hate has mostly passed me by so I was a bit flummoxed when mates spoke of Snow White and the Huntsman with the consensus opinion that it would be great if not for her presence.  I saw it and thought it was a pretty decent romp and not exceptionally good or bad - the odd flat performance, but nothing film-breaking.

It does do that thing where it uses FX to make regular-sized actors look like dwarfs, though, which I am in two minds about these days seeing as it takes acting jobs off actors who are dwarfs already and arguably a specialist role like that is something that comes along for them pretty rarely.  Fair enough they want someone recogniseable in the parts like Simon Pegg's mate and that other English actor, but if they did this all the time we wouldn't have the lovely Pete Dinklage's star on the rise and his part in Game of Thrones would probably have gone to some cleverly-angled shots and that actor who played the zombie team member from Torchwood, so go on and imagine that for a few moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 26 February, 2013, 03:28:59 PM
We had a viewing at a mates place of Videodrome last night. My first ever viewing of it. Madcap! Good to have a look at Debbie Harry as a brunette.


As for dwarfs in jobs, I watched The Train Agent about a really pissed off dwarf who lives in a train depot. quite nice for a film where nothing out the ordinary is happening but chasing trains and overcoming the crowd as an individual. Trains and dwarfs man! What's not to like?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 February, 2013, 03:36:41 PM
They're filming midgets!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 26 February, 2013, 03:41:30 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 26 February, 2013, 03:28:59 PM
We had a viewing at a mates place of Videodrome last night. My first ever viewing of it. Madcap! Good to have a look at Debbie Harry as a brunette.


As for dwarfs in jobs, I watched The Train Agent about a really pissed off dwarf who lives in a train depot. quite nice for a film where nothing out the ordinary is happening but chasing trains and overcoming the crowd as an individual. Trains and dwarfs man! What's not to like?

It's called "The Station Agent" and stars Tyrion. (Or Peter Dinklage as he's otherwise known).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 February, 2013, 03:42:57 PM
For all my pro-dwarf bluster, I have never seen an episode of Life's Too Short, not even the one where Liam Neeson played himself as if he was the main character from Taken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 February, 2013, 03:44:13 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 26 February, 2013, 03:28:59 PM
As for dwarfs in jobs, I watched The Train Agent about a really pissed off dwarf who lives in a train depot. quite nice for a film where nothing out the ordinary is happening but chasing trains and overcoming the crowd as an individual. Trains and dwarfs man! What's not to like?

Best film with the under statured ever is Time Bandits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 26 February, 2013, 04:15:30 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 26 February, 2013, 03:44:13 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 26 February, 2013, 03:28:59 PM
As for dwarfs in jobs, I watched The Train Agent about a really pissed off dwarf who lives in a train depot. quite nice for a film where nothing out the ordinary is happening but chasing trains and overcoming the crowd as an individual. Trains and dwarfs man! What's not to like?

Best film with the under statured ever is Time Bandits.

Not really a huge genre is it? i mean, you could point to memorable dwarf roles in films (Nik-Nak! The racist coke-head from In Bruges! Mini-Me! Tyrion! Ewoks! Willow!) but there aren't many starring roles for dwarves in which their dwarfism isn't the reason they were cast.

The Time Bandits would work as a film even if they weren't dwarves. Although them being dwarves does make it funnier, I'll admit that.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this.

*stage whisper*: "nowhere"

Yes. Thanks. It's probably nowhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 February, 2013, 04:25:12 PM
Someone should make Time-Bandits vs BMX Bandits.
Then we'd see who was better out of dwarves or kids on bikes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 26 February, 2013, 04:31:09 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 February, 2013, 04:25:12 PM
Someone should make Time-Bandits vs BMX Bandits.
Then we'd see who was better out of dwarves or kids on bikes.

Never seen BMX Bandits. I think it was released at the point where I was old enough to realise going to the cinema was not enough of a treat to not actually care what film was showing
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 February, 2013, 04:51:37 PM
Pure coincidence, but the last film I watched was yesterday's Lord of the Elves, in which the main characters were dwarfes/pygmies/midgets - I'm afraid I don't know the correct term - on a Willow/Caravan of Courage-type quest along with Christopher "I'll watch him in anything" Judge and Bai "drawing a complete blank here but I recognise that name from somewhere" Ling.  Oddly for an Asylum film, it aims to be a sort of Tarzan romp of the Johnny Weismuller school rather than super-schlocky and nasty as is their usual milieu, and they even go so far as to clumsily chop out some of the gore that looks to be getting too nasty for younger watchers in an effort to keep the age rating down.
Not the best-made thing you'll ever see, but the ambition to go so deliberately retro in a marketplace with a glut of similar films stuffed with sex and gore is commendable, and I reckon one of these days the Asylum will make a really good film rather than just mockbusters or SyFy Channel shovelware.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 February, 2013, 12:10:01 AM
I was always mildly aggrieved that Bandidas never made it to the big screen over here. What kind of idiot doesn't want to see a light hearted Western from the Luc Besson production line starring Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek as a pair of mismatched but equally feisty young women out to revenge the murders of their fathers and strike a blow for the Mexican people against Yankee financial imperialism? Probably the same kind of idiot who would complain about the anachronistic forensic methods used by the New York detective who ends up in their corner, that's who.

Anyway, many billowy peasant dresses are worn; banks are robbed; there's a cathouse and a catfight; mutual respect is earned and Sam Shepherd's training regime for our heroines involves doing press-ups in a nearby stream!  While it's silly, it's not really silly enough to be that memorable but the two leads are genial screen presences which helps make it an enjoyable watch.

Quote from: TordelBack on 26 February, 2013, 11:27:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 February, 2013, 11:02:57 AM...The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser...
I'm guessing this isn't the Herzog version!  Sounds intriguing, been fascinated with the character since Suzanne Vega sent me on a difficult pre-google search many years ago, but this had completely passed me by.  Is it available on that video-thing yet?
I'm an idiot. It's actually called The Legend of Kaspar Hauser.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 09:57:18 AM
Paranormal Activity 4

I almost shat my pants!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2013, 12:16:21 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 09:57:18 AM
Paranormal Activity 4

I almost shat my pants!
Because of how piss poor it is surely? It was dire on every level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 12:47:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 12:16:21 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 09:57:18 AM
Paranormal Activity 4

I almost shat my pants!
Because of how piss poor it is surely? It was dire on every level.

I can see how, objectively, it isn't a very good film but I really enjoyed it.

There's something about this series of films that just grips me and even the most simple thing like a moving door or a swinging chandelier is enough to make me start cacking it! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2013, 01:01:08 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 12:47:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 12:16:21 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 February, 2013, 09:57:18 AM
Paranormal Activity 4

I almost shat my pants!
Because of how piss poor it is surely? It was dire on every level.

I can see how, objectively, it isn't a very good film but I really enjoyed it.

There's something about this series of films that just grips me and even the most simple thing like a moving door or a swinging chandelier is enough to make me start cacking it!
For me the gold standard in supernatural thrillers has been set by Insidius and Sinnister, the entire PA franchise is just a load of over saturated found footage bollocks IMHO.

Watched the first two Dr. Mabuse movies over the last few days, amongst Langs best works.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 01:01:08 PM

For me the gold standard in supernatural thrillers has been set by Insidius and Sinnister


You mean the "gold standard" in the year that they were actually released. Or month, maybe.
I hope you mean that, anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2013, 04:43:50 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 01:01:08 PM

For me the gold standard in supernatural thrillers has been set by Insidius and Sinnister


You mean the "gold standard" in the year that they were actually released. Or month, maybe.
I hope you mean that, anyway.
Naturaly. I view 'horror' as having distinct era's and the current run of rather poor 'supernatural thrillers' naturaly don't match up to The Haunting (original), The Wicker Man, Dont Look Now, the works of Bava, Fulci and Argento and so on and so forth. Insidius and Sinnister do stand out as being genuinly good movies in a sea of piss poor horror flicks I might add though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 04:49:08 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 04:43:50 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 01:01:08 PM

For me the gold standard in supernatural thrillers has been set by Insidius and Sinnister


You mean the "gold standard" in the year that they were actually released. Or month, maybe.
I hope you mean that, anyway.
Naturaly. I view 'horror' as having distinct era's and the current run of rather poor 'supernatural thrillers' naturaly don't match up to The Haunting (original), The Wicker Man, Dont Look Now, the works of Bava, Fulci and Argento and so on and so forth. Insidius and Sinnister do stand out as being genuinly good movies in a sea of piss poor horror flicks I might add though.

I don't really associate Bava, Fulci and Argento with supernatural thrillers.
Sinister was OK, decent ending, Insidious went very bonkers in the last 30 minutes and stopped being scary at all.

I've more love for the likes of Haute Tension, Inside, Eden Lake, Mum and Dad and Martyrs in recent years. Properly scary and disturbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2013, 05:16:49 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 04:49:08 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 04:43:50 PM
Quote from: qtwerk on 27 February, 2013, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 February, 2013, 01:01:08 PM

For me the gold standard in supernatural thrillers has been set by Insidius and Sinnister


You mean the "gold standard" in the year that they were actually released. Or month, maybe.
I hope you mean that, anyway.
Naturaly. I view 'horror' as having distinct era's and the current run of rather poor 'supernatural thrillers' naturaly don't match up to The Haunting (original), The Wicker Man, Dont Look Now, the works of Bava, Fulci and Argento and so on and so forth. Insidius and Sinnister do stand out as being genuinly good movies in a sea of piss poor horror flicks I might add though.

I don't really associate Bava, Fulci and Argento with supernatural thrillers.
Sinister was OK, decent ending, Insidious went very bonkers in the last 30 minutes and stopped being scary at all.

I've more love for the likes of Haute Tension, Inside, Eden Lake, Mum and Dad and Martyrs in recent years. Properly scary and disturbing.
I'd never say Insidius or Sinister were scary, there thrillers. But there jolly good fun. Have yet to see the new martyrs so thanks for the heads up.
Oh, and I would accosiate Bava, Fulci and Argento with S-thrillers for a number of titles:
Bava- Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Lisa and the Devil
Fulci- Gates of Hell trilogy, The Black Cat, Manhatton Baby
Argento- Inferno, Suspiria
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 February, 2013, 09:18:29 PM

Winter's Bone, which was like Cathy Come Home and Farewell My Lovely, starring the cast of Deliverance. It obeys all the conventions of detective fiction - including the hero getting beaten up - but unlike a shallow bastard like Marlowe, Ree's a genuinely sympathetic character who you really want to see succeed. That and the film's naturalistic, almost documentary tone mean you're never sure how individual scenes are going to turn out, and you're genuinely afraid for the character in some of the situations she finds herself in.

Just watching Ree get into a car with someone whose motives you're unsure of is enough to have your palms sweating, and the film does a great job of building a sinister mood and air of menace without straying into melodrama. All the social realist material showing just how vulnerable and powerless the family's poverty makes them (something as simple as organising transport into town is a major ordeal) intensifies your sympathy for them and your concern for Ree as their lifeline - and means that when the film takes a turn into genuinely gothic horror the whole thing still feels grounded in reality. Squirrels were hurt during the making of this film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 28 February, 2013, 12:33:13 AM
A poor to piss poor double bill of The Veteran (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no73-veteran.html) and War of the Dead. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no173-war-of-dead.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 February, 2013, 12:58:55 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 February, 2013, 09:18:29 PM
Winter's Bone, which was like Cathy Come Home and Farewell My Lovely, starring the cast of Deliverance.
What a great film that is. It seems no time at all between admiring Lawrence as the moral centre of her community to really falling in love with her in Silver Linings Playbook.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 February, 2013, 01:11:58 AM
There Will Be Blood and A Fistful of Dollars.

Both a rewatch. The former; a masterpiece. And Daniel Day Lewis is on FIRE! One of the best performances i've seen by Mr. Day Lewis. You cannot keep your eyes off him, his presence just seers off the screen. And not forgetting Paul Thomas Anderson's aweinspiring storytelling and direction. No Country For Old Men is an awesome film, but i felt There Will Be Blood was more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar, and Best Director for Anderson.

The latter; my favourite Leone directed Spaghetti Western after The Good , The Bad and The Ugly. Such a superb film. And Clint? A god. Morricone's score still gives me the goosebumps. Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 March, 2013, 04:54:25 PM
Have you seen the director's cut of the Good, The bad and the Ugly? Style wise, it's the movie Tarantino wishes he could make.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 March, 2013, 05:49:24 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 01 March, 2013, 04:54:25 PM
Have you seen the director's cut of the Good, The bad and the Ugly? Style wise, it's the movie Tarantino wishes he could make.

Yes i have El Pops, and i can see what you mean about Tarantino,  i think he stated its his favourite ever film and you can pretty much see its influence in most of his own films!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 01 March, 2013, 07:28:07 PM
Watched the Blu-Ray of SUCKER PUNCH the other night.  Dear Lord what a pretty film.

I think in several years, this movie will find its footing.  When it came out, most were irked with its rough-hewn ending.

I'd forgotten Scott Glenn was in there pulling a David Carradine.

The dream sequences are borderline hypnotic.

Did I mention that it was PRETTY?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 01 March, 2013, 07:40:54 PM
Quote from: Lenny_Zero on 01 March, 2013, 07:28:07 PM
Watched the Blu-Ray of SUCKER PUNCH the other night.  Dear Lord what a pretty film.

I think in several years, this movie will find its footing.  When it came out, most were irked with its rough-hewn ending.

I'd forgotten Scott Glenn was in there pulling a David Carradine.

The dream sequences are borderline hypnotic.

Did I mention that it was PRETTY?

Hot looking girls with guns,what's not to like?

I tried to watch Krull at least twice last night.. Ended up using it as a sedative instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 01 March, 2013, 07:49:54 PM
Krull put me to sleep when I was a teenager in the movie theater back in the 80s.

I tried to find what I'd missed by playing the Atari 2600 game by the same name.

The sedative solution is a good one, and if not, my experience is that the film itself produces its own "knockout narcotic".

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 March, 2013, 10:26:19 AM
CLOUD ATLAS

Loved it. Its big, sprawling epic and ambitious in a way like pretty much nothing else I have seen. Gorgeous to look at with a fine ensemble  cast, fantastic music and cleverly nested tales throwing the big questions around that you normally only see in films or books that are much less exciting.

Minor niggles? Playing spot the cast member sometimes pulls you out of the narrative. And the frantic to and fro between the tales distracts sometimes. I said "nested"  above but it really is more of a jigsaw that when you work out shows the nesting. But if anyone tells you its hard to follow or work out the connections, don't believe them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 March, 2013, 11:04:44 AM
Just watched Time Bandits and it was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 02 March, 2013, 12:01:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 02 March, 2013, 11:04:44 AM
Just watched Time Bandits and it was good.

Oh man. I love Time Bandits! A childhood favourite of mine, and pretty scary in parts too; the 'head' used to scare the bejesus out of me as a kid. So many wonderful moments like the glass in the desert, the minotaur vs Sean Connery, John Cleese' mad Robin Hood - its one hell of a ride. Definitely one of Gilliam's best alongside Brazil and Twelve Monkey's.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 March, 2013, 12:17:46 PM
Finally watched The Raid last night. Really enjoyed it... but and this is going to be a very strange criticism of a martial arts movie but the fights were a bit too martial artsey. What I mean is the movie had this wonderful grim and dark tone yet many of the fights were so typically and precisely executed as to feel out of place. For me it'd have worked better with shorter or brutal fights... but then it wouldn't be what it was... so I have to acknowledge my criticism is wonky... still can't shake it though.

Still over all wonderful film, GREAT villains and my wife loved it too, which for an action heavy piece is saying something. I will try Dredd on her now...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 March, 2013, 01:33:46 PM
I saw 'The Raid' yesterday and quite enjoyed it. The dubbing on the version I saw was dreadful but the action and the body count was brutal. Real surprise when one of the heroes has a 10 minute fight with the baddie and at the end he gets his neck broken - I thought he was goig to jump onto his feet and roundhouse kick him out the window. good to see some reality in an otherwise OTT kill fest.

Watched 'Kick Ass' this morning and it's always enjoyable - really rattles along with some great action and dialogue. Soundtrack is aces too -Stand Up' by The Prodigy an all time great!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 March, 2013, 06:25:21 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 02 March, 2013, 12:17:46 PM
Finally watched The Raid last night. Really enjoyed it... but and this is going to be a very strange criticism of a martial arts movie but the fights were a bit too martial artsey. What I mean is the movie had this wonderful grim and dark tone yet many of the fights were so typically and precisely executed as to feel out of place. For me it'd have worked better with shorter or brutal fights... but then it wouldn't be what it was... so I have to acknowledge my criticism is wonky... still can't shake it though. Still over all wonderful film, GREAT villains and my wife loved it too, which for an action heavy piece is saying something. I will try Dredd on her now...

That's not a strange criticism at all, Colin. The fantastic first action scene, where taking an axe to the floor allows for imaginative and kinetic camera work which moves effortlessly between lateral and vertical planes and action which seamlessly combines hand to hand combat, gunplay and the inventive use of a fridge as a deadly weapon, all had me convinced that the film was going to be every bit the reinvention of action cinema which some reviews promised.

After that breathless ten or fifteen minute sequence, the film settles into a series of incredibly well choreographed but fairly conventional fight sequences in which blows often don't feel like they're connecting and which don't really live up to the variety and the inventive use of physical space that the dizzying opening salvo seemed to promise. I really liked and enjoyed the film, but I'm still a little bit in mourning for the loss of the film I thought I was watching.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 March, 2013, 07:31:17 PM
Evangelion 1.11

I've never been a massive fan of anime - I often find the stories a bit obscure and nonsensical. This pretty much followed that pattern.
The action was really good and there were some lovely designs but the story was just a sort of list of things happening (I often find this with Asian films - The Grudge being an obvious example). The main character was the most whiny annoying twat ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 March, 2013, 03:09:58 AM
Robot & Frank

A lovely film, well made. In the near future, in a world not too different from our own, Frank Langella plays an aging ex-con who is getting too old to look after himself, and his children (Arwen from LOTR and Cyclops from X-men), are concerned. So they buy him a robot butler who just happens to have no moral protocols. Intrigue ensues.[spoiler] He teaches the 'bot to pick locks and shit.[/spoiler]

Frank Langela is a treat in this movie. His performance reflects the way several of my older relatives feel about newfangled technologies. For years they were suspicious of it, but given the right gadget (iphones in real life, robots in this movie), they'll fall in love with it and all of a sudden you get sent random pictures of that time you visited them when you were two years old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 March, 2013, 12:10:47 PM
I enjoyed Robot & Frank as well. It's wonderful to see how their relationship develops. It's very nearly a rom-com, but without the rom or the com (well some).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 03 March, 2013, 01:10:30 PM
the animated movie Dark Knight Returns Part Uno.I barely remember the original comic apart from the iconic cover (suitably spoofed in this movie), it races along very anime (NOT dark deco) looking though which i liked maybe others might not. Some ludicrous moments though the new Robin suddenly finds the ability to knock out mutants(the gang not the cursed earth type) from er, nowhere it seemed to me.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 March, 2013, 03:47:41 PM
Round up of some stuff I watched on my trip:

This Is 40:
As with Judd Apatows other films, massively overlong (feels more like you're watching a miniseries back to back rather than a film), lacking in focus and wildly self-indulgent, but still enjoyable if you have a soft spot for his oeuvre (as I do). As you can imagine, the money worries of two wealthy, good-looking 40-somethings doesnt really make for comedy gold, but the relationship stuff is as beautifully observed as it was in Knocked Up. Probably the weakest of Apatow's films to date, but then i didnt really like Funny People at first and it really grew on me with subsequent watches.
3/5

Safety Not Guaranteed:
Likeable little movie, whips along and doesn't outstay it's welcome. Really charismatic lead actors, and Aubrey Plaza is just lovely. People with a low tolerance for whimsy and hipstery tropes should probably avoid though.
A high 3/5

Wreck-it Ralph:
Some good stuff (the jittery animation of the people who live in the tower is sublime) but overall wasn't terribly impressed. Probably didn't do the film any favours by watching it on a shitty, low res, flickering aeroplane seat monitor and I nodded off for about 15mins in the middle. Videogame reference stuff seemed a bit tacked on, like they're being ticked off a list to please fanboys rather than really saying anything about the medium or doing anything clever with it. Was hoping for some sort of examination of/nostalgia for the bygone arcade days, but the film completely sidesteps it. Script seemed a bit muddled. Pixar quality? Not even close - and Pixar have way more class than to ever use a sodding Rihanna track in one of their films.
2/5

The Goonies:
Lets face it, The Goonies really hasn't aged as well as its contemporaries - The Gremlins, Back to the Future etc. It also has a really shitty sound mix that makes it really hard to hear what the characters are saying a lot of the time. I'm still very fond of it, and I actually visited a few of the locations where it was filmed during my trip, which was fun, if a little sad as these things never live up to how you imagine them.
3/5

Beasts of the Southern Wilds:
Not bad, but nothing amazing. The central performance of the little girl is phenomenal, but there's a slight pretentiousness about the film that almost wore me down, but I stuck with it and I'm glad I did as the ending was pretty great.
3/5

One Night:
A Cuban film about three youngsters attempting to flee Cuba for a better life in Miami. Decently made, great performances by the three leads (two of whom, in a case of life imitating art, fled into America while promoting the film) but certain scenes could have been a bit more tense or exciting. Feels a little flat in some respects.
3/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 04 March, 2013, 05:04:20 PM
"Margin Call", starring New Spock, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore and Paul Bettany as Wall Street high-fliers who realise that they're sitting on a catastrophically gigantic pile of toxic debt, and decide to sell it all in order to save the company from obliteration. By passing it on to the rest of the market. And totally fucking it.

It's really well-acted and while not exactly exciting, it is engrossing and  seemed to be a very accurate depiction of how these companies work: dead-eyed, gallows humour, love of money and risk-taking above all else, flimsy financial models that not even they understand properly and utter brutality when required.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 04 March, 2013, 05:21:26 PM
The Master. Some beautiful acting and that was enough to keep me entertained but can't say it made any bigger impression beyond that. Phoenix is phenomenal but the movie just sorta meanders towards an ending. It's no There Will Be Blood.

Primer. I know there's something very intelligent going on here but I think I'm too stupid to understand it. I hate typing that sentence. Time travel movies hurt my brain trying to figure them out and I actually had to do research online after watching this to see if I could figure it out and make some sense of it. I couldn't but I say that knowing the makers of the movie do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 March, 2013, 05:32:05 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 04 March, 2013, 05:21:26 PM
Primer. I know there's something very intelligent going on here but I think I'm too stupid to understand it. I hate typing that sentence. Time travel movies hurt my brain trying to figure them out and I actually had to do research online after watching this to see if I could figure it out and make some sense of it. I couldn't but I say that knowing the makers of the movie do.
Did you find this helpful timeline image when searching? It's probably my favourite thing about the film.

http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/1403/248887-primer_timeline.jpg
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 March, 2013, 07:47:52 PM
The Faculty. And oldy but goodie. And, by jeebers, early CGI has really, really, dated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 04 March, 2013, 08:12:44 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 March, 2013, 05:32:05 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 04 March, 2013, 05:21:26 PM
Primer. I know there's something very intelligent going on here but I think I'm too stupid to understand it. I hate typing that sentence. Time travel movies hurt my brain trying to figure them out and I actually had to do research online after watching this to see if I could figure it out and make some sense of it. I couldn't but I say that knowing the makers of the movie do.
Did you find this helpful timeline image when searching? It's probably my favourite thing about the film.

http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/1403/248887-primer_timeline.jpg

Oy...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 05 March, 2013, 01:42:07 AM
Watched the wrestler for the second time. Really good movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 05 March, 2013, 01:58:38 AM
It's also odd that the behind the scenes side of wrestling is much more interesting then the actual performance. I think quite a few of the old school wrestlers ended up like mickey rourke's character. poor buggers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2013, 08:05:05 AM
Meh Day to Meh Hard. Stars out of five: Meh.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 March, 2013, 08:43:26 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2013, 08:05:05 AM
Meh Day to Meh Hard. Stars out of five: Meh.

Cheers

Jim
Surely not. I think I saw that film, it felt more like a Stallone movie than Die Hard....I thought it sucked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 05 March, 2013, 02:03:18 PM
Vampire's Kiss. Something of a contemporary vampire tale with young actor of his generation Nicolas Cage keeping your attention in every scene without difficulty. The scene where he recites the alphabet is pretty famous but there are a number of great scenes throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 March, 2013, 07:14:18 PM
No fun ensues when James Gandolfini moves in with stripper Kirsten Stewart in Welcome to the Rileys (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no174-welcome-to-rileys.html). Meanwhile, luvvies save the day in The Reckoning. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no74-reckoning.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 March, 2013, 07:52:53 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 05 March, 2013, 02:03:18 PM
... actor of his generation Nicolas Cage

I really like Nic 'the cage' Cage. All my senses tell me I shouldn't, but I can't help but admire each and every one of his performances. I think he would make an excellent Mean Angel. No one flips the fuck out like Nic 'the cage' Cage, imagine him goin' upta four!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 05 March, 2013, 08:49:31 PM
Ignore what those senses say, sir!
I can't deny his bad films outnumber his good films, but even in a lot of those he's still entertaining. It's always disappointing for me to watch a film he's in that I already know is going to be bad, only to get the impression he was turning up each day thinking "I really need the money here."*

*He sold a lot of his comic collection due to financial difficulties. Personally, I'd gladly pay extra just to own a comic that was once his.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 05 March, 2013, 08:55:43 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 05 March, 2013, 08:49:31 PM
*He sold a lot of his comic collection due to financial difficulties

He had to offload a few of his castles in Europe too, poor sod.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 March, 2013, 09:47:55 PM
Koyaanisqatsi in the cinema. It was a bit bloody good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 March, 2013, 08:54:16 PM
The Trueman Show - near the end of the film which i'm watching with the family; that ending gets me everytime.  :'(

Definitely one of Weir's best film. Moving and beautifully directed, not to mention an outstanding score. Jim Carrey is absolutely superb (and Linney is fucking scary!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:01:59 AM
Ghostbusters 2.  Ghostbusters is, of course, one of the greatest films ever made.  Ghostbusters 2 is... not.  I had a bad experience watching this in the cinema fadó fadó, so disappointed that I recall playing catch with a pair of shoes to pass the time.  However, an accidental too-tired-to-change-channels re-watch last night showed me a movie that was far better than I remember.  Bill Murray is his usual stellar self, Sigourney Weaver spends much of the movie in pleasing deshabille, baddy Vigo and his portrait are excellent and the dialogue, while not as snappy as the first one is still very funny.  Ultimately it's the dull opening setup, a slow plot and possibly the unlikable colour of the ooze SFX, that means it falls a bit flat.  The core characetr stuff is still well worth watching, Ray, Egon and Winston in particular are a hoot when separated from Venkman (who does tend to steal every scene he wanders through).  It's better than remake Evolution anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michaelvk on 08 March, 2013, 11:44:58 AM
Monsters inc in 3D.. Interesting to note that in the re-render they did away with depth of field, because your eyes will create it instead..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 March, 2013, 10:20:15 PM
Honest, film Epic Movie is the true shittiest film I ever see! Don't know why bosses who see the preview of it let it happens!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 March, 2013, 10:29:07 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 08 March, 2013, 10:20:15 PM
Honest, film Epic Movie is the true shittiest film I ever see! Don't know why bosses who see the preview of it let it happens!
Because some idiots of my generation have no sense of humour.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:23:12 PM
I'm on Lethal Weapon 2 of a Lethal Weapon marathon. It's as anthropological as giving African children something to eat but ask them not to share with each other. Or at least it's not that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:28:50 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:23:12 PM
I'm on Lethal Weapon 2 of a Lethal Weapon marathon. It's as anthropological as giving African children something to eat but ask them not to share with each other. Or at least it's not that.

I've said it before Krom, but you are an f'ing poet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 08 March, 2013, 11:31:37 PM
Cage is an eco-terrorist...in as much as he must have killed thousands of trees and had their essence transferred into him to be as wooden as he is!

That said, i just watched The Safe, and Jason Statham is never going to win an Oscar, but you can usually depend on him delivering some no brainer action. Usually.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:34:47 PM
Quote from: Emp on 08 March, 2013, 11:31:37 PM
That said, i just watched The Safe, and Jason Statham is never going to win an Oscar, but you can usually depend on him delivering some no brainer action. Usually.

Stay away from The Mechanic is all I'm saying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:36:23 PM
Um.. you all been drinking?

Cheers anyway. Beeteedoubleu, seems you asked, in a way, Patsy Kensit looks like the female stock Hugh Grant English woman with the droopy eyes and goofy grin. And, it's at the point where I've realised it's got the first big screen nail gun scene I saw, in it.


The Mechanic is [spoiler][ a sit down jobbie though, and you won't feel you've wasted too much if you go for one half way through] [/spoiler]tho.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:38:23 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:36:23 PMAnd, it's at the point where I've realised it's got the first big screen nail gun scene I saw, in it.

I always think of it as the Platonic Chekov's Gun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 08 March, 2013, 11:40:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:34:47 PM
Quote from: Emp on 08 March, 2013, 11:31:37 PM
That said, i just watched The Safe, and Jason Statham is never going to win an Oscar, but you can usually depend on him delivering some no brainer action. Usually.

Stay away from The Mechanic is all I'm saying.

This makes tThe Mechanic look like a classic!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:44:03 PM
The " Nobody cops off with Chekov gun?" How does this relate?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 March, 2013, 11:44:20 PM
'Unstoppable' which turned out to be [spoiler]a total misnomer. Funny you mentioned Chekov's gun as I said to the wife that they'd have to explode all the tankers of explosive chemicals they kept talking about and then they totally didn't! [/spoiler]Still decent film - Denzil don't do many turkeys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2013, 11:47:27 PM
Quote from: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:44:03 PM
The " Nobody cops off with Chekov gun?" How does this relate?

This is the 'perfect soon-to-be-fired-gun of which all others are merely (fore)shadows on the cave wall' version, rather than the 'I love you but not like that' one, or even the 'fake-Russian's-laser' one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 08 March, 2013, 11:54:03 PM
Sure was following you up until 'fake-Russian-laser'. I'll take the earlier attempts and run with them. Yeah, good to know, cheers. :)

AAah, now I see, it isn't this one.  But it does have "Brawl in the bowels of the freighter", action set piece in it.

Aww man the song after Lethal Weapon 1 is the reason Jon Bon Jovi should have never existed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 March, 2013, 01:17:36 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 March, 2013, 11:44:20 PM
'Unstoppable' which turned out to be [spoiler]a total misnomer. Funny you mentioned Chekov's gun as I said to the wife that they'd have to explode all the tankers of explosive chemicals they kept talking about and then they totally didn't! [/spoiler]Still decent film - Denzil don't do many turkeys.

He's a great actor and i rate him over other black actors such as Will Smith and Jamie Foxx by a big distance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 March, 2013, 01:48:19 PM
Denzel is the business, irrespective of race.

The Princess Bride, a Saturday morning cinema trip for all four of us for a tenner all in! 

What a perfect film this is, start to finish.  I don't know what sort of restoration was undertaken for this 25th anniversary release, but the print we saw was utterly glorious, and the matte plates seemed much better integrated than on the 20th anniversary DVD we have at home.  I've seen this five times in the cinema now, and dozens of time on TV and video, and this is the best it's ever looked.

There's just so much to love about this on the big screen, from Robin Wright's glowing skin to Christopher Guest's glittering dead dead eyes, the incredible vastness of poor Andre's hands and the vileness of Mel Smith's cold sores.  There's some superbly brutal bits in Inigo and Westley's [spoiler]eventual triumphs[/spoiler], and the RoUSes are completely horrid - just wonderful, wonderful stuff.

A big treat for me was seeing what Peter Falk was sitting on as he reads to Fred Savage: a 'You're Next Punk!' McMahon t-shirt! Truly this movie has everything. 

(As an aside I will smugly report that my two sat big-eyed and silent bar squeals of excitement, unlike the half-dozen kids who brawled and screamed in front of the screen for the entire film, oblivious to proceedings.  Acceptable hazard of an almost-free Saturday morning PG, but still glad mine have the focus not to join in. It's times like these I really miss Roger - in the old guts I could happily brag about my kids safe in the knowledge that he'd be along to take me down a peg).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 March, 2013, 01:51:41 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 March, 2013, 01:48:19 PM
Denzel is the business, irrespective of race.


Hopefully when the offer goes out he'll play Silver in the SEQUEL.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 March, 2013, 02:03:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 March, 2013, 01:48:19 PM

The Princess Bride, a Saturday morning cinema trip for all four of us for a tenner all in! 

What a perfect film this is, start to finish.

How completely true. If anyone has not seen this in the cinema they owe it to themselves to do so. It really is a treat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 March, 2013, 02:24:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 March, 2013, 01:48:19 PM
Denzel is the business, irrespective of race.


Yes most definitely.

I'm currently watching the 2nd half of Che.i've had the set for years but still hadn't got around to watching it. I loved Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries , and thought Bernal's depiction of the Argentine legend was both beautiful and poignant. But Del Toro's potrayal of Che Guevara is almost as good, albeit as a more grown up and world weary revolutionary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 March, 2013, 03:18:54 PM

Radio Four's La-de-dah film programme did a feature on The Princess Bride this week, in which Frank Cottrell-Boyce delivers a bit of trivia that's even more odd than Mr Oh Look How Exceptional My Kids Are's incredible McMahon spot (i). Apparently, the guy who ran André the Giant to school every day was ... I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01r11wf/The_Film_Programme_Francine_Stock_talks_to_Tim_Roth_and_Steven_Soderbergh/) (about 11 minutes in).

I've just discovered that Lovefilm has Che on their instant service, Mabs, so I'm going to have a bash at that after I've watched the Dredd-thrashing Lawless later tonight. Oddly, Lovefilm are also listing Soderberg's Side Effects for rental too, and that's only just out at the pictures.


(i) sorry TordelBack, I can never replace Roger
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 March, 2013, 03:40:00 PM


This is really what I'm looking forward to,



Steven Sodomy presents, Behind the Cadelabra:



(http://cf.badassdigest.com/_uploads/images/29291/liberace__span.jpg)




HBO in the US and theatrical release in the UK.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 March, 2013, 03:48:00 PM


Quote from: sauchie on 09 March, 2013, 03:18:54 PM
... I don't want to spoil the surprise, but


I'm still waiting...


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 March, 2013, 03:51:42 PM
Ahh, that's better, Sauchie's the de-egoifying methadone to Roger's uncut skag. 

Aye, the[spoiler] 'Waiting for Fissic' [/spoiler]anecdote is known to me, as I'm sure the t-shirt cameo is to many here.  However, I do take issue with Cottrell-Boyce's well-intentioned assertion that the title of the movie is a marketing disaster because it's 'impossible to get boys to watch it it'.  Maybe, but it got my 3-year old daughter champing at the bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 March, 2013, 05:06:53 PM
Hell of the Living Dead (Bruno Mattei 1980) and Contamination (Luigi Cozzi 1980) a pair of classic 'horrors' from the hay day of video violence. Both pretty tame today, Matteis classic is sold as a cash in on Dawn of the Dead (released as Zombi in Italy) but really is quite different, indeed it's quite original for it's time and more modern z-flicks have borrowed from it than you might think. Cozzi's rip on Alien is far more blatant yet still has a whiff of originality about it and being a great fun film to boot. The Blue Underground DVD's for both are splendid BTW, but both could do with good UK BD releases.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 March, 2013, 05:24:46 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 09 March, 2013, 03:48:00 PM
I'm still waiting...

Referencing Liberace and Diana Ross (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2YI-JAp8tz8#t=11s) in consecutive posts ... if I wasn't so certain of your rampant heterosexuality I'd think you were trying to tell us something, Estragon.

And yeah, Tordelback; I can't see how a title which is made up of the two things which half of the world's population is absolutely obsessed with constitutes a miscalculation. Maybe they should have made like John Frankenheimer's Reindeer Games (which was also called something bland like Deception) and given the video a reversible cover - The Dread Pirate Roberts and swords on one side, the original title and kissing on the other.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 March, 2013, 05:34:20 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 09 March, 2013, 05:24:46 PM
Referencing Liberace and Diana Ross (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2YI-JAp8tz8#t=11s) in consecutive posts ... if I wasn't so certain of your rampant heterosexuality I'd think you were trying to tell us something, Estragon.



Exquisitely Rampant and nowhere to put it, Vlad.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 09 March, 2013, 06:08:42 PM
Lemmy: The Movie. Documentary on the bass-monster, storyteller and all-round nice guy. Has put me in the mood to watch Anvil, which I'll do a little later tonight if I don't find myself getting distracted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 March, 2013, 12:08:04 AM
Just back from watching An American Werewolf in London on the big screen. It was a gorgeous pristine print of it (possibly a new one?). Awesome stuff, but you already knew that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 March, 2013, 12:18:06 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 10 March, 2013, 12:08:04 AM
Just back from watching An American Werewolf in London on the big screen. It was a gorgeous pristine print of it (possibly a new one?). Awesome stuff, but you already knew that.

Yes we did, but that film deserves all the praise. One of my favourite horror/ comedy films. Which reminds me, whatever happened to John Landis? He was one of the most exciting directors around that time, but he seems to have fallen off the radar of late?  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 March, 2013, 12:22:21 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 March, 2013, 12:18:06 AM
whatever happened to John Landis?



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320239/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 March, 2013, 12:40:43 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 March, 2013, 12:18:06 AM
Which reminds me, whatever happened to John Landis?

Always thought the controversy surrounding the Twilight Zone: The Movie had seemed to have derailed his career, but that imdb list is pretty full - though a good bit of it is pretty forgettable stuff.

(But you must have the best cinema in the world, Rich. An American Werewolf is a cast iron fave, and would be a treat to see up on the big screen.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 March, 2013, 12:46:53 AM


He had a pretty solid career after the Twilight Zone even though he probably should've been in the stripey hole.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 10 March, 2013, 12:56:17 AM
They showed An American Werewolf at my local cinema a couple of years back and I never got to see it which I'm still a little disappointed about because I didn't just want to see it on the big screen, I really wanted to hear it the way it was intended to sound. Landis has put some of its success down to how the characters are actually likeable, which is pretty rare in the horror genre when you look at a lot of the stuff that's released.
But anyway, I watched Blue Valentine earlier. Starring Ryan Gosling, I'll admit the scene where he takes to playing the ukelele whilst singing had me think "Damn you, Gosling- is there anything you can't do?" Like a lot of his smaller films, he gives a great performance and it has a great soundtrack, this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8rumyup0Os being one that was immediately stuck in my head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 March, 2013, 03:50:40 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 March, 2013, 12:22:21 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 March, 2013, 12:18:06 AM
whatever happened to John Landis?



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320239/

Wow. I've forgotten about this film, not to mention the fact its by Landis! Cheers Joe, i shall definitely have to track this one down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 March, 2013, 11:51:27 AM
SKYLINE

Those pesky Aliens are invading the City of LA and the young and the middle aged hide out in a Building surrounded by human nomming horrors. The Air force and Army turn up a blastin' the Xenos Space Marine style but the malignant horrors can regenerate! Er, this didn't stop the Lead beating one to death with his fists but he is able to resist the Aliens mind control influence [spoiler]due to [ and I'm not making this up] a hairy chest.[/spoiler] Think what Tom Selleck could have achieved against the bastards though the furry daiaphram was alien spores or some such contagion. 

Didn't see it from the beginning but it all got exciting when, transported onto the Alien Mother Ship the Lead Actor [spoiler]literately lost his head and brain, sucked up by a shit coloured monstrosity! But his hybrid/Alien Brain transformed the Alien Monster into his Avatar-it looks Alien but is really him in order to save his pregnant girlfriend and unborn baby from becoming a drive through snack.[/spoiler]  Dread to see what they'll put on the Birth Certificate.

That's where the first exciting episode stopped folks.  I understand this is the first in a series of Films which although bonkers is rather fun in places. Excellent effects and the Monsters were hideously Cthulian in style.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 10 March, 2013, 12:50:59 PM
Just settling down to watch Hammer's The Mummy's Shroud.
How can you go wrong with a film starring Andre Morrell, Michael Ripper and Roger Delgado?  :)

And the poster tagline was great too;
Beware the beat of cloth wrapped feet!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 March, 2013, 04:49:20 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 10 March, 2013, 12:50:59 PM
Just settling down to watch Hammer's The Mummy's Shroud.
How can you go wrong with a film starring Andre Morrell, Michael Ripper and Roger Delgado?  :)

And the poster tagline was great too;
Beware the beat of cloth wrapped feet!
Good call, one of Hammers best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 March, 2013, 05:09:33 PM
Quote(But you must have the best cinema in the world, Rich. An American Werewolf is a cast iron fave, and would be a treat to see up on the big screen.)

Yup, we had Gremlins on over Christmas too. And I missed The Wrath of Khan a few weeks ago...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 10 March, 2013, 05:14:20 PM
Two Coen Brothers films, Barton Fink last night and True Grit this morning, loved them both. True Grit I saw in the cinema about three times, and have watched it many times since on blur-ray (it really is brilliant to look at), but Barton Fink, for the longest time I'd only seen bits of. Then about a month ago, I saw it almost up to the end, so I watched the whole way through last night. Having seen most of it I assumed I had an idea what I was in for but... well. Very strange (as one can expect from a film by the Coens), but really fun, twisted and enjoyable!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 March, 2013, 05:53:37 PM
"How does Lipnick's ass smell this morning?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 10 March, 2013, 07:13:34 PM
Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A beautiful, beautiful film. Really digs deep at the psychology of humour without break in the perfect mixed medium beat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 10 March, 2013, 08:54:29 PM
Tower Block - English film with Sheriden Smith init. Enjoyable enough movie. Thumbs up but not extended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 March, 2013, 09:03:30 PM
The invention of Lying.

A great premise that didn't go where I expected and really needed 50% more laughs.

It ends up being The Invention Of Love which is where I think it fails. There's a meanness to that idea (love can't exist without lying to yourself) that permeates the whole film and almost makes Jennifer Garner's character unshaggable.

Almost.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 March, 2013, 12:20:47 AM
Killing Them Softly

It's like a badly made Guy Ritchie movie. At one point Tony Soprano parodies himself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 March, 2013, 03:02:53 AM
The Tournament

20% exciting but 80% yawn inducing bollocks and that 20% may be too high!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 March, 2013, 10:30:30 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 March, 2013, 09:03:30 PM
The invention of Lying.

A great premise that didn't go where I expected and really needed 50% more laughs.

It ends up being The Invention Of Love which is where I think it fails. There's a meanness to that idea (love can't exist without lying to yourself) that permeates the whole film and almost makes Jennifer Garner's character unshaggable.

Almost.

I find the majority of Ricky Gervais's comedy to be mean and unfunny.
The Invention of Lying is shite.

My last film was Chronicle. Really good fun and I can't wait to see what the director does with the Fantastic Four.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 10:51:44 AM
I watched The Terminator on the telly last night and tonight I went to the movies and saw The Great And Powerful Oz
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 11 March, 2013, 10:58:05 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 10:51:44 AM
I watched The Terminator on the telly last night and tonight I went to the movies and saw The Great And Powerful Oz

Is it night time already where you're from ThryllSeekyr?  :o

I'd love to watch Oz myself, Sam Raimi doing Oz? That sounds awesome!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 12:08:34 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 11 March, 2013, 10:58:05 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 10:51:44 AM
I watched The Terminator on the telly last night and tonight I went to the movies and saw The Great And Powerful Oz

Is it night time already where you're from ThryllSeekyr?  :o

I'd love to watch Oz myself, Sam Raimi doing Oz? That sounds awesome!  :D

It's just after ten oclock at night right now where I am.

Oz was a good movie. I bit of back story on the Land of Oz, the Wizard of Oz, the Good witch and the two evil witchs. There;s even a reference made to the Scarecrow and the Lion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 March, 2013, 01:11:07 PM
Attack of the Block. I wanted to enjoy it more, but it fell a bit flat for me. I kept wanting the alien bear-dogs to disembowel the hoodies good and proper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 11 March, 2013, 02:22:36 PM
Talking about Oz, does Bruce Campbell and Raimi's 'Classic' car make an appearance? I wonder how he'd fit the latter into the film!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 March, 2013, 02:23:03 PM
The sad and beautiful, When the Wind Blows, essentially a eulogy for humanity made in a time when our extinction was a foregone conclusion rather than just a possibility.  It centers on the good things we did and the bonds we formed, and while "Blackly comic" is a term often applied, for me that diminishes the inherent decency at the heart of the work, and misses that through flights of animated fancy here and there that remind us of the imagination and optimism in humanity, it's a doggedly spiritual film that celebrates something that - after we're gone - may never occur again in all of creation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 11 March, 2013, 02:26:59 PM
Just watched Unstoppable and it was an entertaining yarn that passed 90 minutes for me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 02:48:01 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 11 March, 2013, 02:22:36 PM
Talking about Oz, does Bruce Campbell and Raimi's 'Classic' car make an appearance? I wonder how he'd fit the latter into the film!  :lol:

No sign of the car as far as I can see, but Bruce Campbell makes a appearance as one of the Winkie guards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_the_Great_and_Powerful
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 March, 2013, 03:17:37 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 02:48:01 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 11 March, 2013, 02:22:36 PM
Talking about Oz, does Bruce Campbell and Raimi's 'Classic' car make an appearance? I wonder how he'd fit the latter into the film!  :lol:

No sign of the car as far as I can see, but Bruce Campbell makes a appearance as one of the Winkie guards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_the_Great_and_Powerful
Screw it, im seeing it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: f4lke on 11 March, 2013, 04:37:43 PM
Zero Dark Thirty. Good Movie but has it's lengths and is boring at some parts. I can recommend it, but it's not worthy the 95 on Metacritic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 11 March, 2013, 05:14:13 PM
Haven't watched a truly great film for a while now. I'm sure they're still out there waiting to be discovered and a few are even being made right now, but I can't find them. And to be honest, I can't be arsed to try at the moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 March, 2013, 07:12:36 PM
What was I thinking?

THE INVENTION OF LYING. More like THE INVENTION OF SHITEING.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 March, 2013, 07:39:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 March, 2013, 10:30:30 AM
My last film was Chronicle. Really good fun and I can't wait to see what the director does with the Fantastic Four.

I hadn't heard that. I really enjoyed Chronicle, especially the naturalistic and original manner in which the characters abilities were handled, but I'm not sure anything could make me pay to see a Fantastic Four film. The sodding Snowman put me off Raymond Briggs animations, Pro Bear, but your description of When The Wind Blows sounds like reason enough to add it to my watchlist. Cheers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 March, 2013, 07:48:39 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 March, 2013, 03:17:37 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 March, 2013, 02:48:01 PM
No sign of the car as far as I can see, but Bruce Campbell makes a appearance as one of the Winkie guards
Screw it, im seeing it!

Hmmm, that does rather sway me too.  A Campbell cameo can lift most anything. 

Despicable Me.  Well, that's that then.  I'm afraid I have to attend the Euthanasia Booth this evening - I just watched something with Russell Brand and found him really, really funny in it. There's no point going on with that kind of shame hanging over me. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 March, 2013, 08:28:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 March, 2013, 07:48:39 PM
There's no point going on with that kind of shame hanging over me.

That's what Roger's mom said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2013, 01:07:25 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 11 March, 2013, 07:39:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 March, 2013, 10:30:30 AM
My last film was Chronicle. Really good fun and I can't wait to see what the director does with the Fantastic Four.

but I'm not sure anything could make me pay to see a Fantastic Four film.


What? Not even if it was called THE INCREDIBLES?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: f4lke on 12 March, 2013, 07:27:46 PM
Watchmen. Always awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2013, 08:14:25 PM
The Howling: Reborn (2011)- Certainly the only 'good' sequel to Joe Dante's essential Lycanthrope classic...though it lacks the fun of the other sequels. Although this little title clearly has better production values (and prosphetic Werewolfs and transformation sequences) it all come's off a bit post-Near Dark. It's a good way to pass an hour and a half but if you want a genuinly good Werewolf movie that ISN'T An American... then go for the original, IMHO the second best Lycanthrope film of all time...and then watch the hilarious sequel with Chris Lee and his Holy Hand Grenade!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 March, 2013, 09:46:15 PM
Fargo (oh yah, eh), Darkman and The Big Lebowski.

Fargo- I love
Darkman- I enjoy, 'tis a fun pulpy film, with some wonderfully hammy performances
The Big Lebowski- I rate as one of my favourite films. Can't put my finger on the main reason why, but there are, of course, many reasons.

On a side note, John Turturro dancing (in Barton Fink, Big Lebowski, and in the background in O brother, where art thou?) may just be the best thing ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2013, 09:49:07 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 12 March, 2013, 09:46:15 PM
Fargo (oh yah, eh), Darkman and The Big Lebowski.

Fargo- I love
Darkman- I enjoy, 'tis a fun pulpy film, with some wonderfully hammy performances
The Big Lebowski- I rate as one of my favourite films. Can't put my finger on the main reason why, but there are, of course, many reasons.

On a side note, John Turturro dancing (in Barton Fink, Big Lebowski, and in the background in O brother, where art thou?) may just be the best thing ever.
Yay on all accounts is certainly this. TBL is a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 13 March, 2013, 07:52:54 PM
Oz. A really enjoyable film; I laughed a lot more than I was expecting and I'm now thinking about asking to borrow one of my nephews or nieces so I can take them to see it. I was glad the friend I dragged to see it (she didn't have high hopes for this- the trailer had her thinking it would be like Burton's Alice in Wonderland) was laughing alongside me and had to admit she had misjudged it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 March, 2013, 12:53:43 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 09 March, 2013, 03:18:54 PM

I've just discovered that Lovefilm has Che on their instant service, Mabs, so I'm going to have a bash at that after I've watched the Dredd-thrashing Lawless later tonight. Oddly, Lovefilm are also listing Soderberg's Side Effects for rental too, and that's only just out at the pictures.


Its a great double bill, each film different stylistically to one another. It reminded me of Clint Eastwood's Flags and Letters double bill. You know, for a guy who's Right-wing politically, his films are very Left-wing. Unlike a lot of other Right-wing filmmakers such as John Millius.

Let us know what you think of Che, sauchie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 March, 2013, 11:58:45 PM
Dredd, which i watched over the weekend. I've bought it twice over already on Blu Ray, so thought its about time I watched it!

Needless to say, it looks (and sounds) the business on a decent home cinema. I rarely pay much attention to the audio side of things, so it says something that made a note of how much the cracking sound mix adds to the film.

I think enough time has passed now that I have enough distance from the film to just enjoy it as a rollicking fun action movie. It really is a gem, marred only very slightly by the fact that it feels like a great first course, and I want the main and dessert!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 March, 2013, 01:01:09 AM
I want the main and dessert and the midnight snack!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 March, 2013, 04:35:06 PM
Off to watch Oz: The Great and the Powerful in a bit. If I feel up to it I might stay and watch the Maniac remake also.  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 March, 2013, 10:56:50 PM

Double bill of:

Oz: The Great steaming pile of wank....wait. Oh dear god this was bad, just exruciating for 99%* of the time. Avoid, just avoid. 'Shudder'

Thankfully...

Maniac (2013) Faired FAR better. What a truely great take on a classic horror film, one of the greats in fact. Recomended.




*The remaining 1% comprised Bruce Campbell's cameo(s) and the single minuet of Evil Dead homage...really, in a PG movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 16 March, 2013, 11:19:35 AM
I watched 'Mr Nobody' - anyone here seen that?  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2013, 06:18:36 PM
PAUL
It's not exactly SPACED The Movie is it. Just not funny enough.

RED TAILS.
Like a fifties propaganda piece, cheese and all, made with spectacular digital effects. Twenty minutes too long (lose the love story and The Great Escape). And strafing and blowing chunks out of a destroyer? Wtf? But blimey, look at those P40s and P51s fly.

VALENTINES DAY
A breathtakingly attractive cast make LOVE ACTUALLY but decide it's better without the jokes. Best bit? A microsecond glimpse of Jennifer Garner's arse. So switch off after that. (About five minutes in).

Or rather:

Shit.

Red Shit.

Valentine's Shit.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 March, 2013, 06:31:39 PM
Last night I watched 'Perrier's Bounty' which was OK - lots of Irish criminal types larking about to not much purpose. Also saw The Grey (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no79-grey.html) which was passable but ultimately unsatisfying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 March, 2013, 07:01:16 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 17 March, 2013, 06:31:39 PM
Last night I watched 'Perrier's Bounty' which was OK - lots of Irish criminal types larking about to not much purpose.

Try and get your hands on 'Love / Hate' on DVD to see a little bit of a more realistic portrayal of the typical Irish criminal.

Didn't like 'The Grey' that much by the way? Thought it was one of the better nights in the cinema last year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 March, 2013, 07:22:36 PM
Death Wish 2.
A right load of old bollocks, but still..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 March, 2013, 07:34:03 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 17 March, 2013, 07:22:36 PM
Death Wish 2.
A right load of old bollocks, but still..
Wait until you see DW 3.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 March, 2013, 07:56:51 PM
Quote from: Judge Olde on 16 March, 2013, 11:19:35 AM
I watched 'Mr Nobody' - anyone here seen that?  :-\

Nope.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 March, 2013, 08:06:23 PM
Prince Caspian.  Now I was a big fan of Narnia as a young spode, and the first film didn't do much for me with its attempt to Peter Jacksonify a very simple little kids' book, all the while incongruously retaining Santa and the rest. A brief glimpse of Prince Caspian on telly was enough to convince me that I had no interest in tackling that one.  However,my eldest is very into the films, and a recent exposure to Voyage of the Dawntreader revealed a much more confident film than the first one.  So today we ended up watching Caspian, which fully embraces its role as The Two Towers But With Furry Jesus - and you know what, it's not half bad for it. 

It bears little relation to my Narnia, but that doesn't mean it can't be someone else's.  The Christian stuff seems a lot more heavy-handed than the books, possibly to offset the pretty heavy violence or sell it to the more blood-thirsty factions of cheek-turners.  Special mention to the gorgeous Anna Popplewell, whose Legolas Susan rather steals the show, Peter Dinklage's always excellent turn as Peter Dinklage, Sergio Castellitto makes a great baddie, and the Telmarines boast some of the most magnificent armour costuming I've seen.  Eddie Izzard's Reepicheep isn't as good as Simon Pegg's version in the third one, some of the grey-blue colour work is appalling and some of the large battle scenes are so seen-it-before as to be actively dull.

However, although it's not as good as the third film, but I reckon it's well worth a watch for the young 'uns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 17 March, 2013, 08:26:17 PM
Maniac.

Utter fucking drivel and another in the very long line of pointless, shit Hollywood remakes that are worse than the original, which wasn't great in the first place.

Avoid if you have any sense.

Killing Them Softly

Probably not what most people expected or wanted, but another good film from the director who brought us Chopper and The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Pitt excellent as ever, but some of the American accents by Australian actors are woeful. Reminiscent of Snowtown at times, but nowhere near as good as that film. But not much is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 March, 2013, 08:42:24 PM
Monkey Business was on Film4 this morning. Quite the hungover treat. They don't make movie stars like Cary Grant* anymore. And Marilyn Monroe was in it too.

*The only famous person I can do a decent impression of. It's limited to two words: "Okey dokey", but ye'd swear he was in the room.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lenny_Zero on 18 March, 2013, 03:02:18 AM
13 Assassins
It delivers.  I didn't expect it to, and I was entertained.  12 samurai and 1 freakshow set out to kill a perverted brother of the local shogun.  Swordplay ensues.  Very, very pretty diversion.  Need to watch it dubbed so that I don't read and miss all of he scenery!

http://www.13assassins.com/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 March, 2013, 08:37:41 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 17 March, 2013, 08:42:24 PM
Monkey Business was on Film4 this morning. Quite the hungover treat. They don't make movie stars like Cary Grant* anymore. And Marilyn Monroe was in it too.

*The only famous person I can do a decent impression of. It's limited to two words: "Okey dokey", but ye'd swear he was in the room.

Nobody speaks like that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 March, 2013, 08:42:58 AM
Quote from: Lenny_Zero on 18 March, 2013, 03:02:18 AM
13 Assassins
It delivers.  I didn't expect it to, and I was entertained.  12 samurai and 1 freakshow set out to kill a perverted brother of the local shogun.  Swordplay ensues.  Very, very pretty diversion.  Need to watch it dubbed so that I don't read and miss all of he scenery!

http://www.13assassins.com/
One of the best samuari movies of the last decade. And from the director of Ichi The Killer no less!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 March, 2013, 08:59:21 AM
Watched The Terminator 2: Judgement Day last night on the telly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 March, 2013, 09:22:56 AM
Not that I should mention it here, but I will anyway.

I went to the KIZZ concert in Brisbane last Tuesday night. With very special guests MOTLEY CRUE featuring THIN LIZZY ( Not the original band but a very good cover band.) and DIVA DEMOLITION.

There was firebreathing and blood spittting, hydrolic lifting platforms, flying on wires, and lots of pyrotechinics. It's just pity they KIZZ had to replace their original line up with a new lead guitarist and drummer. They played well though and I'm still getting over it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 March, 2013, 09:30:57 AM
Primer.  Good fun, but I don't think it quite strikes the correct balance between slow first half and insane last quarter.  I like that the wife and I spent almost an hour with a pen and paper trying to work it out last night, and started back into sorting our thoughts as soon as we woke up this morning, but if the last 15 minutes had just been slower I feel we'd have had a better chance of following it without an informal seminar. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 March, 2013, 10:02:26 AM
The Alex Garland scripted Sunshine - Im always struck by just how darn good this relatively low budget film looks. As with Dredd, they clearly used every penny to maximum effect.
Plenty of stand-out scenes throughout, though the final act requires suspension of disbelief somewhat. But thoroughly enjoyed this re-watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 March, 2013, 10:44:05 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 March, 2013, 10:02:26 AM
The Alex Garland scripted Sunshine - Im always struck by just how darn good this relatively low budget film looks. As with Dredd, they clearly used every penny to maximum effect.
Plenty of stand-out scenes throughout, though the final act requires suspension of disbelief somewhat. But thoroughly enjoyed this re-watch.

Yes Judge Jack, its a great sci-fi film, and one which i loved from start to finish (including that ending). Best moment; Kaneda's union with the sun. Beautiful and tragic in the same breadth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 March, 2013, 11:08:35 AM
Yep, that whole sequence is just knockout, isnt it.  And its scenes like that, that definitely sets the film apart from the usual run of the mill sci-fi tosh.
The ending isnt really a problem, just the character of Pindecker(?) takes it into Jason Vorhees territory, somewhat.
But i do love how he's potrayed in the film. An insane blur of static.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 March, 2013, 01:02:53 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 March, 2013, 11:08:35 AM
Yep, that whole sequence is just knockout, isnt it.  And its scenes like that, that definitely sets the film apart from the usual run of the mill sci-fi tosh.
The ending isnt really a problem, just the character of Pindecker(?) takes it into Jason Vorhees territory, somewhat.
But i do love how he's potrayed in the film. An insane blur of static.

I was on the fence somewhat regarding the character of Pinbacker, at first it seemed like a poor choice as an antagonist. But he delivers some chilling lines;

"At the end of time, a moment will come when just one man remains. Then the moment will pass. Man will be gone. There will be nothing to show that we were ever here... but stardust."

Its clear he's gone insane, a la Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver; 'God's lonely man'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 March, 2013, 03:04:08 PM
Star Trek: Wrath Of Khan - the motherfucking business.  Much as I enjoy the reboot, it really is the flipside of the old Trek movies in attitude, as with this one there was pretty much a cap on the series with Kirk coming out the other side of his mid-life crisis and realising growing up doesn't mean growing old, it means dropping the platitudes and bravado and still being the man he is, an unthinkable sentiment in the rebooted Trek where revenge is the motivator rather than the enemy of good and compassionate men capable of greatness, but there's also solid character work I never even noticed until now, especially Shatner's eschewing the usual shit-eating grin from Kirk as he flies off after another grand adventure, and the scene with his son just before it is positively leaden with meaning, but the general gist is that the Kirk everyone thinks they know is a sham.  I gather from the EU stuff that this was something Shatner was heavily in favor of pushing, but the sequels went back to the galactic gallivanting pretty readily and I suppose that's why they mostly come out seeming lightweight, as they essentially step backwards from what's built here.  Still great stuff, but some of the FX could do with cleaning up.

The A-Team - I have no idea why I love this update of the old show considering everything that is wrong with it - Face is dreadful and takes up too much screen time and the plot makes no damn sense at all - but gosh darn it, it sure is eventful and faithful to the source material so much so that when someone says "shit" or BA says "hell" or "god damn" (Mr T is a devout Christian) it almost takes me out of things, but it is far and away one of the best mainstream Hollywood actioners for an age, wilfully dumb and without shakycam verite pretensions of being a documentary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 March, 2013, 03:11:12 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 18 March, 2013, 03:04:08 PM
it is far and away one of the best mainstream Hollywood actioners for an age, wilfully dumb and without shakycam verite pretensions of being a documentary.

This is pretty much my feeling. No actors/directors spouting on about how the 'original vision' of the TV series was darker and they're taking the movie back to that, no 're-imagining' bollocks, they clearly just realized the TV show was about a lot of shit getting extravagantly blown up with the characters (and, one suspects, the actors) having as much fun as possible with the nonsensical crap that connects the set-pieces.

I enjoyed it...

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 March, 2013, 03:18:43 PM
This lovely set turned up today so i'll be having a triple bill of retro anime over the next few nights.  :D
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71liX45h2KL._AA1500_.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 March, 2013, 03:36:01 PM
Monsters, Inc. (3D version).  Another mind-numbingly cheap early morning kids' show*, especially for a 3D film, and my first time seeing this.  Really enjoyed it, the snow-cone gag had me almost hyper-ventilating with laughter, and there's a very pleasing attention to detail in the way the world is built and how the characters move through it.  There are some niggly inconsistencies (Boo screams and laughs the whole way through, but she only has an affect on the power situation when the plot calls for it), and maybe the third quarter runs too long, but on the whole it's a quality film.  John Goodman has his usual embiggening effect on almost everything he touches, Billy Crystal is only mildly annoying, but it's James Coburn who steals every scene he's in: what a delivery.

The 3D rejigging on the characters and action sequences is pretty excellent (albeit utterly pointless), not so good on the backgrounds which look oddly cramped. Plus, no headache for me and the kids kept their glasses on the whole way through, which is a first.

Rather looking forward to the prequel now.



*Was going to see Oz, which would have worked out at about EUR35 for the four of us - this was EUR15.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mygrimmbrother on 18 March, 2013, 03:41:31 PM
Oz The Great & Powerful. A huge disappointment. James Franco just looks uncomfortable doing his slightly madcap thing and Rachel Weisz chews all the fake CGI scenery. Mila Kunis was ok, but the best thing in the film was Michelle Wiliams - the only cast member who convinced at all. The rest of the film lacked any charm or menace whatsoever, but hey, it's raked in shitloads of money and a sequel and theme park ride are already on the cards, so job's a good 'un then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 March, 2013, 03:53:49 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 March, 2013, 03:36:01 PM
Monsters, Inc. (3D version).  Another mind-numbingly cheap early morning kids' show*, especially for a 3D film, and my first time seeing this.  Really enjoyed it, the snow-cone gag had me almost hyper-ventilating with laughter, and there's a very pleasing attention to detail in the way the world is built and how the characters move through it.  There are some niggly inconsistencies (Boo screams and laughs the whole way through, but she only has an affect on the power situation when the plot calls for it), and maybe the third quarter runs too long, but on the whole it's a quality film.  John Goodman has his usual embiggening effect on almost everything he touches, Billy Crystal is only mildly annoying, but it's James Coburn who steals every scene he's in: what a delivery.

The 3D rejigging on the characters and action sequences is pretty excellent (albeit utterly pointless), not so good on the backgrounds which look oddly cramped. Plus, no headache for me and the kids kept their glasses on the whole way through, which is a first.

Rather looking forward to the prequel now.



*Was going to see Oz, which would have worked out at about EUR35 for the four of us - this was EUR15.

Great to see you enjoyed this, Tordelback! At one time i remember Monsters Inc being on a constant loop at home, its the only thing my little girl wanted to watch! But it's a great film for all ages too. There's so many laugh out loud moments, as you mentioned - the snow cone moment being one. But i also loved the injokes too like the 'Harryhausen's' restaurant our protagonists go to eat. The voices are spot on; my favourite without doubt is Billy Crystal (he does a similar sterling job in Howls Moving Castle, although in less screen time). I cannot wait for the prequel (i thought it was going to be a sequel? But thats news to me); definitely one of Pixar's best and my favourite after Toy Story!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 March, 2013, 06:37:36 PM
Monsters Inc. definitely sags - it was the first movie we took Tiny Tips to and he was glued to the screen and attention began to wander when there was a bit too much running up and down corridors but then the door sequence came on and he was glued to the screen again. And what an ending!

A-Team has just too many of those "This isn't the A-Team character I know" moments for my liking. But it is a rocking good action movie. I yawned at the prospect of another movie finale in a container port but then they went and did something very different with it.

In other news:

OFFICE SPACE - which was jolly good. The cast, in particular Ron Livingston and Gary Cole, is superb with some great gags even if the targets are a little easy (and they let the "hypnotised" plot dwindle out). And an ace melon farming sound track. Has Mike Judge done any other live action movies? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 18 March, 2013, 07:07:34 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 March, 2013, 06:37:36 PM
OFFICE SPACE - which was jolly good. The cast, in particular Ron Livingston and Gary Cole, is superb with some great gags even if the targets are a little easy (and they let the "hypnotised" plot dwindle out). And an ace melon farming sound track. Has Mike Judge done any other live action movies?

Idiocracy  (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0431918/?ref_=sr_1#Director) is a bit pish, but I haven't seen Extract (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1225822/). Office Space is one of my favourite films of all time, and makes an excellent double bill with Fight Club when you're hacked off with the day job.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 18 March, 2013, 08:14:37 PM
Aw, Office Space is GREAT fun! I love Gary Cole's character in that - we've all known someone like that, right?

We haven't? Well, I'm just gonna go ahead and pretend that we all have. Yeah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 18 March, 2013, 08:24:01 PM
Quote from: HdE on 18 March, 2013, 08:14:37 PM
Aw, Office Space is GREAT fun! I love Gary Cole's character in that - we've all known someone like that, right?

We haven't? Well, I'm just gonna go ahead and pretend that we all have. Yeah.

Yep one of my line managers!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 18 March, 2013, 10:09:17 PM

Just watching G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, honestly, Snake Eye was the best thing about the film...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 March, 2013, 10:30:21 PM
I wanted to watch that tonight, but the missus vetoed it with (I'm not joking) 'Dallas'.
Sigh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 March, 2013, 10:55:40 PM
The Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1986): 80's as fuck and I drokking love it! I feel sorry for the generation of anime fans I belong to who will never realise how diluted alot of the stuff there being fed now is, this is some grade A excelent here chaps. Highly reccomended...also, spot the Crusher Joe cameo!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 March, 2013, 11:13:37 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 18 March, 2013, 10:55:40 PM
The Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1986): 80's as fuck and I drokking love it! I feel sorry for the generation of anime fans I belong to who will never realise how diluted alot of the stuff there being fed now is, this is some grade A excelent here chaps. Highly reccomended...also, spot the Crusher Joe cameo!

I love all the 80's Manga such as the one you mentioned and Dominon Tank Police. But for me, Golgo 13 is the ultimate definition of 80's Manga! An Asian Bond with a soft spot for the ladies? Check. Awful bordering on awesome 80's soundtrack? Check. Over the top baddies? You bet. I mean how badder can you get than Mr. Gold and Silver, not to mention a perverted Joker-esque psycho villain. And our hero still comes out alive. God you gotta love him.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 19 March, 2013, 12:37:43 AM
Wake in Fright. Good film about a guy in the Australian outback who ends up getting wasted for a couple of days with some nutters. Quite dark at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 March, 2013, 10:43:19 AM

Julia's Eyes - watched it last night as I recorded it from FilmFour few days ago.

I thought that was brilliant thriller/horror Spanish film, as woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.

I like when she was on blindfold, people around her hidden their faces from the viewer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 20 March, 2013, 10:45:41 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 20 March, 2013, 10:43:19 AM

Julia's Eyes - watched it last night as I recorded it from FilmFour few days ago.

I thought that was brilliant thriller/horror Spanish film, as woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.

I like when she was on blindfold, people around her hidden their faces from the viewer.

Great film. Love Belén Rueda.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 March, 2013, 11:21:27 AM
Sounds very intriguing Goaty, i must add it to my watch list!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2013, 03:54:53 PM
Dracula 3D (2012): Oh dear, Dario dude, what happened?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 20 March, 2013, 05:18:19 PM
Evil Dead one and two.

Groovy.

Yes I know it was obvious but I went for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 March, 2013, 05:35:20 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 20 March, 2013, 05:18:19 PM
Evil Dead one and two.

Groovy.

Yes I know it was obvious but I went for it.

I freaking love the Evil Dead films! Bruce Campbell is a god in them; the chainsaw montage scene is one of my favourite scenes in filmdom. And i don't care what anyone else says but the third film is also awesome....and funny as hell;

"Klaatu Barada N... Necktie... Neckturn... Nickel... It's an "N" word, it's definitely an "N" word! Klaatu... Barada... N...[coughs]"

:lol:

And it has some of the best use of stop-motion animation i've seen.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 20 March, 2013, 05:44:12 PM
Agreed!

"Did you say the whole thing?"

"Yes... basically"

Still, like most, people, would have liked a bit more gore and a few more horror elements, but it still a very fun film. My biggest problem with it is that I wanted to see him keep the chainsaw on for the whole movie!
Has anyone seen the directors cut? If so, which ending do you prefer?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 March, 2013, 05:55:04 PM
Yeah he should've kept the chainsaw on longer!   :D

I like both endings if i'm honest; the twist ending is very evocative of Planet of the Apes somewhat, while the S-Mart ending is also a blast (literally!). If i had to choose.........S-Mart!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 20 March, 2013, 06:08:19 PM
Corialanus starting Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler and Brian Cox. Recommended to me by a Dalek, no really.

Outstanding, will watch again & do a review on my blog.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 March, 2013, 08:24:23 PM
British gangster inaction in The Liability (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no81-liability.html) and White Noise (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no176-white-noise.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 March, 2013, 05:12:01 PM
Kingdom of the Spiders - more like Mingdom of the Shiters, am I right?  William Shatner is in it - more like William SHATner, am I r... wait, never mind - and he's riding on horses a lot in it, which I would suspect is the only reason he did the film as he's mental for horses in real life, except I know he makes shite films all the time, it's like he can't help himself, he just reads something and goes "this is dreadful - I'll do it."  I reckon that's why he turned down the cameo in the Trek reboot, because he couldn't decide if the script was genuinely terrible or a work of genius he could not understand, like he got to that bit where Scotty takes a ride in a waterslide for half an hour and decided not to take the chance it might turn out good.
Mingdom is awful.  I still have no idea why the spiders were a menace all of a sudden apart from the fact that pesticides are a bad idea, and I turned away from the tv to take a call and when I looked back there was a black woman going AAAAAARG and shooting a gun wildly at spiders on the floor and then it just cut to somewhere else and she was never seen again, so it was like a Family Guy cutaway or something.  Terrible film, not even "so bad it's funny" bad, just really dull and ends suddenly.  You will guaranteed be watching it and thinking "why don't they just stamp on the spiders?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 March, 2013, 07:36:23 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 March, 2013, 05:12:01 PM
Kingdom of the Spiders - more like Mingdom of the Shiters, am I right?  William Shatner is in it - more like William SHATner, am I r... wait, never mind - and he's riding on horses a lot in it, which I would suspect is the only reason he did the film as he's mental for horses in real life, except I know he makes shite films all the time, it's like he can't help himself, he just reads something and goes "this is dreadful - I'll do it."  I reckon that's why he turned down the cameo in the Trek reboot, because he couldn't decide if the script was genuinely terrible or a work of genius he could not understand, like he got to that bit where Scotty takes a ride in a waterslide for half an hour and decided not to take the chance it might turn out good.
Mingdom is awful.  I still have no idea why the spiders were a menace all of a sudden apart from the fact that pesticides are a bad idea, and I turned away from the tv to take a call and when I looked back there was a black woman going AAAAAARG and shooting a gun wildly at spiders on the floor and then it just cut to somewhere else and she was never seen again, so it was like a Family Guy cutaway or something.  Terrible film, not even "so bad it's funny" bad, just really dull and ends suddenly.  You will guaranteed be watching it and thinking "why don't they just stamp on the spiders?"
Is it any surprise I love it? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 22 March, 2013, 06:24:29 PM

Apocalypto

Brilliant film and it's on iPlayer...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qmf1w/Apocalypto/ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qmf1w/Apocalypto/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 March, 2013, 09:20:11 PM
The Apartment

Jack Lemmon has the best timing. I watched this and couldn't help but think that Martin freeman learned a lot from Jack Lemmon. And Shirley Maclaine is perfect.

North by Nothwest

Cary grant is brilliant. He makes drunk driving look hilarious. Drunk driving is unforgivable, but he makes it funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 March, 2013, 10:06:37 PM
Ice Age 4 with the kids. A fun one and a half hours. The sound of my kids laughter is like music to my soul!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 March, 2013, 10:11:40 PM
QuoteThe Apartment

Jack Lemmon has the best timing. I watched this and couldn't help but think that Martin freeman learned a lot from Jack Lemmon. And Shirley Maclaine is perfect.

Saw this in the cinema a few weeks ago. It's a hell of a movie, but not the out and out laugh riot I expected being that Jack lemon is in it, especially as the second act is all about [spoiler]Maclaine's character taking an overdose. [/spoiler].
But brilliant performance all round, and I have to admit to being a bit surprised at Maclaine. I really only know her as a mental old woman - seeing her as a sexy, smart and amazingly charismatic young woman was an eye opener.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 March, 2013, 10:32:38 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 March, 2013, 10:11:40 PM
QuoteThe Apartment

Jack Lemmon has the best timing. I watched this and couldn't help but think that Martin freeman learned a lot from Jack Lemmon. And Shirley Maclaine is perfect.

Saw this in the cinema a few weeks ago. It's a hell of a movie, but not the out and out laugh riot I expected being that Jack lemon is in it, especially as the second act is all about [spoiler]Maclaine's character taking an overdose. [/spoiler].
But brilliant performance all round, and I have to admit to being a bit surprised at Maclaine. I really only know her as a mental old woman - seeing her as a sexy, smart and amazingly charismatic young woman was an eye opener.

She stole the show. When you say 'mental old woman', I know what you mean, but she just so sexy and smart in this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 22 March, 2013, 11:52:02 PM
Quote from: Bat King on 20 March, 2013, 06:08:19 PM
Corialanus starting Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler and Brian Cox. Recommended to me by a Dalek, no really.

Outstanding, will watch again & do a review on my blog.

My review, with improved spelling of Coriolanus.

http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/coriolanus-a-film-directed-by-ralph-fiennes-light-spoilers/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 23 March, 2013, 08:53:05 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 22 March, 2013, 09:20:11 PM
The Apartment

Jack Lemmon has the best timing. I watched this and couldn't help but think that Martin freeman learned a lot from Jack Lemmon. And Shirley Maclaine is perfect.

North by Nothwest

Cary grant is brilliant. He makes drunk driving look hilarious. Drunk driving is unforgivable, but he makes it funny.

Two of my favourite films - you sir, have taste!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 March, 2013, 08:57:46 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 20 March, 2013, 05:55:04 PM
I like both endings if i'm honest; the twist ending is very evocative of Planet of the Apes somewhat, while the S-Mart ending is also a blast (literally!). If i had to choose.........S-Mart!

I like both endings too.

I'd go with the Director's Cut ending though as it goes well with the themes of Ash smegging things up. And I like the idea that it would lead to a post apocalyptic sci-fi based Evil Dead 4 (they did fantasy in the third film so why not!). The S-Mart ending was a blast though.

Actually, the Director's Cut ending was the first I ever saw. Not too surprising being in England as I think that was the ending incorporated into all non US releases of the film. However, the version of the film I saw was a dodgy version at my next door neighbour's house a year or so before the film was released over here. So I'd have thought it would be the US S-Mart version.

Oh and I seem to remember the name of the film being The Medieval Dead (possibly subtitled, as in Army of Darkness: The Medieval Dead, but my memory might be wrong.)

Anyway I have a soft spot for that film. The second is my favourite, but Army of Darkness was my first Evil Dead film. And I think the Windmill stuff* and the bit just after where Ash literally 'splits' is up there with the films at their most entertaining and wackiest.

I actually watched them all out of order- 3rd, second then first.

*Annoying fuzzy in my DVD of the film. I've heard the best release of this film is region 4. I'd still like to pick up one if I can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 March, 2013, 10:04:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 23 March, 2013, 08:57:46 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 20 March, 2013, 05:55:04 PM
I like both endings if i'm honest; the twist ending is very evocative of Planet of the Apes somewhat, while the S-Mart ending is also a blast (literally!). If i had to choose.........S-Mart!

I like both endings too.

I'd go with the Director's Cut ending though as it goes well with the themes of Ash smegging things up. And I like the idea that it would lead to a post apocalyptic sci-fi based Evil Dead 4 (they did fantasy in the third film so why not!). The S-Mart ending was a blast though.

Actually, the Director's Cut ending was the first I ever saw. Not too surprising being in England as I think that was the ending incorporated into all non US releases of the film. However, the version of the film I saw was a dodgy version at my next door neighbour's house a year or so before the film was released over here. So I'd have thought it would be the US S-Mart version.

Oh and I seem to remember the name of the film being The Medieval Dead (possibly subtitled, as in Army of Darkness: The Medieval Dead, but my memory might be wrong.)

Anyway I have a soft spot for that film. The second is my favourite, but Army of Darkness was my first Evil Dead film. And I think the Windmill stuff* and the bit just after where Ash literally 'splits' is up there with the films at their most entertaining and wackiest.

I actually watched them all out of order- 3rd, second then first.

*Annoying fuzzy in my DVD of the film. I've heard the best release of this film is region 4. I'd still like to pick up one if I can.

Lol that's exactly the order i watched it in too!  :D

I think that's why i have a soft spot for the third film, too. You're right about the windmill scene and the scene following it; it's some of the most awesome and side splitting (literally) moments in the film, along with the Harryhausen-esque war in the end (which i prefer over the Two Towers battle at Helms Deep!). Like i stated before, some of the stop motion animation in the film are mindblowingly good, especially the multiple Ash scene!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 March, 2013, 10:23:19 PM
 :) And for me, 'BOOM! "Not that good,' works better than 'BOOM! "Good... bad... I'm the man with the gun"'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 March, 2013, 11:15:36 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 23 March, 2013, 10:23:19 PM
:) And for me, 'BOOM! "Not that good,' works better than 'BOOM! "Good... bad... I'm the man with the gun"'.
:D, that film has so many funny lines which crack me up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 March, 2013, 02:08:49 AM
Snowed in today, so I watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Had the DVDs lying around, they were a Christmas gift, and I'd never watched them. Only ever saw it at the cinema. The most interesting thing for me was the CGI. The first one hadn't aged well, but it was top notch by the third. It was kinda cool to see how much the technology developed, and the massive strides the series took in the field of computery special effects
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 March, 2013, 01:03:49 PM
I just finished watching Terminator Three: Rise of the Machines on SCIFI channel on the telly and yesterday I went saw Jack the Giant Slayer at the Theatre. It was a fun movie.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 24 March, 2013, 01:19:13 PM
I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 March, 2013, 02:03:55 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 24 March, 2013, 01:19:13 PM
I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.

That's the David Fincher film isn't it? It's a thing of beauty - an odd choice of word one might say, but the whole look and feel of the 70's is captured expertly by Fincher. There's an almost sepia toned feel to the film which recalls other works from that period, such as Taxi Driver and Serpico. There's a feeling of dread which permeates through the film, and which is demonstrated to such gasp inducing effect when the Zodiac strikes upon the picnicing couple. That was one of the most powerful scenes which i've ever encountered in a Fincher film, other than Se7en's infamous 'head in the box' moment. The actor's also pull in a hell of a shift (which is to be expected when you have Fincher at the helm of the film!); Ruffalo, Gyllenhaal and Downey Jr are all terrific, as is Chloë Sevigney as Gyllenhaal's longsuffering wife. It's one of my favourite films about serial killers, and the fact that the Zodiac killer was never captured, sends a chill down the spine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 24 March, 2013, 02:55:08 PM

Aye, I think that's why it's the definitive (and hopefully the last) serial killer film. What shot serial killer fiction to mainstream popularity in the late eighties/early nineties was the myth which John Douglas built up around the efficacy of criminal profiling in his memoir Mindhunter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Douglas), and the dramatic innovation of the race against time to solve the clues and stop another victim being killed (most expertly handled in Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs). What Fincher does in Zodiac is explode that myth and the dramatic form built up around it by showing all those techniques (in incipient form) being applied in a real world case by dedicated professionals and - as in the vast majority of investigations (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder) - leading absolutely nowhere and resulting in more deaths.

As Anal Moore observed regarding the Ripper murders, it's the fact they were never solved which makes them such perfect fodder for fiction - it's the way the author chooses to resolve a story which usually lets it down (trying to force an ending to the story is the undoing of so many characters in Fincher's film), and without a clear ending to the narrative the reader/audience are free to carry on endlessly speculating about the clues they're given (which is the real appeal of the genre). It's really a story about the way in which the narrative resists and rebels against the attempts of the author and the reader to impose order, meaning and an artificial resolution to fiction and real life. I think it's Fincher's best film, which is saying something.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 March, 2013, 03:08:59 PM
I agree, sauchie. I also feel it's Fincher's best film, although Se7en does come quite close. But the fact that Zodiac was based on real turn of events, whereas Se7en was more or less a work of fiction, makes the former more vital...and chilling to boot.

Sauchie, just noticed something; 'Anal Moore'? I doubt it's a typo! :D Not a fan i take it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 24 March, 2013, 03:25:57 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 24 March, 2013, 03:08:59 PM
Sauchie, just noticed something; 'Anal Moore'? I doubt it's a typo! :D Not a fan i take it?

I'm an embarrassingly huge fan, but there's many a true word spoken in jest. I think Ian Gibson and Dave Gibbons might agree that while Moore's principled stand on creators' rights is admirable, there comes a point where it's less about the ideals and more about self-defeating intransigence.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 March, 2013, 12:56:19 AM
Still think that cave troll in Fellowship is brilliantly realised.

We enjoyed JACK THE GIANT SLAYER today. It takes a while to get going and is twenty minutes too long but the cast is likeable, the plot and script is knockabout and the last thirty minutes is perfect for this kind of film.  All the twelve and thirteen year olds I was with declared it awesome. Especially the very first giant appearing.

I would have preferred to see more of Eddie Marsan as oppose to Ewan Macgregor but you normally don't get that sort of expectation reversal in these sort of movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 25 March, 2013, 02:51:10 AM
I watched southern comfort, bloody hell that's a good film. Couldn't believe i'd never seen it before. If had to describe it, I would say it was a bit alien, a bit predator, and a bit deliverance. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 25 March, 2013, 04:33:58 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 24 March, 2013, 01:19:13 PM
I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.

I've read the books which Graysmith wrote about The Zodiac, and the film is a great representation of those. And as mentioned, it has a fabulous, seedy 70s vibe. It's certainly of that era. If anything there are one or two horrifying bits in the book(s) that didn't make it into the film, but as a real-life serial killer film it's as good as the genre gets. Not as viscerally thrilling as Se7en or Fight Club, but just as memorable because he was never caught.

He's possibly more fascinating because of that fact, but it's also interesting trying to figure out motivations and even intellect of The Zodiac. There are conflicting bits of evidence about how clever he really was, and how his elusiveness was due to possibly being in jail for a time.

And I also love Zodiac because he inspired the protagonist of one of my favourite films Dirty Harry
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 26 March, 2013, 10:58:35 PM
A fun night in with Walter (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no177-walter.html) followed by the mirth free The Infidel (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no83-infidel.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 27 March, 2013, 09:26:06 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 26 March, 2013, 10:58:35 PM
A fun night in with Walter (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no177-walter.html) followed by the mirth free The Infidel (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no83-infidel.html)

Great reviews as always, Buttonman! Normally when i read a scathing (and in your case, funny aswell) review for a film, it gets me intrigued enough to see it for myself. But Walter? No thanks. You've convinced me to stay away from it!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 28 March, 2013, 11:13:53 PM
Too kinds Mabs - were you my first ever Google G+1? Next stop the two line reviews in the Paisley Express!

Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no84-vikings.html) and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no178-wrath-of-titans.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 March, 2013, 11:36:55 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 28 March, 2013, 11:13:53 PM
Too kinds Mabs - were you my first ever Google G+1? Next stop the two line reviews in the Paisley Express!

Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no84-vikings.html) and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no178-wrath-of-titans.html)

Sadly i wasn't, Buttonman, but i've fixed that for you!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 March, 2013, 06:49:05 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 28 March, 2013, 11:13:53 PM
Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no84-vikings.html) and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no178-wrath-of-titans.html)

Uh I've not seen the Vikings for ages. Love that movie, must dig it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 30 March, 2013, 12:56:08 PM
No Country for Old Men -  again.
From start to finish its just perfection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 30 March, 2013, 01:24:21 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 30 March, 2013, 12:56:08 PM
No Country for Old Men -  again.
From start to finish its just perfection.

Great, great film JJ. Deserves a rewatch soon.

I watched 'American Mary' last night, hoping to be as blown away as nearly every critc / horror fan who'd reviewed it.
Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 30 March, 2013, 02:48:44 PM
No Country for Old Men is brilliant. Considering my recent Coen binge I should re-watch this soon. I was thinking about it the other day, there are quite a few similarities between Tommy Lee Jones' character and Frances McDormands character in Fargo, although, she is a constant optimist in a very motherly way, who is tested and tries to cling on to her faith in people, where as he seems to have lost all faith.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 30 March, 2013, 03:18:02 PM

Stop it! I've got to watch Priest this weekend, so I can talk about it with the kid at my work who gave me a loan of it; now I just want to watch No Country again instead. I started Drag Me To Hell the other night, which was like a brilliant combination of the gory slapstick and gross-out humour of The Evil Dead with the comedy of social awkwardness exemplified by Curb Your Enthusiasm. Looking forward to watching the rest of that, but I've a feeling I'll struggle with Paul Bettany punching vampires.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 March, 2013, 11:08:59 PM
A chuckle free visit to The 'Burbs (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no85-burbs.html) along with TV movie excitement of Web of Lies (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no179-web-of-lies.html) - if anyone has seen this effort I'd be amazed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 30 March, 2013, 11:20:27 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 30 March, 2013, 11:08:59 PM
A chuckle free visit to The 'Burbs (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no85-burbs.html)

Ray...this is Walter Buttonmans scathing review of a cherished childhood movie memory.

AAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 30 March, 2013, 11:39:56 PM
After being highly recommended by a know-it-all,spotty youth in my local comic shop, I ordered a copy of Hardware from ebay, and have watched this evening. It could be due to my semi-intoxicated condition, that I now want to do serious injury to said young person. Utter pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 March, 2013, 11:41:02 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 30 March, 2013, 11:39:56 PM
After being highly recommended by a know-it-all,spotty youth in my local comic shop, I ordered a copy of Hardware from ebay, and have watched this evening. It could be due to my semi-intoxicated condition, that I now want to do serious injury to said young person. Utter pants.
Herasy! >:( I like Hardware! But each to there own.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 30 March, 2013, 11:42:18 PM
I know where you can buy one real cheap :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 31 March, 2013, 01:03:15 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 30 March, 2013, 03:18:02 PM
I started Drag Me To Hell the other night, which was like a brilliant combination of the gory slapstick and gross-out humour of The Evil Dead with the comedy of social awkwardness exemplified by Curb Your Enthusiasm.

II love Drag Me to He'll. Raising back wearing his wacky Evil Dead 2 shoes, I think. Let us know what you think of the rest Sauchie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 31 March, 2013, 01:03:47 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 30 March, 2013, 11:08:59 PM
A chuckle free visit to The 'Burbs (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/no85-burbs.html)

Always had a soft spot for The 'Burbs.
Bought the DVD (rescued from the bargin bucket...) last year. May well give it another spin this weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 31 March, 2013, 02:27:07 PM
Same here, i've also got a soft spot for The Burbs! Used to love it as a kid, maybe not as thrilling as The Goonies but still a fun watch.

I watched My Neigbour Totoro yesterday with my boy, and the Kiki's Delivery Service (thanks to Film4's Studio Ghibli season). The Borrowers is on this evening and Howl tomorrow. I've watched the majority of Ghibli's output and have most on DVD, but Totoro and Kiki were a handful of Miyazaki's films which i hadn't watched, so it was a pleasant surprise and a joy to watch. My son loves all the Studio Ghibli films and has asked me if i could buy those two on DVD for him, which i'll most likely do later in the week. It's great that on top of all the Ice Age, Toy Story and Shrek films he also has a love for more diverse cartoons such as the above.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 31 March, 2013, 03:09:03 PM
The 'Burbs is bloody brilliant!  It's a real character piece, eh?  Not that much actually happens in it - they just mess around being paranoid about their new neighbours.  I have watched that film so many times, and consider it one of Tom Hank's finest moments.

Totoro - who doesn't bloody love Totoro?  How many times have I watched that film?  Not as much as Star Wars, but definitely more than Dredd.  It still makes me howl with laughter even now.  It is just such a chilled, sweet film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 31 March, 2013, 03:16:19 PM
The Secret in their eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes).
(The link takes you to the film's wikipedia page, so avoid if you havent seen this film).

Pretty darn good, and captures the mid-70's look, and the political turmoil of Argentina perfectly.

And check out the sequence set in the football stadium. Incredible!

The reveal of what became of the killer was slightly weak in its execution, but compelling stuff none-the-less
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 31 March, 2013, 05:59:33 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 31 March, 2013, 01:03:15 PM
I love Drag Me to He'll. Raising back wearing his wacky Evil Dead 2 shoes, I think. Let us know what you think of the rest Sauchie.

Raising=Raimi
Android Swift-type spell-checker in action there. Still, it's a good utility overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 31 March, 2013, 07:16:41 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 31 March, 2013, 05:59:33 PM

Raising=Raimi
Android Swift-type spell-checker in action there.

There'll be a Dr. Who episode about it before the seasons finished....  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 April, 2013, 04:37:54 PM
Watched Labyrinth last night. All day I've had 'DANCE, MAGIC DANCE!' stuck in my head and have been wondering where I can get a marvelous pair of trousers like what David Bowie wears. I like to think Bowie just showed up on set looking like that. Jim Henson was all like "WARDROBE FOR MISTER BOW....nevermind!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 01 April, 2013, 05:37:08 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 31 March, 2013, 07:16:41 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 31 March, 2013, 05:59:33 PM

Raising=Raimi
Android Swift-type spell-checker in action there.

There'll be a Dr. Who episode about it before the seasons finished....  ::)

Brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 April, 2013, 06:02:19 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 31 March, 2013, 03:16:19 PM
The Secret in their eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes). (The link takes you to the film's wikipedia page, so avoid if you havent seen this film).

Pretty darn good, and captures the mid-70's look, and the political turmoil of Argentina perfectly. And check out the sequence set in the football stadium. Incredible! The reveal of what became of the killer was slightly weak in its execution, but compelling stuff none-the-less

You might have mentioned it was still up on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr3tv/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes/), Jack. I think I'll give it a bash tonight, based on your recommendation.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 April, 2013, 07:52:14 PM
The Social Network.
Amazingly tense and gripping for what is basically two hours of people talking. Its not even showy courtroom drama stuff.
Real life is rarely this exciting, especially when it features nerds so I'm guessing there's lots of innacuracies in there, again a clue being that it comes down mostly on the side of Spider-man. Great central performances as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 April, 2013, 08:03:49 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 April, 2013, 07:52:14 PM
The Social Network.

Great movie.
And that's coming from someone who abhors and has never used Facebook!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 April, 2013, 08:57:35 PM
Starter for Ten.
A nostalgia filled (well for my age group) but utterly predictable rom com saved only by a great soundtrack (well, for my age group)having Sherlock and Professor X in the unusual University Challenge set up. Tiny Tips said "The jokes were very good, there just weren't enough of them".

I agree with his sentiments and echo them in regards to Alice Eve in her ("Set phasers to chug!") underwear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 01 April, 2013, 09:02:54 PM
John Carter

I finally watch it at parent's Sky Movies at Easter.

I did enjoy it, very enjoyable film, with well actions and, thought the aliens really good in it, love the little humour with them such as [spoiler]John Carter lead the army but arrived at wrong place and one alien slam his head! [/spoiler]

The story is okay, as nice fights, and love that "dog" and I want that powers John got, nice with jumps!

And the film should be called John Carter of Mars!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 April, 2013, 09:09:26 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 April, 2013, 06:02:19 PM
You might have mentioned it was still up on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr3tv/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes/), Jack. I think I'll give it a bash tonight, based on your recommendation.

Ah, for some reason i could have sworn it was film4, or some such - the lack of adverts didnt seem to register that night! 
Nice that its on the i-player, as i missed the first 5 mins, myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 01 April, 2013, 09:53:29 PM
Heavily influenced by the £3 price tag, decided to ignore the critics and watch Priest.
Really enjoyed it.  Starting to think if Rotten Tomatoes don't like a film, and it stars Karl Urban I should go watch straight away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 April, 2013, 11:36:16 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 April, 2013, 06:02:19 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 31 March, 2013, 03:16:19 PM
The Secret in their eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes). (The link takes you to the film's wikipedia page, so avoid if you havent seen this film).

Pretty darn good, and captures the mid-70's look, and the political turmoil of Argentina perfectly. And check out the sequence set in the football stadium. Incredible! The reveal of what became of the killer was slightly weak in its execution, but compelling stuff none-the-less

You might have mentioned it was still up on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr3tv/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes/), Jack. I think I'll give it a bash tonight, based on your recommendation.

Thanks for the recommendation, Jack; thoroughly enjoyed that. The parallels it drew between the investigation and the personal lives of everyone involved meant it was a proper grown-up film, like they don't make anymore. And aye, what about that aerial shot zooming into the stadium (57m 40s) - it's was a cheat, but it's still hugely impressive and provided a nice contrast in scale and tone to all the intimate human drama which preceded it. Remind you of anything (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mkLpJNkYy8U#t=149s)?

20-25 years ago, that would have been a stick-on for an English language remake, but a film about memory, loss and folk who don't look like teenagers never quite getting together, wrapped up in a crime story which doesn't have a simple resolution, would die on its arse in cinemas today. The pacing's off, but it's still recommended.

iplayer: The Secret In Their Eyes (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr3tv/The_Secret_in_Their_Eyes/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2013, 08:19:05 AM
I am currently towards the end of a three day The Walking Dead marathon. On the third day now, which will end right up at the point [spoiler]when Merl gets shot by the Governor and comes back as a walker. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2013, 07:10:39 PM
GI JOE: RETALLIATION
Sadly nowhere near as dumb as the first film or the trailer suggest. Tiny Tips suggested the second half was way too realistic and as a result just a bit boring. It still manages to be ridiculous but not in the "ninjas fighting under a death laser nuclear reactor under an exploding ice cap" sort of way.

It gets plus points for:
Actually showing how the characters extricate themself from a tricky hole
[spoiler]Channing Tatum taking an early bath
A clever falling down stairs gag which I can't believe I have never seen done before[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 April, 2013, 07:28:12 PM
Killer Joe. Memorable chicken drumstick scene.


The Sweeney. The Shitty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 April, 2013, 08:04:51 PM
Doggy action with The Breed (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no86-breed.html) followed by western hijinx in Westbound (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no180-westbound.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 02 April, 2013, 11:02:17 PM
I watched The Sightseers at the weekend. Great film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-57LRQdXqD0
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 03 April, 2013, 11:29:03 PM
Trance

Pretty good, definitely recommend it!
Lotta vag in that movie, lotta vag.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 April, 2013, 10:54:23 PM
Finally got round to watching Four Lions.

Erm, is it just me or is it not actually very good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2013, 10:57:43 PM
Quote from: radiator on 04 April, 2013, 10:54:23 PM
Finally got round to watching Four Lions.

Erm, is it just me or is it not actually very good?
It's just you.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 April, 2013, 11:17:44 PM
Didn't even make it to the end to be honest. Don't know what all the fuss is about - felt like a couple of sketches stretched over 90 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2013, 11:31:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 04 April, 2013, 11:17:44 PM
Didn't even make it to the end to be honest. Don't know what all the fuss is about - felt like a couple of sketches stretched over 90 minutes.
I think it's genius, quality comedy that unashamedly insults a serious problem, four characatures set out to do characaturish stuff. It's fluffy guff that just happens to be really funny, did you get to the bit with the sheep?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 04 April, 2013, 11:50:57 PM
We watched Dark Shadows last night.  Had its moments but didn't really bother with a lot of the characters and couldn't make its mind up about wether it was horror or comedy, so fell a bit flat.  There was a rip off from that old Bruce Willis film about the women who wanted to be immortal, which didn't really work.

in the cinema, we saw the new Die Hard - so that's my explosion ration for the next year used up quickly.  It passed the time but isn't what I'd call a must see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 April, 2013, 03:08:03 PM
QuoteI think it's genius, quality comedy that unashamedly insults a serious problem, four characatures set out to do characaturish stuff. It's fluffy guff that just happens to be really funny, did you get to the bit with the sheep?

No.

As I said, just seemed like a massively overlong Jam or Big Train sketch. Wannabe terrorists do something stupid. They get told off by the leader of their cell, who is marginally less stupid than them. Rinse and repeat. The clips I'd seen out of context were great - and they do work great as short clips, but the sketchy, surreal, semi-improvised feel really can't sustain my interest for 100-odd minutes.

To be totally honest, I've always thought Chris Morris to be a little overrated. Capable of moments of genius (as in much of Brasseye), but a lot of his stuff falls a bit flat for me, such as that My Wrongs thing he did a few years ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 April, 2013, 03:41:17 PM
I think it's one of the funniest films I've ever seen - I can't remember as many loud belly laughs from a cinema audience before. So many priceless moments - the rabbit-chickens; rubber dinghy rapids; "Asian man's head falls from tree" and the manner of Barry's final demise.

My favourite  quotes are tied between the police spokesman at the end "Can I just clarify, the police did shoot the right man, but the wrong man exploded" and Barry's "I'm the Invisible Jihadist - they seek me here, they seek me there, but I'm not there, I'm somewhere else blowing up your slag sister"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 05 April, 2013, 04:59:40 PM

And poor crow!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 05 April, 2013, 05:36:42 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 05 April, 2013, 04:59:40 PM

And poor crow!

Lol! Sounds a treat, i definitely must seek this one out! (i saw the part Riz Ahmed gives the 'Simba' speech to his kid on Youtube a while back, bloody hilarious!  :D).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 April, 2013, 05:56:47 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 05 April, 2013, 04:59:40 PM

And poor crow!
Those Jewish Sex Shops are easy targets to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 April, 2013, 06:11:40 PM
Western revenge in, er, The Revengers (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no87-revengers.html) and Adiren Brody getting Wrecked (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no181-wrecked.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dredd Head on 05 April, 2013, 06:49:20 PM
Just watched SEVEN PSYCHOPATH'S

I thought this was a good film, Good actors and an original story makes this an easy recommendation :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 April, 2013, 11:59:31 PM
Goodfellas at the local film club on the big screen. Was as good as I remembered.

Jack the Giant Slayer. Good fun. Some great central performances. The actors, Ewan Mcgregor especially, seem to be having a great time (and he has a wonderful Start Wars nod in there). Good fun and it has what I thought was a cracking punchline.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 12:15:08 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 April, 2013, 11:59:31 PM
Goodfellas at the local film club on the big screen. Was as good as I remembered.


It's been a while since i watched this masterpiece, which for me is arguably Scorsese's best film (although Raging Bull comes close). It just cements Scorsese as the legendary filmmaker he is, also one of the best storytellers of our time. The Layla theme we hear maybe midway through (when the kids discover the dead couple in the car) gives me goosebumps every single time. Not forgetting that stunning Copacabana tracking shot and the score. A stunning film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 April, 2013, 01:10:21 AM
you know when technology advances and you buy new kit, you always have to get a few discs to start with? You can't just buy one, that'd be sad, but you can't afford to replace your entire album/VHS collection overnight, so you buy a handful of favourites... Well when I bought my first DVD player Goodfellas was an instant choice (I think Blues Brothers, Judge Dredd [yeah, I know] and Pink Floyd The Wall may have been the others.). I'd love to see it on the big screen though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 April, 2013, 12:23:23 PM
Goodfellas is one of those films I always seem to catch late at night. I say I'll just watch for a while and then go to bed, but I invariably get sucked in and end up watching the whole thing. Also I always want a plate of pasta 'bout half way through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2013, 01:13:07 PM
Goodfellas is great, yes, and sometimes it's hard to pin down why, so seamlessly is it made.  What finally made me realise the total genius of Scorsese was the scene where he takes his girlfriend into the club via the kitchens, through all that chaos ALL IN ONE SHOT - no cuts!

My god, the choreography of that one take must have been a fraking logistical nightmare - it goes on forever, through such chaos, with so many other actors having to be in exactly the right spot at the right time, doing or saying something at exactly the right moment.

I had watched the film three times before I even noticed that is what he had done in that scene, and it blew my mind! No cuts! No cuts!   :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 April, 2013, 01:37:23 PM
Watched Goodfellas the other night!

A classic through and through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 April, 2013, 02:36:09 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 06 April, 2013, 12:23:23 PM
Goodfellas is one of those films I always seem to catch late at night. I say I'll just watch for a while and then go to bed, but I invariably get sucked in and end up watching the whole thing. Also I always want a plate of pasta 'bout half way through.

Yep, thats how it happens with me as well - except for the plate of pasta.
Once you start watching you just have to watch it to the end.

And its also one in a long line of films i own on DVD that i only seem to catch when its on telly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 April, 2013, 02:42:12 PM
We have visitors, so last night, while working like crazy to make deadline on my latest projects, I was treated to 'Fiddler On The Roof' as background noise. I thought it was great!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 02:55:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2013, 01:13:07 PM
Goodfellas is great, yes, and sometimes it's hard to pin down why, so seamlessly is it made.  What finally made me realise the total genius of Scorsese was the scene where he takes his girlfriend into the club via the kitchens, through all that chaos ALL IN ONE SHOT - no cuts!

My god, the choreography of that one take must have been a fraking logistical nightmare - it goes on forever, through such chaos, with so many other actors having to be in exactly the right spot at the right time, doing or saying something at exactly the right moment.

I had watched the film three times before I even noticed that is what he had done in that scene, and it blew my mind! No cuts! No cuts!   :o

Yep, that's an awesome scene alright!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sr-vxVaY_M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Awesome. Goosebumps every time, and the score....my word. The whole score for Goodfellas is like the cinematic equivalent of ecstacy and nirvana!

Scorsese tried the steadicam shot earlier with Raging Bull;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b6L1uq_bik&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Which is just as good in my opinion. It's not hard to see why Scorsese is my favourite film director of all time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 April, 2013, 04:36:54 PM
I just watched Skyfall on the Box Office channel.
I didn't like it.
Not as good as Connery or Moore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2013, 06:04:54 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 April, 2013, 04:36:54 PM
I just watched Skyfall on the Box Office channel.
I didn't like it.
Not as good as Connery.

FTFY. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: qtwerk on 06 April, 2013, 07:17:16 PM
I have rented Grabbers, which I think will be like a cross between Tremors and Father Ted. And if lives up to that, I'll be happy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 April, 2013, 07:25:41 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 02:55:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2013, 01:13:07 PM
Goodfellas is great, yes, and sometimes it's hard to pin down why, so seamlessly is it made.  What finally made me realise the total genius of Scorsese was the scene where he takes his girlfriend into the club via the kitchens, through all that chaos ALL IN ONE SHOT - no cuts!

My god, the choreography of that one take must have been a fraking logistical nightmare - it goes on forever, through such chaos, with so many other actors having to be in exactly the right spot at the right time, doing or saying something at exactly the right moment.

I had watched the film three times before I even noticed that is what he had done in that scene, and it blew my mind! No cuts! No cuts!   :o

Yep, that's an awesome scene alright!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sr-vxVaY_M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Awesome. Goosebumps every time, and the score....my word. The whole score for Goodfellas is like the cinematic equivalent of ecstacy and nirvana!

Scorsese tried the steadicam shot earlier with Raging Bull;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b6L1uq_bik&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Which is just as good in my opinion. It's not hard to see why Scorsese is my favourite film director of all time.

Have you ever seen Russian Ark? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Ark) It uses a single 96 minute shot, it has dance numbers and everything
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 08:42:47 PM
No i haven't, El Pops. I've heard of it however but never got round to watching it. Might have to rectify that soon! Cheers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 April, 2013, 08:53:53 PM
It's not one of the greatest films I've ever seen, but it's highly enjoyable from a technical point of view. In that respect the movie is a triumph. I said it had dance numbers in it, but the whole thing is really just one big, immaculately choreographed dance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 06 April, 2013, 09:05:34 PM
Ay, Goodfellas is indeed brilliant.

Haywire by Steven Soderbergh, pretty fun action movie with some very well done fight scenes and some lovely shots of Dublin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 09:09:20 PM
The premise of Russian Ark definitely sounds intriguing. Just imagine all the work that had to go in the planning alone, and imagine the horror if 90 minutes in someone forgot their lines or fell over in a dance routine! Of course the director had to have some steel balls, or else he wouldn't have been able to handle such an undertaking! The film must have been one hell of an accomplishment. Can't wait to get round to watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 April, 2013, 09:12:32 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 06 April, 2013, 09:05:34 PM
Ay, Goodfellas is indeed brilliant.

Haywire by Steven Soderbergh, pretty fun action movie with some very well done fight scenes and some lovely shots of Dublin

Damn i almost forgot about that film! There was a lot of talk at the time of it being the 'female Bourne'. Another film i must add to my watch list. (i've got a lot of catching up to do, so many films and not enough time).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 April, 2013, 09:19:51 PM
Not that I'm trying to take anything away from anyone who saw Haywire and enjoyed it... but I really think that's an objectively terrible movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 April, 2013, 10:15:05 PM
Forbidden Zone (dir. Danny Elfman)- Still my all time favourite musical (as well as possibly me second favourate film of all time) and a bloody barmy film to boot. Very much a throwback to the 30's Boop and Pop Eye cartoons played before features in theaters it come's off as a very LSD influenced film. Director Dan himself pull's off one of the most memoriable performances of Satan you will ever see and in one of the most catchy tune's in the film, Squeezit the Moocher. It's one of my life goals to see Mr. Elfmans stage show, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, of which this is partialy influenced but chances are I might never get the chance.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Noisybast on 06 April, 2013, 11:33:30 PM
Oz the Great and Powerful. Good film, working well both as a prequel and as its own film, with some nice Raimi-ish touches scattered throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 07 April, 2013, 12:10:18 AM
Quote from: HdE on 06 April, 2013, 09:19:51 PM
Not that I'm trying to take anything away from anyone who saw Haywire and enjoyed it... but I really think that's an objectively terrible movie.

Fair enough, to some extent I can see some of the ill will directed towards it, but I don't know, there is something I really like about it, I just can't put my finger on it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 April, 2013, 01:55:24 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 07 April, 2013, 12:10:18 AM

Fair enough, to some extent I can see some of the ill will directed towards it, but I don't know, there is something I really like about it, I just can't put my finger on it!

And that's equally fair enough!

Sometimes, we just like something. We can't really work out WHY, and maybe we even feel like we probably shouldn't... but if you're entertained, at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Also: That Gina Carrano, eh? ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 April, 2013, 02:10:18 PM
It's just started and I might not watch it all the way through but... A Knights Tale.

I thought to myself... meh, when it was mentioned. Then they sang "We Will Rock You" by Queen at the start of the tournament. I kid you not. If it was just background music I'd find that a bit out of place, but the characters were joining in with the rhythm  and dancing and everything...

I think that would irritate a lot of people but I find that kind of  meta-wacky-silliness appealing.

While I think I've seen this film, (or parts of it) before I didn't remember Alan Tudyk* was in it too.

*Wash from Firefly as you probably know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 April, 2013, 02:28:41 PM
A Knights Tale is great fun! And the late Heath Ledger is in it too (what a miss he is to the acting world). Alan Tudyk is also an actor i keep an eye out for, [spoiler]i remember getting near teary eyed when his character died in Serneity. He was such a likeable character, why did Whedon have to kill him off?  :'([/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 April, 2013, 02:30:57 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 April, 2013, 02:10:18 PM
It's just started and I might not watch it all the way through but... A Knights Tale.

I thought to myself... meh, when it was mentioned. Then they sang "We Will Rock You" by Queen at the start of the tournament. I kid you not. If it was just background music I'd find that a bit out of place, but the characters were joining in with the rhythm  and dancing and everything...

I think that would irritate a lot of people but I find that kind of  meta-wacky-silliness appealing.

While I think I've seen this film, (or parts of it) before I didn't remember Alan Tudyk* was in it too.

*Wash from Firefly as you probably know.

A Knight's Tale is brilliant!
Chaucer has one of the best screen entrances ever and gets to say, "I will evicerate you in fiction."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 April, 2013, 02:47:10 PM
Just finished The Dark Knight Returns Part I & II (accompanied by a pint of iced alka seltzer, a bacon & cheese toastie and a recliner couch).

Good enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 April, 2013, 12:45:29 PM
Sightseers: A spoiler heavy review.

A charming little movie about a couple who go on a caravan holiday. [spoiler]They also murder a lot of people, that bit's not so charming.[/spoiler] The main focus is on the couple, brilliantly played by Alice Lowe [spoiler]who seamlessly swings from sweet to psycho[/spoiler] and Chris Oram, who is entirely convincing as a recently made redundant guy, that just wants to be happy, and also make his girlfriend happy by showing her the world. The only other characters  are [spoiler]initially introduced to disrupt the happiness of this sweet young couple, and then get murdered. Apart from [/spoiler]the girl's mother, it seems like she will play a role, but unless I missed something, she more or less disappears off the radar about half way through.

The whole thing is quite surreal, but also believable. [spoiler]There's an excellent scene where they've had an argument and the girl goes off to a pencil museum by herself, where she buys a 25 quid giant pencil and then tries to write a letter to her boyfriend, explaining her feelings. With a four foot, completely unwieldy pencil.[/spoiler] Utterly bizarre to watch, but totally believable. [spoiler]It's also a clever visual metaphor for the character's awkwardness when dealing with her emotions.[/spoiler]

Humour of the blackest kind is this movie's calling card. Certain scenes make you feel happy and sad at the same time. The last movie that did that for me was Super (SHUT UP CRIME!). [spoiler]The violence is really well handled too. One of the first murders is quite brutal, but it never shows the violence explicitly, it only the shows the aftermath, with the victim looking horrifically mutilated. I thought this was quite clever, it might have been too light-hearted otherwise. You could've have ended up actually[/spoiler] sympathizing with the couple, because their interactions are so sweet and lovely, [spoiler]if you hadn't seen the horrible results of their actions. Yet strangely[/spoiler] you still root for them, you  want them to be happy, you tell yourself, 'If you just stop now, you might just get away with it and live happily ever after!' but they don't. And the ending is left open, which is just perfect. It seems like it has been telegraphed quite early on, but it subverts your expectations wonderfully.

Overall, one of the best movies I've seen in a while. A dark but sweet, two headed character piece.[spoiler]A more emotionally intelligent and mature Natural Born Killers[/spoiler] I just cannot recommend this enough, unless you're depressed or in an unhealthy relationship.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 April, 2013, 02:14:09 PM
The Sweeny (2012).
JamesC really does have it right, it is The Shitty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 08 April, 2013, 03:27:44 PM
Fahrenheit 451 (read the book, & the play, only got round to the film now)
Some nice touches here and there but overall it doesn't work: pacing/acting/dubbing accents are just weird; and everytime they 'mobilise',- the firemen really just evoke Trumpton.
There was very few literature quotes and no giant robot dog; literature and a giant robot dog was always the best things about the story, for me, NIL POINTZ :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 April, 2013, 03:41:44 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 08 April, 2013, 03:27:44 PM
the firemen really just evoke Trumpton.


That's what I love about it and it's speeded up too. The action-men in Jet-packs I hated.

And it has a MONO-RAIL.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 08 April, 2013, 04:21:55 PM
Quote from: HdE on 07 April, 2013, 01:55:24 PM
Also: That Gina Carrano, eh? ;)

Hell yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 08 April, 2013, 04:27:35 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 April, 2013, 03:41:44 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 08 April, 2013, 03:27:44 PM
the firemen really just evoke Trumpton.


That's what I love about it and it's speeded up too. The action-men in Jet-packs I hated.

And it has a MONO-RAIL.
The MONO-RAIL was my fave.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 April, 2013, 05:54:55 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 08 April, 2013, 04:21:55 PM
Quote from: HdE on 07 April, 2013, 01:55:24 PM
Also: That Gina Carrano, eh? ;)

Hell yes.

We can be friends now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 08 April, 2013, 11:57:51 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 07 April, 2013, 02:47:10 PM
Just finished The Dark Knight Returns Part I & II (accompanied by a pint of iced alka seltzer, a bacon & cheese toastie and a recliner couch).

Good enough.

Same for me, thought both were passable. Catwoman was a little tame, Michelle Pfeiffer still has my vote.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 April, 2013, 12:04:41 AM
The Liam Neeson thriller 'Unknown' - I'm sure I'm not the first to notice it's [spoiler]virtually a contemporary retelling of 'Total Recall'[/spoiler] - they even had[spoiler] a three titted woman[/spoiler]! (not really).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 April, 2013, 08:02:53 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 April, 2013, 11:57:51 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 07 April, 2013, 02:47:10 PM
Just finished The Dark Knight Returns Part I & II (accompanied by a pint of iced alka seltzer, a bacon & cheese toastie and a recliner couch).

Good enough.

Same for me, thought both were passable. Catwoman was a little tame, Michelle Pfeiffer still has my vote.

I'm with ya RE Catwoman, smiler- those movies I meant were the animated adaptions of the Frank Miller graphic novel though, and Selina was looking decidedly gilf-ish in em!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 April, 2013, 01:44:25 PM
I went and saw Warm Bodies and Oblivion at the movies. Both weren't not bad :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 April, 2013, 01:15:50 AM
Western fun with The Kentuckian (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no89-kentuckian.html) before some British get them slags action in Welcome to the Punch (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no182-welcome-to-punch.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robert Frazer on 13 April, 2013, 02:09:55 AM
I'm one of those fogeys (at the grand old age of 26) who prefers physical media, so I still spend a lot of time in shops looking for videos and discs. After searching for months, I finally chanced across a copy of David Lynch's Eraserhead completely by accident in a Forp! store, and snagged it straight away. I watched it tonight.

...hmm.

That's all. Hmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 April, 2013, 11:25:15 AM
The Hobbit.

I thought it would be boring because I didn't like the LOTR films much but I actually really enjoyed this.
Could have done with less silly singing (and CGI plates? really) and less silly fake noses though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 13 April, 2013, 05:57:43 PM
Just watched oblivion. It's not actually that bad. The trailer set my expectations pretty low, so was pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 13 April, 2013, 10:48:27 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 13 April, 2013, 01:15:50 AM
Western fun with The Kentuckian (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no89-kentuckian.html) before some British get them slags action in Welcome to the Punch (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no182-welcome-to-punch.html).

Bloody hell -that film is older than me. Proper Sunday afternoon stuff.

I picked up Jonah Hex with the groceries today, £3 well spent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 13 April, 2013, 11:16:48 PM
I'm with ya RE Catwoman, smiler- those movies I meant were the animated adaptions of the Frank Miller graphic novel though, and Selina was looking decidedly gilf-ish in em!  ;)
[/quote]

I bought a Batman animated collection in the going into administration sale in HMV, so far have made 3/5 of episodes, but am finding it tough going. Have watched Year One, and agree - definetly gilf-ish   :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 14 April, 2013, 12:19:38 AM
Soldier with Kurt Russell: has it's problems but overall I quite liked it. Lot of Dredd comparisons sprang to mind. Despite not even having a helmet, Kurt Russell still manages to keep it on for most of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 14 April, 2013, 11:07:35 AM
The Hobbit -an Unexpected Journey. I bloody loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dredd Head on 14 April, 2013, 11:09:48 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 14 April, 2013, 11:07:35 AM
The Hobbit -an Unexpected Journey. I bloody loved it.

I thought it was great as well, Annoyed that it's split into 3 films though
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 14 April, 2013, 11:25:37 AM
Quote from: Dredd Head on 14 April, 2013, 11:09:48 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 14 April, 2013, 11:07:35 AM
The Hobbit -an Unexpected Journey. I bloody loved it.

I thought it was great as well, Annoyed that it's split into 3 films though

i didn't think it would work but the expanded storyline seemed to go very well. The designs though, the dwarven halls and the look of the wargs and the Orc and Goblins were just fantastic. Radagast hiding inside as the giant spiders lurk around was incredibly creepy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 April, 2013, 12:00:27 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 14 April, 2013, 12:19:38 AM
Soldier with Kurt Russell: has it's problems but overall I quite liked it. Lot of Dredd comparisons sprang to mind. Despite not even having a helmet, Kurt Russell still manages to keep it on for most of the film.

And some nice references to Blade Runner; Kurt has 'Tannhauser Gate' tattooed on his arm, seem's as if he was a vet of the war there. Also there's Terminator skeletons in a junkyard scene. I might be wrong (as i watched this years ago) but i think it was written by David Webb Peoples who of course wrote Blade Runner and Unforgiven.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 14 April, 2013, 11:32:04 PM
Well remembered Mabs. If only I could get my video and tv talking to each other, I would watch again.

Watched Hansel and Gretel tonight - thankfully I borrowed dvd from my daughter - resent having to fork out for the leccy to watch it. Poor does not adequately describe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 15 April, 2013, 12:11:37 AM
Watching Olivia in Juno...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 15 April, 2013, 09:35:47 AM
I watched Robocop on the telly last night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 April, 2013, 10:21:44 PM
I'd buy that for a dollar.

Unlike the post apocalyptic thriller World Gone Wild (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no-183-world-gone-wild.html) which stars Adam Ant as the baddie and it's as bad as this sounds. Followed by a slice of Dredd's bum in The Specialist. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no90-specialist.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 17 April, 2013, 05:52:20 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 15 April, 2013, 09:35:47 AM
I watched Robocop on the telly last night.

has Robocop stood the test of time?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 18 April, 2013, 12:24:14 AM
yes
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 April, 2013, 01:00:38 AM
Extended catch-up post. TL;DR

I wish I could recommend The Man With the Iron Fists more as it's clearly a labour of love on the part of writer/director/soundtrack composer/star The Rza. It's a sumptuous homage to films of the Shaw Brothers school which manages to get a lot right. The nods and references are nicely done in that he conveys the spirit of the films that have gone before rather than something like Machete with its supposedly hilarious deliberate bad editing; the supporting cast are uniformly strong with Russell Crowe particularly impressing as an agent of the Emperor; the decision to focus on everyone fighting with more and more ludicrous weapons is a good one given the cast; the hip-hop soundtrack turns out to be a genius idea.

Unfortunately, the thing that lets the film down is the fighting itself. It's never downright bad but few of the fights are given room to breathe and there's a bit too much close up camera work for my taste. With Cory Yuen on action duties, I was a bit surprised but have since read elsewhere that this style was advocated by co-producer Eli Roth against The Rza's better judgement. If you genuinely like either old kung fu films or Wu Tang Clan then you'll get something out of this. Otherwise, best just wait and read about it on The Definite Article movie blog.


I'd been looking forward to seeing Rust and Bone but it was something of a letdown. I was expecting more than the cliched middle class woman suffers bizarre killer whale accident at work then learns to live and love again thanks to the attentions of a feckless loser from the wrong side of the tracks who forces her to confront reality at his backstreet ultimate fighting matches. Both the leads were good but there was an uncomfortable note of condescension about the whole enterprise.


The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift is an amusing exercise in keeping the franchise alive with no elements of previous installments intact other than some cars. Highlights would include the introduction which nicely sets up why we should be rooting for Lucas Black's character even if he's a dick and the ludicrous car chase with four cars drifting crazily through the traffic-crowded streets of Tokyo.


Merantau, the debut feature from the director and star of The Raid, isn't in the same league as the later film. Had I seen this first I think I'd be far less critical, but I still enjoyed seeing these guys
serving their apprenticeships. The pacing and overall story arc are much closer to the run of the mill, cheap kung fu film: naive young lad trying to make his way in the big city without getting into trouble but eventually has to stand up for his principles. The fights are much more spaced out, so film relies more heavily on the genial lead's acting rather than fighting skills. When the fights do come they are, initially, rather underwhelming. However, it's still interesting to see an uncommon style on film and things do ramp up as it progresses, culminating in a claustrophobic showdown with Mad Dog from The Raid and a good, old-fashioned 1 vs 50 in a shipping yard.


You may find it hard to believe I'd never seen The Omega Man but it's true. Given the amount of whining that went around when I Am Legend came out I was surprised by this. As a vehicle for Charlton Heston to run around being tough it's entertaining and reasonably atmospheric. However, it's no closer to being a faithful of the book than the Will Smith version. Might try Soylent Green next.


Cube is a decent example of filmmakers using a bit of ingenuity to get round budgetary limitations. As far as I can tell they needed one exterior FX shot, one set and half a dozen different coloured lightbulbs to produce a reasonably good proto-Saw tale of a bunch of people thrown together to try and escape from a crazy space prison full of sadistic booby traps. The locked room setting means the film focuses more on the dynamic between the characters than the occasional splash of gore. Unfortunately, the script isn't always up to that challenge. Another draft - or spending a bit more on an actor better able to carry off the role of the cop who tries to assume leadership of the group – and this could've been a real gem. As it is, still worth a watch on telly and the vague subtext of bureaucracy out of control probably holds a bit more relevance in light of the ongoing situation in Guantanamo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 01:24:25 AM
I rented out Cube years back from my local Blockbusters (who've since been abolished....well that one at least), and i really enjoyed it. Like you say, The Cosh, it is essentially a low budget film but the filmmakers do their best with what they have. The various ways in which our 'detainee's' meet their end was also memorable - one in particular who meets a very gruesome end indeed. I believe they made a sequel, but i never got round to watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 April, 2013, 08:18:16 AM
I think there's a prequel and a sequel (Hypercube) but they follow the law of diminishing returns from what I recall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 April, 2013, 08:31:16 AM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 17 April, 2013, 05:52:20 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 15 April, 2013, 09:35:47 AM
I watched Robocop on the telly last night.

has Robocop stood the test of time?

I still like it enough to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 April, 2013, 02:57:36 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 April, 2013, 01:00:38 AM

I wish I could recommend The Man With the Iron Fists more as it's clearly a labour of love on the part of writer/director/soundtrack composer/star The Rza. It's a sumptuous homage to films of the Shaw Brothers school which manages to get a lot right. The nods and references are nicely done in that he conveys the spirit of the films that have gone before rather than something like Machete with its supposedly hilarious deliberate bad editing; the supporting cast are uniformly strong with Russell Crowe particularly impressing as an agent of the Emperor; the decision to focus on everyone fighting with more and more ludicrous weapons is a good one given the cast; the hip-hop soundtrack turns out to be a genius idea.

Unfortunately, the thing that lets the film down is the fighting itself. It's never downright bad but few of the fights are given room to breathe and there's a bit too much close up camera work for my taste. With Cory Yuen on action duties, I was a bit surprised but have since read elsewhere that this style was advocated by co-producer Eli Roth against The Rza's better judgement. If you genuinely like either old kung fu films or Wu Tang Clan then you'll get something out of this. Otherwise, best just wait and read about it on The Definite Article movie blog.


You aren't wrong here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 07:18:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 18 April, 2013, 08:18:16 AM
I think there's a prequel and a sequel (Hypercube) but they follow the law of diminishing returns from what I recall.

A prequel aswell huh? Interesting! By the way, Robocop absolutely rocks - arguably Verhoeven's best (and definitely his best sci-fi film). I remembering being blown away by it when i watched it as a kid. As an adult, it's interesting to see the Jesus allegory which Verhoeven talked about in interviews - he even gets to walk on water just like the son of god! And the character is very reminiscent of Old Stoney Face himself - it was great seeing Karl Urban chanelling Robocop in a few scenes of Dredd too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 18 April, 2013, 07:23:30 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 07:18:33 PM


... the character is very reminiscent of Old Stoney Face himself - it was great seeing Karl Urban chanelling Robocop in a few scenes of Dredd too!
Y'don't say? here's that early Robocop design:
(http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4024/4524587533_6bd0e0e393_z.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 April, 2013, 07:26:22 PM
I'm sure Paul Verhoeven was planning on making it the first Dredd movie? :crazy:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 08:23:24 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 18 April, 2013, 07:23:30 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 07:18:33 PM


... the character is very reminiscent of Old Stoney Face himself - it was great seeing Karl Urban chanelling Robocop in a few scenes of Dredd too!
Y'don't say? here's that early Robocop design:
(http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4024/4524587533_6bd0e0e393_z.jpg)

Dear lord! It's the love child of Robocop and Dredd!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 18 April, 2013, 08:33:53 PM
Which makes it at least 3/4's Dredd and a hideous in-bred freak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AvG6q_iTcA)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 April, 2013, 08:59:15 PM
Lol that song is so funny!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 April, 2013, 09:25:16 AM
I just finished watching The Hobbit : Unexpected Journey on Blue-Ray. Once again, it was superb, but I fell asleep during the middle of it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 19 April, 2013, 10:48:38 AM
Watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, last night. I must say i really enjoyed it. Knightly and Bloom were not a miss at all, and the inclusion of Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane (as the excellent Blackbeard) spiced up proceedings (especially where Cruz was concerned!). Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp were as good as ever. The standout moments for me were the Mermaid scene and the fountain of youth final battle. In the case of the former, i loved the eerie and seductive nature of the Mermaids, more like Sirens with a penchant for man flesh than The Little Mermaid! The look of the film was beautifully photographed by Dariusz Wolski and directed with visceral aplomb by Rob Marshall. Great fun overall.

Next up: Jonah Hex and Tron Legacy (i bought both for £3 each while out shopping last night).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 April, 2013, 01:27:32 PM
'Gone'.

A decent thriller starring the lovely Amanda Seyfried.

It's probably full of plot holes but the central performance is great and I warmed to the 'conflicted cop' character too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 April, 2013, 01:32:27 PM
Appleseed (2004): Apt is somewhat toothless adaptation of Shirow's master piece. Lacks the gravity of the source comic but almost makes up for it in innovative animation style "gel cell". Not sure what to make of it but it doesn't make me flinch. So that's a start. Oh, and the mobile fortress battle is eye porn.

Appleseed Ex Machina (2007): Meh sequel. Less oomph and previous film and just didn't click with me. The Deunan I know and love from the comics isn't here. Who is this bitchy little scrote?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 April, 2013, 01:33:07 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 April, 2013, 09:25:16 AM
I just finished watching The Hobbit : Unexpected Journey on Blue-Ray. Once again, it was superb, but I fell asleep during the middle of it.

I watched that last weekend with my girls on my beautiful 3D telly (have I mentioned that before?  It's lovely.  James Stacey's is bigger though) and it was fantastic.

Previously I'd seen it in a cinema, and it had closed captions and was a bit blurry.  I came away feeling non-plussed.  This time round the picture was crystal clear, and the 3D was incredibly effective.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  The kids loved it too.  They spent the rest of the afternoon playing 'sneaky hobbittses'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 19 April, 2013, 10:48:38 AM


Next up: Jonah Hex and Tron Legacy (i bought both for £3 each while out shopping last night).

I watched Jonah Hex last weekend - cracking good film

Trying to watch Season 1 of Game of Thrones, but finding it a bit slow up to episode 3. Not much fighting, but then they're probably knackered after all the shagging.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 April, 2013, 08:18:07 AM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Trying to watch Season 1 of Game of Thrones, but finding it a bit slow up to episode 3. Not much fighting, but then they're probably knackered after all the shagging.

There's not that much fighting, period. If you're still struggling by Episode 3, it's probably not for you...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 April, 2013, 12:06:27 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Trying to watch Season 1 of Game of Thrones, but finding it a bit slow up to episode 3. Not much fighting, but then they're probably knackered after all the shagging.

me too, I'm up to episode 6 and loving it. Put the wrong disk in and skipped 2 episodes earlier, which was momentarily confusing, but I'm back on track.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 April, 2013, 01:37:46 PM
Von Ryan's express - as we speak.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 April, 2013, 01:47:04 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 April, 2013, 01:37:46 PM
Von Ryan's express - as we speak.

Hope Frank makes the train this time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 April, 2013, 04:33:12 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 February, 2013, 03:44:02 PM
Not entirely sure what prompted me to see The Silver Linings Playbook, but I loved it. It's not exactly a feelgood rom-com although it shares some of the same DNA, nor is it entirely a straight drama but an interesting hybrid of the two.

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are an ill-matched couple both struggling to come to terms with their different mental health issues and gradually coming to rely on each other. I'm no expert, but it does seem like a pretty sympathetic portrait. There are times when it's played for laughs but a couple of scenes where it transitions very sharply into quite uncomfortable territory while the photography, editing and sound design are all used clevelry to illustrate the lead's changing state of mind.

It's quite touching if slightly cheesy and, ultimately, quite hard to pin down. I later found it was from the same director as I Heart Huckabees which I also really enjoyed but would find difficult to explain. Lawrence is outrageously lovely in this.

Agree pretty much entirely with this. As you say, the way the editing and lighting changed was great. Some great supporting turns too. What else have I seen Lawrence in? It cant be just Hunger Games. (Hopefully, the underware thread.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 April, 2013, 05:03:19 PM
She plays Mystique in X-Men: First Class I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 April, 2013, 05:42:52 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 April, 2013, 01:47:04 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 April, 2013, 01:37:46 PM
Von Ryan's express - as we speak.

Hope Frank makes the train this time.

We all hope that, but alas...  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 20 April, 2013, 05:52:35 PM
After reading H.G. Well's 'The Island of Dr Moreau' last week, I have watched:

Island of Lost Souls, 1932 (Charles laughton/Richard Arlen/Kathleen Burke)
Island of Dr Moreau†, 1977 (Burt Lancaster/Micheal York/Barbara Carrera)
Island of Dr Moreau‡, 1996 (Marlon Brando/David Tewlis/Fairuza Balk)

and so I can't really objectively comment on any of them as individual films, but I do feel somewhat satisfied.

†  I also read the Marvel Comics adaptation.
‡  as well as reading Mr Stanley*'s original script.
* Mr Stanley like-as-what wrote 'Hardwired' based on a Robo-Tale/Future-Shock, and got kicked off 'Moreau' after a couple of days of filming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 April, 2013, 06:14:05 PM
Island of Lost Souls is a classic, and I have a soft spot for Island of Dr Moreau (1996).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 20 April, 2013, 06:24:31 PM
Me too, I honestly feel that there is an excellent film in there somewhere trying to get out.
EDIT: Unfortunately watching it can be a bit like looking at the human/hybrid abominations Moreau himself creates,-" it's not science it's butchery I tell you!"

Also Island of Lost Souls is apparantly where the whole 'natives are restless' expression comes from, factfans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 20 April, 2013, 07:59:51 PM
Rewatched Seven Psychopaths due to the blu ray getting released.
Think its now taken over from Fight Club as my all time favourite film. Just perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 April, 2013, 08:40:47 PM
Quote from: bluemeanie on 20 April, 2013, 07:59:51 PM
Rewatched Seven Psychopaths due to the blu ray getting released.
Think its now taken over from Fight Club as my all time favourite film. Just perfect.

It is a truly awesome movie - but I still think In Bruges pips it... but thine again, this one has Tom Waits with a bunny... but the other had midgets...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 April, 2013, 08:58:34 PM
Been watching Rocky IV for the past half hour, and so far there's only been 5 minutes of actual movie. The rest has just been montages. Montages and awesome 80's tunes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 20 April, 2013, 11:33:56 PM
Finally got my Blu-ray player up and running.

First film tonight - Sexy Beast with Ray Winston and Ben Kingsley - top film.

Now settling in for a Predator marathon - bought the trilogy for £18 (in the shop where every little helps)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 April, 2013, 12:03:36 AM
Hugh Laurie goes for the jail bait in The Oranges (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no91-oranges.html) while sexy computer based action takes place at the Wandering Eye. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no184-wandering-eye.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 April, 2013, 03:37:30 AM
I watched the two hour pilot episode to Defiance and not sure how the rest of the series will turn out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 April, 2013, 08:54:52 AM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 19 April, 2013, 10:48:38 AM


Next up: Jonah Hex and Tron Legacy (i bought both for £3 each while out shopping last night).

I watched Jonah Hex last weekend - cracking good film

Trying to watch Season 1 of Game of Thrones, but finding it a bit slow up to episode 3. Not much fighting, but then they're probably knackered after all the shagging.

It's great you enjoyed it Smilersaltash, but for me, it was a really poor film and insult to the comic (of which i'm a massive fan). It started off pretty well, the opening animation montage was pretty cool, but it started going awry maybe 15-20 minutes in. All the actors were disappointing; especially Michael Fassbender and John Malkovich (who seems to be in it for the pay cheque). The directing was also shoddy; why did the director feel the need to use soft focus on Megan Fox all the bloody time? It was so jarring. And the script....well lets not go there. And the short running time didn't help matters....or it probably did as i was glad to see the end. Very disappointing. Will we ever see a great Jonah Hex adaption? I like to think we already have via Clint Eastwood's supernatural western; High Plains Drifter. If you just imagine Clint as Hex, then you get a far more satisfying film than this piss poor effort.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 09:58:25 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 21 April, 2013, 08:54:52 AM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 19 April, 2013, 10:48:38 AM


Next up: Jonah Hex and Tron Legacy (i bought both for £3 each while out shopping last night).

I watched Jonah Hex last weekend - cracking good film

Trying to watch Season 1 of Game of Thrones, but finding it a bit slow up to episode 3. Not much fighting, but then they're probably knackered after all the shagging.

It's great you enjoyed it Smilersaltash, but for me, it was a really poor film and insult to the comic (of which i'm a massive fan). It started off pretty well, the opening animation montage was pretty cool, but it started going awry maybe 15-20 minutes in. All the actors were disappointing; especially Michael Fassbender and John Malkovich (who seems to be in it for the pay cheque). The directing was also shoddy; why did the director feel the need to use soft focus on Megan Fox all the bloody time? It was so jarring. And the script....well lets not go there. And the short running time didn't help matters....or it probably did as i was glad to see the end. Very disappointing. Will we ever see a great Jonah Hex adaption? I like to think we already have via Clint Eastwood's supernatural western; High Plains Drifter. If you just imagine Clint as Hex, then you get a far more satisfying film than this piss poor effort.

Glad you've said that. Didn't want to say before you'd seen it as didn't wish to colour expectations (not saying I would but ya know). Jonah Hex is one of the worst films I can remember. both my wife and I are big fans of the comic and we got through 30 minutes of this before looking at each other and almost without a word agreeing to give it up and never mention it again. Horrible film both as an adaptation and as a western... well and as a film full stop.

Such a shame, as while I'm not the biggest fan of comic book adaptations to film in general, I think Jonah Hex is one of the exceptions that could prove the rule, that generally they don't work as they require too much compromise and you're better of sticking with the source material...

I'm sill to see The Spirit (its on my Lovefilm list) and wonder how I'll feel after that one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 April, 2013, 10:47:52 AM
I've still to watch The Spirit too, even if it does turn out to be a poor adaption, somehow i think it can't get more worse than Jonah Hex. You and your wife made the right decision in my view, leaving the film when you did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 21 April, 2013, 11:06:19 AM
The Jonah Hex film sucks (and I say that as a huge fan of the character) the Spirit film is even worse. If you want to ee a fun version of The Spirit on screen, get on Youtube and search out the Sam Jones TV version. Corny but very in the spirit of the character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 April, 2013, 11:35:23 AM
I watched Robocop Two on the telly just now and I thought it would tank, but wasn't so bad after all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 April, 2013, 12:08:56 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 21 April, 2013, 11:35:23 AM
I watched Robocop Two on the telly just now and I thought it would tank, but wasn't so bad after all.

I've got quite a soft spot for Robocop 2! It's maybe not as great as the first film but theres still a lot of enjoyment to be derived. The opening is really excellent and reminiscent of Hard Boiled (does Robo hold a baby in his arm? I've forgotten as i watched it more than a decade ago). And a terrifying nemesis in Cain/ Robocop 2. I remember shitting myself as a kid when his robot version reared its scary head for the first time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 April, 2013, 02:10:19 PM
I've never before seen or heard anything remotely positive about Jonah Hex. No force on Earth could get me to watch it!

I would say to everyone - avoid The Spirit like the plague. It is mindbendingly awful. I somehow ended up getting press ganged into seeing it at the cinema. Ugh. Was only worth it for discussing how bizarre it was in the pub afterwards. It's so surreal at times its like a big budget student art film, and not in a good way. Imagine the Sin City movie (which I really like), with its worst aspects magnified by 1000, and with none of the focus or consistency of tone.

You have been warned!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 04:03:14 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 April, 2013, 02:10:19 PM

I would say to everyone - avoid The Spirit like the plague. It is mindbendingly awful.

The trouble is I've heard this so many times and completely accept it will be, but need to see it myself so I know for sure and feel entitled to outraged at what they've done to one of my all time favourites.

I know, I know that's so stupid but I know I've got to do it in the end!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 April, 2013, 04:37:41 PM
A mate has told me that The Spirit is hilarious and the bad reviews are from people not viewing it as a comedy.  From what I have seen, he may be onto something.

Cloud Atlas is one of those films that could have gone either way, derived as it is from a novel whose multiple timelines and convergent themes have encouraged the worst kind of snob to sing about how plebs won't get what the rather straightforward book/film is about, but if anything the film over-explains itself on multiple occasions, with lots of visual metaphors thrown in for good measure.  Hugo Weaving as The Hitcher from Boosh, the headmistress from St Trinians and Charlie Chan from those old detective films they don't show much on tv no more for some reason is, as you can imagine, a bit distracting from the rest of the non-hilarity, but the cast generally does a good job to the point you forget who it is behind all the make-up - Hugh Grant as a post-apocalyptic cannibal orc-type was unrecogniseable.
Damn good film, when it finished I couldn't believe three hours had just gone by.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 06:19:18 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 April, 2013, 04:37:41 PM
A mate has told me that The Spirit is hilarious and the bad reviews are from people not viewing it as a comedy.  From what I have seen, he may be onto something.


The trouble is if someone has to tell you a comedy...

... see I have to see it, if I'd seen it I could have filled that post with indignant rage that someone should dare defend it. As it is I just have to suggest there's a possible problem...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 April, 2013, 07:52:06 PM
Oblivion. Got to see it for free. That's probably the best thing I can say about it.

[spoiler]Tom Cruise double proves he's not homosexual while recapturing the elements of Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Independence Day, Space Odyssey: 2001, and Return of the Jedi. Great visuals, but a blindingly obvious plot line with little to no surprises.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 April, 2013, 07:59:16 PM
The Spirit is definitely not intended to be a comedy.

What it is, is tonally all over the frickin' place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2013, 08:04:54 PM
I love The Spirit! Awful, yes. Unintentionaly hilarious? Oh hell yes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 April, 2013, 09:06:33 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 21 April, 2013, 07:52:06 PM
Oblivion. Got to see it for free. That's probably the best thing I can say about it.

[spoiler]Tom Cruise double proves he's not homosexual while recapturing the elements of Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Independence Day, Space Odyssey: 2001, and Return of the Jedi. Great visuals, but a blindingly obvious plot line with little to no surprises.[/spoiler]

What he said, but I'll also add it has some lovely visuals, but is let down by a 'by the numbers' sci-fi plot. That, and Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 21 April, 2013, 09:38:48 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 09:58:25 AM
I'm sill to see The Spirit (its on my Lovefilm list) and wonder how I'll feel after that one!

I know nothing about The Spirit comics but as a film it was even worse than Jonah Hex and I hated that too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 April, 2013, 09:55:21 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 06:19:18 PMThe trouble is if someone has to tell you a comedy...

Nobody told him it was a comedy, he saw it on opening night.  I suspect it's the Batman and Robin paradigm: it's not grim and super-gritty and super-serious and DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN I THINK THIS SUPERHERO FILM MAY ACTUALLY BE TRYING TO BE FUN THE VERY FUCKING NERVE so audiences of po-faced clenched-sphincter fanboys hated it in case anyone else watched it and failed to realise that COMICS NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE BIFF POW.

Although I don't rule out that it may actually be utterly shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 April, 2013, 10:05:47 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 April, 2013, 09:55:21 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 06:19:18 PMThe trouble is if someone has to tell you a comedy...

Nobody told him it was a comedy, he saw it on opening night.  I suspect it's the Batman and Robin paradigm: it's not grim and super-gritty and super-serious and DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN I THINK THIS SUPERHERO FILM MAY ACTUALLY BE TRYING TO BE FUN THE VERY FUCKING NERVE so audiences of po-faced clenched-sphincter fanboys hated it in case anyone else watched it and failed to realise that COMICS NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE BIFF

I may be mistaken but I think you're talking bollocks!

Plenty of comic book films are fun and well regarded. Flash Gordon, Superman 2 and Spider-Man 2 spring to mind.
Batman and Robin is trying to be fun but is actually just embarrassing shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2013, 10:09:23 PM
I seem to be in the minority who consider Spider-Man 2 to be the biggest load of balls ever to engraciate a wide audience. It's just dire nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 April, 2013, 10:27:04 PM
I love Flash Gordon to bits, but I don't kid myself I can speak for anyone apart from us nerds and/or lovers of camp - for instance, Batman and Robin made more money from actual paying customers than Flash Gordon and Superman 2 combined, no matter how much the fanboy response was and remains disproportionately shrill and defensive to what was essentially just another Batman movie like the three that preceded it, but for that it didn't wast time wanking off audience members who were secretly ashamed to be watching a toy ad like the Burton movies did - it filled 90 minutes with shite and then went home.

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 April, 2013, 10:09:23 PM
I seem to be in the minority who consider Spider-Man 2 to be the biggest load of balls ever to engraciate a wide audience. It's just dire nonsense.

Dunno about that, but I do find it odd that I have never watched it a second time, and I've rewatched Star Trek 5 and Battlefield Earth by choice on more than one occasion.  Caught an ad on telly for the Lost In Space movie and now I want to rewatch that, too.
But Spider-Man 1-3?  I know they're decent films, but I can take or leave 'em.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 April, 2013, 12:06:06 AM
Tried to watch the Doctor Who TV movie from the mid nineties again this afternoon. Fell asleep again. But what I saw looked terrible. That's twice I've tried to watch it and twice I've fallen asleep. Is it worth trying a third time when I'm not that tired? I suspect not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 April, 2013, 12:10:42 AM
Watch it if you ever have a touch of insomnia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 22 April, 2013, 12:34:47 AM
QuoteI've rewatched... ...Battlefield Earth by choice on more than one occasion.
I'm glad, in one way, that you are comfortable enough to share this, but in another way...  I think you have shared too much, and now I'm frightened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 April, 2013, 01:04:58 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 April, 2013, 09:06:33 PM

What he said, but I'll also add it has some lovely visuals, but is let down by a 'by the numbers' sci-fi plot. That, and Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise.

Oh yes, some of the visuals were gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 22 April, 2013, 03:41:07 AM
I thought the music to oblviion was interesting as it I was expecting the usual generic happy moment/sad moment music but it was kind of consitent throughout. very unusual for a big blockebuster/shit
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 April, 2013, 07:49:23 AM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 22 April, 2013, 03:41:07 AM
I thought the music to oblviion was interesting as it I was expecting the usual generic happy moment/sad moment music but it was kind of consitent throughout. very unusual for a big blockebuster/shit

Unusual for a big shit?
Don't know about that - some of my big shits have some very interesting free form percussion and horn accompaniments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 April, 2013, 03:04:54 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 April, 2013, 01:04:58 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 April, 2013, 09:06:33 PM

What he said, but I'll also add it has some lovely visuals, but is let down by a 'by the numbers' sci-fi plot. That, and Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise.

Oh yes, some of the visuals were gorgeous.

Saw Oblivion at the weekend and I was mildy impressed. 

I would recommend people go and see it at the cinema as the visuals are fantastic but I think it is just one of those films that you can watch and enjoy and then mostly forget about - isn't that what the cinema is all about??  I particularly liked the scene later on where [spoiler]the drone in repair is awakened to terminate Jack and Victoria.  The bit where it 'sneaks' through the curtains was a great scene!  [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 April, 2013, 03:24:54 PM
Although derivative, Oblivion looked and sounded great.

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 04:19:59 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 22 April, 2013, 03:24:54 PM
Although derivative, Oblivion looked and sounded great.

I enjoyed it.

I'm never gonna watch it, so whats the 'twist'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 22 April, 2013, 04:27:25 PM
oblivion could do with a re-edit for the most part so it can better nail the flashback scenes and get rid of that tom cruise voiceover at the beginning. a job for morgan freeman... considering hes on screen for like five minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 April, 2013, 04:56:48 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 04:19:59 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 22 April, 2013, 03:24:54 PM
Although derivative, Oblivion looked and sounded great.

I enjoyed it.

I'm never gonna watch it, so whats the 'twist'?

[spoiler]The story is set up so Cruise is seen as overseeing the suction of the last of earth's resources in the form of it's water for fusion power, before all of humanity bugger off to Titan.  This is after a massive alien invasion has already fucked everything up.

As it turns out, Cruise is one of many clone drones tasked by said aliens to oversee the mechanical side of the suction of the earth's resources, and what he considered to be aliens are actually the remains of humanity trying to fight back. It then later turns out that all the other clone drones are an exact replica of him and a female pilot who were the first to confront the alien menace as it's ship hoved into our solar system.  So we don't just see one Tom Cruise, but a second one up close, who have a scrap, and then an entire obelisk full of the buggers.

However, despite being a clone and having his memory wiped, his humanity remains intact (and conveniently a bit of memory about his wife, who just so happens to crash back to Earth that day after orbiting in suspended animation for 60 years), and when he discovers it's all a con and he isn't going to Titan to rejoin the human race he sides with the survivors and saves the day.  He gets killed in the process but luckily one of his clones is around to shag his resuccitated wife at the end of the film. 

Hurrah, the world is saved etc etc.  [/spoiler]

Or in other words, 'meh.'

I hope that saved you £8.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 05:06:29 PM
£8? Where you living, 2007?  ;)
Nice one Shaolin...even picturing Cruises smirky face in my minds eye made reading that spoiler a chore.
Another catastrophe deftly avoided!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 April, 2013, 05:34:27 PM
Aw... Tom is lovely. Leave him alone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 April, 2013, 05:48:04 PM
If Tom Cruise attacked a kindergarten with a flamethrower, Far And Away would still be the worst thing he's ever done.  Not quite sure why he's suddenly so hated these last few years - I presume I missed a memo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 05:55:26 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 22 April, 2013, 05:48:04 PM
If Tom Cruise attacked a kindergarten with a flamethrower, Far And Away would still be the worst thing he's ever done.  Not quite sure why he's suddenly so hated these last few years - I presume I missed a memo.

The Oprah sofa episode was probably the last straw for most folk, though being a gurning tool who believes in 100% bullshit doesn't help his cause.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 April, 2013, 06:05:16 PM
Yeah, personal issues aside I have seen enough bad acting to think he is actually a pretty good actor and for me the better parts of the film were earlier on when he was on his own going about his work!  There were some good tense moments in that part of the film especially when [spoiler]he was trying to locate the 'drone in a cave'.[/spoiler]

Mind you, I did get confused in the end where [spoiler]he went up in space and was having flashbacks - it looked like in the past they had happily headed towards the alien ship (just before they jettisoned off the crew)??? [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 06:16:28 PM
I saw Stoker last night. It's by the director who did Oldboy Park Chan-wook
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I loved Oldboy and this is his first full English film so excitement ahoy.
It's an odd film, Stoker. Not nearly as odd as Oldboy but the pacing just wasn't satisfying. It is slow and I don't mind slow at all but the pacing of it all just felt...odd.
A little disappointed in all honesty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 April, 2013, 06:18:30 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 April, 2013, 06:05:16 PM
Yeah, personal issues aside I have seen enough bad acting to think he is actually a pretty good actor and for me the better parts of the film were earlier on when he was on his own going about his work!  There were some good tense moments in that part of the film especially when [spoiler]he was trying to locate the 'drone in a cave'.[/spoiler]

Mind you, I did get confused in the end where [spoiler]he went up in space and was having flashbacks - it looked like in the past they had happily headed towards the alien ship (just before they jettisoned off the crew)??? [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Well, they didn't know it was going to ravage the planet at that point[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 April, 2013, 06:36:10 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 05:55:26 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 22 April, 2013, 05:48:04 PM
If Tom Cruise attacked a kindergarten with a flamethrower, Far And Away would still be the worst thing he's ever done.  Not quite sure why he's suddenly so hated these last few years - I presume I missed a memo.

The Oprah sofa episode was probably the last straw for most folk, though being a gurning tool who believes in 100% bullshit doesn't help his cause.

Yeah, still don't get why his HAHA NOT GAY FUCK YOU episode sent most people over the edge.  As for his odd beliefs and the organisation behind them, I don't see the same kind of hate for Liam Neeson because he's a Catholic, or for Snoop Dogg because he's a muslim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 22 April, 2013, 06:41:25 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 06:16:28 PM
I saw Stoker last night. It's by the director who did Oldboy Park Chan-wook
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I loved Oldboy and this is his first full English film so excitement ahoy.
It's an odd film, Stoker. Not nearly as odd as Oldboy but the pacing just wasn't satisfying. It is slow and I don't mind slow at all but the pacing of it all just felt...odd.
A little disappointed in all honesty.

Sorry to hear that, Snuffers. I love Park Chan-wook too, and had high hopes for this one.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 April, 2013, 07:04:42 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 22 April, 2013, 06:36:10 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 05:55:26 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 22 April, 2013, 05:48:04 PM
If Tom Cruise attacked a kindergarten with a flamethrower, Far And Away would still be the worst thing he's ever done.  Not quite sure why he's suddenly so hated these last few years - I presume I missed a memo.

The Oprah sofa episode was probably the last straw for most folk, though being a gurning tool who believes in 100% bullshit doesn't help his cause.

Yeah, still don't get why his HAHA NOT GAY FUCK YOU episode sent most people over the edge.  As for his odd beliefs and the organisation behind them, I don't see the same kind of hate for Liam Neeson because he's a Catholic, or for Snoop Dogg because he's a muslim.

Yup. I have always found it strange that in a country we have leaders who openly admit to believing a carpenter who was his own father came back t life 2000 years ago find someone having odd religious to be unusual...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 07:53:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 22 April, 2013, 06:41:25 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 06:16:28 PM
I saw Stoker last night. It's by the director who did Oldboy Park Chan-wook
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I loved Oldboy and this is his first full English film so excitement ahoy.
It's an odd film, Stoker. Not nearly as odd as Oldboy but the pacing just wasn't satisfying. It is slow and I don't mind slow at all but the pacing of it all just felt...odd.
A little disappointed in all honesty.

Sorry to hear that, Snuffers. I love Park Chan-wook too, and had high hopes for this one.

I think I was just bracing myself for more THRILL due to the content in Oldboy. Stoker isn't bad it's just not great. Maybe he's just dipping his toe in English language film making. If you're as stubborn as me, go and see it anyhow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 08:30:38 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 07:53:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 22 April, 2013, 06:41:25 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 06:16:28 PM
I saw Stoker last night. It's by the director who did Oldboy Park Chan-wook
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I loved Oldboy and this is his first full English film so excitement ahoy.
It's an odd film, Stoker. Not nearly as odd as Oldboy but the pacing just wasn't satisfying. It is slow and I don't mind slow at all but the pacing of it all just felt...odd.
A little disappointed in all honesty.

Sorry to hear that, Snuffers. I love Park Chan-wook too, and had high hopes for this one.

I think I was just bracing myself for more THRILL due to the content in Oldboy. Stoker isn't bad it's just not great. Maybe he's just dipping his toe in English language film making. If you're as stubborn as me, go and see it anyhow.

I'll side step the Cruise / religious debate and throw my 2 cents into Stoker;
I'd broadly agree with Snuffers (it's not Chan Wooks best movie), but I found it fascinating and almost decadently dark. Think 'The Wasp Factory' mixed with a bit of 'Dexter'.
I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 08:50:25 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 April, 2013, 08:30:38 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 07:53:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 22 April, 2013, 06:41:25 PM
Quote from: Snuffers on 22 April, 2013, 06:16:28 PM
I saw Stoker last night. It's by the director who did Oldboy Park Chan-wook
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I loved Oldboy and this is his first full English film so excitement ahoy.
It's an odd film, Stoker. Not nearly as odd as Oldboy but the pacing just wasn't satisfying. It is slow and I don't mind slow at all but the pacing of it all just felt...odd.
A little disappointed in all honesty.

Sorry to hear that, Snuffers. I love Park Chan-wook too, and had high hopes for this one.

I think I was just bracing myself for more THRILL due to the content in Oldboy. Stoker isn't bad it's just not great. Maybe he's just dipping his toe in English language film making. If you're as stubborn as me, go and see it anyhow.

I'll side step the Cruise / religious debate and throw my 2 cents into Stoker;
I'd broadly agree with Snuffers (it's not Chan Wooks best movie), but I found it fascinating and almost decadently dark. Think 'The Wasp Factory' mixed with a bit of 'Dexter'.
I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

Damn fine acting. Was really weird to feel unsettled by Nicole Kidman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 23 April, 2013, 12:04:49 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 April, 2013, 07:04:42 PM
.... I have always found it strange that in a country we have leaders who openly admit to believing a carpenter who was his own father came back t life 2000 years ago find someone having odd religious to be unusual...
[/quote
What Mormonism and Scientology have thought me is that religions are like sausages: if you watch how they are actually made, you can't stomach 'em.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 April, 2013, 12:51:00 PM
I watchedGodzilla, the 1998 version.

They should do a sequel for it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 23 April, 2013, 12:55:19 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 22 April, 2013, 06:18:30 PM
[spoiler]Well, they didn't know it was going to ravage the planet at that point[/spoiler]

Steve - that's what I thought initially but if that was the case why [spoiler]did they suddenly decide to fire off the rest of the crew?  It can't have been their original plan to send them up in space and then fire them into orbit for many years?[/spoiler]

Anyway, it doesn't really matter - I have put up with worse in films - midichlorians anyone?

P.S. - I'm also side-stepping the Cruise / Religion debate!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 April, 2013, 12:59:19 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 23 April, 2013, 12:51:00 PM
I watchedGodzilla, the 1998 version.

They should do a sequel for it.
To paraphrase said film, That's a lot of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 April, 2013, 03:27:08 PM
Actually, that was from Jurassic Park - quick, pretend you were being meta!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 April, 2013, 05:23:07 PM
To find what you are looking for, please search "Thats alot of fish". Thank you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 April, 2013, 05:52:25 PM
Tron Legacy - and what a bloomin' enjoyable film it was too! I watched the original as a little kid so i've forgotten most of the storyline and whatnot, but not the visuals. That stayed with me into my adulthood. And i thought this was a worthy sequel to the original. The 80's style score by Daft Punk and supervised by Jason Bentley - was superb throughout. Not since Dredd have i been so thrilled by a score, it's more mellow than said film but still entrancing. The actors also did a good job, Jeff Bridges being prime, but Garrett Hedlund was very good as his son 'Sam' and Olivia Wilde was really sassy and cool as 'Quorra', not forgetting Michael Sheen who very nearly stole the show as the Bowie-esque vice lord 'Castor'. Clu was the villain of the piece played again by a 'younger' Jeff Bridges and frankly he again does a great job (and thanks in part to Digital Domain for the visual effects). I thought the younger Bridges or Clu was very well done, much better than the younger Prof. Xavier and Magneto we saw in X-Men 3. But of course the main triumph was the look and design of the world of Tron, and the action set pieces. It does evoke the Matrix films in a way, but more impressive visually. This needs to be seen in the widest screen possible because some of the scenes were eye popping to say the least.

So a pleasant surprise overall, an enjoyable film and one i'm quite certain my boy would love. And it's definitely an improvement on the pile of shite i last saw; Jonah effing Hex.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 April, 2013, 11:23:07 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 April, 2013, 04:03:14 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 April, 2013, 02:10:19 PM
I would say to everyone - avoid The Spirit like the plague. It is mindbendingly awful.
The trouble is I've heard this so many times and completely accept it will be, but need to see it myself so I know for sure and feel entitled to outraged at what they've done to one of my all time favourites.

I know, I know that's so stupid but I know I've got to do it in the end!

I thought I'd quite enjoyed The Spirit for its daftness. Seemed I misremembered that slightly (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,23853.msg412509.html#msg412509), but I'll still stick up for it as a bit of fun. For the record, I've never read any of the original strips and I utterly loathe Sin City.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 24 April, 2013, 12:18:56 AM
Wow- The Spirit... I remember seeing that at the pictures (I really wish I didn't but the technology seen in Eternal Sunshine... doesn't seem available yet). It really was the final nail in the coffin of Frank Miller's credibility and to be fair, he has hammered a lot of nails into said coffin (in fact, he still insists on hammering those nails in!). So piss poor is The Spirit that during the screening, me and my friend excitedly turned to one another because a cat on the screen happened to look like my cat. Seriously, that's how bad the film is! We felt excitement on seeing a cat on the screen. Try to imagine how poor the scenes leading up to this must have been to have two adults excitedly turn to another over a similar looking feline.
As Radiator has already said- avoid The Spirit like the plague.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 24 April, 2013, 03:34:20 PM
Quoteavoid The Spirit like the plague.

bought it at a carboot for 50p and is pretty dire. best part was the interview with frank miller on the extras bit talking about art and his career. as in depth as i'd have like to have seen in other dvd extras.

and totally agree with mabs about tron legacy.Top film especially on the big screen!

shame kosinki cocked it up with oblivion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 April, 2013, 06:33:13 PM
Some laugh free family relations in Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no185-welcome-home-roscoe-jenkins.html) before some tough sounding but it's not really western action in The Marauders. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no92-marauders.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 24 April, 2013, 09:37:28 PM
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/3d630e810a8dd74f59aadf2ecb8f7511/tumblr_mlpo6dvyXX1qz7o2mo1_500.gif)

isn't quite the right place for it but just saw it on tumblr and had to share it out.

opening cannes if i'm correct

windng-refn is a genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 April, 2013, 10:43:38 PM
Saw the trailer for Only God Forgives the other night and forgot to post it on the trailer thread. Looks promising.

Just watched Seven Psychopaths. In Bruges is a pretty hard act to follow and this has it's moments but overall it's far too self-conscious and meta to be really enjoyable. Woody Harrelson was fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 April, 2013, 12:23:40 AM
I just watched Gentleman Bronco on Film 4. Bloody brilliant! So funny. Sam Rockwell did yet another star turn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 25 April, 2013, 07:18:53 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 25 April, 2013, 12:23:40 AM
I just watched Gentleman Bronco on Film 4. Bloody brilliant! So funny. Sam Rockwell did yet another star turn.

agreed. i think it was made by the same guys as napoleon dynamite.

jermaine clement was also great as sci-fi plagariser...

(http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/gentlemanbroncos.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 April, 2013, 12:15:31 AM
THE NAKED GUN
Watched this with Tiny Tips and by golly it's still a fantastic piece of work.  Sure some of it has dated but as Tiny Tips said "Some of those gags are timeless".  And if you don't like one gag, there's another along 30 seconds later.


I also caught up with SOMETHING ABOUT MARY the night before.  Which, again, was also pretty damn funny.

ZUCKER & ABRAHAMS were definitely the Go TO guys for Comedy in the Eighties. Then The Farrelly Brothers in the Nineties.  And I guess it would be Mel Brooks for the Seventies.

I pity the Noughties with their Scary Movie type comedies, Lazy references rather than jokes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2013, 01:13:10 AM
I used to look down my nose at those movies, too - then I realised they're merely the movie studios accepting they didn't have to waste their time slaving over something that was going to have an audience that would talk loudly through it and were happy enough just to recognise something every now and then rather than be bombarded with jokes they didn't get.  Meet The Spartans made 90 million dollars, you know.

I have no idea how to review Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Space Here We Come! in isolation, but it is basically a film that starts with Catwoman gunning down ninjas and attacking a school bus with an uzi, and culminates with Spider-Man bro-fisting Metroplex on the Moon.  It's like a cheap-looking Doctor Who episode, all energy and running about and sassy/quirky characters saving the day with the power of love, or rather the actual literal power of friendship as characters ask familiar faces from the tv show - including villains - to believe really hard in their bro Gentaro so he can find the power to get back up one last time and save the day.  Completely fucking daft, but very entertaining and not long enough to outstay its welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 26 April, 2013, 06:48:12 AM
just got out of Iron Man 3, very very good even if a tad orange and blue.
Lots of Tony out of suit in this one but all worth it, nice kid side kick done in a not too annoying way (in fact best kid side kick since Newt) and finally a big showdown that's not just suit smashing suit (although it does get close).  Some very nice surprises in the bad guy department both Kingsly and Pearce kill it and I even think it has a Prometheus reference! NO real reference as to why the Avengers cant help out but I suppose over all not really as big a threat as an alien invasion.  Good start to phase 3 Marvel now to see how Thor turns out.

CU Radbacker

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:10 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 26 April, 2013, 01:13:10 AM
I have no idea how to review Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Space Here We Come! in isolation, but it is basically a film that starts with Catwoman gunning down ninjas and attacking a school bus with an uzi, and culminates with Spider-Man bro-fisting Metroplex on the Moon.  It's like a cheap-looking Doctor Who episode, all energy and running about and sassy/quirky characters saving the day with the power of love, or rather the actual literal power of friendship as characters ask familiar faces from the tv show - including villains - to believe really hard in their bro Gentaro so he can find the power to get back up one last time and save the day.  Completely fucking daft, but very entertaining and not long enough to outstay its welcome.

But does it have STARFISH HITLER???!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 26 April, 2013, 02:48:26 PM
I just saw The Groods fun for all the family this one, Scary Movie Five, terrible comedy, don't go to see this one and Jurassic Park, a classic dinosaur film, now in 3D.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 03:06:13 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 April, 2013, 02:48:26 PM
Jurassic Park, a classic dinosaur film
I don't think I ever liked Jurassic Park, even when it was first released. And if Spielberg wasn't willing to kill the little boy in it, he shouldn't have pushed him off a cliff or had him electrocuted by a fence that is there to keep dinosaurs back to name two scenes that come to mind.
Will get around to seeing Crood's eventually; the fact Nic Cage is on voicing duties is enough to sell it but the scene in the trailer with the suggestion of hiding from fire in the tall, dry grass made me chuckle.
Scary Movie Five... I've seen bits of the previous four but don't think I've managed to make it all the way through any.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2013, 03:44:42 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:10 AMBut does it have STARFISH HITLER???!!!

No, but it does have Seahorse Mussolini.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2013, 05:19:55 PM
Willow.  A first time viewing after a quarter century avoiding it due to my deep dislike of Val Kilmer.  It's actually pretty good! 

Some of the acting, and the voice acting in particular, is horrendously ropey, the editing and continuity is pretty vile, choppy and distracting throughout, and the romantic subplot is incomprehensible (the hand of Lucas weighs heavy, I fear), but there are some really fantastic scenes that are true visual gobsmackers (the Nelwyn village crowd, the scuttling trolls and the two-headed troll-dragon, the animated tripod that Willow fights), and I found myself quite caught up in the whole thing by the end.

Castwise Warwick Davis and his screen-wife Julie Peters give this film some genuine heart with warm and convincing performances, and the woefully underused Joanne 'Emma Craven' Whalley-soon-to-be-Kilmer is spellbindingly lovely, even if her part makes no sense at all.  Fun to spot the seemingly ageless Tony Cox as a spear-carrier too.  Even hateful plank Kilmer is reasonably inoffensive as he rips through a succession of daft costumes that are still more believable than the ones in The Saint.

On the downside, there are a few too many large loose ends and unconvincing plot turns, but I suppose that makes it less predictable than it might otherwise have been.  Other than the Nelwyn village scenes, everywhere feels underpopulated, vast castles manned by a dozen men and that sort of thing - a bit like the last Conan in that respect, and with some other strange parallels to ponder too (the trolls and the sand-soldier attacks feel very similar).  It's a better film than that, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:47 PM
Dyou remember those Willow styrofoam jigsaw pieces in Cornflakes packets years ago?
Never could get a full set.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 08:53:23 PM
Willow's a weird one for me because I remember how I really liked it as a kid but I can't remember anything more about it than it stars Warwick Davis and is something to do about magic (I was actually reminded a year or so back that Val Kilmer is in it). I have no problem remembering every other film I watched and liked at around the same age but Willow just seems to be missing from my memory .

Quote from: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:47 PM
Dyou remember those Willow styrofoam jigsaw pieces in Cornflakes packets years ago?
You're so making that up, Link Prime; stop making things up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:55:27 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 08:53:23 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:47 PM
Dyou remember those Willow styrofoam jigsaw pieces in Cornflakes packets years ago?
You're so making that up, Link Prime; stop making things up!

Reality is stranger than fiction ol son
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 09:01:07 PM
Ha I'm guessing there are more missing Willow memories from my youth than I thought. The only thing I'm sure about regarding that film now is how it would be ITV that would show it and they had the same rule for Willow as they had for the Supergirl film- e.g we will only ever show this film after Catchphrase.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 April, 2013, 09:09:49 PM
Oddly, I don't think I've ever seen Willow or Slipstream.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 09:18:56 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 09:01:07 PM
Ha I'm guessing there are more missing Willow memories from my youth than I thought. The only thing I'm sure about regarding that film now is how it would be ITV that would show it and they had the same rule for Willow as they had for the Supergirl film- e.g we will only ever show this film after Catchphrase.

Did a quick Google (Boards.ie never fails) there to check my sanity levels were still at 'Yellow Alert'....turns out that Kellogg's Cornflakes actually had little Willow figurines to go with the styrofoam pieces too.
They didn't stand out in my memory as strongly, but I definitely remember them.

Cereal was great in the 80's.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 26 April, 2013, 09:35:24 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:55:27 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 08:53:23 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 April, 2013, 08:40:47 PM
Dyou remember those Willow styrofoam jigsaw pieces in Cornflakes packets years ago?
You're so making that up, Link Prime; stop making things up!

Reality is stranger than fiction ol son

Link you are a legend, mate! I was just thinking about that then i saw your post!  :D

I absolutely remember them; me and my mates would collect and trade them. They used to look so damn cool. Ah, nostalgia....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 26 April, 2013, 10:34:10 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 03:06:13 PM
Scary Movie Five... I've seen bits of the previous four but don't think I've managed to make it all the way through any.

I remember the first one they made. It was a good one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 April, 2013, 10:43:22 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 April, 2013, 10:34:10 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 26 April, 2013, 03:06:13 PM
Scary Movie Five... I've seen bits of the previous four but don't think I've managed to make it all the way through any.

I remember the first one they made. It was a good one.
I think their all utter shite!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 April, 2013, 09:42:49 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 April, 2013, 05:19:55 PM
Willow.  A first time viewing after a quarter century avoiding it due to my deep dislike of Val Kilmer.  It's actually pretty good! 

Some of the acting, and the voice acting in particular, is horrendously ropey, the editing and continuity is pretty vile, choppy and distracting throughout, and the romantic subplot is incomprehensible (the hand of Lucas weighs heavy, I fear), but there are some really fantastic scenes that are true visual gobsmackers (the Nelwyn village crowd, the scuttling trolls and the two-headed troll-dragon, the animated tripod that Willow fights), and I found myself quite caught up in the whole thing by the end.

Castwise Warwick Davis and his screen-wife Julie Peters give this film some genuine heart with warm and convincing performances, and the woefully underused Joanne 'Emma Craven' Whalley-soon-to-be-Kilmer is spellbindingly lovely, even if her part makes no sense at all.  Fun to spot the seemingly ageless Tony Cox as a spear-carrier too.  Even hateful plank Kilmer is reasonably inoffensive as he rips through a succession of daft costumes that are still more believable than the ones in The Saint.

On the downside, there are a few too many large loose ends and unconvincing plot turns, but I suppose that makes it less predictable than it might otherwise have been.  Other than the Nelwyn village scenes, everywhere feels underpopulated, vast castles manned by a dozen men and that sort of thing - a bit like the last Conan in that respect, and with some other strange parallels to ponder too (the trolls and the sand-soldier attacks feel very similar).  It's a better film than that, mind.

I have a real soft spot for Willow. Love that monster at the end and my favourite character is the nasty bald dwarf that gets shat on.

The arcade game was pretty good too.

Presumably Disney own the rights to this now - be interesting to see a sequel!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 27 April, 2013, 08:35:29 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 April, 2013, 09:09:49 PM
Oddly, I don't think I've ever seen Willow or Slipstream.

Willow? Less than half marks from this respected blog. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/no98-willow.html)

We just had a lovely trip to the council estate in The Disappeared (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no93-disappeared.html) followed by some excellent Aussie drama in Wish You Were Here. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no186-wish-you-were-here.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 April, 2013, 08:49:58 PM
QuotePresumably Disney own the rights to this now - be interesting to see a sequel!

There is one:
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Moon-Chronicles-War-Book/dp/0553572857
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 10:28:26 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 27 April, 2013, 08:49:58 PM
There is one:
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Moon-Chronicles-War-Book/dp/0553572857

I've read that. Considering it's predecessor it takes a strange route...

I was still curious to read any sequels though. The book ended with the suggestion there was more to come. As does the name 'Book 1' for that matter. Was there ever more?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 10:44:28 PM
Season of the Witch.

Just now.

Not bad actually, although I thought it got [spoiler]a bit silly at the end. I guess I would have preferred a different twist to that, but I'll admit it wasn't one I was particularly expecting.

I guess I wish they'd done something a bit more subtle. Perhaps done a bit more with the suspense etc, but it wasn't a bad film for what it was.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 10:49:19 PM
The Season of the Witch
A film so great, I doubt these words will do it justice.
Nic Cage and Ron Perlman are in the Crusades and they desert the cause to return home. Unfortunately for them, the Black Death is everywhere. Under the orders of an infected Christopher Lee, they set off to take an apparent witch who has claimed responsibility for the Plague's outbreak to a monastery to stand trial for her crime (if this hasn't got you desperate to see this film already, there is clearly something wrong with you).
Basically, you have a dream acting duo with Cage and Perlman there (how they had never been paired up before- or since- is a mystery in itself) and once the film ended, I immediately jumped online to tell you about it. Am I going to see another film of this caliber again this year?
The answer, of course, is no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 April, 2013, 10:50:16 PM
What a coincidance! :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 April, 2013, 10:51:23 PM
QuoteWas there ever more?

No idea!

Beyond the Hills. Romanian movie - supposedly based on a true story - of an exorcism in a convent. Really good. Very clever with some astonishing takes and performances. 
It's not really about an exorcism of course - we're dealing with authority and how people respond to it. There is a brilliant scene towards the end where our main character will look  between other characters on screen and then directly at camera - making the viewer complicit in what's happening. But, Iron man 3 tomorrow - because sometimes a man needs to see things blow up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 10:55:16 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 10:49:19 PM
Under the orders of an infected Christopher Lee,

That was Christopher Lee? Shame on me, I didn't recognise him!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 10:58:22 PM
Shame on both of us- neither one of us mentioned the cracking dialogue in that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 April, 2013, 11:03:28 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 10:44:28 PM
Season of the Witch.

Just now.

Not bad actually, although I thought it got [spoiler]a bit silly at the end. I guess I would have preferred a different twist to that, but I'll admit it wasn't one I was particularly expecting.

I guess I wish they'd done something a bit more subtle. Perhaps done a bit more with the suspense etc, but it wasn't a bad film for what it was.[/spoiler]
I love this film. Corcking little s-thriller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 11:04:51 PM
"S-thriller" ?
Don't recognise the lingo, sorry. What is it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 11:07:59 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 11:04:51 PM
"S-thriller" ?
Don't recognise the lingo, sorry. What is it?

'Supernatural Thriller'. I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 11:09:25 PM
Cheers pal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 April, 2013, 11:15:15 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 27 April, 2013, 11:07:59 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 27 April, 2013, 11:04:51 PM
"S-thriller" ?
Don't recognise the lingo, sorry. What is it?

'Supernatural Thriller'. I think.
Yup.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 April, 2013, 11:17:11 AM
Jeez, just how many of us watched Season of the Witch last night???
I viewed it despite the universally dire reviews (and also cause there was SFA on the box anyway).

I agree with the rest of ye- not half bad. And Ron 'Id watch him in Hollyoaks' Perlman too.
Another case to add to the 'universally bad reviews = pleasantly surprised' file.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 April, 2013, 11:49:21 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 28 April, 2013, 11:17:11 AM
Jeez, just how many of us watched Season of the Witch last night???
I viewed it despite the universally dire reviews (and also cause there was SFA on the box anyway).

I agree with the rest of ye- not half bad. And Ron 'Id watch him in Hollyoaks' Perlman too.
Another case to add to the 'universally bad reviews = pleasantly surprised' file.

Well I watched the first 15 minutes and then fell asleep on the sofa. The perils of afternoon drinking!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 April, 2013, 11:51:31 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 April, 2013, 11:49:21 AM
The perils of afternoon drinking!

Pacing, James. It's all about the pacing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Basilisk on 28 April, 2013, 12:06:51 PM
I saw Iron Man 3 this Friday. Very nice stuff, but... somehow a little dissapointed. You'll know why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 28 April, 2013, 12:41:23 PM
Seven Psychopaths

Good fun. Rockwell, Walken & Harrelson all great 'acting' as loonies

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 28 April, 2013, 02:21:58 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 28 April, 2013, 11:17:11 AM
Jeez, just how many of us watched Season of the Witch last night???
Nowhere near enough of us and you know it!
As for the bad reviews it received- personally, I enjoyed it because it was pretty silly. There's a big difference between a film being really enjoyable because it's not exactly brilliant (Season of the Witch being my latest example, but I'd also say two unrelated films- The A Team and Undisputed- are good examples) and a film being awful because it's just bad. I mean, every time the worst movies of all time list is made, Plan 9 from Outer Space hits the top spot. I actually enjoy watching that film, unlike Independence Day to name a film I find to be truly awful!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2013, 03:00:32 PM
I don't know what i was on last night, but I thought Mardroid was on about Halloween 3: Season of the Witch while all others where on about the Nic Cage film. Sorry for the screw up of the screw up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 April, 2013, 03:42:22 PM
I saw Season of the Witch a while ago now. I thought the CGI wolves were cool.

I just now watched Dark Shadows. The version with Johnny Depp in it. Watching this makes me wish they would bring back the original series.

I also watched Christine. The one about the demonic car, but can't comment to much on it as I fell asleep half way through it.

I recorded so I'll watch it entirely some other time.

I won't be bothering with Iron Man Three until it comes to television.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 April, 2013, 04:34:41 PM
Event Horizon.

The potential is there for a good film. I like the premise, production design is good and it has a great cast. It's all let down by the script though.
I had no reason to care about any of the characters, there was no suspense and the horrific bits weren't scary, jumpy or shocking.
It's a shame really. I would say it could do with a remake but I think most of this ground was covered by Sunshine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 April, 2013, 06:37:58 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 April, 2013, 04:34:41 PM
Event Horizon.

The potential is there for a good film. I like the premise, production design is good and it has a great cast. It's all let down by the script though.
I had no reason to care about any of the characters, there was no suspense and the horrific bits weren't scary, jumpy or shocking.
It's a shame really. I would say it could do with a remake but I think most of this ground was covered by Sunshine.

I've a soft spot for Event Horizon. Like you say though it's let down by a poor script, a shame as it starts off really well but loses itself maybe half way through. The premise is awesome though; a ship that bends time and space to travel light years in an instant, but goes too close to a dark place (Hell) and comes back.....different! Sam Neill's demonstration of the Event Horizon's travelling prowess is demonstarted very nicely at the begining. And the shot of the Event Horizon for the first time is simply awesome to say the least....cloaked in the deadly mists of Neptune. Wow. Who ever did the production design for the film and the ship in particular, take a bow. It's definitely Paul W.S. Anderson's more better efforts and vastly better than the AvP crap he would go on to make some years later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 28 April, 2013, 09:43:33 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 28 April, 2013, 03:00:32 PM
I don't know what i was on last night, but I thought Mardroid was on about Halloween 3: Season of the Witch while all others where on about the Nic Cage film. Sorry for the screw up of the screw up.
Go stand in the corner until you're told different, Hawkmonger... Or at least until you've seen the "right" Season of the Witch film! I've got to go shopping tomorrow; if Tescos has Season of the Witch for £5 I'll be a little disappointed- that's at least £2 more than I'm willing to pay for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2013, 09:47:49 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 28 April, 2013, 09:43:33 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 28 April, 2013, 03:00:32 PM
I don't know what i was on last night, but I thought Mardroid was on about Halloween 3: Season of the Witch while all others where on about the Nic Cage film. Sorry for the screw up of the screw up.
Go stand in the corner until you're told different, Hawkmonger... Or at least until you've seen the "right" Season of the Witch film! I've got to go shopping tomorrow; if Tescos has Season of the Witch for £5 I'll be a little disappointed- that's at least £2 more than I'm willing to pay for it.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z15RhXK8e4E/TN2ly13yOTI/AAAAAAAAAVw/Jl71qWxK45s/s1600/Businessman-Sitting-in-Corner-with-Dunce-Hat-Posters.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 28 April, 2013, 11:21:08 PM
^^
You can come on out now- if only because I don't want you or anybody else here to risk missing Escape From New York on ITV4 tomorrow...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 29 April, 2013, 12:15:36 AM
Saw Jack Reacher last night and thought it was pretty good.  There has been much moaning about Mr Cruise's shorter stance than Lee Child's character (6ft 5ins for those who have not read one), but I thought he did a good job and there were a few times that I thought - yeah, typical Reacher.  Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 April, 2013, 12:31:26 AM
Enjoyed Sightseers tonight - black as pitch but plenty of laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 29 April, 2013, 06:28:10 PM
I watched 'The Cabin in the Woods' last night. It was really good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 April, 2013, 08:50:06 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 April, 2013, 06:28:10 PM
I watched 'The Cabin in the Woods' last night. It was really good!

Yeah, really liked that too Shaolin.
Keep meaning to buy it for a re-watch / pause and identify horror reference marathon!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 29 April, 2013, 10:55:59 PM
It's a lot of fun, sure. But its cleverness serves little to no purpose, other than to have the geeks going "Ooh, look!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 April, 2013, 10:57:42 PM
It wasn't that specific was it? More sending up horror archetypes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 May, 2013, 08:39:02 PM
Hitler proves Anthony Hopkins' downfall in The Bunker (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no94-bunker.html) before a tit in a hat stalks some gormless woman in Waiting for Forever (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no187-waiting-for-forever.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 May, 2013, 10:00:07 PM
Sucker Punch. I solemnly vow never to venture outside my comfort zone (or give Zac Snyder another break) ever again.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 May, 2013, 10:02:47 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 May, 2013, 10:00:07 PM
Sucker Punch. I solemnly vow never to venture outside my comfort zone (or give Zac Snyder another break) ever again.
I thought Sucker Punch was really mild. What made it hard to watch for you Sauchie?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 May, 2013, 11:14:27 PM
Yeah, sucker punch was pretty bad. The story was all over the place and it kept flipping from one unrelated weird scenario to the next....[spoiler]then JR woke up and it had all been a dream!![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 May, 2013, 11:19:20 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 01 May, 2013, 11:14:27 PM
Yeah, sucker punch was pretty bad. The story was all over the place and it kept flipping from one unrelated weird scenario to the next....[spoiler]then JR woke up and it had all been a dream!![/spoiler]

Hey man, some of us haven't seen the film yet (well this person at least!) Cover that shit up!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 01 May, 2013, 11:23:41 PM
I have used my god-like powers to add spoiler tags - but then again, the movie is utter rubbish and doesn't deserve it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 May, 2013, 11:25:29 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 01 May, 2013, 11:23:41 PM
I have used my god-like powers to add spoiler tags - but then again, the movie is utter rubbish and doesn't deserve it...

Heh, cheers nonetheless, Richmond!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 May, 2013, 11:46:47 PM
 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry guys that was supposed to be a Dallas reference but a quick Internet search has shown it was actually [spoiler]Pamela Ewing that had dreamed Bobby's death.[/spoiler]

I was just trying to convey how confused I was when watching it.

Mabs - you're enjoyment of Sucker Punch is untarnished!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 May, 2013, 12:00:26 AM
There was nothing confusing about Sucker Punch other than why on Earth anyone thought it was worth releasing in the first place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 02 May, 2013, 01:03:01 AM
Sucker Punch is like watching someone else play a computer game and just as entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 May, 2013, 08:37:43 AM
I enjoyed Sucker Punch (but then I quite enjoy watching other people play computer games)!

It didn't have the strongest story line but I don't think that was the point exactly. I see it as comparable to one of those old anthology horror films where there is a very simple story set up as a framing device for smaller stories.
Sucker Punch takes this device and applies it to a series of music-video/computer-game style fantasy sequences.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 May, 2013, 08:40:07 AM
Short Night of the Glass Dolls: Aldo Lado, the most under appreciated giallo director of them all. This is truly insane and amazing stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 May, 2013, 10:17:33 AM
On the subject of Suckerpunch, while I was haing my back tattoo done the guys in the studio entertained me with tons of films.  One of them was Suckerpunch.  It was painful to watch.  God, what an appalling film.  It was so painful it actually took my mind off the feeling of searing red hot pain as a needle scored my skin with a pneumatic 150 hits a second.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 May, 2013, 05:17:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 01 May, 2013, 10:02:47 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 May, 2013, 10:00:07 PM
Sucker Punch. I solemnly vow never to venture outside my comfort zone (or give Zac Snyder another break) ever again.

I thought Sucker Punch was really mild. What made it hard to watch for you Sauchie?

What everyone else wrote (above), young Hooermonger. I didn't hate it and it wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but it tried my patience mightily. There are lots of individual bits of production design on show which are wonderful (the Hunnish troops in the trench warfare scenes and their spooky eyes were a highlight) and I'm all in favour of the bricolage approach to forcing different aesthetics, narratives and genres together and letting the interplay of those elements cohere and find their own meaning in the mind of the viewer - I'd just prefer it to be done with greater panache than was in evidence here.

The aesthetic and tone seemed to be lifted wholesale from Jeunet and Caro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kWbOD9uBDcs#t=91s), but the practical effects and production design of their films was replaced by some of the most technically inept and insipid CGI work I can remember witnessing in a mainstream film. Whereas J & C (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QVXGyZ93f-w#t=27s) bring a playful, light-comedic touch to matters of sexuality, Sucker Punch marries unremarkable voyeurism, and the attempt to lend gravitas to the candyfloss fabula by bringing child rape (!) to the party is disastrously misjudged. I think child rape's an excellent subject for a film; but not a film which is a cross between Resident Evil 4 and Showgirls.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 May, 2013, 05:51:43 PM
Indeed, no sooner had I typed that comment that I remembered the child rape sequence. Luckily I feel that due to framing certain younger viewers might just take it as just assault (JUST Assault! When did this become acceptable juxtaposition in a 12A?!).
Sucker Punch was incredibly meh in my books. Lavish and very much the best "Live Action Anime" your ever likely to see, sharing a lot of the stereotypes of the medium (SPEED LINES!) and one or two memorable action sequences. Alas it lacked anything in the way of character development or plot and instead I prefer to look at it as a series of Zack Snyder's recycled story boards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 02 May, 2013, 06:13:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 02 May, 2013, 05:17:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 01 May, 2013, 10:02:47 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 May, 2013, 10:00:07 PM
Sucker Punch. I solemnly vow never to venture outside my comfort zone (or give Zac Snyder another break) ever again.

I thought Sucker Punch was really mild. What made it hard to watch for you Sauchie?

What everyone else wrote (above), young Hooermonger. I didn't hate it and it wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but it tried my patience mightily. There are lots of individual bits of production design on show which are wonderful (the Hunnish troops in the trench warfare scenes and their spooky eyes were a highlight) and I'm all in favour of the bricolage approach to forcing different aesthetics, narratives and genres together and letting the interplay of those elements cohere and find their own meaning in the mind of the viewer - I'd just prefer it to be done with greater panache than was in evidence here.

The aesthetic and tone seemed to be lifted wholesale from Jeunet and Caro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kWbOD9uBDcs#t=91s), but the practical effects and production design of their films was replaced by some of the most technically inept and insipid CGI work I can remember witnessing in a mainstream film. Whereas J & C (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QVXGyZ93f-w#t=27s) bring a playful, light-comedic touch to matters of sexuality, Sucker Punch marries unremarkable voyeurism, and the attempt to lend gravitas to the candyfloss fabula by bringing child rape (!) to the party is disastrously misjudged. I think child rape's an excellent subject for a film; but not a film which is a cross between Resident Evil 4 and Showgirls.
[/b]

Lol. Now this i gotta see!  :-X :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 May, 2013, 06:28:21 PM
I always get it mixed up with Donkey Punch and end up discussing an entirely different (shit) movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 02 May, 2013, 07:21:12 PM
A friend brought up Sucker Punch the other year in the pub after a lecture. I said a part of me wanted to see it because it looked like an instantly forgettable popcorn movie that could have some moments. My friend warned one reason why it is so terrible is because it tries to be more than this. It got brought up again recently by another friend, he also said it's awful (he didn't even finish it) because it tries to be more than what it is. After what those two have said and on reading comments made here, I probably will still give it a go once it makes it to TV and if there is nothing else on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 May, 2013, 07:33:37 AM
The Hunger Games.  Quite a frustrating film in that so much of it is very good and surprisingly thoughtful, whereas other parts are achingly dull and downright stupid.  I enjoyed the design of the thing hugely, the garish costumes and makeup were a brilliant 70s/90s/Gwen Steffani mix, and I liked the fact that the riot troops looked resolutely daft and thus extra-sinister in their Spaceballs outfits - very nice to see a SF thing that harks back to Logan's Run, rather than Aliens. 

I've never read the book, so it's possible many of the niggles I have here are a result of adaptation.  Anyway, heavy SPOILERS AHEAD.

It's hard to get a handle on the logic of this world: the technology exists to raise truly ridiculously enormous domes and levitate vast aircraft, but somehow there's still readily accessible coal to be mined in Appalachia, and a reason to do it. Someone has gone to the bother of genetically engineering super-lethal wasps and insta-death berries, but why?   Many of the higher-district Tributes have been trained from birth to fight in the games, but they never post a sentry or keep watches, and none of them can fire a bow.  Then they rig all their food to blow up as a 'booby trap'. Who's the booby now, huh, huh? 

The conscious use of Greek myth, and the obvious satire of wealth imbalance, should permit the setting a certain amount of fantasy fiat, but incongruities did still pull me out of the story.

I felt the set-up phase was overlong for its content - we don't see enough of the training, we don't learn enough about the other characters, but even so it seems to go forever.  The violence, when it eventually comes, is handled in a young-teen-friendly way:  it's sudden and brutal, surprisingly so, but somehow not explicit or indulgent.  Katniss' hide-in-a-tree strategy is sensible, and gives a good pacing to events.

The biggest problem I had with the whole thing was that I simply did not understand the relationships, other than the subtle and well-played fake love-affair between Katniss and Peeta.  Everybody hates Katniss, then everybody loves Katniss, but we never seem to find out why.  Woody Harrellson is a belligerent drunk who doesn't care, then he very much does; Lenny Kravitz seems to become devoted to her because she waxes up nicely.  Rue and Katniss never exchange a word, then they're instantly sisters.  This aspect is where the film veers closest towards making Katniss Everdeen the Mary Sue her name worryingly suggests from the outset. 

All of the hilariously-coiffured media-types are brilliantly played, and Sutherland's Minos/Zeus/Col Sanders is appropriately distant and menacing.

The most satisfying part of the film for me was what was left largely unsaid:  Katniss 'gaming' the Reality TV system, and the fact that her 'success' is not based on her own martial prowess (as you might have expected from the hunstwoman setup), but cynical manipulation of the medium.  Jennifer Lawrence comes across as a really remarkable actress here, with a range and subtlety of expression that was effective at almost every turn, it's just a pity she didn't have more to work with in terms of other characters.

I tell you what though, this is smart-enough SF with some good points to make and some clever aesthetics, and it's entirely carried by an unsexualised, competent solo heroine: these points alone make this an important film, and if the next installment can manage to be a little less flat I have high hopes. 

Also, Jennifer Lawrence is going to be a huge star: she's amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 May, 2013, 08:29:14 AM
The thing that frustrated me most about Hunger Games was that they went to the trouble of showing how important camouflage was and then hardly anybody used it. The person that did use it was supposed to come across as remarkably resourceful but to me it seemed like a no brainier.
All in all I think Battle Royalle had a better story but I agree that Katniss was a good character and that Jennifer Lawrence is a bloody good actor. She reminds me of a young Helen Mirren - not sure why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 May, 2013, 08:50:26 AM
Read the books, TB.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 May, 2013, 09:45:35 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 04 May, 2013, 08:50:26 AM
Read the books, TB.

I probably will at that.  I did feel that a lot of what was annoying me was probablystuff lost in translation, but I was trying to decipher it all based on what was actually on the screen. It may suffer from the Harry Potter film effect - that despite slavish adherence to certain elements, all the bits that would actually make the whole thing make sense get cut, leaving the audience thinking it all operates by hand-waving. 

While I realise there was a lot of negativity in this morning's drivel, I did think it was an admirable SF film, and I'd certainly recommend that people see it.  The very fact that I've expended so much effort thinking about it means it was worthy of my attention.  And (look away now) speaking as a father who despairs of the crap that surrounds the notion of being a young woman, this is only the second film I've seen in a very long while that places a girl alone centre-stage and lets her 'succeed' (in this case survive) through her own skill, wits and sense of independence, and without even once flashing her knickers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 May, 2013, 12:48:16 PM
Battle Royale > The Hunger Games
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 04 May, 2013, 07:02:03 PM
Olympus has fallen. Save the president of the united states cliche filled action movie. Pretty shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 May, 2013, 07:45:41 PM
It may suffer from the Harry Potter film effect - that despite slavish adherence to certain elements, all the bits that would actually make the whole thing make sense get cut, leaving the audience thinking it all operates by hand-waving. 

Good analogy. The books are great. What I  admire most about them is how Katniss is a thoroughly unlikeable person throughout. Her self awareness as she knows she manipulating those around her and watching on TV is brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 May, 2013, 08:18:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 May, 2013, 12:48:16 PM
Battle Royale > The Hunger Games
Lord of the Flies meets The Running Man. Because every idea somehow becomes better when you add MEETS THE RUNNING MAN to the end of it. Try it if you don't believe me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 May, 2013, 08:25:37 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 04 May, 2013, 08:18:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 May, 2013, 12:48:16 PM
Battle Royale > The Hunger Games
Lord of the Flies meets The Running Man. Because every idea somehow becomes better when you add MEETS THE RUNNING MAN to the end of it. Try it if you don't believe me.
Surely thoug, The Running Man is the deformed offspring of The Most Dangerous Game, no?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 May, 2013, 08:33:22 PM
But The Running Man is the popular TV show the film gets its title from, as is Hunger Games. You can make the connection to Dangerous Game and a couple of other stories that followed but these weren't featuring the hunt as televised entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 May, 2013, 08:39:46 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 04 May, 2013, 08:33:22 PM
But The Running Man is the popular TV show the film gets its title from, as is Hunger Games. You can make the connection to Dangerous Game and a couple of other stories that followed but these weren't featuring the hunt as televised entertainment.
Turkey Shoot? Diplomatic immunity is the prize there, more in line with Runing Man than MDG.
It's a populare genre on the undergound level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 05 May, 2013, 09:20:20 AM
Total Recall

New one. Bit pointless really. Nice Blade-Runnerish future city design.
Even tho got a soft spot for Col himself, really start to miss Arnie's atrocious acting, especially the way he pronounces 'Hauser' & 'Cohagen'

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 05 May, 2013, 10:27:15 AM
thank you for confirming my impression.  I can't see the point of remaking a movie as good as Total Recall
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 May, 2013, 10:51:54 AM
The bit in The Hunger Games where the bloke camouflages his face when he is wounded is utterly bizarre and hilarious. Looks like something from The Mighty Boosh. Silliest scene in a big budget mainstream film I've seen in a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 May, 2013, 01:24:51 PM
Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966).
Was shown on some random Freeview channel the other night, and the print was (gloriously) knackered, and practically unwatchable in places!, but it was a more enjoyable viewing experience than Tarantino's latest effort.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 May, 2013, 03:43:52 PM
Laugh free rom-com The Switch (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no95-switch.html) before a trip to blitz on Waterloo Road (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no188-waterloo-road.html) - not the BBC one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 May, 2013, 05:08:48 PM
Saw Iron Man 3 in a nearly empty cinema. It was certainly better than number 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 12:04:46 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 May, 2013, 05:08:48 PM
Saw Iron Man 3 in a nearly empty cinema. It was certainly better than number 2.

Same here. I looked around and behind me and saw only one other person. I certainly enjoyed the film as well.

On television, I also watched.....

Arrow A billionaires son gets shipwrecked on island for five years, and get rescued, comes becomes a hooded vigilante. A bit like Batman. It's intriguing viewing.

Anaconda Two: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. A company representative leads a team of scientists through the jungles of Borneo for a rare plant that only blooms once every seven years. They need it to produce a revolutionary new drug, that will make them rich. They encounter a tangle of anacondas bigger, faster and smarter than the regular kind. I watched it four times.

Species. A government laboratory combine alien dna with human and she escapes. They send a team of people after her. I watched it three times.

Poltergeist A innocent family go through hell, when a seemly friendly spirit turns deadly. I watched it twice.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 May, 2013, 04:22:46 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 12:04:46 PM
Poltergeist A innocent family go through hell, when a seemly friendly spirit turns deadly. I watched it twice.

You know what, i cant honestly remember the last time i watched Poltergeist, bit of a fave - back in the day.

I do recall catching the trailer for it in the cinema, and confidently proclaiming that this was Speilberg's lastest, only to feel a bit daft when Tobe Hoopers name came up as the director.
I wasnt that wrong, as it turned out,  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 05:24:00 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 06 May, 2013, 04:22:46 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 12:04:46 PM
Poltergeist A innocent family go through hell, when a seemly friendly spirit turns deadly. I watched it twice.

You know what, i cant honestly remember the last time i watched Poltergeist, bit of a fave - back in the day.

I do recall catching the trailer for it in the cinema, and confidently proclaiming that this was Speilberg's lastest, only to feel a bit daft when Tobe Hoopers name came up as the director.
I wasnt that wrong, as it turned out,  ;)

Your right, Steven Spielberg was one of the producers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist_(film)

Film reminds me in parts of E.T. the Extra Terrestrial & Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Because of the lighting used.

They should do a remake of this film. With todays special effects, it would be a hit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 06 May, 2013, 09:48:42 PM
They re made The Evil Dead so I guess Poltergeist   is fit for gutting too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 06 May, 2013, 09:55:22 PM
Saw poltergeist myself recently and it's still pretty good - the bit with the mirror scared me something silly as a kid. Funny how stuff goes over your head tho as I had not remembered them smoking pot!

Also, it's good Star Wars toy porn too - that little lad had everything, lucky bugger!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 May, 2013, 10:37:37 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 06 May, 2013, 09:55:22 PM
Also, it's good Star Wars toy porn too - that little lad had everything, lucky bugger!

Yeah, I saw it again recently and the pot-smoking and fab Star Wars collection were the two bits that leapt out at me, having had no recollection of either from numerous viewings in the '80s (I always thought Elliot had the best SW gear).  Also, JoBeth William's pants, but those I do remember.

The Secret of Kells.  Bloody hell that was good.  How has it taken me so long to get around to watching this beautiful thing?  The kids loved it too, had their total attention the whole way through.

Judge Minty.  I confess, I was looking forward to this, but I was expecting a much more visually modest version of roughly the first 10 minutes... the original strip and a few shots of the Cursed Earth with boarders as make-up free muties, maybe. I had no idea the SFX would be so extensive and so bloody good, and no concept of how long and how involving the story would be. An incredible achievement, and a very enjoyable film.  Thanks a million, everybody!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 06 May, 2013, 11:34:56 PM
Thryllseeker, I'm assuming you enjoyed Anaconda 2?

Just got a succinct review of  the new Total Recall.  It reads:

Despite the presence of smoking hotties, new Total Recall = absolute poo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 May, 2013, 11:47:21 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aavS_XUITXU&feature=youtu.be

Prepare to be thrilled!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 07 May, 2013, 12:20:08 AM
Nice one, Ill give it a look tomorrow night if I have a chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 07 May, 2013, 12:22:53 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()

How did you miss Minty was out???
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 May, 2013, 12:27:38 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 May, 2013, 11:47:21 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aavS_XUITXU&feature=youtu.be

Prepare to be thrilled!

Just finished watching it, thanks for the heads up TB! As for the film well what can i say? awesome stuff indeed! Like you said TB the visual effects was excellent,  more better than i thought it'd be. And the score was great too, especially in those tense moments in the warehouse. Not to mention Edmund Dehn who i thought was superb as Judge Minty. Just a question to everyone who's watched it? [spoiler]What were those camoflaged lizard things? Mutie lizards or something else? [/spoiler]It was still great however. And the look of that creepy mutie ringleader was so bloody creepy!

Great stuff overall, and a massive well done and thanks to everyone involved.

Oh, and Greg Staples as Dredd was so cool!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 May, 2013, 12:32:38 AM
Quote from: Bat King on 07 May, 2013, 12:22:53 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()

How did you miss Minty was out???

I don't know mate, must've been trapped in the twillight zone for the last month.....but thankfully i've watched it now!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 May, 2013, 09:25:18 AM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 06 May, 2013, 11:34:56 PM
Thryllseeker, I'm assuming you enjoyed Anaconda 2?

I thought it was okay. I watched it four times cause they play the same movie four times a day on the Scifi channel.

The Judge Minty film was cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 May, 2013, 06:58:25 PM
Dougray Scott is an unlikely lead in The Diplomat (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no96-diplomat.html) before The Widow of the Hill (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no189-widow-on-hill.html) shows us her bra.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Sherman Kid on 08 May, 2013, 08:22:35 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 May, 2013, 11:47:21 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 May, 2013, 11:32:26 PM
Where did you watch Judge Minty, TB, if you don't mind me saying? (I wanna watch it too!  :()

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aavS_XUITXU&feature=youtu.be

Prepare to be thrilled!

Jeeezz- Wasn't expecting it to any near as good as that with such a small budget.

Well done to everyone involved -Very impressed   (Nice touch with the end credits too showing the original strip).Kudos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 May, 2013, 09:59:03 PM
Yeah that was definitely a nice touch. I'm going to watch it again tonight!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 09 May, 2013, 08:41:24 AM
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. Enjoyed it despite a too-contrived and frankly unnecessary third act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 09 May, 2013, 08:55:27 AM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 09 May, 2013, 08:41:24 AM
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. Enjoyed it despite a too-contrived and frankly unnecessary third act.

the third act was a weird one

but i was pleasantly surprised with bradley cooper whose becoming less sleaze-ball-like with every role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 May, 2013, 11:21:27 AM
Watched the new Evil Dead movie last night.

Only so, so unfortunately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 09 May, 2013, 12:42:52 PM
Watched Premium Rush last night.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt starts as a New York bike messenger who picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop.

Quite good actually - not enough bikes in movies and Michael Shannon (General Zod in upcoming Superman movie) was very good, so I'm looking forward even more to seeing him as Zod!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 May, 2013, 01:22:21 PM
My girlfriend got me the Tarantino XX Blu Ray box set for my birthday so I'm doing a bit of a retrospective.

Watched True Romance the other night, which was enjoyable as ever - markedly different for the rest of the films in the box set as it wasn't directed by him and feels less Tarantinoesque - especially the soundtrack, which apart form the wonderful, evocative score track, kind of sucks - Charles and Eddie FFS? It feels far less timeless and more overtly 1990s than Tarantino's other films, and some of the scenes and dialogue feel very un-PC by today's standards, and made me cringe a bit. I was also a bit shocked by how brutally violent it is - they really don't make this sort of film any more, do they? You can really see how much of an impression this film made on a young Garth Ennis, who pretty much nicked the Elvis Presley as spiritual mentor/hallucination device wholesale for Preacher - replacing him with John Wayne - and also the eyepatch-wearing protagonist.

I then watched Kill Bill Vols 1&2.

Vol. 1 still stands up superbly - a gorgeous-looking riot of a film, with action scenes that piss all over the contemporary Matrix sequels - but I watched Vol 2. yesterday, and I'd forgotten how interminable that film is. In fact I think I probably only ever watched it the once back in the day. Some excellent bits - such as the buried alive/Budd/Elle Driver sequence and the Pai Mei interlude, but man - there is a hell of a lot of filler in that movie. Looking back, I think it would have been best to make Kill Bill as one 2.5hr film as originally intended and cut a lot of the chaff.

Really looking forward to digging in to the rest, as  I haven't watched Pulp Fiction or Resevoir Dogs in probably 15 years, and I've never actually seen Jackie Brown, Death Proof or Inglorious Basterds!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 09 May, 2013, 05:09:49 PM
Another Place Beyond the Pines viewer here. Saw it last nite and my reason for putting it off was careful timing; Sons of Anarchy finished on 5USA last Wednesday, I knew I could save Pines for my 'blond bloke on a motorbike willing to punch somebody if he feels they're asking for it' fix of sorts. I had three problems with it and I'm pretty sure some of those can be explained by my being woken up at a ridiculous hour on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning, meaning I sat down in the cinema last night and as soon as the lights went down I thought "God, am I tired...". But anyway, my problems-
1. Eva Mendes. Don't enjoy her acting but I don't find her attractive and a lot of people/magazines etc try to convince me otherwise, so I spent much of her few scenes thinking "You can't act and you're not attractive." On reading this, I'm putting this down to tiredness but I'll stick by one thought I had at one point- "You look like you should be playing Gosling's mum, not his onscreen love interest."
2. Despite my tiredness, the film seemed a little too short. They could have comfortably made it a bit longer.
3. This is another tiredness one I'm guessing or AJ in act 3 deserves an Oscar. Pretty much as soon as he was onscreen, I took a dislike to him and his spoiled kid rebelling routine. And on reading that, yes, it must have been tiredness. Give him the Oscar.
But it is a very enjoyable film (if not too short). Three acts- act one has something I really wasn't expecting and, if I pulled off a successful bank robbery, I too would probably go home and make a pet dance to Bruce Springsteen to celebrate. Act two- this is where the 'should have been longer' point stands out but it's still enjoyable. Finale- differing to acts one and two (the effects something can have on the future) by being about looking into the past and looking for an understanding to why things have turned out the way they have. I thought the very last scene was well sad! I'd like to point out that the music to go with each scene has been carefully selected indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 May, 2013, 05:42:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 09 May, 2013, 01:22:21 PM
I've never actually seen Jackie Brown, Death Proof or Inglorious Basterds!

Jackie Brown is a great film. Deffo one of his best, i think. Highly recommended. (Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, is where, for me, the rot set in).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 09 May, 2013, 06:03:36 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 09 May, 2013, 05:42:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 09 May, 2013, 01:22:21 PM
I've never actually seen Jackie Brown, Death Proof or Inglorious Basterds!

Jackie Brown is a great film. Deffo one of his best, i think. Highly recommended. (Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, is where, for me, the rot set in).

I loved Inglorious Basterds!  So many great scenes!  Jackie Brown was ok, but De Niro was just brilliant.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 May, 2013, 06:11:29 PM
Basterds is a corker of a film - especially that first ten minute scene in the cabin...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 May, 2013, 06:15:33 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 09 May, 2013, 06:11:29 PM
Basterds is a corker of a film - especially that first ten minute scene in the cabin...

Yeah that was superb. Such a slow burning and tense scene. That whole sequence encapsulates Sergio Leone perfectly (and Basterds is foremost for me, a tribute of sorts to the late master by Tarantino).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 May, 2013, 06:44:57 PM
Love a bit of Tarantino.

True Romance is actually one of my faves even though it was directed by Tony Scott. There's an extra on the old DVD where they talk about how Tony Scott persuaded Tarantino that the ending should be changed.
I was talking to a work colleague about Taken 2 shortly after we'd both seen it at the cinema. We came to the conclusion that the main problem we both had was that Famke Jannson never fights for her life in the whole film - she's just such a pathetic victim. It's the polar opposite to Alabama in True Romance; after she fights that mobster you're cheering for her and, fuck me, you really want her to make it.

Bastards is great fun with some truly incredible scenes in the cabin and the tavern.

If you didn't like Kill Bill 2 you probably won't have much patience with Death Proof. It's similarly ponderous and talky but I found both films really absorbing. A lot of it has to do with the casting - I could pretty much watch Carradine or Russell read the phone book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 May, 2013, 06:48:11 PM
Inglorious Basterds is in fact glorious. Not having seen Reserviour Dogs or Pulp Fiction for an age its currently my favourite by him, though I hear good things about Django
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 May, 2013, 08:11:33 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 09 May, 2013, 06:03:36 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 09 May, 2013, 05:42:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 09 May, 2013, 01:22:21 PM
I've never actually seen Jackie Brown, Death Proof or Inglorious Basterds!

Jackie Brown is a great film. Deffo one of his best, i think. Highly recommended. (Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, is where, for me, the rot set in).

I loved Inglorious Basterds!  So many great scenes!  Jackie Brown was ok, but De Niro was just brilliant.

Fonda: Wanna fuck?
De Niro: Yeah.

[three minutes later]

Fonda: That was fun.
De Niro: Yeah, that hit the spot.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 May, 2013, 09:07:45 PM
I have finally seen MOON

Best sci-fi movie in ........maybe ever?

Sam Rockwell and also Sam Rockwell is a treat.

But my favourite?

Girty the robot.

Have you heard of the Uncanny Valley?

(http://kardsunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/mori-uncanny-valley2.jpg)

Here are some more examples:

(http://slice.seriouseats.com/images/2013/01/20130125-robot-doppelganger.jpg)

(http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/02132/clip_image002_0000.jpg)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/David_Cameron_official.jpg/220px-David_Cameron_official.jpg)

Well, anyway, the way Girty (a robot) communicated with emoticons was fucking ingenious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 May, 2013, 09:31:48 PM
Lol! Moon is indeed a classic, and one of my favourite sci-fi films of recent years. Sam Rockwell is absolutely fucking superb as Sam Bell ....and Sam Bell! If you see the making of you can appreciate just how much work went into that role. Rockwell is just perfect for the film, i couldn't envision anyone else doing a better job. There's a moment in the film when he just cries "I wanna go home" and it damn near broke my heart.  :'(

And you are right El Pops, Girty is the highlight of the film. Just plain awesome.

A beautiful, stunning film. I cannot wait to see Bowie Jr/Duncan Jones' next film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 May, 2013, 10:40:15 PM
Judge Minty. Simply amazing work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 10 May, 2013, 12:07:43 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 09 May, 2013, 09:07:45 PM
I have finally seen MOON

Best sci-fi movie in ........maybe ever?

Sam Rockwell and also Sam Rockwell is a treat.

But my favourite?

Girty the robot.

Moon was on tv over Xmas and I was really impressed with it. Wasn't something I was particularly interested in seeing before that. Had an 'old style' sci fi feel to it like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

When I have discussed it with people since, they seem to either love it or thought it was really boring and switched off halfway through!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 May, 2013, 12:09:36 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 10 May, 2013, 12:07:43 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 09 May, 2013, 09:07:45 PM
I have finally seen MOON

Best sci-fi movie in ........maybe ever?

Sam Rockwell and also Sam Rockwell is a treat.

But my favourite?

Girty the robot.

Moon was on tv over Xmas and I was really impressed with it. Wasn't something I was particularly interested in seeing before that. Had an 'old style' sci fi feel to it like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

When I have discussed it with people since, they seem to either love it or thought it was really boring and switched off halfway through!

Moon is a great film, but I can understand why some people would switch it off as it's a proper science fiction film and not science fantasy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 May, 2013, 12:16:35 PM
Saw Dragon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1718199/) at the pictures the other day without realising it was now a couple of years old. Donnie Yen is the quiet farmer who manages to kill a pair of thieves; Takeshi Kaneshiro the cop convinced there's more than just luck going on and relentlessly digs up the past. I really enjoyed this. There's a definite History of Violence flavour to the set up and the way the film focuses on Yen's relationship with his new family for long stretches. That this doesn't mean a dull mid-section is testament to Yen's screen presence. I really can't think of another martial arts star who could carry the dramatic portion of the film so well.

Kaneshiro's investigator is another great character whose problems with the law vs justice (he's on the side of the former) may be familiar to some. The way his forensic insights are illustrated is a neat, Hannibal-lite that allows the initial fight scene to be revisited a number of different ways and just one part of the film's overall strong look.

If there's one flaw it's that [spoiler]Yen's old crimes turn out to be so evil that you're not sure he really deserves his redemption[/spoiler]. Overall this is a cracker.

Also saw Iron Man 3, which was pretty decent. Certainly wipes away the memory of number 2. Really liked the interaction with the kid - "Fathers leave. Don't be a pussy about it." - and the big reveal. Though it looked like the climactic exploding was done with old-fashioned models which is neato. Maybe a bit too much Tony-without-gadgets but that might've been the point and not enough of the biologist lady but overall fun stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 May, 2013, 12:37:40 PM
QuoteMoon is a great film, but I can understand why some people would switch it off as it's a proper science fiction film and not science fantasy.

Maybe I wasn't in the right mood when I watched it but it bored me to tears. The last straw was when the guy walks in on the robot communicating with the people on Earth in a fashion that seemed quite unintentionally goofy, and then I switched it off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 May, 2013, 01:00:10 PM
JFK (1991) - And in its gloriously bum-numbing 198 minute Director's cut version.

I can well remember catching this (the theatrical version, that is) at the time, and being left breathless by it all.
But a few years down the line, and more importantly Oliver Stone's playing fast and loose with the real life history - always this films achilles heel, now makes it comes across like the best X-Files movie ever.

Its still a great film though, and one that's a frenatically charged paranoid rollercoaster ride. And features a uniformally great ensemble cast.
And Stone certainly directs this with a gusto, and employs a dizzying amount of cinematic techniques, to get across his interpretation of the events.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 May, 2013, 04:58:36 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 May, 2013, 12:16:35 PM
pretty decent. Certainly wipes away the memory of number 2.

Quote of the week. You're confusing previous instalments of the Iron Man franchise with Pasolini's Salò (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVV7L66xh4).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 May, 2013, 10:22:11 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 10 May, 2013, 04:58:36 PM
Quote of the week. You're confusing previous instalments of the Iron Man franchise with Pasolini's Salò (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVV7L66xh4).
Best use of metaphoric speech since ever. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 May, 2013, 04:19:05 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 12:04:46 PM
Anaconda Two: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. A company representative leads a team of scientists through the jungles of Borneo for a rare plant that only blooms once every seven years. They need it to produce a revolutionary new drug, that will make them rich. They encounter a tangle of anacondas bigger, faster and smarter than the regular kind. I watched it four times...
They found South American snakes in Borneo? For crying out loud. Unless they were set free or escaped there like those pythons into the Everglades in which case ignore my criticism of the film. Actually they do have some large python species in Borneo but maybe they wanted to cash in by making a franchise of it.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 11 May, 2013, 09:30:33 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 May, 2013, 04:19:05 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 May, 2013, 12:04:46 PM
Anaconda Two: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. A company representative leads a team of scientists through the jungles of Borneo for a rare plant that only blooms once every seven years. They need it to produce a revolutionary new drug, that will make them rich. They encounter a tangle of anacondas bigger, faster and smarter than the regular kind. I watched it four times...
They found South American snakes in Borneo? For crying out loud. Unless they were set free or escaped there like those pythons into the Everglades in which case ignore my criticism of the film. Actually they do have some large python species in Borneo but maybe they wanted to cash in by making a franchise of it.

There are two further Anaconda movies with a fifth rumoured to be in the works. ;D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 11 May, 2013, 09:31:31 PM
So they keep churning out that shite.....but no sequel to what we all want.....:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 12 May, 2013, 10:26:11 AM
The Green Hornet - on tv.  Just about the worst superhero movie ever.  Made me nostalgic for the old 'Golden Turkey Awards' book. 
  It uses the popular idea in American movies that an obnoxious slob with no redeeming features at all can redeem himself by being an obnoxious slob with a heart of gold, which he discovers through hardship, winning the respect of people who are worth a thousand of him but have to put up with him for some contrived reason.  In this case, he earns the love of Cameron Diaz (who spends a lot of the movie banging on about the fact that she's still hot despite being 36 - like a more cuddly Madonna) and some Chinese guy who puts up with Green Hornet despite being a martial arts whiz who's brilliant at making super cars because....actually I couldn't work out why the Chinese guy puts up with him.  Sense of obligation?  He needs the money to pay for his super-car making hobby? Maybe he needed the money to pay for English lessons because his accent was so thick I couldn''t understand a lot of what he was saying.  Ah well, it was supposed to be a comedy and there were very mild laughs with a creepy but stupid gangster and about one minute's worth of fun from a drug dealing client......  Oh well - at least I won't die wondering what it was like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2013, 11:53:43 AM
Quote from: judgefloyd on 12 May, 2013, 10:26:11 AM
The Green Hornet - on tv.  Just about the worst superhero movie ever. 

I thought it was hilarious, and I usually find Rogen hard to take.  Of course, I have absolutely no prior knowledge of the character, so I enjoyed it as a rather unpredictable good-looking comedy with unlikeable leads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 May, 2013, 02:50:27 PM
Mirrors.

Interesting premise, and actually quite unnerving in places. I guess it helps that from a young age my imagination has often run riot when considering mirrors. (I.e. the idea of looking into it and seeing something different looking back. Brrr.)

Oh, [spoiler]and I loved that twist at the end.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 May, 2013, 03:38:24 PM
Okay, latest film seen is now The Golden Child.

I've seen it a few times and, I missed the start this time and largely had it on in the background this time, but it's still a good 'un. And Charlotte Lewis is incredibly pretty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 May, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
Dubious teen bio-pic The Runaways (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no97-runaways.html) and then some circus antics as we fetch some Water for Elephants (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no190-water-for-elephants.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2013, 11:06:26 PM
The In Betweeners (Movie).  Unevenly amusing, but that's not what I want to talk about!  Channelling Simon Bird, I want to know why, when a lot of the exteriors were obviously actually shot on the main drag in Malia (or a superb recreation thereof) were none of the establishing helicopter shots from anywhere near?  The coach leaves the airport and heads west instead of east, and Malia's famously low-lying arid coastal strip (complete with awesome Minoan coastal palace and ghastly sprawl of low-rise hotels and apartments) is a lushly vegetated clifftop dotted with luxury villas?  Very odd.  You'd think they didn't care or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 May, 2013, 11:13:40 PM
The Impossible.

Not a movie I would normally go for, to much luvvy dovey family pish for my tastes, however, it's also brutal, beautifully shot uncompromising, tragic, hopeful, and just straight up lump0 in the throat unbelievable, that I'd recommend it to anyone.  A couple of magners may have helped raise the anchor on my emotional restraints, but I think I would have got a wee tad emotional without them too.  Superb direction.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 12 May, 2013, 11:27:17 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 May, 2013, 11:06:26 PM
The In Betweeners (Movie).  Unevenly amusing, but that's not what I want to talk about!  Channelling Simon Bird, I want to know why, when a lot of the exteriors were obviously actually shot on the main drag in Malia (or a superb recreation thereof) were none of the establishing helicopter shots from anywhere near?  The coach leaves the airport and heads west instead of east, and Malia's famously low-lying arid coastal strip (complete with awesome Minoan coastal palace and ghastly sprawl of low-rise hotels and apartments) is a lushly vegetated clifftop dotted with luxury villas?  Very odd.  You'd think they didn't care or something.
Not sure why but some of the film was also shot in Magaluf as I recognised some of the locations.  I do like the inbetweeners - despite the intial crude appearance, it does a very good job of recreating the feel of a 'lads holiday'. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2013, 11:49:15 PM
Ah, Magaluf, that'd explain it (I presume, knowing nowt about Magaluf and being unable to point to it on a map).  That main strip did look a hell of a lot like Malia (which I know pretty well, during the day at least), so kudos to the set-dressing folk!  But does make one wonder why they didn't just set it in Magaluf...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 May, 2013, 11:52:28 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 12 May, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
Dubious teen bio-pic The Runaways (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no97-runaways.html) and then some circus antics as we fetch some Water for Elephants (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no190-water-for-elephants.html)

I agree with your assessment of the film, Buttonman, but damn your eyes for not loving The Runaways' music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjd01Cup8yw) - Joan Jett is the coolest woman to ever stride the Earth. Your review contains a sentence in which you complain that Michael Shannon is miscast and that there's not enough of him, and later on you use the phrase an hours. Your review's funny though, and I agree that Shannon's maniacal spouting of Geri-Halliwell-style slogans is as entertaining as the leads are awkward. No-one who's ever seen any other music biopic needs to watch this film, unless you want to play a game of anticipating the rock cliché.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 May, 2013, 08:03:31 AM
I probably have seen too much of Shannon as Van Arden to be convinced by him in big heels and make up but I'd still have more of him than bitchy teens going in the huff. As for the typo thanks for the heads up - damn spellcheck doesn't pick up real word errors - plucking shut it is!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 May, 2013, 02:35:33 PM
Baron Blood, a period piece by Mario Bava that captures an eerie feel and a memorably deformed menace. Not auteur Bava's best but a damn good watch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 13 May, 2013, 10:38:10 PM
The Hudsucker Proxy.

             O

Y'know, for kids!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 13 May, 2013, 10:40:58 PM
Horror Express. I don't really know quite what to say about it. 'Utterly bugnuts' would probably do it. Christopher Lee's Professor Saxton has uncovered a 2-million year old missing link in a block of ice. Transporting the creature home on the Trans-Siberian Express, the hairy beastie inevitably wakes up and starts wreaking a trail of bloody carnage through the hapless Edwardian passengers (who also number among them Peter Cushing) from the baggage car onwards.

So much you can learn from the blurb on the DVD case, and to be honest, beyond the unique setting it's initially fairly standard fare for this type of stuff; but as the plot develops it continues going to weird and unexpected places. There is far more to the creature than meets the eye, with a surprising range of powers that are gradually revealed and a positively Lovecraftian (and utterly bonkers) origin that's rare in these Hammer/Amicus type films, who usually take their inspiration from more classic folkloric horrors.

Telly Savallas(!) has a nutty cameo as a cossack captain with a Brooklyn accent, there's a sexy Countess, a femme fatale Russian spy for no particular reason, and a Rasputin-alike mad monk. The cast is crammed full of interesting characters but few of them are developed - to be fair, few live long enough. Ideas abound, and quite often they don't make a whole lot of sense (the squiggly bumps of a brain are a person's memories, and if a brain was drained of these then it would become perfectly smooth?!) but the pace is such that you're never left to dwell on them for long before the next crazy thing is being thrown at you. The claustrophobic train setting is a stroke of genius as there's really nowhere for the cast to go to escape the unfolding horrors, and horrific they are - imagination triumphs over a meagre budget to genuinely make the skin crawl. There are zombies and explosions and the whole thing happens to a funky 70s soundtrack (for a film set in 1906!) and if you still aren't tempted to watch it after all that, then there's no hope for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 May, 2013, 08:42:23 AM
"Monster! We're British you know!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 May, 2013, 12:14:03 PM
I love Horror Express!

I watched Chronicles of Riddick last night - I'd never seen this cos I thought the first film was pants, but I really enjoyed this. Vim Petrol may not have huge range a an actor, but this sort of thing suits him; the effects were great and there was lots of good sci-fi gubbins in there - particularly liked Judi Dench's elemental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 May, 2013, 12:52:40 PM
Peter Cushing: "A Brontosaurs"

Me: Apatosaurus you twirp!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 May, 2013, 09:58:59 PM
Wonderfully daft Belgian stop-motion animation A Town Called Panic. So, there's this horse and he lives with a cowboy and an indian. For his birthday they decide to build him a barbeque but they accidentally order 50 million bricks instead of 50. Then it gets silly.

Marvellous fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 May, 2013, 10:24:52 PM
Just back from Little Miss Sunshine at the cinema. I bloody love that movie so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 May, 2013, 10:25:52 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 14 May, 2013, 09:58:59 PM
Wonderfully daft Belgian stop-motion animation A Town Called Panic. So, there's this horse and he lives with a cowboy and an indian. For his birthday they decide to build him a barbeque but they accidentally order 50 million bricks instead of 50. Then it gets silly.

Marvellous fun.

Love that film! Pure crazy and funny!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 May, 2013, 10:32:00 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 14 May, 2013, 10:25:52 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 14 May, 2013, 09:58:59 PM
Wonderfully daft Belgian stop-motion animation A Town Called Panic. So, there's this horse and he lives with a cowboy and an indian. For his birthday they decide to build him a barbeque but they accidentally order 50 million bricks instead of 50. Then it gets silly.

Marvellous fun.

Love that film! Pure crazy and funny!

I think that's at least the third time that film has come around over the 294 pages of this thread - it is insanely good though, isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 May, 2013, 12:11:01 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 13 May, 2013, 10:40:58 PM
Horror Express.

Brilliant film.  Haven't seen it in an age, but if you liked the cut of its jib, give The Creeping Flesh a shot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 May, 2013, 08:59:08 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 14 May, 2013, 10:24:52 PM
Just back from Little Miss Sunshine at the cinema. I bloody love that movie so much.

It is superb - one of a handful of films that I am compelled to watch right to the end if I catch so much as a glimpse of it on telly, despite having a well-worn DVD on the shelf.  And I have a different favourite bit every time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 15 May, 2013, 09:36:45 AM
White Tiger (2012) a Russian movie about a (Melville style) obsessed tank driver trying to destroy a seemingly immortal German Tiger tank. The good-creepy and well made, almost mythical, the tank driver is almost burned to death yet recovers mysteriously and can now hear tanks talk! (bonkers) yet oddly watchable. Tanks of the period very accurately made,  save the Tiger (the reason is kinda explained in the movie) but knocked out Panzers and T-34/76's are recreated along with some mobile T-34/85's.

da BAd-terrible subtitles which seem to fade into the scenery, some long monologues but mostly it doesn't quite know what it is -it's not really a war movie,only one big battle scene.

Nevertheless an unsettling film about what people are really fighting.Not what I thought at all, sometimes that's good.I'm glad I saw it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 15 May, 2013, 10:00:19 AM
Life of Pi.
Looks very nice but I found it rather boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 May, 2013, 10:14:55 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 15 May, 2013, 08:59:08 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 14 May, 2013, 10:24:52 PM
Just back from Little Miss Sunshine at the cinema. I bloody love that movie so much.

It is superb - one of a handful of films that I am compelled to watch right to the end if I catch so much as a glimpse of it on telly, despite having a well-worn DVD on the shelf.  And I have a different favourite bit every time.

Yep in my top ten of all time. Great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 May, 2013, 12:01:12 AM
Another vote for 'Little Miss Sunshine' which is fun throughout but best when the pageant is outraged with saucy dancing.

I went for some quality 1950s western action in Wagons West (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no191-wagons-west.html) before seeing Michael Douglas wheeze about a bit in The Sentinel (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no98-sentinel.html).

Wish I'd watched 'Little Miss Sunshine' again instead!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 May, 2013, 09:32:37 AM
Some may say I'm a soulless husk, but I despised the twee & nausea inducing 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

Anyway...just saw Gallic medieval-supernatural-horror 'The Monk' (with the always mesmeric & watchable Vincent Cassel).
Pleasantly surprising stuff, and worth a re-watch immediately after the first viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 May, 2013, 09:39:06 AM
If you think Little Miss Sunshine is twee, then you obviously do not know what the word means.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 May, 2013, 09:42:21 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 16 May, 2013, 09:32:37 AM
Some may say I'm a soulless husk, but I despised the twee & nausea inducing 'Little Miss Sunshine'.
Eh? Twee?  :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 May, 2013, 09:50:27 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 16 May, 2013, 09:39:06 AM
If you think Little Miss Sunshine is twee, then you obviously do not know what the word means.

I know perfectly well what the word means Richmond.

I'll throw a 'Meh' into my summarily dismissive opinion of the movie too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 May, 2013, 12:33:41 PM
Isn't Little Miss Sunshine a girl's film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 01:45:55 PM
One day I'm finally get round to having a little movie night triple bill of Sunshine, Little Miss Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Classics all.

I think by 'twee' you might mean 'quirky' which is a fair enough criticism, but you can't really call a film that involves heroin use, death and attempted suicide 'twee'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 16 May, 2013, 01:54:19 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 01:45:55 PM
Sunshine, Little Miss Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Classics all.

Totally agree, love all three films!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 May, 2013, 02:08:32 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 01:45:55 PM
One day I'm finally get round to having a little movie night triple bill of Sunshine, Little Miss Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Classics all.

I think by 'twee' you might mean 'quirky' which is a fair enough criticism, but you can't really call a film that involves heroin use, death and attempted suicide 'twee'.

Almost like he didn't know what the word means... ;-)
Saw Eternal Sunshine for the first time a few months ago - it is an astonishing movie, too. Sunshine... Not so much!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 02:25:36 PM
What are you? Some sort of twee girly boy? Sunshine is ace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 May, 2013, 02:26:00 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 01:45:55 PM

I think by 'twee' you might mean 'quirky' which is a fair enough criticism, but you can't really call a film that involves heroin use, death and attempted suicide 'twee'.

It was indeed quite forcibly quirky, but no; I meant 'Twee', as I found it mawkishly sentimental in places.
I also found it smug, severely over-hyped and more than a little hypocritical.


Have nothing bad to say about 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' or 'Sunshine' though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 May, 2013, 02:26:35 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 16 May, 2013, 02:08:32 PM

Almost like he didn't know what the word means... ;-)


Almost.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 16 May, 2013, 02:46:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 02:25:36 PM
What are you? Some sort of twee girly boy? Sunshine is ace.

One of my favourite movies full stop. Danny Boyle works magic in every genre he dips in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 May, 2013, 02:53:31 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 May, 2013, 02:46:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 02:25:36 PM
What are you? Some sort of twee girly boy? Sunshine is ace.

One of my favourite movies full stop. Danny Boyle works magic in every genre he dips in.

Oh it's a very entertaining movie, but has sun-sized plot holes that even I could not ignore!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 May, 2013, 02:53:59 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 May, 2013, 02:46:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 02:25:36 PM
What are you? Some sort of twee girly boy? Sunshine is ace.

One of my favourite movies full stop. Danny Boyle works magic in every genre he dips in.

Without doubt! Sunshine is an outstanding film, one of Boyle's best and very much near my top 10 sci-fi films. It's like a jalgemation of all the great sci-fi films; 2001, Alien and so on. And Boyle pulls it off brilliantly, hell I even love the head trippy ending!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 16 May, 2013, 02:54:42 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 May, 2013, 02:46:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2013, 02:25:36 PM
What are you? Some sort of twee girly boy? Sunshine is ace.

One of my favourite movies full stop. Danny Boyle works magic in every genre he dips in.

And written by Alex Garland
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 May, 2013, 05:15:01 PM
I couldn't watch Eternal Sunshine - it was so self consciously quirky and pretentious and just made me cringe.
I had the same reaction to Donnie Darko.
They reminded me of a girl I knew at school who used to read books about dreams all the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 May, 2013, 06:02:35 PM
+1 for not loving Eternal Sunshine.  Tried it a couple of times but could not get on with it.

Could watch Sunshine all day though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 May, 2013, 01:19:58 AM
Daybreakers.

Very interesting premise.

[spoiler]That vampire cure though? Dose em with water before they sunbathe and they turn human. What?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 May, 2013, 01:32:33 AM
Been trying to do a decent write up of Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning for days now. Basically, it's amazing.

Today I watched Star Trek: Into Darkness - two-thirds of which was fun and the remainder utterly terrible - and The Place Beyond the Pines which was great but grim.

On the Sunshine front, Eternal... I've seen once and loved; straight up Sunshine is easily my favourite sci-fi film of the last ten years or so. Will need to give Little Miss a watch on the strength of this
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 May, 2013, 05:46:47 PM
Quote from: The Cosh link=topic=31824.msg762740#msg762740
Today I watchedb]Star Trek: Into Darkness[/b] - two-thirds of which was fun and the remainder utterly terrible

So that would be prety much like Star Trek then. For every City on the Edge of Forever or Devil in the Dark, there is a Spock's Brain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 May, 2013, 12:43:49 AM
West is West.

Yes... it was okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 May, 2013, 05:26:45 PM
Star Trek - Into Darkness.

Quite enjoyable. Cumberbatch was stellar, but he usually is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 19 May, 2013, 06:17:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 17 May, 2013, 01:19:58 AM
Daybreakers.

Very interesting premise.

[spoiler]That vampire cure though? Dose em with water before they sunbathe and they turn human. What?[/spoiler]
Just watched this myself after taping it the other day. Willem Dafoe (my favourite actor and apparently The Bird's Eye Bear's voice) is great. Who wasn't excited when he recited Elvis Presley's Burning Love in this?
The whole cure is a bit odd, but did you think the whole experiment to do it again was off? Hawke made a point of being wet beforehand, Elvis wasn't.
But anyway, that's one taped Dafoe film down. I still have to find time for Mr Bean's Holiday, which I taped back in January...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: michael kennedy on 19 May, 2013, 06:57:56 PM
QuoteWillem Dafoe ...The Bird's Eye Bear's voice is great.

that comment has just changed the dynamic of my whole day, don't know why, it just has.

saturdays film viewing

skyfall
enjoyable but still meh-worthy at times , got silly towards the end, with the old man (kincade?) and everything. sympathised alot with silva [spoiler]when he showed the effects of hydrogen cyanide on his face[/spoiler]
never quite as engaged as i was whilst watching casino royale or quantum of solace

hobbit:unexpected journey

really definitely enjoyable on par with LOTR trilogy besides age rating. really good. laughed alot at the british humour.(may have just been the accents though) seeing gollum again was terrific as expected.

tintin: secret of the unicorn

also enjoyed this one, humour and action although maybe too much action at times.best bit was the drooling/gurgling/giggling of captain haddock when he sees something with more than 1% alcohol in it .
still beats skyfall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 19 May, 2013, 07:44:21 PM
Buffy in a jumper tackles The Grudge (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no99-grudge.html) while some one has an original idea to do a film about the mafia in Witness to the Mob. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no192-witness-to-mob.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 May, 2013, 08:04:37 PM
Iron Man III was enjoyable enough. Ben Kingsley hams it up nicely, RDJ a little too much at times.

Stand Up Guys was great. It's the first time in a long time I can remember Al Pacino actually acting, instead of just intensely shouting. Christopher Walken is brilliant as always. There are lines that only work because it's Walken saying them. Nice ending too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 20 May, 2013, 02:28:56 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 19 May, 2013, 06:17:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 17 May, 2013, 01:19:58 AM
Daybreakers.

Very interesting premise.

[spoiler]That vampire cure though? Dose em with water before they sunbathe and they turn human. What?[/spoiler]
Just watched this myself after taping it the other day. Willem Dafoe (my favourite actor and apparently The Bird's Eye Bear's voice) is great. Who wasn't excited when he recited Elvis Presley's Burning Love in this?
The whole cure is a bit odd, but did you think the whole experiment to do it again was off? Hawke made a point of being wet beforehand, Elvis wasn't.
But anyway, that's one taped Dafoe film down. I still have to find time for Mr Bean's Holiday, which I taped back in January...

I caught this the other day and I was quite impressed with it.  Clearly, the budget did not meet its ambition as some of the effects let it down a bit but at least they tried to do something different with the vampire idea. 

I don't think the experiment was off - [spoiler]the only purpose of the water was to put out the flames, it was the sudden exposure to daylight which apparantly kick started their hearts back to life.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 20 May, 2013, 04:19:14 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 19 May, 2013, 08:04:37 PM

Stand Up Guys was great. Nice ending too.

I absolutely loved that ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 May, 2013, 04:01:10 PM
California Crisis: OVA with lovely, if occatioanly jumpy, style and an epicly 80's soundtrack. Worse way's to spend 50 minuets on a train.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 May, 2013, 04:17:57 PM
Quote from: Albion on 15 May, 2013, 10:00:19 AM
Life of Pi.
Looks very nice but I found it rather boring.

I got that in my DVD collection. Haven't watched it yet though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 May, 2013, 04:18:57 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 19 May, 2013, 07:44:21 PM
Buffy in a jumper tackles The Grudge (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no99-grudge.html) while some one has an original idea to do a film about the mafia in Witness to the Mob. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/no192-witness-to-mob.html)

I like Buffy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 23 May, 2013, 01:00:11 PM
Harley Davidson and The marlboro man. It's amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 23 May, 2013, 01:38:42 PM
Mr. Eliminator - where did you dig that up from?   :lol:

I saw that film ages ago on VHS and I'm sure last time I checked it had not even been released on DVD (a quick check on amazon informs me it now has been). 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 23 May, 2013, 02:02:20 PM
Naked Gun 33 1/2..........good goofy fun. Perfect for watching with the 13 year old son
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2013, 04:50:08 PM
Fast and the Furious 6 - gloriously stupid film-making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 May, 2013, 04:56:52 PM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 23 May, 2013, 01:00:11 PM
Harley Davidson and The marlboro man. It's amazing.

This one's a gem. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 May, 2013, 03:09:53 AM
This movie was recommended to me by a book I had been reading, and I did a search for it on You-tube.

It's called Grave of the Fireflies

They made it a animation of this in 1988...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mU_DiDh_5U

& two live action versions in 2005 and 2009. One of which I could only find here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sThH1yJNSHw

They both are very sad :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 May, 2013, 03:17:04 AM

The 2008 version is here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8x437_grave-of-the-fireflies-2008-chunk-1_shortfilms#.UaAesJX3C74
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 May, 2013, 10:43:00 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 25 May, 2013, 03:17:04 AM

The 2008 version is here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8x437_grave-of-the-fireflies-2008-chunk-1_shortfilms#.UaAesJX3C74

Great find! I will watch it tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 May, 2013, 09:17:32 PM
Jaws - which looks just glorious on Blu-Ray. And is totally deserving of the frame by frame restoration its recently received. Classic stuff.

Not had chance to check out the considerable extra's yet, but the 'Shark is still working' Doc looks to be a good nights viewing on its own! (I believe a certain forum member is featured on it, as well).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 May, 2013, 09:35:24 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 25 May, 2013, 09:17:32 PM
Jaws - which looks just glorious on Blu-Ray. And is totally deserving of the frame by frame restoration its recently received. Classic stuff.

Not had chance to check out the considerable extra's yet, but the 'Shark is still working' Doc looks to be a good nights viewing on its own! (I believe a certain forum member is featured on it, as well).
Best restoration job i've ever seen on a BD. And a classic movie to boot. That doc is awsome btw, happy viewing ahead!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 25 May, 2013, 11:00:51 PM
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which I'd seen before but have gained a whole new appreciation of having read the first eight novels of the series since then. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 May, 2013, 12:41:22 AM
Daredevil.

Rather corny in places, but not as bad as people often make out. Actually it's not bad at all. But boy is it cheesy. I mean, why couldn't he just don his weapons rather than all that twiddling stuff about?

Oh and did they ever explain in that spin-off Elektra [spoiler]how she came back from the dead? I've seen the film once but I seem to remember they never really got into it. I thought maybe Matt just assumed she was dead when she was unconscious but you actually see a sonar-vision thing of her heart stopping...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 May, 2013, 12:51:39 AM
Sightseers.

Been looking forward to seeing this for ages, and it didn't disappoint. Excellent movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 27 May, 2013, 04:43:33 PM
DJANGO - well worth a watch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 27 May, 2013, 07:44:56 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 27 May, 2013, 04:43:33 PM
DJANGO - well worth a watch.

Yes, looking forward to seeing this one....
I quite like Tarantinos' movies....apart from the excretable Grindhouse movies.......with my favourites being Pulp Fiction, very closely followed by Inglorious Basterds...( absolutely love the main 1st scene in the Farmhouse, closely followed by "here comes the Bear Jew" scene ....and of course the 'twist' at the end )...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 May, 2013, 07:53:05 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 27 May, 2013, 04:43:33 PM
DJANGO - well worth a watch.
Sorry, which of the 500 or so Django movies is this? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 May, 2013, 12:42:07 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 May, 2013, 07:53:05 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 27 May, 2013, 04:43:33 PM
DJANGO - well worth a watch.
Sorry, which of the 500 or so Django movies is this? :lol:

Lol i had the same thought. I take it you're referring to Django Unchained, no? As for the original Django - it's a blast!

In other news, I watched Clash of the Titans with my son earlier today, not that piss poor remake but the original 'Ray Harryhausen' one. He loved it. It's not a surprise that his favourite scene was the Medusa encounter! I'm slowly getting him initiated into the films of Harryhausen, The Seven Voyages of Sinbad next followed by Jason and the Argonauts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2013, 08:12:23 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 May, 2013, 12:42:07 AM
In other news, I watched Clash of the Titans with my son earlier today, not that piss poor remake but the original 'Ray Harryhausen' one. He loved it. It's not a surprise that his favourite scene was the Medusa encounter! I'm slowly getting him initiated into the films of Harryhausen, The Seven Voyages of Sinbad next followed by Jason and the Argonauts.

The importance of a classical education cannot be underestimated.  The unformed mind must receive a grounding in the true art, burnished bright by the trials of time, before being exposed to the ephemera of the computer age. 

Have done the Grand Tour myself with the sprogs, although we're lagging behind on the Sinbads (only covered Golden Voyage, discussed somewhere upthread). And yes, the Medusa scene in the late-classical Titans went down very well - very scary.  Make sure you include Gwangi in the syllabus - that its western trappings represent a more modern mythical setting is something often overlooked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 May, 2013, 08:38:21 AM

You can segue into Flesh and early 2000AD then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2013, 08:40:07 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 28 May, 2013, 08:38:21 AM
You can segue into Flesh and early 2000AD then.

Different faculty, but the credits should transfer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2013, 02:54:29 PM
I hope Warlords Of Atlantis is part of the syllabus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 May, 2013, 03:03:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 May, 2013, 08:12:23 AM
Make sure you include Gwangi in the syllabus - that its western trappings represent a more modern mythical setting is something often overlooked.
Indeed. A classic fantasy in the old west. A great little sunday afternoon film that I never tire of. Used to be repeated on BBC 2 regularly if I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 May, 2013, 06:32:26 PM
Thank you for the recommendation TordelBack, I will definitely get him to watch it. Its amazing because I haven't seen him this excited about a film he has watched before (other than probably Happy Feet when he was 2 years old - but that's understandable!). He did a drawing straight after watching Titans which I thought i'd share;

http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/my-son-the-titan/

He has such a good memory, much better than his father's that's for sure!  :D

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 May, 2013, 07:07:49 PM
Legend! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 29 May, 2013, 10:05:59 AM
Great picture!

At that age the scene that really stuck in my mind was Andromeda stepping out of the bath.  Actually, it still sticks in my mind now!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 May, 2013, 06:17:14 PM
Doomwatch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomwatch_(film)) (1972) gots a overdue re-watching last night. Slightly bollocks, but still a good watch.
Shame that episodes from the BBC series are presently only to be found, either, online or as pirated copies.
Though i suspect the share number of missing episodes (http://doomwatchblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/archive-status.html) makes any home release a bit pointless, at present.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 31 May, 2013, 06:25:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 May, 2013, 10:05:59 AM
Great picture!

At that age the scene that really stuck in my mind was Andromeda stepping out of the bath.  Actually, it still sticks in my mind now!!

Lol same here! As a young boy it made me fall in love with her! I thought she was the ultimate epitome of beauty. The funny thing is my son whilst watching the film said "dad she's very beautiful". I just smiled to myself!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 31 May, 2013, 06:35:09 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 31 May, 2013, 06:25:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 May, 2013, 10:05:59 AM
Great picture!

At that age the scene that really stuck in my mind was Andromeda stepping out of the bath.  Actually, it still sticks in my mind now!!

Lol same here! As a young boy it made me fall in love with her! I thought she was the ultimate epitome of beauty. The funny thing is my son whilst watching the film said "dad she's very beautiful". I just smiled to myself!

And no doubt thought, with some pride...That's my boy !!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:45:48 PM
Stranded - pretty decent no-budget Christian Slater-starring sci-fi horror about a moonbase that's struck by a meteor with an alien spore in it that infects a crewmember and things continue in an inevitable manner from there.
Now when I say no-budget, I really mean it, I saw this in Tesco for a fiver and it is so cheaply made it as yet doesn't even show up on Slater's Wikipedia filmography, nor does it have a page of its own despite being directed by the dude who made Battlefield Earth, and it really, really does look cheap more often than is ideal - but for all that it's decent enough.  It strikes just the right balance between freakout and grossout body horror, and there's a bit where it struck me that we don't actually know how much is in the heads of characters and what is actually happening for real.  Uncharitably, you could view this as clumsy narrative construction and genre-savvy viewers looking for twists that aren't there, but it's still an element of the story in the end and I think that's for the better as it helps the atmosphere of paranoia in what is essentially a straightforward space-monster b-movie [spoiler]minus the monster because that costs money[/spoiler].
The use of models instead of cgi effects was appreciated, too, even if they weren't spectacularly realised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 31 May, 2013, 07:47:49 PM
That was some sentence  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 May, 2013, 07:48:27 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:45:48 PMnor does it have a page of its own despite being directed by the dude who made Battlefield Earth,

now there's a quality pedigree!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:55:48 PM
Battlefield Earth is a hoot.
There, I've said it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 May, 2013, 08:50:34 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:55:48 PM
Battlefield Earth is a hoot.
There, I've said it.

Better than the book. By which I mean there's less of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 June, 2013, 01:14:39 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 May, 2013, 08:50:34 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:55:48 PM
Battlefield Earth is a hoot.
There, I've said it.

Better than the book. By which I mean there's less of it.

That's one of the best backhanded compliments I've ever heard
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 01 June, 2013, 06:27:39 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 May, 2013, 08:50:34 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 31 May, 2013, 07:55:48 PM
Battlefield Earth is a hoot.
There, I've said it.

Better than the book. By which I mean there's less of it.


^ This....... :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 June, 2013, 11:52:45 AM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 31 May, 2013, 06:35:09 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 31 May, 2013, 06:25:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 May, 2013, 10:05:59 AM
Great picture!

At that age the scene that really stuck in my mind was Andromeda stepping out of the bath.  Actually, it still sticks in my mind now!!

Lol same here! As a young boy it made me fall in love with her! I thought she was the ultimate epitome of beauty. The funny thing is my son whilst watching the film said "dad she's very beautiful". I just smiled to myself!

And no doubt thought, with some pride...That's my boy !!

Lol, without doubt!

I also watched The Seven Voyages of Sinbad with him yesterday. Once again he loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 June, 2013, 04:46:46 PM
I watched The Wolf Man last Friday. I have the Dvd. The version with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving in it. The special effects are top notch, especially the transformation scenes and the big fight towards the end. I like Werewolf movies. Watched it twice.

I rented Jack Reacher on the Box Office channel on Saturday night & into Sunday morning. The story of Ex-military cop who becomes a drifter. He hired by a lawyer, who defending the a old war buddy of his who was to blame for the random shooting of some innocent people one day. Jack Reacher Investigates....

The movie was okay. [spoiler]At one stage he is in car chase from the police. after getting caught loitering at a crime scene. He just hops out of the car he's driving and the cars continues onwards towards a intersection where the cops try to apprehend it then an there but he slips into a crowd of people who help him hide ( That was nice of them considering he's on the run from the cops.) and then exits on bus.[/spoiler]

I ended up watching this three times, in roughly six hours. You see I missed the beginning of this movie the first time I watched it. I didn't pay attention to it the second time I watched it and missed the ending and the third time I watched it. I dozed on and off all the way through it. So I need to watch it again. Tom Cruise was very good in it.

I caught the ending of Logan's Run while waiting to watch Jack Reacher. A classic film! [Spoiler]I like the ending where he finds the old man, and brings him back to the borders of their domed city and swims back in through the aqua-ducts and tries to stop the crowd of people within from attending the next carousel. Shouting to them, You don't have to die, you can live. There is another, better world outside.[/spoiler] Michael York is a classic actor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 June, 2013, 09:46:43 PM
Logan's Run has Jenny Agutter in the nip - any other plus points are redundant.

I watched The Challenge (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/no102-challenge.html) and really enjoyed it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 June, 2013, 09:56:23 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 04 June, 2013, 09:46:43 PM
Logan's Run has Jenny Agutter in the nip

I thought all films featuring Jenny Agutter had Jenny Agutter in the nip, until I watched The Avengers, and despite hanging around for the after-credits scene, not a glimpse.  Of course I demanded a refund.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:05:40 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 June, 2013, 09:56:23 PM
I thought all films featuring Jenny Agutter had Jenny Agutter in the nip, until I watched The Avengers, and despite hanging around for the after-credits scene, not a glimpse.  Of course I demanded a refund.
Wasn't it Jenny Agutter's character who brought a train to a stop in the Railway Children film by waving her knickers on a stick? On Googling said film and seeing she was 18 at the time, I can now make a joke about TordelBack clearly being the driver and nobody will think any less of him...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 June, 2013, 10:24:31 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:05:40 PM...nobody will think any less of him...

As if that were possible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 June, 2013, 10:26:46 PM
Star trek: Into Darkness

[spoiler]KHHHHHHHAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!![/spoiler]

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:33:49 PM
Something of a Next Movie Watched? here but LADY IN THE WATER is on BBC1 in around an hour. It obtained a one-star review in the TV guide and I remember my brother saying it was bad but I myself have never seen it. To anybody who has- is this something I can just look at without having to really think to kill a little time or am I going to be angry with myself for sitting through it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 June, 2013, 10:41:34 PM
I like any old tosh but even I thought 'Lady in the Water' was a load of self undulgent rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:46:49 PM
Not looking forward to his Unbreakable sequels then?
I still don't know if I should chance LADY IN... I don't want another experience like when I watched DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? and got to the last half hour before suddenly thinking "Why am I watching this?" and switching over.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 June, 2013, 10:48:00 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 04 June, 2013, 10:41:34 PM
I like any old tosh but even I thought 'Lady in the Water' was a load of self undulgent rubbish.

Wot he said.
Give it a miss Charlie...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:56:02 PM
I'll avoid it on your say but if I have nothing but people telling me how they remembered it as being bad but it's actually really good or it's just a misunderstood classic over the following days then it's your forum picture I'll be shaking my fist at, pal. I may even hiss your name as I do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 05 June, 2013, 07:58:02 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 04 June, 2013, 10:56:02 PM
I'll avoid it on your say but if I have nothing but people telling me how they remembered it as being bad but it's actually really good or it's just a misunderstood classic over the following days then it's your forum picture I'll be shaking my fist at, pal. I may even hiss your name as I do it.

I'm a big M Night Shyamalan apologist and Lady in the Water is the one movie I'd recommend you forget exists. It's really bad on so many levels, it's a half baked plot that appears to have been filmed from a first draft script. Shyamalan casts himself in a real ego feeding role and writes in a critic who gets killed (real subtle). It's not worth watching even for a "so bad it's good" way (that's The Happening).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 June, 2013, 08:24:18 AM
I hear After Earth might just be M. Night Shyamalan's worst film, and that IS saying a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 05 June, 2013, 11:34:54 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 June, 2013, 08:24:18 AM
I hear After Earth might just be M. Night Shyamalan's worst film, and that IS saying a lot.

Trailer looks execrable. Will be avoiding like it was a Karate Kid reboot staring Smith's fame-hungry offspring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 June, 2013, 12:26:27 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 May, 2013, 12:14:03 PM
I watched Chronicles of Riddick last night - I'd never seen this cos I thought the first film was pants, but I really enjoyed this. Vim Petrol may not have huge range a an actor, but this sort of thing suits him; the effects were great and there was lots of good sci-fi gubbins in there - particularly liked Judi Dench's elemental.

Hanging out on forums always reminds me that sci-fi fandom is very varied in its reactions. I thought Pitch Black was a great little movie, simple in its scope but very effective and a great contribution to the oft-attempted but sparingly-successful space-horror genre.

Chronicles of Riddick, I found to be a ridiculous grab bag of mythological gubbins, introducing an extremely flimsy wider world of fantasy-type nonsense and a backstory of needlessly epic proportions. Nice visuals but far, far too much going on to actually offer anything worthwhile. Furians, Prophetic Denches, evil empires - yawn.

I thought it was a really weird sequel and completely missed the tone of the first. Give me a space criminal on a failed colony any day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 June, 2013, 01:39:07 PM
I'm one of the minority - I actually enjoyed both of the Riddick films.  The first was basically a monster movie, but was well done.  The second tried to increase the scope and whilst not perfect, I enjoyed it (especially at the end where Riddick is fighting with the top necromonger).  Oh, and Dredd's in it.  ;)

Lovers of pitch black should be happy though, because the new Riddick movie is supposed to be more like that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2013, 02:09:17 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 04 June, 2013, 09:46:43 PM
Logan's Run has Jenny Agutter in the nip - any other plus points are redundant.

I missed out on that part:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 June, 2013, 02:45:37 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 05 June, 2013, 01:39:07 PM
I'm one of the minority - I actually enjoyed both of the Riddick films.  The first was basically a monster movie, but was well done.  The second tried to increase the scope and whilst not perfect, I enjoyed it (especially at the end where Riddick is fighting with the top necromonger).  Oh, and Dredd's in it.  ;)

Lovers of pitch black should be happy though, because the new Riddick movie is supposed to be more like that.

That does look good. Especially the bit where it seems they have clones of the bounty hunters on board to 'resleeve' (to nick a Broken carbon phrase) their casualties
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 June, 2013, 12:38:42 AM
The Rock - fucking brilliant. One of the very few perfect action films (along with Commando and Die Hard).

Westworld's on next - another favourite!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 June, 2013, 07:07:43 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 June, 2013, 12:38:42 AM
The Rock - fucking brilliant. One of the very few perfect action films

It is very good but it has Nicholas Cage in it and therefore cannot be perfect.


My viewing last night? Superman! Still brilliant 35 years on. This Man of Steel lark has a lot to live up to
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 09 June, 2013, 08:01:54 AM
QuoteIt is very good but it has Nicholas Cage in it and therefore cannot be perfect.

I believe you have that the wrong way around it should be It has Nicholas Cage in it there fore its brilliant, speaking of which in my quest to see every Cage movie made I finally got around to watching the Wicker Man remake, never really watched the original but aside from being boring (except for a couple of waky Cage scenes) I wouldn't really rank it as one of the worse movies ever made, its certainly not so bad its good, its just boring.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2013, 08:44:54 AM
Watch the original, its an outstanding piece of film making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 09 June, 2013, 11:53:11 AM
On the subject of The Wicker Man remake, Empire Online gave its readers the chance to submit questions to Nicolas Cage a couple of years back. Somebody asked was the Wicker Man remake a comedy or not, Cage's response mentioned how he roundhouse kicks a woman whilst wearing the bottom of a bear costume and then asked "So what do you think?"
One of the best things about Cage is I looked at his answer and thought "With some of the films you've appeared in, I really don't know..."
But anyway, people who have seen the original may find themselves recognising this track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peug224n77E
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 June, 2013, 12:47:27 PM
The Sapphires. A great film about an Australian aboriginal singing group in Vietnam during the war there. Chris O'Dowd is simply great in this. If you enjoyed The Commitments you'd probably like this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 09 June, 2013, 08:00:56 PM
Just saw the recent remake of Total Recall.

I have literally no idea why folks seem to have had such trouble with it. Thought it was absolutely brilliant! Len Wiseman directs some really awesome action, and the straight-laced tone of this sits far better with me than the OTT nature of the Arnie version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2013, 08:44:44 PM
My problem with TR2012 is just how...generic it was. I can remember not a jot about it and I saw it scarce a week ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 08:45:55 PM
Quote from: HdE on 09 June, 2013, 08:00:56 PM
I have literally no idea why folks seem to have had such trouble with it.

Because it's pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 09 June, 2013, 10:19:26 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 08:45:55 PM
Quote from: HdE on 09 June, 2013, 08:00:56 PM
I have literally no idea why folks seem to have had such trouble with it.

Because it's pish.

Succinctly put Ghost MacRoth....
Although I wouldn't go quite as far as that, ( because of my reason below ) I will say I thought it was a 'pointless' remake....Other than enhanced CGI / Special effects ( which you would expect, considering it's made nearly 20 years after Arnies' effort / clunker ), it really brought nothing new at all to the story and just evolved into a giant car chase and a total mess...

Now,  if you are taking about PISH..... ( using capitals there because it really was )....
What about John Carter of Mars......Absolute complete and utter twaddle, apallingly poorly acted, dreadful costumes, a hopeless, incomprehensible script ( if there was one !! ) and the amount of ( normally ) good actors in it almost beggars belief...........And it cost ( and lost ) a fortune to boot !!.
Tops my list of really shit movies I've seen recently and ( sorry here Mr MacRoth ) knocks Total Recall ( 2012) completely out of the 'standard' of PISH !!....Unless you can set a new standard of 'worse than pish' for John Carter ?? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 10:28:01 PM
I am forced to concede to your wisdom sir!  However, even with carter establishing new parameters for 'PISH', 'Total Fuckup' still qualifies, although at an admittedly lower rung of the ladder.  What killed it most IMO was quantifying 'was it real, or was it recall?'.  The original managed to put enough into the film to leave folk arguing for years whether he had the schizoid embolism or not.  The new one?  They clearly state he did, as it's the only way they can get away with such a flimsy plot.  They sucked the joy out of a classic film, and for me that is far worse than just making a terrible new one, even if the terrible new one is far more deserving of the moniker 'PISH'. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:35:25 PM
There was fuck-all wrong with John Carter -- it was a perfectly serviceable SF/adventure romp that is much-maligned by geekdom for reasons I really can't fathom.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 June, 2013, 10:37:56 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:35:25 PM
There was fuck-all wrong with John Carter -- it was a perfectly serviceable SF/adventure romp that is much-maligned by geekdom for reasons I really can't fathom.

Cheers

Jim

^^This. I thought it was a cracking movie. Fun and funny and, y'know, FUN.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 10:44:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:35:25 PM
There was fuck-all wrong with John Carter -- it was a perfectly serviceable SF/adventure romp that is much-maligned by geekdom for reasons I really can't fathom.

Cheers

Jim

Hate to repeat myself, but it was pish. :p

Predictable, pedestrian, uninspiring, unbelievable, and generally ......meh.  For the amount of cash they pumped into it, it should have been a whole lot better.  But hey, if you liked it, fair play to you!  After all, millions of folks liked.....no.....LOVED 'Friends' yet I found it to be immensely irritating at best.  Many folk bagged Donnie Darko, but I really enjoyed the concept, and application of it.  Horses for courses n'at!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 June, 2013, 10:47:09 PM
Quotemillions of folks liked.....no.....LOVED 'Friends' yet I found it to be immensely irritating at best.  Many folk bagged Donnie Darko, but I really enjoyed the concept, and application of it.  Horses for courses n'at!

With you on both of those though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:47:37 PM
Well, I liked Donnie Darko, which rather torpedoes the incoherent toss you're passing off as an argument, doesn't it?

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 10:50:35 PM
No, since it was merely an example of how 'other' folks differ, you know, the general public?  I was not reffering to YOUR tastes, since I don't know them.  And if you think my posts are incoherent, then you should probably stop sniffing glue. :p
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2013, 11:03:58 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 10:50:35 PM
And if you think my posts are incoherent, then you should probably stop sniffing glue. :p
Post of the day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 11:04:29 PM
Well, I'm not sure why you chose to assert that John Carter was "pish", then. You didn't enjoy it -- fine. I did. Also fine. There's nothing intrinsically bad about the movie -- I've seen much, much worse and found plenty to enjoy. Your argument is incoherent because you chose to state an absolute judgement of John Carter and then cited Donnie Darko as an example of "it's all subjective, innit?"

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 11:07:23 PM
Exactly, it's subjective.  And my opinion of John Carter is......

Well, we already know that one eh?  But pointing out one example to cite against another is far from incoherent, it's simply underlining an opinion. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 11:23:30 PM
No, it's not. You understand neither logic nor basic argument. I'm unconvinced by your grasp of English, too. Welcome to the Internet. You'll do well here.

Bah.

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 11:34:03 PM
LMAO!

So let's recap,  I don't like a film, and you do.  I say it's 'Pish' you say I can't make an 'absolute judgement' without then becoming incoherent.  This is of course AFTER you have made an absolute judgement (if we are to use your definition of my opinion as a model) on my opinion, in that it is 'incoherent toss'. 

You can't see how an example of two things I hold an opinion of are an example of how some folk like what others don't as anything but a further attack on your opinions (which as stated, I was unaware of regarding those particular examples, and could care less about!) and get all huffy, and pull out the 'I'm dead smart and you am dumb' card.  And I'M the one who doesn't understand communication??  Ha ha!! Well sir, I applaud your 'victory' in this thread, but just remember one thing.....



Fuck you very much for your input.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 June, 2013, 12:18:35 AM
I thought John Carter was alright, but don't understand why it was so expensive.

A Town Called Panic - after being mentioned a page or two back in the thread, thought I'd check it out and was glad I did.  Very, very funny, and unusual in how lacking it is in mean-spirited jokes, with even two characters' nicking someone's tractor to take it on a joyride played as their being harmless jokers rather than hateful arseholes.

The Last Stand - is far too long and criminally lacking in focus.  The main plot McGuffin is a dude driving an experimental one-of-a-kind supercar that is essentially a rocket from one point to another, yet it feels like it takes forever for him to get where he's going, and when he gets there there's another car that's just as fast just parked by the side of the road.  It also has those mondo title credits that are all the rage at the minute but serve no thematic purpose so people just say they're "70s inspired" or something because the colour scheme on some of the pics looks a bit like the Dirty Harry poster.
It's not that Arnie himself has slowed down and this affects the rest of the film as he's played a lumbering hunk more than once in the past in some great movies like the first Conan (where he was hardly jumping about like a spring chicken), the script is just plain flabby - I have nothing against Johnny Knoxville, but he is completely superfluous here, as is anything to do with the FBI characters, the romance between a deputy and her old flame, Arnie's backstory, the waitress who gets a lot of screen time yet whose character goes nowhere, and so on - and the direction is pedestrian and lacking in any flair or inventiveness that might disguise that we're back in "shake the fuck out of the camera until you can't tell what is actually happening" territory, but I suppose that's just karma for all those years action movie fans like me were bitching about directors like Deran Serafian directing action scenes by pointing the camera and turning it on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 10 June, 2013, 12:46:16 AM
I liked John Carter as well. It had a six-legged dog thing and giant yeti-molerats in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 01:11:42 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 10 June, 2013, 12:18:35 AM
I thought John Carter was alright, but don't understand why it was so expensive.

I think this statement from Andrew Stanton encapsulates the problem:

That's all we do at Pixar. The truth is, we rip down and put up our movies a minimum of four times over four years. How I learned to make a movie by shooting it four times. That's how me make them.

People wonder what the magic elixir of Pixar is. It's this: we shoot the movie four times!


Personally I think the intrinsic problem with John Carter - as a film - lies in its total imbalance between story-telling and drama i.e. it favours the technical aspects of relating a complex story over any drama, making it a far duller affair than it should be. Similar to Lynch's DUNE, the film has about 3 prologues and it really only starts when he gets to Mars, but shouldn't the audience really only get to see Mars when Carter gets there, so we discover it with him? Cart(er) before the horse, so to speak. The exposition is the priority and it comes before the drama. This story-telling philosophy is throughout the film and even though the spectacle carried them through, I think most audiences just zoned out.

Whether getting the balance right would've improved the financial success of the film I don't know since there are many reasons why it could fail but its length and lack of interest in how to engage the audience in what the film is supposed to be about didn't help.

I know, it's a huge a presumption for a nobody to say PIXAR can't tell stories, but I think they got everything arse-about-face with this one because they tried to transpose their working methods in animation over to film and got bogged down by the expense and time-pressure of live-action film-making. They tripped over themselves because with less time and the expense of live-action they couldn't keep remaking/refining the film the way they're used to with a bunch of animators and animatics.

Referring to his statement above: the thing Stanton doesn't seem to grasp is that film-makers do make films 4/5 times: first it's written/re-written, then storyboarded/pre-vized, then directed and shot, and finally edited. Over the course of that process (which can involve re-writes during each step) it should be refined until it works the best it can. It seems Stanton's philosophy is that you shoot a first draft, see what's not working, then go back and shoot it again and again until it's right. No wonder John Carter cost $300 million.






Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 June, 2013, 01:36:41 AM
I am not saying it wasn't an expensive film, nor that there weren't expensive reshoots - I'm just saying that I can't shake the belief that a lot of that money went up someone's nose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 01:39:47 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 10 June, 2013, 01:36:41 AM
I can't shake the belief that a lot of that money went up someone's nose.


That's a lot of powder for one man.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 June, 2013, 07:39:00 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP link=topic=31824.msg767253#msg767253
That's a lot of powder for one man.
Orgy Porgey Filtch and Fun.

I watched the decompressed version of the ITV 1979 series Quatermass. Not what I was expecting and a damn creepy, unnerving creature it was. Very well made considering its probable low budget and rather scary to boot. Terror is what you cant see, rather than what you can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 June, 2013, 10:10:48 AM
I watched all of The Fades. Daniel Kaluuya stands out of a great cast as the lead's best friend, shame this didn't get renewed. Was refreshingly horrific and visceral, despite a plotline that seems - on paper - to be sub-supernatural teen drama. And then the school gets turned into an abbatoir for human meat, you find out the dead are rapidly filling up the world due to there being no exit for lost souls, and it gets very very dark indeed.

Shame they kill the girlfriend though, and frankly the lead character Paul is a complete muppet. At least 20 people die directly due to his indecision.

Now I've got the ms on to misfits which she is loving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 10 June, 2013, 10:27:51 AM
The Mist. Always enjoyable and my favourite out of Darabont's trilogy of sorts (it is only Shawshank, Green Mile and this he's done King-wise, isn't it?). Still to see the black and white version my brother has on his DVD. The end is always a shocker but my favourite part will always be watching it with my friend who has a nut allergy (and can see the humour in her allergy) because I'll never tire of turning to her [spoiler]during the scene where a bug stings a girl in the neck and her face and neck go all swollen and excitedly shouting "I bet that's what you look like when you accidentally eat a peanut!"[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 10 June, 2013, 11:15:44 AM
The Creeping Flesh, after a recommendation here a few weeks ago by Professor Bear. Good call, Prof!  Peter Cushing is a driven Victorian scientist who returns from foreign climes having dug up an eight-foot tall sub-human skeleton which he believes may hold the key to mankind's salvation. Christopher Lee is his sketchy younger brother, who runs the local sanitorium wherein Cushing's debauched wife is confined. Worried that his daughter will sooner or later inherit her mother's madness, Cushing decides to use the discoveries the skeleton has been unlocking to safegaurd his beloved daughter against evil forever. Needless to say, it goes horribly wrong for all concerned...

The film drags a wee bit in the middle, and the depictions of Mrs Cushing's supposedly 'lunatic' behaviour are hilariously quaint, but otherwise it's hard to find anything to fault with this film. The cast is a great one and give it their all; Cushing and Lee are both superb leads (always a given with Cushing, not always the case with Lee) who totally buy into their respective roles as earnest workaholic and stentorian arsehole. A great period atmosphere is conjured up and I finally understand what Oddbod and that stuff with his regenerating finger were all about in Carry On Screaming! All that, and Michael Ripper's in it, too! Instantly a favourite in the 'Brit Horror' canon.

To continue a theme, I also watched Hammer's The Mummy for the first time. Like much of the studio's early output they haven't yet locked down that unique Hammer 'feel' and it's more like watching a reserved '50s melodrama at times, but enough of the key components are in place for you to feel at home. Everyone knows the story by now - it's the same as the Boris Karloff film right through to (if you must) the more recent Brendan Fraser effort. Suffice to say that Cushing anchors the film with his always reliable performace, and Lee really plays a blinder as the titular Mummy - given that he's mostly acting with his eyes and has next-to-no dialogue, he does an admirable job of conveying the creature's helpless rage at his undead predicament. Michael Ripper gets a more substansial part than in Creeping Flesh as a google-eyed poacher (hooray!) and all the cast, in fact, are on good form - biggest surprise for me was that Cushing's wife is by no means the shrieking, swooning waif that one might expect from such an era, but a genuinely plucky sort.

Negatives? Well, it can look a bit cheap and set-bound (though classy for all that), and even though it's barely an hour and a half certain stretches can drag - the flashback scenes to Ancient Egypt in particular really slow the film down without adding a great deal. I very much enjoyed it but can't see myself in a hurry to rewatch it in the way that I do a lot of Hammer's later output.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 June, 2013, 12:58:37 PM
I wish people wouldn't use that 'Special Olympics' thing - it's horrible.

My last film was Paul about 2 sci-fi geeks who meet an alien. It's a fun film and generally quite good natured which is why the heavy handed digs at religion feel a bit out of place. I'm not religious myself so they didn't offend me - just seemed a bit unnecessary.
I was glad to watch it again though - it was actually funnier than I'd remembered it after seeing it at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 June, 2013, 01:09:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 10 June, 2013, 12:58:37 PM
I wish people wouldn't use that 'Special Olympics' thing - it's horrible.

Agreed.  If Roger got banned for a Goatse*, and the Underware [sic] thread went the way of Benny Hill, then using that image and/or 'joke' has to be worth a very stern warning.  I know which I find more offensive.  Does Rebellion really want to be associated with that type of humour?



*I'm not arguing the toss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 June, 2013, 01:21:05 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 June, 2013, 01:09:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 10 June, 2013, 12:58:37 PM
I wish people wouldn't use that 'Special Olympics' thing - it's horrible.

Agreed.  If Roger got banned for a Goatse*, and the Underware [sic] thread went the way of Benny Hill, then using that image and/or 'joke' has to be worth a very stern warning.  I know which I find more offensive.  Does Rebellion really want to be associated with that type of humour?



*I'm not arguing the toss.

Agreed here too. And removed.
And while it is true I have god like powers, I cannot see everything, so feel free to message me or report anything you think is out of line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 June, 2013, 01:38:14 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 09 June, 2013, 11:34:03 PM
  I don't like a film... I say it's 'Pish'

You seem to get these mixed up quite often though.

Just because you don't like something (Matt Smith in Doctor Who or John Carter of Mars for example) doesn't mean they are "pish". You then try and call the thing out on something that is considerend by most of the audience and critics alike to be not true e.g. Matt Smith's "wooden" acting.

Nobody minds you not liking something. 

But I'd suggest coming up with considered opinions (e.g. as Joe Soap thinks about the narrative deficienceis of John Carter) and people might pay more heed to what you say.

Or continue to quote your taste as objective criticism and back it up by reeling off lists of things that *could* be wrong with it (but aren't actually).

Your choice.


PS: I'm only posting this because I'm really annoyed about 5 other things at the moment. Heaven knows Mister Campbell doesn't need any help in dealing with people on the internet.

PPS: John Carter - whole family loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 June, 2013, 01:42:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 10 June, 2013, 01:21:05 PM
And while it is true I have god like powers, I cannot see everything...

Only the true Messiah would deny his divinity.

I did send a reporty-thing, but I think you got your retaliation in first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 10 June, 2013, 01:51:30 PM
He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 June, 2013, 02:06:21 PM
You're both right..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 June, 2013, 02:25:45 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 01:39:47 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 10 June, 2013, 01:36:41 AM
I can't shake the belief that a lot of that money went up someone's nose.


That's a lot of powder for one man.

Only if you're a pussy.  For a real man, that's Tuesday morning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 June, 2013, 04:40:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:47:37 PM
Well, I liked Donnie Darko

I thought everyone liked/loved Donnie Darko? Top film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 June, 2013, 04:46:11 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 10 June, 2013, 04:40:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2013, 10:47:37 PM
Well, I liked Donnie Darko

I thought everyone liked/loved Donnie Darko? Top film!
I think the mainstream audience just didn't get it. I'm not one of them though, great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 June, 2013, 04:55:29 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 09 June, 2013, 07:07:43 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 June, 2013, 12:38:42 AM
The Rock - fucking brilliant. One of the very few perfect action films

It is very good but it has Nicholas Cage in it and therefore cannot be perfect.


My viewing last night? Superman! Still brilliant 35 years on. This Man of Steel lark has a lot to live up to

I brought the Blue-Ray boxed set for my father on Christmas.
He's only watched the first two disc's on it. Which are the first theatrical release and directors cut of the first film.

Christopher Reeve is hard to replace.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 08:20:21 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 10 June, 2013, 02:25:45 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 01:39:47 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 10 June, 2013, 01:36:41 AM
I can't shake the belief that a lot of that money went up someone's nose.


That's a lot of powder for one man.

Only if you're a pussy.  For a real man, that's Tuesday morning.


Wouldn't a 'real man' make Get Carter rather than John Carter?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 June, 2013, 08:26:21 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 08:20:21 PM
Wouldn't a 'real man' make Get Carter rather than John Carter?

Who, like Stallone? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 June, 2013, 08:36:02 PM
Over the last week. I have watched.....

Piranha DD
     
[spoiler]Some prehistoric Piranha left over from the first film invade a water park with lots of gory death scenes, but not as much as was in the first film. Starring Ving Rhames Now sporting metal legs, Christopher Loyd As a Marine Expert with a theory that the Piranhas are evolving to walk on land , David Hasselhoff as a celebrity lifeguard who lampoons himself all the way through the movie. Despite this, I found the movie short and less than satisfying. Only worth watching once. Though, I will be awaiting the next instalment where the Piranhas will now be walking on land.[/spoiler]

Chronicle

[spoiler]After attending a party, three young men enter a hole in the ground one night and encounter something strange. They aquire telekinetic powers. The ability to fly and move things with their mind. The youngest of the trio, formerly bullied at school, now fights back. Soon, all hell breaks loose as they lose control. From what I saw of this film it wasn't as interesting as the premise sounded and the camera work was done from the perspective of one of the main characters carrying a camera phone. I wasn't really paying attention. I kept dozing off and missed most of the film. I'll have to see this again.[/spoiler]

Last Action Hero

[spoiler]A young boy who spends most of his time at the movies, following action hero Jack Slater portrayed by Arnold Swarzeneggar as well as himself. When he is given a magic movie ticket which allows him to cross over into the make believe world of the movie he's watching. Encountering Jack Slater, becoming his side kick. When they arrive at Slater's NYPD Head Quarters. Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick appears as their respective characters from Basic instinct & Terminator Two. There is also a cartoon cat voiced by Danny Devito. Every thing is so unreal and over the top in this reality. As the Wikipedia says. It is a satire of the action genre and its clichés, containing several parodies of action films in the form of films within the film. In a video store there is cardboard cut out of Sylvestor Stallone as The Terminator. They soon meet with the film's villain. The Assassin,  portrayed by Charles Dance who soon aquires the magic movie ticket and cross's over into the real world. Through the power of the magic ticket. He soon brings another villain. The Ripper, portrayed by Tom Noonan ( Who also portrays himself.) into the real world with him.Ian Makellan cameos as Death curiously tempted by the real world. Arnold Swarzeneggar is his usual over the top self all through the movie and he even does Hamlet in a day dream sequence and comes face to face with himself at a movie premeire. I remember, when this film first came out in the cinemas. I saw it three times. I was my favourite film of that moment and this time around I ended up watching three times again, only catching bits & pieces of it as I was doing something else on the computer. Somehow this time around I didn't find the film as good as the first three times I saw it and the Wikipedia[/I] says this was a financial disappointment in it's theatrical release.[/spoiler]

Dylan Dog: The Dead of Night

[spoiler]Based on a comic book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Dog. [spoiler]Though I never read the comic, so I can't tell wether it was a good adaption or not. Watching the film, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be by the premise of a private investigator Dylan portrayed by Superman Returns,  Brandon Routh who's usual clientele are the Vampire, Werewolf, & zombie clans of New Orleans who drag the once retired investigator  into their private underground war. His side kick Marcus gets bitten by a zombie and becomes one. Though the zombies in this film are more personable & intelligent than regular zombies. They even have their own self help groups. As I said the film wasn't as good as it's premise and the special effects were cheap for film made in 2010. From what I know of the original comic and it's Wikipedia entry. Differences between the comic result in the film being set in New Orleans instead of London, the character of Groucho being replaced by an un-dead sidekick called Marcus due to issues for the production to acquire the rights to use the Groucho Marx name and style, another difference is Dylan Dog's Volkswagen Beetle being black with a white hood instead of the opposite like in the comic. I won't be watching it again.[/spoiler]

Highlander Two : The Quickening

[spoiler]As I was studying these rules.  http://vampirerpg.free.fr/Rules/Highlander/ .[spoiler] I wonder if the authors ever considered the Immortals from Highlander. Colin Macleod, Ramiraz and the Kurgan all originated from the far away planet Zeist as they were in this unfavourable and universally panned sequel set 500 years before. As they would have it. Some were banished, some were sent to planet Earth to be reborn as immortals battling each other through the ages until the time of the Gathering. Only being able to actually kill each other by decapitation alone. Until one is left to claim the prize. Which is either mortality or being aloud to return to the planet Zeist. As Colin Macleod won the prize at the conclusion of the first film, he gains superior knowledge and in this second film in year 1999. Wanting to solve the problem of the ozone layer,  he supervises a team of scientists to build a generator that is to cast a electromagnetic shield around the Earth. Though, the shield has the added side effect of constant night, high global temperature and high humidity. By the year 2024, humanity has lost hope and fallen into a decline. The ownership of the shield generator has fallen under the Shield Corporation. A terrorist group who want to take down the shield, discover that the ozone layer has restored itself and the shield is no longer needed. The Shield Corporation is focused on profit, and is imposing fees for the corporation's services will stop at nothing to keep their shield running despite the ozone layer. Mean while back on planet Zeist. General Katana sends two hench men to planet Earth to kill the Colin Macleod. Now a aging and frail old man. He manages to decapitate them both, absorbs their energy during the Quickening, and regains his youthful appearance. In the process, he summons Ramirez back to life.....
There was a improved version made from this film. As it says in the Wikipedia. In 1995, Mulcahy made a Director's Cut version known as "Highlander 2: Renegade Version". The film was reconstructed largely from existing material, with certain scenes removed and others added back in, and the entire sequence of events changed. All references to the Immortals being aliens from another planet were eliminated; instead, this cut reveals that the Immortals are from an unspecified, distant past on Earth, banished by priests into random locations in the future to keep the Prize from being won in their lifetime. I like this one much better and I found myself in the early hours of the morning searching for this Directors Cut, but all I could come up with is the Theatrical release with annoying commentary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfh4hmtyVvk [spoiler]Favorite scene: Through the quickening, Macleod reappearing as his youthful self and Ramirez coming back to life on theatre stage.  Take note of how Ramirez's Katana magically ends up in Macleod's hand when he's facing Katana towards the end of the movie.

Highlander II: Fairytale Ending
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW1qHfhe_TM
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 08:37:11 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 June, 2013, 08:26:21 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 08:20:21 PM
Wouldn't a 'real man' make Get Carter rather than John Carter?

Who, like Stallone?


I don't remember Sly standing butt-naked in the street with a shotgun.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 June, 2013, 09:56:44 PM
Not his style, was it?
Then again, he'd be outclassed by Bix Barton's Michael Cane, never mind the real thing for fack sake!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 June, 2013, 10:20:33 AM
I just watched Cujo.

A horror/thriller originally written by Stephen King. It's about a woman and her son. Who are trapped inside a broken down car while a rabid dog. Probably a Saint Bernard. Terrorises them.
That's the main plot of the movie. There were other things going on as well, but they were unimportant.
Now the dog Cujo had a reputation for being gentle, until it was bitten on the nose by a bat and caught rabies, it's attitude changed. It got dangerous and gored a man. I think it had ago at it's owner killing them both before encountering the woman and child. Where I won't go any further giving too much more of the story away.

The woman Donna Trenton is portrayed by Dee Wallace and one of the men she is involved with in this film is Steve Kemp. Who is portrayed by Christopher Stone. I mention them, because they both got married in real life and where in a few other films together. I recognise them from the horror film The Howling. Where they both became infected with Lycanthropy.

The dog's real name is Daddy and they made it up to look sick and maddened was done realistically in my opinion.

A classic horror/thriller film. Even if it's a bit too short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 June, 2013, 10:29:01 AM
ONly read the book but Cujo is a great example of how horror doesn't need to be insiduous, doesn't need to be otherworldly, and doesn't even need to be 'evil'. A rabid dog and a broken car is a pretty terrifying situation by itself.

Prior review of Chronicle - I loved that movie. Superpowers do not equal superheroes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 June, 2013, 04:45:00 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 June, 2013, 08:37:11 PM
I don't remember Sly standing butt-naked in the street with a shotgun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohypnol

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 11 June, 2013, 10:59:42 PM
A Good Day to Die Hard.

Well, pretty much as expected really.  Some bubble-gum for the brain.  The first half hour has some great action sequences, very 'Bourne-esque' in direction (which is never a bad thing) and framing.  However, McClain seems to say nowt much other than exclaiming 'Jeezus!' a lot in that first half hour or so, which then means each and every time he says it from then on (which is often) kinda grates on the nerves a bit.  Well, it's that or 'I'm on vacation', either way, it gets old fast.

The plot is,,,,,fairly forgettable, while you are in the process of watching.  Equipment appears as and when needed without much care for the believability of how and where it comes from, as does the ability to find the bad guys within moments of beginning to look for them.  But the plot is only there to allow the McClain boys to shoot a bunch of folks, so I guess it serves it's purpose.

So, not as good as 1 or 2, probably on a par with 'die hard with a vengance' (which was fairly weak, but enjoyable), but better than 4.0 which was utter pish. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 June, 2013, 01:33:26 PM
As I sit at the computer, I have the nearby television on. The latest episode of Arrow. was on. I  barely paid attention to it though. In fact, I have  paid lesser and lesser attention to this show as each week has gone by.

I just watched the last half hour of Conan the Barbarian The newer version with Jason Mamoa,  Ron Pearlman, Stephen Lang and Rose McGowan in it. It also has Rachel Nichols in it. Recently the main character of the first series of Continuim.

I am about to watch it again just now.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 June, 2013, 08:52:10 PM
Fast & Furious 6 is definitely the pick of this year's crop of big blockbusters so far. Fast cars; mostly understandable fights; pigheaded loyalty; blowing up Glasgow; a good turn from Gina Carano; lots of little callbacks to earlier films; dreadful cheesy techno soundtrack and a climactic thinning of the herd. After a slightly slow start, the daftness starts to pile up thick and fast and while it doesn't quite hit the ludicrous heights of the previous installment, it tries damned hard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 June, 2013, 09:06:21 PM
I just want to see that for the flip car.  Couple of mates worked on the Glasgow end, so I've seen some nice pics, but I fully expect the movie footage of it to be stunning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 June, 2013, 09:19:54 PM
I watched the aged Steve Coogan vehicle 'The Parole Officer' and it's got Lena 'Ma-ma' Headey in the buff in it. Well worth a look!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 June, 2013, 09:42:48 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 June, 2013, 08:52:10 PMAfter a slightly slow start, the daftness starts to pile up thick and fast and while it doesn't quite hit the ludicrous heights of the previous installment, it tries damned hard.

Fast and Furious 6 was the pick of the year's blockbuster action offerings for me, even more than Star Trek Into Darkness was.  While STID dragged out setpieces of a ludicrous scale until they were just slightly too long to make you want more, FF6 keeps upping the ante and demanding you pay attention or you'll miss something, [spoiler]like the cars harpooning the giant plane, then it catches fire, then people have scraps on the roofs of the cars, then they start scrapping inside the plane, then Vin Diesel takes a guy out by head-butting someone through a wall at him[/spoiler] - it's fuppin' ace.  The tank chase is especially great because how it ends only makes sense if Vin Diesel's character has suddenly realised he is a character that is played by Vin Diesel.  Great post-credits scene, too!

Misunderstanding how Twitter worked, I summed the plot up in as succinct a manner as possible:
(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/redhotchillis/ff6_zps4b51a95a.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 June, 2013, 10:36:15 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 12 June, 2013, 09:42:48 PM
Misunderstanding how Twitter worked, I summed the plot up in as succinct a manner as possible:

That's fucking brilliant, Pro; you should share more often. Of course, now I don't need to bother watching the film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 June, 2013, 10:26:33 AM
Brave.  I know, I've posted about my love of this film before, but thanks to my 3-yr old's obsession with it, I've seen most of it about 30 times now.  And it's still utterly brilliant.  Just watching the climax at the moment (as my little girl jury-rigs a convincing Merida-and-Angus lego minifig). The demon bear Mordu is about as scary a monster as Disney have ever created, and the dynamics of the final fight in the stone circle are astonishing - from Merida [spoiler]slicing her father's wooden leg out from under him, to her bear-mother's dramatic rescue of her overwhelmed daughter, to the wonderful red-herring of the tapestry[/spoiler].  What a satisfying, inspiring film, and what a great vocal performance from Kelly McDonald, and Emma Thomson is no slouch either. 

(Current DVD playlist in this house is Brave, Despicable Me, Megamind, Classic Tom & Jerry and The Incredibles, their TV preferences being Horrible Histories, Spongebob, Hey Arnold, Ben & Holly, Clone Wars and  Scooby Doo.  I can happily watch anyof that that the cows the missus comes home  This parent lark isn't half bad you know.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 June, 2013, 09:22:19 PM
High brow stuff for me with Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren teaming up in The Package. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/no104-package.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 June, 2013, 11:30:36 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 June, 2013, 10:26:33 AM
Brave.  I know, I've posted about my love of this film before, but thanks to my 3-yr old's obsession with it, I've seen most of it about 30 times now.  And it's still utterly brilliant.  Just watching the climax at the moment (as my little girl jury-rigs a convincing Merida-and-Angus lego minifig). The demon bear Mordu is about as scary a monster as Disney have ever created, and the dynamics of the final fight in the stone circle are astonishing - from Merida [spoiler]slicing her father's wooden leg out from under him, to her bear-mother's dramatic rescue of her overwhelmed daughter, to the wonderful red-herring of the tapestry[/spoiler].  What a satisfying, inspiring film, and what a great vocal performance from Kelly McDonald, and Emma Thomson is no slouch either. 

(Current DVD playlist in this house is Brave, Despicable Me, Megamind, Classic Tom & Jerry and The Incredibles, their TV preferences being Horrible Histories, Spongebob, Hey Arnold, Ben & Holly, Clone Wars and  Scooby Doo.  I can happily watch anyof that that the cows the missus comes home  This parent lark isn't half bad you know.)

Great to hear that TordelBack! I've also watched some of my children's favourites more times than I can remember! My kids loved Brave too, as for me Ihave to say it took me a viewing or two before I warmed to it. Currently we're watching The Rescuers Down Under; it used to be a boyhood favourite of mine and so I ordered a copy from Amazon for the kids. I didn't know how they'd react because well, its aged a bit. But they loved it! Some times my kids shock the hell out of me in terms of their viewing preferences. One day my 3 year old girl will watch Monsters Inc, the next she'll want to watch the classic Pinocchio, or an anime title like Spirited Away. It seems like quality or lack of CGI doesn't bother them at all. What does is a good story I suppose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 June, 2013, 12:20:41 PM
In terms of old kids films I quite liked All Dogs Go To Heaven.
Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise in dog form - what's not to like?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 June, 2013, 09:27:35 PM
The Eminent Professor Bear has already presented the most thorough and accurate report on this matter, but I would like to contribute some thoughts.

Fast & Furious 6 is easily the best Film I've seen all year. As others have said, it's doesn't quite surpass the last one, but it still outdoes itself. Probably because it was aiming so low to begin with and quite rightly. If the makers of this series ever put serious thought into what they were doing, these films just couldn't be made. Unapologetic, unadulterated, no-holds-barred, idiotic entertainment at its finest.

One minor gripe would be that The Rock's arms aren't as shiny as they were in the Fa5t 5, but that dude still steals the show. The rest of the cast are all definitely actors, and you can really tell they're acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 June, 2013, 09:46:17 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 14 June, 2013, 09:27:35 PM
One minor gripe would be that The Rock's arms aren't as shiny as they were in the Fa5t 5, but that dude still steals the show. The rest of the cast are all definitely actors, and you can really tell they're acting.

You're both hilarious when talking about this film, but I'm pretty sure it's more entertaining listening to you talk about it than watching it myself. I'm currently giving Snakes on a Plane another go, but I'm just not fun enough to make watching it fun in the way I'm sure it is for youz.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 June, 2013, 10:48:37 PM
Watched Porco Rosso for the first time last night. Liked it, expected to be darker, but enjoyed it anyway. Must...resist...buying model kits of the planes... (http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?SeriesID=1294&DisplayMode=images&Dis=2&Sort=std&qid=R1827NW42VZ&set=1&Page=1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 June, 2013, 12:05:13 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 14 June, 2013, 09:46:17 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 14 June, 2013, 09:27:35 PM
One minor gripe would be that The Rock's arms aren't as shiny as they were in the Fa5t 5, but that dude still steals the show. The rest of the cast are all definitely actors, and you can really tell they're acting.

You're both hilarious when talking about this film, but I'm pretty sure it's more entertaining listening to you talk about it than watching it myself. I'm currently giving Snakes on a Plane another go, but I'm just not fun enough to make watching it fun in the way I'm sure it is for youz.

I didn't like Snakes on a Plane. Too meta, too tongue-in-cheek. I enjoy The Fast & Furious saga in the same way I enjoy old Arnie movies, or the old Jackie Chan movies when he was still in Hong-Kong. They're played straight-and slightly-po-faced, to set up the jeopardy for the big crazy stunts. The stars may not be great actors, but by Crom, they're great movie stars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 June, 2013, 09:55:43 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 15 June, 2013, 12:05:13 AM
I didn't like Snakes on a Plane. Too meta, too tongue-in-cheek.

It's the best example ever of why you should never listen to anyone on the internet. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 15 June, 2013, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 15 June, 2013, 09:55:43 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 15 June, 2013, 12:05:13 AM
I didn't like Snakes on a Plane. Too meta, too tongue-in-cheek.

It's the best example ever of why you should never listen to anyone on the internet.
Now I am confused... Having seen Snakes on a Plane (after all the excitement that came before it- it's bad but they know it's bad and they found out people on the internet were making up gag lines for the film, and the director/ screenwriter started using them as a joke and a wink to the people online! etc), I read TordelBack's remark there and found it to be very true. But surely, if his comment is true, it also means I should ignore it...?
Snakes on a Plane tho- yeah, big waste of time but my biggest complaint with it was there is this one truly huge snake in it you see every now and again and while watching I actually got to thinking "As bad as this is, it could be slightly improved if the end is Samuel L. Jackson taking on that snake in a fight for it all..."
Fight never happens. I'd never been so disappointed for making myself sit all the way through a bad film for something that never materialized before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 June, 2013, 10:33:39 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 15 June, 2013, 10:29:32 AMI read TordelBack's remark there and found it to be very true. But surely, if his comment is true, it also means I should ignore it...?

Enlightenment beckons, grasshopper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 June, 2013, 04:18:58 PM
Bought my old man a BIG stack of DVDs yesterday, just to keep him occupied of an evening since he lost his mum.

last night, we had a double bill of Predators (actually NOT as crap as I remembered it being... but still nowhere near good, in my opinion) and Taken 2.

Now, I REALLY hate the first Taken movie. But I thought the sequel was properly good. It seems to grow pretty organically out of the aftermath of the first movie, and I'm pleased to see that it didn't simply rehash what went before. It didn't seem nearly as contrived as #1, either (save for one particular key sequence).

I think we're tackling Superman Returns tonight, and maybe Looper.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 June, 2013, 04:29:49 PM
Joseph-Gordon Levitt is fantastic in Looper, he plays Willis so well, the mannerisms, the speech patters, just great.  Not a bad film overall too.

Just Watched 'Bullet To The Head'.  Not bad at all really.  No surprises, it ain't Shakespeare, but Stallone is actually very good in it, playing the dumbass Philli thug role that he really does well. Jason Mamoa is good to as the bad guy, pretty ruthless.  Overall worth a watch, but don't expect any high brow entertainment. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 June, 2013, 09:16:01 PM
I like Levitt as an actor - the first few movies I saw with him in them, I remember thinking 'I ain't gonna get on with this guy' but since Inception, he's really grown on me. I think he'll be a big talent to watch in the coming years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 15 June, 2013, 09:36:09 PM
I first saw him in 3rd Rock From The Sun and it's hard to believe little Tommy is now a movie star!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 16 June, 2013, 03:52:05 AM
Well, I've seen Looper now and...

...

That was odd. And very good!

It pretty much validated what I said earlier about Joseph-Gordon Levitt. His part felt unique among everything else I've seen him in so far.

Good to see Garrett Dillahunt in the movie, too! An under-rated character actor, so he is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 June, 2013, 11:07:21 AM
Looper didn't make any sense but I sort of enjoyed it anyway. would watch it again if it came on telly.


Last night I watched Jack Reacher. Loved it. It felt like a cross between a 70s action thriller and a Scandinavian procedural.
Also, I never realised that Rosamund Pike had such a hypnotic cleavage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 June, 2013, 12:05:31 PM
Kingpin.

(http://i.imgur.com/fo5dH9A.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 June, 2013, 04:02:20 PM
(Half of) Gamer. It was so unbelievably shit that I turned it off halfway through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 16 June, 2013, 07:55:36 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 June, 2013, 11:07:21 AMLast night I watched Jack Reacher. Loved it.

Wasn't expecting too but I liked it too. Not a fan of Tom Cruise but he was passable in it. Luckily I didn't see the trailer someone posted on the Trailer thread here because it gives away some good bits in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 June, 2013, 09:24:59 PM
MUD
Great stuff. Simple plot but with great characterisation and nice turns from the two lead kids and the usually egregious Matthew McConneghy. Sam Shephard also great but boy is he looking old. There's more than a touch of Huck Finn about it (no bad thing but this is less romanticised myth) and it's beautifully photographed despite focusing on some of the grimier parts of America.  For all it's simplicity, there are lots of levels going on.

And for those yearning for such things, Michael Shannon pops up for three excellent little scenes - just funny and character driven stuff that don't advance the plot in any way.


Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 June, 2013, 11:31:53 PM
I watched Hitman on TV last night. It was really bad. Some scenes that genuinely did not make any sense and bad bad writing...

I stuck on Dog Soldiers today while I was writing. Hadn't seen it in years, but by Gan it holds up. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 17 June, 2013, 12:00:49 AM
Behind the Candelabra - Didnt know what to expect but its very funny with top notch performances all round. I thought it was great.

Man of Steel - Hmm, as a set up for a franchise it nearly works but as a stand alone movie its a bit of a mess. Saying that there were some scenes where I had a massive grin but think that was more that the kids were loving it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 17 June, 2013, 11:20:16 AM
Caught Monsters Inc on the telly the other night, haven't seen it since it first came out but another bloody brilliant piece of Pixar film making probably with my favourite end to a movie ever, I get something caught in my eye every time at the look on Sully's face and little Boo's enthusiastic "Kitty" it always makes me tear up (which is weird as I don't have kids).
It's definitely my third favourite Pixar flick, number one would be Wall-E and number two The Incredibles.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 June, 2013, 10:03:11 PM
Pompeii Live.  Fascinating ambitious cinema experience this - a live broadcast from the British Museum exhibition on Pompeii and Herculaneum that I haven't been able to get to (yet). Clever format of experts and presenters exploring different aspects of the displays with refreshingly genuine live banter, and the relatively little pre-recorded Volcano porn was very effective (if I had to see yet another CGI Pompeii being buried I'd have been disappointed).

Not nearly enough Mary Beard (you could never have enough), too much John Snow (that man is loud), about the right amount of Bettany Hughes (the Nigella of dust), a smattering of good experts and that annoying sewer man.   I think I'd have had an initial scene-setting pan around the exhibition to orientate the viewer, and I'd have minimised the talking-head shots in favour of showcasing the artefacts while the experts chatted on, but to be honest by the end of 90 minutes I was heading for sensory and even emotional overload so they may actually have got the balance right: the detail and scale that a cinema screen delivers for viewing artefacts and frescoes is really, truly spectacular.

Hughes and Beard seemed to be the only folk who realised they were talking in the 21st century, most of the other pairings delivered moments of gender- and class-based cringe straight out of the Frankie Howerd playbook, laughing about flogging slaves and sounding amazed that women had status, etc., but that's par for the course in public archaeological discourse which is still pulling itself out of the 1970s.

My one real reservation was that nowhere did I pick up on the the fact that this was going to be serious over-18s territory - and nor I imagine did the parents of several primary school kids at our screening.  Discussions of sexual fantasies, erect willies, divine bestiality... all good stuff, but I was thinking of bringing my 6 year old myself, and I'm glad I didn't (worried the death stuff would be too upsetting, and it was - very).

It was no Cave of Forgotten Dreams (what is?), but I tell you, if they do more of these I'll go again: like a really good wonderfully-illustrated lecture.  Highly recommended, if you can catch a repeat recorded showing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 June, 2013, 07:15:56 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 June, 2013, 10:03:11 PM
Bettany Hughes (the Nigella of dust),

I resent that, however accurate it maybe (and of course it is), I love Bettany I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 08:39:31 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 19 June, 2013, 07:15:56 AM
... I love Bettany I do.

Yeah, she is pretty great.  Her chemistry with Mary Beard in the Pompeii thing was spectacular - I could have watched the two of them laughing about 'the ultimate form of willy waving [accompanied by simultaneous paired gesture of, uh, willy waving]' for hours.  They need to be sent on a Palin-style road trip through the ancient world together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 June, 2013, 06:41:20 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 June, 2013, 10:03:11 PM
Pompeii Live.  Fascinating ambitious cinema experience this - a live broadcast from the British Museum exhibition on Pompeii and Herculaneum that I haven't been able to get to (yet).

Im heading down to the Smoke in a few short weeks for a long weekend, and this is on the to do list - along with the Bowie exhibition. Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing both.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 06:46:31 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 June, 2013, 06:41:20 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 June, 2013, 10:03:11 PM
Pompeii Live.  Fascinating ambitious cinema experience this - a live broadcast from the British Museum exhibition on Pompeii and Herculaneum that I haven't been able to get to (yet).

Im heading down to the Smoke in a few short weeks for a long weekend, and this is on the to do list - along with the Bowie exhibition. Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing both.

Book your tickets NOW.  I had an opportunity to be in London a while back on some specific dates but couldn't get a booking, and that was a few weeks in advance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 June, 2013, 06:58:12 PM
For the Bowie exhibiton, i dont think you can.
All sold now - and have been for ages, but apparently you stand a chance (fingers, and everything else crossed) of getting tickets on the day, if you turn up first thing.....
Or so their site claims. Sounds like we may be onto a hiding for nowt regarding that one, which as its pretty much the reason were heading down to London in the first place, is a shame.

But the Pompeii one shouldnt be a problem? Or do i need to look into this a bit more?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 07:12:34 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 June, 2013, 06:58:12 PM
But the Pompeii one shouldnt be a problem? Or do i need to look into this a bit more?

That's the one I meant!  It was an unpleasant surprise for me too, it was supposed to be a wedding anniversary treat for the missus (we visited P&H about 15 years ago, and aside from the raging diarrhea we both had while walking around Pompeii, it was very romantic) and the last thing I thought would be an issue was getting into a museum exhibition.  Scuppered the whole thing - so we did the cinema version instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 June, 2013, 07:27:39 PM
Cheers Mr T. I shall look into this now, and see about prebooking.
London, eh?  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 June, 2013, 10:04:30 AM
Aye, remember to take your flat cap off when you come down too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 June, 2013, 04:59:09 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 20 June, 2013, 10:04:30 AM
Aye, remember to take your flat cap off when you come down too.

Nivver.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 20 June, 2013, 05:40:57 PM
Anyone else catch Unstoppable last night?

Great film, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine work well together and its Tony Scott's last ever movie. 

The runaway train came down the track and she blew,
The runaway train came down the track, her whistle wide and her throttle back,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 June, 2013, 07:08:56 PM
I remember quite liking it. An action movie where the leads spend most of the time sitting down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 June, 2013, 08:18:22 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 20 June, 2013, 05:40:57 PM
its Tony Scott's last ever movie.

And one of his best.  A cracking film, seen it several times, and enjoyed it every watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2013, 11:08:12 PM
Mongol (2007).  Absolutely splendid stuff - Conan with moustaches. Exactly how I like my mystical racial-myth hagiographies, dusty, well-paced, beautifully shot and with gorgeous women and even more gorgeous landscapes.  My favourite bit is where he's locked in a cage above the Tangrut capital for 5 or 6 years, and you just know it's only a matter of time until his gaolers are completely screwed.  Note to Snyder & Nolan re Man of Steel: [spoiler]even Genghis Bloody Khan doesn't kill the bad guy in the end[/spoiler]. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 June, 2013, 11:15:01 PM

I suspect it's a lot better than this: The Yanks love a good Empire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d92BpqBOXB0)


Mongol looks beautiful. Must watch soon.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 June, 2013, 11:34:43 PM
Or John Wayne's effort...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snKve2bAt3I

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2013, 11:59:52 PM
Like the Green Berets, I never really understood the hate for The Conqueror, as the former was just another pro-war movie, while the latter was just another western romp - hell, it was even set in Nevada.  Maybe people hate it because it killed John Wayne                              's credibility?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 12:02:10 AM


Just watch Buried

Oh my...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 June, 2013, 12:17:40 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 June, 2013, 11:59:52 PM
Like the Green Berets, I never really understood the hate for The Conqueror, as the former was just another pro-war movie, while the latter was just another western romp - hell, it was even set in Nevada.  Maybe people hate it because it killed John Wayne                              's credibility?


Made in a time when hippies ruled the earth; Green Berets just picked the wrong war and no matter the direness of the Conqueror, the idea of arch-jingoist John Wayne playing a heroic Asian was probably too much.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 June, 2013, 12:31:00 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 20 June, 2013, 05:40:57 PM
Anyone else catch Unstoppable last night?

The runaway train came down the track and she blew...
Incredibly, while this was on Film4 last night, I was half-watching Runaway Train on ITV4. What are the chances?

Thanks for reminding about that Mongol film. I fancied it at the time but had forgotten all about it. Was always quite partial to the Omar Sharif one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 June, 2013, 02:13:04 PM
Runaway Train is superb. A top notch film, that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 21 June, 2013, 02:31:58 PM
Agreed Runaway Train is good movie - have not see that in a while so hopefully they will have it on again soon.  Always feel chilly when I watch it though!

"Okay, fool, Get your clothes off and grease down."  :o


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 June, 2013, 02:35:14 PM
I have never heard of that movie but liking Unstoppable and having just watched the trailer that's on my Lovefilm list that is.

Looks greats thanks for the recommendation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 June, 2013, 03:08:08 PM
An almost unrecognisable Jon Voight is superb as Manny. Those eyes!!
One of his best roles, i think. A little Gem, that film.

(http://i.imgur.com/M51i4kW.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 03:17:17 PM


Runaway Train is reallly good, you will like it, Colin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 June, 2013, 08:38:45 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 June, 2013, 11:59:52 PM
Like the Green Berets, I never really understood the hate for The Conqueror, as the former was just another pro-war movie, while the latter was just another western romp - hell, it was even set in Nevada.  Maybe people hate it because it killed John Wayne                              's credibility?

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the movie, I simply find it laughable, appalling, and utterly beyond belief! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 June, 2013, 09:12:02 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 21 June, 2013, 08:38:45 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 June, 2013, 11:59:52 PM
Like the Green Berets, I never really understood the hate for The Conqueror, as the former was just another pro-war movie, while the latter was just another western romp - hell, it was even set in Nevada.  Maybe people hate it because it killed John Wayne's credibility?

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the movie, I simply find it laughable, appalling, and utterly beyond belief! ;)

Unlike Where Eagles Dare, The Green Berets takes time out from bayonetting the fiendish enemy to essay a scene where a gruff Sgt Major explains to David Janssen's anti-war journalist that the NVA are bad men who do bad things, and maybe he should think about that before writing op-eds questioning US involvement in Vietnam. Janssen's hardened hack is so non-plussed by this challenge to his commie-loving ways that he accepts the Sarge's offer to get out from behind his desk and see how the war is actually being fought, by real men.

The unflinching portrayal of the full reality of the American war machine which follows consists of scenes where lovable rogue GIs tousle the hair of cute moppets with pets you worry might not make it to the last reel, wells are dug on behalf of the simple villagers under their protection, and the shocking use of torture and summary execution upon Vietnamese civilians (by the NVA only) is depicted in detail. Jannsen's suitably shocked, but ruefully remarks to The Duke that he'd be fired and blacklisted if he ever told the truth of the inhumanity he has witnessed when he gets back home.

The Green Berets is only a war film in the same way Dr Strangelove is a war film; in that it uses the backdrop of conflict to advance an ideological argument. I watch it every time it's on telly.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 June, 2013, 09:15:30 PM
Not sure why you quoted my post, I was talking about the conqueror, someone else started on about the Green Berets. ;)

Mind you, I tend to think that ones a tad pony too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 June, 2013, 09:34:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 June, 2013, 09:12:02 PMThe Green Berets is only a war film in the same way Dr Strangelove is a war film; in that it uses the backdrop of conflict to advance an ideological argument. I watch it every time it's on telly.

It's propaganda as most 20th century war films tend to be - but as Joe rightly points out, it was the wrong war.  Everyone and their auntie is used to banging on about the horrors of Vietnam, though I don't find any of the transparent jingoism and scant renationalisation of US containment policy in GB to be that much of a step beyond a film telling you Nazis are bad news.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 21 June, 2013, 09:38:32 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 June, 2013, 11:08:12 PM
Mongol (2007).  Absolutely splendid stuff - Conan with moustaches. Exactly how I like my mystical racial-myth hagiographies, dusty, well-paced, beautifully shot and with gorgeous women and even more gorgeous landscapes.  My favourite bit is where he's locked in a cage above the Tangrut capital for 5 or 6 years, and you just know it's only a matter of time until his gaolers are completely screwed.  Note to Snyder & Nolan re Man of Steel: [spoiler]even Genghis Bloody Khan doesn't kill the bad guy in the end[/spoiler].

Caught this by accident one evening on Film 4 and was pleasantly surprised. [spoiler]Love the bit at the end where it mentions Tangrut...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 21 June, 2013, 09:39:25 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 12:02:10 AM


Just watch Buried

Oh my...

You thought it was bad?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 09:59:15 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 21 June, 2013, 09:39:25 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 12:02:10 AM


Just watch Buried

Oh my...

You thought it was bad?

No, the ending left me speechless, it great film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 June, 2013, 10:43:10 PM
The Deer Hunter is on ITV right now, this film never fails to bring a tear to my eye. A beautiful, heartbreaking film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 June, 2013, 10:44:53 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 June, 2013, 09:34:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 June, 2013, 09:12:02 PMThe Green Berets is only a war film in the same way Dr Strangelove is a war film; in that it uses the backdrop of conflict to advance an ideological argument. I watch it every time it's on telly.

It's propaganda as most 20th century war films tend to be - but as Joe rightly points out, it was the wrong war.  Everyone and their auntie is used to banging on about the horrors of Vietnam, though I don't find any of the transparent jingoism and scant renationalisation of US containment policy in GB to be that much of a step beyond a film telling you Nazis are bad news.

Sorry, the point buried inside my long-winded post was that The Green Berets is mostly (90-95%?) comprised of the kind of scenarios I described overleaf; the action and combat scenes don't amount to much more than an artillery bombardment and an oddly anomalous raid on an enemy chateau. I agree with your point that even transparent action vehicles disguised as war movies such as First Blood Part Two and The Dirty Dozen are pushing a particular point of view, but that's usually confined to something as trite as Rambo, John J's line "do we get to win this time?", before everyone gets down to the real business of wasting faceless enemy combatants with guilt-free abandon (90-95%?).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 June, 2013, 10:46:44 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 June, 2013, 09:12:02 PM
The Green Berets is only a war film in the same way Dr Strangelove is a war film; in that it uses the backdrop of conflict to advance an ideological argument. I watch it every time it's on telly.


If the US had been winning in Vietnam and they'd had a better control of the reportage; Green Berets might have been received a little differently by the general population. Rather than running in sync with the intellectual zeitgeist as the absurdist Strangelove (1964) did in post-JFK America; Green Berets, in the infamous year of '68, ironically must've seemed more Bizarro Worldish than Kubrick's danse macabre.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 21 June, 2013, 11:24:19 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 09:59:15 PM
No, the ending left me speechless, it great film!

Yeah, top film. Well recommended everybody,  don't worry about Ryan Reynolds being in it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 11:41:50 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 21 June, 2013, 11:24:19 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 21 June, 2013, 09:59:15 PM
No, the ending left me speechless, it great film!

Yeah, top film. Well recommended everybody,  don't worry about Ryan Reynolds being in it!

Ryan really can acting in it!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 22 June, 2013, 12:34:34 AM
More Reynolds not being shit in The Change-Up (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/no105-change-up.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 22 June, 2013, 09:06:53 PM
Despicable Me. Took me three (count them- three) attempts to watch this film because it was on last weekend, I had it on and my mate had come down to change clothes before she headed out to meet friends, so I had to stop watching to walk her into town. I then bought the film in Tescos for a couple of quid (utter bargain...) to see the rest of it and the same friend made me promise I wouldn't watch it without her so I put it on when she came down again, only for her boss to call and ask if she could come into work! Just finally watched it in its entirety and found it to be well worth the wait. I actually found it to be quite touching in parts but then it had me chuckling to myself the next moment. The minions and the three little girls could have so easily failed but they were great throughout. I'm actually quite excited about seeing the sequel next week now. Unfortunately, I have to see Man of Steel again with another friend next week but I'm pretty confident that Despicable Me 2 will act to remove the bad taste of a Snyder film from my eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 June, 2013, 09:50:50 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 22 June, 2013, 09:06:53 PMI'm actually quite excited about seeing the sequel next week now.

Me too - trying to find a slot for a family outing.  Despicable Me is ace, it's on at least once a week round here, and it never gets old: wonderfully simple story, great gags, nice designs, cute urchins.  Hope the sequel holds on to that formula.  It changed my mind about the utter worthlessness of Russell Brand, his performance was that good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 22 June, 2013, 11:16:37 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 June, 2013, 09:50:50 PM
It changed my mind about the utter worthlessness of Russell Brand, his performance was that good.
I'd forgotten all about seeing his name in the opening credits until I saw this post and after Googling it, I still can't believe Russel Brand was the voice of Dr Nefario! I've noticed the mentioned Bonus Features on the DVD include three short Minions movies and Gru's Rocket Builder Game. This really is a purchase that just keeps on giving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 June, 2013, 11:44:45 PM
Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek were what turned me around on Russel Brand, as whether it was deliberate or not, he comes off as a rambling moron who does stupid things out of a juvenile need for attention, but is ultimately harmless.

Django Unchained.  Pretty good, and I usually hate films that set out to make pornography out of oppression.  Although Tarantino uses deliberately anachronistic camera techniques, I never realised that zooming in with a steadicam was actually anachronistic only because so many modern directors take the twat route of doing shakyshakyshakycam while zooming, and seeing it done "old school" here, it's actually very effective and dramatic and makes the character's reaction the center of attention rather than whatever CGI setpiece is happening off-camera, and there's an added bonus in that the action scenes are easy to follow and understand.  The music is fantastic - I love how characters have their own theme tunes in the best narcocorrido tradition - and the only blot would be that the n-word is so overused that it eventually became comical in a Blazing Saddles-type way.
But yeah, good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 June, 2013, 09:52:14 AM
Escape from New York. Starting to look its age now, or more probably it was such a tight/low bugdet, that it looks a bit creaky in places. But still, its prime Carpenter.
And Adrienne Barbeau was RED HOT then, wasnt she..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 23 June, 2013, 11:48:14 AM
Last night I saw the film Dark Shadows....

(Yeah I know, but some of us can't afford to go to the cinema ... or even enjoy the experience very much. So I wait till I visit my friend who records movies that I'm interested in) 
I have a nasty felling I might gain a new obsession... And I have quite enough to cope with thank you...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 June, 2013, 11:50:19 AM
After Earth: Awful. Abysmal. Moronic. Flat. Hilarious. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 23 June, 2013, 01:07:03 PM
Quote from: The Doctor Alt 8 on 23 June, 2013, 11:48:14 AM
Last night I saw the film Dark Shadows....

(Yeah I know, but some of us can't afford to go to the cinema ... or even enjoy the experience very much. So I wait till I visit my friend who records movies that I'm interested in) 
I have a nasty felling I might gain a new obsession... And I have quite enough to cope with thank you...

I saw Dark Shadows on Sky Movies last night......
For me 'enjoyable' enough but unfortunately not particularly memorable....
I like Tim Burtons' movies, usually, and this was one of his 'typical' movies.....Not as good as his completely animated movies, but a 'comical take' on Vampire movies with Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnaby Collins......
I think this derived from the American (?) comics /TV series of the same name, but for me it ended up being neither 'comedy' or 'horror' and an fairly uneasy mixture of both....[spoiler]He kills about 9 people on being released from his coffin because he is 'incredibly thirsty', and that's about the last you hear of that incident[/spoiler]...
More time is spent on trying to get a laugh from Depps', old fashioned style and his attempts to cope with the 'new' age, than explaining the 'anguish' he feels at becoming what he now is.....
All in all, an enjoyable enough hour and a half,  but not one I'd recommend for either comedy fans or horror fans....but reasonably watchable......I'd give it about 5 out of 10....
Cheers...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 June, 2013, 05:43:10 PM
I watched the Jason Bourne trilogy for the first time this weekend. Three solid movies with lots of cool spy shit. One minor little thing though, at no point did it occur to anyone that maybe they should keep the blinds/curtains closed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 23 June, 2013, 06:21:57 PM
Mama

Pretty good bit of horror.  Nicely shot, slick effects, and a couple of nice left turns just when you think you've worked out what comes next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 June, 2013, 07:48:50 PM
Mild zombie action in Warm Bodies (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/no193-warm-bodies.html) followed by a trip up  The Mountain. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/no106-mountain.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 June, 2013, 09:27:00 AM
My local cinema had a 99p day so I went to see Oblivion.
I really liked it - I know it got some stick for being unoriginal but I thought it was a pretty good little story. It had a sort of old fashioned feel. It reminded me of one of those post Mad Max, post apocalyptic films that went straight to video but given a huge budget.
Everything looked just beautiful - I really liked the production design on this ( in stark contrast to the incredibly ugly Man of Steel) - I would have been quite happy seeing Tom Cruise's little helicopter thing fly around the landscape for two hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 June, 2013, 04:08:19 PM
Pale Rider. Haven't watch this one in years, but it still delivers. I need to watch Unforgiven very soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 24 June, 2013, 06:04:55 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 June, 2013, 05:43:10 PM
I watched the Jason Bourne trilogy for the first time this weekend.

You been in prison, Pops?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 24 June, 2013, 06:04:55 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 June, 2013, 05:43:10 PM
I watched the Jason Bourne trilogy for the first time this weekend.

You been in prison, Pops?
I don't know what you mean, I think they still let you watch movies in prison, I've heard those places are practically holiday camps now. Still, it's weird, isn't it? I just kept putting it off and forgetting about it. Watched the new one, it was ok, not as smart as the previous three though, and I didn't care about the new guy all that much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 June, 2013, 09:44:01 PM
Outcast

A sort of kitchen sink, horror, thriller, whodunit, monster movie with gypsies and black magic starring James Nesbit and loads of other people you've seen in TV dramas (including Karen Gillan in a bit part).

I really liked this film. It's very low budget but its definitely creepy and its very different from anything I've seen recently. The closest thing I could compare it to would be Kill List with a bit of Let Me In.

That's probably all you'd want to know about it going in but I'd definitely recommend you give it a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 24 June, 2013, 09:49:37 PM
The Duellists - Ridley Scott's debut. Not seen this in about a year, but what a glorious looking film, and featuring a story that grabs from start to finish.
And was there ever a more beautiful looking shot than that closing scene? I dont think so.

Easily his best film, is my opinion now. Why dont i have this on DVD/BR? Must make amends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 24 June, 2013, 09:52:41 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
I didn't care about the new guy all that much.

Is that new avatar Jeremy Renner in a bowler hat, Pops?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 June, 2013, 10:15:48 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
I don't know what you mean, I think they still let you watch movies in prison, I've heard those places are practically holiday camps now. Still, it's weird, isn't it? I just kept putting it off and forgetting about it.

I haven't seen an Bourne movies either. I just have never really felt fussed to although I usually find Bond films entertaining. (Mind you, I've yet to watch any of the new ones of those either, even despite picking up Casino Royale cheap last year. Yep, still haven't seen it.)

The Lost Boys.

I found the trilogy box set going for around £8 - 9 in a DVD shop in Bromley. (I forget the name but they sell a lot of stuff at very reasonable prices, comparable, to the internet in many cases.)

I've yet to see the sequels, which I will do soon, but I figured I'd start with the original during lunch today.

I've seen it before several times and it's still a good 'un.

I think they should have left out the prologue scene [spoiler]where the vampires are smegged off by a policeman and take their revenge.[/spoiler] I think the film works better if you meet the vamps for the first time with the family, if that makes sense.

It's a scene I think I've only seen a couple of times as I've often missed the start when I've caught the film in the past.

A small criticism though.

Anyway, I've read bad reviews for the sequels (the second anyway, although I understand the third picks up), but I look forward to viewing them and making my own judgement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 10:41:57 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 24 June, 2013, 09:52:41 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
I didn't care about the new guy all that much.

Is that new avatar Jeremy Renner in a bowler hat, Pops?

That's me in a bowler hat, but you're right, I do have the smouldering good looks of a movie star  ;-P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 June, 2013, 01:36:59 AM
In anticipation of the imminent release of Before Midnight, I sat down last week to revisit the first two films in the series. What follows is more a celebration than a jaundiced critical appraisal. For those unfamiliar with it, Before Sunrise is about Yank Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meeting French Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train and persuading her to get off in Vienna with him to spend the night walking around talking. That's it (although they're probably both thinking they might end up doing the wild thing.)

There are some things I like which I can't really understand why anyone else doesn't: chips and cheese, say, or Nikolai Dante. This film isn't one of those things. I'm acutely aware of how unbearably wanky it could seem to some people. If you've seen some of Linklater's other films - particularly Slacker or Waking Life - you'll have some idea of the sort of pseudo-intellectual waffle you're in for. It treads a very thin line between entertaining and cringeworthy and is wide open to accusations of pretension and simply havering a load of bollocks.

And they do talk a lot of bollocks. For me, however, it more often seems very true to the sort of crap that two uncertain, insecure people might talk in the attempt to impress each other and validate themselves as worthy of the other's attention. This air of people trying so hard becomes one of an extremely long list of things I find utterly endearing. Plus it's not all like that: there's laughter and silly banter and sly pisstaking aplenty. There's certainly an element of personal identification involved in enjoying it; I know I've been guilty of talking shit to try and impress women and I like to believe maybe I could hold the right person's attention in the right circumstances. Mostly, though, it's the wonderful, unshowy central performances and the genuine chemistry between the leads that sells it. Watching the small changes in the way they regard each other over the course of the evening and willing them to make the right choices is a joy.

It's not quite the same level as Star Wars or Die Hard, but I've seen this film so many times I can anticipate large chunks of the dialogue and changes of shot. For such a talky film this could seem like a problem but, in reality, the comforting familiarity allows you to focus on other aspects. Delpy and Hawke are onscreen pretty much constantly with very little to react to except each other so it becomes fascinating to watch the physical performances and the subtle shifts in body language which reflect their changing relationship over the course of the night. There's a scene near the start where our man goes for the classic "arm resting innocuously on the back of her seat on the bus" manoeuvre which is quietly counterpointed on hour or so later in the way she pulls his arm around her.

I overuse the facile observation that Sin City is nothing more than the unpleasant wank fantasy of a dirty old man/fifteen year old boy. There's no escaping the fact that Before Sunrise is pretty much the same wish fulfilment fantasy for ineffectual, floppy fringed, middle-class arts graduates with an inflated opinion of their own intelligence and importance. That doesn't stop it being pure magic.


I haven't seen Before Sunset anything like as often as the first film but I found myself grinning from ear to ear throughout. It picks up nine years later when they meet again, not quite accidentally this time. For almost all of the relatively short running time the screen is filled with Celine and Jesse either sitting together talking or walking together talking. Other than an odd word here and there, the dialogue seems so natural (more so than in the first film, although that's partly attributable to the changed circumstances) it's really like listening on two people who've just bumped into each other and found the old connection is still there.

As they talk, it's obvious that these are essentially the same characters but they've lived and grown in the intervening time. Conversations do meander down some of the same intellectual cul-de-sacs but the self-conscious need to impress on both sides is largely gone, replaced with a measure of comfort at having found a place in the world which allows each of them to channel some of what was only theory into practice. Not necessarily comfort with everything in their lives though: they wouldn't be same people if there wasn't always something in their lives to whine about! It's also more overtly funny. Celine in particular had some great funny lines in the first film but here she's much more willing to take the piss at any given opportunity.

Again, when you look past the words to their body language you see a whole other level of performance. From the initial joy of seeing each other again through moments of awkwardness and tenderness on both sides (an park bench echo of the arm on the back of the bus seat scene from the first and an uncertain attempt to touch the back of his head) to the final laid back looseness of two people comfortable in each other's presence even though uncertain what will happen next. I realise that when talking about this stuff all I'm really doing is describing "acting." Maybe I don't normally look closely enough or perhaps it's the familiarity that makes me look for more detail each time but I really see things in both performances in both films that stagger me.

Both films have wonderfully open endings (which are then spoilt by the advance press for the next) which allow the viewer to project their own worldview onto the outcome and spend the next nine years idly pondering what's happened since.


TL;DR version: Cosh fancies Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke can sometimes do good acting too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 June, 2013, 08:13:42 AM
You write a good review, Cosh.  Only seen the first one myself, quite liked it, must try the second. While you were revelling in revisiting naturalistic performances of subtlety and beauty, I was watching The Expendables for the first time.  Far too much talking, but when things are blowing up it's pretty darn great.  Hrrrrrrgh. 

TL;DR: Mrs. TB fancies Jason Statham and TB thinks Dolph Lundgren is the greatest sweaty mumbler of his generation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 June, 2013, 08:45:26 PM
Man of Steel

There were a couple of small issues, but overall, I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 June, 2013, 12:57:03 AM
Just saw 'Chronicle'.

Now, I'd resisted this movie for a long time, being sick and tired of found-footage style movies that didn't live up to their premise. This, though, was utterly brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 June, 2013, 01:35:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 June, 2013, 11:08:12 PM
Mongol (2007).  Absolutely splendid stuff - Conan with moustaches. Exactly how I like my mystical racial-myth hagiographies, dusty, well-paced, beautifully shot and with gorgeous women and even more gorgeous landscapes.  My favourite bit is where he's locked in a cage above the Tangrut capital for 5 or 6 years, and you just know it's only a matter of time until his gaolers are completely screwed. 

You might have told us you watched it on telly! It's still up iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b018l6wz/Mongol/), and it's every bit as gorgeous to look at as the man with the Tordel Back suggests; impossibly huge mountain ranges fill the screen and vast, lush landscapes of grass-covered steppes undulate so far off into the distance and on all sides you're amazed they aren't CGI. Those vistas and the scope of the horseback battles make Dave Lean and Pete Jackson look like kitchen sink dramatists, and the film also seems to get away with a level of sincerity common in cinema of old but which modern American films just look silly trying to pull off nowadays.

I really enjoyed the funny and charismatic performance of the guy who played the brother/the villain (i) and I've been trying to imitate that incredible throat singing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOsGvs1FZDs) the two of them get up to all morning. I remember reviews at the time saying the Russian directed and financed film seemed like an apologia for authoritarian oligarchy, and I can see why the film's message that you have to slaughter a whole load of people to unite a vast land and an unruly people has some bearing on modern day Russia and China. As does the final decree that the greatest crime of all is to disobey the Khan - "we didn't know" - THUNK!

There's a sequel, called The Great Khan, in the works as part of a planned trilogy.



(i) he actually says "I am the law!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 June, 2013, 05:44:38 PM
since I got Netflix to watch Arrested development, I thought I'd check out the movies too. Peeved to se that Avengers is not available, so I watched Thor again last night, and loved it just as much as I did at trhe cinema. Branagh gives us just the right mix of Asgard/Earth action; the fights are brilliantly done, casting is spot on and the Destroyer is an awesome villain. If I had any minor niggles it's that Volstagg wasn't nearly fat enough and wore too much make-up; and Loki's desire to slug it out with Thor was uncharacteristic - he's never been portrayed as a fighter, certainly not skillful enough to go toe to toe with Thor.

it has ceratinly whetted my appetite for the sequel
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 June, 2013, 05:52:07 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 10:41:57 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 24 June, 2013, 09:52:41 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 24 June, 2013, 06:44:51 PM
I didn't care about the new guy all that much.

Is that new avatar Jeremy Renner in a bowler hat, Pops?

That's me in a bowler hat, but you're right, I do have the smouldering good looks of a movie star  ;-P

Hey, I didn't say Ryan Reynolds, did I?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 June, 2013, 12:18:52 PM
Quote from: HdE on 26 June, 2013, 12:57:03 AM
Just saw 'Chronicle'.

Now, I'd resisted this movie for a long time, being sick and tired of found-footage style movies that didn't live up to their premise. This, though, was utterly brilliant!
It is very good. Super powers does not equel super hero/ heroin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 June, 2013, 05:35:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 27 June, 2013, 12:18:52 PM
Quote from: HdE on 26 June, 2013, 12:57:03 AM
Just saw 'Chronicle'.

Now, I'd resisted this movie for a long time, being sick and tired of found-footage style movies that didn't live up to their premise. This, though, was utterly brilliant!
It is very good. Super powers does not equel super hero/ heroin.

I wasn't that impressed by Chronicle. It annoyed me when the film makers started to ignore their own 'found footage' rules during the 3rd act. Still, Peach Trees was cool...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: moly on 27 June, 2013, 07:40:05 PM
Watched warm bodies thought it was a good take on zombies
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 June, 2013, 07:54:16 PM
Nice coincydink moly. Watched Warm Bodies and thought it was awful! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2013, 12:00:59 AM
BOOK OF ELI

I never tire of watching Denzel Washington even in middling fare like this. Some aces post-apocalyptic action aside, it doesn't really give us anything new. Sure there are a couple of twists near the end - but even I saw them coming.

But the biggest twist was, I suppose, the meta-twist. You think you are getting a Simpson/Bruckheimer style post-apocalyptic actioner  but in fact you get a Walden Media movie.

Or Book of Eli? More like Bag of Shite!

BAD TEACHER
Apparently, I can tire of watching Cameron Diaz.  I really didn't think that day would come.

or Bad Teacher? More like Bad Shite!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 June, 2013, 06:25:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2013, 12:00:59 AM
BOOK OF ELI


I thought it was okay BUT of more import here, if you ever get the chance you have to see Chris Weston (of these pastures) storyboards to believe them. You know how storyboards are normally quite sketchy... not these, you could bloody publish these. Incredible.

And so you do have the chance to see them.

http://chrisweston.co.uk/?page_id=283 (http://chrisweston.co.uk/?page_id=283)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 28 June, 2013, 08:16:59 PM
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Great to see a movie relying so heavily on physical rather than CG effects, and for the most part, getting them right. Not that I'm against CG in any way, but I prefer traditional effects done at the time of shooting rather than in post production as I do a bit of that myself. ;)  The sets were lovely, the cinematography was grand and sweeping at times, the costumes were great (tight leather trousers for Miss Atterton, oh yes!), and SOME of the 'acting' was pretty good.  The film however, was drivel.  Not that I expected much more, but I was a touch confused as to who this film was aimed at.  The script is so dumbed down I thought it must be for kids, but then there's the constant (unnecessary) swearing and violence, so I guess it would be for 'teens' instead.   Not the worst film ever made, basically utter pish that passes the time, and is worth a watch for those interested in effects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 July, 2013, 09:54:10 PM
The Lost Boys: The Tribe

I'm sure that actor who played that big vamp at the start was the same guy who played Sex Machine in From Dusk Til Dawn. I could be wrong as he doesn't look much older but there's a strong resemblance.

Anyway, this film is much derided and I think I can see why. It follows the basic premise of the original film with more sex, violence and gore. The blurb at the back of the case even describes it as a 'reboot' although it is certainly set after the events of the other film. It does feel a bit flatter to me although I found it entertaining.

Although it's not stated explicitly it appears the kids from this film could be the offspring of Michael and Star from the first film. (I thought that hard to believe but considering this film is set 21 years later and Corey is described as 'nearly 18' (her brother supposedly a year or two older) the maths actually do add up. I'm getting old. ) At least that's the implication by their shared surname 'Emerson'. Thing is: aside from the cameo at the end and Edgar Frog's reprising his role there is no reference to the previous film.  It would make more sense if the kids of each were completely unrelated. It served no purpose.

That being said, I thought the film was okay. Much too much swearing for my liking though.

Great traditional style stunt work in a biking/skate boarding cop chase scene. Some black humour that made me wince and laugh. ([spoiler]Having undead fast healing mates means you can take practical jokes to a whole new level. As long as you miss the heart of course.[/spoiler] ) I thought the vamped out makeup was a bit too close to Buffy for my liking. I can understand them wishing to improve effects since the 80s film but there wasn't much wrong with the vampire makeup in that film. The story was far from original but it served. I'd say the 80s film was far better overall although the subordinate vampires got to do more than their counterparts in the original.

It was interesting seeing that cameo from [spoiler]the late Corey Haim at the end and in the alternate endings. (Curiously he looked much more recognisable to his younger self in his vampire makeup than without it in the alternative endings!)[/spoiler]

Anyway, The Thirst is next. I understand that one is much better liked by the lost folk online.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 July, 2013, 11:04:53 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 26 June, 2013, 01:35:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 June, 2013, 11:08:12 PM
Mongol (2007).  Absolutely splendid stuff

Agreed! Genghis Khan is a fascinating figure and although a little romanticised, the movie does a good job of popularising some of the finer details of history that are often obscured by the perception of a vicious barbarian tyrant.

QuoteI'm sure that actor who played that big vamp at the start was the same guy who played Sex Machine in From Dusk Til Dawn.

Tom Savini! The special effects man on the original Living Dead series (the Romero ones of course) and the director of the colour remake of Night of The Living Dead. He was indeed sex machine

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 July, 2013, 12:51:03 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 02 July, 2013, 11:04:53 AM
QuoteI'm sure that actor who played that big vamp at the start was the same guy who played Sex Machine in From Dusk Til Dawn.

Tom Savini! The special effects man on the original Living Dead series (the Romero ones of course) and the director of the colour remake of Night of The Living Dead. He was indeed sex machine

Ah yes. Thank you Charlie.

I suddenly realised I got a name mixed up in my previous post when I said:

QuoteCorey is described as 'nearly 18'

Please substitute 'Corey' for 'Nicole'. Corey is of course the first name of two of the male actors in these films rather than the name of that female character. How embarrassing. (In my defence 'Corey' strikes me as a feminine name, address but still a stupid mix-up.)

I stayed up late to watch the third film in the trilogy last night: The Lost Boys:The Thirst.
I said I didn't mind The Tribe, and I stand by that, but I think this one was better. It wasn't a retelling of the first film story for one thing. In fact I'd go as far as to say I thought it rather good! The whole vampire Rave thing was done before in the Blade films but not quite like this.

It IS very silly in places, but it's supposed to be, and it mostly works, particularly as the silliest character in these films (and the only one to appear in all of them, not including backflashes) Edgar Frog takes central stage. It's cheesy fun with a different kind of story [spoiler]with a somewhat predicted but satisfying twist at the end[/spoiler]. And endearing sidekicks too.

There are strong elements of comedy in all these films and I think it's even stronger here. I certainly wouldn't want all my horror films to be like this, but this was a fun outing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 July, 2013, 01:08:25 PM
CARS 2
Bizarelly, despite a general love for all things Pixar, I'd not seen this before. It's very different in tone to the first film (much more of a globe trotting, rip roaring adventure) and suffers from a phone-in (even by his standards) performance from Michael Caine but still good stuff. And a great fun score.

I may have been making a cup of tea when this was explained but; Was Allinall real? If so, wouldn't that just make you as much money as an oil field?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 03 July, 2013, 08:38:30 AM
Atlantic Rim, yes you read that right ATLANTIC RIM (is there even an Atlantic Rim?).  These Asylum Mockbuster are just getting so atrocious i swear this movies 'script' was made up on the fly by the 'actors'. The FX look like a PS1 game and unfortunatly just bad bad bad, not so bad it's good, one day Asylum might hit the mark but not with this one.  God just imagine if you hired this from a vid store or worse yet brought a copy, i suppose it'd make an alright coaster.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2740710/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 July, 2013, 09:46:46 PM
The Reef (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no108-reef.html) - not a band bio-pic but some people being eaten by a shark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 03 July, 2013, 09:53:13 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 03 July, 2013, 08:38:30 AM
Atlantic Rim, yes you read that right ATLANTIC RIM (is there even an Atlantic Rim?).  These Asylum Mockbuster are just getting so atrocious i swear this movies 'script' was made up on the fly by the 'actors'. The FX look like a PS1 game and unfortunatly just bad bad bad, not so bad it's good, one day Asylum might hit the mark but not with this one.  God just imagine if you hired this from a vid store or worse yet brought a copy, i suppose it'd make an alright coaster.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2740710/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


CU Radbacker

I saw that for £3 at my local Sainsbury's. By the sound of it, it seems like a good idea that I didn't waste my money it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 03 July, 2013, 11:04:46 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 03 July, 2013, 09:46:46 PM
The Reef (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no108-reef.html) - not a band bio-pic but some people being eaten by a shark.

The Reef may be crap, but your review makes me want to watch it all the same!  :D
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 04 July, 2013, 01:08:58 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 03 July, 2013, 11:04:46 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 03 July, 2013, 09:46:46 PM
The Reef (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no108-reef.html) - not a band bio-pic but some people being eaten by a shark.

The Reef may be crap, but your review makes me want to watch it all the same!  :D

If I may offer a counter opinion; I liked the Reef especially over Open Water which did nothing for me and that's saying something from someone who has a terrible fear of water (can't even bring myself to go swimming with my kids).

I'll never forget the lights coming back on in the cinema after Open Water as three dozen people look at one another as to say "was that it?!".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 July, 2013, 08:09:09 AM
Get those toes wet sheldipez! Big difference between endless shark infested waters and the local pool.

Thanks for the comments - I felt that 'Open Water' 1 & 2 got there first and this offered nothing new and I lacked any empathy for the poorly sketched characters.

Open water had a naked lady and a greater sence of isolation and desperation. I liked the ending where [spoiler]the woman just gave up and decided to fall beneath the waves[/spoiler]. Obviously the filmakers made that bit up but what else can they do for a dramatic ending?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 July, 2013, 04:14:20 PM
Scum (1979).
This film will be familar to most, but ive not seen it in an age - again despite owning the DVD.
Caught it on ITV4 last night. And tonight ill be digging out my old double disc DVD, to re-watch the BBC TV version from 1977.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 04 July, 2013, 04:29:59 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 July, 2013, 04:14:20 PM
Scum (1979).
This film will be familar to most, but ive not seen it in an age - again despite owning the DVD.
Caught it on ITV4 last night. And tonight ill be digging out my old double disc DVD, to re-watch the BBC TV version from 1977.
I did a book review on that when at school. As a kid I had two fears: nuclear war and ending up in a borstal. (Not that I was going to get into much mischief staying indoors drawing comics – which was how I spent my youth).

Hang on – I didn't know there was a Scum tv version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 July, 2013, 04:41:30 PM
Yeah, the BBC production, from 1977 - was banned and went unshown for 14 years, is the original version - and shares a similar cast and crew.
Director Alan Clarke did the Theatrical version in 1979 as well. If the original play hadnt been banned, then we probably wouldnt have got the film version, i guess.
Didnt something similar happen for Brimstone and Treacle?

The DVD release i have (from 2005) contains both versions, plus some decent extras - commentary from Phi Daniels and Ray Winstone, etc. Cheap enough on E-Bay, at present.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 July, 2013, 05:26:04 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 July, 2013, 04:41:30 PM
Didnt something similar happen for Brimstone and Treacle?

Aye, it wasn't broadcast until a decade after it was made. Which is criminal, because it's one of the best bits of telly I've ever seen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJUgs8R4VeQ), and Potter seems to have been largely written out of history. Scum's great, and it terrified me too - even though borstals were long gone by the time I saw the film. Just the word sounds intimidatingly onomatopoeic; possibly a synonym for what goes on in the film's most memorable scene.

Odd to think how censorious TV once was, when no episode of Shameless or Boardwalk Empire is complete without two or more folk giving each other a raw rattling.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 July, 2013, 05:44:47 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 04 July, 2013, 05:26:04 PM

Aye, it wasn't broadcast until a decade after it was made. Which is criminal, because it's one of the best bits of telly I've ever seen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJUgs8R4VeQ)

Odd to think how censorious TV once was

If im recalling correctly, there was a series in the mid-80's that showed all these banned productions; Scum, Brimstone, The War Game etc.
And i dont think ive see the TV version of Brimstone since then, so a cheers apiece for Sauchie, and for You-Tube.
And thats a good looking copy of Brimstone on YouTube. Is this available on disc somewhere i wonder?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 July, 2013, 05:50:49 PM
First Blood - the original Rambo outing and despite him being the protagonist, there's no clear indication that he isn't completely fucking terrifying.  Despite being an arsehole, Brian Dennehy's sheriff is kind of sympathetic as his only crime is not being diplomatic in getting a hobo to move on and suddenly his mate's dead and there's an armed madman on the loose.  It tries to go all action romp on us, but the lack of a clear protagonist makes it difficult, and Rambo's breakdown is an early showing of the cracks in the action hero facade that acknowledges that someone capable of this kind of thing can't be right in the head.  It is an oddly moral film, however, that doesn't equate murder as a proportionate response to oppression, with Rambo going off in chains at the end to take his (hopefully literal) medicine rather than go out in the blaze of glory one would expect.
It's dated in terms of the setting, but still holds up really well.

Rambo: First Blood part 2 - typical liberals!  A madman holds a town hostage, murders a police officer and declares war on the US, and does he get the chair?  Does he fuck - three years in a cushy prison where gets out in the fresh air all the time and gets to play with dynamite before the president hands him a pardon - you couldn't make it up!  Except of course it's a screenplay so somebody actually did.
Away from the cultural impact of the film and giving us the title character's name as a synonym for machismo, it's easy to forget how fantastic an action film this actually is, or how outrageous it can get at times with stuff like Rambo having a mid-air wrestling match in a helicopter with a Soviet version of the Hulk, or the pilot seeing Rambo coming for him and deciding he'd sooner fancy his chances with the drop, or even the fact that Rambo's deal is that he's a warrior frustrated by his side losing a war so ten years later he goes back and wins and for good measure fucks up the Soviets while he's at it, and it's all done so straight-faced that the title character's "I will never not love America" speech at the end never comes off as even remotely tongue-in-cheek, on this viewing serving as an admirable expression of idealism and community that gives a parody of masculinity some gravitas and character sadly lacking in his cinematic descendants.
I really enjoyed this - it's a fun romp whose corny but unforced sincerity makes it easy to see how it spawned a cartoon series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2013, 08:23:18 PM
Don't worry Prof, I loved the Rambo computer game too and I admire your willingness to fly in the face of received wisdom here.

I have to assume a man of your sophistication has already seen Flooding with Love for the Kid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFnVmzsGRXI).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 July, 2013, 02:22:49 PM
Rambo 3 - top film.  I remember not being too impressed the first time I saw it because there wasn't enough kung fu in it, virtually no-one got stabbed, and there was a clearly missed opportunity for a good fight on a moving tank during the gulag rescue scene before they get into the helicopter and start blasting Russkies into jam-like splats on a wall, but time has been kind in retroactively turning it into a feminist commentary on the cyclical and fruitless nature of conflict as an expression of the dominance of the male ID, a legitimate concern in the cinema of the period, though now seen as somewhat redundant even when many films cannot pass a simple evaluation like the Bechdel Test.
On the surface it was a film about John Rambo clotheslining Soviets so hard in the film that it knocked them out of Afghanistan in the real world, but now it is a story about a private war far removed from civilised eyes where men can find true expression of their natures and all manner of brutality plays out on their battlefields and civilian casualties are numerous and terrible.  All those who practice violence in this strange and alien place devoid of women are ultimately affected by it and become its victims to the point that when one character sees another is alive and well after a huge explosion, he actually looks disappointed that his friend is not dead.  At the end when Rambo and Trautman drive away and the orphan boy asks Rambo if he might stay, Rambo looks lost because he doesn't know how to express that he's ruined this place for him and others like him in bringing peace to it - there is no war here and so he cannot stay.  As he leaves this place, his only friend in the world chides him for showing weak female emotion, however momentary, and off they go to war again, to surreptitiously propagate conflict far from the civilised eyes of the society from which they have ostracized themselves.
The bit where Rambo explodes the giant Soviet after a big fight is awesome, as is the fight at the end where he teams up with the Taliban for some reason rather than just run everyone down in a tank all on his own even if they're in a helicopter, but it does still feel a bit slow and the center portion of the film where he travels through what's left of Afghanistan and finds that when removed from the openly emotional and civilising presence of women all they have left is to assert their manliness to one another through pointless acts of animal cruelty and corpse desecration, that bit's a bit of a bummer and could have done with maybe a gunfight to liven it up a bit, but instead we get depressed-looking old men sitting around a table lamenting that the deaths of their women and children has committed them to accepting short lives of unending violence, but like I say, a gunfight or someone running away from an explosion would have perked this bit right up.
You can tell it was made after the cartoon show as some of it is over the top, but all in all I think this was a good laugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 July, 2013, 02:43:09 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 04 July, 2013, 05:50:49 PM
It is an oddly moral film, however, that doesn't equate murder as a proportionate response to oppression, with Rambo going off in chains at the end to take his (hopefully literal) medicine rather than go out in the blaze of glory one would expect.


They toyed with him getting executed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsNQvC8CyqY) but 80's America said no.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 05 July, 2013, 02:49:47 PM
He would've made a good Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 July, 2013, 03:06:41 PM
You take that back!

(http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w653/Recrewt/judge-dredd-stallone_zps71bce34d.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 05 July, 2013, 03:12:40 PM
Saw World War Z at Cineworld, Falkirk yesterday........£9 for a ticket...... :o
That's getting to be a really expensive day out if you have a family with you....

Anyway........In Summary...
Not too bad and fairly enjoyable.....Not movie of the year stuff,  but perfectly acceptable for an evenings' entertainment.......Mr Pitt does an admirable job throughout,  and the whole thing moves along at a fairly brisk pace......CGI effects are ok as well, although with the speed the Zombies move at,  it's difficult to get 'close ups' of the action.....
[spoiler]A fairly unbelievable escape from a crashed aircraft, everyone dies apart from [/spoiler] Mr Pitt and his Israeli companion, but within the confines of the story...( He is a really tough customer and hardened investigator )...so I was 'kind of' prepared to go along with it...
No real answers to how it all started, or how it's going to end but that's the point I suppose, and it differs in content from the Max Brooks' novel....
Must say though, it is the most bloodless Zombie movie I've seen, obviously to get its' 15 certification, and anyone seeking 'gorier type' stuff should stick with The Walking Dead on TV....
I'd give it about 6.5 / 7 out of 10......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 06 July, 2013, 03:27:38 PM
Sorry Guys,
Didn't see there was a separate 'thread' for World War Z..... :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 06 July, 2013, 04:57:25 PM
My Neighbour Totoro in the cinema. It is a perfect film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 July, 2013, 05:02:28 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 06 July, 2013, 04:57:25 PM
My Neighbour Totoro in the cinema. It is a perfect film.
Word. Divine is to short a statement to describe it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 July, 2013, 04:06:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 06 July, 2013, 04:57:25 PM
My Neighbour Totoro in the cinema. It is a perfect film.

Went to see it again this morning. I don't think it is physically possible to see this movie too many times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 07 July, 2013, 04:59:57 PM
Just watched The Iron Giant--- how have I never seen it before? I even have the video/toy robot package  here on my shelf but never got around to watching it

Finally, a movie featuring Vin Diesel that I'm not ashamed to like
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 July, 2013, 05:02:31 PM
Quote from: johnnystress on 07 July, 2013, 04:59:57 PM
Just watched The Iron Giant--- how have I never seen it before? I even have the video/toy robot package  here on my shelf but never got around to watching it

Finally, a movie featuring Vin Diesel that I'm not ashamed to like

Good, innit?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 July, 2013, 05:43:52 PM
Watched a handful of movies over the weekend with the old man.

He'd been keen to see The Expendables for ages, and finally spalshed out on it in the Tesco sale. I do not say this lightly, but I thought it was utter crap.

Thankfully, he also picked up Men In Black 3, which I initially watched under protest. Glad I DID watch it, though, because it's proabably the best of the three movies! Brilliant to see Jemaine Clement (From Flight Of The Conchords) get a big screen role.

We also sat through Hollywood Homicide - a very silly, but pretty fun little movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2013, 11:18:55 PM
Gangster Squad - goodness me, this wasn't very good at all.  The best way to describe it would be to ask you to imagine that Brian DePalma's Untouchables was coming out this year instead of in 1987 and that the Asylum decided to do a knock-off called Uncorruptables or something like that - it really is that terrible, and the only thing that disguises this is the fact that a lot of money has been thrown at it and the actors are actually pretty good even if all they have to do is chew scenery.
I did like some things about it, like the fact that when the supercop is assembling his team of Uncorruptables he basically recruits Cat's knife-throwing alter-ego from that western episode of Red Dwarf and Doc fucking Holliday from the movie Tombstone, but let me be clear about this: when I say he recruits Doc Holliday, I mean he actually does recruit a man (played by Robert Patrick) who carries revolvers in hip-mounted holsters, is a crack shot, wears a stetson and spurs, has a silly mustache, and has pulp adventures written about him within the fictional universe of the film story, which we know because at one point supercop's wife holds up a pulp magazine and points at it saying "you need this guy on your team" so supercop goes out and finds him - in a cowpoke bar, naturally.  This, I will admit, is fantastic, because if you do not know already, Gangster Squad is a story about the downfall of the Los Angeles mob in 1949.  Sadly, there is very little of this kind of ludicrous invention elsewhere and the film is just a parade of Untouchables rip-offs right down to the nerdy one kicking the bucket and a climactic shootout against the background of some huge steps, so on balance I would have to say it is just competently made shite.

Unlike Atlantic Rim, which is incompetently made shite.
The Asylum have balls making a brand name out of this kind of mockbuster cash-in rather than just changing their name to a different company with each movie so there's not that huge "an Asylum film" caveat for the wary buyer on all their dvd covers, and by statistical probability they've knocked out the odd amusing timewasting effort like Nazis at the Center of the Earth, but on average their films are brutally awful and devoid of redeeming qualities and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, and Atlantic Rim is why.  No part of this makes me think that anyone made any effort or enjoyed themselves making it, and I cannot understand how someone working in genre film couldn't find anyone interested in making a western kaiju flick, as the genre has a lot of fans in film production circles to the point that even tripe like Reptilian, Godzilla In Name Only, Power Rangers: The Movie, and King Kong Lives have high points.  This is just a collection of scenes strung together with nothing to make them make sense in relation to each other to the point that even I had to admit that three giant robots having a pagga with a dinosaur in Times Square was just cheap-looking and obnoxious rather than exciting and awesome, and don't even get me started on the dubious racial politics going on in the central love triangle plot that is so slight that I couldn't even get offended at its "bros before hos" payoff.
COMPLETE shite, and I don't mean "so bad it becomes amusing at some point" shite, I mean "zero budget, no ideas, and even if it was made in someone's backyard and the dvd fell out of a Christmas cracker I would still have no goodwill towards it" shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 08 July, 2013, 12:34:45 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 07 July, 2013, 11:18:55 PM
Atlantic Rim, which is incompetently made shite.
COMPLETE shite, and I don't mean "so bad it becomes amusing at some point" shite, I mean "zero budget, no ideas, and even if it was made in someone's backyard and the dvd fell out of a Christmas cracker I would still have no goodwill towards it" shite.

Good reviews, Prof.... :D,
I've heard several differing reports on Gangster Squad, some favourable and some not so.....so will give this a try on DVD (or Sky )....
Atlantic Rim.....reckon I might give this one a miss then...... :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 08 July, 2013, 08:35:35 PM
Wake In Fright (1971) - in which a school teacher gets himself stranded in a little town in the Australian outback, and plunges into an abyss of moral degradation, thanks to what he terms "aggressive hospitality". Anything, he observes, is permissible in the local culture – apart from refusing a beer. As such, he spends the entire movie drunk or hung-over, his every encounter torrid and demeaning, rapidly losing his grip. Probably one of the darkest films I've ever seen – a constant atmosphere of degeneracy and squalor pervades every frame, and the nocturnal kangaroo hunting sequence (filmed on a real kangaroo hunt) is pretty tough to get through. The film's not without humour, of course – there's a great bit where one local ponders the masculinity of the protagonist:

"What's the matter with him? He'd rather talk to a woman than drink?"
"School teacher."
"Ohhh."

Brilliant performance by Donald Pleasence as the local doctor – educated, alcoholic and sexually ambiguous, contemplating the nature of civilisation one minute, smashing up a pub the next. Excellent film (regarded as one of the greats of Australian cinema) but not an easy view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 July, 2013, 08:42:49 PM
Gangster Squad was shite and not even historically accurate shite - [spoiler]Sean Penn's character lived for 20 odd years after he was 'taken down'.[/spoiler]

I've been catching up with my homework with Hollywood Satire What Just Happened (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no194-what-just-happened.html) and then to quoth The Raven (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no109-raven.html) plenty more.

Oooh and I'll need that one of Greg's too..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 July, 2013, 11:59:39 PM
I'm not defending Gangster Squad or owt, but it does have a recruiting scene pretty early on where Elliot Ness recruits a cowboy, a ninja and a rocket scientist.  Historical accuracy was never going to be its problem, and it is pretty up front about this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 July, 2013, 12:06:24 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 08 July, 2013, 11:59:39 PM
I'm not defending Gangster Squad or owt, but it does have a recruiting scene pretty early on where Elliot Ness recruits a cowboy, a ninja and a rocket scientist.  Historical accuracy was never going to be its problem, and it is pretty up front about this.

But Elliot Ness did recruits Irish American (with Scottish accent), accountant and future Godfather.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 July, 2013, 12:11:05 AM
My major problem with Gangster Squad was [spoiler]the bit when they assault the hotel.  After a brief gunfight, you get the two lead guys, breaking through the bad guys, and entering the hotel.  But before they do, they are parallel with the bad guys defending, and for some reason don't shoot the buggers!  So they leave a 2 on 2 battle outside and enter the building, where the two of them take out dozens of baddies, only for the chief lieutenant to escape, exit the hotel (also ignoring, and being ignored by the 2 on 2 shootout) to find that the 2 on 2 is STILL FACKING GOING!!!!!!![/spoiler]  Such shit shots or what??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: johnnystress on 09 July, 2013, 09:28:53 AM
Not much Eliott Ness as Eliott Mess

eh? eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 10 July, 2013, 11:30:07 PM
Elliott pish but that doesn't scan.

I watched worthy western White Feather (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no195-white-feather.html) followed by the slightly more fun The Spoilers. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no110-spoilers.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 11 July, 2013, 11:32:22 PM
Blyhte Spirit...cus it was on when i got in last night and is still brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 12 July, 2013, 12:32:17 AM
Recent talk of movie knock-offs has me determined to watch Iron Hero pretty soon (a gag Xmas gift from a mate a few years back. Bizarrely, I bought it for him as a gag Xmas gift that very same year). Tag lines include The Heart of 'SUPERMAN'. The mind and body of 'TERMINATOR' and Part man... Part Machine... All Hero. The blurb on the back mentions Iron Hero taking on Reed's (?) ninja henchmen and ultimate secret weapon 'the Mecha Terror robot'. The "awesome powers" of the Iron Hero suit includes invisibility, which I'm guessing will be used quite a lot.
Now finding myself wondering how I have managed to resist this for so long, I may actually put it on a little later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2013, 03:01:48 AM
The Host, which is not very good, but kind of sort of held my attention even when outright laughable.  Some almost-formed ideas about the well-trodden bodysnatching alien energy blobs plotline can't disguise that it is still the well-trodden bodysnatching alien energy blobs plotline, or that the actual drama of the main character's dilemma is knackered by the chosen narrative mechanics employed to portray two minds in one body: the actress walks around looking at everything from people to furniture with the expression of a startled bunny while a valley girl shouts conflicting emotions at her, the body being the alien and the voiceover being the human.  I would've liked to see just one side or the other of this dynamic - no voice-over from the trapped human mind explaining every plot and character detail so that the alien comes off as alien rather than just shy, or the actress narrating the entire film - but the mix of both just comes off as clumsy and often undermines what should be head-scratching moments for the audience as they try to grasp why they are watching a film that is genuinely pushing a love triangle with four people but two of them are in one body.
Eventually, because a millennia-old alien has never in all her travels encountered the notion of lube and thus can't wrap her head around the idea of one guy in front and one guy in back, she decides to top herself and I was like WHAT and then Sucker Punch was in it with brown hair for some reason and I was distracted by the fact that she is clearly the tiniest person in the whole world, but her presence resolved the need for a three-way to break the tension and then it was over after a seemingly random tacked-on end that served no real purpose except to confuse people who didn't know if they were watching a pilot episode of something, because it all comes off in the end as looking like a pilot episode of yet another slightly unoriginal tv show with a budget and/or cast it doesn't really need.
It isn't original, it doesn't really do anything you haven't seen before with the premise (I have a suspicion that there are a couple of Outer Limits writers who phoned their lawyers after seeing it) and I think some of the conundrums thrown up in the course of the story were really just going on in my head because of the film's slow pace, but it's all competently made Saturday afternoon viewing if there isn't an episode of Stargate SG1 on somewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 12 July, 2013, 02:25:07 PM
 :lol: :lol: :lol:
QuoteEventually, because a millennia-old alien has never in all her travels encountered the notion of lube and thus can't wrap her head around the idea of one guy in front and one guy in back, she decides to top herself and I was like WHAT and then Sucker Punch was in it with brown hair for some reason and I was distracted by the fact that she is clearly the tiniest person in the whole world, but her presence resolved the need for a three-way to break the tension

dude you owe me a damn keyboard, mines now cover in tea.  :lol: :lol: :lol:

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 12 July, 2013, 02:55:51 PM
Watched Sightseers the other night, has anyone used Shiteseers yet? If not then thats my review.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 July, 2013, 03:24:16 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 12 July, 2013, 03:01:48 AMEventually, because a millennia-old alien has never in all her travels encountered the notion of lube and thus can't wrap her head around the idea of one guy in front and one guy in back, she decides to top herself

QuoteIt isn't original, it doesn't really do anything you haven't seen before

I'm having trouble reconciling these two statements, but I definitely want to watch this.

And Iron Hero
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 July, 2013, 04:53:50 PM
FLIGHT with Denzel Washington.

Flight?  More like Sh...





... shockingingly good movie actually. Denzel is really good as a tortured soul - who is cool as all fuck when in the cockpit. And the plane crash is executed in fine style.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2013, 05:49:46 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 12 July, 2013, 03:24:16 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 12 July, 2013, 03:01:48 AMEventually, because a millennia-old alien has never in all her travels encountered the notion of lube and thus can't wrap her head around the idea of one guy in front and one guy in back, she decides to top herself

QuoteIt isn't original, it doesn't really do anything you haven't seen before

I'm having trouble reconciling these two statements

You need to watch more sci-fi, then, as NOW I HAVE DISCOVERED HUMAN EMOTION I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO MY ALIEN WAYS I WOULD RATHER DIE is a common trope (especially as presented in The Host, as it comes off as more of a riff on Highlander and New Amsterdam's "I outlive all my family and friends" angle), as is THE ALIEN IN MY BODY LOVES SOMEONE IT SHOULDN'T AND NOW WE ARE BOTH CONFLICTED.  I can think of at least three separate occasions where both popped up in the (deliberately) aforementioned SG1, and at least three times across the two spin-off series as well.  Also a regular occurrence with DS9's Dax - especially in the final season when the character was played by a different actress - and obviously happened a couple of times in the other Trek shows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 July, 2013, 06:00:44 PM
but without the lube  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 July, 2013, 06:14:25 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 12 July, 2013, 03:01:48 AM
Sucker Punch was in it with brown hair for some reason and I was distracted by the fact that she is clearly the tiniest person in the whole world, but her presence resolved the need for a three-way to break the tension

Emily Browning's USP seems to be that she's pretty enough to be in Oscar-nominated period drama but is willing to appear in genre trash that involves often humiliating sexual exploitation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4aoP_--Zw). Which is disturbing, because the only thing I really know her from is A Series of Unfortunate Events (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBtg3y9V8Ro) when she was just a wee girl.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 July, 2013, 06:22:29 PM
I liked Sleeping Beauty. :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 July, 2013, 06:24:22 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 12 July, 2013, 06:22:29 PM
I liked Sleeping Beauty. :|

Dirty wee bugger.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 July, 2013, 07:34:15 PM
Call me pervy (no seriously, liberality seemingly has no place in our society) but it's still better than 98% of the mainstream shite put out each year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2013, 08:57:46 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 12 July, 2013, 06:14:25 PM
Which is disturbing, because the only thing I really know her from is A Series of Unfortunate Events (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBtg3y9V8Ro) when she was just a wee girl.

She is still pretty wee.  I don't know if that makes things better for you or worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 July, 2013, 09:02:42 PM

I'm in a good mood tonight, so I'm going to give McGee's reputedly awful Terminator 4 (Film Four, right now) a go for the first time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 July, 2013, 09:07:52 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 12 July, 2013, 09:02:42 PM
I'm in a good mood tonight, so I'm going to give McGee's reputedly awful Terminator 4 (Film Four, right now) a go for the first time.

I'll confess that I really didn't hate it.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 July, 2013, 09:09:07 PM
Salvation? I enjoyed it much more than Terminator 3. And the bits with [spoiler]Arnie[/spoiler] were a pleasant surprise. They won't be to you if you highlight that spoiler though!

I think Cameron is doing a direct sequel to T2 though. So dunno if this is canon?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2013, 09:11:14 PM
T4's an alright romp.  No big shakes if you can get past the heavy use of cliche, but there's a couple of good setpieces and single-take shots.  One suspects it might have fared better critically if it was set outside the Terminator universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 July, 2013, 10:16:02 PM
It's oddly harmless. Not half a shite as everyone let's you onto believe it is. Certainly a divider though.

And Dr.X That wasn't [spoiler]Arnie[/spoiler], it was a CGI double.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 July, 2013, 10:53:30 PM
More exciting western action in The Desperadoes (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no111-desperadoes.html) followed by John Wayne going head to head with a rubber octopus in Wake of the Red Witch. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no196-wake-of-red-witch.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 July, 2013, 11:32:40 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 12 July, 2013, 09:02:42 PM

I'm in a good mood tonight, so I'm going to give McGee's reputedly awful Terminator 4 (Film Four, right now) a go for the first time.

There's a few things to like in it but I reckon it was mostly shite.  Nobody opens a door when they can blow it off the hinges with a grenade launcher, It's that kind of movie. [spoiler]Arnie [/spoiler]was cool though.  Really, don't highlight the spoiler.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 13 July, 2013, 12:48:08 AM
T4 wasn't 'hey how about that awful bit' awful, it was just a bit underwhelming, for mine.  Enough is enough.

I've just watched my first Chuck Norris movie - an early 90s effort called Hellbound.  Chuck and his annoying funky sidekick (they're cops who annoy their strait-laced boss) get involved in stopping Satan's henchperson, Prosatanus from getting a really tacky relic and taking over the world etc.
  It was pretty much as you'd expect.  My mate says it's Norris' best movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 July, 2013, 01:55:32 AM
That is not actually saying very much, as even Chuck's best movies are fuppin terrible.  Sidekicks and Firewalker are his most accessible and mainstream efforts, though if you can enjoy things for straddling bad and funny, Invasion USA (featuring a high noon showdown with rocket launchers instead of handguns) and Lone Wolf McQuade (in which Chuck wakes up in his own grave and decides it's time to have a beer) are worth a gander.  Otherwise, don't watch his films because he's a homophobic loon who thinks it super-important that 8 year olds be thrown out of the boy scouts if they didn't want to kiss a lady on the mouth. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 13 July, 2013, 07:36:49 AM
Shaun of the Dead, for the first time in years. Much funnier than I remember it being
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 July, 2013, 09:07:15 AM
Chuck did have two fun but admitidly shite outing's in The Octagon and A Force of One. Firstly a Ninja in a running man style tournimant, then as a proto-Walker Texas Ranger. I have them both on BD and stick them on with mate's when drunk, make's for fun viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 July, 2013, 09:18:04 AM
Quote from: everyone on the board, last night
I'll confess that I really didn't hate it ... I enjoyed it much more than Terminator 3 ... T4's an alright romp.  No big shakes if you can get past the heavy use of cliche, but there's a couple of good setpieces and single-take shots.... It's oddly harmless. Not half a shite as everyone let's you onto believe it is... There's a few things to like in it but I reckon it was mostly shite ... T4 wasn't 'hey how about that awful bit' awful, it was just a bit underwhelming, for mine.  Enough is enough.

There must be something in that whole Wisdom of Crowds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds) business, because the above represents a fair summary of my own response. It was standard production line fun without much to distinguish it from Battleship, which is a pity because McG's other work is characterised by a sense of humour and outrageous camp. He played it as straight and manly here as Bale and Worthington's number three haircuts, which means the film is as bland and forgettable as both. The bikes were fun and everything looks as expensive, expansive, and as ruggedly handsome as Black Hawk Down or Jarhead, but I'll never watch the film again as long as I live.

What meant this and 3 didn't really feel like Terminator films to me was that they didn't share the tight and simple story structure of their predecessors. Cameron's films were impressively lean and efficient, but T4 shits extraneous characters and plot all over the screen: the functions of Blair, Connor's wife and the little Hushpuppy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZYd5MOHXck) kid could have been collapsed into one character; Michael Ironside was wasted and the whole Resistance movement seemed far too elaborate and well-resourced (submarines?); Sam Worthington's character didn't belong there thematically, and his story added nothing to the film except running time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 July, 2013, 09:28:53 AM
Hmm. Not seen Terminator Salvation but I'm more than happy to stand up and be counted for the Charlies Angelses so maybe I should.

Just last night someone was vocally recommending The Sarah Connor Chronicles to me. Was he right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 July, 2013, 09:36:48 AM
I enjoyed Terminator Salvation - it's a decent action film. I agree it doesn't really feel like a Terminator film though.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles was brilliant though. I was convinced it would be shit - I couldn't see how Terminator could work as a TV series but it won me over with the first episode. I highly recommend it - everyone I know that had given it a chance has come away hugely impressed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 13 July, 2013, 09:40:06 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 13 July, 2013, 09:28:53 AM
Hmm. Not seen Terminator Salvation but I'm more than happy to stand up and be counted for the Charlies Angelses so maybe I should.

Just last night someone was vocally recommending The Sarah Connor Chronicles to me. Was he right?

Yes, the The Sarah Connor Chronicles are well worth a visit, slips into teen soap opera occasionally but IMHO miles better than Terminator Salvation, which I disliked so much the first time (in the Cinema), I watched it again at home thinking that maybe I was too harsh, I wasn't its a stinker.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 13 July, 2013, 09:54:19 AM
Sarah Connor C is ok but they got the personalities swapped around a bit too much coming off the back off T2; Sarah acts like John (calm, rational, well thought out) which I kinda understand a little if you put her irrational decision making in T2 down to stress and she's had time to settle down but John acts like nothing like his T2 version. Essentially a whiney child that's oblivious to the danger of the terminators. The way they present the two Sarah should be the leader of any future resistance.

The show is a bit all over the place and can go from really great ideas (showing how the terminators prepared for judgement day) to incredibly dumb the next (a terminator that wanders about without a head).

It pretends that T3 movie never happened so gets extra points for that.

I've got to say this is most positive feedback I've read in one place for T4. I just about got to the end of that thing. Truly abysmal in every possible way. I can suspend my disbelief (we're talking about robots here) but it constantly ignores any real world logic it could only be set in some weird alternate universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 July, 2013, 02:06:37 PM
There's stuff in Salvation I dislike.[spoiler] The inefficient method of termination the T800 employs for example which seemed to amount to a lot of throwing.* I mean he actually wrecked a T600 at one point and didn't make use of the mini gun. Oh and that sacrificial ending rubbed me up the wrong way. [/spoiler] And I found some of the acting a bit dodgy.

Overall, I really liked it though. I quite liked the idea of [spoiler] Skynet's new tactics with that twist concerning Worthington's character, although it seemed a bit over complicated.[/spoiler]

And yeah, Sarah Connor Chronicles is good if rather slow in places. Actually the second series was the first or second blu-ray I bought (the other concerned a certain future lawman you might have heard of. Clue: it didn't star Sylvester Stallone) . I've delayed watching it until I pick up the first series although I saw the original run on the telly. I think I missed a couple of episodes though. Shame it was discontinued.

*To be fair the terminator [spoiler]in the 80s film does a bit of that too when confronted with Sarah's roommate's boyfriend. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 July, 2013, 04:08:14 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 13 July, 2013, 02:06:37 PM
There's stuff in Salvation I dislike.[spoiler] The inefficient method of termination the T800 employs for example which seemed to amount to a lot of throwing.* I mean he actually wrecked a T600 at one point and didn't make use of the mini gun. Oh and that sacrificial ending rubbed me up the wrong way. [/spoiler]And I found some of the acting a bit dodgy.

Aye, the unstoppable, almost indestructible killing machine which terrorised Sarah Connor and stood up to everything Kyle Reese could fling at it over the course of a battle which raged across Los Angeles in the original film just falls over and dies anytime someone fires a couple of bullets from a handgun in its general direction in T4. On the positive side, I didn't recognise Anton Yelchin as Reese; sometimes he reminded me so much of Biehn I assumed there was digital trickery involved, but I think he conveyed that all through mannerisms and vocal inflection - y'know, acting.

He wasn't in it much though, and I think it could have been a more interesting film if more of the screen time had been devoted to him and Bale on screen together. Replacing Worthington's character and his ambiguous role infiltrating the resistance with Reese seems like a much better source of dramatic tension - and more closely related to both the portrayal of Reese in the first film (i) and the conflicted feelings Connor must have about him - than the Pinocchio side-plot they opted for. Bale was alright but he didn't seem engaged with the role; I'm not sure whether that was the fault of the script or because the actor was distracted (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0auwpvAU2YA).


(i) I remember thinking Reese was another Terminator the first time I watched the original on video, and his description of a Terminator so lifelike he was warm to the touch, and even smelled, infiltrating a band of human survivors set alarm bells ringing too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 July, 2013, 07:33:45 PM
I admit I was watching T4 and there was a moment when Christian Bale jumped out of a Plane [I think it was a C-130 Hercules] into the raging Sea so he could then get aboard the Resistance Submarine. After he'd had a chin wag with them he was suddenly at an Airport with the C-130 again.

How'd he get from the Submarine aboard the Hercules?

Did it fly underwater?! 

I was reminded of that classic VIZ cartoon strip  lampooning 'Commando' Comics where a Spitfire flies underwater shoots up a Nazi Sub and is back home in time for tea and biscuits. Nice production design but not so good a story just like T 3.

I understand there making another Terminator Film soon apparently concentrating on Arnie's Terminator. How Arnie became a killing Machine ? Could that save the franchise or bury it?




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 13 July, 2013, 08:25:42 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 July, 2013, 07:33:45 PM
I understand there making another Terminator Film soon apparently concentrating on Arnie's Terminator. How Arnie became a killing Machine ? Could that save the franchise or bury it?
That's one of the other things I don't like about Terminator being a franchise instead of one film- the Schwarzenegger insistence. How many times are the human survivors going to fall for yet another cyborg that looks like Schwarzenegger (if not an older-looking version of him)? Even in 3 they confirm there is an assembly line of Schwarzeneggers! Hadn't heard how the next one is his story but somebody told me a while back that there is a deleted scene from Salvation with Schwarzenegger as a soldier of some kind (with a Texas accent) working with Skynet on the whole idea of cyber-fighters for the military. Like this possible plot for the next installment I've just found out about, it sounds terrible to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 July, 2013, 08:39:25 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 13 July, 2013, 08:25:42 PM
somebody told me a while back that there is a deleted scene from Salvation with Schwarzenegger as a soldier of some kind (with a Texas accent) working with Skynet on the whole idea of cyber-fighters for the military. Like this possible plot for the next installment I've just found out about, it sounds terrible to me.

Sergeant Candy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bEH9W2RdYn4#t=56s)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 13 July, 2013, 08:49:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 13 July, 2013, 08:39:25 PM
Sergeant Candy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bEH9W2RdYn4#t=56s)

Just brilliant in its' awfulness !!............ :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 July, 2013, 09:14:45 PM
GI Joe: Retaliation - which is a film that cost over a hundred million dollars to make, yet still no-one was at any point paid to look at the previous and lucrative GI Joe movies to see that they tried killing off one of the major characters - the exact same character they kill off in this one about ten minutes in - in one of the animated films back in the 1980s and it tested about as well as killing off Han Solo in the original cut of Return of the Jedi by casting a shadow over the rest of the exploding-toy silliness.  Luckily, the character in question is so ephemeral their death only registers when someone acts like we should care, so we can settle down to watch the Rock overpower another screen franchise full of explosions and daft setpieces in an underwritten and not very funny or interesting role, but it's the Rock so it's hard to be disappointed.
The plot is that Cobra Commander is the greatest terrorist in the history of the world and everyone knows this, yet when the President of the United States announces he has subcontracted the defence of the nation to a military organisation called Cobra no-one bats an eye.  The real President, of course, has been replaced by an evil double who declares that since Snake Eyes assassinated the President of Pakistan the Prez has ordered the murder of all members of GI Joe - American servicemen and women - and then Snake Eyes is revealed to actually be Storm Shadow but no-one goes "oops," in fact they find this turn of events really amusing.  Then the Punisher shows up on a rocket-powered transforming motorcycle and uses his exploding robot insects to bust Cobra Commander out of super-prison, Snake Eyes has a swordfight on a vertical mountainside with a hundred ninjas, Cobra Commander unveils his orbiting death satellites which can all be destroyed by pressing a single huge red button in a briefcase he carries with him - I suspect this plot point may become important later - and the Rock saves the day by having a wrestling match.  London is destroyed and Bruce Willis appears, but I'm not sure which of these is the greater tragedy.
This is a stupid film with some great sequences - the mountain swordfight, the explodey finale - but overall it's not as good as the first one and comes off as a really po-faced remake of Megaforce.  It's all very patchy and doesn't really have any central focus beyond maybe the President stuff, with some really shoddy editing killing some jokes entirely to the point they may need explaining to you ("time for extraction") or creating continuity gaffes/plot holes like Storm Shadow being back at Cobra Commander's side despite being captured by Snake Eyes minutes earlier, but all told, it was okay fluff as long as you can tolerate deliberately silly stories with toys showing up at random intervals to be shot at or exploded by other toys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 July, 2013, 04:52:28 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 13 July, 2013, 08:39:25 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 13 July, 2013, 08:25:42 PM
somebody told me a while back that there is a deleted scene from Salvation with Schwarzenegger as a soldier of some kind (with a Texas accent) working with Skynet on the whole idea of cyber-fighters for the military. Like this possible plot for the next installment I've just found out about, it sounds terrible to me.

Sergeant Candy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bEH9W2RdYn4#t=56s)

Yeah, it was for Terminator 3 not Salvation. I'm glad that remained on the cutting room floor although I'm glad it as a deleted scene on the DVD as it has a certain daft comedy appeal.

Speaking of the huge production line of Schwarzenegger terminators, one of the (many) thing I liked about the Sarah Connor Chronicles was there getting back to the original idea that a terminator could be pretty much anyone. (Although a large amount of them still seemed to be good looking and muscular.) [spoiler]Later they even took to replacing specific people. I wasn't sure how I felt about that as that seemed to fit another franchise more, but it makes logical sense in the next step of infiltration.[/spoiler]

Part of me would love to step into that parallel universe where they stuck with the original idea of Lance Henrickssen as the Terminator. Much as I like Arnold's version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 July, 2013, 05:03:38 PM
QuoteOn the positive side, I didn't recognise Anton Yelchin as Reese; sometimes he reminded me so much of Biehn I assumed there was digital trickery involved, but I think he conveyed that all through mannerisms and vocal inflection - y'know, acting.

Oh yes, he was good. My reference to 'dodgy acting' wouldn't include him. Actually most of the acting wasn't bad, but there was something about the scenes between Worthington's character and Blair Williams which fell rather flat to me. Probably the script had more to blame than their actual performance though, to be fair.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 14 July, 2013, 07:09:55 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 July, 2013, 04:52:28 PM
Part of me would love to step into that parallel universe where they stuck with the original idea of Lance Henrickssen as the Terminator. Much as I like Arnold's version.



I also like Arnies' version and thought T2 was an excellent movie......T3 and T4 not so much....
Not dreadful, but given the 'subject matter' could have been so much better...
And I had never heard that Lance Henrickssen was considered for the role originally !!!...... :o.
I would really have liked to have seen that !!
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:03:34 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 July, 2013, 04:52:28 PM
Part of me would love to step into that parallel universe where they stuck with the original idea of Lance Henrickssen as the Terminator. Much as I like Arnold's version.
What about that other parallel universe, where OJ Simpson was the Terminator because Cameron was willing to believe people could view him as a killer?! Too morbid? I remember reading a Lance Henrickssen interview some years back where he discussed his trying to impress Cameron for the role and it sounded a little too much like he was trying to come across as nasty instead of emotionless (also put his voice down to 50 Marlboros a day since an early age, so I've no idea how he's still going) so I think Arnold was the right choice for it. I'd still like to see Henrickssen as The Saint of Killers if HBO or whoever in Hollywood get that Preacher adaptation going though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 July, 2013, 09:11:27 PM
I think Michael Biehn was going to be the Terminator too at some point with Arnie as the human soldier - the idea being that they'd make the Terminator look like a normal bloke but an elite robot fighting human would likely be built like a brick shithouse. Then they realised Arnie could hardly speak the language and they reversed the roles.

I'm glad Arnie got the role - it was his big break and without it he may not have become one of the greatest action stars of the 80s and 90s.

I always wished Michael Biehn had done more stuff though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:18:11 PM
Arnie was the one who got the most off Terminator but 'my' generation had Beihn as Reese and Hicks to have as big screen heroes! Everybody wanted to be Hicks when you were playing Aliens. I think- when young- a lot of the love you have for Scwarzenegger isn't just because of the films but because you look at him and think "I want to be that muscley when I grow up."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 14 July, 2013, 09:19:21 PM
The way I heard it, is that Arnie was the one who chased the change, and had to convince Cameron to let him be the Termi. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 July, 2013, 09:29:48 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:18:11 PM
I think- when young- a lot of the love you have for Scwarzenegger isn't just because of the films but because you look at him and think "I want to be that muscley when I grow up."


I can't say I ever empathised with that feeling. I always thought he looked awkward and had man-tits.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:41:45 PM
Now you've got me wondering if only kids from Liverpool wanted to grow up with his physique! To those of you that didn't- come on! He picked up a car in Twins! A car! Seriously- when I was at a young age, Scwarzenegger was the only man you were willing to believe could come out of a fight with your dad the better man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 July, 2013, 10:01:53 PM

I only knew Schwarzenegger from Terminator and Predator, where his physique is in proportion to the stylistic excesses of the material; it wasn't until much later when I saw how ridiculous he looked squeezed into human clothing in Raw Deal that I realised how grotesguely deformed he'd made himself. Similarly, I didn't realise how homo-erotic his image was until the US version of gay culture started appearing on Channel Four - until then I thought gay guys were Kenneth Williams and Jimmy Somerville, not muscled hunks in tight breeks who stalked their prey in clubs playing deafening techno.

Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 14 July, 2013, 10:54:20 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 14 July, 2013, 09:19:21 PM
The way I heard it, is that Arnie was the one who chased the change, and had to convince Cameron to let him be the Termi.

In Arnie's biography he says that Cameron persuaded him to be the terminator as he spent most of their meeting (about when he could play the part of Kyle) talking about how the guy playing terminator would have to act to really sell it. Arnie said he was hesitant to take do it as he only wanted to play the hero in movies as any villain roles wouldn't be any good for his image.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 July, 2013, 11:12:42 PM
I heard Arnie learned how to take apart and reload all the weapons blind folded, because a machine wouldn't nee to look. That's practically method acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 14 July, 2013, 11:45:57 PM
Tonight on my last night home alone I watched I Give It A Year which was pretty good - couple of laugh out loud sceens especially the one with the digital photoframe. Also saw G.I. Joe : Retaliation which was a lot of rubbish but quite a lot of fun too. Back to Merchant Ivory tomorrow!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 July, 2013, 12:36:41 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:18:11 PM
Everybody wanted to be Hicks when you were playing Aliens.
Is this a joke? Can't remember ever playing Aliens but, if I had, there would only have been one choice of marine to go: Vasquez... You're just too bad! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYkxCzBszOQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 July, 2013, 01:02:09 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 15 July, 2013, 12:36:41 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 14 July, 2013, 09:18:11 PM
Everybody wanted to be Hicks when you were playing Aliens.
Is this a joke? Can't remember ever playing Aliens but, if I had, there would only have been one choice of marine to go: Vasquez... You're just too bad! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYkxCzBszOQ)

I can't say I ever played at Aliens either, but I would have thought the obvious choice would the goddamned Alien.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 15 July, 2013, 01:22:02 AM
You wanted to be the baddie in the games you played growing up?!
No, everybody wanted to be Hicks and do the "Eat this!" line. I think we struggled with all the other names once Hicks had been taken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 July, 2013, 01:30:40 AM
I thought Hudson had all the best lines? Game over man. Game over.

Can't imagine anyone wanted to be Spunkmeyer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 15 July, 2013, 01:32:15 AM
If I could go back and be Hudson, I would. Nobody would get the director's cut "Pointy sticks" etc reference, but I'd know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 July, 2013, 02:23:51 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 15 July, 2013, 01:22:02 AM
You wanted to be the baddie in the games you played growing up?!

Yeah, I was always Vader when we played Star Wars, and Shredder when we played Turtles
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 July, 2013, 07:37:35 AM
We used to play Knight Rider and the person who played KITT had to give Michael Knight a piggy back and also had to waggle their tongue left and right to simulate the red light!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 July, 2013, 10:36:23 AM
Sgt Apone, how could it be anyone else?  You secure that that sh*t Hudson!  Somebody wake up Hicks.  Assholes and elbows. Look into my eye. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 15 July, 2013, 12:03:53 PM
Turns out James C and his mates had better imaginations and games than me and my mates. TordelBack- you have to remember this would have been late 80s to around 90/91 maybe; we'd only ever watched the ITV version of Aliens and Apone's best lines would have been cut because of it! Mister Pops has me wondering about Turtles. I remember playing with the toys at home but never pretending to be them in the playground, which is odd. More interested in your always being the villain though because I remember a short story we had to focus on years later (GCSE level) and the lad in this story that grew up to be quite a dangerous individual in later life had always wanted to be the villain in the games they played as kids. Just throwing that out there for you to think about...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 July, 2013, 12:10:20 PM
So, did no-one want to be Ripley?  She does kind of kick ass in the movie whilst most of the marines are just Alien food!

Also agree that it was more fun to play the baddie - Darth Vadar and Boba Fett were the main guys for me out of star wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 15 July, 2013, 12:12:02 PM
Slightly 'off topic',  but still related to playing Aliens.....Many years ago, Glasgow had an Alien War experience,  below the Arches ( I think )...
My wife and I took the kids ( 12 and 9 at the time ),  and we were ushered into a small room, which was done up like the inside of a corridor in a Space Station.....It looked very realistic in the 'semi dark'....

The attendant ( dressed as a Space Marine ) gave us 'the warm up blurb'........" We are on the Alien planet, and we are safe at the moment.....Then the alarm went off !!!.........Really Loud and constant, and the announcement is made...." It's a Alien break through......we have to make our way to the escape chamber "....
Then the lights go off and the 'strobe' lighting started......and everyone started running towards the escape chamber...........Off course one of the doors then opened,  and a guy in an Alien suit 'roars' and it was total chaos !!

Our kids took off 'like scalded cats',  totally 'into' the scenario, ( actually I think by this time, they really believed it, as the constant 'Siren' made it hard to think or talk )  and leaving their mum and me to make our own way to the escape chamber......

It was brilliant !!.....Quite scary, and our kids absolutely loved it !! .........Off course once you reached the escape chamber and opened the door ..... you were in the shop.... where they sold Comics, toys and goods relating to the 'experience'.....
Still occasionally mention it to the kids ( now fully grown ) about how they 'saved themselves' and left their mum and dad to their fate !!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 15 July, 2013, 12:46:15 PM
that's sound great Sideshow, there starting up similar things with Zombies everywhere at the moment they sound like great fun.
Aliens is truly the biz and probably fights with Ghostbusters for my top movie, Gb generally wins out as Aliens gave me nightmares for several weeks after when I first watched it (I was a wimpy 10 year old).

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 July, 2013, 07:41:31 PM
Alien War was back this year as part of the Arches' 20th anniversary run. Think it's finished again now, so that's not much help.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 July, 2013, 08:01:24 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 14 July, 2013, 10:54:20 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 14 July, 2013, 09:19:21 PM
The way I heard it, is that Arnie was the one who chased the change, and had to convince Cameron to let him be the Termi.

In Arnie's biography he says that Cameron persuaded him to be the terminator as he spent most of their meeting (about when he could play the part of Kyle) talking about how the guy playing terminator would have to act to really sell it. Arnie said he was hesitant to take do it as he only wanted to play the hero in movies as any villain roles wouldn't be any good for his image.

See now I'm tortured trying to recall where I heard/read that!!!  I'm sure it was something on telly, and some bugger 'in the know' (allegedly) said Arnie thought he could totally rock the bad guy robot, and Cameron was surprised as it was the 'lesser' role without many lines, or emotional range (which apparently Arnie WAS trying to crack after his lessons/hang out's with Eastwood) and he really wanted him as Reese!  Just goes to show, never trust no bugger or anything they say! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 15 July, 2013, 08:43:58 PM
I went to Alien War again this year now with my kid. He did the exact same and left his mum for dead! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 July, 2013, 08:53:08 PM
QuoteJust goes to show, never trust no bugger or anything they say! 

Arnie's autobiography is a great read/listen (the audiobook is well worth a listen if you want to Arnie himself describe his childhood toilet and say the words "Do a poo"), but man is it one-sided.

He basically claims credit for almost every success he had in his life and career, whilst laying the blame for his failures squarely at the feet of everyone else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 July, 2013, 09:43:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 July, 2013, 08:53:08 PM
Arnie's autobiography is a great read/listen, but man is it one-sided. He basically claims credit for almost every success he had in his life and career, whilst laying the blame for his failures squarely at the feet of everyone else.

That goes with the territory of the celebrity memoir. Needless to say, I had the last laugh (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5drObf8yWOc#t=71s).

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 15 July, 2013, 10:07:20 PM
It's worth a read to see how just business orientated Arnie is too. After the first handful of movies he doesn't go into any behind the scenes stories as his attention becomes solely dedicated to percentages and making more cash. It's a very dry read, you don't get any real grasp of the man behind the legend as it slowly decends into lists of things once it gets post-army (his recollection of that, brief, period are really funny).

The only thing I really took away from it was he really has a good head for business. And can't keep it his pants. And comes across like he loves stogies and big cars more than his kids. Ok three things then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 July, 2013, 10:59:26 PM
The Evil Dead (Have Eyes) lost me about four minutes in when it dropped all pretense and opted for someone in zombie makeup screaming obscenities at a gang of inbred hillbillies before getting their head blown off with a shotgun.  Also these are actual lines of subtle expositionary dialog from the same fifteen seconds of film:
"So this is the girl from your car shop."  "I'm a registered nurse."  "Teaching high school finally turned you into a bitter old coot."  "Of course I came, I'm your big brother."
The rest is just over-familiar tropes, and I say that as someone who doesn't even watch that many horror films these days, but it's also lacking in the manic energy of the originals, preferring industry-standard nastiness instead of inventive splatter, though we do get time taken to play soppy background music when a character's emo-shun-ul problems are being established, and we know they have emo-shun-al problems because they are wearing a dowdy skirt and drawing pictures in a notebook.
If you thought "well, at least the remake willl never do anything as disappointing as the Evil in the Woods first person camera monster turning out to be one of those gonk faces you moved with your fingers" you were also wrong to an almost hilarious degree - the film has as a central McGuffin that five souls must be collected for the most abominable demon of all to walk the Earth again (instead of just the Evil Dead doing what they do because they are Evil and Dead as described rather succinctly in the title of the film) but when The Abomination shows up it is literally the most unfrightening thing you will ever see, and then it is killed off in less than five minutes by a half-dead one-armed junkie.  There's also a "scary" moment when someone sees themselves in the mirror all demoned-up and rolling their tongue, but their stringy hair and bad skin just made me think of that old lady in Kingpin that Woody Harrelson has to shag (type "kingpin gif" into Google images and it will oblige you).
If you're going to go a different route than the film you're remaking, then I think you really need to have a core idea like "the Lovecraftian elements" or "people turning on each other" or something to act as a backbone for the various other elements of your own outing, but ED has gore gore gore as an end in itself in an attempt to gross you out, which is hard because you've seen things, daddio.  Over the years you've seen lots of gore and splatter in movies like that time in City of the Living Dead when that chick totally puked herself inside out, but ED relies on you not having seen much in order to surprise or shock you, which seems a pretty clear case of the film being made for teens who won't watch older films... which I suppose is fine.  Didn't do much for me, though.
I did like it when it rained blood and how a lot of the gore seemed to be physical effects rather than CGI, but that's about it, really.  Not the most terrible thing in the world, just not very inventive or scary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 July, 2013, 11:36:07 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 15 July, 2013, 10:59:26 PM
ED relies on you not having seen much in order to surprise or shock you, which seems a pretty clear case of the film being made for teens who won't watch older films... which I suppose is fine.  Didn't do much for me, though.

^This.  I realised after a while that a lot of these remakes are basically that, aimed at today's teens to go and get shocked at so I no longer bother complaining how poor they often compare to the original.  Plus I guess its always easier to look back on the good stuff, so you remember the better films from the 80s and forget the large amount of rubbish ones that also came out then. 

Does always make me wonder why they bother with the 'remake' though - haunted house in the woods is not that novel a concept so why not just create a new movie with that setup.  I guess the remake gets some of us old 'uns in the cinema too but does it really generate that much more?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 July, 2013, 11:57:09 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 16 July, 2013, 11:36:07 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 15 July, 2013, 10:59:26 PM
ED relies on you not having seen much in order to surprise or shock you, which seems a pretty clear case of the film being made for teens who won't watch older films... which I suppose is fine.  Didn't do much for me, though.

^This.  I realised after a while that a lot of these remakes are basically that, aimed at today's teens to go and get shocked at so I no longer bother complaining how poor they often compare to the original.  Plus I guess its always easier to look back on the good stuff, so you remember the better films from the 80s and forget the large amount of rubbish ones that also came out then. 

Does always make me wonder why they bother with the 'remake' though - haunted house in the woods is not that novel a concept so why not just create a new movie with that setup.  I guess the remake gets some of us old 'uns in the cinema too but does it really generate that much more?

I think it's down to brand awareness. A younger generation might not watch older movies, but titles like Nightmare On Elm Street or Texas Chainsaw Massacre will resonate with them, they'll have heard those movies mentioned so it will generate a bit more interest. You'd hope it would generate more interest in the originals rather than getting them in to see the shitty remakes but nope.

Just read that the same company who did the awful remake of Day Of The Dead are about to remake...Day Of The Dead. Again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 16 July, 2013, 12:04:40 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 16 July, 2013, 11:57:09 AM
Just read that the same company who did the awful remake of Day Of The Dead are about to remake...Day Of The Dead. Again.

Why on earth would they want to do this ????
Another remake of a poor remake ???....FFS !!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 July, 2013, 01:35:48 PM
Ahhh Day of the Dead.  After saying I don't complain about these 'remakes', this one is particularly annoying!

The thing is, its not really a remake is it?  There is very little similarity between this and the Romero classic.  Perhaps this is why they have decided to have another go - one of the execs accidently caught the original at the weekend and realised their mistake!  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 July, 2013, 02:15:47 PM
I watched my recently purchased Silence of the Lambs Blu Ray on Saturday night.

Haven't seen it in probably 10+ years, but it holds up astoundingly well - an almost perfect film, and incredibly influential. Funny that so much of the attention around the film goes to Hopkin's Lecter, but it's a movie full of great performances. Buffalo Bill is a far more credible and terrifying creation imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 July, 2013, 07:13:43 PM
Fallout: The Red Star - a fan movie based in the retro-futurist post-apocalyptic America of the Fallout videogame series.  I love Fallout, me, but the worst thing about this is the forced references to it that take you out of the fiction, like the bottlecap stuff and the Super Mutant who looks like the Lou Ferrigno version of the Hulk.  Clumsy staging aside - it is a fan movie after all - it's a decent riff on a couple of post-apocalyptic western tropes (as befitting the central protagonist being from the western-inspired New Vegas) and is free to view on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np531fzqWAY

Sharktopus - more like SHITEOPUS.  I probably watched it too close to Fallout: Red Star, but the difference in quality despite this costing a million dollars more to make and being made by actual professionals and Eric Roberts is quite astonishing.  I read an article recently where the founder of Asylum admitted that it didn't actually matter if no-one ever watched their films because they're produced-to-order based on the demands of retailers, tv channels, or even streaming websites, so all they need is a title, a poster, and that there be a film based on both so that their clients can build up their stock of movies on shelves or playlists - they sell the idea that the product exists more than they sell an actual film, and this is in keeping with the tradition of the b-reel feature being cheap and usually crap and no-one really cares what the film is like as long as the venue is shifting popcorn and soda.  All the same, when actors were holding up prop guns so the tips of the barrels were offscreen and then shaking them like they were shooting, that was when you could tell this is a film with no creative agency or vision.  I could do without the lingering shots of half-naked women shortly before they're torn to peices, too, because there's a lot of that going on - I don't mind exploitation, but I do worry when people try to make violent death look sexy over and over and over again.
Sharktopus is a film that exists.  You need to know no more than that, and that's coming from both the guys who made it and the guy who watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 16 July, 2013, 07:19:19 PM


As many of you recommend Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I just got first season DVD for £3, and the opening scene looks promise, nice to see Lena there!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 July, 2013, 10:54:29 PM
Summer Glau is the best bit of Sarah Connor!

I've busied myself with shitey Dudley Moore comedy Wholly Moses (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no197-wholly-moses.html) and then some will he, won't he life support action in The Switch. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no112-switch.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 July, 2013, 10:53:41 AM
Nic Cage slash 'em up Season Of The Witch.

I really enjoyed it - a fun romp. Nic Cage and Ron Pearlman looked like they were having a good time and [spoiler]the Demon[/spoiler] at the end looked really cool - not over-designed as they often are in this type of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 July, 2013, 11:16:32 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 16 July, 2013, 07:13:43 PM
Fallout: The Red Star - a fan movie based in the retro-futurist post-apocalyptic America of the Fallout videogame series. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np531fzqWAY


Love Fallout too.
Will be watchin this later...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: jossy99 on 17 July, 2013, 08:21:35 PM
This is the end

great and hilarious movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 July, 2013, 08:46:53 PM
Warm Bodies - the inevitable rom-com spin on zombies*, this is alright if you don't mind the morphic resonance McGuffin and the fact it kind of falls apart in the third act a bit to give a happy ending instead of the usual "wah wah life is pain 4evah" credo typical of a genre supported over the decades by 13 year old goths until it went mainstream because we'd run out of other things to run into the ground.
Like I say, it's two-thirds good, but after this and Last of Us, I think I'm ruined on zombie stories and when I watch the next season of Walking Dead or whatever I'll probably be viewing it the same way SG1 fans viewed Stargate Universe and be like "this would be great 15-20 years ago but man is it tired right now."

*If you ignore Zombieland.  And most did.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 17 July, 2013, 09:10:29 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 17 July, 2013, 08:46:53 PM
*If you ignore Zombieland.  And most did.

In which way? It was a big hit for Sony and the most successful mainstream zombie movie up until that point.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 July, 2013, 09:13:02 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 17 July, 2013, 09:10:29 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 17 July, 2013, 08:46:53 PM
*If you ignore Zombieland.  And most did.

In which way? It was a big hit for Sony and the most successful mainstream zombie movie up until that point.
I think he ment in a romcom sense. It was a comedy with romance (satirical) eliments, unlike WB which was an open and frank romcom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 July, 2013, 11:48:24 PM
No, I meant in the sense it was a film whose primary audience was children.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 July, 2013, 11:49:17 PM
 :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2013, 05:59:52 PM
Batman (1989) - good God, this is absolutely dreadful.  Seriously, quantifiably, point-to-this-bit-and-think-for-a-second terrible to the point I don't know where to start.
Batman has a tool on the front of his bat-plane for catching an exact number of poisonous balloons, which comes in handy when he has to catch that exact number of poisonous balloons near the end, yet this isn't even the ludicrous part - the ludicrous part is that you don't even question why an urban vigilante needs a gunship with military-grade weapons for his war on muggers.  I mean, he has an armored car armed with machine guns and explosives - an actual god-damn tank with a giant penis bisecting the hood - so why not a gunship?
Complete shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 July, 2013, 06:20:24 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 18 July, 2013, 05:59:52 PM
Batman (1989) - good God, this is absolutely dreadful.  Seriously, quantifiably, point-to-this-bit-and-think-for-a-second terrible to the point I don't know where to start.
Batman has a tool on the front of his bat-plane for catching an exact number of poisonous balloons, which comes in handy when he has to catch that exact number of poisonous balloons near the end, yet this isn't even the ludicrous part - the ludicrous part is that you don't even question why an urban vigilante needs a gunship with military-grade weapons for his war on muggers.  I mean, he has an armored car armed with machine guns and explosives - an actual god-damn tank with a giant penis bisecting the hood - so why not a gunship?
Complete shit.

I never liked this version of Batman and could never understand why people did like it. I queued up for ages outside the Empire in Great Yarmouth the weekend it came out. I was really excited as I'd been collecting London Edition's Batman Monthly for a while and was really into the character. My first major cinematic disappointment. I really fucking hate the crappy Jack Nicholson cheap gangster version of The Joker too.
I do quite like the Bat vehicle designs but agree they are silly.

ISTR liking the comic adaptation better - it had some nice art and somehow seemed to be paced better.


I don't think I've ever really enjoyed a Tim Burton film to be honest. Planet Of The Apes was okay in a silly B Movie kind of way. Mostly because it had some nice designs and I find Mark Wahlberg and Tim Roth pretty watchable in anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2013, 06:37:13 PM
PotA is pulpy fun, but I'm a bit baffled as to Burton's enduring appeal as almost everything he's made has been remarkably terrible.  An hour into Dark Shadows was the first time in my life I've ever wanted to throttle an entire cast with my own two hands.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 July, 2013, 06:42:05 PM
My least favourite Tim Burton film is that one with Johnny Depp in it. He plays this pale weirdo with a funny voice. I can't remember its name though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 July, 2013, 06:43:37 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 July, 2013, 06:42:05 PM
My least favourite Tim Burton film is that one with Johnny Depp in it. He plays this pale weirdo with a funny voice. I can't remember its name though.

Is that the one with Helena Bonham Carter?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2013, 06:45:42 PM
Yeah, I think he means that one with Helena Bonham Carter in it where every shot looks like it takes place in an elaborate but visibly fake stage set.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 July, 2013, 06:46:38 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 18 July, 2013, 06:43:37 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 July, 2013, 06:42:05 PM
My least favourite Tim Burton film is that one with Johnny Depp in it. He plays this pale weirdo with a funny voice. I can't remember its name though.

Is that the one with Helena Bonham Carter?

That's the one. I hear his next movie will have Johnny Depp starring as Tim Burton, in Tim Burton's Tim Burton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 18 July, 2013, 06:50:42 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzLRP8e4vE
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 18 July, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
Tim Burton once made a movie called Beetlejuice. It was good. The end.

I've no idea why people like Michael Bay geta so much shit yet Burton gets away unscathed knocking dross out.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 18 July, 2013, 07:12:06 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 18 July, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
Tim Burton once made a movie called Beetlejuice. It was good. The end.

I've no idea why people like Michael Bay geta so much shit yet Burton gets away unscathed knocking dross out.

His risible Alice in Wonderland made $billion, that's why...

But he also made Big Fish - it's good.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 July, 2013, 07:12:23 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 18 July, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
Tim Burton once made a rubbish unfunny comedy called Beetlejuice. It was rubbish and unfunny but at least it didn't star Johnny Depp. The end.

I've no idea why people like Michael Bay geta so much shit yet Burton gets away unscathed knocking dross out.

FTFY!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 July, 2013, 07:18:10 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 18 July, 2013, 06:50:42 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzLRP8e4vE

Lol at Danny Elfman!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 18 July, 2013, 07:41:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 18 July, 2013, 06:50:42 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzLRP8e4vE

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 July, 2013, 08:06:47 PM
Well i'm sure you guys will 'love' Tonto and his sidkick The Lone Ranger. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 July, 2013, 11:16:55 PM
watched Alien Resurrection again on telly last night - apart from the last half hour with that totally non-scary alien-hybrid thing, it wasn't half as bad as I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 July, 2013, 11:43:11 PM
Half watching Waterworld while fannying about in the flat. Never understood why it got such a bad press. I mean, it's a shitload better than Independence Day or Men in Black.

Last film I properly watched all the way through was The Raid, when I got the DVD back from my pal last week. Turns out it's still better than Dredd.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 July, 2013, 12:58:43 AM
Quote from: sheldipez on 18 July, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
Tim Burton once made a movie called Beetlejuice. It was good. The end.

I quite enjoyed Nightmare Before Christmas

Quote from: sheldipez on 18 July, 2013, 07:07:56 PM
I've no idea why people like Michael Bay geta so much shit yet Burton gets away unscathed knocking dross out.

To be fair, even though he has made some amount of shite, at least Burton can construct coherent scenes.

Real Steel

I don't know what to say about this. I enjoyed it, but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was looking to watch something unchallenging and stupid. Now, it wasn't smart or clever, but it wasn't entirely idiotic. Very idiotic, but not entirely. I think I was just in the right frame of mind while watching, and had absolutely no expectations. I just wanted to see robots beat each up, and it succeeded in that respect, and to a greater degree than Bay achieved in three movies about giant robots fighting.

BUT

There was an annoying kid, who achieved Jake Lloyd levels of precocious brat, and the plot suggested robots replaced human boxers because ravening boxing fans didn't appreciate the sport and just wanted to see two combatants tear lumps out of each other.

I reckon kids would love it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 19 July, 2013, 01:01:13 AM
I like Nightmare before Christmas too but Burton had little to do with it other than character designs and plaster his name all over it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 19 July, 2013, 12:04:30 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 19 July, 2013, 01:01:13 AM
I like Nightmare before Christmas too but Burton had little to do with it other than character designs and plaster his name all over it.
The sheer joy of seeing I'm not the only person that says this!
He's (Burton) fallen into something of a habit with making a bad film and following it with an animated followup as if to try and win back kudos by shouting "You like Nightmare Before Christmas- love this!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 July, 2013, 12:59:50 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 July, 2013, 11:43:11 PM
Half watching Waterworld while fannying about in the flat. Never understood why it got such a bad press. I mean, it's a shitload better than Independence Day or Men in Black.

As I recall back when it was made mid 90s Waterworld was well publicised as being the most expensive film ever made - something in the region of $230 million including marketing and such.  It's inevitable with all the news surrounding it that some folks are going to be disappointed knowing that the most money has been spent (not that money spent is always an indicator of quality). 

I thought it was OK but nothing amazing, something I would watch if it came on TV. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 19 July, 2013, 01:14:16 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 19 July, 2013, 12:59:50 PM

As I recall back when it was made mid 90s Waterworld was well publicised as being the most expensive film ever made - something in the region of $230 million including marketing and such. 


The Simpsons skit on this (Milhouse pumping 40 quarters into the arcade game only to have have the Kevin Costner character take two steps before "Game Over") is one of their most observantly genius gags ever.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 July, 2013, 01:16:56 PM
QuoteThe Simpsons skit on this (Milhouse pumping 40 quarters into the arcade game only to have have the Kevin Costner character take two steps before "Game Over") is one of their most observantly genius gags ever.

Crucially, he then whinges, but then proceeds to sink yet more money into it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 19 July, 2013, 01:22:51 PM
Quote from: radiator on 19 July, 2013, 01:16:56 PM
QuoteThe Simpsons skit on this (Milhouse pumping 40 quarters into the arcade game only to have have the Kevin Costner character take two steps before "Game Over") is one of their most observantly genius gags ever.

Crucially, he then whinges, but then proceeds to sink yet more money into it!

Yeah...brilliant; "Game Over: Insert 40 quarters".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 July, 2013, 02:14:24 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 19 July, 2013, 12:59:50 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 July, 2013, 11:43:11 PM
Half watching Waterworld while fannying about in the flat. Never understood why it got such a bad press. I mean, it's a shitload better than Independence Day or Men in Black.

As I recall back when it was made mid 90s Waterworld was well publicised as being the most expensive film ever made - something in the region of $230 million including marketing and such.  It's inevitable with all the news surrounding it that some folks are going to be disappointed knowing that the most money has been spent (not that money spent is always an indicator of quality). 

I thought it was OK but nothing amazing, something I would watch if it came on TV.

It was also quite widely compared to Mad Max which famously cost very little to make. I believe Mad Max 2 held the record for having the highest profit to cost ratio for quite a few years.

It sort of begs the question that if you can make a great apocalyptic movie for peanuts why spend 200 million on a rip off?

Now I'm not saying that Waterworld is a Mad Max rip off but I certainly remember that being a pretty common opinion at the time. Also, Waterword definitely owes something to Mad Max in terms of production design and the 'cobbled together out of junk' aesthetic seems to work better with cars and motorbikes than it does with jet skis and speed boats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 July, 2013, 05:22:29 PM
Yeah, ive always liked Waterworld, and usually catch it when its on telly, and that Simpsons skit is funny, isnt it.
Think at the time there was a bit of a Costner backlash going on, plus didnt the film go way over budget, plus all the other rumours of it being a troubled shoot making the news...

But to watch it, its a fun film. Quite like the other post-apocalyptic film he did as well. The Postman, which received a lot of stick, as well.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 09:34:35 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 19 July, 2013, 01:01:13 AM
I like Nightmare before Christmas too but Burton had little to do with it other than character designs and plaster his name all over it.
and the fact that he wrote the entire plot.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 19 July, 2013, 10:53:35 PM
Quote from: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 09:34:35 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 19 July, 2013, 01:01:13 AM
I like Nightmare before Christmas too but Burton had little to do with it other than character designs and plaster his name all over it.
and the fact that he wrote the entire plot.
Here's a challenge just for you, Silent_Bomber. It's an easy challenge, so don't worry about it too much.
Pick a film. Pick any film you can think of. Now make a mental note of the plot.
You've got what- 4, 5 sentences in your head now?
By all means, Burton would have given them character designs and the plot.  But the person behind the screenplay is what fleshed that rough, small plot out. Then the director would have done a lot. Acting as producer, Burton may have popped up here and there and said "Change that line, switch that scene to here" but saying somebody wrote "the entire plot" can prove to be a huge exaggeration on what they actually did towards the finished article.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 19 July, 2013, 10:58:41 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 19 July, 2013, 10:53:35 PM
Burton may have popped up here and there and said "Change that line, switch that scene to here" but saying somebody wrote "the entire plot" can prove to be a huge exaggeration on what they actually did towards the finished article.

As can saying producers only 'pop up here and there', I've known a fair few who basically overrode the director/DOP/star/designer in all things at one point or another.  Usually they are writer/producers or actor/producers, but normal ones can do it too. 

Oh, and this comment is in no way falling on one side or the other of the current debate regarding Burtons directorial, writing, or producer skillsets. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 July, 2013, 11:06:18 PM

To the best of my knowledge, Steve Spielberg didn't write one word or frame a single shot of Band of Brothers, Gremlins, or Young Sherlock Holmes, but you can't deny that his influence on them (in the role of producer) is palpable.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 19 July, 2013, 11:13:21 PM
So when are we getting that like button?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:19:42 PM
As far as I was aware after Vincent,  Tim Burton wrote an original ( 3 page ) poem which he had intended to be a TV special.......( I think he worked for Disney at the time ).....based on various Xmas goodies like Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer and the Grinch, etc.....
He then 'touted' it to various companies but it wasn't 'picked up' due to the 'strangeness' of the material...
After his success with Beetlejuice and Batman the studios' were then falling over themselves to make Nightmare which he then further developed, involving a co-writer...

So I'm afraid I disagree with you Sheldipez....He did 'slightly more' than add character designs and plaster his name all over it....In fact to be honest it was pretty much his 'vision' from the very start......

Unfortunately his recent efforts...Alice in Wonderland & Willie Wonka & Dark Shadows have been dire,  to say the least....
My opinion is that he should stick to his animated movies......and avoid anything that allows his wife to show up and get a role........
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 July, 2013, 11:22:31 PM
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4n7nvkybq1ro0ebco1_500.png)
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:32:21 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 19 July, 2013, 10:53:35 PM
Here's a challenge just for you, Silent_Bomber. It's an easy challenge, so don't worry about it too much.
Pick a film. Pick any film you can think of. Now make a mental note of the plot.
You've got what- 4, 5 sentences in your head now?

By all means, Burton would have given them character designs and the plot.  But the person behind the screenplay is what fleshed that rough, small plot out.
Maybe with other films you would have more of an argument, but in the Nightmare Before Christmas, the plot is considerably better than the dialogue.

The songs (lyrics written by Danny Elfman) are also better than the screenplay IMO.

Quote from: sauchie on 19 July, 2013, 11:06:18 PM

To the best of my knowledge, Steve Spielberg didn't write one word or frame a single shot of Band of Brothers, Gremlins, or Young Sherlock Holmes, but you can't deny that his influence on them (in the role of producer) is palpable.
I've seen tons of Spielberg movies and I see absolutely nothing of him in Gremlins at all, I absolutely hate Spielberg as a filmmaker, he is a creator of saccharine, over-sentimental crap as far as I'm concerned. I like none of his movies. Gremlins on the other hand I thought was a lot of fun, very tongue in cheek.

Spielberg has always been the poor man's Alfred Hitchcock.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 July, 2013, 11:36:07 PM
Quote from: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:32:21 PM
I've seen tons of Spielberg movies and I see absolutely nothing of him in Gremlins at all

(http://www.replikultes.net/medias/uploads/films/gremlins/gremlins_17_ricky_rialto.jpg)

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 July, 2013, 11:39:47 PM
Quote from: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:32:21 PM
I've seen tons of Spielberg movies and I see absolutely nothing of him in Gremlins at all

WHY I HATE SHARKS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs)

WHY I HATE CHRISTMAS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueVPUsyrT0s)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:42:39 PM
I count all of that as pisstakes of Spielberg tbh.

Always thought of them as light-hearted jabs from Dante at his Producer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 July, 2013, 11:44:06 PM
QuoteI've seen tons of Spielberg movies
QuoteI absolutely hate Spielberg as a filmmaker,

Which rather begs an obvious question...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:04 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 19 July, 2013, 11:44:06 PM
QuoteI've seen tons of Spielberg movies
QuoteI absolutely hate Spielberg as a filmmaker,

Which rather begs an obvious question...

I have a book of 1000 best movies, I watch each film and then tick it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:51 PM
Quote from: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:32:21 PM
I absolutely hate Spielberg as a filmmaker, he is a creator of saccharine, over-sentimental crap as far as I'm concerned. I like none of his movies. Gremlins on the other hand I thought was a lot of fun, very tongue in cheek.

Spielberg has always been the poor man's Alfred Hitchcock.

Obviously that's your opinion but in his defence ...I'll just say  : Duel, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Schindlers' List, Saving Private Ryan.......and you don't like ANY of these...??!!

And there are plenty more, but I can't be arsed to list them..............

Pfft !!
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 19 July, 2013, 11:50:33 PM
Back to the Future was made by Robert Zemekis (who I like a lot)

Yet another movie Spielberg steals the credit for.  :D
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 July, 2013, 11:51:31 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:51 PM
Back to the Future

That'd be another example of when his influence as a producer is felt so keenly folk think he directed a film.

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 19 July, 2013, 11:52:42 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:51 PM

Obviously that's your opinion but in his defence ...I'll just say  : Duel, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Schindlers' List, Saving Private Ryan.......and you don't like ANY of these...??!!

And there are plenty more, but I can't be arsed to list them..............

Pfft !!
Cheers

Really, why do we have no mutha fuckin' like button???  It'd save so much typing!

And Bomber, one film you commented on, how about the others? Some quality movies mentioned there and you appear to have skated over 'em. ;)
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 20 July, 2013, 12:03:20 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 19 July, 2013, 11:52:42 PMAnd Bob, one film you commented on, how about the others? Some quality movies mentioned there and you appear to have skated over 'em. ;)
Hate them all except the Indianna Jones movies which I like well enough, but in my head have decided they have more to do with George Lucas than Spielberg :lol:

Where the others are concerned, like I said, either Saccharine, over sentimental rubbish with bland everyman characters who "love their family", and are trying to always do the right, "christian" thing, white picket fences, stories by the fire etc etc.

Or

1/1 rip offs of Hitchcock movies.

I know its an unpopular opinion, but its how I feel about it.

------------------------------

Also, unrelated, while I'm here the Shawshank Redemption is just the commercialised, pussy version of Midnight Express. Might as well put both my most criticised film opinions down while I'm at it :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 12:06:11 AM
Fair enough!  But I can't rest in my head how you can differentiate between Lucas de Hutt and Spielberg like that!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 July, 2013, 12:06:44 AM

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=97

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 July, 2013, 12:07:22 AM
...thats enough internet for tonight I think. Jaws and/ or Duel and SPR any number of Hitchcock rip-off's? How exactly?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 July, 2013, 12:11:46 AM
If Spielberg had only ever made Jaws, he'd still be one of the most important filmmakers of all time.  As it stands, he has made many more that are almost as influential and enjoyable.  Yes, he's had his name plastered over a hell of a lot of dross, but his good stuff more than balances the record.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 20 July, 2013, 12:13:45 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 July, 2013, 12:06:44 AM
http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=97

Spielberg doesn't have to be a Christian himself to fill his movies with saints and goody two-shoes'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 July, 2013, 12:22:21 AM
While I think there's enough of a difference between Nightmare Before Christmas and Burton's other efforts to legitimately suggest that the lion's share of credit for the end product lies elsewhere, would Nightmare Before Christmas exist without Burton?  I do not think that it would.

Spielberg has made some very good films, and no-one put a gun to George Lucas' head and said "make a billion dollars", but I think Spielberg has long had a vested interest in SW's financial returns that led him to negatively impact on the films themselves while Lucas has taken the brunt of fan ire for it.  If GL hadn't been taking advice from the guy who pioneered the use of merchandising as part of the average movie event, I wonder what kind of sequels/prequels from the man who made American Graffitti and THX we might have ended up with.

Shindler's List I found a cold and cynical offering compounded by Spielberg reining in the extent of Nazi atrocities just so the film could remain a PG, which to me says it was little more than the portrayal of suffering as entertainment, well-made and ultimately soul-less.  But JAWS is still a class film, and while I have only seen ET once when I was 9, I also gather it went down well. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 20 July, 2013, 12:26:53 AM
ET, jeez, I was searching for the barf bag during that one.

Just remembering how he completely gutted Minority Report, making a smart Sci-Fi story into a crappy human interest film. It has the opposite bloody ending FFS!!!!

and Hook, jesus no, Robin Williams prancing around in tights

I'm going to shut up now  :-X, I've got a feeling I'm going to be ripped to pieces soon  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 12:29:02 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 July, 2013, 12:22:21 AM
If GL hadn't been taking advice from the guy who pioneered the use of merchandising as part of the average movie event, I wonder what kind of sequels/prequels from the man who made American Graffitti and THX we might have ended up with.

I gotta start by saying I am very prepared to be proven wrong, as I'm tired, and a tad pished, and my brief check of my initial thoughts took my google search to wikipedia......

But didn't George pioneer the merchandising thing?

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2013, 12:29:42 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 19 July, 2013, 11:51:31 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:51 PM
Back to the Future

That'd be another example of when his influence as a producer is felt so keenly folk think he directed a film.


Poltergeist: not only a film about ghosts but allegedly ghost-directed by Spielberg for which he didn't take the credit.

Spielberg couldn't contractually direct another movie while E.T. was being prepped, he simply hired another director to stand in for the credit, and directed it anyway. (http://filmjournal.net/danielstephens/2007/10/09/who-directed-poltergeist/)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 12:32:09 AM
Quote from: Silent_Bomber on 20 July, 2013, 12:26:53 AM
ET, jeez, I was searching for the barf bag during that one.

Just remembering how he completely gutted Minority Report, making a smart Sci-Fi story into a crappy human interest film. It has the opposite bloody ending FFS!!!!

and Hook, jesus no, Robin Williams prancing around in tights

I'm going to shut up now  :-X, I've got a feeling I'm going to be ripped to pieces soon  :(

Doubt it.  No one's actually having a pop I don't think.  We can't all like the same things. Otherwise we'd have pretty dull discussions!

'Did you like that?'
'Yes'
'Me too.'

The End.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2013, 12:34:04 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 July, 2013, 12:22:21 AM
I think Spielberg has long had a vested interest in SW's financial returns that led him to negatively impact on the films themselves while Lucas has taken the brunt of fan ire for it. 

Not too far from the truth:

How Steven Spielberg Won A Lucrative Percentage Of Star Wars Off A Bet With George Lucas (http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity/how-steven-spielberg-won-a-percentage-of-star-wars-off-a-bet-with-george-lucas/)

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 20 July, 2013, 12:36:37 AM
"On the direction of the film, [director] Selick reflected, "It's as though Burton laid the egg, and I sat on it and hatched it. He wasn't involved in a hands-on way, but his hand is in it. It was my job to make it look like 'a Tim Burton film,' which is not so different from my own films." When asked on Burton's involvement, Selick claimed, "I don't want to take away from Tim, but he was not in San Francisco when we made it. He came up five times over two years, and spent no more than eight or ten days in total." "

Nightmare before Christmas is a better movie as it has Burton's fingerprints on it instead of his grubby hands all over it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2013, 12:39:17 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 12:29:02 AM

But didn't George pioneer the merchandising thing?

Well he did it on an unprecedented scale but there is this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-IDEAL-Vintage-Game-Jaws-W-Nice-Box-Instructions-Hook-10-Pieces-Junk-/261246343741?pt=TV_Movie_Character_Toys_US&hash=item3cd37eda3d). There were no toys for THX 1138.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 July, 2013, 12:54:01 AM
Spielberg pioneered the merchandising age by taking all the stuff that studios gave away to promote their movies and instead charged people for it, which doesn't sound like that much of a brainstorm nowadays, but at the time it shifted the mindset in moviemaking towards the notion (since proven correct) that movie events could be engineered in advance rather than just happening when something caught on with the public.  We aren't just talking toys, either, but even stuff like posters and advertising stands which until that point (the mid-late 1970s) were destroyed when cinemas were done with them, yet now were being returned to the studios to give the illusion they were worth something in and of themselves - suddenly these movies coming up were definately gonna be huge and you'd be mad not to want a piece of them...

Which is a roundabout way of saying that they should have hired Spielberg to make that Catwoman movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Silent_Bomber on 20 July, 2013, 12:54:51 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 12:32:09 AMDoubt it.  No one's actually having a pop I don't think.  We can't all like the same things. Otherwise we'd have pretty dull discussions!

Well, if things do go badly I'm gonna' do a quick subject change to how good Dredd was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 July, 2013, 09:43:55 AM

Burton's insinuating influence is so all pervading that both Addams Family films, Sucker Punch, Coraline, From Hell, and Bram Stoker's Dracula reek faintly of him, even though he never actually touched any of them. He's like a halved onion left un-boxed in the fridge.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 July, 2013, 10:16:56 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 July, 2013, 09:43:55 AM
Burton's insinuating influence is so all pervading that both Addams Family films... reek faintly of him, even though he never actually touched any of them.

Both Addams Family films are superb, and I would have thought they had a character quite distinct from the bulk of Burtonia: much snappier and more gleeful.  Which is not to say I dislike a lot of Burton's work, although I can see why he irritates.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 July, 2013, 10:33:56 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 July, 2013, 09:43:55 AM

Burton's insinuating influence is so all pervading that both Addams Family films, Sucker Punch, Coraline, From Hell, and Bram Stoker's Dracula reek faintly of him, even though he never actually touched any of them. He's like a halved onion left un-boxed in the fridge.

I think the Addams Family comic strips were pretty Burtonesque to start with. If you do an image search you can see that the art style isn't too dissimilar to some of Burton's animated work - I'd be surprised if they weren't an influence on him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 July, 2013, 10:37:11 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 July, 2013, 10:16:56 AM
Both Addams Family films are superb, and I would have thought they had a character quite distinct from the bulk of Burtonia: much snappier and more gleeful. 

I like both films too, and the undeniable Burton influence upon them is mainly aesthetic. They're like Burton films where he's managed to tell a coherent story and not bury the gags with duff timing. That said, I don't really share the hatred of Burton films generally evinced here; his Batman and POTA franchise films are mostly awful, but just about everything else I've seen is pretty good. He's got very little facility for narrative, and he's able to work around that best when he's creating original material which only has to obey its own internal (fairy tale) logic.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 July, 2013, 10:52:53 AM
I'll never forgive Tim Burton for what he did to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. How you can take an almost perfect book and end up with that cinematic turd I'll never know.

It was the wrong book for him to try to adapt anyway - if anything I would have thought Burton would have been more suited to doing an animated version of The Twits.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 July, 2013, 10:58:32 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2013, 12:29:42 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 19 July, 2013, 11:51:31 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 19 July, 2013, 11:46:51 PM
Back to the Future

That'd be another example of when his influence as a producer is felt so keenly folk think he directed a film.


Poltergeist: not only a film about ghosts but allegedly ghost-directed by Spielberg for which he didn't take the credit.

Spielberg couldn't contractually direct another movie while E.T. was being prepped, he simply hired another director to stand in for the credit, and directed it anyway. (http://filmjournal.net/danielstephens/2007/10/09/who-directed-poltergeist/)

(http://i.imgur.com/oTq3BVY.jpg)

This picture has always made me kinda chuckle, though Tobe probably doesnt see the funny side of it; Spielberg (left) not directing, with Hooper (right) directing...

But i guess its always been easy, if your so inclined, to knock Spielberg. His films are populist, and aimed at the largest audience possible, and he has released - or play a part in, some right old rubbish, but boy, the list of superb films he has created is a darn pretty long one. Just half of that list, most directors would kill for, to have on their C.V.
Current fave? Munich. Alltime fave? CE3K.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 July, 2013, 05:54:53 PM
In case a title like SHARKNADO is not self-explanatory enough for you: when tornadoes full of man-eating sharks descend on Los Angeles, surfing champion Fin must rescue his family and destroy the tornadoes with bombs - THIS IS THE ACTUAL PLOT OF THIS FILM.  Even shite like Sharktopus had the veneer of plausibility of being a film that someone would make with a straight face and thus was ruined when you watch it and see that it is actually a film that someone has made with a straight face and that is the entirety of the joke and there is 90 minutes of it to go, but Sharknado is willfully ludicrous rather than just poorly-implemented high-concept.
(http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/thefw.com/files/2013/07/ChainsawLeap.gif)
I love that in whatever world this movie inhabits, sharks are basically the equivalent of pigeons, they're just everywhere, with one person driving along looking in his rear view mirror and it's just water and loads of shark fins like a Father Ted visual gag only done completely and utterly serious, and every single establishing shot has sharks in it - even if it's an establishing shot of a house on top of a hill, a drain will suddenly spit out a full grown shark that starts rolling downhill going GRR, or a bird's eye view of the city shows sharks flopping about on the tops of buildings.  At one point, someone comments "that storm out there looks to be getting worse" and then a shark smashes through a window and starts flopping about on the floor snapping at people and the attitude isn't "FUCK ME A SHARK HAS COME FOR US EVEN IN THE SAFETY OF A BUILDING ON DRY LAND", everyone is just like "TCH, one of them's got indoors.  Mind your feet."  Faced with not-unreasonable skepticism about there being a plague of sharks several miles inland and up a mountain, a character flings open the curtains of the house they're in and the street is just water with fins going back and forth and the other character still isn't convinced until sharks jump through the window, then the house is flooded and the characters are like SHH THERE'S SHARKS IN THE HOUSE SOMEWHERE and go deadly quiet and like I say, it's all completely straight faced and topped off with a hilariously sexist comment that is both contextually unjustifiable and yet also utterly impossible to take seriously or be offended by.  Later, a character is dangling from a rope while a shark is climbing up it after him like that bit in the 1960s Batman film, so the character cuts the rope and says William Shatner's line from Star Trek 3 when he kicks Christopher Lloyd into a volcano, and we're still not even near the most ludicrous parts of a film that has a proprietary theme song called "The Ballad of Sharknado" and features a character cutting themselves of a shark's belly with a chainsaw.
I downloaded this, but God help me, I'll be buying the blu-ray as soon as it's available.  Fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2013, 07:21:28 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 July, 2013, 12:54:01 AM
Spielberg pioneered the merchandising age by taking all the stuff that studios gave away to promote their movies and instead charged people for it,

Well....there was purchasable merchandise before that though, Dr Who was selling crap pre 1970. And at a guess I'd say Star Trek and others were too?

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t320/whoviansdelight/BerwickDalekPlaysuit.jpg

Between the two of them though, GL and SS (unfortunate initials for a Jewish lad!) refined it into the machine it is now.  Although GL took it all too far with the overpriced toy adverts that where the Star Wars prequels, at least SS still concentrates more on the film than the goods.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 July, 2013, 08:30:53 PM
The World's End

Really, really good fun and sort of poignant too. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 July, 2013, 07:55:22 PM
Return of the Jedi.

Still my favourite Star Wars film although I wish they'd show the original version. The original music for the Sy Snootles bit and the Ewok celebration was about a million times better. The galaxy wide celebration doesn't make sense either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 July, 2013, 01:50:23 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 21 July, 2013, 07:55:22 PM
Return of the Jedi.

Still my favourite Star Wars film although I wish they'd show the original version. The original music for the Sy Snootles bit and the Ewok celebration was about a million times better. The galaxy wide celebration doesn't make sense either.

S'right.

While I do guiltily enjoy those bits as new stuff, I far prefer the original versions, particularly the music.  OTOH I have nothing but bilious hatred for Hayden Christensen's curly locks replacing Sebastian Shaw in the finale, and the less said about the Audrey II's questing wang the better.  And I haven't even seen the Noooooo version from the BluRay, and hopefully never will.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 01:56:31 AM


I think one of the best trips to the flix I ever had was the trip to the Ambassador Cinema with the sun splittin' the trees to see ROTJ.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 July, 2013, 02:04:08 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 01:56:31 AM
I think one of the best trips to the flix I ever had was the trip to the Ambassador Cinema with the sun splittin' the trees to see ROTJ.

I remember it well - in fact I think there's a photo somewhere of us all standing under the big sign.  Saw Star Wars in the Adelphi (oh that was a night), Empire (and Raiders, and Close Encounters) in the Classic Harold's Cross and Jedi in the Ambassador.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 02:17:06 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 July, 2013, 02:04:08 AM
I remember it well - in fact I think there's a photo somewhere of us all standing under the big sign.  Saw Star Wars in the Adelphi (oh that was a night), Empire (and Raiders, and Close Encounters) in the Classic Harold's Cross and Jedi in the Ambassador.


I miss the double-features too. I saw Raiders the day after first communion- nothing like a bit of Old Testament propaganda; melting faces and demonic angels (you don't see that kind of shit in kids films anymore) to spend your money on.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 July, 2013, 01:47:36 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 01:56:31 AM


I think one of the best trips to the flix I ever had was the trip to the Ambassador Cinema with the sun splittin' the trees to see ROTJ.

ROTJ was my very first trip to the cinema...think it was The Classic cinema in Harolds Cross, but not sure.
A very impressionable experience.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 July, 2013, 10:58:32 AM
But i guess its always been easy, if your so inclined, to knock Spielberg.


I don't knock Spielberg at all. He has the same knack David Lynch has of been able to push certain emotional buttons whenever he wants and making it seem natural. Their only difference being tone.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2013, 02:01:57 PM
Harold and Maude. Now, why had I never even heard of this movie before, let alone never seen it? It's bloody great. Hilarious and moving with some incredible performances. And, I suspect, a movie that the likes of Tim Burton watched A LOT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 July, 2013, 02:47:33 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2013, 02:01:57 PM
Harold and Maude. Now, why had I never even heard of this movie before, let alone never seen it? It's bloody great. Hilarious and moving with some incredible performances. And, I suspect, a movie that the likes of Tim Burton watched A LOT.

I love this film, but have only see it once.  A friend sat me down in front of it a few months ago (the whole film is on Youtube).  I found it hysterically funny throughout, and very moving at the end. 

Like you, I had absolutely no idea of it's existence, especially given how long ago it was made.  Mind you, the subject matter is a bit taboo-ish, kinda, so maybe that's why it's not a popular film, or even a popular cult film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 July, 2013, 04:46:03 PM
Regarding Tim Burton (late to the party, I know); he is very, very overrated and uncritically looked at. Plus he gets far, far too much credit for Nightmare Before Christmas, which took his trademark aesthetic and imbued it with the soul and skill that he generally leaves out of his own work. Blew me away when I bothered to pay attention to the credits and realised that his name wasn't against the director credit - particularly since it's marketed as 'Tim Burton's nightmare before...'

However, he's not all bad. Whilst his Batman is pretty weak on consideration, I loved it as a child. His Gotham is pretty sublime even if his protagonist is not; that odd combination of pulp noir and gothic sensibilities worked wonders, despite venturing too far into the wacky inanity of the Joker. Plus, I'm of the opinion that Jack Nicholson wasn't a terrible joker, just a different play on the character, similar in some ways to Heath Ledger if lacking all of the fierce nihilism that the reboot brought to the fore. Nicholson's Joker is more like the old gangster character of the silver age rather than the psychotic sociopath we've known since Alan Moore's Killing Joke; and his plot, poisoning many domestic products and driving the city to panic, was on reflection pretty good. A stinking city of the unwashed and unkempt, paranoid of all hygiene products, is both horrific and pretty damn funny.

Shame about the Bat though. Never really works when he's in front of the camera.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 July, 2013, 05:17:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 22 July, 2013, 02:47:33 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2013, 02:01:57 PM
Harold and Maude. Now, why had I never even heard of this movie before, let alone never seen it? It's bloody great. Hilarious and moving with some incredible performances. And, I suspect, a movie that the likes of Tim Burton watched A LOT.

I love this film, but have only see it once.  A friend sat me down in front of it a few months ago (the whole film is on Youtube).  I found it hysterically funny throughout, and very moving at the end. 

Like you, I had absolutely no idea of it's existence, especially given how long ago it was made.  Mind you, the subject matter is a bit taboo-ish, kinda, so maybe that's why it's not a popular film, or even a popular cult film.

It is a great film isn't it? I loved the [spoiler]various fake suicides he employs to put off prospective suitors, especially the garden immolation![/spoiler]. Actually, it must be 25 years since I saw it (which is depressing in itself) - it was something of a campus cult movie when I was at college in the states, but I hadn't heard of it before then, and have only found a handful of people since who know about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2013, 05:34:01 PM
Quoteand have only found a handful of people since who know about it.

Yeah, I had never heard of it at all until someone mentioned it to me last week as their favourite movie ever. I can see why, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 July, 2013, 05:41:14 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 July, 2013, 04:46:03 PMNicholson's Joker is more like the old gangster character of the silver age rather than the psychotic sociopath we've known since Alan Moore's Killing Joke;

As others have pointed out, Nicholson's Joker is just Frank Gorshin's take on the Riddler from the 1966 Batman tv show, right down to the psychotic and murderous mood-swings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 22 July, 2013, 06:36:18 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.

It's certainly the only one I have on DVD as I feel it's the only one I'd want to watch again
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 July, 2013, 06:38:56 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.

In many ways I think you're right.
The other versions go too dark for my liking and seem obsessed with covering the acrobatic, athletic vigilante in armour plating and having him plod about growling at people.
I still hope that, one day, well see a proper 'Dynamic Duo' film with fight scenes more like Enter The Dragon and less like Robocop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 22 July, 2013, 11:17:55 PM
Superior cop drama Where the Sidewalk Ends (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no198-where-sidewalk-ends.html) followed by Sean Connery trying to convince that he's not over The Hill. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no113-hill.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 July, 2013, 11:29:12 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 July, 2013, 06:38:56 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.

In many ways I think you're right.
The other versions go too dark for my liking and seem obsessed with covering the acrobatic, athletic vigilante in armour plating and having him plod about growling at people.
I still hope that, one day, well see a proper 'Dynamic Duo' film with fight scenes more like Enter The Dragon and less like Robocop.

You know from the Burton films I always preferred 'Batman Returns'.  But then, I like Batman to be dark and don't mind stories involving abandoned mutant babies!

Oh, and Michelle Pfeiffer in pvc.  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 July, 2013, 11:39:39 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2013, 05:34:01 PM
Quoteand have only found a handful of people since who know about it.

Yeah, I had never heard of it at all until someone mentioned it to me last week as their favourite movie ever. I can see why, too.


Hal Ashby's has done some other greats: The Last Detail, Being There.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 23 July, 2013, 04:59:02 AM
God its been years since i've watched Harold and Maude, we had a very Gothy year 11 English teached that decided that ws the book and movie we were going to study that year.  Really didn;'t htink i'd enjoy it (come on it was from the 70's) but ended up getting one of my best English grades, i think i must have been a tad Harold those days.
Batman Returns is a super movie but it really doesn't have Batman in it much and he certainly doesn't have any character growth, its all about Pheifers Catwoman and Devitto's Penguin.  Lots of dirty double entendres too.  Burtons gothic nighmare city is how i've always seen Gotham.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 July, 2013, 12:28:43 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 July, 2013, 05:17:16 PM

It is a great film isn't it? I loved the [spoiler]various fake suicides he employs to put off prospective suitors, especially the garden immolation![/spoiler].

Yeah, they were bloody brilliant. [spoiler] I loved his conversation with the psychiatrist about it:

Psychiatrist: Were they all done for your mother's benefit?
Harold: ... No, I would not say "benefit." [/spoiler]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

The person who sat me down in front of it said it was their favourite film ever too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 July, 2013, 02:09:29 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 22 July, 2013, 05:41:14 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 July, 2013, 04:46:03 PMNicholson's Joker is more like the old gangster character of the silver age rather than the psychotic sociopath we've known since Alan Moore's Killing Joke;

As others have pointed out, Nicholson's Joker is just Frank Gorshin's take on the Riddler from the 1966 Batman tv show, right down to the psychotic and murderous mood-swings.

I've heard the same but hey, everything is new to someone - particularly the 7 year old I was in 1994 when I got to watch Batman for the first time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bubba Zebill on 23 July, 2013, 02:23:11 PM
Perhaps it's been covered but last night I watched 'Magic' (1978) here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63IS4DiVEA

I thought it was brilliant.

IMDB - MAGIC
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/combined
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2013, 03:44:09 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.

It really is.  I find it impossible not to watch it if it's on, the wonderful straight faces with which West and Ward confront the insanity that is plot and script are a genuine achievement, somehow imbuing farce with drama.  Just plain fun, and streets ahead of Batman & sequels or Batman Begins (haven't seen the other two).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 July, 2013, 04:11:13 PM
I recall when Batman & Robin came out - by which I mean when it was released into theaters - a lot of very harsh reviews were throwing "they've just made an updated version of the 1960s show!" at it as an insult, and I wasn't sure why until I remembered that for a lot of people who take things too seriously, it came as news at some point - if they ever actually found out - that Batman '66 was not supposed to be taken seriously.  "Submarines are at sea - and C is for Catwoman!"
My favorite story about the show is Frank Gorshin's tale of how he took West to his first proper Hollywood party and introduced him to cocaine, only for West to spend the night running naked around the party in character as Batman referring to Gorshin only as "Riddler" and trying to start fights.  Said Gorshin of the evening: "after that, Adam wasn't really invited to any more orgies."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2013, 04:42:10 PM
I can't remember who pointed it out, but wasn't the climax of Dark Knight returns essentially an homage to the 66 movie? - "some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 04:58:22 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 July, 2013, 03:44:09 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 July, 2013, 05:54:59 PM
I still maintain that the 1966 version of Batman is the best live action Batman there's ever been. Batman: The Movie is a thing of pure joy.

It really is.  I find it impossible not to watch it if it's on, the wonderful straight faces with which West and Ward confront the insanity that is plot and script are a genuine achievement, somehow imbuing farce with drama. 

Commisioner Gordon delivers some of the best lines in the movie "Penguin, Joker, Riddler... and Catwoman, too! The sum of the angles of that rectangle is too monstrous to contemplate!"

Not to mention the absolute glee the rogues gallery of villains take in carrying out their ludicrous schemes. Those guys bloody love being evil.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 23 July, 2013, 05:22:14 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2013, 04:42:10 PM
I can't remember who pointed it out, but wasn't the climax of Dark Knight returns essentially an homage to the 66 movie? - "some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb"
Charlie Brooker made the reference on his End of Year Wipe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 23 July, 2013, 05:29:14 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 04:58:22 PM
Commisioner Gordon delivers some of the best lines in the movie "Penguin, Joker, Riddler... and Catwoman, too! The sum of the angles of that rectangle is too monstrous to contemplate!"
My favourite line from the 60s Batman film is when someone knocks Robin (or was it Batman?) while he is holding members of the UN in test tubes (they have been dehydrated into dust). Robin exclaims: "Holy almost, Batman!"

If you look at the last line of this link you will see a very interesting and no doubt famous quotation from a Batman 60s episode:
http://adamwest.tripod.com/misc.htm
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2013, 05:58:32 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 23 July, 2013, 04:11:13 PM
I recall when Batman & Robin came out - by which I mean when it was released into theaters -

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 July, 2013, 06:15:09 PM
"Careful - every one of 'em's got a mother."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 July, 2013, 09:13:41 PM

Aye, another vote for '66. Not in some ironic, contrarian way, but because it's the best realised version of all the films so far. All the rest are either outright shite or films which are only partially successful on their own terms.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 09:23:14 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 23 July, 2013, 09:13:41 PM

Aye, another vote for '66. Not in some ironic, contrarian way, ...

Liking something ironically is the worst. I find people who ironically like the things I like more tiresome than people who hate the things I like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 July, 2013, 10:08:19 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 09:23:14 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 23 July, 2013, 09:13:41 PM

Aye, another vote for '66. Not in some ironic, contrarian way, ...

Liking something ironically is the worst. I find people who ironically like the things I like more tiresome than people who hate the things I like.

^^This. I really don't get it at all... I mean - watching shit movies ironically? Do they read shit books and listen to shit music in the same fashion?
Life's too short for that...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 July, 2013, 10:26:29 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 July, 2013, 10:08:19 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 09:23:14 PM
Liking something ironically is the worst. I find people who ironically like the things I like more tiresome than people who hate the things I like.

^^This. I really don't get it at all... I mean - watching shit movies ironically? Do they read shit books and listen to shit music in the same fashion? Life's too short for that...

If youz want a square go with Pro Bear, just say so.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 July, 2013, 10:30:36 PM
QuoteIf youz want a square go with Pro Bear, just say so.

He's for Cookstown... Cookstown... I see no threat...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 July, 2013, 11:19:08 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 July, 2013, 10:30:36 PM
QuoteIf youz want a square go with Pro Bear, just say so.

He's from Cookstown... Cookstown... I see no threat...

HA-HA-HA! Look at his fuckin' Main Street (https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=cookstown,+map&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x4860585a85d7a781:0x21515de26127c133,Cookstown&gl=uk&ei=7v7uUY3SF-Gb0QX8-oGoBw&ved=0CDEQ8gEwAA); the town's one horse must have died of loneliness and ended up on the buffet bar of that "Chinese" restaurant. Please don't google Sauchie.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 July, 2013, 11:47:00 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 July, 2013, 10:30:36 PMHe's for Cookstown... Cookstown... I see no threat...

I only have to be lucky once.

As for "why do people watch bad films?", that kind of presumes they know it is terrible ahead of time, which they can't because people like different things.  I was told Batman & Robin was terrible by pretty much everyone, then I saw it and loved it.  Likewise I was told the Postman was a disaster, but I found it a perfectly alright movie.  Inversely, there's people who think John Carpenter's The Thing is shite - you never know, really, but for every Swamp Shark there is a Sharknado, so it's worth a gamble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bobblehead on 24 July, 2013, 10:09:07 AM

Well i finally managed to watch 'Now You See Me' last night,it was cheap Tuesday at the local cinema,and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! Basically its a film about 4 magicians who are brought together by an unknown person and start robbing cash from companys.But they appear to do it during their shows!
  Some clever tricks in it,some with cgi admittidly (but it looked cool) a top cast which included Jesse Eisenberg  (whotalksreallyfastforsomereason) and Morgan Freeman (playing a bit of a sleazy magic de-bunker sort of chap) and some funny moments.Also has a reveal at the end which is one of them that you cant tell folk about or it would ruin the surprise,so i'll keep scthum! :)
The film thinks its cleverer than it actually is,but i'll forgive that because it made me feel a bit cleverer when i figured some of the tricks out lol.
Also its just under 2 hours long,which is actually quite short for a film these days so that was good,and i was hooked the whole time. Go see it before it 'disappears' from your local cinema! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 July, 2013, 01:57:12 PM
Quote from: Bobblehead on 24 July, 2013, 10:09:07 AM

Well i finally managed to watch 'Now You See Me' last night,it was cheap Tuesday at the local cinema,and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! Basically its a film about 4 magicians who are brought together by an unknown person and start robbing cash from companys.But they appear to do it during their shows!
  Some clever tricks in it,some with cgi admittidly (but it looked cool) a top cast which included Jesse Eisenberg  (whotalksreallyfastforsomereason) and Morgan Freeman (playing a bit of a sleazy magic de-bunker sort of chap) and some funny moments.Also has a reveal at the end which is one of them that you cant tell folk about or it would ruin the surprise,so i'll keep scthum! :)
The film thinks its cleverer than it actually is,but i'll forgive that because it made me feel a bit cleverer when i figured some of the tricks out lol.
Also its just under 2 hours long,which is actually quite short for a film these days so that was good,and i was hooked the whole time. Go see it before it 'disappears' from your local cinema! :D

I agree completely. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. Perhaps I shouldn't have been since I enjoy Hustle so much as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 25 July, 2013, 01:34:05 AM
A bit o' the old Ultraviolence with A Clockwork Orange
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 July, 2013, 10:05:39 AM
A bit of the mega-mecha-violence with Pacific Rim.

So. Much. Fun.

I would happily spend another 3-30 hours in this world of Jagers v Kaiju. I'm just sad that some characters go the way of all things before they get a chance to show their stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 25 July, 2013, 02:59:19 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 25 July, 2013, 01:34:05 AM
A bit o' the old Ultraviolence with A Clockwork Orange

That is an unequivocal masterpiece my brothers.

As for me, I watched The Rise of The Planet of the Apes. Long title, but a brilliant film. Andy Serkis' Caesar was jawdroppingly good and James Franco was also excellent. The human vs apes fight atop the Golden Gate Bridge was the standout. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 25 July, 2013, 03:54:00 PM
Still haven't seen Rise; they had it for £2 in HMV recently but it would have meant joining a big old queue just to pick it up. When my mate seen it on the pictures he told me how good it was before ending something along the lines with "It's definitely the best Plant of... since the original" but to be fair, that's not saying so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 July, 2013, 04:00:02 PM
Big fan of 'Rise of' (name aside) its far from a perfect film but its such a rollicking good ride who cares!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 July, 2013, 06:09:10 PM
Ra One, a Bollywood superhero film about a nerdy dad who tries to reach out to his kid by designing his company's next big videogame release around the premise of an unbeatable antagonist - who promptly escapes the game Virtuality-style and the only thing standing in his way is the game's considerably less powerful protagonist.
I suspect you can either tolerate Bollywood films and their arbitrary musical and dance numbers or you find them unbearable, but if the latter is the case you'd miss out on some genuinely impressive visuals like the Terminator-style chase through London or the Dragonball-style mid-air fireball exchanges, while the runaway train sequence is a hoot with some neat touches you can expect to see appearing a western movie sooner or later.  The quality of the FX across the movie is variable, the stuntwork being better than the CGI and green screen bits, there's an odd subplot at the start of the movie that makes the child protagonist look like he's bullying a fat kid, a lot of the characters are caricatures, and it's about a half hour too long even by the bloated standards of the modern western superflick.  Although expensive by Bollywood standards, this cost peanuts to make by the standards of the average western superhero movie, so it's strange to see that this manages much better to convey a sense of scale than something like Man of Steel, and while there's nowhere near the scale of the destruction of the finale of MoS, Ra One's finale will look oddly familiar to anyone who's seen both movies (though this came out 2 years before MoS), as will a great deal of the "powerful outsider" text and kindly advice passed down from a dead dad storytelling, though both are handled much better here despite the aforementioned use of caricature, and I think in examining the role of religion on such a character Ra One comes off as less gutless, as the central character takes the good from scripture - mercy, forgiveness, community - and leaves the bad.
A couple of the deaths surprised me, but otherwise it's a goofy, fun movie that takes itself seriously enough to maintain a sense of danger for the characters, and while I would say on balance that it isn't a classic, there is a heck of a lot to like about it and it is well worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 25 July, 2013, 06:29:47 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 25 July, 2013, 03:54:00 PM
Still haven't seen Rise; they had it for £2 in HMV recently but it would have meant joining a big old queue just to pick it up. When my mate seen it on the pictures he told me how good it was before ending something along the lines with "It's definitely the best Plant of... since the original" but to be fair, that's not saying so much.

You saw it for £2? Damn. I'd get back into HMV a.s.a.p and get it if I was you, regardless of the queue (provided they still have it on offer of course!).

@Professor Bear; I heard of Ra One when it came out but didn't get the chance to watch it. It did make a bit of a stir because it was supposedly Bollywood's first superhero film (it's not, there've been quite a few superhero flicks in the past, the 80's one especially were quite fun. They even had an Indian version of Superman with the wire/rope work visible on screen and I doubt Warner would've been too pleased as they made it without permission!). But judging by your review, I think I might track a copy down!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 July, 2013, 06:43:34 PM
If someone had recommended a Bollywood movie to me a few years ago, I probably would've just ignored them. But in the past decade or so, Bollywood has made some excellent action movies. Films like Dhoom 1&2 and Enthiran the Robot. The song and dance numbers aren't always unbearable, sometimes they're actually quite impressive and clever. Having said that, one thing that does bug me about the Bollywood movies I've seen, is the way they introduce characters with several quick cuts, in slow motion, with a wind machine, so it looks like a feckin' Laboratoire Garnier commercial.

Haven't heard of this Ra One, so I might give it a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 25 July, 2013, 06:48:48 PM
You should also check out some of the bollywood horror films, Mister Pops. There was one on Channel 4 a while ago called 'Bhoot'. And it was pretty fucking scary!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 25 July, 2013, 11:01:35 PM
Salt
One of the greatest silly films I have ever stumbled upon by chance.
CIA operative Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. She's willing to be questioned about it until she finds out her husband has disappeared, so she turns a fire extinguisher into a one-shot-grenade-launcher-of-sorts to get by the special forces squad and escape the building to go looking for him. Every second or third scene following this is a car chase or a martial arts fight to loud electric guitars. In one scene set in a church in New York, a CIA operative says how many special agents etc are there and says "If Salt is going to try anything here now, it'll have to be pretty amazing..." Cue shot of Salt running through the underground with steam coming from all the pipes around her as she takes down armed professionals with ease. At one point I actually thought "I hope this film is supposed to be pretty silly..." only for the next big scene to be Salt, handcuffed in the back of a police car. [spoiler]She's already pushed the policeman to either side of her out of the moving vehicle and tasered the driver. If she wants the car to accelerate, she tasers him again so his leg shoots out and presses down on the pedal. This is while she's driving the vehicle by pressing the policeman's body against the steering wheel.[/spoiler] You later have Salt running about the White House dressed as a male solider.
I read not too long ago- by chance- Salt was intended to be a franchise. After seeing this, I have no idea why it isn't. I'd happily watch a Salt sequel (once it makes it to Film4 or whatever).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 July, 2013, 12:21:09 AM
Salt was originally written as a Tom Cruise vehicle, which is why it has the main character being roughed up and chased around a lot by The Man.  Cruise pulled out cough because he thought it was a bit too much like a Tom Cruise vehicle, so they literally just swapped the gender of the main character so they could cast Jolie because she was available a name draw.

The Asylum's Sherlock Holmes, a mockbuster cash-in on the Guy Richie movie.
The plot starts off in the usual manner as Holmes and Watson investigate a straightforward Kraken attack, but a Tyrannosaurus Rex killing spree in the East End leads them to the door of Spring-Heeled Jack and events culminate with Sherlock flying a steampunk helicopter into battle over London against a fire-breathing robot dragon being piloted by his evil brother who is now a steam-powered cyborg with the strength of ten men, whilst outside Buckingham Palace, Watson engages in fisticuffs with a sexy robot suicide bomber on a mission to kill the queen.
It's about 20 minutes too long and generally falls into that category of film "not as good as the title/premise sounds" of which the Asylum seems determined to corner the market, its main failings being padded-out sequences like the cliff-hanging and the running-around-the-park bits, a weak central performance from the actor who plays Holmes and duff FX, otherwise it's just not very good in that way Asylum films usually aren't, which is a shame as in taking the route of seeming to meld multiple Arthur Conan Doyle universes together, it could have been a genuinely fresh take on the characters.  As it is, it's missable, though I did like the occasional take on the material such as Holmes' unspoken respect for LeStrade that's usually missing from adaptations, and "who would remember a detective called Robert Holmes?" is just the right kind of throwaway retconning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 29 July, 2013, 12:42:53 AM
Watched the Wolverine which was shit

Only God Forgives which I thought was really good

A Filipino film called Graceland which was good

and Two Mules for Sister Sarah, a great Clint Eastwood western.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 July, 2013, 10:36:26 PM
Some true life whoisit drama for me in Who is Clark Rockefeller? (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no199-who-is-clark-rockefeller.html) followed by some eco-freeze drama with a bloke with pointy teeth in The Colony. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no114-colony.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 July, 2013, 08:03:10 AM
Looper

I'd seen this before at the cinema but didn't remember it being quite so silly.
There's some nice design in the film and Emily Blunt is the best thing in it by a country mile.
JGL seems to be wearing lipstick and 'Just For Men: Eyebrow' for some reason and the story is full of plot holes.
The main thing I don't understand is why, if they can transport through time and space (as demonstrated by sending Bruce Willis from China to a corn field in America) why don't they just send them to the bottom of the ocean or into space?
This film also has the worst sound mix of any film in recent memory. The loud bits blow your head off while the rest of the time everyone whispers and mumbles so that you can barely understand them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 July, 2013, 01:00:48 PM
Twilight Zone: The Movie

Really fun, but ultimately it suffers from hit & miss syndrome, a bit like our very own Future Shocks. When it's good it's very good, but when it's bad it's boring, maybe even a little bit cringeworthy.

Highlights include the opening sequence with Dan Akroyd and the remake of Terror at 20,000 Feet. Initially I was skeptical, I thought a remake would be redundant without the Shatner's kitschy appeal, but ye gods, John Lithgow turns in a powerhose performance. Completely convincing, he looks genuinely sick in the head by the end of it, like he has properly been put through the wringer.

The low-point was Speilberg's contribution. Someone was complaining about Spielberg's schmaltz a few pages back, well this is a prime example. Normally I'm quite forgiving of this kind of thing in Spielberg's work, but his wonder-of-childhood schtick doesn't really fit in with the tone of the rest of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 30 July, 2013, 01:52:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 30 July, 2013, 08:03:10 AM
Looper
JGL seems to be wearing lipstick and 'Just For Men: Eyebrow' for some reason and the story is full of plot holes.
The main thing I don't understand is why, if they can transport through time and space (as demonstrated by sending Bruce Willis from China to a corn field in America) why don't they just send them to the bottom of the ocean or into space?
This film also has the worst sound mix of any film in recent memory. The loud bits blow your head off while the rest of the time everyone whispers and mumbles so that you can barely understand them.

To look like Bruce Willis, mileage may vary on how successful that is. Good point about the time/space travel it is a completely ridiculous idea.

And the sound mix is way too imbalanced I noticed that too when watching at hom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 30 July, 2013, 02:05:48 PM
Looper.

Yeah, the false nose did work a bit to make him look like Bruce but the eyebrows were a strange choice.

Ignoring the big plot holes mentioned already, I liked it enough until we suddenly started spending all our time on a farm.  That section of the film was intensely boring and made me 'zone out'. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 July, 2013, 02:16:00 PM
Bad Ass - starring Danny Trejo.  Not bad at all, it's apparently based on a true story about an American guy seeking justice for his murdered friend.

Dark Skies - an absolute turd of a film. Crap plot, bad acting, no redeeming features whatsoever.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 30 July, 2013, 03:44:46 PM
Flight starring Denzel Washington.....

A good movie, very enjoyable, but not ( surprisingly ) concentrating on the [spoiler]crash of the aircraft[/spoiler]....
Although the [spoiler]crash sequence [/spoiler] itself is fairly thrilling...
The film itself is more of a character study of the 'flawed' pilot and his eventual redemption...

Recommended watching but not 'Highly recommended' if you know what I mean....A good entertaining film with a typical solid lead performance by Denzel...

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 30 July, 2013, 03:53:57 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 30 July, 2013, 03:44:46 PM
Flight starring Denzel Washington.....



I was presented with 'Flight' as a Friday night movie option a few weeks ago, and practically dislodged my retinas by rolled my eyes so much.
It is very surprisingly a pretty great movie, with a refreshing non-Hollywood ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 July, 2013, 04:26:39 PM
Hanah - Good film. Not great. Kept my attention, but certainly didn't leave me thinking a sequel was in order.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 30 July, 2013, 07:49:28 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 29 July, 2013, 10:36:26 PM
Some true life whoisit drama for me in Who is Clark Rockefeller? (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no199-who-is-clark-rockefeller.html) followed by some eco-freeze drama with a bloke with pointy teeth in The Colony. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no114-colony.html)

" Essentially the whole film can be summarised as 'group disturbs nest of cannibals and then gets chased home by them'. Not so much a movie plot as a game of tag ... and despite their ridiculousness I quite enjoyed the OTT troupe of permanently hungry people eaters"


Like all great reviews, yours leaves me with absolutely no desire to see the film. Good blog, Buttonmoon.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 July, 2013, 08:22:23 PM
Cheers Sauchie! All about opinions though - give it a look and find your own plot holes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 30 July, 2013, 08:49:15 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 30 July, 2013, 08:22:23 PM
Cheers Sauchie! All about opinions though - give it a look and find your own plot holes!

I was going to comment on your blog, but it wanted my personal details. I'm not completely convinced you're not a Nigerian fraudster who's after the hard-earned £263 I have in my current account, so your blog can get tae fuck.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 July, 2013, 09:03:31 PM
Bah! Foiled again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 31 July, 2013, 02:07:47 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 July, 2013, 04:26:39 PM
Hanah - Good film. Not great. Kept my attention, but certainly didn't leave me thinking a sequel was in order.

I really liked this film, I think it was mostly down to the chemical brothers soundtrack. Gave it a nice edge.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 July, 2013, 10:17:18 AM
Monsters University.

Enjoyed it - it's mid-tier Pixar stuff - if you were ranking all the Pixar films in a list of quality it would be around the middle, and - as a prequel - it's forever destined to be a side-note to the original Monsters Inc (which it inevitably leans on heavily, and it doesn't really work as a standalone film in it's own right).

There's some nice character bits, some ingenious creative flourishes (the 'scare tactics/theory' is brilliantly realised) and some great gags - but a fair bit of the humour didn't quite land for me. The setting doesn't really lend itself to action and incident, so I could imagine most kids would get a little bored. It looks drop dead stunning though, as you'd expect.

The short that ran before it - Blue Umbrella - is notable mainly for it's visuals which are truly incredible - it's a departure for Pixar, striving for (and coming eerily close to) photorealism. It's understated and is imitially promising, but the story quickly becomes overly cutesy and trite. Not one of their best all in all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 31 July, 2013, 02:55:14 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 29 July, 2013, 10:36:26 PM
followed by some eco-freeze drama with a bloke with pointy teeth in The Colony. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no114-colony.html)

I like the premise of the blog and the reviews, even if I clearly don't share your opinions on many a movie (The Burbs is alot of fun in my book). However the definite article movies may not be limited to dreck but it certainly seems to include a lot of it... would like to see a The Thing (original) The Thing (prequel) comparison go on there a la the Crazies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 01 August, 2013, 06:59:01 PM
Oblivion.

It passed a couple of hours and meant I could use tom Cruise to divert the wife's attention away from celebrity masterchef so it wasn't a total loss, but my god, what a load of bollocks.

What I don't understand is [spoiler]why this big alien artificial intelligence Dairlylea triangle in space thing went to all the trouble of cloning people to maintain the drones, it must had some pretty impressive resources to blow up the moon and then build all of those sea sucking machines to begin with. Why not just build a fuck-ton of drones instead of building not quite enough and going to the trouble of making clones and furnishing them with a luxury apartment and a fake back story, only to not give them enough resources to do the job anyway.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 August, 2013, 07:05:59 PM
I wanted to like The Colony because of the interesting premise and setting, but so much of it is just aggressively banal and/or insultingly trite, like the voice-over that over-explains things that are stated a few minutes later in clumsy dialogue between characters as the film-makers literally did not trust their audience to wait three minutes to know what was going on and so added a VO to narrate the premise into abstraction while also going an about how ice is cold but the loneliness of not being able to kiss a girl or hug your mum is even colder or some equally juvenile shit like that.
It teeters on the edge of at the very least being a cult classic, but the utter lack of faith the makers have in their audience just fosters ill-will towards it on my part, not helped by my wanting to shout "oh no, just fuck off, just fuck the fuck off my screen and show me something - anything - else other than this Hollyoaks shit" every time the male-model lead gets kissy-face with his dishwater fuck-buddy, although I did think it hilarious that at one point someone just nuts him rather than listen to his dialogue.  I'm not sure how cannibal monsters know their way around a place they've never been in before better than those that have lived there for years, either, or how the big freeze the entire film hinges around fails to affect that place where all the people have stopped working on any machine which creates heat, but that's the kind of film this is: one cliche clunks into place after another without any underlying objective or subjective logic to tie it all together, a massive waste of time and effort for makers and viewers both, because leaving aside what a lousy story it is, the actual production standards are pretty good, and a lot of it reminds me of Ghosts Of Mars, which though unpopular with many I do really enjoy to watch now and again.
So yeah, The Colony is a film that Ghosts of Mars fans thinks is a waste of your time.  That's where it sets the bar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 August, 2013, 09:19:22 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 31 July, 2013, 02:55:14 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 29 July, 2013, 10:36:26 PM
followed by some eco-freeze drama with a bloke with pointy teeth in The Colony. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no114-colony.html)

I like the premise of the blog and the reviews, even if I clearly don't share your opinions on many a movie (The Burbs is alot of fun in my book). However the definite article movies may not be limited to dreck but it certainly seems to include a lot of it... would like to see a The Thing (original) The Thing (prequel) comparison go on there a la the Crazies.

Thanks for your comments - I'm glad you don't agree with all my reviews as I'd have youwn as a mental if you did!

I try to veer away from the big ticket definite articles like 'The Shining', 'The Fly' and 'The Fog' - everyone has seen these - the plan is to dredge up some 'lost' classics or recent stuff like 'The Colony'. I also did a 'Willard' then and now double with the new one controvertially winning!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 August, 2013, 11:53:58 PM
How would you file The Wank?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 02 August, 2013, 02:48:54 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 August, 2013, 11:53:58 PM
How would you file The Wank?

Started off quite briskly with a lot of promise, full of imagination and a fairly 'robust' storyline.....Eventually after some 'cack handed' directorial manipulation,  deteriorated into a complete mess !!....Enjoyable for all that and satisfying,  and well worth repeated viewings......But not as good as the original...... :D

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 August, 2013, 08:00:36 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 August, 2013, 11:53:58 PM
How would you file The Wank?

Well I'd probably say were more of an aquaintence than a friend but a solid bloke all round.

'The Wolverine' was a recent near trifecta with the definite article, an almost 'W' and a Creature Feature all in one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 August, 2013, 10:32:42 AM
Expendables 2.  Really enjoyed the first one for what it was, but while it has its moments the sequel was just all over the place.  It's a fine line between fandulgent silliness and tired-looking actors parroting their catchphrases until the running time is up, and this film is far across it.  Also couldn't shake the feeling that the climax takes place in an airport lobby because the cast were flying in from their private islands and this way they didn't have to unpack. 

Maybe it's like a cheap safari, and now we've ticked the Big Five off our lists we can move on and look at something more interesting for E3?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 02 August, 2013, 10:35:18 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 August, 2013, 10:32:42 AM
look at something more interesting for E3?
You've got it, pal- Nic Cage is said to be in it! Looks like I may actually pay to see an Expendables film on the big screen! And Mel Gibson is rumoured to be the potential villain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 August, 2013, 10:53:08 AM
Sadly Wesley Snipes will also be in it. :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 02 August, 2013, 11:00:44 AM
Yeah, you're not exactly expecting a Kubrick masterpiece from the Expendables but they still fail to deliver on the low expectations.  They don't really excel as action movies but then they take themselves a little too seriously to be just for laughs.

I don't hate them they are just instantly forgettable.  I saw Ex 2 a few months ago and can barely remember much about it, although I do think that Van Damme was quite fun in it as the baddie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 11:22:24 AM
Can't stand The Expendables. Only saw the first one - against my will - and thought it was complete and utter shite. Reminded me more of awful 1990s straight to video action films than actually good action films.

There's more to a good action movie than just blood and explosions, believe it or not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2013, 12:32:13 PM
"Straight to video" is not quite the insult you think it is, if only because American Ninja 2 is a better film than Expendables 2 and it's a pity they didn't make any more American Ninja movies after that*.
In the rental stores that have now largely died out (as a physical environment), there wasn't any way to tell the difference between blockbusters and some film Chuck Norris had run up in a quarry**, so as long as you just had a movie on the shelves you stood just as good a chance of making money as the guys who made Indy Jones or Star Wars (which the producers of King Solomon's Mines and Battle Beyond the Stars can attest to).  The logic was the same as the b-reel pictures of the 1930s-1970s, which was then applied to STV, then STDVD, and now STNetflix - once your audience got it into their head to watch a movie, they all look the same in their native rental/sales environment.
There's a telling interview with the head honcho of the Asylum where he admits it doesn't matter if people even watch his films: http://www.psmag.com/culture/escapes-from-the-asylum-60701/ but a couple of years after Terminator 2 came out, Chuck Norris was promoting some piece of crap at a karate tournament somewhere and the Guardian or whoever did what was clearly supposed to be an ironic interview with him only for him to come across as a savvy b-movie entrepreneur who knew his market and his fans, and he cited the likes of Roger Corman and William Castle as his predecessors in the b-movie arena where movies made profits rather than headlines.  I'm paraphrasing, but one apt quote was something like "Terminator 2 is a very successful action movie that has yet to turn a profit, but not one of my movies has made a loss."  STV was a powerful and lucrative market in its time - which was right up until affordable broadband became the norm a couple of years ago but now Netflix has taken up the slack - and many a career was made there, as attested by the roster of actors on the Expendables cast (and the careers of Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and so on).

But as to your broader thesis that the Expendables movies were shite, you are absolutely correct. I find fault with your research, but your conclusions are sound.


*  THEY DID NOT MAKE ANY AMERICAN NINJA MOVIES AFTER AMERICAN NINJA 2.
**  This is not to denigrate Quarry Warriors in any way, or its lower-budget sequels Empty Warehouse Arena and Some Offices At Night Fighters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 12:48:13 PM
Quote"Straight to video" is not quite the insult you think it is

No, I think it is. You've done little to change my opinion. Just because something makes money from gullible or ignorant browsers doesn't mean it has any artistic merit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 August, 2013, 01:16:06 PM
The 80's were a bit of a Straight to Video golden age but after that it all went down hill.

The first Mad Max film was pretty much straight to video - I certainly don't know anyone that got the opportunity to see it at the cinema.

I'd say that The Asylum bear more resemblance to Troma than anything else (at least their products do).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 August, 2013, 01:47:05 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 11:22:24 AM
Can't stand The Expendables. Only saw the first one - against my will - and thought it was complete and utter shite. Reminded me more of awful 1990s straight to video action films than actually good action films.

Pretty much what I was left thinking after having the movie foisted on me.

The action is unexciting, the characters - who should be the most important focus of a movie that touts such a star studded cast - were dull and underdeveloped, and the story progression is strictly by the numbers.

There's just no way, objectovely speaking, that the movie deserves the praise it has garnered, and it certainly doesn't warrant two sequels. The only redeeming feature I could see was that it put Charisma Carpenter back on my TV for a few minutes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2013, 01:56:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 August, 2013, 01:16:06 PM
The 80's were a bit of a Straight to Video golden age but after that it all went down hill.

The first Mad Max film was pretty much straight to video - I certainly don't know anyone that got the opportunity to see it at the cinema.

I'd say that The Asylum bear more resemblance to Troma than anything else (at least their products do).

Troma did have the odd theatrical release, though, and their output was almost entirely mockbuster-free, but yeah, lots of movies made their cash from STV after never getting a cinema release, like Transformers The Movie, Dog Soldiers, Black Dynamite, Watcher in the Woods, Bad Taste, Boondock Saints, and of course Leprechaun in the Hood, while a lot of outright shite that shouldn't have been in cinemas got a theatrical release - much as I love Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Battlestar Galactica, they weren't cinema material.

Straight to video is still very healthy, it's just changed form to accommodate technology, which is appropriate given that STV was just the VHS version of the b-movie cinema market.  Netflix and SyFy buy Asylum movies sight unseen much as video stores bought movies that starred Van Damme, Norris, Seagal, and so on without seeing a single frame of film or even knowing what they were about.  The times have changed, but the logic behind how the low-budget movie market works is largely the same - it's just a matter of filling the metaphorical shelves with content and giving it a flashy cover image and people will either rent or they won't, though by that point the films have already made their money back.

The thing I lament most about the change in the market is the loss of those lurid painted VHS covers.  I rented Q The Winged Serpent based on the cover alone - it's amazing.  The film is merely okay.

Quote from: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 12:48:13 PMYou've done little to change my opinion.

gullible or ignorant

Heh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 August, 2013, 02:00:46 PM
Transformers The Movie definitely got a cinema release because I went to see it. Pretty sure Dog Soldiers did too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2013, 02:07:31 PM
Lucky bastard - I know men still lamenting to this day they never saw Transformers in the cinema.  Dog Soldiers premiered well on SciFi, I think that's why it got a limited cinema release.  I'm probably wrong, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 02 August, 2013, 02:13:35 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 August, 2013, 02:00:46 PM
Transformers The Movie definitely got a cinema release because I went to see it.


You got the Touch!

I remember well seeing the poster for Transformers in the titular comic...never made it across the water.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 August, 2013, 02:19:08 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 02 August, 2013, 12:32:13 PM
I'm paraphrasing, but one apt quote was something like "Terminator 2 is a very successful action movie that has yet to turn a profit, but not one of my movies has made a loss."

That's a touch disingenuous on the part of the interviewee, surely? The failure of films like T2 and Aliens to 'turn a profit' is much more the result of weaselly accounting techniques by the studios to avoid paying out to actors, writers and directors with a profit share in their contracts than it is a failure of those movies to actually make money.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2013, 02:27:42 PM
Much as I hate to defend a homophobic child-bully, Norris' point is largely sound, though someone in his position as a b-reel mainstay is hardly likely to praise mainstream Hollywood anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 02 August, 2013, 03:10:58 PM
Ahhhhh the good old days of going down the video rental shop and picking up some action movie you had never heard of starring chuck/van damme/dolph/etc.  Picked up some real classics that way. 

All this talk of Chuck and not a single Chuck Norris fact......

'Chuck Norris was once bitten by a cobra. After five days of agonizing pain, the cobra finally died.'*

*Chuck Norris, Expendables 2, 2012
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 02 August, 2013, 03:39:25 PM
Isn't there a famous Chuck Norris story, about him serving in the Vietnam war and he ran out of ammunition so he took on an entire platoon using his hand-to-hand combat skills? If nobody else has heard this story and it turns out it's just an amazing film idea I've got at the back of my mind and the heat is making me mistake it for apparent reality, I'll be disappointed if anybody here gets the screenplay finished before I do.
I don't think I get the child-bullying mention (I think it was Bear that mentioned it), unless it's something I vaguely remember hearing about him saying children shouldn't be allowed in the scouts if they're homosexual? Me thinks I'm soon to Google "Chuck Norris" + "child bullying" for this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 August, 2013, 05:42:24 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 02 August, 2013, 12:32:13 PM
This is not to denigrate Quarry Warriors in any way, or its lower-budget sequels Empty Warehouse Arena and Some Offices At Night Fighters.

Can everyone else try to be as gullible and ignorant as Pro Bear, please? Me and my brother rented the fantastically bloodthirsty Q The Winged Serpent for exactly the reasons described above, and we and our cousins managed to be traumatised by the still oddly creepy XTRO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=f-NCX-5JKro&t=2162) because they had asked my Auntie to get them something like ET from the video store. I say video store, I mean a pet shop with a rack of tapes at the back.

I also managed to see a bunch of films purporting to star actors called Bruce Li, Bruce Ley, or Bruce Lai, despite my Dad patiently explaining every time we chose one of those that Bruce Lee had only made a handful of films before he died and that the box I had in my hand, with a cover showing motorbike stunts and explosions, would undoubtedly contain a disappointing low budget knock-off.

Those two extremes of experience seem to sum up the pleasures and the pitfalls of taking a punt on something which isn't endorsed with the stamp of a brand name director or star, or the reassuring knowledge that men in suits have spent the GDP of a small country to get the film onto Asda's Two Films For £10 shelf, via a prestigious cinema release and tons of ruinously expensive promotion.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 05:47:40 PM
QuoteTransformers The Movie, Dog Soldiers, Black Dynamite, Watcher in the Woods, Bad Taste, Boondock Saints, and of course Leprechaun in the Hood

Transformers definitely got a cinema release - though it did so badly theatrically it ensured that G.I. Joe: The Movie went straight to video. 99% certain Dog Soldiers got at least a UK cinema run, and Black Dynamite a US run if not UK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 August, 2013, 06:40:02 PM
Totally shite British zombie film World of the dead (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no200-world-of-dead-zombie-diaries-2.html) followed by John Wayne as Genghis Khan in the laughable The Conqueror. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no115-conqueror.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 02 August, 2013, 07:30:02 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 August, 2013, 11:22:24 AM
Can't stand The Expendables. Only saw the first one - against my will - and thought it was complete and utter shite. Reminded me more of awful 1990s straight to video action films than actually good action films.

There's more to a good action movie than just blood and explosions, believe it or not.

I so agree.  Although I did see the second one too.  Just as bad as the first really.  'Bullet to the head' was far more my line of brainless action movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 August, 2013, 08:45:40 PM
Expendables 2 > Expendables >>>>>> Bullet to the Head
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 August, 2013, 09:28:39 PM
Gullible and ignorant as I am, I thought "all this talk of the STV market makes me want to watch Nemesis right the fuck now" and so that is what I did - thanks, Poundland dvd section!
I remember waiting for it to come out after reading about it in Impact, an action-oriented movie magazine in the way Fangoria was to horror movies, dedicated to the art and craft of making films on micro-budgets and the enthusiasm and talent of the people who worked on them and the bonds they formed with their fans, and Albert Pyun, prone to making nonsensical and overly-violent narratives as he was such as Captain America, Radioactive Dreams, Cyborg, Sword and the Sorcerer and Knights, was well-known for wringing every last penny's worth of visuals out of his miniscule budgets, so his sci-fi kung-fu thriller Nemesis was anticipated among the lovers of low-budget STV thrillers of the time for its sky-high budget of 1 million dollars.
It stars world's hardest plank Oliver Gruner, who is an ex-commando with muscles on his muscles and really likes fights so for years after his first disastrous screen test he kept acting purely because no-one would risk telling him he wasn't much good at it, and I kind of picture him showing up on the first day of filming like Superman in Man Of Steel showing up for work at the Daily Planet, like he just shows up one day uninvited and everyone is in unspoken agreement that this is what we're doing now because he will basically tear you in half otherwise.  He was the odd duck in his family as all his siblings became rocket scientists and brain surgeons - and I am not being figurative there, actual fucking brain surgeons and rocket scientists - but he applied his genetically-gifted brain to the science of killing and joined the Commandos Marine, which are like the SAS only without the hygiene and good manners (I assume - they are French), but he never went to the same heights as other continental non-actors like Van Damme partially because people would be like "say, you want to do an interview in a room with a man who has for-sure killed people, is built like a brick shithouse, and doesn't take bad news well?" (again: French), and the casting agents would be like HAHA FUCK NO but mainly because he really is quite terrible so that was the end of that bit of upwards career mobility and he got stuck starring in gloriously flawed zero-budget shite like this, a film where he looks impassively at a shard of metal jammed through his kneecap and says "oh no" with the same level of emotion one associates with asking yourself out loud if you left a window open before you locked up the house to go shopping.
This is not a good film, but in being so dated it has many things to recommend it, such as the shooting at the start where every bullet put into a chamber and fired from a gun is built up like it's the one that's going to hit the hero, and then they fire the bullet and it misses by a country mile - or makes random things like flagpoles explode - and then the process repeats like twenty times, and then the hero saves a puppy who is a solid 8 on the cuteness scale by crawling through the dirt to hide it in a safe so it will be protected from the coming explosions.  I have done a Google search, and it is one of these:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9AkVp8UWE9c/UWJdApdyIYI/AAAAAAAAAN8/UiFQi4fRrWU/s320/cute_Alaskan_Malamute_puppy_pictures.jpg)
An "Alaskan Malamute", apparantly, which Gruner then takes to live in the desert.  It was too afraid to say no, and needless to say, it is not long for this film.
There is a law that if it was made in the 1990s and featured someone being kicked in the face, it had to star Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and sure enough he's here, as is action c-movie stalwart Brion James and they are comforting presences even when called upon to glower at the viewer.  The script is also reassuringly old-fashioned in exploring such outdated tropes as "if I get a pin in my hip does that make me a Transformer now?" and the way it's shot feels so solid compared to modern action no-budgeters, with prosthetic effects, lots of bullet damage to environments, actual on-set and location-filmed explosions, and non-shaky camera shots of things exploding or characters running or shooting or punching each other or falling backwards down a fun park slide while shooting at things, or jumping through windows as buildings explode - and even a stop-motion endoskeleton!  Yep, it is a film that tops off with the protagonist having a fistfight with the Terminator while hanging out of a plane in flight, so it's occasionally pretty ambitious even if it does look cheap as heck a lot of the time with its amber filters over stock footage establishing shots of Los Angeles or wherever, and atrocious editing here and there.
Like I say, it's not good and it has dated poorly, but that gives it a charm it sure didn't have at the time to make it kind of endearing to a modern viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 August, 2013, 09:42:53 PM
If I ever need to read a good review, I look over SFX and go straight to Jame T. Bear. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 03 August, 2013, 03:15:53 AM
Re Tranformers:The Movie, it definatly had a release in Australia, i remeber we were visiting the city and it was on, i pleaded and begged to go see it but was over ridden by mum who decided we could watch The Boy Who Could Fly instead!!!!  now i cant remeber a thing about the Boy Who Could Fly (did the boy ever fly or was he delusional? i cant remember) but god damn i remember every scene from T.F The Movie even though i had to wait over a year to get the video version.
Straight to Video had many great releases but unfortunatly many crap ones too, great memeories of Critters not seen for ages but remember it being above the norm for a STV, anyone remeber The Wraith? man that car (which is all i remember and i think some boobies in a swimming scene).  In fact i think alot of these movies were got out on the hope of a bit of boobie action.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 03 August, 2013, 07:42:03 AM
Transformers the movie did get a UK cinema release. I was a massive Transformers fan in my youth*, so you can imagine my disappointment when Mother took me to see Go-Bots the Movie instead!

*I've still got the original Marvel UK comic run from issue 39 to about 225, pretty much mint condition. Don't think i'll ever part with 'em.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 August, 2013, 09:49:52 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 02 August, 2013, 09:28:39 PM
Gullible and ignorant as I am, I thought "all this talk of the STV market makes me want to watch Nemesis right the fuck now" and so that is what I did - thanks, Poundland dvd section!

I wasn't familiar with the auteur responsible's other work, but I remember at the time Nemesis (1992) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgQg4xyc4zo) had a certain buzz about it - it was definitely being discussed as representing either a new high or a new low in something. I mainly wanted to see it because of the child-like fascination the name Nemesis held for me, even though I knew perfectly well Gruner wouldn't have horns or backwards legs like Charlie Sheen in The Arrival.

We didn't stop laughing and cat-calling from the moment we put the tape on, thanks to the film's (presumably arch and self-aware) fetishisation of automatic weaponry. It takes the assumption that the audience are only really there for the gun battles to its illogical extreme by making a gun battle the default response to any situation, in a way which presages the gag in Loaded Weapon where Emilio Estevez uses his .45 to crack open a brew.

When I eventually saw Stallone using preposterously powerful automatic gunfire to create a hole in concrete and get from one room to another in Judge Dredd (1995) I added ripping-off Nemesis to the charge sheet I was constructing in my head. Except Nemesis used the gag to much better effect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tAC9oC1HjvI&t=19).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 August, 2013, 05:40:35 PM
I think the buzz centered around Gruner as the next big STV thing, as Van Damme's STV films had made so much money that everyone assumed he was buggering off to mainstream Hollywood, so around that time there was lots of buzz trying to figure who'd be the next breakout kung-fu star on the STV market, which is why low-budget studios were taking chances on star vehicles rather than just adding newcomers to the backing cast of films with proven STV draws and seeing how they went down, as was the case with the likes of Cynthia Rothrock, Steve James, Mark Dacascos, and even old Chuck Norris himself, who started out as Bruce Lee's punching bag.  It was such a lucrative market that you had STV films like Rapid Fire, the Perfect Weapon and Excessive Force debuting in theaters despite their unknown leads, tiny budgets and constant appearances from the boom mike, and Nemesis (along with his debut feature Angel Town) had a short theatrical run despite clearly being STV fare as someone thought Gruner could be a name draw sooner or later.

Pyun was great for coming up with daft visuals on no money, though.  He didn't have a good reputation for getting performances out of his actors and his narratives and editing were dreadful, but if you wanted your sci-fi to look alright for next to no money, he was your man.  Fun fact: his Van Damme vehicle Cyborg was originally a sequel to the 1985 Masters of the Universe movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 August, 2013, 07:13:11 PM
Scanners

I'd never seen this before and I really enjoyed it.
There are some pretty ropey performances and, other than from Michael Ironside, there's a severe lack of charisma on screen. Patrick McGoohan seems to be half asleep. I also thought that the female character was woefully under-written.
Despite this the story is pretty good and the effects stand up well. They're not realistic but they still have a good gross-out factor.

I'll add this to my list of films that should be remade along with Logan's Run and The Keep. All these films share a great central premise and are entertaining but could really do with a bit of script doctoring, some modern effects and a better cast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 August, 2013, 09:13:45 PM
Michael Ironside? How do you get better than that? ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters

Thanks to the Horror Channel's Lucio Fulci season, I was able to catch this little gem at the weekend.  Firstly, if there is an award for best film title then this would win hands-down, what a name! 

The film starts with a boat arriving in New York that has a zombie on board.  This is then traced back to a tropical island that is suffering with a mysterious infection which brings the dead back to life.  The local Doctor is trying to get to the root of the infection but unfortunately has to spend most of his day wrapping the undead in sheets and shooting them in the head.

On the way to the island we are treated to an underwater shark v zombie face-off.  I'm sure many of you, like myself, have wondered which would win in a fight so this movie goes some way in answering that. 

On the island it's basically a lot of running around, crashing cars into trees and the final hold-up in a hospital that looks suspiciously like a church.  Fortunately, it's a hospital with plenty of guns and all the ingredients for Molotov cocktails.  Somehow, some of our 'heroes' manage to escape to a boat and then there is a nice little twist at the end with a great finishing shot. 

The zombies look great in this with suitable make-up and worms added where appropriate.  These are old-school zombies so they don't move very quickly apart from the final lunge.  They are quiet on their feet though with several people caught out by them sneaking up on them (you would have thought they smelt a bit – no?). 

It's true that they really don't make films like this anymore.  Instead of all the subtext nonsense that Romero liked to clog up his 'dead' films with, this is played straight for gore.   I suppose you could say the acting is bad and that it is not very suspenseful but it is hard not to like this movie.  I would recommend it to anyone who was an interest in horror.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 August, 2013, 04:27:44 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters


Tis a grand film that, and one that was regulary rented out during the 'Video Nasty' era.
In fact, ive still got a geniune VHS copy of this, bought for £2, from a Video Shop that was shutting down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 05 August, 2013, 04:41:47 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters

Thanks to the Horror Channel's Lucio Fulci season, I was able to catch this little gem at the weekend.

Can't beat a bit of Fulci, nor indeed a bit of the mighty Ian McCulloch in one of his triad of Italian splatter movies. So was it the proper version with the eyeball / splinter scene, or did they cut it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 August, 2013, 04:45:57 PM
Corcking piece of cine-trash...I actualy prefer it to Dawn of the Dead. :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 05 August, 2013, 04:46:16 PM
DIAL M FOR MURDER in 3D. Hitchcock's only foray into the 3D fad but what a stylish filn it is! Stagey, obviously, but the 3D works so much better here than in any of the CGI blockbusters or recent years. When Grace Kelly is reaching behind her head (and into the audience) for the scissors to defend herself, or indeed the whole murder sequence is wonderfully suspenseful. It's been on TV umpteen times but if you get the chance see this re-issue at the cinema. Brilliant. It's the first film I've seen which has made me wish I had a 3D tv so I could buy and watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 05:55:39 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 05 August, 2013, 04:41:47 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters

Thanks to the Horror Channel's Lucio Fulci season, I was able to catch this little gem at the weekend.

Can't beat a bit of Fulci, nor indeed a bit of the mighty Ian McCulloch in one of his triad of Italian splatter movies. So was it the proper version with the eyeball / splinter scene, or did they cut it?

It was, I believe, the full version - it certainly included the eyeball / splinter scene.  I will never complain about a splinter in my finger again!  :sick:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 August, 2013, 06:13:39 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 05 August, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters

Thanks to the Horror Channel's Lucio Fulci season, I was able to catch this little gem at the weekend.  Firstly, if there is an award for best film title then this would win hands-down, what a name! 

The film starts with a boat arriving in New York that has a zombie on board.  This is then traced back to a tropical island that is suffering with a mysterious infection which brings the dead back to life.  The local Doctor is trying to get to the root of the infection but unfortunately has to spend most of his day wrapping the undead in sheets and shooting them in the head.

On the way to the island we are treated to an underwater shark v zombie face-off.  I'm sure many of you, like myself, have wondered which would win in a fight so this movie goes some way in answering that. 

On the island it's basically a lot of running around, crashing cars into trees and the final hold-up in a hospital that looks suspiciously like a church.  Fortunately, it's a hospital with plenty of guns and all the ingredients for Molotov cocktails.  Somehow, some of our 'heroes' manage to escape to a boat and then there is a nice little twist at the end with a great finishing shot. 

The zombies look great in this with suitable make-up and worms added where appropriate.  These are old-school zombies so they don't move very quickly apart from the final lunge.  They are quiet on their feet though with several people caught out by them sneaking up on them (you would have thought they smelt a bit – no?). 

It's true that they really don't make films like this anymore.  Instead of all the subtext nonsense that Romero liked to clog up his 'dead' films with, this is played straight for gore.   I suppose you could say the acting is bad and that it is not very suspenseful but it is hard not to like this movie.  I would recommend it to anyone who was an interest in horror.


It's a great title but I'd give the award for 'Best (Zombie) Film Title' to 'Zombie Nosh'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 August, 2013, 09:41:14 PM
Blade II - last night on 'telly. Forgot how much fun these films were - well, the first two anyway.
May have to invest in the boxset....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 August, 2013, 09:54:25 PM
Well finally got around to watching Prometheus after all this time and while I'm conscious of not wanting to open old wounds (I avoided the old thread before it got locked to avoid spoiler... which i won't be hear by the way so stop reading now if you ain't seen it, but its reputation proceeded it and a bit of me fancies going to see how it turned into such fight) I fail to see how I can not pass comment on such a curious film. At times it teased with being good, it looked wonderful and there was the odd idea in there that was great, the odd scene that was genuinely compelling. All of which was Godlessly butchered by other moments of damn right ludicrousness, some scenes of bewildering silliness and over all very confused messages and themes.

As with reading books you each take out something different from your reading of a film but really this one I just couldn't pin down. Science seems to be well and truly lambasted at times, so does religion, yet the central  premise when broken down says very little of any worth about either. A creation 'myth' for the human race in no way undoes Darwinism as said by the biologist at the beginning... but then I think we're meant to hate him and his horrible death... oh spoilers but I suspect I'm the last person to see it who would really care. ... with the equally rubbish geologist ... is that meant to have a subtext, both abandoned and a lone, confused with no clue before hand. I think there could be things to think about, consider, muddled themes to work through but frankly I don't have the energy or desire to do so. At the end of the day for all its attempts at subtext and deeper meaning all I got from it was bio-weapons are bad and people gain a wonderful sense of their place in humanity when faced with the prospect of the Earth probably being about to be invaded by something that you don't really know, have barely seen but have been warned about by the character whose state of mind by this point was all over the shop... no even that was confused and not worth the effort...  maybe I got don't expect answers from your Gods in case you don't like them, or they turn out to be a big angry bear who woke up wrong side the bed... no how about if you're about to be crushed by a big rolling thing run to the bloody side ya numbnut, don't try to out run it dumbass... yeah defo got that from it.

And all the 'cute' illusions to Alien... were really bloody annoying. I mean either do it or don't all this playing with it. uh look this is from Alien isn't it... look you're getting the parallels here aren't we, look the set up is all the same not just the overall visual tone... oh cut it out... and that bit at the end with the proto Alien thingie, well that was just really irritating...

What a befuddled mess of a film... and yet a bit of me wants to watch it again just to see what is worth unpicking... I know if and when its on regular telly I'll record it and give it another go... I also strongly suspect resenting wasting another two hours of my life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 August, 2013, 10:38:24 PM
I'd been looking forward to Only God Forgives, which I found very disappointing. There's no doubt it's a great looking film but everything about it is so mannered and stilted I rapidly lost interest. There's a stiffness about the performances which is clearly deliberate, given that it's manifest in everyone other than Kristin Scott Thomas who is the only one who gets to have any fun.

It's not as if I went in expecting something different. It's the OTT stylisation I liked about Bronson and I've even been know to stick up for Valhalla Rising's enigmatic staring, but this fell flat for me. Refn remains a director interested in making films rather than telling stories and hopefully some day he'll strike the right balance.

Out of interest, if anyone's seen this in the UK or US, is the Thai dialogue subtitled? I watched it in Switzerland and was able to follow most of it with a combination of the French and German subtitles they have here but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to as it seemed like the sort of film where they might deliberately leave it as is to push the sense of dislocation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 August, 2013, 10:41:17 PM
And I enjoyed the discussion of DTV/ B movies. It's a bit late to join in but I'm broadly on Prof Bear's side and would like to submit Universal Soldier: Regeneration, which was easily better than 90% of the cinema released action or genre films of the same year, as exhibit X.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 August, 2013, 11:37:36 PM
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is pretty decent, too, though the occasional pretentiousness of it baffled and irritated me - I just want to see people get kicked in the head in a Van Damme flick!  Then the main character kicks someone in the head with their own leg and all is well with the world of STV head-kicking again.  Some very impressive one-take fight sequences, too.

Where the Sidewalk Ends - as recommended by our own Buttonman up t'thread a ways.  More cheap thriller than it is proper proto-noir, but some of the character work is great, like Karl Malden's ambitious lieutenant eager to stitch up the wrong man for an accidental killing and stumbling into the actual how and why of the death only because no-one around him wants to point out how daft his theory initially is, and Dana Andrews' rough piece of work copper who hates crims because of the daddy issues that are his eventual undoing.  The ending struck me as the makers looking to tell a story rather than just wallow in the cheap tropes of the genre as has become the norm of late, and thus was quite welcome.
Very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 05 August, 2013, 11:40:39 PM
The Host.

That lass out of 'the lovely bones', and 'Hannah' once again shows her skills as an actress of worth, but other than that?  Tedious, overly sentimental horseshit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 06 August, 2013, 12:30:40 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 05 August, 2013, 11:40:39 PM
The Host.
Tedious, overly sentimental horseshit.

The trailer didn't tip you off?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 06 August, 2013, 03:18:47 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 05 August, 2013, 09:54:25 PM
Well finally got around to watching Prometheus after all this time and while I'm conscious of not wanting to open old wounds (I avoided the old thread before it got locked to avoid spoiler... which i won't be hear by the way so stop reading now if you ain't seen it, but its reputation proceeded it and a bit of me fancies going to see how it turned into such fight) I fail to see how I can not pass comment on such a curious film. At times it teased with being good, it looked wonderful and there was the odd idea in there that was great, the odd scene that was genuinely compelling. All of which was Godlessly butchered by other moments of damn right ludicrousness, some scenes of bewildering silliness and over all very confused messages and themes.

I don't hate Prometheus, but then I don't associate it with the other Alien films.  I recall recently watching the documentary of John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and there was a comment in there where John said that basically he didn't want to do another 'guy in a suit' monster movie such as alien.  And that's the thing, Alien was hardly the most original, thought-provoking idea but it was executed to perfection.  It became so much more than the sum of its parts. 

Prometheus is the opposite though; it tries so hard and ultimately fails on every level.  It tries to include all these clever sub-plots and stories but doesn't even manage to keep the main story on track.  Unfortunately it is just a mess, worth a watch or two but that's about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 06 August, 2013, 05:03:11 PM
Just finished Killing Them Softly and found the death of one character rather interesting! He was shot in slow mo and one round went through his cheek and then to top it off, his head impacted a surface very hard and that was in slow mo as well. SPOOKY OR WHAT :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 06 August, 2013, 07:40:13 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 06 August, 2013, 12:30:40 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 05 August, 2013, 11:40:39 PM
The Host.
Tedious, overly sentimental horseshit.

The trailer didn't tip you off?

Never seen the trailer.  Try to avoid trailers where I can.  Although I did know it was written by the Twilight types, so knew to set my expectations low.  But I had to watch it for the lead actress as she's been good in other stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 August, 2013, 08:44:44 PM
Tampopo (Dandelion) 1985 - A Japanese film directed by Juro Itami. Features a young Ken Watanabe in a supporting role. The film revolves around a truck driver that visits a poor ramen house and takes it upon himself to help the widow that owns the place improve her ramen and her life. Extremely good film with some strange, seemingly disconnected vignettes scattered throughout. If you can track a copy of this film down I would recommend you buy and watch it.

The Heat - In a word, bloody awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 August, 2013, 10:43:37 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 05 August, 2013, 11:37:36 PM
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is pretty decent, too, though the occasional pretentiousness of it baffled and irritated me - I just want to see people get kicked in the head in a Van Damme flick!  Then the main character kicks someone in the head with their own leg and all is well with the world of STV head-kicking again.  Some very impressive one-take fight sequences, too.
I really liked Day of Reckoning, although I think I've got a slightly higher tolerance for artsy pissing around than you. I loved the way they'd decided that everyone knows what to expect from a Universal Soldier film so instead we'll have the first half be a vaguely trippy film noir kind of deal. That big fight scene in the sports shop where you gradually see Adkins coming to terms with what he is and what he can do is absolutely first rate action storytelling.

Plus I just love Dolph.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 August, 2013, 11:45:50 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 06 August, 2013, 03:18:47 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 05 August, 2013, 09:54:25 PM
Well finally got around to watching Prometheus after all this time and while I'm conscious of not wanting to open old wounds (I avoided the old thread before it got locked to avoid spoiler... which i won't be hear by the way so stop reading now if you ain't seen it, but its reputation proceeded it and a bit of me fancies going to see how it turned into such fight) I fail to see how I can not pass comment on such a curious film. At times it teased with being good, it looked wonderful and there was the odd idea in there that was great, the odd scene that was genuinely compelling. All of which was Godlessly butchered by other moments of damn right ludicrousness, some scenes of bewildering silliness and over all very confused messages and themes.

I don't hate Prometheus, but then I don't associate it with the other Alien films.  I recall recently watching the documentary of John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and there was a comment in there where John said that basically he didn't want to do another 'guy in a suit' monster movie such as alien.  And that's the thing, Alien was hardly the most original, thought-provoking idea but it was executed to perfection.  It became so much more than the sum of its parts. 

Prometheus is the opposite though; it tries so hard and ultimately fails on every level.  It tries to include all these clever sub-plots and stories but doesn't even manage to keep the main story on track.  Unfortunately it is just a mess, worth a watch or two but that's about it.

I had high hopes for Prometheus, and even after I watched it for the first time, I liked it. Not blown away by it, but I thought it was a solid science-fiction film with some great ideas. But having watched it again, all the faults which I tried to ignore first time round became more prominent. There were moments when I was literally cringing at some of the bad dialogue, and some shoddy acting from a few. And why one earth Ridley got Guy Pearce to play on elderly frail man, when there were a lot of elderly actors who could have played the part perfectly - I do not know. But amidst the poor decisions, there were some high points. The film looked bloody gorgeous especially on a big screen, visually it was impressive even if the script was not. The opening was breathtakingly executed, there was almost a chilling feel to it, a feeling of genuine fear and wonder when we see the Engineer atop the cliff as the sight of the mothership looms large in the background like a magnificent colussus.  Michael Fassbender's potrayal of David was excellent, especially the opening scenes of him going about his business. His obsession with Lawrence of Arabia/ Peter O'Toole was a nice touch too. I also saw a bit of H.P Lovecraft in the film, especially the 'At The Mountains of Madness' setting of the film; and the very Lovecraftian bigass tentacled face hugger at the end. There was some genuine tension in certain scenes, especially when the crew first enters the chambers. There's a feeling of foreboding just like the scenes in the original Alien when the crew enter the crashed ship. But....it's all let down by some poor decision making. Which is a big shame, as it had the potential to be a great film, rather than an average one which it is now.

And on this evidence all I can say to Sir Ridley, is to stay away from my beloved Blade Runner! It doesn't need a prequel/ sequel, it's perfect the way it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 August, 2013, 11:52:54 PM
All you need to know about Prometheus is what the makers have openly admitted in interviews: they had a finished script that was definately an Alien prequel and everyone was dead excited about it and the studio threw money at it until it was theirs.  Then they hired Scott and he sat the writer(s) down for three days giving them notes on how to change things - and what they couldn't put in this film, Scott would put in the two sequels.

Quote from: The Cosh on 06 August, 2013, 10:43:37 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 05 August, 2013, 11:37:36 PM
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is pretty decent, too, though the occasional pretentiousness of it baffled and irritated me - I just want to see people get kicked in the head in a Van Damme flick!  Then the main character kicks someone in the head with their own leg and all is well with the world of STV head-kicking again.  Some very impressive one-take fight sequences, too.
I really liked Day of Reckoning, although I think I've got a slightly higher tolerance for artsy pissing around than you. I loved the way they'd decided that everyone knows what to expect from a Universal Soldier film so instead we'll have the first half be a vaguely trippy film noir kind of deal. That big fight scene in the sports shop where you gradually see Adkins coming to terms with what he is and what he can do is absolutely first rate action storytelling.

Plus I just love Dolph.

I don't mind artsy, but it's the sixth film in a series built on the premise of kung-fu steroid zombies beating each other over the head with pipes, and really doesn't benefit from extensively paraphrasing Sartre.

I did like the final assault on the UniSol base, though, where it's shot over-the-shoulder in lengthy takes so that the scene is mostly framed exactly like a videogame, or at the very least looks like Scott Whatsisface playing soldiers with his mates.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 August, 2013, 12:21:39 PM
THE WOLVERINE and PACIFIC RIM.
Enjoyed both (Pacific Rim more so) but felt both were let down by the final quarter.  The central smack-down in PR is nothing short of gobsmacking and never dull despite taking up what must be a quarter of the film's running time.  Similarly, the Funeral and Bullet Train sequences in The Wolverine are good, inventive fun.  I particularly liked the fact that [spoiler]the Ninja army that take down Wolverine as he approaches the baddies castle are conveniently dismissed for the final confrontation. "Yeah, well done lads. Go home, Take a break put your feet up and crack open a tinnie (of sake). These handcuffs will keep him in place."[/spoiler]

Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec
Quite enjoyed this as well but felt there wasn't much to engage with the lead lass. Equal parts charming, quirky, funny and a bit pants.  Loved the Mummies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 August, 2013, 08:57:56 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 06 August, 2013, 07:40:13 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 06 August, 2013, 12:30:40 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 05 August, 2013, 11:40:39 PM
The Host.
Tedious, overly sentimental horseshit.

The trailer didn't tip you off?

Never seen the trailer.  Try to avoid trailers where I can.  Although I did know it was written by the Twilight types, so knew to set my expectations low.  But I had to watch it for the lead actress as she's been good in other stuff.

I wasn't been flippant Ghost, I just meant that the trailer deftly informed me of its tween target audience, thereby automatically removing it from my 'will ever watch' list.
Saorise Ronan grates on me a bit too though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 07 August, 2013, 09:03:47 PM
Didn't think you were mate. ;)  I just avoid trailers as they have in the past put me off films that I ended up liking, or encouraged me to watch some crap that wasn't worth the time it took to watch.  Also they give away too much for me.

I was told a while ago, a formula for trailers.  If it's over 30 seconds, and you get the basic idea of the film from it, the film will be shit.  If it's around 10 seconds long, and confuses the hell out of you, then you should probably give it a go.  Seems to be fairly worthwhile as theories go! ;)

Saw DARK SKIES last night.

Pretty standard alien abduction stuff.  Nicely shot and acted, but nothing new really.  Worth a watch, but certainly not a 'must see'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 August, 2013, 09:10:57 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 07 August, 2013, 09:03:47 PM
I was told a while ago, a formula for trailers.  If it's over 30 seconds, and you get the basic idea of the film from it, the film will be shit.  If it's around 10 seconds long, and confuses the hell out of you, then you should probably give it a go.  Seems to be fairly worthwhile as theories go! ;)


My new rule of thumb!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 07 August, 2013, 09:17:57 PM
Here's another one for you, if the trailer contains even a single second showing Will Ferrell, then it's NOT a comedy.  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 August, 2013, 09:20:19 PM
Even if its for Eastbound and Down?
If your answer is yes, you're dead inside!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 07 August, 2013, 09:21:50 PM
Does Eastbound and Down feature Will Ferrell?  If your answer is yes, then to you, I am dead inside. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 August, 2013, 09:25:30 PM
Irish siege comedy Whole Lotta Soul (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no201-whole-lotta-sole.html) which for some reason stars Brendan Fraser followed by some moody teens and Kristen Bell in the not very sexy drama The Lifeguard. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no116-lifeguard.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 08 August, 2013, 01:38:23 AM
Only God Forgives

Quote from: The Cosh on 05 August, 2013, 10:38:24 PM
I'd been looking forward to Only God Forgives, which I found very disappointing. There's no doubt it's a great looking film but everything about it is so mannered and stilted. There's a stiffness about the performances which is clearly deliberate, given that it's manifest in everyone other than Kristin Scott Thomas who is the only one who gets to have any fun.

In answer to your question The Cosh,
Yes,  most of the Thai dialogue is subtitled in the UK version which I watched....even the 'deliberately dreadful karaoke' singing......

I quite enjoyed this movie,  but on a first watch it does appear to have more style than substance....The deliberately 'stilted' acting did 'grate' a bit, but not to the detriment of the movie as a whole....It kind of  reminded me a little of the style of the 'Old Boy' movie...
Good performance from Kristen Scott Thomas ( what a complete bitch, and the all time mother from Hell ), and Ryan Gosling was also quite good, but due to the deliberate 'minimal emotion' he displayed throughout it was kind of hard to tell.... Plenty of ( particularly gory ) violence, bad language and an impressive ( very violent )  performance by the Cop with the blade.....Not an all out 'actioneer' and quite slow paced between the violence.....
All in all, quite a difficult one to recommend wholeheartedly, but if you are a fan of Korean Cinema and Movies like Old Boy, it's certainly worth a watch......
But at the showing I was at,  4 people walked out, muttering 'crap' .....It's not 'crap' but it's a strange one...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 August, 2013, 10:29:46 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 07 August, 2013, 09:03:47 PM
Didn't think you were mate. ;)  I just avoid trailers as they have in the past put me off films that I ended up liking, or encouraged me to watch some crap that wasn't worth the time it took to watch.  Also they give away too much for me.

I was told a while ago, a formula for trailers.  If it's over 30 seconds, and you get the basic idea of the film from it, the film will be shit.  If it's around 10 seconds long, and confuses the hell out of you, then you should probably give it a go.  Seems to be fairly worthwhile as theories go! ;)


Your theory is promising but you need to check your math (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVIba2N6MTA&noredirect=1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 August, 2013, 03:22:37 PM
The Mist (2007).

Been meaning to watch this for ages and spotted it on Netflix. I liked it, but it was nothing amazing. It's really let down by the monsters and action scenes being totally unscary and tension-free - reminded me of Jumanji more than anything. Lots of unconvincing cgi. Would have been an infinitely better film in the hands of a proper horror director, and if we had only seen glimpses of the monsters.

Also, way, way overlong at two 2hrs+ - could have easily cut 40mins to make a nice, tight siege thriller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 August, 2013, 03:29:31 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 August, 2013, 03:22:37 PM
The Mist (2007).

Been meaning to watch this for ages and spotted it on Netflix. I liked it, but it was nothing amazing. It's really let down by the monsters and action scenes being totally unscary and tension-free - reminded me of Jumanji more than anything. Lots of unconvincing cgi. Would have been an infinitely better film in the hands of a proper horror director, and if we had only seen glimpses of the monsters.

Also, way, way overlong at two 2hrs+ - could have easily cut 40mins to make a nice, tight siege thriller.

It's not stunning but I did quite enjoy it, and it's very faithful to the book. Except for the ending; I actually preferred the film ending.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 August, 2013, 03:35:57 PM
The Mist is one of those films that works best if you know absolutely nothing about it but just happen to catch it on telly - like From Dusk Till Dawn or Rosemary's Baby.

Just to clarify - yes I'd heard of Rosemary's Baby the first time I saw it, but didn't know the film I was watching was Rosemary's Baby as it was pre-internet on a non-ceefax TV and I didn't have a TV guide. In those days if you didn't catch the titles you had no clue what you were watching!
I watched From Dusk Till Dawn with my dad - I'd seen it before but when the vampires turned up it blew his mind!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 August, 2013, 03:54:37 PM
The B&W version of The Mist on the DVD works a lot better than the colour version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 August, 2013, 05:33:19 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 August, 2013, 03:35:57 PM
I watched From Dusk Till Dawn with my dad - I'd seen it before but when the vampires turned up it blew his mind!

Back in '96 (I think it was "Cinema Centenary day" or something) and you could get in the Cinema for a quid ("No, today is MY treat"), I took my bird along and allowed her to pick the movie.  She opted for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE but it was sold out so she asked the usher what FROM DUSK TIL DAWN was. He described it only in terms of the opening twenty minutes i.e. Tarantino, crims on the run, Harvey Keitel and George Clooney (a big draw for her) so that's what she opted for. I knew what was coming but wasn't telling. ;o)   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 August, 2013, 06:24:03 PM
The guilty white liberal in me wanted to hate Lone Ranger, but it's alright.  It's biggest objective problems are that it's just too long and there's not enough action in it, while the Lone Ranger as a presence seems like an afterthought to the point he may as well not be in it at all, like they're ashamed or embarrassed by the very concept, but the odd bit is really fun, especially the final action scene set across two different trains to the Lone Ranger Theme and which has some great gunfighting, old-school stuntwork and the title character chasing the baddie down by riding Silver across the rooftops of the town and then across a moving train - that stuff is just the right mix of daft and awesome.  Fans of the Jonah Hex comic may find the old-Tonto-in-a-sideshow framing device to be a bit familiar, but everyone else will likely just think it a bit misjudged in terms of tone, though tone is all over the place throughout the film anyway so possibly not.

Is it the turkey the US media is saying?  Not so far as I can tell, it's nowhere near as bad as Wild Wild West, for instance - but does it look like it cost a quarter of a billion dollars?  Does it fuck.  I am calling it now, that cash went up someone's nose and then they went on a massive hobo-battering bender.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 August, 2013, 06:47:13 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 08 August, 2013, 06:24:03 PM
the odd bit is really fun, especially the final action scene set across two different trains to the Lone Ranger Theme and which has some great gunfighting, old-school stuntwork and the title character chasing the baddie down by riding Silver across the rooftops of the town and then across a moving train - that stuff is just the right mix of daft and awesome. 

Is it the turkey the US media is saying?  Not so far as I can tell, it's nowhere near as bad as Wild Wild West, for instance - but does it look like it cost a quarter of a billion dollars?  Does it fuck.  I am calling it now, that cash went up someone's nose and then they went on a massive hobo-battering bender.

The Lone Ranger theme? I'm sure you're familiar with Billy Connolly's definition of an intellectual (http://www.goodquotes.com/author/billy-connolly), Prof.

Apparently Don Simpson used to unwind by [spoiler]fucking $10,000 an hour prostitutes in the arse as he flushed their heads down the toilet[/spoiler], had his face and physique remodelled in the same way other folk redecorate, and arrived at his high school reunion in a helicopter. I can believe Jerry Bruckheimer's still skimming production budgets to pay that off.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 August, 2013, 07:07:27 PM
You will have a time convincing me that the William Tell Overture in a movie about the Lone Ranger is being played for any reason other than it being the theme from the television show.  And also in the public domain, so I imagine they saved a bit of money there.

Don Simpson sounds like he had the right idea - not so much the misogyny and taking drugs until his heart exploded side of things, but the general notion that there's no point hiding being an alpha male prick if you live in Hollywood and pull down billions making films about exploding Ferraris.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 August, 2013, 07:09:48 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 08 August, 2013, 06:24:03 PM
I am calling it now, that cash went up someone's nose and then they went on a massive hobo-battering bender.


Par for the course but it doesn't beat a shoot originally planned for 120 days that was weeks behind schedule; bad weather destroying sets and rather than retro-fitting trains they built their own vintage choo-choos. Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp all deferred portions of their salaries until Disney recoups its money.

Bruckheimer's company has to pay for any overages so I doubt he's willing to pay for so much nose-candy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 August, 2013, 07:22:25 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 08 August, 2013, 07:07:27 PM
the theme from the television show (is) also in the public domain, so I imagine they saved a bit of money there.

Good point, but they still managed to make it hugely expensive by paying Hans Zimmer to add a middle eight to it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LiaXIAwemk).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 08 August, 2013, 07:45:24 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 August, 2013, 10:29:46 AM

Your theory is promising but you need to check your math (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVIba2N6MTA&noredirect=1)

Lol, guess there's always exceptions to every rule! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 August, 2013, 08:24:31 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 August, 2013, 07:22:25 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 08 August, 2013, 07:07:27 PM
the theme from the television show (is) also in the public domain, so I imagine they saved a bit of money there.

Good point, but they still managed to make it hugely expensive by paying Hans Zimmer to add a middle eight to it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LiaXIAwemk).


It's a stonking version but I prefer it with some devotchkas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLoVSAcz7M8).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 09 August, 2013, 11:02:59 PM
The Last Stand: Really fun movie, a bit of a quieter come back for arnie than I guess people wanted, but still a lot of fun, made me excited for his next movie opposite Stallone, 'The Tomb/Escape Plan'.

Conan The Barbarian (John Milius and Arnie version), surprisingly the first time I've watched it, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and has got me to go back and read the old Savage Sword of Conan issues my dad used to pass down to me which are always fun to read (also downloaded Red Nails on Kindle, the first Howard Conan book I have read, really enjoying it). The Arnie version really makes the new one look even worse.

Escape from New York. No matter how many times I watch this film I will never not love it. Escape from L.A tomorrow, while it's not nearly as good as the first, I have grown to like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 August, 2013, 09:15:07 AM
Oblivion

One of those films where you have the entire plot sussed by the time the opening voice-over is finished.

And it's a breath-taking rip off of [spoiler]Moon[/spoiler]. Only without the creepy quiet voiced robot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 August, 2013, 09:26:01 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 09 August, 2013, 11:02:59 PM
Conan The Barbarian (John Milius and Arnie version), surprisingly the first time I've watched it, and thoroughly enjoyed it

I honestly think Conan The Barbarian is one of my favourite films. It never springs to mind when concocting one of those 'top ten' lists, but I can watch it pretty much any time. Giant rubber snakes notwithstanding, it looks fantastic, has a great score, knows exactly how much to ask of its lead's limited acting abilities and, crucially, works precisely because it takes itself so very seriously.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 August, 2013, 10:06:16 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 09 August, 2013, 11:02:59 PM
The Last Stand: Really fun movie, a bit of a quieter come back for arnie than I guess people wanted, but still a lot of fun, made me excited for his next movie opposite Stallone, 'The Tomb/Escape Plan'.

Conan The Barbarian (John Milius and Arnie version), surprisingly the first time I've watched it, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and has got me to go back and read the old Savage Sword of Conan issues my dad used to pass down to me which are always fun to read (also downloaded Red Nails on Kindle, the first Howard Conan book I have read, really enjoying it). The Arnie version really makes the new one look even worse.

Escape from New York. No matter how many times I watch this film I will never not love it. Escape from L.A tomorrow, while it's not nearly as good as the first, I have grown to like it.

Some great films there Will, especially in the case of the latter two. I agree with Jim; all components from score to production design is fantastic. Millius managed to capture some of the intrigue and romance of Robert E. Howard's stories. As for Escape From New York, it's quite possibly my favourite John Carpenter film alongside The Thing. The sequel however is not nearly half as good in my opinion, but still has its moments. Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken is so bad-ass as a character, there's a moment where he's talking with Lee Van Cleef about the mission, and you think it's Clint Eastwood sitting there sporting an eye patch and growling in his iconic voice and not Kurt, that's how good he is. He is hugely underrated in my view, although he's appeared in some classic films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 10 August, 2013, 08:01:20 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 August, 2013, 09:26:01 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 09 August, 2013, 11:02:59 PM
Conan The Barbarian (John Milius and Arnie version), surprisingly the first time I've watched it, and thoroughly enjoyed it

I honestly think Conan The Barbarian is one of my favourite films. It never springs to mind when concocting one of those 'top ten' lists, but I can watch it pretty much any time. Giant rubber snakes notwithstanding, it looks fantastic, has a great score, knows exactly how much to ask of its lead's limited acting abilities and, crucially, works precisely because it takes itself so very seriously.

Cheers

Jim

Couldn't agree more! Like you said, it takes its self seriously, but it never feels overly like it's trying to-do so, it knows when to lighten the mood in certain situations (granted, these are few) but not to the point of cheesy humour. The levity in the film comes from the characters triumphs throughout the film rather than one liners and silly humour. Every time I watch it again it surprises me how well the fight scenes are shot and choreographed, the orgy chamber scene, with it's slow build up, may be one of my favourite action sequences!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 11:13:15 AM
Futureworld.

I'd never seen this before and I really enjoyed it. I was expecting a re-tread of Westworld but the conspiracy angle set it apart.
I particularly liked the maintenance man's friendly scrap robot and the weird dream sequence featuring Yul Bryner that was obviously just added so that they could put his name on the posters!
I think this and Westworld are both really fun, easy to watch films - they really don't make them like this any more. Saying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget and they could actually work really well with lavish sets and amped up action sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2013, 11:15:48 AM
QuoteSaying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRM-nNp1NGgA2TlqkNDb1GZ8vBfLYrGkbpvFEpBr_5_3e2XcJolwQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 August, 2013, 11:27:43 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 11:13:15 AM
I think this and Westworld are both really fun, easy to watch films - they really don't make them like this any more. Saying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget and they could actually work really well with lavish sets and amped up action sequences.

Karl  Urban played Black Hat in Priest so all he needs to do is shave his head to be in with a shout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 12:00:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2013, 11:15:48 AM
QuoteSaying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRM-nNp1NGgA2TlqkNDb1GZ8vBfLYrGkbpvFEpBr_5_3e2XcJolwQ)

Yep, Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 11 August, 2013, 12:35:39 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 12:00:34 PM
Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!

The velociraptors hunting in packs is very similar to what happens in the Bigg Market in Newcastle every weekend when the lads are on the pull!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 August, 2013, 01:00:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 12:00:34 PM
Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!

I would have enjoyed a go on the Laura Dern ride. Only if the queues for Julianne Moore were too long, though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 11 August, 2013, 01:24:09 PM
And speaking of Julianne Moore; Hannibal - last night on ITV2.
Not really seen this since i caught it in the cinema, so was kinda interesting to see it again, but its a load of dog shite, to be honest. The first two films, and books, are superb, but ive never seen a franchise run out of steam so quickly as this one. Well maybe 'Alien' beats it, but its a closely run thing...

Not seen owt of the TV series, so cant comment on that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2013, 01:24:28 PM
QuoteYep, Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!

How about this then?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309748/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 04:13:15 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2013, 01:24:28 PM
QuoteYep, Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!

How about this then?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309748/

Well it has a 9 star rating compared to Jurassic Park's 8 so I'm expecting something special!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dragonfly on 12 August, 2013, 06:55:04 AM
Rewatched From Dusk To Dawn over the weekend, still a very good film, but was then tempted to watch the two sequels. Bought a box set of the three about five or six years ago but have only watched the first film having been warned off the others. But this weekend thought what the hell and decided to go for it. I had some Jagermeister and a bottle of wine to ease the pain!
Watching the first sequel I was very surprised to see Bruce Campbell in it, didn't realise he was in it and in fact he wasn't really was he? Just had a short throw away appearance during the opening scene then reappearing towards the end as a life-size cardboard cut out.
Anyway I quite enjoyed this, it's not a patch on the first film but it's alright to see once or twice. It tries to put in a bit of Tarantinoesque dialogue but doesn't really convince. Still the final credits roll at about I hour and seventeen minutes so it doesn't outstay it's welcome and it is fun, tongue in cheek and doesn't take itself very seriously.
The second sequel is a bit crap really and shouldn't be seen more than once, and even that's pushing it. It's a cowboy film with vampires and just repeats the first films story structure. It doesn't help that at the beginning of the film we have a scene nicked from The Good The Bad And The Ugly where the outlaw protagonist is about to be hanged and is rescued by having the rope shot so he can escape. The whole film feels very derivative. It also feels very low budget, which in itself is not a bad thing, but gives the impression that no one cares.
So to sum up, first film Brilliant, second film okay, third avoid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 August, 2013, 07:33:26 AM
Quote from: gavingavin on 12 August, 2013, 06:55:04 AM
The second sequel is a bit crap really and shouldn't be seen more than once, and even that's pushing it. It's a cowboy film and just repeats the first films story structure.

Worked for Back To The Future (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zJiCswIaIkI&t=153).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 12 August, 2013, 12:12:25 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 11:13:15 AM
Futureworld.

I'd never seen this before and I really enjoyed it. I was expecting a re-tread of Westworld but the conspiracy angle set it apart.
I particularly liked the maintenance man's friendly scrap robot and the weird dream sequence featuring Yul Bryner that was obviously just added so that they could put his name on the posters!
I think this and Westworld are both really fun, easy to watch films - they really don't make them like this any more. Saying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget and they could actually work really well with lavish sets and amped up action sequences.

These are great films and I see what you mean about them being remade, as the effects certainly show their age.  The beauty of a film like Westworld is that image of the cowboy pacing along after them.  It's a quiet menace that filmmakers nowadays don't seem to have the patience for.  So, fast forward to the remake and the cowboy now has a jetpack and freaking laser-beams.  Plus, we get lots of explosions and CGI effects and suddenly we have lost what made the original film so good.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 August, 2013, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 12 August, 2013, 12:12:25 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 August, 2013, 11:13:15 AM
Futureworld.

I'd never seen this before and I really enjoyed it. I was expecting a re-tread of Westworld but the conspiracy angle set it apart.
I particularly liked the maintenance man's friendly scrap robot and the weird dream sequence featuring Yul Bryner that was obviously just added so that they could put his name on the posters!
I think this and Westworld are both really fun, easy to watch films - they really don't make them like this any more. Saying that I can imagine them both remade on a large budget and they could actually work really well with lavish sets and amped up action sequences.

These are great films and I see what you mean about them being remade, as the effects certainly show their age.  The beauty of a film like Westworld is that image of the cowboy pacing along after them.  It's a quiet menace that filmmakers nowadays don't seem to have the patience for.  So, fast forward to the remake and the cowboy now has a jetpack and freaking laser-beams.  Plus, we get lots of explosions and CGI effects and suddenly we have lost what made the original film so good.   

I think in any remake you'd definitely still need that character - the relentless, inescapable gunslinger that somehow makes it all seem personal.
In the moment of major malfunction though, you could have lynch mobs and posses chasing people down as well as a really great - and violent - bar brawl.
In Medieval World you could add a bit of medieval fantasy and have a dragon attack (with sets more akin to something like 'Game of Thrones' and less like 'The Adventures of Robin Hood') and in Roman World you could have gladiators hacking people to bits and setting loose the lions!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2013, 01:16:47 PM
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Michael Mann's 1992 version with Daniel Day-Lewis.
I never tire of watching this - some fantastic merging of sound and vision - especially in the almost dialogue free final ten minutes.  The fights never out stay there welcome and are just on the right side of being cool without being unbelieveable. I read the book about twenty years ago but all I can recall is it being a lot more convulted and childish (bear skin disguises?) and generally unreadable than this film is watchable.

There's a great "old school" vibe about it as well that makes it proper epic.  No CGI forts or armies here - they just built it, dressed hundreds of extras and set them about hacking and blowing each other up. Brilliant.

I will plead complete ignorance as to whether the depiction of the native americans (or should that be native canadians?) is good or bad.

On one hand, Magua (Wes Studi) is dissed for taking on western ways, the Mohawks are shown just trying to hack out a life in a tough land and the titular Mohicans are all round nature-loving good eggs and bad asses.  On the other, there's an awful lot of savagery in them Hurons (even the Sachem's "wise" pronouncements at the end involve somebody being burnt alive). Still, at least nobody communes with an animal spirit guide - and the mains (Magua, Uncas, Chingacggook) appear to be actual native americans (even though probably not the right tribe/branch; well, the Mohicans are fictional!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 August, 2013, 01:43:19 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2013, 01:16:47 PM
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Michael Mann's 1992 version with Daniel Day-Lewis.
I never tire of watching this - some fantastic merging of sound and vision - especially in the almost dialogue free final ten minutes.

Didn't realise it when I saw it the cinema, but LotM has definitely become one of my favourite movies.  It's full of action, spectacle, tragedy, great music, quotable lines ("Just dropped in to see how you boys was doin'"), and the wife assures me that DDL's buckskin-laced thighs are a wonder to behold. And as Tips says, the dialogue-free pursuit in the last 10 minutes is just a magnificent use of music and a model of restraint that many a film-maker could learn from.

And once more, for those arriving late (anyone who's ever read one of my posts before may, nay should, look away now):

When I saw this on release it was at an afternoon show, and sat behind us were two Dublin old dears who got right into the spirit of things.  Every time a Huron (and possibly even the odd Mohican) loomed menacingly over Daniel or Madeline, one of them would squeal: "Look out, it's the savages! Oooh, the savages!".  I hear them still every time I watch it, which is often.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 August, 2013, 02:33:09 PM
The last time I tried, I still couldn't watch Outbreak without hearing the two grown-ass women behind us in the cinema at the time trying to understand what was happening in every single scene for 90 minutes.
It's not quotable heckling we're talking about here, either, it's a running commentary by two people who - though clearly not malicious - did not understand what they were looking at.  To be entirely fair to them, at no point in the film does Dustin Hoffman say "we need to take blood out of the monkey to make a thing that will make people better because the monkey can not get sick so we will take his blood and put it in other people's blood after doing doctor things to it and this will make the disease go away"* which would have spared them a great deal of confusion at the end (as the characters extract antibodies from the monkey) when one asked "what are they putting in the monkey?  Are they putting him down?  Why could they not just shoot him then?" and "why did she get better when everyone else died?"



* Fair play to Dan Brown for seeing this gap in the market and stitching it up like a motherfucker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 12 August, 2013, 02:51:13 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 August, 2013, 01:43:19 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2013, 01:16:47 PM
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Michael Mann's 1992 version with Daniel Day-Lewis.
I never tire of watching this - some fantastic merging of sound and vision - especially in the almost dialogue free final ten minutes.

Didn't realise it when I saw it the cinema, but LotM has definitely become one of my favourite movies.  It's full of action, spectacle, tragedy, great music, quotable lines ("Just dropped in to see how you boys was doin'"), and the wife assures me that DDL's buckskin-laced thighs are a wonder to behold. And as Tips says, the dialogue-free pursuit in the last 10 minutes is just a magnificent use of music and a model of restraint that many a film-maker could learn from.

And once more, for those arriving late (anyone who's ever read one of my posts before may, nay should, look away now):

When I saw this on release it was at an afternoon show, and sat behind us were two Dublin old dears who got right into the spirit of things.  Every time a Huron (and possibly even the odd Mohican) loomed menacingly over Daniel or Madeline, one of them would squeal: "Look out, it's the savages! Oooh, the savages!".  I hear them still every time I watch it, which is often.

I watched The Last of the Mohicans as a kid of maybe 11 years old and it blew me away! I was literally gasping in disbelief when[spoiler] Studi's Huron character pulls out  Colonel Munro's beating heart! [/spoiler]It was a visceral film, full of heart pounding action not to mention heartbreaking drama and still remains one of my favourite Mann films. Daniel Day Lewis was also magnificent in the film as 'Hawkeye', sticking to his true method acting roots he stayed in character/clothing and went hunting for real just like we see him doing in the film. That was the first time I saw him on screen and he's always remained a favourite actor of mine. Madeleine Stowe was also terrific in the film, I remember having a crush on her as a kid! Another aspect of why this film is so brilliant is that superb score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman. It is really thrilling not to mention memeorable (I'm humming it in my head as we speak!). Seeing as my missus loves films of a romantic persuasion, I think I'll get her to watch it, don't know how she'll feel about the bloodier parts though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 August, 2013, 03:34:05 PM
This week, I have mostly been watching, shark films. That's right, I explored The Asylum
.

Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus: Has one of the greatest scenes in cinema history (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16_8l0yS-g), but peaks too early. I liked the way they figured out how to bait the monsters. Two of the main characters (both biologists) have sex, and during their post-coital cuddles (on a cold metal lab floor) the biologists suddenly remember that animals also like sex, so they should use pheromones. By the time the titular showdown comes about you've already seen both cgi shots of the monsters used too many times, and the whole thing is hugely anti-climactic. Debbie Gibson should have done a song and dance number.

Sharknado: Written by someone that knows absolutely nothing about tornadoes or sharks. Or any kind of weather or sea life. Or cars. The whole thing is obviously filmed in L.A on a sunny day, which doesn't really fit in with the whole tornado thing, so it's filmed with a greyish filter which just makes the colours (instead of the environment) look washed out. On top of this, the rain is totally inconsistent, lashing down in one shot, dry as a bone in the corresponding reverse shot. But if you ignore these little technical quibbles, you have a completely audacious, over the top and highly enjoyable movie.

Sand Sharks: Stars Hulk Hogan's little girl and that guy what was in Stargate for a while. It seems someone actually bought a book on sharks and skimmed through it before writing this one. I thought this was a fairly solid goofy creature feature, but it could have done without all the meta commentary "This is like something out of a Roger Corman movie!"

Which brings us to Sharktopus, in which Roger Corman borrows his buddie's boats and makes a solid creature feature. Julia Robert's brother plays an emotionally detached business man who funds an experiment to splice sharks and octopodes and control them using computers because SCIENCE or something. Obviously they lose control, so it's up to Best of the Best's daughter and some guy who can't work his shirt buttons to stop the creature before it kills again. My favourite parts are the little pastiches about people who live in beach land who meet grizzly ends at the tentacles of our antagonist. Played a little drinking game where we had a drink for every gratuitous shot of a bikini babe. Quite pished by the end, and it was only a ninety-odd minute movie.

Sharktopus isn't really an Asylum movie but it does have sharks, Atlantic Rim doesn't technically have sharks, but it is an Asylum movie. It was my first taste of their famous mockbusters and it was hilarious. The CGI was laughable and the performances were...really hard to summarise. There was the whole spectrum of terrible b-movie performances, ranging from the gurning hammery of nuke-happy eye-patch Admiral, to the awkward earnestness of the guy who replaced Wesley Snipes in  Art of War III. The military uniforms came straight from the rent-a-cop store, and figuring out the sets was a game in itself. The briefing room was clearly just a class-room, the war room looked like a call centre, possibly a bank? And the prison cell looked like a cleaning store or something. SO much stock footage.

Overall, I quite enjoyed them. Not very taxing and don't require you to pay too much attention. In fact, maybe I only enjoyed them because I wasn't paying close attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 August, 2013, 06:10:50 PM

You've been eating Pro Bear's porridge, Pops. Once you find a bed which is just right for both of you to share, youz can feast your eyes on this:

http://mashable.com/2013/08/09/sharknado-2-the-second-one/

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 August, 2013, 08:21:29 PM
Bah! I don't care for sequels, they're usually (not always, but the majority are) disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 August, 2013, 09:01:18 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 12 August, 2013, 08:21:29 PM
Bah! I don't care for sequels, they're usually (not always, but the majority are) disappointing.

Stay out the Dredd movie thread, Pops.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 August, 2013, 09:01:05 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2013, 01:24:28 PM
QuoteYep, Jurassic Park is very similar but with less emphasis on having sex with the attractions!

How about this then?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309748/

They could have gone with Jurassic Pork.


Anyway, I finally got around to watching the Hobbit after it turned up on Netflix. Well all but the last 20 minutes.

Pretty much agree with the opinions I've heard - the party stuff went on too long, but I really hated the escape from the city - I can appreciate the technical effort that goes into it, but as with the lightsaber duel in ROTS it just feels like you're watching someone else play a platformer.

On the whole I just found my attention wandering off far too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 09:57:23 AM
Quotebut as with the lightsaber duel in ROTS it just feels like you're watching someone else play a platformer.

This is how I felt. It all just looked so digital, and so far removed from any sense of reality that it just lacked any tension or grit. Compare with the many skirmishes in the LotR films, which felt really gritty and grounded, and often felt like Fantasy by way of Saving Private Ryan.

I finally got round to watching The Muppets (2011) on Saturday night with the family. I admire The Muppets rather than love them - I do remember them from my childhood but think I'm a bit too young to have really caught them in their prime, but I bloody adored this movie. It's laugh out loud funny, smart but never smug, the cameos are ace, the musical numbers are downright fantastic and beautifully staged (and richly deserving of the Oscar win), and - something I wasn't really expecting - it felt really heartfelt and I found parts of it genuinely moving. I loved the whole conceit of the character of Walter working as a metaphor for the filmmakers own fears and trepidation of continuing the legacy of something they clearly love so much. My already high opinion of Jason Segel just went up several notches.

Definitely one I'll be watching again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 10:11:07 AM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 09:57:23 AM
it just lacked any tension or grit. Compare with the many skirmishes in the LotR films, which felt really gritty and grounded, and often felt like Fantasy by way of Saving Private Ryan.

Is it worth pointing out that The Hobbit is a very different book from Lord of the Rings? I'm not disputing any of the specifics about lack of drama, just observing that my worst fear for the film verison of The Hobbit was that it would retain the tone of the LotR movies.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2013, 10:19:58 AM
Watched Argo over the weekend. Gripping stuff, beautifully shot and makes terrifying use of real life footage. Worthy of its hype! And very well acted.

Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 09:57:23 AM

I finally got round to watching The Muppets (2011) on Saturday night with the family. I admire The Muppets rather than love them - I do remember them from my childhood but think I'm a bit too young to have really caught them in their prime, but I bloody adored this movie.

Smiled all the way through and still have "Man or muppet" in my head every few days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
QuoteIs it worth pointing out that The Hobbit is a very different book from Lord of the Rings? I'm not disputing any of the specifics about lack of drama, just observing that my worst fear for the film verison of The Hobbit was that it would retain the tone of the LotR movies.

Tone schmone - excessive weightless, unconvincing, bogus-looking cgi is never welcome in any film, regardless of tone. For instance the decision to make the goblins all-cg. Utterly baffling, and surely a choice made either out of laziness or to keep Weta digital busy.

I personally would have liked to see a Hobbit film with a markedly different tone to LotR, but the end result felt very compromised in trying to do both a lighter, more kid friendly film, but paradoxically one filled with arse-numbing retroactive LotR setup and fan service, and ominous foreshadowing. Ostensibly kid-friendly, but far too long to hold their attention. Whimsical musical numbers, but several gruesome decapitations. Tonally it felt all over the place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 13 August, 2013, 10:53:56 AM
I thought the beginning of The Hobbit fit the tone of the book perfectly well with the musical numbers and the jolly Dwarves and their digs at Bilbo but then it's like Peter Jackson remembers he's making a movie that's tied into his LOTR trilogy and it goes all serious and dark (well, apart from the rabbit sleigh). It's all over the place.

I don't understand exactly what went wrong, it could have been to do with the hand over from Del Toro back to Jackson. Jackson did a wonderfull job of adapting the meaty trilogy of books then he screws up what is a short & simple adventure. They've been working on it long enough. Possibly too long to the point where they have over-thought the whole thing. Either way I'll check the other parts when they show up on TV and I can take advantage of the fast forward button, and them being free.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 11:12:35 AM
I think The Hobbit movie(s) they decided to make have been fundamentally flawed from the get go - the decision to make them as explicit LotR prequels rather than standalone films has pretty much capsized the whole enterprise before it even got out of the gate. As a result, the plot has become swollen and massively convoluted when it should have been linear and simple, and Bilbo Baggins feels like a side character in his own story, which is unforgivable imo. They're making these movies very much for existing fans at the expense of everyone else - an incredibly shaky foundation.

There's also the whole issue that they're really crippled by being massively self-indulgent too. Too long, too much spectacle and misguided attempts to top what has gone before, too much overambitious technical wizardry, too many pointless and distracting cameos, too much fan service in general.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 11:47:25 AM
Bloated would be the word I would use. I've heard that compared with Fellowship of the Ring, Unexpected Journey cost twice as much to make, pulled in roughly the same amount from the box office, which means about half the profit. I don't get why they spent so much on it when they already knew the size of the target market from LotR.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2013, 11:58:31 AM
Two movies I would have said "Oh ok I guess...", three movies I just think zzzzzzzzzz

And I actually much much preferred The Hobbit to the trilogy in book form.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 12:02:59 PM
I always got the impression that the LotR movies were made - considering their ambition - on a shoestring. Watching the behind the scenes docs you really get that sense of frantic invention and creativity, the hunger from the production crew, of doing anything and everything, from age-old camera tricks to cutting edge motion capture, to get the best results possible. Much like the Star Wars prequels, The Hobbit felt far more lethargic and complacent. Jackson and co don't really have anything left to prove and it shows in the final product. Perhaps Jackson was ultimately forced into directing against his wishes and so his heart wasn't 100% in this one? That's certainly what it felt like to me.

QuoteI've heard that compared with Fellowship of the Ring, Unexpected Journey cost twice as much to make, pulled in roughly the same amount from the box office, which means about half the profit.

I think that the next two will see massive drop off in box office from AUJ. Not that they'll tank or anything, I'm sure they'll still do well enough, but I think we're going to see Matrix sequel levels of drop off in general interest and takings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2013, 12:43:26 PM
I'm not a massive fan of the LOTR films - they had their moments but they all dragged to varying degrees.

I wasn't planning on watching The Hobbit but ended up seeing it with a few friends one Friday night and was pleasantly surprised. The thing which carried the film for me was Martin Freeman's performance. He does the 'reluctant hero' thing very well. Where the actors in the previous films played the Hobbits as whiny, Freeman played Bilbo as exasperated. I really came to hate Frodo by the end of the final film but I found Bilbo to be likeably plucky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 12:50:57 PM
I liked Freeman in the role, but thought he was extremely poorly served by the script (and as I said above massively underused - we should experience the story from his pov). I think they perhaps made him too likable early on - I remember Bilbo as being a lot fustier, and the transformation from uptight coward to sword-swinging badass seems to happen way too quickly. The fight scene at the end where he squares up to all the goblins seemed completely over the top and out of the blue where a far more subtle act of bravery would have served the same role in the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 12:57:25 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 12:50:57 PM
a far more subtle act of bravery would have served the same role in the story.

I have a lot of time for Peter Jackson, but subtlety is one thing of which I'd never accuse him...!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 01:06:25 PM
There's actually some really nice, underplayed character stuff in LotR. There's plenty of stuff that's a bit out there - especially in Return of the King, but nothing imo as poorly judged as that particular moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 01:41:42 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 12:02:59 PM
Jackson and co don't really have anything left to prove and it shows in the final product. Perhaps Jackson was ultimately forced into directing against his wishes and so his heart wasn't 100% in this one? That's certainly what it felt like to me.

I'd partly agree with that first sentence, but I'm not so sure about the second. Why would he stretch it to a trilogy if his heart wasn't really in it? The way I heard it, Jackson sees this as his last chance to play in Middle Earth, so he wants to cram in as much Tolkien lore as possible. After all, no one is going to give him hundreds of millions of dollars to make a Silmarrillion movie are they?

I reckon there are less physical effects and more CGI extras in The Hobbit because Jackson found them to be a logistical nightmare while making LotR.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now, my biggest concern with these prequels is that Jackson will go and do a Lucas on the LotR trilogy. I don't want to see Freeman Forest Gumped over Holm, or scenes of Freeman finding the ring cut into the prologue of fellowship.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 01:59:46 PM
QuoteWhy would he stretch it to a trilogy if his heart wasn't really in it?
Because - cynical hat on here - doing so brings even more monumental amounts of cash into the NZ economy and keeps Weta digital in work for longer? He (probably wisely) clearly didn't want to direct The Hobbit, and only did so after Del Toro had to leave the project.

In any case, it all comes down to the aforementioned lack of judgement and tendency to self-indulge.

I think artistically I'd have liked to see a single sub two-hour movie adaptation of The Hobbit. It definitely would have been possible if they had been just as ruthless as they were when adapting LotR. Jettison all of the foreboding crap and excessive backstory and keep it as a light, full-on fantasy adventure story. The film we got had brief flashes of this, but felt so bogged down with everything else. Personally I'm curious to see what the inevitable fan edits are able to make of it.

QuoteI've said it before and I'll say it again now, my biggest concern with these prequels is that Jackson will go and do a Lucas on the LotR trilogy. I don't want to see Freeman Forest Gumped over Holm, or scenes of Freeman finding the ring cut into the prologue of fellowship.

While the OCD in me would want a couple of things in LotR 'fixed' - replacing weird Fellowship proto-Gollum with the proper Gollum, swapping out Freeman for Holm in the flashback scene at the start of Fellowship and overall cleaning up some of the dodgy fx and compositing all round - especially where digital doubles and headswaps are concerned - yes, I think ultimately it'd be best to just leave as is. Slippery slope and all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 02:34:19 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 01:59:46 PM
QuoteWhy would he stretch it to a trilogy if his heart wasn't really in it?
Because - cynical hat on here - doing so brings even more monumental amounts of cash into the NZ economy...

That's a good point, I'd forgotten that NZ was squeezing Middle Earth for every tourist penny they could, and rightly so. I just wish they'd do that with GoT/Westeros here in Norn Iron, but the tourist board seems determined to sink all the money in the Titanic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 August, 2013, 03:20:10 PM
I went to see The Hobbit at the cinema when it came out and it was enjoyable enough but ultimately quite forgettable.  I agree with other posters though that the tone of it was all over the show - a light-hearted movie with more of Mr Freeman, rabbit-sleighs and OK, a scary dragon, would have been great.  But then they have added some really dark elements and that white-goblin thing was just far too much for this movie. 

In terms of length I think this could have happily been made in two films.  Books always take up plenty of screen time so I think two films could have kept on course whilst still delivering enough of a spectacle.  Three films is pushing it too far.  If I were being cynical then I would say this has been done to wring as much cash as possible out of it but it also seems to me that film companies are obsessed with trilogies.  OK, you can see the temptation with this as LOTR was a trilogy but just like the Star Wars prequels - we did not need three new films.  What's wrong with making a two-parter?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2013, 03:22:16 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 02:34:19 PM
I just wish they'd do that with GoT/Westeros here in Norn Iron, but the tourist board seems determined to sink all the money in the Titanic.

A cynical man would suggest there is a political slant to aggrandizing H&W's big ticket that is rather inevitable in a politically-polarized country where everything in the history falls on one side or the other, if for no other reason than because of latter-day politically-motivated revisionism or cultural appropriation. They've tried branching out into cross-community projects before like the Maze exhibit, but with the proviso that no mention must be made in the exhibit or press materials of internment, hunger strikes, or famous detainees.  I am sure it will be great.

My brother went to some Game Of Thrones exhibition down in Belfast where they did tours of the big locations and had interactive exhibits set up.  The original tour was apparently supposed to be of the sets, too, only they nixed this because they were planning on using them again later - possibly once the show wraps (or at least the bits made in Belshaft), there'll be a bigger exhibit set up somewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 03:44:52 PM
QuoteWhat's wrong with making a two-parter?

To me, The Hobbit feels like it deserves one solid film. Splitting it into two robs the story of it's completeness and levity somewhat. It's a much smaller story than LotR, so they should have embraced that and built it all around Bilbo and his relationship with Gandalf and Thorin. The book feels a bit episodic and unsuited to film, so frankly, they could have covered a lot of it in montage, and cut some sequences out altogether to make a tighter, more satisfying arc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 04:10:48 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 13 August, 2013, 03:22:16 PM
The original tour was apparently supposed to be of the sets, too, only they nixed this because they were planning on using them again later

Well, I heard a story from a friend of a friend whose uncle owns Blacks Castle. According to this third hand source (with whose story I've taken some creative license), HBO was using the castle for interior shots, so the production crew would show up and start painting the interior walls to make it look more Westerossy, painting doors where there were no doors and windows filled in with blue matt paint that could be digitally masked in post-production. Then, when they were done filming, they'd cover the whole lot in magnolia. Then three months later, they'd return to do pick up shots or whatever and would have to go through the whole painting rigmarole again.

So after the second season's main shooting was finished, and they were covering all their hard work in magnolia again, my mate's mate's uncle (lets call him Jack), walks up to the unit director and tells him that if they want to just leave the paint uncovered, he would be fine with that.

"Can't really do that" says the unit director "We've all signed NDAs, and although it might seem trivial, HBO doesn't want ravening internet fanboys crawling all over their sets"

So Jack considers this "Here," says he "Would it not be a lot easier to get some MDF, cut it to size and then paint that? Then you could just bolt it up and take it down as needed. It'd be a lot less fuss than all this painting craic, so it would"

The unit directors eyes glaze over for a second before he responds "That's a really really good idea"

And that was that as far as Jack was concerned. Until three months later, the crew shows up again for pick-up shots and what have you, and the unit director calls Jack over to one of the lorries that's being unloaded.

"Look at this" says he as sheets of MDF are being pulled out "We're using your idea. I told the bosses over in the states about it and they loved it. They're implementing it across all their shows now. Now we don't have to continually re-hire teams of painters, we just pay them to do it once. You have saved HBO literally millions!"

And apparently Jack was quite annoyed by this. Not because he'd given away the idea for free, but because the only reason he'd thought of the idea in the first place was because he had a load of MDF he was looking to unload on these Hollywood types.

Like, I said, this is third hand information and probably not entirely accurate or true, but maybe that's why you can't visit the sets. They're on MDF boards in a HBO storage locker somewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 04:15:09 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
Whimsical musical numbers, but several gruesome decapitations. Tonally it felt all over the place.

There's a musical number and a limb-severing in the same scene in Star Wars...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 13 August, 2013, 04:35:19 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 04:15:09 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
Whimsical musical numbers, but several gruesome decapitations. Tonally it felt all over the place.

There's a musical number and a limb-severing in the same scene in Star Wars...

Cheers

Jim

That sounds like my local on a Friday night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2013, 05:11:58 PM
Isn't citing Star Wars in a geek argument our version of Godwin's Law or something?  At the very least it's not playing fair to go disproving opinions on the internet with empirical evidence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 August, 2013, 05:35:28 PM
Ha! Much as I love them, tonally the Star Wars films are all over the place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 06:13:59 PM
Tonally all over the place? Or to put it another way, not monotonous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 06:29:47 PM
QuoteThere's a musical number and a limb-severing in the same scene in Star Wars...

If it were Luke, C3PO and Obi Wan singing the song then sure it'd be the same. But it's not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 August, 2013, 06:33:32 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 06:13:59 PM
Tonally all over the place? Or to put it another way, not monotonous.

Adorable wee Jawas abducting weet-wooting wobots one minute, the smoking corpses of the former alongside the blackened, grinning skulls of the hero's family the next. Worked for me then in the same way as the liquefied faces of the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Adults forget how wee kids' daily lives are a constant intermingling of cloying sentimentality and existential terror.

The belief that films have to focus on doing one thing, belonging to a single genre at the exclusion of all others is a relatively new one and only really obtains in Anglo Saxon cinema. Hollywood films of the golden age aspired to be alround entertainment, routinely chucking comedians and musical turns into cowboy films (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ssbgThljU) and thrillers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVuEC3r7a-o) for a bit of variety.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 06:49:24 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 06:29:47 PM
If it were Luke, C3PO and Obi Wan singing the song then sure it'd be the same. But it's not.

That's a stretch. Sauchie provides more examples in his post directly below yours.

Look, I'm not arguing that The Hobbit is intrinsically a good film. I enjoyed it, but I could probably watch two hours of New Zealand helicopter shots so I'm not claiming to be a representative member of the audience.

I do think some of the criticisms are a little odd. Fellowship caught a lot of flak on here for shonky effects work and yet The Hobbit gets a pasting for having effects that are too good, for example. Criticising it for having a different look or tone from the LotR movies when it's entirely appropriate that it does is also a touch unfair. Being 'tonally all over the place' doesn't wash with me for reasons already cited.

None of which is intended to suggest that you're entirely justified in not enjoying it. (Other than to refer you my previous post about life being easier once everyone realises that I'm always right.)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2013, 07:21:12 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 13 August, 2013, 06:33:32 PM
The belief that films have to focus on doing one thing, belonging to a single genre at the exclusion of all others is a relatively new one and only really obtains in Anglo Saxon cinema.

Well, that's one opinion, but I for one thought they got the mix of comedy and horror all wrong in Carry On Screaming to the point it wasn't scary at all.  I thought Bridge To Teribithia didn't need that wee kid to die halfway through, either, and if Bambi thought his mum was dead, did we really need to know either way and bring the whole show down? Clearly Disney didn't have a clue what he was at.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 August, 2013, 07:32:36 PM
Burt and Audrey try to save her from her Indian roots in The Unforgiven (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no117-unforgiven.html) followed by the chick flick bonanza that is What to Expect When You're Expecting. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no202-what-to-expect-when-youre.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2013, 07:39:15 PM
Isn't the Internet great? It's been bugging me for a while what film Kevin Bacon starred in with Michael Keaton - as Mr Bacon states on one of his EE adverts.

I had a quick look at IMDB before but couldn't see it.

Turns out it's She's Having A Baby and Michael Keaton plays himself and is uncredited - as such it doesn't show up on his filmography or on the cast list for the film.

How the hell would I have found that out in the pre-Internet days?



Anyway, I'm about to watch Shoot Em Up which I remember thinking was good fun when I saw it at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 08:21:54 PM
QuoteThat's a stretch.

No it isn't. The Cantina song isn't a 'musical number'. There's a bar band playing music - it's in context.

Look, perhaps what I really meant when I said 'tonally all over the place' is more of a Phantom Menace alike 'loads of boring scenes of people sitting around having meetings' being a bit at odds with what should really be a kids film. You know that great children's book - The Hobbit? I imagine most kids who went to see the film were bored utterly shitless.

QuoteThe Hobbit gets a pasting for having effects that are too good

What? I said the effects overall were a lot worse and less convincing due to the overreliance on cgi. Some of the cgi was superb - like Gollum - but my abiding memory of the film is videogamelike scenes of Dwarves swinging swords at obviously cgi orcs in obviously fake cgi environments. It seemed far more soundstagey/greenscreeny than LotR did to me.

QuoteCriticising it for having a different look or tone from the LotR movies when it's entirely appropriate that it does

If you read my posts I'm actually criticising it for trying to be tonally too similar to the original films, to its detriment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2013, 08:41:55 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 08:21:54 PM
QuoteThat's a stretch.

No it isn't. The Cantina song isn't a 'musical number'. There's a bar band playing music - it's in context.

And Sauchie's other examples?

Actually, look, I'm only playing devil's advocate here because I think some of the criticism — not necessarily all of yours — has been a little harsh. I'm not invested enough in the movie to try to mount a spirited defence of it: I certainly think it lacked a lot of the heart that endeared Fellowship to me the first time I saw it; it doesn't feel like (as someone on the Fellowship DVD extras described it) "the biggest low budget film in the world."

Some stuff — too many CG monsters — I agree with. Other stuff, not so much.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 08:51:18 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 08:21:54 PM
I imagine most kids who went to see the film were bored utterly shitless...
...my abiding memory of the film is videogamelike scenes

Kids fuckin' love videogames.

It's 2013, at this stage basically all pre-teens weren't even born in the same millenium as you. They've never known a world without the internet or videogames. Your inner-child probably has very little in common with kids these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 08:56:45 PM
QuoteKids fuckin' love videogames.

It's 2013, at this stage basically all pre-teens weren't even born in the same millenium as you. They've never known a world without the internet or videogames. Your inner-child probably has very little in common with kids these days.

What on Earth are you on about?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 09:08:51 PM
What I was trying to say in a really obtuse way was:

You should never presume to know what appeals to kids these days.

Admittedly, I should really complete a thought before committing it to the internet. Especially since I asserted that kids love videogames while pointing out that it's difficult to say what they like.

Look, I would agree with most of what you said about The Hobbit. There are too many scenes where people are sitting around having a meeting. That scene with Saruman and Galadriel just recapped what we already knew and didn't really serve a purpose. But I suppose my point was, you can't just assume kids would be bored by that. After all, it's a couple of wizards and a fairy queen discussing ancient yet foreboding evil. Kids might dig that. They're not as familiar with fantasy tropes as we might be.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 13 August, 2013, 09:10:18 PM
Quote from: radiator on 13 August, 2013, 08:56:45 PM
QuoteKids fuckin' love videogames.

It's 2013, at this stage basically all pre-teens weren't even born in the same millenium as you. They've never known a world without the internet or videogames. Your inner-child probably has very little in common with kids these days.

What on Earth are you on about?

Apparently you're old and don't like videogames.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 August, 2013, 09:14:37 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 09:08:51 PM
What I was trying to say in a really obtuse way was:

You should never presume to know what appeals to kids these days.

Admittedly, I should really complete a thought before committing it to the internet. Especially since I asserted that kids love videogames while pointing out that it's difficult to say what they like.

Look, I would agree with most of what you said about The Hobbit. There are too many scenes where people are sitting around having a meeting. That scene with Saruman and Galadriel just recapped what we already knew and didn't really serve a purpose. But I suppose my point was, you can't just assume kids would be bored by that. After all, it's a couple of wizards and a fairy queen discussing ancient yet foreboding evil. Kids might dig that. They're not as familiar with fantasy tropes as we might be.

My two love video games and loved the Hobbit movie.
They loved the songs and in fact downloaded them onto their iphones.
But then, they're not cynical middle-ages men on the internet...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2013, 09:37:24 PM
Shoot Em Up was really good fun just as I'd remembered.

There are probably a million things wrong with it but I can forgive a lot from a film in which, in the first five minutes, a baddie is killed by having a carrot put into his mouth and then shoved through the back of his head and told 'Eat Your vegetables'!

The scenes of gunplay are really innovative and over the top. I'd compare this to the Crank films. Good 'have a beer and a laugh' entertainment.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 13 August, 2013, 09:56:35 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 August, 2013, 09:14:37 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 09:08:51 PM
What I was trying to say in a really obtuse way was:

You should never presume to know what appeals to kids these days.

Admittedly, I should really complete a thought before committing it to the internet. Especially since I asserted that kids love videogames while pointing out that it's difficult to say what they like.

Look, I would agree with most of what you said about The Hobbit. There are too many scenes where people are sitting around having a meeting. That scene with Saruman and Galadriel just recapped what we already knew and didn't really serve a purpose. But I suppose my point was, you can't just assume kids would be bored by that. After all, it's a couple of wizards and a fairy queen discussing ancient yet foreboding evil. Kids might dig that. They're not as familiar with fantasy tropes as we might be.

My two love video games and loved the Hobbit movie.
They loved the songs and in fact downloaded them onto their iphones.
But then, they're not cynical middle-ages men on the internet...

My kids will sit and enjoy any old crap. The next Smurfs move could literally be 90mins of them blowing raspberries and farting with no dialogue at all and it would be the best thing ever. Add in a Justin Beeber cameo and you've got my daughter's new favourite movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 August, 2013, 10:08:22 PM

There's a bit in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher) where Lisbeth rams a dildo into the arse of her rapist with the sole of her boot. The squelching noise on the soundtrack is very cartoony, but the rest of the film is in the solidly functional mode of the director's other potboiler work (The Game, Panic Room), making it entertaining but hardly essential viewing.

I liked the character and I'd quite like to see how the story plays out, so I'm trying to decide whether to rent the second and third instalments of the Swedish language film series or just read the novels. Any advice?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2013, 10:22:09 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 13 August, 2013, 10:08:22 PM
Any advice?

Werewolves and cheese
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2013, 11:38:43 PM
The trick is finding a good werewolf film.  I watched Curse of the Werewolf the other day and it was just as good as ever, as long as you don't mind the usual "you're a monster ARE YOU SURE? Yes.  THEN I WILL KILL MYSELF IMMEDIATELY" exchanges where people sure are quick to take crazy notions at face value and then demand to be hanged by naturally incredulous coppers.  I think the wolfman makeup is great, but mileage may vary for others.

Oblivion.  At some point you have to accept that all the big sci-fi ideas have been done somewhere or other and just sit back and enjoy something for being well-made rather than being original, and Oblivion is a well-made film.  There only seems to be about five sets and the rest is cgi, and figuring out the twist about three minutes in wasn't ideal for me as a viewer, but it looks and sounds purdy and passed the time pretty pleasantly.  The Cruiser is on good form here, though his character comes off as a bit thick now and then, but there's some decent callbacks in the final scenes even if some of the clunkier dialogue lowers the averages a bit, while Melissa Leo brings in just the right mix of smarm and menace to what should be a pretty small role.

Argo is also a well-made film, pulling off a trick most sci-fi tries these days and fails miserably to do, in that it takes something destined for a light-hearted treatment and puts a very po face on it and succeeds in creating a serious work rather than one that seems ashamed of its unoriginality and is thus determined to disguise it.  I am reasonably sure some of the stuff in here didn't happen in actual human history, like Jack Kirby working for the CIA or Iranian police trying to shoot down a plane while it's still on the runway, but it's pretty entertaining stuff and I liked the little callback at the end to how and why Affleck's character comes up with his whacky plan.  An unfortunate consequence of this being good is that I now want to read Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light which is what the real fake movie was based upon, but I fear this might be a decision I will later regret.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 August, 2013, 09:40:47 AM
Hmm I have Lord of Light on my ereader by complete coincidence. Interestingly Jack Kirby did do the storyboards but not for the CIA.

Quote
Comic book illustrator Jack Kirby did not do his storyboard work for the fabricated CIA film production. There had been an authentic attempt to produce Lord of Light a few years before the Iranian hostage situation, which was when Kirby created the storyboards
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 August, 2013, 04:28:43 PM
Further to an earlier discussion on (I think) this thread about the state of ever more convoluted modern blockbusters, I've just been having a read of this, and I could not agree more.

http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/ (http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/)

QuoteHulk's latest target of smashing: blockbusters that get so so convoluted, so byzantine in their reveals that they alienate story-seeking audiences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2013, 04:34:25 PM
Quote from: radiator on 14 August, 2013, 04:28:43 PM
Further to an earlier discussion on (I think) this thread about the state of ever more convoluted modern blockbusters, I've just been having a read of this, and I could not agree more.

http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/ (http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/)

QuoteHulk's latest target of smashing: blockbusters that get so so convoluted, so byzantine in their reveals that they alienate story-seeking audiences.

Heh - was just reading that last week! I agree with what Hulk has to say too.
Something else that gets my goat - particularly with super-hero type films - is the cliche of having a large mechanical beam shooting device in the middle of a city that has to be stopped. Off the top of my head this happens in:

Man of Steel,
X-Men,
Batman Begins,
Transformers (2 or 3?),
The Amazing Spider-Man,
The Avengers

and probably loads more that I haven't thought of. It's getting very boring!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 August, 2013, 04:38:52 PM
Or in the middle of space.  Like Star Wars.  TWICE!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 August, 2013, 04:41:51 PM
Quote from: radiator on 14 August, 2013, 04:28:43 PM
Further to an earlier discussion on (I think) this thread about the state of ever more convoluted modern blockbusters, I've just been having a read of this, and I could not agree more.

It's probably a marvellous article, but I'll be fucked if I'm reading that much text all in caps.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 August, 2013, 05:28:53 PM
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Good old fashioned fun, that maybe doesnt quite hit all the spots like The Sting does, but still, these two stars should have made more films together - and that's a fact.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 August, 2013, 05:32:49 PM
I see the comments section of that article brings up the now all too common cliche of the Villain Getting Caught on Purpose Because it's All Part of his Nefarious and Convoluted Scheme, which seems to have  replaced the old cliche of the Villain Captures the Hero And Has him at his Mercy But Instead of Just Killing him, he Explains his Entire Nefarious and Convoluted Scheme. I think Austin Powers pretty much killed that one.

Cliched as these things may be, I think it can be good to have a scene where the hero and villain can have a conversation without having to fight each other. It can help explain their respective motivations or why they oppose one another. Some of my favourite movies manage to do this without resorting to the aforementioned cliches. Wrath Kahn, for example, has Kirk and Kahn having several perfectly civilised exchanges using the viewscreens and communicators. Similarly in Die Hard with the walkie talkies, and then Rickman poses as an innocent civilian who's been caught up in all the madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2013, 05:41:12 PM
It's the same article linked to before by (I think) Sauchie when he first brought up the convoluted blockbuster discussion, and I kind of agree with it in theory, but my takeaway is that films are just too long these days and I prefer my blockbusters in three acts and ninety minutes long.
My personal theory is what I like to call the Sticky Biccy Theory: everyone wants on board the next big blockbuster so they all try to make their mark and get a producer credit on it, so the script for the average blockbuster is basically a biscuit the producers all gather around before the film is to be made and they take turns to jizz plot elements, cameos, or product placements onto it, regardless of what this does to the story structure or running time of the eventual biscuit-film.  Eventually, the biscuit is released to the cinemas and we all go and have bite, maybe we like it, maybe we are repulsed and get on the internet complaining that it tastes like shit and why can't anyone else notice this, but we at least talk about it and give the producers the publicity they want, even if it's just them blaming us for the biscuit's poor taste.  Meanwhile, they've been jizzing like crazy over a few other biscuits - possibly the other two biscuits in the trilogy - and laughing at how we'll eventually bite down on them like the gaylords we are.

Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2013, 04:34:25 PMSomething else that gets my goat - particularly with super-hero type films - is the cliche of having a large mechanical beam shooting device in the middle of a city that has to be stopped. Off the top of my head this happens in:

Man of Steel,
X-Men,
Batman Begins,
Transformers (2 or 3?),
The Amazing Spider-Man,
The Avengers

and probably loads more that I haven't thought of. It's getting very boring!

The phallic symbolism is amusing, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 14 August, 2013, 05:59:30 PM
I think some of this is also related to the recent fascination that hollywood has with comic-book movies.  I have seen more than once on the extras documentarys where they say "the first thing we did was sit down and read lots of xxx".  So, after taking in several decades of some comic character they then struggle to come up with a succint story?  Beats me why!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 14 August, 2013, 06:16:44 PM
Zack and Miri make a porno!

Not highbrow in any shape or form, but very funny.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2013, 06:19:16 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 14 August, 2013, 05:59:30 PM
I think some of this is also related to the recent fascination that hollywood has with comic-book movies.  I have seen more than once on the extras documentarys where they say "the first thing we did was sit down and read lots of xxx".  So, after taking in several decades of some comic character they then struggle to come up with a succint story?  Beats me why!

I think it's often because they go with the origin story and for almost all popular superhero characters there are at least two or three versions of the origin so they go with a kind of amalgamated version.
An origin story in itself isn't enough though - once that's done they need a convenient villain with a doomsday device that needs to be stopped in the final act.
This means that they usually have to stick the villain's origin in too - and to make things easier they tend to tie this in with the heroes origin in some way so that they're kind of mutually created nemeses.
Many super hero origins don't have much in the way of romantic interest so they have to chuck that in too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 August, 2013, 06:32:41 PM
I think there's two distinct but related discussions getting a bit confused here.

Regarding cliches, it's all in the execution. While they were broadly similar scenarios, I thought The Avengers had a thrilling ending, whereas Man of Steel bored me to tears. The difference of course is that I cared about the characters in The Avengers so I was really rooting for them and it struck a great balance between humour and spectacle.

Part of the problem comes from the abundance of remakes, reboots and adaptations. Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness both leaned heavily on the fact that pretty much everyone already knows Kirk, Spock, Superman, Lois Lane etc - even down to tertiary characters like Perry White - so they seemed to think they could get away with not bothering to establish or develop them effectively. As a result both films felt hollow and left me completely cold. As the article points out - at least Star Trek (2009), while itself very convoluted plotwise, was carried along by the central premise of the crew coming together and was a more character driven film.

Quotethink it's often because they go with the origin story and for almost all popular superhero characters there are at least two or three versions of the origin so they go with a kind of amalgamated version.

I disagree - I think it's often the origin film that works best because it lends itself to a satisfying arc (witness Iron Man being - imo - a considerably better film than either of its sequels). It's in subsequent films where they seem to panic, run out of ideas and overcompensate with too many villains or just make a movie that is based entirely around conflict (boring).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 August, 2013, 06:58:01 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 14 August, 2013, 05:41:12 PM
Meanwhile, they've been jizzing like crazy over a few other biscuits - possibly the other two biscuits in the trilogy - and laughing at how we'll eventually bite down on them like the gaylords we are.

Powerful metaphor, Prof.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2013, 07:14:41 PM
Quote from: radiator on 14 August, 2013, 06:32:41 PM
I think there's two distinct but related discussions getting a bit confused here.

Regarding cliches, it's all in the execution. While they were broadly similar scenarios, I thought The Avengers had a thrilling ending, whereas Man of Steel bored me to tears. The difference of course is that I cared about the characters in The Avengers so I was really rooting for them and it struck a great balance between humour and spectacle.

Part of the problem comes from the abundance of remakes, reboots and adaptations. Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness both leaned heavily on the fact that pretty much everyone already knows Kirk, Spock, Superman, Lois Lane etc - even down to tertiary characters like Perry White - so they seemed to think they could get away with not bothering to establish or develop them effectively. As a result both films felt hollow and left me completely cold. As the article points out - at least Star Trek (2009), while itself very convoluted plotwise, was carried along by the central premise of the crew coming together and was a more character driven film.

Quotethink it's often because they go with the origin story and for almost all popular superhero characters there are at least two or three versions of the origin so they go with a kind of amalgamated version.

I disagree - I think it's often the origin film that works best because it lends itself to a satisfying arc (witness Iron Man being - imo - a considerably better film than either of its sequels). It's in subsequent films where they seem to panic, run out of ideas and overcompensate with too many villains or just make a movie that is based entirely around conflict (boring).

Iron Man 1 is undoubtably the best of the three but it does suffer in the last act with the fight with the Iron Monger and the Arc Reactor meltdown ( another beam shooting doomsday device).

I'd say Spider-Man 2, X- Men 2, The Dark Knight and arguably Superman 2 are all examples of superhero sequels that are better than the origin films. Of course, in most cases they're better if you've seen part 1!
The Avengers could potentially be added to this list as it serves as a sort of sequel to all the 'phase 1' films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 August, 2013, 07:26:05 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2013, 07:14:41 PM
Iron Man 1 is undoubtably the best of the three but it does suffer in the last act with the fight with the Iron Monger and the Arc Reactor meltdown ( another beam shooting doomsday device).

I'd say this is the problem with most new superhero origin movies. The first two acts iuntroduce the hero then show how they become a superhero, overall the first two acts make pretty interesting and entertaining character pieces, then the final act is just a big cgi ejaculation where the hero has to fight/deactivate the bad guy's maguffin. Not always a doomsday beam either, sometimes it's doomsday gas, like in Burton's Batman or The Amazing Spiderman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 August, 2013, 08:20:21 PM
Maguffins are best served hot with lots of butter or clotted cream.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 August, 2013, 10:32:22 AM
To be fair this is also the structure of most comic book arcs, period. They generally end with a big punch up/shoot out etc.

My favourite bit of all the Iron Movies is the 10 minutes where he decides to actually be a superhero and help some people being massacred. The other two movies he struts around and everyone says how much of a hero he is and how he's brought world peace (wtf) but does very little other than exacerbate/react to people attacking him. Conversely Spiderman movies have kept it right for the most part where Spiderman helps people even whilst being attacked - and furthermore is generally attacked whilst helping people, rather than swanning around being ridiculous. Granted Tony Stark is a different character but like Man of Steel, he's not actually that heroic beyond the fact that the people are not nice people either.

Now that I think about it even Batman is doing the same, albeit in the wider context of trying to bring down the corruption controlling the city.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 August, 2013, 06:54:00 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 15 August, 2013, 10:32:22 AM
To be fair this is also the structure of most comic book arcs, period. They generally end with a big punch up/shoot out etc.

Which is why Wagner's habit of giving the epic Dredds either deliberately anti-climactic or diffused conclusions is so paradoxically satisfying.

I accidentally saw the last Batman film again yesterday, and it's a textbook example of the tendency towards needless narrative redundancy. It's a really simple story, which the makers have chosen to give complexity by including lots of extra characters and subplots which have no real effect on the actual story. Is it really such an odd idea that you should be filling all that extra screen time with stuff about the characters and their relation to each other?

I sort of enjoy it, but I'm really only waiting for Tom Hardy's comedy turn as Bane.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 August, 2013, 08:23:47 PM
That hulk article makes a very good point about the last two bat movies, and goes a long way to explaining to me why I loved TDK so much, but was left so cold by TDKR.

TDK has quite a far-fetched plot, but there's a purity to it. You're never in any doubt about the characters motives.

TDKR on the other hand stacks up shock twists and reveals in a massively over complicated plot, all of which conspires to keep the audience at a distance. It feels waffly and overlong where TDK, despite its length, feels tight.

There's also the broader issue for me that TDK had clear themes and  message, where TDKR feels like they're  throwing out all these references to the financial crisis and Dickens, but none of it really pays off or says anything in particular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 15 August, 2013, 09:44:51 PM
Just back from local cinema ( Falkirk, Scotland ) after seeing Kick Ass 2 with my son.....He's a comic book fan as well....
A great movie and very much like the comic,  apart from the violence being 'toned down' in a couple of instances... [spoiler]For example The Red Mist character ( now The MotherF****r ) doesn't mow down a bus load of kids or kill The Stars and Stripes dog, and there is no rape scene ( thankfully )of Daves' girlfriend......[/spoiler].......Other than that it is full of the type of 'over the top' violence that was in the first movie....

For those that have read the comic, there is a slightly different ending, leaving it open to  a third movie chapter no doubt named Kick Ass 3, but all in all a very good enjoyable hour and a half of fun.....
Some great stunts and stand out performances from Hit Girl ( Chloe Moretz is wonderful ) and the villains' henchwoman Mother Russia ( One very big, and very scary woman ) ...

If you liked the 1st movie you'll have no complaints about this one.....If you didn't like the first one...( whats wrong with you !!?? )... :D....... give this one a miss as it's ( a lot ) more of the same...
Cheers...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 August, 2013, 10:12:17 PM
Nice to hear you and your son enjoyed the film, SB!

How did you find Jim Carrey's performance in the film? I enjoyed the first film too and the stand out for me was Nic Cage without doubt, do we miss his absence in this film or does Carrey make up for it?

Cheers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 15 August, 2013, 11:52:19 PM
It was an excellent movie Mabs,
And Jim Carrey's performance is excellent as well,  [spoiler]although fairly short lived[/spoiler]...
It's not 'central' to the movie,  as Cages' was,  but it's certainly a great performance,  and he looks nothing like his usual look, at all...... If you know what I mean....In fact if you didn't know who it was, you would think he looks familiar,  but who is he ??...I 'kind of'  recognise him, sort of thing....
This whole Movie concentrates more on Hit Girls' attempts at 'fitting in' with her new life, [spoiler]not particularly successful but on occasion very funny[/spoiler] and Dave's need for a partner once Hit Girl 'drops out'....
It's well made, funny, very violent, and superbly acted by both Moretz and Aaron Johnson.....If you really liked the first one, you'll love this !!  ......Highly recommended !!... :D

On another note :  I'm actually surprised at Carrey's stance about violence in this movie, and his distancing himself from it....Not that it's done the Movie any harm publicity wise, in fact probably the opposite......It's just that he knew what he was getting into,  and although real events may have since altered his opinion about violence in movies, and it is his 'right' to take the stance he does......I'm just not sure that's the 'way' to do it....
Perhaps giving his pay check to an organisation for victims of domestic violence ( or something similar ) may make it seem a more 'sincere' viewpoint, and less of a 'look at me and what I think / publicity type thing'......but that's only my opinion...

But you are back to that old chestnut of : Do violent movies ( or comics ) encourage or 'glorify' violence and are they likely to encourage people to emulate them ??? and that's an argument I'm fed up hearing....
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 August, 2013, 12:07:33 AM
Thanks for that, mate.

Interesting stuff too, for example I did not know about what you've outlined about Carrey. Other than that It sounds like you had great fun and I'm also looking forward to it! Cheers!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 16 August, 2013, 12:19:22 AM
Sorry Mabs,
Also meant to say,  apparently there is a 'post credits' scene....a bit like the recent Avengers / Iron Man movies.......Which I missed and only found out about on the way home..... :-[
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 August, 2013, 01:32:04 AM
No worries, I probably would've missed it too!  :D

Its become quite a norm with comic book films of late, barring the Dark Knight trilogy. At least I don't remember them having post-credit scenes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 August, 2013, 01:20:42 PM
I find these post credit scenes getting a bit tiresome. Is there? Isn't there? Just have the epilogue at the end of the film and roll the credits. The ubergeeks will stay for the credits anyway so why force everyone to sit through them?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 August, 2013, 01:36:44 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 16 August, 2013, 01:20:42 PM
I find these post credit scenes getting a bit tiresome. Is there? Isn't there? Just have the epilogue at the end of the film and roll the credits. The ubergeeks will stay for the credits anyway so why force everyone to sit through them?

Unless they're all like (the 1st part) of Iron Man 3's credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 August, 2013, 01:45:56 PM
Well, more like the next film im gonna watch. And that will be Carlos the Jackal.
Managed to, finally, track down a cheap copy. The 3 disc blu-ray was £9 in the HMV sale, plus i still had a gift voucher with a couple of quid left on it. Nice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 16 August, 2013, 02:53:01 PM
Finally got around to seeing Despicable Me 2
I was actually surprised the moment I walked into the screening room and found it close to being completely full even after the amount of time the film has been out. And I'm going to come right out and say what a nice film it is. You have a very brief introduction of an attack-of-sorts on a secret research centre and from there we see the lengths Gru is going to to keep his girls happy. Family, loyalty and falling in love are so important to the plot and development and it was such a surprise- especially given my last cinema outing was Man of Steel!- to see it all done so well and easily. I laughed throughout- even the touching scenes will have a gag of some kind coming right after them and the end musical numbers were well put together. What was interesting for me was I went to see the 2D version for not liking 3D and as the end credits are rolling, the minions keep popping up to arse around as they do but by simply blacking out parts of the screen- it looks like some of the stuff they're doing is actually in 3D, which had me wondering how it would look on a 3D screening. But anyway, I'll end by saying I kept chuckling on remembering parts of Despicable Me 2 last night and I'm very tempted indeed to go and see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 August, 2013, 03:51:24 PM
Sucker Punch

I know it's not very popular around these parts but I really like this film. It's so enthusiastically over the top! The whole thing look great and all the performances are strong. It doesn't have the strongest plot in the world but what it has ties everything together - I think I've said this before but I see this film as similar to one of those anthology horror films but with the horror stories replaced with action/Sci Fi set pieces.
Anyway, it works for me! Great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 August, 2013, 04:51:59 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 16 August, 2013, 02:53:01 PM
Finally got around to seeing Despicable Me 2 I was actually surprised the moment I walked into the screening room and found it close to being completely full even after the amount of time the film has been out.

James King said he thought Despicable Me 2 was on course to end up trumping Irony Man and POS for the title of most obscenely profitable merchandising opportunity of the year. Given that it was released two months after RDJ's swan song as Tony Stark, that doesn't seem impossible:

1   Iron Man 3                          $407,848,523      
2   Despicable Me 2                   $341,475,645   
3   Man of Steel                        $289,023,787   
4   Monsters University              $260,566,991   
5   Fast & Furious 6                   $238,340,140   
6   Oz The Gr't and P'ful             $234,911,825      
7   Star Trek Into Darkness        $226,927,100   
8   World War Z                        $197,778,968   
9   The Croods                          $186,902,812   
10   The Heat                           $154,144,225   

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2013&p=.htm

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 August, 2013, 04:59:35 PM
Apparantly Despicable Me 2 is set to become Universal's most profitable film.

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni55997390/ (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni55997390/)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 August, 2013, 05:22:28 PM

I should have said, those stats are US domestic grosses. Worldwide, Tony Stark's worth 1.2 billion and the minions are 750 million strong.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 August, 2013, 06:51:19 PM
I was going to do a hilarious juxtaposition in response to JamesC's post where I trash Sucker Punch and then mention how great Batman & Robin was, but it has been pointed out that B&R is at least consistent within its own gay and silly world.

Quote from: JamesC on 16 August, 2013, 03:51:24 PMIt doesn't have the strongest plot in the world but what it has ties everything together

Except all the anachronisms and the director's use of videogame logic to make characters' stories and scenes work - and I do mean actual videogame logic, mind you, with characters on quests to locate and retrieve objects and keys to complete quests to unlock new levels and fight boss characters, and even doing Limit Breaks on occasion.  Sucker Punch really is an odd duck, because it is a film that demands you look upon it as complete trash because approaching it sensibly just makes things worse: if you try to view it as commentary on sexism or violence, for instance, you run up against the problem that it is wall to wall with unironic sexism and violence.

As the board's Mr Clements rightly points out, though, it's a great music video.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 12:54:12 AM
I know I'm really going to struggle if I try to defend Sucker Punch as making sense or having any logic other than the video game type but I really think that the overt fantasy framing device makes terms like 'anachronism' redundant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 August, 2013, 01:05:38 AM
I watched DOA on the television box tonight, and commented to a friend that it made Sucker Punch look like The Thin Red Line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 01:29:25 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 17 August, 2013, 01:05:38 AM
I watched DOA on the television box tonight, and commented to a friend that it made Sucker Punch look like The Thin Red Line.

But did you enjoy it? The Thin Red Line doesn't have Holly Valance in a bikini.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2013, 01:59:35 AM
DOA is complete shit.  I could make an attempt to grade it and Sucker Punch in such a way that one is technically defined as being "better" or "worse", but what would be the point?  I suppose DOA does deserve credit on a technical level for shooting fights in such a way that it makes it look like Kevin Nash can take two steps without pulling a muscle, though.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 17 August, 2013, 09:36:04 AM
Just watched the two Lady Snowblood movies back to back. Highly recommended if you want a cure for the likes of Sucker Punch and DOA i.e strong female kicking ass without the sexist undertones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 09:54:45 AM
Just so I know, what, exactly, is sexist about Sucker Punch?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 August, 2013, 10:20:12 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 09:54:45 AM
Just so I know, what, exactly, is sexist about Sucker Punch?

Seriously?
Jesus...

http://www.feministfrequency.com/2011/04/zach-snyders-sucker-punch-is-a-steaming-pile-of-sexist-crap/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 11:08:31 AM
Fair enough - there are some decent points in that link but the woman does seem a little unhinged. I'm not sure what's infantilising about a mini skirt.
I'm playing Devil's Advocate really - the film's plot isn't sexist and despite what the lady in that article says, there's nothing pornographic about it. I get that the costumes in the film could be considered a male's fantasy, but really, at what point does a mini skirt make a film sexist?
The film is all about fighting back and using your strength to beat those that are trying to control you. The character of Sweat Pea escapes in the end and gets shot of the sexy clothes.
Anyone who tries to objectify the women is clearly marked out as a baddie and comes to a sticky end.
The point I'm trying to make is that once you get past the 'OMG all these women are in mini skirts' factor there's not actually that much that I would consider sexist. There are so many Hollywood films that feature helpless females that need men to rescue them ( a recent example being Taken 2 in which the female character does literally nothing to help herself and is entirely dependent on Liam Neeson to help her) that I would say calling the producers out for their sexism should be about more than what the characters are wearing.

And apart from all that there's a really cool bit with a dragon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 August, 2013, 11:11:53 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 09:54:45 AM
Just so I know, what, exactly, is sexist about Sucker Punch?

I'm sure there's a way to make a movie about schoolgirl victims of sexual abuse who become sexy strippers and are subjected to even more horrific abuse in a way which isn't leering and exploitative, but Zac Snyder wasn't able to find it. I wasn't repulsed by the film and didn't hate it, I just thought it was boring, disjointed, derivative, and very forgettable.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 12:11:37 PM
I may as well give this up - but they aren't school girls and though you may find it 'leering and exploitative' there's no nudity or any depictions of sexual abuse that spring to mind other than when the cook tries it on and ends up with a knife to his throat.
Anyway, I liked it and others didn't - fair enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 August, 2013, 12:14:12 PM
QuoteI may as well give this up

Well, you seem to be determined to be obtuse and apparently have no concept of the meaning os 'sexist', 'pornographic' or 'exploitative', so it might be for the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 August, 2013, 12:19:24 PM
Red Letter Media review nails it.
http://gamedesignreviews.com/scrapbook/sexism-in-sucker-punch/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 02:09:50 PM
And here are a couple of differing views:

http://www.titaniumteddybear.net/2011/06/23/thinking-sucker-punch-is-sexist-is-sexist-quickie/

http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?section_name=editorial&editorial_id=34867

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-04/04/gq-film-zack-snyder-sucker-punch/page/3


Look, I don't really care whether the film is sexist or not. I enjoyed it and posted a few comments about it. I then asked a perfectly legitimate question about what exactly was sexist about it and I'm not sure I totally agree with the answers.
For this I'm condescended and accused of being obtuse. Well, thanks, I'll just go and feel bad about myself now shall I? I apologise for not having a degree in social politics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 August, 2013, 02:48:02 PM
The bizarre teaming of Mel Gibson and a puppet in The Beaver (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no118-beaver.html) followed by gentle inheritance issues in Where There's a Will. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no203-where-theres-will.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 August, 2013, 06:28:54 PM
Grabbers is an Irish horror movie with some choice underplayed comedy moments. It was filmed just down the road from me ma's house. Overall, really good, some of the best drunken acting I've seen, to the extent that I'm not sure it was really acting. I liked the fact that we don't really get a good look at the titular beasties until the final act. Proper order for this sort of movie, those nutty guys at Asylum should take note. I still don't like Russell Tovey though. Does his voice normally sound like a bad sketch show impression of a Jolly Nice English Chap, or does he put it on? Because if he puts it on someone needs to tell him to stop doing that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 17 August, 2013, 06:41:14 PM
Evil Dead: Remake

Gory enough, but basically, pointless.  The 'new' twists can be seen coming from many, many miles away.  I know most horrors aren't really looking to blow our minds with clever plot twists, but when they shape up like that's their intent, then fail to deliver, then it's doubly disappointing.  Just get the original in all it's crap glory, it's still a FAR better film than this poop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 August, 2013, 06:42:43 PM
Grabbers was Ok, but felt a bit thin to me. The script could have done with some beefing up. Agree about Tovey - his acting is incredibly over the top.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 August, 2013, 07:06:46 PM
Yeah, the script could have done with a wee bit more work. There should have been some sort of acknowledgement of the absence of any children, and I was expecting a wee epilogue where the other Guard got back from his holidays and demands an explanation for why [spoiler]the pub is half burned down and devoid of alcohol[/spoiler]. An honest explanation would probably get a reaction along the lines of "You really need to cut down on the drink"

Still highly enjoyable though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2013, 07:25:23 PM
Hammer war movie Yesterday's Enemy.  Some British soldiers are stuck nursing their dying in a Burmese village, and in between attempted rapes on the female civilians the officers find time to commit a war crime and then leave their injured to kill themselves while the able-bodied make a run for British lines.  After that, things things start to get grim.
A bit stagey, but solid acting and a bloody-minded dedication to never giving you a happy ending to any of the various plotlines running though the 90-odd minutes makes for a tight and memorable war drama.

Salt - Angelina Jolie plays an invincible super-agent out to clear her name - OR IS SHE?  Daftly entertaining in places, but the arbitrary face/heel turns of the main character become tiresome and forty minutes in you might be like me and ask why you're supposed to root for one character over another - a concern shared by the screenwriter who resorts to having the stakes be THE LITERAL END OF THE WORLD because it's the only way to make the main character seem like someone you want to see succeed, because no-one wants the world to end, am I right?  Amusingly, the plan to make the world end is to blow up Mecca and this will make all muslims explode with terrorist fury because according to the film's logic all muslims are violent militants merely waiting for a call to arms... I suspect this is not entirely accurate, but like I say, it's a bit daft.

I Am Number Four is basically an episode of Smallville with a large budget.  As such, it is stinky pants.
If you have caught any teen-oriented tv show made by the CW in the last five years, you already know this plot inside and out, which is pretty amazing considering they bought the rights to a novel to adapt into this.  I can't really think of much else to say about it, it's pretty humdrum and predictable, opting for cliches to hold everything together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 17 August, 2013, 07:43:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 August, 2013, 09:54:45 AM
Just so I know, what, exactly, is sexist about Sucker Punch?

I appreciate that this conversation has pretty much run its course but here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Sexism is defined primarily as descrimination based on gender.  However it also refers to attitudes or behaviours that promote stereotypical roles based on gender. So, in simple terms, that would be someone saying "women are only good for shagging and cooking". 

This is where things start to get a bit shaky for Sucker Punch.  You could argue that the plot itself is not sexist but the fact that the main female characters have to spend a lot of the film in sexy outfits means that whatever empowerment the story might convey is undermined and the visual prompts still convey the message that women are just sexual objects.

Now I appreciate that some of this is subjective but honestly, how often is there an action movie where the main male lead has to spend most of the time in a leather thong? (Conan is the only one I can think of   ;)).

This is what prompts people to call a film like Sucker Punch sexist.  It does make you wonder why they have to spend so much time in high-heels with skirts so short that we can see their stocking tops.  I mean, what is with those wardrobe decisions - what message is the director trying to convey to the audience???
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 August, 2013, 07:47:00 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 17 August, 2013, 07:25:23 PM
... considering they bought the rights to a novel to adapt into this.

I heard the CW opened a publisher for the sole purpose of printing young adult books that could be optioned as movies and I am Number Four was the result. I've probably crossed several wires there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2013, 08:39:45 PM
I can believe that, given that CW hasn't optioned a single new programme this season that isn't sci-fi or fantasy, so clearly they're actively trying to build themselves multi-media IPs (sci-fi and fantasy lending itself a lot easier to that than drama or romance shows).
Which is all a bit odd, as it's a pretty poorly-kept secret that the company is part of a scam perfectly above-board practice to pay money back into DC Comics so their (DC's) licensing looks profitable, so why they wouldn't just plunder their own existing IP catalogue (WB owns both companies, hence the scam perfectly above-board practice) for new CW franchises instead of paying someone else to come up with what they already have is beyond me.  Kamandi is pretty much just a story about a teenage boy with his shirt off being chased by half-animal dudes who come off a bit gay, and that sounds like several CW shows already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 August, 2013, 08:53:32 PM
QuoteYeah, the script could have done with a wee bit more work. There should have been some sort of acknowledgement of the absence of any children

I think for me it was more that the script just felt... sparse? I dunno, the conversations and banter just didn't flow back and forth the way it does in (obvious comparison as it's essentially the exact same film) Tremors, made worse by the fact that a lot of the attempts at humour just don't land.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 August, 2013, 10:46:12 PM

I just watched Pitch Perfect and it was the best thing I've seen in my entire fucking life. On that note, it's been nice knowing you all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 August, 2013, 03:54:04 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 August, 2013, 10:46:12 PM

I just watched Pitch Perfect and it was the best thing I've seen in my entire fucking life. On that note, it's been nice knowing you all.

Please note that we genuinely feel no Glee from having to despise you now Sauchie.
You did bring a few laughs & witty quips to the forum over the years, so here's a 30 second head start before we release the dogs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 August, 2013, 06:19:12 PM
I watched Hanna last night and really enjoyed it.
I'd seen it before but couldn't remember too much about it. Eric Banna was great and the girl who plays Hanna is delightfully weird but still likeable and convincing in the fight scenes. I really liked the way the fights were filmed actually - they weren't flashy but sort of brutal and quick in the way that fights are in real life.
Some nice moments were the characters just shoot their opponents before you get the chance to shout 'just shoot him' at the telly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 August, 2013, 07:10:29 PM
Hey, I've just seen a Uwe Boll movie that's actually pretty guuuuh... it's pretty goooooh...  I'll try again - this Uwe Boll movie is gggggg... guhhhh... this is harder to admit than I thought it would be.
While no Citizen Kane, Assault On Wall Street is a mostly-sympathetic portrayal of several of America's latter-day boogeymen - bankers and spree killers - and no-one is really a bad guy, crimes being opportunistic bad investments or accidental murders before the lead character takes his jump off the deep end and premeditates the killings of Wall Street bankers who lost his money, but the slow build-up as his life falls apart through no fault of his own and his silent, dignified rage bubbles under as volcanoes are wont to do right up until they explode is a brilliant flip-side to the snide, juvenile and hateful spree-killer of the week story in shows like CSI.  Gone are the safe snarks and snipes at the Occupy straw men that typify shows written by well-off white men like Castle and The Newsroom, and instead there's just crushing inevitability and no answers to be had - this guy's done nothing wrong, he works hard, he plays by the rules, and for that he's crippled with debts created by other people to the point that he's not even paying off the debts anymore, he's paying off the interest on those debts and all it does is go up until it takes literally everything from him.
Uwe Boll makes terrible films, so I suppose in being a decent movie that technically makes this the worst Uwe Boll film ever made.  Not crazy about the final voice-over, as it and the Big Bad's comic book villain monologue where he basically gives a potted history of American finance brings things a bit too far into panto territory and makes it look like the origin movie for the world's angriest superhero franchise, but the rest of it is pretty ggggguuuuuuuhhhhhhhddd.  There, I said it!  That wasn't so hard after all - not that you'd know it by the many vicious reviews that have little to say about the film and seem fixated only on who made it, but ignore those, as this is actually a decent post-Occupy flick that does a very good job of articulating the anger and confusion of working Joes living in the wake of the financial meltdown to the extent that you will actually feel cheated if the film doesn't end in a killing spree in an office.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 August, 2013, 11:50:42 PM
Just watched The Shawshank Redemption. I always get a manly salty eye at the end of this film. Brilliant. And if you bring up plot holes you're a joyless c**t!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 18 August, 2013, 11:55:39 PM
^That.  'Shitty pipe dreams' makes me smile every time! Top film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 August, 2013, 09:35:24 AM
Double bill of Alpha Papa and Kick Ass 2 for me at the cinema last night.

AP was pretty good but its definitely on the lower end of the Partridge scale. I heard that Armando Ianucci wasn't involved in the writing and it definitely shows. Some brilliant bits here and there but overall a bit of a let down.

3/5

Was surprised how much I enjoyed KA2. Yes it's insanely dumb, morally dubious, a little offensive, often unintentionally funny, way over the top and suffers from an overstuffed plot which unravels at Nolanesque montage-like pacing, but as with the original, taken as a cinematic experience with beers and friends its a hoot. Amazing cast featuring lots of great character actors in minor roles (Andy Nyman, John Leguizamo, Iain Glen, Donald Faison, Benedict Wong, Steven Mackintosh). Easily the best thing Jim Carrey has done in years.

A high 3/5 or low 4/5 for me and a worthy sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 August, 2013, 10:25:02 AM
You heard wrong, or at least a little differently (chinese whispers I guess). Armando Ianucci has been interviewing/promoting for the past couple of weeks and says that he wrote at the beginning, buggered off to America during filming, came back for post.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 August, 2013, 10:54:39 AM
Monster Island

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a bunch of other teens win a holiday to an island in the Bermuda Triangle and meet Carmen Electra. Carmen is then carried off by a giant flying ant and they have to go and rescue her.
This is a silly MTV film that's supposed to be a homage to 50s creature features. It's actually quite good fun and has a great cameo from Adam West who plays 'Dr Harryhausen'.
The best thing about the film is the monster design - they look great. There's a mix of CGI, stop motion (actually it could be CGI made to look like stop motion but I don't think it is) and model work and whoever made the props obviously had great fun. I'd love to get my hands on one of the preying mantis models.
This is always coming on the Movies 24 channel and is worth a watch if you're at a loose end and don't mind a bit of silly teen humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 August, 2013, 01:16:57 PM
Monsters vs Aliens.  A mixed bag, with some good gags about scale and a solid premise let down by pitiful character design and flat soulless backgrounds.  You can't have a movie where the main characters are freaks and monsters living in a realistically-rendered contemporary world, and still draw the humans as bobble-heads with stick-legs.  It doesn't work. I did enjoy House: Mad Cockroach-headed Scientist and the furry caterpillar kaiju, and while worryingly similar to Pratchett's Susan Sto-Helit, Susan 'Ginormica' was a strong central character who learns to self-actualise, or something.  One good painfully laboured joke about global warming raises its grade to C+.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 August, 2013, 05:55:39 PM
Don't forget Stephen Colbert. Though his presidency suggests that the movie is in fact set in the Marvel universe, which should be both used to and prepared for all manner of monsters and aliens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 20 August, 2013, 02:42:09 PM
Thir13en Ghosts

Firstly, this film holds the rare record of 'film I have seen twice at the cinema'.  I don't tend to see films more than once at the cinema but due to some planning mistake between friends, this became the only film that I have. 

OK, so the basic setup here is that some bloke and his family are not doing too well after a fire took their house and his wife.  A Lawyer turns up to say that a Rich Uncle has died and left him a house and fortune.  So we arrive at a fancy looking glass house, however all is not well.  There are actually 12 ghosts trapped in the basement and the house is actually a machine that will open a gate to hell.  As you can imagine, the ghosts escape and start to run amok.

It is worth pointing out that this film is not scary, but it does make you jump in a couple of places.  I would probably describe it as an action horror, in a similar vein to House on Haunted Hill or Ghost Ship.  What is good about this film though is the visuals - especially the house itself and the ghosts.  I checked IMDB and if the $20 million budget stated there is correct then they did very well for the money.

Having a glass house is a nice touch and the walls are meant to be inscribed with spells to keep ghosts out which leads to some good cat-and-mouse play.  The ghosts also tend to be real actors in make up so you don't get any silly CGI wobbly-ness, they look real and substantial.  Make-up is really good - the ghosts look fantastic and I would happily spend a couple of hours just watching them walk around. 

The plot is silly but if you want something lightweight and entertaining then you can do a lot worse than this.  Horror (if you want to label this as such) tends to come in batches and I am as unexcited as the next person when yet another zombie movie comes out.  This is what makes this film so good.  OK, it's basically a haunted house film but there is so little like this out there that it feels like a treat simply because it is more unique.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 August, 2013, 03:32:02 PM
The Adventures of Buckeroo Banzai across the 8th Dimension

Haven't seen this since I was a teenager. I still don't really know what to make of it. It's fun but weird.

I reckon someone wrote an entire season's worth of a sci-fi series, but none of the networks would pick it up, so they condensed EVERYTHING into one movie and fobbed it off on some studio trying to cash in on the sci-fi movies boom started by Star Wars.

Describing the plot would be an exercise in TL;DR posting. It just keeps throwing out ideas without giving them a chance to breath, but I think that's on purpose. Convoluted doesn't begin to describe it, but it's convoluted in a fun, almost self-aware way. The performances are great, you've got Robocop deadpanning brilliant lines like "I was ionized, but I'm ok now" and then you've got John Lithgow gorging on scenery. This movie has basically every cult character actor of the early 80s, every couple of minutes you're saying to yourself, "Hey look, it's that guy from that thing, I like him".

It's a shame, but not a surprise, that the sequel was never made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: amines2058 on 20 August, 2013, 04:27:36 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 20 August, 2013, 03:32:02 PM
The Adventures of Buckeroo Banzai across the 8th Dimension

Haven't seen this since I was a teenager. I still don't really know what to make of it. It's fun but weird.

I reckon someone wrote an entire season's worth of a sci-fi series, but none of the networks would pick it up, so they condensed EVERYTHING into one movie and fobbed it off on some studio trying to cash in on the sci-fi movies boom started by Star Wars.

Describing the plot would be an exercise in TL;DR posting. It just keeps throwing out ideas without giving them a chance to breath, but I think that's on purpose. Convoluted doesn't begin to describe it, but it's convoluted in a fun, almost self-aware way. The performances are great, you've got Robocop deadpanning brilliant lines like "I was ionized, but I'm ok now" and then you've got John Lithgow gorging on scenery. This movie has basically every cult character actor of the early 80s, every couple of minutes you're saying to yourself, "Hey look, it's that guy from that thing, I like him".

It's a shame, but not a surprise, that the sequel was never made.

I love that film again for the surreal-ness of it all. I also love the final outro music as all the characters are walking across the damn or large concrete structure or whatever it is. I may have to look for it again myself for a re-watch!! :D ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 August, 2013, 04:39:55 PM
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.  No.  Just no.  Some good centaur effects, cancelled out by the worst overall casting choices since The Saint, and what I in my ignorance can only assume in is an adaptation that drops all pretence of narrative sense in its slavish attempt to squeeze in the kewl bits form the book.  If you can imagine a two-hour episode of Xena, replace our ass-kicking heroine with Wesley Crusher and Bruce Campbell with Pierce Brosnan, and then chuck in the Hunger Games remade with the the cast of High School Musical and you're almost there.  It has a key location called Camp Half-Breed.

Gods, no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 August, 2013, 04:45:42 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 20 August, 2013, 03:32:02 PM
The Adventures of Buckeroo Banzai across the 8th Dimension

A strange, strange film that i too, havent seen in an age. The UK dvd was pretty piss poor, but the US version was an special edition affair. Jamie Lee Curtis also starred in the film, but got cut out, i believe - now viewable thanks to the deleted scenes that was included.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 August, 2013, 05:11:30 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 20 August, 2013, 02:42:09 PM
Thir13en Ghosts
It is worth pointing out that this film is not scary, but it does make you jump in a couple of places. 

I quite like that film! I thought the ghosts were quite scary. That whole thing with the special glasses (or was it goggles, I forget) that allow you to see into the spirit world added an extra 'brrr'. Factor.

I seem to remember a scene with a character in the bath tub. Cue: vision of the spirit world with a female suicide ghost in a bath full of blood. Dear me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 20 August, 2013, 06:01:07 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 August, 2013, 05:11:30 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 20 August, 2013, 02:42:09 PM
Thir13en Ghosts
It is worth pointing out that this film is not scary, but it does make you jump in a couple of places. 

I quite like that film! I thought the ghosts were quite scary. That whole thing with the special glasses (or was it goggles, I forget) that allow you to see into the spirit world added an extra 'brrr'. Factor.

I seem to remember a scene with a character in the bath tub. Cue: vision of the spirit world with a female suicide ghost in a bath full of blood. Dear me.

Indeed - I very much like this film myself but I didn't think it was very scary.  As you say though, the ghosts themselves were superb and really helped raise this film up from the usual dross.

How did I forget to mention the glasses?? You are correct, they need to wear special goggles otherwise they cannot see them.  This was employed well a few times in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 August, 2013, 06:31:22 PM

Hysteria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FWReqkTWfA) has the distinction of being the only film I've ever seen about lady wanking.

It's actually really funny, even if you can guess most of the double entendres about taking problems in hand and offering relief before the opening credits are finished. No-one lost any sleep working out the plot either; the hero gets involved with one girl who's dull but wealthy and another who's full of spunk and works with poor kids. He needs to finger an awful lot of posh ladies, and his best friend is conducting pioneering experiments with electrical devices. PM me if you need any help figuring out how either of those situations resolve themselves.

All the fun of the film comes from the endearingly straight faced performances of the cast, and the way the pot shots it takes at the obvious hypocrisy and self-deceit of the Victorian era are only really an entertaining way of pointing up the contradictions in our own attitudes to sex, science and the undeserving poor. Whether it's for you or not depends on how funny you find classically trained actresses in bustles and high-necked blouses having orgasms. If they could have cast Mirren or Dench this would have been a Calendar Girls/Full Monty style hit.

I'm turning this into a period drama sex season by finally getting round to watching A Dangerous Method tonight as well.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 August, 2013, 06:46:13 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 August, 2013, 06:31:22 PM
Hysteria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FWReqkTWfA) has the distinction of being the only film I've ever seen about lady wanking.

-raises eyebrow-
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 August, 2013, 07:00:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 August, 2013, 06:46:13 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 August, 2013, 06:31:22 PM
Hysteria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FWReqkTWfA) has the distinction of being the only film I've ever seen about lady wanking.

-raises eyebrow-

<Goes to download the movie>

<...realises he may have said too much...>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 August, 2013, 07:42:18 PM


Not see Pleasantville then? Or was it toy?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 August, 2013, 08:02:23 PM

Okay then; it's the first film I've seen about professional lady wanking. They have an appointment book, a waiting room, and a brass plaque beside the front door of their Belgravia clinic. It's the first film I've seen about lady wanking which stars someone who's been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and played Bruce Wayne's girlfriend.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 August, 2013, 08:02:31 PM
Oblivion:

Some great cinematography, combined with some slick production design is about the only positive thing I can say about this film.  It's not that I have a load of negatives either though.  It's just so......vanilla.  Beige. Forgettable. Speaking of forgettable....Morgan Freeman must have been laughing all the way to the bank!  Second billing for what....10 mins or so screen time??  Nice work if you can get it eh?

Is it as bad as I'd heard? No.  Is it as good as it should have been considering the costs?  No.  Is it worth watching again?  No.  Was it worth watching the first time?  Meh.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 August, 2013, 01:17:33 AM
Olympus Has Fallen - North Koreans kidnap the President in a plan to cause Mad Max times, but Leonidas has other ideas, most of which involve pouting so he looks like Hawkeye from the new Bourne films to the point it confuses me.  Some audacious setpieces like an aerial attack on DC and a ground assault on the Whitehouse give way to an hour of wandering around corridors at night in a sub-24 style and the fights from Under Siege (which came out 20-odd years ago, but never mind) while Morgan Freeman occasionally says "Oh ma gawd", so it's not great, but it is at least completely ludicrous so you're under no pressure to take it seriously or to remember where you've seen all the major visuals before (hint: I think the makers are really big Modern Warfare fans).  It is also one of the worst-scripted films you'll see in a while, with plot elements coming and going in really obvious fashion, like Freeman's character having scenes to set him up as a pro-war hawk who doesn't like the North Koreans, and then he doesn't do any pro-war hawking against the North Koreans when he's the acting Prez, or the film establishing in spectacular fashion that the US military own the skies over DC and yet no-one thinks to tell a plane to take a pass at that large massed force of ground troops and heavy weaponry on the Whitehouse lawn because, you know, that kind of thing is why you want air superiority in the first place - but like I say, it's so unashamedly stupid that you probably won't even mind that it's never explained how or why the NKs have ED209 deployed on the Whitehouse roof.
Between this and Salt, it's good to see the nukeleer apokralapse as a baddie in films again after a long stint of the absolute worst thing a supervillain could do being a stock market meltdown or something - now all of a sudden Hollywood films are remembering "oh yeah, we used to be scared shitless we'd be nuked in our beds".  Good times.

Soldier, which is some damn fine old-school productioning in the final days before CGI went and fucked everything up.  Huge sets, brilliant vehicles that look like GI Joe toys and lots of asplosions.  Sure, if you stop and examine any part of it the thing falls apart pretty quickly, but it is absolutely dedicated to its lo-fi premise and hi-concept setting even if the central story of people getting over their initial concerns about him when Todd straight-up murders the shit out of dozens of people seems like worryingly poor judgement to me.  When Todd kills Caine I also found myself saying "no, Superman, don't do it" at the tv, though this has little to do with Soldier being an average story with above-average production and more with Man Of Steel being a bit shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2013, 10:01:10 AM
One of my favourite pieces of movie trivia is the nugget about Soldier being a Blade Runner sequel/spin-off! Even watching it I had no idea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 21 August, 2013, 12:12:21 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 August, 2013, 01:17:33 AM
Soldier
Are you talking about the Kurt Russel one here? I've seen it before but it was a long time ago; I'm sure his name was Todd in it tho. I liked his final kill, simply because it brought in the fact that [spoiler]his 'main' enemy in it no longer had a sense of depth perception [/spoiler] due to what happens near the start! And is it just me or is there a scene in a tank at one point were you hear a split second of Led Zep's Immigrant Song and not a second more?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: amines2058 on 21 August, 2013, 12:30:50 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 20 August, 2013, 07:42:18 PM


Not see Pleasantville then? Or was it toy?

This had been bugging me all morning but it was not Pleasantville but The Road to Wellville you were thinking of. The one with Anthony Hopkins as Doctor Kellogg (he of cornflakes fame) and his patented lady wanking device to cure feminine hysteria.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 August, 2013, 12:32:07 PM
Quote from: amines2058 on 21 August, 2013, 12:30:50 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 20 August, 2013, 07:42:18 PM


Not see Pleasantville then? Or was it toy?

This had been bugging me all morning but it was not Pleasantville but The Road to Wellville you were thinking of. The one with Anthony Hopkins as Doctor Kellogg (he of cornflakes fame) and his patented lady wanking device to cure feminine hysteria.

Joan Allen in bath.  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: amines2058 on 21 August, 2013, 12:49:53 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2013, 10:01:10 AM
One of my favourite pieces of movie trivia is the nugget about Soldier being a Blade Runner sequel/spin-off! Even watching it I had no idea.

Yes hadn't the Soldier [spoiler]fought in the battle of Tannhauser Gate [/spoiler] or something, I am sure he says that in the movie, which links him to Rutger Hauer's speech in Blade Runner
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 August, 2013, 12:58:45 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 21 August, 2013, 12:32:07 PM
Joan Allen in bath.

Colonel Mustard in the library, with the candlestick. The Road To Wellville's a great shout for my Victorian Sex Season, amines - I remember finding Lara Flynne Boyle's corpse-like seductress oddly attractive. I imagine Tim Burton felt the same way.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 21 August, 2013, 03:42:09 PM
The Book of Eli

Not half bad, can anyone tell me why it was seemingly universally hated upon release? It wasn't great, no, but it was certainly enjoyable. Beautiful to look at, brilliant score (I now know where Hans Zimmer got his... 'inspiration' shall we say, for the MOS theme) and the acting was good pretty much all around. I don't think, like many do, that the film is religious propaganda, though I do think it could have done without some of the heavier elements. I am by no means a religious person at all, but the film showed that faith is something people need and (whether you like it or not) that faith is in God; and that is a fact, whether you believe in God or not. It also did a good job of showing how that faith can be manipulated, much like it is in many present day instances, through Gary Oldman's character, who in my eyes was essentially representing organised religion's ability to brain-wash people for their own gain, which is pretty much the opposite of religious propaganda!

The film treats the book as a weapon (I believe Oldman's character even says as much), so imagine any other action film where the plot device is a new super weapon or super soldier serum or something, it can be used well in the right hands (in this case for cultural documentation and to give faith to people who are starving and dying) and if it falls into the wrong hands it can be a powerful tool for bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 August, 2013, 04:07:52 PM
Book of Eli has one moment that justifies whatever comes next; when Denzel steps back into the shadow of the overpass...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 21 August, 2013, 04:31:49 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 21 August, 2013, 03:42:09 PM
The Book of Eli
Not half bad, can anyone tell me why it was seemingly universally hated upon release?

It's stunning to look at but collapses in on itself of lack of any real world logic the moment you think about most things that happens ([spoiler]funny how the young woman didn't know how to read because of lack of reading materials (I guess) but she could drive a car just fine even though there's a distinct lack of vehicles thoughout the movie - who (and why) learned her to drive? there's numerous questions I had around how Washington did if he was blind - like his superhero-melee fighting or how did he find himself into the shop in that village or how did you manage to hide the book in the TV in a few seconds he had until they broke in when I would struggle getting that TV back off fully sighted - the movie wasn't interesting enough to give it a second to watch to see if they explain that in any way. The "twist" was up there with that godawful Law Abiding Citizen.[/spoiler]) - pretty, pretty stupid, preachy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 21 August, 2013, 04:49:45 PM
Just finished watching ( a very old DVD ) of Amadaeus.....

An absolutely fabulous film,  starring Tom Holtz ( what happened to him ? ) and Sir Ben Kingsley and telling the tragic story of Wolgang Amadaeus Mozart....
A wonderful movie, with an amazing score ( obviously ),  and an absolute stand out performance by Holtz as Mozart,  and an excellent performance by Kingsley as his chief antagonist....The older composer who hates the brilliant Mozart and his eccentric ways and 'different' music.....and the ease with which he seems to 'make' it...
Just sublime and a highly recommended watch....

And a truly quotable comment by the King ( or Emperor ), when asked if he enjoyed the performance and replies.....Too many notes !!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 August, 2013, 05:40:37 PM
Quote from: amines2058 on 21 August, 2013, 12:49:53 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2013, 10:01:10 AM
One of my favourite pieces of movie trivia is the nugget about Soldier being a Blade Runner sequel/spin-off! Even watching it I had no idea.
Yes hadn't the Soldier [spoiler]fought in the battle of Tannhauser Gate [/spoiler] or something, I am sure he says that in the movie, which links him to Rutger Hauer's speech in Blade Runner
Never heard that before. For some reason, I've always had it in my head that Soldier started out as an adaptation of Gordon Dickson's Dorsai books.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 August, 2013, 05:51:41 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 August, 2013, 05:40:37 PM
Quote from: amines2058 on 21 August, 2013, 12:49:53 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2013, 10:01:10 AM
One of my favourite pieces of movie trivia is the nugget about Soldier being a Blade Runner sequel/spin-off! Even watching it I had no idea.
Yes hadn't the Soldier [spoiler]fought in the battle of Tannhauser Gate [/spoiler] or something, I am sure he says that in the movie, which links him to Rutger Hauer's speech in Blade Runner
Never heard that before. For some reason, I've always had it in my head that Soldier started out as an adaptation of Gordon Dickson's Dorsai books.

Soldier was written by David Webb Peoples, who also wrote Blade Runner hence the injokes. Peoples' greatest script for me though, remains 'Unforgiven'. Some magnificent lines in that film..."we all have it coming kid".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 21 August, 2013, 06:37:57 PM
Raw Deal

Early Schwarzenegger ridiculousness, but a LOT of fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 August, 2013, 07:27:38 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 21 August, 2013, 06:37:57 PM
Raw Deal

Early Schwarzenegger ridiculousness, but a LOT of fun!

You're right Will, it's great fun! Swarzenegger was always great to watch, in fact along with Clint Eastwood he was my idol growing up. All his 80's film from Raw Deal to The Terminator are so much fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 August, 2013, 07:35:40 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 21 August, 2013, 07:27:38 PM
You're right Will, it's great fun! Swarzenegger was always great to watch, in fact along with Clint Eastwood he was my idol growing up. All his 80's film from Raw Deal to The Terminator are so much fun!

I heard they used to hang out and train together.  Clint got the benefit of Arnie's exercise info, and Arnie learned how to act without talking (a bit anyway!).  Just look at the scene in 'Terminator' when Arnie pulls up in the cop car behind Reese and Connor, as he realises it's them, the facial expression is such an Eastwood's 'the man with no name' sort of squinty eye urgency!

As for 'Soldier', yep, terrible cinematography, but Kurt Russell is brilliantly restrained throughout.  It's a tough gig for an actor to do a role with little to no emotional expression.  Loved the bit when she asks him 'What are you going to do?' and he simply replies 'Killk them all sir.'  Brilliantly underplayed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 August, 2013, 07:56:26 PM
Why did he (Kurt) refer to the female character as "Sir"? I thought that odd at the time. Couldn't he of said "ma'am" or even"love" instead?  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 August, 2013, 08:12:11 PM
Think it was a combo of their 'equality' training, there was no difference between genders, just allies and foes? Maybe a de-sexualisation sort of thing as well, like with the Judges? More effective soldiers as they have nothing but soldiering?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 August, 2013, 10:29:25 PM
Burton and Taylor try some free lovin' in The Sandpiper (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no119-sandpiper.html) followed by William Shatner playing cowboy and Indian and being equally dreadful as both in White Comanche. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no204-white-comanche.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 August, 2013, 10:45:09 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 21 August, 2013, 04:49:45 PM
Just finished watching ( a very old DVD ) of Amadaeus.....

An absolutely fabulous film,  starring Tom Holtz ( what happened to him ? ) and Sir Ben Kingsley and telling the tragic story of Wolgang Amadaeus Mozart....


I think Tom Holtz changed his name to Tom Hulce and sank into even more obscurity.  And I'm pretty sure it was F. Murray Abraham (not Ben Kingsley).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 August, 2013, 11:02:41 PM
Only God Forgives. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened. With swearing. And neon lights. And a very good soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 21 August, 2013, 11:06:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 August, 2013, 11:02:41 PM
Only God Forgives. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened. With swearing. And neon lights. And a very good soundtrack.

I was afeared that's all it would be :( A shame really!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 August, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
I have done fuck all today.  I am very proud.

Dracula (1979).  I can see the roots of the better-intentioned portions of Coppola's later pantomime showing through, like the swarthy romeo and Spider-Man impression stuff, but for the most part it's more akin to a restrained Hammer outing with a slightly more nuanced Drac than the usual two settings of "horny" and "murder" you'd get in any given take on the character.
The setting is slightly surreal but supposedly an actual era in British history where coppers could be called out to police anything from serial murders to beached ships, and building your house on the side of an active looney bin was surely never a good idea?  Apart from that, it's a good flick - the horror is creepy and scary, the romance is gothic and the costumes are impractical, which is probably all you want from a screen Dracula right up until you see him galloping about on a horse looking awesome in a cape and you realise you want him to do that more often, too.

As has been clearly established by now, and if the church would allow it, I would gay-marry Batman & Robin if I could, but this time out, despite my love of the film I noticed a lot of things I hadn't before, like Bane's oft-ridiculed resemblance to Honey Monster being cemented when he actually says HONNNEEEEEE onscreen - I have no idea how I missed this before.  There's also a massive subtext to the Bruce/Alfred relationship I didn't recall, where Alfie tells Brucie that Batman is something a child came up with because he didn't want to grow up, a notion furthered by the film's distraction with the idea of legacy such as Alfred's passing the mantle, his niece coming into the fold, Bruce's philanthropy, the work Ivy is doing before she goes tonto, the work Freeze does before and after he goes tonto, all the public events being about charitable foundations or giving to the future of Gotham, all the ruined old buildings in scenes, etc, and Bruce's discomfort at the suggestions that crop up along the way that he needs to mature and grow as a person, which is groundbreaking stuff for the character, really, as his being a massive control-freak and cock is a big part of Batman's appeal to children because he's always being portrayed as thinking three steps ahead and always being in control, whereas here he's lost whenever he has to function within a group and everything is pointing to him having to play better with others and stop being so grumpy.
It is all a bit silly (outside the iconaclastic themes of superheroes acting their bloody age), but in that it seems just to have been ahead of its time as evidenced by the Brave and the Bold cartoon, with the fact that it went the outright silly route and pitched to kids rather than teenagers and 30 somethings long being the main bone of critical contention despite there being plenty of objective flaws to sink the teeth into, though for me it's Clooney that's the main sticking point as he smiles all the time as Bruce Wayne, which just looks off, though I love that his limited range makes it absolutely apparent that [spoiler]Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person[/spoiler], especially when he is standing on a stage talking to the press beside the exact same people (Commissioner Gordon, Gossip Gertie) in multiple scenes that are at most five minutes apart.  This was also the first time I noticed that the not-unattractive Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy character is actually being played and filmed as a male drag queen, utterly sexless and devoid of allure, but also camp and completely barmy from the off, like her plan to make snake/flower hybrid plants that will just make you go WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS at the screen, and Arnie Sweatyknickers' pun-flinging Mr Freeze is a total hoot, with the governator's big stupid rubbery face made for the panto gurning he does here.
My 2nd favorite of the pre-millenium bat-flicks by a country mile - though obviously Batman '66 is the #1.

Also watched screaming-fearmongering National Geographic Channel documentary Evacuate Earth, which resorts to trite cinematic dramatism and splashy CGI more often than is necessary to stop you turning over to Ice Road Fishermen or whatever during the breaks, so before each break they end on some note of violent, global-scale tragedy like antimatter propulsion shuttles exploding on the launchpad, chinless hicks suicide-bombing the site of star ark construction because it's what God would want to stop fags getting into space, and my personal favorite, Christ The Redeemer shooting death ray radiation at the population of Brazil like the gigantic alien monster he is - hell yeah I am coming back after this ad break!
The science involved in the subject - a rogue neutron star puts a deadline on humanity's migration to other worlds - is broad and fascinating, so even being completely hysterical as it is, it can't not be occasionally compelling, especially when you see the boffin pundits on firmer ground discussing their chosen fields than when describing plot elements of a Michael Bay film like they seem to be doing for the most part to keep you interested, but stuff like O'Neil Cylinders are wonderful high-concepts that are picked apart for their glaring flaws in light of our current technological levels - but if we totally had to make one right now, here's how we'd do it in step-by-step detail, and it's pretty interesting.  I like that it drags sociologists into things to explain in scientific terms that when people are told they are going to die they will probably not take the news well, but I also loved the dude who sits on a box in a small room talking right into the camera like he's your best mate sitting your ass down to give you bad news and then pretty much just says "we all dead."
Free to view on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc1fB23iOyU
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 22 August, 2013, 12:29:40 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 August, 2013, 10:45:09 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 21 August, 2013, 04:49:45 PM
Just finished watching ( a very old DVD ) of Amadaeus.....

An absolutely fabulous film,  starring Tom Holtz ( what happened to him ? ) and Sir Ben Kingsley and telling the tragic story of Wolgang Amadaeus Mozart....


I think Tom Holtz changed his name to Tom Hulce and sank into even more obscurity.  And I'm pretty sure it was F. Murray Abraham (not Ben Kingsley).

Apologies, to all..... :-[
Yes it was F. Murray Abraham who played Salieri ( not Ben Kingsley as I had previously posted )...Thanks Tips...
Still, an excellent movie though,  and well worth a watch !!
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 August, 2013, 01:21:45 AM
F. Murray Abraham is a great actor. He won an Oscar for his performance in Amadeus. I also love his role in Scarface as the weasily drug runner t[spoiler]hat gets hanged from a helicopter in what is one of the films best scenes[/spoiler]. He is almost unrecognisable in the role, and his Cuban accent is spot on (unlike someone else in that film- yeah I'm looking at you Al!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 August, 2013, 01:30:49 AM
Hey SB, have you watched Milos Forman's other masterpiece; One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest? I'm assuming you have, but if not do so a.s.a.p!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 August, 2013, 07:13:13 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 August, 2013, 11:52:24 PM
his being a massive control-freak and cock is a big part of Batman's appeal to children
Are you really saying children like massive cock?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 August, 2013, 10:13:36 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 August, 2013, 07:13:13 AM
Are you really saying children like massive cock?

The ongoing decline in the popularity of Foghorn Leghorn suggests otherwise.  And as kids don't have the vote, the ascension of David Cameron is irrelevant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 August, 2013, 11:00:12 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 22 August, 2013, 01:30:49 AM
Hey SB, have you watched Milos Forman's other masterpiece; One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest? I'm assuming you have, but if not do so a.s.a.p!

one of my favourite movies of all time - best to watch the movie and then read the book, which offers a whole new perspective on it - it's narrated from the POV of "Chief" Bromden, and in the movie he comes across as quite sane, but from you the book you know that he truly is batshit crazy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 August, 2013, 11:07:00 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 August, 2013, 11:00:12 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 22 August, 2013, 01:30:49 AM
Hey SB, have you watched Milos Forman's other masterpiece; One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest? I'm assuming you have, but if not do so a.s.a.p!

one of my favourite movies of all time - best to watch the movie and then read the book, which offers a whole new perspective on it - it's narrated from the POV of "Chief" Bromden, and in the movie he comes across as quite sane, but from you the book you know that he truly is batshit crazy.

I haven't read the book Dan, but I'll track it down in my library. It'll be interesting to read it from Chief Bromden's view. Will Sampson who played him in the film version was magnificent, also a key character too. I love his "mmm...Juicy Fruit" line! Just look at the look on Jack Nicholson's face when he utters that!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 22 August, 2013, 12:30:31 PM
Absolutely love One flew over the Cuckoos Nest movie....but haven't read the book....
Will dig it out from my local library as soon as I can...
The movie performances from Nicholson, Will Samson, and Louise Fletcher are all amazing.......And really great support roles from Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif.......and others.....I don't think the movie puts a 'foot wrong' throughout.....Just great....
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 22 August, 2013, 06:37:49 PM
Watched Machete for the first time after taping it recently. Thought it was a lot of fun; does look a lot like an exploitative B movie you can stop paying attention to without losing too much but you don't want to stop paying attention to it because practically every scene is genuinely entertaining. The soundtrack is great, too. Was a bit distracted by the unexplained disappearance of a hitman, however. The end credits makes claims of two sequels and, to be honest, I think I really would like a Machete trilogy boxset to own.
Going to watch Red Hill on Film4 at 11:05pm tonight because it sure looks like it could be more silly fun, but I've got this feeling that it could just be a bad kind of silly for some reason so if anybody has seen this and would care to warn me about wasting a couple of hours of my life here- please feel free to do so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 August, 2013, 12:24:10 PM
I watched Akira Kurosawa's 'Ran' last night.  Epic blah blah battle scenes blah blah amazing set pieces blah blah King Lear blah blah blah.

Completely non-plussed by it.  Maybe it was an epic in it's time, but I just found the histrionics of the whole thing overdone and quite irritating.  I just wanted the king dude to hurry up and die.  I had no sympathy for him whatsoever.

'Twas a shame, as I like his other stuff.  The Seven Samurai is still my favourite, with Yojimbo a close second.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2013, 02:45:37 PM
Watched Airplane last night

Surely one of the greatest movies to watch when you're feeling blue, ever. I picked a hell of a day to quit mephamphetimines
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 23 August, 2013, 02:46:21 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2013, 02:45:37 PM
Surely

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 23 August, 2013, 03:11:03 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2013, 02:45:37 PM
Watched Airplane last night

Surely one of the greatest movies to watch when you're feeling blue, ever. I picked a hell of a day to quit mephamphetimines

Yep - that and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" are my go-to films for days of blue.

And don't call me Shirley.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 25 August, 2013, 11:10:47 PM
Kirk Douglas goes for The Juggler (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no120-juggler.html) while the rest of us seek to Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no206-win-date-with-tad-hamilton.html)

Any more films out there with an exclamation mark in the title?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 25 August, 2013, 11:13:51 PM
Airplane! (obviously)
Them!
Mars Attacks!

Off the top of me head....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 26 August, 2013, 09:11:59 AM
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Three Amigos!
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
Stop! Or my mom will shoot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 August, 2013, 09:20:52 PM
Hollywoodland - Affleck has the mannerisms of George Reeves' screen persona down pat, and the camera certainly seems convinced  that he is an older, chunkier actor than he actually is, but... well, he clearly isn't older and chunkier, so the central conceit of the man's decline and eventual suicide is missing, which is rather a shame given that the final take on events really hinges on you believing that this is a guy who was past his prime and finally accepted it.  Adrian Brody's (I assume fictional) detective character is similarly unconvincing, but that's more from being underwritten as if you're going to make up a character for a movie these days - even if it is set in the past - you ideally need more than "daddy issues" for your actor to go forward, but that is literally* all there is there: has issues with his dad, isn't a very good dad himself - oh teh ironie!
Affleck is pretty good if you look past the limitations of the makeup department, and he really carries what there is of the picture, but otherwise it's all a bit slight and predictable, and not something I'd recommend seeking out.  If it's on telly, maybe give it a watch for a bit and see how you get on.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, put on in the wee hours in the hope my familiarity with the material would lull me to sleep, but I hung on until the end anyway because I've always liked this much-vilified outing in the series for its more sedate pacing and knockabout attitude, as it doesn't pretend to be heavy even when it clearly gets pretty heavy with stuff like McCoy's euthanising his dad.
It's much-maligned by people who want to see it as some sort of tribute to Shatner's ego, but that ignores what's on display here: right from the off Kirk is shown more than in any other Trek (even that episode where he becomes senile) as old and ridiculous, reliant on his friends to keep him from wandering into a fire or falling off a bridge, which he admits right there on the screen when he says "I will die alone", long taken as quasi-mystical foreshadowing but really just his way of saying "you guys got my back."  The big problem he faces here isn't God (who easily gets capped in the grill by a Klingon drive-by), or some beardy cult leader (Sybok constantly displays concern at bloodshed rather than having a taste for it), instead Kirk's big problem is that he's too old for shite like this and even asks his boss if anyone else can do it, but he gives it his best shot and unsurprisingly he gets his asshole handed to him by a bunch of space hicks, and then pretty much gets mugged in his own ship when Sybok slaps the shit out of him without even trying, beating him off walls like a ragdoll - it's rarely noted how deflated the character is after this as he's led off to space jail, but he's basically just been taken behind the woodshed by a hippy and he never even gets a rematch, so if this is a supposed to be a shrine to Shatner's ego, it's a pretty odd one.
Basically it is a film where some old duffers try not to embarrass themselves and fail - the bad guy pretty much wins all the time in this, outsmarting Kirk and rendering him harmless to the point that given the upper hand again kirk shies away from confrontation and instead acquiesces to his adversary's wishes, but that's okay because Sybok isn't really evil, he's just misguided by ego and when he cottons on to that he does the right thing and sacrifices himself so the others can escape, further illustrating Kirk's uselessness and Sybok's never-hidden decency despite his role as a religious crusader, a sort long portrayed in Trek as irrational bogeymen types but here Sybok is a top bloke who misguidedly uses the telepathic equivalent of the Happy Pill - only with the other's consent - because he thinks people will be happier that way, but even when rebuffed by Spock, he just looks pleased that if his brother has abandoned him, it's because he isn't the lonely child Sybok remembers, and that he has Kirk's back, however illogical this loyalty may be.  Star Trek 5 is a bunch of old men looking for answers that old men would like to have in their old age, about whether they've been right all these years, about the importance and influence their family and cultures have had upon them and the importance of their taking control of their own lives and pushing ever forward, aspiring, exploring, and always questioning even in the literal* face of absolute truth because that is what we are and that is what we do as people rather than just well-behaved monkeys that found our way down from the tree and stopped shitting on everything.
But, man, does it look cheap.  This had a higher budget than the film that came next, but you really couldn't tell by looking.
Still, it's good fun.



* totes for reals
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 August, 2013, 09:47:31 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 August, 2013, 10:46:12 PM

I just watched Pitch Perfect and it was the best thing I've seen in my entire fucking life. On that note, it's been nice knowing you all.

Had saw the trailer and thought 'That looks quite funny....but it's probably pish'.  Just watched it.  Fucking great film!  Very funny, very well paced, and I even enjoyed the singing bits! Surprised?  Yes, I was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 August, 2013, 10:25:53 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 29 August, 2013, 09:47:31 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 August, 2013, 10:46:12 PM
I just watched Pitch Perfect and it was the best thing I've seen in my entire fucking life. On that note, it's been nice knowing you all.

Had saw the trailer and thought 'That looks quite funny....but it's probably pish'.  Just watched it.  Fucking great film!  Very funny, very well paced, and I even enjoyed the singing bits! Surprised?  Yes, I was.

We should probably plait each other's hair, promise to be BFFs, and sync our periods, Ghost. I loved the film, but let's never mention this again. I certainly haven't downloaded the soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cmSbXsFE3l8#t=30), and anyone who tells you I have is a stinking liar.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 August, 2013, 10:32:16 PM
Mention what??  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 August, 2013, 11:27:45 PM
The shamefully dire Wild Geese II (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no206-wild-geese-ii.html) followed by Jack Nicholson going all art house in The Passenger. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no121-passenger.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Graff Vynda K on 30 August, 2013, 12:31:53 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 29 August, 2013, 11:27:45 PM
The shamefully dire Wild Geese II (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no206-wild-geese-ii.html) followed by Jack Nicholson going all art house in The Passenger. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/no121-passenger.html)

Spooky; I just watched Wild Geese 1 (also not that good; Roger Moore's lack of acting abilty kinds of take you right out of the action) and the The Passenger! Big Antonioni fan; that final take is nuts. Also: Jenny Runacre.

Last film actually watched was The Prestige (on an aeroplane) and then Dead Man's Shoes to help with the jet lag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 30 August, 2013, 01:05:58 AM
Just watched another old DVD....this time it was Unbreakable starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson....about 12 years old now so if you've not caught it before, give it a look...

Really enjoyed this ( again, as it's about the 3rd Time I've seen it )....and well worth another watch.

It explores the Comic Superhero / Villain myth a little,  and has Willis ( an excellent performance ) as the titular ( Unbreakable ) hero, David Dunn......Struggling to come to terms with his role in life, as he realises that he does indeed possess super powers, that he was unaware off.....What does he do and how does he carry on with his life ??
He's helped along the way by Samuel L Jackson as a Comic book store / Gallery owner, Elijah Price,  who befriends him and realising his potential, becomes involved in helping Willis in recognising this potential....

It's fairly slow moving, more of a character study than an all out actioneer movie, but it's fairly well told with Willis' character well fleshed out and Elijahs' back story very good....His initial love of comic books, as he struggled to cope with his early life...

[spoiler]There is a twist in the tale [/spoiler] ( as it's by M Night Shyalaman )....but still most enjoyable....[spoiler]Observant and 'comic book lore aware'  viewers may see the 'twist' coming, but despite that [/spoiler] it's a movie I would certainly recommend as 'worth a watch' ....

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 August, 2013, 02:19:11 AM
Cutter's Way, in which PTSD suffering war veteran John Heard smells a way to extort some cash from a local businessman when Heard's mate Jeff Bridges figures the businessman might be the person who murdered a high school cheerleader.  The plan does not unfold as hoped.
It's a pretty squalid crime drama that seeks out new ground amongst some familiar noir tropes and Heard is great as the angry, one-armed, one-eyed, barely two-legged racist drunkard with a violent streak, while Bridges seems a bit of a vapor, but then he would considering how the deck is stacked in favor of Heard when it comes to quirks.  The pace is slow overall, but the resolution is clever.
A neat find, this, as I'd never even heard of it before.  Worth a watch if you come across it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 30 August, 2013, 11:11:53 AM
I saw Hit Girl last night, or 'Kick Ass 2' as it is currently titled.

I wasn't sure what to make of it to be honest.  It seemed to be such a bizarre mishmash of comedy, tragedy, action, surrealism, violence etc etc.  Some bits of it were cringeworthy, some funny, some made me feel a bit sick, and some bits made me think 'why the hell am I watching this?'.  It all seemed a tad pointless, and didn't really have much of a cohesive plot other than 'idiot rich kid becomes uber baddie while 15 year old tries to find herself while mutilating people'.

It was a shame they put most of the funny bits in the trailer though - it kind of spoiled the film.  It kinda reminds me of the time I saw the trailer for Star Trek V, and thought it looked awesome, hilarious, action packed etc.  Then I went to the cinema and found all the best bits were the trailer, and the rest was filler.

Still, I've seen far worse that Kick Ass 2, and enjoyed it on some levels. Jim Carrey was good. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 31 August, 2013, 04:04:19 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 30 August, 2013, 02:19:11 AM
Cutter's Way, in which PTSD suffering war veteran John Heard smells a way to extort some cash from a local businessman when Heard's mate Jeff Bridges figures the businessman might be the person who murdered a high school cheerleader.  The plan does not unfold as hoped.
It's a pretty squalid crime drama that seeks out new ground amongst some familiar noir tropes and Heard is great as the angry, one-armed, one-eyed, barely two-legged racist drunkard with a violent streak, while Bridges seems a bit of a vapor, but then he would considering how the deck is stacked in favor of Heard when it comes to quirks.  The pace is slow overall, but the resolution is clever.
A neat find, this, as I'd never even heard of it before.  Worth a watch if you come across it.

Saw this recently myself. My mate just said it was pretty much the big lebowski haha. Must admit it did have some similarities.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 August, 2013, 01:00:50 PM
The Quatermass Experiment

This was the 1955 Hammer version that I recorded off the telly last night. I don't think I've ever seen it before and it was pretty good. The American Quatermass himself was awful though, doing little more than shouting at everyone like an arrogant prick! I think the biologist and Police Inspector would have gotten on better without him.
There was some good old British stiff upper lippedness going on, which is one of the best things about watching these old films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 August, 2013, 01:06:26 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 August, 2013, 01:00:50 PM
The Quatermass Experiment

This was the 1955 Hammer version that I recorded off the telly last night. I don't think I've ever seen it before and it was pretty good. The American Quatermass himself was awful though, doing little more than shouting at everyone like an arrogant prick! I think the biologist and Police Inspector would have gotten on better without him.
There was some good old British stiff upper lippedness going on, which is one of the best things about watching these old films.

It on iPlayer for a week.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007y4fk/The_Quatermass_Experiment/ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007y4fk/The_Quatermass_Experiment/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 31 August, 2013, 01:17:20 PM
You're Next! Fun horror flick, thrills and chills, recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 31 August, 2013, 02:53:12 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 31 August, 2013, 01:00:50 PM
The Quatermass Experiment

This was the 1955 Hammer version that I recorded off the telly last night. I don't think I've ever seen it before and it was pretty good. The American Quatermass himself was awful though, doing little more than shouting at everyone like an arrogant prick! I think the biologist and Police Inspector would have gotten on better without him.
There was some good old British stiff upper lippedness going on, which is one of the best things about watching these old films.

Brian Donlevy is a bit shouty (Nigel Kneale hated his portrayal) but if you can find Quatermass II, that is even better. Great early Hammer films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 31 August, 2013, 09:24:14 PM
Hammer Horror films were my first real introduction into 'horror' at the movies......
At that time most of the 'good' ones were 18 certificate and at only about 16 years old, I was fortunate enough to be ( shaving every day ) able to pass as 18 quite easily....
Saw loads of these around then  in the Allanpark Cinema in Stirling.......Now a Bingo Hall..... :'(

Great memories of watching Dracula Prince of Darkness, Frankenstein ( Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee ), Dracula has Risen from the Grave etc.....and as and added bonus in those days you always got 2 films with a support movie ( sometimes awful but sometimes quite good ) before the main feature..

Now I feel really old..... :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 August, 2013, 09:28:26 PM
Double bill of Dracula Prince of Darkness and Plague of the Zombies is a classic outing. Rasputin the Mad Monk and The Reptile take's the jammy dodger though! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 31 August, 2013, 10:22:10 PM
Yes, remember seeing The Reptile in a double bill as well.....Although can't remember what it was on with...It may very well have been Rasputin or Plague of the Zombies as I've also seen that...

Thought it was amazing ( for its' time ) but looking back,  I suppose it wasn't really very good and the make up for the Reptile,  obviously a mask.....but at the time looked quite good....
Story and effects don't really stand the test of time very well.....A lot like most of the Hammer movies..... very much of 'their time'...
Jacqueline Pearce played The Reptile, ( if I remember correctly ) and one of the 'facts' at the time was that the costume she wore was supposedly made from real snakeskin.....
I do remember the village being very similar in all the Hammer movies of the time...Evidently they all used the 'village set' already made up in Bray Studios....

A misspent childhood,  I suppose,  but movies like that lead me into reading comics / horror movies and ultimately original art collecting.....
Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 31 August, 2013, 11:16:45 PM
I'm a nut for the Hammers. Had seen a few on late night BBC2 at Uni around 2003/4, but it was the Cabballistics INC story Creepshow not long after that prompted me to seek 'em out more proactively (thanks Tharg!) Got quite a decent DVD collection now.

After years of pestering, I finally got my younger brother to sit down and watch one with me last Sunday. I picked Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. A good choice, I think - he utterly loved it, laughed in all the right places* (rather than the wrong places), showed due appreciation for Caroline Munro's 'charms', and admitted at the end it was overall far better than he'd been expecting. The next day at work he was using the character's names when he needed to input fake data to test a new work system, and asked if 'Hammer night' could become a regular thing. I'm thinking Twins of Evil next...

(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a113/Darkjimbo2/019202ef-a02d-4789-89a4-fd7d7b4a3333_zps9a2b790a.jpg) (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/Darkjimbo2/media/019202ef-a02d-4789-89a4-fd7d7b4a3333_zps9a2b790a.jpg.html)

*Favourite line - When Caroline asks to stay with Kronos 'If you'll have me...'
Kronos (smirking) 'Oh, I'll have you...'
Needless to say, he does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 August, 2013, 11:21:04 PM

T2, still awesome everytime...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 September, 2013, 12:06:08 AM
T2 is ace - recorded ready for a re-watch tomorrow.

On the Hammer (or maybe Amicus/tigon) theme. I always liked Countess Dracula ( where is my daughter? - how should I know? Try the whore house! :lol:). But 'Twins of Evil' is a good choice - some classic Price moments in that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 September, 2013, 12:38:27 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 30 August, 2013, 02:19:11 AM
Cutter's Way, in which PTSD suffering war veteran John Heard smells a way to extort some cash from a local businessman when Heard's mate Jeff Bridges figures the businessman might be the person who murdered a high school cheerleader.  The plan does not unfold as hoped.
It's a pretty squalid crime drama that seeks out new ground amongst some familiar noir tropes and Heard is great as the angry, one-armed, one-eyed, barely two-legged racist drunkard with a violent streak, while Bridges seems a bit of a vapor, but then he would considering how the deck is stacked in favor of Heard when it comes to quirks.  The pace is slow overall, but the resolution is clever.
A neat find, this, as I'd never even heard of it before.  Worth a watch if you come across it.

I heard this film mentioned years ago in the Uncut spinoff magazine, Uncut DVD. Been meaning to watch it and read the novel it's based on, they raved about them both.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 01 September, 2013, 08:09:27 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 31 August, 2013, 11:16:45 PM
I'm a nut for the Hammers.

After years of pestering, I finally got my younger brother to sit down and watch one with me last Sunday. I picked Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. A good choice, I think ... I'm thinking Twins of Evil next...



Yeah Kronos is a corker, pity they never made sequels. Twins is a good one too.
The 70s films tend to get derided by fans but I think they have their moments, one of my personal favourites being Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Peter Cushing fighting hopping Chinese vampires? Of course it's brilliant! And it has Julie Ege in it. (The guy playing Dracula is the only low point - far too hammy, even for a Hammer film!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 September, 2013, 08:25:01 AM
Hands of the Ripper is IMHO the most under rated Hammer outing. Awesome set pieces and some star tellingly grizzly deaths. Quatermass and the Pit is my favourite though. Outstanding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 01 September, 2013, 08:54:23 AM
Curse of Frankenstein is my favorite Hammer flick I think, Cushing is too damn good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 September, 2013, 09:10:45 AM
For me, Hammer's crowning glory remains 'The Devil Rides Out'. Casting Christopher Lee against type works wonderfully, Charles Gray improves upon the novel's Mocata (who was basically a Crowley knock-off) and Paul Eddington is about as perfect a bit of casting as you could get for Richard Eaton. The film has moments which are hairs-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck terrifying, largely because of how well the cast sell it (Lee particularly) and how seriously they take it. The 'inside the circle' scene has to be one of the all-time greats - though it's even scarier in the book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 01 September, 2013, 11:29:29 AM
Having read a great deal since I was very young.....Novels comics...basically anything I could get my hands on...especially if it was connected to horror, it was inevitable that I would end up reading Dennis Wheatleys' The Devil Rides Out and of course going to the Cinema to see it.....

Probably due to my age, and the material around at the time, I honestly thought that this was one of the creepiest movies I had seen.......and agree totally with Greg M...This is Hammers' Crowning Glory !!

Christopher Lee ( playing against type ) was utterly brilliant, as the Duc de Richleau who confronts Charles Grays' evil Mocata ( the Satanist).. Paul Eddington ( Margos' husband in The Good life ), was perfect and after watching him,  you couldn't imagine anyone else in that role......Patrick Mower is also superb,  as the easily led young man 'in danger'......Almost perfect casting all round !!..
And the screenplay was written by Richard Matheson ( I am Legend etc )....

There are several creepy moments...."Don't look in his eyes"  being a beauty, " It's The Goat of Mendes" scene,   and the climax of the movie ( in the pentagram ) is about the creepiest Hammer movie climax you are likely to come across.......

Ok, it may come across as particularly 'dated' now,  but when this came out in 1968 it was just about perfect.......No gore, just a good creepy story, a great soundtrack and some excellent acting all round....
If you are a 'fan' of Hammer Horror movies and haven't watched this, you are seriously missing out !!...Catch it as soon as you can...'Of its' time' but Very Highly Recommended...

And if that wasn't enough to persuade you to watch it how about this.....
Christopher Lee once said about The Devil Rides Out..... " It's one of my favourites,  and it's the one that I wish would be remade using modern effects,  and with myself playing a more mature Duc de Richleau "

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 September, 2013, 11:35:49 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 01 September, 2013, 08:09:27 AM
The 70s films tend to get derided by fans but I think they have their moments, one of my personal favourites being Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Peter Cushing fighting hopping Chinese vampires? Of course it's brilliant! And it has Julie Ege in it. (The guy playing Dracula is the only low point - far too hammy, even for a Hammer film!)

Agreed. Hammer's output throughout the decades produced many, many gems. But i do have a soft spot for the 70's films.
And often films i thought was by Hammer turned out to be either by Tigon, or Amicus. Those studio's output often outshone Hammers offering in that late period. But its all good, really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 September, 2013, 11:52:31 AM
Watched an unlikely double bill on ITV4 last night. Mortal Kombat:Annihilation followed by Kubrick's classic Full Metal Jacket

Mortal Kombat:Annihilation has some of the worst dialogue ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIt0VY7Yg2w). I've seen a couple of Mortal Kombat adaptations, there was a live action series at one point, and they all seem to forget that no one really cares about the game's backstory and that Sub-Zero and Scorpio are the coolest. Having said that, Raiden was always my personal favourite, and James Remar's portrayal is awful wooden shite. I could never get into Dexter because he was in it. He's terrible in everything, but I'm more forgiving if it's b-movie schlock like this or Van Damme's The Quest. This should have redeemed itself with the fight scenes, but they are badly choreographed awkward silliness that reminds us Hollywood didn't really get kung-fu right until The Matrix. They still make fight scenes this bad though, but at least they disguise it with shaky cams and multiple quick cuts.

I think this was only in the schedule to highlight how well made Full Metal Jacket is. Everything that needs to be said about this probably already has been said, but one interesting debate was sparked with this viewing:

Who is the best psychotic sweary bastard? Malcolm Tucker or Lee Ermey's drill instructor?

I went for Lee Ermey. I first saw this when I was 14, and I thought I knew how to swear, but this guy blew me away. Anyone who knows anything about this show knows that Lee Ermey was originally brought in just as a consultant. But after demonstrating that he could shout horrific abuse at the top of his lungs for 15 minutes straight, coming out with lines ten times better than anything the writers could come up with, he was given the job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 02 September, 2013, 03:59:23 AM
After a recent re-watching of Cobra (still has one of the coolest openings) I decided to watch The Expendables, fully expecting to hate it, and I mean really hate it! I surprised myself by enjoying it quite a bit, sure it's silly and over the top, but it doesn't try to be anything it's not. I'm almost (but not quite) excited to watch the second one on netflix.

And then, in complete contrast... Brazil! What is there I can say about Brazil? Brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2013, 12:14:14 PM
ARGO
Which was mighty fine.  What was particularly good was the completely ridiculous idea seemed pretty sensible by the end of the movie.  Fantastically tense opening as well with the storming of the embassy.

Minor quibbles? There's a scene of "false drama" as they check the flights on the computer "Oh no they aren't there." "Can you check again, please? My CIA colleagues are hacking your mainframe right now". This has been done enough times to be put to bed, I feel.  Similarly the phone is ringing... will they get to it on time?

That main bloke with the beard would make a good comic book hero. He should maybe see if there are any roles going.

KILL ZONE
A Cosh recommendation: Donnie Yen has a fight with Sammo Hung. 

That should have sold you on it already but if it hasn't, it's a fantastically bleak and brutal cop thriller as Simon Yam's team of "good" cops take the law into their own hands and try and bring down crime kingpin Sammo Hung. Then Donnie Yen comes in and says "Fellas, you're doing it wrong!" Does he convince them?. 

There's many a time when it sledgehammers home the messages about how violence cycles into and affects the next generation and there is a gut-punch ending. 

Oh and a brilliant old school alley fight with truncheon vs. blade. if there were wires, CGI and stunt doubles used, I couldn't see them. Given Sammo's age and size, there are some wires and stunt doubles in the final throwdown but not distractingly so.

And again, THAT ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 02 September, 2013, 12:38:50 PM
Star Trek Into Darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable characterful, action film. Cumberbatch was a good baddie and I enjoyed the designs and ho-hummed at the new Klingons. love that new D4 look though. How come we have no instantly adjusting wings for atmo craft? Mmmmmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 September, 2013, 02:45:29 PM
Bad Boys on Saturday night - a compromise between me and my girlfriend (I was pushing for The Untouchables...).

Not bad, but very not good either. Probably a film you had to see as a teenager in the mid-nineties to fully appreciate (I've never seen it until now). Could have been a really decent little buddie cop thriller if it were half an hour shorter, but as it is, it really drags in the middle and vastly outstays its welcome.

Then on Sunday, Jurassic Park 3D at the IMAX - boom! What can I say? A pretty much perfect film as far as I'm concerned. I think all people tend to remember about the film is the dino effects, which is a real shame, because its amazing in every department, from sound to costumes to sets to art direction to script - it just drips with movie magic. A smash, every bit as good as it was on release twenty(!!!) years ago.

One thing that becomes clear watching it now is it lays pretty bare the limitations of animatronics - one to point to to counter the "all cgi is crap/practical effects are better" brigade. Great-looking though the dinosaur puppets are, their stilted, lifeless movement really jars nowadays, and it's only Spielberg's use of sound, editing and masterful visual storytelling that sells them. Witness the joy on Sam Neill's face as he leans against the sick Triceratops' breathing chest - a single moment like that helps to sell the effects more than any amount of technical wizardry.

So was Spielberg really preoccupied with Saving Private Ryan when it came to The Lost World? Cause that film is a turd next to the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 September, 2013, 05:47:43 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 September, 2013, 02:45:29 PM
So was Spielberg really preoccupied with Saving Private Ryan when it came to The Lost World? Cause that film is a turd next to the original.

Steve oversaw all the editing and most of the post production of Jurassic Park while on location, shooting Schindler's List.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2013, 06:04:43 PM
I've never been a big fan of Jurrassic Park. It's entertaining enough I suppose but I always get fed up with the raptors (I wanted see more of the T-Rex and some of the bigger dinosaurs, maybe even a Harryhausen-esque T-Rex vs Triceratops battle). It's one of those films that make me feel that there's a more interesting story happening elsewhere. Richard Attenborough plays the most interesting character but isn't given enough to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 September, 2013, 06:16:00 PM
Think we must have different definitions of what is interesting. JP isn't really about dinosaurs fighting one another. It's actually a very restrained film - we only see five or six different species of dinosaur, and the only gunshots in the film happen off-screen. That's why the sequels are so shit - they just concentrate on spectacle, piling on guns and new types of dinosaurs and chases and completely forgetting about good storytelling, pacing, themes and characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2013, 06:29:30 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 September, 2013, 06:16:00 PM
Think we must have different definitions of what is interesting. JP isn't really about dinosaurs fighting one another. It's actually a very restrained film - we only see five or six different species of dinosaur, and the only gunshots in the film happen off-screen. That's why the sequels are so shit - they just concentrate on spectacle, piling on guns and new types of dinosaurs and chases and completely forgetting about good storytelling, pacing, themes and characters.

I get that, and I think the first act is actually the best part of the film. I'd argue that it goes rapidly downhill after the T-Rex attack. We see the raw power of the dinosaur and it's utterly terrifying. I think that scene is far more tense than the kids vs raptors cat and mouse scenes.
I think there are almost too many adult characters with Attenborough being the most interesting in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen a little more backstory about how he played his manipulative game to get the park built in the first place.
As for the dinosaurs fighting each other- there has to be some of that, it's what gets the bums on seats. I guess it's all about balance. In my opinion the original King Kong probably gets the balance of character, plot and spectacle better than any other film of this type.

I completely understand that many others don't agree but these are some of the reasons I don't love Jurrassic Park like I thought I would. I like it well enough though - I'll watch it if it comes on telly on a Bank Holiday Monday but I may not wait for the ad break to make a cup of tea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 September, 2013, 11:57:55 PM
Poker improv comedy The Grand (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/no122-grand.html) followed by Wilder Napalm (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/no207-wilder-napalm.html) an early screen writing credit for Breaking Bad creator, Vince Gilligan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 September, 2013, 08:52:31 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 03 September, 2013, 11:57:55 PM
Wilder Napalm (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/no207-wilder-napalm.html) an early screen writing credit for Breaking Bad creator, Vince Gilligan.

I remember Barry Norman reviewing that when I was a teenager! I made a mental note to wait for it to come on telly, but it never seemed to appear. Thanks to Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1UUyL1k4qk), my twenty year wait is over.

I'm less than ten minutes in, and the titles are in green lettering; a character is wearing green clothing and seems to be associated with the colour green; a character has a condition which makes him bald; and a partner's spouse has made him a breakfast of bacon and eggs, which she has arranged in the shape of a smiley face. Thanks to your review, I know that two male characters who were at one time close fell for the same girl, and one of them took a boring job in a small town to get away from the situation, keeping his history, his potential, and his true nature hidden.

Are you sure you wanted to say that this is a very long way away from Breaking Bad, Buttonman?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2013, 10:02:23 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 September, 2013, 02:45:29 PM
Bad Boys on Saturday night - a compromise between me and my girlfriend (I was pushing for The Untouchables...).

Not bad, but very not good either. Probably a film you had to see as a teenager in the mid-nineties to fully appreciate (I've never seen it until now). Could have been a really decent little buddie cop thriller if it were half an hour shorter, but as it is, it really drags in the middle and vastly outstays its welcome.

Don't know if you've seen the sequel, but if you think the first is overlong...man. It actually has a couple of pretty thrilling set-pieces and some really funny moments (well, I laughed) but at two and a half hours it's soooooooo much longer than it has any right to be and just feels like it absolutely will not stop. It's a shame because it'd be perfect popcorn action fodder if it wasn't so bloated.

Pretty sure Will Smith has been quoted as saying that somewhere in Bad Boys 2 there's a really great 90 minute action film. Maybe it can be the first director's cut where they knock an hour off the running time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 September, 2013, 10:15:07 AM
I'll be giving that one a miss then.

There were so many endless, skit-like scenes in the first one that served absolutely no purpose in the plot. The slog of the middle section really sapped any goodwill we had towards the film after a quite enjoyable first half hour.

It's actually got quite a good twist on the buddy cop genre - the two mismatched cops must - for convoluted reasons - switch lives.

The problem is, is that we've literally only just been introduced to these two characters, so we barely know who they are to start with. Feels like it should have been the premise of the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 04 September, 2013, 11:42:24 AM
I thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You
Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 September, 2013, 11:47:53 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 04 September, 2013, 11:42:24 AM
I thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You
Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What Ya Gonna Do, What Ya Gonna Do When They Come For You

I'm all for fun, dumb action films (Commando is one of my favourite films - god knows how many times I've seen it) but even I found the Bad Boys films hard going.
There's a lot to like - both the leads are very watchable and there are some nice bits of humour and some very nice action scenes (great car chase in 2) but there's just too much fluff and boring 'family' scenes. They aren't focused enough. I think there should be a rule that no action film can be longer than 120mins, with 80-90 mins being optimum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 September, 2013, 12:01:09 PM
QuoteI thought Bad Boys 1 & 2 were both great.  Will and Martin work well together and have some great dialog.  Everything is ridiculous and unrealistic but it works well.  Sometimes do you not just want to watch something that makes you laugh and doesn't have a thought provoking plot or big message to deliver?  In my opinion, they don't make enough movies like this nowadays.

What you've done there is mistake me demanding tighter pacing and stronger/more cohesive narrative for demanding a film be 'Thought provoking' or 'Deliver a message'. Not the same thing. At all. Dumb action flicks are as much of an artform as any other genre.

As it goes, I love dumb action movies - I'd go so far as to say it's my favourite genre - but I only really like ones that are well-crafted and balanced. I like Die Hard. I like The Rock. I like Speed. I like Predator, Aliens, The Terminator, Robocop, Point Break and The Raid. These are all - at least on the surface - brainless action movies. But they deliver 'dumb' action and quippy dialogue a lot better than Bad Boys does. I refuse to 'switch my brain off' and sit through any old shite just because it has a couple of good action scenes in it - to me, that's just not good enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 04 September, 2013, 12:08:43 PM
I love Bad Boys but hate the sequel, it's an hour too long and it feels like the two are participating in some Virtual Reality game because there's so much dodgy CGI in it (quick slo-mo dodge the bullet - matrix did it - you can do it Will! oh no! a CGI car coming at you! hit the X button!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 04 September, 2013, 02:19:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 04 September, 2013, 12:01:09 PM
I refuse to 'switch my brain off' and sit through any old shite just because it has a couple of good action scenes in it - to me, that's just not good enough.

A shame, you miss some great movie moments that way.

Anyway, last night I saw:

Out For Justice

You see these kids nowadays they just see Steve Seagal as some fat bloke who whispers a lot.  Well, they should sit down and watch this and they would realise that once he was a thin bloke with a bad Italien-American accent!

Steve's first four films were Above The Law, Marked for Death, Out for Justice and Under Siege.  Wow, never more so has there been an example of someone who should have quit while they were ahead.  Nothing he has done since has matched those early highs.

In Out for Justice Steve plays a cop who's partner is shot in the street in front of his family by some wise-guy wannabe.  This is based in Brooklyn and apparantly Steve knew the shooter from when they were kids.  It's basically a man-hunt after this but the shooting has made Steve go bat-shit crazy so chances are the shooter is going to end up Dead.

This is a really enjoyable movie with a lot more violence than I remember.  Steve doesn't mind breaking a few bones or cracking a few skulls - meat cleavers, pool cues and a pool ball in a rag are all used to dispence justice.  In the end, Steve manages to catch up with the shooter and as expected it doesn't end well for him but at least Steve manages to pin it on another mob guy.

Well worth a watch for anyone who wants to remember what real men were like in the late 80s/early 90s.  :thumbsup:

 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2013, 03:06:08 PM
I saw Flight last night.

The airplane crash was epic.  Everything afterwards was a by the numbers drama about personal demons and redemption.  Not bad for an evening's view, and different to what was I was expecting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 September, 2013, 03:37:10 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2013, 03:06:08 PM
different to what was I was expecting.

Me too- as in way better.
Not a bad movie at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2013, 04:51:06 PM
Yeah, the problem with Bad Boys 2 isn't that it's a big dumb action film, in the right circumstances I love big dumb action movies. As Radiator says, the problem is that it's way too baggy to be the breezy watch that those kind of films should be. Knock an hour off it and you've got a great fun, dumb action movie that you could sit through a few times on telly.

As it is it takes a whole evening to watch the bloody thing so it just doesn't seem like the fun throwaway prospect it should be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 September, 2013, 04:53:49 PM
Yep.

I don't think I've ever watched a film and thought "That really could have benefited from being longer", but I've lost count of the amount of times I've thought the opposite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2013, 07:37:12 PM
I finished high school, I know how to read, I don't hate my fellow man without extreme cause, and I don't mentally cower in terror from gay men and try to mask the unspoken fear that they will rape me and turn me gay with uneasy ridicule - for these and many other reasons, Bad Boys 2 is not for me, but I was glad that I watched it because I would never have to do so again.

There is something like 30 minutes of the running time dedicated to hilarious misunderstandings where one or both of the main characters is mistaken for a gay person and then some onlooker makes a face that is a mixture of betrayal and disgust at the discovery that a manly man is actually a big poof, so it is basically a film made before Michael Bay knew how to hide his view of non-whites, non-heterosexuals and non-males like he did in the Transformers films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Graff Vynda K on 04 September, 2013, 08:06:57 PM
Bela Tarr's The Turin Horse. Now that's a movie that separates the men from the boys...it's about 130 minutes, black and white, Hungarian with subtitles, and the whole thing is in just 15 takes, including the most outrageous opening tracking shot I've ever seen. A masterful and universal apocalypse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 September, 2013, 08:15:31 PM
Got round to watching 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' yesterday.  Pretty much what I expected.  Too much lens flare, muddy and visually confused cg in places, and a general feeling of 'fuck you old star trek!'.  However, I had expected more of the cummerbundle geezer.  His severe overacting while going through the bit about 'wouldn't you do anything for your family' could I suppose have been tempered with better shot choices from the director, but still, it was a tad....hammy.  [spoiler]And Quinto's cry of 'KHAAAAAAAN' just didn't work at all.  I mean, he's not gonna hear you bud, you aren't on comms, so other than a shite throwback link, what was the point? [/spoiler]  [spoiler]Then the whole thing with Khan's blood to revive Kirk, well it  was so clumsy it was laughable. [/spoiler]  Overall, a fairly forgettable film.  Oh, except the one thing that is now lodged in my mind......Simon Pegg is SHITE at a Scottish accent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 04 September, 2013, 08:34:13 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 04 September, 2013, 08:15:31 PM
Got round to watching 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' yesterday.  Pretty much what I expected.  Too much lens flare, muddy and visually confused cg in places, and a general feeling of 'fuck you old star trek!'.  However, I had expected more of the cummerbundle geezer.  His severe overacting while going through the bit about 'wouldn't you do anything for your family' could I suppose have been tempered with better shot choices from the director, but still, it was a tad....hammy.  [spoiler]And Quinto's cry of 'KHAAAAAAAN' just didn't work at all.  I mean, he's not gonna hear you bud, you aren't on comms, so other than a shite throwback link, what was the point? [/spoiler]  [spoiler]Then the whole thing with Khan's blood to revive Kirk, well it  was so clumsy it was laughable. [/spoiler]  Overall, a fairly forgettable film.  Oh, except the one thing that is now lodged in my mind......Simon Pegg is SHITE at a Scottish accent.

But did you like it...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 04 September, 2013, 08:54:44 PM
The last film I watched was City of God. I really recommend it if you're into films about gangs. Its in Portuguese with English subtitles though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 September, 2013, 09:02:46 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 04 September, 2013, 08:34:13 PM
But did you like it...?

I have to admit that yes, in parts, I did.  There where some good performances, nicely choreographed action sequences, and a touch of humour too.  But while I'd certainly watch it if nowt else was on the telly at the time, I'd not bother buying it, or seeking it out over other stuff.  I guess I just don't dig Abrahms directorial style.

As for City of God?  Genius film.  The sequence about the flat is just brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 04 September, 2013, 09:15:33 PM
QuoteAs for City of God?  Genius film.  The sequence about the flat is just brilliant.

Indeed, that's still one of my favorite sequences in a film. The whole film is magnificently done, there's nothing in it I can really complain about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 04 September, 2013, 10:00:19 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 04 September, 2013, 08:54:44 PM
The last film I watched was City of God. I really recommend it if you're into films about gangs. Its in Portuguese with English subtitles though.

Just saw this recently too. I'm not into gang films but I really recommend it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 September, 2013, 03:25:08 AM
Sat down at my drawing board tonight to ink some stuff, and put Prometheus on for a bit of background noise.

Actually found myself REALLY enjoying the movie afresh, in spite of having seen it several times and acknowledging several of the very real plot-holes. I also noticed that one of the commonly voiced criticisms the movie attracts doesn't really hold up. Not saying which one, mind. ;) Suffice to say, I finished my inking, and saw the last half of the movie out from the comfort of my sofa.

Also: my manly yearnings toward Noomi Rapace remain undiminished. Rawr.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 September, 2013, 08:27:39 AM
John Carter (of Mars) 3D - not bad, a nice Flash Gordon/Sinbad feel, but 30 mins too long, and the 3D felt a little tacked on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 06 September, 2013, 09:58:39 AM
Oblivion- quite fun, mystery sci fi with Tom Cruise as bicycle repair man I meant drone repair guy. Convoluted story but some fun sequences and shots and great design. Almost anime looking in parts. Alas plot holes loom like a big destroyed moon, but I still enjoyed it. Andrea Riseborough as a red head was worth the price anyway. ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 01:36:04 PM
Seven Psychopaths - I enjoyed it thoroughly but it was a bit too much of a boy's flick for me.  I appreciated that it was self aware even in that aspect when the script writer character is told he can't write women.  Well structured, interesting and a great cast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 September, 2013, 01:53:27 PM
I loved In Bruges, but got put off Seven Psychopaths when I heard the premise. [spoiler]Self-referential films about films[/spoiler] don't appeal to me at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 September, 2013, 02:12:46 PM
The Achievers is a documentary about Big Lebowski fans that I stumbled upon on netflix. I love this kind of movie, like Trekkies or the Dungeon Masters, movies that explore eccentric wee sub-cultures. The movie focuses on a Big Lebowski convention  in Las Vegas. Highlights include a costume competition with entrants basing their costumes on throwaway lines like "I am the walrus", "The queen in her damned undies" and "That camel-fucker out in Iraq", and also an appearance by Jeff Bridges, who is, let's say, tired and emotional.

Overall they seemed like a great buncha lads. They interview several members of the online forum that set up the original convention (which was just White Russians and bowling), and while they all enjoyed the conventions, they were more proud of their wee community.

Overall, my lasting impression is: The dude abides
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 03:46:34 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 September, 2013, 01:53:27 PM
I loved In Bruges, but got put off Seven Psychopaths when I heard the premise. [spoiler]Self-referential films about films[/spoiler] don't appeal to me at all.

I was equally put off by the premise when I first came across it.  One of the IMDB reviews convinced me to give it a go. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 September, 2013, 04:46:14 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 01:36:04 PM
Seven Psychopaths - I enjoyed it thoroughly but it was a bit too much of a boy's flick for me.  I appreciated that it was self aware even in that aspect when the script writer character is told he can't write women.  Well structured, interesting and a great cast.

I saw it about a month ago, and can't remember anything about it except [spoiler]the scene in the hospital when the killers come for Walken's wife[/spoiler]. I suppose Sam Rockwell was fun too, but it was one of those films which was over long before it actually finished.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 06 September, 2013, 08:00:17 PM
Watched Donnie Darko last night. Brilliant film, such a great story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 08:14:55 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 06 September, 2013, 08:00:17 PM
Watched Donnie Darko last night. Brilliant film, such a great story.

Theatrical release or director's cut?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 06 September, 2013, 08:48:26 PM
''Detention of the Dead''

I do like a good zombie flick.  Unfortunately, this was not one.  I can see the writers now, pitching the idea.  ''It's like, 'the breakfast club' but with zombies!'.  Utter drivel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 06 September, 2013, 09:47:09 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 06 September, 2013, 08:48:26 PM
''Detention of the Dead''
I can see the writers now, pitching the idea.  ''It's like, 'the breakfast club' but with zombies!'. 
If you were trying to sell this film to me, you have succeeded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 06 September, 2013, 09:51:44 PM
I'll apologise in advance for causing you to waste the hour and a half or thereabouts it takes to watch this guff.  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 06 September, 2013, 09:55:46 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 06 September, 2013, 09:51:44 PM
I'll apologise in advance for causing you to waste the hour and a half or thereabouts it takes to watch this guff.  :-[
Just priced it up on Amazon and thought "I'm not willing to pay the best part of a tenner for this..."
Cover disappointed me. About to make myself look foolish here but after reading your review, I had pictured zombies in detention. Not sure how that would have went but if that was the plot, I probably would have risked a little money on seeing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 10:04:11 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 06 September, 2013, 09:55:46 PM
Just priced it up on Amazon and thought "I'm not willing to pay the best part of a tenner for this..."
Cover disappointed me. About to make myself look foolish here but after reading your review, I had pictured zombies in detention. Not sure how that would have went but if that was the plot, I probably would have risked a little money on seeing it.

If you like the idea of Zombie POV films then 'Colin' and 'Deadheads' would be ones to look into.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 06 September, 2013, 10:06:11 PM
It literally is like someone took all the elements of 'The breakfast club' and just said, hey, stick in some zombies while they are in detention!  So we then have a half dozen kids trapped in the high school, surrounded by badly made up zombies.  They even ripped off the scene where they all sit around 'getting to know each other' and Brian (the geek) confesses he was planning to kill himself, I mean, just so blatantly ripped off!  And the 'humour' element of it......good lord I've laughed more watching Michael McIntyre. Which is absolutely not at all.  Not even a snigger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2013, 11:36:23 PM
Pain and Gain is the biggest loud of balls but I loved it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 06 September, 2013, 11:45:59 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 10:04:11 PM
If you like the idea of Zombie POV films then 'Colin' and 'Deadheads' would be ones to look into.
I've seen Colin, pal; got it for £1 a while back. Thought it was OK like but the film's £45 budget really shows and can be a little distracting! Deadheads is on Amazon for under £3 so could be a future purchase but I'll have to look into it a little more first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 07 September, 2013, 12:22:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 September, 2013, 08:14:55 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 06 September, 2013, 08:00:17 PM
Watched Donnie Darko last night. Brilliant film, such a great story.

Theatrical release or director's cut?

Unsure, it was on TV. Probably the directors cut though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 September, 2013, 12:27:59 AM
Blitz - Just finished watching this film.  Certainly one of Stathem's better films.

I know what you mean about Colin, Charlie Boy.  I like to think they did a good job with such a low budget but [spoiler]the scene where it blacks out for five minutes[/spoiler] was jarring and unnecessary.

JudgeE1M1RT, I saw the director's cut recently and it's probably the first time I preferred a theatrical release.  The theatrical release was more enigmatic imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 07 September, 2013, 12:46:16 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 September, 2013, 12:27:59 AM
JudgeE1M1RT, I saw the director's cut recently and it's probably the first time I preferred a theatrical release.  The theatrical release was more enigmatic imo.

Hm, I'll try and get my hands on a copy of the theatrical release version and give it a watch. I've seen it on tv a few times before and I'm not 100% sure its the director's cut but its still a great movie nonetheless. Definitely Gyllenhaal's best performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 September, 2013, 09:44:59 AM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 07 September, 2013, 12:46:16 AM
Hm, I'll try and get my hands on a copy of the theatrical release version and give it a watch. I've seen it on tv a few times before and I'm not 100% sure its the director's cut but its still a great movie nonetheless. Definitely Gyllenhaal's best performance.

I agree, it is a great film.  I thought he did well in source code, as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 September, 2013, 11:42:42 AM
Heavy Metal: one bad-ass animated fantasy rollercoaster! The sum of all evils - the Loc-Narr is basically a macguffin, an object to move the plot forward and show some brilliant short stories. My favourite was Harry Canyon, set in a futuristic New York with a Chandler-esque cabbie coming to the aid of a mysterious and seductive damsel in distress (quite reminiscent of Night Zero!). The animation looks very dated, having been released in 1981 (the year of my birth!), but is still captivating. Fans of 2000ad would probably love Heavy Metal, seeing as it's based on another comics anthology "Metal Hurlant". Den was also great fun, an abridged version of Richard Corben's Neverwhere, with a more comedic tone. The main character Den is voiced by the late John Candy and he does a marvellous job. "So beautiful, so dangerous" was also a lot of fun with some wicked humour, robot and human coupling being one and the 'Jewish wedding/ circumcision' line was a cracker. The last story " Taarna" was also brilliant, Elmer Bernstein's magnificent score really shines through in this concluding chapter and there are some awesome visuals on show, not least the (computer assisted?) shot of Taarna flying on her petrodactyl-like stead through some mesmerising scenery. It was very evocative of Moebius' 'silent' comic, Arzach. Along with Harry Canyon this was the standout piece for me, it was like a perfect blend of fantasy, sorcery and sci-fi with some topless shots of Taarna thrown in for good measure. By the end, I was awed by this excellent film and hoped it would've lasted a little longer!

Conan the Barbarian: the re-make starring Jason Momoa as the titular character Conan was also great fun - much more than I expected to be. I'm a fan of the original film, but I thought Momoa's Conan was more faithful to the original stories by Robert E. Howard. The film was quite unflinching in places, especially violence, although a little tame in the frolicking department. There were some fun turns from the supporting cast, Stephen Lang and Rose McGowan being the standout as the father and daughter duo intent on capturing Tamara (a sassy Rachel Nichols) who carries the bloodline of Acheronian Necromamcers. McGowan in particular looked scary as fuck with her shaved eyebrows and sharp bladed fingers. The scene of her disfiguring and stabbing  the maidens from the monastery was very shocking. Ron Perlman as Conan's heavily bearded father was also good, it's always a pleasure to see Perlman on screen as I'm a big fan of his. Saïd Taghmaoui as the thief Ela-Shan was also great fun, like Perlman I'm a fan of Taghmaoui and have followed his career closely since his excellent turn in Matthieu Kossovitz's visceral and moving masterpiece, La Haine. There were some memorable set pieces in the film, such as Conan's fight with the 'sand demons' and the escape from the tentacled 'H.P Lovecraft' monster near the end. As it was filmed on a lower budget than most Hollywood blockbusters, the visual effects do seem poor in a few places, but on the whole it was a great job. There were some great scenic shots such as Conan's entrance into the Kingdom of thieves, and Khalar Zym's palace, scenes which evoke Robert E. Howard's prose to great effect. It's not a perfect film, far from it in fact, but Marcus Nispel's attempts at trying to potray a more faithfil Conan to screen is admirable. I see a certain similarity between this film and John Carter; both films flopped, both are based on famous works from prominent writer's of fantasy and adventure, and both are films which contrary to their poor critical reponses, I enjoyed immensely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 September, 2013, 01:05:22 PM
Warm Bodies

Half of it anyway. I thought it was really, incredibly boring so I could only manage about an hour and then I went in the other room and read some comics instead.

I thought this film was supposed to be a comedy but it wasn't. I don't really know what it was supposed to be. It wasn't a romance or a horror or a comedy or even a straight drama. I guess maybe it was supposed to be a bit if everything but the horror wasn't scary, the comedy wasn't funny....you get the drift. I didn't like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 07 September, 2013, 01:12:18 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 06 September, 2013, 11:45:59 PM
Deadheads is on Amazon for under £3 so could be a future purchase but I'll have to look into it a little more first.

Quote from: JamesC on 07 September, 2013, 01:05:22 PM
Warm Bodies
I thought this film was supposed to be a comedy but it wasn't.

Deadheads is about as funny as Warm Bodies.

Actually.....it's not as funny at all.  And I'd agree, Warm Bodies was almost as funny as watching your house burn down with all of your possessions still inside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 September, 2013, 01:27:09 PM
You piqued my interest with Warm Bodies despite the dislike.  Just watched the first 4 minutes of it over at IMDB and I think I'll probably watch it.  Although it does look like a mainstream cross between the aforementioned Colin and Deadheads. 

Speaking of Deadheads, I didn't think it was overtly funny but I did like the concept of a romantic comedy with Zombies so I'll probably find Warm Bodies watchable.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 September, 2013, 12:10:56 AM
The Way Way Back.

Funny and heartwarming - perfect film for a slightly hungover Saturday night. Loved it. Already admired Jim Rash a huge amount for his turn as Dean Pelton in Community, but my admiration for him just went up several notches. Best film of the Summer for me, except maybe Pacific Rim.

Whether you would like it or not will depend on your tolerance for quasi-indie dramadies with fey indie rock soundtracks - basically films like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, and especially Adventureland. I like them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 September, 2013, 02:09:48 PM
CLOUD ATLAS

Saw this in the cinema earlier in the year and loved it.  Possibly more so this time - I spotted more of one story echoing in the past or future stories this time round. Plus I'd forgotten what a gorgeous looking film it is. Taken in isolation, there's nothing remarkable about any of the six story strands but when woven together it becomes an entirely different proposition. Halle Berry and Tom Hanks have the most obvious of all the character and story paths laid out for them ([spoiler]the love of a good woman redeems him and allows him to help save humanity[/spoiler]) but my favourite has got to be the way the pacific voyage of A. Ewing (not of this parish) bounces of the future story of Soon-Mi.

Top Quality stuff from the siblings (and I note one is now a lady) that brought you the utter bollocks of Matrix 2 & 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 08 September, 2013, 02:15:59 PM
Worked on that while it was in Glasgow, and was hugely looking forward to seeing it.

Was then hugely disappointed when I did!  But I will agree, it looks stunning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 08 September, 2013, 02:35:43 PM
Watched Full Metal Jacket again. Dark and brilliant, everyone needs to see this movie at least once in their lives.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 September, 2013, 02:44:07 PM
The Little Mermaid.  I saw this with my then-future-wife on its original release sometime in the late '80's, and must have enjoyed it enough that the snippet "darling it's better / down where it's wetter / take it from me" became a running joke in our relationship.  On watching it for a second time yesterday as part of our youngest's 4th birthday celebrations, I decided that the tuneful innuendo was far from unintentional.  Obviously noticing this stuff at all marks me out as a pervert or regular commenter on One Million Moms (same thing), but Little Mermaid is genuinely full of very odd sexual winks and nudges, from Ursula repeatedly waggling her boobs at the camera to the rather strange concession to realism that has 16-yr old Ariel's newly human lower half be devoid of clothing for a good 5 minutes, a fact highlighted by what can only be described as her teasing lurches across camera and slow pans up her legs. If a squid-witch can turn your tail into legs, surely she can rustle up some pants?   There are some very strange choices that I can only conclude are Disney deliberately playing to the grown-ups, but it all left me rather unhappy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 03:58:27 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 08 September, 2013, 02:35:43 PM
Watched Full Metal Jacket again. Dark and brilliant, everyone needs to see this movie at least once in their lives.  :)

Sergeant Hartman: "How tall are you, private?"
Private Cowboy: "Sir, five-foot-nine, sir"
Sergeant Hartman: "Five-foot-nine? I didn't know they stacked shit that high"  :lol:

Full Metal Jacket is one of my favourite 'Nam films, not to mention one of Kubrick's best. R. Lee Ermey almost steals the show as Sergeant Hartman (he was a real life Sergeant in the Marine Corps before taking on acting). But Matthew Modine and Vincent D'Onofrio more than hold their own. Its full of wicked humour, shocking moments showing the insanity of war and some mouth-watering directorial flourishes by Kubrick, not least that awesome one take tracking shot of the Marine's surging forward on the ground. And it has an awesome soundtrack to boot, were it not for Apocalypse Now, this would probably rank as my favourite 'Nam picture of all time!

An awesome film, and I agree, everyone needs to see it at least once!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 September, 2013, 04:02:06 PM
And great poster too with white background.

(http://www.movie-list.com/img/posters/big/zoom/fullmetaljacket.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 08 September, 2013, 04:07:36 PM
You used to be able to see the building where the sniper was hiding, as you drove along the A13 into London, until they pulled the factories and buildings down for redevelopment, that is!

Also R. Lee Ermey just add libbed all his abuse from his service days and that's why he looks so bloody good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 04:14:01 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 08 September, 2013, 04:07:36 PM
You used to be able to see the building where the sniper was hiding, as you drove along the A13 into London, until they pulled the factories and buildings down for redevelopment, that is!

Also R. Lee Ermey just add libbed all his abuse from his service days and that's why he looks so bloody good!

Yeah I know! I was dead excited when I learnt that they did filming for FMJ in the Docklands (pre-development), as I lived a stones throw away from there at the time. Apparently Kubrick had Palm tree's flown in from the States to build his mini-Vietnam there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 September, 2013, 04:14:36 PM

Fast Five (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htfpc0cf8nE) has just appeared on Lovefilm Instant; I've had a wee afternoon walk, I've given the grass its Autumn feed, and now I'm going to put that on in the background while I do the dusting, shove the laundry away in drawers, and make my tea. I've added Sharknado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q) to my reservation list too.

It seems unlikely to me that either of these films is anything other than utter pish, but seemingly intelligent and funny people swear blindly that they're brilliant. This one's on you, Pro Bear and Pops - if these films are as awful as I suspect they are, I'm going to bring your little playhouse down around your ears. Your ears, I say.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 September, 2013, 04:23:14 PM
THIS IS BRAZEEEEL!

If you don't know what you're getting going in, you deserve everything you get, much like anyone who keeps watching Batman & Robin after that bit where Batman rollerblades down the back of a dinosaur while Robin crashes into the room through a Robin logo-shaped hole 90 whole seconds after the credits (which feature a Batman logo mounting a Robin logo on the screen in front of you).

Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 08 September, 2013, 04:07:36 PMAlso R. Lee Ermey just add libbed all his abuse from his service days and that's why he looks so bloody good!

Yes, but no wonder the Marine Corp fired Mr Ermey if that was the way he went about motivating people.  Hardly a surprise they lost that war with managers like that training the new employees.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 04:30:58 PM
Just looking at the poster Goaty's posted, it reminded me of one of the funniest scenes in the film when Private Joker explains his decision to a Sargeant for wearing a peace symbol and at the same time, "born to kill" written on his helmet - the duality of man! It makes me laugh everytime I watch it!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 08 September, 2013, 05:01:03 PM
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 08 September, 2013, 04:07:36 PM
You used to be able to see the building where the sniper was hiding, as you drove along the A13 into London, until they pulled the factories and buildings down for redevelopment, that is!

Also R. Lee Ermey just add libbed all his abuse from his service days and that's why he looks so bloody good!

I heard that Ermey was just a military consultant or something until he recorded a tape of himself giving abuse to cast members and showed it to Kubrick.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 September, 2013, 05:45:09 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 September, 2013, 04:14:36 PM
It seems unlikely to me that either of these films is anything other than utter pish, but seemingly intelligent and funny people swear blindly that they're brilliant.
Not sure where I stand on this continuum but I'm happy to cast a vote in favour of Fast Five and point out that, by comparing the two, you're making the classic mistake of conflating ridiculousness of premise with poverty of execution.

Biff! Pow! Comics aren't just for kids you know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 08 September, 2013, 06:01:45 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 03:58:27 PM
were it not for Apocalypse Now, this would probably rank as my favourite 'Nam picture of all time!

Where does Platoon come on your 'Nam list Mabs? I haven't seen Casualties of War and barely remember Hamburger Hill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 08:50:45 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 08 September, 2013, 06:01:45 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 08 September, 2013, 03:58:27 PM
were it not for Apocalypse Now, this would probably rank as my favourite 'Nam picture of all time!

Where does Platoon come on your 'Nam list Mabs? I haven't seen Casualties of War and barely remember Hamburger Hill.

I would say it's 3rd on my list, mate, after Apocalypse Now (1) and Full Metal Jacket (2). Platoon is an awesome film though, probably Oliver Stone's best film alongside J.F.K, with some powerhouse performances from both Berenger and Defoe. They're like Lucifer and Christ made flesh for our main character, Sheen. Defoe even goes down in one of the films most stirring scenes, arms outstretched like Christ, betrayed by his 'own kind'.  I freaking love that film! But Apocalypse Now and FMJ are just that extra bit special for me. There's almost a surreal feel to both which I love. It captures the soul, the madness of Nam perfectly.

You should definitely check out Casualties of War. Really stirring stuff with a superb performance from Sean Penn. I also love Born on the 4th of July by Oliver Stone, heartbreaking stuff and a brilliant performance from a young Tom Cruise, his best in my opinion. Deer Hunter, another fave - centred more on the effects of Nam on everyone like 4th of July. I haven't watched Hamburger Hill yet though, might catch it soon.

Edit: sorry for the late reply!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 September, 2013, 09:34:15 PM
I found Hamburger Hill to be extremely dull, especially compared to other Vietnam films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 September, 2013, 11:07:22 AM
I don't really get on with Apocalypse Now. A movie of good moments and overall dullness in my book; Platoon is the best 'nam movie for me, followed by FMJ.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 September, 2013, 11:09:26 AM
Yep, never 'got' Apocalypse Now either - some truly iconic cinematic moments interspersed with looooong sections of  incredibly dull, meandering plodding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 September, 2013, 11:12:14 AM
Re: Fast and the Furious series - yeah, a lot of people seem to like them nowadays. A lot of people also seem to like Jason Statham films (and I believe there's to be some crossover in those arenas). Doesn't mean I'll be watching them any time soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 09 September, 2013, 11:38:08 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 September, 2013, 04:14:36 PM

Fast Five (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htfpc0cf8nE) has just appeared on Lovefilm Instant; I've had a wee afternoon walk, I've given the grass its Autumn feed, and now I'm going to put that on in the background while I do the dusting, shove the laundry away in drawers, and make my tea. I've added Sharknado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q) to my reservation list too.

It seems unlikely to me that either of these films is anything other than utter pish, but seemingly intelligent and funny people swear blindly that they're brilliant. This one's on you, Pro Bear and Pops - if these films are as awful as I suspect they are, I'm going to bring your little playhouse down around your ears. Your ears, I say.

Fast Five is a fun action movie.  I think what makes it better than the others (not seen #6 yet though) is that it is not so car obsessed as previous installments.  Yeah, there are still plenty of car stunts in it but it has lost some of the 'Max Power' vibe and has become an enjoyable movie.

In some ways Sharknado is genius - the main issue with all these 'shark' movies is that you are pretty safe as long as you keep out of the water.  So, the writers have to come up with convoluted ways of getting folks back in the sea so the sharks can have a chomp.  Not so with Sharknado, it solves that issue completely - you can be sat in a bar and you're still not safe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 September, 2013, 12:48:26 PM
There's a brilliant bit in SHarknado where they're in a house being quiet so the sharks won't hear them, and I cannot stress enough that this is exactly what it sounds like - they're going "
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 September, 2013, 01:21:46 PM
Dunno what happened there.  I shall blame Opera because it is not the best.

Anyway: Sharknado: they sneak around a house trying to creep up on the cast like they're burglars rather than sharks and it's a bit mad.  Also there's a bit where they're flying helicopters alongside a tornado throwing bombs at it because that is how America makes its problems go away.  There's no "this will create an inverse vortex to negate the tornado" rationalising, it's a problem so they're just going to throw bombs at it, that's all you get.

As for Fast and Furious 5 and 6, they deliberately dropped the car fetishism in those because they were worried that they were alienating potential customers at that tricky point in any franchise where ticket numbers traditionally start to trail off, so now the series centers on the basic concept of "good" outlaw types fighting "evil" outlaw types in outrageous settings and/or scenarios rather than just the loud and visually incomprehensible car chases of FF 1-4.  If anything, it's now an update of the Glen Larson-style 1980s television action series, centering on heists, fights, and outrageous escalations of the traditional battles on moving objects - ie: the final fight between the Rock, Diesel and the bad guy of FF6 isn't just a fistfight in an escaping plane, the plane is also on fire and is attached by grappling hooks to cars inside which the secondary cast are also having fistfights of their own.  Also there is a scene with a tank where a character solves everything by remembering he is played by Vin Diesel - this is literally the only way I can explain how it ends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 September, 2013, 02:35:38 PM
Fast and Furious has some competition on the way in the shape of the Need for Speed film.

they may have to crank the ridiculous car chase and fight scenes up a notch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 09 September, 2013, 05:26:15 PM
Just watched Back to the Future for the fiftieth time. Great movie, one of my favorites.

Sharknado is genuinely hilarious, the premise is absurd as all hell. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2013, 12:01:06 AM
World War Z - I really enjoyed it.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 10 September, 2013, 02:02:27 AM
I'll stick my neck out and say that Sharknado is genuinely, properly, A-Grade fun.

Is it a good movie? F*** no! But it's FUN!

I sat and watched it with family in Solihull when I was down there for Auto Assembly. it's not often thata movie has every single one of us roaring with laughter. Painful laughter. That threatens to rupture internal organs.

The finale of that movie is inspired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 10:19:31 AM
Iron Man 3-  I had heard some harsh criticism about this film, but I don't see what the problem is.  It's a Disney/Marvel superhero film, a pretty good one, but it's never going to be 'Ghandi'.  Speaking of Ghandi, Ben Kingsley was great and I loved his role in the film.  All the cool Iron Mans flying around at the end was entertaining as well.  I also liked Tony Starks trauma from what happened in the Avengers film.  All in all I think it's a welcome addition to the Iron Man film franchise and if they choose not to make any more I think it serves well to round it off as a trilogy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 11 September, 2013, 11:58:02 AM
"Now you see me" - I wish I hadn't (although I can quite happily watch Isla Fisher in anything)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 September, 2013, 04:44:32 PM
Caddyshack - I've not seen it in years. What an amazingly racist film. I doubt it could ever get made today with the script the way it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2013, 05:00:47 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 11 September, 2013, 04:44:32 PM
Caddyshack - I've not seen it in years. What an amazingly racist film. I doubt it could ever get made today with the script the way it is.

It's been a while since I saw it, but the only potentially racist bit I can recall is Rodney Dangerfield laughing at Mr Wang's name, and calling him a "fuzzy foreigner" (which became my nickname from one caddyshack-obsessed guy when I was in the states many years ago) and even that isn't extreme in the context of regular Hollywood racial stereotyping. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 September, 2013, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

I never found it funny either. Same thing with Animal House.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2013, 06:59:14 PM
Talking about comedies that everyone els loves but you just don't get, why do people like The Hangover so much? It's honestly one of the worst films I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 September, 2013, 07:13:52 PM
I watched the first 45 minutes of the Hangover and didn't so much as smile.  I found the characters infuriating and unlikable and not one interesting, unexpected or funny thing happened so I called it a day.  Apparantly there are scenes later with a funny rapist.  Can't say I'm surprised.
I imagine the appeal of those old 1980s films depends on your tolerance for the comedians and their delivery - like most comedies, really. 

I watched Scary Movie 5 and for the most part it is just painful stuff, but there is the odd thing I really laughed at, and not just by statistical probability, there were some cleverly done pull-back-and-reveal/bait-and-switch gags alongside the usual visual references, hinging as they do on your understanding that this is a really lowbrow and stupid film and once you accept that it can effectively broadside you by doing stuff like a character going "what's that smell?" while holding a baby up near their face and instead of the poop gag, the camera pulls back and reveals that the baby's head is on fire.  I am not proud of it, but I also tried not to laugh at the non-pc Planet of the Apes gag where someone suddenly realises what he's done when he defensively and reflexively says that apes are "just like you" to a black colleague, but it is well-played, and the slowly-forming look of horror on a nearby ape's face as even he realises that the guy is just digging himself deeper the more he talks is great.  Not a great film - not even a good one - but occasionally it is funny.

Speaking of the devil, I watched the original Planet of the Apes films over the last week or so.  I keep forgetting how enjoyable these are and must assume I just take them for granted.  They're cracking films, though taken as a narrative whole occasionally contradictory and I'm not sure if they're meant to be a predestination paradox looping infinitely or a regular old paradox caused by Zira and Cornelius traveling to the past and changing the future - no Aldo starting the ape revolution by saying "no" during Conquest suggests the latter, but the crying statue of Caeser at the end of Battle suggests the former (if like me you assume he's crying because the integrated human/ape civilisation is destined to fall).  There's supposed to be deleted scenes from Battle where Mendez - the lead mutant from Beneath - is revealed to be the second in command of the mutants attacking Ape City, but these scenes weren't in the version of the film in this box set, which is a shame as I think having all five films integrated as a whole work is a great idea compared to what is most likely - that they just made it all up on the fly.
Conquest is the one I enjoyed least, but they're all still top entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 September, 2013, 07:23:20 PM
I've never much liked those 'Frat Pack' style comedies.
They seem to have a strange sensibility that both mocks and celebrates stereotypical male shortcomings. The thing is they mock things like 'geeks can't get laid' and celebrate things like infidelity and taking copious amounts of drugs.
I'm sure a fascinating essay could be written comparing the American university experience of Animal House with the British university experience of The Young Ones (in which everyone's an archetype but not the archetype they're trying to be)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 September, 2013, 07:55:03 PM
QuoteTalking about comedies that everyone els loves but you just don't get, why do people like The Hangover so much? It's honestly one of the worst films I've ever seen.

You're certainly not alone.  All it did was annoy me more and more with each dull humourless scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 September, 2013, 07:56:42 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 September, 2013, 06:59:14 PM
Talking about comedies that everyone els loves but you just don't get, why do people like The Hangover so much? It's honestly one of the worst films I've ever seen.

To echo what the Bear said: I watched this unsure as to whether it was a comedy or not - then when the rapist appeared on screen I realised it wasn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 September, 2013, 07:56:55 PM

Only the Snickers scene...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2013, 07:57:27 PM
Oh, I forgot Project X.no, not the one with the monkey! An awful "lost footage" film with obscene "comedy". Easily the worst film I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 08:08:34 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 September, 2013, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

I never found it funny either. Same thing with Animal House.

Yeah, I found Animal House disappointing as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 September, 2013, 08:10:13 PM

You know how if you watch a comedy film from the olden days, there'll be some stuff which you can tell might have been funny in the context of the time - maybe it relies on you already being familiar with a comedian's comic persona and catchphrase, or maybe the comic potential of a situation depends on an aspect of society (such as the class system and social hierarchy) which no longer resonates today?

That's how I felt watching The Hangover. I'm sure it was a laugh riot somewhere at sometime, just not my house a few years ago.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 11 September, 2013, 08:23:16 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 08:08:34 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 September, 2013, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

I never found it funny either. Same thing with Animal House.

Yeah, I found Animal House disappointing as well.

Caddyshack is a pile of shite, but I have to confess to seeing Animal House many times. I think it's hilarious.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2013, 08:25:28 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 08:08:34 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 September, 2013, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 05:58:29 PM
I watched Caddyshack for the first time within the last year off the back of it being a classic comedy film.  I really didn't see the appeal.  It didn't make me laugh once.

I never found it funny either. Same thing with Animal House.

Yeah, I found Animal House disappointing as well.

I think if you find something funny when you're a teenager, you always find it funny. Caddyshack has it's moments, but also has associations with a very happy time, and I still laugh when it comes on.

And I won't hear a word said against Animal House!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 September, 2013, 09:20:40 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2013, 08:25:28 PM

I think if you find something funny when you're a teenager, you always find it funny. Caddyshack has it's moments, but also has associations with a very happy time, and I still laugh when it comes on.

And I won't hear a word said against Animal House!

I saw Animal House first when I was a teenager.  I can't say I was amazed by it at the time, either.

There are loads of things that I found hilarious as a teenager that I think are total rubbish now.  I think the things I have positive associations with have an easier time carving out a home in my heart.

I don't regret watching Animal House because it is culturally iconic and worth a watch on that basis alone.  Caddyshack is probably less so - at the very least I wasn't aware of Caddyshack beyond a couple of years ago.  It was interesting to see an early Bill Murray role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 11 September, 2013, 10:14:43 PM
Insidious
And I really wish I hadn't. I found it so bad I'm actually struggling to even write about it here. Basically, I taped it to watch with a friend who is usually great fun to watch any horror/gore film with (even when the film is really bad- say part 34 of the Saw franchise or something- I can enjoy it by turning to look at her and her face of quiet disgust or something and chuckle). With this offering, she actually turned to me at one point to say "This is really boring", and she had a valid point. It's difficult to think of a single original moment, because everything just seems to have been lifted from something else. They insist of focusing the camera on something for ages, clearly disagreeing with the whole "less is more" angle. You see the supposed twist coming a mile off. And Darth Maul is useless as one of the key threats in the film.
I'm betting if I were to look for the DVD, it'll say on the cover how somebody described this as being the scariest film EVER. And that looks to be how it is; bad horror films being released and seriously using somebody's claim it's the scariest film ever. This was made 2010 so- say one big horror film a year- I'm guessing it's now (supposedly) the 3rd scariest film ever until Insidious 2 hits the cinemas and then Insidious will be the fourth scariest film ever as the sequel takes the top spot. I have no desire to make my way through this list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2013, 11:55:45 PM
"Hangover" - I'll have to concede because I can't remember much about it.

But Animal House? Your mouths are full of wrong!  (Again, it might be a culture thing and it was ground breaking at the time but looks like a children's TV programme these days).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 September, 2013, 04:38:58 AM
Within the last week I have just watched Spartacus: War of the Damned!

[spoiler]It was sad that Crixus is mortally wounded by a thrown spear. Where he is forced to kneel and is then beheaded by Tiberious Crassus (This actually happens at the end of the third last episode! Tiberious gets fatally stabbed by his father's lover (I don't know her name!) whom he had previously dominated and raped!)) as his lover watches from a similer position. They let her live, so she can return to the others. Where she (I forget her name!) is later fatally stabbed through the collar bone in the final battle! Gannicus is defeated by Julius Ceasar (Who goes on to become the man he is well known to be and fight Pompey in civil war!) and put up onto and nailed onto a cross where he see's his original Doctorai, (His Fighting Instructor!) the late Anamaius (Who was fatally wounded in one of the previous series episodes!) and reimagines himself as a heroic champion of the arena once again being cheered on by the crowd as he finally dies bellowing out in victory. Spartacus himself is mortally wounded by three spears thrown through his back mid section as he was about to deliver a killing blow to Imperator Marcus Crassus Senior in a personal duel. Though he is rescued and recovered by some of own men. (Among them a slave whom he both escaped from the Batiartus's Lutus with in the first series! He actually had a male lover who survived as well! I forget both their names) But he later died in the mountains where they buried him under stones and his original gladiator shield. As they he lies dieing and they say their last goodbyes. He finally admits that his real name isn't actually Spartacus. (What was it now? I forget!) A sad ending as can be expected by real history and that Kirk Douglas movie long before it. A good many of the ex-gladiators, ex-slaves died that day in the last battle against the Romans and the rest escaped to the mountains. Pompey lied to Marcus Crassus when he said he finished off the rest of them including Spartacus! The original Spartacus (Andy Whitfield not Liam McIntyre!) is shown screaming victoriously in the arena's of Capua right at the end after the credits finish rolling!

So most of them died, where I might have imagined that they all warp into clones of Slaine] and go on to live forever with their various dwarven companionsUkko by their side.[/spoiler]

They killed a hundred with their right hand and hundred with their left.....

That's another good idea. Slaine is sent forward through time to help Spartacus, [spoiler] although Spartacus is still killed. Slaine succeeds in helping a bulk of the ex-Galdiators/Slaves to escape.[/spoiler] Though, I guess Slaine's time-travelling days are over!

They did not think it too many!!!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 04:45:18 PM
The Proposition, an Australian 'Western' directed by John Hillcoat starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, and Danny Huston. It was absolutely brilliant! Beautifully shot, well acted, and well written. How I've only just heard about it I don't know as it's right up my street!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 September, 2013, 05:12:01 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 04:45:18 PM
The Proposition, an Australian 'Western' directed by John Hillcoat starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, and Danny Huston. It was absolutely brilliant! Beautifully shot, well acted, and well written. How I've only just heard about it I don't know as it's right up my street!

Will

It's one hell of a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 12 September, 2013, 05:44:56 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 September, 2013, 05:12:01 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 04:45:18 PM
The Proposition, an Australian 'Western' directed by John Hillcoat starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, and Danny Huston. It was absolutely brilliant! Beautifully shot, well acted, and well written. How I've only just heard about it I don't know as it's right up my street!

Will

It's one hell of a movie.

It's a f*cking masterpiece...or very close to it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 07:05:36 PM
Exactly! It's amazing! I like both of Hillcoat's other films I've seen (Lawles and The Road), but IMO this is by far his best!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 12 September, 2013, 07:33:52 PM
Guy Pearce is magnificent in The Proposition, as is Danny Huston. I also loved the cameo turn from John Hurt as the dislikeable bounty hunter/ barman. The thing I loved about Hillcoat's direction, is the almost de-saturated look of the film, and not to mention the violence. It recalled the works of Sam Peckinpah, no doubt he would've been proud with this film if he were alive to watch it. Emily Watson also puts in a superb performance as Ray Winstone's suffering wife. In fact all the actors put in one hell of a shift in this film to be honest. Everything from score to script makes this for me, one special film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 12 September, 2013, 08:38:55 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 04:45:18 PM
The Proposition, an Australian 'Western' directed by John Hillcoat starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, and Danny Huston.

Great film. It was written by Nick Cave who has worked with John Hillcoat a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 September, 2013, 08:59:28 PM
Iron Man 3

Pretty good overall.  Bit of fun.

[spoiler]But the lack of suited action throughout the film, is NOT compensated for with the overdose of suits at the end.  Plus, I found the whole popping in and out of suits so easily a bit annoying, as it seemed more for ease of filming than to advance the story.[/spoiler]  Good effects overall, and as alluded to above, Guy Pearce is very good in most things! Downey Jnr is his usual witty self, and Paltrow was....well, not in it much, but looking fairly good when she was!

Worth a watch, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 September, 2013, 09:10:52 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 12 September, 2013, 08:59:28 PM
Iron Man 3

On sale beside the till of my local Co-op and various petrol stations for "only £13.99!". Knowing that the next time I see it on some kind of featured display shelf will be when it appears in Asda's 2 DVDs for £8 rotunda fills me with an odd kind of sadness.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 12 September, 2013, 09:33:09 PM
Quote from: Albion on 12 September, 2013, 08:38:55 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 04:45:18 PM
The Proposition, an Australian 'Western' directed by John Hillcoat starring Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, and Danny Huston.

Great film. It was written by Nick Cave who has worked with John Hillcoat a lot.

He also did the score for The Assassination of Jesse James, alongside Warren Ellis (no, not that Ellis!). He's one talented guy that Nick Cave.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 09:39:50 PM
Yeah, Warren Ellis did the music for this as well, it did take me a while to realise it probably wasn't that
Ellis

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 September, 2013, 09:51:23 PM
Quote from: Albion on 12 September, 2013, 08:38:55 PM

Great film. It was written by Nick Cave who has worked with John Hillcoat a lot.

Beat me to it. Great film, just try to see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 September, 2013, 10:33:53 PM
Yeah, The Proposition is amazing. Keep looking out for a copy of Ghosts of the Civil Dead, but no luck so far
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 September, 2013, 10:41:34 PM
I've never seen it, but I do believe the entirety of Ghosts of The Civil Dead is on youtube, obviously it's nicer to own the real thing, but as you say, it's very, very expensive!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 September, 2013, 08:28:27 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 September, 2013, 10:33:53 PM
Yeah, The Proposition is amazing. Keep looking out for a copy of Ghosts of the Civil Dead, but no luck so far

Blimey. Just had a look on Amazon...£52 for a copy!  :o

Why so expensive?! That is mindboggling price for a DVD.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 September, 2013, 11:11:50 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 13 September, 2013, 08:28:27 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 September, 2013, 10:33:53 PM
Yeah, The Proposition is amazing. Keep looking out for a copy of Ghosts of the Civil Dead, but no luck so far

Blimey. Just had a look on Amazon...£52 for a copy!  :o

Why so expensive?! That is mindboggling price for a DVD.

Is it? I'll bloody sell mine then!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 September, 2013, 11:22:19 AM
 :D

I doubt anyone in their right mind would pay that amount though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 September, 2013, 12:36:00 PM
Just found this site so I'm pimping it

http://xkcd.com/311/ (http://xkcd.com/311/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 September, 2013, 01:06:57 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 September, 2013, 12:36:00 PM
Just found this site so I'm pimping it

http://xkcd.com/311/ (http://xkcd.com/311/)

I don't get it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 September, 2013, 01:35:30 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 13 September, 2013, 01:06:57 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 September, 2013, 12:36:00 PM
Just found this site so I'm pimping it

http://xkcd.com/311/ (http://xkcd.com/311/)

I don't get it.

It's shiny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 September, 2013, 01:50:41 PM
I got the joke - unfortunately "ugh Summer Glau" immediately counter-balanced any potential jocularity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 13 September, 2013, 06:01:45 PM
Watched Battle Royale. Brilliant stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 September, 2013, 06:23:33 PM
Rockstar

Really good fun. Mark Wahlberg looks like he's a bit embarrassed but enjoying himself. Jennifer Aniston looks gorgeous. Dominic West looks like he's gone to a fancy dress party and Timothy Spall looks like he's on the sex offenders register.
It's a pretty standard rise and fall type story but it's just so fantastically cheesy and entertaining. I may have to buy the soundtrack!

And did I mention Jennifer Aniston looks gorgeous?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 September, 2013, 06:41:30 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 11 September, 2013, 10:14:43 PM
Insidious
And I really wish I hadn't. I found it so bad I'm actually struggling to even write about it here. Basically, I taped it to watch with a friend who is usually great fun to watch any horror/gore film with (even when the film is really bad- say part 34 of the Saw franchise or something- I can enjoy it by turning to look at her and her face of quiet disgust or something and chuckle). With this offering, she actually turned to me at one point to say "This is really boring", and she had a valid point. It's difficult to think of a single original moment, because everything just seems to have been lifted from something else. They insist of focusing the camera on something for ages, clearly disagreeing with the whole "less is more" angle. You see the supposed twist coming a mile off. And Darth Maul is useless as one of the key threats in the film.
I'm betting if I were to look for the DVD, it'll say on the cover how somebody described this as being the scariest film EVER. And that looks to be how it is; bad horror films being released and seriously using somebody's claim it's the scariest film ever. This was made 2010 so- say one big horror film a year- I'm guessing it's now (supposedly) the 3rd scariest film ever until Insidious 2 hits the cinemas and then Insidious will be the fourth scariest film ever as the sequel takes the top spot. I have no desire to make my way through this list.

I thought Insidious was bloody terrifying! Saw it at the cinema with a mate - we were at a matinee and were the only ones in the theatre apart from a couple of chavy girls who exclaimed 'That was fucking well scary!' At the end.
It was a bit silly I suppose but I liked the way it embraced it's supernatural elements and wasn't afraid to take them somewhere - much like Poltergeist and Jeepers Creepers.
There are plenty of creepy background things as well as the big jumpy scares too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 September, 2013, 08:04:48 PM
I really wanted to love Insidious, as I'm a fan of the writer / director team, and the genre.
It was a little overcooked, and not scary at all (IMO).
I'll watch the sequel at some stage, as its apparently Wan's horror swan song, but won't have anywhere near the same level of expectation (especially after the recent fool me twice shame on me 'The Conjuring').

Most effective horror of recent times for me was 'Lovely Molly'- now that'll send you off to bed with a little bit of pee on yer nickers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 13 September, 2013, 09:26:43 PM
Watched Cobra for the first time tonight, found it really cheap on Blu-Ray so decided to pick it up. Not half bad, very stupid, a lot of funny, and a film that makes me think he good have been a good Dredd if only he'd got to the part before his ego started to kick in! The opening sequence and monologue especially is very Dredd-esque. I did notice a few errors (like mics and equipment visible) that were so large I was stupefied they found their way into a big film like this without being picked up on! But like I said, pretty fun, very eighties.

Just about to watch the Adjustment Bureau, missed it when it came out, looking forward to it, but am expecting a very cheesy romantic ending!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 13 September, 2013, 09:55:07 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 13 September, 2013, 06:41:30 PM
I thought Insidious was bloody terrifying! Saw it at the cinema with a mate - we were at a matinee and were the only ones in the theatre apart from a couple of chavy girls who exclaimed 'That was fucking well scary!' At the end.
It was a bit silly I suppose but I liked the way it embraced it's supernatural elements and wasn't afraid to take them somewhere - much like Poltergeist and Jeepers Creepers.
There are plenty of creepy background things as well as the big jumpy scares too.
I know a lot of people like these films but I probably should have said I don't particularly like most horror films. I end up watching one when it's on if I haven't seen it before but there must only be a few in the genre I'd actually enjoy watching again instead of simply using it to just take up some time. The big successful ones of late just don't do anything for me; I don't really feel any tension or sense of dread in them- they just seem to rely on something suddenly jumping out to a loud noise over and over.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 13 September, 2013, 11:59:07 PM
Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack is the best performance in film history in my humble opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2013, 09:56:16 AM
Flashpoint.

Another Donnie Yen recommendation from The Cosh.
And it's another brutal almost nihilistic police thrillerand again it takes a bit of time to add some flesh to the villains.

The final twenty minute showdown doesn't outstay it'swelcome by breaking it up into three chunks (gunplay in building, gunplay in tall grass and then a crunching mixed martial arts set to. Again, if there are wires, cgi or stunt doubles as Donnie Yen and Colin Chou punch and kick holes in walls and each other, I didn't see them.

Good stuff.

Not sure what to go for next: Dragon Tiger Gate?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2013, 09:57:46 AM
And a great soundtrack too.

Especially where Donnie reaches "Flashpoint".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 05:30:05 PM
Is Battlefield Los Angelas any good. It looks like a bit of dumb fun and might be just what I'm after tonight when its on telly?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 September, 2013, 06:16:09 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 05:30:05 PM
Is Battlefield Los Angelas any good. It looks like a bit of dumb fun and might be just what I'm after tonight when its on telly?

It's absolute shite, Colin. Not even a matter of "it's so crap it's great/ funny" (as is the case with Sharknado and others).

Edit: sincere apologies. I got it muddled up with Skyline (which all the above applies to)  ::). Haven't watched Battlefield so go ahead by all means.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 September, 2013, 06:27:25 PM

I watched Les Miserables last night, and a girl didn't make me do it or anything - I must have added it to my Lovefilm list in a spirit of opening myself up to different kinds of material. It's sort of pish for the first three quarters of an hour - Catwoman greeting her way really quite affectingly through Susan Boyles's song aside - and the constant recitativo really doesn't work in those early sections. I remember the director saying they filmed in sequence, and it does seem like they figured everything out and got better at doing it as they went along.

They could have done with introducing Ali G and Tim Burton's wife a bit earlier; their regular reappearances from then on help lift the film out of the occasional o-o-o-oh, what have I do-o-o-o-ne? doldrums, and they seem to remind everyone that it's a musical and that it's supposed to be fun. The final section is a lot like an action film, and I wish tosh like the Batman and Die Hard series - which are dealing with such a hysterical emotional register and ridiculously camp tone anyway - would go the whole hog and have the characters trilling arias at each other instead of trading cheesy one-liners.

Russell Crowe's not as crap as everyone said he was, he's just not on the same page as the rest of the cast. He's giving a quite stiff, theatrical performance, while everybody else has cottoned on to the fact it's a film and they can use small changes of facial expression and cracking voices to convey emotion and character. Wolverine does better, but he's still quite stagey - it's the girls who steal the show, and I teared up a bit when [spoiler]Anne Hathaway dies[/spoiler]. The sets and production design are fantastic, and - apart from the fact that everyone looks like Coldplay circa Viva La Vida - I quite enjoyed it. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 September, 2013, 06:33:44 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 05:30:05 PM
Is Battlefield Los Angelas any good. It looks like a bit of dumb fun and might be just what I'm after tonight when its on telly?

If you thought it was worth putting up with the mawkish sentimentality of Saving Private Ryan for the action sequences, or if you didn't laugh and switch off the film Volcano when the guy has his legs melted as he heroically wades through lava to save an injured civilian, Battlefield Los Angeles will pass an hour or two pleasantly enough.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 14 September, 2013, 06:51:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 14 September, 2013, 06:16:09 PM
It's absolute shite, Colin. Not even a matter of "it's so crap it's great/ funny" (as is the case with Sharknado and others).

Edit: sincere apologies. I got it muddled up with Skyline (which all the above applies to)  ::). Haven't watched Battlefield so go ahead by all means.

No you're quite right anyway, as Sauchie pointed out, it's so 'American' it hurts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 08:54:07 PM
Well I finally did it, well am doing it as I type. I've had 'The Spirit' on my rental list for an age as much as I worry about what I've read and I'm not fussed with comics becoming films any more, I was curious about all the fuss surrounding this one. BUT jesus it really is as bad as people suggest. As a massive fan of Will Eisner's work I've tried to put that aside and see if it stood up as a film and it simply doesn't.

I do wonder if Frank Miller was trying to create a new visual style for cinema in the way Will Eisner did for comics. He (I think) was trying to be as bold and innovative as Eisner, just in a different medium. He was taking no prisoners and wasn't afraid to do anything to crash the boundaries. He just failed to do it in a way that had any soul or heart, that conveyed character, held a story together or engaged an audience (well this audience). The fact that he did it with a 'property' as significant as The Spirit is testament of an arrogance I now perceive in the man.

Oh course Frank Miller spent a lot more time with Will Eisner than many and from what I've read of Eisner I suspect he'd have been far more forgiving of the innovations that Miller tried here. So I try to put aside what I see as an affront to a genuinely important and magnificent part of comics history. I'm entirely happy to settle with what most of the films audience, those that have no clue about Eisner's genius, had seen and that's a man completely over stretching this talent and ability as a film maker and in doing so turning any attempt to innovate and be creative into utter farce.

Not the funny kind either.

What a shit film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 September, 2013, 09:44:05 PM
 :-[
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 05:30:05 PM
Is Battlefield Los Angelas any good. It looks like a bit of dumb fun and might be just what I'm after tonight when its on telly?

Watching it at the minute, but only because a DVD would require standing up and walking across the room.
It really wants to be Black Hawk Down with aliens, but is, so far, much too po-faced and every line in a cliche. But I see Michelle Rodriguez has just popped up, so I shall continue watching... 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 September, 2013, 09:45:34 PM
If the aliens' Achilles heel is being mown down by a drunk driver, I think I know how that film ends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 09:52:27 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 14 September, 2013, 09:44:05 PM
:-[
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 14 September, 2013, 05:30:05 PM
Is Battlefield Los Angelas any good. It looks like a bit of dumb fun and might be just what I'm after tonight when its on telly?

Watching it at the minute, but only because a DVD would require standing up and walking across the room.
It really wants to be Black Hawk Down with aliens, but is, so far, much too po-faced and every line in a cliche. But I see Michelle Rodriguez has just popped up, so I shall continue watching...

Yeah I'm watching it, but suspect I'll be off to bed in a wee bit. Its not very interesting, or even that much fun is it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 September, 2013, 10:27:54 PM

Battle Los Angeles was good!

But I sneak to see Epic Movie after 5 mins I was pick up my jaw from the floor... what a shittest worst film ever!

Are those producers/writers pick those plots from trailers of films???
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 September, 2013, 10:31:54 PM
QuoteBattle Los Angeles was good!

No, it's a load of shit. I really wish I was drunk watching this. The aliens have come for liquid water because nowhere else in the UNIVERSE has it..? If ONLY there were some means of melting the frozen form of it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 September, 2013, 10:39:09 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 14 September, 2013, 10:31:54 PMThe aliens have come for liquid water because nowhere else in the UNIVERSE has it..? If ONLY there were some means of melting the frozen form of it...

I'll never understand how alien invasion movies get made without anyone coming up with a vaguely sensible motivation.  It's always water, or gold, or worse 'lifeforce' or some such crap: you can travel across interstellar space in vast numbers, but the basic ingredients of the cosmos elude you.  You have a single 'high concept' idea: alien invasion.  Give it some thought, please!  Even the most basic of SF novels can usually muster some actual cause, even if it's only being a cosmic jerk and/or space elephant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 14 September, 2013, 10:42:35 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 14 September, 2013, 06:51:43 PM
No you're quite right anyway, as Sauchie pointed out, it's so 'American' it hurts.
As long as you say that about our good movies too.  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 14 September, 2013, 10:45:16 PM
No, the good ones cross borders quite happily.  The overly sentimental gung ho Americana crap like Battle LA, don't.  It done well in the states I believe, cause that's what they go for, but over here, well,  to borrow a phrase from the southern states....'That dawg don't hunt!'. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 14 September, 2013, 10:47:25 PM
I'd assume plenty of things that are notably "American" can cross borders happily. Just sayin', only using that to associate with something negative is well misguided, know what I mean?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 September, 2013, 11:45:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 September, 2013, 10:39:09 PM

I'll never understand how alien invasion movies get made without anyone coming up with a vaguely sensible motivation.  It's always water, or gold, or worse 'lifeforce'

Surely "life force" is a bulletproof motivation?  It's basically magic, so it has a built-in rationale for being unique in all the universe to the point someone has to come and take it from here rather than just mining it from inert planets they find.

My favorite has to be the motivation for the aliens in Falling Skies, though: quite early in the series we see them looting people's abandoned homes for toasters and aluminum siding and whatnot, with a troop of soldiers and their slaves eventually making off with a haul of about a half ton of landfill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2013, 12:05:07 AM
White House Down.

More like shite house down.

Ridiculous, overblown and naive?

It looks like it was written by the 13 year old child of liberal yet patriotic parents, who has just seen Die Hard, been on a tour of the White House and googled "military industrial complex".

And as a vegan, I am meant to have given up on cheese.

Obviously it was never going to be as good as Die Hard but I expected it to be better than Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 September, 2013, 09:37:50 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 14 September, 2013, 10:47:25 PM
I'd assume plenty of things that are notably "American" can cross borders happily. Just sayin', only using that to associate with something negative is well misguided, know what I mean?

Anyone who has seen Battle: Los Angeles will know exactly what Ghost means when he uses the term American as a kind of shorthand. I mentioned Saving Private Ryan earlier, and Battle: Los Angeles trades in a similar blend of sentimentality, patriotism and reverence for the military. Every marine's a lovable big lug who saves kids, respects women, and just wants to kick some green alien butt.

I'm certain the producers made the same deal as Top Gun, whereby they received the cooperation of the military and access to their hardware in exchange for depicting them in a flattering light, because the cumulative picture presented of The Corps is that it will help you lose your virginity, give you a free education, find you a wholesome wife, and allow you free access to and use of high end weapons technology.

It's practically a recruitment film for the USMC. My favourite bit is when Aaron Eckhart's grizzled old last-day-on-the-job platoon Sergeant looks into the eyes of a frightened eight year old who has just seen his Dad killed by the alien invaders and tells him "I need you to be my little marine".
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 September, 2013, 09:55:47 AM
Prity much everything I want to say about American Patriotism in war films has already been covered, so ill just add more wood to the fire. Independence Day. Fucking Emmerich.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 September, 2013, 10:03:29 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2013, 12:05:07 AM
And as a vegan, I am meant to have given up on cheese.

How will you fix your iPod?

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2013, 10:43:27 AM
To be fair to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, it was always intended to be a n "American" war film. And they do show US troops shooting unarmed prisoners and looting.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN even has a little girl saving the day by showing she is a flag waving patriot. Literally... I mean,  totes for real.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 15 September, 2013, 10:48:53 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 September, 2013, 09:37:50 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 14 September, 2013, 10:47:25 PM
I'd assume plenty of things that are notably "American" can cross borders happily. Just sayin', only using that to associate with something negative is well misguided, know what I mean?

Anyone who has seen Battle: Los Angeles will know exactly what Ghost means when he uses the term American as a kind of shorthand. I mentioned Saving Private Ryan earlier, and Battle: Los Angeles trades in a similar blend of sentimentality, patriotism and reverence for the military. Every marine's a lovable big lug who saves kids, respects women, and just wants to kick some green alien butt.

I'm certain the producers made the same deal as Top Gun, whereby they received the cooperation of the military and access to their hardware in exchange for depicting them in a flattering light, because the cumulative picture presented of The Corps is that it will help you lose your virginity, give you a free education, find you a wholesome wife, and allow you free access to and use of high end weapons technology.

It's practically a recruitment film for the USMC. My favourite bit is when Aaron Eckhart's grizzled old last-day-on-the-job platoon Sergeant looks into the eyes of a frightened eight year old who has just seen his Dad killed by the alien invaders and tells him "I need you to be my little marine".


I think it was William Goldman who said that Saving Private Ryan was one big pile of crap. And I agree with him to a certain extent, because as you pointed out Sauchie, the over-sentimentality really smells foul in Private. There were some great moments like the visceral opening interspersed with some shamelessly over-sentimental crap. Even Schindler's List, Spielberg's most harrowing film, for me is ruined by that one scene of Schindler's (Neeson) over- lamentation near the end. A lot of people also cited that scene as a weak point, it was needless. But obviously Spielberg couldn't resist. That's why for me, as great a film director as he is, he is not as daring as someone like Scorsese.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 September, 2013, 12:00:25 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2013, 12:05:07 AM
Obviously it was never going to be as good as Die Hard but I expected it to be better than Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Best review ever.

As to Saving Private Ryan, it's not a film I actually enjoy much, but I do think reverence and sentimentality have some place in considering the soldiers of D-Day and beyond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 September, 2013, 12:10:25 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 September, 2013, 09:37:50 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 14 September, 2013, 10:47:25 PM
I'd assume plenty of things that are notably "American" can cross borders happily. Just sayin', only using that to associate with something negative is well misguided, know what I mean?

Anyone who has seen Battle: Los Angeles will know exactly what Ghost means when he uses the term American as a kind of shorthand. I mentioned Saving Private Ryan earlier, and Battle: Los Angeles trades in a similar blend of sentimentality, patriotism and reverence for the military. Every marine's a lovable big lug who saves kids, respects women, and just wants to kick some green alien butt.

I'm certain the producers made the same deal as Top Gun, whereby they received the cooperation of the military and access to their hardware in exchange for depicting them in a flattering light, because the cumulative picture presented of The Corps is that it will help you lose your virginity, give you a free education, find you a wholesome wife, and allow you free access to and use of high end weapons technology.

It's practically a recruitment film for the USMC. My favourite bit is when Aaron Eckhart's grizzled old last-day-on-the-job platoon Sergeant looks into the eyes of a frightened eight year old who has just seen his Dad killed by the alien invaders and tells him "I need you to be my little marine".


Absolutely, thank you Sauchie, explained it better than I coulda!  It wasn't used as a derogatory term for yanks, more a 'catch all' for the worst, and most common, aspects of piss poor filmmaking from across the pond.

As for Shite House Down, not seen it yet, but I can only assume it's gonna have suffered due to the release of 'Olympus Has Fallen', which seems (in premise at least) to be the same film?  If they where in production at the same time, and OHF made it out first, you can bet they've re-shot a lot of material for WHD in order to distance it from OHF in any places it was too similar. 

And if WHD is 'Die Hard' in the whitehouse, then OHF was 'Under Siege' in the whitehouse. 

Yeah I know.....'Under Seige' was 'Die Hard' on a boat.....:D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 15 September, 2013, 12:14:37 PM
Watched the X-Files movie on Channel 4 last night. Really enjoyed it, felt just like a longer episode of the show which I liked. Great stuff. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 September, 2013, 12:16:54 PM
On the subject of alien invasion movies, it always bugs me that the aliens or their ships always have a crucial weak spot, like they were designed by Capcom for a boss fight.

Last night I watched I Was a Male War Bride, in which Carey Grant plays a Frenchman. It's hard to criticize the authenticity of his French accent, because Carey Grant's normal accent isn't authentic to anywhere. Anyway, the story begins in post-war Germany and the tone starts as a light hearted rom-com, before taking a sinister turn into a Kafkaesque nightmare of oppressive military bureaucracy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 September, 2013, 12:50:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2013, 12:05:07 AMObviously it was never going to be as good as Die Hard but I expected it to be better than Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

You mean Paul Blart: Shite Cop, am I right?

Of the two, Olympus Has Fallen has the edge on White house Down because there are many moments where OHF displays - despite the straight face necessary to sell the material - that it knows what a dumb piece of shit it is and so throws in references here and there to the US being a plutocratic state that spends more on the illusion of democracy than it does on helping the vulnerable, and the destruction of several national monuments is presented as cool "wow" moments despite the fact that if any single one of them happened in the real world they'd be a new 911 and the US would be off to bomb whatever country spawned those responsible.  WHD, on the other hand, just wants you to take it very seriously, even though by the trailer alone you know it is about a rogue cop teaming up with the President to shoot baddies.
Emmerich got away with that kind of thing in ID4 because the presence of aliens helped highlight what a ludicrous fantasy it all was, but something sticks in the craw at seeing it done completely straight.  OHF by contrast has a bit where Leonidas is on a walky-talky to the main villain and has to say a cool line and he says "I am going to stick my knife in your head."  Later, [spoiler]he does.[/spoiler]  This pretty much tells you all you need to know about the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 September, 2013, 12:59:36 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 15 September, 2013, 12:50:02 PM
and the destruction of several national monuments is presented as cool "wow" moments despite the fact that if any single one of them happened in the real world they'd be a new 911 and the US would be off to bomb whatever country spawned those responsible. 

Yeah, the Washington needle thing, wonder what reference footage they used to make that look 'real'?  Hit  by a large plane, and falls within it's own footprint.....seems awful familiar......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 15 September, 2013, 03:09:04 PM
I watched Blackfish, a documentary about killer whales in captivity murdering people and people then being surprised that something called a killer whale could be anything other than a fluffy kitten of the sea.
It was entertaining and informative in that it it showed people being retarded or massive jerks
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 September, 2013, 04:17:48 PM
Quote from: CheechFU on 15 September, 2013, 03:09:04 PMa fluffy kitten of the sea.

:lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 15 September, 2013, 10:55:20 PM
I understand criticism of blind patriotism and recruitment video propaganda, sure. Though that's not uniquely American. I just pointed out that I only seem to see American used as a pejorative or negative adjective around here, which comes across as casual bigotry.

I said well hey it's fine to say this bad movie is notably American, as long as you say that about good American movies too. Then he says that this doesn't apply to good American movies since those "travel well", so he's saying bad movies are more "American" than good movies. Which isn't logical.

I'm just saying, I don't see anybody in the Breaking Bad topic saying "what clever American writing", but whenever I do see the word American on here, it's in a negative context. It should be easy to see why that's questionable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 September, 2013, 11:06:20 PM
Perhaps I put it poorly.  But the 'american' aspect of the comment is a catch all for all that is stereotypical, and piss poor in films of that nature, just as 'so English it hurts' would cover piss poor stereotypical films like Notting Hill, 4 Weddings and a funeral, or even the dismally depressing Downton Abbey.  If you are still pissed at the comment, well, there ain't a damn thing I can do about that.  Most folk know what I meant, and that's good enough for me.  Moving on.....

Paul.

Just the second half while it was on telly.  Forgot just how many film lines they managed to cram into that film!  It's like 'Where's Waldo' for movie buffs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 15 September, 2013, 11:13:29 PM
Of course you don't think you said anything wrong, and of course that's good enough for you. Why am I bothering, I don't know. Your reply to my first post made it about more than just that one patriotic dumb film. You could've just acknowledged that yes, the adjective American can equally be used for good films too, not always a bad thing, but you contested even that. That's not very fair, and for me is worth pointing out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 September, 2013, 11:17:36 PM
QuoteI don't see anybody in the Breaking Bad topic saying "what clever American writing",

I see people saying that all the time - I thought it was a commonly held opinion that the USA is pretty much producing the best TV drama in the world at the moment.

I have seen:

Dr No - in the cinema this evening. It was brilliant.

The Prestige - really really liked this. Very cleverly constructed. As it's based around magic and magicians, it is constructed as such, and like all good tricks, employs some great misdirection.
I sussed one of the twists about halfway through, but these is a second one that caught me brilliantly, and more-so because it is, in retrospect, signposted throughout the entire movie.
Plus: David Bowie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 15 September, 2013, 11:21:17 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 September, 2013, 11:17:36 PM
I see people saying that all the time - I thought it was a commonly held opinion that the USA is pretty much producing the best TV drama in the world at the moment.
I see people on here saying it's a great show, but my point was I don't see that it's American being pointed out much, not that it needs to be, but it seems I only see American used negatively around here.

I think it's questionable to use a nationality as a pejorative term for the most part, like teenagers who use "gay" as slang for lame, that's not a good practice.

Really, my simple post saying "As long as you say that about our good movies too  :P", I don't think there's much to contest there, and no reason for it to have led where it did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 September, 2013, 11:35:16 PM
The most English film I have ever seen is Straightheads: two hours of misery topped by a crying woman raping her rapist with his own shotgun.

The most Irish film I have ever seen is The Quiet Man - see, there are three types of Irishmen: those who love The Quiet Man, those who love The Quiet Man but lie and say they hate it, and those who have not yet seen The Quiet Man.  If you have not seen the Quiet Man, it is a film where a man punches someone and is surprised that this causes the person harm, only the punching man is not good at anything but punching - he tried being a cowboy but was terrible at it, and the attempts at joining the army were a non-starter - so when he decides to stop punching in case he kills anyone he's at a bit of a loose end, so he has a shag, gets drunk, has a fight, then wakes up to discover he hasn't killed anyone the night before.  It's basically an Irish fairytale.

No bullshit, I am going to go watch it now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bubba Zebill on 16 September, 2013, 12:09:06 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 15 September, 2013, 11:35:16 PM
It's basically an Irish fairytale.

:D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 16 September, 2013, 12:20:35 AM
Who wouldn't feel pride about that?  :D That's a positive in some way at least, it's a funny and manly concept. I guess I'll say the quintessential American film is Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Dennis Hopper, 'nuff said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 September, 2013, 09:26:14 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 15 September, 2013, 11:35:16 PM
The most Irish film I have ever seen is The Quiet Man - see, there are three types of Irishmen: those who love The Quiet Man, those who love The Quiet Man but lie and say they hate it, and those who have not yet seen The Quiet Man.

http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2011/0826/3035236-mayo-festival-celebrates-the-quiet-man/

I accidentally rented a cottage just up from 'the Quiet Man bridge' (where John Wayne did some manly contemplatin'), and the house came furnished with DVD player and a lone DVD of the film.  The kids loved it (well, it has punching).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 September, 2013, 11:33:52 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 15 September, 2013, 10:55:20 PM
I understand criticism of blind patriotism and recruitment video propaganda, sure. Though that's not uniquely American.

Other than say, China, does anyone else make such movies about the military?

I get what you're saying though, it's just our lazy stereotyping for comedic effect. Painfully english, navelgazingly french....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 September, 2013, 12:02:29 PM
Japan make such films, despite not actually having any military to speak of, and any kung-fu movie fan worth their salt can confirm that when Hong Kong was still separate from China, there were an awful lot of movies made where HK cops were venerated as divine supermen.  British war movies really push the idea of Englishness, too, and there's a long history of portraying the SAS as Batman types rather than homoerotic football hooligans.

Not watching Neighbors or Home And Away until I was old enough to do so only ironically and out of habit, I assumed Romper Stomper was the default Australian experience.  The more I see about how the Aussie government behaves, the less I am inclined to think I was wrong to do so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 September, 2013, 12:14:31 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 16 September, 2013, 12:02:29 PM
British war movies really push the idea of Englishness, too, and there's a long history of portraying the SAS as Batman types rather than homoerotic football hooligans.



I don't really understand the homoerotic bit but the Football Hooligan comment suggests a kind of undisciplined mob mentality.
Isn't the whole point of the SAS the fact they they are deliberate and precise in their application of violence?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 September, 2013, 12:26:18 PM
My bad - a youth spent exposed to British comedy means that when I think of the SAS my Pavlovian impression is defined by Rob Newman describing their brand of precisely-applied no-holds-barred violence as making them "punctual Millwall fans."  As for homoerotic, the elite soldier thing who constantly has problems with ladies is inherently homoerotic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2013, 12:30:08 PM
You would think.  But I recall seeing Bravo Two Zero and having to agree with one review that described the SAS teams as "more like football hooligans with automatic weapons". And it must be true because Andy McNab, Chris Ryan etc...

I think you may have inadvertently picked up the wrong end of the stick, Psycho.

I've not seen anybody say that American movies and tv are inherently bad and to be mocked (except some people who bang on about the evil of Disney and Pixar).

As people have said, it's those movies that indulge in the "America is the solution to your problem" whether it alien invasion, nazis or other trouble making foreigners.

I genuinely can't imagine any other country making a film like "White House Down" and treating it seriously*.

Can you imagine  Die Hard set in Westminster where an air strike is stopped at the last minute by a David Cameron loving child grasping a union flag and waving it patriotically at the incoming bombers?

(*Exception: James Bond movies).


Anyway...
IP MAN 2 - rewatched with Tiny Tips inbetween sorting out the laundry yesterday and making soup and cookies. I'm sure it's not in the slightest bit historically accurate but it's full of great turns. My man crush on The Rock is being slowly transferred to Donnie Yen. He's just brilliant in this.
"Can you beat up ten men?"
"It's better not to fight."
"What if they have weapons?"
"Flee.".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 September, 2013, 10:29:35 AM
Sword of Truth; which is basically an inferior version of Ninja Scroll. My god, what a load of rubbish. And to think I paid £1.00 for it on ebay, money not spent good in my opinion. The only thing I liked was the (lesbian) sex scene in the middle, even though it had no bearing on the plot whatsoever. A heavily tatooed woman shows up and flings herself at our titular hero, and then disappears. We have a showdown between the hero and a bad guy at the end and then suddenly the film finishes. I mean, what exactly was the purpose of this film? In fact it's an insult to compare it to Ninja Scroll, which is one of my all time favourite Anime's alongside Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Sword of Truth is undecipherable nonsense. It's like an animated film by Jodorowsky, a little surrueal like El Topo perhaps, but not as 'enjoyable'. Not to mention a hero who doesn't suffer even a little scratch from the neverending hordes of ninja baddies. Yeah right. The thing I liked about our hero Jubei Kibagami in Ninja Scroll, is because he gets his arse handed to him a few times in the film. He is not invulnerable, and I like that in my heroes. But not so with our hero in this film. A poor showing indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 18 September, 2013, 10:47:05 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 16 September, 2013, 12:26:18 PM
My bad - a youth spent exposed to British comedy means that when I think of the SAS my Pavlovian impression is defined by Rob Newman describing their brand of precisely-applied no-holds-barred violence as making them "punctual Millwall fans."  As for homoerotic, the elite soldier thing who constantly has problems with ladies is inherently homoerotic.

PRIMARILY A MASTURBATORY AID FOR VARIOUS BACKBENCH MPS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJW1tzNLwI8)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 September, 2013, 09:42:09 PM
Monsters University - An alright film.  No where near as good as Monsters Inc and not particularly necessary either.  A tired plot with little surprises but a few chuckles here and there.  It lacks a lot of the heart that's in Monsters Inc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 September, 2013, 09:59:02 PM
Strange but true - because of their stage personas, I was surprised when it turned out that Fry was the gay one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 September, 2013, 10:14:05 PM

Take Shelter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc) (2011). The trailer for this makes it look like a worthy character drama with Oscar baiting performances from Shannon and Chastaine, but it's actually a cross between a crack-up psycho drama like Repulsion or The Shining, with touches of doomsday thrillers like The Crazies and 28 Days Later, which plays like a smarter version of supernatural guff like Paranormal Activity.

Mental and genuinely terrifying scenes happen regularly enough to keep horror freaks happy, but it also manages to make some really perceptive observations about how men behave in marriage, the exigencies of the US health care system, and the collapse of Western capitalism in 2008 in a really subtle and understated way. It's either the best made and acted horror film you've never seen or the most entertaining social conscience drama ever made; either way it's an extraordinary film.

Director Jeff Nicholls made the brilliant Mud (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSLYyPK2vsc) and Shotgun Stories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZh6PrFW2lM) too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 September, 2013, 10:15:21 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 20 September, 2013, 09:59:02 PM
I was surprised when it turned out that Fry was the gay one.

Yeah, nominative determinism alone would have suggested Bender.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 20 September, 2013, 10:16:02 PM
Demons 2. The very shittest film I have ever seen. Tragically pathetic in concept, execution, plotting,  direction, script, acting, production, lighting, sound, special effects...even the key grip did a shitty job.

Without doubt, the most laughably shit film I have ever seen.

How has Dario Argento got any kind of reputation making rubbish like this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 20 September, 2013, 10:52:18 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 20 September, 2013, 10:16:02 PM
How has Dario Argento got any kind of reputation making rubbish like this?

Probably because he didn't make it - he's credited as one of the writers, but I expect that mostly involved giving Lamberto Bava the odd suggestion. (And yes, he co-produced it too, but again, it's not really his vision.)  For actual reputation-making Argento, you want Profondo Rosso (Deep Red), one of the finest movies ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 September, 2013, 08:33:47 AM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 20 September, 2013, 10:16:02 PM
Demons 2. The very shittest film I have ever seen. Tragically pathetic in concept, execution, plotting,  direction, script, acting, production, lighting, sound, special effects...even the key grip did a shitty job.

Without doubt, the most laughably shit film I have ever seen.

How has Dario Argento got any kind of reputation making rubbish like this?
I cant find it in me to hate this film. Its just to damn infantile in its silliness that any criticism I make ultimately feels like a missed the point.

And Argento only produced it, all credit goes to Mario Bavas prodigy on this one.

Argento is a master director and I highly recommend The Bird With the Crystal Plumage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 September, 2013, 10:46:56 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 September, 2013, 10:14:05 PM

Take Shelter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc) (2011). The trailer for this makes it look like a worthy character drama with Oscar baiting performances from Shannon and Chastaine, but it's actually a cross between a crack-up psycho drama like Repulsion or The Shining, with touches of doomsday thrillers like The Crazies and 28 Days Later, which plays like a smarter version of supernatural guff like Paranormal Activity.

Director Jeff Nicholls made the brilliant Mud (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSLYyPK2vsc) and Shotgun Stories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZh6PrFW2lM) too.

By mental coincidence I was handed a lend of 'Mud' by a mate in work, and 'Take Shelter' by my sister yesterday.
Had no idea they were made by the same chap.

Watched Mud last night, and agree that it is absolutely superb.
Keeping Taking Shelter for tomorrow afternoons hangover, but after reading your comments I want to abandon my planned run and stick it on right now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 21 September, 2013, 12:00:47 PM
I've had Deep Red and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage lying around for ages but have never watched them.  I think Suspiria is awesome (and i recently saw it with a live soundtrack by the dude that wrote the original).  I'll have to get round to watching them sometime.

Cheers
Dave

ps - last film i saw was Iron Man 3. it was ok but i have no real interest in that franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 21 September, 2013, 12:01:17 PM
and Take Shelter is great - i loved that

Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 21 September, 2013, 01:04:40 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 September, 2013, 10:14:05 PM
subtle and understated . . . It's either the best made and acted horror film you've never seen or the most entertaining social conscience drama ever made; either way it's an extraordinary film.

'Subtle and understated', I'd say, is also why TAKE SHELTER's ending works [spoiler]despite the risk it runs of undermining all that wonderful stuff beforehand[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 September, 2013, 06:06:30 PM
I knew nowt about this film until reading these last couple of posts, but damn - i so wanna watch Take Shelter now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 September, 2013, 11:54:00 AM
I'm watching Wall-E with the kids, for the 15th time probably!  :lol:

I love the film and never tire of it. Beautiful animation, beautiful story with an enviromental message thrown in, and beautiful music. There's so many moments in the film I love I can't mention all. But that shot of the spaceship flying off in the background, with Wall-E's cockroach buddy watching on in the foreground. Wow. It encapsulates everything about this film not to mention dreams, the beauty, the awe-inspiring wonder of space and space travel. And Wall-E flying on the back of the ship witnessing all beauty and mystery of space, touching the ice particles from Jupiter's rings which morphs into the milkyway.....it's a breath-taking scene. This is one of Pixar's best films in my opinion, up there with Toy Story. Not only is it a great animated film, but a great science fiction film and belongs in the greatest sci-fi films category.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2013, 04:59:00 PM
Wall-E is definitely one of my favourite Pixar films.  I love the story telling method used in the film.  The ending had me in tears the first time I watched it.  So much heart in a film predominantly about robots.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 September, 2013, 09:24:24 PM
In my mission to work my way through The Planet of the Apes box-set I watched Escape from the Planet of the Apes last night and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes today.

Both were highly enjoyable and kudos for being two films that are rather different from their predecessors and each other.

After the rather good, but rather depressing Beneath..., Escape... is a breath of fresh air. While it also contains death ([spoiler]including an infanticide. Even 18 rated far darker films rarely go there, although I wonder if they would if it had been a human child[/spoiler]), and in keeping with Beneath...  a somewhat [spoiler]downbeat ending[/spoiler], it is much lighter in tone overall and quite funny. And it's nice to see such support characters like Cornelius and Zira take centre stage.

On considering when we last saw them in Beneath... it does make me wonder how the chimps had the time to leave planet or why they did it. It's not really a plot hole as we didn't see that third scientist chimp in Beneath... and it was he who fixed Taylor's ship.* No doubt he was beavering away in the background when Brent and Nova ended up in Ape City, and the other two Chimps met up with him later. As to the why, I know that it's explained in this film that the Chimps wanted to escape the Gorrillas' war, but why would you leave the planet to do that? [spoiler]They weren't to know a planet busting weapon would be deployed surely?[/spoiler] (Okay maybe they only intended to fly to another part of the planet but then lost control of the joystick...)

But anyway. Despite my queries to the above... it really doesn't matter. Turning the concept of the first film on it's head (and interestingly the humans are much more welcoming of talking apes than the majority of apes were of talking humans. At least to start with) it's a great film.

I'm also curious that Cornelius and Zira have much more knowledge of their history than they appear to have in the first film. Is this a contradiction, or were they just keeping quiet due to the dictates of the Apes' religion? Dr. Zaius certainly prove he knew a lot more about human history at the end than he let on earlier. Maybe he clued them in somewhere between the first and second films.

Incidentally what was with the duck noise Cornelius makes [spoiler]in his death scene[/spoiler]? Kind of amusing and a little disturbing at once.

Conquest... I'll be briefer on this one. Again, a much darker film but also rather good. Great to see Ricardo Montalban in a longer role, although I would have liked to see more of him. Some might argue this film shows the start of a self fulfilling paradox, except there are already changes in the timeline. In the previous film Zira states that the ape revolution happened three centuries after apes became enslaved (and the name of the Ape who first spoke in that time period was not Caesar) but her it happens in 1993 a mere twenty years after the time period of Escape...!

That's not a criticism by the way. That's the fun thing about time travel stories, you can mix things up a bit.

Roddy McDowall is excellent in this as Caesar. While there are some similarities to  his depiction of this character's father, Cornelius, he portrays a very different character. Not without darkness of his own. This film is certainly the spiritual predecessor to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. If that film should be classed as a remake (and I'm not convinced it should) it would be of this film.

On to Battle next. Possibly tonight. I seem to remember finding this one a bit boring in the past, but we'll see.

*I'm not sure how he would do that considering the apes don't even have cars. I suspect their technological state is much to do with the dictates of the Orang Utans and their controlling religion preventing them from making the same mistakes as Man through scientific progress than the actual capabilities of the apes though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 September, 2013, 10:33:10 PM
I assume the duck noise was a death rattle.
In Escape, Cornelius and Zira display an encyclopedic knowledge of Earth's past when the third act of PotA established that even the idea of intelligent man was unthinkable to them, so I always assumed that during Beneath, some time had passed after Zaius and Ursus left Ape City to search the Forbidden Zone, and in that time Cornelius and Zira had read the "sacred scrolls" kept from the general populace (Zaius appointed them the keepers of the scrolls in his absence) and discovered the truth about ape and man's history much as Zaius had, then hooked up with Milo after giving themselves permission to visit the Forbidden Zone to find he'd already salvaged Taylor's ship as he was an outcast from Ape City and thus outside Zaius' edicts about the Forbidden Zone and the restrictions on technology imposed by the orangutangs, then they went on his test flight because... erm, they were contrary bastards I guess, and the planet blew up as they were in the upper atmosphere (the Alpha/Omega bomb's purpose being to ignite the atmosphere rather than just explode the planet) and thrown into the past by some quirk of physics*.

If you're interested in PotA continuity, there is a pretty good IDW series - Cataclysm - centering on the early career of Zaius that covers a lot of the mythology, including Zaius' hatred of humanity and a bit about Dr Milo's history, but for the most part I come down on the side of the PotA series being a cyclical predestined paradox with minor variations in each "loop" but the overall cycle itself remains the same, or perhaps whatever attempts to create integration between the two species are made, ultimately the apes that hate humans win out and rewrite their past to suit the preferred narrative of the ruling political elite, including writing Caesar - who could never have succeeded without human aid and actively worked for their better treatment in ape society - out of history entirely, which is why we have a different ape credited as being the first to speak - this would fit the allegorical nature of the Apes films as the Christian bible which shaped western society wasn't written until hundreds of years after the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, and with a political and moral slant in keeping with the sensibilities of its time of writing.


Or it might all be a bunch of films about talking monkeys.  I dunno.



*  See also: magic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 September, 2013, 10:44:55 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 22 September, 2013, 11:54:00 AMThis is one of Pixar's best films in my opinion, up there with Toy Story. Not only is it a great animated film, but a great science fiction film and belongs in the greatest sci-fi films category.

Totally agree.  It has extrapolation and allegory and satire and all that good SF stuff, wrapped up in wonder, spectacle and genuine heart.  It's as good as they come.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 22 September, 2013, 11:07:10 PM
Watched Blade Runner last night. One of the versions without the narration. Definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 12:21:07 AM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 22 September, 2013, 11:07:10 PM
Watched Blade Runner last night. One of the versions without the narration. Definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Don't get me started on Blade Runner! My favourite movie of ALL time. This film is my idea of cinematic nirvana. From Vangelis' soothing synth score, Ridley's masterful direction to Webb-Peoples' superb script; everything comes together to create a unequivocal masterpiece. A beautiful nightmare. From the opening Hades landscape with fire bellowing out from black towers, to the neon lit streets awash in perpetual rain and darkness, to the design of Tyrell's buildings, like great Aztec temples looming over everything, or the dark, hallways of the Bradbury building, littered with mannequins, statues inside a desolate temple , occasionally disturbed by flittering lights from outside - it is quite possibly, the most visually breath-taking film I have ever seen. And of course the story is another, from which a whole myth has built up. The Deckard vs Replicant debate. The Unicorn. The motif of the eye. Roy Batty as Jesus (he does create stigmata by driving the nails through his hands).

And of course, that speech. Pure poetry.

There is no other film quite like it. By the way, I have a soft spot for the voice over version as it was the version I watched first as a youngster. But overall, the Final Cut is the definitive version for me now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 23 September, 2013, 01:22:18 AM
Yep, Blade Runner remains ( and always will ) in my top ten of favourite films....

From start to finish, I don't think it puts a foot wrong........and as you say,  Roy Batty's final 'death speech' is just wonderfully poetic .....
It's one of many quotes from the Movies,  that I always remember...

" I've seen things you people wouldn't believe......Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion...I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate...All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.....Time to die "....

Great stuff and amazing to think that Rutger Hauer improvised that final speech.....
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 01:34:22 AM
Rutger Hauer= Legend.

He's the star of the show, the beating heart of Blade Runner.

Thanks for posting the 'tears in the rain' speech, SB. I've almost got my own tears welling up (minus the rain) reading that!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 September, 2013, 07:44:18 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 01:34:22 AM
Thanks for posting the 'tears in the rain' speech, SB. I've almost got my own tears welling up (minus the rain) reading that!

A few years back, I read an article in a newspaper* where a critic cited his love for Blade Runner as a starting point for discussing something else, but managed to catastrophically mis-quote the "tears in rain" speech as: "Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched Sea Bees glitter in the dark..."

Somewhat undermined his point, TBH!

Cheers

Jim

*Yes, dead trees! How quaint...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 23 September, 2013, 08:15:45 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 September, 2013, 07:44:18 AM
I've watched Sea Bees glitter in the dark...

The glittering, of course, comes from their sea honey, which is shiny and golden. Unfortunately it tastes of old crabs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 08:17:23 AM
Oh dear! Not to mention mis-quoting Roy Batty's speech....that's unforgiveable in my eyes.  :(

Sea Bee's.......tsk tsk (shakes head disapprovingly).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 08:35:25 AM
Are Sea Bees anything like CBeebies? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 September, 2013, 08:36:49 AM
Someone shouldn't write articles with auto correct on.
Title: Re:
Post by: radiator on 23 September, 2013, 09:36:58 AM
That Blade Runner speech is so frequently quoted and thoroughly played out, it's like the aural equivalent of Bullet Time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 23 September, 2013, 09:44:04 AM
Absolutly agree regards Wall-E possibly one of the best SCi-Fi movies of the last 20 years.
I'm a heretic I know but I do not worship at the alter of BladeRunner, i recognise how well filmd it is and the design is superb but I just can not sit through it without falling asleep, i have tried a milion times and I usually get to the bit with the snake woman and then off to the land of Z's for me.  So for me its a well designed but ultimatly boring movie. (And i have seen the whole thing seevral times just never managed it in one sitting).
Watched StarTrek Into Darkness last night, liked it in the cinema but didn't enjoy it half as much at home where you could put a bit of thought into it.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re:
Post by: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 09:44:19 AM
Quote from: radiator on 23 September, 2013, 09:36:58 AM
That Blade Runner speech is so frequently quoted and thoroughly played out, it's like the aural equivalent of Bullet Time.

I don't think so. Bullet time was a visual trick that was copied by so many other films and video games that it lost it's wow factor.
The speech in Blade Runner is like the chocolate chip in the cookie - you know it's coming but it's still the good bit. It's like 'Play it Sam' in Casablanca, 'Frankly my dear, I don't give damn' in Gone With The Wind or the shower scene in Psycho.
Title: Re:
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 September, 2013, 10:18:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 09:44:19 AM
The speech in Blade Runner is like the chocolate chip in the cookie - you know it's coming but it's still the good bit.

What keeps me coming back to Blade Runner is the feeling that if I watch it one more time, I'll understand why Batty saves Deckard on that rooftop.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 September, 2013, 10:25:30 AM
QuoteI'm a heretic I know but I do not worship at the alter of BladeRunner, i recognise how well filmd it is and the design is superb but I just can not sit through it without falling asleep, i have tried a milion times and I usually get to the bit with the snake woman and then off to the land of Z's for me.  So for me its a well designed but ultimatly boring movie. (And i have seen the whole thing seevral times just never managed it in one sitting).

I'm in the same boat. I acknowledge the wonderful atmosphere and art direction, and interesting (if horribly dated) soundtrack - and I want so much to love it. But as a film and story, it bores me to tears.

Ok, maybe that speech is less 'bullet time' and more 'Le Big Mac/Royale With Cheese' scene from Pulp Fiction.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 23 September, 2013, 10:30:41 AM


Let you know Blade Runner on BBC4 this week

Title: Re:
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 10:56:38 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 September, 2013, 10:18:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 09:44:19 AM
The speech in Blade Runner is like the chocolate chip in the cookie - you know it's coming but it's still the good bit.

What keeps me coming back to Blade Runner is the feeling that if I watch it one more time, I'll understand why Batty saves Deckard on that rooftop.

Cheers

Jim

Just as Deckard's about to fall, Batty grabs him (thus saving him), but right at that instant if you listen carefully, Batty cries "Kinship". A lot of Blade Runner enthusuasts cite this as proof that Deckard is a replicant, hence Batty uttering that word. Batty knows what Deckard is, but he himself doesn't know.

But, I am from the school of thought that believes Deckard is human. Because if he were to be a replicant, then the contradt between Deckard's soulless humanity and Batty's poetic, lifely inhumanity would not work. And it's that contradiction about these two characters I find absolutely fascinating, that Batty is a replicant and yet he craves for life, quoting (or mis-quoting!) William Blake and so on. And yet Deckard, the human is more like an android, devoid of feelings (albeit for some small instances).

Ulimately the reason why I feel Batty saves him, is because as death approaches him he wants to seek some sort of affirmation, that he has a soul. And this in turn is symbolised with him holding the dove, and it flying off towards the heavens as he dies. An allegory perhaps of Batty's own soul ascending to heaven.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 23 September, 2013, 11:11:02 AM
Quote from: radiator on 23 September, 2013, 10:25:30 AM

Ok, maybe that speech ( from Blade Runner ) is less 'bullet time' and more 'Le Big Mac/Royale With Cheese' scene from Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction is another Classic Movie, that sits happily in my top ten favourite Movies of all Time...with some absolutely fabulous quotable scenes.......
The obvious Le big Mac / Royale with cheese......
The "Whose Motorcycle is this ??....It's a Chopper, baby "...
The amazingly,  fabulous ( and seriously spooky ) Christopher Walken and the "This is your fathers' watch" .....
The  " He threw him out a window / for a foot massage ??" ..............etc

Tarantino is a 'master of modern dialogue' and scene setting ( unfortunately not always though ).......
Haven't seen Django yet but looking forward to it when it is shown on Sky Movies....

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 11:17:25 AM
Sorry Jim, I meant contrast, not contradt.....bloody typo's!  >:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 11:24:39 AM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 23 September, 2013, 11:11:02 AM
Quote from: radiator on 23 September, 2013, 10:25:30 AM

Ok, maybe that speech ( from Blade Runner ) is less 'bullet time' and more 'Le Big Mac/Royale With Cheese' scene from Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction is another Classic Movie, that sits happily in my top ten favourite Movies of all Time...with some absolutely fabulous quotable scenes.......
The obvious Le big Mac / Royale with cheese......
The "Whose Motorcycle is this ??....It's a Chopper, baby "...
The amazingly,  fabulous ( and seriously spooky ) Christopher Walken and the "This is your fathers' watch" .....
The  " He threw him out a window / for a foot massage ??" ..............etc

Tarantino is a 'master of modern dialogue' and scene setting ( unfortunately not always though ).......
Haven't seen Django yet but looking forward to it when it is shown on Sky Movies....

Cheers

Yep. If it's comparable with the 'Royale With Cheese' scene, that's a seal of quality IMHO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 September, 2013, 11:41:21 AM
Batty saves Deckard because he can. Because he's going to die anyway. Because for now, he's alive and all he ever wanted was to live. Unlike every other death he gains nothing from this murder. All Deckard did was run down the clock a little faster than it would have done anyway.

"Time...to die."

I successfully pulled at University drinking large amounts of vodka and quoting the "We were somewhere around Barstow in the desert when the drugs took hold..." from Fear and Loathing, before sweeping my lady off her feet with the deepness of "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe." I woke up the next morning in my bed with a horrible hangover, no trousers and no memory. Still next day, she returned my phone call :)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 September, 2013, 12:56:17 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 September, 2013, 11:41:21 AMStill next day, she returned my phone call :)

Naturally.  How else would the police pin-point your location?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 23 September, 2013, 02:41:35 PM
Take The Lead - a semi fictionalized account of Pierre Dulaine teaching ballroom dancing to a group of troubled teens.

It was actually quite good!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 September, 2013, 02:48:14 PM
The Last Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier... Still a fun film.
Title: Re:
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:24:25 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 10:56:38 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 September, 2013, 10:18:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 September, 2013, 09:44:19 AM
The speech in Blade Runner is like the chocolate chip in the cookie - you know it's coming but it's still the good bit.

What keeps me coming back to Blade Runner is the feeling that if I watch it one more time, I'll understand why Batty saves Deckard on that rooftop.

Cheers

Jim

Just as Deckard's about to fall, Batty grabs him (thus saving him), but right at that instant if you listen carefully, Batty cries "Kinship". A lot of Blade Runner enthusuasts cite this as proof that Deckard is a replicant, hence Batty uttering that word. Batty knows what Deckard is, but he himself doesn't know.

But, I am from the school of thought that believes Deckard is human. Because if he were to be a replicant, then the contradt between Deckard's soulless humanity and Batty's poetic, lifely inhumanity would not work. And it's that contradiction about these two characters I find absolutely fascinating, that Batty is a replicant and yet he craves for life, quoting (or mis-quoting!) William Blake and so on. And yet Deckard, the human is more like an android, devoid of feelings (albeit for some small instances).

Ulimately the reason why I feel Batty saves him, is because as death approaches him he wants to seek some sort of affirmation, that he has a soul. And this in turn is symbolised with him holding the dove, and it flying off towards the heavens as he dies. An allegory perhaps of Batty's own soul ascending to heaven.

It depends which version of the film you watch.  If you watch the one without the over-dubbed exposition from Ford (not sure if Director's Cut?), the ending is quite clear that Deckard is a simulant. 

During the film he has a dream about a Unicorn galloping around. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhDDybv8_Ro

It is made clear in certain scenes that replicants are given dreams and memories to make them feel less emotionless, give them some kind of grounding.  Another person knowing their dream is knowing they're a simulant.

Throughout the film, Deckard's fellow copper, Gaff (played by Edward James Olmos, Admiral Adama - Battlestar Galactica!!!) was forever making little matchstick or origami creations.

At the end of this version of the film, as Deckard and Rachael were legging it out of his apartment, he glanced down, and there is one of Gaff's creations on the doormat.  It is a unicorn.

Gaff knew what Deckard's dream was because it was implanted, which means Deckard is a simulant.  It's as simple as that.
Title: Re:
Post by: Spikes on 23 September, 2013, 05:39:48 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:24:25 PM
It's as simple as that.

With a film like Blade Runner its never 'as simple as that',  ;)

Ridley has gone on record, and firmly stated his belief in regards to the old 'Is he/Isnt he' thingy.
But he's wrong. The film means nowt if Deckhards a replicant. And Ridley himself didnt know, or really consider this point until late in the day.
Hindsights a wonderful thing... 

The imitation that wants to be more like the real thing, and the human thats like a robot, both on a journey of discovery. Thats the kinship
Title: Re:
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:45:32 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 23 September, 2013, 05:39:48 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:24:25 PM
It's as simple as that.

With a film like Blade Runner its never 'as simple as that',  ;)


Explain how Gaff knew Deckard's unicorn dream then.  Go on!!!   :P  :lol:

I'll concede that in the original release it seems pretty clear that Deckard is a human.  The bloody voiceover overrides any subtle nuance that may have led people to think otherwise.  Plus there was no unicorn at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:49:38 PM
Gah!  REPLICANT, not simulant!!  I probably picked up the latter from Red Dwarf or suchlike.  FAIL!

I hereby hand in my geek badge.  Anyone want my collection of all my sci-fi novels and DVDs before I burn the bloody lot??
Title: Re:
Post by: Spikes on 23 September, 2013, 06:13:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:45:32 PM
Explain how Gaff knew Deckard's unicorn dream then.  Go on!!!   :P  :lol:

He saw Deckard's FB post about them,  ;)


In a way, it makes no real odds who's the replicant or who's the human.
When i watch the film i dont view the character's in those terms. For me, their kinda the same 'damaged goods' wishing they could be something more. Identical, in a lot of ways. Whether they was 'born' or 'manufactured' makes no great difference.



Title: Re:
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 06:39:43 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 23 September, 2013, 06:13:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:45:32 PM
Explain how Gaff knew Deckard's unicorn dream then.  Go on!!!   :P  :lol:

He saw Deckard's FB post about them,  ;)


Yeah, I can see it now:
'Life sucks. Shot a snake woman today, got home to find bloody photos all over the place, and now my piano needs retuning. Still, I had that unicorn dream again, so it's not all bad.'
Title: Re:
Post by: Mabs on 23 September, 2013, 07:10:23 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:45:32 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 23 September, 2013, 05:39:48 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 September, 2013, 05:24:25 PM
It's as simple as that.

With a film like Blade Runner its never 'as simple as that',  ;)


Explain how Gaff knew Deckard's unicorn dream then.  Go on!!!   :P  :lol:

I'll concede that in the original release it seems pretty clear that Deckard is a human.  The bloody voiceover overrides any subtle nuance that may have led people to think otherwise.  Plus there was no unicorn at the end.

There are some who say that the Unicorn dream isn't Deckard's at all! I think it was Paul S. Sammon who proposed that view and gave quite a convincing theory .I'll try to see if I can dig it up from my Blade Runner 'Bible'!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 07:59:38 PM
QuoteRidley has gone on record, and firmly stated his belief in regards to the old 'Is he/Isnt he' thingy.
But he's wrong.

No... I think that like it or not, he is right...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 September, 2013, 08:05:38 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 07:59:38 PM
QuoteRidley has gone on record, and firmly stated his belief in regards to the old 'Is he/Isnt he' thingy.
But he's wrong.

No... I think that like it or not, he is right...


How so?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 08:17:49 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 23 September, 2013, 08:05:38 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 07:59:38 PM
QuoteRidley has gone on record, and firmly stated his belief in regards to the old 'Is he/Isnt he' thingy.
But he's wrong.

No... I think that like it or not, he is right...


How so?

Ummmm... he is the director. The movie is his vision. He makes the decisions. What he says is correct.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 September, 2013, 08:40:09 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 08:17:49 PM
Ummmm... he is the director. The movie is his vision. He makes the decisions. What he says is correct.

Nope. Not buying that.
Director, or not - Its purely his own view on what Blade Runner is. You either agree with that, or you dont.
Personally, i dont. Neither does Frank Darabont,  ;)

When i saw Ridley make that comment (on the Kermode Doc?) i felt it was wrong to state one way or the other (and by stating a preference i suppose ive fallen into that trap, as well), so now, just like the film itself, ill say its best left as it is; totally ambiguous.

But he's wrong, so very wrong...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 September, 2013, 08:45:08 PM
QuoteNope. Not buying that.
Director, or not - Its purely his own view on what Blade Runner is. You either agree with that, or you dont.
Personally, i dont. Neither does Frank Darabont,
None of that matters. Doesn't matter what you or Frank Darabont thinks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2013, 08:54:40 PM
NERD FIGHT

The director is not necessarily infallible, nor is he the last word - for instance, Paul Verhovan is on record as saying that Total Recall is a dream the main character is having, despite his directing several scenes that challenge this as a valid reading.

Once the material is out there, the audience can really interpret it as they see fit and it doesn't matter what the director - or writer - says was their original intention because now it is what it is - barring their re-releasing the work in an alternate form to suit their interpretation, of course.  In other words:
Theatrical version: not a replicant.
Director's Cut: replicant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 23 September, 2013, 09:16:28 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 23 September, 2013, 08:54:40 PM

Once the material is out there, the audience can really interpret it as they see fit and it doesn't matter what the director - or writer - says was their original intention because now it is what it is - barring their re-releasing the work in an alternate form to suit their interpretation, of course.  In other words:
Theatrical version: not a replicant.
Director's Cut: replicant.

Exactly !!....
Part of the 'beauty' of Blade Runner...( At least for me anyway ) is that even on numerous re-watches,  I'm not 100% convinced either way...... :-\
I've seen valid arguments for Yes he is a Replicant and No, he's not a Replicant and both seem to have equal merit.....
It's nothing less than a masterpiece of Sci-Fi....Thought provoking, intelligent and totally absorbing.....How else can you explain that 20+ years after it's been made, people are still arguing about  what the main character is ??.......

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 September, 2013, 09:36:55 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 23 September, 2013, 09:16:28 PM
I've seen valid arguments for Yes he is a Replicant

Really?




;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 September, 2013, 11:57:08 PM
I don't know which versions of Blade Runner I've seen but this is the first I've been exposed to an "is Deckard a replicant" idea.  It is a concept that is briefly explored in the book the film is loosely based upon but I never personally saw it in the film.  I always saw Deckard as being human.  I'll certainly be more attentive next time I watch the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 September, 2013, 12:10:56 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 September, 2013, 11:57:08 PM
I don't know which versions of Blade Runner I've seen but this is the first I've been exposed to an "is Deckard a replicant" idea.  It is a concept that is briefly explored in the book the film is loosely based upon but I never personally saw it in the film.  I always saw Deckard as being human.  I'll certainly be more attentive next time I watch the film.

In the directors cut you can spot a few clues;

1. The Unicorn dream Deckard has (or does he?  ;)) which suggests that he has a memory implant like Rachael, also Gaff leaves a unicorn origami in Deckard's apartment near the end which confirms that.

2. In one scene in Deckard's apartment, when Rachael comes to visit there's a brief moment you can see Deckard's eyes , or rather pupils, shining in a reddish/golden hue just like Rachael's does, a giveaway sign of a replicant

3. "kinship", the word uttered by Roy Batty as he grabs Deckard from the face of death near the end.

As for the theatrical version with the voice-over, these are missing (don't know about the "kinship" part though), which means Deckard is human (and it works better in that version).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 24 September, 2013, 12:20:58 AM
Blade Runner is a brilliant film, but one thing, Roy Batty does not say 'kinship', Rutger Hauer confirmed this :p

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 September, 2013, 12:29:41 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 24 September, 2013, 12:20:58 AM
Blade Runner is a brilliant film, but one thing, Roy Batty does not say 'kinship', Rutger Hauer confirmed this :p

Will

I think it was added by Ridley afterwards for reasons he knows! It is there though, you can hear it clearly with the sound up a bit. I think it was either Ridley or Paul Sammon who talks about it in one of the docs in the 5 disc collection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 September, 2013, 01:58:43 PM
No reason that Death of the Author shouldn't apply to directors too. Though I agree it's definitely a case of Theatrical v Directors cut (and ignoring the american release with the green hills and voiceover entirely please thank you)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 02:20:40 PM
Eh?

Whatever the Director has gone with is correct.  We seem to be mixing a couple of other ideas in here.  If Ridley created the movie with Deckard as human then he is human.  Then if some time later he re-edits a Director's Version where Deckard is still human then he is still human.  Fair enough, if he changed it in the Director's cut so that Deckard is now replicant but ultimately Ridley cannot be wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 September, 2013, 02:22:25 PM
Prometheus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 02:24:12 PM


Quote from: Theblazeuk on 24 September, 2013, 01:58:43 PM
No reason that Death of the Author shouldn't apply to directors too. Though I agree it's definitely a case of Theatrical v Directors cut (and ignoring the american release with the green hills and voiceover entirely please thank you)


There's also the workprint, which is the better version between all 3, I believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 02:33:12 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 02:20:40 PM
Eh?

Whatever the Director has gone with is correct.  We seem to be mixing a couple of other ideas in here.  If Ridley created the movie with Deckard as human then he is human.  Then if some time later he re-edits a Director's Version where Deckard is still human then he is still human.  Fair enough, if he changed it in the Director's cut so that Deckard is now replicant but ultimately Ridley cannot be wrong.

But Ridley didn't create or make it all by himself- at least two writers wrote the screenplay, based on Dick's book, and all with the intention that Deckard is human and wrote it to suit that idea, which I believe is the angle that makes it a stronger film. Ridley Scott's retro-active 'dicking' around with that fucks with the story and the moral questions it raised- Deckard is shagging a robot. I think Scott misses the point of why the story works.

To be honest I don't believe Ridley was too interested in the minute mechanics of the story back in 1981 but happy enough to keep a generally vague and uncertain feeling about it all as long as he got his visuals the way he wanted which was what he was more interested in. He was a different type of film-maker then and a little more abstract. The less he tends to be involved in the writing and development of his screenplays the better the films tend to be.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 03:02:31 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 02:33:12 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 02:20:40 PM
Eh?

Whatever the Director has gone with is correct.  We seem to be mixing a couple of other ideas in here.  If Ridley created the movie with Deckard as human then he is human.  Then if some time later he re-edits a Director's Version where Deckard is still human then he is still human.  Fair enough, if he changed it in the Director's cut so that Deckard is now replicant but ultimately Ridley cannot be wrong.

But Ridley didn't create or make it all by himself- at least two writers wrote the screenplay, based on Dick's book, and all with the intention that Deckard is human and wrote it to suit that idea, which I believe is the angle that makes it a stronger film. Ridley Scott's retro-active 'dicking' around with that fucks with the story and the moral questions it raised- Deckard is shagging a robot. I think Scott misses the point of why the story works.

To be honest I don't believe Ridley was too interested in the minute mechanics of the story back in 1981 but happy enough to keep a generally vague and uncertain feeling about it all as long as he got his visuals the way he wanted which was what he was more interested in. He was a different type of film-maker then and a little more abstract. The less he tends to be involved in the writing and development of his screenplays the better the films tend to be.

When I say correct, I mean - he is correct what the setup is in the movie.  Some people have suggested he is wrong about his own movie.  Ridley is the Director and it is his job to visualise the script and create the movie.  The result of the authors work is the book, the result of the screenwriters work is the script and the result of the Directors work is the movie. 

I agree with a lot of what you say but when he created the original, Deckard was human with a suggestion of replicant.  Time moved on and when Ridley did the directors cut he decided that actually Deckard was a replicant and changed the movie to suit that.  Some folks may not like it but Ridley is correct in what Deckard is in these movies. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 03:51:46 PM
I think it's a HUGE stretch to assume that finding the origami unicorn on the doormat confirms that not only is Deckard a replicant but that Gaff knows about his dreams - that may be one interpretation, but it's by no means certain. I always saw it's only narrative function being to tip off Deckard that Gaff is pursuing him, I've never heard this theory about him knowing Deckard's dreams before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 04:26:33 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 03:02:31 PM
Ridley is the Director and it is his job to visualise the script and create the movie.  The result of the authors work is the book, the result of the screenwriters work is the script and the result of the Directors work is the movie.

In blunt terms it is that way but for Blade Runner I don't think it's a clean-cut as that: Scott was hired by the studio to direct the film as much as the screenwriter was hired to write the film and none truly own the work. Unless the director is the sole author of the work, which Ridley is not, then neither roles can be completely compartmentalised and divorced from the final product. It might be that Scott's later interpretation is different to what what was originally intended by the primary creatives but their opinions, as much as Scott's, are valid in regards to the final product, which is still too vague to be decisive about, in my opinion.



Quote from: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 03:02:31 PMI agree with a lot of what you say but when he created the original, Deckard was human with a suggestion of replicant.  Time moved on and when Ridley did the directors cut he decided that actually Deckard was a replicant and changed the movie to suit that.  Some folks may not like it but Ridley is correct in what Deckard is in these movies.



In fairness to him - unlike other directors - I don't believe Scott, being respectful of the work, changed much or enough in The Final Cut to decisively conclude that Deckard is definitely a replicant (the unicorn is still a vague abstraction as are the amber eyes) and the main reason why many have come to the conclusion that Deckard is a replicant is because Ridley stated it much later on in interviews but the writer(s) - and even the two lead actors, Ford & Hauer - still have a different opinion on that- are they any less valid?

They were all primary contributors to the film and since the narrative end-result is primarily, in this case, both the screenwriter's and director's work, Scott's opinion is still really only his own and the 'pedestalling' of the director's vision and his opinion over everyone else's is more the cause of journalists (yes, blame them) and is not Scott's fault or indeed the whole picture. Even in its 'final' state, the film does not come down solidly in favour of either conclusion anymore than previously released versions, so it's anyone's to decide.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 September, 2013, 04:31:50 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 03:51:46 PM
I think it's a HUGE stretch to assume that finding the origami unicorn on the doormat confirms that not only is Deckard a replicant but that Gaff knows about his dreams - that may be one interpretation, but it's by no means certain. I always saw it's only narrative function being to tip off Deckard that Gaff is pursuing him, I've never heard this theory about him knowing Deckard's dreams before.

I agree. If Gaff knew Deckard was a skin job why tip him off? Just waste him and collect the bounty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 04:36:09 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 September, 2013, 04:31:50 PM
I agree. If Gaff knew Deckard was a skin job why tip him off? Just waste him and collect the bounty.

You could equally conclude Gaff is a replicant himself or he's a human who empathises with Deckard's plight as an innocent replicant, if we are hypothesisng the plot and not the theme to that degree.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 September, 2013, 04:38:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 September, 2013, 04:31:50 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 03:51:46 PM
I think it's a HUGE stretch to assume that finding the origami unicorn on the doormat confirms that not only is Deckard a replicant but that Gaff knows about his dreams - that may be one interpretation, but it's by no means certain. I always saw it's only narrative function being to tip off Deckard that Gaff is pursuing him, I've never heard this theory about him knowing Deckard's dreams before.

I agree. If Gaff knew Deckard was a skin job why tip him off? Just waste him and collect the bounty.

But that's assuming that the whole thing isn't just an elaborate set up to try to catch some extremely dangerous replicants as quietly and with as little fuss as possible. Before the other replicants went on the run there may not have ever been a Deckard. Maybe his whole life is an implant. Maybe he and Rachel will die 5 minutes after the credits roll and leaving the unicorn is just a sick little joke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2013, 04:48:55 PM
[Draws in breath through teeth] Now what you've got there mate is yer classic polysemous signs in a contested text. I can get you the signifiers secondhand, but your mediations are barely articulated and your totality is absent.  I'd leave well alone meself, find yourself a cheap structuralist analysis instead. [tuts]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 24 September, 2013, 04:59:10 PM
Quote from:  link=topic=31824.msg785814#msg785814 date=138003135
Some people have suggested he is wrong about his own movie. 

Some people suggested he was wrong to give a set-in-stone answer to a question, that was invented by him, about something that doesnt actually exist in the film.
In regards to this particular matter its purely his opinion, and carries no more weight than anyone else's.


Left one way or the other, it all actually works for me. And makes for a better, more layered, viewing experience.
I still dont think any cut leads you to the conclusion that is Ridley's supposed preference, though.






Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 24 September, 2013, 05:04:10 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 04:26:33 PM
In fairness to him - unlike other directors - I don't believe Scott, being respectful of the work, changed much or enough in The Final Cut to decisively conclude that Deckard is definitely a replicant (the unicorn is still a vague abstraction as are the amber eyes) and the main reason why many have come to the conclusion that Deckard is a replicant is because Ridley stated it much later on in interviews but the writer(s) - and even the two lead actors, Ford & Hauer - still have a different opinion on that- are they any less valid?

They were all primary contributors to the film and since the narrative end-result is primarily, in this case, both the screenwriter's and director's work, Scott's opinion is still really only his own and the 'pedestalling' of the director's vision and his opinion over everyone else's is more the cause of journalists (yes, blame them) and is not Scott's fault or indeed the whole picture. Even in its 'final' state, the film does not come down solidly in favour of either conclusion anymore than previously released versions, so it's anyone's to decide.

Yeah, some of this highlights the limitations of Directors Cuts - the original came out in 82, directors in the 90s and then final cut was a few years back wasn't it?  So, what did Ridley have to work with for the director's/final cuts? Only the stuff that had already been filmed but not put in.  I suspect there was not enough available to reflect his changed opinion. 

I have also seen interviews with Ford where he mentions that he and Ridley discussed this and agreed Deckard was human when filming the original version.  No problem, everyone seems to agree what was the case for the theatrical release.  But when Ridley changed things for later cuts, how much was Mr Ford involved? I suspect - not at all.

On the whole, I am not a fan of Director's Cuts - they are OK if you want to add some extra scenes for the fans but they are limited in how much you can do.  You really have to wonder if all this fiddling has improved anything. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 September, 2013, 05:22:43 PM
Maybe it's the Final Cut I've got lying about somewhere.

I'm still surprised this "is Deckard a replicant" issue is so decisive.  It never showed up on my radar so it's a shock to see the debate still rages on.

I'm not overly fond of directors continuously releasing different cuts of films.  Some one should be slapping their hands and dragging them out of the editing rooms.  In the end I think it only ends up undermining what they had hoped to achieve in the first place.

I understand why directors like to release a directors cut of a film, though and often I prefer the directors vision over the studios.  Not always, I don't like the Donnie Darko directors cut as much as the theatrical cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 24 September, 2013, 05:40:37 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 24 September, 2013, 01:58:43 PM
No reason that Death of the Author shouldn't apply to directors too.


QuoteNormally, when critically viewing a text, the author, his person, his life, his tastes, his passions, his declared intentions take the spotlight; the author is forced to take sole responsibility for the failure or success of the work. With this viewpoint the creator's work is a direct passage to the creator himself, which seems to take away from the text.

Information not said within the work dictates the work. Research must be done on the era of the writer, the sociopolitical stance of the writer, the context in which the work was written, etc. All of those elements culminate into the limitation and constriction of interpreting the text as nothing but itself.

The text itself comes to seem derivative, extracted from other works. The direct intent of the author may be muddled due to the translation from author to text to reader, the text ending up more of an immense dictionary than anything else. The inability of text to truly capture the passions, humours, feelings, impressions of the author are lost and infinitely deferred due to the subjectivity of the reader.

The reader comes empty handed to the text - it is as if a sculpture, a three dimensional work, is photographed, reduced to two dimensions. So much information is condensed and made inaccessible to the viewer that he must create it anew himself. The origin of a work may lie with the author, but its destination is with the reader ... the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author."

Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author (1967)


Of course, Barthes's own thesis suggests we shouldn't place any importance in what he meant to try to tell us about the respective roles of author and reader when interpreting a text.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 September, 2013, 05:41:59 PM
I've never seen Blade Runner. I'm starting to think maybe I should make the effort. It certainly inspires a lot of passion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 06:03:32 PM


Quote from: TordelBack on 24 September, 2013, 04:48:55 PM
I'd leave well alone meself, find yourself a cheap structuralist analysis instead. [tuts]


Agreed. The foundations of this build are shaky enough as they stand.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 24 September, 2013, 06:20:05 PM
It's worth remembering that Blade Runner was yanked out of Scott's hands by the studio before he was finished and neither he nor Ford ever liked the happy ending. Not forgetting the final cut is perfect example of how you use CGI years after a movie is released for a reason, unlike Lucas' tinkering with Star Wars, changes like removing visable wires, correcting out of out of sync speech and digitally replacing the stunt womans face with real actress's face, digitally stabilising the horn stuck on the horse, fixing the matte lines on some shots, fixing the day skyline when it's supposed to be night etc. etc.

I'm not a fan of creators tinkering with their movies years after the fact but I think Blade Runner is a good exception.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 September, 2013, 06:23:03 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 24 September, 2013, 05:41:59 PM
I've never seen Blade Runner. I'm starting to think maybe I should make the effort. It certainly inspires a lot of passion.

You haven't watc...what?!!!  :o

You should watch it a.s.a.p! (I recommend the Directors Cut/ Final Cut so you can better understand what everyone's on about!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 September, 2013, 06:33:50 PM


Blade Runner: the Final Cut. 26th Sept. 10pm BBC4.

Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 September, 2013, 06:35:23 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 24 September, 2013, 06:20:05 PM
It's worth remembering that Blade Runner was yanked out of Scott's hands by the studio before he was finished and neither he nor Ford ever liked the happy ending. Not forgetting the final cut is perfect example of how you use CGI years after a movie is released for a reason, unlike Lucas' tinkering with Star Wars, changes like removing visable wires, correcting out of out of sync speech and digitally replacing the stunt womans face with real actress's face, digitally stabilising the horn stuck on the horse, fixing the matte lines on some shots, fixing the day skyline when it's supposed to be night etc. etc.

I'm not a fan of creators tinkering with their movies years after the fact but I think Blade Runner is a good exception.

It definitely is a good move sheldipez. Also they didn't want to over do it too, there's some stuff they still left in apparently as it had become fan favourites! But the Final Cut improves the film visually, the first time I watched it my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets! The colours were really lush, and the dark dystopian feel of the film was exemplified. The CGI work is barely unnoticeable, and I for one love this version. Not forgetting Ridley also had proper input into its restoration and improvement.

Talking of restorations, did anyone watch the remastered version of the Godfather trilogy? It looks simply magnificent, hell even Part III feels like a different film!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2013, 06:36:27 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 24 September, 2013, 05:40:37 PM
Of course, Barthes's own thesis suggests we shouldn't place any importance in what he meant to try to tell us about the respective roles of author and reader when interpreting a text.

'At's the problem with yer foreign models, tendency to vanish up their own hermeneutics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 08:40:28 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2013, 04:36:09 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 September, 2013, 04:31:50 PM
I agree. If Gaff knew Deckard was a skin job why tip him off? Just waste him and collect the bounty.

You could equally conclude Gaff is a replicant himself or he's a human who empathises with Deckard's plight as an innocent replicant, if we are hypothesisng the plot and not the theme to that degree.

It just occurred to me that Philip K Dick would be loving this.

What if we're ALL replicants?  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 24 September, 2013, 08:46:05 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 08:40:28 PM
It just occurred to me that Philip K Dick would be loving this. What if we're ALL replicants?  :o

It wouldn't matter - we're still driven by the same irrational desires. That's the point of the version of the film which doesn't make it clear whether Deckard is a replicant, and that's what's suggested by the title of Dick's story.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 September, 2013, 08:55:11 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 24 September, 2013, 08:46:05 PM
It wouldn't matter - we're still driven by the same irrational desires.

Not even that irrational, really: "I want more life, fucker."*

Cheers!

Jim

*I much prefer this line to the sanitised version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 September, 2013, 09:28:29 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 September, 2013, 08:55:11 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 24 September, 2013, 08:46:05 PM
It wouldn't matter - we're still driven by the same irrational desires.

Not even that irrational, really: "I want more life, fucker."*

Cheers!

Jim

*I much prefer this line to the sanitised version.

Same here, you could almost see the shocked look on Tyrell's face when Roy Batty utters that. Whereas 'father' does not have that same shock value. We already know the father/ prodigal son allegory and don't need it reinforced. That was the only weak note for me in the Final Cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 11:29:43 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2013, 08:40:28 PM
It just occurred to me that Philip K Dick would be loving this.

What if we're ALL replicants?  :o

Well, he was!  ;)

(http://www.pkdandroid.org/images/andr-190.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 25 September, 2013, 11:44:38 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 11:29:43 AM
Well, he was!

The robot Philip K. Dick went missing, you know. I have a half-written proposal somewhere in which Robot Phil was 'liberated' by Hunter S. Thompson and they went on a road trip across the rust belt of the USA...

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 September, 2013, 11:49:05 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 September, 2013, 08:55:11 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 24 September, 2013, 08:46:05 PM
It wouldn't matter - we're still driven by the same irrational desires.

Not even that irrational, really: "I want more life, fucker."

I was thinking more of the desire to have ourselves validated by the love of another person - even if that person is a grab bag of other people's memories, which is motivated by its own irrational desire to have its existence validated by the love of another person. That's Dick's point, isn't it, that our selves are artificial creations; that we're all just taking random memories and assembling them in a way which constructs the person that we want to be?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 01:21:23 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 25 September, 2013, 11:44:38 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 11:29:43 AM
Well, he was!

The robot Philip K. Dick went missing, you know. I have a half-written proposal somewhere in which Robot Phil was 'liberated' by Hunter S. Thompson and they went on a road trip across the rust belt of the USA...

Cheers!

Jim

Ha!  Sounds like a good read, you should knuckle down and get it finished.

It's a much better ending than it being in some scrap metal dump or worse..... dressed up like a lady in some obsessive P K Dick fan's basement!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 September, 2013, 02:04:44 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 01:21:23 PM
Ha!  Sounds like a good read, you should knuckle down and get it finished.

It's a much better ending than it being in some scrap metal dump or worse..... dressed up like a lady in some obsessive P K Dick fan's basement!  :o

Keep your nose out of my basement!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2013, 03:49:51 PM
'Feels awkward because, despite all the shit Hawkmonger HAS watched, he has never seen Blade Runner'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 September, 2013, 04:16:36 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 25 September, 2013, 03:49:51 PM
Feels awkward because, despite all the shit Hawkmonger HAS watched, he has never seen Blade Runner

BBC Four, 10:00 PM, Thursday 26th September 2013 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00plcmt/Blade_Runner/)

I suspect it hasn't aged well. One scene in particular, where Indiana Jones does a bit of Roffman-style photographic enhancement to discover a lead, was really impressive at the time but will probably pass without remark from anyone born after 1990.

There isn't much too much narrative or characterisation, and the concentration on atmospherics means it moves at a glacial pace. The meat of the film really is all the metaphysical bollocks reproduced above. I suggest watching the second Matrix film directly before Blade Runner - it'll feel like a pacey model of cogent diagesis by comparison.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 September, 2013, 04:55:25 PM
Perhaps this will help Hawkmonger. Check out these amazing custom Blade Runner action figs.

(http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/geek-blade-runner.jpg)

http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/geek-blade-runner.jpg (http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/geek-blade-runner.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 September, 2013, 05:22:21 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 25 September, 2013, 04:16:36 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 25 September, 2013, 03:49:51 PM
Feels awkward because, despite all the shit Hawkmonger HAS watched, he has never seen Blade Runner

BBC Four, 10:00 PM, Thursday 26th September 2013 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00plcmt/Blade_Runner/)

I suspect it hasn't aged well. One scene in particular, where Indiana Jones does a bit of Roffman-style photographic enhancement to discover a lead, was really impressive at the time but will probably pass without remark from anyone born after 1990.

There isn't much too much narrative or characterisation, and the concentration on atmospherics means it moves at a glacial pace. The meat of the film really is all the metaphysical bollocks reproduced above. I suggest watching the second Matrix film directly before Blade Runner - it'll feel like a pacey model of cogent diagesis by comparison.

Yeah, I have to say that one of the things that keeps this off my top-ten list of films is the painfully slow sections within the film.  I have probably only watched it a few times in full, but countless times watched it in part and then abandoned it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 September, 2013, 06:19:10 PM
So, anyone seen any good films lately?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2013, 07:34:55 PM
Saw Gone With The Wind for the first time.  It was mostly shite, though some of the production is still really impressive even now.  The Gettysburg casualty list scene is amazing, but the film as a whole suffers for being... well, let us be charitable and say "nonjudgmental" about slavery apart from some arch comments from hedonist-ahead-of-his-time Rhett Butler, an unfairly-maligned screen character whose disdain for hypocrisy occasionally reaches self-destructive levels but is nonetheless endearing because it's directed at a bunch of assholes who've built their lives on the backs of humans in shackles.  There's a statement to the effect that the film is a glance into "the last gasp of the age of chivalry," but I see little evidence of that, it's mostly about a spoilt white bitch who could do with working for a living for a few years and maybe learning some manners.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 September, 2013, 07:50:04 PM

The incredible production design aside, I enjoyed Gone With The Wind for the same reason I like reading Dredd. It was one of the first films I can remember watching where the main character was obviously a bad person who did the wrong things for the wrong reasons and got away with it - and you're allowed to enjoy that.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 25 September, 2013, 09:48:01 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 25 September, 2013, 06:19:10 PM
So, anyone seen any good films lately?

Don't know as been on holidays for last two days, no tv, but for no reasons I got first DVD series of Breaking Bad, only in 3rd episode now, wow!!! That bath scene!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 26 September, 2013, 07:11:40 PM
Seven Psychopaths

Loved it, enjoyed it a lot more on my second viewing, the first time I found it hard to get into, as the first section seemed kinda formless to me, but I loved all of it on my second viewing. By the director of In Bruges, not as good, but it's an easier watch because it's not quite as morbid.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 26 September, 2013, 09:14:37 PM
I saw Rush this evening. It's definitely a cinema film - all loud roaring, crowd noise, spectacle etc.  Very entertaining, but not particularly deep. I liked the guy who portrayed Nikki Lauder. I actually found him much more engaging than the guy who played James Hunt.

Bear in mind I have a near pathological hatred for cars, and know nothing about Formula One, yet I still managed to enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 September, 2013, 09:58:36 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 26 September, 2013, 09:14:37 PM
I saw Rush this evening. It's definitely a cinema film - all loud roaring, crowd noise, spectacle etc.  Very entertaining, but not particularly deep. I liked the guy who portrayed Nikki Lauder. I actually found him much more engaging than the guy who played James Hunt.

Bear in mind I have a near pathological hatred for cars, and know nothing about Formula One, yet I still managed to enjoy it.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I'm planning on seeing it over the weekend. I'm not a huge F1 fan, but I used to watch it with my dad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 27 September, 2013, 12:33:33 AM
Well, Blade Runner (the Final Cut, although the info screen on Sky said it was the directors cut) was just shown on BBC Four so I watched it again. Strangely enough, I don't think there was any ad breaks during the broadcast, can anyone confirm this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 September, 2013, 07:02:26 AM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 27 September, 2013, 12:33:33 AM
Well, Blade Runner (the Final Cut, although the info screen on Sky said it was the directors cut) was just shown on BBC Four so I watched it again. Strangely enough, I don't think there was any ad breaks during the broadcast, can anyone confirm this?

The BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Revenue) is a publicly funded broadcaster and the terms of its charter preclude the use of advertising or product endorsement.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 27 September, 2013, 10:12:40 AM
No BBC channels have adverts, other than promotions for their own programming. And none of those interrupt programmes. Most noticeable when watching American shows like Buffy and you wonder why things keep cutting to black every 10 minutes.

Blows the minds of all the foreign types I associate with here in that London (very few from the brit cits in my social circles these days) yet something we take for granted. Ye not kenned this afore M1rt?

For meself I've been watching a couple of Wes Anderson movies at the behest of the miss. Bottle Rocket was ok, nice to see the Wilson boys so young, though ultimately a bit twee and detached for my tastes. Rushmore was better, lead characters still complete misfits that are utterly unrealistic in their place within the world and their relationships, yet sit much better within their context than the loonies of Bottle Rocket. Plus it had Bill Murray, and inspired a rewatch of Zombieland immediately afterwards for that very reason, so alls well that ends well. I still suspect Fantastic Mr Fox will be my favourite, as though it is mainly riding on Dahls tailcoats the neurotic introversion of Anderson's version sits comfortably well within my favourite Dahl book.

Not seeing the depth my wife puts in these movies though, they are quirky aye but deep...not so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 September, 2013, 10:48:02 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 27 September, 2013, 10:12:40 AM
I still suspect Fantastic Mr Fox will be my favourite, as though it is mainly riding on Dahls tailcoats the neurotic introversion of Anderson's version sits comfortably well within my favourite Dahl book.

Not seeing the depth my wife puts in these movies though, they are quirky aye but deep...not so much.

Don't expect a Roald Dahl film.  IMO Fantastic Mr Fox would have been better served with a different title and a disassociation from the book.  That's not the only problem with the film.

I liked Rushmore and Tenenbaums when I saw them.  Life Aquatic, however, was a bore fest and is one of the few films I've not watched to the end because it was sooooo dull.  Mr Fox just felt like my inner child was being spat on all the way through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 27 September, 2013, 11:28:29 AM
Seems a bit odd to criticise a Wes Anderson film for not being 'realistic'... Not sure he's aiming for realism.

Personally I'm not too keen on Bottle Rocket, really disliked The Darjeeling Limited and was lukewarm on The Life Aquatic, but I've loved pretty much everything else he's done. His style isn't for everyone, sure, but he's a shining light of individuality in an often bland film landscape. It's reassuring to me that a film like Moonrise Kingdom can make $80m at the box office.

Personally I loved what he did with Fantastic Mr Fox. It's a very slight book after all - a literal adaptation would have been about 20mins long. It's definitely one of the stronger Dahl adaptations, certainly better than the likes of the wretched Danny Devito Matilda movie or Tim Burton's ghastly Willy Wonka remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 27 September, 2013, 05:44:09 PM
Not so much about being realistic as basic plausibility. Oh and I've already seen Mr Fox and quite liked it, mainly because its not a straight adaptation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 September, 2013, 09:33:35 PM
Wes Anderson may well be my favourite director... him or the Cohen's. Rushmore and Life Aquatic are two of my favourite films of all time. The rest ain't bad but those two are just pretty hard to beat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 27 September, 2013, 10:34:19 PM
I like Wes Anderson, his 'quirky' style really appeals to me. But the Coen Brothers....my god. They are one special duo. Ever since my young eyes graced Miller's Crossing I've been a massive fan of theirs. Fargo is another film I love by them, as well as Raising Arizona. But for me, they absolutely surpassed themselves with No Country For Old Men, and True Grit. The latter of which is my favourite western since The Assassination of Jesse James.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 September, 2013, 11:22:46 PM
Yeah, I love those directors too. I thought 'The Life Aquatic' was an understated masterpiece, and Murrays best performance since Ghostbusters.

'Millers Crossing', 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Burn After Reading' are my fave Coen Brother films, each bringing something different to the table. The latter film woke me up to how utterly talented Brad Pitt is as an actor, and the very last lines of the film just complete it perfectly. Hilarious!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 September, 2013, 11:34:00 PM
Quoteand the very last lines of the film just complete it perfectly.

It is possibly my favourite final line in a movie ever! Up there with Alien and (yes!) Casino Royale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 28 September, 2013, 06:38:01 AM
THe J.K Simmons bit at the end? Ah I loved it! Coen Brothers are without a doubt my favourite film makers, Millers Crossing being my favourite film.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 September, 2013, 08:28:32 AM
It's a Funtime old world!
I'm genuinely surprised to see that so many people on the 2000ad board are fans of Wes Anderson. I can't bear his self consciously quirky brand of schmaltz. I've always found the Coen Brothers to be...well I was going to say overrated but it's probably not the right term. I've quite liked some of their films but none would be anywhere near my top 50.
Horses for courses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 28 September, 2013, 08:55:01 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 28 September, 2013, 06:38:01 AM
THe J.K Simmons bit at the end? Ah I loved it! Coen Brothers are without a doubt my favourite film makers, Millers Crossing being my favourite film.

Will

[spoiler]CIA SUPERIOR
What did we learn, Palmer?

CIA OFFICER
I don't know, sir.

CIA SUPERIOR
I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
   
CIA OFFICER
Yes, sir.
   
CIA SUPERIOR
I'm fucked if I know what we did.
   
CIA OFFICER
Yes, sir, it's, uh, hard to say
   
CIA SUPERIOR
Jesus Fucking Christ.
[/spoiler]

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 29 September, 2013, 11:11:50 AM
IRON MAN 3. Fun enough, rather a lot of zaniness for people self exploding but very good end battle with lots if Iron men suits zapping da bad guys and the brilliant rescue- the- fallers from the  plane scene. Not really well explained what Guy Pierce was ultimately after anyway, "Sir" Ben Kingsley stole the show iMHO and made a rather different Mandarin but the twist such as it was did just about work, alas no reveals for other Marvel movies at the end.

It was really winding me up who the voice of JARVIS was I and to look it up, the bloody credits being tiny on my old TV-Paul Bettany.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 September, 2013, 02:35:42 PM
Rush - Pseudo-biopic off the 1976 F1 season focusing on the 'rivalry' between James Hunt and Nicki Lauda. The race scenes were fun and Lauda's accident needlessly graphic, but in the end rather unsatisfying as it ends not with a conclusion, but more like a fadeout.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The original Swedish version. I've not read the book and I resisted seeing this one due to the rape scene. Good film, but the rape scene was way over the top for me and not really necessary. In the end it was a good film, but I'll never watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 September, 2013, 03:07:51 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 September, 2013, 02:35:42 PM
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The original Swedish version. I've not read the book and I resisted seeing this one due to the rape scene. Good film, but the rape scene was way over the top for me and not really necessary. In the end it was a good film, but I'll never watch it again.

Is it as bad as the rape scene in Irreversible?  That is one of the most harrowing things I've ever seen. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 September, 2013, 03:28:18 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 September, 2013, 03:07:51 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 September, 2013, 02:35:42 PM
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The original Swedish version. I've not read the book and I resisted seeing this one due to the rape scene. Good film, but the rape scene was way over the top for me and not really necessary. In the end it was a good film, but I'll never watch it again.

Is it as bad as the rape scene in Irreversible?  That is one of the most harrowing things I've ever seen.
No, it isn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 03 October, 2013, 04:59:33 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 22 September, 2013, 11:07:10 PM
Watched Blade Runner last night. One of the versions without the narration. Definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.

had you not seen it before?  I'm so jealous.  I'd love to see that again for first time.  I got the five disc special thing a few years ago with the workprint, the original theatrical us, the directors cut and the final cut (and another version i think).  I watched them all, but i still prefer the directors cut to all the rest, the original release version is like Dune - it looks awesome, but it makes no sense.

Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 October, 2013, 05:09:48 PM

Safe House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IfQY4fNcnw), which is the film for you if your favourite genre of film is the Routine Action Thriller with an unaccountably big star in what's ostensibly a supporting role (see also From Paris With Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvqHcADlhB4)). Before that, I finally got round to renting Prometheus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHkXMHyfpFg). You all warned me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 03 October, 2013, 08:04:41 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 03 October, 2013, 05:09:48 PM

Safe House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IfQY4fNcnw), which is the film for you if your favourite genre of film is the Routine Action Thriller with an unaccountably big star in what's ostensibly a supporting role (see also From Paris With Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvqHcADlhB4)). Before that, I finally got round to renting Prometheus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHkXMHyfpFg). You all warned me.

lol. Prometheus was SHITE
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 October, 2013, 08:08:17 PM
Promethe-ARSE
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 October, 2013, 08:15:29 PM

Easy, lads; this all ended in tears last time (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,33871.msg716683.html#msg716683).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 October, 2013, 10:39:35 PM
[spoiler]I liked it.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 October, 2013, 12:56:28 AM
Gravity.  Cavity more like. Nah, not really. See official thread for details.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 October, 2013, 08:35:14 AM
Rush. Twas very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 October, 2013, 04:28:39 PM
Blue Jasmine - I used to love Woody Allen but haven'y seen any of his films for years, mainly based on piss poor reviews. this is a return to form and I loved it. Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins are terrific.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 06 October, 2013, 01:05:58 AM
Heat, mainly because GTA V reminded me of it so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 06 October, 2013, 02:00:45 AM
World War Z (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no208-world-war-z.html) and The Shout. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no123-shout.html)

On this hungover day I also watched 'Extract' which has Jason Bateman and JK Simmons in it and it's directed by Mike Judge so it was always going to be a winner and 'The Expendables 2' which is as dumb and undemanding as you'd expect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 06 October, 2013, 02:23:37 AM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 20 September, 2013, 10:16:02 PM
Demons 2. The very shittest film I have ever seen. Tragically pathetic in concept, execution, plotting,  direction, script, acting, production, lighting, sound, special effects...even the key grip did a shitty job.

Without doubt, the most laughably shit film I have ever seen.

How has Dario Argento got any kind of reputation making rubbish like this?

Ha, well, I guess you have to like a "certain type of film" to enjoy the Demons films. I personally love both of them - but then I love "so-bad-they're-good" films, especially those of the Italian exploitation variety. I can't defend them from criticism like yours, and won't try, but damn it, I love them!

I do think the cinematography and lighting are quite good, though, by any standards. The sequences in the ruined city are really atmospheric.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 06 October, 2013, 02:44:09 AM
KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Loved it. Beautiful to look at, well written (people keep saying the script is awful?!) great performances, and it's very refreshing to see a film that ends at the perfect time! Also, that last line: [spoiler]This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community? Don't make me laugh! I'm living in America, and in America you're on your own. America's not a country, it's just a business... now fucking pay me![/spoiler]
By the way, what is the boards consensus towards this film, I seem to see a lot of negativity towards it elsewhere unfortunately.

I also got half way through the film TRANSSIBERIAN and then turned it off. Now that films IS badly written. Directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist), with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley among others. The performances were good... I guess, I dunno, I couldn't get over the laughable words they were spewing. I don't even know what to say about this film, I was really looking forward to watching it, but it's a film in which none of the characters are likeable, which is also the case in Killing Them Softly, but Killing Them Softly still makes an interesting film out of it (which is an impressive feat), where in this, the characters make irrational decisions, all act uncharacteristically to how they have been set up, and all feel like a GCSE drama students attempt to make 'deep' characters, who end up becoming all the more 2D because of it. THIS FILM MAKES ME ANGRY. ANGRY I SAY.
My friend tried to tell me I didn't like it because it was slow and I have no patience, which if you know me really isn't the case. Hell THE PROPOSITION and KILLING THEM SOFTLY are two of the best films I have seen this year. Know why? Because they're good.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 October, 2013, 09:44:28 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 October, 2013, 02:00:45 AM
World War Z (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no208-world-war-z.html) and The Shout. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no123-shout.html)

Those were both even more hilarious than usual; you should consider being drunk all the time - for the sake of your writing. Will: I enjoyed Killing Them Softly a lot, even if the parallels it was drawing between US politics/capitalism and the low life criminals it portrays are troweled on.

I watched Flight last night, which is a bit like Saving Private Ryan, in that it has an unforgettable, completely immersive and affecting first half hour, with which the rest of the drama struggles to compete. I found myself blubbing a few times, so director Zemeckis's mastery of emotional manipulation must be at least equal to his command of the thrills and scares of the film's opening. It's difficult to believe he's the same director who made Beowulf or that Denzel Washington's the same actor I watched cruise through Safe House on autopilot earlier this week.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 October, 2013, 10:28:18 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 06 October, 2013, 09:44:28 AMWill: I enjoyed Killing Them Softly a lot, even if the parallels it was drawing between US politics/capitalism and the low life criminals it portrays are troweled on.
Pretty much exactly this. Don't know if two counts as a consensus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 October, 2013, 11:03:16 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 October, 2013, 10:28:18 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 06 October, 2013, 09:44:28 AMWill: I enjoyed Killing Them Softly a lot, even if the parallels it was drawing between US politics/capitalism and the low life criminals it portrays are troweled on.
Pretty much exactly this. Don't know if two counts as a consensus.

Personally, I didn't like the film but I remember the consensus being pretty positive overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 October, 2013, 12:25:10 PM
Solomon Kane (another character created by Robert E. Howard, albeit lesser known than Conan) I must say I really enjoyed it! The opening was strong but the ending was weak but the film was a solid actioneer/ fantasy pic at least 2/3 of the way through until Balrog, sorry Balrog's distant cousin turns up for a showdown with our brooding hero. I loved the potrayal of Solomon Kane by James Purefoy, his look is very reminiscent of Van Helsing, but more badass. I loved the look and feel of the film which was set in medieval (or should that be medi-evil) England. There were some standout moments like Solomon's encounter with the creepy transmorphing witch and some excellent supporting turns from the late Pete Postlethwaite and a brief cameo from Max von Sydow, both of whom bring some gravitas to proceedings. I miss Pete Postlethwaite, he was snatched away from us too soon.  :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 October, 2013, 04:32:15 PM
Revenge of the Nerds.

Good fun. It's very much of its time and there's some very dubious sexual morality! I did laugh though and there's the obligatory 80s college girl dorm room nudity scene. They don't make 'em like this any more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 October, 2013, 11:14:21 AM
Robot & Frank. An O.A.P. gets a robot carer because his kids can't be arsed with him any more. There's not much to this film but I enjoyed it a lot. Very little of all that "does it have a soul" piffle and muchos kudos for getting all the way through without even a mention of Isaac or, indeed, any Asimovian hand-wringing at all. And the actors could all act, too - which seems to be a bonus in this day and age. 7.5/10.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 07 October, 2013, 11:54:29 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 October, 2013, 11:14:21 AM
Robot & Frank. An O.A.P. gets a robot carer because his kids can't be arsed with him any more. There's not much to this film but I enjoyed it a lot. Very little of all that "does it have a soul" piffle and muchos kudos for getting all the way through without even a mention of Isaac or, indeed, any Asimovian hand-wringing at all. And the actors could all act, too - which seems to be a bonus in this day and age. 7.5/10.

I really enjoyed this film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 07 October, 2013, 01:50:25 PM
This is The End - comedy film starring Seth Rogen, James Franco and a few others from Pineapple Express; also features Emma Watson and Rihanna. 
The Apocalypse comes to Hollywood with not exactly hilarious consequnces, but it has some funny moments.
Not bad overall.

Day of the Dead - the original version. I'm a big fan of George Romero's 'Dead' films. Some of the acting is a bit over the top but all in all a very good watch indeed.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 October, 2013, 02:31:32 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 October, 2013, 11:14:21 AM
Robot & Frank. An O.A.P. gets a robot carer because his kids can't be arsed with him any more. There's not much to this film but I enjoyed it a lot. Very little of all that "does it have a soul" piffle and muchos kudos for getting all the way through without even a mention of Isaac or, indeed, any Asimovian hand-wringing at all. And the actors could all act, too - which seems to be a bonus in this day and age. 7.5/10.

I enjoyed this film very much. Proper science fiction if you ask me. I'd like to see more films like this.

The Girl Who Played with Fire - After seeing the first film my wife really wants to finish the other two. I relented on the grounds there would be no more rape scenes. [spoiler]Fuck. Almost the first thing they do is show highlights of that scene again.[/spoiler] Good film overall, nice tension and not too predictable an ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 07 October, 2013, 03:32:50 PM
This is The End ...

Banter about not raping Emma Watson alone ... funny, but in a very awkward way
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 October, 2013, 03:59:12 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 October, 2013, 02:31:32 PM
The Girl Who Played with Fire - After seeing the first film my wife really wants to finish the other two. I relented on the grounds there would be no more rape scenes.

My own better half loved the book, and we watched the first (Swedish version) movie, which was a fine film, except for aforementioned rape scene, which put me off watching the others, let alone reading the books.  Do not need that in my entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: bluemeanie on 08 October, 2013, 12:12:11 AM
Oblivion
Pretty good slice of sci-fi spoiled mainly by my inability not to try and work out the story before they told it to me. Felt like an outer limits with an insane budget.

The Heat
Odd couple/buddy cop movie but with women for a change. Really enjoyed it. Iz LOVED it. Seen the same type of film loads of times but the switch to female leads and the fact they were both funny and enjoyable to watch made it feel different. Not gonna be for everybody but a fun film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 08 October, 2013, 01:28:35 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 October, 2013, 03:59:12 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 October, 2013, 02:31:32 PM
The Girl Who Played with Fire - After seeing the first film my wife really wants to finish the other two. I relented on the grounds there would be no more rape scenes.

My own better half loved the book, and we watched the first (Swedish version) movie, which was a fine film, except for aforementioned rape scene, which put me off watching the others, let alone reading the books.  Do not need that in my entertainment.

You guys should stay away from Irreversible, then! Makes that film look like Sesame Street
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 October, 2013, 11:33:28 AM
Caught The Talented Mr Ripley on Netflix last night - a film I hadn't seen since it first came out on video back in 2000.

Bit longer than I remember, but still a truly fantastic movie. Superb cast and performances, especially Damon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 October, 2013, 12:18:59 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 October, 2013, 11:33:28 AM
Caught The Talented Mr Ripley on Netflix last night - a film I hadn't seen since it first came out on video back in 2000.

Bit longer than I remember, but still a truly fantastic movie. Superb cast and performances, especially Damon.

Agreed.
Loved Ripley's Game too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 October, 2013, 12:30:08 PM
I haven't seen that one - is it intended as a 'proper' sequel to TTMR, or just a separate, unrelated adaptation of a later book?

PJ Maybe form Dredd is at least based on Ripley, isn't he?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2013, 01:02:38 PM
Going to see Filth tomorrow. It is one of the last films I was looking forward to this year. Looks very British to purlt it simply.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 October, 2013, 01:09:36 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 October, 2013, 12:30:08 PM
I haven't seen that one - is it intended as a 'proper' sequel to TTMR, or just a separate, unrelated adaptation of a later book?

PJ Maybe form Dredd is at least based on Ripley, isn't he?

It's hard to say if its a 'proper' sequel or not, I took it as an older actor portraying an older Ripley that could well have been a continuation of TTMR.
Malkovich acts rings around Damon IMO, so I found this a more satisfying film all told.

PJ Maybe was likely inspired by Ripley alright- and Wagner likely enjoyed The Wasp Factory too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 October, 2013, 05:32:51 PM
There are half a dozen Ripley books and the Malkovitch film is an adaptation of one of the later ones. It's a shame it didn't do better box office as I thought he played it well and would have liked to have seen him in more. Anyone seen the original film adaptation of Talented.. called Plein Soleil? It's a French film starring a young Alain Delon and is a better version I think. Worth hunting down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 08 October, 2013, 06:01:36 PM
I watched Inglourious Basterds again. Superb film making by Tarantino once again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 October, 2013, 06:41:56 PM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 08 October, 2013, 01:28:35 AM
You guys should stay away from Irreversible, then! Makes that film look like Sesame Street

I saw that film just over 10 years ago and it still haunts me today... well, that one particular scene (the one with the fire extinguisher was pretty memorable also).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 08 October, 2013, 07:25:02 PM
I watched Reservoir Dogs again for the first time in over 15 years last night. Bloody hell, I forgot how good it was!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 October, 2013, 07:32:59 PM
Filth.


Crap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2013, 07:36:16 PM
Well that doesn't bode well for tomorrows outing. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 October, 2013, 08:10:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 October, 2013, 07:36:16 PM
Well that doesn't bode well for tomorrows outing. :lol:

I wrote a bit more about it in the Filth thread but it's not very eloquent! The whole experience made me feel a bit angry and put me in a bad mood. I had to have a cup of tea and read Jack Kirby's 2001 adaptation to cheer myself up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 October, 2013, 10:53:40 PM

The Hunter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW6W36-oWCU), with Willem Dafoe, which I enjoyed a lot.

(http://media.aintitcool.com/coolproduction/ckeditor_assets/pictures/5259/original/the-hunter-poster-405x600.jpg?1327693705)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 October, 2013, 11:28:47 PM
I had my issues with the first movie, but it was at least an amusing superhero comedy if taken at face value.  Kick Ass 2, however, is easily one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life.  Watching it, at some point I thought "fuck me, this must be what Garth Ennis feels like all the time when it comes to superheroes."  Just because you pretend to be comedy (on that score, jokes are always a good idea), that's no excuse for thinking internal logic is something that happens to other films - you need to go from a to b to c, there has to be a progression, an evolution from plot threads and story elements sown earlier, but this was just some scenes that were in the same film for some reason.  Utterly nonsensical, the experience was akin to spending two hours in a room with a teenager no-one likes when he has his first beer: devoid of even the slightest sliver of awareness of itself and what a fucking twat it sounds like.

Speaking of not having any jokes, Boss Nigger is basically Blazing Saddles, and not just because I was biting my knuckle every time someone said a certain word that has appeared in this sentence once but will not do so again, but because it has exactly the same plot, which the proprietary theme describes succinctly:
Black man
In a white man town
He so bad
Now they call him Boss.
Boss rides into town, declares himself sheriff, then the rest of Blazing Saddles happens as expected including the big fight at the end and the bit where Boss and his sidekick ride away.  Like most blaxploitation movies, it doesn't really hold up outside an appreciation for the genre as a low-rent and politicised alternative voice to mainstream cinema, which is a purdy way of saying that though enjoyable it's still total horseshit.  But fun horseshit... are you paying attention, Kick Ass 2?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 October, 2013, 11:46:27 PM



There were no more ideas left after Kick-Ass Uno (they even dumped the conceit half-way through that) which is probably one of the reasons why Vaughan & Goldman jumped ship leaving the writing and directing to Wadlow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 09 October, 2013, 11:53:54 PM
DAEMONIUM: La Hora Cero, the film that took the top prize at Wasteland Film Festival in California.

I watched it yesterday & today. Really enjoyed it. Argentinean production in Spanish with subtitles (which is good by me, I hate dubbed movies).

It's a post apocalyptic world, a team of soldiers have been searching for a portal from which they can summon a demon. One of the soldiers, Razor has found it...

There is a review on my blog & a link to the video. Was talking earlier to one of the crew who +Friend me on Facebook after reading the review. Another film is due out possibly end of November.

I'm recommending this one to my mates.

http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/daemonium-the-zero-hour-a-short-film-embeded-video-of-full-film/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 10 October, 2013, 01:28:50 AM
FINALLY got around to seeing District 9.

And it was much better than I thought it would be!

Quite frankly, the premise of this movie always struck me as boring and a little bit heavy-handed. I'm thankful to see I got it wrong. BRILLIANT CG aliens throughout. Think I'll have to watch this one again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2013, 08:39:57 AM
Quote from: HdE on 10 October, 2013, 01:28:50 AMBRILLIANT CG aliens throughout.

This is one of the interesting things about District 9.  Despite having a famously low budget, the CGI aliens are superbly convincing - possibly the most successfully sustained CG screen aliens yet - even though the effects themselves are relatively crude.  Much as with a good man-in-a-suit or latex puppet job, it works because the audience is disposed to believe it's an alien, not because it has sooper-dooper ultra-res refraction-fidelity or somesuch.  I'll take prawns over Gungans or Na'vi any day*.



*Little bit of themed racism there, nudge nudge, bit of politics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2013, 08:50:18 AM
Filth. Now bear in mind the fact I have never read the book, or watched or read anything vaguely related to it. I went in practically blind with only the expectation that it was going to be characteristics bleak. So what did I think of it? Meh. It straddles the line between being good and bad, having abysmal moments followed by some rather good ones. Its never awful enough to make me hate it, at its worst the animal hallucinations felt like a step to far, though they do serve a porpoise to show the collapse of Bruce's mind and the revelation at the beginning of the final act was clever if not completely ridiculous. The contrast between the otherworldliness set inside Bruce's home with Carroll, set against the blackness of Bruce's life, underlined just how far his psych had fallen. The hallucinations where offsetting though.

Its not going to make my worst list, but its not going to make my best list either. Its a curious piece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2013, 09:39:33 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 October, 2013, 08:50:18 AM...the animal hallucinations ...they do serve a porpoise...

This I gotta see!   :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2013, 10:23:10 AM
I think we all know I was referring to the Cetacean when I wrote that. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 October, 2013, 10:45:37 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 October, 2013, 08:39:57 AM
Quote from: HdE on 10 October, 2013, 01:28:50 AMBRILLIANT CG aliens throughout.

This is one of the interesting things about District 9.  Despite having a famously low budget, the CGI aliens are superbly convincing - possibly the most successfully sustained CG screen aliens yet - even though the effects themselves are relatively crude.  Much as with a good man-in-a-suit or latex puppet job, it works because the audience is disposed to believe it's an alien, not because it has sooper-dooper ultra-res refraction-fidelity or somesuch.  I'll take prawns over Gungans or Na'vi any day*.



*Little bit of themed racism there, nudge nudge, bit of politics.

Same here, and Prawn tastes better than smurf and knob put together. Actually that came out wrong!

The Na'vi 'smurfs' looked very photounrealistic at times, and the knob Jar Jar did not look convincing at times. Maybe he was too cartoony in his rendering, sorta like a Warner Bros. cartoon character stuck in a live action film. I much preferred the Ewoks to be honest!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 10 October, 2013, 11:14:56 AM
Yup, they did a fantastic job on District 9 with some of the design elements.  It seems to be really hard to come up with decent aliens in movies - I have seen far more rubbish ones than decent ones.  The ones in D19 were different and believable.  I also thought the mothership (or whatever it was) was good too - nowadays we seem to be bombarded with floppy CGI spaceships whereas this one looked like it had real 'mass' to it.

I thought they were supposed to be doing a sequel to this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 10 October, 2013, 11:29:21 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 10 October, 2013, 11:14:56 AM
Yup, they did a fantastic job on District 9 with some of the design elements.  It seems to be really hard to come up with decent aliens in movies - I have seen far more rubbish ones than decent ones.  The ones in D19 were different and believable.  I also thought the mothership (or whatever it was) was good too - nowadays we seem to be bombarded with floppy CGI spaceships whereas this one looked like it had real 'mass' to it.

I thought they were supposed to be doing a sequel to this?

Last I heard there was a treatment for the sequel but Blomkamp was busy so didn't think he'd get around to it anytime soon. Whether the studio will get someone else is another thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 October, 2013, 11:42:04 AM
I thought the robots in Elysium were by far the most convincing cgi 'characters' I've ever seen in a film - they had a real weight to them. Shame they didn't apply the same level of polish to the script or story...

As for D9, I think what makes the film work is that it is first and foremost a character piece, then at the end, it just goes bananas, with some of the most awesome, crazy action scenes I have ever seen in anything. The commentary on/parallels with immigration, segregation etc is there, and yes it's a little on the nose, but it isn't really ever at the forefront - it just adds a little meat on the bones of a terrific sci-fi action thriller.

If you want to talk about heavy-handed social commentary smothering a film, watch Elysium....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 10 October, 2013, 11:43:14 AM
Filth, I enjoyed it :P S'all I'm gonna say. Scratch that, I really enjoyed it.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 October, 2013, 07:53:59 PM

Just watch 12 Monkeys on DVD, not see it for years, and still brilliant film! So brutal time travel! Bruce and Brad was so good!

I do like its clever editing to the end, as you just forgot about Bruce's dream till when you just saw the boy.  Brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 October, 2013, 08:05:31 PM
Now I want to watch 12 Monkeys! Haven't seen it in years. Best telephone weaponisation in film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 October, 2013, 08:23:16 PM
I also want to watch 12 Monkey's again, it's been years. That and Gilliam's other time travelling caper, Time.Bandits. And Brazil too! Those trio of films are Gilliam's best. I wish he would do something in that same vein again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2013, 08:29:10 PM
Watching Time Bandits right now on a spanking new BD from Arrow Video. Its still bloody good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 October, 2013, 09:09:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 October, 2013, 08:29:10 PM
Watching Time Bandits right now on a spanking new BD from Arrow Video. Its still bloody good stuff.

And so it should be - it was one of my favourite films growing up as a kid in the 80's! Of course stuff like Star Wars and Indiana Jones were my favourite brain food as a child, but there were films such as Time Bandits or Q The Winged Serpent (which I was allowed to watch late at night with my grandparents!) that were real treats at the time. I remember 'The Head' from Time Bandits ("give me the map!") used to scare the bejesus out of me (and probably still does!).  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 October, 2013, 09:12:22 PM
Still amazing that they got Sean Connery for it, David Warner so brilliant creepy as the Evil!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 October, 2013, 09:22:52 PM
Brilliant film Time Bandits. I must get a hold of it and watch it again. Off to amazon for 24hr shipping...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 10 October, 2013, 09:26:32 PM
'And how long have you been a thief...?'
'Four foot three, sir.'
'Four foot three? My goodness, that is a long time.'

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 October, 2013, 09:26:48 PM
Time Bandits is terrifically creepy and the Robin Hood section is hilarious!
Sean Connery's fatherly Agamemnon is wonderful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 12:55:19 AM
prior to seeing 12 monkeys, which i was really looking forward to, i was out with a group of friends.  I said "hey I'm going to see 12 monkeys tomorrow night, I'm really excited about it" (or something like that).

Andrew Hamilton, for he should be named and shamed, said "oh yeah, i saw that a few nights ago.  I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure what it was about.  I mean, at the start of the film bruce willis is having like a memory of something he saw and at the end of the film [spoiler]he realises he saw himself as an adult getting shot when he was a kid.[/spoiler] I don't think that's a spoiler.  Is that a spoiler? anyway, i didn't get it."

Yeah, that was actually a big spoiler mate. thanks
dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 01:26:44 AM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 12:55:19 AM
prior to seeing 12 monkeys, which i was really looking forward to, i was out with a group of friends.  I said "hey I'm going to see 12 monkeys tomorrow night, I'm really excited about it" (or something like that).

Andrew Hamilton, for he should be named and shamed, said "oh yeah, i saw that a few nights ago.  I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure what it was about.  I mean, at the start of the film bruce willis is having like a memory of something he saw and at the end of the film [spoiler]he realises he saw himself as an adult getting shot when he was a kid.[/spoiler] I don't think that's a spoiler.  Is that a spoiler? anyway, i didn't get it."

Yeah, that was actually a big spoiler mate. thanks
dave

Yeah, But I clocked that from the opening scene, so it wasn't much of a twist for me...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 01:26:44 AM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 12:55:19 AM
prior to seeing 12 monkeys, which i was really looking forward to, i was out with a group of friends.  I said "hey I'm going to see 12 monkeys tomorrow night, I'm really excited about it" (or something like that).

Andrew Hamilton, for he should be named and shamed, said "oh yeah, i saw that a few nights ago.  I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure what it was about.  I mean, at the start of the film bruce willis is having like a memory of something he saw and at the end of the film [spoiler]he realises he saw himself as an adult getting shot when he was a kid.[/spoiler] I don't think that's a spoiler.  Is that a spoiler? anyway, i didn't get it."

Yeah, that was actually a big spoiler mate. thanks
dave

Yeah, But I clocked that from the opening scene, so it wasn't much of a twist for me...

ooh, get you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 October, 2013, 10:03:35 AM
Oooo, some excellent films.

I love Time Bandits alongside Baron Munchausen and especially Brazil.  Twelve Monkeys is a favourite as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 October, 2013, 10:11:36 AM

Yep 12 Monkeys still brilliant, that walk in empty city with zoo animals still so haunted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 11 October, 2013, 10:20:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 October, 2013, 10:03:35 AM
Oooo, some excellent films.

I love Time Bandits alongside Baron Munchausen and especially Brazil.  Twelve Monkeys is a favourite as well.

Yes, you cant beat a bit o' Time Bandits. Have given thought to buying that new-ish Blu-Ray. Anyone who has it; Is it a recommended purchase?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 11 October, 2013, 12:38:28 PM
Woochi
Big budget Korean film about wizards fighting rabbit faced goblins in the past and present.

Its got a few faults (a bit of crap CGI in places) but is brimming with new and intelligent ideas. Lies somewhere between Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger. I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 October, 2013, 12:51:26 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 11 October, 2013, 10:20:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 October, 2013, 10:03:35 AM
Oooo, some excellent films.

I love Time Bandits alongside Baron Munchausen and especially Brazil.  Twelve Monkeys is a favourite as well.

Yes, you cant beat a bit o' Time Bandits. Have given thought to buying that new-ish Blu-Ray. Anyone who has it; Is it a recommended purchase?
Yes. Yes yes yes. Its a stunning package and well worth a tenner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 October, 2013, 02:55:53 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 October, 2013, 10:03:35 AM
Oooo, some excellent films.

I love Time Bandits alongside Baron Munchausen and especially Brazil.  Twelve Monkeys is a favourite as well.

Uh now I've not seen Brazil for ages (on my Lovefilm list) but its one of these films that I worry if and when I see it again it can't meet up with my memories of it as I recall it being truly magnificent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 03:06:25 PM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 01:26:44 AM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 12:55:19 AM
prior to seeing 12 monkeys, which i was really looking forward to, i was out with a group of friends.  I said "hey I'm going to see 12 monkeys tomorrow night, I'm really excited about it" (or something like that).

Andrew Hamilton, for he should be named and shamed, said "oh yeah, i saw that a few nights ago.  I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure what it was about.  I mean, at the start of the film bruce willis is having like a memory of something he saw and at the end of the film [spoiler]he realises he saw himself as an adult getting shot when he was a kid.[/spoiler] I don't think that's a spoiler.  Is that a spoiler? anyway, i didn't get it."

Yeah, that was actually a big spoiler mate. thanks
dave

Yeah, But I clocked that from the opening scene, so it wasn't much of a twist for me...

ooh, get you!

Heh... I've read too many Future Shocks...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 October, 2013, 05:07:46 PM

Society, debuts on blu-ray in Germany (http://www.amazon.de/Society-Blu-ray-Billy-Warlock/dp/B00DZFMC1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381507118&sr=8-1&keywords=society).

Like its thematically similar and also under-rated brother, They Live (1988), it's still as brilliant and as mad as it was in 1989. There was definitely something in the air back in late 80's California.


(http://img.bluray-disc.de/files/filme/Society-1989-DE.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 October, 2013, 05:11:30 PM
Its due in the UK very soon from Second Sight also.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 October, 2013, 05:31:42 PM

It's a classic - do I really need to tell you which was my favourite scene as a kid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5tJ4Zs6Hs)? Why nobody seems willing or able to offer some social commentary or satire along with nasty thrills anymore is a mystery to me. It all went a bit wrong when everyone started trying to shoehorn didactic ecological messages into films like Godzilla (1998) and Saturday morning cartoons.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 October, 2013, 06:56:07 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 11 October, 2013, 05:07:46 PM

Society, debuts on blu-ray in Germany (http://www.amazon.de/Society-Blu-ray-Billy-Warlock/dp/B00DZFMC1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381507118&sr=8-1&keywords=society).

Like its thematically similar and also under-rated brother, They Live (1988), it's still as brilliant and as mad as it was in 1989. There was definitely something in the air back in late 80's California.


(http://img.bluray-disc.de/files/filme/Society-1989-DE.jpg)

Been on my Lovefilm list for ages in the hope that it'll eventually get a release.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 October, 2013, 08:18:02 PM
I adore They Live - one of Carpenter's best, if you ask me.  What's ironic is that some of the messages you couldn't see on billboards and clothes without those sunglasses are now appearing on clothing in the present day, in the same bold type - words like 'OBEY' etc.  The snake just keeps eating itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 12 October, 2013, 04:00:29 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 03:06:25 PM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 October, 2013, 01:26:44 AM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 11 October, 2013, 12:55:19 AM
prior to seeing 12 monkeys, which i was really looking forward to, i was out with a group of friends.  I said "hey I'm going to see 12 monkeys tomorrow night, I'm really excited about it" (or something like that).

Andrew Hamilton, for he should be named and shamed, said "oh yeah, i saw that a few nights ago.  I didn't really like it.  I'm not sure what it was about.  I mean, at the start of the film bruce willis is having like a memory of something he saw and at the end of the film [spoiler]he realises he saw himself as an adult getting shot when he was a kid.[/spoiler] I don't think that's a spoiler.  Is that a spoiler? anyway, i didn't get it."

Yeah, that was actually a big spoiler mate. thanks
dave

Yeah, But I clocked that from the opening scene, so it wasn't much of a twist for me...

ooh, get you!

Heh... I've read too many Future Shocks...

lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 12 October, 2013, 04:13:05 AM
Dark City : The Directors Cut (blu-ray) I have had this on dvd for some time but when I saw the directors cut blu-ray for 10 dollars I really couldn't say no. For anyone who hasn't seen it, I highly recommend it. I guess you would say it has a steampunk/noir/dystopian/alternate past kind of vibe about it.

From memory, there is about 10-15 minutes extra in the directors cut which I would say is the version to see. For anyone who has the dvd, it is definitely worth upgrading to blu-ray for the boost in picture/audio quality.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 12 October, 2013, 04:32:59 AM
just watched pacific rim.  disappointed.  Del Toro usually makes films much better than this.

regards
Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 October, 2013, 07:08:51 AM
Tucker & Dale Vs Evil

Fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 12 October, 2013, 08:02:19 AM
Elysium.  Very frustrating because the director can make things look and feel great, but the plot has some massive holes in it which I found distracting.  [spoiler]As in - the super hackable computer system, the way a computer glitch just solved everyone's problems - after we came out, I said to Roy, 'If someone hacked the computer systems of the Australian government and made every Iranian and Afghan asylum seeker an Australian citizen, do you think our government would let them all in?' [/spoiler]
  I loved the Suth Ifrikan baddie though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 October, 2013, 09:25:25 PM

Spring Breakers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dNp4u4LZ0FE#t=71); which is interesting, but only really to the extent that it's a series of variations upon this oddly fascinating scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dNp4u4LZ0FE#t=3825). The combination of striking slow motion visuals and music works every time, and it's notable for its use of Skrillex (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSeNSzJ2-Jw), especially the orchestral version of that tune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqjJT8v4V1c) which scores the blood soaked finale.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 October, 2013, 10:46:56 PM
I've just seen Prisoners, that Hugh Jackman film. It's a slow building and tense film. I'm not sure I enjoyed it as such - it was all rather grim. Worth watching once though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2013, 12:21:04 AM
Turbo.  An uninspiring concept for a feature, but actually surprisingly fun.  The animation and overall design is good if rather safe, and its human milieu of down-at-heel largely non-whites is refreshing.  It cheats a bit with very heavy referencing of the exciting parts of other movies, not least when it uses Eye of the Tiger over one of its climactic montages, the plot is very nonsensical (snail elements aside), and there is entirely too much talking. 

It has one rather strange aspect, which is that it has no villain until literally the closing moments.  Even then the de facto baddie has been a largely sympathetic or at least understandable rival throughout, particularly where he rather heroically [spoiler]single-handedly drags the wreck of his race car to the finish line[/spoiler], his only real act of dastardy coming within inches of the chequered flag, and even then it's one clearly born of frustration.

But yeah, well worth a look for those with sprogs to pacify and divert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 October, 2013, 06:23:27 PM

The Hole by Joe Dante as recorded it last night and watch it today, so enjoy it, feelings like watch 80s type film. It very creepy it looks kids friendly film but not for kids to watch alone!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 October, 2013, 09:10:52 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 13 October, 2013, 06:23:27 PM

The Hole by Joe Dante as recorded it last night and watch it today, so enjoy it, feelings like watch 80s type film. It very creepy it looks kids friendly film but not for kids to watch alone!

Yeah, that's a fun film, and even better in 3D. I did watch it with my girls, and it did freak them out a bit, but in a Goonies/Ghostbusters kind of way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 October, 2013, 10:37:12 AM
I thought you were referring to the British movie of the same name, The Hole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hole_%282001_film%29). Which is alright but not something you'd describe as kids friendly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 October, 2013, 01:24:08 PM
I finally got to see Scott Pilgrim vs the world recently - Once you buy into the silliness, it's a really enjoyable film. Particularly liked the gay roommate and the unhappy drummer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 14 October, 2013, 09:07:58 PM
Monsters.

That one about the two people traveling across Central America during an invasion of giant randy octopuses.

Very dull, with little to interest the watcher- few scenes of peril or jeopardy, a boring main cast consisting of man-who-sounds-like-David-Duchovny and woman-who-looks-like-Gwyneth-Paltrow-crossed-with-Hannah-Spearitt, a predictable will they/ won't they subplot, and... not much else, really.

Not something I would want to watch again.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 October, 2013, 09:09:11 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 October, 2013, 09:07:58 PM
Monsters.

That one about the two people traveling across Central America during an invasion of giant randy octopuses.

Very dull, with little to interest the watcher- few scenes of peril or jeopardy, a boring main cast consisting of man-who-sounds-like-David-Duchovny and woman-who-looks-like-Gwyneth-Paltrow-crossed-with-Hannah-Spearitt, a predictable will they/ won't they subplot, and... not much else, really.

Not something I would want to watch again.

SBT

It's on lowest than low budget, what else you do can want?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 October, 2013, 09:21:10 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 October, 2013, 09:07:58 PM
Monsters. That one about the two people traveling across Central America during an invasion of giant randy octopuses.

SBT

Welcome back, your majesty; your throne has lain empty these long months. We await your queer reading of Expendables 2 like dogs watching chicken cook in an oven.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 October, 2013, 09:26:34 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 14 October, 2013, 09:09:11 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 14 October, 2013, 09:07:58 PM
Monsters.

That one about the two people traveling across Central America during an invasion of giant randy octopuses.

Very dull, with little to interest the watcher- few scenes of peril or jeopardy, a boring main cast consisting of man-who-sounds-like-David-Duchovny and woman-who-looks-like-Gwyneth-Paltrow-crossed-with-Hannah-Spearitt, a predictable will they/ won't they subplot, and... not much else, really.

Not something I would want to watch again.

SBT

It's on lowest than low budget, what else you do can want?

A plot?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 October, 2013, 09:38:44 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 October, 2013, 01:24:08 PM
I finally got to see Scott Pilgrim vs the world recently - Once you buy into the silliness, it's a really enjoyable film.


I found Detention (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/detention-josh-hutcherson-joseph-kahn-torque-samuel-goldwyn-293336) to have out-pilgrimed Scott Pilgrim at about a tenth of the budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 15 October, 2013, 12:24:50 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 14 October, 2013, 09:38:44 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 October, 2013, 01:24:08 PM
I finally got to see Scott Pilgrim vs the world recently - Once you buy into the silliness, it's a really enjoyable film.


I found Detention (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/detention-josh-hutcherson-joseph-kahn-torque-samuel-goldwyn-293336) to have out-pilgrimed Scott Pilgrim at about a tenth of the budget.

Dude - that looks totally awesome.  I'm off to see if i can get it on amazon/lovefilm/netflix right now.

cheers
dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 02:25:54 PM
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Finished the trilogy off. Of the three this was probably the most satisfying film in terms of an ending. After seeing them all I realise you really have to see them all in order to get the complete story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 October, 2013, 05:30:00 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 02:25:54 PM
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Finished the trilogy off. Of the three this was probably the most satisfying film in terms of an ending. After seeing them all I realise you really have to see them all in order to get the complete story.

I recorded it from the telly, and I'll watch it tonight. I watched Dragon Tattoo because it was a Fincher joint, didn't think much of it, but decided to watch the rest when they popped up on BBC Four. They don't seem any better or worse than tosh like The Dan Brown Code - The Girl Who Played With Fire even had an evil albino who was invulnerable to pain, just to emphasise the parallels with that kind of cheese.   

I felt the same way about French thrillers Anything For Her (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vVZu5PlhRPs#t=28) and Tell No-one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GGk963CcuzQ#t=63), which received good reviews from critics. I don't know whether the process of reading subtitles maybe makes folk more forgiving of cornball characters and fairly unlikely plot developments.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 08:11:33 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 15 October, 2013, 05:30:00 PM
I recorded it from the telly, and I'll watch it tonight. I watched Dragon Tattoo because it was a Fincher joint, didn't think much of it, but decided to watch the rest when they popped up on BBC Four. They don't seem any better or worse than tosh like The Dan Brown Code - The Girl Who Played With Fire even had an evil albino who was invulnerable to pain, just to emphasise the parallels with that kind of cheese.   

I felt the same way about French thrillers Anything For Her (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vVZu5PlhRPs#t=28) and Tell No-one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GGk963CcuzQ#t=63), which received good reviews from critics. I don't know whether the process of reading subtitles maybe makes folk more forgiving of cornball characters and fairly unlikely plot developments.

You're not wrong sauchie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 15 October, 2013, 11:40:07 PM
MACHETE KILLS AND [spoiler][/spoiler]MACHETE KILLS AGAIN... IN SPACE[spoiler][/spoiler]

Safe to say I really enjoyed it. So much fun, and Mel Gibson was brilliant in it- 'Imagine it, Machete, Machete, everywhere Machete.'

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 October, 2013, 11:43:52 PM

Sneakers as record it on ITV4 last night, still funny to watch, great cast and quotes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 October, 2013, 02:04:48 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 15 October, 2013, 11:43:52 PM

Sneakers as record it on ITV4 last night, still funny to watch, great cast and quotes!

Watched it recently on netflix and I agree heartily.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 October, 2013, 06:41:39 PM
Just got out of the Fifth Estate. Now im not going to claim to be an expert on the subject, but from a asthetic point of view,mit was the biggest load off balls ive seen this year since Man of Steel. Acting, all over the place, cinematography, bland, ost, vanilla. The script was tepid and the drama a boar. Its just the most mundane ball of oscer fodder. Even Benedict Crumblebottom could put any enthusiasm into it. A drose and a turkey. Not reccomended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 17 October, 2013, 10:45:30 AM
Finally got round to watching American Psycho last night. What a brilliant film. Funny, thought provoking and horrific. A very impressive movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 October, 2013, 11:50:50 AM
Grabbers.  A  painfully-almost-there-but-not-quite Irish Tremors, with one good lead (Ruth Bradley) and one weak one (Brian Coyle), some lovely dialogue and scenery, too few scares and some monumental loose ends/plot holes.  Thankfully a terrible [spoiler]Russell Covey[/spoiler] doesn't hang around long, although I kept expecting him back at a critical moment.

The Oirishness quotient was a very strange mix of convincingly unaffected and downright awful.  I completely bought Ruth Bradley's take on Christy Moore's 'Me and the Rose' ("she pulled the cork out of the Blue Nun, and I got sick all over the rottweiler" etc.) , and most of the fishermen and pub crowd were fun if predictable, but every now and again there was a clanger from Covey or overly knowing look from Coyle that let it down, as did the placenames (Erin Island?).  The less said about the plot the better ([spoiler]the massive storm that never arrives, the huge island with quarries and visitor centres and ribbon development that's home to 20 people and only one pub, the horde of alien offspring that just vanish between scenes, enough, enough[/spoiler]).

The Donegal, Antrim and North Mayo locations were stunning, and beautifully filmed, effects were good, monster design was okay, and all in all it was a good laugh  - but so nearly a great one.  Slainte, Netflix!
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 October, 2013, 11:56:20 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 October, 2013, 11:50:50 AM
Grabbers.  A  painfully-almost-there-but-not-quite Irish Tremors, with one good lead (Ruth Bradley) and one weak one (Brian Coyle), some lovely dialogue and scenery, too few scares and some monumental loose ends/plot holes.  Thankfully a terrible [spoiler]Russell Covey[/spoiler] doesn't hang around long, although I kept expecting him back at a critical moment.

The Oirishness quotient was a very strange mix of convincingly unaffected and downright awful.  I completely bought Ruth Bradley's take on Christy Moore's 'Me and the Rose' ("she pulled the cork out of the Blue Nun, and I got sick all over the rottweiler" etc.) , and most of the fishermen and pub crowd were fun if predictable, but every now and again there was a clanger from Covey or overly knowing look from Coyle that let it down, as did the placenames (Erin Island?).  The less said about the plot the better ([spoiler]the massive storm that never arrives, the huge island with quarries and visitor centres and ribbon development that's home to 20 people and only one pub, the horde of alien offspring that just vanish between scenes, enough, enough[/spoiler]).

The Donegal, Antrim and North Mayo locations were stunning, and beautifully filmed, effects were good, monster design was okay, and all in all it was a good laugh  - but so nearly a great one.  Slainte, Netflix!


Aye I watched the other day. Funny! Covey didn't bother me so much but their plan of getting sloshed didn't seem so practical given the big bloody alien didn't care a damn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 12:46:28 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 17 October, 2013, 10:45:30 AM
Finally got round to watching American Psycho last night. What a brilliant film. Funny, thought provoking and horrific. A very impressive movie.

I watched that for the first time late last year.  I despised the book, which I read many years ago, so avoided the film like the plague.  However, I'm sorry I did that.  Christian Bale's interpretation of Batman was absolutely spot on. 

The madness of eighties decadance was matched perfectly by his insanity.  Some of the key scenes were both horrifyimng and blackly funny.  I'm thinking in particular of the [spoiler]chainsaw down the stairwell.[/spoiler]

Yeah, good film.  I finally saw what all the fuss was about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 17 October, 2013, 01:20:33 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 12:46:28 PM
I despised the book...

Hmmm, I was thinking of reading this as I enjoyed the film so much. Not so sure now if the book is despisable. Strong words.

Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 12:46:28 PM
Christian Bale's interpretation of Batman was absolutely spot on. 

Interesting slip of the fingers (It should read Bateman for those who didn't know). Yeah he nails it.

The TV series Dexter would have been much more interesting if they had taken the lead character down Bateman's route, rather than making him a big softy who just happens to kill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 October, 2013, 05:59:13 PM
Quoteone weak one (Brian Coyle)

With a name like that, could he be anything else..?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 06:04:02 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 17 October, 2013, 01:20:33 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 12:46:28 PM
I despised the book...

Hmmm, I was thinking of reading this as I enjoyed the film so much. Not so sure now if the book is despisable. Strong words.

Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 12:46:28 PM
Christian Bale's interpretation of Batman was absolutely spot on. 

Interesting slip of the fingers (It should read Bateman for those who didn't know). Yeah he nails it.

The TV series Dexter would have been much more interesting if they had taken the lead character down Bateman's route, rather than making him a big softy who just happens to kill.

I think part of my hate of the book is a by-product of the authors intentions. The characters were despicable, least of all Bateman, as was the reminder of the Eighties, and (dear god) some of the music that came from it. BEE I think intended you to despise it all, which lent to my distaste.

Hmmm, I'm thinking I should maybe re-read it, having enjoyed the film so much.

Also, don't take my word for it. You may well enjoy it.  It's just my opinion! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 06:06:10 PM
PS It was initially a slip of my fingers, but when I spotted it I was tickled, so left it in there. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 October, 2013, 06:49:36 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 October, 2013, 06:04:02 PM
Hmmm, I'm thinking I should maybe re-read it, having enjoyed the film so much.

It's a book which sets out to deliberately bore the reader, with tedious inventories of designer fashion and ironic treatises on bad music. That's not good.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 October, 2013, 10:14:30 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 17 October, 2013, 05:59:13 PM
Quoteone weak one (Brian Coyle)

With a name like that, could he be anything else..?

I would make a reciprocal comment but I can't think of anyone ridiculous called Richmond Clements to OH WAIT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 October, 2013, 10:22:06 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 17 October, 2013, 10:14:30 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 17 October, 2013, 05:59:13 PM
Quoteone weak one (Brian Coyle)

With a name like that, could he be anything else..?

I would make a reciprocal comment but I can't think of anyone ridiculous called Richmond Clements to OH WAIT

ZING!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 18 October, 2013, 12:29:11 AM
Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos... Judges.
BRUUUAAEEWWMMMMMMMM!!!

Just finished watching Dredd again. On the iPhone this time. It's such a bloody good film.  That last bit as the bike speeds off up the Underpass is just such a great way to finish the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 18 October, 2013, 01:33:54 AM
The Conjuring - typical haunted house type thing that telegraphs it's intentions and has no twists.  It's clunky in the extreme.  I would have loved it if i hadn't seen all of it repeatedly through the last 50 years of horror cinema.  To say it is derivative is to give derivative movies a bad name.  That said, i didn't hate it.

As for Grabbers, i loved the premise - aliens get poisoned by booze so drink loads and they can't eat ya.  Cool.  Plus, it was an alien invasion movie SET IN IRELAND. cool.  But it was a little lacklustre and had too few laughs.

As for Dredd, i think I'm in the same boat as a lot of other dudes.  I haven't rewatched a movie this much since i was 15.  It is totally mega!

Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 October, 2013, 01:37:23 PM
Watched The Three Amigos for the first time, had a lot of fun though I was very puzzled by the invisible swordsman and the singing bush. Suddenly they go off on a mystical quest or something? Anyway just a minor (and very funny) hitch in things, Galaxy Quest eventually ends up doing this schtick alot better but this was good stuff.

Currently watching The Rocketeer. Fun again in a completely different way. The rocket effects aren't bad actually! Michael Bay could learn a thing about using speed to give the impression of an effect (rather than using speed to obscure what would actually be an effect) you can't afford to properly create. Got to love the pulpyness. The nazis just appeared and I never twigged before how random they're inclusion is given their absence from the bulk of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 October, 2013, 03:20:20 PM
Alien - I started another thread about the franchise and decided to rewatch the films.  Do you remember the days when you could smoke on space ships? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 October, 2013, 05:03:58 PM
Divorcing Jack - entirely like Divorcing Shite.

Minority Report - still love it.

Open Water - okish but it cheats on the "true" bit.

Shaun of the dead - less fun than I remember but Tiny Tips liked it.

Bourne Identity - more fun than I remember.

Gavin and Stacey Series 1 - more like Gavin and shite. Really gentle stuff. I don't see where the rave reviews came from.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 October, 2013, 05:43:06 PM
Lensflare the Motion Picture Super 8.  What a crying shame.  The first half of this film is an interesting Senor Spielbergo pastiche about small-town teenagers making a zombie flick, well-acted and while perhaps lacking the convincing detailing of the original material pretty well-observed all the same, with an unsettling mystery, a puppy-love triangle and a dead good train crash. If it had continued in this vein, a sort of Stand By Me meets The Tommyknockers, it would have been great: I wanted to see the kids' movie finished!

Sadly, the second half is a disjointed and disappointing version of every stranded-alien movie ever made, with moronic military, wildly see-sawing tone and some profoundly rubbish characterless CGI at the heart of it - Cloverfield meets ET by way of Invaders from Mars and The X-Files, with none of the charm or freshness of any of them.  It's almost like JJA hasn't quite learnt his craft yet, he has a lot of the moves down pat, but just can't seem to pull them together into a convincing routine, and he has no feel whatsoever for a satisfying SF plot.  Made for deeply frustrating watching.

And don't get me started on the fecking lens-flare, it was like a hideously exaggerated spoof of an Abrams film, mindlessly and pointlessly blocking out a quarter of the screen in every second frame. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 October, 2013, 05:53:29 PM

All Jar Jar Abrams needs is a good script and pointed in the direction of a readied set. After the all-time nadir of the Spock intervention amongst a cosmic-sea of wtfs during Into Darkness, I'm not sure he always has the right people around him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 October, 2013, 06:05:19 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 October, 2013, 05:43:06 PM
And don't get me started on the fecking lens-flare, it was like a hideously exaggerated spoof of an Abrams film, mindlessly and pointlessly blocking out a quarter of the screen in every second frame.

Abrams is spoofing his own films?

Abrams as writer and director is what has expunged me of any desire to watch Super 8.  I guess it could be worse.  It could be written by Damon Lindelof.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 19 October, 2013, 07:11:56 PM
JJ on lense flair; 

" "I know I get a lot of grief for that, but I'll tell you, there are times when I'm working on a shot, I think, 'Oh this would be really cool... with a lens flare.' But I know it's too much, and I apologize. I'm so aware of it now." Abrams said some of that awareness even came from his wife saying, "I was showing my wife an early cut of Star Trek Into Darkness and there was this one scene where she was literally like, 'I just can't see what's going on. I don't understand what that is.' I was like, 'Yeah, I went too nuts on this.'" "

Though Super 8 was a great film IMO ;D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 October, 2013, 08:31:04 PM
Admitting you have a problem is the first step to not getting murdered by an ageing Star Wars fan.

Meanwhile, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon.  There are no words.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 October, 2013, 09:52:43 PM
Sure there are: shite, dreadful, awful, terrible, bullshit, bad, crap, garbage, lousy, atrocious, crummy, rotten - and so on, but I get your general point.  Being asked to come up with a word for how bad Dark of the Moon is is a bit like being asked to tell a joke: there's just too many to pull one out right there on the spot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 19 October, 2013, 10:13:59 PM
I watched Taxi Driver again. Great flick.

Been trying to get my hands on Requiem For A Dream for a bit now, seems like an interesting movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 October, 2013, 10:41:31 PM
The Wicker Man - The Final Cut.

Now any cut of this film is just aces.
And the remastered HD 'final cut' version (in reality a long ago produced intermediate version between the theatrical and extended cuts) hits the spot.

Nicely, the other two cuts are also present on this Blu-Ray, as are the pretty good extra's from previous releases. Though rather annoyingly a BBC Scotland Documentary, from the 90's?,  is still unavailable.
New extra's are OK, and a CD of the soundtrack (which ive got three times now...) is included.

A strange and unique film that still packs a punch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 October, 2013, 11:10:43 PM
Limitless

I was disappointed when it didn't turn out to be a drug allowing access to parallel dimensions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 19 October, 2013, 11:30:50 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 October, 2013, 11:10:43 PM
Limitless

I was disappointed when it didn't turn out to be a drug allowing access to parallel dimensions.
I've only seen it the once myself, can't say it impressed me enough to even watch a bit of it when it's being shown again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:20:42 AM
50 First Dates  Was looking for something relatively short and easy to watch.  This film fit the bill and was sweet for the most part.  I probably enjoy Wedding Singers more, but I've seen that film plenty of times already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 20 October, 2013, 05:47:03 AM
Hardwire

$10 on Blu-ray. The blurb on the back about it being adapted from a 2000ad strip sold me. It was pretty cheesy, and Lemmys acting was terrible, but it was all part of the fun. The music was great. The special effects were not bad considering it was probably a no-budget affair. Stand out part was when the guy got killed by the door.  8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 20 October, 2013, 06:39:07 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 20 October, 2013, 05:47:03 AM
Hardwire

I think you mean Hardware bud
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 October, 2013, 11:38:11 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 20 October, 2013, 05:47:03 AM
Hardwire

$10 on Blu-ray. The blurb on the back about it being adapted from a 2000ad strip sold me. It was pretty cheesy, and Lemmys acting was terrible, but it was all part of the fun. The music was great. The special effects were not bad considering it was probably a no-budget affair. Stand out part was when the guy got killed by the door.  8/10

I never really understood how they thought they could get away with ripping off that Shok story. The thing is, had they been straight up about it from the outset, they could have avoid massive legal costs, and maybe even got the owners of 2000AD on board to market it.  Were they worried there'd be too much third party meddling of their vision or something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 October, 2013, 12:06:14 PM
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, actually I haven't watched all of it yet. Put it into my DVD player last night, watched 10 minutes then fell asleep! Nothing to do with the film, I was dead tired, honest! Will attempt to watch it again tonight. Anyone already watched it on here?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 20 October, 2013, 12:11:45 PM
That's funny, I nearly bought it last night because it's in the nearby Tesco for a couple of quid and I didn't see it on cinema release because it was only being shown in 3D.
Now you have to write a proper review of it for me when you've watched it, like an essay you'll be graded on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
I can write a review for AL:VH if you like....



......its shite.

Now you can keep that few quied in your wallet be be a happier man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 20 October, 2013, 12:21:02 PM
A+ to the Hawk' for a speedy delivery and making me feel clever for placing those few loose pounds on something else entirely (although technically, they weren't the same coins because I spent the money on Amazon on returning home- Throw Momma From The Train as part of a friend's gift for a day near the end of December)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:26:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 20 October, 2013, 12:29:04 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:26:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.
Part of me was hoping for a fun/easy watch by Bekmambetov.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 October, 2013, 12:35:50 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 20 October, 2013, 05:47:03 AM
Hardware

The special effects were not bad considering it was probably a no-budget affair.

£800,000 as I recall.

Quote from: shaolin_monkeyI never really understood how they thought they could get away with ripping off that Shok story. The thing is, had they been straight up about it from the outset, they could have avoid massive legal costs, and maybe even got the owners of 2000AD on board to market it.  Were they worried there'd be too much third party meddling of their vision or something?

As I said the last time this came up: Richard Stanley has always maintained that there was no conscious intent to plagiarize Shok -- rather that the similarities manifested at an entirely unconscious level, which I'm inclined to believe. There've been enough times over the years where I've thought I've come up with a brilliant idea only for someone to point out that it's actually like a Future Shock/ Twilight Zone/ short story... it's the short one-offs that tend fall below the threshold of immediate recollection but which lurk somewhere below the surface.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 20 October, 2013, 12:37:12 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
I can write a review for AL:VH if you like....

......its shite.

Now you can keep that few quied in your wallet be be a happier man.

Agree with Hawkmonger ( Charlie boy and Pictsy ) and very succinctly put Hawk mate....!!!.... :D
The overall story idea is not 'too bad', but the CGI effects are way, way below par  ( as in it's blatantly obvious it's CGI ),  and the acting is decidedly 'hammy'.......Did I enjoy it ??.......No, not really !!.....I've seen far worse,  but in no way would I recommend you spend money on buying it on DVD.....
Catch it when it comes on terrestrial TV, and then be grateful you didn't waste your cash....

I love Vampire movies ( as in 'real',  non 'sparkly',  love torn,  Vampires ) but this one is fairly near the bottom of the pile within the recent run of Vampire 'dross'....

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 October, 2013, 01:14:16 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:26:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.

I haven't seen the film, and but I rather enjoyed the book!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 01:20:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 October, 2013, 01:14:16 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:26:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.

I haven't seen the film, and but I rather enjoyed the book!

Little secret - neither have I.  It doesn't sound good and I'm not being fooled again after sitting through that rubbish Cowboys vs. Aliens drivel.  A hard lesson learnt 'if it smells like shit, it probably is shit'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2013, 02:53:17 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 20 October, 2013, 12:37:12 PM

I love Vampire movies ( as in 'real',  non 'sparkly',  love torn,  Vampires ) but this one is fairly near the bottom of the pile within the recent run of Vampire 'dross'....

Cheers
I keep telling youse, they where FAIRIES!!! You want real vampires, Mr. Lee got it covered with his Hammer series and Kouta Hirano's Hellsing movies are might fine action-horrors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 03:27:43 PM
Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979) - I haven't seen this film in donkeys and I'm not entirely sure I have ever seen it in its entirety.  I have never really given the original cast films much of a chance in the past and failing to think of anything better to watch I'm going to watch them now.

This film was meh.  Ambitious, certainly.  The lack of running around, punching, kicking and shooting things (amidst a storm of lens flare) is definitely refreshing and it has a pretty good story even though I am all too aware of the twist at the end.  I can't say the acting is stellar, though. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 October, 2013, 03:40:32 PM
 Please don't let the The Motion Picture put you off the other Star Trek films with the original cast. 2, 4 and 6 featuring the original crew are good and First Contact for the Next Generation crew is another cracker. (I actually liked most of the odd number films too apart from The motion Picture, as that bored me silly, but I might be a member of the minority there. I thought 3: Search for Spock was worth it for a decent Klingon villain and an interesting if rather contrived premise. And Generations is fun for the Kirk/Picard team up. Although I found it a bit silly in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 20 October, 2013, 04:02:47 PM
1,2,6 and Generations are all great for different reasons but all worth a watch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 04:27:17 PM
I imagine anything will be better in my mind than that Abrams shite.

Wrath of Kahn is up next and I am more than well aware of its popularity, but I won't let that hold sway over me.

I've probably seen Generations too many times.  It's not my favourite.  I enjoyed both First Contact and Insurrection.  Nemesis didn't bother me, but it's certainly not the best of the bunch.

I would have loved to see a DS9 film made as it is my favourite of the TV franchise and I always felt its ending was rushed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 20 October, 2013, 05:00:02 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 01:20:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 October, 2013, 01:14:16 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:26:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2013, 12:17:41 PM
......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.

I haven't seen the film, and but I rather enjoyed the book!

Little secret - neither have I.  It doesn't sound good and I'm not being fooled again after sitting through that rubbish Cowboys vs. Aliens drivel.  A hard lesson learnt 'if it smells like shit, it probably is shit'.

I think I'll reserve my judgement until I see it, but I'm not holding my breath going on everyone's thoughts on here. And I agree, Cowboys vs Aliens is utter shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 October, 2013, 09:18:21 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 04:27:17 PM
I imagine anything will be better in my mind than that Abrams shite.

Wrath of Kahn is up next and I am more than well aware of its popularity, but I won't let that hold sway over me.

I've probably seen Generations too many times.  It's not my favourite.  I enjoyed both First Contact and Insurrection.  Nemesis didn't bother me, but it's certainly not the best of the bunch.

I would have loved to see a DS9 film made as it is my favourite of the TV franchise and I always felt its ending was rushed.

Wrath of Khan is excellent. Some of the best Trek moments in there. I have a lot of love for Voyage Home too. It riffs on the campiness of it all, and is an excellent comedy number. Scott's interacting with [spoiler] a PC [/spoiler] is one of my fave bits.

Unfortunately I didn't really get on with the other films, though Search for Spock had a particular scene that made me gasp, and it was followed by one of McCoys best lines ever. 

Enjoy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 October, 2013, 11:04:35 PM
I'm a big Trek fan, but the films really are hit and miss affairs with only Wrath of Khan being an objectively good standalone effort.  6 is great if you like panto romps, but the Next Generation films all for some reason center on Mr Data and might try your patience - the tv shows (even Voyager) were tied up in an intergalactic war storyline complete with huge space battles at the time, yet for some reason Brent Spiner thought the movies needed scenes where Data tries to understand why he has an erection.
An overlooked good Trek film is the Deep Space 9 pilot episode The Emissary, which clunks a bit when it introduces characters and the action is a bit bum, but the central story is a good one if you don't mind listening to a bit too much technowank to get to it, and is self-contained in a way pilot episodes usually aren't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 21 October, 2013, 12:09:10 AM
I'm a fan of Vampire Movies,  and while I agree with Hawkmonger that Mr C Lee had it 'pretty much nailed' in the early Hammer movies.........Unfortunately times change, and the silent, brooding style Mr Lee portrayed doesn't quite cut it nowadays.....

I know that 30 Days of Night had numerous failings, particularly in the casting of Josh Hartnett as Ebden.......Certainly a good enough actor, but too young for the required role.......BUT the Vampires were exactly how I want my Vamps portrayed in Cinema........Totally evil, and absolutely vicious and in no way do they 'pass for human'....
And the GN is brilliant !! ......
It's just a pity the follow up movies were so poor...

Cheers..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 12:57:17 AM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 21 October, 2013, 12:09:10 AMthe Vampires were exactly how I want my Vamps portrayed in Cinema........Totally evil, and absolutely vicious and in no way do they 'pass for human'....

I agree - I want vampires to be werewolves, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 01:21:14 AM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 21 October, 2013, 12:09:10 AM
I'm a fan of Vampire Movies,  and while I agree with Hawkmonger that Mr C Lee had it 'pretty much nailed' in the early Hammer movies.........Unfortunately times change, and the silent, brooding style Mr Lee portrayed doesn't quite cut it nowadays.....

I know that 30 Days of Night had numerous failings, particularly in the casting of Josh Hartnett as Ebden.......Certainly a good enough actor, but too young for the required role.......BUT the Vampires were exactly how I want my Vamps portrayed in Cinema........Totally evil, and absolutely vicious and in no way do they 'pass for human'....
And the GN is brilliant !! ......
It's just a pity the follow up movies were so poor...

Cheers..

30 Days of Night had the most genuinely scary vampires of recent memory. With their unnatural look and shark like teeth they could happily eat Twilight's lovesick puppies up for breakfast! There was no compromise with them, and that's what I loved about their creation. The film was also enjoyable; I agree Josh Hartnett was poor for the choice but I felt he grew into the role as the story progressed. I was bloody shocked to see Mellisa George from Home and Away playing his ex-wife! 

I also have a soft spot for Bram Stoker's Dracula (the one by Francis Ford Coppola). It's a hugely underrated film. The practical effects were awesome in the film, especially when you learn the lengths Coppola went to, to have them look so good. Not to mention some truly amazing production work and matte painting/ set design. The opening alone transports you to a place of gothic nightmares. It was let down by a poor turn from Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, but it was still an interesting film. I also like Interview with the Vampire; just the New Orleans setting, the lavish set pieces and over the top acting (and a fine turn from a debuting Kirsten Dunst), it's a highly enjoyable romp. One of my favourite (not to mention eerie) moments in the film is when Brad Pitt's character first turns into a vampire, and he sees the world with vampire eyes; pay attention to the statue which looks at him briefly - that was a great touch signifying the seriousness of his decision, and what awaits him in his new life.

But one of my all time favourite vampire film is - without doubt, Vampire Hunter D! It's so bloody fun! I even love the sequel; Bloodlust. There's some great vampire films out there, and like you guys I too am a huge fan of the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 21 October, 2013, 01:30:03 AM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 19 October, 2013, 10:13:59 PM
I watched Taxi Driver again. Great flick.

Been trying to get my hands on Requiem For A Dream for a bit now, seems like an interesting movie.

No no. Don't do it. You will kill yourself afterwards. It's soooooo bleak. Go watch Elf or something. I'm still traumatised by that film.
Think happy thoughts
Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:52:06 AM
Highlander. Watched it for the first time in 15 years. Jesus H Christ, what a shite film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 21 October, 2013, 01:53:52 AM
I watched Judge Minty and Dredd on Saturday, which were introduced by John Wagner and a certain Carlos Ezquerra ;)
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 21 October, 2013, 06:03:14 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:52:06 AM
Highlander. Watched it for the first time in 15 years. Jesus H Christ, what a shite film.

I think the first one has it's moments, the sequels and/or TV stuff is pure shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2013, 06:44:36 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 October, 2013, 12:57:17 AM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 21 October, 2013, 12:09:10 AM30 Days of Night  had numerous failings, but the Vampires were exactly how I want my Vamps portrayed in Cinema........Totally evil, and absolutely vicious and in no way do they 'pass for human'....

I agree - I want vampires to be werewolves, too.

The werewolves could fall in love with the vampires.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2013, 07:04:49 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:52:06 AM
Highlander. Watched it for the first time in 15 years. Jesus H Christ, what a shite film.
Imfind it shite in a way that is extremely entertaining.mits clearly not very well made, or acted, and doesnt have the most solid script. But you can at least tell there was heart put into it, and unlike some vapid blockbusters that have achieved critical and commercial successe these days that have turned out (unsurprisingly) to be utter drivel, Higlander has something about it that makes it quite a compelling watch. Thes sequels on the other hand.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 08:20:44 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:52:06 AM
Highlander. Watched it for the first time in 15 years. Jesus H Christ, what a shite film.

:lol:

C'mon, it's not that bad! But then again I haven't watched it in years so.....have you watched the anime version - Highlander: The Search for Vengeance? I really enjoyed it. There's some really fun stuff in there and definitely better than the later films. One of my favourite Anime directors was on hand to create it; Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 08:22:54 AM
Serenity.  Now that is how you make a good SF adventure film.  Mr. Abrams please take notes. 

I'm long over my initial viewing's disappointment with the deaths of certain characters (although I still think at least one was a poor decision, especially where there was to be no follow-on series with which to effect a resurrection), and haven't rewatched Firefly in several years, so I was able to sit back and enjoy this without quite as many of the usual geeky niggles.

The plot makes an odd kind of sense and has an actual SF idea underpinning its sundry McGuffins, the sustained manner in which the futuroretrospeak is handled is extremely effective and offsets the sometimes wearing aspects of Whedon's witty banter, the effects, design work and most of the sets are terrific (Serenity herself practically breathing it's so well realised), and while it's hard to believe it now Summer Glau is actually bloody good in this one part. 

I was about to trot out a conclusion about how well Nathan Fillion holds the whole thing together, then I thought I should probably add Chiwetel Ejiofor's sublime and downright original performance, then it occurred to me that Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin were also vital to creating a sense of a crew of individuals, then I felt bad about leaving out the lovely Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass and Jewel Staite, who even if they don't get much to do here  do it very well. 

Then I realised that I was talking about a genuine ensemble cast, working together to convey distinct characters with well-defined relationships and goals, and that is what makes it a really engaging joy to watch.  Great film, shame about the box-office.

Now where have I heard that before.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 October, 2013, 10:35:11 AM
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter isn't shite, I had a lot of fun watching it after a few beers and some aromatic cigarettes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 10:59:37 AM
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  Not all that bad.  Coherent storyline, vast improvement on the effects compared to the previous film, acting is improved but still hammy in places (especially by original cast members).  A lot more flash-bang-wallop in this one but still relatively tame.  It never takes over.

Next up I shall be searching for Spock.  I'm hoping it's like Where's Wally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 11:02:34 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 10:59:37 AM
Next up I shall be searching for Spock.  I'm hoping it's like Where's Wally.

Probably my favourite Trek movie, interested to see what you make of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 11:19:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 11:02:34 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 10:59:37 AM
Next up I shall be searching for Spock.  I'm hoping it's like Where's Wally.

Probably my favourite Trek movie, interested to see what you make of it.

I can't remember correctly but is this film the first time we see the Vulcan home planet? I remember being wowed by the scenes as a youngster. The image of a Klingon Bird of Prey entering the red hued vistas of Vulcan is a moment that has seered into my memory. I love The Search for Spock!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:24:10 AM
Action classic Point Break, for the first time in what must be over ten years.

Still great - but quite a lot sillier/unintentionally funnier that I remember. The famous foot chase scene is still a cracker.

Funnily enough, during the scene with the climactic showdown on the beach in 'Australia', I remarked to my girlfriend that it looked a lot like a remote beach we visited in Oregon earlier this year. Cue a quick Google and it turns out that it was the exact same beach. It's in a National Park - the same one where a lot of The Goonies was also filmed, incidentally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 21 October, 2013, 11:24:32 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 11:19:53 AM
I can't remember correctly but is this film the first time we see the Vulcan home planet?

Amok Time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 October, 2013, 11:31:31 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:20:42 AM
50 First Dates  Was looking for something relatively short and easy to watch.  This film fit the bill and was sweet for the most part.  I probably enjoy Wedding Singers more, but I've seen that film plenty of times already.

I was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State. There should be a criminal offence of Duping Blokes into watching Romcoms through Misrepresentation.

I rewatched Poltergeist the other night - still my favourite 'spooky' movie of all time (as opposed to full on horror)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 11:34:34 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 October, 2013, 11:31:31 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:20:42 AM
50 First Dates 

I was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State.

Brilliant. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
QuoteI was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State. There should be a criminal offence of Duping Blokes into watching Romcoms through Misrepresentation.

My girlfriend generally has quite good taste in films, but since she found all the awful romcoms available on Netflix I've had to endure some right old shite, including long-forgotten Matthew Perry/Salma Hayek film Fools Rush In - which easily ranks as one of the worst films I have ever seen.

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

All I can think of is When Harry Met Sally, which is a legit classic movie. Richard Curtis' films and Sleepless in Seattle are tolerable/watchable I suppose. After that I'm a bit stuck. I keep meaning to go back and watch some early Woody Allen films - not sure if they'd count?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bobblehead on 21 October, 2013, 11:52:09 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
QuoteI was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Ive had to watch some dross with my missus too (now ex-missus but somehow still find myself watching them whenever i go round for tea) and one of the few decent ones i watched was The Five Year Engagement. Its got Emily Blunt and that guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall who kept getting his knob out. Its funny,charming in places and a bit sad in some but i actually really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 12:05:28 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Wristcutters - A Love Story.  It has romance of a sort and it's funny in that way you might not necessarily laugh out loud.

Even though romcoms (a horrible compound word if ever there were one) are ostensibly regarded as 'chick flicks' (a horrible phrase to keep 'romcom' company in the horrible language waiting room of life) and therefore supposedly aimed at me, I don't really like them a great deal.  For one major reason.  They all follow the same formula.  It's the same reason why I don't like James Bond films, actually.

Anyway, I still watch the odd romantic comedy now and again because I have a habit of watching shite - a category of which the majority of cinema falls into.  Saying that, there are probably some romantic comedies that stand out from the crowd. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 October, 2013, 12:07:53 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Three I adore, and have on DVD;

The Tall Guy- hilarious, and a little bit genuinely touching in places. You'll rewind the sex scene!
So I Married An Axe Murderer- forget Austin Powers, this is Myers forgotten masterpiece. Love the soundtrack too.
Scrooged- yeah, it's a Crimbo film (my personal favourite), but apart from the underpinning Dickens tale there's a 2nd chance love story at its heart. You will choke back at least one tear (unless numbed by several festive glasses of Baileys).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 12:09:58 PM
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Tom Hanks gets hijacked in the seas off Somalia courtesy of director Paul Greengrass.

I'm a fan of Hanks and Greengrass so possibly biased but this is just wonderful stuff. Hanks is superb throughout - especially at the end and goodness only knows how Greengrass manages to keep upping the tension as you go through because things become almost unbearably tense the second the pirates appear.

The pirates are nicely sketched as well - a bit of layering given to what could have been one-dimensional baddies.

It could have all been horrible in the wrong hands - there's a lot of US Military presence but ZERO flag waving on show - with some fantastic simple lines ("We all have bosses" and "Maybe in America") that show the issues aren't simply black and white. 

Oh and the score is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 12:17:40 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 21 October, 2013, 12:07:53 PM
The Tall Guy- hilarious, and a little bit genuinely touching in places. You'll rewind the sex scene!

Yeah, that's a favourite of mine too, and definitely has one of the best movie sex scenes (in a good way).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bobblehead on 21 October, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
 Im not sure why everything i put was a posted as a quote but i cant edit it to change it,nvm.

Tried to watch Cloud Atlas last night but only managed an hour and I was still clueless to what it was about.Ill try and finish it off tonight,but either im dense and its way to convoluted (ie.clever) for me or it takes a while for things to click into place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 12:29:39 PM
Persevere with Cloud Atlas - I really liked it.

It isn't really convoluted. If you haven't already clicked already, the tales are nested. e.g. The South Sea voyage is
a book being read in the tale of the musicians/gay lovers which is the letters being read in 70s San Francisco by Halle Berry which is a pulp novel being published by... etc.

They behaviours in one tale often relfect into the other tales - Tom Hanks has the most obvious (and lovely) character journey
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2013, 12:57:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 08:22:54 AM
Serenity.  Now that is how you make a good SF adventure film.  Mr. Abrams please take notes. 

I'm long over my initial viewing's disappointment with the deaths of certain characters (although I still think at least one was a poor decision, especially where there was to be no follow-on series with which to effect a resurrection), and haven't rewatched Firefly in several years, so I was able to sit back and enjoy this without quite as many of the usual geeky niggles.

Serenity only disappoints when viewed in context of it being an all too brief shorthand of Firefly season 2 that ditches everything but the plot, but even still, it definitely proves Whedon is a fine director - at least technically - even if its 2 deaths are the wrong ones (plotwise it makes more sense to sacrifice Simon Tam).

Chiwetel Ejiofor is indeed a mighty yet somewhat admirable foe- a more frighteningly profound take on loquacious bounty hunter, Jubal Early.

I've no doubt Whedon would've been in the hat for Star Wars if Marvel hadn't poached him first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 01:06:47 PM
Star Wars and Marvel both belong to Disney, so it could have happened if they wanted it to.  Most likely there was just a lack of imagination when suits were asked who they fancied for directing a big space adventure that's a bit silly but supports a worldwide fanbase not afraid to spend money on merchandising tat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 October, 2013, 01:13:37 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
QuoteI was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State. There should be a criminal offence of Duping Blokes into watching Romcoms through Misrepresentation.

My girlfriend generally has quite good taste in films, but since she found all the awful romcoms available on Netflix I've had to endure some right old shite, including long-forgotten Matthew Perry/Salma Hayek film Fools Rush In - which easily ranks as one of the worst films I have ever seen.

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

All I can think of is When Harry Met Sally, which is a legit classic movie. Richard Curtis' films and Sleepless in Seattle are tolerable/watchable I suppose. After that I'm a bit stuck. I keep meaning to go back and watch some early Woody Allen films - not sure if they'd count?

I enjoyed This Means War which is a sort of Rom Com Action Film.
Two super CIA guys fall in love with the same girl and use their CIA resources trying to up the ante in seducing her. There's a great scene where they go paintballing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 01:41:48 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2013, 12:57:09 PM
Serenity only disappoints when viewed in context of it being an all too brief shorthand of Firefly season 2 that ditches everything but the plot, but even still, it definitely proves Whedon is a fine director - at least technically - even if its 2 deaths are the wrong ones (plotwise it makes more sense to sacrifice Simon Tam).

That's exactly it. I was a little too invested in Firefly when I watched it first, leaving me feeling a bit short-changed by what we didn't get rather than what we did, but with the balm of time I was better able to appreciate what a solid, engaging, downright exciting movie it is.   Planning to rewatch it again soon.

Anyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:46:34 PM
QuoteAre there any watchable Romcoms?

Does Amelie count as a romcom?  I bloody love that film - funny and romantic.

There's always Shaun of the Dead, our first ever RomZomCom?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 01:55:25 PM
My missus loves A Walk in the Clouds, although not much comedy in it. It's quite a watchable romantic film with some beautiful scenery of the Mexican countryside.

But a romantic film even I love is Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. I watched it as a young boy and it haunted me ever since.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2013, 02:16:37 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.
Unless its from Whedon of cause. In which case its all par for the course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:17:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 October, 2013, 02:16:37 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.
Unless its from Whedon of cause. In which case its all par for the course.

Hello? Is this thing on..?
I just explained why he did it - I'm at a loss as to what your point is...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2013, 02:26:15 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.

Unfortunately in Serenity's case at least one of the deaths ([spoiler]Shepard Book[/spoiler]) was purely to serve the expediency of the plot rather than out of dramatic bravery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2013, 02:34:04 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:17:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 October, 2013, 02:16:37 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.
Unless its from Whedon of cause. In which case its all par for the course.

Hello? Is this thing on..?
I just explained why he did it - I'm at a loss as to what your point is...
Forgive me, I see what you meant now. I read your comment is a cynical manner and I was trying to be clever so i'll eat my humble pie and sit down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 02:39:03 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 02:06:11 PM
QuoteAnyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.

I'd normally agree wholeheartedly, but in a big melee in the last five minutes of a 7-season show?  It didn't serve much dramatic function, it wasn't particularly redemptive, it wasn't a logical conclusion to her story, it was just unsatisfying.  While it may have served to emphasise the peril and seriousness of the climax, this was undone by the other main casualty of that fight popping up in the spin-off series a few weeks later.  Joyce's death earlier in the series was a much better example of how sudden apparently pointless loss of a key character can make something fresh, and permit new directions.

I generally dislike overly fastidious tidying of loose ends, and enjoy an element of random events that aren't related to some pre-ordained story arc or destiny*, but sometimes characters deserve their happy ending, unless the story is demonstrably better for having it denied.


*one of the reasons why I enjoy Patrick O'Brian's writing so much: random deaths, natural disasters and last-minute reversals frequently scupper the apparent thrust of the plot to the extent that characters fail despite doing everything right, and succeed despite cocking up, which makes for very exciting reading.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2013, 02:48:13 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 21 October, 2013, 01:06:47 PM
Star Wars and Marvel both belong to Disney, so it could have happened if they wanted it to.  Most likely there was just a lack of imagination when suits were asked who they fancied for directing a big space adventure that's a bit silly but supports a worldwide fanbase not afraid to spend money on merchandising tat.


Maybe- but in the first few months there seemed to be a general stand-offishness from anyone with talent willing to fill the position. Whedon's success with Avengers (and acting as general script-doctor for Marvel) may have convinced both Disney and Whedon himself not to break what isn't broken.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 05:17:14 PM
Whatever the reasons, it doesn't help me shake the notion that Abrams is who you get when you can't get Whedon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2013, 06:09:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
suggestions for genuinely good romcoms?

Gregory's Girl is a funny film about romance, but its focus on the male half of the equation probably means it's filed under Coming Of Age in video libraries and film guides, rather than Romantic Comedy. Depending on your tolerance for the schtick of Jennifer Aniston and/or Vince Vaughan, The Break-Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZIWDis34Xs) is worth a look.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 06:13:03 PM
Chasing Amy is also another fun rom-com! :lol: I also liked Knocked Up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 October, 2013, 06:25:09 PM
Not sure it's a Rom Com but I think About a Boy is a good film.
I like the bit where he gets to drive fast behind the ambulance - Hugh Grant is really good in this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 06:44:49 PM
Star Trek Into Darkness is a decent romantic comedy about a jock (Jim) struggling with his love for a geek (Spock) while both are in denial about it and fruitlessly pursue destructive relationships rather than confront their feelings head on.  After seeing it for the second time, this is the only reading I have that makes sense of what I have just watched.

Pain And Gain - a Michael Bay film that looked good in the trailer, but falls apart within minutes.  Poorly structured, uneven in tone, no good lines or memorable scenes.  The Rock is always watchable and one good byproduct of the scattershot story and direction is that once he hits the drugs you genuinely have no idea if he's going to explode and tear someone apart at any given moment, but apart from that there's not much here.  I think it commendable that Bay wants to establish some credibility as a director, but this project was not the vehicle for it, and the end result comes off as half-formed and thrown together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 07:00:54 PM
Michael Bay would surely struggle to garner credibility.

I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 07:17:21 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 07:00:54 PM
I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.

It's ruddy Bladerunner when compared with Transformers 3. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 07:47:13 PM
Transformers 2 made me get a Twitter account, as I knew if I ever had to watch something that terrible ever again and didn't have a way to shout my displeasure at the world I would literally explode and kill someone.  And T3 was bad, I admit, but that bit with the building toppling nicked from Uncharted 2 started out good before it became boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 08:13:21 PM
Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:24:10 AM
Action classic Point Break, for the first time in what must be over ten years.

Still great - but quite a lot sillier/unintentionally funnier that I remember.
Out of interest, what did you think was unintentionally funny? I love Point Break but I've always assumed it's aware of the daftness of it's testosterone fuelled macho bonding but plays it straight deliberately.

Quote from: radiator on 21 October, 2013, 11:41:32 AM
I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?
Don't know if it really classes as a romcom but I loved Silver Linings Playbook and it does have a disturbed, odd-couple romantic relationship at its heart.

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 11:34:34 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 October, 2013, 11:31:31 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 October, 2013, 12:20:42 AM
50 First Dates 
I was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State.
Brilliant.
Ha! If it's any consolation, The 51st State was fairly pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 08:13:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 October, 2013, 07:04:49 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 October, 2013, 01:52:06 AM
Highlander. Watched it for the first time in 15 years. Jesus H Christ, what a shite film.
Imfind it shite in a way that is extremely entertaining.mits clearly not very well made, or acted, and doesnt have the most solid script. But you can at least tell there was heart put into it, and unlike some vapid blockbusters that have achieved critical and commercial successe these days that have turned out (unsurprisingly) to be utter drivel, Higlander has something about it that makes it quite a compelling watch. Thes sequels on the other hand.....
Sorry lads. Not having this. Not having this at all. Amongst me and my mates growing up in dreary Central Scotland, Highlander was probably second only to Robocop in terms of rewatchability and endless quotability. I'm aware that doesn't make it objectively good but I'm here to stick up for it anyway.

While perhaps not the greatest actor in the world, Christophe Lambert was, for a brief period, an absolutely magnetic screen presence. Like some proto-Euro Chow Yun Fat. By "a brief period", I do of course mean "this and Subway (and maybe Greystoke if you're in a good mood)" but that's better than most seedy Frenchmen get.

I'll happily agree the effects aren't the best but at least they had the sense to go for something deliberately non-realist in the first place. I actually think the overall plot and the time-split narrative works really well. On the other hand, I also think Mulcahy's The Shadow is tied for first place in the most incomprehensibly underrated films of all time stakes with Last Action Hero.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 08:31:53 PM
Another vote for Silver Linings Playbook in the watcheable romcom list.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF SPOTLESS MIND?

We always liked FORGET PARIS as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 08:40:22 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 07:17:21 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 07:00:54 PM
I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.

It's ruddy Bladerunner when compared with Transformers 3.

I learnt my lesson.  I have not and hopefully never will watch Transformers 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 21 October, 2013, 08:41:53 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 08:13:58 PM
Sorry lads. Not having this. Not having this at all. Amongst me and my mates growing up in dreary Central Scotland, Highlander was probably second only to Robocop in terms of rewatchability and endless quotability. I'm aware that doesn't make it objectively good but I'm here to stick up for it anyway.

Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2013, 08:53:55 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 21 October, 2013, 08:41:53 PM
Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 October, 2013, 09:01:49 PM
Star Trek III : The Search for Spock  To my great disappointment this was nothing like Where's Wally.  It was a good film.  Same in quality as Wrath of Khan, I'd say.  It had a story that was well plotted and I liked how they continued from and used elements from the previous film as plot points.  The stuff with Spock was nicely done (considering) and the setup for it was there at the end of Wrath of Khan so it didn't jar heavily.

I also noticed that someone threw a Cornish pasty at Doc Brown!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 09:26:16 PM
In between sniping about other boarders' viewing opinions, I watch the odd film too.

Saw Filth last week. It was mildly amusing if you're Scottish and cynical. James McAvoy makes a reasonable fist of a part which requires him to be on screen almost constantly but there's the inevitable disjoint with the pretty boy intended to be seedy and dissolute and the irritating over-enunciation of the Edinburgh brogue.

I'm all for films which take a deliberately non-realist approach and this was clearly riffing off Trainspotting itself in that respect but, sadly, at its core there was very little to recommend it. Some second rate reprises of the "It's shite being Scottish" speech from Trainspotting, a sad waste of the talents of Martin Compston and Kate Dickie topped off with some fantastically edgy digs at the Masons. Really? In 2013? Fuck off.

More Pish Lieutenant than Bad Lieutenant.

Here's Ballboy to cheer you up with some proper Scottish miserablism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOJXT6UFhQI).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 09:39:31 PM
Ballboy - Songs for Kylie. I love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 09:46:14 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2013, 08:53:55 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 21 October, 2013, 08:41:53 PM
Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.

Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.

Another vote for Highlander here, it's a fun film and I think it's aged pretty well.  Mind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 09:56:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 09:46:14 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2013, 08:53:55 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 21 October, 2013, 08:41:53 PM
Well said that man. Highlander is the mutt's nuts.
Yep. I'm not going to argue that it's a deathless piece of art, but it's great fun and I can watch it pretty much any time I come across it on TV.
Another vote for Highlander here, it's a fun film and I think it's aged pretty well.  Mind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...
Ah. A big man like you shouldn't be scared of a little... Boom! Boom!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 October, 2013, 10:07:52 PM
Well Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was not as bad as I expected it would be, but there was nothing to shout about either. The thing that let it down was not only a poor script but the godawful visual effects. The scene with the vampire baddie and Lincoln dancing on top of a group of stampeding horses, was a load of class A tripe. How the creators thought they'd get away with this piss poor action scene I do not know. I quite liked the bloke that played Lincoln, but I found the whole story quite silly to be honest. You can even see it as insult to the real Lincoln esp. the scenes involving his family member's death. The choice of actors were also poor; Rufus Sewell is a fine actor but he was absolutely dire as the main vampire baddie. There was no sense of fear or threat from him whatsoever. So a disappointing film, but slightly more palatable than such fodder as Jonah Hex and Cowboys vs Aliens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2013, 10:15:59 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 09:46:14 PMMind you, I do have fond memories of loudly and drunkenly declaring that it's better to burn out rather than fade away.  That's not going too well...

If it's any consolation, Christopher Lambert is having similar difficulty holding to this credo - his latest acting gig is as a supervillain in NCIS: Los Angeles where - despite being being a show that not only stars but is headlined by LL Cool J and Robin from Batman And Robin - he fails to be convincing in any way, at any time.

I'll vote for Highlander, too.  Not rocket science, but enjoyable to watch.  Unfortunately it's all downhill from there in terms of follow-up projects, with Endgame likely to make you cry for all the wrong reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 October, 2013, 11:18:17 PM
As far as good Romcoms go, but what's the name of that film with Scwazeneger as a CIA agent married to Jamie Lee Curtis with featuring that scene with Harrier Jump Jet? Maybe that was to actiony to qualify but I remember the romantic plot being central and it being very funny in places. An enjoyable watch... even if I can't remember the name.

Last film I watched: Total Recall. The remake.

I really like the original so I remember being rather irritated when I learned it was being remade. I'm of the view of lying bad films should be remade. As good films preferably (although that might quality as a 'reboot' although rather than a 'remake'.) Suffice to say I wasn't in a rush to watch this even when a friend gave it to me as a Christmas present.
Anyway, I wanted some entertainment yesterday while I was having my dinner, and and out cable was caput so, I decided to finally watch it.

I really enjoyed it. Oh it's hardly original, following the plot of the original very closely as it does, but it did it well and a bit more seriously than the original (to be fair I did like the slightly camp tongue in cheek tone of the original tbough). The often criticised visuals looked pretty cracking to me. I particularly liked the scene where the hover car drops through layers of future city traffic... only to squash a bit car in a rather traditional looking London underneath. And Farrell is a better actor to Arnold... (at least in these films) although Arnold's the cheese has charm. And The Fall was a decent idea.

Why oh why is Britain depicted as the totalitarian regime though? At least the governor had an American accent.

So, did it need to be made (Not that any film needs to be made but I'm talking in relation to the original .?
Not really,  although the different tone and the visuals provide a new spin on things.

Is it better the the original? No, I but the difference in tone made it stand up for me.

Arguably they should have let the classic original stand and put their money into something original.

But, I really did like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 22 October, 2013, 06:10:02 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 October, 2013, 08:13:58 PM

On the other hand, I also think Mulcahy's The Shadow is tied for first place in the most incomprehensibly underrated films of all time stakes with Last Action Hero.

Excellent - a shout out for Last Action Hero (see my tagline thing below) - I bloody love LAH.  When i saw it in the cinema i was disgusted with it, thought it was the stupidest, silliest most mindnumbingly infantile thing i had ever seen.  Now? well, now i think it's awesome (this same phenomenon did not reoccur with Jingle all The Way).  Charles Dance with a target eyeball? AWESOME.  Also, it's like they've taken parts of lots of other films with very highbrow heritage (Seventh Seal, Purple Rose of Cairo, Cinema Paradiso etc) and referenced them in cheeky and fun little ways.

As for the Rom Com discussion - my votes go to As Good As It Gets, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry met Sally, About a Boy, Love Actually (sorry - fucking love that movie for no good reason - i just do), The Wedding Singer, Bridget Jones' Diary, What women want (I know it's all wrong - i find it compulsive viewing when it's on ITV4 at 23.00), 40 Year Old Virgin, Groundhog Day, Pretty In Pink, There's something about Mary, and Roxanne.  I might've been a girl in another life (or this one, for that matter).


I watched The Purge the other night. Boring.  Ma-ma was underused (coz she is a great actress) and the plot was predictable and plodding and most of the acting was truly ripe. Great premise but not handled well at all.

Also, PICTSY, I'm loving you're wee star trek reviews - its great to see someone watching/reviewing these films for the first time and to see whether they still amount to anything - personally i LOVE wrath of Khan and have watched it over and over again and that wasn't even when i was a kid - I'm talking about in the last year.

Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 08:18:36 AM
I love that this is a forum where As Good As It Gets* and True Lies are put forward as RomComs.

Incidentally, I too share the shame about liking Love Actually, possibly a Stockholm-syndrome response to the fact it's on telly for two solid months every year .  If you make the tea when Hugh Grant is on screen, the rest is more than carried by an extraordinary cast.  Rickman and Nighy's parts in particular are excellent.  Also, surprise boobies.


*AGAIG is in my Top 20 movies list, but romantic...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 October, 2013, 11:04:35 AM
I've never seen Love Actually. Is it any good, as far as those kind of films go?

I will admit to thoroughly enjoying When Harry Met Sally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 October, 2013, 11:37:32 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 08:18:36 AM
I love that this is a forum where As Good As It Gets* and True Lies are put forward as RomComs.

I don't think I would put forward True Lies as a romcom but As Good As It Gets definitely is.  Its a comedy with a budding romance at the centre of it - what more do you want eh?  I do agree that it is a great film - Jack Nicholson is fantastic.  In fact, he actually won an oscar for his performance in this film.  And that little dog in it is great too - love the scene where he gets dumped in Jack's apartment and is scampering around.  This is the best rom-com film I have ever seen and would recommend that anyone who hasn't see it to go seek it out. 

Quote from: Melvin UdallWhere do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 11:55:53 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 October, 2013, 11:37:32 AMIts a comedy with a budding romance at the centre of it - what more do you want eh?

No, you're absolutely right, it fits the category, I suppose I just hadn't thought of it in those terms.  I'd been seeing it more broadly as a film about life rather than love.

In my defence it is, virtually up to the last scene, a one-sided story of illness and obsession where the target has no real interest in her verbally-abusive old-man stalker (which is pretty much how it went for my own courtship, and brother while that may have been a comedy it weren't no romance).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:06:20 PM
I always thought it was odd that Shaun of the Dead was pitched as a 'Romantic Comedy With Zombies' as it's nothing of the sort. Great as it is, it's sort of a kitchen sink relationship drama with zombies if anything, and doesn't really follow the tropes of rom-coms at all.

It's not just marketing bollocks either - Pegg and Wright themselves coined the term.

It seems so odd that there aren't any good romantic comedies - when one that comes out that someone has spent more than ten minutes thinking about, or has any kind of charm about it they have the potential to be insanely profitable and enduring. You think it'd be a no-brainer.

I kind of think this with other genres - Hollywood seems to be constantly trying for massively risky mega-budget blockbusters aimed at teenage boys, when surely the real money is there to be made by films that have broader appeal - something like Mamma Mia which absolutely raked it in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 12:09:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:06:20 PMGreat as it is, it's sort of a kitchen sink relationship drama with zombies if anything, and doesn't really follow the tropes of rom-coms at all.

Unless you see the romance as being between Shaun and Ed, with his interest in Liz being largely delusional.  The 'happy ending' doesn't take place on the sofa, but in the shed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 12:11:47 PM
for the first time in many years there's a romcom on release that I'd actually like to see - Enough Said - mainly because it stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. It's had some great reviews
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:13:43 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 12:09:46 PM
Quote from: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:06:20 PMGreat as it is, it's sort of a kitchen sink relationship drama with zombies if anything, and doesn't really follow the tropes of rom-coms at all.

Unless you see the romance as being between Shaun and Ed, with his interest in Liz being largely delusional.  The 'happy ending' doesn't take place on the sofa, but in the shed.

No, not really. Romantic Comedies are generally about people meeting and falling in love - hence the 'romantic' part. They are rarely about established couples who have been together for years (hetero or otherwise).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 12:15:53 PM
Oddly enough I wasn't being entirely serious. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:16:24 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 12:11:47 PM
for the first time in many years there's a romcom on release that I'd actually like to see - Enough Said - mainly because it stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. It's had some great reviews

Point.

I've also heard good things about the Before Sunrise/Sunset - though I'm not sure if you could term those as romcoms.

Oh, just thought of another one (if no one else mentioned it already) - The Wedding Singer is another bona-fide romcom I could watch without wanting to top myself. The last good(ish) thing Adam Sandler did except for the odd blip on the downward spiral.

I also like Knocked Up and I Love You, Man but those are more 'Bromance'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 October, 2013, 12:22:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2013, 11:55:53 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 October, 2013, 11:37:32 AMIts a comedy with a budding romance at the centre of it - what more do you want eh?

No, you're absolutely right, it fits the category, I suppose I just hadn't thought of it in those terms.  I'd been seeing it more broadly as a film about life rather than love.

In my defence it is, virtually up to the last scene, a one-sided story of illness and obsession where the target has no real interest in her verbally-abusive old-man stalker (which is pretty much how it went for my own courtship, and brother while that may have been a comedy it weren't no romance).

Yeah, it really is a great movie and I suppose it can almost seem like an insult to call it a rom-com as they are often throw-away films.  This is so much more - it tackles prejudice, illness, obsession and is a lot more like real life than a rom-com normally is:

Carol Connelly: Why can't I have a normal boyfriend? Just a regular boyfriend, one that doesn't go nuts on me!
Beverly Connelly: Everybody wants that, dear. It doesn't exist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 October, 2013, 12:30:36 PM
Quote from: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:06:20 PM
I always thought it was odd that Shaun of the Dead was pitched as a 'Romantic Comedy With Zombies' as it's nothing of the sort. Great as it is, it's sort of a kitchen sink relationship drama with zombies if anything, and doesn't really follow the tropes of rom-coms at all.

It's not just marketing bollocks either - Pegg and Wright themselves coined the term.

I'm pretty sure they just wanted an excuse to use the zom-rom-com phrase.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 22 October, 2013, 12:33:37 PM
I will admit to watching and loving anything with Hugh Grant in it- so both Four Weddings and Notting Hill would a) be found on my shelf in the "Rom Com" section, and b) basically make up most of it.

As for recent watches: I bought the New Evil Dead and new Texas Chainsaw (both of which I'd already seen and really liked) for the lady and I to watch upon her return from abroad, along with Frankenstein's Army, which I'd not seen but had been awaiting for about a year, since I first heard of it in the pages of some fanzine or other- only for her to return and say that she'd spent the time in between shows with her feet up in the flat watching... yep, you guessed it, Frankenstein's Army, Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw. So that buggered that idea- and now I have them on the shelf and no inclination to watch them- especially as she hated FA and found myself all uppity and defending it, despite not having seen it, and am now scared if I do watch it, it might turn out to be shit.

In the absence of that one about Liberace with Michael Douglas, which herself and I are so desperate to see I have taken up wigs and piano, but not men's bums, and which inexplicably had sold out in Asda on Monday, I bought World War Z. The extended Blue-Ray edition, obviously.

Now then- the novel is one of my favourite zombie things, and zombie things in general are rather special to me. Much about Brad Pitt's WWZ was clonging and donging my personal cloister bell- and I was reminded of Neil La Bute's comments regarding his "version" of The Wicker Man, wherein he adopted a brutally antagonistic pose against the whole subject of folk music, explaining that "his version" would be far superior to the original because it "wouldn't have any folk music in it- haha- and who the hell liked that kind of shit anyway- haha- I mean, it's fucking folk music ain't it- haha- and we're all boys together and frankly that shit's for losers". The knots that the people behind WWZ tied themselves up in, when distancing themselves from the structure of the novel- and so also the intent of the novel- and indeed just about everything about the novel bar the name, became so tangled, I was absolutely sure Max Brooks would take his name off it, and maybe it'd get released under a slightly different title- '28 Months Later', perhaps.

With fast-running zombies now very much a bum-of-bag that cinema has explored, tipped out, rummaged around in and found little of interest, and 'The Walking Dead' showing those tossers who sneer that the slow-moving "roamers" aren't "in the least scary" the error of their ways... or is there any argument that the biggest tv show franchise in the world right now is massively successful despite the very presence of the "laughable, stupid, easy-to-escape" zombies that the makers of '28 Shits Shitter' and 'Dawn of the Shit' were so positive would not be acceptable to "modern audiences" (maybe buying a cinema ticket is easier for da kidz than pressing a button on their teevees, I dunno.)?... the makers of WWZ doggedly ploughed ahead with speedy-runners in their huge Brad Pitt action movie all the while TWD with its roamers was tearing up the tv charts, and despite the dead in the novel being a tide of slow-moving Romero-esque crawlers and lurchers. I wonder about the meetings they had on this very subject as Waling Dead hit its stride. Were there ever early screenplays where the zombies were done properly?

Anyway- yes, it is fair to say that I had issues with World War Z long before it ever hit cinemas. And then, when it did, the reviews (from people who weren't there for Brad, the 3D or "cos it's just a brainless action movie, innit?") were uniformly terrible. But still... but still... something was teasing me. I don't by any means see every zomflick out there. I pick and choose my way through them- and something about WWZ was singing to me.

So, last night, we sat down and bunged it on.

Two hours and eleven breathless minutes later, I was agog that zombies are now so much a part of the mainstream that every conceivable plotpoint and twist, which throughout my life have had to be patiently explained within the narratives of innumerable Romero and Fulci epics can now be glossed over in seconds in what is likely the only zombie flick most of its worldwide audience have ever seen. It is never even explained what a "zombie" is- the bite/ turn path of infection is alluded to, but gone are graphics of viruses taking over their hosts, gone are lengthy sequences of biting and will they/ won't they peril. These exist in the briefest of pared down forms- Brad chops an arm off, just as Sarah chops Miguel's arm off in Day of the Dead, to stop infection spreading. Here, it works- but within five minutes its forgotten and they're exploding hand grenades in zombie-infested planes and surviving plane-crashes in Wales. The movie is paced like a mad bastard- breakneck speed, no time to think, drag you by the scruff of the neck and pull you through the crowds of utterly convincing cgi extras. Important plot points about a vaccine slow the narrative briefly (and Brad ponders them with his mouth open, like a startled guppy) before we are off again.

And do you know what- it's bloody great!

The end sequence- in Wales (Wales!) sees it pull everything back and play out like an early eighties Euro-splatter (if you're not reminded of The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue, you've never seen The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue) with bleak British countryside and slow "dormant" zombies wandering wrecked corridors as British character actors (Peter Capaldi! As "Doctor, W.H.O") look slightly lost. It's an embarrassment of riches, really.

Yes, it could have been gorier, yes, the po-faced chemistry tries very hard to chinny-stroke "this could happen, it's like SARS you see. Ooh, Bird Flu!" all the while the physics and logic exists in mental never never land- but while it tries to have its flesh and eat it, it never insults the audience and plays with complete conviction at all times.

The much-praised "tide of humanity" idea- the zombies as "tsunami", overwhelming Jerusalem and the world- is breathtaking. And here, unlike in 'I am Legend', the computer creatures are utterly real.

There's a through-line of brave old pock-marked Pitt (looking like Robert Redford did when he was just over the hill of his stardom- still very pretty, but haggard all the same and either two films away from a life primarily behind the camera, or Botox and Mickey Rourke) trying to get back to his family. They don't have a faithful dog that sees off a zombie attack, but they may as well have.

I can't praise World War Z enough. They didn't fuck it up, instead turning it into something different- but as entertaining- as the novel. And that is my quote for the poster: "They didn't fuck it up". A year ago, such an idea would have been laughable.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 12:37:12 PM
Quentin Tarantino has been saying for years that he'd like to make a genuinely good rom-com.
It's be interesting at least.

I'm not sure how old the term Romantic Comedy is but most of those classic Cary Grant / James Stewart era romance films have a fair bit of comedy and they're nearly all good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 October, 2013, 12:39:57 PM
Yeah, Cary Grant has done some great ones. I Was a Male War Bride is a good laugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 October, 2013, 12:48:29 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 22 October, 2013, 12:33:37 PM

...the po-faced chemistry tries very hard to chinny-stroke "this could happen, it's like SARS you see. Ooh, Bird Flu!" all the while the physics and logic exists in mental never never land...

That comparison bugged me too. Sars and Bird Flu have long incubation times and initially the symptons are very subtle, so it's very hard to tell who's infected. Yet The WHO managed to limit those to half a dozen countries, only a couple of dozen cases and very few fatalities*, but this zombie disease that turns people into crusty ravenous breakdancers within a minute couldn't be detected and contained?

*Full credit to Daltrey and Townsend
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 04:07:52 PM
Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home What a stupid story.  It was like Star Trek for tots.  Still, the story was relatively coherent and it wasn't as bad as when Voyager [spoiler]went back in time to 1990's Earth[/spoiler].  Remember that?  That was awful - I can't stand Sarah Silverman.  I was wondering why I was getting annoyed by Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph everytime she opened her mouth and when I saw the credits it all became clear.  Anyway, back to Star Trek IV.  I did like that it continued on from the previous film again and I thought the change in tone was a pretty good idea as well, going for something more light-hearted.  It was just that [spoiler]time-travelling whale nonsense[/spoiler].  I am becoming more curious about the original series.  I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 04:36:26 PM
If you don't like Star Trek IV you have no joy in your heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 04:46:45 PM
agreed - it's not exactly profound, but it's a lot of fun, and there are some great lines: "So you're from outer space?" "No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 22 October, 2013, 05:01:33 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 04:07:52 PM
Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home What a stupid story.  It was like Star Trek for tots.  Still, the story was relatively coherent and it wasn't as bad as when Voyager [spoiler]went back in time to 1990's Earth[/spoiler].  Remember that?  That was awful - I can't stand Sarah Silverman.  I was wondering why I was getting annoyed by Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph everytime she opened her mouth and when I saw the credits it all became clear.  Anyway, back to Star Trek IV.  I did like that it continued on from the previous film again and I thought the change in tone was a pretty good idea as well, going for something more light-hearted.  It was just that [spoiler]time-travelling whale nonsense[/spoiler].  I am becoming more curious about the original series.  I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).

I liked the fact the Probe was actually trying to communicate with the whales.
Star Trek is great but a broader scope of aliens and a bit less 'human morality' would certainly make it better, IMO.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 October, 2013, 05:04:27 PM
Star Trek 4 was the basic template for the Trek reboot: laugh at old Trek while unashamedly clutching its trouser leg and begging for money, but also started the trend in the films towards being more light-hearted and accessible, which was for the best, I think.

Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 04:07:52 PMI am becoming more curious about the original series.  I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).

Doomsday Machine, Galileo Seven, Balance of Terror, City on the Edge of Forever and Devil in the Dark are definitive Trek episodes, the rest being a mixed bag varying in quality on a downward trajectory the longer it goes on, though some episodes in season 3 are arguably memorably and mesmerisingly terrible to the point they're worth a watch.  For me, though, Arena remains my all-time favorite Trek episode ever, embodying the American imperialist subtext of the show while simultaneously subverting it with a humanist appeal against the cold war sensibilities of the time in which it was made.  I love it so much that even a glimpse of "updated" Gorn designs usually prompts in me a towering fury.  It is utterly ace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 October, 2013, 05:07:20 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 04:07:52 PM
I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).

If you thought the time travelling and whale stuff was stupid nonsense, then there's a lot of stuff you'll hate about the original series.

BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAD INSIDE
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 05:14:35 PM
Star Trek V : The Final Frontier  Meh.  Very average film.  There wasn't anything especially terrible about it but there was nothing that really stood out.  The story telling was competent.  I think it started well and then just levelled off at... well... meh.  I'm finding it difficult to praise or pick holes in anything specific about it.

Actually I'm undead inside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 22 October, 2013, 05:14:45 PM

The Star Trek film with the transparent aluminium paradox, Scotty's mouse gag, and Kirk's line about being from Iowa is the only one I've watched more than once and as an adult. I agree - there's something very, very wrong with you, pictsy. You must be the last of your kind; rid humanity of the terrible curse which afflicts you before others suffer and die.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 October, 2013, 05:16:59 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 04:07:52 PM
Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home What a stupid story.  It was like Star Trek for tots.  Still, the story was relatively coherent and it wasn't as bad as when Voyager [spoiler]went back in time to 1990's Earth[/spoiler].  Remember that?  That was awful - I can't stand Sarah Silverman.  I was wondering why I was getting annoyed by Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph everytime she opened her mouth and when I saw the credits it all became clear.  Anyway, back to Star Trek IV.  I did like that it continued on from the previous film again and I thought the change in tone was a pretty good idea as well, going for something more light-hearted.  It was just that [spoiler]time-travelling whale nonsense[/spoiler].  I am becoming more curious about the original series.  I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).

It's probably silly now, but as a kid I remember having a whale of a time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 22 October, 2013, 05:21:02 PM
I really disliked Star trek IV so it's not just Pictsy. I think I've mentioned on here before that my dislike of it came from it seemingly being on ITV every week at some point during my formative years. I always seemed to end up watching it which made me hate it more.

For a good romcom I'd watch The Sure Thing and Say Anything. John Cusack at his best and the Sure Thing is very funny too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 22 October, 2013, 05:28:03 PM
Would Grosse Point Blank count on the rom-com scale? John Cusack as a hitman going back to his hometown for a school reunion, reuniting with Minnie Driver (I know I would) and leaving bodies everywhere by the end. Great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 05:29:26 PM
What's with all the hostility?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 October, 2013, 05:33:22 PM
Allow me to welcome you to the internet. You'll find that people here get quite hostile and defensive, particularly when it comes to Star Trek. Who can say why? It's just been like this since the days of free AOL discs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 22 October, 2013, 05:37:28 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 05:29:26 PM
What's with all the hostility?

Some comments - such as those paraphrasing the entreaties to suicide in Lon Chaney Jr Wolfman films and An American Werewolf in London - may not have been entirely serious. I'll be sure to use emoticons in future.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 October, 2013, 05:41:32 PM
Quote from: radiator on 22 October, 2013, 12:16:24 PM
I've also heard good things about the Before Sunrise/Sunset - though I'm not sure if you could term those as romcoms.
I absolutely love these films, as I describe at length here (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,31824.msg769860.html#msg769860). They are definitely romantic and comic in places but I'm not sure they fit the "romcom" bracket. Unless, maybe, you consider them as a single film.

You should watch them anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 October, 2013, 05:53:23 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 05:29:26 PM
What's with all the hostility?

Just be thankful you didn't slag Walking Dead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 06:17:10 PM
2000 AD Online Forum has struck me as being a remarkable for it's lack of hostility so far.  Even in some heated debates.  I have not witnessed any moderator intervention as of yet and that is a testament to the good job they do and how well members like to maintain a pleasant environment.  This is the first forum I have joined in years because I am more than well versed in the machinations of internet decorum.

suachie, I appreciate your reply.

Oh and by the way.  I never actually explicitly said I disliked the film in its entirety.  I made one criticism, one ambiguous comment, three positive comments and a repeat of the first criticism with more of a focus on specifics.  Overall, I call that a positive review.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 06:20:24 PM
It's no good backtracking now Star Trek H8R!!!

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 October, 2013, 06:24:36 PM
QuoteI have not witnessed any moderator intervention as of yet

I know better than to get into a Star Trek argument...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 October, 2013, 06:32:50 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 October, 2013, 06:24:36 PM
QuoteI have not witnessed any moderator intervention as of yet

I know better than to get into a Star Trek argument...

Didn't Vizzini say that in Princess Bride?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 06:33:43 PM
I feel sorry for Star Trek V : The Final Frontier.  I thought I was definitely more harsh towards that film than I was Star Trek IV, but who rushes to defend poor Star Trek V, eh?  ;)

Well sod it, I will.  If you don't like giant ethereal heads shooting laser beams out of it's eyes then you are more than dead inside, Pictsy, you are hollow bar the small, cold, granite stone held in place by cobwebs that is your heart!

There, that told me!
:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 October, 2013, 06:50:02 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 October, 2013, 06:24:36 PM
QuoteI have not witnessed any moderator intervention as of yet

I know better than to get into a Star Trek argument...
Hell just froze over and Michael Jackson came back to life!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 22 October, 2013, 06:54:19 PM

It'll be interesting to see what you make of the next film in the series. I remember it being mostly pants, except for this brilliant, self aware line (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=s2wBtcmE5W8#t=35) *.


* Actually, watching it again, Shatner ruins the line with his delivery. I suppose if you can't stand ham then a film featuring Shatner isn't for you. I've been disappointed you haven't offered a commentary on the development of the head coverings sported by Kirk in each instalment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 07:06:16 PM
The hammy acting was something I commented on in my brief review of the first film iirc.  I have actually got used to it now.  I have to be honest, possibly to my shame, that I haven't been keeping track of Kirk's hair.  Scotty's waistline on the other hand...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 07:20:49 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 07:06:16 PM
The hammy acting was something I commented on in my brief review of the first film iirc.  I have actually got used to it now.  I have to be honest, possibly to my shame, that I haven't been keeping track of Kirk's hair.  Scotty's waistline on the other hand...

I actually really like all of the original cast Star Trek films. I think Generations was where things started going downhill.
I'd say the first 6 films are probably my favourite Trek overall. I like TNG but the films never seemed as good as the series and I didn't like the introduction of the Borg Queen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 07:32:27 PM
do a youtube search for 'Shatner of the Mount' for a great mash-up of his extended waffle from the DVD extras to ST:5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 09:15:10 PM
Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country  Well that is that, I guess.  It was OK.  It has its flaws, but I don't think they are of any serious detriment to the overall end product.  Equally it does not excel anywhere in particular.  The plot wasn't ambitious, but I think that was blessing.  I was periodically playing 'spot the DS9 actor', though.  Kim Cattrall was alright in the film but I don't think she made a convincing Vulcan.

I'm not going to carry on watching the rest of the Star Trek films, I seen the others (TNG) many times before and can go a long time without watching them again.  I'll have to find something else to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 09:35:00 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 09:15:10 PM
Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country  Well that is that, I guess.  It was OK.  It has its flaws, but I don't think they are of any serious detriment to the overall end product.  Equally it does not excel anywhere in particular.  The plot wasn't ambitious, but I think that was blessing.  I was periodically playing 'spot the DS9 actor', though.  Kim Cattrall was alright in the film but I don't think she made a convincing Vulcan.

I'm not going to carry on watching the rest of the Star Trek films, I seen the others (TNG) many times before and can go a long time without watching them again.  I'll have to find something else to watch.

How about Police Academy 1-6?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 09:57:26 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 09:35:00 PM
How about Police Academy 1-6?

No 'Mission to Moscow'?  It has Ron Perlman in it, y'know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 October, 2013, 10:45:32 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 October, 2013, 07:20:49 PMI didn't like the introduction of the Borg Queen.

Oh, thank god - I thought it was just me! All the Trekkies seem to love her, but to me she destroyed what I thought the Borg were about. I thought they were all one mind, no individualism, no freedom of thought. That's what freaked me out about them - if you were assimilated you were consumed by this vast consciousness, and the ID, the ego, was lost forever.  That scared me.

Then it turns out they're just a bloody giant ant hive, with a queen at the top.  Bloody ants! That's all the Borg are!  Pah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2013, 10:52:33 PM
I felt the Borg Queen worked well in the context of First Contact - if it were a standalone film.  Nevertheless, I shared in that disappointment that the one shared mind was some titless torso.  When I first saw the episode that introduced the Borg in TNG, it was really chilling.  They were some sort of organised space zombies and there was something unsettling about the notion of becoming one of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 October, 2013, 10:54:36 PM
Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 22 October, 2013, 05:04:27 PM

Doomsday Machine, Galileo Seven, Balance of Terror, City on the Edge of Forever and Devil in the Dark are definitive Trek episodes.

What about 'Amok Time'?!?  That's in my 'definitive' list just for that awesome fight scene/music!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 October, 2013, 12:46:20 PM

White House Down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wonLfgO5p8), which features Channing Tatum filling out a semmit in almost pornographic anatomical detail, being the best daddy in the world, and proving he's more powerful than the most powerful man on Earth. If you have ovaries, I imagine they'd be almost jumping out of your body to be fertilised by his character before the end of the film.

The script feels like it's been written by foreigners who only know about the office of the presidency through movies, and only know about films from other action films like The Rock and Die Hard. The fun largely comes from watching all the POTUS's toys being trashed and marvelling at how even when the film tries to subvert genre clichés it does so in a way which relies on you knowing the films that are being referenced. That means it has the same second hand, ersatz quality as Judge Dredd (1995).

The Tea Party and the military-industrial complex are the bad guys, and Jamie Foxx is Obama, but none of that's important. The film could have been made 10 years ago, with Josh Brolin playing Bush Jr and Bruce Willis fighting Islamic terrorists funded by the liberal media, and the writers would only need to have swapped over the proper nouns.

"Your first act as President is going to be bombing the White House?" - Maggie Gyllenhaal's bleeding heart liberal character
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 October, 2013, 01:47:55 PM
Are we still listing Romantic Comedies?  I just thought of one.  The Truman Show  I enjoyed that film.  Used it as an example in a university essay on semiotics (as a way of purposefully avoiding The Matrix).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 October, 2013, 01:54:32 PM
Naturaly Dredd has the most romantic scene of all. Such a passionate Glaswegian kiss. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 25 October, 2013, 11:47:58 PM

Never Been Kissed.

Do enjoy the film tonight, with Drew Barrymore, but David Arquette does steal the film as her brother.

Well I do enjoy romantic comedy films till my gf got me into it.

I like many romantic comedy films like Bridget Jones Diary, etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 26 October, 2013, 12:11:42 AM
Not a romantic comedy but Zulu.
I just really like this film. I think it's partly because, when really young, it was one of the films me and my brothers would laugh at and say "This is one of my Dad's films!" whenever it was starting as if it were an insult (no idea how we came about saying films we automatically assumed were rubbish were films my dad would like tho. Also, turned out he really does like Zulu anyway). I only watched it properly for the first time in my late teens and actually enjoyed it. My mate (who hides her dad's DVD of the film from him because he'd apparently watch it non-stop if permitted) text me to let me know it was on "Again!".
I was grateful for the heads up, even if she thought she was being funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 October, 2013, 03:16:08 AM
Well, the old man decided he wanted to see 'The Last Stand' with that Arnie guy who apparently used to have a political career of some description.

Holy cow... this movie is aggressively awful!

When a movie stars one of the biggest action heroes of the 1980s, plus Peter Stormare, Johnny Knoxville, with a cameo from HARRY DEAN FREAKIN' STANTON... and the best thing about the movie is Knoxville, you KNOW something's wrong.

Remember when movies would finish, and as the end credits rolled, you'd think about all the good stuff that you'd just seen? Well, as this movie was winding down, the only thought in my mind was: WHEN did audiences decide that this sort of garbage was acceptable quality for entertainment?

The writing is awful, cringeworthy stuff. If I was writing comics material this bad, I'd be embarrassed to share it with anyone.

Quite honestly, The Last Stand is an insult to the audience's collective intelligence. Absolute shit.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 October, 2013, 07:56:52 AM
Bought me BD's of Argento's Deep Red and Kevin Connors Motel Hell for £5 and £8 respectively. Lovely jubbly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 October, 2013, 09:15:15 AM
Quote from: HdE on 26 October, 2013, 03:16:08 AM
Well, the old man decided he wanted to see 'The Last Stand' ... the only thought in my mind was: WHEN did audiences decide that this sort of garbage was acceptable quality for entertainment?

The Last Stand (http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Last-Stand-The)

Budget                           $30,000,000

Worldwide Box Office       $37,183,273

Domestic DVD Sales:        $3,751,068

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 October, 2013, 11:41:11 AM
Had a choice between BASIC INSTINCT and GREGORY'S GIRL.

Watched GG.

How good is it? Especially when you compare and contrast to just about every single US high school coming of age film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 October, 2013, 01:13:06 AM
Ender's Game

I groaned inside when I saw the ads on the telly. "We're in danger from an alien race! Only this kid can save us." I mentally put it on my avoidance list.

Then I called a lady friend today and she told she wanted to see it.

While I'll admit, I wasn't keen, I don't mind following my companions lead on these things.

I'll admit, I still found it a but corny, but it certainly wasn't boring and it kept me engaged.[spoiler] And then they dared to subvert things with a couple of twists at the end, which I thought was interesting and thought provoking. Believe me,Flight of the Navigator this ain't. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]The admiral bit at the very end [/spoiler]was super silly though. Even dafter than Kirk [spoiler]leapfrogging straight to captain as a reward at the end of[/spoiler] the Abrams Star Trek movie.

[spoiler]But that couple of twists[/spoiler] kinda made the film for me. Not that I'm fussed to buy the Blu-ray or DVD but I'm glad I saw it. It passed a couple of hours pleasantly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jo-L on 27 October, 2013, 05:14:20 AM
Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 22 October, 2013, 05:04:27 PM
Star Trek 4 was the basic template for the Trek reboot: laugh at old Trek while unashamedly clutching its trouser leg and begging for money, but also started the trend in the films towards being more light-hearted and accessible, which was for the best, I think.

I for one never disliked IV, just never loved it.  in fact, of all of the Trek movies, I think Wrath of Kahn is the only one that really got the tone of TOS right.  III is pretty close.  VI is a very good movie, but not really in the same way as TOS.

Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 22 October, 2013, 05:04:27 PM
Doomsday Machine, Galileo Seven, Balance of Terror, City on the Edge of Forever and Devil in the Dark are definitive Trek episodes, the rest being a mixed bag varying in quality on a downward trajectory the longer it goes on, though some episodes in season 3 are arguably memorably and mesmerisingly terrible to the point they're worth a watch.  For me, though, Arena remains my all-time favorite Trek episode ever, embodying the American imperialist subtext of the show while simultaneously subverting it with a humanist appeal against the cold war sensibilities of the time in which it was made.  I love it so much that even a glimpse of "updated" Gorn designs usually prompts in me a towering fury.  It is utterly ace.

All great episodes, though my top 5 would go:
"Mirror, Mirror"
"The City on the Edge of Forever"
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
"A Taste of Armageddon"
"The Changeling"

There's really only about 6 or 7 episodes of TOS that rank bad to terrible.  The vast majority of the run is superior to just about anything that is on today (not on AMC).

I really find it interesting how non-US residents look at us as imperialists, and read things like cold war sensibilities as commentaries.  I think you'd be surprised to find out how deadpan a lot of our culture really is when it comes to these things.  I live in the very center of this country, and certain sensibilities are quite prevalent even today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jo-L on 27 October, 2013, 05:24:30 AM
Went to see "Gravity" tonight, and thought it was great.  We saw the 2D version, and it proved to me once again that 3D is a waste of time and money.  I was just as blown away and carried away with the cinematic experience the way it was, because it had a great story to go along with it.  And I didn't have to wear silly plastic goggles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 October, 2013, 08:53:11 AM
Quote from: Jo-L on 27 October, 2013, 05:14:20 AM
I really find it interesting how non-US residents look at us as imperialists, and read things like cold war sensibilities as commentaries.  I think you'd be surprised to find out how deadpan a lot of our culture really is when it comes to these things.  I live in the very center of this country, and certain sensibilities are quite prevalent even today.

Yep - US nationals aren't any more prone to chauvinism or credulousness than any other people, there are just a lot more of you. Watching Tea Party rallies, with hundreds or thousands of folk equating universal health care with Nazism, it's easy to forget that there's another 300 million of you who couldn't care less. Any Americans I've met in person have been smart and self aware, and you only have to look at the cultural output of the country to see the same balance of smart and incredibly stupid you find everywhere else.

The Way Back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87kezJTpyMI), which I thought would be like Escape From Alcatraz but turned out to be much more like Walkabout or Ice Cold In Alex. Ed Harris is brilliant in it, and it's directed by Peter Weir (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdqwbs8uKwQ), who knows how to tell a story about folk in a harsh natural environment going beyond the limits of normal human experience. Even if the ending is as subtle as a brick I still blubbed; then again, I cried at the end of White House Down too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 October, 2013, 08:56:19 AM

You all were far too harsh on Iron Man 3, by the way. I was expecting it to be a POS, like the second film, but it was a ton of fun. The narrative's not worth bothering with, of course, but that wasn't what made the first one fun either. I love RDJ as that character, and even his dialogue in the diversion with the irritating kid in Podunk, Tennessee is fantastically mordant. The anxiety and addiction themes are probably going a little too far in the direction of making the star's declaration, I am Iron Man, literally true, but I'm prepared to forgive him that indulgence. What an ending (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWEsHqsYlBQ).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 October, 2013, 09:10:59 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2013, 08:56:19 AM
You all were far too harsh on Iron Man 3, by the way. I was expecting it to be a POS, like the second film, but it was a ton of fun.

I really enjoyed it. I laughed more than at lot of comedies, plus some excellent set pieces. IM2 was just dull, but this one just zipped past in hugely entertaining fashion.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 27 October, 2013, 10:32:50 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 October, 2013, 09:10:59 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2013, 08:56:19 AM
You all were far too harsh on Iron Man 3, by the way. I was expecting it to be a POS, like the second film, but it was a ton of fun.

I really enjoyed it. I laughed more than at lot of comedies, plus some excellent set pieces. IM2 was just dull, but this one just zipped past in hugely entertaining fashion.

Cheers

Jim

I found Iron Man 3 to be deathly dull (whatever that means)- and monstrously boring, with one good joke (the obvious bit with Mandarin)- which was a joke that has been told so many times before, that I can't believe it elicited anything other than a groan. However, so many other people have told me afterwards they really liked it, I'm wondering if I was in just a particularly bad mood when we spent the best part of fifty quid seeing it at the cinema, and I had to watch not only my kids, but a cinema full of other people's kids, squirm and bitch and moan throughout. Come to think of it...

I've not seen Iron Man 2- it's on the shelf in the Marvel/ comics adaptations section, but I've never felt even the slightest temptation. Which is odd, because I hearted the first film and made lots of big noises when it came out, shouting about how they'd "finally got everything right" in a Marvel movie. After my experience with 3, I was happy to write that off along with Elektra, Punisher War Zone and Man Thing as "Marvel movies I'll probably not buy". Seeing Elektra for a quid and still not bothering was the turning point there. But now- but now- oh, I dunno- maybe. I enjoyed Avengers Assemble and Iron Man so bloody much (honestly, I think AA must be one of my favourite films, ever. I'd watch it again right now if I could) that I really want to love all the Marvel films- and Iron Man 3 is really a showcase among them. A jewel in Marvel's crown, they'd like to think. Did I really miss all that was so good about it? I just remember being driven into the kind of boredom-headache that usually only Tim Burton can elicit. The kind of headache I got while watching Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow, Batman and Batman Returns. I remember the row of little kids in front of us, all of whom were wearing Iron Man fancy dress, wriggling and shouting and making their boredom known to their suffering parents. And my wife mouthing "this is terrible" to me partway through. And then Iron Man's robot suits flying about, and me thinking "this is no longer about a man in armour with a heart condition, but a man who has some robots- and that's not in the least bit like the Iron Man I want to see". Maybe I just hate it when they go too far from the specific bit of the source material I like- see also Captain America's new suit, Judge Dredd's rubbish leathers and Thor not wearing a hat.

In conclusion then, I will watch Iron Man 2 for the first time and Iron Man 3 again.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 October, 2013, 10:58:48 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 27 October, 2013, 10:32:50 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 October, 2013, 09:10:59 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2013, 08:56:19 AM
You all were far too harsh on Iron Man 3, by the way. I was expecting it to be a POS, like the second film, but it was a ton of fun.

I really enjoyed it. I laughed more than at lot of comedies, plus some excellent set pieces. IM2 was just dull, but this one just zipped past in hugely entertaining fashion.

Cheers

Jim
And then Iron Man's robot suits flying about, and me thinking "this is no longer about a man in armour with a heart condition, but a man who has some robots

SBT

I think this may be leading in to Avengers 2 and the movie version of Ultron if rumours are to be believed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 October, 2013, 12:59:06 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 27 October, 2013, 10:32:50 AM
I'm wondering if I was in just a particularly bad mood when we spent the best part of fifty quid seeing it at the cinema, and I had to watch not only my kids, but a cinema full of other people's kids, squirm and bitch and moan throughout. Come to think of it ... Maybe I just hate it when they go too far from the specific bit of the source material I like- see also Captain America's new suit, Judge Dredd's rubbish leathers and Thor not wearing a hat.

Aye, for some reason Urban didn't wear that look as well as some of his co-stars.

I've only bought one Iron Man comic in my life - a hastily painted Colin MacNeil effort from the nineties - so I don't have any problem with preconceptions, but I'd agree that it isn't really much of an Iron Man film. Its entertainment value doesn't come from the baggy mess of a story or the dull suit hoping final fight, but from watching RDJ swanning around delivering acerbic Blackadder put downs and being a rock star. The scene with the fan is brilliant.

I watched the film at home, with piss breaks and a nice walk through the woods breaking up the running time - and bookended by a true life tale of wilderness survival and an episode of This Is England '88 - so our viewing experiences were very different.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 27 October, 2013, 01:09:45 PM
World War Z
Thought this was awesome! Normally wary of DVD's with 'extra added action scenes' cos it just means it was shit at the cinema but this was gripping & intelligent, nice change for a zombie romp!

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 October, 2013, 01:44:48 PM
Super 8

I enjoyed it well enough, but nothing to write home about. The kids didn't annoy me half as much as I thought they would and I thought a few of them put in great performances. It kind of fell apart at the end though. [spoiler]The alien used space magic to suck all the metal stuff in town together to make his spaceship, and all the cars and spanners magically change size and shape to make a bitchin lookin spacecraft. I would have preferred the end result to look like a bricolage of mismatched parts that don't really fit together or make sense. Maybe that's just not J.J. Abram's thing.[/spoiler] However, it was worth it just for the bit during the end credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 October, 2013, 02:23:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2013, 08:53:11 AMWatching Tea Party rallies, with hundreds or thousands of folk equating universal health care with Nazism, it's easy to forget that there's another 300 million of you who couldn't care less.

My favorite Tea Party moment was last week-ish when GOP reps turned out to protest the effects of the government shutdown, which is a bit like shitting in your neighbour's yard and then calling out the rest of the neighbourhood to form a mob angry about people with shit in their yard.  Being the Tea Party, I also liked how they used war veterans as a human shield between themselves and police.

Iron Man 3 was great fun, balancing grit and snidey mumblecore dialogue brilliantly.  I agree with those who didn't like that the end was just loads of robots and very little in the way of superheroics, but then I also often forget that this is a film and it's not meant for comics nerds like me, as though I have never willingly bought an Iron Man comic I still know what superhero stories are like and what should be expected of a film about Iron Man, and like others this sometimes gives me preconceived notions that spill over into a sense of entitlement.  IM3 is a very entertaining film.  Not Shakespeare and will likely annoy many fanboys because it branches so far off the secret identity and supervillains-in-costume track, but it made a shitload of money for a reason.

I watched the first hour and a bit of Star Trek Into Darkness, and despite watching the previous film at least 8 times in the space of one year, when Spock goes "Captain, you are going to team up with Kahn" I was done.  It was basically a very expensive episode of Funny Or Die poking fun at how bad a remake of Wrath Of Kahn would be nowadays by that point, and was really not for me.

Payload - a short sci-fi film available to view on Youtube.  I am watching a lot more of these nowadays and this one is typical of those done well - not exceptional in any areas, but well-made and sustains the right atmosphere for the kind of story it tells.  Well worth 17 minutes of your time if you're a fan of analogous sci-fi.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLWYgOFDBnA
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jo-L on 27 October, 2013, 03:26:34 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 27 October, 2013, 08:53:11 AM
Yep - US nationals aren't any more prone to chauvinism or credulousness than any other people, there are just a lot more of you. Watching Tea Party rallies, with hundreds or thousands of folk equating universal health care with Nazism, it's easy to forget that there's another 300 million of you who couldn't care less. Any Americans I've met in person have been smart and self aware, and you only have to look at the cultural output of the country to see the same balance of smart and incredibly stupid you find everywhere else.

So I agree that...

Wait a second, are you calling me an asshole?

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 October, 2013, 05:00:33 PM
Quote from: Jo-L on 27 October, 2013, 03:26:34 PM
Wait a second, are you calling me an asshole? ;)

All Brits speak and act as if we're in Downton Abbey, so if I had issued an insult you'd just find it charming and twee. Cheers for the recommendation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLWYgOFDBnA), Pro; I prefer my sci-fi to be more Children of Men than Prometheus these days, now I'm bored and old (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODn21NOi-dQ).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 October, 2013, 06:25:33 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 26 October, 2013, 09:15:15 AM
Quote from: HdE on 26 October, 2013, 03:16:08 AM
Well, the old man decided he wanted to see 'The Last Stand' ... the only thought in my mind was: WHEN did audiences decide that this sort of garbage was acceptable quality for entertainment?

The Last Stand (http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Last-Stand-The)

Budget                           $30,000,000

Worldwide Box Office       $37,183,273

Domestic DVD Sales:        $3,751,068

Interesting to know, but it doesn't really answer the question I posed. So it sells? Great. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a woefully awful movie.

There's nothing surprising about that situation at all. But, really, we're living in an age where the quality of popular mainstream entertainment is really and truly in the toilet. I despair of any audience that laps this sort of thing up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 27 October, 2013, 06:33:12 PM
Dead Man's Shoes

So I'd heard a lot about this, I'd heard a it was really bad, I'd heard it was brilliant, and I agree with neither. I don't what I feel about it. I just came away thinking 'what a hollow movie', which is the last thing I expected.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 October, 2013, 06:38:12 PM
Quote from: HdE on 27 October, 2013, 06:25:33 PM
I despair of any audience that laps this sort of thing up.

I don't think sauchie's numbers were supposed to show any kind of audience 'lapping it up' — taking $10M over production budget at the box office plus domestic DVD is almost certainly a loss once marketing and incidentals are thrown in.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 October, 2013, 06:43:09 PM
Ooo, Dead Man's Shoes.  I liked the concept and the more down-to-earth execution.  I wasn't blown away by it either, but it left an impression on me.  It's a good film and didn't fair any worse for me on a second viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 27 October, 2013, 06:59:00 PM
I liked certain bits of it, but it all seemed a bit melodramatic, and the bits where they had the black and white flashbacks with pseudo-religious music playing (I'm thinking primarily of the one where we REALLY find out the main character's motivation, [spoiler]the hanging bit[/spoiler]) were unintentionally laughable, mainly because it took itself too seriously be able to use that kind of pretentious flashback successfully. I also think structurally it is rather weak, how it spends longer than the first half of the movie with the first set of drug dealers (and we are with them, not our protagonist) and then suddenly when all that has run its course the film turns it's head and goes: 'but wait, there's more' and we start what is apparently only the second act.
  That said, the performances are spectacular, the music (when not being too morbidly po-faced for its own good) is really nicely used, it's really nicely shot, especially in the montages of them walking at the beginning and (the new beginning) half way through. I like the idea of essentially making the protagonist a slasher film villain as well! And the writing (and I'm talking about the dialogue as opposed to the story) is brilliantly realistic and for want of a less pretentious word: 'raw'. The main source of the films (little) sense of fun comes from the dialogue between the small-time gangsters, and the confrontations between Richard (the main character) and the thugs, where Paddy Considine is clearly revelling in playing someone completely unhinged.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 October, 2013, 07:23:22 PM
I really like Dead Man's Shoes, it has its faults, like all of Shane Meadows films, unfortunately.
This film suffers the least. Bit of a fave, actually. It certainly stands up to repeated viewings, with the scene with the last gang member usually fast forwarded, though. And for the reasons that youve given.

But after catching the rather good Small Time, i so wanted to like his films, but seldom do.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 October, 2013, 07:33:30 PM
On the subject of Rom Coms:

I watched The Proposal and thoroughly enjoyed it. Much to the sneering disdain of my wife, and a little bit of the geek in me did wither and die by the end. But - it was Christmas and I was full of good cheer (and Amaretto).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 October, 2013, 09:48:44 PM
Quote from: HdE on 27 October, 2013, 06:25:33 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 26 October, 2013, 09:15:15 AM
Quote from: HdE on 26 October, 2013, 03:16:08 AM
Well, the old man decided he wanted to see 'The Last Stand' ... the only thought in my mind was: WHEN did audiences decide that this sort of garbage was acceptable quality for entertainment?

The Last Stand (http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Last-Stand-The)

Budget                           $30,000,000

Worldwide Box Office       $37,183,273

Domestic DVD Sales:        $3,751,068

Interesting to know, but it doesn't really answer the question I posed. So it sells? Great. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a woefully awful movie.

There's nothing surprising about that situation at all. But, really, we're living in an age where the quality of popular mainstream entertainment is really and truly in the toilet. I despair of any audience that laps this sort of thing up.

It answers your question in as blunt a fashion as possible. As previously noted, it's a low box-office take which most certainly means the studio ended up losing money. Out of that $37 million from box-office the studio only gets 45% which has to pay for budget and marketing (around $20 million for domestic US) so the studio is well into the red.

No one lapped up The Last Stand at the box-office or in the home market.

It's a total write-down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 October, 2013, 10:25:34 PM
Durr! I'm reading the numbers wrong! That's what I get for surfing the net with a double whiskey in my hand!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 28 October, 2013, 09:45:26 AM
Conan The Barbarian (2011 Marcus Nispel one) on fast forward.

Last night, I put on the VAM from the UK edition of Conan, to take my mind off the DEATH-DEALING HURRICANE OF DEATH outside my window. While watching, I thought "do you know, this doesn't seem as bad as I remember. Maybe the kids might like it."- so, fighting against the onset of a codeine-induced coma, I watched the movie itself on 10x FF, stopping to watch some sequences at normal speed to see if they were too intense for the boys, and/or too sexy.

Quite a bit ended up watched, actually- and I found myself liking it far more than I did previously, or probably should have done. So, with minor snippage, it will be the next movie me and the boys watch, I think (unless something else comes along). I think they'll love it. I did.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 October, 2013, 10:09:13 AM
I also liked Conan, it's not a classic by all means but it's still a lot of fun and way better than Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the piss poor Jonah Hex.

As for me, I watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves last night with the kids. I just forget what a marvellous film this is, with a lot of heart and the animation still looks amazing. The Queen still makes my heart flutter, what a beauty!  :lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 28 October, 2013, 11:49:00 AM
Apocalypse Now, one of the darkest and one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. Watching it right after Requiem for a Dream was a bad idea. Also got watching Life of Brian, excellent film.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 28 October, 2013, 12:49:54 PM
Just had something of an unplanned sequels weekend with
Crank: High Voltage
Starring Jason Statham, an actor I tend to place beneath Danny Dyer (I can usually laugh to myself on watching a Dyer film but I can't with Statham) so I try to avoid his films. But then a mate brought this to mine and said I should watch it, explaining how the director/writer/producer team hadn't wanted to make a sequel but the studio kept asking them to, so the creative team said they would but only if they had final say on the script/final cut etc and the studio agreed. Apparently, the creative duo were more than happy with this agreement and kept daring one another to put something ridiculous into the script to see what it would take for the studio to say "You can't do that" and it never happened. Because of this, Crank 2 appeared as a strangely hypnotic film to me and if I tried telling you of some of the things that occur as Statham rushes around, trying to keep his artificial heart charged until he gets his real heart back from the gangsters that have taken it, you probably wouldn't believe me. Oh, and Mike Patton is responsible for the soundtrack. I immediately went to Google on seeing the name, turns out it is that Mike Patton.
Scream 4
Nowhere near as easy to write on this one. I've now seen all Scream films once (I remember enjoying the first one when I watched it but that was surely almost 15 years ago now and I've never had the urge to watch it again, so not sure what I'd make of it now) and with the years there is between parts 2 and 3 and now 4, I can't tell you whether this last installment is as bad as the previous or not. I've as good as forgotten all of it already. If it ever came down to it, I'd pick High Voltage over this for a repeat viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 October, 2013, 04:32:25 PM
Crank and it's sequel are highly entertaining films.  I like watching Statham films, though.  Sometimes he's in pretty good ones like The Bank Job.  Crank and Crank: High Voltage are stupid films, but seem to know it and run with it.  They are parodies of action films, stripped down to bear essentials.  A handy bloke has to run around a lot causing all manner of mischief.  It's like a fare ground ride.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 October, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
I suspect that tale of behind-the-scenes one-upmanship is just PR flim-flam as by then everyone knew what they were making, though I recall not getting very far into Crank 2 despite enjoying the first one.  Statham is one of those actors like Jackie Chan that people in the media love to be snobs about because of their ethos of churning out films on a low budget that make their cash back from a steady body of fans, as in movie-making terms this is practically being working class.

He's done some good films, all the same.  The Transporter 1 and 2 are great fun, though it's probably for the best he never made any other sequels to it.  Death Race is a laugh, too, as is the so-dumb-it-hurts prequel (though Statham isn't in that one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 28 October, 2013, 07:18:55 PM

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - never see this film before as thought it one of animated films with some actors add their voices to.

So watch it on tv this weekend, and what a so funny film to enjoyable!!! I like the characters, even monkey and rat-parrots! Chicken fights! and the best bit is Snowball fight!

brilliant funny film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 October, 2013, 07:25:25 PM
I just don't get the whole Statham thing - never have, never will. He was OK in things like Lock, Stock, but as a leading man or action hero? No thanks.

I just find him an incredibly unconvincing screen presence. And his American accent? Holy crap it's awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 October, 2013, 07:50:02 PM
QuoteCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - never see this film before as thought it one of animated films with some actors add their voices to.

Isn't that every animated movie..?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 October, 2013, 08:06:45 PM
I don't think that anyone could claim that Statham is the greatest actor ever with any credulity.  I am glad that he seems to be giving up on trying to an American accent as it is truly horrendous.  He does strike me as a hard working (insofar as actors can be), jobbing actor who puts his all into his performances.  Really why I like Statham is I've seen plenty of films with him in that I rate as being good enough to stick on if I don't really want to think about what I'm watching.  He's been in some real utter shite as well.  The Expendables 2 is an atrocious piece of cinema.

I really don't blame anyone for not really liking his films.  I would probably get worried if people started saying they really hate him or really love him though.  He's not Marmite.

(btw I hate Marmite.  It doesn't taste of Twiglets - I've been fooled by that before!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 October, 2013, 08:17:01 PM
There are only two kinds of people who can enjoy Statham films on a regular basis: those who possess a working vagina as part of their biological makeup, and the most manly of men, who in another reality would probably be Klingons, or whatever it is on the planet Klingon that eats Klingons.

Me, I like him because he makes old-fashioned action vehicles - and ever since Kelly Brook dumped him he's dated a string of low-maintenance page 3 girls, which I think is just adorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 October, 2013, 08:35:20 PM
Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 28 October, 2013, 05:12:55 PM
The Transporter 1 and 2 are great fun, though it's probably for the best he never made any other sequels to it. 

I don't know if you're denying its existence because you thought it was terrible, or you just didn't know...but he did (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129442/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 October, 2013, 08:58:32 PM
They never made a Transporter 3.


That is all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 29 October, 2013, 01:48:33 AM
The Last Stand.

So I saw the trailer for this while watching Silent Hill 2, and the trailer was enough to make me go and buy it the next day. If you love classic action movies (80's Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Willis) then chances are you will love this too. I knew from the trailer not to expect much in the way of realism, which is why I think the rating on IMDB is so low. This is a pizza and beer kind of movie. If you want to see people get shot, blown up and beaten to a pulp with some funny one liners thrown in then this movie is for you. I'd love to know if any other boarders have seen this and if so what did you think? I give it an 8/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 October, 2013, 07:34:09 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 29 October, 2013, 01:48:33 AMI'd love to know if any other boarders have seen this and if so what did you think?

Scroll up a page or twa, dear heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 29 October, 2013, 08:38:09 AM
Guest House Paradiso - absolutely hilarious!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 October, 2013, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 29 October, 2013, 01:48:33 AM
The Last Stand.

So I saw the trailer for this while watching Silent Hill 2, and the trailer was enough to make me go and buy it the next day. If you love classic action movies (80's Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Willis) then chances are you will love this too. I knew from the trailer not to expect much in the way of realism, which is why I think the rating on IMDB is so low. This is a pizza and beer kind of movie. If you want to see people get shot, blown up and beaten to a pulp with some funny one liners thrown in then this movie is for you. I'd love to know if any other boarders have seen this and if so what did you think? I give it an 8/10.

I enjoyed it too. I can see why others didn't but I thought it was good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 October, 2013, 11:58:57 AM
Captain Phillips.

Not a huge amount to say about it, really. It was pretty good, but (maybe this sounds like a weird criticism of a film based on real events) would have benefited greatly from being shorter - the first 90 minutes are taught and tense, but it becomes a bit of a slog for the last half hour and I found myself zoning out a bit towards the end. I also thought that because of the documentary style of filming we don't really get to know anything about any of the characters so it can be hard to get too involved. And there's a weird tic of characters spouting bare-faced exposition to each other ([spoiler]"We are going to follow this ship until the Navy arrives"[/spoiler] etc) which jars a lot with the naturalistic style of the film.

The ending is fantastically powerful though - the [spoiler]'execute' scene when the pirates are taken down and Phillips is left screaming in confusion, terror, showered with blood, then disoriented and shell-shocked as a nurse attends to him[/spoiler] was really raw and quite moving. You still got it, Hanks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 30 October, 2013, 01:05:13 PM
Watched Pink Floyd's The Wall last night. Great film, really does the music justice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 October, 2013, 02:06:47 PM
Quote from: JudgeE1M1RT on 30 October, 2013, 01:05:13 PM
Watched Pink Floyd's The Wall last night. Great film, really does the music justice.

Fabulous film. This was one of the first albums I ever owned, and one of my all time favourite movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 October, 2013, 05:23:58 PM
Paranormal Activity 4

That's four for four. The best, and scariest, contemporary horror series knocks it out of the park yet again. Superb. And all the better for only costing me a fiver.

Cannot wait for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57608033/first-trailer-arrives-for-paranormal-activity-the-marked-ones/) and Paranormal Activity 5

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 October, 2013, 07:12:22 PM
I can't even tell when you're joking anymore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 October, 2013, 10:01:16 PM
Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 30 October, 2013, 07:12:22 PM
I can't even tell when you're joking anymore.

Heh - I've never figured out when you are being serious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 October, 2013, 10:18:17 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 October, 2013, 10:01:16 PM
Quote from: Professor Vundabar K Werewolf on 30 October, 2013, 07:12:22 PM
I can't even tell when you're joking anymore.

Heh - I've never figured out when you are being serious.

All the time.  And that goes for both of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 30 October, 2013, 11:32:28 PM
So, World War Z eh? Finally got around to seeing it. Its basically 28 Days Later with more scenery and less character development. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was - a nice action zombie romp, with good set pieces and a constant barrage of tension and, as they say on the certificates these days, peril.

It's crap compared to the book though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 October, 2013, 12:20:18 AM
Man Or Machine - a feature-length outing for mid-80s toy advertisement The Centurions, it lacks the sophistication of latter day animation - being a cel effort - but it features some great retro-futuristic production design work from Jack Kirby and Gil Kane (OMG BUTTONS AND SWITCHES!) and a fantastically bombastic synth score from the criminally underrated Udi Harpaz, as usual going out of his way to be the best thing in whatever he lends his talents to, a habit he continued well into the new millennium on stuff like the Digimon movies and Lost, where he was constantly delivering high-caliber work the projects arguably may not have warranted.
It's held together by the solid animation work of Sunrise's Studio 7 branch, here utilising a style more identifiable as traditionally western in influence compared to their latter efforts like Sacred Seven which tended towards experimentation born of minimal budgets, but they really make the aforementioned production design of Kirby and Kane pop not just as they realise now-outdated sci-fi conceits like orbital elevators, rocketships, exoframe armor and chunky cyborgs, but also in simple things like satellite dishes, control panels covered in colourful buttons and dials, and set design that emphasises huge spaces and big, clunky technology that looks absolutely alien compared to the minimalist organic iFuture designs of modern sci-fi.
For all my talk of retro-futurism, however, this isn't akin to Sunrise's more well-known sci-fi efforts working from Western design templates - such as Syd Mead's "steampunk Transformers" work on Turn A Gundam - and is more in line with their work on Votoms, albeit with more of an emphasis on primary colours in keeping with the material's purpose as a toy advertisement.  The story concerns posthuman supremacist Doc Terror contacting an alien AI and constructing a supercomputer to its specifications called Magog, which arguably should have been his first clue that an apocalypse would shortly figure in this alliance.  It does.  Along the way towards an explosion-heavy resolution to this conundrum, two new action figures Centurions are introduced and the Native American Centurion John Thunder is just about as politically correct as you'd expect of something made in 1985, and he spends several fights going OOWOOWOOWOOWOO while wielding his futuristic weapons technology that is basically a tomahawk made of lasers.  The other guy is called Rex Charger and seems to be based entirely upon Richard Jordan in Raise The Titanic, but he gets very little to do because basically he is awful, though he does at one point take a break from doing energy research in the Arctic to have dinner by walking over to a fully-furnished dining table sitting in the middle of the snowy wastes, pulls off his winter gear and is revealed to be wearing a tuxedo underneath, and he just sits down and waits as this robot butler type brings him a menu.  This is, of course, completely fantastic, but it's a one-off and generally he's just dull and beardy for the rest of the film.
Despite a high production pedigree including voice talent royalty like Tress McNeill and Neil Ross, this movie is total horseshit.  It's clearly cobbled together from several episodes of the show that probably weren't shown very much because they really push the toys onscreen for loud fights or rescue situations and this likely violated a lot of stations' policies on product placement a bit too blatantly to be ignored, but it's typically eventful of a Ruby/Spears effort, seemingly terrified that at any moment its audience might stop watching so there's a cliffhanger every three or four minutes, with a big cliffhanger changing the game every twenty minutes or so, but all told I enjoyed it, moreso than Pixar's Brave or Dreamworks' The Croods, although beyond nostalgia or a genuine fondness for the animation of the period I can't see the appeal traveling very far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 31 October, 2013, 01:59:03 AM
watched White House Down last night.  I'd heard it was dumb fun and if I'm totally honest I'm not a big fan of dumb fun (unless its got zombies in it, for some reason).

It had cheesy one liners, made no sense and was stupidly convoluted, and you could spot the 'twist' a mile off.  I LOVED IT.  It was such good fun.

Derivitive?, i hear you ask. Well yes it was just Die Hard in the Whitehouse.  But admit it, that sounds good doesn't it.

Cheers
Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2013, 09:25:07 AM
Quote from: Proteus4 on 31 October, 2013, 01:59:03 AM
Die Hard in the Whitehouse.  But admit it, that sounds good doesn't it.

Yes it sounds good - and that's the problem. I thought WHD was pretty far from good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 31 October, 2013, 11:31:40 AM
Blue Jasmine - not a Woody Allen fan really but quite enjoyed this. Charlize Theron does an excellent job of playing someone who is pitiable despite being fairly reprehensible. Jasmine - I mean, Jeanette, is self-delusional to the point of self-harm. If it wasn't for the ingratitude she shows to - and the inconvenience she causes - for the one person who's trying to help her with no ulterior motive, she might be sympathetic. However as the movie progresses, her role in her own downfall becomes clearer and her lies become ever more apparent.

Not a wholly comfortable watch but it has humour running throughout, albeit mostly of an incredulously tragic nature, and the actors are all brilliant. Well, except Louis CK but he basically plays the same guy he plays in his own self-titled show. It's a coin toss as to who does the best job between Theron or Sally Hawkins, who plays long-suffering and down-to-earth (if a little ditzy) sister Ginger. Theron is the focus of the movie and carries crazy off incredibly well, throwing complete instability out there mere seconds after she pulls off the smooth conceit of a spoiled member of high society and rare moments of lucid, resigned determination. However Hawkins completely fills out the role of the poor, low-maintenance sister who has opened her small apartment to her destitute, snobby sibling and who has her own moments of fanciful weakness - but tries to make the best of a life where she's never been entitled to anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 31 October, 2013, 01:30:32 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 31 October, 2013, 11:31:40 AM
Blue Jasmine. Charlize Theron does an excellent job

... and yet, it's Cate Blanchett who's getting all the Oscar buzz.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 31 October, 2013, 02:57:17 PM
Woops!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 02:06:09 AM
Halloween 3

So what's the board's consensus on this? I remember seeing it when I was about 10 and I've loved it ever since.
I really admire the original Halloween idea of having an unrelated, stand alone story, released every year and this is still the only Halloween installment not to feature Michael Myers.
I really like the Sci Fi direction and the masks are bloody great.
The 'happy, happy, Halloween' jingle is fantastic and I think that next year I'll try to make a Silver Shamrock mask as part of my outfit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 01 November, 2013, 07:21:33 AM
I think you and I may be the only folk to actually like that film James!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2013, 07:24:05 AM
Not at all. Halloween 3 Season of the Witch is actually my favourite instalment in the series. I watched it last night once again for a double bill with ZFE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 01 November, 2013, 08:19:59 AM
As a kid, H3 was "the crap one", as it was 15 rated and didn't have Michael Myers. However, as an adult it's brilliant and probably one of my favourite films- certainly one that gets trotted out with increasing  regularity. Halloween every year is punctuated by linked YouTube version of the silver shamrock advert, and (certainly for my kids, if not yours) "that song" isn't 'London Bridge' it's 'Sil-ver shamROCK (do de do de)'.
And even away from all that, it's a damn site better film than H2, H4-6 and H:R.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 01 November, 2013, 08:39:08 AM
Yeah Halloween 3 is great, though any horror movie with Tom Atkins is automatically worth a watch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 November, 2013, 10:16:15 AM
A real bummer for me- caught the fist 30 minutes of Häxan on Film 4 last night, a movie I'd previously heard about, but never seen broadcast before or on sale anywhere.

It was absolutely mesmerizing- I couldn't believe it was nearly 100 years old.
Alas, I was up early for work so had to head into bed.

Tried looking for it on DVD on the usual websites this morning, but it seems to be a scalpers best friend.

If I cant get it for a decent price, I may have to go down that other road.
It's what Benjamin Christensen would have wanted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 November, 2013, 10:31:35 AM
I enjoy halloween 3 also.  At the end of H2 we are supposed to believe that Michael is finally dead so for H3 Carpenter and Hill wanted to turn the Halloween series into an anthology, more like the twilight zone with different stories/characters in the films but the link being Halloween.  Unfortunately, H3 didn't do as well as hoped so Michael came back for H4.  Although I do love Michael as a horror character, part of me wishes that he did stay dead at the end of H2.  Those first two films are great viewed back-to-back as H2 kicks off right where H1 ended and it continues the ramping up of the killing/violence.  H2 was a great finish as well - Michael and Loomis go up in flames together.  I don't mind having further films because I will watch anything with Micheal in it (including the 2 Rob Zombie films) but sometimes less is more.

Halloween 3 is still a good movie in it's own right - OK it can be a little slow at times.  The original screenplay was written by Nigel Kneale (of Quatermass fame) but was later altered to have the gore/violence pumped up.  I believe the film is largely the same as Nigel wrote though and you can see the similarities with his other work.  One thing that is telling is that I will happily watch through H3 time and time again but I can't say the same thing for something like H4. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 November, 2013, 11:29:42 AM
I find slasher movies very boring, so Halloween 3 is the only one of the franchise I like - brilliant idea and the jingle creeps me out still!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 November, 2013, 12:02:32 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 01 November, 2013, 11:29:42 AM
I find slasher movies very boring, so Halloween 3 is the only one of the franchise I like - brilliant idea and the jingle creeps me out still!

Same here, not a fan of Gorno either. Although I have a soft spot for Zombie flicks and proper horror/ Ghost stories. The Exorcist still remains for me, a giant colossus in the horror landscape.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 12:53:39 PM
Keeping in the spirit of things, I recently watched Hellraiser. Christ, what a turkey. Maybe you had to be there first time around. The acting - almost without exception - is horrifically bad. The cast seem to be practising on-screen for the first time as you watch - it's little surprise that I don't recognise any of them from anything since. The film shrieks '1980s' at the top of its lungs all the way through, and not in a good way. It's all a bit painful. The soundtrack's bad, the plot's bad, the actors are bad, it just... it just isn't a very good film.

And the plot is ludicrous and full of holes almost from the get-go - for example, having spent the opening five minutes badmouthing her husband's no-good brother, it takes 'Julia' all of five seconds to jump into bed with him when he suddenly appears without explanation in the house. We're then asked to believe that this one single shag was so good, so earth-shaking, that not only is all of Julia's disgust for him instantly banished, not only that she suddenly no longer cares about her husband and is now madly in love with this brother, but that when said brother then reveals that he is in fact an undead fiend returned from hell who has no skin and needs her to start commiting multiple homicide for him, she's so utterly besotted that she'll become a serial killer at the blink of an eyelid in the hopes of another such world-class shag. The subsequent scenes of Clare Higgins bludgeoning blokes with a hammer in massive shoulder pads and purple eye-shadow while her 80's barnet (presumably hair-sprayed to within an inch of its life) bounces from side to side are comically bad.

Anything positive to say? Well yes - the effects work is largely superb for the time, and still holds up really well today, to be honest. I don't know, but I'd imagine that early stopmotion scene of a skeleton re-building itself a network of veins and muscles is rightly celebrated. The film picks up hugely when the Cenobites appear for the third act - the effects here are again superb - and even though only two of them speak these are the only guys in the film that can actually act. Doug Bradley is utterly chilling. They were just - just - good enough to convince me to give the sequel a go...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 November, 2013, 12:59:37 PM


Halloween 1 & 2 are the only early Carpenter films I've never watched and have little interest in but Season of the Witch is a different story and I wish Carpenter had directed it himself as it suffers not benefitting from his ability to handle tone and pace. It's a shame because it sits comfortably in that grey area between horror & Sci-Fi Carpenter handles so well and there's a fair bit of stuff that foreshadows They Live.

It's also one of Carpenter's best soundtracks and opening credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BICyGaJRT18).

I stilll want to read Nigel 'Quatermass' Kneale's original script since it was re-written by the director and Kneale requested he go uncredited.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 November, 2013, 01:02:14 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 12:53:39 PM...having spent the opening five minutes badmouthing her husband's no-good brother, it takes 'Julia' all of five seconds to jump into bed with him...

Ain't that just like a dame. 

But I agree with you, truly superb make-up and monster design aside, I could never stand Hellraiser, or associated. I'm not a big Barker fan in general, Weaveworld and perhaps the first Books of Blood omnibus (largely on the grounds of VFM) aside. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 01 November, 2013, 01:10:01 PM
Watched Candmany for the first time yesterday despite years of torturing my friend with his fears of it.

Wasn't very impressed beyond one scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFAE-ZIntVI) which was both hilarious and quite shocking, largely because it's like it's just some guy hiding behind the chair the whole time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 05:30:06 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 November, 2013, 01:02:14 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 12:53:39 PM...having spent the opening five minutes badmouthing her husband's no-good brother, it takes 'Julia' all of five seconds to jump into bed with him...

Ain't that just like a dame. 

But I agree with you, truly superb make-up and monster design aside, I could never stand Hellraiser, or associated. I'm not a big Barker fan in general, Weaveworld and perhaps the first Books of Blood omnibus (largely on the grounds of VFM) aside.

I remember liking Nightbreed quite a bit but it's never on telly and doesn't seem to be available on DVD.
There were some great monsters in Nightbreed and there was a decent comic book version that featured in Marvels UK's short lived 'Meltdown'.
There was also an Amiga game that was ridiculously difficult.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 November, 2013, 05:35:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 05:30:06 PM

I remember liking Nightbreed quite a bit but it's never on telly and doesn't seem to be available on DVD.


There's a story there (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=38217).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 November, 2013, 06:06:15 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 12:53:39 PM
Keeping in the spirit of things, I recently watched Hellraiser. Christ, what a turkey.

Whaaaaat?  Hellraiser is a brilliant horror movie.  Given, the acting is not always the best but c'mon this is a horror movie we are talking about.  The whole sex/death thing is very Clive Barker and Doug Bradley is indeed fantastic.  As pinhead, he has to be the most charismatic modern horror movie monster that I can think of.  Julia is not in love with Frank she obsesses/lusts after him just as Frank obsesses/lusts after the experiences the cenobites offer.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 06:31:17 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 01 November, 2013, 05:35:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 05:30:06 PM

I remember liking Nightbreed quite a bit but it's never on telly and doesn't seem to be available on DVD.


There's a story there (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=38217).

That's brilliant news! Thanks for the heads up Joe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 November, 2013, 07:36:08 PM
Me and the girls just finished watching Ghostbusters for the nth time. It's a post Halloween tradition.

That film never gets old. It's hard to believe it was made almost 30 years ago.  It still seems so fresh and funny, and the effects have barely aged.  Kudos to the creative team behind it. 

It is such a quotable film too - the girls get really annoyed when I say the lines seconds before the characters. Of course, their irritation makes me do it all the more. That's what dads are for!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 November, 2013, 07:43:41 PM
Ghostbusters is a masterclass in film making. I love the fact that in the very first scene you get to see, what is most probably everyone's first mental image of a ghost, and yet the film still has so much more to offer after that initial payoff.
It's quite strange how adult some of the jokes are, but I never got any of the sex references as a kid.
In some ways it's probably the closest thing to a live action Pixar film. It certainly has a similar feel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 07:49:46 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 01 November, 2013, 06:06:15 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 12:53:39 PM
Keeping in the spirit of things, I recently watched Hellraiser. Christ, what a turkey.

Whaaaaat?  Hellraiser is a brilliant horror movie.  Given, the acting is not always the best but c'mon this is a horror movie we are talking about.  The whole sex/death thing is very Clive Barker and Doug Bradley is indeed fantastic.  As pinhead, he has to be the most charismatic modern horror movie monster that I can think of.  Julia is not in love with Frank she obsesses/lusts after him just as Frank obsesses/lusts after the experiences the cenobites offer.   

Well, I stand by what I said - but I did also get around to watching Hellraiser II: Hellbound, which is a vastly superior film in almost every way. The few members of the original cast who return either have mercifully tiny supporting roles or have actually learned how to act in the interim - Clare Higgins in particular is suddenly really good, and one of the best things in this film! Kenneth Cranham is the only new 'major' character and really holds the sequel together as the villianous Doctor Channard. The film recycles the 'build-me-a-new-body-from-murdered-victims' plot from the first, but this time pulls it off a bit more convincingly. Channard's obsession with hellspawn and demon suffering give him a plausible reason to go along with it all - he's long since become jaded by this stuff, and for him it's merely a means to an end - and he looks suitably disgusted at the thought of kissing someone with no skin. The second act takes the action to the hell dimension and things really pick up all round. The returning Cenobites get plenty of screen-time, the hints at their origins are great and subtly done, and there's a lovely fantasy-style feel to proceedings as the various groups of characters journey through the endless corridors of hell meeting various souls in torment. A sequel that triumphs over its forebear in every way.

Unfortunately this newfound goodwill towards the series led to me watching Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, which saw standards plummet again. Felt more like a 90's made-for-tv movie than anything else. I got about halfway through but then decided life is probably too short and called my dalliance with this series done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 01 November, 2013, 08:16:36 PM


I like part 1 and 2 of Hellraiser. brilliant dark. but disappointing to hear that they will remake it! :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 November, 2013, 08:19:28 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 07:49:46 PM

I did also get around to watching Hellraiser II: Hellbound, which is a vastly superior film in almost every way.

I enjoy Hellraiser well enough, though I wouldn't class it as a classic. My main requirements for a horror movie are mood, atmosphere and memorable visuals, compared to which acting and plot fall very distant seconds, so those weaknesses don't bother me. That said, I have to agree with the quoted sentiment above: II is undoubtedly the better film. A lot of the potential from the first film is finally realised: the mythology becomes a lot more interesting and better-developed, Pinhead becomes more of a character and the stuff in the labyrinth is great fun. It also boasts some striking images - Leviathan in the sky, the transfigured Channard - and the whole thing's much more Grand Guignol and over-the-top, which is very much in its favour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 November, 2013, 09:18:49 PM
Blood on Satan's Claw. Maybe a bit overhyped, I thought it was just okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2013, 10:11:35 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 November, 2013, 09:18:49 PM
Blood on Satan's Claw. Maybe a bit overhyped, I thought it was just okay.
I've always viewed it that way. It's a good film, but not a patch on Witchfinder General and The Wickerman or Don't Look Now. The best of british horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 November, 2013, 10:15:14 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 November, 2013, 09:18:49 PM
Blood on Satan's Claw. Maybe a bit overhyped, I thought it was just okay.

"Give me my skinnnn!" The film's critical standing has definitely rocketed in the last decade, but I absolutely love it. For me, it's got that indefinable something special - the atmosphere is hugely evocative, though the ending is a bit abrupt. Brilliant soundtrack, and I love the look of the devil in it - his horrible bat face is very memorable. It might just make it into the lower reaches of my top five British horror films - if it doesn't, it's a close-run thing. I'd rate it above Witchfinder General, but not above The Wicker Man. (Oooh, controversial!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 November, 2013, 11:27:26 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 November, 2013, 10:15:14 PMBrilliant soundtrack

Oh yeah that reminded the soundtrack sounded really bad on the copy of the dvd, like it seemed to cut out when playing. The picture was fine so I don't think the disc is crocked, anyone else had a problem like that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 November, 2013, 11:29:42 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 07:49:46 PM
Well, I stand by what I said - but I did also get around to watching Hellraiser II: Hellbound, which is a vastly superior film in almost every way.

Unfortunately this newfound goodwill towards the series led to me watching Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, which saw standards plummet again. Felt more like a 90's made-for-tv movie than anything else. I got about halfway through but then decided life is probably too short and called my dalliance with this series done.

Hellraiser 2 is a good movie but to me it just feels like it tries to punch above its weight too much.  Trying to depict hell is always going to be tough but I would have thought eternal damnation involved a bit more than lots of empty corridors and a maze.  That said, I thought they did well with Franks room and those bodies writhing under the bloody sheets were seriously disturbing.

You are right though, it dives off a cliff for Hellraiser 3 and what few of the others I have seen are not much better. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 November, 2013, 11:44:12 PM
On the 'advice' of this forum I gave Halloween III a spin - not something I'd ever been fussed about seeing beforehand, as I've never really been blown away by previous Halloween efforts (I was dissapointing, VI and H20 were both shit and I haven't seen the others).

Not too impressed at first - it looks cheap as chips and the masks weren't really convincing as a country-wide phenomenon ('In three striking designs!' Wow! Three whole different designs, you say?) Nigel Kneale's influence is immediately obvious though as soon as the protagonists arrive at Santa Mira - it's altogether very 'Quatermass II' with its suspicious factory and sinister workforce dominating a small town. And I'm glad I stuck with it as the film keeps on picking up from here, really. The more we learn of the strange events the more intriguing things get, and Cochran is a superb baddie - avuncular, gregarious and pleasant, even when events come crashing down around his ears towards the end, he's great fun to watch. And I feared a cop-out ending but the film kept the courage of its convictions right to the end. Pretty good stuff all round.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 02 November, 2013, 12:19:31 AM
In the spirit of all things Halloween and John Carpenter, I watched THE FOG for the first time, and decided it's really quite good. I'd heard a lot about how weak the villain/threat was and how much it detracted from the film, but I thought it worked just fine. The ending felt like a bit of an anticlimax though, except for the bit with Adrienne Barbeau on the roof being kinda tense. So yeah, was a good'n.

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 November, 2013, 01:02:53 AM
Psycho - which I have never seen before.  I was aware of the "twist" from popular culture, seen at least one of the sequels, watched the recent prequel series Bates Motel, and then the shot-for-shot Gus Van Sant remake so clearly I have come at this from entirely the wrong direction, but this was pretty good all the same.  There's some stuff in the original that just didn't work in the remake, like the shockingly young-looking Anthony Perkins' nervously bobbing adam's apple in shadowy close-ups (obviously not present in the remake as the new actor in the role was physically different from Perkins) and his version of Norman's occasionally absurd body language like when the extent of his nutbar tendancies is finally revealed and he just stands there shrieking as the theme stabs over and over before awkwardly lunging for the kill - the actor in the remake whose name sadly escapes me came off as a twitchy and underwhelming slasher, but Perkins really convinces as a dork who just happens to be a complete fucking nutter when a mental switch is thrown, like when he just runs straight at that poor detective and stabs him up right in the middle of what looks like it's going to be a much longer scene...  In being so dated, the film also hides one of its biggest cultural nuances, in that it's a story about a particular bogeyman of what was then a much larger country full of faraway places and a constant stream of new myths and legends even well into the 20th century, much as we're still seeing new bogeymen like that guy in the photograph accidentally taken when someone slipped back into the house trying not to wake their room-mate, or the butcher who sells strange meat, the Nigerian prince who would like your Paypal details, or those burglars who take everything from a house except the toothbrushes and a disposable camera, and so on - Psycho is of the mythical Americana forming just as the culture around it did, the story of the madman at the side of the road who preys on lost girls and unwary travelers, a forebear of the likes of The Hitcher, Jeepers Creepers or The Hills Have Eyes, certainly, but descended from older tales still and transplanted to a time when crossing from one end of the land still involved stops in strange and unfamiliar places not marked on maps, and as such it's actually quite easy to miss that the Bates Motel is more or less on the edge of town and the whole story takes place within the reach of a single community.  A film well deserving of its place in cinematic and cultural lore.

Next up: The Birds, because yes, I have not seen that, either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 02 November, 2013, 02:26:15 AM
Escape From New York

After seeing this http://www.fright-rags.com/escape-from-new-york-limited-edition-box-set-p-940.html (http://www.fright-rags.com/escape-from-new-york-limited-edition-box-set-p-940.html) earlier today, and not being able to justify buying it (times are tough) I thought I'd torture myself by watching it. I'm gonna be humming this damn theme song all night now. While it's not a good looking movie by any means, it will always be a classic. Still waiting for the next installment J.C!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 November, 2013, 08:34:12 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 November, 2013, 01:02:53 AM
the actor in the remake whose name sadly escapes me

It's odd to think that anyone ever considered Vince Vaughan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=J4Ff4n9GXPo#t=14) a real actor. I like to think fans of his more recent work might pick up Van Sant's film, expecting it to be comedy remake like Starsky & Hutch or a film about a slobby, easy going everyman who inherits a rundown motel and has to turn its fortunes around to win the affections of a hot young girl - If you can dodge a knife, you can dodge a ball.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 November, 2013, 12:24:23 PM
I disliked Hellraiser too. Not so much due to the acting I just found the main characters dislikable. Now having such characters is fine in a film, but I think I need one that I can relate too and they only turned up in the end. I agree that the effects were brilliant and the film did pick up later though.

I did rather like the second and third films though. The second was a more interesting developed film, and I liked the themes of redemption, and dichotomy etc in the third. (The third is the one with the man who would become Pin-Head's daughter as the main focus, right? The one with that weird pillar of pain? I guess I can see why many disliked it. It was a departure from the others, but I like a bit of a moral line and heart in a film filled with nastiness. The whole reason I dislike the first is mainly due to to the shere sense of perversion and shallowness. I seem to remember finding the he fourth film quite a interesting too. A period prequel, if I remember correctly.

Last film I saw was Thor: The Dark World.

An enjoyable romp. Some plot holes (or maybe I just missed something) but it is as fun and actually very funny in places. The 'sort of' Captain America cameo made me laugh. It was nice to expand on the Norse worlds stuff too.[spoiler] As for the dark elf villains, a curious take having them in those flying vessels. The sequel film take on this seems to be really blurring the line between science and magic. Not a bad thing All - in - all, although I think I prefer Hellboy 2's take on the Dark Elves more.

The aether thing? Meh. Works I guess although I can't help thinking such a world destroying MacGuffin (or maguffin whatever the word is) would have been more destructive in one to one combat. [/spoiler]

But it was good fun, as I said. I didn't think much of the title character's role although he is likeable enough. It seemed to be the supposedly supporting characters that carried this, although Thor was good for the action hammer stuff, which is ultimately what he is about.

Best character: probably Loki. Now there is a complex character. I wonder if he is getting a bit overused what with The Avengers too, but he really supplies the laughs. "I think you missed a column."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 02 November, 2013, 12:51:52 PM
In keeping with the season, I watched Rosemary's Baby for the first time. It was a good movie, a bit like a nativity play for Hallowe'en. I found it light on the scares, but it did give me a sense of creepy unease. Chauvinistic, but not entirely because it was a product of its time, I think that was kind of what they were aiming for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 November, 2013, 01:49:55 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 02 November, 2013, 08:34:12 AMI like to think fans of his more recent work might pick up Van Sant's film, expecting it to be comedy remake like Starsky & Hutch or a film about a slobby, easy going everyman who inherits a rundown motel and has to turn its fortunes around to win the affections of a hot young girl - If you can dodge a knife, you can dodge a ball.

Dodgeball is a fun film. There, I said it.  Please don't make a scene.

I quite enjoyed the Psycho remake, I just can't quite imagine the effect of seeing it before the original - would have I lasted until the end without morbid curiosity to sustain me?  Probably the best thing about it were the anachronisms in the dialogue, which added to the unsettling atmosphere in a vaguely David Lynch sort of way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 November, 2013, 05:53:54 PM
Quote from: TordelBack link=topic=31824.msg793428#msg793428

Dodgeball is a fun film. There, I said it.  Please don't make a scene.


I'll see you and raise. Dodgeball is a bloomi ' fantastic film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 03 November, 2013, 12:27:00 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 02 November, 2013, 05:53:54 PM
Quote from: TordelBack link=topic=31824.msg793428#msg793428

Dodgeball is a fun film. There, I said it.  Please don't make a scene.


I'll see you and raise. Dodgeball is a bloomi ' fantastic film.

Thank you Chuck Norris!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 November, 2013, 08:14:56 PM
RESIDENT EVIL.

Milla Jovovich chews gum and kicks ass in a more enjoyable than it has a right to be video game adaption.
Was watching woth Tiby Teen Tips so it was seen through fresh eyes; lots of suspense and zombies even if not a lot of gross gore.

I'll go on a limb and say Anderson's best ( though I like Magnolia ;o) ).

Milla looks fantastic throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2013, 09:41:56 PM
The Birds.  I don't quite know what to make of this - on one hand there's the roots of a lot of contemporary horror movies in the way it takes so long to build up and puts a rather dull romance and uninteresting characters front and center, but on the other it feels meandering and some of it is unintentionally frustrating, like that bit where the bloke is trying to close a window and the birds are pecking at him and all I could think was "YES I GET IT CLOSE THE WINDOW ALREADY" or that bit where the woman wanders up into a room full for birds for some reason and just stays there while they peck at her and all I could think was "JUST LEAVE THE ROOM" and for a film that doesn't half like to take forever to do things and over-eggs scenes, it doesn't half end abruptly with no resolution.  There's a bit where some cars blow up and it keeps flashing back to Tippi Hedren in different poses, too, and it's pretty funny because it just looks like a clumsy gif off the web, but I really just found it boring more than anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 November, 2013, 11:20:49 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2013, 09:41:56 PM
The Birds.  I don't quite know what to make of this

This amusingly foreign gentleman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8sFqfbrsZbw#t=98) does.

Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2013, 09:41:56 PM
... or that bit where the woman wanders up into a room full for birds for some reason and just stays there while they peck at her and all I could think was "JUST LEAVE THE ROOM"

The answer to that is even more disturbing than you can imagine (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/9753977/Tippi-Hedren-interview-Hitchcock-put-me-in-a-mental-prison.html).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 November, 2013, 12:03:57 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 03 November, 2013, 11:20:49 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2013, 09:41:56 PM
... or that bit where the woman wanders up into a room full for birds for some reason and just stays there while they peck at her and all I could think was "JUST LEAVE THE ROOM"

The answer to that is even more disturbing than you can imagine (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/9753977/Tippi-Hedren-interview-Hitchcock-put-me-in-a-mental-prison.html).

:o

Ferkin 'ell - talk about Psycho!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 November, 2013, 12:05:27 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 03 November, 2013, 11:20:49 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2013, 09:41:56 PM
The Birds.  I don't quite know what to make of this

This amusingly foreign gentleman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8sFqfbrsZbw#t=98) does.

In a word: no.

He posits a valid hypothesis in the singular instance of the Matrix as offering too binary a challenge to its central protagonist in choosing either solipsism or empiricism in pill form to catalyse his spiritual journey, but he explains his over-arcing concept poorly in conflating difficult circumstance with disruption of the nature of reality.  Cinema merely disrupts normal social circumstance in order to create situations which can then be played out for the duration and this context is all-important, with allegorical content and philosophical implications a secondary concern - if not a serendipitous byproduct - of the end result.  I don't argue that cinema cannot be art by dint of its nature as a commercial artifact, of course, I merely offer that Chuck Norris has made over forty films and all of them are shit.
Also that guy has a stupid beard and talks funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 04 November, 2013, 07:39:07 AM
A lot of what Hedren says about Hitchcock is not true, or is greatly hyperbolic. He did some horrible things yes, things which I am by no means defending (ruined her career because he wouldnt let her work with anyone else for one) but she has so many conflicting stories on what happened, often saying he never made physical advances, just verbal, and then saying he did, then back to the other again. It's hard to tell what really happened as while the core of what she says is almost certainly true (made sexual advances, had her sign a contract that only let her work for him) everything around it keeps changing when it comes from Hedren. :/
Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 04 November, 2013, 12:33:01 PM
Thanks to the Horror Channel, I was able to watch:

Return of the Living Dead 3

This was one of those movies that I remember the fantastic posters from as a kid but had never seen.  Well, now I have but unfortunately its another example of an 80s/90s movie where the posters were far better than the movie.

The plot involves the military experimenting on re-animating the dead.  Meanwhile Colonel Reynolds son and girlfriend have an accident in which Julie is killed.  Curt has a cunning plan though - he sneaks her into his dads lab and brings her back to life.  Unfortunately, Curt doesn't follow correct quarantine procedure  ::) and pretty soon they have an outbreak on their hands.  To make matters worse, Julie starts acting very strange.

I absolutely love the first Living Dead movie but this one is nowhere near as good.  The original mixed horror and humour whereas this one seems to be played straight but just isn't up to it.  Its a nice idea following Julie as she degrades and this might have had more impact if I hadn't already seen Ghosts of Mars.  Unfortunately it just seems to run out of steam half way through and never really picks up again.  And to make things worse, I don't think I even heard one of the zombies say BRAINS. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 November, 2013, 02:12:26 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 04 November, 2013, 12:33:01 PM
Thanks to the Horror Channel, I was able to watch:

Return of the Living Dead 3

This was one of those movies that I remember the fantastic posters from as a kid but had never seen.  Well, now I have but unfortunately its another example of an 80s/90s movie where the posters were far better than the movie.

The plot involves the military experimenting on re-animating the dead.  Meanwhile Colonel Reynolds son and girlfriend have an accident in which Julie is killed.  Curt has a cunning plan though - he sneaks her into his dads lab and brings her back to life.  Unfortunately, Curt doesn't follow correct quarantine procedure  ::) and pretty soon they have an outbreak on their hands.  To make matters worse, Julie starts acting very strange.

I absolutely love the first Living Dead movie but this one is nowhere near as good.  The original mixed horror and humour whereas this one seems to be played straight but just isn't up to it.  Its a nice idea following Julie as she degrades and this might have had more impact if I hadn't already seen Ghosts of Mars.  Unfortunately it just seems to run out of steam half way through and never really picks up again.  And to make things worse, I don't think I even heard one of the zombies say BRAINS.

Is that the one with River Man?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 04 November, 2013, 03:51:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 04 November, 2013, 02:12:26 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 04 November, 2013, 12:33:01 PM
Thanks to the Horror Channel, I was able to watch:

Return of the Living Dead 3

Is that the one with River Man?

James - yes, that's the one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2013, 05:50:12 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 November, 2013, 12:05:27 AM
Cinema merely disrupts normal social circumstance in order to create situations which can then be played out for the duration and this context is all-important, with allegorical content and philosophical implications a secondary concern - if not a serendipitous byproduct - of the end result. 

The Freudian or Lacanian argument is that the intent of the film maker is irrelevant (or secondary, at any rate) to the operation of the unconscious. Hitchcock might have figured himself as a controlling switchback railroad operator (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/08/alfred-hitchcock-psycho-joke), pulling levers to elicit a response from a helpless and vulnerable audience, but he can't help giving away much of his self - his repressed desires, his self image - in the construction of what he considered mere entertainments.

It's interesting that the minute the leading lights of the French New Wave hailed Hitchcock as a genius and explained all this to him, he shrank from nakedly exposing the self he loathed in such a raw and public manner, and only made (largely unsuccessful) films which were consciously and determinedly the perfunctory and impersonal narrative froth he had always imagined he was making previously.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 November, 2013, 06:28:14 PM
World War Z.

Pretty poor overall, just didn't engage at any point with anyone in it.  Although I did spot the cameraman during the 'Philadelphia' sequences, lol! 00:11:20, just behind the soldiers, blonde camera operator, with a 2 man crew!!

Did enjoy watching the Glasgow bits, made the effort worthwhile, but so much missing.  Like, what happened to the RV driver??  I recall filming a death for him, but we don't see it.  And the Russian plane out of Jerusalem?? Guessing that was a bad patch job to make up for dropping all the Russian stuff they shot, or maybe I was just not bothered enough to pay attention by that point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2013, 06:36:56 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 04 November, 2013, 06:28:14 PM
World War Z. Pretty poor overall ... I did spot the cameraman during the 'Philadelphia' sequences, lol! 00:11:20, just behind the soldiers, blonde camera operator, with a 2 man crew!!

I was going to watch it tonight ... but maybe not, now. You worked on it, and you were in it, and you don't even get sent a free DVD copy? I see Outpost is now a trilogy - are those still paying your rent, Ghost?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 November, 2013, 06:53:15 PM
Lol, unfortunately not!  Only worked on the first one (the good one!) thankfully, as the other ones sucked donkey bollocks both to watch, and to work on (so I'm told)!  And crew generally make bugger all but a wage off these things, producers, directors, actors and such can get 'points' in order to share in profit (usually as a substitute for a full wage when you've no idea if it'll be a hit) but it's very rare for crew.

But hey, WWZ is still worth a watch for a bit of bubble gum for the brain.  Just don't expect to be 'wowed'. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 November, 2013, 07:12:10 PM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 04 November, 2013, 07:39:07 AMbut she has so many conflicting stories on what happened

Trauma victims are not always reliable witnesses.

Quote from: sauchie on 04 November, 2013, 05:50:12 PMThe Freudian or Lacanian argument is that the intent of the film maker is irrelevant (or secondary, at any rate) to the operation of the unconscious.

When evaluating the Freudian arguments, it's worth bearing in mind that Freudians argue that all men want to sleep with their mums, and I am wary of any psychiatric school birthed entirely on the fact that no-one went "no, I think that's just you" at the appropriate time and caused Freud to either take this as agreement with his hypothesis, or he realised his only option was to keep digging - either way, we ended up with Freudian - and by extension Lacanian - psychology and some bearded guy probably arguing that the long necks of The Birds are substitute willies so Tippi Hedren is being slapped by loads of cocks that represent "a challenge to the dominant male protagonist's attempts at procreation" or somesuch.  I don't know about that, I just thought the daffy cow could have learned to use a bloody doorknob.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 November, 2013, 07:29:32 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 November, 2013, 07:12:10 PM
bloody doorknob.

How Freudian.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2013, 07:39:34 PM

Sometimes a doorknob is just a cock doorknob.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 November, 2013, 08:50:03 AM
Angels and Demons.  You know how some films are really bad, and yet so lavish in terms of cast and location and visuals and even ambition, that they're kind of magnificent at the same time?  Enjoyable as heroic failures?  Not this one.  You might think that a[spoiler]n eeeeee-vil[/spoiler] prospective Pope [spoiler]and adopted son of the previous murdered Pope [/spoiler] (Ewan McGregor failing to do an Irish accent) parachuting into St Peter's from a helicopter as an anti-matter bomb detonates above the Vatican during the Papal Conclave would at least be exciting, or even amusing for its excess.  It is not.  A film of a Dan Brown book that is worse than the book.  Jeepers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 November, 2013, 09:59:39 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 November, 2013, 08:50:03 AM
Angels and Demons. 

I lasted 9 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 08 November, 2013, 10:20:05 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 November, 2013, 08:50:03 AM
A film of a Dan Brown book that is worse than the book.  Jeepers.

:o  How...  how can that be POSSIBLE?!?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 November, 2013, 10:39:57 AM
Frankenstein's Army

I'd been waiting a year for this. I'll cut to the chase: one of the very worst films it's ever been my displeasure to sit through. Utter, utter, worthless bollocks- shitty acting, shitty designs that probably looked good on the page of whatever comic artist-wanabee dreamed them up, boring shitty gore sequences that were done better thirty years ago when we were all thirteen, and a hateful, boring, shitty premise that actually made me increasingly angry as it went along. A found-footage Blair Witch-style movie set in World War Two, and made "using a cine camera". And yes, he does lug an enormous sack of film around with him. Russian soldiers meet Frankenstein's son- who is experimenting on people, fusing them to machinery in an attempt to make robotised supersoldiers. It's an excuse for bad makeups, people with metal claws and drills for noses, and other boring, shitty bollocks. Made by imbeciles. Hateful. Fuck it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 08 November, 2013, 05:17:29 PM
John Carter

OK, I admit I was put off watching this for some time due to all the rubbish reviews and the uninspiring trailers.  Then someone told me it wasn't that bad and I decided to give it a go and I must say it was a lot better than I was expecting.

I got the blu-ray and on a 40" TV this is one of the most stunning films that I have seen for a while - the effects are really fantastic and the scenary and ships are beautiful.  The story is not bad at all and the whole thing was a lot more mature than I was expecting.

It is not without some flaws and the main issue for me was with some of the casting.  I have never really bought Dominic West as a baddie and Taylor Kitsch didn't really excel in the leading role.  This film is often compared to Avatar and I do wonder how it would have been with Sam Worthington and Stephen Lang in the main roles.

Still, a very good film where the time breezed by and I couldn't believe it when it got to the end.  Don't believe the negative reviews and give it a go.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2013, 05:21:53 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 08 November, 2013, 10:39:57 AM
Frankenstein's Army

I'd been waiting a year for this. I'll cut to the chase: one of the very worst films it's ever been my displeasure to sit through. Utter, utter, worthless bollocks- shitty acting, shitty designs that probably looked good on the page of whatever comic artist-wanabee dreamed them up, boring shitty gore sequences that were done better thirty years ago when we were all thirteen, and a hateful, boring, shitty premise that actually made me increasingly angry as it went along. A found-footage Blair Witch-style movie set in World War Two, and made "using a cine camera". And yes, he does lug an enormous sack of film around with him. Russian soldiers meet Frankenstein's son- who is experimenting on people, fusing them to machinery in an attempt to make robotised supersoldiers. It's an excuse for bad makeups, people with metal claws and drills for noses, and other boring, shitty bollocks. Made by imbeciles. Hateful. Fuck it.

SBT
You just listed all the reasons why I thought it worked. It knows it's a piece of shit. It doesn't try to be anything else. It's not like Machete or Any of those other Roderiguez shit fests that try to capture the fun of rental shop gore extravoganzas. Instead it's just a completely self aware, boring, drawn out, dreary but ultimately harmless and disposable waste of and hour and a half. Don't see the reason to hate it, but agree that there is no reason to like it. Still beats any and most remakes of classic horror films mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 November, 2013, 06:42:16 PM
Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, thereby completing the hat-trick (this was the only one of the films I'd not seen before). It didn't quite hit the heights of Road Warrior (a hard ask, anyway) but it was a great film all round. The diesel-punk aesthetic is ace, the narrative hardly has an ounce of fat on its bones, the pacing holds the interest throughout and it looks as though it's had a fair bit of budget thrown at it for once. Bartertown is a great location, a fully-realised society, with some great characters in it, and the mythology of the tribal kids is really well done ('attacked by a gang called Turbulence' particularly made me laugh). And Tina Turner was not only surprisingly not terrible, but actually pretty good.
There's no real criticisms from me, except that it all feels a little too light-hearted in the third act - when it should feel most dramatic - and at times almost seems to be pitching for a PG-type audience. I can imagine that's maybe why it sometimes comes in for some flak sometimes. Recommended though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 November, 2013, 06:59:50 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 08 November, 2013, 05:17:29 PM
John Carter

OK, I admit I was put off watching this for some time due to all the rubbish reviews and the uninspiring trailers.  Then someone told me it wasn't that bad and I decided to give it a go and I must say it was a lot better than I was expecting.

I got the blu-ray and on a 40" TV this is one of the most stunning films that I have seen for a while - the effects are really fantastic and the scenary and ships are beautiful.  The story is not bad at all and the whole thing was a lot more mature than I was expecting.

It is not without some flaws and the main issue for me was with some of the casting.  I have never really bought Dominic West as a baddie and Taylor Kitsch didn't really excel in the leading role.  This film is often compared to Avatar and I do wonder how it would have been with Sam Worthington and Stephen Lang in the main roles.

Still, a very good film where the time breezed by and I couldn't believe it when it got to the end.  Don't believe the negative reviews and give it a go.

Nice to hear you enjoyed it Recrewt. I feel John Carter is a hugely underrated film, I too ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. I watched it with my 5 year old boy and he also loved it, although I do agree, it is quite unflinching in places hence why it got the 12 rating. But there's a lot to enjoy; one of criticsms was that the Mars depicted in the film wasn't too red enough, but it didn't detract my enjoyment of the film. I also loved Doug Chiang's design work on the flying ships and the travelling city. They were really streamline and organic looking (i.e insect-ish) which I loved. Great ending too.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 November, 2013, 07:35:10 PM
I've always been put off John Carter - it seems almost as divisive as Prometheus - some people really seem to hate it.

I must admit I found the art direction really unappealing in the trailers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 09 November, 2013, 09:08:57 PM
Mars looks good in John Carter and I don't think any of the trailers do it justice.  You just see bits and bobs but in the film it all links together perfectly.

I have heard that Mars itself is red to us but on the surface would be more of a butterscotch colour so perhaps they were not too far off with that.  I don't think they can complain about being accurate though as I don't believe we could breathe on the surface of mars, so you win some you lose some!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 November, 2013, 09:54:30 PM
I'm surprised at the news that John Carter has been polorising, I found it far too vanilla to be that.  It is a competently made film, just unexceptional and not in any way ambitious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 November, 2013, 09:57:44 PM
After seeing this film being mentioned here and vaguely remembering seeing a trailer for it I decided to do some research.  Actually, the books look far more interesting than the film does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 November, 2013, 10:05:02 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 November, 2013, 09:57:44 PM
After seeing this film being mentioned here and vaguely remembering seeing a trailer for it I decided to do some research.  Actually, the books look far more interesting than the film does.

Obviously they're the original stories, and the film in comparison will seem poor. But, I thought it was quite a good adaption. The film is based more on A Princess of Mars than the first book.

I'm dying to check out Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard's comic adaption for A Princess of Mars; the artwork looks spectacular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 November, 2013, 11:06:24 PM
Predators.  I have no idea why, as a fan of the first two, I stayed watching this to the end, but I just did.  Poor, weak, unimaginative and predictable fare.  Worst of all, for a film which has suspension of disbelief built into the structure of its franchise this was just plain implausible: Bill Paxton's hat from 2 was more believable, and better fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 10 November, 2013, 01:35:57 AM
Watched World War Z last night. It felt really rushed and hectic. It was like the first few days of 28 Days Later (a far superior film) and the plot wasn't very engaging. Still, despite everything that was wrong with it I found myself feeling a little bit anxious during the opening 30 mins and cared about the central characters. Then it got all globe trotting and silly with brad having to visit Israel and Wales and wherever else. The plane stuff made no sense and then miraculously [spoiler]he and his one handed Israeli sidekick were the only ones to walk away from a huge crash.[/spoiler] Then doctor who appeared.

I can't say I was disappointed as I'd heard it was shit, but it certainly wasn't great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2013, 07:59:11 PM
I watched Flash Gordon while eating my food this evening. It has been bloody years since I last saw it.

I love it! The battles towards the end, and build up of tension during the wedding, remain incredible exciting.  Wassisface playing The Chief Judge Ming the Merciless is just bloody brilliant, as is BRIAN BLESSED, the totally hammy over-the-top scene stealer. 

Add to that the fantastic soundtrack by Queen, and you just can't help but adore its cheesy camp awesomeness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 November, 2013, 08:17:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2013, 07:59:11 PM
... and you just can't help but adore its cheesy camp awesomeness.

Next up... Barbarella!!!!
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 November, 2013, 08:29:27 AM
I watched The Kings of Summer last night.

Really enjoyable indie-schmindie fare, though perhaps a little tonally uneven. It's the debut film by a writer/director team, and while beautifully shot it does sometimes show in the occasionally awkward script. However I did really appreciate a twist in the narrative at the halfway point that, to me, felt authentic and made things much more interesting.

Great support from Parks & Recreations' Nick Offerman and always nice to see Community's Alison Brie though she's barely in this movie. The lead, a newcomer called Nick Robinson, is great - he's just been cast Jurassic Park 4 which bodes well for that film. There's also a surprise cameo that fans of the Harmontown podcast will appreciate.

Overall I think that the similarly-themed coming of age flick from the summer The Way Way Back was the better, if more formulaic, film, though I liked them both.

Minor rant: had to pay £12 on the PSN store to watch the bloody thing as that seemed like the only possible way for me to watch it on my PS3. It wasn't available to rent for some mystery reason, and wasn't on Blinkbox either as that site only seems to have very mainstream films. Someone needs to make a good pay-per-view streaming rental site!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 November, 2013, 11:53:40 AM
The Untouchables. Kevin Costner really did have his moment in the sun, didn't he?  A very enjoyable re-watch of a fun film, which while it lacks even a gesture towards historical nuance, is visually derivative and aurally oh-so-80's, still carries you along with its exciting set-pieces, well-defined caricatures, comedy accents and quotable lines.   
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 November, 2013, 12:18:36 PM
Quote from: radiator on 11 November, 2013, 08:29:27 AM
I watched The Kings of Summer last night.

The lead, a newcomer called Nick Robinson, is great - he's just been cast Jurassic Park 4 which bodes well for that film.

I remember thinking "Hey, Vince Vaughn, the cool guy from Swingers is in JP2. This will be great!".


Anyway, RESEIDENT EVIL: APOCOLYPSE.Whereas I quite enjoyed rewatching the first one with (not so) Tiny Tips, we both agreed this one was shite.

Milla is great (despite a ridiculous outfit) but almost everything else with the exception of the cool Olivera character and the bit where you see the STARS and the police losing the fight against the oncoming hordes of zombies is pointless.  Tiny Tips pointed out at least three "characters" who have screen time but don't actually do anything or have any bearing on the final outcome.

Nearly all of the characters also have some form of far seeing ability. On at least two occassions, Alice arrives in a room and does EXACTLY the right thing to save everybody inside despite having absolutely no knowledge of what was going on in the room.  Similarly at the end [spoiler]when everybody arrived to pick up ALICE from under the noses of Umbrella. Were they sitting in the big car waiting for that exact moment when the healed Alice breaks free?[/spoiler]Did the lass that played Jill Valentine really look like the character or did they retool Jill in the games/cos play/fan art to look like her filmic equivalent?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 November, 2013, 12:20:23 PM
QuoteI remember thinking "Hey, Vince Vaughn, the cool guy from Swingers is in JP2. This will be great!".

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 November, 2013, 12:29:31 PM
I saw JP2 years after first seeing it in the cinema and wondered why it seemed like a different film - I finally twigged that I'd fallen asleep for about twenty minutes during the bit with the trailer hanging off the cliff.  Thinking about it, it would have made more sense if I'd dreamed that bit where a girl gymnast kickboxed a velociraptor to death.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 November, 2013, 12:48:47 PM
Oh I agree Resident Evil: Apocalypse was a stinker.  I sold my copy of it to a retail reseller in my town which has since closed.  Perhaps the film was so bad it cursed them.

The sad thing is, it isn't the worst film in the franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 11 November, 2013, 01:40:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 November, 2013, 11:06:24 PM
Predators.  I have no idea why, as a fan of the first two, I stayed watching this to the end, but I just did.  Poor, weak, unimaginative and predictable fare.  Worst of all, for a film which has suspension of disbelief built into the structure of its franchise this was just plain implausible: Bill Paxton's hat from 2 was more believable, and better fun.

Yup, its pretty bad isn't it?  I also enjoy the first two Predators but even they could be seriously hammy and corny at times.  Pred 2 gets a lot of stick but I like the idea of the city setting and scenes like the underground one were really good.

Predators though is just rubbish - I mean the amount of time they had to come up with a sequel and this is what they came up with - another jungle but this time its on another planet (or, in direct opposition to the idea of Predators hunting prey in their own habitat).  AND there's going to be more Predators (again, against the whole single hunting idea) with some bigger ones  ::).  You could forgive all this if they really nailed the hunter/prey aspect of the original - no, just walk around and get picked off randomly without any suspense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 11 November, 2013, 01:59:00 PM
Managed to catch Gravity at the Renoir cinema in the Brunswick, and also Woody Allen's latest Blue Jasime.

Gravity is a special effect with a story - such as it is, tagged onto it.
Which when its as spectacular looking as this, its not too bad a thing. The usually watchable Clooney slightly grates here, and Bulloch is fine.
At just over 90 minutes (the ideal film length) it still felt slightly too long. 3D was pretty good, though we was sat offcentre a wee bit, so maybe that accounts for the odd moment of blurring? Fun, if largely inconsequential stuff.

Blue Jasime really satisfied though. Great performances throughout, and felt like classic Woody Allen in a lot of ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 November, 2013, 04:13:03 PM
I've actually managed to catch some of the hype about Gravity.  Especially poster ads describing it as 'film of the year' which for me is generally a kiss of death for the film.

It doesn't look special and I thought it would be pretty much what you said you found it to be, Jack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 November, 2013, 05:08:49 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 11 November, 2013, 01:40:07 PM
Predators though is just rubbish - I mean the amount of time they had to come up with a sequel and this is what they came up with - another jungle but this time its on another planet (or, in direct opposition to the idea of Predators hunting prey in their own habitat).

SPOILERS FOLLOW, but this film was spoiled long before I got to it.

In addition the subpar repeats of scenes from the original (ethnic type squares off for suicidal hand-to-hand rearguard action - oh wait, I get it he's Japanese/an Indian, thus he must be good with a katana/big knife and have a fatalistic/spiritual code of honour!  etc.) and complete lack of originality, it was the endless bits that made no sense in context that got to me. 

1.  A doctor recognises a rare amazonian plant that paralyses people that is for some reason on an alien world. (And see below for just how alien a world it is).  Also, did anyone for one second not realise the doctor was [spoiler]a serial killer[/spoiler]?

2.  Laurence Fishborne has been marooned here for 'ten seasons' and yet is fat as a fool. What the hell is he eating?  It's not like the Predators don't haul their kills back to their camp.

3. How and why did our super-Predators extract a man from Death Row?  Did they observe his rapes/murders, watch the trial and then wait for several years until right before he was due to be executed before.... what?  Using a transporter? Sneaking into his cell in San Quentin and hauling him out?

4.  The traps designed by the dead special forces guy were completely ridiculous.  How did he get hundreds of spikes to drop from the sky in precise patterns chasing Our Heroes like something out of an Indiana Jones tomb? 

5.  The super-Predator blows up his own ship, and his most resourceful prey, rather than using his wrist gubbins to guide it back down so he can make the kill mano-a-monstro.

6. The super-Preds recall their surviving dogs.  And then we don't see them again.  Where do they go?

7. There are at least three massive planetary bodies in the sky, far, far closer than any two equivalent bodies in our solar system.  Is this world a moon of a gas giant?  If so, what are the other two?

8. The sun apparently 'hasn't moved' in the sky while they've been there, so the planet either doesn't rotate on its own axis or is tidally locked to the sun (never mind the fact that planet apparently has a magnetic field that spins constantly).  Then it gets dark, including a period of twilight, so presumably because the sun is eclipsed by one or more of the other bodies?  How the hell does that work?  The planet is tidally locked to the sun, but not to the huge neighbouring moons/planets that pass between it and the sun?  Tell me, it's distracting me from the interesting characters and dialogue. Oh no, wait: it isn't.

I'm now bored even writing these things down, but it doesn't end there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 November, 2013, 05:12:38 PM
I just don't get why modern films insist on endlessly riffing on bits of previous films in a fashion that basically goes "Remember this, guys!?!?!". I haven't seen Predators, but the likes of Star Trek Into Darkness do this, and all it ever does is remind you of better films. Why do they keep doing it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 November, 2013, 05:17:27 PM
Quote from: radiator on 11 November, 2013, 05:12:38 PM
I just don't get why modern films insist on endlessly riffing on bits of previous films in a fashion that basically goes "Remember this, guys!?!?!". I haven't seen Predators, but the likes of Star Trek Into Darkness do this, and all it ever does is remind you of better films. Why do they keep doing it?

I suspect they are afraid of original thought.  It's just a theory at this point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 11 November, 2013, 05:23:42 PM
It's mainly to tip the hat to those who seen the original, as if that will make up for them arsing up the 're-boot'.  As for original thoughts....well, they may or may not work.   However, an idea that was already a success, well, hugely attractive to producer types.  After all, these folks (for the most part) work their way up through the production office, paperwork, schedules, organisational stuff.  This generally means they are talent vacuums, so re-cycling an old idea is about as 'creative' as they'll ever get.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 11 November, 2013, 06:00:16 PM
I don't think anyone was expecting Predators to stray too far from the formula that the previous films have set.  That's not really the problem though - the issue is with a very basic premise (they on alien planet, get hunted) that is then spectacularly messed up.  I also love it when they talk about building on the Franchise - so what have we learnt from the latest film?  Err they have these big dog type creatures and some Predators are bigger than others.   ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fragminion on 12 November, 2013, 04:12:51 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 11 November, 2013, 06:00:16 PM
they have these big dog type creatures and some Predators are bigger than others.   ::)

After having read some of the Predator Novels. I half expected to see them remark on how the "Bigger Preds" were the  Female of the species.   A bit of the stretch but I would have found it interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 09:14:05 AM
Quote from: Fragminion on 12 November, 2013, 04:12:51 AM
After having read some of the Predator Novels. I half expected to see them remark on how the "Bigger Preds" were the  Female of the species.   A bit of the stretch but I would have found it interesting.

Now that would have made a difference.  Even something as simple and unoriginal as that would have injected some sense of cohesion into what amounted to: here's a thing; here's a thing you've seen before; here's another thing; here's a thing you liked last time; here's another thing; have we done 107 minutes yet? No? Okay: here's another thing. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 09:30:16 AM
Bah, edit window expired:

As to the overall setup of the thing: we already have Predator 1 and 2, and we already have The Most Dangerous Game and its many, many iterations, so the new-ish thing is bringing the hunted to an alien planet: that's the fresh bit that has to work. But that bit has to replace the elements that are lost (the background conflicts, missions and motivations of the human cast in P1&2; the perspective/motivations of the hunters in MDG-alikes, and actually even P1&2), which it fails to do because it is completely uninteresting.  Other than matte in some fantasy planets into the sky and some rubbish crashed ships, and talk about different conditions, this planet is functionally and visually exactly like Earth, right down to the properties of rare and specific flora.  There's nothing to replace what has been lost, just disjointed unlikeable characters and one damn implausible thing after another.

Cripes, even The Clone Wars cartoon understood all this when they did their Dangerous Game episode: they started by showing the yanking of the protagonist from an ongoing battle, and her duties there, in one very visually-distinctive jungle world, before dumping her on another equally distinctive jungle world: they spent time showing the unusual flora and fauna of the game preserve world to make it real and relevant, they spent time giving their hunters characters, motivations and internal conflicts, and made the choices the hero made and the relationships between the hunted relevant to the conflict they were plucked from. Oh, and a surprise ending with fan-favourite characters. 

And this was a kids' cartoon with a running time of 44 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 November, 2013, 04:31:01 PM
Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.

Well.....you know Tim Russ?  You know how he was a bit of a shite Vulcan in Voyager?  It's mainly cause he's a pretty piss poor actor overall, as he's shown in a few other shit things he's been in.  It seems, this was not enough shitness for him, he's decided to prove just how shit he is as a director too!  And by gosh, he does it in spades.  After watching this......garbage you are left in no doubt the man has not a single 'directing' bone in his body.

So why'd I watch it?  Well, it had Chekov, Uhura, and a fair few other names from the Trek series' in it, and I was curious.  You know what they say curiosity did to the cat?  It bored it to death with cheap CG, bad acting, awful sets, uninspired costumes, nasty make up, talentless camerawork, and capped it all off with the cherry of poison direction. It did you know, it so did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 November, 2013, 05:24:06 PM
Yep, agreed, it really is pisspoor- but dont let it put you off other trek fanfilms. The James Hawley episodes (phase two/ new vaginas/ season four) is my favourite trek 'thing' in the world other than the original series proper and the best of the novels.


SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 12 November, 2013, 05:41:31 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 November, 2013, 05:24:06 PM
(phase two/ new vaginas/ season four)

To boldly go where no man has gone before....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 November, 2013, 05:44:48 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 12 November, 2013, 05:41:31 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 November, 2013, 05:24:06 PM
(phase two/ new vaginas/ season four)

To boldly go where no man has gone before....

Blame my phone please. And if I were still on my phone, no doubt that would read "blow my penis please", or somesuch.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 November, 2013, 05:55:18 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 12 November, 2013, 05:41:31 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 12 November, 2013, 05:24:06 PM
(phase two/ new vaginas/ season four)

To boldly go where no man has gone before....

I doubt any Treckie has been any where near a vag in their life. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 November, 2013, 05:55:57 PM
A Freudian field day.

Quote from: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 09:14:05 AM
Even something as simple and unoriginal as that would have injected some sense of cohesion into what amounted to: here's a thing; here's a thing you've seen before; here's another thing; here's a thing you liked last time; here's another thing; have we done 107 minutes yet? No? Okay: here's another thing.

I thought Predators made for a decent enough B-movie, though my opinion took a sharp turn downward after the super-predator shit, which is so abominably stupid I am convinced it came about after a focus group discussion with children.  Slow children.  Even to the end I was hoping for a swerve where it turned out the super-predators were humans who'd reverse-engineered predator technology or something, but no, just face-value, a to b storytelling based on some pretty lame story ideas.

If you imagine you're watching a low-budget knock-off of the Predator series made by shameless mockbuster hucksters like the Asylum, though, it works just fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 06:02:29 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 November, 2013, 05:55:57 PMEven to the end I was hoping for a swerve where it turned out the super-predators were humans who'd reverse-engineered predator technology or something, but no, just face-value, a to b storytelling based on some pretty lame story ideas.

I was holding out for Doctor Topher to be a disguised alien who was running the whole show, because even as stupid as that would be surely the actual twist was too bloody obvious to be true.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 November, 2013, 06:04:52 PM
The more time passes, the greater grows my loathing of Predators. It's a lazy, lazy, lazy movie.

I think the real problem with it is, it has an air of 'we made this coz we could!' about it. While it tries to add something new to the franchise, it makes the mistake of going for something big in the introduction of the super-predator.

I genuinely think the franchise is so firmly established now that this is the kind of thing the producers need to steer clear of. If fans don't like it - and lots of them didn't - it'll generate a huge backlash.

Also, the film is just generally a bit poo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 07:10:25 PM
This is tempting me towards a Predator marathon.  Question is, should I include AvP?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 November, 2013, 07:24:25 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 07:10:25 PM
This is tempting me towards a Predator marathon.  Question is, should I include AvP?
its better than Predators.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 November, 2013, 08:41:40 PM
I kinda dont mind Predators.
By that i mean its a film i dont really care about at all, but it has Predator's in it, and i can mentally filter out the rest of the shit, whilst watching it. (Ive seen it twice, btw)
But you would have thought Robert Rodriguez would have made a better job of this, though....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2013, 08:43:58 PM
QuoteBut you would have thought Robert Rodriguez would have made a better job of this, though....

Rodriguez is a frustrating director. He has obviously got an incredible talent, but pretty much all of his movies are nearly brilliant, but miss the mark in some way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 09:12:22 PM
Rodriguez was only a producer on it, wasn't he?  One of six and not even the exec producer.

I've seen Predators once and I thought it was OK.  I liked that it went in a different direction to the other films, because I think I wouldn't have liked a re-hashing.  I don't actually remember it offending me in anyway and afterwards I was kind of hopeful for a new Predators franchise.  I don't even remember this super Predator you are all talking about.

I'm going to have to watch this film again.  I think I saw it the year it came out so my recollection is a bit hazy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 09:21:30 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 09:12:22 PM
I'm going to have to watch this film again.

When you do, try to work out by what tortuous sequence of events the Death Row guy got there. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 November, 2013, 09:22:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 09:12:22 PM
Rodriguez was only a producer on it, wasn't he?

He was indeed, and he also wrote the original story treatment.
A bit of a Predator fan, by all accounts. Plus he's a famous type, so i guess he would have had a bit of a say as to how things went.

He's keen for a sequel, if the internet's to be believed...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 November, 2013, 09:31:21 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 November, 2013, 09:21:30 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 09:12:22 PM
I'm going to have to watch this film again.

When you do, try to work out by what tortuous sequence of events the Death Row guy got there.

And also try to understand in a ship the size of a building, Fishbourne locks the team in a room with all his weapons and shit when he is intending to kill them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 November, 2013, 09:37:30 PM
It's starting to sound like a homework exercise.

800 words on the failings of Predators in before Friday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 November, 2013, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 12 November, 2013, 09:31:21 PM
And also try to understand in a ship the size of a building, Fishbourne locks the team in a room with all his weapons and shit when he is intending to kill them.

Guess my homework assignment should be, 'work out where you were supposed to put the word 'why' in that last sentence!!!!!!  D'oh!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 13 November, 2013, 08:51:38 AM
Elysium - I really enjoyed it despite a couple of nonsenses in the plot. A good film but not as good as District 9.

Honourable mention for Jodie Foster for doing one of the finest 'Margaret Thatcher' impressions I've ever seen!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 November, 2013, 11:36:29 AM
Predator

There are some vary glaring parallels between this film and Alien.  Still, it was fun to watch even if nothing was a surprised (I watched this film constantly as a kid).  Arnold Schwarzniger hams it up with some awful one liners and a general clunky approach to delivering his lines.  So classic Schwarzniger then.

I was most impressed by the effects which I still think hold up well today.

A nice and simple story, really.  A rescue team is [spoiler]tricked into an assassination mission[/spoiler] and then they are [spoiler]picked off one by one by an alien hunter[/spoiler].  That's it really.

Next up Predator 2!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 November, 2013, 11:54:10 AM
Now You Don't stars Mark Zuckerberg playing a flim-flam man, of all things. The four main leads are terrible, Woody wasn't so bad, he had a couple of good moments, but the others brought him down to their level. The heists in this movie were pretty cool, but the whole thing is ruined by a stupid silly twist. One of the people I was watching it with actually called the twist, half jokingly and was actually disappointed to find out they were right, that's how silly it was.

Arachnoquake features John Connor, who instead of growing up to lead the human resistance against the machines, grows up to coach an all female baseball team who are terrorized by giant, pink, fire-breathing, unconvincing CGI spiders. Spiders that emerge from an Earthquake. Yes, it's the Asylum, up to no good as usual.

There's a great bit near the start where they're fighting them of using bug-spray, and I was quietly hoping this would continue. I was hoping they had blown most of their budget on the poor CGI and had nothing left for prop guns, so they had to resort to using aerosol cans instead. Alas, it was not to be. They break out the guns and it's all a bit standard from then on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 November, 2013, 12:45:15 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 November, 2013, 11:36:29 AM
Predator

A nice and simple story, really.  A rescue team is [spoiler]tricked into an assassination mission[/spoiler] and then they are [spoiler]picked off one by one by an alien hunter[/spoiler].  That's it really.

I always thought the story was: "Ged to dah chopper!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 November, 2013, 12:54:56 PM
Watched Europa Report the other night, probably the best space movie I've seen in a long time (and no, I haven't got round to Gravity just yet!). Really tense and stylish, great score from Bear "Battlestar" Mcgreary, thoroughly recommend it!

Watched it on US Netflix, not sure if there's any other way to get hold of it just now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 November, 2013, 01:03:39 PM
Quote from: HdE on 12 November, 2013, 06:04:52 PM
I think the real problem with it is, it has an air of 'we made this coz we could!' about it. While it tries to add something new to the franchise, it makes the mistake of going for something big in the introduction of the super-predator.

The super predator was a lazy and dumb idea but I find it baffling that they decided to go ahead with it after AVP2 already did the big predalien thing.  It's not an original idea anyway but even less so when someone else has recently done it (and in this respect, better). 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 November, 2013, 01:42:57 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 November, 2013, 12:45:15 PM
I always thought the story was: "Ged to dah chopper!"

The chopper is merely the McGuffin ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 14 November, 2013, 10:37:15 AM
This thread also got me to re-watch Predators. I don't have much more to add to what has already been said but I wasn't impressed on first viewing and this one didn't improve it much.

I followed this with Moon, which for some reason I left sitting in the packaging unwatched since purchase about two years ago. I'm not sure why I didn't watch it as I'd only heard good things about it. I'm pleased that I finally did as it was excellent throughout.

And after this Bulletproof Monk was on the TV. Watching this had the unfortunate affect of reminding me that I paid good money to see it at the cinema. I had a vague memory of enjoying it back then but I can't think why as it isn't much good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 November, 2013, 12:35:46 PM
Gravity.

It was impressive but got very silly.

The sound design was really good at the beginning but about halfway through they start using incidental music which I thought ruined things a bit.

I think  could have just watched the first half hour and then left the cinema and it would have been more satisfying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 November, 2013, 12:56:09 PM
I ended up sitting through Man of Steel last night. It's still pure shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 November, 2013, 11:55:18 AM
Predator 2

It's not great, but I still love it.  It is at least as good as the first one.  I like Danny Glover as the lead, very different than if they got a Arnie clone.

Do you remember seeing the Alien skull and thinking how cool would it be if we could see Aliens and Predators slugging it out?  How wrong we were.

I am still undecided as to whether I should watch the AvP films as part of the Predator franchise.  I am currently leaning towards yes.  It's mostly the first one that puts me off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 November, 2013, 12:08:38 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 November, 2013, 11:55:18 AM
Predator 2
It's not great, but I still love it.  It is at least as good as the first one.  I like Danny Glover as the lead, very different than if they got a Arnie clone.

Indeed. It's not utterly brilliant, but it's very, very watchable.  There's something really appealing about the daft 90s setting and futuro-casualwear, Danny Glover's team of central-casting misfits, and the hilarious rasta-gangsters.  The opening shoot-out, and the setpieces in the metro and the deep freeze are all elaborate and visually distinct from each other, and who doesn't enjoy Glover getting respect from the other hunters?  Also, everyone involved has clear motivations, relationships and a little story of their own, and stuff happens against a backdrop which while very silly is at least original and coherent. 

Sometimes I prefer it to the first one.  Might be the nudity quotient.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 November, 2013, 02:30:28 PM


Heresy: I prefer Danny Glover to Arnie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 November, 2013, 03:38:35 PM
I really like Pred 2.  I remember around the time of its release that everyone was writing it off because it didn't have Arnie it but I think Danny Glover is more than up to the task.  I really like him in this and his Lt Harrigan is as good as Arnie's Dutch in the first one.

I did also like the way the other Preds respect Danny at the end.  It also hints that the Preds have been coming here for some time (which I know is also mentioned in the first one) and I always thought something based in the past would be an interesting setup for Pred 3.

Pictsy - with regard to the AvP films, they're not great but I would suggest you have a look and decide for yourself.  They really are no worse than Predators.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 November, 2013, 03:47:53 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 November, 2013, 03:38:35 PM
Pictsy - with regard to the AvP films, they're not great but I would suggest you have a look and decide for yourself.  They really are no worse than Predators.

I've seen them already.  The question I'm toiling over is whether I should watch them again or go straight on to watch Predators (which I've also already seen, but don't remember being as bad as everyone is saying).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 November, 2013, 04:25:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 November, 2013, 03:47:53 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 November, 2013, 03:38:35 PM
Pictsy - with regard to the AvP films, they're not great but I would suggest you have a look and decide for yourself.  They really are no worse than Predators.

I've seen them already.  The question I'm toiling over is whether I should watch them again or go straight on to watch Predators (which I've also already seen, but don't remember being as bad as everyone is saying).

Oh right - in terms of sequence its all over the place.  I think I read somewhere that Predators is meant as a sequel to the Original Predator film.  The two AVP films are prequels to the aliens franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 November, 2013, 04:33:53 PM
I found AvP2 even worse the second time I watched it, compounded by the picture being so dark and shaky that it is often impossible to tell what is happening onscreen.  The first one was an okay monster mash-up if you don't try to analyze it too much.

The Sweeney.  Words fail me.
There's this guy, yeah?  And he plays Carter, yeah?  Well 'e talks like this or summink all the time yeah?  I jus wannu punch 'im, yeah?  Inna froat a few times, shut 'im up, like.
Awful.  Just awful.  If Hot Fuzz had all the jokes taken out, everyone took it deadly serious, and it was also complete shit maybe - maybe - it would be close to being as pointless, cliched, meandering, stupid and charmless as this stool of a film.  I just watched and as time went on thought "why?  Why would you use actual human money, hire an actual cast and crew, and then go out and shoot this film?  Why?  Why would they do this thing?  Why would they not make something better?  Why?"  It's not even so bad it's funny bad, it's not so bad it has a surreal air bad, it's just not in any way good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 15 November, 2013, 04:41:16 PM
And yet, itll probably get a sequel, and Dredd wont...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 November, 2013, 04:47:51 PM
If it gets a sequel, it'll be because they spend no money on scripts or actors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 November, 2013, 05:03:29 PM
The Sweeney is easily one of the worst films I've seen in the last 5 years. Mainly because it is so absolutely boring.
I don't know how anyone could make a Sweeney film so dull. The source material is basically about car chases, duffing people up and casual sex and alcoholism. It was never going to be art but I was expecting a fun mockney action film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 November, 2013, 09:37:29 PM
I watched some of The ABCs of Death on Netflix. Lord that was terrible. I only made it to J before turning off.

So I then watched The Raid which was excellent and am now following up with Dredd. Cracking
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 November, 2013, 09:54:06 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 15 November, 2013, 04:41:16 PM
And yet, itll probably get a sequel, and Dredd wont...


Trivia: The Sweeney (with Nick Love) was the film DNA were going to make before DREDD but then FOX Searchlight withdrew support a few weeks before filming.

The shell company (http://filmproduction.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/the-films-production-shell-company-how-it-works/) DNA set-up to produce The Sweeney was then re-regitered to DREDD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 November, 2013, 12:43:09 PM
Sharknado! It was utter shite.  No, it was brilliant!  Or was it just shite?  I think it it might have been excellent.  No, no, it was utter bollocks. AAARGHH! I JUST CAN'T DECIDE!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2013, 12:50:53 PM
My Predator marathon had to take a break as I am currently doing some house-sitting (and they don't own any Predator DVDs).

So last night I watched Underworld whilst doing some sketching.  Two reasons to love this film - Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy.  Kate Beckinsale is certainly pretty and does an OK job coming across as an action starlet but she has been irrevocably tainted by Total Recall (remake).  She was awful in that awful film.  Although she is better in Underworld, it is clear their are great limits to her acting and the film is carried by others.  It's a fun Vampire/Werewolf action flick and I really never expected anything beyond what it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 16 November, 2013, 03:05:28 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 November, 2013, 12:50:53 PM
My Predator marathon had to take a break as I am currently doing some house-sitting (and they don't own any Predator DVDs).

So last night I watched Underworld whilst doing some sketching.  Two reasons to love this film - Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy.  Kate Beckinsale is certainly pretty and does an OK job coming across as an action starlet but she has been irrevocably tainted by Total Recall (remake).  She was awful in that awful film.  Although she is better in Underworld, it is clear their are great limits to her acting and the film is carried by others.  It's a fun Vampire/Werewolf action flick and I really never expected anything beyond what it is.

Each to there own but I thought the Underworld films were absolutely awful. A lot of my friends think they're great so perhaps It's just me.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 16 November, 2013, 03:31:53 PM
It's not just you.  The suck ass. 

There's wonderous visuals, some top actors, cracking effects, and a not entirely shite storyline, but somehow none of that matters.  They still blow goats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 November, 2013, 07:00:52 PM
Dune.

This was the first time I'd seen it all the way through.
I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's sort of brilliant yet utterly awful at the same time.
It's all a bit of a mess really, with some of the worst acting I've ever seen! The effects don't really stand up but some of the design is quite nice.
It's made me curious to read the - might see if it's in the library.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 16 November, 2013, 11:54:09 PM
I'm not surprised The Sweeney was shit. I haven't seen it but what do you expect when both lead roles in a film are west ham fans? They can barely tie their own shoe laces let alone read a script.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 November, 2013, 01:22:54 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 November, 2013, 07:00:52 PM
Dune.

This was the first time I'd seen it all the way through.
I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's sort of brilliant yet utterly awful at the same time.
It's all a bit of a mess really, with some of the worst acting I've ever seen! The effects don't really stand up but some of the design is quite nice.
It's made me curious to read the - might see if it's in the library.


Read the book.

Just to clarify! My girlfriend came home and told me all about her day halfway through (took awhile)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 November, 2013, 10:34:54 AM
Wow, that was quick James! Dune is quite a dense read, so you must've read it non-stop without break!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Black Swan last night with the missus; she thought it would be romantic thriller of some sort so imagine her shock when she saw it! As for me, I enjoyed it. Natalie Portman put in the performance of her life and was rightly rewarded with an Oscar. It was interesting to see her transformation from a timid girl to a fully fledged 'Black Swan' by the end, but the film did leave me with a lot of questions. There's no mistaking that Darren Afronsky did a great job direction wise, but the symptons of psychotic breakdown that the main character displays can be questionable. For instance, is she schizophrenic? If so people who have this illness are said to suffer audial hallucinations, not visual. She also showed signs of Bulimia and O.C.D, but rarely will you find someone suffering all three at once. This has also been highlighted by a lot of psychologists that have watched the film. Is she then, a victim of demonic possesion? Are her hallucinations brought on by some unseen malevolent entity? That would probably explain why she kept on seeing her double or doppelgänger. But then it can also be in her mind as her double is shown as being evil or dressed in black; the Black Swan so to speak, and a side of her that she has yet to find. To be honest the film would make more sense if that was the case (that it was supernatural), but it's very vague as to what she is suffering. But that did not detract from the fact that it was quite a scary and uncomfortable watch at times not to mention an intriguing watch,  the scenes of her transformation into the Black Swan were especially terrifying, and the ending although bleak, mirrors the actual story of Swan Lake. As I said, Natalie Portman was terrific in her role, she is of similar age to myself and I've been following her career from the very start, ever since she appeared in Leon. I remember having a crush on her as a kid when I saw her in that film! She is a terrific actor, but Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel were equally great in their respective roles, as was Barbara Hershey as the controlling mother.

I would give the film 4/5. An engaging, psycho-sexual thriller with some deeply unsettling moments and a superb turn from Portman.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 November, 2013, 01:16:46 PM
Underworld: Evolution
It's about as good as the first one.  One of the two leads seems like a spare wheel just as in the first film.  To the point where I've never thought of him as a lead but more an incidental character.  In the first film he was very much the damsel in distress - which I loved.  There should be more of it (like that guy who changed Donkey Kong for his daughter so the Princess saves Jump Man).  The second film lacked this so lacked that charm.  [spoiler]Flying bat guy[/spoiler] was pretty cool and I enjoyed the flashbacks.  A good sequel that followed on nicely from the first.  No Michael Sheen, which is a shame - he's a fine actor.

AvP  Yeah, I went for it.  So many things are wrong with this film and I still despise the setting and premise.  Seeing Predators wail on Aliens is pretty cool, but the Aliens aren't cool.  By this point they come across as little more than beasts and a lot of intelligence that was originally imbued in the Alien seems lost.  That is one of the minor gripes I have though.

I'll give some credit where I think it is due.  Sanaa Lathan did an excellent job in this movie and I find her character, Alexa Woods, a good representation of a strong female character.  She is the best thing about the film.  It's a shame that it's not a very good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 November, 2013, 02:24:59 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 November, 2013, 01:16:46 PMSanaa Lathan did an excellent job in this movie and I find her character, Alexa Woods, a good representation of a strong female character.  She is the best thing about the film.  It's a shame that it's not a very good film.

Agreed.  When I watched it many moons ago, she was about the only thing that gave me hope that the whole production's downward slide was going to bottom out at some point.  It didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 November, 2013, 02:26:19 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 17 November, 2013, 10:34:54 AM...she is of similar age to myself and I've been following her career from the very start, ever since she appeared in Leon. I remember having a crush on her as a kid when I saw her in that film!

Yeah, yeah, get your denials in first, you perv.   ;)

I had the same problem with Drew Barrymore - sure she's only a few years younger than me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 November, 2013, 02:37:18 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 November, 2013, 02:26:19 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 17 November, 2013, 10:34:54 AM...she is of similar age to myself and I've been following her career from the very start, ever since she appeared in Leon. I remember having a crush on her as a kid when I saw her in that film!

Yeah, yeah, get your denials in first, you perv.   ;)

I had the same problem with Drew Barrymore - sure she's only a few years younger than me.

Ha ha! No really, I was born in '81 (which makes me 32) so around the same age as Miss Portman!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 November, 2013, 11:10:17 PM
Gravity

I've seen reviews stating it was boring. I can understand why people think that, but I confess I rather enjoyed it.

I doubt I will get the DVD mind, but it was suitably tense in places and the 3D was used excellently.

Sandra Bullock was great in the role as well.

I was wondering how old she was, as she must be getting on a bit, but she still looks pretty young in the film.

One wiki later: 49. Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 18 November, 2013, 12:43:09 AM
I watched The Wolverine which was surprisingly not as bad as wolverine origins
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 November, 2013, 04:37:41 PM
Wreck it Ralph

Not a great film.  I was enjoy this a lot more when I was ignoring it (was doing some sketches with it in the background).  When I started paying attention it became annoying.  Well, Sarah Silverman became annoying.  What am I saying?  Sarah Silverman has always been annoying.  I think the Toy Story for video games concept wasn't handled in any original way.  Infact, originality takes a back seat to what (apparently) works.  Except it doesn't really because it's all too predictable and all too cliche.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 November, 2013, 06:06:34 PM
Deranged is a fucked up little Canadian horror movie that depicts probably the most realistic interpretation of the life of Ed Gein. Not for the faint hearted but a riot fir anyone who likes there comedy black as coal. Great effects as well. It's not for the squeamish mind and is certainly very atmospheric with some set pieces being to grimy you can almost feel and smell it. Indeed, i was so impressed with it I'd rate it up with Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead as horror classics and it really desserved more attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 19 November, 2013, 12:10:35 AM
Stoker - I really rate Mia wasikowska since seeing her in In Treatment, and here she is in a chan wook park movie!!? Super. A very slow tense little gem that goes places you're not quite expecting. If you're going to watch it don't read anything about it first.

Elysium - finally got round to seeing this today. I loved District 9 but this was too similar and not as much fun. Shalto Copley was awesome though.

Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 08:43:11 AM
AvP: Requiem
OK, it's not a good film.  It's bad for different reasons than the first one, however.  The terrible acting being one.  Stupid cliché high school jock bullies are another.  The Aliens seem to multiply like bacteria and the Predalien is somewhat underused.

So whilst I was watching this film I was wondering "why did I prefer this to the previous film?"  The only answer I can think of is AvPR is gruesome.  The horror of the Predalien was actually well conceived, especially the scene [spoiler]in the hospital with the pregnant women.[/spoiler]

Next up to watch... Predators

What is it I'm meant to look out for?  A death row prisoner and something to do with a large ship and weapons?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 November, 2013, 09:04:39 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 08:43:11 AM
What is it I'm meant to look out for?  A death row prisoner and something to do with a large ship and weapons?

Just let it wash over you and see what lumps stick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 11:43:19 AM
I know what you mean about AVP Requiem pictsy.  Out of the two AVPs, that is the one I would be more likely to watch.  The setting is better (reminds me of Racoon City from the Resident Evil games).  I also like how it is darker but the main complaint would be that it is not really an aliens or predator movie but just a monster movie - they could be zombies, giant spiders, etc 

The Predalien was a nice touch and agree that the scene you mentioned was especially well done. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 11:59:16 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 11:43:19 AM
...the main complaint would be that it is not really an aliens or predator movie but just a monster movie - they could be zombies, giant spiders, etc 

Agreed.  I think the film would have suffered if it hadn't had been AvP because a lot of what holds it together as a reasonable monster movie is the excellent design of the Aliens and Predator.

If the good qualities of both films were combined and the bad qualities ditched and if it was set in the future and not on Earth (as it bloody well should have been!!! grrrrrrrr), then we'd be on our way to a good Aliens and/or Predator film.  Only problem with this kind of venture is studio interference and executives with dollar signs tattooed onto their eyeballs.

BTW When we hit page 400 of this thread are we going to have a party or are we saving it for page 500?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 November, 2013, 12:14:21 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 11:43:19 AM
The Predalien was a nice touch and agree that the scene you mentioned was especially well done.

if it's the one I am thinking about, I found it lumpenly literal.

(Though my memory does fade and these days, I don't have the time to re-watch a film I don't like four or five times to confirm whether I just don't like it or actively hate it).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 01:10:24 PM
Not sure I really understand what 'lumpenly literal' is Tips.  It was certainly a dark and unpleasant scene but I felt it really conveyed how horrific this creature was and was executed very well using things like the curtains to hide it.  It's also the first time I really twigged the size of the thing.

That said. I quite like the horror genre and have seen plenty of dark and gory stuff.  Never done me any harm. *twitch* *twitch*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 01:28:30 PM
A point to be made.  As bad as these films are, they aren't unwatchable.  That is certainly a bonus.  These usually get filled away in my "brainrot" category for when I want to have a film on in the background I can ignore for the most part or when I just don't want to think about what I am watching too much.

Brainrot constitutes a huge chunk of my cinematic viewing.  I think this is mostly because 1) I like watching films and 2) very good quality to excellent quality films are comparatively rare. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 November, 2013, 04:39:27 PM
I was thinking about the whole thing of having an alien erupting [spoiler]from a pregnant woman[/spoiler]. If my memory serves me right? That did happen, didn't it?  It wasn't enough that in ALIEN you had a phallic shaped alien bursting from the War Doctor's chest? No, just to ram the point home, [spoiler]they did it with a pregnant woman.[/spoiler]

Like I say, apologies if I'm mis-remembering things.

Wasn't meaning to get at you re: movie watching habits. It was more a comment on my own changed habits.

I understand the need for brainrot movies (I'm currently watching the RESIDENT EVILS for which I have a soft spot) but AVP-R and Predators don't fall into that category for me. I didn't like them and have no soft spot for them. (Happilly watch PREDATOR 2 or the first AVP when they are on though).  Similarly, I'm not going to waste my time watching PROMETHEUS again.

Funny thing is though, thirty years ago, I'd have time to watch it loads of times just to make sure it was shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 05:07:32 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 November, 2013, 04:39:27 PM
Wasn't meaning to get at you re: movie watching habits.

I didn't assume you were, but what you said did make me think of it and I felt like sharing with the class ;)

The original Alien was certainly based on a concept of male rape.  IIRC the creator has gone on record as saying so.  All the sexual imagery and symbolism is one of the great aspects.  If we are to think that AvP Requiem's scene with the [spoiler]pregnant women[/spoiler] is a continuation of that, then yes, it's trite. 

Personally I didn't see Requiem striving for such depth.  My interpretation of the scene was that it was more along the lines of body horror and it was played for shock value.  Indeed they used the alien pregnancy trope as the basis of it, which is established Alien lore so it's use makes some sort of sense.  Each to their own, I guess.  It's proper gruesome though.  Had me twitching in disgust ;)

Anywho, we all have our preferred flavours of brainrot.  I don't think I'd watch Prometheus again.  Just as I wouldn't watch The Transformers or it's awful sequel again (never saw the third one, learnt my lesson - a little late, but it was learnt!).

Unfortunately I have viewed the film I regard as The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen twice.  I was forced to view it a second time because of social etiquette.  It wasn't better the second time.  And just because you laugh at how bad it is, that does not make it good.  It just makes it laughably bad.  Which is a bad thing.  Badbadbadbad *twitch*  Sorry, had a flashback.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 05:21:18 PM
Yeah, I didn't get any 'having a go' vibe from you either Tips.

I agree that in AVPR the scene in question is done for shock but also I think it is one of expediency.  The predalien is a slightly different species but they clearly decided to get as many aliens on screen as quickly as possible so they would [spoiler]do without the eggs and facehuggers and replace this with using pregnant women.[/spoiler]

As I said before - I don't mind the odd shocking scene in movies but ultimately,[spoiler] is there a nice way to be impregnated by an alien?[/spoiler]   :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 19 November, 2013, 05:27:32 PM
Big Butt Attack 10 - staring Nikki Sun and Gina Blue.

If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favour and see it. It is very well put together and the plot is constantly evolving into a deeper shade of creepiness. At times scary (not in the horror movie sense) and quite rich in dark humour, this is one of those movies that gives you a weird felling inside even an hour after its over. The music is quite appropriate and unlike Scarface, is timeless. The camera work is usually quite basic but whoever directed the photography had the enjoyable habit of giving us interestingly artistic segways between scenes. This is the first film so far that I've given a 10 out of 10. I was going to give it a 9, but I couldn't think of a reason to take any points from perfect. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 19 November, 2013, 05:33:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 05:07:32 PM
Unfortunately I have viewed the film I regard as The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen twice.  I was forced to view it a second time because of social etiquette.  It wasn't better the second time.  And just because you laugh at how bad it is, that does not make it good.  It just makes it laughably bad.  Which is a bad thing.  Badbadbadbad *twitch*  Sorry, had a flashback.

And that was.....?  C'mon, don't leave us hanging here man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 November, 2013, 05:34:49 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 05:07:32 PM
Unfortunately I have viewed the film I regard as The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen twice. 

It wasn't 'The Video Dead' was it? Christ alive that is without doubt the worst film I've ever seen. Although 'Shaolin Vs Evil Dead' is a very close second.


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 05:41:35 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 19 November, 2013, 05:21:18 PM
As I said before - I don't mind the odd shocking scene in movies but ultimately,[spoiler] is there a nice way to be impregnated by an alien?[/spoiler]   :o

[spoiler]When it is between two consenting adults[/spoiler] :)

I'm not sure if I should name the film.  It may encourage you lot to go and watch it to see how bad it is.  I don't think I could live with myself.  It would be like distributing that film that appears in Ring!  I don't want any [spoiler]vengeful well women without finger nails scaring you to death![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 19 November, 2013, 05:44:07 PM
Inevitably, it will be someone on this forum's favourite film. Violet and bloody recriminations will follow. But go on!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 November, 2013, 07:30:07 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 19 November, 2013, 05:34:49 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 05:07:32 PM
Unfortunately I have viewed the film I regard as The Worst Film I Have Ever Seen twice. 

It wasn't 'The Video Dead' was it? Christ alive that is without doubt the worst film I've ever seen. Although 'Shaolin Vs Evil Dead' is a very close second.


Cheers
I actually quite like The Video Dead. Oh yes, it's awful, but it has an air of dark satire about it that really makes it quite hard to take seriously. Well, I enjoyed it enough to buy the recent BD double feature with the vastly superior Terrorvision.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 19 November, 2013, 07:39:29 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 November, 2013, 07:30:07 PM
Well, I enjoyed it enough to buy the recent BD double feature with the vastly superior Terrorvision.

Oh, did Video Dead get a DVD release at last? Hurrah! To Amazon!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 November, 2013, 07:47:44 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 19 November, 2013, 07:39:29 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 November, 2013, 07:30:07 PM
Well, I enjoyed it enough to buy the recent BD double feature with the vastly superior Terrorvision.

Oh, did Video Dead get a DVD release at last? Hurrah! To Amazon!
A Blu Ray/DVD duel format edition yes. Region A locked by Shout! Factory i'm afraid though, but you can get it fairly cheaply if you have a multi region player.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 19 November, 2013, 07:54:01 PM
Excellent - cheers for that info. Had an interest in 'The Video Dead' ever since Jamie Russell declared his fondness for it in his 'Book of the Dead' zombie movie guide. And he was right about 'Burial Ground' being an unsung gem. (Mind you, he was wrong about 'The Dead Pit' not being any good though.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 08:24:09 PM
Page 400!

There are no party emoticons so I guess we have to imagine the streamers, party hats, conga lines, cake and obligatory alcohol.

Anyway, don't say I didn't warn you.

Sickle
a.k.a
The Slaughterhouse Massacre

I implore you not to watch it though.  It is truly terrible.  It is truly the worst film I have seen.  Watch it at your own peril!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 11:05:55 PM
Predators

Just finished watching it.  It's not that bad.

If I was going to gripe, it would be about the [spoiler]serial killer doctor[/spoiler] first and foremost.

How the death row prisoner was abducted bothered me no less than how soldiers in combat were abducted.  I felt it was a mystery that was clearly meant to remain a mystery.  Predators are enigmatic and I am satisfied that such little questions aren't answered.

I don't get the problem with this so-called "super Predator".  According to the credits there is no super Predator and the film explains there are two clans or tribes in a blood feud.  I prefer the Classic Predator (as credited) design, but still appreciate the variations.  I would in no way compare the "super Predator" to the Predalien.

Laurence Fishburne.  OK, he is a bit chunky for the character he is playing... maybe.  Not a big issue.  [spoiler]Why did he try to kill them in the giant drill?  He is mentally unstable and that was an action of his instability.  He hadn't originally intended to kill them.  This is made clear in his dialogue to himself when he is choking them with smoke.[/spoiler]

Is this better than the AvP films?  Oh yes.  Very much yes.  A hundred times yes.

Is this better than the original two Predator films.  No.  I find it a welcome addition to the franchise, but it is just not as entertaining as the originals.  It lacks their charm and doesn't make up for it in other areas.  I think the performances were better in Predators... marginally.  The story wasn't badly plotted, but the twist was unnecessary.  The run time was too long.  I was getting a little bored towards the end... but that's mostly because they felt the need to shove in the rubbish twist.

I am also not a big fan of Adrian Brody.  You ever watch that Splice rubbish he was in?  Oh lord that film went from bad to worse to god awful.  Yeah, I think Predators is better than Splice as well.

So there we have, I am a descenting voice.





I have a foreboding feeling as if I were approaching a firing squad.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 20 November, 2013, 01:36:44 AM
I just watched 'The Wolverine'. And I loved it!

Really appreciated how it felt like a more measured film than movies in the X franchise it was riffing on. Seriously - The Last Stand is so godawful, no movie should ever have to deal with it's events.

Also, kind of intrigued to see how it works as set up for Days Of Future Past.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 November, 2013, 10:11:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 November, 2013, 11:05:55 PM
Predators

Just finished watching it.  It's not that bad....

So there we have, I am a descenting voice.

It is a descent into madness
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 10:15:19 AM
Just watched The extended Hobbit (1 of 3 obv). Not a great deal at all was added - leaving the whole thing looking even more like an extended marketing ploy with the three hour film on two discs with one commentary (Not to mention another two discs for a four hour documentary and another disc for giggles and to make it look more expansive than it actually is). I always like to compare things like that to how much the one-disc Shaun of the Dead DVD managed to fit on. Sigh, marketing.

Anyways, before you go "WHY BUY IT THEN YOU CYNICAL TOAD OF A MAN" Geoffery bought it, being a Tolkienfiend. What was actually added? Not much - about twenty minutes mainly of largely superfluous scene-stuffery. What was cut out? In my mind in the months since release they would have looked at the whole ludicrously tacked-on side-quest with Azog (inspired by a single line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azog#Azog)) as well as the outrageously campy Radaghast and gone "you know what, it doesn't need this."

But no, the brilliant riddles in the dark, the amazing introduction of the dwarfs to Bag End, the moderate silliness of the trolls - still leads to this big, ugly, finale which feels ridiculously out of place. Oh and spoiler Azog looks to chase them all the way through the next film as well - and they team up with a sassy made-up elf woman. Hurrah prof Tolkien's legacy lives on to squeeze money into the NZ tourist industry and the film industry!

Anyway - off to watch twenty billion hours of special features where Jackson pretends he came back to it out of a sense of artistic duty rather than facing up to the searing inevitability that the visionary director of Bad Taste/Brain Dead is just a washed-up hack who can only do overblown adaptations of books/older films.

YOU CYNICAL TOAD OF A MAN
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 November, 2013, 10:24:11 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 10:15:19 AM
Anyway - off to watch twenty billion hours of special features where Jackson pretends he came back to it out of a sense of artistic duty rather than facing up to the searing inevitability that the visionary director of Bad Taste/Brain Dead is just a washed-up hack who can only do overblown adaptations of books/older films.

And the best Muppets parody ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2013, 10:44:54 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 10:15:19 AMIn my mind in the months since release they would have looked at the whole ludicrously tacked-on side-quest with Azog (inspired by a single line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azog#Azog)) as well as the outrageously campy Radaghast and gone "you know what, it doesn't need this."

The Azog idea isn't that bad in theory, merging him with Bolg and building on Thorin's family history as it does, and the main point is to presumably give a recognisable face to the goblin army in the third film (and I suspect to create links to Sauron), and thus for some sense of resolution to be associated with [spoiler]Thorin's death[/spoiler].  That said, the execution has not been good at all at all, with a wholly unconvincing design for Azog himself and that ridiculous final fight in Unexpected Journey, built up into a seen-it-all-before 'climax' as an attempt to find a natural break point when two films became three.

However, McCoy's Radagast is pure gold, and along with Humphrey's Great Goblin and Stott's Balin, the best thing in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 11:04:51 AM
Got to admit, despite having very little interest in rewatching the film or owning it on any format - especially an expanded version of it - I'm actually a little tempted to buy The Extended UJ on iTunes purely for the 'Appendices'. I have such a huge amount of affection and nostalgia for the wonderful Appendices on the LotR discs (best DVD extras ever hands down imo) - which I've probably watched through as many times as the films themselves. Who knows, it might even improve my opinion of the actual film to see all of the work that went into it.

Despite pretty much knowing I'm going to be disappointed again I'm also planning to see Smaug at the cinema. Again, it's that nostalgic thrill of the prospect of having a Middle Earth film to see at Christmas that outweighs the cynicism. I think I'm over the disappointment enough to just accept that I'll see these films in the cinema each time, and enjoy them for what they are - a bit of disposable fun.

QuoteIn my mind in the months since release they would have looked at the whole ludicrously tacked-on side-quest with Azog (inspired by a single line) as well as the outrageously campy Radaghast and gone "you know what, it doesn't need this."

As much as I understand the rationale behind including all of that stuff, at the end of the day I feel like they lost the simplicity of the story in the process, and with the artificially amplified stakes the atmosphere of this exciting journey is utterly lost. This should be Bilbo's film - he should be in almost every scene, and we should see all of these events through his eyes.... and yet, he ultimately feels like just one of an ensemble cast, which is unforgivable.

And yeah, that ending just flat-out sucked. So needlessly over the top.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2013, 11:20:08 AM
Quote from: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 11:04:51 AM
As much as I understand the rationale behind including all of that stuff, at the end of the day I feel like they lost the simplicity of the story in the process, and with the artificially amplified stakes the atmosphere of this exciting journey is utterly lost. This should be Bilbo's film - he should be in almost every scene, and we should see all of these events through his eyes.... and yet, he ultimately feels like just one of an ensemble cast, which is unforgivable.

Some good points there, although repeated re-watchings have increased my appreciation of what we actually got.  I enjoy most of the additional stuff (since the rest is always available in the book), but watching the latest video blog, which was mainly shooting pick-ups for 2 and 3, I got the distinct feeling that padding is yet-again going to come in the form of over-extended fight scenes and video-game levels.  More of that I do not need.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 11:54:14 AM
I do love Sylvester McCoy. But if I didn't... Radaghast would be a monstrosity.

Also - yes, the barrel-riding sequence is now no longer a lone Bilbo - but a full action setpiece. The dwarves out of their barrels, shooting at Azog's orc pursuing hoard from steep rapids - with Legolas and Tauriel helping alongside.

My Geoffery has a theory [spoiler]that Tauriel will snuff it defeating Azog - and Jackson will slow-motion milk the balls off of it[/spoiler]. Also.... why does Bard the bowman have simpering children now? [spoiler]SO THAT THEY CAN DIE IN SLOW MOTION PROBABLY[/spoiler]

The features have so far been quite endearing - but the film is still the film is still the film and nine million hours of charming kiwis won't change that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 12:17:08 PM
Said it before, but I'm really excited to see what the ineviatble fan edits are going to do with this once all three Extended Editions are finally out.

I think it's highly probably that we'll see a single 2.5 hour film at the end, with a renewed focus on Bilbo and the quest and all of the padding - Radagast, Azog, overblown and wholly unnecessary prologue(s)*, superfluous and distracting cameos form LotR alums, and all those silly cgi overload fight scenes - stripped away. Even the Gollum/Riddles in the Dark scene felt really overegged to me in the theatrical cut and could do with some judicious cutting.

* Honestly, all they needed to do was have Ian Holm's voice reciting the opening "In a hole in a ground there lived a Hobbit" few lines of the book over a montage of Bilbo and Hobbition. That's the start of your Hobbit film right there. Literally no need for anything else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 12:22:31 PM
EXACTLY. Geoffery really likes the intro but I think it should just begin simply - just Freeman and his pipe. Doesn't necessarily even need Holm or Elijah. Also, I didn't realise until last night but did you realise Holm's face had been altered digitally? It's weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2013, 12:58:11 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 12:22:31 PM
EXACTLY. Geoffery really likes the intro but I think it should just begin simply - just Freeman and his pipe.

Agreed. The intro isn't so bad at home when you can make the tea, but in the cinema I thought it was entirely unnecessary and overlong - even in the context of the 'expanded' story the Erebor stuff stood perfectly well on its own.  I'm also at a loss as to why Freeman's Bilbo doesn't invite Gandalf to tea out of sheer inbuilt politeness - isn't that the whole point of the scene in the book?

There may, I suppose, eventually be some payoff to the Wood/Holm bit if we get Bilbo returning in the middle of the auction, complete with the Sackville-Bagginses making off with the spoons. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 November, 2013, 01:12:15 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 November, 2013, 12:58:11 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 November, 2013, 12:22:31 PM
EXACTLY. Geoffery really likes the intro but I think it should just begin simply - just Freeman and his pipe.

Agreed. The intro isn't so bad at home when you can make the tea, but in the cinema I thought it was entirely unnecessary and overlong - even in the context of the 'expanded' story the Erebor stuff stood perfectly well on its own.  I'm also at a loss as to why Freeman's Bilbo doesn't invite Gandalf to tea out of sheer inbuilt politeness - isn't that the whole point of the scene in the book?

There may, I suppose, eventually be some payoff to the Wood/Holm bit if we get Bilbo returning in the middle of the auction, complete with the Sackville-Bagginses making off with the spoons.

I quite enjoyed The Hobbit but the washing dishes scene made me cringe.

The second one looks good - nice dragon design!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 01:21:14 PM
QuoteGeoffery really likes the intro but I think it should just begin simply - just Freeman and his pipe. Doesn't necessarily even need Holm or Elijah. Also, I didn't realise until last night but did you realise Holm's face had been altered digitally? It's weird.

All that horrible fan-service cameo stuff did was make me think how old everyone looked - and yes, they've definitely done some horrible digital de-aging on not just Holm but several other cast members too. I believe even Freeman had the bags under his eyes digitally removed. Really weird, pointless and totally distracting, and all contributing to a really overcooked, unsettling look for the whole film.

As for the Dwarves' quest - I'm no expert on the book but it felt a bit... misleading/dishonest in the way they tweaked the story to make the Dwarves more noble. ISTR in the book their primary motivation is financial.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 November, 2013, 01:27:51 PM
Quote from: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 01:21:14 PM
As for the Dwarves' quest - I'm no expert on the book but it felt a bit... misleading/dishonest in the way they tweaked the story to make the Dwarves more noble. ISTR in the book their primary motivation is financial.

Probably worried that the PC brigade would make the case that Tolkien's dwarves were rascist, stereotype analogues of Jews.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2013, 01:44:34 PM
The opening though overlong did help me in one key respect.  It made me realise I was watching a prequel to the LOTR movies and not an adaption of THE HOBBIT. As such, it meant I wasn't as disappointed as I might have been...

And as such, I am getting excited for SMAUG - warts and all.  (or should that be "wargs and all").
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 November, 2013, 01:58:15 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 November, 2013, 01:27:51 PM
Quote from: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 01:21:14 PM
As for the Dwarves' quest - I'm no expert on the book but it felt a bit... misleading/dishonest in the way they tweaked the story to make the Dwarves more noble. ISTR in the book their primary motivation is financial.

Probably worried that the PC brigade would make the case that Tolkien's dwarves were rascist, stereotype analogues of Jews.

...or racist, stereotype analogues of dwarves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 02:30:12 PM
QuoteThe opening though overlong did help me in one key respect.  It made me realise I was watching a prequel to the LOTR movies and not an adaption of THE HOBBIT. As such, it meant I wasn't as disappointed as I might have been...

Fair enough - but I think that distinction is the fundamental mistake of the entire enterprise. They're more interested in reprising and back-referencing LotR than they are telling a new story. I would have made The Hobbit almost from the pov that the LotR films didn't exist - make it with a brand new audience in mind rather than pandering to hardcore LotR fans. Let it be its own thing, in the way the original novel is distinct from LotR.

I have an uneasy feeling that they're going to try and go one 'better' on the spectacle of The Two Towers and Return of the King in these next two Hobbit films - so the Battle of Five Armies will (pardon the pun) dwarf even Pellenor Fields.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2013, 07:10:25 PM
Quote from: radiator on 20 November, 2013, 01:21:14 PM
As for the Dwarves' quest - I'm no expert on the book but it felt a bit... misleading/dishonest in the way they tweaked the story to make the Dwarves more noble. ISTR in the book their primary motivation is financial.

Just finished reading it to the kids (again) a month or two back, and while dwarvish greed is a big factor in selling the adventure to everyone, Thorin's quest is definitely to reclaim his lost kingdom.  So it's a lust for a heritable absolute monarchy rather than just greed, which may actually be worse....

More seriously, it's also made clear in the LotR Appendices and the Silmarillion that Thror had inherited the first of the Seven Rings, and it was probably its influence which drove him to excesses of hoarding treasure and mistrust of his neighbours, the very corruption that led Smaug to his door and left him without allies when the time came. 

It's a mistaken quest for this very ring that eventually leads Balin to Moria, where Azog had killed Thror, and thus his own death in the years before Fellowship.  Sauron had already reacquired this ring from Thrain in the dungeons of Dol Guldur, as I suspect we'll see in the coming films.

I too fervently hoped for a 'proper' single-film adaptation of The Hobbit as the terrific enduring kids' story it is, full of talking animals, brightly coloured hoods and unarmed dwarves, but that's not what this is: I absolutely love the whimsical bits that do survive into Jackson's film, like the plate-juggling, the singing, the riddling and the Great Goblin's deep-fried ham, but they do feel out of place in the film as is.  As the 'true story' version of the events, seen through the prism of Jackson's Lord of the Rings and serving as a well-thought-out prequel to same, I think there's a hell of a lot to recommend this version.

It's not really an adaptation of The Hobbit as a novel, but rather as one source among many, and while that may not be what many of us wanted, I'm not letting that colour my enjoyment of what we are getting.

Just cut out the platforming levels and we're good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 November, 2013, 11:36:54 PM
I liked the Hobbit and didn't mind the singing bit at the start. My only issue was the replacement of actors with CGI where the orcs are concerned. Not that they looked bad. (Although a sledge pulled by bunnies was perhaps a bit too silly. And that platform bit in Goblin City was a bit much, but it didn't offend me like it seems to many.)

And I welcome the fact there is additional material. I'm intrigued to see some of the Lord of the Rings appendix stuff included in the narrative.

I want it to be TRUE to the original book(s, if you include the LOTR appendices) but not the same as it. Which is pretty much what I got.

I received the expanded version of the film last week. I've yet to see it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 November, 2013, 08:56:41 AM
I have seen the Hobbit once and I didn't mind it.  It wasn't like when Fellowship came out, but that was something special and of the time.  I didn't mind it, I knew they were going to add, combine, change and remove things from the story because they did it with LofT.  It was pretty cool seeing Doctor Who make an appearance.

Moving on:

Surrogates

Nearly everyone is living their lives through surrogate androids and Bruce Willis has to solve a murder whilst dealing with problems at home.  A nice sci-fi concept that is probably a criticism of things like Second Life.  Who knows, it doesn't seem to be getting intellectual with it's sci-fi.  A simple film that doesn't achieve great heights but doesn't sink to great depths.  It was a good choice to have it on whilst I was doing my evening sketches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dragonfly on 21 November, 2013, 09:52:27 AM
I've also watched the expanded version of the Hobbit this week and I enjoyed it more than the original version. I wasn't impressed with the Hobbit when I first saw it at the cinema, with the exception of a couple of scenes I don't think it captured the feel or tone of the book at all. In my opinion it was bloated and overlong, yet somehow the new longer version has me interested.
It has occurred to me that it isn't an adaption of the Hobbit book after all but an adaption of the appendices to the Lord Of The Rings with some scenes from the hobbit book to flesh it out. Looking at it from that angle I found it a more satisfying watch.
When all three films are released I would still like an edited down version with all the extra stuff cut it so it resembles the book more closely but that is never going to happen outside of you-tube!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 November, 2013, 08:27:35 PM
Sharknado.

I know a lot of folk say it's awfulness is it's brilliance, but I have to disagree.  It's awfulness is just.....awful.  It's not actually finished yet, but it just pissed me off so bad with the whining bitch doing a REALLY bad rip-off of Robert Shaw's drunken 'I hate sharks' speech from Jaws that I've pretty much had enough.  Although the inexperience pilot taking a helicopter into a fucking tornado strong enough to maintain lift on not just a single shark, but fucking hunners of 'em is pretty much far worse than the awful speech. 
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 November, 2013, 09:24:49 PM
The only 'so bad it's good' film I've enjoyed is The Room. I have no interest in watching films that are intentionally bad. With something like Sharknado the only thing you would have the patience for is a trailer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 November, 2013, 09:32:26 AM
Gamer

This is probably a guilty pleasure but I find this film to be fun.  I like the visual contrast between 'Slayers' and 'Society' and it's probably the visuals that sell this film to me.  The concept is an interesting one, the story is pretty concise if unoriginal (reminded me a lot of the Death Race remake in places).  The sense of humour in the film can be grim at times as well.  It was a great film to have on whilst I did my sketches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2013, 12:06:19 PM
Gamer is an interesting companion piece to Surrogates if you think about it. The main difference is what the puppet is made out of... Of course neither movie really explores such things even as deeply as something as skin-deep as Dollhouse managed to do with similar material.

My last movie was Cabin in the Woods for the third time. Doesn't really hold up to that many repeat watchings if I'm honest but needed something entertaining but undemanding in the background whilst working and it was this or watch Dredd for the 3rd time this month. Which might have been more enjoyable actually but hey, Cabin was still fun and still impressed with its creature designs and clear passion for the material from everyone involved. Like Pacific Rim I would love to see more stuff done in the world it created - previous successful years, other failed rituals around the world, etc.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 November, 2013, 12:36:55 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2013, 12:06:19 PM
Gamer is an interesting companion piece to Surrogates if you think about it. The main difference is what the puppet is made out of...

I agree, when I first saw these two films in was in close succession of one another.  I certainly felt they were complimentary of one another.  Exploring similar concepts in different ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 November, 2013, 12:44:48 PM
RESIDENT EVIL - EXTINCTION
A predictable bleached-out, sunshine-drenched, zombie-infested Mad Max post-apocolypse number that bears little resemblance to the games until Milla finds her way into an Umbrella Complex right at the very end - at which point it is almost exactly like the games.

It really doens't feel like a stand alone movie though.

Plus points; Milla with khukris.

It has speedy "super undead"; were these the first mainstream sprinters or had the Dawn of teh Dead remake preceeded it?


THE WILD GEESE
If you ignore the "white man solving Africa's problems" aspects this is awesomeness in a cigar-chomping,red beret. 

It's totally boys own stuff trying to be more grown up than it needs to be and hence, these days, falls short of both camps. I'm sure it was a bit edgy when first released. 

The shooty bangs and action pieces are quite pleasing but it's no WHERE EAGLES DARE.

I don't know if I just remember it from watching it 30 odd years ago or it was terribly predictable who would live or die ([spoiler]everyone with a relationship and one chap who, and I'm not sure if this is lazy scripting or brilliant meta-text, actually wants to "buy a farm"[/spoiler])

Richards Harris and Burton on one film set - I'd like to have seen the bar bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 22 November, 2013, 01:37:00 PM
Snakes on a Plane
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2013, 01:39:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 November, 2013, 12:44:48 PM
RESIDENT EVIL - EXTINCTION
It has speedy "super undead"; were these the first mainstream sprinters or had the Dawn of teh Dead remake preceeded it?


That was 2007; 28 days later was 2002, actual undead (not infected) running zombies appear in the remake of DotD (2004) but had actually already appeared in a few zombie movies beforehand, particularly the other Living Dead movies - Dan O Bannon's Return of the Living Dead first came out in 1985. There the zombies run until they fall apart to the point of being slow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 November, 2013, 05:09:45 PM
9

Put in on yesterday as more background noise and movement for a sketching session.  The sketching never happened and I watched the film instead.  One of the best animations of recent years that I have seen with an interesting style and dark backdrop it reminded me of the more grim animations I saw when growing up (although perhaps never attaining those depths of grimness).  I really enjoy this film and it's nice that it's different in tone to Pixar and Dreamworks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 23 November, 2013, 05:19:43 PM
Solomon Kane. 10/10. GO AND BUY THIS MOVIE! I couldn't believe it was in the bargain bin for less than $10! On blu ray! If you like fantasy adventure movies but don't feel like watching a million zillion hours of lord of the rings, this is a good alternative. Visual effects are amazing. Story line is great, if not somewhat predictable in places. But the violence more than makes up for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalm_kkczVM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalm_kkczVM)

Currently halfway though John Carter before I went to bed. Will continue watching this morning but so far I am very impressed. Failing to see why this was a box office bomb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 24 November, 2013, 09:05:13 PM
The Men Who Stare at Goats

Very cool comedy based on Jim Channon's First Earth Battalion, i.e. hippie new age super soldiers ('Jedi Knights'). Ilove the Cloon and Jeff Bridges in this. I'll be tracking down the book it's based on.

Also watched the old 1972 Amicus classic Tales from the Crypt with Joan Collins and Peter Cushing. I prefer this to the 80's/90's American TV series. More scary with less comedy.

I see someone's uploaded several (if not all) of the 80's adaptations of Hitchcock Presents on Youtube. I watched them back in the day and remember them being far darker and grittier than the 60's version. Going to have to make time for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 24 November, 2013, 09:28:22 PM
Snitch

Is it just me, or is Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnston getting better at acting?  Have really quite enjoyed a few of his roles of late, as opposed to hating such shite as 'walking tall', and 'the scorpion king'.

Good film, great choreography of the action sequences, which are very realistic in their execution, decent script, good cast, and quite entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 November, 2013, 10:23:53 PM
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

With Tiny Tips. Inspired by the plentiful "homages" to Mad Max in Resi Evil Extinction, I pulled out this belter to contnue his education in the great Action Movies of the Eighties and Nineties.

Needless to say he loved it. 

Amusingly, he pointed out that the practical and physical nature of all the stunt work means that all of the set pieces still hold up today. 

"It's timeless!". he says. And he's right.

(I could do with a shiney, cleaned up print on Blue Ray though). 

We both hated the music. So histrionic in parts you'd swear you were watching Doctor Who.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 November, 2013, 09:13:58 AM
Pacific Rim.

I didn't like it.

I think It's massively overrated, badly acted; and the plot and script are an absolute joke!

The only good thing I can say about it is that the special effects are excellent.


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 November, 2013, 09:29:29 AM
Mad Max 2 is definitely the best Mad Max.  Real Post-Apocalyptic chic.  The acting is hammy in places, though.

Push
First time I saw this was just after I had watched Jump.  Of the two films this one is the superior.  The plot is pretty flawed which is a shame as there is loads of hidden potential.  Some of the scenes and concepts were nice.  I love the setting and the look of the film in general.  The substance of the film is a bit messy, but I certainly appreciate the style.

Groundhog Day
I love this film.  One of Bill Murray's finest.  A man repeats a single day of his life ad nausium.  Sounds like a cheesy concept for a Jim Carrey comedy.  Thankfully it's not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 November, 2013, 10:36:45 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 November, 2013, 09:29:29 AM

Groundhog Day
I love this film.  One of Bill Murray's finest.  A man repeats a single day of his life ad nausium.  Sounds like a cheesy concept for a Jim Carrey comedy.  Thankfully it's not.

I have a soft spot for that film.  It starts off as a zany comedy, but by the end it's a heartfelt story of someone's transformation into somthing better.  Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 10:49:39 AM
QuotePacific Rim.

I didn't like it.

I think It's massively overrated, badly acted; and the plot and script are an absolute joke!

The only good thing I can say about it is that the special effects are excellent.

I've heard this from others, but I'll defend this film to the hilt. Yeah, it's corny as all hell and the performance's are largely broad and some weak (the lead especially), but since when is that a crime? Some of my favourite films of all time have corny dialogue and stilted acting!

As for the plot and script being 'a joke' - it's clearly no work of literature and exists primarily to facilitate big robots fighting big monsters, but when you actually break it down on a storytelling level you'll find that, as blockbusters go, it isn't littered with massive plotholes, redundant characters, pointless subplots and awkward contrivances and manages to portray a coherent narrative with some excellent world-building and successfully carries off arcs for all of the main characters within a tight running time, and does so with a bit of heart - which immediately makes it infinitely more successful than just about every other blockbuster so far this decade in my book (the only exceptions being The Avengers and Dredd). I think it's if anything underrated.

Oh, and Groundhog Day is easily one of the best films ever made, and Bill Murray's finest hour. A solid gold classic, and one of those rare films I could watch every day - boom!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 November, 2013, 10:53:59 AM
Agreed.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 November, 2013, 11:45:21 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 10:49:39 AM
QuotePacific Rim.

I didn't like it.

I think It's massively overrated, badly acted; and the plot and script are an absolute joke!

The only good thing I can say about it is that the special effects are excellent.

I've heard this from others, but I'll defend this film to the hilt. Yeah, it's corny as all hell and the performance's are largely broad and some weak (the lead especially), but since when is that a crime? Some of my favourite films of all time have corny dialogue and stilted acting!

As for the plot and script being 'a joke' - it's clearly no work of literature and exists primarily to facilitate big robots fighting big monsters, but when you actually break it down on a storytelling level you'll find that, as blockbusters go, it isn't littered with massive plotholes, redundant characters, pointless subplots and awkward contrivances and manages to portray a coherent narrative with some excellent world-building and successfully carries off arcs for all of the main characters within a tight running time, and does so with a bit of heart - which immediately makes it infinitely more successful than just about every other blockbuster so far this decade in my book (the only exceptions being The Avengers and Dredd). I think it's if anything underrated.

Oh, and Groundhog Day is easily one of the best films ever made, and Bill Murray's finest hour. A solid gold classic, and one of those rare films I could watch every day - boom!

I didn't like Pacific Rim either - found it really boring. Then again I usually find the anime films that it's riffing on boring too.

I don't like Groundhog Day either so maybe I just have bad taste!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 12:07:18 PM
Fair enough if you didn't like it or it didn't click for you - it's not a perfect film by any means, and I can totally understand how Del Toro's comedic sensibilities would put people off - but I just take issue when people dismiss it for really superficial, surface-level stuff like cheesy lines of dialogue.

On the surface, sure, it's a 'dumb' movie and very easy to write off, but I think it deserves more credit than that for the reasons I stated above. To me story, pacing, economy and narrative coherence - the real nuts and bolts of a film - are so much more important than the odd bit of soap-opera acting or iffy dialogue. In the case of PacRim, it all actually added to the charm for me - it's basically Top Gun meets Godzilla after all and the broad, larger than life tone felt very deliberate - they were clearly playing it as a live-action cartoon. It felt like what it was - a script co-written by two people working on the same wavelength, not like most blockbusters, which are very obviously written by committee, feel like a Frankenstein's monster patchwork of endlessly rewritten and rewritten material, and are an absolute dogs dinner narratively as a result.

There's no justifiable reason for not liking Groundhog Day, though - that's just depraved!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 November, 2013, 12:33:39 PM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 12:07:18 PM
There's no justifiable reason for not liking Groundhog Day, though - that's just depraved!

Word. 

I suppose if you don't get by the first twenty minutes where Bill Murray (like many mid to late Eighties and earliy Nineties protaganists) is a complete prick, you might miss out on the joys that follow.

And it's not so much laugh out loud funny (maybe one or two gags) as just builds a brilliant big smile on your face.

Unusually there is redemption (and again, I'm always amazed when rewatching films of that time period, how many of the protaganists remain complete pricks).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 November, 2013, 12:47:41 PM
I think Groundhog day is just too much Bill Murray. I like Bill Murray but prefer him in small doses. He's excellent in Ghostbusters because his cynicism is perfectly balanced by Dan Ackroyd's boundless enthusiasm.
I find Andi MacDowall pretty grating too.

The last film I watched was Mama. A pretty ropey horror film which was produced by Del Toro.
The story wasn't bad but it felt like it was padded out to fill the running time. It would've been great as an hour long TV drama.
The monster was pretty good but is revealed too early and then we see too much of it. It's usually the case in these films that 'less is more' when it comes to monster screen time.
There was lots of stuff with moths and bugs that didn't really make sense. I suspect this was Del Toro's influence as he seems to be obsessed with bugs (he made the terrible 'Mimic').   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 November, 2013, 02:09:02 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 November, 2013, 12:47:41 PM
... just too much Bill Murray.

I reject your premise.  There's no such thing, only varying degrees of too little Bill Murray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 November, 2013, 02:22:13 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 November, 2013, 02:09:02 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 November, 2013, 12:47:41 PM
... just too much Bill Murray.

I reject your premise.  There's no such thing, only varying degrees of too little Bill Murray.

Never seen LOST IN TRANSLATION then?  I demand two hous of my life back!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 November, 2013, 02:25:02 PM
I would argue Lost in Translation didn't have enough Bill Murray.

I liked Mama's monster. And the little kids were dead creepy. The subplots were a bit all over the place though and it could have done without the mop of hair moving around the room...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 November, 2013, 02:31:57 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 25 November, 2013, 02:25:02 PM
I would argue Lost in Translation didn't have enough Bill Murray.

Indeed.  Even so, I really enjoyed Lost In Translation.  Although it probably helps that I have an irrational attraction to Ms. Johansson, and she does wear a fine selection of pants in that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 25 November, 2013, 02:33:41 PM
The English Patient.

Watched it with my best friend who had never seen it before. She really liked the film but had to leave the room during the thumb-cutting scene, as she is rather squemish about such things, bless her cotton socks.*
I'm not normally a fan of romantic movies per se, but The English Patient is about so much more: a great story, characters that you can actually care about, some wonderful performances by a superb cast, beautiful cinematography and a lush, moving score by Gabriel Yared. I still weep at the closing scene with Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas.


*(We watched Insidious over Halloween and she spent at least half the movie either shouting in terror or begging me to turn it off. The guys in the flat above me thought that I was torturing her, lol!).



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 November, 2013, 04:04:10 PM
Lost in Translation never really interested me.  Although the idea of experiencing Japan through western eyes appeals to me (coincidently I have actually been watching some YouTube videos of a British guy's experiences living in Japan) I don't think that the film is about that and I'd just end up disappointed.

I've never watched The English Patient either and have no plans to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 25 November, 2013, 04:14:37 PM
I'm not sure any attraction Scarlet Johansson could be described as irrational.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 November, 2013, 04:21:05 PM
I watched Lost in Translation on a horribly bad hangover, gripping the couch to stop from hurling at the faintest whiff of anything.

This was an appropriate mood/feeling to watch a bleak, understated movie where life seemed to pass by without anything visceral happening. I needed to feel disconnected from life at that moment it was full of things that made want to spew
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2013, 07:22:59 PM
The Wolverine, which is one of those films.  Juvenile and ponderous and seemingly made for people ashamed to be watching a superhero film, this is still quite unambiguously one of those thanks to superpowers upon which the plot hangs, supervillains that literally hiss and spit and kill people at random, a plot to steal the hero's powers, and a showdown at the end where the hero fights a bigger version of themselves right out of the Robocop 2 Good Sequel-makin' handbook.  It's not very interesting.

Red Sonja - shit.  I admit I don't know much about the character, but she's supposed to be some kind of warrior maiden who owes nothing to men as far as I can tell, yet here she's not just the student of male warriors - despite there being an order of warrior nuns in the film to which she has close ties - but she has a rape backstory as well, the latter of which has literally nothing at all to contribute to the story beyond compounding some already well-dodgy sexual politics.
If you ignore the direction, the story and the acting - haha oh God the acting! - there's some admirable old-school fantasy trappings in here to enjoy like giant skeleton bridges, lonely skull-shaped temples to forgotten gods sitting in the middle of nowhere and climactic sword battles in crumbling citadels.
Still shit, though.  I wish it wasn't, but it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 November, 2013, 07:31:14 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2013, 07:22:59 PM
Red Sonja - shit. 

The mullet didn't give that away?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 November, 2013, 07:56:54 PM
Cypher

Really enjoy this film, seen it a number of times now.  I liked the premise and execution.  It is very self contained within its own premise offering us little beyond what we need to follow the story.  It may have been done because it was a budget film - I have no idea about it's production costs, but it lends it an almost claustrophobic quality which gets exemplified near the conclusion.  I thoroughly enjoy it.  A little gem I stumbled upon by accident years ago and glad I did.

For tonights "Film whilst Pictsy does her sketches" I have picked out a choice between Fight Club, Silent Hill or Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.  I have also decided that my sketch for tonight shall be some Kingdom fanart.  Did I imagine seeing that it is returning to 2000AD again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 November, 2013, 09:31:15 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 26 November, 2013, 07:31:14 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2013, 07:22:59 PM
Red Sonja - shit. 

The mullet didn't give that away?

Oddly, I've been reading a lot of Red Sonja comics recently- the Dynamite series, not the Marvel ones (though I will no doubt try them later), and loving them unreservedly. As a result of this, I was reading one in the staff room at some place I was working last week, when one of the male staff decided to talk to me about it. He couldn't understand why I hadn't seen the film (I have really, just it was before he was born, and it was shit and I was making a point). He got very irate that I had no interest in seeing it and would prefer to read the comics instead. He said "it's a load of crap (he should work in advertising really), but you HAVE to see it, because it's got to be better than comics hasn't it?" He also said it "was more important"- as if anything other than arguably the stories Howard wrote are "important".

All I remember was this huge heifer of a woman in a ridiculous wig, and Arn-uld pretending not to be Conan for some reason. I'm sure there's a fascinating reason why they made it and didn't call him Conan, but I can't even be bothered to google it.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 November, 2013, 09:47:58 PM
"...it's got to be better than comics"???  This is just pure gibberish to me. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2013, 11:44:32 PM
I can vaguely recall Brigette Nielson being considered some sort of valkyrie-type beauty in the 1980s and early 1990s.  I think it's "just one of those things" you have to accept of other eras, like Sean Connery being considered a good James Bond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 27 November, 2013, 12:05:10 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 November, 2013, 04:04:10 PMI've never watched The English Patient either and have no plans to.

I didn't think it would be my cup of tea but I liked it, maybe give it a shot sometime?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 27 November, 2013, 12:32:41 AM
Monsters University.

Nothing unexpected, the usual Pixar fare, well worth a watch.  Could go on more, but there's no point, if you don't like Pixar movies, don't watch this.  If you DO like Pixar movies, you'll enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 27 November, 2013, 09:57:48 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 November, 2013, 07:56:54 PM
Cypher

Don't know if it was the writers trying to be clever of just some coincidence but, either way, the main character's surname did kinda give away the twist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 November, 2013, 10:30:33 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 November, 2013, 07:56:54 PM
Cypher

Really enjoy this film, seen it a number of times now.  I liked the premise and execution.  It is very self contained within its own premise offering us little beyond what we need to follow the story.  It may have been done because it was a budget film - I have no idea about it's production costs, but it lends it an almost claustrophobic quality which gets exemplified near the conclusion.  I thoroughly enjoy it.  A little gem I stumbled upon by accident years ago and glad I did.


I remember seeing half of this very late at night a few years ago and making a mental note to watch the whole thing at a later date. I then forgot all about it so thanks for reminding me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 November, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 November, 2013, 10:30:33 AM
I remember seeing half of this very late at night a few years ago and making a mental note to watch the whole thing at a later date. I then forgot all about it so thanks for reminding me!

You're welcome. Hope you enjoy it ;)

Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 27 November, 2013, 09:57:48 AM
Don't know if it was the writers trying to be clever of just some coincidence but, either way, the main character's surname did kinda give away the twist.

Sullivan or Rooks?  Either way I don't see what you're getting at, would you be willing to explain?

For some odd reasons every time I watch the film I think they are saying Brooks not Rooks.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 27 November, 2013, 02:47:23 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 27 November, 2013, 12:44:28 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 27 November, 2013, 09:57:48 AM
Don't know if it was the writers trying to be clever of just some coincidence but, either way, the main character's surname did kinda give away the twist.

Sullivan or Rooks?  Either way I don't see what you're getting at, would you be willing to explain?

The other one:










(Hmm. Can't SPOILER links, it seems, so look away now if you don't want it, y'know, spoilered)










THE MAN WHO WAS THURSBY (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1695/1695-h/1695-h.htm)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 November, 2013, 03:36:50 PM
I wasn't aware of the story or even the author, but I get your meaning.  I don't think many people would figure out one of the twists at the end from that reference.  Impressive that you did ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 27 November, 2013, 03:53:03 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 27 November, 2013, 03:36:50 PM
I wasn't aware of the story or even the author, but I get your meaning.  I don't think many people would figure out one of the twists at the end from that reference.  Impressive that you did ;)

Yeah, I thought he was referring to John Cyborg-Sent-From-The-Future-To-Kill-Sarah-Connor.  ;) :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 28 November, 2013, 09:35:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 27 November, 2013, 03:36:50 PM
I wasn't aware of the story or even the author, but I get your meaning.  I don't think many people would figure out one of the twists at the end from that reference.  Impressive that you did ;)

Assuming it was deliberate, it does rather defeat the point of even having a twist if you're prepared to let some superficial fluff spoil it for anyone. 'Donner' would have been far less conspicuous, 'Domingo' or 'DiManche' more fitting.

Quote from: Recrewt on 27 November, 2013, 03:53:03 PM
Yeah, I thought he was referring to John Cyborg-Sent-From-The-Future-To-Kill-Sarah-Connor.  ;) :lol:

My turn to ask "I don't see what you're getting at, would you be willing to explain?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 28 November, 2013, 10:26:55 AM
Watched Gravity last night.

Pretty damn good, tense and epic - slight allowances on the science but other than Apollo 13 this is as close as it gets. Obviously not a truly realistic depiction as that would be an "Oh shit-kkkkkzz" 10 minute movie about the unfortunate deaths of some extremely unlucky astronauts. Worth watching in 3D as much as I hated forking over the extra £10 for my pair of tickets - next time I'm seeing it at the bloody imax for those prices.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Fist of Fury; the remastered uncut edition. It was an absolute arse-kicker! I hadn't watched it in years, or decades to be precise. The last I watched it was a VHS copy, and my memory of it was vague. But the producers of this 2 disc ultimate edition have done the film justice. The picture quality is superb, rarely any grain at all. And presented in glorious colour, sound and in widescreen. Sure the film may look a bit dated now, but it still manages to draw you in. Bruce Lee plays a student to the Jingwu School, he seeks revenge for the murder of his master who was poisoned by a rival Japanese school. Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch. The standout includes him beating up a whole school of Japanese Bushido students, after they send his school a gift; a framed sign with the words 'The Sick man of Asia', i.e, an offensive gesture to show that Japan (who were occupying China at the time) were the mighty, and China, the sick man of Asia. And so how thrilling was it to see Bruce Lee hand their arses to them, and force feed them that sign! The production design of the sets were really lovely, capturing the flavour of the time, and the baddies were great fun to watch. From the weasily and traitorous translator Wu En, to the Japanese dojo master with the awesome 'tache, Hiroshi Suzuki. Suffice to say they all get their comeuppance in a thrilling and entertaining manner.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 28 November, 2013, 12:09:45 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 28 November, 2013, 09:35:11 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 27 November, 2013, 03:53:03 PM
Yeah, I thought he was referring to John Cyborg-Sent-From-The-Future-To-Kill-Sarah-Connor.  ;) :lol:

My turn to ask "I don't see what you're getting at, would you be willing to explain?"

Nothing really just a joke as in that's his full name "John Cyborg-Sent, etc....".  Perhaps I have been spending too much time on the Monty Python thread and remembering names such as "Bernard Luxury-Yacht".

OK, I'll get my coat.  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 November, 2013, 12:50:19 PM
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

I had memories of being disappointed by this film but I couldn't remember why.  Last night it all came flooding back.  My biggest gripe with this film is its wasted potential.  My second biggest gripe is the poor continuity.  The special effects are really up to muster either.

The film had a strong enough premise to be pretty damn epic even with it's obviously small budget.  It was fun to watch Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen fight it out to see who is the better actor.  Michael Sheen won the fight.

Nevertheless, it's still watchable and not as bad as Underworld: Awakening which I have no inclination of watching again any time soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 November, 2013, 01:00:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch.

^This.

There have been some great martial artists working in film since Bruce Lee's passing but none of them come close to matching his screen presence IMHO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 28 November, 2013, 01:02:35 PM
I must admit to quite enjoying the Underworld series of movies and found them not too bad.....In other words I've seen a lot, lot worse...
Unfortunately though, I find myself agreeing with Pictsy,  in that it certainly was an opportunity missed,  as the movies had the potential to be so much better than they were.
And although Kate Beckinsdale looks magnificient in her black leather /PVC outfit,  I'm afraid that can only hold your interest for so long.......A good cast in most of the movies, special mention to the excellent Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen, just can't make up for poor storytelling..
An opportunity missed I'm afraid.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 November, 2013, 01:41:44 PM
Monster vs. Aliens

It's a fun and amusing film about Monsters vs. Aliens.  That about sums that up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 28 November, 2013, 03:32:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 November, 2013, 01:00:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch.

^This.

There have been some great martial artists working in film since Bruce Lee's passing but none of them come close to matching his screen presence IMHO.

I'm a big Bruce Lee fan but I have to say that Fist of Fury is probably my least favourite of his films.  The end bit is great but it really slows down mid-movie and I find some of the anti-Japanese sentiment a bit much.

But, I agree with James that his screen presence is stunning.  I would highly recommend getting hold of Game of Death - it's an absolutely awful movie that Bruce never got to complete but if you head straight to the extras and find the uncut pagoda scene then what you have there is arguably the finest Bruce Lee that has ever been captured on film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 28 November, 2013, 07:14:24 PM
Elysium

Pile of crap.  Don't get me wrong, some stunning graphics, great cinematography, stellar acting, etc, but none of that can cover up the fact that the script is utter bollocks.  Too many co-incidences all charging toward the resolution point of the film, which leaves you really not giving a shit how it turns out, who lives, who dies, who fucking cares.  Really pissed me off, was looking forward to seeing thi8s, but such a letdown. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 07:39:22 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 28 November, 2013, 03:32:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 November, 2013, 01:00:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch.

^This.

There have been some great martial artists working in film since Bruce Lee's passing but none of them come close to matching his screen presence IMHO.

I'm a big Bruce Lee fan but I have to say that Fist of Fury is probably my least favourite of his films.  The end bit is great but it really slows down mid-movie and I find some of the anti-Japanese sentiment a bit much.

But, I agree with James that his screen presence is stunning.  I would highly recommend getting hold of Game of Death - it's an absolutely awful movie that Bruce never got to complete but if you head straight to the extras and find the uncut pagoda scene then what you have there is arguably the finest Bruce Lee that has ever been captured on film.

In a way, you can understand the anti-Japanese sentiment, there were a lot of atrocities commited by the army towards the Chinese, with a loss of life numbering in the millions.

As it goes, what is your favourite Bruce Lee movie, Recrewt and JamesC? I would have to say mine is Big Boss; its the first Bruce Lee film I saw and immediately fell in love with! I also have a large softspot for Enter the Dragon! I haven't watched Game of Death though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 November, 2013, 08:23:36 PM
Ahh Bruce Lee films.  I think I watched them all from a friends box set back when I was at university.  I remember First of Fury and being surprised about the anti-Japanese sentiment, but only to a degree.  There are certainly parallels in our own culture.

I remember Game of Death being pretty awful but watching it because of the circumstances that surrounded it.

Enter the Dragon is the film I am probably most familiar with as it was the first Bruce Lee film I saw and I have seen a few times - although I haven't watched a Bruce Lee film in around 10 years.

I am now of to decide my evening viewing pleasure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 28 November, 2013, 08:55:55 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 28 November, 2013, 07:14:24 PM
Elysium

Pile of crap.  Don't get me wrong, some stunning graphics, great cinematography, stellar acting, etc, but none of that can cover up the fact that the script is utter bollocks.  Too many co-incidences all charging toward the resolution point of the film, which leaves you really not giving a shit how it turns out, who lives, who dies, who fucking cares.  Really pissed me off, was looking forward to seeing thi8s, but such a letdown.

Agreed.

My gripes were:

1) Why build the damn thing in space when people can reach it anyway? Why not use the polar caps (less heating required and cheaper to maintain). There's NO good reason to have it up there.
2) One program runs the whole damn satellite. ONE. And everyone can instantly recognise the crack presented in raw code immediately.
3) I know the exoskeleton looks like the dogs bollocks an all, but why can't it just be strapped onto your limbs instead of screwed into one's bones...through one's dirty clothes...with NO healing time!
4) The ending was just lazy and utterly predictable.
5) They could have made three District 9's with its budget!

Good Sci Fi has to make total sense to remain credible. You can only ask an audience to suspend their disbelief for so long before they lose interest.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proteus4 on 29 November, 2013, 03:17:31 AM
I watched Gravity today. In 3d. I've only seen avatar and hobbit: an unnecessary journey (48fps 3d) in 3d before. They were both shit. Gravity was totally and utterly spellbinding. I was completely sucked in. I left the cinema reeling, feeling like I'd actually been in space. I know the criticisms are that it's short on plot, heavy on cheese, and some of the physics isn't quite right, but actually I thought they got everything balanced just right. As Cuaron says, "it's a fiction, not a documentary" and I for one thought it was totallyfuckingmega.

Also watched An Adventure in Space and Time - really enjoyable and quite moving. Walder Frey was brilliant.

Also, finally got round to watching man of steel. That was a mess. They totally wanked up the flashbacks instead of telling it in a linear way (which broke the impact of daddy Kent's death) and why oh why oh why oh why was there so much flipping Russel Crowe?? In the end it just very quickly turned into very strong people hitting each other over and over again and I cared not a jot about any of them. Not even the beautiful Amy Adams could save this for me.  Plus, the plotting and scripting were both shocking. One plus point - it does have Richard Schiff in it, and he's great in everything. Ever.

Peace
Dave
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 November, 2013, 07:52:12 AM
Quote from: Sparkonaut on 28 November, 2013, 08:55:55 PM
Why not use the polar caps (less heating required and cheaper to maintain).

The xenoptera have a landbridge from Tasmania now.  No muscles in your head.   ::)

More seriously, I understand that there's quite a lot of heating energy available in Earth orbit, getting rid of it being the real problem. 

Haven't seen Elysium yet, but the reviews on here aren't heartening - the trailers looked good, and District 9 was great.  Ah well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 November, 2013, 08:58:41 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 07:39:22 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 28 November, 2013, 03:32:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 November, 2013, 01:00:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch.

^This.

There have been some great martial artists working in film since Bruce Lee's passing but none of them come close to matching his screen presence IMHO.

I'm a big Bruce Lee fan but I have to say that Fist of Fury is probably my least favourite of his films.  The end bit is great but it really slows down mid-movie and I find some of the anti-Japanese sentiment a bit much.

But, I agree with James that his screen presence is stunning.  I would highly recommend getting hold of Game of Death - it's an absolutely awful movie that Bruce never got to complete but if you head straight to the extras and find the uncut pagoda scene then what you have there is arguably the finest Bruce Lee that has ever been captured on film.

In a way, you can understand the anti-Japanese sentiment, there were a lot of atrocities commited by the army towards the Chinese, with a loss of life numbering in the millions.

As it goes, what is your favourite Bruce Lee movie, Recrewt and JamesC? I would have to say mine is Big Boss; its the first Bruce Lee film I saw and immediately fell in love with! I also have a large softspot for Enter the Dragon! I haven't watched Game of Death though.

I'd have to go with Enter the Dragon with Way of the Dragon second.

If Bruce Lee had lived I think Enter the Dragon could have been the first in a series. It's basically a martial arts Bond film (but far better than any of the Bond films if you ask me).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 29 November, 2013, 09:21:38 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 November, 2013, 08:58:41 AM

I'd have to go with Enter the Dragon with Way of the Dragon second.

If Bruce Lee had lived I think Enter the Dragon could have been the first in a series. It's basically a martial arts Bond film (but far better than any of the Bond films if you ask me).

Yeah I love the 'Bond' aspect to Enter the Dragon! In fact the baddie could quite easily feature in any of the earlier Bond films! As for Way of the Dragon, it's been years since I watched that one. I love the way Bruce Lee beats seven shades of crap out of Chuck Norris!  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqzQ2qrtBeg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 29 November, 2013, 09:52:37 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 November, 2013, 08:58:41 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 07:39:22 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 28 November, 2013, 03:32:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 November, 2013, 01:00:43 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 28 November, 2013, 10:32:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2013, 03:02:39 PM
Maybe I should give it another shot but I just remember finding Lost in Translation smug, pretentious and booooooring. Not even Murray could keep me interested.

I felt the total opposite; I loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Lee's presence throughout the film is almost hypnotic; you can't take your eyes off him and his fight scenes are a joy to watch.

^This.

There have been some great martial artists working in film since Bruce Lee's passing but none of them come close to matching his screen presence IMHO.

I'm a big Bruce Lee fan but I have to say that Fist of Fury is probably my least favourite of his films.  The end bit is great but it really slows down mid-movie and I find some of the anti-Japanese sentiment a bit much.

But, I agree with James that his screen presence is stunning.  I would highly recommend getting hold of Game of Death - it's an absolutely awful movie that Bruce never got to complete but if you head straight to the extras and find the uncut pagoda scene then what you have there is arguably the finest Bruce Lee that has ever been captured on film.

In a way, you can understand the anti-Japanese sentiment, there were a lot of atrocities commited by the army towards the Chinese, with a loss of life numbering in the millions.

As it goes, what is your favourite Bruce Lee movie, Recrewt and JamesC? I would have to say mine is Big Boss; its the first Bruce Lee film I saw and immediately fell in love with! I also have a large softspot for Enter the Dragon! I haven't watched Game of Death though.

I'd have to go with Enter the Dragon with Way of the Dragon second.

If Bruce Lee had lived I think Enter the Dragon could have been the first in a series. It's basically a martial arts Bond film (but far better than any of the Bond films if you ask me).

Of all the Bruce Lee films I would probably agree with you Mabs that Big Boss is my favourite - it's the one that has had the most repeat viewings.

As for game of death, check out the uncut pagoda scene on youtube.  Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not that good.  :(

   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 November, 2013, 09:58:23 AM
Daybreakers

A vampire film with an interesting concept.  The execution didn't live up to it's potential, however.  It is always sad to watch a film that has really good ideas but not the story to back them up.  The cast is good and it's relatively entertaining but I can't help think it could have been a whole lot better than what it was. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 11:28:41 AM
After the sad news of the death of Lewis Collins I started watching Who Dares Wins on youtube. It's a piece of of right wing propaganda trash, equally as ridiculous as Rambo II and Red Dawn. My left wing socialist principles should be offended by all of those films yet I can't help enjoying all of them. WDW was never going to win any awards but it is one of those films that is so bad it's good.

the climactic raid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5OquYTgQBk) on the bad guys who have taken hostages is such a daft section that it never fails to raise a smile. Two men hanging from ropes attached to the underside of a helicopter? Lewis Collins wearing a shirt a size too small so that it shows of his muscles while running? This film had it all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 29 November, 2013, 11:44:42 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 11:28:41 AM
After the sad news of the death of Lewis Collins I started watching Who Dares Wins on youtube. It's a piece of of right wing propaganda trash, equally as ridiculous as Rambo II and Red Dawn. My left wing socialist principles should be offended by all of those films yet I can't help enjoying all of them. WDW was never going to win any awards but it is one of those films that is so bad it's good.

the climactic raid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5OquYTgQBk) on the bad guys who have taken hostages is such a daft section that it never fails to raise a smile. Two men hanging from ropes attached to the underside of a helicopter? Lewis Collins wearing a shirt a size too small so that it shows of his muscles while running? This film had it all.

Don't worry Colin, you're not the only Leftie with a penchant for right-wing fodder!  ;)

It's funny because a lot of my idols growing up were staunch right wingers, such as Clint Eastwood and Arnie Swarzenneger. In the case of Eastwood, some of his films could be considered Left orientated, such as Million Dollar Baby and even his masterful Flags & Letters double bill. It's all a bit mystifying if you ask me. But regardless of his views, he still remains a legend for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 01:44:37 PM
One thing I somehow forgot in talking about how daft Who Dares Wins is, is the utterly bonkers plot. CND decide they're going to set off a nuclear bomb to show the world how bad nuclear would be?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 November, 2013, 01:47:10 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 01:44:37 PMCND decide they're going to set off a nuclear bomb to show the world how bad nuclear would be?

You never can trust those dirty peaceniks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 November, 2013, 02:22:47 PM
How is it that I've never heard of Who Dares Wins?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 November, 2013, 03:51:54 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 11:28:41 AM
After the sad news of the death of Lewis Collins I started watching Who Dares Wins on youtube. 

Its good, isn't it. That and Wild Geese (both set in motion, and produced by Euan Lloyd I believe), are both firm faves.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 November, 2013, 12:43:26 PM
Dredd

Only the second time I have watched it.

As a stand alone film it's entertaining, concise and slick.  What you want from a science fiction action movie.  The basic plot works well and to it's advantage.

As a comic adaptation it's OK.  There are enough nods to the comic to keep me relatively happy.  The first time I viewed it I didn't like Anderson.  I loved early Anderson with all her attitude, humour and warmth - a real antithesis to Dredd.  I really enjoyed Anderson's soul searching, trip to Mars and return to the big Meg.  So I have a soft spot for Judge Anderson.  As much as Karl Urban's Dredd is a convincing Dredd, Olivia Thirlby's Anderson was not a convincing Anderson for me.  I have reconciled this point to a degree and on second viewing I enjoyed the movie Anderson in the context of the film (which does work - in the context of the film).

This film only had to do one thing to get a thumbs up from me.  Be better than the '95 Stallone shite.  With that in mind, my standards were set really low so when I first saw Dredd it was a really pleasant surprise and I honestly think it is better on a second viewing.  It is soooo much better than that other film.

One scene I really did like was when the Judges escaped briefly on the skater rink balcony and Anderson looks out over the night time MC1 skyline.  There was just something about it that resonated with me.

This was very much like on of those self contained stories of life in the big Meg.  In the comic it is those stories that keep things fresh.  I think the film did well not to pick any of the big moments in Dredd's history to base the film around.  I hope if a potential sequel becomes a reality this is kept in mind. 
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 November, 2013, 01:57:36 PM
One of the great disappointments about there not being a sequel is that we won't get to see the relationship between Dredd and Anderson develop. I could imagine her becoming a lot more confident and strident, and standing up to Dredd a lot more.

I definitely agree about it getting better on repeat viewings, and I think this goes some way to explain the rather muted reception the film got on its release (lots of three star type reviews and a notable lack of mainstream buzz) and the high esteem it's held in now, a year after release. I feel like as people have discovered it and revisited it on DVD it's getting a lot more of the recognition that it deserves as something of a minor classic in the genre. I think a lot of people were expecting this massive, ott cgi epic (like every other blockbuster nowadays), and were underwhelmed on first viewing, but are now appreciating it for how tight, focused and understated it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 November, 2013, 02:12:08 PM
Agreed.

I am now not so bothered about whether we get a Dredd sequel or not.  We have a pretty good Dredd film that works as a standalone film.  Sequels can often disappoint.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 November, 2013, 03:39:43 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 November, 2013, 03:51:54 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 29 November, 2013, 11:28:41 AM
After the sad news of the death of Lewis Collins I started watching Who Dares Wins on youtube. 

Its good, isn't it. That and Wild Geese (both set in motion, and produced by Euan Lloyd I believe), are both firm faves.
Yes, they are great fun 'British' alternatives the the favourites of American action cinema.

Been going through a new box set recently, The Short Films of Jan Svankmajor. Some cracking little films in here, Darkness light Darkness, Meat Love and The Jabberwocky being some of my favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 30 November, 2013, 03:49:47 PM
Sat and watched 'Cloud Atlas' last night. Had been dubious about it, seeing as it seemed at a distance to be a cod rip off of 'The Fountain'.

Surprisingly, it wasn't crap. But it also wasn't what I'd term 'particularly good'. It's definitely overlong, though, and not even one tenth as clever as it thinks it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 30 November, 2013, 08:59:52 PM
So true.  And that's the cut down version!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 01 December, 2013, 03:03:24 AM
The old man decided he wanted to watch a bit more of it today, and as I was doing stuff ont he computer in the same room, I found myself taking it in a bit more.

I've softened to it a bit. But not by much. There's definitely stuff you pick up on repeat viewing, but it's nothing mind-blowing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 December, 2013, 12:52:21 PM
Equilibrium

A film with a long list of flaws.  It's watchable and entertaining to a degree.  Another one of those films that is grave disappointment for not living up to it's potential.  A super cop in a society without emotion where feeling is a crime and the punishment is severe.  It starts to present it's world in an interesting way but never bothers to go further than skin deep.  The story is pretty messy as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 December, 2013, 01:06:47 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2013, 07:22:59 PM
The Wolverine, which is one of those films.  Juvenile and ponderous and seemingly made for people ashamed to be watching a superhero film, this is still quite unambiguously one of those thanks to superpowers upon which the plot hangs, supervillains that literally hiss and spit and kill people at random, a plot to steal the hero's powers, and a showdown at the end where the hero fights a bigger version of themselves right out of the Robocop 2 Good Sequel-makin' handbook.  It's not very interesting.

Red Sonja - shit.  I admit I don't know much about the character, but she's supposed to be some kind of warrior maiden who owes nothing to men as far as I can tell, yet here she's not just the student of male warriors - despite there being an order of warrior nuns in the film to which she has close ties - but she has a rape backstory as well, the latter of which has literally nothing at all to contribute to the story beyond compounding some already well-dodgy sexual politics.
If you ignore the direction, the story and the acting - haha oh God the acting! - there's some admirable old-school fantasy trappings in here to enjoy like giant skeleton bridges, lonely skull-shaped temples to forgotten gods sitting in the middle of nowhere and climactic sword battles in crumbling citadels.
Still shit, though.  I wish it wasn't, but it is.

I watched this other day, but didn't pay much attention. I thought the young Asian-Prince and his protector good comedy relief.

PACIFIC RIM

Was just awful, and not worth the $30.00 AUD I payed for the DVD

I just thought the idea of needing two mind-linked Pilots directing the movements of these giant robot Jeagers very lame and then the fighting moves weren't nothing special. The monsters, I forget what they were called exactly. Some sort of giant Shark/Crustacen hybrid turned out be a big let down just like the rest of the movie. I just signed with exasperation when I saw [spoiler]Ron's Perlman's Character slice his way out of corpse of one of the infant giant monsters. Like he could never be killed.[/spoiler]. I'm only glad I didn't fork out nearly $50.00 AUD to see this in HD/3D at the movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 01 December, 2013, 06:17:50 PM
Byzantium

Nicely performed and shot, but a tad ....dry.  Think they where going for down to earth and real, but came of as po faced and dull in many respects.  On the plus side, Gemma Arterton was hot, Johnny Lee Miller was an utter cad, and Saoirse Ronan was very good, if again, a tad on the dull side.  Worth a watch, but nowt spectacular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 01 December, 2013, 11:14:32 PM
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 December, 2013, 10:52:07 AM
QuoteEquilibrium

A film with a long list of flaws.  It's watchable and entertaining to a degree.

Gun-karate is silly/awesome though. And really that's more what the movie ends up being about, at least in my memory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 December, 2013, 11:34:07 AM
It was certainly well choreographed for a small production. 

John Carter

The trailer really made me disinterested in this film, but it's no where near as what the trailer makes it appear to be.  It was entertaining but predictable and obvious.  Still, I can live with the latter because of the former.  I do wonder how many liberties the film makers took in regards to the source material.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 02 December, 2013, 12:39:14 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 02 December, 2013, 10:52:07 AM
QuoteEquilibrium

A film with a long list of flaws.  It's watchable and entertaining to a degree.

Gun-karate is silly/awesome though. And really that's more what the movie ends up being about, at least in my memory.

I've got a lot of time for Equilibrium.  Yeah, it's not terribly original and is a mish-mash of other movies but it is executed well.  I think it comes down to whether you can get past the gun-fu idea.  Some folks I know just thought that was lame and got hung up on it.  If you can get past that then there are some great action scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 December, 2013, 12:53:51 PM
Oh it's totally worth getting with, however daft it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 December, 2013, 01:45:45 PM
I wasn't actually too bothered by the gun martial arts thing.  I can easily get passed it.  It's still a mess of a film if you do.  An entertaining mess.  Plus it's got Sean Bean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strongm on 03 December, 2013, 12:14:23 PM
Last film I watched was "2 Guns" .
A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 December, 2013, 06:08:45 PM
Dune

Why do I enjoy Dune?  I think it's the set designs and costumes.  They are very lush.  There is a certain amount of nostalgia.  I watched this tucked up in bed when I was a lot younger than my current youthful self and I thoroughly enjoyed it mainly because I had not seen quite it's like before.  It also got me interested in reading the book, which is a great read.  I can see problems with the film and the second half doesn't incorporate nearly enough from the book for a satisfactory adaptation.  I don't know the background in the production but the film clearly needs a longer run time (which isn't something often said about a film).  I do enjoy watching it, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 December, 2013, 06:36:13 PM
I am 100% with you pictsy. I do enjoy Dune for all the reason you state and more. I even watch the Smithee version so I can get all the extra footage I can.

Yeah, the film isn't close enough to the books for purists like me (which is odd since Frank Herbert supposedly oversaw the script and filming), but it's still a grand film with some spectacular visuals.

The first time I saw it in the cinema I was reading the book and listening to To Tame a Land from Iron Maiden on my Wallkman (the two lls are intentional) as I sat in auditorium waiting for the film to start.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 December, 2013, 06:48:07 PM
There are different versions?  I did not know this (although it doesn't surprise me).  I have the Lynch version, how much more is in the Smithee version?

The bit that does surprise is that the version Lynch puts his name to cuts away footage given what I said about a longer running time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 December, 2013, 07:33:51 PM
The Smithee version is 182 minutes, 52 minutes longer than the Lynch theatrical release.

£11.87 at amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dune-Blu-ray-Region-Free-US/dp/B00371QQ0M/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1386099066&sr=1-2&keywords=dune+extended+edition (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dune-Blu-ray-Region-Free-US/dp/B00371QQ0M/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1386099066&sr=1-2&keywords=dune+extended+edition)

Lynch felt the extended edition as a step too far and didn't want his name associated with it so it's the Alan Smithee version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 December, 2013, 07:40:32 PM
Isn't the original,  unseen cut about five hours or something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 December, 2013, 08:19:00 PM
There is no 6 hour version. Lynch filmed 5 hours with the intention of the film being 3+ hours, but the release was only 2 hours 17.

Pretty hard to do Dune justice in that amount of time.

I'd like to see Dune done like Lord of the Rings with a film for each book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 December, 2013, 08:41:15 PM
52 more minutes!  That is certainly worth a watch.  I might see if I can get my hands on a copy for the weekend perhaps (although watching Dune, even a different cut, in close succession might be a bit much).

When was it released.  I've read it's a television cut and I'm wondering if it's one I saw as a teenager.  I have always thought it seems shorter but have always put that down to watching it late at night in bed (which could still be a perfectly reasonable explanation).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 December, 2013, 08:50:19 PM
There was a television version that was 176 minutes long that was also credited to Smithee, so that might be the one you saw. The DVD Smithee version was released in 2006 and as far as I know was never aired on television.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 December, 2013, 08:58:40 PM
After reading up on some of the extended cuts I am less certain it is the version I saw and I probably did see the theatrical version.  The second half probably seemed longer because I would have inevitably got more and more tired at that point.

Also it seems like a less exciting prospect from what I've read.  It is certainly a curiosity, like Apocalypse Now Redux even if it might end up being a disappointment.  I'll try and remember it for the future.

I was going to watch Enemy Mine tonight, but it's too fresh in my mind that I don't feel up to it.  Nevertheless it is worth mentioning that that's a great film too and another late night in bed memory for me (before I hit my adult years, this was how I saw some of the best films I had seen up to that point).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 December, 2013, 10:01:39 AM
You take Neon Evangelion, tenderise it and add a couple of kilos of melted cheese and you will have end up with

Pacific Rim

Finally watched it and it was OK.  Not Del Toro's best film by a long way, but it was OK.  I stopped giving it my undivided attention about a quarter of the way through and started doing sketches (I got a new mechanical pencil I wanted to try out!) and it was good to have on in the background.  Infact, I still managed to follow the story easily and know what was going on.  I have no idea if that's a positive.  It was entertaining as background noise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 December, 2013, 10:17:49 AM
Yeah I think that's how it must be on the small screen. On the big screen it was BOOM BOOM RAAAAAAAR yes! STOMP CRASH SMASH wooo! BANG
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 December, 2013, 11:53:01 AM
lol

There was plenty of that (especially towards the end when the lady became noticeably quieter as the guy shouted and grunted).  I sometimes had the feeling that I should look up from my sketch pad and appreciate the (no doubt) very expensive effects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 December, 2013, 01:34:07 PM
Just going back to the discussion about Dune.

I do quite like the movie but it is dark and moody isn't it?  Everyone seems to be dirty, covered in boils or sweaty.  The whole colour pallette is murky, even on the desert planet, and this all contributes to the general 'unpleasantness' of the movie.  Then we have Mr Lynch's special additions, such as the bald cat that needs milking for anti-poison, really - wtf?

Beyond that, the movie does try to fit a lot in and it's easy for the viewer to miss things and get confused.  Also, some of the special effects are poor - yeah we're not going to get fancy cgi with a film of this age but still some of them were not up to the standards of the time.

So, its not surprising that many people came away without fondness for it.  I have never read the books but I'm not sure that Dune sounds like something that would be well converted into a movie(s) - it is often compared to something like Lord of the Rings but lets be honest - the LOTR movies had mainstream success not because of the complex world, variety of creatures and interesting exchanges between them but because it had big trolls, wizards, dragons and gollum.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 December, 2013, 01:49:51 PM
Dune is an amazingly flawed film.

A treat for the eyes, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 December, 2013, 02:12:03 PM
I consider the Dune film to be Dune adjacent. It's not really Dune, but they are trying.

I never had any problems with the effects, it was the alterations to the story that were too jarring for me. One thing it did get right was the overall atmosphere of the book. It has that in spades.

Dune is a wonderful, glorious mess of a film, but I still manage to enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 December, 2013, 04:13:24 PM
Dune is one of those books that just shouldn't be addapted. Like The Island of Doctor Moreau it just doesn't transcribe to the screen very well, instead being adapted into a number of different variations of varieng accuracy all decent in their own right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 December, 2013, 04:37:07 PM
I thought the 2-part adaptation that I watched on the SciFi channel way back when was good enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 05 December, 2013, 05:08:50 PM
Trance

Danny Boyle is usually a good bet for an enjoyable film, and again, he does provide.  Great performances, stylishly shot, nice pace and all that.....but something was lacking I thought.  Not sure what....but not one of his best films.  Still better than 'sunshine' though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 December, 2013, 06:30:35 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 05 December, 2013, 05:08:50 PM
Trance

..but something was lacking I thought.

Rosario Dawson's knickers from what I heard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 05 December, 2013, 06:39:24 PM
Yep, and her pubes too.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 05 December, 2013, 11:28:55 PM
Quote from: strongm on 03 December, 2013, 12:14:23 PM
Last film I watched was "2 Guns" .
A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.

I saw this too, it's alright. Was fond of the comic when it came out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 05 December, 2013, 11:31:53 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 December, 2013, 06:08:45 PM
Dune

Why do I enjoy Dune?  I think it's the set designs and costumes.  They are very lush.  There is a certain amount of nostalgia.  I watched this tucked up in bed when I was a lot younger than my current youthful self and I thoroughly enjoyed it mainly because I had not seen quite it's like before.  It also got me interested in reading the book, which is a great read.  I can see problems with the film and the second half doesn't incorporate nearly enough from the book for a satisfactory adaptation.  I don't know the background in the production but the film clearly needs a longer run time (which isn't something often said about a film).  I do enjoy watching it, though.

What is the soundtrack like, it was composed by Toto, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 December, 2013, 09:40:46 AM
Soundtrack is OK.  Orchestras and electric guitars and Brian Eno providing a track.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 December, 2013, 10:49:06 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 05 December, 2013, 06:39:24 PM
Yep, and her pubes too.....

Damn.

I thought her, erm, 'performance' was one of the best things about Alexander!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 December, 2013, 10:10:11 AM
Ooh thought I'd accidentally wandered into the "Man Stuff" thread for a second.

[spoiler]But that's pretty much every thread...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 10:26:37 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.
.
Oh for fuck sake... Grow up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 10:48:12 AM
To be fair to GC that's probably why the booby shot was put in the film. It wasn't to advance the plot was it?
It's the same with all these old 80s action films - Commando, Die Hard, Red Heat, the Conan films, Mad Max 2 and loads more all have gratuitous boob shots. They are what they, it was part of film making culture at the time and if you're going to watch these old movies you may as well go with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2013, 10:53:54 AM
Sherlock Holmes

I was surprised when watching this how good it was.  I was expecting a pile of rotting rubbish.  RDJ and Jude Law both put in excellent performances and the action didn't feel too misplaced.  There are directorial choices in the film I don't appreciate, but they are few and not too obtrusive.  Overall, it is really good entertainment.

Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows

It's like the first one but bigger.  All the points above repeated, but this time I'm just not as impressed or entertained.  I think the scope and ambition of the sequel make it slightly less entertaining for me than the first.  It's still a good watch nonetheless.

Laputa:  Castle in the Sky

Hayao Miyazaki's first Studio Ghibli film.  I was watching this for two reasons.  One:  I love anime, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films.  Two:  I'm looking for a good DVD to give one of my nephews for Crimbo.  One would expect quality and this film delivers quality.  It's not my favourite Ghibli film, but it is a good adventure.  There is plenty to like about the film and it even made me laugh a few times (the comic sky pirates being the main source of the humour).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 11:02:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 10:48:12 AMCommando ... Red Heat, the Conan films, ... and loads more all have gratuitous boob shots.

Many of those are of course Arnie's own mighty moobs.

The random, almost subliminal, inclusion of usually-inflated bared breasts in action movies does seem incredibly odd, but they're probably there at least in part to reassure the supposed young male audience that they aren't even a little bit gay for wanting to watch oiled body builders grunting as they grapple with each other in various states of deshabille. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 11:03:08 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 11:02:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 10:48:12 AMCommando ... Red Heat, the Conan films, ... and loads more all have gratuitous boob shots.

Many of those are of course Arnie's own mighty moobs.

The random, almost subliminal, inclusion of usually-inflated bared breasts in action movies does seem incredibly odd, but they're probably there at least in part to reassure the supposed young male audience that they aren't even a little bit gay for wanting watch oiled body builders grunting as they grapple with each other in various states of deshabille.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 11:21:25 AM
There's no 'to be fair' about it. He made a crass, idiotic sexist comment that is exactly the kind of thing that keeps women comic fans from posting on message boards.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 11:47:11 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 10:26:37 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.
.
Oh for fuck sake... Grow up.
So are you saying it's wrong to appreciate the beauty of a fine pair of breasts? The human body can be appreciated without it being objectification.

Good call on They Live GC! A class film, I really need to break into my Shout Factory Bd soon.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 12:09:13 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 11:47:11 AMThe human body can be appreciated without it being objectification.

True, but I think that boat probably sailed with "you got to see a pair of tits". I doubt GC meant anything other than to make a wry comment on that particular tick of 80's movies, but like Page 3 it is exactly the kind of comment (which I am frequently guilty of myself) that contributes to a pervasive and accepted atmosphere of sexist shite.

And I refer to the world in general, not this forum in particular, which is better than most, especially now that filthy Richard Clemmens' thread has been deleted.

Breasts are great, we all love them, but there's a time and a place and a context to express it. Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGgnbLIza8

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.

Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies. Well said Mr Moderator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 12:45:47 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.

Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies. Well said Mr Moderator.

There are a ton of great films that feature gratuitous nudity.
They're not good because of the nudity, but to say the mark of a good film is the lack of it seems to do a disservice to a lot of gems (especially from the 70s and 80s).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 01:04:06 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.

Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies. Well said Mr Moderator.
Hooray for ultra conservatism!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 December, 2013, 01:19:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 01:04:06 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies.
Hooray for ultra conservatism!

The key word is gratuitous, Hawkmonger. Nobody likes a good sex scene more than me (how else would I know what a pair of boobs looked like, after all?), but I'd rather it wasn't simply there for its own sake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 December, 2013, 01:38:32 PM
Not a fan of Russ Meyer films then? ;-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 01:50:17 PM
I hope Richmond never try's to watch A Room in Rome. His blood pressure might not be able to cope. :lol:

Jimbo, I understand that. I don't agree 100% with it. Many later year Borowcozyk films contained hard core sex and the man is still my favourite cinematic director, i'm more irked by some posters ardent prudishness masked as maturity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 01:53:22 PM
I can't and won't and don't need to speak for Richmond, but I don't think prudishness has anything to do with it, or indeed anything to do with a dislike of casual sexism.

Concerns expressed here have more to do with wanting to live in a world that isn't actively hostile for half the population.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 01:58:13 PM
I really do think shouting down a comment on breasts by telling the poster to "Grow up" is a pretty immature way to go about it. But he's the mod, so i guess it's his ball game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 02:03:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 01:58:13 PMBut he's the mod, so i guess it's his ball game.

That was presumably his reaction as a poster, rather than a mod, as nothing like a caution or a warning was issued.  The hand of moderation lies very lightly on this site.   We all react differently to these things, but you can perhaps see how a remark about tits, following closely after a series of remarks about Rosario Dawson's pubes, might seem to create an unfortunate laddish atmosphere in a forum that aspires to be inclusive.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to google 'A Room in Rome'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 02:54:51 PM
OK. Yeah, sorry. Getting a little uppity myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 03:16:56 PM
Just wondered if all you guys who have no problems with female nudity, would welcome more male genitalia on the silver screen ? If you're anything like my husband, the honest answer would be no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 03:27:44 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 03:16:56 PM
Just wondered if all you guys who have no problems with female nudity, would welcome more male genitalia on the silver screen ? If you're anything like my husband, the honest answer would be no.

I'm all for wangs, as long as they stand up in a plausible fashion when the circumstances warrant.  Ugly-looking things to be sure, but worse when they are unfeasibly flopping about in sex-scenes.  Less Mull of Kintyre, more Black Isle.

To clarify, I've no problem with nudity and/or sex in media.  It's the manner of its presentation and its context, and reactions to same, that concerns me.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 03:37:06 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 01:04:06 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.

Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies. Well said Mr Moderator.
Hooray for ultra conservatism!

Don't be so stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 03:39:56 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 03:16:56 PM
Just wondered if all you guys who have no problems with female nudity, would welcome more male genitalia on the silver screen ? If you're anything like my husband, the honest answer would be no.
I couldn't care less. Balls is balls. Vag is vag. By tabooing the human body we only create an atmosphere that these body parts are somehow disgusting.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 03:40:28 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 03:37:06 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 01:04:06 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 12:19:48 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 01:06:27 AM
They Live

Great film. The fist fight between Roddy Piper and Keith David seemed a little stretched out but the story line was great. And the acting wasn't bad. Plus you got to see [spoiler]a pair of tits[/spoiler] at the end. Can't go wrong there.


Personally, I think the mark of a good film is a lack of gratuitous nudity or sex scenes. A film should engage and hold the attention of an audience without pandering to the adolescent fantasies. Well said Mr Moderator.
Hooray for ultra conservatism!

Don't be so stupid.
Erm.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 December, 2013, 03:42:05 PM
I always liked the immature furore surrounding, say, Dr Manhattan's penis in the relatively tame Watchman adaptation.

I think if people had a less prudish attitude generally then it wouldn't be such a big deal - and if it wasn't such a big deal then people wouldn't feel the need to point it out all the time - or to stick human wobbly bits in art purely for the shock/perve factor.

Again I have to agree with Tordel - it's the laddish "Cor guys, check this out. Phwooarr. Eh? Eh? Yeah we're in this together I'm not alone thinking this it hot am I? Good. Good. We're just all blokes sitting together having a good old perve" element which I'm uncomfortable with. It's fine to perve in your own space but to publicly broadcast it has become a bit of an ugly thing on the internet. This ain't the place to do it, there are dedicated forums for mutual perving. I've deleted loads of FB friends who just post pictures of women going "COR WOT A STUNNER" or the 'sensitive male' equivalent which doesn't wash with me "what a well proportioned and beautiful individual, let us take a moment to look at her together". Either way, if you knew her it'd be weird and you don't so you're objectifying a stranger in public. To like, 200 people who don't know you well enough to judge whether or not you treat all women you meet like objects.

[/rant]

Back to films. I'm about to watch 12 Angry Men which is phenomenal and has no boobies in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 08 December, 2013, 03:42:40 PM
Quote from: smilersaltash on 08 December, 2013, 03:16:56 PM
Just wondered if all you guys who have no problems with female nudity, would welcome more male genitalia on the silver screen ? If you're anything like my husband, the honest answer would be no.

Bring it on I say, it's about time men were objectified in movies too. At the very least, it would be nice if movies had equal amounts of both, something for me and the wife.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 03:42:53 PM
Back on topic i re watched the theatrical cut of Deep Red recently. It's still the best example of a Giallo and Argento's best film. I have yet to see the directors cut but it's 25 minuets longer, so it'll be interesting to see what content was removed for over sea's viewers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 08 December, 2013, 03:44:35 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 03:42:53 PM
Back on topic i re watched the theatrical cut of Deep Red recently. It's still the best example of a Giallo and Argento's best film. I have yet to see the directors cut but it's 25 minuets longer, so it'll be interesting to see what content was removed for over sea's viewers.

I like the genre but the only Argento movie I've ever liked was his segment in Two Evil Eyes. Pulls a great performance out of Kietel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 December, 2013, 04:02:04 PM
For a minute there I wasn't sure this was the movie thread. Fuck, I wasn't even sure it was the 2000AD forum. It was a "check your priviledge" away from being tumblr.

Kick Ass 2 doesn't know what the fuck it's trying to be. Somewhere between a revenge thriller, a parody of masked vigilantes and a really shitty american high school drama. I rolled my eyes a great deal. The kiss at the end was just silly, I was given the impression that she was more like a big sister, not a romantic interest. The action sequences were pretty badass to be fair. Chuck Liddell was in it too, and I could see his nipples.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 December, 2013, 04:10:29 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 08 December, 2013, 04:02:04 PM
and I could see his nipples.

...and after two pages of debate about objectification too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 08 December, 2013, 04:27:03 PM
I watched 'Shank' the other night.  It was bizarre.  I wasn't sure if I was watching a UK version of Fallout 3, set in some post-apocalyptic council estate where hoodies rule, or whether it was a stylised interpretation of inner city troubles.  Whichever, I was gripped all the way through, despite a ridiculously predictable ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 05:47:29 PM
I'm not sure I want to re-open this can of worms, but I feel the need to defend what I said earlier. For those who missed it, the quote of the day was "Plus you got to see a pair of tits at the end. Can't go wrong there."

For those who haven't seen, it is a shot of a topless lady, on top of a man, with a sign/picture that reads "marry and reproduce" in the background. As an audience we can work out from the rest of the film, that is exactly what is going on in this scene. The characters on the screen have been brainwashed into doing as they are told through subliminal messaging. So while that is no doubt the only reason it was put it, I don't consider it completely unnecessary and believe it has a place in the film.

The way the scene is shot, the woman is on top on the man showing a position of power and dominance. The man is underneath her showing submission and weakness. Also the woman looks happy in the shot. She is not unwillingly sleeping with the guy. Should it be a shameful thing to have nice breasts and be willing to show them off? By suggesting that the scene should not be in the film, you are objectifying and also trying to control women by saying when it is ok and not ok for a woman to show her breasts. She was not forced into doing this. She did it on her own accord. And more power to her for it.

At the end of the day, if you disagree with what I said, they are just a pair of boobs. Everyone has em. You. Me. Everyone. And if you are that shocked by seeing them, maybe you have some growing up to do.
I don't feel I'm objectifying the actress in question by saying that she looks good.

Any females in the house care to comment? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 06:02:15 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 05:47:29 PM
I don't feel I'm objectifying the actress in question by saying that she looks good.

That's not what you said, though. And it's really not about whether boobs should or should not be in movies.

Your current post makes for a decent account, and actually makes for interesting (if understandably defensive) reading, even if I don't agree with all of it.  But it's very different from the remark in the original post, the weight of which was perhaps accentuated by where it came in the thread.

Look, I make these kinds of remarks all the time too, and I think them way more often than that.  Most of us do.  Your post contained a throwaway remark, with no ill intent.  But in the context of a discussion forum and a thread about movies in general it runs the risk of creating a potentially intimidating atmosphere, and we should all maybe think twice before we shout "Look lads, tits!", or refined versions thereof.  That said, I've said worse here and in the real world, and no doubt I will again.  But it isn't right, and I've increasingly come to realise it, in part due to these kinds of discussions.

It's a pretty horrid world we live in when it comes to the everyday treatment of women, and we should all try not to contribute to it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 06:32:55 PM
The ending of my initial post was mostly done for humor. Putting a pair of tits behind a spoiler bar sounded pretty funny to me (and still does)

As like my last post, it's more a commentary on society in general and how men can go topless as much as they want but when it comes to lady boobs suddenly its forbidden and all the rest of it.

If any women were offended by my post, I do apologize. It was not my intention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 06:43:07 PM
The thing to bare in mind when posting on the internet is that the tone of a post can be read in different ways. I myself was familiar with the context of the remark, and didn't find much to argue with in the initial comment. But I can also see why Richmond might have taken it as a more childish remark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 December, 2013, 06:52:45 PM
Like Tordelback has said, all of us are guilty of having said something which might've been taken as being sexist, and Grinning Chimera isn't the only one. I also made a cheeky remark although not as...'explicitly'.

I think we should move on from it now, or open a seperate thread if we want to continue this discussion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 08 December, 2013, 06:53:23 PM
Really can't see why there's such a fuss, it was clearly a cheeky wee quip.  And even if it wasn't, who cares??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 December, 2013, 06:53:54 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 06:32:55 PM
If any women were offended by my post, I do apologize. It was not my intention.

You said summat laddish. You were called on it, that's all. No need for all that guff about context and whatever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 06:56:00 PM
Looking over this I'm being even more of a dick than usual, so I'll bow out of any further discussion on the topic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 December, 2013, 07:03:45 PM
Who is this Souster Women, and what has she done with Eric?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2013, 07:18:10 PM
I'm not going to be a spokes person for my gender, this is just my personal opinion.  It struck me as just a chauvinistically juvenile comment.  I wasn't especially offended by the comment itself, but did find it systematic to a broader, offensive attitude and felt the same sentiment found in Richard Clements response.

If it were a satirical play on societal expectations that resulted from the context of the film, it fell flat.  Trying to be satirical - as Hawkmonger alludes to - is difficult on the internet, especially when essential references needed to understand the satire are missing.  I am probably out of my depth, however, when commenting on the application of humour and this is probably something we all know.

Still, I can empathise with you, GrinningChimera - at least with your desire to defend yourself.  I didn't like it when I was told I had no heart for a vague criticism of time travelling whales in Star Trek IV.

Some good and interesting point of views were expressed in regards to nudity in cinema in general and could make an intriguing thread.  I personally don't think it is entirely appropriate for this thread, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 December, 2013, 07:21:50 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 08 December, 2013, 07:03:45 PM
Who is this Souster Women, and what has she done with Eric?

I'm having a Shania Twain moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2013, 07:38:39 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 08 December, 2013, 07:18:10 PM

If it were a satirical play on societal expectations that resulted from the context of the film, it fell flat.  Trying to be satirical - as Hawkmonger alludes to - is difficult on the internet, especially when essential references needed to understand the satire are missing.  I am probably out of my depth, however, when commenting on the application of humour and this is probably something we all know.

Yeah, that is pretty much what i'm trying to get at. Comments can occasionally come off as unintentionally crude (i've been a victim of my own misguided decision to not proof read my posts often enough) and once you've done the deed it can take a bit to justify to people that you only intended a comment with no malice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 07:47:13 PM
Well that resolution didn't last long.

Quote from: Mabs on 08 December, 2013, 06:52:45 PM
Like Tordelback has said, all of us are guilty of having said something which might've been taken as being sexist...

I wasn't arguing that such remarks were taken as being sexist, I was arguing that they are sexist or contribute to an environment where sexism is acceptable.  And that most of us are guilty of that from time to time.

As to the wider point, yes it was just a remark and not worthy of all this analysis and angst, or any specifc criticism of Grinning Chimera who seems like a decent person, but it was the dismissive response to RAC's comment that got me involved.  This one little thing isn't significant, but all the little things taken together are called a culture, and that culture is very serious and worthy of non-stop criticism until it ends.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2013, 08:27:08 PM
Killer Elite

One of the finer films featuring Jason Statham in the cast.  Based on a book by, iirc, an ex SAS member which is reportedly based on real events.  Set in the eighties against a backdrop of international assassination we follow an enigmatic Danny Bryce as he leads a covert group in a round of vengeance based assassinations of ex SAS soldiers and the subsequent response by his counterpart, Spike Logan (Clive Owen).  There is plenty in this film to maintain my attention and a certain level of intrigue that raises it above other Statham works like Crank (which is an amazingly stupid film that doesn't fail to entertain).  Apparently Statham's character is supposed to be Australian but I didn't pick up on this.  I think it's better when he doesn't attempt to do accents.
[spoiler]
The three way fight near the end was crafted well.  Not too flamboyant.  Not too drawn out.  Just right.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 December, 2013, 10:10:34 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 08 December, 2013, 06:53:23 PM
Really can't see why there's such a fuss, it was clearly a cheeky wee quip.  And even if it wasn't, who cares??

'It's just a bit of fun' is the bullshit excuse of the sexist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 08 December, 2013, 10:12:26 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 December, 2013, 05:47:29 PM
Any females in the house care to comment?

Well, at least one of them has already said that she doesn't feel comfortable with comments and attitudes like those you've exhibited. How many more do you need?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 December, 2013, 10:19:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 December, 2013, 07:38:39 PM
Comments can occasionally come off as unintentionally crude (i've been a victim of my own misguided decision to not proof read my posts often enough) and once you've done the deed it can take a bit to justify to people that you only intended a comment with no malice.

I wince. Despite being an atheist, I fucking wince (thanks Dad!) any time someone drops a casual exclamation of "Jesus!" in polite or professional conversation. Likewise, my mother's total disdain for the word 'tits' has conditioned me to use it pretty much only when I feel like being haughty at those I presume would use the word contemptibly and hence my own faux pas HERE (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=20269.0). Misanthropy is often bitter, yes, but it can also be a mild ale. Something I need reminding of more times than I should, by fuck.

Anyway, back on-topic: ICE AGE 3 - DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS, for maybe the twelfth time this week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 08 December, 2013, 10:25:08 PM
The twelfth time? Blimey! You've surpassed my record!   :lol:

It used to be on a continual loop in my house at one time, 'cause the kids loved it (as did I). I'm quite fond of the Ice Age films, the only poor one in the series would probably be number two, but hell, they're all good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 December, 2013, 10:40:37 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 08 December, 2013, 10:25:08 PM
I'm quite fond of the Ice Age films, the only poor one in the series would probably be number two, but hell, they're all good fun.

Enok would beg to differ. He's averaged three viewing per day since its purchase just over a week ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 December, 2013, 10:50:48 PM
Quote from: The Souster Woman on 08 December, 2013, 10:40:37 PM
Enok would beg to differ.

Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 09 December, 2013, 12:32:02 AM
Blue Velvet
Was pretty good, dont think it's my favourite Lynch film, as many suggested it would be (would probably have to be Mulholland Drive... maybe), but it was very good, and very interesting. I think it will be well worth my time to watch it a second time, I can see it being one of those movies I watch again and going 'this is bollocks, what was I thinking?!' or 'Okay this is now one of my favourite movies ever', but on a first watch I enjoyed it a hell of a lot.

Also, and equal helping of both Kyle Maclachlan's penis and Isabella Rosselini's breasts, so this should be the film to appease everyone... or no one. I lost track.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 09 December, 2013, 02:35:32 AM
I've been wracking my brains for films where exposed breasts are somehow intrinsic to context or plot.  There's not many:

Boogie Nights
Fatal Attraction

Erm..? Can't think of any more.

Then you have obligatory boob shots because 'romance':
Highlander
The Doors

Then there's films that have them out EVERYWHERE:
The Doors
Humanoids from the Deep
Piranha


Finally there's films where there's clearly been sex, but the woman STILL HAS HER BRA ON!!!
What Every Woman Wants
(As a previous gf once said to me while watching it 'I'd be royally pissed off if you shagged me without playing with my tits first')

My point? I dunno. Boobs are everywhere?  So are bare naked male chests? God only knows there's enough oily bicep out there to send women aquiver, and they make no bones about saying so in public, to their partners, or whoever.  Horses for courses I reckon. Everything's fair game, so long as we don't backslide into a society where the choices, opportunities and freedom women should expect are stripped away.

My favourite breasts were Salma Hayek's in 'Desperado'. I feel justified in being able to comment on them because my gf at the time was practically frothing at the lips over her co-star, Antonio Banderas. Quid Pro Quo etc etc.

Now that I've cleared all that up, shall we talk about films we've seen lately?





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 09 December, 2013, 04:25:12 AM
Quote from: willthemightyW on 09 December, 2013, 12:32:02 AM
Kyle Maclachlan's penis

Can't go wrong there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 December, 2013, 07:45:13 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 09 December, 2013, 02:35:32 AM
I've been wracking my brains for films where exposed breasts are somehow intrinsic to context or plot.  There's not many:

Boogie Nights
Fatal Attraction

Erm..? Can't think of any more.

Then you have obligatory boob shots because 'romance':
Highlander
The Doors

Then there's films that have them out EVERYWHERE:
The Doors
Humanoids from the Deep
Piranha


Finally there's films where there's clearly been sex, but the woman STILL HAS HER BRA ON!!!
What Every Woman Wants
(As a previous gf once said to me while watching it 'I'd be royally pissed off if you shagged me without playing with my tits first')

My point? I dunno. Boobs are everywhere?  So are bare naked male chests? God only knows there's enough oily bicep out there to send women aquiver, and they make no bones about saying so in public, to their partners, or whoever.  Horses for courses I reckon. Everything's fair game, so long as we don't backslide into a society where the choices, opportunities and freedom women should expect are stripped away.

My favourite breasts were Salma Hayek's in 'Desperado'. I feel justified in being able to comment on them because my gf at the time was practically frothing at the lips over her co-star, Antonio Banderas. Quid Pro Quo etc etc.

Now that I've cleared all that up, shall we talk about films we've seen lately?

The keeping the bra on thing does always strike me as a bit weird - it just looks unrealistic and takes you out of the film a bit. It's looks better if they just keep the duvet up high.

In terms of actual genitalia on screen there's probably not much between the number of times you see female and male nudity in films. Prison films usually have nudity in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 December, 2013, 07:52:17 AM
Let's look a little broader than genre! A startling number of French, Czech, Italian and Scandinavian films feature full frontal from both genders. Remember, it's a cultural thing in many nations and the perspective of both British and Americans has for centuries treated nudity as a taboo.

Amélie, anyone?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 09 December, 2013, 08:17:18 AM
Quote from: The Souster Woman on 08 December, 2013, 10:19:17 PM
Anyway, back on-topic: ICE AGE 3 - DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS, for maybe the twelfth time this week.

Once was enough for me. It's another one of those dreamworks movies where animals fall down and make fart jokes for 90minutes. The 4th Ice Age is one of the few movies where I've had a good snooze in the cinema.
Kids like em is all that matters though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 08:44:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 07:52:17 AM
Let's look a little broader than genre! A startling number of French, Czech, Italian and Scandinavian films feature full frontal from both genders. Remember, it's a cultural thing in many nations and the perspective of both British and Americans has for centuries treated nudity as a taboo.

Amélie, anyone?

Which is all missing the bloody point to a spectacular degree as usual.
The issue is not nudity in films, it is morinic, sexist remarks like "Plus you got to see a pair of tits at the end. Can't go wrong there."

If you cannot see what is wrong with that and why infantile sexist nonsense like this is off putting to female readers if and when they loo at this board, then I truely am wasting my time trying to explain it to you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 December, 2013, 08:48:16 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 08:44:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 07:52:17 AM
Let's look a little broader than genre! A startling number of French, Czech, Italian and Scandinavian films feature full frontal from both genders. Remember, it's a cultural thing in many nations and the perspective of both British and Americans has for centuries treated nudity as a taboo.

Amélie, anyone?

Which is all missing the bloody point to a spectacular degree as usual.
The issue is not nudity in films, it is morinic, sexist remarks like "Plus you got to see a pair of tits at the end. Can't go wrong there."

If you cannot see what is wrong with that and why infantile sexist nonsense like this is off putting to female readers if and when they loo at this board, then I truely am wasting my time trying to explain it to you.
Are we still talking about that? I was under the impression we had moved onto new pastures with GC explaining why he made the comment.  :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 09 December, 2013, 08:51:34 AM
The Lone Ranger.

I actually quite enjoyed it. Very funny in parts and despite some cheesy moments, a good watch overall.

Cheers
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 09:07:26 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 08:48:16 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 08:44:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 07:52:17 AM
Let's look a little broader than genre! A startling number of French, Czech, Italian and Scandinavian films feature full frontal from both genders. Remember, it's a cultural thing in many nations and the perspective of both British and Americans has for centuries treated nudity as a taboo.

Amélie, anyone?

Which is all missing the bloody point to a spectacular degree as usual.
The issue is not nudity in films, it is morinic, sexist remarks like "Plus you got to see a pair of tits at the end. Can't go wrong there."

If you cannot see what is wrong with that and why infantile sexist nonsense like this is off putting to female readers if and when they loo at this board, then I truely am wasting my time trying to explain it to you.
Are we still talking about that? I was under the impression we had moved onto new pastures with GC explaining why he made the comment.  :|

Yes, let's all forget about it so we don't have to address the inherit sexism in the board.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 December, 2013, 11:11:39 AM
It gets a bit much aye.

Point made.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnMcF on 09 December, 2013, 12:43:35 PM
All this talk of sexism is just political correctness gone tits up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 12:58:16 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 December, 2013, 11:11:39 AM
It gets a bit much aye.

Point made.

Has it? Excellent, so it'll all stop now then!

QuoteAll this talk of sexism is just political correctness gone tits up.

oh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 December, 2013, 12:59:58 PM
Quote from: JohnMcF on 09 December, 2013, 12:43:35 PM
All this talk of sexism is just political correctness gone tits up.

Bravo!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 01:27:26 PM
Movies.

If you want to discuss sexism, that's fine, start another thread and stop stinking up this one.

MOO
VEES
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 01:36:49 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 01:27:26 PM
Movies.

If you want to discuss sexism, that's fine, start another thread and stop stinking up this one.

MOO
VEES

I don't think that'll work MP, I suggested the same thing.....three pages back!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 09 December, 2013, 01:49:04 PM
I managed to watch a little of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves last night while I was in work.
I remember seeing this on the pictures when I was a kid and absolutely loving it, so somebody bought me it on VHS and I'd get up early everyday for quite a while to watch as much as I could before school or whatever. Then I had a phase for a few years like most people probably do with certain films were you don't watch it and you haven't done for years but you'll confidently tell people how rubbish it is anyway. That phase came to a halt a few years back when I put it on and sat there giggling to myself in parts and pretty much cheering on Robin and his merry men. I no longer own it but I'll happily put it on at least once a year when it's on TV during another wise empty schedule. I can see faults with it- a lot I was happy to point out when saying how rubbish it was years ago- but it's simply an enjoyable hour and a half or so film. I can comfortably say I'll probably watch it when it's shown again next year and I can't say that for Ridley Scott's recent effort focusing on the outlaws in the forest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 01:55:02 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 09 December, 2013, 01:49:04 PM...I was happy to point out when saying how rubbish it was years ago- but it's simply an enjoyable hour and a half or so film

Yep, it's complete and utter rubbish start to finish, from the daft geography to the ghastly soundtrack.  And it's also great fun and eminently rewatchable. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 02:05:13 PM
Alan Rickman is absolutely immense as the Sheriff of Nottingham, my second favourite performance after Hans Gruber. I think it was also the first time I saw Morgan Freeman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 December, 2013, 02:10:13 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 02:05:13 PM
Alan Rickman is absolutely immense as the Sheriff of Nottingham

True, but he's no Nickolas Grace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 09 December, 2013, 02:15:32 PM
I caught Robin Hood on TV last night also.

Great film, not really sure I would call it rubbish though.  If you are going to make a Robin Hood movie then you are somewhat tied to the story you can tell.  The cast is pretty fantastic - I like Kevin in the lead, yeah he doesn't really have an English accent but that aside he is very watchable and Alan Rickman is just a joy.  I also enjoy a lot of the minor characters and the whole 'maid marian and her merry men' vibe to it.

I think this is the best Robin Hood movie out there and it will be some time before we see better.  The Ridley Scott film was far too serious and tried to make out it was real - its not, its a legend and in that respect Prince of Thieves plays it perfectly.  It is exactly like a story you would be told around a camp fire. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 December, 2013, 02:24:54 PM
Who Dares Wins - shit.
I normally like right-wing power fantasies like Rambo or Invasion USA because they're basically cartoons, but this added an unhelpful misogynistic element to the text of manly men going pew pew pew at baddies that - when added to the bizarre choice of hippies as the cannon fodder - adds up to a film that both takes itself too seriously and is impossible to take seriously.  The latter point has seemingly given it a free pass in the same way that a movie about a brave copper working the Hillsborough disaster and coming up against yobs would, but that wouldn't stop such a film being shite and that's what WDW is.

Below - pretty decent WW2 submarine-based ghost story that attempts some clumsily anachronistic self-awareness in one scene that is pretty painful to watch, but which does at least set such a low bar that it effectively serves to distract from the rest of the self-awareness in the script as characters drop many red herrings as to the cause of the haunting.  It reminded me of episodes from the start of the fourth season of the Twilight Zone, as it goes through many of the tropes and twists used there, especially from Death Ship and The Thirty Fathom Grave, and while these aren't cobbled together in an entirely convincing fashion and the whole thing barely holds together as anything other than a rushed student film shot with a tv camera for some reason and including some too-far silliness near the end that veers the whole thing into "big and dumb" territory not quite supported by the budget, it's still an entertaining watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 09 December, 2013, 02:35:32 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 09 December, 2013, 02:10:13 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 02:05:13 PM
Alan Rickman is absolutely immense as the Sheriff of Nottingham

True, but he's no Nickolas Grace.

Nickolas Grace was in the Max Headroom movie as well and (trivia pickers) played Albert Einstein in a written-by-kids-so-therefore-better-than-Moffat Dr Who episode recently. Don't get me started on Robin of Sherwood though - my Geoffery is an ENORMOUS fan of it and plans to attend the RoS convention next year..........

...really. Really.

Seriously. Actually.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dudley on 09 December, 2013, 02:38:40 PM
Melancholia.  Incredible performances, flawless direction, and a whopping great metaphor that will keep burrowing into my brain for weeks after watching.  Oh, and the art direction of the first five or so minutes (when the planet hits the Earth) is stunning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 09 December, 2013, 02:49:47 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 01:27:26 PM
Movies.

If you want to discuss sexism, that's fine, start another thread and stop stinking up this one.

MOO
VEES

I hate sexism in movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 03:00:45 PM
Quote from: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 09 December, 2013, 02:49:47 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 01:27:26 PM
Movies.

If you want to discuss sexism, that's fine, start another thread and stop stinking up this one.

MOO
VEES

I hate sexism in movies.

Well, there's a difference between sexism in movies and sexist movies. Just because there are sexist characters or it explores sexism as a theme doesn't make it sexist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 09 December, 2013, 03:54:23 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 03:00:45 PM
Well, there's a difference between sexism in movies and sexist movies. Just because there are sexist characters or it explores sexism as a theme doesn't make it sexist.

Yeah, bit patronising, but I guess I asked for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 09 December, 2013, 03:58:33 PM
Point Blank (the Lee Marvin one)

Still love it! I've never read the books by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) on which it's based, but some of my favourite graphic novels are the (from what I hear extremely faithful) Darwyn Cooke adaptations: if you haven't read them, please don't hesitate to give them a try, they're beautifully illustrated, well written, and the design of the book itself is one of the most attractive things about it! So with my knowledge of Parker (in Point Blank he is named Walker) I've been watching the film adaptations. I saw the Mel Gibson one Payback a few years ago, and still enjoy it to this day, it's just a lot of fun.  The recent one with Jason Statham I am yet to watch (I'm very worried about it to be honest) and the Robert Duvall one (Slayground?) I remember as being quite good.
   It cannot, however, surpass this one. It's directed by John Boorman and features I think one of Marvin's best performances.
Also this is still one of the coolest scenes in any movie ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYZFGMNDOI
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 December, 2013, 05:27:57 PM
Goonies was on yesterday afternoon.
My wife loves this film but I just find it full of shouty annoying children.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 06:17:08 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 09 December, 2013, 02:35:32 PM... my Geoffery is an ENORMOUS fan of it and plans to attend the RoS convention next year..........

My missus is a huge fan too, to the point of seeking out Michael Praed-narrated wildlife programmes.  In fairness it could be worse, it's a great series, but I think I'll keep quiet about that conference all the same. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 December, 2013, 06:23:58 PM
Jaws 4: The Revenge. Utter shite. That is all.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 December, 2013, 06:49:16 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 09:07:26 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 08:48:16 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 December, 2013, 08:44:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 07:52:17 AM
Let's look a little broader than genre! A startling number of French, Czech, Italian and Scandinavian films feature full frontal from both genders. Remember, it's a cultural thing in many nations and the perspective of both British and Americans has for centuries treated nudity as a taboo.

Amélie, anyone?

Which is all missing the bloody point to a spectacular degree as usual.
The issue is not nudity in films, it is morinic, sexist remarks like "Plus you got to see a pair of tits at the end. Can't go wrong there."

If you cannot see what is wrong with that and why infantile sexist nonsense like this is off putting to female readers if and when they loo at this board, then I truely am wasting my time trying to explain it to you.
Are we still talking about that? I was under the impression we had moved onto new pastures with GC explaining why he made the comment.  :|

Yes, let's all forget about it so we don't have to address the inherit sexism in the board.

No ill intent Richmond I genuinely thought the conversation had drifted onto the topic of sex and nudity in films, period.  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2013, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 06:23:58 PM
Jaws 4: The Revenge. Utter shite. That is all.

Bwahaha! Is that the one where Micheal Caine is basically killed by the shark at one point and then turns up unharmed later, answering their queries of how he survived with a never-to-be-elaborated-on 'I'll explain later'?  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 07:05:50 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2013, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 06:23:58 PM
Jaws 4: The Revenge. Utter shite. That is all.

Bwahaha! Is that the one where Micheal Caine is basically killed by the shark at one point and then turns up unharmed later, answering their queries of how he survived with a never-to-be-elaborated-on 'I'll explain later'?  :lol:

Was it because of his Cockney accent?!!

"You're a big shark, but you're in bad shape. With me it's a full time job. Now behave yourself!"  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 07:09:30 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2013, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 06:23:58 PM
Jaws 4: The Revenge. Utter shite. That is all.

Bwahaha! Is that the one where Micheal Caine is basically killed by the shark at one point and then turns up unharmed later, answering their queries of how he survived with a never-to-be-elaborated-on 'I'll explain later'?  :lol:

I think it may be worse than that, verging on slightly brilliant.  I think he actually answers them with: "It wasn't easy, believe me". 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2013, 07:21:13 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 07:09:30 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2013, 06:50:27 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 09 December, 2013, 06:23:58 PM
Jaws 4: The Revenge. Utter shite. That is all.

Bwahaha! Is that the one where Micheal Caine is basically killed by the shark at one point and then turns up unharmed later, answering their queries of how he survived with a never-to-be-elaborated-on 'I'll explain later'?  :lol:

I think it may be worse than that, verging on slightly brilliant.  I think he actually answers them with: "It wasn't easy, believe me".

He was asked once whether he'd seen the film and replied "no, I haven't seen it. By all accounts it's terrible. But I have seen the house it bought, and that's bloody lovely!"

As for Robin Hood films, I've got a soft spot for Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery as a middle aged Robin and Audrey Hepburn (!) as Marion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 December, 2013, 07:50:29 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2013, 07:21:13 PM

As for Robin Hood films, I've got a soft spot for Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery as a middle aged Robin and Audrey Hepburn (!) as Marion.

And it's got Robert Shaw in it, but you can't beat Errol Flynn!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 09 December, 2013, 08:20:34 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 07:09:30 PM
I think it may be worse than that, verging on slightly brilliant.  I think he actually answers them with: "It wasn't easy, believe me".

I remember it as "It was blah-dee difficult!". Classic scene.

Jaws The Revenge is up there with Batman & Robin in the league of unloved fourquels with unregarded merit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 December, 2013, 09:23:09 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2013, 07:21:13 PM
As for Robin Hood films, I've got a soft spot for Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery as a middle aged Robin and Audrey Hepburn (!) as Marion.


I love Robin & Marian. Watching knackered old foes struggle to lift their swords against each other has never been more moving (and Marian as a broken-hearted, post-suicidal nun). A great cast too. Understated and under-rated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 10:16:43 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2013, 07:21:13 PM
As for Robin Hood films, I've got a soft spot for Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery as a middle aged Robin and Audrey Hepburn (!) as Marion.

My favourite of the many I've seen.  Whatever version of Robin Hood I got hold of first as a nipper, it featured Robin's death-scene where he is treacherously bled by the prioress prior to firing a last arrow into the forest, and that was the bit of the story that affected me most deeply.  The melancholic ending of the witty Connery version was the one that gybed best with that feeling, as well as injecting some romance into its own version of events.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:12 PM
My favourite ever Robin Hood is Michael Palin's snob of a hood in Time Bandits, who robbed the rich to feed himself!

Robin Hood: "And you're a robber too. How long have you been a robber?"

Strutter: "Four foot one"

Robin Hood: "Good lord! Jolly good. Four foot one? Well that-that-that is-is- a long time, isn't it?"

:lol:

He's the first Robin Hood I remember as a kid, and that's why he's my favourite!

Edit: I meant to say John Cleese!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 10:16:43 PM
Whatever version of Robin Hood I got hold of first as a nipper, it featured Robin's death-scene where he is treacherously bled by the prioress prior to firing a last arrow into the forest, and that was the bit of the story that affected me most deeply. 

Are you referring to a book? I remember a old Robin Hood paperback that was knocking about at home when I was a kid, with black and white illustrations (like a knight with a horses head mask?) and it ended with that story of Robin's death, perhaps the same book?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 December, 2013, 10:43:06 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:12 PM
My favourite ever Robin Hood is Michael Palin's snob of a hood in Time Bandits, who robbed the rich to feed himself!


Ahh sorry that was John Cleese

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 10:45:38 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 09 December, 2013, 10:43:06 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:12 PM
My favourite ever Robin Hood is Michael Palin's snob of a hood in Time Bandits, who robbed the rich to feed himself!


Ahh sorry that was John Cleese

Yeah I 've cleared that up! Sorry, my bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 11:06:10 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:44 PMI remember a old Robin Hood paperback that was knocking about at home when I was a kid, with black and white illustrations (like a knight with a horses head mask?) and it ended with that story of Robin's death, perhaps the same book?

Sounds like it!  Although I imagine there's a few candidates that'd answer to that description.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 09 December, 2013, 11:12:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 11:06:10 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:44 PMI remember a old Robin Hood paperback that was knocking about at home when I was a kid, with black and white illustrations (like a knight with a horses head mask?) and it ended with that story of Robin's death, perhaps the same book?

Sounds like it!  Although I imagine there's a few candidates that'd answer to that description.

It'll take a bit of a detective work alright but who knows maybe I'll find out one day. Back to films!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 10 December, 2013, 02:36:00 AM
Here's one candidate to get you started... https://archive.org/details/boldrobinhoodhis00rheauoft (https://archive.org/details/boldrobinhoodhis00rheauoft)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 December, 2013, 07:51:10 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 09 December, 2013, 10:40:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2013, 10:16:43 PM
Whatever version of Robin Hood I got hold of first as a nipper, it featured Robin's death-scene where he is treacherously bled by the prioress prior to firing a last arrow into the forest, and that was the bit of the story that affected me most deeply. 
Are you referring to a book? I remember a old Robin Hood paperback that was knocking about at home when I was a kid, with black and white illustrations (like a knight with a horses head mask?) and it ended with that story of Robin's death, perhaps the same book?
I too have a recollection of this. However, I may be mixing it up with the bit in 1066 and All That where he misses the window and they have to bury him on top of the wardrobe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2013, 10:42:46 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 09 December, 2013, 05:27:57 PM
Goonies was on yesterday afternoon.
My wife loves this film but I just find it full of shouty annoying children.


I like the Goonies. But by god, it is shouty when you watch it with the sound turned up properly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2013, 11:52:32 AM
Roujin Z

A fun anime scripted by Akira legend Katsuhiro Otomo.  It's not Akira though, it is a lot more light hearted.  At it's core is a treatment of the issue of care of the elderly, done with humour and levity which is at times rather crude.  This is a little hidden gem of anime cinema that is probably under appreciated due to comparisons with the aforementioned Akira. 

We're going to the beach!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 December, 2013, 02:45:40 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2013, 10:42:46 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 09 December, 2013, 05:27:57 PM
Goonies was on yesterday afternoon.
My wife loves this film but I just find it full of shouty annoying children.


I like the Goonies. But by god, it is shouty when you watch it with the sound turned up properly.

I've seen the film so many times, and still don't like it.   :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2013, 03:18:02 PM
I considered watching The Goonies several weeks ago as I have memories from childhood of enjoying thoroughly whenever it appeared on TV.  I decided not to as I became acutely aware that I may remember it being better than it is and it may not have aged well.

Other films I am cautious of for this reason are Flight of the Navigator and Inner Space.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 December, 2013, 04:25:35 PM
Give Flight of the Navigator a shot again. I's no classic, but it's a lot better than you might think and IMHO far superior to the utterly boring The Gooonies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2013, 04:28:31 PM
Flight of the Navigator is excellent.  One of those films where you become so caught up in the plight of the protagonist that you can't stifle a cheer and/or tear when[spoiler] it all comes right in the end[/spoiler].

Goonies... I think you had to be the right age at the right time.  I wasn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 10 December, 2013, 05:14:13 PM
I love the Goonies.

Just watched Fritz Lang's M

Looks beautiful on blu-ray, and is a stunning film. It's so... different, even now. There is no main character, (as silly/pretentious as it sounds) society literally is the protagonist, and the antagonist, and it's full of great performances! I'm also surprised at how much it made me laugh, I find that in a lot of films from this era(especially really early german talkies!) the humour falls flat for me, but this has some great moments in it, whilst still managing to maintain a dark tone.

Up next I'll be watching Blast of Silence on the recommendation of Sean Phillips no less!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 10 December, 2013, 05:58:45 PM
Just watched White House Down, absolute bollocks but hugely entertaining bollocks :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 December, 2013, 06:23:31 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 December, 2013, 04:25:35 PM
Give Flight of the Navigator a shot again. I's no classic, but it's a lot better than you might think and IMHO far superior to the utterly boring The Gooonies.

Fucking right you are there, Mr. Hawkmonger!

I used to love The Flight of the Navigator as a kid, even moreso than The Goonies (but less than Star Wars!).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 December, 2013, 07:56:23 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 December, 2013, 04:28:31 PM
Flight of the Navigator is excellent.

Goonies... I think you had to be the right age at the right time.  I wasn't.


I was the right age for neither of those which is why I've never seen Goonies and FotN was something I was brought to see knowing well I was too old not to cringe. After Time Bandits, Raiders, Star Wars, Tron, GhostBusters, Gremlins and Back to the Future, seeing 'pesky' kids in leading roles was just a no go (a reason why I've never fully watched Terminator II) though I gave Explorers a pass.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 December, 2013, 09:50:34 PM
I'm not over keen on The Goonies (and I find the shouty stuff annoying too) but it wasn't bad.
I seem to remember Gremlins being around the same time and really loving that. Not that it's the same type of film but I tend to associate them for some reason.

Flight of the Navigator is another film which I should have taken to... yet never really did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2013, 09:57:04 PM
I am just about to put The Goonies on for my late evening entertainment.  I feel apprehensive about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 December, 2013, 10:05:37 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 10 December, 2013, 09:57:04 PM
I am just about to put The Goonies on for my late evening entertainment.  I feel apprehensive about it.

I tried to watch it on Sunday - but as others have said - it was waaaay too shouty...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2013, 10:10:03 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 10 December, 2013, 10:05:37 PM
I tried to watch it on Sunday - but as others have said - it was waaaay too shouty...

Try HIGHLANDER with the sound turned up. The very definition of cacophony (even if you like Queen).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 December, 2013, 11:57:08 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2013, 10:10:03 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 10 December, 2013, 10:05:37 PM
I tried to watch it on Sunday - but as others have said - it was waaaay too shouty...

Try HIGHLANDER with the sound turned up. The very definition of cacophony (even if you like Queen).

I think I may have expressed my general feelings of 'meh' towards Highlander previously. Part of that is 'cos if the Queen soundtrack. Such a shame, as their music for Flash remains a staple on my iPhone to this day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 December, 2013, 12:00:10 AM
You can tell a band are getting a bit tired when their choruses become the same line repeated over and over again:

'Don't lose your head
Don't lose your head
Don't etc etc etc'


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 11 December, 2013, 12:26:07 AM
12 Angry Men

Astonishing awe-inspiring film. Still shines as brightly as it did when I saw it seven years ago - and is even spellbinding at 56 years old. As a character drama you literally can't get bet, the principal cast don't even have names - and you spend 90 minutes or so in their company. Brilliant drama about morality, prejudice and personal doubt. Thank the gods we don't have a death sentence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 11 December, 2013, 12:48:00 AM
Chuecatown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHGqt_oPR5o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHGqt_oPR5o)

It's about a gay real estate guy who murders old ladies in order to make a gay paradise with no women. As a straight guy, I thought this was a pretty funny movie. I'd imagine gay guys would get an even bigger kick out of it with the "in" jokes that no doubt were over my head. A comedy for the whole family. Assuming the whole family is over 18.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 11 December, 2013, 08:16:17 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 December, 2013, 04:28:31 PM
Flight of the Navigator is excellent.  One of those films where you become so caught up in the plight of the protagonist that you can't stifle a cheer and/or tear when[spoiler] it all comes right in the end[/spoiler].

Goonies... I think you had to be the right age at the right time.  I wasn't.

I feel the same at both! I missed Goonies when I was that age and couldn't get through much of it when it was on telly, I've always had to sit and eye roll through conversations when people claim it to be an "life changing" movie messiah like experience, guess you really had to be their at the time.

I've always thought Flight of the Navigator was the ultimate kids n aliens movie, better than that ET which I've never got when I was young (been a fair amount of years since I seen it); ET makes a mess, wears a dress and buggers off home. In Navigator the kid got to ride about on a spaceship, If I was the boy I would have sold ET to the FBI dudes. More trouble than he's worth that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 December, 2013, 08:32:36 AM
Withnail and I

A god amongst men. A truly hilarious comedy set to a distinctive back drop of class and great cinematography. Richard E. grant and Paul "IM BAAAACK!" McGann pull off some very memorable performances, say nothing of Richard Griffiths fantastic Uncle Monty. What a fantastic little film and i'm shocked it's taken so long for me to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 09:54:20 AM
A firm favourite in the family. One day I will attempt the drinking game....

Also ET may take a few liberties when he crashes at Elliott's but The Navigator kidnaps a small child, experiments on his brain, wipes his memory and returns him to Earth ten years after he was snatched, thus ruining his entire life and that of his family.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 10:04:12 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 09:54:20 AM
Also ET may take a few liberties when he crashes at Elliott's but The Navigator kidnaps a small child, experiments on his brain, wipes his memory and returns him to Earth ten years after he was snatched, thus ruining his entire life and that of his family.

It [spoiler]does all work out in the end[/spoiler], you know.  I like that the 'happy ending' of the film is actually the [spoiler]improved relationship between David and Jeff[/spoiler], rather than anything cosmic (man).   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 11 December, 2013, 10:35:56 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 09:54:20 AM
A firm favourite in the family. One day I will attempt the drinking game....

Also ET may take a few liberties when he crashes at Elliott's but The Navigator kidnaps a small child, experiments on his brain, wipes his memory and returns him to Earth ten years after he was snatched, thus ruining his entire life and that of his family.

What I wouldn't give to get away from my parents for ten years during my childhood, I knew there was something struck a chord with that movie  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 11:01:00 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 10:04:12 AM
It [spoiler]does all work out in the end[/spoiler], you know.  I like that the 'happy ending' of the film is actually the [spoiler]improved relationship between David and Jeff[/spoiler], rather than anything cosmic (man).

Aye but only because The Navigator ended up needing David again - if it hadn't crashed there would be [spoiler]no time travel. And what model of time travel is this? Maybe for David, it seems like he's right back at home. But really he's in an alternate timeline... and in the one he just left, a broken family weeps at seeing their boy returned only to disappear once more. [/spoiler]

I may be mostly joking. This and Short Circuit were my favourite kids movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 11:17:13 AM
Short Circuit is another one!  I dread to think how that may have aged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 11 December, 2013, 11:24:53 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 11:17:13 AM
Short Circuit is another one!  I dread to think how that may have aged.

Probably better than Short Circuit 2- so bad even Guttenberg bailed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 December, 2013, 11:42:01 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 11 December, 2013, 12:26:07 AM
12 Angry Men

Astonishing awe-inspiring film. Still shines as brightly as it did when I saw it seven years ago - and is even spellbinding at 56 years old. As a character drama you literally can't get bet, the principal cast don't even have names - and you spend 90 minutes or so in their company. Brilliant drama about morality, prejudice and personal doubt. Thank the gods we don't have a death sentence.

one of my old time favourite movies. It was one of the few films I actually bought on video when I got my first VCR back in the day and still gets dragged out every few years (or whenever I meet someone who's never seen it). There's a stage version on in the West End at the moment starring Martin Shaw and Robert Vaughan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 11:47:33 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 11 December, 2013, 11:24:53 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 11:17:13 AM
Short Circuit is another one!  I dread to think how that may have aged.

Probably better than Short Circuit 2- so bad even Guttenberg bailed.

But we need a hero (doo doo doooooo)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 12:09:31 PM
Continuing the list of child hood films that I fear to watch because of nostalgia and potential disappointment:

*batteries not included

If this film aged badly I'd be shattered.  Absolutely adored it in my youth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 12:14:27 PM
Flight of the Navigator is ace. Saw that at the ABC in Great Yarmouth. I hear a remake is on the cards.

Another favourite of mine was Batteries Not Included. Love those UFO aliens.

Goonies was always crap. I remember being quite disappointed after renting it from the video shop because it had a very Indiana Jones style cover but turned out to be noisy rubbish. I think its spiritual successor may have been Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - another film where kids shout ARRRRRRRGHHH for 90 Minutes.   

I loved Short Circuit and still have a soft spot for it. There are some great scenes where Number 5 is learning about the world - Need Input!
I love the bit where he disassembles Ally Sheedy's nasty boyfriend's car.

Other favourites as a child were The Last Starfighter (Death Blossom!), Back to the Future (obviously) and Gremlins (but this was a 15 so I wasn't able to watch it until it was out on video despite getting the official sticker album free with Buster comic).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 12:27:09 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 11:01:00 AM
I may be mostly joking. This and Short Circuit were my favourite kids movies.

I like the way you think!  I reckon this is 'proper' time travel, i.e. the type where loops once closed cease to be, there's only one timeline and the resulting paradox (David's knowledge of and actions caused by events that never happened) is left largely unaddressed.  The ones where alternate universes (i.e. the one David ends up in) are created in order to resolve paradoxes is just having your cake and eating it (although it's always struck me that the only workable form of time-travel would be one where an alternate universe is created as soon as you emerge in the past, that is to say, one with future-you in it).

Short Circuit is a grand little film, with Guttenberg and Sheedy at their most likeable (they were both likeable once, honestly), although Number 5's voice is a bit harsh on adult ears. Just imagine how terrible it would look now if Number 5 had been a CGI effect.  As it is he's a nice plausible prop, and that laser doohickey is very cool.

Short Circuit 2 is unspeakable.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 11 December, 2013, 12:30:46 PM
Ah, the Last Starfighter :-)
Santa is bringing me that on blu-ray soon. I still love it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 12:49:04 PM
The thing I really like about The Last Starfighter is that, although he wants to escape his ordinary life, the main character still has love and affection for the community he leaves behind and when he returns they are all ultimately nice supportive people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 02:27:13 PM
The Goonies

It's like I remember it.  It was kinda nice to be re-acquainted with this film and all it's silliness.  I was actually surprised how the shouting kids actually sound like proper kids.  Anyway, it was fine.

The Goonies is of course life changing.  When I saw it for the first time I went from a life without having seen The Goonies to a life of having seen The Goonies.  An amazing transformation  :lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 December, 2013, 02:48:31 PM
White House Down is an enjoyable enough piece of fluff. Beyond that, I don't have anything original to add, but neither did this movie.

If we're still talking about classic kids movies from the 80s that still stand up today, I'd like to put a word in for Labyrinth. Henson can do no wrong in my eyes, plus it has David Bowie. And I could see his willy.

Now i'm going to have Magic Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xAAGh-3sw0) stuck in my head all day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 03:03:16 PM
Labyrinth is fun but, as with most of Henson's big screen stuff, the story very much plays second fiddle to the awesome puppet and model work (and David Bowie's haircut).

I also saw this at the ABC in Great Yarmouth. It was the first film I was allowed to go to see at the cinema with a friend instead of being taken by a parent or my older brother. It was also the first day I ever saw the newly opened Great Yarmouth branch of McDonald's which was just opposite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 11 December, 2013, 03:18:46 PM
Granted I'm only 18, but the movies I watched when I was younger round my aunts were mainly from the eighties, due to them being left over from her kids! So I feel I should chip in:

The Goonies (screw y'all, I will always have a soft spot for it)
E.T
Short Circuit
Star Wars (of course! She ended up giving me the old vhs tapes I used to watch round there when I was even tinier, so I dug out the video player, and of course, these AREN'T THE SPECIAL EDITIONS! NO CGI!)

And now into stranger territory, not exactly kids films, but films I watched when I was a kid that were from around the same period!
Dune (I remember not understanding anything, just being in awe of all the cool stuff happening! And then when I was older, I found out one of my favourite films as a child was directed by the same man who directed one of my favourite movies now, which is Eraserhead. To say I was scarred is an understatement.)
Die Hard 3
Rocky 4

Never did see Back to The Future when I was younger, but I got to see an anniversary screening of the restored version at my local odeon. What a way to see it for the first time!

Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 03:31:44 PM
I have watched Labyrinth a few times as an adult but the better re-acquaintance I had was with Dark Crystal.  It's just astonishing with amazing design work.

I saw Die Hard with a Vengeance at the cinema when I was 12.  Judging by the release date it might have been a birthday treat and I do remember seeing it with my Mum in tow.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's still my favourite Die Hard film (I saw 4.0 which stunk and just can't be bother with the recent pay-cheque-for-Mr-Willis).  Although it wasn't an 80's film, it was released in '95.

I watched all three BttF films a few months back.  Thoroughly enjoyed them, especially the second one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 03:51:04 PM
In my world there's only one 'Back to the Future' film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 04:08:06 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 03:51:04 PM
In my world there's only one 'Back to the Future' film.

I hope you mean BtF2.  The best of a fun bunch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 04:13:10 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 04:08:06 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 03:51:04 PM
In my world there's only one 'Back to the Future' film.

I hope you mean BtF2.  The best of a fun bunch.

Nope!

The last couple of times I've tried to watch Back to the Future 2 I've actually struggled to make it to the end.
I don't think it stands up nearly as well as the near-perfect first film.
The whole sequence where we see the future McFly family (all played by MJF) seems to go on forever and the whole thing about the almanac gets annoying.
The original is a very focused film but the sequels seem to meander about all over the place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 December, 2013, 05:24:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 03:31:44 PM
I have watched Labyrinth a few times as an adult but the better re-acquaintance I had was with Dark Crystal.

Fair enough, I just prefer David Bowie to Steve Tyler.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 December, 2013, 05:31:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 04:13:10 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2013, 04:08:06 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 03:51:04 PM
In my world there's only one 'Back to the Future' film.

I hope you mean BtF2.  The best of a fun bunch.

Nope!

The last couple of times I've tried to watch Back to the Future 2 I've actually struggled to make it to the end.
I don't think it stands up nearly as well as the near-perfect first film.
The whole sequence where we see the future McFly family (all played by MJF) seems to go on forever and the whole thing about the almanac gets annoying.
The original is a very focused film but the sequels seem to meander about all over the place.

Agreed. The first is an almost perfectly constructed and executed movie. The sequels, though great and worthwhile, are nowhere near as good imo.

As for The Goonies, I have a lot of affection for it but admit that these days it's a bit of a tough sit - and if you didn't love it as a kid, you'll likely not get along with it now. It certainly doesn't stand up as well as other films of its vintage, such as Ghostbusters or Gremlins. The shoutiness is indeed irritating, and the sound mixing is dreadful - characters talk over each other all the time and while this lends it an air of authenticity, it also makes it a bit hard to hear what is being said at any given moment.

I was in the Pacific Northwest earlier in the year, and of course took the opportunity to visit Astoria where the 'Goonies House' is, and also the nearby Cannon Beach, with its enormous, monolithic rock seen at the beginning and end of the film, and also the Ecola State Park where a lot of filming was done (there's a beach here that also appears in Point Break). Kind of surreal seeing and walking through the often mundane reality of these places that seemed so faraway and exotic when you're a kid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2013, 06:49:57 PM
All this talk of classic kids films of the 80s got me thinking about classic British children's films.

I can't really think of any from this period. Tarka The Otter was good but I think that was 70s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 December, 2013, 11:35:01 PM
Time Bandits, The Plague Dogs, Dark Crystal (though feels American due to the Muppets I guess), err Way the Wind Blows

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: willthemightyW on 12 December, 2013, 12:17:18 AM
Not to break up the conversation, but I just watched michelangelo antonioni's Blow-Up

To say this film is interesting is an under-statement, however, to say I liked it might be jumping the gun. It will require a second watch for sure, after-all Mulholland Drive is now one of my favourite films and I was completely indifferent towards it the first time I saw it (in a few ways these films are similar). One thing I am sure of is that David Hemmings gave a brilliant performance as the photographer. I think I went in expecting a mystery/thriller with tinges of the surreal, and got what is a nicely shot ponderance on the perception of reality. That, of course, is no bad thing, and I have not been put off of the film at all, I think I just need to watch it again to really make my mind up.
What are everyone's thoughts on this film?

Cheers,
Will
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 12 December, 2013, 12:35:42 AM
Been a while since I last saw Blow Up but I went into it with no expectations and thoroughly enjoyed it. It really drew me in and as you say David Hemmings puts in a great turn. Got a hankering to rewatch it now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 December, 2013, 03:40:31 PM
It's 90s (just) rather than 80s and like the Harry Potter films a British-made production though bankrolled by Warners, but I still love Nic Roeg's The Witches (I recently blew a friend's mind by telling him that the guy who directed Performance and The Man Who Fell To Earth also made The Witches!). Still my favourite Dahl adaptation, and shares the Jim Henson Connection with Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. The Grand High Witch is one of the most fantastic and effective bits of makeup and prosthetics I've ever seen in a movie. A film that rides the line of being 'scary but not too scary for kids' incredibly well and holds up really well 20+ years later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 December, 2013, 03:44:34 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 11 December, 2013, 05:24:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 December, 2013, 03:31:44 PM
I have watched Labyrinth a few times as an adult but the better re-acquaintance I had was with Dark Crystal.

Fair enough, I just prefer David Bowie to Steve Tyler.

Hahahhahaha!!!  It took me a while to get that!   :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 December, 2013, 04:33:29 PM
Philomena!

Yes, really.

Really surprised myself with this.

Very affecting story and excellent performances from Judie Dench and Steve Coogan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 December, 2013, 11:47:58 PM
Flight of the Navigator

This was actually a disappointment to watch.  I remember it being a lot better.

I remembered another 80's children's film that I enjoyed in my youth.  Return to Oz.  I have recently seen this film.  It wasn't entirely like I remembered it from my childhood, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 13 December, 2013, 12:13:33 AM
The Fifth Element - which I treated myself to on blu-ray a while ago.

Love this movie! It's the very pinnacle of 'daft fun'. It also conjures up some fun memories of snuggling up on a bean bag with a young lady to watch it at home, back in the day. Ahh, nostalgia!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 December, 2013, 04:13:53 PM
I luuurrrve the Fifth Element. It's probably the closest mainstream cinema has ever got to portraying the wild inventiveness French comics - Moebiustastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 13 December, 2013, 04:46:43 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 December, 2013, 03:40:31 PM
It's 90s (just) rather than 80s and like the Harry Potter films a British-made production though bankrolled by Warners, but I still love Nic Roeg's The Witches (I recently blew a friend's mind by telling him that the guy who directed Performance and The Man Who Fell To Earth also made The Witches!). Still my favourite Dahl adaptation, and shares the Jim Henson Connection with Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. The Grand High Witch is one of the most fantastic and effective bits of makeup and prosthetics I've ever seen in a movie. A film that rides the line of being 'scary but not too scary for kids' incredibly well and holds up really well 20+ years later.


Yes, The Witches is a great film. The only shame about it was the cop out at the end of not going with the original version from the book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 December, 2013, 04:49:29 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 December, 2013, 04:13:53 PM
I luuurrrve the Fifth Element. It's probably the closest mainstream cinema has ever got to portraying the wild inventiveness French comics - Moebiustastic.

^This.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 December, 2013, 05:12:02 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 13 December, 2013, 04:46:43 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 December, 2013, 03:40:31 PM
It's 90s (just) rather than 80s and like the Harry Potter films a British-made production though bankrolled by Warners, but I still love Nic Roeg's The Witches (I recently blew a friend's mind by telling him that the guy who directed Performance and The Man Who Fell To Earth also made The Witches!). Still my favourite Dahl adaptation, and shares the Jim Henson Connection with Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. The Grand High Witch is one of the most fantastic and effective bits of makeup and prosthetics I've ever seen in a movie. A film that rides the line of being 'scary but not too scary for kids' incredibly well and holds up really well 20+ years later.

Yes, The Witches is a great film. The only shame about it was the cop out at the end of not going with the original version from the book.
I was just about to say that. It's a near perfect little film, but that ending takes away all the heart of the final scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 December, 2013, 04:14:03 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 December, 2013, 04:13:53 PM
I luuurrrve the Fifth Element. It's probably the closest mainstream cinema has ever got to portraying the wild inventiveness French comics - Moebiustastic.

We can close the book on this one. The Fantastic Mister Fox has said all that needs be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 14 December, 2013, 07:19:54 AM
The Rocketeer


The Disney classic that never really had the success it deserved. If you have kids be sure to pick this one up. Just as good as I remember it being when I first saw it on VHS. The special effects have aged quite well, and it has one of the best scores I have heard in recent memory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 December, 2013, 11:01:11 AM
The Rocker who?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 December, 2013, 08:23:18 PM
Die Hard 5: A Good Day to Die Hard. An unmitigated stream of burning, bullet-riddled drivel from start to finish. A Good Day to Call it a Die, I think...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 03:12:37 PM
Walking With Dinosaurs 3D.  Never felt quite so much like I'd taken a trip to the late Cretaceous, visually and even thematically speaking, with a decent range of gorgeously animated dinos on a series of herd migrations and leadership contests forming the plot insofar as it has one.  Gorgo makes a long-awaited return to cinema screens as some lean, lightning-fast hunters, and feathered Troodons look convincing for the first time.

I did however have to switch off my ears to achieve this immersion. 

I'm not quite sure why anyone decided that annoying High School kids bickering was the way to go for a photo-real Plaeozoic adventure, as a modern-day framing device had already  provided us with a mystical narrator who could have explained the action, and the Pachyrhinosaurs had plenty of characterful animation that would have easily carried a third-party voiceover.  But no, we get the characters making references to Ninjas and crushes and lions, joking about the pronunciation of dinosaur names and being 'blown forward to the Stone Age' etc. 

Look, this is unashamedly a little kids' film in the Disney Nature tradition, with completely bloodless violence (even when getting savaged by multiple Gorgosaurs) and unless you count insects I think there's only one on-screen death, in the form of a passing pterosaur.  But I do wonder why they felt the need to add to the understandable anthropomorphism by giving it a voice-track straight out of the poorer Ice Age movies.  I found it particularly annoying when the tension of most of the dramatic scenes is completely undercut, and the sound effects drowned out, by sarcastic bro-banter - and this includes some pretty amazing set-pieces, such as Patchy's doomed Dad fighting multiple Gorgos in a burning forest, and a neat river-rapids sequence.  This certainly mutes any sense of peril for the smaller kids, and my 4-year old didn't get scared once - which may be the aim, but is also sort of sad.

If we're going to embrace anachronisms, then I also have issues with the very modern sexism here.  The female lead is a pale dino with a pink tinge to her skin and big blue eyes, and has no other role but to get injured, lag behind, and be the completely submissive love interest of rival brothers.  The only other female character is Patchy's mother who just gets lost during a forest fire and is never mentioned again.  Yes, these are dinosaurs not people, but if you think people can suspend belief to accommodate a magical dino-tooth, a friendship between an apparently immortal and omniscient Alexornis and a Pachyrhinosaur, and a group of dinosaurs admiring the Aurora Borealis (and what I think was the Larger Megallanic Cloud in the Alaskan sky), then you can probably get away with at least one developed female character.

All that said, my kids really enjoyed it, which was the point, and if I'm honest so did I.  The Cretaceous visuals are the best I've ever seen, the 3D works well and the story is satisfying.  I just think the voice-track could have been a little less full-on, and at least tried not to be so pointedly anachronistic as to make it feel like you're watching two separate films.

Also: bonus Karl Urban looking all rugged and outdoorsy as he presumably gets ready for Cursed Earth adventures in Dredd 2.

I should probably mention the real highlight of the cinema trip: a breathtaking trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2, which was literally nothing but minutes-long sequence of everyone's favourite bonded cyborgs Toothless and Hiccup swooping through the clouds, an advert as confident of the raw charm of what it is selling as anything I've ever seen.  And boy did it work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 December, 2013, 03:32:21 PM
Saw two films yesterday.

American Hot Babes and Blade Runner.

American Hot Babes was a silly comedy about two guys that get transported to another dimension which is like a real life porno movie. It had some message about real love being better than porn but it felt a bit half hearted. It was silly fun to watch with a mate over a couple of beers.

Blade Runner was as good as ever. I really like this films but one thing I never really understand is why the Blade Runner at the beginning is doing Voight Kampff tests on all of the employees at the Tyrell corporation when they have photographs of all the replicants they're actually looking for. I think this could be explained with a bit of creative thinking but I don't think there's anything in the film to tell us why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 December, 2013, 03:35:07 PM
I can't bring myself to watch that Walking with Dinosaurs film. How can one of the best paleoecology shows of all time be treated with such disrespect! :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 15 December, 2013, 04:06:40 PM
Eyes Wide Shut

I've been a huge Kubrick fan for a long time but because of the subject matter (Tom Cruise being in it probably didn't help) I've never bothered watching it until now. Turns out I've been missing out this whole time. This film is amazing. Both in story and from a technical standpoint. The way that suspense is built, particularly in the party scene is incredible. The musical score is perfect for the film. And the way the two main leads play off each others emotions is wonderful. For whatever reason, having at the time a big name couple like Tom and Nicole put me off watching the film, and yet after seeing it I don't think it would have worked as well without the real life chemistry between them.

If you are a fan of Kubrick films and have yet to see this, I do encourage you to give it a try. Especially when it can be picked up for such a cheap price. The only thing I will say is wait 'til the kids are in bed before you watch this. While it's not what you would call pornographic there is A LOT of nudity and a couple of sex scenes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 05:19:35 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 December, 2013, 03:35:07 PM
I can't bring myself to watch that Walking with Dinosaurs film. How can one of the best paleoecology shows of all time be treated with such disrespect! :'(

I'm sort of hoping there'll be a DVD option without the voice track, sort of like M*A*S*H without the laughter track or Blade Runner without Sigue Sigue Sputnik Ford's voiceover, because the landscapes and dinos themselves are fantastic, and there's nothing (very much) in the sequence of events that'd be out of place in a nature documentary.   As it is, the product-as-screened is for small kids, and it certainly seemed to be very good at that level.  I was at a preview screening that was wall-to-wall kids and it held everyone's attention - no running about or throwing stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 December, 2013, 08:52:39 PM
Fred Claus.

An enjoyable piece of schmaltz that brought a tear to the eye when they saved Christmas at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 December, 2013, 08:54:10 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 December, 2013, 08:52:39 PM
Fred Claus.

An enjoyable piece of schmaltz that brought a tear to the eye when they saved Christmas at the end.

Yep that is one of films that freak me out if I were a kid watch that, cos too many actors heads add on elf bodies! weird!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 09:18:30 PM
Man of Steel

Like the start, and the reworking of the basic story, but it quickly descended into the predictable and flashy.  The CG in the fight scene was a bit shoddy, but overall, an enjoyable enough romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 December, 2013, 10:13:43 PM
Hm.

But[spoiler] Superman lets his dad die and then undermines that whole sacrifice in the end anyway to become Superman! Rargh.[/spoiler]

Watched Wreck It Ralph. Fun, loved the animation, bit underwhelmed by the characters and the story in the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 10:38:25 PM
Aye, but while he can do many things, he can't tell the future!  What worked when he was young clearly wouldn't later on.  Not defending it greatly....just sayin'.  I don't think it was really a film for any kind of actual thought to be applied.  Bubble gum for the brain, and VFX for the vision. Nothing more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 December, 2013, 10:44:16 PM
The Hobbit Part 2: Enter the Dragon.
Bloody awesome. I don't care how it is different from the book. I don't care that they introduced fictional characters into a work of fiction. It was a hell of a ride from start to finish, and I cannot wait until the next one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 10:48:50 PM
Battle Los Angeles.  Well, watching it currently.  It's not as bad as I'd been led to believe.   Eckhart's dimpled chin is pretty good in it, and aside from the endless Hoo-Rah Marines! bollocksology it's not really a bad action flick. At least all their honouring-the-fallen and retreat-helling is undermined by their monumental incompetence.  As always with SF stuff I do wish someone would spend 5 bloody minutes thinking about the 'S' element, or failing that some internal logic to their daft premise. 

I particularly love how [spoiler]identifying the aliens' secret weakness as "shoot them in the chest" turns them from unkillable armoured terminators to instakill cannon fodder[/spoiler].

Anyway, I've seen a lot worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 10:49:40 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 December, 2013, 10:44:16 PM
The Hobbit Part 2: Enter the Dragon.
Bloody awesome. I don't care how it is different from the book. I don't care that they introduced fictional characters into a work of fiction. It was a hell of a ride from start to finish, and I cannot wait until the next one.

You give me courage. 

Booking tickets for Thursday, excited as only an idiot can be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 10:53:26 PM
You know, I was thinking the same thing as Michelle Rodriguez cries 'they're going down like bowling pins' while they mowed them down in an armoured car.  I assume that was the only armoured car on the planet or maybe they wouldn't have just had their arses kicked.  It's a terrible film though, way too 'hoo-rah' in the direction, the music is intrusive and distracting, the characters are cardboard, the aliens are straight out a 50's 'b' movie, and the sentimentality is overwhelming.  Having said that, it is well paced, even if pointless. 

Plus, there's no tits in it. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 11:00:35 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 10:53:26 PMIt's a terrible film though, way too 'hoo-rah' in the direction, the music is intrusive and distracting, the characters are cardboard, the aliens are straight out a 50's 'b' movie, and the sentimentality is overwhelming. 

All this is true, but it has a lot of nice explosions and the urban setting and even the ghastly camera work has some vague charm.  The wife came in from work earlier and thought I'd bought a new Call of Duty game, which more or less sums it up.

If only the aliens had left their C&C units in orbit, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 11:02:15 PM
Now just you stop applying sense to this shitty script right there or you're gonna ruin it for me, lol!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 December, 2013, 11:14:37 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 15 December, 2013, 10:38:25 PM
Aye, but while he can do many things, he can't tell the future!  What worked when he was young clearly wouldn't later on.  Not defending it greatly....just sayin'.

Except it wasn't working when he was young, which is why he went hobo for a decade.
I have come around a little on the portrayal of the film's central character, as Kevin Costner's Johnathan Kent is a small-minded xenophobe concerned only with his own small part of the world and whose attitude is that helping other people is inherently wrong unless it comes with some kind of recompense to balance out the expenditure of risk (exposure) - thus he is a perfect example of modern American values, which is not the radical democracy of its founding fathers, nor is it the optimistic postwar work-in-progress where "the Dream" seemed real again and someone like the Golden Age Superman could capture the imagination, it's the greedy, hysterical plutocracy of the Tea Party and the Superman of Man Of Steel is a perfect example of their idea of a hero: a thoughtless, violent, might-is-right thug who neither deserves or understands the power that he wields with indifference to its effects upon the Little People.
Man Of Steel's problem isn't that it's a poor version of Superman, it's that it's a perfect version of Superman for the age we live in.

Still a shit film, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2013, 11:25:31 PM
Professor Bear movie insights remain a highlight of the internet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2013, 11:29:58 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 December, 2013, 11:14:37 PM
a thoughtless, violent, might-is-right thug who neither deserves or understands the power that he wields with indifference to its effects upon the Little People. Man Of Steel's problem isn't that it's a poor version of Superman, it's that it's a perfect version of Superman for the age we live in.


Frank Miller did it 30 years ago. Nothing's changed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 December, 2013, 08:15:10 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 December, 2013, 11:29:58 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 December, 2013, 11:14:37 PM
a thoughtless, violent, might-is-right thug who neither deserves or understands the power that he wields with indifference to its effects upon the Little People. Man Of Steel's problem isn't that it's a poor version of Superman, it's that it's a perfect version of Superman for the age we live in.


Frank Miller did it 30 years ago. Nothing's changed.

But you were supposed to think that that version of Superman was a dick - and to cheer on Batman when he beat him up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 December, 2013, 08:40:26 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 December, 2013, 08:15:10 AMBut you were supposed to think that that version of Superman was a dick - and to cheer on Batman when he beat him up.


That's the next film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 December, 2013, 11:21:14 AM
It makes me so disappointed whenever I think of the injustice done to Pa Kent.

I suppose one of the things that makes Superman special to me is the idea that "Do good to others and everyman can be a superman" - and that ultimately what makes Superman a hero isn't his space-dad's mission of imperialist moral superiority but his adopted family's straightforward acceptance, love, compassion and support.

The animated series got it pretty perfectly, as always. Hell Lois and Clark got it right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 December, 2013, 11:43:26 AM
Yeah, that is Superman's essence for me: he's not a good egg because he's near-omnipotent and beats up baddies,  he's a good egg despite being near-omnipotent and beating-up baddies.  It's his everyday decency and morality that makes him Superman, and that comes from the Kents, not from Krypton.  Even Mark Millar and the Crash Test Dummies got that bit right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 December, 2013, 12:28:46 PM
I think Man of Steel did convey some of that but it is a bit of a mess.  I never got the small-minded xenophobe vibe that some people did of Jonathan Kent.  He tells Clarke several times that he needs to be careful of the damage his powers could cause and the reaction (mostly fear) that people will have when they learn of him.

The real problem is that last part of the film where Superman seems to ignore all that, level Metropolis and off Zod. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 01:42:39 PM
I had no desire to watch Man of Steel initially for one reason:  Zack Snyder

Dawn of the Dead was ultimately unimpressive. 
300 had no redeeming attribute.
Watchmen was an appalling adaptation that spent a lot of time looking right but absolutely no time feeling right.

After that I heard that Sucker Punch was a mess of a film at best and offensively misogynistic at worst.  I've not seen it so I can't make a personal comment.

So that was my main reason for not wanting to see Man of Steel, but you guys (gawd bless ya) seem to have given me additional reasons.  I should probably add that I'm not a fan of Superman so I am inclined towards disinterest anyway.

Hopefully I will have some time to watch a film tonight.  I am thinking of either Howl's Moving Castle or Paprika.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dudley on 16 December, 2013, 01:44:11 PM
Paprika is really quite weird. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 December, 2013, 02:06:19 PM
Howls Moving castle is a good movie- we like Ghibli in the Bolt-cave.

Watched the Lone Ranger last night and really enjoyed it despite itself. Nowhere near as bad as I was scared it would be and it looked beautiful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 02:59:55 PM
I like weird and I enjoyed Paprika :D

I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle yet but I am a fan of Studio Ghibli but have only seen just half of their films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 16 December, 2013, 03:05:06 PM
If you've seen Paprika and not HMC then I'd say go for what you don't know!

Bonus Fact: The amazing Diana Wynne Jones wot wrote Howl's Moving Castle lived next door to us. Well - would of if we had moved in a year before we did and she hadn't died.

Bonus bonus fact: When my Geoffery met Neil Gaiman (a close friend of Wynne Jones) he said he had been past our gaff many a time. So there's always a chance he'll show up and have some tea.

Possibly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 December, 2013, 03:46:07 PM
Howls is a classic. Great source material coupled with a wonderfully imaginative adaptation. One of the animes I'd go for the dubbed version too! Actually that includes most Ghibli movies now that I think of it, they get a great cast. Princess Mononoke is a firm favourite too. The movie that helped create Studio Ghibli is possibly my favourite work though; Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind - not least because Patrick Stewart voices the best swordsman in the land. It makes a nice accompaniment to Princess M too, very similar themes approached from different directions.

Porco Russo is ok and has some great scenes but doesn't hang together as well as the rest. Similarly Castle Cogliostro (which features infamous French superthief Lupin) is a bit of pulpy fun, though again not forming the beautiful fairy tales of Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle.

Yet to see Paprika. Sitting on my hard drive waiting for the mood to strike.

Quote from: Recrewt on 16 December, 2013, 12:28:46 PM
I think Man of Steel did convey some of that but it is a bit of a mess.  I never got the small-minded xenophobe vibe that some people did of Jonathan Kent.  He tells Clarke several times that he needs to be careful of the damage his powers could cause and the reaction (mostly fear) that people will have when they learn of him.

The real problem is that last part of the film where Superman seems to ignore all that, level Metropolis and off Zod.

Well I didn't like that but I am not so against killing Zod. I actually quite liked it when Byrne did it so long ago, so though that bit wasn't very well done (and the collateral damage is ridiculous) it wasn't too bad. However I am against any time Pa Kent tells Clark that he should have let a bus full of children die. And any time Clark lets his dad die.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 December, 2013, 03:52:46 PM
CFM- Gutted to hear Jones has died- Nano-Bolt & I only read the first Howl book recently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: LorcanQ on 16 December, 2013, 04:32:30 PM
just watched The Dirties which is an indie found-footage style film about 2 bullied high school kids who plan a school shooting. i thought it was fantastic. The acting by the lead was amazing and the story is both quirky and disturbing. on top of that, the depictions of bullying, ever so slight are still very effective and make you really feel for the characters. By the end, it even finishes quickly enough so as to not feel in any way sensational, its not about a school shooting, its about the events leading up to one and the lead characters obsession with movies to blur his understanding of what is real and what isnt. Id highly recommend. I dont think the dvd has been released yet but its easy enough to find online if you look around.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 December, 2013, 04:33:06 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 December, 2013, 03:46:07 PM
Well I didn't like that but I am not so against killing Zod.

And is oft remarked, he did it the first time too.  I suspect it is the means that actually annoy - snapping somebody's neck is inherently more real-world brutal for a supposed hero than is dismissively pushing a defeated villain into a crack in the floor of your ice-fortress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 December, 2013, 05:08:41 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 December, 2013, 03:46:07 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 16 December, 2013, 12:28:46 PM
I think Man of Steel did convey some of that but it is a bit of a mess.  I never got the small-minded xenophobe vibe that some people did of Jonathan Kent.  He tells Clarke several times that he needs to be careful of the damage his powers could cause and the reaction (mostly fear) that people will have when they learn of him.

The real problem is that last part of the film where Superman seems to ignore all that, level Metropolis and off Zod.

Well I didn't like that but I am not so against killing Zod. I actually quite liked it when Byrne did it so long ago, so though that bit wasn't very well done (and the collateral damage is ridiculous) it wasn't too bad. However I am against any time Pa Kent tells Clark that he should have let a bus full of children die. And any time Clark lets his dad die.

I know some folks were really upset because they didn't get 'Saint Jonathan' in the movie but I just saw it as a man who was trying to protect his son.  Clarke goes off and saves that bus and it's afterwards he has the talk with Jonathan who says 'maybe' when Clarke asks if he should have done nothing.  I personally never found that 'maybe' to be very strong i.e. Jonathan knows it was right but ultimately doesn't want Clarke to start running around doing all manner of superhero things when he is still just a kid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 16 December, 2013, 05:31:51 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 December, 2013, 04:33:06 PM
dismissively pushing a defeated villain into a crack in the floor of your ice-fortress.

And standing by while two other people fall to their deaths, don't forget those deaths ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 16 December, 2013, 05:37:44 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 16 December, 2013, 02:06:19 PM
Watched the Lone Ranger last night and really enjoyed it despite itself. Nowhere near as bad as I was scared it would be and it looked beautiful.

I think the last movie I know to have failed sooo dramatically was Kevin Costner's Waterworld. And it wasn't half as bad as people made out, either...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 December, 2013, 05:43:16 PM
Howls Moving Castle is a modern masterpiece. That is all for today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 07:47:03 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 December, 2013, 03:46:07 PM
Princess Mononoke is a firm favourite too. The movie that helped create Studio Ghibli is possibly my favourite work though; Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind - not least because Patrick Stewart voices the best swordsman in the land. It makes a nice accompaniment to Princess M too, very similar themes approached from different directions.

I totally agree.  I love both those films.  Nausicaa is a fantastic character with strong will and an endearingly compassionate heart that demonstrates, to me at least, how to do strong, action heroines.

Princess Mononoke is purely stunning.  I love the story and the moral ambiguities presented.  There is no clear cut right or wrong presented in this film that gives it a depth and maturity.  The animation is superb also.

I enjoyed Porco Rosso.  It was a very different sort of story told quite well.  Not the best but quality.

Grave of the Fireflies is just heartbreakingly sad.  I've had it on DVD for years but only seen it once as it is far from cheery and can be difficult to watch.

I'm going to watch Howl's Moving castle because it's the one I haven't seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 16 December, 2013, 09:30:29 PM
I think I ruined Nausicaa a bit for myself by having read the (superb) manga first, which outclassed it in scope and scale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 December, 2013, 09:51:25 PM
The nausicaa manga is just amazing. The film is good, but it pales in comparison. Mononoke is a stone classic as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin MacNeil on 17 December, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
Behold! THE greatest movie of ALL time!

The Wizard of Speed and Time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldOTw60Ozg

Enjoy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 17 December, 2013, 12:33:56 AM
Quote from: Colin MacNeil on 17 December, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
Behold! THE greatest movie of ALL time!

The Wizard of Speed and Time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldOTw60Ozg

Enjoy!


I remember the trailer for this when it was released and it still amazes me that it ever got made. Old-school satirical and technical insanity.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 17 December, 2013, 02:37:29 AM
Daemonium: Hanya Shibari

3rd installment of an Argentinean series. Post apocalyptic South American setting. Demons, magic, guns, martial arts. Multiple male & female characters,

Really enjoying this series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 December, 2013, 09:22:42 AM
Quote from: Colin MacNeil on 17 December, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
Behold! THE greatest movie of ALL time!

The Wizard of Speed and Time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldOTw60Ozg

Enjoy!

Never seen this before, and just finished watching the whole thing.  Absolutely brilliant, so much fun.  Thanks, Colin!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 December, 2013, 10:33:24 AM
Howl's Moving Castle

Very good film.  To be expected, really.  Fun and entertaining with quality animation (although maybe not as stunning as a couple of previous Ghibli films).  I liked the ideas and designs and thoroughly enjoyed the film.  Nevertheless something very basic did not click for me - I think it was to do with the general theme of the story - so I won't be rating this as being better than other Ghibli films I've seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 December, 2013, 11:03:07 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 07:47:03 PM
Grave of the Fireflies is just heartbreakingly sad.  I've had it on DVD for years but only seen it once as it is far from cheery and can be difficult to watch.

Never rewatched. It's just too sad for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 December, 2013, 11:07:44 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 17 December, 2013, 11:03:07 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 07:47:03 PM
Grave of the Fireflies is just heartbreakingly sad.  I've had it on DVD for years but only seen it once as it is far from cheery and can be difficult to watch.

Never rewatched. It's just too sad for me.

Oh god, that film.  :'(  I also have it on DVD, and cannot bring myself to watch it again.  The kids keep asking if they can see it, but I refuse - they're just too young for such distress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 December, 2013, 11:34:53 AM
Watched it once. Not again for some time. As you have all pointed out, it's almost like all the joy from every other Ghibli film had to be counter balanced by one, solid block of saddness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 December, 2013, 11:57:10 AM
bloody hell just read the synopsis for Grave of the Fireflies, that is rather grim innit?

Merry Christmas Kiddies!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 December, 2013, 12:17:52 PM
It seems like a challenge now.  Watch Grave of the Fireflies twice. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 17 December, 2013, 12:27:48 PM
I watched that recently for the first (and probably only tbh) time. It's a good story, but really grim. Reminds me of When the wind blows thematically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 December, 2013, 12:52:15 PM
Ah god. Saw a clip of when they get into the bags under their pathetic little shelter and it made me so sad and afraid all over again.

Both are great and deserve to be watched, if the world was a happier place I think it would be possible to watch again and again.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 December, 2013, 04:53:46 PM
I missed responses to my having watched The Adventures Of Jovovich In Space - or 'The Fifth Elemnt', as the rest of humanity calls it.

Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 December, 2013, 04:13:53 PM
I luuurrrve the Fifth Element. It's probably the closest mainstream cinema has ever got to portraying the wild inventiveness French comics - Moebiustastic.

I just like it coz it's crazy bonkers barmy! Loads of really neat stuff in there, from the bizarro Mondoshawan aliens to the all-filter cigarettes Bruce Willis smokes. The humour is genuinely funny, too, when characters like Ruby Rod could EASILY tip it over the precipice into the realms of irritating.

The costumes are brilliant too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2013, 05:16:38 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 17 December, 2013, 11:07:44 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 17 December, 2013, 11:03:07 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 December, 2013, 07:47:03 PM
Grave of the Fireflies is just heartbreakingly sad.  I've had it on DVD for years but only seen it once as it is far from cheery and can be difficult to watch.

Never rewatched. It's just too sad for me.

Oh god, that film.  :'(  I also have it on DVD, and cannot bring myself to watch it again.  The kids keep asking if they can see it, but I refuse - they're just too young for such distress.

I found Arietty much, much more depressing than Grave of the Fireflies, because it offered no hope for the future, it just told its audience that some things can't be changed so why fight the inevitable?  Why try?
I wouldn't underestimate kids where Grave of the Fireflies is concerned, either, as I've inflicted the film on several younger relatives already and they all enjoyed it.  Younger ones seem to appreciate the poignancy to the two characters being united at the very end and looking out over the lights of modern-day Tokyo, which makes me think that they get the message about the power and importance of hope even if us cynical adults see only a film about some dead kids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 21 December, 2013, 03:42:20 AM
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen.

I never had the chance to watch this growing up. A great adventure for the whole family. I've been a fan of Terry Gilliams work for a long time. And this does not disappoint. There are alot of epic shots as well as some very memorable scenes (including the introduction of Uma Thurman) If you want a good movie you can sit down and watch with the kids, but find the Goonies too shouty and annoying, give this a try instead. A lot of the humor is aimed at adults as well as kids (such as the "feet tickling" scene)

I don't know why It has taken me so long to get around to watching this, but I'm very glad I finally did. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 December, 2013, 08:03:00 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 21 December, 2013, 03:42:20 AMIf you want a good movie you can sit down and watch with the kids, but find the Goonies too shouty and annoying, give this a try instead.

Yeah, it really is a good'un.  One of those films that seemed to be on TV almost before it was out of the cinema, that I started into watching some afternoon on the understanding that it was a ghastly flop - and then was completely won over by it.  Absolutely beautiful to look at, warm and funny throughout. Thanks for the reminder GC, don't know why I haven't watched it in so long, but really must remedy that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 December, 2013, 01:29:17 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 21 December, 2013, 03:42:20 AM
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen.

I don't know why It has taken me so long to get around to watching this, but I'm very glad I finally did.

I love this film. I think it went over a lot of peoples heads. At least the people I know don't seem to like it. More fools them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 December, 2013, 03:12:18 PM
This all reminds me that I've never seen Baron Munchausen. I guess I should remedy that as I do love The Fisher King.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 December, 2013, 03:18:05 PM
Kick Ass 2.

Good film, but suffers the usual sequel issues.  To make it work, they pretty much ignore a lot of the elements of the first film, not to mention elements of it's self.  For example, [spoiler]in the big showdown at the end, all the superheroes and supervillains meet up...and no one brings any guns?? I mean, hit girl still has a room entirely PACKED with uber deadly firearms, so why bring only 2 pistols to the big showdown? 2 Pistols that she gets taken from her almost immediately I should mention.[/spoiler]  Other than that?  A fun movie, just not quite as good as the first.  [spoiler]Although the way it ends, holds a lot of promise for the third one[/spoiler]!  Oh, and Jim Carrey was brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2013, 03:52:42 PM
I hated the first Kick Ass movie, loathed the first two comic runs and no amount of persuasion can convinae me to give anything bearing the name a try.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 December, 2013, 04:04:01 PM
To each their own!  If we all liked the same shit we'd have fuck all to discuss that wouldn't be ....pointless. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2013, 04:08:00 PM
I wasn't having a go at you for likening them Ghosty. Just my five pence. Someone has to enjoy them so I don't have to!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 December, 2013, 04:09:12 PM
I know dude, just sayin', it'd be a dull world if everyone agreed all the damn time! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 December, 2013, 08:40:14 PM
I completely agree.




By the by, Baron Munchausen is a great film and a wonderful accompaniment to Time Bandits and Brazil.  Brazil is my favourite of the three.  Bleak dystopia, dark humour and wonderful set designs pushes all my buttons.   ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 21 December, 2013, 08:56:21 PM
Metropolis

It's been three days since I watched this stunning film, and I  cannot get it out of my head!  The imagery, the music, my god - what music! And the themes which run through it - have seared themselves on my mind.

The film is not the Fritz Lang version, but an anime film directed by Rintaro , and written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and is based on the original works of the late Osamu Tezuku, who is regarded as the godfather of Japanese Anime.

The story is set in a futuristic city, where tall towers overlook a city which is very similar to Fritz Lang's vision melded with Blade Runner. There are several layers to the city called 'Zones', with the lowest being populated by robots who do the works which humans do not want. And there's a robot human divide with the humans very critical towards their artificial counterparts who they blame for taking their jobs. In this vast dystopia, a private detective Shansaku Ban, and his nephew Kenichi, arrive to investigate the works of a scientist Dr. Laughton,  who is on the eve of creating a super robot; Tima - a girl modelled on the dead daughter of the city's unofficial leader, Duke Red. He wants the robot to be a replacement for the daughter he lost (and ultimately become ruler of Metropolis), but his son Rock (who we learn early is adopted) does not take to the idea lightly and goes about trying to stop the scientist finishing his creation. But Tima, along with the detective's nephew, escape into the underbelly of the city. They come across human insurgents who want to overthrow the rule of Duke Red but at the same time Rock is hot on their trail.

The animation is truly exquisite, a blend of CGI and traditional cel animation. It may seem a little dated by today's standards, but it is still mesmerising stuff. The film has a really immersive, almost hypnotic feel to it. And the story has a lot of themes running through it, such as father and son relationship. Rock yearns to be appreciated by his father, but he is too preoccupied with retrieving his daughter and oblivious to his plight. It mirrors the the father son theme in Blade Runner where Roy Batty also longs to be accepted. There's also the clash of two different races, and the fear of 'the other', in this case robots. There's some really touching interractions between the two, first when we see a gentle waste disposal robot who brings food to Tima and Kenichi, and the robot detective who accompanies the main detective and his nephew;  [spoiler]his last moments juxtaposed with the flight of a bird and a look of fear on his face says so many things[/spoiler]. And the towering skyscrapers are shown as a parable on the Towers of Babel, with the famous biblical incident getting a name check in the film. But at heart, the film is about innocence, the wonder of childhood, love and acceptance.

The visual details of the film is a masterclass by the creative team, from the cluttered almost claustrophobic settings of the lower levels to the sprawling cityscapes above. Not only does it call to mind Blade Runner, but also the world of Mega City 1 in the Judge Dredd comic strip, both of whom must pay inspirational debt to Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The influence of Lang's film on science fiction cinema as a whole, is immense.

And of course the music for the film is so powerful. An influence of Jazz, and by the end, "I can't stop loving you" by Ray Charles, as destruction rains down upon the Tower of babel and Kenichi tries to rescue Tima. It is a potent coming together of music and imagery, and the result is unforgettable.

Metropolis is a beautiful masterpiece, It is a fitting love letter to the godfather of Anime Osamu Tezuku, and I'm certain it is a film he would've been proud of.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 December, 2013, 10:10:22 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 December, 2013, 03:52:42 PM
I hated the first Kick Ass movie, loathed the first two comic runs and no amount of persuasion can convinae me to give anything bearing the name a try.

Kick Ass 2 is far and away one of the absolute worst films I have ever seen in my entire life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 December, 2013, 11:45:52 PM
I watched the anime Metropolis a few months ago for the first time.  It was good but I was expecting something a lot better.  If I saw this in the 90's (which would have obviously been impossible) when I saw things like Cyber City Oedo 808, A.D Police, Wicked City, and Dominion Tank Police then I think I would have appreciated it more.

Anyway, seeing as there is talk of anime I'm going to take the opportunity to name some anime films I have seen in more recent years that have left an impression on me. 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Sky Chasers
Tekkonkinkreet (I was so impressed by this one that I got the manga)
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 December, 2013, 01:38:42 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 December, 2013, 11:45:52 PM
I watched the anime Metropolis a few months ago for the first time.  It was good but I was expecting something a lot better.  If I saw this in the 90's (which would have obviously been impossible) when I saw things like Cyber City Oedo 808, A.D Police, Wicked City, and Dominion Tank Police then I think I would have appreciated it more.

Anyway, seeing as there is talk of anime I'm going to take the opportunity to name some anime films I have seen in more recent years that have left an impression on me. 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Sky Chasers
Tekkonkinkreet (I was so impressed by this one that I got the manga)
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.

I would class Metropolis more closer to the Studio Ghibli output than the more adult orientated films such as Cyber City, speaking of which, I remember going apeshit when I watched Cyber City OEDO for the first time all those years ago! I don't know why it's so difficult to find on DVD (although there might be one or two episodes on youtube). AD Police was also a blast, but those static shots were a bit too frequent for my liking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 22 December, 2013, 11:52:34 AM
Cyber City OEDO. Class particularly the first episode. Adults only though.Link to an English version below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwBXPsetOHM&feature=share&list=FLtPfm3PpsAqsxDbWbE1d25w&index=22
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 22 December, 2013, 07:43:25 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 December, 2013, 11:45:52 PM
The Sky Chasers

You mean 'The Sky CRAWLERS', surely?

That's a brilliant movie, any which way you slice it. A great piece of mature, contemplative sci-fi. It also looks the business!

The final scenes literally felt like a punch in the gut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 December, 2013, 08:09:03 PM
Quote from: HdE on 22 December, 2013, 07:43:25 PM

You mean 'The Sky CRAWLERS', surely?

That's a brilliant movie, any which way you slice it. A great piece of mature, contemplative sci-fi. It also looks the business!

The final scenes literally felt like a punch in the gut.

Yes, I did mean that. 
It's what I get for writing posts just before going to bed ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 December, 2013, 12:20:04 PM
The most egregious IMMORTALS. 

The only good thing about it was Henry Cavill in a loincloth (very nice) and the campness of Gods made me think of FLASH GORDON so I dug out that and watched it. It was fabulous as ever. 

*I'd love a special edition where somebody cleaned up the matte lines around every special effect but otherwise left it untouched (because they are brilliantly imaginitive). Until then, I just have to imagine it was filmed by Carols Ezquerra.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 December, 2013, 12:50:12 PM
Just watched Fargo again cos its on Netflix.

Surprisingly good material for breakfast-to-lunch viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 December, 2013, 05:38:09 PM
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Unfortunately I caught it in 2D as we would have had to wait an hour later to catch the 3D version and we got home late enough as it was.

Bloated. But not as bad as many seem to make out. Actually it wasn't bad at all. In fact it was pretty good. But it could have been better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 December, 2013, 05:49:37 PM
Last night - The Legend of Hell House. Grand stuff, and a bit of a fave.

This afternoon - Behind the Candelabra, been hoping to catch this for a while, and I thought it was decent enough.
Good performances from both Douglas and Damon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 December, 2013, 07:07:12 PM
Just watched the Disney CGI 'A Christmas Carol' with Jim Carrey.

I thought it was surprisingly good. It was very dark in places but Scrooge was very characterful and well acted. We all know the story but this definitely a worthy version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 December, 2013, 07:37:24 PM
Inglorious Basterds.

I'd put this off for ages, perhaps unfairly I'd mentally written Tarantino off as a spent force following the dismal/mixed reviews for both Death Proof and this. But I adored Django when I saw it in the cinema (admittedly I only went to see it because my girlfriend wanted to go... :-[), so asked for the Tarantino XX box set for my birthday, and when I finally sat down to watch IB the other week I was pretty much blown away by it. Not at all what I was expecting - it's basically a series of conversations after all - but easily the best movie I've seen in ages - so beautifully shot and crafted. Was on the edge of my seat throughout. Absolutely loved it, and can't wait to watch it all over again.

I also rewatched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last night, this time the Extended Edition*. Now, I've been on the record in the past as being really down on this film (and the new one) and saying I wouldn't be interested in watching it again, but due to coincidentally being on a four-hour train journey last night and for reasons too boring to explain having an HD copy of the movie on my iPad I decided to give it another go.

And I'll say perhaps I've been a little harsh on it. I still think it's hugely self-indulgent, tonally-uneven, and a fundamentally flawed enterprise - I really think it was a mistake to make a 'LotR prequel' rather than a 'Hobbit movie' and someone really needs to keep Peter Jackson's more extravagant impulses in check - but seeing it again I will concede that there is quite a lot in there to like. The Riddles in the Dark section is fine and Gollum looks incredible (though they play him a bit hammy and 'playing to the crowd' for my liking - all that telling himself to 'shut up' etc is too on-the-nose and seems a bit out of character from how he is in Fellowship imo).

But I still think the last hour is otherwise pretty godawful. And I think exactly the same of Desolation of Smaug. And I think that's the reason I came away from each film feeling so negative on them - I hated the endings so much that it soured the rest of the films for me. I quite enjoyed each film up until the point that they collapsed in a mess of really rushed-looking cgi and wildly over the top action scenes. The Goblin Town and 'Out of the Frying Pan' sections are painfully bad - so utterly fake looking and visually overcooked (and the whole film has a pretty brutal blue/orange grade that makes it look really unappealing to me). And in both films, the stakes feel really contrived and artificial (like Thorin's overdone 'death scene' at the end of UJ). And those crappy-looking eagles! And I hate how they've made Bilbo such a Warg-slaying badass.

Anyway, I came away thinking a little more fondly of the whole thing, and that there's definitely a decent chance that someone will be able to one day whittle the whole thing down into a solid two-hour movie. For instance I would instantly jettison the entire Gandalf/Radagast subplot (literally no one cares, we already know where that's heading), reduce the Misty Mountains bit to a part of a montage and completely strip out the sillier, platform game-looking elements of the aforementioned action scenes.

*The EE, as you might imagine, is massively superfluous and adds nothing. I didn't even notice most of the extra material, so incidental it is, and all it does it further bloat an already overlong film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 December, 2013, 07:50:04 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 December, 2013, 07:07:12 PM
Just watched the Disney CGI 'A Christmas Carol' with Jim Carrey.

I thought it was surprisingly good. It was very dark in places but Scrooge was very characterful and well acted. We all know the story but this definitely a worthy version.

I watched that too! I thought it was a great fun. I'm also quite fond of Zemeckis' other CGI efforts Polar Express and Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol was also another fun showing. Ever since that awesome opening pan back in Contact, I've been a fan of Zemeckis' cool technical wizardry in films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 December, 2013, 10:14:40 AM
I started watching that. But then I realised I could be watching the Muppets...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 December, 2013, 01:24:24 PM
Frozen:  What an incredibly beautiful film, lovely composition and colour, truly amazing costuming and architecture Simon Fraser would be proud of.  Textures on clothes, ice and trolls in particular were extraordinary. The only jar(-Jar-)ring note in the design was Donkey Sid the Sloth Olaf the snowman, otherwise it was genuinely entrancing.

Yes, it was another big-eyed tiny-waisted Disney princess movie, but it had a half-decent plot reversal and a feminist 'twist' ending that I so desperately wanted to happen that I was quite moved when it did.  The songs are dull to the point of vanishing, with the exception of the opening ice-cutting number and the troll's 'Fixer-Up' piece, but the singing is nice and moves the plot along. I thought it a bit too long, but the visuals really carried me along, and both of my kids loved it.  An excellent Christmas Eve outing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2013, 02:16:57 PM
Just setting out to watch that now. Bodes well indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 24 December, 2013, 08:16:39 PM
Outpost 11

SHIIIIIIIITE.  It's like the worst combination of 'the thing' and 'outpost' you could imagine, re-written to remove any form of credibility.  Utter waste of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 24 December, 2013, 08:38:03 PM
Minority Report.

Late to the party with this one but really enjoyed it. Very similar vibe to AI, I thought. Usual Hollywood tick boxes apply, but at its heart, this is something truly great. Sci-Fi Noir at its very best.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 December, 2013, 08:50:25 PM
Yes, Minority Report is a good 'un. i like the fact that there's an interesting mystery plot at it's heart too.

And a couple of gross out scenes which I found rather amusing (sick puppy that I am).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2013, 09:37:33 PM
Are you referring to the taser induced vomit? Yes, that is amusing indeed.

Frozen: The "playing on popular tropes to lull you into a false sense of boredom" that I see so many critics going on about lasts waaaaaaay to long for my likening, and the film only really picquet my interest in the second half. I found the four leads rather bland at first[spoiler], only when Hanz played his cared did I really start to get a sense things where moving forward, and the reveal that it was sisterly love not a soul mate that cured Anna of her curse was obvious from the blooming start.[/spoiler]

Fair does, it is indeed VERY pretty to look at and was clearly a labour of love from the animators, with even the standard disney aesthetic looking lovely for a change. And all that snow! Brilliant!

And I found Olaf to be way less annoying than he had any right to be and had me belly laughing several times.....then I discovered he was voiced by Josh Gad and I liked him a little less.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HOO-HAA on 24 December, 2013, 11:24:04 PM
Followed Minority Report up with Solaris (the Clooney remake). Now, this one I have seen already but it's well worth a revisit. A beautiful and heart breaking movie with a very simple and well-trodden concept at its core. Brilliant performances across the board and, although at times showing heavy-handed direction, on the whole very well shot.

Tried Aeon Flux after that. Oh dear...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 25 December, 2013, 12:24:42 AM
Hummingbird

Not the usual fare from Jason Statham.  Rather than kicking lumps out of folk to bad rock/techno, he actually does a fair bit of acting in this one.  As well as knocking lumps out of folks on occasion of course!!  Dark, moody, bleak, and a touch sad. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 December, 2013, 02:06:21 PM
Elf.

We're currently running through some films related to cold weather for some reason. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 December, 2013, 10:00:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 24 December, 2013, 09:37:33 PM
Are you referring to the taser induced vomit? Yes, that is amusing indeed.

More the scene with the [spoiler]rotton sandwich after the eyeball transplant operation[/spoiler] and the following bit where [spoiler] he dropped the originals, which he was hoping to swap back at a later date, down a drain (if I remember correctly).[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 December, 2013, 01:48:50 PM
I'd heard a lot of good things about Troll Hunter but found it rather disappointing. I hadn't realised it was going to use the found footage thing so I was initially a bit annoyed by all the running and screaming which goes with that, although it's always a good way of getting around the limitations of the FX budget.The Trolls themselves are great: quirky designs and well realised on a budget. Once I'd got over that though, the film didn't really seem to go anywhere. In between the fun Troll bits it just consists of some screaming and long sequences of driving around pretty(,) bleak landscapes while Hans exposits which neither the script nor the cast are strong enough to carry.

Not the film's fault but I was also a bit irritated by description of it in the TV listings as "bone-chilling horror", when "fun fantasy romp" would be a lot nearer the mark . Anyway, I guess there was enough good stuff in there that I'd watch another from the same people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 December, 2013, 11:48:18 PM
Cabin in The Woods.

Interesting in that it plays with classic horror tropes... yet manages to be original. Not over sure of the ending, although it did work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 December, 2013, 11:53:42 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 December, 2013, 01:48:50 PM
Not the film's fault but I was also a bit irritated by description of it in the TV listings as "bone-chilling horror", when "fun fantasy romp" would be a lot nearer the mark .

I really enjoyed it, and it's quickly become one of my favourite monster movies, but yeah: fantasy romp is right. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 December, 2013, 10:15:58 AM
I finally saw Elysium last night. Having been warned by a good few people that it was 'crap', with the proviso added that 'you'll probably enjoy it', I realised it was going to be one of those movies I really had to take a gamble on and sit down to watch with no preconceptions.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. But one thing: WAY too much swearing, to the point where it got grating and made the characters come across as morons. I CANNOT STAND movies where strong language is peppered through the dialogue as liberally and artlessly as this, without any thought given to how it alters the flow and impact of what's actually being said.

Yeah - I said 'artlessly'. Because swearing IS big and clever. At least, it is in writing. It can be used to tell us something about the characters who do it, and it can add humour. Simply chucking an f-bomb into a sentence wherever you like isn't good enough, and these characters toss it around like schoolkids who have just learned the joys of effing and blinding without consequence.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 December, 2013, 10:47:57 AM
Quote from: HdE on 27 December, 2013, 10:15:58 AM
Yeah - I said 'artlessly'. Because swearing IS big and clever. At least, it is in writing. It can be used to tell us something about the characters who do it, and it can add humour. Simply chucking an f-bomb into a sentence wherever you like isn't good enough, and these characters toss it around like schoolkids who have just learned the joys of effing and blinding without consequence.

Good observation!  As an old person I hate gratuitous swearing in media, but (for example) I love Deadwood. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 December, 2013, 01:28:25 PM
Dracula (Hammer 1958) on BBC2 last night.
Now I love me a bit of Hammer, and this is a 100% classic.


Also its was the (slightly) restored version, which I hadn't seen before.
Wasn't some additional footage found in a Japanese print a year or two ago?

I've heard that the Blu-ray release wasn't all it should be - in terms of the transfer, so it had put me off buying. Has that been corrected now, does anyone know?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 27 December, 2013, 01:37:26 PM
I saw The Prophecy was on last night, so I sat down to watch it. It'd been years since I watched it and was looking forward to some naughty angels getting up to mischief. But to my utter dismay I found that it was not Angels, but rather hormonal boys in Porky's!! Clearly the channel listed the wrong film.    ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 December, 2013, 04:20:19 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 27 December, 2013, 01:37:26 PM
I saw The Prophecy was on last night, so I sat down to watch it. It'd been years since I watched it and was looking forward to some naughty angels getting up to mischief. But to my utter dismay I found that it was not Angels, but rather hormonal boys in Porky's!! Clearly the channel listed the wrong film.    ::)

Ha, me too.

I like Porky's to be honest but I've seen it so many times I just fell asleep.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 27 December, 2013, 05:20:49 PM
The blu-ray of Dracula is a thing of beauty - a lovely restoration - and I heartily reccommend it (the Japanese extra footage is only a few seconds though, so if you want it just for that... well that's up to you)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 December, 2013, 09:04:45 PM
The Croods.  Some very nice, very funny, creature designs, maybe two decent gags, and the rest of the film didn't know what it was supposed to be at all at all.  It's really not a great sign when you wonder if a film is nearly over and it turns out to be the 45 minutes mark, but I got through it by imagining it was the prehistory of the world of the infinitely superior How To Train Your Dragon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 December, 2013, 09:53:39 PM
Gravity - not much of a film away from the 3d effects, really.  I've missed all the hype about it so I don't know if it was supposed to be scientifically accurate, either, but given the premise I imagine this was a selling point, yet there was lots of inaccuracies or seeming inaccuracies that would distract anyone with a passing interest in space travel - though fair play only nerds are interested in the crowning achievement of humanity as a species and everyone else has a more healthy interest in football and who has the more ace mobile phone this week.  Like the Star Trek reboot, space is totally silent until several seconds later when it isn't, and rockets are prevented from accelerating by stationary objects in space - it's a mish-mash of whatever internal logic gets us to the next setpiece or glaringly obvious and pointless 3d effect, with the low point coming when everyone in the room started giggling at Bullock's emotion-tears floating towards the camera.
I've watched it, though - I just won't ever do so again and can't really see myself recommending anyone going out of their way to do so themselves.

Riddick - which is less pretending to be hard sci-fi and more pretending that Vin Diesel can act, but it doesn't pretend very hard and boils its appeal down to basic emotional triggers, panto-level baddies, and some glaringly obvious/cheap-looking FX shots, but for all that, it's an enjoyable romp as long as you don't keep reminding yourself that Diesel is a shortarse in real life so they're angling the cameras to make him look like a giant in almost every shot.  The McGuffin is pretty good in being held back to the third act as a kind of Checkov's Gun rather than an omniscient menace, the body count is surprisingly low and the ending avoids the usual Final Girl tropes of a badass wandering off into the sun, which seems a bit odd given the whole point of the film is some sort of reboot of the franchise to make it more about Riddick being a badass and less about grand space opera, but it's still enjoyable fluff that takes itself just the right amount of serious before going home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 December, 2013, 10:15:56 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 December, 2013, 10:47:57 AM
Quote from: HdE on 27 December, 2013, 10:15:58 AM
Yeah - I said 'artlessly'. Because swearing IS big and clever. At least, it is in writing. It can be used to tell us something about the characters who do it, and it can add humour. Simply chucking an f-bomb into a sentence wherever you like isn't good enough, and these characters toss it around like schoolkids who have just learned the joys of effing and blinding without consequence.

Good observation!  As an old person I hate gratuitous swearing in media, but (for example) I love Deadwood.

We are friends now (you have been warned!)

You hit the nail on the head with the word 'gratuitous'. When profanity is splurged all over dialogue as liberally as it is in 'Elysium', the result is that it makes the movie difficult to take in. The excess of it adds nothing to the movie, and actually makes it feel like it's poorly written (which, for the record, I don't actually believe is the case.)

And here's a secondary observation: People don't generally swear like that in real life. Not unless they're uncommonly crass and brainless. Now, it's all well and good saying 'but the characters are crass and brainless'... but do you REALLY want to root for characters like that?

It's a 'do not do' in writing, as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 December, 2013, 11:29:55 PM
I do agree that swearing, nudity, gore, and so on is often used with little consideration as to its narrative worth in various media, but saying people don't actually swear like that in real life is crazy talk - haven't you ever worked on a building site or a in a factory?  I've worked with many men who swear just as much as the cast of Elysium - if not moreso.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 27 December, 2013, 11:47:29 PM
You'd probably end up being sacked if you swore like that in factories nowadays.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 27 December, 2013, 11:50:20 PM
Nah, you wouldn't!  Same as the whole 'you can't make sexist/racist/whatever remarks' without getting fired, when in actual fact, what is more likely is some folk will think you're a dick for saying something horrible, and then get on with their day.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 December, 2013, 11:55:16 PM
Quote from: HdE on 27 December, 2013, 10:15:56 PM
People don't generally swear like that in real life. Not unless they're uncommonly crass and brainless. Now, it's all well and good saying 'but the characters are crass and brainless'... but do you REALLY want to root for characters like that?

It's a 'do not do' in writing, as far as I'm concerned.


Best not come around my house– too much real-life going on.

I can't remember much harsh swearing that stood-out in Elysium for it to affect the all ready paper-thin story and characters. Probably could've done with a bit more real life purple language to liven up its so called future gangland L.A.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 28 December, 2013, 12:04:16 AM
Sorry Ghosts, we just did a respect and dignity course at our place and believe me swearing can get you the sack, not a one off incident but if you do it often enough in front of the wrong people, the process of a disciplinary will start. We have about 1400 at our place, from various nations and people have been shown the door for all sorts and that has included a manager for sexist comments.

The rule is, make sure you know who is in earshot before saying what you think  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 28 December, 2013, 12:06:28 AM
Daaay-um!  That's harsh man!  Glad I work in an industry where we can say pretty much what we please! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2013, 12:15:29 AM
The problem is that the respect and dignity card works both ways - people in your work environment are just as likely to be accused of being unreasonable in asking someone who's sworn all their life to stop overnight, essentially putting one person's means of expression above another's seeing as swearing in some quarters is more than just punctuation, it's a deliberately-used form of expression and suppressing it opens you up to being accused of class snobbery.

Although I remember seeing a documentary about army training once, and that drill sergeant didn't half turn the air blue.  Seems to me he didn't need to be quite so coarse - it's hardly those lads' fault they don't know what they're doing, that's the reason they have a drill sergeant in the first place, after all.  He could have been a little nicer and created a more encouraging environment for them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 December, 2013, 01:14:01 AM
The Dark Knight Rises

The first Blu-ray I've watched on my new HD TV. It was actually leant by a friend months ago.

I think it's too long, but I liked it a lot. Not to the extent that I'm inclined to buy a copy for myself but it was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 28 December, 2013, 11:42:49 AM
Sorry to stay off topic, but I'll add that my company does not tolerate swearing, sexism, homophobia or racism - verbally or otherwise. They provide confidential channels for people affected by such things, and as a manager for said company I have had to take some of my staff down the disciplinary route for such things - and rightly so.  There's no place for it in any workplace that claims to be all inclusive.  There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2013, 11:52:27 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 December, 2013, 11:42:49 AM
There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!

You talk like a girl, you big fucking poof!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2013, 11:53:09 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 December, 2013, 11:42:49 AM
Sorry to stay off topic

Clearly you are new here.

And to further stay off-topic: much as I hate to side with the "pull the stick out of your ass" brigade, swearing isn't really the same thing as hate crime.  At best it's just poor comportment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2013, 12:07:49 PM
Unless your a stand up comedian. In which case it's fine.  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 28 December, 2013, 12:59:40 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 28 December, 2013, 12:07:49 PM
Unless your a stand up comedian. In which case it's fine.  ::)

Unless your Roy( call him shit he knows it) Chubby Brown. He's made a career out of being offensive to to everything; even Comedy! The guy is about as funny as a serious life threatening accident.


Anyway, the last film I watched was Shawshank Redemption. I've seen it many times but still watch it when it comes on the telly.
Amazing film as far as I'm concerned. One of the greats.


Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 December, 2013, 03:14:03 PM
Not seen Elysium but I remember thinking District 9 had way too much unimaginative swearing in it. To the extent that it turned me off the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 28 December, 2013, 06:01:36 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2013, 11:52:27 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 December, 2013, 11:42:49 AM
There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!

You talk like a girl, you big fucking poof!

Cheers

Jim

Where's the fucking 'like' button?! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 28 December, 2013, 08:34:41 PM
Teddy Bear - A story of a shy Danish bodybuilder who goes to Thailand looking for love. Not the sort of thing I would usually watch but since I'm into bodybuilding I thought I would give it a shot. Recommended, especially if you are looking for something to watch with the girlfriend/wife (unless she doesn't like subtitled films)

And the best part is it's available to watch on youtube. I don't usually watch films on youtube, but since this doesn't seem to have had a worldwide dvd release and the only streaming service I can find for it are US only, I had little choice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKmXR0nNZ5w (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKmXR0nNZ5w)

If anyone does watch it, let me know what you think of it :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2013, 09:02:05 PM
Gojira

In my own daft manner I have set out to watch all the Godzilla movies (and some other movies in the Toho continuity) in preparation for the new Godzilla movie hitting out screens next year. Kicking off with the original and the only truly "classic" (vomit) member of the series, Gojira itself. I have always preferred the original japanese version over King of the Monsters, but thats just personal taste,mI always found the scenes with Burr to be, thought well acted, a,little tacked on, and the dub to cheesy for the tone of the film.

The build up to Godzillas first appearance are very good. Foot prints, crushed buildings, and even radioactive trace are all seen in great detail, and his eventual reveal is surprisingly effective. Keeping the bulk of the beast hidden behind a mountain, and his size being shown via a tail mark and footprints there after. His rampage through the city is a combination of notorious man-in-suit animatronics and stop motion animation, showing everything in his path being destroyed The B&W nature of the film hides a lot of the tacky scenes to a point where they look highly stylised.

Acting is on fine form, with Akihiko Hirata (Sanjuro, Attack Squadron!) pulling off a self-repressed scientist who hates his discovery despite its potential to counter Godzillas attacks. Only the female lead, Momoko Kôchi, feels a tad dated in a role that is very indicative of how women where depicted in sci-fi the time.

The film owes a bit to The Quatermass Experiment as it was an early instance of post-modern, period science fiction. Although set at an indeterminable time in the future, it's clearly of the time period it was filmed. Which takes me onto the next pro-point. The anti-nuclear weapon message in the film is fairly clear, as the film regularly makes reference to how the unfolding events where triggered by the Hiroshima bomb. This could be translated to Godzilla being the manifestation of the earth rebelling against humanities unnatural experiments, and how if we continue down this path, we can only be held accountable for our own destruction. Or it could jus be a loud of silly balls.

Over all, I love this film, it's stylish, it's science it utterly baffling (Dinosaurs became extinct 2 million years ago? Seriously?), the destruction scenes are fun Top job, 4.5/5, go and see it kids.


BTW, the BFI dvd can be bought from Fopp around the country for a meagre £5. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 28 December, 2013, 09:11:55 PM
Man Of Steel

It passed a couple of hours amiably enough but was such an overdose of CGI spectacle that you didn't really care for the characters, which is why I still prefer the 70s movie.
Christopher Reeve is still Superman.
(And it wasn't help by Mrs C pointing out that Zod looked liked Adam Klaus out of Jonathan Creek)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 December, 2013, 10:18:06 PM
E.T.: The Digi-buggered Version.  This was an odd re-watch of a film I'm never too sure about.  It's atmospheric, well-observed and generally pretty great right up to the bit where E.T. and Elliot are wired up on matching gurneys.  After that it becomes mawkish and manipulative, and then sort of disintegrates into an illogical chase scene where the pursuers know exactly where their quarry is going but elect to chase some clearly adult stuntmen on BMXs through a dedicated stunt track instead.  Still, the kids' performances are great throughout, and while Mom isn't going to be winning any childcare prizes, their suburban world is very believable. 

My own eldest got a kick out of the numerous SW and D&D references, and the idea that Dad was exactly the same age as Elliot in 1982 (albeit not living largely unsupervised in a mansion filled with cool stuff, even leaving aside the pet alien).  The film also held both kids' attention all the way through, and elicited (extracted) the requisite tears-under-false-pretences at the appropriate moments.  So it's certainly a success on that rather important level.

As to the digiwankery, the matte fixes are decent, and I actually don't mind the infamous gun-swap, since you really wouldn't notice unless you already knew and it does soften the rather unnecessary threat and make Keys and the cops more sympathetic, as they largely are.  OTOH the awful, awful changes to E.T.s eyes and his terrible CGI double just make me angry.  I know Senor Spielbergo has held his hands up on this one, but even so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 29 December, 2013, 07:03:46 AM
Just to stir the pot on this further:

Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 December, 2013, 11:29:55 PM
I do agree that swearing, nudity, gore, and so on is often used with little consideration as to its narrative worth in various media, but saying people don't actually swear like that in real life is crazy talk - haven't you ever worked on a building site or a in a factory?  I've worked with many men who swear just as much as the cast of Elysium - if not moreso.

When I say that people don't swear in reallife like they did in Elysium (or a handful of other movies I could think of) what I'm actually suggesting this:

People are certainly capable of riddling their every sentence with expletives. I'd not dispute that for a second. However, when those people do that, what they say actually seems to make sense in terms of sentence construction. In Elysium (and it's not the first movie I saw that did this) the naughty words are just slung in willy-nilly.

So, I'd contend there's a difference between 'F***, man! Take this spaceship f***in' down to the surface!'

and: 'F***, man! Take this spaceship down to the f***in' surface!'

That's the sum total of my considered intellectualising of naughty words. I have to go get breakfast now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 December, 2013, 07:55:10 AM
Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.

I'm sorry I know that's rude... so to get back on topic my daughter and I are currently watching 'Boo, Zino and the Snurks'... I've no idea of what its like as I'm not really paying attention, as you can see...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 December, 2013, 09:02:42 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 December, 2013, 10:18:06 PM
E.T.: The Digi-buggered Version.  This was an odd re-watch of a film I'm never too sure about.  It's atmospheric, well-observed and generally pretty great right up to the bit where E.T. and Elliot are wired up on matching gurneys.  After that it becomes mawkish and manipulative, and then sort of disintegrates into an illogical chase scene where the pursuers know exactly where their quarry is going but elect to chase some clearly adult stuntmen on BMXs through a dedicated stunt track instead.  Still, the kids' performances are great throughout, and while Mom isn't going to be winning any childcare prizes, their suburban world is very believable. 

My own eldest got a kick out of the numerous SW and D&D references, and the idea that Dad was exactly the same age as Elliot in 1982 (albeit not living largely unsupervised in a mansion filled with cool stuff, even leaving aside the pet alien).  The film also held both kids' attention all the way through, and elicited (extracted) the requisite tears-under-false-pretences at the appropriate moments.  So it's certainly a success on that rather important level.

As to the digiwankery, the matte fixes are decent, and I actually don't mind the infamous gun-swap, since you really wouldn't notice unless you already knew and it does soften the rather unnecessary threat and make Keys and the cops more sympathetic, as they largely are.  OTOH the awful, awful changes to E.T.s eyes and his terrible CGI double just make me angry.  I know Senor Spielbergo has held his hands up on this one, but even so...

I never realised there even was a digi-buggered version! Seems pointless to me.

The problem I have with ET is the same problem I have with Close Encounters and some of Spielbergs other films of this era and that's that everything thing looks dingy and dirty.
Whenever I watch ET I just want someone to open some curtains or put some lights on. The whole house looks like it needs a good spring clean too. I suppose this is to add realism but I find it distracting. Whenever I see that bit where ET hides in the mountain of cuddly toys I imagine that they're full of dust and need a good wash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 December, 2013, 09:25:13 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 29 December, 2013, 07:55:10 AM
Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.


I woke up this morning and found it like that.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 December, 2013, 10:54:07 AM
There's a nice bit in one of the CE3K extras where Spielberg is proudly showing off his aircraft hangar size sets to a non-plussed Truffaut. Finally, they get to the kid's bedroom with it's mess and clutter. Truffaut lights up; "Now THIS is a set!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 December, 2013, 03:40:22 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 December, 2013, 09:25:13 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 29 December, 2013, 07:55:10 AM
Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.


I woke up this morning and found it like that.

Just the facts, ma'am.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 December, 2013, 04:36:29 PM


That reminds me, I need to pick up a steak.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 29 December, 2013, 11:38:54 PM
Drug War

Set in China and involving the Chinese mafia and meth. Lots of shooting and killing. It does exactly what it says on the tin. If you like action films and can put up with subtitles, it's worth watching. Especially for the character of Mr Haha. Hilarious stuff. 8/10

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 December, 2013, 11:43:17 PM
Excalibur (1981)

Utterly - perhaps profoundly - ridiculous. Visually very interesting and crammed with familiar faces. Nicol Williamson's Merlin is memorable as his performance is so bizarre - you never know which word he'll emphasise NEXT. Nigel Terry's Arthur is distractingly Cornish but refreshingly flawed. By the final act though the film seems to have run on for an age, and a lot of it is so metaphorical it's hard to tell whether any of it has really happened at all. Which, maybe, is the point. Definitely interesting, but not particularly absorbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 December, 2013, 09:13:56 AM

Home Alone
Free on iTunes till 12am tonight. Part of 12 Days Of Xmas app.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 December, 2013, 09:26:07 AM
A Simple Plan

I'd never heard of this before. It stars Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton.
Three guys find a plane wreck in the woods containing a bag full of money. The film then follows the downward spiral their lives take as they try to get away with keeping the loot.
I really enjoyed it although it was very dark. Excellent performances from Paxton and Thornton and a particularly chilling turn from Bridget Fonda as Paxton's ice cold wife.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 30 December, 2013, 10:16:58 AM
Tyrannosaur

Lots to like, I'm a sucker for grim slice-of-life stuff. It's even relatively short by today's standards (I don't know if any TV editing took place). Nothing to do with Flesh either, another bonus  :)
Odd name reminded me of Submarine, another top film. Not about a naval conflict...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 December, 2013, 05:20:08 PM
Just watched the Evil Dead remake.

There are some good things about it and in some ways I prefer it to the original but it's still a bit rubbish.
It's a shame because with a bit of imagination it could have been really good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 December, 2013, 11:37:22 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 December, 2013, 11:43:17 PM
Excalibur (1981)
Utterly - perhaps profoundly - ridiculous. Visually very interesting ... Definitely interesting, but not particularly absorbing.
It's a bit of a mess but then it has occasional bits like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1MuvvS_xSw) in it which, if you can stomach the cheese and the Python doesn't get you, are oddly magnificent magnificently odd. Just watch Percival's continuing obeisance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 31 December, 2013, 12:08:13 AM
Films which I have tried to watch over the festive break (one of which I'd like to finish) include:

The Phantom Menace, which was rudely interrupted after an hour by the arrival of my uncle. Some of you may argue this was fortunate but I'd already sat through an hour of it and it was just about to get to the bit where Darth Maul's double ender is revealed. Something I always enjoy.

I was more annoyed by my auntie pulling the same trick two-thirds of the way through Woman of the Year with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It did seem to be heading towards an "independent career woman learns to keep her man by cooking eggs" route towards the end but up to that point it was great stuff. Significantly funnier than Anchorman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 31 December, 2013, 01:52:47 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 31 December, 2013, 12:08:13 AM
it was just about to get to the bit where Darth Maul's double ender is revealed. Something I always enjoy.

I hope the kids had gone to bed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 January, 2014, 04:42:02 AM
Last film I saw all the way through: The Amazing Spider-man.
I've had this on Blu-ray for a while and only just got round to watching it last night. (Actually I finished it today as I was falling asleep last night. Not due to boredom, I was genuinely tired.)

I was quite irritated when i knew Spider-man was getting a reboot this soon. And it IS a reboot, despite what the director said about this being a 'missing story' that could fit with the other films.

Here's the thing though- it's actually very good. Tonally it's rather different from Raimi's version, yet it works very well. I was concerned the new actor playing the role wouldn't really fit, particularly as Tobey Maguire is spot-on, in my opinion. Andre Garfield is very different, it's true, yet he fits the role very well. There was one particular comedy sequence where he is firing his webbing at a criminal in various ways while quipping which is very funny and captures the comic version well.

Last film I watched part way through, before stopping yet again as I was dropping off... Troll Hunter. So far, so good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 01 January, 2014, 03:36:17 PM
I also like The Amazing Spiderman quite a bit. Garfield feels liek the best screen Spidey yet. He's certainly more convincing in the role than Tobey Macguire.

I do worry, however, that the Sony pictures execs have a firm hold on the franchise. Some of the creative choices being made for the sequel are enough to raise an eyebrow. But, as with everything, we'll see how it all turns out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 10:10:02 AM
Watched a lot of stuff over Christmas, mainly I finally got round to seeing:

The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two

Thanks Christmas, when else does one get to it down and actually watch two 3-hours+ movies?

Surprised that so many people claim the second one is better than the first - while I thoroughly enjoyed the first, I thought the sequel was patience-testingly long-winded and meandering, and at times almost soap opera-like (the 'abortion' scene was cringe-inducingly awful). I liked the Vito flashbacks but felt that the Michael 'present day' scenes were overlong, convoluted and didn't really tell us anything about the character we didn't already know.

I know these films are held up by many as timeless classics - or sacred cows even, but to be honest I didn't love either of them. I found both films a little cold and detached, and there was too much plot and not enough story if that makes any sense. So much of the films are 'who is trying to attack the Corleones/lets get them before they get us' that I feel we didn't really get to actually know any of the characters very well, or understand the structure of the family or the way of life. Michael's descent from war hero to Mafioso feels rushed and unearned. There is also a general lack of focus - and so many minor characters that it's easy to lose track of who's who.

I certainly won't be watching Part 3, which sounds godawful.

In any case, I think Goodfellas and City of God remain my definitive Gangster movies - films that really zip along with a manic energy, are endlessly rewatchable and really sell the attraction and allure of the gangster lifestyle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 02 January, 2014, 10:58:30 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 10:10:02 AM
Watched a lot of stuff over Christmas, mainly I finally got round to seeing:

The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two

Thanks Christmas, when else does one get to it down and actually watch two 3-hours+ movies?

Surprised that so many people claim the second one is better than the first - while I thoroughly enjoyed the first, I thought the sequel was patience-testingly long-winded and meandering, and at times almost soap opera-like (the 'abortion' scene was cringe-inducingly awful). I liked the Vito flashbacks but felt that the Michael 'present day' scenes were overlong, convoluted and didn't really tell us anything about the character we didn't already know.

I know these films are held up by many as timeless classics - or sacred cows even, but to be honest I didn't love either of them. I found both films a little cold and detached, and there was too much plot and not enough story if that makes any sense. So much of the films are 'who is trying to attack the Corleones/lets get them before they get us' that I feel we didn't really get to actually know any of the characters very well, or understand the structure of the family or the way of life. Michael's descent from war hero to Mafioso feels rushed and unearned. There is also a general lack of focus - and so many minor characters that it's easy to lose track of who's who.

I certainly won't be watching Part 3, which sounds godawful.

In any case, I think Goodfellas and City of God remain my definitive Gangster movies - films that really zip along with a manic energy, are endlessly rewatchable and really sell the attraction and allure of the gangster lifestyle.

For me, the abortion scene far from being cringeworthy, is one of the most powerful scenes in Part 2. It mirrors the scene in Part 1 when Michael commits murder for the first time, you can see the rage building up on his face until he errupts like a firework. A moment of earth shattering force - and you cannot take your eyes off Pacino for an instance.

The Godfather films still remain some of my favourite films from the 70's. It's not only a great gangster epic, but a great piece of family drama as a whole. Not to mention the tragedy of Michael Corleone himself, the son who finds himself taking sole responsibility of his family. And by the end of Part 2 when the camera pans in, we find him sitting there isolated, eyes heavy, he is almost a broken man as he has sacrificed his soul losing his wife and brother, casualties in his war for power.

Part 2 is indeed long, but it's best to watch the film with breaks in between. Is Part 2 better than Part 1? I can't say as I love both. But one of my favourite moments in the sequel  are the flashback scenes with De Niro. There's an almost poetic sepia toned dreamy feel to them, showing the rise of the Godfather from a young boy in Sicily to a business man in America. The ruthless streak he had to inherit from past experiences and for the protection of his family.

I find the films fascinating, there's a timeless feel to them (well Parts 1 & 2 at least). Even Part 3 does have its moments but is nowhere near as good as the first two films.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 January, 2014, 11:04:27 AM
Watchmen The Director's Cut.

On Blu-Ray it looked lovely. There were even scenes at the start which had a 3-D appeal to them, even though I was not watching it in 3-D.

The sound though... the volume for speech was way too low. I've often found this with DVDs in the past but it's something I particularly  noticed this time. I had to turn the volume up much higher than normal.

Film itself: I've always liked the film, and I like this. From what I see most of the extra footage doesn't really add anything to the original though, although it was interesting enough to see. [spoiler] Laurie beating up that police officer and escaping their custody for example. Okay, I see the logic of why they'd wish to keep her, and why she'd fight to leave, but there wasn't any effort for them to chase her down later, as you'd think there'd be.[/spoiler]

Much of the extra stuff was something that would have been best kept as interesting snippets in 'deleted scenes'.

The one scene that I am very glad they included was [spoiler]the first Nite-Owl's final battle/death scene. Switching between the present day gangsters and the old super-villains, and showing that even aged and outnumbered, he can still put up a good fight. It worked really well. [/spoiler]

I generally like Director's Cuts, but, while this is no exception, I'd see the original as the definitive version that works best. (With perhaps the addition of the[spoiler] first Nite-Owl death scene[/spoiler] that I mentioned above.) Not to the extent that I'm going to hunt down the original and buy it on top of this. I'm happy enough with this.

I'm kinda glad I didn't go with my original plan and buy the even longer version with the pirate stuff, although I wish it had been included as an extra.

As for Troll-Hunter, mentioned above, I watched the rest. Another good-un,[spoiler] although it ended rather oddly.[/spoiler] I really liked the troll designs.

Interesting to see that they kept with the ultra-violet light/sunlight turning them into stone, concept that we see in The Hobbit. (It's mentioned in LotR too, but less of a factor there.) I'd never come across the sunlight thing outside of Tolkien's books, although I guess he must have gotten it from the old legends too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 11:05:53 AM
QuoteFor me, the abortion scene far from being cringeworthy, is one of the most powerful scenes in Part 2. It mirrors the scene in Part 1 when Michael commits murder for the first time, you can see the rage building up on his face until he errupts like a firework. A moment of earth shattering force - and you cannot take your eyes off Pacino for an instance.

For me it seemed far-fetched (and Kay seemed to really hate Michael all of a sudden in a way that didn't feel fleshed-out) and the scene played out like something from an American soap opera.

QuoteBut one of my favourite moments in the sequel  are the flashback scenes with De Niro. There's an almost poetic sepia toned dreamy feel to them

Agreed - they're visually astonishing and really quite sumptuous from a production design point of view. However overall I found the Vito scenes too brief as they were more interesting than the present day stuff, and I had a similar problem that I had with Michael's arc - Vito just one day decides to become a murderer and criminal. Up until that point he's a pretty nice guy. I'd liked to have seen more development of Michael's relationship with Vito - AFAIK they only had a handful of scenes together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 January, 2014, 11:12:37 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 30 December, 2013, 11:37:22 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 December, 2013, 11:43:17 PM
Excalibur (1981)
Utterly - perhaps profoundly - ridiculous. Visually very interesting ... Definitely interesting, but not particularly absorbing.
It's a bit of a mess but then it has occasional bits like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1MuvvS_xSw) in it which, if you can stomach the cheese and the Python doesn't get you, are oddly magnificent magnificently odd. Just watch Percival's continuing obeisance.

Mmmm, as I may have mentioned a mere ten times before, I've been in love with this film since we stumbled across a location shoot in Wicklow when I was 9 or 10, and we got to try on helmets and play with swords.  Despite its inappropriate high-medieval trappings and bizarre deliveries, it's a deeply mystical and mythical vision of the Arthur story, and I'd take it over any other filmic version. Yes, it's a cumbersome foolish thing, but aren't we all?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 January, 2014, 11:32:24 AM
Excalibur is an awesome film.  I was mesmerised by it the first time I saw it and it is far and away the best Arthurian adaptation I have seen.  I love how it went about telling its story, the acting, the sets and costumes and the ideas.  Plus it's more than a little odd, which I like.

The last film I saw was Carry On Sergeant with Doctor Who and Bob Monkhouse.  The first Carry On film (or so I'm told) is different to the later Carry On films that I am more familiar with.  I only watched it because my eldest brother was aghast to discover that his under graduate students of up to 23 years of age have no idea what Carry On films are and I happened to mention that I hadn't seen the first of them.  Still, I also mentioned I had never played AD&D (or any dice based group role playing game) and he organised a game - it was awesome, I killed a Worg almost single handedly with my Cleric and got us barred from the tavern.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 02:08:53 PM
Also rewatched Donnie Darko for the first time since it came out on DVD 11(!!!) years ago.

Thoughts on it haven't changed much since then, really. Lots of stuff to like and a nice tone of humour, but otherwise fairly overrated and a bit pretentious. IMHO tries a bit too hard for cult status.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 January, 2014, 02:54:35 PM
TB & Pictsy - the whole reason I watched it is because my other half is a giiiiaannt fan of how silly it is. I can certainly see myself coming 'round to it - not enough films are made in these times that:

a) Show off how beautiful Ireland is (although GoT does some of that)
b) Are basically batnads insane.

Also I found out that a film studio are making a doc about it due out this year:

(https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/960177_10151904111567020_137624218_n.jpg)

http://www.mhp-films.com/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 02 January, 2014, 06:28:22 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 10:10:02 AM
In any case, I think Goodfellas and City of God remain my definitive Gangster movies - films that really zip along with a manic energy, are endlessly rewatchable and really sell the attraction and allure of the gangster lifestyle.

Have you seen Once Upon A Time In America? Personally, as far as definitive goes, that is it.

Last movie watched by me was Apocalypse Now. The best war movie of all time ever. The whole movie just feels like a downward spiral from the start. Which is saying a lot since it starts in a pretty dark place. There is nothing glamorous about anything that happens. I remember having a discussion at school with another kid in my class about the ending (mostly on if the cow was real). I'm pretty sure we both agreed it was. This was back in the days before Wikipedia (I don't think Google was even on the radar at the time)

Anyone who has not seen this, go out and get it. You can pick it up for next to nothing these days. 9.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 02 January, 2014, 06:39:49 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 02 January, 2014, 06:28:22 PM
Quote from: radiator on 02 January, 2014, 10:10:02 AM
In any case, I think Goodfellas and City of God remain my definitive Gangster movies - films that really zip along with a manic energy, are endlessly rewatchable and really sell the attraction and allure of the gangster lifestyle.

Have you seen Once Upon A Time In America? Personally, as far as definitive goes, that is it.

Last movie watched by me was Apocalypse Now. The best war movie of all time ever. The whole movie just feels like a downward spiral from the start. Which is saying a lot since it starts in a pretty dark place. There is nothing glamorous about anything that happens. I remember having a discussion at school with another kid in my class about the ending (mostly on if the cow was real). I'm pretty sure we both agreed it was. This was back in the days before Wikipedia (I don't think Google was even on the radar at the time)

Anyone who has not seen this, go out and get it. You can pick it up for next to nothing these days. 9.5/10

Once upon a time in America is a fucking masterpiece and a fitting last film from Sergio Leone. The film can be seen as a dream of sorts from Noodles (De Niro) as we see him reminiscing about childhood through opium induced daze. Even the scenes of him as an older world weary person. The thing I love about the film is the fact you can draw so many conclusions from watching it. For me it is about lost dreams, choices and memories. And the music by Morricone is majestic, I mean, wow. I love that moment when we see  De Niro at the train station and Morricone's spine tingling music appears as he gazes at a picture. And then we cut to that song from The Beatles and an older looking De Niro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgGqdAAyJSQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Awesome.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2014, 07:20:22 PM
A couple of quaint B-movie "classics":

Carry On At Your Convenience.  This is one of the series that I have an inordinate and irrational soft spot for, despite it being the film that directly targets the British working class as the butt of jokes rather than everyone else in the world ever, as is usual for the franchise, and it was a decision that cost the makers in the long run as this remains the biggest flop of the Carry On series as an increasingly-unionised British working class that comprised the series' main audience stayed away in droves when it was released in cinemas, but it's also one of the purest in the series as it's about a bloke called Boggs who owns a toilet factory in which Sid James works THE END.  This fucker wrote itself, really.
It may surprise those who have not seen it that this film is complete and utter horseshit, but as I say, at some point nostalgia takes over and it just washes over you regardless of the quality.  I suspect this plays a great part in lingering feels for the Carry On series for people in general, as some of it is just offensive to my modern eyes.

Damnation Alley - in which I suspect George Peppard was playing himself, if stories about his conduct on the set of The A-Team are any indicator.  A weekend matinee romp about some honkeys in a van taking a Sunday drive across post-apocalyptic America to Albany because the people there are so closely situated to 1970s NYC that their quality of life has not actually taken any significant nosedive since doomsday beyond that guidos have stopped coming there for stag nights so if anything things have started looking up for the place, there's a black fellow who insanely decides to come along for this ride so clearly he has never seen any kind of genre fiction in his life and he lasts roughly 30 minutes, also the radiation seems to have dissipated entirely so they stop off in New Vegas to pick up a bird who is for some reason not dead, then they meet some cannibals and then it just ends.
It's a deeply flawed film whose narrative meanders and never seems to have any clear focus despite there being plenty of things going on that could float any number of interesting character conflicts, the most obvious being Peppard/Vincent's personality clashes, though I'd have settled for just a plain old clear and present outside threat like some pursuing cannibals or even The Cursed Earth's idea of a ticking clock/errand of mercy for the crew that forces them to gel on a mission.  As it is, it just feels like the film is cruising along and happy to get wherever it's going when it gets there, which gives it an easygoing charm that lends it to episodic viewing or to watching late at night if you want to just have something on until you nod off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 02 January, 2014, 07:30:51 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 02 January, 2014, 06:28:22 PM
(mostly on if the cow was real).

Yup.  I believe in order to get round the animal protection aspect, they simply went to the festival, where they planned to sacrifice a cow anyway, filmed it, and edited it in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 January, 2014, 07:37:32 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2014, 07:20:22 PM
A couple of quaint B-movie "classics":

Carry On At Your Convenience.  This is one of the series that I have an inordinate and irrational soft spot for, despite it being the film that directly targets the British working class as the butt of jokes rather than everyone else in the world ever, as is usual for the franchise, and it was a decision that cost the makers in the long run as this remains the biggest flop of the Carry On series as an increasingly-unionised British working class that comprised the series' main audience stayed away in droves when it was released in cinemas, but it's also one of the purest in the series as it's about a bloke called Boggs who owns a toilet factory in which Sid James works THE END.  This fucker wrote itself, really.
It may surprise those who have not seen it that this film is complete and utter horseshit, but as I say, at some point nostalgia takes over and it just washes over you regardless of the quality.  I suspect this plays a great part in lingering feels for the Carry On series for people in general, as some of it is just offensive to my modern eyes.



You forgot to mention the sub plot about the Canary that picks winning horses! :lol:

And is this the first in the series in which Joan Simms goes from crumpet to nagging wife?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 January, 2014, 07:52:50 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 January, 2014, 07:20:22 PM
Carry On At Your Convenience.
It may surprise those who have not seen it that this film is complete and utter horseshit 

How very dare you, Sir! Its a bona fide masterpiece!

But seriously, I also have a huge soft spot for the Carry On films of this era. Looking to my right, I can spy at least 17 of 'em sat on my DVD shelf.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 January, 2014, 12:07:43 AM
The Matrix Reloaded, just finished a few mins ago on ITV4.
Haven't seen it in almost a decade, and wasn't intending on watching it. Flicked around at first, but found myself glued once the 1st Agent Smith fight scene kicked off.

I'm amazed how polished it still looks- it's 11 years old this year after all. Some jaw dropping effects and set-pieces, in Particular the scene with Neo flying so fast he's almost warping 'reality' in his wake, and the continual duplication of Hugo Weaving, which is just, well, seamless.
Such a strange, strange film- a wealth of ideas, walking a razor edge of ingenuity and absurdity.
For me this is one of those genre tragedies of 'what could have been', the conclusion had the potential to be absolutely mind blowing.

"Something's different. I can feel them". One of the closing movie quotes that should send goosebumps up your arm.
But knowing what comes next makes makes you wrinkle your nose instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 January, 2014, 03:43:58 AM
Spent an evening in watching DVDs / blu rays with the old man. Am now in that horrible 'too bleary eyed to function properly - too spngey headed to sleep' zone.

But, I can at least recommend 'Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists' as a genuine bona fide rip-roaring 90 minutes of unadulterated entertainment. Three quid at Sainsbury's - arguably the best use I've put my wages to all year! Real laugh-a minute stuff, crammed to bursting with sight gags, belly-laugh inducing jokes and fantastic stop clay-o-vision animation from Aardman. They really don't make enough movies of this sort of quality. Brilliant stuff.

Followed this up with G.I. Joe (don't ask - suffice to say, when the old man gets it into his head he wants to see a movie, there's no deterring him).

Going in with almost no expectation of quality whatsoever, I have to say it was a lot of fun! There's some really naff fake looking / too glossy CG, and it's probably accurate to call the movie 'a load of bunk'... but it IS fun, in a 'switch off brain' fashion.

Also: Rachel Nichols. Rawr.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 January, 2014, 08:43:20 AM
Quote from: HdE on 04 January, 2014, 03:43:58 AM
But, I can at least recommend 'Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists' as a genuine bona fide rip-roaring 90 minutes of unadulterated entertainment. Three quid at Sainsbury's

Yep. I'll take that hint and hunt out a Sainsburys :D My missus is a huge fan of that and being just a stone's throw away from where it was all made (the ship model is ENORMOUS) it's ridiculous it's not already in our collection frankly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 04 January, 2014, 08:56:59 AM
Yeah I saw that for £3 while out shopping. Will pick it up today! (Promethe-arse was also going for the same price).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2014, 11:23:40 AM
Piratesis ace at any price: fun, excellent tunes and mildly educational.  My kids were very disappointed when the long-promised statue of Darwin in the Nat Hist Museum in London proved to be of some beardy old bloke.  Although he was positioned at the top of some stairs so he could at least theoretically look down women's tops.

Wish they'd make some more Pirates... films.  It was streets ahead of the Ice Ages and even the Madagascars.

My most recent watches were Tangled and ST: The Motion Picture.  Both were really rather brill. Always gobsmacked at how well the effects, sets and costumes for ST:TMP stand up - every penny is on the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 January, 2014, 12:05:50 PM
No sign of Pirates in a mid-sized urban Sainsburys. Buggeration it was going to be a crafty gift for milady - she'll have to settle for mounds of facon and chocolate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeGerry on 04 January, 2014, 01:10:50 PM
Watched Elysium the other night, best film I have seen in a while  :cool:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 January, 2014, 02:30:29 PM
[Just to go off on a tiny bit of a tangent here:

quote author=Mabs link=topic=31824.msg803862#msg803862 date=1388825819]
Yeah I saw that for £3 while out shopping. Will pick it up today! (Promethe-arse was also going for the same price).
[/quote]

I'm honestly pretty shocked at how cheap some of the stuff in our local Sainsburys is. Tesco too, for that matter. It's VERY tempting to trek down there and have a spending spree.

Blu rays are quite affordable in there, but the real cheapness is on DVDs. I've kind of got into the 'get it in hi-def if they've got it' mindset, but there's such a wealth of stuff in there for under a fiver, it's ridiculous.

However, I won't be making the trip. The urge is there to pick up G.I. Joe: Retaliation now, and I need to not go near shops until it passes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2014, 02:59:10 PM
PRETTY WOMAN

It was on the telly late the other night, I've never seen it before and, as it's such a 90s cultural reference point, I was drawn in to see it to the end.

My goodness but it's a terrible piece of work by almost any measure you can imagine.

To be fair, I was expecting it to be a predictable rom-com which glamourises prostitution. It didn't disappoint - in fact, I wasn't prepared for just how predictable it was and how glamourous it made Julia Roberts lifestyle.

There were also not actually any laughs to be had anywhere (Larry Miller raises a half smile).

It also seems like there must be a Director's cut out there with an extra hour of character stuff that makes sense of the sudden character reversals. Hotel Manager Hector Elizondo becomes a fan of Julia Robert's character after seeing her in a pretty dress.  Richard Gere changes career after talking about his Dad for thirty seconds (he continues to be a dick to Julia Roberts though).

But what shocked me most was how BAD Richard Gere actually is in this. I'm pretty sure I've seen him act in other things - even when playing this typical kind of dick that was presented as a protaganist in most late Eighties and early Nineties films - but he limits himself to a pout and some Joey from Friends level emoting here.

I felt dirty after watching it. And not in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 04 January, 2014, 03:58:12 PM


Pretty Woman was 90s version of Fifty Shades of Grey
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2014, 05:27:04 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2014, 02:59:10 PM
My goodness but it's a terrible piece of work by almost any measure you can imagine.

It does the truly amazing job of being less enlightened in every way than the 1912 and 1964 versions.  Atrocious film.  Although Julia Roberts does at least live up to the title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 January, 2014, 05:58:36 PM
Richard Gere does drive a rather nice Lotus Esprit in it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 04 January, 2014, 06:12:45 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 02 January, 2014, 11:04:27 AM
The sound though... the volume for speech was way too low. I've often found this with DVDs in the past but it's something I particularly  noticed this time. I had to turn the volume up much higher than normal.

DVD's or Blu-Ray's?

But yes, ive noticed this problem, as have a few other people I know. But only whilst watching stuff on Blu-Ray
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrJomster on 05 January, 2014, 12:15:20 AM
The Great Beauty was quite good. An Italian film. Give it a whirl in the cinema if you get the chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 05 January, 2014, 10:58:18 AM
Carrie - the remake.

I'm a big fan of the original, but the new version just seems utterly pointless. The acting is ok at best and the film itself is bland and uninteresting.

What a waste!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 05 January, 2014, 11:41:05 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 January, 2014, 12:05:50 PM
No sign of Pirates in a mid-sized urban Sainsburys. Buggeration it was going to be a crafty gift for milady - she'll have to settle for mounds of facon and chocolate.

Hi CrazyFox, PM me your address and I'll send you a copy in the post!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 January, 2014, 04:01:06 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 04 January, 2014, 06:12:45 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 02 January, 2014, 11:04:27 AM
The sound though... the volume for speech was way too low. I've often found this with DVDs in the past but it's something I particularly  noticed this time. I had to turn the volume up much higher than normal.

DVD's or Blu-Ray's?

But yes, ive noticed this problem, as have a few other people I know. But only whilst watching stuff on Blu-Ray

This was on Blu-ray. I have noticed it a lot on other films on DVD though.

I watched the DVDs on my PS2. The Blu-ray on my new(ish)* PS3. Just mentioning that in case the device plays a part. I don't think it does.

*I've actually had it for several months (I think a year actually) now, but only started using it regularly on recently getting my new HD telly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 05 January, 2014, 05:16:31 PM
Only God Forgives
Disappointed by this to say the least. To try and keep my problems short and sweet instead of going off on one- I like the works of David Lynch and know a lot of his style and whatnot was influenced by European cinema (Polanksi's The Tenant being a noticeable example). With Only God Forgives, I couldn't help but feel it was a European director showing he has been influenced by David Lynch, so it's kind of gone full circle. But it just doesn't seem to work. There are a couple of memorable scenes and a lot of it looks great but to me that just seemed to be the problem; all (weird) style over substance. Thoughts on this won't keep me occupied for too long however because I received a copy of Disney's The Jungle Book as a gift recently and it only has an alternative ending and a deleted scene with 'Lost Character' Rocky The Rhino! I know what I'll be watching on my day off this week...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:22:12 PM
Finally got to see Extended Edition of Unexpected Journey tonight.  Very much enjoyed it, although the added bits have nothing like the impact on the film that they had on Fellowship et al.  Highlights were [spoiler]L'il Bilbo, which almost made up for the ill-judged framing sequence, in that it was at least something new, the Great Goblin's awesome musical number[/spoiler], and all the extra waffle at Rivendell, all of which was fascinating (to me).  I was hoping to see the Eagles get a line or two to prove they were more than Gandalf's trained budgies, but no such luck. For such plot-critical creatures they get very short shrift in Jackson's films.

However, with this viewing I have fallen into a dangerous and distracting trap, which is trying to work out what the two-film version would have looked like.  Some of the additional lines here seem to confirm my suspicions that Part 1 would have ended with the Barrel Ride: Kili moons over an elf-maiden, emphasis on the tombs of the Nazgul - all things that would have borne fruit by the end of the original first film, but now fetch up rather awkwardly in the middle of the second.  Equally distracting is trying to figure out what would not originally have featured: I have my doubts about Thorin's fight with Azog, which gives Unexpected Journey its rather weak and (storywise) premature climax.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 January, 2014, 10:41:38 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:22:12 PM
Some of the additional lines here seem to confirm my suspicions that Part 1 would have ended with the Barrel Ride


Officially confirmed (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/13/hobbit-peter-jackson//).


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:54:30 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 05 January, 2014, 10:41:38 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:22:12 PM
Some of the additional lines here seem to confirm my suspicions that Part 1 would have ended with the Barrel Ride


Officially confirmed (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/13/hobbit-peter-jackson//).

Can't decide whether I'm pleased that I guessed right, or whether I'm sorry that my speculation is over!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 January, 2014, 11:02:13 PM
Someone gave me a copy of Cutthroat Island on DVD and I've decided it's time.
If I don't come back, tell my wife hello.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeE1M1RT on 06 January, 2014, 01:33:03 AM
Just watched Pi. What a crazy film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 January, 2014, 12:29:11 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:54:30 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 05 January, 2014, 10:41:38 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 January, 2014, 10:22:12 PM
Some of the additional lines here seem to confirm my suspicions that Part 1 would have ended with the Barrel Ride


Officially confirmed (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/13/hobbit-peter-jackson//).

Can't decide whether I'm pleased that I guessed right, or whether I'm sorry that my speculation is over!

Dang! I was wrong then.  I thought it would end with the line that says "And Bilbo, this is what we brought you along for" and him going "Ulp!".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 January, 2014, 01:32:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 January, 2014, 12:29:11 PMI thought it would end with the line that says "And Bilbo, this is what we brought you along for" and him going "Ulp!".

I had definite suspicions in that direction too, but the way the sub-plots are arranged, particularly as emphasised in the Extended Edition (bits I presume were excised from the original film to preserve the revised structure), pointed to most being finished before Laketown.  I still think that could have been a good way to go, leaving the journey in one film and Smaug/Five Armies/Dol Guldur in the second. If this was an adaptation of the book(s), it would have made sense, but with the foregrounding of entirely new material (Radagast's woodland chums, Tauriel and her love triangle, Bard's family) the split would have had to come earlier.  As noted, I do really like the new stuff, but I'm not so keen on how it diminishes the time given to the original scenes (in particular Eagles-Beorn-Mirkwood-Spiders seems to be over in a flash). 

Four-part version, anyone?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 January, 2014, 02:48:32 PM
Anyone else think Jackson should go back to LotR and make some films to, you know, flesh out the story a bit?

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 07 January, 2014, 04:43:23 AM
Monty Pythons The Meaning Of Life

My least favourite of the python films. Yet almost every sketch is gold. The ending has always been a let down to me. The final song and dance number is very cringe worthy (Christmas in heaven) but everything before that is great.

I think what makes it the least favored is that there is no central group of characters throughout the whole film. Anyone else find that they seem to go to Life Of Brian or Holy Grail before this one? Or is it just me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 January, 2014, 09:10:37 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 07 January, 2014, 04:43:23 AMAnyone else find that they seem to go to Life Of Brian or Holy Grail before this one?

Yup, not just you.  As you say, I do love all the individual sketches (some of the best Python sketches and songs of all:  Every Sperm, Sex Education, Oh God You Are So Big, Waffer Theen Meent, Just Remember etc. etc,), and the Crimson Permanent Assurance story always makes me smile at Gilliam's sheer ambition, but as a film I can never really get too enthusiastic about it.  It's no coincidence that I have LoB and HG on DVD, but not this.

Meanwhile, unwell child meant Jurassic Park for me.  Now there's a film I'm conflicted about.  So much good dino stuff, such an interesting cast, clever set designs, but ultimately there's something very flat about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 January, 2014, 10:40:58 AM
The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists - what a fun film! Me and my boy absolutely loved it. In our household we are massive fans of Aardman Animation, from Wallace & Gromit to Shaun the Sheep, and this film is another classic. Aardman animation have come a long way from there their first Wallace & Gromit short, and their techniques have matured over the years. Their work on Pirates was superb, just the movement and expression of the characters and lighting; everything comes together perfectly. The film did take a short while to kick into gear, but when it did, boy what fun it was! The story was really engaging with laugh out loud moments. The film does not overdo the gags as was witnessed in Flushed Away, but gets everything note perfect. I loved it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 January, 2014, 11:19:05 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 07 January, 2014, 10:40:58 AM
The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists - what a fun film! Me and my boy absolutely loved it. In our household we are massive fans of Aardman Animation, from Wallace & Gromit to Shaun the Sheep, and this film is another classic. Aardman animation have come a long way from there their first Wallace & Gromit short, and their techniques have matured over the years. Their work on Pirates was superb, just the movement and expression of the characters and lighting; everything comes together perfectly. The film did take a short while to kick into gear, but when it did, boy what fun it was! The story was really engaging with laugh out loud moments. The film does not overdo the gags as was witnessed in Flushed Away, but gets everything note perfect. I loved it!

I should really get around to seeing that - I love Arthur Christmas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 January, 2014, 12:12:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 January, 2014, 11:19:05 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 07 January, 2014, 10:40:58 AM
The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists - what a fun film! Me and my boy absolutely loved it. In our household we are massive fans of Aardman Animation, from Wallace & Gromit to Shaun the Sheep, and this film is another classic. Aardman animation have come a long way from there their first Wallace & Gromit short, and their techniques have matured over the years. Their work on Pirates was superb, just the movement and expression of the characters and lighting; everything comes together perfectly. The film did take a short while to kick into gear, but when it did, boy what fun it was! The story was really engaging with laugh out loud moments. The film does not overdo the gags as was witnessed in Flushed Away, but gets everything note perfect. I loved it!

I should really get around to seeing that - I love Arthur Christmas.

And I haven't watched Arthur Christmas yet!  probably the only Aardman produced film I haven't seen yet. I'll try and see if I can nab it on the cheap from ebay. I'm also set on buying Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol: I saw it over Christmas on TV and it blew me away!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 January, 2014, 06:07:08 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 January, 2014, 09:10:37 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 07 January, 2014, 04:43:23 AMAnyone else find that they seem to go to Life Of Brian or Holy Grail before this one?

Yup, not just you.  As you say, I do love all the individual sketches (some of the best Python sketches and songs of all:  Every Sperm, Sex Education, Oh God You Are So Big, Waffer Theen Meent, Just Remember etc. etc,), and the Crimson Permanent Assurance story always makes me smile at Gilliam's sheer ambition, but as a film I can never really get too enthusiastic about it.  It's no coincidence that I have LoB and HG on DVD, but not this.

I'm the same. I could quote that film to hell and back (fishy, fishy, fishy, FISH! Oh where can the fishy BE?), and parts of it are just brilliant ('THE SALMON MOUSSE'), but the lack of cohesion makes it more of an extended episode rather than a film.  Life of Brian is definitely my hands down favourite, though I watched Holy Grail with the kids the other day just to see their reaction to the rabbit.  They enjoyed it all as much as I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 07 January, 2014, 06:19:42 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 06 January, 2014, 02:48:32 PM
Anyone else think Jackson should go back to LotR and make some films to, you know, flesh out the story a bit?

;)

NOOOOOO. They could do with a less boring edit, in the same way as he's added to The Hobbit, he could have added a stronger female character, maybe a female Hobbit? Done something better with Sam & Frodo - but without changing the story overall. Maybe ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 January, 2014, 07:04:57 PM
Quote from: Judge Olde on 07 January, 2014, 06:19:42 PM... he could have added a stronger female character, maybe a female Hobbit?

He did beef up roles for both Arwen and especially Eowyn.  While Arwen's role petered out after Fellowship, I thought Eowyn's story was very well done, probably the best developed of the secondary characters, while largely staying within the parameters of the books.  However, I forget how much of her story is in the extended editions, and how much in the originals.  Either way, Miranda Otto was great casting: fab and gorgeous.

(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfi1ymaOU71qgutswo1_500.jpg)

Meawhile, Jurassic Park 2 and 3.  Both have things to recommend them, both have great casts and great dinos, both are ultimately disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2014, 10:25:00 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 January, 2014, 07:04:57 PM
Quote from: Judge Olde on 07 January, 2014, 06:19:42 PM... he could have added a stronger female character, maybe a female Hobbit?

He did beef up roles for both Arwen and especially Eowyn.  While Arwen's role petered out after Fellowship,...

There's a scary bit in the TWO TOWERS extras where it looks for a while like they had Arwen turning up at Helm's Deep, chewing gum and kicking ass!  Glad they thought better of that.  I actually quite like the conceit of having a love story on screen in Two Towers with the Arwen and Aragorn in different physical locations.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 January, 2014, 10:30:47 PM
This Is The End.

When this first came out I thought it sounded terrible (what with the cast playing themselves and all), but it got surprisingly strong reviews and I heard from several reliable sources that it was actually really good, better than The World's End even.

It's shit.

I've liked each member of the cast in other things they've been in, but this was a load of self-indulgent wank.

Comedy/genre mashups like Shaun of the Dead and An American Werewolf in London are really tricky to pull off, and can only work if they have had hard work put into the script to get all their elements balanced, and if they treat their genre elements seriously.

This, on the other hand, feels like they literally just made it up as they went along. A student film with a multi-million dollar budget.

Avoid, even if you're usually a fan of the Apatow crowd like me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 January, 2014, 10:47:33 PM
I liked 'This is he End' ! saw it on a plane and didn't know much going in  but it surprised and amused throughout. The scene where[spoiler] Franco ascends to heaven but is pulled back to hell when he gives everyone the finger [/spoiler]had me laughing and [spoiler]The Backstreet Boys[/spoiler] finale was great too. Also liked the twisted versions of Cera, Watson and Rhianna's ass.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 January, 2014, 11:02:56 PM
We also watched some of Who's Harry Crumb? because we saw it on Netflix, and are big fans of John Candy.

Yeesh, that's a bit of a stinker, it went off after 25mins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 08:36:32 AM
Last night I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on telly.

I've come to really like this film. When I first saw it at the cinema it didn't really feel like an Indy film and I got annoyed at the gopher's, the fridge and the Tarzan bit. I'm over all that now and I can enjoy this film for the fun romp that it is.

This is the second time I've watched it on TV and it gets better on repeated viewings. It holds its pace remarkably well and there are some great scenes. The motorcycle escape and jungle chase are both pretty great action scenes and I really like the way the baddies are introduced at the beginning.

In many ways this is the closest in tone to Raiders. It doesn't have the over the top comedy of Last Crusade or the schizophrenic kids film/super dark supernatural drama feel of Temple of Doom.

Overall I think it's a pretty good film. Ideally it would have been made a few years earlier - Ford looks just a little bit too old.
In some ways I think it's a shame they haven't continued the franchise with Mutt as I quite liked the character. Some sort of Mutt Williams X-Files type thing set in the 50s could have been good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 January, 2014, 09:29:18 AM
The Iceman

Watch it on Netflix last night, that was so creepy and interesting to watch, it very emotion-less film, it was based on true story, about a hitman who killed over 100 men... Michael Shannon was perfect cast, he got so cold eyes! Some murders was in same level as Goodfellas, and one thing does surprise me in this film, Chris Evans (not that radio host!) was really good in it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 11:37:40 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 08:36:32 AM
In many ways this is the closest in tone to Raiders. It doesn't have the over the top comedy of Last Crusade or the schizophrenic kids film/super dark supernatural drama feel of Temple of Doom.

Agree entirely - it's very much a true sequel to Raiders.  We watched it last night too, starting with 'ach, can we really be bothered, we've seen it half a dozen times', and ending up pretty much glued to the screen.  I'd also agree that it should have been made a few years earlier - ideally while the charming Denholm Elliot was still with us: with Brody there instead of Broadbent's stand-in character (whose name I can't even remember), the 'new' relationships with the largely irritating Oxley and Mac (I like Winstone a lot, but bloody hell if he said 'Jonesy' one more time...) might not have seemed quite so tacked-on. Similarly, the wedding scene would have carried a lot more weight if an elderly Sallah (plus innumerable grandkids) and a successful-looking Short-Round had been present.  Mrs. Spielberg not so much.

Equally, as any fool knows, Indy was born with the 20th century, and so should be in his 50's during Crystal Skull, rather than Ford's admittedly-lightly-carried mid-60's. That alone would have made somewhat more sense of his repeatedly going toe-to-toe with gigantic Russian Special Forces men and coming away unbruised.

Base villain though he has subsequently been shown to be, LeBoeuf's Mutt makes a decent fast-talking sidekick, and Indy always benefits from one of those.  Only 'that' scene really wrankles.  Well, maybe the Brando hat is a bit much too. 

I actually really enjoyed the working-out of the central puzzle (although see below), the fridge-nuking, and the grand spectacle of the inter-dimensional ship's departure, and even (most of) the chase sequences. 

Tarzan bit aside, there are still some daft flubbs and apparent dead-ends in it: why does Indy address Spalko by her name, rank and academic title in the warehouse, and then one mild nuking later doesn't know who she is beyond a physical description?  What was the point of the hugely expensive and risky endeavour of stealing the Roswell alien anyway, if the Sovs already had both Oxley and Jones?  Why did the Akator alien(s) sit around for 2 or 3,000 years after their hey-day doing bugger-all until de Orellana nicked one of its (their) skulls, and then piss off as soon as Spalko gave it back?

The obvious studio lighting is also shockingly bad throughout.

Anyway, I can forgive pretty much anything just for the scene between Marion and Indy in the back of the truck: "They weren't you, honey" has my vote for most romantic thing I've ever seen in the cinema.  That Ford certainly does deliver a good no-nonsense declaration of love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 11:42:32 AM
QuoteI liked 'This is he End'

Fair enough. It reminded me somewhat of the recent 21 Jump Street movie - another film that got very good reviews/word of mouth but left me cold with its loose, hit and (mostly) miss improvised feel.

It also reminded me a bit of Extras - a show that a lot of people seem to like, but I thought was mostly unfunny and unbearably smug and self-indulgent.

A few other films I watched over the Christmas period were:

The Chevy Chase vehicle Funny Farm, a title which is surely contravenes the trades description act. Now that's a film that I'm betting everyone - from the key grip to the execs to the star - were all out of their minds on drugs during the making. Not that it's a 'druggy' film, just that it's a load of aimless waffle. I still got a nostalgic thrill from watching it, and still find Chase a fascinating individual though, both on and off screen.

The Shawshank Redemption, which - a controversial opinion no doubt - I still think is near enough a perfect movie. Endlessly rewatchable, superbly paced and with some cracking, hilarious dialogue. One thing I noticed this time was that the ending feels like it goes on a little long. I believe it was originally supposed to end on a slightly ambiguous note, with [spoiler]Red on the bus[/spoiler], and though I appreciate the closure that they eventually went for (and it feels 100% earned), it could be a bit tighter. It did make me wonder though - [spoiler]if Andy was able to prove his innocence and be pardoned, would he have got into trouble for trying to escape and digging the tunnel that was surely nearly finished by that point in the story?[/spoiler] It's also a great film to watch with someone who's never seen it before, as I did this time.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which my girlfriend wanted to watch as it was on Netflix and I ended up really enjoying much to my surprise. A good film for a slightly hungover morning. Superb stunts, and probably one of Simon Pegg's better Hollywood roles. It's a little overlong as are many films these days. I thought I was watching the finale, but then the film carried on for another hour.

The Descendants, which I thought was terrific, and is definitely a film I'll watch again. Love me a bit of Clooney, and I feel he's the nearest thing these days to a seal of quality as he chooses his projects so well. One distracting/unnerving thing was I found myself thinking 'that old guy looks a bit like Matthew Lillard', only to see Lillard's name in the credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 08 January, 2014, 11:44:55 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 11:37:40 AM
That Ford certainly does deliver a good no-nonsense declaration of love.

I Know  ;)

Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 08:36:32 AM
Last night I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on telly.

I've come to really like this film. When I first saw it at the cinema it didn't really feel like an Indy film and I got annoyed at the gopher's, the fridge and the Tarzan bit. I'm over all that now and I can enjoy this film for the fun romp that it is.

This is the second time I've watched it on TV and it gets better on repeated viewings. It holds its pace remarkably well and there are some great scenes. The motorcycle escape and jungle chase are both pretty great action scenes and I really like the way the baddies are introduced at the beginning.

Yup, I think there was just too much hype around the release and then folks seemed to be disappointed that it was another Indy movie and that he now looked older.  I really enjoy Crystal Skull and will happily watch it as often as the other Indy movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 11:46:59 AM
QuoteI'd also agree that it should have been made a few years earlier - ideally while the charming Denholm Elliot was still with us: with Brody there instead of Broadbent's stand-in character

...and with Sean Connery's participation - he was intended to play John Hurt's character. See also the gamekeeper in Skyfall.

I didn't think Crystal Skull was quite as bad as the Star Wars prequels, though it's a film I've never felt compelled to rewatch. For me it felt really sanitised and studio-bound compared to the originals. And Indiana Jones getting married...?!?! No thanks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 11:55:15 AM
Quote from: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 11:46:59 AM
...and with Sean Connery's participation - he was intended to play John Hurt's character.

Ugh, no thanks.  Henry's story was done and done well in Last Crusade, and however I might feel about Hurt's performance in KotCS, I wouldn't have wanted to see The Jones Boys Ride Again, however fan-pleasing that would have seemed.  This was about Indy's adult life and choices, not his (over-documented) childhood.

Comparing it to the SW Prequels would be sacrilege - Indy IV is a faithful if flawed attempt to capture the feel and substance of the original, and has more heart in any given scene than all three SW prequel movies combined (and I speak as a fan of TPM).  I agree though, 'studio bound' is probably the film's biggest problem, and its biggest deviation from the originals.  Why (for example) the Area 51 exterior scenes had to be green-screened I have literally no idea, but it looks awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 12:14:26 PM
There are some great sets in Crystal Skull though - the Mayan graveyard is excellent and incredibly creepy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2014, 12:22:31 PM


The superfluous stick-on Russkies were the problem for me in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Plumage and I think they missed an opportunity story-wise that would tie-in to the series better.

The hook for me was always the M.I.B. showing up and that storage house with the artifacts in it, and since this was meant to be a call-back to Raiders... and its slightly unsettling end with the Ark being sequestered away to be taken care of by 'top men', I felt that these rogue, buttoned-up heavies should've acted as the real foil for Indy instead of them just turning out to be the exposition arm of the government giving Indy his brief.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 12:24:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 12:14:26 PM
There are some great sets in Crystal Skull though - the Mayan graveyard is excellent and incredibly creepy!

True, and the actual bowels of Akator are very good too: I love that final red ceramic doorway.  What annoys me are the supposedly outdoor daytime scenes, where the same ugly yellowish spotlight seems to be used as 'the sun' in every instance, be it the Peruvian jungle or the Nevada desert.  It's really no substitute for Tunisia!

Quote from: Joe SoapI felt that these rogue, buttoned-up heavies should've acted as the real foil for Indy instead of them just turning out to be the exposition arm of the government giving Indy his brief.

I see what you mean, but I also feel that having the Russians as baddies played along well with the Pulp Serial conceit - a 50's action-adventure could really have no other villain, let alone sinister agents of the government itself.

I also enjoyed the way this film made is of the Young Indiana Jones mythos, where Indy was the linguist and spy he conspicuously wasn't in Last Crusade.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 January, 2014, 12:35:52 PM
Hmm. I saw ...Crystal Skull for the first time this xmas. Having studiously avoided it thus far based on reputation alone, initially I was pleasantly surprised. The Raiders-warehouse homage is cheeky and a bit too obvious a nod to the past, but it works - had me grinning like a loon when the penny dropped. Even the infamous fridge scene didn't bother me too much - in context, I thought it worked much better than one would think, if being admittedly a little bit silly. Cate Blanchett was superb as the villian and an inspired creation, as was Wintone's rumpled adventurer. Loved the tantalising references to Indy's wartime exploits with SOE and the brief time spent in the US of the '50s with its milk bars, bikers, and 'reds under the beds' paranoia. I let myself dare to think 'You know what? I actually... think I like this film.'

Even at this point I could certainly see why people hadn't. Loads of conspicuosly CG-ed skies had already grated and a (mercifully brief) scene of CG comedy gophers had briefly made me want to chew my own fist off but on the whole I was feeling so well disposed that I gave the benefit of the doubt to LeBouf's character and found I didn't mind even him. Basically I thought fandom had been far too harsh on all counts. The Sancho Panzer reference is a nice nod to the Young Indy chronicles. The graveyard scene is great - echoing similar scenes from all three previous films and yet miraculously finding new ground to tread and not feeling like a reprieve of former glories. John Hurt is great, the return of Marion is great, Blanchett and Winstone continue to be great.

Then the film fell straight off a cliff. In a jeep. Onto a tree. In fact, the rot started pretty much as soon as the cast got in their jeeps, to drive through some CGI beneath a CGI, while -LENSFLARE- battling some CGI and trying -LENSFLARE- to avoid -LENSFLARE- some more CGI and - oh no! Some CGI drop out of the CGI onto-LENSFLARE- the jeeps and - yeah, you've probably seen it. Comedy monkeys, comedy fucking ants, numerous pale imitations of scenes from Raiders and Crusade that only serve to highlight the shortcomings of the current effort, and oh yes, did I mention that there was perhaps just a touch too much CGI? There are the bones of a genuinely classic scene here, but not a single thing bar the cast feels as though it actually exists, and the constant forced attempts at comedy are starting to border on the pathetic.

The aforementioned off-the-cliff jeep-jump is equally bad/fake/painful/silly (and makes no sense. Marion drives them off the cliff with a 'trust me' as though it's all part of a well worked-out plan but how, given she's not been here before, could she know the tree was there? How could she see over the edge of the cliff? How could she know they would land exactly on the tree and be gracefully lowered into the water? Gaah.) Then we have some 'comedy' CG rapids-jumping down CG waterfalls -LENSFLARE- and it's pretty clear that sense has gone out of the window. This is no longer happening in any semblance of the real world, where laws like physics and logic apply. Every new event is piled on the next with increasing rapidity in an attempt at spectatcle but all that results is apathy, and I can hear the ghosts of the film crew whispering in my ear, 'Do you like us yet? Please say you like us. Look, more CGI! That's what kids today like, isn't it? Please like us. How about now? There'll be aliens later. How about then?'

All goodwill was thouroughly exhausted by this point. The use of CG and lensflare inexplicably KEEPS GETTING WORSE. Marion, aside from her intro and the dialogue scene in the jeep, could actually be anyone - totally surplus to requirements, the script-writers give her nothing to do or say and she's simply the token woman. LeBouf likewise feels pointless by this point. In fact, there are too many characters altogether and nobody is getting proper development. I don't care about a single thing that's happening anymore because it's taking place in an empty, souless CG universe divorced from the flesh-and-blood world of three dimensions. Aliens, -LENSFLARE-, crystalskullBLAH, temple collapses, BLAH BLAH BLAH. This must be how Star Wars fans felt when the prequels were made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2014, 12:45:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 12:24:46 PM
Quote from: Joe SoapI felt that these rogue, buttoned-up heavies should've acted as the real foil for Indy instead of them just turning out to be the exposition arm of the government giving Indy his brief.

I see what you mean, but I also feel that having the Russians as baddies played along well with the Pulp Serial conceit - a 50's action-adventure could really have no other villain, let alone sinister agents of the government itself.

Could've been the hidden agendas of nefarious Nazi scientists imported after WWII which is more in keeping with the series, pulp conspiracy scenarios from the Oppenheimer era and its most potent product: the proverbial nuked-fridge. The Cold War schtick didn't really work in this one.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 January, 2014, 12:51:31 PM
QuoteThe aforementioned off-the-cliff jeep-jump is equally bad/fake/painful/silly

Certainly not as realistic as jumping from an aircraft using an inflatable raft to break your fall and then plunge into a river, or ride a rollercoaster through an endless mine...

I really do not get how people complain this film has silly moments like this if they have ever seen an Indiana Jones film before...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 12:53:34 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2014, 12:45:30 PM
Could've been the hidden agendas of nefarious Nazi scientists imported after WWII which is more in keeping with the series and pulp conspiracy scenarios from the Oppenheimer era. The Cold War schtick didn't really work in this one.

Ooh yuss, The Boys from Peru, that would have been good!   

Still, I'm not sure I agree with entirely you re: the Cold War.  The merging of Sputnik-fear with Little Grey Men in their Flying Hubcaps seems to be a sensible step on from Hitler and the Occult, keeping the series going forward rather than harking back to something that was done well one-and-a-half-times before.  Having an older Indy challenged by contemporary threats (the KGB, nukes, Lettermen and Greasers) against a backdrop of ancient lost cities provides more contrast than fighting old familiar threats.  Last Crusade already had that RotJ 'greatest hits' feel, without doing Nazis again.

Still wouldn't mind seeing your version, though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 January, 2014, 12:57:02 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 January, 2014, 12:51:31 PM
QuoteThe aforementioned off-the-cliff jeep-jump is equally bad/fake/painful/silly

Certainly not as realistic as jumping from an aircraft using an inflatable raft to break your fall and then plunge into a river, or ride a rollercoaster through an endless mine...

I really do not get how people complain this film has silly moments like this if they have ever seen an Indiana Jones film before...

I didn't really like Temple... on the whole, for just such reasons, but I do take your point.

I dunno, I'm well aware that all the films have similarly outrageous moments in them, but for some reason they don't bother me nearly as much (if at all). I think perhaps the difference is that in the original films they feel like natural progressions of the plot (if sometimes silly or unrealistic) and part of the fun, where I was too conscious in Crystal Skull of the film crew piling incident on top of incident in an attempt to win me round, or worse, because 'that's what happens in Indy movies.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2014, 01:00:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 12:53:34 PM
Ooh yuss, The Boys from Peru, that would have been good!


and Mutt turns out to be Indy's clone!   


Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2014, 12:53:34 PM
Still, I'm not sure I agree with entirely you re: the Cold War.  The merging of Sputnik-fear with Little Grey Men in their Flying Hubcaps seems to be a sensible step on from Hitler and the Occult, keeping the series going forward rather than harking back to something that was done well one-and-a-half-times before.  Having an older Indy challenged by contemporary threats (the KGB, nukes, Lettermen and Greasers) against a backdrop of ancient lost cities provides more contrast than fighting old familiar threats.  Last Crusade already had that RotJ 'greatest hits' feel, without doing Nazis again.


Yeah, I get that; it all works on paper and should work on-screen but I just don't think their execution of it was good especially with the Winstone flip-flop-plot that took up way too much screen-time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 08 January, 2014, 01:16:03 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 08 January, 2014, 12:57:02 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 January, 2014, 12:51:31 PM
QuoteThe aforementioned off-the-cliff jeep-jump is equally bad/fake/painful/silly

Certainly not as realistic as jumping from an aircraft using an inflatable raft to break your fall and then plunge into a river, or ride a rollercoaster through an endless mine...

I really do not get how people complain this film has silly moments like this if they have ever seen an Indiana Jones film before...

I didn't really like Temple... on the whole, for just such reasons, but I do take your point.

I dunno, I'm well aware that all the films have similarly outrageous moments in them, but for some reason they don't bother me nearly as much (if at all). I think perhaps the difference is that in the original films they feel like natural progressions of the plot (if sometimes silly or unrealistic) and part of the fun, where I was too conscious in Crystal Skull of the film crew piling incident on top of incident in an attempt to win me round, or worse, because 'that's what happens in Indy movies.'

HaHa! I thought exactly the same as Richmond when I was reading your post DJ.  It sounds to me like you just didn't like it, which is fair enough.  I agree that the movie is a fan service with things like the Ark appearing again in the warehouse.  I don't mind that myself but I can see why others are turned off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 01:42:38 PM
QuoteI dunno, I'm well aware that all the films have similarly outrageous moments in them, but for some reason they don't bother me nearly as much (if at all). I think perhaps the difference is that in the original films they feel like natural progressions of the plot (if sometimes silly or unrealistic) and part of the fun, where I was too conscious in Crystal Skull of the film crew piling incident on top of incident in an attempt to win me round, or worse, because 'that's what happens in Indy movies.'

Mmmm. And maybe something to do with the sillier bits in the earlier films being relatively brief?

I had a problem with the aliens in Crystal Skull, and while you could argue that if we accept outlandish elements like supernatural religious artefacts, a literal Holy Grail* and mystical cults then why not aliens? But I think it's largely down to how it is presented - in previous Indy films, it feels like for the most part we're just glimpsing the edges of the fantastical - in Raiders there's one scene that goes bananas and the whole film builds towards it.

It's the difference between seeing say, Indy exploring the crashed, ancient wreck of a UFO and literally having aliens and UFOs right up in yo' face as they are in the third act of Crystal Skull. I have very fond memories of the Lucasarts adventure game Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, which I felt had the elements more in balance.

I had a similar experience to you, Jimbo - I remember really liking the early parts of the film like the chase through the University campus as it somewhat captured the feel of the old films, but lost interest following one too many OTT cgi set-pieces that - for me - lacked any sense of peril. I never felt like any of the (too many) characters were in any danger. I think with a lot of modern films there's that sense of an 'uncanny valley' effect - once you pass a certain sweet spot, the more escalating peril and unlikely escapes and near-misses you pile on, the more the audiences brains start to check out and the less tense it gets, and the heavily green-screened look and feel exacerbates this. It all looks too clean whereas the old films had a sweaty, gritty authentic feel to them.

*The Templar knight at the end of Crusade is just straight-up silly, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 08 January, 2014, 03:41:41 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 08 January, 2014, 01:16:03 PM
It sounds to me like you just didn't like it, which is fair enough.

The sad thing though is that I wanted to, and at least initially, I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 03:57:25 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 01:42:38 PM
QuoteI dunno, I'm well aware that all the films have similarly outrageous moments in them, but for some reason they don't bother me nearly as much (if at all). I think perhaps the difference is that in the original films they feel like natural progressions of the plot (if sometimes silly or unrealistic) and part of the fun, where I was too conscious in Crystal Skull of the film crew piling incident on top of incident in an attempt to win me round, or worse, because 'that's what happens in Indy movies.'

Mmmm. And maybe something to do with the sillier bits in the earlier films being relatively brief?

I had a problem with the aliens in Crystal Skull, and while you could argue that if we accept outlandish elements like supernatural religious artefacts, a literal Holy Grail* and mystical cults then why not aliens? But I think it's largely down to how it is presented - in previous Indy films, it feels like for the most part we're just glimpsing the edges of the fantastical - in Raiders there's one scene that goes bananas and the whole film builds towards it.

It's the difference between seeing say, Indy exploring the crashed, ancient wreck of a UFO and literally having aliens and UFOs right up in yo' face as they are in the third act of Crystal Skull. I have very fond memories of the Lucasarts adventure game Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, which I felt had the elements more in balance.

I had a similar experience to you, Jimbo - I remember really liking the early parts of the film like the chase through the University campus as it somewhat captured the feel of the old films, but lost interest following one too many OTT cgi set-pieces that - for me - lacked any sense of peril. I never felt like any of the (too many) characters were in any danger. I think with a lot of modern films there's that sense of an 'uncanny valley' effect - once you pass a certain sweet spot, the more escalating peril and unlikely escapes and near-misses you pile on, the more the audiences brains start to check out and the less tense it gets, and the heavily green-screened look and feel exacerbates this. It all looks too clean whereas the old films had a sweaty, gritty authentic feel to them.

*The Templar knight at the end of Crusade is just straight-up silly, though.

This pretty much sums up my initial thoughts on the film after seeing it at the pictures.
As I said though, I've pretty much gotten over those criticisms and look past them to find an enjoyable - though admittedly slightly silly - film that I can enjoy.
I don't quite know how I went from finding the aliens a step too far to my current feelings that they are actually handled pretty well.
As for the CGI backgrounds - in my mind they're a throwback to the obvious mattes used in 50s B movies. Whether this is intentional or not, it's enough of a justification that they don't bother me.
I could probably have a stab at explaining away the 'lack of peril' as similar to the constant cheats in the serials of old (I'm thinking of that rant that Cathy Bates has in 'Misery').

When all's said and done you either like it or you don't - I'll certainly watch it again when it comes on telly. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 January, 2014, 04:04:05 PM
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a good example of a film initially met with mixed feelings by fans but has been re-evaluated in a relatively short period of time as an actually fairly enjoyable romp. I always thought it was that, so glad I'm less an apologist these days. But even I still dislike the monkey scene, a bit TOO silly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 04:13:22 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 03:57:25 PM
Quote from: radiator on 08 January, 2014, 01:42:38 PM
QuoteI dunno, I'm well aware that all the films have similarly outrageous moments in them, but for some reason they don't bother me nearly as much (if at all). I think perhaps the difference is that in the original films they feel like natural progressions of the plot (if sometimes silly or unrealistic) and part of the fun, where I was too conscious in Crystal Skull of the film crew piling incident on top of incident in an attempt to win me round, or worse, because 'that's what happens in Indy movies.'

Mmmm. And maybe something to do with the sillier bits in the earlier films being relatively brief?

I had a problem with the aliens in Crystal Skull, and while you could argue that if we accept outlandish elements like supernatural religious artefacts, a literal Holy Grail* and mystical cults then why not aliens? But I think it's largely down to how it is presented - in previous Indy films, it feels like for the most part we're just glimpsing the edges of the fantastical - in Raiders there's one scene that goes bananas and the whole film builds towards it.

It's the difference between seeing say, Indy exploring the crashed, ancient wreck of a UFO and literally having aliens and UFOs right up in yo' face as they are in the third act of Crystal Skull. I have very fond memories of the Lucasarts adventure game Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, which I felt had the elements more in balance.

I had a similar experience to you, Jimbo - I remember really liking the early parts of the film like the chase through the University campus as it somewhat captured the feel of the old films, but lost interest following one too many OTT cgi set-pieces that - for me - lacked any sense of peril. I never felt like any of the (too many) characters were in any danger. I think with a lot of modern films there's that sense of an 'uncanny valley' effect - once you pass a certain sweet spot, the more escalating peril and unlikely escapes and near-misses you pile on, the more the audiences brains start to check out and the less tense it gets, and the heavily green-screened look and feel exacerbates this. It all looks too clean whereas the old films had a sweaty, gritty authentic feel to them.

*The Templar knight at the end of Crusade is just straight-up silly, though.

This pretty much sums up my initial thoughts on the film after seeing it at the pictures.
As I said though, I've pretty much gotten over those criticisms and look past them to find an enjoyable - though admittedly slightly silly - film that I can enjoy.
I don't quite know how I went from finding the aliens a step too far to my current feelings that they are actually handled pretty well.
As for the CGI backgrounds - in my mind they're a throwback to the obvious mattes used in 50s B movies. Whether this is intentional or not, it's enough of a justification that they don't bother me.
I could probably have a stab at explaining away the 'lack of peril' as similar to the constant cheats in the serials of old (I'm thinking of that rant that Cathy Bates has in 'Misery').

When all's said and done you either like it or you don't - I'll certainly watch it again when it comes on telly.

Fair dos.

I happen to love the much-maligned Temple of Doom, every last racially offensive, Kate Capshaw-starring, rubber dinghy-gliding minute of it. It's by far my favourite of the four, despite having some really daft stuff. It's the one I had on video as a kid (recorded off telly, natch) so have lost count of the amount of times I've seen it - though it was only seeing the uncut VHS version in my twenties that I suddenly realised Mola Raam was actually ripping people's hearts out, and that's why Indy looks worried when they're hanging off the bridge at the end! All that heart-ripping stuff was absent in the TV cut!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 January, 2014, 05:09:33 PM
I went to see Temple of Doom at the cinema and for that Christmas I received the St Michael (for some reason, in those days, Marks and Spencer's used to do their own licensed annuals) Indiana Jones And the Temple of Doom annual/storybook which I'm pretty sure had a still of Mola Ramm holding somebody's heart in it! I'll have to see if I can find it and check.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 January, 2014, 05:43:17 PM
Temple of Doom only got passed for an uncut home video release last year would you believe it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 11:49:59 AM
My favourite aspect of Crystal Skull is the KGB's psychic femme fatale, whose powers are mostly understated from what I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 12:00:15 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 11:49:59 AM
My favourite aspect of Crystal Skull is the KGB's psychic femme fatale, whose powers are mostly understated from what I remember.

She just 'knows theenks before anyone elsk', I believe. And would pass for Lulu Romanov on an off day, which is enough to grant her considerable power over me at any rate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2014, 12:10:29 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 12:00:15 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 11:49:59 AM
My favourite aspect of Crystal Skull is the KGB's psychic femme fatale, whose powers are mostly understated from what I remember.

She just 'knows theenks before anyone elsk', I believe. And would pass for Lulu Romanov on an off day, which is enough to grant her considerable power over me at any rate.

Doesn't she fry the lock on the warehouse door with telekinesis or did I imagine that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 09 January, 2014, 12:13:23 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 11:49:59 AM
My favourite aspect of Crystal Skull is the KGB's psychic femme fatale, whose powers are mostly understated from what I remember.

:o  She was psychic?  How did I miss that?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 12:14:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2014, 12:10:29 PM
Doesn't she fry the lock on the warehouse door with telekinesis or did I imagine that?

I must have missed that! Seven times!  :-[ Obviously distracted by the gophers.  I had thought her powers were just a mild telepathy thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2014, 12:37:47 PM
Didn't Marion scope the edge of the cliff, notice the tree and then come up with her ker-azy scheme to drive off the cliff?

Anyway, I liked the opening but the DUKW chase, Ray Winstone, standard issue big tough guy, CGI jungle chase, the whole "the crystal skull told me to" and lots of other niggles (were those guys in the final temple really bricked up behind walls every day as a security measure?)  turned me off this movie.

Crystal Skull? More like "Kingdom of the Crystal Shit".

I think, even though I'm not a religous or spirtual person, found the science fiction ending at odds with the more spiritual endings of the other three movies.  It just seemed like two different universes; one where it's all about Gods and one where it's all about science and aliens.  I know the two aren't mutually exclusive but I think I'd have still preferred a proper "ancient god" based solution to everything.


In other news MILIUS - a glowing documentary about the films of John Milius which is rather fun if completely uncritical. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 02:34:18 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 12:14:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2014, 12:10:29 PM
Doesn't she fry the lock on the warehouse door with telekinesis or did I imagine that?

I must have missed that! Seven times!  :-[ Obviously distracted by the gophers.  I had thought her powers were just a mild telepathy thing.

That's the moment that made her my favourite bit, that it was so low key.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 04:23:28 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2014, 12:37:47 PMI know the two aren't mutually exclusive but I think I'd have still preferred a proper "ancient god" based solution to everything.

This was certainly my reaction when I heard about the plot - but ask yourself this, would the God of the Ark and the Grail have permitted the proto-Incan gods, or any other gods, to exist at all?  (Leaving aside that whole business with Kali Ma and Shiva, obviously).  In a world where the protagonists know that the Judeo-Christian God is real and acts in the contemporary world to smite Nazis and heal professors of medieval literature of their mortal wounds, aren't beings from another dimension a safer bet than the rivals of the famously jealous Yahweh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2014, 05:29:56 PM
My usual interpretation of such things is that these relics are not proof that the God of the Ark or the Grail really exists - but that there are strange artefacts that Christians have built their religions around. The crusader at the end of Indy 3 tests this a little.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2014, 05:52:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 04:23:28 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2014, 12:37:47 PMI know the two aren't mutually exclusive but I think I'd have still preferred a proper "ancient god" based solution to everything.

This was certainly my reaction when I heard about the plot - but ask yourself this, would the God of the Ark and the Grail have permitted the proto-Incan gods, or any other gods, to exist at all?  (Leaving aside that whole business with Kali Ma and Shiva, obviously).  In a world where the protagonists know that the Judeo-Christian God is real and acts in the contemporary world to smite Nazis and heal professors of medieval literature of their mortal wounds, aren't beings from another dimension a safer bet than the rivals of the famously jealous Yahweh?

The thing is, if the Christian god wasn't making himself known to the Mayans (or Egyptians, Greeks, Norsemen) he can't really complain if some other deities set themselves up for a bit of love.
At the end of the day gods are like sextuplets children - there just ain't enough tits to go round. Share the love!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2014, 06:27:06 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 January, 2014, 05:52:07 PM
The thing is, if the Christian god wasn't making himself known to the Mayans (or Egyptians, Greeks, Norsemen) he can't really complain if some other deities set themselves up for a bit of love.

Quote from: TheblazeukMy usual interpretation of such things is that these relics are not proof that the God of the Ark or the Grail really exists - but that there are strange artefacts that Christians have built their religions around.

I urge you both to put this point to Him as you writhe in torment eternal.   >:D

It's time to ask yourself what you believe, Dr. Jones.


(It felt as if someone had hacked my account there for a minute...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 09 January, 2014, 10:43:25 PM
X-Men 2 From just over a decade ago  :o

I used to think this was the best superhero film ever made. I would say that it's probably one of the better of the first 'wave' of them in the early noughties - with plenty going on and lots of room for all the characters to muck abaaahhht.

There are far more cliches than I remember though, lots of tired lines and teen concepts. Setting up plots that were never in the source text for the want of a clean story and for mass audience consumption. Something that is just the tiresome consequence of any adaptation of anything sprawlingly massive I suppose.

Like anything you adored in the past, the things that you lovingly mocked about it are unfortunately the things that haven't changed and every dumb line still rings out. There are still some great setpieces though and the McKellen/Stewarting is always good - looking forward to some continuity cake in Singer's upcoming new 'un which I've just learned has Stryker in it again (although not the brilliant Brian Cox unfortunately). On watching it again for the first time in two years I was unexpectedly hit by a strong memory of how excited I was in the cinema in 2003 as a young (slightly lapsed in favour of the prog) Marvel fan. That's time passing for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 January, 2014, 12:36:37 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2014, 12:37:47 PM
In other news MILIUS - a glowing documentary about the films of John Milius which is rather fun if completely uncritical.

The last twenty minutes of this came as a surprise to me. I must have missed the news about his stroke and his slow rehabiliation. Testing stuff for someone with such an obvious love of, and gift for, the gab.

BIG ASS SPIDER
A fantastic opening (hero walks in slow mo towards unseen thing as chaos erupts about him and a slowed down cover of Pixies "Where is my mind?" plays) but this deteriorates so rapidly that we gave up after forty minutes once the spider got really big.  Any attempt at making a serious film thrown away and I don't have time for "so bad it's good". It did actually have potential - if no budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 January, 2014, 10:58:37 AM
After Earth

I think this got a bit of a slagging off on its release but I'm not entirely sure why. I quite enjoyed it myself - it certainly didn't offend as a Friday night flick with a couple of beers. It has a very simple plot which I think works in its favour (basically a straight forward rites of passage story) and some nice design work. I always find Will Smith to be a likeable screen presence (although he was a bit dour in this) and his son did a solid job as far as I could see.
Definitely worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2014, 11:12:56 AM
Forgive me, James, but are you high? :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 January, 2014, 11:14:43 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 January, 2014, 11:12:56 AM
Forgive me, James, but are you high? :|

No although I haven't actually read any of the reviews for this film so maybe I'm missing something that upset everybody else!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2014, 11:18:49 AM
I saw it in the cinema and even with a drink and a mate it wasn't fun to riff. The acting wasn't amusingly bad. I felt like i had been lobotomised. Pretty scenery and some decent effects ruined by some of the most Appalling acting i've seen in my life and a nonsensical script that has things happen "just because". Like, if these aliens are so dangerous, why the hell would they take on on a long distance military exercise to begin with?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 January, 2014, 11:58:23 AM
I thought the acting seemed okay - it was very downbeat but I thought that was intentional.
Do you mean why were they transporting the alien on the spaceship? I think they were taking it to a training ground so that new 'ghosts' could get close to it in a semi controllable environment. Seems fairly sensible to me.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 January, 2014, 12:09:40 PM
Not a film, but since we don't have a 'Last Musical Watched' I'll share it here - The Book of Mormon, which was just phenomenal, and totally lived up to the (considerable) hype. I haven't laughed so much in years.

Brilliantly constructed, wonderful songs and choreography, amazing costumes and production design and an outstanding cast, and the script is sharp, moving, at times shocking, and pant-pissingly funny from start to finish.

Not only the best thing I've ever seen in a theatre, but also just one of the best THINGS I've ever seen full stop.

Tickets were expensive, but worth every penny. If you ever get a chance to see it, do not pass it up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 January, 2014, 02:38:02 PM
Friday nights appear to have become movie night at HdE towers. So, in that vein, last night we watched:

'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.' Which is quite fun, undemanding fluff.

The kick-to-the-teeth ending isn't quite so shocking given the absence of momentum through the body of the movie, but there's enough fun stuff here to make it worth a watch. There's an excellent moment in the blu ray out-takes as well.

We followed that with 'Run Lola Run', which is still great. It's one of those 'the same stuff happens several times over' movies that manages to hold viewer interest, which is where a lot of these sorts fo films fall down, I think. Some of the 'and then' sequences are hilarious!

Whatever happened to Franka Potente?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 January, 2014, 02:45:33 PM
Summer Magic

One of those old live action Disney films starring Hayley Mills.
It was a drama about a wholesome family fixing up an old farm house with a few songs thrown on for good measure (The Ugly Bug Ball!) It's all incredibly dated but also really funny and charming as these old films tend to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2014, 04:10:58 PM
I might check out AFTER EARTH; I missed that and OBLIVION at the cinema and I like Will Smith and Tom Cruise. (So sue me!).


THE AMERICAN
George Clooney is a contract killer and weaponsmith seeking redemption in some gorgeous European locales.
It's not an action movie by any stretch of the imagination - the pace is glacial - and it's barely a character piece - George pares his style down to the bone and the dialogue is nearly non-existent.
But it's really enjoyable in a Kurosawa or Leone-Lite kind of way. It might as well be a western with it's troubled gunman befreinding the local priest and hooker with a heart of gold. Fantastic cinematography too - not a side of Italy you often see.

For me the interesting bit was that, despite being almost entirely formulaic and predictable (you really have seen these tropes plenty of times and everything pans out exactly as you can predict) it was entertaining in a way that PRETTY WOMAN (also full of tired, predictable stuff) was not.  Why is that?

Oh, and TBF;TL.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 January, 2014, 10:21:11 PM
I normally love that sort of thing but I just found The American dull I'm afraid.

Without further ado, Spring Breakers. Amazing. It's by Harmony Korine, so questions of taste, propriety and cake consumption/retention are never far away but I found it entrancing. It's like if Enter the Void was a rap video.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 11 January, 2014, 11:20:34 PM
Man of Steel.

Never watched it at the cinema.

Less in the Dark Knight mould than I was expecting from the trailer - the crash zooms irritated, as did jittery camerawork (which I'm normally pretty accepting of).

It's tough to naturally film something unnatural like a superhero fight, but when the neo-Ursa starts sliding across the floor like a Streetfighter character, I do feel like I'm watching someone else play a game.

It's a tired cliche to trot out 'it looks like a videogame' for any CGI, but it's more the direction of the animation, or direction in general (see also the Hobbit platformer)

I really wasn't bothered by *that* scene, and I really liked the Lois escape with Rusty Crowe playing at TomTom. The World Engine was nicely realised as well.

It took a while for me to get used to the Kryptonian style - and to be honest I wish they'd stuck with the established film look.

I thought the perfomances were great overall, just not keen on the direction really.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 January, 2014, 12:20:59 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 11 January, 2014, 11:20:34 PM
Man of Steel. It's tough to naturally film something unnatural like a superhero fight. but ... I really wasn't bothered by *that* scene ... I thought the perfomances were great overall, just not keen on the direction really.

Before Midnight, which - like Man of Steel - featured thirty minutes of characters pounding each other without mercy, but without the [spoiler]neck snap[/spoiler] either. Even a metaphorical one

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 January, 2014, 12:53:06 PM
ST-II: The Wrath of Khan.  Gosh, I'd often have argued that this is my favourite ST film, but a shiny new DVD copy revealed this is definitely not the case. 

I was aware going in that I'd probably seen it way, way too many times, but thought this was only connected with being able to recite virtually the entire script, but after last weekend's viewing of ST:TMP, TWoK also looked terrible - even the uninspired opening credits looked like they were from 10 years before the first film. All the SFX shots from the seemingly endless first 45 minutes were re-used from TMP verbatim, right down to the simulator Klingons and same spacemen in Spacedock doing the exact same distinctive things, which made proceedings seem incredibly cheap from the outset (I also can't believe I never noticed that Regula 1 is just the Earth-orbit station from TMP upside down).  The lighting is dull and overdone at the same time, the sound fuzzy, the costumes garishly overstuffed, the action painfully slow, the emotion forced and manipulative.  Where have the crisp futuristic lines and ambitions of the first film gone?

Ricardo Montalban carries the whole thing on his beautifully hammy shoulders, sometimes assisted by Shatner's furtively spectacle-wearing but somehow sleepy Kirk, and while Nimoy's Spock shows considerable evolution as a character, it's towards somewhere far blander than the starting point.  The Reliant model is very fine, the Ceti-Alpha 5 brain worms are very well executed, the Genesis effect is still impressive, and the outside of Enterprise herself still glows as a paragon of design, even as her interiors feel cramped, dingy and filled with cheap TVs.

I'm being unduly harsh, I know I am, but this film really suffers from being viewed in close proximity to its far slicker predecessor, or brisk contemporaries like Empire Strikes Back.  I hope next week's scheduled viewing of Search for Spock finds me better disposed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 12 January, 2014, 01:41:25 PM
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

This was simply a fantastic film. Don't let the previews put you off. This film is much, much better than the previews. While I will admit the beginning is a bit odd at times, once you get past that and into the main point of the story the film becomes humorous and a whole lot of fun.

And the cinematography will leave your mouth hanging open. I don't know if this film was shot in Imax, but it should have been.

I enjoyed this film so much I wanted to stay for the very next showing to watch it all over again. I probably could have too without any problem as almost no one is seeing this film. I say do yourself a favour and make some time soon to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 January, 2014, 01:56:18 PM
Im surprised more people aren't singing praise for Walter Mitty. I saw it on wednesday and really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 January, 2014, 12:31:12 AM
The Truman Show which was on tele earlier, god I love that film! The last few minutes always gets me - such a powerful moment. And Jim Carrey is bloody marvellous as the title character, I cannot envision anyone else who could've done a better job than him, just all the emotions that he so powerfully captures on the screen. It's an Oscar worthy performance without a doubt. And the message of the film could not be more vital than right now, when reality TV shows are everywhere and the loss of privacy through social media is prevalent.  Also, I don't know what's become of Peter Weir of late, but with Witness, Gallipoli, and The Truman Show he has certainly cemented his place on my list of most favourite directors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 January, 2014, 01:18:52 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 13 January, 2014, 12:31:12 AM
Also, I don't know what's become of Peter Weir of late, but with Witness, Gallipoli, and The Truman Show he has certainly cemented his place on my list of most favourite directors.


Peter Weir is someone who's always in the background and unlike many of his generation churning out consistently good and sometimes exceptional films every few years. His last one is The Way Back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87kezJTpyMI).

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Fearless and The Truman Show and even The Mosquito Coast are some of my favourites but you should also check out The Cars that Ate Paris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrZ8eTcdK4) and The Last Wave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkpDFheL79E).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 January, 2014, 06:18:34 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 13 January, 2014, 01:18:52 AM
... but you should also check out The Cars that Ate Paris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrZ8eTcdK4)

Now there's a film I'd love to check out again to see if its as much fun as I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 13 January, 2014, 08:34:07 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 13 January, 2014, 01:18:52 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 13 January, 2014, 12:31:12 AM
Also, I don't know what's become of Peter Weir of late, but with Witness, Gallipoli, and The Truman Show he has certainly cemented his place on my list of most favourite directors.


Peter Weir is someone who's always in the background and unlike many of his generation churning out consistently good and sometimes exceptional films every few years. His last one is The Way Back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87kezJTpyMI).

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Fearless and The Truman Show and even The Mosquito Coast are some of my favourites but you should also check out The Cars that Ate Paris (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrZ8eTcdK4) and The Last Wave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkpDFheL79E).

I haven't watched the latter two yet, so'll definitely give 'em a look. Thanks for the suggestions and links, Joe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 January, 2014, 11:29:03 AM
I love The Last Wave, a great experiment in creating a very specific, very familiar and yet very strange feeling.  Terrific performance from the ubiquitous David Gulpilil.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 13 January, 2014, 10:20:38 PM
RED 2 - a fun Friday night flick with an all star cast. Sod all to do with the book (but then neither was the first one) and much better for it. Recommended, preferably with a few beers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Chris Tresson on 13 January, 2014, 10:31:25 PM
The Breakfast Club.

John Hughes. You can't beat him!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 14 January, 2014, 02:44:57 PM
Just watched
Despicable Me 2

I roared with laughter!! That is a very funny movie. I did not see the first one. Had a free download from apple over christmas. Was intrigued enough to rent the movie.

Truly excellent.
Family fun caper at its best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 January, 2014, 05:29:47 PM
Quote from: Chris Tresson on 13 January, 2014, 10:31:25 PM
The Breakfast Club.

John Hughes. You can't beat him!

.. just find me a big enough stick and I'll put that to the test  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 January, 2014, 07:16:10 PM
I seem to remember it getting a lot of praise on here a few months back, so I was surprised to find a copy of Harold & Maude at the bottom of a plastic crate full of my German flatmate's shoes. From Cool Hand Luke and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Amelie and Betty Blue, I can lap up this free spirit shit till the cows come home. Initally I found Harold himself a bit hard to take to but, as the cast of grotesques around him grew, I soon got over that and clutched them both to my bosom.
   The couple of quiet, poignant scenes were really well handled and I was pleasantly surprised that the film had the balls to go all the way. Nice one, Hal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 January, 2014, 07:18:33 PM
Special bonus, unpublished review found in the same folder. I'll spare you all the bit where I decide The Lion King is pish.

Pretty annoyed that I didn't get round to watching Red Road until now as I found it quite mesmerising. Plot summary: quiet woman, clearly trying to cope with some emotional baggage, works as a CCTV operator; she recognises a man from her past and consequences ensue.
Like all the best films, it's cold and bleak and not afraid to be quiet and let the pictures do the talking.

It's mostly shot in parts of Glasgow I'm not terribly familiar with but there's always that frisson on recognising somewhere you know on screen. As an aside, maybe I'll get round to making a compilation of my favourite shots of Glasgow one day. From Deathwatch and Restless Natives to Trainspotting and Furious 6. I digress, the way lighting is used to make the city unfamiliar and threatening jumps out and this is something that continues as an uneasy tension is built in the strangest of ways.

Towards the end, it takes a turn for the melodramatic and unpleasant but it is constantly anchored by a really great performance from Kate Dickie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 January, 2014, 07:41:45 PM

I'll never watch it again, but there is something really compelling about Red Road other than the fact it was directed by Dawn from No. 73 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCU03E7_QyU). I watched The Butler; it was in no way terrible, but it was the kind of earnest and unremarkable film you'd expect to see at 2pm on Channel Five. The only fun bits were the awful cameos from big name whities as various commanders in chief and incidental details of black popular culture. Yaya Alafia rocks an awesome afro (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JHtSfp1QlQQ/UgahlfbQ53I/AAAAAAAAIic/71C8shs_nXA/s1600/Lee-Daniels_The-Butler_Yaya-Alafia_blackpanther.jpg).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 January, 2014, 08:12:41 PM
Well thank you for making me 'waste' 30 minutes of my life watching YouTube clips of Sandi Toksvig and co and that glorious theme tune from No. 73. Used to love that show.

As amazed to be reminded that it was the Sandwich Quiz NOT the toast quiz as my addled memory would have had me believe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 15 January, 2014, 08:23:30 PM
Had left Red Road unwatched a l-o-n-g time (comics and other stuff trump films usually) but got round to it recently. One cold/bleak film. Is it background music free ? Feel it could have been. Huge plus for me.
Background music made me abandon The Social Network the other day. That and the yackyackyackyack dialogue. Unwatchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 January, 2014, 09:31:57 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 15 January, 2014, 08:12:41 PM
Well thank you for making me 'waste' 30 minutes of my life watching YouTube clips of Sandi Toksvig and co and that glorious theme tune from No. 73.

I suffered a similar fate: great stuff altogether.  Interesting to see it again after so long - was anyone on that show not gay?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 January, 2014, 10:17:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 15 January, 2014, 09:31:57 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 15 January, 2014, 08:12:41 PM
Well thank you for making me 'waste' 30 minutes of my life watching YouTube clips of Sandi Toksvig and co and that glorious theme tune from No. 73.

I suffered a similar fate: great stuff altogether.  Interesting to see it again after so long - was anyone on that show not gay?


During the time they both worked on it, a male work-acquaintance of mine was shagging Dawn at the height of her RollerGirl phase, so that's at least two.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 January, 2014, 07:27:15 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 January, 2014, 10:17:44 PM
During the time they both worked on it, a male work-acquaintance of mine was shagging Dawn at the height of her RollerGirl phase, so that's at least two.

(mouth drops open)

... it wasn't a mutual acquaintance who, like the show, lived in Maidstone, Kent?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 January, 2014, 09:16:35 AM
Did anyone catch The Last Temptation of Christ which was on Film4 last night? It's undoubtedly one of my favourite Scorsese films. Not only does it have an amazing cast, from Willem Defoe, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie, but Peter Gabriel's Morrocan influenced music is a masterpiece, right from the opening moment it grabs you in. The film caused controversy ofcourse because of its depiction of Jesus kissing/ making out with Mary Magdeline and marrying, having children etc. But this segment of the film was supposed to be a dream or visions of temptation which Defoe's Christ was having as he lay impaled on the cross. The last 30 minutes, or the dream section is one of my favourite moments in the film. Not only is it photographed beautifully but the direction by Scorsese itself is masterful to say the least. And you don't have to be a Christian (which I'm not) or religious to enjoy this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 January, 2014, 11:25:41 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 16 January, 2014, 09:16:35 AM
Did anyone catch The Last Temptation of Christ which was on Film4 last night?

Wanted to watch it, but was knackered.
One for the collection this year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 January, 2014, 10:48:34 AM
Only seen the film once before, and if I recall its pretty good. A lot of fuss was raised when it was first released, and no doubt it still has its most vocal detractor's now.

Film4 usually repeat stuff fairly regularly, after the initial broadcast, so may try to catch this again. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 17 January, 2014, 07:59:16 PM
Pain & Gain

A genuine surprise.  Expected a bubble gum for the brain comedy, got a dark, funny, well acted piece, and more amazing still, it was directed by Michael Bay!!  Good film, worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 January, 2014, 08:46:05 PM

Fruitvale Station (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crMTGCCui5c), which I watched without realising it was based on a true story. I say based on a true story because it's an obvious liberal fantasy - the victim's done time, but the worst thing he's shown doing is dealing a little weed and not being cowed when a thug challenges him to a fight. That said, it has a pretty shocking and powerful finale, preceded by an engaging portrait of the kind of people not normally depicted in American cinema (not normally depicted sympathetically, with depth, or with nuance, at any rate).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 January, 2014, 09:00:20 PM

The Truman Show

I do still like this film and it still enjoyable to watch and Jim Carrey was so good in it even Ed Harris, perfect ending!

Funny as when I first watch it 15 years ago, I do feelings that I am in his world with everythings false and set up just for me... and I google and find there is really happens;

Joel Gold, a psychiatrist at the Bellevue Hospital Center, revealed that by 2008, he had met five patients with schizophrenia (and heard of another twelve) who believed their lives were reality television shows. Gold named the syndrome "The Truman Show Delusion" after the film and attributed the delusion to a world that had become hungry for publicity. The syndrome predominantly affects young white men
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 January, 2014, 11:10:19 PM
I've watched a few films over the last couple of days due to some early finishes at work.

Cypher.

I was reminded about this film via this thread. It's a pretty good low budget Sci Fi thriller - worth checking out.

Elysium

This began really well but started to-ing and fro-ing a bit much in the middle. They could have cut out the stuff about the sick child altogether. I'd have preferred 'Commando in Space' with lots of those imaginative weapons. Some nice design though - and it was very pretty to look at.

Insidious 2

This is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination. It was fairly entertaining though. It uses pretty much every horror cliche you can think of and has a very different feel to the first film. Worth a watch if you a fan of horror and don't mind something that's pretty undemanding.

The Conjouring

I really enjoyed this. It was genuinely scary and the 70s setting set it apart from the other haunted house films I've seen recently. There were some really good performances and though it may not have been particularly original I suspended my disbelief throughout. Well worth a watch if you're a horror fan. They're currently making a sequel I believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 January, 2014, 11:38:12 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 January, 2014, 11:10:19 PM
The Conjouring

I really enjoyed this. It was genuinely scary and the 70s setting set it apart from the other haunted house films I've seen recently. There were some really good performances and though it may not have been particularly original I suspended my disbelief throughout. Well worth a watch if you're a horror fan. They're currently making a sequel I believe.

I concur James, think I'll pick it up for the collection.
Sequel will be based on Annabelle the doll...the 'real' version of it is far scarier than what Hollywood cooked up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 January, 2014, 11:47:48 PM
Star Trek VI: So Very Tired The Undiscovered Country

Slightly heavy-handed but a pleasingly solid send-off for the original crew.

ALSO DAVID WARNER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 18 January, 2014, 06:51:38 AM
Oh the best Trek film! Keep yer lens flare yoof cast revamps, you cannot best the originals
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 January, 2014, 08:09:24 AM
Klingons sprouting Shakespeare? David Bowie's missus as a shape changing alien? Just some of the things which make this my favourite Trek film. Khan comes a close second.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 18 January, 2014, 09:46:24 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 17 January, 2014, 10:48:34 AM
Only seen the film once before, and if I recall its pretty good. A lot of fuss was raised when it was first released, and no doubt it still has its most vocal detractor's now.

Film4 usually repeat stuff fairly regularly, after the initial broadcast, so may try to catch this again.

Yeah they do, they repeated The Truman Show the other day which I had the pleasure of watching again. My daughter found some of Carrey's hilarious facial expressions very amusing! He's an exceptional talent, that Jim Carrey is.

Also just coming back to The Last Temptation of Christ, just realised that Defoe has potrayed Jesus twice already, first  in this film and the other time was in Platoon. Okay, maybe not a literal Christ but an allegorical one! He even gets crucified hands outstretched under a hail of bullets by Tom Berenger - who is the personification of evil, or Lucifer.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 18 January, 2014, 01:15:39 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 18 January, 2014, 08:09:24 AM
Klingons sprouting Shakespeare?

A nice image...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 18 January, 2014, 11:26:52 PM

Upstream Color (2013) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU) finally made it to the top of my rental list. I don't eat bacon anyway, but if I did I wouldn't anymore. I was reading it as straightforwardly metaphysical for most of the running time, but the end suggests a political allegory too. The conflation of romantic attraction and parasitic infection struck a chord, and I'm going to give the director's time travel debut, Primer (2004) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nj5MMURCm8), a go on the strength of this film's ideas and incredible imagery.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 January, 2014, 11:55:18 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 18 January, 2014, 11:26:52 PM
Upstream Color (2013) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU) finally made it to the top of my rental list.
Blimey. How have I never heard of this? Looks quite something.

For my part, I very much enjoyed The Wolf of Wall Street and was particularly taken with the bravura central performance from Mr Leonardo di Caprio. A great exercise in making a loathsome protagaonist fascinating to watch.

After reasonably entertaining fluff like Shutter Island, it was good to feel like I was being comprehensively filmed at for two and a half hours with the big show offy set pieces, knowing narration and carefully orchestrated monologues. Laugh out loud funny in places (the Swiss German audience I saw it with seemed particularly keen on the bits sticking the boot into the Swiss French bankers) and not exactly subtle (although I'm dumbfounded at the notion that some people are saying it glamourises the characters.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 January, 2014, 01:35:51 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 January, 2014, 11:55:18 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 18 January, 2014, 11:26:52 PM
Upstream Color (2013) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU) finally made it to the top of my rental list.
Blimey. How have I never heard of this? Looks quite something.


Probably because the director released it directly to the public from his own website instead of looking for theatre distribution.

If you like both Primer and Upstream Color, Carruth's unmade script for A Topiary is worth reading: if Kubrick wanted to make a Sci-Fi film about Lego, it might be a lot like it. Incidentally, there's some FX demo-footage for A Topiary that ended up in Upstream Color.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 19 January, 2014, 07:03:38 AM
I watched the blu ray of 'Riddick' last night, which was charitably loaned to me by someone very shortly after they bought it.

Oh dear. It really isn't very good at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 19 January, 2014, 07:43:22 AM
Lady And The Tramp (blu-ray)

I saw this once when I was very very small. And as a result I couldn't remember any of it except that creepy Siamese cat song. First off, picture quality on blu-ray is stunning. It really does look like it was made yesterday. Audio is crystal clear. The film itself was great. Somewhat predictable (usual Disney fare then) but still a great film for adults and kids alike. If you have young kids (or have one one the way) I can't talk highly enough of the Disney classics on blu-ray. They really are timeless.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 January, 2014, 09:22:46 AM
I actualy just imported two of my own favourite Disney films. The hugely under rated Great Mouse Detective and Treasure Planet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 19 January, 2014, 09:56:04 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 January, 2014, 09:22:46 AM
I actualy just imported two of my own favourite Disney films. The hugely under rated Great Mouse Detective and Treasure Planet.

I've actually got The Great Mouse Detective sitting on my waiting to watch shelf. It's one of those I have to wait until my girlfriend can watch it with me. Which means I probably won't be watching it for a while.

I've never seen Treasure Planet. I've always been meaning to but never had the chance. Same with Atlantis. One of my favourite "classic" Disney films has to be 101 Dalmatians. The art style is something else. Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 January, 2014, 04:02:46 PM
Posted this in another thread by accident, so let's try again. (For what its worth!,  ;))


American Hustle - T'was OK. Mr Bale, despite his magnificent comb-over, doesn't really convince, and neither does the overall story.
But the two female leads; Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence are superb in this.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2014, 05:12:41 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 January, 2014, 04:02:46 PMAmy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence are superb in this.

No change there, then.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 January, 2014, 07:34:25 PM
Legally Blonde is on. It's really funny!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 January, 2014, 07:36:24 PM
Dr No.

Not as good as I'd remembered!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 19 January, 2014, 08:16:07 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 January, 2014, 04:02:46 PM
Posted this in another thread by accident, so let's try again. (For what its worth!,  ;))


American Hustle - T'was OK. Mr Bale, despite his magnificent comb-over, doesn't really convince, and neither does the overall story.
But the two female leads; Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence are superb in this.

Just back from the flicks, enjoyed this. The women were great and I'm pleasantly pleased at the Bale performance. Never liked him before but tremendous in this.

Liked the 70s feel and the plot too. Her Indoors didn't so much but few films pass that test.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 January, 2014, 08:25:53 PM
I really enjoyed it. Never been in a film for ages where so many people walked out in disgust though. I think many people where expecting some kind of gangster squad type.  :|
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 January, 2014, 08:43:25 PM
Just back from The Wolf of Wall Street. Demented, funny but soooooooo fuuuuuuuuu-cking looooooooooo-ooooooong.

First hour is great, but it wore out its welcome by a good hour and a half. Thought it was never going to end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 January, 2014, 09:38:02 PM


It's an enjoyable piece of entertainment; it never felt too long while watching first time but it felt far too slight and repetitious. Fun, energetic and empty, like its characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 January, 2014, 10:34:06 PM
It was really only the last 15-20 minutes that I felt it was going on a bit, although I do think the length would put me off rewatching it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 January, 2014, 11:30:38 PM
Agree about the repetition. There's a lot of good stuff in there, could so easily have been cut down to a KILLER two hours. Shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 January, 2014, 09:05:22 PM
Hot Fuzz

This was filmed in Wells, Somerset - just up the road from where I grew up. I know the small rural city like back of my hand - and as such the whole film has a strange dreamy unreality surrounding it. I also first saw the film in the Wells cinema in its first week there: the theatre was crammed with local biddies come to see their home on the silver screen. I can still remember their reactions when some of the more shocking gore occurs...

Aaannnyway - this and other contemporary anecdotes that I won't bore you with aside it's still difficult to see it subjectively. It's crammed with great character actors and familiar faces - it's funny enough and the bending winding plot is suitably absurd although it's about half-an-hour too long and doesn't quite hit the mark as effectively as Shaun did - wobbling all over the line between a silly parody and an actual action film. A few of the more well-worn tropes fall a bit flat but it's an enjoyable romp and - WTF WHY IS WELLS GETTING SHOT TO BITS?! ..still weird eight years on...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 January, 2014, 09:31:08 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 January, 2014, 09:05:22 PM
Hot Fuzz
..still weird eight years on...

That Hot Fuzz is 8 years old makes me want to weep.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2014, 09:31:56 PM
Don't worry, it's only 7 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 20 January, 2014, 09:45:25 PM
Must make the effort to watch Hot Fuzz again - only seen it the once, and even then I missed the first half hour. Knowing me it'll be 2020 before I get around to seeing World's End!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 January, 2014, 09:54:46 PM
Agreed. Not quite as good as Shaun. I still enjoy it and it has a cameo from Iain M. Banks.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 January, 2014, 10:17:47 PM
Quote from: radiator on 20 January, 2014, 09:31:56 PM
Don't worry, it's only 7 years.

Was filmed in '06 sir that is what I was referring to.


Also the Iain Banks thing :D I'd never spotted that:

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LZ7y-rl13Aw/UbiXpxosdRI/AAAAAAAAEKU/mi1p5yeMlQQ/s1600/Iain%2BBanks%2BBill%2BBailey.jpg)

Baileytwins each reading a different genre of Banks :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 January, 2014, 10:49:56 PM
In my opinion it's bad form to slag off indy film-makers because they at least make the effort to get their creativity out there where it can be evaluated and judged, which is why I'm not proud that me and a mate laughed our balls off all the way through Eastern European post-apocalyptic short The Escort.
English is no-one's first language and acting is no-one's primary calling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmEqRj7j8O0 but I would be lying if I said it wasn't at least memorable and entertaining.  If you don't watch it, I will know and I will come through the internet like Lawnmower Man and kill you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 January, 2014, 07:06:19 AM

Shaun - The most consistent
Hot Fuzz - The funniest one
The World End - The most well made

Just my teo pence.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2014, 09:37:16 AM
The way I see it:

Shaun: lightning in a bottle. Perfect blending of genres. Tight as a drum. 5 stars.

Fuzz: Great movie, but a bit bloated and never really delivers as an action movie. Four stars.

End: a very accomplished, solid film, but overlong and less funny than the previous films. Three and a half stars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2014, 10:08:33 AM
Why don't you climb back into your rocket and **** off back to Legoland, you ****

I think End was definitely funny and had the most 'acting'. Shaun seemed a lot like a continuation of characters that would fit in Spaced, though Ed was more like Tim at his laziest than Mike. Hot Fuzz won me over on the premise of a British ridiculous 80s/90s action movie.

Attack The Block - on a related note, I rewatched this after finally watching some of the Adam and Joe show on 4oD. I only knew the disorganised duo from their 6Music show (Stephen?) though I wish I'd watched the A+J show in the 90s - just a bit past my bedtime though...  Anyway, the movie! Love it. Low-budget, funny and effective sci-fi fun that makes excellent use of its setting. In my head it sits somewhere in the same place as Dredd and The Raid. And I can never get the Basement Jaxx theme out of my head once it starts...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 January, 2014, 10:21:59 AM
Interesting contrast there blaze. For me, Attack the Block succeeds where Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fail in being a real blend of comedy and genre. Those two got a pass based on residual affection for Spaced and the cast but neither really delivers on either count.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2014, 10:36:53 AM
Funnily enough the last movie I watched was The World's End, which I missed in cinemas.

I laughed a lot and am itching to see it again which is a good sign. My immediate feeling when it ended was that I'd enjoyed it more than Hot Fuzz and can see me re-watching it more than I did that film (my Shaun Of The Dead re-watches probably outnumber Hot Fuzz about 10 to 1). It didn't hit me as hard as Shaun did, but I think that's as much down to time and place as the quality of the films. I remember Shaun being a real moment, I was so happy to see it happening because I'd been watching and re-watching Spaced for years and it was glorious to see that humour up on a big screen and translating so well.

I don't think Hot Fuzz is bad at all, in fact I really, really like it. It just didn't stick with me the same way, not sure if the combination of genres just wasn't stitched together as fluidly, or if that particular genre combo just didn't speak to me as much. All brilliant films though. I'd like to rewatch all 3 soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2014, 10:43:41 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 January, 2014, 10:21:59 AM
Interesting contrast there blaze. For me, Attack the Block succeeds where Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fail in being a real blend of comedy and genre. Those two got a pass based on residual affection for Spaced and the cast but neither really delivers on either count.

I think Hot Fuzz, Shaun and World's End are more comedy than genre. That's not a bad thing in my book - whereas Attack the Block is a sci-fi movie that is just dead funny.

I was very interested to hear the Star Trek 3 rumours around Cornballs but couldn't make the connection between AtB and that kind of big space opera fluff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 January, 2014, 10:55:46 AM
I seem to be the only person who prevers Hot Fuzz of the three then.  :lol:

Concluded the first disc of Jan Svankmajer shorts yesterday. A wonderful selection on charming, visceral, mischievous and wacko imagery and symbolism. High points where The Last Trick, Picnic for Weisnman, The Flat, Don Juan, and The Jabberwocky.

Now for disc two including the much anticipated and slightly reprehensible Food...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2014, 11:16:51 AM
Hmm, though Shaun is first and foremost a comedy, it still packs a punch as a zombie film in its own right - the threat feels real (even if it is occasionally played for laughs), and I'd put it in the same category as An American Werewolf in London - a true blend of character-based horror and comedy.

Whereas Hot Fuzz feels to me more like a pastiche, bordering on spoof, of action movies, but is for most of its running time actually more like a Midsomer Murders send-up with a little bit of tame action right at the end, and what 'action' scenes there are, are pretty much played for laughs. The villains are mostly OAPs and as such aren't a real threat and it just isn't violent enough to work as a proper homage to 80s/90s buddy action movies in the way Shaun does of the Zombie genre.

Though End is more self-consciously mature I'd argue that the best performance of the three is Pegg in Shaun - the scene where he has to shoot his mother is really powerful and shows how good a dramatic actor he is.

If we're including Attack the Block, I'd probably say it's perhaps my second favourite of the four. Like Dredd it successfully channels that tight, contained Walter Hill/John Carpenter/early James Cameron vibe that just does it for me, and IMO it's a much tighter, punchier film than either Fuzz or End. A very underrated movie, one of my favourites of recent years, and a far superior example of Brit Sci Fi than Worlds End IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 January, 2014, 11:23:18 AM
During a four day weekend of cuddles in bed I saw three films:

A Fantastic Fear of Everything.  Somewhat quirky Simon Pegg movie that unfairly got mixed reviews, perhaps for not being Shaun of the Dead or some such silly nonsense.  I enjoyed this film the first time I saw it and I enjoyed it the second time as well.

Symbol.  An almost surreal Japanese film about a man in stuck in an empty white room and an ageing Mexican wrestler preparing for a dangerous fight.  This was great and at one point I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself.

The Raid.  Actually really enjoyed it.  The choreography was phenomenal.  I was worried I'd just be comparing it to Dredd all the time, but I completely forget about Dredd pretty quickly.  The two films are very different kettles of fish.  My bed companion thought that one of the fight scenes would replace the fight in Oldboy as my favourite cinematic fight and as good as it was it didn't.  Good film though.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2014, 11:34:12 AM
I'd also say, though I thought the science fiction element of World's End was clever and well-realised, to me the genre trappings felt far less appropriate in the context of a slightly depressing film about midlife crisis and addiction than in the knockabout, 20-something slacker vibe of Spaced and Shaun, to the point where I was kind of enjoying WE more before the aliens turned up, when it was just being a bittersweet dramedy about a few friends reuniting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2014, 12:19:05 PM
I think Paul deserves to be ranked alongside the Cornetto Trilogy, Attack the Block is really it's own thing. Even if it does share a writer and Nick Frost with Hot Fuzz, as mentioned it has a tightness to proceedings that sets it apart.

I think I may be annoying my coworkers but I had to put this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4wcbPS-Vs) on and turn the headphones up to 11...

Quote
I was kind of enjoying WE more before the aliens turned up, when it was just being a bittersweet dramedy about a few friends reuniting

Mostly of the same feeling as much as I liked seeing Pierce Brosnan get his head knocked off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2014, 12:34:29 PM
Think you might have nailed why Hot Fuzz wasn't quite as satisfying for me and I can see where you're coming from with TWE. The sci-fi elements certainly weren't what resonated with me and pulled me in, it was the whole lost youth angle. That sort of melancholic longing to have those great nights of your youth again really struck a chord I guess, I thought it was really well done.

Saying that though, I thought the sci-fi elements were a great foil for that, and that sense when you go back to your home town and everything's the same but different and a bit alien was a really smart fit for the body snatchers vibe. I particularly liked the homogenization of the pubs, and a lot of the energy and some of the biggest laughs in the latter/sci-fi half of the film (for me) came from the fact that they were trying to deal with it while being increasingly inebriated. It just made for such a ridiculous situation, and I liked that all the little squabbles and dramas you would have in a straight drama comedy were still going on, but while hammered and fighting off aliens.

It worked for me, and I think the collision of the two genres was great, although still not as perfect as Shaun. You're totally right that Shaun's strength is that it works in both worlds, but I think if you took out the mid-life dramedy from TWE the sci-fi film that's left over wouldn't necessarily be any cop. One element is there to play off and strengthen the other I guess, rather than them both being as strong as each other maybe?

I dunno, hard to put my finger on it! One thing I do know is I don't remember being particularly emotionally invested in Hot Fuzz, whereas the other 2 films spoke to me a bit more and had moments where the drama side of it hit me pretty hard and successfully. I definitely have a big place in my heart for all 3 of them (and thanks to Tesco selling a nifty trilogy boxset I'll be revisiting them all soon)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2014, 12:45:36 PM
Curiously it's Hot Fuzz that I rewatch the most often, but that's largely due to Shaun being omnipresent/unavoidable for the few years it came out - everyone I knew was obsessed with it and I got a little burned out on it. I still think it's the best of the three as a film, but as with something like Pulp Fiction it needs to rest for a few years before I could properly sit down and watch it again.

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2014, 12:19:05 PM
I think Paul deserves to be ranked alongside the Cornetto Trilogy, Attack the Block is really it's own thing. Even if it does share a writer and Nick Frost with Hot Fuzz, as mentioned it has a tightness to proceedings that sets it apart.

I think I may be annoying my coworkers but I had to put this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4wcbPS-Vs) on and turn the headphones up to 11...

Quote
I was kind of enjoying WE more before the aliens turned up, when it was just being a bittersweet dramedy about a few friends reuniting

Mostly of the same feeling as much as I liked seeing Pierce Brosnan get his head knocked off.

I see what you're getting at, I think people were expecting Attack the Block to be more of an outrageous comedy, but it's really more of a genre piece along the lines of The Warriors or Assault on Precinct 13 with a few funny lines of dialogue. The comedy feels more natural than in the Cornetto trilogy and it's more about how the characters react to the situation, which is taken relatively seriously. They don't go for the 'big' laughs.

I didn't care for Paul or Scott Pilgrim. Both felt very undercooked narratively and neither really worked as comedy or genre piece imo. Both two stars from me, and though I have little desire to rewatch either I'd say SP is probably the better film overall thanks to some great visuals.

Curious to see Cuban Fury - seems like it could be quite a sweet little movie. Hope it's better than Run Fatboy Run at least...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2014, 01:15:27 PM
Scott Pilgrim was so much fun, much preferred it to the book. Everything was a bit vapid to begin with and Scott was slightly less of a prick in the film due to time constraints.

Paul was the American version of the Cornetto flavour; appropriately this would be called the Good Humor Cone (http://www.packagingdigest.com/photo/181/181962-Good_Humor_redesigned_cone_packaging.jpg). Funny but far more conventional.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 23 January, 2014, 03:25:46 PM
R.I.P.D.

Not awful, but nothing special.  Couldn't help but think I was watching 'Men In Black' with corpses rather than aliens.  The producers/director seem aware of this similarity, and do nowt to counter it to my mind.  Enjoyable nonsense, but not something I'd keep on the film shelf.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 23 January, 2014, 06:37:36 PM
Pirates in an Adventure With Scientists

With much thanks to Mabs for netting it for milady we watched it - me for the first time - it was anachro-tastic and I loved the gleeful fannying-about with historical fact (of course in real life Darwin was PART of that grim "endangered species dining club" :S). The painting of Victoria as the villain is fantastically mad and the soundtrack (Tenpole Tudor and Flight of the Concords :O) is brilliant. The central cast of characters is strong but there's a lingering sense that some things hadn't been properly resolved - making you wonder where the books go and whether or not Aardman will go back to it (although with the huge gorgeous sets and long production time I could see why they wouldn't). Having just recently seen Were-Rabbit it's astonishing how much the animation has progressed as well - the sets were consistently extraordinary and I could happily live in those models forever. Also Hugh Grant sounded NOTHING LIKE HUGH GRANT here - very odd I'm normally quite good at spotting voices.

Overall - a grand and enjoyable romp that looks utterly breathtaking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 24 January, 2014, 11:53:59 PM
Seven Psychopaths

Absurdly engaging and deeply funny with a fantastic cast - although not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. A lot of the many threads are left wafting in the breeze and afterwards instead of numbed with awe you are left slightly irritated that such a self-aware film would dare end so boringly. There are many strong moments throughout though and despite the marmite reactions I feel I lean towards the positive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 25 January, 2014, 12:05:25 AM
The Colony

Meh.  Nice concept (if a tad stolen from fallout, with the simple addition of winter), but relatively poor execution throughout.  Very inconsistent, nice shots and sequences followed by awful ones.  Like for example,[spoiler] everything is under 20 feet of snow, except a copter wreck they find, and a bridge, with no friggin' snow on it at all.  Hell I know weather is unpredictable,[/spoiler] but this just jars, as it's sloppy filmmaking. As is the over made up female lead.  Ok, we have no soil and shit, but she can still source make up?  Overall a very average film, with really shit action sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 January, 2014, 01:24:29 PM
I'm halfheartedly trying to see as many of this year's best picture nominees as I can stomach and Nebraska takes the tally to three. It starts slow and not terribly promisingly . The pace doesn't change much but the film improves markedly as it hits the road and opens into an engaging exploration of communication between generations, especially in families. There's good stuff about the lives – past and present – of the elderly, some good laughs and one scene sure to strike a chord with anyone who has ever met more than one member of my father's family at the same time.

Bruce Dern and Stacey Keach have been getting a lot of press, for good reason, but it's June Squibb as Dern's wife who gets the best lines and steals every scene she's in. Ultimately, it's let down a bit by an unnecessarily schmaltzy ending to hammer home the point about reconciliation, but you can't have everything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 January, 2014, 03:37:48 PM
Wind Chill will be on the cable television I'm watching in another 3 hours and 50 minutes. It's always been a eerily scary movie any-time I had watched it previously. Even when I know what's about to happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: deadman1971 on 25 January, 2014, 07:21:10 PM
Riddick
It was good, i was put off at first because of the trailer, look terrible due to the cgi. But sat and watched it with my friend and really enjoyed it, just as good as the other 2, best bit, Katie Sackoff smacking the crap put of a guy, o and her boobies lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 January, 2014, 07:30:04 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 25 January, 2014, 01:24:29 PM
I'm halfheartedly trying to see as many of this year's best picture nominees as I can stomach

I've enjoyed almost everything else Alexander Payne's done, so Nebraska's a stick-on. I'm trying to see some of the films on the Oscar shortlist too, since there are a few that actually seem like the kind of things I'd be interested in anyway, for a change. See my next post.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 January, 2014, 08:10:34 PM

This afternoon's entertainment was The Wolf of Wall Street, which was a laugh riot from start to finish. It's basically The Hangover - the comedy coming from watching a bunch of unlikable people getting off their faces, and there's even a weird fat one with curly hair - except it's actually funny. The set pieces keep getting more ludicrous and even funnier as the film builds towards its denouement, with the only false note being what appears to be an attempt to demonstrate the emotional toll of [spoiler]the end of Belfort's marriage[/spoiler], and the dreaded moment in any film where the characters learn something about themselves and grow as a result.

Happily, that turns out only to be a demonstration of the characters' solipsism and their inability to understand why what they've done is problematic. If the film had a message - and thankfully, it doesn't - it would be that as long as the money keeps rolling in nobody really cares that it's covered in shit. Every single review I've read says the running time is a problem, but I only felt it drag during the scene mentioned above, where it's impossible to care about the characters screaming at each other when they're amoral pricks who are only interested in themselves.

The film does probably the best job I've seen of portraying laughably stupid and self serving characters with absolutely no insight into why their behaviour is unacceptable since the above mentioned Alexander Payne's Election (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBgM_Kw6PSM). Every time you worry it's going to start earnestly explaining the dull mechanics of financial fraud or patronising you by focusing on the human wreckage Belfort leaves in his wake, it cannily cuts that short, explaining that - like the characters - you wouldn't care when there's the promise of so much dazzling excess just round the corner.

The closest the film gets to illustrating why all this might not be a great thing is through the visual metaphor of the dwarf tossing sequence - where the characters literally abuse little people (geddit?) to hit their targets. Crucially, that abuse takes place with the willing consent of the little people, who're only interested in money themselves, and the whole thing takes place within the specifications of a closely worded contract. The hilarious board meeting where Jonah Hill's character explains that they shouldn't consider the little people as humans, and concentrate on the act in isolation, communicates something to which other films would have devoted a dry, 20 minute, Oscar-baiting speech.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 26 January, 2014, 01:06:02 PM
Dark Skies
Pretty good 'Close Encounters' rip-off, altho some scenes were lifted wholesale from the original
(I suppose if they did that with Insidious & Poltergeist it must be standard practice now)

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 January, 2014, 04:08:08 PM
A Belfast Story starts with five minutes of credits, then opens on some people unironically using the word "feck" so I stopped watching, reasoning that the word is something bad playwrights use and that some terrible dialogue lay ahead that I didn't need right then.
I eventually came back to it because I like Colm Meaney and really, it couldn't possibly be worse than some of those old episodes of DS9 he starred in.  This was my reasoning and I am man enough to admit that I was wrong.  A Belfast Story is terrible, and not just run-of-the-mill terrible where it's boring and lacks any focus on a central story or theme - though these are also problems - but actual "the writer and director are on different pages and no-one knows what they're making" terrible where the end result is something that's most likely to just foster resentment in the country it was made from people who try very hard - and fail - to get creative/arts grants and then have to have this milquetoast middle-class hand-wringing exercise in pseudo-liberalism wafted in their face like a bad fart.  I suppose you could argue that on that scale it's attempting to be a clever metacommentary on the class and theological division of the country in which it's set by creating an analogous resentment for the work itself, but more likely Occam's Razor would suggest it's just a bunch of art school wankers with too much public money tossing themselves off rather than learning the difference between a film and a play.
In one scene, Colm Meaney comes into an empty home, sits down, and then starts a monologue that includes the line "this country is haunted by echoes of the past" and it's not even a country mile within being the worst line of dialogue in the film.  This is literally all that you need to know about it to make a decision on whether or not to watch it, but in the words of Barry Norman, "I think it's a steaming pile of horseshit that makes me want to punch a nun."

Steel Frontier - which pushes all my b-movie buttons as it's a post-apocalyptic western based on Yojimbo made in the mid-80s and starring the still-missed Brion James as the baddie.  It stars Joe "Tarzan" Lara and doesn't feature much in the way of the ubiquitous screen-fu beloved of no-budget flicks of the era, but it's eventful, has some decent old-school composite effects to establish setting and then gets down to the expected gunfights and car chases.  I'd rate it as middling between Steel Dawn and Fist of the North Star in terms of post-apocalyptic ronins cracking skulls in a desert town, and while it's predictable trash that looks like an episode of a tv show, it's still good fun with a beer or two and it isn't Belfast Story, so there's that.
Also available to view on Youtube in VHS-quality 4:3 format: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YB9Kqmts_8
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 26 January, 2014, 09:55:16 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 26 January, 2014, 04:08:08 PMIn one scene, Colm Meaney comes into an empty home, sits down, and then starts a monologue that includes the line "this country is haunted by echoes of the past" and it's not even a country mile within being the worst line of dialogue in the film.


Now I want to see it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 26 January, 2014, 10:15:48 PM
Captain Phillips

Brilliant.  First half of the movie flashes past in a heartbeat, and the second half doesn't slouch either, but it's a very different film by that point. [spoiler] A very emotional end, that worked very well for me.  Wasn't because it went for the usual emotional shit, more the way only Hanks was having a hard time, and the more professional those around him were, the worse he got.  Had a lump in my throat at that I must admit[/spoiler].  Won't say any more, other than see it, if you haven't already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 27 January, 2014, 12:42:30 AM
The Trip

Steve Coogan and Rob Wotsit eating food and talking lots. Lots of laugh out loud moments. Plus lots of nice visual goodness of the English countryside. And lots of the word lots in this post too I've just noticed.

8.5/10

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 27 January, 2014, 01:23:20 PM
Insidious 2

I really enjoyed the first Insidious movie but I think this one is even better.  I especially like how this movie follows on directly from the first and deals with what happenned there.  Perhaps it doesn't have the same slow chilling build up as the original but there are plenty of scares and the 'baddie' this time is a lot better than the first.  There is also a really clever part that ties in directly with the first movie. 

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first Insidious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 January, 2014, 01:29:21 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 27 January, 2014, 01:23:20 PM
Insidious 2

I really enjoyed the first Insidious movie but I think this one is even better.  I especially like how this movie follows on directly from the first and deals with what happenned there.  Perhaps it doesn't have the same slow chilling build up as the original but there are plenty of scares and the 'baddie' this time is a lot better than the first.  There is also a really clever part that ties in directly with the first movie. 

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first Insidious.

I saw this last week and thought it was pretty good although nowhere near as scary as the first.
I followed it up directly with The Conjouring which was great. Really scary and freaky. It's based on real events too so there's plenty of creepy stuff you can read on the internet about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 27 January, 2014, 01:37:05 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 27 January, 2014, 12:42:30 AM
The Trip

Steve Coogan and Rob Wotsit eating food and talking lots. Lots of laugh out loud moments. Plus lots of nice visual goodness of the English countryside. And lots of the word lots in this post too I've just noticed.

8.5/10

Movie? Is that the re-edited US version of the TV series?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 January, 2014, 05:13:40 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 27 January, 2014, 01:37:05 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 27 January, 2014, 12:42:30 AM
The Trip

Movie? Is that the re-edited US version of the TV series?

Apparently it was a big hit with the Sundance crowd, who I suppose just see it as another Michael Winterbottom joint and part of Coogan's reinvention as someone who makes films you might want to see. Big laughs all round; the only thing they didn't get was a Michael Parkinson impression.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 27 January, 2014, 11:11:30 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 January, 2014, 01:29:21 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 27 January, 2014, 01:23:20 PM
Insidious 2

I really enjoyed the first Insidious movie but I think this one is even better.  I especially like how this movie follows on directly from the first and deals with what happenned there.  Perhaps it doesn't have the same slow chilling build up as the original but there are plenty of scares and the 'baddie' this time is a lot better than the first.  There is also a really clever part that ties in directly with the first movie. 

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first Insidious.

I saw this last week and thought it was pretty good although nowhere near as scary as the first.
I followed it up directly with The Conjouring which was great. Really scary and freaky. It's based on real events too so there's plenty of creepy stuff you can read on the internet about it.

Yeah, I thought The Conjouring was good also.  One of the things I like in the Insidious movies is that the ghosts keep popping up in the background.  You will be following someone around the house, even in the day, and catch something with your peripheral vision.   :o 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 January, 2014, 11:25:36 PM
The Wolf of Wall Street.

I must admit I enjoyed Sauchie's review of the film, more than I did the film itself.

Not that its a pile of crap. Its fun - at times, but I didn't really find myself warming to it overall. And yes,its too long!

Whether that's because it became a bit of a chore to sit through, or because its genuinely too long, i don't know...  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 January, 2014, 11:07:21 PM

Sorry for the bum steer, neebs. I value films with a sense of humour more than anything else, so scenes like Jonah Hill's hilarious Quaalude slow motion struggle for coherence (together with the brilliant reveal at the end of DiCaprio's epic drive home) and the petty squabbles between the monumentally stupid characters kept me entertained for the full running time. Like I say, I've been working my way through a lot of humourless and weighty Oscar contenders lately, so maybe I cut Wolf Of Wall Street extra slack.

Room 237 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHE5YUNkssQ) is an even greater mind fuck than Kubrick's original movie. The numerology and moon landing stuff - the moon is (room) 237,000 miles from Earth - which most folk will have heard before, and the kind of nonsense that occurs to you during most films about their being metaphors for events like the Holocaust, eventually give way to bat shit craziness like the guy who has run the film in reverse superimposed upon the film running forwards and developed a reading based on the resulting visual congruities.

Once you've listened to these bizarre (and mutually exclusive) theories for a while you find yourself almost as convinced as the folk involved that Kubrick was trying to communicate something much greater than the surface narrative by creating such a complex system of interconnected and unexplained visual references. That makes the film's pay off - that [spoiler]the central metaphors of the film are the trap of the labyrinth and the irrational geography of the hotel, and that the film has become the lives of these poor lost souls, its unresolvable puzzle holding them within its limits like Jack Torrance at the end of the film[/spoiler] - all the more unnerving.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 January, 2014, 11:28:26 PM


My favourite one is the subtext of The Shining as America's abandonment of The Gold Standard.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2014, 10:00:54 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 27 January, 2014, 11:25:36 PM
The Wolf of Wall Street.

I must admit I enjoyed Sauchie's review of the film, more than I did the film itself.

Not that its a pile of crap. Its fun - at times, but I didn't really find myself warming to it overall. And yes,its too long!

Whether that's because it became a bit of a chore to sit through, or because its genuinely too long, i don't know...  ;)

I agree about the running time. Tbh I think I'd get bored of just about any film pushing the three hour mark, and the rather simple tale of the rise and (sort of) fall of some yuppie is hardly an epic tale for the ages. It was very funny though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 January, 2014, 10:14:34 AM
I think it's been mentioned by a few people on here, and its a stance I support, but my favourite format for a film is the short one. On that note I concluded the early works of Jan Svankmajer last night and what a wonderful this it was to. Considerably more gruesome and twisted than the considerably more joyful (but no less mischievous) early shorts, Svankmajers later shorts included castle of Otranto (which is highly recommended for any Kolchack or Twilight Zone fans. Great twist ending.), The Fall of the House of Usher, Dimensions of Dialogue, Down to the Caller, The Pendulum, ThenPit, and Hope, the utterly delirious Virile Games, the music video Another Kind of Love (with Hugh Cornwell!), Meat Love, Darkness-Light-Darkness, Flora, The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia, and the notorious Food.

A cracking collection that I will enedever to make a review of over on my Tumblr soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 29 January, 2014, 11:26:48 AM
The Addams Family.

A really fun/entertaining film. One of the few films I've seen that I consider to have the 'perfect cast'.


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2014, 11:34:36 AM
Some of us say this a lot on this board, but I've lost count of the amount of films I've watched recently and said "That was good, but should have been 20/30mins shorter". If you're telling a grand saga or adapting a complex novel, I can appreciate why you might need to go over two hours, but for me, every minute longer than 100 is another nail in the coffin of me ever rewatching a film - and 90mins is still the perfect sweet spot that every film should aim for. Whatever happened to leaving the audience wanting more?

It's got to the point that my girlfriend specifically looks up running times of films before seeing them, and excitedly told me Inside Llewellyn Davis is "only 1hr 45m!".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 January, 2014, 11:47:51 AM
Quote from: radiator on 29 January, 2014, 11:34:36 AM
Some of us say this a lot on this board, but I've lost count of the amount of films I've watched recently and said "That was good, but should have been 20/30mins shorter". If you're telling a grand saga or adapting a complex novel, I can appreciate why you might need to go over two hours, but for me, every minute longer than 100 is another nail in the coffin of me ever rewatching a film - and 90mins is still the perfect sweet spot that every film should aim for. Whatever happened to leaving the audience wanting more?

It's got to the point that my girlfriend specifically looks up running times of films before seeing them, and excitedly told me Inside Llewellyn Davis is "only 1hr 45m!".

I'm all over that sentiment. There seemed to be a shift, for whatever reason I place it when 'Braveheart' came out, have no idea if that's a valid assessment, anyway around that time when movies went from being between 1 1/2 and 2 hours long to over 2 hours and hitting 3 almost as a standard. Well if not a standard then a heck of a lot more frequently.

Now 'Braveheart' being a big sprawling historical epic was fine as a long film. Long films seemed in the past to largely be the preserve of that type of movie. It made them feel special and as if they deserved to be carrying the weight of the events they dealt with - however badly and however they stretch 'poetic license to breaking point.

So yeah surely a return to more movies of a 'proper' length has all sorts of advantages? Surely cheaper to make (though I guess minute for minute more expensive, but overall?). Most importantly 1 1/2 to 2 hours is a good length of time to be sat still for. I'm getting older, my blander ain't as strong as it was...

... not even start me on expanding children's books to trilogies... don't even start me...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 29 January, 2014, 11:56:24 AM
I used to love long movies, but last few years my attention span has struggled to get through things that run on over two hours. The wife and I have been going through X Files again, we're both big fans to start but the show's template always made it feel like they were mini-43 minute movies with the mythology episodes being feature length two parters.

I can sit and read comics for three or four hours straight though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 12:16:30 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 28 January, 2014, 11:07:21 PM

Sorry for the bum steer, neebs.

No bum steer at all Sauchie, I loved every minute of this- almost three hours of genuine hilarious entertainment.
It's been a long time since I left the cinema feeling absolutely satisfied with what I'd just watched.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 January, 2014, 01:08:35 PM
LARRY CROWNE
(1 hr 34 minutes - well done Tom)
Not massively rom or massively com but a sweet little piece.

I probably enjoyed this precisely because it didn't outstay it's welcome.  They could have dragged it up to two hours by sticking in some false emotional summits but who likes that stuff ("Oh no, a misunderstanding means they are going to break up!")?

There's nothing particularly new here but I just enjoy watching Tom Hanks do that thing he does. 

I was particularly impressed by the way he looks at the free-spirited pixie girl, beloved of so many authors writing of mid-life crisis (surely going through a mid-life crisis of their own) without a hint of romantic liasion - almost just bewildered and going with the flow. 

Julia Roberts character is a bit of a doormat though - she could have done with a bit more life. She shows a bit of spunk in ditching Bryan Cranston but why on earth was she putting up with him in the first place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 29 January, 2014, 01:17:50 PM
Relevant: there's A Four Hour Cut Of WOLF OF WALL STREET coming (http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2014/01/29/theres-a-four-hour-cut-of-wolf-of-wall-street-coming/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 29 January, 2014, 01:20:37 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 29 January, 2014, 11:47:51 AM
Quote from: radiator on 29 January, 2014, 11:34:36 AM
Some of us say this a lot on this board, but I've lost count of the amount of films I've watched recently and said "That was good, but should have been 20/30mins shorter". If you're telling a grand saga or adapting a complex novel, I can appreciate why you might need to go over two hours, but for me, every minute longer than 100 is another nail in the coffin of me ever rewatching a film - and 90mins is still the perfect sweet spot that every film should aim for. Whatever happened to leaving the audience wanting more?

It's got to the point that my girlfriend specifically looks up running times of films before seeing them, and excitedly told me Inside Llewellyn Davis is "only 1hr 45m!".

I'm all over that sentiment. There seemed to be a shift, for whatever reason I place it when 'Braveheart' came out, have no idea if that's a valid assessment, anyway around that time when movies went from being between 1 1/2 and 2 hours long to over 2 hours and hitting 3 almost as a standard. Well if not a standard then a heck of a lot more frequently.

Now 'Braveheart' being a big sprawling historical epic was fine as a long film. Long films seemed in the past to largely be the preserve of that type of movie. It made them feel special and as if they deserved to be carrying the weight of the events they dealt with - however badly and however they stretch 'poetic license to breaking point.

So yeah surely a return to more movies of a 'proper' length has all sorts of advantages? Surely cheaper to make (though I guess minute for minute more expensive, but overall?). Most importantly 1 1/2 to 2 hours is a good length of time to be sat still for. I'm getting older, my blander ain't as strong as it was...

... not even start me on expanding children's books to trilogies... don't even start me...

I think some of this is definitely due to Hollywood's obsession with overly complex plots for movies.  Things like the Dark Knight films try to fit so much in that they end up being longer.

This also reminds me of the 'good old days' when cinemas used to stop the film half way through and the lights would go up to allow a comfort break (and them to sell some more sweets).  With some of these lengthy movies, it would really help if they brought this practice back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 02:25:45 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 29 January, 2014, 01:17:50 PM
Relevant: there's A Four Hour Cut Of WOLF OF WALL STREET coming (http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2014/01/29/theres-a-four-hour-cut-of-wolf-of-wall-street-coming/)

In the last decade Scorsese films have started making money (most of his notable films were losses) and since Wolf... is a moderate success they may as well capitalise by the usual multiple releases. This is purely a business decision as Scorsese has reiterated time and again that he doesn't like extended or alternate cuts of his films.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 29 January, 2014, 03:33:09 PM
Quote
This also reminds me of the 'good old days' when cinemas used to stop the film half way through and the lights would go up to allow a comfort break (and them to sell some more sweets).  With some of these lengthy movies, it would really help if they brought this practice back.

They still do this in the tiny cinema of Hebden Bridge, in the valleys of Yorkshire. Lovely place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 29 January, 2014, 04:52:25 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 23 January, 2014, 06:37:36 PM
Pirates in an Adventure With Scientists

With much thanks to Mabs for netting it for milady we watched it - me for the first time - it was anachro-tastic and I loved the gleeful fannying-about with historical fact (of course in real life Darwin was PART of that grim "endangered species dining club" :S). The painting of Victoria as the villain is fantastically mad and the soundtrack (Tenpole Tudor and Flight of the Concords :O) is brilliant. The central cast of characters is strong but there's a lingering sense that some things hadn't been properly resolved - making you wonder where the books go and whether or not Aardman will go back to it (although with the huge gorgeous sets and long production time I could see why they wouldn't). Having just recently seen Were-Rabbit it's astonishing how much the animation has progressed as well - the sets were consistently extraordinary and I could happily live in those models forever. Also Hugh Grant sounded NOTHING LIKE HUGH GRANT here - very odd I'm normally quite good at spotting voices.

Overall - a grand and enjoyable romp that looks utterly breathtaking.

I agree, I was surprised to find Hugh Grant doing the voice of the Pirate Captain, and even more surprised because he managed to do a stellar job!

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, CrazyFox!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 January, 2014, 05:32:02 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 12:16:30 PM
I loved every minute of (Wolf Of Wall Street) - almost three hours of genuine hilarious entertainment. It's been a long time since I left the cinema feeling absolutely satisfied with what I'd just watched.

That's a relief; the only thing worse than wasting a trip to the pictures on a rotten film is when someone with whom you think you're in synch has recommended it to you as the best thing they've ever seen. Not only did you hate the film, but now you hate them a little too.

I'd agree wholeheartedly with the comments above regarding two hours plus becoming the default length for every film, with one caveat - I don't mind it when I really enjoy the film. Obviously anyone wasting three years of their and other people's lives (and huge sums of their money) bringing a film to your local fleapit is hoping you'll really like it - and some people will love the same film that just gave you a sore bum - so it seems difficult to come up with a hard and fast rule.

Films such as Zodiac and Full Metal Jacket don't really pass Colin's test of epic scale and scope, yet I honestly can't remember checking my watch or pausing them to go for a slash when I saw them for the first time. The only (unsatisfactory and subjective) reason I can think of to explain the difference in my response to those films and the equally lengthy Man Of Steel (three toilet breaks, a snack, and some housework) is that I thought they were good and Superman wasn't really.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 January, 2014, 05:38:41 PM
Wolf of Wall Street. Great acting from all involved, great directing from Scorsese. I agree though that it could have been shaved by 45 minuets and we would have missed little. Still, highly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 January, 2014, 05:45:29 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 02:25:45 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 29 January, 2014, 01:17:50 PM
Relevant: there's A Four Hour Cut Of WOLF OF WALL STREET coming (http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2014/01/29/theres-a-four-hour-cut-of-wolf-of-wall-street-coming/)

In the last decade Scorsese films have started making money (most of his notable films were losses) and since Wolf... is a moderate success they may as well capitalise by the usual multiple releases. This is purely a business decision as Scorsese has reiterated time and again that he doesn't like extended or alternate cuts of his films.

The TV mini series version of Godfather parts 1 & 2 Coppola edited together in the nineties seems like a better model for monetising any odds and sods you have lying around the cutting room floor. When I heard the complaints regarding the length of Wolf of Wall Street I remember thinking that Scorsese might have been better off making it in the same episodic format to which he treated Boardwalk Empire, but I suppose that would rule out Academy Awards and Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead.

I get the criticism that three hours is too long for any or most films, but that does seem at variance with the frequent reports of couples who made their way through Breaking Bad by caning it in chunks of 3, 4, 5 or 6 episodes at a time, without leaving their couch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 January, 2014, 09:06:42 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 29 January, 2014, 11:47:51 AM
Now 'Braveheart' being a big sprawling historical epic was fine as a long film.

Never a word that should be used in conjunction with that film.  It's about as historically accurate as those films that happened a long time ago....in a galaxy far away. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 09:17:23 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 29 January, 2014, 05:45:29 PM
When I heard the complaints regarding the length of Wolf of Wall Street I remember thinking that Scorsese might have been better off making it in the same episodic format to which he treated Boardwalk Empire


As a mini-series it would require a completely different take than 3 hour bawdy comedy. A lot cheaper too.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 January, 2014, 09:33:14 PM

The screenwriter of Wolf Of Wall Street, Tezza Winter (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1010540/), managed to decompress the hell out of the source novel of Boardwalk Empire for three series *, and balanced the ratio of laughs to shots of folk's heads being smashed to a bloody pulp (held for at least a beat too long for comfort) as well. A six or eight part prestige series from Scorsese and starring DiCaprio would probably have made House of Cards's Netflix numbers look pish, and they could have padded it with an origin for the Duchess, glimpses of Donny's cousin-fucking homelife, Rugrat at the barbers ...


* not so much in series four
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 09:58:05 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 29 January, 2014, 09:33:14 PM
The screenwriter of Wolf Of Wall Street, Tezza Winter (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1010540/), managed to decompress the hell out of the source novel of Boardwalk Empire for three series


Despite the attraction of Scorsese, that goes some way to explaining why I never watched it. There's only so many hours to devote to TV. 3 hours I can give easily but 48 is a big ask.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 January, 2014, 10:48:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 28 January, 2014, 11:07:21 PM

Sorry for the bum steer, neebs.

Not a problem, Wolf was always on the 'to do' list.
And that Room 237 looks right up my alley. Just need that Jon Ronson Doc to pop up as well.

Quote from: sauchie on 29 January, 2014, 05:32:02 PM

Quote from: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 12:16:30 PM
I loved every minute of (Wolf Of Wall Street) - almost three hours of genuine hilarious entertainment. It's been a long time since I left the cinema feeling absolutely satisfied with what I'd just watched.

That's a relief; the only thing worse than wasting a trip to the pictures on a rotten film is when someone with whom you think you're in synch has recommended it to you as the best thing they've ever seen. Not only did you hate the film, but now you hate them a little too.

I'd agree wholeheartedly with the comments above regarding two hours plus becoming the default length for every film, with one caveat - I don't mind it when I really enjoy the film. Obviously anyone wasting three years of their and other people's lives (and huge sums of their money) bringing a film to your local fleapit is hoping you'll really like it - and some people will love the same film that just gave you a sore bum - so it seems difficult to come up with a hard and fast rule.

Films such as Zodiac and Full Metal Jacket don't really pass Colin's test of epic scale and scope, yet I honestly can't remember checking my watch or pausing them to go for a slash when I saw them for the first time. The only (unsatisfactory and subjective) reason I can think of to explain the difference in my response to those films and the equally lengthy Man Of Steel (three toilet breaks, a snack, and some housework) is that I thought they were good and Superman wasn't really.

Yes, one man's meat.... and all that. Ive watched plenty of film's where a 90 minute running time has dragged, and other times an film of epic length has flown by, and left me wanting more.
Usually they've been a Scorsese film, as well.

If the news of a longer cut of Wolf are true, can we have a longer cut of Gangs, as well?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 10:52:46 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 09:58:05 PM
There's only so many hours to devote to TV. 3 hours I can give easily but 48 is a big ask.

Yet you did for Breaking Bad didn't you?
I know exactly where you're coming from though- there's a certain aversion to starting a new box-set that you're quite sure you're going to like.
It's a personal time and financial commitment that seems almost like a chore beforehand, yet when you're knee deep in the machinations of season 4 it beggars belief that you ever considered not watching this great show.
As an aside, I've been the owner of Boardwalk Empire season 1 on Blu since Christmas 2012, and it's sat there on the shelf unwatched and unloved, waiting for that 3-day stomach bug sick leave that's always just round the corner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 11:09:01 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 10:52:46 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 09:58:05 PM
There's only so many hours to devote to TV. 3 hours I can give easily but 48 is a big ask.

Yet you did for Breaking Bad didn't you?

That was the only TV series* I followed seasonally for the past 3 years. If I followed everything in-between since then, I'd never leave the house.


* let's be honest, how many series/stories live up to that standard of sustained viewing? I doubt Boardwalk Empire does.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 January, 2014, 11:12:58 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 11:09:01 PM

* let's be honest, how many series/stories live up to that standard of sustained viewing?

Fair point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 January, 2014, 11:16:42 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 11:09:01 PM

* let's be honest, how many series/stories live up to that standard of sustained viewing? I doubt Boardwalk Empire does.

It does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 January, 2014, 11:17:54 PM
Going back to the point I was supposed to be making with Wolf..., most stories don't demand a 4, 6 or 12 hour running time to make/dramatise their point(s).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 30 January, 2014, 11:24:48 AM
I was driving to work the other day and Radio 1 was on (yeah, I'm still youth).  Anyway, they were talking about Breaking Bad and someone was telling Grimmy about it.  He said something along the lines of 'it starts a bit slow but after the first 8 hours it really picks up'.  Grimmy replied that he doesn't have the time and 8 hours is quite a while for  something to take off - would you sit through 8 hours of a movie waiting for it to get good?   :lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 January, 2014, 11:42:28 AM
I'm not sure it's possible to come up with a formula for what films should or shouldn't break the 1.5-2 hour mark.
Some of my favourite films have longer running times - even action classics like The Rock or superhero flicks like Superman.
I think I could probably think of a good, long film in just about any genre so I guess it all comes down to whether the script, stars, chemistry and all the countless other factors can keep your attention.


This may be food for thought: The opening scene of Once Upon A Time In The West goes on for 11 minutes. Nothing happens and there's no dialogue but it's absolutely mesmerising. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 31 January, 2014, 10:20:31 AM
I picked up the original Universal Soldier on Blu Ray a little while ago for MUCH cheapness, remembering how I thought it was a pretty cool little movie back when it came out in 1992.

Now that I've watched it, I want to go back in time and PUNCH 1992 ME IN THE FACE. This movie is DREADFUL!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 31 January, 2014, 05:00:51 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 30 January, 2014, 11:24:48 AM
would you sit through 8 hours of a movie waiting for it to get good?

I'll rent the first Hobbit film and get back to you.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 01 February, 2014, 04:50:56 AM
Fargo

Great film. I wouldn't say depressing (see Requiem For A Dream) but there is a definite bleakness about the whole thing. Not just the characters but the locations. I still don't get how people choose to live in places like that. A great film that everyone should see. (makes a great double bill with No Country For Old Men IMO)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 01 February, 2014, 08:51:25 AM
American Hustle - good acting and quite funny in parts but on the whole I found the film very 'average' indeed.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 February, 2014, 05:23:51 PM

Lone Survivor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGexkC-lvh4), which would like you to think it's a war film about military adventure gone awry, like Deer Hunter or Black Hawk Down, and Eric Banana even shows up in the Sam Shepherd role from that latter film, allowing you to imagine he might be the same character a decade on and that the two films might take place in the same continuity and the same Marvel Universe.

It also opens with the same boot camp montage of raw recruits being turned into the goddamest sum bitches in the world which has featured in every film about the military since An Officer And A Gentleman through Full Metal Jacket and Tigerland, and ends with the same homoerotic exchange of glances between a muscled US special forces veteran with bad hair and a feminine Afghan boy. It even features the same black screen text dedication to the bravery of the Afghan people as Rambo III, although churlishly neglects to congratulate the resilience of the mujahidin as Stallone's film took the time to do.

Despite this martial window dressing, Lone Survivor actually belongs to the same genre as Deliverance or Southern Comfort, where weekend warriors looking for an excuse to field test their latest high tech purchases Burt's carbon fibre bow, the guard tempted to fire off his blank ammo) inadvertently find themselves transported back in time and fall foul of folk who actually live this shit.


(continued)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 February, 2014, 05:34:03 PM

(Lone Survivor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGexkC-lvh4), continued)


Not too long ago, the humanising character moments at the start of the movie intended to help audiences identify with the leads would have established that they had grey haired mothers back home who were worried about losing the farm, or fiancés called Gina who worked the diner all day, bringing home her meagre pay because times were tough, mm, so tough. These Navy Seal's bodies might be in Bagram, but the heads of the members of Spartan 1 (irony!) are still umbilically connected to the domestic bliss of home, as electronic technology allows them to buy thoroughbred Arabian stallions as wedding gifts and fret over interior design choices with their female other halves.

The best of the best figure their activities in terms of consumer durables like imported beers and pop culture references to Rick James and Jamiroquai, and even hold BGT style auditions, where contestants dance and recite the closest thing they have to a code (see trailer, above), which has all the depth of Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI). The essential frivolity of dropping these aesthetes off in the woods cosseted head to toe in Kevlar, night vision laser sights and satellite internet technology continues right up the command chain, as bureaucracy, budgetary considerations and health and safety mean their superiors effectively abandon them to their fate * at the hands of peasant warriors who operate by a much simpler code and don't care whether they or anyone else lives or dies.

It's a film about a civilisation whose idea of hell is losing your 4G coverage and having to drink supermarket brand bottled water, and how the period during which Western nations' economic and technological advances allowed them to project their power and advance their ideology beyond their own borders is effectively at an end. The action's well staged, I was never bored, and if you enjoy that bit in The Simpsons where Homer falls off a cliff and hits his head on every single rock on the way down, there's a 10 minute sequence where the bone crunching brutality and sheer physical damage done to the men's bodies is fetishized in a way you'll love.



* [spoiler]they lose their air support and rescue team because guidelines state billion dollar Black Hawk helicopters can't fly without their flanks being covered by million dollar Apaches[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 02 February, 2014, 02:16:23 PM
The Great Mouse Detective.

I had much delight in watching my girlfriend, who was only watching for the second time (the first being many many years ago) realize that Basil is Sherlock Holmes. Being a huge Sherlock fan she loved it. I haven't seen it since I was a boy so it was great watching it again. I was a little disappointed that Disney haven't seemed to put as much restoration work into it but I can't say it's that surprising as I'm sure it was never as popular as Beauty And The Beast or Cinderella or any of the "classics"

A very good film, as as an added bonus one of my favourite actors Vincent Price provides one the main voices, so that was nice.

I really do encourage anyone with kids or having kids to start collecting the Disney Blu-rays. They are an investment well worth making and truly are fun for the whole family.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 02 February, 2014, 04:10:43 PM
Superman II.
Still a better film than Man of Steel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2014, 04:23:56 PM
Superman 4 is better than Man Of Steel - there, I've said it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: deadman1971 on 02 February, 2014, 06:11:58 PM
last night i watched John Dies at The End, interestingly a good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 02 February, 2014, 06:12:42 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2014, 04:23:56 PM
Superman 4 is better than Man Of Steel - there, I've said it.

You ain't wrong, and superman 4 was shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 February, 2014, 07:09:52 PM
Bloody Sunday on ITV last night.

A film that always grabs me from the very start, and refuses to let me go, right up to the inevitable - and appalling conclusion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2014, 08:50:23 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 February, 2014, 05:23:51 PMLone Survivor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGexkC-lvh4),

At some point during this, I realised that there was no point watching the action scenes as there wasn't any way to tell what was going on, and characters would just die in slow motion when the story required them to, no need for an investment of attention or concentration on my part, I just had to wait for the music to swell a little to know that someone was going to pop their clogs so I should look up from the phone for a minute or two.  The plot seems to be the first five minutes of a 1980s action film spread over two hours, the bit where the helicopter explodes being where Chuck Norris would be sent for.
The film seems constructed of shots someone came up with while listening to a Flaming Lips album interspersed with scenes cribbed from the first contemporary Medal of Honor game, the plot actually mirroring that game's central section almost exactly not just in narrative construction but also in visuals, though I imagine the latter is unavoidable when you take setpieces from what is already a cinematic game and film them in exactly the same locations.

An offensively inconsequential nothing of a film whose main entertainment for me was when I couldn't stop myself laughing at the montage of dead soldiers at the end.  I'm not proud of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 February, 2014, 09:02:08 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2014, 08:50:23 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 01 February, 2014, 05:23:51 PMLone Survivor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGexkC-lvh4),

An offensively inconsequential nothing of a film whose main entertainment for me was when I couldn't stop myself laughing at the montage of dead soldiers at the end.  I'm not proud of it.

That was god-awfully mawkish, wasn't it? Nobody click on this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EijXqC-B78M) if you don't want to throw up.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 February, 2014, 09:10:59 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2014, 08:50:23 PM
The plot seems to be the first five minutes of a 1980s action film spread over two hours ... with scenes cribbed from the first contemporary Medal of Honor game, the plot actually mirroring that game's central section almost exactly not just in narrative construction but also in visuals

So many of the narrative beats correspond to the first quarter of Bravo Two Zero - stumbling upon the goat herds, the comms failure, the injured leg of one of the team - it's difficult not to imagine that the one person whose word we have to take for how events unfolded had read it too, and thought both that novel and the subsequent career of its author might serve as a useful template for their own.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Emp on 02 February, 2014, 10:04:14 PM
When I first saw the trailer for Lone Survivor I immediatley thought it was another example of Hollywood re-writing history, making the story of Bravo Two Zero (or The one that got away) into an all American movie where the audience could feel a swelling of the heart and chat "USA,USA!" at the end. I was pleasantly surprised when this was not the case, although the similarities are astounding.

As for the montage of those who died (thanks for that link saucie)..I managed to watch a mere 1 minute 15 seconds before deciding that I would rather be shot myself than watch any more. It's not that I don't commiserate with the families of the soldiers that died, it's just that that seems to be more about propoganda and pulling on the heartstrings of patriotism in an attempt to have more people sign up.....or am I too cynical.

I'll eventually watch it...when it's on Sky...for free...and when I can record it in the middle of the night...maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 03 February, 2014, 01:29:27 AM
The old man's been down in the dumps today, so I grabbed a couple of cheapo DVDs for his amusement, which we sat and watched drinks and snacks.

The goods in question were 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' and 'Addams Family Values' - both of which were pretty darned funny!

'Burt Wondertone' was a bit of a surprise - I'd genuinely expected it to be a bit crap, and only picked it up as it was something HdE senior had expressed interest in. 

But those Addams Family movies of the early '90s... what delightful silliness!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 03 February, 2014, 09:23:39 AM
GHOST SHARK

Bought for my youngest's birthday, being that it contains two of his favourite things- ghosts and sharks- this really was, from an adult perspective, utterly awful. A shark attacks a boat, is killed, floats into a haunted cave and gains an afterlife as a semi-transparent glowing blue death machine. It then targets people swimming off an idyllic beachfront town (sadly filmed in cheap-season, so it rains a lot) while using its newfound power to manifest through any water- appearing out of buckets, sprinklers, in the bath, and even in the standout gore scene, an ingested cup of water, to get people on land. The split-down-the-middle office worker wobbling away while a badly-composited Great White emerges from the hole went down the best in our house, along with the kid playing in the garden who was swallowed by the shark on a water-slide.

It reeks of Scooby Doo, even down to the character of the drunken lighthouse worker with a terrible secret, is completely lacking in nudity or bad language (barring a few "son of a bitch!"es, which elicited a strong "Ooooh!" from my kids) and has a few amusing gore scenes, but nothing my nine-year-old blinked at. It has an air of a children's version of The Fog, crossed with something like Sharktopus. Pleasingly bollocks.

THE COLONY
Laurence Fishburn leads a group of post-Global Warming survivalists living in an underground bunker, the world having frozen and humanity having been all-but wiped out by a flu. They get an SOS call from another similar colony, and a small band head off to help. When they get there, they find the place over-run with cannibal punks, who then track them back home for a big climactic fight. Bill Paxton plays a psycho ex-army second-in-command to Fishburn, who has ideas of taking over and running things his way in his absence. It looks great, is structured like a modern zombie movie, but ultimately says nothing new.

ARACHNOPHOBIA

Hadn't seen this in decades and it was on tv last night. Better than I remember, but still annoyingly stupid. I remember being disappointed at the time that it was so comedic, and the presence of John Goodman doesn't help. The real spiders themselves are well-wrangled, but the prosthetics let it down, at one point a furry glove seems to be used in lieu of a puppet. The final battle with the General is still hilarious, especially its death-scream. However, in spite of that, it remains a good story well told, and did enable a few minutes wondering at whatever happened to Julian Sands.

DRAG ME TO HELL

On tv after Arachnophobia. I very much love this film, it being the only decent thing Sam Raimi has done since Evil Dead 2- but like Dagon, which I tried to watch last week and which I had previously been passionate about- I found it a drag this time. Maybe it's my mood, but it seemed so by-the-numbers this time. I turned off halfway through and went to Dave for Mock The Week. One to watch with the kids later, I think, as I feel it's still a genuinely great horror film and does actually deliver the scares without being in any way nasty or mean-spirited or grounded in any form of reality.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 03 February, 2014, 09:43:05 AM
Quote from: HdE on 03 February, 2014, 01:29:27 AM
'Addams Family Values' ... what delightful silliness!
This is a great one, littered with brief yet funny scenes like were you see Gomez filming talk-show host Sally to see if she has the contact details of the voodoo priests etc she is talking about. One of the last times I watched this, I Googled Amy Fisher following the mention of her in the violent killers trading card collection so, you know, I actually learned something new!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 February, 2014, 10:25:23 AM
I'm working my way through World on a Wire, 70s German TV sci fi by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which I got for xmas. It's kinda like a proto- Matrix - a company has developed a virtual world populated by thousands of AI computer constructs, but odd things are beginning to happen.

I'm not sure how far through it I am (imdb tells me it's over 3 hours long) , but by God it's slow. Lots of scenes of businessmen having conversations or gazing into space, smoking and drinking furiously whilst mysterious icy blonds stare at them in a cryptic manner. All the cops wear hats and trenchcoats,  and it has gratuitous boobies 'cos it's Fassbinder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2014, 10:35:33 AM
QuoteThis is a great one, littered with brief yet funny scenes like were you see Gomez filming talk-show host Sally to see if she has the contact details of the voodoo priests etc she is talking about. One of the last times I watched this, I Googled Amy Fisher following the mention of her in the violent killers trading card collection so, you know, I actually learned something new!

Actually that's the first one (The Addams Family), I watched that on Netflix on Saturday. Values is good but it's not on Netflix and isn't quite as good.

Also watched all the toy stories with my mrs who hasn't ever seen them. She loved them! As I knew she would.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 03 February, 2014, 11:33:14 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2014, 10:35:33 AM
QuoteThis is a great one, littered with brief yet funny scenes like were you see Gomez filming talk-show host Sally to see if she has the contact details of the voodoo priests etc she is talking about. One of the last times I watched this, I Googled Amy Fisher following the mention of her in the violent killers trading card collection so, you know, I actually learned something new!
Actually that's the first one (The Addams Family), I watched that on Netflix on Saturday. Values is good but it's not on Netflix and isn't quite as good.
The trading card scene is when Pugsley and Wednesday have been forced to camp, it's the other social outcast whose cards have just been delivered. The two Addams children are sent to camp largely due to Fester's wife, who also has the family thrown out and it's when living in a motel that Gomez is calling the Sally show- it's Addams Family Values where all this takes place; Addams Family plot is just Fester's return.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 03 February, 2014, 11:35:55 AM
Actually no, the Sally scene is probably the 1st one seeing as they're thrown out in that one and it's Values that sees Fester leaving them. But the trading card scene is the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 03 February, 2014, 01:28:19 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 03 February, 2014, 09:23:39 AM
DRAG ME TO HELL

On tv after Arachnophobia. I very much love this film, it being the only decent thing Sam Raimi has done since Evil Dead 2- but like Dagon, which I tried to watch last week and which I had previously been passionate about- I found it a drag this time. Maybe it's my mood, but it seemed so by-the-numbers this time. I turned off halfway through and went to Dave for Mock The Week. One to watch with the kids later, I think, as I feel it's still a genuinely great horror film and does actually deliver the scares without being in any way nasty or mean-spirited or grounded in any form of reality.

The thing that really annoyed me about this movie is that the lead girl was not really all that bad and put in a situation where she had to refuse the mortgage extension.  I mean, really - is that all it takes to be punished with eternal damnation?  Just couldn't get over how unfair it seemed. 

I know Sam Raimi said he did it on purpose so your average viewer could relate but it just seemed off.  Better to have her do something really bad like drink-driving and hit the old lady, in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 03 February, 2014, 01:45:35 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 03 February, 2014, 01:28:19 PM

The thing that really annoyed me about this movie is that the lead girl was not really all that bad

Her acting was pretty bad!

I did enjoy that movie nevertheless, and picked it up for a fiver a few months ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 03 February, 2014, 02:33:05 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 03 February, 2014, 01:45:35 PM
Her acting was pretty bad!

:lol: I've seen plenty of horror movies over the years so bad acting is not an issue!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2014, 02:39:32 PM
It's black magic! A curse! The Devil may bring down even the righteous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 February, 2014, 05:42:19 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 03 February, 2014, 01:28:19 PM
The thing that really annoyed me about this movie is that the lead girl was not really all that bad and put in a situation where she had to refuse the mortgage extension.  I mean, really - is that all it takes to be punished with eternal damnation?  Just couldn't get over how unfair it seemed. 

Tell that to The Legendary Shark.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 February, 2014, 06:14:56 PM
Quote from: Emp on 02 February, 2014, 10:04:14 PM
Lone Survivor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EijXqC-B78M#t=155) - As for the montage of those who died, I managed to watch a mere 1 minute 15 seconds before deciding that I would rather be shot myself than watch any more. It's not that I don't commiserate with the families of the soldiers that died, it's just that that seems to be more about propoganda and pulling on the heartstrings of patriotism

That's definitely how it's been received by right wing elements in the US (which is why I was interested in watching it), but I didn't read it as saying anything particularly positive about the mission, the war, or the US military. It's certainly laudatory towards the bravery of the individuals involved, but I defy anyone to make a film about real people risking their lives and not be awed and humbled by whatever it is in them that means they can do that kind of thing and we can't.

You could argue that the memory of the real people who lost their lives in the incident upon which the film is based is cheapened by association with what is - as Pro Bear points out - nothing more than a perfunctory and typically silly action movie, but it's the wretched sound of Peter Gabriel straining as he squeezes out a steaming turd of a vocal over the medals on the chests of the dead (and Bowie's Heroes) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EijXqC-B78M) which does that, in my opinion.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 03 February, 2014, 11:08:10 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 03 February, 2014, 06:14:56 PM
the wretched sound of Peter Gabriel straining as he squeezes out a steaming turd of a vocal over the medals on the chests of the dead (and Bowie's Heroes) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EijXqC-B78M) which does that, in my opinion.

Haven't seen this yet ( and probably will not bother to either ) but thanks to Sauchie for the wonderful,  and absolutely 'spot on' description of Peter Gabriels' turgid vocals.....Don't know what emotion he was trying to convey here but to be honest, its just quite simply,  dreadful !!..............
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 05 February, 2014, 05:50:52 AM
New World

Excellent Korean gangster flick. Not much violence (at least not as much as I expected) but the story was bloody fantastic! With enough twists and turns to keep anyone guessing. Highly recommended.

also

Adrenaline Rush 3D (also known in some markets as Quick)

Motorcycle courier and his ex girlfriend follow the demands of a maniac or get blown up. A bit like Speed but on a bike. Only watched it in 2d but it was pretty good. Silly action movie that doesn't take itself seriously. Worth a rental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 05 February, 2014, 10:33:27 AM
Gravity
damn fine movie!!

filmed in the UK i heard recently, Saw it only last night.
could this SCI-FI /Space movie win the  oscar??
NO
it won't i know, but none the less great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 February, 2014, 10:39:28 AM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 03 February, 2014, 11:35:55 AM
Actually no, the Sally scene is probably the 1st one seeing as they're thrown out in that one and it's Values that sees Fester leaving them. But the trading card scene is the sequel.

Yup, that's what I'm saying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 February, 2014, 01:29:19 PM
Feeling the need for light hearted silliness, I watched Back To The Future part 3 last night.

Still loads of fun! And, for me, the high point of the entire series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 06 February, 2014, 12:01:10 AM
Devil's Pass (2013), which is better than it has any right to be. A 'found footage'-type film about a group o' sexy students who travel through Russia following in the footsteps of the Dyatlov Pass trekkers of 1959 - and if you know anything about that incident (or, indeed, this genre of film), you can guess a little of what's going to happen. You very much have to suspend disbelief and allow yourself to buy into proceedings - viewers who have no inclination to do that will most likely hate the film. Those who can will find a lot to like. It wins points from me simply for being a well-handled exploration of such a fascinating paranormal incident, and later it somehow manages to work the even-groovier Philadelphia Experiment into proceedings. True to form, the ending is as clever as it is silly. Very good stuff, although your own mileage may vary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 February, 2014, 01:37:29 AM
Tonight's TV treat was 'Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil', starring Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine.

Got this cheap at the supermarket, and expected little of it. I'd worried that the movie couldn't live up to its genius premise (basically, two hillbillies are terrorized in the woods by a bunch of college kids).

Turns out, this movie is a little gem! The comedy aspect of it is a little obvious, and you can see some of the bigger gags coming, but that just adds to the fun. There are some truly inventive jokes in there as well - and it scores points for being properly funny as opposed to leaning too heavily on gross-out splatterfest gore, which it could have done so easily.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 February, 2014, 10:34:14 AM
Ah the wood chipper moment. Has me in stitches
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2014, 12:34:23 PM
Quote from: HdE on 06 February, 2014, 01:37:29 AM
Tonight's TV treat was 'Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil', starring Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine.

Got this cheap at the supermarket, and expected little of it. I'd worried that the movie couldn't live up to its genius premise (basically, two hillbillies are terrorized in the woods by a bunch of college kids).

Turns out, this movie is a little gem! The comedy aspect of it is a little obvious, and you can see some of the bigger gags coming, but that just adds to the fun. There are some truly inventive jokes in there as well - and it scores points for being properly funny as opposed to leaning too heavily on gross-out splatterfest gore, which it could have done so easily.

I recall thoroughly enjoying this. The excuse for madly waving a chainsaw about was great.  I recall I didn't quite like the ending though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2014, 02:21:10 PM
This has been recomended to me constantly for years. Gonna have to give it a go soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 February, 2014, 03:11:50 PM
It's on Netflix for those who have it. Alan Tudyk is great
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 February, 2014, 04:26:37 PM
What I loved about the movie was the unexpected brilliance of some of the gags. Like I said before, you can see a lot of the stuff that happens coming. But my favourite gag is right at the end, in the hospital!

(I'd say more but... spoilers!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 February, 2014, 02:31:19 PM
The Lego Movie.  Very enjoyable, with some great scenes and gags, although it unravels a bit towards the end with overlong schmaltzy live-action sequences that had the younger audience members fidgetting.  Every scene that has Batman in it is superb, and this is definitely my favourite big screen version of the character.  His serious song is outstanding, worth sitting through the credits to hear it in full.  The 80's Lego Space stuff( and there's a fair amount) had me grinning ear to ear.

Some genius visuals, rendering fire, smoke and waves in Lego bricks, and there's a lovely touch where the distant views are just smaller scale models (i.e. a skyscraper becomes a simple tower of 2X2 blocks).  The 3D was very sharp, but as usual added little. 

My big problem with the film is that I can't for the life of me understand why there wasn't a female 'human' character, because as it is we're left with the understanding that Lego is a boy's pursuit. 

Ultimately where else can you see [spoiler]Batman steal the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive, while lamenting the revelation that C3PO is a dude[/spoiler]?  And it made everyone in the family want to dive into the Lego box as soon as we got home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 February, 2014, 03:55:41 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 February, 2014, 02:31:19 PM
The Lego Movie.  Very enjoyable, with some great scenes and gags, although it unravels a bit towards the end

The Lego Movie.  Very enjoyable, with some great scenes and gags, although it unravels a bit  falls apart towards the end.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 February, 2014, 05:57:49 PM
What are your rates for pre-Post editing, Sauchie?  I could cut you in for a co-writer credit and a point or two of the box office.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 February, 2014, 07:39:20 PM
Ender's Game - dull, and endorses machismo and militarist structures without irony, including the blatant faults of those systems such as turning a blind eye to bullying and discrimination, and the use of violence to beat down dissenting voices.  The main character's relationship with his older sister is super-weird, too, presented in exactly the same way you would expect a movie to present the relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend, right down to his constant "mail to his Valentine back home", and there's a bit that flashes back to the war that looks very similar to the end of Independence Day.  Make of that what you may.

After Earth - Smith has some presence as an emotionally distant patriarch and his lad aquits himself well, but the dialogue is so, so bad in this that it overshadows what is actually a pretty decent coming-of-age sci-fi b-movie.  It's been shat on from a great height by many gleeful detractors, but doesn't deserve it - some silly bits, certainly, and at least two instances of massive coincidence upon which the plot relies, but otherwise it's pretty inoffensive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 February, 2014, 10:18:42 PM
Dark Jimbo:  Did you mean THE DYALTOV PASS INCIDENT? Cos we watched that tonight, and it was magnificent!

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 February, 2014, 10:46:34 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 08 February, 2014, 10:18:42 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 06 February, 2014, 12:01:10 AM
Devil's Pass (2013), which is better than it has any right to be. A 'found footage'-type film about a group o' sexy students who travel through Russia following in the footsteps of the Dyatlov Pass trekkers of 1959

Dark Jimbo:  Did you mean THE DYALTOV PASS INCIDENT? Cos we watched that tonight, and it was magnificent!

Jimbo forgot to mention the clinchers - it's a Renny Harlin film, starring Lisa (http://twitersong.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/gemma-atkinson-01.jpg) from that show based on the Hollyoaks calendar. Added to my Lovefilm (http://www.lovefilm.com/film/?token=%3Fu%3D%252Fcatalog%252Ftitle%252F222134%26m%3DGET) list.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 February, 2014, 12:02:58 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 08 February, 2014, 10:18:42 PM
Dark Jimbo:  Did you mean THE DYALTOV PASS INCIDENT? Cos we watched that tonight, and it was magnificent!

That's the one - I think they renamed it. And yes, it does have her off Hollyoaks in it. I was trying to act highbrow by not mentioning that.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 February, 2014, 09:44:49 AM

It's got him off E4's Misfits too, if that makes things any more classy. The two titles definitely seems to be a case of the name being changed to avoid giving less discerning viewers the impression that the film might be foreign or a bit weird. The poster art gets progressively more classy and allusive the further away you get from Burbank:

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR3HdDji0Dull2t4jToWu8LFHcZlnPZwvmMn-heWOQzggG1xVuWEQ) (https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFppRU9hdMnmGEEK2muTL6Xtr1U5Bpr7nI70skvPrbvvV82cUvrg)
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQIMFXHv1BoyGNR0iy5JeT_rmfIdLJpu4V2tRGz8CoqMInKCiFW) (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvP_wB-kHyMbPAG7xGBa9Us4d1JP38sa54s001oG9YIqEdCDwk5Q)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2014, 09:54:54 AM
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Quite enjoyed this though it's 15 minutes too short! Never thought I'd say that but the last thirty minutes is breathless and could have benefitted from the more relaxed pace of the opening hour.

It's a slightly more analytical take on M:I and Bourne movies with a brutal hotel suite smackdown that could have come from one and a computer hack from the other. Moscow looks uncharactrristacally bustling and cosmopolitan (there are no lingering shots of Kremlin an Red Square on cold winters mornings; it's all neon and shiney cars).

Kiera Knightly is terrible, Brannagh is fun and Chris Pine is the third best actor to play Jack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 February, 2014, 12:54:09 PM
Quote from: sauchie olympics on 09 February, 2014, 09:44:49 AM

It's got him off E4's Misfits too, if that makes things any more classy. The two titles definitely seems to be a case of the name being changed to avoid giving less discerning viewers the impression that the film might be foreign or a bit weird. The poster art gets progressively more classy and allusive the further away you get from Burbank:

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR3HdDji0Dull2t4jToWu8LFHcZlnPZwvmMn-heWOQzggG1xVuWEQ) (https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFppRU9hdMnmGEEK2muTL6Xtr1U5Bpr7nI70skvPrbvvV82cUvrg)
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQIMFXHv1BoyGNR0iy5JeT_rmfIdLJpu4V2tRGz8CoqMInKCiFW) (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvP_wB-kHyMbPAG7xGBa9Us4d1JP38sa54s001oG9YIqEdCDwk5Q)

I suspect the real-life Dyatlov Pass Incident is better known in Asia, too, so the name itself would have a frisson for Russians that it might not have in, say, the US or here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 February, 2014, 06:04:59 PM
Rush

Just brilliant.  Hemsworth is very good as Hunt, but the show is most certainly stolen by Bruhl as Lauda.  I wouldn't think you'd have to be an F1 fan to enjoy this film, as the dynamic between the two rivals is compelling enough to keep your interest.   However, if you ARE an F1 fan, well.....you're in for a treat! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 February, 2014, 06:10:27 PM
Machete.

Mrs X and I loved it.  Although it is a sign that you've become hardened to ultra-violence when the standout scene involves Machete trying to use a mobile.

"Machete don't text"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 February, 2014, 06:16:42 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 09 February, 2014, 06:04:59 PM
Rush Just brilliant.  Hemsworth is very good as Hunt, but the show is most certainly stolen by Bruhl as Lauda.  I wouldn't think you'd have to be an F1 fan to enjoy this film, as the dynamic between the two rivals is compelling enough to keep your interest.   However, if you ARE an F1 fan, well.....you're in for a treat!

I thought the drama, as in most Ron Howard joints, was a little meh, but the racing sequences more than make up for that. Every time Chris Hemsworth took his shirt off I had to do press-ups just to feel better about myself.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 09 February, 2014, 06:21:37 PM
I agree that Howard's stuff does on occasion seem a tad...'beige', but on this occasion, I may have been bias to some degree due to the F1 aspect!  And yes, the racing is awesome!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 February, 2014, 10:20:32 PM
Event Horizon - pants then and pants now. May well have turned it off halfway through...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 09 February, 2014, 10:29:39 PM
Yep, Event Horizon wasn't exactly the George Best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 February, 2014, 10:50:03 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 09 February, 2014, 10:20:32 PM
Event Horizon - pants then and pants now. May well have turned it off halfway through...

Definitely worth a watch with a few beers, for Sam Neill's absolutely hilarious hammy performance alone.
"I am home"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 February, 2014, 11:12:16 PM
Full Metal Jacket on Channel 5 right now, one of my favourite Kubrick films of all time:

Sgt. Hartman: How tall are you, private?

Private Cowboy: Sir, five-foot-nine, sir.

Sgt. Hartman: Five-foot-nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high!

Also, Joker's 'duality of man' speech cracks me up all the time.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 09 February, 2014, 11:57:40 PM
Helicopter scene:  Joker: how do you know which one is the enemy- waist gunner: if they run they're VC if they stand still they're well disciplined VC - Joker: Do you ever shot women and children - waist gunner: sometimes - joker: how do you shoot women and children - waist gunner: easy, you don't lead them as much.
Repulsive but insanely funny at the same time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 February, 2014, 12:03:06 AM
The film's based on a book called Short Timers by a guy called Gustav Hasford, it's a wee bit different but a great read.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2014, 12:43:51 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 10 February, 2014, 12:03:06 AM
The film's based on a book called Short Timers by a guy called Gustav Hasford, it's a wee bit different but a great read.

It's certainly full of dark humour. It was also filmed not too far from where I live (in what is now Canary Wharf etc). I was still at school at the time (86/87 I think) and I remember my teacher telling us that they were shooting a film in the Docklands.

I haven't read the book however, will have to rectify that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 February, 2014, 01:06:49 AM
The Last Stand and Oblivion last night, but I didn't pay much attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 February, 2014, 05:20:26 AM
I forgot to mention.....I have seen The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug.....

Here is a copy what I have to say about on Facebook.....

QuoteAs I was in Brisbane for the full day last Tuesday. I went and saw the film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" at the Myer Centre (Cause I like it there.) for the second time since I saw it on Boxing Day last year. I didn't pay so much attention to it the first time round and I still didn't quite it all in the second time. It seemed to go on and on and on until it finally ended. If I wasn't such a J.R.R. Tolkien fan. I might have walked out. Yes, I think the problem with this film is that it seemed to long. It was the first time I saw this film last year, that I my my mind had wandered so much that I didn't even notice the ending of it when Bilbo Baggins declared "What have we done?" as Smaug the dragon flew off towards the lake town. I certainly noticed it when watching the second film, but I missed bit of it. When I took a toilet brake. Yeah, I missed the bit where the Elf-king (Forget his name.) reveals his scarred face. I saw the film later on that night and because of that. I missed the last train home and ended up spending the last part of that night and the next morning wandering the streets of Brisbane.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 February, 2014, 06:03:42 AM
There are some parts of the film that seem more vivid than others that I would like to mention in no particular order.....

Bilbo is walking with the company of the Dwarves in the haunted forest some of them are shown in different places on a trail broken in by what I remember is a river or riverbed or some gap or long drop between two  cliffs and then some feet are shown walking backwards and Bilbo turns around to face another Bilbo looking back at him.....

Bilbo and the company of dwarves are attacking the spiders and a invisable Bilbo pulls off the ring as he pops up right before spider to stab it in the face.

The company of dwarves, well some of the them each take a spot surrounding a spider to pull each of it's eight appendages off.

It's just that I remember something like this happening in that Werewolf Forum game I've been playing.

Just a coincidence I suppose.

There is a scene when it's looks like it is just Bilbo and Thorin are looking for the keyhole in the side of Erebor by the grey stone where the thrush knocks while the sun sets and Thorin steps on it before it goes over the cliff as the setting sun shines on the keyhole. Then it 's revealed as the rest of dwarves standing in line next Thorin are revealed as well. This came across to me as a very Dr Who moment. You know the eleven or twelve doctors, each incarnation appearing all at once in a line beside him to unlock the the door to Erebor or it could be the Tardis as I was also thinking.

There's all I got until I remember some more or see the film another ten times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 10 February, 2014, 10:25:38 AM
The Human Centipede
Got this for a mate's birthday as a joke because A) said friend has this look of disgust she'll do without realising when watching films like this so even if I'm not enjoying the film, I can make a point of glancing at her every now and again to amuse myself and B) said friend is studying to become a nurse and the sleeve-notes said this film is 100% medically accurate.
But anyway, we watched this the other day. There was a brief moment near the start were I started to think "Ah, this is going to be a dark comedy of sorts; a joke that this is the next logical step for the whole 'torture porn' genre... two girls and one guy stripped down and forced to live mouth-to-anus as the villain of the piece further dehumanises them etc". Then I just got the impression that the bloke behind this was making no such statement and he just thought this would be a really good film (the sleeve notes also revealed to me that this film was inspired by a conversation on suitable punishments for child molesters, I later noticed). I ended up pretty bored regardless, though I will admit I did chuckle when [spoiler]the bloke forced to be the lead in this centipede looks back over his shoulder and, fighting back tears, announces how sorry he is that he really needs to shit and can hold it back no longer[/spoiler].
I've heard the sequel is about somebody who has watched this film and is sexually aroused by it but it's safe to say I'll be giving it a miss. And I also think the sequel should have been The Human Millipede if they wanted to up the stakes for those who enjoyed the first so talk about a missed opportunity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 February, 2014, 10:38:07 AM
Judith, I really don't get gratuitosity like this. There are some seriously worrying niche groups out there. Cube the drokkers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 February, 2014, 11:01:57 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 10 February, 2014, 12:43:51 AMIt was also filmed not too far from where I live (in what is now Canary Wharf etc). I was still at school at the time (86/87 I think) and I remember my teacher telling us that they were shooting a film in the Docklands.

I only became aware of the docklands location after I'd seem FMJ a few times, and now I can never watch it without noting the grey London light and potted palm-trees.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 10 February, 2014, 11:05:21 AM
Human Centipede is one of my favourite horror films of the last few years. It's a brilliant, clever film with an incredible lead performance by Dieter Laser. Never as graphic as you fear, and like the classic seventies horrors it strives to emulate, reliant entirely on the potential grotesquerie of the concept. Genuinely disturbing, in much the same way as the ooriginal Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it's a near-perfect  example of the genre's ability to get under society's skin. Love it.

Still not seen the sequel, largely because a) it's censored and I won't watch censored films, and b) the subject matter may be even too much for me. Dieter Laser returns for the third installment- Final Sequence. So I guess I'll have to bite the bullet soon.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 February, 2014, 11:11:27 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 10 February, 2014, 11:05:21 AM

Still not seen the sequel, largely because a) it's censored and I won't watch censored films


It's the very reason that I bought it online. I just don't like being told what I can / can't watch.
It is quite distressingly disgusting, and certainly a film I wont be going back to for a re-watch.
But its there- in the 'Forbidden' sub-section of my collection...


PS- I agree with your sentiments on the 1st film SBT- I don't think it's a masterpiece, but it's very well executed and nowhere near as graphic as it could have been.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 February, 2014, 11:30:27 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 09 February, 2014, 10:20:32 PM
Event Horizon - pants then and pants now. May well have turned it off halfway through...

I really like Event Horizon. A spaceship that flies through HELL. Awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 February, 2014, 11:44:27 AM

I realllllly love Event Horizon! That was good film, and great special effects, beautiful ship, I like that ending with Event Horizon "surfing" the waves of fire...

Did this illustration on another thread yesterday;

(http://i.imgur.com/EIH39TL.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 February, 2014, 01:35:05 PM
Event Horizon has lots of good ideas but is a pretty terrible film. Largely because after a decent opening act it pretty much grinds to a halt and is really boring.
I'd put it on my 'Ripe for a remake' list along with Logan's Run and The Keep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 10 February, 2014, 03:33:45 PM
You can't remake Logans Run! Jenny Agutter is too old to be getting her kit off now
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 February, 2014, 03:40:22 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 10 February, 2014, 03:33:45 PM
You can't remake Logans Run! Jenny Agutter is too old to be getting her kit off now

She can play the robot instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 10 February, 2014, 03:59:32 PM
That is incredible work, Goaty! May I ask what tablet you're using to produce your artistic endeavours? By the way, a big fan of Event Horizon. Like JamesC has said, it does lose its way but the production design on the film is truly marvellous. There's some great ideas in the film and the ship herself looks stunning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 February, 2014, 04:07:47 PM
Thanks Mabs, it's iPad with Procreate app :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 February, 2014, 04:52:41 PM
Frozen - I think I'm missing something in Disney's animated films this last while, as while I enjoyed this more than the inconsequential Brave, it's still pretty lacking in (God help me) warmth.  I dunno, it just never felt like there was anything at stake, the setting lacked depth, and the characters were incredibly bland, though I held out hope it was aiming for emotional depth right until the lazy face-heel turn from one member of the love triangle let everyone off the hook without having to make a hard decision or show the kind of emotional maturity that genuinely would challenge the usual Disney Princess tropes about girls' needing to find The One to make them complete by having a lass make an actual choice of their own.  I kind of expected more from a film that took 70 years and 150 million dollars to make, but clearly that's just me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 February, 2014, 08:26:03 AM
Took the whole family to see The Lego Movie at the weekend. I didn't expect it to be an anti-capitalist propaganda film with a strong anti-conformist message, but it was.

The population of Lego World believe they are happy, despite having no freedom, and are kept docile and obedient by their evil government by being force-fed a diet of banal TV shows and saccharine pop music; just like the real world!

The bad guy (voiced by Will Ferrell) is called President Business. It's not trying to be subtle.

It's a treat for us geeky types featuring, as it does, cameos from dozens of comicky, sci fi-y characters including a leading role for Batman (who proves to be a bit of a jerk as I always suspected he was).

Beautifully animated and filled with gorgeous and exciting action set-pieces, it never lets up on the thrills, or the laughs.

I'm trying to think of something negative to say to balance this gushing review but going over the film in my head is just making me want to watch it again right now.

Trust me, you WILL enjoy this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 February, 2014, 09:27:50 AM
I wionder how many boxes of Lego this anti-capitalist propaganda movie will sell?  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 11 February, 2014, 09:35:41 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 11 February, 2014, 09:27:50 AM
I wionder how many boxes of Lego this anti-capitalist propaganda movie will sell?  ;)

You can either join us in smashing the evil capitalist structures (made of Lego) and help us to begin constructing a new, fairer society (made of Lego) or it will be up against the wall (made of Lego) with you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2014, 11:59:40 AM
Happiness is a bag of LEGO. True happiness is two bags of LEGO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 11 February, 2014, 02:19:25 PM
Man of Steel

At the weekend I saw MoS for the second time (first was in the cinema).  I know this got mixed reviews on here but originally I did not think it too bad so was interested to see how it would hold up on a repeat viewing. 

Henry Cavill certainly looks like Superman to me - the guy must have spent about two years in the gym and looks like a bodybuilder.  In terms of his acting though, I am still not sure - clearly the film wanted to go down the troubled origin story route but this means our Henry spends a lot of the film looking glum and not saying much.  This also ties into one of the big things that the movie got wrong - he doesn't really convey that he cares about humans and that is something that Christopher Reeve did very well. 

Russell Crowe was great as Jor-El and I think Michael Shannon did a good job with Zod.  Unfortunately it seems than more Russel led to less Kevin Costner so I can see why some people thought his character was off.  I didn't, but he could have done with more screen time to convey this.

I would say the first 2/3rds of the movie are pretty good and its just towards the end where things go awry.  Anyone seeing a Superman movie is going to expect some impressive effects but the film doesn't seem to balance this out very well.  Buildings crashing around might look great and we know Superman is busy at the time but without showing him saving some people leads to the conclusion that he does not care.  I don't think thats the case and I also don't believe that Superman leading Zod out of Metropolis to a desert would have been as interesting.  We need to see damage but they clearly went over the top on that.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie and it is certainly better than the boring Superman Returns.  I think some folks have rose-tinted views of the original Christopher Reeve movies - they were not bad but also they had their own flaws.  As I said before though, Christopher Reeve really nailed the caring about humans part of the character and this is probably why people can forgive the various murders that he carried out in his movies. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2014, 05:10:54 PM
RESISTANCE
Lovefilm bills this as a drama/thriller starring Michael Sheen about an alternate history where D-Day failed and this miracuolously gave the Germans enough resources to invade Britain.

it is not thrilling, it is not dramatic and it does not "star" Michael Sheen.

Slow and dull with two good but very muted central performances make it hard to engage at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2014, 05:20:38 PM
THE SOUND OF THUNDER
Time meddling shenanigans starring Edward Burns based on a Ray Bradbury story wot I haven't read.
Ludicrous but possesses a kind of momentum that kept me going to the illogical end.

Ok, I'll have to accept that time changes occur in ripples that leave you aware of what has changed in history because that's how this film wants it to work. But how can Travis go back and warn Jemima "we couldn't afford Gemma Arterton" Rooper when  every hunting party, hunting the same allosaurus has never seen each other?

Plus wasn't Big Al and his kin extinct by 65 million years ago?

Plus ape/lizard hybrids? Is that even possible? (Willing to be educated).

Budget was apparently cut from $80m to $30m which explains the poor special effects but surely the story and script were all worked out by then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 February, 2014, 06:20:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2014, 05:20:38 PM
Plus wasn't Big Al and his kin extinct by 65 million years ago?

Allosaurus had been extinct for longer before 65MYA than they have been since.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 11 February, 2014, 06:20:58 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 10 February, 2014, 04:07:47 PM
Thanks Mabs, it's iPad with Procreate app :)

Oh no! I was afraid you'd say iPad!  :D

But the results speak for themselves. I'm more of an Android person so might go for something in that range.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 February, 2014, 07:17:41 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 11 February, 2014, 08:26:03 AM
Trust me, you WILL enjoy this film.

Yeah, we all loved it here.  In fact it's been a topic of conversation ever since, each of us loving a different bit.  As discussed upthread, I felt the last quarter was weaker than the rest, but it was ultimately very satisfying: The Matrix meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, animated in Lego.  Could have been a disaster, but it really isn't.


EDIT: One of my favourite aspects was how crappy some of the incidental voicing was (Dumbledore and Gandalf, for example, or the Micromanagers), which sounded exactly like squeaky kids' VO on their Lego videos on YouTube.  That's pretty clever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2014, 07:31:02 PM
Dallas Buyers Club. A stupendously good film. Well acted, well cast, amazing cinematography.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 February, 2014, 02:41:07 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 11 February, 2014, 02:19:25 PM
Man of Steel

At the weekend I saw MoS for the second time (first was in the cinema).  I know this got mixed reviews on here but originally I did not think it too bad so was interested to see how it would hold up on a repeat viewing. 

Henry Cavill certainly looks like Superman to me - the guy must have spent about two years in the gym and looks like a bodybuilder.  In terms of his acting though, I am still not sure - clearly the film wanted to go down the troubled origin story route but this means our Henry spends a lot of the film looking glum and not saying much.  This also ties into one of the big things that the movie got wrong - he doesn't really convey that he cares about humans and that is something that Christopher Reeve did very well. 


Good post!

I look kindly on the movie, seeingas it provided something I'd been curious to ee for some time - a Superman movie with a harder edge and less nicey-nicey shot all the way through it. I've found myself watching it several times, as family usually want to see it when they visit.

I don't think it's a bad movie at all. There's some too-close-to-corny-for-comfort dialogue, and a few scenes defy any kind of logic, but otherwise I think it's pretty neat.

Completely agree with your  analysis of Cavill as Superman, though. I think he's pretty good in the role, but something about his performance doesn't quite convince.

(And, I'll admit, I've re-watched the movie a couple of time for Antje Traue alone. Hurr!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 12 February, 2014, 07:19:52 AM
TordelBack the timespans over the Jurassic/Cretaceous period are staggering.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 12 February, 2014, 11:50:20 AM
Conan the Barbarian (The Arnie Version). It still stands up really well - even after all these years - and I can't imagine anyone else for the part. One of the best soundtracks ever. But I'm still left with one question: Just what the hell was that Wheel of Pain thingy all about? Sprogs are chained to a device that goes around and around in a circle for years and years and yet never seemed to produce anything whatsoever for their labour. No water, no grain, no gold, nada, zilch, nothing at all. If you put High Vis jackets on the guards watching the kids, then you could imagine it as a sort of Medieval Government / City Council work project, where nothing of any value results from them - but they keep people in employment and thus the dole figures down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 February, 2014, 12:36:26 PM
You can tell I've had a cold as I have had time to lie on the sofa and watch rubbish.

QUATERMASS 2
Very, very far from as good and scary as I remembered.  But it is over 40 years since I saw it. Bloody hell, Brian Donlevy is rubbish.  I just love the idea of British Space Programme being run by William Franklyn from a shed. And has an impromptu dance scene because, well, films used to have dances in them.

PARADOX SOLDIERS
It's Back to the Future but on the Eastern Front during WWII. OK, closer to Biggles.  Enjoyably daft - though I felt a bit uncomfortable (not sure why) when the [spoiler]hero tries to link up with the Grand-daughter of the women he loved (and saved the child of) back in the past[/spoiler]. It's a sequel of some sorts - though Lovefilm isn't telling what the original was. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 February, 2014, 02:26:07 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 12 February, 2014, 11:50:20 AMIf you put High Vis jackets on the guards watching the kids, then you could imagine it as a sort of Medieval Government / City Council work project, where nothing of any value results from them - but they keep people in employment and thus the dole figures down.

You haven't been keeping up - Conan was a slave, and Jobseeker placements aren't slavery.  We know this because the European court of human rights was going to define it as slavery until the Tories changed the wording of the Jobseeker's Agreement before a verdict could be recorded so that now it technically doesn't qualify as slavery even though the requirements of the document are exactly the same.  And before anyone tries to be a smarty-pants and say "but that only affects future Jobseekers, surely, and the ones signed to the old agreements are still technically victims of a crime against humanity?" they made the new wording of the Agreement retroactive so that their crimes from the past didn't happen.  No, I don't understand that bit, either.
Also the Wheel Of Pain is unlike work placements because they fed Conan and gave him a bed, so technically he was being compensated for his efforts.  Also, Conan learned things while a slave and pursuing educational qualifications while on work placements has been disallowed for a while now - you are literally not allowed to learn anything on a work placement anymore.

In a nutshell, the Wheel Of Pain is nothing like work placement.  It is better.


About Time - Richard Curtis writes and directs this sort-of time travel fable, possibly encouraged by his time on Doctor Who, and it's not bad at all.  The time travel is merely a McGuffin for some emo nonsense, but it's nowhere near as hysterical and overblown to the point you swing in the opposite emotional direction and want people to fall into a thresher like on Who, though it does occasionally over-egg things a smidge.
The biggest problem for a potential audience may be the film's middle-class setting that seems more akin to watching aliens on Star Trek - everyone is a lawyer or a playwright or retired at 50 to their cliffside mansion to quote Dickens at their not-a-care-in-the-world kids, the closest we get to a working class person being someone who reads novels for a living, and even then this person is an immigrant, just to further hammer home the idea that there is literally no-one in Britain but middle class Hugh Grant impersonators so they have to import people so that there's someone to be charmed by mumbling private-school charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mimikeke on 12 February, 2014, 03:32:40 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 11 February, 2014, 09:27:50 AM
I wionder how many boxes of Lego this anti-capitalist propaganda movie will sell?  ;)

Welp, my friend went out after the movie and bought a few sets, so I'm guessing, a ton :)  The movie sets are pretty cheap, maybe like $15-20 USD.  Normally Lego sets are crazy expensive but I guess Lego churned out a ton for movie tie-ins and got a factory discount  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 February, 2014, 04:05:33 PM
I heard the other day that Lego is unbelievably still a privately-owned family business.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 12 February, 2014, 04:12:08 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 11 February, 2014, 09:27:50 AM
I wionder how many boxes of Lego this anti-capitalist propaganda movie will sell?  ;)

Think you're confusing capitalism and commerce, there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 February, 2014, 07:36:50 PM
the only thing that may put me off this movie is if they use the Americanism and keep referring to LEGOS - say it ain't so!
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 February, 2014, 07:54:02 PM
They pronounce it 'lay-gos' as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 12 February, 2014, 10:09:40 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 12 February, 2014, 07:36:50 PM
the only thing that may put me off this movie is if they use the Americanism and keep referring to LEGOS - say it ain't so!

I can't think of an instance where the word Lego (or Legos) is spoken aloud in the entire film oddly enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 February, 2014, 11:12:02 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 10 February, 2014, 10:25:38 AM
The Human Centipede
Got this for a mate's birthday as a joke because A) said friend has this look of disgust she'll do without realising when watching films like this so even if I'm not enjoying the film, I can make a point of glancing at her every now and again to amuse myself and B) said friend is studying to become a nurse and the sleeve-notes said this film is 100% medically accurate.
But anyway, we watched this the other day. There was a brief moment near the start were I started to think "Ah, this is going to be a dark comedy of sorts; a joke that this is the next logical step for the whole 'torture porn' genre... two girls and one guy stripped down and forced to live mouth-to-anus as the villain of the piece further dehumanises them etc". Then I just got the impression that the bloke behind this was making no such statement and he just thought this would be a really good film (the sleeve notes also revealed to me that this film was inspired by a conversation on suitable punishments for child molesters, I later noticed). I ended up pretty bored regardless, though I will admit I did chuckle when [spoiler]the bloke forced to be the lead in this centipede looks back over his shoulder and, fighting back tears, announces how sorry he is that he really needs to shit and can hold it back no longer[/spoiler].
I've heard the sequel is about somebody who has watched this film and is sexually aroused by it but it's safe to say I'll be giving it a miss. And I also think the sequel should have been The Human Millipede if they wanted to up the stakes for those who enjoyed the first so talk about a missed opportunity.

I sometimes I forced to live mouth to anus without actually being mouth to anus. It's kind of like Mouth to Anus Wifi......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 February, 2014, 07:49:49 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 February, 2014, 11:12:02 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 10 February, 2014, 10:25:38 AM
The Human Centipede
Got this for a mate's birthday as a joke because A) said friend has this look of disgust she'll do without realising when watching films like this so even if I'm not enjoying the film, I can make a point of glancing at her every now and again to amuse myself and B) said friend is studying to become a nurse and the sleeve-notes said this film is 100% medically accurate.
But anyway, we watched this the other day. There was a brief moment near the start were I started to think "Ah, this is going to be a dark comedy of sorts; a joke that this is the next logical step for the whole 'torture porn' genre... two girls and one guy stripped down and forced to live mouth-to-anus as the villain of the piece further dehumanises them etc". Then I just got the impression that the bloke behind this was making no such statement and he just thought this would be a really good film (the sleeve notes also revealed to me that this film was inspired by a conversation on suitable punishments for child molesters, I later noticed). I ended up pretty bored regardless, though I will admit I did chuckle when [spoiler]the bloke forced to be the lead in this centipede looks back over his shoulder and, fighting back tears, announces how sorry he is that he really needs to shit and can hold it back no longer[/spoiler].
I've heard the sequel is about somebody who has watched this film and is sexually aroused by it but it's safe to say I'll be giving it a miss. And I also think the sequel should have been The Human Millipede if they wanted to up the stakes for those who enjoyed the first so talk about a missed opportunity.

I sometimes I forced to live mouth to anus without actually being mouth to anus. It's kind of like Mouth to Anus Wifi......

:lol: I don't understand this and I doubt I ever will!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 February, 2014, 08:14:12 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 February, 2014, 11:12:02 PM
I sometimes I forced to live mouth to anus without actually being mouth to anus. It's kind of like Mouth to Anus Wifi......

Say what you will, that's gotta improve our Google ranking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 February, 2014, 01:47:18 PM
Quote from: HdE on 12 February, 2014, 02:41:07 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 11 February, 2014, 02:19:25 PM
Man of Steel

At the weekend I saw MoS for the second time (first was in the cinema).  I know this got mixed reviews on here but originally I did not think it too bad so was interested to see how it would hold up on a repeat viewing. 

Henry Cavill certainly looks like Superman to me - the guy must have spent about two years in the gym and looks like a bodybuilder.  In terms of his acting though, I am still not sure - clearly the film wanted to go down the troubled origin story route but this means our Henry spends a lot of the film looking glum and not saying much.  This also ties into one of the big things that the movie got wrong - he doesn't really convey that he cares about humans and that is something that Christopher Reeve did very well. 


Good post!

I look kindly on the movie, seeingas it provided something I'd been curious to ee for some time - a Superman movie with a harder edge and less nicey-nicey shot all the way through it. I've found myself watching it several times, as family usually want to see it when they visit.

I don't think it's a bad movie at all. There's some too-close-to-corny-for-comfort dialogue, and a few scenes defy any kind of logic, but otherwise I think it's pretty neat.

Completely agree with your  analysis of Cavill as Superman, though. I think he's pretty good in the role, but something about his performance doesn't quite convince.

(And, I'll admit, I've re-watched the movie a couple of time for Antje Traue alone. Hurr!)

Thanks HdE.  I have only seen Mr Cavill in a couple of other movies and he is starting to appear a little wooden.  It's not just his fault though, I mean in the whole final act they never had Superman save anyone - he was just busy arguing or fighting with Zod.  If the Spiderman movies can figure this out why can't the people behind Man of Steel?

Still, I do enjoy this movie. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 13 February, 2014, 01:51:21 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 February, 2014, 08:14:12 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 February, 2014, 11:12:02 PM
I sometimes I forced to live mouth to anus without actually being mouth to anus. It's kind of like Mouth to Anus Wifi......

Say what you will, that's gotta improve our Google ranking.

:thumbsup:*




*this is me doing a Facebook 'like'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 13 February, 2014, 04:19:07 PM
Blade Runner. Nice to finally see what the fuss is about. By jingo does the plot take its time about going anywhere, but this seems to be because the film is utterly in love with the world it has created for itself and is quite content simply to drink in the atmosphere for a while. That's entirely forgiveable, because the down-at-heel, faded-neon aesthetic is so good. You can readily see how it inspired the next 20 years of sci-fi cinema.

A less forgiveable flaw is the relative lack of screen time for Rutger Hauer - he's such a charismatic villian, and has such prescence in the latter scenes of the film, that it's criminal he enters the fray so late in the day. A clearer sense of who exactly Deckard(?) is up against would have given the narrative a much stronger impetus, I think. On a simliar note, it isn't until very late in the day (when they finally kill their maker) that we get any sense of exactly why these replicants are bad news. Up until that point Rick seems to be hunting them simply for lack of anything better to do. I suspect I wasn't paying close enough attention, as I didn't quite understand the ending either. What was the origami all about?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 13 February, 2014, 04:31:00 PM
Dark Jimbo, the oragami unichorn harks back to the dream sequence in the extended version; if the Olomos knew what Dekkard was dreaming (by Giving him the oragami unichorn pursuant to Dekkards earlier dream); then it follows Dekkards dreams are implanted ergo he himself is a replicant. Hope this makes sense. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 13 February, 2014, 04:33:58 PM
Aaaaaaaahhhhh.... Yes, I'd completely forgotten that weird unicorn dream. Ta!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 February, 2014, 04:34:26 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 13 February, 2014, 04:19:07 PM
Blade Runner. Nice to finally see what the fuss is about. By jingo does the plot take its time about going anywhere, but this seems to be because the film is utterly in love with the world it has created for itself and is quite content simply to drink in the atmosphere for a while. That's entirely forgiveable, because the down-at-heel, faded-neon aesthetic is so good. You can readily see how it inspired the next 20 years of sci-fi cinema.

A less forgiveable flaw is the relative lack of screen time for Rutger Hauer - he's such a charismatic villian, and has such prescence in the latter scenes of the film, that it's criminal he enters the fray so late in the day. A clearer sense of who exactly Deckard(?) is up against would have given the narrative a much stronger impetus, I think. On a simliar note, it isn't until very late in the day (when they finally kill their maker) that we get any sense of exactly why these replicants are bad news. Up until that point Rick seems to be hunting them simply for lack of anything better to do. I suspect I wasn't paying close enough attention, as I didn't quite understand the ending either. What was the origami all about?

It is a great film, but slow compared to the popcorn filler that seems to count as science fiction these days.

The whole reason to hunt replicants is that it is simply illegal for them to be on Earth. Not that they have to be dangerous at all. In fact it's rather a major plot hole when you consider the fact that one of the reasons to leave Earth for the colonies is that you have your very own replicant to do your bidding. If they're fine on the colonies what makes Earth so friggin' special considering they're doing everything they can to empty the place.

And you're not wrong about Hauer, but when you consider the source material his character really wasn't all that involved until the very end either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 14 February, 2014, 02:42:04 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 13 February, 2014, 04:31:00 PM
Dark Jimbo, the oragami unichorn harks back to the dream sequence in the extended version; if the Olomos knew what Dekkard was dreaming (by Giving him the oragami unichorn pursuant to Dekkards earlier dream); then it follows Dekkards dreams are implanted ergo he himself is a replicant. Hope this makes sense. Z

There's a strong visual clue to this in the movie as well. All I'll say on the matter is... the eyes have it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 February, 2014, 10:21:24 AM
Bladerunner stands head and shoulders above the source material which makes much more of Mercerism than the question of what it is to be human.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 February, 2014, 11:27:30 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 13 February, 2014, 04:31:00 PM
Dark Jimbo, the oragami unichorn harks back to the dream sequence in the extended version; if the Olomos knew what Dekkard was dreaming (by Giving him the oragami unichorn pursuant to Dekkards earlier dream); then it follows Dekkards dreams are implanted ergo he himself is a replicant. Hope this makes sense. Z

I've always thought that this explanation is reading too much into it. It's a quirky habit of the other blade runner that's after him - I always just took it as either an accident that tips off Deckard he's being hunted, or a deliberate ploy by his partner to give him the heads up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2014, 12:37:21 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 February, 2014, 11:27:30 AM
I've always thought that this explanation is reading too much into it. It's a quirky habit of the other blade runner that's after him - I always just took it as either an accident that tips off Deckard he's being hunted, or a deliberate ploy by his partner to give him the heads up.

That was very much how it played, until the Director's Cut inserted Deckard's otherwise-incongruous unicorn dream, opening up the possibility that Gaff was privy to the content of Deckard's dreams.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 14 February, 2014, 02:43:58 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 13 February, 2014, 04:19:07 PM
Blade Runner. Nice to finally see what the fuss is about.

What did you think of Vangelis' score, Dark Jimbo? Personally for me, it's one of the best scores I've heard in a film. From the majestic opening as we witness the Hades landscape, to the Arab influenced moments during the market scenes. There are very few composers who can move you into believing in the world that you are witnessing, Maurice Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia for instance, and Vangelis for me, is one of the true greats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 February, 2014, 05:14:47 AM
I actually think the Bladerunner score is the mst musical stuff Vangelis has ever produced.

I have vivid memories of trying to impress a girlfriend of mine by playing the love theme from the movie on her piano (YES - I dated a girl who owned a piano. No guff!)

Long story short: It's impossible! There's some funky de-tuning of the piano going on there, I swear it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 February, 2014, 11:02:41 AM
Well couldn't find anything to watch this morning.

So.

MaMa isn't the law.... I AM THE LAW
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 February, 2014, 11:05:35 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 15 February, 2014, 11:02:41 AM
MaMa isn't the law.... I AM THE LAW

That's really powerful sentence, Urban IS Dredd!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 15 February, 2014, 12:03:05 PM
Couldn't agree more with the previous two posters. I know Commando Forces is a veritable abyss of information about the movie, has there been any update on the celluloid front?
I cannot believe that there have been TV series made of some of the 2000ad characters: early Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog, Halo Jones, Dredd (I could go on). Judging by the amount of interest the 2012 film has generated over the net in the last year and a half, I simply cannot believe there isn't a market for the material. Anything but the ceaseless force feeding of subrate marvel cobblers we are currently the (certainly in my case) unwilling recipients of. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 15 February, 2014, 02:54:53 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 01 February, 2014, 04:50:56 AM
Fargo

Great film. I wouldn't say depressing (see Requiem For A Dream) but there is a definite bleakness about the whole thing. Not just the characters but the locations. I still don't get how people choose to live in places like that. A great film that everyone should see. (makes a great double bill with No Country For Old Men IMO)

Great Movie choices indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 February, 2014, 03:41:25 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 15 February, 2014, 02:54:53 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 01 February, 2014, 04:50:56 AM
Fargo

Great film. I wouldn't say depressing (see Requiem For A Dream) but there is a definite bleakness about the whole thing. Not just the characters but the locations. I still don't get how people choose to live in places like that. A great film that everyone should see. (makes a great double bill with No Country For Old Men IMO)

Great Movie choices indeed.

Fargo's real genius though, is that almost every single line is comedy gold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 February, 2014, 03:52:32 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 February, 2014, 03:41:25 PM
Fargo's real genius though, is that almost every single line is comedy gold.

- Well, the little guy was kinda funny-lookin'.

- In what way?

- I dunno... just funny-lookin'.

- Can you be any more specific?

- I couldn't really say... He wasn't circumcised.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 15 February, 2014, 10:45:41 PM
Just finished watching their far superior version of True Grit on BBC2. Some film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 February, 2014, 10:50:01 PM
Just watched the True Grit remake again on BBC2. It's a good film and I do enjoy it but if I had to choose I'd go for the original every time. John Wayne just can't be beat.
.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 15 February, 2014, 10:51:35 PM
'The he'll he can't'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 February, 2014, 10:56:35 PM
Heh. I think my favourite John Wayne film is The Shootist. A brilliant film, that. I feel like digging it out and watching it again...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 15 February, 2014, 10:59:59 PM
Great film, the end of an era of great actors and actresses. James Stewart, Lauren Becall.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mimikeke on 15 February, 2014, 11:29:01 PM
First off, I didn't know that plural legos are just "lego", and that it wasn't made in the US.  We have some Lego themeparks here so I just assumed.  *mindblown*   :o

I'm sure a lot of you will groan at this but I just watched Need for Speed and the new Robocop =P 

I thought Need for Speed was entertaining but the fact that it was free, our own IP, and we had a few beers probably helped.  Also if you have a fascination with closeups of Aaron Paul's face for some weird reason, you'll definitely get your fix in this movie.

I came in with incredibly negative expectations for Robocop but it turned out to be bearable.  The original came out before I was born and although I watched it quite a bit as a kid (it was filmed in my hometown so it was popular on TV) I don't remember anything about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 15 February, 2014, 11:52:27 PM
Quote from: mimikeke on 15 February, 2014, 11:29:01 PM
First off, I didn't know that plural legos are just "lego", and that it wasn't made in the US.  We have some Lego themeparks here so I just assumed.  *mindblown*   :o

They used to get on my case all the time about this, too. I continue to say "legos" just because it's funny now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 February, 2014, 12:09:53 AM
I've succumbed and put The Shootist on. I'd forgotten that Ron Howard was in it, back when he still looked like a human being, and every time I see Lauren Bacall I fall in love all over again.  And the Duke always reminds me of my Dad - same eyes, nose, hair and 'ornery disposition.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 February, 2014, 12:15:29 AM
I haven't seen it in many a long year, I still love the description of the car as a velocipede. Classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 February, 2014, 12:59:21 AM
I saw that Lego film. 

It was really bloody good!

I do gave an urge to buy shitloads of the stuff though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 16 February, 2014, 02:51:39 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 16 February, 2014, 12:59:21 AM
I saw that Lego film. 

It was really bloody good!

I do gave an urge to buy shitloads of the stuff though.

That's how they get ya!

My pleasant surprise of this week was the remastered Verhoeven Robocop. Bought it on a whim because I REALLY can't face the brain surgery and internal organ parade of the remake, and I just felt I needed a robo-fix.

It really holds up! Like, really REALLY well! Sure, the visual effects date it, but they're still fantastic for their time. ED209's appearance still makes me giggle like a child. The whole movie is still a great ride, and very satisfying to watch.

I got a real belt out of the extra features, though. There's a really good Q&A session with the writers, Verhoeven, Phil Tippet, Peter Weller and Nancy Allen. Paul Verhoeven himself, who I'll admit had always struck me as somebody in movies who might not be all that nice, refreshingly comes across as a humble, honest, very likeable human being. And he admits his mistakes, which always earns somebody BIG-ASS brownie points in my book.

There's even one moment during the Q&A which, call me a sap, actually made me go a little misty-eyed. We hear so many stories of Hollywood types being horrible and ruthless with each other, but there's what feels like a very genuine and mutual expression of admiration and friendship between Weller and Verhoeven. They mention having conflicts on set annd reconciling them, and there's not ONE HINT that either party is being insincere. It's lovely to watch.

Second best bit of the whole package is seeing a clay maquette of Robocop in one of the featurettes... with JUDGE DREDD'S HEAD ON IT!

Brilliant fun, great movie, great package, and the best ten quid I've spent all month.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 February, 2014, 04:05:27 AM
Quote from: HdE on 16 February, 2014, 02:51:39 AMSecond best bit of the whole package is seeing a clay maquette of Robocop in one of the featurettes... with JUDGE DREDD'S HEAD ON IT!



(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-KFik3d91-QU/UJ-XoPk03KI/AAAAAAAABeA/W-HNI0c7uNs/s500/5842750530_68364a565f.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 February, 2014, 04:51:45 AM
Robocop is a movie that teaches you that heartless corporations make souless things, completely devoid of any humanity, just to make a profit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 16 February, 2014, 08:13:46 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 February, 2014, 10:56:35 PM
Heh. I think my favourite John Wayne film is The Shootist. A brilliant film, that. I feel like digging it out and watching it again...

I only have three John Wayne films in my collection; True Grit, The Shootist and McQ - John Wayne being Dirty Harry.

I may have to go and watch it now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 February, 2014, 08:22:25 AM
Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 15 February, 2014, 11:52:27 PM
Quote from: mimikeke on 15 February, 2014, 11:29:01 PM
First off, I didn't know that plural legos are just "lego"...

They used to get on my case all the time about this, too. I continue to say "legos" just because it's funny now.

Wait 'til you find out that the singular of 'math' is actually 'maths'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 16 February, 2014, 09:45:30 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 16 February, 2014, 04:51:45 AM
Robocop is a movie that teaches you that heartless corporations make souless things, completely devoid of any humanity, just to make a profit.

I'm stifling a lot of comments about the remake here. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 February, 2014, 01:30:21 PM
Robocop. Even a Steve Jobs looking corporate type is a sonuvabitch that only cares for profit. Oh and there was a roboty kinda guy that did some things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 February, 2014, 04:48:16 PM
Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 15 February, 2014, 11:52:27 PM
Quote from: mimikeke on 15 February, 2014, 11:29:01 PM
First off, I didn't know that plural legos are just "lego", and that it wasn't made in the US.  We have some Lego themeparks here so I just assumed.  *mindblown*   :o

They used to get on my case all the time about this, too. I continue to say "legos" just because it's funny now.
They have a place for people like you. It's called a death camp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 16 February, 2014, 06:43:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 16 February, 2014, 04:48:16 PM
They have a place for people like you. It's called a death camp.

And it's run by civil servants.  :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 February, 2014, 09:35:17 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 15 February, 2014, 10:45:41 PM
Just finished watching their far superior version of True Grit on BBC2. Some film.

Bollocks,  >:(

I've been waiting to catch this for what seems like years, and I go and miss it. And its not on the I-player either.
Double bah!

Quote from: Daveycandlish on 16 February, 2014, 08:13:46 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 February, 2014, 10:56:35 PM
Heh. I think my favourite John Wayne film is The Shootist. A brilliant film, that. I feel like digging it out and watching it again...

I only have three John Wayne films in my collection; True Grit, The Shootist and McQ - John Wayne being Dirty Harry.

I may have to go and watch it now.

Three very fine films. McQ is aces
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 February, 2014, 09:52:03 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 16 February, 2014, 09:35:17 PM
McQ is aces

The best bit is the way the constantly recurring theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVglLffQw8U) is paced to allow the Duke to amble across screen at a speed befitting his advanced years.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 February, 2014, 06:06:43 PM
Saturday night's trip to the cinema was to see The Monument's Men.

Not a bad little film, and certainly a nice looking one. But its not without its flaws, and maybe a better director than Gorgeous George would have tide it together a wee bit better - it kinda felt like a series of individual scenes, rather than a single cohesive film.

But still a pleasant enough 1h 45mins.

And the Sunday night dvd - All the President's Men. Now that's a film. Glorious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 February, 2014, 08:03:04 PM

Star Trek The Undiscovered Country Still an enjoyable film! And I think that Christopher Plummer was great casting as the villain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 February, 2014, 08:05:53 PM
All the Presidents men is a good watch. I got the Outlaw Josey Wells in a bargain bin last month. A classic 2 part film. The first part is an absolute classic, filled with some of the most sneaky, treacherous, backstabbing, bushwacking bad bastards you're ever likely to see gathered in one place; Josey is a stone cold killer who dispatches all and sundry with laconic mein and a wad of chawin tobaccey. You really can see Johnny Alpha in this character.
The second part of the film is in my estimation a wee bit of a let down but still passable. A must see film. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 February, 2014, 06:06:07 PM
American Hustle - thought this was fantastic. I'm a sucker for a good heist/hustel movie, the period details were superb and all the performances top notch. How does Amy Adams stay in those dresses?  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 06:18:04 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 17 February, 2014, 08:05:53 PMI got the Outlaw Josey [Wales] in a bargain bin last month.

Never, EVER play the Clint Eastwood Drinking Game to this movie.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 February, 2014, 07:15:43 PM
Never heard of it, do you have to drink a beer everytime he shoots someone? Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 07:30:51 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 23 February, 2014, 07:15:43 PM
Never heard of it, do you have to drink a beer everytime he shoots someone? Z


Says something cool: drink a shot. Does something cool: drink a shot. Kills someone: drink a double. Kills someone in a cool way: triple.

There's that bit quite early on with the Comancheros where he kills about twenty people in five minutes. Oddly, the other Clint Eastwood movie you should never play the drinking game to is Dirty Harry, because Eastwood has SO MANY great lines that you just keep taking singles! Unfortunately, the more you drink, the cooler Clint gets and after about an hour he basically only has to walk into a room and you want to take a shot!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 February, 2014, 07:39:05 PM
Jim, another drinking game to add to my retinue. Z :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 February, 2014, 07:40:52 PM
I think Clint's at his one-liner coolness zenith in Coogan's Bluff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 February, 2014, 07:55:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 February, 2014, 06:06:07 PM
American Hustle - thought this was fantastic. I'm a sucker for a good heist/hustel movie, the period details were superb and all the performances top notch. How does Amy Adams stay in those dresses?

For the sake of the blood pressure of elderly Oscar voters, I'm glad she did. I enjoyed American Hustle a lot - especially Jennifer Lawrence's hilariously mercurial character - but it did feel like the director's improvisational style had got in the way of a more narratively satisfying film. There's a long middle section where everything's set up and you know where the characters and the story are going, but they just maintain a holding pattern. Christian Bale doing his Robert De Niro impression in a film which co-stars Robert De Niro was a bit much for me as well.

Never play the version of the Clint Eastwood drinking game where you have to take a chug every time he casts his current girlfriend in a leading role she isn't quite right for. You'll destroy your liver.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 08:25:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 February, 2014, 07:40:52 PM
I think Clint's at his one-liner coolness zenith in Coogan's Bluff.

Surely not!

QuoteYeah, well, when an adult male is chasing a female with intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard that's my policy.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 23 February, 2014, 08:32:44 PM
I watched Hard Boiled again last night.  It's cheesy as hell but I don't think the action in it can be beaten!  John Woo at his insane best!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 February, 2014, 08:41:39 PM
 The snake oil merchant scene where he's at the ferry extolling the universal virtues of his elixiar,
Josey spits a stream of chaw on th his lapel and quips; 'how's it with stains?'
Classic stuff. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 February, 2014, 08:45:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 08:25:29 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 February, 2014, 07:40:52 PM
I think Clint's at his one-liner coolness zenith in Coogan's Bluff.

Surely not!

QuoteYeah, well, when an adult male is chasing a female with intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard that's my policy.

Cheers

Jim

I take it you're referring to Dirty Harry with the quote Jim? The actual line is way more funnier:

"When a naked man is chasing a woman through a dark alley with a butcher knife and a hard on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross."  :lol:

So many great moments in Dirty Harry which I love.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 23 February, 2014, 08:45:26 PMI take it you're referring to Dirty Harry with the quote Jim? The actual line is way more funnier:

"When a naked man is chasing a woman through a dark alley with a butcher knife and a hard on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross."

I know, but I that "I shoot the bastard" line (which comes right before the bit you quote) is SO Dredd...

Although the whole thing is somewhat ruined by:

QuoteYes. Well, when I see 5 weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of the park in full view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards. That's my policy.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 February, 2014, 09:36:25 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 February, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 23 February, 2014, 08:45:26 PMI take it you're referring to Dirty Harry with the quote Jim? The actual line is way more funnier:

"When a naked man is chasing a woman through a dark alley with a butcher knife and a hard on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross."

I know, but I that "I shoot the bastard" line (which comes right before the bit you quote) is SO Dredd...

Although the whole thing is somewhat ruined by:

QuoteYes. Well, when I see 5 weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of the park in full view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards. That's my policy.

Cheers

Jim

Does it? I've a bad memory so I must've forgotten! And yes, it's very Dredd.

I think now is a good time to re-watch Dirty Harry (just after I finish re-watching RoboCop...the real one!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 February, 2014, 10:05:18 PM
Those were actors Drebin! Good ones!
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 February, 2014, 11:39:47 PM
The Lego Movie.

Had a blast, the most out and out entertaining movie I've seen in ages. Laugh out loud funny bits, a pleasingly bonkers plot that comes together beautifully at the end, and I can't praise the visuals highly enough - a beautiful looking, wildly inventive film. I loved the stop motion feel of the animation, the tilt shift effect, and how EVERYTHING - even down to smoke, flames and water - was 'made' of Lego blocks. I've been saying for years that's how the Lego videogames should look and I hope they'll now follow suit.

If you've yet to see it, I implore you to stay for the entirety of the credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 February, 2014, 12:55:21 PM
BATMAN: YEAR ONE  and DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: Part 1

Bot of these are available on LOVEFILM just now and I thought I'd remind myself that Frank Miller once wrote some good comics.

I enjoyed both; YEAR ONE shading it. This really brings home how much it really is Commissioner Gordon: Year One (featuring Batman).  Dunno who did the Batman voice but he was good. And various iconic bits of the comic right up there on screen to see.   For some reason, Catwoman seems too kick ass when you see her in motion (as opposed to comic). Did they expand her fights? (I can't find my copy of Year one).

Peter Weller's switch between Bruce Wayne and Bats in DKR was a little too nuanced for my taste (i.e. I like a big change in voice) but again, there are some iconic bits of comic and characted design up on screen.  Some of the "expanded bits" work better than others (e.g. the brilliant one page of Bats, the american flag and the General who had been selling arms to the mutants is all it really needed, having [spoiler]Batman walk out while he commits suicide was just wrong[/spoiler]).

But I felt they were worth an hour of your time even if you don't think comics are only validated by having film versions made of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 24 February, 2014, 01:08:54 PM
Kill List

Dark. Ultra violent. Enigmatic. Weird. Much of the film didn't explain what was going on, leaving the watcher to their own devices. Horrific ending. Aces Plus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 24 February, 2014, 01:16:24 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 February, 2014, 12:55:21 PM
BATMAN: YEAR ONE  and DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: Part 1

Bot of these are available on LOVEFILM just now and I thought I'd remind myself that Frank Miller DC once did some good comics.

Fixed :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 February, 2014, 02:57:03 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 24 February, 2014, 01:08:54 PM
Kill List

Dark. Ultra violent. Enigmatic. Weird. Much of the film didn't explain what was going on, leaving the watcher to their own devices. Horrific ending. Aces Plus.

"Thank you"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 February, 2014, 05:39:50 PM
The last films I saw were The Worlds End (filmed in locations near my home town, which was slightly weird) and Falling Down.  Both very good films.  I enjoyed The Worlds End a lot more than I was expecting.  Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's were wonderfully refreshing.  I've seen Falling Down before and it was just as good a second time around, definitely recommended.  The best part to all this was feeding my partner Doritos with Salsa during The Worlds End and in turn being fed ice cream during Falling Down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 February, 2014, 06:41:46 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 24 February, 2014, 01:16:24 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 February, 2014, 12:55:21 PM
BATMAN: YEAR ONE  and DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: Part 1

Bot of these are available on LOVEFILM just now and I thought I'd remind myself that Frank Miller DC once did some good comics.

Fixed :D

I cannot help but notice that as DC become more and more irrelevant as a publisher, they rush out more and more cheap adaptations of their comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 24 February, 2014, 07:30:28 PM
Machete: Kills

Just.....awful.  What is it with Robert Rodrigez?? ''Hey, movies in the 70's where shit, lets make them like that, cause it's nostalgic''.  No it fucking isn't.  It's just....bad.  Badly shot, badly acted, bad effects, bad script, badly edited, and just plain fucking bad.  Worse yet, it looks like there's to be a third one!!  Don't think I'll be bothering with that then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 24 February, 2014, 11:13:38 PM
Has Rodriguez ever made a decent movie?

And yes, that question is entirely rhetorical.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 24 February, 2014, 11:18:28 PM
Just watching Sanctum on Film4+1,  Still more than half an hour to go but I can't be arsed, I'm off to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 25 February, 2014, 12:47:09 AM
I had high hopes for Sanctum, especially when I saw James Cameron was producing it.  Turns out it was puir pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 02 March, 2014, 08:02:32 AM
Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa

Not a bad film at all. Not brilliant and unlikely to be at the top of any lists, but a great little film with some good laughs in it.

My two favourite bits were [spoiler]when he was hiding in the septic tank[/spoiler], which was somewhat spoiled by the trailer, and the [spoiler]"window scene"  where he "tucks himself in"[/spoiler]. That had the whole cinema laughing out loud.

If you want a film where you don't have to think too hard and are looking for a few laughs, it's worth checking out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 02 March, 2014, 11:34:12 AM
Thor the Dark World. I really enjoyed it even the Charing Cross bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 March, 2014, 04:53:04 PM
Non Stop. Some fun bits but not as good as Taken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 March, 2014, 05:29:13 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 02 March, 2014, 08:02:32 AM
Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa Not a bad film at all. Not brilliant and unlikely to be at the top of any lists, but a great little film with some good laughs in it ... If you want a film where you don't have to think too hard and are looking for a few laughs, it's worth checking out.

I just watched it this week too, and there are so many hilarious moments I couldn't possibly recount them all here. The opening ten minutes are fun, while feeling like material better suited to telly, but the minute the siege kicks in everything becomes much more immediate, and Coogan's expert riffing on the character's obsessions and neuroses becomes even funnier and actually propels the narrative, rather than derailing it - the makers of Anchorman should take note. Alan complaining about the seat position when he commandeers the vehicle and his discussion of his favourite sieges kick the film into a different gear.

The supporting characters like Lynne, 'love' interest Angela, and Steve (Tim Keys) are all brilliant, giving the film another level to work on and providing welcome variety in the source and type of laughs. Any film where an English character suggests the way to build bridges with an Irish character might be to donate some money to Sinn Fein is smart and ironic enough to get away with as many route-one comedy scenes of characters singing along to crap eighties tunes and dropped trouser gags as it pleases. The paparazzo's "that's right, turn and look at me" as he shoots Alan's bare arse is a brilliant, brilliant touch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2014, 10:06:31 PM
Interesting to see what tropes are cherry-picked to fill out the running-time of How I live Now once it gets beyond its rather shameless central premise of being a Young Adult redux of The Road - no, really - but by and large it's a pointless exercise as you only end up reminding yourself of all the better films you could have watched instead: Day of the Triffids, Walkabout, Fist of the North Star, Cyborg - and yes, even these last two are better dramatic explorations of adversity in a post-apocalyptic environment than this rather shite effort that doesn't just miss the Road's central themes of hope and isolation by a country mile but replaces them with the main character's quest to find the man that will complete her.  No I am not joking and yes, it really is 2014.
So much that could have been done with this setup is just thrown away on the usual YA shite - how the makers missed the chance to basically do a westernised version of Grave of the Fireflies I will never know.  I wish I'd watched Judge Minty again instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 03 March, 2014, 09:44:28 AM
R.I.P.D.
90 minutes of enjoyable hokum. Kind of Men in Black but with dead people. Worth a watch with a few beers on a Saturday night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 March, 2014, 12:25:04 PM
Was at Glasgow Frightfest at the weekend and saw a ton of movies. There was a bit of a dampener due to The Raid 2 being on the bill early on and then removed because of some sort of distributor weirdness (gutted!) but still a lot of good and interesting stuff, and probably the most consistent the fest has been (there weren't any absolute howlers really). Here's what I thought -

SAVAGED - I really didn't like the turgid rapey torture porny film this started as but had a rollicking good time with the demented unintentionally (?) hilarious cheese dream it flipped into.

PROXY - Felt like this took too long to say what it wanted to, but was pretty engrossed all the same. Looks lovely, with some violent moments rendered oddly beautiful and mesmerizing. Good Q&A too.

WOLF CREEK 2 - I'd forgotten WC ever happened so didn't really see the need for any more, but this is a hoot. Outswaggers the original by aiming for thrills and laughs and hits the mark most of the time. Also features an appearance by someone I'm absolutely certain was Joe Mangle. Think it's coming out in October which should make for great Halloween fodder.

THE SACRAMENT - Brilliant, and film of the day. Another effective Ti West slow-burn, but the documentary style gives it a totally different vibe to something like House Of The Devil. Terrifying in its believability (this shit has happened and does happen), great performances and a really effective score. Should hit pretty hard on release. Ti West's Q&A was brilliant, cool guy.

AFFLICTED - Yet another found footage movie, but with enough fresh ideas to still be a lot of fun. Also has some really impressive effects, could be a real cult hit. The POV Vampire Parkour genre has been looking a bit barren lately after all.

VIDEO NASTIES: DRACONIAN DAYS - Sequel to the first Video Nasties doc, didn't really think they'd have any more ground to cover but then I'd forgotten how mad things got in the 90s. Great doc, recommend them both.

THE SCRIBBLER - Really very cool. Based on a graphic novel I'm unfamiliar with, stylish and funny and seems well positioned to strike a Donnie Darko style chord with a chosen few. Also, if films were rated by a system of stars based on how attractive I found the lead character, this would get about 45 stars out of 5. A good box quote could be "A bit like what Sucker Punch would have been like if Sucker Punch wasn't fucking awful".

TORMENT - Weakest film for me. It's competent, but there's nothing at all going on to recommend it over the billion other stabmasky home invasion movies out there. It's also very dark, but in that 'I can't see what's going on' kind of way.

MINDSCAPE - It's about a mind detective! SOLD! Quite enjoyed this, the hopping in and out of memories angle is a bit Inceptiony, which I think made me expect the twists and turns to be a bit more complex. There are twists and turns, they just didn't tingle the brain all that much, even if it was a very enjoyable ride. Quite commercial, could do well.

ALMOST HUMAN - A backyard Raimi style DIY horror film with a bit of a Carpenter vibe (they've even stolen the font, you would though right?) this is a lot of fun in places. The first couple of slow acts lack energy though, with only the last half hour or so really hitting the splatter fun levels that the makers seem to be going for. Impressive low budget work, and it had one of those Q&As that make you like the film more, those guys are great.

KILLERS - Not a film to forget in a hurry. Unflinchingly brutal, disturbing, occasionally blackly funny, this should find an audience with the same folks who loved Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and whatnot. Me then, loved it. Favorite score of the weekend too, and the way it's used is intense as all hell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 03 March, 2014, 12:47:08 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 March, 2014, 12:25:04 PM

THE SACRAMENT - Brilliant, and film of the day. Another effective Ti West slow-burn, but the documentary style gives it a totally different vibe to something like House Of The Devil. Terrifying in its believability (this shit has happened and does happen), great performances and a really effective score. Should hit pretty hard on release. Ti West's Q&A was brilliant, cool guy.

Dying to see this. I've been very impressed with everything I've seen from West thus far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 March, 2014, 01:05:59 PM
I, Frankenstein.

I, enjoyed as much as expected. Terrible CGI fluff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 March, 2014, 12:18:00 PM
CHASING AMY - a nearly twenty year old Rom-Com from Kevin Smith wot I have never seen before. Sort of like the Big Bang theory with swearing and dick jokes.  I'm kidding, of course.  Though I've enjoyed Kevin Smith movies, I'm not a big fan of his "quotable" dialogue.  It's often not that clever and I feel might just get quoted because his characters talk about Star Wars a lot. The two main Bros in this are unbearable characters.  There's a big degree of male-fantasy in the central proposition which I wasn't terrifically happy with. But I did like the fact that nothing is tied up in a neat package at the end. Everybody is wrecked and changed (damaged even) by the rom part of the com.

I GIVE IT A YEAR - a year or so old rom-com that acts would like to be edgy (it's effectively the break up of a marriage on display here) but so completely bottles out that you would not believe the hoops they jump through to ensure a happy ending.  Characters just literally do not give a fuck about the relationship they are in.  Minnie Driver dissing him from Primeval during a game of charades is the highlight - watch that on the trailer and forget the rest. (Stephen Marchant delives a few "I can't belive he said that!" gags but there are so many that they blur into one by the end). I'd totally do Simon Baker though - even though he was in Land of the Dead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 04 March, 2014, 03:56:22 PM
Just been to pictures yesterday with my son Andrew, to watch Robocop....
Enjoyable enough, with good special effects and a reasonable storyline.......So not too disappointed after watching it.....and anyone not aware of the Original Robocop wouldn't be too disappointed, but the real question still remains.......
What really was the point of remaking it ( apart from money, obviously ) as it didn't really add anything at all,  other than slightly better effects....
Another, more or less, pointless remake....
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 March, 2014, 05:12:04 PM
The point of remaking films like this is to save the producers from ever taking a risk, or having an original idea once in their lives.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 March, 2014, 05:19:00 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 04 March, 2014, 05:12:04 PM
The point of remaking films like this is to save the producers from ever taking a risk, or having an original idea once in their lives.

The twenty year olds at my work won't generally watch anything with pre-year-2000 effects or production values. They lap up every remake of an old (eighties) horror film, but would never dream of watching the original. Love The Expendables and Rambo 4; not interested in any of those guys' old movies. To be fair, most of those old films are shite, but then so are the remakes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mimikeke on 04 March, 2014, 05:41:24 PM
I think it depends on what kind of family you were brought up in (whether you watched older movies and have a 'tolerance' for them)

I didn't grow up watching Star Wars (gasp) and Ep 1 came out when I was in middle school.  I thought it was awesome cuz I had never been introduced to the SW universe.  Then I went off and saw the originals and realized how stupid Ep1 was, mostly :p. So I guess sometimes the kids will go back and watch the old stuff :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 04 March, 2014, 05:46:43 PM
Good point.  I was brought up watching old movies on the 3 channels we had, so I'm a tad fond of the classics! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 04 March, 2014, 11:03:51 PM
The Hunger Games
Another film I didn't particularly want to watch but my mate really wanted to so we put it on and I'll be honest, I quite enjoyed it. Putting it in alongside other popular films based on books written in the last few years that were aimed at readers a few years younger than me but attracted their share of adult readers, I was also surprised at how quiet it was; no big orchestral score or, going for the seemingly more popular or modern move nowadays, screechy guitars as a whiny vocalist goes on with lyrics about- I don't know- how it's impossible to survive when you're in love or something.
Moved along at a decent pace, putting character and actions/consequences in place as it clearly goes about building up for the next films. I remember people scoffing at how blood had been removed from some scenes so it could get its 12 certificate (yeah, dumbass producers et al making changes to be sure their target audience can go and see the film! What dumbasses!) but what's shown on screen worked fine for me the way it is but then again, I'd best admit I can name quite a few films I've enjoyed which don't make a big thing about open wounds.
So yeah, pleasantly surprised by this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 March, 2014, 12:53:04 AM
Hachiko: A Dog's Story ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSkgXhHbCSw ), in which a base beast fails to surmount its nature and grasp the concept of mortality - as is to be expected - and through this ignorance that is no fault of its own dooms itself to a living Hell when its human owners wash their hands of its care.
It's unusual to see a film about animals reveling in the inherent cruelty of its central premise in the way this one does, as usually they have the animals display human traits and some level of self-awareness (like that time Marmaduke looked into the camera as if to say "yes, I understand that this is a terrible film"), and this is so that we - the viewers - can be assured that they have the capacity to one day acknowledge our lord Jesus Christ as their savior and thus achieve the absolution necessary to enter the kingdom of Heaven, but this film doesn't do that, it merely reinforces that animals have no souls or capacity for reason and then suggests that despite this, they may enter the realm eternal simply because higher beings (humans) observe their acts of base obedience and judge them to be similar to human virtues such as loyalty, rather than simply the inevitable result of poor animal welfare.
A godless and cruel film that betrays the void at the heart of its makers with every frame.

Also Casey Jones, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LWrEDkzaF4 ), a TMNT fan movie made for zero dollars.  Surprisingly well-made and I enjoyed it quite a bit even if I thought it was a terrible mistake to have [spoiler]one of the TMNT in it via a costume that you would laugh at even if you were at a cosplay convention and it was worn by a kid in a wheelchair who was actually dying right there in front of you.[/spoiler]  But still, surprisingly fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 March, 2014, 11:55:08 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 March, 2014, 12:53:04 AM
Also Casey Jones, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LWrEDkzaF4 ), a TMNT fan movie made for zero dollars.  Surprisingly well-made and I enjoyed it quite a bit even if I thought it was a terrible mistake to have [spoiler]one of the TMNT in it via a costume that you would laugh at even if you were at a cosplay convention and it was worn by a kid in a wheelchair who was actually dying right there in front of you.[/spoiler]  But still, surprisingly fun.

so nothing to do with the bloke with the train?  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 05 March, 2014, 02:29:48 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 04 March, 2014, 05:19:00 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 04 March, 2014, 05:12:04 PM
The point of remaking films like this is to save the producers from ever taking a risk, or having an original idea once in their lives.

The twenty year olds at my work won't generally watch anything with pre-year-2000 effects or production values. They lap up every remake of an old (eighties) horror film, but would never dream of watching the original. Love The Expendables and Rambo 4; not interested in any of those guys' old movies. To be fair, most of those old films are shite, but then so are the remakes.

I'm not really interested in seeing the new Robocop film but I don't think it is bad that they have remade it.  On the whole, people go to the cinema to see new movies and it has been 27 years since the original was made so many cinema-goers will never have seen it.  It's also too great an idea to not re-use.

I can't imagine it is better than the original, but hollywood has a long history of remaking films.  Many of the films I enjoyed in the 90s were remakes of older B&W movies. 

I'm just waiting for the Casablanca remake with Channing Tatum!  :o 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 05 March, 2014, 05:38:16 PM
Been to see The Book Thief. Bloody good film. I knew nowt about it going in so didn't know where this tale of a child growing up in a town in Germany in WWII was going to go. I'll tell you nothing more about it other than Death is the narrator (but don't go expecting a Terry Pratchett fantasy). Heartily recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 March, 2014, 07:32:52 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 March, 2014, 05:38:16 PM
Been to see The Book Thief. Bloody good film. I knew nowt about it going in so didn't know where this tale of a child growing up in a town in Germany in WWII was going to go. I'll tell you nothing more about it other than Death is the narrator (but don't go expecting a Terry Pratchett fantasy). Heartily recommended.

I saw this recently as well. It's an incredibly well done film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 March, 2014, 09:25:44 PM
I will wait for a recommendation from someone who read the book, as I think its one of those things that the differences in adaptation could prove significant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 March, 2014, 11:15:05 PM
In no particular order:

EUROPA REPORT (2013)

Found-footage sci-fi about the first manned mission to Jupiter's moon, Europa, and their search for life. I love this whole film-making genre, and this made a lovely change from the endless haunted houses/ asylums/ ruins premises that I've seen of late. Very reminiscent of 'Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets', the BBC "real science" drama of a decade or so ago (which is incidentally one of my favourite things ever), it has a likeable cast (including someone who I'm told was in 'The girl with the dragon tattoo'), fabulous visuals and a compelling story. I'd been waiting to see this for a good six months, and it did not disappoint. My worry was that it would end up being too "real sciency" and copping out of anything wonderful once they actually got to Europa. I needn't have been concerned. Loved it unreservedly.

WHITE BUFFALO (1977)

I remembered this from childhood, and that it scared the crap out of me. An old friend of this forum mentioned it on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I had to track down a copy. Very glad I did. Charles Bronson plays Wild Bill Hickok, returned to the Old West after a sojourn abroad as a showman, plagued by nightmares in which a monstrous white buffalo rampages. He knows his destiny is to meet the beast, and either kill it or die. Will Sampson (Taylor, the Indian, in Poltergeist 2) is Crazy Horse, set on revenge after the white buffalo kills his daughter. Both hunt the creature, coming together, despite their mutual distrust and hatred.
On the surface a Dino De Laurentiis quick-buck Jaws-alike, and one of a trio of such creature features he knocked out at the time, White Buffalo is an underrated gem. Deeply weird, full of dialogue and sequences that throw you off, it's unlike any other western I've ever seen. Strangely adult in tone, and full of seventies attitudes that disarm the modern viewer, it's an absolute treat.

Dog Soldiers
A treat for the kids, as they were begging for a good werewolf movie. Both responded to it, wowing at the wolves, laughing at the funny bits and going "yuck!" a lot. Youngest especially loved it.

Jeepers Creepers 2
Also a "family movie night" treat, after they'd loved the first one, which is apparently "the scariest film ever made". They didn't think this was as good as the original, but was still "brilliant". Both desperately now want a third. As do I, to tell the truth.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 March, 2014, 09:04:58 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 05 March, 2014, 11:15:05 PM
In no particular order:

EUROPA REPORT (2013)

Found-footage sci-fi about the first manned mission to Jupiter's moon, Europa, and their search for life. I love this whole film-making genre, and this made a lovely change from the endless haunted houses/ asylums/ ruins premises that I've seen of late. Very reminiscent of 'Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets', the BBC "real science" drama of a decade or so ago (which is incidentally one of my favourite things ever), it has a likeable cast (including someone who I'm told was in 'The girl with the dragon tattoo'), fabulous visuals and a compelling story. I'd been waiting to see this for a good six months, and it did not disappoint. My worry was that it would end up being too "real sciency" and copping out of anything wonderful once they actually got to Europa. I needn't have been concerned. Loved it unreservedly.

Me too, it really is brilliant. It seems to have snuck out a bit, anyone I mention it to has never heard of it, but I've been recommending it heartily to anyone into sci-fi. One of my favourite movies of last year and the best sci-fi film I think I've seen in a long time (I saw it around the same time as Gravity, which I liked but didn't enjoy quite as much as ER to be honest).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2014, 09:25:00 AM
We are watching Gravity tonight, but it'll have to go some to beat ER. The final payoff had me grinning from ear to ear. Exceptional film, and one I heartily recommended.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 March, 2014, 10:56:26 AM
Where did you pick Europa Report up? Was it expensive?
I've just tried to add it to my Lovefilm list and it isn't available. The DVD is pretty pricey on Amazon too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2014, 10:57:59 AM
PlayStation Store- £3.49 download rental.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 March, 2014, 11:07:57 AM
Excellent - thank you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 March, 2014, 11:15:59 AM
It's also on Netflix, which is where we saw it! I forget if it's the UK or US Netflix mind you, can never remember which one I'm logged into.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 06 March, 2014, 11:16:27 AM
it's on Netflix USA too, not see it yet, will to tonight!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 06 March, 2014, 01:40:31 PM
Watched Hausu (1977) last night. Brilliantly bonkers Japanese haunted house film, great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 06 March, 2014, 07:40:34 PM

The Dark Knight

Not watch it for years (strange that it wasn't on TV for years!) and it still a great film, a film that Joker brings chaos into orders. Bat-Pod, the truck flip, Joker and that ending with people got choice of bomb other ship, wow...

Heath Ledger was perfect as the Joker, as honest when first time I hear about casting, I thought, nah, that wouldn't work, I am glad to be wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 06 March, 2014, 08:14:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2014, 09:25:00 AM
We are watching Gravity tonight, but it'll have to go some to beat ER. The final payoff had me grinning from ear to ear. Exceptional film, and one I heartily recommended.

SBT

I haven't watched Gravity yet, but I'm looking forward to Europa Report even more. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, SBT!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2014, 10:20:33 PM
Serenity. I know with Whedon in the ascendant it's the fashion to gently mock the passions of Firefly fandom, but that is one genuinely great SF movie, all the more remarkable for what and how it is.  Time dulls my frustrations with it ever more, and the good just gets better and better.  "Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keens. Makes her home."  Clever, sustained, satisfying stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 07 March, 2014, 03:49:42 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2014, 10:20:33 PM
Serenity. I know with Whedon in the ascendant it's the fashion to gently mock the passions of Firefly fandom, but that is one genuinely great SF movie, all the more remarkable for what and how it is.  Time dulls my frustrations with it ever more, and the good just gets better and better.  "Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keens. Makes her home."  Clever, sustained, satisfying stuff.

For me, it's Whedon's best film by a mile. I absolutely love it, which reminds me, it's been a while since I watched it so I  might do that later on today (if I hopefully get the time that is!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 March, 2014, 12:46:44 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 07 March, 2014, 03:49:42 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2014, 10:20:33 PM
Serenity. I know with Whedon in the ascendant it's the fashion to gently mock the passions of Firefly fandom, but that is one genuinely great SF movie, all the more remarkable for what and how it is.  Time dulls my frustrations with it ever more, and the good just gets better and better.  "Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keens. Makes her home."  Clever, sustained, satisfying stuff.

For me, it's Whedon's best film by a mile. I absolutely love it, which reminds me, it's been a while since I watched it so I  might do that later on today (if I hopefully get the time that is!).

My wife and I loved Firefly and were so excited to see Serenity when it came out. It was all going so well until [spoiler]Wash died[/spoiler]. Now I have to watch Serenity when the missus is not around.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 March, 2014, 12:47:07 PM
Quote from: Mabs on 06 March, 2014, 08:14:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 06 March, 2014, 09:25:00 AM
We are watching Gravity tonight, but it'll have to go some to beat ER. The final payoff had me grinning from ear to ear. Exceptional film, and one I heartily recommended.

SBT

I haven't watched Gravity yet, but I'm looking forward to Europa Report even more. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, SBT!

Ooh, I'm intrigued!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbw9hlBnG74
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 March, 2014, 12:55:28 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 March, 2014, 12:46:44 PM
My wife and I loved Firefly and were so excited to see Serenity when it came out. It was all going so well until [spoiler]Wash died[/spoiler]. Now I have to watch Serenity when the missus is not around.

It went the same way for us, but with the passage of time, and realisation that there is never going to be any more Firefly, I've come to accept it.  As the voice of reason and moderation throughout the film, the timing and manner of [spoiler] Wash's[/spoiler] death was appropriate.  It definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the end of the movie in the cinema, and on several viewings afterwards, but now knowing that at least one character actually got a proper ending feels right ([spoiler]Shepherd Book[/spoiler] was sufficiently different in the film that his death doesn't really feel like an ending for that character) .  Like the man says, there's no shame in this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 07 March, 2014, 02:11:04 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel.
If you've ever seen a Wes Anderson film you know you are going to get quirky and this is no exception but it is absolutely hilarious.  I often find the funniest bits of his movies are in the trailers but there was plenty more in this than just those clips. An all star cast (some mounting to mere cameos) give it their all and go at such a lick that if you don't concentrate you miss some of the patter. Wonderfully old school effects for the chase scenes in the snow - like watching Michael Bentine's Potty Time! Some of the character deaths are a bit dark in comparison to the overall tone but overall it's wonderful - definitely worth a look-see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 March, 2014, 05:58:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 March, 2014, 12:55:28 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 March, 2014, 12:46:44 PM
My wife and I loved Firefly and were so excited to see Serenity when it came out. It was all going so well until [spoiler]Wash died[/spoiler]. Now I have to watch Serenity when the missus is not around.

It went the same way for us, but with the passage of time, and realisation that there is never going to be any more Firefly, I've come to accept it.  As the voice of reason and moderation throughout the film, the timing and manner of [spoiler] Wash's[/spoiler] death was appropriate.  It definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the end of the movie in the cinema, and on several viewings afterwards, but now knowing that at least one character actually got a proper ending feels right ([spoiler]Shepherd Book[/spoiler] was sufficiently different in the film that his death doesn't really feel like an ending for that character) .  Like the man says, there's no shame in this.

My main regret is that the story of the Shepherd never goes anywhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 March, 2014, 07:52:29 AM
There's canonical Firefly comics, peeps (albeit under the Serenity title,) and pretty good ones, too. I hear there's more in the pipeline as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2014, 08:06:03 AM
Canonical shamonical.

John Carter.  My thoughts seem to be in agreement with most here.  Oh it's flabby and a bit odd, but then who isn't?  A visually impressive and generally enjoyable film, and not a bad treatment of the source material.  Good cast too. Really didn't deserve its fate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 08 March, 2014, 09:08:32 AM
GRAVITY

I saw it, and it was good. The most tense film I've seen since Jaws, if not ever. Can't recommend it enough. Stunning FX - I wonder if I'll see it in 10 years and think, "how could I have been so impressed with this?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 March, 2014, 10:19:30 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 08 March, 2014, 09:08:32 AM
GRAVITY I saw it, and it was good. The most tense film I've seen since Jaws, if not ever. Can't recommend it enough. Stunning FX - I wonder if I'll see it in 10 years and think, "how could I have been so impressed with this?"

Depends what you mean. The effects are doing something understated and naturalistic, so I don't think they'll date quite as badly as pixel work on fantastical stuff like T2 and The Matrix. The sweaty palm tension, followed by palpable relief, of the bits where Bullock can't ... quite ... reach the handle which is all that stands between her and spinning off into the frozen emptiness of infinite space works in the same way as good stuff like the sequence in Misery where James Caan is trying to crawl around Kathy Bates's house before she gets back from the shops.

That never gets old.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 08 March, 2014, 11:04:35 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 08 March, 2014, 10:19:30 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 08 March, 2014, 09:08:32 AM
GRAVITY I saw it, and it was good. The most tense film I've seen since Jaws, if not ever. Can't recommend it enough. Stunning FX - I wonder if I'll see it in 10 years and think, "how could I have been so impressed with this?"

Depends what you mean. The effects are doing something understated and naturalistic, so I don't think they'll date quite as badly as pixel work on fantastical stuff like T2 and The Matrix. The sweaty palm tension, followed by palpable relief, of the bits where Bullock can't ... quite ... reach the handle which is all that stands between her and spinning off into the frozen emptiness of infinite space works in the same way as good stuff like the sequence in Misery where James Caan is trying to crawl around Kathy Bates's house before she gets back from the shops.

That never gets old.

Gravity was one of those films that had a lot of hype around its release and I can see why some people came away a bit disappointed.  I thought it was great and really enjoyed it.  Like Sauchie mentioned, it is very naturalistic and whilst I know there is still some artistic license going on, it looks and behaves like real space ( or how I understand it to be).  Given that it does look so realistic, I think the effects will stand the test of time better than T2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 March, 2014, 09:56:49 PM

The Hangover Part 3

I was catch up some SKY Movies at parents at weekend. As I enjoy first film, 2nd was sort of repetitive of first film, and this film I didn't chuckle once. Was it should be comedy?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 March, 2014, 10:07:27 PM
The Hanghover Trilogy is the single worst thing to ever grace my eyeballs. Shame on me for giving either the second or third the benefit of the doubt.

Of course, i'm not saying I can't understand what people see in any of them, they are simple enough comedies, but their nasty streak manifested in a number of horrible scenes just completely turns me off them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 March, 2014, 10:13:47 PM
I got 45 minutes into the first one and decided it wasn't for me as I hadn't laughed once.  Everything I've seen of the sequels just looks obnoxious and painful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 March, 2014, 06:19:57 AM
Finally got around to watching Tank Girl this week. What a chaotic mess of a film that is... though of course that might be the point? Missed me if it was.

Anyway was wondering what the general consensus was? I know it was panned when it came out (and apparently brought the demise if Deadline?) but has developed a bit of a cult following I've since read?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 March, 2014, 06:55:10 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 March, 2014, 06:19:57 AM
Finally got around to watching Tank Girl this week. What a chaotic mess of a film that is... though of course that might be the point? Missed me if it was. Anyway was wondering what the general consensus was? I know it was panned when it came out (and apparently brought the demise if Deadline?) but has developed a bit of a cult following I've since read?

I watched about ten minutes of it, but I couldn't tell you what happened in them. Deadline was already well past its sell-by date by the time the film was released.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 10 March, 2014, 11:13:22 AM
Took my middle child to see the Lego Movie with some of his mates on Sun; nee terrible modern versions of pop songs, nee talking animals or constant fart gags, animation doesn't like exactly the same as every other kids animated movie, even the love story is ok cos its a batman threeway, very smart movie, its essentially the opposite of a dreamworks film.

Will be purchasing for "the kids" when it hits blu, think the wife and i laughed more than the kids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 March, 2014, 11:37:02 AM
I watched Gravity again in 3D on my 3D telly.  It looked absolutely perfect - no ghosting, crisp 3D and almost as spectacular as the 3D on the big screen. 

Although the script is still a bit twee every now and again [spoiler](the dead kid device makes me roll my eyes every time) [/spoiler]I have definitely *chokes down vitriol* warmed to Sandra Bullock's performance.

The drama and tension is excellent, and I absolutely adore the special effects, particularly when [spoiler]the ISS is taken out.[/spoiler]

Yeah, definitely a recommended 3D blu-ray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 March, 2014, 02:40:53 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 10 March, 2014, 06:55:10 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 March, 2014, 06:19:57 AM
Finally got around to watching Tank Girl this week. What a chaotic mess of a film that is... though of course that might be the point? Missed me if it was. Anyway was wondering what the general consensus was? I know it was panned when it came out (and apparently brought the demise if Deadline?) but has developed a bit of a cult following I've since read?

I watched about ten minutes of it, but I couldn't tell you what happened in them. Deadline was already well past its sell-by date by the time the film was released.

Me and the missus have a bit of a soft spot for it, it's a total mess and an absolute shambles of a film but it's a fun enough mess to still have some charm I think. She certainly liked it enough to hunt down and read through the comics which doesn't happen often (I could never quite get into them).

My feelings might be coloured somewhat by how utterly incredible I think Lori Petty looks in the movie as Tank Girl, one of my movie crushes for the ages. Swoon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 March, 2014, 03:18:02 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 March, 2014, 02:40:53 PM

My feelings might be coloured somewhat by how utterly incredible I think Lori Petty looks in the movie as Tank Girl, one of my movie crushes for the ages. Swoon.

Yeah, where the heck did she go, eh? I think her career amounts to Keanu' GF in Point Break, that, abd the almost-sidekick to the guy from Thirtysomething in Brimstone.

Always  thought she had a lot of personality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 March, 2014, 11:18:09 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 March, 2014, 06:19:57 AM
Finally got around to watching Tank Girl this week. What a chaotic mess of a film that is... though of course that might be the point? Missed me if it was.

Anyway was wondering what the general consensus was? I know it was panned when it came out (and apparently brought the demise if Deadline?) but has developed a bit of a cult following I've since read?

Tank Girl is a pretty poor film that still manages to be fun in places. 

It was apparently a massive disappointment to Martin and Hewlett, who hated the choice of Lori Petty as Tank Girl iirc.  My favourite parts are the animations and I reckon it would have been a better choice to animate the whole film.

I sought out the DVD for it after reading the original run in TP knowing that the quality is reputed to be very low and I don't regret it.  The soundtrack is pretty good, certainly better than the film itself (it was my brothers copy of said soundtrack that made me aware of the film).

My better half really likes the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 11 March, 2014, 05:11:09 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2014, 11:18:09 AM
It was apparently a massive disappointment to Martin and Hewlett, who hated the choice of Lori Petty as Tank Girl iirc.

I can't remember H&M saying anything about Petty after it was released, but Hewlett was trying to get Emily Lloyd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLnqrKttWGw) for the lead role prior to filming. Lloyd refused to shave her head, and Petty was a last minute replacement.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 March, 2014, 04:21:17 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2014, 11:18:09 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 March, 2014, 06:19:57 AM
Finally got around to watching Tank Girl this week. What a chaotic mess of a film that is... though of course that might be the point? Missed me if it was.

Anyway was wondering what the general consensus was? I know it was panned when it came out (and apparently brought the demise if Deadline?) but has developed a bit of a cult following I've since read?

Tank Girl is a pretty poor film that still manages to be fun in places. 

It was apparently a massive disappointment to Martin and Hewlett, who hated the choice of Lori Petty as Tank Girl iirc.  My favourite parts are the animations and I reckon it would have been a better choice to animate the whole film.

I sought out the DVD for it after reading the original run in TP knowing that the quality is reputed to be very low and I don't regret it.  The soundtrack is pretty good, certainly better than the film itself (it was my brothers copy of said soundtrack that made me aware of the film).

My better half really likes the film.

Yes, it was, I guess.....I used to read the comic....although I only one of them and it wasn't even a graphic novel........it had a lot of interesting stuff..........like The Big Rod Prince of Darkness.........Those little animals...the Koala Bear......forget it's name......the other mutant roo's and then one of my close aquaintances whom I used to live with in a rented house noticed it and start buying a lot of her graphic novels himself and then we learn about more things like her the hat she wore for taking a dump in. No of those things made it into the movie. It seems mitigated now.....although, I thought it was okay when I first saw it.

Now what was I doing......

I was very busy playing Red Dead Redemption yesterday after starting on it the night before, continuing on towards the mission [spoiler]"Liars, Cheats and other proud American's (It was about a Horse Cart race.) which took me quite a while to beat and I had to just put the controller down and sleep on it for the night and resumed early next morning where I eventually beat it and then I played on until I got to the mission The Sport of Kings and Liars... (I forget the rest of what that mission was called.)......which was about a horse race. I soon beat that one too. It was slightly easier than the other race, but John's trusty old horse kept throwing me more often than I could bear it. Anyway, I had progressed as far as the mission where they John and his motley crew found took the big gatling gun out to Fort Mercer and used it, but then I think the story continues in Mexico where the guy they were really after has apparently got to. Sorry, if I'm spoiling the story for anybody, but think nearly everybody has completed this game here. I still think I might add spoilers here, just in case. Anyway, before doing any more missions.  I decided to continue with completing some challenges.   

Collecting six Desert Sage

Collecting Four Red Sage

Shooting and skinning two wild boars and three armadillos.

Then I completed the missions where John had to find a lost horse and help a man relocate from Gaptooth-Ridge to Benedict Point. Though, they weren't really missions, but they were listed as something else in John's Journal.

Now, I have stopped playing for now right before doing the mission where John has to meet some guy at a crator and rescue some guy named Floyd. It involves going into the mine to find some treasure, I think. I have attempted it twice, and got shot after being a bit too careless.[/spoiler]

I might have posted this in the wrong place, since it's a game, but it's also a beautiful movie and the cut scenes. Three of which occurred while my father interrupted. But that's all I'll say about that.

It should be a film....really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 March, 2014, 12:46:05 PM
WARM BODIES
A zombie rom-com. The ending was always going to be [spoiler]love conquers all (but interestingly, it implies that lack of love causes it all)[/spoiler] so you have to go in with that as your starting point but it's an enjoyable romp - gathering half smiles rather than outright laughs. The Boneys never look convincing but isn't Nicholas Hoult fabulous? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 March, 2014, 02:09:44 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 March, 2014, 12:46:05 PM
WARM BODIES
A zombie rom-com. The ending was always going to be [spoiler]love conquers all (but interestingly, it implies that lack of love causes it all)[/spoiler] so you have to go in with that as your starting point but it's an enjoyable romp - gathering half smiles rather than outright laughs. The Boneys never look convincing but isn't Nicholas Hoult fabulous?

I saw that film and wasn't a little disappointed however well made it was. It was the happy ending that ruined it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 March, 2014, 01:37:39 AM
I had to have my arm twisted to watch Warm bodies. Hate zombie movies with an almighty passion. But I must confess, I actually thought it was pretty good fun. Definitely get the 'half smiles as opposed to outright laughter' thing, though - it feels rather slight.

But I DID get a belt out of the bit where R has the object of his affections in his airplane hideaway, and thinks to himself 'don't be weird!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2014, 01:54:38 PM
I continue my double bill of not quite zombie zombie movies with this, surely the most mainstream zombie movie ever.

Needless to say it bears very little resemblance to the book - If I  remember sme of the incendantal characters in this would have been interviewees from the book - but that doesn't matter, it's it's own thing and not half bad.

Some nice scares, some genuinely scary chases and very very tense. Almost bloodless though. There's no fetishising over headshots here, that sort of thing happens just out of shot for the most part. Nothing quite matches the opening panic and jerusalem sections though and the  ending is very, very subdued for a Hollywood actioner.

Far from perfect but both this and warm bodies both tried something fresh with Zombies. Surely that's welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2014, 01:56:09 PM
World War Z if you hadn't worked it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2014, 02:57:30 PM
Oh and BAIT an australian shark movie. Because sharks are only dangerous when wet, the writers conspire to have a tsunami throw a pair of great whites into a supermarket and car park just as a robbery is going wrong and the hero has met up with his estranged (because a shark ater her brother instead of her boyfriend) lover, a cop dad is arresting his shoplifting daughter and a couple make out in a car while their dog watches from the back seat. Can they all overcome their... aw fuck it, it was as terrible as it sounds. Wasn't Russel Mulcahy good at film once? Some cleverly worked bits of gore aside, pointless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2014, 12:28:09 AM
Russel Mulcahy made Highlander 2 and we must never forget that.

I, Frankenstein - utter cobblers.  Complete visual gibberish, but still manages some references to Hammer films that I am convinced were completely accidental.  Most action scenes look like a videogame trailer that doesn't have any gameplay footage in it and tells you nothing about the game, apart from one scene that was just two blokes having a stick fight in a warehouse and was the best action scene in the film, but the melodrama bits in between are okay, if only because of how campy they are and how straight-faced everyone plays it.  The story is about a war between gargoyles and demons, because when you think of supernatural beings who have wings, fight demons, live in churches and who come from Heaven, naturally you think "ahh - gargoyles", so yeah, that's all you need to know about this film.

Eight Below - which probably isn't very good in objective terms, but is still a film where cute animals help each other out and occasionally meet their maker and if you are unmoved by any of this you are a soulless monster and must be destroyed, though beautiful Antarctic vistas, good performances from the dogs, good use of cgi and a simple but effective human plot make for a decent if slightly overlong film.
Paul Walker leaves dogs chained up out in the open without food in the worst storm to hit Antarctica in decades and then flies back to America.  He acts very surprised when someone points out "them dogs goin' die, brah" so he looks glum in his caravan for a bit before deciding to go back and dig their dogsicle corpses out of the snow.  The dogs, not being as thick as their owner, make a near-unanimous democratic decision to break free and survive in the wilderness for months until the humans return for them by catching seagulls, noshing on whale corpses and raiding the odd deserted human camp for cigarettes (it looks like), and there's this bit where one of them can't quite catch seagulls so another dog shares their dinner with the starving dog and my thought was "these dogs have a better grasp of loyalty and tending the most vulnerable members of their group than the current British government" and I think that's why the British aren't allowed to have a write-in candidate in elections and can only vote for Kang or Kodos, because they'd just elect huskies they saw in a kids' film who would then just bark at squirrels and poo on the No 10 furniture and occasionally try to shag Obama's leg or bite Italian diplomats yet would still somehow do a better job of running the NHS.
Now, I enjoyed this film more than I should have by seeing simple acts of loyalty and self-sacrifice on the part of base beasts of the field so perhaps I am biased into thinking a prime minister who spends most days running down a street with a string of sausages in his mouth being chased by a butcher is the way to go, but look me in the eye and tell me that's any worse than what we've got right now.  We didn't even elect this current shower of lying two-faced spineless money-grubbing turncoats, but the reason they're there is because enough people went into the booth thinking "I will vote for absolutely anyone other than Labor and I clearly do not care what consequences may follow" so I am asking you in the name of all that's holy in the next election to VOTE HUSKY.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 16 March, 2014, 05:14:39 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 March, 2014, 02:57:30 PMWasn't Russel Mulcahy good at film once?

Nope.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 March, 2014, 10:11:01 AM
Quote from: HdE on 16 March, 2014, 05:14:39 AM
Nope.

I quite liked Razorback.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 16 March, 2014, 10:47:33 AM
Been watching old horror films on YouTube; first up:

Creepshow 2 - I was a big fan of this years ago but, of the three story's only one is actually any good.

Old Chief Woodenhead - badly acted, and the plot is shit.

The Raft - my favorite of the three tales, about a group of teens who go swimming at an isolated lake and are devoured by a small version of 'The Blob'.

The Hitchiker - about a lady that kills a hobo in a hit-and-run incident; and then is haunted by him all the way home. Utter crap! I only watched it to the end because of the 'hilarious' hitcher and his "thanks for the ride lady!" Comedian speech.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 March, 2014, 11:35:46 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2014, 12:28:09 AM
The story is about a war between gargoyles and demons, because when you think of supernatural beings who have wings, fight demons, live in churches and who come from Heaven, naturally you think "ahh - gargoyles", so yeah, that's all you need to know about this film.

I bet they weren't even legitimate gargoyles but rather grotesques.  Although I, Frankenstein looks like an appallingly bad film, the idea of gargoyles/grotesques battling demons instead of angels seems like an apt change of tack - given that g/g purpose on the outside of buildings (aside from gargoyles' additional drainage solutions) was to scare of evil spirits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 March, 2014, 12:31:29 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 March, 2014, 11:35:46 AM
I bet they weren't even legitimate gargoyles but rather grotesques. 

Yer my kinda nerd, Pictsy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 16 March, 2014, 12:59:56 PM
GRAVITY

Every bit as good as everyone made out. Even flat and in standard definition. If I were still twelve, I'd be working really hard at school from now on to become an astronaut. In the meantime, I am quite happy to be merely an "ass-tronaut" and do an EVA on Sandra Bullock's magnificent arse. It wouldn't be Russian satellites exploding and sending their debris shooting her way, oh no.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 March, 2014, 01:32:34 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 March, 2014, 12:31:29 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 March, 2014, 11:35:46 AM
I bet they weren't even legitimate gargoyles but rather grotesques. 

Yer my kinda nerd, Pictsy.

Thanks, TordelBack :D

I just wish I knew how to edit my posts so I can correct the typo I made.  Damnation upon myself for not proof reading my posts.  That is just going to eat away at me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 16 March, 2014, 02:24:55 PM
Razorback was a great film, good terror moments, excellent use of shadow from the wind turbines, Shockley bad guy hill billies (whose laugh sticks in your head long after the end) and a great bad movie killer pig. What's not to like?

Watched Monsters a Go-Go last night. That's a special movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2014, 02:43:34 PM
Quote from: BPP on 16 March, 2014, 02:24:55 PM
Razorback was a great film, good terror moments, excellent use of shadow from the wind turbines, Shockley bad guy hill billies (whose laugh sticks in your head long after the end) and a great bad movie killer pig

yep, that's the one I was thinking of.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2014, 02:54:36 PM
Is it really only ten pages since the last time I had to stick up for Highlander?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2014, 04:11:07 PM
Well the original Highlander was also sort of in my thoughts as I quite liked it back on original release but blimey I find it all but unwatcheable these days. Sorry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 16 March, 2014, 04:24:27 PM
Gravity

Had to watch it twice before I could decide what I thought of it.  On one hand, it is indeed technically brilliant, the opening shot (all 20 odd minutes of it!) is superbly done, and the mundane-ness of the activities and conversations to begin with really help set a very realistic scene.  However.  We then have Clooney.  So much of a cardboard cut out, that I really didn't care in the slightest for his fate.   Bullock was better, but still a touch obvious.  The whole broken woman who lost a kid, almost ready to give up, then the 're-birth' as she gets the suit off and floats about all embryonic like.....aye, aye, nice, but by 'eck they laid it on thick!  Overall a well worthwhile watch, but nothing like as good as the hype made out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 March, 2014, 12:05:42 AM
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Exactly as it should have been - remarkably well done with strong continuity cake and a lot of very good moments. As an ancient Partridge fan I very much approve - it's clearly been very carefully thought about and serves both new viewers and familiars alike. Brilliant. Patridgetacular even.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 17 March, 2014, 01:34:52 AM
South Park the movie. It was really good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 17 March, 2014, 09:16:29 AM
Creepshow 3 - marginally better than number 2, with the stories actually being linked together this time. It's more funny/less Scary, and worth a watch if you've not seen it before.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2014, 11:05:48 AM
That 'Thanks for the ride lady' story from Creepshow became the chorus to a song by an awful band I was in in high school, so it'll always have a place in my heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2014, 04:22:10 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2014, 11:05:48 AM
That 'Thanks for the ride lady' story from Creepshow 2  became the chorus to a song by an awful band I was in in high school, so it'll always have a place in my heart.

Creepshow 3 is fecking awful and has none of the original creators present whatsoever.
In my opinion, avoid like the plague.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2014, 04:49:01 PM
CREEP
A British effort at one of those psycho hillbilly type horror movies from back in 2004.

Franka Potente forgets to sound the fire alarms and so ends up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a psycho hillbilly in London's tube network.

The baddy's origin is blurred (fair enough) but his raison d'etre did need work and there seems to be no effort to explain how all of a sudden he goes on a mad kill frenzy; topping people who will be missed rather than just quietly knocking off the odd homeless person now and again for, presumably, food ([spoiler]Is that why he stors George and Franka in the cages?).[/spoiler].

For the plot to make any snese whatsoever, the tube network would have to be run by people who are actually cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers themselves and have set things up so they keep their brethren fed. 

I didn't even think the gore was that well done.

Extra points awarded for sterotyping the Jocks as homeless junkies. Only interesting/refreshing bit? The heroine is a bit of an unlikeable arse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2014, 05:13:59 PM
I wasn't keen on this either, although the director went on to make some films I do really like, Severance, Triangle and Black Death. If you haven't seen them give them a bash, Triangle in particular is like a good Futureshock/Terror Tale I thought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 17 March, 2014, 05:14:18 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2014, 04:22:10 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2014, 11:05:48 AM
That 'Thanks for the ride lady' story from Creepshow 2  became the chorus to a song by an awful band I was in in high school, so it'll always have a place in my heart.

Creepshow 3 is fecking awful and has none of the original creators present whatsoever.
In my opinion, avoid like the plague.

None of the previous installments had what you would call big budget (though some great set design from long time Romero collaborator Cletus Anderson) but #3 looks like it was made on a few hundred dollars, the segments make little sense either. I thought it was junk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2014, 05:27:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2014, 05:13:59 PM
I wasn't keen on this either, although the director went on to make some films I do really like, Severance, Triangle and Black Death. If you haven't seen them give them a bash, Triangle in particular is like a good Futureshock/Terror Tale I thought.

I think I saw SEVERANCE and probably enjoyed it more than CREEP despite the presence of Danny Dyer (he gives good lad in it, if I recall). And I just loved the look on Toby Stephens' face when... well, you know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 17 March, 2014, 09:08:16 PM
Watched nymphomaniac volumes 1 & 2. Didn't think it was that great really. I didn't like how it was the main character telling her life story to some guy with flashbacks split into chapters, instead of just making up the film with the flashback footage only, if that makes sense?

I found it kept upsetting the pace of the film and a little frustrating. Also, the sex being real didn't make a noticeable difference to me and was probably more to be controversial so more people will watch it.

Also, I watched Only lovers left alive.

I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch, but I haven't really enjoyed any of his films since Ghost Dog.
It is good, but there still seems to be something missing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 March, 2014, 04:13:06 PM

Bloody hell!

This is brilliant short horror film!

Lights Out

http://vimeo.com/82920243 (http://vimeo.com/82920243)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 19 March, 2014, 04:20:15 PM
Yeah, that was enjoyable :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 19 March, 2014, 06:13:09 PM
Ta for this - good stuff   :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 19 March, 2014, 07:23:28 PM
Grand Budapest Hotel, so damn good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 March, 2014, 08:24:55 PM
Drinking Buddies, on Netflix. Really, really, really liked this. It's a very naturalistic romanticish drama (with a hint of comedy), seems rare to come across a film about relationships that actually feels like real people in real complicated situations but this nails that completely. Took me back to similar situation I wound up in a few years ago (albeit not with Olivia Wilde sadly), and rang very true. Recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 March, 2014, 09:26:25 PM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 19 March, 2014, 07:23:28 PM
Grand Budapest Hotel, so damn good.

Just got out of it myself. Bloody wonderful it is indeed. Great performances all round and some hilarious scenes.

"Holy shit you got him!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 21 March, 2014, 03:13:38 AM
Just watched The Keep on Film4. Pretty weird lo-fi 80s horror. About some Nazi's who find a keep in a small Romanian village with treasure and an evil force locked inside. Things don't go so well after that.

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 21 March, 2014, 05:46:51 AM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 21 March, 2014, 03:13:38 AM
Just watched The Keep on Film4. Pretty weird lo-fi 80s horror. About some Nazi's who find a keep in a small Romanian village with treasure and an evil force locked inside. Things don't go so well after that.

I enjoyed it.

Ahh an interesting film - Directed by Michael Mann and still not released on dvd I understand. I saw this in the cinema at a special screening and although it has some amazing effects and the end is great I seem to remember there was a scene with a train journey that took about 30 mins and had no impact on the plot.

Apparently is is one of Simon Bisley's favourite films and the monster was a big influence on him.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 March, 2014, 12:42:06 PM
It's Scott Glenn on a boat and motorbike. Sailing passed synth infused sunsets.

I have a soft spot for the film but a recent re-watch made me think less of it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 21 March, 2014, 01:58:25 PM
Saw Watchmen last night for what was I think only the second time since its release. I think the flaws stood out that bit more to me this time as I've definitely changed my already not too high opinion of it. Visually the film is incredible and it looks fantastic throughout. However it just seems very soulless which I guess is a common refrain of Snyder films. The other thing that stood out was the different ending. I don't understand why, having previously been so reverential in following the comic that they would change the end of the film. Also I don't think that setting up Dr Manhattan as the enemy would work in ending the threat of nuclear war. Isn't there still a risk that the USSR would simply say that as he was American and the country's main threat for so long that the USA was still to blame for his actions?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 March, 2014, 02:42:08 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 21 March, 2014, 05:46:51 AM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 21 March, 2014, 03:13:38 AM
Just watched The Keep on Film4. Pretty weird lo-fi 80s horror. About some Nazi's who find a keep in a small Romanian village with treasure and an evil force locked inside. Things don't go so well after that.

I enjoyed it.

Ahh an interesting film - Directed by Michael Mann and still not released on dvd I understand. I saw this in the cinema at a special screening and although it has some amazing effects and the end is great I seem to remember there was a scene with a train journey that took about 30 mins and had no impact on the plot.

Apparently is is one of Simon Bisley's favourite films and the monster was a big influence on him.

Still haven't seen this movie, worked with the composer Edgar on our last project so tried to hunt down as much of his stuff as possible beforehand and just couldn't find this anywhere. Surely something that's ripe for a deluxe blu-ray re-issue at some point?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 21 March, 2014, 06:29:02 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 March, 2014, 02:42:08 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 21 March, 2014, 05:46:51 AM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 21 March, 2014, 03:13:38 AM
Just watched The Keep on Film4. Pretty weird lo-fi 80s horror. About some Nazi's who find a keep in a small Romanian village with treasure and an evil force locked inside. Things don't go so well after that.

I enjoyed it.

Ahh an interesting film - Directed by Michael Mann and still not released on dvd I understand. I saw this in the cinema at a special screening and although it has some amazing effects and the end is great I seem to remember there was a scene with a train journey that took about 30 mins and had no impact on the plot.

Apparently is is one of Simon Bisley's favourite films and the monster was a big influence on him.

Still haven't seen this movie, worked with the composer Edgar on our last project so tried to hunt down as much of his stuff as possible beforehand and just couldn't find this anywhere. Surely something that's ripe for a deluxe blu-ray re-issue at some point?

Youtube will be your pal tonight - the whole film ripped from laserdisc is on there :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 March, 2014, 06:53:25 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 21 March, 2014, 01:58:25 PM
Saw Watchmen last night ... I don't understand why, having previously been so reverential in following the comic that they would change the end of the film

The special effects budget wasn't the only reason Watchmen was considered unfilmable. Believably setting up the island, psychic brain theft, and all the ways those things resonate with the larger narrative would have taken up the entire running time of most films. Keeping the resolution within the bounds of the main cast makes for a tighter story, and works much better with the established themes of the film as well. That said, I prefer the glorious silliness of Moore's ending, and the film was total gash.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 21 March, 2014, 07:44:46 PM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 21 March, 2014, 03:13:38 AM
Just watched The Keep on Film4. Pretty weird lo-fi 80s horror. About some Nazi's who find a keep in a small Romanian village with treasure and an evil force locked inside. Things don't go so well after that.

I enjoyed it.

Hated that film so much when I first saw it, it's based on a cracking book, and all the twists of said book are utterly missed in the film.  Cracking cast list, so I couldn't believe how bad I found it! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 March, 2014, 07:58:35 AM
The Keep is high on my list of films that deserve a remake.
It gets a lot wrong and has aged badly but the setting and premise are fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dash Decent on 22 March, 2014, 08:38:50 AM
Watched Dredd this morning when the missus took the kids to swimming lessons.  Enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 March, 2014, 09:28:00 AM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 22 March, 2014, 08:38:50 AM
Watched Dredd this morning when the missus took the kids to swimming lessons.  Enjoyed it.

I haven't heard of that, what's it about?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 22 March, 2014, 10:47:30 AM
Prometheus....again. For all its faults there's one thing most will agree on - it looks bloody stunning. The CGI work here is much better (and realistic) than Avatar. At times the latter looks like a CGI cartoon.

Those opening moments on Prometheus look breath-taking, giving it a chilling, unearthly look. How magnificent is the shot of the Engineer mothership ascending into heaven while the robed Engineer kills himself by consuming marmite?

Such a shame it was let down by some horrendous dialogue and characterisation. There's a really good film in there somewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 22 March, 2014, 01:28:43 PM
Finally watched The Raid.  It is good and my missus did make the inevitable comparison to a certain other film; when they arrived in the drug factory room she laughed that this was the place where Mega City One's supply of Slo-Mo was mass-produced!

I must admit the fight scenes were pretty amazing and on that score they outdid our favourite film...  But on every other level Dredd was far superior.  I think it is a shame that so many critics turned on Dredd because of the coincidental similarities between the two but particularly because I think Dredd offers a far deeper experience than the Raid ever could.

When it finished I was delighted when my wife said "I preferred Dredd..."  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 March, 2014, 01:37:14 PM
When I finally got around to watching The Raid I had to agree that the similarities between the two films are extremely superficial.  They are very different films and I certainly enjoyed them both.  I was worried about watching The Raid as I felt constant comparison would taint my enjoyment of the film.  That never actually happened, which I was pleased with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 March, 2014, 02:04:11 PM
Quote from: The Bissler on 22 March, 2014, 01:28:43 PM
When it finished I was delighted when my wife said "I preferred Dredd..."  :D

She's a keeper!
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 March, 2014, 02:16:12 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Was a bit worries in the first 30mins as I thought it was going to be a little meandering and sprawling, but it was fantastic from beginning to end. Ralph Fiennes' concierge is an instant classic character - so funny and quotable. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 March, 2014, 07:02:18 PM
The Last Stand - I've been pretty floored by the other films by the director (The Good,The Bad,The Weird/I Saw The Devil/Tale Of Two Sisters) but always thought this was a really weird choice for him and I don't necessarily get as excited about Arnie in a movie as I did when I was a nipper.

It really makes sense though, it's got a similar energy to it as TGTBTW, and I thought it was a really enjoyable action romp with a few genuine belly laughs. It's surprisingly violent too, and while Arnie has never been an actor his performance is well pitched in this and just the right level of tongue in cheek.

It's not amazing, but as far as these sorts of films go it was a right good watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 March, 2014, 09:21:27 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 March, 2014, 07:02:18 PM
The Last Stand ... it was a right good watch.
I liked this too. It seemed like a decent attempt at switching the Arnie film persona to fit his age (e.g. still hard, but not the romantic lead) and still had some enjoyable action scenes. I hope its failure hasn't scuppered the director's chances as Good, Bad, Weird is magic.

Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 17 March, 2014, 09:08:16 PM
Watched nymphomaniac volumes 1 & 2. Didn't think it was that great really.
I've only seen Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 so far. I liked it, but it was a typically von Trier experience.

There are serious themes being addressed in the film: the relationship between love and sex, the extent and limits of individual freedom, sexual equality in broad terms and society's attitude towards female sexuality in particular. Where you draw the intersections on the Venn diagram representing the mature treatment of those themes alongside adolescent provocation, male gaze-y exploitation and old-fashioned Danish pisstaking is definitely up for debate.

Stacey Martin, who plays the younger Joe in flashback perhaps doesn't have the presence that Charlotte Gainsbourg commands in the now, but she does steal (this half of) the film with her performance in the sequence leading up to the death of her father. It's here that you're reminded that Big Lars might be a mouthy twat who'll say anything if it gets him a headline during Cannes but he still has an uncanny ability (shared with Darren Aronofsky) to build to a point where the viewer is absolutely aware of how utterly preposterous what is happening onscreen is yet can't help but be pulled along by the visceral emotional power of the performances.

Unsurprisingly, there's a ton of shagging in the film. Some of it titillating, some not, some sleazy, some not, some obviously male fantasy, some not, and so on. Almost as if this is one of the points it wants to make. Any film that attempts to treat sex as something more than just what happens to the hero before he meets up with his mates to sort out the villain will attract specific, unhelpful types of criticism. From Outraged of Milton Keynes decrying cinematic depictions of everyday human acts to the sneering aesthetes trying to outdo one another with the extent to which they can adopt exactly the opposite attitude:
"Oh, it's all so deathly tedious Martin. Why, you'd think just by the law of averages that a fellow might have an involuntary erection once in four and a half hours. But..."
"Nothing?"
"Not a sausage."
"Well, it's erections is it, Justin? Let me tell you, the blood was quite rushing away from my loins at such a speed I'm surprised I didn't get a nosebleed!"
"Quite."

It's probably a fair criticism of von Trier that he's better at being a dick for the benefit of the media than making films that are a totally coherent representations of the ideas and themes he claims for them. It must help him get films made though. I tend to think that, even if the treatment of something is done in a superficial way it can still be interesting and a valid starting point for a conversation about the subject. Or, to put it another way: just because you can make a joke out of it, doesn't mean that there isn't a serious point to be made or taken from it.

TL;DR. Like reading Fear of Flying at a Roy "Chubby" Brown gig.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2014, 10:36:27 PM
Dredd 3D. That was a bit good. When's the sequel out? :-)

Seriously, though -- thanks to Mick for making it happen. Minty on the proper big screen was a fuckin' treat, too.

Had an odd sense of déjà vu during the trailers, though.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 March, 2014, 11:18:48 PM
X-Men 2.

it's great. Possibly my fave live action super-hero (definitely from Marvel).
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dash Decent on 24 March, 2014, 02:18:58 AM
Quote from: radiator on 22 March, 2014, 09:28:00 AM
Quote from: Dash Decent on 22 March, 2014, 08:38:50 AM
Watched Dredd this morning when the missus took the kids to swimming lessons.  Enjoyed it.

I haven't heard of that, what's it about?

It's about 95 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 March, 2014, 01:16:07 PM
Wargames. Classic film. Should've been continued as a television series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 March, 2014, 02:09:14 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 March, 2014, 01:16:07 PM
Wargames. Classic film. Should've been continued as a television series.

Wasn't that called Knight Rider?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 24 March, 2014, 02:38:45 PM
Alien 3

Saw this on TV over the weekend and although I am well aware of all the production problems and criticisms it has received, this still remains one of my favourites of the Alien films.

I love the Brit-heavy cast and the low tech setting and I can even forgive what happens to hicks and newt.  And the ending - well, what finer way to finish than the shot of Ripley disappearing into the furnace. 

I do own the Alien Quad box set but Alien and Alien 3 are the only ones I ever watch and I could watch them both every day of the week. 
P.S. Alien Resurrection has never been disturbed from its packaging!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 March, 2014, 02:50:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 March, 2014, 02:09:14 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 March, 2014, 01:16:07 PM
Wargames. Classic film. Should've been continued as a television series.

Wasn't that called Knight Rider?

Shhh. Saying that three times on the internet give David Hasselhof a new show. *Shuddder*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2014, 05:54:17 PM
Knight Rider Knight Rider Knight Rider.

There was a sequel to Wargames, but it's best to pretend it doesn't exist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 24 March, 2014, 08:07:53 PM
Sink the Bismarck! and Get Carter.

Both on telly recently, and both rather grand.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 25 March, 2014, 12:44:36 AM
I watched sling blade. Can't believe that was billy bob thorton, couldn't recognise him at all. Nice film.

Also, living through chemistry. Nothing really new here but I like Sam Rockwell so it gets a pass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 25 March, 2014, 08:59:44 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 March, 2014, 02:38:45 PM
Alien 3

Saw this on TV over the weekend and although I am well aware of all the production problems and criticisms it has received, this still remains one of my favourites of the Alien films.

I love the Brit-heavy cast and the low tech setting and I can even forgive what happens to hicks and newt.  And the ending - well, what finer way to finish than the shot of Ripley disappearing into the furnace. 

I do own the Alien Quad box set but Alien and Alien 3 are the only ones I ever watch and I could watch them both every day of the week. 
P.S. Alien Resurrection has never been disturbed from its packaging!  ;)

The Director's Cut of Alien 3, the one where the alien comes from a cow (or bovine alien livestock) is very, very good. It improves the film, if you ask me, even if there are a couple of scenes where the picture quality takes a dive.

I like Alien 3 quite a lot. Then again, I also am a big fan of the Godfather Part 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 25 March, 2014, 11:07:30 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 25 March, 2014, 08:59:44 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 March, 2014, 02:38:45 PM
Alien 3

Saw this on TV over the weekend and although I am well aware of all the production problems and criticisms it has received, this still remains one of my favourites of the Alien films.

I love the Brit-heavy cast and the low tech setting and I can even forgive what happens to hicks and newt.  And the ending - well, what finer way to finish than the shot of Ripley disappearing into the furnace. 

I do own the Alien Quad box set but Alien and Alien 3 are the only ones I ever watch and I could watch them both every day of the week. 
P.S. Alien Resurrection has never been disturbed from its packaging!  ;)

The Director's Cut of Alien 3, the one where the alien comes from a cow (or bovine alien livestock) is very, very good. It improves the film, if you ask me, even if there are a couple of scenes where the picture quality takes a dive.

I like Alien 3 quite a lot. Then again, I also am a big fan of the Godfather Part 3.


I cannot watch Alien3, it just doesn't work for me.

Godfather 3 was ok, but seemed like a made for TV movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 March, 2014, 11:41:58 AM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 25 March, 2014, 12:44:36 AM
but I like Sam Rockwell so it gets a pass.

I do have a soft spot for Sam Rockwell - he is usually the best thing about a film, raising otherwise banal efforts to slightly above mediocrity.  For example, Choke (the Chuck Palanuik adaptation) was utter rubbish - I was hoping it would be daring, as the book ending is superb, but it bottled it 2/3rds of the way through.  This made it utterly pointless.  However, Sam Rockwell as the protagonist was superb.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is another reasonable example - a fairly decent attempt at an adaptation let down by poorly played out action sequences and mucking around with the source material too much.  While I didn't like how they interpreted Zaphod's two heads visually, Sam Rockwell played a masterclass in egocentric selfish hedonism and madness.  This elevated the film somewhat. 



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 March, 2014, 12:15:50 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 25 March, 2014, 11:41:58 AMThis elevated the film somewhat.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly unremarkable film.  I'm not even sure if I got to the end. 

Didn't mind the way Zaphod's heads were executed, but should have been that way the whole time.  If the BBC felt obliged to have Wing-Davey lug around a papier-mache noggin for five weeks, I don't see why Rockwell couldn't have had some green paint on his shoulder - it's just lazy.

Still, Zooey Deschanel was quite fetching in turned-up flares.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 March, 2014, 05:44:46 PM
Quote from: MR. ELIMINATOR on 25 March, 2014, 12:44:36 AM
I watched sling blade. Can't believe that was billy bob thorton, couldn't recognise him at all. Nice film.

M-m-m-yep.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 March, 2014, 06:03:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 March, 2014, 12:15:50 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 25 March, 2014, 11:41:58 AMThis elevated the film somewhat.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly unremarkable film.  I'm not even sure if I got to the end. 

Didn't mind the way Zaphod's heads were executed, but should have been that way the whole time.  If the BBC felt obliged to have Wing-Davey lug around a papier-mache noggin for five weeks, I don't see why Rockwell couldn't have had some green paint on his shoulder - it's just lazy.

Still, Zooey Deschanel was quite fetching in turned-up flares.

Agree, agree, agree.  I still prefer the TV version.  Still, the kids love it, and it has a cracking opening tune.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 26 March, 2014, 04:53:41 AM
Need For Speed

It was like a more realistic Fast And Furious movie. (read better) If you are a car guy or girl you will love it. Lots of exotics with some excellent engine sounds. Nice visuals too. And as an added bonus we got an extended preview of the new Captain America movie in 3d.

If you go in expecting nothing more than fast cars and explosions you will not be disappointed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 March, 2014, 08:07:46 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 25 March, 2014, 06:03:31 PM
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly unremarkable film.  I'm not even sure if I got to the end. 

Agree, agree, agree.  I still prefer the TV version.  Still, the kids love it, and it has a cracking opening tune.  :D
[/quote]

The years have softened my outlook on the HGTG film - principally because it'll never get the sequel it was so desperately angling for, so it'll remain a fairly curious experiment and nothing more. I disliked it fiercely at the time being an enormous fan of the radio/tv/written versions of the story - but looking back it's an awkward but wildly imaginative affair with some cracking design. The Hammer & Tongs team were responsible for some of the most interesting music videos of the last two decades and have inventiveness in spades - the score by the League of Gentleman's Joby Talbot is very good - Rockwell is fantastic and Mos Def is very charming. I'm still not a huge fan of Martin Freeman (he definitely works his grumpy realism schtick better as Bilbo - and I had always imagined the lanky and awkward and Simon Joneslike Jack Davenport in the role so I was biased) and Zooey Deschanel is singularly crap in pretty much everything she does. Nice fringe though.  However once you realise a lot of the new things were written BY Adams  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(film)#Pre-production_and_production) and that he had insisted that the Arthur/Trillian thing should have been more intense on screen to make up for how shy he was at writing it out in the book - it forgives it some of the schmaltz. Not all though some of it is deeply uncomfortable - and the "please everybody" ending never sits right with me. Still, bygones and all that. It's a nice attempt at a go at it - there have been far worse adaptations of things I reckon.

I'LL NEVER READ THE EOIN COLFER BOOK THOUGH. HERESY!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 March, 2014, 08:12:12 AM
I don't know if it me or when every time I try to watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I find it so boring. The SFX looks great but just bah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 26 March, 2014, 01:57:29 PM
Snowpiercer. A French/Korean Post Apocalypse Train movie with Western Actors. Sounded interesting enough.

I really liked the first half but by the end it was all the same old twists and turns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 27 March, 2014, 11:30:45 PM
Just watched Avengers Assemble for the first time - I had heard mixed reviews but really enjoyed it. I was especially impressed with the script!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 March, 2014, 01:04:46 AM
Gutted Snowpiercer ain't as good as it looks - I was looking forward to that!

Meanwhile... Requiem for a Dream is a turgid mess of moralistic pretentiousness that I've never been able to get on side with. It is so overbearingly simple it's likely how very privileged people view addiction - which is fine but really this just aches of "film studies fodder with no actual meaning" to me. Like all of Aronofsky's films with the exception of the The Wrestler.

A special feature on the DVD - where Ellen Burstyn talks with the late writer Hubert Selby Jr who had coped with lifelong addiction and depression makes her look so staid and patronisingly worthy and he so profoundly and funnily honest it starts to make a mockery of the entire films po-faced outlook. His impassioned comments are more inspiring than the repetitious speedy cuts and (almost funny) grindingly bleak ending could ever be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 28 March, 2014, 10:58:59 AM
After reading Doctor Sleep and re-reading The Shining, I felt I should watch the Kubrick movie again. I think the whole 'Shining' aspect kind of falls flat in the movie and Jack Torrence is a complete prick from the beginning, not a loving father and husband with deep problems. I suppose the biggest thing is that the Jack of the book is remorseful about every loss of temper, cruel word and mistake. Whereas the Jack of the movie never says sorry even before he falls to pieces (which happens incredibly suddenly in the movie rather than gradually). Still does have a creepy atmosphere and it is wonderfully shot - the scary bits are done extremely well. But the bits in between fall really flat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 28 March, 2014, 11:13:26 AM
If you haven't seen it yet, watch 'Room 237'.  Made a lot of sense of 'The Shining' for me, which was always a movie I both loved, and hated in equal measure, and was never sure why.  I think I know now! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 28 March, 2014, 01:15:55 PM
Room 237 is great, and I heartily recommend it to each and every one of you.  However, for me it was less about explaining The Shining* and more about all the people with far too much time on their hands that read far, far too much into things.  Anyway, fascinating.



* The Shining represents one of my favourite Norwegian manglings of perfectly good film titles... "Hotel of Evil", anyone? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 28 March, 2014, 01:31:31 PM
I was more fascinated with the idea of Kubrick's experiments in subliminal messaging!  Film is riddled with them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 March, 2014, 12:05:42 AM
The Blues Brothers

Still great fun although I hadn't realised how slight the story is (not that it really matters).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 March, 2014, 11:11:34 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 30 March, 2014, 12:05:42 AM
The Blues Brothers

Still great fun although I hadn't realised how slight the story is (not that it really matters).


Great film. Far better than the piss-poor sequel!


Yesterday on Movie Mix it was an 80's Hulkfest.

Return of Hulk - Hilarious. I really enjoyed it.

Death of Hulk - a bit crap to be fair, although there is one good scene where the Hulk actually manages to run through some walls.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 30 March, 2014, 12:32:17 PM
Bit harsh to Blues Brothers 2000 there Kev - the music is just as good, as are the cameos. The story is just as slight. The only real difference is having John Goodman instead of Belushi.



I'm watching 70's Doc Savage right now (starring Ron Ely) and loving it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 March, 2014, 12:54:10 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 30 March, 2014, 12:32:17 PM
Bit harsh to Blues Brothers 2000 there Kev - the music is just as good, as are the cameos. The story is just as slight. The only real difference is having John Goodman instead of Belushi.


Twas a bit harsh I suppose. My main gripe with the film is the near identical plot to the first film, but with profoundly less laughs IMO.

I thought John Goodman wasn't that bad, but he ain't no Belushi!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 March, 2014, 04:15:20 PM
I'd been keen to see Cockfighter since I heard it described as "like a regular movie but with chickens fighting" so I was pleased to see it was on as part of a Monte Hellman season at the Stadtkino.

No problems with subtitles as Warren Oates plays a man who took a vow of silence after his big mouth cost him the Cockfighter of the Year medal two years before. His woman doesn't understand him but it seems his gamecocks do. Harry Dean Stanton is the arch-rival in a typically great supporting role which sees him one again sporting any number of wonderfully outrageous suits.

Overall, it's a short and very strange slice of 70s Americana. A standard sports movie structure built around something much seamier than baseball or boxing. The vow of silence part gives our man an ultra-laconic presence and it's hard to say how much of the washed out look is down to the age of the print.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 April, 2014, 02:49:46 PM
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same

A likeable shambles of a concert film - a lot of the performances mimed at Shepperton studios several years after the fact. It's the height of 70s rock excess, the utterly self-indulgent filmed sequences are baffling as they are oddly endearing. The star is, and will always be, the music which is great. The Rain Song/Robert Plant medieval thing is probably the highlight for me - as it goes quite well together. Bonzo's down-to-earth "here is my cow, now I'm having a pint" segment is also brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 06 April, 2014, 10:43:12 PM
winter soldier
Thought it was average.

crash (with Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullocks etc....)
Thought it was very good.

wolf of wall street
Really enjoyed it.....watched it in two parts which helped fight of the "its too long" issue. Didn't have the conflict with its alleged one sided depiction criticism that it appears to have received elsewhere.

in bruges

Thought it was great. Fantastic script and Colin Farrell was very good.

American hustle
Also enjoyed. Not Christian bales biggest fan, but he did a very good job in this.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 06 April, 2014, 11:17:07 PM
The Woman In Black: dull as dishwater and while it made me jump a few times I didn't feel it was frightening at all.  It does get points for emotionally scarring a lot of kids though.

Trance: Dredd's own Anthony Dodd Mantle was responsible for a lot of beautiful imagery in this film, and that's the best I can say about it.  I was confused as to who the main character was, but found myself not caring by the end as all the characters were equally unpleasant.  Plus I guessed what the twist was about 35 mins in.  Contains one scene of a fully shaved Rosario Dawson in the buff...no further comment to make.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 07 April, 2014, 08:54:45 AM
Quote from: The Bissler on 06 April, 2014, 11:17:07 PM
Contains one scene of a fully shaved Rosario Dawson in the buff...no further comment to make.

Trance was a bit of a let down. But you did get to see McAvoys arse. Much to the delight of my girlfriend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 April, 2014, 09:37:17 AM
Lockout...

That was pants. Oddly, there's a much better movie in there trying to get out. Given that Guy Pearce is a decent actor who tends to make pretty good choices of role, and Luc Besson's name is normally indicative of competent-and-at-least-mildly-entertaining action fare, I'm not sure what went wrong.

Pearce is certainly too good an actor for the fact that Snow is an utterly unlikeable dick to be anything other than a conscious choice. Add to that any number of odd narrative decisions: [spoiler]setting up the Glaswegian nutter for an entire movie and then putting him up against the lead for about ten seconds before disposing of him off-camera; rather anticlimactically blowing up the space station and then spending a good fifteen minutes at the end of the movie resolving a plot thread that no one cared about because it was obviously just a macguffin to set the plot in motion... Then there's the oddly inconsistent tech: the first time we see people going into orbit, they require a very C20th looking space shuttle arrangement, but by the end of the film there's a whole fleet of space fighters appeared from... somewhere.[/spoiler]

Non-spoilery verdict: disappointing.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2014, 10:22:29 AM
Odd Thomas - Huge fan of the book and as an adaptation this got a lot of things right. The casting of Odd in particular is bang on and the Odd/Stormy relationship works well. The bodachs look great too, and there were some sequences that were so close to how the book played out in my head that I was very happy with it.

Like with all book to film adaptations I found myself getting a little irked that certain elements were missing or some characters were underdeveloped (wondering if there were legal reasons Elvis isn't involved at all), and at 90mins the film has to rattle through things pretty quickly which means the whole thing can seem a little manic and messy. It's a very entertaining adventure though, and I reckon they did a really good job with it. An extra half hour to let the whole thing catch a breath now and then might have been good though.
The book is still better though. Obviously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 07 April, 2014, 02:48:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 April, 2014, 09:37:17 AM
Lockout...

That was pants. Oddly, there's a much better movie in there trying to get out. Given that Guy Pearce is a decent actor who tends to make pretty good choices of role, and Luc Besson's name is normally indicative of competent-and-at-least-mildly-entertaining action fare, I'm not sure what went wrong.

I really wanted to like Lockout a lot more than I did.  It is hard to tell exactly what is wrong - Snow was a bit of an odd character and for every funny quip there were many more misses.  I thought that chap from Emmerdale was great as an over-the-top baddie.  Some of the special effects were far below standard, especially the bike chase at the start.

It also got a bit messy near the end - in the regular cut [spoiler]Begbie gets killed on the space station but in the extras it shows some deleted scenes where he also gets into one of those suits and has a mid-air fight with Snow.  Again, the effects are not the best but at least is gives a more suitable end to the character so it seems strange they cut it out.   [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Moggot Lover on 07 April, 2014, 04:25:05 PM
A bit late, but managed to get round to watching Batman 'Dark knight rises' over the weekend.
Such an underwhelming film. Fight scenes were laughable. Lack of chemistry between Batman and Cat women and pretty much the rest of the cast. I did like Bane and story/plot was a little different (hmm not that much) to the other films, but alias it was very very predictable to what was going to happen next. Shame really so glad I didn't go to the cinema to watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 April, 2014, 04:40:17 PM
Showdown in Little Tokyo. Oh Grud this film is awful. It's almost bad enough to be good, but not quite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 07 April, 2014, 05:14:16 PM
Star Trek Into Darkness

Really enjoyed this- and probably the best Trek film since Wrath of Khan, ironically. A real sense of scale and of the Trek universe expanding, incredible visuals, and a likeable cast who almost completely step out from under the shadows of the originals. Only two things let it down- the blatantly telegraphed solution to "dead Kirk" and Chris Pine's girly-sounding recitation of "Space... The Final Frontier" towards the end. Other than that, loved it unreservedly.

Hatchet 3

Having very good feelings towards the first two in the series, I was hoping for a bit more from this- the "final" installment. Somehow the gore seemed toned down, and if you remove that from a Hatchet movie, there's not a lot left except horror-celebrity actors doing their thing. Here, along with Kane Hodder (numerous F13 movies) as Victor Crowley and Danielle Harris (Halloween 4, Halloween remake and sequel) as the main protagonist, we have Zach Galligan (Gremlins) as the police chief and Caroline Williams (Stretch, from Texas Chainsaw 2) as the investigative reporter ex-wife. Nice to see them again, but it didn't save the movie.

Monty Python's Meaning Of Life

Don't think I've seen this in twenty years- if not longer. The songs are still great, but the rest of it didn't even raise a smile, I'm afraid.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2014, 05:29:30 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 April, 2014, 04:40:17 PM
Showdown in Little Tokyo. Oh Grud this film is awful. It's almost bad enough to be good, but not quite.

We are very different people, as if not for that superfluous and vile sexual assault scene I would consider SHowdown In little Tokyo a western chop-socky classic.  It's brilliant no-budget film-making and if you can truly sit there as Dolph Lundgren's character escapes Yakuza ninjas by picking up a car and throwing it at them and not enjoy it, you are dead inside.  It's a big, stupid cartoon action movie like they just don't make anymore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 April, 2014, 06:13:13 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2014, 10:22:29 AM
Odd Thomas ... wondering if there were legal reasons Elvis isn't involved at all

The King's cameos in True Romance and Preacher were framed in particularly liminal and obscure ways, so I assume the Presley estate is pretty strict about unauthorised representations of characters purporting to be Elvis himself, rather than tribute acts who only copy his likeness. Not sure whether Priscilla ran the rule over the ambiguous Bubba Ho Tep or not.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dunk! on 08 April, 2014, 04:39:15 PM
Caught The Divide on Film 4 over the weekend - awful post-apocalyptic nihilist crap, a painful watch.

And Snowpiercer which I though was excellent and a nice bit of weird Sci-fi. Didn't recognise the lead man until the lights came on later in - beard and dirt and all that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Moggot Lover on 09 April, 2014, 09:18:30 AM
The Lego movie, took my son yesterday to watch this at the local cinema, it was his first film he has watched at the cinema. Very funny film, and my son enjoy it as well.
Lots of references to other films which being an old git, I recognised most of them   :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 April, 2014, 01:48:18 PM
The Blood Stained Shadow: Bido's second of his poorly documented giallo. Very greasy, very grimy and surprisingly remorseless. The kill's are suitably grizzly if not over shocking, an atmosphere of desolation hangs about the film which is primarily set in a parish, and Venetian scenery is never a bad thing. Must check out his even trashier venture, Watch Me When I Kill next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 09 April, 2014, 05:10:46 PM
finally getting round to zombie flesh eaters got as far as the reporter sneaking on the boat...
elsewhere ghost macroth recoomends outpost so i'll be tracking that down as well!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 09:37:47 AM
By recent cash-strapped tradition, the missus and I give each other birthday presents that the kids will primarily enjoy (it actually works really well): this year I was pleased to receive the Frozen DVD, which has been the subject of relentless pestering for over three months now. As this thread will testify I really enjoyed this in the cinema, but I was fairly sure a lot of that was to do with the hypnotically beautiful and sumptuously detailed costume and architectural designs spread across the big screen, the equal of anything I've ever seen committed to film.  Turns out the songs, which I was lukewarm about before, have grown on me, and there were loads of little gags and details that I'd missed, and I enjoyed it just as much on our wee telly.  Truly a modern masterpiece of animation, and Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel are marvels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 April, 2014, 09:41:20 AM


The Last Days on Mars
As it will be out at Cinemas in UK, but it is now in Netflix USA, which I watch last night.

I thought it was not bad but interesting. Very 2000AD Future Shock vib there. 3 of 5 for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 10:14:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 09:37:47 AM
By recent cash-strapped tradition, the missus and I give each other birthday presents that the kids will primarily enjoy (it actually works really well): this year I was pleased to receive the Frozen DVD, which has been the subject of relentless pestering for over three months now. As this thread will testify I really enjoyed this in the cinema, but I was fairly sure a lot of that was to do with the hypnotically beautiful and sumptuously detailed costume and architectural designs spread across the big screen, the equal of anything I've ever seen committed to film.  Turns out the songs, which I was lukewarm about before, have grown on me, and there were loads of little gags and details that I'd missed, and I enjoyed it just as much on our wee telly.  Truly a modern masterpiece of animation, and Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel are marvels.

we wasn't taken with frozen at all, even mini mogs said there was too much singing. olaf was cool though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 10:29:00 AM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 10:14:53 AM
we wasn't taken with frozen at all, even mini mogs said there was too much singing. olaf was cool though.

Funnily enough I think the singing really lifts it - instead of being a cartoon with musical numbers that slow things down, this really is a musical, in the sense that the songs advance the plot and define many of the characters.  A single number, 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman' pretty much delivers the entire backstory and the relationship of our heroines. 

It does feel a little odd to be quite so excited by a Disney princess movie, but I think that since I've spent so much time at home with my wee daughter over the past few years, I've become very sensitive to and critical of the torrent of utter shite that is pitched at her: accomplished things like Brave, and Tangled and Frozen, that tell good stories with complex active heroines and solid aesthetics, have become quite important to me.  The tidal wave of vacuous pink that surrounds us is held back for a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 April, 2014, 12:45:48 PM
Frozen was shit man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 10 April, 2014, 12:57:26 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 April, 2014, 12:45:48 PM
Frozen was shit man!

"Mark Kermode breaks into a cold sweat as he thinks of the next generation of film critics ready to take his crown.  Younger, more intelligent and with sharper wit.  How can he compete?"
;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 April, 2014, 04:15:07 PM
I've never seen it BUT since my daughter keeps singing a half remembered version of a song from it (something to do with letting the north and or cold (depending on the day) wind blow and not letting something or other bother/worry you anyway) I hate it without every having seen a frame of it...

... now then were's The Cosh to quite rightly put me in my place?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway but when the mini and missus don't like one there must be something ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 04:29:48 PM
Dead inside, the lot of you!  Back to your Nu52 books, where you belong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 April, 2014, 04:39:15 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 10 April, 2014, 12:57:26 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 April, 2014, 12:45:48 PM
Frozen was shit man!

"Mark Kermode breaks into a cold sweat as he thinks of the next generation of film critics ready to take his crown.  Younger, more intelligent and with sharper wit.  How can he compete?"
;)

Hah!  :lol:
To be completely (dirty) frank the visuals in Frozen where outstanding, but the plot was utter rehashed nonsense and the characters utterly void of any originality. Except maybe for Elsa's "coming-out-of-the-closet" analogy but still their was little of interest to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2014, 04:51:37 PM
I found Frozen quite anaemic, and when people talk about it being some feminist fable I think I watched a different film.  The only thing it did do differently was in having two equally likely male suitors for the female lead, but then it whizzes that up the wall with a heel turn, removing any need for her to display emotional maturity and choose between them, turning the film into the usual Disney "fated to be together" shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 05:14:02 PM
(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131026140553/walkingdead/images/1/15/Don%27t_open_dead_inside.jpg)

I'm not sure how a loose adaptation of a Hans Christian Anderson story can profitably be criticised of having an 'unoriginal' plot, nor do I even remember the 'two male suitors' dilemma being a feature - the move the film makes is to have that aspect, and Anna's love-life in general, being essentially irrelevant to the outcome.  It's not about Anna choosing between two men at all, indeed at the critical moment where she has to make a choice it's between Kristoff and Elsa - that may not fit anyone's idea of a 'feminist fable' and I certainly won't disagree there, but where two women solve their own considerable familial and political problems without reference to the male leads, I think that's worth noting, especially set against the ghastly ranks of precedents like Little Mermaid and its ilk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2014, 05:24:32 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway but when the mini and missus don't like one there must be something ...



Or you're just wrong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZrDALCsKwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-0Vy-Owr54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pt2-F2j2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4yVFUixgwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOzd-xiz14

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 April, 2014, 05:31:47 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2014, 05:24:32 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway but when the mini and missus don't like one there must be something ...



Or you're just wrong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZrDALCsKwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-0Vy-Owr54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pt2-F2j2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4yVFUixgwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOzd-xiz14

Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfMXwRapNc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfMXwRapNc)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 April, 2014, 05:32:00 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2014, 05:24:32 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway but when the mini and missus don't like one there must be something ...

Or you're just wrong

Now you've done it, mog. Musicals are for SOAP what Lara is to the otherwise inarticulate ball of rage and frustration that is Mongrol.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 April, 2014, 05:42:50 PM

THE MOST SOPHISTICATED AND ELEGANT THING EVER COMMITTED TO FILM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=n3RSlUkw9U0#t=119)

THE MOST STUNNING DISPLAY OF ATHLETICISM AND THE JOY OF PHYSICAL EXPRESSION (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SND3v0i9uhE)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2014, 05:53:36 PM



THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF IRREVERENCE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8okW69O4mY)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2014, 06:11:56 PM
No Earth Girls are Easy, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, Les Miserables, Jailhouse Rock?

Quote from: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 05:14:02 PMthat may not fit anyone's idea of a 'feminist fable' and I certainly won't disagree there

I like the gay reading of the film, with Elsa's parents taking her to the goblin equivalent of a "pray the gay away" camp and all, though I do wonder if it's the fact that she has no romantic plot that's been the basis of the reading rather than the alternative take on the lyrics of the musical numbers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 April, 2014, 06:12:55 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway

Rocky Horror? The Blues Brothers? South Park: The Movie?

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 April, 2014, 06:35:00 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 April, 2014, 05:53:36 PM
THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF IRREVERENCE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8okW69O4mY)

The heyday of practical effects - the cab driver is actually just further away from the camera than the cab. I always thought Lloyd Bridges invented the can we have a picture gag. God knows I didn't want to be that guy, but someone's got to:

WHETHER YOU HATE THIS OR LOVE IT DEPENDS ON WHETHER YOU HAD A SISTER (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY5pmzmiDO8)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2014, 06:51:57 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2014, 06:11:56 PM
I like the gay reading of the film, with Elsa's parents taking her to the goblin equivalent of a "pray the gay away" camp and all, though I do wonder if it's the fact that she has no romantic plot that's been the basis of the reading rather than the alternative take on the lyrics of the musical numbers.

Yeah, I think it's a fair reading.  I don't think it's necessary for Elsa to actually be gay for the parallel to be an intentional element of the film - her parents make a fundamental (if well-meaning) mistake in trying to change and hide her nature, and her leaving her family behind before embracing fabulousness proves a mistake too.  Acceptance rather than conformity or exile seems like a good core message with many applications.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 10:08:07 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 April, 2014, 06:12:55 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 10 April, 2014, 04:24:47 PM
i hate musicals anyway

Rocky Horror? The Blues Brothers? South Park: The Movie?

Cheers

Jim

ok.i'll concede south park and anything family guy did...I have never seen blues brothers! :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 April, 2014, 12:00:01 AM
Latest episode "Chaos" of Southland on More4  :o

(Must be only one watch it)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2014, 12:29:13 AM
Aronofsky's NOAH.

More like Aronofsky's SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 April, 2014, 08:31:41 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2014, 12:29:13 AM
Aronofsky's NOAH. More like Aronofsky's SHITE

At least it would float. I was talking to someone who'd seen it yesterday, who she said the Neverending Story rock giants stretched her credulity. The 500 year old Noah who chats to The Almighty and builds a boat large enough to accommodate every animal on Earth, she was fine with.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 April, 2014, 09:12:40 AM
The Raid 2 - More of a slow burn than the first film, and I have one friend who didn't like it as he felt there was too much plot getting in the way of the tight action focus that made the first film great.

I disagree though, the action in the first half is definitely more sporadic than I expected but it's all massively stylish and with the set-pieces being more elaborate and varied some downtime is important to set the context and give them weight. Plus, there's a tipping point where it puts its foot down and never looks back, with the last chunk being probably the most intense final act to an action movie I've seen. Really wasn't confident they could outdo the action in the first film but man, some of this shit is just insane.

Evans is easily the best action director out there at the moment (how the hell he pulled off some of the car stuff in this is a mystery) and watching his films really gives me the same thrill and exhilaration that watching John Woo movies gave me as a youngster.

So aye, totally loved it. It loses some of the simplicity of the first film and some won't like that (I'll admit to finding it maybe 20mins longer than it really needs to be), and being less short and snappy means it might not be the great impulsive rewatcher the first one was, but I do think it's a better film in almost every way, and like the first one I'm immediately desperate to see it again. Fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 April, 2014, 10:44:11 PM
Pacific Rim, finally. It was great.

Also, the first 20 minutes of Thor 2. It wasn't that great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 April, 2014, 03:40:21 AM
Snowpiercer: heroic effort at a solid piece of Sci-Fi mixing hair-brained Randian idealist industrialism and end of the world Neo-Marxist capitalism. Falls down a bit in its latter-half due to some unfortunate stylings pulled straight from Matrix: Reloaded, and the ever present feeling that it needs a longer running time to better explore characters from both within and without the many other compartments of what seems to be a vaster choo-choo than the Revolutionaries from economy class had the required tickets to slow down and enjoy, or in other words, I want a mini-series.

Still, the train and it's perpetual journey encircling the globe each year is such a brilliantly simple metaphor of humanity's precarious self-destructive survival as a consequence of obsession with technology, order and vanity that it remains very compelling, always pushing its story onward ... it's a closed track, and the only [spoiler]solution to this hermetically-sealed society's cycle of diminishing returns is to break the circle[/spoiler].


I really want to read the comic now so that's a triumph in itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 April, 2014, 07:23:28 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 14 April, 2014, 03:40:21 AM
Snowpiercer: heroic effort at a solid piece of Sci-Fi mixing hair-brained Randian idealist industrialism and end of the world Neo-Marxist capitalism ... the train and it's perpetual journey encircling the globe each year is such a brilliantly simple metaphor of humanity's precarious self-destructive survival as a consequence of obsession with technology, order and vanity

That's some recommendation. Gave this a miss at the pictures, but I'll add it to my watchlist.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 April, 2014, 09:51:36 AM

Frankenstein's Army
I notice it on Netflix USA last night, and thoughts that sounds so silly, one of Asylum or Uwe Boll's films(I hate them) so just for a laugh I give it a try for few mins.

The film on a group of Russian soldiers out on a search-and-rescue mission in Germany during World War II. They stumble upon a desolate factory, go inside to investigate, and discover the Nazis' sickest plan:

But I got hooking into the film! And finish watch it last night, and it was so awesome film! Very insane! And very cult film. I gotta to say the acting is bit silly, but the monsters is great! And what a production! Will kept eye on the director for more films from him!

With monsters[spoiler] it feelings like playing Bioshock, see Big Daddies. [/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Moggot Lover on 14 April, 2014, 11:27:13 AM
Finally got round to watching The Amazing Spiderman. Really enjoyable film. It was a lot better than I thought it would be.
Looking forward now to the new one coming out this month. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 14 April, 2014, 06:39:55 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 14 April, 2014, 03:40:21 AM
Snowpiercer

Not previously on my radar Joe, like the sound of it. Cheers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 April, 2014, 11:49:19 PM
The Expendables 2. Probably doesn't help that I'm watching it a couple of days after having my socks rocked off by The Raid 2, but god it just feels so hilariously inept. The word that kept coming to mind was amateur, it's a real clunky mess. We did get a few good laughs out of it, and I think a couple of those might even have been intentional. Ropey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 April, 2014, 08:14:46 AM
An Aussie mate's proselytising finally wore me down to the point where I watched repossession comedy The Castle. I guess it's the kind of thing you might find yourself smiling in recognition at if you came from the sort of place it was filmed or recognised the type of characters it was gently ribbing. I'm not and I don't so it was no Restless Natives and, beyond one or two mildly amusing lines, it was a perplexingly dull experience.

I've only fairly recently discovered the Australian usage of the word "wog" and I still find it faintly shocking to hear it in anything made after 1980.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 17 April, 2014, 09:36:17 AM
Far Out Man

Starring Tommy Chong.

Watched this on you tube. It wasn't terrible but I really have no reason to recommend it. If you are looking for a fun stoner comedy there is just so much better stuff to choose from. Like Cheech And Chongs Nice Dreams. Tommy Chong is still a funny guy solo but nowhere even close to what he is when paired up with Cheech.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 April, 2014, 12:21:30 PM
THE LUNCH BOX
An Indian romantic drama (with a fair share of laughs) based on what happens when Mumbai's dabbawallahs make a rare mistake and deliver a lunch box to the wrong person.

It's delight throughout with perfectly judged performances from the three leads and manages to be fantastically sweet but never sickly. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 18 April, 2014, 04:11:41 PM
Cloud Atlas, what an achievement, absolutely spectacular piece of writing and directing.  never read the book but really had a profound effect on me (it helps that I've recently fallen in love and found the one finally, I know sickening isn't it, marrying end of the month).  Romantic, moving and spectacular, the whole thing really comes together in the last half hour it's a shame it didn't do too well but I must say I think this is going to be one of my favourite movies ever.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 April, 2014, 08:07:20 AM
The Wolf of Wall Street - it started quite well and is very funny in parts, but I found the Film far too long to be honest.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 April, 2014, 12:37:02 AM
The Family (2013)

A fairly fun but incredibly shallow effort from Besson here - with barely any pay-off. The Goodfellas reference is bewilderingly meta. It would have been better being slightly less silly overall really which is something I'm not fond of saying - but its dull stereotypes, over-stretched coincidences and very predictable outcomes were made all the more glaring by their lack of seriousness. The whole thing just felt like a long joke rather than an engaging story. Not terrible but not at all memorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2014, 01:11:11 PM
Baba Yaga (1973)

Bleach: Memories of Nobody (2006)

Femina Ridens (1969)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Paprika (2006)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 21 April, 2014, 07:58:49 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel

The visuals alone are worth the price of admission. Beautiful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2014, 09:58:10 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 21 April, 2014, 07:58:49 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel

The visuals alone are worth the price of admission. Beautiful film.
Did anyone else notice the change is aspect ratios as the movie shifted through three time zones?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 April, 2014, 12:20:58 AM
The Guard (2011)

I must say - I was incredibly taken with this. It balances cynical self-awareness and genuine charm with incredible skill. It's genuinely incredibly funny but also fairly moving - all parts are pitch perfect and... really this is one of the most convincing action films I've seen in years. McDonagh craps all over his too-cool-for-school brother here I think, and has produced something of real heart and character that I definitely intend to watch again as soon as possible.

Win Win (2011)

Likeable but irritatingly aspirational movie that is not nearly as good as I thought it was going to be. The performances are strong - but for something so charmingly down to earth it's irritatingly black and white and ends with a sickeningly mainstream predictability that's hard to stomach after the strength of McCarthy's previous work. The tedious comedy side-kick guy really didn't need to be there either - who the fuck is he?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 April, 2014, 10:30:16 AM
Just a mention of the Guard puts a huge smile on my face, Brendan Gleeson is the man. I quite want to check out Calvary but doubt I'll fit it in before it goes due to money/spiderman/the raid 2.

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 April, 2014, 09:58:10 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 21 April, 2014, 07:58:49 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel

The visuals alone are worth the price of admission. Beautiful film.
Did anyone else notice the change is aspect ratios as the movie shifted through three time zones?

Yes but I was warned about them beforehand because Mark Kermode bangs on about such stuff constantly. Also Richmond Odeon has an odd screen anyway making it very noticeable.

Loved Grand Budapest, after watching Darjeeling Limited this weekend I can confirm the former is definitely my favourite Wes Anderson movie - largely due to the presence of Ralph Fiennes, who is really rather bloody funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 22 April, 2014, 12:11:54 PM
CALVARY is an incredibly dark and bleak film. Don't go in expecting a retread of the tone of The Guard. You will be disappointed - I know I was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 22 April, 2014, 01:10:00 PM
Hell Comes to Frogtown - Sam Hell (Rowdy Roddy Piper) is a prisoner of the female faction who took over the US after nuclear war. Mutant frogs thrive in the wasteland while humans face possible extinction due to infertility. Sam Hell, in a bid to get out of prison, starts working for the female faction (and has a bomb strapped to his crotch so that he doesn't try to escape). Hell is forced to rescue a group of fertile women from a harem run by an evil mutant frog gang.

This movie is on Netflix. It really should have been drawn by Massimo Belardinelli! This film is amazing and everyone should watch it if just for Roddy's performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 April, 2014, 04:52:20 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 22 April, 2014, 12:11:54 PM
CALVARY is an incredibly dark and bleak film. Don't go in expecting a retread of the tone of The Guard. You will be disappointed - I know I was.

Sure as hell looked darker in trailerform - maybe now I'm expecting it I won't be disappointed!

Also in terms of Grand Budapest I'm a sucker for Wanderson films but missed this in cinemas (even our super-cheap independent local stopped showing it :'() - looks brilliantly fun though. Hopefully more succinct and caper-based than the rather rambling (but still good) Moonrise Kingdom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 April, 2014, 05:01:01 PM
Grand Budapest is marvellous, Foxy - easily Anderson's best work yet. I could happily have watched it twice, back to back. It's extremely funny and the pacing is superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 April, 2014, 05:37:17 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 22 April, 2014, 12:11:54 PM
CALVARY is an incredibly dark and bleak film. Don't go in expecting a retread of the tone of The Guard. You will be disappointed - I know I was.

Going to see it tomorrow- bleak buffers prepared!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 26 April, 2014, 06:28:05 PM
Threads...don't know how I never saw it before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 26 April, 2014, 06:31:44 PM
Awesome bit of 80's telly that was.  Bloody terrifying at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 April, 2014, 06:38:52 PM
I seem to recall that terrifying traffic warden with the bandaged face and the assault rifle on the cover of the Radio Times haunting me for weeks afterwards.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 April, 2014, 07:32:55 PM
Tjreads was, and still is, utterly terrifying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 April, 2014, 11:07:39 AM
Captain America: Winter Soldier.

I had high hopes for this after stellar reviews from many quarters, but on the whole I was unimpressed.

The Acting I can't fault, all the main cast were good but I feel the whole film was let down by the Plot.

SPOILERS - the build up was good with CA and Fury, and the way SHIELD was in danger of becoming a tool for fascism. But the culmination of Plot threads (Hydra being in control the Whole time) seemed a bit daft/crap even by Comic/Superhero standards.

On a more positive note, I thought it better than the first film.


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 April, 2014, 03:26:16 PM
A coupla low budget efforts:

Roger Corman's Fantastic Four (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON57I0i3ryw)

It's available on youtube. Apparently some obscure production company somehow got the rights to The Fantastic Four, and had to make a movie or else they would lose them. So they gave Roger Corman a million bucks, and this is what he came up with. If you're willing to overlook the shonky special effects (Playstaion 1 standard CGI) and poorly choreographed fights (one of the fights is literally the screen just rotating 360o then all the baddies fall down), it's actually a pretty fun movie. Does a much better job of characterising the FF than either of the big budget Hollywood efforts. Dr. Doom was a bit weird though. I think the actor thought since he was wearing a big metal mask, he should try to act with his hands as much as possible, a choice which veers wildly between silly and creepy.


Birdemic: Shock and Terror (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbykx7OKajI)

Good God I don't know where to start with this one. It should be shown to every budding director or film school student. It is a perfect example of how to get everything wrong when making a movie. The first 10 minutes is just shots of a guy driving around in his car. We don't know who he is, where he is going or even where he has come from. Why is it in the movie? My best guess would be because they rented that Mustang, and by God, they were going to use as much footage of it as they could to get their money's worth. It was a nice Mustang to be fair.

The sound editing is shocking. They clearly knew about ADR, but only used it a handful of times. The rest of the dialogue has hissing/traffic/wind/general background noise, which alters between the shot/reverse shots when 2 characters are talking. Almost every shot is boring too. Dull static framing with nothing interesting happening on the screen, and most of the time it's just two people having awkward unnatural conversations.

The plot is...I don't know....bullshit. I thought I was going to watch a movie about birdies going mental and attacking people, but for the first hour I thought I had got the wrong movie. It was more like a rom-com, but with neither rom nor com. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the stock footage. They (what were their names? Fucked if I know!)  go on a date to restaurant, we are shown stock footage of a restaurant, and then they're sitting in an entirely different restaurant. The movie tries to misdirect you by having the same background music playing in the 2 different restaurants.

But yes, the plot. Birds (eventually) go crazy and start attacking people because.....global warming/climate change? At three different points of the movie, three different scientist characters deliver three huge exposition on why these birds be crazy, and none of them make any sense. They go on at length, expounding the evils of man, how we've poisoned and raped mother Earth and her natural resources. Taken at face value, you'd think this movie was trying to convey some sorta environmental message, but I don't think so. I think there's something sinister going on here. The premise is so completely ridiculous I have a hard time believing the people that made it care, or indeed know anything about the environment or nature. I think this movie was made by anti-climate change science-deniers as false flag propaganda.

I won't even start on the dodgy special effects, they are dodgy, but they're the most competent thing in this movie, which isn't really saying a lot.

This movie also has its own bespoke Nu-metal soundtrack. I shit you not.

It is terribly made, badly acted, badly edited and poorly executed shite. But by God it's entertaining.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard or so long when watching a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 April, 2014, 05:37:38 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 28 April, 2014, 03:26:16 PM
A coupla low budget efforts:

Roger Corman's Fantastic Four (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON57I0i3ryw)

It's available on youtube. Apparently some obscure production company somehow got the rights to The Fantastic Four, and had to make a movie or else they would lose them. So they gave Roger Corman a million bucks, and this is what he came up with. If you're willing to overlook the shonky special effects (Playstaion 1 standard CGI) and poorly choreographed fights (one of the fights is literally the screen just rotating 360o then all the baddies fall down), it's actually a pretty fun movie. Does a much better job of characterising the FF than either of the big budget Hollywood efforts. Dr. Doom was a bit weird though. I think the actor thought since he was wearing a big metal mask, he should try to act with his hands as much as possible, a choice which veers wildly between silly and creepy.

I love this version! It's been a while since I saw it, but doesn't the Torch at one point out-fly a laser beam, beating it across the Atlantic? And Reed, for obvious reasons, doesn't do a huge amount of stretching!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 April, 2014, 10:46:10 PM

Sorry to drag down the tone, but I just watched The Artist on iplayer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01n1vhr/the-artist). It's funny, steals from the best, and understands exactly what it is that makes moving pictures such a joy. Plus, I'm a little bit in love with Berenice Bejo.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2014, 10:51:01 PM
Bambi Meets Godzilla:

...........

WTF DID I JUST WATCH?  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 30 April, 2014, 12:09:19 AM
I finally got to see The Raid today, after friends loanedme their copy, and...

...

I did not enjoy it.

Lots of people raved to me about this movie, but I actually found it pretty dull. Sure, the fight scenes have a lot of energy, but overall I just couldn't get excited about any of it.

Also, I've said it here before, but I'm REALLY getting weary of hearing the c-word being tossed into movies ever more frequently. I find it vulgar. And, on that subject, this is another movie that wins the 'everybody sounds brainless because they swear so often' award.

Really glad I hadn't spent money on this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 30 April, 2014, 04:04:55 PM
You're Next

Nice to see the tables turned. Particularly the last one. Though the[spoiler] Night of the Living Dead [/spoiler]ending was frustrating in the extreme.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 02 May, 2014, 09:12:15 AM
Doom


I can think of another 4 letter word that would have been a more appropriate title.

I'm not sure how much potential there is in a movie based on an fps. The action scenes were pretty good, as were the special effects, but the writing! Even our own (I say that as a Kiwi and a Dredd fan) Karl Urban is disappointing (although this could be put down to the script writing more than anything)

If you do feel the need to watch it, I suggest watching the the sound off. It would be a lot more enjoyable!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 May, 2014, 09:36:31 AM
That bit where its all in first person was nice though. Shame about the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 02 May, 2014, 11:56:55 AM
I just saw doom again recently too.

I think it could have been a decent dumb sci fi actioner but its just way too long and loses all pace in the middle. If 20 minutes had been cut from the middle of the film it would have been a whole lot better. Thought Karl urban and Dwayne were fine in it.......just got alittle boring.

Don't get me wrong, its rubbish, but it could have been a lot more fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 May, 2014, 09:22:50 PM
Nightbreed (Mr Barker, 1990, German DVD edition titled "Cabal")

How do I love Nightbreed, let me count the ways... No, actually, lets not. Safe to say, I'd not seen this in two decades, and tonight watched it with the boys. Eldest called it his "favourite film ever" and has not stopped talking about it since it stopped. I knew he'd respond to the 'monsters as heroes' theme, and he did in spades. Doubly impressed that Midian is in Canada, so now desperately wants to go visit granny, so he can go find it. Youngest thought it was "very scary, but very awesome"- both absolutely horrified it has no sequel.

As for me, I thought it was just as fresh and lovely as when I first saw it all those years ago. Yes, the same bits stick out as being a bit crap (the matt-painted graveyard, the obvious studio-bound nature of said graveyard, Boone's oh-so-cheaply shot reanimation and that slow zoom through a broken window, some of the lesser makeup effects and the dodgy opticals that dog most Clive Barker films of this period- most notably the deaths of the cenobites in the first Hellraiser and the climactic battle in Rawhead Rex- oh, and the truly awful performance of David Cronenberg as Dr Dekker) but it's still more than capable of living up to its pre-release hype as "the Star Wars of monster movies". I have no idea why it's so hard to get hold of over here, and why I had to buy a German dodgy DVD-ROM copy off ebay (which was at least in proper widescreen, has the trailer as an extra and is in English with no subtitles), but the news they are finally releasing Barker's preferred edit later this year (or next) is music to my horror-ears. One can only hope we eventually get a sequel, or a remake, or a tv series, and that Barker at last gets his arse into gear and writes a new book.

Several million out of ten.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 02 May, 2014, 11:49:44 PM
Love Nightbreed, again haven't seen it for aeons and now have a hankering to track it down on dvd. Also was I believe the first film Chris Cunningham worked on (90's pseudo-Biz Dredd art and Mean Machine/ Hammerstein creator from the '94 film).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 03 May, 2014, 02:56:29 AM
Sunshine

Managed about half the film. Then gave up. Deleted from hard disk.
Can't be sure it was the film's fault as I was recuperating from a hospital op. Hoped it would distract me, but despite early signs of promise it bored the stomm out of me after about an hour.
Life too short to stare at films that go nowhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 03 May, 2014, 07:57:50 AM
You missed out, I think sunshine is an excellent film and certainly cannot be accused of going nowhere!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 04 May, 2014, 08:17:30 AM
Quote from: Fungus on 03 May, 2014, 02:56:29 AM
Sunshine

Managed about half the film. Then gave up. Deleted from hard disk.

...

Life too short to stare at films that go nowhere.

THIS. I bloody HATE Sunshine. Boring, over-long, turgid rubbish. It's symptomatic of a lot of problems with modern movies, I think. Great initial concept quickly gives way to a generic slasher movie plot.

The problem with it, in my opinion, isn't that it goes nowhere... it just goes nowhere remotely interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 May, 2014, 09:23:40 AM
I love Sunshine, although admittedly it takes a couple if turns I'm not keen on towards the end. Love the look of it, and it has one of my favorite scores of all time and one that's been massively influential on a ton of movies since. It gets two thumbs fresh from me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 May, 2014, 11:45:21 AM
The Lone Ranger:

Oh dear. There seem to be two very different films occupying the same spacetime - one is a dark revenge film about a man seeking revenge on the man who are his brother's heart, the other is a buddy comedy about two fools and their magic horse. Either could have been entertaining in its own right but they don't work in unison.
It almost feels like no one really wanted to make a Lone Ranger film in the first place as every thing that is associated with the character in popular culture is mocked in a way that suggests the film makers are slightly embarrassed.

War of the Worlds:

Oh dear again! There are some really impressive set pieces in this film and Tom Cruise certainly does his best to pull everything together but he's fighting a losing battle. The production design is pretty awful, the script is naff and unbelievable and the two kids are contenders for 'most annoying character in a film - ever'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 May, 2014, 01:23:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 05 May, 2014, 11:45:21 AM
War of the Worlds:

Oh dear again! There are some really impressive set pieces in this film and Tom Cruise certainly does his best to pull everything together but he's fighting a losing battle. The production design is pretty awful, the script is naff and unbelievable and the two kids are contenders for 'most annoying character in a film - ever'.

^ This.
Ol' Steven certainly mishandled this one, which is a real shame. As you say, some impressive set pieces, but an awful lot to fast-forward as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 May, 2014, 03:09:53 PM
20 Feet From Stardom

A documentary about backing singers, specifically African American women. Jesus but those ladies can sing. Chills and goosebumps and alla that shite. Really interesting show, you come out the other end with a different perspective on many pop classics.

And the coloured girls go do, do-do, do-do, do-do-do,
do, do-do, do-do, do-do-do....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 May, 2014, 04:06:12 PM
I actually found The Lone Ranger really entertaining!

There are a few things that do feel incongruous with the source material. William Fichtner's cannibal tendencies seem like an overly dark turn for something so firmly rooted in Saturday morning matinee territory, and the final half hour does feel like a different movie. But I still think it's good fun.

Plus, the movie actually features a one legged prostitute. Need I say more?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2014, 09:56:32 AM
I remember really enjoying parts of War Of The Worlds in the cinema, but have never felt like a revisit. I distinctly remember feeling the build-up at the start to be very tense, up to the first tripod appearance and everything going mental. Maybe it's just because I've always been utterly terrified of the tripods, but I was on the edge of my seat for that first part.

Only just got round to The Amazing Spiderman. I'd avoided it because it seemed a bit dumb to be rebooting it so soon and I figured it would just be a rehash of the first Raimi one. Then I remembered that (despite being a huge fan of his early films) I don't actually like Raimi's Spiderman films all that much* so it probably made perfect sense for me to give the reboot a chance!

Glad I did, some dodgy CG on the villain aside I enjoyed it. Felt more like the Spiderman I remember from comics and cartoons as a kid, and I liked the lead actor in the role way more, and Emma Stone was very likeable too. Martin Sheen was a great Uncle Ben too.

Not amazing or anything, but an enjoyable adventure film.

*Ok, I enjoyed 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 May, 2014, 10:07:35 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2014, 09:56:32 AM
I remember really enjoying parts of War Of The Worlds in the cinema, but have never felt like a revisit. I distinctly remember feeling the build-up at the start to be very tense, up to the first tripod appearance and everything going mental. Maybe it's just because I've always been utterly terrified of the tripods, but I was on the edge of my seat for that first part.

Agreed.  It's an excellent opening, Cruise's character's house is a great believable location, and there's a well-communicated sense of terror and incomprehension.  Even the daft way the invaders are supposed to 'arrive' works as an update because it has an unsettling and bewlidering aspect to it that modern audiences simply wouldn't get from yet another alien spaceship landing.

After that it becomes shrill and aimless, despite having some visually brilliant set-pieces, and the happy ending is one of the most unsatisfying in movie history.  When you can't get a good performance out of Tim Robbins something has gone badly wrong.

Imagine an animated version of the Edgy/Dizzy adaptation and weep bitter tears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 May, 2014, 10:29:57 AM
Sunshine is my favourite cinematic experience of all time. I came out of that darkened cinema and looked up at the small circle of light burning millions of miles away and couldn't help feeling exactly how fragile and tenuous Earth as I knew it was, how closely everything I know is linked to something incredibly vast and incredibly far away.

As a sci-fi movie it didn't need the slasher bit but I don't take against it all that much. Pinbacker seemed a little extraneous but I think he articulates something worth adding to the movie; a nihilism created from the entropy of nature. Would have been happier if he'd stayed on the Icarus 2 though.

However for me one of the movie's greatest points is that for once we had a mission to save the world that took that concept seriously; everyone is expendable. If we don't do this, there's nothing anyway. If you fail you kill the entire world. No love interests to complicate this, no pointless heroics and arguing, just a brutal calculation that extends even to the person making it; I am expendable and no effort is too much. To stretch the point, in familiar terms it's the kind of pragmatism that defines Judge Dredd, at least in my eyes.

I also thought that the cast was brilliant, the designs incredible and the soundtrack was beautiful (and oft ripped off). That scene where the captain stands on the ship's hull whilst the aurora of radiation and heat rips towards him; the improvised return from Icarus 2; the silent exertion of walking through the voided ship towards the payload; the "Oh shit" moments when people realise they have made a mistake; they all stick in my head and frankly, it's easily one of my favourite movies of all time. If this was a thrill it would have been an eternal classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 May, 2014, 10:38:56 PM
REC3: Genesis - quite disappointed really as a huge, huuuuuuge fan of the first two. It's clearly not even trying to be in the same vein, more of a traditional splatter horror with some gags peppered throughout. The gags didn't really land for me though and I just wound up really missing the panic/terror of the first films. I come to a REC movie to have my nerves shredded dammit!

Had a couple of cool moments so not a total write-off but definitely not the the film I wanted. The REC4 trailer looks like it could be a return to full-on horror so here's hoping that one is pure brown trouser time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 08 May, 2014, 09:00:07 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 May, 2014, 10:38:56 PM
REC3: Genesis - quite disappointed really as a huge, huuuuuuge fan of the first two. It's clearly not even trying to be in the same vein, more of a traditional splatter horror with some gags peppered throughout. The gags didn't really land for me though and I just wound up really missing the panic/terror of the first films. I come to a REC movie to have my nerves shredded dammit!

Had a couple of cool moments so not a total write-off but definitely not the the film I wanted. The REC4 trailer looks like it could be a return to full-on horror so here's hoping that one is pure brown trouser time.

I agree it was something different to the first two. The sponge john thing had me laughing. The ending gave me what I was after in terms of gore. You are right though, it's got nothing on the first two. Plus Manuela Velasco is soooo sexy. Maybe I just have a thing for girls who clash with the undead/infected/supernatural
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 May, 2014, 09:53:57 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 08 May, 2014, 09:00:07 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 May, 2014, 10:38:56 PM
REC3: Genesis - quite disappointed really as a huge, huuuuuuge fan of the first two. It's clearly not even trying to be in the same vein, more of a traditional splatter horror with some gags peppered throughout. The gags didn't really land for me though and I just wound up really missing the panic/terror of the first films. I come to a REC movie to have my nerves shredded dammit!

Had a couple of cool moments so not a total write-off but definitely not the the film I wanted. The REC4 trailer looks like it could be a return to full-on horror so here's hoping that one is pure brown trouser time.

I agree it was something different to the first two. The sponge john thing had me laughing. The ending gave me what I was after in terms of gore. You are right though, it's got nothing on the first two. Plus Manuela Velasco is soooo sexy. Maybe I just have a thing for girls who clash with the undead/infected/supernatural

I was forgetting Sponge John, that did actually get a big laugh! I know what you mean about girls clashing with the undead, there was a point in REC3 where the actress is in her wedding dress wielding a chainsaw and it just looked awesome, such a cool badass image.

Manuela is indeed quite incredible, she's back for the 4th (and apparently final) film, trailer looks promising, like it might be closer to what I want from a REC movie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdjrvwYO9nc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdjrvwYO9nc)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 May, 2014, 11:08:42 AM
Oh I've been meaning to do this for a wee while now BUT I've previously said how I hate Frozen based purely on my daughter singing one half remembered song from it on some sort of infant auto-repeat for what felt like weeks on end, but was probably only a couple of days. ANYWAY we were pestered into buying it for her a few weeks ago and I have to say, even though I've not seen it all in one go but now having seen just about all of it in various stages of my daughter endlessly watching it and having seen some parts about 7896234224 times I really rather approve of the whole thing.

Its a brilliant film that really moves the whole Disney Princess genre to new levels and I wholeheartedly approve of the message its sending my daughter. Now I'm not going crazy here and saying as a movie its as good as Tangled but its certainly a wonderful film for a growing girl.

And I even like the song that she was mauling for so long, and now she had has the video she does quite a cute proper version of it - aided by hours of practice at school I think.

So yeah my apologies to the evil corporation Disney and anyone who defended the film - you were right all along.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 May, 2014, 09:39:45 PM
Welcome to the Punch

A British action thriller starring James McAvoy and Mark Strong with an excellent supporting cast.
I really enjoyed this film - decent story, strong performances and a stand out scene set in an old lady's front room.
Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 May, 2014, 09:53:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 May, 2014, 09:39:45 PM
Welcome to the Punch

A British action thriller starring James McAvoy and Mark Strong with an excellent supporting cast.
I really enjoyed this film - decent story, strong performances and a stand out scene set in an old lady's front room.
Recommended.


The lengthy explanation of the plot at the end was pretty bad, though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 May, 2014, 09:57:51 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 May, 2014, 09:39:45 PM
Welcome to the Punch

I though that was half marks at best! (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no182-welcome-to-punch.html)

Saw 'January has two faces' at a preview showing. It was OK stuff but the characters didn't engage and Viggo overacted terribly as the mad haired drunkard. Some nice period sixties settings in Greece and Kirsten Dunst looks good in her night dress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 May, 2014, 10:25:54 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 May, 2014, 09:57:51 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 May, 2014, 09:39:45 PM
Welcome to the Punch

I though that was half marks at best! (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/no182-welcome-to-punch.html)

Saw 'January has two faces' at a preview showing. It was OK stuff but the characters didn't engage and Viggo overacted terribly as the mad haired drunkard. Some nice period sixties settings in Greece and Kirsten Dunst looks good in her night dress.

While I pretty much agree with what you have to say regarding plot etc, none of it bothers me in the slightest in this kind of cops and robbers caper. It made for a really good, easy watch after being at work all day.

I think Andrea Riseborough is really good too - I haven't seen her in many films but she always stands out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 May, 2014, 04:39:36 PM
Free trial of Amazon Prime has me lapping up some movies today.

Alpha Papa was great! Exactly as expected, which is no bad thing. Michael's a bit underused but his presence is golden at the end.

Pirates: An Adventure with Scientists was a fun follow up of a completely different nature. Pleasantly surprised as I thought it might actually be a bit naff given how little popularity it seems to have compared to other Aardman animations.

Westworld is currently on. Rather enjoying it though the ready acceptance of robot prostitutes took me aback. Ew.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 May, 2014, 05:24:10 PM
Westworld is brilliant - you can't beat a bit of Yul Brynner.
Just watched Frozen. Aye, not bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 May, 2014, 06:04:16 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 May, 2014, 04:39:36 PM
Westworld is currently on. Rather enjoying it though the ready acceptance of robot prostitutes took me aback. Ew.

I'm a little bit in love with Inga, PJ Maybe's significant other, but I'm not sure the 1970s technology employed in Michael Crichton's film would have been able to deal with the practicalities of that kind of human interaction. The vinyl seats in my dad's mini wiped clean alright, but they were uncomfortable and didn't respond well to heat or friction.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2014, 06:10:00 PM
I once went out with a Princess but I burned my knob on the exhaust...


This joke comes to you c/o 1967.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 May, 2014, 10:50:11 PM
Escape Plan starring Sly and Arnie.

Preposterous nonsense of an enjoyable kind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 May, 2014, 11:54:34 PM
'Rouses from slumber'

Is Godzilla out yet? No? Bah.

Anyway I saw The Amazing Spider-Man 2 yesterday. Utter drivel as is akin to all Spidey movies but god I love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. He GET'S the character down to a T. The promotional art might mislead certain people about the villeins though, and the drama was so melodramatic it felt like i was reading One More Day again. Urgh. Wait till DVD if you ask me.

'Goes back to sleep'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 May, 2014, 12:05:11 AM
I totally agree about the promotional artwork for ASM2 - if I wasn't such a geek, I'd never have been able to tell that was the rhino on the posters (though this did actually match the movie, in that the rhino was an unnecessary and badly executed add-on). But I did love the rest of the movie!

I just watched Mega-shark vs Giant Octopus on 4music - late to the party I know, but ridiculously good fun (although I am a little bit pissed).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 May, 2014, 11:30:56 AM
I too saw Spidey 2 last night.

It was just a little to full of plot holes for me, but my lads enjoyed it enormously (that may have been more to do with the fact they got popcorn and stayed up until 9.30, mind)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 10 May, 2014, 02:35:39 PM
Welcome to the Punch. Is something wrong with my telly? Because I despise the colour scheme. And I should be enjoying this. Only half watched as I was getting depressed. It's not the first Blues and Twos Brit Flick to do this either. Blood was another wasted fee. Drained miserable colour scheme.

Empire Rising. Sorry darling this dvd you got me does not do what it claims to on the cover. An education for verely old people though.

Case 39 has a strong cast and Renee Zellweger get her ass handed to her is a good see. I avoided it for a while on one format then saw it on another which interested me into watching it. It's not such a bad toying around with being toyed with thriller. Some nice camera sequences, the one in the kitchen in particular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 May, 2014, 04:06:49 PM
The colour on the new 24 is awful. It keeps going all blue tinged when Jack is on the screen. It's the whole orange/ blue thing, taken to a whole new level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 10 May, 2014, 04:22:24 PM
High caramba! Agreed Doc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 May, 2014, 06:06:43 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2014, 06:10:00 PM
I once went out with a Princess but I burned my knob on the exhaust...


This joke comes to you c/o 1967.

Should be, "I once f*cked a Princess..."...Well, that's how I heard it in 1978.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 May, 2014, 07:46:35 PM
I was trying to be classy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 May, 2014, 03:12:17 AM
I just saw '2 Guns', which was one of those annoying neither-good-nor-bad movies. Some clever stuff, some decent performances, but it somehow felt lifeless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
I watched the film Gravity after my father had brought it and given it to me along with the sequel to Thor and so I watched Thor Two: The Dark World and I will get to that one just a little bit afterwards.

As I watched Gravity, I barely took any notice. As it was very dull and seem to go on and on. Beside Sandra Bullock never did any nude scenes here, unless I missed them between watching this and playing computer games on my computer....I will post something related to this on my Facebook page later.

Anyway, I want to draw your attention to one scene where George Clooney's character returns to the ship/capsule thing-a-ma-jig in space and in far orbit around our earth. He opens the door/hatch and enters from outside (In Space). Without using one of those special rooms that decompress and refill themselves with oxegen first. This only mildly disturbs Sandra Bullock -whom ever she was in this film- as the atmosphere of the cabin is briefly upset by George before he closes the door again. This I all done while he is still wearing a space suit, unlike poor Sandra. Whom I thought, should had froze solid and suffocated instantly or in the very least needed urgent medical treatment.

Not sure why they did this scene this way.....perhaps I was wrong and this is normal, but I can't help but think they purposedly made error here.

All in the name of scifi, fantasy rather than fact.

Maybe George -the person he was portraying- was trying get rid of her.

All in all I totally failed to take much notice of anything else in this film.

Now about Thor Two : Dark World.....

Great film, but not as good as the first one and I didn't really like how they made those so called Dark Elves

I would like to draw to your attention ...the bit towards the start of the film when Thor enters on a field of battle in his usual awesome fashion -the thing with the Rainbow Bridge teleportation device or is that giant Unicorn pissing him onto the ground. Showering the ground with it's glittery urination. -

Anyway, I think it's the moment he appears or just before he does....that his famous and mighty hammer  Mjolnir flies out of the lavender tower of shifting colours and hits nothing at all before it reverses it's direction and flies back into Thor waiting hand as he steps majestically from where all the light and colour was before.

While, I thought this was awesome and cool (A scene that I kept rewatching over and over again...) the first couple of times I've seen this. I can't but help think this was just him showing off and now seems a little pointless.

I also can't get over the fact that none of the actors, in Liam in particular are not anywhere speaking in the right accent. I believe they should, sound more northern, like they come from [Norway or what country those Norse gods originate from. Liam Hemsworth may look the part but his deep throated growling seemed a mixture of his nature Aussie accent and something I can't quite identify. I know I can't talk myself, literally (A reason why I deleted all my You-Tube videos and the ones where I featured myself speaking in particular.) but couldn't they afford to learn the correct accent or were Norse god hero's allowed to sound anyway they like by virtue of their god-hood.

Thor sounds Australian/American (Perhaps....)

Loki sounds too British which might be almost understandable since a lo of them became known as Saxon's

Odin sound almost right, but still undeniably American/European.

Well, I'm not convinced, but otherwise enjoyed the film.

I love the part where him Thor and Loki steal their own alien spacecraft. That was cool while it lasted.

My bad if this doesn't make sense in some places, but I can't be bothered rereading this and correcting my errors. I've been up all night and the next morning nursing the downloads on this computer.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 12 May, 2014, 12:17:14 AM
Yojimbo

I love a bit of Kurosawa, me. Shame on me, my  Seven Samurai DVD is unwatched now for many months. Hit me if I don't watch that soon. Something about subtitling forces my noggin to concentrate that bit more, it's a richer experience.
A bit like comics. Maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 May, 2014, 12:37:58 AM
I'm not sure what I just read but it was a bold post.

Place Beyond the Pines. Boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 May, 2014, 01:51:05 AM
Not to be a douchebag or anything, but this made me smile:

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM


Anyway, I want to draw your attention to one scene where George Clooney's character returns to the ship/capsule thing-a-ma-jig in space and in far orbit around our earth. He opens the door/hatch and enters from outside (In Space). Without using one of those special rooms that decompress and refill themselves with oxegen first. This only mildly disturbs Sandra Bullock -whom ever she was in this film- as the atmosphere of the cabin is briefly upset by George before he closes the door again. This I all done while he is still wearing a space suit, unlike poor Sandra. Whom I thought, should had froze solid and suffocated instantly or in the very least needed urgent medical treatment.


Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AMAll in all I totally failed to take much notice of anything else in this film.


Says it all, really. Go back and re-watch that sequence.

I DO get why you had a reaction to it, though. When I saw the movie, I was jumping up and down in my seat at that part, going 'WHAAAAAAAAT??!' The movie appears to lose all claims to credibility there... until just a few minutes later.

I enjoyed Gravity a great deal. It may indeed be '90 minutes of bumping into stuff' as one internet pundit described it, but it's very well staged, in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 May, 2014, 07:08:34 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
As I watched Gravity, I barely took any notice ... and (was) playing computer games on my computer. In one scene, George Clooney's character returns to the ship in space and opens the door/hatch and enters from outside (In Space) without using one of those special rooms that decompress and refill themselves with oxegen first. Not sure why they did this scene this way.....perhaps I was wrong and this is normal, but I can't help but think they purposedly made error here. All in all I totally failed to take much notice of anything else in this film.

Now about Thor Two : Dark World ... Liam Hemsworth may look the part but his deep throated growling seemed a mixture of his nature Aussie accent and something I can't quite identify. My bad if this doesn't make sense in some places, but I can't be bothered rereading this and correcting my errors. I've been up all night and the next morning nursing the downloads on this computer

I love your work, Mr Pilkington.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 May, 2014, 07:32:21 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
I

Anyway, I want to draw your attention to one scene where George Clooney's character returns to the ship/capsule thing-a-ma-jig in space and in far orbit around our earth. He opens the door/hatch and enters from outside (In Space). Without using one of those special rooms that decompress and refill themselves with oxegen first. This only mildly disturbs Sandra Bullock -whom ever she was in this film- as the atmosphere of the cabin is briefly upset by George before he closes the door again. This I all done while he is still wearing a space suit, unlike poor Sandra. Whom I thought, should had froze solid and suffocated instantly or in the very least needed urgent medical treatment.

Not sure why they did this scene this way.....perhaps I was wrong and this is normal, but I can't help but think they purposedly made error here.



[spoiler]Dude, she was dreaming[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2014, 08:40:43 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
I also can't get over the fact that none of the actors, in Liam in particular are not anywhere speaking in the right accent. I believe they should, sound more northern, like they come from [Norway or what country those Norse gods originate from...

Asgard?  More a different dimension than a place in Norway, I suspect, and thus subject to the booming tones and sibilant hisses of Generic Fantasy English, with occasional mewling quim for, errr, flavour.

This bit of your review gave me a good hearty morning chuckle, Thryll old man - worthy of the Godpleton himself:
Quote
Thor enters on a field of battle in his usual awesome fashion -the thing with the Rainbow Bridge teleportation device or is that giant Unicorn pissing him onto the ground. Showering the ground with it's glittery urination. -





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 10:11:57 AM
I enjoyed Gravity loads, but have never really had any craving to own it or go back to it - felt very much like a one-off rollercoaster of a movie, and I've just not been fussed about giving it a rewatch away from the cinema/IMAX experience.

I do find myself playing the score at work occasionally (when I don't need my ears for said work), a lot of interesting ideas coming together there. Sometimes just the sound of it stresses me out though.

I mentioned before, but it did suffer a little for me by coming along in the same week I watched Europa Report, which I thought was a less bombastic but more interesting film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 May, 2014, 10:15:44 AM
Either some people haven't got the joke or I got a joke that didn't exist.

Which means either way I'm ahead I suppose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 May, 2014, 10:31:24 AM
If you ave a 3D telly, and you can get Gravity 3D on the cheap, it's well worth a purchase.  Like DRedd, it's one of the few films where the 3D really adds extra flavour to the experience.  I've watched Gravity a few times now, and can largely block out Clooney being Clooney, as the viuals distract me.  Sandra Bullock has grown on me too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 11:49:46 AM
Got a 3D telly but rather annoyingly I got it around the same time as I bought my XB1 and sold my PS3, only to find that the XB1 doesn't support 3D blu-ray playback. It's apparently on the list of things that are being added with patches and updates, but I do wish I'd held onto the PS3 in the meantime so I could watch Dredd on it!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 01:20:52 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 11:49:46 AM
Got a 3D telly but rather annoyingly I got it around the same time as I bought my XB1 and sold my PS3

Anyone who upgrades to a current gen console right now to use it as a media hub is a jive sucker - if they've upgraded to the low-spec XB1 they are especially so, possibly approaching jive turkey levels of jive.

The Survivalist - not so much a post-apocalyptic movie as promised by being an adaptation of a series of post-holocaust pulp adventure novels - featuring mutants and super-science - so much as an episode of the A-Team where one of them goes to a small town where the evil sheriff has declared martial law because of Big Business or a cartel or something, and then they run about for 90 minutes, occasionally running into that army guy chasing them and also the Black Widows for some reason.  The plot is basically that some guy with a perm drives his truck out to a cave to meet his kid - this is literally  the entirety of the character's journey, though his wife and daughter die at the start at the hands of home invaders and 30 minutes later he's shagging some nurse, so I took a dislike to him even before I remembered the nurse is his best mate's bird.
Complete shit even by mid-80s post-apocalyptic b-movie standards, though the VHS cover is awesome (understandable when it so blatantly lies to you about what's in the film).
(http://www.post-apocalypse.co.uk/survivalist/18.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 01:42:11 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 01:20:52 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 11:49:46 AM
Got a 3D telly but rather annoyingly I got it around the same time as I bought my XB1 and sold my PS3

Anyone who upgrades to a current gen console right now to use it as a media hub is a jive sucker - if they've upgraded to the low-spec XB1 they are especially so, possibly approaching jive turkey levels of jive.

Enormously happy with it as such, and have spent more than enough time with both consoles to know I picked the right one for me. Very keen to get that 3D update though all the same, even though I'll probably only watch a 3D movie very occasionally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 May, 2014, 02:02:55 PM
Thanks for the heads up about The Survivalist, Prof! Sounds like a fun night in!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 02:21:55 PM
Shite 1980s post-apocalyptic action films are like crack cocaine to me, but The Survivalist is a terrible example of the genre - it promises much and delivers nothing, but if you're still determined to give it a gander, it's (currently) available to view on Youtube.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 01:42:11 PMEnormously happy with it as such, and have spent more than enough time with both consoles to know I picked the right one for me. Very keen to get that 3D update though all the same, even though I'll probably only watch a 3D movie very occasionally.

MS and Sony are currently playing their consumers for suckers by holding back as much as they can from current gen consoles to see what people will pay for in the long run.  Despite claims from the companies to the contrary, I have doubts if we'll ever see native video or audio file playback on the current generation of hardware when they're currently raking in cash from paid streaming services (especially now that ISPs have figured out a way to legally blackmail content providers, which will drive up costs for always-online media players).  Ditto "extras" like 3d playback and higher video resolution - why spend development cash on something you'll just give away?  Far better to charge money for it through an app store, which also has the added bonus of creating competing apps that do much the same job but which the companies who own the app stores will be paid for regardless of which one you choose - if you happen to choose poorly and need to download a different app later, all the better.

I'm sure you're a lovely human being, Keef - but in this regard you and many others are jive suckers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 May, 2014, 06:47:17 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 02:21:55 PM
Shite 1980s post-apocalyptic action films are like crack cocaine to me...

This does raise the question: What is crack cocaine like to you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 06:53:43 PM
Crystal meth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 May, 2014, 07:19:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 01:42:11 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2014, 01:20:52 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 May, 2014, 11:49:46 AM
Got a 3D telly but rather annoyingly I got it around the same time as I bought my XB1 and sold my PS3

Anyone who upgrades to a current gen console right now to use it as a media hub is a jive sucker - if they've upgraded to the low-spec XB1 they are especially so, possibly approaching jive turkey levels of jive.

Enormously happy with it as such, and have spent more than enough time with both consoles to know I picked the right one for me. Very keen to get that 3D update though all the same, even though I'll probably only watch a 3D movie very occasionally.

When the ex and I split up I allowed her custody of the PS3, as I had far more titles for the 360.  And then Dredd came out and I HAD to buy a 3D telly.  Only then did I realise my horrible mistake.

In the meantime, I got a 3D Blu Ray player.  You can pick up reasonable ones for about £40 these days - I recommend it, if you have cash to spare. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 May, 2014, 11:24:20 AM
The Wolverine

Overall I though it was pretty good but somewhat let down by the final act.
[spoiler]When Wolverine went to rescue the girl I wanted to see him cut loose and cut down anyone in his way. Instead he got captured (again). The Silver Samurai robot looked pretty good but the fight didn't make for a very exciting action sequence.[/spoiler]
I think this film would have benefited from a less bombastic ending. Something along the lines of the finale in Enter the Dragon would have been good.

I'm glad I've seen it though, and I look forward to Days of Future Past.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 May, 2014, 04:06:25 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 May, 2014, 08:40:43 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
I also can't get over the fact that none of the actors, in Liam in particular are not anywhere speaking in the right accent. I believe they should, sound more northern, like they come from [Norway or what country those Norse gods originate from...

Asgard?  More a different dimension than a place in Norway, I suspect, and thus subject to the booming tones and sibilant hisses of Generic Fantasy English, with occasional mewling quim for, errr, flavour.



I was thinking of the people that worshipped them as well when I wrote that..... my bad.

Quote from: TordelBack on 12 May, 2014, 08:40:43 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2014, 12:00:43 AM
This bit of your review gave me a good hearty morning chuckle, Thryll old man - worthy of the Godpleton himself:
Quote
Thor enters on a field of battle in his usual awesome fashion -the thing with the Rainbow Bridge teleportation device or is that giant Unicorn pissing him onto the ground. Showering the ground with it's glittery urination. -

Yes, now I'm thinking maybe a invisible giant unicorn and that might look weird. Then I saw the last panel of this weeks Slaine and thought OMG!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 May, 2014, 05:29:54 PM
Watched bits and pieces of Battlefield Earth while playing the Alpha of Elite: Dangerous game which is bloody awesome in it's current phase, but also brutally hard. I have only just mastered touching down on the landing pad inside the orbital station. Which is easier to enter, but the landing pad is a nail biter. I have this habit of using boost before using throttle once I'm pointing the ship at the exit. I think this is almost the equivalent to -dropping the clutch-. Except now, I think they have made it less climatic, less intense and my ship stops dead before making it to the exit. Before... it's well and truly clear of the entrance on the other side.

I do hope they restore boost when the full game is ready near the end of this month.

Check out my write-up later. I know it's late, and I hadn't really bothered with the Alpha until later last month.

Now about the film......

I only really took notice of a couple of scenes from this movie that despite it's terrible adaption. I wonder if they will ever make a sequel. 

Like, the villain is there right at the end.

When the human slaves are being fed and one of them demands he eats before the others and this breaks down into a argument..... where the hero of film announces that we all eat at the same time....

That's a nice thought....except for those who have already eaten and then get to unfairly eat again. No one is keeping the score, but still it hurts to be compromised and upset that I always come last.

What's his name, John Travolta shooting a cow while performing a combat roll on the ground and mumbling something in his alien tongue that sounded hilarious.

I actually missed seeing this part both times, but remember and heard it while on the computer.

This was a classic scene as one of the rat-humans fires a bazooka cannon rocket at one of the alien sky-ships taking it down as another one lines up a shot at him from behind and then a mall squadron of vintage jet-fighters appear out of nowhere taking it down in kind. As one of the pilots makes this embarrassing war-cry ending with some monkey hoots. He just sounds really dumb despite the technology at his finger tips. I could almost imagine Slaine in his position, yelling one of his more fashionable sound bites.

And the ending......he's in a cage supposedly missing one arm or hand. I missed the part where the hero shoots him and yet he still lives. I can see there is huge opportunity for sequel, except the film was such a flop, I doubt it will ever happen. 

Leverage...interesting word used a lot in the film. Now, what if it was the rat-humans were the masters and the larger aliens were the slaves. They kind of remind me of the lazy and easily beaten titans of Slaine's....Tir-Nan-Og.

That's all I have........so it's back to dealing with my new computer that has been giving me all sorts of trouble yesterday and this morning.

I think, I will just go back to playing Elite-Dangerous at it's present stage. It's the only game I have working right now. It's various MMO's, some games on STEAM, I have downloaded and installed are playing up. There are some missing files from what I have already downloaded/installed, I think and now I have to do this all over again. Which has already taken me days to do.










Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 May, 2014, 10:57:46 AM
Frank (2014): I know a lot of people where kinda beffudled by the trailers for this film. Don't be, it's not Frank Sidebottom. Just someone wearing a mask like his, hinted as having been inspired by the TV host.

This movie is pure, unadulterated emotion. It's a film that sing's about how society percieves mental illness and disability, how these people try to find some way to express themselves but often get cut off or derided by society, how cruel anonymity on the internet can be to said people, lack of social acceptance, different perspectives on love and relationships, how seriously screwed the music industry is currently and so on and so forth. I could gush about this movie for ages because it was just wonderful. The humour is darkly british and biting, often remorsless but ultimately it's all sweetend by the fact that the leads just don't give a fuck what the world thinks of them. Wonderful, wonderful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:18:37 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 May, 2014, 10:57:46 AM
Frank (2014): I know a lot of people where kinda beffudled by the trailers for this film. Don't be, it's not Frank Sidebottom. Just someone wearing a mask like his, hinted as having been inspired by the TV host.

I was rather befuddled my this movie and it wasn't helped when the initial reports showed a picture of Frank and I immediately thought Frank Sidebottom but was informed this had nothing to do with him.  It later emerged that it did have something to do with Frank Sidebottom and was originally born as his story, written by one of his bandmates.  I'm still not sure entirely what we have ended up with but it is something I will keep an eye out for when it gets its DVD release.

Frank Sidebottom was a wonderful, crazy character that seemed to come out around the same time as Vic and Bob.  Always brought a smile to my face and I would also like to see a proper life story of him released.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 01:35:55 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:18:37 PM
Frank Sidebottom was a wonderful, crazy character that seemed to come out around the same time as Vic and Bob.  Always brought a smile to my face and I would also like to see a proper life story of him released.

I wish I remembered him fondly, but as a small child in the '80s, I just found him utterly terrifying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 May, 2014, 01:41:06 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 01:35:55 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:18:37 PM
Frank Sidebottom was a wonderful, crazy character that seemed to come out around the same time as Vic and Bob.  Always brought a smile to my face and I would also like to see a proper life story of him released.

I wish I remembered him fondly, but as a small child in the '80s, I just found him utterly terrifying.

I remember Frank was some Bond villain on some children's programme? Or was I dream again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:57:32 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 01:35:55 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:18:37 PM
Frank Sidebottom was a wonderful, crazy character that seemed to come out around the same time as Vic and Bob.  Always brought a smile to my face and I would also like to see a proper life story of him released.

I wish I remembered him fondly, but as a small child in the '80s, I just found him utterly terrifying.

HaHa! Don't go to Timperley then DJ - he still stalks the streets.

(http://louderthanwar.com/wp-content/uploads/image100-225x300.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 04:05:02 PM
It was partly the voice, and partly the fact that nobody ever acknowledged his massive papier-mache bonce. As he capered about a stage I would think 'What is wrong with that man's head?! Am I the only one seeing this?!'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 May, 2014, 05:37:17 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 01:35:55 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 15 May, 2014, 01:18:37 PM
Frank Sidebottom was a wonderful, crazy character that seemed to come out around the same time as Vic and Bob.  Always brought a smile to my face and I would also like to see a proper life story of him released.
I wish I remembered him fondly, but as a small child in the '80s, I just found him utterly terrifying.
I file him alongside the likes of John Cooper Clarke and Vic Reeves in the special category of performers whose schtick makes my skin crawl yet are held in fond regard by millions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 May, 2014, 10:56:48 PM
Kick -Ass 2

The reviews I've read have bee largely negative, but I enjoyed it a lot. I'm glad they toned down a couple of the more unsavoury things from Millar's comic. I think I preferred this to the comic overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 17 May, 2014, 12:03:41 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 May, 2014, 04:05:02 PM
It was partly the voice, and partly the fact that nobody ever acknowledged his massive papier-mache bonce. As he capered about a stage I would think 'What is wrong with that man's head?! Am I the only one seeing this?!'


I was convinced he was paul crone
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 17 May, 2014, 12:10:33 AM
...and I have just watched "wolverine: xmen origins" despite many bad reviews I didn't think it too bad,not one for the collection but ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 May, 2014, 10:46:44 AM
X Men Origins: Wolverine is a fun film. Its a bit silly in places but Jackman's always entertaining in the role and there are some good action sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 May, 2014, 01:30:25 PM
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

Or: The one designed to appeal to ethnic audiences, after the previous four PAs were deemed to not be reaching that particular section of the paying public. Also: The one before Paranormal Activity 5.

Despite the trailers stressing this would be "Paranormal Activity In Da Hood", this concerns itself with a Spanish speaking family living in an apartment complex somewhere not as sumptuous and lovely as the previous films. If you were under the impression this was making a clean break from the "mythos" of the ongoing series, [spoiler]you would be very mistaken[/spoiler], as it turns out that this may be [spoiler]the single most central and important in the story so far.[/spoiler]

I have no idea if anyone is following the story- I must admit I only have bits of it in my head, as the movies are too far apart and too similar to really stick, beyond their immediate appeal- but there's this coven of witches who have been facilitating the possession of characters  by a demon throughout PA1-4. The Marked Ones goes into this in some depth, as the main character [spoiler]gains superpowers and becomes progressively more evil[/spoiler] as it unfolds.

Two interesting elements here- the first is [spoiler]time-travel, allowing the characters to get pulled into a labyrinth of intertwining previous plots[/spoiler], and the second is the (over?) use of sudden shocks. There seemed to be more this time around, and one at least was successful enough to cause my wife to scream like a big girl. While it takes longer than usual to get going, I have to admit I found this to be the most satisfying of any of the PAs, at least since the first. I had this down as probably the "inessential" installment- designed to appeal to an audience perhaps not attracted to the previous ones, and instead all it did was get me keyed-up for the upcoming PA5.

As I say, while they don't really offer much in the way of re-watch potential (except maybe when or if the whole story is told) they never fail to entertain and scare me in the immediate act of watching them. Your mileage, as ever, may vary.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 May, 2014, 02:29:08 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 17 May, 2014, 12:10:33 AM
...and I have just watched "wolverine: xmen origins" despite many bad reviews I didn't think it too bad,not one for the collection but ok.

I didn't enjoy Wolverine: Origins much, but I've never understood why so many people absolutely hated it rather than just didn't think it was much cop.  It isn't a good film, I certainly cede that much, but some of the bile towards it seems disproportionate.

The tie-in videogame was great fun, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 May, 2014, 02:48:37 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 17 May, 2014, 02:29:08 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 17 May, 2014, 12:10:33 AM
...and I have just watched "wolverine: xmen origins" despite many bad reviews I didn't think it too bad,not one for the collection but ok.

I didn't enjoy Wolverine: Origins much, but I've never understood why so many people absolutely hated it rather than just didn't think it was much cop.  It isn't a good film, I certainly cede that much, but some of the bile towards it seems disproportionate.

The tie-in videogame was great fun, though.

I think it's to do with the handling of Deadpool (who I think is a shite character anyway).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 May, 2014, 10:28:19 AM
Kick-Ass 2:  That was actually really good fun.  Abandoning its real-world premise almost from the start meant  the film felt more consistent than the first one (which performs a distracting volte face halfway through), and when Mindy starts displaying genuinely superhuman abilities (as opposed to movie-grade kung-fu) it doesn't feel that odd.  The oddly skimmed-over bit with Night Bitch in the middle was the only duff note for me, but at least it seemed like everyone involved was embarrassed by it.

Loved Mother Russia to bits - hard to believe that's Olga Kurkulina's first acting role: she should be in all films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 18 May, 2014, 05:14:13 PM
Um, what?....You OK Tordleback? You need to see the doctor?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 May, 2014, 07:20:45 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 18 May, 2014, 05:14:13 PM
Um, what?....You OK Tordleback? You need to see the doctor?

If you refer to my love of Mother Russia, that is genuine and heartfelt: my favourite new movie character of the year (my year, that is), just ahead of Lego Batman.  I was smiling the whole time she was on the screen.  I thought Olga Kurkulina was like a human version of Brigitte Nielsen, and for someone who apparently couldn't speak English and had never acted before she was bloody brilliant.

If you mean the fact that I liked the film more than the first one, well, it's well established that I have terrible taste in everything except women.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 May, 2014, 10:20:09 PM
Godzilla, which I found really disappointing. It has its moments (by far the best of which we already saw in the first trailer, diminishing the impact somewhat) but I thought it was for the most part all tease and no trousers. For a film about giant monsters fighting and demolishing cities it was the one thing I never expected it to be - it was just a bit dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 19 May, 2014, 01:41:38 AM
Easy Rider

What the hell happened at the end!

I was like oh yeah this is great and all that and then [spoiler]BOOM! And everyone's dead[/spoiler]

Not how I was expecting it to end at all. A great movie though. And I understand they used real weed too.

If anyone hasn't seen it, I recommend getting it. I can certainly see why it has it's classic film status.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 19 May, 2014, 06:40:41 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 19 May, 2014, 01:41:38 AM
Easy Rider



One of the greatest starts to a movie of all time in my opinion.

Yep, and the end. The blew it indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 May, 2014, 11:18:33 PM
The Amazing Spider Man 2

I really enjoyed it. There's lots going on but I think it all comes together pretty well. The performances are all strong apart from Harry Osborne who chews the scenery a bit.
Solid effort.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 May, 2014, 11:35:23 AM
One third of Anchorman 2.

I was trapped on a flight yesterday and decided to give this a try. Unmitigated shite. Thank Grud for the stop button.

Fortunately they had Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. Watched that to sooth my ire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 20 May, 2014, 04:21:08 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 20 May, 2014, 11:35:23 AM
One third of Anchorman 2.

I was trapped on a flight yesterday and decided to give this a try. Unmitigated shite. Thank Grud for the stop button.

Fortunately they had Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. Watched that to sooth my ire.

Alpha Papa is excellent.

I watched 'The Other Guys' last night. For a buddy-buddy cop movie I thought it Absolutely hilarious. I was laughing hard pretty much all the way through!

cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 May, 2014, 04:44:06 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 20 May, 2014, 04:21:08 PM
Alpha Papa is excellent. I watched 'The Other Guys' last night. For a buddy-buddy cop movie I thought it Absolutely hilarious. I was laughing hard pretty much all the way through!

Yes to both. I expected The Other Guys to be unmitigated shite, but I ended up enjoying it a lot - not as much as Alan Partidge commandeering a car in Alpha Papa, though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 20 May, 2014, 06:02:36 PM
Late to the party as ever, I watched An American Werewolf in London for the first time today. I really wish I'd been able (or alive) to see this when first released, but time has blunted its impact surprisingly little. It's not nearly as familiar as I thought it might be given that Hollywood's had 30+ years to reference/homage/steal from it (although the influence of Hammer hangs heavy). I love his gradually decaying ghost pal - being haunted by his own victims is a great touch. It's pretty funny too, which I didn't expect. Nice to see some familiar faces - Brian Glover is always great, and a young Rik Mayall is one of the pub patrons! And Jenny Agutter - golly gosh. She's lovely. The best bits, though, were the little cultural curios - the Channel 4 testcard! A taxi fare of £1.50! The (unintentionally) hilarious punks on the Tube! A porn cinema on Picadilly Circus! In fact the one bit I wasn't sure on was the fairly abrupt ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 May, 2014, 06:04:44 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 May, 2014, 04:44:06 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 20 May, 2014, 04:21:08 PM
Alpha Papa is excellent. I watched 'The Other Guys' last night. For a buddy-buddy cop movie I thought it Absolutely hilarious. I was laughing hard pretty much all the way through!

Yes to both. I expected The Other Guys to be unmitigated shite, but I ended up enjoying it a lot - not as much as Alan Partidge commandeering a car in Alpha Papa, though.

I got about 30 mins into The Other Guys before turning it off. I couldn't stand it - just noisy rubbish!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 May, 2014, 06:09:04 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 May, 2014, 06:04:44 PM
I got about 30 mins into The Other Guys before turning it off. I couldn't stand it - just noisy rubbish!

The first 20 minutes are pish.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 May, 2014, 01:44:06 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 May, 2014, 04:44:06 PM
- not as much as Alan Partidge commandeering a car in Alpha Papa, though.

That was one of the greatest moments in the film. Pure brilliance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 21 May, 2014, 06:41:39 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 21 May, 2014, 01:44:06 AM
Quote from: sauchie on 20 May, 2014, 04:44:06 PM
- not as much as Alan Partidge commandeering a car in Alpha Papa, though.

That was one of the greatest moments in the film. Pure brilliance.

The [spoiler]mangina[/spoiler] bit had me crying in the cinema. Hilarious stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 May, 2014, 07:23:49 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 20 May, 2014, 06:02:36 PM
I watched An American Werewolf in London ... I love his gradually decaying ghost pal - being haunted by his own victims is a great touch. It's pretty funny too, which I didn't expect. Nice to see some familiar faces - Brian Glover is always great, and a young Rik Mayall is one of the pub patrons! And Jenny Agutter - golly gosh. She's lovely ... the one bit I wasn't sure on was the fairly abrupt ending.

At the time I saw American Werewolf on VHS video, The Railway Children was my favourite film - that was an eye opener. I suppose Jenny Agutter takes her knickers off in that film too, but that's only to stop a train. Which it does. The ending of American Werewolf seemed pretty punk at the time - no annoying little codas to tell you how to feel about what happened or clichéd hands bursting through grave dirt.

My other favourite bits are the scene where all the other decaying spectres try to talk David into topping himself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLs-Oreo_bk), especially the excited way the posh couple helpfully rhyme off all the different suicide options. I thought the idea of being followed around by your victims was an interesting addition to werewolf lore, and explained why Lon Chaney Jr always had that pained look on his face.

American Werewolf ruined me for other films for ages; I expected all comedies to be as gleefully black, and I thought all horror films should be as hilariously irreverent. It took me ages to realise that it took the same skill, wit, and intelligence to balance horror and comedy as it took Landis to manage the competing demands of the bringing out the comedy and advancing the plot mechanics of Trading Places.

I wish filmmakers as talented as Landis used to be were still interested in making intelligent horror films, I wish film makers weren't so obsessed with evening out tone and telegraphing emotion, and I wish continuing generations discover the film in the way you have (and the way Landis and I discovered old horror films like Abbot and Costello Meet The Wolfman/Frankenstein etc) and discover that all films can do and be about more than one thing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 May, 2014, 07:34:55 AM
Not much I can add to that, but I agree completely.  AWIL was and is my favourite horror movie, and yet somehow manages to render that categorisation meaningless.  Almost every scene is a distinctive and a beautiful thing, and the soundtrack is clever and a bit marvelous in that it transforms those familiar songs into something sinister.  And I love the ending, both spectacular and understated. 

As is Jenny Agutter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 May, 2014, 09:44:24 AM
New rule for a slightly work frazzled librarian.

"Rule 82492b: You must remember that you can't just 'Watch a bit of' Glengarry Glen Ross on a work night if it goes on after bedtime. You must not start watching it and must get your sorry ass to bed on time."

Always been a bit of a favourite of mine this one. Each time I watch it I'm somehow still surprised by how utterly compelling it is. That David Mamet ain't half good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 May, 2014, 10:47:55 AM
Only watched Glengarry once (it was a free dvd with a newspaper if I remember rightly), had no idea it had such a great reputation and was completely blown away. The performances are just perfect and absolutely mesmerising. Keep meaning to watch it again sometime, and I know that if I ever stumble on it while surfing then, like yourself, I'll get sucked right in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 May, 2014, 11:24:58 AM
Yep, another vote for American Werewolf in London!  I saw that as a kid growing up, and it blew my mind - the effects, the humour, the music etc etc.  I don't know how many times I've seen it since.  It's my second favourite Landis film after Ghostbusters, with The Blues Brothers a solid third.  I do like Trading Places too, but I really felt it lost something towards the end [spoiler]in that ridiculous suitcase swapping scene on the train, blacked-up Ackroyd, gorilla and all[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 21 May, 2014, 11:35:19 AM
just caught "monsters" and was left a little underwhelmed, don't know quite what I was expecting ,maybe a tense road movie .the creatures looked too much like an octopus to impress me...why this got a sequel and Dredd didn't ?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 May, 2014, 12:54:05 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 21 May, 2014, 11:35:19 AM
just caught "monsters" and was left a little underwhelmed, don't know quite what I was expecting ,maybe a tense road movie .the creatures looked too much like an octopus to impress me...why this got a sequel and Dredd didn't ?
It's a sequel in name only and it looks really rather good.
I enjoyed Monsters though so maybe im biassed.

Another lover of AWiL. The scene where he wakes up in a lion cage in a great twist on the re-transformation aspect of the mythology.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 May, 2014, 02:29:39 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 20 May, 2014, 06:02:36 PMLate to the party as ever, I watched An American Werewolf in London for the first time today.

You're doubly blessed, then, as you still have American Werewolf in Paris to watch!  It has Julie Delpy's boobs, and a bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower, and they replaced the crappy rubber face transformation bits with proper CGI werewolves this time out - how can it not be even more awesome than the first?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 May, 2014, 02:43:14 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 May, 2014, 11:24:58 AM
American Werewolf in London (is) my second favourite Landis film after Ghostbusters

American Werewolf is your favourite Landis film: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718645/

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 May, 2014, 03:13:24 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 May, 2014, 02:43:14 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 May, 2014, 11:24:58 AM
American Werewolf in London (is) my second favourite Landis film after Ghostbusters

American Werewolf is your favourite Landis film: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718645/

D'oh! I stand corrected, and hereby burn all my geek credentials in a massive bonfire of shame.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 May, 2014, 05:14:56 PM
Mask

A mawkish but faintly (and strangely) likeable slice of 80s melodrama. Sam Elliott - despite looking damned awesome in biker mode - is entirely pointless here, feels like the filmmakers are going "don't worry - Rocky Dennis DOES have a father figure" who fist-bumps him and smirks a lot and does fuck-all else.

The real lingering melancholy after the film ends comes from how little it actually seems to reflect reality - after all, Rocky had two siblings and was almost blind. These minor things complicate the simple inspiring Oscar-baiting nature of such films I suppose - but it's hard to get inspiration from what is essentially half-truth cynically twisted a few years after the fact to get everyone involved awards. Seriously, wee Rocky was not even a decade gone.

Interviewed after the film was released the real Rusty dismissed it as "a fairly tale" and rightly it is. Rocky doesn't seem as affectingly real as he could have been, he's just Eric Stoltz in a load of heavy make-up.

Master and Commander: The Edge of the World

A nicely retro affair - all splintered wood and shouting crewmen. It's got a fun air of blustery silliness about it and all parts are played with endearing sincerity (this is because the ship is populated almost entirely by solid British character actors - if it went down it'd be an Equity nightmare). It suffers quite heavily from "long book series condensed and polished by Hollywood script-doctors" syndrome, so every 'throw-away' line is tediously and methodically called back later on in a robotic attempt to make it look clever and meaningful. So not at all as riveting as it could be but a heartily action-filled navy lark with some very brilliant physical effects.

Also: I love that Billy Boyd was used in the promotion of it so much (because of LOTR) but he's actually barely in it and says about four things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 21 May, 2014, 06:06:32 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 May, 2014, 07:23:49 AM
The ending of American Werewolf seemed pretty punk at the time - no annoying little codas to tell you how to feel about what happened or clichéd hands bursting through grave dirt.

The ending's certainly grown on me since. I had a big smile on my face at the end of the film, just didn't quite expect it to be so sudden.

Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 May, 2014, 02:29:39 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 20 May, 2014, 06:02:36 PMLate to the party as ever, I watched An American Werewolf in London for the first time today.

You're doubly blessed, then, as you still have American Werewolf in Paris to watch!  It has Julie Delpy's boobs, and a bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower, and they replaced the crappy rubber face transformation bits with proper CGI werewolves this time out - how can it not be even more awesome than the first?

Heh. Luckily for me, I have actually seen that one many years ago, and thus cannot be baited into your trap. I don't remember much about it, except that it certainly wasn't anything special. You'd think I'd remember the bungee jump at least! Must have completely blocked it out of my memory.

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 May, 2014, 07:34:55 AM
Almost every scene is a distinctive and a beautiful thing, and the soundtrack is clever and a bit marvelous in that it transforms those familiar songs into something sinister.

Yeah, the soundtrack is especially worthy of a mention. Really fitting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 May, 2014, 06:15:26 PM
AWIL is aces - easily one of my favourite films of all time. Yeah the effects and clothes are a bit dated now, but it really stands up in all other respects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 21 May, 2014, 06:22:22 PM
Watching in 2014 without rose-tinted glasses, it's amazing how little it has dated. Not a single thing lets the film down. I mean, yes, you can certainly see how they've done most of the effects, but I wouldn't say a single one of them were bad. Landis knows which of them might leave something to be desired (prolonged shots of the animatronic wolf, for instance) and wisely keeps their screen-time to a minimum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 May, 2014, 06:46:57 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 20 May, 2014, 06:02:36 PM
Late to the party as ever, I watched An American Werewolf in London for the first time today. I really wish I'd been able (or alive) to see this when first released, but time has blunted its impact surprisingly little. It's not nearly as familiar as I thought it might be given that Hollywood's had 30+ years to reference/homage/steal from it (although the influence of Hammer hangs heavy). I love his gradually decaying ghost pal - being haunted by his own victims is a great touch. It's pretty funny too, which I didn't expect. Nice to see some familiar faces - Brian Glover is always great, and a young Rik Mayall is one of the pub patrons! And Jenny Agutter - golly gosh. She's lovely. The best bits, though, were the little cultural curios - the Channel 4 testcard! A taxi fare of £1.50! The (unintentionally) hilarious punks on the Tube! A porn cinema on Picadilly Circus! In fact the one bit I wasn't sure on was the fairly abrupt ending.

That's film is a favourite of mine, because I'm really into Werewolves and that film was always famous for it's special effects and if you know anything about the male lead David Naughton. He was always famous for the  Dr Pepper (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQPN3UKQM-U) commercials back in 80's. There is quite a few of those he has done, but I don't even like drinking the stuff. It does taste exactly like cough syrup. Yuk....

If you love Werewolf movies. You should see,  The Wolf-Man (http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/the-wolfman/) and  Werewolf: Beast Among Us (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Werewolf-The-Beast-Among-Us-Blu-ray/51458/) Both have the most revolutionary of special effects showing a very realistic, dramatic Werewolf transformations and them doing what they do best.

If you recall, me talking about role-playing-game called Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Something, you may find on one of the gaming threads. Fat chance of that ever being made into any type of film after the likes of the  Underworld (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Underworld-Trilogy-Blu-ray/4769/) trilogy where all the important players are wearing skin tight custom made leathers and all the important and elaborate concepts that came from the idea of Vampires verses Werewolves that this film might have shared with this game have been reduced to something that just looks way too neat and tidy for my liking. I saw the first film and have watched it many times afterwards on cable television. It's like the game in many ways, but looks too simple to match the complexity of the game. You see, the Vampires in the first film, most of the clan or group of clans all appear to living in one big house. I know in the second film they had a outcast living in a converted monastery, but in the game they are all living in different clans spread out across cities all over the world. Except one clan, that lives in or near the wilderness areas. While the Werewolves who all appear completely identical to each other in their hybrid man/wolf shapes live in the sewers. While the Werewolves from the game live in all these in or near wilderness locales or park all over
world (They are less common on the southern islands and continents...like mine.) While two of the tribes mainly occupy the cities. The Vampire elders who sleep in turns for several generations while one of them stays awake to rule all the other vampires. I'm not really sure what happens in the Vampire game.

Quoting Vampire: The Masquerade's entry in the Wikipedia Each Clan can trace its origins to one of 13 elder vampires known as an Antediluvian, for they survived God's biblical flood. Each Antediluvian is a "grandchilde" of Caine, who killed Abel and was cursed by God into becoming the first vampire. Through the back story of the game, Antediluvians started a war among themselves, called the Jyhad, and use their clansmen to fight this war for them.

That's the amazing thing about this Vampire game. Is how they interwove it's history with some of the sacred stuff from the Christian Bible.

There is also a elder clan or group called Methuselah....you should all know what that means.

Anyway, what I was getting at before, is that the Vampire elders in this game don't do much, except move around the younger generations, the Neonates like Pawns on a chess board.  They stay well hidden, safe and are very hard to destroy for mainly this reason. Unlike the silly elder Vampire from the film who got his head sliced in half by the young female lead. Unless he really is smart and allowed a duplicate of himself to be awoken like he was and take a fall for him as it was. Though, I doubt they even bother making him that well prepared....all the Vampire elders were silly in. The ones in the second movie from that trilogy........the Man/Bat who was the antagonist, his Vampire Brother who was also a Elder Werewolf and Iclaudius (Or is that Iclavdivs.) himself...the man who was that famous roman character who was the real Vampire elder of the young male protagonist and in charge of a Order of Knights who kept the super-naturals in check.

Only the younger idiots go outside and get their hands dirty.

You can read more about it  here... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underworld_(film_series))

Yes, the Vampire Cain, the original Progenitor of all Vampires....who is also Biblical Cain, is supposed to still walk amongst the Vampires.....but in secret.

Although, White-Wolf-Studios the creators of the  World of Darkness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Darkness) sued or tried to sue the people behind this film travesty, I mean trilogy. Because they just found it had so much in common with their game which they also found to be embarrassing, I guess.

Then there is the Twilight-Saga. I could never swallow the idea of Vampires that are so potent that they sparkle when exposed to sunlight. You know, most normal vampires and the ones from White-Wolf's game especially fear the sun and being exposed to it. Aside from catching fire and being turned into ash if they have no way of retreating back into darkness.  The Vampires from the game have trait in Courage that measures their ability to face the sun without fear providing they can soak the damage it does to them. I think only the very powerful Vampires, perhaps the Elder would dare try to spend as much time in the sun as the Twilights vampires that flaunt their Vampiric abilities more like superheros. Especially in the latest film, where they almost appeared to be trading abilities. Although, I guess the use and how they may obtain their Disciplines is much different. In some small ways the Twilight Vampires might otherwise have more in in common with White-Wolf's WOD. I still wasn't so taken in by it and their version of Werewolves who were just comprised of Canadian Indians and restricted to shape-changing into a giant wolf. Unlike WOD's who have five forms, Human, Near-Human, Human/Wolf Hybrid, Near-Wolf,(Just like they are in Twilight.) Wolf

Yes, the five shapes, that would be something to see up on the big or small screen.

Otherwise, I like some of special effects. Although the Vampiric fast-moving effects seem dumb and the big battle towards the end of the last film seemed way to clean. The whole Twilight Saga for all it's expense is Vampire : The Masquerade verses Werewolf : The Apocalypse with only the Wendigo Tribe who are confined to their Dire-Wolf shape. I never liked the idea that only Indians could be Werewolves, when wolves exist in most northern countries. Trendy Indians, who look like more like one of those current prefab boy bands or male strippers. In fact the entire cast of those films look like the all belong in a commercial or one of those old cigarette advertisments I'd use to find in Playboy and Penthouse magazines (I only use to read those for the articles;)).

Another thing that separated Twilight from Werewolf: TA and WOD in general was story was mainly young romance driven. Where the latter is driven by their battle against Vampires, amongst their tribes, the Mega-Rich Bio-Chemical Companies, the fallen Tribe and anything or any one who gets on their bad side. Vampires and Werewolves constantly fighting over territory and the mere humans who inhabit it for blood stock as opposed to Breeding stock.

Werewolves, need to breed with humans and wolves the same way all mammals to further their potent genetics for further generations. Unlike the Werewolves of well known lore and films of the past and present who need to bite other pass on their Lycanthropic germs. In the end, if the whole process
was made more difficult by needing to breed with others instead of just being bitten would stop them from out-populating everybody else so quickly. You would just have werewolves everywhere if that was the case and it's easier to believe than sparkly vampires.

Although I loved watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, they would never compare to the game lore and I never even bother with Only Human, Bloodlines an Vampire Diaries I
did watch Bloodlines for a bit and it most definitely doesn't compare.

The Walking Dead while that's very good, and easier to take seriously, it's got nothing in common.

Sorry to get away and keep writing like that. It's just easy for me to do when I sit here alone at night.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 May, 2014, 07:15:51 PM
I guess everyone knows that all the songs in AWIL have 'moon' in them?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 May, 2014, 07:29:51 PM
As a young un I found a video hidden in a cupboard, its title was "The Last American Virgin". Now I dont know what this was about as I never got to see it but I imagine it was some kind of Porkies rip off.

What was actually on the tape was AWiL which I watched and scared me shitless, but I couldnt tell my parents why because I shouldnt have seen in the first place.

God I love that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 May, 2014, 08:08:05 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 May, 2014, 05:14:56 PMSo not at all as riveting as it could be but a heartily action-filled navy lark with some very brilliant physical effects.

Also, arguably one of the best/worst puns in movie history.

Will second the forum love for American Werewolf, but will put forward Carpenter's The Thing in any argument that claims the title of 'Best Horror Movie'. I had the genuine privilege of seeing The Thing on the big screen for the first time a couple of years ago and there is not one single frame of that movie that I would agree needs re-shooting.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 May, 2014, 08:31:44 PM
For what it's worth, the makers of the prequel agreed with you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 21 May, 2014, 08:53:34 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 May, 2014, 08:08:05 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 May, 2014, 05:14:56 PMSo not at all as riveting as it could be but a heartily action-filled navy lark with some very brilliant physical effects.

will put forward Carpenter's The Thing in any argument that claims the title of 'Best Horror Movie'. I had the genuine privilege of seeing The Thing on the big screen for the first time a couple of years ago and there is not one single frame of that movie that I would agree needs re-shooting.

Cheers

Jim


  stop the presses!!! :o me 'n jim agree on something! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 May, 2014, 12:03:06 AM
Yeah, definitely agree that The Thing is an outstanding movie. 

The effects are stunning and still look good today.  But Beyond that, this move is quite clever and doesn't dumb down for the audience.  So much happens off screen which helps to build the suspense as you really don't know who is infected.  This is probably the movie I have watched the most times.

All that's left to say is.....was Childs infected?  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 09:09:28 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 May, 2014, 05:14:56 PM
Master and Commander: The Edge of the World

A nicely retro affair - all splintered wood and shouting crewmen. It's got a fun air of blustery silliness about it and all parts are played with endearing sincerity (this is because the ship is populated almost entirely by solid British character actors - if it went down it'd be an Equity nightmare). It suffers quite heavily from "long book series condensed and polished by Hollywood script-doctors" syndrome, so every 'throw-away' line is tediously and methodically called back later on in a robotic attempt to make it look clever and meaningful. So not at all as riveting as it could be but a heartily action-filled navy lark with some very brilliant physical effects.

Yeah, as a deeply-invested fan of the books, I should complain incessantly about each and every part of this film, but I can't because it's actually very good fun, catches much of the spirit and it looks simply gorgeous.  Why they chose to give it that title I have no idea: no part of the plot of either of those two books appears on screen, unless you count them being in the Pacific, which they are every other book for 20 volumes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 May, 2014, 09:47:35 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 May, 2014, 12:03:06 AM
Yeah, definitely agree that The Thing is an outstanding movie. 

The effects are stunning and still look good today.  But Beyond that, this move is quite clever and doesn't dumb down for the audience.  So much happens off screen which helps to build the suspense as you really don't know who is infected.  This is probably the movie I have watched the most times.

All that's left to say is.....was Childs infected?  ;)

One of the (many) reasons I don't like the prequel, is they (possibly unwittingly) answered this. Spoilers for The Thing, although I'm sure we've all seen it!

[spoiler]In the prequel it turns out that it can't duplicate inorganic matter, so people who had fillings don't have fillings for example. It's their way of basically ripping off the blood test scene, in the prequel they're shining torches in each others' mouths to check for fillings. Anyway, at the end of the original film when Childs reappears he has an earring, so if the prequel is to be taken as canon then he definitely wasn't infected.[/spoiler]

The prequel should not be taken as canon though in my mind, mainly because it is tripe. I remember during development a lot of chat about how they were going all out on physical effects and wouldn't be using CG for the creatures or transformations and I can only imagine at the 11th hour someone decided that didn't look good and they replaced it all with poor CG. My biggest gripe though is that it has none of the are they/aren't they tension of the original because anytime someone gets infected they pretty much expose themselves immediately in a 'hey, can I show you this thing in this cupboard but then attack you' sort of way.

I love The Thing dearly, which is probably why all this bothers me as much as it does!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 22 May, 2014, 09:54:17 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 21 May, 2014, 07:29:51 PM
As a young un I found a video hidden in a cupboard, its title was "The Last American Virgin". Now I dont know what this was about as I never got to see it but I imagine it was some kind of Porkies rip off.

What was actually on the tape was AWiL which I watched and scared me shitless, but I couldnt tell my parents why because I shouldnt have seen in the first place.

God I love that film.

Last American Virgin is not quite a Porkies rip off. It does have elements of the 80s American teen sex comedy that was prevalent then but it is a remake of an Israeli (I think) film so is a bit different, notably at the end of the film which isn't the normal boy meets girl happy ending. Basically[spoiler]boy fancies new girl at school but is too shy to say anything, she goes out with his mate who is much cooler. She gets pregnant and is ditched by the cool guy. Unrequited love bloke sells loads of his stuff to pay for her abortion, they get together and throw a party. At which she promptly fucks him off for the bloke who made her pregnant. The last shot of the film is a close up of the guy's face about to burst into tears so a bit of a downbeat ending. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 May, 2014, 12:19:37 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 09:09:28 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 May, 2014, 05:14:56 PM
Master and Commander: The Edge of the World

...as a deeply-invested fan of the books, I should complain incessantly about each and every part of this film, but I can't because it's actually very good fun, catches much of the spirit and it looks simply gorgeous.  Why they chose to give it that title I have no idea: no part of the plot of either of those two books appears on screen, unless you count them being in the Pacific...

As adaptations, Master and Commander and Dredd have an awful lot in common - quite a lot has been necessarily changed in the transition from page to screen, but the films are so damn true to the spirit of the source materials that it's hard to bear them any ill will for their changes. The biggest strength in the film may be the casting - Steven, Killick, Davies, Padeen, etc, are all damn-near perfect. (Less so Aubrey, but that's no comment on Crowe's abilities).

I can only imagine what people who picked up FSotW off the back of the film thought about the novel though! The guys spend the first chapter tying up loose ends from the previous book, the next five or so chapters in port, outfitting the ship, and even when they get going there's initially just a lot of talk about the finer points of 19thC whaling. The book's full of characters who aren't in the film and with a single exception not one scene from the film happens in the book. It ends up being one of the finest novels in the series IMO, but it must have been utterly baffling to anyone expecting a straight adaptation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 May, 2014, 12:21:34 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 May, 2014, 09:47:35 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 May, 2014, 12:03:06 AM
Yeah, definitely agree that The Thing is an outstanding movie. 

The effects are stunning and still look good today.  But Beyond that, this move is quite clever and doesn't dumb down for the audience.  So much happens off screen which helps to build the suspense as you really don't know who is infected.  This is probably the movie I have watched the most times.

All that's left to say is.....was Childs infected?  ;)

One of the (many) reasons I don't like the prequel, is they (possibly unwittingly) answered this. Spoilers for The Thing, although I'm sure we've all seen it!

[spoiler]In the prequel it turns out that it can't duplicate inorganic matter, so people who had fillings don't have fillings for example. It's their way of basically ripping off the blood test scene, in the prequel they're shining torches in each others' mouths to check for fillings. Anyway, at the end of the original film when Childs reappears he has an earring, so if the prequel is to be taken as canon then he definitely wasn't infected.[/spoiler]

The prequel should not be taken as canon though in my mind, mainly because it is tripe. I remember during development a lot of chat about how they were going all out on physical effects and wouldn't be using CG for the creatures or transformations and I can only imagine at the 11th hour someone decided that didn't look good and they replaced it all with poor CG. My biggest gripe though is that it has none of the are they/aren't they tension of the original because anytime someone gets infected they pretty much expose themselves immediately in a 'hey, can I show you this thing in this cupboard but then attack you' sort of way.

I love The Thing dearly, which is probably why all this bothers me as much as it does!

[spoiler]But the Thing could have learned from that experience and stuck the earing in?[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 May, 2014, 12:56:13 PM
You took the words right out of my mouth James!  I am slightly more swayed by the [spoiler]coat theory and how much relevance you put into the whisky bottle - is it a test to see if Childs is worried about infection or does it link back to the early scene where MacReady pours whiskey into the chess machine?[/spoiler]

Keef - the video game and the comic books have also commented on what happened to them after the movie, but I'm ignoring those.

   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 May, 2014, 01:59:49 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 May, 2014, 12:56:13 PM
You took the words right out of my mouth James!  I am slightly more swayed by the [spoiler]coat theory and how much relevance you put into the whisky bottle - is it a test to see if Childs is worried about infection or does it link back to the early scene where MacReady pours whiskey into the chess machine?[/spoiler]

Keef - the video game and the comic books have also commented on what happened to them after the movie, but I'm ignoring those.

   

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. I never really treated either of those as canon, but did really enjoy the game. Seeing that on a shelf and picking it up out of curiosity was actually what got me back into videogames after drifting away from them for a few years (I got distracted by music and drinking and ladies and stuff so decided I'd grown out of them), so in retrospect I owe a great deal to that game!

I suppose the thing could have picked up some new tricks along the way, it would adapt aggressively to survive. I like it, now I can ignore the earring (and that film).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 May, 2014, 02:51:52 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 May, 2014, 12:19:37 PM
I can only imagine what people who picked up FSotW off the back of the film thought about the novel though! The guys spend the first chapter tying up loose ends from the previous book, the next five or so chapters in port, outfitting the ship, and even when they get going there's initially just a lot of talk about the finer points of 19thC whaling. The book's full of characters who aren't in the film and with a single exception not one scene from the film happens in the book. It ends up being one of the finest novels in the series IMO, but it must have been utterly baffling to anyone expecting a straight adaptation.
Can't speak to that but if, like me, you ended up reading Master and Commander off the back of the film you'd find large chunks of dialogue and incident appropriated for the film but wrapped up in a different plot. I thought the film was great but found the book very ponderous.

As an aside, I often think Peter Weir's versatility as a director stops him getting the recognition he deserves. Have a look at his filmography and point out the stinkers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 May, 2014, 03:10:05 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2014, 02:51:52 PM
As an aside, I often think Peter Weir's versatility as a director stops him getting the recognition he deserves. Have a look at his filmography and point out the stinkers.

Wow. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001837/) Certainly, everything I've seen on that list has been pretty good to excellent. Somehow, I've managed to never consciously register that directed the excellent Gallipoli.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 May, 2014, 03:12:35 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2014, 02:51:52 PM
As an aside, I often think Peter Weir's versatility as a director stops him getting the recognition he deserves. Have a look at his filmography and point out the stinkers.

He's fairly consistent although I found Picnic at Hanging Rock overbearingly obtuse. But then I did watch it during film studies and that was kind of a theme.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 May, 2014, 04:39:30 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2014, 02:51:52 PM
As an aside, I often think Peter Weir's versatility as a director stops him getting the recognition he deserves. Have a look at his filmography and point out the stinkers.

I know three people have already quoted this but, well why book a trend. Its probably very true. To a degree he has a record of consistently decent to good films - there are however some absolute highlights. I'm a fan of the 'Cars that ate Paris' for all its problems, love the aforementioned 'Gallipoli' always really enjoy 'The Truman Show' amongst others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 22 May, 2014, 04:46:35 PM
Gallipoli is excellent to be sure mel did do some great films inbetween mad max and the lethal weapons. the "year of living dangerously" was one that along with "Salvador" and "killing fields" got me into a whole genre of 'grown up' films  ...

   But then I do love a "boys own adventure" I hadn't seen "the man who would be king " for years its been on sky loads since  but the top of the tree for me has to be "Zulu" cy enfield turned out a masterpiece to be sure
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 05:07:20 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 22 May, 2014, 12:19:37 PM
As adaptations, Master and Commander and Dredd have an awful lot in common - quite a lot has been necessarily changed in the transition from page to screen, but the films are so damn true to the spirit of the source materials that it's hard to bear them any ill will for their changes.

A very good point, although I thought the portrayal of Aubrey was closer to the mark than Maturin, who I felt had absorbed a little bit of Lt. Dillon from Master and Commander somewhere along the way. 

Having finally finished the series last year after cruelly rationing the grog as long as I humanly could, and discovering that the unintentionally open ending is quite satisfying, this thread makes me hungry to re-read the lot... It helps that M&C, for all that I've read it four times now, is one of the best, and despite The Cosh's reaction, probably the most successful as a novel, rather than an instalment.

It's ether that or resume my chronological Flashman re-read.  Now there's something HBO should tackle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 May, 2014, 05:12:18 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 05:07:20 PM
Having finally finished the series last year after cruelly rationing the grog as long as I humanly could, and discovering that the unintentionally open ending is quite satisfying, this thread makes me hungry to re-read the lot...

I hear that. The last one I read was Reverse of the Medal, and the gaps between books are getting ever larger as I realise that I'm now over the halfway point of the series. Is The Unfinished Voyage... worth a read, Tord, or better to stop with Book 20 once I get there...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 06:57:38 PM
I was dreading reading The Unfinished Journey, put it off and off, filled with morbid thoughts that this was the last time I'd ever read a new word about my favourite nautical duo and their floating menagerie, and worse, that it might be some awful hodge-podge of notes that ends in the middle of a sentence.  In fact it's a really good instalment, and it ends [spoiler]at the opening of a new phase in Jack's career, a sort of 'second star to the right and straight on 'til morning' thing' as he heads off for new adventures with renewed energy.  Stephen's romantic fortunes take an upturn too. [/spoiler] Certainly not the mess I feared it would be.

If you haven't, you should get stuck into the various O'Brian biographies.  Desperately sad and fascinating at the same time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2014, 07:08:24 PM
Oh dear god.  I've just realised that the last Aubrey/Maturin book I read was Blue at the Mizzen.  Somehow I got it into my head that it was the last, unfinished one, that 'The Unfinished Voyage' was an unofficial subtitle of sorts - which Wikipedia just informed me it was not.  This means my last post was total nonsense and in fact refers to Vol 20. 

Apologies for the confusion, Jimbo.  What an idiot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 22 May, 2014, 09:11:29 PM
Thirty years ago this week this film was out, I loved the film, darkest of all Indy Jones films and brilliant poster ever!

(http://i.imgur.com/2kWQTtc.jpg?1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 May, 2014, 09:23:59 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 22 May, 2014, 09:11:29 PM
Thirty years ago this week this film was out, I loved the film, darkest of all Indy Jones films and brilliant poster ever!

(http://i.imgur.com/2kWQTtc.jpg?1)

My dad took me to see it at the ABC Cinema in Great Yarmouth (since pulled down). There was a Donald Duck re-run cartoon on before the main feature.
That Christmas my sister bought me the St Michael Temple Of Doom Story Book. For some reason, in those days Marks and Spencer's used to do loads of licensed story books (a synopsis of the story coupled with promo pics and fact files) based on big Hollywood films. I still have it - sentimental value!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 May, 2014, 11:01:44 PM
I do love Temple of Doom, 'cos it got me through the first day of being dumped by my first ever love, at the tender age of 16. I did what I always do when in emotional turmoil - go to the cinema. On that occasion ToD had just come out, and I watched it back to back three times. Hurrah for Indy!

Raiders is still better though.

Oh, and another vote for The Thing. It's John Carpenter's best work if you ask me, though I love the majority of his other stuff too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 12:27:17 AM
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - despite having the name of a videogame from the early 2000s and the script to match, this is really boring.  I imagine Ben Affleck is glad to see it as it means he can stop being the shittest Jack Ryan now.  I could forgive thin characters in Godzilla because it's Godzilla, but I expect more in a film that is actually named for one of its characters and is clearly meant to be the start of a franchise.
It's not even like it's aggressively bad, just stubbornly banal and dull, so that when action scenes finally happen you just end up asking why they're even in there and wonder if they're from a separate film entirely.
There's been some decent spy flicks this last few years, this is just vapor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 May, 2014, 10:26:33 AM
I enjoyed it - less action, more analytical I thought. The ending was rushed. And I preferred Chris Pine to Affleck (though Affleck can be good) but my memory of Affleck's outing is based on one interrupted viewing many years ago.

But how does Kiera Knightly keep getting work?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 May, 2014, 11:01:22 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 May, 2014, 10:26:33 AM
But how does Kiera Knightly keep getting work?

I can't say I've ever had particularly positive or negative feelings about any of her performances either way, but she is very pretty, which I'm sure doesn't hurt your Hollywood employment chances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 May, 2014, 11:14:42 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 May, 2014, 11:01:22 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 May, 2014, 10:26:33 AM
But how does Kiera Knightly keep getting work?

I can't say I've ever had particularly positive or negative feelings about any of her performances either way, but she is very pretty, which I'm sure doesn't hurt your Hollywood employment chances.

S'right. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 May, 2014, 11:37:22 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 22 May, 2014, 09:54:17 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 21 May, 2014, 07:29:51 PM
As a young un I found a video hidden in a cupboard, its title was "The Last American Virgin". Now I dont know what this was about as I never got to see it but I imagine it was some kind of Porkies rip off.

What was actually on the tape was AWiL which I watched and scared me shitless, but I couldnt tell my parents why because I shouldnt have seen in the first place.

God I love that film.


Last American Virgin is not quite a Porkies rip off. It does have elements of the 80s American teen sex comedy that was prevalent then but it is a remake of an Israeli (I think) film so is a bit different, notably at the end of the film which isn't the normal boy meets girl happy ending. Basically[spoiler]boy fancies new girl at school but is too shy to say anything, she goes out with his mate who is much cooler. She gets pregnant and is ditched by the cool guy. Unrequited love bloke sells loads of his stuff to pay for her abortion, they get together and throw a party. At which she promptly fucks him off for the bloke who made her pregnant. The last shot of the film is a close up of the guy's face about to burst into tears so a bit of a downbeat ending. [/spoiler]

You know, that wouldn't happen in real life. Not with me at least. I would just ignore the girl when it becomes obvious she only wants what little money I have and force her to either self-abort or have the baby she can't bring up herself or with the arsehole father of the child who would eventually abandon her anyway. Yes, that's see close of her crying tear filled face and a close up of her bleeding arse-hole/vagina. Yes, I'm can be a arsehole as well. Just not the same one the other guy is......So, If I'm not the guy who gets the girl in the first place, I'll just be the guy who ignores her when she really needs attention no one else else is giving her.

Quote from: Colin Zeal on 22 May, 2014, 09:54:17 AM
What was actually on the tape was AWiL which I watched and scared me shitless, but I couldnt tell my parents why because I shouldnt have seen in the first place.

I just lost huge-ass post I was typing all yesterday and this morning. I went to sleep on the couch for a few hours and came back to the computer could find the page I had opened here. Is it possible for web pages to be remotely hacked and forcibly disappeared......it was all about American Werewolf in Paris and how the mythology of that film screwed with the mythology first film.

Does it make any sense?

Can anybody explain it to me?

Which mythology is a improvement?

I think the it was improved with the second film.

I also explain as I described the whole film again......

How it did and did not relate to a role-playing-game I mentioned earlier.

I think that was it really...but I went on and on and on.... wanted to include video snippets as well.

Here is one... the  Alternate-Ending (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-E5qsAOHZk).

I think there is a another one where they both bungie-jump out of the top of the Statue of Liberty
after being joined in wed lock.

Hmmm.. Julie Delpy, not as hot as you might think she when you look at her for long time and despite how thrilled with it I was at the time of it's debut. I think this film was a embarrassment for all involved.

Just watch her awfully acted  Transformation Scene.... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8aAd_SGpvY)

Have you seen of any of the cast in other films ever since.

Tom Everett Scott was also in Dead-Man On Campus and some television series I can't even remember exactly.

I'm really pissed I lost that page...It had some good stuff...I can't quite recall now.......For instance...did you know that all the close-ups of the werewolve's face were used as model for the face of big demon creature used in the film based on Spawn. They really needed something and saved time and money that way. That's why looks so familiar if your seen both films.

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wyoKRWQ27U8/UOjrEAj-CxI/AAAAAAAAGm8/XTb_FomIU0Y/s400/sprrndevil.jpg)(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTu61rUFwvaC6lYSzu9TrpmL_AjVCVBmBtwAgMe6O6vHUgaMywa)

Notice how samey they both look.

That's another thing I hated about this film....they made all the werewolves identical ...like in a even more current werewolf movie called Wardogs . Anyway they weren't that much like wolves in their half-beast shapes.

Did I mention the Twilight saga with it's sparkly Vampires. It's just so anathelma to what I know about the vampire legends. Is there anything in Vampire lore that suggests they should be able to do this.
I think there be actually. As I have read the real blood drinkers of history, were mortal and then there was that fellow.. the Turkish guy called Vlad the Impaler...he was a count....I recall he managed to survive being shot several times, but died later.

He never sparkled though....that is just retarded.

You might as well have the trolls from LOTR and The Hobbit......sparkle instead of turn
to stone when exposed to sunlight as well.

Sparkly Trolls.......heh:)

Lamenting my lost work....:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 23 May, 2014, 02:14:52 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 22 May, 2014, 09:11:29 PM
darkest of all Indy Jones films and brilliant poster ever!

I enjoy your contributions Goaty, but best EVER ?  ☺

...sorry...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 04:01:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 May, 2014, 10:26:33 AM
I enjoyed it - less action, more analytical I thought.

To each their own, and perhaps I am letting my enjoyment of the older films colour my judgment a little, as though I never got along with the books, the films were always workable if occasionally unremarkable thrillers.  They knew what they were supposed to be and they did a good job of putting that onscreen, and even the Affleck one that people hate was an okayish reboot.
But in the spirit of Richmond's comments over on the Godzilla thread where he rightly points out that we should be equally critical of films regardless of their genre, I have a couple of nitpicks about this non-monster flick: the problems for me began with this one when the very first thing we see is 911 establishing a contemporary narrative, yet the film runs straight back to Cold War political shenanigans where the Russians are the baddies, only they're doing the stuff Al Qaeda does like terror attacks and sleeper cells, so it's a film that knows it has to move on from the older films and the Cold War background of the main character, but doesn't - or can't - do so.
The plot also relies heavily on coincidence, and 90 minutes of Jack being an investment banker telling his boss that some finances are odd so he needs to go to Russia to look at spreadsheets.  Also he is banging his nurse even though she says they can't date - this is never explained.  The baddies' plan makes no sense, and not just because it's Sean Bean's plan from Goldeneye only in reverse (instead of "steal money, cover it up with terror attack", the terror attack comes first), nor because a large terror attack will cause the financial markets to be closed and transactions invalidated, nor because Saudi money in US banks and not Russian cash is what floats the US economy (again coming back to Russians taking the place of stereotypical Middle Easterners).
The heroes' plan makes no sense - it hinges on Jack being told to take a walk for a bit during the time that he needs to slip away to break into the baddies' office, but what if the baddy just left the table himself?  And why doesn't the CIA chief just have the markets closed when he finds out there's going to be an attack?  Don't the markets automatically close if Wall Street is evacuated in case of a terror attack?
Without ever establishing his credentials as an action hero, action scenes just start and suddenly Jack is Batman - no buildup, no steady pacing to make these scenes make contextual sense like even the earliest films like Red October did, he's just Batman now, even though the film seems to understand on some level that its central character is not supposed to be Batman and is just an analyst who shouldn't be trying to be Batman because the first 20 minutes are dedicated to establishing that he's not Batman and has a gammy back, both of which are entirely forgotten in the second half of the film without any kind of justification or resolution.
There's a bit at the start where Jack is in a chopper in Iraq or somewhere so you think this scene is going to be all about action, but then he's shouting on the phone to someone about some analysis he did, and then he starts explaining his work to someone in the chopper and then the chopper explodes and then Jack is going "awww.  AWWWWW." for a few minutes, nothing is resolved and then he gets over it and people don't tell him to fuck off.  This is a paradigm for the next two hours.

MORE LIKE JACK RYAN SHITE RECRUIT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 23 May, 2014, 04:49:46 PM
I watched Pacifc Rim and despite having being looking forward to it, I was quite appalled.  I'm dismayed that many respected film critics seem to think it was great fun.  I thought it was the worst film I'd seen in a long time with comedy relief characters that took me back to the dark days of the Stallone Judge Dredd.  *shudders*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 May, 2014, 05:07:30 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 04:01:38 PM
Without ever establishing his credentials as an action hero, action scenes just start and suddenly Jack is Batman - no buildup, no steady pacing to make these scenes make contextual sense like even the earliest films like Red October did, he's just Batman now, even though the film seems to understand on some level that its central character is not supposed to be Batman and is just an analyst who shouldn't be trying to be Batman because the first 20 minutes are dedicated to establishing that he's not Batman

Most films could be improved by replacing the main character with Batman. Not the boring Batman from the Nolan films, obviously.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 05:27:20 PM
I suppose the end of Shite Recruit is the main character discovering that some days you just can't get rid of a bomb*...



*  [spoiler]And then he gets rid of it by dumping it in the sea.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 May, 2014, 06:35:06 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 05:27:20 PM
I suppose the end of Shite Recruit is the main character discovering that some days you just can't get rid of a bomb*...



*  [spoiler]And then he gets rid of it by dumping it in the sea.[/spoiler]

You mean Godzilla, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2014, 07:36:35 PM
I agree.  Shite Recruit would have been much better with Batman or Godzilla in the lead role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 May, 2014, 10:49:20 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 22 May, 2014, 09:11:29 PM
Thirty years ago this week this film was out, I loved the film, darkest of all Indy Jones films and brilliant poster ever!

(http://i.imgur.com/2kWQTtc.jpg?1)

I had the official t-shirt...don't know where it is now though....it definitely wouldn't fit me.....sweet memories...:)

Right now....I'm watching Pet Cemetary....... and thinking that the young blonde-hair boy...barely a infant in the film would be a full grown man by now. I thought his portrayl of murderous toddler very creepy and wasn't sure if they were using a very life-like puppet or cgi.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 May, 2014, 02:27:19 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 May, 2014, 03:12:35 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 22 May, 2014, 02:51:52 PM
As an aside, I often think Peter Weir's versatility as a director stops him getting the recognition he deserves. Have a look at his filmography and point out the stinkers.

He's fairly consistent although I found Picnic at Hanging Rock overbearingly obtuse. But then I did watch it during film studies and that was kind of a theme.
I can see that but I had the good fortune to see at least some of Picnic when Channel 4 first showed it. I'd have been ten or eleven and I always associate it with the sensation of being pleasantly mystified.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 May, 2014, 03:05:18 PM
Link.

An old 80s film about a murderous ape. I remember this being in the video shop when I was younger but I never got around to renting it. It was nothing at all like I'd imagined and I really quite enjoyed it.
Terence Stamp and Elizabeth Shue starred but the best actor was the orangutan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 24 May, 2014, 03:19:29 PM
Pan's Labyrinth

Dark-as-pitch fantasy from del Toro - rightly praised I think as a perfect mix between heady fantasy and brutal reality. Perhaps there could be some criticism levelled at how thickly they lay on that Captain Vidal is a baddy YES we get it he's a baddy. YES WE GET IT. Really though that's splitting hairs as it's so cleverly weighted otherwise and fantastically shot. Truly a modern classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2014, 03:33:19 PM
I wouldn't know as I can't watch anything with subtitles as that takes concentration and I can't text or talk with mates like you're supposed to do with films so I'll have to wait for the English remake and if they don't do an English remake it can't be that good anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2014, 03:51:18 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2014, 03:33:19 PM
I wouldn't know as I can't watch anything with subtitles as that takes concentration and I can't text or talk with mates like you're supposed to do with films so I'll have to wait for the English remake and if they don't do an English remake it can't be that good anyway.

As an avid comics reader I have no trouble at all with subtitles, as long as they're clear* - my brain is just so used to skim-reading text whilst absorbing images I barely notice them after a while.

If this is widespread (and it makes sense to me, which counts as SCIENCE on the internet), then it's ironic that the people whose brains are perfectly wired to cope with subtitles may never realise they have this gift 'cos they only go and see things with giant robots and exploding vehicles. Wonder if it would help if they appeared in speech bubbles?

*but I hate those white-text and no background subtitles that are simply invisible 50% of the time, usually at the most important reveal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2014, 04:37:56 PM
That may have been sarcasm, DDD.

Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2014, 03:51:18 PM*but I hate those white-text and no background subtitles that are simply invisible 50% of the time, usually at the most important reveal.

I am often surprised to see fansubbing on kids' toku shows that is of much higher quality and attention to detail than official English-language subtitles on movies aimed at adults and sold in stores.  As with those dvd box sets where you can't skip aggressive anti-piracy promos, the Other Method is sometimes more rewarding for the viewer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 24 May, 2014, 05:08:59 PM
Austin Powers did a great take on the white subtitle debacles.

I watched Family Business, nice partnering of some deft talent.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 May, 2014, 06:50:34 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 May, 2014, 02:27:19 PM
I can see that but I had the good fortune to see at least some of Picnic [at Hanging Rock] when Channel 4 first showed it. I'd have been ten or eleven and I always associate it with the sensation of being pleasantly mystified.

I had the same experience at about the same age, and ever since it's had an elevated position in my memory.  Even properly watching it many years later didn't dislodge the feeling that it was significant and enigmatic rather than ponderously dull. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 25 May, 2014, 08:28:17 AM
Didn't thinking Hanging Rock was dull at all - just frustratingly oblique. If I'd seen it in a non film studies setting I probably would have found it far more enchanting but when you're sat in front of a film and told "analyse this" and it starts unfolding and getting more symbolic it just feels like work. I was once told before I took it up that "film studies ruins films" - which is simply not true - but it DOES ruin meandering allegorical films because all you can visualise is taking them apart in essay-form afterwards. "Yes... Susan seeing the rat here symbolises death - or possibly rebirth. Or maybe both"

Ahem. On the other side of the coin....

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Not something many forumers can empathise with but I was a Potter lad, for sure. The first book came out when I was ten and I was the right age (possibly) for it all and, global brand as it was, it just struck me and was into it for the whole of my teens. By the time this film rolled along the franchise was a decade old, the books were about to finish (later that same month in fact) and I was off to university. I sort of lost interest in the whole sheboodle after that. The fanwanky final chapter and all the hilariously unnecessary deaths of the last book were the final nails in my Potter coffin and shook me awake from it all. "What an earth am I thinking?! I'm 20 and there are amazing comics to read!" I've never even seen the last two films - although watching this again has made me consider it.

The films do a tolerable job of reminding you of the good bits of the books with some grand designs and some great casting - Staunton is perfect here and Fiennes' gloriously hammy Voldy-boy is always fun. It's like your past imagination being replayed by well-known actors.... however ggawwd knows what moviegoers who've not read the books feel - without the pages of context there's a lot of reeling loose ends and awfully cheap Chekov's guns strewn about - and the quirky humour of the book is largely bleached out leaving it feeling a bit sullen.

This one fairly anonymous entry in the film series will always be the weird one for me - what a year 2007 was...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Bissler on 25 May, 2014, 09:25:01 AM
Watched the Lone Ranger last night. It was ok but not anything great or truly awful. I thought it would be more fun than it was and I was surprised how (unnecessarily) dark some of the film was; I had been expecting a kind of Western Raiders of the Lost Ark. Needed to be funnier and have more action set pieces.

Another example of Hollywood making a film which is neither for children nor adults, all just to achieve the commercial Holy Grail of the 12 / PG-13 certificate. I think everyone is being cheated out of good films because of this. I feel sorry for younger kids who only seem to get animations made for them. It would be nice to see some live action films made for them as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 May, 2014, 12:07:06 PM
On the subtitles subject, far and away my favorite subtitle colour is yellow. Always pops nicely and never gets lost in the mix. Never understood why everyone doesn't use it.

Was on a plane to Canada yesterday (and am suffering from my first ever bout of jet lag, always thought it was a doddle but it's messed me right up!) and the inflight selection was surprisingly good! Watched The Lego Movie which was marvellous, didn't at all expect to like it but it was funny and warm and smart.

Also watched Wolf Of Wall Street, which being lengthy was a perfect flight movie! There were points where I found the characters loathsome, then I'd be laughing at their antics two scenes later. It's a weird balance it treads but I think it does it well. The film it reminded me most of was Goodfellas, and I loved it. DiCaprio is actually incredible in it too, he's been turning in some blinding performances the last few years and this is the role of a lifetime for him, absolutely amazing. Jonah Hill is great too, in fact everyone in it is, it's that kind of film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 25 May, 2014, 12:18:46 PM
Seven Psychopaths. Hilarious with a dash of surprisingly poignant. Excellent movie.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 25 May, 2014, 05:40:00 PM
Days of Future Past.

Frankly, I never thought we'd get to see any version of this on screen, and so it is a geek-out achievement.

It lacked any real Mk I sentinel action, but was daft entertaining fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 25 May, 2014, 07:15:47 PM
I too watched Days of Future Past last night, and I really enjoyed it.

It was a pleasure seeing Bryan Singer back on X-Men duty, his first two films (esp. the second one) were two of my favourite comic book films at the time. Indeed, I still think X2 is one of the best comic book movies ever made (just behind Dredd!).

DoFP was superb, quite a lot of standout moments to choose from, but the sentinel attack at the start, and Quicksilver's slo-mo escape scenes were outstanding. And he was definitely the standout from the film and was sadly underused in my opinion.

One thing I'm thinking about is whether [spoiler]Wolverine still retains his boney claws at the end of film. Because as we see, the future has been re-written, and so Wolverine might not have gotten his adamantium skeleton in this timeline. We do see Striker rescuing his body from the river, but of course, we then realise it's actually Mystique in disguise.
[/spoiler]

I'm wondering how this change might impact on future storylines. Nonetheless, I thought it was a fun film, and here's hoping if we do get another X-Men movie in the future (which is likely), then Singer stays on board. He is to the X-Men films what Nolan was to the recent Batman films; and it could be argued Singer was the one who showed everyone how to go the dark and gritty route (or 'versimilitude' as he likes to call it) via the first X-Men film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 May, 2014, 12:06:43 AM
Hardware on blu-ray. I only mention this because of the blu-ray transfer -- if you hated this movie before (or if low-budget SF movies that Channel 4 could have made aren't your thing) then there's nothing here for you.

But, damn, the blu-ray transfer makes this film look good. No idea what the source was, but the overwhelming red bleed you'll have seen if you saw this movie anywhere but the 1990 cinema release is gone and the lovely art house lighting/cinematography is revealed.

I really hope there's a version of Dust Devil in the works that's of similar quality.

For all it's (very many) faults, Hardware always makes me wonder what Richard Stanley's film career would have looked like without the catastrophic derailment of Dr Moreau...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 May, 2014, 07:55:09 AM
It's funny you should mention Hardware, Jim, as thats what I have lined up for tonight. My BD though is the Synapse import so it would be interesting to know if the transfer is the same...

Dr. Moreau. Ah, I just pre-ordered that blu as well. A film I feel is slightly misjudged, considering it's the addaptation closest to the book. Also, worth it for the "I am the law" line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 May, 2014, 11:45:27 AM
X-Men Days of Future Past yesterday.

Yes its a good one.

I do find myself wondering how Xavier's future self got his [spoiler]body back[/spoiler] considering [spoiler]the ending of X3. Cloning? Or is he just manipulating peoples minds to appear the same, but then why the chair?
I'm thinking they're just ignoring that disintegration scene in X3. Heh.[/spoiler]

Also I wonder how Wolverine [spoiler]got his adamntium claws back in the future[/spoiler] considering the end of [spoiler]The Wolverine where he had his claws cut off by the Silver Samurai. They grew back... but were obviously his original bone claws. Mind you, much as I like that film I thought the idea of cutting something indestructible by adding a heating element to a sword rather silly.

I guess it doesn't really need explaining. He only needed to dip the claws into some more molten Adamantium.[/spoiler]

Also I'm not clear as to why [spoiler]Mystique's DNA would help make the sentinels adaptable. I understand it's to do with shape-shifting but I'd think the mechanism would be implemented differently. Unless the future sentinels were biomechanical in nature.

And the original mechanical sentinels are beyond our technology let alone the seventies but I think the experiments on other mutants might have gone some way to explain that. And they looked cool.... To be fair the movie X-verse always came across technologically more advanced than our own when considering Cerebro, etc.[/spoiler]

I'm picking this apart, but I really did enjoy it.

Anyone else stick to the end? Hee hee. [spoiler]He looked very different to his comic counterpart but considering the pyramids and the four horsemen on the horizon... I think its clear who the next villain may be.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 May, 2014, 08:20:19 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkn3KYwmtc&feature=kp

Explains things! Suppose they never really thought they'd get another X movie then (after X-Men 3 itself).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 27 May, 2014, 03:11:23 AM
A Perverts Guide to Ideology.

The fact that what he has to say and knows what he's talking about, is still very difficult for him to say makes me feel happier I've not ever been able to articulate those same thoughts but had them and someone like him thinks those things also. I really hope the pervert token is his understanding of a distance of irony!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 May, 2014, 06:57:51 AM
Quote from: Hoagy on 27 May, 2014, 03:11:23 AM
A Perverts Guide to Ideology.

The fact that what he has to say and knows what he's talking about, is still very difficult for him to say makes me feel happier I've not ever been able to articulate those same thoughts but had them and someone like him thinks those things also. I really hope the pervert token is his understanding of a distance of irony!

Anyone who can quote from They Live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4WAXQJyxCo) AND The Sound Of Music and Titanic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DocwBZyESU) to illustrate the role played by ideology in the production of conformity is a rare treasure.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 May, 2014, 12:32:59 AM
Son of Rambow

Brimming with boundless enthusiasm and brilliantly weighted. It's got a sort of wonky charm and the two leads are fantastically magnetic. Will Poulter is king. Hammer & Tongs we forgive you for the imaginative but thematically botched HGTG - REFORM AND MAKE ANOTHER FILM YOU BASTARDS.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 May, 2014, 01:17:19 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 May, 2014, 08:20:19 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkn3KYwmtc&feature=kp

Explains things! Suppose they never really thought they'd get another X movie then (after X-Men 3 itself).


As I understand it, X Men 3 was at the time one of the most expensive movies ever made - not only because of all the visual effects, but because of the cast's vastly inflated salaries. It's a huge ensemble with multiple academy award winners remember, many of whom were much bigger stars by film 3. As the original X Men was a relatively cheap film that wasn't expected to do particularly well, it's possible that the cast weren't tied to multi-film deals as is common practice now, giving them a lot more negotiating power.

Current thinking at the time was that a fourth X Men film would be prohibitively expensive to make, hence the cavalier attitude to killing characters off and the shift to making (cheaper) X Men Origin movies instead (the second of which was intended to be based on Magneto and which eventually became First Class).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 28 May, 2014, 10:42:31 AM
According to Mr Stewart on the 5Live film show, he was not tied to multi-film deals back with the first one. Implied that they were from X2 to X3 though.

Should hire someone cheaper for Storm, Halle Berry isn't the only black woman in film and it's not like she really made her mark with the character unlike Jackman, Stewart of McKellen (and I would say McAvoy and Fassbender too).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 28 May, 2014, 12:36:22 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 May, 2014, 11:45:27 AM
Also I wonder how Wolverine [spoiler]got his adamntium claws back in the future[/spoiler] considering the end of [spoiler]The Wolverine where he had his claws cut off by the Silver Samurai. They grew back... but were obviously his original bone claws. Mind you, much as I like that film I thought the idea of cutting something indestructible by adding a heating element to a sword rather silly.

I guess it doesn't really need explaining. He only needed to dip the claws into some more molten Adamantium.[/spoiler]

I think this is part due to them cherry picking different elements from the comics and part due to them wanting to do something 'cool' on screen.

[spoiler]In the comics, the Silver Samurai was a mutant who could use his powers to charge his sword.  He still couldn't cut through adamantium although he did at one stage have the muramasa sword which could damage Wolverine.

Movie Silver Samurai does not appear to be a mutant, has an adamantium suit and sword which is heated.  Strictly speaking, adamantium can't cut through adamantium (although in the comics there are several versions to get around this) and I really can't see what help heating it up would do.

In the comics there was also a time where Wolverine lost all his adamantium (thanks to Magneto) but it was eventually replaced.  I do always smirk at how rare and expensive adamantium is and yet how so much of the marvel universe is made of it!

TLDR: Samurai's sword should have been made of Vibranium.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 28 May, 2014, 01:18:39 PM
X-Men continuity has been screwed in the comics since the 90s at least (and only got furthermore following Grant Morrison's New X-Men).


Just go with it! Comics everybody. I don't really see Xmen 1,2,3 taking place after First Class after all. I'm all for joining it up only loosely so that we can have this kind of time travel shenanigans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2014, 06:20:17 PM
King Kong Escapes - Doctor Who builds a giant robot ape to mine the North Pole for Element X, which is like atomic bombs only better, but it's so good that the giant robot's circuits melt, so Doctor Who hypnotises King Kong and gets him to dig up Element X instead.  After that it gets a bit silly.
Blokes representing a multinational agency working towards "the betterment of mankind" take their job a bit too literally and treat the lady who works with them like shit, as though she's clearly a doctor in the military, they keep calling her "nurse" and laughing at her silly notions of being useful, though to make up for this, they also save her from danger all the time when she folds and starts screaming at lizards.  The ape make-up is laughable and the fights doubly so, but Who is a decent panto-level villain and MechaniKong is a brilliantly stupid creation, while Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube contributes a solidly bombastic score to accompany the giant monster brawls.  Not the greatest Toku movie ever as it drags far too much between the spartan fights, but it's harmlessly daft, the dated sexual and racial politics being the only thing truly objectionable about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 May, 2014, 11:47:26 PM
Eliot Loudermilk: Code Nine!

Yeah, it's tinsel-towns worst kept secret that 80's comedy voice Bobcat Goldthwait is an amazing filmmaker.
'Worlds Greatest Dad' and 'God Bless America' got my attention, and when I heard he was planning a horror, I made that silent internal pact- I'll bloody well watch that.

Finally got round to it on DVD tonight, my last movie watched; Willow Creek.
In a nutshell: a 'found footage' horror about a young couple who go out to the woods looking for Bigfoot / Sasquatch.

It gets right what so many films in a similar vein get wrong.

Firstly; a believable, flawed and actually likeable couple, portrayed competently by two decent actors.

Secondly; realism. Apart from the fact I'd probably never venture into the wilderness without a GPS / compass / satellite phone / gun like our plucky protagonists, everything else in this tale rings true. Reactions, from minute facial expressions to cold-water common sense (get the f-ck outta dodge as soon as things get weird) play out as if it was you. I have on occasion woken up in the middle of the night after hearing a strange noise and stayed awake for at least 30 minutes straining to determine what it could have been / can I hear again. If you've ever been in that situation, the film will unnerve.
Locations are authentic too.

Thirdly; Horror. It's an almost perfect Fibonacci Sequence of introduction / light-hearted banter / foreboding / oh shit / heart-stopping. I was particularly impressed with the ending (though not at first). Initially it had me scratching my head like a wild ape-man trying to figure out Comixology's improved purchase system. A bit of a rewind & pausing added to the confusion. Then I started Googling Sasquatch lore- and it all fell into place like a perfect, horrific, jigsaw.

I know the film will lose it's power on a re-watch, but I think it derives one- now that my ears know exactly what it is that they're straining to hear.

Recommended viewing; 9/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 May, 2014, 12:19:10 AM
Check out Goldthwaite's Shakes The Clown, a noir whodunnit about an alcoholic, drug-taking, manic-depressive clown so consumed with self-loathing that when he finds himself stitched up for a murder and has to get his shit together, he instead hits absolute rock bottom and keeps going, eventually becoming a mime - the lowest form of clown life.  It's Goldthwaite's own Day the Clown Cried.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 May, 2014, 12:25:56 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 29 May, 2014, 12:19:10 AM
Check out Goldthwaite's Shakes The Clown, a noir whodunnit about an alcoholic, drug-taking, manic-depressive clown so consumed with self-loathing that when he finds himself stitched up for a murder and has to get his shit together, he instead hits absolute rock bottom and keeps going, eventually becoming a mime - the lowest form of clown life.  It's Goldthwaite's own Day the Clown Cried.

Never heard of it Prof, but sold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 May, 2014, 04:30:38 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 May, 2014, 08:20:19 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkn3KYwmtc&feature=kp

Explains things! Suppose they never really thought they'd get another X movie then (after X-Men 3 itself).
I remember that.[spoiler] But it does raise the question as to why they looked the same.

I just found out (or rather: I was reminded) the comatose man was meaznt to be  Xavier's identical twin (avoiding to the X3 commentary, anyway) so I guess that explains why he looks the same....

It doesn't explain why he's back in a wheel chair though... Twice in two lifetimes..... What a bummer.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 May, 2014, 09:30:28 PM
I predicted their get-out-of jail card would be something along the lines of Professor X [spoiler]used his brain voodoo to fool Jean and Logan into thinking he had been disintergrated, but really he was alive the whole time, hidden by aforementioned brain voodoo. He then let everyone weep and mourn anyway, because that's the kind of asshole he is. Then he'd return, all "Thanks for saying all that nice stuff about me at my funeral! I know how badly some of you took it, but that's all OK now! "[/spoiler] I'm pretty sure he did that in the comic at least once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MR. ELIMINATOR on 30 May, 2014, 07:55:13 PM
Trilogy of Terror. It's ace. Oh, and the new x men. That was alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 31 May, 2014, 05:41:12 PM
Theatre of Blood

starring Vincent Price as Lionheart. Great film - and what a cast; Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Lowe, Maddy Smith, Joan Hickson, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern - the list goes on!
Haven't seen it in years but the murders of the critics have stuck in my mind all this time. Well who could ever forget Robert Morley being force fed poodle pie?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 May, 2014, 06:13:24 PM
God Bless America - Bobcat Goldthwaite's love letter to America, not that you'd know it given the central storyline is about a man who can't afford healthcare and so kicks off a killing spree by murdering a child star and then going on the run with one of her underage mates that he adopts as a surrogate for his own ungrateful offspring in occasional moments of bonding before the inevitable Butch and Sundance finale.  American celebrity is seen as a cartoon distraction from the problems of modern living, but the country itself is quietly and lovingly filmed and cataloged as the pair cross it, murdering people who are inconsiderate to others in clumsy and brutal scenes that fail to glamorise killing, and ironically this probably did for the film's chances a lot more than the subject matter did.  Blackly comic, but has the odd sweet moment.

Orson Welles' American Cyborg: Steel Warrior stars noted American musician and philosopher Joe Lara, herein expanding upon his established thespian oeuvre in portraying solitary and laconic strongmen "Austin", tasked by fate to escort the immaculately-conceived progeny of Mary, a virginal survivor of the nuclear holocaust engineered by an anonymous mechanical intelligence referred to simply as "The System", whose physical agency is represented by the titular silent and unstoppable "Cyborg" which acts as the film's primary antagonist. The film cleverly subverts the established norms of genre, as Lara plays a man with long hair who kicks people in the face for 90 minutes in an abandoned warehouse constantly redressed to look like multiple locales, a cunning metacommentary upon the cyclical nature of violence that contains obvious correlations with purgatorial myth to compliment the already present christian theological elements.  Even though the script remains largely faithful to William Shakespeare's original play, the film is not the best example of the post-apocalyptic action genre, nor is it the best post-apocalyptic action film starring Joe Lara made in the 1990s for less than thirty dollars, but it has some charm when it leaves aside highbrow philosophical pursuits and concentrates on people stabbing mutant cannibals in the face with broken bottles - in regard to bridging such scenes as an observer, I found five pints of Stella helped greatly with my overall enjoyment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 31 May, 2014, 06:34:29 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 31 May, 2014, 06:13:24 PM
Orson Welles' American Cyborg: Steel Warrior ... the script remains largely faithful to William Shakespeare's original play ... it has some charm when it leaves aside highbrow philosophical pursuits and concentrates on people stabbing mutant cannibals in the face with broken bottles

I prefer PW Anderson's The Seventh Seal. Mila Jovovich really knows how to extract every last ounce of existential ennui from kicking the head off a zombie as she does a backflip in tight leather trousers and high heels.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 May, 2014, 07:04:47 PM
His Three Musketeers remains the definitive version of the original novel, featuring as it does Batman, Catwoman, and England invading France with a fleet of spaceships - presented in 3d, as Dumas intended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 May, 2014, 08:43:01 PM
The Empire Strikes Back - that's the Star Wars film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 31 May, 2014, 11:57:38 PM
Maleficent - which I watched earlier on today with my boy, and really enjoyed.

Excellent turn from Anjelina Jolie as the main character and some nice supporting turns too from Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley in particular as her crow. I wasn't too sure on Elle Fanning as Sleeping Beauty, but she grew into her role as the story progressed.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 June, 2014, 11:18:05 AM
Watching it tomorrow Mabs. Expectations set low, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 01 June, 2014, 02:51:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 01 June, 2014, 11:18:05 AM
Watching it tomorrow Mabs. Expectations set low, mind.

Then you'll definitely enjoy it!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 01 June, 2014, 06:09:21 PM
I just got back from taking my daughter to see it. I went in with low expectations too, just another kids movie that I didn't want to watch but I really enjoyed it, Jolie was terrific as was the rest of the cast and the whole thing looked fantastic.

The wife took our youngest to see Postman Pat at the same time, I think I drew the longer straw there :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 June, 2014, 08:53:01 PM
Nope. Didn't like it. Besides an infuriatingly old hat plot device that's actually kinda sexist by todays standards, [spoiler]Maleficent having her heart broken by a guy, suddenly turning her psyche on it's head. Yawn![/spoiler] I was just, plain, BORING!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 June, 2014, 09:31:15 PM
Still, at least Disney are wringing every last dime out of Wicked's schtick one way or another.  Turnabout is fair play, or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 June, 2014, 09:39:48 PM

They should definitely have made Jolie sing and dance. It would have been funny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1FgpBxXho4).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 June, 2014, 10:07:54 PM
Interesting how an absent 't' can make a sentence sound completely different! :lol:

Anyway, I sat down and watched Expendables 2, just now. T'was alright, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 June, 2014, 11:09:17 PM
Non-Stop with Liam Neeson - horse shit; it totally stopped after 100 minutes!

It's like Lionel Hutz' lawsuit against 'The Never Ending Story' all over again!

It was Ok but a poor man's 'Executive Decision'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 June, 2014, 06:59:57 AM
Wolf of Wall Street.


Loved it. Thought it was brilliant. Loved it the first time around too when it was called "Goodfellas".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 June, 2014, 02:48:02 PM
Sin City

Contrary to my waffle on t'other thread me watching this was again was just coincidence!

"Big, dumb and misogynist as hell" is how I used to describe this - and that still holds true but let me pull it apart.

Big

Sin City is a stylistic mammoth - as it manages to bring Frank Miller's stark visual approach to screen with no small amount of courage and tenacity. It doesn't look like any other film and for that it should be remembered. Who knew copying comics panel-for-panel can sometimes pay off? The sprawling three-tiered anthology plot is appealingly inter-connected and the actors are at their best when they get the balance between scenery-chewing and ham just right. The brilliant Powers Boothe as the greasy big bad senator is absolute gold and the snarling Benicio Del Toro is brilliant - the late Brittany Murphy is also all cheese and fantastic for it.

Dumb

It dips from 'extreme & fun' into 'laughably stupid' far too many times - with its extensive bouncy CGI car-chases and cartoony wire-work explosions. It's more Looney Tunes than Howard Hawks. The stilted cringy melodramatic dialogue doesn't help either - but when its having fun its hard not to go along with it.

Misogynist as hell

Now we all know that Frank Miller ain't no jeeneeus - stylistically he may be a trailblazer but he's come out with some right dodgy shit in his time. The overbearing noir simplicity of Sin City suits his black-and-white violent-gold-hearted-crusader schtick perfectly ... as he says in a behind the scenes feature "I wrote Sin City because I like drawing guns, cars and hot chicks". That's as far as it goes. Looking deeper into the bloody stripper-laden vengeance porn is not advisable.

"What if I'm wrong? I've got a condition. I get confused sometimes. What if I've imagined all this? What if I've finally turned into what they've always said I would turn into? A maniac."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 June, 2014, 04:46:25 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 01 June, 2014, 11:09:17 PM
Non-Stop with Liam Neeson - horse shit; it totally stopped after 100 minutes!

It's like Lionel Hutz' lawsuit against 'The Never Ending Story' all over again!

It was Ok but a poor man's 'Executive Decision'.

Executive Decision was a poor man's Executive Decision.
I thought Non Stop was alright, but it couldn't quite make up its mind if it wanted to be a serious locked room murder mystery or a ridiculous action film.  I think the bit with saving the little girl was too far into ridiculous territory not so much for the scenario playing out at the time as the idea that someone in a burning, crashing plane about to fall into a jet engine will look up and see Liam Neeson is coming for them too and then think "oh good."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 03 June, 2014, 05:52:47 PM
Savages

So the trailers made this look like an action extravaganza. I figured being an Oliver Stone film there would be a fair bit of violence too, considering the R18 rating it came with.

To be fair, there was action and there was violence but because of the length of the thing it didn't feel like enough of it. The film clocks in at about 2 and a half hours. I think 90 minutes would have sufficed. I was excited to see this but after it finished I felt somewhat disappointed.

Save your money with this one. There are so many better films out there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 June, 2014, 07:21:22 AM
Watched The Untouchables with Costner and directed by De Palma.

Worth it if only for the Morricone score which I think is beautiful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 June, 2014, 06:41:24 PM
Testament - post-nuclear tv movie from the mid-80s after it sank in there wouldn't be any mutants, giant wildlife, or motorcycling bandits to worry about after WW3, we were just plain old going to die and the rest was a matter of where, when, and how slow and painful it would be until the sweet kiss of oblivion arrived.  It is not terribly jolly - even The Day After made the effort to lighten the tone by casting Steve Guttenberg - and it lacks any sense of the scale of the catastrophe or setpiece grisly scenes, though the funeral pyres that start springing up once the graveyard is full and the sudden pull-back-and-reveal shot of the main character stitching one of her kids into their burial shroud are both memorable in how mundane they seem given what we usually expect of these kinds of narratives.  It remains tightly focused on the one family over the course of the story to the point that we see nothing more of the apocalypse than a bright light out a window about twenty minutes in, so I can understand why it didn't achieve the status of something like the aforementioned The Day After or the later Threads, but it's easily up there with both.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 05 June, 2014, 08:19:46 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 June, 2014, 06:41:24 PM
Testament - post-nuclear tv movie from the mid-80s after it sank in there wouldn't be any mutants, giant wildlife, or motorcycling bandits to worry about after WW3 ... remains tightly focused on the one family over the course of the story

Missed a golden opportunity to remake The Waltons with mohawks, leather chaps, and extra fingers. There's nothing awful about Robocop 2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmtQXUXez8), but there's not much to recommend it either.  The only real criticism I can make of it is that it feels oddly weighted - there are a lot of characters played by recognisable faces, and they all get more or less the same amount of screen time and similar treatment.

There's nothing wrong with spending time with the bad guys or trying to portray them as more than 2D moustache twirlers, but none of the half dozen villains does anything particularly villainous. You know how in Star Wars Vader's wee vignettes are used like commercial breaks, punctuating the main action? Those interruptions are brilliant, because you know he's just going to fuck someone up, shout something memorable, and then flouncily exit stage left in a billow of black cape. Every time the screen wipes to Vader perk up because you know someone's going to get it tight and the scene will be over in two minutes.

Watching Michael Keaton, Jackie Earl Haley, and their pals mumbling interminably about their share price and product launch deadlines is like watching The Apprentice (uncut), and they never do anything particularly villainous. Whenever Sam Jackson turns up as an unambiguously cuntish Bill O'Reilly (cutting folk off and ostentatiously perverting the truth) the film comes to life for a few minutes. Lack of a clear narrative and strong characterisation means everything feels bland and porridgy; there are far too many plot points and reversals in Murphy's relationship with his family and rediscovering his humanity that it's impossible to care about any of it.

The film offers a neat interpretation of the illusion of free will that's in line with current thinking on the subconscious (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627541.900-picking-our-brains-how-powerful-is-the-subconscious.html); if they'd made that their central conceit, dropped the family, and made a fast paced action revenge thriller with the cast of Sam Jackson's virtual newsroom popping up like a Greek chorus in short bursts of sardonic humour, I think I'd have enjoyed it much more.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 June, 2014, 11:20:22 PM
...ahem... back to silly things...

Harry Potter and the Tree of Nothing: Part 1

After seeing Order of the Phoenix again and realising I'd never actually seen the end of the film saga that I had followed for so long I decided to get in on the last two after four years of avoiding it...

This first part shows off both the biggest plusses and the biggest negatives of the screen versions of the franchise. Everything is gorgeous and the ensemble cast are fantastic (with the exception of some angsty scenery chewing from Watson & Radcliffe) - the animated segment as well is an extraordinary moment and a classy experiment. The division of this last part allows the plot a little more room to breathe leading to some genuinely good character moments and a few very satisfying callbacks - but some plot-points are awkwardly and messily jammed in and non-book readers will be overwhelmed by the occasional heaps of sudden exposition. If they'd thought to have introduced some characters briefly in earlier films first then surely this could have been avoided but "thinking" and "blockbuster film making" rarely mix....

All in all - a nicely dark start to the final filmic chapter of the franchise and I kind of feel I was unjustified in leaving it so long as it does a good job of reminding me why I enjoyed them in the first place - but its jarring brevity in some parts is also why I dreaded it. ...so many more pointless deaths to come...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 June, 2014, 11:24:33 PM
Worth it just to see Neville Longbottom decapitate a snake in slow motion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 08 June, 2014, 09:24:38 AM
Saw R.I.P.D. last night, and found it quite amusing. Nice to see James Hong again!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 June, 2014, 09:58:23 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 June, 2014, 11:20:22 PM...non-book readers will be overwhelmed by the occasional heaps of sudden exposition.

Just wait til you get to Part 2!  "Here's everyone's motivations from the start, and why everything happened the way it did across 8 films, and we'll try to confine it to a 3 minute montage in the third act, mmmkay?"

Actually I rather like the Deathly Hallows movies.  As the book is one of the shorter ones and is particularly short on incident (instead favouring extended periods of misery and befuddlement), splitting it across two parts allows for more character stuff for the main three than any of the other films, and this pays off well in terms of viewer involvement in the high stakes.  The final battle is way too generic for my liking, ignoring the visual (and tactical) possibilities of a war between hundreds of wizards in favour of the compulsory post-LotR charging armies and zap-zap-boom-crash, and some of the important characters don't really get their due (Dumbledore for a start), but all in all it's a sustained and reasonably heartfelt capstone to the series.

And as CFM says, the Brothers animation sequence is nothing short of brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:03:59 AM
I'm waiting for the inevitable seven-season TV series myself... with occasional cameos from Dan Radcliffe as Harry's dad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 June, 2014, 10:05:07 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:03:59 AM
I'm waiting for the inevitable seven-season TV series myself... with occasional cameos from Dan Radcliffe as Harry's dad.

I'd go for that meself. As long as HBO aren't involved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:20:00 AM
It'll be called "That Cunt Voldemort" aimed at the adults who were kids when the books came out it'll detail the staff-room antics of Hogwarts staff and it'll be BLOODY FILTHY.

Professor Flitwick indeed.

Nobutseriously I do think with the current trend for milking former things into series I'd rather see a book whose world didn't get a lot of screen time than say, another self-contained film from the last thirty years getting stretched oot into a series..

Talking of - and I know TB and DarkJimbo (the real one) may agree, that would be a tolerable screen fate for Master & Commander eh what. Would just be rather expensive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 June, 2014, 10:29:20 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:20:00 AM
It'll be called "That Cunt Voldemort" aimed at the adults who were kids when the books came out it'll detail the staff-room antics of Hogwarts staff and it'll be BLOODY FILTHY.

They could legitimately do a Hannibal-meets-Band-of-Brothers prequel series 'Albus Dumbledore and the Wizarding War', with its cool 40's wartime setting, lots of witches in jackboots, werewolves storming the beaches, and hot Dumbledore/Grindelwald wand-on-wand rumpy. 

Actually I'd probably watch that too.

In the meantime, an Aubrey/Maturin HBO series would indeed be ace.  Eva Green for Diana?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 June, 2014, 05:44:47 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:20:00 AMTalking of - and I know TB and DarkJimbo (the real one) may agree, that would be a tolerable screen fate for Master & Commander eh what. Would just be rather expensive.

Black Sails has proven tv companies can do sea-based romps on a telly budget.  Crossbones has proven this is not necessarily a good thing.

Cutthroat Island - too long, the lead character is rubbish and the director can't direct the huge action setpieces to save his life, and yet none of these things were a barrier to Pirates of the Carribean making a gazillion dubloons with more or less the same story and a lead character that was ten times as shite.  The scale of the sets occasionally borders on amazing, especially in the final half-hour sea battle which is almost great, but ultimately scuppered by the pacing and aforementioned lack of directorial flair or focus, and I think a really good editor might have tightened up the whole thing, or at least saved that carriage chase.  Not good, but not as bad as its reputation suggests, either, the march of time lending it more charm than it probably had when it first came out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 09 June, 2014, 09:30:57 AM
Quote from: Kennari Bjarndýr on 08 June, 2014, 05:44:47 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 June, 2014, 10:20:00 AMTalking of - and I know TB and DarkJimbo (the real one) may agree, that would be a tolerable screen fate for Master & Commander eh what. Would just be rather expensive.

Black Sails has proven tv companies can do sea-based romps on a telly budget.  Crossbones has proven this is not necessarily a good thing.

Cutthroat Island - too long, the lead character is rubbish and the director can't direct the huge action setpieces to save his life, and yet none of these things were a barrier to Pirates of the Carribean making a gazillion dubloons with more or less the same story and a lead character that was ten times as shite.  The scale of the sets occasionally borders on amazing, especially in the final half-hour sea battle which is almost great, but ultimately scuppered by the pacing and aforementioned lack of directorial flair or focus, and I think a really good editor might have tightened up the whole thing, or at least saved that carriage chase.  Not good, but not as bad as its reputation suggests, either, the march of time lending it more charm than it probably had when it first came out.

I found the worst thing about Horseshit Island was the fact I got suckered into buying the computer game (Master System), and paid more than 30 quid for it!

Cutthroat indeed!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 June, 2014, 02:22:45 PM
Captain Philips. Wasn't overly impressed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 June, 2014, 05:17:23 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 June, 2014, 02:22:45 PM
Captain Philips. Wasn't overly impressed

If you pretend it's a Nolan/Dark Knight style reboot of the Under Siege franchise, with portly Tom Hanks replacing fat Steve Seagal, it's quite entertaining. They even remember to rip off Die Hard (just like the Seagal original) with the bit where [spoiler]someone with bare feet walks on shattered glass[/spoiler]. You've got to admit that ending is pretty tense.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 June, 2014, 09:25:20 PM
Quote from: sauchie X on 09 June, 2014, 05:17:23 PM
hey even remember to rip off Die Hard (just like the Seagal original) with the bit where [spoiler]someone with bare feet walks on shattered glass[/spoiler].

Mark Millar should sue.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 June, 2014, 09:48:39 PM
He would, only Grant Morrison was the one who actually wrote it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2014, 10:25:06 PM
Quote from: Kennari Bjarndýr on 09 June, 2014, 09:48:39 PM
He would, only Grant Morrison was the one who actually wrote it.

Did Morrison write Silo? That little snippet passed me by...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 June, 2014, 10:45:18 PM
Ah no, Jim - I was joking about how Morrison has made a habit of claiming that he had a hand in - or directly wrote - anything that Millar did in his early career that was successful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 June, 2014, 10:56:02 PM
Gotcha. Sorry. Brain's a bit frazzled tonight!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 June, 2014, 07:57:11 AM
Quote from: sauchie X on 09 June, 2014, 05:17:23 PM
You've got to admit that ending is pretty tense.

I didn't think the ending was tense at all. I knew that he survived but that wasn't the problem. I thought Apollo 13 was very tense and I knew the outcome of that too.

Dunno, just didn't like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 14 June, 2014, 06:45:37 AM
Watched The Trip To Italy last night. Coogans [spoiler]Don Corleone [/spoiler]was brilliant! Some great and very funny impressions. Well worth the price of admission.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 June, 2014, 10:40:40 AM
Though the Tom Hardy/Bane and Christian Bale/Batman impressions are not the best, that whole bit in episode one had me and Tiny Tips in stitches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 June, 2014, 02:36:45 PM
I've found Wes Anderson movies to be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes his quirky style irks, other times it suits the movie perfectly.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of those times where he hits the mark perfectly. In fact, I might go back and revisit the movies I found a bit annoying and re-evaluate them. He really demonstrates how a movie can be visually compelling stunning without tits and explosions and shaky cams and quick cuts and billions of pixels. All the locations are absolutely gorgeous, and the way the interiors are shot really give you a sense of the huge scale of the various fictional grand old piles.

The ensemble cast all put in excellent performances, and they all seem to be having a great deal of fun, but Ralph Fiennes is the obvious star of the show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 17 June, 2014, 02:56:28 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 17 June, 2014, 02:36:45 PM
I've found Wes Anderson movies to be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes his quirky style irks, other times it suits the movie perfectly.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of those times where he hits the mark perfectly. In fact, I might go back and revisit the movies I found a bit annoying and re-evaluate them. He really demonstrates how a movie can be visually compelling stunning without tits and explosions and shaky cams and quick cuts and billions of pixels. All the locations are absolutely gorgeous, and the way the interiors are shot really give you a sense of the huge scale of the various fictional grand old piles.

The ensemble cast all put in excellent performances, and they all seem to be having a great deal of fun, but Ralph Fiennes is the obvious star of the show.

Funnily enough, I watched this last night. Loved every second of it. I can't remember the last time a movie was as much fun as this was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: atp on 17 June, 2014, 03:36:43 PM
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.

Gorgeous animation. Although I didn't think snowy was as good/convincing as the rest of the character animations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 June, 2014, 04:57:43 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 17 June, 2014, 02:56:28 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 17 June, 2014, 02:36:45 PM
I've found Wes Anderson movies to be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes his quirky style irks, other times it suits the movie perfectly.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of those times where he hits the mark perfectly. In fact, I might go back and revisit the movies I found a bit annoying and re-evaluate them. He really demonstrates how a movie can be visually compelling stunning without tits and explosions and shaky cams and quick cuts and billions of pixels. All the locations are absolutely gorgeous, and the way the interiors are shot really give you a sense of the huge scale of the various fictional grand old piles.

The ensemble cast all put in excellent performances, and they all seem to be having a great deal of fun, but Ralph Fiennes is the obvious star of the show.

Funnily enough, I watched this last night. Loved every second of it. I can't remember the last time a movie was as much fun as this was.

It really is fantastic fun isn't it? As I said, I was a bit on the fence about Wes Anderson before, but I'm really looking forward to his next effort now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 June, 2014, 05:18:21 PM
Grand Budapest Hotel was tremendous.

I'm glad Anderson has rediscovered his sense of fun. I must admit I'd almost written him off after the languid, meandering The Darjeeling Limited, but Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and especially GBH rank among his very best work imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 17 June, 2014, 05:23:11 PM
piggy a revenge thriller that seemed ok but I wanted it to be longer and with more depth ,an opportunity missed I felt
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 June, 2014, 05:39:32 PM
Harry Potter and Mitten of Wool: Part 2

Yeah - with all the fussing out of the way it sort of gets on with it and does a very good job of pulling out all the history stuff - callbacks a-go-go and very fun with it - rattles along at a good pace and Neville kicking arse at the end is cinema dynamite. Not to mention Mance Rayder as Dumbledore's brother and MIRIAM "MARVELLOUS" MARGOYLES. YES. YES yes. The weakest points are all sadly present in the book - the heavy-handed "gosh isn't this dark" character kill-off spree (although we're spared Colin on-screen) and the awful awful awful awful awful AWFUL TERRIBLY AWFUL epilogue. I know it's a kids book about simple imbred wizards in a magical world but the growing maturity of the story is dragged back to book 1 with all that "of course we'll all stay with our childhood sweethearts and have a billion kids" bullshit.

You wouldn't let it lie, would you JK?

(http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/70/1d/8f/701d8ff812d61934124a86392c3088d5.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 June, 2014, 07:34:12 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 June, 2014, 05:39:32 PMI know it's a kids book about simple imbred wizards in a magical world but the growing maturity of the story is dragged back to book 1 with all that "of course we'll all stay with our childhood sweethearts and have a billion kids" bullshit.

I presume that this was the famous final chapter that Rowling wrote way, way back when she decided on the structure of the whole thing (and in this case I believe her), and which she recently said she felt she had got wrong.  I'm not sure it is so far-fetched within the overall setup, where the wizarding world is very, very small, and where these characters have been through an awful lot together. 

Of course I married a girl who I fell for when I was 15, and had quite enough kids thank you very much, so I may just have a skewed view of these things...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 June, 2014, 07:50:05 PM
I just feel it was hugely out of place and really juvenile - it felt like someone had stapled a fanfic into the of the book. What poppycock.

"and harry maries jinny and ron marries hermiene and they all had luvly weddings that wer beaauttiful and there were ponies and harry calls his kids "Hagrid Dobby Albus Potter" and "Lily Tonks Remus Mafalda Dobby Hedwig Potter" after all his friends wot have died and tee hee malfoy is bald now yay haha den they get on the train the end p.s. hermoines kids loves harrys kids despite the fact that THEY'RE ALL WEASLEYS"

Hogwarts in a few more generations:

(http://gingerparrot.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Red-hair-and-Blue-Redhead-Days.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 June, 2014, 07:55:38 PM
Cor, there's one for the personal Underware [sic] thread! 

Meanwhile, SPOILERS!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 June, 2014, 09:59:12 PM
World War Z is on Netflix USA, and thoughts it was Diet-Zombie... very weak zombie film to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 June, 2014, 10:02:00 PM
Quote from: radiator on 17 June, 2014, 05:18:21 PM
Grand Budapest Hotel was tremendous.

I'm glad Anderson has rediscovered his sense of fun. I must admit I'd almost written him off after the languid, meandering The Darjeeling Limited, but Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and especially GBH rank among his very best work imo.

GBH is brilliant. Easily Andersons best film with many memorable scenes.

"Let me guess. She's dead isn;t she? And you think I killed her" 'Runs away'

".....STOP HIM!!!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 June, 2014, 10:12:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 17 June, 2014, 10:02:00 PM
GBH is brilliant. Easily Andersons best film with many memorable scenes.

"Let me guess. She's dead isn;t she? And you think I killed her" 'Runs away'

".....STOP HIM!!!"

(http://37.media.tumblr.com/9609f8a7251f4f258f0f11d34459f48e/tumblr_n4j4utDXgR1s76rcbo2_250.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 17 June, 2014, 10:38:13 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 June, 2014, 07:50:05 PM

Hogwarts in a few more generations:

(http://gingerparrot.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Red-hair-and-Blue-Redhead-Days.jpg)

...as if it wasn't orange and teal enough already...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 June, 2014, 10:46:43 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 June, 2014, 07:50:05 PM
THEY'RE ALL WEASLEYS"
(http://gingerparrot.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Red-hair-and-Blue-Redhead-Days.jpg)

Well one was Dredd's Chopper... oh I means Clan Techie! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 June, 2014, 10:58:32 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 17 June, 2014, 10:38:13 PM
...as if it wasn't orange and teal enough already...

Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 18 June, 2014, 11:42:55 PM
just watched the Robocop reboot, enjoyable but miss the black humour of the original but some nice not so subtle refs including an out of place theme! glad alex is back in silver for the sequel(?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 08:03:38 AM
I watched Thelma & Louise the night before last and what was I thinking about it...

I was thinking (Which is which....) it's a pity Louise ( Susan Sarandon who I really found attractive when she was in Rocky-Horror-Picture-Show)

But how to she go from this....

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UxlYK-Ej7WU/T-mTzaMFShI/AAAAAAAAJYs/3A8HMGpP8DU/s1600/susan_sarandon_rocky_horror_picture_show_n4N1rtf_sized.jpg)

To this....

(http://www.pinswag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/vintage-susan-sarandon-blog-need-supply-co.-1378939687nkg84.jpg)

To this....

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V6Z1f43uj1k/T-mUA0kIyGI/AAAAAAAAJZM/kyLGxvJcBmQ/s1600/susan-sarandon-boob-great-in-50+2.jpg)

To Queen of Cleavage in well known films.

(http://www.celebritywatercolor.com/cw/susansarandon.jpg)

Age and gravity  :o


I pity she wasn't Robert Preston.....(A.K.A. Centauri a alien posing a travelling purveyor of arcade games.) and his car that  flies (http://www.anyclip.com/movies/the-last-starfighter/flying-car/)

(http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/screencrush.com/files/2012/04/last-starfighter.jpg)

The Last Starfighter[/b] a movie I once loved, but now think is embarrassingly cheesy. I brought the film for my father last year and ended up borrowing it to watch by myself. While wincing and face palming all the way through it. Although, the first to use those then revolutionary computer game type graphic effects for all the space battle scenes.

Back on the subject of the other film I was watching the other night. I was thinking of this  scene....... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z88U915uq8)

(http://www.elementsofcinema.com/feature/Thelma_and_Louise/images_thelma/off_cliff_thelma.jpg)

Now, imagine if both films were a crossover.

Going the way the first film did... there's not much opportunity for sequel, television series or cartoon.

Now, maybe The Last Starfighter however cheesy, there is a chance for a that stuff to happen.

Others thoughts, Gina Davis . Even though I might myself to be considered to be overly lucky to have a chance with her, I kind of think she looks like a very male to female transgender style of metamorphosis gone wrong. I really paying attention to the sculpt of her face and after finding a picture of  her topless many years ago. I never really found her appealing. Yet, I think that is the trade off being what maybe considered to be strong looking woman.

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRLn3KHo2J8v8rNt8DIMudvEakKrpwZuT4bNwKh4w6VdxuA0Ixd)

Would any of you really go for her?

I do guess she has a hot looking body though, but I face as well as body guy and I'm also attracted to woman who don't portray characters who victimise men. However much it is deserved. Not that I trying to defend men, but I guess I'm really just defending myself.

I have more to say about this, but some other time....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 June, 2014, 08:46:29 AM
I barely acknowledged it as a review. Thought he was taking the piss or simething. :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 June, 2014, 09:03:23 AM
What I just clicking into?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 June, 2014, 09:10:29 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the greatest and most hilarious review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

FTFY
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 June, 2014, 11:30:42 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 June, 2014, 08:46:29 AM
I barely acknowledged it as a review. Thought he was taking the piss or simething. :|

Pretty much what I was thinking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 11:37:55 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

Geez, I thought I was giving my in depth analysis of that film, while being infatuated with young and not so young Susan Sarandon.

Yes, I did go a little overboard about there, didn't I. Though that film doesn't bother me. Because I am a guy is supposed to think he's a loser after watching it.

Yet, maybe I'm not being sexist or I am and I'm just being like every other typical male who watches that movie.

Didn't anybody like comparison between that film and the sci-fi one?

I will discuss that film more and in a less sexist manner (But no so un sexist that as to defy belief.) some other time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 June, 2014, 12:09:26 PM
Some people (myself included) used to think it was OK to review films and always ensure they contained comments about who, from the cast, they would like "to do!". 

But we don't do that anymore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 June, 2014, 12:13:08 PM
The Mark Kermode of these boards, I feel. Focusing on what really matters in movies!

And I've always found the "who would they do" game a bit of a non-starter. Unsurprisingly most of us would do the photogenic actresses (and actors) if given the choice. It's like my friend who always asked if they were fit girls in comics, of course there is, they are drawings. Baffles me that I came of age in the internet age and this was still even a consideration.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 June, 2014, 12:24:10 PM
MEN IN BLACK 3
Curiously unengaging despite the usual charismatic turn from the Fresh Prince and a brilliant "Tommy Lee Jones" by Josh Brolin. 

Seems as if it was butchered as well with all sorts of little (and big) plot starands seeming to go nowehere.

All the best gags spoiled by me remembering from the trailer which I saw years ago. 

I'd love to see more CG recreations of the Apollo launches though (there's a great space shuttle launch in IMAX as part of Hubble 3D that has to be seen to be believed!). I would totally do a Saturn 5 if given the chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 19 June, 2014, 12:26:35 PM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 03 June, 2014, 05:52:47 PM
Savages
Save your money with this one. There are so many better films out there.

I agree 100% GC.

Picked it up dirt cheap on DVD, and watched it the other night.
Sweet bejezus, what a mess.
Too long by at least an hour, loathesome unsympatheitc protagonists, pacing all over the place and the 'rewind' ending was just plain fuck-n ridiculous.

I normally like Stone's films, but as you may have guessed- hated this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 June, 2014, 12:27:30 PM
Yeah, yeah, but would you rather do Tommy Lee or Big Willie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjdrYHP86Q&list=PLF1B32597B186AFAD)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 12:32:10 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

He did get me thinking about the long-term loveliness of Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis though, which is always a pleasant distraction from this vale of tears.

And c'mon Cosh, is that really a question?  There's Big Willie and then there's big willy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:00:35 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 June, 2014, 12:09:26 PM
Some people (myself included) used to think it was OK to review films and always ensure they contained comments about who, from the cast, they would like "to do!". 

But we don't do that anymore.

Sorry, but I've been feeling different lately and more alive than I have in years. Despite my age.

I don't really want to do either of those women, but I was distracted and perhaps wouldn't mind a hug.

BTW, I'm not after a prize. Not for what I have ben writing up here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:05:02 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 12:32:10 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

He did get me thinking about the long-term loveliness of Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis though, which is always a pleasant distraction from this vale of tears.

And c'mon Cosh, is that really a question?  There's Big Willie and then there's big willy.

Both those women?

I would sooner consider Kirsten Stewart and Emma Watson.

Apologies for going way off topic and I will continue original post later....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 02:07:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:00:35 PM
Sorry, but I've been feeling different lately and more alive than I have in years. Despite my age.

It's Slough Feg all over again!   :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 June, 2014, 02:50:58 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:00:35 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 June, 2014, 12:09:26 PM
Some people (myself included) used to think it was OK to review films and always ensure they contained comments about who, from the cast, they would like "to do!". 

But we don't do that anymore.



I don't really want to do either of those women, but I was distracted and perhaps wouldn't mind a hug.


:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 June, 2014, 03:28:11 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 02:07:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:00:35 PM
Sorry, but I've been feeling different lately and more alive than I have in years. Despite my age.

It's Slough Feg all over again!   :o

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 19 June, 2014, 03:35:14 PM
Watched The Double the other night and very enjoyable it was too. It probably helps that it totally reminds me of Terry Gilliam, specifically Brazil.

Main actors are that guy from that film about that guy who inflicted facebook on the world. I think. Supporting cast are excellent, I won't say who's in it as I went in blind but was great to see them pop up here and there.

I thought it was great*.



*Not so great as I would totally do the cast but then I'm quite choosy about where I stick my imaginary bits.
;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 June, 2014, 03:49:02 PM
One night every week I random pick crappest films from Netflix USA.

Last night was Dracula 3000, plot: Count Dracula terrorizes the crew of a spaceship.

What a shittest film, with shit productions, awful actings, crap sfx and no plot!

So what on next week! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2014, 04:03:45 PM
There is nothing I can tell you about The Adventures of Robo Rex that the trailer cannot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDCJ7rCAqZc
Whatever you think it is from that trailer, you're absolutely right, and it may in time come to be seen as proof positive that movies can be high art.

Neon City - a low budget post-apocalyptic remake of Stagecoach starring Michael Ironside and Drusilla from Buffy?  I have literally no idea how I have made it to the year 2014 without having seen this before.  Complete trash - that goes without saying - but while what's onscreen was definitely bad acting in 1992, time has marched on and it's now retroactively become some kind of transcendent life-affirming thespianism, the action sequences becoming impressive because of their use of physical effects and locations, and the overt displays of effeminate emotions from the male cast members is actually quite shocking - there's a bit where one of the manly gun-toting characters finds the violated and dying body of his sister and he screams and starts crying and all I could think of was modern low-budget flicks from the Asylum or whoever where characters come across their dead wives and display little or no emotion, and usually even end up shagging a female before the film has finished because they care so little for the fate of women.  It's especially odd to see Michael Ironside's character displaying misogyny towards several of his traveling companions which he then comes to regret, an unthinkable plot arc in modern trash movies despite our supposedly more enlightened culture, with a really interesting arc with him and his ex-wife that basically boils down to his having to forgive her for not dying with their son so he could idealise them both, but the plot is not only left unresolved with her sudden death, Ironside's character chooses to eschew forgiveness and take a hollow and pointless revenge upon her killer, learning nothing from his experiences and being stuck two steps back from where he starts out at the beginning of the film.
Despite some trite plot elements as to be expected of action films of the period, it's a decent enough way to waste 90 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 June, 2014, 04:22:16 PM
Speaking of post apocalyptic trash, a friends pulled me into watching the live action Fist of the North Star. Pray for me people.

I'll just pretend im watching Beyond Thunderdome. :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2014, 04:25:37 PM
I love Gary Daniels and he's a national treasure, but the lad can't act and he has the charisma of a fencepost.  If that's not a deterrent and you like western chop-sockies, FotNS is okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 June, 2014, 04:33:37 PM
Quote from: Kennari Bjarndýr on 19 June, 2014, 04:25:37 PM
I love Gary Daniels and he's a national treasure, but the lad can't act and he has the charisma of a fencepost.  If that's not a deterrent and you like western chop-sockies, FotNS is okay.

(http://37.media.tumblr.com/2cca0729970fb53f400d6df8f7e70735/tumblr_n4bo18ieJJ1qjztgpo1_400.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: mogzilla on 19 June, 2014, 04:33:51 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 11:37:55 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

Geez, I thought I was giving my in depth analysis of that film, while being infatuated with young and not so young Susan Sarandon.

Yes, I did go a little overboard about there, didn't I. Though that film doesn't bother me. Because I am a guy is supposed to think he's a loser after watching it.

Yet, maybe I'm not being sexist or I am and I'm just being like every other typical male who watches that movie.

Didn't anybody like comparison between that film and the sci-fi one?

I will discuss that film more and in a less sexist manner (But no so un sexist that as to defy belief.) some other time.


they did that car flying thing  at the end of grease( oh,for an rpg!...maybe they could swap endings with a bit of editing and have john Travolta fly off the cliff and sue and geena fly off !
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 June, 2014, 04:44:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 June, 2014, 04:22:16 PM
Speaking of post apocalyptic trash, a friends pulled me into watching the live action Fist of the North Star. Pray for me people.

I'll just pretend im watching Beyond Thunderdome. :-X

If you are in any way a fan of the manga then you will definitely come away unimpressed.  Otherwise its just another mid 90s post-apocalyptic movie which looks like a scrapyard in the desert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2014, 05:06:37 PM
I gather a lot of people were unimpressed by the way the American movie didn't capture the storytelling subtext and nuance or the personality of the characters from the Japanese versions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9jbI6Xab_w
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 05:54:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 June, 2014, 04:22:16 PM
Speaking of post apocalyptic trash, a friends pulled me into watching the live action Fist of the North Star. Pray for me people.

I'll just pretend im watching Beyond Thunderdome. :-X

It was terrible and the small-time actor/martial-artist doesn't didn't look like him at all.

The exploding heads were interesting though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 06:11:36 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 02:07:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 02:00:35 PM
Sorry, but I've been feeling different lately and more alive than I have in years. Despite my age.

It's Slough Feg all over again!   :o

:-* :-* :-* :-*

You should know, I'm not that old.

No one in my family is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 June, 2014, 06:12:52 PM
A few minuets in. Ken's death blow has been reduced to one of the most poorly choreographed pieces of action i've ever seen. And frankly, it's the only way it could have been done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 06:45:53 PM
Quote from: mogzilla on 19 June, 2014, 04:33:51 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 11:37:55 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 June, 2014, 08:33:39 AM
Congrats Thryllseeker that's the most overtly sexist review of Thelma and Louise I've EVER seen. Do you get... a prize?

Geez, I thought I was giving my in depth analysis of that film, while being infatuated with young and not so young Susan Sarandon.

Yes, I did go a little overboard about there, didn't I. Though that film doesn't bother me. Because I am a guy is supposed to think he's a loser after watching it.

Yet, maybe I'm not being sexist or I am and I'm just being like every other typical male who watches that movie.

Didn't anybody like comparison between that film and the sci-fi one?

I will discuss that film more and in a less sexist manner (But no so un sexist that as to defy belief.) some other time.


they did that car flying thing  at the end of grease( oh,for an rpg!...maybe they could swap endings with a bit of editing and have john Travolta fly off the cliff and sue and geena fly off !

The flying car thing has also been used in.....

Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhP05PBaR-o)

The Wonder Bug (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQnnZOJSlh0) (From The Kroff-Super-Show....Which, I think it was presented by a British pop-band?)

Roads.....Where We're Going....We Don't Need Roads (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjsUxbNmIs)

Both Old & (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIxqEDLqRIs)  New Flubber Movies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEHRWUA_o1U)

Harry Potter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd45wXAIYpw)

I think that would cover most of them. (Let me know if I missed one or two...)

Some of those would make for hilarious cross-overs with that woman's film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 June, 2014, 06:55:26 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 06:45:53 PM
that woman's film

Germaine Greer left your shores before her work was complete.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 June, 2014, 07:36:48 PM
Quote from: Islamic State of Iraq and Sauchie on 19 June, 2014, 06:55:26 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 06:45:53 PM
that woman's film

Germaine Greer left your shores before her work was complete.

I wouldn't do Germaine Greer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 June, 2014, 08:11:38 PM

I don't think you're in her age range.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/11/highereducation.news2

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2014, 09:37:47 PM
Quote from: Islamic State of Iraq and Sauchie on 19 June, 2014, 06:55:26 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2014, 06:45:53 PM
that woman's film

Germaine Greer left your shores before her work was complete.

Well they do say it's never done...

Good link to an interesting-sounding book, Sauchie - may have to look that one up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 June, 2014, 01:44:54 PM
The House of the Devil

It seems the Horror channel is back on my Virgin Cableservice (I think it's usually a 'pay for' extra, but occasionally it'll apear for a couple of weeks for free then buzz off) and I noticed this was on.

I decided to give it a watch. A curious film. Not particularly original in premise but it pulled me in just the same.What I found interesting is that it had a very 80s feel to it down to the style of acting and the clothing and technology. (The girl uses a telephone box* to make calls and gets out a big chunky walkman at one point.)  I checked the film's description and was curious to see it actually came out in 2009!

Obvioiusly it was something they were specifically going for.

It's a slow burner. Takes ages for anything to much top happen, although it ramps up the creepiness and unease. Yet it didn't bore me like some of these films do.

Big spoilers ahead.

[spoiler]When the real nastiness happens it's quite close to the end. And while it didn't disappoint in some ways (I thought the elderly 'mother' character who briefly appears was a rather scary looking creature. That's witch make-up done right. Or wrong, depending on how you look at it. And that blood contamination thing was... ugh....) it could have been better. The main character escaped too easily for my liking and I think a couple of the baddies could have proven more of a challenge although it was thrilling to see the main protagonist turn the tables on them. She's not just another screaming victim that's for sure.

But I wished for a twist at the end. I didn't think it would happen... then right at the end.... hmmm. Interesting.[/spoiler]

Not a perfect film by any means. Rather predictable in places but genuinely interesting, and definitely worth a watch I'd say. I'd like to give it another go. Maybe pick up the DVD. While I followed most of it, my attention was elsewhere on occasion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 June, 2014, 01:52:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 21 June, 2014, 01:44:54 PM
The House of the Devil

It's an excellent modern horror.
And yes, the 80's setting and appearance is exactly what West was going for.
Worth checking out his other slow-burner gem The Innkeepers, and disturbing contribution to anthology V/H/S too.

I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to see his latest, The Sacrament.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 June, 2014, 10:07:33 AM
Rambo - First Blood Part 2

Hadn't seen this in years and enjoyed it. I wasn't aware that James Cameron had co-written the screenplay. This was released in 1985 so would've come between The Terminator and Aliens.
The film features some terrible performances - mainly from actors putting on dodgy accents - but Stallone does his action hero with a heart schtick very well and the villains are suitably 'boo - hiss' worthy.
Good fun but very much of its time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 June, 2014, 12:12:41 PM
I'm not gonna spoiler tag this one as I dont think it's worth it, but big spoilers ahoy, if you care.

Nude Nuns with Big Guns


Um. Yeah. That is the name. I accidentally typed "Nude guns" to start with. Utter trash.  Gratuitous boobage. (As you'd imagine from the title, although the title character doesnt walk around naked all the time with guns, although she does get her kit off quite a bit). And did they have to show that amount of rape? Okay it was the bad guys that did it and they got their comeuppance (although the guy who did most of the raping in the film - a big dude called Kickstarter, or something like that) got off pretty light being killed out right with a single shot, but they seemed to wish to make it titillating. At least they didn't make the victims appear to enjoy it.

And that bit with the boss at the end. Dear me. He had it coming I guess but did they have to show that? Yes they shot it off. And showed it fall to the floor. Ouch!

Yeah. Nasty rubbish.

Any good points:

some amusement factor I guess.

A pair of huge beautiful revolvers. Really lovely.

Seeing a fully garbed nun walking around blazing away with a Tommy gun tickled my sense of humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 June, 2014, 02:54:36 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 June, 2014, 10:07:33 AM
Rambo - First Blood Part 2

The film features some terrible performances - mainly from actors putting on dodgy accents - but Stallone does his action hero with a heart schtick very well and the villains are suitably 'boo - hiss' worthy.

I love the bit where the pilot looks behind him while flying and sees Rambo coming towards him from the back of the helicopter, so he jumps out because he's heard of people surviving falls from thousands of feet in the air but he's not heard of anyone surviving Rambo.

I also liked the episode of the cartoon spin-off where Rambo fought communists by teaming up with a guy in a red suit lined with white fur who lived at the North Pole making toys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2014, 03:12:07 PM
Planet Terror

No, I just didn't get the "joke" though I'm sure it was funny to Rodriguez and Tarantino when they were passed one night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 22 June, 2014, 03:19:45 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 22 June, 2014, 12:12:41 PM
Nude Nuns with Big Guns

That's unfair: the title tricked you into thinking it was a classy sequel to Doubt (http://youtu.be/OnrmWLp1Ub8).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 22 June, 2014, 09:54:26 PM
Last night, I sat through 'Perfect Blue' which is widely acclaimed as an anime classic.

I found it wildly over-rated. And sloppily written.

When you have to look up a wikipedia article or check through DVD extras just to glean important tidbits of information THAT ARE NOT DISCLOSED OR EVEN HINTED AT in the main feature, that is truly abysmal writing, and awful film making.

Not a film I wish to sit through again, sadly, unlike Kon's 'Paprika' or 'Millennium Actress'. Which is a shame, because even despite a pretty horrible DVD transfer, some of the animation in this movie is amazing. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 June, 2014, 01:38:52 AM
It's deliberate that not everything is told to the audience, as that would be to betray that Perfect Blue is largely a POV story told by an unreliable narrator.  Darran Aaronofsky's remake, Black Swan spells things out much more clearly, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 June, 2014, 09:09:20 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 21 June, 2014, 01:52:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 21 June, 2014, 01:44:54 PM
The House of the Devil

It's an excellent modern horror.
And yes, the 80's setting and appearance is exactly what West was going for.
Worth checking out his other slow-burner gem The Innkeepers, and disturbing contribution to anthology V/H/S too.

I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to see his latest, The Sacrament.

The Sacrament is great, I loved it. Very different to something like House Of The Devil and a completely different kind of horror, but still bloody scary. The core performance is stunning too, really makes the whole thing. Still to get around to The Innkeepers, keep seeing it on Netflix but waiting for a suitably late/dark evening to really do it right!

Watched Monsters' University last night, hadn't really bothered with it because I loved the first film so much but in that way that I didn't really see them adding anything with another film (and without Boo I didn't see how it could have the heart of the first one). It was brilliant, really funny and full of heart. Young Mike was amazing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 23 June, 2014, 07:06:07 PM
Quote from: Kennari Bjarndýr on 23 June, 2014, 01:38:52 AM
It's deliberate that not everything is told to the audience, as that would be to betray that Perfect Blue is largely a POV story told by an unreliable narrator.  Darran Aaronofsky's remake, Black Swan spells things out much more clearly, though.

A decision not to spoon-feed the dramatic import of events to the audience, I can appreciate. In this case, however, important background details on the characters simply were not disclosed within the narrative. At all. Nor was enough evidence supplied to suggest WHY certain things might be happening to the characters. An example would be that Mima's agent supposedly had a failed career herself, which influences her attitude towards Mima. I didn't pick up on that at all.

At first that made me feel like I must be an inattentive viewer. Then I realised it was just down to muddy storytelling.  We're too often shown the 'what' of things with almost no hint of the 'why'.

My personal feeling on the movie is that it skirts awfully close to just being a sequence of things that happen, incomprehensibly in places, and relies too much on the audience to piece it all together. It tries to show more than it tells, and any time you mess with that balance in a narrative, you court disaster. 

Excuse the rant - I just get VERY annoyed when I see this sort of thing flagged up regularly as top tier entertainment. I prize clarity and follow-able plotlines far more than these kinds of head-melter narratives.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 June, 2014, 07:15:19 PM
Quote from: HdE on 23 June, 2014, 07:06:07 PM
My personal feeling on the movie is that it skirts awfully close to just being a sequence of things that happen, incomprehensibly in places, and relies too much on the audience to piece it all together. It tries to show more than it tells, and any time you mess with that balance in a narrative, you court disaster

Never watch Blow Up (http://youtu.be/-mDpxq689EM).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 June, 2014, 10:02:48 PM
Quote from: HdE on 23 June, 2014, 07:06:07 PMAn example would be that Mima's agent supposedly had a failed career herself, which influences her attitude towards Mima. I didn't pick up on that at all.

Not every example of the Western equivalent - the pushy showbiz mum - is explained in detail in the context of every single narrative in which it appears because most of the time we are assumed to "get" our cultural archetypes without needing their deal spelled out, but you aren't the first to butt heads with the peculiarities of Perfect Blue's Japan-centric storytelling, as a lot of critical evaluation in the west revolves around the supposed Hitchcock stylings rather than the more obvious (and admitted) Kurosawa influence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 June, 2014, 02:06:36 AM
I watched Frozen with my girls tonight. Quite good I suppose. The girls adore it, as the whole sisterly love thing appeals to them, when they're not doing roundhouse kicks to each other's faces, that is.

They missed a trick with the 3D. It seemed to lack depth, which was a shame given all the lovely panorama's.

People have said its a return to form for Disney. While I enjoyed it, it's no Jungle Book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 24 June, 2014, 02:58:08 AM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 23 June, 2014, 10:02:48 PM

Not every example of the Western equivalent - the pushy showbiz mum - is explained in detail in the context of every single narrative in which it appears because most of the time we are assumed to "get" our cultural archetypes without needing their deal spelled out, but you aren't the first to butt heads with the peculiarities of Perfect Blue's Japan-centric storytelling, as a lot of critical evaluation in the west revolves around the supposed Hitchcock stylings rather than the more obvious (and admitted) Kurosawa influence.

I like this post. You make a good point about cultural relevance. Although, I'm till inclined to believe that the 'missing information' I'm complaining about could have been harmlessly included.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 June, 2014, 07:49:31 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 24 June, 2014, 02:06:36 AM
I watched Frozen with my girls tonight. Quite good I suppose. The girls adore it, as the whole sisterly love thing appeals to them, when they're not doing roundhouse kicks to each other's faces, that is.

They missed a trick with the 3D. It seemed to lack depth, which was a shame given all the lovely panorama's.

People have said its a return to form for Disney. While I enjoyed it, it's no Jungle Book.

Did anyone pick up on the lazy recycling of Elsa and Annas character model, not only for themselves fbut for their mother. £150million well spent, and yet it's still held aloft. ::)

Bah, anyway, i've bitched about how much Frozen sucks before now, so i'll talk Edge of Tomorrow.

It was very good. And if your not familiar with the source material like I am then you'll probably enjoy it more. Cruise acquits himself well (I refuse to jump on the Cruise hat bandwagon simply due to his faith. It's not my place to question what he believes or how he throws his money at it) as does the lovely Emily Blunt, who is pretty damn freaky as Rita Vrataski, a good call for one of the best sci-fi heroins in a film since Anderson.

The diversions from the novel are quite a few, but I feel they where reasonable. Certainly it made watching/reading the same story for a third time more refreshing. Though my one concern was with the mimics. There design was BORING! It's the same thing we've seen in Attack the Block, Super 8, the upcoming Monsters sequel. It just further illustrates how much better at designing beasties Japan is than the west.

But that, really, is my only criticism, and even then it's undercut by how much I enjoyed the schizophrenic movement of the mimics, and the effects are PHENOMENAL in this. Certainly one worth checking out for fans of All You Need is Kill and uninitiated alike.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 24 June, 2014, 08:31:50 AM
It's 25 years since Tim Burton launched his Batman movie on the world - time for a rewatch, methinks. Still better than the Nolan Batmans (and the Joel Schumacher sequels) but not as good as Adam West in the cowl.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 24 June, 2014, 09:59:08 AM
Odd Thomas, 80's 90's comedy horror intellect with 21st century double decade of game changing cg effects. Bit Frighteners really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2014, 10:00:36 AM
Glad your review of Edge Of Tomorrow is positive Hawkmonger, I read the book on a recent holiday and loved it so hoping for a good movie. Before I came across the book I wasn't at all interested in it, I think because the title is horribly generic. Maybe it's just me, but I find Edge Of Tomorrow an incredibly bland name for a movie, and the sort of thing I'd expect to see printed on a Seagal movie on the bargain shelf in Tesco. It doesn't inspire! Now All You Need Is Kill on the other hand, that's a title.

Oh, and I loved Perfect Blue. And Odd Thomas (although it rattles through things very quickly, but being a massive fan of the book I was always going to find a quibble somewhere). Stormy is very, very attractive (I know we're not supposed to say things like that anymore).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 24 June, 2014, 11:34:33 AM
I found out it was based on the book at the end credits. A wise choice in my view. As a movie I'd agree the pacing would have been dampened by the comparison.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2014, 10:00:36 AM
Glad your review of Edge Of Tomorrow is positive Hawkmonger, I read the book on a recent holiday and loved it so hoping for a good movie. Before I came across the book I wasn't at all interested in it, I think because the title is horribly generic. Maybe it's just me, but I find Edge Of Tomorrow an incredibly bland name for a movie, and the sort of thing I'd expect to see printed on a Seagal movie on the bargain shelf in Tesco. It doesn't inspire! Now All You Need Is Kill on the other hand, that's a title.


Emily Blunt doesn't look so hot (Not as much as she was in Wind-Chill.) in the trailers I've seen for this and the film itself does look a little silly, but I may end seeing it eventually.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 24 June, 2014, 02:17:10 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PMEmily Blunt doesn't look so hot

Nor's yo' mama.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 June, 2014, 02:38:35 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PM
Emily Blunt doesn't look so hot (Not as much as she was in Wind-Chill.)

Tom Cruise ain't my type but it wouldn't stop me seeing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 24 June, 2014, 03:03:14 PM
The Frankenstein Theory- A "found footage-y" type thing, by the makers of The Last Exorcism, that manages to be both entertaining and nowhere near as good as their previous flick. Young mad-scientist bloke who has been kicked out of university seeks to prove his long-held belief (and entire raison d'etre) that Mary Shelley's novel was in fact a fictionalised version of his ancestors' doings. To do this, he hires a film crew and heads off to the Arctic circle to track down the creature, which he believes is still alive.

Carnage ensues.

Quite good for much of its run, with some beautiful snowy Canadian photography and a likeable cast, the stitches come out and it falls apart at the end. But, y'know (I feel I may have said this before) if you like found-footage horrors, this is one of the better ones. It scored massively for me because it was set in the snow and had a monster in it. I'm easily pleased where snow and monsters are concerned.

Zoolander- I refuse to believe anyone hasn't seen this, or doesn't love it unreservedly as I do. It's one of my "happy films". Stiller is a genius when paired with Owen Wilson, and I wish he'd spend more time making stuff like this and the Meet the Parents series, and less mucking about with Ricky fucking Gervais and museums. If anyone disagrees, be warned I am currently doing "Blue Steel" at them.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 June, 2014, 04:19:40 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PMEmily Blunt doesn't look so hot (Not as much as she was in Wind-Chill.)

I was on the fence about this, but now I don't think I'll bother.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 June, 2014, 04:29:43 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 24 June, 2014, 03:03:14 PM

Zoolander- I refuse to believe anyone hasn't seen this, or doesn't love it unreservedly as I do. It's one of my "happy films". Stiller is a genius when paired with Owen Wilson, and I wish he'd spend more time making stuff like this and the Meet the Parents series, and less mucking about with Ricky fucking Gervais and museums. If anyone disagrees, be warned I am currently doing "Blue Steel" at them.

SBT

Yeah, Zoolander is great. Now I need to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 04:31:05 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 24 June, 2014, 02:17:10 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PMEmily Blunt doesn't look so hot

Nor's yo' mama.

Sorry, I was wrong to say that, I'm not sure what came over me.....

(http://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/tom-cruise-emily-blunt-marathon-edge-of-tomorrow-press-tour.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1)

She looks even better with blonde hair in this photo the film doesn't sound so bad once I read a short synopsis for it.

(http://www.finalreel.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Edge-of-Tomorrow-Character-Poster-Emily-Blunt-slice.jpg)

Yet, the trailer doesn't do her or it much justice.

Based a famous  manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_is_Kill) I've never read and the time looping mechanic sounds like a good explanation for the longevity of every character I've ever created/played ever MMO I ever played.

BUT...

What's a Mimic? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOixYsF4JYs)

Is that not rip-off of a earlier  film (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mimic+trailer&docid=608010783392862095&mid=AA138BB07130A4A1B05EAA138BB07130A4A1B05E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=AA138BB07130A4A1B05EAA138BB07130A4A1B05E) about something similar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 June, 2014, 04:32:01 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 24 June, 2014, 04:19:40 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PMEmily Blunt doesn't look so hot (Not as much as she was in Wind-Chill.)

I was on the fence about this, but now I don't think I'll bother.
None of you have seen her back muscles yet. Woof!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 04:37:40 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 24 June, 2014, 04:19:40 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 June, 2014, 12:20:58 PMEmily Blunt doesn't look so hot (Not as much as she was in Wind-Chill.)

I was on the fence about this, but now I don't think I'll bother.

Wind-Chill was a very creepy film and if watched alone in the dark, during a cold night...

Yet, I never felt this way about it on more than one viewing.

I have very fond memories of the scene where Emily Blunt lets the male lead stick his hands under her sweater and shirt to counteract thee effects of his mysterious frostbite and it's twist ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 June, 2014, 04:38:35 PM
Yeah, and look at her in that second picture - you'd think in her position as an actress she'd get cleaned up for a photo.  She's really let herself go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 June, 2014, 12:14:50 PM
I saw Edge of Tomorrow last night.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Tom Cruise was actually quite good in it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 June, 2014, 01:08:16 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 24 June, 2014, 03:03:14 PM.

Zoolander- I refuse to believe anyone hasn't seen this, or doesn't love it unreservedly as I do. It's one of my "happy films".

When I saw it advertised when it first came out, it didn't appeal to me at all. I thought it looked stupid and made me groan inside.

Years later, I actually watched it.  A very funny film. And the stupidity mentioned above, actually taken in context (I.e. intentional character based stuff, not cheap laughs) was a major part of what made it so funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 July, 2014, 10:25:06 AM
I can't look left.




Always gets me...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 July, 2014, 12:40:59 PM
PARKER
Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. I really don't have to say much more do I?

But it completely lacks any of the stuff that made the Transporter films (just about) watchable.

For a time, it looks like it's going to be some bizarre mating of gritty revenge thriller and girly rom-com but even that doesn't pan out.

And I know it's a trope for injuries that would hospitalise a normal person to be shrugged off in these kinds of movies but, if that's the case, why go to pains to point out how badly injured a character is and how they can barely walk only for the injury to be forgotten as soon as the next action set piece begins? It's like watching Wolverine.

Our piscene majesty has a good quote about Statham which I'll let him post. But it equally applies to the
egregious Jennifer Lopez. Poor old Taylor Hackford must have groaned when he saw not only such a plodding script but that he had to direct these two as well.

Only refreshing bit? [spoiler]Parker and Leslie don't get it on. He keeps it strictly business.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 July, 2014, 04:39:38 PM
Won't watch anything post Snatch with Statham in it.

Liked Payback, loved Point Blank and I love the Parker novels by Stark.

I did see the first Transporter film. I'm still trying to kill those brain cells with alcohol to rid me of the memory. It's nearly working. I now only confuse him with one of the Mitchell brothers from Eastenders. Same shit accent, same shit acting. I'm getting close!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 July, 2014, 04:40:39 PM
Re-watched "Momento" and "Fight Club". The first time I have watched these in over 10 years.

Obviously both superb but you all knew that anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IronGraham on 02 July, 2014, 05:27:30 PM
Zero Dark Thirty and Argo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 July, 2014, 07:15:28 PM
Argo's brilliant! The level of humour in the first half of the movie really took me by surprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IronGraham on 03 July, 2014, 09:16:48 AM
Quote from: HdE on 02 July, 2014, 07:15:28 PM
Argo's brilliant! The level of humour in the first half of the movie really took me by surprise.


Argo-fuckyerself classy line their
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 July, 2014, 01:22:12 AM
My favourite line:

"The target audience'll hate it."

"Who's the target audience?"

"People with eyes."


And I've found myself snarling Bryan Cranston's simple but dynamically delivered  "Do your f***ing job!" line a few times since seeing the movie - entirely in context.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 July, 2014, 08:17:43 AM
Snowpiercer.

Knew very little going in, but from the extremely positive reviews I was anticipating an intense, inventive slice of Sci Fi action with a bit of sociopolitical commentary thrown in.

What I got was a glorified student art film - multiple extended scenes of fish(?) and Tilda Swinton doing a Sue Pollard impression.

Aggravatingly eccentric and weird, and utterly unengaging as a result. Lost count of the amount of times my mind wandered.

An excellent cast wasted on a truly dire script, replete with laughably bad 'twists' and a complete lack of narrative coherence or logic. Even though the majority of actors are Westerners speaking English it still has the feel of a badly dubbed foreign film because the dialogue is so poor.

A preposterous load of drivel - don't believe the hype. Genuinely think I'd have had a better time if I'd gone to see Transformers instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 July, 2014, 08:47:07 AM
I wonder if that's the original version or the Weinstein cut?
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 July, 2014, 05:36:06 PM
I think it was released uncut in the end, but it does feel like it's got scenes missing because the story feels so uneven and character development is almost non-existent.

Side-characters are randomly spotlighted during key action scenes, but get no development or screen time beyond that.

I feel like this film is getting a really easy ride because it's arty and foreign - it has major plot and character problems, even if you take it as a stylised fairytale, which you have to.

Definitely a marmite film - to me it felt like an experimental short stretched out over two hours. It's impressively gory at times, but it's so mannered and stylised that the violence never connects or feels visceral, and it loses impact when people keep getting 'killed' then standing up again as the story demands.

If you're interested in seeing it, take the warning that it's an art film first and foremost. If you want conventional narrative Sci if you may be disappointed. There were only a handful of people in the cinema and at least one walked out - I was seriously considering it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 05 July, 2014, 07:04:08 PM
Just back from watching Transformers- Age of Extinction. If you've seen the others you know what you are going to get, but Stanley Tucci is worth it on his own. He is a fantastic actor who steals the whole show in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 05 July, 2014, 09:23:07 PM
Stanley Tucci is always great. He's like a 21st century Denholm Elliott; does some shite films but is always the best thing in them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 05 July, 2014, 09:26:35 PM
Land of the Dead- Saturday night treat for my kids, with popcorn.

Every time I watch this, I love it a bit more. It's surely now my second-favourite of the two trilogies, just after Day, and I always spot something new that makes me happy. This time it was Roderick from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies turning up as Mulligan's son in a couple of scenes- which was actually spotted by my youngest.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that both boys thoroughly enjoyed it- both went "Ewww!" when the zombie ripped a guy's face off and when another hapless victim got her belly button piercing bitten off. Both gasped in unison at the headless zombie whose head is actually attached by the flailing spinal cord, and both jumped at a couple of the sudden attacks.

Much popcorn was scoffed in the manner of a zombie eating guts, and both boys happily lurched off to bed afterwards, moaning and growling, after brushing their teeth.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 July, 2014, 02:00:28 AM
Just saw 'Non-Stop' and thought it was brilliant. Loved the visual trick of putting messenger texts on screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrinningChimera on 06 July, 2014, 05:38:03 AM
Four Lions

worth a rent. Got a few laughs. Not a watch again movie but a good way to kill a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. 

Probably lost a big audience share after the [spoiler]Boston marathon attacks [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 July, 2014, 07:12:07 AM
Quote from: GrinningChimera on 06 July, 2014, 05:38:03 AM
Four Lions

worth a rent. Got a few laughs. Not a watch again movie but a good way to kill a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. 

Probably lost a big audience share after the [spoiler]Boston marathon attacks [/spoiler]

It a work of complete genius. Chris Morris almost at his best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 July, 2014, 10:18:51 AM
The Wookie is down I repeat the Wookie is down!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 July, 2014, 12:52:31 PM
Four Lions is amazeballs. Get thee back to the directors chair, Morris!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 July, 2014, 10:03:25 PM
One of the funniest films i've ever seen. Favourite quotes either:
"I'm the invisible jihadist. They seek me here, they seek me there, but I'm not there, I'm somewhere else, blowing up your slag of a sister" 

Or...

"A thorough police investigation has found that we DID shoot the right man, but the wrong man exploded"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 July, 2014, 10:06:29 PM
A moment of silent contemplation for Brother Crow's brave sacrifice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 July, 2014, 11:03:51 PM
RIPD.

No matter how much you think "That's just ripping off Men In Black", you can't prepare yourself for how much it rips off Men in Black.

They've even got Danny Elfman (or whoever) on the music, and he's clearly just re-mixed the MiB score.

There are shots in RIPD that are so similar to MiB that, I swear, if you walked into the room at that point then you'd think they were the same film - I'm talking about the intro to the control room (in both films) in particular.

Still, the boys loved it.

I, as a father, was uncomfortable with the amount of swearing. Jeff Bridges seems to say "shit" (not "shoo-it", as a cowboy should) with increasing frequency. Or, maybe, it's just that his accent is as thick as his moustache and you cannot make out much of what else he says, so the sweary words stick out.

On the plus side: Kevin Bacon. He doesn't die. [spoiler]He's dead when the film starts, though.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2014, 12:33:24 AM
I agree with Bolt's assessment of Transformers: Age of Extinction as it has everything the previous films did - robo racism, lingering shots of underage girls' bum and boobs, epic-scale scenes that seem to have the joy sucked out of them, a dreadful lead male actor, and the film itself is no fun but shitting all over it afterwards in the pub is.  It defies logical assessment to the point it just starts making things up, like Optimus just flying now for some reason, possibly because Pacific Rim did a bit where they were in space with giant robots so this film does that too, or the Transformers being made of a metal called Transformeranium, a prelude about dinosaurs being killed and covered in metal by aliens that then has literally nothing else to do with the rest of the film even though it is a film that features metal dinosaurs in the third act, oh, and of course the baddies are so evil they killed the dinosaurs - BOOOO!

Marky Mark seems to play some sort of terrorist as far as I can tell, as everywhere he goes, he starts running towards the camera and then something explodes behind him, so I think this is what happened to his wife: one night she served sprouts and when Marky Mark ran to the toilet she exploded, and that's why Marky Mark doesn't get on with his kids, because they live in fear of him.  One of his kids is a girl who is seventeen years old and a minor, which we know because the film spends a lot of time having characters tell each other this, and then one of them pulls out a page from a law book on the subject of sexual relations with a minor - which he has had laminated and carries around with him - and proceeds to read it aloud to the audience so that we will be reassured that he is not a creep, and that the audience will not feel uncomfortable several seconds later when the girl's ass is used to frame a shot, or later when there are close-ups of her ass or tits, or when there are camera tracking shots that focus on her ass or tits.
Getting back to Marky Mark, he has two acting settings: "running" and "doesn't care", and I at first thought he was playing it cool, but he was just not emoting at anything that happens around him.  Speaking of emoting, we are supposed to care about Ratchet but it was news to me he was even in these films, so to establish my TF nerdo cred, there's one character that made me go "thank fuck Marvel own Death's Head", and if you are a TF nerd, you will think the same thing.  My super-nerdo complaint would probably be that[spoiler], though it's great to have Frank Welker in TF doing the voice of the baddie Optimus fights (and leaving aside that he's not in it much), Galvatron was voiced by Leonard Nimoy in Transformers: The Movie, and the whole point of Galvatron being a Frankentransformer is that he's made from parts of the strongest Decepticons, so why not Sentinel Prime's voicebox?[/spoiler]  Okay, I think I've established I'm a fucking nerd even by the standards of a forum for a fifty year-old kids' comic so I'll stop now.
I'm glad I didn't pay money to see this, but am also happy it's out of the way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2014, 08:08:41 AM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 07 July, 2014, 12:33:24 AM
I agree with Bolt's assessment of Transformers: Age of Extinction as it has everything the previous films did - robo racism, lingering shots of underage girls' bum and boobs, epic-scale scenes that seem to have the joy sucked out of them, a dreadful lead male actor, and the film itself is no fun but shitting all over it afterwards in the pub is.  It defies logical assessment to the point it just starts making things up, like Optimus just flying now for some reason, possibly because Pacific Rim did a bit where they were in space with giant robots so this film does that too, or the Transformers being made of a metal called Transformeranium, a prelude about dinosaurs being killed and covered in metal by aliens that then has literally nothing else to do with the rest of the film even though it is a film that features metal dinosaurs in the third act, oh, and of course the baddies are so evil they killed the dinosaurs - BOOOO!

Marky Mark seems to play some sort of terrorist as far as I can tell, as everywhere he goes, he starts running towards the camera and then something explodes behind him, so I think this is what happened to his wife: one night she served sprouts and when Marky Mark ran to the toilet she exploded, and that's why Marky Mark doesn't get on with his kids, because they live in fear of him.  One of his kids is a girl who is seventeen years old and a minor, which we know because the film spends a lot of time having characters tell each other this, and then one of them pulls out a page from a law book on the subject of sexual relations with a minor - which he has had laminated and carries around with him - and proceeds to read it aloud to the audience so that we will be reassured that he is not a creep, and that the audience will not feel uncomfortable several seconds later when the girl's ass is used to frame a shot, or later when there are close-ups of her ass or tits, or when there are camera tracking shots that focus on her ass or tits.
Getting back to Marky Mark, he has two acting settings: "running" and "doesn't care", and I at first thought he was playing it cool, but he was just not emoting at anything that happens around him.  Speaking of emoting, we are supposed to care about Ratchet but it was news to me he was even in these films, so to establish my TF nerdo cred, there's one character that made me go "thank fuck Marvel own Death's Head", and if you are a TF nerd, you will think the same thing.  My super-nerdo complaint would probably be that[spoiler], though it's great to have Frank Welker in TF doing the voice of the baddie Optimus fights (and leaving aside that he's not in it much), Galvatron was voiced by Leonard Nimoy in Transformers: The Movie, and the whole point of Galvatron being a Frankentransformer is that he's made from parts of the strongest Decepticons, so why not Sentinel Prime's voicebox?[/spoiler]  Okay, I think I've established I'm a fucking nerd even by the standards of a forum for a fifty year-old kids' comic so I'll stop now.
I'm glad I didn't pay money to see this, but am also happy it's out of the way.

Sounds awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 July, 2014, 10:38:47 AM
QuoteOne of his kids is a girl who is seventeen years old and a minor, which we know because the film spends a lot of time having characters tell each other this, and then one of them pulls out a page from a law book on the subject of sexual relations with a minor - which he has had laminated and carries around with him - and proceeds to read it aloud to the audience

What?

Coupled with (from Film Critic Hulk, apologies for caps but that is how the Hulk speaks after all)
Quote
SO THERE'S THIS PART IN TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION WHERE THE AUTOBOTS SUDDENLY ENCOUNTER A SUPER-LITERAL VAGINA DENTATA ALIEN THAT'S JUST HANGING OUT IN A CAGE. THERE'S NO REASON FOR THIS TO BE HAPPENING ON ANY LEVEL, IT'S JUST CLEARLY STUCK IN FOR SOME MOTIVATIONAL REASON. BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THE REVEAL OF THE ALIEN'S VAGINA DENTATA-NESS IS NOT SOME PLACID CINEMATIC MOMENT BUT INSTEAD HIGHLY EMPHASIZED. THIS IS CLEAR. THIS IS OVERT. SO THEN THE FAT AUTOBOT (ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS, BY THE WAY) IS SO REVOLTED BY THIS IMAGE THAT IT TELLS THIS WAY-TOO-CLEAR-VAGINA-SYMBOL THAT IT IS "TOO UGLY TO LIVE." THEN THE VAGINA GETS SOME SLIME ON HIM AND THE FAT AUTOBOT COLLAPSES TO THE GROUND AND THINKS HE'S "BURNING." BUT THEN THE FAT AUTOBOT JUST REALIZES IT'S JUST "SHIZZ." SO HE CALLS THE VAGINA-SYMBOL "BITCH" AND SHOOTS HER DEAD.

THIS LITERALLY HAPPENED.

Wtf, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 July, 2014, 12:48:07 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 July, 2014, 11:03:51 PM
RIPD.

No matter how much you think "That's just ripping off Men In Black", you can't prepare yourself for how much it rips off Men in Black.

But it still has something MiB doesn't: Mary Louise Parkerrrrrrrrrgggllllrrr...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 July, 2014, 03:16:00 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 June, 2014, 09:09:20 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 21 June, 2014, 01:52:40 PM

I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to see his latest, The Sacrament.

The Sacrament is great, I loved it. Very different to something like House Of The Devil and a completely different kind of horror, but still bloody scary. The core performance is stunning too, really makes the whole thing.


This was finally released on DVD today- I've ordered from Amazon (along with Vincent-Cassel-starring Satan and The Dyatlov Pass Incident) for a cheerful nights viewing next weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2014, 03:42:09 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 07 July, 2014, 10:38:47 AM
What?

Coupled with (from Film Critic Hulk, apologies for caps but that is how the Hulk speaks after all)
Quote
SO THERE'S THIS PART IN TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION WHERE THE AUTOBOTS SUDDENLY ENCOUNTER A SUPER-LITERAL VAGINA DENTATA ALIEN THAT'S JUST HANGING OUT IN A CAGE.

Yes.  All of that, and more.
I especially like how the film does the prologue thing with the dinosaurs, and then mentions the metal dinosaurs stuff later in passing, and then when the Dinobots are finally introduced, it's got nothing to do with anything that's happened so far in the film, Optimus just turns and says "we need some help for this big fight" so he goes to the back of the ship and opens a cupboard and the Dinobots are just fucking sitting there in a cupboard, having sat there with their thumbs up their holes like lemons for the last two and a half hours of film, and they have no connection to the dinosaurs from the start of the film, they just transform into shapes that are a lot like dinosaurs because they do and that is all.
Or the humans who are all "I hate transformers and everything about transformers and I will destroy all transformers by any means possible" and then they not only ally themselves with an openly amoral transformer with a gun for a head, an arsenal of weapons, a warship, and an army of giant vicious wolves at his command, but their anti-transformers plot is to create more transformers by killing humans and turning them into Transformeranium, because they are doing it for money because kickbacks something something something, and it didn't even even occur to me until later that the plan to defend America from a repeat of what happened in the last film is to make an army of transformers and then put them under the command of a robot with Megatron's personality downloaded into it who is also an evil double of Optimus prime and who transforms into Goliath from the 1980s Knight Rider.

The thing is, if they trimmed 70-75 minutes off the running time (the Hulk-cited scene with the giant space vagina is about an hour long and doesn't contribute to the rest of the film) it might actually be a cult thing somewhere down the line.  As it is, like the previous TF movies it's far too long and that makes it impossible to view as fluffy brain candy, so it just comes off as taking itself far too seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 July, 2014, 06:06:57 PM

I was going to give you lads a hard time about going to see films you absolutely know are guaranteed to be shite, and paying for Michael Bay's human growth hormone treatment, but you're quite funny when you talk about shite films, so that's okay.

I never actually sit down and watch these things, even when they come on telly. I just read your reviews and use your talking points if anyone tries to start a conversation about them. Works not bad, unless you get someone who wants to go over every single plot point in great detail, although the Prometheus discussion here was so in-depth I could actually hold my own on that one without sitting through the wretched thing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2014, 06:48:57 PM
It's my own fault for openly being a sci-fi fan, as a mate paid me in thinking she was doing me a favor - a bit like that Christmas I got The Phantom Menace on dvd several times over.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 July, 2014, 07:17:46 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 07 July, 2014, 06:48:57 PM
It's my own fault for openly being a sci-fi fan, as a mate paid me in thinking she was doing me a favor - a bit like that Christmas I got The Phantom Menace on dvd several times over

During a period of my life when I had made myself deliberately poor, I enjoyed a nice career as the paid companion of sci-fi, horror, and action genre-loving friends who couldn't convince their significant others to go and see a film with the number 5 in the title. It was one of the Lord Of The Rings films which finally broke me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 July, 2014, 09:11:17 AM
COLD IN JULY. Good as it was I would've enjoyed it a whole lot more if it wasn't now Cineworld policy to keep the emergency lights on throughout the entire film.

COLD IN JULY is a very dark film. I mean literally. Most of it takes place at night, so the emergency lighting is not only more noticeable it also gives the screen a certain fuzziness making it even more difficult to work out what's going on.

"Oh, it's always been that way." Of course it has. Look, I've got no imagination when it comes to clothes. For want of a better term, I've worn the same 'fashion' for something like thirteen years. I think I just might have noticed my combats glow orange before. I also pity any poor bugger sitting behind me if I'm freshly scalped.

The solution suggested by the member of staff I spoke to was to move seats. Which improved the problem only marginally*. AND COMPLETELY DEFEATS THE POINT OF ALLOCATED SEATING.

Allocated seating. Sorry, what? When? Uh, the middle or rear, thanks.

Here's the thing, though. I like that freedom of choice. Two seats further along really can make a big difference, something I can't tell 'til I'm physically there. That's quite important to me. Moreso given my choice of trousers now dictates exactly where I shouldn't sit.

CHEF, tonight. Here's hoping Favreau's kebab van doesn't spend too much time preying on drunks come kicking out time.


* That's what eyebrows are for. To frown through when the hand shielding your view gets tired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 08 July, 2014, 11:41:03 AM
A gentleman's choice of trouser is so important   :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 July, 2014, 02:07:47 PM
Calvary

In which Brendan Gleeson proves yet again that he's the world's greatest living actor, Dylan Moran and Chris O'Dowd prove yet again that they have a wide range, and Aiden Gillen proves yet again that he can't do accents for shit or indeed has any clue how to sound like a normal Human being.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 July, 2014, 02:18:52 PM
QuoteIn which Brendan Gleeson proves yet again that he's the world's greatest living actor

He really is. He makes it look effortless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 July, 2014, 03:57:44 AM
Her

Quite a cute satire on our relationship with technology. At several points, I felt like it was about to wander into the realm of Tired Hollywood Cliches, but it always did something weird and compelling instead. Lots of nice little details, it's a familiar world, but there are just enough little touches to portray a believable future. Juaquin Phoenix does a really good job of holding the whole thing together.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 July, 2014, 07:26:15 AM
Decided to get caught up for the apparently brilliant Dawn of.... By checking out Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I'd never seen.

Really impressed. Lovely to see a big blockbuster that a) is built around character relationships instead of a convoluted, thrown-together plot and b) actually EARNS its big action finale (that feels refreshingly small-scale).

Overall a superbly-judged film that is far better than it has any right to be, very much deserving of the high regard it's held in. I'm totally jazzed for the sequel which by all accounts is even better.

A very solid 4/5.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: amines2058 on 14 July, 2014, 08:25:48 AM
Quote from: radiator on 14 July, 2014, 07:26:15 AM
Decided to get caught up for the apparently brilliant Dawn of.... By checking out Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I'd never seen.

Really impressed. Lovely to see a big blockbuster that a) is built around character relationships instead of a convoluted, thrown-together plot and b) actually EARNS its big action finale (that feels refreshingly small-scale).

Overall a superbly-judged film that is far better than it has any right to be, very much deserving of the high regard it's held in. I'm totally jazzed for the sequel which by all accounts is even better.

A very solid 4/5.

I completely agree with all of this. I did the same last week and watched Rise which I had missed first time around, in preparation of Dawn. So glad I did as it was probably one of the better movies I had seen this year.  :)
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 July, 2014, 09:18:32 AM
Quote from: amines2058 on 14 July, 2014, 08:25:48 AM
Quote from: radiator on 14 July, 2014, 07:26:15 AM
Decided to get caught up for the apparently brilliant Dawn of.... By checking out Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I'd never seen.

Really impressed. Lovely to see a big blockbuster that a) is built around character relationships instead of a convoluted, thrown-together plot and b) actually EARNS its big action finale (that feels refreshingly small-scale).

Overall a superbly-judged film that is far better than it has any right to be, very much deserving of the high regard it's held in. I'm totally jazzed for the sequel which by all accounts is even better.

A very solid 4/5.

I completely agree with all of this. I did the same last week and watched Rise which I had missed first time around, in preparation of Dawn. So glad I did as it was probably one of the better movies I had seen this year.  :)

I'll third this! Did the exact same thing at the weekend, had largely ignored this movie but the sequel trailers got me interested so grabbed it for three quid in Tescos on Sunday (bargain)!

Found the CG a little distracting in places, but largely it looked great, and the whole approach to Caesar's origins was really touching, it builds really well and even though it's relatively short it never really felt like it was rushing anything. A great pleasant surprise to find myself enjoying it as much as I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 July, 2014, 04:53:38 PM
The cgi never really looked 'real' to me, but the performance and direction was competent and considered enough to ensure that I was emotionally invested very early on.

Actors and producers always like to bleat on in interviews about how great the characters and relationships are in the latest cgi/exploding city blockbuster are, but it's almost always a load of guff and the truth is that the script is hackneyed nonsense that takes a distant back seat to spectacle. I found it to be true in this case, though - it's quite something to see cutting-edge special effects used purely to service character and story, reminds me a little of the better Spielberg/Amblin films. Props to Andy Serkis - the last time I was this bowled over by the story potential of visual effects was with Gollum in LotR.

Though the running time was spot-on - did everything it needed to and didn't outstay it's welcome by one minute.

If I had to nitpick I'd say the science-y stuff was a little silly and contrived at times (though I appreciated the sensitivity/restraint in the handling of John Lithgow's character - not mentioning 'the disease' by name etc).

The [spoiler]virus[/spoiler] plotline seemed a bit shoe-horned in. I also wasn't keen on the story element of James Franco's character essentially being [spoiler]responsible for the downfall of mankind - it made it harder to sympathise with him during his farewell to Cesar at the end. To me the narrative thrust of the film was his relationship with Cesar, not 'idealistic scientist plays God and unwittingly unleashes disaster'. I'd would have found it narratively more satisfying if it were Jacobs that was directly responsible.[/spoiler]

The introduction of the 'evil' ape also seemed like something that was set up but never really payed off - towards the ending I predicted confidently that [spoiler]Cesar would continue to show mercy to humans until his leadership was challenged by the evil ape who would then kill him and Franco and take over as leader.[/spoiler]

I also wasn't at all keen on the blatant references to the franchise - that line, the stuff about the space shuttle launch - it was all a bit on the nose in what was otherwise a very subtle, thoughtful film. Took me out of the film a bit each time.

But yeah, overall a good solid slice of sci-fi and easily one of the better blockbusters of the decade so far. My girlfriend really liked it to, though found watching it a bit traumatic!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 July, 2014, 05:17:47 PM
I would argue that Star Trek Into Darkness' "KAHHN!" has set the bar for dumb and obtrusive callbacks as low as it will ever get, but I thought the use of "that line" was one of the only clever things Rise did, as it wrong-footed knowledgeable fans in order to make a direct callback to a much-unloved installment of the franchise - but if you weren't that big an Apes fan, it was just a reference to something from popular culture.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 July, 2014, 12:19:05 PM
Can you refresh my memory on what that line was? I vaguely recall the classic [spoiler]"Paws off me"[/spoiler] being said by Draco but that's not a "much-unloved installment"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 July, 2014, 12:43:45 PM
The last film I watched was Vampire Dog. It's some kids' film that was on Amazon instant.

I was disappointed by the lack of vampiric characteristics that the dog displayed. He was apparently allergic to sunlight but the director kept forgetting about this and the dog kept going out in the day time. Worst of all the dog didn't drink blood but ate red jelly instead.

There was a plot about a kid getting bullied at school but it wasn't very interesting and I kept thinking that it was a missed opportunity that he didn't get his dog to bite their throats. I was hoping for an ending like 'Let the Right One In'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 July, 2014, 02:48:12 PM
Despite usually being in the Tips camp of all films being at least twenty minutes too long, I wouldn't have noticed or minded if Boyhood had added another hour onto its already hefty running time. This "where does the time go" experience is a pretty neat analogy for the film itself which follows a young lad from the age of 5 to 18, like a fictional equivalent of the 7 Up series. Nothing much really happens and there's no plot, just a very generous view of the whole process of life and the experience of living it. It starts with what are basically the sense impressions and preoccupations of a child with scenes chosen to evoke the seemingly random way we preserve certain memories from childhood at the expense of others. We then move forward gradually until the later High School parts deliberately recall Linklater's earlier film, Dazed & Confused.

I certainly don't think verisimilitude is the only, or even the best, way to tell a story and a clever formal experiment is just as likely to be lifeless and dull as any Transformers sequel. However, it's hard to separate the process of making the film over 12 years from the final result and, here at least, everything just works together perfectly. Seeing these kids growing up, growing into someone is genuinely affecting. Probably even more so, for me anyway, is seeing their parents - Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke - change in the gradual way people do: almost imperceptibly from one year to the next, but hard to reconcile when viewed from either end.

Scenes and time periods flow into each other, mostly without any overt signposting, so a new haircut or the arrangement of chairs at the dinner table becomes of significance. There are moments of genuine drama, and the occasional bit of heavy-handed signposting in lieu of same, but it tends to zero in on the small moments which we remember: first day in a new school, talking to a girl, a father's forgotten promise. It's called Boyhood but [trite observation presumably featuring in every review alert] is just as much about sisters, mothers and fathers and can't help but evoke memories of our own childhood. There are passages of the director's trademark philosophical meanderings, first from the feckless dad and later, and more understandably, from the adolescent Mason but these are undercut with humour and a lot more naturalistic dialogue.

What ultimately emerges is a wonderfully warm picture of normal people trying to cope with and make sense of life. One that doesn't attempt to gloss over the dark side of life but which still wants to believe that people are at least trying, even if they really have no idea what the fuck they're doing.

TL;DR. Wow! Another marvellous ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 July, 2014, 02:50:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 July, 2014, 12:43:45 PMThe last film I watched was Vampire Dog. It's some kids' film that was on Amazon instant.

It sounds like it's no Sherlock Bones, so you should give Zoltan: Hound of Dracula a whirl, as it covers the kind of ground you lament as missing from Vampire Dog, and is worth watching for one of the worst dog actors I've ever seen.  You wouldn't think you'd be able to tell that kind of thing as all a dog has to do in a film is just stand there and be a dog, but the pooch who plays Zoltan clearly keeps looking off to one side to take direction from someone off-camera during close-ups, which ruined the otherwise impeccable illusion the film-makers had created.

Need For Speed is one of the most perfectly-titled films you'll ever come across, as it spends forty minutes getting to the point that is explained in fifteen seconds in the trailer.  I have no idea how someone makes a film based entirely upon riding the coat-tails of another over-the-top franchise and yet manages to make something without a single moment of joy or playfulness for the entirety of its one hundred and forty minutes of running time. For someone who's sat through the Fast and the Furious films and been right there alongside the makers since the moment early in the very first film when they cottoned on that po-faced car-porn is for cunts alone, this really was a very disappointing experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 July, 2014, 02:58:27 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 15 July, 2014, 02:50:46 PM


Need For Speed ...without a single moment of joy or playfulness for the entirety of its one hundred and forty minutes of running time.

Well there was that slightly drawn out bit where yer fella walks through the office naked because of reasons.

I liked the way they took most of the running time to develop the characters and explain their motivations even though you had their entire role in the movie pegged within 5 seconds of them appearing on the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 July, 2014, 03:51:21 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 15 July, 2014, 02:58:27 PMWell there was that slightly drawn out bit where yer fella walks through the office naked because of reasons.

Oh, you mean the bit where he grabbed that woman in the office and sexually harassed her while wearing no clothes, and then ran around chasing another man because the other man believed that he was a bummer and thus wanted to rape him, as all car-porn lovers secretly believe of any man who doesn't possess at least three pairs of denim jeans.  That sort of reminded me of a similar scene in 13 Going On 30 where a 13 year old girl who looks like an adult wakes up in a bed with a naked man and no memory of how she got there and then is chased around the room by him as he tells her he's going to fuck her whether she likes it or not - sometimes there is just a delicate balance between comedy and uncomfortable social horror that is not adequately straddled by those involved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 July, 2014, 04:15:39 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 15 July, 2014, 03:51:21 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 15 July, 2014, 02:58:27 PMWell there was that slightly drawn out bit where yer fella walks through the office naked because of reasons.

Oh, you mean the bit where he grabbed that woman in the office and sexually harassed her while wearing no clothes, and then ran around chasing another man because the other man believed that he was a bummer and thus wanted to rape him...

Hmmm. Must've missed those bits while face-palming/eye-rolling
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 July, 2014, 05:26:30 PM
Quote from: Professor Theopolis K Bear on 15 July, 2014, 02:50:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 July, 2014, 12:43:45 PMThe last film I watched was Vampire Dog. It's some kids' film that was on Amazon instant.

It sounds like it's no Sherlock Bones, so you should give Zoltan: Hound of Dracula a whirl, as it covers the kind of ground you lament as missing from Vampire Dog, and is worth watching for one of the worst dog actors I've ever seen.  You wouldn't think you'd be able to tell that kind of thing as all a dog has to do in a film is just stand there and be a dog, but the pooch who plays Zoltan clearly keeps looking off to one side to take direction from someone off-camera during close-ups, which ruined the otherwise impeccable illusion the film-makers had created.



I'll keep an eye out for Zoltan - sounds right up my street. It's the kind of thing I'd like to watch after going to the pub on a Friday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 July, 2014, 09:25:04 PM
Well as I mention before, I pick random films a week on Netflix USA.

Sadly this was Nazis at the Center of the Earth what a shittest film!
crappest acting, crappest CGI, crappest plot, and that monster! Eh??? Well it work well in original Wolfenstein game! What the hell they think of when did thsi film then I realise it's produced by The Asylum.

At least Frankenstein's Army was much better 10 times than this film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hoagy on 16 July, 2014, 02:28:36 AM
The Joneses. Orm social science fiction?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 July, 2014, 04:24:54 AM
80's revival with Romancing the Stone and it's sequel Jewel of the Nile.

I might have paid more attention as well, but I was playing games on the computer.

They don't know how to make movies as charming as these any more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 July, 2014, 09:51:40 AM

You forgot to tell us whether you would have done Kathleen Turner back then and whether you would still do her now, Thryllseekr. Lego Movie: Batman's darkness song is the best NIN/Linkin parody I've ever heard

http://youtu.be/pqv_LUStxDw

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 16 July, 2014, 12:09:34 PM
I watched One Day last night. If it wasn't for the announcer telling me at the start of the film that it was making its network premier on 15th July (same date as the characters in the film meet on throughout the years) I wouldn't have noticed this nice if fairly irrelevant touch.

Although I have read the book I don't have the same fondness for it that many people seem to have so didn't feel outraged at Anne Hathway being cast as Emma, and didn't think she was completely unsuited for the part. Jim Sturgess as Dexter was pretty good but was let down by the necessary changes made to adapt the book for the screen. Dexter is a fairly loveable dickhead for most of the book but the dickhead aspect didn't really come off on-screen. There's a bit where Dexter turns up to see his parents drunk and makes a fool of himself, but you can't really tell this is the case until his father points it out to him. Was this bad acting or bad editing/scripting? I couldn't tell. Decent film but one I'm glad to have only bothered watching on the TV because I had nothing else to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 July, 2014, 12:40:02 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 16 July, 2014, 09:51:40 AM
Lego Movie: Batman's darkness song is the best NIN/Linkin parody I've ever heard

This was on heavy rotation in the car on our recent trip.  It's just great:

"Darkness - No Parents!
Super-rich - Kinda makes it better!"

Still my favourite movie Batman.

There's also something akin to genius about 'Everything is Awesome' - not only do the lyrics satirise the unthinking gormless conformity of Lord Business' world (and real-world equivalents), they also evoke the 'reality' of being made of Lego, and at the same time manage to celebrate the core human pleasures of mutual co-operation and sense of wonder.  It's clever stuff.  Catchy too. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 July, 2014, 12:56:19 PM
I watched Sharknado last night.

It was okay. I'm not really sure what made it a breakout hit - it seemed pretty much like every other Asylum film I've ever seen.
My favourite bit was when the obnoxious new husband got shark-mugged through his front room window.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 July, 2014, 01:09:47 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 16 July, 2014, 09:51:40 AM

You forgot to tell us whether you would have done Kathleen Turner back then and whether you would still do her now, Thryllseekr. Lego Movie: Batman's darkness song is the best NIN/Linkin parody I've ever heard

http://youtu.be/pqv_LUStxDw


Would I still do K.Turner????

Really can't answer that properly with out being mean, but you should know that I really just shallow guy who's only interested in women who still look in their prime.

A old school friend of mine....(Not sure if he reads me here...) , but he was always a big fan of her and would watch some film with her and Steve Martin in it. Something to do with miracle revolutionary brain surgery.

BTW, I've seen the whole Lego Movie trilogy....well not really...I just watched the same film three times......and it's not really a film about LEGO the way I grew up with it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 July, 2014, 01:48:45 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 16 July, 2014, 01:09:47 PM
BTW, I've seen the whole Lego Movie trilogy....well not really...I just watched the same film three times......and it's not really a film about LEGO the way I grew up with it.

Did you really watch it three times, or did you just have it on a loop while you were playing computer games?  Maybe it didn't feel like a Lego movie to you because it's basically the plot of all three Matrix movies, with Liam Neeson ("Mammy, Daddy!") taking the part of Agent Smith and Kragle instead of deconstructionist critical theory. The film your buddy used to watch is Carl Reiner's The Man with Two Brains (http://youtu.be/unseSFWjuqs), and it's worth watching just for the joke about azaleas.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 July, 2014, 03:37:25 PM
When I purchased the movie....the special Box-office channel that plays it will play it again and again until round about five o'clock the next morning. There is about ten-twenty minute gap in between each session.

I just couldn't stand the Everything is Awesome song.

Yes, Man with Two-Brains was the film I couldn't quite recall the name of before. You see her breast or one of them in this one and it's another classic film we're yet to see likes again in this current day and age.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 July, 2014, 05:31:54 PM

"Blue skies, bouncy springs
We just named two awesome things
A Nobel prize, a piece of string
You know what's awesome? EVERYTHING!

Dogs with fleas, allergies,
A book of Greek antiquities
Brand new pants, a very old vest
Awesome items are the best."

That there is lyrical gold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 July, 2014, 05:30:52 PM
Pals dragged me to see the latest Transformers movie last night.

It was awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 July, 2014, 08:02:34 PM
Quote from: HdE on 17 July, 2014, 05:30:52 PM
Pals dragged me to see the latest Transformers movie last night.

It was awful.

Some pals.   :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 18 July, 2014, 01:33:02 AM
I took my revenge by eviscerating the movie in the pub later.

It was a massacre. Not even the children were spared.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 20 July, 2014, 06:05:15 PM
how to train your dragon 2 enjoyable stuff more dragons including a very impressive "alpha" and some dark turns for our hero [spoiler]namely stoic being killed by toothless[/spoiler]  cant wait for 3!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 July, 2014, 07:36:19 PM
Scooby Doo 2

Really good and surprisingly funny. I never thought I'd fancy Velma but that's all changed after seeing this.
I think it's by the same guy who's doing Guardians of the Galaxy. This ticks the boxes of ensemble cast and comedy so it bodes well for the new Marvel flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IronGraham on 22 July, 2014, 06:46:28 PM
Iron Man 3 this is defiantly made by the guy who did kiss kiss bang bang
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 22 July, 2014, 07:12:11 PM
Quote from: IronGraham on 22 July, 2014, 06:46:28 PM
Iron Man 3 this is defiantly made by the guy who did kiss kiss bang bang
[/quote

Yeah. You can just tell he REALLY wanted to show us!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 July, 2014, 08:00:48 AM
How to Train Your Dragon 2 - loved it!  Lots of dragons, a good plot, some really touching moments, and ace 3D.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 24 July, 2014, 06:42:14 PM
Transformers 4.

Madly enough I thought the first 45-60 mins were actually not complete dogshit. But overall...

The acting was capable enough but I refuse to believe that guy (the boyfriend, I forget his name) is 20 years old!

The plot is a bit on the crapside, the gist of it being - [spoiler]humans are building transformers but Megatron is actually running the show. The human built transformers are somehow more advanced than the real ones and can be animated without the 'Spark'. And then some Dinobots turn up?[/spoiler]

Pffft! On the plus side I didn't pay to watch it, although arguably I've lost a few precious hours of my life. But that's my own fault for watching it.

Cheers


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IronGraham on 25 July, 2014, 07:43:21 PM
Dawn of the planet of the apes
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 July, 2014, 10:51:31 PM
The Zero Thereom

I quite liked it, in a scary-whimsical Gilliam kind of way. No idea what happened at the end, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 July, 2014, 07:33:51 PM
Dead Man's Shoes - again. Prompted by a drunken quoting session last night
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 July, 2014, 09:27:42 PM
Last Vegas... The missus' choice.

I saw an hour. Then I plucked my eyeballs from my skull.

My brain thanked me later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2014, 11:50:11 PM
TRANSFORMERS but in French.

Not being a french speaker, I think, was an advantage.

When all you have to keep you entertained is the visuals, they had best be good. And though these were seamless, the destruction did get pretty boring pretty quickly. Overcrowded and busy doesn't mean interesting.

The chase down the side of the building jumpi g from air-con unjt to air-con unit felt like it came from a better movie (a deleted scene from a Bond/Bourne/Die Hard movie)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2014, 11:59:27 PM
Grosses boules de feu partout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 01 August, 2014, 02:15:14 AM
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Really enjoyed it. (some thoughts on my blog (http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-minor-spoilers/))
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:38:17 PM
Old boy.

Shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 August, 2014, 10:39:26 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:38:17 PM
Old boy.

Shite.

I hope yo're talking about the US remake...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:41:08 PM
Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 01 August, 2014, 10:42:25 PM
Waste of Josh brolins talent.should have been next batman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 August, 2014, 10:42:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:41:08 PM
Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:51:12 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 01 August, 2014, 10:42:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:41:08 PM
Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

In the words of Shania Twain 'that don't impress me much'. I really can't see what all the fuss is about - just looks lame to me.
In terms of movie fight scenes I'll take Bruce Lee's rampage through the base in Enter The Dragon, Clint's pool hall rumble in Coogan's Bluff or even Uma's fight with the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 August, 2014, 10:57:02 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:51:12 PM
I really can't see what all the fuss is about

It's funny. Funny in the same way as the scene where Austin Powers comes out of suspended animation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRx0bup8ubM).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 11:02:20 PM
Oh right. Didn't get that at all!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 August, 2014, 11:57:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:41:08 PM
Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.
(http://monstervine.com/wp-content/2009/03/fatherjack.jpeg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 August, 2014, 01:48:46 PM
Last film watched: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Second to last: Planet Terror.

One was rubbish but in an interesting intentional amusing way.

One was just rubbish. (Decent effects though.)

Which was which? No prizes for guessing correctly.

I also recenty saw Silent Hill Revelations. Not great but interesting enough. I've often thought the first rather underrated, and this, while lacking the atmosphere of the first, expands a bit on some of the ideas. Emphasis on 'bit'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 August, 2014, 02:07:03 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 01 August, 2014, 10:42:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2014, 10:41:08 PM
Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

I'm intrigued.  While I rather liked its side-scrolling silliness, what the heck does that scene have to do with the book?  In the manga, Goto's just a weirdo who spent ten years doing cock push-ups and now sleeps on the floor of his pal's bar: he ain't Marv.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 August, 2014, 03:01:19 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 August, 2014, 02:07:03 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 01 August, 2014, 10:42:45 PM

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

I'm intrigued.  While I rather liked its side-scrolling silliness, what the heck does that scene have to do with the book?  In the manga, Goto's just a weirdo who spent ten years doing cock push-ups and now sleeps on the floor of his pal's bar: he ain't Marv.

He kind of gets his arse handed to him there, doesn't he? He's just the fightingest guy in that room, and doesn't give up when he's had a tanking, like the hired goons do. His moves aren't slick and professional,  and the action choreography is just as gleefully shambolic and amateur, which is because Park Chan Wook is more interested in the ludicrous extremes characters go to for revenge than he is in living up to preconceptions concerning Asian cinema.

The film and the character are mainly played for laughs, which maybe doesn't come across in that scene when presented in isolation. The sex, the octopus, the villain's ludicrous motivation and method of revenge - everything's played for a juvenile mixture of giggling at how silly it is and squirming because of how horrible it all is. I haven't read the comic, but in terms of page to screen adaptations, the tone and sensibility of Oldboy is more Adam West than Chris Nolan ... mixed with Lynch/Anderson-when-he's-funny.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 August, 2014, 03:14:42 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 02 August, 2014, 03:01:19 PM...the octopus...

The manga's depressingly uneven, and as it's full of virgin nymphomaniacs just waiting to give their special treasure to a middle-aged amnesiac a poor memory might be seen to be self-serving, but I honestly don't remember an octopus...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 August, 2014, 03:50:44 PM

The octopus is Oldboy's best pal, and they go around together solving crimes (http://youtu.be/aUTNZ9JLj1E). Like the fight in the corridor discussed previously, the song and dance numbers in My Fair Lady, and the slo-mo sequences in that film about the guy with the big helmet,  the octopus was something intended to compensate for whatever else was lost in the translation from one medium to another. In the case of the octopus, it was something the director came up with on set - the actor said its tentacles were squirming all the way down.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 August, 2014, 03:23:44 PM

I'm going to watch The Raid 2 a week ahead of its UK video release by downloading it from iTunes tomorrow (Monday 4th of August):

bit.ly/1rLUihE  (http://bit.ly/1rLUihE)

I enjoyed the first one, and I've only heard good things about this film - except for the box office (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3821&p=.htm).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 August, 2014, 09:44:42 PM
I've seen loads of films this weekend - I should probably get out more!

Guardians of the Galaxy.

I really enjoyed this - definitely one of Marvel's best. All of the characters were interesting and likeable in their own way and the designs were excellent.

Revenge of the Sith.

Everything has probably been said about this already. It's by far the best of the prequels in my opinion but it still has huge problems. I just can't buy Annakin as Darth Vader and CGI Yoda is always a disappointment. The Emperor is pretty good though (a real smarmy shit bag!) and I think that younglings in the Star Wars verse must sing funny songs about Mace Windu falling out the window.

Need for Speed.

I enjoyed this. The characters and plot weren't much to write home about but the racing was very entertaining and there were some good stunts. I'd quite like to see a sequel with a bit more from the bonkers Michael Keaton (they could make him the same character he plays in Herbie:Fully Loaded for some genre clashing craziness).

Solomon Kane.

This was much better than I was expecting. James Purefoy was great and he reminded me of a West Country version of Hugh Jackman. It was pretty standard swords and monsters fare really but it was very competently done, had good actors and plenty of charm.

The Flashpoint Paradox.

This is one of those DC Comics animated films. It's much better than any of the live action films they've managed lately. I've not read the Flashpoint comics but the story was pretty simple sub-Butterfly Effect stuff and told quite concisely over an hour and twenty minutes. I liked the Thomas Wayne version of Batman and the weedy Superman but Captain Marvel was seriously under-powered and the whole thing was surprisingly violent. It was free on Amazon Prime Instant Video so if you have that service you may as well check it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 August, 2014, 12:12:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 03 August, 2014, 09:44:42 PM

Solomon Kane.

This was much better than I was expecting. James Purefoy was great and he reminded me of a West Country version of Hugh Jackman. It was pretty standard swords and monsters fare really but it was very competently done, had good actors and plenty of charm.

Solomon Kane is a more accurate rendition of a R. E. Howard character than Conan has been on film. Purefoy is great as Kane and we need more films like this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 August, 2014, 04:59:47 AM
Amazon were providing the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy for 13 quid on Blue Ray recenly so I chalked it up despite owning 2 of the films (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) on DVD. (I'll likely sell the DVDs on ebay.) Worth it for a high res tranfer at that price I think.


Anyway, I watched The World's End for the first time yesterday.

Very enjoyable it was too.

Only thing I wasn't keen on was the resolution. But it was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 August, 2014, 09:18:08 AM
Yeah, I rate The World's End pretty highly, I've already found myself going back to it more than I did Hot Fuzz, seemed to resonate a bit more round my bit.

Last movie for me was Guardians Of The Galaxy in IMAX last night. Oh boy did I love that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 06 August, 2014, 09:46:54 AM
QuoteOnly thing I wasn't keen on was the resolution. But it was good.

Well, [spoiler]the clue is in the title![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 August, 2014, 12:51:06 AM
The other week I spent a sunny day in the very pretty lakeside town of Neuchâtel sitting in various darkened rooms for their Fantastic Film Festival.

Didn't see everything I wanted to, but Blind was the definite standout. A Norwegian film about a woman trying to adjust to losing her sight, it starts with obvious seeming things like hearing a noise and thinking someone else is in the room then quickly shoots off down some interesting psychological avenues I'd never thought of before. Not being able to gauge whether are smiling in acknowledgement of your joke or even looking at you (or shaking their heads at yet another overlong and dry review post) must take some adjusting to.

The first scene establishes the ground rules for the rest of the film. She describes trying to visualise a walk in the park with a dog but, unless she concentrates hard enough, the word dog can signify any number of breeds, it can be aggressive or passive, running ahead, sitting in a tree, etc. Throughout the rest of the film, objects, scenes and characters shift and change constantly (continuity on this must have been a nightmare) and it expands into a fantastic, in whatever sense you like, exploration of the way we all construct a skewed view of reality through the prism of our own faulty perceptions and anxieties. It's a lot more fun than that sounds though and features funny shagging and an excellent use of Sonic Youth's Kool Thing.

Kung Fu Divas was an agreeably absurd change of pace. Two finalists in the local beauty pageant find themselves hunted by evil ninjas and under the protection of a man who speaks only by arching his nipples. If I had to boil it down to an elevator pitch it's the Shaw Brothers' Strictly Ballroom crossed with the Shaun of the Dead. The training montage is great and there's a very favourable ratio of actually funny to strangely inappropriate humour. My Filipino colleague seemed somewhat bemused when I tried to talk to him about it on Monday.

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji is from the cartoonish Takashi Miike of Ichi the Killer and Gozu. Early flashbacks use an entertaining animation style to show how our hapless cop hero doesn't take any shit from perverts. Your enjoyment of the rest of the film will be based on your tolerance for gleeful bad taste and OTT violence, although I'd defy anyone not to laugh at the titular vocal performance. It's just occurred to me that Miike would be the perfect choice to bring Garth Ennis' work to the big screen. Or possibly some sort of collaboration where he handles the slapstick violence and ridiculous villains while Takeshi Kitano fills in the manly stoicism and bonding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 August, 2014, 12:58:04 PM
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

I hadn't seen this for years and I really enjoyed it. It's a far better film than I had remembered.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot due to nostalgia about my dad taking me to see it at the pictures and getting the StMichael Annual for Christmas but that was somewhat eroded by my older brother constantly asserting that it was rubbish compared to Raiders.

The film does have its faults - mainly the annoying Kate Capshaw. I was surprised by how tolerable I found Short Round though. I think Short Round is quite an interesting character actually. It makes sense that Indy may team up with a street kid to get information/local knowledge etc (much like Sherlock Holmes with his Baker Street Irregulars. Did we ever find out what happened to him? I've read quite a few of the comics but none featuring Short Round). He made for a good contrast to the Maharajah and the slave kids too.

The opening scene of the film is masterful and has always been my favourite part. I love the way the odds are constantly getting longer and longer and then it climaxes with the punchline of 'Lao Che Air Freight' as Indy thinks he's escaped.

The Temple itself, along with the Thugee ceremonial chambers and catacombs are a great setting and the main chamber looks absolutely hellish with everything bathed in red light. There's some fantastic production design.

Mola Ram is a decent baddie with shades of Baron Samedi and it's still shocking when he pulls that guy's heart out.

All in all this probably vies with Raiders as my favourite Indy adventure. It's certainly more fantastical than Raiders and has more comedy (which I think is what my brother objects to) but it has some cool set pieces (the meal scene is still great and the mine cart sequence is ridiculous fun) and I don't think the films ever looked better.



I now have an urge to play the old arcade game. It was rock hard but the graphics and sound effects were great, as was the cabinet art.

(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e129/jimmyalpha2008/Indy.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 August, 2014, 09:32:17 PM
The Temple of Doom game had a sound effect that we were absolutely convinced was one of the Thuggee Guards saying "Body-poppin's good for you!". My friend and I still sometimes say that to each other even now, for giggles.

Also, if anything hits us, or knocks us, we HAVE to squeal "ARGH, I've been hit! (deep voice) by the Infanto-Ray!". We are married men in our mid-forties.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 August, 2014, 10:59:59 PM
Rise of the Planet of the Apes. No idea why I didn't see it when it came out, but that was a really, REALLY good movie. Very smart, very exciting, but retaining real emotional heft. Going to see the new one on Sunday.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 August, 2014, 08:35:52 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 08 August, 2014, 09:32:17 PM
The Temple of Doom game had a sound effect that we were absolutely convinced was one of the Thuggee Guards saying "Body-poppin's good for you!". My friend and I still sometimes say that to each other even now, for giggles.

Also, if anything hits us, or knocks us, we HAVE to squeal "ARGH, I've been hit! (deep voice) by the Infanto-Ray!". We are married men in our mid-forties.

SBT

Ha ha, I can't remember them saying that but we did try to whip the baddies in the nuts where possible.
It was a hard game but it captured the feel of the film really well. The isometric view reminds me of the Return of the Jedi game which came out the following year I think (and was also rock hard).



And, yes, I'm a also a big fan of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I haven't seen the new one yet either but I may wait for the Blu Ray. I don't enjoy the cinema as much as I used to, I often have to tell people to be quiet, or move, or have to put up with someone's phone light down at the front. I actually get a bit anxious as people come in and I can't help trying to spot ones that I think are going to be trouble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 August, 2014, 10:31:26 AM
DOTPOTP as it says on the ticket or rather DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Really enjoyed this. It's almost needless to say that the special effects are outstanding these days but my goodness, the special effects were outstanding.  Sirkis and his animators give you an utterly convincing Caesar (apart from the usual movie trope of [spoiler]superhuman ability to heal from life threatening injuries[/spoiler])

Story took a couple of turns I wasn't expecting possibly because other than the original, I'm not really au fait with Apes movies ([spoiler]I expected the damned filthy  humans to be the aggressors[/spoiler]).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM
Doing a Steve McQueen retrospective after a friend gave me a biography of him which I enjoyed. Came across as a right dick who was jealous of Paul Newman and made many bad film choices with the turkeys far outweighing the hits.

He has about 25 big screen credits and in my favoured OCD style I shall watch them all.

First up is 'The Sand Pebbles' which is the only McQueen film on US Netflix where my DNS is presently set. It was Steve's only Oscar nomination, and he didn't win. Set in 1920's revolutionary China Steve is an engineer on a gun boat in a 3 hour epic that demands plenty of the viewer. I got to the end over two nights and while it was OK I could have done with a trimmed down 90 minute version. Dickie Attenborough offers feeble support as his pal Frenchie and there is plenty of pointless chatter and noble sacrifice. Steve dies about 30 seconds before the film ends possibly due to losing the will to live.

I then sat through 'The Towering Inferno' which has to be one of the worst films ever made. You've probably seen bits of it so I won't bore you with the plot but a room full of oily rags and OJ Simpson running security - what did they expect would happen! McQueen is terrible as the wiry fire chief and he tries to put down Paul Newman's architect at every turn. Only redeeming feature is Richard Chamberlain's panicky idiot lounge lizard. Another near 3 hours slog!

Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 09 August, 2014, 12:42:44 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM
Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

I really like his performance in the 'The War Lover' - his WWII bomber-pilot character is a monstrous arsehole of the highest order, and McQueen plays him with antagonistic brilliance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 August, 2014, 12:43:03 PM
I like The Magnificent Seven but it isn't as good as The a Great Escape.
Papillon is supposed to be really good but it's always on TV really late and has a really long and boring opening so I've never actually sat through it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 August, 2014, 12:43:41 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM


I then sat through 'The Towering Inferno' which has to be one of the worst films ever made.


Your mouth is full of wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 August, 2014, 12:45:02 PM
For Steve McQueen I'd go with Bullitt, Papillon, Tom Horn, and of course The Magnificent Seven. And for a real eye roller The Blob.

Oops. James beat me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 August, 2014, 12:52:37 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM
Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?
Magnificent 7 is miles better than The Great Escape but they're both really about the ensemble rather than one man. Given his reputation, it's surprising that he's nowhere near the coolest guy in either film. I mean he's fourth coolest at best in Magnificent 7 and even Gordon Jackson is cooler in TGE and he was a butler!

The Blob?

I'm sure you'll enjoy hissing poker advice during The Cincinatti Kid anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnMcF on 09 August, 2014, 01:30:02 PM
The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, and Papillon would be my choice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 01:43:10 PM
I'm on The Kid this afternoon - quiet at the back. I've seen it before and I know it ends with a straight flush beating a full house which is as far fetched statistically as you can get, but you can't have the big denouement being a pair of deuces beating Ace high.

I'm looking forward to the career suicide of 'An Enemy of the People' which is based on an Ibsen play and sees Steve as wild bearded environmentalist - not so much box office gold as failed to be released.

Been watching Bullett in stages as the wife wanted to watch and then gets tired half way through - quite like the style and the soundtrack but the car chase wasn't all that great - nice sleazy Robert Vaughn though - criminally underused in 'Inferno'!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 August, 2014, 01:57:53 PM
Never really got the appeal of McQueen for some reason (always preferred Escape To Victory over The Great Escape), but I liked the story about how - when they were making Towering Inferno - because he was taller than Paul Newman, Newman would stand on a small pile of sand to appear similar in height to McQueen, so McQueen would kick the sand away as they spoke.

Enemy of the People is a decent small-town melodrama, but suicidally anti-American in its political sentiment, which is likely why it's more fascinating than it is good.  Push came to shove, it's probably my favorite McQueen flick in a toss-up with The Blob.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 09 August, 2014, 02:32:14 PM
Quote from: Mullah Abdul Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Bear on 09 August, 2014, 01:57:53 PM
Never really got the appeal of McQueen for some reason (always preferred Escape To Victory over The Great Escape), but I liked the story about how - when they were making Towering Inferno - because he was taller than Paul Newman, Newman would stand on a small pile of sand to appear similar in height to McQueen, so McQueen would kick the sand away as they spoke.

You're thinking of Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven (where would Newman have found sand in a skyscraper?). McQueen ruins all Brynner's speeches by fiddling with his hat in a distracting manner and pretending to take sightings using the sun as a guide too. McQueen's reasoning was that even though Brynner was already a big star and supposed to be the hero of the movie, if he was always just doing stuff in the back of shot and drawing attention to himself, then he would be the guy everyone remembered and was looking out for when the action scenes began.

Worked too, because - like others above - I've always been a bit agnostic about McQueen as a personality, but that role was the launchpad that allowed him to be pretty good in some really good films. I'm upvoting Papillon, because I like films about guys in sadistic prisons (Brubaker, Shawshank, Clint in Alcatraz, No Escape, etc) almost as much as I enjoy movies about gladiators and musicals starring Liza and Babs.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 August, 2014, 02:33:24 PM
I *like* Towering Inferno.
Also love Magnificent Seven but James Coburn is way cooler than McQueen.
Best thing about Bullit is the soundtrack (and maybe his car) but the Thomas Crown Affair is still pretty cool (despite the ridiculous flirty chess game he plays with Faye Dunaway)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 August, 2014, 03:00:50 PM


I tend to prefer the other Steve McQueen films -not the other Steve McQueen (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2588606/)- like The Cincinatti Kid, Bullit, and sometimes even The Getaway. He's best when he's not saying much.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 August, 2014, 03:17:21 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 09 August, 2014, 02:32:14 PMYou're thinking of Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven

You're right, it was Brynner - I got the (many) stories mixed up as McQueen was a serial arsehole.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 04:05:52 PM
Not that mad on 'The Cincinnati Kid' - for a start I remembered it being in B&W which was strange and I also misremembered a scene where they put the poker table in a jail cell over night after someone got sick. That was from a more fondly remembered film clearly!

This one was a bit sketchy with very little done by way of character development apart from moody looks through a haze of cigarette smoke. The first 40 minutes is just a set up for the big match with the Kid's lady troubles just a (very welcome) excuse to get Ann Margaret into her skimpies. Karl Malden and Edward G Robinson are more interesting than Steve. As for him being the best poker player in the world, he risks his whole stack when he doesn't have the nuts - think I'd be asking why Edward G is sticking $5k into a pot if he doesn't have the Jack seeing as Steve has two pair exposed. A bluff? doubtful from the established character we'd seen before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 10 August, 2014, 01:32:38 AM
'The Getaway' was pretty good - quite fat paced with some good action and  standard Sam Peckinpah claret spilling. I preferred the subplot of the wronged henchmen chasing our heroes with a bickering couple in tow. Probably preferred the remake but that was down to Kim Basinger taking her clothes off.

'Papillion' was good too but a bit over-long with endless passages where there is nothing said - this helped emphasis the solitude but it sent me drifting off to sleep. Dustin Hoffman is better value than McQueen playing the weasely forger Dega and it was good to see 'Mathias' Anthony Zebre showing up as a leper - one of the most unmistakable voices in the movies! McQueen does his best in a series of ever greyer wigs and it's probably one of her better 'acting' performances - in most other things you get the sense he's just being himself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 August, 2014, 02:29:22 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 06 August, 2014, 09:46:54 AM
QuoteOnly thing I wasn't keen on was the resolution. But it was good.

Well, [spoiler]the clue is in the title![/spoiler]

Oh that part I didn't mind too much.

I'm referring more to the fact that (massive spoilers alert) [spoiler]an argument from one individual (backed by his mates) was enough to cause the alien masters to leave.

That being said I don't mind that so much now. I suspect he and his remaining 'musketeers' were the only ones to argue their case so well, and the very fact the majority of the town had to be turned just supported their case.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 August, 2014, 02:53:12 PM
47 Ronin.

I quite enjoyed this. I like a good revenge tale and this had a bit of super nature and some monsters thrown in for good measure.
The visuals were pretty striking throughout and, while the effects weren't top tier, they did their job. There were some nice set designs and the Dragon and rampaging beast thing looked great.
I think this was a bit of a flop but I'd recommend giving it a try if you like this sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 August, 2014, 10:09:51 AM
I think it was the indignity of being told to **** off back to Legoland that did it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bobblehead on 11 August, 2014, 01:24:10 PM
 Guardians of the Galaxy - Loved it! It had action,humour and space ships shooting each other, the 3 things like I like most in my films :)   I think I enjoyed it more than most of the other comic book films I've seen in the past few years (except Dredd ofc) because it didnt spend 90% of the screentime with origin stories for the heroes and villians.The action was good and the humour was more or less laugh out loud funny.
    Also it had a talking raccoon with a big gun.

Looking forward to a sequel and its actually got me interested in the comic series, one title that i've never had any interest in.
All in all i highly recommend it!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2014, 01:47:00 PM
BLUE THUNDER
A nice slice of 80s action movie for you that remarkably, has aged pretty well. 

Of course, now (and one might argue that even at the time) it seems terribly cliche but there's a lot of fun to be had with a smart story, witty script, good performances from Roy Scheider, Candy Clarke, Warren Oates and a very young looking Daniel Stern, quality swearing, helicopter chases in downtown LA and a barrel load of fab stunt work and practical model effects effect.

Warren Oates could play "pissed off Police Captain" in his sleep but writers O'Bannon and Jakoby give him some cracking lines to work with here.

It suffers from 80s hero being an asshole syndrome (Murphy pointing a gun at a cleaner for no reason?). 80s heroes really were selfish dicks a lot of the time. Go back and watch Ghostbusters and see what a major douche Bill Murray's character is.

And it could do with slightly ramping up the political element just a little bit more - it gets slightly overwhelmed by the chases and action.

And amusingly, the main news anchor is also the main news anchor from Robocop - another film where he also talks about Officer Murphy a lot. What are the chances?

And Blue Thunder itself, and it's accompanying theme music, make for mighty fine cinema.

Go catch it on Nutflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 August, 2014, 01:53:17 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2014, 01:47:00 PM
BLUE THUNDER

It suffers from 80s hero being an asshole syndrome (Murphy pointing a gun at a cleaner for no reason?). 80s heroes really were selfish dicks a lot of the time. Go back and watch Ghostbusters and see what a major douche Bill Murray's character is.


Yeah, completely agree with this.  Ghostbusters would have been half the comedy without Venkman, but I can't help wondering if had he been a bit nicer to Peck then maybe he could have avoided the spectral explosion that was the trigger for Gozer to turn up.

But where's the fun in watching a business co-operating with a health and safety regulator?   :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 August, 2014, 02:03:28 PM
How to Train Your Dragon 2.  A magnificent, ambitious film that broadens and illuminates the scope of the first one.  The middle act is probably the most successful sustained spectacle of any fantasy film I've seen, easily topping 'Rings.  Unfortunately the kids found the dark conclusion of that chunk quite upsetting (and not without reason), and as a result it put a bit of a downer on the solid resolution (itself only slightly let down by a surprisingly awkward piece of the signature VO narration that felt like a last minute response to a perceived obligation to the form).

My only serious gripe was the neutering of Astrid - arguably the strongest character in the first film is largely reduced here to supportive helpmeet.  Happily, Hiccup continues to be a really special central character - his sense of mission and utter conviction is moving, as is his relationship with the still-adorable Toothless.  And as is, of course, the movie's surprise central romance, which is quite simply beautiful, and jerked more than a few tears.  I don't quite know what Cate Blanchett was going for accent/delivery-wise, but her character and costume design more than made up for it. 

I'd be deliriously happy if SW:VII could capture a fraction of the sense of wonder and excitement of the first act of HTTYD:2 or the spectacle of the second, or indeed handle the inevitable passing of the old guard with as much weight and significance, but for now I'll just be waiting for the third one of these. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 11 August, 2014, 02:07:17 PM
watched 47 ronin & to my surprise it was f-kin brilliant
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 August, 2014, 02:12:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2014, 01:47:00 PM80s heroes really were selfish dicks a lot of the time. Go back and watch Ghostbusters and see what a major douche Bill Murray's character is.


Which was probably the reason Venkman was my favourite. Stantz was the nice guy, Spengler the nerd and Zeddemore the black- I wish they'd done more than just use him as an audience surrogate.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 August, 2014, 02:15:39 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 August, 2014, 02:03:28 PM
I'd be deliriously happy if SW:VII could capture a fraction of the sense of wonder and excitement of the first act of HTTYD:2 or the spectacle of the second


Prepare for the Intergalactic Potato Famine.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 August, 2014, 02:20:53 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2014, 01:47:00 PMGo back and watch any movie with Bill Murray and see what a major douche Bill Murray's character is.

FTFY.

'S why he's so bloody great.  He's like a sourly petulant potato.  Segue.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 August, 2014, 03:01:55 PM
The stupid bloody problems I'm now having with the internet...I couldn't even submit my last post....

Maybe sometime tomorrow  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 August, 2014, 04:23:55 PM
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 11 August, 2014, 02:07:17 PM
watched 47 ronin & to my surprise it was f-kin brilliant

Yeah 47 Ronin was great. It got dumped on because 1) it wasn't historically accurate and c) Keanu Reeves.

It's a bloody great fantasy film and should have been marketed as such.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2014, 05:37:16 PM
I'm not picking on just Bill Murray here. It happened a lot in the Eighties where they mistake being a dick for being edgy and enigmatic. (Tom Cruise in Top Gun is another prime example).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 August, 2014, 10:42:08 AM
Oh man I watched Top Gun for the first time last week. I wanted Maverick to die more than the MiG pilots.

At least Venkman is supposed to be the slime ball...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 12 August, 2014, 11:20:00 AM
still can't stop watching Solomon Kaine once a month or so - brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIBwQsOwEeM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIBwQsOwEeM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 August, 2014, 02:30:10 PM
"That devil be a roight bad un, an' no mistake.
Arrrr!"

Sorry. Joking aside, that actually looks rather good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 August, 2014, 05:24:02 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 August, 2014, 10:42:08 AM
Oh man I watched Top Gun for the first time last week. I wanted Maverick to die more than the MiG pilots.

At least Venkman is supposed to be the slime ball...

Top-Gun is the classic American-jet-fighter-pilot film of the 80's.

I can't believed you missed it this time around and for this amount of time.

A lot of people found Tom Cruise and his role obnoxious earlier in his career. Some still do, but he has been impressing people more lately. I still think he would be difficult to get on well with beyond any of his professional courtesy every famous person owns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 August, 2014, 05:27:01 PM
Tom Cruise i've always thought something of a self loving git. When he acts well he's OK, Cocktail and Edge of Tomorrow for example, but he was an unbearable bore in Top Gun a movie which I have no affection for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 August, 2014, 07:41:01 PM
I think Tom Cruise is an excellent film star. He's a pretty good actor, looks good and is undoubtedly pretty fearless when it comes to doing stunts. He very rarely makes bad films in my opinion.
His nutcase activities with that bonkers science fiction cult isn't something I concern myself with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 August, 2014, 09:15:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 12 August, 2014, 07:41:01 PM
I think Tom Cruise is an excellent film star. He's a pretty good actor, looks good and is undoubtedly pretty fearless when it comes to doing stunts. He very rarely makes bad films in my opinion.
His nutcase activities with that bonkers science fiction cult isn't something I concern myself with.

Exactly how I feel. When people point out the nonsense he believes, I usually point out that I know someone who believes a carpenter came back from the dead 2000 years ago..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2014, 11:59:07 PM
Wise up and check out The Cruiser in Magnolia. He's brilliant. As is the whole film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 August, 2014, 12:26:37 AM
Simply don't believe it when someone claims not to like Top Gun. Unless they just mean they can't be arsed with the boring 65 minutes in the middle when nobody is flying a plane. Inverted or otherwise.

I'll put myself down as a fan of Cruise and of protagonists who are dicks. It's part of what makes those films great. Snake Plisskin is kind of a dick, but he's also awesome. Everyone on the team in Predator is a total bellend except maybe the guerrilla woman who wants to kill them but, damn!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 August, 2014, 12:32:52 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 13 August, 2014, 12:26:37 AM
...Plisskin is kind of a dick...

Kind of? He's literally a one-eyed Snake
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 09:32:00 AM
Yeah, I often recoil from the concept of watching a Cruise movie, but in reality most of them are pretty darn good, and when they aren't it's very rarely because of his performance (see also: Tom Hanks).  And if I started disliking people because of their religious beliefs and odd relationship choices I'd be a very lonely boy.

Top Gun, however, is unwatchable. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2014, 09:43:06 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 09:32:00 AM
Top Gun, however, is unwatchable.

Never seen it. It was Days of Thunder that put me off watching anything with Tom Cruise in it for a decade or so... I was persuaded to watch Interview With A Vampire many years after its release and was pleasantly surprised by how good Cruise was in it and, in fairly quick succession, watched Last Samurai, Minority Report and Collateral, and was impressed by the sheer variety of both subject matter and role — here was an actor who was undoubtedly a star but who was clearly able to fit a wide range of roles. In all honesty, Days of Thunder excluded, I don't think I've ever seen Cruise be bad in anything, although I wouldn't claim to have seen the majority of his movies.*

Cheers

Jim

*See also: Brad Pitt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM
Snake Plisskin is an out-and-out anti-hero; he's a dick, but the people surrounding him are even bigger dicks, and they're the ones to blame for this sorry state of affairs.

It's ok for protagonists to be arseholes in the best 80s movies as we're not really placed in any sympathy with them beyond their struggle against the enemy - a Predator, an island full of crazies, even a shapeshifting monster (MacReady does try to save people though) - or because they are clearly trying to prevent some injustice, ala Matrix in Commando with his daughter or even Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. Venkman was comic relief and was more of a cocky wiseass than a proper dickhead - the ghostbusters get a paycheck at the end of the day, they are not superheroes.

Top Gun is however about Maverick being Maverick and takes itself so seriously I couldn't stomach it.

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 August, 2014, 05:24:02 PM
Top-Gun is the classic American-jet-fighter-pilot film of the 80's.

I can't believed you missed it this time around and for this amount of time.


I was 3 in the 80s and my jet-fighter movie was Independence Day, which has a far more likeable cocky protagonist and a better plot line.

Like Tom Cruise a great deal in Interview with a Vampire and have time for him in plenty else. He's a little shit in Top Gun though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 August, 2014, 11:29:26 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM
I was 3 in the 80s

All of the eighties?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:49:23 AM
The curse was lifted in 1990.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 August, 2014, 12:47:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 09:32:00 AM
Yeah, I often recoil from the concept of watching a Cruise movie, but in reality most of them are pretty darn good, and when they aren't it's very rarely because of his performance (see also: Tom Hanks). 

Yup, I'm always surprised when a new Tom Cruise movie comes out and you hear comments like "Tom was actually good in this".  Not a surprise really as he has been good in almost everything I have seen him in.  Seems like everyone just forgets and then is shocked when he does it again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 13 August, 2014, 01:52:31 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 13 August, 2014, 12:47:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 09:32:00 AM
Yeah, I often recoil from the concept of watching a Cruise movie, but in reality most of them are pretty darn good, and when they aren't it's very rarely because of his performance (see also: Tom Hanks). 

Yup, I'm always surprised when a new Tom Cruise movie comes out and you hear comments like "Tom was actually good in this".  Not a surprise really as he has been good in almost everything I have seen him in.  Seems like everyone just forgets and then is shocked when he does it again!

Yep, I have the same thing re Cruise, but I also used to get that feeling from Brad Pitt.  I'd recoil from watching something with him in it, 'cos I was just under the impression he was a vacuous pretty-boy.  But then Fight Club and Burn After Reading happened.  That latter film has put Pitt in my top twenty all time favourite actors - the character he played was just brilliant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2014, 02:18:44 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 13 August, 2014, 01:52:31 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 13 August, 2014, 12:47:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 09:32:00 AM
Yeah, I often recoil from the concept of watching a Cruise movie, but in reality most of them are pretty darn good, and when they aren't it's very rarely because of his performance (see also: Tom Hanks). 

Yup, I'm always surprised when a new Tom Cruise movie comes out and you hear comments like "Tom was actually good in this".  Not a surprise really as he has been good in almost everything I have seen him in.  Seems like everyone just forgets and then is shocked when he does it again!

Yep, I have the same thing re Cruise, but I also used to get that feeling from Brad Pitt.  I'd recoil from watching something with him in it, 'cos I was just under the impression he was a vacuous pretty-boy.  But then Fight Club and Burn After Reading happened.  That latter film has put Pitt in my top twenty all time favourite actors - the character he played was just brilliant!

I liked Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys. Bruce Willis did a good job in that too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 August, 2014, 02:42:23 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 13 August, 2014, 01:52:31 PM
I'd recoil from watching something with him in it

Despite the various levels of pragmatic common sense posted otherwise; Cruise actually does make me recoil.
Just...'cause.

I don't think even the release of '2000AD: The Movie' starring Cruise as Tharg would change my mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 August, 2014, 03:03:54 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 13 August, 2014, 02:42:23 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 13 August, 2014, 01:52:31 PM
I'd recoil from watching something with him in it

Despite the various levels of pragmatic common sense posted otherwise; Cruise actually does make me recoil.
Just...'cause.

I don't think even the release of '2000AD: The Movie' starring Cruise as Tharg would change my mind.

I think it was Gina Davis who said that Brad Pitt was a character actor trapped in the body of a leading man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 August, 2014, 03:09:14 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 August, 2014, 03:03:54 PM
I think it was Gina Davis who said that Brad Pitt was a character actor trapped in the body of a leading man.

Presumably before she saw Meet Joe Black.

Nah, I kid - Pitt is okay in my book.  Aforementioned 12 Monkeys earns him a lifetime pass from me, and he's just excellent as Achilles in the otherwise crushingly bad Troy (possibly the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 August, 2014, 03:16:31 PM
I agree both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt get better after Interview With the Vampire.

Tom was so good in his films, there some silly films like Knight And Day, he does got good comedy side in Tropic Thunder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 03:27:33 PM
Oh my god, Tropic Thunder earns him a pass for life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 August, 2014, 03:32:07 PM
Check this out;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLcNgawiCJM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLcNgawiCJM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 13 August, 2014, 04:23:07 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM
Snake Plisskin is an out-and-out anti-hero; he's a dick, but the people surrounding him are even bigger dicks, and they're the ones to blame for this sorry state of affairs.

I'll think of that one next time I get called a dick.

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM
It's ok for protagonists to be arseholes in the best 80s movies as we're not really placed in any sympathy with them beyond their struggle against the enemy - a Predator, an island full of crazies, even a shapeshifting monster (MacReady does try to save people though) - or because they are clearly trying to prevent some injustice, ala Matrix in Commando with his daughter or even Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. Venkman was comic relief and was more of a cocky wiseass than a proper dickhead - the ghostbusters get a paycheck at the end of the day, they are not superheroes.

How can I fit myself or Slaine into that equation?

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM

Top Gun is however about Maverick being Maverick and takes itself so seriously I couldn't stomach it.

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 August, 2014, 05:24:02 PM
Top-Gun is the classic American-jet-fighter-pilot film of the 80's.

I can't believed you missed it this time around and for this amount of time.

I was 3 in the 80s and my jet-fighter movie was Independence Day, which has a far more likeable cocky protagonist and a better plot line.

:lol: I like that film as well, but I categorise it differently as sci/fi. Although, the War of the Worlds remake might be closer and it has Tome Cruise in it as well.

What about  Stealth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_(film)) the Classic-All-American-Jet-Fighter-Film-of-the-Naughties.

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 August, 2014, 11:20:54 AM
Like Tom Cruise a great deal in Interview with a Vampire and have time for him in plenty else. He's a little shit in Top Gun though.

Most admittedly I like the film a lot more than the actor and it will remain one of my favorites.

Did anybody see the Tom Cruise impersonator in this  super-hero-spoof (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3thTljxDsoQ).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 13 August, 2014, 05:30:10 PM
Cruise has been around for a long time and you don't get that length of career without some sort of talent (although I wish someone would tell Jason Statham that).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 August, 2014, 11:46:48 AM
Guardians of the Galaxy

:)

Made me want a new star wars movie for the first time since I was 13 though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2014, 12:37:55 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy - some of it was a bit forced, and it often felt an awful lot like a big-budget episode of Stargate SG1 - one of the later episodes when it was Farscape for some reason - complete with a dogged sense of everything being small scale despite people shouting that THE WHOLE WIDE UNIVERSE was going to end because of the season's McGuffin, and lengthy SFX sequences that were made on a computer that don't really give you much of a sense of scale or how the tide of battle is flowing until a character fills you in.  There's also a lot of telling instead of showing for something that cost this much and is so reliant upon spectacle, particularly character backstories being presented completely as exposition apart from a brief glimpse of Quill's dying-mom stuff, which was really clunky to the point that when she appeared again near the end I just laughed at the Freudian implications of his seeing his love interest with the face of his mum, and which in retrospect makes the whole angle of her making him a mix tape seem like they just changed the details of a dead girlfriend storyline around from a previous draft of the script.  The problem in telling and not showing like this is of course that if your actor delivering the basil isn't that great, it sort of derails things, and green lady is not exactly charismatic, nor is Star Man, though the latter makes up for it by at least being affable and having good timing, while the wrestler guy with facepaint is at least serviceable because his character is a bit of a one-note deal.

That all sounds like I had a negative impression of it, which certainly isn't the case thanks to a lifetime of watching sci-fi both good and bad and enjoying either at various times - I thought that overall, GotG was well-made and good fun, and I particularly liked the clean and discernible shapes and forms of the technology in use rather than the constantly-busy outlines and grungy details of fantasy tech in something like the Transformers movies.  To me, the dominant visual style of GotG harks back to the model-based aesthetic of early Star Wars where things like the Tie Fighters, X-Wings and Millennium Falcon all had simple, solid, iconic shapes you recognised instantly, rather than just being the fluid mess of edges and dirt favored by modern CGI-influenced production designers.  Unfocussed action direction aside, a lot of what was on display here looked like it could be an old sci-fi paperback cover if you took a snapshot of it at the right moment, and I love that about it, because often what I glanced of the covers of old paperbacks in the library as a kid fired my imagination a lot more than the occasionally-disappointing contents of said books did.  GotG was like someone took a paperback cover from that period and made a 90s action film based on it, and now Trek has shat the bed this is a welcome addition to the pantheon of big-screen space-operas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 14 August, 2014, 12:50:14 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 13 August, 2014, 05:30:10 PM
Cruise has been around for a long time and you don't get that length of career without some sort of talent (although I wish someone would tell Jason Statham that).

You know, I don't really mind Jason Statham either - films like the Transporter and Crank are enjoyable enough.  He's not up there with the likes of Cruise but he's a solid action movie star.  I found it interesting in the recent Expendables movies where he seems a lot better than many of the 'legends'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 August, 2014, 12:54:24 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 14 August, 2014, 12:50:14 PM
You know, I don't really mind Jason Statham either - films like the Transporter and Crank are enjoyable enough.

Plus, at this stage, it's not like you don't know what you're going to get going into a Statham movie. (Also, Death Race was substantially more entertaining than it had any right to be...!)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 14 August, 2014, 01:07:15 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 August, 2014, 12:54:24 PM
Also, Death Race was substantially more entertaining than it had any right to be...!

Jim, get out of my head!  I almost mentioned in my earlier post how he rescued Death Race.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 August, 2014, 01:54:30 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 13 August, 2014, 05:30:10 PM
Cruise has been around for a long time and you don't get that length of career without some sort of talent (although I wish someone would tell Jason Statham that).

Oy, leave Statham alone!  It's probably thanks to him (and other sexy bald blokes like Bruce Willis, Patrick Stewart etc) that us follically challenged folk ever get laid!   :D


I saw the Raid 2 last night.  Bloody hell eh?  Brilliant film!  The fight twoards the end in the kitchen has to be one of the best one-to-one fight scenes I have ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 August, 2014, 02:03:17 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 14 August, 2014, 01:54:30 PM
I saw the Raid 2 last night.  Bloody hell eh?  Brilliant film!  The fight twoards the end in the kitchen has to be one of the best one-to-one fight scenes I have ever seen.

Got it on Blu-ray yesterday, saw it in the cinema but been desperate to see it again ever since. That fight is stupendous! Indeed, the last 45mins or so are pretty much wall to wall awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: atp on 14 August, 2014, 03:51:56 PM
Watched an oldie, The Running Man, blimey it hasn't  aged to well, but did they  'borrow' MC1 for the cityscape background shots 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 August, 2014, 04:15:44 PM
I don't understand the Statham thing either. I don't rate him as an actor at all, and unlike the 80s action greats like Schwarzenegger and Stallone he doesn't have any apparent movie star charisma or screen presence. His name on a film poster may as well be a sticker saying 'avoid' as far as I'm concerned. His whole career seems based on a kind of semi-ironic veneration of quite bad films. I don't get it.

I'm curious to see The Raid 2, but was put off by reports of a 2hr+ runtime and excess of story. The great thing about the first film was that it was lean and mean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 14 August, 2014, 04:21:00 PM
I thought Statham was good in 'Revolver'.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 August, 2014, 04:50:17 PM
I thought Statham was the only good thing in Revolver. That is the 2nd worst movie I have ever gone to see in the cinema (beaten by Battleship, slightly edging out Roadkill and Scorpion King - which I watched in one monumentally misjudged double-bill)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 14 August, 2014, 05:21:42 PM
The one good thing about Jason Statham is that Hollywood decided they didn't need two shaven headed Brit hardmen and discarded Vinnie Jones
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2014, 05:41:32 PM
Say what you will about Vinnie Jones, his turn in Moby Dick was mesmerising to the point I couldn't believe it was really happening.  And by "Moby Dick", I of course mean "that film where Moby Dick was a dragon and Ahab (Danny Glover) hunted him in a wooden tank".

Movie and culture snobs tend not to understand the simple pleasures of a well-done action movie unless the Guardian has done a write-up about it first, but then it's usually about something like District 13 or the Raid which get a pass for being in a foreign language as this means that they cannot possibly just be lowbrow shite. [spoiler] They are.[/spoiler]

Statham is a bit hit and miss for me - he's shite in a lot of things, but it's often beyond his control like the Expendables movies - which are shite in general and there's not much he can do about that because he's not A-list and doesn't have much creative input.  He's great in the Transporter, mind, willfully playing a complete cypher of a character in the kind of ego-free performance you'll never see from the likes of Stallone or Schwarzenegger, and the closest comparison I can make is to Jackie Chan, who for all his impressive kung fu stuntwork has made a career playing a fool and/or a buffoon rather than a super-competent badass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 14 August, 2014, 10:25:03 PM
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - Part of the Steve McQueen extravaganza. I wasn't to taken with it - lots of posing and farting about in dune buddies and looking cool. The insurance investigator was a big slut and her leaps of logic defied belief. Even the song wasn't as good as I remembered - give me the Dusty or Petula version any time!

Bullitt was pretty good too although the car chase was a bit overhyped. I like Robert Vaughn as the slimy senator. My book said he'd the chance to make this a franchise a la 'Dirty Harry' but preferred to make suff like An Enemy of the People which is based on an Ibsen play and sees Steve as a beardy environmentalist in 19th century Norway. Surprisingly not a big hit!

The Magnificent Seven was OK but it seemed like 'The Three Amigos' without the laughs. A lot more deaths than I'd have guessed with [spoiler]only Steve and Yul getting out alive[/spoiler]. Surprised at the reverence in which this is held - looked like a basic cowboy yard to me albeit one with a great cast.

His last film The Hunter is poor and has the look and budget of a TV movie. It starts poorly with a cringe worthy caption and worsens as his quarry is Geordi LaForge. There is no menace and the running joke of him being a shit driver wears thin quick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 August, 2014, 11:31:54 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 14 August, 2014, 10:25:03 PM
Bullitt was pretty good too although the car chase was a bit overhyped.

Nope. Not having that.

Maybe it's not the best ever car chase in film, but by God it's the best car chase ever filmed.

Those cars aren't skidding about because a stunt man knew how to coordinate the pedals and steering wheel in a such a way that the arse of the car swings out. Those cars are skidding about because the actors in the driving seats were actually driving like the maniacs they were portraying. They took their big, stupid, point'n'stamp muscle cars and tried to force them around the steep, tight corners of San Fransisco. It's obvious that several of the cornering shots were cut before the wagon spun-out, and a couple of times you can see hub-caps clipping off then feebly trying to chase the car from whence they were shed. It wasn't really choreographed, they just got two guys to race around Frisco and pointed a camera at it.

Steve McQueen was actually, really chasing the bad guys. That's why I love it so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 August, 2014, 01:16:38 AM
Buttonman, have you seen The Seven Samurai?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 15 August, 2014, 08:02:43 AM
Quote from: King Pops on 14 August, 2014, 11:31:54 PM
Steve McQueen was actually, really chasing the bad guys. That's why I love it so.

He wasn't really -not unless they had a camera crew on every corner! It was pretty good and had a great sense of speed and danger it's just when I read the biography I thought it was going to be longer and more exciting. The end where [spoiler]the baddies drove into an exploding petrol station[/spoiler] was a bit unlikely too.

QuoteButtonman, have you seen The Seven Samurai?

I have as part of my quest to see all the films in the IMDb 250. I gave it a solid 7/10 but can't remember much about it. From the Kurosawa canon I preferred 'Rashomon', 'Throne of Blood' and 'High and Low' which was a contemporary thriller based on an Ed McBain book - the subject of a previous challenge (to read all 50+ 87th Precinct books. I have no life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 August, 2014, 10:22:16 AM
The Lego Movie

Fun as long as you keep the inner child at the forefront. Noisy and annoying otherwise, at least up until the sweet stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 15 August, 2014, 12:43:11 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 14 August, 2014, 11:31:54 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 14 August, 2014, 10:25:03 PM
Bullitt was pretty good too although the car chase was a bit overhyped.

Nope. Not having that.

Maybe it's not the best ever car chase in film, but by God it's the best car chase ever filmed.

Those cars aren't skidding about because a stunt man knew how to coordinate the pedals and steering wheel in a such a way that the arse of the car swings out. Those cars are skidding about because the actors in the driving seats were actually driving like the maniacs they were portraying. They took their big, stupid, point'n'stamp muscle cars and tried to force them around the steep, tight corners of San Fransisco.

I tend to agree with Buttonman that the car chase in Bullitt is not as good as people say they are.  I think you nailed some of why that is when you mentioned the type of cars they were using and the locations - it just doesn't quite work.  I also think it goes on a bit too long.

I always thought the French Connection had a better car chase and I'm sure I saw somewhere that they didn't even close the roads off for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 August, 2014, 04:03:12 PM
QuoteButtonman, have you seen The Seven Samurai?

I have as part of my quest to see all the films in the IMDb 250. I gave it a solid 7/10 but can't remember much about it. From the Kurosawa canon I preferred 'Rashomon', 'Throne of Blood' and 'High and Low' which was a contemporary thriller based on an Ed McBain book - the subject of a previous challenge (to read all 50+ 87th Precinct books. I have no life.
[/quote]

I'm sure you have as much life as anyone else on this board. ;)

I just wondered, as I understand The Magnificent Seven was a western retelling of Seven Samurai, and wondered what you thought - similarities/differences, genre etc?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 August, 2014, 05:07:25 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 August, 2014, 04:03:12 PM
I just wondered, as I understand The Magnificent Seven was a western retelling of Seven Samurai, and wondered what you thought - similarities/differences, genre etc?

I'm no cineaste-cum-gourmet*, but it's clear neither film can tie the sandals of Battle Beyond the Stars, and should be regarded as mere John-the-Baptists to the main event.




*Hmmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 15 August, 2014, 06:14:05 PM
Quote from: Official Hawkeye Pierce Action Figure link=topic=31824.msg840431#msg840431

I'm no cineaste-cum-gourmet*, but it's clear neither film can tie the sandals ofi]Battle Beyond the Stars[/i], and should be regarded as mere John-the-Baptists to the main event.




*Hmmm.

Was that the one that had Robert Vaughn playing pretty much the same role he portrayed in Mag 7? Ie: Deranged and paranoid.

If so, good film, from what I recall. Also had 'John-Boy Walton' in unless I'm mistaken.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 August, 2014, 06:53:02 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 15 August, 2014, 06:14:05 PM
Quote from: Official Hawkeye Pierce Action Figure link=topic=31824.msg840431#msg840431
I'm no cineaste-cum-gourmet*, but it's clear neither film can tie the sandals of Battle Beyond the Stars, and should be regarded as mere John-the-Baptists to the main event.

Was that the one that had Robert Vaughn playing pretty much the same role he portrayed in Mag 7? If so, good film, from what I recall. Also had 'John-Boy Walton' in unless I'm mistaken.


Aye - that's what everyone remembers about that film (http://youtu.be/2kUoD8vtedc?t=47m44s).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 August, 2014, 06:54:08 PM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 15 August, 2014, 06:53:02 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 15 August, 2014, 06:14:05 PM
Quote from: Official Hawkeye Pierce Action Figure link=topic=31824.msg840431#msg840431
I'm no cineaste-cum-gourmet*, but it's clear neither film can tie the sandals of Battle Beyond the Stars, and should be regarded as mere John-the-Baptists to the main event.

Was that the one that had Robert Vaughn playing pretty much the same role he portrayed in Mag 7? If so, good film, from what I recall. Also had 'John-Boy Walton' in unless I'm mistaken.


Aye - that's what everyone remembers about that film (http://youtu.be/2kUoD8vtedc?t=47m44s).

Didn't it also have George Peppard?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 August, 2014, 06:56:20 PM

I was obviously a wee primary school pervert.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 August, 2014, 05:09:11 PM
I watched The Monkey King this afternoon, the recent version with Donnie Yen.  It was very good indeed, and although it took liberties with the Wu Cheng En classic, the adjustments were to give a more theatrical and cinematic feel, creating love interests and reasons for conflict outside of Sun WuKong just pissing off deities in the Jade Palace.  The final 30 mins was suitably epic.

It was so bloody good I've ordered the region 2 3D Blu Ray release at a fair cost. However, I must watch it again in the best possible definition, and in 3D! 

If anyone here has a penchant for Monkey or Journey to the West, you'll definitely want to see this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 17 August, 2014, 12:44:13 AM
Watched Coraline with the kids earlier on today (well technically it'd be yesterday now!). Not my first viewing mind, but it's bloody gorgeous to behold, with a superb, macabre story to boot. Wish we had more children's film like this. Monster House is another good 'un. So is 9. Me and my boy love stuff like that. I think I'll introduce him to one of my childhood favourites - Labyrinth! I know he'd love it.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 17 August, 2014, 10:52:16 AM
Cabin Fever: Patient Zero.

Um...

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 August, 2014, 11:48:28 AM
Quote from: Mabs on 17 August, 2014, 12:44:13 AM
So is 9.

9 is terrible — it looks fantastic but makes no sense whatsoever.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 August, 2014, 01:40:14 PM
His Heavy Heart

Kickstarter reward from way back (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1288561702/alan-moore-and-mitch-jenkins-his-heavy-heart). Oddly I've not seen the four parts of the Jimmy's End cycle that proceed it (yet - waiting for the reward DVD to show) but it's very brilliant on it's own - sickly and dark and quite funny. Very Moore and very marvellous.

Andrew Buckley's malevolent clown is fantastically played and the whole thing looks absurdly slick - although I couldn't shake how close Darrel D'Silva's Jimmy looks to Tony Slattery...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 18 August, 2014, 07:10:48 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 August, 2014, 04:03:12 PM
QuoteButtonman, have you seen The Seven Samurai?


I just wondered, as I understand The Magnificent Seven was a western retelling of Seven Samurai, and wondered what you thought - similarities/differences, genre etc?

One had cowboys and the other lots of Japanese chaps  :P . Never really analysed it but the same structure and arcs with the mismatched group coming together to fight the bad guys and save the villagers. I think Samurai benefits from being foreign and seeming a bit more deep than some cowboys shooting a load of gringos in a manner that's now such a cliché. Would wast 'The Three Amigos' ahead of either!

Watched 'The War Lover' and really enjoyed it. McQueen plays a right shit happy to try and steal the lovely Shirley Anne Field from Number 2, Robert Wagner. Some ropey model work but engaging stuff with an early role for 'Oooh Betty' star, Michael Crawford.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 18 August, 2014, 07:14:32 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 09 August, 2014, 12:42:44 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM
Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

I really like his performance in the 'The War Lover' - his WWII bomber-pilot character is a monstrous arsehole of the highest order, and McQueen plays him with antagonistic brilliance.

Good call on this one Greg! Credit to him for playing the asshole role rather than the romantic lead - still the ladies all love a bastard. Like the scene of him giving a prostitute a fiver and telling her to get a dress and call herself Daphne - we've all been there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 18 August, 2014, 07:59:32 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 August, 2014, 07:14:32 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 09 August, 2014, 12:42:44 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 09 August, 2014, 12:34:12 PM
Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

I really like his performance in the 'The War Lover' - his WWII bomber-pilot character is a monstrous arsehole of the highest order, and McQueen plays him with antagonistic brilliance.

Good call on this one Greg! Credit to him for playing the asshole role rather than the romantic lead - still the ladies all love a bastard. Like the scene of him giving a prostitute a fiver and telling her to get a dress and call herself Daphne - we've all been there!

yeah but he said it to a woman...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 18 August, 2014, 11:27:52 PM
Just managed to squeak a viewing of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in on Blu Ray.

That was a bit good!

It felt radically different in tone to most Marvel movies, and managed the neat trick of making name heroes vulnerable within a two hour movie. Major props for giving Black Widow plenty to do on-screen, and I was impressed with the fact that it didn't resolve as I'd expected it to. Brilliant stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 19 August, 2014, 03:23:12 PM
They should have renamed it to Saving Private Groundhog
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 August, 2014, 08:17:47 PM
Batman (1989)

I hadn't seen this for about 25 years or more but I saw it was on Amazon instant so I thought I'd give it a go.
I can remember being really disappointed when I first saw it at the cinema because it didn't really feel like Batman. I'd been reading the London Editions Batman monthly comic which was reprinting the Grant/Breyfogle stories at the time and I'd also read The Killing Joke. They were what informed my notions of Batman and the Joker so I was surprised to see the Joker as a cheap gangster and Batman in a suit of armour giving him severely limited mobility.
Since then, I've reconciled countless interpretations of both characters and so the concerns I had when I was a child were no longer really relevant on this re-watch.
I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Keaton plays an excellent, wild eyed, Bruce Wayne/Batman who absolutely convinces as a man on the edge of sanity.
The Joker is basically just Jack Nocholson twatting about. It's as if his preparation for the role was watching five minutes of Caeser Romero in his limousine on the way to the studio.
Kim Basinger is rather dull as Vicki Vale and just about everyone else camps it up a treat. I'm sure some of the cast found it impossible to expunge the influence of Adam West, no matter what Tim Burton said.
Production design is absolutely stonking. Gotham looks great and the Batmobile and Batwing are awesome, iconic, designs (yeah I know the Batmobile design doesn't make much practical sense but who cares?)
The mis-steps for me are The Joker / Wayne murder reveal and Batman's curious disregard for human life. I doubt I'd have even noticed the latter a few years ago but after all the fuss over Man of Steel it stood out.


Batman Returns

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this nearly as much. It's pretty much just a Tim Burton cliche vehicle - you could play Tim Burton bingo or some kind of drinking game to it.
Keaton is still great but doesn't get nearly enough screen time.
DeVito plays a typical Burton grotesque who happens to share a name with a well known Batman villain.
Michelle Pfieffer plays an annoyingly silly and incredibly un-sexy zombie Catwoman. Seriously, I really can't understand why people found her performance sexy. She's a good looking woman and a decent actress but I think she was given an awful part and a ridiculous costume that she obviously found it hard to walk in. She did some good whip work though - props for that.
Christopher Walken gets loads of screen time but even he, even with his considerable powers of charisma, failed to hold my attention.
It's a real shame that they went in this incredibly camp direction. There's none of the cool 'Batman swoops down silently in the background' type scenes like you get in the first film. I can't help but wonder how things may have been with a different director and a more serious direction. In my mind's eye I see Michael Keaton watching a circus performance as The Flying Graysons plunge to their death and a young boy is left orphaned...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 August, 2014, 09:36:16 PM
If I had to pick one of the Burton Bat-flicks to be subjected to*, I'd probably pick Returns.  I know it's an utterly appalling film, but it does at least feel like it exists in a separate reality rather than a really poorly-realised version of our own world where nobody sounds like a human being.  It's a fairy tale for people embarrassed by the idea of watching a superhero film, which I suppose is something that dates it quite a bit: there's an anecdote about how Adam West was asked by journos at the time about the upcoming Tim Burton Batman films, and people involved with the movies assumed he was out to sabotage it by smiling, being nice and making jokes.



* This is a bit like being asked which tooth I want torn out by a gorilla.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 23 August, 2014, 03:58:02 PM
Just watched Dinosaur 13 (2014), a documentary movie about the 1990 discovery of "Sue" - the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever – and the surprising saga that followed, when 35 FBI agents and the National Guard descended on a small town in South Dakota to take custody of it. What starts as a joyous recollection of paleontological discovery transforms into the kind of Big Government vs The Individual tale that would have The Legendary Shark nodding along sagely. Knowing nothing about the events in question, I wasn't initially sure how this film was going to meet its hour-and-a-half running time – but I'd reckoned without a series of surprising twists involving Native American land laws, angry judges and the possibility of prison time lengthier than that faced by Jeffrey Dahmer. In short, well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 August, 2014, 08:01:31 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 23 August, 2014, 03:58:02 PM
Just watched Dinosaur 13 (2014), a documentary movie about the 1990 discovery of "Sue" - the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever –

Read and own an enjoyable book about all this. Rex Appeal (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rex-Appeal-Amazing-Dinosaur-Changed/dp/1931229384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408819856&sr=8-1&keywords=rex+appeal) indeed an astonishing story.

Only just heard of the film, must catch it at some point, glad to hear its worth seeing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 August, 2014, 04:26:17 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 23 August, 2014, 08:01:31 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 23 August, 2014, 03:58:02 PM
Just watched Dinosaur 13 (2014), a documentary movie about the 1990 discovery of "Sue" - the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever –

Read and own an enjoyable book about all this. Rex Appeal (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rex-Appeal-Amazing-Dinosaur-Changed/dp/1931229384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408819856&sr=8-1&keywords=rex+appeal) indeed an astonishing story.

Only just heard of the film, must catch it at some point, glad to hear its worth seeing.

This sounds fascinating! I couldn't find a copy if it anywhere though. Did you see it in the cinema?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 24 August, 2014, 04:41:33 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 24 August, 2014, 04:26:17 PM

This sounds fascinating! I couldn't find a copy if it anywhere though. Did you see it in the cinema?

Yep, don't think it's out on DVD for a while yet. Here's a list of UK screenings - assuming you're in the UK. http://dinosaur-13.com/screenings (http://dinosaur-13.com/screenings)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 August, 2014, 05:33:15 PM
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCRcRfnq-cbxXE7CP-4eo5STwXPw446KxwOXrk0bqaThPa3E-n)

Bad Boy Bubby (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jznUWGC9ewA)

A unusual and disturbing Australian movie good for a few laughs.

Most memorable scene quoted (Not quoted word for word, but to the same effect!) ....

QuoteI want Pizza!

What topping?

Pizza!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 August, 2014, 06:11:38 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 24 August, 2014, 04:41:33 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 24 August, 2014, 04:26:17 PM

This sounds fascinating! I couldn't find a copy if it anywhere though. Did you see it in the cinema?

Yep, don't think it's out on DVD for a while yet. Here's a list of UK screenings - assuming you're in the UK. http://dinosaur-13.com/screenings (http://dinosaur-13.com/screenings)

Cheers mate! It's playing Chapter in Cardiff on Sept 12th and 13th. I'm gonna book my tickets now - cheers for the heads up!


In the meantime, I've been watching another Monkey King movie, this time 'Journey to the West' by Stephen Chow, of 'Kung Fu Hustle' fame. 

It is very very good indeed, and also the first of a three parter. While more loosely based on the book of the same name, and not as epic in scope as 'The Monkey King' with Donnie Yen, it abounds with imaginative direction and great visual flair.  It's also very funny in parts. 

One major difference is the treatment of Sun WuKong himself. Without wanting to spoil it too much, he's [spoiler]a right evil bastard [/spoiler] in this retelling.

Recommended!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 24 August, 2014, 07:00:46 PM
Finally got around to watching 'The Purge', which I thought was a very lazy piece of film making addled ith cod morality.

Wafer-thin premise, not properly explored, basically seems like an excuse for 90 minutes of violence. And this is the part I don't get. It's too tame to be shocking, but undercooked in terms of story development to be nasty.

I'm truly disappointed that stuff like this gets to be a franchise, even if I did get to look at Lena Headey for a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 August, 2014, 10:48:30 PM
The Purge is dirt cheap to make though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 August, 2014, 07:26:08 PM
Alien

This is another film I hadn't seen for a long while (all the way through at least). This was my first viewing since seeing Prometheus.
It's still a good film but much shorter than I'd remembered and the rubber suit doesn't stand up too well. I was surprised by the Alien's lack of aggression towards the end - not killing the cat or attacking Ripley. I had a quick Google to see what the theories were on this which made for some quite interesting reading. One thing that I can't find mention if is that the alien seems to move the cat's crate. In one scene we see the alien looking at the cat in the crate - it's on a table (or raised surface anyway) in a room. The next time we see the cat crate it's sitting on the floor in the middle of a corridor. Maybe the alien was using it as bait or something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 August, 2014, 08:25:39 PM
I think I know what bit you mean and I think that was Ripley carrying it and then putting it down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 August, 2014, 08:48:18 PM
IIRC Ripley placed the carrier on the door ridge between the Nostromo and the lifeboat. Then later she picks it up and carries it into the lifeboat. I could be wrong though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 August, 2014, 09:04:49 PM
Maybe I should re watch that bit but I'm pretty sure she picks it up from the floor in the middle of the corridor and then carries it into the lifeboat, dropping it a couple of times in the process.
Before Ripley finds the cat crate the last time we see it is when the alien checks it out and I'm pretty sure that's in a room. I found a picture if the alien checking out the cat but it doesn't really help.

(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e129/jimmyalpha2008/imagejpg1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 26 August, 2014, 12:43:38 PM
As I recall, Ripley leaves the cat crate in the corridor near the ladder.  She returns there and sees the Alien and has to retreat.  The Alien then looks at the cat and then when Ripley returns again the cat crate does appear to have moved a bit, like the Alien has nudged it but is basically in the same location.

Like you say, there are plenty of ideas online but I tend to suspect the 'prize' wasn't really big enough to bother with.  Also interesting to consider how intelligent you think the Alien is - was it aware of the self-destruct?  If so then a lot of the actions, like hiding in the escape shuttle, make more sense. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 August, 2014, 04:12:47 PM
I always interpreted it as it was hiding there all along but I have always loved that question over the 'bugs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 26 August, 2014, 04:23:01 PM
Or maybe the cat told it where to hide?

Hmmm, it was the cat that got Brett killed as well. I wonder if the cat was the evil mastermind all along?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 August, 2014, 04:59:20 PM
What I wonder is who did Ripley have to shag to get the cat on board in the first place?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 August, 2014, 05:20:37 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 26 August, 2014, 04:59:20 PM
What I wonder is who did Ripley have to shag to get the cat on board in the first place?

Always assumed Jones was a ship's cat, performing the same vital duty that ship's cats always have.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 26 August, 2014, 05:49:00 PM
Aye, I always assumed Jonesy was the ship's cat rather than Ripley's. From the xenomorph wiki: While the cat's official purpose was to control rodents aboard the ship, it also served as a source of relaxation and entertainment for the crew.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 August, 2014, 06:11:51 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 26 August, 2014, 05:49:00 PM
From the xenomorph wiki: While the cat's official purpose was to control rodents aboard the ship, it also served as a source of relaxation and entertainment for the crew.

Minor claim to fame: that wiki refers to the egg phase of the alien lifecycle as the ovomorph. I coined that word.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 August, 2014, 08:30:53 PM
More interesting is the fact that Jonesy would laater go on to star in Puss In Boots.

This makes re-watching the original Alien so much more fun.

"Senor Brett - do not come een here. There ees som'theeng NASTY in the chains. I will see you later in the common room for more of that good leche."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 August, 2014, 09:23:04 AM
I started watching the new 'Inbetweeners' movie last night - 15 mins later I turned it off!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 27 August, 2014, 09:31:46 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 27 August, 2014, 09:23:04 AM
I started watching the new 'Inbetweeners' movie last night - 15 mins later I turned it off!

My only experience of The Inbetweeners was a few years ago, while I was holed up in a Holiday Inn with nothing to do. One of the channels was showing back to back episodes. I found it to be the single most painfully crap, unfunny TV show I have ever seen. I can't imagine sitting through 90 minutes or more of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 27 August, 2014, 10:03:30 AM
You miserable old soaks- The Inbetweeners is comedy gold!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 August, 2014, 12:58:10 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 27 August, 2014, 10:03:30 AM
You miserable old soaks- The Inbetweeners is comedy gold!

Indeed. And is it out yet? I thought it was only at the cinemas?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 August, 2014, 01:11:38 PM
I was refraining from commenting on the new Inbetweeners movie because it just didn't really cut it for me. I'm a huge fan of the series as well, but after the very hit and miss nature of this recent outing I feel it's time to call it a day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 27 August, 2014, 04:33:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 August, 2014, 12:58:10 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 27 August, 2014, 10:03:30 AM
You miserable old soaks- The Inbetweeners is comedy gold!

Indeed. And is it out yet? I thought it was only at the cinemas?

I saw it at the flicks 2 weeks ago, it'll definitely be on DVD before xmas.

And yeah Hawk, it wasn't as good as the 1st movie, but there were enough laugh-out-load moments to allow a free pass.
The water slide scene had me in stitches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 August, 2014, 04:35:39 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 August, 2014, 12:58:10 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 27 August, 2014, 10:03:30 AM
You miserable old soaks- The Inbetweeners is comedy gold!

Indeed. And is it out yet? I thought it was only at the cinemas?

I was naughty, a friend had a 'copy'.

I actually liked some of the series but the films are not the same. I would have preferred to see them bumbling around college/university rather than another 'holiday' movie.

Cheers
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 August, 2014, 03:25:28 AM
Yep, the 'holiday movie' sitcom spin-off is such a lazy cliche (brilliantly skewered in the League of Gentlemen film), can't believe The Inbetweeners did it TWICE.

As for the show itself, I think it's ok. Perfectly watchable (and infinitely preferable to gash like The Big Bang Theory) but a bit too broad for my (admittedly snobby) comedic tastes. I haven't seen either of the films, aren't they all like 30 now?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 August, 2014, 11:24:51 AM
I get a fair few laughs out of the series, but thought the first movie was very thin on them. By that I mean, I did chuckle here and there, but I would probably get more laughs out of watching 3 back to back episodes than I did with the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 31 August, 2014, 06:48:28 PM
The Rover (2014)

It's post-apocalyptic Australia, 10 years after an unexplained 'Collapse', and Guy Pearce, playing the most angry and intense man alive, wants his car back. He meets Robert Pattinson, the slow-witted American brother of the man who stole it, left for dead by his sibling, and together, Pearce and Pattinson track both car and brother down. Their long journey across an Australia where nothing matters any more, including any kind of morality, is punctuated by sudden and bloody bouts of remarkable violence, as we discover just what kind of man the protagonist really is. But why does he want his car back so badly?

I can see this being a real Marmite sort of film. The characters are nasty, the mood is unrelentingly grim, and the pace is slow. Dialogue is minimal – Pearce is great in the role, but his rage-fuelled character is ultra-laconic, and when he does speak, it's often just to repeat himself even more forcefully and terrifyingly. Meanwhile, Pattinson plays against type as a twitching but surprisingly lethal simpleton, though at one point his accent reminded me irresistibly of Old Gregg from The Mighty Boosh. There's elements of 'The Road' in here, but without the redeeming central relationship. It's not an easy watch, and I think a lot of people will be turned off by it. However... the final scene absolutely made the film for me and brought everything into focus. I think that's going to be a very subjective experience though. If nothing else it lets you understand [spoiler]the real reason the film's called The Rover...[/spoiler]


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 September, 2014, 05:29:36 PM
Bay of Blood (1971)

Mario Bava's last and arguably most iconic Giallo. Banned as part of the ludicrous "Video Nasties" witch hunt and listed as one of the 50's scariest movies of all time by Bravo (make of that what you will).

I enjoyed it. I've mentioned I love giallo so it's a surprise it's taken me so long to watch this. Though hardly scary, many of the effects are very well executed including the notorious throat slitting and fish hook to the face scene. Though well done the actual gore scenes are somewhat few and rather tame by today's standards. The decapitation and the two aforementioned killings are the most gruesome, while the pole to the spine was very restrained indeed. You could get all the others into a 12A movie right now.

Plot hardly takes center stage in this film, as with many giallo not directed by Argento, with the first ten minuets setting up the key players, the next 30 to teenagers being killed off (possibly this movie was the birth of this trope) and the rest focusing on two parents jumping from incident to incident trying to make clear of whats happening. It's a fairly more structured affair than other Italian murder mysteries, but still somewhat jumbled. But I find that part of the charm of this genre and why I can take it less seriously.

Probably most confusing about the film is the facts it had the most alternative titles of any horror movie. Besides the title it was banned under it was also named Carnage, The Oder of Flesh, Thus Do We Live to be Evil, Blood Bath (The title it was resubmitted as and subsequently banned again as), Before the Fact, The Ecology of Crime, Chain Reaction, Bay of Death and Last House on the Left-Part II (!!!).

The Arrow Video BD has one of the cleanest transfers I've ever seen for a movie of this age and pedigree, and can be bought fairly cheaply on amazon at the moment. The extras include a slightly extended cut with Italian subtitles and plenty of interviews and a reversible cover for the original Blood Bath VHS cover (which I use).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2014, 12:26:05 PM
Managed a triple bill on Saturday.

LUCY
At the IMAX. I've been a fan of Besson and his style over substance approach since seeing Subway as a student (longer ago then I care to remember).  This is accordingly stylish, trite, barking and not quite what you expect in equal measures.  The trailers make it out to be TAKEN but with Telepathic powers but it's far better than that. 

There's a void where Lucy's character should be - this is possibly deliberate because as soon as her transformation begins, [spoiler]she loses all sense of who she was and just focuses on "becoming"[/spoiler]. The exception being a nicely played, if predictable, [spoiler]phone call to her Mum.[/spoiler] 

It reminded me of the MAN WITH X-RAY EYES, INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and that sort of movie where [spoiler]the transformation of the lead becomes metaphysical. And I also see 2001 references in there.[/spoiler]
Oh and I love the fact that the Koreans as baddies is balanced by non-stop Samsung product placement!

This was followed by a second viewing of
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXYon a normal screen.

Still fun but some flaws started to show;
- the baddies are rubbish - all they do is posture and pose - all talk and no trousers.
- too much gleeful slaughter for the otherwise light tone (especially Groot grinning like a loon having [spoiler]skewered a couple of lines of Necroguards and the curshing immolation of about a thousand Novacorps star craft[/spoiler])

And lastly NIGHT MOVES at the GFT
A plodder (you can't really use the word "thriller") about the consequences of three people and an act of eco-terrorism.  It's very slow, there's minimal dialogue and Jesse Esienberg spends the entire movie with an expression on his face that looks like he has just walked into a room where somebody has dropped one but it's actually pretty good.  The genuine moments of suspense are underplayed and not over-scored. The lines are particularly well blurred with not a hint of black and white on display(there are no evil corporations and executives*, the few "authority" figures they rub up against seem to be decent people, trying to do the right thing).

The only thing it lacks is PASSION. The whole enterprise is shown in a mundance light but I can't imagine people taking these sort of actions without showing a bit more passion as to why they are doing it. (Even if they are "faking it" for various reasons.

I'll take back some of the comment about Eisenberg's performance. [spoiler]His mini-breakdown in the car is quite effective.[/spoiler]


*which when you consider how the executives at, say, Seaworld, behave, wouldn't be a stretch of reality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 September, 2014, 02:48:59 PM
How To Train Your Dragon 2 which, due to a catastrophic miscalculation of the back-to-school date, was in a auditorium absolutely crammed with children* leading to no small amount of trepidation about an interrupted viewing.

The kids, however, were held spellbound for the film's entire duration. As were we. Funny, engaging, great looking. There must have been a problem with the cinema's air conditioning, because I think were was some dust in my eye at one point but apart from that...

Brilliant movie. Thoroughly recommended for children of all ages.

Cheers

Jim



*No, not complaining that there were children at a kids' film, it's just that we thought we'd cleverly selected a showing that would effectively be deserted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 02 September, 2014, 03:08:35 PM
I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to see this. The first film is a colossal treat and the quality of the graphics in the trailer make it a must see for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 September, 2014, 10:49:54 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2014, 12:26:05 PM
LUCY At the IMAX. I've been a fan of Besson and his style over substance approach since seeing Subway as a student (longer ago then I care to remember).  This is accordingly stylish, trite, barking and not quite what you expect in equal measures.

I was hoping to have Scarlett Johansson double bill last week. Unfortunately, I didn't make it on time to catch this but Under the Skin was outstanding. Her character in this is deliberately blank too. As with a lot of other things in the film, no attempt is made to spell out exactly what she is: clearly something not quite human but more than that we don't need to know.

What story there is follows a vaguely Star Trekky "What is this thing called love, Captain?" arc but with more humour, oddness and an uneasy undertone of sexual predation as Scarlett drives around the streets of Glasgow in a transit van trying to pick up men to sate her unnatural desires. What those desires are is another thing left open to interpretation. It's clearly powered by a sexual urge but then...

There is, I think, always something fascinating about seeing somewhere you know well on film. Here Glasgow is transformed in different ways. From the threatening, predatory circling of the city centre to a muffled, bewildered take on Sauchiehall Street on a Friday night, the alien gaze makes the viewer look at things differently. Apparently, much of this part was filmed almost candid camera style around town and there's something inherently hilarious about the idea of wee Glasgow guys putting there best foot forward while being chatted up by Scarlett J.

It was pretty entertaining to hear such genuine Glasgow voices on film (no Trainspotting style posh boys here) and even more amusing to have that dialogue subtitled into quite formal German. I guess I'll never know how to say "Chase yersel ya daftie."

Add in some really beautiful shots, a wonderful scratching and buzzing soundtrack and some very bleak humour and you've got yourself a real winner.

TL;DR How about we get to know each other over a nice game of Scrabble instead?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strangelysaucy on 03 September, 2014, 01:24:52 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 31 August, 2014, 06:48:28 PM
The Rover (2014)

It's post-apocalyptic Australia, 10 years after an unexplained 'Collapse', and Guy Pearce......

Your little preview/review got my interest piqued and I "borrowed" and watched it tonight.
Straight to my top 20 of all time..really awesome film on so many levels! I've always love Guy Pearce but never seen Robert Pattinson due to Twighligt... but my god what a pair of powerful performances! and a fantastically compelling story..kind reminded me of "A Boy and His Dog" with it's bleak vision of a collapsed world, [spoiler](and in other more obvious ways)[/spoiler] definitely gonna grab this on blu-ray when it comes out and depress house guests with it :D

thanks for hoisting this into my view!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 September, 2014, 12:35:53 PM
I'll have to scratch Under the Skin off the list then. The wife can't understand a thick Glaswegian at all (thinks it sounds German? Which she speaks).

Rewatched Winter Soldier. Much baggier the second time around but still holds up, much better than any of the Iron Men or Thor (but I was of the same opinion of Cap 1 which many did not like much).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 September, 2014, 01:24:15 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 03 September, 2014, 12:35:53 PM
Rewatched Winter Soldier. Much baggier the second time around but still holds up, much better than any of the Iron Men or Thor (but I was of the same opinion of Cap 1 which many did not like much).

Mmmm.  Rewatched Cap 1 at the weekend in preparation for a projected viewing of Winter Soldier - it's a surprisingly great movie, for all that it's a bit more po-faced than some of the other Marvels.  Evans really is excellent in the role, it's almost impossible to dislike the character, and his raw pluck and basic decency captures the spirit of the early comics wonderfully.  Supporting cast is also great, with Atwell, Weaving, Jones and Tucci all perfect, and the retro-futurist design of all Hydra's gear is terrific. 

What strikes me most forcefully on rewatching is how incredibly good the 'before' sequences of Steve Rogers are - surely the equal of any CGI character work ever done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 03 September, 2014, 01:41:32 PM
I watched Under the Skin at the weekend. The sight of a wee ned telling a transit van driving Scarlet how to find the M8 via Asda has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Then the Mrs told me to turn it off for being to arty farty.

So then we watched Calvary, A priest is told via confession he has one week to live before the confessor(?) comes to murder him. Its not as good as The Guard but still has some great lines which I wont spoil. Well acted and quite bleak. I really liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 03 September, 2014, 08:13:03 PM
amazing spiderman 2 ...dunno what a lot of people didn't like about it,i thought it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 September, 2014, 09:05:06 AM
Dawn of the Rise of the Valley of the Planet of the Apes... Not as good as the preceding Shadow of the Forest of the Twilight of the Planet of the Apes but that's not a crippling deficiency, given just how good Rise was.

My only criticisms would really be that it's 20 minutes too long (one of the many strengths of Rise, IMO, was how muscular it felt at 1hr 45) and a nagging feeling that the entire plot is essentially lifted from a Western I watched on the telly one Saturday afternoon when I was twelve (possibly Comanche?) — for all that, it's great. Strong, affecting, suffused with a sense of tragic inevitability and yet still full of action and spectacle, and a lot of utterly flawless CGI. Absolutely worth a couple of hours of your time.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 September, 2014, 10:24:36 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 September, 2014, 09:05:06 AM
Dawn of the Rise of the Valley of the Planet of the Apes... Not as good as the preceding Shadow of the Forest of the Twilight of the Planet of the Apes but that's not a crippling deficiency, given just how good Rise was.

My only criticisms would really be that it's 20 minutes too long (one of the many strengths of Rise, IMO, was how muscular it felt at 1hr 45) and a nagging feeling that the entire plot is essentially lifted from a Western I watched on the telly one Saturday afternoon when I was twelve (possibly Comanche?) — for all that, it's great. Strong, affecting, suffused with a sense of tragic inevitability and yet still full of action and spectacle, and a lot of utterly flawless CGI. Absolutely worth a couple of hours of your time.

Cheers

Jim

It's a testament either to the films atmosphere or my stupidity that it had never occurred to me how western like the plot actually is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 September, 2014, 12:33:42 PM
And I'm with you on the "flawless" CGI.  Great special effects are common place today but these were unbelievably good. Does the fact the performances are mo-captured and give the animation a bit more character help?


I wanted to see UNDER THE SKIN rather than LUCY but a) couldn't find it and b) one review said it was quite gross and gory. Apart from the obvious exception of me, Mrs Tips doesn't do "gross".

In other news, I accidentally watched STAR WARS last night. I put it on just to see how the DVD upscaled to 3D on the new telly and ended up rapt and watching the whole thing for the first time in ages.  Fun to see Mrs Tips (who doesn't know it backwards) laughing along at the funny bits and asserting "Those prequeles just didn't have the same sense of humour or any cool characters like Han and Luke*".

Apart from the spaceships, the special edition CGI inserts all look shite now.

* And she didn't spoil it by referring to him as "Hans" like she normally does.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 September, 2014, 01:02:38 PM
(http://cdn.unleashthefanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/hanssolo_full.gif?4dbf7b)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 September, 2014, 05:28:15 AM
Went for a walk this morning....and ended up in downtown Ipswich.

Yet it was so early, I ended sitting in a park after crossing the river to look around the River-Links-Centre in North-Ipswich until it was just about time for their brand new Lime-Light theatre to open.

Disappointed that there were no cute girls (Or cute boys that resemble girls, but hey it's hard to tell unless their naked!) my own age that were waiting in line. When I got to the counter...I asked Which of the two films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Guardians of the Galaxy were on first! and was told the first film was on in the next ten minutes.

So, it cost just fifteen dollars after showing them my concession card and recalling my previous mix up where I thought the latest X-Men was Godzilla and ended up seeing both. (Mentioned Earlier!)

So, I saw the one about the Turtle first and found it rather unsurprisingly fulfilling. It ticked all the right boxes and they do look much better in CGI.

Yet, I did not like that introduced a new villain and reconned it that

SPOILER ALERT
[/color]

[spoiler]Splinter and the four Turtles were originally her pets and she even gave them their Italian Renaissance inspired names before she lost them in the same accident that mutated them all![/spoiler]

Despite that obvious toughness of the oriental man and known to us as the Shredder, the new armour made him like a lame assed silvered plated Darth Vader. (I prefer the old costume!)

SPOILER ALERT
[/color]

[spoiler]Although, he makes good impression on the bitumen towards the end.
[/spoiler]

Splinter and Turtle-Ninja's fighting choreography was just great. Even if the rat made  huge mistake in facing several opponents in full view of them.

I would have seen the other film but it started half a hour ago and I didn't want to stay in town that long. Like, I've been home since just after one now, and it took me rough three quarters of hour to walk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 September, 2014, 05:42:22 AM
Tried to add this just now, but was to late....

I don't think they are really of African-American persausion as they seem. Although, I think Mikey definitely is. Yet, Donatallo is white n nerdy.

Seeing them standing together in a elevator. I noticed they were all different heights. Mikey is the shortest. Raphael standing behind him is definitely the tallest. The other two come somewhere in between. Although, I could be wrong and they were using some freaky ninja skill to make it just appear that way. So, they are not identical Quaddies.

April O'Neal is very hot, but with the wrong hair. Not that it's the only thing I care about. As I see all and noticed she has great legs.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 06 September, 2014, 05:01:24 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 September, 2014, 05:28:15 AM


(Or cute boys that resemble girls, but hey it's hard to tell unless their naked!)


    I miss the days when you just rambled on about slaine ,this new creepy sex maniac mayor isn't appealing

   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2014, 06:39:34 PM
'Closes laptop, goes to rinse eyes with listerine'

Mayor, please, just stop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 September, 2014, 07:33:32 PM
And on that note...

Frankenhooker (Frank Henenlotter, 1990)

Their are two kinds of 2000AD movie. The Future Shock type and the Bonjo from Beyond the Stars type. This is one of the latter. As Henenlotters fourth film it shows a refinement of what we saw in Basket Case (and it's sequel) and Brain Damage* in that it's light in gore but heavy on the high camp and immature giggles. Lots of bottoms in faces, lots of boobies, lots of exploding people in sparks and electrical shocks (plus a poor Guinea pig!). It's certainly is not a film to take seriously, especially when our protagonist drills into his own skull to relax himself.

Acting is appalling but in that shameless, Grindhouse kind of way. High light has to be steroid endowed Freddy Mercury as the pimp and big bad of the film. I believe the guy was a pro wrestler, but acted considerably more poorly than Drax The Destroyer.

A fun film if your looking for 1AM entertainment with a friend after a night on the piss.

*Which incidentally take place in the same universe due to the Basket Case twins making cameos in all Henenlotters films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 September, 2014, 08:18:22 PM
Quote from: Killer Hawk Queen on 07 September, 2014, 07:33:32 PM
Frankenhooker (Frank Henenlotter, 1990)[/b]

Hah. Back in the mid-nineties when I first owned a house and had a lodger to help make the mortgage payments, Friday nights used to be a slightly beered up trip down the the local independent video store (remember those?) which had two long walls where the videos were kept, and the counter at the back. On the left was the wall of new(ish) releases at (IIRC) three quid a pop and on the right was the WALL OF SHIT (to be pronounced in portentous tones, preferably with lots of extra bass and reverb) which were 50p-£1 and didn't need to be returned for three days.

Many a drunken weekend was happily wiled away courtesy of the WALL OF SHIT, and Frankenhooker is one of the few films it offered up that whose name I can even remember...! ISTR it opens with a catastrophic gardening accident and later on features cocaine that makes hookers explode.

Damn. Now I have to track it down and watch it again...!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 07 September, 2014, 08:55:41 PM
Quote from: Grugz on 06 September, 2014, 05:01:24 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 September, 2014, 05:28:15 AM


(Or cute boys that resemble girls, but hey it's hard to tell unless their naked!)


    I miss the days when you just rambled on about slaine ,this new creepy sex maniac mayor isn't appealing



Could try out for Toronto...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 September, 2014, 09:58:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 September, 2014, 08:18:22 PM
Quote from: Killer Hawk Queen on 07 September, 2014, 07:33:32 PM
Frankenhooker (Frank Henenlotter, 1990)[/b]


Many a drunken weekend was happily wiled away courtesy of the WALL OF SHIT, and Frankenhooker is one of the few films it offered up that whose name I can even remember...! ISTR it opens with a catastrophic gardening accident and later on features cocaine that makes hookers explode.

Damn. Now I have to track it down and watch it again...!

Cheers

Jim
Available for a fiver on Amazon (BD) courtesy of Arrow Video. They also uploaded it on Netflix.

Be prepared to see more familiar names from the Wall of Shit as I dive into the Dressed to Kill tonight and The Beast tonight.

I also the The Puppet Master trilogy lined up for next week as well. Lots of yummy trash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 08 September, 2014, 06:19:28 AM
Quote from: Grugz on 06 September, 2014, 05:01:24 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 September, 2014, 05:28:15 AM


(Or cute boys that resemble girls, but hey it's hard to tell unless their naked!)


    I miss the days when you just rambled on about slaine ,this new creepy sex maniac mayor isn't appealing



Not sex-maniac, but sex-deprived and only referring the type of sex you don't have to put up with in prison.

Forgot to mention if anybody understands the Gay-Hanky-Code may see the Ninja-Turtles in a new light with their colourful bandanas.

About films on cable-television....stuff that been on telly for the last month.

There have been frequent reruns of Pacific Rimming, and most of it will be noticed by myself as I watch it.

One quote that stood out the most was when the dark fellow with the mo said while ranting on -words to the effect-

We're cancelling the apocalypse!

Almost brought tears of woe to my eyes.

Because I really do have this thing about apocalypses.

I think we really need to have them.

Right now, I'm watching another rerun of Thor - Two - DarkWorld.

Do you all recall what I said about this last time?

I still think the same things about this one was well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 September, 2014, 09:32:36 AM
Hellraiser: Deader!

Crap title, Crap film. I really should have known better, but I was bored!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 September, 2014, 09:53:37 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 08 September, 2014, 09:32:36 AM
Hellraiser: Deader!

Crap title, Crap film. I really should have known better, but I was bored!

Cheers

I have recently watched all the Hellraiser movies - never has the law of diminishing returns been writ so large.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 September, 2014, 10:54:51 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 08 September, 2014, 09:53:37 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 08 September, 2014, 09:32:36 AM
Hellraiser: Deader!

Crap title, Crap film. I really should have known better, but I was bored!

Cheers

I have recently watched all the Hellraiser movies - never has the law of diminishing returns been writ so large.

I attempted to do the same on a Netflix binge recently, and I think Deader was the last one I made it to (or maybe Hellseeker?). They do become truly terrible, and apparently the very last one was knocked out in about a week just so they could keep the Hellraiser rights. Even Doug Bradley drew the line at that one, so it's probably a real treat.

I still plan to go back and finish the series, but have no idea why. Something about horror franchises keep you coming back for more punishment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 September, 2014, 11:00:08 AM
QuoteThey do become truly terrible, and apparently the very last one was knocked out in about a week just so they could keep the Hellraiser rights. Even Doug Bradley drew the line at that one, so it's probably a real treat.

Revelations in an interesting one. It is a monumentally bad movie, bit there's a good movie in there somewhere - it almost makes it in places, but really suffers from a lack of Doug Bradley.

QuoteSomething about horror franchises keep you coming back for more punishment.

Mmm... there's a story in that somewhere..!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 08 September, 2014, 07:55:22 PM
Noah, on a bit of an Aranofsky binge, so have the Fountain and Black Swan to watch as well.

Odd film, I'd loved to have seen the feedback cards at test screenings...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 08 September, 2014, 07:58:58 PM
Noah was rather strange when it became all Lord of the Rings at one stage. Didn't see the trailers so don't know if those bits were shown and I'm not going to mention what, as it would spoil the fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 08 September, 2014, 08:16:47 PM
[spoiler]I've read they kept them out of pre-publicity.

I just found out that Hector from Breaking Bad was the voice of one of those. Ting![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 September, 2014, 11:19:24 PM
Logan's Run - more like Shit's Shit, am I right?
Doesn't make a lick of sense or hold together under even the passing scrutiny of a brain that willingly watched Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Buck's Duel to the Death this very morning and enjoyed it thoroughly.  I've always been freaked out by those hand-crystal things, wondering how you'd pick up and hold teacups or glasses with them jutting out like that, but if you stop to think about it a bit, it just seems like a dumb concept because how would you have a wank?  You'd rip your knob to pieces - not that this would stop teenagers trying, all the same, but the long-term effect would still be less wanking in the population, so they'd have more regular sex, which means a growing population, which means a strain on limited city resources, so if you apply logic to it, a magic diamond in your hand that tells you when you're 30 and have to float up into the sky and explode is an inherently illogical concept.  Michael York as Logan gets this, as he plays the character like someone who hasn't had a wank in days, except after he bangs Jenny Agutter and then he goes around with this smug shit-eating smile plastered all over his face even though he's walking through the radioactive corpse of America, but let's face it, if you had just banged Jenny Agutter, this is exactly what you'd be like for days.
It's a bit dated as well as silly, with the close-up shots of the models not doing the suspension of disbelief any favors, and there's a bit at the end where there's no sense of the scale or geography of how the city is open now, there's just some fire over this hill beside a fountain and then everyone walks over the fountain and it's the end, cutting off just before we see Peter Ustinov get so much poontang he doesn't make it 'till morning and then everyone starves to death because no-one knows how to plow a field because they've been spoilt bastards all their lives.

Logan's Run aka Shit's Shit: the tv pilot.  As dumb as the film, but piles on more daft ideas and becomes slightly more watchable by engaging with that part of the film that was sadly underdeveloped - the post-apocalyptic freakshow that America's become outside the City of Domes.  I gather the watchability diminishes the longer you watch the tv show that follows, but there's some decent ideas in this and some attempt at making the internal logic of the world work better than it did in the film, like introducing older characters who run the city in secret rather than just being publicly asploded - though the mechanics of having a wank still remain unexplained.

The Rover - recommended up the thread by others, I'll add my rec to theirs.  There's a great central performance from Guy Pearce that nails the Sisyphean torment of a dude who fails to keep those around him at a distance, and I'm not sure if the title is - in retrospect - meant to be a black pun, but it's still a great addition to the post-apocalyptic genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 September, 2014, 05:20:31 AM
Quote from: Bear McBear on 08 September, 2014, 11:19:24 PM
Logan's Run - more like Shit's Shit, am I right?
Doesn't make a lick of sense or hold together under even the passing scrutiny of a brain that willingly watched Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Buck's Duel to the Death this very morning and enjoyed it thoroughly.  I've always been freaked out by those hand-crystal things, wondering how you'd pick up and hold teacups or glasses with them jutting out like that, but if you stop to think about it a bit, it just seems like a dumb concept because how would you have a wank?  You'd rip your knob to pieces - not that this would stop teenagers trying, all the same, but the long-term effect would still be less wanking in the population, so they'd have more regular sex, which means a growing population, which means a strain on limited city resources, so if you apply logic to it, a magic diamond in your hand that tells you when you're 30 and have to float up into the sky and explode is an inherently illogical concept.  Michael York as Logan gets this, as he plays the character like someone who hasn't had a wank in days, except after he bangs Jenny Agutter and then he goes around with this smug shit-eating smile plastered all over his face even though he's walking through the radioactive corpse of America, but let's face it, if you had just banged Jenny Agutter, this is exactly what you'd be like for days.
It's a bit dated as well as silly, with the close-up shots of the models not doing the suspension of disbelief any favors, and there's a bit at the end where there's no sense of the scale or geography of how the city is open now, there's just some fire over this hill beside a fountain and then everyone walks over the fountain and it's the end, cutting off just before we see Peter Ustinov get so much poontang he doesn't make it 'till morning and then everyone starves to death because no-one knows how to plow a field because they've been spoilt bastards all their lives.

I still love watching this old sci/fi classic. Favourite scene, is when Michael York/Logan renters the city through the outlet at the beach near where he left Jenny Agutter and Peter Ustinov and tell the dome inhabitants that it's okay to live past the age of thirty. The outside is inhabitable and they should follow him back out through the water ducts to see the old man outside. Don't forget the nude scenes featuring Jenny and that she wore that didn't leave much to the imagination.

Quote from: Bear McBear on 08 September, 2014, 11:19:24 PM
Logan's Run aka Shit's Shit: the tv pilot.  As dumb as the film, but piles on more daft ideas and becomes slightly more watchable by engaging with that part of the film that was sadly underdeveloped - the post-apocalyptic freakshow that America's become outside the City of Domes.  I gather the watchability diminishes the longer you watch the tv show that follows, but there's some decent ideas in this and some attempt at making the internal logic of the world work better than it did in the film, like introducing older characters who run the city in secret rather than just being publicly asploded - though the mechanics of having a wank still remain unexplained.

I have vague recollection of the television series made not long after the original film and perhaps a newer version made during the 90's. Not to mention a film featuring Ewan Macgregor and Scarlett Johanson called The Island where they lived underground and were invited upside if they won the lottery. Which was really where they were taken to operating theatre were their prised organ were their prised organ/limbs were removed to be donated to their above world counterparts. They were all clones...the original version of themselves. Yeah, a different story, but the parallels are obvious.

Don't forgot there was episode of Mork & Mindy (R.I.P.) where they borrowed film clips of domed interior including it's famous monorail system taken from the original Logan's Run (You were talking about!) as Mork's home world. I think the even used the same capsule-car-transport that ran on those monorails.

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZuUdo_aNZQ5fXwqrP1BOo3Ah0LyPqr7etFMDGuMIk-5BZebVC)(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiUvKkX5C7VT6VR0kSKCR4OGki75opXTzKLacFUrufZo53VZUPzQ)

Quote from: Bear McBear on 08 September, 2014, 11:19:24 PM
The Rover - recommended up the thread by others, I'll add my rec to theirs.  There's a great central performance from Guy Pearce that nails the Sisyphean torment of a dude who fails to keep those around him at a distance, and I'm not sure if the title is - in retrospect - meant to be a black pun, but it's still a great addition to the post-apocalyptic genre.

I would to see this now.....and about the name Rover....

I not sure about your interpretation, but if your familiar with Baiden Powell and Cubs/Scouts. Rovers were always one rung above Scouts in Australia.

Not sure If I can say the same for their counterpart in the U.K..

I'm sure they have something similar.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 September, 2014, 11:00:18 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 23 August, 2014, 08:01:31 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 23 August, 2014, 03:58:02 PM
Just watched Dinosaur 13 (2014), a documentary movie about the 1990 discovery of "Sue" - the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil ever –

Read and own an enjoyable book about all this. Rex Appeal (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rex-Appeal-Amazing-Dinosaur-Changed/dp/1931229384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408819856&sr=8-1&keywords=rex+appeal) indeed an astonishing story.

Only just heard of the film, must catch it at some point, glad to hear its worth seeing.

I saw Dinosaur 13 last night. It was very good - fascinating, touching, and totally outrageous! I was left with such a sense of how completely broken the US Justice system is.  I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so won't bang on about it, but if you love palaeontology and conspiracies, you'll probably get a lot out of this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 14 September, 2014, 11:34:52 AM
Edge of Tomorrow

Really good. Can't breath. Guns. Too excited. Aliens. War. Time-shit. Sci-fi-gasm. Unnnnn. Spent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 14 September, 2014, 11:48:30 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 14 September, 2014, 11:34:52 AM
Edge of Tomorrow
Really good. Can't breath. Guns. Too excited. Aliens. War. Time-shit. Sci-fi-gasm. Unnnnn. Spent.

Is that something you really want to broadcast on a public [sort of] forum? Outrageous! :lol: I'll wait till download comes along.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 September, 2014, 01:10:03 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 14 September, 2014, 11:34:52 AM
Edge of Tomorrow

Really good. Can't breath. Guns. Too excited. Aliens. War. Time-shit. Sci-fi-gasm. Unnnnn. Spent.

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 14 September, 2014, 09:04:46 PM
I watched Next Goal Wins and shed a manly tear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S4C2nQZlSA
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: amines2058 on 15 September, 2014, 09:34:43 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 14 September, 2014, 11:34:52 AM
Edge of Tomorrow

Really good. Can't breath. Guns. Too excited. Aliens. War. Time-shit. Sci-fi-gasm. Unnnnn. Spent.

Watched on Saturday and also enjoyed immensely, a proper tidy sci-fi action film.
Maybe did not enjoy to the extent you did though.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 September, 2014, 09:59:11 AM
Machete 2 (or whatever it's called). I didn't think the first Machete came close to capturing the fun of Grindhouse, and this one even less so unfortunately. I think the biggest problem is the effects - cheap-looking physical effects are charming and nostalgic, cheap-looking CG is the opposite so the film's schtick just doesn't work at all. Shame.

Couple of good laughs mind you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 September, 2014, 10:21:18 AM
Dressed To Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980)

La Bete (Walerian Borowczyk, 1975)

Gremlins (Joe Dante, 1984)

Demoni (Lamberto Bava, 1985)

Demoni 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 15 September, 2014, 01:54:08 PM
Watched "Noah" last night. Was in floods of tears afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 15 September, 2014, 02:50:06 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 15 September, 2014, 01:54:08 PM
Watched "Noah" last night. Was in floods of tears afterwards.

From laughing too hard?

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 September, 2014, 04:24:42 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 September, 2014, 09:59:11 AM
Machete 2 (or whatever it's called). I didn't think the first Machete came close to capturing the fun of Grindhouse, and this one even less so unfortunately. I think the biggest problem is the effects - cheap-looking physical effects are charming and nostalgic, cheap-looking CG is the opposite so the film's schtick just doesn't work at all. Shame.

Couple of good laughs mind you.

These grindhouse style things just don't work in general imho. I think the only one I really enjoyed was Death Proof. It actually felt the most like something my dad would have got from the video shop in the mid eighties. Some people complained that there was too much talking and not enough action but that just made it more authentic - loads of old films like this only have one or two action scenes because it's all they could afford.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2014, 05:28:33 PM
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

I think I mentioned previously that I quite liked this and still did. Looked good in 3D at home. Could do with one or two more laughs but other than that, solid enjoyable stuff with very likeable lead performances (including the bad guys).. The giants look great and Singer know how to build up tension (and not drag it out too long) as show in the first appearance of a giant.

Apparently it didn't do too well at the box office though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 15 September, 2014, 05:30:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2014, 05:28:33 PM
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

I think I mentioned previously that I quite liked this and still did. Looked good in 3D at home. Could do with one or two more laughs but other than that, solid enjoyable stuff with very likeable lead performances (including the bad guys).. The giants look great and Singer know how to build up tension (and not drag it out too long) as show in the first appearance of a giant.

Apparently it didn't do too well at the box office though.

I really liked the final scene in that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 September, 2014, 05:33:22 PM
Yeah - it's a theme that runs through it; how truth fades into legend until it becomes completely forgotten about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 September, 2014, 09:29:19 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 September, 2014, 09:59:11 AM
Machete 2 (or whatever it's called). I didn't think the first Machete came close to capturing the fun of Grindhouse, and this one even less so unfortunately. I think the biggest problem is the effects - cheap-looking physical effects are charming and nostalgic, cheap-looking CG is the opposite so the film's schtick just doesn't work at all.
Very much this. Fetishising the constraints and limitations of trashy movies, while presumably fun for those involved, seems a rather poor way of celebrating their vim and brio. The only film of this ilk which I'd wholeheartedly recommend is Black Dynamite.

Only six years late, I finally got round to watching Red Cliff, John Woo's take on a historical epic. I'd been put off watching it for a while by the four hour plus running time but, while the first half is certainly more fun, it really doesn't sag much during that. Loyalty, betrayal, manly bonding, a horse and sword wielding variant of the hospital scene from Hard Boiled, mighty warriors with signature fighting styles and crazy eyebrows, a cast of thousands, pitched battles that piss all over Lord of the Rings and a ludicrously overblown scene that pokes a finger right in the beady eye of anyone who fancies taking the piss out of the director's penchant for pigeons.

What else could a film need, other than a wonderfully smartarsed lead, battlefield romance and Tony Leung? It's got all those too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 09:41:59 PM
Finally got around to seeing Harold and Maude. I knew literally nothing about it other than it being referenced as a big influence on certain modern filmmakers I like, and presumed it was a British film.

Really, really loved it - it's influence on Wes Anderson, Richard Ayoade and basically every self-consciously quirky indie movie of the last decade or so is pretty clear. Though it's a 1970s film it has a really 60s feel (I imagine it was written and filmed in the 60s) but has a peculiar, perverse sensibility to it that means it still feels really fresh and offbeat. I can only imagine what mainstream audiences made of it back then. Lots of really beautiful little touches - when [spoiler]Harold glimpses Maude's (apparent) concentration camp tattoo[/spoiler] I must admit I welled up a bit.

Ace Cat Stevens soundtrack, too.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 September, 2014, 09:47:08 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 09:41:59 PM
Finally got around to seeing Harold and Maude. ..Though it's a 1970s film it has a really 60s feel (I imagine it was written and filmed in the 60s) but has a peculiar, perverse sensibility to it that means it still feels really fresh and offbeat..
Can't remember if I mentioned it here, but I saw this for the first time about six months ago and pretty much agree with everything you've said. Great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 September, 2014, 12:47:38 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 15 September, 2014, 09:47:08 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 09:41:59 PM
Finally got around to seeing Harold and Maude. ..Though it's a 1970s film it has a really 60s feel (I imagine it was written and filmed in the 60s) but has a peculiar, perverse sensibility to it that means it still feels really fresh and offbeat..
Can't remember if I mentioned it here, but I saw this for the first time about six months ago and pretty much agree with everything you've said. Great film.

Yep, a friend sat me down in front of it last year, and I loved it. I Rewatched it a fortnight ago, and it was even better. [spoiler]I loved all his 'deaths'. The garden fire was probably my favourite.[/spoiler]


I watched Ender's Game tonight. Jeez, what a load of bloody rubbish. Wooden performances all round, totally unlikeable characters, a turgid script, and completely in memorable anticlimax of an ending.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 September, 2014, 11:42:19 AM
Daybreakers

I really enjoyed this film. It's a sort of high concept sci fi/horror thing in which all human society has become a vampire society but they're running out of blood.
It starts off in a sci-fi noir vain, becomes a sort of paranoia thriller in the middle and ends up as in a B-movie blood bath.
It has a decent cast featuring Ethan Hawke and Willem Defoe who all seem to be having plenty of fun.

I thought it was a pretty unique take on the genre and was far better than I had expected. It has the feeling of a film that, had it been made on a third of the budget with unknown actors or if it were French it would be lauded but as a mid budget Hollywood flick it's been pretty much overlooked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 18 September, 2014, 01:12:22 PM
I was quite impressed with Daybreakers also but it did seem to be realeased with very little fanfair.  There were some good ideas in that movie and they tried to do something a bit different.

I agree about the budget though, it was not quite up there enough to achieve fully what they wanted but too much for a cult movie.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 September, 2014, 01:33:02 PM
Aye, Daybreakers was much enjoyed round our bit too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 18 September, 2014, 01:51:52 PM
Pride.
We were at the cinema to see Nick Cave's 20000 Days on Earth and a live streamed performance and Q&A but it was cancelled due to technical issues.  :(

Anyway, to salvage something form the evening we watched Pride.
It's about a gay and lesbian group who help the striking miners in 1984. Very good film and very funny. I even spotted a 2000AD annual and an Eagle annual on a shelf in one characters room. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: strangelysaucy on 18 September, 2014, 05:11:26 PM
Not strictly a 'movie' movie but as long as one (2+ hours) "The Beast Within" - The making of Alien (2003)

I know the film and the making of inside out (I thought) but it had some real gems in there as far as cast and crew stories went as well as some lovely out-takes and behind the scenes footage.

I didn't know for example that Ridley's two kids were used in full atmosphere suits to make the sets look bigger for some shots!! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 19 September, 2014, 03:52:20 PM
Ripley's kids were the ones used for the space Jockey scene? Awesome. I didn't know that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Chris Tresson on 21 September, 2014, 10:24:44 AM
The last movie I watched was Event Horizon but before that, I watched half an hour or so of Ender's Game... couldn't get into it at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 September, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
The Lair of the White Worm

A bit of forgotten classic from Ken Russell starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amando Donohoe (who makes a big impression as a seductive snake priestess).
The script is a bit clunky in places but the whole thing is great fun and I really like horror stories that tap into folklore.
I hadn't seen this film in years and I'd forgotten a lot of it (including the strap on death dildoes!) so it was nice to re watch it and for it to be as entertaining as I'd remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 September, 2014, 02:41:06 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 19 September, 2014, 03:52:20 PM
Ripley's kids were the ones used for the space Jockey scene? Awesome. I didn't know that.


Courtesy of Charles Lippincott (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=566448686814207&set=pcb.566449160147493&type=1&theater):


(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1653782_566448686814207_7188279751211917936_n.jpg?oh=abbdb90ddd8e97d17d59e724d84f3f07&oe=54CBFB56&__gda__=1422025879_3625fec12b80240f56e678640f1a0c1d)



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 September, 2014, 03:28:58 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 21 September, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
The Lair of the White Worm

A bit of forgotten classic from Ken Russell starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amando Donohoe (who makes a big impression as a seductive snake priestess).
The script is a bit clunky in places but the whole thing is great fun and I really like horror stories that tap into folklore.
I hadn't seen this film in years and I'd forgotten a lot of it (including the strap on death dildoes!) so it was nice to re watch it and for it to be as entertaining as I'd remembered.

This was a video store favourite for my pre-pubescent Saturday night movie selection, and suffice to say Amanda Donohoe had a significant part to play in the awakening of certain...feelings.... :-[

Very entertaining movie regardless, I caught in on The Horror Channel a few weeks ago, and was surprised by how well it held up.
I only copped that Capaldi was in it on the most recent viewing too- he'd have made a decent doctor even back then!
A quick a Google has revealed the fact that Donohoe is only 52 years old, so she was in her mid-twenties when she made this. Blimey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 September, 2014, 06:12:37 PM
"The fault in our stars.". Very charming and also very sad. While I didn't cry (I don't do cry) I did ehem, become a bit connected with my feelings. All and all, I really liked it (despite almost forcing my emotions betray my manliness). Really good movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2014, 06:13:50 PM
Bit of an anithisis to my own opinions their Apestrife, frankly I thought it a sizeable turd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Sinister

Freaky. As scary as The Ring. My missus:"get that DVD out our house. I can't sleep knowing the disc is still here"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 September, 2014, 09:17:43 PM
Quote from: Killer Hawk Queen on 22 September, 2014, 06:13:50 PM
Bit of an anithisis to my own opinions their Apestrife, frankly I thought it a sizeable turd.

Well it did actually feel a bit like a guilty pleasure watching it. Perhaps I was blinded by the sensation of feeling a bit sensitive or something (I'm a cold and calculated scandinav after all.) ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 September, 2014, 09:23:40 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Sinister

Freaky. As scary as The Ring.

Ah here now.

Ok, maybe the American remake.
The 2nd one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 September, 2014, 09:31:28 PM
There used to be a thing they did on cyberspace message boards I used to visit (back in the days of dial-up and AOL discs as coasters) where they would write a story by committee, a genre and hero would be chosen, with someone writing a few lines before passing it on to the next random person who wanted to contribute the next few lines. Sometimes it produced highly enjoyable, if slightly wonky stories. Invariably a proto-troll would ruin it by typing "And then everthing blew-up! THE END!"

I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 22 September, 2014, 09:47:48 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Sinister

Freaky. As scary as The Ring. My missus:"get that DVD out our house. I can't sleep knowing the disc is still here"

HaHa! Sinister is a great movie and there is something very disturbing about those old films he finds. Does a good job of building a sense of dread and gets under your skin a bit (like a good horror should).  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2014, 10:07:12 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 22 September, 2014, 09:47:48 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2014, 08:56:31 PM
Sinister

Freaky. As scary as The Ring. My missus:"get that DVD out our house. I can't sleep knowing the disc is still here"

HaHa! Sinister is a great movie and there is something very disturbing about those old films he finds. Does a good job of building a sense of dread and gets under your skin a bit (like a good horror should).  :thumbsup:


You really need to have kids to appreciate the horror. It's a good tension builder that doesn't rely on gore or jumps.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 September, 2014, 12:04:58 PM
A couple of films I lazily half-watched from the couch over the weekend. In both cases, I don't think missing the first half hour caused me any issues with the plot but I may have missed some of the spectacle.

I didn't see Pacific Rim at the pictures because I thought it looked utter nonsense. Turns out I was totally right about that but completely wrong to consider it an obstacle. The highest praise I can give it is that the unfolding of each utterly predictable plot point makes you smile/cheer (delete according to enthusiasm) rather than groan. Plus there are some genuinely funny action bits.

I didn't see Taken 2 at the pictures because I thought it looked utter nonsense. Stripped of the novelty of Liam Neeson takin' out the trash and helmed by a director with an even shorter attention span than the first, I guess I was right. The unfolding of each utterly predictable plot point isn't even accompanied by enough action to raise a smile. Although I did think setting off hand grenades in a major metropolitan centre as a means of rangefinding was fairly awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 24 September, 2014, 01:02:24 PM
I watched In Time (Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy) the other night. That's 109 minutes of my life I'm not getting back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Skullmo on 24 September, 2014, 02:08:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 21 September, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
The Lair of the White Worm

A bit of forgotten classic from Ken Russell starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amando Donohoe (who makes a big impression as a seductive snake priestess).
The script is a bit clunky in places but the whole thing is great fun and I really like horror stories that tap into folklore.
I hadn't seen this film in years and I'd forgotten a lot of it (including the strap on death dildoes!) so it was nice to re watch it and for it to be as entertaining as I'd remembered.

I bought this on VHS in the 1990s for 50p - but the tape didn't work :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 24 September, 2014, 06:47:56 PM
It's on youtube if you want to revisit your youth


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1-rUKlU2E
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 September, 2014, 11:08:31 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 September, 2014, 12:04:58 PM

I didn't see Pacific Rim at the pictures because I thought it looked utter nonsense. Turns out I was totally right about that but completely wrong to consider it an obstacle. The highest praise I can give it is that the unfolding of each utterly predictable plot point makes you smile/cheer (delete according to enthusiasm) rather than groan. Plus there are some genuinely funny action bits.
I just had almost the opposite experience while watching BATTLESHIP. Terrible acting throughout. But I'll admit to liking the sequence where the 3 destroyers engage the aliens and the actual game of battleship sequence. Rest was shite though.

More like SHITTLESHIP.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 September, 2014, 11:29:51 PM
Come on man. It's Battleshit, surely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 September, 2014, 12:55:39 AM
Quote from: radiator on 24 September, 2014, 11:29:51 PM
Come on man. It's Battleshit, surely?
Can't argue with that, Tips.

Just come home from a few pints to find Top Gun starting...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 25 September, 2014, 09:40:59 AM
Watched the 2011 version of The Three Musketeers the other night. after about ten minutes I could tell it would annoy me but I carried on to the end. It wasn't all bad, but overall it wasn't much cop. The acting was pretty wooden, having loads of it in slo-mo to show you just how cool the action scenes were just grated and the dialogue was clunky. All of the actors spoke English in what seemed to be their own accent. Fair enough, it happens in lots of films but it really bugged me when one character was told a bit of (not particularly complex) information but asked for it to be repeated "in French" so he could understand it.

Watched ten minutes of He's Just Not That Into You last night but turned that off and read a book instead. I had learnt my lesson from the previous film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2014, 09:50:57 AM
I cought bits of that on Film4 while waiting for my chippy tea after work. Looked kinda formulaic and also kinda ridiculous at the same time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 25 September, 2014, 10:09:53 AM
The thing with the story of the Musketeers is that D'Artagnan is an irritating upstart and just gets on my tits - regardless of which version you are watching. The best character is always Richelieu - which is why scenery chewers like Chris Lee, Tim Curry or Christophe Waltz get the role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 25 September, 2014, 10:11:31 AM
*EDIT* nah, it was Charlton Heston, wasn't it? Not Lee
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 September, 2014, 12:12:04 PM
Adventures in Baby Sitting.....

Classic film made in a classic time!

Starring Elizabeth Shue, well known for her supporting role in the original Karate Kid!

(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608042613487042694&pid=1.7)
These days she looks more intimidating!

Yet, back than it had a different title.

Can any of you guess?

I don't quite remember myself, but perhaps I'll look this up later.

Feel free to ninja me to it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 25 September, 2014, 12:20:24 PM
Was it called a Night On the Town or something similar?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 September, 2014, 12:33:33 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 24 September, 2014, 02:08:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 21 September, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
The Lair of the White Worm

A bit of forgotten classic from Ken Russell starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amando Donohoe (who makes a big impression as a seductive snake priestess).
The script is a bit clunky in places but the whole thing is great fun and I really like horror stories that tap into folklore.
I hadn't seen this film in years and I'd forgotten a lot of it (including the strap on death dildoes!) so it was nice to re watch it and for it to be as entertaining as I'd remembered.

I bought this on VHS in the 1990s for 50p - but the tape didn't work :'(

You are not missing much Skullmo.  I often hear it mentioned as a 'classic' but its a film I have never been able to sit through.  It's just a bit of a mess and after a while I give up and go watch paint dry instead.  See also: The Keep
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 September, 2014, 12:37:06 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 September, 2014, 12:33:33 PM
Quote from: Skullmo on 24 September, 2014, 02:08:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 21 September, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
The Lair of the White Worm

A bit of forgotten classic from Ken Russell starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi and Amando Donohoe (who makes a big impression as a seductive snake priestess).
The script is a bit clunky in places but the whole thing is great fun and I really like horror stories that tap into folklore.
I hadn't seen this film in years and I'd forgotten a lot of it (including the strap on death dildoes!) so it was nice to re watch it and for it to be as entertaining as I'd remembered.

I bought this on VHS in the 1990s for 50p - but the tape didn't work :'(

You are not missing much Skullmo.  I often hear it mentioned as a 'classic' but its a film I have never been able to sit through.  It's just a bit of a mess and after a while I give up and go watch paint dry instead.  See also: The Keep

I'm really surprised to hear this. I can see why you'd think The Keep was boring, with it's long sequence of that guy's journey, but I think LOTWW is pretty fast paced and fun.
Horses for courses I suppose!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 September, 2014, 12:42:24 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 September, 2014, 12:33:33 PM
It's just a bit of a mess and after a while I give up and go watch paint dry instead. 

Yeah, but;
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 September, 2014, 12:45:10 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 September, 2014, 12:37:06 PM
I'm really surprised to hear this. I can see why you'd think The Keep was boring, with it's long sequence of that guy's journey, but I think LOTWW is pretty fast paced and fun.
Horses for courses I suppose!

Yeah. I was being a little tongue in cheek but it's just too weird and all over the place for my liking. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2014, 01:10:42 PM
Oh man, I looooove The Lair of the White Worm. My second favourite Russell movie after The Devils.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 September, 2014, 01:45:17 PM
Quote from: radiator on 24 September, 2014, 11:29:51 PM
Come on man. It's Battleshit, surely?

I considered that was waaaaay too obvious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2014, 02:32:17 PM
Space Station 76 - a deliberately-retro sci-fi comedy without much in the way of jokes beyond "hee hee, that man can't admit he's a bummer!", which I suppose makes this a stone cold classic if you find that kind of thing amusing rather than embarrassing and not entirely justifiable within the film's retro stylings.  A great cast and production can't disguise the whole thing is more just an uncomfortable drama, so that probably means it's a "black comedy" or something, with everyone essentially having the exact same plot arc about being stuck where they are.  Looks nice, but it's laugh-free and generally not very good.

Gor - available for now on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW1CZQJACE0 though I suspect no-one will care enough to take it down given its basis in the notoriously mentalist and misogynistic series of novels of the same name.  There's not actually much in the way of misogyny in the film as pretty much everyone who isn't a warlord or a king ends up being treated like shit by those bigger and stronger than they are, so no particular group is singled out, with the most notable bit of sexism ("women are not free in Sarn's realm!") being unambiguously presented as an injustice for which there will be a reckoning, and even a girl-on-girl fight for the amusement of a drooling warlord and his chauvinistic hangers-on is presented as ugly and unglamorous.  The rest of the film is a fish-out-of-water thing for the first twenty or so minutes before becoming a bog standard fantasy romp typical of the mid-80s, and if you squint you can sort of pretend it's a post-apocalyptic thing if that's more your bag.  It's not great, but worse than that it's not terrible either, so it misses out on being able to cash in on being an extreme example of the genre and having some appeal as viewing fodder when you're beering your braincells a bit.
Not so much GOR as MOR, then.
/coat
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 September, 2014, 05:38:46 PM
I watched GOR about 10 years ago and quite enjoyed it - a mate had had it sitting around for years without ever watching it. It was one of those videos you could buy from the market for a couple of quid that came in a cardboard sleeve - not even warranting a plastic case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 September, 2014, 05:53:46 PM
Quote from: Bear McBear on 25 September, 2014, 02:32:17 PM
even a girl-on-girl fight for the amusement of a drooling warlord and his chauvinistic hangers-on is presented as ugly and unglamorous.


Isn't that the way Goreans like it?

(https://38.media.tumblr.com/c45713651facf600fc75cf056b6a9586/tumblr_nccy07iwyf1sb2ue8o1_500.jpg)



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 September, 2014, 08:09:53 PM
I misread that as 'Imaginary Sex with 53 detailed scenarios', and felt my IP had been infringed,
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 September, 2014, 12:20:35 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2014, 12:26:05 PM
LUCY at the IMAX. I've been a fan of Besson and his style over substance approach since seeing Subway as a student (longer ago then I care to remember).  This is accordingly stylish, trite, barking and not quite what you expect in equal measures.  The trailers make it out to be TAKEN but with Telepathic powers but it's far better than that.
Saw this tonight and thought it was amazing, if very, very silly. I had been contemplating a double bill with Guardians of the Galaxy but I came out convinced there was no way that could be anything like as much fun.

It definitely has stacks of that Besson style. Should probably be required viewing for the next batch of interns in the Besson B-movie direction sweatshop just to illustrate that the old man can still effortlessly toss off something far more watchable than the latest Taken or Transporter.

As you say, it's really a very different beast to how it's portrayed. There are action bits and elements but always messed around with or undercut in strange ways by the developing powers. Personally, I loved the blank, deadpan delivery. If anything, I found it got funnier the longer it went on.

Afterwards, I was thinking about how Scarlett Johansson now occupies a fairly unique position in Hollywood. With her role in the Marvel movies building into a solo outing and nonsense like this she has both ends of the genre market covered. More straightforward, dramatic roles are still there in Her and the new Coen Brothers number, then she finds time for off the wall stuff like Under the Skin.

I don't know if it's equality but, while that would be a fairly standard resume for someone like Ben Affleck or Christian Bale, I really can't think of another female star who covers so much ground. Probably missing somebody really obvious though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 September, 2014, 12:21:17 AM
Blimey. I've just discovered there's a Transporter TV series! Worth a watch, Prof?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 September, 2014, 09:03:53 AM
So theirs an Equaliser movie now. Who's idea was this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 September, 2014, 01:24:59 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 September, 2014, 12:21:17 AM
Blimey. I've just discovered there's a Transporter TV series! Worth a watch, Prof?

Why do you assume that I watch any old pile of shite just because it's there?

But yes, I have watched it.  It's the kind of dumb action series that American television can't make anymore because their directors can only communicate with their audience via music videos rather than coherent narratives - not a patch on the films, but it's okay by telly standards of shooty-racey action.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 September, 2014, 01:37:55 PM
Quote from: Bear McBear on 26 September, 2014, 01:24:59 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 September, 2014, 12:21:17 AM
Blimey. I've just discovered there's a Transporter TV series! Worth a watch, Prof?

Why do you assume that I watch any old pile of shite just because it's there?

But yes, I have watched it.  It's the kind of dumb action series that American television can't make anymore because their directors can only communicate with their audience via music videos rather than coherent narratives - not a patch on the films, but it's okay by telly standards of shooty-racey action.

Where do you find the time?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 26 September, 2014, 03:28:57 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 September, 2014, 01:37:55 PM
Where do you find the time?

He's a bear.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 September, 2014, 03:37:45 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 September, 2014, 01:37:55 PM
Where do you find the time?

By not watching Orphan Black.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 September, 2014, 04:13:35 PM
Marvellous

Saw it on BBC2 last night, what a brilliant heart-warming TV film. Can't believe Nello is real person, very British Forrest Gump?

Toby Jones is very good in it, even Nello himself!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 September, 2014, 05:38:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 26 September, 2014, 09:03:53 AM
So theirs an Equaliser movie now. Who's idea was this?

I've no interest in ever watching the film, but I'm fascinated by the poster they've been using on bus shelters (http://www.impawards.com/2014/thumbs/sq_equalizer_ver3.jpg), featuring an oddly deracinated Denzel. It's as if they want some viewers to get the impression that the film stars an old white guy, like the TV show, despite the poster featuring the name of the star fairly prominently.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 26 September, 2014, 08:10:38 PM
Quote from: sauchie co-op on 26 September, 2014, 05:38:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 26 September, 2014, 09:03:53 AM
So theirs an Equaliser movie now. Who's idea was this?

I've no interest in ever watching the film, but I'm fascinated by the poster they've been using on bus shelters (http://www.impawards.com/2014/thumbs/sq_equalizer_ver3.jpg), featuring an oddly deracinated Denzel. It's as if they want some viewers to get the impression that the film stars an old white guy, like the TV show, despite the poster featuring the name of the star fairly prominently.

I used to love the old tv series but the trailers seem to suggest this is similar but not quite the same. With films like Taken doing quite well, it's not surprising that someone has remade this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 September, 2014, 08:26:20 PM
Quote from: sauchie co-op on 26 September, 2014, 05:38:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 26 September, 2014, 09:03:53 AM
So theirs an Equaliser movie now. Who's idea was this?

I've no interest in ever watching the film, but I'm fascinated by the poster they've been using on bus shelters (http://www.impawards.com/2014/thumbs/sq_equalizer_ver3.jpg), featuring an oddly deracinated Denzel. It's as if they want some viewers to get the impression that the film stars an old white guy, like the TV show, despite the poster featuring the name of the star fairly prominently.

I read in today's Daily Mirror, Interview with Denzel, he mentions that he hadn't watch the original TV show. so he don't understand what Equalizer about, so this film is just some feed me line and I acting film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 September, 2014, 08:38:58 PM

I remember the TV show being a bit shit, though. I agree it's just the Taken old-guy-saves-young-girl-from-foreign-rapists trope, although they've nicked the drifter/whore dynamic from Taxi Driver too. I heard an interview with Denzel where he described the film as playing knowingly with genre conventions, which I think means they nicked bits from lots of other films.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 26 September, 2014, 08:42:35 PM

Best thing about the TV show was the opening sequence and that theme* (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE).



*composed by Stewart Copeland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 September, 2014, 08:47:06 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 26 September, 2014, 04:13:35 PM
Marvellous

Saw it on BBC2 last night, what a brilliant heart-warming TV film. Can't believe Nello is real person, very British Forrest Gump?

Toby Jones is very good in it, even Nello himself!

It still on iPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04jmx7l/marvellous (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04jmx7l/marvellous)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 09:12:29 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 26 September, 2014, 08:47:06 PM
Marvellous

Saw it on BBC2 last night, what a brilliant heart-warming TV film. Can't believe Nello is real person, very British Forrest Gump?

Toby Jones is very good in it, even Nello himself!

Toby Jones must be one of the best British actors out there. There's not too many people whose very presence in something is enough to make me want to watch it, irrespective of subject matter. Still think Berberian Sound Studio is his high water mark to date.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 September, 2014, 09:38:23 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 09:12:29 PM
Still think Berberian Sound Studio is his high water mark to date.

I've a lot of time for Jones, but Berberian Sound Studio...it just lost me. Somewhere.

I recently watched the baffling yet visually arresting The Stange Colour of Your Body's Tears.
It was 'Run Fatboy Run' compared to BSS.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 10:06:05 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 September, 2014, 09:38:23 PM

I've a lot of time for Jones, but Berberian Sound Studio...it just lost me. Somewhere.

I recently watched the baffling yet visually arresting The Stange Colour of Your Body's Tears.
It was 'Run Fatboy Run' compared to BSS.

Never seen 'The Strange Colour...' but a quick search reveals a four-star review by the notoriously demanding Kim Newman, which is enough for me to check it out. Cheers. My inroads into BSS was very much an existing fondness for Italian horror cinema, but I'd like to think it was accessible without that knowledge. That may not be the case though. I love Jones's performance in that film - there's something awfully authentic about his steady mental disintegration. I also found the movie uproariously funny at points - dangerously aroused goblins and all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 September, 2014, 10:37:32 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 10:06:05 PM
My inroads into BSS was very much an existing fondness for Italian horror cinema, but I'd like to think it was accessible without that knowledge.

I figured- both friends who recommended BSS to me are Italian Horror nuts.
I've seen the obvious genre classics, but am no aficionado. All that takes nothing away from Jones' performance of course- I couldn't disagree with that.

It's why I suspect you'll enjoy The Strange Colour- it riffs on the Giallo style.
Same filmmakers as the excellent Amer, although I'm sure you've caught that in recent years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 11:10:57 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 September, 2014, 10:37:32 PM
Same filmmakers as the excellent Amer, although I'm sure you've caught that in recent years.

Actually I haven't, so thanks for the recommendation there. To Amazon! I'd like to think my knowledge of 70s-era giallo is nae too bad, but my knowledge of its modern descendents is substantially less so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 27 September, 2014, 05:52:57 AM
Saw The Boxtrolls, pretty badass.  :D Nick Frost especially should win Oscar gold I say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 October, 2014, 05:17:13 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 10:06:05 PM
the notoriously demanding Kim Newman

I haven't read Empire in years, but that name stuck in my head.
I watched Excision at the weekend, and noticed it had a Newman 5-Star blurb* on the front cover.

It's a sick little puppy of a movie.
I really enjoyed it, naturally, but it only hit 4 stars on my internal rateometer

My initial expectations were confounded. From the first 15 minutes I was anticipating a Rob Zombie style update of Kissed, but it turned out to be a completely different animal.

Stick with it- even though your foresight of the inevitable blood-soaked climax will likely be spot-on.
You'll just be surprised at how horrifying it is.


*Newman review here; http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137945
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 October, 2014, 05:30:37 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 September, 2014, 11:10:57 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 26 September, 2014, 10:37:32 PM
Same filmmakers as the excellent Amer, although I'm sure you've caught that in recent years.

Actually I haven't, so thanks for the recommendation there. To Amazon! I'd like to think my knowledge of 70s-era giallo is nae too bad, but my knowledge of its modern descendents is substantially less so.
Probably because the genre is dead in the water.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 October, 2014, 06:00:30 PM
Have picked up a couple of Link's recommendations from earlier in the thread, so will give 'em a watch asap. Meanwhile I have been watching the blu-ray of:

The Shout (1978)

Wonderful bit of unnerving 70s weirdness, with Alan Bates putting in a compelling performance as a man who has apparently learned an aboriginal 'terror shout' and can now kill with his voice alone. During a cricket match at the mental asylum where he resides, Bates relates a possibly (probably?) apocryphal tale of his exploits to an intrigued Tim Curry – exploits which involve Bates inviting himself into the lives of couple John Hurt and Susannah York, and then steadily supplanting Hurt from his own home.

Loved this. Very clever and evocative, rife with symbolism and quite textually dense for an 86-minuter – the sort of film that doesn't spell everything out for you, but which gives you all the information you need and still leaves plenty for you to make your own mind up about. Bates is superb – a dark, sinister presence at the heart of the movie, whereas the always-excellent Hurt plays flawed, hapless and emasculated to a tee. It also features the first film performance of Jim Broadbent, playing a mental patient who freaks out, strips off, smears himself in mud and goes loopy with a pair of cricket stumps. Very memorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 October, 2014, 01:23:02 PM
The Boxtrolls. Wonderful stuff. I love this sort of stop-motion animation. I think I need to get the book now.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 October, 2014, 07:05:17 PM
Chef.

Hugely self-indulgent, far-fetched, contrived and a high cheese-factor throughout...


....buuut I still kinda liked it anyway. The heart that went into it shines through and ultimately eclipses the flaws.

Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 05 October, 2014, 07:26:33 PM
20,000 Days on Earth (2014)

As films about Nick Cave go, this is pretty much review-proof – if you like the man, I imagine you'll enjoy it a lot, as I did. If you're not a fan, I'm not sure it'd convert you. We basically follow Cave around for a day – except the whole thing's knowingly artificial, and thus people like Ray Winstone and Kylie occasionally appear in his car for a chat and then disappear. Throughout, Cave philosophises about his music, shows us some interesting photos, drives about Brighton (where he lives) and sends himself up in a deadpan manner. Oh, and he sings too. I once saw an interview where Cave came across as sullen and belligerent – here, he comes over as a likeable, thoughtful, funny guy. The highlights are probably the bits where he chats to a therapist – it's a shame these only appear in the first half of the film, as they seem to ground everything else and provide a lot of context for the man's obsessions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 05 October, 2014, 10:59:47 PM
willow creek stupidest ending since blair witch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 06 October, 2014, 12:30:32 AM
Just watched 47 Ronin on Sky Movies.....

Just completely disappointing......I had expected more because it looked 'fairly' big budget...but ultimately it was lack-lustre and disappointing....It just wasn't sure what type of movie it wanted to be, so ended up being a poor pastiche of many....

Don't waste your time on this one ....If you want to pick up a decent movie about Samauri Warriers,  with some great performances, and a good story...you could do a lot worse that watch The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise....an infinitely better movie.....( without the 'hocus pocus / witches / demons that this failed to deliver.).
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 06 October, 2014, 10:29:27 AM
Quote from: Grugz on 05 October, 2014, 10:59:47 PM
willow creek stupidest ending since blair witch

I thought so too, until I spent a bit of time Goggling Sasquatch lore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 06 October, 2014, 11:46:44 AM
you mean that forest bride rubbish? why would squatchy keep humans as sex toys (and let them keep their knickers on judging by the film) unless mrs squatch had a headache ? we didn't even get a rubbish bigfoot to see .

wasn't impressed, much prefer finding bigfoot on animal planet .

although it wasn't as bad as "mountain monsters" series :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 October, 2014, 07:12:37 PM
Quote from: Grugz on 06 October, 2014, 11:46:44 AM
you mean that forest bride rubbish? why would squatchy keep humans as sex toys

I dunno Grugz, I kinda liked it in retrospect.
The potential of being 'kidnapped' by a Bigfoot (not always for sexual reasons) was not something I'd come across before, and I found much of the related tales and folklore I've since read quite fascinating.

For me, Willow Creek was (another) excellent film by Goldthwait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 07 October, 2014, 07:58:34 PM
i just wanted to see one eat 'em both!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 October, 2014, 07:59:56 PM
Quote from: Grugz on 07 October, 2014, 07:58:34 PM
i just wanted to see one eat 'em both!

Well, we all did.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 08 October, 2014, 11:01:29 AM
Animal Kingdom - man that was grim. Grimmer and grim. And that was the grimming of the day. Your mouth is full of grim.

You get the idea...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 October, 2014, 06:11:15 PM
I think the last film I watched was Gangs of New York.  I remember being excited to see it when it was released and hugely disappointed when I finally got to the cinema.

I gave it another go because I thought that I may have been overly harsh of the film.  Alas, in the end I felt all my grievances with the film still held true.  The ending certainly being one of them.  Really the film felt patched together loosely with too much being crammed in that the stitches start to stretch and break.  It would have been nice if it focused on the two main characters and their relationship - which was actually interesting, but it kept diverting off into unnecessary narrating in an overbearing attempt to contextualise the socio-historic setting.

Set designs were good, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 October, 2014, 02:18:02 PM
OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
Well I actually enjoyed this but the first hour set up and initial assault on the Whitehouse is by far the best bit.

Sadly, all of the bad guy reveals are given away by the casting.

As ever with these things it relies on some suspension of disbelief;
[spoiler]- the ground based rapid response team only appear when a ground based threat appears not when the first bogeys appear at the Whitehouse
- there's only two fighter planes covering DC? really? No helicopter gunships?
- there's a gap of about two hours where the bad guys appear to do nothing
- it relies on POTUS being dumb enough to tell his subordinates to give away two parts of a three part password that could destroy the world just to save them a bit of a kicking
- the third password can be cracked one letter at a time. You aren't playing mastermind here. Password keys (well none I have been involved with) don't go "Oooh! You got two letters right but four wrong. Now you got three letters right and three wrong!".[/spoiler]

And the quippery at the end as [spoiler]President Two Face walks though dozens of his dead countrymen and staff[/spoiler] is unforgiveable.

It's no DIE HARD for sure (even though it nearly lifts whole scenes) but it's miles better than WHITE HOUSE DOWN and PAUL BLART: MALL COP.

Oh and at least one great line:
"No, let's play a game of 'FUCK OFF'. You go first!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 October, 2014, 02:31:09 PM
I much preferred White House Down as it was far sillier and actioner!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2014, 02:38:06 PM
The Equalizer

Dumb as hell. The original TV series with Ewawowa was daft in that 80's late afternoon yank show way, akin to Manimal or Automan. Or, god help you, Street Hawk.
This follows the same feel just with more clean cut effects, some of which are actualy quite good (and eye getting popped out with a shot glass was possibly funnier than it should have been though).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 October, 2014, 03:17:46 PM
There's no way The Equalizer was on in the afternoon slot - it was well violent! It was an ITV after the 10 O'Clock News job!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 10 October, 2014, 03:19:28 PM
Equalislzer was a 9pm it show. After the watershed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2014, 03:20:39 PM
Blimey, really? I thought it was more in line for a 7PM slot. Saying that I wasn't their so....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 10 October, 2014, 04:59:11 PM
Sadly,  I was......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 10 October, 2014, 09:53:10 PM
This is not Automan. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE)

Actually, I can remember watching the intro at the time and thinking that was exactly the kind of atmosphere a Judge Dredd film should go for, should one ever be made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 October, 2014, 02:01:35 AM
I watched Grabbers tonight. It was a nice bit if comedic horror fluff. Quite amusing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 October, 2014, 02:23:22 AM
I thought Grabbers was OK, but not as funny as it really needed to be. One of those films that didn't live up to the promise of it's trailer. I also find that Russell Tovey guy's acting style more than a little grating. I just want to scream "TONE IT DOWN!" at the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 12 October, 2014, 02:33:49 AM
Watched Frank.
Best film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLOuHFVqOkc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 October, 2014, 09:40:59 AM
Aye, Frank is great. My pick for film of the year.

Watched Downfall last night. Most people, or better but 'everyone', remembers it for THAT scene. The scene that has been parodied thousands of times on youtube. But what people neglected to tell me is just what a powerful bit of filmmaking it is. Utterly superb acting backs up the tricky situation of making the higher ups in the National Socialist party seem human as well as portraying them realisticly (seeing more and more commanding officers defecting as the film goes on is briliant) anf giving Hitler a humanized, but not overly sympathetic, depiction was genius. Rober Ebert compared Hitler in this film to a rabid dog about to be destroyed, and thats a fitting comparison.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 October, 2014, 10:42:04 AM
'Sex Tape' - 'Shit Tape ' more like - Jason Segal l00ks strange after his diet and you see nothing apart from a couple of asses. I was expecting a bit of sexy knockabout fun but instead it's an examination of relationships and taking each other for granted. Total misrepresentation. And the plot hinges around an average working Joe who happens to give away loads of iPads to friends, neighbours, the wife's boss and the postman - like you do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 October, 2014, 03:30:58 PM
Nearly a month ago or just over a month ago.

When, I took all those photo's you currently have been seeing as my avatar picture on this forum.

I incidently, I was just having a jug of beer at this place called the  Beach-House-Bar-N-Grill (http://www.beachhousebargrill.com.au/Beach-House) second level of the Myer Centre in the city of Brisbane near the heart of the Mall.

(http://www.beachhousebargrill.com.au/ws-content/uploads/cbd-banner-home-1.jpg)

After I had been to see the Guardians of the Galaxy at the Southbank cinemas. This place is a huge park land filled with restaurants, cafe's, fast-food places, bars, gift shops and a newsagency and some other places as well. Yet, it's dominated by this artificial beach populated by sunbathers and swimmers through out the warmer months, a huge auditorium and there is also huge Ferris-Wheel in front of cultural arts centre and museum.

(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608032249759794597&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608020786492411274&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608015383423485342&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608009391952168304&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608043305016296648&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)](http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608046367322211526&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608021220289610868&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608048751026045638&w=201&h=135&c=7&rs=1&pid=1.7)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608055756116263203&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)
(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608025240372055855&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608022641913956449&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)

Southbank was the original site for Expo 88 and has since be redesigned and thee is no longer any monorail.

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzo49QNsURMU9mBHk0PZPO_ZQrQYyXjbFleRvC4d1Xz_JAUclILA)(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSa5p2KtNOAppyAyO6b3GRIJ4YJLCY7zxnBXHTzDDjgNPY1Uq2)(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTXqdbpR5B2p1E2RBMepvzZs9rqbqsEPpp0OWxDCGUXex-5y2qB_A)(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYKBs4V2Sc6OYZ-NoHtEbH8_seaTX8Bv7vbGY5xw9rqkqkzXoX)(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRlATbU2VrVpyR8hm-ElVAKG1UJ7WRutUliFWnvMH4CwW_CE6Hh)(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS8tJ5-Sfwbqr6EWUxZRiA6EOpoNzRTyHy_5DXh3FKKQo9FPjnZWQ)

While the back street behind South Bank houses the cinema which also doubles as Imax-Theatre

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSbvq3Aw1jgFVQg8b2JHD0W7ZTCbMZ4iwItw1XJmL5PZjcsdGAIcA)(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWXi-e9eBiIr8tE8hlIrMk23TaEzpie3nIXgIogl6yhEj37uz5XQ)(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQXWLTHJkB9nCEx6HAX9M2kqsr7YKrxpHubMVv_xjAgqCaF9gKo)(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQss1HCzbw_Qm7f2lyJYZqR5SIGQx7IU3yWrgyj8kWRTXCoEE1W)(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTETw_Np0QPjZGHxJHPJWuHrZufZg4q6VGtY-QP9oyABNgnwZz6)

There is nothing here that should be kept secret. As it's easily found on the internet.

Anyway, the film was superb colourful adventure that I new nothing about, but never the less enjoyed. There should be sequel and television series to replace that Defiance rubbish. I don't think I had one particular favourite character apart from the ships.

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBUnzj3TeXC_dDVpSwqI8FzeC6iV9qV3hsdAZymmp25SFCYnWj)

Have his teeth really been sharpened?

Michael Rooker's whistle controlled arrow that I'm sure he borrowed from Falian's.

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTfFtmzxBKUbde8bvS4_hAytkVDxLZMuTe2UX-3tlrLexng0WUl)

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSI4mSVJsDmPyJJFMudonhL6RkagpOem_3S3tXJd7yxH0IaDig-)(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9D2t5JXzGQJKB_e8AIW5P0gRKof8YzijL073_77qlHW2_LOQH)

Maybe one of the original Titan's from Tir-Nan-Og most likely a mash-up between Rogue Trooper and a over - warped Elfric-Serpent-Eye which might explain why he has what looks like smaller version of the forbidden weapon.

(http://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/2014/07/michael-rooker-yondu-guardians-of-the-galaxy-102287.png)(http://www.planetpulp.dk/billeder/tegneserier/slaine/time_killer/time_killer_04_stor.jpg)

Besides, I always assumed that Slaine arch-foe is a alien.....

I could go on to say bad things about the film Edge of Tomorrow and what a terrible mess, but I will leave that for another day.

IBAR

Of course, every thing in this film should be a forbidden weapon or forbidden something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 12 October, 2014, 03:32:36 PM
Eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2014, 03:07:46 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 October, 2014, 03:30:58 PM
IBAR
Heh, I thought the same thing myself.  Nice little insight into Brisbane too, TS.  Love that snake skeleton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 13 October, 2014, 07:45:56 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 October, 2014, 03:07:46 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 October, 2014, 03:30:58 PM
IBAR
Heh, I thought the same thing myself.  Nice little insight into Brisbane too, TS.  Love that snake skeleton.

I'm so lazy......mind telling what the deactivation command for the spear?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2014, 10:06:44 AM
From unreliable memory:

ATHIBAR!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 October, 2014, 12:51:46 PM
Annabelle

Managed to catch this at the weekend and was very impressed.  There have been a few films recently like Insidious and the Conjouring (which this does relate to) that have managed to hit that sweet spot of being really creepy. 

Going into this, the certificate showed this was only 15 which isn't normally a good sign on a 'scary movie' but they still managed to come up with a shocking movie.  It's not without flaws - its only about an hour and a half long but there are still some parts that drag.  It really comes together at the end and uses the fear of the dark to great effect.  Being a horror fan, I have seen many films like this but not many can make the hair on my neck stand up like this did.

I can't really say much more without giving away spoilers but I would certainly recommend this to anyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2014, 01:03:19 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 13 October, 2014, 12:51:46 PM
Annabelle

Nah, pretty sure it was Athibar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 October, 2014, 01:07:02 PM
I have to say that the certificate system is boarderline redundant right now as the BBFC seem to be handing out '12's and '15's to some very creepy pieces of work and it seem's that you have to be boardering Hostel level violence to be given an '18'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 October, 2014, 04:14:23 PM
American Hustle. It was boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 October, 2014, 04:25:04 PM
Finally got around to watching the seventh installment of the Wolverine movies, X-Men: Days of Future Past

I enjoyed it a lot, it had the best showcase of various mutant powers from any of the movies so far. I particularly enjoyed watching Blink think with portals, her variation on the Colussus Fast-Ball Special was lifted straight from the game.

I'm not all that familiar with James McEvoys face, does his nose naturally look like Picards, or is that a prosthetic job?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 October, 2014, 09:52:12 PM
Transcendence was like that old episode of Hellblazer (and probably a million others besides) where John's mate uses some sort of magic to send himself through a dial up modem into the ethernet. Only now, computers and the internet are sufficiently well known that you can get a sizable budget and Johnny Depp to appear in this nonsense.

Conversely, Edge of Tomorrow was great fun. Exciting, slightly different sci-fi with some decent action and good laughs along the way. I've not read the book but have sampled the comic and the changes seemed to make sense. Nice that the happy, Hollywood ending still manages to end on a downbeat note.

Top marks for Bill Paxton's hammy drill sergeant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 October, 2014, 02:38:39 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 13 October, 2014, 09:52:12 PM
Conversely, Edge of Tomorrow was great fun. Exciting, slightly different sci-fi with some decent action and good laughs along the way. I've not read the book but have sampled the comic and the changes seemed to make sense. Nice that the happy, Hollywood ending still manages to end on a downbeat note.

Top marks for Bill Paxton's hammy drill sergeant.

No.....but, let me take you back to early last Saturday morning when I rented this film on the Box Office on Optus a few hours earlier and only watched about a few moments of it due to heavy sleep requirements and some loss of interest.

Then I found out later on that I could have only watched it once since Box office only show the film we/you for as long as it lasts and then after a brief twenty minutes of other movie previews and then again and so on until five thirty next morning where your allotted time to watch the film we/you order ends.

So, I ordered the same film later on the same day or the next day (I'm not sure when.) still didn't quite watch all of it and but soon saw most of it in bits n pieces....dribs n drabs, Between whenever I went back to my room to watch parts of it and play games on my preferred computer in another room. 

When ever I d watch this  it seemed like they were kept showing the same footage with Tom Cruise's (Can you believe that is his real  Name (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000129/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bth_nm).) character talking to the drill sergeant Bill Paxton (I was looking at him and thinking is this really the Game Over man from Aliens and has put on some size (I'm not saying weight, but some proportionate solidity!) that must have been taken away from Tom Cruise who seemed like lesser version of usual self. (Was this intentional or something that just happens to people. As he did cut intimidating profile in Jack Reacher and a lot of his previous other work, but not in this film!I just thought it was stange of him to do this and in a action styled film as well.)  in a tent filled with fellow recruits and then getting run over by the truck while trying to successfully roll under it to sneak off and find Emily Blunt (I failed to suppress a razz when I saw her face plastered across the side of passing bus. All serious and all! While I'm all cool with female heroism. (As long as it doesn't hurt my male shovinism.) and getting it right the next time it happened. I just think they got it wrong in this film or maybe she just took her self a bit too seriously and that's adds to the realism, but it doesn't work when you just ant to be entertained! She caught my eye when she let the male lead from  Windchill (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486051/) (Another film that was kind of scary in a creepy way, but only when I first watched it on cold lonely night!) warm his frost bitten finger tips after she shoved them within the warmth between the flesh of her stomach and her sweater.) and then deftly avoiding it when he did the same thing next time it happened and this and parts on the battlefield happened over and over again and then this bit where Noah Taylor who I once thought could have been a made a convincing Ukko (As he was the younger version shown with a darker head of hair in Horned God. While the actor's impressive facial hair added some contrast to earlier versions of himself.) Who knew all about these bio-mech time-worms (Was this film paying homage to Slaine : Time-Killer?) all named after me.

Anyway, I wasn't impressed and then I wondered if this film hints at some of the hidden secrets Scientology. I would buy into that, but don't have the money.

I actually would like to go on and describe my adventure in my own home town of Ipswich (It's just boring place for me right now!) late last night after I did some unexpected shopping in  K-Mart (http://www.kmart.com.au/?cm_mmc=Google-CPC-_-Brand-_-Pure%20Brand%20-%20Phrase-_-kmart-_-Phrase&gclid=CjwKEAjw8O2hBRDKur2lseLW6C8SJAC-r1J3_m-B_aW-jqVY_x6xOaswZlwvinIBNo7Di2Ca_GG08xoC5Njw_wcB) and brought myself a pair of runners (I'm wearing them right now.), five pairs of sports socks, (Wearing them now too.)  four pairs of undies, (Wearing them now as well!), a Jaws movie poster t-shirt (Still on the floor of my room.) and a Basket-Ball (Sitting beside me and my father thought it may be a Medicine ball when I through it to him earlier this morning, yet it's not quite that heavy.) 

.....and saw the film Dracula Untold.

Untold?

It should have stayed that way or should have been Dracula: Un-shown.

I have some more things to write about this film, but will later after I pay off my GoCard bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 October, 2014, 04:43:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 13 October, 2014, 01:07:02 PM
I have to say that the certificate system is boarderline redundant right now as the BBFC seem to be handing out '12's and '15's to some very creepy pieces of work and it seem's that you have to be boardering Hostel level violence to be given an '18'.

I think the certification scheme is at its highpoint at the moment. When you dig into the details, the decisions are all made logically and consistently. Actual gore and depiction of extreme violence will always push things up.

Only problem is the American rating system which locks almost everything down to 12.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 14 October, 2014, 04:45:05 PM
I imagine its hot wearing 5 pairs of socks and four pairs of kecks
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 16 October, 2014, 01:14:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 13 October, 2014, 01:07:02 PM
I have to say that the certificate system is boarderline redundant right now as the BBFC seem to be handing out '12's and '15's to some very creepy pieces of work and it seem's that you have to be boardering Hostel level violence to be given an '18'.

As someone who grew up during the crazy days of video nasties where they claimed movies could affect dogs as well as humans, we have come some way.

I don't think they were incorrect to grade Annabelle as a 15 as there was very little gore/graphic horror in it.  The baddie was a [spoiler]demon[/spoiler] and most of the scares came from a [spoiler]fear of the dark [/spoiler] type thing.  I just think that the folks who made the movie did a really good job of showing that scary is not the same as gory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 16 October, 2014, 03:36:02 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 13 October, 2014, 01:07:02 PM
I have to say that the certificate system is boarderline redundant right now as the BBFC seem to be handing out '12's and '15's to some very creepy pieces of work and it seem's that you have to be boardering Hostel level violence to be given an '18'.

watching the xmen first class with my lass we was shocked to see wolvie drop an f bomb ! that would have got a xxx in my day!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 October, 2014, 04:58:49 PM
That nearly tipped it a higher classification but they were able to keep it in the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 October, 2014, 05:36:02 PM
Perhaps if Dredd had said 'Drokk!' instead of 'Fuck!' we might have had a 15 film, and more of an audience...?

Nah, I'm dreaming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 October, 2014, 08:47:08 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 16 October, 2014, 05:36:02 PM
Perhaps if Dredd had said 'Drokk!' instead of 'Fuck!' we might have had a 15 film, and more of an audience...?

Nah, I'm dreaming.
Actualy thats exactly how it works i'm afraid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 October, 2014, 09:35:29 PM

I think the bullets ripping through teenagers' faces in lingering close-up might have had more influence on the censor's decision than Dredd's potty mouth.

I watched Cowboys and Aliens because a guy at my work likes it and we needed something to talk about. S'alright, even if the story is all over the place and doesn't really amount to much, but I mostly enjoyed it just because it was fun to see a cowboy film again. The first 40 minutes play out like a proper Western (a revisionist Western, to be precise), apart from Daniel Craig's snazzy jewellery, and I was sort of bummed when everything goes Independence Day.

I would have liked it better if they'd just called the film Cowboys, and forgotten about the little green fellers who were after their lucky charms.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 17 October, 2014, 08:45:22 AM
Quote from: sauchie outbreak on 16 October, 2014, 09:35:29 PM
I would have liked it better if they'd just called the film Cowboys, and forgotten about the little green fellers who were after their lucky charms.

You are Roger Ebert and I . . . need some Vick's VapoRub.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 17 October, 2014, 11:14:54 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 October, 2014, 04:58:49 PM
That nearly tipped it a higher classification but they were able to keep it in the end.

it is difficult trying to keep little ones sheltered from such things, mines 9 now but from the word go every bus trip involved someone ,either kids or adults unable to talk in the middle of the day without swearing ,I still try especially when xboxing  but some slip through ,playing assasins creed 4 the only time she was in the room after playing for ages did someone drop a bomb ,the wife has a particular look she gives me when that happens as if I knew it would ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 October, 2014, 01:07:41 PM
I dunno. I cherished new swear words as a kid. It was like building the forbidden library, apocrypha passed around on the playground. Knew you were on to something when you heard your folks say one of em.

F and S words were in the vocab by 9. 'Twat' wasn't unfortunately, so when I chickened out of calling my dead a twit mid-sentence I ended up choosing the wrong vowel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2014, 01:13:14 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 17 October, 2014, 01:07:41 PM
I dunno. I cherished new swear words as a kid. It was like building the forbidden library, apocrypha passed around on the playground. Knew you were on to something when you heard your folks say one of em.

F and S words were in the vocab by 9.

Yeah. I definitely had pretty much a full set by the time I left junior school, a result of being a very precocious reader and reading at adult level by that age... my parents exercised (now that I think about it!) remarkably little control over my reading material!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 October, 2014, 01:15:15 PM
Don't think the swears was the reason why Dredd is 18. There is many films in 15 with too many swearings like 4 Weddings and Funeral etc...

It was cos of heavy violence, drugs, and Dredd himself :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 October, 2014, 08:00:29 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 17 October, 2014, 08:45:22 AM
Quote from: sauchie outbreak on 16 October, 2014, 09:35:29 PM
I would have liked it better if they'd just called the film Cowboys, and forgotten about the little green fellers who were after their lucky charms.

You are Roger Ebert and I . . . need some Vick's VapoRub.

It's a rubbish film about aliens *, but it was a half-decent cowboy film. I just wished the film had concentrated on the bits it did well, rather than the stuff that honked like a goose farting in the fog.


* Gold, really? They wanted gold and they came to Earth, even though there's barely enough gold above or below ground to fill a block of council flats (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21969100), yet it seems to be abundant almost everywhere else in the universe? Those aliens were only making like Tony Hadley because if you need to explain why aliens are bothering Earth then asset stripping is about as plausible an excuse as anyone has thought of yet, and Independence Day has already bagsied WATER as the resource in question, while V already bagsied meat farming AND WATER as a cover story. And what's with the second set of tiny, rubbery hands they keep behind the door that swings open to conveniently expose their vital organs? Why would you need a second set of tiny, rubbery hands, and why would you need them next to your heart and lungs? Why would you keep your precious innards behind a door that swings open?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 17 October, 2014, 09:19:53 PM
Quote from: sauchie outbreak on 17 October, 2014, 08:00:29 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 17 October, 2014, 08:45:22 AM
Quote from: sauchie outbreak on 16 October, 2014, 09:35:29 PM
I would have liked it better if they'd just called the film Cowboys, and forgotten about the little green fellers who were after their lucky charms.

You are Roger Ebert and I . . . need some Vick's VapoRub.

It's a rubbish film about aliens . . .

Don't disagree. The Sci Fi element was something I 'member yer man Ebert sigh-fying about, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 October, 2014, 09:42:09 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 17 October, 2014, 09:19:53 PM
The Sci Fi element was something I 'member yer man Ebert sigh-fying about, too.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cowboys-and-aliens-2011

I hadn't read that before, honest - but since we seem simpatico, I now look forward to reading Ebert's reviews of new films every week.

Ebert rolls his eyes at the dodgy reasoning behind the aliens kidnapping humans to study them, but neglects to mention that this is further rationalised as being in order to understand how to defeat humans. This line is delivered shortly after a scene where the aliens bomb 19th century farmers from the air with jet fighters, and just before a scene where the much larger and more physically powerful aliens (who are largely unharmed by firearms) stab humans to death with the sharp pointy bits on the end of their arms and bite them to death with their big, sharp, pointy teeth.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 October, 2014, 04:58:18 AM
As mentioned seeing the film Dracula : Untold or should I say BarDracula : Should Not Be Shown.

Where do I start....wishing I had written this earlier when it was fresher in mind.

Just like Thor, I couldn't place his exact accent, but I doubt it would be right for a Turk prefer Gary Oldman's in this respect. I actually prefer Bram Stoker's : Dracula on most levels.

What I will talk about next will contain definite spoilers.

[spoiler]As the story goes he has adopted brother who seems more like Arab or a type of one or someone similar who demands his son for his personal army of young boys that as a result of having their normal lives stolen from them, will kill or die or both without fear or remorse. Yet, I think a lot of people do this in those times and still in these times as well and while the employing of young boys is looked down upon. It's my assumption that this should have been very common place in those days (Just think of Slaine and how he was taught all those Red Branch skills from the age of 11.) and most probably still is. Like, any minor under the age of eighteen can almost get away with murder because of their age. At times when I wasn't too zoned out to pay attention I noticed this Dracula (Hey, look it's Bard from The Hobbit films and there is more!) person entered a cave with his personal retinue of soldiers and encounter a strange feral beast of man who scares the bejesus of them and I think this is where he is first bitten. Dracula that is  and not the strange gangrel (Appropiate word taken from the name of the most feral of Vampire Clans in a popular role playing game call Vampire the Masquerade and it was used to describe Smeagol/Gollum in the appropiate literature. (I know not which right now!).) man and we fast forward to scene where Dracula scales a rocky cliff to find entrance into the lair of this creature yet again and accept his supernatural gift of unholy immortality by drinking from the make shift toilet bowl (Made from the skull cap of earlier visitor.) of Charles Dance and suddenly finding himself lying on some rocks broaching some watery rapids which is normally a huge no-no for traditional vamps. As they can't cross running water and I think that includes what he was doing. Is he about to stand in a ray of sunlight and glitter :-\. No, but he did this morphing into a flock (Or is that a murder?) of bats thing that seemed a tad bit to awesome for this vampire neonate or was he now the other after he did a sneaky switch bodies thing with him. You see, the other fellow who under more light seemed more of Nosferatu with pallid scale ridden flesh and rats like fangs who said that he was original vampire who was bitten by a even more original vampire before him and cursed to the confines of this cave lair toilet (Trust me that last is a Game of Thrones reference ;)) until such a time that Dracula or himself as Dracula will undo his curse and set him free. The fact that he is known as the Master Vampirefrom the rolling credits right at the end the whole ting about him being confined to this lair until such a time that his progeny has siphoned enough blood back to him sounds exactly like the very same premise for the first and last episode for season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_(season_1)%20%5Bb).

Both vampires look very similar....

(http://www.passion-cinema.com/img/news/news-2014/Dracula-Untold-vampire.jpg)(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxLcb6T4k6DVjdLs0uYqE1Jd4ceuQkvapXTpgP5uIvRcbSfZ6_)

Did I mention similar names?

Both were trapped in their dark lairs until their minions had become powerful enough to set them free or until Peter Dinkage shoots one of them with a Crossbow while he's in the privy....

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT3WHFHqNnkaW8blBA6VqqAHWXPrwNrLqVan8dNEEjP7wer932n)
(http://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBl-Ll-W2p3Dhi4RVKthxKa2IeSsk1BkmtzlRnR_IRJe2RWXji)

So, where's Sarah Michelle Gellar?

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQW2OtMbMmabwUhAJbzVl274jwrbxO9KC2MrvuSUR3feIPQfiNL)(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3IlqMbGbmVlBQhQRFCTQpgd4mPwBytOQjHtXVJRkpe6rss4NO)

Anyway I guess if Buffy was so popular (I certainly like this show!) it needs to be done over again and again, but I would like to see a return of the Slayer if they are going to steal her arch - nemesis.

[spoiler]So, where was I? Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure he pulled the switch a roo with this younger man. He's more of body thief (Another book of  Anne Rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Body_Thief) which why he went from having neonate to elder powers so quickly.

[/spoiler]

Eldar Powers like walking around in room with the door or window open letting in rays of light. As I said in another thread ("I like my Werewolves" earlier on this movie thread!) Vampires not only take damage from sunlight, but fear it and the day that comes with it. Yet, I recall even Spike did this a few times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer....

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQtWizkr2Pao0taqD34GpHXR1UDS2QeH_dNkj_QCuDOxHGA_o-tew)

Yet, I don't mind in that instances as the show itself knows that it isn't really meant to be taken as seriously as this film wants people. Joss Weldon had to allow Buffy one hit kills that would cause the vampire to vanish in explosion of it's own dust when ever she scored a direct hit on their heart with her wooden stake. So, she wouldn't have to otherwise dispose of their corpses. Yet, it was Van Helsing from Bram Stoker original story that would use the stake to only pin Dracula to the inside of his coffin while he would either pull back the drapes until the first rays of dawn boil him alive (Or dead!) or cut his head off. While in the  World of Darkness game Vampire the Masquerade it did have a more uncanny ability to completely paralyse the vampire until the Staker or somebody else would remove it.

This was demonstrated in the very first episode of  Kindred the Embraced - 7:30  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd16rgviIOg) (Just ignore the fact that the Vampire are running around outside while it's close to day!) which was supposed to be a direct interpretation of very same role playing game, but it wasn't really and discontinued because one of the important character leads got himself killed in a motorcycle accident. The actor, not the character he played. This was adapted by the dame very rich fellow who did all those other teen soaps and this was a terrible template for more of the same masquerading the only adaption to classic pen n paper role playing game.

Continued Later.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 October, 2014, 11:38:43 PM
Strangest, just watch Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, there's many new scenes not see before! Why was last TV version so many cuts?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 October, 2014, 01:03:56 AM
'Fury' - Brad Pitting starring WW2 tank battle extravaganza. Out this week but I got a free preview ticket - thanks Telegraph Readers Club! - wife's not mine. It came with a bonus feature of 30 minutes of the stars taking selfies with fans at the London première - hope that makes the Blu-Ray!

It was quite good. The battles were excellent with a 'Saving Private Ryan' eye for the savagery of battle - the tracer did look a bit ray gun for me though. It followed the exact same narrative as 'Ryan' with a rookie joining the crew, an ill fated meet up with civilians and then a long final battle against impossible odds.

It lacked much in the way of characterisation or decent acting, with Shia LaBouff just crying a lot. Good body count and hardware if you like that sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 20 October, 2014, 07:33:03 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 October, 2014, 01:03:56 AM
...with Shia LaBouff just crying a lot.

Pretty much what I'd expect from Shia, of late.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 20 October, 2014, 07:56:21 AM
Edge of Tomorrow.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, until the paradox in the last scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 October, 2014, 08:43:56 AM
Gone Girl. Really disliked the book, but the movies was fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 20 October, 2014, 11:39:12 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 20 October, 2014, 07:56:21 AM
Edge of Tomorrow.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, until the paradox in the last scene.

I enjoyed that as well but thought the whole film was constructed like watching your mate play Manic Miner for the first time. Each try they get that bit further in the level and just when they think they've got it beat out jumps a surprise toilet alien and back to the start they go. And yes the ending was pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 20 October, 2014, 12:48:18 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 October, 2014, 01:03:56 AM
'Fury' - Brad Pitting starring WW2 tank battle extravaganza.

I'd not heard much about this movie until the trailers came out and first time I saw it I got all excited thinking it was about Nick Fury of marvel/shield fame.

Then I remembered Samuel Jackson and realised I was wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 October, 2014, 03:03:28 PM
I'm just staring to watch Star Trek 6 on my afternoon off. It's the one I've seen least, and not for gages so I'm looking forward to it.

The first scene has made me think of a geeky Star Trek question which I'm sure somebody here will be able to help me with.

The scene starts with the USS Excelsior heading home on full impulse power when it's hit by a massive shock wave which tips the ship. This makes Captain Sulu's tea cup get knocked off the side and the crew all fall out of their beds etc. Now, if there's no up and down in space and the ship is using artificial gravity, set to make the bottom hull of the ship 'down' and the top hull 'up', why would the ship tilting make everyone fall to one side of the ship until the ship rights itself?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 October, 2014, 03:19:28 PM
It damaged the artificial gravity generator making the its directional focus wobble back and forth like a pendulum before ultimately coming to rest in the starting position again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 20 October, 2014, 03:26:51 PM
Having everyone lean to one side is the cheapest way to show damage to the ship?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 October, 2014, 03:32:14 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 20 October, 2014, 03:19:28 PM
It damaged the artificial gravity generator making the its directional focus wobble back and forth like a pendulum before ultimately coming to rest in the starting position again?

Hmmm. That's not really what happened. The ship tilted to one side and the gravity tipped everyone and everything over in that direction - it didn't wobble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 October, 2014, 04:26:43 PM
For more in this line of error, see every Star Trek episode involving space combat or tricky maneuvers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 October, 2014, 04:45:35 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 20 October, 2014, 04:26:43 PM
For more in this line of error, see every Star Trek episode involving space combat or tricky maneuvers.

Also practically every space-based TV show or movie where you can hear explosions (or indeed any noise, laser pew-pews and so forth) in a vacuum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 October, 2014, 04:59:48 PM
This is Star Trek. Somebody somewhere must have come up with a rational, in universe explanation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 October, 2014, 05:31:27 PM
It's nothing to do with the artificial gravity really (which is a very sturdy comparmentalised system built into the deckplates) - it's a failure of the inertial dampers (http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Inertial_damper) to respond correctly to the unpredictably irregular wavefront of an anti-matter generated 'shockwave' which probably had both real-space and sub-space components.  Over- or under-compensation for changes in velocity manifest as vibration and lurches due to improperly managed inertia of the ship and its contents.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 October, 2014, 05:59:25 PM
That's more like it! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 October, 2014, 11:39:07 PM
Computer Chess certainly sounded like a winner. An early 80s costume drama set around a smalltown American hotel where the nation's best coders are gathered to see their algorithms do battle. Sadly the premise is the best thing about it, although the deliberately glitchy black and white look (reminiscent of that old film Another Girl, Another Planet for 100 times the budget) has an appeal. Too much studied awkwardness, too many wackily random strands introduced and never paid off, not enough computers. In its (Luzhin) defence, the bits where they're talking about the code are probably the closest I've ever seen in a film to real life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 October, 2014, 01:04:59 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 October, 2014, 04:59:48 PM
This is Star Trek. Somebody somewhere must have come up with a rational, in universe explanation.

In Star Trek 6, the Excelsior maintains a planet-like gravitational force, and like the gravity on planets like Earth, if you shake a glass of water side-to-side, the water splashes up the side of the glass even though gravity is still pulling it downwards.  The shaking side-to-side is adding an extra force or energy equal (or greater) to the existing gravity, but not negating it, so the shockwave in ST6 added extra energy to the existing field of gravity in the ship making people go all directions even though the ship's artificial gravity is still telling things that "down" is the bottom of the ship.
A similar effect can be observed in Star trek Into Darkness, only Star Trek Into Darkness is a load of shit so it was probably wizards or something doing it in that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 October, 2014, 12:43:01 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 October, 2014, 11:39:07 PM
In its (Luzhin) defence, the bits where they're talking about the code are probably the closest I've ever seen in a film to real life.

Knowing a little bit about mainframe computers and coding, I've always thought that computers must be the least realistically portrayed item in film and cinema. After Elevetors and air conditioning vents, naturally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 October, 2014, 02:33:15 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 October, 2014, 12:43:01 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 October, 2014, 11:39:07 PM
In its (Luzhin) defence, the bits where they're talking about the code are probably the closest I've ever seen in a film to real life.

Knowing a little bit about mainframe computers and coding, I've always thought that computers must be the least realistically portrayed item in film and cinema. After Elevetors and air conditioning vents, naturally.

But way after the explosive properties of cars.

My last watched film was The Hunger Games 2, or Catching Fire or whatever it was subtitled.  I thought it was great.  I did feel I was missing loads of important things this time, especially with regard to the other tributes, that presumably are of significance in the book, but I thought the design, pace and structure of the thing were great, and Jennifer Lawrence was, again, extraordinarily watchable.  The still-horrifically-named Katniss Everdeen could be a ghastly wish-fulfillment creation, but somehow her mix of utterly steely pragmatism and vulnerable confusion makes her a quite compelling character - although I suspect much of this exists in Lawrence's superb performance rather than in the script.  The abruptly-sprung cliffhanger left me immediately checking IMDB to see how soon I could see the next part, and from an adapted YA serial, you can't ask for much more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 October, 2014, 03:51:29 PM
Europa Report

More accurately, the first half of Europa Report because I turned it off out of boredom.
I'd heard good things about this film but I'm afraid I found it pretty dismal. There were only two characters that were approaching anything interesting (the old guy Blok and James who had a wife and child at home and so had to die).
Everything I saw in the first half hour I'd seen in other films which were more entertaining. I read the synopsis on Wikipedia after switching off, just in case there was some amazing twist I was going to miss. Didn't look like it.

I don't like being so negative about films but I can't think of much good to say about it. It looks quite nice  considering the low budget but that isn't much help if the story and characters aren't entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 October, 2014, 06:14:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 October, 2014, 02:33:15 PMThe still-horrifically-named Katniss Everdeen could be a ghastly wish-fulfillment creation, but somehow her mix of utterly steely pragmatism and vulnerable confusion makes her a quite compelling character - although I suspect much of this exists in Lawrence's superb performance rather than in the script.

I have heard from someone who read the series that the films make her a much less manipulative and unlikeable character than the books do.
There are some not-terrible HG offerings like Weeping Willow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-xwmNDuGgI) and The Hanging Tree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7djN9T9Oqk) that help field the idea that there's a lot you're missing if you haven't read the books, but some Hunger Games wiki-ing reveals that it's just enthusiastic fans padding out the mythology.  Katniss vs Bella (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqq1TYOg_p8) is just as pointless as you'd expect, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 October, 2014, 04:22:18 PM
Dracula (1958). 
Glorious stuff, and at a perfect running time, and  featuring additional footage cut back in.

They really don't make 'em like this anymore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 26 October, 2014, 04:38:18 PM
That, sir, is a quality choice of movie viewing!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 October, 2014, 05:11:58 PM
Quote from: Zombear on 24 October, 2014, 06:14:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 October, 2014, 02:33:15 PMThe still-horrifically-named Katniss Everdeen could be a ghastly wish-fulfillment creation, but somehow her mix of utterly steely pragmatism and vulnerable confusion makes her a quite compelling character - although I suspect much of this exists in Lawrence's superb performance rather than in the script.

I have heard from someone who read the series that the films make her a much less manipulative and unlikeable character than the books do.

Blimey, 'cos she's a pretty cynical manipulator in the films so far! 

As noted by several on this forum when the first film came out, there's an impressively serious if simplistic socio-political commentary going on that I genuinely like.  Proper SF, like.

I really am going to have to read the books.

Enjoying those fanfilms, by the way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 October, 2014, 05:14:05 PM
QuoteI have heard from someone who read the series that the films make her a much less manipulative and unlikeable character than the books do.

This is very true, She's incredibly unlikable in the books, but you still find yourself rooting for her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 October, 2014, 05:41:56 PM
King Kong (2005) is on telly at the moment.
There's a really good hour and twenty minute remake buried in this somewhere but the whole thing is just so overblown and overlong.
The other major mistake they make, in my opinion, is that the Ann Darrow character seems to genuinely fall in love with, or have some emotional relationship with Kong. In the original it seems to me that she's utterly terrified by Kong but she still has compassion for him (which is a relationship most sensible people share with dangerous wild animals).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 26 October, 2014, 10:05:00 PM
Filth. Man, that's some dark shit. Mr Tumnus (sorry, that' who he is to me!) is nothing short of completely astounding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 26 October, 2014, 10:10:47 PM
The Purge: Anarchy. Not exactly high art or highbrow satire but there's something very 2000AD-ish about the concept that I like. I'm not going to go as far as suggesting you should watch it, but I did enjoy it.

Also: Frank Grillo as The Punisher. Easy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 26 October, 2014, 10:19:17 PM
Saw the first Purge, extremely daft, but very enjoyable, will give Anarchy a whirl!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 26 October, 2014, 10:26:39 PM
Far more enjoyable than the first one, I thought. Although I just assume EVERY night is like that in downtown Los Angeles once the sun goes down...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 October, 2014, 03:55:52 PM
Terminator. Since it had it's 30th anniversary on the 26th.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 October, 2014, 05:01:09 PM
Cube

This was a bit of a cult/indie hit when I first saw it in the late 90s. It's still quite good - very watchable at least - but the gory traps and death trap premise have dulled a bit in the wake of the later 'torture porn' style films, where they took similar ideas too far.
I'd recommend giving it a watch even if it's not half as clever as it thinks it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 28 October, 2014, 05:12:59 PM
Fido starring Billy Connoly as a pet zombie. Funny despite the inevitable corniness of the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 01 November, 2014, 09:33:48 AM
Been watch Snowpiercer on Netflix USA, so awesome!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 01 November, 2014, 09:34:12 PM
r.i.p.d

enjoyed it despite some duff reviews
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 November, 2014, 10:42:15 PM
Skyfall.  Good grief, what an unholy mess.  Enjoyed the first two-thirds, soothing mix of beautifully shot exotic locations, ridiculous plots and daft stunts, disturbing misogyny and hammy villians (i.e. James Bond), but the minute the [spoiler]Aston Martin[/spoiler] showed up the whole thing turned to utter shite and got increasingly worse until it mercifully ended, but not before doling out some of the stupidest scenes in recent cinema.  What a shame, and a bit of a disgrace, really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 02 November, 2014, 05:57:24 AM
Nightcrawler. Really really good, tense, darkly humorous at times, freakin' magic. So good!

Also really enjoyed John Wick and Birdman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2014, 09:27:45 AM
Godzilla.

Too long and not enough monster. Frustratingly too little monster; all arty farty views through closing doors and windows, when I was up for some Power Rangers style monster on monster smack downs.

I know it's a budget thing but, after the Avengers, I want to see the destruction. Heck, I paid to see it. Not a pretty after shot.

And it was way too dark, in terms of lighting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 November, 2014, 12:01:30 PM
Not so much last movie watched, more like movie currently watching...

Lassie come home (1943). Hope this int the one that made me cry when I was seven.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 November, 2014, 01:18:10 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2014, 09:27:45 AM
Godzilla.

Too long and not enough monster. Frustratingly too little monster;
You've never seen another Godzilla movie, have you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 November, 2014, 01:39:46 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2014, 09:27:45 AM
I know it's a budget thing...

Is it a budget thing, though?  It felt like a deliberate attempt to give the big guy some mystique, and to keep the final full-frontal throw-down special (which it is).  In hideously sexist* terminology, it's a burlesque show rather than 2 hours in a nudist colony.

I agree that I could have stood to have a little more monster, a lot more Walt, and a lot less Sgt. Kickass, but the choices did made for a distinctive movie.  Certainly better than a watching a scaleless abomination chasing Apu through the urban levels from Out-Run for what seemed like days.


*Or possibly not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2014, 06:49:46 PM
Alien and The Thing. A halloween double bill with Tiny Tips.

He declared both awesome.

I had forgotten how little gore there was in Alien and quite how much it looks like a man in a suit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 02 November, 2014, 07:47:41 PM
Two great movies choices there Tips.

You're right about Alien and there is a bit in the making of The Thing documentary where John Carpenter says how much he admired Alien but it was another movie with a guy in a suit and they were determined to do something different with The Thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 November, 2014, 09:15:46 PM

Captain America: The First Avenger. I didn't watch it before because I thought it would be rank, but it was actually a lot of fun. Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving are hilarious, and they even get away with nicking that bit in A Matter Of Life And Death (http://youtu.be/JSruSe_m8OI) where a tearful Kim Hunter talks David Niven into the ocean for their finale.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 November, 2014, 10:18:11 PM
I'm a big fan of the first Alien film and always felt it was shot well enough to enable my suspension of disbelief in regards to it being a guy in a suit.  It is definitely my favourite film of the franchise.

Oddly I haven't got around to watching The Thing (probably not my worst cinema viewing crime as I'm often berated for not having watched American Werewolf in London).  I did recently watch They Live.  Certainly not the best Carpenter film it was pretty entertaining.  Especially the fight scene that seemed like it was never going to end.

The First Avenger was a surprise for me.  I was expecting something more bland and generic and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by it.  When I recently watched The Winter Soldier I found myself disappointed because I don't think it lived up to the expectations that the first film instilled in me.  Winter Soldier lacked the charm of First Avenger and was frustratingly predictable.

As I'm writing about Marvel films, I also recently saw X-Men: Days of Future Past.  All in all I enjoyed this film for what it was although it may have exhausted some of it's initial steam.  I enjoyed it more than First Class and was impressed by Evan Peters portrayal of Quicksilver (I don't really know the character but I liked the performance).  The only sour point was what seemed like a link to the early 2000 X-Men films which ended up introducing a confused continuity.  I was quite happy to see the cast members from those films reprise their roles, but the suggestion that all five of these films are of one continuity just doesn't sit right with me.  From what I understood the two sets of films were of different continuities.  Seemed unnecessary.  Otherwise, I really enjoyed the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 November, 2014, 11:00:30 PM
The Cabin In The Woods

I really like this film, in fact I think it's become something of an instant classic.
I think it gets just about everything right. It has humour, gore and scares in equal measure and it subverts the genre while also paying tribute to it. Massively entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 03 November, 2014, 03:31:20 AM
I saw Aliens last night with a friend who had never seen it before.

Shockingly, those people exist.

I don't think it'll ever NOT be a brilliant way to spend an evening. One of my all-time favourite movies, and it has the delightful benefit of being quotable in a way movies just dont seem to manage these days.

That scene where Ripley and Newt are trapped in the room STILL makes me shiver.

One observation: You know how people complain about Lucas and Spielberg fiddling with their classic movies via intrusive CGI? I actually think this movie would benefit from a little technical jiggery pokery to update it. The dropship scenes do look a bit naff now, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 November, 2014, 10:48:50 PM
Two colleagues of mine insisted I watch Highlander which they were stunned that I had never seen...

It's dated to fuckery but has a genuine mad charm. The Queen soundtrack is brilliant - clearly though "there can be only one" has become an awkward epitaph for the franchise...

as in there probably should only have been this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 November, 2014, 02:13:40 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 November, 2014, 10:48:50 PM
Two colleagues of mine insisted I watch Highlander which they were stunned that I had never seen...

It's dated to fuckery but has a genuine mad charm. The Queen soundtrack is brilliant - clearly though "there can be only one" has become an awkward epitaph for the franchise...

as in there probably should only have been this one.

Equally stunned you'd never seen it.  :o

And no matter what anyone tells you, there were no sequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 05 November, 2014, 02:56:30 PM
A frenchman pretending to be a scotsman explains haggis to a scotsman pretending to be a spaniard/egyptian(its been a while). Even as a teenager I thought WTF!

Still love it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 November, 2014, 11:05:38 PM
Saw it a while back and it was just a cacophony! But loved it when younger. Several of my biker mates at the time were in it iirc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 November, 2014, 12:05:54 AM
Death Run, a zero-budget English post-apocalyptic actioner made by some mates in a field, who occasionally break character when they sober up long enough to realise they're actually doing that thing they discussed doing in the pub last night.  It's one of those movies that gets so bad it becomes hilarious to watch, especially the bit where the bloke realises cannibals have been feeding him his girlfriend and throws up continuously for five minutes while fighting them, or the training montage near the end which is just two blokes doing push-ups and rolling around on the grass - and the music is unreal.
Some helpful chap has put the whole thing on Youtube where absolutely no-one is telling them to take it down, almost like whoever actually owns it doesn't want to come forward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrWMf4NMO7o which is a shame because I want a hard copy as brass balls like these deserve to be rewarded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 November, 2014, 02:51:30 AM
I have just finished watching This is the End.  A rather self-indulgent film on the part of those involved with the film making.  Many celebrities playing themselves (or rather, parodies of themselves) during a biblical apocalypse.  A couple of moments made me chuckle, many moments were somewhat tiresome and predictable. The ending sucks.  The effects were pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 November, 2014, 06:25:24 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 November, 2014, 02:13:40 PM

And no matter what anyone tells you, there were no sequels.

While I was about say there were sequels and even a live television and cartoon series.

I understand, I would be one of those people and know what your mean ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 November, 2014, 06:35:11 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 November, 2014, 06:25:24 AM
While I was about say there were sequels and even a live television and cartoon series.

Back to Zeist with you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 November, 2014, 11:11:43 AM
I liked the cartoon show...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 November, 2014, 07:58:09 PM
And videogames. Don't forget the videogames.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Stacey on 07 November, 2014, 09:32:39 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 November, 2014, 06:35:11 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 November, 2014, 06:25:24 AM
While I was about say there were sequels and even a live television and cartoon series.

Back to Zeist with you.
They retconned the fuck out of Zeist years ago. The 'Renegade edition' of 2 got rid of that cobblers in 95. The latest remaster (which was a fantastic job) is actually pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Prodigal2 on 07 November, 2014, 11:42:17 AM
Grudge match with Stallone and De Niro. I don't care if it was panned by the critics. I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 November, 2014, 08:14:51 PM
Just got back from Interstellar. I thoroughly enjoyed this film despite what critics are saying. This is not a fast paced action thriller, but a thoughtful look at what could possibly be. Visually stunning to be sure, but the story is a fascinating mix of science fact and fiction. There are some problems, but I can overlook them.

[spoiler]The one really irritating thing is that apparently, at the end of the world, only the US can save us.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 09 November, 2014, 12:39:15 AM
Just back from the screening of Interstellar, and what can I say, I was absolutely blown away by it. And I do not say that lightly, or nor am I a so called 'Nolanite'. In fact, I thought The Dark Knight Rises was probably his weakest film, and Inception just passed me by. It's only when I sat down to watch it did I realise how good it was. For me, up until Interstellar, I thought The Prestige and The Dark Knight were his best films (Memento, as good as it is, was pretty damn confusing!).

There are not enough superlatives I can lavish on his latest film though; it's very close to perfection.

A year back when I got an idea of Interstellar's subject matter, and what it would involve, I was quite literally salivating at the prospect! my head immediately filled with all the possibilties of what we might witness on screen. Wormholes? Dimensions? Interstellar travel? I was already sold. But could Nolan pull it off?

Well let me say, after watching the film, yes, we do get all that, but the thing which totally grabbed me was the love story; the relationship between father and daughter. The third act of the film made me a blubbering wreck, not many films could do that! As a father of two kids (a boy and a girl), this probably affected me more. I could understand the sacrifice that McConaughey's character had to make. But you can never underestimate a father's love. There's a moment when his father-in-law says something on the lines of "Don't make any promises you cannot keep (to your girl)". Does he take heed from that? "I will come back" he tells her, so determined is he to not let her down. And it's this part of the father daughter relationship which traverses space, time, and even dimensions, and it absolutely floored me.

Nolan's spectacle is also breathtaking. The spaceship Endurance's travel through a eerily quiet space. The ship almost like a speck of gold dust against the back drop of Saturn and her rings. It certainly brings things into perspective. The vastness of space is awe inducing, and you get a sense of how insignificant we all are against this back drop. The planets are also realised beautifully, or actually, in one case, terrifyingly so! The visual and practical effects are so seamless and magnificent to look at. And a memorable (and even shocking) demonstration of how time works in space.

We also have the wonderful robot Tars, who at first resembles a walking fridge, but we soon see this guy's versatility in action! There's another unit too, but Tars is definitely one of the stars of the show.

There are some minor niggles along the way though. Certain scenes could do with a little trimming, and others could do with more emphasis and detail perhaps. This was one of those films which I felt would've been better if it was more longer!

And that third act, in particular [spoiler]the black hole scene[/spoiler], that was just breathtaking. Totally and utterly breathtaking. As a science nerd, and especially one who finds all these dimensional/ relativity stuff fascinating, I absolutely lapped it up! I'd also like to say that I knew [spoiler]who or what the 'spook' was[/spoiler], from the start! In fact, I was hoping it was the case and eventually was proved correct.

Interstellar is a film for all the dreamers out there. Those, who as little kids, looked up into the night skies through their telescopes, or even just gazing at the stars with the naked eyes, thinking about the vastness of space. Of the galaxies, stars, planets or even life in the cosmos. I was one such boy. And that is perhaps, why this film so enthralled me. It's no 2001, and to be honest, what is? It's not meant to be like Kubrick's film. But this film has mystery, thrills, wonder, and heart in abundance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 November, 2014, 09:12:08 AM
Well after a shitty two days i'm gonna be taking it easy by doing a few house hold chores, then settling down to watch the Mad Max trilogy on BD (nabed in ASDA yesterday for £10!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 November, 2014, 10:23:17 AM
Interstellar.

A good trailer (which is just about all Hollywood can manage these days), but a poor film, overall.


And a film that confirmed my suspicions, that the Nolan brothers are an average talent really.
The visual spectacle is what you'd expect from a big budget film, but still, genuine 'wow' moments are few and far between , and the emotional scenes are poorly executed

Not 2001 for a new generation. Simply a film by two people who have seen 2001. And Battlestar Galactica...

Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 09 November, 2014, 01:07:09 PM
i thought Inception was shit so probably pass on Interstellar

While he's at it maybe he could have a go at Innovative or even Interesting?

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2014, 08:00:57 AM
Interstella 5555 - with Leiji Matsumoto providing visual direction, Daft Punk turn their album 'Discovery' into an anime epic.  I've seen it before, but watched it this time with my eldest daughter.  Despite not a single word being uttered during the whole film, she was enthralled. 

If anyone loves anime with a real 'Battle of the Planets' feel, set to a great soundrtrack, with a simple but decent plot, then you can't go wrong with this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 November, 2014, 10:16:12 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2014, 08:00:57 AM
Interstella 5555 - with Leiji Matsumoto providing visual direction, Daft Punk turn their album 'Discovery' into an anime epic.  I've seen it before, but watched it this time with my eldest daughter.  Despite not a single word being uttered during the whole film, she was enthralled. 

If anyone loves anime with a real 'Battle of the Planets' feel, set to a great soundrtrack, with a simple but decent plot, then you can't go wrong with this.

I guess this is what they used for the videos for 'One More Time' and a couple of other tracks?
I loved the video but didn't realise it was an actual film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 November, 2014, 12:30:36 PM
You're Next - took me a while to get around to this but really liked it. Good fun horror jape with a good grisly sense of humor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 November, 2014, 12:50:45 PM
QuoteYou're Next - took me a while to get around to this but really liked it. Good fun horror jape with a good grisly sense of humor.

I'm always on the look out for any-way-decent horror movies I haven't seen yet Keef, so have added this to my Amazon basket for this week. Less than a fiver anyway!

Last movie watched for me was We Are What We Are, an English language re-make of a Mexican film of the same name (which I haven't seen).
The filmmakers are the creative team behind the enjoyable Stake Land from a couple years ago.

It didn't blow me away, but the performances were brilliant, especially from the younger cast members.

And now I know the leading cause of Prion disease too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 November, 2014, 01:38:39 PM
Kick Ass 2.

Very enjoyable as a brainless comedy/action romp. It was pretty violent, as was the first film, but despite the Jim Carey debacle I didn't think it was particularly shocking. The best bit was when Hit Girl got her revenge on the bitchy girls in the school canteen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 November, 2014, 02:02:58 PM
Anyone seen the Babadook?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 10 November, 2014, 02:16:06 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 November, 2014, 02:02:58 PM
Anyone seen the Babadook?

As a drama about a single mother with an emotionally troubled child it was great, as a horror film not so much. Though I did like the ending.

After talking about it in the pub and realising I couldnt remember much about it I rewatched PRINCE OF DARKNESS at the weekend. Ignoring the well dodgy hairstyles its still a class act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 10 November, 2014, 02:52:48 PM
Christopher Reeve's Superman. Well, I caught a few minutes of it as I was busy working.

Dark this, dark that. I get it. But Superman 1 & 2 are the best superhero films ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 November, 2014, 03:02:55 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 10 November, 2014, 02:52:48 PM
Christopher Reeve's Superman. Well, I caught a few minutes of it as I was busy working.

Dark this, dark that. I get it. But Superman 1 & 2 are the best superhero films ever.

Isn't it sad, somehow, that Hollywood still can't live up to those films?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 November, 2014, 04:31:49 PM
Just finally watch remake RoboCop on Netflix, it was out last Friday.

Wow, is that it? Not exciting, just lame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 November, 2014, 05:10:05 PM
Watched the Babadook - really enjoyed it as both a horror movie and a drama :)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 12 November, 2014, 03:14:43 PM
just caught the hunger games on film 4...enjoyed it despite thinking it was a harry potter /percy Jackson thing ....thought the game would be more brutal though and don't know why anyone would team up together
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 November, 2014, 06:30:46 PM
Northern Soul.

'Twas OK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 November, 2014, 08:50:14 PM
The 1950's 'The Fly' on Netflix. I didn't know Vincent Price was only a bit part in this. Story was a bit slight to cover 90 minutes with, for example, 10 minutes spent chasing a fly about the house to pad it out. Couple of classic bits and a great ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 13 November, 2014, 09:51:21 AM
The Wolverine - saw this at the cinema and thought it was ok without being anything too special. However it was a million times better than the Origins film. I watched it mainly to remind myself what had happened ahead of my first viewing of Days of Future Past, which I will see either tonight or tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 November, 2014, 09:45:05 AM
Blackfish is possibly the movie thats had me tearing up the most and perfectly illustrates my distaste for sea world. You can't keep an advanced animal in a fish tank, Orcas are too clever for us. Hell,they have the same level of cereberal activity as us. Protect cetaceans, please.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 14 November, 2014, 12:51:57 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 10 November, 2014, 02:52:48 PM
Christopher Reeve's Superman. Well, I caught a few minutes of it as I was busy working.

Dark this, dark that. I get it. But Superman 1 & 2 are the best superhero films ever.

I saw Superman 1 last weekend.  It's easy to get too nostalgic about those old films and they are not without their own flaws.  Despite really rating Gene Hackman as an actor, I can't stand his Lex.  One thing that does stand out about those old movies is the way they really nailed the feeling of characters being in peril, especially Lois as she's dangling from a helicopter or about to be crushed in her car.  Those scenes just really get me on edge.

I don't hate the recent MoS, but even with all of Metropolis falling down they never managed to convey that same sense of danger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 November, 2014, 09:45:35 AM
Methinks Amy Adams' riduculously awful 'falling through mid-air to certain death' acting may have a little to do with that. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 November, 2014, 11:05:09 AM
Superman Returns failed to get a decent Lois Lane as well.  It's a sad day when the best recent incarnation was the animated one followed by Smallville's Erica Durance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 November, 2014, 05:08:23 PM
I thought Bosworth was an okay Lois, because she downplayed the obvious implications of her character waking up one day and not remembering the guy who'd got her pregnant.  There's never even a hint of her resenting her child, or viewing him as a reminder of what must have been a truly traumatic stretch of her life, which I think gives the character a kind of class she never usually displays.  It's only when Superman's around that she lapses into being the kind of dick that other actresses play the character as, especially when she chucks the selfless, kind and loyal Richard for someone she must surely view at that point as her rapist.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may have the best last hour of any film ever, but I wouldn't know as the first 30 minutes are fucking appalling and it's become the third film I've ever walked out on (if you count Just Married (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m55tto-T1Y), which was playing in my house).  Despite being filmed in a super-serious way, it's somehow also disgusted at the silliness of its own premise despite being the fourth live-action movie adaptation of a billion-dollar worldwide franchise.
A noisy, nonsensical and amateurish piece of shit that is everything that's wrong with cinema - I fully expect that it has made a billion dollars already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 November, 2014, 06:14:37 PM
Horns. Doesn't know whether to be a comedy, a horror or a drama and so ends up being nothing very much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 November, 2014, 08:52:56 PM
Quote from: Allah Akbark on 15 November, 2014, 05:08:23 PM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may have the best last hour of any film ever, but I wouldn't know as the first 30 minutes are fucking appalling and it's become the third film I've ever walked out on (if you count Just Married (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m55tto-T1Y), which was playing in my house).  Despite being filmed in a super-serious way, it's somehow also disgusted at the silliness of its own premise despite being the fourth live-action movie adaptation of a billion-dollar worldwide franchise.
A noisy, nonsensical and amateurish piece of shit that is everything that's wrong with cinema - I fully expect that it has made a billion dollars already.

You have confirmed some of my suspicions about this film.  I wasn't considering watching it due to the involvement of Michael Bay as Producer because I felt the film would just be a noisy, nonsensical and amateurish piece of shit.  It's nice for my preconception to be validated.

I would much rather watch the first TMNT film.  There is a charm to the film that will never fail to seduce me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 November, 2014, 09:59:22 PM
I watched that series of films a few years ago and while they certainly aren't Citizen Kanes, there's a fantasy quality to them that the new film lacks, set as it is in a dour, joyless, grubby and thoroughly-dated version of NYC compared to the colourful sewer undergrounds of before.  The characters even seem like children in the '90s flicks compared to their modern counterparts who just sound like unfunny action movie leads with not much to distinguish the voice actors in terms of delivery or individual character.

I'm not really a Turtles fan so my expectations were pretty low, but even so it was still a shockingly poor film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 November, 2014, 10:13:47 PM
I loved the Turtles as a kid, so there is a nostalgia factor as well that is keeping me away from the new film.  I have recently watched the original kids TV show again and found it did not age well.  Haven't read the original comics in a long time but remembered them as being the best representation of the Turtles I had experienced (and surprised how different they were).  The first film is the only one of the films I have time for today.  I agree that the Turtles had a more teenage quality to them in that film and a good amount of depth as well (because we should never presume teenagers aren't capable of depth).  From what I've seen from trailers of this new film I would agree with your assessment of the Turtles characterisations.

I think they look stupid in the new film, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 November, 2014, 05:58:48 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 November, 2014, 10:13:47 PM
I loved the Turtles as a kid, so there is a nostalgia factor as well that is keeping me away from the new film. 

My 8-yr old loves the current Turtles cartoon, and even he can't be bothered to see the new film.  "Why did they have to make it look so stupid?", he enquires every time the trailer runs, which is pretty damning criticism from someone who enjoys Transformers movies - unironically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2014, 06:40:36 PM
Has your son seen the original film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 November, 2014, 08:36:12 AM
REIGN OF FIRE
Christian Bale and Matthew McConnaughey, both bearded and weird, fight dragons in a post apocalyptic Britain.

Actually a solidly entertaining 100 minutes with some fantastic looking dragons (when you see them) and two really tense sequences (trying to kill a dragon by throwing themselves out of a helicopter (really) and cat and mouse with the big bad at the end). Oh and Gerard Butler pops up playing a slightly prettier version of James McAvoy.

How come Isabella Scorupco appears to fly a helicopter through dragon infested skies with impunity? 'Cos she's a bond girl, of course.  But where do they get all of their fuel?

Oh and the box art/poster totally lies to you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 November, 2014, 10:09:17 AM
Darknet

Well it not a film, but web series of 6 episodes, horror anthology series, it was on Netflix, and thought that was so brilliant dark, show the dark side of human, link to media social etc, very V/H/S style, with different stories, but warning some was shock!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 17 November, 2014, 12:43:56 PM
Seems like we have had a busy weekend watching movies folks.  This weekend I saw:

Transcendence

Blimey, this was hard work.  I think there is a good movie in there but they managed to cover it up with a lot of nonsense.  Even now, I'm not clear whether this movie was taking a pro or anti technological stance.  Both sides of the argument seemed as selfish and fanatic as the other so it's hard to know who we are supposed to root for.  There are also plenty of quality actors who were massively underused. 

Invasion USA

Ahhh, thats better - after the confusing trascendence I needed to just put my brain in nuetral so decided to spend a couple of hours with Chuck 'Hunter' Norris.  I can't recommend this enough.  Its got alligator wrestling, double denim, twim uzis and bazookas being shot form the hip.  If you love crazy 80s movies like Cobra then you should definitely see what has to be one of Chuck's finest ever movies.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 November, 2014, 01:58:36 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55RUgUbW3g

No-one makes dumbass mid-80s action movies like Chuck Norris before you knew he was a homophobic racist scumbag who likes to bully children.  In my mind, I like to think of there being two Chuck Norris-s-s-s-s - the cartoon character from Karate Kommandos who does jump-kicks off dolphins and insists we be fair to each other and stay healthy and who occasionally makes cartoons for grown-ups like Lone Wolf McQuade* and who sadly passed away after making bear-wrestling reality tv documentary series Walker: Texas Ranger, and the other Chuck Norris who shares a name and a 'tash with the nice Chuck but is an asshole.


* A movie which features a scene where McQuade gets drunk and drives out of his own grave in a pickup truck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 November, 2014, 02:18:29 PM
Snowpiercer. I've not read the graphic novel so I can't make comparisons, but it was fairly derivative of many other dystopian stories (class structure bad, equality for all good, blah, blah, blah), and while there were some really good performances (Tilda Swinton), overall it was kind of dull. In the end it was all pretty pointless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 November, 2014, 06:43:09 PM
Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Well this is shaping up to be a very solid little trilogy - who'd have thought it? While I didn't like this one quite as much as the first, it's still really good stuff. Refreshingly bleak in tone with some good character work - in fact it doesn't really feel like a blockbuster at all for the first hour or so (which is a complement, in that the film doesn't need to rely on action set-pieces to hold the viewer's attention). As with Rise... I never really thought the simian characters looked anywhere approaching photo-real, but it just goes to show how much good writing and performances aids with suspension of disbelief.

For me it all fell apart a bit towards the end - the trite countdown/exploding building/deathmatch scenario felt contrived, unnecessary and over the top, and the 'apes riding horses wielding machineguns that apparently have an unlimited supply of ammo' crossed the line into outright schlocky B-movie silliness. In fact overall I thought it would have been a much more effective film if the scale had been much smaller - with just a handful of humans and apes. I think it would have paradoxically would have made for a tighter, more tense story with higher stakes.

4/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 November, 2014, 06:53:35 PM
Yes, I expected the first ape charge to be a slaughter because they didn't know how to insert the ammo clips (because weapons aren't generally stored loaded) or cock the guns, figure out the safety catches and auto/semi-auto settings etc. Then they would have to rely on their own physical abilities and simple weapons, which I think would have made for a better ending.
.
Otherwise, yeah, a good little movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 18 November, 2014, 03:58:41 PM
Empire Records - this came recommended to me by several people over the years, and it popped up on Netflix, so I thought what the hell, why not?

Jesus H Christ, what a complete and utter pile of wank!  Stupid angst teens do zany things to shit music in a record store which seemingly only lets white people in. 

What a fucking waste of 1.5 hours of my life.  I'm going to hunt down the folk who recommended this to me, tie them up, and make them watch Spiceworld.  It's only fair.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 November, 2014, 04:40:52 PM
Empire Records is certainly not the best coming of age film.  If you like the idea of coming of age films mixed with a music based theme I'd recommend Almost Famous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 November, 2014, 05:32:55 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 18 November, 2014, 03:58:41 PM
Stupid angst teens do zany things to shit music in a record store which seemingly only lets white people in. 

I've always suspected a lot of enthusiasm for that movie was based on Liv Tyler in her pants. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 November, 2014, 06:08:54 PM
Empire Records is great fun and I won't hear a bad word about it.
It's not really a coming of age film in the same vain as Almost Famous (you'd be better comparing it to something like Mallrats) - it's just a fluffy MTV style comedy with a bit of an emotional 'journey' bolted on. It's very of its time - promoting hot new talent like Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger and screaming 'Mid-Nineties' in the process. The real star of the show is Maxwell Caulfield who is absolutely hilarious as the egotistical heartthrob.
While I can accept that it may not be to some people's taste I think it takes a hard heart to begrudge films like this their place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 November, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Yeah, I kind of agree. I haven't seen Empire Records in 15+ years but remember it quite fondly. I know a lot of people around my age who regard it as one of those iconic special movies of their childhood. It's cheesy, but no more so than anything John Hughes ever did.

Seems odd to take such an aggressive stance against such a gentle film aimed at mid-1990s tweens - it's certainly not a cynical piece of pop culture trash like Spice World.

Of that genre/era, I'm very fond of Clueless and both Brady Bunch movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 November, 2014, 07:38:23 PM
Quote from: radiator on 18 November, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Of that genre/era, I'm very fond of Clueless and both Brady Bunch movies.

Well naturally.  Those are three brilliant films.  Clueless remains the best thing with Jane Austen's name on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 18 November, 2014, 07:44:23 PM
Urgh. I can't even begin to explain why I hate it so much without going into full blown rant mode. It was horrible. It seems I shall just have to stand alone in my complete antipathy towards it then.

I do it to myself really. I force myself to sit through these films in the hope that some good will come of it.

If it is any consolation, I felt the same towards The Breakfast Club.

High Fidelity - there's a good film about a record store, music, and to a lesser degree, youthful relationships.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 November, 2014, 10:21:14 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 18 November, 2014, 07:44:23 PM
High Fidelity - there's a good film about a record store, music, and to a lesser degree, youthful relationships.

In the Top Five.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 November, 2014, 10:55:50 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 October, 2014, 01:03:56 AM
'Fury' - Brad Pitting starring WW2 tank battle extravaganza. Out this week but I got a free preview ticket - thanks Telegraph Readers Club! - wife's not mine. It came with a bonus feature of 30 minutes of the stars taking selfies with fans at the London première - hope that makes the Blu-Ray!

It was quite good. The battles were excellent with a 'Saving Private Ryan' eye for the savagery of battle - the tracer did look a bit ray gun for me though. It followed the exact same narrative as 'Ryan' with a rookie joining the crew, an ill fated meet up with civilians and then a long final battle against impossible odds.

It lacked much in the way of characterisation or decent acting, with Shia LaBouff just crying a lot. Good body count and hardware if you like that sort of thing.

I have to disagree with a lot of this. Great film but hard to describe it as enjoyable as it is so unrelentingly grim. Even the downtime scenes have an edge that something horrible is just about to happen.

Performances were great; the stand out being a physical tour de force from Jon Bernthal with an exaggerated neanderthal swagger that has you believe he IS another species. 

The battles are short and brutal; the four shermans vs. The Tiger being the stand out. And the final heroic stand has an air of the Audey Murphy about it with Brad vs winging on the 50 cal. Convenient that the ss don't have a flamethrower with them.

I left the cinema feeling slightly shell shocked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 November, 2014, 11:12:01 PM
The Gamers.  A 2002 low-budget film about D&D gamers.  Better than what I was expecting with a couple of moments that made me chuckle slightly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2014, 12:12:54 AM
Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy)

He must have been proper mental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2014, 07:48:26 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2014, 12:12:54 AM
Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy)

He must have been proper mental.

The most incredible part of that bio to me is that he was only 46 when I was born, younger than my uncle.  I often forget how little time separates us from these seemingly legendary figures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 20 November, 2014, 12:13:19 PM
Last night I sat down to finally watch Fritz Lang's Complete Metropolis. I've actually had the Blu-ray release for several years, but have been sitting on it because I knew watching it was going to be... an event. Especially with its two and a half hour run time.

This movie... what they accomplished in 1927... just mind boggling. Its a work of art. Its unfortunately that a good 30 minutes of run time is of really damaged quality. But its amazing that those segments continue to exist at all.

The effects work in this movie defy expectations, the shear amount of money they blew making this movie is very apparent. It puts even talky era movies 10 years after it to shame. At the same time you can totally tell that they were still trying to figure out this whole 'moving pictures' thing. Its pacing is rather lumbering. And its message a bit sugar sweat. While also being pretty poignant? And its final act descends into a very cliche 'hero vs villain to save the girl' moment that was rather distracting.

But this is a must see movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2014, 12:34:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 November, 2014, 07:48:26 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2014, 12:12:54 AM
Audie Murphey... dang spell correct thing.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy)

He must have been proper mental.

The most incredible part of that bio to me is that he was only 46 when I was born, younger than my uncle.  I often forget how little time separates us from these seemingly legendary figures.

http://research.archives.gov/description/299775 (http://research.archives.gov/description/299775)
This is an account of the action that won him the Medal of Honour.  And it does read like something out of a movie/video game.  But you do have to wonder, what were the rest of his platoon doing while he was being a bullet and shell magnet?

(No doubt about it - I'd have been shitting myself in a ditch!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gladwin on 21 November, 2014, 02:07:51 PM
Just watched the latest Conan the barbarian film. It was so poor (acting and plot particularly bad). Action was okay (But the end fight scene was poor). Came away wanting to watch the original again (like shawshank redemption in comparison).

Got RED, and Tinker Taylor Soilder Spy next to watch on my sky box. Not too sure what one to go for first. Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 November, 2014, 02:12:28 PM
TTSS is not as good as the Alec Guiness version, but still very good, but more serious in tone. RED is pretty good fun on the otherhand. Go with whatever your mood is dictating. Both are good choices.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gladwin on 21 November, 2014, 02:13:43 PM
Probably RED then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2014, 05:02:27 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 20 November, 2014, 12:34:24 PMAnd it does read like something out of a movie/video game.  But you do have to wonder, what were the rest of his platoon doing while he was being a bullet and shell magnet?

It's an amazing, well-written, account, but you have to wonder about some of the specifics.  A full hour's worth of ammo for a continuously-firing 50 caliber machine gun?  An already-destroyed tank destroyer that can't be effectively targeted by 6 tanks?  I can't help seeing some creative embellishment, but even allowing for that, the actions it's based on must have been genuinely insane.  Some man for one man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 November, 2014, 05:36:18 PM
From what I can gather from the account given by Pvt Abramski, the TD wasn't destroyed, the crew were simply driven out by it being on fire and full of live ammunition for the 50 cal as the positions had been fortified beforehand, which I presume is why it was hard for six tanks to draw an effective bead on a stationary target.  Murphy wasn't firing constantly, he fired on any clear targets or attempts to advance, and it took an hour to run out of ammo, at which point he went and got some more guns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 November, 2014, 06:53:31 PM
Rational analysis of texts is so passé.  Just read it quickly, and adopt a cynical tone.  It's where it's at, daddio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 November, 2014, 01:31:29 PM
It's a clever idea riffing a real life situation like that. When people argue that Brad and crew's last stand is not realistic you just point at Audie Murphy and say "See. And he was on his own.".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 23 November, 2014, 01:21:20 AM
Is it me or is Minority Report one of awesome smart film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 23 November, 2014, 01:51:09 AM
Dale & Tucker vs Evil - it was absolutely hilarious! A comedy of errors with laughs, gore, but most importantly, a lot of heart. Probably up there now with Shaun of the Dead and The Evil Dead series as my favourite comedy horror. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine make the perfect comedy duo, like a hillbilly version of Laurel and hardy. Some great dialogue in the film too. Great stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 November, 2014, 06:47:00 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 23 November, 2014, 01:21:20 AM
Is it me or is Minority Report one of awesome smart film!

it's not you. i'm not much of a fan of Cruise, but I think that's a great film with a clever thought provoking story.

[spoiler]And that twisted humour involving the eyeball transplants really tickled me.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 November, 2014, 12:39:17 PM
"Guardians of the Galaxy" - I didn't have high hopes for this film but, boy, did I enjoy it. It's smart, funny, well-acted and very entertaining. Very occasionally, and I know I'll be branded a heathen for this, while I was watching it put me in mind of Star Wars. Not through any similarity in story or character but just the exuberant mood of the piece. Great stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 November, 2014, 12:53:45 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 23 November, 2014, 01:21:20 AM
Is it me or is Minority Report one of awesome smart film!

It is not just you. Watched it again last week and I still think it is very near the top of PDK adaptations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 23 November, 2014, 02:20:20 PM
Shudder.... Moulin Rouge

I used to adore this film a decade or so ago when I was in college. The melodrama, the simplicity, the sheer glorious overblowned-ness of the whole shebang had my young mind giddy.

Further on down the road though and seeing it through older eyes it is a fairly uneven affair - the cast are endearing but the whole thing is as cheesy as a fondue and just about as sloppy. Jim Broadbent is particularly good - and the film is at its most likeable when it's just being silly. The ending is enormously contrived but somewhere in my flabby form something stirred. Memories of things gone that were never to be ... of the days when truth, beauty, freedom and love were the only things on my mind...

Nostalgia alone does not a good film make, mind - and it's a lurid dated affair chock full of misjudged covers and gaudy nonsense. Some things still hold up well from that period of my life but this ain't one of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 November, 2014, 03:07:00 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 23 November, 2014, 12:39:17 PM
"Guardians of the Galaxy" - I didn't have high hopes for this film but, boy, did I enjoy it.

I'd say if you averaged out all the reviews of this film, that is the sentence you'd end up with.  Can't wait to get hold of it on DVD, very much a movie I can see myself re-watching on a regular basis, a la Dredd, only at least I can have this one on before the kiddies go to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 November, 2014, 07:14:24 AM
My little brother has taken to "Grooting" whenever we have the radio on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 24 November, 2014, 08:03:10 AM
And my 2 girls (4 & 6) are obsessed with Groot and Gamora - they haven't even seen the film, only the posters and the post-credit 'Grooting' sequence.

But can we find any Gamora related clothes for them, or girlie-style Groot stuff? Can we f........!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 11:21:44 AM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 24 November, 2014, 08:03:10 AM
And my 2 girls (4 & 6) are obsessed with Groot and Gamora - they haven't even seen the film, only the posters and the post-credit 'Grooting' sequence.

But can we find any Gamora related clothes for them, or girlie-style Groot stuff? Can we f........!!

There's no GotG merchandise for young children available?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 24 November, 2014, 11:28:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 11:21:44 AM
There's no GotG merchandise for young children available?

There is - as long as the child doesn't mind that Gamora has been left out of the group.

Example: http://www.disneystore.co.uk/guardians-of-the-galaxy-t-shirt-for-kids/mp/71654/1500002/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 November, 2014, 11:32:51 AM
No Gamora? Hmph - sod 'em.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 11:36:34 AM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 24 November, 2014, 11:28:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 11:21:44 AM
There's no GotG merchandise for young children available?

There is - as long as the child doesn't mind that Gamora has been left out of the group.

Example: http://www.disneystore.co.uk/guardians-of-the-galaxy-t-shirt-for-kids/mp/71654/1500002/

Wow.  That's pretty shitty of Disney.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 November, 2014, 11:54:51 AM
http://www.businessinsider.com/female-characters-left-off-guardians-of-the-galaxy-merchandise-2014-8?IR=T
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 November, 2014, 12:01:35 PM
I has heard of this but hoped it wasn't true. I should have known better than to be optimistic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 November, 2014, 12:04:48 PM
I am pretty sure I saw a Gamora lego figure..

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 November, 2014, 12:10:16 PM
Everyone has a lego figure. Moe from The Simpsons has a lego figure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 November, 2014, 12:16:32 PM
I bet it's to do with Disney's Puritanical streak - the name is too much like Gomorrah, which we can't have.
.
"Mommy, what's Gamora?"
.
"A city of unrepentant sinners, deviants and monsters that was so evil it was destroyed by God."
.
"Ooh - like Hollywood?"
.
"Er..."
.
Disney - saving you from difficult questions!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 12:27:05 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 24 November, 2014, 12:10:16 PM
Everyone has a lego figure. Moe from The Simpsons has a lego figure.

And to be fair, many many action figures too. 

The Gamorra thing has been an utter disgrace, but surely the blame lies with Disney's licensees rather than the Mouse himself - Disney did, after all, bankroll her as a fantastic character and arguably joint lead in a terrific movie, and there's no shortage of her in the Marvel books at the moment (although they are heavily weighted towards Rocket and Groot, and who can blame them), and she is as already noted a Lego minifig, expensive 'deluxe' 6" and 12" action figures and a MiniMate (most arguably aimed at adults), so it's not like this is an edict from on high - it's a number of individual decisions to leave her out of the mainstream affordable world of kids' toys. 

Whereas I can see that rack after rack of unsold Padmés and Black Widows must be a disincentive to manufacturers and retailers, they do need to take a more sensible view of the makeup of their ranges, and how it affects their demograhpics.  The single biggest step would be to desegregate the toy aisles, something that genuinely makes my blood boil every time I walk into a toy shop.  (Lego in particular should use their vast market share to insist that all their ranges be shelved together). Right now it's like gender apartheid in those places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 November, 2014, 01:01:47 PM
There's an interview with Paul Dini somewhere on the web where he's quite open in describing how marketing executives in meetings outright and vocally hate his superhero shows being popular because Dini puts female characters in their main casts even though superheroes are "for boys" and execs don't know how to sell superhero merchandise to girls.  There is just so much wrong with this approach, but I think the idea that success of anything female is seen as a bad thing is probably the most damning.

His interviewer, Kevin Smith (who named his daughter after Dini-created Harley Quinn, another character hated by marketers and DC comics), makes the brain-thumpingly obvious point that if girls won't buy an action figure, just put the brand name on something they will buy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 November, 2014, 01:10:12 PM
Speaking of gender politics...

RIDDICK
Which is sort of like a space-Conan where Vin Deisel solves all problems by applying a bit of Vin Deisel.

It's was actually shaping up to be quite good fun. The first forty minutes which is a "hard as nails" Castaway - but then the rest of the cast arrive.

These mercenaries all seem like useless wastes of space especially Starbuck whose character doesn't even get a name and is defined by who she will fuck.

Which kind of ruined it for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 01:23:53 PM
Quote from: Allah Akbark on 24 November, 2014, 01:01:47 PM
His interviewer, Kevin Smith (who named his daughter after Dini-created Harley Quinn, another character hated by marketers and DC comics), makes the brain-thumpingly obvious point that if girls won't buy an action figure, just put the brand name on something they will buy.

My 5 year old niece is superhero-dressup obsessed, but her commercial options seem to be reduced to Iron Man and Superman costumes (which she looks great in, but still...).  It's all pretty depressing (although I have just this second realised what I can get her for Christmas, so that's a positive).

I really want to see Riddick, but every time I read a review like Tips', I remember why I haven't done so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 01:25:57 PM
Disney is no stranger to this type of controversy and they do have a responsibility (and power to effect change) towards licensees.  It's their product, after all, and how the licensees present that product reflects on Disney.  It is certainly horribly seeing the demarcation of "girls toys" and "boys toys" not least because it suggest this exclusionary attitude is acceptable to young people of today.  Obviously this attitude has caused problems for me as a woman who is into 'boy's stuff'.  It causes problems for my young niece who doesn't follow any female "gender roles" and is getting bullied at school for it. 

It's appalling that this has been an issue since August and nothing has seemingly been done to correct it.  Girls clearly like GotG.  It's not 'for boys', just like video games, comics, sci-fi etc aren't.  Believe me, I know they aren't. 

Sorry for getting angry.  This sort of thing really affects me.

Anyway, because this is the movie thread I have recently watched Mr Deeds, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer and Spy Kids.  I've been giving my brain a rest this weekend :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 November, 2014, 01:34:24 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 November, 2014, 01:10:12 PMStarbuck whose character doesn't even get a name and is defined by who she will fuck.

Don't knock it, she's made a career playing that character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 01:37:02 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 01:25:57 PM
Disney is no stranger to this type of controversy and they do have a responsibility (and power to effect change) towards licensees.  It's their product, after all, and how the licensees present that product reflects on Disney.

True they do have a responsibility, but I just can't see a toy license agreement that insists that all characters must be produced, or none - it seems unduly harsh, or at very least would reduce what licensees are prepared to pay (although apocryphally Lucas Licensing used to insist that Darth Vader appear in every wave of Hasbro toys, leading to the current Darth Vader Mountain that afflicts us all).  The attitude problem needs to be fixed at the point of manufacture and sale - diversity needs to be offered to consumers in an attractive way, rather than this narrowly imposed definition of what boys and girls should like.

If I were to pick a toy-fight with Disney it would be over the disparity between its pretty laudable modern depictions of strong independent young women on the screen, and their appearance in toy form. Merida's transformation to blushing well-groomed princess has been disgraceful - I don't think even her mother ever wanted it to go that far!   (Again, there are decent Meridas out there, just not in the core budget ranges).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 November, 2014, 02:29:37 PM
Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I don't know what it is about this film, but as I get older I tend to enjoy it more and more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 02:34:52 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 01:37:02 PM
True they do have a responsibility, but I just can't see a toy license agreement that insists that all characters must be produced, or none - it seems unduly harsh, or at very least would reduce what licensees are prepared to pay (although apocryphally Lucas Licensing used to insist that Darth Vader appear in every wave of Hasbro toys, leading to the current Darth Vader Mountain that afflicts us all).

It's hardly harsh when the character in question is part of the main line-up.  Especially when this reflects very badly on the companies involved.

Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 01:37:02 PM
The attitude problem needs to be fixed at the point of manufacture and sale - diversity needs to be offered to consumers in an attractive way, rather than this narrowly imposed definition of what boys and girls should like.

I completely agree that attitudes need to be fixed and that point of manufacture starts with licensing agreements and ends with retailers.  It is sad to see this still going on and it sends a very bad message to children.

Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 01:37:02 PM
If I were to pick a toy-fight with Disney it would be over the disparity between its pretty laudable modern depictions of strong independent young women on the screen, and their appearance in toy form. Merida's transformation to blushing well-groomed princess has been disgraceful - I don't think even her mother ever wanted it to go that far!   (Again, there are decent Meridas out there, just not in the core budget ranges).

I actually signed the petition that helped lead towards Disney conceding on the changes made to her.  My other niece is very into Disney Princesses (she is very 'girly' in stark contrast to her cousin) which is obviously fine but their representations have never sat comfortably with me.  The idea of Merida being part of the Disney Princesses filled me with hope that it would present a more three dimensional representation of young women to girls and boys.  The changes Disney made were massively disappointing and just solidified my distaste and cynicism towards the company.

I don't necessarily think that direct marketing to girls is entirely necessary.  We enjoy the products and we're happy to consume them, we don't need them 'marketed' to us, we just need it to be accepted that we can like it too.  The same goes in the other direction with Bronies and their like.  I have a deep respect for Bronies who fly in the face of 'social norms' because they enjoy a TV program that's apparently for 'little girls'.  They don't need My Little Pony merchandise 'marketed' to them for them to enjoy it.

Again, sorry for going on so much about this topic.  Obviously this issue hits close to home for me. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 November, 2014, 02:43:09 PM
Yeah, Brave is a cracking film. Me and my girls have seen it several times now. It's so good to see this wee lass fighting for her independence, and right to do as she pleases. Such a great message for my girls. I agree re the doll, and surely in making her more of a twee princess doll Disney lost what should have made the character do popular in the first place? Poor marketing. Tut tut etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 24 November, 2014, 02:53:58 PM
I'm not sure if poisoning your parent is *that* great a message to take away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 November, 2014, 02:54:22 PM
Once these 3d printers start taking off you'll be able to have any action figure you want, either by order from a "licensed" company, a pirate shop or make your own.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 02:57:19 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 24 November, 2014, 02:54:22 PM
Once these 3d printers start taking off you'll be able to have any action figure you want, either by order from a "licensed" company, a pirate shop or make your own.

http://sandboxr.com/ (http://sandboxr.com/)
Slightly relevant, I think :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 November, 2014, 03:40:54 PM
Reading more into this, WOW. Idiocy. That Paul Dini moment mentioned earlier sprang to mind...

As a Boy(TM), I would have been very irritated to not be able to find a Gamora figure. Leia came with a gun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 04:53:53 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 24 November, 2014, 03:40:54 PMLeia came with a gun! 

Indeed - in fact the original Hoth Leia in particular was one of the best realised of the core characters, and as (I then thought) the leader of the Rebel Alliance a key character in my games.  Incidentally, I still obsessively collect figures of her Mam in all her innumerable costumes*, which I suppose is my own strand of bronyism.  They're just so much  more interesting than pouty Anakin v.37.   

A quick read of the famous Lego Lady Scientists Set product page gives the lie to the idea that people (and their parents) actually want to be pitched these narrow visions: 

QuoteWe're sorry it's not available – it's proven to be an overwhelmingly popular set. We're investigating if we can make more.

Finger out time, Lego.


*Having had to restrict and further restrict and then pretty much abandon my decades-old SW figure habit, I limit myself to Padmés, astromechs, new (i.e. no previous version) alien species and EU/Concept characters: still impossible to keep up, mind.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 November, 2014, 05:24:04 PM
even newly empowered Computer Engineer Barbie needs a bloke's help with the technical side of the job: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/19/-sp-barbie-can-be-a-computer-engineer-but-only-with-help-of-a-man (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/19/-sp-barbie-can-be-a-computer-engineer-but-only-with-help-of-a-man)

This has apparently been withdrawn since the backlash
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 November, 2014, 06:25:26 PM
When I was a kid I thought playing with girl characters was for sissys.
I now understand how stupid that was but I haven't forgotten the way I felt at the time. I'd have been mortified if someone bought me an Evil Lynn or a She Ra (not that we could afford Masters of the Universe). These feelings go back as far as I can remember so I'd obviously been successfully indoctrinated into my gender role by 3 or 4.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 November, 2014, 06:28:19 PM
Dracula Untold. Another one that I found a lot better than I expected. The only thing I didn't like was Charles Dance, which is a shame because he's generally very good. In this, though, I just don't think he's scary enough. If only they could have got Christopher Lee to play that part - although I suppose he's getting too old for this acting lark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 08:00:43 PM
Raved extensively about this somewhere upthread when it was in the cinema, but just watched it again on DVD: How to Train Your Dragon 2 - damn, what a great film this is.  With the exceptions of a weak closing monologue and a diminished role for the terrific Astrid, it's just superb, visually and emotionally.  The more I see of him, the more I love Hiccup as a character - such an unswerving vision of how things should be, and commitment to bringing it about, despite all the usual human failings, is pretty rare in a kids' film.  In any film, really. 

One of its many remarkable achievements is a big staged battle that doesn't look like Jackson's Lord of the Rings.  Don't see many of those this past decade.

Redub the closing shot and it's 10/10.  And the prospect of a third one in 2017, cannot wait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 24 November, 2014, 09:14:13 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2014, 08:00:43 PM
Raved extensively about this somewhere upthread when it was in the cinema, but just watched it again on DVD: How to Train Your Dragon 2 - damn, what a great film this is. 

Loved it too, if only for the visual effects. There are so many crappy CG movies about. This one stands out from the crowd.

Last movie I watched was the Boxtrolls. The story was predictable and corny. I'd recommend it for the stop frame animation though - top notch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 November, 2014, 09:22:24 PM
I just finished watching Bulletproof (1996).  It was certainly a... film.  Overall not that good really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 November, 2014, 03:51:04 AM
Sinbad, the Fifth Voyage. It's nothing special plot or story wise, like most films of its kind, but it is entertaining enough if you don't concentrate too hard. The main reason I watched this was to check out the CGI - which is very good indeed. They seem to have got CGI people almost perfect - which is the problem with this medium because everyone looks just a little too perfect. It was the five o' clock shadows of the male characters where this was most pronounced - I don't know anybody whose whiskers grow in a straight line without facial topiary.
.
One thing that I did find unusual was the monsters, which broke from the hyper-realism of the rest of the film and seemed to be striving for that authentic Harryhausen style. The monsters even moved differently than the human CGI characters, aping that fluidly jerky stop-motion style very well. One thing about the classic Harryhausen films was that sometimes you could tell that the actors (human) were reacting to and fighting things that aren't there - sometimes showing just close-ups of, say, characters jabbing their swords into the air to ward off some unseen (in the close up) monster. Now, whether it's just me or not I don't know but these flaws seem to have been built into the film as well - leaving me ambivalent.
.
So I don't know - certainly worth watching to see the film makers channelling RH, the almost flawless CGI of humans, water and cloth and for Patrick Stewart's voice but somehow I think I'd still rather watch the classic Seventh Voyage than this modern Fifth. If I'd seen this when I was a kid I'd definitely have loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 26 November, 2014, 02:14:17 AM
I'll get no points for bringing this up again so soon after it was last mentioned here, but...

I bought Guardians of the Galaxy on BD for the old man, who has literally nagged me every day for the last couple of weeks to get it for him. Just like a kid pestering his parents for expensive toys ahead of xmas. How the hell did I ever get into THIS dynamic?

But, I grabbed the movie on day of release, and we've actually seen it twice already. What a fun movie!

Comparisons a few pages back with Star Wars are interesting to contemplate. I personally have absolutely no interest in Star Wars 7. But Guardians 2? Cannot come quickly enough for me.


In spite of the movie's flaws (and it has some - the opening half hour has some really hokey dialogue, for one thing) it's still fresh, fun, and madcap. That the pair of us laughed as hard at the same jokes a second (for me, third) time around shows that the movie definitely does something right.

And I love the bit where the raccoon gets hold of the really big gun and goes 'Oh. Yeah.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 26 November, 2014, 02:52:43 AM
Also just watched GOTG.  Can't really understand why everyone made such a fuss when it came out (non comic fans I mean) as it's just another in the run of relatively forgettable Marvel movies.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, as I have enjoyed other Marvel pap, but it's not a stand out film in any way for me. Although Karen Gillan was rather good.  Definitely worth a watch, or a hire, but buy?  Nah. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 26 November, 2014, 08:01:16 AM
I watched Jurrassic Park in 3D last night.  It's still a fun little thrill ride, perhaps made overlong by the intro. Jeff Goldblum was still an annoying ham.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 3D was done, considering it must have been all post-production (and then some!). 

There were moments in the film that were absolutely made for 3D!  The T-rex bits were spectacular, and there were moments where dinosaur heads came out of the screen at you.  PLus that bit where the girl falls through the ceiling and you see the velociraptor underneath here - great depth of 3D!

Reasonable film definitely made better with 3D.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 09:50:29 AM
As Above, So Below

This was a pretty good adventure/horror film. It's about the closest thing you'll get to Tomb Raider (reboot) - The Movie.
It starts off with Lara Croft (she has another name, but trust me, she's Lara Croft) searching for the Philosopher's Stone. After assembling a band of likely experts in their respective fields the search takes them to the catacombs beneath Paris and things take a turn for the supernatural.

This film certainly has it's faults but I really enjoyed it. Another entertaining addition to the 'Found Footage' horror genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 26 November, 2014, 10:08:50 AM
I finally got around to watching the Lego movie...

It was beautiful to look at, Batman was especially great (I loved his song),

Having left it for so long, I knew what the reveal would be, but I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 November, 2014, 11:11:13 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 09:50:29 AM
This film certainly has it's faults but I really enjoyed it. Another entertaining addition to the 'Found Footage' horror genre.

Are you a fan? I'm mixed on the idea. [REC] remains the highpoint for me (and Chronicle, though it's not a horror per se).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 11:38:47 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 November, 2014, 11:11:13 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 09:50:29 AM
This film certainly has it's faults but I really enjoyed it. Another entertaining addition to the 'Found Footage' horror genre.

Are you a fan? I'm mixed on the idea. [REC] remains the highpoint for me (and Chronicle, though it's not a horror per se).

I am a fan yes. I haven't seen REC yet but I intend to rectify that soon.
I like found footage films in general and I think it's got something to do with the story telling techniques that are used. They tend to explain the premise of the film straight away - 'we're looking for a monster in the woods' - or whatever. From there on in you just see how the characters interact with each other and that's how you learn about them.
I'm not sure I'm explaining myself very well but there's a sort of immediacy to them which I like. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 November, 2014, 11:58:40 AM
Now I think I'll have to watch "The Last Broadcast" again, which I think was superior to Blair Witch in every way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 November, 2014, 12:51:56 PM
Mystery Men.  Just finished watching this.  It's really fun.  Seen it sooo many times :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 26 November, 2014, 12:54:46 PM
I watched Edge Of Tomorrow last night...first time I have seen it and loved it  :D

I also watched 'Moon' the other night...Kev Spacey as a robot...Sam Rockwell as the Moon janitor  :lol:...was pleasantly surprised as i'd never heard of it before...think it was on BBC2
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 November, 2014, 01:50:00 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 11:38:47 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 November, 2014, 11:11:13 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 November, 2014, 09:50:29 AM
This film certainly has it's faults but I really enjoyed it. Another entertaining addition to the 'Found Footage' horror genre.

Are you a fan? I'm mixed on the idea. [REC] remains the highpoint for me (and Chronicle, though it's not a horror per se).

I am a fan yes. I haven't seen REC yet but I intend to rectify that soon.
I like found footage films in general and I think it's got something to do with the story telling techniques that are used. They tend to explain the premise of the film straight away - 'we're looking for a monster in the woods' - or whatever. From there on in you just see how the characters interact with each other and that's how you learn about them.
I'm not sure I'm explaining myself very well but there's a sort of immediacy to them which I like.

Yeah, I've seen enough bad found footage films that I groan a bit when I hear about a new one, but when they're done well there's still a certain kind of terror only they can deliver. REC is still the pinnacle for me, haven't seen anything to match that yet. It's just visceral in a way that nothing else has really matched. The trailers for this looked good but the release passed me by, will definitely try and see it on Netflix when it appears.

Last film for me was The Thing From Another World - despite The Thing being in my top 3 movies of all time and having read Who Goes There, I'd never actually watched the original film. It's still pretty creepy, mainly because of the setting, but without the shape changing element there's none of the paranoia that made Carpenter's version so perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 November, 2014, 07:29:36 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 November, 2014, 12:51:56 PM
Mystery Men.  Just finished watching this.  It's really fun.  Seen it sooo many times :D

Best superhero film ever?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 November, 2014, 07:31:19 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 November, 2014, 07:29:36 PM
Best superhero film ever?

Still The Incredibles.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 November, 2014, 07:47:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 November, 2014, 07:31:19 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 November, 2014, 07:29:36 PM
Best superhero film ever?

Still The Incredibles.

Yeah that's still the best for me - Mystery Men is good fun but is let down by its lame finale.

Although 10/10 for good casting.

(http://media.giphy.com/media/zEdioVBXJanAc/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 November, 2014, 08:28:12 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 November, 2014, 07:47:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 November, 2014, 07:31:19 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 November, 2014, 07:29:36 PM
Best superhero film ever?

Still The Incredibles.

Yeah that's still the best for me

And another vote here.  And not just because of the humour or the characters, the action sequences are also graceful, gloriously inventive and genuinely intense.  I'm always saying it, but I struggle to think of a more gripping superhero sequence than the one where Elastagirl's plane is shot down.

Although I do also have a huge soft spot for both Captain America and Superman II.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 November, 2014, 07:59:13 AM
Yeah, I bloody love The Incredibles too - perfect fusion of superhero, Bond, and animation.  Excellent stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 27 November, 2014, 10:17:50 AM
I acknowledge The Incredibles. However I would also like to put forward Blade for consideration, at the other end of the spectrum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 November, 2014, 10:52:11 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 27 November, 2014, 10:17:50 AM
I acknowledge The Incredibles. However I would also like to put forward Blade for consideration, at the other end of the spectrum.

Damn, that's a good call...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 November, 2014, 07:55:17 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 27 November, 2014, 10:52:11 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 27 November, 2014, 10:17:50 AM
I acknowledge The Incredibles. However I would also like to put forward Blade for consideration, at the other end of the spectrum.

Damn, that's a good call...

The Rocketeer?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 November, 2014, 07:58:30 PM
ARMY OF DARKNESS

Army of SHITness, more like.

Can't believe I liked this when it first came out, which was when I saw it last.

Ash is an asshole despite having a couple of good lines and the slapstick is interminable and not very funny.

Tiny Tips thought it was enjoyable but wouldn't watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 November, 2014, 10:12:53 PM
To my eternal shame I've only just got around to watching 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' and by golly that was fun. Okay so possibly it over egged the pudding in the last half hour or so but over all as good as first and leaving me hankering for the third (there's one more right?). The CGI was a little over ambitious at times, the stag hunt at the beginning springs to mind but by the end I'd forgotten the apes weren't real.

Having watched this, and being in the middle of a re-read of Booms! wonderful apes comics I'm left wondering how Mr Burton got it all so wrong!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 28 November, 2014, 10:27:05 PM
Just finished watching Guardians of the Galaxy again, in preparation for watching it tomorrow with the little 'uns - they've been badgering away at us to watch it so refreshing the mind with some of the content had to be done. Looking forward to seeing what they think of it tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 December, 2014, 10:09:10 AM
Hunger Games: Catching Fire - finally got around to this one! It was my favorite book in the series and they did a great job of it. I do enjoy that the films offer more cutaways to the baddies plotting than the books do. I'm oddly not all that pumped about seeing the latest films, the third book was the weakest I felt (once the focus moved away from the games themselves I think it lost some intensity, plus I got burnt out on the indecisive love triangle aspect, which I know sells books to teenage girls but just made Katniss become less and less likable as it dragged on), so will probably wait for those on Netflix rather than rushing to the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 December, 2014, 12:33:55 PM
Nightcrawler - bloody brilliant. Jake Gyllenhaal is a star turn, and plays a creepy weirdo who chases police around looking for accidents and shootings to film, and then sell the footage to TV studios.  The complete lack of moral compass is incredibly disturbing. On top of this it is beautifully shot, and there are certain key scenes that are incredibly exciting!

Top marks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 December, 2014, 12:38:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 November, 2014, 07:58:30 PM
ARMY OF DARKNESS

Army of SHITness, more like.

Can't believe I liked this when it first came out, which was when I saw it last.

Ash is an asshole despite having a couple of good lines and the slapstick is interminable and not very funny.

Tiny Tips thought it was enjoyable but wouldn't watch it again.
I used to think you where cool. Seem's I was wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2014, 12:51:49 PM
You were definitely wrong.  I have never, ever been cool.

I'll stand by my revised view of Army of Darkness; I found it painful to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 December, 2014, 07:27:22 PM
Finally convinced my girlfriend to give the LotR movies another try last night. She's always professed to hate them following the last time I tried to get her to watch them with me many years ago, but I'd always told myself (and her, repeatedly) that under the right circumstances - a decent AV setup and the Theatrical rather than Extended editions - she would enjoy them. I mean, how could any reasonable person not, right?

Sadly not. Could sense her zoning out before they even got to Rivendell, and as the Fellowship reached Moria (which is the point where I thought she'd be gripped), out the iPad came. Dammit! It didn't help matters that the streaming service had mislabelled the movie so we ended up watching the Extended Edition anyway.

It's a shame, as watching the trilogy is somewhat of a Christmas tradition for me, but one that is almost impossible these days due to sharing a TV and the running time.

Oh, well! :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 December, 2014, 07:46:49 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2014, 07:27:22 PM
Finally convinced my girlfriend to give the LotR movies another try last night. She's always professed to hate them following the last time I tried to get her to watch them with me many years ago, but I'd always told myself (and her, repeatedly) that under the right circumstances - a decent AV setup and the Theatrical rather than Extended editions - she would enjoy them. I mean, how could any reasonable person not, right?

Sadly not. Could sense her zoning out before they even got to Rivendell, and as the Fellowship reached Moria (which is the point where I thought she'd be gripped), out the iPad came. Dammit! It didn't help matters that the streaming service had mislabelled the movie so we ended up watching the Extended Edition anyway.

It's a shame, as watching the trilogy is somewhat of a Christmas tradition for me, but one that is almost impossible these days due to sharing a TV and the running time.

Oh, well! :(

That's too bad rad. :( Watching LotR is pretty much a Christmas tradition in our home too. Fortunately my wife is into the series, even the extended editions. I'm fortunate in that respect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 December, 2014, 09:51:02 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2014, 07:27:22 PM
Finally convinced my girlfriend to give the LotR movies another try last night. She's always professed to hate them following the last time I tried to get her to watch them with me many years ago, but I'd always told myself (and her, repeatedly) that under the right circumstances - a decent AV setup and the Theatrical rather than Extended editions - she would enjoy them. I mean, how could any reasonable person not, right?

Oh, where to start? Love the books, the mythology, the world, but the Jackson films are an utter turn-off.

It's beyond me how he managed to make so many of the scenes and characters from the books so dull. Middle Earth is bathed eternally in a dingy patina of grey and looks utterly depressing. Most of the major roles are horribly miscast, particularly the crucial roles of Aragorn and Frodo. Aragorn is simply made a bit boring and unrelatable, like a no-charisma version of the book's gregarious rogue, but Frodo is one of the most punchable leads in film history and just impossible to root for. I hate the film versions of Merry and Pippin almost as much; in fact the only hobbit whose depiction I like is Sam (who is, in fairness, spot on). Sean Bean is potentially a good call for Boromir but the character as written in the films is a whiny, petty bully. Gimli is reduced to one-note comic relief. Robbed of any mystique or awe, the whole elven race come across as dull grey beauracrats and any scene of theirs drags unbelievably, particularly when they start talking elvish. The Ents are recreated with some laughably bad CGI. Half the battle scenes take place at night, which makes it impossible to see what's going on; nowhere is this worse than the interminable Battle of Helm's Deep, (another favourite bit from the books), which here is one of the most deathly dull battle sequences I have watched to this day. And I could go on and on in the same vein all day! There's a lot of stuff I do like, but the bad far outweighs the good.

You cannot fault Jackson's achievement or ambition, and I'll freely admit that his films are almost certainly the best filmic adaptation of LotR we'll ever see, but they are not for me and I'll admit to being a bit nonplussed as to why they're so universally loved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 December, 2014, 09:55:24 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 December, 2014, 09:51:02 PM
the book's gregarious rogue,

You appear to have read a completely different book to me.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 December, 2014, 10:02:50 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 December, 2014, 09:51:02 PM
Love the books, the mythology, the world, but the Jackson films are an utter turn-off.

I agree with this entirely, particularly the comments about Helm's Deep - the first film's sort of all right, but it was such a struggle to make it through the second film.

My problem with the depiction of Aragorn in the movies is that he's neither particularly scary nor rough-looking - he doesn't look foul and feel fair. My perception will always be coloured by my huge fondness for John Hurt's voice-acting in the animated Ralph Bakshi film - his Aragorn is, on the surface, brusque and intimidating, particularly during the scenes at the Prancing Pony.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2014, 10:25:35 PM
"Half the battle scenes take place at night, which makes it impossible to see what's going on; nowhere is this worse than the interminable Battle of Helm's Deep"

No, I just don't get that. One of the great things is that despite everything that is going on, it's always very clear what's going on in the fight scenes.  And Helm's Deep, ludicrous castle design aside, is edge of the seat tense and exciting for me. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 December, 2014, 10:43:52 PM
I thought LotR's greatest strength was that it took something from what was until then embedded in a ponderous niche and turned it into a shamelessly populist adventure romp.  Fairly or otherwise, before the Jackson films, LotR was a synonym for geekiness, but now it's a mainstream franchise people aren't afraid to be seen watching - one of the biggest criticisms of the Helm's Deep thing was that it actually too populist, with elves surfing down steps on shields and stuff.

I would think that if anything, it was people being excited by the films and then trying the books that would have ended up disappointed.  I regularly read 1000+ page snooze-fests* but to this day have never made it past page 75 of Fellowship.  I recall the songs were particularly grating.





* If you're looking to blame anyone for the glut/low prices of Scott Turow and Clive Cussler novels on eBay right now, look no further.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 December, 2014, 12:20:43 AM
I purchased the book after the first film was released.  I had owned The Hobbit for many years but never took a great deal of interest in LotR.  I enjoyed FotR a huge amount despite the songs, which I agree are annoying and really ruin the pacing of the book.  I read TTT before seeing the respective film and ended up being disappointed in the film (I know feel it's the strongest of the three).  I didn't bother reading RofTK after seeing the film and it was a few years later that I felt I should finish the journey in the book.  I am glad I did because RofTK has some excellent stuff in it that was much better than what was in the film.  Overall buying the book wasn't a disappointing experience. 

It got me curious enough to have a crack at The Silmarillion.  I managed to get half way through and still keep up, but got distracted for a couple of weeks and couldn't get back into it.  I will finish that damn book one day though.  One day.

Of all Tolkien's stuff I've read, The Hobbit is no doubt the best as a piece of narrative literature and I have been thoroughly enjoying the films despite them only having a vague resemblance to the books.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: maryanddavid on 02 December, 2014, 12:37:19 AM
You are all wrong, the songs are great!
Silmarillion is well worth sticking with, I had a good few goes at it till I got it. Year since I read it but it reads like, and I presume that the point, old myth. It was a while till I realised what left the furrow after the Dagda;-P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 December, 2014, 07:43:11 AM
Heh, IIRC the Dagda and his personal plough are in Jim Fitzpatrick's Book of Invasions. Nowt quite so spicy for the Valar. But I agree completely that the songs are great. Not enough songs in the movies, especially the Hobbit films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 02 December, 2014, 08:13:18 AM
Personally, I prefer the Bakshi version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 December, 2014, 09:51:16 AM
Whereas I love the movies, but consider the books to be some of the most over-rated, turgid, badly written, plodding rubbish ever put to paper.
Horses for courses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 December, 2014, 10:55:23 AM
Yep, though that doesn't hold true for the Hobbit IMO. Best book, exhaustingly drawn out movie trilogy. Still fun to watch the once mind, not like epic fantasy is done all that well anywhere else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 02 December, 2014, 11:20:30 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 December, 2014, 09:51:16 AM
'some of the most turgid, badly written, plodding rubbish ever put to paper'.


So you have read my Major scripts then  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 December, 2014, 11:38:41 AM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 02 December, 2014, 11:20:30 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 December, 2014, 09:51:16 AM
'some of the most turgid, badly written, plodding rubbish ever put to paper'.


So you have read my Major scripts then  ;)

It's a sliding scale... (Note to self - need top drop you a line!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 02 December, 2014, 11:50:11 AM
sound of proudhuff digging foxhole...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 02 December, 2014, 01:45:27 PM
Some film about a heavily-armed supercop,  starring him off Star Trek and a blonde bit with mindreading powers. 
I stuck it on because the kids had been bugging me about it for ages,  and their mother is away.  Warnings were given in advance, but both were still enthusiastic,  so it got the green light.

Both enjoyed,  although little one didn't quite understand why MC1 looked so "boring". "They still have smartphones!" he laughed,  as Peach Trees cits snap away at the three bodies in the atrium.  He didn't like the uniforms,  or the lack of flying cars,  and tutted when it began with HASC chasing a van and not a mopad or similar.  Eldest was more forgiving,  rationalising it as "an alternative universe like Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions" and spent the movie ticking off references to the comics,  picking up even on 'Krysler's Mark' and making me very proud that he very obviously pores over the casefiles as much as I did the original weeklies when I was his age. 
Both thought "...is an automatic fail" was hilarious and have been using it as a catchprase this morning before school. 
On the whole,  they enjoyed it, and with all the usual parental worries about the language and violence (and the Anderson sex bit) talked about before and after,  both thought it a shame there wasn't a Dredd2.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 December, 2014, 06:40:40 PM
Where Eagles Dare is on Channel 5.

I never get bored of watching Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton massacre a sizeable chunk of the German army.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 December, 2014, 07:48:51 PM
Predestination - Ethan Hawke time travel mindbender. A lot like 'Looper'. Few cracking twists ad enough to keep you thinking. Good stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 08 December, 2014, 01:35:10 AM
The Homesman, directed by Toomy Lee Jones. Went in low expectations for it but I enjoyed it, now I want to read the novel it is based on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 08 December, 2014, 10:20:37 AM
Star Wars: Rebels.

An introduction to a time between Clone Wars and A New Hope. The story was fun but I didn't really take to all the characters. It does seem more child oriented than family.

I haven't seen all the Clone Wars series. Doubt I will see all of this but I would like to see all of both before Episode VII.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2014, 12:39:28 PM
Matrix Reloaded

When leaving the cinema after viewing this film my major complaint was that the action sequences were too drawn out.  This is still my major problem with this film.  The first film had a good balance between action and drama.  The action served to drive the story forward and was there for a reason.  Even though I honestly feel that the premiss of the original would have been served as a sci-fi psychological thriller - which would negate the heavy handed pilfering of Structuralism, Semiotic theories, Metaphysics and the rather silly brain-in-a-jar thought experiment - I can not fault the original for it's good use of action to drive the narrative forward.  Matrix Reloaded, [spoiler]despite the Architect waxing lyrical near the end,[/spoiler] is not so intellectually daring as it's predecessor and actually has a pretty good story that is driven mostly by dialogue and drama.  The over-extended action scenes really jarred heavily and struck me as no more than cinematic masturbation.

Nevertheless, on this viewing I appreciated the film more.  People don't use it as an example of their cod philosophy anymore so that aspect no longer irritates me, so I can enjoy The Matrix films for what they are, pretentious action films.  They are still pretty cool looking with all the leather and PVC and the differences between the look of the real world and the Matrix.  The acting is pretty hammy throughout, as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 December, 2014, 02:17:29 PM
Real Genius. I still prefer this one over Weird Science.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2014, 06:52:23 PM
Nothing to see here
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 December, 2014, 07:40:20 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2014, 06:52:23 PM
Nothing to see here
Not seen that one. Any good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 December, 2014, 10:47:59 PM
Just watch Wanted as not see it for years, still great crazy film, and one moment I just realise that Professor X hit Star Lord with a keyboard!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK0-76FChfk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK0-76FChfk)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 09 December, 2014, 02:19:45 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 08 December, 2014, 10:47:59 PM
Just watch Wanted as not see it for years, still great crazy film, and one moment I just realise that Professor X hit Star Lord with a keyboard!

META ALERT! META ALERT! AWOOOOOGA! AWOOOOOGA!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 December, 2014, 08:21:36 AM
FURY.....

A movie, I saw before I was banned not long after I saw that awful Dracula - Untold film.

A few thing about this film are that it's very brutal retelling of one of our world wars fought in northern Europe between American's and Germans on French soil. Not sure if the brutality I'm referring to is as it actually was. but when you see a tank run right over the top of enemy soldier with that satisfactory crunching noise as their heads fold back against their torso's.

I could be wrong though, in that last detail of a film I saw over a month ago.

Tanks with lasers!!!!

Was that even possible in those days. I didn't think so, but my knowledge of past war technology is only guessed on my part.

That's about it for stuff that I thought was too brutal or colourful bars of light.

Then this guy, with a terrible bowl shaped buzz haircut (Who seemed so reminiscent of somebody so familiar in the film so far!) walks up behind the film's main protagonist (Retelling the story as he remembered) and pats him on the back congradulating his very first kiss with a French woman.....

It's Shane from The Walking Dead! I might have known earlier from his trademark posturing which only reminds me of how close we are to our arboreal cousins. Forget the actors name right now.

The very last scene is reminscent of ending of the very first episode of the The Walking Dead....   

(Couldn't find it on You-Tube....)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 December, 2014, 02:57:47 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 07 December, 2014, 06:40:40 PM
Where Eagles Dare is on Channel 5.

I never get bored of watching Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton massacre a sizeable chunk of the German army.

You and me (and my missus) both.
Although I have it on blu ray I can't change the channel when it's on and have to watch it all the way through.

Now, remind me again. On what side of the square is the cathedral?

Strange... I seem to remember... that the cathedral was on the *other* side of the square.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 December, 2014, 05:10:43 PM
Went to a double bill at the local cinema last night.

First up, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Holds up surprisingly well despite a rather aimless first act that consists of little more than various unrelated slapstick skits involving Chevy Chase. The film only really kicks into gear (or starts to have any semblance of a plot) when Randy Quaid turns up as the hillbilly brother. Always forget that this was written and produced by John Hughes. It's no Planes, Trains...., but remains a minor classic.

And then sadly I had to sit through Love Actually (contractual obligation for making my girlfriend watch Lord of the Rings with me). I don't mind Richard Curtis' films in general - I actually think Four Weddings... and to a (much) lesser extent Notting Hill are fairly enjoyable movies, but this is really pushing it. There's bits of it I like (mainly the bits involving Alan Rickman, Emma Thompsom and Rowan Atkinson) but a lot of it is just excruciating. The writing is often so broad that it feels like it was written for toddlers, and Kris Marshall's cartoonish 'arc' is jaw-droppingly bad and definitely should have been cut. It also struck me watching it this time just how much the film relies on us liking characters purely based on their casting rather than any actual character development - when you break it down most of them are completely blank slates with no personality at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 December, 2014, 06:49:36 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 09 December, 2014, 08:21:36 AM
FURY.....

Tanks with lasers!!!!


Definitely not lasers - it was tracer rounds although they did look a bit 'Star Wars' to be authentic. Still I haven't been in a tank battle (yet) so who knows!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2014, 10:48:22 AM
Home Alone 2  - first time as a grown up not playing a drinking game (Which it lends itself to rather well actually). Enjoyable for the nostalgia, very much of its time in the 90s and stuff that slipped by as a kid made me cringe today, namely the obscene wealth displayed by the supposedly normal American suburban family and the criminal negligence shown by the McAlisters. The weird nature of the hotel staff and their credulity over a bloke with a tommy gun threatening them also raised an eyebrow, as did the horrific injuries inflicted on the (murderous) criminals. Still! Good fun and heavy nostalgia for what was my favourite rental from Blockbusters of yore, before I could get Die Hard out at least. Little **** he is though, at least Kevin actually has a heart for Christmas, unlike his horrific family.


Miracle on 34th Street - schmaltz defined. Again, suffering from the obscene wealth displayed by... oh, nearly everyone. I know the wealth thing is also an issue for many other Christmas movies but at least the aforementioned National Lampoon shows a family struggling and the hillbilly brother defines poverty. Also the lack of any ethnicity whatsoever doesn't feel so strange in National Lampoon as its largely set on a single street in suburbia. The miracle of 34th street is set in New York. At a big parade open to the public. And there's not one black kid there. Probably wouldn't have been so noticeable to me if it wasn't for the supposedly city-encompassing effect of old Kris Kringle, ultimately restricted to the yuppies of New York. I guess I just didn't really like.... anyone... except Richard Attenborough as Santa, but not when he's outside of the grotto, as when about in the real world he comes across as an absolute mentalist.



Is Ghostbusters a Christmas movie? I'm putting Die Hard on tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 11:24:26 AM
The wealth thing really is a curse on enjoyment of childhood favourites.  No matter the setting or the degree of struggle and imminent bankruptcy alluded to, almost every American family appears to live a vast mansion kitted out with every imaginable toy and gadget, from Gremlins to Uncle Buck, the Griswalds to the Simpsons, the Buellers to the McFlys to the frequently unemployed cast of Friends. It's just plain odd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 December, 2014, 11:38:25 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2014, 10:48:22 AM
Is Ghostbusters a Christmas movie? I'm putting Die Hard on tonight.

My traditional 'Christmas DVD night' with the missus is penciled in for Friday, including full take-away (portion size: two people, each) pig out and tub of ice-cream.

Currently on the agreed viewing list;

Scrooged (an absolute must).
Die Hard.
The Signalman ('Ghost Stories for Christmas').
The Office Christmas Specials.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 11:44:15 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 December, 2014, 11:38:25 AM
The Signalman ('Ghost Stories for Christmas').

Absolute classic, that one.

Which takeaway, BTW?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 December, 2014, 11:45:28 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 11:44:15 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 December, 2014, 11:38:25 AM
The Signalman ('Ghost Stories for Christmas').

Absolute classic, that one.

Which takeaway, BTW?

Our local in Blessington- The Flaming Wok.
Good God, it's delicious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2014, 11:55:49 AM
The size of the real estate isn't all that much of an indicator in most of Americana, unlike over here. The Simpsons is a funny one though in that, as a Safety Inspector at a nuclear power plant, Homer actually earns rather a lot - certainly more than enough to support his family comfortably - but since he is actually supposed to be a blue collar schmoe, doesn't seem to really get paid that wage, and therefore his financial woes seem more appropriate. They live in a big (but ramshackle) house but have a crappy car, second hand clothes and are devastated by any healthcare costs - seems a pretty normal state for working class yanks.

I digress though.

Up on my to-be-watched Christmas List:
The Grinch
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Futurama's Santa Episodes
The Christmas Justice League episode (superman in a christmas jumper)
Invasion of the Secret Santas (Brave and the Bold)
Father Christmas
Elf (till boxing day)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 December, 2014, 12:09:09 PM
You've forgotten Bad Santa.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 12:12:20 PM
They have two cars these days, plus laptops and gaming consoles, a detached house with at least four bedrooms, large kitchen, separate dining room and living room, large attic,  basement and garage, a mature tree in their large garden, and a primary school that has an orchestra and foreign exchange programme. Plus a stay-at-home mother. Round our way this would make them... Well, they wouldn't live round our way, because there is literally nowhere like that.

Of course their frequent Homer-induced penury is central to the humour, and all the above merely set and props for stories, but the series conceit is that they are an ordinary blue collar family with the usual money woes, and my observation is that they live in conditions that belie that - just as with almost every other American TV/Movie family.  There's a level of basic expectation generated here that says that even if Dad works for a succession of supervillains and blows all his money on pumpkin futures and Mom has spent long enough in jail to be granted conjugal visits, you can still expect this basic home infrastructure as a minimum.

(As noted here before, this disparity is firmly lampshaded by the Grimesy episode, but it still remains the case).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2014, 12:57:52 PM
After talk about it from either GRennie or Molch-R I watched

THE FIRST GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.

And it was great.

Of course, these days the whole film would be a fifteen minute segment in an episode of Alias or an M:I film but they don't have Sean Connery arseing about on top of a moving steam train. I swear it was actually him or the best stunt double ever. It is undoubtedly clunky in places and some victorian detail seems hard to fathom (would Donald Sutgerland really try pull a time critical heist while still wearing his great coat and stovepipe?).

But a thumbs up - especially for reminding me that Michael Elphic and Lesley Ann Down existed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Molch-R on 10 December, 2014, 01:17:14 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2014, 12:57:52 PM
I swear it was actually him or the best stunt double ever.

It was the man himself. The production crew assured him the train was only going to travel at 20mph, but it was closer to 50mph and one of the 'falls' was entirely genuine and very nearly fatal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2014, 01:19:03 PM
I've not forgotten Bad Santa but the wife won't get it, and certainly won't giggle when dozens of police shoot Santa right in front of many innocent children like I did...

Quote from: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 12:12:20 PM
They have two cars these days, plus laptops and gaming consoles, a detached house with at least four bedrooms, large kitchen, separate dining room and living room, large attic,  basement and garage, a mature tree in their large garden, and a primary school that has an orchestra and foreign exchange programme. Plus a stay-at-home mother. Round our way this would make them... Well, they wouldn't live round our way, because there is literally nowhere like that.

The cars and the house = America. The varying fortunes of Springfield wider (and the introduction of gadgets beyond the TV) are story and after my time :) 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2014, 01:51:30 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2014, 01:19:03 PM
I've not forgotten Bad Santa but the wife won't get it, and certainly won't giggle when dozens of police shoot Santa right in front of many innocent children like I did.

But that's the best bit! First of several seasonal viewings took place after we put our Christmas tree up. You just can't beat it for getting in the festive mood. And is just me or is Lauren Graham ridiculously attractive in this?

'Is granny spry?'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 December, 2014, 02:14:09 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2014, 12:57:52 PM
After talk about it from either GRennie or Molch-R I watched

THE FIRST GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.

And it was great.



I need to watch this again. Great film. Thanks for the reminder. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2014, 02:34:20 PM
Quote from: Molch-R on 10 December, 2014, 01:17:14 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2014, 12:57:52 PM
I swear it was actually him or the best stunt double ever.

It was the man himself. The production crew assured him the train was only going to travel at 20mph, but it was closer to 50mph and one of the 'falls' was entirely genuine and very nearly fatal.

Bonkers! I bet you couldn't get that underwritten today. It did genuinely add to the excitement, thinking (and now knowing) it was real and not very good rear projection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 December, 2014, 05:28:54 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 December, 2014, 12:09:09 PM
You've forgotten Bad Santa.
And Lethal Weapon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 December, 2014, 06:14:33 AM
Rad's Christmas Essentials:

Die Hard
Gremlins
In Bruges
League of Gentlemen Xmas Special
Knowing Me, Knowing Yule
Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Home Alone 1&2
Trading Places
The Box of Delights (preferably on Christmas Eve)
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (BBC)
Arthur Christmas
Bad Santa
Scrooged
Elf

My girlfriend also always insists on Santa Claus: The Movie which (sorry) is unwatchable gash.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 December, 2014, 06:16:01 AM
They're showing Die Hard at my local starting the day after i head back to the UK. Gutted! Seeing Home Alone there next week though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2014, 08:33:44 AM
Good call on Trading Places.  Every year I seem to forget that it's a Christmas movie, and you can never watch it too often.  Another flick that Denholm Elliot infuses with raw heart.

Hey, now I'm picturing The Legendary Shark in the Billy Ray role. "Sounds to me like you guys're a couple of bookies."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 December, 2014, 10:27:37 AM
Gremlins. Oh and Elf.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2014, 11:04:43 AM
Anyone remember Bernard and the Genie? It was something of an Xmas staple in the mid-nineties but never comes on anymore. It's a shame as I remember it being very fun and Christmassy with a great cast.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101435/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 December, 2014, 12:19:14 PM
I think the only actual Xmas film I watch and enjoy is 'It's a Wonderful Life' - the whole film is great, but the last few minutes where the bell tinkles just boots me in the feels and has me blubbing into my pint.

Otherwise, for me Xmas films have always meant Star Wars.  My childhood was spent yearning for when I could next watch a Star Wars film, as only the well-off kids had VCRs.  That meant every Xmas I was glued to the Radio Times searching out any hint of when a Star Wars film would be shown. 

I remember being totally devastated one Xmas when I discovered we had to shuttle between family visits on Boxing Day, and that due to travel times I would miss the last 30 mins of Empire Strikes Back.  Absolutely gutted.



On a slightly unrelated-ish note, does anyone remember when they used to play the first Star Wars film on a telly above the Star Wars toy display in the John Menzies on Princes Street in Edinburgh?  In my summer holidays I would basically camp out there.  I would find a spot hidden from the assistants and loiter, watching the film at least twice a day. 

That all ended one fateful afternoon towards the end of the holidays when I was really tired and decided to sit down and watch it, with another toy stand hiding me from view of the sales assistants at the counter.  For some reason, a bunch of passing mums got it in their heads that I'd been left there by another parent, assumed it was a safe area, so they dumped their kids next to me while they went shopping.  This escalated very quickly, until 30 mins later that Star Wars video was shared with almost a mini-bus worth of kids, and me in the thick of it.

I still remember how the chaos started: 

'Han Solo in Hoth outfit?  Certainly, madam, come this way.'

- at which point a sales assistant walked around the stand and almost tripped over about 20 kids sat there, entranced by the sci-fi spectacle.  All hell broke loose!  The assistant got the manager who asked all the kids where they had come from, what they were doing there, and more assistants were called in to coral the kids in a kind of holding area while they took parent names, and called out for them on the shop intercom.  There were tears and howls of indignation as we were hauled away right at a critical moment in the escape from the Death Star.

Naturally, when they got to me, and no parent came to get me, they quickly deducted I was the source, taking my name and address.  From that moment onwards I was marked - every time I walked into Menzies from that point I was spotted and steered out of the store.  Again, gutted!  However, by that time I can safely say I had seen A New Hope in their store at least 50 times. 

Ah, happy days!   :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2014, 12:23:06 PM
Brilliant story, SM!  For myself, repeat home 'viewings' of SW were accomplished through use of a tape recorder shoved up close to the TV on one of those precious showings, although my constant shushing of my brother does drown out a lot of the dialogue...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 December, 2014, 12:29:15 PM
Every year, A Muppet Christmas Carol gets an airing, and every year it's just as brilliant.  If the sight of Kermit describing the view from the graveyard his dead son enjoys doesn't move you, you are a robot, and not one of the cool ones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 December, 2014, 02:38:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2014, 12:23:06 PM
Brilliant story, SM!  For myself, repeat home 'viewings' of SW were accomplished through use of a tape recorder shoved up close to the TV on one of those precious showings, although my constant shushing of my brother does drown out a lot of the dialogue...

Hahaha, brilliant!  I used to do the same with the A Team and Knight Rider!  :D

Quote from: Allah Akbark  on 11 December, 2014, 12:23:06 PM
Every year, A Muppet Christmas Carol gets an airing, and every year it's just as brilliant.  If the sight of Kermit describing the view from the graveyard his dead son enjoys doesn't move you, you are a robot, and not one of the cool ones.

Oops, forgot about that one!  That is a Xmas film I am happy to watch any time of the year. 

We're Marley and Marley!  WOOOOOO!!!   :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 December, 2014, 11:07:08 AM
Quote from: Allah Akbark on 11 December, 2014, 12:29:15 PM
Every year, A Muppet Christmas Carol gets an airing, and every year it's just as brilliant.  If the sight of Kermit describing the view from the graveyard his dead son enjoys doesn't move you, you are a robot, and not one of the cool ones.
Oh god that freaked me out as a child! :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 December, 2014, 01:34:13 PM
Michael Caine starting to sing freaks me out even when I know it's coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 15 December, 2014, 01:45:49 PM
Saw "Blade Runner - The Final Cut" last night in the Irish Film Institute. First time watching it on the big screen in, like, decades. Awesome! Just freaking awesome! (I actually welled up a few times at certain scenes, lol. )
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 December, 2014, 03:51:39 PM
I really wanted to see that at Cineworld in Cardiff last night but didn't get home from a gig until 30 mins into the film.  Gutted!

I'm not having much luck with the BFI film showings.  I wanted to see 2001 at the same venue the week before but was too slow off the mark, and it sold out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 15 December, 2014, 04:16:58 PM
Fear not, old son. Blade Runner is being re-released full scale in April 2015.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 December, 2014, 08:35:48 PM
Woohoo!!! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 December, 2014, 09:52:11 AM
Robocop remake - that was a bit dull, wasn't it? What was missing from the first one was not [spoiler]having the first hour or so taking place in a factory where they were fiddling with Robocop's settings.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 December, 2014, 12:30:11 PM
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 21 December, 2014, 09:49:35 PM
Men in Black 3 - A load of tired shit, and another franchise well past its sell by date.
Josh Brolin is aces, though. More Josh Brolin in everything please.
Nicole Scherzinger looked lovely for the 5 minutes she was on screen. And I kept thinking the main bad guy was Eddie Izzard under heavy make-up, but  alas it wasn't, and Will Smith is still somebody you so want to punch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 21 December, 2014, 11:15:38 PM
The Hobbit, The Battle of the five armies.

Passable, with bouts of tedium.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 December, 2014, 01:03:54 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 21 December, 2014, 09:49:35 PM
Will Smith is still somebody you so want to punch.

No, he's lovely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 December, 2014, 01:09:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 December, 2014, 01:03:54 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 21 December, 2014, 09:49:35 PM
Will Smith is still somebody you so want to punch.

No, he's lovely.

He'd be lovely with a cauliflower ear! (wait a second...)

I've been watching (Part 1) of Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac.
An interesting enough film, far less explicit and far more humorous than I thought it would be.
Part 2 tonight...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 December, 2014, 01:22:10 PM
Watched Nymphomaniac the other week (cheers Netflix) - don't know why I even bothered with the second part. I thought it was dire, with no absolutely no sense of time or place, and some utterly bizarre casting decisions.  Von Trier's mannered approach is stretched too far with wretched dialogue that goes on and on, and the end is laugh-out-loud terrible. I'm also assuming there's a more explicit cut out there, because this wasn't it, but I won't be seeking it out.

The main consequence of watching this flick has been Netflix deciding I only want to watch Lipstick Lesbian movies from now on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 22 December, 2014, 04:07:23 PM
Gran Torino. Now, you cant beat a bit of Eastwood, but at 256 years of age, he maybe shouldn't be making movies anymore. I suspect it wasn't long after making this, that he had a chat with a chair, thinking it was Obama.

At times I couldn't tell if this movie was a comedy, or not. Check out Clint when his son comes round on his birthday. Just needed some CGI steam coming out of his ears to complete the effect...
In fact, they should have called this movie Grumpy Grandad, and made a bunch of them. If De Niro can sell his soul to comedy...

The poster they used to advertise the film looks good though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 December, 2014, 04:16:09 PM
When this film was first announced there was a rumour that it was going to be a Dirty Harry film. The plot went something like this: a young relative of Harry Callahan, a cop for the SFPD is killed by a cop killer. The only clue they have to go is that the killer drives a Gran Torino. Harry dusts off his Magnum and comes out of retirement to set hings straight.
It sounds cheesy, but that's the film I wanted to see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 23 December, 2014, 03:49:01 PM
I think Gran Torino's superb.

I'll admit, I felt like I'd been sold a different movie by its advertising, but its full of great stuff. Nothing's more amusing to me than seeing an aged Clint Eastwood behaving inappropriately, and I think there's a couple of really good messages the movie puts across.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 December, 2014, 06:25:28 PM
Hunger Games: Catching fire which was rather good actually.

And the recent Robocop. More like Robomeh! Having the whole Samuel L Jackson framing device was terribly misjudged. And he was actually pretty bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 December, 2014, 07:13:43 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 23 December, 2014, 06:25:28 PM
Hunger Games: Catching fire which was rather good actually.

And the recent Robocop. More like Robomeh! Having the whole Samuel L Jackson framing device was terribly misjudged. And he was actually pretty bad.

I find that if Samuel L Jackson is starring in summat, then its best to avoid that movie, if possible.

What happened to him, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 December, 2014, 01:08:16 PM

The Interview (http://youtu.be/Ed2kSuKqfz0) (on Youtube), starring Seth Rogen and James Flacco *. If you didn't enjoy stuff like Pineapple Express and This Is The End, there's nothing here that's going to change your mind about the comic abilities of the leads - Flacco is especially annoying, pitching his performance at Jim Carrey levels of heightened mugging.

I almost didn't make it past the first hour, which is mostly empty scat and gay jokes, but it picks up as soon as Kim Jong-Un arrives. The characterisation of him is quite convincing, and almost endearing, but what should be the showpiece of the film - the interview itself - doesn't quite come off in the way it has to. The best line in the entire film is the one at the end of that trailer posted above - [spoiler]"how many times must America make the same mistake?" - "as many times as it takes!"[/spoiler].


* according to President Obama (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/19/president-obama-likes-james-flacco-a-lot-whoever-that-is/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 26 December, 2014, 06:02:33 PM
The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists

Aardman animated tale, and absolutely brilliant.  I could go on about the wonderful Claymation, the detailed artistic sets, the cast of stars, and all the other usual hallmarks of their work, but surely we all know that anyway!  Really funny film, with loads of background gags in the signage to compliment the amusement provided by the main story.  Had never heard of this till it came on telly today, and am delighted I decide to give it a go.  Well worth 90 minutes of anyone's time I'd say!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 December, 2014, 03:08:52 AM
I saw Lucy in parts over the cause of Xmas night and al the way thru to next morning and only managed to see the ending in jy last viewing as I couldn't be bothered to watch the whole film at the time.

Of course I may have explained that when we rent a movie on the Foxtel cable network. We are free to watch it anytime after the hour we brought it for and only until five am or five thirty am next day.

About a girl called Lucy (Scarlett Johanson!) who gets some experimental drugs sewn into the lining of her stomach and they have some reaction when some thug starts kicking her repeatedly in the stomach (A metaphor for rape!) break the lining of the bags inside and releasing the contents.

The effects of which might be startling if I hadn't already seen the previews of this film.

From the moment the thug leaves her, her body and mind start reacting to the drugs in her system.

A potent hit!

She starts using more of her brain than a person would normally do and this is shown as large white numbers with a % symbol. This % increases as she appears to gets smarter through out the film.

I should now add that Morgan Freeman is some science fellow who I see in the film later wearing lab coat. is talking in voice over narration about how we as humans only use less than ten % of our brains and how dolphins use nearly 20% (Don't quote me on this, because my memory is sketchy about this at best!)

This seems wrong to me as I think I do know that while Dolphins are supposed to be surpriseingly bright for fishy-mammals. They are still dumb by our own standards.

Is this correct?

Would you all agree?

Anyway, I think the first thing I notice about her after some how freeing herself from the chains holding her to the wall of some prison cell and acquire a personal firearm to shoot four of the Korean gangsters guarding her. They were sitting at a small table eating their version of take away food.

She shoots all four of them like she has auto-targeting and suddenly understand mandarin.

She soon develops some telepathic powers, (Like some wanna be Psi Anderson and telekinesis as well.

Where I begin t wonder if using more of your brains actually works this way.

Giving us Psionics,

Maybe the real reason why we ever thought wizards and Witches exist.

Yet, this seems wrong that she can suddenly do all this stuff as the % increases until it reaches 99.

Of course, she also knew what she was doing naturally, and how to correctly apply her powers putting them to the best use.

It's just that she never just uses higher % of thinking to work stuff out without resorting her new found powers.

I won't give away the ending that I managed to sit down and catch on it's last viewing.

Something that I only now could compare to the beginning scenes of  2001: Space Odessy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y15NnGZIBuM)

Think about it!
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dominic O'Rourke on 29 December, 2014, 09:17:58 AM
"
This seems wrong to me as I think I do know that while Dolphins are supposed to be surpriseingly bright for fishy-mammals. They are still dumb by our own standards.

Is this correct?"

So long.

And thanks for all the fish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 December, 2014, 10:09:53 AM
Dude fucking really? To use an apt analogue, if Seals or the Dogs of the sea Cetaceans are our equals. They are seriously bloody clever by any standard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 29 December, 2014, 10:22:57 AM
The % of your brain you use is 100%.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 29 December, 2014, 11:01:03 AM
One of our dinosaurs is missing...

I'm pretty sure I never saw it as a kid.

OK, everyone's a cartoonish stereotype in it, but even so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 December, 2014, 11:27:02 AM
Worth it for the John Pertwee cameo as an eccentric British type. Or was he playing himself...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 December, 2014, 12:30:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 December, 2014, 10:09:53 AM
Dude fucking really? To use an apt analogue, if Seals or the Dogs of the sea Cetaceans are our equals. They are seriously bloody clever by any standard.

They say pigs are very smart, but we still get bacon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 December, 2014, 12:31:20 PM
Intelligence is subjective. Terrestrial and marine life are non-comparable.

Groups of Dolphins are unique. Each one has it's own language based on clicks and murmurs on a base wavelength that is understandable only to other members of the pod. They have a sense of family, sexual desire and identity, self awareness, hygiene and complex positive and negative relations with other Dolphins. And don't get me started on bloody Orcas! I swear to god they be smarter than us!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 December, 2014, 12:36:45 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 29 December, 2014, 10:22:57 AM
The % of your brain you use is 100%.

Indeed. Natural Selection wouldn't have much patience with you lugging about a massively energy consuming organ that makes childbirth ludicrously risky if 90% of it was dead weight. You'd very quickly end up with a species with a brain 10% of the 'size' but using 100% of its capacity, i.e. humans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 29 December, 2014, 04:58:50 PM
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. - DVD I received for Christmas.

Enjoyed it in the cinema (wrote a review (http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-minor-spoilers/)) and noticed a few things this time round that I didn't originally.

Firstly, in my review I hypothesise that the ASL used is abbreviated, I now know having read about it that that is indeed the case.

Both Caesar and Blue Eyes cry... Chimpanzees don't cry. I missed that on the big screen. Now if I am accepting that [spoiler]the Apes have mutated due to the drugs used on them mutating in to a virus[/spoiler] I guess I have to accept this...

Anyway - not a fan of reboots in general but loving this one & hope the planned sequel sees light of day.

In the mean time there are PotA comics :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 December, 2014, 10:20:32 PM
Following a read of a biography I went for the full Fassbender.

X-Men : First Class : Didn't fancy this at the time but I really enjoyed it. Not too serious but plenty of action and some great hammy Bacon.

Fish Tank : Grimy kitchen sink drama - not pleasant on any level but strangely captivating.

Frank : Fell apart in the third act for me but quirky stuff and good fun.

Centurion : Cracking bit of Picts vs Romans action - not much of a plot but lots of slashings.

Haywire Good action and stunts but a plot bypass.

Eden Lake Really nasty yuppies v yobs thriller that doesn't end well for anyone.

Still got 'A Dangerous Method', 'Shame', 'Hunger' and '10 Years a Slave' to get through. Saw 'Promethius' and 'Inglorious Basterds' a while back and may revisit later. The biography was rubbish BTW - 'unauthorised' - basically a compilation of gossip mags and second hand interviews. Good ator though - ever film has something worth watching.

and

Carry on Abroad A strangely high entry in Channel 5's 'Top Ten Carry Ons' - as rubbish as I remembered .'At your Convenience' remains my firm favourite.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 December, 2014, 10:27:27 PM
10 years a slave?

Is it a shorter version then? :p
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 December, 2014, 10:53:07 PM
Time off for good behaviour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 29 December, 2014, 10:55:54 PM
 :D
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 30 December, 2014, 12:23:32 PM
Quote from: Dominic O'Rourke on 29 December, 2014, 09:17:58 AM
"
This seems wrong to me as I think I do know that while Dolphins are supposed to be surpriseingly bright for fishy-mammals. They are still dumb by our own standards.

Is this correct?"

So long.

And thanks for all the fish.

As Douglas Adams said:

Quote"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons."

...so basically dolphins are definitely cleverer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 30 December, 2014, 02:04:14 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy

Stupid fun. Which was exactly what was expected and wanted at the time.

High praise from Mrs X: "Actually, that was quite good."

Never your Empire 5 stars, put that quote on the cover.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 December, 2014, 06:56:01 PM
Just been see Night at the Museum Part 3 with missus (there was few subtitled films), wow that was laugh-free film! But the highlight was [spoiler]Hugh Jackman's Wolverine acting growl! [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 30 December, 2014, 10:10:45 PM
I'm Still Here

Baffling and deeply deeply conceited - it thinks it's making a point, but by totally lying about it it totally undermines itself. Those concerned about Phoenix during that time were being deceived - and instead of being a statement on reality it ends up looking like snotty trollery.

It's interesting to see the way the media circus dehumanize their prey - especially the news channels and the paparazzi but beyond that the whole exercise feels indulgent and pointless - and with it's falsehoods ultimately seems to mock break-downs rather than contextualise them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 31 December, 2014, 12:15:57 AM
predestination
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FcK_UiVV40

Coherence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEceDz1Rodc

Both broke my brain
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 31 December, 2014, 02:31:50 AM
Can't remember the last time I watched a non-cinema film to completion.

Had decent expectations of Avengers Assemble, but lasted 30 mins. Tosh. I really don't think I've lasted any Marvel films to their conclusions. Something about seeing four-colour characters on the big screen is fundamentally lame, I think.

The Pirates! ... blah... Scientists started extremely well, I think tiredness (working every day) meant I wilted, rather than blame the film. Maybe.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 December, 2014, 10:48:13 AM
Guardians of the Galaxy with family. Mother hated it which mean't everyone else loved it. Good stuff.

Intersteller with friends and it was kinda visually stunning but very, very flat on character building. I guess it's one of them where you need to read between the lines and think about what we didn't see (Like that guy who stayed on the space station for decades and nearly lost his mind). Robots where bloody cool though. They had sass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 December, 2014, 12:04:42 PM
Vi är bäst!

This tale of bored Swedish teens forming a punk band is wonderfully shot and singularly evocative - and as much as it doesn't really 'go' anywhere particularly, being absurdly naturalistic and brilliantly performed it provokes memories of awkward early teens more than perhaps any other film I've seen. For that it's unforgettable and the final high note is breathlessly joyful. Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 31 December, 2014, 11:47:39 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 December, 2014, 12:04:42 PM
Vi är bäst!

This tale of bored Swedish teens forming a punk band is wonderfully shot and singularly evocative - and as much as it doesn't really 'go' anywhere particularly, being absurdly naturalistic and brilliantly performed it provokes memories of awkward early teens more than perhaps any other film I've seen. For that it's unforgettable and the final high note is breathlessly joyful. Brilliant.

Yep. Just saw this last week. Excellent. Might be my favorite movie of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 January, 2015, 05:57:17 PM
Cockneys vs Zombies. More like pish vs shite. Some venerable British TVcomedy talent in this who should've know better, it starts out as a poor cockney gangster comedy - and then all of a sudden zombies appear with no explanation and the former plot is abandoned.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 01 January, 2015, 06:37:58 PM
Kind Hearts and Coronets. Alec Guinness at his best. Z
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 January, 2015, 10:08:18 PM
Paddington.

Wow, had heard great things but was still blown away. An absolute triumph and far funnier than most films that call themselves 'comedies'. Just beautifully put together and made me well up several times even though i have no real affection for the original stories.

Instant christmas classic and Blu Ray purchase as far as I'm concerned. Just smashing.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 January, 2015, 11:50:51 PM
Avengers.

I saw it at the cinema and liked it. Got it on Blu-ray recently, and having just rewatched it, yes it still holds up...

I wouldn't say it's a brilliant film, but it's good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 03 January, 2015, 01:24:39 PM
Finally... The Grand Budapest Hotel

For a long-time fan of Anderson I waited quite a long while to see his latest film but on seeing it at last I wasn't disappointed in the least.

With Budapest's otherwordly caper and rich ensemble cast we're skating majestically into Zissou territory which is where I first fell in WesLove. Fiennes is captivating and Revolori's Zero is excellent but mark my words - if Anderson's eccentrically intricate worlds are not to your taste this won't convert you. For the initiated however it is as sophisticated and adventurous as he's ever been and remarkably captivating for it. Onwards and Weswards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 03 January, 2015, 03:11:41 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 January, 2015, 11:50:51 PM
Avengers.

I saw it at the cinema and liked it. Got it on Blu-ray recently, and having just rewatched it, yes it still holds up...

I wouldn't say it's a brilliant film, but it's good fun.

I've seen the Avengers movie a few times now and it does hold up well to repeat viewings. It really is a fantastic movie and I can find hardly any faults with it (apart from Hulk's insta change from mindless beast to following orders).  I do wonder if this movie has been partly overshadowed by all the comic related movies that have been released but this one really is the best and viewed individually, it's up there with the best 'family' action movies ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 January, 2015, 03:34:17 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 03 January, 2015, 01:24:39 PM
Finally... The Grand Budapest Hotel

For a long-time fan of Anderson I waited quite a long while to see his latest film but on seeing it at last I wasn't disappointed in the least.


Me to, long term fan of Anderson and yet I'm still to see this as well, thanks for the reminder...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 03 January, 2015, 04:16:25 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 03 January, 2015, 03:11:41 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 January, 2015, 11:50:51 PM
Avengers.

I wouldn't say it's a brilliant film, but it's good fun.

I've seen the Avengers movie a few times now and it does hold up well to repeat viewings. It really is a fantastic movie and I can find hardly any faults with it (apart from Hulk's insta change from mindless beast to following orders).

Hmm, I watched Avengers for the first time at Crimbo and wasn't impressed. My mind frequently wandered from the action onscreen and even though I know for a fact I watched right through to the end of the credits I can't even remember how it ended. I didn't really laugh much, I didn't follow the plot and it never really had me gripped. Dare I say it was quite... boring? 4/10

Also saw Gaurdians of the Galaxy for the first time; this was one Marvel movie that I was actually excited about seeing since I first saw the trailer earlier this year. It was very enjoyable but totally failed to live up to the hype. It suffered from the same problem as most Marvel movies - a paper-thin plot with a poorly-concieved maguffin for everybody to chase and a baddie who barely manages as many as two dimensions with the vaugest of vauge motivations. I watched it with people who'd all seen it before (and loved it) and I asked them mid-way through what Ronan's deal was. I got utterly blank looks from the rest of the room. I clarified, 'I know he's the baddie, right? But what exactly does he want? What's he trying to do?' Nobody had the faintest clue. Nobody could tell me who Karen Gillan's character was, other than 'Er... her name's Nebula', or explain anything about Gamora other than 'She's betraying Thanos' (and no, I didn't really understand the Thanos character either). To be honest, Starlord was the only character in the film who was given a decent backstory, purpose and motivation. My friends seemed content to just sit back, disengage brains and enjoy the Wedon-esque banter, cheerfully ignoring the plot holes which I suppose is the spirit in which you're meant to watch a film about a talking space raccoon. Good fun but I wouldn't watch it twice, even it was on TV. 6/10?

I don't think the Marvel movies are for me. The only one I've seen that needed no apoligies made for it was Captain America 2 - a proper plot with proper baddies and motivations. Just a good film, rather than 'good for a Marvel movie.' Anyway, I also recently watched The Dark Knight (great fun, 8/10) and Force 10 from Navarrone (damn fine romp, 8/10) - what's not love about a film where a chip-on-his-shoulder Carl Weathers has a knife-fight with Jaws from the Bond films, playing a cossack working for the Nazis?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 January, 2015, 04:50:41 PM
Ronan is a space terrorist with the exact same motivations as the Pakistani jihadis in the most recent season of Homeland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 03 January, 2015, 05:47:05 PM
guardians was a bit of a let down cos of the hype I was expecting a star wars contender... just watched captain America the winter soldier which I enjoyed more not being even a huge fan of cap in general it was an enjoyable thriller.

  also watched muppets most wanted which was ace
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 January, 2015, 06:05:15 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 03 January, 2015, 01:24:39 PM
Finally... The Grand Budapest Hotel

For a long-time fan of Anderson I waited quite a long while to see his latest film but on seeing it at last I wasn't disappointed in the least.

With Budapest's otherwordly caper and rich ensemble cast we're skating majestically into Zissou territory which is where I first fell in WesLove. Fiennes is captivating and Revolori's Zero is excellent but mark my words - if Anderson's eccentrically intricate worlds are not to your taste this won't convert you. For the initiated however it is as sophisticated and adventurous as he's ever been and remarkably captivating for it. Onwards and Weswards.
It is a superb film, isn't it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 January, 2015, 06:10:07 PM
Best movie of 2014 for me
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 03 January, 2015, 09:26:16 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 03 January, 2015, 04:16:25 PM
Also saw Gaurdians of the Galaxy for the first time; this was one Marvel movie that I was actually excited about seeing since I first saw the trailer earlier this year. It was very enjoyable but totally failed to live up to the hype. It suffered from the same problem as most Marvel movies - a paper-thin plot with a poorly-concieved maguffin for everybody to chase and a baddie who barely manages as many as two dimensions with the vaugest of vauge motivations. I watched it with people who'd all seen it before (and loved it) and I asked them mid-way through what Ronan's deal was. I got utterly blank looks from the rest of the room. I clarified, 'I know he's the baddie, right? But what exactly does he want? What's he trying to do?' Nobody had the faintest clue.

I caught the guardians film recently too and I did find it a little disappointing. It tries to fit a lot in and so things like character details and plot can get lost along the way.  I also thought some of the timing was off with jokes getting dropped without the audience realising. 

Still, I think there is potential there and it will be interesting to see what the next movie will be like if they iron out the wrinkles.  Plus, it's a cold heart that doesn't smile at [spoiler]mini groot dancing at the end![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2015, 12:36:52 AM
Half watched through a festive miasma:

Avengers Assemble. Still pretty entertaining, especially with the added bonus of seeing my mum try to identify Marvel superheroes. Hadn't realised how much of the running time was taken up by the Whedony character beats in the middle (not a criticism.)

How to Train Your Dragon. Remembered people on here bigging it up. Enjoyable stuff.

Watched properly since then:

Grave of the Fireflies. Initially thought this was going to be pretty saccharine but, in the words of Judge Prager: "Grim."

I've always been a Keanu Reeves apologist. Then I watched Johnny Mnemonic and I suddenly understood where all the criticism comes from. What a bizarre mess of a film. The first problem is Reeves' utterly wooden performance, but that's not the worst of it.

The story is, at heart, a pulpy, noir thriller about a man who literally knows too much. As such it could've been realised fairly cheaply with a few dark rooms, sharp suits and a mysterious wire or two. Like its near contemporary Gattaca. Instead, a fair amount of cash has been spent on setting it in a strange, eighties-style, crazy haircuts and eyeshadow kind of future. Parallels with Tank Girl - released the same year and also co-starring Ice-T - are entirely made up for my own amusement. At least it is still dark though.

It is, of course, harsh to criticise special effects from a historical perspective. In mitigation, some of the sets and the crazy, cybernetically enhanced dolphin are great. However, watching this today with its cyberspace showdown between a masked Keanu and a crudely animated digital security avatar, it is impossible not to make comparisons with another Reeves film. Something I'd never considered before about The Matrix is the visual masterstroke of making the simulation as real as life so you don't have to bother with shitey graphics just to depict buildings or whatever. That the corresponding showdown sees the sharp suit swapped from Keanu to his opponent is just the icing on the cake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 January, 2015, 10:49:20 PM
Don't worry I'll be back to consuming lots of telly again soon but until then...

Churchill: The Hollywood Years

An uneven film that's not particularly terrible but suffers from a hugely inconsistent tone that by and large kills the principle 'joke'. Oddly on the DVD there is an alternative beginning and end that would almost entirely improve the film - where the framing device is made abundantly clear. It wouldn't have saved some of the flatter bits but it would've worked a lot better.

As it stands it's difficult to recommend although the host of familiar faces are fun: Vic and Bob's camp turn is a bit of a damp squib but an endearing Steve Pemberton and the always-brilliant and much missed Rik Mayall are personal favourites. Nice to see David Schneider as Geobbels dressed as the devil as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 January, 2015, 10:03:36 PM
QuoteAlso saw Gaurdians of the Galaxy for the first time; this was one Marvel movie that I was actually excited about seeing since I first saw the trailer earlier this year. It was very enjoyable but totally failed to live up to the hype. It suffered from the same problem as most Marvel movies - a paper-thin plot with a poorly-concieved maguffin for everybody to chase and a baddie who barely manages as many as two dimensions with the vaugest of vauge motivations. I watched it with people who'd all seen it before (and loved it) and I asked them mid-way through what Ronan's deal was. I got utterly blank looks from the rest of the room. I clarified, 'I know he's the baddie, right? But what exactly does he want? What's he trying to do?' Nobody had the faintest clue. Nobody could tell me who Karen Gillan's character was, other than 'Er... her name's Nebula', or explain anything about Gamora other than 'She's betraying Thanos' (and no, I didn't really understand the Thanos character either). To be honest, Starlord was the only character in the film who was given a decent backstory, purpose and motivation. My friends seemed content to just sit back, disengage brains and enjoy the Wedon-esque banter, cheerfully ignoring the plot holes which I suppose is the spirit in which you're meant to watch a film about a talking space raccoon. Good fun but I wouldn't watch it twice, even it was on TV. 6/10?

Though I enjoyed the film a lot more than you, I think these are pretty fair criticisms. Perhaps it's subjective, but personally I found that despite definitely suffering from the usual Marvel problems of convoluted and messy plotting, it still felt a damn sight more cohesive than the likes of Thor: TDW, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: WS.

I also don't think it had many actual 'plot holes' as such - more just that certain things were underexplained/underdeveloped.

As for Thanos, they better start doing something to demonstrate him being this apparent badass, and soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 05 January, 2015, 10:14:27 PM
I saw Guardians for the second time and liked it even more than the first viewing. (May have had something to do with seeing that in 3D and the feeling or being robbed which accompanies it) It is a fun movie, and should be enjoyed for just that.

Gone Girl Brilliant film. Fincher directed. Remained open mouthed in astonishment long after film had finished. Wonderfully dark conslusion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 05 January, 2015, 10:18:25 PM
I did enjoy it, Radiator, though I can see how it might not have come across that way! Just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd been expecting to, and though I could follow the plot well enough the underdeveloped villians and supporting characters left it all feeling ultimately a bit empty - to the extent I'd not be in any hurry to rewatch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 January, 2015, 10:48:42 PM
Didn't mean to imply that - just that for me it was an 8 or even 9/10 rather than a 6.5, and it's a film I will return to again in the future.

I totally agree that the villain was weak and had a very vague motivation, but for some reason the rest of the film just carried me along for the ride. I guess it all comes down to how much you're enjoying everything else - for example I remember the similarly vaguely-defined baddies in Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 bothering me a lot more.

I'd say overall it's my second favourite of the Marvel movies after the The Avengers, which did have a great villain with a proper motivation and everything!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 06 January, 2015, 01:18:03 AM
this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv568AzZ-i8
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2015, 09:09:32 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2015, 12:36:52 AM
Grave of the Fireflies. Initially thought this was going to be pretty saccharine but, in the words of Judge Prager: "Grim."

I watched nearly two years ago (I think that amount of time is write!) on advice from first edition rules for  Exalted (http://www.bing.com/search?q=exalted&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=) (It's a fantasy role playing game based any genre not based on Lord of the Rings  (And I'm only saying that because I just read that description!) I don't much about it other than there are a lot of warriors running around with think bladed swords (Just like Cloud from Final-Fantasy. In fact, this game may be just like a archaic version of Final Fantasy. This could be a very accurate description of it!)

(http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/blogs/lists/2011/02/11/Cloud%20Strife.jpg)

And Animai and I was one of the backers for the Kickstarter behind it's latest edition. I recall sending them money early last year and the book is still not ready. I think I backed a tier for the limited edition. Something that be bound in leather I think.

Anyway, it was advice from the page of the first edition which I downloaded from Drive-Thru-RPG that I watch this movie to get feel for the game. I really don't understand what they meant by this, but I watched both versions of the film (Animai and Real-Life Action!) and both were tear jerking in similar ways.  :'(

Yet, I think I liked the former version better. The live action version seemed to lacking in parts.

You may find my earlier commentary on this film on this very same thread nearly two years back as well.

If you like  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 January, 2015, 09:27:41 AM
I think your thinking of the wrong movie their, mayor. Grave of the Fire Flies is less Toshiro Mifune and more a trip down "How much can I hate myself" lane.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2015, 09:59:09 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 06 January, 2015, 09:27:41 AM
I think your thinking of the wrong movie their, mayor. Grave of the Fire Flies is less Toshiro Mifune and more a trip down "How much can I hate myself" lane.

I honestly don't know what you mean by  that (https://www.google.com.au/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Grave+of+the+Fire+Flies+).....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 January, 2015, 10:01:41 AM
Somehow I managed to get what you said about both the movie and the board game mixed up...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2015, 12:07:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 06 January, 2015, 10:01:41 AM
Somehow I managed to get what you said about both the movie and the board game mixed up...

This is the excerpt from that role playing game I mentioned before....

Quote from: A Assortment of Authors belonging to White-Wolf-Studios (Now Belonging to Onyx-Path) - Exalted

SUGGESTED RESOURCES

FICTION

Night's Master. Tanith Lee. One of the most finely crafted fantasy novels ever written. Night's Master and the rest of the stories of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth were the single largest literary influence on Exalted.

Hawkmoon. Michael Moorcock. White Wolf Publishing. Atlanta, GA. ISBN 1-56504-193-3. The other major literary inspiration for Exalted. Hawkmoon has it all — fantasy set in the ruins of a lost golden age, a decadent empire whose twisted sorcerous rulers seek to conquer the world and lots of strange artifacts of the time before the fall. Resurrection Man. Sean Stewart. Ace Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0-441-00339-7

*The Night Watch. Sean Stewart. Ace Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0-441-00554-3 Galveston. Sean Stewart. Ace Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0-441-00686-8 These books are really unexcelled in their ability to show just how terrifying living in a world full of spirits and fairytale magic is like. The depiction of spirits in Exalted was very strongly colored by these books, and they are highly recommend, particularly the second two.

The Black Company. Glen Cook. Tor Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0-81252-139-0. The Lady and The Ten Who Were Taken are excellent inspirations for Exalted. Shapeshifter would make an excellent Lunar Exalted, and The Lady would make an very fine Solar. Also, the slow but very powerful magic of this world is a good inspiration for Storytellers trying to imagine what Exalted's sorcery looks like. The Complete Pegana. Lord Dunsany.

Chaosium,  Inc. Berkeley, CA. ISBN 1-56882-116-6. Arguably the most influential fantasy writer in the history of the sword-and-sorcery genre, and probably neck and neck with Tolkien for his influence on fantasy in general. Lord Dunsany's work is seminal to almost everything in the genre. If you like fantasy, you really owe it to yourself to check it out — this guy is the bomb. Shadow & Claw. Gene Wolfe. Orb. New York, NY. ISBN 0-31289-017-6.

Sword & Citadel. Gene Wolfe. Orb. New York, NY. ISBN 0-31289-018-4. Set in an unimaginably distant future of our own world, these books (collectively known as The Book of the New Sun) are an absolutely fabulous combination of magic and science-fiction elements.

CLASSICS

The Histories. Herodotus. Penguin Books. New York, NY. An amazingly good illustration of how cosmopolitan and advanced the ancient world was, compared to the squalor of the medieval period. The Iliad. Homer. Penguin Books. New York, NY. Pretty much the classic story of a flawed hero. If you just can't bear to read it in a verse-type presentation, Penguin produces a very fine prose-format Iliad.

Volsungasaga. Penguin Books. New York, NY. Later mixed together with a different version of the same story and synthesized into Wagner's "Ring Cycle," the original is far more relevant to Exalted and a pretty good read, too.

VIDEOS AND MOVIES

Ninja Scroll (1995). An absolutely stunning anime — the supernatural martial arts in it were very strong inspirations to Exalted's combat and Charm system. This is a really good movie to show your players before they make up characters, telling them "characters in Exalted can do things like this."

Swordsman II (1991). Starring Jet Li and Brigitte Lin, this film is to live action swordplay what Ninja Scroll is to anime. The wirework, the superbly choreographed swordplay and the amazingly cool martial-art moves make this film great. Another "the game feels like this" movie.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) While long on dialogue and somewhat short on action, this film, starring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, is a masterpiece of wirework. While it isn't nonstop swordplay, this film's lavish costuming and complex and passion-driven plot make it an excellent inspiration for character-centered games.

Streetfighter (1996). The anime, not the live-action movie. Set in the modern day, but it has some absolutely great supernatural martial arts fights. Also worth seeing for the totally deadpan way it handles a world full of martial artists who are vastly more powerful than any normal mortal.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988). A really terribly serious animated drama about two Japanese children struggling to survive in World War II Japan. It's not really related to Exalted, but if you're reading this and going, "nah, anime can't tell serious stories," you'll want to see this film. Fair warning — you will cry.

They even admit it hasn't got a lot to do with Exalted I guess they felt it was worth mentioning just because of it's emotional aura alone!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 January, 2015, 04:30:16 PM
I know Lego movie was successful, but I'm a bit surprised it took the top spot:

Top 10 films in UK and Ireland in 2014 (SOURCE: RENTRAK)

1. The Lego Movie - £34.3m
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - £33.5m
3. The Inbetweeners 2 - £33.3m
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - £32.7m
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 - £30.1m
6. Guardians of the Galaxy - £28.5m
7. Paddington - £27.9m
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past - £27.1m
9. How to Train Your Dragon 2 - £25m
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - £24m

Interesting that with the exception of the Inbetweeners and Paddington, it's entirely sci-fi/fantasy (although a talking bear in a duffel coat could be classed as fantasy I guess...!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 January, 2015, 04:41:29 PM
Blimey. I knew I hadn't made it to the pictures as much last year but I haven't seen any of the top ten films.

I suppose The Hobbit did alright considering it was only out for the last two weeks of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 06 January, 2015, 07:18:50 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 06 January, 2015, 04:30:16 PM
I know Lego movie was successful, but I'm a bit surprised it took the top spot:

Top 10 films in UK and Ireland in 2014 (SOURCE: RENTRAK)

1. The Lego Movie - £34.3m
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - £33.5m
3. The Inbetweeners 2 - £33.3m
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - £32.7m
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 - £30.1m
6. Guardians of the Galaxy - £28.5m
7. Paddington - £27.9m
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past - £27.1m
9. How to Train Your Dragon 2 - £25m
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - £24m

Interesting that with the exception of the Inbetweeners and Paddington, it's entirely sci-fi/fantasy (although a talking bear in a duffel coat could be classed as fantasy I guess...!)

Box Office Mojo list is different

1    The Lego Movie    Warner Bros.    $56,890,654    2/14
2    The Inbetweeners 2    n/a    $55,652,783    8/6
3    Dawn of the Planet of the Apes    Fox    $55,198,182    7/17
4    Guardians of the Galaxy    Disney    $47,385,948    7/31
5    X-Men: Days of Future Past    Fox    $45,595,814    5/22
6    The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1    Lions Gate    $42,810,203    11/21
7    How to Train Your Dragon 2    Fox    $41,547,592    7/10
8    The Amazing Spider-Man 2    n/a    $40,468,688    4/18
9    The Wolf of Wall Street    UPI    $37,413,041    1/17
10    Gone Girl    Fox    $34,643,161    10/3
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 January, 2015, 11:45:11 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2015, 12:07:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 06 January, 2015, 10:01:41 AM
Somehow I managed to get what you said about both the movie and the board game mixed up...

This is the excerpt from that role playing game I mentioned before....

Quote from: A Assortment of Authors belonging to White-Wolf-Studios (Now Belonging to Onyx-Path) - Exalted

Grave of the Fireflies (1988). A really terribly serious animated drama about two Japanese children struggling to survive in World War II Japan. It's not really related to Exalted, but if you're reading this and going, "nah, anime can't tell serious stories," you'll want to see this film. Fair warning — you will cry.

They even admit it hasn't got a lot to do with Exalted I guess they felt it was worth mentioning just because of it's emotional aura alone!

I was struggling to see how Grave of the Fireflies could possibly relate to the demi-god battles of Exalted, but now I see - almost like an embarassed defence of anime rather than anything actually useful as source material  ::) 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 January, 2015, 12:20:18 PM
Jeez, that bloody film.  I can't even think about it without getting something in my eye.  Damn you, Studio Ghibli!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 07 January, 2015, 01:39:28 PM
Heavenly Creatures

Sickeningly compelling - filmed with a strangely woozy lucidity that only the slapstick horrorking Jackson could muster. Leaves you reeling and confused - an incredible experience really. Even more surreal that the two women live today - quite separate lives in England and claim to care little for each other despite the intensity of their childhoods. It gives this film even further atmosphere - that this period in their lives was like a mad daydream now long-forgotten. Quite stunning really - shame the team behind it too have since lost their unhinged brilliance to a mire of convoluted adaptations. So now I think the film has even greater resonance than when it first appeared - standing as it does a monument to youthful rashness and creative insanity now long faded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 07 January, 2015, 05:54:52 PM
Birdman.Great performances all round and often hilarious.keaton is terrific.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2015, 08:13:28 PM
In between fixing the tumble dryer, posting the last of the churstmas presents, making an awesome tomato sauce for the pasta and sorting out our broadband contract I have watched  DIE ANOTHER DAY and AVATAR.

Both better than I remember but still full of flaws.

AVATAR definitely benefits from being seen on a biggish screen in high def in glorious 3D as it's such an unashamed visual feast. The dialogue doesn't do much to explain why being a Navi is so wonderful but the script assumes the lushness of Pandora will just suck you in. Is it five years old? Special effects still look utterly flawless.

There aren't many things that would get worse when you add Rosamund Pike and Halle Berry but DIE ANOTHER DAY is one of them. It's not there fault as such. DAD is rattling along quite nicely as a serviceable "Bond goes rogue" movie until Halle arrives to utter terrible innuendo to Brosnan as he holds in his gut. Thereafter it becomes a massive sack of shit with zero surprises and a complete lack of wit. I have warmed slightly to the showdown on an exploding plane but still don't see why, when you build a villain as such a credible physical threat, you then emasculate him in a power rangers outfit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 January, 2015, 12:06:21 AM
I don't suppose you can ever really get bored of long, static shots of the American west up on the big screen. Watching The Homesman, I started to suspect they'd been digitally selecting the skies to make them look even more awesome.

That beauty is in stark contrast to the grim life on the frontier. Three young women have suffered devastating mental breakdowns. Hilary Swank, as an aged spinster of 30, and Tommy Lee Jones, a gruff, no-good, workshy Scheisskerl (according to the subtitles) are to drive them back East. As the episodic journey continues, hilarious consequences fail to ensue.

It's slow and fairly bleak but always gripping. Swank is fantastic. Her character, Mary Cuddy, is slightly cold and prim but able and independent and slowly being defeated by the fact that she must do certain things to be accepted in her society. Over the course of the film she shows, underneath this, a wonderful compassion and good-heartedness which made a pretty big impact.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 08 January, 2015, 07:04:38 PM
Some recent watches,  briefly:

Deliver Us From Evil
Eric Bana as a Noo York cop facing up against demonic possession. Diverting, if overly religious in the sense that it felt like a Catholic Conversion Exercise. Sadly nowhere near as good as the fantastic trailer promised.

Mr Jones
Found Footage horror,  beautifully shot with an at times beautiful aesthetic, in which a couple discover their country retreat is right next door to elusive and mysterious artist "Mr Jones", maker of creepy scarecrow art,  who might just be in the middle of a Lovecraftian invasion from Something Old and Evil.  Very good indeed.

Feast 3: The Happy End
Shit. 

Poseidon Rex
Underwater dinosaur kills drug runners in various computer generated ways, after being released from a volcano.  Entertaining Bollocks.

Little Shop of Horrors
Glorious eighties musical that I didn't overly like on original release, but which this time absolutely blew me away. 

Man of Steel
Enjoyable Superman fluff,  destruction porn and generally well-produced superhero theatrics.  Enjoyed it far more than the recent Batmovies,  and thought the bloke playing Supes nailed it.  Would happily watch another one.
SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2015, 07:31:04 PM
Heh! I was thinking about you when I posted about Die Another Day. Are you magically summoned when someone disses a film you like? (Or am I misremembering and you dislike it?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 January, 2015, 08:01:02 AM
Haha!  No,  while I like DaD an awful lot,  I appreciate that it's perhaps for reasons others may not share. And besides, Skyfall long ago usurped it as my fave Bond film. 

And,  like the Spines thread,  new additions to this one set off my alarm,  raising me erect and stimulated! 

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 09 January, 2015, 09:25:26 AM
Quote from: CheechFU on 06 January, 2015, 01:18:03 AM
this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv568AzZ-i8
I second this. What we do in the shadows. Instant classic. Great humour, and the film manages to show horror from a different perspective. Contender for best comedy horror ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2015, 09:31:15 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 09 January, 2015, 09:25:26 AM
Quote from: CheechFU on 06 January, 2015, 01:18:03 AM
this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv568AzZ-i8
I second this. What we do in the shadows. Instant classic. Great humour, and the film manages to show horror from a different perspective. Contender for best comedy horror ever.

The bloody trailer made me cry with laughter. Have to see this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 09 January, 2015, 11:05:06 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 09 January, 2015, 09:25:26 AM
What we do in the shadows. Instant classic. Great humour, and the film manages to show horror from a different perspective. Contender for best comedy horror ever.

Saw it a while ago - enjoyed it well enough, but not to the extent you clearly have. (For my money, the best horror comedy ever does come from New Zealand, but it's Braindead.) Some good lines and moments though, particularly the scenes involving the werewolves. I felt that whilst the chap playing Viago (who's also the director) put in an endearing performance, it maybe relied a bit too much on pulling silly faces whilst glancing at the camera. The bit I enjoyed most was the least overtly funny section - the monsters' ball - probably because it reminded me of The Monster Club.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 January, 2015, 11:39:45 AM
Hadn't heard anything about What we do in the Shadows, so cheers for the heads up on it.
Currently unavailable on Amazon.co.uk, but it's on my radar at least.


Quote from: Greg M. on 09 January, 2015, 11:05:06 AM
The Monster Club.

"Humans are the most despicable Monsters of all"; http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,28209.msg859856/boardseen.html#new
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 09 January, 2015, 12:16:54 PM
Yeah, the Director's acting is probably what grated the most for the whole film. In fact, the documentary style of it almost makes in feel unfilmy. More like a long TV show. It was packed with great ideas and funny lines though. Genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 January, 2015, 05:34:06 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 09 January, 2015, 11:05:06 AM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 09 January, 2015, 09:25:26 AM
What we do in the shadows. Instant classic. Great humour, and the film manages to show horror from a different perspective. Contender for best comedy horror ever.

Saw it a while ago - enjoyed it well enough, but not to the extent you clearly have. (For my money, the best horror comedy ever does come from New Zealand, but it's Braindead.) Some good lines and moments though, particularly the scenes involving the werewolves. I felt that whilst the chap playing Viago (who's also the director) put in an endearing performance, it maybe relied a bit too much on pulling silly faces whilst glancing at the camera. The bit I enjoyed most was the least overtly funny section - the monsters' ball - probably because it reminded me of The Monster Club.

Interesting stuff.....but Peter Jackson's earlier work is in  Bad-Taste (https://www.google.com.au/?gws_rd=ssl#q=bad+taste) fortunately his latest work makes up for this.

Regarding stuff I have recently watched......

Steer clear of   Station 76 (http://www.bing.com/search?q=station+76&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=) which doesn't now wether it wants to be retro social experiment or sci-fi or both at the same time. I barely watched this in parts twice before giving up and going to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 11 January, 2015, 08:30:40 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 January, 2015, 05:34:06 AM
Interesting stuff..

I confidently predict you will love What We Do in the Shadows - though knowing you, you'll probably spend the film trying to decide which RPG tribe the werewolves are from (Glasswalkers, inevitably) or which clans the main vampires represent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 January, 2015, 03:48:22 PM
Prometheus, despite feeling I have seen it about five times already from discussions here and elsewhere, I finally put eyeball to screen last night.  Ay caramba, where to even begin.  Would it actually be possible for Ridley Scott to have any more contempt for his characters than is on display here?  Or is it contempt for his audience?  As bewildering scene lurched in unconnected fashion into bewildering scene, a very beautifully designed and shot Plan 9 From Outer Space was all I could think of.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 January, 2015, 12:52:39 PM
DJANGO UNCHAINED
Good fun but despite the eruptions of claret in the final scenes, I feel this kind of ran out of steam when they met up with Leonardo. Shame, he is a good actor (and star!) and should have been aces but none of the lengthy dialogue scenes had anything like the tension of those in the equally unevern Inglorios Basterds. This was better overall though - and the first half looked lush.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: WeirdLordSulphur on 16 January, 2015, 12:03:24 PM
Unbroken : Really good film. I put it up there with Saving Private Ryan within war films. Check it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 17 January, 2015, 10:24:07 AM
I was browsing films on Netflix last night and settled on 'A Long Way Down' as users had given it five stars, and it was billed as dark humour.

What it actually was was mawkish, hamfisted and sentimental bollocks with a completely unengaging ensemble. It was neither dark not humorous, and the acting was appalling, particularly that young blonde woman, who was intensely irritating.

I have a masochistic tendency to watch films all the way through to the bitter end, a trait I severely regretted having last night.

Avoid avoid avoid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 January, 2015, 06:45:39 PM
Recently bought one of the best motion picture trilogies ever made and have been working my way through it:

Toy Story
Has aged remarkably well - when I saw it this year (it's 20th!!) I thought I'd struggle to find the love again since last watching my parentally-bought VHS of it moons ago. Some of the Randy (Newman that is) sequences are a little much and there's a scene which undermines pretty much the entire mechanic of the Toy Story universe (if Sid's sister can hear Woody shouting how come humans aren't always hearing them yelling away?!) - but here Toy Story is the worthy foundation stone of not only Pixar but most entirely CGI films of the last twenty years. Rarely do such ground-breaking technological marvels stand-up to time and it's a testament to the care and talent of the original team that in 2015 it still really does.

Toy Story 2
Not as solid as I recall it being when I first saw it - but for a rushed (relatively for the time) sequel it's a fun caper and a good continuation of what was laid out four years previously. It leans a little on heavy-handedly referencing the first on occasion but there's enough expansion going on here to keep it interesting.

Toy Story 3
When this first came out nearly five (!) years ago I was completely nonplussed - I loved Toy Story as a kid but the idea of revisiting their world wasn't tickling my tuna particularly. Then the good reviews started rolling in and I thought perhaps I should rethink my ambivalence. Finally I've seen it and it's a remarkably well-structured piece of sequelage that may actually be the strongest 'third part' in cinema history - using the passage of time very well and managing a large cast of returning favourites and strong new characters with care. Frequently sequences are hilarious - or moving - or both, and the whole thing is such a well-judged and fitting 'end' to the original in both tone and quality that it defies belief. Rarely do things work as well as this.

We can only hope that Lasseter and the gang are REALLY sure there needs to be a fourth. Although having said that the three shorts and two 'long shorts' set in the years since have all been solid and consistent. A rare thing is a leviathan commercial franchise that actually has heart and Toy Story 3 has it in spades.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 January, 2015, 06:58:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 January, 2015, 03:48:22 PM
Prometheus, despite feeling I have seen it about five times already from discussions here and elsewhere, I finally put eyeball to screen last night.  Ay caramba, where to even begin.  Would it actually be possible for Ridley Scott to have any more contempt for his characters than is on display here?  Or is it contempt for his audience?  As bewildering scene lurched in unconnected fashion into bewildering scene, a very beautifully designed and shot Plan 9 From Outer Space was all I could think of.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 17 January, 2015, 07:00:00 PM
3 films right there that I could happily watch any time they are on. The Jessie song and story in TS2 originally didn't have any effect on me pre-kids, but since the girls came along it gets me all the time.....the 'toy down the side of the bed' thing happens so often with them, and has happened a few times with a toy Jessie too. Thankfully, they love Jessie at the moment hehe.

I love the third one the most though - it's got it all. And the closing scenes, with the handover.....ooofff. When we went to the flicks to see it, I did get something in my eye but when I looked around and saw half the place in tears then I didn't feel too self-conscious at all. Don't think a 4th is needed, but I've got confidence that they'll do a good job there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 January, 2015, 07:05:03 PM
Toy Story may well be the greatest movie trilogy of all time. The first film especially is so tight and economical, not a wasted second of screen time. Very ambivalent about them doing a fourth one - if the plot yet again boils down to 'the toys get lost and have to find a way home' it'll be a huge let-down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 January, 2015, 07:12:56 PM
Also, this outstanding Toy Story 3 prank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFISjORzQs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFISjORzQs)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 17 January, 2015, 09:07:40 PM
Late to the party as ever, I still haven't seen Toy Story 2 or 3, so I shall instead talk about Frank, a kooky wee film about a band whose eccentric frontman lives behind a giant papier-mache head (loosely based on the Frank Sidebottom character who gave a young Jimbo many an unplesant dream in the 80s.) It's essentially a three-hander between Michael Fassbender as Frank, Maggie Gyllenhall, and Domhnall Gleeson as the wide-eyed young musician looking for a break who stumbles into Frank's band. It's very hard to describe much about it, but it's by turns very funny, very odd, a little bleak and weirdly uplifting. Maybe just a little long for its own good but highly recommended overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 January, 2015, 09:15:47 PM
Read some good reviews about Frank, never got to see it. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 17 January, 2015, 10:22:04 PM
Just watched Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey for the first time in 20 years. Still most excellent!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 January, 2015, 10:22:34 PM
'The Klansman' - Richard Burton and Lee Marvin - bound to be good. Except they are both pissed throughout and the story about a woman being raped in a Southern state is told in an as offensive way as you can imagine with more racial slurs than BNP rally. Real historical oddity with OJ Simpson as a good guy. Full film on Youtube probably because no one wants to copyright it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSN335YK2zA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSN335YK2zA)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 January, 2015, 01:15:26 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 January, 2015, 08:30:40 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 11 January, 2015, 05:34:06 AM
Interesting stuff..

I confidently predict you will love What We Do in the Shadows - though knowing you, you'll probably spend the film trying to decide which RPG tribe the werewolves are from (Glasswalkers, inevitably) or which clans the main vampires represent.

While that looks interesting, I do prefer to do as you suggest with films unrelated to horror without any Vampires as Werewolves as such.

I used to do this all the time.....

One example I recall is the very first Tomb Raider film with Lara as a Black Fury or Silent Strider or Silver Fang and the villain as a Shadow Lord or Black Spiral Dancer!

Typical   ::)

I watch this film you mentioned if I ever find it on cable. Although I prefer serious horror to this type of slapstick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 January, 2015, 12:21:08 PM
The brilliant Paddington film!

I was very tempted to stay and watch it a second time, and not just for Nicole Kidman in that white dress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 18 January, 2015, 07:01:03 PM
Been watch The Taking of Deborah Logan on Netflix USA, wow that was good! Very creepy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 January, 2015, 08:35:12 PM
Been having a bit of a Alan Clarke fest - with all the usual suspects; Scum, Made in Britain etc, and looking online, I had completely forgotten about Elephant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyRL73HIvqg), from 1989.
Not seen this since it was first screened, so thank you YouTube. A curious, and detached, short film, ostensibly about the troubles in Northern Ireland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2015, 09:15:43 AM
Haven't seen Elephant since it aired on TV, but it as stck with me ever since. Be interesting to see it again.

Last movie for me was 2001 in the cinema last night. What an amazing film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 January, 2015, 10:15:02 AM
War of the Worlds (1953); weirdly religious, stilted, painful acting and old school hollywood 'epic' of ham acting and patriotism. Deeply weird dialogue about England's strategic importance to the Invaders (FROM SPACE) in a cutaway that explores whats going on in the rest of the world.

Shouldn't have shown the crappy looking aliens, also shouldn't have been so bloody religious. When the dialogue goes "The martians will have conquered the world in 6 days at this rate" "The same amount of time it took to create it...." I nearly pissed myself laughing at the somber moment afterwards. It's clearly my reading and not the intent but it seemed like every military and scientific person in that scene was staring uncomfortably at the clearly unhinged nurse who really shouldn't be among the grown-ups. Especially since it was about 5 seconds after a priest got flambed and a nuclear bomb failed to do anything whatsoever to the enemy too.

I suppose you can make the case that the (SPOILERS) Martians dying of the common cold is divinely ordained or at the very least some form of pantheism, on the other hand its a much clearer example of mankind being driven like cattle from their homes and dying en masse, only to be saved by the chaotic force of nature and evolution.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2015, 11:23:01 AM
Wells manages to strike a characteristically clever balance about God's role in all this in the book:  after the famous   "..slain, after all man's devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth" bit he goes on to explain mankind's part in all this, in what is surely one of the greatest closing thoughts of all:

QuoteThese germs of disease have taken toll of humanity since the beginning of things — taken toll of our prehuman ancestors since life began here. But by virtue of this natural selection of our kind we have developed resisting power. ... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are. For neither do men live nor die in vain.

The boy could write.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 January, 2015, 11:59:36 AM
Watched Frank over the weekend and was totally blown away. A hard one to describe - It's got a lot of laughs, is sometimes hugely uplifting and at others quite crushing. It's also got a lot of humanity and I walked away from it feeling very inspired, it's jumped right up there with my favorite movies and I can see me revisiting it often in the coming years.

Also watched Sightseers, which was certainly not uplifting. Not sure what I expected, and I have a lot of love for darkly comic tales but we were just looking for something funny to watch and it was in the comedy section of Netflix. Sooooo we were a bit taken aback when it turned out to be grim as hell. There's humor in there, but the darker stuff got under our skin more than expected so we didn't find much to chuckle about. It was all just a bit upsetting really. It feels weird saying that, because as I say, nasty horror comedies are a thing I seek out generally, so not sure why this one was so unsettling. Maybe the approach to the violence was just a little too real and felt grimy and horrible...I don't know.

Could have jut been a mood thing, it wasn't what we expected so took us by surprise in a way that didn't sit right. Been thinking about it a lot since, so it's rooted in there which is a sign it's done something right. Odd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gladwin on 19 January, 2015, 12:06:05 PM
Watched the amazing spider-man 2 on the weekend. It was so bad. Wont be seeing that again. Think it is time for me to re-watch Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 January, 2015, 01:21:48 PM
ASM2 was so weak. I rarely feel like yelling at the screen but this was an exception.


Sightseers on the other hand, I loved to bits. But then I was well aware what I was getting myself in for...  Outside of Doctor Who don't expect much lightheartedness from Ben Wheatley. Still got to watch A Field in England.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 January, 2015, 02:22:56 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 19 January, 2015, 01:21:48 PM
Sightseers on the other hand, I loved to bits. But then I was well aware what I was getting myself in for...  Outside of Doctor Who don't expect much lightheartedness from Ben Wheatley. Still got to watch A Field in England.

Yeah I think it really was just a case of the wrong pick for the wrong evening, if I'd known what the tone was like I would have chosen another night for it and probably enjoyed it a whole lot more! Kill List had a similar unsettling effect on me, I think there's just something about his approach to violence that seems a tad too real and gets under the skin. Hard to explain, because as I say gory stuff usually floats my boat, but it got to me in a weird way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 19 January, 2015, 08:51:13 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 January, 2015, 06:45:39 PM
Recently bought one of the best motion picture trilogies ever made and have been working my way through it:

Toy Story"

Yes have agree Toy Story is, in my view, just about the best trilogy ever made. Personally I like number 2 the best and think it is just about the best sequel ever - it really builds on the first and takes it further.

I now have two young children and must have seen numbers 1 and 2 about fifty times. Basically if you have to see a film that many times, these are the ones - I enjoy them every time.

The ending of number 3 is truly heart wrenching and wraps up the series really well, but if they were to make another I would happy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 19 January, 2015, 10:43:33 PM
Another toy story is in preproduction.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 January, 2015, 11:17:54 PM
A couple of quite different films. Both have strange, almost metaphysical connections at their heart. In one, that works really well; it was a bit more of a problem for me in the other. I didn't know a great deal about either of them before watching and I'd recommend doing the same if you can.

Upstream Colour was fantastic, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it. A film about people spiked with a psycho-active parasite which creates  an empathetic bond between its hosts and others. The main thing it shares with Primer, the director's previous film, is a disdain for explanations. The viewer is expected to keep up and try and make sense of some fairly bizarre connections.

Where Primer was cold and intent on making a virtue of its intricate timeline, this is more concerned with mood and feeling. Consciousnesses begin to merge in strange ways, not just between people, and trying to find the source of this becomes the key. You can't go back and look at a complicated diagram to figure out what was happening when but that actually seems to make thinking about it all the better.


Maybe I've not been paying enough attention to the trailers lately. It was really refreshing seeing a big effects heavy film, Interstellar in this case, which hadn't had every sequence spoiled by the internet. There were entire actors I had no idea were even in it.

It's a film of three halves: the post-crash Earth I'd seen in the trailer, the space porn that hinted at and the third bit. It's a long film (there was even a fifteen minute intermission) and while it could have been edited down, I didn't ever feel it dragged. It has the typical Nolan serious, some might say po-faced, tone which I find quite endearing for the most part but some might disagree. Even the cool robots manage to be light relief without ever being anything so crude as funny. So, two thirds or more are really enjoyable spectacle. That final part has a pretty big flaw running through it, unfortunately.

That love can save the day is all well and good but it doesn't sit well with the big speeches about scientific enquiry and proof at the start. I have to confess that the aforementioned seriousness is severely undermined by an ending which I couldn't help compare to [spoiler]Bill telling Ted to remember to go back in time, steal his dad's spare keys and then leave them ... right behind this sign, dude![/spoiler] Still nice to see on the big screen. Kind of wish I'd seen it on IMAX.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 January, 2015, 11:22:34 PM
Finally caught Godzilla.

S'alright! Agree with most comments already made - though not too bothered about the lack of the big G himself so much as the short life span of [spoiler]Bryan Cranston[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 20 January, 2015, 03:10:00 AM
I saw The Birdman with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone and a barely recognisable Zach Galifianakis yesterday evening at my local cinema.

I have a lot to say about this film, but just for now I will only say that after I was treated to this visual of the interior of this small apartment in New York with a mostly unclothed Michael Keaton with his back to the audience floating about a foot or two above the floor in crouched lotus like position. Obviously meditating and there are the first words of his internal monologue.....

HOW DID WE END UP HERE.....

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE.....

SMELLS LIKE BALLS!

(In a almost familiar sound byts of his old Batman voice!)

I could almost imagine that voice being used for saying stuff like....

EYES WITHOUT LIFE.....

SUNDERED HEADS....

PILES OF CARCASSES....

THESE ARE PLEASING THINGS TO ME!

Then get up and gets dressed and goes to work, his apartment appears to be part of the broad way theatre where he works as a thespian who was once the  star of television sho or series of films about a costumed superhero called the Birdman and it isn't until I see him in the film later on following his other self obviously the source of his Batman voice dressed in his Birdman suit and imaginary. That I start thinking of a character I had created for the City of Heros/Champions Online game. It was some flying mutant hero that could do martial arts  and was wearing a costume that complete covered his body and gave him the appearance of a golden feathered Eagle shaped like a man. I really tried to pass this hero off as this raptorial bird of prey that had been mutated into taking on a more human shape and called it Rara-Avis a name stolen from the Garou term for the hybrid birdman shape a Corax takes. (One of the other animal shape-shifters from Werewolf : The Apocalypse!) and later dropped. It also happens to be Latin for Strange-Bird.

Really, this online role-playing-character was really based on a old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles role playing game character who was also a mutant hybrid Eagle-Man who knew martial-arts, firearms and stunt driving. Where I had rolled the dice so well on his financial background that he was robbed by the other player charcte4r in my group after theyhad set him free from the bio-genetics facility where he was tampered with as a hatchling and he escaped with some gear I purchased with his starting money. Some firearms, a flame-thrower, custom made combat-armour and a sports car. (I really wanted a Harrier-Jump-Jet and pilots licence!) and they caught up to him after sending the mutant Cheetah-Man with super-enhanced speed to run after him. He eventually caught up to me and leaped though my car's back window. Now, because how well our game-master could exploit the rules of his own game and how well I didn't know them. I was only able to have a small single shot weapon sitting next to my character while all the other stuff was locked in the boot. He told me I had to nominate what he had sitting right next to him and also added that it would ne much as my character rushing to escape.

He also rushed me, during character generation and while I was spending all
the money. Which didn't all get spent. So, my character was carrying more money that the other players could split between themselves after he was robbed.

Yes, this mutant Mink-Man shot him right in the face after a successful sneak roll. Apparently Mutant-Eagles don't hear very well, as.............

CONTINUED LATER....HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE DAY IS DONE.....:)



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 January, 2015, 11:45:53 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 19 January, 2015, 11:17:54 PM
Upstream Colour was fantastic, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it. A film about people spiked with a psycho-active parasite which creates  an empathetic bond between its hosts and others. The main thing it shares with Primer, the director's previous film, is a disdain for explanations. The viewer is expected to keep up and try and make sense of some fairly bizarre connections.

Love this movie, has a really hypnotic rhythm to it and a brilliant score to boot which I listen to quite often.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 January, 2015, 12:21:00 PM
OUTPOST III - Rise of the Spetznaz
Despite never having seen any other OUTPOSTS, this was on my Watchlist for some reason. Nazis and Zombies sounds like a winning combination so I gave it a watch.

It's unpleasantly, and not particularly inventively, gory but it does have a sense of kinetic energy (it's basically just a chase and then a bloke fighting his way out of a series of corridors). There's not much colour to the script - a lot of the characters (especially the spitting villain) seem to have been given lines and beats similar to those in other better movies.

I never figured out why it was called Rise of the Spetznaz but I did figure out why it was on my watch list when I got to the end credits.  Comic strip panels by, and a credit for concept art for, one Alex Ronald of this parish.  (He's the real "Our Alex", not this garland chap). I must have heard about it backaways and added it to the list.

And that connection immediately made me realise what a humourless exercise the whole thing was.  Surely, if you are going to open a can of stupid by having zombies and nazis together in a movie, then why not go the whole hog and make it funny.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 January, 2015, 12:50:12 PM
FAST AND FURIOUS
(no "THE"s)
I think this is number four in the series that has become my new guilty pleasure (ousting Resident Evil films).

These are actually about a thousand times better than RESI films; there are characters, people have arcs, you occassionally get "emotion" displayed by the leads and the production values are miles better.  But like a RESI film, you could take clips from one movie and easily slot it in another and nobody would notice.

Anyway, jolly good fun; a nice opening stunt/heist before the plot proper kicks in, a couple of racing sequences that are cleverly integrated into the plot and a riciculous mine cart chase finale.  The "twist" [spoiler]about the villain[/spoiler] isn't much of a twist but Diesel and the very handsome Walker make the most of what they've got.

I've also not watched them in order or, indeed all of them, (Five, Six and now four) so what I think is economical story telling and trusting the viewer to fill in the gaps reagrding Lettie's character may have been explained to death in previous installments. 

Looking forward to SEVEN now. Shame about Paul Walker though,
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 January, 2015, 02:09:13 PM

The Pact
As watch it on Netflix last night, at start I did thought, looks slow and not much... then [spoiler]where that girl gone?? [/spoiler]And for final twist,[spoiler] that I didn't expect! [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2015, 05:29:11 PM
QuoteAlso watched Sightseers, which was certainly not uplifting. Not sure what I expected, and I have a lot of love for darkly comic tales but we were just looking for something funny to watch and it was in the comedy section of Netflix. Sooooo we were a bit taken aback when it turned out to be grim as hell. There's humor in there, but the darker stuff got under our skin more than expected so we didn't find much to chuckle about. It was all just a bit upsetting really. It feels weird saying that, because as I say, nasty horror comedies are a thing I seek out generally, so not sure why this one was so unsettling. Maybe the approach to the violence was just a little too real and felt grimy and horrible...I don't know.

Really? It's been a while since I saw it, but I thought it was hilarious from start to finish, didn't think it was depressing in the slightest.

Went to see Wild over the weekend, I think mainly because of the local interest factor (it was largely  filmed in Oregon where I live). It's based on the autobiography of Cheryl Strayed, a young woman who decides to get over her many personal problems by walking 1000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Wasn't sure of what to expect but I was really impressed with it - quite blown away in fact. Certain aspects of the plot really hit me quite hard due to some parallels with my own life, but it's also got plenty of moments that made me laugh out loud. Was particularly impressed with the editing and sound editing (which isn't the kind of thing I normally notice), and even at 110 minutes it didn't feel overlong (in truth it ended just as I was starting to want it to wrap up, which is pretty perfect). It reminded me a little of 127 Hours, but I thought it was far better than that film. Reese Witherspoon is amazing in it as the lead - it's a pretty transparent Oscar bid, but is none the less effective for it.

And the wince-inducing opening scene is one for the ages.

5/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 20 January, 2015, 09:11:12 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 20 January, 2015, 03:10:00 AM
I saw The Birdman with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone and a barely recognisable Zach Galifianakis yesterday evening at my local cinema.

I have a lot to say about this film, but just for now I will only say that after I was treated to this visual of the interior of this small apartment in New York with a mostly unclothed Michael Keaton with his back to the audience floating about a foot or two above the floor in crouched lotus like position. Obviously meditating and there are the first words of his internal monologue.....

HOW DID WE END UP HERE.....

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE.....

SMELLS LIKE BALLS!

(In a almost familiar sound byts of his old Batman voice!)

I could almost imagine that voice being used for saying stuff like....

EYES WITHOUT LIFE.....

SUNDERED HEADS....

PILES OF CARCASSES....

THESE ARE PLEASING THINGS TO ME!

Then get up and gets dressed and goes to work, his apartment appears to be part of the broad way theatre where he works as a thespian who was once the  star of television sho or series of films about a costumed superhero called the Birdman and it isn't until I see him in the film later on following his other self obviously the source of his Batman voice dressed in his Birdman suit and imaginary. That I started thinking of a character I had created for the City of Heros/Champions Online game. It was some flying mutant hero that could do martial arts  and was wearing a costume that complete covered his body and gave him the appearance of a golden feathered Eagle shaped like a man. I really tried to pass this hero off as this raptorial bird of prey that had been mutated into taking on a more human shape and called it Rara-Avis a name stolen from the Garou term for the hybrid birdman shape a Corax takes. (One of the other animal shape-shifters from Werewolf : The Apocalypse!) and later dropped. It also happens to be Latin for Strange-Bird.

Really, this online role-playing-character was really based on a old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles role playing game character who was also a mutant hybrid Eagle-Man who knew martial-arts, firearms and stunt driving. Where I had rolled the dice so well on his financial background that he was robbed by the other player charcte4r in my group after theyhad set him free from the bio-genetics facility where he was tampered with as a hatchling and he escaped with some gear I purchased with his starting money. Some firearms, a flame-thrower, custom made combat-armour and a sports car. (I really wanted a Harrier-Jump-Jet and pilots licence!) and they caught up to him after sending the mutant Cheetah-Man with super-enhanced speed to run after him. He eventually caught up to me and leaped though my car's back window. Now, because how well our game-master could exploit the rules of his own game and how well I didn't know them. I was only able to have a small single shot weapon sitting next to my character while all the other stuff was locked in the boot. He told me I had to nominate what he had sitting right next to him and also added that it would ne much as my character rushing to escape.

He also rushed me, during character generation and while I was spending all
the money. Which didn't all get spent. So, my character was carrying more money that the other players could split between themselves after he was robbed.

Yes, this mutant Mink-Man shot him right in the face after a successful sneak roll. Apparently Mutant-Eagles don't hear very well, as.............

CONTINUED LATER....HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE DAY IS DONE.....:)

CONTINUEING.......

Quote from: ThryllSeekyrHe also rushed me, during character generation and while I was spending all
the money. Which didn't all get spent. So, my character was carrying more money that the other players could split between themselves after he was robbed.

Kind of like when Booga swaps out Takashi's high cards with low ones before he can play them :/ from Revenge of the Nerds

My mutant Eagle-Man was still alive, but I guess his beak was either shot-off or broken looking. Most possibly cracked. The Mink-Man's pulled stunt similar to George Berger's (Treat Williams) from the film Hair the musical. As he did sneak around a car they had stopped to make off with Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo) the rich debutante. Totally fooling the poor driver.  (I would have liked the scene if I could have found it on You-Tube. Otherwise find a copy of the film version of Hair. Never as good as any for the stage versions. Especially the one, I went and saw with some friends ages ago. )

and he considering his options when shadow of this very ominous Mutant-Elephant from the sliding door of the van that was following me. His face was as large and as elephantine as the rest of his body. Despite the lack of a trunk, which allowed it to pass for a oversized human. There was also another Mutant-Cheetah (They were both twins!) and Mutant-Ant-Eater (Or Porcupine). All of them had some sort of ordinance with melee weapons. While the latter carried a lap top with related computer para-phenalia.

They took all my stuff after I surrended (Dumb move on my part...should have put up a fight...might have won! As I was still finding out stuff about my character......huge combat modifiers for flying!)  and left him with a small faulty hand gun and hand-axe. (I then drew a picture of my Mutant-Eagle holding this hand axe (Drawn to look almost exactly like Slaine's aloft with the  small hand gun in the other hand.)

Then we went on a raid......Although, I forget most of details, I do recall getting the drop on a security guard  with the axe.  I (My character has a something like A natural  +15 while flying at full speed with the axe!). He didn't know what hit him.....that was the only game of that we played.

Wonder why?

I was thinking of getting my character's stuff back, but otherwise didn't know why he would try. It's just a personal thing more to do with me as a player......

I had given that Mutant-Eagle the real name of a some now expired lead singer of a local rock band.

Getting back to what I talking about...

He was following himself while dressed as this Birdman superhero he used to be in his younger days.

The movie is pretty slow at the beginning as I began to regret forking out for ticket to see this one. Not really my kind of film....Emma Stone character was his daughter, Edward Norton a friendly rival who I thought might have ben his son (Until I saw him and Emma's character engaged in some friendly small talk that got to the stage where their trist might have got more interesting. (Yeah, I've lead a sheltered existence!) Actaully, seeing them all in the same scenes together had me thinking what really goes on between actors/actress's working so close to each other behind the scenes!)

Now, you may know about stuff I've said about this other role playing game called Werewolf: The Apocalypse. About these natural born werewolves called Garou who can sometimes communicate with the spirits and even cross over into the sprit world. It's basically because they are really beings that are part spirit themselves. (If you believe that aside from regular mortals having a weaker connection with the spirit world themselves.)

Anyway, Garou can cross over into this neighbouring plane of existence as they disappear from the so called real world without having to die in the process. This place is a reflection of the so called real world referred to as the Penumbra. While the spirit world in it's entirety is known as the Umbra which connects the local Penumbra to other alternative foreign planes of existence and short cuts to other places that would normally take along time tor travel to in the so called real word.

Everything in the Penumbra the same as it is on our side of the world. Although, things little or no spiritual significance don't exist there.

I keep using the term So-called real world, because the Penumbra in some ways is more real because it's kind of like a backstage for this so called real world which would be the theatre stage it self. That's how the sprit world works, and it's responsible for keeping reality real in this game world based on our own.

That's what I thought when I saw actors/actress's in this film sometimes as thespian's on stage and then moving to back stage or off the stage to walk or perform amongst the audience within the theatre or go out side to walk up or down the street or cross the road.

See this film, if you like that sort of stuff, and they're is really crazy shit happening towards the end of it as well.

If I say anything more, I would be just spoiling it for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2015, 10:33:59 PM
Apropos of nothing, here's a clip from one of my favourite films: Planes, Trains and Automobiles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 January, 2015, 12:03:29 AM
Saw Fury tonight and found it absolutely gripping. I had some initial misgivings that it was going to be all horrors of war. In the end, it managed to tread a pretty fine line between being quite matter of fact about some brutal things while also embracing all that great camaraderie stuff which war films are all about and some pretty intense battle scenes.

One thing I really liked was that the final battle wasn't some massive assault or key operation but just an accidental, almost inconsequential engagement. To be honest, I had thought there was still a good third of the film to go and only realised this was it as the waves of Nazis kept rolling in.

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 09 December, 2014, 08:21:36 AM
FURY..... it's very brutal retelling of one of our world wars fought in northern Europe between American's and Germans on French soil
...stuff about lasers....
Then this guy ... walks up behind the film's main protagonist (Retelling the story as he remembered) and pats him on the back congradulating his very first kiss with a French woman.....
Let me see if I've got this straight.

The film is set in Germany; all the civilians they meet speak German; they talk about having killed Germans in Africa, France, Belgium and now Germany; the intro text talks about Hitler ordering every man, woman and child to fight to defend the Fatherland (which is Germany) and we later see the consequences of not doing so for some Germans. On top of this emphasis is placed on Brad Pitt's character being able to speak German, which we see him doing to various prisoners, soldiers and civilians, including an extended scene in a German woman's home in a German town where he speaks German to her and her daughter/niece (who also sings in German while the rookie plays piano) because they are German.

But it's in France.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 02:22:38 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 21 January, 2015, 12:03:29 AM
Saw Fury tonight and found it absolutely gripping. I had some initial misgivings that it was going to be all horrors of war. In the end, it managed to tread a pretty fine line between being quite matter of fact about some brutal things while also embracing all that great camaraderie stuff which war films are all about and some pretty intense battle scenes.

One thing I really liked was that the final battle wasn't some massive assault or key operation but just an accidental, almost inconsequential engagement. To be honest, I had thought there was still a good third of the film to go and only realised this was it as the waves of Nazis kept rolling in.

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 09 December, 2014, 08:21:36 AM
FURY..... it's very brutal retelling of one of our world wars fought in northern Europe between American's and Germans on French soil
...stuff about lasers....
Then this guy ... walks up behind the film's main protagonist (Retelling the story as he remembered) and pats him on the back congradulating his very first kiss with a French woman.....
Let me see if I've got this straight.

The film is set in Germany; all the civilians they meet speak German; they talk about having killed Germans in Africa, France, Belgium and now Germany; the intro text talks about Hitler ordering every man, woman and child to fight to defend the Fatherland (which is Germany) and we later see the consequences of not doing so for some Germans. On top of this emphasis is placed on Brad Pitt's character being able to speak German, which we see him doing to various prisoners, soldiers and civilians, including an extended scene in a German woman's home in a German town where he speaks German to her and her daughter/niece (who also sings in German while the rookie plays piano) because they are German.

But it's in France.

I'm might be just guessing, but the lines between both places might have been a little blurred during the war.......

(http://i.infoplease.com/images/mgermany.gif)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2015, 09:29:26 AM
Quote from: radiator on 20 January, 2015, 05:29:11 PM
QuoteAlso watched Sightseers, which was certainly not uplifting. Not sure what I expected, and I have a lot of love for darkly comic tales but we were just looking for something funny to watch and it was in the comedy section of Netflix. Sooooo we were a bit taken aback when it turned out to be grim as hell. There's humor in there, but the darker stuff got under our skin more than expected so we didn't find much to chuckle about. It was all just a bit upsetting really. It feels weird saying that, because as I say, nasty horror comedies are a thing I seek out generally, so not sure why this one was so unsettling. Maybe the approach to the violence was just a little too real and felt grimy and horrible...I don't know.

Really? It's been a while since I saw it, but I thought it was hilarious from start to finish, didn't think it was depressing in the slightest.

The more I think about it the more I think it was just the wrong film on the wrong night really. Probably more to do with the mood of the room than the actual movie perhaps! We were both pretty knackered and stressed and decided to stick something light and funny on to lift our spirits and it wasn't what we were after. Hard to explain, think we just didn't tune into the humor or click with it that night, so it just wasn't sitting right. Will definitely give it another go at some point.

It didn't help that early on [spoiler]a dog dies.[/spoiler] Amy has no problem with gore or violence and we watch a lot of horror together but that's the one single thing that upsets her, I think because her [spoiler]family dog was really badly injured when she was young.[/spoiler] It's the one thing that changes the mood of the room like that when we're watching something so I felt pretty bad for picking it. The only time we've ever had to switch a horror film off was actually V/H/S/2, because of the [spoiler]segment shot from the dog's perspective.[/spoiler]

Sounds silly probably, but I guess we've all got our buttons and triggers, was a bit hard to get into the film after that I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 09:34:56 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 02:22:38 AM
I'm might be just guessing, but the lines between both places might have been a little blurred during the war.......

Everyone speaking German would usually be a pretty clear indication as to which side of the French/German border you were on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 21 January, 2015, 09:45:00 AM
Locke.

I saw this coming up a few times in conversation - I loved it.

Beautifully shot, and great performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 January, 2015, 09:55:01 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 09:34:56 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 02:22:38 AM
I'm might be just guessing, but the lines between both places might have been a little blurred during the war.......
Everyone speaking German would usually be a pretty clear indication as to which side of the French/German border you were on.
I was going to mention that the reaction of the civilians to (and the subsequent behaviour of) US forces killing the German soldiers in a town should give the viewer an indication of whether those German soldiers are considered an occupying or defensive force. I think Jim's reasoning is a bit snappier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 January, 2015, 10:00:02 AM
Quote from: radiator on 20 January, 2015, 10:33:59 PM
Apropos of nothing, here's a clip from one of my favourite films: Planes, Trains and Automobiles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM)

Hope you're not missing the point of that randomly-selected scene, Radiator!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 January, 2015, 10:04:21 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 09:34:56 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 02:22:38 AM
I'm might be just guessing, but the lines between both places might have been a little blurred during the war.......

Everyone speaking German would usually be a pretty clear indication as to which side of the French/German border you were on.

Tell that to the Alsatians!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 10:18:35 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 January, 2015, 10:04:21 AM
Tell that to the Alsatians!

Woof.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 January, 2015, 10:23:16 AM
Quote from: Emile Zola on 21 January, 2015, 10:04:21 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 09:34:56 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 02:22:38 AM
I'm might be just guessing, but the lines between both places might have been a little blurred during the war.......
Everyone speaking German would usually be a pretty clear indication as to which side of the French/German border you were on.
Tell that to the Alsatians!
Depends what war we're talking about Monsieur Zola.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2015, 10:40:50 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 January, 2015, 10:00:02 AM
Quote from: radiator on 20 January, 2015, 10:33:59 PM
Apropos of nothing, here's a clip from one of my favourite films: Planes, Trains and Automobiles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU0CuPH7akM)

Hope you're not missing the point of that randomly-selected scene, Radiator!

Was it set in France?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 January, 2015, 12:09:42 PM
You know I wasn't paying that much attention really to details, but some time they were German, French or American.....

I was kind of zoning out at the time.

It was the beginning of our summer and I still pretty much have to walk around if want to save the money.

That's why I'm seeing the third Hobbit again, because it was very hot on the day especially with all that garb I was wearing to the film and even with air-condtioning.

Sometimes I'm just happy to be in large dark air-conditioned room to even care what up on the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 January, 2015, 12:37:32 PM
Saw it last year and thought it was awful, is it to late to go for the Shiteseers gag?

Thought so  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 January, 2015, 01:33:37 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 21 January, 2015, 09:45:00 AM
Locke.

I saw this coming up a few times in conversation - I loved it.

Beautifully shot, and great performances.

Seconded.
Quite inconceivable that this could be so gripping, considering the setting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 January, 2015, 01:34:47 PM
American Sniper is probably the first movie in a long time I have considered walking out on.

American Shiter more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2015, 02:26:27 PM
THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS.

More like THE MAN WITH THE SHITTY FISTS.

RZA takes bad acting to a whole new place. It looks gorgeous though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 21 January, 2015, 03:55:35 PM
Edge of Tomorrow!

I'm not a massive fan of Scientology Tom Cruise, but i really enjoyed this film!

Great effects, decent acting and a few good ideas. Well worth a watch!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 January, 2015, 08:52:37 PM
The Kingsmen

Stumbled upon some free preview tickets on Thursday. I hadn't heard much about this, all I'd seen was a poster for it with Colin Firth paying tribute to an old 007 poster. That's pretty much this film in a nutshell. It's a love letter to the old Bond Movies, or more accurately a break up letter that goes "You've changed, James, you used to be fun, now your all serious and grim all the time, ever since you met that American fella', Jason."

Big stupid fun. Great popcorn flick. The scene in the church is possibly one of the most fun action scenes I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 January, 2015, 10:04:48 PM
I'm looking forward to Kingsman - Matthew Vaughn makes really fun movies, and seems to be able to make Mark Millar's work palatable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 22 January, 2015, 01:31:01 AM
My entire life so far feels like I movie I'm only allowed to watch in part and never interact with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2015, 01:12:03 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 22 January, 2015, 01:31:01 AM
My entire life so far feels like I movie I'm only allowed to watch in part and never interact with.

Given that you have the ability to write, edit and direct your life, then you are the one that can change the script to be more fun. It is all in your hands. (even the bits set in France).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 January, 2015, 02:18:54 PM
but not the flashback sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2015, 02:58:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 January, 2015, 02:18:54 PM
but not the flashback sequences.

Unless you're George Lucas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 22 January, 2015, 10:39:28 PM
Birdman (or the unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Caught this earlier today, on the one day my local cinema is showing it.  Michael Keaton, a man who shot to worldwide fame playing a superhero and who drifted into cinematic obscurity after refusing a sequel, plays a man who shot to fame playing a superhero and who later drifted into obscurity after refusing a sequel.  It also stars Edward Norton, an actor often accused of taking himself too seriously, playing an actor who takes himself much too seriously.

...which makes it sound like an extended episode of Episodes.  But it's not.  It's brilliant.  It's an examination of the vagaries of fame and celebrity, of love and ambition, of mental illness and talent.  It's beautifully shot, pretty much as one long continuous shot, with a single camera tracking through a maze of corridors and dressing rooms, drifting unseen in front of mirrors or through impossible gaps in railings.  The use of sound and music are surprising and original.  The performances, all up close and unflinching, are powerful and likely to win a whole bunch of awards.

Or I thought so.  The lady next to me thought her mobile phone was much more worthy of her time. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 23 January, 2015, 07:35:23 AM
The Magic Crystal (1986)

One of the more bonkers Hong Kong martial-arts-heist-sci-fi-comedy-spy-thriller-kung-fu-farce films you're likely to see this month. Seriously, it's absolutely bonkers, and is available in its entirety on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyEtD1xuYFM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 23 January, 2015, 12:00:00 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 23 January, 2015, 07:35:23 AM
The Magic Crystal (1986)

Cynthia Rothrock!  Nice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 23 January, 2015, 12:48:12 PM
Quote from: ming on 23 January, 2015, 12:00:00 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 23 January, 2015, 07:35:23 AM
The Magic Crystal (1986)

Cynthia Rothrock!  Nice.
I've been on a bit of a Rothrock kick recently, starting with "No Retreat, No Surrender 2" and moving on to the "Tiger Claws" films (surely some of the worst movies in history). I really ought to give the "China O'Brien" movies a bash at some point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 23 January, 2015, 01:00:04 PM
I think the only film I have on the shelf with La Rothrock in it is Millionaire's Express; worth checking out as it features a huge number of familiar faces from mid-80s HK film...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaires_Express


I could watch this kind of thing all day!

:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 January, 2015, 01:09:23 AM
You're Next in netflix; bloody good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 January, 2015, 07:59:34 PM
Real Steel. Love it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 25 January, 2015, 08:35:06 PM
The Friends of Eddie Coyle - bleak 1970's crime drama with Robert Mitchum as the titular snitch - good stuff.

Runner Runner - Poker based film with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake - OK but very familiar stuff - seduced into a world - smells a rat - turns the tables on enigmatic boss. Both leads lacking charisma (go figure!) and nothing to really recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 January, 2015, 11:32:40 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2015, 02:26:27 PM
THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS.

More like THE MAN WITH THE SHITTY FISTS.

RZA takes bad acting to a whole new place. It looks gorgeous though.
I don't think I've ever wanted to like a film more. It's heart is so clearly in the right place but the fight scenes mostly fail to connect.

Another film with a similar West meets East pedigree which I think you'd be the sort of fellow to appreciate is Ted "Theodore" Logan's directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, which I watched the other night.

Tiger Chen is the eponymous hero out to show that Tai Chi can be used as a proper martial art. The main story combines a decent twist on the illicit underground fighting tournament format and a tug of war between Tiger's loyalty to his white-robed master and the Faustian bargain offered by Reeves' black-suited villain.

Tiger handles the fight scenes with aplomb - rivals like Iko Uwais from out of The Raid help - and the dramatic tension works better than average for this sort of film. Reeves turn as the villain is very enjoyable when he's simply being evil or dispatching an incompentent minion. The one big problem is that there has to be a big throwdown between the two and that ends up being the weakest part of the film.   

Keanu seems to have called in some favours from his old Matrix buddies to produce fairly game take on a Hong Kong action movie which, I assume deliberately, preserves a lot of the little elements you'd expect from a vintage Jackie Chan outing: combination of Chinese and English dialogue, very chaste love interest, talented fighter stuck with a menial job, Western villain. All with a refreshingly straight face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 January, 2015, 11:35:31 AM
Inside - Didn't know anything about this movie, a friend brought it over for a horror night. It's part of that wave of really quite extreme French horror that Martyrs belongs to, and it's similarly unpleasant. In a lot of ways I thought it was more full-on and was quite surprised that some sequences had made it through to a release. Some of the digital effects are quite hokey, which maybe helped its case in that regard, but the physical stuff looks largely convincing and it has some of the most unpleasant deaths and just jet-black ideas I've seen in a while.

Love horror, and it's interesting to see something go for such a relentlessly unpleasant tone, but unlike Martyrs (which I thought had some interesting ideas about faith) the object here seemed to just be to push things as nasty as possible. Can't say I enjoyed it (I like my horror films to be either scary or funny and this is neither), but if you want something very intense then this'll do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Beeks on 26 January, 2015, 12:11:50 PM
I watched 'After Earth' last night

God it's so bad..why has a civilisation who have conquered black hole space travel forgotten about guns?!

Those blind creatures with claws must be laughing their socks off

And the evolution of earth seems to have forgotten Darwenian principles and evolved creatures in a few months

Also..why the oxygen discs? When all the other air breathing animals cope perfectly well..and so do fires apparently

I love my sci-fi and am willing to suspend a little reality but come on!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 26 January, 2015, 01:34:54 PM
WNUF Halloween Special - Found footage film done right. The set up is that someone taped the show when it was first broadcast in the 80's and this is a copy of that tape. No titles, local news stories and even has fake 80's style ads inbetween. The main show is about an anchorman, priest and some psychics going into an old, abandoned house which has a grusome history.

Not great as horror or comedy but did entertain just by being really well faked. I'm gonna watch it again at halloween with the kids and tell them its real  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 January, 2015, 01:39:32 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 26 January, 2015, 01:34:54 PM
WNUF Halloween Special - Found footage film done right. The set up is that someone taped the show when it was first broadcast in the 80's and this is a copy of that tape. No titles, local news stories and even has fake 80's style ads inbetween. The main show is about an anchorman, priest and some psychics going into an old, abandoned house which has a grusome history.

Not great as horror or comedy but did entertain just by being really well faked. I'm gonna watch it again at halloween with the kids and tell them its real  :lol:

Reading that description gave me flashbacks to watching BBC's Ghostwatch as a kid and thinking the whole thing was real. Traumatic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 January, 2015, 01:42:24 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 January, 2015, 01:39:32 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 26 January, 2015, 01:34:54 PM
WNUF Halloween Special - Found footage film done right. The set up is that someone taped the show when it was first broadcast in the 80's and this is a copy of that tape. No titles, local news stories and even has fake 80's style ads inbetween. The main show is about an anchorman, priest and some psychics going into an old, abandoned house which has a grusome history.

Not great as horror or comedy but did entertain just by being really well faked. I'm gonna watch it again at halloween with the kids and tell them its real  :lol:

Reading that description gave me flashbacks to watching BBC's Ghostwatch as a kid and thinking the whole thing was real. Traumatic.

Just thought the exact same thing, I was a huge fan of Ghostwatch and this sounds quite similar.
Cheers Satanist, I'll look this up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 January, 2015, 01:58:48 PM
Ghostwatch DVD = best purchase I have ever made of unseen material.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gladwin on 26 January, 2015, 02:26:43 PM
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Just watched it for the first time. Such a good film, fantastic acting, direction, and atmosphere. Would highly recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 January, 2015, 02:46:17 PM
Now You See Me on Friday. It was okay. Too full of its fancy nonsense for what you knew would be a contrived twist.

The Bay on Saturday. It was okay-er. For a film about a small town being taken over by mutant parasites growing from chickenshit (literally) and radioactive waste it was surprisingly sterile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 26 January, 2015, 04:24:01 PM
The Darkest Hour.
A load of cobblers. What was Anderson thinking?


Awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 January, 2015, 05:51:15 PM
Frank, which just appeared on US Netflix.

Wasn't sure to start with - thought the tone was a bit too self-conciously eccentric, but ended up really enjoying it. The ending really got to me, which I wasn't expecting. Great music too, I've had the songs stuck in my head ever since.

4/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 26 January, 2015, 05:54:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 26 January, 2015, 05:51:15 PM
Frank, which just appeared on US Netflix.

Wasn't sure to start with - thought the tone was a bit too self-conciously eccentric, but ended up really enjoying it. The ending really got to me, which I wasn't expecting. Great music too, I've had the songs stuck in my head ever since.

4/5.

Ha, that last one (I Love You All?) is a real earworm. I was singing it for days afterward.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 26 January, 2015, 06:07:49 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 26 January, 2015, 01:34:54 PM
WNUF Halloween Special - Found footage film done right...

Not great as horror or comedy but did entertain just by being really well faked.

Yeah I'd agree with that. I seem to remember it's done like a pirate tape, and it fast-forwards through bits like the weather and sports segments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 January, 2015, 06:45:34 PM
QuoteHa, that last one (I Love You All?) is a real earworm. I was singing it for days afterward.

Yep, it's a real spine-tingling moment when he [spoiler]gradually transitions form singing stream-of-conciousness observations to declaring his feelings like that[/spoiler], very powerful moment and a lovely piece of music.

I've heard some pretty unsavoury things about Fassbender himself, but man if he isn't a damn good actor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 January, 2015, 09:29:22 AM
Quote from: radiator on 26 January, 2015, 06:45:34 PM
QuoteHa, that last one (I Love You All?) is a real earworm. I was singing it for days afterward.

Yep, it's a real spine-tingling moment when he [spoiler]gradually transitions form singing stream-of-conciousness observations to declaring his feelings like that[/spoiler], very powerful moment and a lovely piece of music.

I've heard some pretty unsavoury things about Fassbender himself, but man if he isn't a damn good actor.

It's an amazing moment, I love it. It does start out quite wacky but I thought it handled its tonal shifts brilliantly. Really funny in places, uplifting and touching in others and really heartbreaking at times. Possibly me over-reading into it, but thought it had some interesting and inspiring things to say about creativity - where it comes from and what it should be used for. One of those films that just clicked with me in a way that I can imagine me watching it regularly for years to come.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 January, 2015, 06:38:20 AM
Watched Aguirre Wrath of God last night. I'd never seen it before but its reputation meant I thought I'd give it a go when I saw it was on Film 4. After the first wonderful openning shots of the Spanish conquistador's decent from the Anders I really struggled with it for the longest time (well about 45 minutes actually). It just didn't seem to be doing anything at all original. Klaus Kinski's quiet menace as Aguirre (having read a little about it I'm very pleased director Herzog won the reported fights with Kinski about how the role should be played) kept me with it. By the end I was really glad I did. The last 30 minutes brought it all into sharp focus.

To a degree I think it suffers from the amount of influence its had and while it may have been original and innovative at the time its study of obsession, greed, a decent into maddness and the humanisation of power and conquest felt a little tired viewed through the prism of whats come after, which of course is unfair. It still turns out to be a very worthwhile view though and while to me not the absolute classic its said to be I'm glad I've seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 January, 2015, 06:48:37 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 27 January, 2015, 09:29:22 AM
Quote from: radiator on 26 January, 2015, 06:45:34 PM
QuoteHa, that last one (I Love You All?) is a real earworm. I was singing it for days afterward.

Yep, it's a real spine-tingling moment when he [spoiler]gradually transitions form singing stream-of-conciousness observations to declaring his feelings like that[/spoiler], very powerful moment and a lovely piece of music.

I've heard some pretty unsavoury things about Fassbender himself, but man if he isn't a damn good actor.

It's an amazing moment, I love it. It does start out quite wacky but I thought it handled its tonal shifts brilliantly. Really funny in places, uplifting and touching in others and really heartbreaking at times. Possibly me over-reading into it, but thought it had some interesting and inspiring things to say about creativity - where it comes from and what it should be used for. One of those films that just clicked with me in a way that I can imagine me watching it regularly for years to come.

Yes, I was thinking it over quite a bit for a day or two after. I think the general point it was making was that it's wrong and irresponsible to glamourise mental illness, or think that it's a prerequisite of creativity. I think. The scene at the end where John is talking to Frank's parents is key. I'm sure there's a lot more to it though.

I burst out laughing when they [spoiler]cut 'Frank' down after an apparent suicide, then the camera pans round and you see him standing there, assuming it was a wacky prank or something[/spoiler], then it very suddenly dawned on me what was going on, and I felt awful for laughing.  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 January, 2015, 09:42:44 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 28 January, 2015, 06:38:20 AM
To a degree I think it suffers from the amount of influence its had and while it may have been original and innovative at the time its study of obsession, greed, a decent into maddness and the humanisation of power and conquest felt a little tired viewed through the prism of whats come after, which of course is unfair. It still turns out to be a very worthwhile view though and while to me not the absolute classic its said to be I'm glad I've seen it.

This is the problem with all influential things really - their very stature tends to deflate and topple them for expectant viewers. It's almost impossible to go into them without assumptions - but there it was your very understanding that it was "meant" to be worth watching that kept you watching. I think Herzog is some manner of ancient god walking around in the present day like it ain't no thing so I tend to go into all of his films with like... this grin of glee. I tend to prefer his non-fiction things generally though. Mostly because you get to hear him babbling on. Life is far weirder and wilder than any film - and his docs always leave you feeling a slight pang of existential angst which you just can't get from anything else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 January, 2015, 09:51:30 AM
Nicely put, CFM. I was trying to articulate my feelings about Herzog, but 'ancient god walking around in the present day' does the job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 January, 2015, 04:11:12 PM
To think I watched The Darkest Hour, when I could have re-watched Aguirre Wrath of God, which is indeed a top film. (Been eyeing up the rather nice steelbook for that in HMV....)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:27:00 AM
I started watching this complete episode of Automan here.....

Given Enough Power, I can even be made to feel real! (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Automan+Episode+1&Form=VQFRVP#view=detail&mid=C749DAD411F605BD6E3BC749DAD411F605BD6E3B) and then I found couldn't watch anymore a few moments after that I heard that bit of narrative.

Of course, I watched this like whole lot of other similar stuff that had be made for television around about the same time. Between the ages of 13-17, possibly longer and earlier than that time!

It more easily impressed by bright blue lights and the fully 3D free roaming cursor back than and now that I'm taking more notice of the dialoge. It just sounds lame.

Yet that was last night, and I may watch the rest of it now.

Along with Greatest American Hero (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=great+american+hero&qpvt=great+american+hero&form=VDRE&first=1#view=detail&mid=37D6CFFC66D82D7C795C37D6CFFC66D82D7C795C), (Can you all guess which famous 2000AD artist Willaim Katt reminds me of?) and  The Phoenix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvqGS4qrvkg).

I being to watch Greatest American hero lately and I always stop before I get far into that pilot episode. Nothing wrong with it, not even by today's standards. It's just that, my attention span is shorter these days. Anyway, every television series reaches point where 's it's passed the shark-jumping stage.

Almost forgot,  Buck Rodgers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBFNaHs-zjQ) pilot episode from the early 80's. (Just ignore the lame intro music which was never originally shown in version brought to Australia. That is the only version I can find right now!) I'm pretty sure they shared props with Classic Battle Star Galactica and imagine if the former was ever given the treatment the latter has been given. I can only guess which really cool male character from that show would be feminised or just replaced by a sexy girl with the same talents, but lacking the magic charm of the original.

Back in those days, I was watching reruns of the original Buster Crabb - Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers serials, but I soon lost interest in those after a few seasons as well.

BTW, I was trying to watch Buck Rodgers and the first episode of Futurama for inspiration to furnish the back story of my Elite Dangerous identity who is actually just me as I am right now. Some how I have to find my way of getting to the future...some time beyond year 3000 where that game is currently set!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 10:14:50 AM
I forgot to say....

I finally discovered the another later 80's television series about time-travelling cowboys I forgot had known the name of since I first saw this television in the early 90's.

Outlaws (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5KKCQeze7k)

Yes the name was as simple as that and I forgot it.

The synopsis, four crooked cowboys (Bandits?) had cornered a sheriff who might have been giving them some grief in the wilderness of Houston, Texas during the time of the 1800's when railroads had already been built entirely across the east and west of the U.S.A. and they had early telephones and cars as well.

When a freak storm rolls in overhead and they all get struck by lightening and this sends them into the future 1986. Same place, but roughly 100 years (At a guess!)  ahead.

After initially shock wear off both times after arriving and after finding when they are. Then move on in and put they're older west skills to detective work. That's how I read it until I watch the pilot episode in full. 

I've asked about this before, because when it was first shown on television in the early 90's. I had also moved out of home for the first time, closer to city with some old school friends (I use the term friend loosely, because right now I just remember them that way!)  and from the point onwards for the next three or four years, I didn't watch a lot of television unless it was what my house mates were watching.

I think by the time I borrowed another television from home to keep in my room, that show had finished it's shorter than average run and never of it again.

Looking art it now, I don't know why I made such a fuss about it, but I mentioned it here a few times without much recognition. So, if my chance encounter with this show on You-Tube that contained some popular sci-fi serials from that era, was more than a accident then I send a big thanks to the powers that be.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:06:12 PM
Forgot to add that cowboys in our time are not such far stretch of the imagination, being that more contemporary ones still exist (I think the ones that ran the big cites became the Mafia, but the as they were and as they are still needed to look after cows in the parts of mid west that haven't changed!) but I think this series still has some appeal. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 January, 2015, 06:11:59 PM
While I was pulling a mammoth work session last night I watched nearly all of the Paradise Lost trilogy.

It's a series of HBO documentaries totalling some 8 hours, spanning nearly 20 years, which tell the story of the West Memphis Three, three teenagers who were convicted of murdering three young boys in a 'satanic ritual' in Arkansas in 1993.

I'd heard of the case before, but was probably a bit young to pay much attention to it during the time when it was big news in the mid to late nineties.

What transpires is a tragedy of epic proportions, brought about by prejudice, ignorance, hubris, injustice, poverty, police incompetence, corruption, religious intolerance, media hysteria and just plain bad luck. The whole thing unfolds with a sense of hopeless, crushing inevitability. One of the parents of the murdered children wishes, without irony, that the accused (who were convicted solely on hearsay and the dubious confession of a mentally handicapped teenager) be burned at the stake "like they did in Salem".

It's stunning, really. Chilling and jaw-dropping in equal measure. Utterly engrossing. The sight of the three accused, who appear to visibly age 50 years during their 17 years of incarceration, almost brought me to tears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 30 January, 2015, 10:30:02 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:06:12 PM
Forgot to add that cowboys in our time are not such far stretch of the imagination, being that more contemporary ones still exist (I think the ones that ran the big cites became the Mafia,

...and that's where the term "spaghetti western" comes from.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 January, 2015, 09:44:30 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 30 January, 2015, 10:30:02 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:06:12 PM
Forgot to add that cowboys in our time are not such far stretch of the imagination, being that more contemporary ones still exist (I think the ones that ran the big cites became the Mafia,

...and that's where the term "spaghetti western" comes from.

Not because many 60s Westerns were filmed in Italy? That's what I thought but I'm too lazy to even Wikipedia it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 31 January, 2015, 03:03:44 PM
That would be the factual explanation, yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 31 January, 2015, 05:05:27 PM
Watched Shutter Island on Netflix.

Well didn't see that coming.

It's one of those that fall into the category of "if I had know it was about that I'm not sure I would have watched it, but if they had explained what it was about then it would have ruined it".

I'm not saying it wasn't a good movie - it was - just that it was a bit...I'm not sure what the word is...let's say thought provoking or "affecting".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 31 January, 2015, 05:32:19 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 31 January, 2015, 05:05:27 PM
I'm not saying it wasn't a good movie - it was - just that it was a bit...I'm not sure what the word is...let's say thought provoking or "affecting".

Seem to remember I felt Leo's pain more in INCEPTION even if SHUTTER ISLAND is the better film, the double-twist of which isn't in the Dennis Lehane novel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 January, 2015, 06:56:34 PM
Big Hero 6

It felt like a kid's cartoon (and I saw from the credits that it was written by the folks who did Ben 10).

Fast paced. Waver thin plot. Plot holes like icebergs.

On the plus side, it had a great two-level drunkeness sequence (he's not drunk, just "low on power").

It also had a scene of what I can only call skysurfing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 31 January, 2015, 10:47:36 PM
Just back from Big Hero 6, and really enjoyed it. Not as good as the Incredibles, but very strong.

Remember to stay till the end, the VERY end [spoiler]True Believers. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 February, 2015, 01:29:40 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 January, 2015, 09:44:30 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 30 January, 2015, 10:30:02 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:06:12 PM
Forgot to add that cowboys in our time are not such far stretch of the imagination, being that more contemporary ones still exist (I think the ones
that ran the big cites became the Mafia,

...and that's where the term "spaghetti western" comes from.

Not because many 60s Westerns were filmed in Italy? That's what I thought but I'm too lazy to even Wikipedia it.

I was going to reply smartly to that one, but decided not to!  You, know I wouldn't mind if somebody, anybody here disagree with my claim that cowboys of the big cities evolved into the fedora  and pinstripe wearing gangstas'. Maybe not so abruptly as I said it. Yet, I either read somewhere or was given a direct hint hat this was hoe they won the west. They were the first to use tommy-guns.

Slight change of subject....

I 've been watching Hunger Games - Catching Fire without taking taking full notice of it and there was this part where Katniss is talking to who ever Donald Sutherland is and then one of them (I'm not so sure no!) says (Words to the effect!)......

These are only games, but a real war would a nightmare!

In my opinion....It's pretty nightmarish as it is! Young people are hunting each other down and killing each for sport and survival and are the winner is then made into some sort  folk hero until the next games.

The fact they refer to this as a game with out prestige of a real is kind of embarrassing.  People are suffering, and dying because of this and it's all just treated like a big joke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 February, 2015, 02:22:39 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 01 February, 2015, 01:29:40 AMThe fact they refer to this as a game with out prestige of a real is kind of embarrassing.  People are suffering, and dying because of this and it's all just treated like a big joke.



Which is kind of the point - in the game only poor children die. The rich get to watch and keep order.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 February, 2015, 02:55:47 AM
I saw 2 films tonight's.

Ted - Rude and amusing (and rudely amusing) comedy. [spoiler]The relationship stuff was pretty formulaic and predictable but kinda satisying just the same.[/spoiler] And some real chuckleworthy moments.

Underworld - Ris of the Lycans. I quite enjoyed it, although I think they made [spoiler]Sonia a bit too much like Selene even don to being a death dealer. I think I understand why they did that, but you can still have strong female characters who are not warriors without coming across sexist.[/spoiler]

Not a brilliant film, but not bad either. Also nice to see the Lucian character take centre stage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 February, 2015, 03:57:27 AM
I was just thinking, considering the woeful attempt that have been made at bringing  Dungeon & Dragons (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dunegoens%20and%20dragons&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=dunegoens%20and%20dragons&sc=8-3&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=A89239EF1A1ACCD8F52FA89239EF1A1ACCD8F52F) (Even with the acting talents of Richard O'Brian!) to the big screen and it's less obvious sequels. (I know the first was actually supposed to be based on a game the writers had played and thought was cooler enough for adaption, but still poorly realised. So fans still think it was a successful endeavour!)

What if another official, (Based on none of game worlds, but some realm connected to our own!(Earth's reality!) attempt were to taken given that leaps and bounds special effects have taken since that first film was made roughly 15 years earlier.  (I guess it's hard to be a impressive fantasy film compared to the might that was made from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien at the same time!) combing some of the depth, seriousness and cult status of Hunger Games.

Just imagine......

That old D&D inspired  cartoon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSH4uTOUjpw)  minus the cheesy theme park and that ride. Just a similar group of the rich and powerful who have the techology and influence to abduct only the most successful geeks who have been playing that game (Perhaps
the owners are a much ominous version of T.S.R. themselves[/b]!) and drop them into a larger enough portion of our real world that has been furnished with it's own, castles, villages, elvish forest outposts, dwarfish mines, orcish encampments. Just like the cartoon, but minus the candy coating.  The strange and normal denizens could be mixtures of what is already real and the fantastic elements would be done using the same tech they used in Hunger Games where they plant these strange creatures where ever they wanted inn the game worlds. (Remember those killer insects and vicious dog like beasts. I think they were genetically modified!). Of course they would be encourage to work together, rather than against each other, unless the rich folk think that is dumb and boring. Not sure why they would be doing this......

I will say more later.....

The new Hercules film is on television now, Not the one with Dwayne Johnson (Yes, I purchased the DVD for that one as well, (Even after promising to boycott that one!) and though the film was terrible!) in it, but another one. Which means this fellow gets a awful lot of screen time. No I'm not altogether sure why they don't start building temples to worship him every where.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 01 February, 2015, 04:14:21 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 01 February, 2015, 01:29:40 AM
You, know I wouldn't mind if somebody, anybody here disagree with my claim that cowboys of the big cities evolved into the fedora  and pinstripe wearing gangstas'. Maybe not so abruptly as I said it. Yet, I either read somewhere or was given a direct hint hat this was hoe they won the west. They were the first to use tommy-guns.

Okay, then...

Tommy guns, (and submachine guns in general), weren't invented until the beginning of the 20th century.

Cowboys are not the same thing as outlaws. Cowboys herd cows. You don't find many cowboys in large metropolitan areas and there's not much of an opportunity for cattle rustling.

The Mafia originated in Sicily and the American version initially emerged in cities along the east coast of America, (not in the wild west).


Now, I'm not saying it's impossible that some old west baddies got involved in mafia organised crime shenanigans, but one did not lead to the other.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 February, 2015, 04:30:05 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 01 February, 2015, 04:14:21 PM
Now, I'm not saying it's impossible that some old west baddies got involved in mafia organised crime shenanigans, but one did not lead to the other.

I would read the hell out of that comic!  Set it in Montana immediately post-War, give the incoming hoods prototype Thompson SMGs, make the cowboys disturbed veterans of the Western Front, and try to avoid being sued by the writers of Legends of the Fall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 February, 2015, 06:44:16 PM
If you had any sense you'd use your history boffin credentials to pitch that as a graphic novel and fund it through the arts grants cash that still seems to be floating around even if money to fix water pipes isn't.
My understanding of the Republic's accounting processes means you don't even have to write it - find someone else to and then charge a huge consultant's fee for the project.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 February, 2015, 06:46:20 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 01 February, 2015, 06:44:16 PM
My understanding of the Republic's accounting processes means you don't even have to write it - find someone else to and then charge a huge consultant's fee for the project.

You'll probably need a letterer...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 February, 2015, 07:09:30 PM
...and because that letterer has been found through forums frequented whilst "networking", the consultant's fee gets even higher.  Apart from the destruction of the financial fabric of Europe, there is literally no downside to this plan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2015, 08:50:17 AM
Quote from: the 'artist' formerly known as Slips on 05 March, 2012, 01:04:50 PM
500 Days of Summer. Quirky romcom which isnt as bad as most romcom's.  Though that may be saying its the best way to remove a tooth without any anaesthetic  :-X

With a soundtrack of the alternative 80's UK indie scene (the Smiths being the most quoted in the film), its non traditional ending and its not too likeable main characters made me think its writers and directors where Brittish.  I have no idea though, havent bothered to check either.  I still get anoyed by Zooey Deschemal's voice though.  Its the same in Elf.   Irritating.

Finally caught up with this and quite enjoyed it.  Non-linear narrative can hide a multitude of sins but this one does have some slightly different ideas to propel it along. Firstly, it's told from the bloke's point of view which is incredibly unusual for a rom-com and as Slips points out above, the sound track is not your usual fare. In fact, instead of the usual cutesy "aren't we in love?" pop-song montage you get in the middle of these films, it has a proper song and dance number. 

Being from JGL's point of view means Zooey remains pretty much a blank slate - apart from when she's inputting to or agreeing with the thing's he likes.  She's still that annoying fucking pixie quirky zany cipher that the writers of these things (especially the men who write prose) inexplicably dream of.

Above average fare for the genre (but remember, it's a genre with a pretty low bar).

We then watched the first episode of THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN just to show Tiny Tips what Joseph Gordon Levitt looked like when he started out.  I'll admit I have enjoyed watching his career move from child star to solid not quite mainstream/"indie" style lead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2015, 11:47:34 AM
So let me gt this straight. The logic is...

Cowboys wore hats with brims on them. Some were outlaws and had guns.

During the time the Mafia rose to prominence, people also wore hats with brims on them.

The mafia not only wore hats with brims on them but were outlaws and had guns.

Therefore the mafia evolved from cowboy outlaws.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 12:52:18 PM
X Men: Days of Future Past.

First of all let me just say that I really enjoyed this film. Above all it was a fun spectacle.
There's no doubt that it has problems though.
I'm not going to nit-pick and find everything wrong with the film - I'm sure there are enough people doing that on the internet already. What I will say is that it seemed like some of the cast were wasted in what were basically extended cameo roles. Even Ellen Page, who was fairly integral to the plot and was the main protagonist of the source material, didn't really do anything.
Like I said though, it was fun and very watchable. Jackman, Fassbender and McAvoy all did a great job.
I'm looking forward to the next one - I just hope they give everyone something to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 February, 2015, 01:16:16 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2015, 11:47:34 AM
So let me gt this straight. The logic is...

Cowboys wore hats with brims on them. Some were outlaws and had guns.

During the time the Mafia rose to prominence, people also wore hats with brims on them.

The mafia not only wore hats with brims on them but were outlaws and had guns.

Therefore the mafia evolved from cowboy outlaws.
Cowboys or mafia?

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/The_Nightwatch_by_Rembrandt.jpg/1229px-The_Nightwatch_by_Rembrandt.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 02 February, 2015, 01:18:20 PM
Interstellar - Roughly 3 hour slog towards an ending that makes no sense. to me. Anyone seen this and can check out what I got out it below...

HEAVY DUTY SPOILERS AHOY...


SERIOUSLY BELOW IS THE ENDING OF THE FILM>>>


[spoiler]So it wasnt aliens but humans from the future who have evolved into 4 dimensional beings. They sent a wormhole back in time so that some dude can travel through it and hopefully stumble into a black hole. They then want to comminicate with his daughter using him as a conduit so they can inspire her to save humanity when she grows up.

Even though their very existance proves that humanity must have survived without their intervention and that at the very best they are fannying about with their own history.[/spoiler]

Is that about right? If so then thats pish and I will return to insert the word shit into the films title. If not then I probably missed a bit while I nipped out for a smoke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 February, 2015, 01:26:41 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 02 February, 2015, 01:18:20 PM[spoiler]So it wasnt aliens but humans from the future who have evolved into 4 dimensional beings. They sent a wormhole back in time so that some dude can travel through it and hopefully stumble into a black hole. They then want to comminicate with his daughter using him as a conduit so they can inspire her to save humanity when she grows up.

Even though their very existance proves that humanity must have survived without their intervention and that at the very best they are fannying about with their own history.[/spoiler]

Is that about right? If so then thats pish and I will return to insert the word shit into the films title. If not then I probably missed a bit while I nipped out for a smoke.
Think you're just about there, except for this: [spoiler]their very existence proves that humanity must have survived without their intervention[/spoiler]. It's more that [spoiler]their very existence proves that they will already have done it[/spoiler].

Think of it as basically the same as when[spoiler] Marty McFly has to get his own parents to meet up or when Bill tells Ted to go back in time after the test and steal his dad's spare keys and then leave them behind this sign[/spoiler] dude!!

Interstellar? Sphincter-sweller more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 February, 2015, 01:30:07 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2015, 03:06:12 PM
Forgot to add that cowboys in our time are not such far stretch of the imagination, being that more contemporary ones still exist (I think the ones that ran the big cites became the Mafia, but the as they were and as they are still needed to look after cows in the parts of mid west that haven't changed!) but I think this series still has some appeal.

I guess your right there, but when I said the cowboys who moved to live in the big cities. I meant those cities on the east coast as well! Like, what were the coastal cities of America like during the days of the wild west? I guess the colonial cities might been more developed since they might have been the first to be settled, but I assume they must have all been close in development.

Of course, I had inkling I was being a little slow when I wrote what I just quoted when there might have been a thirty to forty year gap between the wild west and prohibition.  Add another 100 years, if that its not until the 1940's.

I somehow got this from looking at other players work with that game Spore. Some artful person made something like a postcard or billboard with two tommy-guns on it (I think they were facing each other!) over a classic wild-west backdrop with a reminder that this was how the wild-west was won.

I should embarrassed , but my insides are all warm and fuzzy instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 February, 2015, 01:52:07 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 12:52:18 PM
X Men: Days of Future Past.

First of all let me just say that I really enjoyed this film. Above all it was a fun spectacle.
There's no doubt that it has problems though.
I'm not going to nit-pick and find everything wrong with the film - I'm sure there are enough people doing that on the internet already. What I will say is that it seemed like some of the cast were wasted in what were basically extended cameo roles. Even Ellen Page, who was fairly integral to the plot and was the main protagonist of the source material, didn't really do anything.
Like I said though, it was fun and very watchable. Jackman, Fassbender and McAvoy all did a great job.
I'm looking forward to the next one - I just hope they give everyone something to do.

Rewatched this at the weekend too (on 3D Blu-ray, looked marvelous) and really enjoyed it again on 2nd viewing. Highlight of the film is probably the Quicksilver segment, a lot of humor and fun in that section and I like that take on the character so much that I'm a bit unsure about Marvel doing their own in the Avengers 2 (that's happening right?).

I always quite liked the original X-Men series, but it's First Class and Days of Future Past that have really grabbed me in a big way, easily my favourite couple of the series.

Was a little disappointed as I'd bought it for my other half for her xmas, she's way more of an X Men buff than me and was talking about Rogue being completely removed for the theatrical cut and she got really excited when she saw the blu-ray had deleted scenes so she would get to see that stuff. Sadly none of that is on there and is being held for a special edition that they've already announced. This thing just came out, that sort of double-dip strong-arming really bothers me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 02 February, 2015, 02:58:47 PM
Cosh - I had thought of that and its still rubbish. YET MOAR INTERSTELLAR ENDING SPOILERS...[spoiler]

If I exist in the future knowing all history and come to the conclusion that it must have been us that communicated through time saving ourselves there is still no need to actually do it. Surely I can just say I'll send that wormhole back through time next week,month or year. I still havent done it and yet it still happened and Im still existing. AND I dont need to hope some idiot falls into a blackhole.

Paradox - Parashite more like.[/spoiler]

Oh and while I'm bitching as for the planets...

[spoiler]Star Wars has been getting it tight for years with its Ice/Water/Jungle planets and yet this does the exact same thing. I guess it gets a pass because it MAKS U FINK HUH![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 03:05:38 PM
I think the end of Interstellar is more simple than you're making out:
[spoiler]He's inside the black hole, and in another dimension where all time is simultaneous. He simply finds the place in time where his daughter is and tries to communicate with her. Yes, there are future humans who have evolved into pan dimensional beings, but they are not making this happen as much as allowing him to do it.
It's all about "Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 04:20:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 03:05:38 PM
I think the end of Interstellar is more simple than you're making out:
[spoiler]He's inside the black hole, and in another dimension where all time is simultaneous. He simply finds the place in time where his daughter is and tries to communicate with her. Yes, there are future humans who have evolved into pan dimensional beings, but they are not making this happen as much as allowing him to do it.
It's all about "Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]But why does he make those marks in the dust on the floor, giving the location of the base where Michael Caine is and then, when they decipher the meaning of the marks does everything possible to try to stop them from going to the base. Like, just don't give them the location in the first place mate![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 04:28:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 04:20:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 03:05:38 PM
I think the end of Interstellar is more simple than you're making out:
[spoiler]He's inside the black hole, and in another dimension where all time is simultaneous. He simply finds the place in time where his daughter is and tries to communicate with her. Yes, there are future humans who have evolved into pan dimensional beings, but they are not making this happen as much as allowing him to do it.
It's all about "Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]But why does he make those marks in the dust on the floor, giving the location of the base where Michael Caine is and then, when they decipher the meaning of the marks does everything possible to try to stop them from going to the base. Like, just don't give them the location in the first place mate![/spoiler]

[spoiler]Heh. To tell the truth, I need to see it again. It nearly lost me at that point, but I remember rationalising it at the time... can't remember my reasoning now though! [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2015, 04:32:33 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2015, 11:47:34 AM
Therefore the mafia evolved from cowboy outlaws.

If the Mafia evolved from cowboy outlaws, then how come there are still cowboy outlaws?. Your precious Darwkins can't explain that, can he? Anyway, everyone knows that pirates are just knights who couldn't fit onto the Ark because of their armour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 02 February, 2015, 04:53:00 PM
Interstellar was a bit of bust was'nt it.could pick holes in it all day.Cool robots though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2015, 05:20:23 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 04:20:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 03:05:38 PM
I think the end of Interstellar is more simple than you're making out:
[spoiler]He's inside the black hole, and in another dimension where all time is simultaneous. He simply finds the place in time where his daughter is and tries to communicate with her. Yes, there are future humans who have evolved into pan dimensional beings, but they are not making this happen as much as allowing him to do it.
It's all about "Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]But why does he make those marks in the dust on the floor, giving the location of the base where Michael Caine is and then, when they decipher the meaning of the marks does everything possible to try to stop them from going to the base. Like, just don't give them the location in the first place mate![/spoiler]

[spoiler]He gave himself the co-ordinates to the base, but the message "don't go" he gave to his daughter to stop her leaving the family home and becoming the estranged woman he saw in the accumulated messages from Earth.  His daughter was the one who passed the message onto him when she decoded it, but it was never meant for him.[/spoiler]

Also the ending is just the ending from Disney's The Black Hole and I claim my five pounds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 February, 2015, 06:02:10 PM
They should have gone with the draft that Spielberg was gonna direct. But yeah, Interstellar = pants.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 06:22:01 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 02 February, 2015, 05:20:23 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 04:20:05 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 February, 2015, 03:05:38 PM
I think the end of Interstellar is more simple than you're making out:
[spoiler]He's inside the black hole, and in another dimension where all time is simultaneous. He simply finds the place in time where his daughter is and tries to communicate with her. Yes, there are future humans who have evolved into pan dimensional beings, but they are not making this happen as much as allowing him to do it.
It's all about "Once you're a parent, you're the ghost of your children's future."[/spoiler]

[spoiler]But why does he make those marks in the dust on the floor, giving the location of the base where Michael Caine is and then, when they decipher the meaning of the marks does everything possible to try to stop them from going to the base. Like, just don't give them the location in the first place mate![/spoiler]

[spoiler]He gave himself the co-ordinates to the base, but the message "don't go" he gave to his daughter to stop her leaving the family home and becoming the estranged woman he saw in the accumulated messages from Earth.  His daughter was the one who passed the message onto him when she decoded it, but it was never meant for him.[/spoiler]

Also the ending is just the ending from Disney's The Black Hole and I claim my five pounds.

[spoiler]I still don't get it. Why did he want the earlier version of himself to go considering the mission was a disaster[/spoiler]?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2015, 07:05:16 PM
[spoiler]It wasn't a disaster as Plan B was still viable thanks to his actions during Plan A.  Things turned out sucky for him personally, but in the bigger picture the salvation of the human race was still achieved, which wouldn't have happened with the original mission commander (the lady type whose name escapes me) who had different ideas about how to proceed with the mission(s) and would have died on the water or ice planets, dooming both Plan A and Plan B (and the human race).[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 February, 2015, 07:23:35 PM
I think I need to see it again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2015, 09:53:53 PM
[spoiler]The lead character goes into the hole in space and experiences nonlinear existence, but this is irrelevant as he - the observer outside linear time - is a product of his actions in the past and those actions in the past (memories) cause his actions in the future (choices).  Theoretically, he has free will to alter the past or future by his actions, but he's a closed loop even outside time.[/spoiler]

So basically once you get past the Black Hole riff, the rest of the film is the ending of the Deep Space Nine pilot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 02:42:08 AM
Saw Wolf of Wall Street the other nigh and again yesterday on cable and thought he should have brought a bigger boat!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 03 February, 2015, 09:11:36 AM
cloud atlas- started watching it, but thought it was weird and didn't make any sense, but felt compelled to watch the entirity
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2015, 10:53:45 AM
And did you change your mind?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 01:22:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 02:42:08 AM
Saw Wolf of Wall Street the other night and again yesterday on cable and thought he should have brought a bigger boat!

Concerning the a well known non - prescribed medication referred to as Ludes (Because, I don't know the correct spelling for it's real name and before I try to Google for it at this moment in time!) that I'm sure was used a lot in the late 60's and early 70's, and judgeing from what I saw of it's effects in the movie.

As the film narrative informed me that this drug was limited supply and very rare by the time this film was set. (I think it's set during the late 80's!) They had stopped making them for some reason, and if you could source any they were rare. So, once their supply ran out, that was it, it was gone.

Even this sounds dumb to to me right now, as any chemist worth their salt could make another batch unless the ingredients were hard to come by as well and there are or were these other drugs called [bUppers, Speed, Aphetamines[/b] which sound like they have a similar effect unless they are more potent and there fore dangerous to take on casual basis.

The effects seem to be the same, they bring you up, they increase you phycial output with out any adverse effects for hours or days and then the side effects kick in that leave them very fucked up for just as long.

There is also a certain thing about a certain kind of woman in very well known profession and how three types of them were described, the latter, and the worse that could be encountered actually looked like healthiest despite what the narrative was telling me. Aside from her very pale complection and excessive make up. Anyway, all three are the same sooner of alter.

Nudge nudge, wink wink...say no more!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 February, 2015, 01:34:44 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 01:22:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 02:42:08 AM
Saw Wolf of Wall Street the other night and again yesterday on cable and thought he should have brought a bigger boat!
There is also a certain thing about a certain kind of woman in very well known profession and how three types of them were described, the latter, and the worse that could be encountered actually looked like healthiest despite what the narrative was telling me. Aside from her very pale complection and excessive make up. Anyway, all three are the same sooner of alter.

Are you playing that game where you put a word into autocorrect and then just keep hitting space and letting it make sentences for you? It's fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 February, 2015, 01:35:07 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 01:22:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 February, 2015, 02:42:08 AM
Saw Wolf of Wall Street the other night and again yesterday on cable and thought he should have brought a bigger boat!

Concerning the a well known non - prescribed medication referred to as Ludes (Because, I don't know the correct spelling for it's real name and before I try to Google for it at this moment in time!) that I'm sure was used a lot in the late 60's and early 70's, and judgeing from what I saw of it's effects in the movie.

As the film narrative informed me that this drug was limited supply and very rare by the time this film was set. (I think it's set during the late 80's!) They had stopped making them for some reason, and if you could source any they were rare. So, once their supply ran out, that was it, it was gone.

Qualudes was the american brand name, they were known in the UK as Mandrax (or "mandies") - hence the Ian Dury lyric:

I bought a lot of brandy
When I was courting Sandy
Took eight to make her randy
And all I had was shandy
Another thing with Sandy
What often came in handy
Was passing her a 'Mandy'
She didn't half go bandy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 February, 2015, 01:42:53 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 03 February, 2015, 01:35:07 PM
Qualudes was the american brand name, they were known in the UK as Mandrax (or "mandies") - hence the Ian Dury lyric...
I didn't know that and have always been uncertain when I've come across references to it. According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methaqualone), it's where the term disco biscuits comes from and, apparently, "Methaqualone is one of the most commonly used recreational drugs in South Africa." I will have to ask Big Al about this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 03 February, 2015, 05:14:18 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2015, 10:53:45 AM
And did you change your mind?

I'm not sure! i'll watch it again from the beginning as I'd missed the first quarter of an hour and see if that helps,it was lovely to look at but confusing...will give it another go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 08 February, 2015, 10:14:33 AM
Best Of The Best (all four movies)

The first one is amazing - the most hyper-emotional martial arts movie maybe ever. Part 2 is sort of okay and parts 3 and 4 are pure vanity projects from actor/writer/producer/director Phillip Rhee.

I'm sad now that I've run out of martial arts franchises to watch / review. Actually, there's that Don "The Dragon" Wilson one, but they don't sound too appealing for some reason. Average is bad in my world. The very good and the very bad are what we like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 February, 2015, 10:34:27 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 08 February, 2015, 10:14:33 AM
I'm sad now that I've run out of martial arts franchises to watch / review.

If you like iffy 80's Martial Arts films how about the American Ninja series. I seem to recall I liked the first 2, but 3 and 4 are a bit shit. In fact the first 2 are probably shit as well, it was a long time ago that I watched them.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 February, 2015, 01:48:18 PM
True Grit.

Took a couple of viewings to shake loose the memory of the 1969 version, but once freed from that, it is a mighty fine film. And very much a Coen brothers movie*.
Cracking performances abound, though out of the main billed stars, perhaps only Josh Brolin's turn as Tom Chaney doesn't fully click.

Special mention must go to Hailee Steinfeld, as her portrayal as Maddie Ross is superb.
As the 1969 movie starred John Wayne, that film became all about John Wayne. Not a bad thing really, but this tale was always about Maddie Ross.

And in that respect, the ending is very bitter sweet, and poignant.


* As with any Coen brothers film, the Cinematography is to die for, though a couple of SFX's take you out of the film, even if momentarily.
And some of the dialogue is delivered so 'mumbley', that I had to search out the shooting script on-line to make sense of certain section's
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 08 February, 2015, 01:52:43 PM
The Cohen brothers True Grit is a mighty film. The casting is perfect as are the set/costume design and the use of only mid nineteenth century vernacular pitched at different levels based on then extant class stratas. I adore that movie. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 February, 2015, 03:17:38 PM
Based on a very fine book too for those who are yet to read it. The Coen Brother's film reallydoes return to the source material rather than the more famous ((?) John Wayne film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 February, 2015, 05:34:41 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 08 February, 2015, 10:14:33 AM
Best Of The Best (all four movies)

The first one is amazing - the most hyper-emotional martial arts movie maybe ever. Part 2 is sort of okay and parts 3 and 4 are pure vanity projects from actor/writer/producer/director Phillip Rhee.

I'm sad now that I've run out of martial arts franchises to watch / review. Actually, there's that Don "The Dragon" Wilson one, but they don't sound too appealing for some reason. Average is bad in my world. The very good and the very bad are what we like.

How about 'They Still Call Me Bruce'?
It's a sort of teen comedy/martial arts film in which a bullied kid is trained to fight by the ghost of Bruce Lee.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 February, 2015, 05:53:20 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 08 February, 2015, 10:14:33 AM
Best Of The Best (all four movies)

The first one is amazing - the most hyper-emotional martial arts movie maybe ever. Part 2 is sort of okay and parts 3 and 4 are pure vanity projects from actor/writer/producer/director Phillip Rhee.

I'm sad now that I've run out of martial arts franchises to watch / review. Actually, there's that Don "The Dragon" Wilson one, but they don't sound too appealing for some reason. Average is bad in my world. The very good and the very bad are what we like.

It should be noted that James Earl Jones delivers the line "NO!" even worse than the end of Star Wars prequels
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 February, 2015, 07:47:22 PM
THE THREE STOOGES (2012)

Some inspired slapstick and a "has to be seen to be believed" fight with pissing babies had more chuckling quite a lot at this.

There's a good sort of gag about Nuns not ageing and Larry David in a habit.

Throw in Sofia Vergera as very 3 dimensional villain and dadnip and, well, what more do you want?

I didn't realise it was the Farrelly brothers until a funny post credits gag. Though there were plenty of clues.

I suppose with it being a 3 stooges movie, there was no real need for dadnip. Blokes would be willingly going to see it anyway. (At least American ones).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 February, 2015, 10:18:10 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 08 February, 2015, 10:34:27 AM
If you like iffy 80's Martial Arts films how about the American Ninja series. I seem to recall I liked the first 2, but 3 and 4 are a bit shit. In fact the first 2 are probably shit as well, it was a long time ago that I watched them.

Cheers
Already watched and reviewed em. I liked them, ish, and the way it goes from "if you teach a Westerner the art of the ninja, you die" in part 1 to "literally everyone in the world is a ninja" in part 4 is sort of funny.

I decided to go with the 9-film "Bloodfist" series next, after all. The first one's opening credits, as well as listing the actors, gives you their martial arts qualifications as well, which is a first for me. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2015, 11:20:26 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 09 February, 2015, 10:18:10 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 08 February, 2015, 10:34:27 AM
If you like iffy 80's Martial Arts films how about the American Ninja series. I seem to recall I liked the first 2, but 3 and 4 are a bit shit. In fact the first 2 are probably shit as well, it was a long time ago that I watched them.

Cheers
Already watched and reviewed em. I liked them, ish, and the way it goes from "if you teach a Westerner the art of the ninja, you die" in part 1 to "literally everyone in the world is a ninja" in part 4 is sort of funny.

I like how you refuse to acknowledge American Ninja 5.  This is probably for the best.

Martial Law, Martial Law 2 and Martial Outlaw represent a beer+pizza triple-bill of cheapo US head-knocking from the early 90s when directors in the west still knew how to choreograph a punch-up instead of just shaking the camera for three minutes.  Martial Outlaw isn't an official sequel to the first two, but most assume it is because of Jeff Wincott's laughable emotional range that makes his characters identical in all his movies, so I sort of imagine him being the martial arts equivalent of a Les Dennis impersonation.
No Retreat No Surrender is a decent-to-garbage trilogy, Rage and Honor is a decent showcase trilogy for B-movie mainstay and all-round Aussie gent (despite his being typecast in Hong Kong action flicks as villains) Richard Norton and co-star Cynthia Rothrock, who also stars alongside Jalal "WHO?" Merhi in Tiger Caws 1-3, and there are at least four Bloodsport movies to check out, as well as six Universal Soldier films - three of which contradict what happens in the other three for some reason.  I will go ahead and assume you have already done the Police Story and Project A series of films, but the In the Line of Duty series (Yes Madam, Royal Warriors, In the Line of Duty 3, In the Line of Duty 4, Middle Man, Forbidden Arsenal, and Sea Wolves) is also worth a gander for their occasionally spectacular shoestring-budget setpieces, like a fight between a cop and ten or so Triads on the roof - and sides, and front - of an ambulance speeding through Hong Kong traffic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 February, 2015, 11:24:32 AM
Appleseed Alpha, probably the most no-frills straight Hollywood-style action movie approach to Appleseed so far I thought. Liked the visual style more than XIII in a lot of ways, it looks pretty amazing on Blu-ray. Story didn't particularly grab me, but the action looked great and had some good weight to it. Not the best Appleseed movie out there but still pretty badass.

And rewatched The Raid 2. Was blown away by this in the cinema but have actually put off rewatching it for a long time because I felt like the greater length and increase in plot would make it drag on repeat watches. It really, really didn't though, if anything it feels snappier and more absorbing once you know what you're getting into. Plus you know what an incredible run of action scenes you have in store so there's always something awesome to look forward to. And what fight scenes. Just, the BEST fight scenes.

First time I was breathlessly trying to take it all in during the action scenes, but on a second watch you can really appreciate what the camera is up to during the fights, and it's truly incredible. The way it keeps the movement kinetic but always readable and gets coverage of every hit is actually astonishing, when you look at how poorly most Hollywood action scenes are shot and edited. The craft that went into this is staggering and the fact it's not up for Oscars and all-sorts just shows the genre-snobbery that action films are victim to at award season.

EDIT: Just saw Bear mentioning Universal Soldier, if you haven't watched Day of Reckoning then do it. Went in with no expectations and was taken aback by how intense it is. A really good visceral action film. Plot is nonsensical, or maybe I just haven't been following the series closely enough, but the fights are full-on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 February, 2015, 01:13:13 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 09 February, 2015, 11:20:26 AM
I like how you refuse to acknowledge American Ninja 5.  This is probably for the best.
Oh god! I did that one too (http://iscfc.net/2014/11/28/american-ninja-5-1993/), and I sorta liked David Bradley by the end. He improved as an actor quite a lot - although my favourite thing about them was sidekick Steve James, who ought to have been headlining movies himself (not helped by the racists in charge of Cannon Films - zero black leading men).

I never watched these films as a kid, I was all about sci-fi and arthouse stuff so it's been a pleasure going through them all.

Tiger Claws - Jalal "Yes, I Am Funding These Movies" Merhi could be the worst leading man of them all. Poor Cynthia Rothrock was reduced to spectator, pretty much.

If we're talking weird sequel paths, No Retreat No Surrender could be the best. Part 2 is genuinely brilliant, I think, and Loren Avedon is a great low-budget leading man. But that series..."King Of The Kickboxers" (with Billy Blanks, perhaps the worst actor ever) is known as NRNS 4, then there's "American Shaolin" which is known as NRNS 5 as well as King Of The Kickboxers 2; then there's "Fighting Spirit", also listed as King Of The Kickboxers 2 in some places . Not a single one of em even remotely related to any of the others.

Thanks for the "Rage and Honour", "In The Line Of Duty" and "Martial Law" suggestions, I'll give em a go. Even Mrs Mortimer doesn't mind cheesy martial arts movies, as they require little concentration and she can read her favourite magazines while they're on (I do suggest films she might like, honest, but she says our system works for her).

I'll pop on a Jackie Chan film every few months, and am always a little surprised / disappointed by the plot that surrounds the set-pieces. I know it's sort of silly to cry misogyny when it comes to 30 year old Hong Kong action movies, but the rotten treatment of women does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for going through more of his stuff (I did like Jackie Chan as a kid). 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 09 February, 2015, 01:36:38 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 February, 2015, 05:34:41 PMHow about 'They Still Call Me Bruce'?
It's a sort of teen comedy/martial arts film in which a bullied kid is trained to fight by the ghost of Bruce Lee.

And a sequel... The inevitable follow-up to 'They Call Me Bruce'

I loved that as a kid...

:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 February, 2015, 02:00:30 PM
Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 February, 2015, 02:09:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 February, 2015, 07:47:22 PM
THE THREE STOOGES (2012)

Some inspired slapstick and a "has to be seen to be believed" fight with pissing babies had more chuckling quite a lot at this.

There's a good sort of gag about Nuns not ageing and Larry David in a habit.

Throw in Sofia Vergera as very 3 dimensional villain and dadnip and, well, what more do you want?

I didn't realise it was the Farrelly brothers until a funny post credits gag. Though there were plenty of clues.

I suppose with it being a 3 stooges movie, there was no real need for dadnip. Blokes would be willingly going to see it anyway. (At least American ones).

as someone who loves the Stooges, the trailer (and the very idea) of this film made me want to put my foot through the TV screen in the same way as the horribly pointless remakes of Bilko or Arthur. Was I mistaken? Sounds quite good from your review.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2015, 02:42:29 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 09 February, 2015, 01:13:13 PM
I'll pop on a Jackie Chan film every few months, and am always a little surprised / disappointed by the plot that surrounds the set-pieces. I know it's sort of silly to cry misogyny when it comes to 30 year old Hong Kong action movies, but the rotten treatment of women does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for going through more of his stuff (I did like Jackie Chan as a kid).

Chan did do some flirting with more complex plotting, but his films' plots are deliberately simple and easy to follow, his version of events being that he did this to make them similar to silent western slapstick comedies such as those made by Harold Lloyd - but if he's as canny an operator as he seems, he most likely wanted access to a wider audience.
I wouldn't say Chan's films are without the casual chauvinism of the era and occasionally baffling scenes of sexism that just make no sense even in context, but I would say they aren't so far gone as to be misogynistic , as long-suffering girlfriends of Chan's characters tend to get punched in the face or thrown through windows for the same reasons such things happen to anyone else in the movie: because the baddie is an utter rotter, or because Chan's character is a buffoon.
Although since we're mentioning his characters' better halves, Chan's frequent collaborator Maggie Cheung might also be worth checking out in HK superhero movie Heroic Trio and its sequel Executioners.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 February, 2015, 03:16:23 PM
Yes, you're right, my words were picked slightly poorly. "Dragons Forever", for example, is still an amazing film, even with the baffling treatment of women in it.

Love the "Heroic Trio" movies. Was Maggie Cheung in "Saviour of the Soul" too, or was that Anita Mui? That was thoroughly bonkers, as I recall.

Back to the USA, I've not covered them both yet, but I'd recommend the "Omega Cop" / "Karate Cop" double bill of future-set martial arts movies. Ron Marchini couldn't act worth a damn, but he gave it his all, bless him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 09 February, 2015, 05:27:30 PM
I'm not a diehard fan of the Three Stooges but do enjoy catching up with them now and again. The recent film is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be and is definitely worth a watch with some laugh out loud moments in it. I wasn't sure how it would work in a 21st century setting, but it does. Give it a view, I say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 February, 2015, 08:21:01 PM
Transcendence - better than I expected, quite slow-paced but with all the 'a-list cast' of a more action-driven movie. I enjoyed though fails ultimately because you never get a chance to see Will Castor before the upload, so his odd robotic behaviour does make him seem like a computer pretending to be a person rather than a person who has become a computer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 February, 2015, 10:40:43 PM
Last thing I saw was a double bill of documentaries about East European electronic music!

15 Corners of the World (http://vimeo.com/100908194) was about a guy, Eugeniusz Rudnik, who was basically the Polish Delia Derbyshire. A nice old bloke with a massive enthusiasm for finding unusual sounds and splicing tapes. Alright If you like that kind of thing. Lots of footage of abstract footage to a soundtrack of his stuff.

Elektro Moskva (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay3rhzJ143s), on the other hand, begs to be seen by anyone with the slightest interest in either weird noises or crazy Russian dudes. From Leon Theremin inventing instruments as a byproduct of surveillance technology to some teenager circuit-bending cheap Chinese toys, it does what all good documentaries do and digs up some great characters to fill in an obscure but interesting story.

From Soviet engineers to 70s synthpop acts, unscrupulous synth dealers to artists it's continually fascinating, laugh out loud funny in that bleak Russian way and drenched in buzzes, whirrs and drones. Magic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 09 February, 2015, 11:09:05 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 09 February, 2015, 08:21:01 PM
Transcendence - better than I expected, quite slow-paced but with all the 'a-list cast' of a more action-driven movie. I enjoyed though fails ultimately because you never get a chance to see Will Castor before the upload, so his odd robotic behaviour does make him seem like a computer pretending to be a person rather than a person who has become a computer.

I thought Transcendence was a bit of an odd one and I was never really sure what kind of stance the movie was making.  [spoiler]The anti-technology people were not very well explained so it just seemed odd and over the top when they poisoned Will and others.  It then seemed to be going down the route of Will turning bad, and I do get that some of the stuff he was doing later on definitely crossed the line but ultimately he still ended up being one of the most decent people in it, who ended up getting killed again!
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2015, 05:01:43 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 February, 2015, 02:00:30 PM
Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

I normally find something to like in a Wachowski siblings movie but aside from fancying Channing Tatum something rotten, I struggled here.

It doesn't help that his character is an impervious jedi from the get go or that the threats are never clearly defined and uou have no investment in the action sequences.

I think it wants to be Dune, Star Wars, 1980 Flash Gordon, Twilight and Hunger Games all at once but manages to shitty pick from each.

When the most engaging sequence is when they have to battle against mindless future bureaucrats, you film is in trouble.

And they don't even kill[spoiler] Sean Bean[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2015, 05:05:38 PM
ROBOT AND FRANK
On the other hand was a joy. It's more drama than comedy and has a great performance from Frank Langella (who must have been glad not to be playing his ten thousandth authoritarian villain). It's still twenty minutes too long. And I totally did not see the twist coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 February, 2015, 05:09:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2015, 05:01:43 PM
And they don't even kill[spoiler] Sean Bean[/spoiler].

Now that, my friend, is fucking radical film-making.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 February, 2015, 05:15:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 February, 2015, 05:01:43 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 February, 2015, 02:00:30 PM
Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

When the most engaging sequence is when they have to battle against mindless future bureaucrats, you film is in trouble.


The problem with that whole sequence is that it didn't even so much as raise a smile. Too bad.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 12 February, 2015, 02:13:09 PM
Bloodfist 3: Forced To Fight

Instead of some sort of martial arts movie, not an unrealistic expectation given its title and star, we find a fairly good and dark prison drama, with a smidge of fighting in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 February, 2015, 05:53:23 PM
Oh, The Raid 2 is on Netflix UK, not see it yet
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 13 February, 2015, 05:58:26 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 13 February, 2015, 05:53:23 PM
Oh, The Raid 2 is on Netflix UK, not see it yet
It's weird and brilliant, a 90 minute blast of martial arts insanity with an hour of gang and political intrigue on top.

Bloodfist 4: Die Trying
Best of the series so far by miles. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is a repo man who takes a black BMW with some nuclear triggers in it, and all sorts of different groups want them and him. Surprisingly great, I think, and on Youtube for nothing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2015, 05:11:41 PM
SABOTAGE
Having enjoyed Fury, I thought I'd check out some more David Ayers. This one's about a load of DEA agents on the make. Someone has ripped off their ill gotten gains but is it a drug cartel or is the baddie closer to home?

It has a phenomenal cast at least six of which normally exude an easy charm on  screen but not this time. Everybody is a completely self-obsessed unlikeable as shoe. It's like watching a hyper violent episode of IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA.

Arnold is better than  usual which bodes well for King Conan but he still manages to make some physical actions look like it's the first time he has ever done them.

It is unpleasantly violent for no real reason and this also makes it hard going.

Shame - I thought this would be the first time I got to see Arne in something that was not coming  book or cartoon but by the end, it has reverted to type.

Short version - Sabotage? More like Saboshit!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 February, 2015, 09:44:07 PM
Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Liked it, didn't love it.

I quite like Matthew Vaughn's films - I'm glad that someone is still making high-concept genre movies with a bit of balls, even if they often have a bit of a misogynist streak about them. I just don't think this one held together anywhere near as well as Kick-Ass or First Class, and quite often went way too far with the craziness to the point of demented incoherence.

While the scrappy, low budget feel worked for Kick-Ass, I feel like the obvious budgetary constraints really worked against presenting a would-be globe-trotting Bond epic - it all felt very small scale for a reason I can't quite put my finger on. Inter-cutting every action scene with various heroes and villains reaction shots as they watch each other lent them a really goofy silliness. I also feel that the real focus of the film should have been the training of the main character and the odd couple dynamic of Firth and Egerton which worked great - far too much time was spent on the incredibly convoluted and silly supervillain plot, and I feel like Eggsy got far too little screen time and development. I came away wishing they'd streamlined the script a bit more as it felt like a bit of a mess, and a bit overlong. It also felt tonally all over the shop, especially during the ending. I'm thinking that I'd like to see Vaughn tackle another franchise type movie where his excesses are reined in a bit.

I see what they were going for with the [spoiler]bumsex[/spoiler] 'gag', but it capsized the whole ending for me. A bit of a cringeworthy and depressing note to end on.

As a whole, the film certainly got some interesting reactions from the packed audience, so fair play.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 February, 2015, 10:34:16 PM

Interesting to see 3 R-rated films occupy top spots at the US box-office: 1,2 & 4.


http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 February, 2015, 10:41:56 PM
Fuck 50 Shades of Grey and it's romanticisation if domestic abuse. >:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 February, 2015, 11:10:03 PM
QuoteInteresting to see 3 R-rated films occupy top spots at the US box-office: 1,2 & 4.

Huh. I've never really understood the aversion to the R rating - I mean, horror films are almost always profitable, and they're usually R rated.

Is it just a perception that R rating = less profit, and every time an R rated movie fails it keeps reinforcing itself?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2015, 11:50:15 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 February, 2015, 10:41:56 PM
Fuck 50 Shades of Grey and it's romanticisation if domestic abuse. >:(

I will plead ignorance here having only a vague inkling of what it's about but I thought it was all consensual stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 February, 2015, 08:48:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2015, 11:50:15 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 February, 2015, 10:41:56 PM
Fuck 50 Shades of Grey and it's romanticisation if domestic abuse. >:(

I will plead ignorance here having only a vague inkling of what it's about but I thought it was all consensual stuff.

The BDSM community aren't impressed - they say it doesn't depict consensual play, simply an abusive and controlling relationship. Can't comment as I've no plans to read the book or see the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2015, 08:52:08 AM
Aah, I can see why that would anger people on both sides now. Thanks.

(Also no intention of reading or watching)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 February, 2015, 08:56:31 AM
Quote from: radiator on 15 February, 2015, 11:10:03 PM
QuoteInteresting to see 3 R-rated films occupy top spots at the US box-office: 1,2 & 4.

Huh. I've never really understood the aversion to the R rating - I mean, horror films are almost always profitable, and they're usually R rated.

Is it just a perception that R rating = less profit, and every time an R rated movie fails it keeps reinforcing itself?

In most US states, with any rating up to an R, kids can be admitted if they're accompanied by an adult thanks to individual discretion of the theater.  Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and other long-running hack-and-slash horror franchises were mostly watched by children, giving the impression (right or wrong) that this was the primary audience for horror, so a horror with an R rating is assumed to be a bad bet because most of its intended audience will automatically be barred from attending a screening or even renting the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 February, 2015, 09:28:57 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 February, 2015, 08:48:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2015, 11:50:15 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 February, 2015, 10:41:56 PM
Fuck 50 Shades of Grey and it's romanticisation if domestic abuse. >:(

I will plead ignorance here having only a vague inkling of what it's about but I thought it was all consensual stuff.

The BDSM community aren't impressed - they say it doesn't depict consensual play, simply an abusive and controlling relationship. Can't comment as I've no plans to read the book or see the film.

I haven't (and never will) read the book, but was curious why people were getting upset so I did look up a few articles with a lot of examples of the problem sections. Aside from the fact that it's written appallingly, there doesn't seem to be any consent involved beyond her relenting to emotional blackmail and psychological bullying. The one sex scene I read (the first one) is basically rape, plain and simple. I know reading chunks of something out of context and judging them isn't good practice, but not sure how much more context you need to a woman saying no and a man forcing himself on her anyway.

Makes its popularity worrying and depressing really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 February, 2015, 09:39:47 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 February, 2015, 08:48:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2015, 11:50:15 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 February, 2015, 10:41:56 PM
Fuck 50 Shades of Grey and it's romanticisation if domestic abuse. >:(

I will plead ignorance here having only a vague inkling of what it's about but I thought it was all consensual stuff.

The BDSM community aren't impressed - they say it doesn't depict consensual play, simply an abusive and controlling relationship. Can't comment as I've no plans to read the book or see the film.
I have engaged in BDSM activities with two partners over the last 3 years (I hope thats not bordering on Mayor level creepiness but bare with me) and three rules are nessecary for BDSM. Safe, Sane, and Consensual. I.e The dominant party doesn't do anything the submissive party doesn't ask for before hand. It's not a case of simply tying the sub up and beating the shit out of them. Thats abuse. And thats what happens in 50'Shades of Shit. Mr. Grey even goes so far as to use the date rape drug on the protag. But I wouldn't have minded if these had been depictednas a bad thing, the fact it's romanticised and turned into a love story is what scares me. And deeply saddens me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 February, 2015, 10:01:07 AM
Quotethree rules are nessecary for BDSM. Safe, Sane, and Consensual.

I have a friend who is on the BDSM scene and this very much is what comes across stronger then anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 February, 2015, 11:02:30 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 16 February, 2015, 09:39:47 AM
I hope thats not bordering on Mayor level creepiness...

Not at all...

Quote... but bare with me

But that is!  ;)

I haven't read the book or seen the film and don't plan to, so I shouldn't really comment, but I did have a hilarous conversation about the book with two older better-read ladies while sharing a cup of tea in the Father Ted Parochial House* over the weekend, and the reviews from folk whose opinion I regard suggest that by contrast the film goes to catatonia-inducing lengths to establish that everything is indeed consensual. Is this not the case?  I can certainly accept that the plot outline itself reads like Bridget Jones' Gor.


*Valentine's treat from the missus.  Just drop everything and go, it's a sublime experience. They have the actual Bishop Brennan's hat!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 February, 2015, 12:00:05 PM
I'll have you know I like to BARE ALL when getting my self a lashing. ;) :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2015, 12:22:16 PM
MACGRUBER
I don't know why I picked this to watch but I wish I hadn't.  I wasn't surprised to find it started out life as a Saturday Night Live Sketch (from about twenty years ago judging by the target of it's satire) but was suprised that it was so laugh free. 

Taking the piss out of MCGYVER and Eighties action movies should give you more material but the writer's here muster just enough content to make a funny two minute sketch. Shame it was a 90 minute movie.

And the main character's idiocy doesn't support the logic of the set-up. And as often the case, confuses "shock" and gross with funny.

The lead bloke is good though.

Avoid.

More like MACTURDER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 16 February, 2015, 02:42:18 PM
I loved MacGyver as a kid, but I watched ten minutes of an episode on the TV last week and turned it off with a sigh at how dated it was.

At attempt number four I finally made it through X-Men Days of Future Past and saw the whole film. It wasn't the quality of the film that stopped me but the daft idea of trying to watch it when I got in from the pub when drunk. I made this mistake again last night so although I made it to the end it was a bit of a struggle and I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what happened. I did enjoy the bits I can remember though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 February, 2015, 03:01:42 PM
I think McGruber is much funnier if you like homophobia and think pro wrestling is real - coincidentally, there is a great deal of overlap in these two things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 16 February, 2015, 05:07:08 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2015, 12:22:16 PM
MACGRUBER
I don't know why I picked this to watch but I wish I hadn't.  I wasn't surprised to find it started out life as a Saturday Night Live Sketch (from about twenty years ago judging by the target of it's satire) but was suprised that it was so laugh free. 

Taking the piss out of MCGYVER and Eighties action movies should give you more material but the writer's here muster just enough content to make a funny two minute sketch. Shame it was a 90 minute movie.

And the main character's idiocy doesn't support the logic of the set-up. And as often the case, confuses "shock" and gross with funny.

The lead bloke is good though.

Avoid.

More like MACTURDER.
It was one of those films that had every comedian on earth praising it when it came out, because the SNL people called all their friends and they called all their friends...and then the film came out and it was pretty boring. It had the odd good bit but much like just about every film based on an SNL sketch, it really had nothing past its premise.

My Bloody Valentine
The 3-D one. If you're the sort of person who doesn't like it when films lie to you, presenting you with information that looks like it's happening but is actually just a figment of one character's imagination, meaning you can't possibly figure out what's going on, then you might want to avoid this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2015, 09:15:15 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 16 February, 2015, 03:01:42 PM
I think McGruber is much funnier if you like homophobia and think pro wrestling is real - coincidentally, there is a great deal of overlap in these two things.

There is a particularly bad example early on when recruiting his team; he scrubs one character off his list when he sees he has a male partner.  A kind reading might be that he didn't want any team members who were in a relationship.  But it just screams homophobia to the extent that I don't know how they got away with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 17 February, 2015, 09:16:16 AM
I guess the justification is, he's an idiot, therefore his view on homosexuality is idiotic too? Doesn't make the film any better, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 February, 2015, 09:23:13 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 17 February, 2015, 09:16:16 AM
I guess the justification is, he's an idiot, therefore his view on homosexuality is idiotic too?

My take on it too.
Wasn't great, but I found it no more offensive or unfunny than a below average episode of Family Guy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 February, 2015, 09:58:31 AM
I'd never heard of MacGruber but enjoyed it as a bit of silly fun when I watched it.
The homophobia is clearly a joke about the hyper-macho masculinity found in American action TV of the 80s. In those old shows homosexuality doesn't exist - not even in the A Team episode with Boy George.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 February, 2015, 01:05:25 PM
Quote from: Professor Cardigan on 16 February, 2015, 11:02:30 AM
Father Ted Parochial House*

*Valentine's treat from the missus.  Just drop everything and go, it's a sublime experience. They have the actual Bishop Brennan's hat!

Brilliant- I have to make the trip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 17 February, 2015, 01:10:51 PM
There's a famous MacGruber sketch on SNL where, in between getting blown up repeatedly, he has to visit an awareness class because he gets a black assistant (NBA star Charles Barkley) and can't handle it - so he has form in being an idiot.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 February, 2015, 01:35:38 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 17 February, 2015, 01:05:25 PM
Quote from: Professor Cardigan on 16 February, 2015, 11:02:30 AM
Father Ted Parochial House*

*Valentine's treat from the missus.  Just drop everything and go, it's a sublime experience. They have the actual Bishop Brennan's hat!

Brilliant- I have to make the trip.

Do, it's great. But be sure to book in advance on the website  to let them know you're coming, otherwise you'll just be another person peering in the window when they open the curtains. It's a family home, albeit one where the family have played burglars and zombie grannies. While there we were served tea by the baby on the doorstep, which was... odd

As an added bonus, while the exterior of the house and views outside the windows are Craggy Island, the interiors and views into the windows are Rugged Island. Two parochial houses for the price of one! . Just don't mention the Inishmore Tedfest, it's a  prickly subject. Vaughan's in nearby Kilfenora is also worth a look, as the focal point of Craggy Island's Chinese community, with a certain roundabout just around the corner.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 February, 2015, 08:48:46 PM
X-Men Days of Future Past.  Well that wasn't very good.  Well-made, certainly, but for two hundred million dollars, you would hope they'd be employing people who knew how to do their jobs on a technical level.
Otherwise, it's just cherry-picking from the many "everyone dies and then time resets" storylines you've seen in everything from Star Trek to Power Rangers to The OC.  There aren't any swerves, any clever inversions of tropes or fake-outs, it's just by-the-numbers regurgitation typical of modern storytelling trapped in a stage of zero self-awareness that allows writers to pretend they're doing something that's never been been run into the ground for even non-genre fans.  Like First Class before it, the final race against time stuff felt like it was a bit too long, and the supposedly pivotal emotional component of it was unconvincing.  Pete Dinklage needn't have bothered showing up as his Bolivar Trask doesn't have any depth of character and just delivers his lines dutifully, no more of a menace or antagonist than the equally-dull Sentinels.
Two hours I can't get back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 February, 2015, 10:35:11 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 17 February, 2015, 08:48:46 PM
for two hundred million dollars, you would hope they'd be employing people who knew how to do their jobs on a technical level.

Not sure what this means?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 18 February, 2015, 12:57:52 AM
True Grit

Although I lasted only 30 mins. I know it's the Coens, I know it's a fantastic version. But in practice, I  could not take any more of Jeff Bridges' incoherent mumbling. I gave up. Shame, as it looked good.

As ever, I may be in a minority of one on this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 February, 2015, 10:19:45 AM
Put the subtitles on? :)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 February, 2015, 02:20:30 PM
Quote from: Professor Cardigan on 17 February, 2015, 01:35:38 PM
As an added bonus, while the exterior of the house and views outside the windows are Craggy Island, the interiors and views into the windows are Rugged Island. Two parochial houses for the price of one! . Just don't mention the Inishmore Tedfest, it's a  prickly subject. Vaughan's in nearby Kilfenora is also worth a look, as the focal point of Craggy Island's Chinese community, with a certain roundabout just around the corner.

Thanks again TB, it's on my radar for around Easter.
I'll make it a surprise for the missus too, who's a huge FT fan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 February, 2015, 02:26:17 PM
Quote from: Fungus on 18 February, 2015, 12:57:52 AM
True Grit

Although I lasted only 30 mins. I know it's the Coens, I know it's a fantastic version. But in practice, I  could not take any more of Jeff Bridges' incoherent mumbling. I gave up. Shame, as it looked good.

As ever, I may be in a minority of one on this.

It is good. I don't recall having a problem with The Dude's dialogue. Can you hear everyone else? Is the sound mix on your telly ok?  (We did end up doing subtitles on Battlestar Galactica.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 February, 2015, 02:35:03 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 February, 2015, 02:26:17 PM
Quote from: Fungus on 18 February, 2015, 12:57:52 AM
True Grit
It is good. I don't recall having a problem with The Dude's dialogue. Can you hear everyone else? Is the sound mix on your telly ok?  (We did end up doing subtitles on Battlestar Galactica.)
This isn't the first time I've seen someone complaining about the Bridges' mumbling but, like yourself, I don't recall having any problems understanding him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 February, 2015, 02:42:35 PM
I did find myself missing the odd sentence/word when I saw it at the cinema - a good quarter of all his lines in the film - but didn't mind at all. If I suddenly pitched up in the Old West I have no doubt I'd struggle with some of the thicker accents, so it really helped sell the setting, as a 'total immersion'-type thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 18 February, 2015, 04:02:32 PM
Missing ... about 50% of his mumbles felt irritating and too much. Don't tinker with default settings. Sounded fine otherwise, just JB.

The subtitles suggestion was inspired  :)
But saved telly doesn't show them, even when switched [on] for the purposes of this test. Need to investigate this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 February, 2015, 04:13:39 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 February, 2015, 02:00:30 PM
Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

When I saw those lizard things walking past in one of the earlier trailers for this film I thought of  this film/cartoon adaption otaken from the very first book in the Dragon-Lance series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0reHLHGyQnM)

In a proper live action adaption....

Channing Tatum with long hair and full beard....

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJPKCeUTXzmig2SuE3Y2hTeBlX_qTR3hYVaejzX3esuwoPUgAepA)

Or a younger Brad Pitt as.....

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBT9avKqFlf7893uXQUkwq-jA0o9VOpzlCTtXepXrXRTKiDKld)

Tanis Half-Elven

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/he/b/b6/Tanis_half_elven.jpg)(http://www.dragnix.net/Digital_and_Analog_Dragons/Dragonlance_Dragons_of_Autumn_Twilight/Dragonlance-DoAT_31.jpg)

I only considered the former because he's in the film with those things....

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7uIqxbNRAj8/Tlnhugb3SpI/AAAAAAAAEb8/hy-jeriBd_0/s1600/Dragonlance+Draconians.jpg)

I think the creators of the cartoon adaption I linked up above might squandered too much money into digitalising the Dragon/ Draconians (http://dragonlance.wikia.com/wiki/Draconian)....

(http://www.dragnix.net/Digital_and_Analog_Dragons/Dragonlance_Dragons_of_Autumn_Twilight/Dragonlance-DoAT_18.jpg)

What I saw in Jupiter Ascending....

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWbz5F64kVbG3W8rswozselwBAYIDpWPbNgJBr-RsiLjMKWsqm)

Somebody suggested they are really   David Ick's (http://www.bing.com/search?q=david+icks+reptilains&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=) Reptilian's

While the heroic protagonists/villainous antagonists, other major and minor players, backdrops is just simple animation and scenery.  They might have been able to finish the trilogy if they saved money but not using the 3D-pologons in the first carton adaption.

Someone else's  Dreamcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Hh3NEKjNY)  for  Dragon-Lance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonlance)

I'm not sure about Lena Hedly for Kitiara Majere.

or Russell Crowe  as Caramon and David Bowie as Raistlin Majere twin brothers also related to Kitiara.

Caramon is a tall muscle bound warrior type who would look considerably younger than Russell. I'm still not sure who could him, but his brother Raistlin who is much skinnier, almost wasting away and suffering from lung infection. His most notable features, golden skin and hourglass shaped pupils. The most intelligent of the companions and now a powerful mage. The skin and eyes, acquisitions from his trials in the Tower of Sorcery. While I can see how David Bowie could turn his looks, voice and hand to any role sent his way. I would see him better as one of or all of the Elves. While I would normally choose real life twin to play the brothers Majere, but can not find anybody else who may resemble Kevin Bacon (I choose him to be Raistlin!) enough for that to be possible.

I like the choice for Tika Waylan, and would have suggested Lindsy Lohan myself, but not so sure about choice now  :-\

Some characters not mentioned.....

Verminard..... The actor who was Thor is my only choice so far. He's one of the main villains, who wields a magical mace, wears dark plate armour and rides a dragon.

Elistan,  Who I can only imagin would have been played by Charleton Heston who is no long amongst us, yet would have been suberb as the good aligned  Cleric  who was compared with Moses.

Fizbann the Fabulous with that annotation alone, I might have suggested Ian Mackellan one his recent experiences and personal background alone. Yet, I had always imagined the absent minded old wizard as Robin Williams. Except that he's also gone now as well, of course. Now, after some thought about this identity and his alter ego, the great god  Paladine (http://www.bing.com/search?q=paladine&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=) (Who looks like a angelic armoured knight! Just imagine Gandalf is really  Manwe (http://www.bing.com/search?q=manwe&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=) and Pat Mills is really Tharg! Yet, we understand that both identities here are not so confused as mortals! (No insult intended!)

I now have Al Pacino in mind, with thoughts of his constant befuddlement inspired by his performance as a eccentric seeming blind army officer and then I could see his god-half inspired by his  Scarface (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Scarface&filters=ufn%3a%22Scarface%22+sid%3a%225dd3675c-ae42-5aa2-d5f5-52b29f606c67%22+catguid%3a%22c4cf0ed0-3e26-20cf-bb22-b288f81109d3_645a7530%22+segment%3a%22generic.carousel%22&FORM=SNAPST). I could imagine a new version of the armoured guardian rising from the pit his former bent old wizard self was thrown into. Now looking much younger, wearing a suit and wielding a large firearm. Only a god would bring a gun to a sword fight.

(http://micropsia.otroscines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/scarface-pacino3.jpg)

If you could imagine the old gods of Dargonlance to be really being fithy rich and gun toting criminals!

I think that will do for now....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 18 February, 2015, 04:51:52 PM
Keep er' lit TS. One of the things that grabbed me about True Grit was the use of language, it leant a sense of believability missing from the Wayne version. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 18 February, 2015, 05:21:55 PM
Quote from: Bear (PhD) on 17 February, 2015, 08:48:46 PM
X-Men Days of Future Past.  Well that wasn't very good.
I watched it recently and did quite like the beginning but my interest sort of trailed off here and there from then on. On plot points I'll feel funny using spoilers on cos I thought everyone had long seen it, [spoiler]I thought it was odd Mystique being the point of interest Sentinel-wise instead of Rogue giving how her powers work[/spoiler] and I was more than a little confused at how [spoiler]Magneto seemed to get the early Sentinels under his command by simply shoving railway tracks into them[/spoiler] but maybe there's a clear explanation for both I missed. By the end I may have been twiddling my thumbs but did find myself wondering [spoiler]if they end up at a reality where Wolverine never got the ol' adamantium skeleton[/spoiler] but can't say I'm really excited to find out either way. Probably thinking too much into the film here too but Wolverine's whole [spoiler]"Send me back because my mind can heal!"[/spoiler] did just seem a lazy explanation for why he was given the lead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 February, 2015, 05:59:38 PM
Quote from: Charlie boy on 18 February, 2015, 05:21:55 PM
By the end I may have been twiddling my thumbs but did find myself wondering [spoiler]if they end up at a reality where Wolverine never got the ol' adamantium skeleton[/spoiler]

Seemed likely.
Which could fit quite nicely into next year's X-Men: Apocalypse.

It was Apocalypse who bestowed Wolverine's Adamantium skeleton the 2nd time in the comics (no spoiler required, it happened in 1999), makes sense that they re-use the idea in a film that includes him as the main antagonist.

And I'm calling it [spoiler]Jackman / Wolverine will be one of the main villains in the next film; (the Horseman) Death[/spoiler].
Well, at least until the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 February, 2015, 06:35:14 PM
Quote from: Fungus on 18 February, 2015, 12:57:52 AM
True Grit

I could not take any more of Jeff Bridges' incoherent mumbling.



And to top it all off, Matt Damon renders his own tongue practically inoperative as well. What a film!  ;)

But joking aside, and though it took me a couple of viewings, I heartily recommend giving it another try Fungus, for it is indeed a fine movie.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 February, 2015, 12:01:24 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 18 February, 2015, 04:13:39 PM

I now have Al Pacino in mind, with thoughts of his constant befuddlement inspired by his performance as a eccentric seeming blind army officer and then I could see his god-half inspired by his  Scarface (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Scarface&filters=ufn%3a%22Scarface%22+sid%3a%225dd3675c-ae42-5aa2-d5f5-52b29f606c67%22+catguid%3a%22c4cf0ed0-3e26-20cf-bb22-b288f81109d3_645a7530%22+segment%3a%22generic.carousel%22&FORM=SNAPST). I could imagine a new version of the armoured guardian rising from the pit his former bent old wizard self was thrown into. Now looking much younger, wearing a suit and wielding a large firearm. Only a god would bring a gun to a sword fight.

That was really meant to be......

I now have Al Pacino in mind, with thoughts of his constant befuddlement inspired by his performance as a eccentric seeming blind army officer in  Scent of a Woman (http://www.bing.com/search?q=scent+of+a+woman&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 19 February, 2015, 05:32:55 PM
Charlie boy - the Sentinels were non-metal specifically so Magneto couldn't do anything to them, so by putting the railway tracks into them, it allowed him to manipulate them however he liked. Everything after then is just "Magneto-powers", and can be handwaved away as such.

Re: Mystique being the focus of stuff, I think that's just Jennifer Lawrence being a much bigger star than Anna Paquin. Also, in the comics (sorry if I'm stating the obvious) the time-traveller was Kitty Pryde, but Hugh Jackman is a massive star and Ellen Page isn't (quite as much), so that's why he got the storyline.

Again, apologies if you all know this already and I misunderstood the question. Informing people on a 2000AD forum of the stories of famous comics is a bit like going on a movie buff forum and saying "hey, anyone seen Citizen Kane?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 February, 2015, 05:50:49 PM
Magneto pocketed the schematics for the Sentinels from the meeting just before he jumped out the window after Mystique, perhaps he used his often-referenced knowledge of advanced robotics to take control of them after that.

Unbroken - kind of boring.  If you want a brutality-porn movie about sadistic wardens, watch Sylvester Stallone's dumb-as-fuck Lock Up instead, which treats the genre with about as much intellectual gravitas as it needs, as Unbroken just goes nowhere and doesn't seem to have any kind of angle on the story it's telling.  There's an interesting angle about forgiveness that I would have thought would have been great to explore given how the film tries to bow out, but instead the running theme seems to be that its main character is a bit stubborn and the Japanese weren't very nice to their enemies during the war, so I suppose if you were happy enough with 12 Years A Slave taking two hours to tell you that contrary to what you might have presumed to be the case, slaves weren't treated very well, you might get something from this apart from the forty winks I wish I'd gotten instead of staying awake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 February, 2015, 10:47:05 AM
Also Ellen Page would have meant not doing it with the First Class cast, as Kitty Pryde wasn't even born at the time so sending her back into her body would be....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 February, 2015, 12:55:25 PM
It's a film about wizards*, so don't think too much about it.  The writers could just make something up to surmount plot obstacles, as is kind of their job description: like when they made Xavier not dead in the future, gave him magic walking juice in the past, and made Kitty Pryde a telepathic time-traveler and then hinged the entire plot of the film on all of these things without ever explaining them.




* It's got Gandalf in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 20 February, 2015, 03:08:56 PM
Bloodfist 7

Don "The Dragon" Wilson just keeps pounding them out. This one is sort of a ripoff of "The Fugitive", where Don gets caught up in a crooked cop-led car theft ring and blah blah blah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 February, 2015, 04:15:30 PM
I'm watching Critters and think it's one of those small known American sci-fi thrillers set in one of their small towns probably somewhere in the mid-west.

(http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608001094223399645&pid=1.7)

You should all know the story. About these porcupine like balls of fur from another world beyond our own who terrorize a town by eating most of their food and the people as well.

(http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2010/11/critters.jpg)

The two shape-shifting bounty-hunters who land their space ship somewhere nearby to hunt all of them down know them by the name Crite

(http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/critters2.jpg)

Don't bother watching anymore than the first two of these films, they do get kind silly after wards. The second, I have most interest in, but I let you all work that out for yourselves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 February, 2015, 04:18:05 PM
Are you insinuating Critters wasn't silly to begin with?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 22 February, 2015, 01:44:03 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 21 February, 2015, 04:18:05 PM
Are you insinuating Critters wasn't silly to begin with?

It's not if your into light science fiction that's doesn't take itself too seriously. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 22 February, 2015, 11:55:12 AM
Predestination. I thought it was very clever if a little too clever and consequently left me a little confused since I'm a dunce at logic.

Ethan Hawke is the time travelling agent attempting to prevent a maniac bomber killing thousands of innocent people. Posing as bartender in 1975 he strikes up a conversation with a man who has a very, very strange tale to tell one that involves a secret Government Organization, personal loss and gender identity.

It does make sort of sense in the end. Really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 22 February, 2015, 06:43:53 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 22 February, 2015, 11:55:12 AM
Predestination. I thought it was very clever if a little too clever and consequently left me a little confused since I'm a dunce at logic.

Ethan Hawke is the time travelling agent attempting to prevent a maniac bomber killing thousands of innocent people. Posing as bartender in 1975 he strikes up a conversation with a man who has a very, very strange tale to tell one that involves a secret Government Organization, personal loss and gender identity.

It does make sort of sense in the end. Really.
This film is great, I keep telling people to watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 February, 2015, 09:11:22 AM
Watch Snowpiercer on Netflix USA again last night, wow, that was very re-watchable!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 February, 2015, 09:22:49 AM
Still need to get around to Snowpiercer. Which is funny considering it looks just my cup of tea. It's based of a comic book isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 February, 2015, 01:24:07 PM
What an odd film Snowpiercer is. Yeah, it's based on a French comic, directed by a Korean, and stars American, English and Korean actors. The three main cultural influences come through quite strongly - US, Korean, French - but I don't know if they mesh particularly well. There are some very weird story beats and off-kilter pacing which I wouldn't bat an eyelid at in a Korean film; but because you spend the first act of the film with Chris Evans, John Hurt and Jamie Bell your brain is wrongfooted into expecting something typically Hollywood. I felt this same weird disconnect all the way through, waiting for it to work out what it wanted to be, but maybe that was just me.

It's certainly good fun, and very watchable - if utterly bonkers. Still got no idea what to make of Tilda Swinton's performance, though. Was it meant to be a comedy role, or what?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 February, 2015, 04:17:44 PM
I really hated Snowpiercer. Went in expecting a gritty sci fi parable, got a very, very weird art film. The influences never meshed for me either, and i found it really hard to get at all invested in the plight of the characters when the tone - and in-universe 'rules' - kept changing in such a crazy way. I could have accepted the implausible premise if it was presented well, but it just didn't work for me. Also thought that, like the majority of arty farty films, it skirted around some vaguely interesting themes without actually saying anything about them.

Biggest cinematic disappointment of last year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 February, 2015, 04:20:54 PM
I have to agree with radiator. I'd heard so much about it I was expecting something really great. In the end it was all just pointless. The only shining point for me was Tilda Swinton. Her absurdity was brilliant.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 February, 2015, 04:26:14 PM
Every single character seemed like they were in a different film from each other, especially Swinton who seemed to be in a panto and the tedious cigarette-smoking Korean guy who seemed to fit that very particular Asian idea of the 'cool' antihero.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 February, 2015, 05:19:21 PM
Herbie Fully Loaded.  It says something about my cynicism that I thought this was about some sort of Cheech and/or Chong-style weed-smoking drugs mule making a dash for the Mexican/American border in a banger full of narcotics instead of an entry in a series of slapstick kids' films about some sort of ghost car, but in my defence, the lead is played by Lindsey Lohan, so I feel justified in my mean-spirited assumptions.
Anyway, it's more like HERBIE FULL OF SHITE on account of it is not very good, although I don't think the film I thought it was would have been any better, not that we'll ever know unless Kevin Smith makes the next one.
Lohan has really big knockers, though, so if you like that kind of thing you might enjoy this more than I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 25 February, 2015, 09:04:52 AM
Still The Enemy Within

Won an award at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, but I hadn't got round to watching it til it came for a special showing in my little town. Absolutely brilliant, the wasteland of large parts of the country around me (and everywhere, really) show the extent that the Tories wanted to destroy organised workers. Congrats, you bastards! Great documentary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 February, 2015, 01:52:39 PM
QuoteHerbie Fully Loaded.  It says something about my cynicism that I thought this was about some sort of Cheech and/or Chong-style weed-smoking drugs mule making a dash for the Mexican/American border in a banger full of narcotics instead of an entry in a series of slapstick kids' films about some sort of ghost car, but in my defence, the lead is played by Lindsey Lohan, so I feel justified in my mean-spirited assumptions.
Anyway, it's more like HERBIE FULL OF SHITE on account of it is not very good, although I don't think the film I thought it was would have been any better, not that we'll ever know unless Kevin Smith makes the next one.
Lohan has really big knockers, though, so if you like that kind of thing you might enjoy this more than I did.

Thanks Bear, that sounds right up my street!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 25 February, 2015, 06:24:18 PM
A firm womanly busom being a prerequisite for a good movie, Bear. Z

I hope we can have your presence at the monthly discussion group meeting at the Europa on Saturday?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 February, 2015, 10:29:43 PM
Currently watching Tenebrae (1982) by Argento. First time viewing and it's the last movie in his pantheon I needed to complete. And half way in it's utterly superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 March, 2015, 07:52:07 AM
Jupiter Ascending, more like Jupiter Ass-ending!! amirite!!
Nah good bit of Sci-fi fun, some lovely design and probably the closest we're ever going to get to seeing some classical space opera on the screen, imagine a Banks Culture novel done with this sort of attention to detail.  Wachoski's rock, loved Cloud Atlas too.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2015, 10:26:37 AM
Saw a whole bunch of movies at Frightfest (missed the first two so can't comment), here are my short impressions -

Wyrmwood was an instant cult classic, full of mad ideas, a great sense of humour, and a quite frankly astonishing lead actress. Film of the fest for me, hilarious and badass Mad Max meets Evil Dead 2 riot of a movie.

88 had some reaĺly great moments but the action scenes didn't float my boat and I found the narrative gimmick grated a bit as it went on. Worked best in its dramatic moments.

The Asylum (or Exeter as it seems to be called online) had me on the backfoot due to a hackneyed premise (teens party in abandoned asylum, one gets possessed oh god not another fucking glossy exorcism movie etc.) but then surprised me by being a total riot with a really witty script, some great gore gags and a cracking sense of comic timing. Over - reliance on constant never ending jump scares and furious sound design meant that by the last chunk I was totally numbed to it and sort of just wanted it to stop though. That first hour was brilliant though!

Clown - Fun and surprisingly dark, like a modern day Grimm tale. Had Eli Roth involved in some capacity but he didn't seem to have written or directed it, which I've found is usually the best form of Eli Roth involvement.

Blood & Black Lace - Looked pretty, but I always find the traditional restored oldie slot of FF quite dull to be honest. The giallo thing doesn't seem to do anything for me either, just a stream of victims and no suspense. Missed half an hour in the middle and didn't mind.

The Woods Movie - I was obsessed with The Blair Witch Project when it came out, and have always thought it one of the most interesting film - making stories out there. Might be because I devoured every bit of info I could find at the time, but this doc didn't really have anything new to say about it. The stuff I hoped they would cover in detail (how the crew messed with the cast and what the alternative endings looked like) weren't featured at all. Oh well.

The Treatment - Oh man was this a dark and uncomfortable watch. Didn't feel particularly Frightfesty - not a horror film but a detective drama/thriller about the hunt for a serial child killer/rapist, so not exactly a barrel of laughs. Very good, very uncomfortable and occasionally feels like the detective's only deduction method is to escalate to shouting instantly and then get dragged away by colleagues.

[REC] Apocalypse - Saw the first film at my first FF knowing nothing about it and it completely blew my mind. Probably the most terrifying horror movie of the last decade for me reckon. Loved 2 as well and thought it continued the series brilliantly but then felt like Genesis was just sort of OK and a bit of a pointless side story that diverged too much from the panicky nerve shredding of the first two.

Anyway, I was really hoping this final film would be a return to the RECs of old, and for the most part it really is. Picks up after 2, is intense and action packed and will happily sit alongside 1&2 in that trilogy. One complaint - something I found incredible in the original was the clarity of the action, that despite it being found footage they managed to do the POV and shakeycam thing without sacrificing readability. Whenever things kick off in Apocalypse that skill for clarity of action just isn't apparent, the editing and camera work are so hyperactive that it's all a bit of a blur. It's a shame really. There's also one CG monkey shot that I didn't like and wish they'd gotten around.

That aside though I loved it, and at several points felt that particular blend of panic and terror that only [REC] seems to give me (the sound design on the infected is horribly intense). Also it's fantastic to see Manuela Velasco back and on a big screen. Too much swoon for words.

There Are Monsters - This wee low budget Body Snatchers riff came out of nowhere and creeped the bejeezus out of me. Such an unsettling premise and the scares really seemed to click with me, not ashamed to admit I was a little terrified at times. It's a weird approach to found footage where on one hand they go way overboard with the shakeycam, out of focus and image/audio glitchyness, then on the other hand they just abandon that conceit a load of times just to get shots from cameras that aren't present. That was a bit distracting, but not a deal breaker because I went home totally on edge and given how rarely a film actually scares me that's very well played.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 March, 2015, 10:30:41 AM
Gotta disagree with you on Blood and Black Lace, Keef. It's one of my fabourites and I have limitless love for the Giallo genre. Yes it's an acquired taste but the oft phenomenal visuals generated by Bava and Argento (adored Tenebrae the other night. A new favourite perhaps.) and genuinly queasy special effects in Bay of Blood, Suspiria, Phenomena, and Baron Blood amongst others make for some fun viewing.

Nice to hear Clowns getting a good rep, i'm quite intruiged by it myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2015, 10:55:13 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 02 March, 2015, 10:30:41 AM
Gotta disagree with you on Blood and Black Lace, Keef. It's one of my fabourites and I have limitless love for the Giallo genre. Yes it's an acquired taste but the oft phenomenal visuals generated by Bava and Argento (adored Tenebrae the other night. A new favourite perhaps.) and genuinly queasy special effects in Bay of Blood, Suspiria, Phenomena, and Baron Blood amongst others make for some fun viewing.

Nice to hear Clowns getting a good rep, i'm quite intruiged by it myself.

Yeah, with the Giallo thing I am really aware that it's down to taste. My comment here sounds overly flippant about it, they just don't seem to be my thing really! The film did look beautiful, and I loved Suspiria but I've not seen anything else that has matched that for me (I did really enjoy Amer, which seemed to be a real homage to the genre). Will seek out Tenebrae and give that a try.

I guess I just felt the set-up was overly familiar and because I didn't find the killer frightening and wasn't interested in any of the characters it just felt a bit flat and dull. It also possibly suffers a bit for being such an early example of that sort of thing, maybe because I've seen a ton of slasher movies that came since and were influenced by it, actually going back and seeing the early stuff for the first time now they can feel really cliched and derivative (even though the opposite is true), which is unfortunate. They suffer in front of a first time viewer for having been so influential I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 March, 2015, 11:16:25 AM
Yes, I get you, it's all horses for courses isn't it. Personly I find them to have more flavour and robustness to tem than the typical western slasher film. Giallo are more or less a sum of several different genres gelling together to different degrees. Horror, supernatural suspense, murder mystery, and glam. Susperia is the hight of the genre and mixess all four elements perfectly IMHO.

Indeed, in 90% of the films I have guessed who the murderer is off the bat, the only one's I haven't twigged on to are some of the more shitty, bargin bin titles like Sisters of Ursula, Torso, and Formula for a Murder. Should be noted that I still enjoy a lot of these titles for what they are.

Though if you didn't gel with Blood and Black Lace, Tenebrae won't have anything for you. I'd say check out Inferno or Phenomena instead. Bonkers, the pair of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 March, 2015, 11:28:29 AM
John Wick. After seeing The Raid redefine action cinema, I was curious to see what the next big thing after it would be. And here it is. With it's long tracking shots of the action and the music building as a fight scene progresses, the influence of The Raid is clear.
However this is its own beast. Brilliant and exhilarating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 March, 2015, 12:09:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 March, 2015, 11:28:29 AM
John Wick. After seeing The Raid redefine action cinema, I was curious to see what the next big thing after it would be. And here it is. With it's long tracking shots of the action and the music building as a fight scene progresses, the influence of The Raid is clear.
However this is its own beast. Brilliant and exhilarating.

Yep, cracking film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 02 March, 2015, 04:12:57 PM
Must have slipped under my radar when first released - last night I saw the 2013 movie Coherence. Can't say too much about it as it feels like a bit of an extended Twighlight Zone episode and any spoliers will ruin it but wow, great film.

The obligatory character introductions at the start along with some silly framing shots are worth wading through for a complete gem of a sci-fi movie that's full of tension, paranoia and WTF aplenty. A really clever and creepy movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 March, 2015, 07:00:27 PM
I availed myself of HMV's '3 for £20' offer yesterday, and bought a few Blu-ray's.
And watched a couple last night.
World War Z, which I haven't seen since watching it in the cinema. Not perfect, but still very watchable. And the extended cut, whilst offering nowt really spectacular, is good.

And No Country for all Men (packaged with True Grit as a double disc) is simply perfection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 02 March, 2015, 08:58:13 PM
Double bills of awesome Serenity and Predators on FilmFour in few mins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 04 March, 2015, 07:23:59 AM
That's Adequate! (1989)

Bruce Willis, Robert Downey Jr, Ben Stiller

Listed as 1986 in the credits, it reminds me of what I imagine "Movie 43" is like - a whole bunch of sketches with people who were asked to do favours for the producer, where a camera would turn up at the actual movie they were working on for 20 minutes and have them film a bit of something. This is a mockumentary about Adequate Films, and it's a combination of heavily re-edited public domain footage, sketches masquerading as clips from their many films and TV shows, and interviews with the people involved. Quite a lot of it's improvised as well.

It's a strange one, as you'd think with just those names involved, someone would have re-released it down the years, but it's on VHS and nothing else. If you can track it down, it's worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0icnaxzOnA (the Robert Downey Jr sketch, "Einstein On The Bounty")
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 March, 2015, 02:19:48 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 02 March, 2015, 04:12:57 PM
Must have slipped under my radar when first released - last night I saw the 2013 movie Coherence. Can't say too much about it as it feels like a bit of an extended Twighlight Zone episode and any spoliers will ruin it but wow, great film.

The obligatory character introductions at the start along with some silly framing shots are worth wading through for a complete gem of a sci-fi movie that's full of tension, paranoia and WTF aplenty. A really clever and creepy movie.

I believe it's only just come out really beyond its festival screenings in 2013
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 March, 2015, 11:57:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 March, 2015, 11:28:29 AM
John Wick. After seeing The Raid redefine action cinema, I was curious to see what the next big thing after it would be. And here it is. With it's long tracking shots of the action and the music building as a fight scene progresses, the influence of The Raid is clear.
However this is its own beast. Brilliant and exhilarating.
This reminded that I still hadn't got off my arse to see John Wick, so I sorted that out last night and it was a real joy. You mentioned the tension building lead ins to the action scenes. I particularly liked the way that that we spend long enough tracking round each location (particularly the first two: the house and the nightclub) that, when the hammer drops we already have a real sense of the environment and everything that follows makes perfect sense.

I'd mistakenly thought Reeves directed this. Not that important but putting this alongside Man of Tai Chi, it's clear that he has a penchant for asskicking Asian cinema and an understanding of what makes it work.

Here's to much more of this sort of thing. A few weeks ago, Keanu turned in a different sort of performance at the opening of a new Gauguin exhibition just down the road. Sadly it was sold out, but you can see him reading from Gauguin's malarial fever diaries on youTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj1YVgxm8bU). Needs more headshots and neckbreaks in my view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 05 March, 2015, 06:44:03 AM
Surf Nazis Must Die

I remember watching this in my early 20s and being hugely disappointed in it. My friends and I were all "why is a film with this title so dull?" But I decided to have another bash at it 15 or so years later, and it turns out me in my early 20s was a smart guy. What a boring film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 March, 2015, 07:54:04 AM
Not Troma's best out put by a long shot.  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 March, 2015, 12:44:39 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 March, 2015, 11:57:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 02 March, 2015, 11:28:29 AM
John Wick. After seeing The Raid redefine action cinema, I was curious to see what the next big thing after it would be. And here it is. With it's long tracking shots of the action and the music building as a fight scene progresses, the influence of The Raid is clear.
However this is its own beast. Brilliant and exhilarating.
This reminded that I still hadn't got off my arse to see John Wick, so I sorted that out last night and it was a real joy.

How come I have only just heard about this. Saw the trailer and the nightclub section last night and it looked absolutely spot on. Now off to try and track it down somewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 05 March, 2015, 12:46:43 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 March, 2015, 02:19:48 PM
I believe it's only just come out really beyond its festival screenings in 2013
Have you seen it? Have you seen it? Need someone else to confirm its complete awesomeness.

Also watched John Wick last night. Thumbs up on that too. Very cool movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 05 March, 2015, 12:52:11 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 March, 2015, 02:19:48 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 02 March, 2015, 04:12:57 PM
Must have slipped under my radar when first released - last night I saw the 2013 movie Coherence. Can't say too much about it as it feels like a bit of an extended Twighlight Zone episode and any spoliers will ruin it but wow, great film.

The obligatory character introductions at the start along with some silly framing shots are worth wading through for a complete gem of a sci-fi movie that's full of tension, paranoia and WTF aplenty. A really clever and creepy movie.

I believe it's only just come out really beyond its festival screenings in 2013

Watched this last night due to this thread and really enjoyed it. Cheers Ghastly!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 05 March, 2015, 12:55:40 PM
*High Fives*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 March, 2015, 03:42:28 PM
Gees...I was logged out and the lost humongus Seventh Son review I had spent the last tow hours one.

Ouch!

This makes me very sad :(

Perhaps tomorrow or later on today! (It's 1:45 AM right now!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 March, 2015, 03:53:14 PM
Ain't that a crying shame
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 March, 2015, 05:57:46 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 05 March, 2015, 06:44:03 AM"why is a film with this title so dull?"

While the shameless Lloyd Kaufman is to be commended for following through to completion on the daffy ideas for films he comes up with down the pub with his mates, that sadly doesn't change that Troma produce great concepts but dull movies.  I've rarely managed to watch one all the way though.

The Giver - more like the Shitter.  Some old-hat tropes for the year 2015 make it eminently passable to begin with, but being directed in a very straightforward manner robs it of the allegorical appeal that might have lent it some weight.  As it is, it's about a bloke who discovers his perfect community doesn't like feels, so he leaves it and this brings back the feels.  That synopsis actually makes it sound better than it is, so fair warning this is pretty rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 05 March, 2015, 07:48:27 PM
Werner Herzog's Stroszek: Absolutely mad but I loved every second of it!

The story is set in Berlin as we follow the life of Bruno Stroszek who has just been released from prison, and a down on her luck working girl, Eva. Both along with an older gentleman decide to leave Germany for a better life in America, namely Wisconsin  (the place where Ed Gein once resided). Of course, once they get there, things don't go according to plan.

The real star of the show is of course the late Bruno S, his presence is so powerful. From his mannerisms and hypnotic stare. He was a non actor and Herzog's choice was spot on. Apparently prior to every shoot, he would spend more than an hour convincing Bruno that he would be okay in front of the camera (Bruno had a tough upbringing and suffered with mental issues). Even Herzog's direction is unconventional, but it makes the experience all the more intriguing. There were moments in America he would have to dodge the police because he didn't have the permit to shoot in certain places. It was almost like guerilla film making. That's why Herzog is such a distinct and powerful voice in world cinema, for his subject matter, and his mad cap, almost extreme film making techniques.


The last lines just perfectly sums up the film: "We have a 10-80 out here, a truck on fire, we have a man on the lift. We are unable to find the switch to turn the lift off, can't stop the dancing chickens. Send an electrician"

Ah, the dancing chicken..

Next up: The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (again starring Bruno S in the main role).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 March, 2015, 11:57:14 PM
Scapping huge ass review of Seventh Son I had been writing  out yesterday!

Just a few thoughts about this one.

Is a sign the fantasy film genre really dying.

To convince myself other is, it may need a second viewing, but right now I'm sure it's the other use of special effects and John Gregory's (Jeff Bridges (Plenty of great films under his belt and plenty of styff he was much better in!)  silly voice that escaped my notice of in the trailers for this film.

Respectably, He sounded like he was chewing on something.

Prince Caspian is the younger hero!

All the villians are witches that can transform into mini-dragons. (I was thinking of the  Prestige Class War-Witchs from the Official Mongoose Published Slaine RPG (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10066.phtml). *They change in El type creature by virtue of always dealing with them, you know!)  So this film is a childish fantasy with a touch of  World of Darkness's - Mokole (http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Mokol%C3%A9) seen from the perspective of  Munckin (http://www.bing.com/search?q=munckin+game&qs=n&form=QBRE&pq=munckin+game&sc=6-7&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=f21fe97896304ae5a656257acaa3c638)

I just thought that when John mutters -words to the effect- That was a sixth level Spook/Ghast/Boggart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Wardstone_Chronicles_characters#The_Malkin_Clan) momentarily breaking the fourth wall for all Dungeons & Dragons fans.

At least, the special effects and faux-realism of this tale is improvement of the original  D&D (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Dungeons+%26+Dragons+movie+2000&FORM=HDRSC1) film.


The orc!

(http://mikemonaco.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/35ehalford.jpg)

Best character ever and straight out of imagination of most geeks like me who played that game I mentioned above.

Jason Scott Lee (Island of Dr Moreu, Mortal Combat)  as the Were-Bear

Julianne More (Both her and Jeff were in Big Lebowski together! Coincidence....is this like the warp variant of the sequel!) 

Really wanted to like this film, but not sure if it's worth the trilogy or quartet that was written for it.

Maybe, it's a warning to other film makers who repeatably always fall on this genre without wings or parachute.

The very last thing that happens in the film, flick the hood of his robes back over his head before the ending credits roll was very cringe worthy.

Kids might enjoy this film more and especially if read the  novel series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wardstone_Chronicles) . Even if this film appears to largely differ from them.

BTW A large family of male and female Harry Potter look alikes sat to my left while Thor himself sat to my right. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 06 March, 2015, 09:56:12 AM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear (bear) on 05 March, 2015, 05:57:46 PM
While the shameless Lloyd Kaufman is to be commended for following through to completion on the daffy ideas for films he comes up with down the pub with his mates, that sadly doesn't change that Troma produce great concepts but dull movies.  I've rarely managed to watch one all the way though.
At least in this case the title was accurate - it did contain surf nazis, and I did want them to die. "Rabid Grannies", on the other hand, where the titular characters are neither rabid nor grannies, is a bit more disappointing.

Rock and Roll Space Patrol
Filmed near where Mrs Mortimer lived for many years, basically a clever home movie. Screw you Troma!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 March, 2015, 10:32:32 AM
Pretty sure I still have an old VHS copy of Surf Nazis Must Die somewhere. It was pretty disappointing, but I did like the Samurai Surfers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 06 March, 2015, 11:15:16 AM
If you think that Troma titles misleading then never watch A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell.

No seriously NEVER do that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 06 March, 2015, 11:16:25 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 06 March, 2015, 10:32:32 AM
Pretty sure I still have an old VHS copy of Surf Nazis Must Die somewhere. It was pretty disappointing, but I did like the Samurai Surfers.

Oh yeah I think Netflix USA got it, but not see it yet! Or would to!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 March, 2015, 11:46:34 AM
Have always found Troma movies really hard going, have always loved bad movies and low budget trash for a bit of fun, but Troma stuff has always felt a real chore to get through. They're bad movies for sure, but they're not generally very fun unfortunately.

Tromeo & Juliette was probably the best thing they ever put out, me and my mates used to watch that pretty often.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 March, 2015, 12:42:43 PM
Toxic Avenger is great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 March, 2015, 12:48:47 PM
The holy trinity of "good" Troma movies for me are the aformentioned Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet, and Class of Nuke 'em High. Utterly delirious movies but still retain an enjoyment factor despite their down sides.

Combat Shock is also a remarkable good movie. Not even in a snarky way. It's a genuinly well acted and thought out grim fest and utterly depressing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 March, 2015, 12:53:04 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 06 March, 2015, 11:15:16 AM
If you think that Troma titles misleading then never watch A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell.

No seriously NEVER do that.

I watched that and was very disappointed - especially as someone had recorded half an hour of golf over it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 06 March, 2015, 03:56:04 PM
The Troma movies they make themselves are usually at least alright, and go nicely OTT - Tromeo and Juliet, Toxic Avenger, Sgt Kabukiman NYPD, Terror Firmer, Nuke Em High...it's just all the other ones. I also kind of enjoyed "Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death", although it's been a lot of years since I saw it.

I was going to watch the Nymphoid Barbarian movie, and "Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama" soon, too, but now I might not bother. It's a lot of work, and I really want to like Troma too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 March, 2015, 04:53:45 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 06 March, 2015, 03:56:04 PMI also kind of enjoyed Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death, although it's been a lot of years since I saw it.
I remember that one being quite fun but my idiotic flatmates wouldn't let me rent The Invincible Pole Fighters the following week and used that as the reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 March, 2015, 07:23:11 PM
THIS IS 40

Some great gags, a really likeable cast put a good spin on some unlikeable characters (Albert Brooks is brilliant) and an inspired turn by Melissa McCarthy (which is even funnier when shown in full in the end credits) but this was way too close for comfort!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 06 March, 2015, 10:18:41 PM
The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=912sLzdUs8c

Talking of weird movie titles, this is from the same guy who made "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies". This was made 10 years or so after that one, and he surprisingly seems to have gotten worse at writing and directing in the meantime. It's perhaps the most authentically sleazy film I've ever seen, though. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if you told me they really murdered hookers and bums to make this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 March, 2015, 01:20:54 AM
RED .... I'm surprised that there was a film out there starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, John Malkovich, and oh, did I mention, KARL frickin; URBAN that I'd never actually heard of, but apparently so.

It's not the finest hour of anyone concerned, but they all know their stuff so it was an enjoyably silly super-spy romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 07 March, 2015, 01:40:24 AM
I flamin' LOVE Red. It's great, nutty, don't-think-too-hard-about-it fun.

And it has Mary Louise Parker in it. 'Nuff sed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 07 March, 2015, 02:05:28 AM
Hm. My Cal Hab boarders raved about Red last year. Blimey I hate films (they're mostly shit, right?) but guess I will watch this one, as it's on the hard drive.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 March, 2015, 03:21:28 AM
I watched Tusk last night.....
[spoiler]
It's disturbing tale, about some young guy who visit this reclusive man for a exclusive. So, I recall, but I was still playing Elite Dangerous right up to the point where the young guy comes to bound in wheelchair and discovers one of legs have been severed off completely and the wound had been sown closed neatly and only managed to watch the rest of the film properly from that point onwards.

Get this!!!!!

The reclusive man mutilated him, so he could sow him into this walrus suit made with real walrus tusks attached. I think the suit itself was either made from a real walrus or human skin.

Kind of reminds me what happened to Ukko when Slaine found him stitched into the skin of a donkey (Backwards!) and managed to salvage the dwarf.

However, this young man seemed to be permanently fused to the suit. Even his face was part of it....and had had something put in this throat to alter his voice to sound more like animal. Even the his hands were irraversable flippers.

Seriously horrific modifications, but this film is really a grisly satire made by Kev Smith famous for all those Clerks films about Jay And Silent Bob.

The near ending is reminiscent of the confrontation of Slaine and Feg when he kills him in the Horned God

[/spoiler]

I often think I was the Knucker sown into the body of average man.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 March, 2015, 05:35:06 AM
I almost forgot to say....

I purchased this film again, because it did seem interesting enough to watch entirely, but have still been dozing off again and missed most of it........

Did I mention that  Tusk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umjYHLt56kg) is played towards the end of the film.

It's a well known Fleetwood Mac song.

Their anthem!

The Slaine story I mentioned is Amber Smuggler from The Wanderer graphic novel.

With Justin Long (Whom I find to be very annoying, but not deserving of his fate in this film!!)

Michael Parks as the deranged recluse. (I keep using that word, because he kept referring to Brown Recluse!)

Génesis Rodríguez whom I swore was Megan Fox. Gorgeous  :P

Haley Jo-Osmith who seems to be a much larger Caricature of himself or large person wearing a H.J.O. suit!

Johnny Depp who seemed hardly recognisable in with my former haircut and moustache.

Me

(http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/pp64/CLICKYMAN/CLICKYMAN063/DSC00901_zpsd5b36b93.jpg)

Him

(http://www.argia.eus/blogak/santi-leone/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/10385496_340961992744117_8169454162907773732_n.jpg)

As I like to blame the authorities for letting these freaks exist and go on hurting the innocent and not so innocent.[spoiler] I think of Johnny Depp's character as the villain who gets by virtue of doing so....well you know what they say when evil happens when people who can do. End up doing nothing, but he does do something towards the end that totally confuses me when I see the very last scene. As for the Gabriel/Megan Fox look alike[/spoiler][spoiler] (They should really fight each other to the death to see who can be the actual Megan Fox!) and Haley J.O.. They both took their time coming to his rescue or was it for the girl. She was with Justin and now seems to be with Haley!

[/spoiler]

(http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.607999719855622293&pid=1.7)

Warning...do not ever mention Bi-Frost or  Degrassi (http://www.bing.com/search?q=degrassi+high&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nF84V7ysE4) (That's strange I thought  Degrassi High (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47MnDnLpFQ) was a British show or is that a mess around!) to them or prepare to be teased mercilessly.

Damn, no chance to see the film again without paying for it. While have to retire to the couch for some rest and thought of my superior prettiness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 07 March, 2015, 10:08:22 AM
RED is a fun film. So is RED 2.
The comic it's taken from is nowt like it though, which was a disappointment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 March, 2015, 10:21:48 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 07 March, 2015, 10:08:22 AM
RED is a fun film. So is RED 2.
The comic it's taken from is nowt like it though, which was a disappointment.

Helen Mirren is spectacularly good in them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 March, 2015, 10:44:13 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 07 March, 2015, 10:21:48 AM
Helen Mirren is spectacularly good in them.

FTFY.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 March, 2015, 07:58:10 PM
A rather boring Saturday night in and I was faced with the choice of watching the Grud-awful AVP:R, or nowt. When another channel offered up salvation in the form of Sam Peckinpah's rather superb Cross of Iron.

A bit of a fave, this one, and not seen in a good while. Note to self; Must track down the Blu-Ray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 March, 2015, 08:47:00 AM
FOCUS
Will Smith (soon to be Deadshot) and Margot Robbie (soon to be Harley Quinn) look as ravishing as the locations and the clothes in a slick stylish hustle movie. It distills everything you've seen in previous hustle movies into a smooth and glamorous "mentor takes on protege" set up and ends with a fantastically tense climax at the New Orleans Superbowl (or big game as they refer to it).

Except it doesn't. It goes on for about another three hours after that with some big con nonsense about racing car fuel formulas and ends up in a pile of mushy nonsense where people say things like "Your turned into a good kid, there's not a bad bone in your body" to somebody who has spent his life robbing and stealing (and not so they can give to the poor).

But my goodness, it looks as gorgeous as Skyfall throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 March, 2015, 07:07:51 PM
After listening to extracts of the OST last night, I sat down and watched Romero's Dawn of the Dead for the umpteenth-Billion time while working on some kit for the weekend. Still probably the best zombie film and my personal favorite, only contested by Fulci's ludicrously named Zombie Flesh Eaters, which in itself is a kind of sequel to Dawn.

I've always highly praised how Romero seamlessly linked three movies in the same cinematic universe, using different characters to establish different points and perspective in the zombie out break. Dawn I think show's the area that is so often over looked, the total confusion and raw human emotion at the sudden turn of events, some taking it at a leisurely pace, using the walking dead as easy hunting game, while others (the media, extremists groups et al) run themselves into a frenzy of paranoia and only catalyze the eventual down fall of humanity.

I really want to upgrade my crappy DVD though, Lionsgate seem to own the rights to a HD release ATM, but no news of a new release.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 11 March, 2015, 09:33:36 PM
Aye, you cant go wrong with Dawn of the Dead. A stone cold classic.


Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 March, 2015, 07:07:51 PM
I really want to upgrade my crappy DVD though, Lionsgate seem to own the rights to a HD release ATM, but no news of a new release.

Didn't Arrow release a pretty good Blu-ray/DVD combo a few years ago? Mind you, its OOP now, and pricey, to boot
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 March, 2015, 09:43:19 PM
Indeed, as with all Arrows no defunct "White case editions" it was chocka. However it was already long OOP before I ever got around to considering buying it. Arrow lost the rights some years ago I believe, but I know for a fact Lionsgate now own the HD transfers. Maybe they're looking to sub contract it back out to another label? Hell, just give it back to Arrow so they can re-release it in one of their new formats if your not going to do anything with it. It's the only Living Dead movie that's not currently widely available.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2015, 09:51:56 PM
I prefer the remake of Dawn, which I found really scary. It gave me nightmares for weeks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2015, 09:34:42 AM
Really? Though an adequate movie it doesn't hold a candle to the original IMHO. And it certainly wasn't that scary despite some well executed jump scares.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 March, 2015, 12:08:48 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2015, 09:51:56 PM
I prefer the remake of Dawn, which I found really scary. It gave me nightmares for weeks.

To think I used to respect you, I used to like your posts. I feel betrayed, you've made me feel so dirty and used...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 12 March, 2015, 12:28:06 PM
The opening scene of the remake was terrifying. Everyone likes to see how the Zombie Apocalypse kick off and they did it really well. But yes, the rest of the movie wasn't scary other than loud noises at tense moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 12:33:36 PM
I like 'em both for different reasons.  The opening 5 minutes of the remake sort of hoists it by it's own petard though. Nothing after that has anywhere near as much impact.

Anyhoo...

I had a bit of time on my hands and after a hard week at work, I reached for comfort movies in the shape of James Bond.

I picked TOMORROW NEVER DIES and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH.  You may think me foolish but despite a multitude of flaws, both have some good stuff on offer.

The Bond bits they get right:

The bits they get wrong:
Extra points go to TND for having a Julian Rhynd Tutt and Gerard Butler as sailors.

But I think I preferred TWINE; Jonathan Pryce just ruins TND (and for some reason, it also looks really cheap).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 12 March, 2015, 12:41:24 PM
Yeah, Jonathan Pryce is a great actor but not really suited to bond villain.  For me, Goldeneye is the best of the Brosnan Bonds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 12 March, 2015, 12:46:43 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 12 March, 2015, 12:41:24 PM
For me, Goldeneye is the best of the Brosnan Bonds.

(http://i.imgur.com/NqPU40z.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 12 March, 2015, 01:00:53 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 12 March, 2015, 12:41:24 PM
For me, Goldeneye is the best of the Brosnan Bonds.

I'm with you Recrewt, I though Brosnan was brilliant in his debut.

Plus, the main villain was a cigar-chomping necrophiliac who just happened to be drop dead gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 01:27:01 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 12 March, 2015, 01:00:53 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 12 March, 2015, 12:41:24 PM
For me, Goldeneye is the best of the Brosnan Bonds.

I'm with you Recrewt, I though Brosnan was brilliant in his debut.

Plus, the main villain was a cigar-chomping necrophiliac who just happened to be drop dead gorgeous.

Yep - all of the above. The only thing that lets it down is a plot that doesn't hold up to more than about a second of scruitiny and  the score.  I like a bit of Eric Sera (loved Subway soundtrack) but ina James Bond movie, I like to hear the James Bond theme a bit more often!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 12 March, 2015, 04:30:21 PM
Nightcrawler
Really good, shades of Taxi Driver & American Psycho
Never really rated Jake Gylennhal as a leading man/action hero type in the past, I think he pulls off creepy weirdo superbly in this

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 March, 2015, 04:36:09 PM
GoldenEye is the best Brosnan Bond movie by a country mile. The other ones he did were dreadful.

I caught a bit of it on TV recently though, and the soundtrack is alarmingly dated. It sounds like temp track someone ripped off a stock music CD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 March, 2015, 07:32:33 PM
Yeah surely there can't be any doubt that Goldeneye is the best of the Brozzas by, as has been said, a country mile. This run on Bond seemed to prove the law of demising returns but Goldeneye I will hold up against the best of Bond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 March, 2015, 07:51:50 PM
Had a re-watch of Breaking Glass last night.
Very badly dated now, but the first half is still pretty good, and a good snapshot of the times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 March, 2015, 08:09:41 PM
Whatever the one with Sophie Marceau was, that's the best one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 12 March, 2015, 08:18:42 PM
Mission: Killfast

It's really really good. And strange. And the title is awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 12 March, 2015, 08:27:45 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 March, 2015, 08:09:41 PM
Whatever the one with Sophie Marceau was, that's the best one.

The World is Not Enough - Brosnan's third Bond movie and my second favourite of his.  Not a bad movie at all but I just can't get over the disappointment of Robert Carlyle.  Perhaps its me but in the run up there was all this press about him being a proper badass who can't even feel pain.  Given that this was also the same guy out of Cracker and Trainspotting, I was not expecting the snivelling puppet that he turned out to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2015, 09:02:12 PM
Yeah, feck it, i'm gonna watch Zombie Flesh Eaters again for the perfect zombie double bill. Though it lacks any of the style of Romero's Dawn of the Dead, it's an utterly ludicrous display on how to make a movie on a shoe string budget and make it look GOOD. The production values on this movie never ceases to amaze me and the whole thing has such a unique vibe to it. I love it!

And unlike Dawn, I own the BD of ZFE and it's a superb little package.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 09:44:35 PM
I has seen Goldeneye recently which is the only reason I didn't go for that. Rosamund Pike is the only good thing about Die Another Day.

G > TWINE > TMD > DAD

006 > TWINE BADDIE > GRAVES > CARVER

Famke > Rosamund > Yeoh > Richards

Bungie Jump/Facility/Plane > Bilbao/Jetboat > Hovercraft > Arms bazaar nuke

Crow > KD Lang > Manson > Madonna > Turner

Soviet Imagery falling  > Scorpions and torture > Oily Women > techno women



I might work through the Connery's next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 March, 2015, 10:10:59 PM
QuoteMadonna > Turner

No way, man. Madonna's Die Another Day is the worst Bond theme ever ever ever.

In every other respect you are correct, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 10:13:19 PM
I loathe Tina Turner. My bias does not allow me to be objective.

And Quantum of Solace by Keys and White is really the worst.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 March, 2015, 10:22:58 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 10:13:19 PM
And Quantum of Solace by Keys and White is really the worst.

Certainly not a patch on Adam and Joe's contender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CoNUE5Zho).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2015, 11:28:37 PM
They have bags full of solace
But I don't want 'em
I just want a quantum
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 13 March, 2015, 08:15:29 AM
Endangered Species

My main man John Rhys-Davies in full bantering-cop mode, Eric Roberts being Eric Roberts, and aliens treating Earth like a game preserve. Tons of fun, in other words.

The thing I took away from this, though, is how hard some movies try to make their Eastern European filming locations look like the USA. "Endangered Species" is not one of those movies. It felt like a cheap computer game, that couldn't afford to program road signs or anything other than the outlines of streets and buildings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 13 March, 2015, 10:33:37 PM
Just watched best of the best. It hasn't become a good film in the years since it was made, but there's something about it I like. The best thing is that with a bit of cheating I can add best of the best 2 to my list of"sequals where the hero from the first film is killed off in the second one' it's cheating because Chris Penn isn't the lead character in botb2 but I've been waiting years to add a fil to iron eagle 2 and maniac cop 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 March, 2015, 12:50:40 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 13 March, 2015, 10:33:37 PM
Just watched best of the best. It hasn't become a good film in the years since it was made, but there's something about it I like. The best thing is that with a bit of cheating I can add best of the best 2 to my list of"sequals where the hero from the first film is killed off in the second one' it's cheating because Chris Penn isn't the lead character in botb2 but I've been waiting years to add a fil to iron eagle 2 and maniac cop 2.
Road a House 2
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 March, 2015, 01:56:31 PM
Is that the Italian version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 March, 2015, 02:51:04 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 13 March, 2015, 10:33:37 PM
Just watched best of the best. It hasn't become a good film in the years since it was made, but there's something about it I like. The best thing is that with a bit of cheating I can add best of the best 2 to my list of"sequals where the hero from the first film is killed off in the second one' it's cheating because Chris Penn isn't the lead character in botb2 but I've been waiting years to add a fil to iron eagle 2 and maniac cop 2.

Iron Eagle 2 doesn't really count as the character comes back in Iron Eagle 4, but Beneath the Planet of the Apes is probably the best example.  Off the top of me head there's also Friday the 13th part 2, GI Joe 2 (Retaliation), Kickboxer 2, Maniac Cop 2, XXX 2 (State of the Union), Ewoks: The Battle For Endor, Omen 2, and the classic Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 March, 2015, 08:57:42 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 12 March, 2015, 12:08:48 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2015, 09:51:56 PM
I prefer the remake of Dawn, which I found really scary. It gave me nightmares for weeks.

To think I used to respect you, I used to like your posts. I feel betrayed, you've made me feel so dirty and used...

To be clear, I find any zombie film terrifying. I was unsettled by Star Trek: First Contact.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 15 March, 2015, 09:22:46 AM
Coherence (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2866360/?ref_=rvi_tt) - Some good ideas but a bit wordy with not much in the way of characterisation. Looks like it was made for forty bucks.

Across 110th Street (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068168/?ref_=rvi_tt) - 70's robbery pic with a miscast Anthony Quinn in the lead. Some great bloody scenes and some of the best pimp wear you'll ever see.

url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183921/?ref_=rvi_tt]The Vicious Kind[/url] - I like Adam Scott but this 'people with issues' borefest should be avoided.

The Gambler (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2039393/?ref_=rvi_tt)
Remake of the superior James Caan original - Marky Mark should stick to selling pants.


The Imitation Game (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970/?ref_=rvi_tt) Disappointed in the code breaking drama. Overacted and simplistic to the point of ridiculousness - 'what if we try this...ping! - the war is won!'

The Rewrite (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2509850/?ref_=rvi_tt) 'The Real Shite' would be a more apt title. Hugh Grant does it again as a jaded screen writer who finds love when he starts a class for aspiring writers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 March, 2015, 09:32:14 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 15 March, 2015, 09:22:46 AM
The Imitation Game (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970/?ref_=rvi_tt) Disappointed in the code breaking drama. Overacted and simplistic to the point of ridiculousness - 'what if we try this...ping! - the war is won!'
You've never done anything in the name of science, have you? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 March, 2015, 04:31:15 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 March, 2015, 08:57:42 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 12 March, 2015, 12:08:48 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2015, 09:51:56 PM
I prefer the remake of Dawn, which I found really scary. It gave me nightmares for weeks.

To think I used to respect you, I used to like your posts. I feel betrayed, you've made me feel so dirty and used...

To be clear, I find any zombie film terrifying. I was unsettled by Star Trek: First Contact.

Its too late, there's nothing you can say to redeem this. You and my giant friend Phil who I used to share many a drunken conversation about zombie films - dead to me, both of you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 March, 2015, 12:47:44 AM
Burke and Hare

Manages to be dark, gruesome and light-hearted all in one.

Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 March, 2015, 02:55:17 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 February, 2015, 10:34:16 PM

Interesting to see 3 R-rated films occupy top spots at the US box-office: 1,2 & 4.


http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2015&wknd=07&p=.htm


And Kingsman approaches $300 million. R rated comic films can make money too - even with fuck-all promotion.





http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=secretservice.htm
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 16 March, 2015, 04:22:46 AM
Who knew the one thing that could have helped Dredd was having Mark Millar involved...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 March, 2015, 07:48:00 AM
I think a large part of it has to do with Gazelle. People seem to really like the idea of a disabled women (of Eastern Asian decent) whose disability is simultaneously never brought up by the other characters and who is in a position of power due to how she utilizes it.

People like strong female characters in an age when most are cut and past archetypes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 March, 2015, 07:54:25 AM
I watched Cloverfield again the other night.  The characters in it still annoy the hell outta me (no sympathy for any of them), but once you're past the party at the start and the mayhem begins it's a decent monster movie. 

There are some great moments, such as the tail on the bridge, the army strolling on past trying to blow the crap out of it, and the whole 'I don't feel good', 'she's been bitten!', 'KerSPLATT' scene.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 March, 2015, 07:56:39 AM
Oh, and I watched Robot and Frank on Netflix too, about an old cat burglar slowly losing his mind (presumably to dementia) who uses a robot carer to pull off one last job. That was surprisingly good, and very touching.  I did not see the end coming at all. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2015, 09:00:53 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 16 March, 2015, 07:56:39 AM
Oh, and I watched Robot and Frank on Netflix too, about an old cat burglar slowly losing his mind (presumably to dementia) who uses a robot carer to pull off one last job. That was surprisingly good, and very touching.  I did not see the end coming at all.
Agreed - really liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 March, 2015, 05:58:29 PM
Watched Snowpiercer at the weekend after hearing great things. It's got some really striking sequences visually I thought, but something never really clicked with me. Think it was the unsure tone, it didn't seem to ever settle in a way that I could sink into it (if that makes any sense).

Still enjoyed it, and it's an interesting idea (although thinking about it in any depth afterwards there's a whole ton of things that don't make sense about the set-up, but hey, it's a metaphor!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 17 March, 2015, 12:20:41 PM
V/H/S.

I enjoyed it. It's basically a few short films linked by a central theme.

A group of Guys brake into a house to steal a Videotape. As well as tapes, they find a dead man sat in front of a load of TV's. While searching the house one of the guys starts watching various tapes in an effort to find the one they are looking for. Each tape represents a different short film, most of which are very good.

Worth a watch.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 17 March, 2015, 12:21:49 PM
Gone Girl. A massive pile of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 17 March, 2015, 07:16:09 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 17 March, 2015, 12:21:49 PM
Gone Girl. A massive pile of shit.

You, sir, are wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: moly on 17 March, 2015, 08:29:15 PM
Exodus so slooooow gave up after 40 minutes
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 19 March, 2015, 03:21:03 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 17 March, 2015, 12:20:41 PM
V/H/S.

I enjoyed it. It's basically a few short films linked by a central theme.

A group of Guys brake into a house to steal a Videotape. As well as tapes, they find a dead man sat in front of a load of TV's. While searching the house one of the guys starts watching various tapes in an effort to find the one they are looking for. Each tape represents a different short film, most of which are very good.

Worth a watch.

Cheers

Yeah, its great- in particular "I Like You".
The sequel takes a slight dip in quality, and I have yet to watch 2014's 'Viral'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 March, 2015, 03:51:35 PM
Weird, I actually found VHS 2 much better than the first, by quite a margin! Haven't seen the 3rd one yet though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 March, 2015, 03:55:57 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 19 March, 2015, 03:51:35 PM
Weird, I actually found VHS 2 much better than the first, by quite a margin! Haven't seen the 3rd one yet though.

Me too, and VHS Viral just out on Netflix USA now :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 March, 2015, 04:21:19 PM
Good to know! My default Netflix is US so will need to jump on that. Babadook is coming next month too which is good news as I missed that in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 March, 2015, 08:19:21 PM
As Above, So Below.

So below par.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 20 March, 2015, 08:14:58 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 13 March, 2015, 10:33:37 PM
Just watched best of the best. It hasn't become a good film in the years since it was made, but there's something about it I like. The best thing is that with a bit of cheating I can add best of the best 2 to my list of"sequals where the hero from the first film is killed off in the second one' it's cheating because Chris Penn isn't the lead character in botb2 but I've been waiting years to add a fil to iron eagle 2 and maniac cop 2.
Halloween 5, 6, and "Resurrection" all feature the death of the star of the previous movie within the first 15 minutes or so of the beginning of the new one. I think, I might have got one of those numbers wrong. And "Best Of The Best" is amazing, even if the sequels are the Philip Rhee show (he can't act worth shit).

Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama
After some bad Troma experiences with misleading titles, this at least has sorority babes, a bowl-o-rama and some slimeballs. What it doesn't have is anything worth watching. Unless you love 80s boobs; given that the director is (I think) gay, he was perhaps trying to hide it at the time. Or he really loved long shower scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2015, 08:42:29 AM
Rollerball (1957, dir. Norman Jewison) was watched for the first time last night on the new BD. Honestly i'm surprised it's taken me so long to see this, seeing as how it was even referenced as an influence of 2000AD (and it shows, very reminiscent of the later Harlem Heroes just with less jet packs) but in general it was just another sci-fi sports movie with a fair dollops of violence and bright red blood. I really enjoyed it though, and the Clock Work Orange style cinematography works a treat, but if the movie thinks it's anything artsy fartsy it really isn't, pretty much anyone watching it is only in it for the violence, which I well shot so I don't feel cheated really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 March, 2015, 11:04:50 AM
V/H/S Viral as it debut on Netflix USA last night, it is 3rd film of V/H/S, both are brilliant anthology horror. 3rd film, I thought it was good, not great, but 2nd story with about a man with his machine was soooo creepy! Never forgot that WTF moment!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 March, 2015, 08:22:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 March, 2015, 08:42:29 AM
Rollerball (1957, dir. Norman Jewison)...if the movie thinks it's anything artsy fartsy it really isn't, pretty much anyone watching it is only in it for the violence, which I well shot so I don't feel cheated really.

If it was a only film with/about violence I wouldn't be half as interested in it as I am 40 years later - the lack of any substance (or tree shooting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhwdkvfxlCY)) is probably one of the main reasons why the ersatz remake ended up being an utter waste of rollerskates.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 March, 2015, 09:52:44 PM
The Voices - mad as hell but good fun. Possibly a bit uneven but you could argue that's all down to the main man being a psycho. Best finale since 'This is the End'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 March, 2015, 10:16:47 PM
The Equalizer

Much as I generally despise remakes, most particularly those that change the gender/nationality/race/point of the main characters, but this one....well, this one works quite well. Ol' Denzel is generally good in anything, so that's a no brainer.  What I really liked though, was the OCD element they brought to the character of Robert McCall....it was like Sheldon Cooper crossed with the A-Team and McGuyver, all rolled up into one guy.  The ending is daft as fuck, and does detract a wee bit from how well it had played out to that point, but overall, a well worthwhile watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 March, 2015, 10:53:30 PM
Hercules (2014): The Dwayne Johnson One.

I know I should have avoided it because of poor Steve Moore (among other reasons), but amazingly this wasn't half bad. Yet another Magnificent Seven remake with a painfully obvious 'twist', numerous missed opportunities for the baddies to kill the goodies, and the last 10 minutes didn't work at all, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it.  The heavily oiled Rock has a definite daft charm, the central conceit of is-he-or-isn't-he was rather fun instead of annoying as I'd imagined it would be, and his band of misfits was entertainingly silly. I do wish it had pitched its gore/violence at the same childish level as everything else, because it would make a perfectly good kids' movie with just a bit less blood. Pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 March, 2015, 12:36:36 AM
Gullivar's Travels

The 2010 version with Jack Black and quite a few other recognisable faces from British and Irish comedy.

Rather silly and very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 March, 2015, 09:20:13 AM
Another watch of [REC]4: Apocalypse last night with Mrs Monkey. Really like this one, is holding up great for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 March, 2015, 09:22:06 AM
Collateral Damage As close to a Simpsons 'McBain' as you could wish - 'Mendoozzzaaa' - family exploded and Arnie seeks revenge on the Colombians responsible. Rubbish but not too demanding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 March, 2015, 09:41:10 AM
Did you know you can watch all of MCBAIN on Youtube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyANa71gvU
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 March, 2015, 09:51:24 AM
Yeah, that's brilliant - from the days when The Simpsons was the best thing on TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 March, 2015, 10:01:08 AM
Guess i'm on a zombie high right now as I got a craving to watch the ludicrous City of the Living Dead today.
I've been working all weekend so i'll take today off to clean the house and watch this in the background. Teleporting zombies?! Where do these crazy Italians get their ideas....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 March, 2015, 02:50:02 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 March, 2015, 09:41:10 AM
Did you know you can watch all of MCBAIN on Youtube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyANa71gvU

There's a link on that page to a Christopher Walken movie called McBain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrCHgfr4FM) that's just as stupid as the Simpsons version.

The Colony.  A snowmageddon film about some cannibals that come looking for dinner in a post-icepocalypse world and find an underground shelter where Bill Paxton seems to be trying to solve a food shortage by seeing if the population can survive on a diet of bullets. That description makes it sound like it might be eventful, but it's just some stuff that happens and is very reminiscent of John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, which wouldn't really be a problem as I quite like Ghosts of Mars, only The Colony doesn't have the balls to replicate GoM's sleaze or casual sadism, replacing that with a really terrible sub-plot about a young couple who look like they just stepped out of a hipster clothing catalogue.  Every time they kiss I couldn't stop mentally hearing OM NOM NOM NOM because they're so unconvincing, and at one point the guy rescues the girl from being held hostage in a room or something and it just made me think of when I trawl Youtube looking for short indy films and then click a link and find a Batman film made by 8 year olds where they rescue their sister from their mum's garage.
Looks nice and sounds nice with a very John Carpenter-ish synth-tinged soundtrack, and Larry Fishburne doing the mad stare where you think he's going to reach through your tv and jam a screwdriver in your eye is always welcome in any film, but he's not the main character, and nor is Bill Paxton, it's a flat-faced hipster bloke for some reason, who kind of ruins what might have been an enjoyable b-movie romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 March, 2015, 04:05:46 PM
I quite enjoyed The Colony. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/no114-colony.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 23 March, 2015, 08:04:34 PM
Another unseen Arnie for me with The 6th Day (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216216/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2) which I really enjoyed. Bit 'I Robot' big bit Arnie 'Total Recall' and a bit 'Judge Dredd' 95 (clones bit).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 March, 2015, 08:12:09 PM
Rollerball wasn't 1957: surely mid 70's. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2015, 09:40:12 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 23 March, 2015, 08:12:09 PM
Rollerball wasn't 1957: surely mid 70's. Z

Or even 1975. I'm a man that knows me typos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 March, 2015, 10:19:01 PM
WHATS THAT? I MADE A TYPO? SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF THESE PLEBS SHOUTING JONATHAN!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2015, 01:02:26 PM
Survivor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0t2xJS-Z7o) - no-budget offspring of Hunger Games and After Earth.  Unlike most cash-ins it manages to use what's to hand and even makes an effort on occasion, but it's still trash that's as cheap as it looks and then some, further hampered by the presence of Kevin Sorbo, who we now know is a racist dickbag (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhju43h7MPg) whose presence will now mean that whatever you are currently watching is ruined.  The lead actress' main claim to fame comes from starring in Osombie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLqjU75FsU), Snow Beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2otpDfQouI), and Hunger Games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Qo5lfpEj8) fan-movies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jw3z68TW0), yes - movies plural, so she's had plenty of practice doing this kind of thing for buttons, and it's mostly her running about stabbing Tusken Raiders for eighty minutes, but occasionally she stops and has a think, or Racist Hercules talks to her over the space phone offering encouragement that we sadly now know he wouldn't be offering if she was played by a black actress.  Fuck that guy.
It's alright, though.  It really does look super-cheap and the trailer does it no favors at all, but it passes the time pleasantly enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 24 March, 2015, 01:39:24 PM
The Voices - a black comedy with Ryan Reynolds as a serial killer who follows instructions from his evil cat.

Quirky, funny, entertaining. Even the wife laughed at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2015, 07:27:37 PM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear (bear) on 24 March, 2015, 01:02:26 PM
Survivor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0t2xJS-Z7o) - no-budget offspring of Hunger Games and After Earth.  Unlike most cash-ins it manages to use what's to hand and even makes an effort on occasion, but it's still trash that's as cheap as it looks and then some, further hampered by the presence of Kevin Sorbo, who we now know is a racist dickbag (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhju43h7MPg) whose presence will now mean that whatever you are currently watching is ruined.  The lead actress' main claim to fame comes from starring in Osombie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLqjU75FsU), Snow Beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2otpDfQouI), and Hunger Games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Qo5lfpEj8) fan-movies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jw3z68TW0), yes - movies plural, so she's had plenty of practice doing this kind of thing for buttons, and it's mostly her running about stabbing Tusken Raiders for eighty minutes, but occasionally she stops and has a think, or Racist Hercules talks to her over the space phone offering encouragement that we sadly now know he wouldn't be offering if she was played by a black actress.  Fuck that guy.
It's alright, though.  It really does look super-cheap and the trailer does it no favors at all, but it passes the time pleasantly enough.

You do know that you are allowed to watch good films, don't you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 March, 2015, 08:14:05 PM
Mauvaise Graine From 1934, Billy Wilder's first film as director. Privileged kid hits hard times and falls in with a gang of car thieves. Good stuff!

Back to shite tonight with 'Eraser'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 24 March, 2015, 08:40:32 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2015, 07:27:37 PM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear
it's still trash that's as cheap as it looks and then some

You do know that you are allowed to watch good films, don't you?

Like like like.
I struggle with this thread, you have shown me the reason why!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 March, 2015, 08:49:17 PM

Tom Felton Meets the Superfans - as saw it on BBC3 last night, thought it was interested as Tom Felton meet many superfans, some was bit creepy, and meet many Cosplay fans at NEC, some Judge 2012 Cosplays was featured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05nxgls/tom-felton-meets-the-superfans (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05nxgls/tom-felton-meets-the-superfans)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 March, 2015, 08:54:38 PM
In Order of Dissapearance, 2014. A dark Norweigan thriller-comedy that would make for a cracker of a drinking game. A tactiturn snow-plougher's only son is killed by the mob, so he starts murdering his way up the chain of command to get to the boss who ordered the death. What he lacks in expierience he makes up for in determination, but things quickly get out of control and soon he's inadvertently sparked a gang war between his targets and the Albanian mob that starts to drag other bystanders into its orbit. Really good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2015, 09:30:50 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2015, 07:27:37 PMYou do know that you are allowed to watch good films, don't you?

I do, but you don't deserve to know about them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 25 March, 2015, 04:11:12 PM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear (bear) on 24 March, 2015, 01:02:26 PM
Survivor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0t2xJS-Z7o) - no-budget offspring of Hunger Games and After Earth.  Unlike most cash-ins it manages to use what's to hand and even makes an effort on occasion, but it's still trash that's as cheap as it looks and then some, further hampered by the presence of Kevin Sorbo, who we now know is a racist dickbag (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhju43h7MPg) whose presence will now mean that whatever you are currently watching is ruined.  The lead actress' main claim to fame comes from starring in Osombie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLqjU75FsU), Snow Beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2otpDfQouI), and Hunger Games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Qo5lfpEj8) fan-movies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jw3z68TW0), yes - movies plural, so she's had plenty of practice doing this kind of thing for buttons, and it's mostly her running about stabbing Tusken Raiders for eighty minutes, but occasionally she stops and has a think, or Racist Hercules talks to her over the space phone offering encouragement that we sadly now know he wouldn't be offering if she was played by a black actress.  Fuck that guy.
It's alright, though.  It really does look super-cheap and the trailer does it no favors at all, but it passes the time pleasantly enough.
Damy you Sorbo! I'd been pondering a re-watch of Hercules and Xena, but knowing what a moron he is will make it more difficult to enjoy.

Death Race 2000

I'd put this in the top (number) of films from the 70s. It's really really good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 March, 2015, 05:40:09 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 25 March, 2015, 04:11:12 PM

Damy you Sorbo! I'd been pondering a re-watch of Hercules and Xena, but knowing what a moron he is will make it more difficult to enjoy.

Death Race 2000

I'd put this in the top (number) of films from the 70s. It's really really good.

Top film. I remember seeing it as a kid. At that point I didn't know who Stallone was (no one did I think). I saw it again recently and while it's all rather juvenile, it was still juvenile fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 25 March, 2015, 09:56:21 PM
Addams Family Values, how they are so brilliant funny and quotes, even better than first film!

Young Girl: And then Mommy kissed Daddy, and the angel told the stork, and the stork flew down from heaven, and left a diamond under a leaf in the cabbage patch, and the diamond turned into a baby!
Pugsley: Our parents are having a baby, too.
Wednesday: They had sex.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 March, 2015, 10:06:34 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 25 March, 2015, 09:56:21 PM
Pugsley: Our parents are having a baby, too.
Wednesday: They had sex.

I used to find this hilarious too.  Until my kids started saying it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 25 March, 2015, 11:03:09 PM
The Sound of Fury (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043075/?ref_=rvi_tt) Down at heel family man falls in with bad company in the shape of Lloyd Bridges - pretty brutal stuff that's based on a true story. Worth a look!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rog69 on 26 March, 2015, 09:46:28 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 24 March, 2015, 08:49:17 PM

Tom Felton Meets the Superfans - as saw it on BBC3 last night, thought it was interested as Tom Felton meet many superfans, some was bit creepy, and meet many Cosplay fans at NEC, some Judge 2012 Cosplays was featured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05nxgls/tom-felton-meets-the-superfans (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05nxgls/tom-felton-meets-the-superfans)

Thanks for posting that Goaty, I was at that con at the NEC with my Daughter (mad Harry Potter fan) and I didn't know this existed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 26 March, 2015, 10:16:14 AM
I caught some of that last night and found it to be watchable. Saw some Judges very briefly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 March, 2015, 10:21:46 AM
I enjoyed that documentary. I was disappointed that Tom had neither watched Star Trek or had any enthusiasm for dressing as a stormtrooper from Star Wars. Disgraceful!

Having said that I think all the ex Harry Potter actors featured came across really well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 26 March, 2015, 05:36:14 PM
Odds Against Tomorrow (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053133/) Bleak noirish gangster pic from 1959. Lot of violence and racial slurs - and a woman in a bra! Worth seeing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 26 March, 2015, 06:02:45 PM
Highlander 2: The Renegade Version

In 1995, Russell Mulcahy (the bloke who directed the first two) got some money together to get the rights to "Highlander 2", and re-edited it, added a few new scenes and so on. He turned what's one of the worst films ever into something which just sort of sits in the bottom half of all films ever.

I liked that Highlander 2 was so strange and had so many bad choices go into making it - this removes all the alien stuff, but replaces that with "they're all from the distant past", which is even stupider. Still, it's got Michael Ironside as an excellently bonkers villain, so you've still got that to look forward to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 26 March, 2015, 11:17:20 PM
based on the Halo game on one of the cable network channels yesterday.

Halo 4 - Forward Unto Dawn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_4:_Forward_Unto_Dawn)

Yet, I thought it was only a fan-made film when I heard about it's production earlier and does look fan-made. Not that I can put my finger on it, but it doesn't look like it had big budget film. Even though the special effects were good enough to raise it that high and the entire cast seemed to be all under the age of thirty.

I thought the premise was cool with the armoured dude making a appearance towards the ending when the aliens show up and he removes they're fat from the fire.

This might have been straight to  You-Tube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5XoYkRcNGM)

I also caught another viewing of the The Wickerman with Nick Cage in it.

Love the part where he decks a woman (Like she deserved it!) and get in almost perfectly orchestrated fight with Leelee Sobieski and they both deserved to be beaten by a man because they were being creepy.
It was only toward the end that I noticed how ridiculously out numbered was before being overpowered put up into the Wickerman.

He didn't even have partner, let alone a squad. I would have brought he Expendables in. That would be a hell of cross over. Yet, I guess the appearance of the situation before it escalated didn't warrant any more attention from the law.

Nick Cage should be Mebd because he has experience.

I'm really looking forward to the cartoon spin-off.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 March, 2015, 04:52:22 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 March, 2015, 11:17:20 PMn
Nick Cage should be Mebd because he has experience.

Cheeky sod!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 March, 2015, 08:46:34 AM
OOh? Iron Man 3 just on Netflix UK, great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 March, 2015, 09:39:27 AM
The Devil Rides Out on the Horror Channell last night. Yeah, I have the blu-ray but any excuse eh? It is a classic after all. The tarantula scene still creeps me the fuck out. Also I want to give the channel a viewership so it can keep going, it's already got some cracking stuff i've never seen before lined up (including Death Proof and The. collection tomorrow night).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 March, 2015, 10:40:19 AM
Yeah who knew this Horror Channel thing was on Freeview! I shuffle all the channels around whenever I re-progamme our Freeview so the channels we use are grouped together nicely and you don't have to wade through the bunkum to find out what's on - I'm sure this wasn't there when last I did this (when Tiny Pop started). I stumbled across it only this week when looking to see if Film4 plus 1 still existed as I'd missed the beginning of a film I fancied seeing and there it was.

What a boon. I quick reshuffle and its now in the watched channels group - it has classic Who on it and all sorts - looks great...

... err and now will someone get this back on topic please!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 March, 2015, 10:52:12 AM
Yeah, I wasn't aware of this either - retuned yesterday and enjoyed a couple of classic dr whos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 27 March, 2015, 05:31:29 PM
It's only been on freeview since the 13th, which was a friday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 27 March, 2015, 10:27:43 PM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear (bear) on 24 March, 2015, 09:30:50 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2015, 07:27:37 PMYou do know that you are allowed to watch good films, don't you?

I do, but you don't deserve to know about them.

If it wasn't for the prof, I wouldn't know that not only hadn't I seen iron eagle 3 but there was a fourth film I'd missed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 28 March, 2015, 12:10:14 AM
Among my friends I've got a reputation for watching lots of films. Certainly a lot more than they do, and this is why I've seen manic cop 2 when they haven't even heard about the first film. Tonight I've watched iron eagle 2 and now I'm on to Punisher War Zone. As much as I love 2000AD the Punisher was the first comic I got into and I'll always have a soft spot for frank Castle but I still don't understand why every film about the Punisher has been shit yet there has still been three of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 28 March, 2015, 06:19:01 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 28 March, 2015, 12:10:14 AM
every film about the Punisher has been shit...

Except the Dolph Lundgren version.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 28 March, 2015, 07:00:49 AM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 28 March, 2015, 12:10:14 AM
Among my friends I've got a reputation for watching lots of films. Certainly a lot more than they do, and this is why I've seen manic cop 2 when they haven't even heard about the first film. Tonight I've watched iron eagle 2 and now I'm on to Punisher War Zone. As much as I love 2000AD the Punisher was the first comic I got into and I'll always have a soft spot for frank Castle but I still don't understand why every film about the Punisher has been shit yet there has still been three of them.
They've all been pretty good, I think. The newest one is perhaps the most OTT action movie ever (someone gets decapitated before the opening credits) and the Thomas Jane one was good fun too. I'm bummed neither of them got sequels, to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 29 March, 2015, 12:55:19 PM
Netflix just hit Australia, it's great and its got a free Month trial on the Wii-u but at just A$13 (about 6 quid I fink) a month think this'll be getting a sub.
So far watched Troll Hunter, great movie lots of fun and the Trolls looked pretty damn cool. 

This Girl is Bad Ass, a Thai movie directed by one of their premier female Ass kickers Petchtai Wungkamla, lots of fun, good fights her style is a lot like Jackie Chan in that she uses a lot of props (first fight she smacks out 6 or 7 dudes with a push bike and a later fight she uses a bike inner tube to inflict hurt) also like a lot of Thai movies it also has a sad story and a goofy comedy story and a serious action story happening at once lots of fun this one. 

Life After Porn, a Documentary about life after porn, I watched this for the boobies but it was very good and also made you think (also most of the boobies were big fakies).  Jokes aside a pretty good doco and interesting insight into the porn industry and the damage it can do to the people in the industry.

Knight of Badassdom, Tyrion Lanister and a bunch of other dudes I sort of recognise from other movies go LARPing and one of them accidently summons a Demon, which proceeds to tear hearts out and rip heads off in a nice 80's style I had a good laugh and particularly like the metal musical finale [spoiler]pity Tyrion cops it half way through but he  makes a fiery comeback at the end[/spoiler].

The Natural History of the Chicken, I started to watch this Doco but it sucked and didn't give me any history of the chicken in the first 20 minutes I watched it it was just about crazy chicken people.

Think Netflix is a pretty arsom service and even on Australia's feeble internet bandwidth managed to deliver stable not quite hi-def service, this isn't a paid add just haven't had so much fun watching movies in a long time and glad we finally have access to a decent streaming service.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 March, 2015, 01:07:24 PM
Netflix is great - I took out my sub in the US and pay only $7.99 which is about a fiver. If you have a Smart TV it's easy to manually input your DNS to another region to see their content instead of your own. Sites like This One (http://www.netflixfixer.com/2014/02/american-netflix-dns-codes-roundup-pt2.html) are a great help for research!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 March, 2015, 05:57:44 PM
The Monster Club (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081178/) - I had fond memories of this, mostly from an adaptation in an old Hammer House of Horror Magazine. I bought the Blu-Ray in Amazons 5 for £25 deal and it was a mistake. Great cast including Vincent Price and Donald Pleasance but only the first of the three tales was worth the admission and the whole thing was padded out by some terrible BA Robertson songs performed in the titular club to a bunch of extras in terrible masks. I know I'm not overly selling this but if you want the Blu-Ray for a fiver post paid send me a PM!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 29 March, 2015, 08:44:59 PM
Watched Looper last night on BBC2.

The cityscape reminded me a bit of Blade Runner. The "helicopters", or what ever they were, reminded me of the robots gunships in Terminator and the plot, well that reminded me of Terminator as well.

Pretty good film over all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 30 March, 2015, 07:18:54 AM
Drive

The Mark Dacascos one, not the Ryan Gosling one. Despite it occasionally feeling more like an effects/fighting highlight reel than a movie, it's really good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 March, 2015, 08:35:16 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 30 March, 2015, 07:18:54 AM
Drive

The Mark Dacascos one, not the Ryan Gosling one. Despite it occasionally feeling more like an effects/fighting highlight reel than a movie, it's really good fun.

Great film. I especially like the scene where he [spoiler]removes a pair of boots from one of the bad guy's and then beats them all soundly with them.[/spoiler] Mad stuff!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Charlie boy on 30 March, 2015, 08:47:03 AM
Quite a few over recent days...

Skyfall
I remember being excited by the idea of this, what with it being a "real" director doing Bond. As has already been done with him a couple of times too many, it went with a Bond rogue!/Bond washed-up and pretty rubbish! angle. I was genuinely taken aback at just how boring this was. It never seemed to end and everything about it just seemed to drag on and on.

Fright Night
The remake. Like remakes of films you saw young and probably still enjoy a little too much because of it, this didn't seem anywhere near as fun for me and I ended up falling into the trap of thinking "Well this is stupid because that didn't happen in the original..." throughout most of it.
Maybe it does have things going in its favour and I'm being a tad harsh but I didn't take to any of the characters, which doesn't bode well for any film. Colin Farrell seemed to be enjoying himself, however.

Looper
A I'll see it when I get around to it film of mine which I finally got around to and enjoyed enough to think I'd look into the director's previous work. Can't remember his name however so, you know, to Google once I'm done here.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
I put it on last night thinking it would simply be a bad film to waste a couple of hours but a lot of it took to being an enjoyable kind of bad. I think I laughed at pretty much every scene of violence for it either being way over the top and with a good line in it or, at times, seeming to actually be a little nasty and appearing out of place with the rest of the film because of it. There's a line right at the end I liked about a witch not going to be able to have an open casket. I pretty much cheered at that one because of been on a bit of a GTA binge recently and similar is constantly being said when I'm being a dick. Am I recommending this film to you? No. I don't want to run the risk of you feeling I've stolen around two hours of your life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 March, 2015, 08:53:39 AM
Scanners (1980, dir. David Cronenberg): One of the many movies that raises Cronenberg as among my favorite directors. Though I first time around found the general lack of explosive heads misleading, I've grown to appreciate the need for that insane first act and then keeping it low key until the utterly delightfully gross last few moments. Wooden performances throughout from cast members Jennifer O'Neill, Steve Lack, and Patrick McGoohan are bearable thanks to the greasy yet fun to watch Braeden Keller as a corrupt CEO and Michael Ironside being.....Michael Ironside. Dude's fucking messed up. But it was never the acting in Cronenbergs movies that interested me, more the high concept sci-fi and outlandish gore effects granting them more merit than if they had been handled by anyone else.

Not a movie for everyone but a movie many should give a try. Which is more than can be said for...

The Deadly Spawn (1983 dir. Douglas McKeown): ...Is one of the schlock masterpieces of drive in cinema. Definitely not a film for everyone but damn fun if you want a laugh at ATROCIOUS acting contrasted against superb effects. No, really, this movie was produced on a humble $25,000 and yet the effects for the aliens and indeed for the gore are insane for a movie on that budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 March, 2015, 10:24:08 AM
**Steev** - Thanks for your email about The Monster Club - for some reason Hotmail isn't letting me reply. Please PM me on here - can't find you in the member's list. The extras are :

The extras are

    Trailer
    Isolated music score audio track (?)
    Textless material and promo
    Image gallery
    Britt Ekland is in it



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 30 March, 2015, 04:03:32 PM
I had a really manic weekend of working on stuff I didn't really want to (mostly dull, real life stuff and not comics, natch) so ended up staying up REALLY late to watch a blu ray I've had on my shelf for ages.

Said blu ray was Mardock Scramble: The First Compression, which is an hour long anime feature. And I like the Japanese pronunciation of it's title much more, so henceforth, it will be referred to a Marudukku Skuranuburru - except it won't, because that's a pain in the ass to type.

I went into it with some trepidation. For one thing, it wears its cyberpunk cred on its sleeve, and this is an easily over-egged genre. Additionally, the subject matter is the sort of stuff that could easily make for uncomfortable viewing (and indeed, it does, but not in the horrible, cheap sense that you might expect). Basically: child prostitute is murdered by one of her regular clients, then resurrected as a cyborg by other parties seeking to bring the guy to justice.

Sounds potentially horrible, yeah?

Actually, this is one of the best animated movies I've seen in a LONG while. YES, there's nastiness shot through the whole movie - especially in the gore-tastic shoot out at the end of the movie. But the story really has a superb grasp of its characters, who are the main hook for the whole thing. The lead character is actually paired with an AI who acts like a guardian of sorts, and takes the form of a glowing yellow mouse. Their interactions are - in contrast to everything else that's going on in the story - really very sweet, and elevate the movie a long way abovewhat I THOUGHT I was going to see.

It really reminded me of a decent William Gibson novel. Loses a few points for a dub that's filled with crappy performances from 2nd tier characters (the leads are all superb) and and ending that just isn't an ending in any sense - it literally just stops. But there are two more movies, and I'm definitely invested enough to go and watch them after this.

Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 30 March, 2015, 06:43:27 PM
Hello Mr Buttons

Did I email you?  I thought I'd sent a pm!  Thank grud I've got it right this time and not replied publicly or something!

Yes,  I'd love it. 
Also I really enjoyed our last meeting and the night of passion we shared with big John Burdis and that Pete Wells.  Though between you and me,  Wellsy left me most unsatisfied due to his amateurish bedroom skills,  and as for Burdis- I just wish he wouldn't insist on wearing those shorts and being called "Sergeant Major Sausage".

Anyway,  I will PayPal you at the end of the week if that's okay.

Best of love, 

Your "widdling winkie". Kiss kiss. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 March, 2015, 11:42:55 PM
None of this is news.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 March, 2015, 09:26:22 AM
Next Goal Wins - Moving and very emotional documentary about the American Samoa football team who, in their entire history, had conceded 227 goals and never scored one. The doc follows the fortunes of their new dutch coach who takes on the task of trying to get them through their first 3 qualifying matches for the World Cup in Brazil. Superb film, even if you don't like football, because it's about people. The football is a side issue. Highly recommended.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Had this downloaded on my Sky box for a couple of weeks and finally got round to watching it yesterday evening. Jolly good fun with an awesome soundtrack which I bought immediately. Fun, fun, fun. Really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 March, 2015, 02:38:52 PM
Going Clear, the HBO documentary about Scientology.

Turns out Scientology is a bit sinister, guys.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 March, 2015, 02:41:05 PM
I saw Next Goal Wins last year. I'm not a fan of football but it caught my interest for some reason. I liked it, but as with a lot of docs I felt that it was a little manipulative and a bit cavalier with the 'truth' in favour of crafting a narrative.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 March, 2015, 04:04:17 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 March, 2015, 02:41:05 PM
I saw Next Goal Wins last year. I'm not a fan of football but it caught my interest for some reason. I liked it, but as with a lot of docs I felt that it was a little manipulative and a bit cavalier with the 'truth' in favour of crafting a narrative.
Certain aspects of the film certainly have that feel.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 March, 2015, 04:14:43 PM
Yeah - 'this player is useless at football but is by far the most interesting and charming character, so lets put them in the team'.

I'd recommend everyone at least watch the trailer, which really got to me and is what made me want to watch the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 March, 2015, 04:21:45 PM
Last few nights I was watch sequel films on Netflix USA.

How To Train Your Dragon 2, that was so beautiful film, love those dragons!

Wolf Creek 2, wow that was so brutal film! but good. very creepy when he was friendly G'day everytime!

GI Joe Retaliation, that was bit poorly but better than first film.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 March, 2015, 05:57:58 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 March, 2015, 04:14:43 PM
Yeah - 'this player is useless at football but is by far the most interesting and charming character, so lets put them in the team'.

I'd recommend everyone at least watch the trailer, which really got to me and is what made me want to watch the film.

Not sure you got that. Yes, that player was the most interesting. And was then the best player in the first match [spoiler]which they won thanks to his/her wonderful tackles in defence.[/spoiler]

A sincerely good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 March, 2015, 10:50:23 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 31 March, 2015, 04:21:45 PMHow To Train Your Dragon 2, that was so beautiful film, love those dragons!

Sent this half a dozen times now - fully convinced it's one of the top three fantasy films ever made.

Drago is a fantastic baddie, his hideous dragon-controlling voice quite monstrously unique; the reunion between Stoic and Valka is one of the most beautifully executed romantic scenes I've ever seen, and when they dance! Dear lord not a dry eye in the house: that's what true love looks like George, you utter pillock; and Hiccup himself- a hero whose utter conviction that talking and cooperation is the only answer never wavers - not for one moment do you doubt why people follow him.

And that's not even mentioning the visuals, which are magnificent, and somehow manage to deliver huge fantasy battles that owe no debt whatsoever to either LotR, Gladiator or 300. Amazing work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bagley on 31 March, 2015, 11:32:19 PM
Three films I've watched in recent weeks...

The Casebook of Eddie Brewer (2012)
A film crew making a TV documentary about attitudes towards the supernatural follows an old-school paranormal investigator as he investigates a couple of disturbing and baffling local cases. I really enjoyed this film and thought it was actually a fair and well observed portrayal of some of the types of paranormal investigators out there and just how comparable they are to dismissive and judgmental critics. The film was released in the USA in February.

Frankenstein's Army (2013)
This found-footage horror film concerns Russian soldiers who become lost in a remote part of Germany while on a reconnaissance mission during World War II. They stumble across an abandoned settlement which is soon revealed to be infested with horrifying undead soldiers created by a Nazi scientist descended from Victor Frankenstein. This film wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, though it's worth watching once to see Frankenstein's aesthetically interesting 'creations' in action.

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)
A continuation of Norwegian-Icelandic film Dead Snow (2009), this Nazi zombie horror comedy goes into overdrive on story, gore and belly laughs, as well as introducing English speaking characters. Released in October last year in the USA and earlier this year in the UK, if you liked the first one, you'll love this sequel!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 04:56:23 AM
I saw the film Chappie earlier this week and was very impressed. I will review it more later when I am less entangled in other business.

I watched The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies on the Box Office channel after ordering it last night and I will including more commentary on that  later as well. I know I had started a review of it since I saw it for a second time in the theatres earlier this year. It was never completed and I promised to do tat sometime. I missed a lot of this last night, but made sure I did re-watched....

Gandalf's being rescued by Galadriel, Saruman and Elrond!

Dain Ironfoot's entrance and I had to remind my father who the actor was!

The original company of dwarves running into the field of battle in formation.

Beorn being air-dropped by a squadron of giant flying Eagles lead by Radaghast!

I also started watching the very first episode of  IClaudeus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius_(TV_series)) that has been around since the late seventies. Starring Derek Jacobi as Claudeus, Brian Blessed as Ceasar Augustus, John Hurt as Tiberious and Patrick Stewart not as Jon Luc Pickard.

You should see the beginning of  this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlgeQUHSetk). He's kind of like the Rome's version of Ukko.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 02 April, 2015, 08:07:00 AM
The Last Seven

British film, allegedly starring Danny Dyer (third billed on the DVD cover). There are only 7 people left in London...it's pretty awful, and everything about it is a lie. The cast aren't "the last seven", and Dyer is on screen for approximately 20 seconds. It feels like a bad episode of "Tales of the Unexpected" stretched to feature length.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 08:18:34 AM
Still watching I - Claudeus, althought I missed most of the first three episodes.

I reckon young Derek Jacobi.....

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSo2LKBI7UjUCOv6KNqPkEC2lfNDKPRur7PSy5Cxue7YYRDxTWW)

Looks a lot like Martin Freeman....

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSxIOH3WMPK18W0hQ_r-D2FpASihK0rmD-87BEmcaiu8yh2MFm)

Now, I'm imagining a re-adaption set in NewZealands Hobbiton in the Shire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 April, 2015, 09:45:04 AM
Two british crime (sorta) films in a double bill of Who Dares Wins (a little guff but the SWAT raid was very well executed. Well worth the £5 I paid for the blu-ray anyway) and The Long Good Friday which is......just superb. Honestly one of my all time favourite crime films, possibly topping even The Godfather.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lady Warp Spasm on 02 April, 2015, 01:40:25 PM
rewatching some Italian genre faves:

What Have you Done to Solange? One of my favorite giallos and one of my favorite performances from Fabio Testi.

Suspiria Can't wait for the U.S. blu ray.

Shoot First, Die Later- Awesome. Nice to see Luc Merenda in a leading role like that.

and others

Solomon Kane I love James Purefoy in the role and wished this would have been successful enough to warrant a sequel.

Octopussy - I liked this and still enjoy elements of it in spite of Roger Moore. Plus Kabir Bedi - (those eyes.)

Goldeneye - one of my favorite Bonds. A great, layered villain, fantastic Bond girls (Famke cracks me up) and Pierce.

X-Men United (X2) - Still holds up. And the Lady Deathstrike / Wolverine fight was fun.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 01:54:37 PM
Quote from: Lady Warp Spasm on 02 April, 2015, 01:40:25 PM
Solomon Kane I love James Purefoy in the role and wished this would have been successful enough to warrant a sequel.


I was disappointed with this. Yet I only watched this once after getig it on the Box Office channel as a rental.

The work of Robert E, Howard?

I assume it is because I own anthology containing a lot of his work (Conan the Barbarian and that as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 April, 2015, 02:27:41 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 01:54:37 PM
Quote from: Lady Warp Spasm on 02 April, 2015, 01:40:25 PM
Solomon Kane I love James Purefoy in the role and wished this would have been successful enough to warrant a sequel.


I was disappointed with this. Yet I only watched this once after getig it on the Box Office channel as a rental.

The work of Robert E, Howard?

I assume it is because I own anthology containing a lot of his work (Conan the Barbarian and that as well.

Yes, Robert E. Howard wrote Solomon Kane.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K90BDCKJL._AA160_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Savage-Tales-Solomon-Kane-ebook/dp/B000FC1R28/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427981112&sr=1-5&keywords=solomon+kane)

Solomon Kane was not a perfect adaptation, but it's the best REH adaptation so far. Miles better than any of the Conan films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 03:13:16 PM
Saw a handful at an all night horror fest in Glasgow last weekend -

The Thing - Obviously seen this a load of times (at times I think it might be my favorite movie), including a couple of times in the cinema so was a little annoyed when it appeared on the program because I thought something more obscure might have been better. All that washed away as soon as the first notes of the score kicked in, this movie is still incredible and seeing it on an old print was really nice and had an atmosphere that the digital presentations I'd been to previously didn't have.

Slugs The Movie - I'd never seen this and was always put off because slugs give me the boke. It was a great laugh though, a real so bad it's good movie and a lot of fun as a result. The inappropriate stock music library, the awful effects, the acting and dubbing - a perfect storm of trash cinema.

Profondo Rosso - Have said on here before that I'm not big on giallo, I found after the first couple I saw the rest have dragged a lot by virtue of following very similar structures. Saying that, this had a lot of great looking shots and yet another incredible Goblin score. Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to given my previous experience with the genre!

Child's Play - Another one I've obviously seen before, but it works way better than expected on a big screen. I still don't find Chucky remotely scary, but I do like how mad it all is with its voodoo storyline and supernatural moments. A fun classic horror movie.

Sadly I was knackered by this point and left, despite the one film I'd voted to see (Halloween III) being the last film on. Just needed my bed, don't have the stamina anymore! Not sure another opportunity to see it on a big screen will ever happen, so regret that decision greatly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 April, 2015, 03:15:54 PM
I Claudius really is a remarkable adaptation. Despite the awful wigs/beards and painfully limited sets, it remains utterly compelling. I used to wistfully imagine a 'special edition', with digitally added exteriors, or even a full remake with battles and elephants, but having watched so many (enjoyable) big budget tits'n'torture series over the last number of years (most recently Borgia), I think the lack of such distractions is what makes the terrifying claustrophobia of Claudius' tale so palpable. For all that the Julio-Claudians sit atop an empire, it's the scrabbling of trapped rats that defines their lives.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 02 April, 2015, 03:26:49 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 03:13:16 PM

Profondo Rosso - Have said on here before that I'm not big on giallo, I found after the first couple I saw the rest have dragged a lot by virtue of following very similar structures. Saying that, this had a lot of great looking shots and yet another incredible Goblin score. Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to given my previous experience with the genre!

Probably the greatest of all giallos. Definitely the best soundtrack. The bit with [spoiler]the animated doll [/spoiler] is probably the most frightening thing I've ever seen in a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 April, 2015, 03:35:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 02 April, 2015, 03:15:54 PM
I Claudius really is a remarkable adaptation. Despite the awful wigs/beards and painfully limited sets, it remains utterly compelling. I used to wistfully imagine a 'special edition', with digitally added exteriors, or even a full remake with battles and elephants, but having watched so many (enjoyable) big budget tits'n'torture series over the last number of years (most recently Borgia), I think the lack of such distractions is what makes the terrifying claustrophobia of Claudius' tale so palpable. For all that the Julio-Claudians sit atop an empire, it's the scrabbling of trapped rats that defines their lives.

I persuaded my folks to let me stay up past my bedtime when this was shown, on some dubious pretext that we were "doing the romans at school" - but then had to sit through embarrassing sex'n'gore scenes with them in the room. The scene where Caligula comes out bloody-faced after eating a fresh foetus stuck vividly in my mind to this day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 04:33:22 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 02 April, 2015, 03:26:49 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 03:13:16 PM

Profondo Rosso - Have said on here before that I'm not big on giallo, I found after the first couple I saw the rest have dragged a lot by virtue of following very similar structures. Saying that, this had a lot of great looking shots and yet another incredible Goblin score. Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to given my previous experience with the genre!

Probably the greatest of all giallos. Definitely the best soundtrack. The bit with [spoiler]the animated doll [/spoiler] is probably the most frightening thing I've ever seen in a film.

That was a great moment! [spoiler]You're getting quite comfortable with the film and what it has to throw at you by that point, but that's so unexpected and bizarre that you could feel the whole cinema tense up suddenly, like they'd let their guard down and were now out their comfort zone.[/spoiler] The little 'intermissions' where the camera tracks over objects of the killer's while the theme plays were really stylish too, like you're looking at all the broken pieces of their mind, very cool touch. And can't rave enough about that music! Definitely one I'd watch again.

It was in the surprise film slot and the print that they had was an old US one with 'The Hatchet Murders' as the title card, so it wasn't until I looked into it the following day I realized what film I'd watched.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 April, 2015, 06:19:07 PM
Profondo Rosso is my fave Argento film by a mile.
I dont even care that Goblin ripped off the soundtrack.
It's the tops
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 07:54:15 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 April, 2015, 03:35:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 02 April, 2015, 03:15:54 PM
I Claudius really is a remarkable adaptation. Despite the awful wigs/beards and painfully limited sets, it remains utterly compelling. I used to wistfully imagine a 'special edition', with digitally added exteriors, or even a full remake with battles and elephants, but having watched so many (enjoyable) big budget tits'n'torture series over the last number of years (most recently Borgia), I think the lack of such distractions is what makes the terrifying claustrophobia of Claudius' tale so palpable. For all that the Julio-Claudians sit atop an empire, it's the scrabbling of trapped rats that defines their lives.

I persuaded my folks to let me stay up past my bedtime when this was shown, on some dubious pretext that we were "doing the romans at school" - but then had to sit through embarrassing sex'n'gore scenes with them in the room. The scene where Caligula comes out bloody-faced after eating a fresh foetus stuck vividly in my mind to this day.

I got a little confused as to wether John Hurt was Tiberious or his son Caligula.  Eventually murdered by his own men when they couldn't tolerate his antics anymore.

Does any body recall how the Celts of that time in history were portrayed with their frosty looking spiked hair?

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ8NEdHVGLma01TBdg-77l8akIjKD99j7oRD75Y2oWGOP2IYsrR6w)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 02 April, 2015, 08:44:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 07:54:15 PM
I got a little confused as to wether John Hurt was Tiberious or his son Caligula.  Eventually murdered by his own men when they couldn't tolerate his antics anymore.

Caligula. He was Tiberius's great-nephew. A career-defining performance by Hurt - up there with his Quentin Crisp and his Merrick as one of the very best things he ever did (though to be honest, the man has seldom put a foot wrong.) You can't beat I, Claudius. So many superb performances - Brian Blessed's likeable, (relatively) reasonable Augustus, for instance, shows a far greater range than Blessed is sometimes credited for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 April, 2015, 08:50:32 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 04:33:22 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 02 April, 2015, 03:26:49 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2015, 03:13:16 PM

Profondo Rosso - Have said on here before that I'm not big on giallo, I found after the first couple I saw the rest have dragged a lot by virtue of following very similar structures. Saying that, this had a lot of great looking shots and yet another incredible Goblin score. Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to given my previous experience with the genre!

Probably the greatest of all giallos. Definitely the best soundtrack. The bit with [spoiler]the animated doll [/spoiler] is probably the most frightening thing I've ever seen in a film.

That was a great moment! [spoiler]You're getting quite comfortable with the film and what it has to throw at you by that point, but that's so unexpected and bizarre that you could feel the whole cinema tense up suddenly, like they'd let their guard down and were now out their comfort zone.[/spoiler] The little 'intermissions' where the camera tracks over objects of the killer's while the theme plays were really stylish too, like you're looking at all the broken pieces of their mind, very cool touch. And can't rave enough about that music! Definitely one I'd watch again.

It was in the surprise film slot and the print that they had was an old US one with 'The Hatchet Murders' as the title card, so it wasn't until I looked into it the following day I realized what film I'd watched.
Aye, a favourite of mine as well, his magnum opus alongside Suspiria. Out of curiosity did you watch the Directors or International cut, Keef?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 03 April, 2015, 02:44:27 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 02 April, 2015, 08:44:16 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 02 April, 2015, 07:54:15 PM
I got a little confused as to wether John Hurt was Tiberious or his son Caligula.  Eventually murdered by his own men when they couldn't tolerate his antics anymore.

Caligula. He was Tiberius's great-nephew. A career-defining performance by Hurt - up there with his Quentin Crisp and his Merrick as one of the very best things he ever did (though to be honest, the man has seldom put a foot wrong.) You can't beat I, Claudius. So many superb performances - Brian Blessed's likeable, (relatively) reasonable Augustus, for instance, shows a far greater range than Blessed is sometimes credited for.

I watched I, Claudius a few years ago and loved it.  The great thing is, it carries on from only a few years after the time the series Rome was set.  Strange to see a slim, fey, high-production Augustus become a mountainous, shouty and beardless 1970s Brian Blessed but I watched the two series back-to-back and know a lot more about ancient Rome than i used to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 April, 2015, 03:08:07 PM
I started watching Suspiria a few years back, but I found the over-the-top unsettling background music incredibly off-putting, although that was probably the point. I don't mind* creepy sound affects and music to help set the mood but they really whack you round the head with it in this film.

So I never made it very far.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, I think maybe I should give it another go.

The last film I watched was Insurgent at a special showing at the O2 dome. It was actually hosted by my church who actually meet at that cinema, so I thought it might be a Christian film** but no, not really. They just host films there from time to time at a discount. Which is nice of them.

A friend informed me it is in fact the sequel to another film, Divergent. I'm not all that keen on catching sequels first, but thought I'd give it a go.

Glad I did. Seeing Divergent first would have helped, but there was enough to go on to get the premise. A decent sci-fi action film and actually amusing in places. Rather predictable at times and but there [spoiler]was a twist which still kinda surprised me. I mean, I expected a twist at that point, but not quite the way it happened.[/spoiler]

Not the best film I've seen. I'm not all that fussed to get it on DVD or Blu-Ray (but I might) but it was very enjoyable.

*Okay, I DO mind, but I like it for that reason. If you get what I mean.

**Despite my faith, I'm not all that keen on Christian films. They can be a bit corny and heavy handed with their message.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2015, 09:58:57 PM
Oooh boy, have I had a bad run of luck with films lately.  Thanks Netflix, I'll stick to the TV series in future.

This is 40.  Take the two most irritating characters in Knocked Up and make a whole film about them - but don't put in any jokes.  A movie about two awful, awful people living a privileged existence of self-absorbed indulgence and still managing to be jealous of everyone and everything.  And just when you think that this is the point, and they might get their comeuppance for treating everyone around them like some class of servitor animal tasked with enabling their every dull whim, it all works out fine for them and all proceeds as normal, except everyone has grown a little closer. Awww. There's nothing here that rings true about relationships, or life in general, it's just smug, nasty nonsense that isn't even a little bit funny. 

Sadly there are some good performances wasted on this soulless thing, Apatow and Mann's kids are both very good as the sisters they are, John Lithgow is John Lithgow (which is all anyone can or should ask - who needs anything else?) and Albert 'Hank Scorpio' is plausibly moochy.  Unfortunately none of them get anything interesting to do, so that instead we can watch Debbie and Pete attend one unnecessary medical checkup after another (it's 'cos they're 40, see? See?). Megan Fox is wheeled out so both audience and cast can ogle her tits (this is literally the only thing she contributes, cheerily being groped and ogled in her undies on multiple occasions), and two characters (Chris O'Dowd and Jason Segel) appear to be in the film solely to do this for several long unfunny scenes.  And then there's the only non-white character (Charlene Yi off House) who naturally is an insane drug addict thief. 

I absolutely loathed this film. I can only assume that Apatow has secretly converted to the most extreme anti-western fundamentalist sect, and made this as a propaganda film to encourage total war against everything it represent.  Where do I sign up?


Star Trek Into Darkness is a cackhanded piece of shit that made me want to rip out my eyeballs more than once as they were stabbed repeatedly with stupid, ugly strobing sets.  There's been a lot of stupidity in Star Trek films all in all, but this one seems to have cruised around assembling all the stupidest bits (McCoy and the torpedoes springs to mind) and stringing them together with a mere flick of a plot that makes absolutely, completely no sense.  When did Starfleet start wearing Imperial Officer caps and grey burlap anyway?   

Cumberpatch's Khan (oooh spoilers, look mate, it's not me doing the spoiling) could be okay, except that he's just bloody Sherlock - as evidenced by his reveal to Mickey Smith where the camera lingers on this anonymous slightly gormless looking person who we know nothing about yet for a dun-dun-DUN moment because, look, it's only bloody SHERLOCK!  He goes on to display no superhuman intellect whatsoever, beyond encasing his entire crew [spoiler]in functioning torpedoes[/spoiler], which I believe is a subplot cut from Batman (1966) because it was deemed just too silly - he's just good at shooting and punching, and has magic Jesus blood.   Oh I do hope they come back to the implications of this 300-year old world-altering panacea in future instalments the way they did the moronic trans-warp beaming of the first one: it'll be great, I'm sure.

Like Megan Fox before her (see above), but with rather less charm, Alice Eve seems to be jammed into this film solely to appear randomly and unnecessarily in her pants.  Why is Dr. Carol Marcus an English toff?  Why is she here at all? In a film whose only real strength continues to be its casting, she sticks out like a particularly sore thumb. 

But the biggest crime of this loop of shiny offal is this: it made me hate the Enterprise.  Now say what you want about the various crews that have walked her various decks, but I've always loved that ship, in all her incarnations.  I was prepared to allow that the atrocious interiors of the first reboot film were down to the pressure to create a lot of new stuff in one go, and you can't get it all right.  Here every ghastly misstep of the first film is repeated, extended and magnified - every interior set is ugly, busy, glaring, overlarge, impractical, sterile, and just basically looking nothing like it could ever be in space.  It's just a disgusting mess from stem to stern.  I shudder to imagine the effort that went into making something so completely plasticky and vile.  The same criticism extends to the Qo'noS sets/locations and Klingon designs: painfully dull and characterless.   

I'm not even going to bother pick holes in the plot here, it was stupid, contradictory, and felt like it was made up on the fly.

There were five good things about this film: the core cast continue to be good value for money (except Pegg, who continues to be awful); the aliens in the opening sequence were simple but nicely done, and that story at least was actually Star Trekky; the starship battles were fast and solid, and actually seemed like a new non-BSG way of doing these things;  it was lovely (if illogical) to see Leonard Nimoy's Spock one last bittersweet time, especially as I wasn't expecting it. 

And it's a better setup for another film than the first one was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2015, 10:53:12 PM
I loved Star Trek because it was dumb, but I hated Into Darkness because it was stupid.

An interesting side-effect of the stupidity of Into Darkness is that the guy who writers the IDW Trek comics seems to have taken it as a given that every NuTrek tale has to be stupider than the last one, so this month the title's bold new direction is to have the Enterprise and its crew "stranded in the Delta Quadrant".
My alternate theory is that someone bet the writer he wouldn't do it and blowjobs were at stake - but even if his dick didn't end up getting blown, my mind certainly was.

Walking Tall, which I decided to watch because I quite fancied digging into a movie trilogy but didn't want to watch the remakes because from the sequel onwards they star racist fuckface Kevin Sorbo, so I went back to the source with the 1973 original, a broad adaptation of the life of redneck sheriff Buford T Pusser, an ex-wrestler who was elected to office after beating up a casino and then takes to wandering around the county battering people over the head with a plank of wood instead of using a gun.  Because it's based on reality - and a well-known story at the time - the tone is really over the place, with the knockabout lawmakin' of Sheriff Plank being all laughs and japes - like moving a corrupt judge's office into the courthouse toilet - until Pusser gets ambushed (which happens on a regular basis) and gets shot in the gut or nearby family members' heads explode like melons and you go HOLY FUCK.  Then it ends with a lynchmob setting fire to a private business where Pusser has just murdered two dudes.  It is the South, I suppose.  Pretty entertaining, with Joe Don Baker showing that he was always a pretty intense presence, though Pusser's thoughts on why he left professional wrestling were pretty funny - "It was organized dishonesty. It was the system - you win when they let you win, you climb the ladder when they let you, you breathe when they feel like giving you air.   I got fed up with other people living my life their way." - when you consider that they were cut from the remake that starred The Rock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 April, 2015, 11:13:58 PM
I am largely coming to hate being a science fiction fan.

SRSLY.

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2015, 11:35:47 PM
From what I can tell, hating science fiction is the biggest part of being a science fiction fan.

Also the new Mad Max will be out soon, so there's no going back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 April, 2015, 01:45:02 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 05 April, 2015, 11:13:58 PM
I am largely coming to hate being a science fiction fan.

SRSLY.

Jim

I hope that isn't a reaction to my moany nitpicking entitled fanboy review of ST:ID, I don't claim to speak for fandom in general.  I'm generally pretty positive about silly SF movies and ST in particular, even had good things to say about the 09 reboot and its inspired casting and performances, but that last one really was a horrid stupid waste of my time. Maybe the explosions were better in the cinema or on blu-ray, I don't know, but there wasn't an ounce of wit or thought on display. I'd rather watch the equally stupid STV:TFF, which at least has one good line and a few good gags.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2015, 02:32:34 AM
Son of Rambow - not what I expected. Pleasantly surprised! And Jessica Stephenson is totally hot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2015, 07:47:25 AM
Lucy which was so very bad on so many levels it almost deserves congratulating.

Jersey Boys which was one of the worst Clint Eastwood directed films ever, if not the worst. Desperately wants to be Goodfellas without the violence.

The Imitation Game is next for me. Looking forward to it and then Sin City 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 April, 2015, 10:14:19 AM
Quote from: TotalHack on 06 April, 2015, 01:45:02 AM
I hope that isn't a reaction to my moany nitpicking entitled fanboy review of ST:ID,

I suspect it might more have been mockery of the seemingly nice comic writer type Mike Johnson's licence-mandated* output for IDW's Trek ongoing, though I like the idea that someone might have only now noticed that people on the internet have strong and often unreasonable opinions about sci-fi.




* One presumes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 April, 2015, 10:35:16 AM
Quote from: TotalHack on 06 April, 2015, 01:45:02 AM
I hope that isn't a reaction to my moany nitpicking entitled fanboy review of ST:ID

Hmm. No. Not quite sure where I did mean to post that, but I don't think it was here. Apologies...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 April, 2015, 02:04:25 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2015, 07:47:25 AM
Lucy which was so very bad on so many levels it almost deserves congratulating.


I wholeheartedly concur. Dreadful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 April, 2015, 05:11:44 PM
You want entitled nitpickery? Look no further than a man who has just sat through the (extended) second Hobbit with his massively furious Tolkienfan of a partner:

LOTR V: THE SMAUG STRIKES BACK

Jackson's tired indulgent re-tread of his LOTR films continues in this abominably bloated second Hobbit film. Unlike the first there are barely any scenes that resemble what appeared in the book - and it largely just boils down to set-piece after set-piece that leads to an arbitrary and dissatisfying cliffhanger.

Martin Freeman's excellent Bilbo (supposedly the central character) keeps being irritatingly sidelined for an elastic CGI Orlando Bloom, a terrifyingly misogynist 'standard female elf' who has been awkwardly crow-barred in for romantic reasons, a nonsensical wizard/necromancer subplot and a source-destroyingly dumb dwarf separation episode.

Possibly worth watching out of grim fascination and to admire the gorgeous proppery and design work of the Weta team, beyond that Desolation is a harsh lesson in meandering over-eggery. More than half of the runtime seems entirely dedicated to padding alone.

Those who thought that the best thing about LOTR was the bit in Two Towers where Aragorn supposedly nearly dies then apparently doesn't die then all the elves show up for no conceivable reason will love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2015, 10:09:51 AM
Hey Hawkmonger, reckon it was the International version of Profondo Rosso but can't be sure! It was an old print and there was an explanation beforehand that it was the cut released in the US (so had the title The Hatchet Murders or something like that!) and slightly shorter than the version most people will have seen. Will need to look out for the director's cut.

Went to see Fast & Furious 7 at the IMAX and regret nothing. Great fun, and somehow more insane than the previous films. Not sure how much more mental they can get, but this was fully mental. Vehicle scenes were a bit less coherent than in the past but the punchups were great and some of the big shots were great IMAX-fodder. The long-awaited catch-up to Tokyo Drift was a bit lame and token, and I did have one friend who complained about the very gratuitous use of jiggling ladies at every turn (I was fine with it I think).

Overall though a great installment, and the handling of the Paul Walker situation is surprisingly brilliant, and made for very emotional viewing in places.

So then I rewatched The Fast & The Furious (still holds up pretty well, Vin Diesel is super badass and weird to see it now because it's hard to see how it could eventually turn into the action juggernaut it is these days) and 2 Fast 2 Furious which does not hold up well at all. The other movies are fun in a popcorn trash sort of way but this is a legitimately bad film and doesn't appear to have had a script of any kind. Next up, Tokyo Drift (which I have a real soft spot for) and then 4 onwards is solid gold so can't wait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 April, 2015, 12:21:42 PM
Taking a Tolkien fan to see the Hobbit movies is about as adviseable as taking a Star Trek fan to see Into Darkness.

I also enjoyed FF7 immensely though found it slightly disappointing also. The final action sequence involved helicopter and drone gun ships shooting up a city scape that we have seen in many a thick eared action movie; I like the more specific vehicle based mayhem that FF7 offer.  And the final fight between Diesel and Statham was a bit dull.   

The Tony Jaa fights, on the other hand, had a wit and inventiveness about them that I liked as did the central mountain side heist (of which, despite what you think, you have only seen about 10% in the trailer).

The jiggling ladies are unacceptable, really, especially the lingering shots used to introduce a new character. 

Sadly, there was also an increase in "stupid" with on at least two occassions, characters turning up at *exactly* the right point to save the day despite the fact there is no way, they could have known the predicament of the person they are saving.

But it's a FF movie - and these are genuine (not guilty) pleasures for me.

Plus how huge is the Rock?  He's bigger that Stallone and Schwarzenegger, at their peak, combined.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 April, 2015, 01:03:01 PM
SPACE STATION '76
It's paper-thin premise "Hey, let's do a film now but pretend we made it in 1976 so that all of the "future" technology is really lame" isn't helped by a mostly subdued cast and a script that forgets to include jokes. I sort of get the impression that a lot of it was meant to be improvised (which can be a spectacularly lazy way of cheating the viewer) and what came out wasn't funny. It starts nowehere and goes nowhere with a hazy half-resolution at the end and genuinely seems like a randomly connected series of sketches rather than a comedy movie. 

Sorry, more like SHIT STATION '76.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 07 April, 2015, 04:33:56 PM
Alone In The Dark

DAMN YOU UWE BOLL

DAMN YOU TO HELL
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 April, 2015, 04:56:54 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2015, 10:09:51 AM
Hey Hawkmonger, reckon it was the International version of Profondo Rosso but can't be sure! It was an old print and there was an explanation beforehand that it was the cut released in the US (so had the title The Hatchet Murders or something like that!) and slightly shorter than the version most people will have seen. Will need to look out for the director's cut.



The Director's International cut, with some scenes only in Italian (and subbed) is superb. Adds a few romantic scenes which aren't necessary, but is my preferred version by far.
The Arrow Blu Ray is good but flawed (picture wise), so go with the Blue Underground (region free) for the best quality version of the film if you want to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 07 April, 2015, 07:38:29 PM
Interstellar.

The length and so-so reaction online put me off, but I quite enjoyed it.

It certainly looks and sounds pretty, despite any misgivings I might have - like the 'here's how a wormhole works' gear crunch.

Maybe my expectations were lowered - still, I enjoyed Into Darkness as a fun bit of nonsense...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2015, 11:50:04 PM
Taken 3 is possibly one of the worst-directed action films I have ever seen, with one bit with a car being pushed over a cliff by a 4x4 featuring camera angles that changed every time the soundtrack did a booming sound so it looked like someone taking the piss out of Captain Scarlet, only I genuinely think the camera angles changing in time to the music was coincidence - it's that kind of bad.
I am tempted to call it a stupid movie on account of the plot making no sense at all, only the makers have so much overdubbing and Taken reading his emails and texts out loud to the audience that I'm convinced the makers thought the film was too brainy for audiences, which I find a mind-blowing concept.  The director wouldn't even put his real name on the end credits, unless there really is someone called Oliver Megatron - in which case a lot of this film's flaws start to make sense as this is clearly his revenge on the world.  If that was his intent: job done.
If his intent was to make a film that didn't suck ass: not so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 April, 2015, 11:58:48 PM
I liked the bit where Liam Neeson finds the evidence that would effectively clear him, then when the cops show up seconds later, instead of showing them it, he beats up a load of them then wreaks havoc across a freeway, probably maiming and murdering hundreds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 April, 2015, 08:33:23 AM
Quote from: Bear "Bear" McBear (bear) on 07 April, 2015, 11:50:04 PM
The director wouldn't even put his real name on the end credits, unless there really is someone called Oliver Megatron

I suspect you already know perfectly well that his name is Olivier Megaton, which isn't his real name and his choice of nom de guerre demonstrates a special kind of clueless, tasteless stupid if Wikipedia is to be believed:*

Fontana was born in France, 20 years to the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and his choice of the artistic name, Megaton, was influenced by this, even though the Hiroshima bomb was only 16 kilotons (0.016 megatons).

Cheers

Jim

*Yes, I know, but I was buggered if I was going to spend more than two minutes googling the fucker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 April, 2015, 10:06:31 PM
Been to see two films with the kids over the Easter Holidays. My daughter's choice Cinderella does exactly what it says on the tin, to use an advert based cliche. Luckily she didn't know it came with a Frozen short at the start, its was a delightful surprise for the kids and so my 3 year old son bought into the deal before the off and the dumb grin never left his face through the next 1 1/2 of entirely adequate, but utterly uninspiring, glowing, literal fairy tale reguritation that followed.

He got to chose this weeks movie and since the weather was so much nicer we were all a little more tired from funnin' it in the sun and so there seemed more pressure on this. However Spoungebob the Movie 2 something, something something was a smashing surprise. Now I know a little, but not very much about the telly show, which may be a big shame if its anywhere near as funny as this nonsense. Now don't get me wrong at no point does it pretend to be of any real value*, at no point does it even dally with the idea of having any real themes, or subtext, or anything thats not on its weirdo surface. Its not bright, its not clear and it might have flagged a little (just a little) in the middle third, but by gosh it made me, my 3 year old boy and my 5 year old daughter hoot with laughter from start to finish. You know what I'd heartly recommend this. Fantastically silly movie and Matt Berry's time traveling universal watchdog dolphin is quite possibly his finest role to date, which is saying quite something!

*Well of course laughter has its own inate vale you can ignore that come to think of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 April, 2015, 05:55:35 PM
Fast & Furious 7.  Great fun, and proves in our post-Clarkson world that you can be into car things without having to be a c[spoiler]un[/spoiler]t, though I did wonder why anyone in their right mind would call their car event "Race Wars" when they clearly don't employ any non-white strippers and all the ethnic groups tended to stick to their own kind in little clusters.  Loved the bit where the Rock has to remove a cast from his broken arm so he just flexes his muscles and it explodes, the way Diesel's car establishes his alpha credibility by literally fucking Statham's car onscreen, and the billionaire Arab bloke being so posh that the water coming out of his fountain is made of gold, as are his strippers.  The final shot was nearly perfect compared to how other references to Paul Walker were over-egged, and a good place to leave things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 April, 2015, 10:50:34 AM
Have been continuing my F&F rewatch so got to Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, which I like a lot. It feels a lot like a Step Up movie in places with the set-up and is nothing like the action juggernauts that came after, but the car chases are cool, Tokyo looks beautiful and it's got a nice Karate Kid arc to it. My biggest complaint with 7 is that [spoiler]Lucas Black isn't used more because I expected more crossover than just a token cameo, because I did like his character.[/spoiler]

And Fast & Furious (the 4th one, which they forgot to put a number on) which is still great. Not as over the top crazy with the action as the more recent films but it's definitely where the escalation starts. By this point you're really pleased to see the original cast back and having forgotten how it ended I actually jumped off the couch and did an excited fist-pump when the credits rolled.

Finally got round to a home rewatch of Guardians of The Galaxy too, and aside from the film still being fantastic fun (easily my favorite Marvel movie) the 3D Bluray is hands down the greatest looking movie I've ever seen in my life. It looks astonishing, so crisp it's unbelievable and the whole palette and design of the movie just makes for a really incredible feast for the eyes. Never seen a transfer like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 April, 2015, 12:15:05 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 April, 2015, 10:50:34 AMMy biggest complaint with 7 is that [spoiler]Lucas Black isn't used more because I expected more crossover than just a token cameo, because I did like his character.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I think that might have been by necessity of Black looking middle-aged in F7 despite his playing a high school kid.  Another reason for the brief appearance of the characters (the female lead doesn't even get a speaking part) may be that Tokyo Drift isn't particularly well-regarded even by F&F fans, to the point it was effectively written out of the franchise.  I think there's even a line in one of the follow-up movies about how Han would never set foot in Japan.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 April, 2015, 03:08:39 PM
Stonehearst Asylum - as saw that on Netflix USA last night, as realise it out at UK cinema this week! It was interesting film, loosely based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Nice twists as didn't reading the story before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 15 April, 2015, 03:53:45 PM
What we do in the shadows

Mockumentary following vampires living in New Zealand. Some really nicely done effects is the first stand out thing about this film.  The fact they are done in that 'handcam' style just makes it that much more mundane and believable, despite how unbelivable the instance is.  Deadpan throughout, it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times, and kept me amused for the entirety of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 April, 2015, 05:30:01 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 15 April, 2015, 03:53:45 PM
What we do in the shadows

Mockumentary following vampires living in New Zealand. Some really nicely done effects is the first stand out thing about this film.  The fact they are done in that 'handcam' style just makes it that much more mundane and believable, despite how unbelivable the instance is.  Deadpan throughout, it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times, and kept me amused for the entirety of the film.

Just saw the trailer for this on tumblr and was gonna ask if it was any good. Definitely worth my time by the sounds of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 April, 2015, 05:58:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 April, 2015, 05:30:01 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 15 April, 2015, 03:53:45 PM
What we do in the shadows

Mockumentary following vampires living in New Zealand. Some really nicely done effects is the first stand out thing about this film.  The fact they are done in that 'handcam' style just makes it that much more mundane and believable, despite how unbelivable the instance is.  Deadpan throughout, it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times, and kept me amused for the entirety of the film.

Just saw the trailer for this on tumblr and was gonna ask if it was any good. Definitely worth my time by the sounds of it.

There was a bit of a discussion about this in January : http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,31824.msg860703.html#msg860703 (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,31824.msg860703.html#msg860703)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 April, 2015, 07:52:45 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 April, 2015, 05:58:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 15 April, 2015, 05:30:01 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 15 April, 2015, 03:53:45 PM
What we do in the shadows

Mockumentary following vampires living in New Zealand. Some really nicely done effects is the first stand out thing about this film.  The fact they are done in that 'handcam' style just makes it that much more mundane and believable, despite how unbelivable the instance is.  Deadpan throughout, it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times, and kept me amused for the entirety of the film.

Just saw the trailer for this on tumblr and was gonna ask if it was any good. Definitely worth my time by the sounds of it.

There was a bit of a discussion about this in January : http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,31824.msg860703.html#msg860703 (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,31824.msg860703.html#msg860703)

Yeah, I bought it as soon as it came out - bloody hilarious (excuse the pun).  I watched the first 20 mins with my girls, but when they got to the bit where they discuss [spoiler]why they prefer the blood of virgins [/spoiler]I decided it probably wasn't appropriate!  :o :lol:

A nice documentary style, very much in the vein of This is Spinal Tap, but a bit less 'real' looking if you know what I mean.  Some unexpected and very well done special effects, all related to vampiric powers.

Lots of laugh out loud moments, but can't really go into them in great detail for fear of spoiling it for others.  I loved all the bits with Murray though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 April, 2015, 10:18:17 PM
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films - a documentary about the straight-to-VHS kings of the 1980s-1990s rental store.  I assumed a lot of the films featured were just clumsily put together, but according to this, they were made by a guy - and later pair of guys - whose first language wasn't English and who constantly and disastrously misunderstood the US market they were trying to crack.  Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were obsessed by making movies, but had more enthusiasm than common sense and by the time they got good advice about their projects the movies were almost finished shooting - hence Superman 4.  It's fascinating stuff, if only to see the empire they built on flim-flam and the near-incidental creation of the 1980s home video rental market that in turn impacted hugely on Hollywood because by the time big-budget movies got to the video stores they were on an even playing field with anything that had a poster hanging on the wall.
The above led me to want to rewatch Masters of the Universe, a cheesefest of clumsy POV action shots, dreadful flying SFX and Frank Langella hamming it up a storm as panto villain supreme Skeletor, in a role he desperately wanted so he could impress his son, who was as into He-Man as everyone else under 12 at the time.  I can't really think of anything to recommend it objectively apart from the air of earnestness and a lack of cynicism that's refreshing.  I had a big grin on my face at the end of this, though I think it mostly came about because I was in an indulgent mood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 April, 2015, 09:31:54 AM
Finally got round to watching The Babadook last night and thought it was fantastic. The imagery, the line of ambiguity it walks, the sound design, thought the whole thing was brilliantly executed and very intense. The way the threat itself is used is particularly effective, very disciplined. Lots of use of shadow and shapes that your eyes can't quite interpret. That sort of thing done well is pretty rare, and is the kind of thing that makes you scared of your own home at night. One of the best horror films I've seen in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 20 April, 2015, 11:15:08 AM
Quote from: Bear on 19 April, 2015, 10:18:17 PM
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films - a documentary about the straight-to-VHS kings of the 1980s-1990s rental store.  I assumed a lot of the films featured were just clumsily put together, but according to this, they were made by a guy - and later pair of guys - whose first language wasn't English and who constantly and disastrously misunderstood the US market they were trying to crack.  Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were obsessed by making movies, but had more enthusiasm than common sense and by the time they got good advice about their projects the movies were almost finished shooting - hence Superman 4.  It's fascinating stuff, if only to see the empire they built on flim-flam and the near-incidental creation of the 1980s home video rental market that in turn impacted hugely on Hollywood because by the time big-budget movies got to the video stores they were on an even playing field with anything that had a poster hanging on the wall.
I did a review of this for mine / my friend's site:

http://iscfc.net/2015/01/08/electric-boogaloo-the-wild-untold-story-of-cannon-films-2014/

Reading it back, it's a bit all over the place (my review), but I did do some original research on the guy who really got my goat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 April, 2015, 08:43:46 PM
A recent pair of transatlantic flights afforded me the opportunity to catch up with the big movies I'd missed at the pictures. Most of them seemed to be more about the performances than anything else.

Whiplash was good tense fun. All the media attention for this one was on JK Simmons as the teacher, but Miles Teller holds his own as the student. It was definitely a good choice to make both characters insufferable bellends as it made it into much more of an intense game of chicken than the playground beating it had sounded like. Drawbacks were crappy airline headphones (and no adaptor for my own) and the fact that I was getting bored of the song the third time they played it.

Birdman was also anchored by a pair of strong central performances (can't actually think of anyone who was bad, but Keaton and Ed Norton were both cracking) and further elevated by a streak of humour hitherto unknown in the work of Inarritu. While it's technically excellent, has some great jokes and I certainly enjoyed it, I'm not convinced that the supposed satire on art vs money is anything more than wind blowing into the neck of an empty bottle.

Another great performance, from Jake Gyllenhall this time, in Nightcrawler but with a bit more going in behind it. Our man is a weirdo and a chancer who stumbles into the world of selling grisly footage of accidents and crime to 24 hr news services. While it gets fairly preposterous towards the end, I really enjoyed this.

It looks fantastic. Gyllenhall manages to play weird awkwardness with a fascinating blankness. There's just enough real humour alongside the darkness and the central theme of our insatiable need for sensation and acceptance of what that delivers is something I thought worth considering. Definitely the cream of this crop.

I managed to stay awake for the first proper stomping in The Equalizer. It was alright and well built up to, but then I looked at how long was still to go and fell asleep instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 April, 2015, 08:50:39 PM
I'd go with you on those Cosh and agree that Nightcrawler was the pick of the litter.

I saw Robot Overlords and apart from 2 Progs showing up it was really disappointing. Surprisingly dull given the premise and I lost interest after half an hour.

Did really like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold with Richard Burton excellent as the pissed up spook.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 April, 2015, 10:41:12 PM
Fantasia

A film I haven't seen since a lot of viewings in my youth - and as such there is a giddy evocativeness to the beautiful mythical landscapes of The Pastoral Symphony and the breathtakingly doomy Night on Bald Mountain - the latter of which is what can only be described as deeply metal.

Due to the nature of how often this was chopped and changed and the fact that it's more of an elaborate and admirable artistic experiment than an actual narrative animation it doesn't hang together remarkably well but it is at the very least a high water mark in the history of animation - some sequences within are unfathomably intricate.

Refreshing that one of the biggest companies on the face of the planet had such experimental offerings in its initial canon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 April, 2015, 11:32:30 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 April, 2015, 10:41:12 PM
Fantasia

A film I haven't seen since a lot of viewings in my youth - and as such there is a giddy evocativeness to the beautiful mythical landscapes of The Pastoral Symphony and the breathtakingly doomy Night on Bald Mountain - the latter of which is what can only be described as deeply metal.

Due to the nature of how often this was chopped and changed and the fact that it's more of an elaborate and admirable artistic experiment than an actual narrative animation it doesn't hang together remarkably well but it is at the very least a high water mark in the history of animation - some sequences within are unfathomably intricate.

Refreshing that one of the biggest companies on the face of the planet had such experimental offerings in its initial canon.

I do love Fantastia, but it's a bit of a mixed bag, eh?  The standout sections for me were Rites of Spring, the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Night on Bald Mountain, and the intervals where they have fun with the instruments and soundwaves. 

The bits I found mawkish were the Nutcracker Suite, Ave Maria, and the one with the hippos and bubbles, whose name eludes me.  That said, re that last one I have a right bloody guffaw when the crocodiles turn up and cause havoc, and the final collapsing stage sets are a great punchline.

When all is said and done though, it is a tremendous technical feat, given it was all hand drawn, painted and timed perfectly to the music.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 April, 2015, 02:11:34 PM
The Mist, finally watch it on Netflix as last saw it at cinema 8 years ago, strangest it not on TV or Sky Movies for last 8 years??

That was really a great film, I know why I didn't re-watched it soon cos of that ending, so brutal!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 April, 2015, 03:53:58 PM
I think it's been on (or is due to be on) the (newly freeview-available) Horror Channel
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 21 April, 2015, 03:55:39 PM
Oh Horror Channel, sadly all programmes on it dont got subtitles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 21 April, 2015, 03:59:59 PM
I started watching it on the Horror Channel a few weeks ago, but the picture was terrible -a bit 'americanised', for want of a better word. Compared to how it looked when I'd watched it on channel 4, the contrast was much too high, so the colours were a bit over-saturated, and there was a slight lag to all the movements, which made the picture quality suffer - bit like they were streaming a not-quite-legit copy direct from the internet!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 April, 2015, 04:34:17 PM
I've found that with any Horror Channel stuff I've watched, the picture quality is always terrible. I know switching from HD channels to SD stuff is never going to look great, but it's especially bad. Tends to look like a low resolution youtube video blown up. Have never settled on the channel to watch something for that reason. Could be a Virgin thing, might be better on other providers or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 April, 2015, 09:19:23 PM
I think I have the DVD in the 'didn't sell at the car boot' box. I'll have a check and if anyone wants it, it's yours for the postage.


Edited: That's 'The Mist' by the way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 April, 2015, 11:27:27 PM
*sigh*... Burlesque

I bought this for Lady Geoffery who has a high tolerance for terrible films with Cher in them. However even she, after the hour and three quarters of terrible bullshit that is this film, conceded even the fairly likeable Cher can't save it.

There's no real plot - it's just Christina as an unconvincing Mary-Sue doing a whole load of stuff that isn't even burlesque. Just saying "burlesque" a lot. Which doesn't automatically make it burlesque. It makes it shallow imitation of Moulin Rouge, which was already pretty fucking shallow.

If this film was about Alan Cumming's rarely-seen completely-unexplained character (who actually DOES what you could term as Burlesque in a very short sequence) it would be about sixty thousand times better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 April, 2015, 10:17:29 AM
Saw 20mins of Burlesque the other night too coincidentally. It was the bit where (spoilers for Burlesque imminent) [spoiler]Kristen Bell (deserves better) sabotages Aguilera's performance by unplugging the microphones, and then Aguilera proves she's the best by performing without one.[/spoiler] Seemed like it should have been great fun but somehow wasn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 April, 2015, 02:18:16 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 April, 2015, 11:27:27 PM
*sigh*... Burlesque

films with Cher in them.

Isn't that the very definition of a terrible film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 April, 2015, 02:32:49 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 April, 2015, 02:18:16 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 April, 2015, 11:27:27 PM
*sigh*... Burlesque

films with Cher in them.

Isn't that the very definition of a terrible film?

To be fair, I'm not convinced Cher is actually in Burlesque. None of her facial muscles moved at all so I suspect it was another actor in a mask.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 April, 2015, 02:46:20 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 April, 2015, 02:32:49 PManother actor in a mask.

(http://www.telsu.fi/l/naamio_2917163.jpg)

To be fair I quite enjoyed Mask - mostly because Sam Elliott as a hell's angel is phenomenally glorious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 April, 2015, 04:56:16 PM
Mask is a classic! I remember seeing it as a kid and getting genuinely quite emotional, which was rare back then when my viewing habits were pretty much The A Team and He Man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 22 April, 2015, 05:32:28 PM
Still got a fair sized pile of new stuff to watch, but succumbed to a bit of tried and tested comfort food the last couple of days.

Soylent Green, and The Omega Man. Classic 70's Chuck Heston, and both films are great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 22 April, 2015, 10:53:59 PM
Against my better judgement, I just watched Transformers: Age of Extinction.

What just happened?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 22 April, 2015, 11:22:36 PM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 22 April, 2015, 10:53:59 PM
Against my better judgement, I just watched Transformers: Age of Extinction.

What just happened?

Most likely what your feeling was Michael bay killing that last little bit of inner child left inside you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 23 April, 2015, 11:47:40 PM
Re-watch Looper, wish the first half of film is whole of film, what the hell 2nd half about?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 25 April, 2015, 12:35:41 AM
Drunken review of X-Men Days of Future Past

As someone who watched X-Men 1 in the cinema as a kid with bated breath  this was a tremendous exercise in nostalgia. Blending everything from 2000 to 2011 with enormous charm and expert pace Days of Future Past is not necessarily comic-continuitastic but as a pure love-letter for those who went breathlessly to the cinema at the millennium it is utterly perfect and should be commended for keeping the tone so level
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 25 April, 2015, 09:18:33 AM
That was quite restrained for a drunken review I think I meant "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!"

(http://www.pbi-now.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kids-on-computer.jpg)<-- me the whole way through
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 April, 2015, 09:48:13 AM
I must have been in my later twenties when I saw the first X-man live action film.

Back then, I had my own transport (Thanxs to my dad!) and I was looking forward to seeing that film since it was the first of a few more comic book adaption in a time when they could make it look real enough to believe.

I don't care about the secret messages or politics that the film makers and original authors have tried to in corporate into their work.

I just like the pretty colours.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 25 April, 2015, 01:30:01 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 25 April, 2015, 09:48:13 AM
the first X-man live action film
Never heard of it mate
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 April, 2015, 05:17:54 PM
There can't be many film series where the seventh installment is the biggest hit, if not the best, at least able to hold its head up in polite company without shame. Fast & Furious 7 was a lot of fun but it's the first time since 2 Fast 2 Furious where there's a noticeable step down when compared to the previous film. It's also the first of the reborn FF films not to have Justin Lin directing and it seems that this might be a loss to the series.

That said, there's still plenty to like. Statham makes for a decent villain, although none of his subsequent scenes match his first fight with The Rock. The traditional rolling hijack scene is the ludicrous high point of this one but I thought it suffered by not having a finale to sit alongside the safe heist or runway scenes from the last two. And yes, I'm aware that I'm describing a sequence in which [spoiler]The Rock tosses aside the spent minigun he ripped from a Predator drone which he brought down by driving an ambulance off a bridge into it so he can use his Magnum to shoot down a helicopter by firing at the bag of grenades hanging from the runner where they were tossed by Dom Toretto when he launched his Dodge Charger out of an exploding multi-storey car park[/spoiler] as  low key.

These films have always managed to keep a straight face around the absurdity and, from the start, the group dynamic and all those wonderful and cheesily but admirable ideas of loyalty have been central to the way things have developed. If there's not at least one scene of Vin Diesel presiding patriarchally over a barbeque pit, I want to know why. What this means is that the final scenes, reflecting on Brian getting out, don't seem forced or manipulative but a natural part of the story. Dom's final voiceover, with its plain dual meaning, carries a real punch and I don't mind admitting that the simplicity of that closing scene brought a manly tear to my eye.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 April, 2015, 05:59:39 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 25 April, 2015, 01:30:01 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 25 April, 2015, 09:48:13 AM
the first X-man live action film
Never heard of it mate

Ru kidding around....

X-men (https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=x-men+film&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NCHC_en-GBAU631AU631&q=x-men+film&gs_l=hp....0.0.0.5937...........0.gNHI-wzUreY&gws_rd=ssl)

That's right there, released in year 2000...

I vividly recall the opening scene where Logan would rely on his abilities to win money fighting in some small Canadian town and the scene where he stole a motor bike.

The cheeks on either side of his face pulled back by the force of acceleration.

I thought his Hugh Jackson portrayal of that character was good enough in that film and in spite his impressive physique he seemed to be phoning it in in later films.

Not doing enough of what of his physical mannerism and quotes.

I've read that Gary Sinise was contender for the role of Wolverine as well...

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTI8nKT6udjvE-lRdiA_8RUGWpnKQkkNbn9x3hpZ4bkQzpsUjv7)

That might have been interesting. As I thought he was supposed to be well built muscular, but short man. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 26 April, 2015, 03:31:57 PM
Two great little horror movies: Spring and Housebound. Don't really want to say too much about them. Better to go in cold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2015, 04:50:26 PM
The Emperor's New Clothes - Russell Brand's "film" about the unequal distribution of wealth in western societies never quite gets past the truly hilarious central premise of Russell Brand doing a documentary about economics, but if you can see past that, it makes a great companion piece to Adam Curtis' Bitter Lake, as they share a very similar structure and narrative drive in using footage of normal families to show the victims of dominoes set in motion by plutocrats decades earlier who safeguarded the interests of a small group of wealthy individuals under the guise of serving the best interests of society as a whole.
The film explains in terms so simple even I understood it how Thatcher and Reagen got around a table and over their mutual admiration of the discredited fringe economist Milton Friedman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman) created not a society geared towards upwards mobility and individual enterprise but towards funneling into private hands the cash usually meant for funding of "socialist" mechanisms that were actually necessary to make capitalism work as it should and the economy grow (public transport, healthcare, etc), and now there are huge amounts of money that no longer contribute to society but instead are channeled into offshore accounts where they do nothing but accrue interest on behalf of a small number of individuals, and how this has snowballed from a simple cash-grab in the 1980s to a worldwide post-millennial shell game predicated on maintaining the illusion of a mountain of debt that is being traded instead of real money and which is constantly being paid off by the poorest in society.
The message is that capitalism has gone horribly wrong and we're probably all fucked - or 99 percent of us are, at any rate - but that things will be okay because change is constant and inevitable and things get better, an approach which sets the film apart from the usual political documentaries that often try to end on sour notes as a call to action.  Brand instead almost calls for inaction in offering no alternatives, not even his often-referenced idea of decentralised power returned to an increased number of smaller self-governing and self-sustaining communities, and the uplifting moments come not from grand game-changing events but from smaller, human victories over corporate power and the inescapable notion that people aren't stupid or cowed and that change for the better is genuinely around the corner even if the political elite don't look to be a part of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 April, 2015, 08:21:12 PM
The Cosh's review of F&F7 is bang on, I agree on all fronts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 29 April, 2015, 09:00:11 PM
Drive Angry - so dumb action film, and that Mr Cage's hair! lol but strange best thing about the film is that coolest William Fichtner as The Accountant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 April, 2015, 11:19:06 PM
Avengers: Age of Ultron.  I enjoyed it and it is very well made, but...
A lot of it felt forced and contrived, from the witty banter to the clumsy setup of new characters.  Maybe I'm rose-tinting my memories of the first one, but in my mind it seems a bit more effortless than this one, which is convoluted but not actually complex, full of characters but lacking in personality, looks spectacular but feels hollow, and like Star Trek Into Darkness has a third act that drags on regardless of the curveballs or action scenes it introduces.  Scarlet Witch also seems to be Poison Ivy from Batman And Robin, and once that got in my head, it was hard not to see James Spader's wisecracking Ultron as anything other than Arnie's Mr Freeze, certainly not when his masterplan was revealed to be a plot to [spoiler]extinction mankind in an artificially-created ice age and then the superheroes have to save some people from falling off cliffs.[/spoiler]  I liked Batman and Robin, though, so it's far from a deal-breaker, I just find it amusing that people will gleefully accept ludicrous superhero shenanigans only if you strip the homoeroticism out of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 30 April, 2015, 12:43:49 AM
Quote from: Bear on 29 April, 2015, 11:19:06 PM
I liked Batman and Robin, though, so it's far from a deal-breaker, I just find it amusing that people will gleefully accept ludicrous superhero shenanigans only if you strip the homoeroticism out of it.


Fnar! I don't know if garishness and Akiva Goldsman can be wholly claimed for homoeroticism but I think Thor and his merry-men are probably the most homoerotic grouping since the Spartans of 300 - one of only 2 Zack Snyder films I've managed to enjoy.







Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 30 April, 2015, 10:49:01 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 April, 2015, 12:43:49 AM
one of only 2 Zack Snyder films I've managed to enjoy.

Can we assume Dawn of the Dead was the other?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 May, 2015, 10:17:52 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 30 April, 2015, 10:49:01 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 April, 2015, 12:43:49 AM
one of only 2 Zack Snyder films I've managed to enjoy.

Can we assume Dawn of the Dead was the other?

It can't possibly be Watchmen, due to the distinct lack of squid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeOiNK! on 03 May, 2015, 12:49:05 AM
Well there's no prizes for guessing what movie quite a lot of us have as out 'Last movie watched' tonight!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hazy efc on 04 May, 2015, 04:55:26 PM
Sharknado 2 it was amazing no im just kidding :lol: but my girlfriend did make me sit through horrible bosses and it was surprisingly ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 May, 2015, 05:13:10 PM
John Wick.

I really enjoyed that. Rather like Dredd, in as much as it has a lean running time (1hr 41), an —ahem— uncomplicated plot, and lashings of violence. Stylish, cool, relentless. And, like Dredd, somewhat redolent of a kind of film they don't seem to make much any more.

(I have to note the slight distraction of recognising literally every actor from some damn thing or other I've been watching on TV recently, which is hardly a significant criticism of the movie itself...)

Won't change your life, but entertained the hell out of me.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 May, 2015, 05:35:36 PM
I really need to see John Wick - sounds like it would be right up my street.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 May, 2015, 11:10:46 AM
Second the recommendation, thoroughly fun fighty film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 May, 2015, 11:52:47 AM
Seems like every day I hear another glowing recommendation for John Wick, hoping it appears on Netflix soon.

Watched some movies at the weekend -

Columbiana - This was Bea's pick and we both enjoyed it in a dumb nonsensical way. It's pretty much just Zoe Saldana looking incredible and killing a lot of people, I tuned out of the plot a bit at points and wasn't really sure why most things were happening.

There's one of those attempts at a Bourne fight scene where she's grabbing improvised objects as weapons that didn't really work for me [spoiler]because I wasn't convinced that toothbrushes would be more effective than punches[/spoiler] but it's all a bit of silly fun. Highlight is the finale, [spoiler]because the frontal assault made us laugh a lot. She'd been all about crafty infiltration throughout the film and, spotting there were only 15 minutes to go and a lot of bad guys still to kill I wondered how they could possibly wrap it up. Then the bazooka fires and you realize she's just going to run in and tear through them quicksmart. Didn't see that coming, and it was the kind of gag that made Punisher: War Zone a good laugh, although this film isn't a patch on that masterpiece.[/spoiler]

Can't really recommend it much, the action doesn't have much flair and it's largely a bit dull but if it's on telly and you just want to see Zoe Saldana shoot guys and can't be bothered reaching for the remote then batter in.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Commented on this in the other thread, but a quick summary is it was alright, one of the weaker Marvel films I reckon.

20,000 Days On Earth - Absolutely loved this, but then I'm a pretty big Nick Cave fan so it's hard to tell how engaging it would be if you weren't. I do think it works really well as an exploration of creativity and writing and performing, that it stands as a great film in its own right. Plus even if you're not into Cave's music he's a fascinating guy to hear talk about these things. Looks beautiful too, a really great film, loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 May, 2015, 01:20:42 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 May, 2015, 11:52:47 AM
Seems like every day I hear another glowing recommendation for John Wick

Yeah, looking forward to seeing it.
Out tomorrow on Region 2 DVD, though I think I'll wait for a price drop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 07 May, 2015, 02:49:04 PM
Mad Max.

Still brilliant with Mad Mel before the drink and anti Semitism helped him push the self destruct button. I was a little shocked at the violence, intimidation and rape [both of males and female victims] which they indulged in. The bikers really were vermin and I'm sure the bronze badge the Law men wear must have been inspired by Dredd's.

Still an Action classic despite the years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 May, 2015, 03:07:06 PM
Pride - if you know the premise for this, you know the entire story already.  A slight and inoffensive political fairy tale with neither grit nor meat to it, though you may be offended by the twee representation of the British working classes, here portrayed as alien life forms visited by cosmopolitan middle-class gays to be taught a thing or two about community spirit.  Pointless.

Black Sea - Jude Law goes Ahab for some lost Nazzi gold.  One of those stories that relies upon the viewers' familiarity with its tropes to fill in the blanks left by the script, so familiar is the path it treads.  Not good, but not terrible, either.  Nice production design, and the sub feels like a real place rather than a fancy set - otherwise not worth bothering with.

Road Wars - another Asylum knock-off, this time trying to glom onto the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road, and as usual, the budget lets the side down as the three cars they could afford to make look rusty are too expensive to blow up or risk driving over 15mph, so they film in a way that doesn't quite obscure the wheels or the ground so you can always tell they're going about 8mph doing PEW PEW PEW at each other for like three minutes, and then they stop by some abandoned building and get out and wander around it for ten minutes before driving at 8mph again, sometimes at night where the director forgets the story is post-apocalyptic and he shouldn't be getting highly-illuminated nearby cities clearly in shot.  I don't know why I keep coming back to The Asylum because they've made something like 2 half decent films out of the 50 or so that I've seen, and this is a typical duffer that doesn't even have some of the reassuring physical effects or inventive action or gore of earlier efforts.  Straight-to-video vapor that's not worth your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 May, 2015, 06:24:55 PM
Quote from: Bear on 07 May, 2015, 03:07:06 PM
Pride - if you know the premise for this, you know the entire story already.  A slight and inoffensive political fairy tale with neither grit nor meat to it, though you may be offended by the twee representation of the British working classes, here portrayed as alien life forms visited by cosmopolitan middle-class gays to be taught a thing or two about community spirit.  Pointless.

At last we were allowed to know it was about gay stuff - unlike american DVD consumers who may have freaked out and shot up their local Walmart if they'd spotted the G word: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/06/us-distributors-pride-accused-removing-gay-references-dvd-cover (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/06/us-distributors-pride-accused-removing-gay-references-dvd-cover)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 May, 2015, 10:19:17 AM
John Wick - I read the above reports and thought I'd give it a go even though I never really fancied it. Its  shit. I agree with Jim above though that every single character in the film has a face you will know from that show you used to watch. TBH I enjoyed it much more when I started pretending his name was Frank Castle. I would've probably been kinder to this one if I hadn't just watched Kingsman the night before...

Kingsman - Brilliant! Loving spoof/tribute to the 70's Bond movies. Theres a fantastic scene where Mr Darcy knocks fuck out about 40 folk at once. Might actually watch this again at the weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 May, 2015, 10:31:03 AM
Kingsman was great - did you pick up that [spoiler]the keypad code at the end spelled out 'Anal'?[/spoiler] I thought this was a kid's film - the gruesome deaths, swearing and bum love references changed that perception!

Watched 'The Salvation' last night - cracking Danish western that follows a familiar murder and revenge plot. Lots of 'Oh the humanity' moments - thought it was like 'The Quick and the dead' mashed up with 'Blazing Saddles' well worth checking out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 May, 2015, 11:11:07 AM
Didn't notice that butt its a nice touch  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 08 May, 2015, 11:25:48 AM
Quote from: hazy efc on 04 May, 2015, 04:55:26 PM
Sharknado 2 it was amazing no im just kidding :lol: but my girlfriend did make me sit through horrible bosses and it was surprisingly ok.

Isn't strange how a lot weird shark movies are being made lately and shown as cheap sci-fi with added gimmick with something based on supernatural or some thing natural like tornado's or ghost sharks.

When I'm willing to except the that these movies have always been around....

Mainly about zombies, vampires and werewolves.

It think a lot of these a being made by the same people for that small chunk of profit until they can afford to make something worth-while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 May, 2015, 11:57:59 PM
The Harry Hill Movie

If you like Harry Hill, you'll probably lap this up. Bright and fun absurdist comedy without any meanness - it's just purely, beautifully silly. It does drag a bit around the hour mark but the cast are clearly having fun and unlike other "populist Brit comedies" it doesn't rely on twatty stereotypes to get its laughs which is worth applauding particularly. The "Magic Numbers B&B" bit is great.

Likely a bit of a flat experience in the cinema but at home it was a hoot. Not at all terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 May, 2015, 07:22:32 AM
Quote from: Bear on 07 May, 2015, 03:07:06 PM
Pride - if you know the premise for this, you know the entire story already.  A slight and inoffensive political fairy tale with neither grit nor meat to it, though you may be offended by the twee representation of the British working classes, here portrayed as alien life forms visited by cosmopolitan middle-class gays to be taught a thing or two about community spirit.  Pointless.
I thought it was amazing, maybe my favourite film of the year. Disclosure: I know someone who was "in" the film (she was part of the original group and one of the characters is based on her) and she says the meat and drink of it is remarkably honest, although the actual group was much larger and spent more time arguing politics.

I mean, I don't think it's unfair to say the two sides were fairly alien to each other at the time, which is why the struggle of the strike is so important, bringing those people together and allowing them to learn from each other. And, as you've seen the film, I've got no idea why you'd call them middle-class - look at the squalid accommodation they had. They were oppressed people helping other oppressed people.

It's hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad in equal measure, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 11 May, 2015, 12:23:05 AM
Just managed to catch up with John Wick at my last visit to the cinema....I'd heard both good and bad reviews but thought I'd give it a try anyway..

Verdict as follows :
Hugely entertaining with an extremely high 'body count',  and lashings of stylish and skilfully choreographed violence.  ( A bit like Chow Yun Fat in Hard Boiled )..
A very 'slight' plot and Keanu was his usual self ....make of that what you will....

Just don't go looking for a thought provoking and intellect stimulating movie...Just go, sit back and enjoy a good 'shoot em up' movie.
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 11 May, 2015, 12:35:19 AM
Calvary

I was told, having loved The Guard, to be wary of this. It's a great deal darker - a great deal colder and a whole lot bleaker. Until I saw Gleeson's interview on the DVD I still wasn't quite sure what to make of Calvary's... sometimes seemingly random plot which wound dizzily along to a very stone cold finale - but yes, it's seven stages of grief in seven days. Tremendous.

Yes it is a great deal less palatable than McDonagh's previous but the cast are golden and the ultimate message - which I think is one of openness - is quite bleakly profound. I was wary but I came away moved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2015, 12:15:35 PM
Paddington

I expected to be bored but loved every single minute. One of the best family films I've ever seen and surely destined to become a Mary Poppins-grade classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 11 May, 2015, 12:58:47 PM
I know you watched it alone x :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dancornwell on 11 May, 2015, 02:10:47 PM
Giovanni's Island.

A good Anime but not as good as Spirited Away or similar. Reminds me of Grave of Fireflies. Second World War setting with two kids trying to survive an occupation by the Russians.
7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 May, 2015, 04:47:47 PM
Blade

The film that began it all.  A quality comic book adaptation and a fine addition to the Action Vampire genre (if there is such a thing).  I remember seeing this in 90's when it was released on VHS and it was a favourite at the time.  I remember being impressed with the choices in lighting - which at the time felt fresh even if they look common place now.  The action is well choreographed, entertaining with a nice sprinkling of humour at times.  The performances certainly don't grate and Stephen Dorff performed well as a petulant Deacon Frost.  The story is concise and paced well.  I never noticed before today that the climax takes up nearly half of the films run time.  It really doesn't seem like it as the pace ramps up and appears to flash by quickly.

I have no idea whether this film was any help in allowing X-Men to get the green light.  It might not be a relevant point.  This is certainly one of the quality Marvel adaptations and I can't think of any precursors that match it's execution.

I may continue watch the Blade film franchise as I have always enjoyed it as a whole.  Even the third one.  Who knows, maybe I'll marathon my way through Marvel films.  Only question is, if I do that will I have to endure the Daredevil and Ghost Rider films again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 May, 2015, 05:02:20 PM
JOHN WICK
Well, that was good. Rather reminded me of imaginary games of soldiers as a child where you walk into a room full of Nazis or aliens and shoot them all in a beautifully choreographed frenzy. Except when I did it I was never accompanied by such fantastic music and never looked as effortlessly cool as Keanau.

WOLF OF WALL STREET
Reminded me of goodfellas but at least the gangsters had some charm. Really didn't enjoy this and it should have been right up my street. I even felt Leo was phoning it in somewhat. And his resignation lasted about as long as Farage.
More like the "Shit of Shit Street".

OLD BOY
Yeah, I couldn't believe I hadn't seen this either.  I was expecting a martial arts romp (don't ask me why, probably because all people ever mention is "the corridor fight"). But instead it's a pure mad mental chunk of Korean neon-noir. (or should that be neo-noir) with a neat twist and a very challenging premise. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 09:51:53 PM
Zombie Flesh Eatters.

You know I would have sworn I'd seen this film in my youth, but if I did it clearly washed over me.Which to be honest wouldn't have entirely surprised as it pretty damned mah... well except for Zombie vs Shark. ZOMBIE VS, FUCKIN' SHARK.

How cool is that. I know, I know bloody ridiculous but, still how fuckin' cool.

And also how the well did they film that.Cos for the life of me that was Zombie vs Shark and the shark looked bloody real and the zombie was wearing apparatus.So it must have been filmed by the lungful!

Average zombie movie except ZOMBIE VS SHARK (oh and being pulled onto big fuckin' splitter which was grim)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 11 May, 2015, 10:02:30 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 09:51:53 PM

And also how the well did they film that.Cos for the life of me that was Zombie vs Shark and the shark looked bloody real and the zombie was wearing apparatus.So it must have been filmed by the lungful!

From what I read, they fed the shark to bursting point with horsemeat, and drugged it to sedate it. Plus the guy playing the zombie was the shark's trainer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2015, 10:09:57 PM
I saw that was on and am gutted I missed it. I've never seen it. The cover of the video (nasty) seemed so alluring to a seven year old me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 10:14:22 PM
Of course I meant 'wasn't wearing apparatus' - one day I will get my negatives sorted on this place. Promise.

Makes sense what you said Greg. I also figured it was probably a benign species of shark - I mean I've swam with sharks a few times and most of um are soft as anything... or at least don't bite ya bloody arm off. But soft as a shark might be (towards humans that is) you pretend to bite its fin off its going to use those nashers on you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 May, 2015, 10:58:05 PM
Sharks are the bastards of the sea.  Isn't there a bit in Zombie Flesh Eaters where someone gets their eye stabbed slowly through with a huge splinter?  That and the shark scene are the only decent bits in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 11 May, 2015, 11:08:40 PM
Quote from: Bear on 11 May, 2015, 10:58:05 PM
That and the shark scene are the only decent bits in it.

Apart from the nudie bits.

Another thumbs up for John Wick - Bonkers action with alumni from Battle Creek, The Wire and Game of Thrones filling out the roster. [spoiler]Slightly disappointed in the final pay off which seems a bit easy and indistinct - was the Daddy Russian even killed?[/spoiler] but overall it was a lot of fun.

Also enjoyed 'Pitch Perfect' as a guilty pleasure. I liked Anna Kendrick from 'The Voices' and 'Up in the Air' and she showed a good set of pipes here. Sequel out this week - toying with Mad Max for my cinema spend. (going with Max).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2015, 12:17:30 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 10:14:22 PM
Of course I meant 'wasn't wearing apparatus' - one day I will get my negatives sorted on this place. Promise.

Makes sense what you said Greg. I also figured it was probably a benign species of shark - I mean I've swam with sharks a few times and most of um are soft as anything... or at least don't bite ya bloody arm off. But soft as a shark might be (towards humans that is) you pretend to bite its fin off its going to use those nashers on you!

Soft....what about their denticles?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 12 May, 2015, 07:41:41 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 10:14:22 PM
I also figured it was probably a benign species of shark

It's a tiger shark. Probably one of the less benign options!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 May, 2015, 08:01:29 AM
Their original choice was a Bull Shark, frequent in the waters around the Bahamas. And the only one renowned as a people eater. Yeah, a tamed Tiger Shark seem's a much better option.

As naff as it is, I still consider ZFE to be amongst the best of the genre, considering the overwhelming majority of movies to feature stumbling corpses are dreadful anyway, to be able to make one that serves as a tie in to Dawn of the Dead (Romero's movie was released as Zombi in Europe, and ZFE's original title was Zombi 2. It's a direct sequel!) and is actualy rather good, is somewhat remarkable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 May, 2015, 10:11:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 12 May, 2015, 08:01:29 AM
...to be able to make one that serves as a tie in to Dawn of the Dead (Romero's movie was released as Zombi in Europe, and ZFE's original title was Zombi 2. It's a direct sequel!) and is actualy rather good, is somewhat remarkable.

Well of course its not. I reminded myself of the history of this film before watching as I know its all a bit tangled. Its in no way an official sequel it was made so that it could be tied to Dawn (actually its more of a prequel of course) and I believe some of the New York stuff at the beginning and the scene at the end added after the fact because of the success of Dawn to make it seem like it was related. The 'Goblin' soundtrack was added as well to give further common ground. In some territories it ran as though it was a sequel, in others not so. I'd guess depending on the legality of hitching yourself onto the back of another film with no permission whatsoever.

Very cheeky. Imagine someone trying to get away with that these days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 May, 2015, 12:42:53 PM
Amusingly, Romero is credited with having never watched ZFE. Hell, until he met director Lucio Fulci he wasn't aware it even existed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 May, 2015, 04:55:41 PM
Blade II

It's directed by Guillermo Del Toro, why isn't it better than it is?  It's not the worst Marvel film by any stretch of the imagination but it is riddled with inconsistencies and poor narrative choices.  It looks OK.  It has Ron Perlman in it.  It's not as good as the first one.  That being said, it is a slight divergence from the original - which I like.  I am no fan of carbon copy sequels.  There's some interesting stuff in the film and by and large it is an entertaining romp.

Tonight, if I have time, I will watch Blade Trinity.  It's got Ryan Reynolds in it.  He's going to be playing Deadpool (again).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 12 May, 2015, 07:23:24 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 12 May, 2015, 08:01:29 AM
...to be able to make one that serves as a tie in to Dawn of the Dead (Romero's movie was released as Zombi in Europe, and ZFE's original title was Zombi 2. It's a direct sequel!)

Zombi is Dario Argento's cut of Dawn of the Dead, which skips alot of the character stuff, and gets straight to the zombie action (if my memory serves me correctly).

Zombi 2 is only an unofficial sequel anyway, like Troll 2. Still awesome though, very nearly Fulci's best film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 12 May, 2015, 07:28:53 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 12 May, 2015, 07:23:24 PM
Still awesome though, very nearly Fulci's best film.

The Beyond for top spot, I assume?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 12 May, 2015, 08:44:27 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 12 May, 2015, 07:28:53 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 12 May, 2015, 07:23:24 PM
Still awesome though, very nearly Fulci's best film.

The Beyond for top spot, I assume?

You assume correctly, sir :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2015, 09:26:25 AM
Saw The Beyond for the first time last year as the last film in an all night cinema marathon and found it pretty rough going! I'd wanted to see it for ages, but it felt very, very slow (that bit with the tarantulas seemed to go on for days). Desperately wanting my bed might have contributed massively to that though, should maybe give it another go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 May, 2015, 10:14:25 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2015, 09:26:25 AM
Saw The Beyond for the first time last year as the last film in an all night cinema marathon and found it pretty rough going!

I think there's a certain level of expectation with The Beyond. So much has been written about it - Fulci's apparent intention to homage Antonin Artaud,  the impact of its non-linear aspects, the meaning of its symbolism - that it's easy to forget that it's a ridiculously gory, frequently incoherent movie with a hell of a lot of rough edges. Which is a massive part of the charm, and I absolutely love it. Brilliant ending, brilliant soundtrack, proper scary bits. Plus, David Warbeck. Loading his gun by putting a bullet down the barrel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 May, 2015, 05:34:26 PM
Blade Trinity

In many ways this is about as good as the second one.  The two sequels don't compare well to the first of the films probably because the first film had a pretty decent story.  The final instalment suffers from franchise tropes, clumsy dialogue often badly delivered and a messy plot.  It looks good and the action is certainly more than competent.  It has it's moments which provide satisfactory entertainment.  I like Ryan Reynolds in the role of Hannibal King and despite the crappy lines he had to deliver at times, he certainly delivered them well.  Well enough that I think with a funny script he could shine.  Fingers crossed for Deadpool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 13 May, 2015, 06:05:03 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2015, 09:26:25 AM
...found it pretty rough going! I'd wanted to see it for ages, but it felt very, very slow

I think this can be said for most of Fulci's films, but he's an absolute master at creating a chilling atmosphere.
The Beyond and City of the Living Dead are probably my personal favourites*, for exactly this reason.
Plots be damned!

*That said, House by the Cemetary never gets old. It's not what I'd call fast paced, but it is a bit more entertaining than his other output. Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 13 May, 2015, 11:20:47 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 May, 2015, 09:51:53 PM
Zombie Flesh Eatters.

You know I would have sworn I'd seen this film in my youth, but if I did it clearly washed over me.Which to be honest wouldn't have entirely surprised as it pretty damned mah... well except for Zombie vs Shark. ZOMBIE VS, FUCKIN' SHARK.

The shark bit is a strange one but the main thing I remember from that film is the bodies wrapped in white sheets slowly sitting up and then the head-shot.   :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 May, 2015, 08:45:51 AM
Fulci was one of the masters of atmosphere. I recently binge watched a ton of his out put, and i'm pretty sure I have a top 5 in order....

1. The Beyond
2. City of the Living Dead
3. Zombie Flesh Eaters
4. Dont Torture a Duckling
5. Contraband
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 15 May, 2015, 12:09:48 PM
Lord of the rings
The two towers
Return of the king

Saw all three. Extended. In one sitting besides taking a walk, break and nap half way through two towers.

Besides movie being a hour longer than I thought they'd be, I thought they came together really good. Felt like one long film. The special effects also felt more lively than the cgi fest in Hobbit. I'm amazed in Peter Jackson's film making. Some really good phasing and story telling. While not much of a story (imo), I found myself really liking it.

I perhaps won't watch it all again in one sitting, but I wouldn't mind seeing all three again someday. Perhaps half a movie per evening times six.

4 hobbit ales out of 5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 May, 2015, 12:14:03 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 15 May, 2015, 12:09:48 PM
Saw all three. Extended. In one sitting besides taking a walk, break and nap half way through two towers.

The Extended Two Towers is remarkable, in as much as at feels like a shorter film than the theatrical version, despite being 45 minutes longer, because the pacing is so much better in the longer cut.

I didn't feel the extended additions to RotK really added much, TBH.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 May, 2015, 12:27:38 PM
Saw Mad Max: Fury Road at IMAX 3D last night and was completely blown away. I want to watch it a few dozen more times, there's so much to take in on one viewing, but there were a few times when I was just flattened by the scale of the carnage unfolding. It's properly mental. The highest hopes I had were that it would come close to Mad Max 2, and while it'll take a few more watches to be sure, right now I'm thinking it might be better.

That's the real surprise I guess, that just getting a new Mad Max film is exciting and cool in itself, but the fact that it's quite probably the best Mad Max film was not something I expected going in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 17 May, 2015, 07:27:07 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 15 May, 2015, 12:14:03 PM

The Extended Two Towers is remarkable, in as much as at feels like a shorter film than the theatrical version, despite being 45 minutes longer, because the pacing is so much better in the longer cut.

I didn't feel the extended additions to RotK really added much, TBH.

Cheers

Jim

Long time since I'v seen any of them, but I definitely felt 2 towers benefited the most by the added stuff. While not Empire Strikes back, it tied p.1 and p.3 together real well.

Seen the extended Hobbits? Any better than the theatre vers.? Thought them where too video gamey and reliant on CGI.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 May, 2015, 12:27:38 PM
Saw Mad Max: Fury Road at IMAX 3D last night and was completely blown away. I want to watch it a few dozen more times, there's so much to take in on one viewing, but there were a few times when I was just flattened by the scale of the carnage unfolding. It's properly mental. The highest hopes I had were that it would come close to Mad Max 2, and while it'll take a few more watches to be sure, right now I'm thinking it might be better.

That's the real surprise I guess, that just getting a new Mad Max film is exciting and cool in itself, but the fact that it's quite probably the best Mad Max film was not something I expected going in.

I can relate. Haven't been this surprised/pleased with an action movie since Dredd. Both movies having trailers that made them look a bit "okay-ish" at best.

Sure want to see it again soon, but I'll try to wait till it's released on blu ray. Longing a bit for it will only make the next viewing sweeter :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 19 May, 2015, 09:02:52 PM
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie - watched this as 'John Cassavetes is Dead' cropped up on Facebook. Very poor! Really self indulgent with lazy editing and pointless scenes of a nightclub compère droning on for ages. Cinema verite? Cinema shite more like.

Cowboys and Aliens - A lot better than I was led to believe - in fact I really enjoyed it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 21 May, 2015, 12:32:23 PM
Yeah, I heard Cowboys and Aliens was a turd. Will give it a go if it's recommended  :)

Another film with bad rep (watched last night) is Chappie. Apart from Jackman's awful attempt at a South African accent, plus the totally rubbish ED-209 wannabee, I loved it. Chappie is the No 1 Gangsta.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 May, 2015, 12:41:28 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 21 May, 2015, 12:32:23 PM
Yeah, I heard Cowboys and Aliens was a turd. Will give it a go if it's recommended  :)

I didn't hate it. Did exactly what it said on the tin. Could have been a lot better, a lot more fun, but it's not a stinker. Also: Olivia Wild in a wet dress.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 May, 2015, 12:48:31 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 May, 2015, 12:41:28 PM
Quote from: Ghastly McNasty on 21 May, 2015, 12:32:23 PM
Yeah, I heard Cowboys and Aliens was a turd. Will give it a go if it's recommended  :)

I didn't hate it. Did exactly what it said on the tin. Could have been a lot better, a lot more fun, but it's not a stinker. Also: Olivia Wild in a wet dress.

Cheers

Jim

This review is entirely accurate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2015, 01:51:19 PM
Robot and Frank on the telly last night  - I wouldn't say it's a deep or insightful examination of human interaction with artificial intelligences. but it was sweet and fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 May, 2015, 03:06:00 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 May, 2015, 01:51:19 PM
Robot and Frank on the telly last night  - I wouldn't say it's a deep or insightful examination of human interaction with artificial intelligences. but it was sweet and fun.

The twist completely caught me out.  It was very bittersweet.  Good film - recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 May, 2015, 03:22:58 PM
Take a Free Course on Film Noir; Then Watch Oodles of Free Noir Films Online (http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/take-a-free-course-on-film-noir.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 May, 2015, 04:05:07 PM
Mad Max Fury Road - more like Mad Shite Fury Road, oh no wait I really enjoyed it.  Apart from that bit where they stop in the blue desert for like a half hour and just drone on and on holding up the next car chase.
Appetite for CARnage DO  YOU SEE whetted, I took a chance on the low-budget Dukes of Hazard The Beginning, which made me want to reach through the screen and throttle the people who made it.  It was not very good.
Extinction - same old same old found footage poo with the exact same plot and structure of every other found footage film ever.  The monster reveal is a dinosaur instead of a sasquatch, a witch, or moon crabs (should you be wondering), but I gave up when I realised it also had the exact same prick characters of all the other found footage films ever, which was about twenty minutes in.  It was probably the best thing ever after that, though, and I probably quit too early and didn't see what a unique and precious snowflake it really was just because the first twenty minutes were dogshit, but I have no regrets. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 May, 2015, 11:43:26 PM
Gomorrah - Italian gangsters not being nice to each other. Grubby but captivating violence and double dealing.

Paris, Texas - Dull as fook Wim Wenders film sees Harry Dean Stanton not say much and then track down his wayward wife. Only watched as it made it to #249 on the top 250 list on IMDb.

Only God Forgives - I liked this violent and stylised revenge flick. Good to see Kristin Scott Thomas channel Ben Kingsley from Sexy Beast.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 May, 2015, 12:34:51 PM
Rewatched Wyrmwood for the first time since the cinema and really enjoyed it again. The grim stuff is grim, the action is actiony and the humor still lands great for the most part. Plus, Bianca Bradey makes a fantastic horror movie heroine, kicks a great deal of ass and manages to look quite staggeringly gorgeous while doing it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 May, 2015, 04:35:14 AM
I watched the Knights of Bad-Ass-Dom yesterday afternoon, and thought it was some light spoofy piece about role-playing-gamers-who-also-LARP. It starts out being predictably bad, but in a good way taking talent from  True Blood, Game of Thrones (If only Peter Tyrion Dinklage was allowed to use the same costumes, props and sets!) and Firefly,

It's got something to do with a book prop one of them Ebayed off of the internet and a real (Very Cheap looking!) demonic monster (Looking like one of Massimo's pictures of Balor himself!). Everything is really cheesy, along with fauxy old English used by these gamers when they Larp it up.

Without giving away much more of the plot. I will say there is hot looking female vampire that starts taking them out one by one to beef it up a bit.

It gets really embarrassingly tacky right at the climax and I remember Peter Ginklage looking like this in one part......


(http://tropdublog.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Hung.png)

That reminds of Elfric Serpent-Eye from Massimo's Battle of Clontarf when he was wearing the chainmail hood. There was certain resemblance with his face as well.

This also gives me a little insight into Slaine about what if El's really another type of vampire and what is there was only one Formorian that Slaine had to deal with.

The film really shows how dumb this genre could be even suing the talent it had.

Avoid seeing this if your sober.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 May, 2015, 10:16:48 AM
Dredd title double - Twilight's Last Gleaming - Over long Burt Lancaster film sees him take over a nuclear silo to right the wrongs of Vietnam. Too much hand wringing and no action.

Requiem for a Heavyweight - Good stuff as washed up boxer Anthony Quinn ponders career options.

I also saw 'The Book of Eli' - which was miles better than I has supposed. Washed out and gritty but some top knife work and a couple of decent twists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2015, 12:36:12 PM
The Last Survivors - cheap as chips tale about a there's-no-water-left-pocalypse future where two kids live in the loft of their old house Anne Frank-style, avoiding wandering thieves and a murderous land baron.  I suspect it might be a cash-in on some arty film I saw a trailer for last year and whose name escapes me right now (Young Americans?), but it's pretty decent even if the final showdown with the baron reminds me of that time in high school when we had to read Z For Zachariah and got set an English assignment to rewrite the final chapter and everyone in the class had some variation of the main character having a crazy gunfight and turning into Mad Max.  The ending of Last Survivors feels a bit like if someone had taken a random pupil's chapter, then printed it in the same font and format as the book, then cut out the actual final chapter and replaced it with the fake one, then lost the book somewhere and a Hollywood producer found it and thought it would make a great movie.  I mean, plot-wise it's acceptable that someone might seek revenge for being wronged, it's just a bit odd to see a child turn into Samurai Rambo in the final reel.

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead - whoever invented those locking mechanisms on dvd covers is a fucking cunt and has probably been responsible for more internet piracy than actual internet pirates, much like those FACT adverts you couldn't skip at the start of DVDs you had paid for, but which were not on the pirated copy of the film you could get from the web.  A locking mechanism that destroys the dvd cover - if not the disc - you've just paid for if you try to remove it - fucking genius.  I looked up on the web how to safely remove it and the first thing the article said was "take two heavy duty magnets" like what you have around any home, like.  And they wonder why people have so little sympathy for distributors.  Cunts.
The film was pretty good, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 24 May, 2015, 04:57:27 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 May, 2015, 04:35:14 AM
Avoid seeing this if your sober.

I've watched it twice, sans alcohol, and enjoyed it both times.....does exactly what it says on the tin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 May, 2015, 06:15:35 PM
Wild Tales (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015_05_01_archive.html) - back on the blog again! One whole request!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 24 May, 2015, 07:31:40 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 May, 2015, 04:35:14 AM
I watched the Knights of Bad-Ass-Dom yesterday afternoon

http://iscfc.net/2014/02/23/knights-of-badassdom-2014/

It thought it was funnier than it was, but it was a perfectly decent movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 May, 2015, 04:21:52 AM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 24 May, 2015, 04:57:27 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 May, 2015, 04:35:14 AM
Avoid seeing this if your sober.

I've watched it twice, sans alcohol, and enjoyed it both times.....does exactly what it says on the tin.

Yes, I understand......


Quote from: Famous Mortimer
It thought it was funnier than it was, but it was a perfectly decent movie.

Yery true,[spoiler] but that part where t eh hero sings at the monster to defeat it was beyond the pale. I fact, the idea of singing back at anything in it's own way[/spoiler] kind of made it stink to point of making this un-barble.

Of course, it's good to watch with some LARP friends while tanked to the brim. 

BTW I think I met one of the actors, a well known fellow (Who was never in Game of Thrones!) and exchanged words about the amount of talent that wasn't happening around the beach we were both camped out on. He was sitting nearby and came over to say and tell me just that. He said the place was waste of time -words to the effect- and that was that. I think I saw the very same person exit a shop I was working near with out a by your leave. Of course I didn't try to wave him down either. In fact it never really dawned on me who he was until I saw a photo of him on movie poster stuck on the outside wall of a bus shelter. This was around about anytime between 2003-2004, I believe when I was south of the border.  I'm not divulging anymore information on this person's identity, but you may be able to deduce who it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2015, 02:37:57 PM
I recently watched Mythica: The Quest For Heroes, which reminded me of Slaine.  There was a big orc in it that I think showed what could be done with Slaine's Warp Spasm with modern effects.

Also the film had ladies in it I found attractive.  They seemed to be the usual adventurer types, but I couldn't figure out their specific classes - probably some sort of mage build or wizard, though those are traditionally man roles and I'm not much of a feminist because I think they've done well enough and need to give it a rest now.

There is a girl in it who is only a teenager and has a crippled leg but I still probably think she is attractive even if I shouldn't.

There is a man in it and I think he could probably play a role in a film about Slaine, but I am not sure what role he could play.  There is another lady with working legs and I think she could play Mab if she was a bit taller and had different coloured hair and maybe was a bit prettier but I think she could do the role because you can do anything with computers these days, and I think they did use some computers in this because the orc looks to be about fifteen feet tall and I don't see how you do that with puppets because the legs were moving and they can't do legs with puppets.  I remember seeing once the old tv show ALF that was named after an alien but his name was actually Gordon and he had legs sometimes but I don't think they did that with computers because this was a long time ago before they had them on tv.
(http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/aliens/images/8/8d/ALF_L_~1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090315024007)
Possibly the orc is a puppet but they did the legs with computers.  A lot more powerful than my old BBC Mirco!  I used to spend hours on that playing text adventure games and I should pull it out of the loft and give it a go to see if they still hold up to something like Skyrim.

Also there is a man with a beard in this.  I think if the beard was white he might make a good Slaine version of Gandalf.  Can they make a beard white with computers?  I think he could pull it off.

I didn't see any dwarfs in this so I don't know how they would do Ukko.  Possibly they would get a shorter actor and make him wear make up or false ears, I think I saw a Youtube video where they made false ears on a computer, or possibly it was on a mouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QlWBnL0zjU).

This film was not very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 25 May, 2015, 02:54:34 PM
More of this kind of thing, please.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 25 May, 2015, 07:19:10 PM
 :lol:

Bravo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 May, 2015, 07:41:18 PM
Quote from: Lesbian Seagull on 25 May, 2015, 02:37:57 PM
I recently watched Mythica: The Quest For Heroes, which reminded me of Slaine.  There was a big orc in it that I think showed what could be done with Slaine's Warp Spasm with modern effects.

Also the film had ladies in it I found attractive.  They seemed to be the usual adventurer types, but I couldn't figure out their specific classes - probably some sort of mage build or wizard, though those are traditionally man roles and I'm not much of a feminist because I think they've done well enough and need to give it a rest now.

There is a girl in it who is only a teenager and has a crippled leg but I still probably think she is attractive even if I shouldn't.

There is a man in it and I think he could probably play a role in a film about Slaine, but I am not sure what role he could play.  There is another lady with working legs and I think she could play Mab if she was a bit taller and had different coloured hair and maybe was a bit prettier but I think she could do the role because you can do anything with computers these days, and I think they did use some computers in this because the orc looks to be about fifteen feet tall and I don't see how you do that with puppets because the legs were moving and they can't do legs with puppets.  I remember seeing once the old tv show ALF that was named after an alien but his name was actually Gordon and he had legs sometimes but I don't think they did that with computers because this was a long time ago before they had them on tv.
(http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/aliens/images/8/8d/ALF_L_~1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090315024007)
Possibly the orc is a puppet but they did the legs with computers.  A lot more powerful than my old BBC Mirco!  I used to spend hours on that playing text adventure games and I should pull it out of the loft and give it a go to see if they still hold up to something like Skyrim.

Also there is a man with a beard in this.  I think if the beard was white he might make a good Slaine version of Gandalf.  Can they make a beard white with computers?  I think he could pull it off.

I didn't see any dwarfs in this so I don't know how they would do Ukko.  Possibly they would get a shorter actor and make him wear make up or false ears, I think I saw a Youtube video where they made false ears on a computer, or possibly it was on a mouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QlWBnL0zjU).

This film was not very good.


I'm not calling you a cunt, but that is exactly the kind of thing a cunt would say. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but you are quite simply, empirically, demonstrably wrong in every conceivable way, and I demand a full apology. The Tories.


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2015, 07:59:54 PM
You're mum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 May, 2015, 08:58:50 PM
Donnie Brasco. I didn't like it. Boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 May, 2015, 10:21:41 AM
Reading The Scarlet Gospels reminded me that I never did finish my masochistic trawl through the Hellraiser sequels, so last night was Hellraiser: Hellworld.

The synopsis gave me the impression it revolves around a videogame which lead me to hope it was set in cyberspace so the fact it isn't is disappointing. That sort of thing probably could have pushed it into 'so bad it's good' territory. As it stands it's just an absolute mess of staggering incompetence in every single department. Who do they hire to make these things?!

Tiny saving grace is that Doug Bradley gives it some welly on the 3 or so lines he has (the cenobites have very clearly been written into a couple of scenes as an afterthought just so they could put the word 'Hellraiser' on the cover) and Lance Henrikson is in it. Poor Lance, deserves much better. Looking at the thumbnail for the next one it looks like even Bradley sat that one out, so I'm sure it'll be a corker.

Short version - This is the 8th Hellraiser film and it isn't a good as the 7th which wasn't as good as the 6th which wasn't as good as the 5th which wasn't as good as the 4th which wasn't as good as the 3rd which wasn't as good as the 2nd which wasn't as good as the 1st.

There's a pattern there, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 May, 2015, 11:12:14 AM
Quote from: Butch on 25 May, 2015, 07:41:18 PM
Quote from: Lesbian Seagull on 25 May, 2015, 02:37:57 PM
I recently watched Mythica: The Quest For Heroes, which reminded me of Slaine.  There was a big orc in it that I think showed what could be done with Slaine's Warp Spasm with modern effects.

Also the film had ladies in it I found attractive.  They seemed to be the usual adventurer types, but I couldn't figure out their specific classes - probably some sort of mage build or wizard, though those are traditionally man roles and I'm not much of a feminist because I think they've done well enough and need to give it a rest now.

There is a girl in it who is only a teenager and has a crippled leg but I still probably think she is attractive even if I shouldn't.

There is a man in it and I think he could probably play a role in a film about Slaine, but I am not sure what role he could play.  There is another lady with working legs and I think she could play Mab if she was a bit taller and had different coloured hair and maybe was a bit prettier but I think she could do the role because you can do anything with computers these days, and I think they did use some computers in this because the orc looks to be about fifteen feet tall and I don't see how you do that with puppets because the legs were moving and they can't do legs with puppets.  I remember seeing once the old tv show ALF that was named after an alien but his name was actually Gordon and he had legs sometimes but I don't think they did that with computers because this was a long time ago before they had them on tv.
(http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/aliens/images/8/8d/ALF_L_~1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090315024007)
Possibly the orc is a puppet but they did the legs with computers.  A lot more powerful than my old BBC Mirco!  I used to spend hours on that playing text adventure games and I should pull it out of the loft and give it a go to see if they still hold up to something like Skyrim.

Also there is a man with a beard in this.  I think if the beard was white he might make a good Slaine version of Gandalf.  Can they make a beard white with computers?  I think he could pull it off.

I didn't see any dwarfs in this so I don't know how they would do Ukko.  Possibly they would get a shorter actor and make him wear make up or false ears, I think I saw a Youtube video where they made false ears on a computer, or possibly it was on a mouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QlWBnL0zjU).

This film was not very good.


I'm not calling you a cunt, but that is exactly the kind of thing a cunt would say. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but you are quite simply, empirically, demonstrably wrong in every conceivable way, and I demand a full apology. The Tories.


Cheers

That's not me BTW........

If a Slaine film is to be made, then I'd like to see it made more like Mad Max. (Some of that desert settings might be perfect for the sour-lands!) In terms of serious quality, if you swap all the modern contrivances with flying boats, chariots, woolly mammoths, horses, dragons, Light-El's and the modern weaponry with Dart-Dragons/Forbidden-Leyser-Guns and Gae-Bolga-Spears and less the usual fantasy drivel  that isn't Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

I loved to see it done, but not like that. After watching it's trailer. It doesn't look much better than what gets featured as the cheap and nasty SciFi-film of the week on cable television.

Lesbian Seagull your non-deplume obviously taken from that Beavis and Butthead film.  ::)

You seem new here, but I noticed you've been registered since 2009. I'm sorry, but some of your claims that this film you like or hate inspires thoughts of a Slaine film is embarrassing in it's brashness (YOur not taking the micky are you?) and gives me more insight on how far I often go on about the very same character and in a similar way.

Which is why, would like to make it clear that we are not the same person, in case a few of you do.

If Slaine is to be made, do it properly!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2015, 12:16:11 PM
Ator: The Fighting Eagle, which reminded me a lot of Slaine when the main charactor goes a quest to find the magic treasures so he can beat the big bad guy at the end (only it's actually a spider and not a person because the big bad guy exploded earlier in a magic mirror so the hero has to fight a spider instead).

The fight with a big spider made me think they could probably do a good Crom Cruach for Slaine to fight at the end of a Slaine film, only if they did it as a big worm instead of a spider obviously.
I could see the strings on the legs of the spider so I assume it was done with puppets and not computers, unless they added the strings with computers too but I don't know what would be the point because people would know it was fake if they saw the strings but if they didn't they might think twice.  Adding strings with computers would defeat the purpose now I think of it.

This is a pretty old film too, so it was probably before computers, or before War Games anyway, which is when most people started to know about computers.
Thinking about it, there were probably people who knew about computers, but people who made films didn't know about them until other people who made films started to make films about computers.

(http://www.impawards.com/1983/posters/wargames_ver2.jpg)


The guy who plays Fighting Eagle in this would make a good Slaine if he still looked like he does in this, as he has the slightly long hair for a man, although not spiky like Slaine does.


(http://images3.cinema.de/imedia/5653/1845653,q+ZrVJLrDLW7LelyqFH65H0t9AjkjdkniiDdrh4QxO9cQ+lbJkmh4wHZ3AG78s0nsg9xWIoDjEulptc+tWpopQ==.jpg)


His sister is hot, too, and he thinks so because he asks "why can't we be married?" and she says it's because they're brother and sister and the hero thinks about this for a second and then goes and asks his dad if he can marry his sister anway and the dad looks really happy and even I thought this was weird.  But its okay because Fighting Eagle is actually adopted so they can marry, but that still seems odd to me because up until that point she was his sister.  It's not something Slaine would do I think.

Overall it wasn't very good and a bit silly, but I suppose if something is set in the past and pretends that dragons and giant spiders were real, it has to be silly or people will wonder if there should be dragons and spiders in it at all.  You might get away with having spiders because most people know they're real, but something like dragons they might not be too sure because of things like Jurrassic Park making dinosaurs look normal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 May, 2015, 09:09:07 PM
I remember that film and any resemblance to anything to do with Slaine is superficial in the least and never tried comparing this one. However I draw comparisons between him and Conan.

Slaine's never fought with Crom Cruach directly before.

[The only siblings Slaine had is a foster brother. Ragnall!

You might do better comparing him to Mad Max or Han Solo.

But not this fellow.

Another film you may like is  Gor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW1CZQJACE0) About a modern day teacher who get magically transported to the land of Koroba. I just read this off the blurb, but do recall seeing this film on video when I was a lot younger.

There are a few other gems on the same page....namely  Fire & Ice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7CdntAVRE4&feature=related) which makes excellent use of the then revolutionary roto-scoping technics that I have not noticed in the cartoons of today. This is old, but brilliant and worth a watch.

Your claims about giant spiders being more real than dragons (That evolved from Dinosaurs, (Quite possibly not true , but worth considering!) don't matter if it's make believe.

(url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orKN81lw_bc ] Death-Stlaker[/b][/url] is worth seeing too if you don't mind old fantacy films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 May, 2015, 09:18:35 PM
 Sorceress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2YA-9NIy4) is another film I recall. I know because there were these female twins in it. It was on video nearly thirty years ago today and I have very vividly recollections of their on screen nudity missed with violence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2015, 09:39:31 PM
My true folly was not realising that some things are beyond parody.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 May, 2015, 09:44:35 PM
A lot of us, me included, have been guilty of being less than tolerant to other boarders for various reasons.

But I think we should stop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 May, 2015, 09:51:29 PM
Yes. I have found this thread to be quite disconcerting of late.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2015, 10:18:10 PM
Oh believe me, I am done with that.
Ironically, Steel Dawn actually would make a great Slaine movie but that is neither here nor there.  I am on record as being a huge fan of Swayze's minor B-reel samurai opus and have to confess that I have often wondered "what if they remade this dystopian post-apocalyptic western nowadays, only made it boring as fuck?"
Well apparently Gweneth Paltrow's little brother and me are on the same page, because he's only gone and done just that with Young Ones, only he's somehow managed to ramp up the boredom and scoop out the occasional interesting idea that Steel Dawn presented, particularly its ambiguously-motivated characters.  Young Ones seems more concerned with a morality fable played out through panto characters, and far more importantly nobody spends five minutes kicking people in the head.  Disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 May, 2015, 12:40:23 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 27 May, 2015, 09:18:35 PM
Sorceress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2YA-9NIy4) is another film I recall. I know because there were these female twins in it. It was on video nearly thirty years ago today and I have very vividly recollections of their on screen nudity missed with violence.

Before watching this film again, I remember the twins were famous for their skill in Arrow-Cutting (Plucking arrows out of the air before they reach there mark!)

Quote from: Lesbian SeagullIronically, Steel Dawn actually would make a great Slaine movie but that is neither here nor there.


I have this film in my dvd collection.I was going cheap, so I brought it. Remembering, the lead henchman reminded me a lot of how much I thought he looked like [b[Slaine[/b] was going by initial appearances alone. 


He also had unique sounding voice as well. Of course, I'm more inclined to look beyond this similarity.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 29 May, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Dark City: Great film saw it when it was first released. On rewatching I was surprised by many comparisons with the (much later) Matrix Trilogy.

Kingsman: Excellent spy romp full of laughs and absolutely mental fight scenes.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 May, 2015, 10:15:30 PM
David Lynch's Dune is on Horror Channel. First time i've seen it in years....boy it sure is....something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 May, 2015, 10:20:47 PM
Left Behind, The Nicolas Cage one.

Fuck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 May, 2015, 12:46:48 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 May, 2015, 10:15:30 PM
David Lynch's Dune is on Horror Channel. First time i've seen it in years....boy it sure is....something.

Just watched the second half of this - I've got a huge soft spot for this film, but it could've been so much better. You can't fault the design work, and I think the casting is great, but the direction, choice of scenes and so many decisions about how certain bits should be filmed are pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 May, 2015, 03:35:38 AM
Finally got around to the cinema for Age of Ultron and enjoyed every minute of it. James Spader was an inspired choice to voice Ultron and had all the best lines, including the hilarious off-screen, "Oh, for God's sake." Great stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 30 May, 2015, 05:55:52 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 29 May, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Dark City: Great film saw it when it was first released. On rewatching I was surprised by many comparisons with the (much later) Matrix Trilogy.

Kingsman: Excellent spy romp full of laughs and absolutely mental fight scenes.

Cheers

Ha! I worked on Dark City - the Australian producer on that, Andrew Mason was wandering through the art department one day with a script under his arm.  We asked him whether it was any good - he shrugged and muttered something about two American brothers who were pestering him to do it, but he was worried the director of Dark City would find too many parallels and get pissed off.

Well, he ended up producing it, and the director of Dark City DID get pissed off..! They haven't worked together again since. And that final battle in Matrix Revolutions is weirdly close in scale and style to the original final battle in Dark City, before budgetary issues caused it to be scaled back... Hmmm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 May, 2015, 01:39:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 May, 2015, 10:15:30 PM
David Lynch's Dune is on Horror Channel. First time i've seen it in years....boy it sure is....something.

As much of a let down this film is, it's also one of my favourites. If the de Laurentiises could have kept their fingers out of it and then the studio let Lynch show his four hour cut we might have witnessed something great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 May, 2015, 11:21:32 PM
Watched Hellraiser: Revelations. Wow. Actually fascinating in its awfulness. Reading up on how it was made was more interesting than the film (knocked together in a fortnight for no reason other than to prevent the rights lapsing) and helps the whole sorry affair make sense. Even Doug Bradley knocked it back, and the Pinhead they end up with really drives home just how fantastic Bradley is in the role. This guy looks...fat. And he's putting on a silly voice that's quite mad.

I really do find catastrophes like this quite mesmerising, so really enjoyed it in a perverse way. Also on the plus side this is the last one (currently) so I finally have a sense of closure. No more please.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 31 May, 2015, 12:01:19 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 May, 2015, 01:39:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 May, 2015, 10:15:30 PM
David Lynch's Dune is on Horror Channel. First time i've seen it in years....boy it sure is....something.
As much of a let down this film is, it's also one of my favourites. If the de Laurentiises could have kept their fingers out of it and then the studio let Lynch show his four hour cut we might have witnessed something great.

Extended cut with some added or deleted scenes. A voice over explaining in more detail various aspects of the DUNE universe has been added and the films 'thought quotes' remain which is infinitely annoying. Why don't they remove these thoughts and just let the Movie do the talking? Er, it would make even less sense is probably why. Anyway for Dune fans and anyone else here it is. It is rough and in one point the same entry scene, where Gurney, DR Yueh and the Mentat first encounter Paul is repeated so you can get some info on the three. Bit clumsy but this sin't a professional re cut but a fan's labour of love. 

https://vimeo.com/54644338
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 May, 2015, 02:17:11 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 31 May, 2015, 12:01:19 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 May, 2015, 01:39:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 May, 2015, 10:15:30 PM
David Lynch's Dune is on Horror Channel. First time i've seen it in years....boy it sure is....something.
As much of a let down this film is, it's also one of my favourites. If the de Laurentiises could have kept their fingers out of it and then the studio let Lynch show his four hour cut we might have witnessed something great.

Extended cut with some added or deleted scenes. A voice over explaining in more detail various aspects of the DUNE universe has been added and the films 'thought quotes' remain which is infinitely annoying. Why don't they remove these thoughts and just let the Movie do the talking? Er, it would make even less sense is probably why. Anyway for Dune fans and anyone else here it is. It is rough and in one point the same entry scene, where Gurney, DR Yueh and the Mentat first encounter Paul is repeated so you can get some info on the three. Bit clumsy but this sin't a professional re cut but a fan's labour of love. 

https://vimeo.com/54644338

Thanks for the link! This isn't on fanedit anymore as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 31 May, 2015, 03:08:27 PM
Charlton Heston Western Will Penny (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/no211-will-penny.html) and then some vintage Fritz Lang with 'Fury' - innocent man gets target by a mob when accused of being a kidnapper - strong stuff featuring Toto out of 'The Wizard of Oz'.

Also saw 'Oz : The Great and Powerful' and really enjoyed it - on Netflix and well worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: hazy efc on 31 May, 2015, 07:15:22 PM
I finally got round to watching guardians of the galaxy last night its a lot of fun i really enjoyed it, It reminded me of some of the films from the 80's i loved as a kid like back to the future and indana jones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 May, 2015, 08:15:10 PM
The Fifth Element

Almost impossible to separate my childhood adoration of it even at a near twenty-year remove (!) - an addictive blend of 90s blockbuster, winningly obscure bit-parts, glorious French design and silly characters. Such a hoot to watch again, even if its sheer breathlessness creates logicholes and pushes a certain amount of rushing-to-the-finish.

At such far remove it's hard to fault the scope of it - and easier to forgive the 90s blockbuster tropes chokingly stuffed up in there. Perhaps it's time for Besson to get his space opera on again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 May, 2015, 08:58:05 PM
Watched Pride last night, and absolutely loved it. It's an unashamed crowd-pleaser - cynics might knock it for being a bit too broad or playing a bit fast and loose with the true events it's based on, but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by it (I may have welled up a little at various points). The cast is stuffed with great British character actors like Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton and a whole host of promising newcomers - and they're all great.

Wonderful film, thoroughly deserved to have been a Full Monty-sized hit. 5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 June, 2015, 11:23:54 AM
Watched and enjoyed Maleficent (Should really be Femaleficent ;) this afternoon despite the obvious infantile imagery of fairies in and goblins, but this is a Walt Disney feature and that is to be expect. I have many a memory of watching a lot of the old classics in my pre-adolescents every Sunday night when it was shown on regular pre-cable television.

I know I did say earlier that this personality does remind me a bit of a female version of Myrddin from Slaine by virtue of that horned headdress I thought she was wearing before I was shown by somebody here that she is well known character in Disney folklore and my confusion there may not be sound.

She's some sort of demonic fairy. Like one of the  Teiflng (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefling-) from  Dungeons & Dragons - World of Planescape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape_Campaign_Setting) who these extra planar creatures. They all possess horns and a tail, and the wings I'm not sure of. It's otherwise a very close comparison. You would learn more about them from playing the  Neverwinter MMO (http://store.steampowered.com/app/109600/). The are one of the four or five playable races.

As often do..... I stopped watching the film about two third of the way through, to hope back on this computer and reactivate my new bankcard and then only saw the rest of it in while not having my full attention on the computer screen. I only recall a awesome looking dragon that would have put Dragon heart and that so called official Dungeons & Dragon's film. So this is kind of like a official D&D for young girls and some boys.

She kind of reminds me of a Plover with those dangerous spurs in her feathered wings and a old  Spell-Jammer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer) character of mine. A  Xichil Transmuter/Mage (http://www.lomion.de/cmm/xixchil.php) with body modification of large butterfly wings that gave her a 24-25 flying speed. She could also cast illusionary spells that would dazzle and amaze. There is no other physical resembelance except that they could use magic, had wings, that allowed them to fly and are both female. My character also did this thing where they flew low over a large body of water while dragging the semi-conscious body of some adversary through it and then let them go. Which is what I though of when seeing her do this.....

(http://s2.dmcdn.net/FHvX4/1280x720-tlw.jpg)

[spoiler]
Made something click inside me and then she lost her wings, but got them back towards the end.
[/spoiler] :D

I soon retired the character because I don't like pretending to be female aliens and made up character based on and called King Arthur.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 June, 2015, 05:01:41 PM
Quicksand - Mickey Rooney borrowing $20 from the till starts a downwards spiral that sees him soon owing £3k and involved in murder. Also saw When in Rome (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no212-when-in-rome.html) but I'm not proud of the fact!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 01 June, 2015, 05:10:28 PM
Frost/Nixon

Was on telly last night, so decided to settle in to watch again.  really is great performances from both Langella and Sheen.  One of those films that I expect I'll be enjoying each viewing for years to come.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 June, 2015, 05:15:34 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 01 June, 2015, 05:10:28 PM
Frost/Nixon

Was on telly last night, so decided to settle in to watch again.  really is great performances from both Langella and Sheen.  One of those films that I expect I'll be enjoying each viewing for years to come.

I remember the first time I saw it, I thought it was enjoyable but not amazing - however, I've since seen it multiple times and it has turned out to be a very re-watchable film, for exactly the reason you mention above. I love Michael Sheen in almost anything - his Kenneth Williams and his Brian Clough are superb - but Langella's Nixon is just perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 01 June, 2015, 05:22:26 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 June, 2015, 05:15:34 PM
I love Michael Sheen in almost anything

Ditto.  With the very notable exception of Tron Legacy, I don't think I have ever seen him turn in a bad performance.  And yep, Langella just has it perfect.  Usually any portrayal of Nixon is of the negative aspects, making him seem an unreal sort of character, making it hard to identify with him on any level.  Langella manages to show that while the man was an utter bawbag of the highest order, he was still just a man.  He had faults, he made mistakes, but he still had feelings, and a deep seated ideal that he was doing the right thing.....most of the time! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 June, 2015, 05:30:00 PM
Shutter Island

I really enjoyed this. It had a very pulpy EC Comics vibe about it and featured great performances throughout (Ben Kinglsey as the creepy boss of a hospital for the crininally insane - what's not to like?).
It was based on a novel but I'm sure I've read a comic of this (or very similar) at some point in the past.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 June, 2015, 08:48:05 PM
San Andreas. Should be renamed Dwayne Johnson's Day of Testosterone.

This film was a vehicle for Johnson to show how manly he is on screen. No discernible plot. Simply a parade of him doing manly things in a manly way. Dreadful.

Even the girl playing Johnson's daughter is manly in that she shepherds a couple of unfortunate English boys through the mayhem of the film.

I saw this film for free and I still want my money back.

Only see this film if you have a superhuman tolerance for stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2015, 09:47:30 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 01 June, 2015, 08:48:05 PM
San Andreas.
Only see this film if you have a superhuman tolerance for stupid.

I do. And a fucking huge crush on Dwayne. So I'm in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 June, 2015, 11:58:27 PM
It stars the Rock.

Wing Commander often made me think of those stories John Wagner and Alan Grant used to tell about how they'd write things to amuse themselves and would say the lines out loud to make each other laugh or to see if the lines sounded stupid.  I think the people who made this could have done some of that before they turned on the cameras.  Of particular note for sheer ear-numbing stupidity is the thing where one of the space soldiers dies and then their mates act like they never existed, which simply doesn't ring true even before you get to the shockingly bad dialogue in which this information is delivered.  Never been in the army myself, but I know soldiers remember their dead - though it's far from the stupidest thing that happens in a very stupid film.
Could have been decent B-movie fodder, this.  Wouldn't have taken much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 June, 2015, 11:58:37 PM
You know he's now in line for  Big Trouble In Little China (http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/445921-dwayne-johnson-to-headline-big-trouble-in-little-china-remake) remake.

After the likes Total Recall, I'm really not sure if today's special fx are going to lift this one above the original. I'm sure it would be just as remembered as that other film was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 02 June, 2015, 12:26:35 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 June, 2015, 09:47:30 PM
I do. And a fucking huge crush on Dwayne. So I'm in.


He's barely enough these days; not even the two-pronged assault of manliness that is The Rock and Kurt Russell could save Furious 7 from itself (or Vin Diesel's bromance).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 June, 2015, 10:44:17 AM
Safety Not Guaranteed - time travel drama where we don't know if the man is a nutter or actually has a time machine. Decent stuff with Aubrey Plaza off 'Parks and Recreation'.

Also saw Weekender (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no213-weekender.html) on Netflix which is about as crappy a film as you can see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeOiNK! on 03 June, 2015, 01:22:34 PM
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - it has its detractors but I loved it.  Definitely one of my fave sequels of all time, Goldblum makes the movie and the tension and jumps are still there.  I remember seeing it in the cinema and while the initial wow factor couldn't be repeated, obviously, it still blew me away.  Before the cinema I'd kept away from trailers (as I continue to do today when there's a film coming out I'm really looking forward to) so I'd no idea about the San Diego bit - a brilliant surprise!  Thought in later years I saw the two deleted scenes on DVD and I wish they'd kept them in, they added a good bit of character to the hunter, and a nice lot of background to InGen.

However, I watched this on ITV2 on Sunday night.  This is a PG certificate film (albeit it one with a special warning in the cinema a la Jaws and the first Jurassic Park), parents took their kids to see it etc., however when ITV show it between 7:30pm and 10pm(!!) they feel we need protected and they trimmed the hell out of it!  Hate that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 June, 2015, 09:27:58 PM
The noir fest continues with Walk the Dark Street (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no214-walk-dark-street.html). Also saw the miserable 'The Skeleton Twins' - depressed siblings try kill themselves and the Anna Kendrick singing fest 'The Last Five Years' which was OK but could have done with a few catchier songs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 04 June, 2015, 10:38:12 PM
Jupiter Ascending. As dreadful as you've heard. Ghastly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 04 June, 2015, 10:38:37 PM
You loved it!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 June, 2015, 10:57:02 PM
Quote from: JudgeOiNK! on 03 June, 2015, 01:22:34 PM
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - it has its detractors but I loved it.

I always thought that bit where the film doesn't even bother showing how they escaped the van dangling off the edge of the cliff was really cheap.  Years later when it was on in a mate's house, I realised I'd fallen asleep during that bit.

My favorite is still Jurassic Park III - fuck all y'all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:03:15 AM
On the Disney channel the other day. I watched most of one of the latest versions Winnie The Pooh before I couldn't stand it any looker and switched channels. 

Why?

Because I like the idea behind the Hundred Acre Wood. It might be a great pace in real life, but where heck would have kangaroo, tiger and elephant where the bear and al the others. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 05 June, 2015, 12:05:36 AM
Cuban Fury

Usually hate these kind of feel-good romps. However, it had Nick Frost in it, so made all the difference! Rather enjoyed it overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 05 June, 2015, 12:08:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:03:15 AM
It might be a great pace in real life, but where heck would have kangaroo, tiger and elephant where the bear and al the others.

That is the question.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 05 June, 2015, 12:35:15 AM
Most of them are toys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:50:14 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 05 June, 2015, 12:08:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:03:15 AM
It might be a great pace in real life, but where heck would have kangaroo, tiger and elephant where the bear and al the others.

That is the question.

Yeah, I figured this was set in America except for the Elephants, Tigers and Roos  :-\

Quote from: M.I.K.

Most of them are toys.

Oh... :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 June, 2015, 06:29:18 AM
Birdman. I can't decide whether this film is crap or genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 June, 2015, 07:57:49 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:50:14 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 05 June, 2015, 12:08:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:03:15 AM
It might be a great pace in real life, but where heck would have kangaroo, tiger and elephant where the bear and al the others.

That is the question.

Yeah, I figured this was set in America except for the Elephants, Tigers and Roos  :-\

Quote from: M.I.K.

Most of them are toys.

Oh... :-\

:lol:
Don't worry TS - I've never read Winnie The Pooh either!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 08:13:38 AM
Quote from: White Falcon on 05 June, 2015, 06:29:18 AM
Birdman. I can't decide whether this film is crap or genius.

Birdman film?

The one about the wash up actor who was birdman super hero....

I had soft spot this one for the reason I used earlier when I reviewed the film here.

I forget the actors name, but thought his voice over right at the beginning was very cool. Might in been better if he mixed his Batman voice in it with a little of his BettleJuice[ voice as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 08:15:46 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 05 June, 2015, 07:57:49 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:50:14 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 05 June, 2015, 12:08:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 05 June, 2015, 12:03:15 AM
It might be a great pace in real life, but where heck would have kangaroo, tiger and elephant where the bear and al the others.

That is the question.

Yeah, I figured this was set in America except for the Elephants, Tigers and Roos  :-\

Quote from: M.I.K.

Most of them are toys.

Oh... :-\

:lol:
Don't worry TS - I've never read Winnie The Pooh either!

I once found a copy of the [b[Tao of Pooh[/b] on a beach, and since nobody was there at the time. I decided it was up for grabs and took it. I had to discard it later when I accidently dropped it down the bowl of a toilet on a bus on the way home.   :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 June, 2015, 12:23:26 PM
There's a poo joke here but it's just too easy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 June, 2015, 04:11:12 PM
Eeyore to have been more careful...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 05 June, 2015, 10:34:17 PM
The Lost Boys is fucking finally on Netflix USA!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 June, 2015, 07:25:09 AM
By some strange coincidence....

Lost Boys was on the Thriller channel last night.

This film is real gem with excellent soundtrack and almost very close to Vampire the Masquerade. Except these vampires are still not so careful and really need to lock up their sea side lair.

Loved the scene when they challenged the older brother to motorbike race across the fog enshrouded strip beach and then the thing with hanging by the rail road tracks. I don't think we have anything like that round here. 

They don't make 80's lite-horror like this anymore.

Just a couple of things, Keiver-Vampire expired when (Or so we think?) when he was impaled on the horns of a gazelle. Not exactly a wooden stake, but then again, I'm not too sure of how the mythology works in this film. Those horns could also be his a personal weakness that he had, but that would be  just too much a coincidence.

Also, the older brother who was half-vampire by that extent decide to try revoke the real head-vampire's invitation into his house after already inviting him inside on a earlier occasion. Not sure if that was possible, but I don't think it work either way. He was already inside.

BY the standards set by Vampire : The Masquerade  there is no such magic barring a vampire  from entering you house if they have the muscle or lock-picking skills to do so. It's basically all about politeness. They only consider it  not good etiquette to enter any place of residence that isn't their own with out a invite and this probably means that they will expect to be invited or not each time. Because this has nothing to do with magic, they just decide to walk or break in at the minor risk of appearing rude.

There are plenty of bad-manner vampires in the World of Darkness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 06 June, 2015, 11:12:11 AM
If you are on a vampire binge ThryllSeeker you'll like What We Do in the Shadows (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no215-what-we-do-in-shadows.html) which covers most vampire types.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 June, 2015, 06:08:35 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 June, 2015, 11:12:11 AM
If you are on a vampire binge ThryllSeeker you'll like What We Do in the Shadows (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no215-what-we-do-in-shadows.html) which covers most vampire types.

Plus some werewolves!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 June, 2015, 11:50:48 PM
What about swearwolves?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 12:33:44 AM
Tomorrowland. No idea why this is getting hated on so much — passed a perfectly amiable couple of hours. Ironically, the film's seemingly inevitable box office failure actually proves its point and, doubly ironically, the plot's major maguffin revolves around a [spoiler]self-fulfilling prophecy[/spoiler]. Shame. It deserved to do better.

Almost seems like Disney are determined to humble their Pixar directors when they do a live action movie for them...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 01:45:51 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 12:33:44 AM
Tomorrowland. No idea why this is getting hated on so much — passed a perfectly amiable couple of hours. Ironically, the film's seemingly inevitable box office failure actually proves its point and, doubly ironically, the plot's major maguffin revolves around a [spoiler]self-fulfilling prophecy[/spoiler]. Shame. It deserved to do better.

Almost seems like Disney are determined to humble their Pixar directors when they do a live action movie for them...

Cheers

Jim

Well, John Carter was originally supposed to be released under the Pixar banner ("Pixar's first live-action movie!"). Until Disney saw it and released it under their name instead to take the hit and keep Pixar's winning run. No idea if that was ever the plan here with Tomorrowland. All I know is the trailers and posters failed horribly at convincing me to plunk down my cash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 June, 2015, 02:45:52 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 June, 2015, 11:12:11 AM
If you are on a vampire binge ThryllSeeker you'll like What We Do in the Shadows (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no215-what-we-do-in-shadows.html) which covers most vampire types.

Yeah, I seen most of the film in bits and pieces some parts of it and seemed have parts more directly inspired of that very game I spoke of with actual Masquerade scene and there were werewolves. I liked that bit at the end when one of them tries to hypnotise the viewer that nothing was out of the ordinary.

I like the semi-period-gothic house they all lived in, but thought that traditional vampires were the city-builders and dwellers (That's how it is in Vampires - The Masquerade) and like Count Dracula  himself they brought real-estate. Like he did made plans to with Jonathan Harker back in his medieval castle residence in Transylvania. He brought land in the city of London to be his new home,. Yet, I really believe they let the human folk move on to the land and house they have fixed up and make their home there while owners stay in some nearby crypt. So at night  they can prey on them, drink their blood with better ease and also use them as a front when the authorities arrive. 

Of course, in that film, the police pay them a visit and they're caught with their pants down. (So to speak!)   
They should had a underground crypt in the nearby graveyard or in the cellar where they could hide. 

Just like the creepy video store owner who turned out to be the Arch-Vampire had some dogs guarding his crypt in The Lost Boys.

Of course, I understand this was film was not meant to be taken seriously.  It's a lot like that series od spoofed filmed based on Scream.

Watching the Neophyte (The three older vampires had embraced into their coven.) vomit blood in alleyway after eating chip s is another a part of mythology where vampires can't keep mortal food down, only blood. Is true to the same game I mentioned above, where everything that was once food to these monster, tastes like ash's and can no longer be consumed.  Where blood is as sweet as ice-cream.  Not so sure about other fluids though. Maybe if they were mixed with blood. The blood sustains their life and is used to fuel their ungodly powers. Rightly, the bloke should not have been vomiting blood, but the barely digested chips he ate earlier.

The Lost boys is a classic!

Don't even bother with the so called sequels, The magic is gone.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ModsAndDrokkers on 07 June, 2015, 08:12:24 AM
Just watched the first 42 minutes of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and I often skip past the home violation scene as it is not pleasant to watch----the last two-thirds of the film are a bit of a slog, but that first third is a roller-coaster ride of anarchic mayhem, notwithstanding the bad rear-projection shot of the droogs in the car driving along the country roads at night.

I no longer own a TV set, but I go to the cinema frequently: 4 times a week this year usually.

This weeks' viewings:

MAD MAX FURY ROAD [visually very good]


SPY By-the-numbers Hollywood fluff]

DANNY COLLINS satire on an ageing megastar, quite good


TOMORROWLAND  inventive and fast-moving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 June, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Pixars running hits?! Clearly you haven't seen either of the Cars movies nor Monsters University.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 09:45:09 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 01:45:51 AM
Well, John Carter was originally supposed to be released under the Pixar banner ("Pixar's first live-action movie!"). Until Disney saw it and released it under their name instead to take the hit and keep Pixar's winning run.

Interesting take on it. Do you have any cites for that? I'm genuinely just curious because 1) your version assumes that John Carter is so bad that it's immediately identifiable as an irredeemable stinker on viewing, which I would dispute, and 2) the broad consensus I've heard/read is that JC lost a producer leaving no one to fight the movie's corner when Disney realised they could get their hands on Star Wars and didn't need two fantasy-SF franchises.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 June, 2015, 12:39:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 07 June, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Pixars running hits?! Clearly you haven't seen either of the Cars movies nor Monsters University.

I stopped watching Pixar film s since Toy-Story-Two (Awesome Opening Scene with Buzz-Light-Year and Bug's Life.

I guess these aren't really for anybody with out children.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeOiNK! on 07 June, 2015, 12:45:28 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 07 June, 2015, 12:39:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 07 June, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Pixars running hits?! Clearly you haven't seen either of the Cars movies nor Monsters University.

I stopped watching Pixar film s since Toy-Story-Two (Awesome Opening Scene with Buzz-Light-Year and Bug's Life.

I guess these aren't really for anybody with out children.

That's a very broad conclusion.  While they may not be your cup of tea none of my close friends have kids and we're all big Pixar fans, as well as Dreamworks.  I thought Toy Story 2 was a bit shoddy but the third ended up as my favourite, and while Cars had me leaving the cinema halfway through out of boredom, I loved Up and was enchanted by Wall-E.

Just like any other studio each of their films won't appeal to everybody who liked the one before, they're all very different, again just like any studio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 June, 2015, 01:06:52 PM
Was Shrek a Pixar film?

I only enjoyed the first one of those, because it reminded me of what I saw in the Everquest MMO.

I don't really go in for their signature style though.

It's for family viewing , but not for me.

I saw How to Train Your Dragon as a freebie from problems I was having while seeing Avatar (More my kind of computer generated movie!) after I complained about some large guy sitting behind me pushing his legs up against the back of my chair and a small guy sitting in front of me kept turning around telling me to stop, because of what was happening behind me.  I eventually got up and left after yelling some random abuse at them as I was leaving.  I told the girl behind the counter and they offered to let my see the same film for free some other time. Yet, I didn't go to see Avatar again. 

I like films like that are almost photo real and use Mo-Capping to track the movement of characters for even more ......realism.

Like....

Polar Express (How about a nice up of Joe...)   

Beowulf

And some film about mothers being kidnapped by aliens. I'm sure it looked interesting.

As for those other films you like, I just don't like the candy coating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeOiNK! on 07 June, 2015, 01:28:55 PM
Shrek was Dreamworks, yeah.  It was another series where I never liked the first sequel, but which got better again after it.  How to Train Your Dragon was great, very funny film and to me that's the most important part, the actual characters and story, rather than the animation.  By way of example The Polar Express didn't do it for me, yet the very simply animated (by comparison to Pixar and Dreamworks) Hoodwinked was a right hoot.

Wall-E was a film I chuckled to rather than laughing out loud, but I just adored the way so much communication was made with no words, it showed great skills to have such well written characters and to feel like you're getting to know them without them speaking.  Also was really surprised by the strong background narrative and think about it all the time when I see people buried in phones instead of communicating with the person they're physically with.  The film was like a warning about the future but hidden inside this cartoon.  Wonderful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 June, 2015, 02:12:47 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 12:33:44 AM
Tomorrowland. No idea why this is getting hated on so much —
Jim

Agreed. I enjoyed Tomorrowland very much. It was fun and entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 June, 2015, 02:42:17 PM
I saw an 'extended sneak peak' of Tomorrowland and it's didn't really appeal - seemed to be standard batting away lots of secret agents using gadgets. Mistake probably was having the whole preview before they got to the titular land.

Kept up my 'Full Fassbender' with Slow West (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3205376/?ref_=nv_sr_1) which was a pretty good western with decent action and characters.

Sat through Into the Woods (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180411/?ref_=nv_sr_1)  with the wife last night. It was OK and looked nice but dragged on a bit and there wasn't a decent song in the whole thing.

Did enjoy Wolf Creek 2 (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no216-wolf-creek-2.html) on US Netflix - just enough gore and sadism without going OTT.

This morning I liked The Devil Thumbs a Ride (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039317/) starring Lawrence Tierney 50 odd years before he appeared in Reservoir Dogs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 04:05:22 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 09:45:09 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 01:45:51 AM
Well, John Carter was originally supposed to be released under the Pixar banner ("Pixar's first live-action movie!"). Until Disney saw it and released it under their name instead to take the hit and keep Pixar's winning run.

Interesting take on it. Do you have any cites for that? I'm genuinely just curious because 1) your version assumes that John Carter is so bad that it's immediately identifiable as an irredeemable stinker on viewing, which I would dispute, and 2) the broad consensus I've heard/read is that JC lost a producer leaving no one to fight the movie's corner when Disney realised they could get their hands on Star Wars and didn't need two fantasy-SF franchises.

Cheers

Jim

Yeah, nothing concrete other than animation chatter (it's a small industry. I know a good bunch of people who work up at Pixar who were crowing about this being the first foray into live-action.) and the will-they won't-they chatter from the press back when it originally went into production. For example: http://www.slashfilm.com/john-carter-of-mars-to-be-pixars-first-live-action-film-bryan-cranston-joins-cast/

This is a pretty good article that touches upon the movie's not-inconsiderable difficulties to get made: http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-doomed-by-first-trailer.html

Personally, I wouldn't say it was so bad. I just found it pretty dull in the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 04:11:36 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 04:05:22 PM
This is a pretty good article that touches upon the movie's not-inconsiderable difficulties to get made: http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-doomed-by-first-trailer.html

I've not read that one — it's a pretty damning account of Stanton's hubris bringing low his pet project. Much appreciated.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 04:17:57 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2015, 04:11:36 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 04:05:22 PM
This is a pretty good article that touches upon the movie's not-inconsiderable difficulties to get made: http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-doomed-by-first-trailer.html

I've not read that one — it's a pretty damning account of Stanton's hubris bringing low his pet project. Much appreciated.

Cheers

Jim

Lot of pressure to follow in Brad Bird's footsteps. I've more sympathy than anything in the end. Can't imagine what an absolute horror it must be to try and make a huge budget live-action movie with a studio like Disney and Pixar breathing down your neck the whole time. "Don't fuck this up!" Oy.

Makes Fury Road look more and more like a beautiful oddity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 05:31:47 PM
John Carter was pretty good. Stanton's minor sin of not having any money shots for the first teaser probably didn't make any difference.

Several decent sci-fi action movies have bombed in the last few years (Serenity, that Karl Urban future cop thing, I forget what it was called), and what they all seem to have in common is a lack of either a big star or a recognizable brand for audiences to engage with.

Moral: if it's not a Star Trek / Star Wars / Mad Max sequel, hire Tom Cruise. Possibly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JudgeOiNK! on 07 June, 2015, 05:43:04 PM
Quote from: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 05:31:47 PM
John Carter was pretty good. Stanton's minor sin of not having any money shots for the first teaser probably didn't make any difference.

Several decent sci-fi action movies have bombed in the last few years (Serenity, that Karl Urban future cop thing, I forget what it was called), and what they all seem to have in common is a lack of either a big star or a recognizable brand for audiences to engage with.

Moral: if it's not a Star Trek / Star Wars / Mad Max sequel, hire Tom Cruise. Possibly.

Did that work for Jack Reacher though?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 05:56:45 PM
Quote from: JudgeOiNK! on 07 June, 2015, 05:43:04 PM
Did that work for Jack Reacher though?

Heh, I was more thinking of Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 06:12:15 PM
Quote from: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 05:31:47 PM
John Carter was pretty good. Stanton's minor sin of not having any money shots for the first teaser probably didn't make any difference.

Several decent sci-fi action movies have bombed in the last few years (Serenity, that Karl Urban future cop thing, I forget what it was called), and what they all seem to have in common is a lack of either a big star or a recognizable brand for audiences to engage with.

Moral: if it's not a Star Trek / Star Wars / Mad Max sequel, hire Tom Cruise. Possibly.

If that's the case, Guardians Of The Galaxy should have tanked. Marketing is key. You sell the idea properly, people will generally go see it. John Carter and Tomorrowland suffered from the same problem: The marketing seemed shapeless and didn't appeal to or interest the movie-going public. Go to youtube right now and watch their trailers up against GotG's or Fury Road's or JJ's Star Wars. If you can't grab people's interest in a trailer, you're pretty much fucked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 06:19:20 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 06:12:15 PM
If that's the case, Guardians Of The Galaxy should have tanked.

Good point, but Guardians did at least have Vin Diesel's star power the Marvel brand for people to latch onto.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 June, 2015, 06:46:55 PM
Whiplash - arrogant kid gets bullied by a teacher while playing drums. No likeable characters, very little story, lots of incredibly irritating drumming noises.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 08 June, 2015, 02:31:21 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 07 June, 2015, 02:42:17 PM
I saw an 'extended sneak peak' of Tomorrowland and it's didn't really appeal - seemed to be standard batting away lots of secret agents using gadgets. Mistake probably was having the whole preview before they got to the titular land.

Kept up my 'Full Fassbender' with Slow West (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3205376/?ref_=nv_sr_1) which was a pretty good western with decent action and characters.

Sat through Into the Woods (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180411/?ref_=nv_sr_1)  with the wife last night. It was OK and looked nice but dragged on a bit and there wasn't a decent song in the whole thing.

Did enjoy Wolf Creek 2 (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no216-wolf-creek-2.html) on US Netflix - just enough gore and sadism without going OTT.

This morning I liked The Devil Thumbs a Ride (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039317/) starring Lawrence Tierney 50 odd years before he appeared in Reservoir Dogs.

I ordered that Into the Woods film weeks ago and never bothered to watch it properly, but have seen parts of it. Disappointed with the Johnny Depp-Wolf, but I guess his costume suited the fairy tale origins of this movie. Like how they wove the better known ones together.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 08 June, 2015, 03:08:12 AM
Quote from: Jimmy Baker's Assistant on 07 June, 2015, 05:31:47 PM
John Carter was pretty good. Stanton's minor sin of not having any money shots for the first teaser probably didn't make any difference.

Several decent sci-fi action movies have bombed in the last few years (Serenity, that Karl Urban future cop thing, I forget what it was called), and what they all seem to have in common is a lack of either a big star or a recognizable brand for audiences to engage with.

Moral: if it's not a Star Trek / Star Wars / Mad Max sequel, hire Tom Cruise. Possibly.

I found the John Carter of Mars film entertaining and colourful, but ultimately forgettable. I think it seemed less epic because they shoved so much stuff into this one film instead of spreading it evenly over a trilogy and there is the over use of computer wizardry. I was looking forward to that one back in the day. Saw in in the city cinema  one evening after my daily attendance at computer course. The last time I was temporary student.  Would have love to have seen this treated with the same attention that given to the original Star Wars films and Conan the Barbarian.

You no what they say, not enough spit, too much polish.

Speaking of Karl Urban, I saw him in a pilot for a series (Last night/early this morning!) called Almost Human (If memory serves.) and in this, he is a plains clothes cop in a ever so slightly dystopian future. (Kind of like Continuum before Kiera got blown back to the past!) where is partnered with the latest version in line of synthetic (Human like Droid/Robots and possibly a nod to Alien) cops that strangely appears to be more robotic with each generation. He's doesn't like his partner and when it describes the bad taste in his mouth, care of it's heightened sense of smell. His unhuman syntax drives Urban to push him out of car they were patrolling on the busy highway to be completely wrecked by the traffic around them.  Then visits the Droid-Dealer (That freaky guy from Demons who got shot in the first episode. That was a show not worth watching either!) to get a replacement. Where we find out the early version Synthetics are more human. The latest ones are just too odd. I wouldn't be surprised if his new partner is just some dude pretending to be one of them. (Actually true behind the scenes :P). Despite the intrigue, I switched the television off and went to sleep before it ended.


(http://ecatherine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/almost-human-51b3a357cc9fa.png)

BTW, Happy-Birthday Karl Urban, your 43 now! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 03:38:33 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 07 June, 2015, 01:45:51 AM
Well, John Carter was originally supposed to be released under the Pixar banner ("Pixar's first live-action movie!"). Until Disney saw it and released it under their name instead to take the hit and keep Pixar's winning run.

Although wasn't it a bit of a Stanton solo run - as in less oversight and control by the PIXAR brain-trust while being made?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 03:34:50 PM
Maybe that's what went wrong in the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 04:28:31 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 03:34:50 PM
Maybe that's what went wrong in the end.


Apparently he ignored their advice when they reviewed the cuts at various stages and he went ahead with his multiple prologues that confused/bored the audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 June, 2015, 04:58:50 PM
IT FOLLOWS - A real John Carpenter (when he was good) vibe off this. Teens have sex and catch a bad dose of crabs murderous stalking thing. It follows you (slowly) forever until it catches you and fucks you but not in a good way. Only way to get rid is pass it onto someone else but if it kills them then its back to you.

I quite enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 05:21:07 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 04:28:31 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 03:34:50 PM
Maybe that's what went wrong in the end.


Apparently he ignored their advice when they reviewed the cuts at various stages and he went ahead with his multiple prologues that confused/bored the audience.

Took over the marketing too. Like I said earlier, I do have a little sympathy. I can't imagine what the pressure must be like to perform. It's very different directing an animated movie, where you quite literally have control over every single aspect of a movie, and a live-action movie where things can run off the rails in any number of different ways. (Please note, I'm not suggesting one is easier than the other to direct. Anything but. Just that when you step out of your comfort zone, maybe it's not the best idea to start with a sprawling $200 million sci-fi epic.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 06:13:25 PM
Seems he misunderstood the 2 processes and tried to transpose one form for the other without seeing that it's not a straight swap when it comes to directing humans on sets. It seems more that the producers were afraid of him because of his friend running Disney and his success.

In animation he may have made his films 5 times over using the same process of animatics etc before it was finalised; you do that with live-action too but in a different way using multiple processes rather than one or two: script, rehearse, block, shoot, edit, FX etc. Re-doing 'everything' multiple times to fit a preconception probably dulled the film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 06:41:16 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 06:13:25 PM
Seems he misunderstood the 2 processes and tried to transpose one form for the other without seeing that it's not a straight swap when it comes to directing humans on sets. It seems more that the producers were afraid of him because of his friend running Disney and his success.

In animation he may have made his films 5 times over using the same process of animatics etc before it was finalised; you do that with live-action too but in a different way using multiple processes rather than one or two: script, rehearse, block, shoot, edit, FX etc. Re-doing 'everything' multiple times to fit a preconception probably dulled the film.
Yep, there's no 'may' about it. Haha! Even here on Family Guy we end up using a pretty detailed animatic for every episode before it goes off to be animated. In feature, you can apply that thinking exponentially. Disney and Dreamworks work these things to death in pre-production (if you've ever wondered why an animated movie ends up costing north of $150 million, that's the primary reason. Years, sometimes decades of pre-production hell.) and can, more often than not, end up strangling the life out of the finished movie.

John Carter ended up being a weird hybrid because the fx elements - that stupid six-legged dog thing and even the Martian warriors - looked like they belonged in an animated movie. They weren't designed or executed as if they should be real, tangible creatures in a real-life setting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 07:14:14 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 06:41:16 PM

Yep, there's no 'may' about it. Haha! Even here on Family Guy we end up using a pretty detailed animatic for every episode before it goes off to be animated. In feature, you can apply that thinking exponentially. Disney and Dreamworks work these things to death in pre-production (if you've ever wondered why an animated movie ends up costing north of $150 million, that's the primary reason. Years, sometimes decades of pre-production hell.) and can, more often than not, end up strangling the life out of the finished movie.


You've probably seen it but that behind-the-scenes film Disney withheld from release, The Sweat Box, shows this in action when it goes wrong.

http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-rare-disney-documentary-called-the-sweatbox/

John Favreau had a better, cheaper idea for John Carter:


http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/film/articles/192797-john-favreau-reveals-his-original-plans-for-john-carter
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 07:26:04 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 07:14:14 PM

You've probably seen it but that behind-the-scenes film Disney withheld from release, The Sweat Box, shows this in action when it goes wrong.


Yeah it's a great, if maddening, look at how this process works. Pixar's no different though. Plenty of their movies have been pulled down halfway through and completely reworked with a new director installed. Ratatouille, Brave and The Good Dinosaur being prime examples. It's great when it works out but when a new director comes in with a completely different sensibility to the previous one, it rarely ends well. Kingdom Of The Sun/Emperor's New Groove just seemed shapeless from the start though. When you're rooting for Sting, you know you're in trouble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 07:41:25 PM


Some of that stuff must drive people insane as they see their ideas decimated. I read Ed Catmull's book - that brain-trust room seems intimidating.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 07:54:44 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2015, 07:41:25 PM


Some of that stuff must drive people insane as they see their ideas decimated. I read Ed Catmull's book - that brain-trust room seems intimidating.

Movie-making by committee. According to Thor 2's director, Marvel's movies are all run the same way. There's no lone voice and it's director-for-hire, like Pete Travis and Dredd. "Here's our movie and we need you to direct it." Brad Bird's the last of the bunch at Pixar to make his own vision there. Be interesting if he gets that freedom again after Tomorrowland's box-office and critical reception. If there's one certainty over here, you're only ever as good as your last job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 07:55:41 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 08 June, 2015, 04:58:50 PM
IT FOLLOWS - A real John Carpenter (when he was good) vibe off this. Teens have sex and catch a bad dose of crabs murderous stalking thing. It follows you (slowly) forever until it catches you and fucks you but not in a good way. Only way to get rid is pass it onto someone else but if it kills them then its back to you.

I quite enjoyed it.

Yep, I loved this one too. It's very divisive though. People either love it or really, really hate it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 08 June, 2015, 08:02:28 PM
Quote from: blackmocco on 08 June, 2015, 07:54:44 PM
If there's one certainty over here, you're only ever as good as your last job.

Same over here, and it doesn't matter what department, or what level you are.  10 years of outstanding achievement can be destroyed in a job that takes 6 weeks to complete.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 June, 2015, 08:10:39 AM
Nightbreed - The Director's Cut

I really enjoyed this. Yeah it's aged, it's a bit clunky and some of the acting's not great but there's a lot to like.
I read somewhere the the aim of Nightbreed was to do for horror what Star Wars had done for Sci Fi. They failed but they gave it a bloody good go. It's a shame it didn't do at least well enough to get a sequel as there are loads of places they could have taken it and it was obviously set up for one.
Perhaps one day someone with enough influence will get this remade, or perhaps adapted as a TV series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 June, 2015, 08:16:32 AM
I remember liking the comic with Jim Baike art (might have been written by Alan Grant? Can't remember) but thinking, even then, not sure it would make a good movie so never got around to seeing it. Always meant to, just never did. Might try to change that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 June, 2015, 09:18:06 AM
Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no218-werewolf-in-girls-dormitory.html) which wasn't nearly as good as the title suggests.

Also saw The Marc Pease Experience which starred my new favourite Anna Kendrick as well as Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman. It was gawd awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 June, 2015, 11:39:16 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 09 June, 2015, 08:10:39 AM
Nightbreed - The Director's Cut

I really enjoyed this. Yeah it's aged, it's a bit clunky and some of the acting's not great but there's a lot to like.
I read somewhere the the aim of Nightbreed was to do for horror what Star Wars had done for Sci Fi. They failed but they gave it a bloody good go. It's a shame it didn't do at least well enough to get a sequel as there are loads of places they could have taken it and it was obviously set up for one.
Perhaps one day someone with enough influence will get this remade, or perhaps adapted as a TV series.

I've always loved Nightbreed, even if Barker's ambition went way beyond the budget at times. It's the ambition that makes it, and it's the movie that most feels like a post-Books of Blood dark fantasy Barker novel I think. Always thought it was annoying that the book ends with a lot of possibilities and then there was no follow-up, maybe if the movie had been successful it would have carried on. My girlfriend saw it for the first time on the recent re-release and I got the impression she found it very cheesy, so could be it's one of those films that's aged quite badly if you don't have a prior attachment to it.

They've changed the ending in the new cut and I'm not sure which I prefer actually.

Coincidentally the new Barker novel has got me revisiting a lot of his stuff, re-reading The Great And Secret Show just now and planning a re-watch of Lord of Illusions which I remember really liking at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 June, 2015, 03:13:04 PM
Quoteplanning a re-watch of Lord of Illusions which I remember really liking at the time

Huge Barker fan, and I love Harry D'Amour, but have never seen that movie...

Through the miracle of Amazon Prime on the bus:
Now You See Me: Daft, but great fun if you just go along with it. Helped by an astonishingly charismatic cast. And Dave Franco.
Sorry, cheap gag - but it's frothy fun and well worth your time.

After Earth: Bad, but not as bad as I had imagined. Will Smith is great, and while I support his giving his children a leg up, Jaden just does not have the acting chops of his old man.
Problems include: Produced and directed by M Night Shyamalan. Producers Will Smith and his wife. Story by Will Smith... This could have been great if they'd had someone to point out and remove the rubbish bits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 June, 2015, 03:46:21 PM
DETENTION OF THE DEAD
If Buffy hadn't  wrung every ounce of drama and comedy out of high school cliquesdealing with horror tropes, this might have had something going for it. Not funny enough to compensate for the lack of genuine scares or gore and bad acting, cliched characters and piss poor dialogue.

More like Detention of the shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 June, 2015, 04:17:47 PM
Saw that a while back, it really was not good. Came across like a school project that had gotten out of control, or a short film that had been expanded just because they could. It was late at night at the end of a movie marathon and I struggled to stay awake for it sadly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 June, 2015, 11:38:49 AM
Attack the Block. Why the drokk have I not watched this before? Amazing movie and a textbook example of shoe to create menace and threat with zero budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 June, 2015, 11:45:37 AM
Hercules In New York - Had somehow never gotten round to this turkey, despite a young need to see everything Arnie appeared in. Terrible, but a real curio. It's amazing to think that someone who could put in a performance this appalling could then go on to be the biggest star in Hollywood. For a 'so bad it's good' movie it's actually quite a slog to watch, but does have it's moments (mainly every time Arnie opens his mouth).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 June, 2015, 11:56:24 AM
You forgot the [spoiler]Bear in the park[/spoiler] scene. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 June, 2015, 12:43:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 June, 2015, 04:17:47 PM
Saw that a while back, it really was not good. Came across like a school project that had gotten out of control, or a short film that had been expanded just because they could. It was late at night at the end of a movie marathon and I struggled to stay awake for it sadly.

I told Tiny Tips the title of this movie and a bit about the basic premise and he correctly guessed what 6 of the 7 main characters would be:
- nerd
- gothy type
- sexy type prom queen/cheer leader
- a couple of jocks
- a teacher

He missed out on the stoner/slacker but not bad going. And probably a sure sign that your movie is predictable shit
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 June, 2015, 01:36:22 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 June, 2015, 11:38:49 AM
Attack the Block. Why the drokk have I not watched this before? Amazing movie and a textbook example of shoe to create menace and threat with zero budget.

Joe Cornish's interview with Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo is pretty funny. He accurately says that its being judged as though it's part of the cornetto trilogy, so perhaps Mr Kermode might prefer to watch the movie Joe made and not the one Mark thought he was going to watch.

A viewpoint Mark Kermode has since come around to!

I love it. Glad to see Moses leading up the trailer for Star Wars too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 June, 2015, 02:17:42 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 June, 2015, 01:36:22 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 June, 2015, 11:38:49 AM
Attack the Block. Why the drokk have I not watched this before? Amazing movie and a textbook example of shoe to create menace and threat with zero budget.

Joe Cornish's interview with Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo is pretty funny. He accurately says that its being judged as though it's part of the cornetto trilogy, so perhaps Mr Kermode might prefer to watch the movie Joe made and not the one Mark thought he was going to watch.

A viewpoint Mark Kermode has since come around to!

I love it. Glad to see Moses leading up the trailer for Star Wars too.

Love that movie and thanks for making me aware of the Cornish Kermode thing - that interview is fantastic and the politist arguement ever!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 June, 2015, 02:27:17 PM
Anyway why I cam here in the first place was to say I've just watched Black Angel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L8pHKP-vv4  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L8pHKP-vv4)

Now I'd long remember this film without knowing it was a thing. I remembered vividly the shots of the knight drowning and fighting to take off his helmet. I knew it was a short I'd seen in the cinemen but couldn't remember the context. So anyway a couple of years ago I stumbled across some info about it and found out it was ahead of Empire, which made sense and that it was long lost and had become a bit of a cult classic.

Anyway its found remastered and out there again so I watched and its kinda telling that what I remembered was some striking visuals and not much else as, well to be honest that sums up the movies. It takes a lovely long time to wander here and there. With beautifully shot scenes and glorious vistas. It bravely mianders and sure takes it time to tell its tall. The trouble is there's not enough to the tale to make it worthwhile. Its so slight that however nicely and visually its made its pretty unsatifying.

From the simply fantastic clouds surrounding the sun in the opening shot to the Black Angel himself (strange that I didn't remember him rather than the drowning - who knows?) it looks great. Just there's not really much else to it.Which is kinda the idea I think but doesn't work for me. One of those films possibly served better by memory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 June, 2015, 02:41:43 PM
Herm. I have Black Angel lined up in my Watch Later queue....must give it a watch tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 11 June, 2015, 04:23:30 PM
Kingsman. It was pretty good, if a little smug.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 June, 2015, 05:19:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 June, 2015, 12:43:41 PMHe missed out on the stoner/slacker but not bad going. And probably a sure sign that your movie is predictable shit

What's truly amazing is that any sensible person would assume Detention of the Dead was a straight-to-shelf rip-off of cult anime boobs/gore-fest High School of the Dead*, but it's actually based on a stage play.




*Which has such notoriously unnecessary sexualisation of its female characters that I know one anime fan who will only refer to it as The Wanking Dead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 June, 2015, 05:30:50 PM
Ah, High School of the Dead. Their was a time I really enjoyed that. I was 14.

Dar days, people. Dark days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 June, 2015, 05:48:51 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 June, 2015, 02:17:42 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 June, 2015, 01:36:22 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 11 June, 2015, 11:38:49 AM
Attack the Block. Why the drokk have I not watched this before? Amazing movie and a textbook example of shoe to create menace and threat with zero budget.

Joe Cornish's interview with Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo is pretty funny. He accurately says that its being judged as though it's part of the cornetto trilogy, so perhaps Mr Kermode might prefer to watch the movie Joe made and not the one Mark thought he was going to watch.

A viewpoint Mark Kermode has since come around to!

I love it. Glad to see Moses leading up the trailer for Star Wars too.

Love that movie and thanks for making me aware of the Cornish Kermode thing - that interview is fantastic and the politist arguement ever!

I love this film too.

Can you link me to the interview please?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 June, 2015, 05:49:42 PM
It's ok, found it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-clDpRH3iA4
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 11 June, 2015, 06:12:56 PM
Catching up on a few before my return to work next week - booo!

Would You Rather (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no218-would-you-rather.html) was a high concept film that essentially gave a group of people the choice or doing this or that in order to win some dough. It was OK but given the choice I'd rather have watched something else!

Also saw Woman on the Run (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no219-woman-on-run.html) which was a perfectly decent 1950's B movie.

And Terence Stamp gangster flick The Hit. (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no124-hit.html)

Lastly I saw Anna Kendrick's first film Camp (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342167/) which was OK if you like a 'Glee' or 'High School Musical' type romp which of course we all do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 June, 2015, 10:31:01 PM
Tuned into the some film called Mr Brooks, thinking it was some biopic about Mel Brook.

Seriously no... it's about a pairs of serial killers. One of which gets caught on film doing the deed by some younger guy who also wants to learn the trade and lets just say I didn't know it was so easy to get your throat cut by the buisness end of a shovel and the twist ending  might have been planned by Mr Brooks himself. Otherwise, you just don't know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 June, 2015, 10:00:08 AM
Jurassic World.

It's very meh I'm afraid.

Better than 2 and 3, but not by much. I  think the reviews on this one have been overly generous. I actually had high hopes for it, and was trying to convince myself that it was just a case of the marketing not reflecting the final product, but if you've seen the trailers or previews, i can assure you it's every bit as dumb as it seems from those clips. LOTS of clunky dialogue.

We watched the original last night which is such a tight, restrained piece of work. This one is a typical weightless greenscreen-fest, lacking any sense of tangibility or tension. They make an admirable stab at giving the story a bit of heart, and pepper it with cutesy, indie movie type moments, but it just didn't work for me. You know you've got script problems if the majority of your main characters spend pretty much the entire third act not doing anything, or watching things unfold on a screen. It reminded me a bit of Star Trek Into Darkness - lots of nods and winks that just remind you of a far superior film.

2/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 June, 2015, 01:08:13 PM
Kingsman

I really enjoyed this. Colin Firth was ace and the film totally embraced the ridiculous spy-cliche trappings.
It has the OTT Mark Millar/Mathew Vaughn elements you'd expect - including the slightly adolescent sense of humour.
Really good fun though - if you like action movies you should enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 June, 2015, 01:43:06 PM
:O I'm watching that right now

It's very enjoyable at this point, no where near as obnoxious as it seemed from the trailer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 June, 2015, 02:29:01 PM
So good you're checking the internet?  Lol, not the best review I've ever read! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 June, 2015, 02:57:20 PM
Well I stopped to make lunch! Thoroughly enjoyable. Colin Firth makes a surprisingly good action hero. Shame his main action scene involves [spoiler]murdering a church [/spoiler]full of horrible but innocent people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 12 June, 2015, 03:02:21 PM
Ah, fair one! Guess that's the movie Nazi in me coming out.....prep a drink, no snacks, void bladder, commence film, watch to end uninterrupted, review!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 June, 2015, 03:24:12 PM
I am the same about movies that are of a little more substance than this/in the cinema/not being watched during the day.

One thing I didn't mention though was how clumsy the anal sex gag was. It was a bit... off. Swedish princess promising bum sex to a stranger if he'll rescue her/the world... then the final shot soured it quite a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 12 June, 2015, 03:48:34 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 June, 2015, 03:24:12 PM
... then the final shot soured it quite a bit.

BAN THIS SICK FILTH!

TBH I found that gag a bit out of place as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 13 June, 2015, 09:41:54 AM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 12 June, 2015, 03:02:21 PM
Ah, fair one! Guess that's the movie Nazi in me coming out.....prep a drink, no snacks, void bladder, commence film, watch to end uninterrupted, review!  ;)

Ah, the halcyon days before kids!  Now it's ... grab 20 minutes at a shift and try and remember what happened the last time I had a chance to watch it!  Sigh!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 June, 2015, 02:16:32 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 12 June, 2015, 03:48:34 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 June, 2015, 03:24:12 PM
... then the final shot soured it quite a bit.

BAN THIS SICK FILTH!

TBH I found that gag a bit out of place as well.

My thoughts as well. Needless really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 June, 2015, 05:02:46 PM
THE PHANTOM

Lee Falk's comic hero comes to life. Actually, it never really comes to life... there's something not quite there in nearly every aspect of it. The stunts and set pieces with truck, horse, plane and motorcycle are nearly good but not quite. Treat Williams gag a minute villain is nearly funny and evil but doesn't quite manage it. Billy Zane is nearly dashing and two fisted/gunned but just falls short. The music just doesn't make it either. The story is refreshingly straight forward even if it is a quest for the "something of thingummy". And some of the dialogue even attempts to be of its time.

But you always get the sense that you have seen it all before but better.

Plus marks for lots of great period cars and extras in a presumably pre-cgi New York.

Minus marks for Catherine Zeta Jones being terrible beyond belief.

Oh and isn't the end "duel" the same as Space balls?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 June, 2015, 02:04:06 PM
Jurassic World.

The script for this film was clearly cut and paste from many other, more successful films. Both Chris Pratt and Bryce Howard are flat and wooden with zero chemistry between the two. The first 30 minutes is just a series of product placement shots really.

[spoiler]The ending was the predictable duel with a deus ex machina ending.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 14 June, 2015, 02:10:20 PM
This run finishes with the guilty pleasure We Bought a Zoo (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no221-we-bought-zoo.html) and the risible Wolfcop (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no220-wolfcop.html).

Also saw Jude Law in Black Sea which was OK despite his ridiculous Scottish accent which I thought was meant to be Russian at first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 June, 2015, 03:05:02 PM
That was Scottish?  Fuck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 June, 2015, 05:29:50 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 14 June, 2015, 02:04:06 PM
Jurassic World.

The script for this film was clearly cut and paste from many other, more successful films. Both Chris Pratt and Bryce Howard are flat and wooden with zero chemistry between the two. The first 30 minutes is just a series of product placement shots really.

[spoiler]The ending was the predictable duel with a deus ex machina ending.[/spoiler]

Just got back from seeing this.

Jesus, what a pile of shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 June, 2015, 05:30:41 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 June, 2015, 10:00:08 AM
Jurassic World.

It's very meh I'm afraid.

Better than 2 and 3, but not by much.

I thought 3 was much better. Certainly tighter said the bishop to the nun
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 14 June, 2015, 06:36:30 PM
Finally tracked down a copy of the film version of Pat Barker's Regeneration and sat down for a viewing.

Having not read the novel in a long time (on one of my Uni courses) but having enjoyed it, I was not fully prepared for how engrossing it was.  Johnny Lee Miller and Jonathan Pryce stood out for me with their performances.  It stands alongside Charley's War as one of the most effective pieces of anti war story telling I have come across.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 June, 2015, 12:45:21 AM
Dead Heads.

To borrow a term from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, a Rom-Zom-Com, and buddy movie (more the buddy movie really) except the two main character protagonists (three if we count Cheese) are zombies themselves, yet in their right minds for some reason (not including Cheese in this case,[spoiler] although he has his moment[/spoiler]).

Very amusing. Manages to have dark rather warped humour yet still manages to be light-hearted, yet not afraid to be very sad on occasion. I loved how it did a little homage to Night of the Living Dead in places. except from a different angle.

I'm not over sure of the ending.[spoiler]It felt rather convenient for me.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 June, 2015, 12:54:23 AM
My ten year old came back from a birthday party where he was taken to see Jurassic World and he loved it. Although, when pushed, he conceded it was "maybe a little bit scary if you were wee" (translation: it was fucking terrifying dad).

Folks, we are not the audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 June, 2015, 07:43:54 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 June, 2015, 12:54:23 AM
My ten year old came back from a birthday party where he was taken to see Jurassic World and he loved it. Although, when pushed, he conceded it was "maybe a little bit scary if you were wee" (translation: it was fucking terrifying dad).

Folks, we are not the audience.

Very true.
I took my 11 year old and he loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 June, 2015, 09:07:24 AM
"We are not the target audience" isn't a good reason for something that is sloppily written, acted, and paced.

I love Dinosaurs, of course im the target audience, and Jurassic World is quite the turd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 June, 2015, 05:14:11 PM
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking in a film that is actually better than it's trailer suggests but still pretty poor. It's not that it's badly acted or written or anything like that. It's just that it's the wrong film.  It's about him and his missus falling in and out of love.
But yawn! Love stories are ten a penny - I wanted more about him and his break through workd and how Stephen Hawking sees the universe in a way that must be unique amongst humans - I'm pretty sure it's not as a milk swirl in a cuppa or some embers in a fire.
The first 45 minutes seems to go on forever but it, bizarrelly, picks up pace when he ends up in his chair.
Daredevil pops up for a bit too.
What have I seen Felicty Jones in recently?

Black Holes? More like Shit Holes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 June, 2015, 10:05:42 AM
Had a friend over for a movie doubler last night so showed him Wyrmwood and REC4: Apocalypse and they went down a treat.

Wyrmwood is still great fun on a 3rd viewing and Bianca Bradey still looks astonishingly cool, and while REC 4 isn't as nerve shredding as the first film it's still holding up well. That was a 3rd viewing too, and I think it sits very happily with the first two to make a great trilogy (luckily storywise it's easy to ignore the existence of 3, which didn't float my boat at all really).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mikey on 16 June, 2015, 10:30:17 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 14 June, 2015, 06:36:30 PM
Finally tracked down a copy of the film version of Pat Barker's Regeneration and sat down for a viewing.

Having not read the novel in a long time (on one of my Uni courses) but having enjoyed it, I was not fully prepared for how engrossing it was.  Johnny Lee Miller and Jonathan Pryce stood out for me with their performances.  It stands alongside Charley's War as one of the most effective pieces of anti war story telling I have come across.

I haven't read the book (me Mrs has) and have only watche dit once when it came out - but I agree, it's fantastic.

The last film I watched was The Chaser, a Korean serial killer thriller type thing 'inspired' by a real life nutter. Pretty gruesome in parts, with a great anti-hero performance by Kim Yoon-seok it's a great film. As a side point, what I like about a lot of Korean films is they don't appear to treat the audience like arseholes and fighting seems to be treated realistically - it's messy,unpolished and not portrayed gladiatorily.

M.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 June, 2015, 10:43:59 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 16 June, 2015, 10:30:17 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 14 June, 2015, 06:36:30 PM
Finally tracked down a copy of the film version of Pat Barker's Regeneration and sat down for a viewing.

Having not read the novel in a long time (on one of my Uni courses) but having enjoyed it, I was not fully prepared for how engrossing it was.  Johnny Lee Miller and Jonathan Pryce stood out for me with their performances.  It stands alongside Charley's War as one of the most effective pieces of anti war story telling I have come across.

I haven't read the book (me Mrs has) and have only watche dit once when it came out - but I agree, it's fantastic.

The last film I watched was The Chaser, a Korean serial killer thriller type thing 'inspired' by a real life nutter. Pretty gruesome in parts, with a great anti-hero performance by Kim Yoon-seok it's a great film. As a side point, what I like about a lot of Korean films is they don't appear to treat the audience like arseholes and fighting seems to be treated realistically - it's messy,unpolished and not portrayed gladiatorily.

M.   

Really liked Chaser too, saw it in the cinema back when Cineworld did their Tartan Asia seasons. Not sure if they still do those, but used to try and make it to as many as possible when they did and caught some really interesting films as a result.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 June, 2015, 11:44:37 AM
Been on my watch list for a while, had forgotten about it.

Have you seen I Saw the Devil? That is (from what I understand of The Chaser) similar. I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway and would recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mikey on 16 June, 2015, 12:10:07 PM
Yeah, I Saw the Devil is great too. Think I enjoyed The Chaser more though personally.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 16 June, 2015, 10:43:59 AM
Really liked Chaser too, saw it in the cinema back when Cineworld did their Tartan Asia seasons.

Wish my local cinema done such things! I had built up a good recommendation list on Amazon for Korean/eastern cinema until I forgot my password and lost it all before I took notes  :-\ I've talked before now about how much I love A Tale of Two Sisters, so I'll recommend Memories of Murder again instead if you haven't seen it.

M.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 June, 2015, 12:45:28 PM
Society

Bonkers and great fun. It's very of its time (lots of women wearing those weird 80s knickers).
It certainly lived up to the weirdness I remember from watching this film on Moviedrome some time in the early 90s.

My girlfriend said it was the biggest load of rubbish she'd ever seen and that it didn't make sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 June, 2015, 12:52:42 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 16 June, 2015, 10:43:59 AM
Really liked Chaser too, saw it in the cinema back when Cineworld did their Tartan Asia seasons. Not sure if they still do those, but used to try and make it to as many as possible when they did and caught some really interesting films as a result.
Don't think so, but I also saw some good stuff during the first couple.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 June, 2015, 01:01:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 June, 2015, 12:45:28 PM
Society

Bonkers and great fun. It's very of its time (lots of women wearing those weird 80s knickers).
It certainly lived up to the weirdness I remember from watching this film on Moviedrome some time in the early 90s.

My girlfriend said it was the biggest load of rubbish she'd ever seen and that it didn't make sense.
Best bit?

"Your right son! I really am a butt hole!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 June, 2015, 05:42:22 PM
The more I've thought about it, the more Jurassic World reminds me of Super 8.

Earnest Amblin homages that get bogged down by heavy-handed, sloppy execution and some OTT cgi effects, and prove just how difficult that magic Spielberg formula is to replicate.

Neither are films I'll ever return to. Let's hope the similarly retro The Force Awakens is better.

Quote"We are not the target audience" isn't a good reason for something that is sloppily written, acted, and paced.

I love Dinosaurs, of course im the target audience, and Jurassic World is quite the turd.

Broadly agree, though I think 'turd' is a little strong. The key thing for me was that the characters just didn't engage me and as a result I didn't feel any tension or care about their fates. Jurassic Park is not an intelligent film per se, but within the confines of the world it presents you believe that all the characters are intelligent people with real motivations - even the obvious dino-fodder like Nedry and Gennaro aren't evil, just cowardly and incompetent. Nearly every main character in the film has their own arc and all serve an important function in the story. When a character dies, it's as a direct result of choices they make, for good or ill*. By contrast there were whole characters in World that felt totally extraneous - Vincent D'Onofrio's ostensible 'villain', the British assistant girl, the owner of the park/part-time helicopter pilot, Chris Pratt's trainer buddy, even to a certain extent the two kids - could be lifted right out of the film and not make much difference to the story, such as it was.

I guess I was supposed to cheer at the ludicrous dino slamdown at the end, that ends with the [spoiler]raptor and T Rex all but fist-bumping[/spoiler], but all I could do was groan. It's a shame that no one can seem to make a sequel to Jurassic Park without it descending into monster-movie schlock. The first one ain't a monster movie, or is at least substantially more than a monster movie.

*Did anyone else think it was downright weird that the [spoiler]British assistant/babysitter[/spoiler] character gets such an extravagant, gleefully ott death scene? Just really odd and unearned from a narrative point of view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 June, 2015, 05:52:22 PM
Quote
*Did anyone else think it was downright weird that the character gets such an extravagant, gleefully ott death scene? Just really odd and unearned from a narrative point of view.

In the Empire Magazine spoiler podcast, the director said that as she was the [spoiler]first woman to die in a JP movie[/spoiler], and that she did not [spoiler]deserve to die[/spoiler], that they just went for it and made it OTT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 17 June, 2015, 07:37:13 AM
Jurassic World

Loved it.  And that love loved it all over again,  but with extra love.  Hugely entertaining,  tense,  amusing and full of spectacle, and easily the most crowd-pleasing since the original. 
I was 22 when JP came out,  so any nostalgia is tempered somewhat.  Though obviously 22 year old me wept like a baby at finally seeing dinosaurs on screen.
The Lost World was hugely disappointing, but JP3 was a taut little monster movie and so probably my personal favourite, before this.
JW reinvents the amazing spectacle of that first JP viewing in spades,  and provides just enough story and character to glue the set pieces together. 
Yeah,  there's some dodgy effects- the raptors in their head harnesses just weren't really there at all- but on every other level it succeeded spectacularly.
Going again with my family on Monday for my birthday, and will live in expectation of future installments. Just brilliant.  After Age of Ultron so disappointed, it was rewarding to go see a film that reminded me why I love this type of thing.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 18 June, 2015, 07:00:02 AM
Chappie. Have to say, I don't understand why it was so hated. I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 18 June, 2015, 10:37:17 PM
The Sweeney

Thought I'd give it another go, and see if perhaps I was too harsh on it the first time round.  I wasn't.  It's terrible.  Bad camera angles, loose shots, terrible lighting, piss poor design, hammy acting, and a meandering direction that makes me wonder if Nick Love phone the job in.  Considering how good some of his other films are, this truly is a disappointment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 June, 2015, 08:35:38 AM
Quote from: blackmocco on 18 June, 2015, 07:00:02 AM
Chappie. Have to say, I don't understand why it was so hated. I loved it.

Loved it too. I did have a lot to say about this one, but now I forget. I thought the robot was brilliant and knew that it would kicked ass if it fought back when it was driven to the slums and left to fend for it self against the native-street-gang . I also thought this was strange that fellow drove him all the way to another place not that much different from place where they were staying and to just teach it a lesson. As it did look like life was hard al over in most places in that part of the country they were in.

That main be worth explain to me.

BTW, did you know that the that the guy known as Ninja (In the film as well as his stage name in real life!) and his girl friend, Yolandi. (In the film as well his partner in real life!) are also some small, but perhaps locally well know rap-duo called Die-Artwood and they also did some of the soundtrack. They do have unique sound, although, I have always found white-rappers more interesting, because, but try not get drawn into their stuff I never paid much attention to the source. Although, did feel compelled to once purchase a Eminem cd, because I was living in a very town back then and one of my works would stop talking about this fellow. Kind like me with Slaine. Anyway, the African accent sounds really odd when not being used by one of their true native. (How else could I say that without sounding racist!)

Anyway, that film left me kind of inspired...the gangs living in ruined warehouse wasn't something I haven't seen in film since the first Robo-Cop film and it's kind of ironic, I'm making that comparison in a film about a law-enforcement robot. That's what I like to sen more of in a Judge -Dredd film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 June, 2015, 11:27:21 AM
She was Morgan Le Fey in a former life so she probably deserved it.

Clan Tips caught it in IMAX 3D last night and overall it got a reserved thumbs up. My expectations were low but in the end I'm filing it under dumb but fun.  There were plenty of bits I didn't like but I right enjoyed the dinosaur action and that, after all, was my main reason for going. 

The sequels continue to be completely off message from the first, and best, Jurassic Park. "Dinosaurs and man were never meant to be in the mix" but now we have Raptor Bros and all but winking at the camera T-REX. (though to be fair, at least the progression has been there from herding them in JP2, communicating with them in JP3 etc.)

It could certainly do with less characters and better outlines of the ones it does highlight but again, I think that's probably a problem caused by it shifting closer to "disaster movie" territory rather than a JP movie.

But for all it's stupidity, the first appearance of the I-REX is magnificently scary. And that works for me. I just wish it was in a better movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AM
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever. I can't believe I dozed off towards the end. I've never fallen asleep in a cinema before!!  But it was just so DULL. Lots of shots of individuals staring at things, or looking moody. When things actually happened it was a blessed relief to the tedium. Sadly, things happened rarely.

I've not seen Twilight, so I can't comment if it is worse than that. It has to be though. It has to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 June, 2015, 02:04:23 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AM
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever. I can't believe I dozed off towards the end. I've never fallen asleep in a cinema before!!  But it was just so DULL. Lots of shots of individuals staring at things, or looking moody. When things actually happened it was a blessed relief to the tedium. Sadly, things happened rarely.

I've not seen Twilight, so I can't comment if it is worse than that. It has to be though. It has to be.

Damn... Just been sent a review copy of this and have been looking forward to watching it!

Just watched a New Zealand comedy horror called Housebound, which is easily one of the best movies I have seen this year. Brilliant stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2015, 02:57:30 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AMA Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever.

It's a black and white feminist western about a skateboarding vampire stalking the residents of an Iranian ghost town.  You were only ever going to love or hate that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 June, 2015, 07:36:19 PM
Quote from: Drinking Problem on 20 June, 2015, 02:57:30 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AMA Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever.

It's a black and white feminist western about a skateboarding vampire stalking the residents of an Iranian ghost town.  You were only ever going to love or hate that one.

With that description you've made it seem.interesting to me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 June, 2015, 09:12:54 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 June, 2015, 07:36:19 PM
Quote from: Drinking Problem on 20 June, 2015, 02:57:30 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AMA Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever.

It's a black and white feminist western about a skateboarding vampire stalking the residents of an Iranian ghost town.  You were only ever going to love or hate that one.

With that description you've made it seem.interesting to me!

Yup! I'm back on board again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 09:18:04 PM
Quote from: Drinking Problem on 20 June, 2015, 02:57:30 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 20 June, 2015, 11:44:47 AMA Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - worst vampire film ever.

It's a black and white feminist western about a skateboarding vampire stalking the residents of an Iranian ghost town.  You were only ever going to love or hate that one.

It was pretty much that description that encouraged me to see it. The skateboarding bit is mildly amusing, as is a cat. Also a drug dealer provides an interesting diversion for a few minutes.  The rest is booooooooooring.

Jeez, I feel myself nodding off again just thinking about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 21 June, 2015, 06:42:54 AM
Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey

"Dont overlook my butt, I work out all the time. And reaping burns a lot of calories."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 June, 2015, 07:19:59 AM
In Bruges

Having been to Bruge twice in the last 8 months I finally got around to watching this.
Excellent film. Very funny and quite touching too.
Also very, very sweary...Which helps  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 June, 2015, 02:10:36 PM
The Wedding Ringer. Not a great film but it was great to see Judge Anderson Olivia Thirlby again. I may be biased but she was one of the few shining points of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 June, 2015, 09:01:11 PM
Annie Hall.

Never seen it before and was really looking forward to it.

It disappointed. Keaton is gorgeous and there are some very funny observations but overall it falls flat to me. Doesn't help that I can't get past Woody Allen's sexual past.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 22 June, 2015, 12:39:44 AM
Was watching Young Frankenstein yesterday and the attractiveness of Teri Garr and watched The Theory of  Everything, you know about Stephen Hawkings and not sure they showed how it all happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2015, 10:38:36 AM
Bea and myself have recently stumbled on the How Did This Get Made podcast and after listening to a couple of episodes have decided (foolishly) to work through all the films featured. So, starting with episode one we watched Burlesque. Wow. What a glorious mess of a movie.

I'll admit to only having a passing knowledge of what Burlesque is but it's pretty clear that's more of knowledge than the film-makers had. Cher looks like a mad waxwork (there's one scene where she's really emotional but I couldn't tell until another character commented on it). When she cries it's reminiscent of that bit in Expendables when Stallone and Rourke get totes emosh.

It's surreal that there's a whole thing about lip-syncing where everyone mimes for the first half of the film but Aguilera wants to sing live but Cher keeps banging on about how Burlesque is people miming so she can't, and then when it turns out she can really sing Cher goes aye alright then, and then for the rest of the film everyone is still miming, just even less convincingly and to bad hip hop dance tracks which are apparently being played by 2 acoustic guitars and a percussionist. The swearing spattered throughout is really jarring, it gives the impression the film thinks it's a gritty edgy drama when it's basically just High School Musical in a nightclub. Every time it happened it felt shocking because I realized 'MY GOD THIS FILM THINKS IT'S FOR GROWNUPS!'.

It's a bit of a 'so bad it's good' affair, but even at that it's about an hour too long given there's almost no story and none of the musical numbers are memorable at all (well, Kristen Bell's routine was memorable, but that's more to do with my crush on Kristen Bell than anything else).

Sort of worth it for that and the bit where Cher sings a ballad at in the empty club and it's the cheesiest thing ever and so, so bad that Bea is now threatening to come down the aisle to it. Oh and Aguilera's audition is incredible, I think she's doing some sort of cat or rabbit impression, and it might have been a genuine dance routine but it's edited to make her look like she's having some sort of psychotic episode.

Basically it's brilliant, 10/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mikey on 22 June, 2015, 12:58:44 PM
Sold!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 22 June, 2015, 01:07:42 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2015, 10:38:36 AM
Bea and myself have recently stumbled on the How Did This Get Made podcast and after listening to a couple of episodes have decided (foolishly) to work through all the films featured. So, starting with episode one we watched Burlesque. Wow. What a glorious mess of a movie.
I love that podcast too, but be warned that some of the later episodes are them almost constantly interrupting each other to get their observations in, and they deliberately misunderstand some pretty obvious stuff in order to make jokes (most notably, "Sleepaway Camp"). Plus, they're idiots about "Hudson Hawk", which I will defend against anyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
I had the original Dawn of the Dead on in the background today whilst I was working.  I had only seen the remake before and had little interest in watching the original because of that (and the - imo - less than stellar, Land of the Dead).  I saw some gushing reviews of the Dead series from a fan on YouTube a while back and it's sat in my mind since then that I would like to give Dawn and Day a watching.

Firstly, it's a good background movie.  I was following it surprisingly well without it having my complete attention.  I didn't miss anything significant for following the plot.  Secondly, it is considerably better than the remake.  I actually have less respect for the Snyder version than I did before just because I now have a frame of comparison.  Lastly, as it's own film it is pretty good.  It's not heavy handed, it has a decent humour and I was pleased with the characterisation.  The four leads were all great in their roles.  The story is nice and concise with it's focus on the characters and the logistics of the tasks they set out to achieve.  It was an interesting and entertaining film with the most brightly coloured blood I have seen since Evil Dead.  I would certainly watch it again in the future.

Next up will be it's sequel which I am looking forward to more as I know less about it and haven't heard as much hype surround it.  From what little I have seen it looks very interesting and appropriately different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Karl Stephan on 23 June, 2015, 12:49:21 AM
Jurassic World aka Dances with Dinos aka The Velociraptor Whisperer aka We're just making shit up now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 June, 2015, 09:22:53 AM
QuoteWe're just making shit up now.

You mean they weren't before?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 June, 2015, 09:27:49 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 June, 2015, 09:22:53 AM
You mean they weren't before?

Jurassic Park movies not documentaries shocker! Film at eleven.

Cheers

jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 June, 2015, 10:43:39 AM
Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD, and very enjoyable it was too. Went along with a couple of friends who aren't readers and they both really enjoyed it too and were enthusing about how accessible it was and how interesting and entertaining it all was regardless.

There was a Q&A afterwards but I had to sprint for a train as soon as the credits rolled, I'm told it was fun though (but brief, as Dredd was showing afterwards).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 June, 2015, 10:54:25 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
Next up will be it's sequel which I am looking forward to more as I know less about it and haven't heard as much hype surround it.  From what little I have seen it looks very interesting and appropriately different.

I think "Day.." might be my favourite of the Romero Dead films, but they're all good in their own way.

Look forward see what you think of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 23 June, 2015, 10:59:41 AM
Romero's Day of the Dead was grim fun.
That [spoiler]soldier screaming while his head is detached[/spoiler] scene has stayed with me since childhood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 June, 2015, 11:02:50 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 23 June, 2015, 10:59:41 AM
Romero's Day of the Dead was grim fun.
That [spoiler]soldier screaming while his head is detached[/spoiler] scene has stayed with me since childhood.
CHOKE OF 'EM!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 June, 2015, 11:04:39 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 23 June, 2015, 10:54:25 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
Next up will be it's sequel which I am looking forward to more as I know less about it and haven't heard as much hype surround it.  From what little I have seen it looks very interesting and appropriately different.

I think "Day.." might be my favourite of the Romero Dead films, but they're all good in their own way.

Look forward see what you think of it.

I have a very good friend who thinks Day is better than Dawn to... I tolerate the wrong headed fool, but make him aware that he really should do some serious thinking about his life choices.

Dawn every damned day of the week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 June, 2015, 11:39:57 AM
Me and my little brother are both in the Day camp. It's just so damn bleak and the apocalyptic atmosphere is really intense.

Watched through Night/Dawn/Day with my fiance recently as she'd never seen them, and while she enjoyed Night and Dawn a lot (otherwise the wedding would be off), Day was the one that held up best to her as a new viewer. It was the one where the tension really worked for her and she was properly on the edge of her seat at points, it got a really visceral horror movie reaction that the others didn't and she declared it her favorite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 June, 2015, 01:42:37 PM
Day is definitely more polished, a bit tighter, and has the nice tension between scientist and military.  Oh, and 'Bub' of course!  :D

However, Dawn is by far my favourite (despite the recurring reanimating zombie extras) because it is eminently quotable [spoiler]('When the dead walk you must stop the killing, or lose the war.' and 'When there's no more room in hell, the dead shall walk the earth.') [/spoiler], and a fantastic commentary on the utter pointlessness of consumerism.  The whole [spoiler]'what have  we done to ourselves?' scene at the dinnertable, as the world falls apart around them[/spoiler] is one of many memorable moments.

It's also a little overlong, but I don't care.  I adore all three films, but Dawn is definitely my favourite, and watched more often than the others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 23 June, 2015, 02:06:20 PM
Dawn isn't just the best zombie movie ever made, it's one of the best movies of the 70s, the incredible decade for cinema. Day is...okay, I guess? Everything since then has been an embarrassment too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 June, 2015, 04:18:02 PM
I have not long finished Day of the Dead.  Once again, this is a good film to have on whilst working.  There is certainly more tension to this film and I like that it doesn't come from the Zombie threat (for the most part).  It is pretty grim and the improvement in the effects adds greatly to that tone.  It certainly wouldn't have worked as well if it looked like Dawn did.  It was pretty enjoyable.

Comparing it to Dawn is hard, however.  The two films do seem distinct from one another.  From my initial impression after watching Day I can't exactly say that it worse than Dawn, nor is it better.  I'd rate them pretty much on par.  They are enjoyable, but for different reasons.  Day is certainly a more polished film, and the power-play and desperation gives the film a sharper edge.  That edge is needed to be able to stand up to it's predecessor, and I think it does.

I'm certainly pleased to have finally watched these films.  I liked that they are both character driven and any shock value is appropriately placed to emphasise the extreme situations of human interaction and choice.  I can see why these films are so highly regarded, but I do think that Dawn unfairly overshadows Day in regards to a legacy of hype.  Day is certainly good enough to be held in the same esteem as Dawn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 23 June, 2015, 05:11:54 PM
Dawn is a great, great movie, but Day is definitely the one I come back to, time and time again. It's much more the EC Comics of Dead movies - grimmer, nastier, more sadistic – and yet it has the happier ending. It also has Tom Savini's best ever make-up effects. To my mind it's just as quotable as Dawn, though that may be because I know it so well. Richard Liberty and Joe Pilato get the lion's share of the great lines, but I like to watch it and pretend Steel's the main character - true, he's a racist, sexist bastard but it's still possible to sympathise with him more than you'd think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 23 June, 2015, 05:23:58 PM
Day of the Dead, without a shadow of a doubt. And I've told Ken Foray that to his face!

Had the pleasure to be at a Q+A with George Romero when Land of the Dead premiered in Edinburgh.
In his own words (more or less)...
"There are the serious horror fans who prefer Night of the living Dead, the party people who like the rollercoaster ride of Day of the Dead, and then (grins) there are the trolls who prefer Day of the Dead."

Yup, I'm a troll  :)
And, although he never suggested it directly, I think the look on George's face at the time suggested he may be a troll as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 June, 2015, 05:26:27 PM
Romero has alwaus insisted that he knows Dawn is his best film, but he unashamedly loves Day over it, because it was the movie he had been wanting to do since Night. Gore filled, grim as all hell, and bloody fantastic fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 23 June, 2015, 06:35:40 PM
I've never met 5 people in a row who thought "Day" was better than "Dawn" - tis a surprise (not enough to change my mind, though). I'm not entirely sure, re: Romero's comments, that anyone thinks "Night" is the best of the three, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 June, 2015, 08:57:35 PM
You don't get a bigger fan of GAR than me,  and Day is absolutely at the top of the list.  But then,  maybe that's because I saw it on general release at the cinema,  and loved it so much I went back three times in the six days my local fleapit showed it (delayed one day due to snow).
It's one of my comfort films,  along with The Thing,  The Fog,  American Werewolf and The Wicker Man, and gets watched several times a year even now. 

I'd stick his zoms in the following order, but am aware I am in the minority.  Just like NO ONE liked Day on release,  and it took the world a couple of decades to catch up.  So Mark my words,  Land, Diary and Survival will find their audiences in time.

1. Day
2. Land
3. Diary
4. Night
5. Survival
6. Dawn. 

Roll on George A Romero's Marvel's Empire of the Dead,  is all I can say.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 June, 2015, 10:34:36 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 23 June, 2015, 08:57:35 PM

6. Dawn.


:o

Day is great fun though, but for me none of the others come remotely close to Dawn.
But seeing that list has reminded me that I haven't re-watched Land in ages. I might just bang that on now.
Great comfort films though, hard to argue with any of those choices.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 23 June, 2015, 10:57:39 PM
Dawn being sixth only means that it's my least favourite,  not that I don't like it.  I should have made that more explicit.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 June, 2015, 11:58:01 PM
As I mentioned in my Dawn of the Dead post, Land was one reason why I was hesitant to watch the others.  I have seen the film two or three times and I just don't think it is that good.  Even as far as "master of horror" doing "crud but strangely watchable" goes I don't rate it highly.  Ghost of Mars probably takes top spot in that particular category for me.  All that being said, I am glad that my displeasure of Land affecting my opinion of the Dead series at large was reduced enough for me to give Dawn and Day a go.

I'm not sure about giving Land another go.  I've given it a fair try and unlike Dawn and Day it never managed to win me over on it's own merits.  The last two in the series look a little too bad for my tastes.  It is going to take one hell of a pang of curiosity to get me to watch them.  I am more likely to watch The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before that pang occurs.

Maybe for my next films I will watch John Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy.  I've not seen The Thing yet, but I have seen Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness and enjoyed both.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 June, 2015, 12:05:38 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 June, 2015, 11:58:01 PM
I've not seen The Thing yet, but I have seen Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness and enjoyed both.

Oooh you will enjoy that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 24 June, 2015, 01:23:48 AM
Army of Frankensteins.
It's got something for everyone, love! action! frankensteins! drama! armies! but mostly armies and frankensteins.
I never thought I would see a black woman in a hot air balloon trying to persuade a frankenstein to help out with the civil rights movement but now I pretty much have and it was everything I imagined it would be. exactly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9wTWwEwwEQ
YOU'VE RUPTURED THE MULTIVERSE, YOU FOOLS!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2015, 08:26:58 AM
The Thing for the first time? You're in for a real treat, it's incredible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2015, 08:37:08 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2015, 08:26:58 AM
The Thing for the first time? You're in for a real treat, it's incredible.

Saw it in the cinema a couple of years ago, and there wasn't one single shot, one frame, I'd change. That's not to say it's the greatest movie ever made, obviously, but watching it on the big screen was like seeing it for the first time again. The pacing, the acting, yes, the FX work, are all just superb.

Such a good film.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 June, 2015, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 June, 2015, 11:58:01 PM
I've not seen The Thing yet,

Simply the best of the Carpenter/Russell films. Perhaps Carpenter's best film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 24 June, 2015, 03:37:10 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2015, 08:37:08 AM
That's not to say it's the greatest movie ever made, obviously

I'd certainly argue it has a place in the upper echelons, for exactly the reasons you detail - it's not just a great horror movie, it's a great movie irrespective of genre. Funny enough, all this talk of Day of the Dead got me in the mood for some 80s horror (as if I'm ever not in the mood!) and so I rather presciently gave The Thing its regular airing last night. The bit where [spoiler]Palmer[/spoiler] things-out has to be one of the great set-pieces of cinema. I also read quite an interesting blog about the movie (though it'll probably turn out I read it 'cos someone posted it elsewhere on the forum): http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/when-thing-became-john-carpenters-thing.html (http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/when-thing-became-john-carpenters-thing.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 June, 2015, 09:35:25 PM
I watched The Thing.  A second viewing will be needed at some point as I feel it deserved more of my direct attention.  It is clearly a really good film.  I was surprised at how polished it looked.  The Thing itself is gruesome and a terrifying prospect to be confronted with.  The conflict between the characters was expertly and the pacing is never ponderous.  The ending is nicely ambiguous that left me slightly wondering about it rather than seeing clear and intentional polemic interpretations.

The best thing about it?  It looks really good.  This is slick and well shot and gives anything made today something to live up to.  My first impression is certainly that this is the best directed work from Carpenter that I have seen.  Which says a lot considering how much I absolutely love Big Trouble in Little China.  Anyway, The Thing is an excellent film and I will definitely be watching it again sometime in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 June, 2015, 12:42:55 AM
Cheers for that blog link Greg! Fascinating.

I agree with previous statements re this film. It might as well be genre-less. It is its own entity - a masterclass in characterisation, pace, setting, and utter paranoia.

I can watch The Thing over and over and still be as clueless as the men in that station as to who has succumbed, and when.

Just bloody brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 25 June, 2015, 01:35:17 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 24 June, 2015, 03:37:10 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2015, 08:37:08 AM
That's not to say it's the greatest movie ever made, obviously

I'd certainly argue it has a place in the upper echelons, for exactly the reasons you detail - it's not just a great horror movie, it's a great movie irrespective of genre. Funny enough, all this talk of Day of the Dead got me in the mood for some 80s horror (as if I'm ever not in the mood!) and so I rather presciently gave The Thing its regular airing last night. The bit where [spoiler]Palmer[/spoiler] things-out has to be one of the great set-pieces of cinema. I also read quite an interesting blog about the movie (though it'll probably turn out I read it 'cos someone posted it elsewhere on the forum): http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/when-thing-became-john-carpenters-thing.html (http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/when-thing-became-john-carpenters-thing.html)

And defies all sorts of Hollywood movie "logic" in that it never, ever gives you any exposition or character background, thank fuck. Everything's in the moment, just like real life. Here's the setting, here's the people, here's the menace. Action defines characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 25 June, 2015, 05:50:04 PM
Balls Out

Sport parody movie, crammed with comedy talent (three current SNL cast members, loads of other people from those US comedy troupes). The poster makes it look like one of those dumb teen raunch movies when it's absolutely nothing of the sort -

(https://iscfc.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/balls-out-movie-poster.jpg)

I did a bit of a review of it, anyway. I try to write in a coherent fashion but I still haven't got past just spewing every word in my brain onto the page. But even if you don't read it, you should watch this because it's actually pretty good.

http://iscfc.net/2015/06/25/balls-out-2015/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 June, 2015, 10:51:01 PM
While babysitting my nephew, there were movies on the TV, while he showed me all his favourite toys, first up: The Shaun the SHeep Movie.

Holy crap it's good. While I have enjoyed all of Aarman's output, none of their full length efforts have matched up to the magic of the Wallace and Gromit shorts, or Creature Comforts. This is up there. The attention to detail is astounding, not a single frame is wasted. It's basically a silent movie too, in the same sense Mr Bean was silent comedy. When my wee three-year-old nephew earnestly explained key scenes, it struck me just how cute the wee shite is and how clever the visual story telling was. This was the only movie we watched that had him sitting enrapt.

A bouble bill of the first two Jurassic Park movies followed. You've all seen them. The young one didn't pay much attention, other than to cheer on the Dinosaurs as they chased people. The best part was when he scolded the Dilophosaur for spitting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 June, 2015, 11:13:56 PM
OOOH, I'd really like to watch the Shaun the Sheep film.  Years and years ago I saw the TV program (when I still had TV) and thought it was fantastic.  Best thing on kids TV at the time.  I even got my Mum into it to the point where her grandkids (one of my nieces or nephews - I forget which) gave her a Shaun the Sheep DVD.  I was somewhat jealous.  I was excited to hear that they made a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 June, 2015, 06:29:36 AM
My wife took the kids to see Shaun the Sheep during the school holidays when it was out and then insisted that I did so later in the week when I was looking after them they all enjoyed it so much. It was great I have to say. Though to be honest I prefered Sponge Bob: Sponge Out of Water which is even better!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 June, 2015, 09:37:20 AM
Sin City: A Dame to Kill for

Not bad. Not great. The first was better, but it kept me enrapt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 June, 2015, 09:44:05 AM
Watch Sin City: A Dame to Kill for on Netflix last week, thought it was not really good, as three stories got that weak ending -[spoiler] eh? is that it?  [/spoiler] just best story was opening with Marv.

And I agree with Mandroid that first was much better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 June, 2015, 10:20:04 AM
I saw it on Netflix last night.

I actually thought the longer story with Eva Green's character was interesting, [spoiler]although the amount of nudity was ridiculous. I like a nice female figure as much as any heterosexual man but, they showed her that way so often it got a bit silly. But there were some nice twists and turns in the feme fatale film noir tradition.[/spoiler]

As for the story with that other 'dame' played by Jessica Alba... while I guess there's a case to be made for loose ends (the senator being mentioned briefly in the first film) I kind of felt that story was finished in the first film. Leave it there. It also felt like an excuse to find a way to get Bruce Willis back in the film, and I think they could have done something else.

That big guy is always fun to watch though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 26 June, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Judge Dredd was on this afternoon, and although I dozed off and missed the rest of the film right up until one of the last pieces of music played during the ending credits.

Can anybody name those two songs, because they are not on the official soundtracks.

Things I love about this film.....

The first part where you are given brief run-down of where this is, when this is and how this is.

The Judge uniform, the ones that guard or patrol the wall and where that jet ship was taking the ex-cons. I thought their uniform was okay. The grey-armour and cape.

The city-scape as what's-his-face was flying over to his apartment. While some parts of it looked more fake than others, all those buildings looks just about right as he flew over them in the flying-yellow-cab-ship. The statue of liberty standing near the statue of Dredd (or is that Fargo!)

The authentic traffic, the future cars and trucks and flyers. The ship that dropped Fergi off and the future taxi that picked him up. That red car that Dredd blew up with his gun.

Dredd's opening scene was very iconic and cool to watch. The camera was kept low on the business end of his Law-Master only and as he parked it and stepped off on his boots and pans upward to reveal the full Judge Dredd. Everything, but the bike and uniform looked good here. 

The street scenes.

The Lawgiver was everything it was in the comic and
a bit more.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Judge MacGruder looked every-bit her comic book counter part.

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine. 

The view of the city from Cursed-Earth when Dredd and Fergi were looking to get back in.

The sound-track.

Things I hated.

The uniform, although parts of it seemed about right and the fact that he removed his helmet.

The Lawmaster.

Double-Whammi doesn't belong there.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Block-War and Cursed-Earth didn't seem epic enough.

Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

The must have been other things, but hat was it for me.

I thought the later adaption too serious and poorly cast as well.

Preferable Dredds have so often been discussed on this forum. You know who they are. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 26 June, 2015, 06:34:34 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 June, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Just for you:

(http://favimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/rapper-fergie-headphones-face-make-up.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 26 June, 2015, 07:53:49 PM
The songs playing over the credits of 1995 Dredd are The Cure "Dredd song"(which I always liked) and the band The The can't remember song name and I'm not fast forwarding the tape to find out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 26 June, 2015, 11:09:31 PM
I've watched quite a bit of late,  during my recovery, but tonight's exploration into the weird is one I really have to talk about.

A Haunting at the Rectory (2015)

I have no idea.  None at all.  Was it the worst film I've ever seen,  or one of the best? Was it an amateur fan film with occasional flourish,  or a modern classic?  Or none of the above?  Or all of them? 

Ostensibly based upon "True Events", I guess it's a story about Borley Rectory.  The only way you'd gather this however,  is because the titles proclaim it to be produced in association with "the Borley Rectory Company", otherwise it's never mentioned.  Not once.

You'd think,  it being the "true story of England's most haunted house" and all,  it would be a horror film,  yes?  Ah ha, well you'd only be half right.  What this is,  is a peculiar drama about a love triangle,  set sometime in the past,  in which some ghosts appear for a bit. 

The film exists in a strange absence of context.  It seems to be some time around the turn of the last century... give or take twenty or thirty years.  No mention is made of world events outside the grounds of the house, no historical context is given,  and the characters exist in a weird limbo in which the three main actors display such varied and contrasting acting styles as to render the whole thing akin to an AmDram stage performance of Agatha Christie. Annemarie, the Lady of the house, seems to think it's a modern piece,  her husband Lionel the reverend uses a naturalism more suited to an audition for Emmerdale's next vicar,  and Frank the supposed Alpha sexpot who so violently upsets their life is played as a Welsh Rhett Butler by way of Uncle Frank from Hellraiser.  I say Welsh, but I think that was just the accent slipping.

The vicar is warned Evil lurks in the rectory, by a woman in his graveyard and sure enough, we are treated to a couple of scenes of low level haunting. There's a literal skeleton in the cupboard,  people are killed, other people are buried,  and it stops.

And it sounds bloody awful. But,  oddly,  it's not.  In fact I'm reminded of the first time I saw The Wicker Man on late night TV and absolutely hated it.  It was only years later, after reading about it,  obsessing about it,  and seeing it with a huge audience, that I came to appreciate the "morbid ingenuities" of that glorious work of genius. And there's something, something,  of that about A Haunting at the Rectory.

Sex abounds,  and is surprisingly grphic for this sort of thing. An example of the dissonance between the acting styles and the tone of the piece comes late in the film,  when Annmarie (in her 10s/20s/30s/40s twinset and pearls) shouts fiercly (I'll use rhyming so as not to incur moderator ire) "YES HE CLUCKED ME! I MUCKED HIS SOCK TOO.  MUCKED HIS SOCK AND LET HIM CLUCK ME UP THE GRASS!" in a scene that quite possibly may become this film's equivalent of "Oh god! Oh Jesus Christ! Oh Christ! Christ!".

And it's shot on video,  so certain scenes look like all "liney" and at one point bannisters look like old fashioned 3D because of the video artefacts surrounding them. But at the same time,  the lighting is superb, and it looks as good as a high end BBC period drama.

As I say,  I dont know what to think and I'd be hugely grateful if someone else who has seen it would share their view. At the moment,  again like The Wicker Man before it that first time,  I'm beginning to wonder if I hallucinated the whole thing.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 June, 2015, 11:29:46 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 26 June, 2015, 11:09:31 PM
I have no idea.  None at all.  Was it the worst film I've ever seen,  or one of the best?
Quote
In fact I'm reminded of the first time I saw The Wicker Man on late night TV and absolutely hated it.  It was only years later, after reading about it,  obsessing about it,  and seeing it with a huge audience, that I came to appreciate the "morbid ingenuities" of that glorious work of genius.

Quote
As I say,  I dont know what to think and I'd be hugely grateful if someone else who has seen it would share their view.

Whilst I always find your reviews and opinions valid and entertaining, I think you have too much of a hang-up about your opinions vs the "mainstream" - sometimes you seem to go out of your way to praise things that most people think are shit; or to slag off what many people like.

I hope your appeal attracts enough guidance for you to to decide what your opinion should be.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 28 June, 2015, 12:21:28 AM
The Gunman (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no125-gunman.html) which I quite enjoyed.

I liked Sin City 2 but agree some of the ending were a bit strange. First was better but still good entertainment - with boobs!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 June, 2015, 07:28:39 AM
'The Voices' with Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick
Very dark comedy about a man with a mental illness who's pets talk to him. The cat is a nasty fucker.

I predict it will go on to be a bit of a cult hit.

I enjoyed it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 June, 2015, 11:49:52 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 June, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Judge Dredd was on this afternoon, and although I dozed off and missed the rest of the film right up until one of the last pieces of music played during the ending credits.

Can anybody name those two songs, because they are not on the official soundtracks.

Things I love about this film.....

The first part where you are given brief run-down of where this is, when this is and how this is.

The Judge uniform, the ones that guard or patrol the wall and where that jet ship was taking the ex-cons. I thought their uniform was okay. The grey-armour and cape.

The city-scape as what's-his-face was flying over to his apartment. While some parts of it looked more fake than others, all those buildings looks just about right as he flew over them in the flying-yellow-cab-ship. The statue of liberty standing near the statue of Dredd (or is that Fargo!)

The authentic traffic, the future cars and trucks and flyers. The ship that dropped Fergi off and the future taxi that picked him up. That red car that Dredd blew up with his gun.

Dredd's opening scene was very iconic and cool to watch. The camera was kept low on the business end of his Law-Master only and as he parked it and stepped off on his boots and pans upward to reveal the full Judge Dredd. Everything, but the bike and uniform looked good here. 

The street scenes.

The Lawgiver was everything it was in the comic and
a bit more.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Judge MacGruder looked every-bit her comic book counter part.

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine. 

The view of the city from Cursed-Earth when Dredd and Fergi were looking to get back in.

The sound-track.

Things I hated.

The uniform, although parts of it seemed about right and the fact that he removed his helmet.

The Lawmaster.

Double-Whammi doesn't belong there.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Block-War and Cursed-Earth didn't seem epic enough.

Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

The must have been other things, but hat was it for me.

I thought the later adaption too serious and poorly cast as well.

Preferable Dredds have so often been discussed on this forum. You know who they are.

Just some corrections, I was a little too tired when I wrote this the first time.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Same place really, huh....

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

Not sure if this was cannon, but it seems right for those long cold nights and in al that dust and wind.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine. 

I guess every Angel family member bar Hershel "Pa'Angel" Green seemed right  and every time I watch this, I imagine he looks like he might have been the sixth wizard missing from Lord of the Rings with his long-coat, hat and staff. I not sure if that was cannon to the source, but just didn't seem right to me. Otherwise, he might have been good for that role, but I was thinking of any one of elderly, just beyond middle age extras Dukes of Hazard film or one of the Good Ole Boys from the original Blue Brothers film.

Things I hated.

That is too strong a word. Let's just change that to things I didn't like.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Maybe she was very good for this role....Dianne Lane, because I don't have much of a clue about that character except that she got that distinct female variant of Prince Valiant hair cut....


(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GaWEQwYrhW8/UDRDp9djvWI/AAAAAAAABGk/SiEdEmLmKx8/s1600/PrinceValiant-JCM.jpg)

Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.


Yet, otherwise epic performers in most of the films they both been in. (Notice that I said performers instead of actors with particular reference to Stallone ;))

Armand even brought a bit of humour with his OTT performance, yet that might have been wrong. That part about him being locked up in the Aspen-Prison-Colony on the outskirts of the city. I know that's wrong. Wasn't it on the Titan colony on the moon and didn't he those disfiguring implants  cover most of face. I guess they wanted the villain to look prettier. As much as they think he does.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

Is this a nod towards Rogue Trooper or do all clones in Dreddverse look that way at first?
Didn't seem right to me if it was a reference or even the beginnings of a cross-over. However cool that reads on paper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 28 June, 2015, 02:08:18 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 28 June, 2015, 07:28:39 AMThe cat is a nasty fucker.

Purr for the course in Hollywood.

Buncha dog-lovers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 28 June, 2015, 03:12:56 PM
The 1986 version of April Fool's Day - I have to say that because I discover there's a 2008 remake. One of the best horror films of the 80s, I bloody love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 June, 2015, 04:48:16 PM
Escape To Victory, which I confused with Escape From Sobibor.  Also Escape From Sobibor.
It would have been fantastic if the England players had all ran across a minefield at the end of Victory as it was a bit too funny for the end of Sobibor, which was doing well in the grim stakes up until it fell apart near the end and turned into the final act of an episode of the Benny Hill Show with a whacky chase and slapstick comuppances for all the b-characters.  Escape To Victory was - for different reasons - a pretty grim watch, too, though I suppose it is to be commended for getting there without having to shoot a baby halfway through.  I gather Victory was kind of the Spice World of its day, only with footballers instead of karaoke singers and it doesn't have the good grace to kill its entire cast in a bomb at the end or have Roger Moore in it, but they are both set against a background of an unfolding atrocity so I'm going to run with that analogy anyways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

My quick review; they should have just made two films.

I enjoyed both the previous films, but this one just does not live up to them.  The battle did not seem to capture the feeling portrayed in the book at all.  I have given these films a hell of a lot of leeway when it comes to artistic license, but my impression is that there was little artistry involved in this aspect.  Peter Jackson can do battles and it is certainly wise for him to veer away from what he did in LotR.  It struck me that it was just decided to veer entirely away from the battle after a lacklustre and samey approach kicking it off.  A different directorial approach would have been sufficient and preferable.  It also went on too long.  For the running time we don't really get much.  Compared to the previous two films, which are content heavy, this is way too light.  My impression is that there was more content for two films, but not enough for three. 

The ending was a disappointment as well.  Somehow Jackson completely failed to pull at my heart strings.  He did it so expertly in RotK.  This was far from a strong final instalment of a trilogy and I am left disappointed.  Even more so because of how much I enjoyed the first two films despite the treacherous abandonment of the source material - which happens to be my favourite Tolkien book.  This film is probably OK if you're doing a Middle Earth marathon, as it forms a decent segway, but as a film on it's own merits it failed to deliver. 

I sincerely hope that The Silmarilion is not on the cards.  It is clear that The Hobbit made many compromises in it's story and it's visuals (the CGI adds very little and tends to be a distraction).  The Silmarilion would just end up being a horrifying mess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 12:49:15 AM
Ordered Jupiter Ascending on Box-Office-Network the other night on the television in my room and couldn't make much sense of it because it's been a few months now that I had lost the remote control that adjusts the volume on my set-up.

This is kind of annoying because I don't normally use this remote control to change the channels on it. There are two remotes, one that changes the channels and the other for switching off the monitor and volume.
Aside from that, there are five cable remote when I last found them all and two of them are universal and the other three are either not working or need new batteries. It's quite bothersome that I can't find the television remote, because even when I switch the cable box off, the television is still technically switched on . Even though the screen is then blank.

Anyway, I watched this film in dribs n drabs from early evening til early morning while on the computer and though that it might have been good except that I couldn't follow it much at all, because they were broadcasting the film at such a low volume and I couldn't even adjust this......yes, there are sub-titiles, but who wants to read a film.

So, I ordered the film again, but this time on the television in the lounge-room and that was last night. I only watched it once and still missed a lot of it. Due to extreme need for sleep. 

Being a Waichowski-siblings film, I had high hopes.... and some of them were met, but it also gave me the impression of trying to be several things in couldn't be in such little time. This is another film that might been down better justice over the course of a trilogy or more. 

There was hints of Star-Wars (The earlier and newer trilogy...), Flash Gordonm John Carter of Mars (This last reference because it was another film that might have been better as a trilogy or television series....)  and with regards to those reptilian things which I said before do remind me more of those Draconians from the very well known world of Dragonlance (Krynn, Dungeons & Dragons...) even though I'm sure they or just it may have more to do with David Ick's alien reptile race and Channing Tatum's is a Lycanthrotant  :lol: :P :lol:[/b] (Which is either this film 's version of the Vargr from the  Travellar R.P.G. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)#Major_races) or Dog-Boy from  Paladium-Rifts (Another R.P.G. that has been largely ignored by the film industry, except with this film which seems pretty darn close to it.!) . Anyway, I'm not really convinced of his lupin heritage without the relevant application of prosthetic's or even trying do any thing like use keen sense for tracking (Instead of those really cool gadgets!)  over extremely long distances that might involve different galaxies and the system within them and the occasional howling at the full moons. Yet he really appears to be some sort of space-age-half-elf with pointy ears and goatee-beard. I think they even shaved his eyebrows to give him less wolf-man appeal. Because normally they are famed for the eyebrows or mono-brow. Anyway, that is the most unconvincing wolf-man ever. Even the one I portrayed in that game I keep talking about in the games forum was less on machinery and more on primal-urges.

I definitely want his hover-shoes.

Now I love looking Mila Kunis is like a kitten without fur in all the obvious places and that name...Jupiter Jones sounds a bit like Halo Jones and even though I've never read it. I'm pretty sure it's about some girl who....you know the story if you use this forum .

Stinger/Sean Bean who is a half-Han-Solo and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlrsqGal64w ] half-bee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifts_(role-playing_game)) (I had to read this in another review here, because I couldn't tell in the film!)  and actually survives in this film. I might have been more convinced of his stranger heritage if he had some sort of uniform with black and yellow stripe and would make insert buzzing noises every now and then.

The evil brother, one of which was that really smart Hawkins fellow from another film minus the wheel chair and the other who had that zero-g bed or pod filled with young ladies.

I want one of those with the ladies included.

This review might have been better, but right now my internet sucks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 02:08:38 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 12:49:15 AM

The evil brother, one of which was that really smart Hawkins fellow from another film minus the wheel chair and the other who had that zero-g bed or pod filled with young ladies.



I meant Hawkings, and not the attractive female celebrity of similar name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 10:54:24 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

I sincerely hope that The Silmarilion is not on the cards.  It is clear that The Hobbit made many compromises in it's story and it's visuals (the CGI adds very little and tends to be a distraction).  The Silmarilion would just end up being a horrifying mess.

I asked about this here..... Tolkien Online[/b (http://forums.theonering.com/index.php) and they told the what's left of the Tolkien family have never agree to seel the rights for Silmirillion to be ever made into film or a television series any other type of production.

I found awesome fan made trailer for it though.....

The Silmirillion - Fan Made Trailer (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fan+made+trialer+for+the+silmirrillion&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=4ECB812A1B14E5BF30984ECB812A1B14E5BF3098)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 12:33:29 PM
DAMN, THAT DIDN'T COME OUT RIGHT....

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 10:54:24 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

I sincerely hope that The Silmarilion is not on the cards.  It is clear that The Hobbit made many compromises in it's story and it's visuals (the CGI adds very little and tends to be a distraction).  The Silmarilion would just end up being a horrifying mess.

I asked about this here..... Tolkien Online[/b (http://forums.theonering.com/index.php) and they told the what's left of the Tolkien family have never agree to seel the rights for Silmirillion to be ever made into film or a television series any other type of production.

I found awesome fan made trailer for it though.....

The Silmirillion - Fan Made Trailer (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fan+made+trialer+for+the+silmirrillion&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=4ECB812A1B14E5BF30984ECB812A1B14E5BF3098)

I asked about this here..... Tolkien Online (http://forums.theonering.com/index.php) and they told the what's left of the Tolkien family have never agree to seel the rights for Silmirillion to be ever made into film or a television series any other type of production.

I found awesome fan made trailer for it though.....

The Silmirillion - Fan Made Trailer (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fan+made+trialer+for+the+silmirrillion&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=4ECB812A1B14E5BF30984ECB812A1B14E5BF3098)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 June, 2015, 02:23:52 PM
It's fun to shite on things, but occasionally it's just as fun to say people done well getting everything together, and such is the case with Army Of Frankensteins.  I wish it was about a half hour shorter, and also a bit funnier to offset that the cast don't seem too into it (with the odd exception like Abraham Lincoln and the Blofeld-like Confederate officer), but it's a good bit of schlock z-movie  nonsense.  The tendency is to not give such movies any credit because they use CGI models instead of stock footage/matte paintings, and they're shot in high definition so they look a bit like any other video on Youtube, but it helps to give them some credit for coming up with daffy ideas like this one, forming them into a narrative, and then going out and making a movie.
Not life-changing, but still a good example of contemporary no-budget film-making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 29 June, 2015, 10:51:39 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

My quick review; they should have just made two films.

I enjoyed both the previous films, but this one just does not live up to them.  The battle did not seem to capture the feeling portrayed in the book at all.  I have given these films a hell of a lot of leeway when it comes to artistic license, but my impression is that there was little artistry involved in this aspect.  Peter Jackson can do battles and it is certainly wise for him to veer away from what he did in LotR.  It struck me that it was just decided to veer entirely away from the battle after a lacklustre and samey approach kicking it off.  A different directorial approach would have been sufficient and preferable.  It also went on too long.  For the running time we don't really get much.  Compared to the previous two films, which are content heavy, this is way too light.  My impression is that there was more content for two films, but not enough for three. 

I saw this at the cinema and still wish to this day that once Smaug was dealt with, I had got up and walked out. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 June, 2015, 05:39:03 AM
Quote from: Recrewt on 29 June, 2015, 10:51:39 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2015, 11:59:36 PM
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

My quick review; they should have just made two films.

I enjoyed both the previous films, but this one just does not live up to them.  The battle did not seem to capture the feeling portrayed in the book at all.  I have given these films a hell of a lot of leeway when it comes to artistic license, but my impression is that there was little artistry involved in this aspect.  Peter Jackson can do battles and it is certainly wise for him to veer away from what he did in LotR.  It struck me that it was just decided to veer entirely away from the battle after a lacklustre and samey approach kicking it off.  A different directorial approach would have been sufficient and preferable.  It also went on too long.  For the running time we don't really get much.  Compared to the previous two films, which are content heavy, this is way too light.  My impression is that there was more content for two films, but not enough for three. 

I saw this at the cinema and still wish to this day that once Smaug was dealt with, I had got up and walked out.

That's a really short movie...then!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 June, 2015, 12:08:40 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 29 June, 2015, 10:51:39 PM
I saw this at the cinema and still wish to this day that once Smaug was dealt with, I had got up and walked out.

As some wag pointed out, the real title should have been "The Hobbit: All the boss fights".  I enjoyed it for what it was (which is not what it should have been).


Anyway...

ONE DAY
So sue me, I like David Nicholls books. And this was OKish - carried mainly by Anne Hathaway but had some big problems in particular that Jim Sturgess half of the romance is a complete and utter cock.  Which actually makes the film a sort of intriguing "Why would she?" (like a "Whodunnit?") and it's only in the final flashbacks that they reveal why she might have possibly spent time on him.

FURY
Rewatched this very brutal and honest war film about life in a tank at the arese-end of WWII when there seems to be no reason to carry on fighting.  We reviewed it in detail up thread when I think I was the only person in the world who went to see it in the cinema.

The extras reveal that for the special effects of the tanks in combat, they used an innovative technique of just getting real tanks and driving them about fields in Oxfordshire! Radical!  (I know, that probably only accounts for about 30% of the finished shots but it was a blast to see a real Tiger driving about the country side).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 30 June, 2015, 04:21:17 PM
The Medusa Touch

70's movie starring Richard Burton and Lee Remick - he believes he can cause death and destruction just by thinking of them, she's his shrink who doesn't believe him. Cue a dozen British character actors being given the evil eye by him before being bumped off...

Entertaining mish mash of Omen-type horror/disaster movie/whodunnit, with lots of 'What's he called again?' moments - worth a watch if you get the chance.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 June, 2015, 04:35:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 June, 2015, 12:08:40 PM
FURY
Rewatched this very brutal and honest war film about life in a tank at the arese-end of WWII when there seems to be no reason to carry on fighting.  We reviewed it in detail up thread when I think I was the only person in the world who went to see it in the cinema.
Nah. I saw it ins Kino.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 June, 2015, 07:07:41 PM
The Karate Kid.  I had not seen this film since my childhood.  I had fond memories of it.  I was really surprised how well this film held up over the years.  It's a pretty good story that is well told with good performances.

The Last Emperor.  Now this was a very interesting movie.  I was expecting this to be a glorification of the last Emperor of China and a total condemnation of Chairman Mao's People's Republic.  As the movie progressed I found that it was a lot more even handed than my expectations.  The Emperor is certainly the entire focus of the film, and it was interesting experiencing changes in my sympathies towards the character; at times finding absolutely nothing to sympathise with.  It challenged my preconceptions from the start and continued to challenge what I thought of what was going on throughout.  In the end I did not know what to think when presented with a sequence of complex social situations.  I think it is because of this that the Emperor ended up coming across as all too human.  It's safe to say I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 June, 2015, 07:26:41 PM
QuoteThe Karate Kid.  I had not seen this film since my childhood.  I had fond memories of it.  I was really surprised how well this film held up over the years.  It's a pretty good story that is well told with good performances.

I saw this for the first time recently - one of those iconic films for my generation that I'd somehow managed to avoid seeing until now.

It reminded me very much of Rocky - a really sweet little film, and a really a nice little character study (with surprisingly little fighting). And like Rocky, it's the sequels where it all gets a little silly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 June, 2015, 08:43:13 PM
Saw the film Wild last fortnight and regretted it. Very depressing, for not doing this, hiking or backpacking across America and it does go ever so slightly....gross. Like , I really needed to see that and after while reasoned that it may have belonged to the fox. Which appeared to be stalking her all the way through he adventure. Reese Withespoon one of the faces of Avon (My mother was Avon Lady!) and not as cute as she was, but still okay looking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 02:47:55 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 June, 2015, 12:49:15 AM
Ordered Jupiter Ascending on Box-Office-Network the other night on the television in my room and couldn't make much sense of it because it's been a few months now that I had lost the remote control that adjusts the volume on my set-up.

This is kind of annoying because I don't normally use this remote control to change the channels on it. There are two remotes, one that changes the channels and the other for switching off the monitor and volume.
Aside from that, there are five cable remote when I last found them all and two of them are universal and the other three are either not working or need new batteries. It's quite bothersome that I can't find the television remote, because even when I switch the cable box off, the television is still technically switched on . Even though the screen is then blank.

Anyway, I watched this film in dribs n drabs from early evening til early morning while on the computer and though that it might have been good except that I couldn't follow it much at all, because they were broadcasting the film at such a low volume and I couldn't even adjust this......yes, there are sub-titiles, but who wants to read a film.

So, I ordered the film again, but this time on the television in the lounge-room and that was last night. I only watched it once and still missed a lot of it. Due to extreme need for sleep. 

Being a Waichowski-siblings film, I had high hopes.... and some of them were met, but it also gave me the impression of trying to be several things in couldn't be in such little time. This is another film that might been down better justice over the course of a trilogy or more. 

There was hints of Star-Wars (The earlier and newer trilogy...), Flash Gordonm John Carter of Mars (This last reference because it was another film that might have been better as a trilogy or television series....)  and with regards to those reptilian things which I said before do remind me more of those Draconians from the very well known world of Dragonlance (Krynn, Dungeons & Dragons...) even though I'm sure they or just it may have more to do with David Ick's alien reptile race and Channing Tatum's is a Lycanthrotant  :lol: :P :lol:[/b] (Which is either this film 's version of the Vargr from the  Travellar R.P.G. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)#Major_races) or Dog-Boy from  Paladium-Rifts (Another R.P.G. that has been largely ignored by the film industry, except with this film which seems pretty darn close to it.!) . Anyway, I'm not really convinced of his lupin heritage without the relevant application of prosthetic's or even trying do any thing like use keen sense for tracking (Instead of those really cool gadgets!)  over extremely long distances that might involve different galaxies and the system within them and the occasional howling at the full moons. Yet he really appears to be some sort of space-age-half-elf with pointy ears and goatee-beard. I think they even shaved his eyebrows to give him less wolf-man appeal. Because normally they are famed for the eyebrows or mono-brow. Anyway, that is the most unconvincing wolf-man ever. Even the one I portrayed in that game I keep talking about in the games forum was less on machinery and more on primal-urges.

I definitely want his hover-shoes.

Now I love looking Mila Kunis is like a kitten without fur in all the obvious places and that name...Jupiter Jones sounds a bit like Halo Jones and even though I've never read it. I'm pretty sure it's about some girl who....you know the story if you use this forum .

Stinger/Sean Bean who is a half-Han-Solo and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlrsqGal64w ] half-bee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifts_(role-playing_game)) (I had to read this in another review here, because I couldn't tell in the film!)  and actually survives in this film. I might have been more convinced of his stranger heritage if he had some sort of uniform with black and yellow stripe and would make insert buzzing noises every now and then.

The evil brother, one of which was that really smart Hawkins fellow from another film minus the wheel chair and the other who had that zero-g bed or pod filled with young ladies.

I want one of those with the ladies included.

This review might have been better, but right now my internet sucks.

I totally missed seeing Monty Python's Terry Gilliam in a scene that has been said by other critics was reminiscent of  Brazil (https://www.google.co.uk/search?site=&source=hp&q=brazil+film&oq=brazil+film&gs_l=hp.3..0j0i20j0l8.4773715.4776183.0.4776457.28.27.0.0.0.0.743.7083.0j1j11j4j3j0j2.21.0....0...1c.1.64.hp..23.5.1399.0.J19D9s1Vsfo) (Now, I get it about those wings.....).

Read more about it  here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Ascending)

Still don't think Boromir Stark looks anything like a Honey-Bee.

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/29/252AD04C00000578-0-image-a-90_1422545826428.jpg)

Or Jupiter looks as fat as her name sake.


(http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/familyguy/images/2/21/600full-mila-kunis.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080306195937)(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRPl1FtMclVDSinl1_3ZzkDtkcJGFx5lEAS-2pdy5TTSvMwa8G)

IBTW it was last Saint Patricks Day night and early next day I though I saw someone that looked a lot like her sitting on bench out side one of those seedy-dance-halls I frequent when I have the money to spare. I was refused entry because I forgot to change out of my grey-ugg-boots. I've a celebrity lookalike or two working inside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 06:18:03 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 02:47:55 AM

Or Jupiter looks as fat as her name sake


(http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/familyguy/images/2/21/600full-mila-kunis.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080306195937)(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRPl1FtMclVDSinl1_3ZzkDtkcJGFx5lEAS-2pdy5TTSvMwa8G)


Sorry, I meant she isn't fat, like her namesake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 07:14:02 AM
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/29/252AD04C00000578-0-image-a-90_1422545826428.jpg)

Now, look closely at the yellowed pupils of his eyes.

Segmented, but like a pizza.

Ordered the film again and watched it in my room, with sound unalterably reduced and the film was still mostly a mystery to me.

Still failed to notice anything more about Stinger Stark, except for a swarm of bees and forgot to look for Mr Gilliam.

Going to watch it again later while bothering to read the sub-titiles.

After reading more about this film, I beginning to wonder if they haven't sourced the rules from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles role-playing-game. The idea of the humans or Terran's (Terrans) : What I call humans who live anywhere other than Earth and not sure if it's right , though or even correct cannon!)

If you know the comics, cartoon and film's....or just read about it  b]here[/b] (http://[http://jupiter-ascending.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Splices) or http://jupiter-ascending.wikia.com/wiki/Splice ] here (//http://)

While I was probably wrong about this having https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifts_(role-playing_game) Paladium - Rifts (//http://) vibe to this, but it's got a bit of popular sci-fi from the past. I thought there was something there despite some connection with TMNT - R-P-G (I already mentioned above and exact same system of rules.....)

Despite the amount of cheek I have been giving this film. I'm loving this more than other Sci-Fi. They might have given this one that same treatment that was given to the Matrix films, but may be they just need to make enough money for something bigger in future. This just a flashy diversion and may be as memorable as there other film Clod Atlas which I had only scenes small parts and as hard to follow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 July, 2015, 02:34:49 PM
Big Hero 6

I haven't seen many of the CGI films from Disney Animation Studios.  Those that I have seen have given the impression that the studio is very much a poor man's Pixar.  Big Hero 6 does nothing to change my opinion on this.  It is not a bad film.  It's reasonably good - certainly entertaining.  Nevertheless, it suffers like Wreck It Ralph did.  It's predictable and formulaic.  Sure, it's heart warming and amusing in places, but it does not fulfil it's potential.  It's actual plot is pretty crap re. predictable and formulaic.  The San Fransokyo thing was really lame as well.  I see what was trying to be achieved here, but after reading about the source material this just came across as white-washing.  It would have been nice if the "merging of two cultures" was explored more in the visuals but it really just looks like a west coast US city.

I enjoyed it whilst watching it and it was definitely fun, but afterwards, when I reflected on what I saw I just got left with the impression that that is all it is.  A bit of fun.  Maybe I should go watch that Frozen film so I can attempt to tear that to bits, too.

Balls Out  I watched it because another forum member wrote about it.  Again, this film is formulaic and predictable, but unlike Big Hero 6, that is entirely the point.  It's definitely a parody.  I enjoyed it because it made me chuckle.  It is not the funniest thing I've ever seen, or the most entertaining.  Nevertheless, it was definitely worth my time and may fall into the collection of comedy films I watch when I'm not really feeling up to facing reality.  My only quibble with it is that it may demonstrate that parodies are becoming as trite and obvious as what they parody.  There were some creative comedic moments in this film, but there were also jokes that seemed to be just lifted from other films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 03:08:38 PM
There's Terry Gilliam,

(http://i1.wp.com/bitcast-a-sm.bitgravity.com/slashfilm/wp/wp-content/images/terry-gilliam-jupiter-ascending-1-700x339.jpg?resize=700%2C339)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 01 July, 2015, 03:44:01 PM
Sorry, you're looking for the "post a picture of a director" thread. This is "Last Movie Watched".

It might have been me who recommended "Balls Out" - decent movie, innit?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 July, 2015, 05:39:57 PM
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Yes

YES

YES!

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!

FUUUUUCCCCKKKKK YEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I went in thinking there's no way this could live up to the hype. A few acquaintances who like to shit on everything even admitted to enjoying it*, which raised my hopes. Hopes which I fully expected to be dashed.

BUT....

Yes

YES

YES!

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!

FUUUUUCCCCKKKKK YEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

*One of them did gripe that it was very "Orange and Teal", but unlike lazily photoshopped Movie Posters, I  think this was a deliberate artistic decision which helps everything look irradiated and post nuclear-armageddony.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 July, 2015, 03:46:27 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 01 July, 2015, 03:44:01 PM
It might have been me who recommended "Balls Out" - decent movie, innit?

Yes, it was on your recommendation I sought it out.  It was decent, definitely worth my time :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 July, 2015, 05:39:37 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 01 July, 2015, 02:47:55 AM

IBTW it was last Saint Patricks Day night and early next day I though I saw someone that looked a lot like her sitting on bench out side one of those seedy-dance-halls I frequent when I have the money to spare. I was refused entry because I forgot to change out of my grey-ugg-boots. I've a celebrity lookalike or two working inside.

Don't know why I keep mistyping my comments here....but I really meant that.....

I've seen a celebrities lookalike or two working inside

That's better and makes more sense!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 02 July, 2015, 06:59:45 AM
Pick Up Summer (1980)

Pre-Porky's, this is what summer T&A movies looked like. Wacky hijinks, plenty of boobs, terrible plot (about a pinball tournament, for some reason) and...nah, I got nothing. But it's on Youtube, and you can share my sadness by watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUvwXnSqiU8

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2015, 08:15:21 AM
Glad you mentioned Porkys, got the Arrow BD waiting to be watched....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 02 July, 2015, 02:07:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 02 July, 2015, 08:15:21 AM
Glad you mentioned Porkys, got the Arrow BD waiting to be watched....
Arrow did a blu-ray of it? Awesome! Next paypacket, that's getting bought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 July, 2015, 10:37:58 AM
Finally got around to It Follows last night.

Back when I was in primary school a couple of kids had seen Nightmare on Elm Street and told their friends about it - the legend of Freddy spread around the playground and once it got to me I was terrified of him. I'd never seen him, never seen the film, but had nightmares about him just based on the premise.

That experience (having a nightmare about a horror film I HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN YET) never happened again, until It Follows came out. A couple of friends had seen it and their description of the premise was so creepy I had the most intense nightmare in years, all about the premise of that film. Hadn't even seen a trailer!

Obviously that level of pre-emptive fear is hard to live up to, and there are sequences in the film where the execution doesn't quite match the ingenuity of the idea, but for the most part it's very, very gripping stuff and the power of that premise is such that it gets under your skin and sticks with you like all great horror should. It's not as scary as the dream I had, but still pretty damn scary. Haven't seen a film with quite as effective an urban myth/curse type scenario since the original Ring (and god knows there have been a lot of them since the original Ring).

It's shot beautifully too, the director clearly watched early John Carpenter very closely. Lots of use of the wide frame to draw your attention to the edges. The composer is clearly a fan of the classics too, the music is very self-consciously riffing on Goblin and Carpenter and for the most part is really successful. Found myself wanting a bit more subtlety from the music though - score-wise the film is either silent or driving and grabbing your attention, some scenes would have benefited from some middle-ground or nuance to that.

Minor gripes though, overall I found it a bit of an instant classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 July, 2015, 01:29:41 PM
Terminator: Genisys Genisucks.

With the exception of Arnold, there is little to recommend this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 July, 2015, 01:28:15 PM
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Whereas this certainly captured the vibrant creative design of the brilliant original - the naturally-developing plot is almost entirely absent. The story is decidedly overcooked and linear but there are a lot of good laughs and adorable characters that pull it through - but it's sadly largely just coasting on the strong template of the first.

The Road to El Dorado

A confused mishmash adventure from the tail-end of nineties animation. It still looks pretty good a decade and a half later and the banter between Kline and Brannagh is fresh - but the linear plot, the crow-barred Elton songs, the jarringly inserted "fun anthropomorphic pals" and the frankly unbelievably sexualised 'Chel' character (who - on reflection - actually had no purpose but to maybe keep the animators randy as she alone was clearly rotoscoped) make it hard to recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2015, 09:40:01 PM
It'll meed another couple of watches (at least one with English rather than French subtitles) but I think Tokyo Tribe might be the best film they've made.

Kind of like Run Lola Run times Versus plus Enter the Void. Astonishingly mental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 05 July, 2015, 04:20:13 PM
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)

Just saw this documentary – fascinating stuff, documenting the Church of Scientology's founding and rise, and featuring revelations from ranking ex-members who have escaped its clutches. As a sometime reader of Fortean Times, elements of this were familiar to me, but there's always mileage in being reminded about Xenu the Galactic Overlord and invisible aliens being pulled out of Tom Cruise. (Cruise, incidentally, does not come off well in this film at all – John Travolta's seen more as a prisoner of the Church, but Cruise is portrayed as a messianic maniac.) Though the film can't entirely decide whether L. Ron Hubbard was a calculating shyster and pathological liar, or a reprehensible man who ended up believing his own fantasies, it's pretty unequivocal in labeling the Church's current leader, David Miscavige, a proper baddie. Unfortunately  the film-maker is unable to directly interview Miscavige, a man who looks as if he was plucked straight out of the role of 'evil executive' from an 80s action movie – but you get the sense that Miscavige is far too savvy to put himself in a situation where he's liable to stitch himself up. Jaw-dropping moments include the Church's successful war on the IRS, its successful war on Nicole Kidman, and its depressingly traditional attitude to homosexuality. One to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 July, 2015, 06:05:45 PM
Survival of the Dead

Just finished it actually.


First time I've seen it.  Those people who believe that the films went downhill after Dawn... I have to disagree.

I think maybe, Dawn... was such a landmark film that it somehow colours peoples oppinions on the latter films. Yet as I've said, I think I prefer Day... to Dawn.. (although thinking about it, they're probably just as good in their own ways, I certainly wouldn't begrude people preferring Dawn...). And this film, is the last in the series, and I would say it's up there with the best. A decent story with something to say about the stubborn nature of humanity, just like the others had, yet different enough in it's own way to warrant it's place.

And the usual over-the-top gore, of course.

I haven't seen Diary... all the way through, so I can't fairly compare them, but I know the parts I've seen did not grab me as much. I'd happily give it another go though.

Actually, aren't these the only two Romero Dead films to actually share characters, albeit the ones from this only appear briefly?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 July, 2015, 06:13:52 PM
Edge of Tomorrow

I really enjoyed this - say what you want about Cruise but he makes some decent films. Emily Blunt was really good too.
The only slight bugbear I have is that I didn't really understand the ending- [spoiler]after they kill the Omega, Cruise absorbs the blood of the Alpha and regains his ability to restart the day. This time the day starts with the news that a 'power surge' has occurred in Paris and the Omega is apparently already dead. How has this happened? Is the implication that the Omega died in the midst of resetting time and so arrives in the past already dead? Is it that Blunt had already been infected with the blood and went back first and killed the thing already (or set events in motion that led to its death)?[/spoiler] Any ideas?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 05 July, 2015, 07:27:05 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 05 July, 2015, 04:20:13 PM
Unfortunately  the film-maker is unable to directly interview Miscavige, a man who looks as if he was plucked straight out of the role of 'evil executive' from an 80s action movie...

Blimey, you're not wrong!

(http://weaselzippers.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/david_miscavige_resistance2010.jpeg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2015, 11:52:51 AM
I remember being really disappointed with Diary of The Dead on release in the cinema, then revisiting it a couple of years later on DVD and really enjoying it. Come to think of it, the same thing might have happened with Land (my first reaction wasn't actually all that negative but I do appreciate and enjoy it more as the years go on, need to revisit it soon).

Have only seen Survival once but it seemed okay (didn't hate it/didn't love it), so maybe in a few years I'll be rewatching that and finding it's grown on me.

My biggest problem with the last couple is the CG gore, it really doesn't work for those movies and I wish he'd kept pushing in the practical effects direction. Can only imagine it's a budget thing, cheaper to use some ropey digital effects than to come up with a practical solution that might take a few tries to perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 06 July, 2015, 05:31:52 PM
Mad Max: Fury Road - Excellent film, I need say no more.

Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead - The first 5 minutes were hysterically funny with a crazy old man killing some hapless fools with a bow and arrow. The 'Action' then shifted to a Prison and some Guff about a transfer/escape and then my Xbox crashed, which frankly came as relief. 5 Turds for this one, even without watching the rest of it.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 July, 2015, 10:01:41 PM
Black Jack

I recorded this off the telly because, from the short write up, I thought it sounded like a fun old swashbuckler.
It wasn't. It was an old Ken Loach film that I'd never heard of.
I have to say I really enjoyed it though - it had bags of charm, lovely naturalistic performances and a simultaneously dark but quite sweet story. Definitely worth a look if it's on TV again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 July, 2015, 10:09:36 AM
Lone Ranger . Actually quite enjoyable, not as bad as I'd heard and a lot of fun in many places. At its best when embracing rather than mocking its source material. My favourite Johnny Depp performance for a while, largely because I can pretend its not him under that facepaint. Questionable racial casting aside. Also would not have suffered one bit by removing its tired framing device, but overall a surprisingly good watch that far surpassed Jonah Hex.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 06:23:35 PM
Being in America on July 4th, I naturally watched Independence Day.

Heard all the criticisms and don't care - maybe my opinion is clouded by nostalgia, but I still think it's a solidly entertaining movie and one of the best blockbusters of the 90s. Is it silly? Yep. Is the characterisation broad? Yep. A little naive and jingoistic? Yep. Cheese factor? Through the roof. Do these things make it an objectively bad movie? I say no.

While the plot hinges on some pretty whopping coincidences and contrivances, it's still, for my money, far tighter, more consistent, better-paced and infinitely less cynical than the vast majority of modern blockbusters. It also has a cast populated with great mid-nineties character actors and in Goldblum and Smith, two bona-fide movie stars at the peak of their charm and popularity. It also has some really underrated production design, not to mention some great practical effects work and - for a nearly twenty year old film - some cgi work that holds up fairly well.

The infamous 'alien invaders brought down by a 1995 Macbook and computer virus' is admittedly goofy and a bit of stretch, but imo kind of works as a contemporary (90s) twist on the ending of War of the Worlds.

I feel like it's the Pacific Rim of it's day - a film that most people seem to hate, but the only 'criticism' they can come up with it that 'it's silly/cheesy'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 07:04:38 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 06:23:35 PM
Being in America on July 4th, I naturally watched Independence Day.

Heard all the criticisms and don't care - maybe my opinion is clouded by nostalgia, but I still think it's a solidly entertaining movie and one of the best blockbusters of the 90s. Is it silly? Yep. Is the characterisation broad? Yep. A little naive and jingoistic? Yep. Cheese factor? Through the roof. Do these things make it an objectively bad movie? I say no.

While the plot hinges on some pretty whopping coincidences and contrivances, it's still, for my money, far tighter, more consistent, better-paced and infinitely less cynical than the vast majority of modern blockbusters. It also has a cast populated with great mid-nineties character actors and in Goldblum and Smith, two bona-fide movie stars at the peak of their charm and popularity. It also has some really underrated production design, not to mention some great practical effects work and - for a nearly twenty year old film - some cgi work that holds up fairly well.

The infamous 'alien invaders brought down by a 1995 Macbook and computer virus' is admittedly goofy and a bit of stretch, but imo kind of works as a contemporary (90s) twist on the ending of War of the Worlds.

I feel like it's the Pacific Rim of it's day - a film that most people seem to hate, but the only 'criticism' they can come up with it that 'it's silly/cheesy'.

Now I feel I have to defend my dislike of both Independence Day and Pacific Rim.

Independence Day just doesn't have any characters I care about or identify with.
Will Smith is a fighter pilot and..erm...that's all I can remember about him. Goldblum is a computer genius with a Jewish dad that sits in the park and plays chess. I can't remember anything else about him.
There are about 3 bits in the film that really work - Saucers appear, destruction of Whitehouse, 'Welcome to Earth'. The rest is a load of waffle to tie that lot together.
I just find it all so boring and charmless.
I'd actually argue that it's contemporary Mars Attacks, while being played for laughs, does a better job in terms of pacing, memorable performances and character building. You've got to love that young lad and his Grandma!

As for Pacific Rim, I just can't be bothered. It's just terrible and terribly boring. It's like Starship Troopers with all the humour and characters removed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:13:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 07:04:38 PM
It's like Starship Troopers with all the humour and characters removed. And not like Starship Troopers in any way.

Fixed that for you...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 07:28:20 PM
The characters are indeed very broadly-drawn and a little thin - it's an ensemble disaster movie - but imo they are bolstered by casting genuinely likable actors. And I'd argue they all have clear arcs, however slight (using your example, Will Smith's character both avenges his dead friend, grows up a little and achieves his goal of becoming a space pilot over the course of the film), and pretty much all of the characters have something to do. On a story level it's functional, which is a lot more than the likes of Jurassic World can manage.

It's 'switch your brain off' popcorn entertainment in the true sense - light and a little goofy, not meant to be taken too seriously. Not in the modern sense of 'makes absolutely no sense whatsoever but hey look at this overlong cgi set-piece/callback to a much better film'.

As for 'it's boring/terrible', that's the kind of knee-jerk non-criticism I'm talking about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 07:43:35 PM
Ok, so to shed a little more light on my dislike of Pacific Rim.
It has that kind of 'Hoo rah' military fiction vibe that works best when it's funny (Aliens is an example) or ironic (the aforementioned Starship Troopers - which is what I was getting at before Jim), or even desperate (Alien 3 maybe). In Pacific Rim it's none of these.
Other than that, I can't remember much apart from Robots punching each other. This probably illustrates my criticism as much as anything else - I saw it on the big screen on release, it's only a couple of years old and I can remember almost nothing about it. I'd literally have to watch the film again in order to criticise it in more depth - which I don't have the inclination to do.
If that's 'non-criticism' then so be it but I certainly think it justifies my dislike.


Mind you, I feel the same about most of the Del Toro films I've seen apart from Pan's Labyrinth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 07:43:35 PM
that works best when it's funny (Aliens is an example) or ironic (the aforementioned Starship Troopers - which is what I was getting at before Jim), or even desperate (Alien 3 maybe).

I'm not entirely convinced you've actually seen any of the movies you list in that sentence, given that Aliens isn't funny,* Starship Troopers isn't ironic and there aren't any military in Alien 3.

Baffled.

Jim

*Which isn't to say there aren't funny lines in Aliens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 07 July, 2015, 08:08:44 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
...Starship Troopers isn't ironic...

Baffled.

Really? All those gung-ho military recruitment vids peppered throughout are pure tongue-in-cheek, surely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 08:11:05 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 07:43:35 PM
that works best when it's funny (Aliens is an example) or ironic (the aforementioned Starship Troopers - which is what I was getting at before Jim), or even desperate (Alien 3 maybe).

I'm not entirely convinced you've actually seen any of the movies you list in that sentence, given that Aliens isn't funny,* Starship Troopers isn't ironic and there aren't any military in Alien 3.

Baffled.

Jim

*Which isn't to say there aren't funny lines in Aliens.

I'm obviously not explaining myself properly.

What I meant by 'Hoo rah' was that kind of macho testosterone filled group mentality that writers try to get across when military characters are spoiling for a fight.

All of those scenes in Aliens are funny - they basically rip the piss out of each other, and everyone else until they actually meet the enemy they're up against. I didn't mean that Aliens is a funny film so much as its handling of the military mindset is handled in a way that's funny. It's the black humour of the barracks.

Starship Troopers, definitely approaches this same thing in an ironic way. They actively promote young men and women into this 'invincible' mind set, when the audience knows damn well they're just grunts. One minute they're getting tattooed and literally howling like a pack of dogs, the next they're bug food. Cut to recruitment commercial for more grunts.

Alien 3 may not be the best example (hence the question mark) but it shows the way that a group of tough guys (ok, not military), when scared will resort to aggression when their back's against the wall.
A better example would be Dog Soldiers where the guy (Spoons?) throws plates at the wolf and says he hopes he gives it the shits.

All examples of interesting, tough guy talk that adds something to the film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 08:23:40 PM
I still don't see how any of this is relevant to Pacific Rim, a film that isn't gung ho or militaristic in the slightest. It's a live-action saturday morning cartoon about giant robots fighting giant aliens from another dimension.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 08:25:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 08:11:05 PM
I'm obviously not explaining myself properly.

Given that you tried to explain your objection to a film by suggesting that's like a film it's nothing like, then admitted that you basically couldn't remember the first thing about the film you were objecting to (and the one thing you thought you could remember, you got wrong), I'd suggest that this line of argument was never going to go well for you.

Note, however, that I'm not in any way criticising you for not liking either ID4, or Pacific Rim, both of which are movies whose charm derives in no small part from their colossal stupidity. If you don't find the charm in that, then I can entirely see why you wouldn't enjoy the films.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 07 July, 2015, 08:34:05 PM
Black Sea, good solid submarine movie. updated and Jude Law does a passable accent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 08:47:47 PM
Quote from: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 08:23:40 PM
I still don't see how any of this is relevant to Pacific Rim, a film that isn't gung ho or militaristic in the slightest. It's a live-action saturday morning cartoon about giant robots fighting giant aliens from another dimension.

That's partly the point. There are all these military characters and barrack room sets yet none of it is used to enhance the story or tell us anything about the characters (at least that I can remember).
In the other films I mentioned the squad banter is used to help us understand the characters and their situation.

In Aliens, the toughest talking most memorable characters in the barracks are probably Hudson and Vasquez. They're afraid of nothing (or so they try to convince us) which makes the contrast of their crap soldiering and crying all the more shocking. The humour early on sells the horror later on.

Starship Troopers does a similar thing as part of its satire. The characteristics most lauded back on Earth - strength, athleticism, ability to follow orders, are least useful in the actual war. Johnny Rico is the main man back home, but the misfit, Jenkins is arguably the most effective tool in the fight against the bugs.

In films like Dog Soldiers (a better example than Alien 3), the fear level is directly related to the level of bravado. When Spoons fights the wolf in the kitchen, his over the top aggression and insults help us understand just how scared he is. It helps us empathise with the character, it also makes us laugh and it's also horrific. It's a mix of emotions.


All of these things help to make military characters and settings more interesting.

This is a long and convoluted route to try to explain one of the reasons I don't like Pacific Rim. It doesn't have any of these things. It completely misses the opportunity to use these conventions to help us invest in the characters.
It can be difficult to argue for why the absence of something is 'wrong' (just in my opinion ). I could just as well complain about the lack of romance or something.
The point is, I think the film could have used any of these conventions to make for a much more entertaining end product. I don't care if an alien punches a robot. I do care if an alien punches a character that has made me laugh, or who I empathise with, or who I hate, or who I feel sorry for.

Anyway, I hope I got my point across. I'm not saying it's particularly insightful or interesting but at least I tried. Sorry it took me so long to get here - this is why I started with 'it's just terrible' - much easier and much quicker to read!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 08:50:33 PM
QuoteI'm not in any way criticising you for not liking either ID4, or Pacific Rim, both of which are movies whose charm derives in no small part from their colossal stupidity

Depends how you define 'stupidity'. My point is that, superficially dumb as PR and ID4 undoubtedly are, I consider them to be infinitely smarter films than say Jurassic World or Prometheus, because they can actually tell a coherent story, maintain a consistent tone, and aren't full of baffling plotholes, redundant characters and narrative dead-ends. Corny dialogue ≠ bad storytelling. On a mechanical, storytelling level I'd say they're pretty solid (if formulaic) and also deliver spectacle, which is all I ask from a blockbuster.

I was reading this article recently which really crystallised a lot of things I've been thinking for a long time.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/06/25/movies-should-be-good (http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/06/25/movies-should-be-good)

Obviously, I'm well aware I'm on shaky ground holding up a popularly derided film like ID4 as something to be aspired to, but that is how I feel about a lot of modern blockbusters. Don't worry, I'm not going to defend Emmerich's Godzilla. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 08:54:11 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 08:25:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 July, 2015, 08:11:05 PM
I'm obviously not explaining myself properly.

Given that you tried to explain your objection to a film by suggesting that's like a film it's nothing like, then admitted that you basically couldn't remember the first thing about the film you were objecting to (and the one thing you thought you could remember, you got wrong), I'd suggest that this line of argument was never going to go well for you.


Well when you put it like that it makes me sound really stupid!  :lol:
I think I did better on my last try.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2015, 09:18:22 PM
While I probably wouldn't put forward a defence that featured the term "good film", I've never really understood the ragging ID4 got.  I have half a theory that its reputation is a holdover from the pre-internet days of criticism when a thing's reputation for good or ill was defined by a small and insular band of professional critics rather than how long you and your mates were still talking about it in the pub afterwards.  ID4 is great fun there, though admittedly we tended to talk over all the mushy/family crap that seemed to account for 60 percent of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 07 July, 2015, 09:25:34 PM
ID4 is still fun to watch, but I so hate one little scene every time I watch it, very very awkward scene with that dog jump!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 July, 2015, 12:10:23 AM
Moonstruck

I'm not sure that I totally understand the high critical praise for this film (particularly from Ebert who normally seems on the money) but this '87 "comedy" film hasn't aged well to say the least. Tonally it's all over the place and really it should have focussed on the more interesting older cast as Cage and Cher are both excessively grating and Olympia Dukakis particularly is tremendously engaging. Her scenes with John Mahoney are the highlight of the film for me - the rest is sort of ridiculous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 July, 2015, 07:07:20 AM
Quote from: radiator on 07 July, 2015, 08:50:33 PM
I was reading this article recently which really crystallised a lot of things I've been thinking for a long time.

I don't disagree with any of that.

(On a tangent, it's the same basic argument I've been making about the revived Dr Who since its return: how would its success or the things it does right be in any way diminished by doing some extra work in the draft stage of the script to make sure that the plot makes sense and the characters behave consistently?)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 July, 2015, 08:18:38 AM
That's a sensible article that Radiator linked to and I don't think anyone would argue against it.

I think with the ID4 / Pacific Rim thing, we're arguing about whether the characters are interesting or not. For me the answer is no, they're so uninteresting that I don't care what happens to them and I can't invest in the rest of the film.

Doctor Who has almost the exact opposite problem. People absolutely love these characters. I'd go so far as to say that many Doctor Who fans are more fans of the characters than they are of the stories. This means that just seeing the characters on screen is enough of a thrill that they're prepared to excuse poor story telling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 July, 2015, 10:56:44 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Starship Troopers isn't ironic is satire and there aren't any military in Alien 3.

FTFY

Would love to see a slight tidying up of New Who, particularly something like the last Christmas special and its ending....

QuoteDoctor Who has almost the exact opposite problem. People absolutely love these characters. I'd go so far as to say that many Doctor Who fans are more fans of the characters than they are of the stories. This means that just seeing the characters on screen is enough of a thrill that they're prepared to excuse poor story telling.

Something that once held true for superheros - and to a certain extent still does. I am entertained by Age of Ultron's final act far more because it's scenes of the Avengers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 July, 2015, 11:03:07 AM
Whilst on the subject I would love for someone with time and the right DVDs to look at the tonal differences between Starship Troopers the source novel, Starship Troopers the movie and Roughnecks the animated series. The latter (for a kid's cartoon) always conveyed the sense of a seemingly hopeless war of attrition, each victory turned into a tragic setback, and of soldiers wearily fighting on as they are ground beneath the military machine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 July, 2015, 11:07:13 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 July, 2015, 10:56:44 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Starship Troopers isn't ironic is satire and there aren't any military in Alien 3.
FTFY

I know it's satire. That's why I said it wasn't ironic.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 July, 2015, 11:56:50 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 July, 2015, 11:07:13 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 July, 2015, 10:56:44 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Starship Troopers isn't ironic is satire and there aren't any military in Alien 3.
FTFY

I know it's satire. That's why I said it wasn't ironic.

Cheers

Jim

Johnny's jock dream of glory turning to shit when he realises he's just cannon fodder is ironic though isn't it? Likewise, the handling of Jenkins's high school expectations in comparison to the final act.

Irony - a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result

In my original post I wasn't suggesting that the entire film was ironic but that the handling of the military banter/relationships was. Those lauded as being the toughest of the tough, expectant of glory, turn out to be the least valuable assets in the field.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 July, 2015, 12:05:03 PM
"Director Verhoeven says his satirical use of irony and hyperbole is "playing with fascism or fascist imagery to point out certain aspects of American society... of course, the movie is about 'Let's all go to war and let's all die."

"Interview: Paul Verhoeven", by Scott Tobias". The A.V. Club. April 3, 2007. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 July, 2015, 07:58:46 PM
QuoteI think with the ID4 / Pacific Rim thing, we're arguing about whether the characters are interesting or not. For me the answer is no, they're so uninteresting that I don't care what happens to them and I can't invest in the rest of the film.

Which is fair - characters are not those films' strong point. In the case of Pacific Rim, the dull lead character is probably that film's biggest problem.

I guess it comes down to what you personally think is important in a film, and what you're willing to overlook. For me a strong - or at least functional - plot is absolutely vital. Something you can analyse and question without it completely falling apart. Especially in blockbusters - where I want to be taken along for the ride - if I'm ever confused about plot points or questioning character motivations (unless there are narrative reasons for ambiguity), the spell is broken and I'm taken out of the film, regardless of how good the visuals or acting are.

Ultimately, I guess I'd rather see a well-executed formulaic/predictable movie than one packed with twists and turns that don't really follow any kind of narrative logic - which is my main complaint with most modern blockbusters.

To summarise: Fury Road ruled, and Jurassic World sucked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 July, 2015, 08:50:25 PM
Surely the validity or otherwise of character motivation is a subjective evaluation?  I would imagine it to be more reflective of the individual viewer's opinion of the surrounding film, and it's not much of a stretch to think that the same could be said of a film's plot - if you stop and think about the plots for Die Hard or Aliens, for instance, they're kind of ludicrous and it really falls on the viewer to let themselves be entertained.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 July, 2015, 05:30:44 AM
Somebody on Chaturbate suggested that Smiley-Facem was the best stoner movie I fell for it. I had a look found that it was on You-Tube. It was made and released in 2007 when I was kind of dead to a lot of things around except here. 

Now, I thought there is something special about Anne Faris, but in in this film she reminds me of some dumb cabbage patch kid that was allowed to grow up a bit. She looks and acts every-bit as dumb as she was meant to be in this film and I'm not sure why I showed interest in her when I saw her in film she made two years earlier called Just Friends with a much chubbier version of that dude from the Green Lantern film.

She looked totally desirable to me in that film aside from the fact that she was only in a supporting role to Amy Smart who I recalled from Butterfly-Effect (Although I'm, a bit bored with this film now, I had saw it multiple times because of it's originality!) and some film action-thriller with that English tough-guy who did those Transporter films. 

Incidently, Chris Pratt who's supposed to be a spouse of  Anne Faris right now and she seems to have matured just fine, but I still no longer interested. Anyway, he has some new skit where he does a pretty convincing impersonation of this English tough guy while doing a commercial for steak and cheese rolls. The impersonation isn't so good as his ability to intimidate.

BTW I almost killed myself, by accident while watching this stoner film and never got to the end of it before some milk from a stray carton I had been drinking from earlier had found it's way into one of the sockets on the power bored I had my computer set-up plugged into.

Now only did my computer shut down, but all appliances that ran on a separate circuit to the house lighting, fridge and the stove lost power for the next twelve hours.

The rest of the night and next day until lunch time (Yesterday.) was more hell than I was accustomed to and I think if my power-board didn't have a safety featured built into it. I might now be typing here right now.

You almost lost me for a second there.... :( :o :-\ :-[ :o :(

I will be more careful wit the almost empty containers of what ever beverage I have been drinking from now on.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 July, 2015, 09:09:32 AM
What in the name of shit have I just read?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 July, 2015, 09:37:22 AM
What I just read?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 July, 2015, 09:50:13 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 07 July, 2015, 08:08:44 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
...Starship Troopers isn't ironic...

Baffled.

Really? All those gung-ho military recruitment vids peppered throughout are pure tongue-in-cheek, surely.
Starship Troopers (film and, if memory serves, book) is one of the best military satires in modern movie history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 July, 2015, 10:01:16 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 July, 2015, 11:07:13 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 July, 2015, 10:56:44 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 July, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Starship Troopers isn't ironic is satire and there aren't any military in Alien 3.
FTFY

I know it's satire. That's why I said it wasn't ironic.

Cheers

Jim

I beg your pardon then :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2015, 10:03:03 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 09 July, 2015, 09:50:13 AM
Starship Troopers (film and, if memory serves, book) is one of the best military satires in modern movie history.

The film is a brilliant piece of satire. There's some question over how satirical Heinlein thought he was being when he wrote some of the more right-wing elements of the original book.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 July, 2015, 11:22:11 AM
As got quiet evening last night, so I watch some film on Netflix, there was a new film, The Guest, I thought it was some art-house film with that guy of Downton Abbey as ex-solider stay at his dead mate's family. It was slow at start, then it changes into WTF!

Wow that was great film! And find out the team behind it did You're Next. other excellent film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2015, 12:13:48 PM
Really, really liked You're Next! Had been waiting for The Guest to appear on Netflix, must have missed it. Will get that watched at the weekend I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 July, 2015, 12:40:54 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2015, 12:13:48 PM
Really, really liked You're Next! Had been waiting for The Guest to appear on Netflix, must have missed it. Will get that watched at the weekend I think.

I picked both up cheaply on Amazon a few months ago (a fiver each as I recall), and quite enjoyed them.

Impressive performance by Dan Stevens in The Guest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 July, 2015, 12:46:11 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 05 July, 2015, 04:20:13 PM
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)

One to watch.

Sounds interesting Greg, I'll keep an eye out for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Famous Mortimer on 09 July, 2015, 12:52:17 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2015, 10:03:03 AM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 09 July, 2015, 09:50:13 AM
Starship Troopers (film and, if memory serves, book) is one of the best military satires in modern movie history.

The film is a brilliant piece of satire. There's some question over how satirical Heinlein thought he was being when he wrote some of the more right-wing elements of the original book.

Cheers

Jim
I'm going by very old memories - it must be 20 years since I read the book; and I always had it in my head he wrote an anti-war novel around the same time. I've just had a quick scan of his bibliography and nothing leaps out, but it does make me wonder what I'd think of stuff like "Stranger In A Strange Land" and "I Will Fear No Evil" as an adult.

But never mind that! Movies. Watch "Starship Troopers", you guys, it's absolutely brilliant.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2015, 12:57:52 PM
Quote from: Famous Mortimer on 09 July, 2015, 12:52:17 PM
I'm going by very old memories - it must be 20 years since I read the book;

A few more than that for me — I'll confess that the allegedly right wing under/overtones passed the teenage me by, but I have heard it mentioned since then. Without re-reading the book, I can't say whether it's a valid reading of the text, but it's certainly something I've seen brought up more than once.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 09 July, 2015, 03:28:49 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 July, 2015, 11:56:50 AM

Johnny's jock dream of glory turning to shit when he realises he's just cannon fodder is ironic though isn't it? Likewise, the handling of Jenkins's high school expectations in comparison to the final act.


Well, what's even funnier is that I never felt Johnny ever does realize he's cannon fodder. Even by the end. He's so vacant, he just gets promoted and keeps on going. I love that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 July, 2015, 04:14:06 PM
Just a short recap, while I apologise for my lack making too much sense before.

Somebody suggested I watched this Stoner film called Smiley-Face with Anne Faris who acted suitably retarded almost of the way through this film. Maybe she was really stoned.

I will watched this the whole way through, but when I was, some liquid that must have trickled from a mostly empty carton of milk had found it's way into one of the sockets of the power-board I had specifically purchased when buy this computer right towards the end of 2013. Fortunitly for me, this has a built in safety feature that switches off the entire circuit that every house appliance is plugged into. Everything bar the lights, one of our fridges and the stove.

We lost this power for about 12 hours and this was driving at around about midnight.

In short, I might have died, but for this safety feature, who knows. I might have just got zapped alittle bit.

Not suicidal, just careless.

I really don't think that film was that good, there are better films of that same type. Pine-Apple-Express, The Big Lewbowski and Wayne's World (Both of that and it's sequel!)  Just the films of that genre I have seen.

It started out with her on a Ferris-Wheel, near the top and speaking in slow retarded voice. with stuff like How di I get here real slowly. Kind like Michael Keaton's monologe at the start of Birdman but his version was way cooler and no I don't have the hots for him.

Kind of frowned inwardly when she was reading the truck with the pig on it and getting it that she needed to find the Hemp Festival in some of part of the  west coast of America and that when the milk found it way inside and did it's stuff.

On you should all know that she is partnered with Chris Pratt from Guardians of the Galaxy and he does this type of impersonation of Chris Stathem. (I hope that is his name!) on SLN some about his steak/cheese ice-cream wafers.

Who was in a earlier film with Amy Smart who was also in Varsity Blues and Butterfly Effect and she was also in film with Chris Statham where some crook removed his heart and replaced it with a battery that needed to be recharged every so often or he would fall into a coma and die. I though some parts of this film was just bonkers and there was one bit where him and Amy conduct physical negotiations while on a horse-racing track. Funny thing when it was shown how she had a excellent view of horses as they leaped their bodies. Did not think the stallions could run with those things.

Caught the end of A Perfect Storm yesterday while my father was watching it and remarked to myself how Diane Lane almost repeated what she said in Judge Dredd in there two scenes.

Sorry, can't find either scene on You-Tube, you will need to watch both to get my meaning.

The very last scene from the film Judge Dredd where he parks his bike on the edge of the high way over looking the rest of Mega-City-Scape almost perfectly matches the composition of Slaine -Book of Invasions End of Book Five, double page spread of Slaine on his horse on the edge of cliff overlooking the wilderness somewhere n the otherworld looking towards the sun-rising. You will need to find both of these yourselves just to see.

I enjoyed the Star-Ship-Troopers film and even the sequels. Despite never liking the thing about individual troopers becoming zombies after having one breed of those alien insects lay eggs in them.

Yet, it's Rough-Necks-STC (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1k7wg3_starship-troopers-the-series-roughnecks-starship-troopers-chronicles-intro_shortfilms) seems to be much closer to the original and covers more ground or space. Even thought, I find most of the same sex characters hard to tell apart.

Have never watched this in full, but would love to one day if it 's ever gets re-released.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 July, 2015, 04:17:55 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 09 July, 2015, 04:14:06 PM

Smiley-Face with Anne Faris who acted suitably retarded almost of the way through this film.

Riiight. Acted.  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 July, 2015, 05:34:14 PM
Quote(On a tangent, it's the same basic argument I've been making about the revived Dr Who since its return: how would its success or the things it does right be in any way diminished by doing some extra work in the draft stage of the script to make sure that the plot makes sense and the characters behave consistently?)

I want so badly to like Dr Who - I like the characters, the playful tone, the Britishness of it, and it always has really talented people involved (Gatiss, Gaiman, Wheatley et al)... but every single time I've tried to watch it I've just found the actual stories to be a load of convoluted nonsense.

The kind of sci fi where everything is explained away - and crises are solved - with a line of technobabble rather than things following consistent rules I can get my head around. Where science = magic. I'm sure that doesn't apply to every episode, but that's always been my general impression.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 July, 2015, 08:30:53 PM
Special Bulletin is a compilation of rolling news coverage of an unfolding hostage situation in South Carolina where the criminals claim to have a home made nuclear bomb.  Made in 1983, it's pretty good barring the slightly embarrassing FX work for [spoiler]post-holocaust Carolina[/spoiler], and some of what we've seen in the real news since then makes a mockery of what we see onscreen, particularly the relatively low body count of a "major disaster" and the happy-clappy refugees not turning into animals when their city is destroyed and they get penned up in makeshift housing camps.  A good effort, but it's no Fail Safe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 July, 2015, 01:41:40 AM
Rented Chappie on cable last night and eventually got down to watch it in it's entirety even though I did this earlier this year at the movies.

Still not such bad film and being filmed in as unlikely a place as Africa like two other film's. One of which gets a lot of talk around here.

There is this part (I can almost imagine the drum-roll as he marched into focus....) where Chappie Salmon-Leaps over a small car and right on the front chassis/forward-cab (????) of it's own failed replacement, not so much unlike Slaine doing his signature leaping attacked and this would have been all the more awesome if it wasn't so much like George of the Jungle (Watch out for that Tree/Large-Robot!!!). May be if he had a melee hand weapon designed to go through large hard metal objects like a version of Brain-Biter made from some alloy designed to do just that!

Still not such a bad effort and damn, and my hair does look a lot like Hugh Jackman's attempt at mediocrity and about a month ago my hair was more like the fellow gangster who call's himself Ninja in this film and real life. His hair-cut the closest I would have imagined Slaine's to be. Mister Jackman's physique is still recovering from his Wolverine-Workout.

That entire scene shares the same skeleton with the defeated of very large and smelly Cyth-God from Tomb of Terror.

There a certain something about Yolanda-Mommy (Despite hinting her looks and her movements hinting at some rodent like heritage!) that achieves immortalisation by the end of this movie.

You may notice her endearingly squeaky singing voice as vocals dwarf the machine gun rat-ta-tat-tatting of spouses now familiar homage to hip-hop or what ever it's really called.

Speaking of gun's , his is yellow  and I thought wow, a yellow gun  until I opened up the first volume  of A.B.C. Warriors G.N. with Clint Lanely's photo-shopped wizardry  and picture of [h]Joe Pine-Apples[/b] wielding something similar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 July, 2015, 05:45:04 PM
Accidental Love.

I review films for a living.

I gave this abomination no stars.

I know about it's troubled history but this is simply appalling.

Feel free to read my review here http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=3769
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 July, 2015, 09:06:39 PM
Oooh quite fancy seeing that Matt!

I saw 'Full English Breakfast' on Netflix and while it is no 'Accidental Love' it was irredeemably shite. Lots of mockney gangsters giving each other slaps. It has a strange otherworldly feel as the dialougue doen't sit with the film - it's like a foreign film that's been badly dubbed. Given it stars Dave Courtney that would seem unlikely.

It's badness was mesmerising though, and I watched through to the end ; something I couldn't manage with 'The Wee Man'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2015, 09:39:34 PM
Without Warning - I thought this was a fake news broadcast about the aftermath of an asteroid impact, so the fortean stuff that cropped up later was a surprise.  It reminded me a lot of the live Quatermass and the Pit serial, complete with mounting air of menace and an ending that - while a bit hammy - is commendably bleak.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 July, 2015, 10:25:42 PM
I saw Without Warning ages ago - wrote it up too (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/no63-without-warning.html) - amazed it's still being watched!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 July, 2015, 10:55:31 PM
You WHOOOOORE!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 13 July, 2015, 12:02:31 AM
Long time since I read Starship Troopers. The premise is that after a global war, there follows societal collapse. A grouping of returned service personnel enact fairly draconian measures to restore order. This done they set up a constitution whereby all decision-making is in the hands of a franchise consisting of persons who serve in the military; thus proving they have a stake in society through the act of giving service to society by putting their lives on the line. The rest of the population, while leading comfortable lives, have no say whatsoever in how their world is run.
This gives Heinlein great range to postulate on the virtues of hard work, obedience, corporal punishment for crimes (and in education) etc. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 13 July, 2015, 05:09:57 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 13 July, 2015, 12:02:31 AM
Long time since I read Starship Troopers. The premise is that after a global war, there follows societal collapse. A grouping of returned service personnel enact fairly draconian measures to restore order. This done they set up a constitution whereby all decision-making is in the hands of a franchise consisting of persons who serve in the military; thus proving they have a stake in society through the act of giving service to society by putting their lives on the line. The rest of the population, while leading comfortable lives, have no say whatsoever in how their world is run.
This gives Heinlein great range to postulate on the virtues of hard work, obedience, corporal punishment for crimes (and in education) etc. Z

after a global war, there follows societal collapse

You'd think that might be the other way around.....

Would you believe, watching this right now on cable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 July, 2015, 09:16:46 AM
Went to see Terminator: Genisys and I get the feeling I'm going to get a lot of stick for my opinion on it for many years to come because...I really liked it! I almost don't want to go into too much detail about what I liked because I'm sure I'll be told I'm wrong, but I had a lot of fun with it. Thought the new Terminator type and the performance from John Connor man was actually quite brilliant, Emilia Clarke had huge shoes to fill after Lena Headey's Sarah Connor but did a good job and looks the part, and I just found it an enjoyable sci-fi action romp I guess. Went 2D but I see the blu-ray will be 3D so already looking forward to giving that a watch.

I know the rest of the world seem to hate it but I went in expecting a disaster and more than a little pleasantly surprised.

Also watched Man of Steel finally, and it was OK. Snyder over-eggs his action scenes to the point where they lose all impact, and that's never been more apparent than here which made for a pretty dull last act. Costner nearly made me cry at one point, I liked Zod and his gang, and there's a big chunk that seems to be essentially Mass Effect (tell me those aren't Reapers and Supes isn't fighting Harbinger!).

It was an alright way to pass a couple of hours but quite forgettable, can't quite tell if I'm more or less interested to see Bats vs Supes now, I'm still hovering around complete indifference to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 July, 2015, 09:20:29 AM
You're not the only one Keef. I really liked Terminator Genisys as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 July, 2015, 10:12:45 AM
It Follows - really intense, really bloody creepy. Actually gave me nightmares which never, ever happens. Though had to put aside my thoughts of [spoiler]why don't you get on a plane if it just walks everywhere it will take years to walk to China[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 July, 2015, 12:05:44 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 13 July, 2015, 09:20:29 AM
You're not the only one Keef. I really liked Terminator Genisys as well.

And me. Not brilliant but definitely fun to be had.

(My thinking is that not every meal needs to be cordon bleu, occassionally, a Pot Noodle is *exactly* what you are after)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 July, 2015, 08:02:16 AM
'Good Kill' with Ethan Hawke.

Brilliant film. About a pilot that instead of flying F-16's now flies drones from a GCS in Nevada.

(The whoring bit - My review is here http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=3774)

Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 July, 2015, 11:06:37 AM
Les maîtres du temps/Time Masters

(https://40.media.tumblr.com/31dd0f9f217928b28dd92616fcd56ef3/tumblr_n60aivCuLS1sndzdgo1_500.jpg)

Despite starchiness (WHY DON'T THEY BLINK) and being a trifle stop-starty which I imagine can be put down to the rigorous expense and technicality of its production - Time Masters is a dreamy masterpiece of European animation with actually a fairly robust twist.

It's a joy to see the genius Moebius in bits of this and some segments are genuinely breathtaking. Absolutely worth owning the Masters of Cinema release for the extensive booklet and loving restoration. Glorious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 July, 2015, 11:11:03 AM
How does it compare to La Planète sauvage/Fantastic Planet, also by René Laloux, assuming you've watched that masterpiece also. I have a huge soft spot for that film but Time Masters has slipped under my radar until now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 July, 2015, 11:44:35 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 17 July, 2015, 11:11:03 AM
How does it compare to La Planète sauvage/Fantastic Planet, also by René Laloux, assuming you've watched that masterpiece also.

Actually just about to - I'm new to the whole thing! They're actually Lady Geoffery purchases even she was a Laloux enthusiast before I'd even heard of Moebius. The Masters of Cinema release of Fantastic Planet even includes all of his short films which is a bloody magical purchase - seek it out! Really can't wait to watch it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 July, 2015, 12:19:43 PM
I love Rene Laloux's work - Fantastic Planet is a better film than Time Masters, but Time Masters is the one I have the greatest affection for. It's one of my favourite animated movies. There was a time it seemed to keep cropping up on terrestrial tv in the late 80s - as a boy, I originally found the ending quite frustrating, but it does work, left-field though it be. The weird faceless angel things have always stuck in my head - very trippy.

Oh, and on the Laloux front, don't forget Gandahar, if you can track it down at a reasonable price.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 18 July, 2015, 11:08:28 AM
LOVE & MERCY.

Not sure I'd say I was disappointed by it but... underwhelmed, perhaps. Seems I've seen several films I can't remember Paul Dano being in (which isn't necessarily a criticism) but I had no problem here buying into him as Brian Wilson. Unlike John Cusack, who basically plays John Cusack as Brian Wilson, a little too SMILEY SMILE to Dano's BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 July, 2015, 02:10:18 PM
Ant-Man

Terrific fun. Lightweight? Certainly, but also engaging and very funny. At a whisker under two hours, it does exactly what it says on the tin and doesn't outstay its welcome.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 09:11:36 AM
Watched/rewatched a bunch of things this weekend, so this is a long one...

Went to a screening of The Mist, was my first time watching it since the theatrical release. It blew me away then as probably the best King adaptation ever and it's just gotten more powerful with time. Apart from the fact it's a fantastic horror film, putting genre aside it's just an amazing film and I genuinely believe it to be one of the very best out there. Everything about the way that thing is constructed blows my mind, and the performances are brilliant across the board too. He doesn't get enough props, but Tom Jane is phenomenal in this. There are a couple of moments where the CG isn't the best, but for the most part the effects and creature designs are great and there are a surprising amount of very cool physical effects in there too.

It's obviously a very harrowing film to revisit (hence why it's taken me so long to get back around to it) and the atmosphere sticks with you for a very, very long time, but The Mist is a masterpiece in my eyes. If The Dark Tower ever happens I want Darabont at the helm.

Also stuck on Land of The Dead as it was the last in the original Romero series that Bea hadn't seen.  I was never anywhere near as down on this as most people seemed to be, and feel like it's held up really well. Bea enjoyed it too and declared it really good at the end, her favorite has been Day but think this was a close second. I was reminded how much of a crush I had on Asia Argento back then so all that came flooding back! It's gorier than I remember (unless they re-inserted some censored scenes since the cinema release) and there are a lot of very cool looking practical effects, back in a time when CG was used very sparingly.

Watched the Terminator 2 special edition cut for the first time and that movie is a real thrill to revisit! One of those movies I haven't watched in many years but where it feels like every frame and line is embedded in my mind because I watched it so many times at such an impressionable age. It holds up brilliantly, there are stunts in it that are still incredible (perhaps because hardly anyone does that kind of stunt work anymore) and the scenes I hadn't seen add something for the most part (the only clunker I felt was the Kyle Reese dream sequence, horribly cheddar). Watching it so soon after rewatching the first film it's amazing how different the tone is - that movie is a horror film and this one has some menace (Patrick is so good) but to turn it into the big action adventure behemoth that it is now seems like a really big gamble. Fair play to Cameron, his approach to a sequel is definitely to go in a different direction, which is all too rare. Absolute classic.

And last night we watched the Rogue Cut of Days of Future Past, which I still feel is the best X-Men film by a long way (with First Class in 2nd place). There are a lot of extra lines and extended takes in this cut, which don't add anything in the way of story but are all enjoyable additions, and then there's the Rogue stuff which was understandably cut really. It's not that the sequences with her are bad, just that they're completely unnecessary really. Nice to have them there but very easy to see why, when looking to loose 15mins of running time it would have been an easy choice to ditch those parts. Nice to have them back though. Quicksilver still steals the movie, and I still reckon using the character in Avengers 2 was a mistake. It was too soon after this and the Avengers take on him just didn't make an impression at all on me sadly.

Only annoyance is that while this now feels like the definitive cut of the movie, the blu-ray isn't in 3D. The last one was, and the film was shot in 3D, so feels pretty crappy to not have 3D in the package.

I love watching films, it's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 20 July, 2015, 10:07:15 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 09:11:36 AM
Watched/rewatched a bunch of things this weekend, so this is a long one...

Went to a screening of The Mist, was my first time watching it since the theatrical release. It blew me away then as probably the best King adaptation ever and it's just gotten more powerful with time. Apart from the fact it's a fantastic horror film, putting genre aside it's just an amazing film and I genuinely believe it to be one of the very best out there. Everything about the way that thing is constructed blows my mind, and the performances are brilliant across the board too. He doesn't get enough props, but Tom Jane is phenomenal in this. There are a couple of moments where the CG isn't the best, but for the most part the effects and creature designs are great and there are a surprising amount of very cool physical effects in there too.

It's obviously a very harrowing film to revisit (hence why it's taken me so long to get back around to it) and the atmosphere sticks with you for a very, very long time, but The Mist is a masterpiece in my eyes. If The Dark Tower ever happens I want Darabont at the helm.

Yeah, I love this film too.  The ending is radically different from the book -  not better or worse, but unexpected and pleasing, in a very nihilistic kind of way.  How many other films do you see ending like that, eh? 

It is grim throughout, you're quite right, but it's just so watchable.  The characters are pitched very well, particularly that religious nutter.  That actress gives a great performance, providing an opportunity for the actors around her to really get into the whole vibe.  Love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 02:03:36 PM
She's great yeah, there are a lot of really great, absorbing performances in it which is the main reason it works as well as it does. The ending hits so hard even when you know it's coming! I hadn't appreciated until this viewing that [spoiler]the army are actually coming from behind them, so the whole time they've been travelling through the mist they've actually been moving away from rescue (pushed on by the terrifying and distant sounds of the tanks to some degree). That the first woman to leave the store is safe on the truck is a real gut punch.

Rab Florence was introducing this screening and he described it as a film about cowards, and I thought that was quite an interesting way of looking at it. I've always considered it as one of those horror movies that's more about the way human beings behave and treat each other than the actual monsters in the mist but I hadn't really thought about it as plainly as that. It's fear that means nobody will step up to help the woman who leaves (which it turns out would have likely saved them) and fear that causes the more fragile group members to band around the salvation they see in the crazy religious woman. Florence also believed it was a bit of a metaphor for when life closes in and problems bear down on you, you can shut yourself away and draw lines or you can step out and face it. Was quite interesting to hear his take on it!

I've personally always thought that one of the strongest themes is the danger of pride - a lot of the bad things seem to happen as a result of people's stubborness and pride not allowing them to budge or see other perspectives. All the petty town squabbles rise to the surface, you've got the guys who insist on opening the shutter because they don't want to acquiesce to what they see as Jane's character's sense of superiority, and his neighbor who lets their rivalry be his undoing really, lots of conflicts like that. Maybe my favorite moment in the whole thing is just before his neighbor heads out into the mist - he says there's nothing out there, Jane asks him 'yeah, but what if there is?!' and in that moment (well then I guess the joke would be on me) I fully believe he doesn't want to go out at all. You can see the doubts in his delivery, but by this point his dumb pride has taken him too far to back down from his position. Brilliant moment and another great performance![/spoiler]

Didn't mean to type so much there, but it's a film that rattles around in the brain for a long time afterwards so have been thinking (overthinking?) about it a lot! Classic, I've still to see the black and white version so will need to make that my next revisit (once I've recovered from this one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2015, 02:41:07 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 July, 2015, 11:06:37 AMDespite starchiness (WHY DON'T THEY BLINK) and being a trifle stop-starty which I imagine can be put down to the rigorous expense and technicality of its production - Time Masters is a dreamy masterpiece of European animation with actually a fairly robust twist.


Quote from: Greg M. on 17 July, 2015, 12:19:43 PM
I love Rene Laloux's work - Fantastic Planet is a better film than Time Masters, but Time Masters is the one I have the greatest affection for. It's one of my favourite animated movies. There was a time it seemed to keep cropping up on terrestrial tv in the late 80s

There's a great English dub version of Time Masters done by co-producers BBC that was shown in the late 80's. Unfortunately it's not easy to find and the BBC haven't broadcasted it since the early 90's.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b6fGBtMYLs

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2015, 02:47:04 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 09:11:36 AM
Quicksilver still steals the movie, and I still reckon using the character in Avengers 2 was a mistake. It was too soon after this and the Avengers take on him just didn't make an impression at all on me sadly.


Both films were in production at the same time and there's no way Marvel could've known how good Fox's Quicksilver sequence would end up being. Marvel believed they had the better story for that character rather than the way Fox cut him loose half-way through.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 03:33:03 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 July, 2015, 02:41:07 PM

Quote from: Greg M. on 17 July, 2015, 12:19:43 PM
I love Rene Laloux's work - Fantastic Planet is a better film than Time Masters, but Time Masters is the one I have the greatest affection for. It's one of my favourite animated movies. There was a time it seemed to keep cropping up on terrestrial tv in the late 80s

There's a great English dub version of Time Masters done by co-producers BBC that was shown in the late 80's. Unfortunately it's not easy to find and the BBC haven't broadcasted it since the early 90's.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b6fGBtMYLs

I just googled Time Masters and it looks like it might be a film I caught as a kid on TV and have been trying to remember the name of for years since! I was very young and seem to remember something about it scaring me or disturbing me slightly. Vaguely remember it having something to do with insects or vultures or a head wound or...something. One of those types of memories! Now I can rewatch it and figure out what it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 20 July, 2015, 03:58:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2015, 03:33:03 PM
Vaguely remember it having something to do with insects or vultures or a head wound or...something.

That's the film, all right. Bastard alien hornets with stabby proboscises. And yes, a horrific head wound...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 July, 2015, 09:52:34 PM
Watched What We Do in the Shadows last night.

It's every bit as great as I hoped it would be. A really funny, instantly quotable blend of horror and comedy that earns its place alongside Shaun of the Dead and An American Werewolf in London.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 July, 2015, 09:36:26 AM
Ant Man

Fun, funny and fast paced. Really enjoyed it. Particularly liked Michael Douglass's gnarly old Hank Pym and Evangeline Lily as the bitter, conflicted but still likeable daughter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: jacob g on 21 July, 2015, 10:28:41 AM
I just saw "Copenhagen" and "Jurassic World". "Copenhagen", nothing special but watchable little drama with background romance and familly issues. "Jurassic World" was a mess... damn, I had more fun on Terminator: Genysis which for me was the worst fanservice Hollywood ever sold to audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 July, 2015, 09:45:43 PM
The Dark Knight Rises.

It just goes on and on! I was losing the will to live by the end of it.
It's over long, over serious and generally a bit of a mess.
I don't think I'll want to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 July, 2015, 11:07:52 PM
As with Where The Wild Things Are, I think the drab greys and melancholy atmosphere of Dark Knight Rises can only really be appreciated by its target audience of children.  As adults, we more readily embrace things that are quirky or offbeat, but kids like their shit to be straightforward.

Spy is mostly contrived and not very funny, but when it ditches the clunky mechanics of what we've seen a million times before in favor of unabashed vulgarity, it's much more enjoyable.  Rose Byrne is great as a classless villainess, while Jason Statham does his usual comedy turn as an unconvincing action man playing a cockney CIA agent and no that is never explained but if Piper Perabo can be a CIA agent clearly anyone can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 23 July, 2015, 11:25:51 PM
Went to a free cinema screening of Spielberg's Duel. Pleased to find that it was just as good as I'd remembered it since my first viewing many years ago; even knowing roughly what happened it remains tense as hell. That truck should be talked about as one of the all-time great movie villians.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 23 July, 2015, 11:40:42 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 23 July, 2015, 11:25:51 PM
Went to a free cinema screening of Spielberg's Duel. Pleased to find that it was just as good as I'd remembered it since my first viewing many years ago; even knowing roughly what happened it remains tense as hell. That truck should be talked about as one of the all-time great movie villians.

Love that film - absolutely love it. Lost count of how many times I've seen it - and I've never seen it on a big screen :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 25 July, 2015, 03:36:13 AM
Appleseed Alpha.

Oh god... why did I do this to myself?

One of my favourite comic books ever, having been blessed with a decent anime OVA in the late '80s and a couple of really good CG movies in the 2000s, gets reduced to THIS?

It looks amazing. But the story is so unbearably bland and disappointing. I just don't get it... why go to all that effort to produce something so visually stunning... and waste it on a plot that could service a Steven Seagal movie?

WHY?!?!??

(Note: Actually worse because this is the second time I've seen it.  So when I say 'why did I do this to myself?' I REALLY know I have only myself to blame.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 July, 2015, 11:20:30 AM
The Inbetweeners 2:

It was okay but you could tell everyone was just trying to milk the last remnants of cash from the series before they got too old. Worth a watch if it comes on telly I suppose.

The Rise:

A decent British crime/revenge thriller set in a grotty northern town. Good performances and an enjoyable story but not quite as clever as it wanted to be.

Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For:

Much better than I thought it would be and I enjoyed it more than the first one. Possibly because I was less familiar with the stories this time around. I read A Dame to Kill For back in the 90s but I wasn't familiar with the Joseph Gordon Levitt story or the Nancy revenge thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 July, 2015, 09:49:27 AM
Incredibly, I had never seen Blue Velvet until last night. I don't suppose there's much point going on at length about something everyone else has already seen a million times, but I don't see why that should stop me. I enjoyed it a lot and will certainly be rewatching it soon. The gawky awkwardness of both MacLachlan and Dern was pretty endearing and it's interesting to see a lot of those Lynch signatures like the big club singer setpiece when they were fresh.

The thing that struck me the most was how straightforward it all is. Unlike much of his later work, there is a very simple – if unlikely – plot driving the narrative forward and the strangeness derives from the characters met along the way rather than tricksy games.

Probably not as good as Wild at Heart but still a good one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 July, 2015, 10:47:25 AM
Kingsman the Secret Service - the main character's accent and style of talking got on my nerves a bit. I'm a Londoner too (okay, a South East suburban Londoner but I've heard kids talking that way for real) from a working class background but this particular style of talking seems to be a new thing the kids have invented since my time. For realz. Ugh.

It was a fun romp, though. Incredibly violent in places, although in a humourous way with very little actual blood.

American Sniper

Meandering but thought provoking . Learning it was based on a true story was a little [spoiler]shocking and depressing.[/spoiler]

Not quite my cup of tea, but it did what it set out to do well.

Some of the American patriotic macho "booyah" got on my nerves a bit, but then they counterbalanced that by showing glimpses of the other side.

A worthwhile film to watch, certainly. I much preferred Kingsman but then again its basically a live action cartoon. American Sniper is a slice of reality, (with some dramatic licence of course) and it doesn't taste all that nice. But it really isn't supposed to.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: W. R. Logan on 27 July, 2015, 12:41:50 PM
Although a huge chunk of American Sniper, like the battle with the enemy sniper never happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 July, 2015, 12:45:47 PM
(Half of) Yojimbo

I knew this film was well loved and that it was the basis for A Fistful of Dollars so I was looking forward to watching it. I ended up turning it off halfway through. Not that it was bad exactly, it just wasn't what I was expecting and it didn't draw me in.
I was surprised by the silly, comedic tone of it. From the music, to the acting, to the bloke with the stick on eyebrows.
Dollars has some comedic moments too, but it never comes across as silly - probably because of Clint's stoic performance and the soundtrack.

I'll happily stick to Clint in future. I've been told in the past that this film is 'much better' than A Fistful of Dollars. Horses for courses I guess.
I'm now curious as to whether Seven Samurai also has this comedic tone, another film I've always meant to give some time to, being a big fan of the Magnificent Seven (and Battle Beyond the Stars of course).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 July, 2015, 01:02:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 July, 2015, 12:45:47 PM
I'm now curious as to whether Seven Samurai also has this comedic tone, another film I've always meant to give some time to, being a big fan of the Magnificent Seven (and Battle Beyond the Stars of course).
It doesn't. Mifune's character's buffoonishness is played a bit for laughs at the start but that's about it.

Then again, I don't remember Yojimbo being particularly silly. Or "much better" than A Fistful of Dollars. So who knows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 July, 2015, 01:48:41 PM
Interestingly, Yojimbo was categorized as 'Adventure, Comedy, Black Comedy' on the Virgin Media listing. I didn't notice that until afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 27 July, 2015, 02:38:29 PM
Ant-Man at the weekend. It was good but was it £70 good as that's how much it cost me and the family after you chuck in food and drink? The answer is no, also the lights were fucked so it wasn't dark enough.

On the plus side if you go to the bowling at Glasgow Quay and check out the Star Wars pod me and my mate have the high score. As its only 3 letters we are ASS
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 27 July, 2015, 08:13:25 PM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - bit of a mess, but enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Kids and wife loved it.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Kids and wife loved it.

Honeymoon - cutesy married couple head into the woods for their honeymoon. Again, enjoyed it more than I thought I would, not sure of wife enjoyed it or not. No chance of the kids seeing this.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 July, 2015, 09:08:56 PM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 27 July, 2015, 08:13:25 PM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - bit of a mess, but enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Kids and wife loved it.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Kids and wife loved it.

Honeymoon - cutesy married couple head into the woods for their honeymoon. Again, enjoyed it more than I thought I would, not sure of wife enjoyed it or not. No chance of the kids seeing this.

Is Honeymoon the [spoiler]alien shape change body horror[/spoiler] one? I quite fancy that
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 27 July, 2015, 09:47:23 PM
That's the one - very slow burner but worth sticking with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 July, 2015, 01:38:59 AM
I just caught the second half of Top Secret on cable television and if you remember how I dragged discussion of the passing of Omar Sheriff toward this and some old Egyptian themed film on the R.I.P..

Sometimes I think those people running the cable network are also reading my comments here. Anyway, I missed some best scene in between siting here doing my usual internet thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 28 July, 2015, 04:26:54 PM
Pixels - I liked it

Review

http://cool-stuff-you-will-like.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/pixels-hey-its-not-bad-film.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 29 July, 2015, 10:42:17 AM
I watched Pixars 'Inside Out' - it's enjoyable, but grud knows who it was aimed at. Not adults, but unlikely kids. Doesn't really work on more than one level, unlike other pixar films have done. But it was fun & killed a couple of hours :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 July, 2015, 09:22:01 AM
Saw it on Netflix US last night

Transfarters - Ages of Bores: seriously, how crap was that! what plot? and why like in last three films they kept filming the actions with blew up etc, and then give it to SFX team to try fit Transformers in it! Actors looks bored in it! lol

Nightcrawler - wow that was so brilliant! How Jake Gyllenhaal make himself so creepy! awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 July, 2015, 03:30:44 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 30 July, 2015, 09:22:01 AM
Saw it on Netflix US last night

Transfarters - Ages of Bores: seriously, how crap was that! what plot? and why like in last three films they kept filming the actions with blew up etc, and then give it to SFX team to try fit Transformers in it! Actors looks bored in it! lol

Are you serious, I can't even find that one listed.

Watched both The Seventh Son (Again!!!..... and only after a few sittings of getting bit n pieces of it before finally watching most of it in one go!) and The Kingsman

As I thought back to the day I saw the first one in the cinema. I tried to give it another chance, because I'm really into the fantasy genre, but no it was just as bad in the way it was so sugary coated and over-stuffed with special effects to the point of over whelming the senses for no other apparent reason other than to show-off what those behind the scenes people can do these days.

A old friend once told me that less and is more it and that's films like this and John Carter of Mars serve only to give me a head ache and think about these films less.

This constant bombardment of visuals of witches seamlessly becoming mini-dragons, bears (Oh, that one was cool though!) that many armed ogre (Khali???) left me cold even though this sort of thing normally would tick all the boxes.

What really took the cake is Jeff Bridges as Greg the Wizard (I think not!!) or Spook (Perhaps... more likely!!!!) drunken-brawl his way through this un-epic quasi-medieval romp until he pass's the torch and it ends with our younger hero flicking the hood of garments over his face in such a way that causes my bile and hand to rise, the latter to almost cover my face and the former to just sit there before I force it down again. It's almost symbolic of needing a certain Jewish ritual for young men involving the removal of some skin.

It seems that either Mister Bridges is either faking this irritating way of using his voice. If not
realistically depicting how on his this sacred order should sound and it wasn't until I saw the beginning of this film a third time where he's knocking back a few in tavern that I realise that this is either part of act to fool other would be antagonists to let down their guard or he really is this drunk or maybe permanently lose partially power of speech from too much drinking. Because he talks this way for the rest of the film, like he thought it was a
good idea and everybody had to agree. It only serves to give me feeling of embarrassment for this venerable actor. I might have understood if his foolish old man act with a even dumber sounding voice was dropped after exiting the tavern (If memory serves me correctly...) after teaching those soldiers or bandits or whatever a lesson.

That would have been a much better idea and not abusing the English language with his dark-ages-stoner speak.

As for the Kingsman...if only more movies were like this. Then I guess, I wouldn't appreciate them so much, but still worth asking for. Great stuff and the church massacre only reinforces what I'm starting to think about some religions or maybe that's just symbolism for what it's like to live inside the box and suffer for it.

Stayed tuned for my Cast of Slaine from Cast of Kingsman and guess who is who......

{b]BTW[/b] I notice that I can be very obnoxious in my commentary, but I sometimes I can't help and it does feel like so good as taking a massive dump on the lavatory.

Now wiping my ass...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 August, 2015, 12:25:39 PM
I'm going to be on afternoon quiz show 15-1. Lovely host Sandi Toksvig discussed my blog with me so I better stick up some content prior to transmission - this could see my numbers rocket to double figures!

First up from Netflix Where the Heart Is (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no222-where-heart-is.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 01 August, 2015, 12:49:54 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 01 August, 2015, 12:25:39 PM
I'm going to be on afternoon quiz show 15-1.

Nice. Curiously, I was at Parkhead on Wednesday night - a rare occurrence - and a bloke arrived 25 mins into the match, bit hot & bothered. Turns out he missed the start as his appearance on 15-1 had ran and ran.... he won. Not a good enough score to progress further though. I won't elaborate on his name/nationality/excitable shirt choice, that would be flirting with spoiler territory for our daytime-minded boarders. Scotland: at least we do quizzes !
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 August, 2015, 02:06:29 PM
Haha small world Fungus. My filmings were on Thursday but one of the returning players mentioned last night's winner rushing off to Parkhead!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 August, 2015, 05:54:58 PM
Must say that I envy you there, BM!  Meeting Ms Toksvig is a bit of a dream of mine. I've loved her (platonically) since I first saw her on No. 72, the best of the 80s Saturday morning shows, and she is, by her own admission, the very finest purveyor of Danish midget lesbian jokes, which have kept me entertained through decades of radio. She has the courage of her convictions too. I trust she lived up to my expectations?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 August, 2015, 05:58:33 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 01 August, 2015, 05:54:58 PM
Must say that I envy you there, BM!  Meeting Ms Toksvig is a bit of a dream of mine. I've loved her (platonically) since I first saw her on No. 73, the best of the 80s Saturday morning shows


FTFY

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 August, 2015, 06:18:09 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 July, 2015, 01:48:41 PM
Interestingly, Yojimbo was categorized as 'Adventure, Comedy, Black Comedy' on the Virgin Media listing. I didn't notice that until afterwards.

If you fancy a good Japanese comedy, try Hachiko Monogatari.  I can guarantee you will be in tears by the end of it.

Dark Was The Night - this is a good solid effort to do an old-school "angry spirits" movie in a small town and stars Him Off The Strain, but it's let down a bit by dodgy CGI, a poor final leg, and being a bit too clunky in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 August, 2015, 07:28:44 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 01 August, 2015, 05:58:33 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 01 August, 2015, 05:54:58 PM
Must say that I envy you there, BM!  Meeting Ms Toksvig is a bit of a dream of mine. I've loved her (platonically) since I first saw her on No. 73, the best of the 80s Saturday morning shows


FTFY

Maybe on your telly it was No. 73, but my father wouldn't let us have prime numbers in the house. He said their intervals were too close together.

Slip of the digit there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 August, 2015, 09:23:16 AM
They should bring back the sandwich quiz!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 August, 2015, 10:21:25 AM
She was lovely,just what you'd expect. When I was on Weakest Link you only got a brief chat with Anne if you got to the final and even then a well briefed assistant shepherded her away after a few seconds. They tell you it's just her on screen persona and the wink at the end tells you she's nice really.Obviously their time is precious and the contestants are just fodder but 7 of the 9 people on my show never got a word with her off camera and no photos.

Sandi on the other hand said hello to everyone and shook all our hands and took a group photo. She also stayed on set during the many down times and was amenable to a bit of banter. I had a good chat with her about films and my blogs and my Munro climbing and she seemed genuinely interested (how could she not be??!). She does 3 shows a day and it must be tiring but everyone said she made them feel welcome and special. I am a confirmed fan!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 02 August, 2015, 10:29:47 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 August, 2015, 09:23:16 AM
They should bring back the sandwich quiz!
They did.  For one week only on (I think) The News Quiz (can't remember if it was while Sandi was a guest or host).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 02 August, 2015, 10:33:52 AM
Rewatched A Prophet (2009) last night. Quality stuff, though a brutal watch at times.

And Quatermass (1979). Network have recently released this on a double disc DVD and Blu-ray, which contains the original as broadcast 4 part serial, alongside the re-edited cut which saw a limited theatrical release. And the HD restoration is simply amazing. Looks as fresh as a daisy.

If this release is owt to go by, then I may well check out their Blu-ray releases for The Sweeney, and The Professionals.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 August, 2015, 01:15:24 PM
Big Trouble in Little China. I love this film so much I can't be objective about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 August, 2015, 06:53:36 AM
The Kingsman

Sweary rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 August, 2015, 09:56:01 AM
Worked through some of the Netflix/Amazon watchlist yesterday, which was a mixed bag!

The Hurt Locker - Bea had been getting on at me to watch this for a while and I can see why. It's brilliant, and almost unbearably tense and more than a bit harrowing.

Robocop (remake) - I love Robocop so much that the idea of this was sacrilege to me, avoided it like the plague when it came out. Was bored enough to give it a try and sort of glad I did because it's got a lot going for it. Not a patch on the original obviously, but thought it did some interesting things with the concept and had some stylish action.

The Human Centipede - Was running late for something so had to stop this about 15mins before the end, and I think I'm okay with that. Only really watched out of morbid curiosity about how you could actually spin the concept out into a whole movie, turns out you can't really (so the fact they've made another two is pretty surprising. The concept itself is impressively creative and horrible but god, what a dull movie it makes for.

The Guest - Absolutely fantastic. Had heard good things and had really enjoyed You're Next but had no idea what this was about or what kind of film it was when we stuck it on. It's a riot, incredibly stylish, exciting, consistently very, very funny, has a brilliant soundtrack - it just nails everything it's trying to do with aplomb. The fact it's a thriller made by guys known for horror is interesting too because it does mash a load of tropes and styles from both genres but never in a way that feels forced or unnatural. Loved it wholeheartedly.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 03 August, 2015, 11:16:51 AM

Saw it on USA Netflix last night

These Final Hours

Australian film about end of the world as the comet hit USA, and people in Perth got 11 hours left, and it was enjoyable and brutal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 August, 2015, 01:30:59 PM
Ant-Man - very enjoyable but I can understand the comments about it feeling a bit disjointed. I thought the casting was excellent, all the main leads were perfect (although to my embarrassment, I recognised the step-dad cop's partner but couldn't for the life of me remember where I knew him from.... :-[)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 August, 2015, 03:14:14 PM
Just watched the movie 23 and paid attention to a good deal of it before giving up on it towards the end and just rolling over on the couch to face the back rest. Which also implies I didn't watch it all as well.

One of the few films where the more serious and adult side of Jim Carrey is shown. Where he is almost sometimes scary ad a bit underworld as well. Not that I would put it past any celebrity to be that way in real life.

After a while, I fancied that they would make comedy spoof of this film with a leading actor that was less known for their comedy and stand up.

Not that I'm knocking Mister Carrey shown the full range of his talent, but I found this film more disturbing than entertaining overall.

About his obsession with everything that adds up to the number 23 or and what it means.....

Why couldn't it just be about the number one. So much easier as it adds up to everything  in my way of thinking  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 August, 2015, 05:11:33 PM
Wet Hot American Summer, a formerly obscure comedy from 2001, notable now for it's huge cult following, and for featuring a cast of unknowns that went on to dominate US comedy later on - Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper etc etc. It's cult following is such that Netflix has just made a spin-off prequel series.

I thought it was alright, but to be honest don't quite get the adoration this film gets. It has some funny bits, but nowhere near enough of them. They repeatedly mock and subvert tropes of this kind of film (teen comedies), but the end result is that it feels more like a loose collection of skits rather than a film where you really feel involved or care about any of the characters.

Hot Rod does a similar thing but is a far stronger, funnier film for my money, as is the follow up to WHAS (and featuring many of its cast and crew) Role Models.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 August, 2015, 05:20:53 PM
My holiday viewing, reading and playing...

ANT-MAN
Pretty good - see seperate thread.

SUITE FRANCAISE
Two interesting leads (especially the bloke) keep this one's head above the water as a love-sick German officer falls for a french bird and writes sweet music in occupied france in 1940. Lacking something... drama, tension  but big on period detail. I may go back to the source

SEVENTH SON
Seventh Shite more like. Avoid.

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
Great, subversive, sweary and volent fun. The "Pomp and Circumstance" finale is brilliant. 

TROPIC THUNDER
Similarly sweary fun (though we see a little too much of the under publicised A-lister in heavy make-up). There's a whole section where I didn't know where this was going (but it comes back to a predictable end) and Robert Downer Jr. doing "Chicken George" is brilliant.

THE HOBBIT: LOVE LETTER
Great minimalist card game though we were getting a little too good at it after four or five nights play.

PIRATE FLUXX
My brain hurt trying to keep track of some of the rule/goal combinations but brilliant game and guarenteed that you can't get too good at it because it's always in flux.

DAVID MITCHELL: THINKING ABOUT IT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE
A selection of his articles from variou snewspapers over the years. Some great gags and "common sense" points but best in small doses.

US: David Nicholls
A bloke goes on holiday with wife and kid in an attempt to save his marriage and learn about art in a Grand Tour of Europe. Some fantastic jokes - and a clever title - it really is three stories not just one and a feel good ending. Trying to imagine who they will cast in the inevitable film. (I am a fan of his btw - have previously read and enjoyed STARTER FOR TEN and THE UNDERSTUDY)

DERREN BROWN: TRICKS OF THE MIND
About half way through this and he's a reliable unreliable narrator but given good insights into things (some I knew, some I didn't). Tiny Tips has been reading and studying it and showing us various sleight of hands and spiritual mumbo-jumbo tricks. He's a bit overly wordy though - never uses ten words when a hundred will do.


THE LAST OF THE INNOCENTS: Criminal by Phillips and Brubaker
I absolutely loved this.  I think I will buy the rest of the collection.

DEPT OF MONSTEROLOGY: 101 by Grenni, Holden and Campbell.
Some great art and some fab ideas and set-pieces but I felt like I'd seen bits of it in other places (not always done as well, mind you).

PROFESSOR LAYTON and THE MIRACLE MASK
Gentle puzzle solving fun - 3D is oustanding but too many long cut-scenes
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 August, 2015, 05:25:35 PM
I like to think this is what you watched yesterday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 August, 2015, 09:21:53 PM
I just watched the last half of Carrie - 2014 (The year, because, you know, there was a original version of this film in 80's and I think there was some sort of sequel (Yeah, that one was silly!) made in the 90's or 00's.)

This one was much prettier and more modern than the original. Yet, the original had a better cast with Piper Laurie her mother (Who I also recall from some freaky film called The Faculty, don't know of any other of her stuff aside from Carrie itself.), Sissy Spacek who is plain, but not unattractive, yet strange in a way that made this role work for her and as Carrie twice in nudity. (Don't know her work, but her spouse, is or was into a lot of vaudeville comedy, I think, but can't recall his name!) John Travolta. One of the many of bully's that tormented Carrie. (Everybody at school hated her for her strangeness and not sure wether they knew about her powers or if that was the reason they hated her.) Murphy's partner from the original Robocop another one of her tormenters and totally naked in the locker room as her younger self. Both of them were so good at being terrible to Carrie in the first film and had wondering they were that bad in real life.   

Just like to say it's sad thing when people feel the need to do this and I think it's in order to keep everybody else from singling them out and doing the same to them. Even though they're each painting a target on them selves for doing so and literally so as well. (Without giving to much a way!) Never was like them self or to the same level at least, I think they were all quite over the top with they're bullying.....

Now the modern version.....

That girl who was the daughter of the Ghost-Rider from Kick-Ass (No, not actually Ghost-Rider from Kick-Ass, but from the film of the same name. You should know that if you are as smart as I think you are....no offence intended!) and the her religious and overbearing porn-star mum (That last part, because she was one in Boogie Nights, which is kind of reminiscent of Linda Lovelace who started out one way and end up going in the opposite direction. Porn memory better than Actual memory ::))

Don't know anyone else in this film and most of it was largely ignored with bouts of drifting in and out of unconsciousness and all films mentioned above would make for a great science-fiction/superhero/adult film extravaganza, and what if John Travolta brought in Battlefield Earth as the Alien Slave-Master high school bully with the other lady as a naughty high school cop (Like Robo-Cop and all those Police Academy spoof films combined!) ) while Carries father moonlights as a motor cycle riding skull head demon  and cop who barely escaped getting burnt to death in giant-wicker-man. Only to die by being burnet to death while tied to chair. While Carrie goes her way smacking around the brattier girls with that smart-stick that causes them to vomit from both ends of their bodies.

I thought that female actress was bratty in Kick-Ass as well, but in good way, I guess and didn't think she was the right choice []b]Carrie as she didn't express the same awkwardness as Sissy. Either, not a good casting choice or just not part of her range of skill to look less popular. Yet, I guess it takes all types these days and  I may need to watch this again properly. Just to be sure.

Yet, it was obvious that this female actress had matured physically and socially than the original as far as it seemed on film and she added to this with essence of the bratty-ness of her previous work.

She might as well, had been one of her own tormentors and some other actress chosen for her natural awkwardness.

Who could that be?

Speaking of all those films crossed over with this one, I thinking about what if this part of a Judge Dredd with the likes of Psi Anderson and Juliet November Who could have been Drew Barry more revitalising her previous role as the Fire-Starter. Who knows how far Carrie could have gone in world where her power was more common and a better chance for support group? 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 August, 2015, 12:22:47 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 03 August, 2015, 11:16:51 AM

Saw it on USA Netflix last night

These Final Hours

Australian film about end of the world as the comet hit USA, and people in Perth got 11 hours left, and it was enjoyable and brutal.

The only problem I had with These Final Hours was that after watching Wentworth and Underbelly, I pretty much assumed this is what modern Australia is like all the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 04 August, 2015, 04:57:05 AM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 04 August, 2015, 12:22:47 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 03 August, 2015, 11:16:51 AM

Saw it on USA Netflix last night

These Final Hours

Australian film about end of the world as the comet hit USA, and people in Perth got 11 hours left, and it was enjoyable and brutal.

The only problem I had with These Final Hours was that after watching Wentworth and Underbelly, I pretty much assumed this is what modern Australia is like all the time.

I think Wentworth is set inside female prison and that's modern and Underbelly is set in present day Sydney depending on which series your watching.

I thinking there is spin-0ff called Razor set during the 1940's in Melbourne.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 August, 2015, 07:43:39 AM
Wild Horses (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no223-wild-horses.html) couldn't drag me back for a second viewing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 August, 2015, 06:47:25 PM
A Bug's Life

A likeable but relatively thin film from the early Pixar canon. The story (Seven SamurANT) is frustratingly linear and the animation much weaker than Toy Story from three years previous. It just feels like it needed more time - and at that point I think it's likely that they were struggling to meet deadlines to justify their visions. A great shame as there are some nice character moments here and it's a colourful enough romp through a miniature world. It just feels lacking - even without the inevitable comparison to the thematically and visually grander Antz.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 August, 2015, 11:19:18 PM
Martin Lawrence (there was my clue!) crap-fest What's the Worst That Could Happen? (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/whats-worst-that-could-happen-at-imdb.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 05 August, 2015, 11:51:59 PM
We have watched a couple of Luc Besson films on Netflix in the last week: 3 Days to Kill and The Family.

Both very much 3 out of 5, I am afraid to say (in my opinion)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 August, 2015, 12:28:40 AM
More Netflix (fool's) Gold in the shape of We Are the Freaks (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no225-we-are-freaks.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 08 August, 2015, 06:32:31 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 07 August, 2015, 12:28:40 AM
More Netflix (fool's) Gold in the shape of We Are the Freaks (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no225-we-are-freaks.html)

More like the Trainspotting film of this day. Yet set back in the 90's.

I don't fancy her much either. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gky5Tc6IVzQ)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 August, 2015, 04:07:08 PM
Jesse Eisenberg dealing with issues in Why Stop Now? (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no226-why-stop-now.html) - wish he would!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 August, 2015, 08:29:35 PM
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Twisty plot. Splendidly odious villain. Very hot Rebecca Ferguson. Several brilliant set pieces. Eminently watchable, although admittedly tosh. Far worse ways to kill two hours.

Also: Tom Cruise is 53. There's unquestionably a painting in his attic that don't look so good.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 August, 2015, 12:28:49 PM
Finally watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Pleasingly silly in parts and there was a decent chemistry between the leads. All in all, pretty good fun but maybe a victim of all the gushing reviews at the time as it didn't blow me away. Would still watch another. Surprised to see nothing on IMDB about one, yet Zoe Saldana is already lined up for three new Avatars!

Liked the device the soundtrack was built around but didn't like any of the songs (except Bowie).


The last two-thirds of X-Men: First Class was OK to have on in the background while making dinner.  Quite enjoyed the sixties spy movie stylings, but it didn't inspire me to go back and watch it from the start. McKellen and Stewart brought an unwarranted gravitas to the nonsense of the original films; Fassbender is an able substitute but MacAvoy doesn't really have the same presence and, of the others, only Mystique really gets anything interesting to work with.

I'm assuming there's a common ancestor, but Emma Frost reminded me of nothing so much as White She-Devil from Undercover Brother.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 09 August, 2015, 01:02:56 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 09 August, 2015, 12:28:49 PM
Finally watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Pleasingly silly in parts and there was a decent chemistry between the leads. All in all, pretty good fun but maybe a victim of all the gushing reviews at the time as it didn't blow me away. Would still watch another. Surprised to see nothing on IMDB about one, yet Zoe Saldana is already lined up for three new Avatars!

Sequel starts filming next year, due to be released the year after.  Also whispers of an Avengers/Guardians crossover.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 August, 2015, 01:48:11 PM
Turns out that a key metric for my enjoyment of action movies is the degree to which I root for the heroes. On that scale GotG scored very high indeed, the (utterly predictable) moment when Ronan emerged from the crash wreckage eliciting an out-loud 'oh fuuuuuu**', which equates to a 9 on the Root axis and at least an 8 on the Disbelief Suspended axis. (See also: Millenium Falcon coming out of the sun, which scores a double 11,  slightly to the right-and-up of the maximum values on both axes)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 August, 2015, 08:38:30 PM
Movie double bill for us last night.

First up was the Clint Eastwood starring Escape From Alcatraz, a movie with a spoiler in the title if there was one. We got to visit Alcatraz itself last week (which was awesome and highly recommended), and were fascinated by the real-life events, so wanted to check out the movie. It's really great. I mean, it's very much a movie so there's obviously a lot of embellishing going on - the escapees come across as folk heroes and almost victims rather than the habitual career criminals they were irl. Despite knowing the ending going in, it's astonishing how much the tension ratchets up. Interesting too just how many elements were lifted wholesale for The Shawshank Redemption (though I suppose you're going to get repetition of story beats in any prison break movie).

Fantastic stuff. 5/5.

And then we finally got around to Ex Machina. What can I say that hasn't been said already? It's something of a triumph. Three superb lead performances from three of the best actors of this generation, excellent music, and it's a beautifully crisp-looking film - the vfx and art direction are astonishingly good by any standard, let alone for a film that cost what it did. My girlfriend really didn't want to watch it (cos it 'looked scary') but also loved it. She has an annoying habit of whipping her phone out the moment she gets a bit bored during a film, but didn't reach for it once. She also now really wants to stay at the hotel where it was filmed. Maybe one day!

Was thoroughly gripped throughout, and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. Kudos to Mr Garland - can't wait to see whatever he does next.

5/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 09 August, 2015, 10:26:13 PM
Ex machina, one of my favourite films of recent years.  It looks lovely as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 August, 2015, 10:30:00 PM
Away We Go.

Suprisingly pleasant, best scenes are with Hippy-dippy Maggie Gyllenhaal
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 August, 2015, 11:09:57 PM
Maverick, the ridiculously good fun comedy-Western caper. Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina - a top cast all seeming to have a great time, although maybe it's a smidge too long for its own good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 August, 2015, 07:49:52 AM
300 - Rise of an Empire

It was okay - worth a watch. It wasn't as good as the first one and never felt like it quite got going but there were some good bits here and there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 August, 2015, 01:29:05 PM
The last half hour of NAKED GUN.  Hilarious.

Incidentally, I always thought the idea of naming one line cast members by the line they say (like they do in the credits in Naked Gun) was a great idea and wondered why more films don't do it.  I certainly recall the line "Hey, It's Enrique Palazzo" more than "Man in red t-shirt".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 August, 2015, 01:53:20 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 August, 2015, 01:29:05 PM
The last half hour of NAKED GUN.  Hilarious.

Incidentally, I always thought the idea of naming one line cast members by the line they say (like they do in the credits in Naked Gun) was a great idea and wondered why more films don't do it.  I certainly recall the line "Hey, It's Enrique Palazzo" more than "Man in red t-shirt".
Can't remember if it's a Naked Gun or an Airplane which has a credit for "Author of A Tale of Two Cities"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 August, 2015, 02:17:47 PM
I attempted to watch Inherent Vice twice over the weekend, fell asleep on both occasions.
It may have been critically lauded, but I found it incomprehensible and self indulgent.

Doubt I'll ever watch those still-to-be-seen 87 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 August, 2015, 03:20:52 PM
I'd never heard of this film until someone put a similar comment of Facebook -so it's not just you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 August, 2015, 05:59:57 PM
QuoteI found it incomprehensible and self indulgent.

A Paul Thomas Anderson film? Self-indulgent, you say? I find that very hard to believe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 August, 2015, 07:46:00 PM
Killl Zombie! A short while ago.

A comedy horror about some guys fighting their way through a zombie outbreak in Amsterdam.

I thought it an interesting coincidence finding a Dutch film when I only came back from there recently. i wondered if I would recognise any of the places.

I didn't, but most of my time in Amsterdam was in the centre.This looked more like a business district.

It was a silly fun film. Rather cliched in places, (but not in a bad way) and some very dark humour too. I enjoyed it a lot.

Last night I finally sat down for The Thing double bill. I've seen Carpenter's original a few times, but this was my first time watching the prequel.

I watched them in order of production, so Carpenter's, then the prequel of the same name.*

I think this would be when most people say how much better the original is, and how the other just did not need to be made... and the fact we know the fate of the Norwegians means there is no sense of jeopardy -, yada yada. and the original physical affects are so much better than CGI, blahedy blah** -- but I'm going to go against the grain and say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Don't get me wrong, the Carpenter film is probably still the better movie. And I think it should be the one to watch first. Yet I did find the original dragged a bit for me in places. I'm not sure if that's because I've seen it before, i.e I can imagine that slower pace stoking up the tension when you're experiencing it for the first time. Or maybe I've got too used to the smash! bang! of faster paced modern movies, but I did enjoy the prequel more, but I think that's partly because it was a new experience for me.

I would not consider it a better film though. I want to emphasise that. The original is a true classic.

I would agree the effects are not better, although they can do a bit more with them with CGI. I.e. running fast paced monsters and bubbly skin effects, but the original used the technology it had in the way it could in such a way that it stands up to the effects of today. And the prequel film.

I was curious to learn that much of what I thought was slightly unrealistic but workable CGI was in fact done with physical puppetry though. In fact a LOT of it is. Just goes to show.. Not to say it was bad.

I liked how they linked the prequel to the first. And the characters were entertaining and (in many cases) endearing. I loved the mid credits bit at the end. [spoiler]Consdiering how the main film ended I wondered how they got to that...[/spoiler]

*Why, oh why did they call it the same name? Okay it's a very similar film so I guess it works as a remake as well as a prequel, but....,

**That's something I've never really agreed with. The story is the imortant thing for me as much as the outcome. And in this case it turned out, the fate of the Norwegian outpost members [spoiler](as in the members of that outposts team, rather than the actual nationality of the actors.) was not as cut and dry as it seemed anyway.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 August, 2015, 10:40:34 AM
So last night I random pick a film on Netflix,

Odd Thomas

wow what a great entertaining film! Anton Yelchin is great as Odd Thomas!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 11 August, 2015, 11:27:03 AM
Quote from: radiator on 10 August, 2015, 05:59:57 PM
QuoteI found it incomprehensible and self indulgent.

A Paul Thomas Anderson film? Self-indulgent, you say? I find that very hard to believe!

Good point, but I at least enjoyed his other movies.

Or at least didn't need to be the 4th day into a week long crystal meth session to follow the plot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 August, 2015, 12:56:43 PM
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER
Haven't seen this in an age and my goodness it's still cracking stuff (despite the odd dollop of cheese with one character buying the farm). John McTiernan could do very little wrong in the eighties action stakes and there's a cracking Basil Poledourus score. And it's good to be reminded of Alec Baldwin in his prime.

Tiny Tips said "That would make a cracking Star Trek movie" and I couldn't disagree.

Things I thought were interesting but nobody else will:
A submarine movie, next to a prison movie or a front line war movie is probably in the category "Most Likely to fail the Bechdel test". But, especially with a historical piece, it should be pretty obvious why.  But would it killed them to have made one of the politicians a woman? (Say the Richard Jordan part). As it stands, the lines for females are
1) Daughter talking about a teddy bear
2) Wife (Doctor Crusher!) barking a to do list as she wafts off on some important business
3) An Air Stewardess asking if Alec Baldwin is comfortable
4) Another Stewardess asking someone else if they are comfortable while Baldwin sleeps.

Jack Ryan and wives have been:
Shadow Recruit - Chris Pine - Kiera Knightly
Hunt - Alec Baldwin - Gates McFadden
Patriot - Harrison Ford - Anne Archer?
Clear - Harrison Ford - Anne Archer?
Sum of all fears - Ben Affleck? And who - without resorting to google?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 11 August, 2015, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 August, 2015, 07:46:00 PM
Last night I finally sat down for The Thing double bill. I've seen Carpenter's original a few times, but this was my first time watching the prequel.

I prefer the Carpenter version, but with all the references to the original, I kept thinking you were referring to the Howard Hawks version (full title - The Thing From Another World - which is what the Dark Horse comic was also called).

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/The_Thing_From_Another_World_01.jpg)

The cover of the first Thing From Another World comic - artwork by, oh, whatzisname...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 August, 2015, 05:33:48 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 11 August, 2015, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 August, 2015, 07:46:00 PM
Last night I finally sat down for The Thing double bill. I've seen Carpenter's original a few times, but this was my first time watching the prequel.

I prefer the Carpenter version, but with all the references to the original, I kept thinking you were referring to the Howard Hawks version (full title - The Thing From Another World - which is what the Dark Horse comic was also called).

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/The_Thing_From_Another_World_01.jpg)

The cover of the first Thing From Another World comic - artwork by, oh, whatzisname...

I've got both issues of that somewhere. Lovely stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 11 August, 2015, 08:28:54 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 11 August, 2015, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 August, 2015, 07:46:00 PM
Last night I finally sat down for The Thing double bill. I've seen Carpenter's original a few times, but this was my first time watching the prequel.

I prefer the Carpenter version, but with all the references to the original, I kept thinking you were referring to the Howard Hawks version (full title - The Thing From Another World - which is what the Dark Horse comic was also called).

Carpenter's film is king, naturally - but the second best adaptation of the novella is neither the belated prequel nor the 50's original but 1972's glorious Horror Express, which sets the alien shape-shifter carnage on a train(!) and adds zombies, cossacks and Rasputin, all set to a twanging funk soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 August, 2015, 08:36:05 PM
I'll second that. Horror Express also has an all star cast with Lee, Cushing, Telly Savalas, and de Mendosa all knocking it out of the park. An excellent, under rated horror gem. Get the Blu-Ray while you can!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 11 August, 2015, 08:57:35 PM
The lamentable 1980s disaster film When Time Ran Out... (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no227-when-time-ran-out.html) which, despite a decent cast, was totally dreadful and has rightfully been forgotten.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 August, 2015, 11:20:01 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 11 August, 2015, 10:40:34 AM
So last night I random pick a film on Netflix,

Odd Thomas

wow what a great entertaining film! Anton Yelchin is great as Odd Thomas!

You should check out the book series if you haven't Goaty, I love them!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 August, 2015, 11:34:23 PM
A few things I saw over a weekend at the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival.

First up on Saturday afternoon was Spider, a Cronenberg film I'd managed to miss since it came out. On balance, it wasn't a great start. There's a decent central performance from Ralph Fiennes as a man afflicted with one of those exceptionally cinematic forms of mental illness. All tics and twitches and studied mannerisms which allow the actor to indulge himself but which I increasingly find borderline offensive.

A bit of a shame as the cinematography and sound design do a good job of evoking the idea of a fractured mind and the visual metaphor of a man effectively lost in his own memories is a good one. Gabriel Byrne gives a strangely wooden performance as Spider's flashback father but I couldn't quite decide if that was accidental or a deliberate choice to try and portray it as a child's memory.

I had managed to misread the programme notes and didn't realise Tokyo Tribe came with French rather than English subtitles. Lucky break, as I was still able to grasp la plupart and this blast of kinetic lunacy was not just the highlight of the weekend but roughly the second best film I've seen all year.

Billed as a Yakuza gangsta rap musical, it's set around one hot night when a series of preposterous circumstances lead to the balance of power amongst Tokyo's gangs falling apart. It's filled with OTT grotesques straight out of Takashi Miike and, much like The Warriors, each gang has their own gimmicky look and rap style. As it goes on, it piles more and more disparate elements – from the sleazy to the supernatural – on top of each other until it seems it has to fall apart.

Somehow, it just keeps moving forward, propelled by the insistent soundtrack and the dream logic of the musical for sure, but every scene moves and spins and is stuffed to gills with background details you could never hope to take in in one sitting. That it doesn't resolve half the things it sets up doesn't seem to matter in the face of such energy.

If it wasn't afflicted with a hugely problematic dose of casual misogyny I'd urge everyone to see it. Instead I find myself wondering whether I should even buy the DVD.

As night fell, it was time for a free open-air screening of Footloose by the lakeside. It's actually quite a sweet film which plays its utterly ludicrous premise with a completely straight face. I'd forgotten that John Lithgow's censorious preacher actually seems to be voice of reason when compared with some of his flock.

(http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii544/TheCosh/PublicShare/2015_08_ipod_all%20775_zpsonqgqpo7.jpg)
(http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii544/TheCosh/PublicShare/2015_08_ipod_all%20776_zps78p8vsmm.jpg)
(http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii544/TheCosh/PublicShare/2015_08_ipod_all%20777_zpst3shhccg.jpg)

(Those are deckchairs)

The next morning opened with a languid brunch in a lakeside brasserie before catching Slow West. Not much to say about this really. It's one of those films where an odd couple trudge across magnificent American skylines having self-consciously whacky encounters with other travellers.
Fassbender is quiet, the Scotch lad is a bit wet and his idealised love is the best thing in it and clearly far too good for him.

I had a ticket for lurid looking Ozploitation picture Wake in Fright but didn't make it in the end. The mercury was closing in on 40 degrees, most of the screenings were in old buildings without air conditioning and the previous couple of nights were catching up with me. In solidarity with my spiritual brothers at Glasgow Comic Con the same weekend, I decided the best course of action was to go for a lie down in a local park.

Refreshed after my nap and a late afternoon repast of egg kebab and Vimto, I was ready for the last leg. Billed as the first Ethiopian sci-fi film, Crumbs turned out to have been made by a bloody Spaniard on his holidays. At least the cast were predominantly locals.

There's a fine line between absurdity and plain old shite. I'm not quite sure which side of the line this story of a deformed lad going on a quest to free Santa Claus from prison (which happens to be connected to the lad's girlfriend's house via a haunted bowling alley)  so he can be granted his wish to return on the imaginary spaceship to his own planet falls.

Give it a try. There are some beautiful and quite alien looking landscapes, Santa Claus turns out to be a right old cunt and there's an endearingly silly turn from an old shopkeeper who gleefully rips off everyone who turns up trying to sell him some old plastic tat from before the fall.

Sadly I had to catch the train before Sunday night's outdoor showing of Mad Max 2 started.

TL;DR: Spider? Shiter, more like. Crumbs? Bums, more like. Et cetera
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 12 August, 2015, 12:29:33 AM
Shame you missed out on Wake In Fright, that's a great little film.  1970s raw Australian goodness - and a kangaroo cull (not for those who are easily upset - went to the first screening of the film after its rediscovery a few years back at the Sydney Film Festival, there were a fair few walkouts at that point).

One of the two films that really kicked off a resurgence in the Australian film scene back in the early 70s.

The irony of the whole thing though, of course, is the director is Canadian... ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 12 August, 2015, 07:37:54 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 11 August, 2015, 11:34:23 PM
It's filled with OTT grotesques straight out of Takashi Miike and, much like The Warriors, each gang has their own gimmicky look and rap style.

Somehow, it just keeps moving forward, propelled by the insistent soundtrack and the dream logic of the musical for sure
Sounds like a combination of Dredd stories Rumble in the Jungle and (insert musical story here).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2015, 03:17:46 PM
JAWS at the GFT.
What a fantastic film.
Spielberg on the ascendancy.
Forty years on and it still had me on the edge of my seat and still had the power to make a paled out cinema audience jump (despite the majority of them, like myself, having probably seen it a dozen times).

A genuine joy to be able to take my two boys (well man and teenager) to experience it on the big screen.

Tiny Tips said "Jaws on the telly? Meh. Jaws at the cinema? Traumatic!".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 August, 2015, 03:45:16 PM
The Faculty

Aliens taking over US High School film. A bit clichéd (but it knows it is, one character even telling other characters what archetype they are) but good fun. Borrows a lot fron Invasion of the he Body Snatchers, but still does its own thing. Interesting to see the amount of recognisable actors in fairly small roles. And a (physically) small actor in a fairly large role (a pre Lord of the Rings Elijah Wood).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 August, 2015, 12:13:00 AM
Ant-Man.  The boy and I went on an outing to see this tonight, and it was a real pleasure - what a well-made, engaging, and dare I say restrained movie.  A universally good cast, well-used (and I speak as someone who generally cannot abide the sight of Michael Douglas, amazing CGI-youthening notwithstanding, and I'm no fan of Paul Rudd either) - with Michael Pena and (gasp) Evangeline Lilly stealing the show, but against stiff opposition.  I am a sucker for heists and capers, and this had plenty of good 'uns, .

Yes, some of the later sight gags don't fit too well with the established rules of the size-change premise, but they are damn good gags, so who cares.  I thought the mix of ensemble humour, fast-cutting Wright-y vignettes, and po-faced world-saving worked really well.  The decision to fully embrace the concept and limit the mini-beast action to ants gave it a distinctive character, and for once actually found myself wishing for more CGI action sequences.

Much as I enjoyed the fireworks and wisecracking of Age of Ultron, I thought this one really highlighted the potential of the Marvel movie milieu for telling all kinds of different superhero yarns: a tight well-developed cast, two simple parallel stories of a search for redemption, and twin superpower conceits fully exploited visually.

And a proper, comprehensive happy ending where regular people manage to not be dicks! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 13 August, 2015, 08:19:04 AM
Pixels.

Went to see it with Mrs Albion, her daughter and the two grandsons, aged 9 and 13.

I was expecting this to be poor but we all really enjoyed it. Lots of 80's nostalgic fun to be had for us who were around at that time. The boys, who are keen gamers, really enjoyed the old game characters (they knew who most of them were) and had much to laugh at. I was surprised to see a certain character from 80"s TV turn up too.

My only criticisms are that it was a bit slow a couple of times during the soppier parts of the film and Peter Dinklage was disappointing. Not one of his better performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 13 August, 2015, 12:23:43 PM
Fantastic Four. It was okay I suppose, but just a bit grim (as opposed to Grimm). I'd love to see a retro whizz-bang FF film in the style of the original comics, rather than all these "dark" interpretations which suck all the fun out of what was always one of marvel's sillier series.

No problems with the casting or the effects, just not a very exciting story. And in the end [spoiler]when all the generals who wanted to keep them captive and exploit them suddenly agree to give them the Baxter Building and let them call the shots[/spoiler], that struck me as jarringly implausible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2015, 01:08:55 PM
Insurgent - I don't mean this as a slight on Judge Minty, but Minty has much better FX work than this 110 million dollar movie.  I do not know what they spent the cash on, presumably it went towards hiring one of the cast of Hawaii Five-0, in which case it may have been the one smart thing this movie actually did, because this movie is horseshit.
The direction is terrible and none of the story makes any sense even by the continually-lowering standards of YA adaptations, and the acting - Jesus.  I am aware that the lead actress was praised for her performance, but I have no idea how she got any praise for this, she is awful.  To be fair, she's in good company because no-one in this turkey can act, and to be doubly fair, there's fuck all worth acting out, so maybe that's what they were praising - that rather than try to stand out in this shit sandwich of a film, she just knuckled down and got through it and didn't try to waste anyone's time.  This is two hours long so she wasn't entirely successful, but I can only appreciate the sentiment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 August, 2015, 01:27:04 PM
Heh...

usually bad effects are the result of studios pushing the limits of time and/or money, rather than lack of talent in the VFX team. Or the director overrides their advice.

One producer once boasted that it was his job to bankrupt the VFX company...

I certainly want to improve on what I did for Minty in Stront, it serves it well enough though for what it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2015, 03:07:20 PM
I can see the director not taking advice to get a shot he wants, but the resulting visuals are so flat and unimaginative I can't see why they would have been a bother for a seasoned FX artist, being one of two kinds of FX shot*: overhead views of post-apocalyptic Chicago straight out of a cartoon show, or location shooting footage in the foreground and slightly wobbly CGI buildings superimposed on the background like they were doing at the dawn of film-making to much better effect.

/goes off to the internet to look at Syd Dutton paintings of post-apocalyptic Chicago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2015, 04:54:06 PM
The Guest

Loved it. Brilliant performances from all involved, some horrific moments but also some laugh out load ones.
[spoiler]I think the thing I liked best was that so little information was given about David. He'd obviously been through some shit and they'd done something to him but it's never really clear what his limitations are - is he completely immune to the effects of alcohol or can he naturally hold it well? Does he actually need to sleep at all? Is he still even human?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 August, 2015, 06:30:28 PM
Loved it too, so much energy and wit about it and the lead actor really hits it out the park (I suggested he had a bit of Ryan Gosling about him and Bea replied that he's like a more developed Ryan Gosling so will hereby be known as Ryan Goose round these parts).

Love that it mashes a lot of genre stuff together like you say, presents itself as a thriller but has some horror chops and tropes and also a great many belly laughs. Visually it's very cool and the soundtrack is great too, it really did tick every box for me!

Interestingly (I found it interesting at least), according to the team behind it [spoiler]they deliberately left out all of those details about David because they wanted that ambiguity, but were pressured to put in a load of back story - then that version went down badly at focus screenings so they took it all out again. Often think of focus groups as being a bad thing but in this case it was for the better because it gave them the ammo to make the cut they wanted![/spoiler]

Great film, one of those ones I watched and have been pestering everyone I know to watch it since.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 August, 2015, 07:53:57 PM
I liked 'The Guest' too - not to be taken too seriously but great fun and a killer soundtrack.

I watched hunt the gun thriller Warning Shot (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no228-warning-shot.html) with David Janssen and an only slightly miscast Joan Collins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 13 August, 2015, 10:51:21 PM
Currently watching The Pure Hell of St Trinian's, in memory of George Cole.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 15 August, 2015, 09:41:46 PM
Quote from: inkymonkey on 12 August, 2015, 12:29:33 AM
Shame you missed out on Wake In Fright, that's a great little film.  1970s raw Australian goodness - and a kangaroo cull (not for those who are easily upset - went to the first screening of the film after its rediscovery a few years back at the Sydney Film Festival, there were a fair few walkouts at that point).

One of the two films that really kicked off a resurgence in the Australian film scene back in the early 70s.

The irony of the whole thing though, of course, is the director is Canadian... ;)

Good call - Wake in Fright (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no229-wake-in-fright.html) had been on my list for a while and your shout out put it up my list. A true horror film in the very real sense! Bonzer!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 August, 2015, 09:49:54 PM
Man from U.N.C.L.E
I will admit to rememberING nothing about the TV show other than the main characters names and that I had a folding rifle toy. But I right enjoyed this. I think the emphasis is on period detail rather than big action set pieces (they are all undrrplayed) and he has two spectacularly handsome leads in Cavil and Hammer but Ritchie delivers a stylish spy caper. He is a bit too fond of that scene decoding gimmick he uses in Sherlock and does it in a couple of scenes that really don't need it. Tone varies a bit as well. Kuryakin has swelling darkness (oo-er) within him but sometimes it's just used to set up a gag. But enjoyable stuff that doesn't outstay its welcome.

Not sure if the incidental music was brilliantly chosen or intrusive though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 August, 2015, 09:51:24 PM
Ps: My review is biased by being in the brilliant Everyman cinema in Leeds where they bring pizza and beer to your seat.

Ciao, grazi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 16 August, 2015, 06:35:20 AM
Antman, been trying to get in to see this for the last couple of week. Wasn't disappointed, great movie and probably one of my favourite Marvel gigs.  Great humour and really adventurous action, no big city, things from the sky patented Marvel end scene, just a really well put together inventive action scene (or rather scenes) that ended on a high. 
Rudd was great and likeable, his sidekicks were a tad off colour but weren't too annoying.  Future Wasp was pretty good and Old guy Antman was great, I knew that Tank would come into it somehow.  Disintegration by the Cure has got to be one of the best beats in a Marvel film yet.  I'm gushing I think, well if I enjoy it as much second time round when it's out an BluRay but his could become my favourite Marvel movie yet, who'd have thunk it, Antman knocked it out of the park just as Marvel movies where starting to get a bit samey they come out with this.  Nice start to Phase three Marvel, well played.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 August, 2015, 05:52:45 PM
Whiplash. A really slick, electrifying film this, excellently shot, acted and edited. An engrossing study on the notion of greatness - and the cost that comes attached to it. The way the film is paced, the tension building and building, then relaxing, before building even more, makes the running time just fly by, and the set-pieces (if you can call them that) are somehow more intense and exhilarating than anything in 99% of horror or action films. The ending (and smash-cut to credits) left my jaw on the floor. Masterful.

If I have a criticism, it's that the plot is at times a little implausible, but when everything else is so good I'm more than willing to overlook it.

5/5.

Man, I've seen some great films lately - What We Do in the Shadows, Fury Road, Ex Machina and now Whiplash are some of the best films I've seen in years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 August, 2015, 06:36:07 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 16 August, 2015, 06:35:20 AM
Antman knocked it out of the park just as Marvel movies where starting to get a bit samey they come out with this.

Very much my own thoughts - smaller scale (I see what they did there), simple story, lots of gags and clever visual tricks, really expands the range of the Marvel movies.

Looking forward to see Anthony return with a bionic wing in Antman 2: The Winter Soldier Ant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 17 August, 2015, 10:01:30 PM
Evil children down a mine horror Wicked Little Things. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no230-wicked-little-things.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2015, 10:31:29 PM
Vice - a film based around one of the stupidest ideas in Caprica and starring Bruce Willis clearly displaying all the acting range of a man who had a tax bill to pay and took the first piece of shit he was offered.  A mash-up of Westworld and Futureworld, it never really takes off, never seems to be one thing or another, and is directed like one might direct traffic rather than a sci-fi thing that's got action bits but is too dull to be an action movie.  I genuinely could not wrap my head around how poorly directed and unexciting this was, or that Bruce Willis managed to be in it without waking up.  Complete shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 August, 2015, 10:02:18 AM
Wet Hot American Summer - It's got a great cast and there's now a Netflix series that seems to be getting a good response, but as a film this didn't really work for me. One of those comedies where they've clearly relied on improv to try and bring out the laughs, which can be a winning move but here everything just falls flat (a couple of great Paul Rudd moments aside). Surprising, as everyone involved has proven themselves fantastic at that sort of thing since.

Maybe the series is more successful, found very few laughs in this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 19 August, 2015, 10:11:57 AM
I quite liked Wet Hot American Summer (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/wet-hot-american-summer.html) but preferred the TV show - the cast is amazing and it's funny to see their aged selves still playing the teenage characters.

Where the Green Ants Dream (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no231-where-green-ants-dream.html) was OK, but it was maybe just a bit too preachy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 August, 2015, 12:49:50 PM
Ant Man - probably the first Marvel film I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Predictable plot, but witty and engaging.  Good performance from all involved. Fantastic use of the miniature world for great set pieces.  Very imaginative.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 19 August, 2015, 01:42:59 PM
Housebound – A quite funny and nonsense New Zealand comedy horror about a girl under house arrest at her mothers possibly haunted house.

Honeymoon – Meh! Not scary and pretty much goes nowhere. Features "You know nuffink John Snow" girl and Frankenstein from Penny Dreadful.

Unfriended – Interesting attempt to do a full film as if viewed via the web. Imagine the Ring via a laptop and your pretty much there. Pure gash! After watching your mates die via webcam I would have thought at least one person would attempt to log out, close laptop and leave house. Doesn't even deserve a shit pun its that bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 19 August, 2015, 01:51:46 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 19 August, 2015, 01:42:59 PM
Housebound – A quite funny and nonsense New Zealand comedy horror about a girl under house arrest at her mothers possibly haunted house.

Honeymoon – Meh! Not scary and pretty much goes nowhere. Features "You know nuffink John Snow" girl and Frankenstein from Penny Dreadful.

Unfriended – Interesting attempt to do a full film as if viewed via the web. Imagine the Ring via a laptop and your pretty much there. Pure gash! After watching your mates die via webcam I would have thought at least one person would attempt to log out, close laptop and leave house. Doesn't even deserve a shit pun its that bad.

Are you under house arrest/tagged again?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 19 August, 2015, 01:59:18 PM
Self imposed shut in when I have a weekend to myself. Play lots of video games and watch crap. I like a bit of me time when I can get it.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 August, 2015, 07:15:40 AM


You know the film I hinted at somewhere else. The one with all these CG - Elves, Fairies, Gnomes and evil Cockroach and was credited to George Lucas. Proof he has taken a step more Disney.

It started out as a very interesting computer generated film that looked even more true to life in some places than most films made this way and very colourful. Perhaps too sugary, but I guess that's where that sort stuff belongs. Reminded me of the over-sugariness of the teaser for the new Bards Tale I just backed weeks earlier.  Something I hope they tone down in and replace with some more typical of one of those town set in early northern Scotland. Something that looks interesting with out making it too family and kids orientainted.

Anyway, this film is peered with music that I thought was only stuff that my parent and myself listened too when I was growing up in the early seventies.  I swear my parents once brought a vinyl record (Remember th
ose!) with the first two songs on it!) the rest of the soundtrack is more contempory and some what messed up and only adds to my derision.

I only watched this once, (Yes, it's one of those Box-Office rentables that can be watched all day until 5 next morning!) and took most of it in in this one sitting. Don't watch this film, unless you have young kiddies
. Because that's the target audience. Avoid if your a sad lonely person like myself. The story unfolds and truly vomit worthy manner that only embarrassed me in, but not for long.




Report
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2015, 09:34:28 AM
I still have no idea what film you're talking about!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 August, 2015, 09:51:37 AM
Its called Strange Magic and looks utter garbage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 August, 2015, 10:39:11 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 19 August, 2015, 01:42:59 PM
Housebound – A quite funny and nonsense New Zealand comedy horror about a girl under house arrest at her mothers possibly haunted house.

Honeymoon – Meh! Not scary and pretty much goes nowhere. Features "You know nuffink John Snow" girl and Frankenstein from Penny Dreadful.

Unfriended – Interesting attempt to do a full film as if viewed via the web. Imagine the Ring via a laptop and your pretty much there. Pure gash! After watching your mates die via webcam I would have thought at least one person would attempt to log out, close laptop and leave house. Doesn't even deserve a shit pun its that bad.

I absolutely loved Housebound.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 August, 2015, 10:58:35 AM
I really liked the security guard/exorcist  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 August, 2015, 11:03:02 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 21 August, 2015, 09:51:37 AM
Its called Strange Magic and looks utter garbage.
It IS utter garbage by the sounds of it. Turgid nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 August, 2015, 09:18:24 PM
American football semi-true story starring JC himself Jim Caviezel : When the Game Stands Tall (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no232-when-game-stands-tall.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 August, 2015, 09:41:50 PM
this has been going on so long I can't remember - was there a reason for choosing the letter W?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 August, 2015, 10:12:01 PM
Arbitrary apart from Watson and all those When, Where, Why, What films - and Women and Werewolves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 August, 2015, 10:23:25 PM
It does certainly allow for a wide range of titles. X would have been a much shorter project.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 August, 2015, 10:02:31 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 21 August, 2015, 10:58:35 AM
I really liked the security guard/exorcist  :lol:

"You can't punch ectoplasm."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 22 August, 2015, 10:04:19 AM
Watched Thor the Dark World last night.

Not being a Marvel reader I hadn't realised Guardians of the Galaxy was part of the Avengers world until I saw the Collector turn up in the scene at the end. Not quite sure how that works. With Iron Man, Captain America and Thor it is clear but not with Guardians of the Galaxy. Can anyone one enlighten me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 August, 2015, 06:56:35 PM
Spoilerific if you aren't up to date with yer Marvel movies, but here's a simple summary (http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8560555/marvel-infinity-stones-avengers-infinity-war-movie) of how it all ties together.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 August, 2015, 09:56:38 PM
The Iron Giant

"SUPERMAN"

:'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 23 August, 2015, 01:32:08 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 August, 2015, 09:56:38 PM
The Iron Giant

"SUPERMAN"

:'(

:'( One of the greatest animated films of all time IMO
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 August, 2015, 03:48:24 PM
Also a huge box office bomb, surprisingly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 August, 2015, 05:54:11 PM
Hobbit 3: Five Armies.

Oh god, once they'd killed Smaug the rest was interminable. Two hours of completely unnecessary stuff that had nowt to do with the original book. The masochist in me made me watch it all the way to the end. Still, nice to see Billy Connolly getting some work, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 23 August, 2015, 06:39:42 PM
Straw Dogs (1971)

Potential musings on the nature of masculinity were eclipsed by the realisation that Dustin Hoffman's most irritating tormentor - the rat-catcher with the silly laugh - is a young Bishop Brennan from Father Ted! Sadly, at no point is he kicked up the arse. Great cast, very shades-of-grey set of characters, proper 70s nastiness. Very much a horror movie, though not always classed as such.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 August, 2015, 07:20:15 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 23 August, 2015, 06:39:42 PM
Straw Dogs (1971)

Potential musings on the nature of masculinity were eclipsed by the realisation that Dustin Hoffman's most irritating tormentor - the rat-catcher with the silly laugh - is a young Bishop Brennan from Father Ted! Sadly, at no point is he kicked up the arse. Great cast, very shades-of-grey set of characters, proper 70s nastiness. Very much a horror movie, though not always classed as such.

I have been perpetually disappointed that Blackblood isn't in this. (Hssssss).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 August, 2015, 11:10:54 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 August, 2015, 05:54:11 PM
Hobbit 3: Five Armies.

Oh god, once they'd killed Smaug the rest was interminable. Two hours of completely unnecessary stuff that had nowt to do with the original book. The masochist in me made me watch it all the way to the end. Still, nice to see Billy Connolly getting some work, eh?

Only read the book once and was determined to read it before any of these Hobbit films were shown. Speaking of the huge battle scene. Still scratching my head over that part where the Wood-Elves leap over the front line of dwarves and then the others behind them, and then once again and that's it. I think if that was any more  consistant. There might have been too much of a strain on the budget. Otherwise repeating that until reaching a more significant plateu would have been a more welcome sight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 August, 2015, 12:03:43 AM
Sci-fi thrills or not in Wing Commander (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no233-wing-commander.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 August, 2015, 09:19:20 AM
Fight Club

Last night.

I've seen it a few times but I always enjoy it. And I took note of thingsI hadn't noticed before. Quick flashes of film here and there akin to the way Tyler would splice stuff into cinema reels. I can never catch what the frames are, which is just as well when I googled that last flashed (in more ways than one) image.

An interesting, dark, funny, thought provoking film.

To the Devil a Daughter

Hammer Horror with the late great Christopher Lee as an evil priest. And an American chap as the main hero, with a face I recognise but I can't remember where I've seen him. And a cute broken nun.

Basically a story about a Satanic cult trying to bring about the avatar of their dark God Ashtoreth in a rather convoluted nonsensical way. I found it more amusing than creepy, but not unenjoyable.

[spoiler]I'm not really a fan of gratuitous sex scenes but the Satanic orgy was so over the top with its kinky nonsense, it was very funny.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 August, 2015, 01:40:22 PM
Watched a couple at the weekend -

Haven't really ever heard anyone say anything at all about Oblivion so assumed it was a total dud, but actually really enjoyed it. It looks absolutely tremendous, the vistas and in particular the set-piece in the library just looked amazing. The story has a neat sci-fi hook, even if the execution of that stuff could be better in places. Was looking for a popcorn action/sci-fi film and it did the job well.

Also watched Divergent, which felt like it was trying reeeeeeally hard to be the next Hunger Games and suffers a lot in the comparison. It's a neat idea and parts were fun (I found I got quite invested in the character and was into it enough to want to see certain baddies get their comeuppance) but I guess it's teen fiction origins are felt a lot more strongly than with something like Hunger Games. It's all a bit lightweight and flimsy, but I still had quite a good time with it. I'd watch another, put it that way.

I still can't figure out how the Dauntless faction's 'run whooping through the streets doing parkour' social lives line up with the 'live in a cave learning to punch people' lifestyle that it actually seems to be, but I can ignore such questions and just enjoy the ride.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 24 August, 2015, 01:44:32 PM
Because it was mentioned upthread I watched The Guest last night and you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed it that's what. So thanks for the heads up internet guys.

Oh and on Saturday night I watched Total Recall just because its so awesome. See you at the party Richter!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 August, 2015, 02:19:46 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 24 August, 2015, 01:44:32 PM
Oh and on Saturday night I watched Total Recall just because its so awesome. See you at the party Richter!
Any excuse to post a link to the best page on the internet (http://www.getyourasstomars.com/) again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 August, 2015, 11:06:55 PM
World's End. Holy sheet, what a great movie. I think I loved every frame. Why it's taken me this long to watch, when I adore the first two, I have no idea, but man did I enjoy it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 August, 2015, 11:23:12 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 24 August, 2015, 11:06:55 PM
THE World's End. Holy sheet, what a great movie. I think I loved every frame. Why it's taken me this long to watch, when I adore the first two, I have no idea, but man did I enjoy it.

Not getting caught out like that!

I think these films got progressively better with 'The World's End' the pick of the litter. So in touch with my generation - apart from the robots. Lots of good hidden gags - check out the IMDb trivia page.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 August, 2015, 01:09:20 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 24 August, 2015, 11:23:12 PM
Quote from: TotalHack on 24 August, 2015, 11:06:55 PM
THE World's End. Holy sheet, what a great movie. I think I loved every frame. Why it's taken me this long to watch, when I adore the first two, I have no idea, but man did I enjoy it.

Not getting caught out like that!

I think these films got progressively better with 'The World's End' the pick of the litter. So in touch with my generation - apart from the robots. Lots of good hidden gags - check out the IMDb trivia page.

The soundtrack is awesome. I listened to nothing but Sisters of Mercy for about a week after I watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 August, 2015, 07:56:52 AM
Same for me with Oblivion.

Assumed it was dud even with Cruise on board but really enjoyed it. Some clichéd and dumb stuff happens but really liked the premise and the look of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 August, 2015, 08:00:56 AM
Heh, even as I typed the name I knew there was something wrong - couldn't work out why I didn't remember BM's review.

So much good stuff in THE World's End (just remembering the Yeowell/Culbard animated statue, the character's surnames, the Primal Scream dialogue), so much cleverness and sheer joy in filmmaking. Best summed up by my missus' reaction at the end: 'we should watch that again tomorrow'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 August, 2015, 12:24:30 PM
Nick Frost & Simon Pegg's finest acting. A lot of criticism seemed to just be people didn't like Simon Pegg and didn't quite get that you're not supposed to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 August, 2015, 12:37:12 PM
QuoteA lot of criticism seemed to just be people didn't like Simon Pegg and didn't quite get that you're not supposed to.

The number of times I've tried to explain this to people...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 25 August, 2015, 01:13:42 PM
I don't really like Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, either.  He's a selfish man-child whose terrible decisions and ineptitude gets just about everyone else killed, and who doesn't seem to have learned a thing at the film's end.  (And yet is rewarded for it with domestic bliss with his gf.)

Clearly, though, you are supposed to like him. So what's the difference between him and selfish man-child Gary King from World's End?
Title: Re: Last movie watched..
Post by: TordelBack on 25 August, 2015, 05:15:57 PM
I suppose Shaun works better as a feckless everyman, a sort of 'what would YOU do in a zombie apocalypse?', whereas with Gary the dangerous selfish monomania is harder to identify with, and thus like.

Much as I love Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I suspect this is the better film (and I agree, Frost and Pegg have never been better) - but it'll need many repeat viewings to be sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 26 August, 2015, 08:35:13 PM
Unappetising Mexican cannibal horror We Are What We Are (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no234-we-are-what-we-are-2010.html) .
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 August, 2015, 12:26:38 AM
V/H/S 2 is really good!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 27 August, 2015, 02:09:59 PM
Jurassic world kicked butt - no speilberg shmaltz - total godzilla-esque mayhem and [spoiler]even the extras bought it, ala pterodactyl-luncheon[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 August, 2015, 11:57:08 PM
Horsemen

Good film. Interesting, dark twisted mystery.  I guessed a couple of twists, including the identity of the last horseman.

Genuinely disturbing in places. Brrr.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 28 August, 2015, 11:13:54 PM
Poor British hit man comedy Wild Target (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no235-wild-target.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 29 August, 2015, 06:13:14 PM
The RailwayMan.  Well, about half of it.  Absolutely cracking film.  Great acting from Mr Firth.  Harrowing would be a mild word to describe it.  Not a film to watch if you find yourself associating on any level with the central character though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 August, 2015, 04:13:28 AM
I caught the later half of Wolf Creek Two early this morning before drooping off to sleep a few hours afterward.

Firstly, I would advice any one from the U.K. against watching this for fears that they might get offended by the Protagonist victim being, a young British bloke, being harassed by the Antagonist pig-shooter, a local Australian, outbacker and Spoilerjust about killed.[/spoiler]

This would give extreme pause before entering any foreign territory overseas or even just out of state. yet partically further inland within the less populated outback. Without sufficient preparation, and other stuff like.

Even my last trip over border down south, I was told to stick to a exact route that was worked out before hand and to reach a certain destination within each day. According to what my folks had worked out.

These days, I wouldn't bother with that stuff and just throw caution to the wind and go where I like. How I like. Surely, nothing is bad as it seemed in the film.

Myself, I not like that or even close to thinking about wanting to murder foreigners unless the wrong buttons are pushed when meeting some body. I don't even have access to a firearm.

One part of this film that kind of horrified me was when he shot couple local homesteaders. After the man of the house. A fellow clearly way past his prime and into his last years, shot the guy, telling him to get off his property and being shot in the back by the same guy after returning to the rifle cabinent inside and finding it had been looted. I saw him walk away just before, and no idea how he got back into the house. Strange.,...

Now, I wan to see the full film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 30 August, 2015, 08:16:30 AM
QuoteMyself, I not like that or even close to thinking about wanting to murder foreigners unless the wrong buttons are pushed when meeting some body..

It's reassuring to know you wouldn't even think about wanting to rape and murder a group of backpackers "unless the wrong buttons are pushed."

QuoteI don't even have access to a firearm.

Yes, but didn't you say recently that you were thinking of getting one?  Which, given your anger management issues and frequent stories about non-existent peope sneaking into your house to mess with your stuff, sounds like a really terrible idea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 August, 2015, 11:35:17 AM
You don't have a passport do you ThryllSeekyr?! If you do please visit Gordon first!

I quite liked Wolf Creek 2 (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/no216-wolf-creek-2.html) althogh it is pretty nasty and you could see that it could give the unhinged some ideas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 11:40:30 AM
I feel that way about Snow White. And yet still no confirmed reports of deaths by poisoned apples.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 August, 2015, 12:30:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 30 August, 2015, 11:40:30 AM
I feel that way about Snow White. And yet still no confirmed reports of deaths by poisoned apples.

As told by my parents - my older brother was afraid of eating red apples after watching 'Snow White'. Wimp!

I watched 'Age of Ultron' yesterday. A few good action scenes aside, I wasn't that impressed. Certainly not as good as the first one.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 30 August, 2015, 01:27:24 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 30 August, 2015, 12:30:49 PM
I watched 'Age of Ultron' yesterday. A few good action scenes aside, I wasn't that impressed.

its the boring middle film like empire strikes back
funny banter but to much dull plot - if youv seen hilarios hulkbuster fight youv seen the flimhttps://youtu.be/q4AxrsvVbQI?t=162 (https://youtu.be/q4AxrsvVbQI?t=162)
GOTO SLEEP GOTO SLEEP GOTO SLEEP
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 August, 2015, 01:49:14 PM
The Hulkbuster scene is a brilliant movie evocation of a classic comics full-issue rumble, all the better for its non-EuroUS setting. However, there's loads of other nice action set pieces in there, and deftly-handled character bits too. My only complaint was that it was too long and there really was too much jammed in to comfortably take it all in, and perhaps Coulson's TV resurrection took a bit of the heft out of proceedings (in itself appropriately comicky, mind). Mighty fun film, if overshadowed for me by the more straightforward less hectic Ant-Man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 August, 2015, 02:22:38 PM
Quote from: GordonR on 30 August, 2015, 08:16:30 AM
QuoteMyself, I not like that or even close to thinking about wanting to murder foreigners unless the wrong buttons are pushed when meeting some body..

It's reassuring to know you wouldn't even think about wanting to rape and murder a group of backpackers "unless the wrong buttons are pushed."

QuoteI don't even have access to a firearm.

Yes, but didn't you say recently that you were thinking of getting one?  Which, given your anger management issues and frequent stories about non-existent peope sneaking into your house to mess with your stuff, sounds like a really terrible idea.

I don't want to own a weapon that lethal for the same reason I believe there are people sneaking into my house when I least expect them to take or just move or mess with my stuff.

Just watched Repo-man and again on another channel (It's feature of this Cable-Television!) and when first tuned in. I wondered if this was the same film as another that was either made in the 80's and or early 90's starting the Estevez/Sheen brothers. 

This version is kind dark and creepy, if not scary. If find bodily-organ repo-men very funny, then disregard that last statement and these people will replace their own organs with a cynthetic replacement.  Like my dad's fake ticker.....right near the beginning after you night time fly over of the city is shown with evidence future and I realise this film one of those that could represent a facet of Mega-City-One that could be explored one episode at time in a possible television series.

Anyway, it's also right at the start, right before the city fly over. That Jude (I Am The ) Law as a future repo-man shoots a woman after knocking out her intended lay for that evening. Who (Jude, not her lay!) a moment before, told her "There is no need for violence" or words to that effect and then it hit me that guns and shooting people might not be violent after all. It's just one of the most civilised ways to take somebodies life. If you don't get to carried away with it. It's not like hacking at somebody with weapon. Even stabbing somebody just once with a simple knife must be considered a civil mutilation as well.  Surgeons do this it with a scalpel when removing or replacing organs or other stuff.

Yet, more often than not, the result is the same and the victim is needs medical help or a coffin.

Which brings me to the reason why we had to have Slaine -Time-Killer, the use of leyser weapons to replace cutting, and hacking melee ones because the censors said so.

Anyway,  all the people living in this future must have ben virtually androids or synthetic humans with that hardware keeping them going. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 August, 2015, 08:03:00 PM
The Man From UNCLE: sharp, funny. Nice period fashion. Lots of chemistry between the leads. Some plot points over-explained, and the ultimate resolution flagged up so you can see it a mile off, but enormous fun getting there. I'd be more than happy to see a sequel. At a whisker under two hours, it zips along nicely and doesn't outstay its welcome. Far worse ways to kill an afternoon.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 August, 2015, 09:52:50 PM
San Andreas - there's a bit where we watch the tsunami roll over some houses and it becomes clear that the scene is based on actual footage from the Japanese 2011 earthquake/tsunami, which just made me feel like I was watching snuff porn.  There's another bit where the chisel-jawed heroes get caught in the wave and say "hold on to something" and they do and survive and it just made me go "fuck this movie."
Usually being dumb is a defence against criticism for this kind of summer star vehicle, but this isn't dumb, it's cynical, and it's so devoid of hope or a human face that when Rock says "we rebuild" and the American flag wafts in the breeze, it becomes one of those rare films that I actually find offensive how little it thinks of its audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 31 August, 2015, 12:29:14 AM
Lesbian drama When Night is Falling (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/no236-when-night-is-falling.html) which I watched for the characterisation and narrative and not for all the nakedness. Boobs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CheechFU on 31 August, 2015, 02:34:27 AM
I went to see the NWA movie
Here are some NSFW highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZHwGnGrm_k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-_yTGzLEZM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuhy7sNg2zI
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 31 August, 2015, 03:04:00 AM
Quote from: CheechFU on 31 August, 2015, 02:34:27 AM
I went to see the NWA movie
Here are some NSFW highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZHwGnGrm_k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-_yTGzLEZM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuhy7sNg2zI

Thank you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 August, 2015, 07:30:33 AM
Pixels

As Adam Sandler films go, it was okay. I did laugh at the line "we're being invaded by Galaga", but was the only one in the cinema who did.

Take away message? My five year old knew who Pac-Man was before the film.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: W. R. Logan on 31 August, 2015, 10:28:14 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 August, 2015, 07:30:33 AM
Pixels
As Adam Sandler films go, it was okay.

It always amazes me that people go and see Adam Sandler movies.
Do people think that one day he'll make a good one.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 31 August, 2015, 10:51:39 AM
Quote from: W. R. Logan on 31 August, 2015, 10:28:14 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 August, 2015, 07:30:33 AM
Pixels
As Adam Sandler films go, it was okay.

It always amazes me that people go and see Adam Sandler movies.
Do people think that one day he'll make a good one.

law of averages, it will happen sometime...Shirley?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 August, 2015, 11:10:56 AM
Watched Coherence on Netflix and really, really enjoyed it. A neat Twilight Zoney concept that has enough tricksy moments that it'll probably hold up really well and reveal more on a rewatch, and enough creepy implications that it works just as well as a horror as it does a sci-fi brain hurter.

Don't want to say too much, always great to go in cold to these things, but would thoroughly recommend it. When it finished Netflix immediately queued up Primer so that's an indication of the kind of thing you're getting into.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 11:42:21 AM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 30 August, 2015, 01:27:24 PMits the boring middle film like empire strikes back

WTF is this madness?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 31 August, 2015, 11:46:26 AM
I watched The World's End again. It definitely gets better each rewatch. I did think it was the weakest of the three, but now I'm thinking maybe it's actually the best one. It's definitely a grower.

I watched Super8 with the kids the other day. It was okay - a different kind of ET film basically, where the creature is bigger and pissed off. I would probably have enjoyed it more if there had been less bloody lens flare! i had no idea this was a JJ Abrams film until at about 30 mins the lens flare got so ridiculous I had to check IMDB to see if my suspicions were correct. Yup - Abrams.  He'd better not fuck up the new Star Wars film with this shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 31 August, 2015, 01:22:25 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 11:42:21 AM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 30 August, 2015, 01:27:24 PMits the boring middle film like empire strikes back

WTF is this madness?

nothing explodes at teh end and theres lots of running away + waiting around in swamps and floating guest rooms to get captured instead of fighting
the good guys dont do much - just hangning around waitning until the bad guys capture them to set up 3rd film where stuff does happen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 31 August, 2015, 02:21:12 PM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 31 August, 2015, 01:22:25 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 11:42:21 AM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 30 August, 2015, 01:27:24 PMits the boring middle film like empire strikes back

WTF is this madness?

nothing explodes at teh end and theres lots of running away + waiting around in swamps and floating guest rooms to get captured instead of fighting
the good guys dont do much - just hangning around waitning until the bad guys capture them to set up 3rd film where stuff does happen

Blimey! Obviously it's horses for courses etc, but re lack of action what about:
The Wampa
The AT-ATs
The Millenium Falcon chase
The asteroid field
The space slug
Han flying at a Star Destroyer
Luke's 'vision' in the swamp
C3PO being blown to bits
Chewie's clash with the Ugnaughts
Vader coming to dinner
Chewie going nuts in the carbon freeze facility
Lando's escape plan
And last but not least - the most epic of lightsaber battles between Luke and Vader!

Not enough action?!

Plus the pathos of the whole thing! The rebels get a massive kicking! Yoda's teachings entering popular culture! Luke and his Dad! Han and Leia! Chewie losing his best buddy!

It's an awesome film. Please re-consider.

(Though I appreciate its your opinion)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2015, 02:33:31 PM
I saw Jedi before I saw Empire, and I honestly found Empire a bit underwhelming at the time as a movie experience, even though it had the AT-ATs in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 02:36:20 PM
plus "I am your father" and Boba-Fett. In my house its the best one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 August, 2015, 03:27:16 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 02:36:20 PM
"I am your father"

You what?  :o :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 04:00:31 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 31 August, 2015, 03:27:16 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 02:36:20 PM
"I am your father"

You what?  :o :o

Sorry I should have spoilered that. For those raised in a cave that haven't seen Empire it reveals that [spoiler]Yoda[/spoiler] is [spoiler]Hans[/spoiler] father!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 31 August, 2015, 04:05:24 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 04:00:31 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 31 August, 2015, 03:27:16 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 31 August, 2015, 02:36:20 PM
"I am your father"

You what?  :o :o

Sorry I should have spoilered that. For those raised in a cave that haven't seen Empire it reveals that [spoiler]Yoda[/spoiler] is [spoiler]Hans[/spoiler] father!

That explains Hans' little green tadger
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 31 August, 2015, 05:46:53 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 31 August, 2015, 02:21:12 PM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 30 August, 2015, 01:27:24 PM
theres lots of running away + waiting around to get captured instead of fighting

re lack of action what about:
The Wampa
The AT-ATs
The Millenium Falcon chase
The asteroid field
The space slug
Han flying at a Star Destroyer
Luke's 'vision' in the swamp
C3PO being blown to bits
Chewie's clash with the Ugnaughts
Vader coming to dinner
Chewie going nuts in the carbon freeze facility
Lando's escape plan
And last but not least - the most epic of lightsaber battles between Luke and Vader!

Not enough action?!It's an awesome film.

high, Mokney - i like empire srtikes back + i love all teh scenes u listed -
but they are all examples of teh good guys hiding waiting getting captured + then runnring away instead of fighting  :)

hide on hoth get attacked then run away
hide on aestoroid - wait around a bit - then run away
hide on destroyer - wait around a bit - then run away
hide on Bespin - wait around a bit - get captured then run away
FIGHT vader then run away to avoid getting captured
flim ends with the good guys running away instead of fighting

not saying any of that is bad - flims like great escape + shawshank about captured good guys hiding then running away but good guys are ACTIVE
good guys in empire are PASSIVE - not necesessaarily bad but does effect mood tone + energy of flim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 August, 2015, 07:13:52 PM
Nothing Luke does in the film is passive, until right at the very end when he is utterly broken. Indeed he is repeatedly criticised for his inability to be calm and focus on the here and now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 07:40:29 PM
Watched John Wick last night.

It's a likable little movie - refreshingly violent and stylish with some truly great action scenes (that, like The Raid, had me whooping and cackling with delight). Keanu, who I've always liked, is on fine form and a bratty Theon Greyjoy makes for an admirably hateable villain. Impressive too what they were able to achieve on a reported budget of $20m - I assumed all these kind of films were shot on the cheap in Eastern Europe, but this seemed to have been shot on location in New York and New Jersey. I liked the tone too - so stylised that it at times borders on the fantastical, with lots of mythos/world-building stuff going on.

Imo it does kind of wane somewhat after the superbly taut and economical first hour (which climaxes in the tremendous first big action set-piece), as the initially dead-simple plot gets a little too convoluted, and successive action scenes started to stretch my suspension of disbelief a little too far. It's far more successful when dialogue and plot is kept to an absolute minimum, as the longer dialogue scenes towards the end of the movie get very ripe and corny.

Still, if you're looking for a 'aging Hollywood star in violent revenge thriller' type movie, you could do a lot worse. Apparently the studio are keen to turn this into a franchise, and I can't help but root for it.

A high 3/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 31 August, 2015, 07:45:14 PM
Quote from: GordonR on 25 August, 2015, 01:13:42 PM
I don't really like Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, either.  He's a selfish man-child whose terrible decisions and ineptitude gets just about everyone else killed, and who doesn't seem to have learned a thing at the film's end.  (And yet is rewarded for it with domestic bliss with his gf.)

Clearly, though, you are supposed to like him. So what's the difference between him and selfish man-child Gary King from World's End?

Having just this minute rewatched The World's End.
Shaun is indeed a selfish man-child, totally self centred and unaware of the consequences of his actions.

Gary King has been through years of AA meetings and therapy, and is all too painfully aware of just how self centered and selfish a prick he is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 31 August, 2015, 07:55:12 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 31 August, 2015, 07:13:52 PM
Nothing Luke does in the film is passive

1st act gets attacked/ unconcsious/ gets rescued/ unconscious/ waits to get better so he can run away

2nd act meditates/ does what hes told by midget OAP he carries on back/fails to do what tiny OAP tells him

3rd act gets ass handed to him by Vader/runs away to avoid bieng captured/ has to be rescued

i like the flim but the good guys are iether hiding/waiting/having stuff done to them/ running away

(http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/files/2015/03/Run-Meme.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 August, 2015, 07:59:22 PM
Empire got shitloads of Star Destroyers.

Yep smart move to run away and attack later!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:01:50 PM
Yeah, that was always my slight issue with Shaun of the Dead (which I think is otherwise an almost perfect movie): there isn't quite enough of a 'hero's journey' arc for me. It feels like the whole film is building towards Shaun growing up, but in the end all he does is sort of try, and fail to do much of anything. There's no reason Liz should want to stay with him after other than pity, and as a couple they end up precisely back where they started. Maybe thats the point, but I always found it slightly unsatisfying as a narrative. The fact that he can keep zombie Ed around just makes it feel like he can have his cake and eat it, without having really earned it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 August, 2015, 08:07:22 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:01:50 PM
Yeah, that was always my slight issue with Shaun of the Dead (which I think is otherwise an almost perfect movie): there isn't quite enough of a 'hero's journey' arc for me. It feels like the whole film is building towards Shaun growing up, but in the end all he does is sort of try, and fail to do much of anything. There's no reason Liz should want to stay with him after other than pity, and as a couple they end up precisely back where they started. Maybe thats the point, but I always found it slightly unsatisfying as a narrative. The fact that he can keep zombie Ed around just makes it feel like he can have his cake and eat it, without having really earned it.

Some leopards don't change their spots. Even after a zombie apocalypse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:39:22 PM
QuoteSome leopards don't change their spots. Even after a zombie apocalypse.

But aren't most narratives structured around a protagonist overcoming challenges and ending the story changed as a result?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 31 August, 2015, 08:52:37 PM
Neither Shaun nor his girlfriend are particularly likeable.

I think the story arc was more to do with unrealistic expectations from both of them. In our mundane lives it's not possible to have exciting and romantic all the time. It's also not possible to get anywhere if you sit playing computer games or hit the pub all the time.

I always saw the ending as a compromise between them. She wanted exciting and romantic - he wanted pub and video games.

At the end of the film she gets her romantic, and he's allowed time with his buddy and a game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2015, 08:57:28 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:39:22 PM
But aren't most narratives structured around a protagonist overcoming challenges and ending the story changed as a result?

Only relatively recently and, frankly, I find the slavish adherence of modern film makers to the notion of the 'character journey' pretty tiresome. Surely, one of the joys of Dredd was his Dirty-Harry-esque* near total lack of growth...?

Cheers

Jim

*Certainly in the first film. Later instalments force him to confront some of his fairly reprehensible character traits, but I don't think the films are necessarily improved by this. The brilliant, uncomfortable truth of Dirty Harry is: he's a monster, but he's a monster who's on your side. If your child was missing, if you were being chased down an alley by "a man with a kitchen knife and intent to rape" would you want the by-the-book cop, or would you want Harry?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2015, 08:59:50 PM
Star Wars fan films by the bucketload: Master Of Shadow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbh2gCzPXck), Smuggler's Run (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGy_SgKjWVc), Betrayal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6gE3pvlzCE), Beyond the Dune Sea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92PwUvXtXo) - I lump these together because they all suffer from the same basic problem that I see a lot in media created online, in that they have no beginning, middle or end, and look like snapshots of a larger whole, no matter how well-realised Betrayal's lightsaber fights or Master of Shadow's visual coherence, they just don't tell a story.  Beyond the Dune Sea's failure to do so is particularly unforgivable, as it takes a no-brainer scenario of Boba Fett climbing out of the Sarlacc Pit and fails to realise that that and his walk across the desert to civilization is the whole of the story it needs to tell, and can do so with an economy that is achievable, needing as it does only a desert location and some cosplayers - both of which it has.  Yes, I know, fan movies and all that, and getting anything finished and put out there for consumption is certainly commendable in and of itself, so I shan't be too harsh and remember that stuff like Minty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aavS_XUITXU)has me spoilt, I only suggest that anyone looking for something other than fan-indulgence should probably look elsewhere.
Special mention really does need to go to Smuggler's Run and the makers' multinational guerilla location shooting tactics, though seeing cosplayers farting about actual locations from Episode IV took me out of the fiction a bit.
Star Wars: Threads Of Destiny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40IDc3rQfU) is all over the place in terms of production standards, but it is still miles ahead of most sci-fi b-movies churned out by the likes of The Asylum or SyFy, and manages it on a reputed seven thousand dollar budget.  The effects are okay, English doesn't seem to be anyone's first language, and lots of minor things seem out of place for a Star Wars movie, but with a proper story (albeit one that cannibalises Anakin's plot arc from the Clone Wars tv show), a fat running time (148 minutes), and some genuinely good action beats (a starship escape scene, a planetary invasion and the lightsaber duels), as long as you can ignore occasionally-glaring dissonance between cgi and actors (like the great shot of a starship descending through a crowded skyline of futuristic buildings and flying traffic suddenly cutting to a shot of the characters walking through a graveyard near the director's house) and some pacing problems, it's actually pretty fun.
Mythica: The Darkspore - a kickstarter-funded fantasy movie.  Easily as good - if not better - than the vast majority of straight-to-dvd schlock-fantasy adventure flicks you see filling supermarket bargain shelves.  Some heroes band together to find the mystic wing-wang of dinky-dango or something.  By-the-numbers tosh, really, but I feel comfortable talking trash about it because as a production, it's ready for prime-time even if the story isn't the most original thing you'll ever see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 31 August, 2015, 09:05:17 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:01:50 PM
There's no reason Liz should want to stay with him after other than pity, and as a couple they end up precisely back where they started. Maybe thats the point


I see it as a film that continues in the vein of George Romero; it's a satire and the clue's in the title: Shaun of the Dead - even after surviving the zombie apocalypse these character are going nowhere.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 31 August, 2015, 09:33:07 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2015, 08:57:28 PM
Quote from: radiator on 31 August, 2015, 08:39:22 PM
But aren't most narratives structured around a protagonist overcoming challenges and ending the story changed as a result?

Only relatively recently and, frankly, I find the slavish adherence of modern film makers to the notion of the 'character journey' pretty tiresome. Surely, one of the joys of Dredd was his Dirty-Harry-esque* near total lack of growth...?

The audience shares responsibility in that state of inertia i.e. studios give the audience what it pays for.

Outside the bounds of big box-office paint-by-numbers sets like James Bond and Fast & Furious, you'll only find unchanging lead characters in cheaper indies like John Wick, Nightcrawler, Ex Machina, Happy Go Lucky or the the older flicks like Being There, The French Connection.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 September, 2015, 12:13:36 AM
Nightcrawler - such a good film! Everyone in it sold their soul, and Jake's character seriously gave me the creeps. Masterful commentary on people with no moral compass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 September, 2015, 12:17:15 AM
QuoteSurely, one of the joys of Dredd was his Dirty-Harry-esque* near total lack of growth...?

Er, but both Dredd and Anderson definitely change over the course of the film - if only slightly in the case of Dredd (who arguably isn't even the protagonist).

QuoteI always saw the ending as a compromise between them. She wanted exciting and romantic - he wanted pub and video games.


And the film ends with... Shaun playing videogames/watching telly and going to the pub.

QuoteIn our mundane lives it's not possible to have exciting and romantic all the time.

I didn't read it that way at all - Liz wanting or expecting Shaun to grow up a bit and perhaps do something with her other than going to the exact same pub for a night out is neither 'unrealistic', nor quite the same as her demanding an 'exciting' or 'romantic' life. The way I saw it, Shaun pretty much gets his own way, while she just settles.

What makes it strange to me is that right up until the end, the film is very much following the 'hero's journey' formula, only to abandon it right at the end. As I say maybe that's the point, maybe it's 'satire', or a subversion of that very formula, but I don't read it like that until the end, which just seems a little jarring.

I think if the final scene had showed a bit more of how Shaun had progressed - and it could have even been tiny things, it would have, for me, made for a much more satisfying ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 September, 2015, 12:49:06 AM
Liz wanted Shawn to make an effort, and he did. He might not have been entirely successful but his heart was in the right place. Sure, there was a zombie apocalypse to spur him on, but I think losing the relationship (which was a real possibility at that point) was a factor.

Just to see how much effort he made just look at the two points when he told her he would climb up to her window. First time he gave up after a small effort. Second time he risked his life and climbed all the way. He'd already come a long way.

Sure, they ended up vegging out in front of the telly, but while in the first place it was mainly apathy in Shawn's case (and I think his character is mainly guilty of laziness rather than selfishness, even at the beginning. His mate is really the selfish one) I think they've both come quite a way. Shawn made an effort, and proved himself somewhat. And Liz has come to the conclusion chilling in front of the tv and popping out to the pub for a beer or two later, is no bad thing.

They're physically in the same place, but mentally I think they're both in a much more positive place. He'll likely make more effort in his life, but without her being overly judgemental which can also be demoralizing and hold him back.

Pegg's character in End of the World is only vaguely similar to Shawn. He selfishly follows a nostalgic dream of a past that never really existed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 September, 2015, 01:32:14 AM
I saw bits n pieces of that last film that bridges the gap between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Planet of the Apes (Which ever version you prefer!) any time I bothered to lean over to the right hand side of my computer tower and other stuff I have obscuring my view of the television while playing Elite Dangerous late into the night and early morning.

I swear I have never properly sat down to watch this film the many times I have had a chance to. Aside from the excellent computer effects that have me believe that those apes can be more human in the walking and talking and gun holding and firing mannerisms. One of the rare films of this day that don't overplay our advances in CGI. it does what it needs to do and that's it!

I love the part in this where the evolved primates are fighting amongst themselves on some partially constructed high rise tower of mainly just scaffolding. Those falling bodies are so much a reminder of their larger cousin. A oversized gorilla called Kong.

I had been think for some time, would it be more appropriate if the Fomorians from Slaine were just these apes. (I know it's not the correct term, but just go with it!) May be those occupying that part of northern Europe could be one and the same after such a time when the Earth starts to revolve much slower and all the water from equator is drawn towards the poles. Causing, Ireland and the rest of Britain to become one land with each other that part of N.E. they are closest to. Yeah, I think that's how it works....

All the humans devolve enough that they need to go through a second stone age as well. This almost fits....


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 September, 2015, 01:06:24 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 September, 2015, 12:17:15 AM
Er, but both Dredd and Anderson definitely change over the course of the film - if only slightly in the case of Dredd (who arguably isn't even the protagonist).

Hence my use of the term "near-total". The answer to my question:

QuoteSurely, one of the joys of Dredd was his Dirty-Harry-esque near total lack of growth...?

Is fairly obviously "yes". No part of that question requires Dredd to be the protagonist, and I don't even mention Anderson...!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2015, 02:31:52 PM
Thanks for the heads up Bear. I watched two of yhose and they are a but special.

I literally have no idea what was going on in Master of Shadow. And Smuggler's Run managed the not inconsiderable task of making George Lucas' dialogue sound naturalistic.

Like you say, Minty has spoiled us by having proper story and script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 02 September, 2015, 03:40:06 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 September, 2015, 12:17:15 AM
QuoteSurely, one of the joys of Dredd was his Dirty-Harry-esque* near total lack of growth...?

Er, but both Dredd and Anderson definitely change over the course of the film - if only slightly in the case of Dredd (who arguably isn't even the protagonist).

It's very like Fury Road in that interesting distinction between the main characters (Dredd/Max) and the protagonists (Anderson/Furiosa).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 September, 2015, 03:44:09 PM
Thanks for the heads up Bear. I watched those and they are a but special.

I literally have no idea what was going on in Master of Shadow and Beyond the Dune Sea. Additionally Smuggler's Run managed the not inconsiderable task of making George Lucas' dialogue sound naturalistic. Betrayal is just a fight.

Like you say, Minty has spoiled us by having proper story and script.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 02 September, 2015, 04:22:41 PM
Compton. A beautiful tale of a group of inner-city youngsters trying to make it Big in the Music industry. It was ok, far better than 8 Mile which I thought was absolute Crap!

Equilibrium. I've watched it before and by Jove I'll watch it again (sometime). I've got a real soft-spot for this film even though it does look a touch rough in places. Great story concerning liberty and emotion and action scenes that put a lot of films to shame. Excellent!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 September, 2015, 07:58:34 PM
Billy Connolly and the Tenth Doctor can't save family drama/comedy What We Did On Our Holiday (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no237-what-we-did-on-our-holiday.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 September, 2015, 09:53:14 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 02 September, 2015, 04:22:41 PM
Compton. A beautiful tale of a group of inner-city youngsters trying to make it Big in the Music industry. It was ok, far better than 8 Mile which I thought was absolute Crap!

It's not like Marshal Mathers did anything those other boys couldn't so. I only bothered to see 8 Mile because it seemed like the only film on that had any connection of what was left of my early adulthood and at Fox - Studios.

So what was the significance of the title?

Is the distance he had to go?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: jacob g on 03 September, 2015, 11:00:22 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 September, 2015, 09:53:14 AM
So what was the significance of the title?

Is the distance he had to go?

8 Mile is a road in Detroit, Michigan. In this name of the movie case it's cultural reference, 8 mile is like border between black part of the city and norther richer suburbs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 03 September, 2015, 11:13:34 AM
Quote from: jacob g on 03 September, 2015, 11:00:22 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 03 September, 2015, 09:53:14 AM
So what was the significance of the title?

Is the distance he had to go?

8 Mile is a road in Detroit, Michigan. In this name of the movie case it's cultural reference, 8 mile is like border between black part of the city and norther richer suburbs.

like border between black part of the city and norther richer

Isn't that just perfect!

reminds me of other places I won't mention.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 September, 2015, 01:41:54 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 02 September, 2015, 07:58:34 PM
Billy Connolly and the Tenth Doctor can't save family drama/comedy What We Did On Our Holiday (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no237-what-we-did-on-our-holiday.html)

Are you still on Ws?

I thought of a new challenge for you: Watch and review EVERY Adam Sandler movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 September, 2015, 02:29:47 PM
Finally watched The Conjuring . Rather enjoyed it, definitely a good (though not classic) spook show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 September, 2015, 11:31:44 PM

Quote

Are you still on Ws?

I thought of a new challenge for you: Watch and review EVERY Adam Sandler movie.

Oh tough one - still getting over 'The Cobbler'.

British 70s set haunted house horror When the Lights Went Out (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no238-when-lights-went-out.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 September, 2015, 10:15:05 AM
The Cobbler... shudder. Thomas McCarthy fell a loooooong way after the Station Agent  :o

The Lego Movie

I've been a huge fan of Lord/Miller since their Clone High days - their gloriously inventive batshit mad creative spasms are as overwhelming as they are engrossing and on the Lego Movie (which I'm waaayy late in consuming) they are in full flow. The animation is constantly astounding - the breathtaking use of photorealistic Lego pieces for everything from a stormy sea to a heavy laser battle is enthralling. The story itself I thought was trundling along nicely but predictively until the metanarrative kicked in which very smartly alters the tone of the film and the stakes of the ending. Utterly brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 September, 2015, 12:26:39 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 02 September, 2015, 07:58:34 PM
Billy Connolly and the Tenth Doctor can't save family drama/comedy What We Did On Our Holiday (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no237-what-we-did-on-our-holiday.html)

Seeing Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins name on this I was looking forward to "Outnumbered: The Movie" with added Rosamund Pike. Sadly the few laughs there were (all in the trailer) dry up after forty five minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 September, 2015, 12:34:03 PM
So it was like Outnumbered, then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2015, 12:51:13 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 September, 2015, 10:15:05 AM
The story itself I thought was trundling along nicely but predictively until the metanarrative kicked in which very smartly alters the tone of the film and the stakes of the ending. Utterly brilliant.

It's a fantastic movie, isn't it? It barrels along, just being so much fun that you're happy to go along with it and then —POW— it turns out to be really fucking clever as well and there's a brilliant, internally-consistent reason for all these mental genre/character mash-ups.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 September, 2015, 04:20:35 PM
Also, hands-down the best film version of Batman (sorry, Adam). Sing 'Untitled Self Portrait' with me now: "Darkness. No parents. Continued Darkness.."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 September, 2015, 05:58:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 06 September, 2015, 04:20:35 PM
Also, hands-down the best film version of Batman

Yeah I was struck by how natural it felt that he was an arsehole. I mean yeah... the dude is a millionaire that dresses up as a bat and duffs up the poor and desperate criminals motivated by little more than angst and boredom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2015, 06:21:06 PM
To be fair, Dark Knight did kinda flirt with that thought:

"Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands; and your plan, is to blackmail this person?

"Good luck."

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 September, 2015, 08:16:05 PM
Superman 2

I think this might be my favourite Superman film [spoiler]even if he does suddenly exhude new powers when it's covenient. To be fair I think a couple of those where granted by the Krypton technology in the Fortress of Solitude (I.e. the holograms and the Superman emblem net thing.)[/spoiler]

Another interesting thing, - Man of Steel get's criticised [spoiler]for the way Superman despatches General Zod. And yet, in that film, he breaks Zod's neck as a last resort to save Lois Lane, and cries his heart out in remorse after that. [/spoiler]

In this film, he [spoiler]crushes Zod's hand after the enemy Kryptoninas have been depowered, and throws him to his death and it's considered a 'Booyah! Take that!' moment. (I'm assuming the enemy Kryptonians died in that chasm. I guess there could be more tech down there which caught them and imprisoned them but the implication seems to be that they died.)

It could be argued that the comic book Superman would have done neither (I haven't read enough to know if Superman ever kills his foes, but I understand he generally avoids it unless they are giant robots.) and would have found a way, but arguably the Man of Steel version of Zod's death is closer to how Superman would act.
It's a stalemate situation. He is holding Zod down, but Zod is blasting his heat vision towards Lane. I suppose Supes could try to throw Zod or hit him in the head, butI think  he wasactively struggling, and it takes one glance with that heat vision to turn Lois into lady roast. Superman took the quickest route to saving Lane that he could. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2015, 08:24:48 PM
I don't buy the whole Superman kills the Kryptonians thing. Leaving aside the unused scene where they're led away in chains, as a kid I just honestly assumed they'd be frozen solid in the icy chasms they were chucked into. It never occurred to me for a second that they'd been killed. It's just not that dark a movie.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 September, 2015, 08:33:39 PM
Plus it's Superman, so you know he didn't kill them.

In Man Of Steel, why didn't Superman just cover Zod's eyes with his hand or that indestructible cape he has?  Or he could have said "look over there - it's a naked lady!" and when Zod turned to look, the people could have run away.  Either of these solutions make as a much sense as what happened in that film, because the laser beam kill-o-vision just crawls slowly towards the people inch by inch - if Zod knew those people were there, didn't that mean he was already looking at them?  The logical explanation is, of course, the simplest one, and the simplest explanation is that Man Of Steel is a load of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 September, 2015, 08:48:54 PM
For 'Superheroes mercilessly killing people' fun you should check out the old black and white Captain Marvel serial. Gasp as he machine guns foes in the back and throws people to their deaths from the roof of tall buildings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 September, 2015, 08:58:35 PM
In Superman 2 I read it as they were back in something like the Phantom Zone, just in a depiction as non-sensical as the net-emblem thing was.

As far as Man of Steel goes, (Proper) Superman killed Zod et al. With white kryptonite. After they slaughtered an entire planet. I'm not against Superman killing people at all. He also killed Doomsday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 September, 2015, 09:18:18 PM
Superman killing Zod in the comics was unambiguously A Bad Thing that had repercussions that lasted for decades for the character and included exile from Earth and a mental breakdown - though my personal favorite aftermath moment was when he went home to ma and pa and found he couldn't look them in the eye and admit what he'd done.  When Man Of Steel killed Zod in the movies it was unambiguously presented as a character getting their just desserts, and Superman is rewarded for doing it with the normalcy he's always wanted.

The director later said that Superman had to try killing at least once so that he would know he didn't like it and wouldn't want to do it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 06 September, 2015, 09:42:46 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 September, 2015, 08:16:05 PM
Another interesting thing, - Man of Steel get's criticised [spoiler]for the way Superman despatches General Zod. And yet, in that film, he breaks Zod's neck as a last resort to save Lois Lane, and cries his heart out in remorse after that. [/spoiler]


To end the film after Zod's killing with Superman downing drones, throwing his weight around, then getting a nice job at the Daily Planet beside his new girlfriend doesn't lend much creedence to the idea that Supes is affected much by his actions or that the film-makers had even thought it was ever an issue. It's a weird note to end on but maybe not for the grim-dark Superman who doesn't seem much different from Batman.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 September, 2015, 11:10:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2015, 08:24:48 PM
I don't buy the whole Superman kills the Kryptonians thing. Leaving aside the unused scene where they're led away in chains,

Interesting. I didn't know about that scene. I should get the Blu-ray box-set with ll those extra goodies.


Quoteas a kid I just honestly assumed they'd be frozen solid in the icy chasms they were chucked into. It never occurred to me for a second that they'd been killed. It's just not that dark a movie.

Wouldn't being frozen solid kill them, since theyre no more powerful than humans, now? Unless some of that afore mentioned kryptonian tech was involved, anyway.

Fair enough though. It's interesting to see how different people interpret things, and a bit worrying that my interpretations seems to veer towards the darker side...

QuoteIn Superman 2 I read it as they were back in something like the Phantom Zone, just in a depiction as non-sensical as the net-emblem thing was.

That occurred to me. But as nothing was mentioned about it I just took it they likely died falling into a chasm and all. But that deleted scene Jim mentioned suggest the director had other ideas, albeit on the cutting room floor.

That whole scene was rather odd though. What was with the Kryptonians (including Superman) keep vanishing and appearing? I put that down to them each moving at superhuman speed faster than the human eye cans see, but it was very odd. (I mean before the Superman holograms. I just put that down to technology. Like Mrs. El steppingn out of the crystal screen thing.)

I reitterate that despite all I've said, I really like this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 07 September, 2015, 08:58:59 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 September, 2015, 05:58:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 06 September, 2015, 04:20:35 PM
Also, hands-down the best film version of Batman

Yeah I was struck by how natural it felt that he was an arsehole. I mean yeah... the dude is a millionaire that dresses up as a bat and duffs up the poor and desperate criminals motivated by little more than angst and boredom.

...& poverty!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 September, 2015, 09:08:11 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 September, 2015, 11:10:37 PM
Wouldn't being frozen solid kill them, since theyre no more powerful than humans, now? Unless some of that afore mentioned kryptonian tech was involved, anyway.

Flying alien with his pants on the outside. We're quite a long way into suspending disbelief before we get to this bit...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2015, 11:22:00 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 07 September, 2015, 08:58:59 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 September, 2015, 05:58:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 06 September, 2015, 04:20:35 PM
Also, hands-down the best film version of Batman

Yeah I was struck by how natural it felt that he was an arsehole. I mean yeah... the dude is a millionaire that dresses up as a bat and duffs up the poor and desperate criminals motivated by little more than angst and boredom.

...& poverty!!!!

It's Batman's motivation being talked about. But you are right. Poverty, Poverty, Poverty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 September, 2015, 11:34:06 AM
(Half of) Lawrence of Arabia.

One of the all time classics that I've never gotten around to watching.
It's certainly epic and some of the shots are really great. There are lots of long shots which illustrate the scale of the tiny people against the vastness of the desert.
Having said that, I found events strangely un-affecting. The crossing of the apparently 'uncrossable' stretch of desert seemed pretty straightforward and it never seemed like Lawrence was in any great peril - even when he went back for the bloke who fell off his camel.
There were some bis that felt a little hokey too. The opening sequence, showing Lawrence's motorcycle crash was handled in a fairly typical way for the time - a camera wobble, fade and sound effect. The shot of his motorcycle goggles hanging in a tree tough? That's just silly.
Alec Guinness's portrayal of an arab prince felt silly by modern standards too.     
After two hours I'd had enough. I think there's around 90 minutes left to go so I'll try to get around to watching that later in the week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 September, 2015, 01:51:44 PM
In Man of Steel my only problem with [spoiler]him killing Zod[/spoiler] is that it made no sense that it was necessary. [spoiler]PUT YOUR HANDS OVER HIS EYES MAN, YOU'VE GOT SUPER HANDS!!![/spoiler]

Because we're going to Universal Studios as part of our honeymoon, Bea is determined that I need to watch all the Harry Potter movies beforehand or I just won't enjoy it or something. The only one I ever saw was Chamber of Secrets in the cinema and I can barely remember it (and the one memory I have was that it was a bit guff) so we've started from the top!

So, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone was quite fun actually. Weasley is definitely the best character, and also the best child actor (the rest of them are pretty ropey, Hermoine is ear scrapingly annoying). Rickman goes Full Rickman which is really a thing to behold, and Coltrane has some great lines too. It loses it towards the end and the last half hour seemed a bit random and nonsensical. One of the things I remembered disliking about CoS was that in the end everything was resolved by him [spoiler]pulling a special snake killing sword out of a hat[/spoiler] which I saw at the time as some pretty poor cosmic screwdriver style writing, and I had a similar reaction in this to [spoiler]the stone just magically appearing in Harry's pocket for reasons they hadn't explained yet[/spoiler].

I enjoyed it and look forward to working through the rest, but I'm hoping Rowling had a few more ideas for resolving situations than just 'ta da! All good because MAGIC'. It also seemed very silly that everyone got upset about [spoiler]Ron falling off a pretend horse (he'll be fine guys), I'm not actually sure why he had to get on the horse anyway. Or why they were playing chess. That whole last chunk was a bit lost on me to be honest so there's a chance my attention had drifted.[/spoiler]

Much better (and very unexpectedly so) was Magic Mike which we watched afterwards and really enjoyed. A lot of top drawer performances (Channing Tatum continues to impress me in everything I see him in, and hot damn can he dance), stylishly directed and very naturalistically written and performed...it really was a bit of a treat. Had been expecting a dumb dance movie (and we really only put it on for a laugh) but thought it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 07 September, 2015, 02:37:20 PM
Hmm a flattering post about Channing Tatum, must be Tips....WHAT???  :lol:

Goldmember - Never seen this before due to hating the second one but as I was about to pass out drunk I thought I'd leave the telly on. Made me laugh a few times but when a film rips the piss out  itself for re-using previous jokes its time to give it a rap. which they did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 September, 2015, 03:12:38 PM
Recently seen a couple of documentary movies set in New York. Precinct Seven Five (2015) concerns police corruption in the 80s, and centres around crooked cop Michael Dowd. What's interesting is the scale of the criminality – those who caught Dowd call him a "once in a generation" bad cop, but Dowd himself describes an endemic culture of cover-ups and institutional corruption which he claims was actively endorsed from police academy onwards. Enjoyed watching this but wasn't blown away – it's interesting, but there are no real surprises in store.

What did blow me away was The Wolfpack (2015) about a family effectively imprisoned by their egomaniacal father in a New York apartment for most of their lives. The film focuses on the six long-haired Angulo brothers, mostly teenagers (they have a younger sister, but she's barely in the film) who have experienced the outside world largely through the medium of movies.  Their parents claim they've kept them from the world to protect them, but the film-makers arrive at a point where the boys are no longer content to adhere to their father's rules. The lads are highly intelligent, extremely creative (particularly when it comes to costume-crafting and movie re-enactment) and understandably a bit damaged. The result is an absolutely haunting movie, one of the best I've seen this year. Very unsettling – you often feel like you're on the verge of a bigger, even nastier revelation about their years of virtual captivity, but it never quite comes, and instead the film ends with a sense of hope (and concern.) The most jaw-dropping moment concerns the hippy mother – just as much a prisoner as her sons, it appears – when she phones someone she hasn't spoken to in many years. Must have had something in my eye right then...

TLDR version – watch The Wolfpack, it's brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2015, 03:56:52 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 07 September, 2015, 02:37:20 PM
Hmm a flattering post about Channing Tatum, must be Tips....WHAT???  :lol:

That's one of the joys of being comfortable with your own sexuality.

  I think I'll give Magic Mike a watch. Just to keep Mrs Tips happy of course...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 September, 2015, 04:43:10 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 September, 2015, 01:51:44 PM
So, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone

The short answer to your questions is "the books were better", but to be fair to the movies, they do actually explain all your concerns - made as they are for American kids who will likely never read any book in their lifetime let alone a Harry Potter one, and so the movies are self-contained without needing to reference a wiki somewhere to explain things for you (and I'll eat my hat if there's not a Harry Potter wiki somewhere).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 September, 2015, 08:51:06 AM
Quote from: Greg.MThe lads are highly intelligent, extremely creative (particularly when it comes to costume-crafting

Threatening to cosplay.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 September, 2015, 09:37:52 PM
Our Mother's House

Tonally very strange - a largely very bleak film about a group of evangelical kids coping with loss but marred perhaps by the heavy-handed character of (a very charismatic) Bogarde and the unsubtle examples of the kids dipping into 'sinfulness'. Before he turns up though it gets genuinely quite sinister - and Franklin's "channelling" of the dead mother in punishing Gerty is really very harrowing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2015, 08:32:36 AM
Star Trek: Renegades
Well, twenty minutes of it.

It's a recently relased crowd sourced fan film or something but has some genre names hidden away in the cast (i.e. they were original series people or had one genre hit twenty or thirty years ago and are either crap or can't escape type casting; who actually falls for that?  It's never a guarantee of quality is it?)

It seems to be the usual mix for one of these fan films; variable production standards (some really good looking stuff but some really shonky stuff right next to it), uniformally poor acting, either lacks a script or it's full of cliche and full to the brim with proper fan wank refernces.

This compounds it by having about the most un Star Trek like plot possible; "There's a bad guy. But our prime directive makes it hard to deal with him. So we'll send a dirty dozen/magnificent seven of misfits, criminals and renegades (roll credits) to assassinate him!".  It may subvert this idea later on but I just don't have the fucking patience.

"Star Trek: Renegades"? More like "Star Trek: Shite".


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2015, 09:28:24 AM
Watched the second Ron Weasley film, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets AKA the one where Weasley chunders slugs. It's the only one I've seen previously, on release I went to the cinema for it and was put off the whole series by the [spoiler]sword out of the hat moment[/spoiler] which I found a real cop-out (but may have been missing some context from the books).

Enjoyed it more this time round, Jar Jar the house elf didn't seem as annoying this time, it was a decent enough family adventure film, even if I'm still not quite seeing what all the fuss is about. Next up Prisoner of Azkhaban which I see is directed by the Children of Men chap, so should be interesting.

Also watched 22 Jump Street, which I wanted to like a lot more than I did. Found the first one a really pleasant surprise, didn't expect much and wound up finding it very, very funny. This time around I still find Tatum and Hill really likeable and easy to watch, but the gags fell flat for the most part. Might have been a mood thing (we were pretty tired) but it just didn't seem to be zinging and apart from a couple of great moments I didn't think it was a patch on the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 September, 2015, 09:36:42 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2015, 09:28:24 AM
Next up Prisoner of Azkhaban which I see is directed by the Children of Men chap, so should be interesting.

Oh you would love it! that is great film, change the way of Harry Potter films from first two films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 September, 2015, 11:04:59 AM
Yeah, Azkaban is the best of the movies, with a visual flair subsequent installments never quite recapture. Curiously it is also the one that (for me) most drops the ball in terms of stuff-you-need-to-know-is-in-the-books, but the style and pace carries it through what otherwise may seem incomprehensible coincidence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 14 September, 2015, 07:52:53 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2015, 09:28:24 AMwhich I found a real cop-out (but may have been missing some context from the books).

No, that's pretty much it.

Also yeah Azkaban is a beaut, that Cauron really went for it - shame they didn't get him for any more of them as they fall back into solid-but-unremarkable formula quite sharply after that and his singular creativity really makes the world shine.

Shame to hear about 22 Jump Street as after Lego Movie I thought I'd invest in the two films of Miller & Lord's that I never got around to watching. So they're sitting in me pile to be watched at some point :S
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 September, 2015, 09:58:58 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 14 September, 2015, 07:52:53 PM
Shame to hear about 22 Jump Street as after Lego Movie I thought I'd invest in the two films of Miller & Lord's that I never got around to watching. So they're sitting in me pile to be watched at some point :S

Don't let me put you off, I still had a good time with them and I really did enjoy the first film a great deal! In fact I've watched 21 a few times since, it's become one of those movies that appears on TV occasionally while channel hopping and it pulls us back in again.

It's just one of those situations where the first film working as well as it did feels a bit like a happy accident and the second one in comparison feels a little forced, trying a bit too hard to hit the same beats and formula. In 22 they even make a lot of jokes about how following up a 'mission' that was a surprise success by trying to do the same thing again is a bad idea, so they seem to know the score and are having some fun with it and there are chuckles to be had there.

It's possible I went in with high expectations after 21 winning me over so much, I'll no doubt revisit 22 at some point and have a better time with it.

Just remembered we also watched Monster Squad! One of my favorites as a kid (used to rent it repeatedly). Bea was a bit down about something and I figured it would cheer her up and it did indeed. The healing power of Monster Squad saved the day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 September, 2015, 10:18:56 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 14 September, 2015, 11:04:59 AM
Yeah, Azkaban is the best of the movies, with a visual flair subsequent installments never quite recapture. Curiously it is also the one that (for me) most drops the ball in terms of stuff-you-need-to-know-is-in-the-books, but the style and pace carries it through what otherwise may seem incomprehensible coincidence.
Now, I haven't seen any of films except the first but anytime I see people talking about it, Cuaron seems to get all the plaudits here when, surely, a big part of it is that Azkaban is also by far the best of the books. It's the last one which is a readable length, there are Empire Strikes Back style revelations and implications for the ongoing story and it has, in the form of the Dementors, Rowling's one really interesting and unsettling creation. (Cue somebody saying they're just Judge Fear without the smart hat.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 September, 2015, 10:32:52 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 15 September, 2015, 10:18:56 AM
in the form of the Dementors, Rowling's one really interesting and unsettling creation. (Cue somebody saying they're just Judge Fear without the smart hat.)

(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt258/livelyquiescent/gifs/dementor.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 September, 2015, 12:00:19 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2015, 08:32:36 AM
Star Trek: Renegades

It seems to be the usual mix for one of these fan films; variable production standards (some really good looking stuff but some really shonky stuff right next to it), uniformally poor acting, either lacks a script or it's full of cliche and full to the brim with proper fan wank refernces.

It actually gets worse later on.  I don't feel too bad about trashing Renegades, because it's clearly made not by fans but by people who saw that Trek fan movies were quite popular and decided to grab some of that action.  The script is absolutely dreadful on so many levels, but I think my favorite quirk is probably that despite dragging in all these fan-wank actors to play the characters they played in Trek shows, the script has them sitting around explaining their backstory for minutes at a time in some of the clunkiest exposition I've ever seen - at whom is this aimed?  Fans will know these characters, but casual or curious viewers don't need to know these details as they have no bearing on the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 September, 2015, 01:59:27 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 14 September, 2015, 11:04:59 AM
Yeah, Azkaban is the best of the movies, with a visual flair subsequent installments never quite recapture. Curiously it is also the one that (for me) most drops the ball in terms of stuff-you-need-to-know-is-in-the-books, but the style and pace carries it through what otherwise may seem incomprehensible coincidence.

Those movies got darker and more adult with each installment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 September, 2015, 03:19:28 AM
Saw the film American Ultra the other night.

With Jesse Isenberg and Kirsten Stewart who were also both in some film set in some small American town amusement park.

While this film could almost be a sequel to that one, I don't think so.

This one sends a message not to fuck with those late night store attendants and especially if they turn out to be sleeper agents that can disarm and murder you and your buddy with your own weapon or use any thing they can find for a weapon like he was trained to professionally do before he was brain washed into thinking he was just a regular stoner dude and his stoner girl.

Kind of like the Bourne Identity...except he's got this grungy look about him with the longer messy hair and likes to draw pictures of some comic book character he developed himself called Apollo Ape which is kind of like that and you learn more about this later on in the film.

The thing about Jesse is that he's always the same guy in every film, like he's just being himself if that is who he really is and sometimes this works in his favour and other times I think this is just slack.

Anyway, after the initial excitement learning about his previous life, I started to day dream and pay less attention to what I was watching.

About the his latent fighting skills, I thought I was seeing movies from that Mad-Max game being used and then noticed. I swear the way he parried the knife attack (Of these Agent-Goons sent to destroy him!) and then his reversal move that left him with his own knife shoved up from under his chin and through the top of his skull had some parallels with what I had experience with Max's combat upgrades in that game. Then was some goon ramming their car off the side of bridge while they were just sitting in it there panicky-talking to one another about his previous latent skills in espionage and the people the are after him.   
Then this fellow, another bad guy from that show called Justified pours some petrol on their turtled car from a very familiar looking jerry-can. Like I swear I was doing almost the same thing in this Mad-Max earlier that day back on the computer. There were other things I noticed as well, but not so well remembered now.

There's this geeky main character from That 70's Show and who was in Two & a Half-Men and the wimpy bi-framed guy from Arrested-Development. The one who still got bossed around by his over-bearing mother and in this film without the bi-frames only did a very convincing portrayal of how creepy he really is after my initial confusion over that feeling somebody you have seen before, but don't quite remember because they're not wearing their glass's and trying to be much cooler than the last role on television. Superman and Clark Kent he is definitely not.

Then there is Connie Britton, who's hotter than the average closer to retirement home age woman who really turns out a couple years older than I am and normally younger looking if you don't mind women that look like they've exposed themselves to the elements for too long and wouldn't be altogether out of place in a Mad Max film. I thought she was the mother from Wonder-Years.....

(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQm7KilMTmEUkeb6k31RrvKqmp5mP9ZNvZeavJlBRQ4r6IWDK1)

And no, I was wrong, she's from the first installment of American Horror series that almost into it's fifth season, I think.

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsJpxQrKRFuIODGd6FZd2C_5gbJCFrmQv79CP6nIWxthjJ_Iom)

I found was staring at her more than Kirsten because I prefer the sun-loved-healthy to the moon-loved-slim. Not that the latter is al that bad either, but she does come across not my choice.

That fellow who was  the president in Independence ay , Bill Pullman... I think , he was in it too and the later years look like they have ben kind to him too.

You should all go and see this film, merely because Jesse who is called Mike is also a budding comic-book artist and potential animator.

Then my bladder threatened to empty itself in the used cup of soft drink I had finished earlier, but I did the right thing instead and missed a bit of the film before the ending.

Which is really trippy and cool.

Oh, boy, this film reflects on my own experience with late fast-food stall attendants who I now avoid out of a need for some much needed peace. I do wonder about those people now, but don't see it as a excuse for them to be rude and snotty at me. It's not like I can't leap over the counter make my own burger and fires.

 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 September, 2015, 03:10:02 PM
I hope you all enjoyed your 10 day's off! What now you ask? Well it's What Now (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no239-what-now.html) - a classic of its time, which was sadly half an hour ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 September, 2015, 04:08:31 PM
Battle of the Five Armies

Pretty but dull for a movie with so many Orcs. All the Heroes of the movie must be like 20th level at least. Apart from Legolas who is level 21 it seems.

As everyone else has said be better if it they'd cut out all the padded stuff - a two-parter even would've kept my attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 September, 2015, 04:55:34 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 September, 2015, 04:08:31 PM
Battle of the Five Armies

Pretty but dull for a movie with so many Orcs. All the Heroes of the movie must be like 20th level at least. Apart from Legolas who is level 21 it seems.

As everyone else has said be better if it they'd cut out all the padded stuff - a two-parter even would've kept my attention.

With a relatively small amount of googling, I suspect you'll be able to find a fan's 'Tolkien edit' of the three movies that puts the focus back on Bilbo, excises pretty much everything not in the book, and gets the whole shebang into four and a half hours.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 September, 2015, 05:20:20 PM
You'd probably still need a more interesting less calculating Bilbo than Jackson and Freeman's version to anchor the film. He's basically done as a character after his chat with Smaug halfway through DoS, and then just runs and climbs around and kills things  until he shares a quiet pipe with Gandalf and heads home to interrupt the auction. There's no payoff for his relationship with Balin and Bofur (or even really Thorin), which are highlights of the first two installments. Maybe there's so ething useable in the extended BotFA? After all Farramir largely ended up on the cutting room floor in the theatrical version of LotR.  Although my money's actually on more CGI chariots and giant war goats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 16 September, 2015, 10:52:14 PM
I have the Rankin Bass cartoon version on DVD, but also planning to get the whole trilogy of the feature films with edits puts back in it when this becomes available. or has it already.

I don't mind the films so much, no matter how badly rework they might be, but I pretty sure that Bilbo doesn't even get knocked on conscious in that last film, during huge battle like it was originally written. I would normally know this, except that I what I recall from the cartoon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 19 September, 2015, 12:34:54 PM
When Calls the Heart (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no240-when-calls-heart.html) - Hallmark TV movie starring the daughter off 'Taken' - scraping the barrel? Oh yes!

Also saw 50/50 which I enjoyed - wee tear in the eye at the end. Wife's not mine, of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 September, 2015, 10:54:26 PM
The Sixth Sense

Why every time the boy tell his mother scene always make me cry!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 September, 2015, 07:35:42 AM
Horns.

Enjoyable but I'm not really sure what it was trying to say (if anything). It seemed to be trying very hard to become one of those instant indie cult films like Donnie Darko.
The twist was pretty obvious but it was still a fun watch and I thought Daniel Radcliffe was really good in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 September, 2015, 02:07:05 PM
Everest. Based on the true story of the 1996 tragedy where several climbers die in a severe and unexpected storm.

A good film really. Tense and suspenseful, but some of the acting was... awkward *cough*Brolin*cough*.

I did see it in 3D-IMAX and the views are simply gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 September, 2015, 05:10:24 PM
After years of pestering, I finally got my girlfriend to watch Battle Royale.

Her reaction? About ten minutes in she turned to me and said "This is way better than The Hunger Games. They get right to it, don't they?".  :lol:

Overall she really enjoyed it, much to my surprise. She didn't even mind the ending, which to me was where the film kind of falls apart a bit.

I was curious to see it again as I hadn't seen it in perhaps ten years, but I was pleased to see that it still holds up really well. Great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 September, 2015, 06:49:02 PM
Quite fancy Everest, not least due to a load of Facebook postings of photos of the dead bodies left up there. Gruesomely fascinating.

I agree Battle Royale fell apart at the end - decent idea but didn't hold onto it and a feeble outcome was the result.

Saw the remake/reboot Vacation and although it was shite I stayed to the end. I nearly shut it off as I thought the wife would be hating it but she was chortling away. Darryl out of 'The Walking Dead' should hang his head in shame though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 September, 2015, 07:02:45 PM
Un-Friended

A film cast with Facebook, Skype and You-Tube, and few other Apts I could remember. I think there was online Chat-room called Chatroulette....

Puts me off the idea of talking to friends using those BTW and the way the film turned out was not what I expected and right now it's on again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 September, 2015, 08:27:19 PM
(Face-Palms).....Apts I couldn't remember the name of.

Missed the start of the film when I was just ending my previous comment there. Not sure it's worth watching again, it's all sad teenage angst internet trolling of the worse kind.

The most interesting thing about this film is that is entirely shot from the POV of the victim-antagonist or Pro-Antagonist sitting in front of their computer screen.

This is should be a spoiler and then there is a bit which reminded me of the free-to-use movie/modelling apt called Blender how boasted that never lost any my own fingers while I started something on it.

Have to the film to find about abut that one, but I wasn't sure why boy did that to himself and then realise maybe it wasn't him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 21 September, 2015, 08:40:46 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 21 September, 2015, 06:49:02 PM
Quite fancy Everest, not least due to a load of Facebook postings of photos of the dead bodies left up there. Gruesomely fascinating.

I agree Battle Royale fell apart at the end - decent idea but didn't hold onto it and a feeble outcome was the result.

Saw the remake/reboot Vacation and although it was shite I stayed to the end. I nearly shut it off as I thought the wife would be hating it but she was chortling away. Darryl out of 'The Walking Dead' should hang his head in shame though!


You remember how I sat all the way through a session of what ever was the last X-men film when I thought it should have been Godzilla. Not really, because I walked out half way through to ask the attendant what I should do about my dilemma and they just go back in and we'll sort out the rest out later or words tot he effect. I'm still not sure wether I had to buy extra tickets to see that one, because I think I got kind hooked on the X-men film and wasn't completely sure it was that film until a good five minutes into it I guess and before the opening titles.

Anyway, I did walk in on the start of Everest when I really meant to see Maze Runner Two - The Scorch Trials which turned out to be much less interesting than the first film and with eventual inclusion of Barry Pepper as one of the out-doorsey freedom fighters and I think the leader of them or at least somebody important. 

I was expecting John Travolta's one armed alien and former overseer escaped from him jail cell make a appearance  of some importance or brief cameo and then ....Foiled Again!

I lost track of what the lot after returning from call of nature and almost need had bothered since it was that close to finish and a bit of a anti-climax.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 September, 2015, 03:10:19 AM
I just watched Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, which covers the career (and subsequent career implosion) of Richard Stanley (director of the 2000ad 'inspired' film Hardware) and his attempts to make an adaptation of HG Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.

What quickly emerges is the story of an affable young director with a genuine love of the source material and an intriguing - if slightly half-baked - vision for what could have been a terrific little cult indie movie, left hopelessly out of his depth when events beyond his control lead to the film ballooning in size and budget and the production spinning wildly out of control, thanks in no small part due to the cataclysmic egos of Kilmer and Brando, permanently tarnishing the careers of pretty much every single person involved (Stanley never directed another feature film). Bad behaviour, insanity, drug-fuelled meltdowns and a general sense of the lunatics taking over the asylum ensue.

And that's not even half of the story. I found this particularly interesting in light of the recent Fantastic Four movie, and the apparent similarity to the situation of Josh Trank - that of the promising young talent - apparently - out of their depth and screwed by the studio system. Let's hope we get a making of of that movie as good as this one day.

It's on Netflix - at least US Netflix anyway - and I strongly recommend you to check it out.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 22 September, 2015, 05:33:35 AM
Quote from: radiator on 22 September, 2015, 03:10:19 AM
I just watched Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, which covers the career (and subsequent career implosion) of Richard Stanley (director of the 2000ad 'inspired' film Hardware) and his attempts to make an adaptation of HG Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.

What quickly emerges is the story of an affable young director with a genuine love of the source material and an intriguing - if slightly half-baked - vision for what could have been a terrific little cult indie movie, left hopelessly out of his depth when events beyond his control lead to the film ballooning in size and budget and the production spinning wildly out of control, thanks in no small part due to the cataclysmic egos of Kilmer and Brando, permanently tarnishing the careers of pretty much every single person involved (Stanley never directed another feature film). Bad behaviour, insanity, drug-fuelled meltdowns and a general sense of the lunatics taking over the asylum ensue.

And that's not even half of the story. I found this particularly interesting in light of the recent Fantastic Four movie, and the apparent similarity to the situation of Josh Trank - that of the promising young talent - apparently - out of their depth and screwed by the studio system. Let's hope we get a making of of that movie as good as this one day.

It's on Netflix - at least US Netflix anyway - and I strongly recommend you to check it out.

5/5

I was going to comment here about seeing the actual film and not the making of behind the scenes movie you speak of over a month, possibly two months ago and have always found it adequate adaption and never relied two much on the modern CGI techniques that have crept into more and more usage over the past decade.

Yes, I remember the scene with the small-monkey-like-rats at the jetty, but I think this film was largely animatronics and lots of padding covered by latex or silicone with fake hair authentically added in the right places. I applaud these special effects and how the rest of the film panned out.

Read the story when this film was in it's first circulation and it was much shorter than I thought it would be and inspiration for  Pat Mill's idea about Eugenics that was brought into light in the latest episodes of Slaine. Those animal/human hybrids may be what the Fomorians were really like.

I'll be looking out of this other film and seeing what it might have otherwise been. Not that I was dis-appointed with the result. I also like the Michael York version as well and his stubborn success in remembering that he was still human and his identity after escaping being used as a Guenie-Pig and a source for humanity. t be shared with the animals that were being experimented and not so disimilar ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2015, 07:31:23 AM
Quote from: radiator on 22 September, 2015, 03:10:19 AM
I just watched Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, which covers the career (and subsequent career implosion) of Richard Stanley (director of the 2000ad 'inspired' film Hardware) and his attempts to make an adaptation of HG Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.

After seeing him in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang I want to like Kilmer but then I get reminded of episodes like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 22 September, 2015, 09:54:22 PM
Pretty decent WW2 flick When Trumpets Fade (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no241-when-trumpets-fade.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 September, 2015, 09:48:13 PM
The American remake of We Are What We Are (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no242-we-are-what-we-are-2013.html) - which is best? [spoiler]This one.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 24 September, 2015, 10:47:20 PM
Das boot. Hadn't seen it before. Took 3,5h to watch, and 6h to land: how awesome it was. Loved it.

At one point I even thought "How could they'v fallen asleep like that, considering how bad the crew quarters must smell." and then it hit me that I wasn't watching a documentary.

Cannot recommend it enough. IMO a war story that's up there with Generation kill and Apocalypse Now Redux.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2015, 10:49:32 PM
Yeah, Das Boot is as good as it gets. It even shares an ending with Blakes7!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 September, 2015, 06:35:08 AM
Yeah another big fan of Das Boot. I've always avoided the original cinema release having been introduced to it via the longer TV mini series version that my Dad had on video tape for years. There seem to be so many versions out there these days, but I really must get around to watching one again as it was quite, quite brilliant. Though whether I could bare that ending again I don't know... just thinking about it is making it awfully dusty in here... I think I got something in my eye...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 25 September, 2015, 10:37:44 AM
watched "fury" whilst in hospital (did start watching the longest day since I haven't seen that in years but my credit ran out) Fury was enjoyable not up to private ryan standards but an ok way to pass the time.
I have a stack of films to watch on my planner including x-men days of future past. 3:10 to Yuma.city of god rush hour 3 and the equalizer .

Oh, and Yojimbo's been on there for ages which is awesome and labelled as "keep"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 September, 2015, 01:09:37 PM
Is it the modern remake of 3:10 to Yuma? That's a great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 September, 2015, 01:14:56 PM
I have Pompeii on in the background as I work. It is drokking terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 September, 2015, 01:39:00 PM
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban was pretty good, definitely feels more mature stylistically (most likely a result of the choice of director). As warned here though, it was the first one where I had to have parts explained to me because without having read the book [spoiler]all the stuff about him thinking he's seen his dad when he sees the light-up stag doesn't really make much (if any) sense.[/spoiler] The weird thing is, it took Bea probably about 20secs to explain it, so it seems like something that could have been sorted in a brief bit of dialogue, odd they didn't do that. It was a really nice bit of backstory too, shame.

They're getting better though, to the point where I'm no longer grudgingly agreeing to sit down to them and actually quite looking forward to the next one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 September, 2015, 12:22:09 PM
The Aristocrats

The Aristocrats is a film that's about a ton of comedians and entertainers from a few different generations and backgrounds all breaking down the same joke - which is more of a plateau for obscene improv than an actual joke. Some of it doesn't work but it's snappily edited and full of enough interesting and sparkling personalities to make it a worthwhile little gem. I watched it around a decade ago via a rental video shop (!!) in my home town and went and bought it after that. As the years went by I thought of this filthy silly movie that perhaps I shouldn't like it - and it stuck out like a dirty thumb. It was only after reading Stewart Lee's brilliant biog/stand-up dissection book "How I Escaped My Certain Fate" where he claims seeing this at a comedy festival opened his eyes to the joy in taking jokes apart (which he does in the book) that Aristocrats was given new life to me. Watching it again you see a bunch of seriously funny people passionately showing - through the creative depravity of the joke - what they personally find funny and it's enlightening, inspiring and probably depressing depending on where your offence lines are drawn.

"This joke holds up a mirror to the artist"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2015, 12:58:15 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 25 September, 2015, 01:39:00 PM
The weird thing is, it took Bea probably about 20secs to explain it, so it seems like something tb'd tahat could have been sorted in a brief bit of dialogue, odd they didn't do that. It was a really nice bit of backstory too, shame.

That's exactly it - everything re: the three Animagi, the Marauders' Map and Harry's Patronus are beautifully set up in the movie, and it'd take about two lines from Lupin to tie them all together while he's saying goodbye to Harry. With that addition, it'd be a far more satisfying film - and it'd improve the subsequent episodes too, since these connections continue to be key plot points.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 September, 2015, 02:41:24 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 September, 2015, 12:22:09 PM
The Aristocrats


Saw this a good while ago now but enjoyed it immensely. As you say the joke itself isn't that great, in and of itself, but as such provides a fascinatating insight into the craft of comedy. Its wonderful to see how in the hands of different comedians it can become a very different thing, even when the thing itself is so simple.

Bit like a 6 page Dredd one off!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 September, 2015, 04:10:24 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 25 September, 2015, 06:35:08 AM
Yeah another big fan of Das Boot. I've always avoided the original cinema release having been introduced to it via the longer TV mini series version that my Dad had on video tape for years. There seem to be so many versions out there these days, but I really must get around to watching one again as it was quite, quite brilliant. Though whether I could bare that ending again I don't know... just thinking about it is making it awfully dusty in here... I think I got something in my eye...

its quite a happy ending, if you know when to stop watching :P

is the tv series much different from the dir cut (3,5h long)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2015, 08:00:05 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 September, 2015, 02:41:24 PM
Bit like a 6 page Dredd one off!

"...and we drug them, torture them, lobotomise them, entrap them, kneecap them, spy on them, hand out huge sentences, all for harmless offenses we just created for no reason, and for the big finale completely fail to protect them from vengeful foreign powers who we committed genocide against!"
"What do you call your... regime?"
"...Justice Department!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 27 September, 2015, 02:37:34 AM
The really shitey British WW1 zombie soldiers fest World War Dead : The Rise of the Fallen (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no243-world-war-dead-rise-of-fallen.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 27 September, 2015, 05:46:57 PM
La planète sauvage

A surreal 'late-night' sort of feeling pervades my first viewing of this film - a tale of subdued humans on an alien world of giants. It's irritatingly linear and moves at quite a glacial pace but it is stuffed full of wonder and creativity and is quite captivating. The artwork has a "17th century biological etching" type style to it which lends it an ethereal timeless quality (although the rad jazzy funk soundtrack grounds it firmly in the 70s). Fascinating film - although I must say I prefer Time Masters as it has a more punchy ending and is artistically more engaging.

The DVD also featured a good number of Rene Laloux's short films - the best of which being the brilliant Comment Wang-Fo fut sauve (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbe_19I0vhs) - some of them (especially his first - made with mentally ill patients) are genuinely very disturbing and gave me the heebie jeebies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 September, 2015, 02:17:31 PM
Ex Machina. Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 September, 2015, 02:26:58 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 September, 2015, 12:22:09 PM
The Aristocrats
Watching it again you see a bunch of seriously funny people passionately showing - through the creative depravity of the joke - what they personally find funny and it's enlightening, inspiring and probably depressing depending on where your offence lines are drawn.

I went to see this at Cineworld at the time, and the staff had clearly been told to recite a warning to anyone buying a ticket, perhaps they'd had complaints or walk-outs.

When I asked for the ticket the woman said 'Just to let you know the film contains some very offensive material' then leaned in to get out of her manager's earshot and whispered with a nod and a wink 'but it's really, really funny'.

She was right! Watching it in a cinema was interesting, as the pockets of people all seemed to laugh or wince at different tellings, you could feel very keenly just how varied those offence lines you mention can be. For my part I remember letting out a surprised cackle at a particular Sarah Silverman line while the rest of the cinema was stone silent, and feeling a little guilty about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: auxlen on 28 September, 2015, 05:28:58 PM
Sorry to lower the tone after the glorious Das Boot. However, just watched John Wick.
Awesome.
Me and mrs auxlen love bad guys getting served a la death wish 3 and taken (the first one only)
Our favourite scene: [spoiler]when the mob leader calls a man who had punched his son to find out why. the man says because he stole John Wick's car and killed his dog. the mob leader just hangs up and knows they're all fucked.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 September, 2015, 05:34:45 PM
Quote from: auxlen on 28 September, 2015, 05:28:58 PM
Sorry to lower the tone after the glorious Das Boot. However, just watched John Wick.
Awesome.
Me and mrs auxlen love bad guys getting served a la death wish 3 and taken (the first one only)
Our favourite scene: [spoiler]when the mob leader calls a man who had punched his son to find out why. the man says because he stole John Wick's car and killed his dog. the mob leader just hangs up and knows they're all fucked.[/spoiler]

"What did he say?"
"Enough."

Love that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 28 September, 2015, 05:36:31 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 September, 2015, 02:26:58 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 September, 2015, 12:22:09 PM
The Aristocrats
Watching it again you see a bunch of seriously funny people passionately showing - through the creative depravity of the joke - what they personally find funny and it's enlightening, inspiring and probably depressing depending on where your offence lines are drawn.

I went to see this at Cineworld at the time, and the staff had clearly been told to recite a warning to anyone buying a ticket, perhaps they'd had complaints or walk-outs.

When I asked for the ticket the woman said 'Just to let you know the film contains some very offensive material' then leaned in to get out of her manager's earshot and whispered with a nod and a wink 'but it's really, really funny'.

She was right! Watching it in a cinema was interesting, as the pockets of people all seemed to laugh or wince at different tellings, you could feel very keenly just how varied those offence lines you mention can be. For my part I remember letting out a surprised cackle at a particular Sarah Silverman line while the rest of the cinema was stone silent, and feeling a little guilty about it.

Check out Doug Stanhopes version on Youtube. It is amazing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 07:17:44 PM
The Station Agent. Enjoyable low-key slice of indie whimsy about an introverted young man played by Peter Dinklage, learning to open his heart to a few other lost souls in the hinterlands of New Jersey. This film has a pretty substantial cult following and it's fairly clear why. It's a nice little movie, but nothing exceptional. Ending feels like a bit of an anticlimax, as very little of note happens and there isn't much in the way of resolution that the film seems to be building towards.

Fargo. First time watching this since it was out on video - when I must admit it went over my head. I only remembered it very dimly - lots of people saying 'Ya!' and an incident with a wood chipper. What a revelation though watching it all these years later! We both adored every minute of it. This has got to be one of the films of the 90s, right? Up there with Pulp Fiction. Filled with amazing performances, memorable characters (Marge Gunderson is one for the ages), hilarious, bleak, but with a warm heart. Running time whips by and there isn't a wasted scene. Doesn't feel dated one bit for a film approaching its twentieth anniversary. Cracking film, and a new all time favourite. Really need to address my Coen Brothers neglect.

Short Term 12. A recent film about a young couple working in a temporary home for troubled kids. This is a very earnest, well-intentioned and likeable little indie drama full of great performances that - for me - occasionally lapses into overly sentimental melodrama and schmaltz. Tonally it kind of awkwardly veers between hard-hitting grimness and feel-good crowdpleaser. I also found the lead characters a bit Mary Sue-ish. They're so super-cute and altruistic it feels a little unconvincing at times - I thought they'd be a little more nuanced and textured. Sorry if that makes me sound like a horrible misanthrope. Still, it's decent and well-worth a watch if you like that sort of thing.

The Cove. Must admit I didn't make it to the end of this doc. As well-intentioned as the protestors were, in all honesty I felt a little uncomfortable that these Americans are going over to Japan and getting all judgemental and condemning the food production practices of a foreign culture. Is there a Japanese equivalent doc about the suffering of cows? I dunno, I don't want to sound heartless. Animal slaughter is never palatable, but it's sadly a fact of life. I just feel it's little disingenuous to get all hand-wringy about one species over another.

We also tried to watch Gone Girl, but that went off after about half an hour. It's a very weird film, very overly mannered and detached and the plot seemed very silly and implausible - at the risk of sounding a bit reductive, it plays like a kind of chick-lit thriller. I guess it was all hingeing around a 'did he or didn't he?' mystery but the strange tone of the film and the weirdly cold, unlikable yuppie lead characters made it hard for either of us to get invested or care much either way. So that's the second Fincher film that we've given up on, after The Social Network. I know he's this revered director but his films just seem to leave me utterly cold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 28 September, 2015, 09:32:09 PM
A bit late to the party,  but am soaking up several movies at the moment due to just getting Amazon Prime.

So I watched Pacific Rim the other night,  and despite expecting to absolutely loath it as ' over blown and ludicrous tripe', I found myself enjoying it immensely. Ok, it's not the greatest film I've ever seen, but it was extremely watchable and thoroughly enjoyable.
Provided that you switch of the real 'thinking part' of the brain, ( and don't question the plot too much ),  relax and immerse yourself in it,  there is a hell of a lot to enjoy here.
Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 10:15:42 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 28 September, 2015, 09:32:09 PM
A bit late to the party,  but am soaking up several movies at the moment due to just getting Amazon Prime.

So I watched Pacific Rim the other night,  and despite expecting to absolutely loath it as ' over blown and ludicrous tripe', I found myself enjoying it immensely. Ok, it's not the greatest film I've ever seen, but it was extremely watchable and thoroughly enjoyable.
Provided that you switch of the real 'thinking part' of the brain, ( and don't question the plot too much ),  relax and immerse yourself in it,  there is a hell of a lot to enjoy here.
Cheers

While you could reasonably argue that one might have to 'switch their brain off' to enjoy a film about giant robots fighting giant monsters in the first place, I don't actually think there's anything wrong with the plot of Pacific Rim. It's simplistic, formulaic, a little derivative and littered with corny dialogue, but to my mind (unlike with certain other giant robot franchises) there aren't any particular plot-holes or logical inconsistencies. As modern popcorn movie scripts go I'd hold Pacific Rim's up as one of the more solid examples. As for being a modern, loud visual effects extravaganza, it's actually pretty restrained, well-paced and surprisingly non headache-inducing.

People tend to talk about it like it's some 'guilty pleasure' film that you have to apologise for liking, but I think it's legitimately decent, and easily my favourite blockbuster of that summer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2015, 10:22:15 PM
Everything Radiator says about Pacific Rim. I'd add: note how clear the fight scenes are. I've seen precious few live action fight scenes in a major summer blockbuster recently that paid such attention to making sure it was clue who was doing what to whom. (Fury Road being the clear exception!)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2015, 11:17:29 PM
Quote from: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 07:17:44 PMThe Cove...

I felt a little uncomfortable that these Americans are going over to Japan and getting all judgemental and condemning the food production practices of a foreign culture.

Animal slaughter is never palatable, but it's sadly a fact of life. I just feel it's little disingenuous to get all hand-wringy about one species over another.

I saw a news report on the gangs in Indonesia who use bitches on heat to lure family dogs away from their homes to sell them to restaurants where the animals are hung on hooks and skinned alive because the meat is said to taste better if the animal has been tortured to death.  I was outraged, of course - who are these white people to judge the food production practices of a foreign culture?  And eating dogs is exactly the same as eating cows, anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 September, 2015, 07:35:36 AM
Quote from: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 07:17:44 PM


The Cove. Must admit I didn't make it to the end of this doc. As well-intentioned as the protestors were, in all honesty I felt a little uncomfortable that these Americans are going over to Japan and getting all judgemental and condemning the food production practices of a foreign culture. Is there a Japanese equivalent doc about the suffering of cows? I dunno, I don't want to sound heartless. Animal slaughter is never palatable, but it's sadly a fact of life. I just feel it's little disingenuous to get all hand-wringy about one species over another.
cold.

I think we've had plenty of debates on here about animal rights and the meat industry. While I'd love to see stronger regulation and a reduction in meat consumption in our own country, our practices are still vastly preferable to indiscriminately slaughtering wild animals in their natural habitat, while they are in their family groups.
Culture is an excuse, the slaughter of Dolphins is fucking horrific and needs to stop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 September, 2015, 09:57:06 AM
Quote from: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 10:15:42 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 28 September, 2015, 09:32:09 PM
A bit late to the party,  but am soaking up several movies at the moment due to just getting Amazon Prime.

So I watched Pacific Rim the other night,  and despite expecting to absolutely loath it as ' over blown and ludicrous tripe', I found myself enjoying it immensely. Ok, it's not the greatest film I've ever seen, but it was extremely watchable and thoroughly enjoyable.
Provided that you switch of the real 'thinking part' of the brain, ( and don't question the plot too much ),  relax and immerse yourself in it,  there is a hell of a lot to enjoy here.
Cheers

While you could reasonably argue that one might have to 'switch their brain off' to enjoy a film about giant robots fighting giant monsters in the first place, I don't actually think there's anything wrong with the plot of Pacific Rim. It's simplistic, formulaic, a little derivative and littered with corny dialogue, but to my mind (unlike with certain other giant robot franchises) there aren't any particular plot-holes or logical inconsistencies. As modern popcorn movie scripts go I'd hold Pacific Rim's up as one of the more solid examples. As for being a modern, loud visual effects extravaganza, it's actually pretty restrained, well-paced and surprisingly non headache-inducing.

People tend to talk about it like it's some 'guilty pleasure' film that you have to apologise for liking, but I think it's legitimately decent, and easily my favourite blockbuster of that summer.

Yeah, I love it guilt-free too. It is what it is, and it's a very well crafted example of what it is that stands head and shoulders above a lot of the films it gets lumped in with. Watched it again a couple of weeks ago and it had lost none of that giddy excitement I got the first time I saw it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 29 September, 2015, 10:43:37 AM
TED - Absolute, utter dogshit from start to end! The very worst part is that the ghoul in me is tempted to watch the sequel just to see if it can out-shit itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 29 September, 2015, 11:05:21 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 September, 2015, 07:35:36 AM
Quote from: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 07:17:44 PM


The Cove. Must admit I didn't make it to the end of this doc. As well-intentioned as the protestors were, in all honesty I felt a little uncomfortable that these Americans are going over to Japan and getting all judgemental and condemning the food production practices of a foreign culture. Is there a Japanese equivalent doc about the suffering of cows? I dunno, I don't want to sound heartless. Animal slaughter is never palatable, but it's sadly a fact of life. I just feel it's little disingenuous to get all hand-wringy about one species over another.
cold.

I think we've had plenty of debates on here about animal rights and the meat industry. While I'd love to see stronger regulation and a reduction in meat consumption in our own country, our practices are still vastly preferable to indiscriminately slaughtering wild animals in their natural habitat, while they are in their family groups.
Culture is an excuse, the slaughter of Dolphins is fucking horrific and needs to stop.

Agree 100%. I've visited Japan a number of times but I never fail to be disappointed in the general lack of any sort of respect or empathy with animals.

I've been to restaurants where people eat raw squid while it's still alive and sliced up, tentacles squirming as it watches you ingest it's body. I've seen people literally crucify octopuses alive and leave them to die and dry in the sun to be eaten later as a beer snack. I've seen restaurants where fish, swimming in a large pond are caught to order, sliced open and served raw and still gasping to eager punters. Occasionally, the fish have one side of their body sliced off to be eaten and are put back into the water to die whilst swimming forlornly around.

I've also, much to my regret, unknowingly eaten whale on THREE occasions whilst in Japan ("WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"), such is the prevelance even today of killing and eating these endangered animals.

Now, I'm far from a vegetarian (my wife, unusually for a Japanese person, is), but what I find shocking is the general, widespread acceptance of these practices. I've spoken to several Japanese people about it, but they don't seem to be able to think past "If it's really fresh, it tastes nicer", or "Whale meat is delicious". That's where most people's thought process ends.

Right, sorry for the threadjack. Back on topic -

Took the family to see Bill the Film, the new project from the super talented team behind the Horrible Histories TV show. If you've never seen it, it can best be described as Monty Python for kids (although it's a genuinely funny watch for adults too) with a few educational titbits thrown in.

Bill the Film mines the same type of surreal, irreverant humour as Horrible Histories and the script is packed with little gags and vignettes as well as an overarching story telling a fictionlised early history of William Shakespeare.

It's not as quick fire funny as the HH series, due to the fact that the long form story demands more structure and less pratting about, but the performances are all spot on and it kept us all interested and laughing all the way through.

One thing I love about Horrible Histories are the musical numbers that pepper each show. These are often innovative parodies of existing pop songs, re-tooled to fit the subject matter of that sketch and are always a highlight. That being said, I was disappointed that barring one song half way through, we didn't get any of this musical genius in the film.

A minor criticism though. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this fantastic family comedy to literally everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 September, 2015, 12:28:51 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 29 September, 2015, 11:05:21 AMAgree 100%. I've visited Japan a number of times but I never fail to be disappointed in the general lack of any sort of respect or empathy with animals.

The dfarm77 channel  (https://www.youtube.com/user/dfarm777/videos)over on Youtube is three generations of a Japanese family and their massive huskies in a tiny, tiny home, and often looks like a behind-the-scenes video of a gimmicky sitcom.

Vaguely back on track as a film thread, there's a very famous Japanese film, Hachiko Monogatari, that shows the general turning point of pets in Japanese culture from communally-owned working animals (usually for vermin control) to actual family members.  Watch it cold if you can, but be prepared for manly tears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 29 September, 2015, 01:49:53 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 29 September, 2015, 12:28:51 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 29 September, 2015, 11:05:21 AMAgree 100%. I've visited Japan a number of times but I never fail to be disappointed in the general lack of any sort of respect or empathy with animals.

The dfarm77 channel  (https://www.youtube.com/user/dfarm777/videos)over on Youtube is three generations of a Japanese family and their massive huskies in a tiny, tiny home, and often looks like a behind-the-scenes video of a gimmicky sitcom.

Vaguely back on track as a film thread, there's a very famous Japanese film, Hachiko Monogatari, that shows the general turning point of pets in Japanese culture from communally-owned working animals (usually for vermin control) to actual family members.  Watch it cold if you can, but be prepared for manly tears.

I'll have to seek that out.

Obviously there are exceptions, and I'm sure there are people who love their pets, but I was really talking about the national perception of animals.

In addition to the above, some of the animals I've seen in zoos over there are living in pretty poor conditions and there don't seem to be any animal cruelty regulations. Not on the scale we have in the UK anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 September, 2015, 02:27:45 PM
I haven't done any society-boffin studies or owt, but as I understand it, in Japan until fairly recently, there used to be communally-owned animals used for vermin control of streets, neighbourhoods, villages, etc, but actual Western-style "pets" of a single home was seen as a postwar affectation of the middle and urban classes influenced by the occupying Western culture, and thus there remains a certain cultural stigma what with Japan's well-documented problems ratifying its forward-looking technologically-literate younger generations' outlook and its deeply conservative older members who still have a stranglehold on the media and political establishments.

Coming back to Hachiko Monogatari for a moment, I should also probably point out there's an English-language version called Hachi: A Dog's Tale, starring Richard Gere.  It's not as good as the Japanese original for many reasons, but it does at least come with the tacit assumption that someone had to cast a movie about a man with an unnaturally close relationship with a small animal and the first person they thought of was Richard Gere.  FOR SOME REASON.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 September, 2015, 08:59:33 PM
Sometimes it takes a good old genre mash up to truely appreciate how great two franchises are on their own. Wyrmwood Road of the Dead is one of these movies. Functionally, it only exists to make you want to watch Mad Max or read The Walking Dead instead, and it would succed. If it wasn't so damn entertaining in it's own right, as it's one of those movies where, 30 minuets before the end, you wonder weather your just watching this for a laugh or genuinly enjoying yourself. I think it was when they [spoiler]realised they could power a car off the fumes the zombies make[/spoiler] and tooled up that I realised the movie was destined to be a cult classic. Huge fun if you can tune your brain into the right wavelength.

Zardoz shouldn't (and in many ways doesn't) work. Overt penis metaphores, giant floating paper mache heads, and Sean Connery in a giant red nappy. Surely a recipy for disaster, no? Actualy no, as it's so off it's own rocker it's never boring or lacking of weirdness to be bad. Whats it about other than equating my manhood to an AK47? God knows, buy the dvd and find out. Utterly perplexing.

Buckaroo Banzai Adventure across the 8th Dimension is the greatest movie you have never watched and you should fix that. Pete Weller plays Buckaroo Banzai, a bushido practicing, trans dimensional rockstar who inadvertenly allows an alien race from another universe to invade earth. From their all hell breaks loose and some of the madest spectacles ever to grace sci-fi ensue. Utterly delirious and worth every penny for the new blu from Arrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 September, 2015, 09:45:29 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 29 September, 2015, 08:59:33 PM
Sometimes it takes a good old genre mash up to truely appreciate how great two franchises are on their own. Wyrmwood Road of the Dead is one of these movies. Functionally, it only exists to make you want to watch Mad Max or read The Walking Dead instead, and it would succed. If it wasn't so damn entertaining in it's own right, as it's one of those movies where, 30 minuets before the end, you wonder weather your just watching this for a laugh or genuinly enjoying yourself. I think it was when they [spoiler]realised they could power a car off the fumes the zombies make[/spoiler] and tooled up that I realised the movie was destined to be a cult classic. Huge fun if you can tune your brain into the right wavelength.

Zardoz shouldn't (and in many ways doesn't) work. Overt penis metaphores, giant floating paper mache heads, and Sean Connery in a giant red nappy. Surely a recipy for disaster, no? Actualy no, as it's so off it's own rocker it's never boring or lacking of weirdness to be bad. Whats it about other than equating my manhood to an AK47? God knows, buy the dvd and find out. Utterly perplexing.

Buckaroo Banzai Adventure across the 8th Dimension is the greatest movie you have never watched and you should fix that. Pete Weller plays Buckaroo Banzai, a bushido practicing, trans dimensional rockstar who inadvertenly allows an alien race from another universe to invade earth. From their all hell breaks loose and some of the madest spectacles ever to grace sci-fi ensue. Utterly delirious and worth every penny for the new blu from Arrow.

I have a copy of Zardoz on a VHS tape. (Remember those!) Purchased from the video rental store roughly 20 yrs ago. Your right, it certainly is bonkers. Like there is guy wearing a towel on his head , I think his name is Nile Buggy who get's shot by who ever Sean Connery is and does this....

I am Arthur Frayn, and I should remind you my beard has only been drawn on by a sharpie

Everything coated or separated from each other in clear plastic like material. I think it's the stuff that can't be understood that spoils this film and the rest is just trippy.

See this film just to find  James Bond (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDDQuavCa3Y) wearing a wedding dress!

I didn't know about this musical or if it's even legit, but that song sounds very familiar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF_pPpMxYlw).

Original film shot entirely in Ireland.

As for Buckaroo-Banzai, how about a revamp or television series. (They did this with Dusk Til Dawn and even improved on it in some parts!) Some of it is good and otherwise lacking. Never getting the attention of other films of the same ilk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 September, 2015, 09:19:20 AM
Woeful 80's monster romp Watchers (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no244-watchers.html) starring Corey Haim and Michael Ironside. And a super intelligent dog that plays Scrabble.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 September, 2015, 05:17:04 PM
I finished work early this afternoon so I finally got around to watching Ex Machina.

It was quite good but a little too downbeat for me to be able to say I really enjoyed it.
I had some problems with the story/direction too.
[spoiler]The main problem for me was the character of Eva and her relationship with the main character. She seemed so robotic to me that, though I could understand some level of empathy, the main character's actions seemed a little unbelievable.
I think if Eva had a little more warmth and the relationship between her and the main character had been shown to have some humour or at least to have some natural flow beyond the 'questions and answers' it would have improved the film. It would certainly have given the ending more impact.[/spoiler]

Having said that, I'd happily watch it again and it was certainly thought provoking in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 September, 2015, 05:27:46 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 September, 2015, 09:57:06 AM
Quote from: radiator on 28 September, 2015, 10:15:42 PM
Quote from: Sideshow Bob on 28 September, 2015, 09:32:09 PM
A bit late to the party,  but am soaking up several movies at the moment due to just getting Amazon Prime.

So I watched Pacific Rim the other night,  and despite expecting to absolutely loath it as ' over blown and ludicrous tripe', I found myself enjoying it immensely. Ok, it's not the greatest film I've ever seen, but it was extremely watchable and thoroughly enjoyable.
Provided that you switch of the real 'thinking part' of the brain, ( and don't question the plot too much ),  relax and immerse yourself in it,  there is a hell of a lot to enjoy here.
Cheers

While you could reasonably argue that one might have to 'switch their brain off' to enjoy a film about giant robots fighting giant monsters in the first place, I don't actually think there's anything wrong with the plot of Pacific Rim. It's simplistic, formulaic, a little derivative and littered with corny dialogue, but to my mind (unlike with certain other giant robot franchises) there aren't any particular plot-holes or logical inconsistencies. As modern popcorn movie scripts go I'd hold Pacific Rim's up as one of the more solid examples. As for being a modern, loud visual effects extravaganza, it's actually pretty restrained, well-paced and surprisingly non headache-inducing.

People tend to talk about it like it's some 'guilty pleasure' film that you have to apologise for liking, but I think it's legitimately decent, and easily my favourite blockbuster of that summer.

Yeah, I love it guilt-free too. It is what it is, and it's a very well crafted example of what it is that stands head and shoulders above a lot of the films it gets lumped in with. Watched it again a couple of weeks ago and it had lost none of that giddy excitement I got the first time I saw it.

I think what I really liked about Pac Rim is that it had three big action set pieces, and while these were pretty over the top, they were also fairly equally spaced within the movie. So many of these big franchise movies - I'm thinking primarily of stuff like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World - just feel like a cluttered sequence of noisy action from start to finish and it all - to me - just becomes a malaise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 September, 2015, 05:29:34 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 30 September, 2015, 09:19:20 AM
Woeful 80's monster romp Watchers (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/no244-watchers.html) starring Corey Haim and Michael Ironside. And a super intelligent dog that plays Scrabble.

I remember that movie. Doesn't Michael Ironside end up getting pinned to a tree with crossbow bolts and set on fire? I wonder if anyone has ever made a supercut of every grisly Ironside death scene?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 September, 2015, 06:05:49 PM
[spoiler]He gets his throat slit, shot a few times and set alight - he is a balding lab experiment after all![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 October, 2015, 07:58:13 PM
Irish drama What Richard Did (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no245-what-richard-did.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 October, 2015, 01:56:53 AM
John Wick - woah! I heard it was good, but wasn't expecting that!! Best Keanu Reeves film since The Matrix. Excellent!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 October, 2015, 10:36:39 AM
Gulf war moralising kidnap drama W.M.D. (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no246-wmd.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 October, 2015, 02:39:17 PM
The Martian. A very good adaptation of the book, however if you've not read the book yet, don't. I think people who've not read the book will enjoy the film much more than those of us that have.

Still it's one of the better films this year and manages to make science sexy again. I'll be seeing it again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 05 October, 2015, 11:04:27 AM
And The Martian for me as well.
Had a couple of spare hours to fill, and this did the job, but it's not great by any stretch.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 05 October, 2015, 11:14:52 AM
kind of a movie spun off from a movie, This is England... the final.

  I followed the series after loving the film to bits very powerful stuff but always managed to get the laughs in making it feel natural...last nights final was not a disappointment ,from the [spoiler]wedding of woody and lol to the final meeting between milky and combo[/spoiler]  shane meadows and the cast (especially joe gilgun) have made you care about the characters and they will be missed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 October, 2015, 11:21:59 AM
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire for me. Bea had been on her hen party the night before and an afternoon in a duvet watching Harry Potter was what she demanded so I obliged!

It was perfect Sunday afternoon couch material really, and I very much enjoyed it. There were a couple of moments of banter between Ron and Harry that got long and hearty laughs out of me and I started to well up a little at Hermoine's party strop. I think despite resisting for so long (and still resisting to some extent through the first 3 films) that I'm now invested in the characters and in it for the long game. Also the addition of the lovely Clemence Poesy to the cast is a boon. Very keen to watch the next one now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 06 October, 2015, 09:44:36 PM
The ghastly and terrible but strangely enjoyable War Pigs (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no247-war-pigs.html) starring Luke Goss from Bros and Mickey Rourke as a Frankenstein faced general. Good fun on the IMDb Comments page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3779300/?ref_=nv_sr_1) too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 07 October, 2015, 09:43:02 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 October, 2015, 09:44:36 PM
The ghastly and terrible but strangely enjoyable War Pigs (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no247-war-pigs.html) starring Luke Goss from Bros and Mickey Rourke as a Frankenstein faced general. Good fun on the IMDb Comments page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3779300/?ref_=nv_sr_1) too.

Were you talking about this on Saturday night..? I have a vague memory of someone telling me about it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2015, 09:44:52 AM
Wanted, which I really enjoyed at the time and haven't watched for years, was pleasantly surprised that I still really enjoyed it, yay! It's all very mad, but I love the 'superheroes with bullet powers' angle and last big action set-piece where McEvoy goes on the rampage is still one of the most thrilling action scenes out there for me. It's ludicrous, but very badass.

And watched the 3D Blu-Ray of Fury Road, which is still a masterpiece. After seeing it a few times in the cinema and then waiting for the home release it was really nice to fire it up and have it all come flooding back. Still an incredible film in every way I can think of. The picture on the 3D Bluray is fantastic, even if the 3D effect itself isn't as impressive as in some others I've watched. Doesn't really matter when it looks this gorgeous though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Citi-Def_Joe on 07 October, 2015, 11:07:15 AM
Got a little caught up the "Spectre" hype and re-watched the 2006 Casino Royale last night, certainly a good film and the reboot Bond needed, but after an explosive start it fizzles out a little in the middle act.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2015, 09:44:52 AM
And watched the 3D Blu-Ray of Fury Road, which is still a masterpiece. After seeing it a few times in the cinema and then waiting for the home release it was really nice to fire it up and have it all come flooding back. Still an incredible film in every way I can think of. The picture on the 3D Bluray is fantastic, even if the 3D effect itself isn't as impressive as in some others I've watched. Doesn't really matter when it looks this gorgeous though.

I am desperate to see Mad Max Fury Road having missed it at the pictures (having a 3 year old girl my cinema trips are limited to the mainly animated/family freindly varity especially after the "you let her watch the Wicker Man?!?!?" debacle of 2014...I thought she was asleep...she wasnt) and that will be my next blu ray purchase. Is it worth shelling out the extra for the 3d version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2015, 11:43:41 AM
Depends how much you like 3D really. I always find 3D Blu-rays to be the best picture around, so if you want it to look as great as possible then it's probably your best bet! That said, it really isn't a film that needs it, and for most of the movie doesn't feel like it's really adding much. Some shots are really eye popping, but having seen it in 2D and 3D I can't say I enjoyed one more than the other. It's a fantastic looking movie either way!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 07 October, 2015, 11:49:29 AM
it's perfect if you got big screen!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 October, 2015, 12:03:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 07 October, 2015, 09:43:02 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 06 October, 2015, 09:44:36 PM
The ghastly and terrible but strangely enjoyable War Pigs (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no247-war-pigs.html) starring Luke Goss from Bros and Mickey Rourke as a Frankenstein faced general. Good fun on the IMDb Comments page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3779300/?ref_=nv_sr_1) too.

Were you talking about this on Saturday night..? I have a vague memory of someone telling me about it...


Yes, you were bemoaning the fact that some sites don't like negative reviews - the W movie Quest has no such qualms or restrictions!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Citi-Def_Joe on 07 October, 2015, 12:28:48 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2015, 11:43:41 AM
Depends how much you like 3D really. I always find 3D Blu-rays to be the best picture around, so if you want it to look as great as possible then it's probably your best bet! That said, it really isn't a film that needs it, and for most of the movie doesn't feel like it's really adding much. Some shots are really eye popping, but having seen it in 2D and 3D I can't say I enjoyed one more than the other. It's a fantastic looking movie either way!

Perfect thank you, yes I generally find 3D picture quality to be very good too, for me 3d is a nice to have rather than an essential, but when its filmed well it can certainly add.

I was hoping there would be some involvement in the extras from Brendan McCarthy (a commentary would have been nice) after hearing him on the Thrillcast, sadly it doesnt seem so from what i have seen looking online
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 October, 2015, 08:15:29 PM
Grim British prison drama We Are Monster (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no248-we-are-monster.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2015, 02:29:17 PM
The bizarre relationship between sex and violence in horror movies is well-documented elsewhere, but there's a kind of weary resignation to the depiction of sex in the later Friday films that's at odds with how movies like the Hills Have Eyes and Evil Dead remakes would later take things to a logical end in fetishising sexual assault just as much as they did graphic dismemberment - the longer in the tooth the Friday franchise gets, the more it seems almost embarrassed by its probably-mandatory titty shots to the point that by the tenth installment they'd been removed altogether, and I can't escape the feeling that while the rest of the horror genre was escalating things to become more gruesome and unpleasant rather than scary, Friday was resigned to becoming a cartoon, complete with indestructible Looney Tunes-style protagonist.  There have been 12 of them so far, and I think it's safe to say that the producers have their process down by now, even when the series takes a leftfield turn into becoming a Hidden knock-off or is In Space Now.
Part 8 -Jason Takes Manhattan - makes you wait quite a while for Jason to actually Take Manhattan, as only the last thirty minutes or so are set in the city, and even then it's just a version that looks like it belongs in one of those Ninja Turtles movies from the 1990s, all bright colours and slimy back alleys full of toxic waste drums.  Some ninjas might have been a fun addition, but as it is, it's probably one of the last times the series was something you could watch either way as something to mock for its terribleness or enjoy as a low-fi meat-and-potatoes slasher flick.
Part 9 - Jason Goes To Hell - also makes you wait quite a bit for Jason to Go To Hell, but while it gets there it's an amusingly grisly trip.  A knock-off of then-recent horror cult classic The Hidden more than it was a traditional Friday movie, it does at least manage to be inventively disgusting, with the heart-eating and dead-mom corpse hijacking bits being standout "urgh!" moments made to gross out the vast majority of the audience who were likely trying to eat their pizza and drink their beer at the time.
Part 9.5 - Freddy Vs Jason - is a hoot, with self-awareness taken to new levels with Freddy at one point looking genuinely pained at the realisation that once removed from a world he fully controls, he's considerably less witty and inventive than he thinks he is.  Confronted with a choice between two victims or one, he resignedly admits that he has to kill the black kid first because them's horror movie rules - it's that kind of film, with the Friday series' sensibility towards the violence and the Nightmare series' approach to inventive deaths and fight scenes.  It's good fun when it finally gets to the Jason/Freddy throwdowns, but Kelly Rowland's acting nearly kills it before it gets that far.
Jason x - In Space Now - doesn't actually take that long to get In Space Now, and is a lot more amusing than I remember.  More inventively stupid than usual, it throws sci-fi cliches like holodecks and cryogenic suspension into the mix and kind of makes me think how so many trashy sci-fi shows of the time could have been vastly improved by dropping CyberJason into them to massacre the cast so the series could be suddenly and definitively cancelled forever - as seems to be the case with Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, as several of the cast members appear in this for some reason, shortly before the series was cancelled forever.  The ending has a cyclic quality to it I didn't remember or expect and which the series probably doesn't deserve, but overall, the film works as a metacommentary on the idea of Jason enduring forever through quirks of reinvention or capricious fate, and is a good cap on the original series before it went all reboot-y on us.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 10 October, 2015, 05:59:19 PM
I notice that What We Do In The Shadows is on Netflix now as not see it before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 10 October, 2015, 08:42:20 PM
The Skin I Live In
Not a massive Almodovar fan, but this was awesome!
Wasn´t expecting that! :o

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 October, 2015, 01:20:12 PM
Almost watched Rollerball, all the way through, but only the first 20 minutes really.

Really, because I have short span of attention sometimes. Some of you may know why I bothered to look up You-Tube for the full version of the film. Since I was currently broke (Yet, not for long!) and just eager to see how the game works from what I watched of it.

Then Google searched for the rules and found this......

Fact-Sheet & Rules of the Game (http://japenet.net/the_rules_of_rollerball.html)

I just wanted to compare it with another game.

Like could you imagine Celts chasing severed head around on frozen pond or small lake with a small island in the middle that is actually in a pit where people can look down from the rim and see the action below. Players access the rink from a tunnel going under the frozen lake back up and out of the centre of the island. Where they use bladed-footwear to skate around after the ball... I mean the disembodied head!

I'm not exactly sure what might pass for motorcycles in those days, but horses may be wrong and then I thought, sled dogs like Huskies. Maybe Wolves, or Wolf-Hounds and even that didn't seem right. 

Heads enter the playing fields by a thrower or a catapult (If they're really lazy!) and I can only assume the goals are either edge of the pit, but down below inside the wall and with some sort of gnarly funnel like contraption to catch the former thinking, seeing, hearing, breathing, talking, eating appendage. Tumbling them all the way back to Cythrawl. Yes, know you all know I'm definitely talking about Slaine now.

It's like killing two birds with one stone......as these heads fly directly down on the capital city of Gulagg making some sort of platter on they're pavements.

Some time earlier this very night as well, I started watching San Andreas with my father and it was already twenty minutes into it. By the time I had got around to watching this and then I sat through the beginning again to see something that could only remind me somebody riding on a dragon to rescue his ex-wife from the top or burning of wicker-man. Which might mean druids have certainly come up a lot in (At a guess...) the last 1500 years all caused by the effects of a miniature Ragnarok type of catastrophe.

Like, I have been thinking that anybody living east of the fault line should move over to the right and keep going until they're in Texas. Yet, maybe the entire continent east of Los-Angeles goes under while the rest becomes it's own small island.

Which leads me to believe if Cathbad and Slough Feg and the other guy with the funny hat are working together.  Kind of like a reversal of three of the five Istari of Middle-Earth, one of which had a falling out with the other two.

The film will be repeating itself all night and until five next morning!

Thanks for putting up with my dribble :D   

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 11 October, 2015, 02:24:12 PM
Alan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold

Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone and James Earl Jones doing great in a low budget Indiana Jones inspired movie

Yeah it's daft and a bit over the top but it always makes me smile and it's got a cracking theme tune
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 October, 2015, 02:56:38 PM
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.

This film was new to me, when I came across it on the Horror channel. When I saw from the sypnosis that it starred Bruce Campbell, I decided to record it. I only got round to watching it recently over two nights. (I was so tired the first night a couple of weeks back, I drifted off during the film. Not due to boredom, this really was a case of the mind being willing but the body was weak.)

It seems this film came out in 1989.

It's basically a kind of horror (although not a particularly scary one) comedy western. Western, in the sense that it plays with Western tropes, i.e. the small town in the West setting, characters, music and gunplay. And a gang of vampires on horseback turn up too.But it's set in the modern (well 80s) day so there are trucks, cars, etc. too.

It is very, very silly. But it KNOWS it is. The affects are pretty bad too but again, they're played for laughs. The premise follows a town in the West which is a last haven for vampires who wish to experience modern life and get along with humans although there are few actual humans in the town. (I think the only ones are those that turn up in the course of the film, namely a man and his family who created the blueprints of a blood substitute machine, three youngsters, and a bumbling descendant of Van Helsing played by Campbell.) They do this with the aid of sunglasses, sunblock and a strange yellow coloured blood substitute. They even sit around in the local diner with their food going mouldy for appearances sake in case any humans pass through. (They don't eat it you see. Why they leave it out for days on end without changing it, I'm not sure. Probably because not all that many humans pass through, and they're lazy, I guess.)

Except of course, there's a large proportion of the vampires who want to go back to the old ways... Kind predictable, I know.

I was amused that the Head Vampire (Count Mardulak) has a surname similar to my own, played by the late great David Carradine*. (I share the first syllable of my surname with the count. It's a happy coincidence that 'Mardroid' is one letter different from a cyborg character in the Dreddverse.)

The film is very silly. The acting is cheesy. It's not a good film, but it is amusing and  I found it entertaining.

As for Campbell, he only turns up some way into the film. It was interesting seeing him play this bumbling clumsy geek character rather than the, well, equally bumbling but generally much more suave and tough characters I seem to associate him with. Okay, that's mainly Ash** (although he's not all that suave) and the Prince of Thieves character from Hercules/Xena. To be fair he has played other kinds of characters.

*Why did you have to die in such a stupid way Mr. Carradine. Dear me.

**Side-note: I am so stoked for the new Ash vs. the Evil Dead series coming to Starz this Halloween! But I don't have Starz! Aaaagh!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 October, 2015, 06:23:43 PM
Headhunters, the big Norwegian Jaime Lannister-starring hit from a few years back, on Netflix.

Wasn't sure what to expect, but had a lot of fun with it. The twisty-turny, convoluted plot is utterly ludicrous - my suspension of disbelief was on a razors edge throughout - but there were enough bonkers set-pieces and crazy shenanigans to keep me hooked. One of those films where it's best to go in totally cold and avoid watching the spoilery trailer.

Well worth a look. Just be prepared to have to concentrate hard to keep up with the crazy plot (and blink and you'll miss 'em subtitles) - and also to let a lot of silliness wash over you, not questioning the plausibility of certain events.

4/5

Big Trouble in Little China

First time watching. This, by any reasonable standard, is not a good film. The dialogue is hilariously bad, the characters broadly drawn, the plot is gibberish. But it just has a winning charm doesn't it? This is largely the result of Kurt Russell's hapless lead character, some great 80s special effects work and some wonderfully funny moments. Was a bit bored for the first half, but by the end I was laughing my arse off and punching the air in delight.

4/5

Not a bad little Saturday night double bill!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 11 October, 2015, 06:31:58 PM
Mad Max Fury Road-a two hour chase that never flags. Really enjoyed it and some great characters, a very 2000ad vibe I felt watching it- post apocalypse dieselpunk on steroids. Some of the scenes are burned into my mind [spoiler]the "tree" sequence especially[/spoiler]. Two hours just flew by. Spray painting your teeth to get into Valhalla never looked so good.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 October, 2015, 11:05:02 PM
It Follows

I was looking forward to this but unfortunately I found it pretty tedious with a horrible, irritating soundtrack.
I'm not sure where all the love for this film comes from. There were some good (but underdeveloped) ideas but there's not much else to recommend it in my opinion. The characters, even for a horror film, are notably one-dimensional.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 October, 2015, 11:12:39 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 October, 2015, 02:56:38 PM
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.

This film was new to me, when I came across it on the Horror channel. When I saw from the sypnosis that it starred Bruce Campbell, I decided to record it. I only got round to watching it recently over two nights. (I was so tired the first night a couple of weeks back, I drifted off during the film. Not due to boredom, this really was a case of the mind being willing but the body was weak.)

It seems this film came out in 1989.

It's basically a kind of horror (although not a particularly scary one) comedy western. Western, in the sense that it plays with Western tropes, i.e. the small town in the West setting, characters, music and gunplay. And a gang of vampires on horseback turn up too.But it's set in the modern (well 80s) day so there are trucks, cars, etc. too.

It is very, very silly. But it KNOWS it is. The affects are pretty bad too but again, they're played for laughs. The premise follows a town in the West which is a last haven for vampires who wish to experience modern life and get along with humans although there are few actual humans in the town. (I think the only ones are those that turn up in the course of the film, namely a man and his family who created the blueprints of a blood substitute machine, three youngsters, and a bumbling descendant of Van Helsing played by Campbell.) They do this with the aid of sunglasses, sunblock and a strange yellow coloured blood substitute. They even sit around in the local diner with their food going mouldy for appearances sake in case any humans pass through. (They don't eat it you see. Why they leave it out for days on end without changing it, I'm not sure. Probably because not all that many humans pass through, and they're lazy, I guess.)

Except of course, there's a large proportion of the vampires who want to go back to the old ways... Kind predictable, I know.

I was amused that the Head Vampire (Count Mardulak) has a surname similar to my own, played by the late great David Carradine*. (I share the first syllable of my surname with the count. It's a happy coincidence that 'Mardroid' is one letter different from a cyborg character in the Dreddverse.)

The film is very silly. The acting is cheesy. It's not a good film, but it is amusing and  I found it entertaining.

As for Campbell, he only turns up some way into the film. It was interesting seeing him play this bumbling clumsy geek character rather than the, well, equally bumbling but generally much more suave and tough characters I seem to associate him with. Okay, that's mainly Ash** (although he's not all that suave) and the Prince of Thieves character from Hercules/Xena. To be fair he has played other kinds of characters.

*Why did you have to die in such a stupid way Mr. Carradine. Dear me.

**Side-note: I am so stoked for the new Ash vs. the Evil Dead series coming to Starz this Halloween! But I don't have Starz! Aaaagh!

David Carradine and assuming your talking about the guy fromKung-Fu, (He has brother called John[/b , I believe!)  I recall reading about how he was found after accidently killing himself doing something. A very embarrassing way to go for such a man and I always thought the lisp (Wether intentional or not!) was a bad idea in for the Kill-Bill films.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 12 October, 2015, 02:25:52 AM
Superior kill fest We Are Still Here (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no249-we-are-still-here.html).
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 October, 2015, 06:35:29 AM
No Country For Old Men.

Hmmm. Lovely cinematography and some great visual storytelling aside, I found it kind of meandering and tedious, and on the whole a very unsatisfying watch.

There is no rhyme nor reason, nor any justice in the world. Is that the point? Cos I really didn't need to sit through a (hugely overlong and indulgent) two hour film to tell me that. Also, I found it way up its own arse for what essentially boils down to a grungy genre chase movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 October, 2015, 07:33:11 AM
I felt the same about No Country for Old Men.
I thought some of the performances were absolutely excellent though - just a shame they weren't part of a more satisfying film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 12 October, 2015, 01:48:13 PM
Glad I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy "no country for old men".  It so often comes up in peoples favourite film list that i thought I was missing something. Left me cold and slightly bored.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 October, 2015, 02:29:41 PM
It's undoubtably a well made movie but a real chore to sit through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 12 October, 2015, 02:41:12 PM
Quote from: radiator on 11 October, 2015, 06:23:43 PM

Big Trouble in Little China

First time watching. This, by any reasonable standard, is not a good film. The dialogue is hilariously bad, the characters broadly drawn, the plot is gibberish. But it just has a winning charm doesn't it? This is largely the result of Kurt Russell's hapless lead character, some great 80s special effects work and some wonderfully funny moments. Was a bit bored for the first half, but by the end I was laughing my arse off and punching the air in delight.

4/5

Not a bad little Saturday night double bill!

One of my favourite films of all time. Russell is perfect as the sidekick that thinks he's the hero. So many quotable lines and never takes itself too seriously.

Part of the Carpenter/Russell trifecta: Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China.

It got a lot of hype in the 80s because it was the first Hollywood film with a predominately Asian cast.

I just hope the rumours of rebooting this film with Dwayne Johnson in the lead never happen.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 October, 2015, 04:26:16 PM
The chase movie, cat and mouse stuff in No Country works great. It could have been a really tight little 90 minute thriller. Just a shame they felt the need to bloat in with so many longwinded nothing scenes, sideplots that go absolutely nowhere and a two fingers to the audience ending. I guess these are the things that distinguish it as 'mature' and 'challenging', rather than, you know, giving the viewer some kind of payoff or resolution for the two hours they just invested.

It's funny how the critical/awards community go bananas about a straight up, lo fi Terminator type slasher B-movie, so long as it is dressed up in highbrow clothing, has 'serious' actors in it and there's a taciturn, world-weary old codger character on hand, whose sole purpose in the film is to deliver monologues and ruminate on events in a portentous way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 12 October, 2015, 07:33:55 PM
Big Trouble In Little China is another hit from the Carpenter/Russell team

They even duet on the end credits song
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 12 October, 2015, 08:21:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 October, 2015, 04:26:16 PM
longwinded nothing scenes, sideplots that go absolutely nowhere and a two fingers to the audience ending. I guess these are the things that distinguish (No Country For Old Men) as 'mature' and 'challenging', rather than, you know, giving the viewer some kind of payoff or resolution for the two hours they just invested.

As you point out, it's a lot like The Terminator - and we both love The Terminator! I moan that genre films I like don't get critical respect - can't we just be happy a genre film based on Hallowe'en's dynamic of building tension that's released through sudden, violent action was up for Oscars?

Most of the problems you had with the film seem to be because of what other people's perceptions led you to expect it to be. Your perception is that critically lauded films force a grand message on the viewer, but No Country For Old Men lets the audience make up their own minds.

The film lays out its stall from the start; Tommy Lee Jones's opening monologue (https://youtu.be/9eZ6EACDKiE?t=31) describes a meaningless act of violence he doesn't understand. A focal character who fears looking too deeply into what's happening would be the end of his own story frees the viewer to enjoy the film on their own terms.

Think of TLJ's character as Sam Elliot's cowboy from The Big Lebowski - the comic relief who bookends the film, shrugging and admitting he doesn't know what any of the preceding events mean. If that's a bit glib, try him as an analogue of the Coen's other rural cop who can't fathom the point of human evil*:


(http://i.imgur.com/vrpgsep.jpg?3)

(http://i.imgur.com/SkXCgYA.png?2)


* The corrupting power of money to negate characters' essential humanity is a theme which runs through Llewyn Davis, Barton Fink, Blood Simple, and most of the Coens' films, serious or comic
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 12 October, 2015, 10:43:15 PM
Ive heard a few folks react negatively to that particular Coen Brothers film, but for me No Country for Old Men is just perfection. An absolute brilliant piece of cinema.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 October, 2015, 11:00:24 PM
QuoteMost of the problems you had with the film seem to be because of what other people's perceptions led you to expect it to be. Your perception is that critically lauded films force a grand message on the viewer, but No Country For Old Men lets the audience make up their own minds.

Not really, I didn't really know much about Country except for who was in it.

QuoteThe film lays out its stall from the start; Tommy Lee Jones's opening monologue describes a meaningless act of violence he doesn't understand

I get all that - I just thought it made for a totally underwhelming narrative. I'm not saying I want a conventional 'good guys win' ending - far from it. But when I sit down to watch a two hour film I want something, not for it to just shrug and give up, for example [spoiler]killing the main character (who we've been following for most of the film) offscreen[/spoiler]. I get the point it was making, but I still can't see it as anything other than a giant 'fuck you' to the audience. Literally anyone could come up with an ending like that. It's not big or clever. Likewise going to the trouble of [spoiler]setting up another lead character in the second act only to kill him offhand, pretty much rendering all of his scenes and actions pointless and redundant[/spoiler].

I totally saw the parallels between Country and Fargo and Marge Gunderson/Tommy Lee Jone's Sheriff and their resigned conclusions, but the key difference for me was that Fargo was a far, far more accomplished film. It had heart and characters I cared about. Most importantly, it didn't waste my time.

Quotecan't we just be happy a genre film based on Hallowe'en's dynamic of building tension that's released through sudden, violent action was up for Oscars?

What irks me is the hypocrisy, and this snobbish distinction between 'movies' (lowbrow trash) and 'films' (art).  A good film is a good film. Imho people are also too quick to praise something as profound or artistic just because its deliberately obtuse or open to interpretation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 13 October, 2015, 02:18:14 PM
It's been comedy season in the McNasty house.

Vacation A sequel/remake of the National Lampoon's movie - a description which should send you running to the hills - but is in fact brilliant. Very dark humour, crude, offensive. Worth a watch as long as you can stomach plenty of paedo jokes.

It's a Disaster A considerably more mature comedy about a group of friends who get stuck in a house during an apocalyptic type event. It's This is the End for adults. Great script and worth a watch.

Get Hard Will Ferrell & Kevin Hart star in a Will Ferrell movie that pretty much does everything you need it do. Funny and worth a watch.

The Wedding Ringer Kevin Hart again. Has a hint of The Hangover to it. Thumbs up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 October, 2015, 05:11:28 PM
The Martian - Not as good as the book! But if I hadn't been able to make that comparison it would have been unreserved love I am sure. Not anything like as tense as Gravity and never quite captures the loneliness of being on Mars, but never drags despite being over 2 hours long. Easily Ridley Scott's best movie for a decade or more.

Sean Bean is a little out of place though and I love me a bit of Sharpe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 October, 2015, 06:57:27 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 13 October, 2015, 05:11:28 PM
The Martian - Not as good as the book! But if I hadn't been able to make that comparison it would have been unreserved love I am sure. Not anything like as tense as Gravity and never quite captures the loneliness of being on Mars, but never drags despite being over 2 hours long. Easily Ridley Scott's best movie for a decade or more.

Sean Bean is a little out of place though and I love me a bit of Sharpe.

I felt the same way. If I hadn't read the book I would have enjoyed it even more.

The Arrival - Charlie Sheen is a radio astronomer that discovers 42 seconds of alien communication, but no one wants to know. Conspiracies abound and Ron Silver is suitably villainous.

Alien Nation - Alien slaves arrive in the US and are given equality. Racist (alienist?) cop James Caan is teamed with alien detective Mandy Patinkin to solve a murder. A great film really.

The Rocketeer - Rocket pack. Check. Nazi spies. Check. Pulp fiction action. Check. I can't be objective about this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2015, 07:16:53 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 October, 2015, 06:57:27 PM
...teamed with alien detective Mandy Patinkin...

How did I not realise this. Going to have to have a rewatch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 October, 2015, 10:36:30 PM
British bad slags, gangster revenge thriller We Still Kill the Old Way (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no250-we-still-kill-old-way.html) with Ian 'The Saint' Ogilvy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 13 October, 2015, 11:30:07 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 13 October, 2015, 07:16:53 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 October, 2015, 06:57:27 PM
...teamed with alien detective Mandy Patinkin...

How did I not realise this. Going to have to have a rewatch!

Mandy Patinkin the Spaniard

You Killed My father....Prepare to die
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 October, 2015, 05:11:04 AM
World War Z. Wow that's some nonsense right there. Despite some visually impressive sequences and a strong cast, the lack of any consistency in the threat itself (even how the zombies look is different scene to scene), the relentless sequence of improbable coincidences, and even-more-than-usual gross stupidity of supposedly smart and experienced characters just drag it down into frustration for me. I quite admire the attempt to do a gore-free action adventure take on the zombie apocalypse, but the result just isn't worth the effort. I did enjoy imagining Brad's horrified reaction when he wakes up[spoiler] in the Welsh WHO (geddit) facility[/spoiler] and sees Capaldi standing over him: 'F**k no, I've been captured by Malcom Tucker'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 14 October, 2015, 06:23:55 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 14 October, 2015, 05:11:04 AM
World War Z. Wow that's some nonsense right there. Despite some visually impressive sequences and a strong cast, the lack of any consistency in the threat itself (even how the zombies look is different scene to scene), the relentless sequence of improbable coincidences, and even-more-than-usual gross stupidity of supposedly smart and experienced characters just drag it down into frustration for me. I quite admire the attempt to do a gore-free action adventure take on the zombie apocalypse, but the result just isn't worth the effort. I did enjoy imagining Brad's horrified reaction when he wakes up[spoiler] in the Welsh WHO (geddit) facility[/spoiler] and sees Capaldi standing over him: 'F**k no, I've been captured by Malcom Tucker'.

This was one of those films I really wanted to see this in the theatres as I was impressed by the trailer for it and then disappointed after finally seeing this on the Box-Office channel. I didn't even bother watching this properly. I do recall asking on this very forum wether to see this film or Pacific Rim or another big-Sci-fi film showing at around about the same time and not seeing ether of these until their secondary media release.

I remember buying the Pacific Rim DvD on the very same day I got my Go Master-Card and my brand new computer was ordered late 2013.

Anyway, I though this film was very uninspiring and it barely held my attention for long.

Not sure what TB means by Dr Who reference, but I did look up Malcom Tucker and wondered if Peter Capaldi is any funnier in this political satire (Not known to me!) than he's tries to be in Dr Who when he attempts to mimic the comical charm of some of the better and better known Doctors.

Sorry, to be mean...but, (As I did have high hopes for him based on the hyped and advertisement!)  he seemed like he decided to adlib in his debut episode and wasn't all that prepared. Since that episode , I haven't bother tracking the show enough to stay tuned each week, but did notice some improvement wen he encounters badly dressed Robin Hood. I think more suited to serious stuff that I might find boring, but that 's just my opinion.

As for the Zombie Apocalypse...I like to see this done in Game of Thrones. or have they already? I do remember the episode where young Stark or Liennister fellow gets stabbed to death by his own. I was wondering if they should have some powerful Liche villain creating the undead or maybe there is....the White-Walkers. I was thinking of something more powerful and a lot smarter, something that  know to stay out of the close quarter combat.     

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 October, 2015, 01:40:31 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 October, 2015, 11:00:24 PM
QuoteMost of the problems you had with the film seem to be because of what other people's perceptions led you to expect it to be. Your perception is that critically lauded films force a grand message on the viewer, but No Country For Old Men lets the audience make up their own minds.

Not really, I didn't really know much about Country except for who was in it.

QuoteThe film lays out its stall from the start; Tommy Lee Jones's opening monologue describes a meaningless act of violence he doesn't understand

I get all that - I just thought it made for a totally underwhelming narrative. I'm not saying I want a conventional 'good guys win' ending - far from it. But when I sit down to watch a two hour film I want something, not for it to just shrug and give up, for example [spoiler]killing the main character (who we've been following for most of the film) offscreen[/spoiler]. I get the point it was making, but I still can't see it as anything other than a giant 'fuck you' to the audience. Literally anyone could come up with an ending like that. It's not big or clever. Likewise going to the trouble of [spoiler]setting up another lead character in the second act only to kill him offhand, pretty much rendering all of his scenes and actions pointless and redundant[/spoiler].

I totally saw the parallels between Country and Fargo and Marge Gunderson/Tommy Lee Jone's Sheriff and their resigned conclusions, but the key difference for me was that Fargo was a far, far more accomplished film. It had heart and characters I cared about. Most importantly, it didn't waste my time.

Quotecan't we just be happy a genre film based on Hallowe'en's dynamic of building tension that's released through sudden, violent action was up for Oscars?

What irks me is the hypocrisy, and this snobbish distinction between 'movies' (lowbrow trash) and 'films' (art).  A good film is a good film. Imho people are also too quick to praise something as profound or artistic just because its deliberately obtuse or open to interpretation.

I like Coen brothers films (and have outright loved some of them) but something I always sense in their writing style is that feeling that they're just making it up as they go along. I never feel like they've had a structure or arc in mind when they write, and if they do they must lose interest in it as they go. It means their stuff can go off on some entertaining tangents, but also means they have a tendency to fizzle out or go down blind alleys in my opinion. Still enjoy a lot of them though.

And I'm with you on the snobbery thing, there's a real double standard when it comes to film criticism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 October, 2015, 04:19:17 PM
Finally watch What We Do In Shadows on Netflix last night.

Bloody loved it!! So funny! Great cast! Loved Petyr!

Good luck to Taika Waititi (Viago the vampire) the director for next film Thor 3!

(https://38.media.tumblr.com/347ee484898631802ea063faa2266307/tumblr_nhxgu9SiVo1tb087ko1_400.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 14 October, 2015, 10:42:46 PM
The World's End

Despite having followed the Cornetto trio from the year dot it took me over two years to finally sit down with World's End. Between its release and now a lot of stuff had filtered through to me - some negative, some positive.

I enjoyed it, though. A lot more concise than the fun but rambling Hot Fuzz and the sci-fi turn was sudden and stupendous. The fight scenes are bombastically choreographed and tremendous and the lingering tension between the five musketeers is dynamite. Really it's a very mature film for the crew - darker and more melancholic generally. This may have put some folk off but I imagine... but those guys WERE nearly forty when they made this and I suppose they themselves were all "re-treading the Golden Mile" trying to repeat the popular formula they'd been riding since their youth.  I think there's a nicely reflective element to the whole endeavour that makes it oddly moving. Also Wright's direction was notably calmer, his jump cuts less intrusive. A few of the minor twists in it were as obvious as all hell but ... to err is human.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IronGraham on 16 October, 2015, 09:08:02 AM
Just saw What we do in the shadows, really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 October, 2015, 10:20:59 AM
I loved The World's End myself, it felt in a lot of ways like their most well rounded and cohesive film, and the themes really struck a nerve so I found it surprisingly touching. My gut reaction when it ended was that I'd enjoyed it more than Hot Fuzz, but time will tell.

Very glad to see What We Do In The Shadows pop up on Netflix, watched it immediately and very, very much enjoyed it. So many great quotable moments, it's one that'll have a long rewatch life over the years I'm sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2015, 10:46:01 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 14 October, 2015, 06:23:55 AM
Not sure what TB means by Dr Who reference, but I did look up Malcom Tucker and wondered if Peter Capaldi is any funnier in this political satire (Not known to me!) than he's tries to be in Dr Who when he attempts to mimic the comical charm of some of the better and better known Doctors.

in WWZ Capaldi is listed in cast as "W.H.O. doctor" (i.e. World Health Organisation) - months before he got the Dr Who role. Coincidence or Cosmic Omen.....?

I loved Thick of It, but as a topical satire about British politics a lot of the references may mean nothing to you - Capaldi is hilarious as the evil, foul mouthed bully of a political spin-doctor. Probably easier than tracking down the TV series, is to find the movie spin-off In the Loop - in which Malcolm Tucker and others go to Washington and butt heads with a US general played by James "Tony Soprano" Gandolfini
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 October, 2015, 07:10:10 PM
Modern monster movie Wer (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no251-wer.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mabs on 16 October, 2015, 08:54:16 PM
Pinapple Express; if you want to warn your kids about the dangers of drugs, show them this film!  :lol:

Absolutely laughed my socks off. James Franco steals the show though, a brilliant turn from him.

Also, The Machine; I had me reservations about this film when it was touted as the 'British Bladerunner' (nothing compares to Bladerunner!), but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Ex-Machina is far better, but this film does have some good things going for it, although the Vangelis like synth score was pushing it a bit at times (yes we know you like Bladerunner Mr. Director).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Citi-Def_Joe on 18 October, 2015, 12:47:33 PM
Finally watched Mad Max Fury Road last night on Bluray 3D
Wow  :o an absolutely amazing visual onslaught from the very beginning
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 October, 2015, 02:35:24 PM
Drive.

I missed the start, unfortunately, but I got the general gist.

Wow. A brutal but interesting* film.

The tone of the film leant by the pacing, reactions and background score was rather unique. It did not have the feel of most American Films that I have seen. This is not a bad thing, but neither do I mean that as a criticism of those other films.

*Not that 'brutality' and 'interesting' are mutually exclusive. But he violence seriously shocked me and made me exclaim out loud. But this is not a bad thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 18 October, 2015, 03:10:17 PM
Super-High Me a documentary about a man who quits smoking Weed for a month, does some tests, then smokes as much as he can for a month.

Anyone familiar with 'Smoking' can plainly see the guy seldom inhales, preferring instead to hold the smoke in his mouth before letting it gush forth like a naughty 12yr trying their first Ciggie.

Absolute Crap!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 October, 2015, 03:20:04 PM
Watched this Australian film called  Satellite-Boy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Boy) about these young boys who travel from they're tribal land to city to appeal to owner of some development company to not build on their land. They're most commonly called Aborigines where I later learned that just Australian Natives might be more accurate. Otherwise, there is no one name for these people who to my knowledge don't have a better name to be known by because they're a many tribes that have just many dialects of their own language. Probably a reason it's never been taught at schools. There is no such thing as Australian-Native-Basic this probably goes as well for Africans and American and Canadian Indians.

I won't give much more away about this film other than you don't know how dangerous these young boy become when they make petrol bombs to throw at a old beat up van left out in the middle of no where and when one of them finds a loaded gun inside house that had it's door left open by the owner when they weren't there.

The terms Walkabout and Dream-Time could be used to described their journey and their hidden wisdom when they're bike tyres get punctured by some broken glass thrown off the back of a passing truck. 

One of them sticks some dried grass into the inner-tube and it's fixed and they continue on they quest.

Weird Science classic film from the 80's with a very imature Robert Downey Jr and Anthony M. Hall and that fellow who was one of the well known henchmen from Mad Max Two. Still sporting a impressive a Mo-hawk and wearing something very similar to his get up from the cult [b[]Australian[/b] film. Kelly Le Brock is very well known in this one and the only I might tolerate her smarmy femi superority are looks and physique, but only back in those days. I almost forgot Bills Paxton who I can't find much fault with after finding his bed room snowing on the inside.   

Euro-Trip The cast entirely unknown to me except for a more attractive and mature Michelle Trachenberg. My only reason for not liking her in was the way she had been magically inserted into the Fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her almost unfathombly long neck. She had shown definite signs of improvement here as one of her male buddies searches for love of good foreign woman, along with her twin brother and somebody else. I'm not talking about anything rude here unless you count their passing through Amsterdam on the way to Berlin after the main protagonist's much younger brother using his superior knowledge of the German language decipher dirty transcript he though he had be receiving from some German guy which turns out to be coming from his very attractive sister. So, he takes atrip with his friends to find his woman. I could on and on about stuff that appeals to me and recognised in this film, but will just stop here. I didn't know if he got his girl in the end or what. You know how I watch these films these days.

Almost watched another Bill Paxton and Charlise Theron film about giant gorilla but it was just few moments before I found something else to watch. Although, I did watch almost in it's entirety a few months early this year and had made plans to share my review here with yous, but kept procrastinating about this. All I know now, is that attractive blonde made some allusion to her future role in Monster while sitting in the passenger seat of a conveyance with the villain of the piece. A classic European example who also in the film above this one. I also had some parallels running between this film and Mad Max Four - Fury-Road. This beauty has aged well.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 18 October, 2015, 05:16:42 PM
Decent icy horror/monster movie Wendigo (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no252-wendigo.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 October, 2015, 05:43:36 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 October, 2015, 05:16:42 PM
Decent icy horror/monster movie Wendigo (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no252-wendigo.html).
Yeah, an odd one this. Saw it on Horror Channel not long ago and found it a surreal viewing experience too say the least.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 October, 2015, 07:03:00 PM
Black Sea

I enjoyed it. Mrs X and I are partial to a bit of submarine tension. And Jude Law's Scottish accent was, I thought, excellent - more authentic than most of Sean Connery's accents!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 19 October, 2015, 10:56:19 AM
Jurassic World, well I liked it but cant remember much about it so cant of been that good or maybe my mind was too tied up with what we watched afterwards.
Available on Netflix I think it has had a very limited Cinema release in the US - Beasts of no Nation, absolutely dark soul destroying story of a boy in an African country (not named) who is take as a child, brutalized brainwashed and turned into a child soldier. the story then follows him and the Commandant (Idris Elba absolutely killing it) the leader of the army he's part of as they do all sorts of horrible stuff for the leader of this nation, more occurs but I wont spoil anything here.  This kid is maybe 10 - 12 years old and it is totally horrifying what he gets turned into, be prepared to hate the world and all it's evils.  Real eye opener but just don't watch it if you are already depressed or feeling down.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 20 October, 2015, 01:40:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 18 October, 2015, 05:43:36 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 October, 2015, 05:16:42 PM
Decent icy horror/monster movie Wendigo (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no252-wendigo.html).
Yeah, an odd one this. Saw it on Horror Channel not long ago and found it a surreal viewing experience too say the least.

I read a comic about the making of Wendigo once... ;-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 October, 2015, 10:07:17 PM
Crimson Peak - v.enjoyable gothic rompyness. May be too hammy for some, I don't feel it's any hammier than Eyre, Austen or their ilk are at even the best of times - and they were certainly never as pretty as this movie is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 October, 2015, 10:50:13 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 20 October, 2015, 10:07:17 PM
Crimson Peak - v.enjoyable gothic rompyness. May be too hammy for some, I don't feel it's any hammier than Eyre, Austen or their ilk are at even the best of times - and they were certainly never as pretty as this movie is.

For me, this is vying for the place of Movie of the Year with Fury Road.
I absolutely loved it. It was the kind of movie that pushed all the correct buttons with me.
Although, I should balance that with one son saying 'meh' and the other demanding I pay him back the two hours of his life I have just taken from him.

Both are wrong, obviously, it is superb. Du Maurier by way of Hammer Horror. And from me there is no higher praise. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2015, 10:57:19 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 20 October, 2015, 10:50:13 PM
Both are wrong, obviously, it is superb. Du Maurier by way of Hammer Horror. And from me there is no higher praise.
'Sudden sharp increase in interest to go and see Crimson Peak'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 October, 2015, 11:09:17 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 October, 2015, 10:57:19 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 20 October, 2015, 10:50:13 PM
Both are wrong, obviously, it is superb. Du Maurier by way of Hammer Horror. And from me there is no higher praise.
'Sudden sharp increase in interest to go and see Crimson Peak'

Really... time and again while watching I was so reminded of Rebecca...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mikey on 21 October, 2015, 09:20:33 AM
I went to see Crimson Peak last night as it happens.

It looked as lush as you'd expect from Del Toro and the opening sequence was excellent. I also thought the building mystery about the Baronet was well done, though I was initially wrong footed by how straight the film was playing it (another plus). Once I was comfortable with what exactly it was doing I settled into it some more. However, that was one of the problems I had - it was riffing on so many things I found it a bit distracting at times.

The effects were overall well done, but I found it fell inbetween a full on Del Toro weirdy fest and the 'realism' of the melodramas that it sought to evoke. Another problem for me was, in yer actual melodramas (I'm looking at you Rebecca, obviously), the house intially provides sanctuary that is gradually eroded by the events. Which brings me to the nub of it for me - it didn't have the heart for want of a better word found in Del Toro's best, or indeed many of the melodramas. Also, and I say this all the time so it's probably just me, it was too long. The New York sequence was of course necessary, but outstayed its welcome for me.

So overall, it was ok I suppose.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 October, 2015, 10:42:42 AM
I settled in to be disappointed by the NY section overstaying its welcome, but was pleasantly surprised by how I never quite got tired of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 October, 2015, 09:29:25 PM
Escape From the Planet of the Apes

The tone of this film is all over the shop - but to be fair to it the cringy extremely dated rollick of "WHAT IF THEM FUTUREAPES CAME BACK TO NOW?!" gradually darkens into what is quite a harrowing finale.

However it feels like a lot of it is simply window-dressing and the strong dramatic core of the idea that's still present in the bold conclusion is lost in nonsense before that. Although Ricardo Mantalban yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 October, 2015, 12:23:10 PM
Last night I watched Housebound on the recommendation of a friend.
Absolutely loved it. A real 'instant classic' in my book and something I'm sure I'll watch again.
I'm not sure exactly how I'd categorise it - horror? thriller? black comedy? Probably a bit of all three.

If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it. I'd say it's one of those films that's best to go into knowing as little as possible.
It's on Netflix. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 October, 2015, 03:49:40 PM
Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a great movies, my second or third favourite in all the Ape iterations.

I watched Mad Max for the first time in quite some time last night (I've bought the Mad Max Anthology with all 4 films and a bonus documentary, a great deal at £21) and I really enjoyed it... kinda. Its a rambling, meandering mess of a film and I'd forgotten quite how much of what I remember of it is crammed into the final 20 minutes. It would be quite easy to pick it apart and dissect it to the point were it lost any semblance of what its meant to be. Which is a an examination of the dehumanisation of a man in a broken world.

Yes its low budget, yes at times its pretty amateur and it does feel very dated, but by heck its never anything other than enjoyable and at times compelling. I remember it being much more violent and grizzly and was surprised how much of what I 'recall' actually doesn't happen on camera and is only implied. Its not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but its defo a good entertaining one, that at times might have even got kinda close to being thought provoking.

Really excited about whats up next, not seen that one in quite some time either... and the third one can't be a turgid and messy as I remember, surely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 October, 2015, 07:06:59 PM
Wrap your goggles around a Mad Max fanfilm.  You know you want to. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFDAJep1jo)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 October, 2015, 09:53:47 PM
Well just watched The Road Warrior, as I said last time, for the first time in quite some years, though as this is the Mad Max film I've returned to much more than any of the others my memories of it were much clearer (except again the iconic truck battle at the end is short than I remembered.)

Anyway I was worried that this film might not fare as well as recollections, as I bloody loved this movie BUT in light of Fury Road thought it might now appear dated and a little tame. Not a bit of it I'm very happy to report, its bloody magnificent. Like the best Sci-fi the design is strong enough to remain timeless and yes if at times it looks a little creeky around the edges, I'm thinking the settlers more 'white clad look' over all the setting and environment of the movie makes everything forgivable and the look of the film remains fantastic to ths day.

It just bloody doesn't let up either. It cracks right into things and just like Fury Road, it just keeps cranking it out from there. Telling story, underlying themes and ideas, but never, never letting up. It keeps you engaged, entertained and is more successful than the first in being smart.

Its just the bloody good film I remember it being. Which was a relief!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 October, 2015, 03:14:40 AM
Was looking forward to the Jurassic-World film the since I missed it at the theatre's earlier this year and was thrilling (Word used near the start of the film!) to find this on the Box-office channel.

Watched it was my dad and found it very hard to get into. Didn't really get that the special was that much bigger than it's less meddled hatchlings. Yes, I could see that it w as big, and yet I didn't feel they used any special movie tricks to point his out more and might be that I just couldn't pay enough attention.

I did like that it mirrored the very first film in one scene where I think the two brothers were being harassed by the large one while they were using the see-thru-spherical which brought me back to the four-wheel-jeep on rails. I think all this film needed was some....

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSeH1XrG-DsHILlZLwFldvQoqXPx41fJceQo1So1kc73i9zAJP)(http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/5/56/Sam_neil-1-.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120415163231)

If they were not already killed off in previous instalments and about Richie Cuttingham's daughter....wow!!!!

I never saw that part where all the flying ones got electricuted , but the exploding helicopter made me chuckle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 October, 2015, 01:37:11 PM
Birdman.

What a load of crap.

Actually, I only managed about 15minutes before I had to turn it off. Horrible pretentious rubbish. The experimental jazz soundtrack should've served as a warning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 October, 2015, 05:25:29 PM
The Rover

Watching a film right now....hasn't finished yet and it's set in the some of the more desolate small towns of Australia outback and it has Guy Pearce and Glitter-Boy from Twilight.

He's certainly shown another side I haven't seen of him, kind of half baked. Not his usual suave stuff and Guy Pearce looks very wrecked compare to how he usual looks on the sliver screen or may be this is how he is always before his morning coffee. 

I believe somebody else here was talking about this one earlier, a few months back, I reckon.

Very interesting film, and I'm just wondering right now, what if the last Mad Max film was made with the  same amount of reality as this one.

[spoiler]One of them just got shot.......[/spoiler]


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 October, 2015, 08:26:15 PM
Indie style, not funny US comedy
Walter (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no254-walter.html).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2015, 08:28:36 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 23 October, 2015, 09:53:47 PM
It just bloody doesn't let up either. It cracks right into things and just like Fury Road, it just keeps cranking it out from there. Telling story, underlying themes and ideas, but never, never letting up. It keeps you engaged, entertained and is more successful than the first in being smart.

Its just the bloody good film I remember it being. Which was a relief!
Couldn't agree more. Watched The Road Warrior again last night and it still manages to hold a candle to Fury Road, which despite remarkably being the better movie is still an accomplishment.

I also watched Escape From New York, which though hold up fairly well is still ludicrously dated and hilariously daft at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 24 October, 2015, 08:53:16 PM
Mad Max:  Fury Road

Well executed, looked great.  Bored me to tears.  Really looked forward to seeing this, but massively disappointed.  It's an action movie, so things blow up a lot, and that's fair enough.  But about 2/3 of the way in, I got kinda immune to the 'spectacle' of shit blowing up.  There was no connection to the characters for me, and I have to admit I didn't care who lived or died from a very early stage.  About the only interesting character was Nicholas Hoult, who was rather good in transitioning from War Boy to Renegade, to Hero.  Other than that, pretty much a 'meh' film for me.

Jurassic World

Exactly what I expected.  Utter pap.

Monsters Dark Continent

A very confused film.  Is it a Godzilla pic?  Is it a survivor pic?  Is it the Hurt Locker??  I dunno, and I'm not sure it did either.  Well shot and all, but dunno what the hell to make of it.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 October, 2015, 09:55:44 PM
Jurassic World - bit disappointed the T-Rex and the velociraptor didn't bump fists at the end, but otherwise a solid update.  Chris Pratt isn't as annoying as usual, so that's a plus, but was that woman's elaborate death really necessary?  And I'm sorry, but "we are going to use dinosaurs as soldiers" (https://youtu.be/rS_m3OG9n-8?t=1m11s) is a stupid plot idea.  If I was making films about dinosaurs and you suggested this and you weren't drunk and/or Roger Corman I would slap you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 October, 2015, 12:11:32 AM
Quote from: Zombear on 24 October, 2015, 09:55:44 PM
And I'm sorry, but "we are going to use dinosaurs as soldiers" (https://youtu.be/rS_m3OG9n-8?t=1m11s) is a stupid plot idea.  If I was making films about dinosaurs and you suggested this and you weren't drunk and/or Roger Corman I would slap you.

That might have been my idea, does that make it sound any better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 October, 2015, 12:38:55 AM
Quote from: Zombear on 24 October, 2015, 09:55:44 PM
Jurassic World - bit disappointed the T-Rex and the velociraptor didn't bump fists at the end, but otherwise a solid update.  Chris Pratt isn't as annoying as usual, so that's a plus, but was that woman's elaborate death really necessary?  And I'm sorry, but "we are going to use dinosaurs as soldiers" (https://youtu.be/rS_m3OG9n-8?t=1m11s) is a stupid plot idea.  If I was making films about dinosaurs and you suggested this and you weren't drunk and/or Roger Corman I would slap you.

This review makes it sound like Danger 5 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1811683/?ref_=ttep_ep3) without the self awareness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 25 October, 2015, 12:54:58 AM
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection of F

I have to say this was a big step down from Battle of Gods. There just wasn't any real sense of fun, nor was there any real sense of threat.

I think I was most annoyed with [spoiler]Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form not being explained or justified at all. At least in BoG Goku had to work his way into Super Saiyan God through the progression of the story. So there's a satisfactory payoff when he achieves it. This time, not at all. [/spoiler]

Really disappointing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 October, 2015, 08:44:13 AM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 25 October, 2015, 12:54:58 AM
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection of F

I have to say this was a big step down from Battle of Gods. There just wasn't any real sense of fun, nor was there any real sense of threat.

I think I was most annoyed with [spoiler]Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form not being explained or justified at all. At least in BoG Goku had to work his way into Super Saiyan God through the progression of the story. So there's a satisfactory payoff when he achieves it. This time, not at all. [/spoiler]

Really disappointing.

Used to watch the original cartoon when it was in it's hey day back in 2002 for 6 months straight every morning while living in caravan park  near Cronulla in Sydney.

No cable television, (I guess!) is at least better than no television at all.

I didn't do much else at the time in those days and would then proceed to play Dark Cloud alternated with Pigs of War (With the late [n]Rick[/b] from the Young Ones voice over that Your doing a man's job! over and over again is better and funnier than you may think it is!)

I didn't think the cartoon was that bad back then and a better alternative to Pokémon. Each episode seemed to revolve more around flexing muscles and seeing who could best who in a one on one duel than any type of story and was still enjoyed.

Brought one of the fighting games for PSTWO and kind of like it, but I don't use that console any more.

Didn't think much of the live action film, it was coloured by numbers while me leaving me thinking they might bothered with the live action at all. The humour and the funny voices, I don't think they were transferred quit how I like.

As for Justine Chatwin....Goko, he is not!

 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 October, 2015, 02:18:06 PM
As they are all the rage at the minute, The Back to the Future trilogy....
And, why not. Good fun films.

And a bit of a Hammer fest, as Ive purchased the Arrow release of The Hounds of the Baskervilles, amongst a few other vintage Hammer Blu-rays.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 October, 2015, 04:04:31 PM
Quote from: Zombear on 24 October, 2015, 09:55:44 PMAnd I'm sorry, but "we are going to use dinosaurs as soldiers" (https://youtu.be/rS_m3OG9n-8?t=1m11s) is a stupid plot idea.  If I was making films about dinosaurs and you suggested this and you weren't drunk and/or Roger Corman I would slap you.

In the context of the movie world itself, it's not that stupid.  Dinotroopers are something proposed by one clearly insane and not terribly bright individual, everyone else involved with the dinos agrees that it's madness, including the senior Ingen personnel, and the only one who seems happy to go along is Dr Wu, who just wants the opportunity to continue making the crayzee-est shit imaginable.  And anyway, as Wu points out, none of the creatures on the island are actually dinosaurs: they're lab creations tailor-made for entertainment value.   So why not try to salvage what is presently a loss-making operation by expanding your market to include the $600-billion US Defense budget? 

Personally I can't wait to see these ideas teased out in the sequel.

I'm not really sure what people wanted from JPIV (surely not a sensible plot?), seeing as JPI-III had already tackled so many action sub-genres: JPI is a slicky-made monster movie set in a zoo with a nice SF concept which is fullty played out by the end; JPII is a lost-world explorers film with a messy ecological fable thrown in; JPIII is a sraightforward jungle survival movie where unlikely companions learn to work together, with pretty much no subplot or subtext.  Jurassic World is a disaster-slash-monster movie set in a theme park, with Dr Moreau overtones and some kind of a message about treating animals as animals, and it's a perfectly good one of those. 


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 October, 2015, 04:51:50 PM
Final Destination 5 somehow.

Actually it was good fun. Nicely realised opening disaster, two great suspenseful kills (some of the others are a bit rushed) and at least one twist I didn't see coming (and one I did).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 October, 2015, 06:39:34 PM
I've still to get to Final Destination, as it sits on my dvd pile of horror flicks to watch as we approach Halloween, but every time I try to watch it, I bung on something else as it's a film called FINAL Destination that has four sequels.

Tomorrowland - good to see a director that knows about things like timing, pacing, and making sense of an action scene rather than just shaking the camera and leaving it at that, and the story is a real throwback to old-school 1980s kids' films.  I can see why some have said it feels like a live-action animated film, but it does have some problems with tone, like all the comedy cops that keep getting murdered and the human/robot love thing where George Clooney plays the love interest and makes me feel Hollywood is now taking the young woman/older male lead thing much too far.  Is Nix really a "bad" guy, too?  [spoiler]He just seems to have given up on people, and his Monitor/transmitter thing isn't really clarified - the film explains that he tried to help people initially by showing them the future, but it doesn't really explain if he's deliberately trying to cause doomsday by not turning the Monitor off, and Hugh Laurie doesn't seem to play things as straightforward villainy, so his comeuppance again just seems... undeserved, especially with sentiments like "genuinely good to see you again, Frank."[/spoiler]  And why would a cop think a robot head would be out of place in a sci-fi collectibles store?  How does no-one see three cops being murdered on a main street in broad daylight by a man with a laser gun?  I'm also not sure those "interactive advertisement" pins won't get a whole bunch of people killed, or why some of Tomorrowland seems run-down, or where all the people are - what is Nix "saving", exactly?  The lead actress is annoying, too, though I grant you that might be overspill from her starring in utterly terrible tv shows playing unlikeable characters, and Clooney's love interest is variable so only good sometimes, but her English accent seems a bit odd.  Clooney is Clooney.
Apart from that, fun film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 October, 2015, 10:17:57 PM
Well Beyond Thunderdome wasn't as bad as I remember, though I've only seen it all once before and was so disappointed haven't seen it in its entirity since. This time I quite enjoyed it, but its a film with many flaws and is for me by far the weakest of the trilogy (that is no more). It all kinda makes sense, in terms of what needed to be told next in the movies. If the first film was the dehumanisation of a man, the second the start of hope as a world rebuilds, all be it a very bloody and messy rebirth it offers humanity a second chance. So therefore the next stage makes sense to show the next generation and the naive hope they bring in contrast to the harsh reality of the world those from the world destroyed try to recreate, the same mistakes they can't escape from. So yeah thematically I can well see how they got there.

The trouble is even if it makes sense it kinda stops the film being the film it might be. It seems to stick to that theme too well. To the extent it feels incongruent with the films that procedied it. It doesn't quite fit. This is in many ways exemplified by the slap stick in the chase scene. It was kinda in place with the tone of this film, it worked with what I think they were going for. It didn't work in the context of the movie series. Okay so its not as if the other films had a complete absence slapslip, but its nothing like this and it removes the tension and overcast vibe the other movies had. Yeah makes sense in this movie, but doesn't work with what I want this movie to be.

The second problem is almost said out loud, there's a bit when they (the goodies) are escaping on the train, in what should have been a stunning chase scene and were Max asks someone "What's the plan" to get the response "There is no plan" and you kinda think that's the perfect summation of the movie. Its others major flaw was it seems to kinda ramble and drift a little. It has distinct parts, its in three clear arts (as I think films are meant to) but those acts don't smoothly flow together, instead seem stitched by conicidence and happenstance. Which kinda doesn't work.

Yet still for all its problems it was entertaining, it worked as a film in its own terms, just not sure its a great addition to the series of films, well aside from the fact it looks like the perfect evolution of the work, the design is exemparliy once again, but that aside its kinda Goons meets Time Bandits meets Mad Max, not the third Mad Max film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 October, 2015, 11:13:43 PM
Quote from: Zombear on 24 October, 2015, 09:55:44 PM
And I'm sorry, but "we are going to use dinosaurs as soldiers" (https://youtu.be/rS_m3OG9n-8?t=1m11s) is a stupid plot idea.  If I was making films about dinosaurs and you suggested this and you weren't drunk and/or Roger Corman I would slap you.


If they were more drone-like than mutated I might see one of theses Jurassic sequels, and, if they looked like this.

(http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/10/109303/2410299-comic.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dominic O'Rourke on 25 October, 2015, 11:46:56 PM
Superbob.

We may not get a sequel to Dredd, but we can all go out and support another British super hero film.

Just been to see this, at Peckhamplex, my local, and I understand opening weekend attracted almost 150 people!

Shame on you peckhamites - shame.

Funny film, that passed the six laugh test, Brett Goldstein is superb as Bob, a postie turned super hero following a meteor strike on Peckham Rye. Very British humour, very well shot in Peckham and the surrounding area, and worth a trip to the cinema.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 26 October, 2015, 07:48:58 AM
Quote from: Dominic O'Rourke on 25 October, 2015, 11:46:56 PM
Just been to see this, at Peckhamplex, my local, and I understand opening weekend attracted almost 150 people!

Great cinema - it was the only place we could find in London that was showing Dredd in 2D (so we went - twice).  Shame it wasn't available in more places in 2D, as I know a lot of people who would have gone to see it if it if the default screenings hadn't been in 3D.
Title: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dominic O'Rourke on 26 October, 2015, 08:52:04 AM
Me too. It's a great little independent which over the last few years,  has gone from strength to strength and I would think it's on the cusp of becoming Brixton-Ritzy-esque,

But at £4.99 a ticket, all day, every day, it's a cinema you could spend all day at for the price of a single ticket in Leicester Square.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 October, 2015, 12:57:44 PM
...possibly belongs in the 'I demand you revoke my right to be called a nerd at official functions' thread...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I'm an enormous Hitchhiker's fan and have been the entirety of my life. Safe to say though - this ain'tcher dad's worn-out edition and that's not especially a good thing. This decade-old mainstream attempt is a star-studded and gorgeously designed affair - with Jim Henson puppetry and some really stunning effects that have dated well. Plotwise though it is a somewhat watered-down Guide we have here - with a whole lot of Hollywood nonsense that attempts to give Freeman's just-a-bloke Dent an entirely romantic motivation and cheaply uses Trillian and Anna Chancellor for nothing more than  "something our plucky heroes can get with at the end" - stir into that the grimly stupid humour of the POV gun ("it won't work on me I'm already a woman") and the picture is offbalanced into a creative whirligig that pleases just about as much as it profoundly irritates.

An enormous shame - as the lore is smartly woven in (scintillating jeweled scuttling crabs anyone?) and the energetic Jennings is a great talent. It is benefited slightly by now standing as an off-kilter curio than a stark sign of a franchise to come.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 October, 2015, 01:08:53 PM
As last night, as I pick random film on Netflix, Circle

Wow, that was better and got me hooked from start! Worth it to check out.

(http://cdn1.nflximg.net/images/4195/22964195.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 October, 2015, 04:59:49 PM
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

It kind of got on my nerves tbh, don't think I made it past the first hour. Not a terrible film, but I just think I've aged past the point of tolerance for these overly stylised, self consciously quirky indie comedy-dramas that admittedly used to be right up my alley. I just found it all a bit forced and cringey rather than endearing, funny or charming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 October, 2015, 08:20:05 PM
Oh, and it had a gag that I'm convinced was lifted wholesale from an episode of Community.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 26 October, 2015, 09:05:34 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 October, 2015, 12:57:44 PM
...possibly belongs in the 'I demand you revoke my right to be called a nerd at official functions' thread...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I'm an enormous Hitchhiker's fan and have been the entirety of my life. Safe to say though - this ain'tcher dad's worn-out edition and that's not especially a good thing. This decade-old mainstream attempt is a star-studded and gorgeously designed affair - with Jim Henson puppetry and some really stunning effects that have dated well. Plotwise though it is a somewhat watered-down Guide we have here - with a whole lot of Hollywood nonsense that attempts to give Freeman's just-a-bloke Dent an entirely romantic motivation and cheaply uses Trillian and Anna Chancellor for nothing more than  "something our plucky heroes can get with at the end" - stir into that the grimly stupid humour of the POV gun ("it won't work on me I'm already a woman") and the picture is offbalanced into a creative whirligig that pleases just about as much as it profoundly irritates.

An enormous shame - as the lore is smartly woven in (scintillating jeweled scuttling crabs anyone?) and the energetic Jennings is a great talent. It is benefited slightly by now standing as an off-kilter curio than a stark sign of a franchise to come.
I liked the 2005 HGttG flick. It's not perfect, but for film it's solid I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 October, 2015, 06:20:27 PM
Tremors 5: Bloodlines

The missus loves her some Graboids (ooo-err), so in we dove, despite my finding the last couple pretty much unwatchable. Turned out way to be way more fun that it had any right to be, lifted by an entertaining South African supporting cast including the gorgeous Pearl Thusi, and bizarrely injected with life by Jaimie Kennedy's constant ad libbing.  Now I'm not a fan of Kennedy's comedy by any means, but the out-takes on the DVD confirm that huge chunks of his dialogue were off the cuff (and admittedly about half of this is his quoting better action movies at appropriate moments), and that the reactions of the rest of cast were often genuine, which goes a long way. 

Less fortunately some of this humour was borderline racist, but this is sadly in keeping with the picture the movie as a whole paints of SA, much of which would be at home in Daktari or even a Johnny Weissmuller flick.  25 years on Michael Gross struggles a bit as both USP and straight man in all this (Rebe McEntire is missed), and the extensive Deleted Scenes make sense of odd gaps which were CGI-heavy sequences obviously jettisoned due to budget.

The plot makes no sense whatsoever  ([spoiler]Where did that last egg come from?  How do the locals not know about the Graboids when they have elaborate tribal dances in graboid costumes? How come the copter's missiles were pointed straight at the cave when the pilot didn't know where it was[/spoiler]?), and while possibly the strongest sequel it's still the palest shadow of the original, but actually not a bad way to waste 90 minutes.  Hopefully it does okay and Bacon and Ward can be enticed back for Tremors 6. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2015, 06:27:59 PM
Waitwaitwaitwait when the hell did a new Tremors come out? TO NETFLIX!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 October, 2015, 10:23:46 PM
So yeah finished my Mad Max watch and I've whittered about the glory that is Fury Road elsewhere, its possibly, maybe, could be, my favourite film of all time BUT anyway what a weird set of films. There are common things that run through them, but they are wonderfully diverse as films, which is to their credit. I guess you could say Road Warrior and Fury Road are the two that really feel the same and are by far the best, but damn I'd glad the whole lot of them exist.

On reflection is this the franchise of films I should have invested more energy in over the years, in the way I have Star Wars, or is it the addition of Fury Road that really brings it to life... well who knows but I'll be watchin' um all again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 October, 2015, 11:43:06 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 28 October, 2015, 10:23:46 PM
On reflection is this the franchise of films I should have invested more energy in over the years, in the way I have Star Wars, or is it the addition of Fury Road that really brings it to life

More likely the fact that it's not been flogged to death with expanded universes, ubiquitous merchandising of every possible kind, billions of pop-culture references and too many psychotic internet fanatics
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 October, 2015, 10:14:18 PM
Hotel Transylvania. I'd heard very little good about this, and had avoided it until my kids pestered me into watching it as bait for a putative trip to see the sequel (cunning gits). It's actually pretty good, very soft stuff, but I like the character design and the animation style. And it tells a really simple story with very little clutter, which is a bit of a rarity.  Steve Buscemi's werewolf steals the show, in what is probably the best Adam Sandler flick since Coneheads [/damnswithfaintpraise].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 29 October, 2015, 10:16:11 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 October, 2015, 10:14:18 PM
what is probably the best Adam Sandler flick since Coneheads [/damnswithfaintpraise].

What about Airheads? As it was just on Netflix and just watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 October, 2015, 10:55:36 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 October, 2015, 10:14:18 PMIt's actually pretty good, very soft stuff, but I like the character design and the animation style.

This is nearly entirely down to, I suspect, the directorial skills of the glorious Genndy Tartakovsky. The animation auteur behind Samurai Jack, Dexter's Lab and the good (imo) Clone Wars series.

I've not seen it myself yet though because Adam Sandler makes me feel bad in my goolies and gut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 October, 2015, 04:19:59 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 October, 2015, 10:55:36 PM
This is nearly entirely down to, I suspect, the directorial skills of the glorious Genndy Tartakovsky. The animation auteur behind Samurai Jack, Dexter's Lab and the good (imo) Clone Wars series.

And, IIRC, the glorious Powerpuff Girls, which my 5yr old daughter and I consumed in its entirety over a wet weekend this Summer just gone (the answer is 'Buttercup'). Hadn't realised it was him, but at least my enjoyment of a Sandler-related thing makes sense now.

And to quote my favourite Mojo Jojo line:
QuoteI do not talk like that! The way I communicate is much different! I do not reiterate, repeat, reinstate the same thing over and over again! I am clear, concise, to the point!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 30 October, 2015, 09:17:50 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 October, 2015, 10:14:18 PM
Hotel Transylvania

Yep, that's a good one. The girls love it, and it probably goes on about once a month now. Off to see the sequel tomorrow with them, and really looking forward to it.

And I had not realised that was Adam Sandler. Never looked at the credits (that song over them does my head in, so out of the room I go) and never bothered looking it up on imdb or the like.

Blah blah blah!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 October, 2015, 09:29:37 AM
Evil Aliens

Ridiculous hammy, raunchy, gorefest, UK horror film... but it kind of knows it is, and goes with it.

I think many here would hate it.

I will say, that I wasnt bored though. In fact I found it rather funny in places.

Might be worth watching just for the combine harvester scene complete with Wurzel sound track..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 October, 2015, 10:06:53 AM
Jurassic World

I really enjoyed this. Wasn't really expecting to but I went to visit my parents and my Dad had borrowed it from my Sister so we put it on.
It's probably as good a monster movie as I've seen (apart from the original King Kong) and definitely the most enjoyable JP film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 30 October, 2015, 10:57:38 AM
Richard Pryor slurs and sex fest Which Way is Up? (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no255-which-way-is-up.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 October, 2015, 12:39:43 PM
War on drugs drama/thriller Sicario. Good. Really good, in fact. Emily Blunt (I'm starting to like her a lot after this and Edge of Tomorrow) and Benicio del Toro are both excellent.

It's central question about how bad we are willing to be to prevent other bad things from happening is hardly new but there's a real style and energy about proceedings. Two extended scenes of escalating tension at either end of the film particularly stand out, although I guess I'll need CF to give me a report on the realness of the fire drills but it looked pretty convincing to me. It makes good use of some gimmicky surveillance and thermal/night-vision imagery in the second half and the muffled, bassy score really helps amp up the claustrophobic atmosphere at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 October, 2015, 09:40:51 PM
Legend of Zorro, the unloved sequel to Mask of Zorro that is surprisingly enjoyable despite a nonsensical plot, an odd attitude towards its female lead, and being about twenty minutes too long.  Very old-fashioned, it doesn't struggle with tone like a lot of modern blockbusters do and manages to be silly without being mean-spirited thanks to a couple of good performances from Antonio Banderas - on form as an action star rather than a punchline - and Cathy Zeta Jones.  I felt that a few of the action scenes fell flat because they end on a bum note - like that farmer getting murdered right at the end of a scene where Zorro saves a woman and her child from a burning building by escaping from it on horseback after a big fight with some evil cowboys - but the big finale on a runaway train is great fun.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 October, 2015, 06:46:41 AM
It Follows.

Er, was that it? Heard so much positive hype about this film and i just didn't get it. Couldn't get a handle on the rules and didn't find it scary or tense at all. Such a crap non-ending too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 31 October, 2015, 08:05:35 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 30 October, 2015, 12:39:43 PM
War on drugs drama/thriller Sicario. Good. Really good, in fact. Emily Blunt (I'm starting to like her a lot after this and Edge of Tomorrow) and Benicio del Toro are both excellent.

It's central question about how bad we are willing to be to prevent other bad things from happening is hardly new but there's a real style and energy about proceedings. Two extended scenes of escalating tension at either end of the film particularly stand out, although I guess I'll need CF to give me a report on the realness of the fire drills but it looked pretty convincing to me. It makes good use of some gimmicky surveillance and thermal/night-vision imagery in the second half and the muffled, bassy score really helps amp up the claustrophobic atmosphere at times.

Liked Emily ever since Wind-Chill and that's worth seeing as well. There's her cleft-chin, not sure if women are supposed to have those, but she wears it well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2015, 09:41:43 PM
SPECTRE.

More like SPHINCTER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2015, 09:43:04 PM
Actually I quite liked a lot of it but I just wanted to do that joke
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 October, 2015, 10:53:24 PM
Ghostbusters. The kids' first time of watching, my umpteenth.  Takeaways from this viewing: 1. Wow, Sigourney Weaver is absolutely gorgeous!; 2. the Keymaster never has his non-metaphorical key on him; 3. There are Staypuft packets and billboards all over the place.

This has retained its place in my Top 10, fabulous film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 October, 2015, 11:01:28 PM
I feel Day of the Dead should have been the ideal conclusion to Romeros zombie vision. The story of this world had been told, all the possible stages of the infestation brilliantly covered. Land of the Dead is a competent enough fourth movie, but utterly redundant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 31 October, 2015, 11:48:20 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 October, 2015, 09:41:43 PM
SPECTRE.

More like SPHINCTER.

I was going to write how good I felt about that one, but in the interest of good taste on this forum. I won't leave it out, even though there is chance I could blame it all on you for saying it first.

Anyway,  I bewildered by the cheap and nasty reference. I decided to look for this one and found two films.....

One made in 2012 that about a tsunami and whether there was more to it than that and it's the name some well known crooked organisation in the James Bondiverse made this year.

Don't that's awful, everybody like his films, but I agree the older ones were the best.

Quote from: TordelbackGhostbusters. The kids' first time of watching, my umpteenth.  Takeaways from this viewing: 1. Wow, Sigourney Weaver is absolutely gorgeous!; 2. the Keymaster never has his non-metaphorical key on him; 3. There are Staypuft packets and billboards all over the place.

This has retained its place in my Top 10, fabulous film.

Remembered by everybody and there were t-shirts, posters you could buy (I still have them rolled up and in storage with minor damage like scuffs and tears around the edge and cheap tie-in game made for the C64. As well as the sound track that I still might own on cassette tape.

Funny things is that you can still all get this stuff these days, but I'm now less into merchandise unless it's the written material that was really good or at least original.  I got the novelisation as well, and yes, all that stuff is being made beside the films they're based on. Only video games get better or worse.

I remember I was very impressed by this film and intrigued by the comedy team of stars behind it and only ever seen one of these actors in another film called Caddy-Shack and it years before I got to see more of Nation-Lampoon films and see any part SNL before this particular bunch of comedians went their separate ways and let the younger gens take over and they for some reason were never made as big as a impression without got OTT and I keep reading and hearing when people like Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and other guy who passed on... who kept telling the interviewer that Slimer is a reminder of John Belushi.

I always wanted to make one of those Particle-Throwers to impress friends and intimidate those sillier enough to cross me or both. Yet, I never even got that far in science studies and metal work.

That car was awesome as well, they don't make me like that these days. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 November, 2015, 01:01:45 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 31 October, 2015, 11:48:20 PM

That car was awesome as well, they don't make me like that these days.

They don't'em like that these days, I meant!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 November, 2015, 01:23:25 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 01 November, 2015, 01:01:45 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 31 October, 2015, 11:48:20 PM

That car was awesome as well, they don't make me like that these days.

They don't'em like that these days, I meant!

They don't make em like that these days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 November, 2015, 12:43:15 AM
Spectre which I enjoyed, but it wasn't as good as Skyfall and seemed to retread a lot of well trodden ground.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 05:53:13 AM
Inside Out.

Hmmm. I'll go against the grain on this one and say for me its one of Pixar's weaker efforts. Unlike most of their films, which seem to have universal appeal, this one seems to have been made by and for overly sentimental parents. I couldn't really relate to it personally as a result - I was moved around a lot as a kid and just don't think it is as traumatic an experience as the film suggests.

I don't really think the film works on a conceptual level either. There's some interesting ideas in play, but imo you can't really have your main characters be anthropomorphised emotions, yet have those same characters themselves display a range of emotions. It doesn't quite work for me and the setup raises too many nagging questions. The end result is a bit like the old Beezer(?) comic strip The Numbskulls, but decidedly more of a muddle.

I also think it's - with the possible exception of the Cars series - Pixar's ugliest film. The 'inside' cast of characters are very bland and visually unappealing to me, and look like they belong in a film made by one of Pixar's inferior rivals.

Worth a watch but by no means a classic. Don't believe the hype.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 02 November, 2015, 06:48:35 AM
inside out,
fair statements, it was more aimed at families as opposed to ALL, i enjoyed it immensely but your views are very balanced,
I hated cars also
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Devons Daddy on 02 November, 2015, 06:52:25 AM
Jurassic World,

just watched it this weekend,
amusing the parody of its own essence, the Jaws shark as the food for a bigger idea. new exciting big thing the public wants,
the chap wearing a Jurassic park t-shirt and so on,
also the staff member working the hamster ball ride, that reality of his response,

whilst smiling at itself it was also.
great entertainment.
which is what a movie should be.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 07:05:57 AM
Up and Toy Story 3 covered similar themes but i didn't find them nearly as cloying or insistent as Inside Out.

Anyway, in case I'm coming off as heartless we followed it up with The Iron Giant (first time watching) which lived up to its reputation as a classic. Beautiful film. Absolutely gorgeous character design and animation, and really moving too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 November, 2015, 07:49:10 AM
The Woman in Black 2

Pretty good I thought. Perhaps a little over reliant on jump scares but the story was good and the central idea was interesting. It had some really strong performances, particularly from the two leads, neither of whom I recognised.
For a low budget follow up they could've done a lot worse.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 November, 2015, 08:13:28 AM
Quote from: radiator on 31 October, 2015, 06:46:41 AM
It Follows.

Er, was that it? Heard so much positive hype about this film and i just didn't get it. Couldn't get a handle on the rules and didn't find it scary or tense at all. Such a crap non-ending too.

It Follows is the first film since childhood where I had intense nightmares just from a friend describing the concept to me. Given that, there was no way it could live up to those nightmares! Still found it very good though, and personally thought the ending was really effective, [spoiler]all the stuff in the swimming pool much less so, probably the weakest sequence in the film I thought. But yeah, the final shot and the notion that they'll never, ever be able to relax stuck with me. As a metaphor for the baggage you bring to any new relationship and the way your past can cast a shadow over them, I thought it worked well.[/spoiler] I'm possibly reading too much into that mind you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2015, 12:10:33 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 02 November, 2015, 12:43:15 AM
Spectre which I enjoyed, but it wasn't as good as Skyfall and seemed to retread a lot of well trodden ground.

Yes, I enjoyed it - absolutely brilliant opening sequence and credits but then it all slowed down to a very leisurely pace.  There was one very traditional pump 'em and dump 'em Bond girl (with a slight twist) and one very good rounded character Bond girl.  The action sequences were variable - that car chase doesn't really come to life but there is a suitably vicious set to on a train.

I dunno... there didn't seem to be any shocks or suprises in it either in terms of script and plot (and what there were are notactually very Bondian as far as I can see) and there wasn't anything in terms of stunts or set pieces that stood out as new or different.

And why did they seem to be Easter Egging every other Bond film in existence?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 02 November, 2015, 03:30:28 PM
Saw some films last weekend;

Fright Night (Remake) - It was pointless remake was the original was perfect vampire film, but gotta to say, Colin Farrell is so good!

Horror Express - Very classic Hammer horror film, always enjoy it.

Stoker - It was very interesting film, very slow burning film.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 04:26:27 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 November, 2015, 08:13:28 AM
Quote from: radiator on 31 October, 2015, 06:46:41 AM
It Follows.

Er, was that it? Heard so much positive hype about this film and i just didn't get it. Couldn't get a handle on the rules and didn't find it scary or tense at all. Such a crap non-ending too.

It Follows is the first film since childhood where I had intense nightmares just from a friend describing the concept to me. Given that, there was no way it could live up to those nightmares! Still found it very good though, and personally thought the ending was really effective, [spoiler]all the stuff in the swimming pool much less so, probably the weakest sequence in the film I thought. But yeah, the final shot and the notion that they'll never, ever be able to relax stuck with me. As a metaphor for the baggage you bring to any new relationship and the way your past can cast a shadow over them, I thought it worked well.[/spoiler] I'm possibly reading too much into that mind you.

The whole pool bit was so dumb. It's already been established that [spoiler]even a bullet to the head cannot kill the ghost/monster thing - so why would electrocution?[/spoiler] I had heard that this film had this really great conceit, but I found it all a bit flaky and inconsistent. Much like Inside Out - I found it raised too many nagging questions. Why were there no apparent repercussions about the guy who was killed? I know a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required with horror movies especially but I never really bought into the 'reality' of the situation.

The characters didn't really work for me as they are so loosely sketched, and I found some of the arty flourishes a bit on the wanky/pretentious side. I dunno, I'm not really a fan of horror films in general, was hoping for something a bit more. My girlfriend never wants to watch anything scary and can't deal with horror films at all (which makes it hilarious to watch them with her) but aside from one or two intense moments she was just bored for most of the running time, really. I can see why people like it - it's certainly very stylish, but personally I didn't find there to be much substance to back it up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 November, 2015, 10:20:29 PM
As someone whose wife watches movies as the second screen, I'd suggest maybe some movies only work if you're paying close enough attention to all the small details in the background.

Course maybe you were giving it the full gaze and it still didn't click. Just thinking I wouldn't have liked it at all if I hadn't been glued to the screen. Which is not the case for the vast majority of movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 November, 2015, 10:46:12 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2015, 12:10:33 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 02 November, 2015, 12:43:15 AM
Spectre which I enjoyed, but it wasn't as good as Skyfall and seemed to retread a lot of well trodden ground.

Yes, I enjoyed it - absolutely brilliant opening sequence and credits but then it all slowed down to a very leisurely pace.  There was one very traditional pump 'em and dump 'em Bond girl (with a slight twist) and one very good rounded character Bond girl.  The action sequences were variable - that car chase doesn't really come to life but there is a suitably vicious set to on a train.

I dunno... there didn't seem to be any shocks or suprises in it either in terms of script and plot (and what there were are notactually very Bondian as far as I can see) and there wasn't anything in terms of stunts or set pieces that stood out as new or different.

And why did they seem to be Easter Egging every other Bond film in existence?

[spoiler]I know what you mean it was almost like Bond Bingo with the tux, martini, dressing down by the boss, mute henchman and train fight getting me the line prize, no worries.

I liked how he smashed up the whole train and then the woman, who had been knocked out twice in five minutes grabs him demanding a shag. Thought it would be funny to see the conductor surveying the damage and say 'What the f*uck happened here?!'[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 11:29:50 PM
QuoteIt's probably as good a monster movie as I've seen (apart from the original King Kong) and definitely the most enjoyable JP film.

Each to their own, but I honestly don't know how anyone in their right mind could seriously argue that Jurassic World is on any conceivable level - performances, score, pacing, vfx, writing, directing - superior to Jurassic Park.

To me that's as blasphemous as saying Dredd '95 is a better film than Dredd '12. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 03 November, 2015, 02:23:39 AM
Pals dropped by unexpectedly with Terminator Genisys and beer.

To my surprise, I didn't hate the film. I was even entertained. But it's got plenty wrong with it.

Certainly one of those movies that reinforces my belief that you should only be allowed to write for movies if you're actually GOOD at it. Three of the four central performances in this film are terrible. But with dreadful hack dialogue like this, I doubt even oscar winning delivery could have helped it any.

That said, I did enjoy some of the stuff it did with well established concepts from the series. [spoiler]The demise of Byung-hun Lee was particularly well handled, I thought.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 November, 2015, 07:46:54 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 11:29:50 PM
QuoteIt's probably as good a monster movie as I've seen (apart from the original King Kong) and definitely the most enjoyable JP film.

Each to their own, but I honestly don't know how anyone in their right mind could seriously argue that Jurassic World is on any conceivable level - performances, score, pacing, vfx, writing, directing - superior to Jurassic Park.

To me that's as blasphemous as saying Dredd '95 is a better film than Dredd '12. :lol:

I never liked the original Jurassic Park much, even when it came out. Just didn't do it for me.
The best bits are the T Rex attack and the animation thing where they describe how the dinosaurs are made. All the raptor stuff just bores me and the kids are really annoying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 November, 2015, 08:31:18 AM
They're very different films, but they both do their job. No doubt Spielberg brings a serious dollop of filmmaking to the first one, but there's also more annoying kid action, repetitive false jeopardy (falling jeeps and unlockable doors), dropped plotlines (the sick  Triceratops section, for example). JW is more straightforward action adventure on a larger scale, but definitely lacks the wel-structured setpieces, building tension and scares of the first one.  But they're both very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 November, 2015, 08:46:03 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 03 November, 2015, 07:46:54 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 11:29:50 PM
QuoteIt's probably as good a monster movie as I've seen (apart from the original King Kong) and definitely the most enjoyable JP film.
Each to their own, but I honestly don't know how anyone in their right mind could seriously argue that Jurassic World is on any conceivable level - performances, score, pacing, vfx, writing, directing - superior to Jurassic Park.
I never liked the original Jurassic Park much, even when it came out.
Very much this. Always get a bit surprised when people cite it as a real favourite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 03 November, 2015, 03:00:22 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 03 November, 2015, 08:46:03 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 03 November, 2015, 07:46:54 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 November, 2015, 11:29:50 PM
QuoteIt's probably as good a monster movie as I've seen (apart from the original King Kong) and definitely the most enjoyable JP film.
Each to their own, but I honestly don't know how anyone in their right mind could seriously argue that Jurassic World is on any conceivable level - performances, score, pacing, vfx, writing, directing - superior to Jurassic Park.
I never liked the original Jurassic Park much, even when it came out.
Very much this. Always get a bit surprised when people cite it as a real favourite.

Yeah. Saw it in the cinema originally, and on telly a few times since. Besides the T Rex bits, I find it a bit 'meh'. It's all a bit smaltzy.

It may be a generational thing. Folks on my team love it, but they're a lot younger than me - perhaps they were wowed by seeing it as a child, and have carried the love for it since, in much the same way I carry the original Star Wars trilogy?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 November, 2015, 05:02:28 PM
Quotedropped plotlines (the sick  Triceratops section, for example)

That isn't a dropped plotline, it's a bad omen (note that is happens in the plot at the exact moment that literal stormclouds start to gather), and early confirmation of Ian Malcolm's dire warnings (that Hammond and his scientists don't have a clue what they're doing). It's also a convenient plot way of separating Sadler from Grant and the kids.

As for 'annoying kids', a) they're supposed to be annoying (at least initially), and b) if you think they're genuinely annoying as child actors and movie kids go, you obviously haven't seen very many films.

QuoteIt may be a generational thing. Folks on my team love it, but they're a lot younger than me - perhaps they were wowed by seeing it as a child, and have carried the love for it since, in much the same way I carry the original Star Wars trilogy?

I think that's a large part of it. Jurassic Park is undoubtedly the Star Wars/Jaws/ET formative cinema experience of my generation.

But come on, even if you don't have that personal connection with it, or (fair enough) feel that it's one of Spielberg's weaker films, you have to concede that - even on a technical filmmaking level - editing, score, pacing - it's simply in a different league to World. The original is a phenomenally well-made and genuinely ground-breaking film - the work of a true master filmmaker, packed with moments of iconic visual storytelling and distilled cinematic magic. World is third-rate, schlocky hack-work - a limp tribute act by comparison, utterly devoid of tension or wonder.

I don't know how anyone could compare the T Rex attack scene from Park and say that any action sequence from World can hold a candle to it - I can't even remember any of the set-pieces from World.

Park has well-defined, memorable characters who behave in a believable way, and properly crafted arcs for each of them - World has improbable stock cardboard cutouts (Chris Pratt's generic, dull Mary Sue etc) who behave in totally illogical ways and have nonsensical or redundant arcs (the pointless divorce plotline, Chris Pratt awkwardly kissing Bryce Dallas Howard in the midst of slaughter because.... reasons?, Bryce Dallas Howard being directly responsible for a lot of the death and mayhem, yet the plot never addresses this fact and suddenly she's the hero?).

Park has a script and plot so tight you could bounce a penny off it and a remarkably small cast of named characters, every single one of whom serves an essential purpose to the plot - World is amateurishly-written  borderline gibberish, and is stuffed with plotholes and extraneous characters that serve little or no purpose to the plot.

Park has witty dialogue and countless quotable lines - World is wall-to-wall clunky dialogue and groan-worthy lines.

I could go on...

This pair of Birth.Movies.Death. articles nail it for me so completely that I want to print them out and frame them:

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/06/25/movies-should-be-good (http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/06/25/movies-should-be-good)

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/09/03/the-strangely-cruel-and-unusual-death-in-the-lost-world-jurassic-park (http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/09/03/the-strangely-cruel-and-unusual-death-in-the-lost-world-jurassic-park)

QuoteIf all of the film's dinosaurs had been wireframe animations there's no question everyone would have been calling it a bad film, but when the story and characters are as unfinished and crude as that the problems are handwaved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 November, 2015, 05:37:17 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 November, 2015, 05:02:28 PM
Quotedropped plotlines (the sick  Triceratops section, for example)

That isn't a dropped plotline, it's a bad omen (note that is happens in the plot at the exact moment that literal stormclouds start to gather), and early confirmation of Ian Malcolm's dire warnings (that Hammond and his scientists don't have a clue what they're doing). It's also a convenient plot way of separating Sadler from Grant and the kids.

Ah but it is a dropped plotline.  We are given (at length) the mystery of the sick triceratops, all the symptoms, but never a resolution. In fact, if I remember the book correctly, the solution is actually cocked up anyway, because Eli doesn't find the berries in the dung (accidentally eaten when the Triceratops renews her gastroliths), which she does in the book.  Yes it serves to split the characters up, and indeed as an omen (although there are plenty of others) and thus serves the bigger plot, but it's surely a subplot that is jettisoned, and it's mildly unsatisfying   Doesn't ruin the film or anything, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 November, 2015, 05:43:15 PM
That's a really long, well written post that quite possibly proves that Jurassic Park is, objectively, a better film than Jurassic World.

I still enjoyed 'World' more. It may be junk cinema but sometimes that's okay.

JP never really sat well with me and, to be honest, I've never been much of a Spielberg fan. I know he's an incredibly accomplished film maker, I just don't like many of his films very much.

As for the kids - well, I do have a bit of an aversion to screamy kids in films (which is why I can't bear The Goonies or Honey I Shrunk the Kids) but I do remember the ones from park to be particularly annoying (not as bad as the ones in Spielberg's War of the Worlds though). The kids in 'World' were pretty much okay though. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 November, 2015, 06:40:26 PM
I don't think there's any question that JP is a better-crafted film than JW, but seeing as it already exists and we watch it several times a year, having JW be distinctly different in approach and tone is a good thing. The necessity for characters to have 'an arc' is by no means a given, especially in films where hubris and nemesis are right there in the concept. Sometimes a tough guy blasting through the jungle with his trained raptor pack is as much fun as a palaeontologist deciding all  kids aren't as ghastly as he suspected.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 November, 2015, 08:11:30 PM
QuoteAh but it is a dropped plotline.  We are given (at length) the mystery of the sick triceratops, all the symptoms, but never a resolution.

I don't think anyone (except you  ;)) has ever watched Jurassic Park and came away wondering about the Triceratops. It's a totally incidental thing.

What's key for me is that Jurassic Park had a great premise. The underlying pseudoscience may well be a gimme, but the ambition of John Hammond and the circumstances surrounding the park itself were totally believable. The insipid 'Mr DNA' tour, the rows of branded lunchboxes lining the giftshop shelves, never to be sold. It all adds so much texture.

Jurassic World, on the other hand, operates 100% on laughably stupid B-movie logic, and is based on the premise that someone would think strapping guns to trained velociraptors would have a useful military application. Whether Jurassic World is a good silly B-movie is another matter, though personally I think it's very poor judged even by those standards. I hate to invoke Honest Movie Trailers, but 'the most expensive SyFy original movie ever made' is bang on the money IMHO.

QuoteSometimes a tough guy blasting through the jungle with his trained raptor pack is as much fun as a palaeontologist deciding all kids aren't as ghastly as he suspected.

It all depends on execution though.

Despite seeing Jurassic Park dozens of times and knowing exactly what happens, the key action and tension-building scenes still somehow keep me on the edge of my seat. It's like a magic trick. All of the action in Jurassic World just felt so flat to me. I never felt remotely tense or surprised. And I really don't think that's just nostalgia clouding my judgement (I know even someone as jaded as me can still get that visceral reaction from a big blockbuster thanks to Fury Road).

I think it's partly because the visual effects and how they are shot and staged - to my eyes, even with nostalgia blinkers off - work so much more effectively in the older film, and crucially, the plot and characters are so thin and unengaging in World that I don't really care about anything that happens to them. World has the scale, true, but never once feels like a tangible, real place in the way the park and island in the original do.

I love Chris Pratt but his character JW is a shite protagonist. We are repeatedly told how awesome he is, despite him not actually doing much of consequence in the entire film. Likewise Nick Robinson - great in The Kings of Summer, but such a nonentity in this, with nothing to do except just be a bit smarmy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 November, 2015, 08:27:42 PM
I've never known anyone have so much to say about the virtues of Jurassic Park. I think most of my friends think of it as the first so/so instalment in a franchise that quickly went off the boil (but then, we were old enough to see Ghostbusters and Back to the Future at the cinema so we had high standards  :D)
It's telling that I only watched JW because my dad happened to have borrowed it off my sister and was going to watch it anyway. I hadn't even added it to my Love Film list.
I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it and I think most of that has to do with the fact that it was just a big silly monster fest and nothing more.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 November, 2015, 08:29:59 PM
I completely agree that the dinosaur effects in JP are staggeringly effective - we watched it again just last week, and really, the initial T-Rex attack and the raptors in the kitchen are just magic. However, I don't really see Jurassic World as any less believable - there's a lot of implausible stupidity in JP too. That the Ingen operation needs the revenues of 30,000 theme park attendees a day to sustain it, rather than the few hundreds JP seems set up for, and that as a failing business military contracts might be explored by members of the board, seem no dafter than (say) safari park cars with no locks on the doors, or a raptor loading cage that requires a guy to climb on top and manually operate a gate...

If you're looking for a compact movie with scares, tension, and well-drawn characters, JP is the one - but for a big silly disaster movie with genetically engineered monsters and the tourists they feed on, I think JW is fine fare.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2015, 08:41:06 PM
Park is as daft a film as World is.  This is a silly line of argument.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 November, 2015, 10:03:38 PM
Oh come on now. The starting point of resurrecting dinosaurs from DNA in amber is of course daft. However then creating a 'new, genetically modified dinosaur' is at the very least cubing that initial daftness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 November, 2015, 10:17:49 PM
Except that all the creatures in JP were new genetic constructs. If you're going to (somehow) 'patch' T-Rex DNA with frog DNA (which is not how a genome works) and inject it into an ostrich egg, why not use Raptor DNA too?  JW just runs with the basic idea to even sillier MORE ARSOM  places.

In some ways Dr Wu's speech on the subject in JW is the most sensible thing said in any of the films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 November, 2015, 10:24:49 PM
Risible Clive Owen rom-com Words and Pictures (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/no256-words-and-pictures.html).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 03 November, 2015, 10:26:14 PM
(http://www.troll.me/images/ancient-aliens-guy/dinosaurs.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 November, 2015, 07:54:27 AM
Jurassic Park ripped that whole 'gene splicing to make dinosaurs to make a theme park' from the Cursed Earth saga anyway (almost word for word - go have a look!) so all arguments are moot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 04 November, 2015, 08:48:10 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 November, 2015, 07:54:27 AM
Jurassic Park ripped that whole 'gene splicing to make dinosaurs to make a theme park' from the Cursed Earth saga anyway (almost word for word - go have a look!) so all arguments are moot.

And the Cursed Earth never ripped off anything, nosirree...  ;)

Quote from: ming on 07 November, 2013, 02:56:20 PM
Well if we're dragging out plotting 'influences' and the like, here's the plot outline from Roger Zelazny's  1969 novel, Damnation Alley, lifted from Wikipedia (bits in italics are mine, obviously).  I'm sure you're all aware of this old chestnut but it always tickles me....

"The story opens in a post-apocalyptic Southern California [Mega-City Two], in a hellish world shattered by nuclear war decades before [Atom Wars]. Several police states have emerged in place of the former United States [Judges]. Hurricane-force winds above five hundred feet prevent any sort of air travel from one state to the next [The Death Belt], and sudden, violent, and unpredictable storms make day-to-day life a mini-hell. Hell Tanner [Spikes Harvey Rotten], an imprisoned killer [criminal biker], is offered a full pardon in exchange for taking on a suicide mission - a drive through "Damnation Alley" [The Cursed Earth] across a ruined America from Los Angeles to Boston [east coast to west coast] - as one of three vehicles attempting to deliver an urgently needed plague vaccine [K2001 Land Raider, Killdozer; 2T(Fru)T vaccine]."

(http://i.imgur.com/xugt7d1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 November, 2015, 09:24:42 AM
Quote from: radiator on 03 November, 2015, 08:11:30 PM

I don't think anyone (except you  ;)) has ever watched Jurassic Park and came away wondering about the Triceratops. It's a totally incidental thing.

This. Have seen the film many times and the fate of the Triceratops has never crossed my mind to be honest! Never saw it as anything other than a (really very effective) tonal shift in the film, a bit of a tipping point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 November, 2015, 10:02:01 AM
Quote from: ming on 04 November, 2015, 08:48:10 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 November, 2015, 07:54:27 AM
Jurassic Park ripped that whole 'gene splicing to make dinosaurs to make a theme park' from the Cursed Earth saga anyway (almost word for word - go have a look!) so all arguments are moot.

And the Cursed Earth never ripped off anything, nosirree...  ;)

Quote from: ming on 07 November, 2013, 02:56:20 PM
Well if we're dragging out plotting 'influences' and the like, here's the plot outline from Roger Zelazny's  1969 novel, Damnation Alley, lifted from Wikipedia (bits in italics are mine, obviously).  I'm sure you're all aware of this old chestnut but it always tickles me....

"The story opens in a post-apocalyptic Southern California [Mega-City Two], in a hellish world shattered by nuclear war decades before [Atom Wars]. Several police states have emerged in place of the former United States [Judges]. Hurricane-force winds above five hundred feet prevent any sort of air travel from one state to the next [The Death Belt], and sudden, violent, and unpredictable storms make day-to-day life a mini-hell. Hell Tanner [Spikes Harvey Rotten], an imprisoned killer [criminal biker], is offered a full pardon in exchange for taking on a suicide mission - a drive through "Damnation Alley" [The Cursed Earth] across a ruined America from Los Angeles to Boston [east coast to west coast] - as one of three vehicles attempting to deliver an urgently needed plague vaccine [K2001 Land Raider, Killdozer; 2T(Fru)T vaccine]."

(http://i.imgur.com/xugt7d1.jpg)


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah, conveniently forgot about that!  DAMN YOU BRAIN!!!   :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 November, 2015, 12:17:16 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 November, 2015, 09:24:42 AM
Quote from: radiator on 03 November, 2015, 08:11:30 PM

I don't think anyone (except you  ;)) has ever watched Jurassic Park and came away wondering about the Triceratops. It's a totally incidental thing.

This. Have seen the film many times and the fate of the Triceratops has never crossed my mind to be honest! Never saw it as anything other than a (really very effective) tonal shift in the film, a bit of a tipping point.

Voight-Kampff test fails all round, I think!

You see a triceratops on its side in the jungle.  A park ranger is trying to help it.  Rather than pondering the cause of its illness, you decide it represents a tonal shift in the film.

Could you come with me now, please?  Your series is being retired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 04 November, 2015, 03:43:57 PM
I thought that the Triceratops illness was explained by the fact that it ate plants that weren't naturally in it's diet. If that is the case then they really didn't need to say anything else on the subject as that in and of itself highlights that "Shit will go down, man!"

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 November, 2015, 03:53:41 PM
Ah, see, you were paying attention too Kev!  They thought it was the berries except that the dinosaurs didn't eat them, and Ellie couldn't find any evidence in the Trike's dung, or why she was only sick once a month or so...  In the book, they do find the berry seeds in the dung - the poor old girl was eating them accidentally when replenishing her gastroliths.  A perfect example of incompatible species and habitat.  So in the film it's just a nonsense problem without a solution, despite the whole situation being set out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 04 November, 2015, 06:48:38 PM
In 1995 my mum let me bring a friend with us to one of our very rare cinema trips (we couldn't afford to go more than twice, maybe three times, a year) - the film was Toy Story, and afterwards we went for pizza. That was a pretty good day. Twenty years later(!!) I've finally seen the sequel. Toy Story 2 honestly isn't anywhere near as good, as groundbreaking, as life-afirming as the first, but it's a pretty darn good film in its own right. What really struck me was how much I'd missed spending time with these characters without really knowing it.

I'll be back around 2035 when I get around to seeing TS3..![/latetotheparty]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 November, 2015, 10:47:22 PM
It's probably TS1, TS3, TS2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 November, 2015, 11:19:11 PM
Yeah TS2 nearly destroyed Pixar (and was accidentally nearly destroyed) - it was made under massive pressure in far too little time to fit with Disney's "sequelpocalypse" of the late 90s/early 00s (now Disney's "liveactionremakepocalypse"). It's a testament to the sheer blinding talent of that lot that it still functions very well as a film. I wonder how TS4 will fare in the scheme of things - the multitudinous shorts since TS3 have all been quite good and are well worth seeking out. Do get on to all that DJ I was five years late to the party and really regretted avoiding it for so long!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 November, 2015, 10:48:35 AM
Fast and Furious. Yes, the first time of seen it in its entirety. Horseshit plot, wooden acting and a massive dollop of Vin Cheese-el.

Proper Crap!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 November, 2015, 01:43:29 PM
I pity the fool who views early Fast & Furious movies with a mind to taking them seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 November, 2015, 02:37:38 PM
Spectre. Tedious and uninteresting. Seeing Craig groping the lovely Monica Bellucci was off-putting. M and Q were far more entertaining and relevant to the plot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 08 November, 2015, 03:14:50 PM
Terminator :Genisys. Fifth and probably the last in the Terminator series see's a younger cast Jai Courtney, Emilia Clark, Jason Clarke plus Arnie try to breathe life in a tired franchise. They do try even though the time travel story has plenty of plot holes and Arnold really looks old in this but it does take it's lead from the Cameron 1984 classic with some homage moments and the first Terminator to target them, a shape shifting alloy git stalked them mercilessly. You all know the main twist by now about John Connor and if it hadn't been flagged by the Trailer I'd have been surprised. Matt Smith appears briefly as[spoiler] Skynet [/spoiler]but doesn't have much to do really though the nod to [spoiler]killer apps[/spoiler] helping to destroy mankind was very topical. I doubt they'll be another Terminator Movie for a while despite the [spoiler]Marvel type reveal at the credits end. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 November, 2015, 08:00:54 PM
Revenge of the Sith. We're doing an all-6 family rewatch in the run up to TFA.

Y'know RotS isn't quite as bad a film as I remember it, I was thinking, right up to the last 20 minutes when it turns into F***ING DOGSHIT and basically ruins the whole saga in a handful of execrable scenes the insipid conception and pathetic execution of which dwarf the failings of any dozen exchanges about midichlorians, fart jokes, lengthy condemnations of sand or plenary sessions on taxation of trade routes.

People hate the wrong prequel, let me tell you.

God damn the ending of this film makes me genuinely angry. It's the only real beef I have with Lucas, and it's a serious one. What the actual f**k was he thinking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Batman's Superior Cousin on 08 November, 2015, 08:09:12 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 08 November, 2015, 02:37:38 PM
Spectre. Tedious and uninteresting. Seeing Craig groping the lovely Monica Bellucci was off-putting. M and Q were far more entertaining and relevant to the plot.

This, TBH
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 09 November, 2015, 01:50:29 AM
What we do in the Shadows

A documentary style comedy horror film from New Zealand about a bunch of vampires sharing a house.[spoiler]These vampires are not the kind of many modern films/shows that are fighting to regain their humanity and resist their blood-lust. Know, these guys are cold-blooded killers who are quite happy to bring victims back to their place and drain them.[/spoiler]  Yet it's all played for laughs, and the vampires manage to be endearing.

Oh, and is very funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: El Chivo on 09 November, 2015, 02:55:16 AM
It Follows for the second time
Still good, parts of it reminded me stylistically of Gus Van Sant's masterpiece Elephant which i just re-watched and kind of blows the other movie away

Cheers

Chi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 November, 2015, 08:33:40 PM
Housebound, on Netflix.

A nifty little horror-comedy from New Zealand, very reminiscent of Peter Jackson's early work. Not too scary, but has some very funny and gruesome moments (including a [spoiler]cheese-grater-to-the-face[/spoiler] scene for the ages) and a likeable cast of relative unknowns. I must confess I was extremely tired while watching so feel like I missed a few plot beats, but it is incredibly densely plotted, with twist piling upon red herring piling upon implausible twist, so be prepared to concentrate quite hard to keep up with it.

Good solid effort, worth a watch. 3/5.

(http://www.screenrelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Housebound-banner-740x493.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 November, 2015, 09:34:33 PM
QuoteI've never known anyone have so much to say about the virtues of Jurassic Park. I think most of my friends think of it as the first so/so instalment in a franchise that quickly went off the boil (but then, we were old enough to see Ghostbusters and Back to the Future at the cinema so we had high standards  :D)

Whereas I'm quite surprised at the general lack of love for it on this board - everyone I know in real life holds it in similar reverence to me!

It's easily among my favourite films of all time (personally I'd rank it comfortably above any of the Ghostbusters of Back to the Future films with the exception of the original BTTF), and to be honest I think its status as a landmark special effects movie somewhat overshadows what an utterly brilliant film it is in every other department.

QuoteHowever, I don't really see Jurassic World as any less believable - there's a lot of implausible stupidity in JP too... and that as a failing business military contracts might be explored by members of the board, seem no dafter than (say) safari park cars with no locks on the doors

I'll bite. Unlocked doors are surely down to the park being half-finished? And its hardly as if those doors are the only thing separating the guests from the attractions anyway. The other points are surely the kind of nitpicks you could level at any film ever made.

As for the 'military contracts' plot from World, nothing can convince me its not a maddeningly dumb premise. It makes total sense to weaponise the creature from Aliens (where this plot element is lifted wholesale from). The organism from that film is so devastatingly lethal and adaptable that it has obvious military applications. It's practically a living weapon anyway.

By comparison, the usefulness of velociraptors on a modern battlefield would, I imagine, be roughly comparable to that of lions or tigers. I suspect even something like a (cringe) Indominus Rex would be largely useless in a military context compared to, say, a tank or missile launcher or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 November, 2015, 09:48:54 PM
What, they were planning to add locks to the car doors at some later point?  Seems like an awkward way to do things, and Bob Peck seems to have suggested that and been ignored. And locks were (would have been) the only thing stopping the visitors from wandering off among the dinos, as happens in the film.  I doubt a triceratops is any less dangerous than a rhino or a hippo, and safari parks don't generally let you mingle with them.

But my point wasn't to suggest JP is crap because there's stupid things in it - it's a great film, I love it, we watch it here several times a year, far more now the kids are into it - but rather to suggest that equally JW isn't a bad film just because there's stupid things in it too.

Yes, military use of dinosaurs is a stupid idea.  But so is the whole idea of an isolated hurricane-prone island filled with genetic chimera being served meals on wheels.  Something I believe is pointed out a number of times in the film itself. By no stretch of the imagination is Ingen a smart corporation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 08:25:24 AM
I'd just like to offer my support and say that Radiator is one hundred percent correct in everything he says about Jurassic Park. It's a beautifully crafted film in every regard.

Jurassic World can be most charitably described as 'content'.

In the same way that I reckon NOBODY would have anything nice to say about The Phantom Menace if, instead of being a Star Wars film, it was just called 'Generic Space Adventure Film', I'm completely convinced that nobody would have any time for Jurassic World without the nostalgic connection to the far, far superior Jurassic Park.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 November, 2015, 10:02:18 AM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 08:25:24 AM
In the same way that I reckon NOBODY would have anything nice to say about The Phantom Menace if, instead of being a Star Wars film, it was just called 'Generic Space Adventure Film', I'm completely convinced that nobody would have any time for Jurassic World without the nostalgic connection to the far, far superior Jurassic Park.

Excellent point!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 10:06:23 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 November, 2015, 10:02:18 AM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 08:25:24 AM
In the same way that I reckon NOBODY would have anything nice to say about The Phantom Menace if, instead of being a Star Wars film, it was just called 'Generic Space Adventure Film', I'm completely convinced that nobody would have any time for Jurassic World without the nostalgic connection to the far, far superior Jurassic Park.

Excellent point!

I feel a sense of pride that I managed to coax some sarcasm out of you T-back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 November, 2015, 10:13:08 AM
No sarcasm intended, it's hard to refute. There's no way I'd have dragged the family to see The Dino Theme Park of Dr Moreau (although...), and it's very difficult to disentangle brand nostalgia from the experience of any of these franchise things.  Course part of my enthusiasm for the original JP was inspired by my enjoyment of the book, which it is in most (but not all) ways superior to, as well as childhood addiction to Valley of the Gwangii and all things dino, so it's hard to know where to dispense with nostalgia and expectation...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 10:25:44 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 November, 2015, 10:13:08 AM
No sarcasm intended, it's hard to refute. There's no way I'd have dragged the family to see The Dino Theme Park of Dr Moreau (although...), and it's very difficult to disentangle brand nostalgia from the experience of any of these franchise things.  Course part of my enthusiasm for the original JP was inspired by my enjoyment of the book, which it is in most (but not all) ways superior to, as well as childhood addiction to Valley of the Gwangii and all things dino, so it's hard to know where to dispense with nostalgia and expectation...

I should have known you were, as usual, being a nice man.

Your perceived sarcasm did make me realise that, especially these days, you could say the same for most films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 November, 2015, 04:37:58 PM
When does The Dino Theme Park of Dr Moreau come out?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 November, 2015, 09:51:04 PM
Really surprised to find Turbo Kid showing at the pictures locally as it's a fairly low budget affair which I'd expect to appeal to a lot of people on here. It was a bit less surprising to find me and my pal were the only people there.

This was a really good fun film which manages to tread a fine line between playing its post-Apocalyptic setting reasonably straight and gently taking the piss out of genre.  Michael Ironside has a great time playing the corpulent villain and I was pleasantly surprised with the amusing gore effects, which put me in mind of a family friendly Bad Taste.

It's neither the funniest nor the best film you'll ever see but I couldn't help finding it endearing and smile at its good intentions even when they didn't quite pay off. Like a really nice Shaun of the Dead.


Also recently saw Bill Drummond documentary Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and All Music Has Disappeared. Bill rolls out a few of the old KLF stories as he wanders aimlessly around Europe trying to get random people to take part in his conceptual, site-specific musical performances.

It's repeating a lot of the same ideas from his No Music Day and there's a whiff of the second-rate avant gardener about some of his pieces. This is all just about offset by Bill's gruff charm and the way he manages to leave the majority of his random vocalists slightly bemused but clearly happy about having done something daft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 November, 2015, 10:51:20 PM
SPECTRE. The first of the new Bond films I haven't enjoyed. Plodding, boring, thin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 November, 2015, 12:15:26 AM
At some point, I'm going to copy and paste Radiator's comments, only with "Batman & Robin" where "Jurassic Park" would be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 November, 2015, 07:16:49 AM
You evil sod, bear!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 11 November, 2015, 07:41:54 AM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 11 November, 2015, 12:15:26 AM
At some point, I'm going to copy and paste Radiator's comments, only with "Batman & Robin" where "Jurassic Park" would be.
The one Batman film (including Adam West) which I've only ever seen once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 November, 2015, 08:52:32 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 11 November, 2015, 07:41:54 AM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 11 November, 2015, 12:15:26 AM
At some point, I'm going to copy and paste Radiator's comments, only with "Batman & Robin" where "Jurassic Park" would be.
The one Batman film (including Adam West) which I've only ever seen once.

You got something against lingering closeups of rubberclad crotches, huh? Back to ISIL with you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 November, 2015, 11:51:40 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 November, 2015, 09:51:04 PM

Also recently saw Bill Drummond documentary Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and All Music Has Disappeared. Bill rolls out a few of the old KLF stories as he wanders aimlessly around Europe trying to get random people to take part in his conceptual, site-specific musical performances.

It's repeating a lot of the same ideas from his No Music Day and there's a whiff of the second-rate avant gardener about some of his pieces. This is all just about offset by Bill's gruff charm and the way he manages to leave the majority of his random vocalists slightly bemused but clearly happy about having done something daft.

Haven't seen this, but I saw him do a talk and Q&A at his book launch a few years ago - went in thinking he was an avant garde genius, came out thinking he was a pretentious twat. He devoted a lot of time to explaining why the 'shuffle' function is a thing of evil and is disrespectful to artists. Still love KLF though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 11 November, 2015, 02:52:34 PM
Watched Spectre last night- formulaic and tired in the extreme and that's saying something for a Bond movie!

Craig looked bored shitless during the whole thing too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 11 November, 2015, 04:00:26 PM
Crimson Peak.
Someone described it as Jane Eyre meets Hammer horror and that sums it up nicely.
Looks beautiful with a few creepy bits chucked for good measure. Worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 November, 2015, 04:08:53 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 11 November, 2015, 07:41:54 AM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 11 November, 2015, 12:15:26 AM
At some point, I'm going to copy and paste Radiator's comments, only with "Batman & Robin" where "Jurassic Park" would be.
The one Batman film (including Adam West) which I've only ever seen once.

I understand completely.  It is, after all, the only film about Batman that is poorly-made and inherently silly.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 11 November, 2015, 04:29:35 PM

Quote from: Spaceghost on 10 November, 2015, 08:25:24 AM
I'd just like to offer my support and say that Radiator is one hundred percent correct in everything he says about Jurassic Park. It's a beautifully crafted film in every regard.

Jurassic World can be most charitably described as 'content'.

In the same way that I reckon NOBODY would have anything nice to say about The Phantom Menace if, instead of being a Star Wars film, it was just called 'Generic Space Adventure Film', I'm completely convinced that nobody would have any time for Jurassic World without the nostalgic connection to the far, far superior Jurassic Park.

Thank you, thought I was going mad for a minute there! 'Content' sums it up perfectly.

Totally agree about your broader point as well - Jurassic World, the Bond movies, Prometheus... Based on their last few entries alone and separated from nostalgia for the iconic originals, these franchises would be dead in the water.

I can't believe people still fall for it *goes and watches The Force Awakens trailer for 17th time*

Damn it!!!!

Anyway, last night we watched The Two Faces of January on Netflix.

It's a thriller that treads very similar ground to The Talented Mr Ripley (its adapted from a book by the same author), so if you've seen that film you'll know what to expect - glamorous, handsome, well-to-do (or are they?) Americans swanning about in 1950s Mediterranean countries and getting embroiled in intrigue and murder.

Really enjoyed it, a really taut, engaging and beautifully shot film that is all wrapped up in just over 90 minutes. Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac play off each other brilliantly, though I felt Kirsten Dunst was a little miscast - she's fine but plays quite a pivotal role and it seemed to me to require a more magnetic actress with a bit more star quality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 November, 2015, 06:34:02 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 November, 2015, 11:51:40 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 November, 2015, 09:51:04 PM
Also recently saw Bill Drummond documentary Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and All Music Has Disappeared ...
Haven't seen this, but I saw him do a talk and Q&A at his book launch a few years ago - went in thinking he was an avant garde genius, came out thinking he was a pretentious twat. He devoted a lot of time to explaining why the 'shuffle' function is a thing of evil and is disrespectful to artists. Still love KLF though.
It's always a fine line and I was a bit worried it was heading the wrong way at the start.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 November, 2015, 06:26:08 AM
The Guest.

Man oh man. Can't believe I'd heard such good things about this film. Starts out with what could be a really neat premise for a low key, slow burn of a thriller, then suddenly accelerates headlong into laughably hokey b-movie nonsense, and gets exponentially sillier until the credits roll.

Some really clunky dialogue and acting too - like student-film level bad.

Also demonstrates just what a remarkable balancing act Drive did in turning the incongruous pairing of stylised, brutal screen violence and retro synth pop into cinematic gold, because The Guest tries really hard to do it and its just embarrassing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 November, 2015, 01:33:25 PM
I loved it!

But it was pretty clear it was a b-movie from the first minute of the acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 November, 2015, 01:58:50 PM
Centurion

I've had this for a while but only got round to watching it yesterday evening.

I think that maybe they should have left out the voiceover narration. And some of the acting struck me as a bit iffy, mainly the delivery of certain characters.

Overall though, I thought it a very good film. Highly enjoyable.

[spoiler]I was a bit worried the Romans would be depicted as the good guys and the Picts the villains, but, it really is not as simple as that. The Roman legionaries are very likeable characters, and I found myself hoping things would work out for them (and I'm usually on the side of the so called barbarians in these things) but the Picts motivations are totally understandable.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 November, 2015, 05:15:31 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 November, 2015, 01:33:25 PM
I loved it!

But it was pretty clear it was a b-movie from the first minute of the acting.

I could maybe get behind some of the sillier elements in The Guest if it had a more playful, tongue in cheek tone. But I didn't really get that from it - quite the opposite; I actually got the impression the folks making it genuinely thought they were filming a great script, and the film actually seems (to me at least) to play it fairly straight and take itself quite seriously.

The bizarre, out of nowhere, [spoiler]quasi science fiction[/spoiler] twist the plot takes around halfway through was where it really started to fall apart for me, and by the [spoiler]slasher panto[/spoiler] finale I was just laughing at it rather than with it. The plot, which for the first half hour or so seems to be leading somewhere vaguely interesting, just gives up trying to make any kind of sense and then just shrugs and says [spoiler]'I guess he's just going to kill everyone now'.[/spoiler] And that final shot. Ugh.

I think the thing that irked me most about it was that I haven't seen a film that strives so desperately hard to manufacture 'cool' cinematic moments (and just comes across as cringeworthy) since all those Tarantino and Guy Ritchie knock-offs in the late nineties. I could see what they were going for with the soundtrack (Drive, essentially) but it was really misjudged imo (and a 20 year old making a mix CD? Was the film set in 2002 or something?).

I quite often hear this film being compared to 1980s John Carpenter movies. If that's the case I'd say its far closer to his goofier, more divisive, harder to defend late 80s films like Big Trouble in Little China than anything legitimately great he did earlier on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2015, 05:24:07 PM
How can anyone not like Big Trouble in Little China? It's a thoroughly enjoyable flick... or should I be posting this on the "Take Away My Geek Card" thread?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 16 November, 2015, 05:41:51 PM
Big trouble in little China is great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 November, 2015, 05:44:12 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 November, 2015, 05:15:31 PM

I think the thing that irked me most about it was that I haven't seen a film that strives so desperately hard to manufacture 'cool' cinematic moments (and just comes across as cringeworthy) since all those Tarantino and Guy Ritchie knock-offs in the late nineties.


You had best not be referring to Boondock Saints, or I might be forced to shout at you in a terrible Oirish accent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 16 November, 2015, 06:21:27 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2015, 05:24:07 PM
How can anyone not like Big Trouble in Little China? It's a thoroughly enjoyable flick... or should I be posting this on the "Take Away My Geek Card" thread?

Safe to say you're in the majority, Sharky. Of all the people I know - both on and off-line - that have seen Big Trouble, Radiator is the only one I know who doesn't much like it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2015, 06:38:13 PM
Phew, that's a relief. I simply can't be at odds with everything!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 November, 2015, 06:46:01 PM
I personally like Big Trouble in Little China. My point was that it's quite a divisive film, many people think it's goofy and shit, and I can easily see why they would. A lot of it is a bit goofy and shit. I certainly wouldn't argue it's a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 November, 2015, 08:18:38 PM
I really liked The Guest. I liked the fact that it went off on one half way through. I thought the performances were pretty good too. The lead bloke was charismatic, convincingly 'hard' but also kind of dead-eyed and scary.
I can see how you'd draw a comparison between 'The Guest/Drive' and 'smart ass 90s thriller/Tarantino'. The thing is, some of those 90s Tarantino inspired thrillers were quite good - so maybe The Guest is the equivalent of something like Things to do in Denver When You're Dead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 November, 2015, 08:53:07 PM
Big Trouble in Little China is a classic because it's a bit goofy and shit, thus nailing the sort of pulpy nonsense that inspired it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 16 November, 2015, 08:58:29 PM
Who don't like this scene?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGC1bV4-fmk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGC1bV4-fmk)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 16 November, 2015, 09:08:30 PM
Big Hero 6

A bright, beautiful but paperthin superhero film that may forever get buried beneath the continuity heft of Disney's live action output from the period.

The real gold here is the relationship between Baymax and Hiro - playing out like a futuristic mash-up of Raymond Briggs' Snowman and the Iron Giant. Unfortunately this is crowded production and the multiple deaths, multiple team-members and multiple tired story cliches drag it into something that feels forced rather than fun. Clearly, they are at pains to start a franchise here and are too busy spinning genre-pleasing plates to think about leaving anything for you to hanker for when the credits roll.

It's a shame because the Man-in-High-Castle style Japanese-fused US is a beautifully designed backdrop but an utterly open-ended question that could have provided more exciting leads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Albion on 16 November, 2015, 10:03:19 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 November, 2015, 08:53:07 PM
Big Trouble in Little China is a classic because it's a bit goofy and shit, thus nailing the sort of pulpy nonsense that inspired it.

I know this is about movies watched but...........I've still never seen Big Trouble in Little China!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Citi-Def_Joe on 17 November, 2015, 04:11:19 PM
Edge of Tomorrow
Very pleasantly surprised loved it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 November, 2015, 07:48:43 PM
Nightcrawler

Excellent - really enjoyed it.
It was very different to what I was expecting and very dark. I kept [spoiler]waiting for Lou to get his comeuppance but he never did[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 November, 2015, 03:27:42 PM
Though I latterly try to see the craftsmanship and effort that goes into any work (for all I mock Prometheus as a story, as a production it's magnificent), I'm never too far from going back to being the teenage me who saw something and just went "what a load of fucking shit", and Hunger Games: The Mockingjay: Part 1 is just such a something.
It was only while watching fellow dystopian YA "middle chapter of the franchise" effort Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials that HG3.1's problems became apparent: it's ashamed of being sci-fi, it doesn't tell a complete story, it tells but doesn't show, its characters are ciphers, its plot makes no sense, it's joyless and devoid of emotion, it's stupid and I hate it.  Where in the Hell they spent 125 million dollars I cannot fathom, especially as Maze Runner 2 cost half that and you see where it went about a half hour in when the characters escape an underground bunker that looks suspiciously like a car park, then get chased around a dark abandoned building for a bit, and then the sun comes up and you see vast post-apocalyptic vistas of destroyed cities which then serve as the backdrop for the next 90 minutes of film.  Scorch Trials is unashamed pulpy sci-fi entertainment with some standout production work and setpieces, while HG3.1 is ashamedly sci-fi and aims to be seen as some kind of literature rather than just a Battle Royale knock-off that got astoundingly lucky at the box-office thanks to it's main star's sudden rise to the A-list.
Maze Runner 2, as you may have surmised, I enjoyed considerably more.  It's not without its problems (like the main characters described as being "immune" to the zombie virus despite one of them getting infected in the first half hour), but it has a scope and ambition that Hunger Games: Part 3: Part 1: All Shit lacks.  Brain science it isn't, but it is at least an enjoyable romp that actually feels at moments like it's more than just the setup for Part 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 November, 2015, 03:48:02 PM
Yeah, I was very disappointed by HG3, having bordered on the evangelical regarding the first two.  I kept waiting for something  that wasn't stupid to happen, or for a glint of the social satire or visual flair of earlier instalments. Instead there's the odd shot of massed ranks of suicide bombers emulating the game Lemmings, thatbbit from Rambo 3 with the helicopter, and two massive aerial bombardments that happen entirley off screeen. Terrible shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 November, 2015, 04:10:06 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 19 November, 2015, 03:27:42 PM...just a Battle Royale knock-off that got astoundingly lucky at the box-office thanks to it's main star's sudden rise to the A-list.


More likely she got a huge push from the prospect of the property itself - by the time the first film was released in 2012 Jennifer Lawrence wasn't really that well known by a wide audience (an indie release in Winter's Bone; a part in X-Men First Class and Silver Linings Playbook had yet to come out) but by 2012 the trilogy of books had sold something like 40 million copies which is a massive, captive audience - at the perfect cinema attendance age - who were primed to take note of a new, charismatic actor, in her first lead role fronting a big-feature vehicle.

Having said that, it was a mistake, at least from a story-perspective, splitting the final HG installment into 2 films - it felt like the mid-season bottle episode of a TV series.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 November, 2015, 04:11:35 PM
Yeah I watch that film on Netflix last month, what a shite empty film! A Longest teaser for part 2!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 November, 2015, 04:16:14 PM
Sorry. I've never read the books and I thought the first Hunger Games film was utter shite. Even my wife, who made me go, said it was awful. We've never bothered with the series since.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 November, 2015, 04:26:09 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 19 November, 2015, 03:48:02 PM
Yeah, I was very disappointed by HG3, having bordered on the evangelical regarding the first two.  I kept waiting for something  that wasn't stupid to happen, or for a glint of the social satire or visual flair of earlier instalments. Instead there's the odd shot of massed ranks of suicide bombers emulating the game Lemmings, thatbbit from Rambo 3 with the helicopter, and two massive aerial bombardments that happen entirley off screeen. Terrible shame.


When you do see the final film, there's an obvious point where Mockingjay Pt.1 should end and Pt.2 begin, but, if they dropped the filler material from both there's a better film to be had by smushing the two together.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2015, 10:56:27 PM
That new Mad Max film.
.
A good middle and a strong ending but a crap start and a foolish antagonist. The film looks brilliant but the titular character is woefully underused, especially in that crap beginning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 November, 2015, 12:38:38 PM
Still haven't got round to Hunger Games: Mockingjay parts 1 or 2, despite really liking the first two, main reason being I just didn't like the third book anywhere near as much as the first two so can't find the motivation.

As for The Guest, surprised to see it criticised for taking itself too seriously, I felt it was well aware it was a fun romp and thought the humour camed through strongly throughout.

Had a long flight earlier in the week (on me honeymoon!) so on the in-flight entertainment watched Fantastic Four. Thought it was quite dull and lacking in zing, but nowhere near as bad as reports suggested. Until the mid point at least, where another film seems to have been tacked onto it. The fight scene is ludicrous too, they really haven't thought of any meaningful ways for the powers to be used.

Went on the Doctor Doom ride at Universal yesterday which was way more exciting.

Also on the flight watched Spy, which had a couple of very decent laughs and a whole lot of that quite awkward ad libbing where you sense the script didn't include the jokes so the cast had to try and find some. The good laughs were indeed good laughs though. Was quite surprised to see the C word censored on the flight version, considering it was age restricted and a great deal of other swearing was intact.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 November, 2015, 04:47:31 PM
My father was watching old black white films all day yesterday and some of them were interesting.

I think some of them were interesting, partically one about the children of war who were still suffering after it had ended and they had to looked after. Some of them still had homes to go to.

Aside from that one,  I didn't bother to spend more than a few seconds watching any more until a old , but coloured film set in the American-West called Geronimo.....

Starring the late Chuck Connors wearing a very good wig obviously.

(http://stagevu.com/img/thumbnail/biaoombesntobig.jpg)

And guess who he reminds me of here?

(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1848.jpg)

Except the hair style, but it's strange the people like Mohigans (And perhaps other like them!) may be otherwise were well known for doing very similar stuff with there hair. Like the Celts or at least cut their hair like some street people of over the last decade....

I know this is such a small detail though...because this fellow might have been the perfect MacMahon - Slaine in those days.

Or a very good Conan the Cimmerian.....

(http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/232/6/e/conan_the_cimmerian_2013_by_rubusthebarbarian-d6iy2ly.jpg)

Sure, he doesn't have the musculature of Arnie, yet he had the right foundation for it.

Pity he's gone and there doesn't appear to be nay like him.

Before I continue any more.......can mod fix this forum ....I can't get all my images to appear and this appears to be more to do with blocking or some of type of meddling on this part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 November, 2015, 05:13:26 PM
Matthew Bourne's SLEEPING BEAUTY at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

I decided to treat the missus to something other than an explosion filled movie for date night so booked this but really wasn't looking forward to it.

It was fucking great. Chock full of gorgeous visuals (and visual story telling) and great music and fantastic dancing. I really want to see more now.

Almost as good as Fury Road.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 23 November, 2015, 09:22:31 PM
Nowt new, but a couple of recent Blu-ray purchases have allowed me to re-acquaint myself with some old faves.

Dr Terror's House of Horror (1965). As much as I love Hammer, and I do, you just cant beat those Amicus portmanteau films. Excellent.

And Donnie Darko (2001). Such a great film. Both versions are present on this release, and the theatrical cut got aired tonight. Bliss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 November, 2015, 11:11:58 PM
Is there a Moderator that still likes me enough to fix my last comments here. The images aren't working for me there...not completely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 November, 2015, 03:54:57 PM
Now is the time to talk about....

Crimson-Peaking is just great. I was very impressed, but also found it very unsettling in some parts. For personal reason and I know saw this film just about month ago now on the Monday.

I thought this would be some femme version of the Mountains of Madness yet, this Mexican director who's escapes me right now. Yet, he hasn't succumbed to female peer pressure completely and got into this film more than I thought I would and more so if I didn't take two toilet breaks during this viewing.

I think I missed something important and won't go on anymore about it.

Parting thoughts of this film.....

That red-orange clay that only reminds me of the red orange clay that can be resourced in  Clock-Work-Empires (http://store.steampowered.com/app/224740/). Now I wonder if that's really of the ground bleeding.

Back to the Last-Witch-Fighter After success fully getting all time top score in The Witcher Three - Wild Hunt. Vin Diesel/Kaulder, a young man living alone with his father Michael Cain/Dolan the 36th and younger brother Elijah Wood/Dolan the 37th in trailer park in one of the many back woods settings of the New York is visited by a strange man in a space-craft that looks a lot like a backwardly-upgraded Delorean that takes him back in time to 1955 where he marries his own mother....

Not really... but some of characters in this film wouldn't look pout of place in a film based on Slaine. There is bit of Irish and a bit of Norwegian and there is bit of a scene towards the beginning where he stabs a the Witch-Queen, through the heart and send her clawing back to El-Worlds (That's how I should have imagined El-Worlds too!) that spawned her and he doesn't really play that or any video game of any type either and isn't closely blood related to the two Dolans either, who aren't related to each other themselves.  Dolans???? are some type of secret order or priests (I assumed there might be another 35 Dolans and isn't that the surname of Brandon Routh's take on John Constantine and a another terrible film at that!) that look after and commission Vaulder (Or vice-versa!) a ageless Witch-Hunter who hails from a much earlier time because this Witch-Queen cursed him with immortality. Yep, what I way to suffer, must be horribly dull to never die and see the world progress at snails pace along side himself.

Maybe.... he just thinks that he is the Witch-Hunter and the Dolans are a long line of con-artists who fooled Smaulder that his is this immortal warrior when he really is some city vagrant in the right place at the right time playing some virtual reality Witch-Hunter game in a Irish pub run some lass that reminds me of the more Celtic version of Emma Watson and he does just that. This is the best way to experience virtual immortality and time-travel without actually do it.

Where some drug-addled gypsy is victimised and brain-washed into thinking she is some long dead queen of the witches and really just puppets of these team of cons who do this this more to entertain and see onlookers part with their wealth for the good show they put on.

[spoiler]Meanwhile, Elijah Dolan double cross's the other two in circumstances that I would give away here, expect that I knew it all along myself. Because his story of being rescued from being burnt down by a coven  sounds so much like the Bride of Crom that I assumed him to be Mebd in disguise and they both come to their demise towards the end of the film. [/spoiler]

Can't say any more except that Vin Deisel doesn't wear the long hair-top-knot and beard so well like he did in the second Riddick film.

I may have more to say about this, but can't think of anything for the life of me except that saw.....

A Girl Guide's Goes to the Zombie Apocalypse how I found the ending to that is so much like the end of Slaine - Tomb of Terror and my new theories about zombies in general  and how that also relates to Slaine. 

Yet, next time (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 November, 2015, 11:49:11 PM
 Rose Leslie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Leslie)

Sound more like a Scottish girl than Irish (That sound really important too, unless the Wiki is a lie!)...as I said above!

(http://40.media.tumblr.com/4fce3196e18ffd038b04811bf1b502dd/tumblr_ncu3l0Ua3p1qznfkso1_500.jpg)

Looks more like Isla Fisher......

(http://www.vettri.net/gallery/celeb/isla_fisher/Bruno-UK-Film-Premiere/IslaFisher_Bruno-UK-Film-Premiere_Vettri.Net-05.jpg)

Than Emma Watson....

(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mb266d80dd06e60ea981a420c9c242e7do1&pid=15.1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 25 November, 2015, 08:26:32 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 24 November, 2015, 11:49:11 PM
Rose Leslie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Leslie)

Sound more like a Scottish girl than Irish

That might be because she is Scottish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 November, 2015, 08:40:03 AM
Yeah, I wrote that incorrectly. I really meant that it reads that she is Scottish in her bio in her official wiki.

So, I assume she might be as well....yet, those things aren't always accurate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 25 November, 2015, 09:56:56 AM
She's Scottish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 November, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
I think what TS is trying to say is: "You know nothing, Wikipedia".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 November, 2015, 01:05:48 PM
It's "Scotch", not "Scottish".  They hate it when you get that wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 November, 2015, 06:17:51 PM
The ginger hair and freckles was the give away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 26 November, 2015, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 25 November, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
I think what TS is trying to say is: "You know nothing, Wikipedia".

I respect the pedia, but it's always good to get few more opinions and then use common sense.
Yet, in that case, I don't have a clue, it's girl born over there. Can't really argue about stuff like. Yet, sometime people lie about their background.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 November, 2015, 02:31:00 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 November, 2015, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 25 November, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
I think what TS is trying to say is: "You know nothing, Wikipedia".

I respect the pedia, but it's always good to get few more opinions and then use common sense.
Yet, in that case, I don't have a clue, it's girl born over there. Can't really argue about stuff like. Yet, sometime people lie about their background.


And get supportive people to help.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 November, 2015, 11:39:55 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 27 November, 2015, 02:31:00 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 November, 2015, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 25 November, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
I think what TS is trying to say is: "You know nothing, Wikipedia".

I respect the pedia, but it's always good to get few more opinions and then use common sense.
Yet, in that case, I don't have a clue, it's girl born over there. Can't really argue about stuff like. Yet, sometime people lie about their background.


And get supportive people to help.

Sorry TS lad, was just making one of my famously weak puns on Ygritte's catchphrase.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 November, 2015, 11:44:45 AM
The Lady in the Van is probably the winter highlight for anyone over the age of 60. And it's remarkably great, as Alan Bennett weaves another tale about himself but seeds it with such gusto it's quite delightfully twee at times. Maggie Smith raises her A-game (she really is a national treasure) and pull's off an all at once funny yet tragic portrail as the little old homeless Mary Shepherd. Worse ways to spend an hour and a half.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 November, 2015, 11:21:43 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 27 November, 2015, 11:39:55 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 27 November, 2015, 02:31:00 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 November, 2015, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 25 November, 2015, 11:18:59 AM
I think what TS is trying to say is: "You know nothing, Wikipedia".

I respect the pedia, but it's always good to get few more opinions and then use common sense.
Yet, in that case, I don't have a clue, it's girl born over there. Can't really argue about stuff like. Yet, sometime people lie about their background.


And get supportive people to help.

Sorry TS lad, was just making one of my famously weak puns on Ygritte's catchphrase.

No problemo...... 

Wikipedia is a great source of knowledge, but some things written there need to be taken with a grain of salt or a second, third, fourth, fifth opinion.

I once put my own edit on the  Slaine's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sl%C3%A1ine_(comics)) entry on that site, by stating that Medb and her later alter ego were the same person or not Robym her dwarf servant or something like that. Now, I wonder if that was put the wrong way to cover a spoiler.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 November, 2015, 08:22:27 AM
Brooklyn.

I was thoroughly entertained by this gentle crowdpleaser about a young Irish woman (Saoirse Ronan, in a cracking lead performance) making a new life for herself in 1950s New York. Also stars Dredd/The Force Awakens actor Domhnall Gleeson on fine form - and a great cast all round.

Some may find it a little too broad and sentimental for their tastes, but I thought it was a beautifully-presented, charming little film that didn't outstay a second of its welcome, and one that struck a particular chord with me and my girlfriend as we find ourselves feeling a bit torn between our new life in America and our friends and family back home.

5/5.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 November, 2015, 07:07:58 AM
Spy.

Made it to about the 1 hour mark.

I'm aware she's quite a divisive figure, but I've never seen a Melissa McCarthy film before and will always have a soft spot for Paul Feig due to his work on Freaks and Geeks (which I adore), so I was totally open to giving this film a chance, but just found it desperately weak and unfunny tbh. Can't quite believe how many positive things I'd heard about it via various movie podcasts and it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes - i honestly thought it dire.

And it did nothing to change my opinion of Jason Statham - i can only assume that his continually being paid to appear in films is all part of some clever postmodern joke I'm not in on.

Doesn't bode well for Feig's Ghostbusters film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 November, 2015, 12:38:34 PM
You are spot on about Spy rad. And the new Ghostbusters film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 30 November, 2015, 03:43:52 PM
Terminator Genesys: .................. what a load of ol' CENSORED.

Jurassic World: What a load of ol' - hey now they've stopped talking and just started running, this ain't so terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 November, 2015, 05:09:17 PM
Tangerine.

A low-budget indie that's starting to appear on loads of 'best of the year' lists and is mostly famous for (allegedly) being shot on an iPhone 5. The plot, such as it is, follows two transgender prostitutes as they traverse the seedy underbelly of LA, heading towards a confrontation with their pimp.

First off, I think there's quite a lot of bollocks being talked about this film. Many critics have called it an out and out 'comedy' and 'the funniest film of the year', which to me is utterly ludicrous. At most there's a handful of bleakly humorous moments throughout, certainly nothing to raise more than a half-smile. It belongs far more in the category of 'gritty urban melodrama' than anything related to comedy.

Secondly, it's a tough watch. The first 30-40 minutes of the film - which honestly consist of little more than people screeching at each other interspersed with stabs of the most obnoxious kind of sub-M.I.A. blaring electro hip hop - is grating, and at times nigh-on unwatchable. I almost gave up on the film completely but thankfully it switches gears around the halfway mark and there actually starts to be some semblance of a narrative to follow.

It has a certain raw freshness and a frenetic edginess, and features some very good performances from unknown (non?)actors but in all honesty is to me one of those films that could be cut down to a 20 minute short and be all the better for it. That it was shot on a phone, which no critic fails to mention, is an impressive achievement but it's ultimately irrelevant when judging the quality of the film itself. To call it one of the best films of the year seems more than a little over the top - I doubt anyone will be talking about it this time next year, let alone in five years time.

2/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 November, 2015, 06:02:53 PM
The Deep (2012).  Wowsers, what a great little film. A true story of survival (and its aftermath) that actually feels like a true story, despite being utterly astonishing.  Underplayed, beautifully shot, moving and thoughtful. Best thing I've watched in ages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 30 November, 2015, 06:43:32 PM
Flash Gordon - This film should be utter pish but isn't. Bad acting, terrible dialogue and SFX which must have been poor even at the time. As a comedy though its fried gold.

And the soundtrack is still fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 November, 2015, 10:17:29 PM
The Other Guys

So funny and very enjoyable as watch it again.

Terry: Thank you Sheila!
Sheila: Goodnight!
Allen: Goodnight!
Terry: Thank you Sheila!
Sheila: Bye Terry!
Terry: Bye Sheila, I'll never forget tonight!
Allen: Bye Terry!
Terry: Alright Allen, whatever go inside. Bye Sheila!
Allen: See ya Terry!
Terry: Bye Sheila! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 December, 2015, 12:23:57 AM
Immortals

I got it into my head this would be a prequel or sidequal to 300, told from the Persians point of view. Their warriors were referred to as 'immortals' after all. It turns out to be about the Hero Theseus, faith, and a war between literal immortals gods and titans.[spoiler] And it refers to immortality in heroic deeds living on after a person's death.[/spoiler]

Not bad. A lot of scenes were too dark (literally in that you have to turn the lights out to make things out). A bit pretentious, maybe. [spoiler]The gods had rubbish outfits and the titans weren't very big.[/spoiler]

So not great, but it was different. (Not in the unpredictable sense, more the look of the film.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 December, 2015, 01:00:05 AM
Immortals was thinking of this one, but could recall the name when I saw the trailer for the new Gods of Egypt film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 December, 2015, 08:54:19 AM
Before Immortals last night I saw an old Hammer Horror earlier in the day.
Revenge of Frankenstein.

So-so. Peter Cushing was as good as ever.

I missed a bit at the end though. I never saw how his [spoiler]first creature died.

And how, after having his brain transplanted into another body, the (not so) good doctor had the same face?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 03 December, 2015, 11:10:27 AM
Only a short, but what a short...  Uncanny Valley.

https://vimeo.com/147365861
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 05 December, 2015, 09:10:29 AM
Finally saw the The Hunger Games last night (recorded on Film 4 back in August) after I noticed my good buddy Netflix has parts 2 and 3 (thanks to the new "categories" feature).

This completely passed me by at the time, but you know what I really enjoyed it and am now putting my Stargate Universe viewing on hiatus until I watch these. Don't think I will have time to catch up and go and see part 4 whilst it is still at the cinema though....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 December, 2015, 03:54:07 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 05 December, 2015, 09:10:29 AM
Finally saw the The Hunger Games last night (recorded on Film 4 back in August) after I noticed my good buddy Netflix has parts 2 and 3 (thanks to the new "categories" feature).

This completely passed me by at the time, but you know what I really enjoyed it and am now putting my Stargate Universe viewing on hiatus until I watch these. Don't think I will have time to catch up and go and see part 4 whilst it is still at the cinema though....

Never liked those films from the start!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2015, 11:45:21 PM
AFTERSHOCK

Eli Roth and a couple of his mates hit upon the idea of taking some, frankly, stunning Russian super models to Chile for a couple of months and trying to shag them while pretending to make an earthquake disaster movie.

A couple of interesting deaths aside all this has going for it is the order in which people die being not entirely what you expect.

And there is some theme about man being more destructive than the worst of nature. Probably. It's a bit undermined by the "But look at this power of nature!" in the completely telegraphed ending.

I actually enjoyed the first twenty minutes of clubbing and travelogue more than the disaster elements.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2015, 01:39:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2015, 11:45:21 PM
Eli Roth and a couple of his mates hit upon the idea of taking some, frankly, stunning Russian super models to Chile for a couple of months and trying to shag them while pretending to make an earthquake disaster movie.

I believe he married the lead actress shortly afterwards, so must have been a successful trip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 09 December, 2015, 07:16:31 PM
Krampus
Enjoyable festive horror fluff, featuring that guy you saw in that thing, that other funny guy, and the woman who was in that show.  Whilst unlikely to win any Oscars, it was as quite fun.  There's a solid anti-materialistic message, encouraging everyone to enjoy the simpler things in life this Xmas period.  But whilst other films with the same message might allow their characters to find sickly sweet redemption, Krampas just wants to punish the selfish bastards forever.

I've often thought it a shame we don't have Krampas celebration s in this country...


Followed by a bit ofHot tub time machine 2
If you love rape jokes, this one's for you.  Utterly, utterly appalling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 09 December, 2015, 09:01:36 PM
Just watched The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was really good, but it just ends. Really just setting up the next one.

Fortunately its waiting for me on Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 December, 2015, 09:15:29 AM
I know I was going to discuss some other films.....

Yet in the mean-time, I want to say somethings about The Lovely Bones and how thought this film was doing the rounds during the Lord of the Rings which lead me to believe there is more than one Peter Jackson, but it wasn't out until 2009. A darker time for me and with this and Heavenly Creatures. What am I supposed to thing him.

Just try to work out this film using what I know from the other films in his filmography or just simply take at face value.

I know I didn't start thinking things like every one of those neighbourhood are filled with many different types of child-molesters, rapists and serial -killers and he that one had to go.

The special effects showing the afterlife as a place that seemed more lively there the place we are in while we're are living. This got me to me thinking of the Spirit-World as parts of it may appear in Werewolf : The Apocalypse (In fact that movie even reminds me of the short story at the beginning of the original Silent-Strider tribe book. Except a Werewolf can walk/run/lope from the real world (The Telleran - It sounds a lot like that word if I'm not spelling it correctly there!) to the world of spirits 9the Umbra it's many other connected realms!) like in this movie some of these world appear to be more alive, more vivid with colour and they do this without having to die in the first place. 

Unlike the girl victim who seemed unable to reach any time in any place that was in sync with hers or to even break through into real world and talk with her folks, mainly because she was supposed to have died, and her spirit trapped on the earthly spirit realm (Penumbra) before she could move on to her rightfull place in Heaven. Something she couldn't do because she had unfinished buisness. She had to do something before her spirit guide, another earlier victim of the same man could help her move on.

Right now, [spoiler] I am thinking he didn't rape and kill her after inviting her into his underground den to have a drink with him Maybe he just raped her and kept her heavily sedated with constant injection of some LSD and or dope [/spoiler]. Until he feel down a embankment after dumping something else in vault-box. I know this is just as bad and/or even worse, but could explain her spirit trip as a drug trip. and she was alive the whole time until he fucked up.[/spoiler]

I'd love to see Peter Jackson tackle a werewolf movie or series such as what I have been interested in. Yet, nobody ever gets these things right. For started all the Saturday morning cartoon stuff needs to be removed from this, otherwise it would be taken seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 December, 2015, 09:30:28 AM
Trigger warning for anyone wanting to in-spoiler Mayors spoiler. I've never seen The Lovely Bones but I'm honestly not keen in movies using rape as a plot point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 December, 2015, 01:16:18 PM
Either I missed that part or it was dealt with subtly. Really if you see the film, you might not get that impression at all. There's is also the other very serious theme of snatching or luring children and murder. 

Some lady wrote the original story and that is where I read word rape.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 December, 2015, 10:04:07 PM
The Hallow - such a great idea with some effective design but a really ropey execution. Just not anything I'd hoped it would be. Bah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 December, 2015, 09:22:06 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2015, 01:39:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2015, 11:45:21 PM
Eli Roth and a couple of his mates hit upon the idea of taking some, frankly, stunning Russian super models to Chile for a couple of months and trying to shag them while pretending to make an earthquake disaster movie.

I believe he married the lead actress shortly afterwards, so must have been a successful trip.

Good work, fella.

I have just watched COWSPIRACY on NETFLIX.

Aside from the documentary maker "having a journey", it's pretty powerful stuff and we'll worth looking into. 

Without researching all of the scientigic studies involved, my gut feeling was that I wish there was a separate planet to which I could banish people that post "But, Mmm! Bacon!" while denying what death, torture and destruction they are inglicting upon animals and our planet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 December, 2015, 09:26:39 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 December, 2015, 09:22:06 AM
... I wish there was a separate planet to which I could banish people that post "But, Mmm! Bacon!" while denying what death, torture and destruction they are inglicting upon animals and our planet.

Keep at it Tips, you're on the right side of history, and each one of your posts nudges me closer to your PoV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 December, 2015, 12:57:48 PM
Vegetarians invented their own bacon because they could not live in a world without it.  THERE ENDETH THE ARGUMENT.

If Tips really wants to stop people eating bacon, he just has to make sure that the only bacon available to eat comes from my hometown, as the pork fat/edible meat ratio is so skewed towards the former that I am half-convinced that if you wrapped some of our bacon around a bit of string, you could use the end result as a candle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 December, 2015, 02:11:36 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 21 December, 2015, 12:57:48 PM
Vegetarians invented their own bacon because they could not live in a world without it.  THERE ENDETH THE ARGUMENT.

You disguised it quite well but that's pretty much an "Mmm, bacon" comment.  Go on and fuck off to Earth 762 where the Lloigor are waiting for you. Apparently they treat humans like cattle and we all know that's perfectly nice and humane...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2015, 04:41:49 PM
Whats your stance in microfarming, Tips?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 December, 2015, 05:32:57 PM
I'like answer in the Politics thread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 December, 2015, 08:17:00 AM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 21 December, 2015, 12:57:48 PM
Vegetarians invented their own bacon because they could not live in a world without it.  THERE ENDETH THE ARGUMENT.
I can quite happily live in a world without the sight, taste and smell of bacon. Closest I get is those bacon rasher crisp things, which taste as much like bacon as prawn cocktail crisps taste like their namesake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 December, 2015, 05:55:23 PM
Hey, you guy's all liked Fury Road right? And I assume you like Mad Max in general, right? Well then don't check out The Bronx Warriors, because it's nothing like Mad Max. Which is ironic, seeing as it was made as Italy's rip-off take on Mad Max.

Set in 1990, New York, and the south Bronx has been designated a a no go zone, run by several gangs and monopolised by the police. The commissioners daughter disappears from her Manhattan home one evening and this triggers a race and arms war between rival gangs and the authorities.

A story we've seen dozens of times before, with some truly awful acting and effects,  yet still a heck of a lot of fun. Best thing about it though is it's the only sci-fi franchise from Italy to receive a spin off and a sequel!

Escape from the Bronx borrows much more from Mad Max, and focuses on the clear out project (erm, genocide) of the Bronx population. This one is deffinetly post apocalyptic, and has a political edge to it. Some kind of cross pacific war happened and now America is trying to pick up the pieces.....by murdering the surplus population a- oh fuck it, it makes zero sense but it's still a butt ton of fun. Bounds better than the orignal, it even bousts some seriously wicked practical effects.

The spin-off, The Last Barabarians is mostly stand alone but follows up from the nuclear fallout that concluded the war from the previous film. None of the cast from the first two films feature and the aesthetic is an even higher grade of garbage, but still a lot of fun. Not a great film by any stretch and only loosely linked to the Bronx movies but still worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 December, 2015, 06:18:48 PM
I saw The Bronx Warriors (from Cannon? Right?) in the mid 80's on VHS.
Man, that is one bad film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 December, 2015, 02:15:15 PM
Honestly I didn't find it any less enjoyable or ludicrous than Escape from New York, despite having a far less charismatic main character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 23 December, 2015, 03:49:35 PM
The Bronx Warriors films led to me affixing a plastic skull to the front of my BMX.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 December, 2015, 04:11:52 PM
I saw The Bronx Warriors at the tender age of 9 or 10. It holds a special place in my heary which I wouldn't want to spoil by doing something so Stupid as watching it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 December, 2015, 04:33:42 PM
I watched those films recently, but in the wrong order.  Now I understand why they didn't make much sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 27 December, 2015, 06:08:53 PM
Saw The Hateful Eight - great stuff! And it had an intermission, classy touch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 December, 2015, 12:25:42 AM
I just saw The Ridiculous 6. (I'm not taking the mick, concerning The Hateful 8. It's really a film, on Netflix starring Adam Sandler, Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia (who I didn't recognise straight away until he got a haircut later) and a whole bunch of others.)

A very funny comedy Western. And yes, kinda ridiculous too, but in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2015, 11:59:05 AM
Jupiter Ascending.  There's talk of this being a camp classic among female viewers because it has a lady type in the lead, but to me this feels like someone drowning in a lake of Box Office Fail and grasping at anything they think will float.  Occasionally it looks really nice, but overall it's pretty shite, the scale of the folly reminding me of David Lynch's Dune even if saying as much feels like giving Jupiter Ascending too much credit, as does making comparisons to the movie of which it feels most reminiscent: 1987's Masters of the Universe.
Not good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 December, 2015, 01:02:00 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 28 December, 2015, 11:59:05 AM
Jupiter Ascending.  There's talk of this being a camp classic among female viewers because it has a lady type in the lead, but to me this feels like someone drowning in a lake of Box Office Fail and grasping at anything they think will float.  Occasionally it looks really nice, but overall it's pretty shite, the scale of the folly reminding me of David Lynch's Dune even if saying as much feels like giving Jupiter Ascending too much credit, as does making comparisons to the movie of which it feels most reminiscent: 1987's Masters of the Universe.
Not good.

Watched most of this one earlier this evening and don't mind it so much. I still find it hard to understand, because the powers that be insist on having the voices at low volume as apposed to the rest of the sound effects and music.

Otherwise, I don't mind it so much because it showed potential being this Sci-Fi opera about the fantastic origins of our race extending further back in time and further away from our planet than most of us are supposed to think. It's about how people just like us conquered other alien beings and made them their slaves or insubordinates and how completely destroyed other pockets of humanity for a energy source after finding it how to use this to extend their life expectancy. There is a element of our world going through unofficial dark-age by comparison which is kind of cool.

It is kind of like He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, but I'm not actually comparing it with that other film here. Its seems like similar genre's.

Originally, I was thinking this could have been inspired by the Paladium-Rifts universe and what happened on Earth. There is a lot of hi-tech weaponry and other gadgets there. Humans spliced with animals and those dog-boys. It's all there without exactly being just that.

About the female character lead. Great, they can have that one!

I don't like the Redmayne fellow, even though he really got in shape for that role. If they were looking for someone to play a despicable villain. Then I guess he was the right choice as well.

Still not as great as the Matrix trilogy ever was.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 December, 2015, 08:32:21 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 28 December, 2015, 11:59:05 AM
Jupiter Ascending.   Occasionally it looks really nice, but overall it's pretty shite, the scale of the folly reminding me of David Lynch's Dune even if saying as much feels like giving Jupiter Ascending too much credit, as does making comparisons to the movie of which it feels most reminiscent: 1987's Masters of the Universe.
Not good.

I failed to mention this film might be better as series or a quadrilogy comparting to it to how Dune should have been and not how the David Lynch turned out.

I think mentioned this in earlier review that that the best thing about Lycanthro-Tant bounty hunter/hero is his special shoes that allow him to move fast and fly. There was nothing partically wolfish about him except he supposed to have good sense of smell. Otherwise anybody could have done what he was doing and called them a Dog or wolf man for it. The mention of him being half-albino brought me back to horrors of being called accused of albino-ism at school despite my dark eyes and hair. Sure, my skin was real pale, but still pigmented and non-see-thru. I really don't lend credence to my so called albino-ism by letting it be said that there is such a thing as by adding the prefix quarter or semi.

Sean Bean character who I forget the name of I think was supposed to have a pair of insect wing that were removed as punishment. He's a half a bee, just like that song that the Monty-Python troop came up with. Otherwise I really only got this when he got into fist-cuffs with Wolf-Boy (Above) deftly spinning around him at one stage to attack from behind. He could only be insect man after seeing that. Just a pity he didn't wear the yellow and black stripey uniform.

Once I saw the elephant man at the controls of space-ship. I though this could almost be related to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which is still the better film.

Other influences.. might have been your very own Melt-Down-Man and still there was one more that I thought I knew when I replied here last night. Which I failed to mention and now forget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 28 December, 2015, 08:33:24 PM
Just enjoyed Fellowship of the Ring's extended edition with my eldest today. It's a beautifully shot film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 December, 2015, 07:55:22 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 28 December, 2015, 08:33:24 PM
Just enjoyed Fellowship of the Ring's extended edition with my eldest today. It's a beautifully shot film.

Yeah, the Extended Edition is a great film - the best of the lot and a very neat adaptation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 December, 2015, 02:08:07 PM
Willow. Warwick Davis and Val Kilmer are both great in this one. I'd forgotten how gorgeous Joanne Whalley was/is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 29 December, 2015, 04:49:39 PM
Caught some of Papillion on BBC4 last night, wasn't expecting to like it but it was good. Apparently not the true story it was claimed to be at the time though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 December, 2015, 12:44:16 AM
Pacific Rim.  How could have I gone so long before a random purchase in Aldi's bargain bin showed me the light...  This is just a terrific film from start to finish, even the appallingly daffy scientist duo are amusing, and the familiarity, predictability and godawful science somehow just add to the feel.  Great sense of scale, clear action and distinctive design, lovely water and lighting effects, star turn from Elba, affecting flashback child actor performance, comedy gold from Perlman... everything is just a blast.  The definitive Power Rangers movie. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 31 December, 2015, 01:09:59 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 31 December, 2015, 12:44:16 AM
Pacific Rim.  How could have I gone so long before a random purchase in Aldi's bargain bin showed me the light...  This is just a terrific film from start to finish
---
The definitive Power Rangers movie.

I agree, Pacific Rim is fun stuff. And there is a Power Rangers movie in the works at the moment over in Hollywood, it will be much smaller budget and it's likelihood of being definitive is quite low... but hey maybe it'll work.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 03 January, 2016, 10:58:16 AM
Kingsman: The Secret Service

I hadn't read the comic, but disengaged my brain and had a laugh anyway. I had a blast watching it but did also start it after half a bottle of wine and consume another one and a half bottles through the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 03 January, 2016, 10:59:06 AM
And Pacific Rim is tops.

It was a black day when the mooted sequel with Godzilla was shelved in favour of Kong v Godzilla.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 January, 2016, 02:30:11 PM
Rematched all three Hobbit films in extended editions. I do think the extended versions add more than they detract from the theatrical versions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 January, 2016, 05:31:02 PM
Snoopy and Charlie Brown: not bad at all, maybe a bit padded with (and I never thought I'd be saying this) too much Red Baron stuff, but a nice simple story, some good laughs and simply glorious animation. Very much a merging of the schmaltzy TV movies with the more fantastic elements of the comic, but not its sharper tone, but it worked, and kept 4 kids aged 3-9  attention throughout . Remind me though, didn't Patty and Marci originally attend a different school?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 January, 2016, 05:40:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 03 January, 2016, 05:31:02 PM
Remind me though, didn't Patty and Marci originally attend a different school?

From Charlie, yes, they did.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2016, 12:12:01 AM
Cheers, Joe Cool. Giving the gang a shared classroom simplified things storywise, so no complaints - there was quite enough faithfulness going on elsewhere.


Terminator Salvation.  Ah hell I dunno. I'd seen most of this film in passing chunks on TV, but never start to finish. I'd had a really low opinion of what I'd seen, but actually it's an enjoyable pretty solid SF action thing - right up to a pisspoor last half hour. There are nice new robot designs, an interesting plot, and is a refreshing departure from the previous three. Then it degenerates into predictable nonsense, factories full of convenient molten metal and liquid nitrogen, and the most pathetic Skynet you could conceive of - if you're a sentient network controlling the world's machines, how can a bloody robot factory be more dangerous to you than to the fleshy ones?  Plus Skynet's solution to the Connor/Reese/Connor paradox makes even less sense than usual. Ugh, it was so nearly there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 January, 2016, 12:24:08 AM
Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

For the second time, this time with a friend.

We missed the start unfortunately due to a mishap involving a ticket printing machine, but I filled in the start for my friend and we were good to go. Rather annoying just the same considering the expense of the tickets.

We both thoroughly enjoyed it though, and it was just as good, if not better on the rewatch for me. I was in a better seating position this time, which was nice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2016, 01:29:01 PM
Saturday night was a first viewing of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Sunday night was a second viewing of Ant-Man.

Ant-Man totally won with much more invention, wit, drama and tension. Special effects shotsceven made me want to look closer rather than mentally compare them to all of the other car chases, imploding skyscrapers and properrty dsmage we have seen countless times. Even the quipping was better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Davek on 04 January, 2016, 01:36:39 PM
Watched Ex Machina two nights ago which was very enjoyable.  A touch of Bladerunner mixed with Humans (Channel 4 series from 2015).  Great feel to the film, a few plot holes but still one of the best thing I've watched for a while.

Watched Kingsman last night.  Pretty trashy but got away with it as it was markedly irreverent to the genre.  Very rude ending as well  :-[

Also re-watched Star Wars episodes 1-3.  Some serious bad points on each but also some good plot and character development.  I haven't seen the Force Awakens...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 January, 2016, 01:48:44 PM
Not the last movie watched, I despatched a certain film concerning a psychic blond cop and her grumpy older male sidekick.*

It was almost  new experience as I watched it with a friend who mostly experienced it for the first time. (I say 'mostly' because she told me she'd watched it, but it seems she only caught the start or didn't pay attention last time).

Anyway, she loved it and wanted to know why no sequel was getting made. It seems many who actually watch the film feel that way. Shame.


* Yes I'm being a bit cheeky. I would argue Dress is as much an Anderson movie as a Dredd one. This is not a criticism. And as I was watching it with a lady, I think she related well to Anderson., although she liked Dredd. Although you don't have to be female to do that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM
Festive round-up. Mostly stuff I've already seen but on the telly. I've included a handy festive drinking indicator alongside each write up to allow you to judge whether it's me or the booze talking in each case.

Dredd. Four pints and two Malt of the Months. Just starting when I got home on Christmas Eve. Third time I've watched it and my opinion improves each time. I've gone from thinking it was a decent adaptation in terms of tone but not deserving of the adulation to believing it's almost as good as some of the loonies on here say it is.


Future Shock: the story of 2000AD. One pint before, a second during. Entertaining and informative with some new stories and laugh out loud moments. The only slight criticism would be the focus on the past: the film takes time to mention Matt being the longest running editor and he's in it for about 20 seconds.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day. God knows but a lot. Just starting when I got back from dinner at a friend's house. It's like a relentless machine; ruthlessly effecient in its desire to entertain you.


Avatar. Nothing. Kind of hard to remember how big a deal was made of this at the time. I remember thinking it was pretty enjoyable and being wowed by the visual effects. Five years later it looks like an extended videogame cut scene and I'm not sure whether that's down to advances in the latter or just the absence of hype. Cameron does still know how to get us involved with a bunch of space jarheads though.

Fast Five. Nothing. Joyous.


Big Hero 6. Nothing. Big Hero sucks, more like.

Kingsman: The Secret Service. Half a bottle of wine. Seems like a lot of people have caught this one over the holidays. Expected it to be a load of old shite so was pleasantly surprised to find it an entertaining and reasonably smart riff on the spy film.

Edge of Tomorrow. Bottle and a half of wine. Siobhan mostly talked through this but we'd have an occasional break for a laugh at one of the many Cruise death montages. Still think it's a great fun film whose failure saddens me.

Return of the Jedi. Two and a half bottles of wine. Think this viewing might have convinced me that RotJ is the second best Star Wars film. I've always thought the climactic showdown in the throne room was amazing. The darkness and sudden flashes of light jumping off the screen and the intimacy of the personal drama wonderfully juxtaposed with the awesome space battle raging outside the window. Our introduction to badass Luke has grown on me over the years and this time I even liked the Ewoks, so fuck it. Force ghost Christensen remains an abomination.

In conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC

47 Ronin. All of the wine. Pretty late by this point so I fell asleep halfway through but what I did see was pretty enjoyable. Making a plot point out of Keanu's character being half demon tickled me. Will definitely make an effort to see the whole thing at a later date.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 January, 2016, 04:11:28 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM

47 Ronin. All of the wine. Pretty late by this point so I fell asleep halfway through but what I did see was pretty enjoyable. Making a plot point out of Keanu's character being half demon tickled me. Will definitely make an effort to see the whole thing at a later date.

Oooh. I've got a copy of 47 Ronin kicking about. Might stick that on with my boy tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 04 January, 2016, 04:28:43 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PMIn conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC

WTactualFUCK?

ESB>>>SW>RotJ>>>TFA(provisional)>>>>>>ROTS>>>>>>TPM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Holiday Special>>>>>>>>>>>>AToC

The Force Awakens - Need to see this a few more times as it's difficult to judge. It doesn't really work as its own film due to being a semi-reboot and first part of a trilogy. Liked the new characters and most of the old ones worked well (unlike Carrie Fishers facial muscles). Still feel its a Death Star to many though.

I watched Hateful Eight and its fuckin great!!!

I'm a poet and I didn't even realise it!

Spectre is utter gash, Sphincter more like.

Crimson Peak is Del Toros version of an old Hammer film so I thought that was cool.

Minions - very funny

Future Shock - Gggggggggggggreat
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 04 January, 2016, 04:48:10 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM
SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>> AotC

correct on every count
especially empire strikes back
name me 1 other film where
the good guys lose every fight

that question is easier to answer
if you are german a terrorist or an orc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 January, 2016, 04:50:56 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM

In conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC


This is gonna need its own thread!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 January, 2016, 04:56:03 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 04 January, 2016, 04:28:43 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PMIn conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC

WTactualFUCK?

ESB>>>SW>RotJ>>>TFA(provisional)>>>>>>ROTS>>>>>>TPM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Holiday Special>>>>>>>>>>>>AToC


This is the correct ranking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 05:00:35 PM
Baffling. The prequels are all terrible, but AotC is comfortably the least awful, with an overly complicated but at least comprehensible plot and some decent set pieces.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 January, 2016, 05:06:33 PM
I get the prequels a bit mixed up but I don't think there's anything at all I liked about AotC.
At least TPM had the pod-race and ROTS had the Order 66 bit and baddie Anakin in the temple (which could have been done better but was pretty entertaining nevertheless). I can't remember much in AotC other than the production line thing, the arena and Jango Fett.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 05:16:30 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 05:00:35 PM
Baffling. The prequels are all terrible, but AotC is comfortably the least awful, with an overly complicated but at least comprehensible plot and some decent set pieces.
I was never as disappointed with Phantom Menace as so many others and by the time Sith came round I'd pretty much given up hope, but my main problem with Clones is the sheer volume of cribbing from originals.

They all have references but almost every scene in Clones is guilty. There's a fight in a bar like the cantina; there's a chase like the speeder bikes; there's an ovoid floating city like Bespin; there's Django Fett who's not really anything like Boba but you get the idea; there's a monster in an arene like the Rancor pit; there's a conveyor belt thing that's not too much like the bit with the Ugnaughts but seems to be there just to be a level in the computer game. And the one part I can't match up with anything else is the nauseating teen holiday romance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2016, 05:17:42 PM
I always reckon, Jar Jar and tedious senate included, thet TPM was best of the prequels so Cosh is right there. But ROTS and AOTC are equally terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2016, 05:31:43 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 05:00:35 PM
Baffling. The prequels are all terrible, but AotC is comfortably the least awful, with an overly complicated but at least comprehensible plot and some decent set pieces.

There's lots of cool stuff in AotC (the arena battle and titular assault, Obi-Wan as detective, the 9/11 sunset, Kamino in general, Temura Morrison) but I find it hard to get past the awfulness of the central romance, the goddawful endless factory scene, and the bizarre leaps in logic (Padme shows up at Shmi's funeral dressed in her action clobber (complete with holster and combat boots); the Republic's shiny new army are identified as clones of Count Dooku's bodyguard, who also hired the assassin that tried to kill the senator opposing the Military Ceation Bill that will legitimise that selfsame army of his clones... but nobody asks why; Yoda levitates a big lump of Kirby machine away from our heroes, but chucks it in the opposite direction to Dooku's escape craft.. And that's without even asking WTF is going on with the sandpeople and Shmi).

The correct order is, of course TESB >ANH>RotJ>Tartakovsky Series>TFA (Provisional)>TPM>Clone Wars Series>Rebels (Provisional)>AotC>Clone Wars Movie>RotS>>>>>>>>Holiday Special

Nothing is worse than the Holiday Special and nothing ever could be - and I speak as one who rewatched the whole thing last week. Okay, I used the FF button a lot, which is the only reason I'm alive to talk about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 04 January, 2016, 05:48:41 PM
Holiday Special is awful but the lols from the ad breaks sneak it ahead of AOTC in my book. My issue with it is that it looks like a computer cut scene almost start to finish and is by far and away the least watched in my house.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 06:14:45 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 04 January, 2016, 05:48:41 PM
Holiday Special is awful but the lols from the ad breaks sneak it ahead of AOTC in my book. My issue with it is that it looks like a computer cut scene almost start to finish and is by far and away the least watched in my house.

The wide-range of opinions on the prequels is especially baffling... I'm having an email conversation with a friend who's complaining about TFA because —in all seriousness— he feels that the new film is missing the gravitas and presence Hayden Christensen brought to the prequels.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 04 January, 2016, 06:26:01 PM
ANH, TESB, ROTS, RTOJ, AOTC & TPM.... Haven't seen TFA yet so jury's out. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 06:47:29 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 04 January, 2016, 05:31:43 PM
The correct order is, of course TESB >ANH>RotJ>Tartakovsky Series>TFA (Provisional)>TPM>Clone Wars Series>Rebels (Provisional)>AotC>Clone Wars Movie>RotS>>>>>>>>Holiday Special

Nothing is worse than the Holiday Special and nothing ever could be - and I speak as one who rewatched the whole thing last week. Okay, I used the FF button a lot, which is the only reason I'm alive to talk about it.

Tartakovsky's Clone Wars is the only good sustenance available to satisfy any Prequel hunger you might have; and I have a soft spot for the Boba Fett carton in the Holiday Special - which makes it canon.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 06:53:00 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 06:14:45 PMThe wide-range of opinions on the prequels is especially baffling... I'm having an email conversation with a friend who's complaining about TFA because —in all seriousness— he feels that the new film is missing the gravitas and presence Hayden Christensen brought to the prequels.

I can only put it down to taste but there's a great many people who think not one performance in TFA lives up to Prequel standard.

Personally I think BB8 out-performed everyone in the Prequels.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 January, 2016, 07:05:13 PM
For me TFA is right in the absolute middle.

Saying it's either worse than any of the prequels or better than any of the original films is equally absurd as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 January, 2016, 07:12:36 PM
On a related note, I finally saw Inside Llewyn Davis over Christmas.

I'm split on Coen Brothers films, but tend to be more inclined towards their more humorous ones. As with many of their films, ILD is on first watch a bit rambling and inconsequential, but I loved it nonetheless.

I wasn't blown away initially, but it seemed to really sink in after I watched it, and I found myself returning to certain scenes to watch them again. I feel like it's going to be a perennial comfort film in the future.

Oscar Isaac is just phenomenal isn't he? What a performance. You find yourself wishing that something - anything - will go right for him despite him being such a dirtbag. I loved the contrast of this guy being such a trainwreck of a human being, but possessing this undeniably beautiful, singular talent, and a strange sense of dignity too. It feels real, honest.

Great movie.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2016, 07:39:32 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 06:53:00 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 06:14:45 PMThe wide-range of opinions on the prequels is especially baffling... I'm having an email conversation with a friend who's complaining about TFA because —in all seriousness— he feels that the new film is missing the gravitas and presence Hayden Christensen brought to the prequels.

I can only put it down to taste but there's a great many people who think not one performance in TFA lives up to Prequel standard.

Madness. Even if you hated everything else about TFA, you couldn't deny that most of the performances were brilliant. 

On my 2nd viewing I was really struck by Ford and Fisher, who had simply mesmerising chemistry in TFA - streets ahead of the awkward coolness that mars RotJ. They could have strolled straight off the set of TESB and slapped on some oldie makeup, they were that perfect as a couple. As alluded to earlier, their final exchange had involuntary tears streaming down my cheeks. Nothing in the Prequels ever made me feel close to that.  I don't think Carrie is getting half enough credit for her acting - immobile upper lip aside, she delivers so much character in a handful of lines, and at the same time effortlessly connects our heroes with the broader struggle. Her silent mourning was also heartbreaking this time round.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 07:58:42 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 04 January, 2016, 07:39:32 PM
On my 2nd viewing I was really struck by Ford and Fisher, who had simply mesmerising chemistry in TFA - streets ahead of the awkward coolness that mars RotJ. They could have strolled straight off the set of TESB and slapped on some oldie makeup, they were that perfect as a couple. As alluded to earlier, their final exchange had involuntary tears streaming down my cheeks. Nothing in the Prequels ever made me feel close to that.  I don't think Carrie is getting half enough credit for her acting - immobile upper lip aside, she delivers so much character in a handful of lines, and at the same time effortlessly connects our heroes with the broader struggle.

I know.

You're right about Fisher; she's a lot more in-the-zone than many expected - I'm fan-fixing her partial facial paralysis as a war injury - and that scene where they meet again for the first time is note-perfect - as is C-3PO's, on-point, annoying interjection.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 January, 2016, 08:34:55 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 07:58:42 PM
...as is C-3PO's, on-point, annoying interjection.

That may be my favourite moment of the whole film, a better gag than all the attempts at humour in the Prequels combined.

That or:"...because it's the right thing to do". "You need a pilot". " I need a pilot".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 January, 2016, 09:07:13 PM
Surely the correct order is

ESB >> SW >>> RoTJ >>> who gives a fuck they are all a bit pants in their own unique pants way?

(I may be being hard on TFA and once I've seen it again and got over my multiple beefs it might warrent a ranking after Return)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 January, 2016, 09:21:50 PM
No one going to rank the actually rather good The Clone Wars movie from 2009? :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2016, 09:34:44 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 04 January, 2016, 07:39:32 PM
Nothing in the Prequels ever made me feel close to that.

This is the maddening thing (for me) about TFA... it feels more like a proper Star Wars movie than all the prequels rolled together and mashed up in a bucket the way I like — I enjoyed everything about it, except for Emperor Gollum and the fucking plot.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 04 January, 2016, 10:19:09 PM
Can't believe Star Wars has taken over this thread as well...I came here to talk about the Amazing Spider-man.

Anyway for my money TPM is easily my least favourite.


So back on message..saw the Amazing Spider-man yesterday. It was great apart from one thing...it was, to my mind, fairly pointless, being pretty much a remake of the first Sam Raimi - Tobey Maguire film.

Just substitute Gwen for MJ and Lizard man for the Green Goblin and its pretty much the same.

I am sure its all very good, but  I just felt I had seen it before:

Peter gets bitten by spider - check.
Peter has "fun" discovering his spider powers - check.
Thief steals something, Peter does nothing to help, [spoiler]Uncle Ben gets killed [/spoiler]- check.
"Mad" scientists turns experiments on himself and turns into the "baddie" - check.
Peter [spoiler]tells his new girlfriend he can't see her any more to keep her safe [/spoiler] - check.


Basically I would rather have had a 4th Sam Raimi film. And now they are going to reboot it again...please please lets not have the origins tale again!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 05 January, 2016, 12:13:09 AM
I just kicked back and watched Raider of The Lost Ark with the old man. First time I've seen it for something like 10 years, I reckon.

I'm surprised how well it holds up, a few obviously pulled punches in fight scenes and some really abrupt lurching from one scene to the next aside. Lots of fun. And still funny enough to get genuine belly laughs in places.

That bit on the boat with the swing mirror. Ow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 January, 2016, 12:21:51 AM
I was irritated that they produced The Amazing Spiderman reboot after the Raimi films, which i rather liked. (Including the third. Yes.) But when I watched it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much as I like Toby Macguire, the quipping of the new Spider-man made the character right on point with the comic version.

I just watched The Empire Strikes Back for the first time in a good while. It's a really good film isn't it? Up there with the others I reckon.

tESB>ROTJ>ANH

I'm not comfortable ranking TFA yet. It's arguably not as good as the others as I think that the plotting was a bit dodgy, so from that POV it should be last. Yet from an emotional POV, I rank it very highly.... Hmmm.

To rank the prequels:
AOTC>ROTS>TPM

Again I find it hard to rank them with the original trilogy as I really like aspects of each. I liked the storyline of the prequels*, but the heart and better acting of the originals. Hmm.

*Which isn't to say I dislike the story of the original trilogy. It's a simpler story, but told very well. I do like the sith machinations of the prequels though. I wish the dialogue and acting was better though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 January, 2016, 04:25:23 AM
Hateful Eight

I....liked it. Very different to what I expected. It's not what I'd call a Tarantino movie. No, that's not right, it is a Tarantino movie, but not in the traditional sense. It still has his trademark, verbose dialogue, but the tone and cinematography are incongruous to his usual style.

It's a very claustrophobic movie. I think that's the selling point here. Tension is the order of the day. I suppose that's to be expected, since Tarantino loves ripping off Sergio Leone. He even got Ennio Morricone to do the soundtrack.

Overall, I'd say it's worth a watch. Apparently there's a whole thing about high-def celluloid associated with this, but I'd say that's a counter-gimmick to 3D/48fps nonsense. I don't care how it gets into my eyes as long as there's a good movie under the gimmick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 January, 2016, 06:48:03 AM
My Star Wars ranking would be:

ROTJ>>ESB>>TFA>>SW>>(after this point I don't really care and probably won't watch them again, but)>>TPM>>ROTS>>AOTC

This is just based on how much I like the films, not how important or influential they are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 January, 2016, 10:17:16 AM
Quote from: radiator on 04 January, 2016, 07:05:13 PM
For me TFA is right in the absolute middle.

Saying it's either worse than any of the prequels or better than any of the original films is equally absurd as far as I'm concerned.

I stand by the radiator on this one.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 January, 2016, 06:47:29 PM
Tartakovsky's Clone Wars is the only good sustenance available to satisfy any Prequel hunger you might have

SO GOOD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 January, 2016, 10:22:22 AM
Tartakovsky's Clone Wars is entirely justified by that one scene where Mace Windu force punches a droid to death. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 January, 2016, 02:38:23 PM
Well, the unthinkable actually happened. After revisiting Revenge of The Sith and really, really enjoying to a surprising degree, we watched A New Hope a couple of nights later. Loved it as always (it's quite a special experience watching something that is that ingrained in your consciousness from all those childhood viewings), but everyone present agreed that they'd enjoyed RoTS more and I agreed.

Not saying it's objectively better or anything, but certainly on those particular viewings I got more of a kick out of it. At any rate, Empire is up next and will obviously blow them both out the water.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 05 January, 2016, 11:14:12 PM
Saw a bit of this the other day and was sorry I didn't get to watch all of it.

The Dead-Lands.

I often wonder if there are people who still live like this in New Zealand and not anxious to find out. So, I have no idea when it's set exactly, but I assume it's in the past before white-man landed there.

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXSIqPEBUE)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 January, 2016, 06:39:24 PM
Return of the Jedi.

This used to be my favourite of the original trilogy. I think that might be The Empire Strikes Back now (or they could be equally valued) but this is still great. [spoiler]The stuff at the beginning with Han's rescue is great (although their plan seems a bit overly complicated) and I love the whole redemption stuff with Vader, which a lot of people seem to dislike for some reason.

I also think that speeder bike chase through the forest of Endor is up there with the pod-race sequence in The Phantom Menace. It's so thrilling.

Part of me wishes that this had been set on Kasshyyk (the Wookiee home world, although I probably would have been called somethinn else back then as I believe they got this name from the Expanded Universe) rather than Endor. I understand why they don't, as this is about the (literal) little guy facing up to the bullying imperials, and a bunch of physially powerful wookiees who are generally at home with advanced technology wouldn't have had the same impact. But it would have provided a nice link with Chewbacca.

But, I think the Ewok stuff worked pretty well. I understand that many fans criticise the fact that these primitive people were able to defeat the advanced imperial troops. They feel that it requires too much of a suspecion of disbelief, I guess. I don't really have a problem with it as a whole though. They know the terrain. They use traps involving great big logs and boulder catupults.

There is plenty of precedent for such successful rebellions in the real world, such as Vietnam, the US War of independence and the earlier excursion of Boudicca's army against the Romans. (I am referring to when the Iceni and Cautevelauni ambushed the marching Roman Legion in the forest and relied on hit and run tactics. Not the silliness that happened later in the pitched battle when 40,000 Britions got slaughtered by a minority of Romans.)

The only thing I found rather silly concerning the battle was that bit at the start when a bunch of ewoks kill troopers (actually I think it was biker scouts) with arrows. It's been established that stormtrooper armour isn't much protection against a direct hit from blaster fire, but surely it would cope with arrows? But the majority of the damage seemed to be done with traps and surprise. Yeah, I'll buy that.

I just think most fans can't quite get round the fact little teddy bears were involved.

Interesting thing I noticed concerning the battle: the Emperials mainly utilise the Star Destroyers to act as a blockade to prevent the rebel ships escaping. They purposefully leave the Death Star andTie Fighters and Interceptors to deal out the main damage on the Rebel fleet.

By the end of the battle, the Death Star and Super Stardestroyer are destroyed along with plenty of ties.

I don't know how many other Stardestroyers are destroyed, but you don't much destroyed on screen. The majority of the fleet have still been out there.

So taking that into account, and the other emperial ships in other star systems (even if the majority of the fleet were in the Endor system, there must have been ships left behind, for control and defence purposes, surely?) it makes sense that they would regroup to fight elsewhere. Hence the wrecked craft that we see on Rey's home planet in The Force Awakens, and the First Order. Or whatever they're called.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 January, 2016, 07:36:59 PM
Who, uh, who hasn't seen ROTJ that would also be bothered by spoilers of it at this point?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 January, 2016, 07:48:57 PM
On the subject of Ewoks (soon ALL THREADS will be SW threads), I was interested to note on a recent rewatch that contrary to popular belief the Ewoks' hand weapons prove largely ineffective against stormtroopers - only the bolas has much success, which makes sense.  Their role in the battle is to draw the Imperials away from the bunker to allow Han & Co a chance to get back in, and they suffer heavy casualties in the process of deliberate (?) rout. Only when the pursuing Imperials are scattered and eventually led into a series of prepared traps deeper in the forest do they start to do significant damage. These are vicious stone-age man-eaters, that just look like teddy bears - your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 January, 2016, 08:18:58 PM
It's ludicrous to me that it's become so fashionable to bash RotJ in recent years.

I got into a (good-natured) argument with a friend the other night after she claimed the The Force Awakens is objectively 'better' than the original films and her argument seemed to basically be that the originals are 'a bit dated' and some of the performances are a bit stilted and corny.

My counterargument (which she couldn't really dispute) was that even RotJ, despite being by far the lesser of the original films, is still bursting with iconic visuals and scenes that have endured for decades whereas TFA is largely a rehash of what came before, and she had to ultimately concede that even her beloved BB-8 is really just R2-D2 in new clothes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2016, 08:31:01 PM
The original three still beat all other film regardless of their upgrades.

The last film only beats the prequels.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 January, 2016, 09:08:43 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 January, 2016, 08:31:01 PM

The last film only beats the prequels.

Faint praise indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 January, 2016, 06:49:16 AM
I always liked ROTJ best but I don't think the Ewok bashing is a new thing. While kids my age never had a problem with them, it was already common for people to slag them off long before the special editions were released (ROTJ is the film that suffers worst from the special editions too).

I still say ROTJ is the best of the lot. Best intro sequence, best aliens, best space battle, best light-saber duel and the goodies win at the end.On top of that you have Ewoks (which I like), AT-STs and speeder bikes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 January, 2016, 06:54:56 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 January, 2016, 06:49:16 AM
Best intro sequence

Ah here! A construction project progress review meeting; or the capture and storming of  Rebel blockade runner?  Nolo contendere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 January, 2016, 07:27:09 AM
Quote from: Hothelback on 07 January, 2016, 06:54:56 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 07 January, 2016, 06:49:16 AM
Best intro sequence

Ah here! A construction project progress review meeting; or the capture and storming of  Rebel blockade runner?  Nolo contendere.

Ha ha, conceded. My bad,  I should've said best first act.
I meant the Jabba's Palace/Sarlaac sequence.
The attack on Hoth comes a close second but for me,  ROTJ just tops it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 January, 2016, 07:37:35 AM
They're both very different beasts, really, so it's obviously going to be highly devisive. I love the good swashbuckeling esque visuals on Jabba's floating palace, and the Rancir sequence is excellent. But for my money, ESB has the best opening act. The battle of Hoth is hands down one of the greatest prolongued action sequences ever commited to film, and AT-AT walkers are synonymous with what I love Star Wars for. Big, bulky battle machines.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 07 January, 2016, 09:54:34 AM
As watch some films on Netflix last few nights.

The Family - that was interesting and brutal! Some moments left me chuckles. Robert De Niro was good in it and surprised it was directed by Luc Besson, long way since Leon?

The Loft - Interesting film to watch, very Hitchcock style.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 January, 2016, 12:28:00 PM
I finally caught The Road on TV the other night - I enjoyed it but I found the ending a little underwhelming, there wasn't much of a narrative arc to the film, he just lay down and died and then it ended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 07 January, 2016, 01:38:41 PM
Legend, the (true) story of two downtrodden cockneys trying to revitalize the nightclub industry. It's not bad, quite funny in places and a bit violent. If I had one criticism to make it would be the romanticized view of what were actually a pair of right horrible Cunts. Far Better than the "Kemps" version.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 January, 2016, 01:45:50 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 07 January, 2016, 01:38:41 PM
If I had one criticism to make it would be the romanticized view

A lot grittier than that one Ridley Scott made with Tom Cruise, though. Worst movie depiction of London ever.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2016, 02:13:53 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 January, 2016, 01:45:50 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 07 January, 2016, 01:38:41 PM
If I had one criticism to make it would be the romanticized view

A lot grittier than that one Ridley Scott made with Tom Cruise, though. Worst movie depiction of London ever.

Cheers!

Jim

I was half way through googling that  before I got the gag.  It was like they filmed half of it south of the river.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 January, 2016, 02:43:52 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 January, 2016, 01:45:50 PMWorst movie depiction of London ever.

Clearly you've never lived in Wembley South.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 January, 2016, 08:11:50 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 January, 2016, 07:36:59 PM
Who, uh, who hasn't seen ROTJ that would also be bothered by spoilers of it at this point?


That thought occurred to me.

But I did it anyway as I remembered someone on here mentioning he never got round to seeing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 January, 2016, 12:27:19 AM
Having been on a bit of an Aliens binge recently, K remembered an old fan film I once watched called Batman Dead End. It's effectivly a fan film addaptation of Batman/Predator with the Xenomorphs shoved in for good measure. It's probably as good as fan films get, and actualy put's a lot of hollywood movies with insanely bigger budgets go to shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 12:33:04 PM
I saw a film with a posho english lass running around with a rather podgy bloke who didn't really seem like  anyone should trust him at all but they all did for some reason. And then their was this annoying Jersey Shore hot shot that stank the place out with his bro'ness but thankfully he wasn't in it much. Add to that some annoying electronic twerpin' and a man in black crying all the time and I thought it was pretty poor.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2016, 12:37:47 PM
Re watched a couple of old faves with tiny Tips and he thought they were great.

MILLERS CROSSING
My favourite Con brothers movie. Gabriel Byrne has never been better and Turturro is excellent but there are a ton of genius performances in the supporting cast.

I know the popular theory is that hat equals helmet protecting his brains and feelings but I also think it's a very literal representation of gangsterness.

RESERVOIR DOGS
"Somebody's sticking a poker up our ass and I want to know whose name is in the handle."
Nothing Tarantino has done since has, for me, matched the tight focus of this story about storytelling (and a heist gone wrong).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2016, 12:43:42 PM
Quote from: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 12:33:04 PM
I saw a film with a posho english lass running around with a rather podgy bloke who didn't really seem like  anyone should trust him at all but they all did for some reason. And then their was this annoying Jersey Shore hot shot that stank the place out with his bro'ness but thankfully he wasn't in it much. Add to that some annoying electronic twerpin' and a man in black crying all the time and I thought it was pretty poor.

It's funny 'cos it isn't even vaguely true.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 01:03:21 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 08 January, 2016, 12:43:42 PM
Quote from: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 12:33:04 PM
I saw a film with a posho english lass running around with a rather podgy bloke who didn't really seem like  anyone should trust him at all but they all did for some reason. And then their was this annoying Jersey Shore hot shot that stank the place out with his bro'ness but thankfully he wasn't in it much. Add to that some annoying electronic twerpin' and a man in black crying all the time and I thought it was pretty poor.

It's funny 'cos it isn't even vaguely true.

What isn't true?

I don't really want to get involved in some debate as I'm not that invested in the franchise but aside from one last hurrah for one character, which was great, I thought it was a dull uninteresting and often annoying movie that didn't work for me not least for the reasons above but for a great many more as well.

That others enjoyed it is fine with me. I'm not against people really liking stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2016, 01:07:10 PM
Oh, sorry BPP: it's entirely true, especially the bits about Boyega being fat, and Issacs being a Jersey Shore 'bro'.  Happy now?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 01:09:56 PM
I'm always happy, its my natural state.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2016, 05:13:36 PM
From your description I had absolutely no idea what movie you were talking about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 07:09:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 January, 2016, 05:13:36 PM
From your description I had absolutely no idea what movie you were talking about.

Noah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2016, 07:11:21 PM
Quote from: BPP on 08 January, 2016, 12:33:04 PM
I saw a film with a posho english lass running around...

I believe the drama schools on Jakku are excellent.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 January, 2016, 07:24:32 PM
I don't know what 'Twerpin' means
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 January, 2016, 09:26:59 PM
Aliens the directors cut. Yeah, still probably my favourite movie of all time. An A+ and then some.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2016, 11:49:37 PM
Pulp Fiction

For the first time in ten years. I was slightly underwhelmed. Remind me again why it's so good? It seems to have dated more than Reservoir Dogs. Doing drugs and saying motherfucker and the n-bomb aren't cool.

Still, Tiny Tips loved it. Especially the concept of how bad the "not a date" with Mia went.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 January, 2016, 12:20:39 AM
QuoteRemind me again why it's so good?

You got old, man
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 January, 2016, 12:49:54 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 January, 2016, 09:26:59 PM
Aliens the directors cut. Yeah, still probably my favourite movie of all time. An A+ and then some.

Aliens is one of those rare films that I'm pretty much always in the mood to watch - they're showing it at my favourite local cinema (an old converted Missionary church) next week for its 30 year anniversary. Can't bloody wait.

I'm in the process of giving our junior staff members an ongoing crash course in movie education (most of them have never seen so many classic films its insane) so this will be something of a field trip for them.

Pulp Fiction is a weird one - it was one of those films that had such a huge impact on pop culture and was so heavily parodied and referenced in everything I found it unwatchable for about 15 years. I finally found that there had been enough distance from it to revisit it recently and if anything think its improved with age. A true classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jabberwocky on 09 January, 2016, 04:18:17 AM
I watched The Martian last night ( Matt Damon was surprisingly good!) and watched The Hateful Eight today. Both were decent movies. I think if you enjoyed Django, then you'll equally enjoy The Hateful Eight and if you enjoyed Gravity then you'll love The Martian.

J
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 09 January, 2016, 10:42:24 AM
12 Monkeys. I remember seeing this when it came out on video when I was about 12. The future vision with the underground society along with the people in cages and the weird scientist people really freaked me out at the time. Probably a bit harder for my 12 year old brain to grasp than Back To The Future, but I still remember really enjoying it. Despite all of the naked male rear ends in the film.

18 years later the film still stands up. Easily in my top 10 time travel movies. I actually watched it twice just now, once with the commentary too just in case I missed anything in the film. Great film with the solid acting in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 January, 2016, 11:47:18 AM
 :crazy:
Quote from: radiator on 09 January, 2016, 12:49:54 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 08 January, 2016, 09:26:59 PM
Aliens the directors cut. Yeah, still probably my favourite movie of all time. An A+ and then some.

Aliens is one of those rare films that I'm pretty much always in the mood to watch - they're showing it at my favourite local cinema (an old converted Missionary church) next week for its 30 year anniversary.

30 years old..... gulp.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2016, 12:58:12 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 January, 2016, 12:20:39 AM
QuoteRemind me again why it's so good?

You got old, man

Well that much is certain.

But I didn't have similar issues with Reservoir Dogs so there must be more to it.  I had it in my head that Pulp Fiction was all crazy and non-linear but it ain't much. The Bonnie Situation is simply lifted from the middle of the film and stuck at the end. Odd how your memory plays tricks on you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 09 January, 2016, 09:43:39 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2016, 12:58:12 PMBut I didn't have similar issues with Reservoir Dogs so there must be more to it.  I had it in my head that Pulp Fiction was all crazy and non-linear but it ain't much. The Bonnie Situation is simply lifted from the middle of the film and stuck at the end. Odd how your memory plays tricks on you.

No, I think the non-linear structure is as you remembered it.

1 - "Prologue—The Diner"
2 - Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
3 - "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
4a - Prelude to "The Gold Watch" flashback
4b -  Prelude to "The Gold Watch" present
5 - "The Gold Watch"
6 - "The Bonnie Situation"
7 - "Epilogue—The Diner"

If the seven sequences were ordered chronologically, they would run:

4a - Prelude to "The Gold Watch" flashback
2 - Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
6 - "The Bonnie Situation"
1 - "Prologue—The Diner"
7 - "Epilogue—The Diner"
3 - "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
4b -  Prelude to "The Gold Watch" present
5 - "The Gold Watch"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 09 January, 2016, 11:22:33 PM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 09 January, 2016, 10:42:24 AM
12 Monkeys. I remember seeing this when it came out on video when I was about 12. The future vision with the underground society along with the people in cages and the weird scientist people really freaked me out at the time. Probably a bit harder for my 12 year old brain to grasp than Back To The Future, but I still remember really enjoying it. Despite all of the naked male rear ends in the film.

18 years later the film still stands up. Easily in my top 10 time travel movies. I actually watched it twice just now, once with the commentary too just in case I missed anything in the film. Great film with the solid acting in it.

Just shows how opinions vary...easily in my worst two films of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 10 January, 2016, 02:20:50 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 09 January, 2016, 11:22:33 PM

Just shows how opinions vary...easily in my worst two films of all time.

What would the other one be then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 January, 2016, 07:08:55 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 09 January, 2016, 11:22:33 PM
Just shows how opinions vary...easily in my worst two films of all time.

I can understand that you may not like 12 Monkeys - it's an odd one certainly - but worst film... Please elaborate!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 10 January, 2016, 08:13:50 AM
Yes probably a poor choice of words. It's not that it or the other film I am referring to were badly shot, acted, directed etc. What I really mean is I did not like them at all. Both films were just way too wierd for me and I was bored watching them. Unlike virtually anything else they left an impression on me that I really did not like them and have no intention of watching them again.

The other film was Brazil, which if I recall correctly had multiple false endings. Each time I was thinking "please, please let this be the end".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 January, 2016, 08:46:27 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 10 January, 2016, 08:13:50 AM
The other film was Brazil, which if I recall correctly had multiple false endings. Each time I was thinking "please, please let this be the end".

Heh, my defence argument was going to be '...it's like Brazil with Bruce Willis and a big budget!'.  Nah, if you don't go for that Gilliam-style weirdness at all, I can see why it wouldn't work. Does the same apply to Baron Munchausen and (gulp) Time Bandits?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 January, 2016, 09:19:59 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 January, 2016, 08:46:27 AM
(gulp) Time Bandits?

Saw Time Bandits with the kids over the holidays. They loved it (if it did terrify them at times) and it never fails to impress me how well it stands up. It really is, along with Princess Bride the true definition of a timeless classic for all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 10 January, 2016, 09:28:26 AM
Haven't seen Baron Munchaseun.

I am sorry Tordelback (and Colin), but yes the same also applies to Time Bandits. I guess I just don't like that style, as on the surface there should be a lot in these films to appeal to a 2000AD fan, but they are just too far up the weird scale for my liking.

Having said that what I least enjoy in tooth are the weirder stories like Revere or Zaucer of  Zilk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 January, 2016, 09:38:47 AM
Aye, Time Bandits is (as radiator put it) one of the rare movies which I'm always happy to watch with gripped attention. Bloody fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 10 January, 2016, 10:16:11 AM
Would you believe I watched the Village-People last night, to soak in in it's retro charm. (Of course, if you followed my internet habits, than you might think.....)  The woman in this, I think her name is Valerie Peri...something, (Who's also in the Superman that's on another channel!) a very young Steve Guttenburg,  (I'm pretty sure it's him!) and this tall guy who was famed athlete who actually became the father in the reality television Keeping Up With the Kardasians (Who don't look anything like they're from a reptilian alien race in Deep-Space-Nine!), before he became a transgendered woman.

No, I was actually raised on this type of music, along with ABBA, followed by Fame. We may still have a few of those on large vinyl disks. Before I found out that two thirds of that were for a certain minority.  I'm not really apart of, because I'm still attracted to women (Well, anybody that looks convincing enough like one!) ....Anyway, I always thought of the tall athletic guy as great role model for me in terms of his appearance. He's tall, fit, good looing and with great hair and now he gone the way of a T-Girl. No problem there, but they're very touchy about how you referred them and consider the height of bad manners to use the wrong word. event though the words themselves aren't actually rude. Just more related to a certain film industry. 

Anyway, I just don't approve of this misinterpretation of the English language and other than that, I have no problems with any life choices made above. Even though it comes as a shock to me.

I sat through this film like a lot of others I watch theses days, just being more in the presence of the television set than really taking in every second of it. I still love the music and you may all recall that song!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 10 January, 2016, 10:53:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 10 January, 2016, 10:16:11 AM
I'm not really apart of, because I'm still attracted to women (Well, anybody that looks convincing enough like one!) ....Anyway, I always thought of the tall athletic guy as great role model for me in terms of his appearance. He's tall, fit, good looing and with great hair and now he gone the way of a T-Girl. No problem there, but they're very touchy about how you referred them and consider the height of bad manners to use the wrong word. event though the words themselves aren't actually rude. Just more related to a certain film industry. 

I'm not sure if this is your way of declaring to the board that you are open to potential future encounters with transgender persons or if this is strictly a music thing.

Just to confirm, I'm a big advocate of transgender rights (as well as gay, lesbian and bisexuals!)....from what I think I just read in your post you are on the same side of the fence.

It's late. I may be drunk. Peace and good will to all people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 January, 2016, 12:22:10 PM
Sheesh, get a room you two!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 10 January, 2016, 12:29:10 PM
Given all the talk about Star Wars, and because it's the one I have seen the least (a paltry 2 or 3 times  ;)) I have just re-watched Revenge of the Sith, and like Keef Monkey I also quite enjoyed it.

I think the reason I have n't really taken to it before is a) it lacks a major space battle sequence (but hey they can't blow up a Death Star every time) b) the dialogue /acting comes across as a bit wooden in places, especially between Padme and Anakin e.g. the bit at the end which should be really emotional as in "you've gone down a path I can't follow" etc but to me is just a bit lame and c) the effects look well CGI  e.g. when Anakin and Obi Wan are on those platforms above the lava river looks so green screen, the battle droid craft attacking the Wookies just look false etc - but it might in part be I was watching on DVD in standard def and not in HD. Having said that the effects in OT no longer look as real to me as they once did, especially the blaster bolts / Star Destroy laser fire, but some how I accept that, and the star ship models just look better.

And of course we pretty much know how it is going to end up.

But still it had a lot of good ideas in it and something else I hadn't really noticed before was that the music is good - for the dramatic sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 January, 2016, 12:55:43 PM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 10 January, 2016, 10:53:48 AM

I'm not sure if this is your way of declaring to the board that you are open to potential future encounters with transgender persons or if this is strictly a music thing.

Just to confirm, I'm a big advocate of transgender rights (as well as gay, lesbian and bisexuals!)....from what I think I just read in your post you are on the same side of the fence.


The clue's in the name: ThryllSeekyr
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 January, 2016, 03:39:45 PM
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - a recent Blu-ray purchase, and a glorious piece of 70's paranoia 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 January, 2016, 04:02:56 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 10 January, 2016, 03:39:45 PM
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - a recent Blu-ray purchase, and a glorious piece of 70's paranoia
The Arrow Video BD? Yeah, thats one of the best packages they've released that wasn't a super special edition. It's rare I enjoy every single interview or creative process video bundled into a set but this one has some crackers, like The Man Behind the Scream and How We Made the Pod.

It's also one of my favourite exploits into 70's sci-fi, the homeless man's head spliced onto his dogs body is horrifying to this day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 January, 2016, 06:38:33 PM
Yes, it's the Arrow Blu-ray.

They do indeed have a knack for putting together great packages for their releases.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 January, 2016, 07:19:50 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 10 January, 2016, 09:38:47 AM
Aye, Time Bandits is (as radiator put it) one of the rare movies which I'm always happy to watch with gripped attention. Bloody fantastic.

Thanks to this thread, we had a viewing of The Best Movie Ever Made About Time-Travelling Dwarves tonight. The kids loved it, indeed my eldest nearly burst himself laughing at Robin's merry man punching 'the poor'. 

Personally I was struck by how good a job they do on Mycenae - Ait Benhaddou (aka Yunkai in GoT) might be made of the wrong stuff, but it's dressed beautifully. And the ambiguous way the 'Minotaur' is shot is terrific. Such a fantastic diversity of tone from segment to segment, it isn't dull for a minute.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 11 January, 2016, 01:44:33 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 10 January, 2016, 10:53:48 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 10 January, 2016, 10:16:11 AM
I'm not really apart of, because I'm still attracted to women (Well, anybody that looks convincing enough like one!) ....Anyway, I always thought of the tall athletic guy as great role model for me in terms of his appearance. He's tall, fit, good looing and with great hair and now he gone the way of a T-Girl. No problem there, but they're very touchy about how you referred them and consider the height of bad manners to use the wrong word. event though the words themselves aren't actually rude. Just more related to a certain film industry. 

I'm not sure if this is your way of declaring to the board that you are open to potential future encounters with transgender persons or if this is strictly a music thing.

Just to confirm, I'm a big advocate of transgender rights (as well as gay, lesbian and bisexuals!)....from what I think I just read in your post you are on the same side of the fence.

It's late. I may be drunk. Peace and good will to all people.

Not really into dudes, but some Tgirls (As they preferred to be called(http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif)!) sure look in interesting. even before full gender reassignment.

Like I said not really into dudes, and with women tend to be hard to get on with as well and now those T-Grils as well.

So why bother.......

I ordered Pixels one morning and forgot to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 11 January, 2016, 04:35:40 AM
Monty Python And The Holy Grail

I think there is something wrong with me. I did not laugh. At all. I was singing along. And quoting lines all the way through. (as you do) I think that every single joke is so well preserved in my mind by this point that there is no need to laugh out loud at the humor.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie and always will. It's almost like the jokes have stopped being jokes and are more of a...... real thing? Someone help me out here.

Still a brilliant film however you look at it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 January, 2016, 10:50:59 AM
Quote from: Spikes on 10 January, 2016, 06:38:33 PM
Yes, it's the Arrow Blu-ray.

They do indeed have a knack for putting together great packages for their releases.

They'd passed under my radar a bit but my mam got me a Hellraiser blu-ray set for my birthday (The Scarlet Box) and it's an incredibly lovely package. Hardback book, art cards, posters, lovely presentation and fantastic extras. If they put that much care into their other releases then I'll need to check them out.

Saw The Hateful Eight at the weekend (digital, our local weren't showing the print). I loved it, but I should probably say that I've always been a big Tarantino fan so I'm aware it won't be for everyone. It looks fantastic (he really uses the added width of the aspect ratio brilliantly, even if it did occur to me that the blu-ray release may be more black bar than picture), sounds amazing (the sound design is impeccable and the Morricone score is stunning, including some very good use of in-world ambience and instruments) and the performances are excellent all round.

One thing I didn't expect was how much it riffs on John Carpenter and Sam Raimi. The way the cabin is shot and the way the violence and gore is heightened to the point of slapstick ludicrousness is total Raimi, and there's at least one distinctive shot of Russell just walking across the room that seems to be lifted straight from Evil Dead as an out and out homage, like it's Tarantino tipping his hat to it and acknowledging the influence. And I guess you can't do a movie about paranoia in an isolated snowy location without The Thing springing to mind, but the movie plays on that overtly with a couple of sequences and the occasional Kurt Russell line seems to have put in playfully as a reference to that movie (I could be wrong but I think one or two lines are direct lifts).

There's a lot to love, and I only had very minor quibbles, main one being the constant use of the N-Bomb. Not because I was offended, because it's all very appropriate to the period and the characters and the racial tension is thematically a huge part of the movie. I think it was more just that hearing the same word in almost every line started to grate on me. At times I thought the idea was to repeat it to the point that it became amusing, and at first the brazen use of it leads to some genuinely funny exchanges, but as it wore on it just became a bit irritating. Maybe any other word used as heavily would be just as annoying, or maybe that word itself was indeed making me uncomfortable and maybe that was entirely the purpose (it certainly serves to froth up a real anger at some characters). Not sure, but it definitely had me wincing after a while.

Other than that though I had a great time. I'd like to see the 70mm print if it comes to Glasgow, but I have heard that it's 20mins longer and I'm really not sure if it's a film that would benefit from that on a first viewing. It's a long film as is and I'd love to see the extra content on my next viewing, but personally with the cinema seat I was squashed into I was quite happy with the shorter edit. I worry that the extra 20mins might have caused it to sag and drag for me. Will be a different matter when it gets a home release and I can watch it on a couch without my knees being slowly crushed into powder.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2016, 12:19:58 PM
I had a similar problem with the constant n-bombs and muddy funster use in Pulp Fiction. It might be that now I'm all mature (sic) and hardly go to the pub, I don't swear anywhere near as much as I used to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jabberwocky on 12 January, 2016, 02:34:18 PM
20 minutes longer? Good lord, how much more could have happened! If anything I think it could have been 20 minutes shorter without losing anything essential. The dialogue in the carriage really dragged for me, [spoiler]especially the bit after they picked up Mannix[/spoiler]

J
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 12 January, 2016, 03:43:24 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 January, 2016, 10:50:59 AMOne thing I didn't expect was how much it riffs on John Carpenter and Sam Raimi.

I'm positive there's a section of music that Morricone re-uses from The Thing. Near the end of the film I'm sure its the score used for when they first arrive at the Norwegian site.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 January, 2016, 05:49:45 PM
47 Ronin
There's a good movie waiting to be made of the tale of the 47 ronin.

This isn't it despite a stellar cast, some gorgeous production design and costumes and sets and... trust me, it looks gorgeous!

It's marred by, amongst other things, a dreadful voice over at beginning and end, being set in a mythical version of Japan crossed with Middle Earth and the drector cutting every 2 or 3 seconds and, despite not spending much time on action set pieces, somehow manages to not spend the time on character either.

(He builds a sort of threat of a 12 foot tall samurai robot then casually tosses this villain aside in an explosion.  And he often does the rookie director sin of not establishing the geography of a scene, the number of characters, where they are positioned, what their surroundings are etc. before wading into the action)

Adding the fantasy elements and making the Samurai Lord so obviously wronged (by a wicked Witch no less) seems a bonkers idea when the original story could have been filled  intrigue and tension and a study of the difference between honour and vengenace and when even bushido gets the two mixed up.

But it looks lush.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jabberwocky on 18 January, 2016, 06:54:19 AM
47 Ronin is indeed a pile of crap. Keanu redeemed himself with John Wick, which I found moderately entertaining.

A really good contemporary Samurai film would be 13 Assassins. The action packed climax is superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 January, 2016, 07:12:23 AM
The Revenant.

Disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 January, 2016, 07:44:47 AM
Say what you will about it's repetative story, being to much akin to the first film and in general being a bit of a step down from Aliens, but Alien3 (or alien cubed....whatever) is actualy not as bad as people make it out to be. It has as strong a cast as either of it's prior series titles and everyone pull's off a superb turn (special hats off to Paul McGann who is at once utterly deranged and quite terrified and gentle). CGI Xeno hasn't stood the test of time but they did at least experiment with the idea of none human originated xeno's, as you can't really beat the first chestbuster scene. Directors cut is the one too see.

Alien Ressurection on the other hand is more than a little pants. Despite having another star studded cast (Ron f'ckin' Perlman for godsake!) it's just so, so bland. It plays out with all the twists and mind numbing eploitations you expect from a low rent sci-fi channel movie (it even has a boring ass and totaly unrealistic underwater sequence). Naff ffeom beggining to end, not even it's vagualy enticing final scene could save it from all the negative's.

Onward I guess, must revisit the Av.P movies now, at least I kind of enjoy one of them...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 18 January, 2016, 08:54:31 AM
About Alien Resurrection I like the Betty, the merc's ship. I like lot of the ship design in general in those films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 18 January, 2016, 09:32:37 AM
So I watch some films on Netflix last night

Dead Snow - I thought it was nice slowly film, and very low budget film. Ahh another Nazi Zombie as same in Outpost films. Enjoy it.

Dead Snow 2 - As before I watch it, I thought, a sequel? that would copy plot or doing same to another group got meet Nazi Zombie like other b-movie sequel films. But when I watch it, I went WFT, glad to be a total wrong, that was so insane, funny, brilliant, brutal (I can't believe they did [spoiler]kill that boy,[/spoiler] [spoiler]tank over children,[/spoiler] [spoiler]blow up mothers with babies![/spoiler] )
Again that was brilliant enjoyable film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 January, 2016, 02:13:20 PM
Die Hard followed by Die Hard 2. Both are still excellent films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 January, 2016, 03:38:51 PM
QuoteCGI Xeno hasn't stood the test of time but they did at least experiment with the idea of none human originated xeno's, as you can't really beat the first chestbuster scene.

They actually used practical affects for the creature in Alien 3 I believe. I know they made a small  figure with moveable legs for the scampering scenes (or that might have just been the 'bambi chestburster').  And they had a guy in a costume and puppetry type stuff for the closer in jaw scenes,  etc.

Some of the compositing looked a bit dodgy though.

I agree that the Assembly Cut is the best version. Actually is a good film, period,albeit there's some redundancy that needs trimming, but then it is an assembly cut.

Alien Resurrection is the weakest for me, although I did like it. The underwater scene was great, in my opinion.

Last film I watched: Serenity. A couple of [spoiler]rather too convenient resolutions [/spoiler] aside, a great film, and decent closure to a very good series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 January, 2016, 05:07:40 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 January, 2016, 02:13:20 PM
Die Hard followed by Die Hard 2. Both are still excellent films.
TWO has a little too much cheese for my liking but still jolly good. And I totally never saw the twist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 January, 2016, 06:11:17 PM
And another shout out for Alien³ from me as well.
A film that borders on being stillborn really, but closing one eye and squinting with the other, there is still much to admire. And makes for a suitably downbeat conclusion to the trilogy. No other Alien films were made after this one...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:53:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 18 January, 2016, 07:44:47 AM
Say what you will about it's repetative story, being to much akin to the first film and in general being a bit of a step down from Aliens, but Alien3 (or alien cubed....whatever) is actualy not as bad as people make it out to be. It has as strong a cast as either of it's prior series titles and everyone pull's off a superb turn (special hats off to Paul McGann who is at once utterly deranged and quite terrified and gentle). CGI Xeno hasn't stood the test of time but they did at least experiment with the idea of none human originated xeno's, as you can't really beat the first chestbuster scene. Directors cut is the one too see.
Didn't realise there was a director's cut - shall have to check it out.

QuoteAlien Ressurection on the other hand is more than a little pants. Despite having another star studded cast (Ron f'ckin' Perlman for godsake!) it's just so, so bland. It plays out with all the twists and mind numbing eploitations you expect from a low rent sci-fi channel movie (it even has a boring ass and totaly unrealistic underwater sequence). Naff ffeom beggining to end, not even it's vagualy enticing final scene could save it from all the negative's.
I don't like the flesh xeno at the end, but I do like most of it (Mary-Sueness of Ripley and Call notwithstanding).  Guess I'm a sucker for small starships with non-military crew travelling through a void.  I'm currently working my way through Blakes 7 and Lexx.  Think I'll start on Farscape once I've finished!
QuoteOnward I guess, must revisit the Av.P movies now, at least I kind of enjoy one of them...
I know a lot of people get very sniffy about them, but I like 'em both (think I liked the second, small-town one more).

Any opinion on Predators?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:57:14 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 January, 2016, 02:13:20 PMDie Hard followed by Die Hard 2. Both are still excellent films.
Inspired by Alan?  We just watched Galaxy Quest (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=galaxy%20quest&linkCode=ur2&tag=thewildewood-21&url=search-alias%3Daps).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 January, 2016, 10:59:53 PM
Atlantic Rim.

Sorry. I know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Rim_%28film%29 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Rim_%28film%29)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 January, 2016, 11:01:42 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:53:43 PM

Didn't realise there was a director's cut - shall have to check it out.


It's quite different from the original, especially the first act: different opening, different alien f'goodness sake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 January, 2016, 11:06:31 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 January, 2016, 11:01:42 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:53:43 PM

Didn't realise there was a director's cut - shall have to check it out.


It's quite different from the original, especially the first act: different opening, different alien f'goodness sake.

Yeah, it's genuinely like watching a whole different film - and a much better one, to boot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 January, 2016, 02:16:54 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:57:14 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 January, 2016, 02:13:20 PMDie Hard followed by Die Hard 2. Both are still excellent films.
Inspired by Alan?  We just watched Galaxy Quest (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=galaxy%20quest&linkCode=ur2&tag=thewildewood-21&url=search-alias%3Daps).

Yes. I would have watch Galaxy Quest, but I watched only a couple of weeks ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 January, 2016, 02:37:45 PM
Headhunters - another great film from Norway like Dead Snow 2.

A businessman by day, and with his lifestyle by stealing paintings then one day... brilliant enjoyable film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 January, 2016, 04:50:03 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 18 January, 2016, 11:06:31 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 January, 2016, 11:01:42 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 18 January, 2016, 10:53:43 PM

Didn't realise there was a director's cut - shall have to check it out.


It's quite different from the original, especially the first act: different opening, different alien f'goodness sake.

Yeah, it's genuinely like watching a whole different film - and a much better one, to boot.

And technically it's not a Director's Cut, as the Director was not involved.  Assembly Cut is the name to look for. As well as different takes on certain scenes there's a whole chunk of footage restored which really adds to the film. As a whole, it could be neatened up, but it is a real improvement on the original film. Which I don't find that bad, to be fair.

Predators: A bit too similar to the original, and I have mixed feelings about introducing a new breed of predator, but overall, I liked it. I was irritated by the disparagement of Predator 2 by Predators reviewers though. Like "no predator film has been this good since the original."

Um... at least Predator 2 did something original with the premise. The acting is a bit hokey in places but the story was good melding the Predator story tropes within what is essentially a cop mystery story. It's as good as Predators in my opinion. Better in some ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2016, 07:18:27 PM
Predator 2 is way better than Predators.  On occasion I prefer Predator 2 to Predator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 January, 2016, 07:33:24 PM
I love Predator 2, me, but Predators was as good as you could hope it would be given the downward trajectory the franchise was on with the bafflingly poor and nasty AvP films (which I understand to be canon Predator, but not canon Alien).  It does contain Walton Goggins delivering the line "die, space faggot" without a trace of irony, but I concede that's about as good as it ever gets - even if my favorite bit is when the characters hide in the one place the Predators would never think to look: inside the only shelter on the entire planet, which has nothing obstructing it from view because it is located on top of a mountain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 January, 2016, 07:47:09 PM
Predator 2 is great fun. I think it's the best one.
Predators was rubbish. I thought the demotion of the original Predators was unnecessary and having a whole gang of them on the hunt seemed to miss the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 19 January, 2016, 11:36:41 PM
I'm in the mood for making some very black and white statements in this thread:

Predator 2 is bloody fantastic.

Predators is a massively underwhelming.

And Headhunters is a movie that anyone who HASN'T seen should get on right away. Absolutely excellent stuff.

[Goes back to sleep.]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 20 January, 2016, 02:34:30 AM
First two Predator films were good and I guess the first cross over with Alien (I was really looking forward to that one!) was mostly wrong, but I thought pyramid was cool.

They should do more work on this one....

Predator - Dark Ages (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRD8jAk274I)






Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 January, 2016, 01:55:21 PM
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - If you liked ZombieLand (which I love) then this is less funny with a much smaller budget but is still quite good. Some nice low brow jokes and extreme gore. Only issue was that the zombies seem to switch between runners/shufflers as the script dictates with no rhyme or reason but that's just my own nit-pickery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 23 January, 2016, 01:25:53 AM
Dog Day Afternoon

Al Pacinos finest acting IMO. [spoiler]You feel really bad at for him at the end of the film. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 23 January, 2016, 01:33:52 AM
Brilliant film.  It was this, Panic In Needle Park, and the fact that Diane Keaton thought he had lovely eyes that got him the part in Godfather.  So I have read anyway. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 23 January, 2016, 11:09:39 AM
And John Cazale! The small tragedy of Sal thinking that they can flee to Wyoming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 23 January, 2016, 05:35:11 PM
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 23 January, 2016, 01:33:52 AM
It was this, Panic In Needle Park, and the fact that Diane Keaton thought he had lovely eyes that got him the part in Godfather.  So I have read anyway. ;)

You've been lied to. Godfather was released March of '72, but the robbery that Dog Day Afternoon is based on didn't happen until August '72. The film was released Sep '75.

Sorry to ruin that nice thought for ya
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 23 January, 2016, 05:37:14 PM
Ach, baws!

:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 23 January, 2016, 06:54:48 PM
We watched the Wolf of Wall Street on Netflix over the last two nights.

Goodness me that was some excess wasn't it? The very definition of not knowing when enough is enough.

Despite the excesses, he was actually a very clever chap and an unbelievably good motivator, but chose to use his talents in a particular way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 January, 2016, 11:21:05 AM
Saw The Big Short yesterday. A fascinating and disturbing look at a few people that made billions of dollars when they foresaw the U.S. housing crash that has so affected the world economy.

It's left me feeling very hollow and disturbed. To be honest I didn't sleep to well last night because of it. Also there is a very scary warning about future markets at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 24 January, 2016, 11:28:40 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 January, 2016, 11:21:05 AM
Saw The Big Short yesterday. A fascinating and disturbing look at a few people that made billions of dollars when they foresaw the U.S. housing crash that has so affected the world economy.

It's left me feeling very hollow and disturbed. To be honest I didn't sleep to well last night because of it. Also there is a very scary warning about future markets at the end.

The 1% rule the world and they're mad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 January, 2016, 11:51:45 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 24 January, 2016, 11:28:40 AM
The 1% rule the world and they're mad

Probably difficult for them to see it that way while being fellated in the infinity pool on their Carribean island. It's the rest of us that are mad for putting up with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 24 January, 2016, 03:18:24 PM
Partly inspired by Hawkmonger's posts, and by my own re-reading of the novel, I watched Aliens (directors cut version, though I think the original theatrical cut is the superior version) last night.

Now here is a film that I've seen more times than I care to remember. I'd become so familiar with it, that it sat on the shelf for a good few years, so last nights viewing was a welcome rewatch, and the absence made it feel fresh again.

And on Blu-ray to boot. And nicely scrubbed up is looks too. (and the Blu-ray has tackled some continuity errors, and goofs -  see here (http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=294598))

30 years old now, and showing it's age in places, but still a cracking high octane roller-coaster of a ride. And of course, eminently quotable. 
Though due to budget constraints in some of the earlier sequences, and Cameron's use of the 1:85.1 ratio, lends this film a slight whiff of 'T.V movie' at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 January, 2016, 06:47:38 PM
Aye, Spikes. Undoubtatly one of the great success stories of sci-fi and a movie that will continue to entertain for decades to come.

Alien vs. Predator, is on the other hand, something of a disaster. That being said, it's to Alien what Godzilla vs. Mothra is to Godzilla. A silly monster mash of a movie with dreadful acting, ploting and pacing with some truly questionable in universe continuity (W&Y did not need to be in this movie). But, it does have some sweet action sequences. The rumble between two Pred's and a pack of Xeno's was awesome and got properly dirty on a few occations (Pred smashing the Xeno's head into multiple pillers). It's not a complete train wreck, but it ain't great either.

AvP:R however is genuinly boring as sin. It follows every slasher movie trope ever, as quite genuinly some of the worst acting i've ever layed eyes on and is so, so dark! Who the hell directed the lighting on this? I had to turn the screen resolution up all the way to make out even the faintest detail! Not even the eventual appearence of the Predalien could save this dog's dinner.

Oh, and a little pimping for a much needed cause, check out the neat Pred fan film Predator Dark Ages. It's ace's!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 January, 2016, 07:19:25 PM
Have to be honest, and I think I said it here, for Aliens has finally lost the battle against time, Last time I whiched Alien it still felt timeless. I followed excittedly onto Aliens and... was a little disappointed. Prehaps I know it too well, but I dunno it felt a little dated and tired. Still a good movie, not the GREAT movie I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 January, 2016, 07:25:09 PM
I recall re watching it with Tiny Tips a few years back and has the opposite experience. Watching all of these eighties classics with someone who is new to them is eye opening and makes it feel fresh again. He right enjoyed it and so did I.

You so have to caveat a viewing of older stuff (especially telly) with a "the past is another country; they do things differently there".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 January, 2016, 07:59:11 PM
QuoteAvP:R however is genuinly boring as sin. It follows every slasher movie trope ever, as quite genuinly some of the worst acting i've ever layed eyes on and is so, so dark!

The darkness was my main issue with AvP:R. I understand these beasts are known to lurk in the shadows, but when you can't see what's going on what's the point? It isn't helped by the predation's head silhouette being a bit too similar to that of the Predator, so seeing which creature is which could be an issue for me.

I quite liked the predecessor though. A bit silly, but fun, I thought. Having that young lady running around outside in that thin top in the Antarctic winter at the end was ridiculous though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 January, 2016, 08:27:59 PM
In '71, a young Para gets separated from his unit while on his first patrol in Belfast and has to try and find his own way back to barracks. Complications ensue. As a suspenseful thriller, this works very well. The opening half hour or so does a pretty great job of scene-setting and escalating the tension.

Not sure exactly why, but I was initially a bit uneasy at the notion of some bleedin' Frenchmen coming over here and misrepresenting our history in the interests of entertainment. In a way that I don't have watching something like Sicario which has a broadly similar use of real world political/criminal issues in service of a rather more fantastical story. Managed to get over that pretty quickly though.

I was surprised to see Gregory Burke credited as the writer. There is none of the overt political aspect which is present in plays like Gagarin Way. Instead, there are long stretches of silence in the film as it opts to work on creating tension, confusion and fear, but he does retain an ear for dialogue best expressed in the form of a a foul-mouthed ten year old who steals every scene he appears in.

Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 January, 2016, 11:10:00 PM
Last Rescue

A war films that came out 2015, which I'd never heard of. I think it was a made for TV film.

A small group of American service folk (army guys and two nurses) evacuating out of France.

The characters do silly things on occasion, but I found it pretty enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 January, 2016, 10:41:02 AM
Labyrinth - heh. What a mad mess of fun.

Quote from: Spikes on 24 January, 2016, 03:18:24 PM
Though due to budget constraints in some of the earlier sequences, and Cameron's use of the 1:85.1 ratio, lends this film a slight whiff of 'T.V movie' at times.

Its a movie I've only ever seen on TV. So I guess that's about right :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 January, 2016, 09:31:20 PM
The Hateful Eight.

Absolutely loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 26 January, 2016, 12:35:13 PM
Jackie Brown. Anyone who hasn't seen this gem by now, go out and get it. Brilliant soundtrack. Great story. Fantastic acting. Top notch film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 January, 2016, 12:40:17 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 January, 2016, 09:31:20 PM
The Hateful Eight.

Absolutely loved it.
Off to watch it tonight, very much looking forward to it.

I'm mildly annoyed by this recent trend of "hating" on Tarantino and his style of film making. Very snoby.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 January, 2016, 09:46:19 PM
When I was a kid, Peter Greenaway was a pretty big noise in our house. Up there with David Lynch as someone whose films my parents would make a point of watching or even making an infrequent trip to the big city to see. Even with the teenage boy's enthusiasm for the faintest glimpse of muff I found him impenetrable in a way that Lynch's weirdness wasn't. Until watching A Zed and Two Noughts earlier in the week I'd never attempted to revisit him as an adult.

I wouldn't say it was especially enjoyable as a story but I found it absolutely fascinating as an example of what you can do with cinema.

On the one hand there's no getting past the fact that this is almost the archetypal arthouse film. Long scenes of people talking in a series of non-sequiturs while looking in different directions; painstakingly staged scenery; random cuts to accelerated footage of decomposing fruit and animals; minges everywhere (and a healthy dose of boaby); barely comprehensible narrative which is largely ignored in favour of mood. If you asked a lazy panel game comedian to come up with a routine about arthouse cinema, I don't think this would be far off the mark.

If you can handle that then it's definitely worthwhile seeing what's actually onscreen. Initially, you notice this in the very deliberate way shots are staged. There are an above average number of amputations in this film, so symmetrical compositions take on a meaning of sorts! Greenaway's films are full of tableaux vivants, usually allusions to or direct recreations of famous paintings. I don't really understand the point of these scenes or, in the vast majority of cases, know what's being referred to. I'm far more impressed by things like the frequent use of deliberately non-naturalistic lighting to reflect mood or mental states as that seems to be more in line with the idea of doing things which you can't do in other media.

What I really started to notice was the film using the full breadth and depth of the frame in ways that I'm not used to seeing. Characters appear at one point and walk all the way across the screen before disappearing into the distance. Rather than show an event then cut to another character's reaction, things frequently happen in the foreground and background simultaneously. Sometimes this is arranged in such a way that the viewer can see multiple planes while the characters don't, sometimes not. One funny scene creates the effect of a horizontal divide as of balcony and ground.

Despite the layers of guff that are spoken (it's really not a film where there's any value in talking about the performances) there is also an underlying absurdist humour. Whether it was unwitting, cheap casting or a post-modern masterstroke, the majority of the best lines - "Crocodiles are not immortal." - are given to the bemused zoo attendant played by Jim Davidson.

I'm pretty ignorant of the wilder shores of modern cinema so perhaps I'm missing a lot but, to me, it really highlighted how little most films do beyond simply illustrating a story when there are so many possibilities for telling it in different ways. Obviously it would've been better if I'd had much of a clue what was going on but you can't have everything. I guess my ideal film would be some sort of ungodly hybrid where the downbeat sci-fi of Sumshine is made with visual aesthetic on a par with Enter the Void. While I'm waiting, maybe I'll watch some more Greenaway or check out the director's commentary.

TL;DR Better than both Crashes.

Alternatively: ZOO? POO more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 January, 2016, 09:55:34 PM
Then I watched Fury Road again. Still amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 January, 2016, 12:22:15 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 26 January, 2016, 12:35:13 PM
Jackie Brown. Anyone who hasn't seen this gem by now, go out and get it. Brilliant soundtrack. Great story. Fantastic acting. Top notch film.

I agree. I like that film a lot. When I happened across a CD of the soundtrack at a charity shop I snapped it up. It might be one of my favourite album's.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 January, 2016, 01:08:32 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 27 January, 2016, 12:22:15 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 26 January, 2016, 12:35:13 PM
Jackie Brown. Anyone who hasn't seen this gem by now, go out and get it. Brilliant soundtrack. Great story. Fantastic acting. Top notch film.

I agree. I like that film a lot. When I happened across a CD of the soundtrack at a charity shop I snapped it up. It might be one of my favourite album's.

It's gotta be said, Tarantino has an excellent taste in music. I own every single Tarantino Movie Soundtrack. I get excited about New Tarantino soundtracks in much the same way as my sisters used to get excited about those NOW!XX albums.

Not only are they great tunes, they're worked into the movies really well, in much the same way that Sorcese had done before him. Tarantino is a shameless palagarist, but I don't hold it against him.

Jackie Brown is great.

Psycho was on ITVsomethingorother the other night. Haven't seen it in years. I must watch more Hitchcock, I've only ever seen this, North by Northwest and The Birds. A couple of Hitchcock biopics seem to have been released in the past few years. Can anyone recommend any?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 January, 2016, 07:09:29 AM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/Walkaboutposter.jpg)

Since it was Australia Day yesterday, I guess those cable network people had put this a film as old as my self on fox-Classics channel as y father tuned into to this last night. While was planning join him and not sit at the computer like I ended doing trying to complete filling in my registration details so I could finally pay for a pdf for another game manual I was interested in looking at. (The Pathfinder Beginners Box Set at only about 9 dollars as download only and regretting it to find it's like they wanted to make something more akin to the very first edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It looks that simple even with fresh coat of paint and only three player races. I'm still not sure it was aimed younger children, since there Munchkin seems more fitting for them...) and missed some of the more memorable parts of this classic piece of cinema.

(http://www.craveonline.com/images/stories/2011/Film/Walkabout.jpg)

Starring Jenny Agutter.....

(http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsA/118-20771.gif)

When she during her prime and may be she still is, but I can't get over her natural gods looks that were common with the women of that period combined with the atypical sun-kissed complexion of a British back-packer which also reminds me of Megan Fox before her face lift which wasn't really a bad thing, but I don't think she needed one.

David Gulpilil.....

(http://eastaste.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/walkabout1.jpeg)

Who I think was in a another Australian film called Storm Boy (The very first film I recall being taken to with the rest of my first grade school so long, long ago now.) and Crocodile Dundee and other films from our land. Personally I have and always will find the Aussie Natives quite frightening to behold in their element. Those ones are just not civilised what they seem more scruples about them, they make up for this by tracking and hunting you down if you wander too far into lands left untouched by civilisation. Into the outback...

They're probably honest as the day is long, but will still spear you as soon as look at you.

Actually, I'm over exaggerating my own xenophobic fears of unfamiliar. All my life, I've never ventured far into the outback or been to Alice Springs and any where north of that place including the very tip of Darwin. I've only been to other major cities of this land. So, I mot probably never seen literal barely clothed Aussie Native in their element. Maybe a half-half playing one of those large tubular wooden wind instruments on a street corner or park stage.

Those are the ones, I have encountered may times and don't get on well with unless they are smarter than the norm and work in the public service. where they put on a polite demeanour, but you think there is still there is this something of ancestry which in them is lot closer to the surface than mine might ever be.

In I am as equally fascinated (For the same interest I have in northern tribal peoples like the Celts ) and terrified out of comparison to my own sheltered existence. I only respect  these people from a distance they can't chuck a spear at me from, and their culture within touching distance.
that may offer my only link to past.

Before, I waffle on further.....

Not sure if anybody outside Australia knows understands the entire meaning of a Walkabout outside of what it's just saying. As this is big hint, but means more to the indigenous people who send they're young men out into the unknown places as part of their introduction to manhood and I think they do this individually. Otherwise, they don't benefit from it if they survive. Although this lacks team work. So, That may not be quite right either.  This could take any length of time up to one or two years. I might also assume that they don't do this with the women, and it's just a male thing. I read that this attitude is quite common everywhere, but less amongst white settlers and others of certain European stock.

When I say less, I'm not sure how much less, but I'm pretty sure I was born into world where women were already liberated more than I had first thought when I younger. I'm sure no woman around me would take that type of treatment and then there are those that venerate females as the Earth-Mother. Mind you, this doesn't prove that women were treated any worse than anybody else or better. I'm just thinking that in what seems like such s less sophisticated culture, there might not be so much room for people to take roles they weren't born for, unless a emergency calls for it. This is just speculation on my part.

Anyway, the whole idea of walkabout and the way it was presented to seem so much like reversed alternative to you know who. Especially with how things panned out. Just watch it and see.

I haven't much more to say about the film expect it one of those rare ones that was filmed in a special way that would place it in a rare class of it's own. The outback scenes which is where it is all at, give journey the young British/Australian resident girl, her younger brother and the native boy a sense of the surreal to those who aren't used to this sort of thing. Everything looks more vivid and real than the more urban locales. Which gave me though when I try consider what a walk through the less frequented part of my town.

John Mellion briefly appears in this film in the beginning after something bad happens which I won't spoil for you.  Yet presented a such absurd occurance and then they just move on like nothing's happened. Perhaps the true meaning of this scene has gone other my head. It kind of pans out like a scene from Star wars - A New Hope back on Tattoine before ObiWan, Young Luke and the droids head off to Mos-Eisly.

I kind of find it amusing that both him David were in the most of Crocodile Dundee films together. Although, I can almost another film with Jenny and Michael York as the sequel where they both elope to escape the domed city and find that young native boy has became Peter Ustinov or is that what became of her younger brother.   

Anyway, the ending isn't a happy one for everybody as it turns out. I did miss ending as well as the beginning and a lot of in between, but I also decided to purchase the film through You-Tube for mere 28.00 , but it's in HD format and did search for my favourite scene. When Jenny goes au-natural while the males went hunting.  Yeah, I thought she was just over twenty years of age by my own calculations and it turns out she's a little younger. Yet presented in way that doesn't feel so sleazy as some may think.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 January, 2016, 08:39:40 AM
What is the name of that Australian film where a young couple end up stuck out in a hostile jungle setting? It appears pretty and idyllic but ends up wearing them down and driving them crazy. Almost like everything was out to get them.

I used to think it was called 'Return to Oz' as that's what the presenter said at the start. I now realise he probably said "Now, we return to Aus..." as I later found out there was a sequel to Wizard of Oz that had that title already. As a kid I obviously focussed on the wrong part of the presenter's sentence.

There is a particular scene involving an eagle's egg which put me off of eating eggs for a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 January, 2016, 08:46:55 AM
Long Weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2016, 08:47:12 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 January, 2016, 09:46:19 PM
When I was a kid, Peter Greenaway was a pretty big noise in our house. Up there with David Lynch as someone whose films my parents would make a point of watching or even making an infrequent trip to the big city to see. Even with the teenage boy's enthusiasm for the faintest glimpse of muff I found him impenetrable in a way that Lynch's weirdness wasn't.

Spot on. I was obviously a bit older when watching most Greenaway stuff but it's the staging that both elevates and condemns his films for me. 

I recall taking my mates to see PROSPERO'S BOOKS at the Cornerhouse in Manchistoh.  I turned round at the end to ask them what they thought and found they had left and gone to the pub half way through.

When I tracked them down in the LASS, the response was "Utter, utter, utter bollocks!".

When I taped it off the telly a few years later, this was the phrase I used to label the VHS cassette and it is still the first thing I think of when somebody mentions Greenaway.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2016, 09:38:48 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 26 January, 2016, 09:46:19 PM

perhaps I'm missing a lot but, to me, it really highlighted how little most films do beyond simply illustrating a story when there are so many possibilities for telling it in different ways.

If you haven't already seen it, there's a lovely little YOUTUBE series called EVERY FRAME A PAINTING which takes a bit of time out to examine film form (rather than just bang on about script and performances). 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2016, 01:25:35 PM
A discussion somewhere on here prompted me to watch ALIEN 3 with Tiny Tips last night.

We opted for the Special Edition/Assembly Cut.  It really dragged for me. It must be an hour or so before the Alien actually kills anybody (the theatrical version has this down to about 40 or 45 minutes). Man those off screen deaths are still harsh but what else could they do if they wanted fresh direction?

The one advantage of the longer cut is, that for all the bollocks they spout, it does help you tell the convicts apart a bit better.  The lice infestation is a a cute idea and metaphor but shaved heads make it well hard for your audience to tell broadly similar characters apart.


Anyway, Tiny Tips' perfectly valid point was - "that would have been much better if it had been a FIRST film in a series".  So it starts with additional drama about do the convicts trust the stranger in their midst or does the stranger trust the convicts and you don't know who is good/bad/to be believed.

I'd never clicked before that the ending of Desolation of Smaug is pretty much the same as the ending here.


Do I get a ban for three posts in a row?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 January, 2016, 02:30:25 PM
No, but possibly you deserve one for me wrecking my head for 5 minutes mentally comparing the ending of two pretty poor films. :crazy:

There's Greenaway and there`s Greenaway, and I find he veers between the hypnotic and the unwatchable.  It`s difficult for me to distinguish between my youthful addiction to pretentious cinema and my coeval interest in nudie ladies, but there are some really enjoyable early Greenaways like Drowning by Numbers and The Cook, the Thief etc. that I still rate, where stylistic conceits managed to support and enliven characters, plots and errr nudie ladies - and others like Baby of Macon and The Pillow Book that you couldn`t force me to rewatch. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2016, 04:34:09 PM
The Cook, the Thief etc. and Draughtsman Contract were the two most accessible ones I watched.  I even used to go see Derek Jarman movies in same time frame. And one of those was a radio programme!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 January, 2016, 03:51:37 PM
Wanted to see that Goose-Bumps film, but they weren't playing it at that time and so I chose....

The Hateful Eight

Lost for words and Bob was Slaine, but only a little bit. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: James Dilworth on 28 January, 2016, 04:17:30 PM
Just watched The Big Short.

It's a great film but I definitely needed a stiff drink afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 January, 2016, 08:19:05 AM
[spoiler]Not that really liked that film Hateful 8, it did keep me glued to my seat, my eyes riveted to screen at all time except when I had to take toilet break right about when Joe Cage/Michael Madson must have entered the cabin. Don't know why they called it Habadashery which reminds me of Boutique in a world where such might be taken as specific to certain minorities and taken as some joke I don't completely understand.

it was this article [/spoiler][spoiler] here (http://www.slashfilm.com/hateful-eight-django-unchained/) [spoiler]that allayed my theory that  Samuel Jackson/Major Marquis Warren a.k.a. "The Bounty Hunter" is aging Django from that other Tarantino film. Spoiler Maybe he was and even changed his name. This sank in when he shot down Bob the Mexican laying into him with both of his guns. Although sure a lot of western hero arch-types do this, but seemed like this was strong reference to the shooting style of Django. [/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Take note that he and some one else appear to be both wearing official Magical Silver Scarf of Gandalf the Grey.

I started this post hours ago, before abandoning it for a lie on the couch. My head filled with more ideas and theories that have now retreated back into the recess of my mind to be forgotten for the time being....

Tell me who fancies a game of Red Dead Redemption...I'm pretty sure Django just about the direct of this to sliver screen. I really feel like having John Marsten walk into a Saloon either the one at Armidillo or Theives Landing. yeah, just walk in there shoot off as many hats as I can without being shot back at and then leave very swiftly by horse.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 29 January, 2016, 05:50:17 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 January, 2016, 08:19:05 AM
... Quote deleted by Moderator because it contains the same spoilers! (And it's too fiddly to adjust it manually!) ...

Fix your spoilers!! Some of us haven't seen the film yet. ugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mike Carroll on 29 January, 2016, 08:50:04 PM
ThryllSeekyr - in future, please be more considerate of other users when it comes to spoilers!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2016, 02:05:06 AM
Sorry, didn't think it was that revealing except for one sentence in there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2016, 02:16:22 AM
[spoiler]BTW When I wrote that S. Jacksons/Warren was that younger character from a anther recent Tarantino film. I meant that after reading that article I tried to link there and a few others that I had read that he almost was going to use him. Then he changed his mind when he found that particular one was holding the rest of the movie back and made him some body else who used twin pistols the same way or maybe he is....who knows![/spoiler] 

Because, either what I wrote was altered (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif) or I just neglected to write isn't[/b] when I wrote [is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 January, 2016, 09:21:58 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2016, 02:05:06 AM
Sorry, didn't think it was that revealing except for one sentence in there.

Yes, that's the sentence that needed the spoiler tags.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 30 January, 2016, 09:50:47 AM
Sucker Punch

I tried watching this on a flight to America. And I fell asleep about half an hour in. (not because it was a boring movie, I was just really tired) So I tried watching it on the flight back. And I fell asleep again. (a bit further in this time)

So recently I got it on blu-ray. Put it in last night. Woke up as the credits were rolling.

I really want to watch this movie. I'm not even going to attempt it tonight because I'm so tired. But what I have seen of it is great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 January, 2016, 09:59:29 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 30 January, 2016, 09:50:47 AM
Sucker Punch
But what I have seen of it is great.

Zack Snyder syndrome. Any given bit of a Snyder movie will be well executed and look amazing, but taken in aggregate, the whole film will be shit.

Sucker Punch is one of the worst movies I've seen in years.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2016, 10:33:15 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 30 January, 2016, 09:59:29 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 30 January, 2016, 09:50:47 AM
Sucker Punch
But what I have seen of it is great.

Zack Snyder syndrome. Any given bit of a Snyder movie will be well executed and look amazing, but taken in aggregate, the whole film will be shit.

Sucker Punch is one of the worst movies I've seen in years.

Cheers

Jim
I actualy find it one of his more enjoyable ventures, as it's not violating any previously esstablished property in the process. It and live-action anime in it's purest sense, overblown and excessive but enjoyable on a basic level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 January, 2016, 10:35:23 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 30 January, 2016, 10:33:15 AM
I actualy find it one of his more enjoyable ventures, as it's not violating any previously esstablished property in the process.

Keep in mind that I haven't seen Man of Steel...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 30 January, 2016, 10:39:26 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 30 January, 2016, 10:35:23 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 30 January, 2016, 10:33:15 AM
I actualy find it one of his more enjoyable ventures, as it's not violating any previously esstablished property in the process.

Keep in mind that I haven't seen Man of Steel...

Cheers

Jim

Lucky Bastard! I've seen it in all its Glory. A complete Dog-Turd of a film with no redeeming features whatsoever!

Cheers

Edit: I watched Tootsie the other day. Seen it many times and still think it's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 30 January, 2016, 10:39:34 AM
Don't. It's shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 January, 2016, 12:16:00 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 30 January, 2016, 10:39:34 AM
Don't. It's shit.

Almost no chance that I ever will. Having seen 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch, I came to the conclusion that there was very little chance I'd enjoy MoS... which is the direct cause of my new policy of not watching/seeing films and TV shows I don't think I'm going to enjoy. Whilst it's fun to tear these things to shreds, on the plus side I save an afternoon for things I might actually like doing!

I have no intention of ever seeing Batman v Superman v Ginger Bloke v Wonder Woman v Aquaman v Doomsday v Darkseid v Some More Shit We're Throwing At This Wall To See What Sticks for the same reason.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2016, 01:57:57 PM
Sucker Punch is terrible in so many ways, but I always like to point out that characters are losing boss fights until they use power-ups, and that several scenes revolve around them finding the right object to progress further - literal video game logic used instead of screenwriting ability.

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 30 January, 2016, 10:33:15 AM
I actualy find it one of his more enjoyable ventures, as it's not violating any previously esstablished property in the process.

If Denis-Pierre Filippi and Terry Dodson had braver lawyers, you wouldn't be able to make this claim.  Songes is a graphic novel they published several years before Sucker Punch was announced, about an attractive young lady who escapes into pulpish fictional scenarios - which involve erotic clothing - to escape feelings of isolation after moving to a big house for Reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 January, 2016, 03:22:22 PM
I really like Sucker Punch but I've given up trying to justify why I think it's good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 30 January, 2016, 04:05:50 PM
Sucker Punch - puerile, misogynistic shite that wants to pretend it's about female empowerment and overcoming sexual exploitation by men, while sexually exploiting its young female cast and sleazily dressing them up as wank fantasy schoolgirl sex dolls.

Thryllseekyr would love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2016, 04:20:00 PM
GordonR sum's up why I should hate it oh so eloquently. Yet somehow I find the whole movie to excessive and OTT it somehow regains a few points as just being so damn...bodacious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2016, 05:02:23 PM
Quote from: GordonR on 30 January, 2016, 04:05:50 PM
Sucker Punch - puerile, misogynistic shite that wants to pretend it's about female empowerment and overcoming sexual exploitation by men, while sexually exploiting its young female cast and sleazily dressing them up as wank fantasy schoolgirl sex dolls.

Thryllseekyr would love it.

I wish I said all that! Except the last part, and I think the old dude who was helping them all along, offering advice and such to get them through to the next scenario is the real villain and Rocket-Girl was the hottest one there. Pity she had to die!

Every time this is on television, I hide behind the computer like I always do try to avoid the horrible clichés bits that were done just to allow the actress's to feel that were doing something edgy and that nobody else had the guts to do this in this way.

All of this written without naming forum rivals like the you know who's. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 30 January, 2016, 05:12:42 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 January, 2016, 08:19:05 AM
I had to take toilet break right about when Joe Cage/Michael Madson must have entered the cabin

thats 39 minutes

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2016, 05:37:00 PM
You are Roger Godpleton and I claim my $5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 January, 2016, 05:55:56 PM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 30 January, 2016, 05:12:42 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 January, 2016, 08:19:05 AM
I had to take toilet break right about when Joe Cage/Michael Madson must have entered the cabin

thats 39 minutes


Yeah, did I say I meant the whole time he was in the cabin, I'm only saying so, cause I suddenly notice he was there when I got back. Barely minute to had off to the lobby and barely another to point Percy at the porcelain. Which is easier considering a condition I complained about somewhere else on this forum because these urinal seemed to be designed for catch what ever type of spray I need to make to empty my bladder. It's like they knew about my problem and this is worth considering when looking for somebody or something to blame.

You know, they had probably just started building that shopping centre as I got back from lengthy working holiday down south for few years. That was in 2005, and the same year my problem had occurred, but months later and the place was still being built, but already operational by 2008 when I found employment as a cleaner for two hours day for barely fifteen dollars a hour for a couple of month.

I think when I might have been noticed eagerly feather dusting the privates of some many female naked store mannequins. You know the ones that are just reduced to limbless torso or in this case a pair of hips cut off at the waist and thighs.

Anyway, now, I'm just wondering if anybody had anything to do with my condition...down there (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)

it's like I've been slimed down there, might the explained the fungal infection and the result!

I got slimed while sleeping semi nude in my very own bed.

Does anybody here realise the audacity of some people given that I was pretty much keeping to myself during those months.

Like a scene from Ghostbusters while they were at the Sedgewick Highrise Hotel.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 January, 2016, 06:13:42 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2016, 05:37:00 PM
You are Roger Godpleton and I claim my $5.

That would be something, wouldn't it? Sadly I think this bottom-poster is just not taking a hint, rather than actively trying to get booted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 30 January, 2016, 06:53:34 PM
TS - no-one here - no-one at all - wants to hear what happens with you when you go to the toilet.

Or any mad nonsense about who's out to get you this week.

Please, FFS, start taking your medication.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2016, 07:16:12 PM
I know I live on the other side of the planet, but I still want to know about it the actual microsecond he gets a gun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 January, 2016, 07:34:56 PM
TS: I mean this kindly: share the condition you just described with the doctor. Not on here. Don't leave it to get worse, certainly.

Percy? I confess that made me laugh. The name. Not the problem.

And share any other issues, physical as well as any worries you have with the doctor while you are there. They can at least point you in the right direction if they can't help you themselves.

I wish you well. But time, and place, etc.

And leave the mannequins alone. 😊

So yeah. Um. Films. I've got a few I've bought, or were bought for me as yesteryear Christmas or birthday presents I never got round to watching including:

Maniac Cop
Dead Snow 2 - I bought this by accident as someone stuck a sticker over the number 2. So I'll catch the first, er , first.
Pacific Rim - this was a gift. It never appealed to me, but I've heard good things about it.
Casino Royale - The first Craig Bond film not the parody.*
Some adult take on Snow White based film whose name I forget. By 'adult take' I don't mean pornography. Although I'm sure such a thing exists...
Inception- I started it, but was not in the right frame of mind to continue, and never really felt like going back. Surprising as the premise is right up my street.

I know this is a 'last film you've seen' thread not a 'what do you want to watch next', but any recommendations from that lot? Which I will duly write about here of course.

*James Bond films are peculiar in that I rarely feel that fussed to watch them, but usually enjoy them when I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 30 January, 2016, 07:39:42 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 30 January, 2016, 07:34:56 PM

Pacific Rim - this was a gift. It never appealed to me, but I've heard good things about it.


Give it a try. When everyone on here was raving about it, I never bothered with it, 'cos it didn't sound like my kind of thing. I was wrong - it's great, and it has a bloody wonderful soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 January, 2016, 08:36:22 PM
Just back from seeing Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires at the endearingly ramshackle backyard cinema round the corner. An endearingly silly studio/genre mashup. Although the balance is probably too much in favour of the Hammer shite for my tastes, there was just about enough Shaw Brothers silliness to keep me entertained for 90 minutes.

Don't think I'll bother going back for Blacula though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2016, 08:45:13 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 30 January, 2016, 08:36:22 PM
Don't think I'll bother going back for Blacula though.
For shame! Blacula (and it's sequel) are excellently excesses in exploitation cinema!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2016, 09:03:19 PM
I think it is probably impossible to sit through Blacula or Scream Blacula Scream without wondering why William Marshall wasn't a bigger star.  Much as I like both movies, he really was too good for them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 31 January, 2016, 12:47:08 AM
As suggested by Gregg (thanks) Pacific Rim.

Good choice. That was very good. The premise is very similar to a 2000 AD story that rangers when I first started getting the prog. Not just the fact that it's big robot like machines fighting monsters, but the fact the monsters are extradimensional in nature.

They even suggested the kaiju were the dinosaurs, although they didn't really look like that here, but as they all look different, the dinosaurs could be early 'models'. And they looked just like dinosaurs in that strip.

I was worried it would have a lot of the 'boo-yah' crap you get in a lot of American military films and corny speechifying. Well, Idris Elba did a bit of that, but it wasn't that corny, and fit the moment and the cast and crew here were multinational. And it included that chap from Torchwood, I noticed.

The protagonists were likeable. The mash up was cool, although I sometimes had to rewind to catch what was happening. The CGI was excellent. The jaigir robot things were distinctive and cool. It was a lot of fun.

Oh, and if you haven't done so yet, stick around after the credits for a great gag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 January, 2016, 04:05:10 PM
Watched double bill on C4 last night of Now you See me followed by the Hole. The former was an enjoyable romp up until the big reveal which was shite. The Hole was just shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 February, 2016, 12:13:02 AM
Posted this on my FB - anyone else done the Oscar Octet? Favourite?

That's me finished seeing all the Best Picture Oscar Nominees - here they are in best to worst. Nothing was terrible but I've ranked them in order of enjoyment rather than on any highbrow merit, which I'm clearly not qualified to comment upon.

1) Mad Max Fury Road - Visually stunning and exciting.
2) The Martian - Lots of enjoyable science stuff.
3) Bridge of Spies - Some great turns and tense as well.
4) The Revenant - Will win but a bit dark and drawn out.
5) Brooklyn - Lightweight fluff but good sets and cast.
6) The Room - Good first hour but a bit bleak over all.
7) Spotlight - By the numbers press expose.
8) The Big Short - Weird guys get rich and banks are bad - yawn!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 February, 2016, 12:17:47 AM
Three-quarters of John Carter. Now, maybe my expectations had already been lowered. Or perhaps the 25 minutes I missed consists entirely of John fucking a donkey before he finds his way to Mars.

I can't really see any other sensible explanation for why this isn't a much loved property spawning sequels and spin-offs like Star Wars or whatever. Nothing earth shattering about it but it was exciting and fun from start (well, almost) to finish. Really liked the fakeout ending and even the stupid dog thing wasn't annoying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 February, 2016, 12:26:09 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 01 February, 2016, 12:13:02 AM
Posted this on my FB - anyone else done the Oscar Octet? Favourite?

That's me finished seeing all the Best Picture Oscar Nominees - here they are in best to worst. Nothing was terrible but I've ranked them in order of enjoyment rather than on any highbrow merit, which I'm clearly not qualified to comment upon.

Not yet, but every year I try to and every year I fail. Here's my progress to date. Check back on this very thread for more exciting updates.

1) Mad Max Fury Road - Seen this four or five times now. Easily the best new release I saw in the cinema last year.
2) The Martian - Not seen. Didn't really pick up on it being any good until after it was gone.
3) Bridge of Spies - Not seen. Never really interested in seeing Spielberg films even though they keep turning out decent.
4) The Revenant - Not seen, but the only other one on the list I actively want to. Should make it this week.
5) Brooklyn - Almost saw last Tuesday but went for a beer with colleagues instead as the German guy who normally works remotely was in town.
6) The Room - Not out here for another couple of months. Have managed to avoid knowing anything about it despite general buzz being that it's amazing.
7) Spotlight - Genuinely don't understand who goes to see stuff like this.
8) The Big Short - Not seen. Doesn't sound very thrilling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 01 February, 2016, 07:22:58 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 February, 2016, 12:17:47 AM
Three-quarters of John Carter. Now, maybe my expectations had already been lowered. Or perhaps the 25 minutes I missed consists entirely of John fucking a donkey before he finds his way to Mars.

I can't really see any other sensible explanation for why this isn't a much loved property spawning sequels and spin-offs like Star Wars or whatever. Nothing earth shattering about it but it was exciting and fun from start (well, almost) to finish. Really liked the fakeout ending and even the stupid dog thing wasn't annoying.

John Carter is a great film. I don't understand how it was such a box office flop. And no, there was no donkey stuff in the first 25 mins.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 February, 2016, 09:08:49 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 February, 2016, 12:17:47 AM
Three-quarters of John Carter. Now, maybe my expectations had already been lowered. Or perhaps the 25 minutes I missed consists entirely of John fucking a donkey before he finds his way to Mars.

I can't really see any other sensible explanation for why this isn't a much loved property spawning sequels and spin-offs like Star Wars or whatever. Nothing earth shattering about it but it was exciting and fun from start (well, almost) to finish. Really liked the fakeout ending and even the stupid dog thing wasn't annoying.

Yep, loads of fun. A bit like Dredd in that its publicity campaign never found its audience.

Caught The World's End again by accident at the weekend.  Can't get over what a well-made film that is. Everybody giving great performances, great (almost Greenaway!) structural devices, some terrific jokes - and a huge dollop of relatable reality at its heart. Pretty much a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 February, 2016, 10:30:54 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 01 February, 2016, 09:08:49 AM

Caught The World's End again by accident at the weekend.  Can't get over what a well-made film that is. Everybody giving great performances, great (almost Greenaway!) structural devices, some terrific jokes - and a huge dollop of relatable reality at its heart. Pretty much a masterpiece.

I caught it on telly Friday night too, and couldn't turn it off despite having the BD.
A modern classic in my eyes, and I've been humming songs from the soundtrack all weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 February, 2016, 05:51:32 PM
Seven Samurai

Often imitated, never bettered. An absolutely flawless film that deserves it lofty critical place in my view. Every time I watch it, I'm floored by how much I love it. The characters are as well-constructed as the lengthy and meticulous plot and it unfolds at a surprisingly brisk pace. Outrageously brilliant and resoundingly human.

A film that everyone needs to see and one that will stay with you long after the breathtaking rain-soaked finale. Utterly Timeless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2016, 06:46:05 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 February, 2016, 05:51:32 PM
A film that everyone needs to see and one that will stay with you long after the breathtaking rain-soaked finale. Utterly Timeless.

So true. I'll never forget the first time I saw it, on some late night C4 slot, the realisation that this is what all those other films I liked were such a pale imitation of.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 February, 2016, 06:51:42 PM
QuoteThe Room

That would be Room. The Room is quite a different proposition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2016, 07:56:43 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 02 February, 2016, 06:46:05 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 February, 2016, 05:51:32 PM
A film that everyone needs to see and one that will stay with you long after the breathtaking rain-soaked finale. Utterly Timeless.

So true. I'll never forget the first time I saw it, on some late night C4 slot, the realisation that this is what all those other films I liked were such a pale imitation of.

I'm lucky enough to be guiding Tiny Tips through sixties Kurosawa samurai movies just now. Not seen them for decades myself so having a grand time. Sanjuro was last one. Great stuff and THAT ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 February, 2016, 11:21:29 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 02 February, 2016, 06:46:05 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 February, 2016, 05:51:32 PM
Seven Samurai...A film that everyone needs to see and one that will stay with you long after the breathtaking rain-soaked finale. Utterly Timeless.
So true. I'll never forget the first time I saw it, on some late night C4 slot, the realisation that this is what all those other films I liked were such a pale imitation of.
Through the magic of comfortable local arthouses, I've been lucky enough to see it in the cinema 3 or 4 times. It's always amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 February, 2016, 12:41:21 PM
KILL BILL Volumes 1 & 2

Picked up for 99p each on DVD only to find the fuckers on Netflix when i got home.

Anyway,  I'd been a bit harsh on these previously. But actually enjoyed watching  them in pretty much one sitting.  In fact, I think I've only ever seen Volume 2 while really pissed and tired previously so it was all fairly new to me.

Is Volume 1 generally agreed to be the better?  It meanders a bit (I'd have certainly dropped the dull coma-victim rape strand) and is a bit slow but just seemed more fun. Tiny Tips, who times these things, says it was 65 minutes to the start of the Crazy 88 sequence which then takes up the next half hour!

The action sequences are certainly brilliantly OTT but straddle a fine line between being completely grounded in reality (that amount of gore would have been unwatchable) and being to cartoony (that amount of gore would have had you laughing far too much).  The decisions to go to cartoon for O Ren's origin and then, in the Crazy 88 sequence, to switch to Black&White and then to Elvis-vision are cute but again protect us from "too much gore".

Volume 2 has a good extended sequence with Michael Madsen's Bud character that has you feeling sorry for him (until you don't!). But I didn't really like the training montage (until the pay-off at the Paula Schulz grave) and I didn't really buy Bill as the charismatic snake-charmer.  He just seems plain nasty.

And I have no idea how you would have cut it as a single movie and not give yourself a massive pacing issue after the brilliance of the Hatari Hanzo sword, O Ren Ishii and the Crazy 88 sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 February, 2016, 01:50:53 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 February, 2016, 12:41:21 PM
KILL BILL Volumes 1 & 2

Is Volume 1 generally agreed to be the better? 

I never bothered watching volume 2 as there just didn't seem much point - Vol 1 gave us the back-story and showed how she killed half the gang. Were there any twists or revelations, or was I correct in assuming it's just more training/tracking/killing?

Not Tarantino's finest work IMO, too much style over substance and feels like one movie indulgently spread over two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:00:28 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 04 February, 2016, 01:50:53 PM
Not Tarantino's finest work IMO, too much style over substance and feels like one movie indulgently spread over two.

Watched Vol1. It bored the shit out of me. Haven't watched a Tarantino movie since.

I quite liked the looked of Hateful Eight, but then I found out how fucking long it is, and that was the end of that idea.

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 February, 2016, 02:27:29 PM
Might want to reconsider that Jim, Hateful Eight is superb.

And watch Django Unchained as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:42:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 February, 2016, 02:27:29 PM
Might want to reconsider that Jim, Hateful Eight is superb.

Yeah, but it's three fucking days long.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 February, 2016, 02:46:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:42:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 February, 2016, 02:27:29 PM
Might want to reconsider that Jim, Hateful Eight is superb.

Yeah, but it's three fucking days long.

Cheers

Jim

Watch it on a bank holiday then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 February, 2016, 02:49:01 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:42:43 PM

Yeah, but it's three fucking days long.


And each one is a pleasure.

Best film I've seen since Fury Road, just pure entertainment.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 February, 2016, 02:52:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:42:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 February, 2016, 02:27:29 PM
Might want to reconsider that Jim, Hateful Eight is superb.

Yeah, but it's three fucking days long.

Cheers

Jim
We obviously have very different methods to how we watch movies! I can have one on in the background whilst I work and miss nothing, so the length of a feature is never an issue for me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:53:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 February, 2016, 02:52:39 PM
We obviously have very different methods to how we watch movies! I can have one on in the background whilst I work and miss nothing, so the length of a feature is never an issue for me!

Nope. Radio only while I work!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2016, 03:46:39 PM
The Big Short - smug and boring lefty wank.
What's with all this text and diagrams shit onscreen and people talking to the camera in stuff now?  I thought the tv version of Limitless pulled it off because despite the odd dark moment it's mostly just a lightweight buddy-cop comedy with sci-fi overtones that someone made seemingly just to annoy the makers of Minority Report: the series by showing what such a thing would be like if it was enjoyable to watch rather than a pompous chore, but The Big Short goes all-in and busts, really ramming home how stupid it is to hang your plot twists on hoping people retain all your explanations of how banking fraud works while simultaneously undermining that approach with dick jokes and "look it's a celebrity" cameos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 04 February, 2016, 04:13:13 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2016, 02:42:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 February, 2016, 02:27:29 PM
Might want to reconsider that Jim, Hateful Eight is superb.

Yeah, but it's three fucking days long.


but its so good it only feels like 2 days
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2016, 04:34:25 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 February, 2016, 12:41:21 PM
KILL BILL Volumes 1 & 2
The decisions to go to cartoon for O Ren's origin and then, in the Crazy 88 sequence, to switch to Black&White and then to Elvis-vision are cute but again protect us from "too much gore".

Interestingly (at least, I found it interesting to find out) the switch to black and white wasn't in the original cut and was done for exactly that reason, because the censors rejected it in colour (they find violence a lot easier to handle when they can't see red flying about, Evil Dead 2 used various different colours for its blood for the same reason). In regions where it passed without a problem they left it in colour, which I always thought was a shame because it's a really nice moment when it switches there.

As far as stitching them together, I think some of the structure was quite different back when it was one movie (one example I heard of was that the [spoiler]scene that closes Vol.1 where we find out her daughter is still alive was created when it got halved, originally the audience weren't supposed to know that until Beatrix finds out herself in the finale, it got added as a bit of a cliffhanger. Not sure how many other things were changed though!)[/spoiler]

I've always loved both films, and probably more or less equally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 February, 2016, 08:54:02 AM
Truly Madly Deeply.

I suppose it was well made but I found it really hard work. Not really my cup of tea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 07 February, 2016, 10:39:43 AM
Just got back from The Hateful 8

You sure do get your moneys worth. To be fair, at no point did it feel like it was 3 hours long.

My biggest gripe was the ending. [spoiler]I had hoped that the 15 man gang was actually true and they would have busted down the door and tortured the 2 remaining men.[/spoiler] But that's just me.

Also, did Samuel L really make that other fellow [spoiler]suck his (insert whatever word you want here)[/spoiler] or was it just a story he made up to provoke the old chap?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 February, 2016, 12:35:39 PM
Big Trouble in Little China. Hey, it was time again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 07 February, 2016, 02:27:11 PM
I thought 'The Hateful Eight' was Ok but not worth the investment of time. Too much 'n' word and beating up woman stuff - yeah edgy and controversial  I get it. I also agree the ending was unsatisfying and if the whole thing was meant to be an allegory for modern day America then that's too wanky by half.

Did enjoy Ex Machina too lot of interesting ideas and well presented in a mesmerizing and seductive way. [spoiler]Never trust a woman - especially a robot one (noticed they used robot over android - maybe to prevent anti Microsoft bias accusations!)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 07 February, 2016, 05:15:05 PM
Dad's Army. Best movie I've paid money to see this year. Nice running time and lots of laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 February, 2016, 04:49:43 PM
Finally got around to Never Let Me go. Oh man. Bleak, bleak stuff but very much enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 February, 2016, 05:06:00 PM
American Ultra - American DULLtra more like

The Green Inferno - Bobbins!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Old Tankie on 08 February, 2016, 07:09:55 PM
71 Enjoyed it, best parts for me were when the soldiers first got to Northern Ireland, the drive from the docks to the barracks in the back of the three tonners was done very well and really took me back, very realistic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 February, 2016, 03:05:37 PM
Finally got to see the Goose-Bumps film earlier this week after being told on two earlier occasions that it was either too late night for this family film or/& the wrong day.

Loved the original television series, and was satisfied with the film...

Loved the Yeti, Garden Gnomes, Caniverous Plants, Giant Praying-Mantis and the Wolf-man or boy if you recall it was a youngster from Fever Swamp.

When they found him in the supermarket raiding the steak freezer. I was so impressed, I followed suit by purchasing a pair of fillets myself. They were tasty and so different from my usual mac & cheese, lasagne, spaghetti and meat-balls microwave dinners.

Now according to what I read about them, if they still have pants on, they aren't a werewolf, but a were-coyote or a mixture of both. This could also attest to it's average size.

The lack of tail could be a random mutation, battle-scar, it's metis (Born of two werewolf parents) deformity or it could be that's just the way it is.

Anyway, this film is fun for all the family if your expecting a slight monster fest that isn't too dark.

Jack Black entertains as a R.L. Stine with out resembling him much at all! Not that it matters. Of course, it could that he's just a talentless writer spoilerwho found his special type-writer[/spoiler] which may be likely due to fact the young hero of the show ends up using it at one stage.   

Was going to joke about how he could run a brothel of monsters for lonely monsters or people who just like them that much. Yet, that's not going to work if I elaborate anymore on that.

Saw the The Revenant and enjoyed the visual of much earlier North-America or Canada looking that much more bleak and scenic at the same time.

I just really can't buy the idea of him surviving the bear attacked the way he did. Almost like it was holding back or maybe it wasn't really him (Think about that!) and that was body double while Leonardo DiCaprio hide somewhere. I seen the gory results of those unfortunate real life encounters with those oversized critters. In one documentary, I had seen a survivor with most of their face ripped off. Those razor sharp claws and the power behind them would never be that forgiving and then they're is the unfathomable weight of it's body.

Tom Hardy is practically unrecognisable as the hair-suit villain. Both him are DiCaprio are and that Palter (From Maze-Runner and the Dawn-Treader ) guy. Who seems to be wearing a more pronounced brow prosthetic each time I see him.

Not that's uncommon to see people who seem to be on the same side fall in with each other without using the confusion of the attacking  natives until they start to turn one another when they had broken off into smaller groups to get pick off their rivals and this happens in this film as well. I would have it the other way round of a bit of both really.

They're is a Garou reference to one of their tribes if your familiar with that Werewolf the Apocalypse game which may just be as unofficial and just my imagination working over time. Of course, it's not that type of film, it's really just kind of like film showcasing how art full the camera people can be. They're are some scenes that take advantage of the location, and natural lighting this way if your into that sort of thing. 

Isn't a Revenant a type of undead. If my memory of Dungeons & Dragons is correct. I think this was one of undead, one of the higher thinking versions and after finding one of the definition for the word......a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead

There you go!




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 09 February, 2016, 03:10:26 PM
SPOILER!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 09 February, 2016, 03:17:32 PM
Too late now, since you replied!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 11 February, 2016, 08:07:15 AM
Battlefield Earth

[spoiler]Absolute fucking shite![/spoiler]

I even started listening to the commentary to see what excuses they come up with for this steaming dog turd.

I don't think the director realizes how bad this is. No one should ever have to watch this. Ever.

(https://trivialmtb.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ares2-copy.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Wils on 12 February, 2016, 12:46:48 PM
Watched both live action Attack on Titan films back-to-back on a flight home from Tokyo. Found them both daft and watchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 12 February, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Crikey- necro boarder!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 February, 2016, 01:27:58 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 12 February, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Crikey- necro boarder!

Indeed! Welcome back, Wils.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 13 February, 2016, 10:10:02 AM
Zoolander 2

because deadpool was sold out

[spoiler]utter wank[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 February, 2016, 10:12:10 AM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 13 February, 2016, 10:10:02 AM
Zoolander 2
because deadpool was sold out

[spoiler]utter wank[/spoiler]

:D We need more concise reporting like this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 13 February, 2016, 11:05:20 AM
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.
Well, last film half watched really - just too tired last night to stay the course, though it did look great. So eyes peeled for the repeat.
One stand out piece was the section about The Apple. Never seen or heard anything about this film before, but oh my, that looked to be the most bizarre shit ever...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 13 February, 2016, 12:03:52 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 12 February, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Crikey- necro boarder!

I remember that name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 13 February, 2016, 05:55:44 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 12 February, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Crikey- necro boarder!

Is it his thing to come back once every 3 years to make a post and then disappear again?

Just saw Watchmen for the first time ever. I quite enjoyed it but I haven't read the comics so I don't have anything to compare it to as far as that goes.

Currently watching The Signal. A guilty pleasure of mine. I'd call it a low budget sci-fi horror set in the suburbs. If you get the chance, give it a try. I'm not going to tell you it's perfect by any means but if you are sick of the usual Hollywood cookie cutter film crap, give this a watch. Might make your day a little better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 14 February, 2016, 12:14:28 PM
The Forest - A young woman travels to Japan to find he twin sister who has apparently gone missing in the infamous 'Aokigahara Forest' (Suicide Forest).

It was ok. Some good performances from the lead cast and not a bad tale at all. Certainly not as Shit as a lot of critics have been saying. Worth a watch!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2016, 12:20:32 PM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 13 February, 2016, 05:55:44 PM
but I haven't read the comics

Get. Out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 14 February, 2016, 12:33:25 PM
Quote from: richerthanyou on 13 February, 2016, 05:55:44 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 12 February, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Crikey- necro boarder!

Currently watching The Signal. A guilty pleasure of mine. I'd call it a low budget sci-fi horror set in the suburbs. If you get the chance, give it a try. I'm not going to tell you it's perfect by any means but if you are sick of the usual Hollywood cookie cutter film crap, give this a watch. Might make your day a little better.

Oddly enough, I watched this last night.

A prick-tease of a film, best avoided. It seduces you with a decent concept, a bit of intrigue and a promise of a pay-off before a conclusion that slams the door on your face.

More plot holes than a swiss cheese, covered by a sauce of ambience.

It
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 February, 2016, 12:38:40 PM
Thor 2: The Dark World.  Finally made it to the end, on the third try. Meh. Feels like a mash-up of bits from other much better Marvel movies, notably Thor, Avengers and bizarrely GotG, which it actually precedes (so maybe GotG is recycling... But a lot more successfully). I don't know where all the cute culture-clash humour and magic-v-technology aesthetic from the first one went, because now Stellan Skarsgard is the bumbling comic relief and everyone else, even Loki and the Warriors Three, are horribly po-faced, while Asgard has turned into a fairly standard SF city, but with swords. Shouldn't Asgardian ack-ack guns be magic ballistae, or something? Jaimie Alexander is pitifully underused again, Renee Russo[spoiler] is unceremoniously fridged, and the Trickster God seems to be reduced to exactly one trick, which he uses over and over and over again, murdering any hope of the final 'twist' working at all.  [/spoiler]

The missus reckons things could have been salvaged by Hemsworth and Eccelstons's clothes being ripped off in their final incomprehensible tussle, but I'm not so sure.

I'm just left wondering how 'the ancients' built Snowdon.

Alongside Iron Man 2 as one of the only Disney Marvels I didn't really care for, and the first Thor is one of my faves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 February, 2016, 12:44:36 PM
Double post, apologies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 February, 2016, 01:29:43 PM
Escape Plan (2013). Alright but nothing special.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2016, 01:53:58 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 14 February, 2016, 12:38:40 PMMeh. Feels like a mash-up of bits from other much better Marvel movies

Alan Taylor has complained that the version Marvel released bore little resemblance to the film he shot but given that he then went on to make the widely derided Terminator: Jenny's Cyst (and subsequently engaged in some pretty laughable hand-waving (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/we-dont-expect-anybody-to-get-it-alan-taylor-talks-timeline-logic-of-terminator-genisys-20150706) over its shitness*) my theory is that Dark World is more or less what Marvel were able to salvage from whatever mess Taylor had made of it.

Cheers

Jim

*Alleged shitness. I haven't seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 February, 2016, 02:12:21 PM
In the middle of watching the original Rollerball; I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't half as violent as Death Game 1999; its, er, homage in Action.  And I wish James Caan would speak up a bit; I'm a quiet lad meself but I'm not in the films, am I?

And Richerthanyou - read the comics, for feck's sake, will you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 February, 2016, 02:16:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2016, 01:53:58 PM
my theory is that Dark World is more or less what Marvel were able to salvage from whatever mess Taylor had made of it.


And is also the result of whatever film Marvel approved for him to make. Joss Whedon did emergency fly-ins to try and fix that script during the shoot.

John Favreau suffered a similar fate on Iron Man 2 yet Iron Man is a decent film.










Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 February, 2016, 03:02:59 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 14 February, 2016, 02:16:03 PM
John Favreau suffered a similar fate on Iron Man 2 yet Iron Man is a decent film.

And yet Shane Black did a decent job on Iron Man 3 - possibly helped by a show-stopping performance (or two) from Ben Kingsley, delivering what I personally thought was a really fantastic twist. Mickey Rooney didn't quite manage to render the same assistance in IM2.

For me The Dark World falls short because it seems rather embarrassed by its subject - Asgardian gods versus the dark elves of Svartalfheim. So instead of lots of swagger, braggadocio and armies of gold-clad vikings fighting pointy-eared freaks in fantasy worlds, we have an uncomfortable swing towards invading spaceships, flying chariot chases and wormhole portals opening in yet amother major western city. There are a few good sequences and ideas - the reveal of a mourning Loki, Chris O'Dowd's doomed date, the earlier fantasy battles... But basically the gusto with which Brannagh embraced the daftness of the Norse Gods made them seem much larger and more fun than the bland concerns of Midgard, while this one just can't wait to reduce it to a trailer for The Old Republic MMO (https://youtu.be/bVyJP92TiVg).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 February, 2016, 08:03:57 PM
One thing I did find amusing about Thor 2 was that it's not hard to see it as a remake of Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, which is also a shit sequel to a surprisingly good original, and has many failings that Thor 2 replicates - only B2 did it decades ago and should ideally have been viewed as a warning sign rather than a guide book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 February, 2016, 10:23:26 PM
I liked Thor 2.

Last film I watched was the cartoon The 12 Tasks of Astrerix.

I used to love Asterix comics as a child, and I'm sure I still would. ( I mean to pick up collections at some point. I only ever bought one Asterix comic, and got the majority from the School library, and possibly other libraries.)

I wasn't very keen on the cartoon though. I think some of the humour was a bit too silly and aimed more at kids rather than the more universal humour of the comics. Also I think a lot of it just reads better off the page.

I'm curious if my experience of the other Asterix films on Netflix are the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 February, 2016, 11:24:25 PM
Reanimator

Warped. Twisted. Rather sick... but rather entertaining.
[spoiler]
Amused by the decapitated head telling his body where to go. I.e., how can the head speak if his lungs are in his body, and how can his body hear him?
[/spoiler]

There was some [spoiler]nude lady abusive stuff at the end [/spoiler] where I think they went too far. I guess it could be argued it was so over the top it was in the realm of farce, but that was a kind of nastiness the film could have done without.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zenith 666 on 15 February, 2016, 12:40:46 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 February, 2016, 01:53:58 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 14 February, 2016, 12:38:40 PMMeh. Feels like a mash-up of bits from other much better Marvel movies

Alan Taylor has complained that the version Marvel released bore little resemblance to the film he shot but given that he then went on to make the widely derided Terminator: Jenny's Cyst (and subsequently engaged in some pretty laughable hand-waving (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/we-dont-expect-anybody-to-get-it-alan-taylor-talks-timeline-logic-of-terminator-genisys-20150706) over its shitness*) my theory is that Dark World is more or less what Marvel were able to salvage from whatever mess Taylor had made of it.

Cheers

Jim

*Alleged shitness. I haven't seen it.

It's anything but Alleged shittiness jim.Genisys is a travesty that pisses all over the first movie and it's incredible sequel and worse Cameron endorsed it which I presume he did without actually fucking seeing it.I stayed to the end because I didn't believe it could get much worse than retconning out the first two movies but it does and spectacularly.Salvation is a masterpiece in comparison.My advice watch the terminator and it's sequel for the thousandth time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 15 February, 2016, 03:15:40 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 February, 2016, 11:24:25 PM
Reanimator

Warped. Twisted. Rather sick... but rather entertaining.
[spoiler]
Amused by the decapitated head telling his body where to go. I.e., how can the head speak if his lungs are in his body, and how can his body hear him?
[/spoiler]

There was some [spoiler]nude lady abusive stuff at the end [/spoiler] where I think they went too far. I guess it could be argued it was so over the top it was in the realm of farce, but that was a kind of nastiness the film could have done without.

I vaguely remember Jeffry Combs from this film and was watching The Frighteners yesterday on and off. Great film by the way. I was like the ending when Crom-Cruach swallows the naughty the pair. Customarily, I was also sorting through all my books instead of watching the entire film. Yet, I have seen it enough times to make up for that and when it first screen at our cinemas as well.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 February, 2016, 11:45:05 AM
Went to see The Revenant and thought it was amazing. It looks absolutely incredible, and the sound design and interplay between the music and images, just a fantastically absorbing watch.

Then it was my film pick for Valentines day so wanted a bit of a light romcom, so put on Man Up. I'd seen it a couple of times but Bea hadn't so was nice to see she got a bit weepy at the same places. Sounds silly, but something about that film really touches me and I've had a bit of a cry each time. First time I watched it was on the plane back from honeymoon and I was a blubbering mess. Takes a bit of time to warm up and has some very cheesy moments, but the script is sharp, Simon Pegg and Lake Bell are great in it and it's sentimental enough to tug the heartstrings and warm the cockles but while still portraying relationships in a way that lines up with our own life experiences a bit more than your average hollywood love story. Love it.

We watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi over the last couple of nights too which was fun. Empire has aged brilliantly (and is still probably the best of the bunch), RoTJ has aged...not so well. Looks oddly cheap in comparison to the others, and the script and acting is more Phantom Menace than Empire. Still love it, and unsure how much of that is childhood attachment (because it really is very rough) and the fact that some of the sequences are so cool (the speeder bikes and the Tatooine stuff is still great). I know people tear into the prequels, but I reckon I'd place episodes 2&3 above RoTJ on my scale of orsum. Certainly 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 February, 2016, 12:29:03 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 February, 2016, 11:45:05 AMRoTJ has aged...not so well. ... I know people tear into the prequels, but I reckon I'd place episodes 2&3 above RoTJ on my scale of orsum. Certainly 3.
I rewatched them all over Christmas and had completely the opposite reaction.

Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM
Think this viewing might have convinced me that RotJ is the second best Star Wars film. I've always thought the climactic showdown in the throne room was amazing. The darkness and sudden flashes of light jumping off the screen and the intimacy of the personal drama juxtaposed with the awesome space battle raging outside the window. Our introduction to badass Luke has grown on me over the years and this time I even liked the Ewoks, so fuck it. Force ghost Christensen remains an abomination.

In conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 February, 2016, 01:02:09 PM
The Long Good Friday last night and it remains, IMHO, one of if not THE finest example of home grown British cinema. I have practicaly nothing negative to say about it what so ever, Hoskins and Miran are superb, it's often a veritable who's who of British acting, the soundtrack has aged incredibly well and is menacing and catchy in equal measures, it boasts stunning cinematography and set pieces. And that final, silent minute os Harold's life is probably Hoskin's crowining achievemant in his career. Just a perfect movie, no doub't about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 February, 2016, 01:29:16 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 17 February, 2016, 01:02:09 PM
And that final, silent minute os Harold's life is probably Hoskin's crowining achievemant in his career.

I love the way that, despite the lack of dialogue, you know exactly what's going on in Harold's head throughout the journey - the desperation, the defiance, the fear, the acknowledgement of defeat, the resignation. That's what I call acting. And this in a film that earlier gives him some of the choicest, most quotable lines in cinema history. Definitely one the finest British movies of all time, and, as you say, pretty much perfect - there's nothing you could change to improve it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 February, 2016, 01:37:55 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 17 February, 2016, 12:29:03 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 February, 2016, 11:45:05 AMRoTJ has aged...not so well. ... I know people tear into the prequels, but I reckon I'd place episodes 2&3 above RoTJ on my scale of orsum. Certainly 3.
I rewatched them all over Christmas and had completely the opposite reaction.

Quote from: The Cosh on 04 January, 2016, 03:15:46 PM
Think this viewing might have convinced me that RotJ is the second best Star Wars film. I've always thought the climactic showdown in the throne room was amazing. The darkness and sudden flashes of light jumping off the screen and the intimacy of the personal drama juxtaposed with the awesome space battle raging outside the window. Our introduction to badass Luke has grown on me over the years and this time I even liked the Ewoks, so fuck it. Force ghost Christensen remains an abomination.

In conclusion: SW >> RotJ > ESB >>>>>>>> TPM >= TFA(provisional) >>>> RotS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AotC

Fair enough! I think part of the problem is that I like Empire so much that rolling straight into Jedi it immediately feels a bit...lesser (to me at least). It's still a ton of fun and I do love it.

It turns out I'd also never seen the special edition of RoTJ. During the musical number Bea shook her head and said 'ill-advised' and I had to agree. That probably counts for most of Lucas' post-release tweaks mind you, of which Empire seems to have suffered the least.

I will say that I have never, and will never, hate the Ewoks. They're cute and fun, never had a problem with them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 17 February, 2016, 03:24:36 PM
Maggie

Possibly the least zombies ever in a zombie film.  Also one of the worst zombie films (and I've seen Warm Bodies) ever.  Not a terribly made film, production values are grand, and I actually liked the low key shooting style.....but the low key plot, and even lower key Arnie......zzzzzzz.  Budget of $8.5, so I expect the big fella took a pay cut to be in this (for the brief scenes he is) for some reason.  If you like brooding teenage angst combined with well....not a lot else.....this will be great for ya.  I personally like some zombies in my zombie films, and Arnie to shoot at least 10 people in any film he's in.  Or interview.  Or live appearance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 February, 2016, 10:10:59 PM
Accidentally got caught up in the Jennifer Jason Leigh revival that everyone's talking about.

Speaking as an unpleasant middle-aged man, I'm not convinced the world needs any more stories by unpleasant middle aged men about unpleasant middle-aged men attempting to assuage their own self-pity by trying to persuade vulnerable women to sleep with them. If we're going to have them anyway, Anomalisa at least manages to have a couple of interesting ways of depicting its characters' alienation and despair. That wasn't really enough to offset the overall tone for me but it was brightened up by an unexpectedly touching puppet sex scene.

I feel fairly well disposed towards The Hateful Eight so I'd call it langourous rather than boring, although the friend I was with disagreed. Plenty of the usual Tarantino hallmarks but not enough of them really hitting the mark to justify the bloated running time. On balance, I enjoyed it - with the shit-talking build-up of the first half being the better part - but I can't imagine ever watching it again and would say it's easily his weakest film since Jackie Brown.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 February, 2016, 12:41:21 PM
Is [Kill Bill] Volume 1 generally agreed to be the better?
It is by me but I'm also aware that by "better" I actually mean "more fighty." I would very much like to have seen the originally proposed single film as I think some cutting could've made for a better mix of the dramatic and nonsensical fighting elements.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 February, 2016, 02:31:01 AM
Jackie Brown is one of my favourite Tarantino films!

Out of the Dark

A crazy Chinese comedy ghost story.* Rather funny in places, and very very silly.

* I say 'ghost story' rather than horror, not just because it involved ghosts, but because it's not particularly scary. It is entertaining though, at least it was for me. I can imagine a lot of people hating it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 February, 2016, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 18 February, 2016, 02:31:01 AM
Jackie Brown is one of my favourite Tarantino films!
Maybe I owe it a second chance. It's the only I'd say I don't like at all but I haven't seen it since its original cinema release.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 February, 2016, 09:35:34 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 18 February, 2016, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 18 February, 2016, 02:31:01 AM
Jackie Brown is one of my favourite Tarantino films!
Maybe I owe it a second chance. It's the only I'd say I don't like at all but I haven't seen it since its original cinema release.

Been meaning to revisit it too. Been listening to the Kermode and Mayo podcasts and Mark Kermode often cites Jackie Brown as by far the best Tarantino movie, which makes me think I need to give it another go as it's the only film of his I only watched once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 18 February, 2016, 10:41:46 AM
I will never watch either Kill Bills ever again. Same with Inglorious Bastards. Deathproof is pish as well.

I like Jackie Brown and loved Hateful Eight.

Pulp Fiction shits all over them though. From a great height.

Saying any of the prequels are anywhere close to the original trilogy is so wrong though that it makes teeth hurt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 February, 2016, 03:02:36 PM
Uh should we derail this thread by doing a Star Wars style ranking system for Tarantino films? I'll start (though with the miserable confession of not having seen Django or Hateful 8 yet, which given my love of Westerns and Tarantino is very odd!)... except its very very tricky so but I'll try

IB > JB > RD > KB1 > KB2 > PF > DP

Note minimal use of arrows as its all very close, I really like Death Proof. Ask me tomorrow and I reckon this will be completely different.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 18 February, 2016, 03:17:21 PM
I'll go one better and do a star wars style ranking of Tarantino films INCLUDING star wars films...

ESB>PF>SW>ROTJ>RD>JB>HE>DU>TFA>>>>KB1>>>IB>KB2>ROTS>DP>TPM>>>AOTC

:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 February, 2016, 03:23:17 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 18 February, 2016, 03:17:21 PM
I'll go one better and do a star wars style ranking of Tarantino films INCLUDING star wars films...

ESB>PF>SW>ROTJ>RD>JB>HE>DU>TFA>>>>KB1>>>IB>KB2>ROTS>DP>TPM>>>AOTC

:)

Oh that's good, that's really good...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 18 February, 2016, 04:40:04 PM
Just so long as you don't get daft and start including the LOTR, Froggit and Harry Potter films in there.  Now that would just be silly!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 19 February, 2016, 07:40:55 AM
Deadpool. A bit behind the times since everyone on the planet has already seen it. It was great. Crude. Crass. Hilarious. Violent. Everything I wanted from a deadpool movie.

Can't wait for the sequel. 9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 19 February, 2016, 09:25:20 AM
Watched Goosebumps on Wednesday (5/10)
Watched Deadpool on Thursday (9/10). This was probably the most fun I have had at a cinema for a long, long time and that includes seeing Star Wars, SPECTRE, Bridge of Spies, Jurassic World. Laughed out loud all the way through it, as did most of the audience I saw it with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 19 February, 2016, 09:27:31 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 18 February, 2016, 02:31:01 AM
Jackie Brown is one of my favourite Tarantino films!


I'm with you on that. A brilliant film, based on a brilliant book and Tarantino showing that he can do (slightly) restrained.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 February, 2016, 09:30:56 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 19 February, 2016, 09:25:20 AM
Watched Deadpool on Thursday (9/10). (18/2)

Fixed that for you. Sorry... a lot longer to wait for Christmas than you thought...

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 19 February, 2016, 02:12:09 PM
Finally got to see Future-Shock - A Story of 2000AD today. After it arrived in my mail box. I only ordered dvd from JB Hi-Fi earlier this week.

While I expected all the that rough talk from creators here after seeing the teasers and the trailer for this. It still really comes as a shock to me within the context of the full documentary. Even if it's essential to punk themes at the roots of this publication.

Naturally, I loved seeing a [spoiler]slightly animated Slaine hacking into one of those pre-flood critters with his Leyser-Sword and then later Mike MacMahon's famous picture of him vs the time-misplaced T-Rex.[/spoiler]

About the negative side of this  hinted at above. Well, the problem with me is that I do have a habit of assuming everything I read or watch on a big screen is related to me somehow. This may be a subconscious thing and in this situation it does come into effect.....

Which brings me back to something I wrote about wanting to improve upon that Slaine - the Horned God trailer. I merely wanted to see thing more atypical of northern lands and I also take heed that I only know stuff from what I have deciphered through the internet and not official somebody and only a fan. I know I should have kept this to myself, but I succumb to my fan boy weakness to set things right and want do this myself. I don't really want to contact any of the true creators until I'm absolutely sure I can do what I said I could. Otherwise, this is just a flight of fantasy for me and who ever else finds my plan interesting.

Now, after watching has increased my doubts and the new lease of sanity I got from moving house.
While I appreciated the encouragement, wether it was silent or given and the resentment that might be felt by a lot of you. I'm just foreign fan boy who's always admired from a far and never any closer.

Anyway, watching the animations...all of them really, got my creative juices flowing. Still not sure about my original plan, though. Yet, I now have the work space need.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 February, 2016, 09:56:06 PM
The Art Of The Deal (http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ad38087bac/donald-trump-art-of-the-deal-movie?_cc=__d___&_ccid=87926c3c5bce0f67) - Johnny Depp stars as Donald Trump in a movie following the orange one's mid-80s pursuit of the real estate he needed to build his own version of the Taj Mahal ("the most beautiful thing ever made by a muslim"), only in casino form in Atlantic City.
It's made by Funny Or Die so hilarity rarely ensues, but Depp's Trump is a surprisingly watchable bigot and I'm a huge fan of artificial artifacts and false history stories, so with an intro by Ron Howard, a proprietary theme song by Kenny Loggins, and cameos from Alf, Dr Emmet Brown, and the surviving Fat Boys, this is like catnip to me, and is probably the best way to revisit the Worst Decade In History: briefly, and not really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 19 February, 2016, 10:48:18 PM
Quote from: Ollamh Iompróidh on 19 February, 2016, 09:56:06 PM
The Art Of The Deal (http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ad38087bac/donald-trump-art-of-the-deal-movie?_cc=__d___&_ccid=87926c3c5bce0f67) - Johnny Depp stars as Donald Trump in a movie following the orange one's mid-80s pursuit of the real estate he needed to build his own version of the Taj Mahal ("the most beautiful thing ever made by a muslim"), only in casino form in Atlantic City.
It's made by Funny Or Die so hilarity rarely ensues, but Depp's Trump is a surprisingly watchable bigot and I'm a huge fan of artificial artifacts and false history stories, so with an intro by Ron Howard, a proprietary theme song by Kenny Loggins, and cameos from Alf, Dr Emmet Brown, and the surviving Fat Boys, this is like catnip to me, and is probably the best way to revisit the Worst Decade In History: briefly, and not really.
As in Alien Life Form ALF?  I've never even heard of this film...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 February, 2016, 07:26:31 PM
Thought After Earth was a pretty entertaining matinee romp. Its full of bits cribbed from better films but it has a ridiculous but cool monster which can smell fear. Big Willy Smith does a good job playing against type as the hard-assed space hero dad with an absurd name. While Little Willy certainly doesn't have much of his dad's swagger yet, he does alright as the boy coming of age by confronting a fear-sniffing monster rather than a girl. Good, predictable fun.

A bit less predictable but a lot more fun was Repo Men. Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker play off each other really well as a couple of everyday workers carrying out repossession of organs for a medical insurance company. The first act rattles along with a very sub Dredd/Robocop type of black humour. The middle sags a bit as the needs of the plot force it into a chase and some shocking revelations but it all comes back together for the finale. Lovely, bloodstained stuff.

Quote from: Satanist on 18 February, 2016, 03:17:21 PM
I'll go one better and do a star wars style ranking of Tarantino films INCLUDING star wars films...

ESB>PF>SW>ROTJ>RD>JB>HE>DU>TFA>>>>KB1>>>IB>KB2>ROTS>DP>TPM>>>AOTC
I like to keep my meat and veg separate, so QT only:
{TR}>RD>PF>KB1>DU>{NBK}>IB>KB2>H8>JB. Not seen DP or 4R
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 February, 2016, 07:32:24 PM
The Revenant

A visually stunning and deeply human experience but it fails to live up to the breathtaking immediacy of its first moments. At around the half an hour mark it sadly becomes doggedly linear and it turns into more of a grueling experience than a revelatory one.

Certainly an unforgettable visual adventure but narratively quite a disappointment. Although it bucks the reality behind the story it would have been more engaging to [spoiler]pursue the mesmerizing Poulter and Hardy rather than spend hours with the struggling DiCaprio.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 21 February, 2016, 07:47:57 PM
Paul

My expectations were too high. With Pegg and Frosts name on the cover I was expecting comedy gold. It was ok, but not brilliant. I think if you had replaced the main actors with unknowns the film would have been straight to dvd. There were a couple of funny moments. "They're gonna rape us and break our arms." "I don't want my arms broken!" heh.

6/10   

Would have been a 5 but I enjoy seeing then do their homoerotic things together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 February, 2016, 08:43:05 PM
The Signal - sci-fi chin-stroker about some college kids who get banged up by Uncle Sam after a close encounter with an alien.  It's surprisingly well-made for something so stupid, but stupid it most definately is, with one twist being that [spoiler]a character doesn't look at his own legs for a week or so and thus doesn't notice that they're now clunky robot legs[/spoiler] - and I know that sounds ludicrous, but the makers have seeded a logical reason [spoiler]for him not to notice: in the earlier parts of the film the character has crutches for his Wonky Legs Syndrome so wouldn't necessarily be aware that half of him was from Cybertron now, not even when he goes to knock one out because he's just broken up with Olivia Cooke.[/spoiler]  Then near the end it turns into a Fantastic Four origin movie, because of course it does.
It's a really stupid film, but the only reason you don't see the twists coming is because it's a well-made film, and you just won't think a film that seems to take itself so seriously will go to the kinds of stupid places The Signal does, but it does, and all told, it is a pretty dumb movie that ends just as it finishes the story's second act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 22 February, 2016, 09:04:15 AM
The World's End - I really don't understand the love this film gets. Simon Pegg was abominable and the whole thing is a laugh free zone. Utter Shit and Hot Fuzz is far better.

Viktor Frankenstein - the first hour was quite good but then the film went a bit Hollywood and lost all of the emotional drama it had been building on. On a plus note, the monster had a touch of Dredd about him (sans helmet)

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 February, 2016, 09:14:20 AM
DEAD POOL which I thought pretty good.

MR HOLMES  - a great turn by Syrian McKellen as the titular 'tec. Not your typical sherlock affair; more like one of those Star Trek episodes where Spock or Data learns that logic isn't everything. And curiouslying, the second Holmes thing this month that involves him bee-keeping while retired and a trip to the Orient. (The other being a Neil Gaiman short story)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 February, 2016, 10:55:31 AM
Deadpool - Loved it, great fun. I'd worried that the character would grate over the running time, but thankfully that wasn't the case. It's a movie where every single line has a joke of some sort, and while I can't say I chuckled at them all enough of them hit for it to keep me laughing throughout (there was one scene where the laughter in the cinema was so sustained that it felt like a stand-up gig, been a while since I saw a cinema lose it like that). Reynolds is fantastic in it and born for the role, the action is great and (didn't expect to be saying this) it's got a lot of heart and a great love story at its core.

Crimson Peak - Missed this in the cinema but being Del Toro I knew it'd be worth a purchase. Wasn't disappointed, it looks absolutely stunning. Have seen criticisms about it being too long and slow, but I think if anything I would have liked it to have been a bit longer and have taken more time over some elements. The romance and some of the reveals and shifts felt like they could have used more room to breathe and a bit more flesh on their bones, and the film was so nice to look at and sink into that I'd have been more than happy to watch it take more time over those. Definitely one I want to watch more of, have a feeling I'll get more out of it on further viewings. Forgot how grim the gore in a Del Toro movie can be as well, it's disturbingly graphic in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 February, 2016, 12:02:57 PM
Deadpool - pretty bloody good.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 February, 2016, 02:57:15 PM
I have been watching The Martian for the third time (Yet, not fully tuned in the while time...) and once at the movie late last year. Not that I have a problem with the film, it's great on a scientific level even though I not qualified to say that and also on level that appreciates film-makers that don't spray a sugar coating on their own work. It might have been a classic if it was made in the same year as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and it still may be.

It was some time after I first saw this late last year.....I know I was still shopping round for supplies to upgrade my Gandalf costume which I'm still sore over.

As I was writing.....[spoiler] I personally believe this film is the spiritual successor to E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. Bearing in mind a lot of obvious differences between the two films...I'm not even sure -without looking it up- if this one got as many awards as E.T. and stuff like setting, teenagers and their younger sisters and older brothers. Playing any of the earlier versions of Dungeons & Dragons with your older brother's friends & ordering pizza, leaving Reece's Pieces  (I always had the assumption these were really M&M's (And think I may have read this in the novelisation and it was great at that time because of all the references to pop culture of that time!) and then well after the film's 30th anniversary reboot. (Yep, they inserted a scene or two with better computerised effects and swapped guns with wireless phones/walkie-talkies....) I found out he was using Reece Pieces which I could only get by ordering them on line. Which I did and found they taste like drops of peanut butter encased in a chocolate shell that would make you think they might have been M&M's.
Seriously, I think the company said no when if they could use those in the film!) to lure a
weird creature (Never realised until now the irony of how a young teenager used candy to lure a supposedly elderly creature into his house so that he could play with him and I use the word supposedly because E.T. is also known to be a -Child of the Green Planet- because comparatively it's still a child of it's own universe, and then a even way older in comparison to the oldest among human inhabitants of Earth. Which may contradict with some thing I will be writing down below.) he found in your backyard the night before getting drunk by mental telepathy, wearing a mish-mash of Gerty's clothing (This might be the firs t case of alien transvestism, apart from the inside knowledge of have it's really a sentient and intelligent a part reptilian-potato/part monkey of neither sex being part plant and then there are some who might say it really is female!) & learning the local language using a Speak & Spell (Remember those!), Government adversary's, and professional enthusiast known for the sound of jangling keys almost always hanging from his belt, a high school crush, two magical bike rides and a rainbow exhaust trail. There is also stuff about the absence of Elliot's father who had supposedly left his mother for another woman and was now in Mexico. This has lead me to believe that his father was sent from Mexico in that orb-shaped spaceship as a E.T. to spy and to check up on him face to face. Realistically, that's not the best way to do that and on the subject of realism. The majority would not agree realism has no place in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial unless they're Carl Sagan and others like him.

There wasn't any of this in obvious manner, and has the thought of seeing Mark Watney (Matt Damon) in female clothing or wrapped in a white sheet while squashed into the front basket of a bike. Yes, well the latter has crossed my mind a few times. While I only thought of the former right now and thought again of giggling to myself. He also had more tools than the squashy little alien, but I think his psionics almost made up for it. Almost made up for his being surrounded by people would react so badly to seeing him right in front of them unlike Mark who was apparently alone. Maybe the natives were watching him the whole time and just spooking him every now and then like that time it looked as though the weather had broken into his hot-house garden or farm and destroyed it all. ( Not sure if that happened like that, for I wasn't really taking much notice and I don't recall it exactly after the first time!)

Mark did establish contact and was able to communicate with mission control using text after salvaging a probe that only had to be, dug up, moved and plugged in to the solar relay near base camp. While E.T. built it's transmitter from essential parts of electronica, spare parts and other junk and use that get back into contact with it's own people and later on extend his telepathic link with his the crew of the ship that had abandoned him. It was still returning home after all that time and that is rumoured to be at least 8 million light years distance.

E.T. died from being exposed to Earth as a foreign place to him for a extended
amount of time after his crew thought he got caught and severed the telepathic link between them and him. This might have played a bigger role in his temporary dead state. I know this never exactly happened to Mark, but he was presumed dead and lost all the same.

Aside from both building or salvaging communications to help them get back home. They were also both Botanist. In fact E.T. species is very well known for it. It's like a Druid/Alien and also good at obtaining those rare herbs to sooth the mind. (Something I learnt from skimming through the
second novelisation....which I have never read properly, because of how silly & cartoony it became!)
Such a shame as I might have been interested in seeing a sequel and then you learn that's terrible idea no matter how much money could be spare to pump into that notion!) So, is Mark Watney and he even almost proudly exclaims just that infront of the computer terminal's camera.

It's at that moment that the creators of South Park's juvenile humour concerning this actor
in their comedy-spoof on Thunder-Birds. I can almost imagine Robot Chicken now doing another E.T. joke (I know they have done a few already....) where the little alien repeats over & over that "I'm Matt Damon" as if that would explain everything. Even though that would be totally lost on most viewers. We understand!!!! (With head nodding....) (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)

I think I have written everything I wanted to illustrate those parallel between both films and I never really wanted to offend Matt Damon with talk of strange boys using candy to lure him away with them, (Because I just though of that angle when I wrote it!) or Matt & Trey who made him out to be a moron in one of their films and I forget the other thing right now and just want to go to bed.[/spoiler]

I hope this makes sense, because I'm not reading all that.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2016, 03:40:46 PM
TS, you are something else! But you know what, you're not actually wrong about those parallels.

I always thought ET's illness was from being telepathically disconnected from his pals, hence the substitute - but inadequate - bond he forms with Elliot, and his 'resurrection' when the ship is back in range. I don't think Earth itself was having any negative effects. And you're dead right about it being M&Ms in the novel, which I also had never seen, let alone tasted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 23 February, 2016, 04:10:05 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 23 February, 2016, 03:40:46 PM
TS, you are something else! But you know what, you're not actually wrong about those parallels.

I always thought ET's illness was from being telepathically disconnected from his pals, hence the substitute - but inadequate - bond he forms with Elliot, and his 'resurrection' when the ship is back in range. I don't think Earth itself was having any negative effects. And you're dead right about it being M&Ms in the novel, which I also had never seen, let alone tasted.

Your really missing out if you've never tried M&M's (If your partial to chocolate treats like myself and & just wondered right now if those initials mean anything....!). I don't even recall when was the time I've seen one of those small rectangular box's of Smarties in a long while since the introduction of it's almost indentical confectionary equivalent.

The taste is something my late mother would describe as Moorish. It's got this deep rich flavour where Smarties would just seem less like chocolate and more like the candy colouring of the outer shell. There is also the little white M printed on each and every one of them. A friend of my older brother's from school had some mathematic equation dedicated to them written underneath his mug shot photo when he was in his senior year at school. Cause he was always eating them. It's like a drug.

I never bothered looking for Smarties after M&M's had appeared to take their place and was known to buy them in the largest packets they were displayed in. Pouring them into a bowl to pig out on.

That's just between you and everybody here on this forum who isn't the G.P who diagnosed me with Diabetes back in 2010.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 February, 2016, 05:15:15 PM
I am pretty sure Tordels has tried M&Ms at some point since 1982.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2016, 05:22:18 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 February, 2016, 05:15:15 PM
I am pretty sure Tordels has tried M&Ms at some point since 1982.

Just very occasionally one or two [spoiler]giant bags of peanut ones that I bought to sustain the entire family on a long drive but ate in their entirety on the way back from the shops.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 February, 2016, 05:24:37 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 23 February, 2016, 05:22:18 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 February, 2016, 05:15:15 PM
I am pretty sure Tordels has tried M&Ms at some point since 1982.

Just very occasionally one or two [spoiler]giant bags of peanut ones that I bought to sustain the entire family on a long drive but ate in their entirety on the way back from the shops.[/spoiler]
Oh i'm nit the only one then? My only problem is....i'm single and can't drive. I'm just a fucking glutten!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 23 February, 2016, 07:05:14 PM
M&M's (styled as m&m's) are "colorful button-shaped chocolates"[1] produced by Mars, Incorporated.

Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the founder of the Mars Company Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British made Smarties, chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning (essentially hardened sugar syrup) surrounding the outside, preventing the candies from melting.

The two "Ms" represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate's president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product.[8] The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.[9]

During production of E.T., Amblin Productions approached Mars, Inc. about a possible tie-in between M&Ms and the film. For whatever reason, Mars said "No" to the proposition.

Many purported reasons for that negative response have been provided by a variety of sources: Mars decided it didn't want its bite-size candy associated with an extraterrestrial living with an earth family, or it thought the film's premise just a bit too otherworldly, or an unnamed M&M executive decided nobody would want to see a movie about an alien adopted by a lonely kid.

(M&Ms did survive as the candy used in the 1982 William Kotzwinkle novelization of the film, however.)

Hershey did not pay to have Reese's Pieces used in E.T., but it did agree to do a tie-in between the movie and the candy after the film was released. A deal was inked wherein Hershey Foods agreed to promote E.T. with $1 million of advertising; in return, Hershey could use E.T. in its own ads.

Within two weeks of the movie's premiere, Reese's Pieces sales went through the roof. (Disagreement exists as to how far through the roof they went: Sales were variously described as having tripled, experienced an 85% jump, or increased by 65%).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 February, 2016, 09:18:15 PM
I thought the Stallone Dredd film was sponsored by Hershey's Kisses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 February, 2016, 09:33:05 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 February, 2016, 09:18:15 PM
I thought the Stallone Dredd film was sponsored by Hershey's Kisses.

Wayhey - he's here all night ladies and gentlemen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 February, 2016, 09:34:11 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 February, 2016, 09:18:15 PM
I thought the Stallone Dredd film was sponsored by Hershey's Kisses.
Really, I thought it was sponsered by Taco Bell....

.....

......Must be some other Sly future cop movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 February, 2016, 01:32:14 AM
Even though, I found Reece Pieces hard to find. They do sell these Myer Eight in Brisbane......

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/97/Reese%27s-PB-Cups-Wrapper-Small.png/360px-Reese%27s-PB-Cups-Wrapper-Small.png)

So, I brought one to try it out and found it difficult to eat properly. It really did taste like smooth peanut butter being eaten by the spoonful.

What do yah think, how about film cross over with Deadpool and E.T. side by side. You know it wouldn't be totally out of place for him since he likes and plays with a stuffed unicorn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 February, 2016, 12:38:02 AM
Dear Lego,

I finally got around to seeing your movie, which I enjoyed for several reasons both pompous and base. But please, for pity's sake, tell me how to get that f@{#/ng song out of my head!

Awesomely,

The Awesome Shark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 25 February, 2016, 12:01:01 PM
You know as soon as I had started to make this new place a home.....e.g. When my cable and internet was both connected I did search for the Lego-Batman-Song.

Because, I felt it was about me a the time I was starting to get comfortable here.

You know the lyrics....

Darkness......No parents......

BTW, I caught the end of Creep Show two, which is wonderfully refreshing after all the modern horror I've seen lately or anything else really.

The last one reminded me of somebody I went to school with. But I won't go into details there.

Easily found on You-Tube as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 February, 2016, 07:46:47 PM
Deadpool certainly wasn't a bad film but I didn't particularly enjoy it. A few good laughs and a definite thumbs up for Marvel's continued understanding that you can mix tones within the same setting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 26 February, 2016, 10:37:12 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 February, 2016, 09:18:15 PM
I thought the Stallone Dredd film was sponsored by Hershey's Kisses.

Bravo!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 26 February, 2016, 09:10:30 PM
Spaceballs...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2016, 10:07:29 PM
Well after some conversation here I got my hands on Django Unchained my Tarrantino film order needs some revision to find that movie some space towards the top. Damn at times it was hard to watch but boy was it a great movie. He does give good movie that Quentin, very good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 February, 2016, 02:07:19 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 February, 2016, 10:07:29 PM
Well after some conversation here I got my hands on Django Unchained my Tarrantino film order needs some revision to find that movie some space towards the top. Damn at times it was hard to watch but boy was it a great movie. He does give good movie that Quentin, very good movie.

I still think that film might have been inspired Red Dead Redemption, but with the personal character story, unless John Marston meets someone like him in his travels. Another game I never completed. I winder if Quentin played that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 February, 2016, 07:08:52 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 27 February, 2016, 02:07:19 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 February, 2016, 10:07:29 PM
Well after some conversation here I got my hands on Django Unchained my Tarrantino film order needs some revision to find that movie some space towards the top. Damn at times it was hard to watch but boy was it a great movie. He does give good movie that Quentin, very good movie.

I still think that film might have been inspired Red Dead Redemption, but with the personal character story, unless John Marston meets someone like him in his travels. Another game I never completed. I winder if Quentin played that?
No, no it wasnt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 27 February, 2016, 10:10:17 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 27 February, 2016, 02:07:19 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 February, 2016, 10:07:29 PM
Well after some conversation here I got my hands on Django Unchained my Tarrantino film order needs some revision to find that movie some space towards the top. Damn at times it was hard to watch but boy was it a great movie. He does give good movie that Quentin, very good movie.

I still think that film might have been inspired Red Dead Redemption, but with the personal character story, unless John Marston meets someone like him in his travels. Another game I never completed. I winder if Quentin played that?

I keep leaving important words out, might have been inspired by that game, but based on another character that he might have met in his travels. Despite the fantasy elements like, Death (That guy in the top hat!), and riding his horse and Unicorn. That may be in Undead Knightmare.

Yeah, I understand you Hawkmonger. Yet, I haven't played the entire game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 27 February, 2016, 10:36:40 AM
In 2007, Tarantino discussed an idea for a type of Spaghetti Western set in the United States' pre-Civil War Deep South. He called this type of film "a southern", stating that he wanted "to do movies that deal with America's horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like spaghetti westerns, not like big issue movies.

I want to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to."[4]

Tarantino later explained the genesis of the idea: "I was writing a book about Sergio Corbucci when I came up with a way to tell the story. ... I was writing about how his movies have this evil Wild West, a horrible Wild West. It was surreal, it dealt a lot with fascism. So I'm writing this whole piece on this, and I'm thinking: 'I don't really know if Sergio was thinking [this] while he was doing this. But I know I'm thinking it now. And I can do it!' "[5]

Tarantino finished the script on April 26, 2011, and handed in the final draft to The Weinstein Company.[6] In October 2012, frequent Tarantino collaborator RZA said that he and Tarantino had intended to cross over Django Unchained with RZA's Tarantino-presented martial-arts film The Man with the Iron Fists. The crossover would have seen a younger version of the blacksmith character from RZA's film appear as a slave in an auction. However, scheduling conflicts prevented RZA's participation.[7]

One inspiration for the film is Corbucci's 1966 spaghetti western Django, whose star Franco Nero has a cameo appearance in Django Unchained.[8] Another inspiration is the 1975 film Mandingo, about a slave trained to fight other slaves.[9] Tarantino included scenes in the snow as a homage to The Great Silence.[10] "Silenzio takes place in the snow. I liked the action in the snow so much, Django Unchained has a big snow section in the middle," Tarantino said in an interview.[10]

The title Django Unchained alludes to the titles of the 1966 Corbucci film Django; Hercules Unchained, the American title for the 1959 Italian epic fantasy film Ercole e la regina di Lidia, about the mythical hero's escape from enslavement to a wicked master; and to Angel Unchained, the 1970 American biker film about a biker exacting revenge on a large group of rednecks.[11][12]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 February, 2016, 12:35:12 PM
As a librarian I feel compelled to add the following to Big Dave's message below.

Bibliography

Wikipedia.org, 2016: Django Unchained; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Unchained [site visited 27/02/16]

Other referencing systems are available.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 February, 2016, 01:50:35 AM
I tried watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial again this morning, but had to bail when I couldn't handle the Alien's silly squealing and couldn't actually recall at what exact point in the film this happened, but I got up from my chair switched the whole thing off. Not that I hate the film, I loved it and the original novel ( Which I read before seeing the film initially!) I think I've grown weary of  what first got me hooked into film that like Close Encounters of the Third Kind showed another inside to U.F.O. films that focus on the dark side of encounters with E.T.. These days that thing looks more rubbery & animatronic than usual. Yet, I'm still impressed by the mood lighting out side and inside the family house where lot of the film happens and the sky effects, the clouds. Stuff like that. The bloke who was behind all that. I'm not sure if he's retired now, because I don't see almost at all in the films of today.

Unless someone here wants correct me on that?

Somethings that became more apparent to me as I got older.....

The full title of the film is a bit of a mouthful. I'm not sure how it ever became a house hold name.

The opening scene where we find this shiny black ship shaped like a orb with spike on top & festooned with portholes & lights around it's circumference. (I found out later that the ship is really has  highly reflective silver or chrome covering & that it only appeared to be dark because wer'e only seeing this at night! It's reflecting the dark around it!) At closer inspection, I notice the ship seems more common...something about it's design that leads me to believe how could such a nature loving load of critters have built such a thing on their own. They appear to be so concerned with collecting plants samples. I have to assume that they're kind are not working alone. There had to be a another party on board & more concerned with matter of the ship. I know this is narrow mindedness on my part that these Extra-Terran farmers would not be that multi-skilled or a smaller part of a caste system where they are delegated to harvesting/collecting/care of alien flora. (I just got this notion of the harvesting/collecting/care 2000AD magazine. The type of Alien I might be....). Yet, it did built a transmitter, from the partial innards of a Speak N Spell, a record player, U.H.F. box, a circular saw, a fork, wires, umbrella, some power source that might have been a car battery.) While at first it never occurred to me that they're appearance (Which now seems.....) adverse to how much more advanced they are than Earth-folk  or supposed to be. They're obviously all telepathic & most likely a so common racial trait that is as common to them as us having genitalia. Of which they don't to seem have any. I later learnt (From some related reference book that was published along with all the other 30th Anniversary stuff.) that it's half plant/half creature which gave me mental images of them growing from pods, like peas. Photosynthesis.) Maybe some sort of aboreal limbs, amphibian parts are grafted onto what started life as a root vegetable. Maybe it doesn't have a individual intelligence, but this advanced hive mind without which it's just a child really. I guess. The heart light that seems to glow when they using or obeying some unforseen telepathy  signal or that's communicate, yet they still use their animal mouths. Maybe verbal use or communication for them is just for nonsense or privacy & later on in the film talking to the Earth-Children.  They do the heart light thing in unison. Maybe that's also masturbation for them. (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/confused.gif) The Sectoids from X-Com do the same while using their mind powers. Yet, they're heads glow as well. Maybe it's extra luggage compartment for information. I think that what is thought to be they're heart light might be they brain light going into thought overload. 

Does anybody recall that related work of music by Neil Diamond about a Heart -Light that was obviously his tribute to the little fellow.

I assume it's a guy, because of the lack of breasts, then I remember it's not really mammalian & those eyes seem very feminine. Yet in more than reptilian ways.   

Did I mention the telescopic neck. It seems almost obscene watching it use that in front of the children. Obviously good for spying & to make up for it's lack of statue. Maybe what appears to be they're head it's a part added later when their alien masters needed their slaves to be more autonomous. Cut off the head & they may still live, but without sight for awhile. Until they get hungry. Where does it come from?  Another world or laboratory. Maybe in a far away galaxy or some secret facility here. Because I also thought about the possibility of them being a design of the far east, or the Russians or Mexico to spy on America. Yet this doesn't explain the weird flora aboard their ship. Maybe that was the result of some weird experimentation as well. If they really did come from another world in another far off galaxy & due to their small statue. A much larger high gravity one (I'm aware we have small creatures here too!). Possibly festooned with towering trees, (Maybe not on a high-gravity world!) & lots of swampland. Because of their frog-feet & gills. (If it breathes at all!) They might live like the Gungan's on a world of entirely water and mostly water. (After gaming sessions from Subnautical.) The ocean is as much place for plants and maybe even more so or a desert or dying world that desperately needed them to go out find life any kind of life. Plants are needed for that too.

That glowing finger. It's seems weird that it's got only one of those, but perhaps that's all it needs and to heal anything. So, it's has it's own built in first-aid kit. Not that they appear violent (Now, I'm getting mental images of similar creatures from that Galaxy Quest movie. The ones that seemed cute at first, until one of the crew got too close to them.

I think they're like the Greys who like to abduct people & experiment on them & possibly drop them on alien world to perhaps thrive or left to die for their prosperity. Except the E.T.s or whatever they're called (I'll get to that soon....) do this with plants and in this case more like plant doctors rather than scientists who are so far high up the food chain they consider us to be microbes to them.

If you read or have read the sequel novelisation you'd find a lot few answering questions surrounding the original film . [spoiler]They have a home world & they use worm-hole tech to get there in less time than you would think. The place is a green world & even goes by that nick name.... the Green Planet. It has many other names & some of them sounding ridiculous. As they do as well and the place every bit as much as might expect covered in all forms of flora & fauna. They're houses are have been hollowed out of oversized gourds. The furniture is grown using lichen as light source. This seems so wrong to me, I might be glad that a actual sequel had never been attempted. Except, I'm not completely sure about that.

They're ships only appear to be made from some shiny metal, but are really oversized turnips combined with crystals & living metals. Silly right![/spoiler]

I'm about to try watching the film again.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 28 February, 2016, 01:53:28 AM
Eh?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 February, 2016, 03:06:03 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 28 February, 2016, 01:53:28 AM
Eh?!

Pretty much what it says and best explained if you actually read it. I could go on to explain those aliens might have been more of problem if small groups of them were airdropped into the farming communities to bring and spread wide ecological damage to their crops. I assume they could do that, you know.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 February, 2016, 07:38:53 AM
QuoteIt's reflecting the dark around it!

All you SF short story scribblers, grab your Paddy Power pencils and write this one.


Hey TS, you know ET's people had a senate seat in the Congress of the Galactic Republic?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 February, 2016, 10:03:14 AM
It's the reflecting the night?

That was  Grebleips (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Grebleips). Which is Spielberg spelt backwards. Naturally.  (Not in the picture below, that is just his trio of Aids!)

(http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/e/e6/BrodoAsogiSenate.png/revision/latest?cb=20130123011501)

He was arrested on charges of conspiracy and treason for plotting with the Jedi Order to remove Palpatine from office.

I see the Star Wars Wiki have changed their entry or upgraded it stating they are now called  Asogian (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Asogian) and that's from the name of their planet
Brodo-Asogi (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Asogian) which is on the outer rim in a galaxy far far away.

As for the time being long ago, may be it wasn't since Grebleips might have been funding that expedition that had our Earth as one of it's stops just before the Clone Wars or maybe, that was a different expedition. Since they say he was might have been shut down before it happened.

Those names all come from the Return to the Green Planet which is what those words translate to.  Green Planet and Children of the Green Planet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 February, 2016, 10:03:40 AM
The ET sequel sounds absolutely bonkers - I may have to read it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 28 February, 2016, 10:33:54 AM
It is, it might make a great graphic novel. As it was, there is storybook with some illustrations, which found interesting and a large pocket sized novel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 February, 2016, 09:49:55 AM
Was at Frightfest Glasgow on Saturday (had to miss the Friday annoyingly!) and saw some good stuff (and some not so good stuff).

The Wave - Really tense Norwegian disaster movie. Seen Hollywood do this sort of thing a million times but this was the most effective I can remember, probably because it really took its time to develop attachments to the characters before the destruction starts, I genuinely gave a crap what happened to these people!

Southbound - Really liked this, it's an anthology movie with a horror Twilight Zone vibe, where stories bleed into the next. A lot of very cool, and varied ideas. Liked the idea of the radio announcer, gave it a good Night Springs atmosphere.

SPL2: A Time For Consequences - Actually the first proper Tony Jaa movie I've seen (other than the last Fast & Furious), my main takeaway was that he really, really liked elbowing people in the head. He does it a thousand times! The fight scenes are incredibly elaborate in this, but nowhere near as readable as something like The Raid, loads of fast cuts spoiling the view of the action. Thought the story was very over-baked too, it took itself very seriously for the bulk and felt a bit dreary when people weren't being punched. The last showdown is really over the top and cartoonish and brilliant fun, made me wish it had all been so riotous. Noticed two directors were credited (director of action and director of story) so maybe that lead to that jarring element.

The Other Side of The Door - This really didn't work for me. The story is essentially Pet Semetary relocated to India, and feels like just another generic, slick studio horror film that's still stuck trying to emulate J-horror tropes and ideas. So many of the scares are of the 'person's face warped by CGI while a loud noise plays' variety that US commercial horror is so obsessed with. Really not good, although it didn't seem to go down too badly so will probably do well.

Baskin - Jings. This is mental. It's a surreal Turkish art horror, with a nicely Lynchian nightmare logic, incredible atmosphere, fantastic music and really disturbing and haunting visuals. This one will be a cult classic, and probably the most memorable film of the day.

Martyrs (remake) - The original is such an intense watch that I don't think I'll ever go back to it, but it stuck in my mind for weeks afterwards and it's rare something lingers that much. Still not totally sure how I feel about it, but it's certainly incredibly powerful. This is none of those things, a real botch job that's weaker in every way. A lot has been changed to sanitize it and make it more palatable, and those changes misfire terribly and rob it of the gut punch that made the film special. Even when it's faithful it does a much worse job of conveying story and ideas, so those things just don't come off the way they should. The ending to Martyrs is stuck in my head for life, the ending to this actually got guffaws from several people. It would be a real shame if someone stumbled on this instead of the original, really poor.

The Devil's Candy - The new film from the guy who made The Loved Ones, which I loved, so had high hopes for it and it didn't disappoint. There are one or two ideas in it that could have been more developed but other than that it looks incredible, the character work is fantastic (again, I really cared about these people and that makes an amazing difference to how effective something like this is) and while it's dark as hell when it needs to be it's also got a great sense of fun. This and Baskin were my top picks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 February, 2016, 05:17:22 PM
Saw Gods of Egypt this afternoon and I thought it was better than expected.

Couldn't see the books for all the Thoth's wandering around. Like I couldn't see the forests for the trees and this one became favourite of mine.

[spoiler] Brian Brown makes surprise cameo as Osirus, who I thought make great Chief Crudnew or Ragnall as he's really brother of Set (Gerard Butler) who would make a good Slaine even though he's the villain had already made comparison with Horus merely because he had a mortal thief for a companion and as I pointed out on related thread here. The gods are significantly taller than humans, can take beast form related to their......well, you know Horus is a large winged man with the head of a falcon and in this film looks like he's wearing a suit of gold armour in the shape of this birdman and Set looks like some sort of demonic chimerical beast man. (Really, I think he should be a snake man.) It says in Egyptian records that he is the son of Gleb & Nut who brother and sister. They're always been shown in piece of well known Egyptian heiro-porna--glyphics about to copulate. Something I always found highly arousing.


Btw Horus is son of Osirus, while Ra (Geoffery Rush) is the head god of the sun and also referred to as grandpa by Horus & Set even though he's not a direct grand ancestor.

There is a Anubis who is completely toonish & always in beast form, but otherwise cool. Haven't seen the likes of this since that sequel to The Mummy.....

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQkSGJ4G_f6TWUrzoeBStzLjb7mAAtrZ1cZzp6KhOZY7wMEBRE_Jg)

[spoiler] I thought this was cool at the time, but something was always missing, because these were how the Silent Strider werewolves appeared in that Werewolf the Apocalypse game I keep mouthing off about and I thought it was cool that those were modeled in appearance after that Egyptian god as they were banished from their homeland, cursed to endlessly travel and live transitory lifestyles. yet, never truly accepted them as Wolves since they are Jackals. I thought Anubis was awesome, but wish they had made look as real as everything else in the film and that's where this film falls down for me. They're making these epic fantasy films that look for all the work put into them look phoney still on many levels. 

Did you know that the Egyptian gods have gold coloured blood. Just don't tell the dwarves or Erebor that may have been why Egypt is no longer known to be Egypt if Middle-Earth had anything to do with it.[/spoiler]   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 February, 2016, 08:20:35 PM
Room.

We put this on at about 11pm last night and, despite having to be up early for work today, we stayed up until 1am to see it through to the very end.

Pretty much an astounding film start to finish, and a very experiential one, so its best to go in knowing nothing at all about it. So I won't say anything else other than Brie Larson's oscar win is totally deserved, and the film also features what is beyond any shadow of a doubt the best performance by a child actor I have ever seen.

Highest of recommends.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 February, 2016, 10:24:56 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 27 February, 2016, 12:35:12 PM
As a librarian

Didn't know that was your profession Colin- something I fancifully always wanted to do.

I'm sure it's just pretty much walking around a quiet, clean, organised area and putting books and documents neatly back into their proper place, occasionally gently clearing your throat when some well mannered members of the public drift towards a load whisper in conversation. Ahhhh.


Cheers for the Frightfest round-up Keef, Southbound is now on radar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 01 March, 2016, 01:32:47 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 February, 2016, 05:17:22 PM

Horus is son of Osirus, while Ra (Geoffery Rush) is the head god of the sun and also referred to as grandpa by Horus & Set even though he's not a direct grand ancestor.


Not implying, Horus & Set are brothers & forgot to mention [spoiler]Ra's (Who reminds me of the dark god the Aten) constant battle with Apothiswho's a bloody giant worm like some else.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]They had fire staves.[/spoiler] That was all cool!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 01 March, 2016, 03:32:14 AM
Rewatched Evangelion 2.22 as I hadn't watched in a few years, and I wanted it's events fresh for when I watch Evangelion 3.33 next. I've always disliked the original anime, but these rebuild films have kept my interest. So mental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 March, 2016, 06:50:54 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 29 February, 2016, 10:24:56 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 27 February, 2016, 12:35:12 PM
As a librarian

Didn't know that was your profession Colin- something I fancifully always wanted to do.

I'm sure it's just pretty much walking around a quiet, clean, organised area and putting books and documents neatly back into their proper place, occasionally gently clearing your throat when some well mannered members of the public drift towards a load whisper in conversation. Ahhhh.

For the last 16 years (and next month) I've worked in an FE College supporting mainly 16-19 years in Rotherham... you pretty much got it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 March, 2016, 09:28:38 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 01 March, 2016, 06:50:54 AM
For the last 16 years (and next month) I've worked in an FE College supporting mainly 16-19 years in Rotherham... you pretty much got it!

Well you're not normally one for sarcasm- so nice one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 March, 2016, 10:21:19 PM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 01 March, 2016, 03:32:14 AM
Rewatched Evangelion 2.22 as I hadn't watched in a few years, and I wanted it's events fresh for when I watch Evangelion 3.33 next. I've always disliked the original anime, but these rebuild films have kept my interest. So mental.
Christ, so Manga Entertainment FINALLY released Evangelion 3.33?! I had that pre-ordered like five years ago but it kept getting with drawn from amazon! Must chase that down, as i'm in the same boat as you, the original series has aged poorly but good gravy if these reboots aren't just the darndest things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 01 March, 2016, 11:06:49 PM
I don't know about the UK (Manga Ent) release, but the US release was also super long in coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 March, 2016, 11:54:26 PM
I am amazed that Manga are still going - this is the company that capitalised on Akira's critical acclaim with western movie boffins by releasing Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend and Fist of the North Star.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 02 March, 2016, 01:16:21 AM
To be fair, Fist of the North Star is amazing.

I think Manga Entertainment gets by by being the UK's biggest anime distributor. They seem to get all of the big releases that Funimation gets over here. Manga's US branch is basically dead, though you still see their logo on every Ghost in the Shell release since they own a piece.

EDIT: Oh yeah, finished Evangelion 3.33. I had heard that the film was kind of a mess, and it was. But it sure was bonkers. Not as good as 2.22 IMO.

Now the wait for the final film, which doesn't even have a theatrical release date yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 02 March, 2016, 04:14:12 AM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 02 March, 2016, 01:16:21 AM
To be fair, Fist of the North Star is amazing.


I like cartoon FOTNS better than the live action film where they found this mostly unknown martial artist who looked nothing like NorthStar, but at least they got the exploding head execution moves right.

Steven Segal might have been a better man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 06:10:50 AM
I've never enjoyed an anime film and I've watched a few. I don't think the stories are very good.
I watched one of those Evangelion films and it was about a monster that attacked, which they fought, and then another monster attacked and they fought that, and then another and another. I was bored shitless by the end of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 March, 2016, 07:18:56 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 06:10:50 AM
I've never enjoyed an anime film and I've watched a few. I don't think the stories are very good.
I watched one of those Evangelion films and it was about a monster that attacked, which they fought, and then another monster attacked and they fought that, and then another and another. I was bored shitless by the end of it.
You sir, need to watch Paprika. It's the one anime movie I think every sci-fi fan should watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2016, 09:09:19 AM
I love the Fist of the North Star series - the Manga Entertainment dub more than the Japanese original - but the early 90s movie edit that cobbled together episodes from the Shin saga is dreadful.

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 02 March, 2016, 04:14:12 AM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 02 March, 2016, 01:16:21 AM
To be fair, Fist of the North Star is amazing.


I like cartoon FOTNS better than the live action film where they found this mostly unknown martial artist who looked nothing like NorthStar

Gary Daniels isn't the most charismatic of screen presences, but he was actually pretty well-known to fans of Eastern and Western martial arts films in the mid-90s because of his prolific career in low-to-no budget head-punchers where he usually plays villains - though fair play most people would know him in a kind of "that's that guy from that thing with whatsisname" way.  Also, he clearly should have played Shin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvkvPmHRI7E) in the FOTNS movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 March, 2016, 09:40:18 AM
Gary Daniels as Bryan Fury in Tekken is probably the best piece of casting ever. Even if the film is dogshite.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 March, 2016, 10:07:47 AM
Never watched a bad Ghibli movie (haven't seen all of them mind so it's a selective sample). Akira is also, in my mind, an absolute classic. As important a Sci-Fi movie as Blade Runner.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 10:24:20 AM
Akira certainly looks fantastic and I think the source material is probably pretty strong (from what I know of it). The film though, is so condensed that in its own right its a mess.

As for the Ghibli stuff - just not my cup of tea. Not suggesting the films are bad but I haven't enjoyed what I've seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 March, 2016, 10:25:29 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 02 March, 2016, 10:07:47 AM
Never watched a bad Ghibli movie (haven't seen all of them mind so it's a selective sample). Akira is also, in my mind, an absolute classic. As important a Sci-Fi movie as Blade Runner.
Now, see, I like Akira. But when you condense a 2500 page magnum opus into one 90 minute feature, your undoubtably going to end up with an inferior story and i've been saying for years Akira is ripe for a 50 episode TV series addaptation. By Madhouse. That would be pretty bomb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 March, 2016, 10:56:42 AM
I enjoyed the film of Akira but it's certainly one of those things where I'm baffled who anyone unfamiliar with the comic would have the faintest idea who was doing what to whom.

Never watched much manga but remember really enjoying the original Ghost in the Shell. However, as Bear observes, pretty much anyone my age who isn't into comics or whatever thinks manga is Legend of the Overfiend (and maybe Dragonball if they've got kids.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2016, 12:29:43 PM
There's definitely some great stuff out there, Ghost In The Shell Standalone Complex is easily one of my favorite sci-fi series of all time (animated or not). I still buy some Manga releases occasionally but been a while since I was blown away by something. I really wish they'd give Cyber City Oedo 808 a blu-ray release because I loved that. In fact, if they could re-release the titles they did under their Cyberpunk Collection banner I'd be very happy (Cyber City, Genocyber and A.D. Police).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2016, 01:35:00 PM
I can understand why James doesn't get on with anime, as I don't think a lot of fans realise that it takes time to get into.  Japanese storytelling is different from Western storytelling and some things - not just words, but also narrative concepts and character archetypes - just don't translate directly into any Western equivalence.
In the 1990s, media companies like Saban and Funimation knew this and tailored their localisations for their intended audiences, and much as we probably stick our noses in the air at stuff like Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Dragonball, and Pokemon, these were yuge here in the West because of the work put into making them comprehensible to an entirely unintended audience.  You don't really see that kind of thing nowadays because it's considered a sacrilege of the creator's artistic intentions if you alter a single frame of Naruto transforming himself into 8 naked giggling schoolgirls to distract enemy ninjas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 March, 2016, 02:30:52 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 02 March, 2016, 10:56:42 AM
I enjoyed the film of Akira but it's certainly one of those things where I'm baffled who anyone unfamiliar with the comic would have the faintest idea who was doing what to whom.


I've only read Simpsons Akira but it's pretty easy to get your head around, or at least it is if you're a geeky 12 year old who discovers your dad's Akira tape in the loft when looking for comics.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Adventurer on 02 March, 2016, 03:02:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 02 March, 2016, 07:18:56 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 06:10:50 AM
I've never enjoyed an anime film and I've watched a few. I don't think the stories are very good.
I watched one of those Evangelion films and it was about a monster that attacked, which they fought, and then another monster attacked and they fought that, and then another and another. I was bored shitless by the end of it.
You sir, need to watch Paprika. It's the one anime movie I think every sci-fi fan should watch.

Or, Royal Space Force. Or, Ghost in the Shell. Or, Akira.


Evangelion 1.11 is the first part of a 4 part rebelling of a 26 episode tv series. Not the best place to get a sense of all anime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 March, 2016, 03:44:24 PM
SEVEN SAMURAI
the 190 minute BFI version.
It is probably twenty five or thirty years since I saw it all the way through and it is still a masterclass in adventure film making.
The subtitles are functional but I guess we miss out on a few things. And though I haven't got a clue about the cultural significancè of a lot of things, you can work it out from the visual story telling (the relationship between the peasant and samurai classes/castes is shown well visually before Kiku has his brilliant rant and the rwaction shots showbthat Kambei shaving his head is something frowned upon).

It's a shitty print with loads of artefacts but still looks gorgeous!

If any of you youngsters arecwatching anime but haven't seen this yet, correct that ommission.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 03:49:52 PM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 02 March, 2016, 03:02:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 02 March, 2016, 07:18:56 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 March, 2016, 06:10:50 AM
I've never enjoyed an anime film and I've watched a few. I don't think the stories are very good.
I watched one of those Evangelion films and it was about a monster that attacked, which they fought, and then another monster attacked and they fought that, and then another and another. I was bored shitless by the end of it.
You sir, need to watch Paprika. It's the one anime movie I think every sci-fi fan should watch.

Or, Royal Space Force. Or, Ghost in the Shell. Or, Akira.


Evangelion 1.11 is the first part of a 4 part rebelling of a 26 episode tv series. Not the best place to get a sense of all anime.

As I said, I've seen a few and those include Akira and Ghost in the Shell.
I think Ghost in the Shell was probably one of the better ones but it still didn't do much for me. Akira as I've said upthread is a bit of a mess in my opinion. It looks great but the plot is all over the place.
I've also seen Fist of the North star and Legend of the Overfiend which were both terrible.
There's one called Redline which I was assured would change my mind about anime but didn't.
I saw (most of) Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle but, again, found them nice to look at but boring.

I suspect it comes down to the difference in the storytelling conventions between East and West, as Bear said.

I also find quite a few asian live action films boring for the same reasons - The Host, Oldboy, The Grudge (this one seems to work in the same way that Evangelion worked - just a list of things happening, one after the other without any character arcs or consequence).
I didn't like Pacific Rim for similar reasons - obviously as it's a homage to kaiju films.

I'm always willing to give things a go though - I may have just been unlucky. On the plus side, I really liked Battle Royale and Ringu was quite entertaining (but obviously not as good as Pingu).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 March, 2016, 05:34:08 PM
I'd have a gander at Grave of the Fireflies if you can, James.  It has an unjust reputation as being a tear-jerker, but it's actually surprisingly upbeat and fun, especially the ending where the two kids are finally reunited.

Armageddon .  I'm on record as loving Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor for the brilliant comedy pastiche of post-90s Western action cinema that it clearly is (and I'm not saying this ironically, it is literally impossible to watch it and take it seriously), but Armageddon is oddly flat for a movie with so much going for it.  Great design work, solid actors, a robust boy's own plot that isn't hateful about its mostly-male cast in a way that similar films - even those by the same director - are, good fx - and yet all of it is less than the sum of its parts.  In retrospect, it gives some insight to the film-making of its screenwriter JJ Abrams, as Affleck's aimless and unconvincing character can be viewed as a paradigm of later JJA forays into the sci-fi genre, with the clumsy arc where a kidult attains manhood and worthiness in the eyes of his father figure by screaming he'll do things his own way and show everyone, and then he gets lucky and people give him the validation he craves but acts like he's above.  There's no sense that there's a struggle to achieve anything, so there's a nagging doubt for much of the film that nothing is really at stake, not helped by Willis sleepwalking through some key scenes.
Anyway, I hate to break it to you, the forum, but Armageddon is not very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 05 March, 2016, 07:48:35 PM
Hail, Caesar!

Brilliant film. Visually fantastic. The song and dance numbers were great. The acting was spot on.

As far as the plot goes, I don't have a bloody clue what that was all about.

8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2016, 09:36:39 PM
Quote from: Ollamh Iompróidh on 05 March, 2016, 05:34:08 PM
Anyway, I hate to break it to you, the forum, but Armageddon is not very good.

My wife thinks Armageddon is great, but when we went to the pictures to see it, she was caught a bit short and missed an entire hour in the middle of the movie. Which is pretty much the only way you could think it was a good film!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 March, 2016, 11:29:42 PM
Armageddon is more than twice as good as Deep Impact and completely deserves its status as my eighth or ninth favourite Bruce Willis film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 March, 2016, 04:17:58 AM
Quote from: Ollamh Iompróidh on 05 March, 2016, 05:34:08 PM
I'd have a gander at Grave of the Fireflies if you can, James.  It has an unjust reputation as being a tear-jerker, but it's actually surprisingly upbeat and fun, especially the ending where the two kids are finally reunited.


No, it's not!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 March, 2016, 05:18:55 AM
Deep Impact is much better than Armageddon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 March, 2016, 07:10:04 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 06 March, 2016, 04:17:58 AM
Quote from: Ollamh Iompróidh on 05 March, 2016, 05:34:08 PM
I'd have a gander at Grave of the Fireflies if you can, James.  It has an unjust reputation as being a tear-jerker, but it's actually surprisingly upbeat and fun, especially the ending where the two kids are finally reunited.


No, it's not!
Except it actually is, in a morbid kind of way.

It's also one of the few movies that actually has to balls to point out America commited the biggest war crime lf the secnd world war?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2016, 09:40:39 AM
Armageddon is shite, but also good. Deep Impact is good, but also shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 March, 2016, 04:32:08 PM
Armageddon has Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Deep Impact has Robert Duvall and Morgan Freeman.
.
I rest my case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 06 March, 2016, 04:39:32 PM
Watched Dredd again over the weekend!

Still a bloody good film!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 March, 2016, 07:21:45 PM
The 7 Psychopaths

That was... different. Dark, twisted, entertaining, very funny and actually rather sweet in places.

I missed bits due to running off to make tea during commercial breaks, except th breaks turned out to be too short for that as the show was rather late.

Am I the only person to complain about commercial breaks being too short. I've never particularly disliked commercial breaks actually. Give a bit of time to visit the loo, get a cuppa and digest what I've seen a bit before the next instalment. The exception was my time in Canada and the States where the breaks feature way too often.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 March, 2016, 09:32:56 AM
Watched Insurgent which was serviceable enough as a throwaway adventure thingy to pass a Saturday night, and I found myself getting quite into it despite knowing it was all a bit naff really. That review also applies to Divergent and I'm assuming will apply to the rest of the series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 07 March, 2016, 01:19:36 PM
Saw a couple of crackers over the weekend; the glorious Hail Caesar!, and for cineaste's everywhere Hitchcock/Truffaut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 07 March, 2016, 02:00:57 PM
Really want to see Hail Caesar but don't know when I'll get the chance.

Watched Southbound at the weekend due to a review on this thread and quite enjoyed it for what it was. I'm a big fan of the 70's horror portmanteau films and this hit the spot.

Also watched Krampus which seems to be going for a Gremlins vibe but doesn't quite reach the same levels of comedy or scares but was just ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 March, 2016, 02:30:43 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 06 March, 2016, 04:39:32 PM
Watched Dredd again over the weekend!

Still a bloody good film!  ;)

What to you mean STILL?! ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 March, 2016, 08:08:42 PM
Conan the Barbarian
Inspired by reading Drums beyond the Black River and then some Barry Smith and Roy Thomas comics, I dug this out. Oh and Seven Samurai reminded me of it.

It really is great even if only 50% Conan
Arnold is superb except when he speaks or performs an action that normal people have no trouble with like walking or nodding their head.

The fights are short and brutal. The only posing is done before as taunts or after as victory salutes.

The dialogue is minimal but the score is magnificent. In fact probably my favourite thing in the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 March, 2016, 11:48:03 PM
Like most everyone else on this forum, the one thing I knew for sure about John Cassavetes before watching his first film - Shadows - was that he was dead. It's an episodic, largely improvised piece centred around a couple of jazz dudes, their hot sister and the assorted characters that come into their orbit. While rooted firmly in its time, late fifties, it seems daringly progressive in the way it handles topics like sex and race. Of course, it's always difficult to tell if that's really the case or just projection of an assumed view of the past. I'm sure there's a lot of stuff about contemporary racial politics which went over my head.

Whether it's the improvisation or the editing, there are some quite jarring shifts whenever key plot beats are introduced but, by and large, the performances are relaxed and naturalistic. There's an easygoing charm to the gigging and barhopping scenes, as well as some genuine laughs, which conjures up the same mixture of frustration, dissolution and boredom leading to some bad decisions that you get in everything from Do Tha Right Thing to Trainspotting.

Good stuff. This was the first night of a Cassavetes season so hopefully I'll manage to catch a few more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 March, 2016, 12:29:01 AM
Ivan Drago! Robocop! Black Dynamite! Hellboy! Buckaroo Banzai! And, er, Tony Jaa. Being discriminating aesthetes to a Squaxx I feel quite certain that the prospect of a single film with such a cast existing has every one of you frothing at the mouth in anticipation.

Sadly, Skin Trade is only a watchable low-rent action film but it feels like it should've been a lot better. Apparently the plot about people trafficking was something of a passion project for Dolph Lundgren. It does at least show a bit more sensitivity to the issue than, say, Taken but this also means that Perlman's villain is played fairly straight and there is a dearth of colourful henchmen to go up against our heroes.

What you do get is a series of calamitous misunderstandings leading to various combinations of Dolph, Jaa and Michael Jai White going up against each other before settling their differences and taking on the common enemy. I really like latter-day Lundgren in this kind of thing. The increasingly grizzled features only help him retain a believably imposing presence and the second time he takes on Jaa is probably the highlight of the film. Dolph soaking up the quick kicks and elbows while looking for an opening to smash the little man around is the first thing I think of when someone mentions "the magic of cinema."

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 February, 2016, 09:49:55 AM
SPL2: A Time For Consequences - Actually the first proper Tony Jaa movie I've seen (other than the last Fast & Furious), my main takeaway was that he really, really liked elbowing people in the head. He does it a thousand times! The fight scenes are incredibly elaborate in this, but nowhere near as readable as something like The Raid, loads of fast cuts spoiling the view of the action. ...
From what you've said it sounds like this is effectively a remake of first one but with everything not as good! Still with this and Skin Trade it looks like Tony Jaa has maybe gotten over the problems he had and is ready to get back in the game.

If you haven't, you should really check out Ong Bak. It wont have the same impact as The Raid but both films gave me the same sensation on first viewing of seeing both an awesome new martial artist and a style of fighting I wasn't used to getting top billing. You're right though: elbowing people in the head is about the only thing he likes better than kneeing them in the face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 08 March, 2016, 01:27:33 AM
Ong Bak is an excellent film. The follow up not so much, but yeah...that wee fucker is nimble!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 March, 2016, 11:00:48 AM
That's two votes for Ong Bak then, I'll get it on the watchlist. Thanks for the recommendation!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2016, 07:46:48 PM
Been watching quite a bit recently as background noise, mostly stuff i've seen before.

The Beyond (dir. Lucio Fulci, 1981) is probably Fulci's crowning achievement, a movie that mastered the "slow jump scare" and one of the single most atmospheric of horror movies, it's also a completely unique take on the zombie genre. The best of the Gates of Hell Trilogy for me and what an OST!

Videodrome (dir. David Cronenberg, 1983) builds on the success of Rabid and Scanners and make's probably one of the best example of body horror fiction to date. It is once again, IMHO, the best example of the directors body of work and an utterly masterful experience to watch.

Phantom of Death (dir. Rogero Deodato, 1988) is probably one of the more obscure example of Itallian homre grown horror, but bosts a surprisingly rich cast. Donald Pleasence? Michael York? Thats not bad going, and to be fair as schlocky and ugly a movie it is it is at least very entertaining due to York's border line Hannibal Lecter tole and it's actually rather good. By low brow giallo standards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 March, 2016, 10:50:56 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2016, 07:46:48 PM
The Beyond (dir. Lucio Fulci, 1981) is probably Fulci's crowning achievement, a movie that mastered the "slow jump scare" and one of the single most atmospheric of horror movies, it's also a completely unique take on the zombie genre.

Been a while since I've seen either but ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS holds together better while THE BEYOND is a lot more . . . unsettling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2016, 10:57:49 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 March, 2016, 10:50:56 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 12 March, 2016, 07:46:48 PM
The Beyond (dir. Lucio Fulci, 1981) is probably Fulci's crowning achievement, a movie that mastered the "slow jump scare" and one of the single most atmospheric of horror movies, it's also a completely unique take on the zombie genre.

Been a while since I've seen either but ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS holds together better while THE BEYOND is a lot more . . . unsettling.
Now see, The Beyond is undoubtably the better movie and the more unique of the two. However, i'll stand by your statement. ZFE is my prefered of the two and my favourite Fulci film, as well as in my top 3 fave zombie flicks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 12 March, 2016, 11:00:16 PM
The Beyond has David Warbeck reloading a gun by pushing a bullet up the barrel. That beats anything else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 March, 2016, 09:37:01 PM
Brotherhood of the Wolf.

Slower than I remembered but still cracking good movie even if the different elements are not something you would immediately think go together.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 March, 2016, 10:04:08 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 March, 2016, 09:37:01 PM
Brotherhood of the Wolf.

Slower than I remembered but still cracking good movie even if the different elements are not something you would immediately think go together.

Oh I do love that movies.

Just watched 'Fury Road' again. The movie that keeps on giving!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 March, 2016, 10:17:57 PM
Woman in Gold

Dashed good and not as heavy as The Pianist. Films like this should be compulsary watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 March, 2016, 10:59:03 PM
Daddy's Home with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. I told the wife how it would finish up and I was exactly right. Couple of laughs though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 14 March, 2016, 08:50:51 AM
V/H/S 2 not a patch on the first film. There was on really good story about [spoiler]a suicide cult[/spoiler] which was spoiled when [spoiler]a massive rubber-headed Satan[/spoiler] appeared!

Point Break the remake. Should've Been called Pointless Horseshit. A complete waste of time and the original is far better.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 March, 2016, 09:43:26 AM
Odd, I found V/H/S 2 a huge improvement on the first film, and the Gareth Evans suicide cult story only got better for me the more ludicrous it became. It was like the energy of The Raid applied to horror, loved it. Different strokes!

Have been ill with the cold so watched (and rewatched) some stuff at the weekend.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the more recent one) - Avoided this because it looked like a real stinker, and maybe my low expectations helped because we actually got a few laughs and thrills out of it. Appreciated how over the top 'live action cartoon' it was, surprisingly fun.

Predator - Obviously a rewatch, found the trilogy cheap on blu-ray so was time to revisit it. Looks great (aside from a couple of shots where the source footage clearly wasn't up to snuff so there's a jarring brief drop in image quality) and is still a fantastic film. Can't really fault it actually, still an amazingly cool movie.

And then I went straight onto Predator 2, which I've always thought was massively underrated. Moving it to the city is a great idea and makes for some amazing images and sequences and also makes for quite a different film to the first which is admirable. It wears some influences on its sleeve (there are some strong whiffs of Robocop here and there and the meat warehouse set-piece is clearly them trying to replicate Aliens (but it works!) and you sometimes wonder if Danny Glover's character was originally supposed to be played by someone with the physique of Schwarzenegger (there's a line where Danny Boy says 'even YOU couldn't lift a body up there!' when it looks like Glover would get out of breath lifting himself up some stairs), but it holds up really, really well and I loved it.

And then Lucy, which is an odd and silly film but also quite a fun one I found. Went in expecting it to be a bit of a generic action revenge thing (Johanssen gets powers and then just shoots/telepaths her way to the boss, the end) but it's actually a lot quirkier than that. A bit messy and not brilliant by any means, but a fun way to pass a tight 90mins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 March, 2016, 01:16:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 March, 2016, 10:17:57 PM
Woman in Gold

Dashed good and not as heavy as The Pianist. Films like this should be compulsary watching.

Agreed. It's a great film about a difficult topic and well handled. Ryan Reynolds, who knew he could act?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 March, 2016, 01:26:02 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 March, 2016, 09:43:26 AM
Odd, I found V/H/S 2 a huge improvement on the first film, and the Gareth Evans suicide cult story only got better for me the more ludicrous it became. It was like the energy of The Raid applied to horror, loved it. Different strokes!

Agreed. Quite enjoyed every bit of V/H/S 2 apart from the Alien segment, which was rubbish. Both VHS movies are so much better than the ABCs of Death, which have but one or two good bits across 50+ shorts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 14 March, 2016, 01:48:45 PM
Both V/H/S was great, and there is third film V/H/S Viral, as Parallel segment was the best as others Magic cloak or skating was shite. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 14 March, 2016, 04:26:20 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 14 March, 2016, 01:48:45 PM
Both V/H/S was great, and there is third film V/H/S Viral, as Parallel segment was the best

I agree, the Parallel Monsters story segment was absolutely brilliant.
Written & directed by Nacho Vigalondo, who also made the sublime Timecrimes (probably the best time travel film ever committed to celluloid).

It was great seeing Vigalondo appear briefly on Future Shock proclaiming his love of 2000AD and how it  has influenced him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 14 March, 2016, 04:39:16 PM
Pixels

I say watched...but it's more like I was there, and it was too.  Utter drivel.  Words cannot express just how awful it was.  I was on the ferry from Belfast back to Scotland, and it was on....there wasn't anything else to do...so I thought, ok....go for it.  I was actually offended by it's dumb-assery.  I even felt offended when some guy a couple seats away laughed at one point.  I should stress.....it was only at ONE point.  I heard no laughter at any other point, not even from the kids watching it. Seemed like the cast pretty much phoned in the job for a paycheck, and it showed heavily in their 'performances'.  Not just a dumb idea for a movie, but a really poorly executed dumb idea for a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 14 March, 2016, 08:22:16 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 13 March, 2016, 10:59:03 PM
Daddy's Home with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. I told the wife how it would finish up and I was exactly right. Couple of laughs though.

Tried watching this on Sunday but both me and wife fell asleep. Couple of laughs was literally all it had.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 March, 2016, 10:18:11 AM
We went to see Hail Caesar last night and very much enjoyed it. Lots of chuckles and a few belly laughs (one moment broke me for about 5 minutes). A nice, fun film, and felt like classic Coens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 March, 2016, 12:42:25 PM
I think I'll have to mark Ben Wheatley down as someone whose films always sound interesting but do nothing for me. Finally got round to watching A Field in England last night and thought it had exactly the same problems as Kill List. No interest in a conventional plot or narrative - something I have zero problem with, in itself - but too besotted with the idea of being self-consciously weird and culty to actually work as an interesting mood or tone piece.

Basically, some lads talk shit, take mushies, act out in microcosm some of the arguments behind the Civil War related to the nature of authority and the rights of one person to compel another to do something (I'm sort of making this part up in retrospect but I had to ascribe some purpose to it) then it all ends in a load of flashing splitscreen and mirrored images straight out of The Orb's Patterns and Textures (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlqR0-Xp3MM&index=6&list=PL5A3E41CAA48EE0D7) video which we used to religiously put on when we got home at 2 in the morning.

There are some decent images in it and a pleasant soundtrack but mostly it's a load of tedious old horseshit not helped by the fact that, in the ever-popular "boggle-eyed loon psychologically and physically dominating a group of more sensible but weaker-willed people" stakes, Tyres from out of Spaced really isn't in the same league as Klaus Kinski or Mads Mikkelsen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 March, 2016, 09:32:09 PM
I just finished Predestination. A guy at work said it was great, a time travel movie with quite a time paradox twist. Hinting towards clever.

I accidently called the twist fairly early on, for jokes. And then after the film was finished I sat like this

(http://i.imgur.com/FXMAte4.jpg?)

While certainly well made (especially considering the low budget) but as for the story, I felt like I'd seen a Looper written like Donnie Darko by Karl Pilkington.

That said. I quite enjoyed it. Not often I get to see a film as strange as this one. Also impressing that they went for it, and got it made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 March, 2016, 03:07:00 AM
Mr Holmes. A lovely film about a great and logical man approaching the end of his life and still solving mysteries. His struggle with the mysteries of human emotion, even after all this time, is particularly moving and the film avoids sinking in sugar quite deftly. Sir Ian is, as ever, magnificent. Recommended, definitely.
.
The Program. They've managed to make a film about professional cycling that isn't boring, which is an achievement in itself. I did not want to watch this but I'm glad I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 March, 2016, 11:07:13 AM
Squeezed in a couple this weekend - High Rise and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Both really enjoyable (and very different)! High Rise I found a little messy in its set-up but really interesting and surreal and odd and intriguing and funny and disturbing and...it's a lot of things. My only problem with it (and it's not a big one) is that I don't think it spends enough time letting you settle into the building before it all starts falling apart. I didn't feel like I got to see the social hierarchy while it's 'working' or that I got to see a normal day properly in the building before the collapse, because it all goes to hell so fast that I didn't really get a lot of the relationships. May have just been me, Bea had read the book and did say that a lot of the set-up wasn't as fleshed out in the movie as it could have been.

Other than that I really liked it, Mansell's score is great, it's visually pretty mesmerizing and it's got a weird woozy dreamlike (or nightmare-like) atmosphere that's quite reminiscent of Clockwork Orange. It also reminded me of DREDD very often (there are moments that are basically Peach Trees), which is never a bad thing.

10 Cloverfield Lane was another interesting one, I loved a lot about it and some of it not so much. I can't help but think that slapping Cloverfield on it does it a disservice, it's a very good, very tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller in its own right, and that brand heaps on a fair bit of baggage and expectation. It's definitely one to see before  anyone blurts any spoilers at you, because the nature (or existence of) the threat is one of the sources of tension. For my money (spoilers ahead) [spoiler]I didn't particularly like the resolution and the answers to those questions. It felt a bit tacked on and rushed, and didn't live up to the tense drama that the film had been up to that point. If it had been a quick 'holy shit' reveal it might have worked better for me, or (even better) if they'd managed to keep an ambiguity about it I probably would have love that. As it is, for me it's a really very good film until the last few minutes where I found I wasn't really on board. Everyone will react differently to it though I guess, and I can't say it spoils the film for me, it just left me pretty cold after being so gripped by what came before it.[/spoiler]

So aye, essentially I really really liked it overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 March, 2016, 02:17:59 PM
Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Well that was darned good! I managed to remain relatively unspoiled, despite having seen two direct sequels, and really enjoyed it.  Whichever one of the Chrises this is (I lost track several movies ago) is still great as Cap, and I can't help but root for such a resolutely good guy. I loved the implication that his real superpower is that people believe in him. Thrilled to see [spoiler]the great Toby Jones return as a 70's Nazi supercomputer -[/spoiler] what a turn. Conversely thought seeing [spoiler]Peggy with memory problem was a kick in the goolies -[/spoiler] very well done, but a big downer.

My only real niggle was the hand-waving re: Falcon, whose tech and skills just seem too good to be true, [spoiler]given that he's just an ordinary bloke using US military flight gear, an yet is able to evade Shield's ultra-doom weaponry with ease.[/spoiler] That said, loved his moves, and thought Anthony Mackie was charming in the role, something I hadn't picked up on in his Ant-Man cameo.

Very impressed that Black Widow took her hair-straighteners on the run, now that's a super spy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 21 March, 2016, 05:01:13 PM
Tales of Halloween - 10 (very slight) stories in 1 film loosely connected as happening in a small town at Halloween. Directed by a lot of folk I've never heard of and Neil Marshall. Cameos from Adrienne Barbeau, John Landis and Joe Dante are fun. Some of the stories work better than others but it didn't outstay its welcome and when it worked it worked well.

Highlights are the story where two kidnappers unwittingly kidnap a small demon, Friday the 31st segment  and Neil Marshalls story about a killer pumpkin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 March, 2016, 09:52:07 AM
Had a small post apocalyptic marathon yesterday afternoon with some friends and beer, it was bloody glorious.

Kicked it off with Escape from New York, which as utterly ridiculous and often unintentiounaly hilarious as it is is still one of the best action films of the 80's. Kurt Russell is like a more up market Chuck Norris, whit actually having some degree of acting chops (not on display here) and not being a xenophobic prick.

Followed it up with, you guessed it, Dredd. Still a chuffingly fantastic movie and just perfect on screen Judge Dredd. Can't believe it was nearly 4 years ago it was in theatres. Madness. What struck me this time however, was the very real sense of expanded worldly-ness (not a word, I know). Maybe these movieverse megazine stories are actually working in hindsight and actually give me a greater appreciation for the movie.

Next up was Waterworld, which is an utterly incopetant mess but a pretty, visualy interesting mess of a movie which if done right could actually have been a classic of the era but sadly a hollow plot, dreary acting, a sluggish by the numbers plot and some truly unremarkable twists just add up to another overblown box office turkey trying to cash in on Mad Max.

Speaking of which, final movie of ghe tables was Fury Road which truly is the movie thatkeeps on giving. It's just such an adrenaline fueled joy ride of a movie, so much going on with such a simple premise. So many fascinating characters and such visually stunning cinematography. It really is just a borderline perfect movie, you couldn't improve it anymore IMHO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 22 March, 2016, 01:52:24 PM
The Streetfighter film was on the telly last night and I decided to watch it to see if it was as bad as I remember. The film is pretty poor, but my word Raul Julia is fantastic throughout as M Bison. He appears to be having huge fun in the role and makes a fairly ridiculous character that bit more believable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 March, 2016, 01:59:47 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 22 March, 2016, 01:52:24 PM
The Streetfighter film was on the telly last night and I decided to watch it to see if it was as bad as I remember. The film is pretty poor, but my word Raul Julia is fantastic throughout as M Bison. He appears to be having huge fun in the role and makes a fairly ridiculous character that bit more believable.

It's a tribute to the great man that even while dying he almost saved that terrible movie singlehanded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 March, 2016, 02:10:37 PM
Their have been a slew of Street Fighter movies, both live action and animated, before and since the most famous JCVD helmed outing and all are simultainiusly superior and inferior to it. Superior in that they are all just over all better made movies, inferior because theirs only one Raul Julia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 March, 2016, 11:29:27 PM
My gran passed away while I was watching Street Fighter so it's ruined forever for me, but that's no reason for anyone else not to watch and enjoy it for the glorious car crash that it is.  "For me... it was Tuesday."

Star Trek: Horizon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l94v4YOqxOc) - a not-great Star Trek outing, but a commendable achievement in terms of fan-movies.  Set during the period when Enterprise would probably have been really good if it had continued on its upward quality trajectory and not been cancelled because all of its inherited goodwill had been squandered on a first season dedicated to treading water, it follows the exploits of the crew of the Discovery as they take on a Romulan super-weapon, though it feels like the script could really have used a pass or two under the nose of a decent editor who'd maybe have cleared up why it feels like you've walked in halfway through another story.  The acting isn't great, the dialogue is occasionally painful, the fx can sometimes be glaringly fake, and I'm pretty sure some of the plot elements it touches upon (like the temporal cold war) were not only resolved but wiped from canon to boot, but these niggles are possible to observe because the rest of it is pretty solid.  It's not theatrical-release quality, and the blurry cgi backgrounds might cause the odd viewer a migraine, but otherwise, a decent enough way to pass 90-odd minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 24 March, 2016, 07:52:07 AM
I was thinking of Double-Dragon when somebody mentioned Street-Fighter.  Both films were bad, but I think Street Fighter wins by comparison. Then there is Mortal Combat.

Why were handed so badly, Double- Dragon might have done better, if they made it a more generic martial arts film like one of the earlier Michael Dudikoff, Jean Claude Van Damn, Jackie Chan, Samo Hung, Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee films (Including all those actions hero's who starred in the those Expendable films.) without all that fancy stuff that seemed surplus to needs.

The other two films, have a real cartoonish vibe to them. It's pretty hard to make that all real while not destroying it like they have. Then again, I guess they had a lot of fun just doing it.

Somethings aren't meant to be on the big screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 24 March, 2016, 08:46:36 AM
Star Wars VII - The Force Awakens. Finally watched this and I have to say I'm disappointed. The comparisons with the other films (regarding plot) didn't really bother me and Kylo Ren is a solid enough character, but the film itself didn't feel very Star Wars-ie to me. Phantom Menace is far better!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 March, 2016, 08:47:30 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 24 March, 2016, 08:46:36 AM
Star Wars VII - The Force Awakens. Finally watched this and I have to say I'm disappointed. The comparisons with the other films (regarding plot) didn't really bother me and Kylo Ren is a solid enough character, but the film itself didn't feel very Star Wars-ie to me. Phantom Menace is far better!

Cheers

Oh he did NOT go there! :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 March, 2016, 09:19:37 AM
That's why you get for watching it on the dodgy download, N-kev! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 24 March, 2016, 09:37:14 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 24 March, 2016, 09:19:37 AM
That's why you get for watching it on the dodgy download, N-kev!

Blue-ray quality dodgy download I'll have you know!

Seriously though, obviously I'm not the target audience for this which is fair enough, but I feel it really didn't live up to the hype it got. The F/X is good but not outstanding like I would expect from a film series of such pedigree. And with some tighter writing wouldn't have needed so much Harrison Ford who, to me, looked like he'd rather be doing something else.

Still, each to their own!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2016, 10:09:47 AM
If you remove the Star Wars brand, The Force Awakens is remarkably similar to the truly awful Jupiter Ascending, right down to near-identical stories, scenes, characters, and plot arcs.
Nostalgia and Lucas-bashing is what made TFA the success it is.  Unfortunately, if you were never that big a Star Wars fan and don't hate the prequels, TFA feels a bit flat.  A bit like the Trek fan movies that get people like DC Fontana to write episodes and George Takai to star in them: all the trappings are there, but it just isn't Star Trek, it's a homage to what some creators/fans think Star Trek is/was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 March, 2016, 10:21:38 AM
TFA is a decent SW movie, but a great - if short - Han Solo movie.  Quite what it would be without him I'm not sure, despite the four charming new leads.  Will Hamill be able to pull off the same lumbar support role in Episode VIII, or will we get to see if the new guys can hold their own without Ford 's reflected charisma?  Disagree about Ford wanting to be elsewhere - even if he did I thought he gave a terrific performance, the Alec Guinness of the piece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 March, 2016, 10:29:18 AM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 24 March, 2016, 10:09:47 AM
If you remove the Star Wars brand, The Force Awakens is remarkably similar to the truly awful Jupiter Ascending, right down to near-identical stories, scenes, characters, and plot arcs.


Care to elaborate? I'm not seeing it (sure I will disagree even when expanded upon but interested as this comparison is blowing my mind :) )
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2016, 10:43:29 AM
The girl from a backwater planet eking out a meager existence before swooshing off to space to claim her destiny from a super-camp emo villain played by a pretty boy who's inexplicably a bit shit in the climactic fight on a crumbling planet-destroying superweapon will get you started in your quest for similarities - because I insist you have to go back and watch it and suffer like I had to - but there are many similarities to be found that admittedly likely have more to do with both films drawing heavily upon the same source.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 24 March, 2016, 10:58:14 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 24 March, 2016, 08:46:36 AM
Phantom Menace is far better!

Cheers

Woah woah WOAH! That's some crazy talk right there and I don't even think TFA is that great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 March, 2016, 12:21:18 PM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 23 March, 2016, 11:29:27 PM
Star Trek: Horizon- ... the script could really have used a pass or two under the nose of a decent editor ...  The acting isn't great, the dialogue is occasionally painful, the fx can sometimes be glaringly fake, and I'm pretty sure some of the plot elements it touches upon (like the temporal cold war) were not only resolved but wiped from canon to boot, ... but otherwise, a decent enough way to pass 90-odd minutes.

so it's okay apart from the acting, the dialogue, the script, the editing, the effects and the plot?

I've got a car you may want to buy - apart from the engine, the bodywork, the chassis and the wheels it's a great little car!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 March, 2016, 12:28:34 PM
Considering that description applies to more than 95 percent of Trek, I would have thought it was a glowing recommendation for any fan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 25 March, 2016, 01:57:35 PM
I'm always two years behind everything - so I've just seen the 2014 Python Live thing.

As awkward as you might expect but oddly charming with it also. The glossy production is quite openly masterminded by Eric Idle and celebrity choreographer Arlene Phillips so large chunks of the show are taken up by dance numbers - ostensibly to aid costume changes I imagine but none of them feel particularly necessary outside of skits that already featured them. The sleazy Blackmail dance is a serious lowpoint.

The real magic comes in the occasional obscure sketch choices and the interaction between the aged Pythons, particularly the ferocious Cleese and the ever-lovely Gilliam & Palin. Idle is in fine voice throughout and the whole thing comes off as relatively charming for a massive arena comedy show although apart from a few satirical barbs it mostly lacks the playful subversion that makes the Pythons so timeless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 March, 2016, 12:29:17 PM
Deadpool. I enjoyed it. Quite funny and some good action scenes. Gives me hope that one day we'll see a Ulysses Sweet movie.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 27 March, 2016, 12:37:02 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 24 March, 2016, 10:21:38 AM
TFA is a decent SW movie, but a great - if short - Han Solo movie.  Quite what it would be without him I'm not sure, despite the four charming new leads.  Will Hamill be able to pull off the same lumbar support role in Episode VIII, or will we get to see if the new guys can hold their own without Ford 's reflected charisma?  Disagree about Ford wanting to be elsewhere - even if he did I thought he gave a terrific performance, the Alec Guinness of the piece.

I would second those comments sir.  Harrison Ford was excellent in the film.  And i think it was a solid entry in the series. I'm looking forward to more luke next time around.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 27 March, 2016, 05:58:47 PM
Thin red line. Nicely made, but not quite my thing. A bit too "spiritual", or what to call it, for my taste. But certainly nice to look at.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 27 March, 2016, 11:12:45 PM
High Rise

Well, it's a Ben Wheatley movie. Which is good in my books :) Really well done, unsettling and manic with brilliant design, direction and acting. I could never rate a movie like this with stars or numbers because I would have little to compare it to. If it has one flaw it is that the slip from slight transgression to utter breakdown occurs in a montage mid-way, feeling a little rushed - however if I remember correctly this is not too dissimilar to the source material.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 March, 2016, 02:31:58 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 07 March, 2016, 11:48:03 PM
Shadows ... was the first night of a Cassavetes season so hopefully I'll manage to catch a few more.
Well, watching A Woman Under the Influence was a fairly horrific experience. It was a bit like Requiem for a Dream without the knockabout comedy. Gena Rowlands gives an excellent turn as a woman gradually overwhelmed by life and whose mood swings become uncontrollable.

It's played out over a series of long - often longer than you think you can bear - scenes in which her bellend of a husband (Columbo, playing against type) repeatedly forces her into excruciating social situations while clearly thinking he's doing the right thing by trying to support her in confronting what he sees as her fears and then flipping out at the inevitable consequences.

It's certainly not the kind of thing you enjoy watching but it's also hard to tear yourself away from it. I'm not sure what the point if it all was but, on leaving the cinema, I was practically vibrating with nervous energy and had to go and meet some people to try to calm down and process it. I think the last time I felt like that after seeing a film for the first time was The Idiots.


Gena Rowlands again in the frankly bizarre Gloria. This time she's a middle-aged gangster's moll on the lam with a young kid who's a witness to a nasty mob hit. Naturally she overcomes her initial antipathy towards him and puts herself on the line while taking out a few wiseguys. I'm all in favour of artists trying something different but the only way I can really see a connection between the guy who directed the other two and this is if he lost a drunken bet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 March, 2016, 03:33:30 PM
While I wish I could say it was High Rise, which looks great, the needs of small ones overrules my options, as so often these days and so instead it was Zootropolis.

Mind that said if High Rise is even half as good as Zootropolis I'd be more than happy. While I know that the animated kids film has reached heights of quality few other genres* have ever scaled in the last few years, the top end of which has shown a mastery of their form like many adult films could do well to learn from, even against the many masterpieces this film is an absolute delight. A true all ages wonder. When it's funny it's oh so funny (who knew the sloth could challenge the penguin for the title of most naturally amusing animal ever), when it's scary it's pretty bloomin' scary (this is actually it's one downside, at times my 4 and 6 year olds, both pretty cool about scary stuff, where possibly a little too scared) when it's makes a point, or works a theme it's not preachy, but always to the point and surprising sharp in its satire if you look for it.

The characters, design and animation are top notch. The dialogue sublime, it's trusts it's audience and allows them to explore the world at the level they want. It's a well crafted story, told well and full of surprises and excitment.

Seriously even if you don't have kids go see this, it's brilliant.

*We okay this isn't a genre is it, it's a... what medium, subset... oh I dunno., you decide
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 March, 2016, 04:23:46 PM
I believe the correct collective noun for animated kids' films is "Money Printing Factory".

I have had the good fortune to experience a double-header of movies with plots from Star Trek episodes that have been repackaged for teenagers who'd rather, like, die than watch that old stuff for old people so will be unlikely to be familiar with the source material from which The Fifth Wave derives, but if you've watched Voyager and seen that one where the Mexican pretending to be an Indian - no, not Ricardo Montalban - is tricked into fighting friendlies by cunning alien mind tricks, then you'll find the twist in the tale a bit tiresome, most likely calling it from about five minutes in, but teenagers' minds were probably blown or something.  A post-apocalyptic tale of alien invaders unleashing their masterplan to destroy humanity, this description makes it sound less boring than it actually is, because it is very boring indeed - the aliens invade by showing up in the sky and then doing nothing for a fortnight, and then... they turn off people's cellphones.  No, really.  Then some people catch a cold from some birds, and then the characters are wandering the countryside - the producers at least realised how boring this was and tried to splice in some superfluous tidal wave footage, but it remains pretty dull.
The connective tissue that makes this an actual story in its own right rather than something padding out an elevator pitch that got lucky is sadly absent, with standard teen drama shit filling in most of the running time with zero risk or surprises along the way.  It's hard to be critical of it, though, because all the stuff that makes it so utterly banal also renders it... well, I think the best word is probably "harmless."  There's nowt to get excited about either way, it's just a competently made film with neither emotional highs nor lows.
Similarly, Hunger Games: Part 3: Part 2: Mockingjay Part 2 is mostly boring until it starts getting interesting by abandoning its own internal consistency and plot arcs to pursue ludicrous but admittedly not particularly imaginative or exciting spectacle by having some teens invade a city that is for some reason the Danger Room from the X-Men now.  The spoiler-free overview is basically: some people walk through a city and get where they're going but then some stuff goes boom before they get there and then it's over.  A lot of stuff doesn't really make any sense, like why technology is suddenly ubiquitous rather than a rarity, or why the capital's sewers are unguarded, or why there are cameras everywhere except the places the rebels go out in broad daylight in the middle of the street.  The whole thing feels like water being treaded slowly and pointlessly before a last-ditch attempt at giving the actors something to do.
Well, at least it's finally over.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 March, 2016, 07:30:43 AM
Wife and I watched 10 Cloverfield Lane last night.
It's a pretty decent thriller that changes tack quite dramatically during it's final 15 minutes and nearly ruins all the good work that went before it.
John Goodman is excellent as Harold. The film is, I think, a little on the long side (at 105 minutes) but it's definitely a slow burner that builds with some great suspense.
6.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 29 March, 2016, 08:48:10 AM
Been raiding the Foxtel movie rental options on my cable television yesterday while doing a search through their listings for Walt-Disney's Dragon-Slayer (https://www.bing.com/search?q=walt+disney's+dragonslyer&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=050769224e624df3a01893be1212470a&pq=walt%20disney's%20dragonslyer).

Possibly the best one of that genre...like of any other movie featuring a Dragon.

Despite finding a few of their titles like Jumbo the Elephant. Walt-Disney does not have it's own category on my the cable network I use. Although I may have that channel.

Yet, I start renting a load of similar films with the odd sci-fi title as well.

Eragon, Which I did watch most of yesterday. Merely to just get another glimpse at the farm where the young hero grew up. Realising he does look a lot like somebody I went o school with. The resembelance almost uncanny. It's like when that Spore game doesn't really allow you to play against other players & will merely allow me to download the creatures (They have uploaded to the game server.) into my game universe. Anyway, despite ticking nearly all the boxes for a film of this kind, it still lacks style, the mature attention photography, lighting & what ever else is supposed to make a movie really worth-while. Instead blindly latching on to most expensive computerised special effects.  As for characterisations, portrayals, acting, all that stuff pales next to all the other stuff I've already mentioned & then there is the plot. The film's delivery of the story along with it's perculier fascmile of a old fantasy world based on ours, but not actually ours. This suffers as well, when they just feed it into their own purchased story machine, churning out same thing each time. I wasn't compelled enough to feel much for the main characters, the hero, the villains, the bystanders that survived & ones that fell. The dragon, a female, (Gender Swapping of Dragon-Heart!) that reminds me of the intelligent dragon mounts dreamed up from the Dragon-Lance novels. Especially the Legend of Huma about first ever Knight of the Rose & his female dragon mount.  These dragon could speak their own tongue, and that of humans, plus take on their own human form. So you know what might have gone on between dragon & rider during those cold nights. The very first book of the original series was made into cartoony movie & despite seeing images painted into my head while reading the novels.....now realised on the small screen. It's still a damn shame. 

Why hasn't Dragon-Riders of Pern never been adapted. That one must be good, it was one of those original dragon-rider stories that probably need that, but I have never read any of these myself.

The She-dragon in this film matures from hatchling to venerable aged maturity in matter of seconds after first taking flight. Something I was told by my father who had been reading the Eragon books after I brought him the very first one. It's kind of kinky when you realise that he's rides her bareback sometimes.

Continued Later...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 March, 2016, 09:15:47 AM
Deadpool. Gorily and bloodily fantastic - from the opening credits (directed by an overpaid tool) to after credits teaser (go home) - I loved every minute of this. One of the best Marvel films yet and refreshingly willing to portray what is basically a horrid character as he is in the comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judda fett on 29 March, 2016, 09:29:34 AM
Mr Turner. Timothy Spall at his phlegmy best as the titular Turner, painting and low growling his way to greatness. Looks lovely and was quite enjoyable but have a spare arse cushion ready as its a long 'un.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 March, 2016, 10:03:08 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 March, 2016, 08:48:10 AM
Why hasn't Dragon-Riders of Pern never been adapted.

The missus and I have spent too many hours discussing this very question: it's one of the most suitable SF books left unadapted.  We have a story treatment worked out, but fear Avatar (and maybe Eragon!) may have scuppered its chances.  Still, Studio Ghibli would do it proud.

The one thing I'll say for Eragon, it's a faithful adaptation. Of an awful book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 March, 2016, 10:13:10 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 March, 2016, 10:03:08 AM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 29 March, 2016, 08:48:10 AM
Why hasn't Dragon-Riders of Pern never been adapted.

The missus and I have spent too many hours discussing this very question: it's one of the most suitable SF books left unadapted.  We have a story treatment worked out, but fear Avatar (and maybe Eragon!) may have scuppered its chances.  Still, Studio Ghibli would do it proud.
A lot of people shit on Tales of Earthsea for being an amalgamation of the four Ursula Le Guinn books. I'm the opposit, for the direction it took it was a beautiful film and actually amongst my favourite Ghibli outings, so in this level i'll second Tordals statement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 March, 2016, 12:44:25 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 March, 2016, 10:03:08 AM

The one thing I'll say for Eragon, it's a faithful adaptation. Of an awful book.

Oh I don't know, I quite liked Alan Dean Fosters Star Wars book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 March, 2016, 12:40:22 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 29 March, 2016, 12:44:25 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 March, 2016, 10:03:08 AM

The one thing I'll say for Eragon, it's a faithful adaptation. Of an awful book.

Oh I don't know, I quite liked Alan Dean Fosters Star Wars book.

Touche.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 31 March, 2016, 12:53:12 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 27 March, 2016, 11:12:45 PM
High Rise

If it has one flaw it is that the slip from slight transgression to utter breakdown occurs in a montage mid-way, feeling a little rushed - however if I remember correctly this is not too dissimilar to the source material.

The late showing may well have been a factor but, disappointingly, I found HIGH RISE kinda one-note despite there being a lot to recommend. The montage didn't help, either.

I've not read the novel but, hey, I've seen Paradise Towers which I seem to remember buying into more easily than I did Wheatley's world. I get the point of a self-contained tower block (I've read JUDGE DREDD, natch) but did HIGH RISE actually explain why someone couldn't just nip off outside for a pint of milk? Block-credit only?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 31 March, 2016, 02:21:49 PM
There [spoiler]is no real reason why people can't just leave the block, other than it's their home... People who go to work and could afford to leave easily just keep coming back, drawn to the freedom offered within the High Rise.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 31 March, 2016, 05:06:05 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 31 March, 2016, 02:21:49 PM
There [spoiler]is no real reason why people can't just leave the block, other than it's their home... People who go to work and could afford to leave easily just keep coming back, drawn to the freedom offered within the High Rise.[/spoiler]

The financial constraints I can understand. I can even buy into the psychology of the upper levels not wanting to leave despite the piss-poor service maintenance. [spoiler]It was the tower's rapid descent into anarchy (and cannibalism?) when people couldn't eat. What was stopping them from heading out to their local Keymarket?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 April, 2016, 07:52:38 AM
I've watched the epic 'Heaven's Gate' over the last 3 evenings (well it is over 3 hours long and who has the time) and the whole thing is quite fascinating, as much the story that surrounds the film as the film itself. And I've become quite obsessed by the whole thing, after renting it from our 'Love film' (it took a year or two to arrive) cos of a documentry Rich Hall did on the Western, I'd been strangley oblivious to the whole thing prior to that.

The film itself is a 3 hour 20 minute loose examination of the Johnson County War between large and small ranchers in Wyoming. Though in rather timely fashion for today it used immigrants to represent the small ranchers struggling and then fighting back against the advances of big business and the self interest of the status quo. On release the film was absolutely lambasted almost universially by critics and astonishingly some went as far as saying it was the worst film ever made. It was a  massive commercial flop and has been said to course the death of the western, which as Rich Hall said, it couldn't have since the western was already dead. Of late it has been re-edited and gained a reevaluation and is now hailed by some as a modern masterpiece and one of the best films, certainly westerns ever made. Its initial critical ravaging is by some now blamed on either its political message (the excesses of big business to defend their status quo) or a dislike of director Michael Cimino and by all accounts his quite staggeringly indulgent and blotted production.

Having watched the actual film it is of course nowhere near the worst film ever made, neither is it a modern masterpiece. Rather it is indeed a very indulgent film but which at its core tells a fantastic story and is at times quite wonderful on the eye. It takes an age to get going, and while much of the first hour feels over long within that there is an incredible amount of set up for the story and the themes of the film. Sure it could have been done in half the time, but there's a lot of good stuff and the notorious prologue set at some if the main characters Havard graduation in some ways summaries the film, some fantastic work, fascinating on the eye but utterly blotted.

After that the rest of the film is solid stuff. Again that some of the scenes have been slated by some critics I find astonishing. An example being the again notorious roller skating scene, much like the Harvard stuff its telling you important stuff and the fiddling while rollerskating, that seems used to represent the excesses of the film, is breathtaking. The meat of the film is a compelling and emotion western added to with a well constructed and realised love triangle. Its all good stuff. The climatic battle is gritty and visercal and again has fantastic execution.

Well I say climatic, but interestingly for a film so famed for being blotted and at times it certainly is, there actally a scene right at the end that wraps up three major characters stories and sets up the ending for the led Kris Kristoffison and its all wrapped up horribly quickly in less than 5 minutes. For me the rest of the film could have learned from this ambushes storytelling efficency and this pivetal scene could have learnt from the rest of the films ability to indulge to allow the detail of the story to wash over you.

So yeah Heaven's Gate absolutely fascinating on all levels and if its a film you've never seen I whole heartly recommend diving in and enjoy both it and even more interesting story and reactions that surround it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: richerthanyou on 01 April, 2016, 11:09:53 AM
Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Just got back from seeing this. Thought it was great. Not sure how the rest of the world will view it. To me as a Kiwi I found a lot of jokes that were funny to me just from the way people act/speak that is specific to New Zealand. Like the bro taking selfies. (watch it and you will see) The plot is somewhat predictable but there were so many genuine laugh out loud moments (literally the whole cinema was laughing) that it more than makes up for it.

Go see it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 April, 2016, 03:04:16 PM
Batman vs Superman - there is actually a half-decent film in there somewhere, but it unfortunately has an hour of superfluous scenes and characters attached to it - why is Wonder Woman even in this film?  Come to think of it, women don't serve much purpose in this other than to be damsels in distress or to reassure us that male characters aren't gay - Batman's sex partner not only doesn't have a name, she doesn't have a face either, we literally just see her shape in the background of one scene to prove Bruce isn't gay because he doesn't have any romantic interest in the rest of the film, and his brief exchanges with Wonder Woman drip with an inexplicable hostility that rules out anything but angry fucking.
Not a very good job is made of making Batman non-gay in this, as he looks pretty disgusted with himself after he wakes up with aforementioned un-named and un-faced woman, and when Superman looks at him when Wonder Woman shows up and asks "is she with you?", Batman just looks puzzled and possibly offended at the idea he'd be with a woman.  Plus he lives with Jeremy irons - whose real-life opinions on gayness have been noted elsewhere - who always seems disappointed in Bruce even when he rescues trafficked slaves or stops arms dealers, and always seems to be harping on about Bruce finding a woman or having children (this comes up a lot during the film) and Bruce seems really annoyed when it comes up, and there's lots of talk of what Bruce's legacy will be, as another generation of Wayne children is for some unmentioned reason just not on the table as an option.

Anyway, not terrible, just a bit over the place and I've seen worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Darren Stephens on 02 April, 2016, 05:36:29 PM
The Fantastic Mr Fox was on TV this morning. Always avoided it, as the animation looked slightly iffy, but it was a superb film!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 April, 2016, 06:04:23 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 02 April, 2016, 05:36:29 PM
The Fantastic Mr Fox was on TV this morning. Always avoided it, as the animation looked slightly iffy, but it was a superb film!  ;)

Always love a bit of Wes Anderson and this one is no exception. Great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 02 April, 2016, 07:02:43 PM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 02 April, 2016, 03:04:16 PM
Batman vs Superman ... I've seen worse.
Coming from any number of other people, this phrase could be taken to mean "nothing special but just about worth watching."

Not from you.

Or SBT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 03 April, 2016, 11:21:03 AM
10 Cloverfield Lane. Not bad, not bad at all. Story wise it's quite slight, and maybe a tad overlong, but a fun enough romp, with a couple of bits that make you jump.
And, as suspected, [spoiler]nowt to do with Cloverfield from a few years ago[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 April, 2016, 05:18:22 PM
Batman v Superman. We had good seats. The film was good: it cracked along at a decent pace, didn't do much faffing with origins or explanations, the actors all did decent jobs, the effects were perfect, the story worked well and it wasn't too long.
.
Yet, as I was watching I kept thinking, I should be loving this, but I didn't love it. It's a perfectly good film in every respect I can think of and yet, somehow, naggingly disappointing. It's like being allowed to have a go in an Aston Marten and realising it's no different to a Ford Focus.
.
Weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: auxlen on 05 April, 2016, 06:47:21 PM
Oh, Dear I just watched The Signal on Netflix. A chaotic mess. Could have been epic instead it was just...oh dear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 April, 2016, 12:19:34 AM
Edward Scissorhands

For a long time I was terrified of Edward Scissorhands as a kid. I caught a promo of the film on TV when I was like five and used to have endless nightmares about him. It's only now, well over two decades later that I've actually finally gotten around to seeing it and facing that shadowy figure.

Visually very striking and its first hour or so is completely engrossing - it's got a very strong style, a host of interesting characters and excellent comic timing (also it's truly majestic to see Vincent Price hanging about). However as it drags to its melodramatic conclusion the pace slows, the fairytale premise runs a little thin and the logical holes become a little hard to stomach.

Nice to finally dispel the childhood fear of the character and not at all hard to see where it's cult appeal lies but doesn't quite entirely do it for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 07:31:07 AM
Quote from: Spikes on 03 April, 2016, 11:21:03 AM
10 Cloverfield Lane. Not bad, not bad at all. Story wise it's quite slight, and maybe a tad overlong, but a fun enough romp, with a couple of bits that make you jump.
And, as suspected, [spoiler]nowt to do with Cloverfield from a few years ago[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Err...did you not see the last 15 minutes? [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 07:53:07 AM
[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 06 April, 2016, 08:13:48 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 April, 2016, 12:19:34 AM
Edward Scissorhands

For a long time I was terrified of Edward Scissorhands as a kid. I caught a promo of the film on TV when I was like five and used to have endless nightmares about him. It's only now, well over two decades later that I've actually finally gotten around to seeing it and facing that shadowy figure.

Visually very striking and its first hour or so is completely engrossing - it's got a very strong style, a host of interesting characters and excellent comic timing (also it's truly majestic to see Vincent Price hanging about). However as it drags to its melodramatic conclusion the pace slows, the fairytale premise runs a little thin and the logical holes become a little hard to stomach.

Nice to finally dispel the childhood fear of the character and not at all hard to see where it's cult appeal lies but doesn't quite entirely do it for me.

Possibly one of the first films that took Johnny Depp away from his more...let's just say privileged beginnings & you must be something like 25 years of age.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 12:06:17 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 07:53:07 AM
[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

It's a direct sequel set in the same Cloverfield universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 April, 2016, 12:15:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 12:06:17 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 07:53:07 AM
[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

It's a direct sequel set in the same Cloverfield universe.
Yup, it's just got no real ties to the first movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 06 April, 2016, 01:46:09 PM
Quote from: auxlen on 05 April, 2016, 06:47:21 PM
Oh, Dear I just watched The Signal on Netflix. A chaotic mess. Could have been epic instead it was just...oh dear.

I keep seeing this film get panned and think its this one which I really enjoyed years ago...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780607/

...aint seen this new Signal yet.

I saw HIGHRISE last night and thought it was just ok. Some fine acting and nice camerwork. Bit arty-farty in places but thats alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 April, 2016, 12:15:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 12:06:17 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 07:53:07 AM
[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

It's a direct sequel set in the same Cloverfield universe.
Yup, it's just got no real ties to the first movie.

Sorry, but its neither a direct sequel nor, really, set in the same Universe. But dont take my word for it, the makers themselves have stated that.
Cloverfield had references to the TV series Lost in it. Just a bit of fun added, I think. Nowt more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2016, 04:59:49 PM
John Dies At The End - I saw it was on Netflix after I finished the rambling but enjoyable book.

It's rubbish, and it's such a shame it is. Even a good performance from Paul Giamatti couldn't save it.  They basically took the start and end of the book, tried to shoehorn it together somehow, leaving out all the great stuff in the middle.  Read the book, avoid the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 06:20:35 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 01:47:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 April, 2016, 12:15:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 12:06:17 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 07:53:07 AM
[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

It's a direct sequel set in the same Cloverfield universe.
Yup, it's just got no real ties to the first movie.

Sorry, but its neither a direct sequel nor, really, set in the same Universe. But dont take my word for it, the makers themselves have stated that.
Cloverfield had references to the TV series Lost in it. Just a bit of fun added, I think. Nowt more.

It's set in the same universe at the same time as the attacks from the aliens happened. The makers have stated that. It's really that simple. I can't see how this is difficult to understand personally. Not having a dig but it seems obvious to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 06:21:16 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 06 April, 2016, 04:59:49 PM
John Dies At The End - I saw it was on Netflix after I finished the rambling but enjoyable book.

It's rubbish, and it's such a shame it is. Even a good performance from Paul Giamatti couldn't save it.  They basically took the start and end of the book, tried to shoehorn it together somehow, leaving out all the great stuff in the middle.  Read the book, avoid the film.

Loved the book, thought the film was poo. And it's not a direct sequel to anything...For shame!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 April, 2016, 10:37:16 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/7O2FM6I.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 07 April, 2016, 07:18:12 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 April, 2016, 06:20:35 PM
It's set in the same universe at the same time as the attacks from the aliens happened. The makers have stated that. It's really that simple. I can't see how this is difficult to understand personally. Not having a dig but it seems obvious to me.

Not seeing it. The first film beasties wee and big don't look anything like John Goodman wee and big.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2016, 04:01:27 PM
Maybe I've been reading different interviews, but everything I've heard the Cloverfield Lane team say about the sequel/not-sequel seemed very clear that it's an [spoiler]unconnected story/universe, and that if they made a third film it would again have nothing to do with the first two. They're essentially going for the kind of anthology series approach that was the original intent with Halloween but got scuppered when Halloween 3 wasn't a success. Also, they're quite open about the fact that the sci-fi connections and Cloverfield branding was added very late on - the original ending had the character escaping the bunker then seeing the nearby city in flames (cause kept ambiguous) and then cut to credits just as she took of the mask and took a breath.

For my money that would have been a better film, as I enjoyed the bunker story so much that the addition of aliens just felt really unnecessary and that's where it lost me a bit. To just reveal that Goodman's character was right and then finish with some ambiguity over whether the air was safe (and the tension of her taking the plunge anyway) or what the cause had been would have been way more effective (in my opinion, other opinions may vary)![/spoiler]

I finally watched The Devil's Backbone. No idea why that took me so long to get around to, it really is brilliant, and very classic Del Toro for want of a better description. Boy knows his way around a ghost story. The subtitles on my DVD copy weren't great mind you, with the timing being way off at times and making some exchanges tricky to follow.

Oh, and Birdman. There are some really fantastic performances in that all round, and it's technically quite an accomplishment, enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 April, 2016, 04:43:02 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2016, 04:01:27 PM
Maybe I've been reading different interviews, but everything I've heard the Cloverfield Lane team say about the sequel/not-sequel seemed very clear that it's an [spoiler]unconnected story/universe, and that if they made a third film it would again have nothing to do with the first two. They're essentially going for the kind of anthology series approach that was the original intent with Halloween but got scuppered when Halloween 3 wasn't a success. Also, they're quite open about the fact that the sci-fi connections and Cloverfield branding was added very late on - the original ending had the character escaping the bunker then seeing the nearby city in flames (cause kept ambiguous) and then cut to credits just as she took of the mask and took a breath.

For my money that would have been a better film, as I enjoyed the bunker story so much that the addition of aliens just felt really unnecessary and that's where it lost me a bit. To just reveal that Goodman's character was right and then finish with some ambiguity over whether the air was safe (and the tension of her taking the plunge anyway) or what the cause had been would have been way more effective (in my opinion, other opinions may vary)![/spoiler]


[spoiler]I agree, I would have preferred the story to have nothing to do with aliens whatsoever. Yes, the original story did not contain the original final 15 minutes but the film does and that is what ties it to the original Cloverfield film. The sad fact is I would have enjoyed it much more had the Cloverfield name not been on it but because it was I knew what was happening outside, with the aliens, and so it made Goodman's character right as well as so very wrong.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 April, 2016, 10:07:28 AM
[spoiler]They don't look alike. And I don't recall the monster (or its parasites) from the first film being extra-terrestrial in origin.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:27:19 PM
No, if I remember rightly there was quite an extensive backstory to Cloverfield through viral websites and whatnot, which pointed to the creature from the first film being [spoiler]an underwater creature that mutated because of deep sea mining of some sort of chemical for an energy drink? I add the question mark because I'm struggling to remember the specifics! But yeah, it definitely wasn't aliens. According to the creators its only connection to Cloverfield is that they wanted to make it another similarly mysterious sci-fi/horror type thing, as part of an anthology series of unrelated stories. From that it's no more related to the original Cloverfield than one Twilight Zone episode is related to another. Still, I guess it would be nice to imagine all that crazy shit is happening at once![/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 April, 2016, 12:35:30 PM
Thought it was a satellite falling out of orbit?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:44:25 PM
Damn, I forgot about that theory. Maybe [spoiler]a wee creature landed in the sea with the satellite and then mutated?[/spoiler]

In fact yeah, that's probably it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:49:33 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:27:19 PM
No, if I remember rightly there was quite an extensive backstory to Cloverfield through viral websites and whatnot, which pointed to the creature from the first film being [spoiler]an underwater creature that mutated because of deep sea mining of some sort of chemical for an energy drink? I add the question mark because I'm struggling to remember the specifics! But yeah, it definitely wasn't aliens. According to the creators its only connection to Cloverfield is that they wanted to make it another similarly mysterious sci-fi/horror type thing, as part of an anthology series of unrelated stories. From that it's no more related to the original Cloverfield than one Twilight Zone episode is related to another. Still, I guess it would be nice to imagine all that crazy shit is happening at once![/spoiler]

The answer is in the film itself, [spoiler] in the very last few frames of the happy couple at the beach.  In the background you see the creature drop into the ocean with a splash, presumably from space, and in embryonic form.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5lHnRqF89c&nohtml5=False[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 April, 2016, 01:59:43 PM
I've not seen either movie but te way JJ Abrams says the 2 films are not direct sequel/prequels but are "blood relatives"  and described their connection as: "It's like Cloverfield is the amusement park, and each of these movies is a different ride in that park." (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/cloverfield-franchise-jj-abrams (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/cloverfield-franchise-jj-abrams))

Therte we go, perfectly clear!  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 04:08:30 PM
Zootopia. So, so good. Beautiful to look at, superb animation, great story with a message (of course!) and very funny too. What more could you ask for?  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 April, 2016, 06:55:42 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 08 April, 2016, 01:59:43 PM
I've not seen either movie but te way JJ Abrams says the 2 films are not direct sequel/prequels but are "blood relatives"  and described their connection as: "It's like Cloverfield is the amusement park, and each of these movies is a different ride in that park." (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/cloverfield-franchise-jj-abrams (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/cloverfield-franchise-jj-abrams))

Therte we go, perfectly clear!  :D

So it's connected then...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 April, 2016, 06:56:39 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:49:33 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2016, 12:27:19 PM
No, if I remember rightly there was quite an extensive backstory to Cloverfield through viral websites and whatnot, which pointed to the creature from the first film being [spoiler]an underwater creature that mutated because of deep sea mining of some sort of chemical for an energy drink? I add the question mark because I'm struggling to remember the specifics! But yeah, it definitely wasn't aliens. According to the creators its only connection to Cloverfield is that they wanted to make it another similarly mysterious sci-fi/horror type thing, as part of an anthology series of unrelated stories. From that it's no more related to the original Cloverfield than one Twilight Zone episode is related to another. Still, I guess it would be nice to imagine all that crazy shit is happening at once![/spoiler]

The answer is in the film itself, [spoiler] in the very last few frames of the happy couple at the beach.  In the background you see the creature drop into the ocean with a splash, presumably from space, and in embryonic form.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5lHnRqF89c&nohtml5=False[/spoiler]

Is the right answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 April, 2016, 07:23:53 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 04:08:30 PM
Zootopia. So, so good. Beautiful to look at, superb animation, great story with a message (of course!) and very funny too. What more could you ask for?  ;)

Yep seems like an age ago that I hailed this films glories here. Its bloody brilliant isn't it. Can't wait for it to come out on DVD,
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 07:41:20 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 08 April, 2016, 07:23:53 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 04:08:30 PM
Zootopia. So, so good. Beautiful to look at, superb animation, great story with a message (of course!) and very funny too. What more could you ask for?  ;)

Yep seems like an age ago that I hailed this films glories here. Its bloody brilliant isn't it. Can't wait for it to come out on DVD,

Yes! I wanted to sit through it again immediately, ha. Brilliant. I must get the 'art of' book....!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 April, 2016, 09:24:08 AM
Well much to my surprise Hunger Games - Catching Fire. I've had no interest in these books or movies, seeming to be derivative of some many other things. But a while ago I caught the first hour of the first one on Film 4 and really enjoying it. Felt it didn't sustain itself to the end but it was fun enough. So when the second one came on telly the other day I found I was really keen to see it. Which I have and it was pretty good. Enjoyed it quite a lot. It has all the advantages of second film in series. It doesn't have to labour set up and world building too much and doesn't have to labour to a complete conclusion. So has liberty to be bold with what it tells as a movie in and of itself. This one does it really well.

Feels attached to the first but while it dances with repetition does a great job of remaining fresh and building instead. So yeah even though I worry that the last story does that rubbish spliting in two thing, which I fear will led it to be bloated and a bit rubbish I'm defo very keen to see them now.

Nice surpise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2016, 09:58:13 AM
First and second Hunger Games  are genuinely good SF movies, with impressively nutty designs and a charismatic lead - I really liked them . If they weren't known to be adapted from YA novels I'd say they'd be better regarded by us oldies, but at the same time would have made a tiny fraction of the dough. The third was so dull and disappointing I haven't had the will to see the fourth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 April, 2016, 11:23:57 AM
Grimsby, by SBC. A big lump of dumb, but not bad. At 86 minutes it didn't outstay it's welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 10 April, 2016, 11:56:05 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 April, 2016, 06:55:42 PM
So it's connected then...

Only if you squint. I suspect most people will take it as read based on the title alone but, as I've said already, the aliens aren't physically the same. No gigantosaurus. No scuttlers. Instead, we get a big cat with a fanged prolapse for a mouth dropping down from some kind of space shuttle, neither of which appeared in CLOVERFIELD.

It may later prove a direct sequel but there's nothing in the film itself that unequivocally confirms it being such. It's got aliens, sure. But then so has THE FORCE AWAKENS.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is the second film in a projected franchise, it isn't necessarily part of some expanded universe. As that interview with VANITY FAIR suggests, Abrams wants to create an anthology series of films using one umbrella title as brand recognition. Hence (or so I presume) Bad Robot shoehorning aliens into someone else's story lest the general public be left confused as to why it's even called 'Cloverfield'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 April, 2016, 12:36:53 PM
The Twilight Zone, or Amusement Park analogy, I really like. Has a fresh feel to it - though there is a whiff of the [spoiler]aliens[/spoiler] being tacked on in 10 Cloverfield Lane - and not the usual done-to-death prequel/sequel thingy

Keen to see more 'episodes', or enjoy further 'rides'.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 April, 2016, 01:07:03 PM
I got dragged to a semi-drunken viewing of 10 Cloverfield Lane even though I read the Wikipedia plot synopsis ahead of time specifically to avoid such a scenario.  The ending felt tacked-on in a dry overview of the plot and if anything it felt even more tacked-on in the film because what precedes it is pretty well-done (if rote), especially John Goodman's turn as a survivalist loner who can't deal with the reality of what he's been preparing and secretly wishing for [spoiler]- the way the film hints at him being a serial predator of women is quite clever, but undermined by clumsy reveals.[/spoiler]
Everything before the final 15 minutes is better than what comes after, and the Cloverfield name is simply a cheat on the audience.  I suspect this will find a better reception as home viewing than it has as cinema fare.

Apprentice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djo_91jN3Pk) is a Star Wars fan-film that breaks from the usual fanfilm problem of being a snapshot of some larger story to which we aren't privy, though it is still a vignette set in the main continuity (immediately before The Phantom Menace) telling the story of a typical Sidious dick move when he sics some Jedi on Darth Maul as a final test of his skills.
The guy who plays Maul does a good job, though for some reason I couldn't get Ross Kemp out of my head every time Maul would stare intently at something off-camera.  I liked the western musical cue in the showdown sequence, and that the film doesn't use the typical opening crawl infodump.  The attack drones look fake so I suspect they didn't actually use real flying robots armed with lasers and instead just added them in later with computers or something, but otherwise it's visually impressive and the actors are pretty good, even if some do better than others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2016, 02:47:52 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 07:41:20 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 08 April, 2016, 07:23:53 PM
Quote from: Darren Stephens on 08 April, 2016, 04:08:30 PM
Zootopia. So, so good. Beautiful to look at, superb animation, great story with a message (of course!) and very funny too. What more could you ask for?  ;)

Yep seems like an age ago that I hailed this films glories here. Its bloody brilliant isn't it. Can't wait for it to come out on DVD,

Yes! I wanted to sit through it again immediately, ha. Brilliant. I must get the 'art of' book....!  :)

So very good - surprised even Alan Moore took his name off this one. By which I mean, this is to Top Ten what The Incredibles was to Watchmen, the best adaptation we're ever likely to get.

Loved the Frozen gags, the Breaking Bad and 48 Hours homages, the subtle use of lighting and focus, the really clever way the 'savage' characters were animated, Idris Elba was magnificent, it was just all round awesome. 

Some very mild reservations: Shakira was a bit overused, the baddie and plot twists were very obvious, Nick could maybe have had a sharper edge or been slower to come around, and Hollywood's fuzzy love-in with organised crime continues. 

But all I wanted when the credits rolled was MORE. Sequel, TV show, ride at EuroDisney, I don't care: just more Officer Hopps and more Zootropolis. A solid 9.5/10 from me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 April, 2016, 03:57:29 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 April, 2016, 02:47:52 PM

Zootopia.

By which I mean, this is to Top Ten what The Incredibles was to Watchmen, the best adaptation we're ever likely to get.

.....and plot twists were very obvious...

Surely you mean The Incredibles is to Fantastic Four? But then I didn't get the twist at all... so yah know...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2016, 04:09:17 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 April, 2016, 03:57:29 PM
Surely you mean The Incredibles is to Fantastic Four?.

Retired middle-aged masked heroes unite to stop former hero's dastardly secret plan involving murdering other retired heroes and the false-flag attack of a giant squid creature on a capital city? Nope, definitely Watchmen.

My niggles are of the tiniest variety, Zootropolis is by some margin the best film I've seen this year.  Best of all is the really surprisingly nuanced message about embracing diversity and the unending difficulties of actually making that work. And the sloths. Definitely the sloths.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 11 April, 2016, 06:33:41 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 April, 2016, 04:09:17 PMAnd the sloths. Definitely the sloths.

Oh man, aye.  The sloths were     h                               y                      s                   t              e          r                   i               c                   a                        l.

Especially at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 April, 2016, 08:19:10 AM
Predestination.

Mind bending, time loopy, paradox stuff starring Ethan Hawke.
I really enjoyed it but it would have been better if my girlfriend hadn't kept asking me to explain it. It's one of those stories that makes sense in your own head but when you try to explain it you end up getting confused!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 April, 2016, 09:27:35 AM
Been wanting to watch Predestination for a while after finding that team's previous film Daybreakers surprisingly enjoyable.

Watched Emelie, it's a creepy babysitter story with a pretty standard set-up, but the ways in which her creepiness comes out and the way she messes with the kids is pretty unsettling and it's an uncomfortable watch at times. There are some really tense scenes and the performances are good, particularly from the kids who are surprisingly natural.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 April, 2016, 01:56:41 PM
No Blade of Grass - British post-apocalyptic drama based on a novel by Tripods writer John Christopher about a family fleeing the imminent culling of the London population across a UK countryside transformed by food shortages into a lawless wasteland of roving thieves and murderers - you may insert your own "PFFT.  The North." joke here if you so wish.
The dilemmas the group face are interesting and wander off from the usual tropes, and there's a blackly-comic-as-it-gets use of flashbacks and flashforwards to the moments a character is born or dies, and even, in one instance, a child musing on when she might lose her virginity which is suddenly interrupted with the scene from later in the film where she and her mum are raped by bikers.  In other words, it's as bleak as you'd expect a 1970s British dystopian film to get, with the plucky middle class Londoners murdering each other on a dime or pimping out their children to placate sociopaths and then brushing it all off in the knowledge "this is how we live now - but we're still British, dash it all!"
The posters are, as you would expect of the period, completely awesome:
(https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/28/MPW-14427)

Jane Got A Gun - the original director walked off this and was immediately dismissed as a nightmare to work with, but being a lady type she'd get that reputation whether she deserved it or not, so I take the tale with a pinch of salt and choose instead to believe that she knew that 90 minutes with this boring story was bad enough, never mind the 90 days it would take to make it.  The general idea seems to be to make a film that Youtubers can later edit into a music video to accompany the song "Stand By Your Man", but that's where this film's contribution to wider culture sadly comes to an end, so let me save you the trouble: it's hard to be a pretty white woman in Western Times.  That is literally the whole film for you right there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 16 April, 2016, 02:22:37 PM
I've not seen the film adaptation but I've read the novel.  Spent years searching for it.  Finally found a 2nd hand copy and all of a sudden it were everywhere!   :|

It's pretty much what you expect for the time and genre.  A nice easy read and an easy riff on Cain and Able.  I wouldn't mind watching the film version some time to see what they've made of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 April, 2016, 03:40:48 PM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 16 April, 2016, 01:56:41 PM
No Blade of Grass - British post-apocalyptic drama based on a novel by Tripods writer John Christopher

I've never heard of either film or book but all sounds very interesting. Thanks for the heads up will check this out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 April, 2016, 03:53:30 PM
I think I started watching the movie some years ago but never finished it. Can't remember why because of what I saw it was quite nifty. Must slot that in for a rematch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 April, 2016, 04:51:40 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 16 April, 2016, 03:40:48 PM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 16 April, 2016, 01:56:41 PM
No Blade of Grass - British post-apocalyptic drama based on a novel by Tripods writer John Christopher

I've never heard of either film or book but all sounds very interesting. Thanks for the heads up will check this out.

The book is called The Death of Grass, if you're looking for it. If you like Youd/Christopher, it's a good one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 April, 2016, 06:05:39 PM
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I'm late seeing this.

I think I prefer the Captain America comic arc with that title, but this is a good film in the franchise. It lacks the enjoyable silliness of its predecessor, with the exception of the running gag of Natasha insisting on discussing Steve's love life (or rather lack thereof) during inappropriate moments, but in this case that is probably a good thing.

And Falcon got to do some cool stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 April, 2016, 05:48:22 PM
The Jungle Book (2016).

Wow. Just when you're feeling jaded with overblown cgi extravaganzas, along comes a cinematic experience like this to really blow your socks off.

It is hands down the most impressive digital effects showcase I have ever seen, and I'm generally not a fan of 'photo real' digi animation.

As for the film itself, as you'd expect from a Jon Favreau production, it's utterly charming. I've never actually seen the original animated movie start to finish, despite being familiar with its most iconic characters, so the story was really all new to me. I was wondering whether or not they were going to feature musical numbers ([spoiler]and found myself very much wishing that they would) and thankfully those two iconic songs are included, and in a refreshingly unpolished, unfussy way. It's absolutely delightful.[/spoiler]

Thankfully, my biggest gripe with big cgi action adventure movies - the ludicrously OTT, physics-defying, uninvolving action set-piece - doesn't apply here. The scale, though heightened, is kept relatively small, the action has a sense of physicality and weight uncommon in this kind of film.

It also does not even slightly outstay its welcome, clocking in at around 100mins. We stayed until the very end of the (amazing) end credits.

All in all a perfect night at the movies. Highest of recommends. 5/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 April, 2016, 09:04:15 PM
Quote from: radiator on 18 April, 2016, 05:48:22 PM
The Jungle Book (2016).

All in all a perfect night at the movies. Highest of recommends. 5/5.

Cool the kids want to see this and its getting a good rep so nice to see that confirmed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 April, 2016, 10:01:06 PM
Oh yeah, and the little kid who plays Mowgli? He's up there with the kid from Room as one of the best child performances of recent years - and all the more impressive considering he was presumably filming the vast majority of his scenes in front of a greenscreen with no one to act against.

I'd honestly go and see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 April, 2016, 04:13:32 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 16 April, 2016, 04:51:40 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 16 April, 2016, 03:40:48 PM
Quote from: Professor Wolfgang Von Bear on 16 April, 2016, 01:56:41 PM
No Blade of Grass - British post-apocalyptic drama based on a novel by Tripods writer John Christopher

I've never heard of either film or book but all sounds very interesting. Thanks for the heads up will check this out.

The book is called The Death of Grass, if you're looking for it. If you like Youd/Christopher, it's a good one.

Add me to the list of folks now interested in this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 April, 2016, 11:23:40 PM
Green Room

Watched it at the QFT in Belfast.

This is basically a cabin in the woods style horror movie, but with a neo-nazi compound instead of a cabin, and a punk rock band instead of dumb American highschoolers.

Also Patrick Stewart is the leader or the neo-nazis. And Maebe from Arrested Development is in the punk band.

Gorey as fuck, and a fuckin' fantastic show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 April, 2016, 12:16:27 PM
LADY IN THE VAN
Maggie Smith is on top form in this which works as a study of a nice, comfy mental illness, religous doctrine and living partially outside of the rules.

Alex Jennings is also grand as Alan Bennett and, as based on his memoir, there are some big, big laughs to be had. Some reasonably famous names pop up in short roles as Bennett's "gentlemen callers".

There's a really simple conceit of having Alan Bennett (the person) and Alan Bennett (the writer) on screen at the same time discussing things.  It works really well and I can't recall if I've seen it before.


and the

THE BOOK THIEF
Another nice, comfy study of Nazism, WWII and the holocaust. Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush do their best with fairly meagre material but it all failed to click for me and what should be an emotional ending is all a bit flat (and I don't think I could blame it on the child actors).


After those two, I really need to see a movie with some great action set-pieces, shagging and swearing. 



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 23 April, 2016, 11:06:11 AM
The Jungle Book is great, darker than the original cartoon although still a Disney production. Mowgli, GCI and voice cast are all brilliant. Two thumbs up from me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 April, 2016, 08:59:37 AM
EYE IN THE SKY
Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and Alan Rickman headline in this simple tale of a single drone observation mission which escalates.

Essentially, it's one drawn out set piece - almost in real time as people ponder the cost of collateral damage vs. eliminating a clear and present danger.

Good performances from all involved (strangely, the usually reliable Iain Glenn comes off a bit duff as a minister on the toilet) and, like Ex-Machina which I also watched this weekend, manages to make conversation and mundane scenes seem almost unberably tense.

The tension tales off a bit in the second half but this is made up for by some simple touches that remind you that everyone involved in a war is human. ([spoiler]The militia, previously shown as out and out bad guys toss aside their weapons in an instant to rush the girl to hospital. And Rickman explaining how he isn't an armchair General.)[/spoiler].

It doesn't tell you what to think - just lays it all out there and lets you decide whether a good thing or a bad thing happened. (Or if it did, I was being typically dense and missed it).

Worth a watch.  What else has Gavin Hood done?

One other question: Is the technology on show all for real? I'm thinking in particular of that mini-drone bug (like the thing out of Zelda).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 April, 2016, 10:47:27 AM
The mini-drone bug is not real. Yet....

Zootropolis may not be a classic on the level of Toy Story or the Incredibles, but it's thoroughly enjoyable and makes its points well throughout, without letting them get in the way of the story or the fun. The animation is beautiful and the design is frankly, depressing. Why does the real world look so crap? Can't we make cities with 7 different ecosystems? Or at the very least, trains with a viewing platform!? Animals do it better it seems.

Amazed at some of the (albeit tiny) backlash I saw where people thought it was too heavy handed in its moral message.

[edit just to say: Tordels said the stuff I missed out much better.]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 25 April, 2016, 11:50:39 AM
Hungover yesterday and needing comfort I watched the original Robocop for the umpteenth time. I can confirm it is still awesome!

I then watched Michael Moores Where to invade next which views more like a tv special than an actual movie documentary if that makes sense. Still enjoyed it but it does cover some very old ground.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 25 April, 2016, 12:30:07 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 25 April, 2016, 10:47:27 AM
The mini-drone bug is not real. Yet....

Zootropolis may not be a classic on the level of Toy Story or the Incredibles, but it's thoroughly enjoyable and makes its points well throughout, without letting them get in the way of the story or the fun. The animation is beautiful and the design is frankly, depressing. Why does the real world look so crap? Can't we make cities with 7 different ecosystems? Or at the very least, trains with a viewing platform!? Animals do it better it seems.

Amazed at some of the (albeit tiny) backlash I saw where people thought it was too heavy handed in its moral message.

[edit just to say: Tordels said the stuff I missed out much better.]

All the way through the film I couldn't stop wondering what the tame carnivores actually eat...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 April, 2016, 12:37:41 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 25 April, 2016, 12:30:07 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 25 April, 2016, 10:47:27 AM
The mini-drone bug is not real. Yet....

Zootropolis may not be a classic on the level of Toy Story or the Incredibles, but it's thoroughly enjoyable and makes its points well throughout, without letting them get in the way of the story or the fun. The animation is beautiful and the design is frankly, depressing. Why does the real world look so crap? Can't we make cities with 7 different ecosystems? Or at the very least, trains with a viewing platform!? Animals do it better it seems.

Amazed at some of the (albeit tiny) backlash I saw where people thought it was too heavy handed in its moral message.

[edit just to say: Tordels said the stuff I missed out much better.]

All the way through the film I couldn't stop wondering what the tame carnivores actually eat...
Vegans would have you believe tofu. Or quorn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 April, 2016, 12:45:57 PM
Diet is much more varied than that. I haven't had any tofu in months.  And only two bits of quorn in the last month.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 April, 2016, 12:47:58 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 25 April, 2016, 12:30:07 PM
All the way through the film I couldn't stop wondering what the tame carnivores actually eat...

One word:

Resyk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 April, 2016, 01:11:31 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 25 April, 2016, 12:45:57 PM
Diet is much more varied than that. I haven't had any tofu in months.  And only two bits of quorn in the last month.
I would have thought, taking into account we are talking about Tigers, Fox's and Polar Bears here, it would have been apparent I was being very tongue in cheek.

Wasn't targeting you in particular Tips.
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 25 April, 2016, 12:47:58 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 25 April, 2016, 12:30:07 PM
All the way through the film I couldn't stop wondering what the tame carnivores actually eat...

One word:

Resyk.
SOYLANT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 April, 2016, 07:26:45 PM
Quote from: Spaceghost on 25 April, 2016, 12:30:07 PM
All the way through the film I couldn't stop wondering what the tame carnivores actually eat...

I certainly went in with that very question in my mind, but it was repeated so often that the inhabitants had evolved from their wild origins (and their natural history museum shows this) that I took this as the answer: species do switch diet dramatically (e.g. Pandas, bees, numerous fish) Note that the animals are explicitly divided into Predators and Prey, not carnivores omnivores and herbivores, so physical form and ancient instinct, rather than diet, define them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 April, 2016, 09:51:55 PM
Newly purchased on Blu-ray (no extras, but uncut, and not too bad a print. Certainly a vast improvememnt on the old VIPCO DVD release..) The Vault of Horror. Classic 70's Amicus Horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 April, 2016, 10:03:21 PM
FOPP's current sale on many Arrow Video BD's resulted on a very happy me nabbing and enjoying the hammer's take on The Hound of The Baskervilles. It's heavy on the gothic atmosphere and set pieces, a few brave additions to the source material and some, quite frankly, phenomenal performances from Cushing and Lee, means this is amongst my favourite adaptations to bare the Sharlock Holmes banner. Brilliant stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 April, 2016, 10:15:05 PM
Just finished watching Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Its not subtle and quite brute, it wears its themes and ideas loud and proud, in some ways its very like our own 2000ad in flavour and tone. By heck therefore its as good as I remember.

Fantastic film and I'm ashamed of myself that its taken me so long to return to it - been years since I've seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 April, 2016, 10:43:24 PM
Ah, yes. Brazil. A cracking film if ever there was. And one I've not seen in ages, either.
Was it on Film4 recently, or some such? Caught that it was on, but it was late showing on a School night, so made a mental note to pick off the shelf for a much needed re-watch at a more convenient time.

And HMV are doing an Arrow sale as well. Certainly some tasty releases on offer, though I'd bought most on their initial release. But very tempted by their Burbs Blu-ray.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 April, 2016, 06:30:02 AM
Yeah recorded it off Film4 and it only took me 3 sittings to get through. I like a film that survives my brutal lack of time these days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 April, 2016, 08:44:07 AM
Just to add another voice to the general chorus of approval for the remake of Jungle Book. Saw it last night, and it's terrific.

The CGI is, without exception, superb. The voice cast is brilliant and Neel Sethi is excellent as Mowgli. Worth seeing in IMAX 3D, IMO — the use of depth of field is excellent. Civil War will almost certainly monopolise all the IMAX screens from Friday, so you might want to be quick.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 April, 2016, 08:54:47 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 April, 2016, 06:30:02 AM
Yeah recorded it off Film4 and it only took me 3 sittings to get through. I like a film that survives my brutal lack of time these days!

There's a great Criterion box set which includes the studio cut that Gilliam disowned, along with a commentary track, documentary etc.

https://www.criterion.com/films/211-brazil (https://www.criterion.com/films/211-brazil)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 27 April, 2016, 01:57:23 PM
I don't know if I'd have bothered with The Jungle Book necessarily but the mentions here led me to check it out when I unexpectedly found myself at the cinema. Have to echo all the compliments - it's fast and snappy, doesn't outstay its welcome; a nice bridge between the classic animated Disney adaptation of old and a straight, grown-up adaptation of Kipling's stories. All the best of both worlds. Loved the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about it going in - each and every voice casting was a nice surprise, and it was fun wondering who was going to play each character.

On a related note, King Louis was utterly, utterly terrifying - and I never thought I'd say that! Even singing 'King of the Swingers' doesn't make him any cuddlier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 April, 2016, 02:07:08 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 27 April, 2016, 01:57:23 PM
I don't know if I'd have bothered with The Jungle Book necessarily but the mentions here led me to check it out

Yes, absolutely. I made a special effort to catch it specifically because of the good word of mouth here, coming on the back of an engaging trailer at an earlier cinema visit (plus generally being well-disposed towards Favreau as a film-maker).

Well done, forum!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 April, 2016, 02:23:07 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 27 April, 2016, 01:57:23 PM
I don't know if I'd have bothered with The Jungle Book necessarily but the mentions here led me to check it out when I unexpectedly found myself at the cinema. Have to echo all the compliments - it's fast and snappy, doesn't outstay its welcome; a nice bridge between the classic animated Disney adaptation of old and a straight, grown-up adaptation of Kipling's stories. All the best of both worlds. Loved the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about it going in - each and every voice casting was a nice surprise, and it was fun wondering who was going to play each character.

On a related note, King Louis was utterly, utterly terrifying - and I never thought I'd say that! Even singing 'King of the Swingers' doesn't make him any cuddlier.

There's a rather nice 3D VR trailer - Mowgli's POV with Orang-u-Walken looming over your shoulder is disconcerting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 27 April, 2016, 04:05:34 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 27 April, 2016, 08:54:47 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 26 April, 2016, 06:30:02 AM
Yeah recorded it off Film4 and it only took me 3 sittings to get through. I like a film that survives my brutal lack of time these days!

There's a great Criterion box set which includes the studio cut that Gilliam disowned, along with a commentary track, documentary etc.

https://www.criterion.com/films/211-brazil (https://www.criterion.com/films/211-brazil)

Criterion, as I understand it, have branched out, and are now making their releases available for the UK/European market. Which I great news for those without multi-region players.
The Brazil UK DVD/Bluray is pretty basic so maybe we'll be getting a decent package for that at some point...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 29 April, 2016, 11:25:32 PM
Just watched Captain America the Winter Soldier on Netflix.

It was quite good, but it just ended without any real resolution to some fairly major plot elements. Is it just me, or would it be good for a film to have some sort of proper ending and not have to watch another film (Avengers Age of Ultron I guess)  or indeed Agents of Shield (which I am a season and a half behind on) to see how it turns out?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 April, 2016, 02:33:01 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 29 April, 2016, 11:25:32 PM
Just watched Captain America the Winter Soldier on Netflix.

It was quite good, but it just ended without any real resolution to some fairly major plot elements. Is it just me, or would it be good for a film to have some sort of proper ending and not have to watch another film (Avengers Age of Ultron I guess)  or indeed Agents of Shield (which I am a season and a half behind on) to see how it turns out?

This is becoming a problem for me with Marvel/DC films. Nothing ever seems completely resolved and the overreaching arc are becoming too long to make the films completely satisfying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 30 April, 2016, 05:08:46 PM
Seen both The Hunter & The Jungle Book twice over the last month, but still have some issues wit them...

Saw the Avengers - Civil War film more recently the other night. Not that I have been much of big fin of those films, but I felt compelled to see it anyway.

I will have more to say about this later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 April, 2016, 07:40:56 PM
Okay if I'm tired and grumpy tomorrow its you lot to blame you here me, you lot.

See if I'm tired and grumpy it'll be cos the boy has has nightmares and kept us awake. See took the ratbags to see Jungle Book this afternoon and while we enjoyed it immensely it did seem to scare the lad - to tears at one point (whoops), though he refused to leave and we figured it was best to get him to the happy ending - thanks god [spoiler]Balou makes it out [/spoiler]is all I can say. As I kept telling him (very quietly but luckily it was a noisey screening Bill Murry makes everything better. I even explained that to him afterwards but during the film the confusion seemed to get us through...

... anyway myself I loved it. Okay so not Zootropolis loved it - its good but heck its not that good - I still loved it. By heck for 99% of the time the CGI is breathtaking but as ever there are moments, just moments when it slips and some movement or facial gesture doesn't quite work. Mind I guess you can say that about the acting in any film. The best thing about it is how deliciously villainous all the villians are (see crying boy above however). Loved Christopher Walken as Marlon Brandon as King Louie (my God wasn't it incredible the way they made a 98769lb organutan look utter convincing and at the same time just like Chrisopher Walken) but the absolute best was Ibris Elda as a quite chilling Shere Khan. Oh and the young lad as Mowgli as quite a turn.

So yeah great film and thanks for the recommendation (though I reserve the right to whine in the morning if the lad does have a bad night!) - and the girl wants to read the book now so that's good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 May, 2016, 12:43:35 AM
Captain America: Civil War

Not so long ago. (Just got home from the cinema after the 9pm showing in fact.)

Very good.

[spoiler]I don't think Aunt May is supposed to look like that, but it was amusing that they made gag out of that.

I liked the twist at the end concerning the showdown with the big bad.

I think it would be more likely that the comic version of Spider-Man would be on Captain America's side, but considering the age of his version, the way Stark recruited him and that exchange between him and Cap, his choice is believable in this case. Ironically this version of Spider-man seems closest to the comics version in some ways. Particularly his chatty nature during combat, which is made a joke of.[/spoiler]

All characters had there bit in the limelight, even those with rather small roles [spoiler]like Pym, ha ha[/spoiler], which made this feel  closer to an Avengers Film rather than a Captain America movie in some ways... yet it does fit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 09 May, 2016, 04:14:22 PM
Son of Saul - Set in Auschwitz towards the end of the war, Son of Saul believably recreates the hell that place was, and as such, is a very uncomfortable and nightmarish film to watch, and one that really does get under the skin. I've found myself reflecting on it a lot these last few days.

Not for the faint hearted, but also highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 May, 2016, 05:48:11 PM
Tomorrowland.  Some odd choices in the third act ([spoiler]dropping the freshly dead body of the child-robot who has just revealed she's been in love with you for 40 years into the bad-vibe machine as a bomb was... I dunno, a downer? As was killing Hugh Laurie, who seemed like he could have been talked around easily enough[/spoiler]) and rather vague explanations of what's going on [spoiler](Who are the smiley robots? Why does Clooney have a teleporter hidden in a warehouse instead of his house with the rest of his super-elaborate escape gear? If there's a portal machine you can walk to Tomorrowland through, what's with all the high-acceleration contraptions?[/spoiler]), and the distinct feeling that many scenes exist simply to map directly onto a theme-park ride, this is a pretty fun film. Also, the central concept(s) are very, very cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 May, 2016, 07:47:54 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 09 May, 2016, 05:48:11 PM
Tomorrowland.  Some odd choices in the third act ([spoiler]dropping the freshly dead body of the child-robot who has just revealed she's been in love with you for 40 years into the bad-vibe machine as a bomb was... I dunno, a downer? As was killing Hugh Laurie, who seemed like he could have been talked around easily enough[/spoiler]) and rather vague explanations of what's going on [spoiler](Who are the smiley robots? Why does Clooney have a teleporter hidden in a warehouse instead of his house with the rest of his super-elaborate escape gear? If there's a portal machine you can walk to Tomorrowland through, what's with all the high-acceleration contraptions?[/spoiler]), and the distinct feeling that many scenes exist simply to map directly onto a theme-park ride, this is a pretty fun film. Also, the central concept(s) are very, very cool.

Tomorrowland is a great film and very much underrated. I've gone so far as to track down both versions of the Tomorrowland pins and I keep rubbing them in the hopes of being transported there.

I've also read the Before Tomorrowland book (with a special comic at the end). I would greatly recommend it as it sets up the film very well and is filled with sci-fi nerd nods throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 May, 2016, 09:02:28 PM
Think I'll give that book a go! I  did greatly enjoy the first two-thirds, and liked the big reveal (pretty terrifying stuff, and brilliantly delivered by Laurie), I just felt the third act in general didn't really deliver... but maybe a second viewing would help. There also wasn't half enough of Tomorrowland itself, beyond the by-now traditional Coruscant fly-throughs. Certainly didn't deserve the 'meh' reaction it seems to have received
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 May, 2016, 10:02:02 PM
Maybe I forgot as soon as it was over, but I couldn't tell what Laurie's plan or endgame was - [spoiler]Tomorrowland didn't seem to have a population, for one thing, and making the end of the world happen because it was inevitable?  I didn't really get that, either, nor did I feel Laurie's character was actually evil as much as misguided, and that the real soul of the film would come from convincing him of his error and helping him find the hope for the future that the titular city represents - as it is, what makes the protagonists any better than anyone else if their solution is more killing?  There's not even any sense that perhaps Laurie's character was reaping what he'd sown so much as he just got unlucky.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 May, 2016, 11:26:02 PM
Yup, that was exactly my reaction to the end, Bear. I was left feeling I'd missed something important about [spoiler]why Tomorrowland had about 20 people in it, an unspecified number of those being androids, and in particular I  thought it would have worked better for Laurie's character to have seen the light - especially given that his motivation was born of despair, and the general message was optimsm. He was far from an irredemable villain, not least because in his key speech he was utterly, painfully right. I couldn't help but suspect last minute rewrites.[/spoiler]

That said, I was mainly put out because I actually cared about what was going on - I thought the ideas in it were excellent, and loved the visuals. And maybe a rewatch will make some of that clearer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 May, 2016, 11:06:26 PM
Ava's Possessions

Great little film. The most 2000ad-esque film I've seen in years (Dredd excepted!).

A dark comedy about AA for those who've been possessed. That either piques your interest or you are in the wrong forum. It's on UK Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 11 May, 2016, 06:14:19 PM
Would really like to check out Tomorrowland as have heard a lot of good things about it!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 May, 2016, 12:48:17 PM
Pandemic Not as bad as I thought it would be! Doesn't do anything original at all and has lots of massive holes in (the infected all act like rabid zombies attacking for little to no reason, despite claims that rabid behaviour is only seen in later stages and a lot of contradictory behaviour), but the heavily used First Person POV makes for some great action pieces and reminds me thoroughly of Left 4 Dead. Main character is a bit of a wet rag but Alfie Allen is alreet as a mouthy cynical ex-con, and the overall post-apocalyptic feel is achieved fairly well. Weakens quite a lot as the narrative reaches for emotional depth it should really have steered clear of, but the first half is solidly entertaining direness.

People have said it's not 'B Movie' material, I disagree entirely. It's a one-off bit of fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2016, 02:44:00 PM
I didn't make it all the way through Pandemic.  Every time it tried to do character stories or went outside the bus to the cheapest apocalypse I've ever seen (and I watch Last Of Us and Fallout fan films), it fell apart.

The Shadow - better than I remember, but crucially flawed in key places, such as the lead character being a cold-blooded murderer and drug kingpin at the start and then "seven years later" he's gone full babyface for no reason.  The camp atmosphere also gets too dark or too comedic at times to be considered consistent.  I now cannot shake the idea that it would have been great to see a The Shadow vs The Phantom movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2016, 03:40:42 PM
300: Rise of an Empire.  Starz' first double length episode of Spartacus is a huge disappointment, lacking the hearty charm and creatively stylised visuals we've come to expect. Despite Peter Mensah's Onamaeus reprising his career as Doctore, and the last minute arrival of the Ma-Ma Clan this is a disjointed and repetitive mess devoid of characters, which shows up the limitations of the TV format in a way the regular episodes seldom do.

Wait, this is actually a movie sequel costing $100 million..?  Disgraceful crap. 



Oh alright, I suppose Eva Green tries her limited best, but nobody else does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2016, 04:45:51 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 12 May, 2016, 03:40:42 PM
300: Rise of an Empire.  Starz' first double length episode of Spartacus is a huge disappointment, lacking the hearty charm and creatively stylised visuals we've come to expect. Despite Peter Mensah's Onamaeus reprising his career as Doctore, and the last minute arrival of the Ma-Ma Clan this is a disjointed and repetitive mess devoid of characters, which shows up the limitations of the TV format in a way the regular episodes seldom do.

Wait, this is actually a movie sequel costing $100 million..?  Disgraceful crap. 



Oh alright, I suppose Eva Green tries her limited best, but nobody else does.

I like the ship battles in that one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 May, 2016, 05:42:34 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2016, 04:45:51 PM
I like the ship battles in that one!

Those were supposed to be ships? They didn't seem to move, respond or even look much like ships.  I assumed they were some magical wooden version of the giant rhino from the first one.

I loved the message that the Athenians took from Themopylae: not "300 lions stood alone against all of Persia for three days", but "a hunchback betrayed them and they were defeated".  I don't mind all the ahistorical nonsense, it's really a fantasy after all, but the weird things they do with the themes and characters... Artemisia not a noblewoman from Bodrum but an orphaned sex slave, Miltiades and Pheidippides replaced by Themistokles, Darius killed at Marathon... like, why? Much like the bit in the Pitt Troy where Menelaus is killed and Helen escapes, I'm left wondering why bother using a story you obviously don't like.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2016, 06:08:01 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 12 May, 2016, 05:42:34 PM
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 12 May, 2016, 04:45:51 PM
I like the ship battles in that one!

Those were supposed to be ships? They didn't seem to move, respond or even look much like ships.  I assumed they were some magical wooden version of the giant rhino from the first one.

I loved the message that the Athenians took from Themopylae: not "300 lions stood alone against all of Persia for three days", but "a hunchback betrayed them and they were defeated".  I don't mind all the ahistorical nonsense, it's really a fantasy after all, but the weird things they do with the themes and characters... Artemisia not a noblewoman from Bodrum but an orphaned sex slave, Miltiades and Pheidippides replaced by Themistokles, Darius killed at Marathon... like, why? Much like the bit in the Pitt Troy where Menelaus is killed and Helen escapes, I'm left wondering why bother using a story you obviously don't like.

I'll have to see it again to get your point!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 May, 2016, 06:32:06 PM
It's not that they don't like the story, TB, it's that it's historical record and/or entered the cultural lexicon and resonated for centuries as myth/allegory - so clearly it needed to be fixed and improved upon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 May, 2016, 01:39:47 PM
But you can do it well - I really liked the "updating" of BEOWULF.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 13 May, 2016, 01:48:55 PM
300: rise of empire = Eva Green! So it was ok with me! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 May, 2016, 02:30:00 PM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 13 May, 2016, 01:48:55 PM
300: rise of empire = Eva Green! So it was ok with me! :)


She was its only saving grace, although she did seem have lost a disturbing amount of weight training for it.

Yeah, I've no real problem with revisionist historical fantasy - Robin of Sherwood or (Gods forgive me) Hercules/Xena, Rome, even Troy is a guilty pleasure - it's when films make a great fuss of depicting historical events but seem to have completely erased the point, and haven't replaced it with anything new. The first 300, for example, took a story of proto-nationalistic heroism and replaced it with pseudo-homo-eroticism and the struggle of noble western civilisation with the corrupt and perverse swarms of the Muslim world. It was dodgy as feck, but at least it was something.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 14 May, 2016, 09:19:30 AM
300 - rise of an empire.

Why would anyone watch this again?

I just watched Captain America  :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 14 May, 2016, 11:17:49 AM
The Spartacus comparison is spot on but I felt the film embraced its own silliness in the same way rather than being hamstrung by it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 May, 2016, 11:05:57 PM
400 Days - which I came to cold, so probably wasn't second-guessing it like pretty much anyone who knows the basic setup would be doing: four trainee astronauts are locked in an underground simulator for the duration of a flight from Earth to Mars in order to gauge how real astronauts might fare under long-term pressure, with the simulation including "curveballs" at random intervals.  You can probably guess where things go from there, but it plays it out well, and my main takeaway was this was the film most people probably thought they were going to see when they paid for a ticket for Cloverfield Lane.  I enjoyed it, but the amount of actors from DC superhero shows took me out of things now and then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 15 May, 2016, 11:47:14 PM
Last Days on Mars.

Directed by Ruari Robinson who has made a couple of interesting 2000AD-ish shorts (Blinky, Silent City - which is reminiscent of an old future shock (or the Metal Hurlant story it was cribbed from))

Squeezes a lot out of the £7m budget.

Hits a lot of familiar notes, but it will be interesting to see how his Moby Dick in space turns out (I'm guessing it's not going to involve Spurrieresque whalesex)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 16 May, 2016, 12:46:28 PM
I quite enjoyed Last days On Mars. Personally I enjoyed it more than The Martian!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 16 May, 2016, 01:40:36 PM
London Has Fallen - Its got Gerard Butler in it so you know its gonna be shit before you see it but did you know its really, really shit? Well you do now. Shockingly bad CGI which is only surpassed by its total lack of self awareness.

Team America, fuck no!

Civil War - Its alright but starting to feel like money for old rope at this stage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 May, 2016, 04:10:21 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 16 May, 2016, 01:40:36 PM
London Has Fallen - Its got Gerard Butler in it so you know its gonna be shit before you see it but did you know its really, really shit? Well you do now. Shockingly bad CGI which is only surpassed by its total lack of self awareness.

What does that say about the Point Break reboot. Butler dropped out of that one because even he thought it was utter shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 May, 2016, 04:30:48 PM
I enjoyed Cap 3 Civil War - superhero fights with a bit of fun and emotion. Much better than the comic of the same name as Tony Stark didn't have to become Dr Doom for the sake of the story. Bit of a fizzle ending and overly long at the beginning, but a really good Avengers movie. Much better than Age of Ultron (sadly, I love Ultron as a bad guy), not as good as Winter Soldier.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 May, 2016, 05:33:56 PM
APRIL 9th.

No not about my little brother's birthday or my dad's funeral but the German invasion of Denmark in World War II.

I know nothing about what actually happens but it all seems to be rendered believably enough up on screen and you warm to some of the stiff upper lip type performances quite quickly.

Bicycle rifle platoons vs. Panzers (even little Panzer IIs) provides an appropriate visual metaphor as well.

Finishes with a really cracking and tense bit of street fighting (where despite everyone being in uniform and in similar looking streets, you can tell what is going on because teh writer and director take a minute or two to give you the lay of the land and who is positioned where)  and an even tenser moment of [spoiler]surrender/capitulation[/spoiler].

Some of it is terribly on the nose though - you can almost tell who is going to die through cliched dialogue.

But worth a watch.

And one I would add to my World War II in chronological order marathon I plan to do one year (that would be a good Buttonman challenge).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 May, 2016, 05:36:59 PM
As opposed to STALINGRAD.

This is the recent russian film not  the nineties german effort (apparently the first flirtation with IMAX) and while it looks lush, it really is fucking pants.

Sorry, I mean...

Stalingrad? More like Shitingrad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2016, 07:31:32 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 April, 2016, 02:07:08 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 27 April, 2016, 01:57:23 PM
I don't know if I'd have bothered with The Jungle Book necessarily but the mentions here led me to check it out

Yes, absolutely. I made a special effort to catch it specifically because of the good word of mouth here, coming on the back of an engaging trailer at an earlier cinema visit (plus generally being well-disposed towards Favreau as a film-maker).

Well done, forum!

Cheers

Jim

Aw, that's great to hear! Glad I helped to sway a few people to see it - it really is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 17 May, 2016, 10:02:28 AM
Terminator Genisys! I love all the terminator films and the Sarah Connor Chronicles tv series but God i found this latest entry truly dire. Sure there some good scenes but felt they have ruined the terminator franchise with this latest entry. Really found the actors portraying kyle reese and sarah connor to be totally miscast. Arnie was good and made best of poor script. Just my opinion
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 May, 2016, 12:37:21 PM
The Terminator seems to be suffering the same fate as the Aliens and Predator at the moment. Multiple failed attempts at reinvigorating that franchise.
Terminator 1,2 and the SC Chronicles were all ace. I thought Salvation and Genisys were fairly fun action films but ultimately not up to scratch, with 3 being the worst in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 May, 2016, 01:39:13 PM
I have to admit that going in, I expected the Point Break remake might be bad in that way modern movies are when they're a little too long for a three-act structure or weighed down by scenes or incomplete character arcs - you know, the kind of bad that comes simply from things not coming together as a singular work, in that they're maybe not "bad" per se so much as failed?  Well, Point Break is actual bad.
Point Break is a movie for people who watch Entourage and don't know it's a comedy.  It is a movie for people who don't watch Fast & Furious movies because they don't take themselves seriously enough.  Point Break is a terrible film that will make you wish that every single self-involved douchebag character's personality had a face so that you could punch it in the balls.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 18 May, 2016, 07:31:27 PM
Professor Bear im cracking up with those comments mate! Wont be buying the dvd then?  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 19 May, 2016, 02:18:14 AM
Missed the first half hour, but saw the rest of The Martian, which I bought a little while back as a gift for my dad.

Thought it was absolutely great! Unusual to see Kristen Wiig in a straight role, and I thought the acting  was superb across the board. Superbly written as well. I think I'm going to have to watch this again soon.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 May, 2016, 08:44:33 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 18 May, 2016, 01:39:13 PM
  It is a movie for people who don't watch Fast & Furious movies because they don't take themselves seriously enough. 

I think the Fast and Furious films do take themselves to seriously. And they are utter Shit!

Pointbreak remake is also Shit. Of the highest order!

I watched most of London has Fallen the other day and my brain still hurts.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 May, 2016, 08:59:33 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 19 May, 2016, 08:44:33 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 18 May, 2016, 01:39:13 PM
  It is a movie for people who don't watch Fast & Furious movies because they don't take themselves seriously enough. 
I think the Fast and Furious films do take themselves to seriously. And they are utter Shit!
There is a school of thought which contends that the absolute pinnacle of cool is to be utterly ridiculous, know you are being utterly ridiculous and carry on as if everything makes perfect sense, without a nod, wink or other tediously self-aware gesture to the audience.

Also, the sequel is called 2 Fast 2 Furious!

And another sequel is called Fast + Furious!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2016, 03:59:34 PM
Me and a few friends are having a british crime night, a marathon of several known but excellent movies.

Mona Lisa (1986, dir.Neil Jordan)
Get Carter (1971, dir.Mike Hodges)
The Black Panther (1977, dir.Ian Merrick)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 May, 2016, 04:17:39 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2016, 03:59:34 PM
Me and a few friends are having a british crime night, a marathon of several known but excellent movies.

Mona Lisa (1986, dir.Neil Jordan)
Get Carter (1971, dir.Mike Hodges)
The Black Panther (1977, dir.Ian Merrick)

You could do worse than to add Brighton Rock, The Long Good Friday and Sexy Beast to that list (or have another British Crime night next week)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 May, 2016, 04:19:32 PM
The Business is another really good one but people think it must be shit because Danny Dyer is in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2016, 04:28:52 PM
Actually watched The Long Good Friday not that long ago, an utterly masterful film by all accounts. Brighton Rock, Sexy Beast and The Business shall have to be put to the vote! Thanks JamesC.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 20 May, 2016, 04:30:11 PM
The Business isn't a shit film because it has Danny Dyer in it. It's a shit film that just happens to have Danny Dyer in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 20 May, 2016, 04:57:24 PM
Oh Sexy Beast is a film I always mean to watch but never get round to, cheers for the reminder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 20 May, 2016, 06:05:15 PM
GREEN ROOM. A brilliant piece of Hixploitation let down by a prosaic and frankly unnecessary climax.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 21 May, 2016, 03:33:55 PM
Enemy, with Jake Gyllenhaal (which my tablet just automatically typed for me after the letters"g" and "y".  The future is now, people!), as Adam, a damaged university lecturer, and Anthony, his actor doppelganger, who he tracks down after noticing him as an extra in a film.  It's like Dostoyevsky (it did it again!), but with less laughs.  The whole thing is minimal and a bit mumblecore, and on the face of it seems really slight, but there's more beneath the surface (and a few clues as to what eally might be going on) and I've found myself sitting and thinking about its themes and its final non sequitur scene for longer than is probably healthy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2016, 06:06:21 PM
Captain America: Civil War: so much better than the comics it loosely nods at. Light-hearted and serious at the same time, I thought it was insanely successful at creating a ridiculously complex mishmash of characters, schemes and setpieces, while still rooting everything in human feelings, beliefs and relationships. I love that it developed Steve's arc from ostensibly serving his country to serving his conscience, which is what he was really doing all along.  And I love that they made Tony a bad guy, even though he was clearly in the right, right up to the end.

Very clever, very entertaining, but way too long. I still can't get my head around the fact that I just watched[spoiler] Spiderman take Giantman down like an Imperial Walker while Back Widow zaps Black Panther and Scarlet Witch drops buildings on everyone[/spoiler]. What a time to be alive!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 22 May, 2016, 06:39:01 PM
Mike Leigh's Naked.

Always good to revisit this film.

This time around I noticed, for the first time, that one of the bit players is in fact the rather superb Toby Jones.
His fame/or my awareness of him has increased since I last watched this :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 May, 2016, 10:18:03 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 February, 2016, 12:26:09 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 01 February, 2016, 12:13:02 AM
That's me finished seeing all the Best Picture Oscar Nominees...
The Room - Not out here for another couple of months. Have managed to avoid knowing anything about it despite general buzz being that it's amazing.
Finally caught this tonight and the general buzz was just about right. The two leads are fantastic and the way it presents the world they've created is first rate. About the only minor quibble I have is that a few too many things are introduced in the second half before being quickly dropped. So good it almost makes me consider watching the director's previous film about Frank Fucking Sidebottom.

Of course, nobody cares about that so how about a film with a double Tooth connection? Apparently based on a French comic drawn by Colin Wilson, Bullet to the Head stars Judge Dredd himself. This was released around the same time as Arnie's The Last Stand (which I also enjoyed) and seems clearly intended as a similar late career repositioning for Stallone. You could certainly question the morality of many of the characters Sly has played over the years but I think this is the first time I've seen him play an outright villain. Here he's a hitman on the hunt for whoever double-crossed him forced into an uneasy buddy relationship with a cop (Han from out of the Fasts and Furiouses) after the same people. Christian Slater as a sleazy lawyer is the highlight of the supporting cast.

The plot is overly convoluted (one too many sets of villains with incomprehensible aims) but that's hardly the biggest fault in any thriller and it keeps our heroes on the move. The action when it comes is short and satisfyingly brutal, with Sly really selling his character as an older guy who has to make the first couple of hits count. This gradually ramps up to a climactic axe fight with Khal Drogo which definitely isn't something you see every day and all the more fun for it.

Easily better than all three Expendables.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 May, 2016, 10:31:32 PM
The Fisher King

The second time I saw this the relatively schmaltzy flaws I originally perceived in it fell right by the wayside. It's a bizarre and dreamy picture, with an effortlessly charming Williams and some truly astonishing sequences (the station waltz being an obvious one). The overt (and dated) "man needs woman" theme jars slightly, along with their attempts to force Williams and Plummer's disjointed Lydia together. I found the gradual erosion of Bridges' cynicism allowing him to see the basic goodness in the excellent Reuhl far more moving romantically.

Any potential cheese issues aside it still functions as a classic Gilliam piece, brimming as it does with humanity and imagination.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 May, 2016, 11:11:07 PM
Chappie.

Felt like a real cut-and-shut, the whole [spoiler]fairy tale ending with the personality transfer on a USB stick bobbins didn't sit well with the near future tech - I could take Wikus turning into a prawn, because aliens

Disappointing[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 May, 2016, 11:32:42 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 May, 2016, 10:31:32 PM
Any potential cheese issues aside it still functions as a classic Gilliam piece, brimming as it does with humanity and imagination.

I love TFK, not least for "Free the little guy!" a phrase my family have learned to dread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 22 May, 2016, 11:45:51 PM
The Jungle Book, in a 95% empty cinema.
Went with reservations (Her Indoors choice, not mine...) and adored this film. From early on the CGI makes it plausible, not remotely showy or distracting. It's captivating.

Only comments I'd encountered were damning (I'd also have questioned a remake), including ridiculing of Christopher Walken's anti-singing. More reluctant than ever to listen to opinions...  :os

With this and The Force Awakens recently (another people are fond of slating) I may be developing a cinema habit. Who'da thunk it.
Recommended.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 May, 2016, 11:59:09 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 May, 2016, 10:31:32 PM
The Fisher King...Any potential cheese issues aside it still functions as a classic Gilliam piece, brimming as it does with humanity and imagination.
I confess it may be ten years or more since I last watched it but it was certainly my favourite of his films that I've seen. Not least for managing to walk the schmaltz tightrope so well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 23 May, 2016, 12:02:35 AM
i really enjoyed Bullet to the head! Thought it one of stallones best in years. The expendables trilogy were a bit of a disappointment for me. Enjoyed them but pretty forgettable. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 May, 2016, 08:55:54 AM
Bit of a Jennifer Lawrence fest this weekend with the fisrt two Hunger Games films on telly and X-men:Apocalypse - she was very good in all of them.

I'd always ignored the Hunger Games as being teen-girl fare, but the films were pretty good, as long as you don't think too deeply about the plot and politics of that world. Excellent performances from everyone concerned, and entertaining action and effects.

X-men: Apocalypse was a lot better than I feared - not as good as first class, but much better than X3. The strength of these movies has never been the plot but the casting - Macavoy and Fassbender are great and the young versions of Storm, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Jean etc were all well judged. Not sure about remaking Angel as a drunken German thug rather than a millionaire playboy, and Psylocke was something of a blank slate, but I did like Caliban a lot. Lots of good moments - the Quicksilver super-speed sequence was done in the last movie, but it's always a lot of fun, and we get to find out [spoiler]How Charles lost his hair[/spoiler].

As is often the case, the villains plot didn't make a whole lot of sense ([spoiler]Just what was Magneto supposed to be doing towards the end? - "Okay - Angel, Storm and Psylocke, guard me while the the transference takes place, Magneto, I want you to float about creating a spectacular but pointless metal-storm"[/spoiler])
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 23 May, 2016, 11:23:20 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 22 May, 2016, 11:32:42 PMI love TFK, not least for "Free the little guy!" a phrase my family have learned to dread.

Robin's half-arsed attempts (literally!) at angling his thigh so as not to expose himself to camera just add to the fun once he's in full Williams swing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 23 May, 2016, 03:00:29 PM
Sabotage with Arnie - Pure pish  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 23 May, 2016, 04:13:16 PM
oh and also watched Superman vs Batman and it wasnt as bad as I feared but wasnt as good as it should be.

Though Batmans thoughts about supes do seem more suited to Luthor and the actual Luthor just acts like a tit throughout.

I did laugh that every time theres a big fight someone always states that "everyone went home for the day/the buildings abandoned/its a bank holiday" just so that you know the heroes arent killing hundreds of people. again.

and then they fight a cartoon.

Its no Civil War thats for sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 May, 2016, 06:04:49 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 12 May, 2016, 09:19:38 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 12 May, 2016, 08:44:45 AM
As for the Hulk films,.I found the Ang Lee Hulk film rather pretentious. I liked the portrayal of the Hulk himself though. The way he moves is probably the closest to the comics we've ever had.
Yeah, the Hulk himself is a fantastic creation - his leaping about in the desert is hypnotic, great stuff.  As for the rest, pretentious twaddle covers it. Like most of Ang Lee's work, IMHO.
I knew I remembered someone talking about Hulk recently. I've no particular interest in the character and I'm not keen on the director either but caught this on tv last night and ... really liked it. Liked the slow start establishing the characters; loved the use of inserts and split screen to visually mimic a comic page while handling things like reverse shots; liked the bouncy Hulk; liked the couple of references to the old series; really liked the weird inversion of the typical superhero father-son dynamic; laughed like a drain at the bit where he punches the Hulked-up bulldog's teeth clean through the back of its head; wasn't really paying attention for most of the running time.

Colin Farrell provides a solidly blank, straight-man performance at the heart of The Lobster. I admire them taking a completely serious approach to an absurd topic again (here, single people are given a few weeks to form a couple before being turned into an animal) but this is nowhere near as good as Dogtooth and runs out of steam half way through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 29 May, 2016, 10:28:32 AM
Grimsby - full of plotholes and not exactly Highbrow art but it is astoundingly funny!

Definitely worth a watch!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 May, 2016, 11:57:54 AM
Yes, I enjoyed Grimsby for what it is, as well.
Not the biggest SBC fan, but did make the effort for this as I'm a Grimsby lad.

He can't do the accent, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 May, 2016, 02:17:46 AM
Guardians of the Galaxy

Great sci-fi movie . A lot of fun. It might be my new favourite Marvel film. And so soon after seeing Civil War too. (Yes, I got to this really late.)

Also watched X-Men: Apocalypse a couple of days ago too. While not great, I rather enjoyed it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 May, 2016, 09:41:28 AM
Thanks to Arrow Video and 88Films recent slew in Giallo out put, i've watched quite a bjt of Itallian murder mystery recently. Starting off with Spasmo, a more psychadelic and quite tame instalment in the pantheon of gialli, it none the less oozes style and charm. Probably one of Umberto Lenzi's best films. Following on from that was The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave. This was an odd one, as it bordered more on western slasher material than a "whodunit" seeing as the movie is told from Evelyn's perspective as she enacts revenge on her would be killers. Rather boldly shot as well, but a poorer movie than it's sister production The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Probably one of the best instalments of the genre i've seen thus far, it's all a bit ridiculous in the best wya possible but lavishly shot and smartly written. Cracking stuff! Finally was Milano Caliber 9, a cult hit if ever their was one. I highly recomend this to anyone who enjoys a crime thriller, Fernando Di Leo hits all the right notes and has formed an italian gangster story to rival many of the more highly regarded american attempts at the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 30 May, 2016, 08:21:07 PM
Warcraft - out of curiosity really.

It's not as bad as the reviews have made out, but I can't see much in the way of crossover appeal.

I just found it a bit odd, and surprisingly po-faced for something based on a game. The orcs were more interesting than a good portion of the human characters.

I've never played Warcraft, and only have passing knowledge because of my background in 3D so I'm sure some of it went over my head.

I just find the concept of game > movie translations a bit weird in general.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 June, 2016, 10:43:03 PM
Following swiftly on from last weeks Brit Crime marathon me, Dan and Emily sat down to watch three superhero movies...

Batman (1966, dir. Leslie Martinson) is the camp movie to go with the camp TV show. But it's oh so charming and fun any short comings can asily be forgiven.

Mystery Men (1999, dir. Kinka Usha) was brought up some time back on thesehere boards but i've never actually seen it. Based on The Flamming Carrot however so I have an inkling what i'm getting us into...

Kick-Ass (2010, dir. Mathew Vaughn) is juvenile twaddle from what I remember but Dan and Em stand by it insisting it's better than I think...my memory say's otherwise!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 June, 2016, 10:50:49 PM
Three fun movies there, Hawk. Even the Millar is enjoyable, if all over the place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 June, 2016, 05:48:51 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 01 June, 2016, 10:50:49 PM
Three fun movies there, Hawk. Even the Millar is enjoyable, if all over the place.
And a very enjoyable night it was too! Kick-Ass is still pish but I was quite inebriated by that point so had a laugh anyway. Batman '66 is as delightful as ever. Rag in about the hammy nature all you will but it's completely earnest and all in good nature, and unlike a certain other Batman film I could name didn't drive me to drink because of how god awful it was, I was drinking already!

Mystery Men was the remarkable stand out, an absolute blast from begining to end. Cheesy, camp, more than a little dated but without doub't a 3D vision of Burdens creation. The cast is on fire, Stiller comes across as a lovely bloke irregardless of weather you find hom funny or not, whilst Azaria, Macy, Garofalo, and the ever likeable Wes Studi all stand out. It's also at times brow raisingly hilarious. The car jacking scene had me in floods of tears, and it just wouldn't stop!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 June, 2016, 10:20:27 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 02 June, 2016, 05:48:51 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 01 June, 2016, 10:50:49 PM
Three fun movies there, Hawk. Even the Millar is enjoyable, if all over the place.

Mystery Men was the remarkable stand out, an absolute blast from begining to end. Cheesy, camp, more than a little dated but without doub't a 3D vision of Burdens creation. The cast is on fire, Stiller comes across as a lovely bloke irregardless of weather you find hom funny or not, whilst Azaria, Macy, Garofalo, and the ever likeable Wes Studi all stand out. It's also at times brow raisingly hilarious. The car jacking scene had me in floods of tears, and it just wouldn't stop!

Fantastic movie.

Not seen it in years, but i'm always a little thrown when Michael Bay pops up in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 June, 2016, 08:39:53 PM
Quote from: Rately on 03 June, 2016, 10:20:27 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 02 June, 2016, 05:48:51 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 01 June, 2016, 10:50:49 PM
Three fun movies there, Hawk. Even the Millar is enjoyable, if all over the place.

Mystery Men was the remarkable stand out, an absolute blast from begining to end. Cheesy, camp, more than a little dated but without doub't a 3D vision of Burdens creation. The cast is on fire, Stiller comes across as a lovely bloke irregardless of weather you find hom funny or not, whilst Azaria, Macy, Garofalo, and the ever likeable Wes Studi all stand out. It's also at times brow raisingly hilarious. The car jacking scene had me in floods of tears, and it just wouldn't stop!

Fantastic movie.

Not seen it in years, but i'm always a little thrown when Michael Bay pops up in it.

Yep I've raved about this glorious movies many a time here. Wonderful stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 June, 2016, 09:27:55 PM
I am somewhat baffled, however, by just HOW it's a adaptation of The Flamming Carrot...without da' Carrot. Where any of the characters in Mystery Men side characters in Carrot comics, I wonder?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 June, 2016, 10:13:16 PM
Yeah the Mystery Men appeared in Flaming Carrot a long time before the movie.

I've not read the story for a long time BUT I seem to recall it goes something like this.

Film starts as a Flaming Carrot movie, but producers (Studio?) somebody got nervous about making a film with a man with a carrot on his head as the led.

So Mystery Men are drafted in as more down to earth etc etc and Flaming Carrot will fill a role similar to that played by Captain Amazing (though its a little hard to imagine the exact nature of that). Producers, studio get a nervous about making a film with a man with a carrot on his head as the co-star.

Mystery Men take over film and Flaming Carrot to be a cameo. Producers, studio get a nervous about making a film with a man with a carrot on his head in it at all.

Flaming Carrot removed altogether.

Not sure if that's a good or bad thing BUT still love the Mystery Men film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 04 June, 2016, 11:14:46 AM
Wonder if it's time to give Mystery Men another shot, I used to own it years ago but decided I didn't like it so ditched it. I loved how weird it all was but I seem to recall there's literally a point when it goes bad, towards that forced Hollywood climax I think but some of the ideas were interesting. Greg Kinnear's cynical corporate superhero was a highlight - it remains a 90s curio for sure.

I don't know if you'd strictly call it a film but I watched RTD's A Midsummer Nights Dream yesterday. Having been stunned by his very human Cucumber/Banana series last year it's a trifle jarring to see him back to his bright 'n' soapy sci fi style. Shakespeare's play is moved to an alternate near-future fascist Athens and there is much faerie frolicking and nonsense. Murray Gold contributes a cringingly OTT score (and like in Who it sometimes blots out the dialogue). Some good performances (marvel as Matt Lucas somehow manages to channel both Steptoe AND Son) but it somehow feels exceedingly dated and at times looks quite, quite cheap. Definitely unique and memorable, but not entirely in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 04 June, 2016, 06:35:50 PM
Watched an alien abduction movie called 'The Return' starring Jan Michael Vincent, Cybill Shepherd and Martin Landau. A young Cybill Sheppard was about the best thing in it.   :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 June, 2016, 07:52:01 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 03 June, 2016, 10:13:16 PM
Not sure if that's a good or bad thing...

At least it's a very Flaming Carrot thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 June, 2016, 03:14:39 PM
Welp, 88Films and Arrow Video keep rolling out the Italian goods! Live like a Cop Die Like a Man is directed by notorious Rogero 'Cannibal Holocaust' Deodato. As a response to the success of Dirty Harry in the west, it's remarkably un-Eastwoody instead opting for two gay cop partners in denial taking on various situations that the daily grind at the Rome Police Department. At times gruesome, at times insidious, at others utterly ludicrous it's actually a rather entertaining series of actin set pieces despite being utter trash.

Arrow's "Death Walks Twice" boxset brings us two of Luciano Ercoli's lesser known gialli, Death Walks on High Heels is a thoroughly entertaining and a visual feast of a murder mystery, with a winderfully niche 70's pop score to seal the deal it's probably one of the better B-list giallo on the market. It's follow up Death Walks at Midnight is a respectable follow up, and an interesting quasi-sequel. It shares several supporting characters and thus can be considered a rare instance of gialli continuity, and is a worthy follow up to 'On Heels'. A cracking boxset by Arrow as well, loads of lovely extras.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 07 June, 2016, 12:29:42 AM
Just got round to watching 'Cobra' with Sylvester Stallone in its entirety. Typical '80's' Cannon movie! Whats not to love!  :lol:
Apparently the director of 'Drive' is a big fan of this movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 June, 2016, 01:49:01 PM
Django Unchained. Partially inspired by Colin having watched it recently, it really is as superb as I remembered. A modern classic western (southern?) with a top notch cast.

But thats not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about this scene (https://youtu.be/ue6NZWU9pWU). On first viewing, it just struck me as another quircky little scene, as is Tarantino's way. But after having recently watched the original 1966 Django, it hit me why this was such as great scene. That guys Franco Nero. The original Django. Classic. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 07 June, 2016, 05:02:50 PM
The original and possibly soon to be current Django.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 07 June, 2016, 07:50:37 PM
I really need to get round to watch the Old and New Django films. Im a massive western fan having grown up watching them with my late Dad, but the Django series whilst being aware of them has passed me by. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 June, 2016, 10:55:32 AM
If you a western fan, I hope you caught Open Range by now. Less heralded than Dances With Wolves or the classics like Unforgiven, but bloody good. Still need to catch Bone Tomahawk :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 June, 2016, 11:04:52 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 June, 2016, 10:55:32 AM
If you a western fan, I hope you caught Open Range by now. Less heralded than Dances With Wolves or the classics like Unforgiven, but bloody good. Still need to catch Bone Tomahawk :)

Yep that Open Range been mentions lots in this thread, not see anyone dislike it. still bloody great film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 June, 2016, 11:08:05 AM
'The Brothers Grimsby' - which I chortled through despite being terrible - the scene inside the elephant was funny and boak inducing all at once.

I got the sense it was cut to ribbons as it was only 80 minutes and Vegas and Tomlinson barely had a moment on screen.

I also revisited 'The Dictator' on Netflix and it was better than I'd remembered - "I Alahdeened all over her face". Made me laugh!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 June, 2016, 11:27:31 AM
I also enjoyed The Brothers Grimsby despite its shittiness. Mark Strong is very good.

"SUCK MY BALLS"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 08 June, 2016, 11:40:21 PM
theblazeuk I have i indeed seen 'Open Range' and i too believe it to be a very underrated modern western. Caught it in cinema upon release and might have to put in dvd to watch it again. Really want to see 'bone tomahawk'. On the theme of modern westerns i thoroughly enjoyed the recent 'the lone ranger'. Its not perfect but thought it better than the 1980's version and it a great popcorn movie entertaining and often funny. 
ps. has anyone seen the movie based upon the blueberry comic strip starring vincent cassel and juliette lewis? been meaning to watch that one for ages.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 June, 2016, 06:50:08 AM
Other good modern westerns are Tombstone, with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer and 3:10 to Yuma with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 June, 2016, 06:55:17 AM
Oh 3.10 to Yuma was so close to being good, but that ending didn't work at all for me. Good modern westerns, True Git (Coen Brothers).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 June, 2016, 12:29:22 PM
There are quite a few gits in that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 09 June, 2016, 01:30:04 PM
I really enjoyed the remake of 'True Grit' but not as much as the remake of '3:10 to Yuma'! For me that was better than the original! On the subject of modern westerns 'The Missing' with Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchette was really good! Worth a watch!  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 09 June, 2016, 02:15:19 PM
I wouldn't exactly call it a Western in the way those others are, but I really liked The Homesman, it's definitely set in the West and also has Tommy Lee Jones.

If you want to stretch the definition to include contemporary stories about tough loners out in the borderlands then The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (featuring, and directed by, Tommy Lee Jones) might be for you.

Going completely off the reservation, the amazing Sicario is also about cross-border wrangling in the baking heat but does not contain Tommy Lee Jones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 09 June, 2016, 02:17:59 PM
I bought 'The Homesman' on dvd but alas aint got round to watching it yet. Few mates have been singing its praises though.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 June, 2016, 11:03:03 PM
X-Men: Apocalypse - busy, clumsy dialogue, too long, looks like a videogame right down to the characters having special attacks, and the villain is lifted straight from Star Trek 5.
More like X-Men: crApocalypse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 12 June, 2016, 09:13:18 AM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Out of the Shadows
Well I really enjoyed that, didn't expect much but was more fun than I thought it'd be.  Had that element missing from the first one FUN, sure the plot was hokum and some of the CGI stuck out like Rhino Balls but of all the 80's cartoon live action reboots that was by far the best so far.  Beebop and Rocksteady have a different origin but are right, all the Turtle characters are spot on, Shredder is nice and menacing and then gets stabbed in so he's not in the finally to complicate things.  Commander Krang  was a right bastard but his voice was just not quite tentacley enough if your a fan of the cartoon you'll know what I mean.
Action gets a bit messy but a few nice set pieces but the finally with the Technodrome is all a bit Tranformery though but Shredders prison van break is a pretty decent scene.
You like the old cartoon you might just enjoy this if not don't bother.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 12 June, 2016, 01:12:53 PM
Me Before You. The wife insisted we see this one and I was quite surprised at how funny it was. It was quite enjoyable despite the subject matter. Mostly, I think, to Emilia Clark. And she didn't event get them out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 June, 2016, 01:33:01 PM
Rio 2 (kids... man, I wanted to watch Ghostbusters)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 12 June, 2016, 07:07:55 PM
X-Men:First Class

I'd forgotten I'd recorded it from a couple of months ago.

Enjoyed it more than the others in the series - Magneto on a mission was pretty good, although the mouth cam in the the interrogation scene reminded me of Steve Martin's musical number in Little Shop of Horrors.

Angel joining Shaw's gang seemed pretty 'oh yeah, OK then' and Professor X's 'They're only following orders' is a great phrase to trout out to a Holocaust survivor about to fling missiles at the combined American and Russian fleet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 June, 2016, 07:39:05 PM
What I loved about First Class was that it was two hours of a date-rapist telling a Holocaust survivor to get over it, then failing to follow his own advice, thus proving he is the greatest hero of them all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 June, 2016, 08:21:47 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 June, 2016, 11:08:05 AM
'The Brothers Grimsby' - which I chortled through despite being terrible - the scene inside the elephant was funny and boak inducing all at once.

I've got fuck-all interest in seeing this but I'm curious. A chum of mine mentioned the elephant scene and my immediate thought was "How?" An elephant just . . . lets them climb into her vagina?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 13 June, 2016, 10:39:46 AM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 June, 2016, 08:21:47 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 June, 2016, 11:08:05 AM
'The Brothers Grimsby' - which I chortled through despite being terrible - the scene inside the elephant was funny and boak inducing all at once.

I've got fuck-all interest in seeing this but I'm curious. A chum of mine mentioned the elephant scene and my immediate thought was "How?" An elephant just . . . lets them climb into her vagina?

Yes, but as this is a film where someone accidentally injects heroin with no adverse consequences I really wouldnt worry about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 June, 2016, 06:54:02 AM
The Fantastic Four (2015).

I really quite enjoyed this and thought it worked pretty well as a sort of glorified b movie. The first two thirds were very good but it was let down somewhat by a weak third act. Add it to the long list of films which end with a battle to stop a big beam that's shooting into the sky (Hollywood really need to stop these beam in the sky finales, it's getting ridiculous).
The biggest criticism is that it wasn't an FF film. Reed and Johnny were reasonably close to their comic characters, Ben and Sue less so. Doctor Doom was pretty much unrecognisable.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 June, 2016, 04:43:02 PM
Finding Dory.

If you were worried that a sequel to Finding Nemo would be a somewhat unnessesary retread of the original....


You'd be kinda right, I'm afraid.


Its fine, passable entertainment, but think Monsters University - relatively disposable and unmemorable. It's also what, the fifth Pixar movie about tiny sentient beings trying to break into/out of unfamiliar human environments to rescue a loved one. Its getting more than a little repetitive...

I know this might be a REALLY silly complaint for an animated kids movie, but i also thought it pushed the rules of its own heightened reality too far. The first Nemo had a handful of literal 'fish out of water' sequences, but it was always portrayed as dangerous and scary for the little guys. In this one they seem to spend more time out of the water than in it. You can feel the writers contorting themselves to contrive ways to get waterbound characters from point a to b. As a result it lacks a sense of peril, and the climax of the third act feels like a bit of a shark-jump in this respect (no pun intended).

I don't want to be too down on it - its a decent trip to the movies and is as visually stunning as you'd expect. Its just not as good as the reviews suggest imo.

3/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 June, 2016, 07:57:27 PM
I've long been bored of these animated comedy films. While I know they're quality products individually (for the most part), they all seem to have the same sense of humour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 June, 2016, 10:32:34 PM
Almost three years ago to the day (as it happens from a quick search) there was some discussion here of the film Runaway Train and it came with some great recommendations. Its finally come through on my LoveFilm thingie and I watched it tonight.

What a great little film. A fine example of an apparently simple premise done very well. Some fine performances mastering that  touch trick of making some very unlikable characters and in the case of the warden pretty cliche, still they are all utterly engaging and you really end up caring about them.

The themes are pretty clear and the train metaphor makes for a simple and compelling tale. The ending is utterly fantastic (mind who knew Bryan Talbot made a cameo as a maximum security prisoner) and the whole thing is gripping and chilling in every way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 June, 2016, 11:01:52 PM
Would this happen to be the Canon movie, Colin? I've had the BD if that for some time and keep meaning to give it a watch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 June, 2016, 06:59:00 AM
Yeah it is, a Cannon Film that is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 June, 2016, 09:25:36 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 18 June, 2016, 06:59:00 AM
Yeah it is, a Cannon Film that is.
Rightho! That'll be getting a watch tomorrow...after The Long Goodbye...and A Blade in the Dark...damn it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 18 June, 2016, 10:02:41 PM
Runaway train is truely a great film! I had know idea  that Bryan Talbot was in it though? I love Cannon movies. Pure escapism at its best. Masters of the Universe, The death wish sequels, The Delata Force et al! lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 18 June, 2016, 10:10:01 PM
ps. the documentary 'ELECTRIC BOOGALOO' is worth a watch if you a fan of cannon movies.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 June, 2016, 10:20:43 PM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 18 June, 2016, 10:02:41 PM
Runaway train is truely a great film! I had know idea  that Bryan Talbot was in it though? I love Cannon movies. Pure escapism at its best. Masters of the Universe, The death wish sequels, The Delata Force et al! lol

I should point out he's of course not. Its just a look-a-likie as the camera panas across the prisoners at the end. I should also point out my look-a-likies are often disputed.

Edited to add: I've just watched the end again (my wife checked it out this evening after being out last night) and yeah its a solid look-a-likie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 18 June, 2016, 10:29:44 PM
Doh! Colin mate you got me good lol! I figured he might have had cameo through friends in industry or through storyboards and the like!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 19 June, 2016, 05:11:32 PM
The Runaway Train is a truly superb film. Another for the 'must re-watch asap' list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 June, 2016, 06:55:43 PM
Star Trek: First Contact.

Patrick Stewart is pretty good but everything else is cack.

The Borg Queen is one of the worst things ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2016, 07:10:54 PM
She certainly is, but it's such a cool design and a great performance that I can almost ignore the awfulness. First Contact is a terrible, terrible Trek film if you think about any of it for even a second, but somehow the rapid procession of rather cool scenes and great visuals mean I can coast along in its wake enjoying the moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 June, 2016, 07:20:19 PM
The Trek movies follow the odd pattern of Odd Numbered ones being awful and Even Numbered ones being good or better.

First contact is an awful movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 June, 2016, 07:47:34 PM
I think it's the best TNG movie. Only by virtue of the rest being absolutely terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2016, 09:16:22 PM
I'd love to see a fan edit of First Contact that removes as much of Mr Data and the Borg Queen's scenes as possible, but it's hard to criticise a film whose plot sounds like something a Simpsons character would pitch when visiting Hollywood: "my movie is about robot zombies from outer space that travel back in time to stop humanity from meeting Mr Spock."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 June, 2016, 09:26:45 PM
I like First Contact. It's not a masterpiece by any standard but then neither is The Force Awakens!

Here's a massive piece of nerdery for you: Given that the crew of the Enterprise interact with Zephram Cochrane, altering his cynical/pessimistic viewpoint to that of hope. Does that suggest that without their intervention he would have been an arse to the Vulcans, killing them and giving rise to the Alternate Universe?

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2016, 09:32:39 PM
"MIRROR" universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 19 June, 2016, 09:40:09 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2016, 09:32:39 PM
"MIRROR" universe.

I'll give you that one, my nerdery clearly isn't all that like I thought it was. But this inspires further nerdery on my part: If it's a mirror universe (of the original universe) where does that leave the Multiverse?

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2016, 10:41:07 PM
Where it always was.

More importantly there was a bunch of Mirror universe episodes of Deep Space 9 where everyone was gay instead of evil, so does this mean that being gay is a choice in the Trek universe?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2016, 10:58:30 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 19 June, 2016, 07:47:34 PM
I think it's the best TNG movie. Only by virtue of the rest being absolutely terrible.

This is sadly true.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2016, 11:02:16 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 19 June, 2016, 09:26:45 PM
Here's a massive piece of nerdery for you: Given that the crew of the Enterprise interact with Zephram Cochrane, altering his cynical/pessimistic viewpoint to that of hope. Does that suggest that without their intervention he would have been an arse to the Vulcans, killing them and giving rise to the Alternate Universe?

Maybe he'd have been in a friendlier more positive mood anyway if his launch complex hadn't just been bombarded by forces unknown?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 20 June, 2016, 12:13:30 AM
any of you folks like STNG GENERATIONS? I watched it over the weekend and still really enjoy it. An ambitious movie and I loved Malcolm McDowell as the baddie!

I dont think the STNG movies are as good as the movies with the original crew but I quite enjoted Insurrection, even if it is a glorified double episode with bigger budget.  :)
   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2016, 12:13:58 AM
Timey-wimey meddling doesn't result in alternate realities being created in Trek science, it results in alternate timelines - as evidenced by what seemed like every third episode of Voyager, and four years of Enterprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 June, 2016, 08:45:34 AM
I absolutely love FIRST CONTACT me.

Admittedly, the Borg Queen is a stupid idea but brilliantly executed. And if we didn't have her, we wouldn't have the Data  blow job scene which is all kinds of awesome.

And I choke up whenever Picard says he isn't abandoning ship, he's going back for a friend.  That's Star Trek for me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2016, 09:08:56 AM
See, that's the problem - it's full of good bits (which is why I still watch it) and great performances (Cochrane and Lilly are very good, the crew mostly do a good turn each), they're just embedded in an awful inconsistent mess of a thing.

To pick an example from Tips' post, since when was Data Picard's besty?  Data's pals are most obviously Geordie and Wesley, but also Troi and Riker (all conveniently absent). Picard and Data have never been close, except maybe when playing Dixon Hill.  But the plot wants a Kirk and Spock setup, and it also wants Picard to be able to slaughter/abandon his non-android borgised crewmen at will, so off to rescue Friend Data, rather than Second Officer Data, he goes. Gives us some great scenes, but still nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 June, 2016, 09:33:01 AM
The bits I liked pretty much all featured Picard. The Ahab scene, the bit where they went through the corridor full of Borg, the bit on the holodeck.
There are some horrifically embarrassing bits though - Troi's drunkenness *cringe*, Data's 'To hell with our orders' *cringe*, Worf's 'Assimilate this' *cringe*.


As others have said, I don't think TNG did very well with it's cinematic outings which is a shame.
I recently read a TNG novel (50p bargain from a village fete) called 'The Forgotten War' which might have made a good film. It was pretty entertaining, featured some decent aliens and had a sort of crossover with the federation from pre-original series era.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2016, 10:04:07 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 20 June, 2016, 09:08:56 AM
See, that's the problem - it's full of good bits (which is why I still watch it) and great performances (Cochrane and Lilly are very good, the crew mostly do a good turn each), they're just embedded in an awful inconsistent mess of a thing.

I remember thinking on first viewing that Picard's PTSD - much like the Borg Queen - felt a bit out of nowhere - they even did an episode of the show telling the audience that Picard was totes over his trauma now and in true Trek fashion it was never mentioned again.
I also didn't understand why the crew could walk through that corridor full of Borg without being attacked when the Borg were actively trying to assimilate the ship and crew at the time.  And how can the Borg be poncing about in space without spacesuits if - and this is brought up by the film itself as a major plot point - their organic components are vulnerable to harsh environmental conditions? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 June, 2016, 10:16:32 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2016, 10:04:07 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 20 June, 2016, 09:08:56 AM
See, that's the problem - it's full of good bits (which is why I still watch it) and great performances (Cochrane and Lilly are very good, the crew mostly do a good turn each), they're just embedded in an awful inconsistent mess of a thing.

   And how can the Borg be poncing about in space without spacesuits if - and this is brought up by the film itself as a major plot point - their organic components are vulnerable to harsh environmental conditions?

There's lots of stuff that the film doesn't explain.
Apparently the Enterprise E can travel through time at will too - no sling-shoting around the sun for them!
(They modify the warp signature to mimic the tachyon pulse of the Borg sphere or something).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2016, 10:31:53 AM
Ah here, Deanna's drunk schtick is about the cutest thing ever. I'd watch a whole movie of just "Timeline? This is no time... to argue about time! We don't... have... the time!". Adorable.

As a director Frakes knows how to get the best out of his variably-skilled mates, and he shoots a good tense action scene... but the flaws are really deep in the plot and random recharacterisations (Picard as violent action hero?). In this way he's not unlike Nimoy on ST:IV, just cursed with even worse baloney to work with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 June, 2016, 11:15:33 AM
I love FC - easily the best after Khan/Search for Spock, which I consider one movie in 2 parts. The only bit I dislike is emotional Data. Would've liked a bit more on post-war pre-warp Earth, but I didn't find Picard's PTSD or friendship with Data at all out of place. Every other TNG film sucks, with exception of the hybrid Generations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 June, 2016, 04:25:55 PM
As a kid, I enjoyed FC much more because I wasn't all that familiar with TNG beyond the basics. I think familiarity with the series and its emphasis on diplomacy (and the continuity of Data/Picard/etc mentioned here) breeds flaws.

Generations was boring though :/

On this note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChZ_KFY9PM is amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 June, 2016, 12:12:31 PM
I think Picard is on about the right level of action hero for dealing with Borg in First Contact.  It's not like the Die-Hard version of Picard you see in Insurrection and Nemesis; he has been deeply affected by the Borg, his ship and his friends are in peril and the whole future of humanity is in jeopardy.  That'd make you stop listening to Bizet (or is it Berlioz) and look up from your archaeological artifacts.

And I always sort of assumed that Picard became much closer the the rest of the bridge crew after "All Good Things".  The last line is "I should have done this a long time a go" if I recall.  So I never saw it as Data suddenly being his bestie, I just thought he'd do that for any of the bridge crew (especially as they had risked everything to rescue him when roles were reversed).

But yeah, I love it, so I'm biased.

(And oh, that score is fabulous!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 21 June, 2016, 08:56:08 PM
the score is majestic right enough was thinking that myself during this debate about next gen movies  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 June, 2016, 09:06:35 PM
Oh yeah, the score is terrific, especially the stompy stuff.  I didn't mean to give the impression that I don't enjoy First Contact, I really do, I just think it's an unholy mess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 June, 2016, 09:11:23 PM
I really liked First Contact. Then again, I'm not particularly a fan of The Next Generation series although I like certain episodes and storylines and generally Star Trek as a whole.

And the Borg in this film were really kinda scary.

I can understand people's dislike of introducing the Borg Queen as she kind of contradicts the concept of the Borg being a gestalt intelligence. On the other hand I thought her a great character, and there is a certain logic to having a single intelligence to guide the rest. Ultimately she was not so much a contradiction as just something not discovered before, anyway. There are a lot of Borg cubes with thousands (or is it millions, or even billions) of drones, and only one queen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 June, 2016, 09:57:55 PM
Weren't there at least two different queens in Voyager?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 June, 2016, 10:00:12 PM
Tom Paris and Harry Kim?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 June, 2016, 10:45:24 PM
Lol Mr Pops. I agree the queen took away from the concept of a distributed collective intelligence. One of my favourite concepts. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 June, 2016, 11:11:16 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 June, 2016, 09:57:55 PM
Weren't there at least two different queens in Voyager?

Given that the Queen's brain and spine were revealed to be entirely artificial, it seems like she can instantiate in a body whenever and wherever she wants, her 'being' emerging from the Collective she steers. Or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 June, 2016, 02:21:25 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 June, 2016, 09:57:55 PM
Weren't there at least two different queens in Voyager?

I only remember one but I didn't see the queen related episodes. At least not all the way through.

Or do you mean the queen in Voyager makes two if you include the one from First Contact?

I meant that there is only one queen end at a given time, [spoiler]since the one from First Contact was dead at that point. I assumed when she died another was triggered from a collection somewhere.
[/spoiler]

Quote from: Tordelback on 21 June, 2016, 11:11:16 PM
Given that the Queen's brain and spine were revealed to be entirely artificial, it seems like she can instantiate in a body whenever and wherever she wants, her 'being' emerging from the Collective she steers. Or something.

So it is the same person from a personality/memory point of view?

Interesting.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 June, 2016, 06:48:00 AM
The Borg were initially conceived as an insectoid collective. Their having a Queen is (I presume) an extrapolation of that and besides. Alice Krige.

I don't disagree though her introduction diminishes the Borg but . . . Alice Krige.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 June, 2016, 06:52:37 AM
The Borg are full of surprises. For a collective in which 99.9% look like rip offs of characters from Eliminators or Centurions they seem to have some rather attractive ladies knocking about.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 June, 2016, 07:55:32 AM
I loved the Borg when they first turned up.  The thought of losing your ID/ego to make a tiny part of one consciousness was a truly unnerving thing for me.

Then the Queen turned up, and it was all like 'they're just ants - well that's not frightening at all'.  The Queen completely destroyed the entire concept of the Borg for me, forever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 22 June, 2016, 09:14:35 AM
The Borgs best feature used to be that (unlike every other Star Trek alien) they couldn't be reasoned with. When they came knocking at your door you knew there would be trouble. Then Voyager came along and they suddenly become (partially) open to diplomacy!

I watched Cell the other day. Yes, I know it's not released yet but if it was of a certain standard I would have paid to see it later on the big screen. It's not great. The film is (loosely) based on the Stephen King book of the same name but with a much less coherent narrative. Fans of a certain Premier league football team will probably enjoy the ending.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ZenArcade on 22 June, 2016, 10:24:31 AM
Yes, it was the otherness of the Borg which was hugely appealing for me.  I partially understand the point that it is hard to develop story lines with adversaries who will have the same assimilation with no compromise approach to any situation involving them.
To me however, it lessened the concept immensely,having a partial dilution of this monolithic gestalt entity engendering nodal direction and leadership types (Queen/Queens and for that matter Locutus) with individuality and frankly hackneyed emotional attributes and reactions.
The faceless cube and the eerie drones with agendas so different from those of the the explorers in the J 25 system exemplified this to me.
A real quasi eusocial entity in my opinion would neither want nor need such types.  Rather any interaction with them would be akin to facing down a very adaptive, intelligent Tsunami. Z
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2016, 10:55:02 AM
Prodded by this discussion, I started watching this again this morning with my breakfast.

Goodness it also moves at a BREATHLESS pace but still manages to be perfectly clear. The whole narrative set up is done in the first twenty minutes (and has managed to include a superb space battle) and by forty minutes they've introduced every character, especially the new ones (Cochrane, Lily and the Queen plus a few red shirts) and their relationships (and managed to include some great on ship fights with the borg, a wee Voyager cameo and the Data blow job).

There's some lovely handwaving about the Qeen in the script itself ("You imply disparity where none exists" and "You are thinking so three dimensionally").
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 June, 2016, 11:24:11 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2016, 10:55:02 AM
The whole narrative set up is done in the first twenty minutes (and has managed to include a superb space battle)

Including a memorable appearance of the USS Defiant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 22 June, 2016, 11:29:11 AM
(http://66.media.tumblr.com/8016caf69594bd5252b498415cfb1c6a/tumblr_mooz39cZzj1rttj8so1_500.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 June, 2016, 11:40:39 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 22 June, 2016, 10:24:31 AM
Yes, it was the otherness of the Borg which was hugely appealing for me.  I partially understand the point that it is hard to develop story lines with adversaries who will have the same assimilation with no compromise approach to any situation involving them.
To me however, it lessened the concept immensely,having a partial dilution of this monolithic gestalt entity engendering nodal direction and leadership types (Queen/Queens and for that matter Locutus) with individuality and frankly hackneyed emotional attributes and reactions.
The faceless cube and the eerie drones with agendas so different from those of the the explorers in the J 25 system exemplified this to me.
A real quasi eusocial entity in my opinion would neither want nor need such types.  Rather any interaction with them would be akin to facing down a very adaptive, intelligent Tsunami. Z

An intelligent tsunami is a good description.
I think disaster movie style storytelling is more suitable for a Borg story than trying to make them fit a 'goodies vs baddies' narrative.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 June, 2016, 12:37:36 PM
Total Recall 2012.

Po-faced, too many videogame platform sequences, JJ Abrams level lensflares.

At the least the original had some fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 June, 2016, 01:19:02 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 22 June, 2016, 12:37:36 PM
Total Recall 2012.

Po-faced, too many videogame platform sequences, JJ Abrams level lensflares.

At the least the original had some fun.
Oh wow, I forgot that movie existed! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 June, 2016, 01:50:15 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2016, 10:55:02 AM
Prodded by this discussion, I started watching this again this morning with my breakfa

Damn your green-blooded sauropodomorph logic, Tips!  Now I'll have to watch it again too.

(On your first 20 minutes, why does the Federation make its stand in Earth orbit? Why are the Defiant crew the only ones the Enterprise bothers to rescue?  Why is Worf the only DS9 crewman on the Defiant bridge? Why is Worf put at Tactical on a starship he's never even set foot on, and then seemingly  put in command of Security? If the Borg can time-travel to assimilate tough foes, why don't they just do that?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 June, 2016, 02:00:06 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 22 June, 2016, 01:50:15 PM
(On your first 20 minutes, why does the Federation make its stand in Earth orbit? Why are the Defiant crew the only ones the Enterprise bothers to rescue?  Why is Worf the only DS9 crewman on the Defiant bridge? Why is Worf put at Tactical on a starship he's never even set foot on, and then seemingly  put in command of Security? If the Borg can time-travel to assimilate tough foes, why don't they just do that?)

"One to Beam Up"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2016, 02:04:07 PM
Earth orbit defense? It isn't. The fleet originally messes in the Tyfon (sp. ?) Sector but you hear it taking a good kicking. I assume by the time Enterprise gets to Earth this is very much a last stand.

Defiant: that's the only one you explicitly see them saving. It's not to say they didn't save more. But a sequence of transporter orders would make a full movie.

Worf: dunno what you mean about only DS9 crew member. Again he's the only one you explicitly see the others stay in sick bay but Word comes to the bridge presumably because that's where his Enterprise bros and hos  are.

Tactical: I assume one space shop tactical LCARS interface is much like another. Plus he's a bad ass  good guy.

Security - yway off choice that. He wouldn't  know the new shop layout.

Time travel: Maybe this was the first time they tried it but, because it failed and cost them a Queen, they never tried it again.

Ihave few issues with the set up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 22 June, 2016, 02:16:58 PM
Well about time travel, in Star Trek Voyager episode;

Seven of Nine: [describing a causality loop] The Borg once traveled back in time to stop Zephram Cochrane from breaking the warp barrier. They succeeded, but that in turn led the Starship Enterprise to intervene. They assisted Cochrane with the flight the Borg were trying to prevent. Causal loop complete.
Lieutenant Ducane: So, in a way, the Federation owes its existence to the Borg.
Seven of Nine: You're welcome
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 June, 2016, 07:04:37 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 June, 2016, 02:04:07 PM
Earth orbit defense? It isn't. The fleet originally messes in the Tyfon (sp. ?) Sector but you hear it taking a good kicking. I assume by the time Enterprise gets to Earth this is very much a last stand.

Defiant: that's the only one you explicitly see them saving. It's not to say they didn't save more. But a sequence of transporter orders would make a full movie.

Worf: dunno what you mean about only DS9 crew member. Again he's the only one you explicitly see the others stay in sick bay but Word comes to the bridge presumably because that's where his Enterprise bros and hos  are.

Tactical: I assume one space shop tactical LCARS interface is much like another. Plus he's a bad ass  good guy.

Security - yway off choice that. He wouldn't  know the new shop layout.

Time travel: Maybe this was the first time they tried it but, because it failed and cost them a Queen, they never tried it again.

Ihave few issues with the set up.

I know it can be fun to but no one should have to infer so much to explain away so many apparent* plot holes. Some throwaway dialogue here. A brief visual there. It should be implicit through shrewd writing, not left to fan hand-waiving.

But, hey! Alice Krige.

* It's been years since I last saw FIRST CONTACT so I'm going by the grumblings of others. My only real memories of it are Picard kicking arse, some truly, TRULY unfunny humour, and that bloke from something else being in it.

Oh. And Alice Krige.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 June, 2016, 08:28:22 PM
Yeah, you're right about the Typhon system Tips, I'd forgotten about that. But by that token, surely Defiant (a starship specifically created to fight the Borg) should have been in that fight, rather than the one at Earth. And my question about DS9 crew relates to the Defiant bridge crew -  other than Woof, none of her regulars crew are there, for a last ditch defense of Earth? Best foot forward and all that.

My problem with FC is not that it is full of cool stuff (it is), it's that the cool stuff seems to be there just to be cool. Thus the Defiant, Worf, the daft holodeck sequence, the corridor scene, the Moby Dick bit (has Picard ever shown any tendency to want to hound the Borg to mutual extinction? What about Hugh? What about Lore's pals? He already knows Borg are people too), Data's ability to switch his emotions on and off at will (the entire direction of the character for 7 years reduced to running in Safe Mode), the aforementioned newly found bromance between Picard and Data (which if it is a function of their post-All Good Things poker nights seems very unprofessional - maybe Ensign Lynch should have invited Picard to his D&D campaign?), The Borg Krieg herself (note no-one ever refers to her as a Queen in the movie) ..  all these things are good. It's just that they don't make much sense other than being cool.

Oddly I like the bits with Lily best - as the everyman, she doesn't have any inconvenient baggage, and so works fine - particularly when pointing out the silliness around her. "It's my first ray gun" is a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 27 June, 2016, 11:29:55 AM
Grabbers

I must admit that I wasn't really paying attention for the first 15 minutes because I was too busy trying to work out what I had seen the lead bloke in before. Turns out he was a much more Irish (therefore much more drunken) Moist Von Lipwig! I had to cheat and use Google, but I was well pleased when I could put a face to a name.

As far as the film itself goes I was expecting a horror comedy akin to Shaun Of The Dead. While it felt to me more horror with funny bits thrown in that a straight up comedy, it had some great gags. The monster effects were good too. Not a bad little film for a Sunday night in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 27 June, 2016, 12:46:49 PM
Quote from: futureimperfect on 27 June, 2016, 11:29:55 AM
Grabbers

I must admit that I wasn't really paying attention for the first 15 minutes because I was too busy trying to work out what I had seen the lead bloke in before. Turns out he was a much more Irish (therefore much more drunken) Moist Von Lipwig! I had to cheat and use Google, but I was well pleased when I could put a face to a name.

As far as the film itself goes I was expecting a horror comedy akin to Shaun Of The Dead. While it felt to me more horror with funny bits thrown in that a straight up comedy, it had some great gags. The monster effects were good too. Not a bad little film for a Sunday night in.
Richard Coyle also played Jeff in Coupling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 June, 2016, 01:18:09 PM
The Wolf Of Wall Street

I've never been a big fan of Scorsese films and this did nothing to buck the trend.
It's a well made film but 3 hours of watching someone be an arsehole is too much for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 28 June, 2016, 12:55:00 AM
Me Before You

I'll be honest, I was expecting to hate this when I went in. I watched the trailer and it looked like a romantic version of The Intouchables (a film that I enjoy). I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised.

There are quite a few similarities to the Intouchables. The lead girl plays the role extremely well. The plot was predictable but I was still satisfied with the ending. If you want to earn some boyfriend/husband points you could do worse than to take the other half to see this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 28 June, 2016, 10:53:37 AM
Ahh as many of you talks about Star Trek timeline;

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/43804/abrams-star-trek-timeline-gets-a-name (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/43804/abrams-star-trek-timeline-gets-a-name)

Abrams' "Star Trek" Timeline Gets A Name

With "Star Trek Beyond" hitting cinemas next month and the CBS series now in the works, the producers behind the "Star Trek" franchise are now getting around to solving one pesky problem that needed to be sorted out sooner or later - continuity.

Specifically it was established in J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" that the film and its subsequent sequels are part of an alternate universe that splits off from the rest of the "Star Trek" timeline - so everything that happens within them doesn't upset the continuity of the original 1960s TV series and the various spin-offs like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".

Until now there's been no official designation for this splinter timeline, though the Abrams-verse is a name often bandied about. Well that has changed with an official name now being established for it - The Kelvin Timeline.

The name ties back to the Federation starship USS Kelvin, the one in the opening moments of the 2009 film with is destruction at the hands of the Romulan ship Narada from the far future creating the new timeline.

CBS Consumer Products' Holly Amos tweeted about the new name, explaining that they needed an official designation to distinguish it from the other 'Trek' timeline: "We needed an in-universe term since we needed some way to refer to it in the encyclopedia." Amos also revealed that the name comes from Michael and Denise Okuda, the authors behind numerous "Star Trek" reference guides.

The name will come in handy shortly as the new CBS All Access series from producer Bryan Fuller is reportedly set in the original timeline, though when specifically remains a big question. That series will arrive on the streaming service in early 2017.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2016, 12:11:24 PM
That gets rid of all of my worries about the upcoming films and show.

The biggest problem I had was wondering what the continuity should be called.

No, wait, the other!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2016, 12:15:11 PM
<B>EVERLY</B>

Taking place in pretty much a single room, corridor and bathroom, I thought this was quite good fun.
I'll admit, I was drawn in by it starring the next Mrs Satanist and didn't know what to expect but it flings you right into the middle of the situation and lets you figure out what is going on.  Some inventive kills and violence.

Worth 90 minutes of your time if you have Netflix (or was it Amazon) and are stuck home alone.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 03 July, 2016, 12:44:30 AM
The latest Independence Day flick...
It is truly awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 July, 2016, 01:48:34 AM
Yeah, I expected better from Roland Emmeri- no wait, the other thing.

Independence Day Resurgence is dumb as fuck, and I think Brent Spiner is doing it to troll me now.  I think its main problem is that there's just too much going on in the big setpieces so you never know what to focus upon and everything feels like whitenoise, but the big finale where it's some planes versus The Cloverfield Monster is much easier to follow by dint of only having a couple of moving parts, and as such comes off as more enjoyable than the messy dogfights or wholesale destruction sequences.  Like the original, it's playful where other films would be malicious, and the story structure is admirably uncomplicated even if it often pulls shit out of nowhere to get going, like President Pullman having PTSD from being brain molested in the first movie despite no indication being given of this in the first movie - although it does retroactively explain the same condition in Randy Quaid's character in the first movie, so swings and roundabouts.
It also makes no bones about there being a sequel if this one does well, but it does so in such a bone-headed and unpretentious way that I can't be mad at it.

I don't know if I liked it, but I did enjoy it.  I enjoyed its full-on Star Wars trappings - the sci-fi sprawl is an interesting companion to the fleeting glimpses of disaster movie window dressing - and the subdued delivery of President Pullman's speeches and heroics in contrast to the bombast of the previous film.  The comedy relief character being gay should get alarm bells ringing with most people, but here his sexuality is pretty much irrelevant and he's an annoying comedy character who just happens to gay as well, which is still a bit of a rarity, especially in films that deliberately aim to be lowbrow.
I knew what I was getting into here, and in the end it was okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 03 July, 2016, 09:31:45 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 July, 2016, 01:48:34 AMm.  The comedy relief character being gay should get alarm bells ringing with most people, but here his sexuality is pretty much irrelevant and he's an annoying comedy character who just happens to gay as well, which is still a bit of a rarity, especially in films that deliberately aim to be lowbrow.
I kne
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/roland-emmerich-independence-day-2s-781706
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 03 July, 2016, 10:29:54 AM
The Green Room featuring Captain Picard and Ensign Chekov!

A punk band plays a gig at a neo-nazi club, with hilarious consequences. It's actually not too bad. The pace is quite lively and there is a sprinkling of decent Punk/Metal tunes.

Worth a watch!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 July, 2016, 05:41:30 PM
Bone Tommahawk

I really enjoyed this. It doesn't have a particularly great plot but it's really compelling because it has a great atmosphere and the performances are really good. Ive heard some criticisms that it's too slow but I could've sat and watched it all day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 04 July, 2016, 07:47:54 AM
Frank

Brilliant. 'nuff said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 04 July, 2016, 09:25:24 AM
DEADPOOL...

not a fan of the comic but the film arsom!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 July, 2016, 09:28:10 AM
Gone Girl, not sure why it took me so long to get round to this one as usually Fincher or Reznor's name on something makes it an immediate watch for me! Thought it was great, I really didn't know what to expect from moment to moment and my wife (who had already read the book) said she very much enjoyed seeing me react to the shocks. Another fantastic Reznor score as well, never obtrusive unless it needs to be, but always bubbling away perfectly. The couple of musical 'set-piece' moments were really well executed.

And then we watched Big Trouble In Little China, which I'd seen many, many times as a kid and she'd only half-watched once a few years ago. We had a total riot, laughing throughout and brimming with excitement. It's such an amazingly fun movie and hasn't lost any of its mad charm. Kurt Russell is incredible in it (seriously amazing how many truly, truly iconic performances he pulled off under Carpenter), and I think I'd forgotten the impact Kim Cattrall in it had on me as a youngster but that all came flooding back.

Amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 04 July, 2016, 02:54:25 PM
The Brothers Grimsby - what a laugh riot, sorry but I do like my humour on the crude side (Mr Cohen generally does it for me) and this didn't disappoint the Elephant scene alone is as good as any Ali-g or Borat stuff and maybe even tops Ace Ventura 2's rhino scene, once they were in there I thought oh yeah that's gross but then the scene continued to massive guffaws in my house and sounds of retching, classic.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 05 July, 2016, 01:24:36 PM
dunno about rhinos and elephants but since watching deadpool I cant look a unicorn in the eye again...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 05 July, 2016, 09:03:44 PM
Worth it to watch Odd Thomas on Film4 now!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 08 July, 2016, 01:21:25 AM
Brazil

Terry Gilliams surreal film about bureaucracy gone mad. Brilliant performances from it's enormous cast of stars. I don't like the overuse of the word 'Kafkaesque' but I think it is a pretty good way to sum up the film. Oh and the line "care for a little necrophilia" always makes me smile. That and how much the world feels like its getting ever closer to becoming the one shown in the film. I know Gilliam is one of those love it or hate it directors but if any young 'uns haven't seen this already, I can't recommend it enough.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 July, 2016, 01:59:27 AM
Legend of Tarzan. Really quite surprisingly good!  Skarsgard is a bit of a charisma void, but does animalistic well, Jackson is as ever just Jackson, but the rest of the cast are stellar: Robbie in particular visibly emits light. It's a movie that commendably embraces silliness and fantasy, but still takes its central romance and heavy-handed anti-colonial message seriously. There are bits where you can actually see script conferences and reshoots taking place ('we need more Sam Jackson'), there is some grimly anachronistic dialogue, and they don't seem to have any confidence in their Tarzan swinging through the trees because it's almost impossible to see, but it has clear heart and purpose, solid CGI (mostly), and I think they nail a certain version of Tarzan that is pleasingly close to Burroughs'. Yeah, I really liked this film, and I honestly didn't expect to. If you liked John Carter, you'll probably like this quite a bit  (not words the studio wants to hear, I imagine).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 July, 2016, 01:52:40 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 July, 2016, 01:59:27 AM
Legend of Tarzan. Really quite surprisingly good!  Skarsgard is a bit of a charisma void, but does animalistic well, Jackson is as ever just Jackson, but the rest of the cast are stellar: Robbie in particular visibly emits light. It's a movie that commendably embraces silliness and fantasy, but still takes its central romance and heavy-handed anti-colonial message seriously. There are bits where you can actually see script conferences and reshoots taking place ('we need more Sam Jackson'), there is some grimly anachronistic dialogue, and they don't seem to have any confidence in their Tarzan swinging through the trees because it's almost impossible to see, but it has clear heart and purpose, solid CGI (mostly), and I think they nail a certain version of Tarzan that is pleasingly close to Burroughs'. Yeah, I really liked this film, and I honestly didn't expect to. If you liked John Carter, you'll probably like this quite a bit  (not words the studio wants to hear, I imagine).

I completely agree. I saw this last weekend and thought they handled Tarzan much better than they handled John Carter overall. I'd like to see another one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 July, 2016, 01:58:19 PM
Aliens

followed by

Pixels

followed by the first 90 minutes of the super-extended cut of

Avatar (or "Avatat", as Mrs X describes it)

What can I say? It's been a rainy weekend in Scotland and we don't like tennis.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 16 July, 2016, 11:22:48 AM
V/H/S Viral - my least favourite of the trilogy! Two of stories are ok, which are the [spoiler]Skateboarding story[/spoiler] and the [spoiler]dimension swapping magic door[/spoiler]. The story with the magician was the weakest of the three, Not because of the plot but the fantastic array of camera angles really takes you out of the "found-footage" look that the films go for!

If you've seen the first two then give it a go! Just dont go expecting a rich, rewarding film experience!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 17 July, 2016, 09:27:25 PM
Goodfellas. Been 10 y. since last time I saw it.

Really really like it. Ray plays his character's anger beautifully, he looks really ashamed/hurt each time he's angry. Like when he beats up the guy who tried to force himself on his girlfriend. He's far from cool doing it, really looks as if something happend inside of him.

Another thing I picked up this time watching it was how comic booky it felt. In a good way. At times it felt as if the camera was the eye of a comic book artist, moving across his/her's page, and then drawing as things happened on the screen. The camera sort of activated what happend in the scenes. Someone saying something, something happening.

Another plus is that I wanted to to to watch The Godfather (p.1, p.2) and Once upon a time in America after it. Which I didn't (there's only that many hours I'm awake per day). But I'll definitely watch them soon enough. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 July, 2016, 10:00:24 AM
We watched the remake of Total Recall last night, and if I'm honest enjoyed it a lot more than expected. That's not to say it was great, but as a bit of throwaway sci-fi action escapism on a hungover Sunday it was a decent enough couple of hours. Very forgettable, particularly as when it finished and we switched back to TV Dredd was on and reminded us what a really great movie is like.

One thing about TR - the use of lens flare is insane. It's so over the top and ridiculous that once you notice it it's hard to see anything else. I'm usually fine with it, it can look very stylish but it's overused to quite unintentionally comedic effect here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 July, 2016, 12:14:24 PM
Yeah, I was in no rush to watch the remake of Total Recall. Mainly because I really like the original and I'm of the belief only be films should be remade.

I did like some of the production stuff though, like the Blade runner style spinner flying cars and the white storm-trooperesque armour.

Then a friend bought me the DVD for birthday or Christmas, so I figured I might as well watch it.

It was actually enjoyable enough, although I've already forgotten a lot of it, apart from the storyline shared with the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 July, 2016, 02:17:54 PM
X-Men: Days of Future Past is now on Netflix
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 July, 2016, 05:25:14 PM
Well I've gone and done it and I'll regret it at my leisure BUT I bought the kids the prequel trilogy and they're busy watching Phantom Menace... I'm cooking tea mind...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 July, 2016, 08:56:19 PM
Signal One recently released The Seven Ups (1973 dir. Philip D'Antoni) on BD and splendid it is too! Besides a gorgeous presentation and full of lovely extras (the super-8 cut is on the disc!) but it's just a phenomenal under rated crime film. Distinct yet a fair companion piece to The French Connection, it live's up to it's predecessors success.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 July, 2016, 08:28:15 AM
Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

An absolute delight from start to finish - one of those movies where you know five minutes in that it'll join that select group of comfort films that you will revisit time and time again. A film where you'll spend thirty minutes in the pub afterwards quoting your favourite moments (as we did).

I'd actually say its a great film for all the family, despite some strong language and some mature themes (remember when family movies weren't afraid to do that?).

An instant classic. Go and see it if you can. You won't regret it.

5/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 22 July, 2016, 08:42:41 AM
The Horror Channel has been cranking out a few stinkers of late.

Virgin Witch - Vicki Michelle stars in what is basically a 70's softcore porn film. Not much plot, that's for certain, and plenty of gratuitous boob-shots. On the whole a bit Crap!

Zombie Strippers - Robert Englund stars in this abominable piece of Shit! A guy infects a stripper with Zombie-itis. She then infects a couple of others and they poledance. Yes, Zombies pole dancing! Utter nonsense, but again, plenty of gratuitous boob-shots.

Avoid both at all costs unless you are a fan of Shit films that treat women like meat!

Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2016, 09:12:47 AM
The Martian (2015, dir. Ridley Scott) was screening free at cobo beach last night as part of the Sure festival. A very, very enjoyable film. Damon's somewhat dead pan hero was a delight to be on this journey of a film with, and despite being in the modern sci-fi model of being a half hour longer than you'd like it's still a rather excellent little film. The photo shoot sequence was hilarious, as and watching the terraforming process was a joy. Deffinetly nabbing this on BD, lots of fun. Oh, and the soundtrack! Perhapse it's a bit sappy of me but when Starman kicked in I found myself shedding a tear at how well it was implemented, and perhaps how tragically timed it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 July, 2016, 07:20:53 PM
The line "In your face, Neil Armstrong" was all I needed to avoid seeing THE MARTIAN. Physics-defying fictitious spacedude versus some real-life naval aviator-cum-test pilot who also happened to be the first person to walk on the frickin' moon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2016, 07:32:08 PM
It's only a movie, Eric! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 22 July, 2016, 07:40:52 PM
....and a good movie at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 July, 2016, 09:42:45 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2016, 07:32:08 PM
It's only a movie, Eric! :lol:

Heh. I'll concede, yes, it's a relatively minor gripe but one that's pretty much guaranteed to go chupacabra on my goat. I can't speak of the context within the movie proper but the trailer made it seem like some lazy-arse attempt to wow me by diminishing a real-life person's actual achievements.

Saying that, Daniel McGregor Dare also brought peace to an entire planet when doing his food thing albeit on Venus.

In your face, Drew Goddard!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 23 July, 2016, 11:03:39 AM
I took the kids to see Ice Age: Collision Course yesterday.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

I see it has got some mixed response on the Web.

Well my 6 year old son who has seen all the previous films countless times thought it was great and he is the target audience.

Scientifically inaccurate? Who cares - it's clearly a joke (the bit about how the solar system was formed).

Unfunny? Not to us it wasn't.

It was also great to see Buck back ( I guessed when they talked about going underground ). To me he is the best character in the series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 12:01:18 PM
Star Trek: Generic Space Film.

Once again, Karl Urban's the best thing in it.

Time to rethink this Star Trek for the masses approach I feel Paramount.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 July, 2016, 12:09:56 PM

Star Trek is back where it belongs and best served - on TV.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 July, 2016, 12:28:26 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 12:01:18 PM
Star Trek: Generic Space Film.

Once again, Karl Urban's the best thing in it.

Time to rethink this Star Trek for the masses approach I feel Paramount.
Unlike all those niche StarTreks that weren't remotely popular for the last fifty years?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 12:29:39 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 23 July, 2016, 12:09:56 PM

Star Trek is back where it belongs and best served - on TV.

Fingers crossed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 12:38:08 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 23 July, 2016, 12:28:26 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 12:01:18 PM
Star Trek: Generic Space Film.

Once again, Karl Urban's the best thing in it.

Time to rethink this Star Trek for the masses approach I feel Paramount.
Unlike all those niche StarTreks that weren't remotely popular for the last fifty years?



Star Trek: Beyond Bland made Insurrection ( a film it resembles) seem like Wrath Of Khan, that's the problem.

I watched it last night and I've already forgotton it.

I Wish it had been bad, I mean Nemesis bad, at least then it would of been memorable.

The fact it was so crushingly average was even worse.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2016, 02:46:22 PM
Yoincks, is it really that poor? I was quite looking forward to it after the last couple of trailers..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 23 July, 2016, 03:16:00 PM
I'm seeing it on Wednesday. .....will see what I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 23 July, 2016, 04:51:46 PM
I haven't seen Star Trek Beyond yet, and whilst I enjoy anything in with Star Trek in the title I don't think they compare favourably the the movies before JJ Abrams Franchise came along.
I say this as a big fan Of JJ Abrams work, but the new movies whilst enjoyable just don't feel like Trek to me.
Anyone else feel the same?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 04:52:39 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 23 July, 2016, 02:46:22 PM
Yoincks, is it really that poor? I was quite looking forward to it after the last couple of trailers..

I went into the film with an open mind and I really wanted to like it, but aside from some good performances, you can tell that the script was a rush job.

Definitely not the 50th anniversary celebration I'd hoped for, despite a couple of touching and well judged moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2016, 05:26:05 PM
I like the first one despite/because it makes no sense, but Into Darkness was an abomination unto Nuggan. And I speak as a fan of crappy ST movies, Abrams, Quinto, Pine, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cumberbatch and Nimoy. This one looked so lively and so far removed from regular Trek that I figured different could be good... Also, Pegg has earned my support in his endeavours, even when they don't work out. And then there's the prospect of Idris Elba cosplaying as Andreas Katsulas...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 July, 2016, 05:52:29 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 23 July, 2016, 05:26:05 PM
I like the first one despite/because it makes no sense, but Into Darkness was an abomination unto Nuggan. And I speak as a fan of crappy ST movies, Abrams, Quinto, Pine, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cumberbatch and Nimoy. This one looked so lively and so far removed from regular Trek that I figured different could be good... Also, Pegg has earned my support in his endeavours, even when they don't work out. And then there's the prospect of Idris Elba cosplaying as Andreas Katsulas...

It's marginally better than The risible Into Darkness, simply because it doesn't rehash an existing plot and do it badly-so a success of sorts I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 July, 2016, 10:29:43 PM
Super-8 just now on Neflix.

It's been on my list for a while, but I guess I just didn't feel like it much. I think watching the recent Mysterious Things series kind of put me in the mood.

Anyway, very good!

And loved the extra movie within movie at the end. Hee hee.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 July, 2016, 10:40:37 PM
Two more at the Sure film festical, Spectre (2015) which is utterly fucking awful, like most Bond films before it. And Heil Ceaser! (2015, dir. Coen Bros) which is an utterly delightful mind boggling adventure like every Coen's movie before it.

Then a few home for a few beers and more movies, specifically more giallo. They Have No Faces (1974, dir. Corrado Farrina) is the debut and penultimate work of fiction by the director and a real triumph! One of the finest examples of the genre with a glorious atmosphere and timeless attitude to horror, a real buried gem in every sense! Followed up by the more sleazy Almost Human (1975, dir. Umberto Lenzi) which is still a bloody excellent movie with possibly one of the most under appreciated chase sequnces in cinema, and a brilliant 'whos who' of the Italian exploitation scene, with Thomas Millian once again cast as the sleaze ball crook, Henry Silva bringing his bad cop act, and Roy Lovelock as the heart throb punk protagonist. A hell of a lot of fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 25 July, 2016, 12:14:55 AM
Just re-watched Star Trek Into Darkness as precursor to going to see the new one.

I am really not sure why it gets such a bad press around here. I actually quite liked it and have seen it at least 4 times now. Ok the bit lifted directly out of the Wrath of Khan (and reversed) does make me cringe (and also the [spoiler]resurrection [/spoiler]but at least they set up the mechanism for it early on with the [spoiler]tribble)[/spoiler].

But over all it is pretty decent and the plot does actually make sense.

My opinion anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 July, 2016, 09:24:08 AM
Edge of Tomorrow, which we really, really enjoyed. It's a total blast, not sure why it seems to have passed under the general radar to some degree. I read the book a couple of years ago and had been warned that there were some niggling diversions from the source material, but I really didn't think the (fairly minor) changes hurt it. The action is great, with the beach landing itself being really intense. I might now be a bit in love with Emily Blunt too, she's fantastic in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 25 July, 2016, 10:42:58 AM
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Despite loving most of John Carpenter's output, I'd never got round to seeing this one. It's great. It's not a genre film, but it's frequently reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead - fairly deliberately, I understand.  Brilliant minimal soundtrack, and Darwin Joston as Napoleon Wilson is one of the great Carpenter anti-heroes.

Eyes Without a Face (1960) - French black and white 'poetic horror' movie about a plastic surgeon trying to restore his daughter's face, destroyed in a car crash. Unfortunately, he does so by having girls abducted and removing their faces - spectacularly graphically for 1960! A strange, unsettling, dream-like movie - well worth a view.

Grapes of Death (1978) - More French horror, directed by Jean Rollin. Pesticide used on grapes is turning innocent French wine-drinkers into infected pseudo-zombies. Lots of roaming across desolate rural France, crumbling buildings everywhere, interspersed with scenes of ridiculously over-the-top violence, perversion, and boobs. Very atmospheric, but the lead character gets increasingly irritating as the film progresses - her tendency to get other people killed escalates to an (admittedly) logical conclusion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 July, 2016, 10:48:57 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 25 July, 2016, 09:24:08 AM
Edge of Tomorrow, which we really, really enjoyed. It's a total blast, not sure why it seems to have passed under the general radar to some degree.
Yeah, I don't get it either. I thought it was great fun.

If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend Sicario for another helping of Emily Blunt being awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 July, 2016, 02:20:46 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 July, 2016, 10:40:37 PM
Spectre (2015) which is utterly fucking awful, like most Bond films before it.

Most BOND films are brilliant fun and made for rewatching multiple times.  They seem to have forgotten that while making Spectre.  There is some stuff to enjoy but it is mostly all down hill, spectacularly at some points, after the opening credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 02:28:07 PM
I really can't teach myself to like Bond, after successive disappointments i'm struggling to find a single instalment I found anything redeemable about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 July, 2016, 04:10:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 02:28:07 PM
I really can't teach myself to like Bond, after successive disappointments i'm struggling to find a single instalment I found anything redeemable about.

Richard Kiel?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 July, 2016, 04:14:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 02:28:07 PM
I really can't teach myself to like Bond, after successive disappointments i'm struggling to find a single instalment I found anything redeemable about.

On Her Majestys Secret Service is a favourite of mine, although many seem to hate it. The greatest ever Bond film is Live and let Die.

Bond films aren't as fun as they used to be!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 July, 2016, 05:08:55 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 25 July, 2016, 10:48:57 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 25 July, 2016, 09:24:08 AM
Edge of Tomorrow, which we really, really enjoyed. It's a total blast, not sure why it seems to have passed under the general radar to some degree.
Yeah, I don't get it either. I thought it was great fun.

If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend Sicario for another helping of Emily Blunt being awesome.

Noted thanks, I'll check that out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 25 July, 2016, 05:50:41 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 25 July, 2016, 04:14:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 02:28:07 PM
I really can't teach myself to like Bond, after successive disappointments i'm struggling to find a single instalment I found anything redeemable about.

On Her Majestys Secret Service is a favourite of mine, although many seem to hate it. The greatest ever Bond film is Live and let Die.

Bond films aren't as fun as they used to be!

Cheers

Live and Let Die has the best theme but as its Roger Moore it can never be the best film.

I also like OHMSS

Goldfinger is ofcourse the correct answer  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 July, 2016, 06:11:23 PM
I always liked Roger Moore best - he's the only one who treated it as the ridiculous fantasy that it is.
My favourite is 'The Spy Who Loved Me' but 'Live and Let Die' is also ace. 'The Man with the Golden Gun' and 'A View to a Kill' have the best baddies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 06:19:25 PM
It's all tacky, out dated tripe IMHO. Which is even more disturbing in Scepter because lord would have hopped by 2015 the chauvenism would have been dialled down a bit!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 July, 2016, 06:41:56 PM
Bond has covered so much ground that I would go so far as to say that if there isn't a Bond for you, you're possibly determined not to find one.  My nieces adore Die Another Day, for instance - and yes, they've heard the theme - as well as Skyfall - again, yes, they've heard the theme.

I did a chronological watch-through a few years ago and I probably like The Living Daylights most of all, as Dalton doesn't really get much credit for it, but he isn't afraid to play Bond as a cold, unlikable thug in contrast to Moore's camp superhero.  Also he teams up with Taliban heroin smugglers at one point, a plot element which has dated about as well as one might expect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 06:48:52 PM
I just don't care much for the character, or what kind of institute he represents, finding it crass, boring and out modded. I tried, honestly, I go into these things with an open mind, why do you think I watch so much exploitation cinema and come out genuinely enjoying myself? But Bond? There's nothing there for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 25 July, 2016, 07:21:31 PM
So can we assume that you were shaken but not stirred? :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 July, 2016, 07:39:30 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoWexi-DWFQ
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 July, 2016, 08:09:59 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 25 July, 2016, 05:50:41 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 25 July, 2016, 04:14:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 02:28:07 PM
I really can't teach myself to like Bond, after successive disappointments i'm struggling to find a single instalment I found anything redeemable about.

On Her Majestys Secret Service is a favourite of mine, although many seem to hate it. The greatest ever Bond film is Live and let Die.

Bond films aren't as fun as they used to be!

Cheers

Live and Let Die has the best theme but as its Roger Moore it can never be the best film.

I also like OHMSS

Goldfinger is ofcourse the correct answer  ;)

Goldfinger is clearly the best. Although I have always enjoyed Dr. No. It's less about cars and gadgets, instead it has Bond gathering intelligence, talking to informants and doing reconnaissance and general spy stuff which is largely absent from every movie that followed.

The Man with the Golden Gun is also great, but that's mostly down to Christopher Lee.

I read years ago Patrick McGoohan turned down the role of Bond.  That would have been something to see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 July, 2016, 09:24:18 PM
While I think it probably should be You Only Live Twice or Spy Who Love Me I'm going to go against the grain and say Goldeneye. Brosnon is horribly under-rated due to getting increasing poor films, but he started with a really bang. Its so glorious aware that its Bond and all that Bond used to represent, while acknowledging gleefully that it, and indeed us, should know better. Its the summation of Bond movies. Its Bond distilled to purest form.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 July, 2016, 09:37:35 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 25 July, 2016, 05:50:41 PM
Live and Let Die has the best theme but as its Roger Moore it can never be the best film.
Incorrect. Live and Let Die is the best film (and song) by miles, therefore Moore is the best Bond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 July, 2016, 09:42:05 PM
Okokok but can we all agre Die Another Day is hilarious?! :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 July, 2016, 10:10:29 PM
I have a theory that Die Another Day is two really great Bond movies that don't gel in any way: one film of the Connery school in which Bond is wounded, hurt and framed as a traitor to his country by a mole in MI6, and another film that takes its cue from the Moore era, with ice fortresses, invisible cars, orbiting death lasers, a supervillain with a face made of diamonds called Mister Kill, and a final fistfight with Iron Man inside a burning plane heading for North Korea.
Either of these films would be awesome on their own, but for entirely different reasons, so when mushed together they just alienate both schools of Bond fans: those who like it silly and those who like it gritty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 25 July, 2016, 10:35:02 PM
Central Intelligence

Going in I wasn't expecting much. I'm not a Kevin Hart fan and The Rock is....well lets just say I've only really seen him in the Fast And Furious films....'nuff said on that then.

Anyway, the film. I found myself laughing out loud several times. In fact I was even in tears at one point. So many reference jokes. A lot of which seemed to go over the audiences heads going off the reactions. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and while the plot is fairly predictable there are a few unexpected turns it takes, plus the addition of a cast member who was not shown in any trailers that brought a smile to my face [spoiler]Yeah Bitch![/spoiler]

If you are going to the cinema for the sake of going out and nothing tickles your fancy, give this a whirl. Also it's a good one to take the wife/girlfriend to. The Rock minus clothes always gets a reaction from the female audience

7/10

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 July, 2016, 10:08:13 AM
El Topo

Saw it last night. Hadn't seen it in a while. Reminded me a bit of a good Lee Hazlewood song: equal bits cowboy and psychadelic.

Oddly touching in all it's weirdness. Especially when El topo hooks up with the dwarf woman. It has a certain dignity to it.

Very much recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 July, 2016, 10:21:16 AM
As a huge Jodorowsky fan I really SHOULD get around to watching El Topo soon, I was hoping Mr. Bongo was going to release it soon after announcing Santa Sangre but it never happened...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 July, 2016, 12:20:31 PM
Fools! He does fuck all for most of Goldfinger.

It's obviously FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (best bird).

No wait, OHMSS (best bonkers plot).

No wait, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (best arty bits)

No wait, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. (Best bond, best theme)

No wait, GOLDENEYE. (best revisionism)

No wait... etc ad nauseum.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 July, 2016, 01:03:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 July, 2016, 10:21:16 AM
As a huge Jodorowsky fan I really SHOULD get around to watching El Topo soon, I was hoping Mr. Bongo was going to release it soon after announcing Santa Sangre but it never happened...

Not seen it? My fav. a his. That reminds me: I should invest in his latest film, poesia sin fin. Given that I really liked Dance of reality.

Oh, also. El Topo is getting a follow up as a comic book. Looks mint.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 July, 2016, 12:12:13 AM
Saw Jason Bourne today. Been 10 y. since I saw the original trilogy, which I really liked back then.

Spin off Legancy wasn't my cup of tea, but I somewhat think it did a better job than Jason Bourne. Jason feels clueless (and not in an organic way) most of the time, and lots of things happens because of "reasons". Forced contrived motivations and repeated moments where characters end up in staring contests (both thinking, I'v seen you on a picture, perhaps you could help me.) because there probably weren't enough script to work with.

Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum all had fitting endings. Nice showdowns with the "big bad boss forces that be". Things had consequences that would carry the films in my imagination days after I'd seen them. But with Jason Bourne, I almost don't remember what happened. I remember mostly sitting thinking being quite baffled over how easy it is for a character in the film to [spoiler]to kill this person's high ranking commander in chief, and then just get away with it.[/spoiler] and then trying to keep myself from laughing (not wanna disturb other movie goers) over how a police truck can send several cars flying without slowing down (was like a lawnmower but with cars flying instead of grass).

Not to mention a scene with two elderly men jogging/sneaking towards each other (both whom feet are making loud fapping sounds. Which didn't sound very "tactical") and then duking it out on the ground because some incredible forced story reasons.

I really wanted to like this film. I thought 24 Live another day did a very good job pulling Jack "The butcher of LA" Bauer back into the killing game, but Jason Bourne didn't do it for me.

Regardless. I can always watch the first three again --hoping they hold up as well as I'm hoping/believing they are ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 July, 2016, 11:15:13 AM
Another thing on Jason Bourne. He's on the hunt for some men on a convention floor in Vegas. Luckily for him there are booths where they have tracing devices and spy cameras for con-goers to pick up and do whatever with. So he picks those up with the camera (the film was shot with) makes it more than clear to the movie goer that he picked up A, a tracking device from a bowl of small tracking devices and B, a spy camera. All he needs to do then is drop them in peoples pockets and then he's game...

Quite the farcry from the waterloo station scene in Ultimatum, where he actually had to make an effort  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 11:22:06 AM
So, Batman vs. Superman? How bad was it?
Well i'll put it this way, I got to watch it for free, and I still came out feeling like'd i'd been mugged. What a load of cack handed dross!

Oh, and the [spoiler]MARTHA!!!![/spoiler] plot twist is every bit as stupid and forced as you where led to believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 28 July, 2016, 02:51:40 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 11:22:06 AM
So, Batman vs. Superman? How bad was it?
Well i'll put it this way, I got to watch it for free, and I still came out feeling like'd i'd been mugged. What a load of cack handed dross!

Oh, and the [spoiler]MARTHA!!!![/spoiler] plot twist is every bit as stupid and forced as you where led to believe.

The only scene I liked in that poor excuse for a film was when [spoiler]SuperCheese had to appear in court. And then has to watch as everyone dies around him.[/spoiler] He's clearly not as Super as he's believed to be.

I watched Facing the Giants the other day on TBN-UK (i'm not religious but do sometimes put the channel on, just for a laugh. The film is about a guy that takes on a failing College American Football team, so basically nothing like anything you've seen before. The only thing that stood out (for me) was when the team won and the coach gives his after game speech - "God helped you to win!" Which I took to mean that he actually helped the other team to lose. Nice God!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 31 July, 2016, 12:55:17 PM
The Cobbler

I had some reservations about watching this as it had a very low rating on Netflix. But the subject matter interested me.

I've enjoyed other things with low rating, so I decided to give it a chance. I thoroughly enjoyed it, which again goes to show. (My only issue - if I could call it that  -, is that I found one part near the end rather confusing trying to work out who was who, but I think it was supposed to be.)

Out of curiosity, I looked on the web to see how well rated it was. Not very much at all, it seems. Ditto  Tomatoes gave it 2, and described it as sentimental and schmalzy.

I didn't find it particularly, either of those, although I dont mind a bit of sentimentality. Maybe I have really bad taste in films then.

On the other hand I guess it really does go to show that taste is subjective, and I think being more easily pleased than average is no bad thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 July, 2016, 05:43:49 PM
April and the Extraordinary World - a European attempt to do a Studio Ghibli film, which suffers from overexplaining its alternate history and nicking its plot wholesale from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Some nice visuals, but the animation lets the side down, as it's not just that television animation like Avatar or Skyland have surpassed the kind of thing on show here, but so has the kind of home-made animation that shows up on Youtube, making this look really cheap despite the involvement of Susan Sarandon and Paul Giamatti in the English-language dub.
Worth a look if you like alternate history fiction and/or steampunk, but only if you can be indulgent for the better part of two hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 July, 2016, 06:24:01 PM
Deadpool.

I genuinely think I would have preferred it with less swearing and fewer wise cracks. I guess I'm missing the point.
(Maybe one day there'll be an ITV edit, which I'll probably enjoy more and find funnier).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 01 August, 2016, 06:21:11 AM
Had a Man With No Name marathon this weekend.

Or a Dollars Trilogy weekend if you prefer.

Classic films. I think that A Fistful Of Dollars has the best story. For a Few Dollars More has the best soundtrack. And The Good, The Bad And The Ugly has the best acting.

Next weekend - The Magnificent Seven marathon!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 August, 2016, 12:13:43 PM
This Is 40, which is a bit of a spin-off of Knocked Up and a similar style to that and every other modern/Apatowy comedy (ie. nobody seems to have actually written anything beforehand as scenes have clearly been cut together from lengthy improv sessions).

I find that style pretty hit and miss, when it works it's great but more and more it feels very obvious and a bit lazy to me. Paul Rudd is so great and natural at that sort of thing that I probably went in expecting more laughs than I got, although there is the odd very well observed relationship beat (I got a few 'sound familiar?' jabs in the ribs from my wife and vice versa) but it falls quite flat quite often and it's so cynical that chunks of it are actually quite depressing.

It's alright, we enjoyed it. The last film of its ilk we watched was Bad Neighbors, where scene after scene went by without anyone ad libbing a decent gag, and this was certainly better than that, but it's not up there with I Love You Man or Knocked Up. More and more this style of comedy makes me appreciate what someone like Edgar Wright does. Writing a very intricately planned out, densely crafted comedy script and then directing it with proper cinematic comedic flair seems to be a bit of a dying art when you look at the comedies that are bringing in the big bucks.

Then we had cinema tickets booked for Star Trek Beyond but the cinema had a powercut which scuppered that. Went home and watched the latest blu-ray restoration of Hellraiser instead, which was brilliant as always. It looks fantastic, even if the higher resolution makes some of the creakier effects that bit creakier (the wheels on the back of the tunnel monster thing have never been more apparent!). Absolute classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 August, 2016, 04:04:57 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 01 August, 2016, 12:13:43 PM
This Is 40, which is a bit of a spin-off of Knocked Up and a similar style to that and every other modern/Apatowy comedy

My god how I hated this movie. If I could be arsed I'd link to my reaction earlier in this thread, but suffice to say I never want to spend another second in the company of those vile ungrateful characters ever again. Any joy to be had from the gags was overwhelmed by my ever-increasing loathing of everyone involved (except for the two kids, who were convincing as the siblings they actually are) and their non-problems. Horrid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 06:58:49 PM
Crimson Peak

Too short a story in too long a film. Pretty, though. Gorgeous to look at but nothing to hold the attention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2016, 07:09:30 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 06:58:49 PM
Crimson Peak

Too short a story in too long a film. Pretty, though. Gorgeous to look at but nothing to hold the attention.

This could be used to describe every film Guillermo Del Toro has ever directed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 August, 2016, 07:49:41 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2016, 07:09:30 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 06:58:49 PM
Crimson Peak

Too short a story in too long a film. Pretty, though. Gorgeous to look at but nothing to hold the attention.

This could be used to describe every film Guillermo Del Toro has ever directed!
Eeehh I dunno, Pacific Rim is about the right length for a popcorn live action anime explosion fest...i'm rather a fan of Pans Labyrinth as well...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 August, 2016, 08:28:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 August, 2016, 07:49:41 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 August, 2016, 07:09:30 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 06:58:49 PM
Crimson Peak

Too short a story in too long a film. Pretty, though. Gorgeous to look at but nothing to hold the attention.

This could be used to describe every film Guillermo Del Toro has ever directed!
Eeehh I dunno, Pacific Rim is about the right length for a popcorn live action anime explosion fest...i'm rather a fan of Pans Labyrinth as well...

Don't get me started on Pacific Rim again! Pan's Labyrinth was pretty good though,  I'll give you that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 08:34:16 PM
Pacific Rim is best summed up by its (honest) trailer

Pacific Rim (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fupWquPNoTc)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 August, 2016, 08:35:09 PM
And this is the best Honest Trailer, in my view:

Home Alone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTo6yvJ5SCM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 03 August, 2016, 10:28:13 AM
Zootropolis -bloody fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 August, 2016, 08:38:43 PM
Hey, western movie fanatics, hows The Homesman? It's up on Amazon Prime and i've been meaning to watch it for years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 August, 2016, 09:06:55 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 03 August, 2016, 10:28:13 AM
Zootropolis -bloody fantastic.

Isn,'t it just. I will never trier of saying how great that movie is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2016, 01:38:13 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 06 August, 2016, 09:06:55 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 03 August, 2016, 10:28:13 AM
Zootropolis -bloody fantastic.

Isn,'t it just. I will never trier of saying how great that movie is.

Agreed. Love it more every time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 07 August, 2016, 10:01:57 AM
Ghostbusters

Great movie. Cool effects. Good casting. 8/10

I loved all the cameos. So many of them too. I actually preferred the subtle jokes to the loud shouty in your face ones. I'm not really sure what all the internet fuss was about regarding the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 August, 2016, 10:05:11 AM
I missed Zootropolis, unfortunately. Amid all the spring/summer blockbusters, I think the film I've enjoyed most so far this year has been Jungle Book. Of upcoming movies, I quite fancy The Magnificent Seven, and I have high hopes for Frubious Cumbersnatch's Dr Strange.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 August, 2016, 10:30:23 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 August, 2016, 08:38:43 PM
Hey, western movie fanatics, hows The Homesman? It's up on Amazon Prime and i've been meaning to watch it for years.

The Homesman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6uQkoXKGxM)'s great, although it hinges on a plot development you'll either welcome as a brave rejection of narrative convention or feel cheated, and that the film is laughing at the emotional investment you made in its central story.

The only problem I had was trying to distinguish Tommy Lee Jones's ruin of a face from the blasted scrub and pock marked mesa of the film's landscape. He has become the West.

Jones's Western directorial debut, The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada (https://youtu.be/69uMk1Or0yk?t=7s), is even better - and couldn't be more topical. Both Jones's Westerns exhibit a strong feminist/liberal bent; he's like the Bizarro Clint Eastwood.

(http://i.imgur.com/Up165uO.png?2)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 07 August, 2016, 10:50:24 AM
Hylary?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 07 August, 2016, 10:57:18 AM
Batman vs Superman. Well it started okay but really got confusing with flash backs that were in fact dreams and a clunky story line that really didn't gel for me at all. It also had CGI overload with it's antagonist Lex Luther coming across as a spoiled teen brat though his thesis -it takes a monster to deal with one seemed sound motivation. His creation however  turned out to be a giant turd monster who seemed to have wandered in from LOTR. The actors were fairly convincing Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder woman despite the stilted dialogue and po faces but it was a mess of a movie really. Worth a watch but don't expect to much from it plot wise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 07 August, 2016, 10:58:19 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 07 August, 2016, 10:50:24 AM
Hylary?

She's hylarious in the movie.

(http://a.scpr.org/i/ca5f2e95fd9c405154dc2a145e71d3cb/95234-full.jpg)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 08 August, 2016, 01:07:47 PM
Gave this a gander again last night, hadn't watched it in a while but its' power really hasn't diminished since the film's release over 40 years ago.

Anyone who claims that Connery can't act should experience his mesmeric performance in Sidney Lumet's The Offence.

It's slow at times and talky, betraying it's theatre origins on occasion, but Connery, with an equally brilliant performance from the late Ian Bannen make the film uterly obsorbing, offering up an acting masterclass.

Lumet's unobtrusive direction and the exemplary performances culminate in a riveting and nihilistic depiction of one man's desent into madness and violence.

Stylistically the last film to portray Britain in such an unflattering, bleak, and almost alien like way, figuratively and literaly in that case, was Jonathan Glazer's, Under The Skin-an equally absorbing piece of film making.

Lovely transfer of the print on the Masters Of Cinema Blu-ray too.

(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/mubhceeb/image_10.jpeg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/mubhceeb/media/image_10.jpeg.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 August, 2016, 02:08:16 PM
"You sad sorry little man"

(I hope I quoted that right).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 08 August, 2016, 02:27:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 August, 2016, 02:08:16 PM
"You sad sorry little man"

(I hope I quoted that right).

You certainly did Tips!  :lol:

I really love Bannen's performance, it's of the charts!

Fantastic script too, if slightly restrained in its' use of expletives by today's standards.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3pRkGQpY8V8


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 August, 2016, 05:32:13 PM
It doesn't happen often, but once in a while my girlfriend will get her heart set on seeing a film that I have zero interest in, and won't stop nagging me about until I give in.

Such was the case with Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

I like to think I'm fairly broad-minded when it comes to comedy, but I never liked the TV series - its popularity was always a mystery to me. Perhaps I'm not the target audience, but I never understood what was supposed to be funny, or what the show was even trying to parody. But I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume there must be a reason that it was so well-loved, and I'm sure it had its moments.

The film, however, is unmitigated fucking shite - so desperately unfunny and cobbled-together that you just feel embarrassed for everyone onscreen (Jon Hamm, Mark Gatiss... oh the humanity).

For a purported comedy, there really aren't many of what I'd describe as 'jokes' in the film - its mostly just tired old schtick and barrel-scraping Z-list 'celebrity' cameos served up in place of genuine humour, and the feeble attempts at gags there are are at best painfully unfunny and at worst terribly ill-judged and retrograde. For example the scene where Joanna Lumley's character has an altercation with a flight attendant, who afterwards bemoans the fact that 'we have to be nice to transgender people these days'.

For a start, that doesn't even work as a joke, and it comes across as weirdly derogatory - the 'joke' - such as it is - being that Joanna Lumley looks rough, and so much be transgender?

It's 2016. Fuck you.

If an unknown comedy writer turned in a script this hackneyed and lazy, they'd be laughed out of every production company in the country. The only upside is that it was mercifully short (and god does it feel stretched wafer thin even at 85mins). Even my girlfriend - a huge fan of the TV show - conceded that it was a very strange film that was at best 'mildly amusing for fans'.

The only thing in the film that made me laugh was when I made the connection between the awkward and pointless extended Jerry Hall cameo and the Fox Searchlight logo at the beginning of the film.

0/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 August, 2016, 05:35:22 PM
I saw a featurette about the Ab Fab movie on breakfast TV and to me it looked quite a bit like Spice World.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 August, 2016, 05:45:00 PM
QuoteI saw a featurette about the Ab Fab movie on breakfast TV and to me it looked quite a bit like Spice World.

There's a throughline there - Emma Bunton gets a starring role in the film* and didn't Saunders write that flop Spice Girls musical?

*For some reason. Even though she does literally nothing of importance in the 'plot'. And the main recurring 'joke' about her is that Saunders' character keeps mangling her name and calling her 'Baby Bunton' or 'Emma Spice'. Yeah, that's the level of humour we're dealing with here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 08 August, 2016, 07:02:39 PM
Evil Dead (2013 Remake)

A great, tense horror. Also: Film 4 shows the (as yet) unreleased extended edition, with extra gore, extra dialogue, missing scenes (including two pivotal scenes: [spoiler]disposal of two bodies, explaining why they don't come back[/spoiler] and [spoiler]the main character's brother being possessed[/spoiler], plus the [spoiler]"We're going to get you" being sung through the cellar door[/spoiler] from the first film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 08 August, 2016, 07:05:18 PM
Nope, never got the joke with Ab Fab either.

Middle class socialites and their inane foibles?

Ha, ha, ha, ha! Not!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 August, 2016, 11:59:05 PM
Quote from: futureimperfect on 01 August, 2016, 06:21:11 AM
Had a Man With No Name marathon this weekend.

Or a Dollars Trilogy weekend if you prefer.

Classic films. I think that A Fistful Of Dollars has the best story. For a Few Dollars More has the best soundtrack. And The Good, The Bad And The Ugly has the best acting.

Next weekend - The Magnificent Seven marathon!

Did you watch the director's cut of TGTBTU? Worth a watch, even if there are some ponderous shots. Mind you they're ponderous shots of gorgeous scenery, every frame a painting blah blah. What it boils down to is the movie Tarantino wishes he made and rips off the most.


Must have a rewatch of the trilogy myself. The Ennio Morricone soundtrack alone is worth it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 09 August, 2016, 11:51:45 AM
Agreed on the Morricone love!

My most recent watch was River's Edge, really good movie! Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover ruling us all, a soundtrack featuring lots of Slayer, an offbeat masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: futureimperfect on 09 August, 2016, 11:57:38 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 08 August, 2016, 11:59:05 PM
Did you watch the director's cut of TGTBTU? Worth a watch, even if there are some ponderous shots. Mind you they're ponderous shots of gorgeous scenery, every frame a painting blah blah. What it boils down to is the movie Tarantino wishes he made and rips off the most.


Must have a rewatch of the trilogy myself. The Ennio Morricone soundtrack alone is worth it.

Yep it was the 2014(?) extended version - apparently mastered from 4k according to forum nerds.  You are right with your Tarantino comment. I think his problem is he tries too hard to make a movie as good as this. Nothing against the guy, he makes good movies. But the dollars trilogy is my favorite film trilogy of all time (followed by the Vengeance trilogy and the the Star Wars trilogy)

You are right about the soundtrack too. Me and my flatmate actually had a discussion about the soundtracks. I actually rated a few dollars more higher than the other two, the only exception being ecstasy of gold which HAD BETTER be played at my funeral. (along with escape from New York 

As a kid I never noticed just how many actors were in more than one of the films. I think more parents should be watching these with the kids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 10 August, 2016, 12:21:22 PM
Morricone, Howarth and Carpenter! Could listen to their music on repeat all day long.

Recently had a rewatch of Escape From New York, and i think the very last scene, as Snake walks out of frame as he mangles the cassette tape, is my favourite movie scene ever. Just perfectly timed and executed, so powerful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2016, 12:37:55 PM
Super 8 - recorded off telly at the weekend while I was away and watched last night. I can't do better than reference Tordelback's review (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg790616;topicseen#msg790616) - good first half, cliched second half, too much lens flare.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 August, 2016, 08:14:43 PM
Nicolas Winding Refn:s Pusher trilogy.

Great movies. Really unflattering looks into three different lives of crime.

Pusher 1. Few movies like it. Get's me every time how much the main character fucks up instead of doing what he needs to do. Almost inspirational (in a don't fuck up-sort of way).

Pusher 2. Main guy is told throughout the whole film how much of a fuck up he is, and buys into that. Has a strong sad core.

Pusher 3.  Another interesting tragedy. Old fat mob guy can't cope with ordinary life stuff and stress (without smoking heroin), but has no problem dismember and grinding down intestines in a garbage disposer.

Not for everyone (danish can sound like pure gibberish), but I totally recommend them. Different as much as interesting gangster stories. Far cry from Scarface.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Im_not_Frank on 12 August, 2016, 08:46:56 AM
Last movie watched...

...John Wick

It was a first time watch for me. And I was in the perfect mood for it. You know when you have had a really bad day and just want to punch everyone in the face? Well this is a movie for that day! It's not a classic film by any means. But it gets the job done. Quick Summary. Bad guys piss off a retired assassin. Big mistake. Goes on a killing spree. [spoiler]Everyone dies. [/spoiler]

Worth a rent when you are in the right mood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 August, 2016, 09:04:55 AM
Quote from: Im_not_Frank on 12 August, 2016, 08:46:56 AM
John Wick
...
It's not a classic film by any means. But it gets the job done.
John Wick is a fantastically well made film and the complete antithesis of the insidious notion that you "should just turn your brain off and not expect Shakespeare" when sitting down to watch an action or genre movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Im_not_Frank on 12 August, 2016, 09:08:37 AM
Quote from: The Cosh on 12 August, 2016, 09:04:55 AM
John Wick is a fantastically well made film and the complete antithesis of the insidious notion that you "should just turn your brain off and not expect Shakespeare" when sitting down to watch an action or genre movie.

Indeed I was impressed with it, it's just not something I can see myself watching again. Unlike Shoot 'Em Up which is my go to action movie when I'm feeling a bit angry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 August, 2016, 12:03:27 PM
It's a very well made action film but it ain't shakespeare  ;) But I agree Cosh it's the rare example of an action movie where you don't have to turn your brain off to enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 August, 2016, 06:23:31 PM
Watched Secret Life of Pets and it really brought home how formulaic the stories in many kids movies have become. In many ways this story is a direct life of Toy Story. Status Quo of lovely and slightly wacky characters living a life we don't see behind closed doors. Change in status quo 1 add an outsider who up sets balance and creates rivally/unhappy relationship with lead character. Status quo change 2 the couple at odds are lost in a new and threatening environment. They meet a series of odd ball characters from this new world, some charming, some threatening. Their friends searching for them meet a series of odd ball character from this new world some charming, some threatening. The adventures bring the odd couple together. Big dramatic set piece to bring it all together and resolve all issues. Return to status quo, slightly improved by the addition that started all this nonsense off.

I think that's why I loved Zootropolis so much. It almost certainly had a story that was very familar to other stories of this type, outsider trying to make their way in a new world is a theme we also see time and again. But it did it so well I didn't notice.

Here its abaolutely apparent BUT I still loved it! It was very funny, funny enough that even though the story was so tried and cliche it was utterly enhanting and endless fun and laugh out loud funny on so many occasions. Brilliant stuff. Utterly tired, cliched and shallow BUT emmensely entertaining... oh and the kids didn't over analysis of course and loved it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 August, 2016, 09:17:27 PM
Finding Dory

They should've tried finding story first. Still, I had a nice snooze.

The new characters were so memorable that I forgot their names during the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 15 August, 2016, 04:27:04 PM
I can highly recommend The Invitation which I caught on Netflix.

A superbly tense and claustrophobic psychological horror/thriller from director Karyn Kusama.

Fantastic performances from a great ensemble cast and tension ratcheted up to sphincter clenching proportions!

Beautiful cinematography too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 15 August, 2016, 08:23:22 PM
Silent Running

Hippies in sppaaaaacce. My first time watching this eco sci-fi classic and it struck me almost like a nihilist version of Red Dwarf. There's an admirable tightness of focus and a palpable sense of loneliness. The effects work well and the robots have more heart and personality than all of the humans. The black-and-white heavy-handedness of the eco message coupled with Joan Baez placed it firmly in its era but functions tidily enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 August, 2016, 12:53:46 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 15 August, 2016, 04:27:04 PM
I can highly recommend The Invitation which I caught on Netflix.

A superbly tense and claustrophobic psychological horror/thriller from director Karyn Kusama.

Fantastic performances from a great ensemble cast and tension ratcheted up to sphincter clenching proportions!

Beautiful cinematography too.

Yeah, a great film.
I had guessed the basic twist quite early, but it was still very satisfying seeing it all play out.
Another recommendation from me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 August, 2016, 07:19:18 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 16 August, 2016, 12:53:46 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 15 August, 2016, 04:27:04 PM
I can highly recommend The Invitation which I caught on Netflix.

A superbly tense and claustrophobic psychological horror/thriller from director Karyn Kusama.

Fantastic performances from a great ensemble cast and tension ratcheted up to sphincter clenching proportions!

Beautiful cinematography too.

Yeah, a great film.
I had guessed the basic twist quite early, but it was still very satisfying seeing it all play out.
Another recommendation from me.

Totally agree about being able to predict the outcome link, but the journey was indeed very satisfying!

Having a keen interest in the subject matter provided even greater interest for me too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 August, 2016, 07:22:23 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 15 August, 2016, 08:23:22 PM
Silent Running

Hippies in sppaaaaacce. My first time watching this eco sci-fi classic and it struck me almost like a nihilist version of Red Dwarf. There's an admirable tightness of focus and a palpable sense of loneliness. The effects work well and the robots have more heart and personality than all of the humans. The black-and-white heavy-handedness of the eco message coupled with Joan Baez placed it firmly in its era but functions tidily enough.

What a classic!

Always a fond favourite in this household and that end scene never fails to elicit a tear.

One of the very best Sci-Fi movies made and that soundtrack LP takes pride of place in my collection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 August, 2016, 04:05:41 PM
Zootropolis - I know I've gone on about this movie quite a lot in the short time its been out BUT just watched it again on DVD with all the family and it really holds up. Wonderful film. Probably my favourite animated movie ever... probably...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 21 August, 2016, 12:02:44 AM
Bone Tomahawk.

[spoiler]The scene with the deputy, Jesus - made even more shocking considering how relatively mild the previous 90 minutes had been[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 21 August, 2016, 12:08:45 AM
David Brent : Life on the Road -I really enjoyed this despite it being an uncomfortable watch with the cringeyness and flat out desperation getting a bit much.

The new characters weren't well developed although I liked Dom. The office bully and comedy sidekick were poor.

The ending was well telegraphed [spoiler]and I don't think Brent's redemption with the band or his fledgling romance were earned[/spoiler]. There were however a few funny songs and some good lines and it's well worth a look.

7/10 for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 21 August, 2016, 09:52:49 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 21 August, 2016, 12:02:44 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 20 August, 2016, 04:05:41 PM
Zootropolis

Bone Tomahawk.

[spoiler]The scene with the deputy, Jesus - made even more shocking considering how relatively mild the previous 90 minutes had been[/spoiler]

Imagine if Amazon had mixed up your two deliveries.

I really enjoyed Bone Tomahawk when it was a Western. I love [spoiler]horror[/spoiler] and I enjoyed the final section of the film too, but - like [spoiler]From Dusk Till Dawn[/spoiler] - I couldn't help wishing I could see how the end of the film I'd been watching for the last hour played out, rather than segueing into a [spoiler]genre short[/spoiler].

I had to look away during the scene referenced above, and I think of myself as a gore hound.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 August, 2016, 10:23:01 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 16 August, 2016, 07:22:23 PM
One of the very best Sci-Fi movies made and that soundtrack LP takes pride of place in my collection.

I also found out that No Man's Sky scorers and increasingly-interesting post-rockers 65daysofstatic did a Silent Running rescore a couple of years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running_(album))...

Freaks

The awkward gulf stylistically between then-and-now is in sharp contrast to the wildly progressive 'disabled people are human' hook which even now Hollywood has difficulty grasping. In a generation where films like "Me Before You" and "Margarita With a Straw" are made (where the disabled leads are played by able-bodied actors) - Freaks basic authenticity still shines through time and the angle of 'shock' the audience feels is now far different. Although the broad strokes of the narrative means that despite its best intentions we are STILL watching a freakshow there is a simplistic but solid story which helps hold the pretext together. Again - not stupendous but the boldness of its production makes it timeless in ways a lot of its contemporaries could only dream of being.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 August, 2016, 12:22:56 PM
The Mark il Narc series

Often whilst watching a eurocrime movie, you'll find yourself with a creeping feeling of familiarity. Calibro 9 owes a great deal to The Godfather, Wake Up and Kill wouldn't be as polished if not for the influence of Bande a Parte, and High Crime would never have been sanctioned if not for Nero aping Hackman in The French Connection. This trilogy of movies by Stelvio Massi is no different, the titular Mark (played admittedly very well and charmingly by Franco Gasparri) appeared in three movie from 1975 and 1976, Mark of the Cop, Mark Shoots First and Mark Strike Back! in an effective if somewhat watered down take on the Dirty Harry formula, even with certain scenes lifted directly from Eastwood finest hour it never quite manages to raise itself to the levels of Lenzi or Di Leo eurocrime madness. They are by no means the worst of the genre, but to someone casually wanting to watch a politsiotesco, i'd recommend looking to Manhunt or Calibro 9 instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 August, 2016, 04:57:42 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2016, 09:12:47 AM
The Martian (2015, dir. Ridley Scott) A very, very enjoyable film.

Agreed. Just caught this on bluray and I loved the problem solving (" let's science the shit out of it") aspect of the tale. A much better approach than "Castaway in space".

I know it's kinda tedious to mention special effects but they were gorgeous and flawless!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 August, 2016, 06:09:45 PM
Carol.

It was alright, but for my money nowhere near as good as all the accolades and awards made out. Some nice performances, but extraordinarily light on plot and incident for its two hour running time. Also, for a film about a relationship, to my mind the lead characters weren't particularly well fleshed out in the script. I didn't feel as if I knew them very well by the end. Rooney Mara's character in particular seemed a little vague, her backstory and life outside of the events of the film seems a total void. Perhaps that's the point? I guess?

Reminded me very much of A Simple Man - another lavish, somewhat overrated, 'fashiony' period film that seems to be far more in love with the trappings of its period setting - the props and setting dressing, but especially the clothes - than anything else.

I liked it, but out of last year's awards contenders I much preferred the relatively underrated Brooklyn - a more humble (if formulaic) film that I found far more entertaining and compelling.

3/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 22 August, 2016, 07:05:49 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 August, 2016, 10:23:01 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 16 August, 2016, 07:22:23 PM
One of the very best Sci-Fi movies made and that soundtrack LP takes pride of place in my collection.

I also found out that No Man's Sky scorers and increasingly-interesting post-rockers 65daysofstatic did a Silent Running rescore a couple of years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running_(album))...



Thanks for that CFM!

I'll have to check that out!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 August, 2016, 07:58:05 PM
Creed

Just when I said, "this could really do with the authentic Rocky music kicking in..."

...well, guess what happens for the start of the 12th and final round of the title fight. That's not a spoiler, BTW. This is a Rocky film, so (a) you know it has a 12th and final round of a title fight, and (b) it was so much better than it had any right to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 August, 2016, 11:11:06 PM
THE SHALLOWS.

OPEN HOOKJAWS meets GRAVITY. Quite enjoyed it, actually.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 23 August, 2016, 07:01:24 AM
The Imitation Game

Excellent as expected, tragic and evocative of the time, but more than that, threw up a couple of surprises too (probably not worth spoilering here so I won't). Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2016, 10:09:07 AM
Love & Friendship Can't remember if I recommended this after the cinema visit but watched it with the parents over the weekend. Just as funny the second time around - even if, like me, you can't stand period pieces and doubly so period romances, this is a great watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 August, 2016, 03:11:08 PM
A Bloodstained Butterfly (1971, dir. Ducci Tessari)

The latest in Arrow Videos line of HD remasters for the unsung giallo classics of the early 70's, Tessari's court room melodrama is a genuine forgotten gem of a movie. Mixing the cerebral, vibrant green colour pallet of Bava's latter day movies with court room intrigue that was popular on Italian TV at the time, and despite being a very much blood and scandal-less installment in the giallo pantheon, A Bloodstained Butterfly is none the less one of the most inventive of the period. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 24 August, 2016, 06:53:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 August, 2016, 03:11:08 PM
A Bloodstained Butterfly (1971, dir. Ducci Tessari)

Often when you review these Arrow remasters, I've got the giallo in question in some imported European or US format, but this is a new one on me, and I love the sound of it. Sold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 25 August, 2016, 04:24:57 PM
Just discovered a great little Irish ghost story called The Eclipse with Ciaran Hinds and Aidan Quinn. It takes it's time and it's a small story but it's got such a great atmosphere and the entire cast are exquisite. Hinds is just a rock in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 August, 2016, 04:45:11 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 24 August, 2016, 06:53:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 August, 2016, 03:11:08 PM
A Bloodstained Butterfly (1971, dir. Ducci Tessari)

Often when you review these Arrow remasters, I've got the giallo in question in some imported European or US format, but this is a new one on me, and I love the sound of it. Sold.
It's a cracking film, and it's easy to think in an alternative universe the giallo genre spent the next decade aping A Bloodstained Butterlfy rather than Bird the the Crystal Plumage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 August, 2016, 10:49:49 AM
As Above, So Below

As it debut on Netflix yesterday, it was very enjoyable!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 August, 2016, 11:25:50 AM
The Sand, a group of American teens have a night time beach party, when they awake they are [spoiler]eaten by strange tendrils that are beneath the sand. There was also some bollocks about a hatched egg[/spoiler]. Utter Shit!

Night of the Living Deb. So-called comedy about a girl, called Deb, who has a Zombie problem. I gave up after half an hour because the acting was appalling!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trent on 27 August, 2016, 01:17:43 PM
Another one who just caught Bone Tomahawk. Thought it was terrific and the violence confined largely to the last half hour was gruesome but not ridiculously so. Loved the interplay between the 4 main characters and the dialogue was sensational. When a character talks of someone "proferring" a name I just smile like an idiot. The hoo-ha about the horror aspects have detracted somewhat from what is a fascinating, meticulously acted character piece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 August, 2016, 01:06:51 AM
The Vatican Files

A silly story about a girl who goes to hospital to get her cut finger seen to, and somehow gets possessed and produces eggs. [spoiler]Then she turns out to be the antichrist.[/spoiler] I kid you not.

The acting was actually pretty good, and the possessed girl was suitably creepy. And that bit when she [spoiler]broke her chains where you see her dislocated her shoulders made me wince,[/spoiler] but
I thought it kinda rubbish just the same, although not unenjoyable, if partly for the wrong reasons.

My favourite part:

Said egg production scene where the cardinal actually sticks his fingers in her mouth to pull out the first egg. Cos that's what you do when dealing with a person possessed by a vicious demon, of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 August, 2016, 01:18:08 AM
Porco Rosso

Working my way through the Ghibli back catalog through the fantastical, the silly and the melodramatic it feels very strange tumbling on Porco Rosso which seems like an odd mixture of all three. The 1920s European setting plunges this into a very different world. It's stunningly beautiful - the sequence with the "ghost planes" is utterly breathtaking. The slapstick feels a little misplaced but the ending is wonderfully wistful. So far every Ghibli film I've watched has stuck in the memory for a different reason but this one really seems to have a nameless evocative feeling that will stay with me forever. PIGTASTIC.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 August, 2016, 08:20:16 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 August, 2016, 01:18:08 AM
Porco Rosso

Working my way through the Ghibli back catalog through the fantastical, the silly and the melodramatic it feels very strange tumbling on Porco Rosso which seems like an odd mixture of all three. The 1920s European setting plunges this into a very different world. It's stunningly beautiful - the sequence with the "ghost planes" is utterly breathtaking. The slapstick feels a little misplaced but the ending is wonderfully wistful. So far every Ghibli film I've watched has stuck in the memory for a different reason but this one really seems to have a nameless evocative feeling that will stay with me forever. PIGTASTIC.
Oh heck, CFM, must have missed your quest to work through the Ghibli movies! Though I must admit, Porco Rosso and Pom Poko are the two movies of the studio I never got the chance to see, you have spurred me onto watch the former with haste.

What where your thoughts on Nausicaa (not a Ghibli movie but a fundemental part of the Miyazaki canon) and Lupita, two movies I frequently recomend to 2000AD readers (and, by extension, the phenomenal Nausicaa manga).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trent on 28 August, 2016, 10:58:37 PM
Just watched The Martian and loved it. Parking any nitpicks about the science etc it was refreshing to see a relentlessly optimistic film with a terrific central performance and surprisingly funny script. Highly recommended although I am spoilt with a 65" OLED telly so I watched it in 3D which also helped draw you in.
Great stuff and I smiled at the Alien nod at the very start.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 August, 2016, 12:25:35 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 August, 2016, 08:20:16 AM
What where your thoughts on Nausicaa (not a Ghibli movie but a fundamental part of the Miyazaki canon) and Lupita, two movies I frequently recommend to 2000 AD readers (and, by extension, the phenomenal Nausicaa manga).

I love it - it was the first Ghibli DVD I bought (going with their collection numbering so POM POKO NEXT RACCOON BALLS) and I thought for its era it was stunning. It has the eerie empty beauty of Fantastic Planet and some heavy eco messages that still function well. As I said until I watch the you-won't-get-it At Home With the Yamadas or the dump-on-the-source-material Earthsea - Ghibli can do no wrong for me. Anyone who thinks the 90s is vacant of cultural masterpieces weren't looking east enough, wish I'd watched them all as a kid!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 29 August, 2016, 05:06:49 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 August, 2016, 08:20:16 AM
...and Lupita, two movies I frequently recomend to 2000AD readers...
In that case, you should probably make sure you spell that one properly next time so they can track it down more easily. Laputa.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 September, 2016, 01:31:52 PM
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Nicholas Cage is well cast as an increasingly unhinged cop but Herzog's Bad Lieutenant falls short of the demented previews I'd been excited by on its release. The manic moments are riveting but few and far between, the psychedelic lizard sequences are all-too-brief and the slow wind to an oddly upbeat ending feels rather pointless. Curious, fascinating but not essential for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 01 September, 2016, 02:55:54 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 September, 2016, 01:31:52 PM
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Nicholas Cage is well cast as an increasingly unhinged cop but Herzog's Bad Lieutenant falls short of the demented previews I'd been excited by on its release. The manic moments are riveting but few and far between, the psychedelic lizard sequences are all-too-brief and the slow wind to an oddly upbeat ending feels rather pointless. Curious, fascinating but not essential for me.

I really Liked it. I liked the fact it was a fairly grounded drama with surreal moments (like Alex Cox and Alan Rudolph films) I also though Val Kilmer was fantastic, and his character is far more unhinged than Cage's 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 September, 2016, 04:55:40 PM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 01 September, 2016, 02:55:54 PM
I really Liked it. I liked the fact it was a fairly grounded drama with surreal moments (like Alex Cox and Alan Rudolph films) I also though Val Kilmer was fantastic, and his character is far more unhinged than Cage's

Expectation is everything when it comes to opinion really - and my expectation was a whole two hours of manic Cage and surreal iguanas. I didn't hate it at all although honestly it didn't seem entirely grounded to me as Cage seems to[spoiler] 'get away with it' in a single scene where literally everything is rounded up in such a short amount of time that Lady Geoffery thought it was a dream sequence[/spoiler]. The contrast with the consistently-dangerous Kilmer was a good one I agree - Showing how far Cage could go but doesn't and both Kilmer and Cage's antics as a whole in a working police system definitely acts as a critique of the spiral of insanity that must be the NOPD(which my favourite ever series Treme gets involved with as well) and American police in general. There's so much to analyse in there that honestly it felt unfocused - I love Herzog's documentaries where he takes stark existential views of extreme human behavior but in a constructed world it feels scattershot and alienating.

Again though - didn't not like it. I've got all the time in the world for Herzog and watching Nic Cage dance between measure and madness is a great way to spend two hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 01 September, 2016, 06:39:27 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 September, 2016, 04:55:40 PM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 01 September, 2016, 02:55:54 PM
I really Liked it. I liked the fact it was a fairly grounded drama with surreal moments (like Alex Cox and Alan Rudolph films) I also though Val Kilmer was fantastic, and his character is far more unhinged than Cage's

Expectation is everything when it comes to opinion really - and my expectation was a whole two hours of manic Cage and surreal iguanas. I didn't hate it at all although honestly it didn't seem entirely grounded to me as Cage seems to[spoiler] 'get away with it' in a single scene where literally everything is rounded up in such a short amount of time that Lady Geoffery thought it was a dream sequence[/spoiler]. The contrast with the consistently-dangerous Kilmer was a good one I agree - Showing how far Cage could go but doesn't and both Kilmer and Cage's antics as a whole in a working police system definitely acts as a critique of the spiral of insanity that must be the NOPD(which my favourite ever series Treme gets involved with as well) and American police in general. There's so much to analyse in there that honestly it felt unfocused - I love Herzog's documentaries where he takes stark existential views of extreme human behavior but in a constructed world it feels scattershot and alienating.

Again though - didn't not like it. I've got all the time in the world for Herzog and watching Nic Cage dance between measure and madness is a great way to spend two hours.

I liked the end, it's been a while but I seem to remember that [spoiler]no one was punished and nobody learnt a thing. it's like it's a fake Hollywood happy ending where Hollywood normally has some kind of blood redemption[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 September, 2016, 11:35:55 PM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 01 September, 2016, 06:39:27 PM
[spoiler]no one was punished and nobody learnt a thing.[/spoiler]

Should have been the tagline! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 September, 2016, 11:13:13 PM
Me again!

Finding Nemo

I haven't seen this for years but it's a lovely bit of classical Pixar. The gorgeous oceanographic scenes have barely dated and the story is charming, albeit a trifle linear. The real lasting personality lies in the appearance of enjoyable minor characters, an incredible sense of comic timing and a nicely human (fish) father-son dynamic at the centre. As I write the sequel has just been released but given how long it took me to finally get around to this I'll see it in years from now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 04 September, 2016, 05:19:20 PM
finding dory nicely following cfm's post...enjoyable and funny with a scary squid chucked in
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 05 September, 2016, 08:51:43 AM
I was flicking through the channels last night and came across the last 35 minutes of Jack and Jill.

I'm guessing that Sandler has gone broke and is literally taking any job that will pay the bills! Crap film with No jokes, unless I missed a slew of comedy at the beginning or in the middle!

Utter tripe!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 September, 2016, 10:11:37 AM
Caught The BFG over the weekend. My wife has never read any Roald Dahl as she's jenny foreigner, and so this was her first introduction to the BFG. And she loved it completely, as did all the smaller folk (who made up the bulk of the audience) - so job done in my book. There are a few small changes to the book to add a bit more schmaltz and drama, but only in the most minor way, and all for the better in the execution of a cinematic piece. It's beautiful to look at and the performances are spot on, with a suitably precocious (but not too precocious mind) child and a warm, bumbling turn from Mark Rylance as the Big Man himself.

The BFG was probably my favourite Dahl book as a kid (and then The Glass Elevator) and so it was a well known tale for me but still had enough energy, care and craft in it that I enjoyed it from start to finish. Jermaine Clement does a good turn as one of the bad Giants too (the only one with any real dialogue), and his last line almost puts a kind of pathos to their monstrosity - something missing from Dahl's cavalier attitude to the macabre. Though not to say that's any fault in Dahl, as that casual approach to death and dismemberment is a huge part of his appeal. Anyway [spoiler]"But I is always hungry"  made me think of Vampires and other such beasts who are doomed by their appetites, embracing their monstrous nature because they can't escape it... just something which surprised me in the BFG! [/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 05 September, 2016, 12:28:20 PM
Full Mettle Jacket: I've seen it a few times. The first time I was about 15 and Platoon was one of my favourite films, I had seen Hamburger Hill and regularly watched Tour of Duty on TV. I really liked the basic training sequence but was disappointed by the combat section, I expected more Jungle and more action. It felt too small, It felt too me at the time like it was filmed in London (which it was) and spinning the camera in any direction would reveal some familiar land mark. As an adult I realise just how wrong I was. Full Mettle Jacket's second half is every bit as good as the first. It eschews heroics and the enemy is rarely seen alive. combat consists largely of throwing as much ammunition as you can in the general direction of where you think hostile forces are. The lack of bravado and the lack of epic, exciting, combat make Full Metal Jacket one of the few truly successful anti war movies. (also Full Mental Jacket is a good Dredd story)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 05 September, 2016, 08:22:34 PM
Steve mate. I totally agree with you in regard to Full Metal Jacket. You not the only one whos changed his mind
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 September, 2016, 10:28:50 AM
I'll definitely have to rewatch Full Metal Jacket to see if i come away sharing the same feelings.

I've seen it a handful of times over the years, and my interest always wanes once they're out of training. That opening part of the movie is just so brilliantly executed, the music and atmosphere, especially in the closing moments when Private Pyle is confronted by the drill Sargeant are just absolutely amazing, due to the sense of dread and the coldness of the way the scene is shot. The music alone sets the scene perfectly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 September, 2016, 02:14:09 PM
I might need to do the same, because being honest, while the first half of the movie is burned into my brain I honestly can remember very, very little about the second half. Doesn't help that anytime I've stumbled on the movie on TV I've watched up to the end of the training section and then turned over, so it could be I just haven't given it enough of a chance. The first half is a fantastic standalone film in its own right really, and quite emotionally gruelling, so I feel done by the halfway point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 06 September, 2016, 02:42:56 PM
Full Metal Jacket has about 5 of my top 10 movie insults in its first half so its always gonna have a place in my top films ever. "You climb that obstacle like old people fuck" is a particular favourite. Soundtrack is also cracking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 04:00:17 PM
Apoclypse Now (1979, dir. F.F.Capola), or, as I like to call it, 1 and a half hours of Capola showing us how thrivelus and derivitive the Vietnam war was and, you guessed it, the Americans ruined it all...

...Followed by puppies and visions of hell.

I do like this movie, as the psychologically destructive movie of the 'Nam subgenre, that  whilst conveying some really gorgeous battle scenes also highlights the obvious. No one really knows why they're fighting, and whilst a few try to paint it as a grand old picnic in reality it's hell on earth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 September, 2016, 04:05:17 PM
Platoon is the best Vietnam movie.

FMJ is second.

Apocalypse Now is overrated and drags on just like the Godfather does.

Discuss :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 06 September, 2016, 04:07:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 04:00:17 PM
Apoclypse Now (1979, dir. F.F.Capola), or, as I like to call it, 1 and a half hours of Capola showing us how thrivelus and derivitive the Vietnam war was and, you guessed it, the Americans ruined it all...

...Followed by puppies and visions of hell.

I do like this movie, as the psychologically destructive movie of the 'Nam subgenre, that  whilst conveying some really gorgeous battle scenes also highlights the obvious. No one really knows why they're fighting, and whilst a few try to paint it as a grand old picnic in reality it's hell on earth.

The Redux version is truly abysmal. But I like Apocalypse now as an action/Adventure film posing as art. King Solomon's Nervous Breakdown. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 05:33:51 PM
ALICE (1988, dir Jan Svankmajer) is a resoundingly delightful movie, just marvelous in it's effortless charm and whimsey, and a real triumph for stop motion animation and czech film making. Though I do question it's ability to entertain a western childs audience, the puppets in question have a certain...creepy charm to them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 06 September, 2016, 06:01:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 05:33:51 PM
ALICE (1988, dir Jan Svankmajer) is a resoundingly delightful movie, just marvelous in it's effortless charm and whimsey, and a real triumph for stop motion animation and czech film making. Though I do question it's ability to entertain a western childs audience, the puppets in question have a certain...creepy charm to them.
I think I've seen that one, either on BBC2 or Channel 4 - it didn't strike me as being for children at all, more like a creepy pseudo-horror for adults.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 06:05:20 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 06 September, 2016, 06:01:28 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 05:33:51 PM
ALICE (1988, dir Jan Svankmajer) is a resoundingly delightful movie, just marvelous in it's effortless charm and whimsey, and a real triumph for stop motion animation and czech film making. Though I do question it's ability to entertain a western childs audience, the puppets in question have a certain...creepy charm to them.
I think I've seen that one, either on BBC2 or Channel 4 - it didn't strike me as being for children at all, more like a creepy pseudo-horror for adults.
Rated PG by the BBFC and it's apparently a regular christmas TV events in Poland and Holland...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 September, 2016, 06:42:30 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 September, 2016, 02:14:09 PM
being honest, while the first half of the movie is burned into my brain I honestly can remember very, very little about the second half

You were a teenage boy in the early nineties, and me so horny, me love you long time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VTj7LhCtE) isn't seared onto your neural topography?

"All I ask of my men is that they obey my orders as they would the word of god"

"Sir, the Jungian thing, Sir. The duality of man"

"We've got to keep our heads until this peace craze blows over (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VHKpGJX29s)"

"Who's the leader of the gang that's great for you and me? M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U, S-E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmILOL55xP0)"

That whole last scene with the sniper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkgDq2iSJks) is a movie in itself. The dynamics and atmosphere are incredible; better than any proper action movie or war film I've ever seen.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 06 September, 2016, 06:43:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 05:33:51 PM
ALICE (1988, dir Jan Svankmajer) is a resoundingly delightful movie, just marvelous in it's effortless charm and whimsey, and a real triumph for stop motion animation and czech film making. Though I do question it's ability to entertain a western childs audience, the puppets in question have a certain...creepy charm to them.

Sounds really interesting, and also rings a bell of familiarity with me.
BFI Blu-ray is only 9 quid on Amazon, I'll take a punt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2016, 07:02:04 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 06:05:20 PM
Rated PG by the BBFC and it's apparently a regular christmas TV events in Poland and Holland...

I first saw it maaany years ago, when C4 screened it in 15 minute chunks daily over the Christmas week. It made quite an impression!

(A quick google reveals that C4 actually commissioned it with the intention that it could be screened both episodically and as a feature-length film.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 September, 2016, 08:28:07 PM
A certain creepy charm? That hare stitching itself together while it's guts leak out freaked the hell out of me, and I was 21!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 06 September, 2016, 09:35:07 PM
Convoy! Still as great as I remember watching with my Dad as a kid lol  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 06 September, 2016, 10:44:04 PM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 06 September, 2016, 04:07:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 04:00:17 PM
Apoclypse Now (1979, dir. F.F.Capola), or, as I like to call it, 1 and a half hours of Capola showing us how thrivelus and derivitive the Vietnam war was and, you guessed it, the Americans ruined it all...

...Followed by puppies and visions of hell.

I do like this movie, as the psychologically destructive movie of the 'Nam subgenre, that  whilst conveying some really gorgeous battle scenes also highlights the obvious. No one really knows why they're fighting, and whilst a few try to paint it as a grand old picnic in reality it's hell on earth.

The Redux version is truly abysmal. But I like Apocalypse now as an action/Adventure film posing as art. King Solomon's Nervous Breakdown.

Yep, rarely do alternate/directors cuts of films work. Redux is yet another example.
Very much Francis talking himself into believing this was needed to be done, and then someone allowed him to do it. Best place for the additional footage is as DVD extras.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 10:52:11 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 06 September, 2016, 10:44:04 PM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 06 September, 2016, 04:07:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 04:00:17 PM
Apoclypse Now (1979, dir. F.F.Capola), or, as I like to call it, 1 and a half hours of Capola showing us how thrivelus and derivitive the Vietnam war was and, you guessed it, the Americans ruined it all...

...Followed by puppies and visions of hell.

I do like this movie, as the psychologically destructive movie of the 'Nam subgenre, that  whilst conveying some really gorgeous battle scenes also highlights the obvious. No one really knows why they're fighting, and whilst a few try to paint it as a grand old picnic in reality it's hell on earth.

The Redux version is truly abysmal. But I like Apocalypse now as an action/Adventure film posing as art. King Solomon's Nervous Breakdown.

Yep, rarely do alternate/directors cuts of films work. Redux is yet another example.
Very much Francis talking himself into believing this was needed to be done, and then someone allowed him to do it. Best place for the additional footage is as DVD extras.
Completely agree, a needless and boring cut of the movie, an extra half hour or so added onto a movie that was already a little too long to be perfect.

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 September, 2016, 07:02:04 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 September, 2016, 06:05:20 PM
Rated PG by the BBFC and it's apparently a regular christmas TV events in Poland and Holland...

I first saw it maaany years ago, when C4 screened it in 15 minute chunks daily over the Christmas week. It made quite an impression!

(A quick google reveals that C4 actually commissioned it with the intention that it could be screened both episodically and as a feature-length film.)
Quote from: Dandontdare on 06 September, 2016, 08:28:07 PM
A certain creepy charm? That hare stitching itself together while it's guts leak out freaked the hell out of me, and I was 21!
Ha! It certainly has staying power, and as my favourite addaptation of the novel I see why, it's just utterly unique even for Czech film making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 September, 2016, 04:02:40 AM
Suicide Squad.

A bit messy, and part of it didn't make sense . But my companion and I enjoyed it.

The 'villain creates a big machine to destroy the world' macguffin is getting a bit tired though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 September, 2016, 11:40:35 AM
Finally watched Batman v Superman.

The horror...the horror... It is all so dark and dull. Jesse Eisenberg is rubbish - but he's not really to blame for that, I think. The writing for Lex Luthor is execrable to begin with. And the other characters don't do much better.

Exactly as I feared it would be.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 07 September, 2016, 02:27:28 PM
Not strictly a movie but I watched Our Robocop Remake last night. A group of fans film covers of various scenes all in differing styles from animation, action, comedy and musical numbers. They are then all knitted together to form the film.

Stand outs are ED209 in the boardroom and Robocop shooting the rapists dick off. I also liked Dick Jones having a shit in the sink.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 08 September, 2016, 09:47:13 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 07 September, 2016, 02:27:28 PM
Not strictly a movie but I watched Our Robocop Remake last night. A group of fans film covers of various scenes all in differing styles from animation, action, comedy and musical numbers. They are then all knitted together to form the film.

Stand outs are ED209 in the boardroom and Robocop shooting the rapists dick off. I also liked Dick Jones having a shit in the sink.

The Fatal Farm rapist scene is amazing! they should cut it into a special edition of the original!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2016, 09:54:45 AM
Quote from: Steven Denton on 08 September, 2016, 09:47:13 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 07 September, 2016, 02:27:28 PM
Not strictly a movie but I watched Our Robocop Remake last night. A group of fans film covers of various scenes all in differing styles from animation, action, comedy and musical numbers. They are then all knitted together to form the film.

Stand outs are ED209 in the boardroom and Robocop shooting the rapists dick off. I also liked Dick Jones having a shit in the sink.

The Fatal Farm rapist scene is amazing! they should cut it into a special edition of the original!
Well having just watched it I can safely say this. I have never crossed my legs tighter than I am right now. JEEEESUS! :lol:

*Insert obligatory Brock Turner joke here because fuck knows rapists deserve this!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 08 September, 2016, 10:53:01 AM
Our Robocop Remake sounds fantastic.

I've house to myself next week, so i might just add it to the list of things to do to keep myself occupied!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 09 September, 2016, 12:18:43 PM
MORGAN.

For the first hour or so, diverting enough in an EX MACHINA 2.0 kinda way. Then it self-destructs, in a stupid and tryingly unentertaining fashion.

There's also [spoiler]a twist, one that shouldn't surprise even without employing Morgan's redundant precognitive ability. Mind you, people here were surprised by THE DEAD MAN reveal so, y'know. Whatever[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 09 September, 2016, 01:11:26 PM
Watched Fat Pizza & was once within spitting distance of the blonde who was Claudia. Because she actually did while walking past me one day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2016, 12:00:54 AM
Well i've spent the last few days labouring over course work and scripts, and had two different viewing experiences on in the background at all times. First, the original 1913-1914 Feuillade FANTÔMAS five movie epic, and a rather delightful experience it was. It takes a certain patience to cope with a silent movie 103 years old, but it's such a rewarding experience you can forgive it, and this is ine of the best. A classic gentleman thief saga, all 5 1-hour movies, available in Fopp for £3 right now. Hop to it chaps! Following up on that was the three episode 1985 anime OVA series IZCER-1, a baffling but highly entertaining (if stonned) viewing experience, and actually rather enlightining as the trend setter for the guro ge re anime explosion f the direct to video market in the late 80's and the 90's. And, actually, it's light on plot but not a bad way to soend 2 hours. But then, I was half drunk whilst watching it so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 11 September, 2016, 01:02:03 PM
Captain America-Civil War. I rather enjoyed it though a few  James Bond tropes seem to be creeping in, secret underwater bases and the like. All great fun though[spoiler]. Ant- man and Spiderman's[/spoiler] appearance were deftly handled and a memorable fight scene at the airport.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 11 September, 2016, 03:31:09 PM
Bi-Centennial Man starring Robin Williams as a robot trying to discover his own Humanity.

I enjoyed it. It's a bit twee and a little schmaltzy in places but Robin's performance really made it something a bit special. Worth a watch!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rackle on 11 September, 2016, 06:26:32 PM
I'm very very late to the thread, and still new to the forum, so hope there's no hidden rule that we may only discuss films of a specific genre or time period.

In honour of the recently departed Gene Wilder, @Sheridan introduced me to the film Young Frankenstein yesterday, and whilst I nearly hyperventilated from laughing at the film - especially at the [spoiler]Putting on the Ritz scene[/spoiler] I feel like there is a bit of a vacuum created now that Gene is no longer here.   :'( Wilder & (Mel) Brooks were an amazing combination for creating great films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 11 September, 2016, 06:37:44 PM
Quote from: Rackle on 11 September, 2016, 06:26:32 PM
I'm very very late to the thread, and still new to the forum, so hope there's no hidden rule that we may only discuss films of a specific genre or time period.

In honour of the recently departed Gene Wilder, @Sheridan introduced me to the film Young Frankenstein yesterday, and whilst I nearly hyperventilated from laughing at the film - especially at the [spoiler]Putting on the Ritz scene[/spoiler] I feel like there is a bit of a vacuum created now that Gene is no longer here.   :'( Wilder & (Mel) Brooks were an amazing combination for creating great films.
Wilder is great as Willy Wonka, Blazing Saddles is hilarious, but Young Frankenstein is my favourite Wilder film.

We double-billed with The Dark Crystal (not that they have similar themes or anything, other than involving long journeys to spooky castles).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 12 September, 2016, 03:13:51 AM
Bicentennial Man is underrated. Thought Robin Williams was superb in this.
Just watched 'Millennium' with Kris Kristopherson. Didnt realise it was on dvd till recently. Still enjoyed just as much as when saw it on tv as a teen. Cool concept
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 September, 2016, 08:43:27 PM
Sisters.

Shitters, more like.

Expensive-looking but extremely feeble and lazy comedy starring the usually-excellent Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It has a scriptwriter credited, but you'd be forgiven for thinking they literally just made it all up on the day of the shoot - lots of improv, very little of it even faintly amusing, and hugely indulgent and overlong at two hours. Everyone involved is capable of so much better. A real misfire.

1/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 September, 2016, 02:54:41 PM
Hush

Brilliant little thriller/horror. Kind of a slasher movie in its way. Not scary so much as explosively tense, and a very well made 92 minutes with an interesting little twist in the set-up due to a deaf protagonist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 September, 2016, 07:30:29 PM
Gaslight (1944)

A brilliant psychological thriller starring Ingrid Bergman as a young bride whose older husband, played by Charles Boyer, manipulates her into believing she's going insane. (It also features a young Angela Lansbury as a maid, looking very sexy in a hard to believe but nevertheless true kind of way.)

I've been wanting to see this for a while as the film (and the play before it) gave its name to "gaslighting," (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting) a form of psychological abuse in which a victim is manipulated into doubting their own memory, perception, and sanity. The current discussion on the "Truth? You can't handle the truth..." thread finally prompted me to download it and, boy, what a great little film it is!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 September, 2016, 10:27:04 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 14 September, 2016, 02:54:41 PM
Hush

Brilliant little thriller/horror. Kind of a slasher movie in its way. Not scary so much as explosively tense, and a very well made 92 minutes with an interesting little twist in the set-up due to a deaf protagonist.

Yeah, effective little home invasion movie that!

Highly recommended too!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 September, 2016, 10:35:40 PM
Z For Zachariah.

Excellent character piece, with fine performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Margot Robbie.

I vaguely remember the BBC adaptation years back, but not enough to make a comparison.

Special mention to Chris Pine who, for shame, I'd had pegged as a pretty boy with moderate acting ability, who in this reveals hidden depths with a subtly nuanced performance.

Quite lovely cinematography too!

Worth a watch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 September, 2016, 02:16:57 PM
Oh man oh boy, more 80's mecha OVA madness with the delightfully cheesy and neglected DANGAIOH! Actually from the same director, art team, studio and soundtrack composer as ICZAR-1, DANGAIOH is a very differently handled beast. Here's the rub, for all the rushed aspects of I-1 it had a noticeable beginning, middle, and end. It was a self contained story, arse pull universal reset ending and all. And for a small budget 3 episode series, that's not bad going. Sure it was light on character development and animation was a tad rushed at times, but it handled itself well for all it's weaknesses.

DANGAIOH, in contrast, feel's very much like a first act of a 12 episode series that never got a resolution. Just as we get the cement block down for the characters to bloom, it ends and a black hole sized cliffhanger. Which is a crying shame, because the ensemble cast is actually very enjoyable, definitely a significant departure from the typical 80's anime archetypes (in this case, a solid 3:1 female and male ratio, and the dudes a mild mannered, flawed individual in comparison to his team mates, acting as the glue to the expressive trio of 1) the shrinking violet 2) the muscle head and 3) the leader) and this works to the series strength, it can be recommended on mold breaking alone. The fight sequences are exciting and well choreographed, the villains deliciously pantomime, the animation is above average for the medium it was presented in. An actually surprising gem, and who cares if the cheese is so thick you could spread it on bread and serve it on bake off? That's all part of the charm! So GO! CROSS FIGHT! DANGAIOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!!!!
(http://cdn.aixifan.com/dotnet/artemis/u/cms/www/201601/141941393lgt4no8.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 September, 2016, 02:23:59 PM
Slow West

Saw it on Netflix, it very slow burn then it great!  Like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2016, 05:46:36 PM
Inadvertently* did a double bill of Taylor Sheridan written movies on Friday.

Reminded upthread about how pretty Chris Pine is (very), we went to see HELL OR HIGHWATER a modern western/crime movie also starring Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster (was Angel in an XMEN movie). 

It was top stuff - a fantastic piece of commentary on modern america (and Britain).  It puts character ahead of action and big set pieces but when things do happen, they are well executed. There's a bit of resolution still to happen when it all finishes - but satisfactorily so.  Great soundtrack and painfully beautiful landscapes and decaying towns too.  If I have one complaint it's Jeff Brdges; I've seen his grumpy old man routine a few too many times - it doesn't work for me. Pine and Foster, however, are really good together, each showing a different kind of smart and they shine when there's brotherly banter to be done

It struck me you could do a TV series on similar lines with a different state each week (Fargo has Minnesota covered).

Oh and the casting for the smaller roles was absolutely brilliant. 


SICARIO  (Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benecio Del Torro) was the netflix movie of choice that same evening and hit a few similar notes such that I wasn't surprised when I realised it was by the same writer.

You'll probably be aware it's an upstanding FBI agent brought into a multi-agent task force taking down Mexican drug cartels. (It's probably from where Donald Trump gets his view of mexicans).

Again, powerful stuff, drawing out character rather than gun battles. Del Toro doesn't steal the movie but does borrow it towards the end (Thank you Empire and your review of Suicide Squad for that turn of phrase).

Blunt is the least pro protaganist I've seen in a long while. She stares indecisive and almost dumbfounded as events unfold around her without her instigating anything. Whenever she does initiate action, she ends up flat on her arse (literally), slapped back down by a system she has ended up complicit in.

I'm really liking Jon Bernthal in just about everything I see him in these days.  He does a fine alpha male! (even though he gets out alpha'd in this)



* I once did the same with two movies starring Danny Dyer. This was obviously a better experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 19 September, 2016, 06:58:01 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2016, 05:46:36 PM
Inadvertently* did a double bill of Taylor Sheridan written movies on Friday.

SICARIO  (Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benecio Del Torro) was the netflix movie of choice that same evening and hit a few similar notes such that I wasn't surprised when I realised it was by the same writer.
Think the latter was definitely my favourite film of last year and I've been looking forward to the former as a result.

Lazily watched K-Pax yesterday afternoon. Kevin Spacey wasn't bad in it but the general direction of the plot was tediously predictable and it featured way too much of that uniquely cinematic mental illness where everyone thinks they're Napoleon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 September, 2016, 07:03:44 PM
Quote from: The Gold at the end of the Brainbow on 19 September, 2016, 06:58:01 PMLazily watched K-Pax yesterday afternoon. Kevin Spacey wasn't bad in it but the general direction of the plot was tediously predictable and it featured way too much of that uniquely cinematic mental illness where everyone thinks they're Napoleon.

Plus it's a rip-off of the far better Man Facing Southeast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Facing_Southeast)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 19 September, 2016, 08:46:31 PM
A backlog of

Barry Lyndon - very pretty but more just one to tick off as 'seen'

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot - Edgar Wright is curating a season at the Picture House in London.

There was an entertaining introduction about his meeting with Michael Cimino - the print wasn't in great shape, and jumped around a bit, managing to miss out the anti-tank gun shooting through the vault.

Since I'd never seen it before, it was a bit WTF. I enjoyed it though, has a great cast, and some memorable cameos.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Felt like a modern fairy-tale, entertaining and well-acted, but didn't make me laugh as much as I was expecting from the trailer.

The director has a great cameo as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 19 September, 2016, 09:22:28 PM
Batman -the killing joke animation.  Um, no, it didn't work all that well for me. Worth seeing as a completist but yet I can;t find myself recommending it to anyone. An almost superfluous beginning.  All it confirmed is that I know the dialogue from almost every panel. I should get out more and wear a leather mask and prowl the night. I may even stop crime occasionally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 September, 2016, 06:47:43 PM
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

While not a patch on the Lonely Island crew's previous film (the 2007 cult classic Hot Rod), this is a decent enough R-rated comedy.

I think the reason it failed at the box office is probably due to the fact that the subject matter - a broad send-up of a Justin Bieber type pop megastar - a) in my opinion isn't a particularly rich seam for comedy (swipes at things like the U2/iTunes debacle don't quite land) and b) I don't see there being much of a crossover between the Lonely Island's target audience and those with an earnest interest in modern pop. I mean, is anyone with a mental age over 12 going to be impressed by a Simon Cowell cameo?

As with everything these guys do, it's the songs that are the main draw, and while there's nothing to match the likes of 'Like a Boss', 'Semi-colon' or 'Threw it on the Ground' there's some pretty good ones here - including a delightfully unhinged one about the Mona Lisa being overrated.

3/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 September, 2016, 10:15:51 PM
For those that are interested in these things;

Purchased the 2010 released 'Ultimate 2 disc edition' Blu-ray of Donnie Darko this year for a good cheap price, and whilst the picture quality wasn't that much of a step up from the previous DVD's, I thought this'll do nicely....


Fast forward to December, and Arrow will be releasing a 4K restored 4 disc set (2 Blu + 2 DVD) - HERE (http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=donnie&product_id=876)

(http://i.imgur.com/Zore3PL.png)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 September, 2016, 10:27:07 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 20 September, 2016, 10:15:51 PM
Fast forward to December, and Arrow will be releasing a 4K restored 4 disc set (2 Blu + 2 DVD) - HERE (http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=donnie&product_id=876)

But it's incomplete, it doesn't include the amazing sequel -


(http://howdoesthemovieend.com/images/jmovies/img_pictures/s-darko.jpg)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 20 September, 2016, 10:43:57 PM
It's like the Complete PJ Maybe all over again  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 20 September, 2016, 10:49:55 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 20 September, 2016, 10:15:51 PM
For those that are interested in these things;

Purchased the 2010 released 'Ultimate 2 disc edition' Blu-ray of Donnie Darko this year for a good cheap price, and whilst the picture quality wasn't that much of a step up from the previous DVD's, I thought this'll do nicely....


Fast forward to December, and Arrow will be releasing a 4K restored 4 disc set (2 Blu + 2 DVD) - HERE (http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=donnie&product_id=876)

(http://i.imgur.com/Zore3PL.png)

So which versions of the film does that contain? I have both the "standard" DVD with the original cinematic version and the 2 disc Director's Cut DVD.

Which version do you prefer?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 September, 2016, 10:54:07 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 20 September, 2016, 10:15:51 PM
Fast forward to December, and Arrow will be releasing a 4K restored 4 disc set (2 Blu + 2 DVD) - HERE (http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&keyword=donnie&product_id=876)

Quote from: Magnetica on 20 September, 2016, 10:49:55 PM
So which versions of the film does that contain? I have both the "standard" DVD with the original cinematic version and the 2 disc Director's Cut DVD.



If you follow the link posted by Spikes it tells you what's in the box -

Brand new 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut from the original camera negatives produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release, supervised and approved by director Richard Kelly and cinematographer Steven Poster
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 21 September, 2016, 05:46:00 AM
Just saw Max Knight Ultra Spy (second time!) in a movie theater, for a monthly thing called Trash Night. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237446/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237446/)

It is bonkers, a lost classic from 2000. They go into the game Half-Life in the movie for example, wild stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 September, 2016, 10:13:07 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 21 September, 2016, 05:46:00 AM
It is bonkers, a lost classic from 2000. They go into the game Half-Life in the movie for example, wild stuff.

What
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 21 September, 2016, 01:45:56 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 21 September, 2016, 10:13:07 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 21 September, 2016, 05:46:00 AM
It is bonkers, a lost classic from 2000. They go into the game Half-Life in the movie for example, wild stuff.

What

The whole movie is worth seeing, but it's in the middle of this clip on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5S2EEcgWw&list=PL39431A9847F15C7E&index=9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5S2EEcgWw&list=PL39431A9847F15C7E&index=9)

The movie is pretty amazing.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 21 September, 2016, 05:09:55 PM
Can't claim to be a massive jazz fan (nice) but the Netflix documentary on the troubled Jazz pianist and singer Nina Simone, What Happened Miss Simone is fascinating stuff and comes highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2016, 12:25:43 PM
Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984, dir(s). Shōji Kawamori & Noboru Ishiguro)

Macross is something of an enigmatic juggernaut. Whilst Gundam boasts dozens upon dozens of sequels, spin-offs, re-imaginings and remakes as well as enjoying at least three renaissances in the west, Macross has always eluded many western fans, me included. Like Gundam, it sports a significant (but nowhere near comparable in size) back catalog of material, but so very little of it is available in the west in any format...unless you include Robotech. Which I don't. So it was with considerable anticipation I finally dove into the franchise with the highly venerated redux of the original series, Do You Remember Love?.

And it's jolly well mind blowing stuff, anyone who doesn't think the Japanese know how to make a damn good space opera need to give this beauty a whirl and see the what they're missing. The fundamental idea of humanity caught between two warring faction of a species split between man and women is no new concept, but it's dealt so deftly here, and being dropped straight into the proceedings is a wonderfully executed way of just cutting to the meat of the matter, the war of the sexes. The designs are  vivid and fluid, the soundtrack delightfully early 80's, characters fleshed out as well as the time frame can allow, action sequences are SUPERBLY animated by some of the masters of the period. And the finale is a scene so brilliantly silly, thrown at us with considerable gusto in an among a barrage of missiles and exploding robots. Are you ready for this? [spoiler]The 'enemy' is literally defeated by the power of love, a 2000 year old pop song, and a photon torpedo to the face.[/spoiler] Amazing.

I really, really would recommend folk give the movie a try, it's just one of the classic 80's anime excesses that make you wonder how any of this ever got beyond a cheese dream but is executed with such style and timing it's utterly compelling and delightfully entertaining.
(http://66.media.tumblr.com/9541b8e0a64199fac53f2ffd48773d7c/tumblr_n4rcy5bU521rpgxgco1_400.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spaceghost on 22 September, 2016, 02:32:53 PM
Oooh, I love (no pun intended) Macross, but it is an acquired taste. The robot/fighter plane action spliced with sugar-sweet J-pop and soppy teenage love triangles is a formula repeated in every iteration and it works better in some incarnations than in others.

If I might be so bold as to give you viewing suggestions, I'd say miss Macross II (not canon), jump back in with Macross Plus, skip Macross 7 (horseshit), then watch the Macross Zero miniseries which is a prequel to the original series before finally soaking in the high camp of Macross Frontier.

By the time you've grown accustomed to the robot/pop/love triangle formula in the others, Macross Frontier's frequent tonal u-turns won't seem so jarring. And the soundtrack, by Yoko Kanno, is actually pretty fantastic.

There's a new series airing at the moment called Macross Delta, but I haven't had a chance to see that yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 September, 2016, 03:13:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2016, 12:25:43 PM
. And the finale is a scene so brilliantly silly, thrown at us with considerable gusto in an among a barrage of missiles and exploding robots. Are you ready for this? [spoiler]The 'enemy' is literally defeated by the power of love, a 2000 year old pop song, and a photon torpedo to the face.[/spoiler] Amazing.

Ah, I knew Star Trek Beyond knicked that ending from somewhere.

I was about to reveal that Macross was one  of the few anime/mecha wotsits I have seen and enjoyed, and then you dismissed Robotech, which is of course how I know it... :'(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2016, 03:46:54 PM
Aaahhh but see, I've never actually watched Robotech. And with the original SDF Macross available online instead I think I'll just bypass it entirely.

Oh, and nice to see Tordels has great taste after all.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 22 September, 2016, 04:02:21 PM
The Purge Election year, better than the first but not as good as the second.

and the actual idea of the purge is unworkable but lets not go into that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 23 September, 2016, 02:39:57 AM
Agreed on the Macross love there! Have you seen Arcadia of My Youth by the way? (Awesome stand-alone Harlock movie, much like that in epicness)

As for Macross 7, at least check out the music by Fire Bomber, and Yoshiki Fukuyama in general. So awesome.

Also, check out Crusher Joe if you haven't! (You mentioned Dirty Pair before, so you'd dig it) - I'll throw in two more, Gunsmith Cats and Bastard!! Also Mazinkaiser.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 23 September, 2016, 04:42:24 AM
Barb Wire! Was on tv and its worse than i ever thought!
:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 September, 2016, 11:04:52 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 23 September, 2016, 02:39:57 AM
Also, check out Crusher Joe if you haven't! (You mentioned Dirty Pair before, so you'd dig it) - I'll throw in two more, Gunsmith Cats and Bastard!! Also Mazinkaiser.
I really SHOULD have seen Crusher Joe by now, being the massive, shameless fan boy of Dirty Pair that I am. A pity Dark Horse never translated anymore DP novels, let alone considered Crusher Joe, and Diskotek seem to have no interest in branching into the UK to release DP and CJ on blu-ray here. Damn shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 September, 2016, 11:51:37 AM
And come to think of it, Crusher Joe and crew made a cameo appearance in Dirty Pair: Project Eden. Their first animation debut?
(http://i.imgur.com/4fcWF1a.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 September, 2016, 12:50:48 PM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 23 September, 2016, 04:42:24 AM
Barb Wire! Was on tv and its worse than i ever thought!
:lol:

I remember renting this on video. There was an extra feature on the tape of Pammy doing a striptease to make up for the lack of nudity in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 23 September, 2016, 05:33:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 23 September, 2016, 11:51:37 AM
And come to think of it, Crusher Joe and crew made a cameo appearance in Dirty Pair: Project Eden. Their first animation debut?
(http://i.imgur.com/4fcWF1a.png)

Crusher Joe the movie is from 83, and is a little older than any Dirty Pair anime. But fittingly enough, Dirty Pair's first animated appearance is in a cameo in Crusher Joe.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 September, 2016, 06:18:05 PM
Aha! Knew it was one way or another, and Crusher Joe shall be on my watch list this weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 23 September, 2016, 06:47:27 PM
Very cool! After the 83 movie Crusher Joe has a couple OVAs from 89, the movie is the best of 'em I'd say, all fun though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 September, 2016, 10:26:59 AM
The Wicker Man starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee.

Some aspects of my memory seem to be horrendous as I (mistakenly) recalled it being set in the Westcountry! More songs than I remembered as well.

Anyway, it still holds up well and is far better than the modern remake!

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2016, 02:49:11 PM
Both film versions of James Hilton's Lost Horizon, the novel which brought to cultural significance the concept of Shangri-La, a hidden paradise high in the Asian mountain ranges.
Both suffer from being overlong, meandering, and never really showing us the transitions of characters from warmongering capitalist dogs to lentil-munching communists, but while the 1937 Frank Capra version establishes much of the iconic imagery that the 1973 version replicates, the latter version does at least add musical numbers to the mix.  I think there was a conscious effort -ala the Wizard of Oz - to create a contrast between the dour outside world of vast deserts, desolate snowy mountains and gathering stormclouds of world war and the bright, joyful green hills of Shangri-La, but even once the characters get to Shangri-La they just fart about for twenty minutes before a song shows up, and even then it's part of a performance within the film rather than an actual musical number.
Burt Bacharach does the songs and John Gielgud stars in the pivotal role of "Chang", so you can guess as to the movie's objective quality, though despite this I really enjoyed it, even though, as I have already mentioned, it is a terrible film.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2016, 12:25:43 PMunless you include Robotech. Which I don't.

I agree.  Robotech made Macross silly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2016, 05:33:37 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 September, 2016, 02:49:11 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2016, 12:25:43 PMunless you include Robotech. Which I don't.

I agree.  Robotech made Macross silly.
Pretty sure Do You Remember Love?, as great as it is, needed no help on that front. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 September, 2016, 06:07:13 PM
Keanu.

Had high hopes for this as I really like what I've seen of Key and Peele, but, while not a bad film, it was a little underwhelming after a promising start. Even for a comedy, it felt like it had some tonal problems, and the script felt a bit messy and nonsensical, like it was two or three drafts away from being done.

As for the comedy, there's simply not enough jokes that land, and the ones that do (cat calendar, George Michael stuff) were flogged to death. They also did that really annoying thing where they'd make a jokey reference to something, then immediately have a character state out loud exactly what the reference was, as if they were afraid thickos wouldn't get it otherwise. It's a movie pet-hate of mine - there must be an entry for this on TV Tropes somewhere(?).

Sad to say, but for the genre of 'stoner action comedy featuring two dweebs and their weed dealer pal getting mixed up in the world of organised crime', it doesn't come close to Pineapple Express (itself not an amazing film).

2.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: YakuzaFingerChop on 26 September, 2016, 09:31:46 PM
Don't Breathe


Some poor people try and rob a blind man of his money. Blind man isn't having it.

Don't watch the trailers. Don't read the reviews. Don't even breathe. Just go and see it. I took a mate who isn't even a fan of horror and she loved it. It felt like a nostalgia trip back to the time of classic horror movies. I was expecting a generic predictable horror film, and I came out so impressed that this could be my top horror pick of 2016.

9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 27 September, 2016, 10:54:08 AM
QuoteDon't read the reviews....9/10

TOO LATE
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 September, 2016, 05:56:12 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 August, 2016, 10:23:01 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 16 August, 2016, 07:22:23 PM
One of the very best Sci-Fi movies made and that soundtrack LP takes pride of place in my collection.
I also found out that No Man's Sky scorers and increasingly-interesting post-rockers 65daysofstatic did a Silent Running rescore a couple of years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running_(album))...
Can't say I've listened to the album in isolation but I saw them perform this at the time. It wasn't a great experience: the screen was too dark to make out much of what was going on and what dialogue there is in the film was drowned out by even the most gently atmospheric effects. They did a live accompaniment to a dance piece at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago which worked a lot better. Presumably down to the more collaborative nature of the enterprise.


Summer is outdoor cinema season round here. Saw The Nice Guys on the plush big big screen right outside the Munster without really knowing much about it and found it thoroughly entertaining. Both leads made good unpleasant bastards and it bowled along at great pace, rarely taking the obvious path. Didn't realise going in that it was both a 70s period piece and from the same writer/director as Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang which has a very similar tone and against-type lead performance.

The setting for The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was far more interesting. The roof of a disused grain silo overlooking the port. The film itself was one of those cases of something being more interesting to see than really enjoyable but I was glad I watched it. It's hardly a groundbreaking observation that watching an old silent film can be a bit difficult to adapt to for a modern audience but it definitely takes a bit of an effort to get past just how different the style of performance is, the outrageous mugging and the heavy makeup.

The story is slight and doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense, this is all about mood and look. It's clear that the production design is still rooted firmly in the theatre, as painted backdrops fill in for the environs of the town. Nothing is allowed to be naturalistic. Both the backgrounds and the physical sets are always twisted and angular, creating an oppressive, claustrophic mood. Doors and windows jut out at crazy angles. Furniture is too bog. Simple tricks of lighting and perspective make it impossible to tell if a stairway leads up or down, while dark alleyways exude menace. Any journey out of the town is along twisted, looping paths reflecting the mental state of our fevered hero.

So much invetion and artistry on display. Really great stuff from that point of view but probably not worth the effort if you're looking for some sort of psychological horror or if you don't get to see it from ten stories over the Rhine.

(http://www.tageswoche.ch/get_img?ImageWidth=800&ImageHeight=600&ImageId=2239241)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 27 September, 2016, 06:24:54 PM
I cant decide what was worse the new Ghostbusters or the new Independence Day.

Now I don't mind women in films so don't go there but what I do mind is unfunny comedies and wasted opportunity. Why reboot and then have the original cast turn up as different characters? Its not bad its just there, forever being bland and unfunny.

As for ID I never liked the original so that was going to have to go some to impress and it failed. The bit near the start with all the basil explaining why Will Smith isn't in it is so fucking clunky I'd rather they just turned to camera and stated wanted to much cash.

Next up will be 31 and I suspect I will have to be in the right frame of mind for that one as I don't like Rob Zombies previous but as Malcolm Mcdowells in it fuck it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 September, 2016, 11:04:00 PM
As poor tonight, so double bill of A Walk Among the Tombstones and The Guest on Netflix, both excellent and dark films.

The Guest, which I see again, it so brilliant and brutal. Other film was good, as thought Liam Neeson was great in it after last few silly action films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 28 September, 2016, 02:35:48 AM
I love The Guest, I recommend that to everybody! I find there's also an element of dark comedy to it, very fun over-the-top retro thriller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 September, 2016, 09:05:37 AM
Yeah The Guest is a cracking film, so much damn fun and some really charismatic performances that carry the whole thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 28 September, 2016, 01:07:47 PM
I saw The Girl With All The Gifts the other night.  I can't talk too much about it without spoiling it, as the first part of the film very much relies on the 'what the fuck is going on here?' element.  If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.

I have read the book, and seen the film.  I think overall the film is an excellent interpretation of the book, plus being a superb film in it's own right.  Paced well, surprisingly good acting from Gemma Arterton, who I never previously thought was much good, great effects, and a cracking story.  I particularly liked the ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 28 September, 2016, 02:22:16 PM
Read the book first or watch the film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 September, 2016, 06:20:45 PM
Gundam: Behind the Front Lines (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2016-09-28/live-action-gundam-short-imagines-a-documentary-after-the-one-year-war/.106999), a short faux documentary on the set years after the conclusion of the One Year War. Despite being trite, silly and a tad over whimsical in nature, it's actually a damn nice little tribute to MSG, ZZ and Zeta. Definitely one for the fans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 28 September, 2016, 08:42:08 PM
The Guest - great film. Remember going to see this with the Mrs and not expecting much. Was i wrong lol.
:)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 September, 2016, 10:39:25 PM
I honestly don't know what everyone sees in The Guest - one of those films that everyone seems to love, but I thought was utter bobbins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2016, 11:11:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 September, 2016, 06:20:45 PMtrite, silly and a tad over whimsical

And it's anime, you say?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 September, 2016, 07:48:38 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2016, 11:11:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 September, 2016, 06:20:45 PMtrite, silly and a tad over whimsical

And it's anime, you say?
WAHAY!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 29 September, 2016, 01:52:22 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 28 September, 2016, 02:22:16 PM
Read the book first or watch the film?

Either or mate!  Both equally worth a read/watch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 September, 2016, 08:11:56 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 September, 2016, 01:52:22 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 28 September, 2016, 02:22:16 PM
Read the book first or watch the film?

Either or mate!  Both equally worth a read/watch!

I gather you could also watch someone play The Last Of Us.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 September, 2016, 08:17:35 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (1988, dir. Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei)

I unashamedly adore the original ZFE, so much so that I even consider it a fully fledged prequel to Romeros DEAD trilogy, hell it's a better origin story than George ever though of! How can you hate a movie with grade A gore effects, a brilliant 80's sound track and SHARKS VS ZOMBIES!!!???

The much delaiyed sequel in name only, however, is a much more guilty pleasure of mine. Apparently, 70% was directed by Fulci before falling ill and the rest was fobbed off onto Mattei, and for people who don't know Mattei makes the kind of Italian knock-off horror movies people assume Fulci makes. B-Grade, crummy and only really watchable if absolutely piss drunk. Which, is no bad thing, drunken viewing is as valid as any other and over a couple of beers and with friends ZFE2 can be a riot of entertainment. When sober?

....


Look it's a fucking dreadful movie, OK but I still kinda like it in my own, Mattei aficionado way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 30 September, 2016, 01:56:16 PM
Watched Hell Or High Water last night.

Brilliant performances from Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster.

Beautiful photography, superb direction from David Mackenzie and a positively crackling script from Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan.

Great soundtrack from Nick Cave too!

Not to be missed, see it on the big screen if you can!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trent on 30 September, 2016, 02:55:02 PM
Just rewatched The Long Good Friday, one of the best British films ever made.
I'd forgotten just how funny it is with lines like "You don't go crucifying someone outside a church, not on Good Friday!" that I had all but forgotten.
Helen Mirren's lobbying to have her part built up makes the film as the pairing of her and Hoskins present a genuinely powerful couple.
I've got the special edition bluray which has a fascinating book with terrific behind the scenes insights such as the presence of genuine villains and excons on set to advise with gems like "not that I've ever done it, but if you're gonna stab someone you wouldn't do it like that'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 02 October, 2016, 08:49:58 PM
Room Haven't stopped thinking about it all day. Belongs to the category of movies that should never be (can't be) explained before seeing it. Good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 02 October, 2016, 10:11:45 PM
'They Live' as Roddy Piper said before he died he thought he just made a film at the time. The way society going.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 03 October, 2016, 01:11:31 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 September, 2016, 01:07:47 PM
I saw The Girl With All The Gifts the other night.  I can't talk too much about it without spoiling it, as the first part of the film very much relies on the 'what the fuck is going on here?' element.  If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.

I have read the book, and seen the film.  I think overall the film is an excellent interpretation of the book, plus being a superb film in it's own right.  Paced well, surprisingly good acting from Gemma Arterton, who I never previously thought was much good, great effects, and a cracking story.  I particularly liked the ending.
Saw TGWATG tonight; have to say I'm in two minds about it. On the plus side, I like Gemma Arterton, didn't realise it was Mike Carey who'd written it and the effects - particularly London - are extremely good for what is a low budget film (very similar to Dredd come to think of it). On the minus side, it's a genre [spoiler]zombie apocalypse[/spoiler] I don't really care for, 'The Girl' annoyed the crap out of me, characters do stupid things for no other reason that it advances the plot, and the final act is derivative of equal parts [spoiler]I Am Legend, Escape from New York and EM Forster's A Handful of Dust[/spoiler]. In the final analysis, I doubt I'd watch it again or buy the DVD\Bluray, and wouldn't rate it more than 3 out of 5, if I'm generous, primarily for the scenic effects but, if you like the genre, it might well be more up your street.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 October, 2016, 10:29:11 AM
Finally got around to watching Good Will Hunting. It's alright. Could never live up to the hype and was never convinced of Will Hunting's savant powers (He's maths genius but also literary and history and insightful - I mean I wouldn't mind but there are bits of the script that point out that he's not a true polymath), but it's pretty good. The best part was all the properly over the top Bostonian.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 03 October, 2016, 11:06:37 AM
Quote from: Arkwright99 on 03 October, 2016, 01:11:31 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 September, 2016, 01:07:47 PM
I saw The Girl With All The Gifts the other night.  I can't talk too much about it without spoiling it, as the first part of the film very much relies on the 'what the fuck is going on here?' element.  If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.

I have read the book, and seen the film.  I think overall the film is an excellent interpretation of the book, plus being a superb film in it's own right.  Paced well, surprisingly good acting from Gemma Arterton, who I never previously thought was much good, great effects, and a cracking story.  I particularly liked the ending.
Saw TGWATG tonight; have to say I'm in two minds about it. On the plus side, I like Gemma Arterton, didn't realise it was Mike Carey who'd written it and the effects - particularly London - are extremely good for what is a low budget film (very similar to Dredd come to think of it). On the minus side, it's a genre [spoiler]zombie apocalypse[/spoiler] I don't really care for, 'The Girl' annoyed the crap out of me, characters do stupid things for no other reason that it advances the plot, and the final act is derivative of equal parts [spoiler]I Am Legend, Escape from New York and EM Forster's A Handful of Dust[/spoiler]. In the final analysis, I doubt I'd watch it again or buy the DVD\Bluray, and wouldn't rate it more than 3 out of 5, if I'm generous, primarily for the scenic effects but, if you like the genre, it might well be more up your street.


I tend to agree with you in large parts.

The Zombie (or hungries) genre is a little stale and overfamiliar at this juncture, for me I'm afraid.

I really, really wanted to like it, but after an excellent opening and first half hour, the tension seemed to sag and, as stated, many of the characters make illogical and nonsensical decisions, which rather spoilt the credibility of the film.
The performances were fine, as were the effects on such a meagre budget, but I'm not sure the film adds anything new to the genre and it doesn't inprove on 28 Days Later or even 28 Weeks Later in my opinion.

I will recommend that movie goers support it though as any British genre picture is to be celebrated and makes a very welcome change to all the awful rom-coms and second rate gangster films we churn out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 October, 2016, 09:06:31 AM
Sicario

You know when everyone raves about a film and then you watch it and can't see what all the fuss is about? This is what happened last night.

To be honest I found it quite boring. I didn't really engage with the characters and the plot wasn't very interesting to me.
One thing I learnt was that if I ever get involved in a complicated drug money laundering operation, I won't use highly distinctive and instantly recognisable multicoloured elastic bands, I'll just use brown ones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 06 October, 2016, 02:35:31 AM
Magnificent Seven!

Terrible film and remake. Just like most of the modern westerns I've seen this side of 2000. It did have it's moments though. I like the way Chris Pratt's Gambler took out the brothers who tried to lure him into the mine shaft to kill him secretly. As if that might have such problem in those days. That card trick of his & the dynamite trick later on when I thought they had him outgunned and that was it.

The young Indian looked a little too clean cut  to be believable. Jut comparing to what I have seen of the pure ones in films of the past and I guess I could also say I just don't have a clue. He might have had real Indian blood too, but he could also just as well have been a settler's child just pretending.

The rest of this film just seemed like it was being coloured by numbers. It just reminded me how much I miss earlier westerns and some before the introduction of techni-colour. Those spaghetti westerns that had me believing that's how they all should be.

I believe the hero's, were really the villains and the bad guy was really their foil. Until, they were finished with him. It could make more sense if he wasn't seen to be shooting aman in the street and the sheriff on his payroll. That  is to say, that nobody is really good guy when.

I compared this film to the original through Wikipedia. Even though, I have only a vivid recollection of seeing the first one. They definitely had different characters and maybe a completely different story. If is correct, then why bother calling this remake? Aside from the seven leading men that only offer a shallow meaning to film's title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 October, 2016, 10:47:55 AM
Psychomania (1973) - Which has recently received a pretty decent Blu-ray release from the BFI.
The film itself is rather cheesy, and bizarre, nonsense, but still fun.

And for the first time last night; Species, along with a bit of it's sequel.
Boy, was they ever a load of crap.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 October, 2016, 01:39:33 PM
Macbeth -n the Fassbender/Cottilard version from last year. Very good, probably the grimmest and bloodiest version I've seen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 October, 2016, 11:40:38 PM
Green Room really, really good. Haven't been so tense in a movie for a long, long time. Felt exhausted afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 October, 2016, 12:03:38 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 08 October, 2016, 01:39:33 PM
Macbeth The Scottish Play -n the Fassbender/Cottilard version from last year. Very good, probably the grimmest and bloodiest version I've seen

My favourite Shakespeare. I've seen... that play a couple of dozen times in various forms, but I still haven't gotten to this version. I'll have to give it a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 October, 2016, 01:17:40 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 08 October, 2016, 11:40:38 PM
Green Room really, really good. Haven't been so tense in a movie for a long, long time. Felt exhausted afterwards.

Yeah Green Room was great!

Watched Blood Father last night, another film set to revive the movie career of Mel Gibson.

Hackneyed and plot-hole ridden most definitely with pretty unremarkable script and direction, especially after being spoilt by the magnificent Hell Or High Water but Gibson gives it his all, with a powerhouse performance and there is a fantastically creepy cameo from Michael Parks. William H. Macy, in an underwritten role, sadly fails to really register.

All in all an average flick, aside from Gibson's performance and a genuinely tense and exciting climax, but worth a watch and it's great to see Gibson back infront of the camera playing to his strengths.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 October, 2016, 06:32:47 PM
Swiss Army Man.

Hmmm. A film I admired rather than loved. Certainly very creative, with a novel, original concept, but it didn't quite work for me. Felt like an experimental short or music video concept stretched to feature length, or (less charitably) a student film that got out of control. Much as I tried to remain engaged, my attention frequently began to wander during the quieter moments.

2.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2016, 08:14:54 PM
Suicide Squad - fuckin ell that was terrible.  I was led to believe that it was an entertaining mess, but it's not even that, it's just a bunch of seemingly unconnected ideas about what this kind of film should contain, shot mostly at night and with no story engine, just a bunch of characters thrown at a random disaster of the government's own making "because".
It also arguably doesn't help that these are the absolute worst versions of these characters ever put on a screen, with the deeply irritating Margot Robbie making me never want to lay eyes on anything featuring Harley Quinn ever again.  Will Smith is also hopelessly miscast, and yet paradoxically the only reason you even remotely buy into his character's redemptive arc.
Utter shit.

The Terminator - been years since I watched it and all I remembered were the bloated, pointless sequels, but the high-def remaster of this was ace.  Were Arnie's meat and two veg always visible in previous versions of the movie?  Well they are now.

Deepwater Horizon - not sure what I make of this.  It's pretty dull for the first hour or so and then it turns a human tragedy into disaster porn.  Memorable for Kurt Russell and John Malkovich trying to play regular joes and failing spectacularly.  Every time Russell spoke, it's clearly Kurt Russell not even trying to disguise how awesome he is.  The disaster stuff is well-realised, but it's shot as eye candy rather than as something frightening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2016, 09:08:22 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2016, 08:14:54 PM
Utter shit.

Knowing the Prof's proclivity for winkling fleshy tastiness from the least appealing of shells, this really is a damning verdict.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 October, 2016, 09:18:55 PM
Heard nothing but positives about Green Room. It's at the top of my to-see list. Will see it just as soon as I can catch my girlfriend when she's in the mood for a violent thriller about neo nazis...  :lol:

It was filmed where we live, maybe I could use that angle to sell it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 10 October, 2016, 10:25:41 PM
Green Room is great, to echo the recommendation. It's not too tough really, I mean it's violent, but if they've ever seen a voilent thriller or an 80s slasher movie it's nothing they can't handle. It's really well done with cool characters we like etc.

I recently saw Travis McGee (1983), TV movie starring Sam Elliott (mustache dude) based on a mystery novel series. Good stuff! Buried treasure I'd say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2016, 11:33:02 PM
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

More like the shite on the train.

Actually that's not true. Given the state of most train toilets, going for a shite on a train is a tense, almost exciting affair where you can't predict the outcome or even if it will have a happy ending.

This managed none of those things and dull as disaster.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 12 October, 2016, 12:22:55 AM
Hunger Games Mockingjay part 2.

Couldn't get it to play for love nor money last Thursday on Netflix. Guess loads of people were watching it.
Saw it on Friday.

Basically I think the Hunger Games was great and all the subsequent ones less so, getting poorer in order of release. The problem is I think that they couldn't keep having the HG contests and the series morphed into lets over throw the dictator. But the "twist" was telegraphed from a long way out. I even said to my Wife [spoiler]she is going to shoot Julianne Moore and not Donald Sutherland.[/spoiler]

But I guess that was the moral of the story - [spoiler]beware of who you support in regime change.[spoiler][/spoiler]

A pity it was so dull, as it did actually wrap things up well story wise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 October, 2016, 12:32:39 AM
Star Trek (2009) - novelty elevated this turkey far beyond its status, because on almost every level it is an ugly and stupid film, from the convoluted, nonsensical plot which bears up to not even the slightest bit of scrutiny while it unfolds onscreen to the scattershot, overly-busy art design which does away with Trek's iconic visual simplicity of concept and form in favor of swarms of CGI debris whizzing across the screen at all times, to the thuggishly broad strokes with which characters are painted - the only woman in the cast is someone's girlfriend?  Okay.  The only Asian is a martial artist with a ninja sword?  Okay.
By all objective measures, this is an awful film whose comical "busy busy busy" directorial style where everyone is walking fast and shouting dialogue in front of lens flares deserves to be mocked just as much as the trappings of Michael Bay and yet paradoxically is not, despite likely doing more harm to the collective intelligence of modern cinema audiences than Bay's peeing robots ever could, thanks to an aggressively anti-intellectual approach where every motivation stems from the most base of desires, be it lust or revenge.
And yet I still enjoy it.  I may now have to admit that it is actually a pretty bad film by any reasonable standards of evaluation apart from "is this good CGI for the decade in which the film was made?", but I enjoy watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 12 October, 2016, 02:51:04 AM
 :lol: Tiplodocus mate cheers for one of best reviews ever. Very apt from what ive heard lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 October, 2016, 07:04:54 AM
Gasland 2

Documentary about shale gas extraction, or fraccing. Aside from the reported inhumanity of poisoning land, crops, livestock and people, driving people from their homes, fracturing communities and hi-jacking the political system, there is added lunacy. They are carrying out hydraulic fracturing right on top of the San Andreas fault.

This process has been suspended in the area where I live (so I must declare an interest at this point) but I remember the earth tremor it caused. If fraccing can shake this geologically stable area, is it really worth risking in California?

Greed, misrepresented and/or ignored science, corruption, bullying, unaccountability - it's all here. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 October, 2016, 11:15:52 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 September, 2016, 01:52:22 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 28 September, 2016, 02:22:16 PM
Read the book first or watch the film?
Either or mate!  Both equally worth a read/watch!

Couldn't find a screening in all of South or West London that didn't take place at midnight, and now there's even less choice (despite there being about 15 cinemas at least between me and Leicester Square). Can't believe how limited the screenings have been :/

However because of this I have read the book first. And boy howdy jovus drokk, what a read. Read 2/3rds of it one sitting last night and thoroughly enjoyed - can't wait to finally see the movie now.

Cheers for the nod Monkey
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 October, 2016, 11:20:24 AM
Perfect Blue (1990, dri. Satoshi Kon)
Japans homage de triumph to the giallo genre and Hitchcock come De Palma thrillers, directed by one of te late great masters, revolving around a former idol star turnd actress watching her reality crumble amidst murders, red herrings and increasingly problematic career choices. A beautifully cathartic movie, not always the easiest to watch but surprisingly very relevant in regards to how much we are willing to tolerate in the name of entertainment and the pressures put on the artists who make it.

A superb movie, check it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 October, 2016, 01:23:26 PM
I already did - I watched Black Swan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 October, 2016, 01:27:52 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 October, 2016, 01:23:26 PM
I already did - I watched Black Swan.
Heh,I really sould get around to watching that at some point...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 October, 2016, 05:07:42 PM
Green Room

Didn't disappoint.

My kinda film - lean, mean, tense as all hell and clocking in at a tight 95 mins. Surprisingly similar setup to Dredd in a few ways, I thought.

Loved the cast - Yelchin was such a charismatic young actor. A tragic loss.

A strong 4/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2016, 07:31:22 PM
I'm trying to find time to watch a bunch of DVDs I own that I never get around to watching. We've got a shelf full of the things and all we get to watch is kids films (many of which are great) and all these films I love are just sitting there so trying to make time to watch them (well okay now I have Walking Dead to watch but over time).

I'll not get to watch them in one sitting which is a shame but over three nights I watched Nurse Betty to kick the process off, don't know why, just fancied it. Its as good as I remember. Nicely off edge, at times terrifying, great central performances and CJ from West Wing who I didn't know last time I watched this.

Great little movie. Might go for Series 7 next...or Bubba Ho-Tep, what do ya reckon...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 October, 2016, 07:37:02 PM
Bubba Ho-Tep is a riot, Colin.

"But...president Kennedy was white?..."
"That's right! They dyed me this colour!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 14 October, 2016, 08:49:52 PM
Bubba Ho Tep is a right laugh. I need to rewatch this again. Very hard film to explain to folk without sounding bat shit crazy  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 14 October, 2016, 09:07:55 PM
The best thing about Bubba Ho-Tep is that on paper it just sounds like a load of ridiculous fun, but it's actually quite moving and oddly touching - particularly the last scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 14 October, 2016, 09:08:49 PM
Agreed Greg M  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 October, 2016, 12:27:41 AM
Bubba Ho Tep: isn't quite as good as you want it to be but has a lot of heart, which makes it massively endearing.
Series 7: shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 October, 2016, 07:15:23 AM
I remember really enjoying the start of Bubba Ho-Tep and feeling it lost its way a little towards the end?

I thought Series 7 was very interesting and the fact that Cosh (I) calls it shite makes me more intrigued to revisit and I'm keen now to re-evaluate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 16 October, 2016, 05:23:49 AM
I loves Bubba Hotep.

Tonight we watched... Nightmare Beach! Amazing stuff from 1989, featuring John Saxon and Michael Parks, fun stuff from Italy. In that great period where they'd play over the top metal while the killer did their kooky stuff, very very fun stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 16 October, 2016, 11:15:58 AM
Sand. Teenagers are trapped on a beach by a cthulian style horror that's hidden beneath the sand- put one foot on it and your lunch. The usual bikini wearing bimbo's were there but it didn't leer at them to long indeed I was rather surprised how quickly it dumped the tropes and had the [spoiler]'hero' boyfriend almost killed about half way through.[/spoiler] The special effects were minimum and pretty ropey [pun intended] but it was a rather neat idea I thought and I did feel a bit sorry for the poor monster fodder in the end. Seen a lot worse than this despite the many plot holes.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 16 October, 2016, 11:46:34 AM
21 Jump Street

Finally got around to watching this Lord & Miller live action romp. Carried largely by the occasional bit of inspired surrealism and the charisma of Tatum & Hill - it's not breaking a great many moulds but it rattles along at a good pace and the hilariously brazen ties to the original are well done. Yeah, don't regret buying this purely on the strength of the directors alone. Not baaayyd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 16 October, 2016, 12:07:56 PM
The Black Hole (1979) - What an odd film. A Disney movie with a largely middle-aged cast, which was supposedly aimed at adults but was marketed heavily to children - I had Black Hole wallpaper as a kid. The film's tone is all over the place, veering from being a cheesy Star Wars bandwagon-jumper to something much darker, weirder and more cerebral, particularly in the unforgettable scene of Reinhardt's final fate. Two surprises for me this time around - the ship's captain is Robert Forster, the guy out of the brilliant Alligator, and the fact I'd totally forgotten that [spoiler]Ernest Borgnine gets blown up whilst ditching his mates and fleeing in an act of cowardice.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 October, 2016, 12:34:03 PM
Having read a load of Prog for 1979 and 1980 I've been thinking of watching Black Hole as I've not seen it for years. Always loved my Maximillion and Vincent action figures as a kid, but had this nagging feeling that the film was very different to what we'd been sold it as when young.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on it and think it needs to go on my Lovefilm list, with dragonslayer...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 October, 2016, 01:21:23 PM
Oh yes, The Black Hole was a bit of a fave back in the day, and definitely a bit of a strange beast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 16 October, 2016, 01:25:20 PM
Black Hole has always had a strong place in my memories.  I had the story LP as a kid and still remember far more of the film than any other of my youth and still remember the bubble gum card set.  You are right though, it is a very peculiar creature.  IIRC a lot went wrong in the editing and production process with the result that the finished film didn't do anywhere near as well as Disney hoped.  There are some impressive moments and some stunning scenes but it doesn't hang together brilliantly.  The closing scenes suggest someone on a very bad trip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 October, 2016, 01:41:31 PM
In regards to the ending; If you compare the film, to the novel, to the comic book adaptation, then they all differ quite significantly.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 October, 2016, 01:46:22 PM
I seem to remember my mum actually won the Black Hole LP. (Not the story in this case, the music of the film. I forget the correct term for that now.) Very cool, atmospheric theme tune.

While the film was okay, I never really took to it. While I like a bit of weirdness, that ending was perhaps a bit much. That big red robot was a great looking design though. Very archetypal somehow of how a big bad robot should look.

I guess the little spherical guys were interesting in a different way. Their design was original, although mainly on that cute comic relief side of things.


It's been some years since I've

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 October, 2016, 03:33:48 PM
I too watched The Black Hole recently ( if anyone has NOW TV, it's available to stream).
There's a lot to like about The Black Hole, not least some of the design (the logo is ace), the 'Forbidden Planet' esque baddie and the fantastically malevolent Maximillion. There's also a lot of really naff stuff, like the rubbish baddie soldiers.
Overall it's a fun and fascinating watch. You can see the ambition on the screen and while it isn't totally successful it's a brave effort. In lots of ways it reminds me of Tron which had similar ambitions and similar problems a few years later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 October, 2016, 03:53:46 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 October, 2016, 01:46:22 PM
I seem to remember my mum actually won the Black Hole LP. (Not the story in this case, the music of the film. I forget the correct term for that now.)

Soundtrack. It's weird and irritating how certain word will just pop out of my head sometimes, often when I really want to use them. It's like I get a kind of self hypnotic blind-spot sometimes. And other times, like now,  when I'm no longer as focussed, ping! Word/phrase drops into my lap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 16 October, 2016, 04:00:12 PM
Troutmark in Cardiff had the first three of the comic book adaptations.  The 3rd continues from where the film ended.  The artwork is fairly generic and the story enters around an alternate Cygnus. There was a fourth issue printed but it seems to go for silly money (£300 + on ebay)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 October, 2016, 05:15:59 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 October, 2016, 07:15:23 AM
I thought Series 7 was very interesting and the fact that Cosh (I) calls it shite makes me more intrigued to revisit and I'm keen now to re-evaluate.
Well, it's a long time since I saw it but I recall it being a huge disappointment. What had seemed an interesting or fun idea descended into a load of amateurish improvised panting and shrieking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 October, 2016, 08:14:22 PM
OASIS: Supersonic

Never seen a music movie before that felt like going to a really good concert. Still can't stop thinking about it.

Not only my love for the band, which started where it leaves off (at 96) but also the point it makes about creating something.

Thought it was cool that the film doesn't gloss anything over. The first drummer wasn't treated right, the Gallagher family history of violence and such. But it also brings in good things to counter the bad stuff, without glorifying anything. For example their mam being a really great person.

Can't wait to buy this on blu ray and show my friends
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 16 October, 2016, 11:53:37 PM
That's right I bought a box-set.

22 Jump Street

Suffers a little for seeing it directly after the first which is a great deal sharper. Yet again it's the self-awareness that saves the day here and the sadly rare moments where it becomes giddy with silliness. The ends credits madness alone is worth the price of admission and again the cast are having a ball. Not terrible but not terribly necessary either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 18 October, 2016, 03:11:08 PM
with 22 Jump Street some of the best laughs are the awareness that they are in a sequal, the bigger budegt on set (Ice Cube ins an a big glass Ice cube of an office, fun as the reference about the final chase in the gold/football buggy as they blew the budget on the opening chase.  I actually think its a bit bettr than the first but not by much.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2016, 05:45:43 PM
GODZILLA (2014, dir. Gareth Edwards)

In spite of not being able to go and see Shin Godzilla because no bastard in te UK can be bothered licensing it...but I digress. Edwards edition to the Gojira pantheon is an interesting beast even when you don't take into account the fact it's the first western take on the franchise since the tristar abomination of '98.

On the whole, it stands up well,the talking heads are no more annoying than in any of the lesser instalments of the Showa era series and is considerably better than the '98 movie despite the minir criticisms. Oh, and when the big G does appear? It. Kicks. Arse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 October, 2016, 12:08:57 AM
1998? Has it been that long... :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 October, 2016, 08:39:01 PM
Gone Girl - as it was debut on Netflix yesterday, finally see it as been ignore any spoilers about it since to now!

That was great! At first as trailers make me thought Ben Affleck [spoiler]did his wife and maybe film show why he did it but that was smart film, [/spoiler] [spoiler]didn't expect that plot and that ending, can't say it, you would understand watch it! [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 29 October, 2016, 10:02:21 AM
Well, this is going to decimate dwindling street red but ... the Trolls.  Youngest daughter wanted to see it so yesterday was the last ditch before the end of the half term cinema visit.  Unsurprisingly chirpy with a few decent tunes.  Kept hearing the head chef as C J Cregg but I don't think it was.  Lacked the sort of adult sophistication to make it a real hit.  Better off as video fodder to be honest.  To be fair I have seen far worse  (Stallone's Dredd springs to mind and I still haven't got round to watching Superman IV despite it being part of the box set).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 29 October, 2016, 12:47:25 PM
Uncommon Valor (1983). The Gene Hackman helmed Vietnam revisited fantasy.

As with fellow macho classics; Who Dares wins, and The Wild Geese, it's so right wing it's unbelievable. But always a fun watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 October, 2016, 05:21:53 PM
Just back from Dr Strange. It was great with Oscar worthy effects, IMHO. Not a comic with which I am familar, other than its groovy vibe. But this was a great romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 October, 2016, 09:32:52 AM
Yup, Doctor Strange was a lot of fun, and the most I've enjoyed a Marvel film in quite a while. My one gripe was that I felt like the action scenes had a few too many moving parts to be readable at times (it's just a lot of admittedly eye-popping things happening very quickly and I got a bit overloaded by it I think), but it's got charm and humour and thankfully works as a standalone film that isn't overly concerned about tying in with the rest of the Marvel-verse or relying on any previous knowledge. Good stuff, didn't love it, but certainly enjoyed it a great deal.

In a bit of a Tilda Swinton double-bill we also watched Only Lovers Left Alive, which we loved. A very nice languid atmosphere, some very memorable and amusing lines (we've been quoting it a fair bit already) and despite being about blood sucking vampires we found it very...nice? There's a lovely relationship at its centre and it makes for quite a beautiful film really. [spoiler]The last shot is very creepy mind you, and I was pretty gutted at the one murder that happens (although it was worth it for Hiddleston's brilliantly delivered reaction).[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 November, 2016, 02:24:01 PM
Me again! Being Halloween last night we put on Halloween but to shake things up made it the Rob Zombie remake instead of the Carpenter classic. That was a mistake. I'd seen it in the cinema and came away thinking it was okay, if pretty pointless and obviously not a patch on the original. Had been curious to revisit it but was surprised at just how much of a misfire it felt this time. All the backstory is a complete misstep, there's very rarely anything approaching the tension that Carpenter managed to get out of the premise, instead just going for audience-bludgeoning brutality as a substitute. The one exception is the sequence towards the end where things go a bit cat and mouse between Laurie and Michael in the old Myers house, that part actually has a bit of menace and got some jumps out of us (and the ending is alright too, but for the rest of it I think we were just bored.

It didn't help that this was the director's cut, which as well as being half an hour longer throws in a bonus [spoiler]rape scene[/spoiler] for nothing other than shock value really. I forget how that scene played out in the theatrical cut but I don't think I remember it being there at all. That coupled with a very leery focus on female nudity and suffering means it's just a bit of an unpleasant watch really when all we were after was a rollicking halloween movie.

As weird as it sounds for a movie about a masked man stabbing teenagers, I can't say I've ever really thought of the Carpenter movie as being mean-spirited if that makes sense (I probably sound mad saying that), but I think without those masterful chops for suspense Zombie must have just decided to just go for tits and violence and hope for the best. I say all this as a big Rob Zombie fan (I've enjoyed all his other movies and am a huge fan of his music and live shows) who is just a bit gutted that he missed the mark so much with this, and I suspect that fandom made me view it in a much more forgiving light on release.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 01 November, 2016, 02:36:04 PM
The BoxTrolls - delightful kids movie with enough grotty bits to be really entertaining for the wee ones and enough witty dialogue (beautifully brought to life by the star studded cast and the amazing animators) to keep the adults entertained.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 November, 2016, 03:38:54 PM
Pet Semetary.

I'd never seen this before but could remember wanting to see it when all the posters were up at the cinema back in 1989. Somehow I'd never gotten around to it.
I quite enjoyed it but it was nothing like I expected. I thought it was going to be all about zombie animals but instead it was a bit like that Strontium Dog story where Johnny resurrects that kid against his better judgement.
The bits with the murderous toddler were really quite shocking but by the end I'd completely lost sympathy for the main characters - what a bunch of bellends!

The whole thing made me feel quite nostalgic in a 'watching the type of movie we'd have rented from the video shop in the 90s' type way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 03 November, 2016, 11:12:25 AM
I watched Harbinger Down which is a "homage" to The Thing. Now this was made by the SFX team which worked on The Thing prequel. Interestingly they made loads of great models which were then covered up by crap CGI so I think this is them trying to show off what could have been.

Its garbage. If you are gonna rip off a 40 year old SFX heavy film then you should really aim to beat the head-spider thing. Which they don't. Awful acting as well except for good old Lance Henriksen.

Disappointing.

Train to Busan was fucking great though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 November, 2016, 11:36:45 AM
The Man Who Fell to Earth....

....OK, look, see, I pride myself on being able to understand a lot of what goes on in odd movies, artsy or other wise...

....But what the flaming hell was all THAT about?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 November, 2016, 02:08:47 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 03 November, 2016, 11:12:25 AM
Train to Busan was fucking great though.

Agreed! Went the other night and the more I think about it the more I like it. Wasn't quite the super intense gory horror-fest I expected - it plays more of a really nail-biting action thriller I thought - but it's very solid and feels amazingly fresh for a genre that's been done to death. They really put a new spin on it and brought some cool ideas to it, really liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 07 November, 2016, 09:49:06 AM
Watching Thor last night and thinking why the beard. He was clean shaven in in the earlier comics I read. Recalling that I had brought one or part of one at a school flea market back in 83, I think. From that time on, I was a big Thor fan.

Watched this first with the commentary switched on and loved the talk about how they came up with the look and effect of the Rainbow Bi-frost bridge. It gives me so much insight and then fell asleep. That was the night before and watched it again the following night just loving that bit where they make unlawful by not uncalled for Attack on the Jotan. Depending on how you look on the fact that Odin had stole from the Frost Giants.

Also loved seeing Thor get his powers back so awesomely. Yet, I don't like Chris Hemsworth in this role. His voice  & characterisation is terrible. He does sound a little retarded if Thor is supposed to be that way compared to his more mind full half brother. He does fill the costume well, but don't you think Dolph Lungren would do it so much better with his more suitable sounding northern accent. I also suppose they needed somebody as young as Chris, but again why the beard. Did they ever draw him that way before the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 November, 2016, 10:33:47 AM
Thor has mostly been clean-shaven in the comics but has flirted with a beard over the years. Most notably during Walt Simonson's epic run, which built up the comic mythology significantly (and gave us his best costume ever in my book).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 07 November, 2016, 10:49:32 AM
I'd always meant to watch Threads so thought I would fix that on Saturday - Relentlessly grim would be my verdict. Also not as dated as I was expecting. I don't think you can say you enjoyed it but I'm glad I've now seen it. Recommended.

Also did Alan Moore rip it off for Crossed+100
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 07 November, 2016, 10:55:30 AM
Only seen that one Thor comic & possibly remember how he looked from any of the cartoons he appeared in as well as well. I also have a vague memory of the original Incredible Hulk live action series crossing with somebody. Used to buy a lot of various comics that were neither belonging to any one character or hero from the same universe, because I used to over look 2000AD magazine, & this was when I was ten years old.  This never amounted to me ever owning a less than significant collection until a few years ago, when I started finding the latest 2000AD novel reprints in a rare book or comic stores in the nearest city.

I like to get that big bumper book of Thor. You know those hard covers books, not sure if they're still around. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 November, 2016, 11:09:11 AM
Quote from: Satanist on 07 November, 2016, 10:49:32 AM
Also did Alan Moore rip it off for Crossed+100

You're nobody in this town until either Alan Moore has ripped you off, or you've ripped Alan Moore off. The best can do both at the same time.

And By-Jove, you leave Hemsworth alone - he's Worthy, beard and all, and that's all you Roman-Pantheon types need to worry about. Get back to your sister-marrying and bestiality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 07 November, 2016, 11:50:03 AM
  Yeah, I hate to think what he might be thinking if the actual Chris Hemsworth read my Thor related comments here and still love the film on the strength of my past infatuation with the character.
  It just occurred to me how did the creator or copier get away with ripping off the Viking pantheon like that. Yet, awesome all the same!
  Tordalbach, I don't have a sister &/or pet/able access to animals. I do have these two tiny pigs that squeak/oink whenever I squeeze them, but they're just toys. Now, you have me thinking about a half-goat-half-human half-sister. I think they're like the Nymphs from Witcher Three. I don't know if I'd marry her, but sure like to chase her for a bit (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
I'd also like to let it be known  I don't hate Chris Hemsworth, but I do wish he would move on to other pursuits more suited to him. He's obvious beef-cake eye-candy for the girls, but jot for me  (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 November, 2016, 06:14:03 PM
 
QuoteIt just occurred to me how did the creator or copier get away with ripping off the Viking pantheon like that. Yet, awesome all the same!

In my last long term job, I had a colleague who used to love the Marvel and DC comicbook films, and she used to like to chat about them with me. A very bright intelligent girl, but the gaps in her knowledge sometimes surprised me.

For one, she had no idea Thor and the other Asgardians characters were based on Norse pagan gods. I think she just assumed Thor was another superhero invented by Marvel.

As a devout Christian she got a kick out of that exchange concerning the Asgardians between Black Widow and Cap, "they're basically gods." "I only believe in one God ma'am", but the full significance of BW's comment obviously passed her by.

She was pretty young though and I'll admit there's plenty of gaps in my own knowledge concerning modern pop stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 November, 2016, 08:33:07 PM
Well whatever copyright there was on Norse mythology expired sometime around 1700AD, so Stan the Man could go wild.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bat King on 08 November, 2016, 01:42:20 AM
Search Destroy on Saturday.

Very good it was indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 08 November, 2016, 07:47:48 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 07 November, 2016, 08:33:07 PM
Well whatever copyright there was on Norse mythology expired sometime around 1700AD, so Stan the Man could go wild.

Understandably for person who grew up on books of most mythologies and pathenon's. This might still seem like cheap shot, but it pans out because it creates more publicity for them
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 November, 2016, 05:06:14 PM
I saw that Deadpool popped up on HBO, and decided to give it a go. Much to my surprise, I quite enjoyed it. I'd say the jokes were about 50/50 - some legitimately funny bits (loved the credit roll at the start) but I still find a lot of Deadpool's schtick to be insufferably cringey and juvenile.

Overall though, yeah, quite liked it. Didn't take itself seriously, actually had some balls as an action movie, had a nice contained plot and didn't outstay it's welcome.

A high 3/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 12 November, 2016, 10:20:30 PM
The Iron Giant - Signature Edition.

Finally, (well last year anyway) a nicely featured Blu-Ray edition, with a couple of extra scenes and documentary.

Yeah, I cried again. It's just one of those films that does that to me without fail.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 November, 2016, 10:05:39 AM
Doctor Strange is another feather in Marvels cinematic bow. An absolute triumph of visual trickery, magic and sound, everyone gave it their all the usually omnipresent Cumberbatch actually dismisses all doubts and nails the role like it was made for him (something that Marvel are becoming very, very good at) and the hero's journey was whole and gratifying. Stunning, loved it, roll of Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2!

Godzilla vs. King Kong. Come on, a remake just got announced, how was I not going to give this a rewatch. On the face of it, KKvG is a highly flawed movie. As only the third Godzilla movie and the second since dispensing with the deeper meaning for the character it seemed from the outset all we where going to be in for was goofy early 60's sci-fi, and that was we got. Dispense all pretense of this being the defining masterpiece it's reputation has set it up to be, heck it's not even the best big G movie in the showa era*, and it's a lot of fun.

*That honor probably goes to either Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster or Monster Zero, both I rate rather highly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 November, 2016, 01:07:44 PM
X-MEN APOCALYPSE: Bit bonkers in part and the Egyptian setting seemed a little off kilter for me since the 'first mutant' would surely have appeared in the Stone Age but Apocalypse himself was nicely psychotic and the destruction rendered was a perfect image of what Donald Trumps White House will bestow on history. There's some bloody bits when Wolverine[Weapon X] is released on Stryker's soldiers who get bloodily stabbed to death [those with young families have been warned] while their erstwhile Leader legs it leaving his men to be duly wasted Moop troop style. The poorly received joke about the 3rd movie in any franchise being the worst one of the series I actually guffawed at but I'm shallow. Quicksilver seemed to get the best of this one, his rescue of Xavier's students from a big explosion is very well done though Magneto's story line seemed overly melodramatic with his human/mutant family wasted by bungling authorities. Didn't Magneto hate the human Race to begin with? The battle at the end was well staged and it was entertaining to see how Storm got her white hair- and how Professor X lost his. Fun but put into brain to neutral while watching.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 13 November, 2016, 07:14:16 PM
Check out We Are X when you get a chance, incredible doc about X-Japan, great band. Powerful stuff, not a dry eye in the house when I saw it the other day!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 November, 2016, 04:44:55 PM
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

I think I sum this film up well with two words:

Eh? What?

That's not actually a criticism. I liked the film a lot, although it is tonally very different from the series.

As far as odd factor is concerned this probably even stranger, though. I mean you've got the freaky Bob and little guy stuff but you also have  [spoiler]a red haired woman doing a strange dance and pulling faces at Keier Sutherland and David Bowie as a teleporting FBI agent with a Southern accent [/spoiler] Oh my!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 November, 2016, 07:38:09 PM
Finally watched the extended DVD of Battle of the Five Armies, aka Hours 7-11 of The Hobbit, which has sat on our shelf as a guiltily unwatched purchase for some months now.  Masochistically, we watched it after a re-watch of the first two, and you know what, it's not a bad experience at all. 

A disappointing movie on its own, from a series of arse-deadening predecessors, it actually works pretty well as the last half-dozen episodes of a mini-series.  Yes, Alfred is beyond irritating, [spoiler]despite a new and very horrid comedy demise[/spoiler], and the vast battle scenes which revel in the rubbery invulnerability of Our Heroes as they bounce, fly and slice their way through legions of allegedly-armoured Orcs that must be made entirely of over-cooked spaghetti armed with feather dusters are in general comedic rather than exciting. I'd be lying if I didn't say that a lot of the slapstick slaughter was fun to watch though - and the kids loved it.  The problem for me wasn't this largely admirable embracing of the silly, it was its juxtaposition with dead children in the snowy streets of Dale, and the central drama of Thranduill's on-off commitment to aiding the mortals around him. It's a massive tonal dissonance the movies never even tried to manage.  In general I was happiest with the series when everyone was singing improvised ditties, throwing plates around and watrching Goblin dance numbers, so it's probably churlish to complain about ice-skating sheep-drawn death-chariots.

The extended edition does do one very important thing, remedying the biggest fault of the theatrical release, in that it gives the individual dwarves things to do and even the odd thing to say, giving some payoff to the long time we've spent learning to tell them apart. This includes a badly needed funeral scene for Thorin and his pretty-boy nephews that resolves the Arkenstone plot, left ludicrously hanging in the original version.

There is a bizarre new scene where some random orc appears to know that Gandalf [spoiler]wears Narya, the Elven Ring of Fire, when this is a pretty major secret not revealed until the very end of the LotR books.  If it was common knowledge, one wonders why Saruman didn't grab it when he had the chance at Isengard[/spoiler].  But it's so strange that I don't really think it matters.

Most important of all, my 7-year old daughter had been too young to see this in the cinema, and she absolutely loved it, and was satisfyingly reduced to floods of tears by Thorin's death scene and subsequent funeral.  I say satisfying because my own first run-through with The Hobbit was the superb Bernard Cribbens Jackanory production, and the very same scene, where Bilbo says his goodbyes to the mortally wounded Thorin, had a slightly older me in tears too, and sold me on Tolkien for life.

We ran straight on into watching Fellowship of the Ring, and I have to give Jackson his due: it's a flawless transition into that superior film, far better managed than (haugh-spit) Revenge of the Sith.

A misguided overlong mess of a thing, but fun after all.  And I still think the Kili-Tauriel romance is very touching, and a great addition.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 November, 2016, 02:53:44 AM
I'm one of those who waited for the extended version of each Lord of the Rings film, and bought it the moment it came out. I did the same with the first two Hobbit films.

I still haven't gotten round to buying Battle of the Five Armies though. I'm not sure why. I pretty much liked all the films, although I preferred t LotR films more, and I was genuinely really looking forward tongue extended version of this one.

Getting more patient with age, or careful with finances, maybe?

Thanks for reminding me, I should pick this up though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 November, 2016, 08:55:02 PM
King Kong Escapes is a movie only slightly more less ridiculous and King Kong Lives! in that it's basically a live action adaptation of an episode of the Rankin-Bass kids show. Toho gave the big ape one last hurrah* after defeating Gojira himself by simultaneously paying tribute to the orignal movie and cashing in ALL their cheesy, mid 60's tropes as Kong battles Gorosaurous, the military and even a robot version of himself (Mechani-Kong is a big reason for my childish adoration for this movie). It's bonkers. Good stuff!

Well, besides a guest appearance in Go! Godman but who remembers that show anyway?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 November, 2016, 03:41:43 PM
Watched Girl on a Train today.

Not what I was expecting. 6/10

Tedious opening hour though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 November, 2016, 10:01:06 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 October, 2016, 05:15:59 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 October, 2016, 07:15:23 AM
I thought Series 7 was very interesting and the fact that Cosh (I) calls it shite makes me more intrigued to revisit and I'm keen now to re-evaluate.
Well, it's a long time since I saw it but I recall it being a huge disappointment. What had seemed an interesting or fun idea descended into a load of amateurish improvised panting and shrieking.

Well turns out Cosh was right... kinda. I finally got around to this, after taking a detour to wagtch Season 3 of Walking Dead and Its certainly not as good as I remember it being. Has it dated. Possibly but its only 15 years old. Its a good idea but the way its done completely lacks subtly. The themes it uses are worth while but its all a bit hamfisted and this looses alot of its potential for satire and the dark humour becomes pantomine at times.

Shame I had fond memories, as it is one for the charity shop donation pile. Season 4 of Walking Dead and then Bubba HoTep I think...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 November, 2016, 06:02:02 PM
Arrival.
Wow. Just...Wow.
Superb.
Best film of the year for me.
10/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 November, 2016, 09:10:27 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 17 November, 2016, 06:02:02 PM
Arrival.
Wow. Just...Wow.
Superb.
Best film of the year for me.
10/10

Yup, agreed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 18 November, 2016, 05:57:15 PM
Arrival for me as well. A day off work and a trip to the cinema to catch this.
Amy Adams is again just wonderful.

8/10.

Now [spoiler]the Heptapods already know this, but for all you Humans out there [/spoiler]  I'll be watching Who Dares Wins tonight, as the Arrow Bluray dropped through my letterbox this morning.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 November, 2016, 06:26:15 PM
Quote from: Spikes on 18 November, 2016, 05:57:15 PM
Arrival for me as well. A day off work and a trip to the cinema to catch this.
Amy Adams is again just wonderful.

8/10.

Now [spoiler]the Heptapods already know this, but for all you Humans out there [/spoiler]  I'll be watching Who Dares Wins tonight, as the Arrow Bluray dropped through my letterbox this morning.

I thought they would have told you not to....  ;) [spoiler]but then I've seen it...obviously...and so should you have![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 November, 2016, 09:26:35 PM
Just watched Sinister starring Ethan Hawke.
Man, what a pile of shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 November, 2016, 07:20:22 PM
Fantastic Beasts and etc.   That was a really enjoyable ninth Potter Wizarding World film, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting, and while I'm happy to sing its praises I'm rather afraid it will be seen as the Phantom Menace of the series: a prequel obviously, really superb design and SFX, rather dour and (initially at least) unlikeable characters and obscure motivations, confusing political plot with two sets of vague hidden baddies running in the background of a brighter rather episodic plot, magic powers on a scale we haven't seen before, hints of connections to earlier popular characters that make you wish you were watching them...

Rowling takes no prisoners here, launching into Potter jargon right from the outset, and very much assuming you know the familiar Wizarding setup that her Prohibition-era America is being contrasted with. Then we have Newt, a genuinely unlikely adult hero, who avoids eye contact and speaks in low, passive tones, and who is very much peripheral to the machinations against which his smaller adventure plays out: no Boy Who Lived child of destiny at the heart of this film. However, by the end of the film I was thoroughly charmed by Redmayne's Newt and looking forward to seeing more of him and his magnificently realised menagerie. 

In fact all the heroes start out a bit underwhelming and even irritating, but eventually blossom. Alison Sudol's Queenie steals the show, and Dan Fogler's Kowalski adds some needed human warmth. Ron Perlman has a great cameo as an underworld goblin, hope we see more of him in future. The various Macusa and second Salem characters, and Katherine Watterson's Tina didn't make much of an impression. The Fantastic Beasts and their amazing home definitely did.

Heart sank a bit when I saw [spoiler]Depp[/spoiler] revealed in full-on Burton regalia, but I suppose we'll see. I would have thought he was a bit old to play [spoiler]Grindlewald[/spoiler] at this point in time, especially happy if there are four more films to go...

It seems a lot darker than the earlier Potters, with one if the three plot strands hingeing on violent and psychological abuse of a child, and the main monster is pretty darned scary and far better executed than many similar effects designs. In fact it's admirably very different to its predecessors, opening up Rowling's world while retaining the warmth and magic at its heart. Thumbs up from this Potter fan, and I hope it brings its original audience with it, in the way that other Prequel didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 November, 2016, 10:41:44 PM
Arrival - will go wildly against popular opinion among the squaxx. It's 9/10, not 8/10 or 10/10. Ok maybe I'd give it the extra 1 if I felt a little more charitable about some of the changes from the source (which are necessary for the silver screen I think but remove a bit of the conceptual brilliance, if only slightly), dont make me conform.


Followed up with ID:Resurgence or at least the first 45 min. Yawn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 20 November, 2016, 07:58:25 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 19 November, 2016, 10:41:44 PM

Followed up with ID:Resurgence or at least the first 45 min...


I managed about an hour and 20 mins, or so. It's the sort of film that could drive you to take Hard Drugs just to forget the interminable, turgid Horseshit!

Can't wait for the next one, featuring Will Smith as a guy with a $50,000,000 dollar film contract pilot that can fly spaceships with a 1980's computer and Cuban Havana's.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 20 November, 2016, 09:31:01 AM
Independence day: returgence?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 November, 2016, 09:36:06 AM
Exterminator 2 is the 1984, Canon film sequel to the 1980 grindhouse fan favorite, The Exterminator. And, if like me you came into the sequel expecting more of the 42nd street type sleaze the original is famous for, you wont be disappointing. Considerably lower budget not withstanding, you can't be angry at a movie with a makeshift garbage truck come home made tank mowing down droves of street thugs whilst Patrick Ginty (Mr. Coke Lite of RLM fame) takes a flamethrowers to two dozen of them. Brainless, senseless, silly ad overly violent but that what I paid to see.

What and age we live in where stuff like THIS and The Guyver get blu-ray releases.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 09:52:02 AM
I wanna see those films, but not at my local. Since I have a grudge against them for not refunding or reimbursing me for a movie ticket that was either lifted from my wallet or I just lost it while walking around the food court/along the main concourse of shopping mall. Itself inbuilt under the same roof practically. So I never left the premises during my misfortune & had to purchase another ticket. I keep thinking they are trying to sabotarge me & now I have strong feeling that I may have to find another place to see movies now.

Since I had lost internet, I also had no telephone or cable. Even though the service providers now claim that my telephone is not linked with their service or something to that effect & then told me it might not be working because I have no internet. Which is confusing. They hung up sometime after telling me they would try to ascertain my problem from their end after I had finally told them I want another gateway adapter modem or one of their technicians to have a look. Next time I rang them minutes later, I got a recorded message reminding me that they're phone hours are only Monday to Friday & yesterday was Saturday. My internet problem is kind of crippling without my own phone working. The only people I can find who represent my service provider is  a small booth/stand/help desk in the very same shopping mall I mentioned above. The aren't very helpful, they can't do much & just kept telling me that I should contact my s.p. by phone. It's shocking how much I rely on internet these days.

So, I was still able to watch some dvd's....

I had to refresh my money on the works of Robert E. Howard, Monty Python by watching Conan the Barbarian & then the Holy Grail . I watched the last one twice over & over again while using the crafting tools in that game I wrote commentary about under the game topics last night. A lot of the stuff I said about Conan in the gaming forum last night should have been written here. I do like the original Conan film, even though Arnold isn't the exact likeness of the barbarian as he was in the books, but is anybody like their character they are portraying in film these days. There are some, but they are few. I fancy that the likeness of Conan that I made in the game fits the original description better. A hawked face brute of a man, built like a large upright walking wild cat, a panther with a square cut mane of long dark hair. The original mullet from times of antiquity. His skin coloured from exposure to many years spent travelling & living on the land, but not so dark to be confused with those from hot sands. I just made that shit up, but I assume it's close to what the author wrote.

I also watched Thor, but I think I said that under this topic about a fortnight earlier. Close enough to the comic book description to please the comic book fan. I might have complained about how Chris Hemsworth just speak in a deep vaguely Australian accent that I've heard in the other films Is seen him in and then when I playing the Marvel Vs Capcom game. I hear Thor in game graphically rendered to original likeness taunting in a similar tone.  Now, I'm not sure what is right, but I always wanted to hear things correctly or how I assume correct to be.  I swear I have seen Hemsworth on SNL switching back & forth between his natural Aussie voice and something sounding even more like I would have liked in Thor just to mess with fans, I suppose.  So, I guess ultimately I shouldn't care about such details.

There s Avatar as well, but missed most of that one again. Watched the early naughts or double 00's adaption of King Arthur. The one with Lone Gruffud, among more British, some American, & one Australian cast. Thinking any one of his circle of knights could have been real King Arthur. With the exception of that cockney speaking guy who provided voice talent as Beowulf in film of the same name.  Because passports, licenses, + 18 cards weren't around to identify anybody exactly. If not for their family & loved ones & even these days this type of fraud happens still, but probably not so easily, I guess. With Skarsgard from Thor looking more in form as a American sounding antagonistic Viking commander. Who I suspect spent a lot of time in Vineland picking up his fancy accent from the natives there. If that fits what known from historical records. Did I already say I found this adaption disappointing. It is in light of Excaliber & the work of Monty Python. I payed less attention to this & may have missed some good battle scenes. So, I will watch it again of course.

Beowulf is excellent advertisement for the highest form of cartoon or just digital motion capture and what I would like to see more of when adaption classic old world myths. So much can be achieved when everything is produced by script writers, concept artists, captionists, talented programmers, voice actors & whom ever else is needed to make this type of production. Favourite scene is near the end [Spoiler]when the hero breaks his own arm, cutting most of the way through it & relying on what was left of the chain mail holding it together. So he can reach further into the dragons gullet to grab it's vulnerable heart & then falling to his demise lying side by side with the now dying golden man, his son to the female demon. Some version of the tale I never read in the Brimax Edition of Ancient Myths I was given one Easter. Where the illustration showed Grendel as true monster resembling Cthulu's Deep Spawn or the creature from the Black Lagoon  & not the terribly deformed titan given the likeness of former Marty McFly's dad. His mother was equally hideous, paled skinned & their was no hint of romantic liasons between any of the Danes, Geats. Beowulf did rip off Grendel's arm with his own bare hands, because it was probably rotting any way & some strength from within. He slayed his mom when she tried to avenge it's death. Yet, I may need to read that again. I think I still have the book & there might have been some reconciliation between the hero & mother instead. Yet, not what your thinking (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)[/spoiler]

I also like the bit where Beowulf assumes kingship of that small village after Hrothgar's supposed suicide. I thought that was very fishy. Falling to his death & how his own death mirrored that. I just only now that Grendel was a descendant of biblical Cain, but that could be Wikipedia making stuff up to make it seem more interesting. Although it doesn't hurt to give the monster a better known heritage I was always impressed with White-Wolf's alteration of Cain to be the very first Vampire. Anyway, they do this thing where the embossed figures are shown all the way around the king's metal head band as time shifts forward until our hero is shown to be grey of hair, but still a healthy, strong man.  Reminiscent of seeing Conan's transition from boyhood to manhood on the Wheel of Pain. 

I watched Hallmark's Merlin starring Sam Neil as the Wizard & hero of the this tale more like the Mentor of Heroes & those who would be hero's, but are just typically too flawed for that. Before digress about it further, the previews are other Hallmark films of the same Ilk. Dinotopia, with guy from Prison Break & David Thewlis,  Snow queen, Gulliver's Travels, with Ted Danson & what I now know to be Voyage of the Unicorn because the film title was never shown in the trailer. With Beau Bridges. All of them look to be on small budget, but still made with enough talent to carry them. They'd never be big screen film, but I was always fascinated by Dinotopia. Special-effects wise, I think Gulliver's Travels was the best, because it's not hard to make believe able giant of a man or a man among giants.  Merlin is pretty good to watch as well, all shown from the wizards perspective.  Just before his miracle conception to his reunion to his once betrothed. Yet, I find it even in it's subtly it shows how much of ass the Wizard or any of the fair folk who made him, mentored him meddled in the lives of mortals & guided to success & then onwards to tragedy. I guess that is the nature order with demons, Gnomes being a step above mere mortals. They say the old gods die when people leave or forget them I wonder if they only exist in imagination while it's really humans who play at being those gods themselves. never the less it's hard to Hate Sam Neil & his portrayal of Merlin. It's hard to taken Miranda' Richardson's Mab seriously. She who helped bring Merlin into the world through her own magic. When she adopted a silly E.T. the Extra terrestrial like voice over her real one or did she just smoke too much? Helena Bonham Carter entertains as the socially flawed Morgan Le Fay & was saddened by her demise. Not so comparatively evil as she is shown in other versions. I was surprised to find a barely recognisable Lena Headly as Gwenivere. The same lady who got thrown from the top of city block in Dredd & forced to walk the streets naked because of her forbidden love in Game of Thrones. Which happens in this film miniseries too. Billie Whiteclaw is Merlin's mother's mid-wife Ambrosia & that's supposed to be his last Ambrosius. Translates to Emrys. Same as the Mountain fort of relating to legends of King Arthur & Myrddin's Eternal Fortress from Slaine. Of course, this is all from the same source. Merlin Ambrosius is also Myrddin Emrys or perhaps a later incarnation of him in Slaine. I assumed so much from reading Treasures of Britain when a Merlin did make his appearance trapped inside Medb. Is that right? Billie is also the voice of Augra from the Dark Crystal. A film for you if you like the Muppets & Fraggle Rock. John Gielgud is King Constant , but not for long after exclaiming that he wanted the world to die with him. I think it does too, but only from that perspective. Rutger Huer is King Vortigen who replaced that king & who was succeeded by Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father. James Earl Jones, former Thulsa Doom and voice of Darth Vader is now the mountain king who took Excalibar between his butt cheeks & clenched them so tightly for many years until Arthur was able to pry them open again reclaim the sword. Merlin did trick Uther into giving him the sword, but it was also he who gave him the sword in the first place. Martin Short is Frick. A tall Gnome who claims his kind come in all shapes & sizes & Mentor to young Merlin & assistant to Mab. They seem to be life long friends who themselves live for a very long time. Even after Frick was forced to go wayward & wander alone for years on end. Anyway, it was Ethics & morals that Merlin taught Arthur in preparation for his kingship & I wonder if that what wizards or wise men actually did. Were they he ones that made people more civilised & is this apart of his magic that people can't use to the same extant that he did (http://forums.2000adonline.com/Smileys/default/cool.gif).

Just trying make sense of the make believe there. When it probably wasn't mean to be made sense of.

I almost forgot , I popped in Steel Dawn. It's post apocalyptic film featuring a nomadic wandering martial artist hero. The late Patrick Swayze. Noting that he was tough guy, but never Jean Claude Van Damn, Steven Segal, Chuck Norris. So, the fighting did look more like the wandering gangs of outlaws were holding back a little. Probably expecting any one else in their number to give the signal to do something more lethal their usual desert ballet. I woke up when I heard the word  SWEET ROLL

You know there word gets a lot of use..... & a recipe (http://www.instructables.com/id/Foods-of-Skyrim-Sweet-Rolls/).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 11:08:44 AM
The films I wanted to see are the Arrival and that Harry Potter inspired flick about creatures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 November, 2016, 11:12:26 AM
Quote from: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 11:08:44 AM
I had to refresh my money on the works of Robert E. Howard, Monty Python by watching Conan the Barbarian & then the Holy Grail .
Just out if interest: you don't happen to be fan of Slaine, do you? I think he's the one 2000AD character who would sit alongside that stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 11:41:41 AM
That show about Merlin had me thinking about Slaine abit. With the Gnome & the set design for Mab's secret lair. Of Slaine, does borrow a lot from a cross over with Arthurian myth, Ulster Cycle, & maybe the Fenian Cycle, as well. I notice parallels between him & Conan as well. Not bad thing though. It happens in journalism a lot, media feeds off it's own kind. Early Slaine is quite entertaining & my interest in Conan peaked when I started playing Age of Conan years ago. Since then, I have taken note about the important characters that have cropped up in game & what I have read as well as the films.

I just read what you quote ad my typo. That was meant to be memory, not money. Don't know how I let that one slip. Maybe it's because, I get paid in another 3 hours hopefully.

About Slaine sitting by that stuff. I think he might stand being a Sessair Knight of the Red Branch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordonR on 20 November, 2016, 11:52:47 AM
Obsessive detailing about the minutiae of your daily life - check
Personal/financial problems (none of which is ever your fault) - check
Wall o' text posts - check
"Someone is stealing my stuff!" - check
Obsession with fantasy tat - check

Don't worry, though,Michael. No-one will figure out it's really you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 12:00:08 PM
#2 & #4 are the same really and the last one don't really count. I just said I had problems with internet, unless your talking about the loss of movie ticket. Well, that did happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 20 November, 2016, 12:24:14 PM
Quote from: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 09:52:02 AM
Billie Whiteclaw

Paging Dan Abnett; would Mrs Abnett and Elson please come to the white courtesy telephone.


(http://i.imgur.com/esZXStm.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 12:42:01 PM
I was going to say, she only did the voice of Augra & not hard to she was young once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: By-Jove on 20 November, 2016, 12:52:03 PM
So, it's Whitelaw I thought the other was her American indian deed name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: flip-r mk2 on 20 November, 2016, 01:06:09 PM
Quote from: GordonR on 20 November, 2016, 11:52:47 AM
Obsessive detailing about the minutiae of your daily life - check
Personal/financial problems (none of which is ever your fault) - check
Wall o' text posts - check
"Someone is stealing my stuff!" - check
Obsession with fantasy tat - check

Don't worry, though,Michael. No-one will figure out it's really you.

:lol:

filippo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 November, 2016, 04:50:49 PM
Quote from: GordonR on 20 November, 2016, 11:52:47 AM
Obsessive detailing about the minutiae of your daily life - check
Personal/financial problems (none of which is ever your fault) - check
Wall o' text posts - check
"Someone is stealing my stuff!" - check
Obsession with fantasy tat - check

Don't worry, though,Michael. No-one will figure out it's really you.

Well spotted! Oh no, he's back!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 November, 2016, 11:48:17 AM
Had a bit of a horror doubler with friends on Saturday night, starting with 31. It's sort of a slasher version of The Running Man (group get kidnapped and thrown in an arena and have to survive against stalkers for a few hours), and apart from one really great performance (Richard Brake as 'Doomhead') there's not much to recommend. The main characters are all really unlikeable so you'll never care if they make it or not, chunks of it drag awkwardly and would have benefited from a tighter edit, and the ending is really poor in that 'if it had finished 5 minutes earlier instead of tacking this on it would have been way better' kind of way. So, not a great film, and I say that as someone who (Halloween aside) likes Rob Zombie's movies, I think he has a real eye for a cool image and set-up when he puts his mind to it.

For all of that, the Richard Brake performance I mentioned really is something to behold. The guy absolutely oozes menace and horrible charisma, and when he's front and centre the thing really comes alive.

Then we watched As Above So Below on Netflix, which looked like it'd be a bit of a lame neutered Hollywood attempt to emulate something like [REC] (the writer/director apparently did the US remake of that), and it took us completely by surprise. Really, really enjoyed it. It's basically about a Lara Croft-alike who gathers a group to head into undiscovered areas of the catacombs under Paris to find a stone that grants eternal life, and what occurs is a slightly odd combo of [REC], The Descent and The Goonies. Sounds weird, but the solving riddles and finding treasure adventure angle really blended well with the horror, which is really effectively claustrophobic in places and captures a bit of that found-footage rollercoaster intensity that the best ones manage.

Really didn't expect much, and we all agreed it was a rollicking good time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 November, 2016, 12:18:23 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 November, 2016, 11:48:17 AM
Then we watched As Above So Below on Netflix, which looked like it'd be a bit of a lame neutered Hollywood attempt to emulate something like [REC] (the writer/director apparently did the US remake of that), and it took us completely by surprise. Really, really enjoyed it. It's basically about a Lara Croft-alike who gathers a group to head into undiscovered areas of the catacombs under Paris to find a stone that grants eternal life, and what occurs is a slightly odd combo of [REC], The Descent and The Goonies. Sounds weird, but the solving riddles and finding treasure adventure angle really blended well with the horror, which is really effectively claustrophobic in places and captures a bit of that found-footage rollercoaster intensity that the best ones manage.

Really didn't expect much, and we all agreed it was a rollicking good time.

I'd echo this 100% Keef.
Picked it up for a fiver last year on DVD, with nothing but low expectations (partially based on the poor TV adverts).

A diamond in the rough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 November, 2016, 12:32:19 PM
Suburban Gothic on Netflix

It's basically about a young man who used to see ghosts as a kid, and then stopped. He's now a bit of an unemployed slacked, and has to move back in with his parents in his home town... and a whole bunch of weirdness starts up again.

It has a lot of comedy, but there is some genuine horror in there. The characters are likeable and amusing, and there are a great cast of supporting characters. Having recently binge watched the entirety series and movie of Twin Peaks, I was interested to see Ray Wise playing the main character's racist dad. Also having watched and enjoyed the first series of Ash Vs Evil Dead last year I was interested to see Ray Santiago in a small role sporting a similar crazy hair do.

This wasn't particularly original, ( and I think in a similar situation I'd be shouting at the ghosts [spoiler]"if you want me to do something for you, just tell me outright! Quit the freaky crap, with the floating little girl heads, puked eyeballs and ... dear me, that thing with the teeth...", but then you wouldn't have the horror, and I guess the restless dead need a bit of entertainment, right? [/spoiler]) but the blend of comedy and quirky characters helps make it.

I suspect it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 21 November, 2016, 02:34:17 PM
Highlander.

What?First movie was...passable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 November, 2016, 06:38:59 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 20 November, 2016, 07:58:25 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 19 November, 2016, 10:41:44 PM

Followed up with ID:Resurgence or at least the first 45 min...


I managed about an hour and 20 mins, or so. It's the sort of film that could drive you to take Hard Drugs just to forget the interminable, turgid Horseshit!

I too was expecting better of Roland Emmerich, having spent the last twenty years agreeing with everyone else about what a load of shit the first one was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 November, 2016, 11:04:27 PM
Convenience
Amusing little British film about two guys who attempt to rob petrol garage, and it all goes wrong.

Likeable characters. Very funny in places. I enjoyed it lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 November, 2016, 07:02:50 AM
Kingsman: Secret Service.
It was better then expected.Pretty fun,actually.But I think comic was a bit better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2016, 10:59:39 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 November, 2016, 06:38:59 PM
I managed about an hour and 20 mins, or so. It's the sort of film that could drive you to take Hard Drugs just to forget the interminable, turgid Horseshit!

I too was expecting better of Roland Emmerich, having spent the last twenty years agreeing with everyone else about what a load of shit the first one was.
[/quote]

It's much, much worse than the first one, which is dumb as a bag of inbred rocks but was much more straightforward fun. And I was like 9 when I watched it, one of the first movies my parents ever sneaked me into.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 November, 2016, 10:32:07 PM
Konga is a giant ape movie where a future Alfred Pennyworth utters the words "If I hadn't shot her, Pussy would have swollen uncontrollably" with a straight face.

Utter nonsense but good fun, in terms of cheap giant monkey movies this lacks the miniature work (though the houses of parliament get it) of Mighty Peking Man but is still a hell of an 80 mins. Make's a good double bill with Gorgo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 24 November, 2016, 08:32:56 PM
Watch Tank Girl on Netflix. Funny as last time I saw that was 19 years ago. Now, what a shite film! What the point of that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 November, 2016, 11:00:35 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 24 November, 2016, 08:32:56 PM
Watch Tank Girl on Netflix. Funny as last time I saw that was 19 years ago. Now, what a shite film! What the point of that!

I saw it in the cinema too! It's no doubt a bad film (it's been a while so not sure how it holds up, I thought it was kind of fun at the time?) but I can say that seeing Lori Petty in that movie left a lifelong impression on my young mind. Wowzer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 25 November, 2016, 11:24:45 AM
Apparently Tank Girl was tore a new one in post editing to be barely recognisable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 November, 2016, 02:06:36 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2016, 10:59:39 AM
I managed about an hour and 20 mins, or so. It's the sort of film that could drive you to take Hard Drugs just to forget the interminable, turgid Horseshit!

Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 November, 2016, 06:38:59 PMI too was expecting better of Roland Emmerich, having spent the last twenty years agreeing with everyone else about what a load of shit the first one was.


Quote from: Theblazeuk on 22 November, 2016, 10:59:39 AMIt's much, much worse than the first one, which is dumb as a bag of inbred rocks but was much more straightforward fun. And I was like 9 when I watched it, one of the first movies my parents ever sneaked me into.

An alternate-history post-apocalyptic alien invasion disaster movie with a multinational cast and just for good measure the Alien Queen is in it, only she's also Godzilla, chasing a school bus full of multi-racial orphans driven by a Jewish pensioner - it even has the mandatory blockbuster Laser Beam Thing In The Sky Finale and loads of CGI clutter in the action scenes so you don't really know what to be looking at in any given moment.  There is no other current movie/franchise that tries so hard to meet the low expectations we bring to the cinema*, and rather than being lauded for its continued dedication to unpretentiousness that began with the first movie, we still insist on acting like we expected - or wanted - something that aims higher.
Independence Day: Resurgence is the blockbuster we deserve.


* Except possibly The Force Awakens
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 November, 2016, 09:11:23 AM
Cop Car.

Loved this movie! A taut, sparse little thriller that does a lot with a really simple premise and has a really nicely judged, semi-humourous tone and some great performances. Strong recommend.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 26 November, 2016, 11:43:03 AM
seen a lot recently none of which made me want to watch them again

jeruZalem
exists

are the two which stood out as very lame although the squatch in exists was ok...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 27 November, 2016, 12:35:39 PM
Quote from: radiator on 26 November, 2016, 09:11:23 AM
Cop Car.

Loved this movie! A taut, sparse little thriller that does a lot with a really simple premise and has a really nicely judged, semi-humourous tone and some great performances. Strong recommend.

5/5

Watched this recently as well.Thought it was brilliant, although anything with Kevin Bacon in is sure to get a thumbs up from me.

Be interesting to see how the director goes from such a lovely judged, small scale thriller to a big tentpole event movie with his version of Spider-man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 November, 2016, 04:11:31 PM
Arrival.  Ah yeah, that was a great little film, well conceived and well realised, with some really satisfying moments of revelation: like an M Night Shayamalan movie made by someone who actually has a clue.  Amy Adams gives a particularly strong performance, and the designs are refreshingly understated. Proper SF done right. Nice, nice, nice.

When I think about my recent family cinema-going, we've had Dr Strange, Fantastic Beasts, Arrival and in a only a few weeks Rogue One (all 49 digits crossed), it feels like 2016 might actually be memorable for something other than death and despair.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 27 November, 2016, 06:34:15 PM
Oasis - Supersonic

Seen it three times now (once in the theatre, two on BD) . Best music film I'v since Spinal tap. A really good story that's topped of with a nice message. Really like that it ends just before I started to listen to the band, felt like things hit a full circle for me.

Mad fer it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 November, 2016, 11:42:43 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 November, 2016, 04:11:31 PM
When I think about my recent family cinema-going, we've had Dr Strange, Fantastic Beasts, Arrival and in a only a few weeks Rogue One (all 49 digits crossed), it feels like 2016 might actually be memorable for something other than death and despair.


Nothing like a Death Star to bring hope to the galaxy.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 November, 2016, 01:11:22 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 27 November, 2016, 11:42:43 PM
Nothing like a Death Star to bring hope to the galaxy.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 November, 2016, 01:17:23 PM
I watched the fantastic Room at the weekend.

I'd managed to avoid spoilers, so went in completely blind.
A really thought provoking film with wonderful performances- highly recommended if you haven't seen it already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 November, 2016, 02:45:27 PM
Arrival. Lovely to see an intelligent science fiction film that doesn't try to patronise the audience. More like this please.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 December, 2016, 07:46:12 PM
Sing Street.

Well that was just lovely, a really sweet-natured, vibrant quasi musical packed with memorable songs and performances.

It's a little predictable, broad, at times corny, and the ending borderline jumps the shark, but as an unashamed crowdpleaser that goes with the territory, and whats come before is so utterly charming it doesn't really matter. It's also perhaps a little too briskly paced - the first act seemingly having been ruthlessly cut down to 5 minutes runtime, to the point that it feels as if some character development and subplots were lost along the way. And I say that as someone who regularly moans about films being too long.

But overall, a wonderful little film. 5/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 05 December, 2016, 09:11:10 AM
Quote from: radiator on 04 December, 2016, 07:46:12 PM
Sing Street.

Well that was just lovely, a really sweet-natured, vibrant quasi musical packed with memorable songs and performances.

It's a little predictable, broad, at times corny, and the ending borderline jumps the shark, but as an unashamed crowdpleaser that goes with the territory, and whats come before is so utterly charming it doesn't really matter. It's also perhaps a little too briskly paced - the first act seemingly having been ruthlessly cut down to 5 minutes runtime, to the point that it feels as if some character development and subplots were lost along the way. And I say that as someone who regularly moans about films being too long.

But overall, a wonderful little film. 5/5.

My favourite film of the year (haven't seen Rogue One yet though)
Just lovely
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 December, 2016, 06:01:25 PM
Sully. Good film but rather bogged down in the politics. Still, Eastwood does a good job with a movie we all know how it ends. 7/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 December, 2016, 06:20:27 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 05 December, 2016, 09:11:10 AM
Quote from: radiator on 04 December, 2016, 07:46:12 PM
Sing Street.

Well that was just lovely, a really sweet-natured, vibrant quasi musical packed with memorable songs and performances.

It's a little predictable, broad, at times corny, and the ending borderline jumps the shark, but as an unashamed crowdpleaser that goes with the territory, and whats come before is so utterly charming it doesn't really matter. It's also perhaps a little too briskly paced - the first act seemingly having been ruthlessly cut down to 5 minutes runtime, to the point that it feels as if some character development and subplots were lost along the way. And I say that as someone who regularly moans about films being too long.

But overall, a wonderful little film. 5/5.

My favourite film of the year (haven't seen Rogue One yet though)
Just lovely

It's on Netflix too - here in the US at least.

Also saw Disney's The BFG.

It's OK, but total CG overload for me. Very reminiscent of The Hobbit visually, where the artifice is kinda distracting, and even things they easily could have shot on location, like regular city streets, are clearly very fake looking greenscreen environments.

I kinda wished they'd either made it a full cg animated movie, or a more 'real' version with real actors in prosthetics playing the giants and real elaborate giant sets, because for me there was always a pronounced visual disconnect between the weirdly stylised, motion-captured BFG (who frankly looks like a videogame character) and the little girl. Your brain never fully buys that they are inhabiting the same physical space, and for a film that hinges on that relationship, that's a pretty major problem.

While it gets better as it goes, I also thought there was a hard to define problem with the first half of the movie. I dunno, maybe its just me, but I felt like they never go far enough to begin with to make the BFG likable and charming - maybe due to Rylances mumbly performance, he comes across as kinda weird and vaguely sinister until quite late in the film.

For all the visual razzmatazz, I came away thing that the Cosgrove Hall animated version from the 80s was a more succinct adaptation that captured the spirit of the book more.

2.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 December, 2016, 12:13:35 PM
Finally caught the 2016 Ghostbusters. What was all that fuss about?! It was alright, had its moments. Deteriorated into a bit of a superhero movie at the end and the slow-mo badass fight scenes don't really work for me (or anyone, really, other than the assumption of what kids need from a movie I guess). The bad guy is decent and Chris Hemsworth's schtick gets a bit annoying, but I did like the ladies. The cameos never really added anything though. I still think they could have made a better movie with the same basic idea but with the Extreme Ghostbusters set-up of a new team learning from the old hands. Hell you could have got Winston to do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 07 December, 2016, 06:48:28 PM
the visit... started ok but soon became predictable

when animals dream...enjoyed this but it seemed to spiral quickly after a nice sedate mystery ,might have been better as a series...and would have liked some explaination of the situation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 December, 2016, 09:46:15 AM
Thanks to All Night Horror Madness I saw Miracle Mile for the first time at the weekend. It was the last film of the night (started at about 7am) and I'd been struggling to stay awake for a while by that point, but despite all that I was absolutely riveted throughout. Fantastic film, can't believe I'd never even heard of it. Such an odd, unique wee gem of a film. Now that I'm trying to look up more info on it I see Charlie Brooker has quoted it a couple of times as a Black Mirror influence, which makes a lot of sense. It also had a great Tangerine Dream score which I hadn't expected. Got to spend some time with Edgar when we worked with him on something and he was a really fascinating guy, so it's always nice to discover more of his music (he must have done hundreds of scores and they're all absolutely brilliant).

So that was the highlight, other films were The Fly (still amazing, and the people around me who clearly hadn't seen it and were horrified throughout were quite entertaining), Happy Birthday To Me (found this a total slog, one of those slasher movies that ties itself in knots trying to point suspicion at absolutely everyone and dragged and dragged, although the ending was fun), Night Train To Terror (one of those movies that's so inconcievably bad that I can't understand how it came to exist. According to wikipedia it's assembled from several unfinished films, which I can believe. There is an incredibly catchy musical number that repeats several times, and we had a good laugh at the film's ineptitude, so was an entertaining movie for sure), and Day of The Dead which even on an old scratched up print with the sound dropping in and out is still an incredible film, and probably still my favourite Romero movie.

So aye, a good night, but Miracle Mile was definitely the topper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 20 December, 2016, 08:49:35 PM
Moana.

Took my 5 and 6 year olds to see this today.

It's a bit of a dark theme for a kids movie IMO:[spoiler] Demi God steals the heart of an island which eventually poisons the sea and earth. [/spoiler]Plus throw in a big scary lava monster.

Ok fine....it is a PG and SWE4ANH which is a U has charred corpses in it.... but I wasn't excepting that from what has been described in some quarters as the "new Frozen".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 29 December, 2016, 08:23:39 PM
Finally see The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

What a mess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 December, 2016, 09:10:27 PM
Ethel & Ernest

Ethel & Ernest was one of my favourite books growing up, I remember getting it out of the school library and being transfixed by its warmth and simple beauty.

I was worried and unnerved by the film adaptation when it was announced and the trailer spooked me into thinking they'd add a load of subplots and shy away from the book's bleak ending.

I sat down to watch it on Christmas telly with my own parents and from the live-action Ray introduction I knew it was going to be alright. It sticks rigidly to the book - adding little and removing even less. It was heartbreaking to see it in beautiful motion, replicating his style perfectly and expanding it for HD - stretching scenes out to shimmering horizons and filling them with gorgeous colour. There are some vaguely jarring uses of 3D mixed in but usually the intricate models fit in seamlessly. As we watched my parents reminisced about their own childhoods with eachother, laughing at the funny bits and falling utterly silent at the deftly morbid notes which increase as the story reaches its unflinching end. "You have all this to come" said my dad with a characteristically morbid tone.

Afterwards they both agreed to have been moved by it and Ethel & Ernest was trending country-wide on Twitter. One tweet reading "house of adults ranging between 39 and 73 all in tears here". Knowing that the famously grouchy Briggs had himself wept upon seeing his parents in motion again adds another tinge of unprecedented emotion to all of this - one of my favourite ever book somehow brought respectfully to life and touching generations of people up and down the country. Evoking in all of them what it had done for me all those decades ago as I sat crying on my bed after school at the loss of a couple I'd never known.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2016, 12:57:34 AM
Fan-O-Rama (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-1RMKdWz8M), a live-action Futurama fan movie that has a script better than some episodes of the show.  Where it falls down is in the delivery and the sense of eeriness that comes from seeing things in live-action that were never meant to live outside animation - Prof Farnsworth is borderline nightmare-inducing, while Zoidberg is just straight-up a Lovecraftian horror that will haunt your dreams.
Nerd that I am, I thought the best gag was [spoiler]the genius casting of Vic Mignogna - the guy who plays Captain Kirk on Star Trek Continues - as Zap Brannigan.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 30 December, 2016, 12:18:15 PM
I watched The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) with the boys (six and nearly eight) yesterday and a fine time was had by all.  I've not seen it in years but thought it about time to introduce them to some Ray Harryhausen creature effects and thought this would be as good a place to start as any.  It seemed to be a big hit (how could it not be?) so I'll wheel out Jason and the Argonauts and The Valley of Gwangi next - good times lie ahead!

I really need to make a list of essential viewing at some point...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 December, 2016, 04:18:53 PM
Watched 84 Charing Cross Road this afternoon on BBC 2. Seen it before and tears prick my eyes so many times during the movie.
Anyone with a love of books, real antiquarian books, will adore this.
Such a lovely, beautiful story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 December, 2016, 04:20:12 PM
Quote from: ming on 30 December, 2016, 12:18:15 PM
Jason and the Argonauts

Known as Jason and the Golden Fleas in this household. Taught that to my boy when he was 4 and he still calls it that now at nearly 13.

Cracking film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 December, 2016, 05:30:21 PM
Well since the Christmas break rumbles on pleasently we took the opportunity to go to the cinema... with the kids of course, so that meant the latest animated offering and in this case that means Moana. And no real surprises it sticks firmly to form. Which is to say while having pretty predictable story and plot it was emmense fun, had plenty of good belly laughs and so fun if a little trite songs. All in all another animated success, if nothing to make it stand out from the crowd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 December, 2016, 06:30:23 PM
Quote from: ming on 30 December, 2016, 12:18:15 PM
I watched The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) with the boys (six and nearly eight) yesterday and a fine time was had by all.  I've not seen it in years but thought it about time to introduce them to some Ray Harryhausen creature effects and thought this would be as good a place to start as any.  It seemed to be a big hit (how could it not be?) so I'll wheel out Jason and the Argonauts and The Valley of Gwangi next - good times lie ahead!

I really need to make a list of essential viewing at some point...

Well you may add Clash of the Titans to that list, along with the Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 December, 2016, 06:43:03 PM
What? No love for Beast from 20,000 Fathoms?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 December, 2016, 09:51:37 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 December, 2016, 06:43:03 PM
What? No love for Beast from 20,000 Fathoms?

A personal fave.

We watched Close Encounters (Director's Cut) tonight - shorter than the original Special Edition, but much better for it. That Spielberg can make a movie, lemme tell ya.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 30 December, 2016, 09:56:12 PM
Quote from: ming on 30 December, 2016, 12:18:15 PM
I watched The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) with the boys (six and nearly eight) yesterday and a fine time was had by all.  I've not seen it in years but thought it about time to introduce them to some Ray Harryhausen creature effects and thought this would be as good a place to start as any.  It seemed to be a big hit (how could it not be?) so I'll wheel out Jason and the Argonauts and The Valley of Gwangi next - good times lie ahead!
Jason was on TV at christmas - I found that out by switching the TV on half-way through, at the exact point that the bad guy got his men to collect the teeth of the hydra (which is almost immediately followed by sowing the teeth and then one of Harryhausen's most famous scenes).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 December, 2016, 12:07:55 AM
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

My first ever proper encounter with Reubens unnerving man-child character. He's an odd sort of a beast and it didn't help when halfway through I realised it was essentially a neutered variation on the superlatively mad The Jerk. That being said It's not done without thought and the tonal shifts are quite smartly managed. It definitely knew what it was and as a consequence it didn't exhaust or overstay its welcome. HUR HUR
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 31 December, 2016, 01:04:08 AM
.
HYDRA MEANS HYDRA

(http://i.imgur.com/gtcAC6d.png)  (http://i.imgur.com/hekboNV.png)


If there's anything sexier than Scarlett Johansson disguised as Jenny Agutter, it's Theresa May.

I watched A League Of Their Own (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkZTcofj3wU), because it was on telly when I got bored of the radio. I've started to get really nostalgic about early nineties cinema, lately. In these polarised times, there's something very safe and reassuring about a socially liberal agenda articulated via a formally conservative medium.

Everything works out exactly as you'd expect, but - thanks to the script polish from comedy fiends Ganz and Mandel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Ganz#Screenwriting_credits_.28in_collaboration_with_Babaloo_Mandel.29) - everybody has really funny lines. Even Madonna does a decent turn, thanks to her double act with Rosie O'Donnell, and I'd forgotten how hilarious John Lovitz's sardonic character is*. Harry Shearer gives good news reel.

I've always loved Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ke-v0e3Cd4), but after years of diminishingly unfunny and obvious cinema comedies, it now seems as sophisticated as Pinter and as gut-funny as Airplane. It's got the structural perfection of Back To The Future or Raiders Of The Lost Ark, where every scene pays off by itself while also forming a satisfying whole.

Frank Oz and Ian McDiarmid must have got on during Return Of The Jedi, because director Oz gives his fellow Jedi the funniest line in the movie - "may I take your trident, Your Highness?" The internet says Eddie Murphy and John Cleese were considered for the leads, but Caine and Martin are perfect - I had no idea the film was a remake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVrY7a_l2lg).


* I'd also forgotten Penny Marshall and Tom Hanks pioneered the very long and loud piss gag a few years before Jay Roach and Mike Myers repurposed it for Austin Powers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 31 December, 2016, 02:37:13 PM
Passengers.

Overlong, and a piece of fluff overall, but it got me out the house during the 'Christmas day is over-New year is yet to come-what actual day is it today?' limbo period.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 January, 2017, 10:44:41 AM
Quote from: Spikes on 31 December, 2016, 02:37:13 PM
Passengers.

Overlong, and a piece of fluff overall, but it got me out the house during the 'Christmas day is over-New year is yet to come-what actual day is it today?' limbo period.

Seeing this tomorrow. Not expecting much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 01 January, 2017, 01:06:44 PM
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

I've been ruined for anime by years of opulent and characterful Ghibli films - this cold, flat and desaturated melodrama is only interesting for the quirky japes in the first half an hour and then it falls into a mess of confused mechanics and overwrought romance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 January, 2017, 03:18:54 PM
Passengers
Vapid, by the numbers and generally empty but still mildly entertaining. A solid 6/10
More plot holes than a shop that sells plot holes and with characters introduced simply to explain the plot and move it along very slightly.
But Jennifer Lawrence is pretty and my missus liked looking at Chris Pratt's bottom so not a complete waste of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 January, 2017, 04:47:15 PM
Asterix and the Mansion of the Gods

Just want you need on a day filled with bad news and with the return to work looming on the horizon. Sure it has the infuriating Jack Whitehall voicing Asterix  I'm pretty sure Asterix shouldn't sound like a posh, insincere publiuc school boy) but it does have plenty of belly laughs. Immense fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 January, 2017, 12:26:31 AM
Mad Max: Fury Road. At long bloody last the stars aligned and I finally saw it, many years after absolutely everyone else did. Not only is it every bit as ludicrously good as they all claimed, but it was also full of surprises: I suspected that I had seen the whole thing in the trailers, but not even vaguely. I truly love a film where almost every scene has something I've never seen before: Lucasfilm take note. 10/10. (I almost docked it half a point for having a happy ending, but feck it, they earned it).

Pacific Rim. Introduced the kids to this tonight (can't have children of mine thinking Bay's Transformers movies are acceptable), just gets more enjoyable every time. Giant stompy robots, a stream of kaiju, machismo, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, luscious neon landscapes and unrepentent silliness throughout: there are 4 unwatchable Transformers movies, and a sequel to this is still over a year away... Madness. 8/10.

Incidentally, was Rogue One homaging Pentecost's farewell to Mako in [spoiler]Chirrut's last words to Baze[/spoiler], or am I missing some common antecedent?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 January, 2017, 01:30:18 PM
Maniac Cop.

This is an 80s cult film which somehow passed me by. I'd seen it advertised, etc, but I never really felt any inclination to watch it. Then on an Evil Dead fansite I found out Bruce Campbell was in it, and I thought... give it a go.

Was it good? Not particularly, but it was entertaining enough. [spoiler]Kudos for killing off the main character part way through.(Bruce Campbell's character takes a central role later, but he actually doesn't appear until quite a way into the film, and much of the legwork and investigation is done by Tom Atkins character. [/spoiler] Tom Atkins introduces the film on the DVD and there's a nice interview with him as part of the extras. Seems a very nice fella.

Script isn't that great. It's rather hammy and I found one character particularly irritating. But the story isn't that bad, although it goes to a silly place* which is kind of expected for these slasher type films. It played with some interesting ideas like switching things around so the icon of law enforcement becomes the villain and the paranoia which results. [spoiler](Amusingly one lady in a news broadcast talks about how crime has gone down, now cops had started killing people. Although unlike the judges of Mega City One, this guy kills the innocent, although there is an agenda apart from being a psycho. Well, an agenda as WELL as being a psycho.)[/spoiler]

But it could have been played much better, I think.

It's probably worth a watch though.

* Big spoiler: [spoiler]There is a strong suggestion that the Maniac Cop himself is some kind of revenant. Brighter than your average zombie for sure, but when he takes several shots to the body (and apparently a couple to the head according to  Jack Forrest's screechy girlfriend, although that seems to be off-screen) and keeps going, he must be something supernatural. That and she states, that he did not appear to breathe.

Later on you find out that he was on death's door after an attack after being stabbed and slashed up royally in prison, but the prison doctor detected life and revived him and allowed him to go in the care of his girlfriend, albeit in a brain damaged state, which I guess also explains his change in morality. (He was always a hardliner, and quick to draw his gun, but it was criminals who died. Not so different from a certain other Lawman we know and love, although I think he is a bit more restrained.) So... that's technically alive right? And breathing? I kind of like the ambiguity though.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 January, 2017, 02:28:33 PM
I always liked Maniac Cop. Watched again a few years ago and it certainly shows its age but was still good fun, if very hammy. I think it still holds the record for featuring the longest 'burning man' stunt though.
Maniac Cop 2 has the brilliant 'Maniac Cop Rap' over the end credits.

In a similar vain, I've been keeping one eye on the horror channel on the off chance that they may show The Ambulance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 January, 2017, 03:22:54 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 03 January, 2017, 02:28:33 PM

In a similar vain, I've been keeping one eye on the horror channel on the off chance that they may show The Ambulance.

Haven't seen that for years. Think I have a copy around here somewhere...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 January, 2017, 09:21:25 PM
Zootropolis.  Got this as a very welcome Chrimbas present, only just got round to watching it. Look, I made no secret of my love for this film when I saw it in the cinema, but I'm now leaning towards it being in my Top Three animated films of all time (The Incredibles and Jungle Book). I love every single thing about it, from voice acting to character designs to gags to concept to plot to music and its deadly serious surprisingly nuanced message: diversity is difficult. WHERE'S MY 'HOPPS & WILD' TV SERIES.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 January, 2017, 10:23:52 PM
Urban Warriors - watched sober and during daylight hours, so not enjoyed as it should be.  One of many truly terrible Italian post-apocalyptic action movies made during the 1980s when Italians realised that their country looked the Apocalypse had already happened (we can presume such films will shortly become Greece's next growth industry).  It's no Desert Warrior, but then what is?  Entertainingly crap, if that's any recommendation.

The Light Between Oceans - some newlyweds decide to raise a baby they find on the beach of their isolated lighthouse home, but a chance encounter with the grieving mother of the child triggers survivor's guilt from The War for Mickey Fassbender's character - just not enough to tell the grieving mum the truth.  Three years later, the truth emerges and Fassy falls on his sword to save the missus from jail, presumably forgetting that ALL OF AUSTRALIA IS A JAIL ALREADY.  The hopeless melodrama of the first hour or so is at least consistent, but it all falls apart on the last leg when it asks you to swallow that Australians in the 1920s thought that stealing someone's baby was a bad thing to do rather than something the state had been doing for decades already - and still does to this very day - in their ongoing genocide of the continent's native population.  Yes I am being flippant, but my point about it all falling apart in the final stretch remains.
It's all about guilt and isolation, with the lighthouse as a metaphor, so very highbrow and no-one has a wrestling match with a topless lady with a blonde perm, so not quite as fun as Urban Warriors but you do nearly get to see Lizzy Vikander's jugs, so you might be able to knock one out if you're quick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 January, 2017, 01:18:26 AM
Pom Poko

The pacing can be inconsistent but there are some stunning moments as well as beautiful painted backgrounds and the outright insanity is wrapped around a poignant environmental message as well as some sweet, sweet raccoonads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 06 January, 2017, 01:36:20 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 January, 2017, 01:18:26 AM
Pom Poko

The pacing can be inconsistent but there are some stunning moments as well as beautiful painted backgrounds and the outright insanity is wrapped around a poignant environmental message as well as some sweet, sweet raccoonads gonads.

Fixed that for you, matey.

Quite seriously, though, the Ghibli kick you're on surprises me a bit. I would have pegged you more as the type to enjoy stuff like 'Belladonna of Sadness'.

BUT! Enjoy what you will. For that's the only law where these thing are concerned.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 06 January, 2017, 03:42:28 AM
Caught Werner Herzog's fascinating documentary on the internet, Low And Behold on Netflix.

Essential viewing for anyone who's interest on how technology is increasingly dominating our lives and fans of Herzog's other films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 06 January, 2017, 08:50:24 PM
Finally managed to see Bone Tomahawk and it was marvellous stuff

If you are a fan of Neil Marshall's The Descent then you should enjoy it, or if you just like cowboy films with a good dose of horror then should be all good

Cast are all good in their roles, the plot boils along nicely building to a climax of brutal violence...especially one part in particular

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 January, 2017, 09:10:52 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 January, 2017, 09:21:25 PM
Zootropolis.  Got this as a very welcome Chrimbas present, only just got round to watching it. Look, I made no secret of my love for this film when I saw it in the cinema, but I'm now leaning towards it being in my Top Three animated films of all time (The Incredibles and Jungle Book).

I'll top ya, its my favourite animated film of all time. In my 10 ten movies full stop too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 January, 2017, 03:02:15 AM
Quote from: Pegasus P Artichoke on 06 January, 2017, 08:50:24 PM
Finally managed to see Bone Tomahawk and it was marvellous stuff

If you are a fan of Neil Marshall's The Descent then you should enjoy it, or if you just like cowboy films with a good dose of horror then should be all good

Cast are all good in their roles, the plot boils along nicely building to a climax of brutal violence...especially one part in particular

Nice to see Sean Young in a film again, even if it was only a minor role.

Had been wondering what the hell had happened to her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 07 January, 2017, 07:44:25 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 07 January, 2017, 03:02:15 AM
Quote from: Pegasus P Artichoke on 06 January, 2017, 08:50:24 PM
Finally managed to see Bone Tomahawk and it was marvellous stuff

If you are a fan of Neil Marshall's The Descent then you should enjoy it, or if you just like cowboy films with a good dose of horror then should be all good

Cast are all good in their roles, the plot boils along nicely building to a climax of brutal violence...especially one part in particular

Nice to see Sean Young in a film again, even if it was only a minor role.

Had been wondering what the hell had happened to her.

Yeah I agree and although it's a small part it's actually a great wee part in which you fully understand her character and relationship with the town with only one scene and a few lines of dialogue
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 07 January, 2017, 11:15:01 PM
Last week I been watch some new films on Netflix;

Bone Tomahawk - that was very great film, brutal!

London Has Fallen - Dumbest action film like first. Bit lots of plot holes as no way they lost control to London!

Spectral - That was very enjoyable and smart film, sort of Black Hawk Down but with twist I wouldn't said, but that final act was great and great special effects than most blockbuster films last few years!

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Loved it! Funny and enjoyable to watch, Sam Neill always great. Good luck to director Taika Waititi for next film Thor 3!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 08 January, 2017, 03:46:06 PM
Hunt For The Wilderpeople was the best movie I saw last year. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 January, 2017, 11:18:08 PM
Yeah I really can't wait to see Wilderpeople. My parents saw it over Christmas and were raving about it which is rare.

Psycho

Heady with the weight of its own reputation but still an effective and extraordinarily tense macabre thriller. I'd seen it a few years previously but the gloriously unexpected bait-and-switch with the plot focus changing halfway through is utterly fantastic [spoiler]how the $40,000 goes from being a stress-creating maguffin to discarded in a swamp is ballsy as fuck[/spoiler]. Anthony Perkins is hypnotic as the anxious Bates and I get a big kick out of seeing 12 Angry Men's Martin Balsam as the gloriously named Milton Arbogast. Shame it had to turn into a watery franchise in the 80s and beyond but as a stand alone it's worthy of the acclaim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 January, 2017, 11:23:37 PM
(http://i.giphy.com/l0K4dELlG3hXA38m4.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 January, 2017, 12:42:21 AM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 08 January, 2017, 11:18:08 PM
Shame it had to turn into a watery franchise in the 80s and beyond but as a stand alone it's worthy of the acclaim.

I'd argue the recent teen-friendly remake/prequel tv series is worth a gander, while the 1998 remake is - depending on your opinion of Gus Van Sant - either a bizarre act of hubris, or a protest at the creative bankruptcy of Hollywood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 09 January, 2017, 04:24:12 AM
Yeah the TV (sort of*) prequel series is pretty good.


On to my film review, which coincidentally does share a major them with psycho, while being very different:
The film I came here to talk about was May .

I recorded it from Film 4 quite a while ago, but just got round to watching it tonight. I liked it a lot. A rather strange film about lonely vulnerable girl with this weird doll that was given to her by her mother as a 'best friend'. It's a weird thing in a box with a glass front. I thought the film might be yet another 'killer doll came alive' iike Chucky, or that film with Anthony Hopkins and the ventriloquist doll...(to be fair I don't think the doll comes to life in that latter one, but I'm sure you get what i mean) and maybe it has that or maybe it doesn't. I'd rather not spoil that for you, but I will say, this film felt rather original. (Edit- That film with Anthony Hopkins is called 'Magic'. I'm not sure I've ever seen it all the way though. I must find that sometime.)

May is essentially a character driven, psychological horror story. It has it's lighthearted moments, and it is very amusing in places and the main character is painfully endearing in her oddness and loneliness. It  is pretty dark as well though, and I warn you, some parts will likely make you wince. (Not because the film is rubbish, I actually think it's a very intelligent film. Even if you don't like it, it will likely give you something to think about.)


*'Sort of' because they have modern technology like mobile phones and laptops, etc, suggesting it's in the present day. That being said, I'm not sure a date is ever stated in the films, we just assume its set in the time period it was created.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2017, 09:03:58 AM
SING STREET

Fabulous little "boy forms band to impress girl" movie with some great songs (original and period).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 January, 2017, 09:22:23 AM
I've been wanting to see May for a long time Mardroid, but whenever I've looked it's been a bit tough to get on dvd. I'll have to have another look! I've got a lot of time for Lucky McKee, because I really, really liked The Woman (another one that's a bit of a tough watch in places but is a really bold and unique film) plus The Woods was really interesting and he did one of my favourite Masters of Horror episodes (Sick Girl). Saying that, the last thing I saw of his was All Cheerleaders Die and I really wasn't into that at all.

I can't wait to watch Hunt For The Wilderpeople again now that it's on Netflix, I've probably said it before on here but it was the best film I saw in 2016, a real joy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 January, 2017, 10:08:16 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 January, 2017, 09:03:58 AM
SING STREET

Fabulous little "boy forms band to impress girl" movie with some great songs (original and period).
I found it pretty dull, TBH.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 January, 2017, 11:15:09 AM
I also caught Bone Tomahawk, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The low-key matter of fact violence and gore, the horrific wider picture of the troglodytes (Crippled, pregnant females...) that is never explicitly stated but which creates some genuine Wild West monsters, and the brilliant cast (Chickory... poor old coot) made it the best out of the two westerns starring Kurt Russell I watched last week. Hateful Eight came a distant second in that race, taking a lot longer to say a lot less, and that with about 200% more dialogue. It was OK but an incredibly indulgent piece from Tarantino, and with lesser actors it would have been a complete miss.

This week I also watched Oculus, which had some promise but fails to really centre itself around the mystical mirror mcguffin, and so it's all a bit of a disconnected, empty mess despite several novel ideas and ambitious past/present narrative blurring. And finally, Hardcore Henry, which was a complete novelty and would definitely have made a better videogame than a movie. Still, that's not a huge criticism - I enjoyed it, silly and stupid as it was. Sharlto Copley's ridiculous character was cool and the action was impressive. Not sure first person camerawork will ever be great beyond the artifice of the few well-constructed found footage movies like [REC], but 'twas never dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 January, 2017, 11:48:20 AM
Watched Under The Shadow on Netflix, a very effective Iranian horror film with some genuine moments of shock.
Just don't watch it in the early hours like I did!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 January, 2017, 03:20:05 PM
Watchmen

I hadn't seen this for a good few years so it was ripe for a re-watch.
This time I was watching it with my girlfriend who has no familiarity with the source material.
In short these were the conclusions:
- It looks lovely. Some really nice production design which, on the whole, is very respectful of the source material.
- The casting is great. In particular Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian and Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach. Everyone put in a pretty good performance though.
- The soundtrack works really well.
- Unfortunately the film misses so much out that it's a pale shadow of the original comic (There's no background to the world of costumed avengers. We don't get to see Rorschach's effect on his psychologist. There's no hint of a further police investigation after Eddie Blake's murder. We aren't familiar with the New Frontiersman so the final twist lacks effect).
- Ozymandias is criminally underdeveloped and lacking in gravitas (in some ways this is the biggest fault of the film and stops it from working on its own terms).
- Dr Manhattan's journey from Jon Osterman to super-human to god-like supreme being is mis-handled. The audience is left wondering why he is ever attracted to Laurie in the first place and why she would be attracted to him if he is so lacking in basic humanity.

Having said all that there's still a lot to like about the film (if you put the morals of intellectual property rights to one side). It's definitely entertaining, it's ambitious and it looks great. Watching it is a strange experience though - more interesting than enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 January, 2017, 05:40:12 PM
To counter my negativity on the Rogue One thread, I'll talk about some movies I've seen and enjoyed recently:

A Christmas Story
I saw this in my local cinema just before Christmas as part of a triple bill. For those not familiar, it's a perennial Christmas classic in the US that has, for whatever reason, not translated to the UK in the same way that other Christmas movies have. It's easy to see why its so beloved; it's a warm, quirky 80s family movie that has a refreshingly odd sense of humour - it would feel pretty modern and timeless were it not for the unfortunate, out of place, slightly racist ending skit.

La La Land
Yeah, it's getting a load of inevitable backlash (de rigeur for any film getting any amount of awards buzz these days) but I went in pretty blind and thought it was delightful. Reminded me somewhat of The Artist - a film that was about, and mimicked the form of, an old Hollywood style of filmmaking and featured two dazzlingly charismatic leads. And as with The Artist, I doubt it'll stand the test of time, or even be widely remembered or revisited in years to come, but for a one-off cinematic experience (and I emphasise 'cinematic' - I imagine it would lose a lot of impact on the small screen) I thought it made for a perfect nights entertainment.

Boy
Thoroughly enjoyable debut feature from Taika Waititi. While its less accomplished than Wilderpeople and suffers slightly from the obviously non-professional cast, it's still funny, moving and heartfelt. Well worth seeking out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 January, 2017, 12:19:16 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 January, 2017, 09:22:23 AM
I've been wanting to see May for a long time Mardroid, but whenever I've looked it's been a bit tough to get on dvd. I'll have to have another look!

Worth seeking out for a horror fan such as yourself, Keef.
An ending that will stay with you- simultaneously horrific and heartbreaking.

I've never seen the DVD in the wild, but keep an eye out on The Horror Channel- they've broadcast it several times over the past year or two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 January, 2017, 12:33:47 PM
I recorded Turkish horror Baskin last weekend, and watched it last night.

The tale of 5 police officers (featuring 'Nice-guy rookie', 'Pervert Mr. Nasty', 'Sage old man', etc) as they take a (spoiler) one-way trip into hell itself.

I really enjoyed it for what it was- and it was pretty effin' sick.
Some hints of Jacobs Ladder, Silent Hill and really great performances by the cast (in particular the unforgettable Mehmet Cerrahoglu) ensured my attention was held right up until the multi-interpretive ending.

Worth a watch, horror fans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 January, 2017, 06:05:18 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 January, 2017, 12:19:16 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 January, 2017, 09:22:23 AM
I've been wanting to see May for a long time Mardroid, but whenever I've looked it's been a bit tough to get on dvd. I'll have to have another look!

Worth seeking out for a horror fan such as yourself, Keef.
An ending that will stay with you- simultaneously horrific and heartbreaking.

I've never seen the DVD in the wild, but keep an eye out on The Horror Channel- they've broadcast it several times over the past year or two.

Yes, that's how I came across it. I'd never even heard of it before. I just decided to record it using Play TV on my PS3* because the introductory text looked interesting. Then I forgot about it. Cue me going through the library of recorded films from months ago a couple of nights back and I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did.

*A completely off subject aside, so ignore if you like: I'm way behind with my game consoles. I mainly use my PS3 for streaming and the PlayTV add-on, rather than games, much as I do like games. (I'd occasionally spend hours on a particular game, and really get into it. Then I'd get stuck on a level, and after multiple retries I'd put it away.  Then no gaming for months, even a year or two. I did that with Batman: Arkham Asylum. That level where they put explosives around the gargoyles! I even have the next game (Arkham City?) unplayed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 January, 2017, 10:58:43 PM
Zombie Flesh Eaters.

I thought it was a bit boring and rubbish to start with. The lines and some of the acting was is a bit dodgy, and all the women are of the screamy-I-need-a-man-to-save-me variety. And a couple of them indulge in a bit of gratuitous nudity, although to be fair, one was [spoiler]in the shower, unaware of the undead peeping Tom.[/spoiler]

Once it got going it was actually quite an enjoyable zombie film though, pretty gross-out. I can see why it's counted a 'video nasty'. Did what was expected as far as these things go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 January, 2017, 11:55:07 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 January, 2017, 06:05:18 PM*A completely off subject aside, so ignore if you like: I'm way behind with my game consoles. I mainly use my PS3 for streaming and the PlayTV add-on, rather than games, much as I do like games.

My dad doesn't do games but uses a PS3 daily for telly-related reasons.  Very good multimedia machine - the PS4 significantly less so.

Please, Sir! - more forward-thinking than most "workin clarss" comedies of its day (1971), as it features only two rape jokes and the black character is barely mocked for his skin colour at all.  Based on a beloved tv sitcom, apparently, but then we only had three channels at the time so you could either like it or you could fuck off East of the Wall with all the other commies, some of the actors playing the kids are clearly in their 30s, but after all the Jimmy Savile stuff coming out, maybe that's the point and they're supposed to be undercover pedos or something and the makers of this were trying to warn us of what was going on.
Not terribly funny for something based on a sitcom, but I gather this is traditional where British films are concerned.

Carry On Admiral - not actually a Carry On movie, as it predates the first Carry On by several years, it's written by Val Guest, of Cannon And Ball: The Boys In Blue fame.  Oh, and also he did some films for some company called Hammer that no-one probably saw or even heard of.
Unlike the Carry Ons, this has a standalone plot that can survive without Sid James going HWAH WAH WAH at Barbera Windsors' tiddies or Jim Dale doing that face where it looks like he's put something in his mouth that's a bit too hot to swallow, being about two aging schoolfriends who get drunk and swap clothes - and clothes make the man!  Hilarity ensues from this ill-advised exchange of identities, and while it's superficially like the plot of the Hangover, I did actually get to the end of this without turning it off in disgust and then wondering if maybe ISIS have a point.  Dated horribly, which I didn't expect of a film from 1957.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 11 January, 2017, 05:28:10 PM
PASSENGERS (2016).

It's a romantic drama. Set in space. And no more morally dubious than SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. It's not the film I would've preferred (or as interesting) but it pretty much hits all the right beats for what it is.

It's also got Fish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Grugz on 11 January, 2017, 06:37:04 PM
Crimson Peak- lovely Guillermo del toro direction and some nice spooky ghosties  even if the relationship felt rushed (dad's dead ...we're married!)

   visually stunning and was the constant shower of leaves/snow a callback to the faerie court in hellboy 2? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 January, 2017, 07:30:21 PM
10 Cloverfield Lane. Was alright. A poor future shock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 January, 2017, 04:29:56 PM
A MONSTER CALLS.

"Whoa, indeed." Affecting, at times heartbreakingly so [spoiler]"I WANT IT TO BE OVER"[/spoiler], it's also one of those all-too-rare occasions [spoiler]someone with a terminal cancer is depicted as a bag of bones[/spoiler].

Blubbed throughout. Welling-up as I type.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 January, 2017, 05:49:31 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 11 January, 2017, 05:28:10 PM

It's also got Fish.

What?
The bloke from Marillion?  :o

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 January, 2017, 07:18:37 PM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 12 January, 2017, 04:29:56 PM
A MONSTER CALLS.

"Whoa, indeed." Affecting, at times heartbreakingly so [spoiler]"I WANT IT TO BE OVER"[/spoiler], it's also one of those all-too-rare occasions [spoiler]someone with a terminal cancer is depicted as a bag of bones[/spoiler].

Blubbed throughout. Welling-up as I type.

You liked that? Read The Servants by M M Smith
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 January, 2017, 07:51:42 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 12 January, 2017, 05:49:31 PM
The bloke from Marillion?  :o

Derek Dick, no. Pratt's arse, yes.

That kid from APOCALYPSE NOW. He's in it, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 January, 2017, 08:05:45 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 January, 2017, 07:18:37 PM
You liked that? Read The Servants by M M Smith

When it comes to novels, 240 pages is pushing it (for me).

The London to Brighton thing might swing it, though. Cheers for the heads-up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 January, 2017, 06:05:39 PM
Gargandi snilld / Screaming Masterpiece

Lady Geoffery is a rabid Icelandophile so this was a no-brainer when she saw it on sale the other year. It's more scattershot performances than structured documentary and contains a huge variety of Icelandic acts from across the musical spectrum. Some are haunting, some intricate, some energetically raucous, some mawkishly introspective. All are fairly unique to some degree - with the exception of what appeared to be an Icelandic Beastie Boys tribute band. There's a potted history of Icelandic modern music but it's not particularly rigorous (unless it WAS literally all about Bjork). Not exceptional but a functional sampler reel for a fascinating culture.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 January, 2017, 04:56:54 PM
Chain Letter.

Highly watchable and entertaining serial killer yarn but boy, was it grim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 January, 2017, 03:08:01 PM
I just got done over on my blog shitting on period drama Mr Church for being part of burgeoning tinseltown trend of retelling the stories of black people in historical periods through the prism of a pretty white lady and lo and behold, here comes Arrival to recycle Captain Sisko's Emissary of the Prophets story arc from Deep Space 9.  For fuck's sake, Hollywood.

Both are well-made and well-performed films, but neither offer anything new to their genres, they simply repackage their elements as best they can for a hopefully wider audience than might otherwise want to watch a two hour drama about people sitting around talking about talking, or Eddie Murphy drunkenly shouting at his dead dad, which I suspect these days you can watch on a nightly basis if you stand outside Eddie Murphy's kitchen window at 1am.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 January, 2017, 04:26:09 PM
Spectral - terrible movie. Spirits Within did it better even, which is saying something. Shame because there was about 5 seconds where I felt like I was watching the early stages of a World of Darkness style military unit. Then it got even stupider.

And Arrival does offer something new to the genre of cinematic sci-fi. Certainly in the last decade!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 January, 2017, 05:18:14 PM
I suppose since no-one actually watched Childhood's End you could be right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 January, 2017, 10:16:43 PM
X-Men - Days of Future Pasta (Updated review after seeing the Rogue cut)

As someone who watched X-Men 1 in the cinema as a kid with bated breath  this was a tremendous exercise in nostalgia. Blending everything from 2000 to 2011 with enormous charm and breathless pace Days of Future Past is not necessarily comic-continuity tastic but as a pure love-letter for those who went excitedly to the cinema at the millennium it is utterly perfect and should be commended for keeping the tone so consistent - the climax is extraordinary and the denouement dynamite. More could be done with newboy Quicksilver but it's very hard to fault otherwise.

Rogue Cut

Doesn't add enough to become in any way more 'essential' than the cinematic cut but pleases the completest (who'll likely be buying it anyway) by adding a nice bit of continuity cake with Rogue and filling all the gaps with the original 00's trilogy by not leaving the viewer blown away by the ending going "but wait... what about Rogue"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 24 January, 2017, 11:31:56 AM
Saw "Split" last night, a very good, tight thriller/horror.

M Night Shyamalamadingdong has concentrated on plot and character over a twist, and it shows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 24 January, 2017, 08:44:39 PM
Quote from: Bad City Blue on 24 January, 2017, 11:31:56 AM
M Night Shyamalamadingdong has concentrated on plot and character over a twist, and it shows.

(http://www.ticketroyale.com/manager/categoryimages/category_1152.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 January, 2017, 12:36:56 PM
Quote from: Bad City Blue on 24 January, 2017, 11:31:56 AM
Saw "Split" last night, a very good, tight thriller/horror.

Planning on seeing it this weekend- have managed to avoid spoilers so far!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2017, 01:14:59 PM
So I was trying to work out how first used the...  "Title of the film, more like SHITLE of the film" gag on this thread but only got about twenty pages in. Anybody know?

Interestingly, those first twenty pages do have a regular "Twenty Minutes Too Long" theme.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 January, 2017, 01:20:17 PM
Didn't that start on the dedicated Prometheus thread ("Promethe-arse more like")
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 25 January, 2017, 01:33:45 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2017, 01:14:59 PM
So I was trying to work out how first used the...  "Title of the film, more like SHITLE of the film" gag on this thread but only got about twenty pages in. Anybody know?
Don't know if it's the first but here's an interesting exchange between two luminaries dating back to October 2011 (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg634032#msg634032).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 January, 2017, 03:02:27 PM
I caught Captain Fantastic last night and it was a little baggy but pretty charming, even if the wunderkind kids are a little exaggerated, it did at least finally show some of the consequences of raising a family in complete isolation and wilderness training (i.e. your children may be grievously injured). Doesn't seem to be quite sure of its main character as mission 'free the food' does somewhat undermine all the rhetoric, given that money for things eventually seems like absolutely no problem.

Also caught RED today and it is far from the original material but a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 January, 2017, 03:13:45 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 25 January, 2017, 01:33:45 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2017, 01:14:59 PM
So I was trying to work out how first used the...  "Title of the film, more like SHITLE of the film" gag on this thread but only got about twenty pages in. Anybody know?
Don't know if it's the first but here's an interesting exchange between two luminaries dating back to October 2011 (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg634032#msg634032).

Pretty sure it was Tiplodocus.

I watched three films on my lazy day off on Monday:

Shadow of a Doubt: I got a Hitchcock box set for Xmas so I'm watching some of the ones I'd never seen before. This was a creepy drama starring Joseph Cotton as a beloved uncle who is actually a serial killer on-the-run and Teresa Wright as his super-lovely niece.
I really enjoyed it and the two leads were both excellent. Well worth a watch (I much preferred it to Night of the Hunter which it reminded me of in lots of ways).

10 Cloverfield Lane: I knew very little about this film before watching it and I think that was for the best. I absolutely loved it and had fun reading the various internet theories afterwards. I'd really recommend giving this a go if you like thrillers that keep you guessing.

Cop Car: It was okay I guess. I like Kevin Bacon and the two child actors were excellent. I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the fact that the kids would do what they did though. Basically, the execution was all really good but the story was a bit naff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 25 January, 2017, 08:00:17 PM
Arrival. Thought it was splendid, but not as splendid as

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (by the director of What We do in the Shadows)

And have I missed the Blah-Blah Land backlash? Quite underwhelmed and I like a musical, Sing Street was my film of the year last year, up until Rogue One came out that was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 January, 2017, 08:38:21 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 25 January, 2017, 08:00:17 PM
And have I missed the Blah-Blah Land backlash? Quite underwhelmed and I like a musical, Sing Street was my film of the year last year, up until Rogue One came out that was.

You've just helped me make a decision - I gnerally hate musicals and romcoms nd nothing about this movie appealed to me - However I was considering giving it a go based on the massive praise being lavished on it, but I reckon I'll trust my instincts!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 January, 2017, 10:17:12 PM
Insidious - more like Inshitius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 25 January, 2017, 10:55:57 PM
Caught a showing of the animated Ghost In The Shell tonight.
Great to see it on the big screen, subtitled translation was shit though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2017, 11:06:17 PM
Thanks for the link. Those first few uses  had me lolling. And then we all seem to have watched good films for quite a long while.

One question, the answer to which I haven't had the patience to look for: did Cosh ever see Big Trouble In Little China?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 January, 2017, 11:21:08 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 25 January, 2017, 08:38:21 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 25 January, 2017, 08:00:17 PM
And have I missed the Blah-Blah Land backlash? Quite underwhelmed and I like a musical, Sing Street was my film of the year last year, up until Rogue One came out that was.

You've just helped me make a decision - I gnerally hate musicals and romcoms nd nothing about this movie appealed to me - However I was considering giving it a go based on the massive praise being lavished on it, but I reckon I'll trust my instincts!

My mother and sisters, HUGE fans of old fashioned Hollywood musicals, despised this movie. I would consider these ladies to be expert afficionados of the genre, their knowledge would dwarf any of this forums' knowledge on sci-fi and fantasy. It's thanks to them I can appreciate the likes of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and how their physical capabilities would shame even Jackie Chan.

They hated this movie, and there have been times when I've thought my mother can enjoy any oul shite. Their reactions reminded me of the fanboy backlash to the Disney Star Wars movies. Like they resented the nostalgia pandering.

I cannot think of any criticism more damning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 26 January, 2017, 08:38:40 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 25 January, 2017, 11:06:17 PM
One question, the answer to which I haven't had the patience to look for: did Cosh ever see Big Trouble In Little China?
Sadly, he did not. It means there's always one more good film to see in among the Dolph Lundgren DTV slop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 January, 2017, 12:26:14 PM
And hopefully your review won't be "...more like Big Shite in Little China"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 January, 2017, 08:29:55 PM
La La Land - more like Sh Sh Shite.
It comes close occasionally to replicating the energy of classic Hollywood musicals, but always, always shits the bed in some dumb way that could be seen a mile off by anyone half-interested in improving what's here, like the musical number that has a lengthy but pointless single shot moving through a character's apartment, forcing compromises on the delivery and highlighting the lip-synching.  Not the entire musical number, mind you, just a bit of it - so... why bother?  Is it an attempt to replicate stage musicals?
Added to that there are objective problems with the non-musical stuff, like the white guy who sets out to "save Jazz" - and yes, characters actually say this onscreen - but what's truly bonkers is that I utterly loathe jazz music but even I could tell that whatever the music was that was on display here had fuck all to do with jazz.  The main plot arc for the characters is also way off and the film knows it to the point that at the end there's a fantasy sequence showing the story you should have been watching all along, meaning the film is little more than that hipster asshole you overhear in the pub telling his mates how he'd have made a better film than the one they just saw, only instead of some film they saw in the pictures, he's talking about all those old musicals you saw as a kid.
Probably could have gotten away with being as smug as it is if it was a better film, but it isn't, so it doesn't.  An insufferable wankfest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 28 January, 2017, 08:53:20 PM
I've just been to see 'Manchester by the Sea", it is in turns funny and poignant. Casey Affleck is amazing in it and the kid who plays his nephew is fantastic too. It can be quite heavy at times but it definitely lived up to the hype. First movie in a long time that made me go "Wow!".

By the way, what is the origins of the phrase 'shit the bed'. I never heard anyone ever say it until a few years ago and now it's popping up everywhere. Was it used on a tv show?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 29 January, 2017, 10:58:46 PM
Rogue One - thoroughly enjoyed. The budget of the prequels with the action and sensibilities of the originals. And a darker story by far than ever before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2017, 04:20:40 PM
The Shallows - more like The Shite-ows Meh-It's-Alright-ows.  The original concept sounds great, but like most modern takes on simple concepts, things are over-egged until a film about a woman stranded on some rocks in treacherous waters when a shark shows up and with six hours until the tide rises becomes a mix of body-horror and action movie instead, with multiple changes of location, pointless visual gimmicks, some deeply unconvincing CGI sharks, and an isolated beach that seems to see an awful lot of foot traffic eventually sapping the tension until the film has to resort to panto silliness to keep your attention.  The ending seems to be from an entirely different film, which would have been okay if only that film didn't shit the bed in its third act, too.

Forbidden Area - Charlton Heston stars as a one-eyed Colonel in a military think-tank who deduces coincidental mechanical failures are meant to ground America's air defenses ahead of a Soviet attack, but is cock-blocked from alerting the president by Vincent Price.  No beds are shit, this is a solid mid-50s effort that's overshadowed by the later - and admittedly superior - Fail-Safe, but still worth a look if you like watching cold war thrillers and/or Heston being overly-intense and borderline outraged at all times. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 30 January, 2017, 10:02:55 PM
Trainspotting 2

Blackest of humour but, remarkably, laugh out loud funny with it. It's been a long time since I've been in a cinema where all, or most, of the audience were laughing at a film.

But it is also a maudlin introspective about aging and being in your 40s. And living in Scotland.

I enjoyed it. YMMV, depending on age, geography and nostalgia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 January, 2017, 10:36:52 PM
1) I quite enjoyed THE SHALLOWS. 

2) Apart from [spoiler]flying burning[/spoiler] shark, I thought it looked pretty realistic.  And I thought the "panto silliness" was a fun escalation of stakes.

3) "an awful lot of foot traffic"  - Really, I recall there being about six people on it all day, tops.

4) The resolution did seem to come a bit out of left field though.  But I just about bought it [spoiler]given the amount of damage teh shark had taken[/spoiler] by that point.

5) And refreshingly, though Blake Lively is in a bikini for most of the running time, they don't seem to ogle and have the camera linger on her too much.

6) Points 1) and 5) may be related.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 January, 2017, 12:42:54 PM
Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Extraordinarily good, as one would expect from this team, but how cool were those wild boar effects! Pleased to see TLS playing a fictionalised version of himself, and getting a location fee too!  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 31 January, 2017, 01:00:22 PM
John Wick starring Keanu Reeves.

Finally got round to watching this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Look forward to the next one.

Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 31 January, 2017, 05:36:07 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 30 January, 2017, 10:02:55 PM
Trainspotting 2

Blackest of humour but, remarkably, laugh out loud funny with it. It's been a long time since I've been in a cinema where all, or most, of the audience were laughing at a film.

But it is also a maudlin introspective about aging and being in your 40s. And living in Scotland.

I enjoyed it. YMMV, depending on age, geography and nostalgia.

A odd little film in some ways. The story is relatively slight, and feels like an extended epilogue/postscript more than anything. But once I got into it, it is very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 31 January, 2017, 05:55:33 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 January, 2017, 12:42:54 PM
Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Extraordinarily good, as one would expect from this team, but how cool were those wild boar effects! Pleased to see TLS playing a fictionalised version of himself, and getting a location fee too!  ;)

I watched that last night. It was brilliant and surprisingly touching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 31 January, 2017, 06:01:29 PM
Oh that got me Tord :)

Great movie too. "I never chose the skunk life"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 01 February, 2017, 11:41:32 AM
Ex Machina is on Netflix now
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 February, 2017, 11:50:27 AM
I thought LaLa Land was terrible too - not a memorable song in there and a dull plot populated by dull characters. Wife hated it too!

Trainspotting 2 was OK - I expected more from than the feeble plot delivered.[spoiler] Begbie was in it too much - better in short busts - and the Sick Boy / Renton relationship didn't work. Overall it was Spud's journey to becoming Irvine Welsh and whilst it had lots to like it was in no way the iconic film that its predecessor is.

I also guessed the ending as soon as Spud casually mentioned he'd a skill at forging signatures.

Also as a Rangers fan I enjoyed their jibes at some aspects of our support although I noticed they didn't actually use the club's name.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 01 February, 2017, 02:35:48 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 31 January, 2017, 01:00:22 PM
John Wick starring Keanu Reeves.

Finally got round to watching this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Look forward to the next one.

Cheers

This seems to be a bit of a marmite movie speaking to people I know, I really enjoyed it; think I watched it twice in one week, the second time with the wife as I thought it be he cuppa ([spoiler]the dog [/spoiler]at the beginning put a downer on it for her!).

Was one of Reeves best performances in ages, these toned down roles use him best (compare his acting in something like Street Kings to Man of Tai Chi; it's like he forgot how to act between the two). Also when Willem Dafoe looks like he is having fun, I have fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 01 February, 2017, 06:18:08 PM
Hacksaw Ridge - the first hour you can miss, Vince Vaughn is terrible, every boot camp and battle field cliche rolled out (oh no - watch that flamethrower!) ...but still pretty darn good. The battle scenes are brutal and amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 01 February, 2017, 09:04:49 PM
Just back from 'Split' and it's actually alright. James McAvoy is pretty decent in it but he looks like a guy I know which was a bit distracting because I kept thinking '<friends name> what are you doing with them girls?'. Anyway it was pretty entertaining. Did M Night cameo as the guy with the chicken wings?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 01 February, 2017, 11:01:06 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 01 February, 2017, 09:04:49 PM
Just back from 'Split' and it's actually alright. James McAvoy is pretty decent in it but he looks like a guy I know which was a bit distracting because I kept thinking '<friends name> what are you doing with them girls?'. Anyway it was pretty entertaining. Did M Night cameo as the guy with the chicken wings?

Doesn't he always cameo? :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 02 February, 2017, 07:14:08 AM
Does he? I'm clearly not a fan ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 02 February, 2017, 09:19:01 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 02 February, 2017, 07:14:08 AM
Does he? I'm clearly not a fan ...

According to wiki he only doesnt make an appearence in After Earth and The Visit, it has him down as three roles in Split?!

Also what I never knew before was just how much each of his films have made at the box office, considering majority are modest or even small budgets, I bet he has some friends across the studios who have worked with him.

Seems like he's one of those directors that are critic proof.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 02 February, 2017, 09:32:41 AM
Shaun of the dead,now that was hilarious.And also surprisingly touching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2017, 10:01:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 02 February, 2017, 09:32:41 AM
Shaun of the dead,now that was hilarious.And also surprisingly touching.

Just a fantastic film, as are both follow-ups.  If you can judge how much you love a movie by how often you can enjoy rewatching it, then the Cornetto Trilogy as a whole is in my tall-time top ten. The Ealing Comedies of the early 21st C.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 February, 2017, 10:11:56 AM
Agreed!
(https://media.giphy.com/media/sPc7AJg4kOvo4/giphy.gif)

(http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--8GdpYR7_--/1221793441701998949.gif)

(http://24.media.tumblr.com/c0c1e6ee022f0047ff4fe35bdee41ab1/tumblr_mzqildvJ8W1r5r8duo1_r1_500.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 02 February, 2017, 04:15:00 PM
Hot Fuzz was an even better follow up.
-Its not murder,its ketchup. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 02 February, 2017, 04:19:25 PM
Could be my age, but of all Cornetto flavours I'm most partial to The Worlds End these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2017, 08:42:00 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 02 February, 2017, 04:19:25 PM
Could be my age, but of all Cornetto flavours I'm most partial to The Worlds End these days.

Me too.  It gets every single thing right: characters, plot, performances (Frost is unexpectedly magnificent), effects, gags, action, themes, pathos, finale: all wrapped around an almost Peter Greenaway structural device. It's an extraordinary achievement, and massively underrated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 February, 2017, 10:51:00 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 February, 2017, 08:42:00 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 02 February, 2017, 04:19:25 PM
Could be my age, but of all Cornetto flavours I'm most partial to The Worlds End these days.

Me too.  It gets every single thing right: characters, plot, performances (Frost is unexpectedly magnificent), effects, gags, action, themes, pathos, finale: all wrapped around an almost Peter Greenaway structural device. It's an extraordinary achievement, and massively underrated.

And there's some great drunk acting / acting drunk at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 06:23:23 AM
Ah yes,great movie.Also a really sad movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 February, 2017, 09:22:31 AM
I love The World's End. It doesn't seem to get the same amount of love as Shaun or Hot Fuzz but I think it's at least as good as them (although Shaun has a special place in my heart I think just because of the horror subject matter and the way it came about - being a huge Spaced fan and going to see the first movie from that team felt really special).

There are times I think it's my favourite, I'm only in my thirties but it really nailed that particular kind of vague melancholy that I'd started to feel at the time when thinking back to similar legendary nights as a teenager. Plus it's a fantastically funny comedy so there's that, brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 09:47:18 AM
Saddest part is,we all have a friend like Gary King.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 February, 2017, 10:25:31 AM
Quote from: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 09:47:18 AM
Saddest part is,we all have a friend like Gary King.

Try realising that you almost certainly are Gary King!

Edit: although I now remember that I don't own a Sisters of Mercy t-shirt. Phew! Narrow escape, there...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 10:27:51 AM
Ah yes,that would be sad.
I think the difference in themes would be that The Worlds End rejects growing up while the other two accepted it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 February, 2017, 11:33:04 AM
The Great Wall. Much has been made of the importance of Chinese finance and sales for big movies recently. This film certainly shows that the Beijing cinemagoer is no less discerning than their American or British equivalent.

It's basically a whole film about the battle of Helm's Deep with hot Chinese spear ladies instead of elves and gruff Chinese sword men instead of dwarves. Matt Damon is a big hobbit in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things blow up and whizz past your eyes in 3D while bonds of mutual trust and respect are forged, broken and remade stronger.

The main problem is that the baddies, in stark contrast to our noble heroes, are a faceless horde of interchangeable drones with no individuality or purpose other than to destroy. It would never have been a classic but a decent villain always goes a long way with this kind of thing.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 February, 2017, 09:22:31 AM
I love The World's End. It doesn't seem to get the same amount of love as Shaun or Hot Fuzz but I think it's at least as good as them (although Shaun has a special place in my heart I think just because of the horror subject matter and the way it came about - being a huge Spaced fan and going to see the first movie from that team felt really special).

There are times I think it's my favourite, I'm only in my thirties but it really nailed that particular kind of vague melancholy that I'd started to feel at the time when thinking back to similar legendary nights as a teenager. Plus it's a fantastically funny comedy so there's that, brilliant film.
World's End is by far the best film of the three for me. Iv'e always thought Hot Fuzz was dross, Shaun is fun and gets by on residual affection for Spaced while World's End actually has a bit of meat behind the pastiche. A central theme which I imagine anyone who has grown up with the creators is bound to identify with in some part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 03 February, 2017, 12:40:27 PM
I really like The World's End, i think it will age considerably better than Hot Fuzz in the long term.
Crap ending though, ironically. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2017, 02:44:26 PM
QuoteThe main problem is that the baddies, in stark contrast to our noble heroes, are a faceless horde of interchangeable drones with no individuality or purpose other than to destroy.

Unlike the Uruk-Hai/Orcs/Sauron? :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 03:04:08 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 03 February, 2017, 12:40:27 PM
I really like The World's End, i think it will age considerably better than Hot Fuzz in the long term.
Crap ending though, ironically.
I agree about the ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 03 February, 2017, 03:22:01 PM
Shaun of the Dead>Worlds End>>>Hot Fuzz

Now I want to watch SOTD
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 February, 2017, 03:32:24 PM
For me the Law of Appreciating returns applies - Shaun - Fuzz - End on a 3-2-1 basis.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 February, 2017, 03:49:39 PM
Quote from: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 03:04:08 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 03 February, 2017, 12:40:27 PM
I really like The World's End, i think it will age considerably better than Hot Fuzz in the long term.
Crap ending though, ironically.
I agree about the ending.

I shan't waste 1,000 words convincing you both of your utter wrongness, when this will do:

(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bxN-L33huE8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 04:13:35 PM
Simon Pegg's loyalty to 2000AD cane into question when he started cloning Johnny Alpha.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 03 February, 2017, 04:38:59 PM
I only noticed him when he was blatantly on screen, I wonder what the other two were. That's so unfair .. there are so many actors struggling to get good roles and he gives himself three  ;)

Didn't we direct that terrible version of The Last Airbender? He was a bit of a pariah for a while no?
I guess his tight budgeting was not forgotten when they were looking for someone to direct this.

[/quote]
According to wiki he only doesnt make an appearence in After Earth and The Visit, it has him down as three roles in Split?!

Also what I never knew before was just how much each of his films have made at the box office, considering majority are modest or even small budgets, I bet he has some friends across the studios who have worked with him.

Seems like he's one of those directors that are critic proof.
[/quote]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 10:59:14 PM
Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Yeah, i'm doing a SW rewatch marathon. It's been over a decade since i've seen any of the prequels so I figured it was time for a re-view.

In short, it's not very good is it? But honestly, I still find sizeable nuggets of material to enjoy in the drek pile, and appreciate it more for what TPW would spawn in TCW series as a result.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 04 February, 2017, 07:40:39 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 10:59:14 PM
Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Yeah, i'm doing a SW rewatch marathon. It's been over a decade since i've seen any of the prequels so I figured it was time for a re-view.

It's not the best film by any stretch but it does have some fantastic scenes of pure eye-candy. Plotwise: iffy, to say the least. And there aren't enough swear words in the English language to describe my feelings for 'Jar Jar Binks'!

Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 04 February, 2017, 10:12:24 AM
Green Room - brutal and great to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 04 February, 2017, 11:17:53 AM
Has anyone ever watched the Topher Grace edit of three prequels? Would you recommend it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 04 February, 2017, 11:35:43 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 February, 2017, 03:49:39 PM
Quote from: Smith on 03 February, 2017, 03:04:08 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 03 February, 2017, 12:40:27 PM
I really like The World's End, i think it will age considerably better than Hot Fuzz in the long term.
Crap ending though, ironically.
I agree about the ending.

I shan't waste 1,000 words convincing you both of your utter wrongness, when this will do:

(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bxN-L33huE8/maxresdefault.jpg)

Ok, not the coda.
I meant the ease in which the aliens are dispatched at the climax of the film-which effectively amounts to, fuck off and don't come back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2017, 05:00:31 PM
As a birthday treat we settled down as a family to watch The Princess Bride the afternoon and okay so the boy (whose 5) got a little restless after an hour and went to play with granny, the rest of us loved it.

This movie never fails and is in my top three films of all time. It may very well be my favourite (though I might watch Fury Road soon to test that).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 February, 2017, 05:36:38 PM
Jackie - once I got over my disappointment hat it wasn't about 70's wrestler Jackie Pallo I quite enjoyed it. Not a lot of new territory covered about the aftermath of the JFK assassination but some great performances, recreations and costumes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2017, 07:05:14 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 04 February, 2017, 07:40:39 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 10:59:14 PM
Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Yeah, i'm doing a SW rewatch marathon. It's been over a decade since i've seen any of the prequels so I figured it was time for a re-view.

It's not the best film by any stretch but it does have some fantastic scenes of pure eye-candy. Plotwise: iffy, to say the least. And there aren't enough swear words in the English language to describe my feelings for 'Jar Jar Binks'!

Cheers

What I spotted in my last re-watch was that it does exactly what The Force Awakens does: kid on a desert planet who leaves with the old mentor who later buys the farm, the big explodey thing in space at the end, female lead who's a bit rubbish but you aren't allowed to say so, unanswered questions that you suppose will get followed up in sequel films, a rising evil that a dogmatic and bureaucratic entity refuses to engage with and in doing so sows the seeds of its own downfall - but TFA gets a free pass on all of this and in many instances is actually lauded for it where TPM is pilloried.

Speaking of films that don't bother putting in any effort and cruise by on tropes that have been staples of sci-fi for decades, Passengers is not a bad film, but only because "bad" and "lazy" are not the same thing.  A plot familiar to anyone who's watched a tv show with spaceships in it that was made since the 1990s - seriously, I couldn't think of one that hasn't rehashed the "sleeping crew and lone character who is awake goes a bit mad on their own and the other person deffo isn't in their imagination, honest" storyline at some point - there's even a bit where Lister wakes up from stasis and some Skutters go skidding past him in the hall, etc etc.
If plot is something you like, or character arcs that actually get resolved before the film ends, this might not be for you, but if good performances are something that can carry a film for you, this might pass a couple of hours. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 06 February, 2017, 08:00:50 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 03 February, 2017, 04:38:59 PM
I only noticed him when he was blatantly on screen, I wonder what the other two were. That's so unfair .. there are so many actors struggling to get good roles and he gives himself three  ;)

Didn't we direct that terrible version of The Last Airbender? He was a bit of a pariah for a while no?
I guess his tight budgeting was not forgotten when they were looking for someone to direct this.

According to wiki he only doesnt make an appearence in After Earth and The Visit, it has him down as three roles in Split?!

Also what I never knew before was just how much each of his films have made at the box office, considering majority are modest or even small budgets, I bet he has some friends across the studios who have worked with him.

Seems like he's one of those directors that are critic proof.
[/quote]
[/quote]

Yeah no one liked the Last Airbender film but boxofficemojo has it down as making $319.7 million Worldwide on a $150 million budget so even that didnt manage a loss so it appears people always turn out with their money for Shyamalan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2017, 08:09:12 AM
The Last Airbender WAS based on easily the best cartoon of the last 17 years mind, so fans where going to turn out in droves before despising it and regreting their choices for years after.

I know, I was one of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2017, 09:30:13 AM
Green Room, which was brilliant. Very intense though, and with some of the most wince-inducing gore/wound effects I think I've ever seen in a movie (we did a lot of watching through the gaps in our fingers). Very brutal and tense, and the performances are fantastic throughout. Macon Blair (who was also in Blue Ruin) is so excellent that I didn't recognize him until midway through, Patrick Stewart oozes menace and it's very sad to be reminded how much presence Anton Yelchin had.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 February, 2017, 09:45:59 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2017, 07:05:14 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 04 February, 2017, 07:40:39 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 10:59:14 PM
Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Yeah, i'm doing a SW rewatch marathon. It's been over a decade since i've seen any of the prequels so I figured it was time for a re-view.

It's not the best film by any stretch but it does have some fantastic scenes of pure eye-candy. Plotwise: iffy, to say the least. And there aren't enough swear words in the English language to describe my feelings for 'Jar Jar Binks'!

Cheers

What I spotted in my last re-watch was that it does exactly what The Force Awakens does: kid on a desert planet who leaves with the old mentor who later buys the farm, the big explodey thing in space at the end, female lead who's a bit rubbish but you aren't allowed to say so, unanswered questions that you suppose will get followed up in sequel films, a rising evil that a dogmatic and bureaucratic entity refuses to engage with and in doing so sows the seeds of its own downfall - but TFA gets a free pass on all of this and in many instances is actually lauded for it where TPM is pilloried.


I'm not sure this is really fair. You can reduce both films down to a list of components but for all of its faults, TFA introduces genuinely engaging new characters and has pretty strong performances across the board. Apart from Qui Gon I don't think TPM really does any of those things (even Maul worked better as a marketing tool than a character).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 06 February, 2017, 09:48:13 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2017, 08:09:12 AM
The Last Airbender WAS based on easily the best cartoon of the last 17 years mind, so fans where going to turn out in droves before despising it and regreting their choices for years after.

I know, I was one of them.

Ah I see, that explains why big numbers turned out. I was (and still am) totally unfamiliar with the The Last Airbender series. Dave Filoni mentions thats where he came from in the behind the scenes of the Clone Wars and I know there is an xbox 360 game where you can get all the achievement in a few minutes and that's where my knowledge ends.

Sorry to hear that Hawk, did Shyamalan get anything right with it? Always sucks when these things are translated and dont end up how we imagined it (something peeps on a 2000 AD forum will be all too familiar with).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 February, 2017, 10:44:24 AM
The thing that struck me about The Last Airbender was that the producers obviously didn't realise that the word 'Bender' has a very specific alternative meaning on this side of the pond.
This explains why the trailer featuring a prophesising old lady saying 'From the first time I saw him, I knew he was a bender' wasn't taken very seriously by the audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 February, 2017, 10:54:16 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 February, 2017, 09:45:59 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2017, 07:05:14 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 04 February, 2017, 07:40:39 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2017, 10:59:14 PM
Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Yeah, i'm doing a SW rewatch marathon. It's been over a decade since i've seen any of the prequels so I figured it was time for a re-view.

It's not the best film by any stretch but it does have some fantastic scenes of pure eye-candy. Plotwise: iffy, to say the least. And there aren't enough swear words in the English language to describe my feelings for 'Jar Jar Binks'!

Cheers

What I spotted in my last re-watch was that it does exactly what The Force Awakens does: kid on a desert planet who leaves with the old mentor who later buys the farm, the big explodey thing in space at the end, female lead who's a bit rubbish but you aren't allowed to say so, unanswered questions that you suppose will get followed up in sequel films, a rising evil that a dogmatic and bureaucratic entity refuses to engage with and in doing so sows the seeds of its own downfall - but TFA gets a free pass on all of this and in many instances is actually lauded for it where TPM is pilloried.


I'm not sure this is really fair. You can reduce both films down to a list of components but for all of its faults, TFA introduces genuinely engaging new characters and has pretty strong performances across the board. Apart from Qui Gon I don't think TPM really does any of those things (even Maul worked better as a marketing tool than a character).

The Prof's observation is accurate, although in both cases (TPM and TFA) there's an explicit intention to echo the elements of ANH (talented desert ingenue, call to adventure, loss of wise mentor,  proximate mechanised threat defeated but impersonal enemy subverting democracy continues in the background, kid finds a new family). It's what both do beyond that self-imposed structure that is "interesting". As JamesC says, TFA is way more successful in creating interesting and engaging characters, and I'd argue that TPM's world-building is far superior.  Both films are at their weakest when our attention is focused on the reprised segments because those bits have been done better (and often).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 February, 2017, 12:43:39 PM
Sheldipez, the tv series of Avatar: The Last Airbender is some truly brilliant stuff. Beautifully designed, wittily written, moving and entertaining - and all for an all-ages audience.

Also, seeing Max will always make me smile!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 05:16:53 PM
COMMANDO and ROBOCOP

Some classic eighties action with Tiny Tips. He loved them both declaring Commando the best comedy he's scene in ages and Robocop as having a special charm.

I just love both, Arnie looking particularly gorgeous in Commando and my, how his "acting" has come on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 06 February, 2017, 06:00:12 PM
Love commando but the man that steals the show for me is Vernon Wells as Bennett

He gives a great performance and looks like Freddie Mercury pumped up on steroids, superb stuff
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 06 February, 2017, 06:42:54 PM
I didn't hate it, it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours that scene where [spoiler]the ship loses gravity while she's swimming was pretty awesome[/spoiler] but it is short on story. Do you remember that story way back in 2000AD with a similar story line but the caretakers stay awake and they have a kid who goes crazy? I would have preferred that ending.

[/quote]
Speaking of films that don't bother putting in any effort and cruise by on tropes that have been staples of sci-fi for decades, Passengers is not a bad film, but only because "bad" and "lazy" are not the same thing.  A plot familiar to anyone who's watched a tv show with spaceships in it that was made since the 1990s - seriously, I couldn't think of one that hasn't rehashed the "sleeping crew and lone character who is awake goes a bit mad on their own and the other person deffo isn't in their imagination, honest" storyline at some point - there's even a bit where Lister wakes up from stasis and some Skutters go skidding past him in the hall, etc etc.
If plot is something you like, or character arcs that actually get resolved before the film ends, this might not be for you, but if good performances are something that can carry a film for you, this might pass a couple of hours.
[/quote]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 06 February, 2017, 06:45:44 PM
I never watched the TV show so I had no expectations but I turned this off halfway  .... and I'll watch anything when I'm hungover.

Well there you go .. as long as the films make money he'll keep getting work ...

[/quote]

Yeah no one liked the Last Airbender film but boxofficemojo has it down as making $319.7 million Worldwide on a $150 million budget so even that didnt manage a loss so it appears people always turn out with their money for Shyamalan.
[/quote]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 06 February, 2017, 07:05:20 PM

(http://i.imgur.com/9Z3kDTf.png?1)

THERE WILL BE KETCHUP

I saw Hacksaw Ridge, which I really enjoyed, but no way is it an Oscar contender. Agent Smith's pun about offal signals Gibson's sniggering tone, and the hero playing hacky sack with live grenades is worthy of the other director called Mel.

Casting Vince Vaughan * in the R Lee Ermey role telegraphs to the viewer that this is intentionally funny, and Garfield Simple Jacks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-n_zk7e0ZU) it up while remembering to stop just shy of full r_____.

Almost as funny is The Founder (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oprJX5BomEc) (2016), which is playing in a cinema near you - but only on one screen, and it'll be gone by next week. Mysteriously, this drama about how McDonalds stole McDonalds from McDonalds is having trouble getting distribution.

You can see why Keaton took the part; it's like Wolf Of Wall Street but with junk food instead of junk bonds and his character has at least two YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH speeches that make the words FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION flash along the bottom of the screen.

The happy meal direction peaks with the visualisation of the McDonald brothers devising their meticulously choreographed ballet of carbohydrates and ergonomics, but you've got to admire the chutzpah of casting the actual Zodiac killer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002253/) as the nicest man on Earth.


* Looking like he took full advantage of the buffet laid on by craft services
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 11:26:29 PM
Was reading an old diary entry from back in 1996 and came across SAVAGE NIGHTS*, a french film.

My mate noted "That was rubbish. It was a pity that the lead girl** had such nice breasts otherwise we'd have stopped watching it much earlier"

* Obviously now it would be reviewed with "More like Savage SHITES".

** I think this would be Romaine Bohringer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 07 February, 2017, 08:38:53 AM
Quote from: Frank on 06 February, 2017, 07:05:20 PM

THERE WILL BE KETCHUP

You can see why Keaton took the part; it's like Wolf Of Wall Street but with junk food instead of junk bonds and his character has at least two YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH speeches that make the words FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION flash along the bottom of the screen.

Thanks for the heads up on this one - first time I had heard of this - added to my watchlist immediately.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 February, 2017, 09:28:48 AM
Went to Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in IMAX 3D at the Science Center last night, so my life goal of seeing Milla Jovovich on the largest screen in the country can now be checked off.

Really enjoyed it, but then I've always enjoyed the RE movies. They're trashy but when trashy is what you're in the mood for they really, really hit the spot. Wish we'd got seats further back though, have always found fast moving, quick-cutting action never reads very well on an IMAX screen and just ends up quite disorientating, and this is a movie that's pretty much wall to wall fast moving action. Like, it really is quite impressive that it doesn't really let up for more than a moment here and there.

It won't be for everyone, but if you liked the other movies (I did), or if Milla is your lifelong movie crush (also guilty) then you'll definitely like this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 February, 2017, 10:48:00 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 11:26:29 PM
** I think this would be Romaine Bohringer.

Indeed it would - the then-worringly-18 year-old daughter of Richard, the eponymous first party from "The Cook, the Thief...Etc", and infamously (allegedly) named after Roman Polanski,   Savage Nights is from the very end of my very long "if it's French it must be good" phase, when after systematically working through the entire International section of Laser Video in Rathmines and chain-watching anything with subtitles in the Irish Film Centre  I finally had to admit to myself that it was the near-certainty of nudity I was actually appreciating, because in 3 out of 4 cases there was nothing else. Savage Nights may well represent the exact moment of that personal revelation.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 February, 2017, 04:54:14 PM
Split, or a two hour trailer for another movie.
Solid performances from the cast and an enjoyably tense first half, let down by a slack second and a twist, in what seemingly intends to become a Shyamalan shared universe franchise, which just wasn't worth the wait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 February, 2017, 05:14:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 February, 2017, 10:48:00 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 11:26:29 PM
** I think this would be Romaine Bohringer.
Savage Nights may well represent the exact moment of that personal revelation.
I was all set to castigate this lazy translation of Les Nuits Sauvages. Luckily, I bothered to check it first and it's now clear that you pair only went to see this because it was (partly) named after Grant Morrison's band: Les Nuits Fauves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Nights).

And the tits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 February, 2017, 09:13:14 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 07 February, 2017, 05:14:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 February, 2017, 10:48:00 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 11:26:29 PM
** I think this would be Romaine Bohringer.
Savage Nights may well represent the exact moment of that personal revelation.
I was all set to castigate this lazy translation of Les Nuits Sauvages. Luckily, I bothered to check it first and it's now clear that you pair only went to see this because it was (partly) named after Grant Morrison's band: Les Nuits Fauves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Nights).

And the tits.

That's why I love this place.

Even when we're being sexist we can sound intellectual.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 February, 2017, 09:48:26 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 February, 2017, 11:26:29 PM
Was reading an old diary entry from back in 1996 and came across SAVAGE NIGHTS*, a french film.

My mate noted "That was rubbish. It was a pity that the lead girl** had such nice breasts otherwise we'd have stopped watching it much earlier"

* Obviously now it would be reviewed with "More like Savage SHITES".

** I think this would be Romaine Bohringer.

Maybe Savage Tits would of been a more apt title?  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 08 February, 2017, 03:36:27 PM
Sounds about right for Tordels, Tips and Cosh  :lol:

I am ofcourse joking as I haven't met Tordels so don't know if that title fits him.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 February, 2017, 03:44:39 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 08 February, 2017, 03:36:27 PM
I am ofcourse joking as I haven't met Tordels so don't know if that title fits him.  ;)

I'd be flattered to be so considered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 February, 2017, 07:52:51 PM
I'm definitely not savage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 February, 2017, 03:30:23 AM
Cradle of Fear

I recorded this from the horror channel and just finished watching it. It has a very low budget, which is no bad thing in itself. Some of the acting isn't great, althought I think some of it is intended to be tongue in cheek, but I found it quite entertaining.

Essentially an anthology of four gruesome stories that are tentatively linked*. Blood, guts and boobies applenty. It's kind of tacky, but I thought one of the stories was actually rather good, and the others were at least entertaining.

I was quite surprised to recognise a familiar face: Edmund Dehn! He plays a surly detective investigating a string of murders in the connecting story arc.

*I.e. one of those stories kind of provides an arc linking the others, yet if it didn't exist the other stories would still kind of work by themselves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 11 February, 2017, 06:52:51 AM
Thank you to John Wick Chapter 2, best John Wick film of all time! Redonkulously epic. It's almost a crime how cool this movie makes being a classy hitman look.

(I forget who got greenlit to direct the Button Man movie, I say get this guy!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 12 February, 2017, 12:10:54 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 February, 2017, 03:30:23 AM
Cradle of Fear

I was quite surprised to recognise a familiar face: Edmund Dehn! He plays a surly detective investigating a string of murders in the connecting story arc.

*I.e. one of those stories kind of provides an arc linking the others, yet if it didn't exist the other stories would still kind of work by themselves.
As with most anthology linking-story films :)

One of the stories stars someone who used to drink down my local - shall have to watch again and look out for Minty!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 February, 2017, 05:15:00 PM
Finally got around to seeing 'Hacksaw Ridge' .. war has never looked so good.

The beginning is a bit schmaltzy and goes on too long but it was very good overall.
Its beautifully shot but the gory parts are really disturbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 February, 2017, 05:36:03 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 12 February, 2017, 12:10:54 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 February, 2017, 03:30:23 AM
Cradle of Fear

I was quite surprised to recognise a familiar face: Edmund Dehn! He plays a surly detective investigating a string of murders in the connecting story arc.

*I.e. one of those stories kind of provides an arc linking the others, yet if it didn't exist the other stories would still kind of work by themselves.
As with most anthology linking-story films :)

True.  I didn't mean that as a criticism, just an observation. I just found it interesting to try to work out how the[spoiler] demon goth character was actually responsible for a lot of the nastiness in the stories (first one and main arc not included, as he is central there.) since there are 'in-story' explanation for at least a couple of them.[/spoiler] But it kind of works either way.

QuoteOne of the stories stars someone who used to drink down my local - shall have to watch again and look out for Minty!

Cool! I'm always fascinated by the little coincidences (or are they?) that crop up in life. I happen to watch a film that (unknowing to me before-hand) starred an actor who starred in a fan-film that was broadcast at an event on the very next day that we both attended.* And he sat down just two seats away from me!

I know, I'm probably too easily fascinated!

*The fact he turned up is not a coinicidence in itself, since it was the London premier, and he does star in it, after all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 13 February, 2017, 10:25:42 PM
Just back from a 25th anniversary screening of Candyman, along with a Q&A with the director, Bernard Rose. The film stands up well, and I picked up on the social commentary that was lost on my teen self when I watched it all those years ago.

I also learned that there were murders in the projects where people had come through the bathroom cabinets. It wasn't just an invention for the film. Creepy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pegasus P Artichoke on 15 February, 2017, 08:53:34 PM
Just seen the Lego Batman movie and I have to say it was superb

Probably my favourite batman movie now, the guys involved just got it perfectly for me with his character. A total joy to watch

Still has all the zaniness from the Lego movie, I heartily recommend it

I hate saying too much about a film if some people haven't seen it yet but very good and very enjoyable
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 16 February, 2017, 09:04:32 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 12 February, 2017, 05:36:03 PM
I just found it interesting to try to work out how the[spoiler] demon goth character was actually responsible for a lot of the nastiness in the stories (first one and main arc not included, as he is central there.) since there are 'in-story' explanation for at least a couple of them.[/spoiler] But it kind of works either way.

QuoteOne of the stories stars someone who used to drink down my local - shall have to watch again and look out for Minty!

Cool! I'm always fascinated by the little coincidences (or are they?) that crop up in life. I happen to watch a film that (unknowing to me before-hand) starred an actor who starred in a fan-film that was broadcast at an event on the very next day that we both attended.* And he sat down just two seats away from me!

The guy who used to drink down my local was the [spoiler]demon goth character[/spoiler], though I wouldn't say he was a friend of mine.  I was surprised to see a few bandmates of his were also in the film, and those I did consider friends (and I'm sure if I bumped in to them in a pub these days we'd have a pint or two).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 February, 2017, 09:06:07 PM
Cradle of Filth?

I know they were in the film, as various characters (mostly background ones I think) and their music themed quite heavily.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 February, 2017, 09:13:13 PM
Aside from the[spoiler] Goth demon guy I mean. (Dani Filth.) [/spoiler]He was obviously pretty central.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 16 February, 2017, 10:32:16 PM
The latest John Michael McDonagh film War on Everyone (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/no253-war-on-everyone.html). Dusted off the old blog in tribute!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 February, 2017, 06:43:08 AM
Trainspotting 2
I enjoyed it but it didn't seem quite as real as the first film, with lots of things resting on coincidence. 'Inevitability' seemed to be a strong theme which I found a little bit depressing. Good film though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 February, 2017, 08:02:06 AM
Saw a double at the cinema yesterday.

Lego Batman - Funny but ultimately, I thought, too long. Seems to have at least 3 endings and falls into the trap of being a 'feel good' movie. However, some great references for Batman fans and is something I would watch again 6/10

Followed this with;

T2: Trainspotting - Thought this was very good. Slow start as it basically assumes the audience knows not a great deal about the original and spends the first 30 mins re-introducing them. Nowhere near as depressing as the first film and I actually walked out feeling pretty uplifted. Good choice to have the film feature more about Spud than Renton and in regards to 'Inevitability'...I think it's kinds saying that you get out of life what you put into it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 February, 2017, 08:03:18 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 11 February, 2017, 06:52:51 AM
Thank you to John Wick Chapter 2, best John Wick film of all time! Redonkulously epic. It's almost a crime how cool this movie makes being a classy hitman look.

(I forget who got greenlit to direct the Button Man movie, I say get this guy!)

Seeing this in a couple of days.
I had John Wick recommended to me a couple of years ago and only got round to watching it in the last month or so. Have now watched it three times. Love it. Looking forward to the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 19 February, 2017, 09:53:06 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 February, 2017, 09:06:07 PM
Cradle of Filth?

I know they were in the film, as various characters (mostly background ones I think) and their music themed quite heavily.

Yep - that's the ones - I used to drink with Gian and Adrian though knew Dani to speak to.  Didn't know the other band member(s?) at all.  The delights of living in a one-alternative pub town.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 19 February, 2017, 11:04:33 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 11 February, 2017, 06:52:51 AM
John Wick Chapter 2 ... I forget who got greenlit to direct the Button Man movie, I say get this guy!

I was listening to Keanu Reeves (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08dnpv1) plug this film, yesterday, and he described how one plot point involves another hitman having his marker. It struck me that if a Button Man film showed up now* it would be perceived as a John Wick rip off.

Then again, film folks care more about finances than originality. John Wick 2 (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/) seems like it's going to pay for lots of hair transplants and infinity pools, and Milla (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=residentevil.htm) shooting zombies hasn't stopped Kate (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=underworld.htm) kicking vampires.


* Nicolas Winding Refn's Button Man (http://deadline.com/2012/05/nicolas-winding-refn-in-dreamworks-talks-for-button-man-the-killing-game-280158/) film is dead and JJ Abrams doesn't seem in any hurry to make a Button Man (http://www.arthurranson.com/blog/tv-button-man) TV show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 19 February, 2017, 11:11:23 AM
After watching the growing Rebellion video, that's my main concern with 2000 AD IP.

You can hold out until you get a contract you want, but that's not going to stop other people chipping away at ideas and concepts (either by intention or by accident) that make the stories worth licensing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 February, 2017, 09:06:00 AM
The use of the term "marker" in John Wick Chapter 2 is nothing like it is used in Button Man.

Anyway, it's very,very good. The only bum note being [spoiler]the artfully rendered suicide. I feel that  particular act should never be shown in that fashion.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 February, 2017, 09:57:03 AM
Star Trek: Beyond - I really enjoyed the first two (although I know Into Darkness is a bit frowned upon - not by me though) and this was another fun sci-fi action adventure film. Had a really good time, even if it didn't thrill me quite as much as the first two.

Village of The Damned (the Carpenter remake) - We've been revisiting John Carpenter stuff lately and it turns out this is one of I think only two of his films that I've never actually seen (Elvis The Movie is the other). Knowing nothing about it other than that it's not very well regarded by Carpenter himself, I set my expectations low and wound up enjoying it. It's not The Thing, and it's not particularly scary, but I liked how old fashioned it all felt, and it's not really like anything else he's made which is pretty cool.

The direction does feel a bit workmanlike, but wikipedia tells me he made it as a contractual obligation within months of In The Mouth of Madness, which is a film full of imagination and energy so it could be he was just a bit too knackered to pour enough mojo into this one to make it something special.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable old-school Sunday night sci-fi spooker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 February, 2017, 10:22:52 AM
Burke and Hare: throroughly enjoyable nonsense, makes me wish we saw more of Andy Serkis in front of the camera without his blue gimp suit. Accents run the full range from perfectly acceptable (Serkis) through fairly ghastly (Pegg) to quite agonising (Fisher), but it's a really great cast having loads of fun throughout (Ronnie Corbett was a nice surprise). With a good bit more gore and a little more committment to the comedy anchronisms it could have been a classic.

Also watched two of my all-time faves: Jaws on Blu-Ray is every bit as good as it has been in every other format, surely one of the most rewatchable movies ever made; How to Tame Your Dragon 2 - the only thing about this movie that even vaguely disappoints is that the release of the third one has apparently been pushed back to 2019: it really is one of the greatest fantasy films I've ever seen, and Hiccup one of the greatest movie heroes of all,  judgements that I'm more convinced of ever time I watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 February, 2017, 11:43:39 AM
My girlfriend requested we watch "something silly" and 22 Jump Street seemed to fit the bill.

Neither of us had seen the first one or the old TV series so some of the meta jokes about everything being exactly the same as last time were lost. Otherwise, it managed to fill the brief fairly well: the leads are genially amusing, there are a few good absurd laughs, Ice Cube steals every scene he's in and the multiple, post-credits teaser spoof part was very daft indeed.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 20 February, 2017, 12:11:18 PM
I got to say,the first movie was a bit better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 20 February, 2017, 10:29:09 PM
John Wick - belatedly - was OK, felt like an unmade Schwarzenegger movie.

Sicario - excellent, beautifully shot and loved the soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 21 February, 2017, 11:30:22 AM
Superbad

My mates are good at ruining films for me, explaining plot etc, so I waited a long time to watch this to ensure I'd forgotten what I'd been told.

Anyway, very funny film that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 February, 2017, 10:48:44 PM
Doomwatch is an odd little movie, and I can't help but feel I woukd apprciate it a little more if i'd ever seen the TV series this spin's off of. It feels polished, and has some solid shocks but ultimately feels like an overly long TV movie.

I DO find the core concept of a dusaster squad come strange happening investigation set up very promising, mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: freq on 24 February, 2017, 02:16:11 AM
The last movie I watched was a gem from 1984 called brother from another planet, highly recommend it, I also watched hardware which has dated rather badly and was a rip off from an old kev o neill futureshock called shok, however it did have lemmy from motorhead as a taxi driver and featured stigmata by ministry in the soundtrack
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 February, 2017, 01:18:22 PM
The last two films I saw (the first most of the way through, although I missed the start, and the second, in a couple of pieces here and there) were Karate Kid (remake) and After Earth. Both starring Jaden Smith (interesting to see how much he'd grown between the two films).

I was reluctant to watch Karate Kid when it first came out, as I have nice memories of the original and it's sequels, and I think it still holds up pretty well. In short, I only think remakes should be done if the original is not particularly good.*

As it was on the telly recently, I thought, why not? On one hand the film was actually pretty good. The main characters were mostly pretty good. Jackie Chan was great in the Mr. Han/Miagi role, and the Chinese setting was nice viewing. On the other hand, it pretty much confirmed my original view: the original didn't really need to be retold, as this version, good though it was, was almost exactly the same. It's set in China instead of USA. It features a Chinese martial arts tutor instead of a Japanese tutor, and the kid is learning Kung-fu instead of Karate**, but the story-line is almost exactly the same. Not just the fact that a tutor becomes a father figure teaches a lonely kid discipline, self worth and what really matters. I mean all the stuff that happens almost exactly follows the plot of the original. It's good, but so was the original. I guess you could say that this kid is even more a fish out of water than Danny from the original, since he's had to relocate to another country, but that's about it.

I haven't seen the other film all the way through, but I wasn't particularly taken by it. It had that 'salute our brave heroes' vibe which is prevalent and rather corny in American films. The stuff on the planet (well, Earth) with the alien was really good though.

* I confess, I'll contradict myself here by saying I did prefer the 78 version of Invasion of the Bodys Snatchers far more than the original, despite the original being good. In my defence, I saw the 78 version first, not knowing it was a remake, but I think I might prefer it anyway as I think the characters are more interesting and it is genuinely a bit more scary. I wouldn't mind reassessing the original though.

**It's a bit of a niggle for me that it's called 'Karate Kid', since there is no Karate. In-story, I guess it's a reference to the kid's mother who refers to the martial arts as 'karate' before being corrected by her shirty son, but I think it's mainly a ploy to use the original to promote the new version. Well... it is pretty much the same story anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 February, 2017, 01:55:30 AM
Red - just now. I was in two minds about watching it, but I'm glad I did.  Very entertaining, some great comedy and action. A kind of far fetched story, but not in a bad way. Bruce Willis is... Bruce Willis (a good thing in this case) Helen Mirren is delicious, Brian Cox is a likeable old Russian rogue (not for the first time, surely?), Morgan Freeman is his usual likeable self, and there are other great characters played my actors whose names I can't remember. Oh and our Karl Urban is in it too in a major role. [spoiler]His character goes on a bit of a journey actually.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 27 February, 2017, 07:07:39 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 27 February, 2017, 01:55:30 AM
Red - just now. I was in two minds about watching it, but I'm glad I did.  Very entertaining, some great comedy and action.

I think it's a hugely entertaining bit of tat - and better than the comic it's based on!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2017, 10:41:04 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two.

If your first thought on watching the first movie was: "Well, I could go watching a whole pile more of THAT." then you're in luck!

It looks great, the action sequences are brilliantly staged and choreographed (and you can tell what's going on!), there are a few nicely-judged deadpan laughs and the sense of the slightly fantastical otherworld that the hitmen live in, just below the surface of the 'real' world, is neatly, quietly expanded.

There are no real surprises but it zips through its two-hour running time. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 05 March, 2017, 02:14:16 PM
Went to see Logan last night and have to join the chorus of approval. Pared right back but in a good way. Few nods to the comics, costumes and sideboards and a breathy pace with plenty of gruesome deaths.

[spoiler]The idea of Eden wasn't really explained - did they build the meet up point on the coordinates suggested by the comic or was the comic writer in on the deal? Seemed a bit opportune they just stumbled across it. Guess the phone sat-nav in ten years will be better than today's! Also though Stephen Merchant was a bit miscast and distracting but loved the bad Wolverine X-24 who was out the box mental.[/spoiler]

Great stuff and a fitting climax.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 05 March, 2017, 02:18:19 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 05 March, 2017, 02:14:16 PM
Great stuff and a fitting climax.

You or the film?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 05 March, 2017, 03:51:58 PM
I also saw John Wick 2 and I was a tad disappointed. As an action movie it was awesome but there were so many holes in the plot ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 06 March, 2017, 12:04:48 PM
Finally sat down and watched Dead Man, Jim Jarmusch's 1995 western, not an adaptation of the Wagner/Ridgway classic. There's a stellar cast, most of whom only appear for one scene, including John Hurt, Gabriel Byrne, Robert Mitchum (!!!), Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop and various others. Johnny Depp is impressive as the titular anti-hero. Watching this, I started to realise how influential this film has been on modern takes on the western such as Slow West and the Coen's True Grit. Well worth a view, and up there with Ghost Dog as my favourite of Jarmusch's work.

My wife (not normally a fan of westerns) was impressed by the sympathetic and nuanced portrayal of First Nations peoples, and there's a fascinating scene set in a Salish (I think) village at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 March, 2017, 12:10:39 PM
I watched Swiss Army Man on a plane. What a strange, strange movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 06 March, 2017, 12:14:26 PM
I forgot to mention the excellent Neil Young soundtrack for Dead Man. It's worth watching (listening?) for that alone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 March, 2017, 01:10:55 PM
BIRDMAN - Great fun performance from Keaton and some tricksy "one-shot" stuff but, despite some good laughs, it was all a bit slight really.

THE NICE GUYS - Cracking stuff. Shane Black knows how to balance action and comedy and also how to do violence funny and ugh!

LIFE OF CRIME  - An Elmore Leonard thing with an out-of-her-comfort-zone Jennifer Aniston. Full of the expected low-lifes, criminals whose competence does not match their ambition, betrayals and switches.  And generally quite fun.

WHIPLASH - Only caught the second half of this but that was intense and abusive enough. FULL METAL JACKET meets GLEE. Great idea.

LA LA LAND.   More like SHIT SHIT LAND.  And I actually preferred John legend's stuff to Ryan Goslings. Does that make me a bad person?

The last two don't exactly give you much hope of pursuing a career in the performing arts and having a social/love life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 March, 2017, 01:34:15 PM
Night of the Living Deb.

I hadn't even heard about this pun-tastic RomZomCom before I encountered it on the Horror Channel a couple of nights ago.

I didn't like it very much although it had its amusing moments. Other parts that were probably supposed to be funny, I found irritating. I think maybe someone wanted to capture the gold of the equally pun-tastic Shawn of the Dead, but I think they failed.

[spoiler][And the declaration of love speech during the broadcast at the end was cornier than a cornfield, full of bioengineered triple yield corn after harvest that was cooked up, slathered in butter and dipped in corn-flour.

Yeah I'm a bit rubbish with my similes.[/spoiler]

The main character was cute and quirky though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 March, 2017, 07:07:52 PM
Moonlight
Predictably great. Soulful, raw, mature, affecting and with some of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Had no idea Naomie Harris and Janelle Monae (whose music I love) were in this! I appreciated how certain things were left ambiguous and how the film trusted the viewer to be able to join the dots themselves. I was genuinely gutted when each 'act' ended as I thought it was just getting going.
5/5

Captain Fantastic
Blew me away, loved everything about it. Funny, beautifully shot, heartfelt with an amazing cast. Already looking forward to watching it again. Had no idea that it was filmed around where I live until we were watching it, so that was a nice surprise. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for quirky indie road movies like Little Miss Sunshine (which I personally like), though I think this film has a fresh energy about it and mostly avoids the usual cliches of the genre.
5/5

The Edge of Seventeen
Massively overrated. I've heard many critics compare this movie to the work of John Hughes, which is just laughable to me. It's bland, predictable, tiresomely cliched ('being a teenager is so hard!' - give me a break) and what comedy there is is desperately contrived. I think they're trying to angle the lead character as a sort of snarky, witty precocious antihero type, but the limp, unsophisticated and unfunny script just isn't up to the task. Astonished that this has an RT rating in the high 90s - it's disposable pap at best. Avoid like the plague.
1/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 08 March, 2017, 08:15:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 23 February, 2017, 10:48:44 PM
Doomwatch is an odd little movie, and I can't help but feel I woukd apprciate it a little more if i'd ever seen the TV series this spin's off of. It feels polished, and has some solid shocks but ultimately feels like an overly long TV movie.

I DO find the core concept of a dusaster squad come strange happening investigation set up very promising, mind.

Doomwatch is a grand little movie, and one that comes from a time when TV series would often get a cinematic release.
And it's odd in the sense that the cast from the TV series only appear in what amounts to an extended cameo, and that's it for them. The main character in the film - played by Ian Bannen - never featured in the series.

Last year a boxset for the surviving TV episodes was released. As with so many TV programmes from that period, a good few were wiped and are lost forever. But still well worth tracking down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 11 March, 2017, 02:19:57 PM
Kong - Skull Island, well that was a different Kong movie, not bad, nice design and the whole Apocalypse Now vibe was pretty well done.  He's biggest kong seen yet and still a growing lad so he should be able to measure up to Godzilla by the time they get around to meeting.
Got to say for a big CGI fight fest at the end I quite enjoyed it.  Inevitable links with the Godzila universe were fun but not too in your face except the end credit sting, oh well if your going to have a shared universe you could do worse than one thats going to inclufde Godzilla, Kong and [spoiler]thats definitely Monthra in the sting[/spoiler]

3.5 out of 5 from me.

CU Radbcker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 March, 2017, 04:31:04 PM
Lego Batman. Ah to have lived so long that I got to see the best of all possible Batmen fight Sauron, the Kraken and the Daleks British Robots. Young me would never believe old me if I were to tell him. An ambitious, committed and greatly enjoyable film. PEW! PEW! PEW!

( Although there is something rather unsettling about having Ralph Fiennes in the cast, but Eddie Izzard is playing Voldemort..)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 March, 2017, 10:22:26 AM
As expected Kong: Skull Island was ultimately forgettable with characters spouting exposition being rarely an enjoyable experience, making the film feel mechanical, also there were some glaring contrivances getting the characters to do what the plot needed them to do.
The action sequences were well staged, but there were distinct feelings of deja vu during them.

However, in its favour, the film did have an appealing visual style and a superb use of songs on the soundtrack, so full marks to the music consultants.
The 70's setting also allowed the filmmakers some interesting artistic flourishes-including the well documented allusions to Apocalypse Now.

John C. Reily was good value with a character that managed some genuine poignancy, making him a nice contrast to Tom Hiddleston's bland and frankly unconvincing protagonist.
It was certainly a vast improvement over the insipid Jurassic World and risible Godzilla.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 March, 2017, 03:32:07 PM
Double bill last night

Suicide Squad. Better than I expected

Passengers. Jeezo, Chris Pratt's character was so stalky it was off-putting. Didn't finish watching him groom his victim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 12 March, 2017, 03:55:58 PM
The original ending to Passengers is even stranger.

[spoiler]All the passengers are jettisoned in a malfunction, so the two leads use DNA samples to repopulate the ship from the now dead donors[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 12 March, 2017, 06:38:11 PM
I watched 'Room' last night on the box and was quite impressed. A film critics raved about that lived up to the hype. Some great performances in that film. Worth a watch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JLC on 13 March, 2017, 07:28:41 AM
Kong: Skull Island. Enjoyed it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 March, 2017, 01:12:36 AM
Hunger Games

I've never been bothered to watch this in the past as the synopsis have me the impression it was a rip off of Battle Royale (BR), but it was on tonight, so i thought I'd give it a go.

I'm glad I did. It was a bit predictable and it was a bit silly in places, but overall it was very enjoyable. The basic premise was similar to BR, but tonally it was very different.

Considering it involved a show where youngsters kill each other for the masses entertainment it was surprisingly positive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 14 March, 2017, 03:56:15 PM
Assassins Creed views more like a feature length tv pilot than an actual self contained film. It does stay true to the video games in that the plot makes no sense and whenever the camera is high up there just has to be a screeching eagle flying by.

Ass-a-shits Creed it is then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 14 March, 2017, 09:02:51 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 14 March, 2017, 03:56:15 PM
Assassins Creed views more like a feature length tv pilot than an actual self contained film. It does stay true to the video games in that the plot makes no sense and whenever the camera is high up there just has to be a screeching eagle flying by.

Ass-a-shits Creed it is then.

Assassins Crud, surely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 March, 2017, 08:24:59 PM
watch Kingsman: The Secret Service on Netflix

so enjoy it, like Kick-Ass! Colin Firth was really good in it! that Church scene...  :o

And did they[spoiler] kill off so many people? Did the director reading The Boys comic books with that Superheroes moment in Russia?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 March, 2017, 01:00:14 AM
Zombie Strippers

Dear me.

It was rubbish and boobies but entertaining rubbish and boobies. And rather gross in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 March, 2017, 09:21:28 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 March, 2017, 01:00:14 AM
Zombie Strippers

Dear me.

It was rubbish and boobies but entertaining rubbish and boobies. And rather gross in places.

I once saw Zombie Strippers at the end of a two day horror festival, it showed at about midnight and I had a couple of beers. I think that was the exact right moment and situation to see that film in, because I think I sort of enjoyed it a bit, while being totally certain it wouldn't hold up in any other circumstance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2017, 10:41:04 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two.

If your first thought on watching the first movie was: "Well, I could go watching a whole pile more of THAT." then you're in luck!
My first thought on watching the first was "I can't wait to see that again." but after doing that a few times I turned to your view. Made it to the final cinema showing last night and was very glad I made the effort. Doesn't quite have the impact of the first, but but builds from it in a very enjoyable way. So many great little touches sprinkled through but the success again comes down to the staging and choreography of the action scenes  which add up to a slice of action nirvana.

The pacing was slightly affected for me because a lot of cinemas here still have an intermission for no discernible reason. Just as the long setup sequence is coming to an end and you're eagerly anticipating it all to kick int high gear... Boom! Lights come up and you have ten minutes to get an ice cream.

Anyway, I'm already salivating at the prospect of Hunt John Wick.


So far, Manchester by the Sea is the only one of last year's Oscar nominees which I've seen. It's no Fury Road, but still a strong runner up. Not much to add to the genrarl plaudits for Casey Affleck's central performance and the natural seeming nephew. Good if grim overall but with some moments of brightness and recognition along the way.

I recently recorded the first three Resident Evils off Film 4 and purchased the fourth for a pound from my local corner shop. Rewatched the first at the weekend and found it hard to focus on. The bit where Mila runs up a wall and kicks a dog remains a high point of the series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 10:39:47 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2017, 10:41:04 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two.
The pacing was slightly affected for me because a lot of cinemas here still have an intermission for no discernible reason. Just as the long setup sequence is coming to an end and you're eagerly anticipating it all to kick int high gear... Boom! Lights come up and you have ten minutes to get an ice cream.

What cinemas still have intermissions? Presumably its a small indie cinema? Mind blown that there's still places that have these. I can imagine that they are handy for stuff like Lord of the Rings and King Kong for sure.

I'll never forget needing to pee during the third Matrix movie, I was in crossing my legs, doing a dance through the final fight and as soon as the credits started I ran so fast down the isle (from the back row of all places to seat!) literally knocking people out of the way like a mad man. Never went for a large drink through a film again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 11:13:18 AM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 10:39:47 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two. The pacing was slightly affected for me because a lot of cinemas here still have an intermission for no discernible reason. Just as the long setup sequence is coming to an end and you're eagerly anticipating it all to kick int high gear... Boom! Lights come up and you have ten minutes to get an ice cream.
What cinemas still have intermissions? Presumably its a small indie cinema? Mind blown that there's still places that have these. I can imagine that they are handy for stuff like Lord of the Rings and King Kong for sure.
Quite the opposite. In Switzerland it's the norm for films to have an intermission in the big chains. It's really only in small arthouse or dingy basement cinemas that they expect you to sit and watch the whole film from start to finish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 12:24:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.
Yeah. I've seen Seven Samurai at the pictures several times and it always has an intermission. The last new releases which I can remember having one would be Dances with Wolves and JFK. So early 90s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 16 March, 2017, 12:28:42 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.


You've got me wondering now - I can only remember getting one intermission at the cinema, but can't remember what film it was (in the mid to late 80s though).


Where's the built-in intermission in 2001?  Obvious point I'd guess would be on the moon, but it's a bit early in the narrative...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 March, 2017, 12:47:49 PM
Last film I saw with an intermission was 'Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest' at the Hollywood cinema in Norwich.
Some kids behind me thought the film had finished!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 12:50:52 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 11:13:18 AM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 10:39:47 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two. The pacing was slightly affected for me because a lot of cinemas here still have an intermission for no discernible reason. Just as the long setup sequence is coming to an end and you're eagerly anticipating it all to kick int high gear... Boom! Lights come up and you have ten minutes to get an ice cream.
What cinemas still have intermissions? Presumably its a small indie cinema? Mind blown that there's still places that have these. I can imagine that they are handy for stuff like Lord of the Rings and King Kong for sure.
Quite the opposite. In Switzerland it's the norm for films to have an intermission in the big chains. It's really only in small arthouse or dingy basement cinemas that they expect you to sit and watch the whole film from start to finish.

I honestly had no idea, spent the last half hour reading through forums on Swiss intermissions. You learn something new every day. Do some places really stop the movie mid-sentance?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 March, 2017, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 12:50:52 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 11:13:18 AM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 10:39:47 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 March, 2017, 10:05:49 AM
John Wick: Chapter Two. The pacing was slightly affected for me because a lot of cinemas here still have an intermission for no discernible reason. Just as the long setup sequence is coming to an end and you're eagerly anticipating it all to kick int high gear... Boom! Lights come up and you have ten minutes to get an ice cream.
What cinemas still have intermissions? Presumably its a small indie cinema? Mind blown that there's still places that have these. I can imagine that they are handy for stuff like Lord of the Rings and King Kong for sure.
Quite the opposite. In Switzerland it's the norm for films to have an intermission in the big chains. It's really only in small arthouse or dingy basement cinemas that they expect you to sit and watch the whole film from start to finish.

I honestly had no idea, spent the last half hour reading through forums on Swiss intermissions. You learn something new every day. Do some places really stop the movie mid-sentance?!

Ironically 'Swiss Intermissions' sounds like a particularly dull arthouse movie!!!!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 16 March, 2017, 05:18:33 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.

Isn't there a Mel Brooks film that has an actual intermission in the middle of the film or have I completely lost it?  (actually the latter part is completely rhetorical and the answer is yes) I want to say Blazing Saddles but I could be completely wrong as it has been a loooooong time since I last saw it.  "Candygram for Mongo."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 16 March, 2017, 05:22:29 PM
Only film with best intermission is Holy Grail!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 March, 2017, 06:12:49 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 16 March, 2017, 05:18:33 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.

Isn't there a Mel Brooks film that has an actual intermission in the middle of the film or have I completely lost it?  (actually the latter part is completely rhetorical and the answer is yes) I want to say Blazing Saddles but I could be completely wrong as it has been a loooooong time since I last saw it.  "Candygram for Mongo."

Sounds like High Anxiety but again I could be wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 March, 2017, 06:15:06 PM
Unlike Swedish Intermssion which sound like an entirely diffrent kind of movie altogether (cue Airplane gag).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 March, 2017, 07:45:57 PM
I don't think I've seen any film with intermissions, but i didn't go to the pictures that often as a child. (I'm was born in the 70s so, likely they were around in my lifetime.)

I do remember that they always had a cartoon before the main feature, which was often as enjoyable, although possibly for different reasons.

In my Dad's time they had a full film before the main feature! (He was born in the 40s. He is now a rather robust 70 something, bless him.) Or maybe there wasn't a 'main feature' and they just showed two films at a time. Of course not all that many working class people had a TV back then, and i don't think they only showed new releases at the cinema. I think they might have even shown series and the news at the pictures back then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 March, 2017, 07:56:46 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 March, 2017, 07:45:57 PM
I don't think I've seen any film with intermissions, but i didn't go to the pictures that often as a child. (I'm was born in the 70s so, likely they were around in my lifetime.)

I do remember that they always had a cartoon before the main feature, which was often as enjoyable, although possibly for different reasons.

In my Dad's time they had a full film before the main feature! (He was born in the 40s. He is now a rather robust 70 something, bless him.) Or maybe there wasn't a 'main feature' and they just showed two films at a time. Of course not all that many working class people had a TV back then, and i don't think they only showed new releases at the cinema. I think they might have even shown series and the news at the pictures back then.

I remember JFK and Dances With Wolves having one, when movie's still came on reels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 March, 2017, 08:14:05 PM
Bring back the double feature!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 16 March, 2017, 10:11:55 PM
I remember Return Of The Jedi and Ghostbusters having intermissions. These were at the Rex in Sheffield. (Now sadly gone)
However, Transformers-The Movie didn't have an intermission. This was at the old 2 screen Odeon in Sheffield. (Now sadly expanded, and shit)

I definately had a tub of ice-cream during the second half of Ghostbusters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:44 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 16 March, 2017, 10:11:55 PM
I remember Return Of The Jedi and Ghostbusters having intermissions. These were at the Rex in Sheffield. (Now sadly gone)
However, Transformers-The Movie didn't have an intermission. This was at the old 2 screen Odeon in Sheffield. (Now sadly expanded, and shit)

I definately had a tub of ice-cream during the second half of Ghostbusters.

I remember Ghostbusters having an intermission at our cinema, but that was because kids were throwing Revels at the cinema screen and the manager came out to threaten to cancel the screening permanently if the rambunctiousness didn't stop!!!!! :o 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 March, 2017, 12:13:03 AM
The Young Offenders

This was way on my radar already because of my deep love for the Rubberbandits (director Peter Foott was the man behind "Horse Outside") although I rarely rush to a film a chance opportunity led to LG and I watching this on Netflix this evening. I was utterly bowled over by it. The leads were charming, the environs gorgeous and the plot cleverly tight. Like the other SW Irish box-office smash (and personal favourite) "The Guard" it manages to dance the line between bleak darkness and human brightness extraordinarily deftly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 March, 2017, 01:46:23 AM
Absolutely fantastic show. Have you ever watched Six Shooter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9w9BJXeL4E)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2017, 08:30:08 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 16 March, 2017, 12:28:42 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2017, 11:57:48 AM
Last movie I saw that had an intermission that I recall was The Towering Inferno in the last 70's (on a re-release).
I saw 2001 a Space Odyssey recently and that has a built in intermission but it was basically ignored.


You've got me wondering now - I can only remember getting one intermission at the cinema, but can't remember what film it was (in the mid to late 80s though).


Where's the built-in intermission in 2001?  Obvious point I'd guess would be on the moon, but it's a bit early in the narrative...

Just when we realise that HAL is reading the lips of the crew in the pod, IIRC.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2017, 08:33:28 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 March, 2017, 07:45:57 PM

In my Dad's time they had a full film before the main feature! (He was born in the 40s. He is now a rather robust 70 something, bless him.) Or maybe there wasn't a 'main feature' and they just showed two films at a time. Of course not all that many working class people had a TV back then, and i don't think they only showed new releases at the cinema. I think they might have even shown series and the news at the pictures back then.

I remember double features and I'm nearly 50.
When I saw the original Star Wars it was shown with another film but we came in and saw Star Wars first. It was agony having to sit there through another, much duller, movie. All I wanted to do was go out into the sunshine, pretend I was on Tatooine and fight stormtroopers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 March, 2017, 12:17:36 PM
For my 13th birthday I got to take a few schoolmates to the cinema (which was about as exciting as birthdays got back then) and we saw a double bill of Hawk the Slayer and Saturn 3 (which was quite embarrassing because my mum was with us and it included Farrah Fawcett's boobies. :-[)

I'm pretty sure I saw Futureworld (1976) as part of a double bill too - possibly with the original Westworld
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 March, 2017, 01:35:00 PM
I can remember them showing Star Wars and Empire as a double bill (I guess this was around the time Jedi came out). The posters for the double-bills were always really cool.
There were definitely some Nightmare on Elm Street ones too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2017, 01:40:59 PM
I definitely remember double bills being a normal thing but not any specific examples.

Oh! Think I had to sit through some dreadful kiddie pish as a prelude to the mature delights of Viva Knievel! I must've been seven years old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
Don't ever recall seeing a double bill (although I did go and see Grindhouse which I guess reproduced that experience!) but I have a very vivid childhood memory of Supergirl having an intermission and the staff standing in front of the screen with little trays of Cornettos you could queue up to buy.

I'm guessing it was common back then because reels needed changing and whatnot, but seems quite an odd thing to have these days. I wonder if the 70mm showings of things like The Hateful Eight had them?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 March, 2017, 02:20:18 PM
It's also amusing with the number of 2 1/2 hour long blockbusters about these days, you would have though intermissions would become welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2017, 02:25:35 PM
Quote from: sheldipez on 16 March, 2017, 12:50:52 PM
I honestly had no idea, spent the last half hour reading through forums on Swiss intermissions. You learn something new every day. Do some places really stop the movie mid-sentence?!
Haven't ever noticed that but the one in John Wick was fairly abrupt: just as she's walking into the room with the ridiculous bath.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
I'm guessing it was common back then because reels needed changing and whatnot, but seems quite an odd thing to have these days. I wonder if the 70mm showings of things like The Hateful Eight had them?
Okay, I'd forgotten about this one. I did see the Hateful Eight over here but it seemed like the intermission was a deliberate part of the film as it comes right before the big reveal. So, you're saying it didn't have one when you saw it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 17 March, 2017, 02:30:28 PM
Nobody expects the Spanish Intermission.
Sorry,had to say that...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 March, 2017, 09:15:06 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 16 March, 2017, 10:11:55 PM
...Odeon in Sheffield. (Now sadly expanded, and shit)

Always amazed that cinema lasts its bloody awful. In a city with so many alternative great cinemas that that one hangs on is amazing. Still surely the new one down The Moor will see it off?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 17 March, 2017, 11:39:53 PM
I saw Predator as a double-bill with Predator two at the time it came out (first time I'd seen it).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 March, 2017, 07:19:26 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
Don't ever recall seeing a double bill

My first ever trip to the cinema was a double bill of You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die around 1974-75
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 18 March, 2017, 05:03:07 PM
Only double bills I have seen have been in the rather excellent Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End. 'Cyborg' followed by 'Masters of the Universe' was great fun.

Most recent film I caught only yesterday was Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast'. Great adaption. Pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 20 March, 2017, 12:50:27 AM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 18 March, 2017, 05:03:07 PM
Only double bills I have seen have been in the rather excellent Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End. 'Cyborg' followed by 'Masters of the Universe' was great fun.

Missed that one - interesting fact about Masters of the Universe is that - the car park of the place that Courteney Cox's character works is the place that Rodney King was assaulted by police officers, sparking the Los Angeles riots.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 March, 2017, 04:14:47 AM
The Belko Experiment

Have been really looking forward to this, but in the end it was surprisingly average. Without spoiling anything, if you've seen the trailer you can pretty much predict how the entire movie will play out. I was confidently predicting some clever twists on the Battle Royale formula, but nope - its pretty rote.

Nor as inventive, given the scenario, or as funny, given the writer, as you'd expect - which is surprising given this was apparently James Gunn's long-gestating passion project - the script isn't as tight as you'd expect. It's more reminiscent of the Dawn of the Dead remake (which he scripted) than anything. The end result is a rather predictable, anticlimactic movie that lacks even Battle Royale's demented humor to offset the blunt, nihilistic tone.

A bit of a miss.

2/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 March, 2017, 08:18:22 AM
Logan.

I really enjoyed it - the restrained, slower paced first half moreso - the second half kinda descended into overblown schlock a bit too much for my liking. Perversely, I actually think it would have been a better film for being even leaner and more stripped-down, with less characters and a lower budget and body count (and if they had dialled down the grittiness and violence just a smidge). All the head-stabbing just gets a bit deadening after a while, and most of the real standout moments for me were the quieter character beats, some of which were really moving, but hey i guess its a Fox X Men film, so there has to be a giant mutant battle blowout at the end...

But yeah, i liked it. It was really nicely shot and the director and actors made some really nice choices. A fitting send-off for Jackman, and its such a relief that R rated genre movies can apparently make money again.

4/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 March, 2017, 09:55:52 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2017, 02:25:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
I'm guessing it was common back then because reels needed changing and whatnot, but seems quite an odd thing to have these days. I wonder if the 70mm showings of things like The Hateful Eight had them?
Okay, I'd forgotten about this one. I did see the Hateful Eight over here but it seemed like the intermission was a deliberate part of the film as it comes right before the big reveal. So, you're saying it didn't have one when you saw it?

No intermission when I saw it, and I haven't rewatched it yet but do vaguely remember some sort of title card midway through so I guess it did feel a bit like there was an intermission point built into it. It just kept rolling though.

Went to see Get Out at the weekend, and loved it. Very smart, funny in places and brilliantly acted. Get the impression it's being marketed as an all out horror movie and it'd be a shame if that were to put off non-horror fans because it doesn't feel like that at all. It's more of a dread-inducing tense thriller than a jump-scarey slashathon. Any time I felt sure about where it was going to go it would surprise me by doing something a bit sharper and classier. It really is great, and a bit of an instant classic.

It managed to do all that despite the Cineworld screen we were in having a very loud continuous clanging sound throughout the film (like someone smacking a metal pole off a pipe for the duration). Loads of us complained and the ushers came in and had a listen but nobody could figure out where it was coming from or how to sort it which was annoying.

Also saw The Nice Guys on Netflix and really enjoyed it. Very funny, and with some of the best clumsy/painful/slapstick-tinged action scenes I think I've seen. A film I'd really like to watch again, and suspect I'll laugh even more the second time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 20 March, 2017, 10:02:37 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 March, 2017, 09:55:52 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2017, 02:25:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
I'm guessing it was common back then because reels needed changing and whatnot, but seems quite an odd thing to have these days. I wonder if the 70mm showings of things like The Hateful Eight had them?
Okay, I'd forgotten about this one. I did see the Hateful Eight over here but it seemed like the intermission was a deliberate part of the film as it comes right before the big reveal. So, you're saying it didn't have one when you saw it?

No intermission when I saw it, and I haven't rewatched it yet but do vaguely remember some sort of title card midway through so I guess it did feel a bit like there was an intermission point built into it. It just kept rolling though.


Hateful Eight had an intermission at my cinema too, the only one I've ever experienced.
Bit of a WTF moment for most of the audience!

It allowed for an apposite coffee refill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 March, 2017, 12:09:48 PM
Last time I saw LAWRENCE OF ARABIA at the cinema, it had the overture. That confused teh fuck out of everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 20 March, 2017, 08:47:56 PM
Just seen 'Kong: Skull island' and was blown away. Been a while since I considered seeing a film for the second time in a cinema. Would rewatch this!
Anyone else enjoy this as much as me?   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 March, 2017, 09:36:21 PM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 20 March, 2017, 08:47:56 PM
Just seen 'Kong: Skull island' and was blown away. Been a while since I considered seeing a film for the second time in a cinema. Would rewatch this!
Anyone else enjoy this as much as me?

Yup, thought it was great: pure nonsense, but none the worse for that. Excellent mixture of genres and tones, with a really loveable Kong.  I thought the whole cast were terrific, and even if Hiddleston had a pretty underdeveloped character to work with he still had more than enough screen presence to carry it off. It was a film that had clearly studied the both the shortcomings and strengths of the 2014 Godzilla, and learnt from both.

Easily the best Kong since the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 20 March, 2017, 11:26:56 PM
Manos: The Hands of Fate is great to watch!

:o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 March, 2017, 08:31:30 AM
CARNAGE   On the BBC iPlayer. 

It's a "mockumentary" by Simon Amstell set in the year 2067 with people looking back on how the world became vegan. 

I'm probably bang in the target audience for this as I like Amstell and, well, you know the rest  but there are some good laughs to be had (not least of which is Joanna Lumley's plummy tones being the "voice" of animal thoughts) and Glenn from Thick Of It being a Clarkson-esque shock-jock.

Plus I genuinely couldn't tell if some of the archive footage was faked or real.

Warning: There are some graphic bits in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 21 March, 2017, 08:57:44 AM
Doghouse

A low budget Danny Dyer film from 2009 in which a virus turns women into zombies. Stupid fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 March, 2017, 06:35:38 PM
Logan.

I don't dislike the other Wolverine films, but, yes, this was very special.

Don't look at this if you haven't seen it yet (obviously):
[spoiler]Considering the ending, (and setting for that matter) i wonder how this will affect future X-Men films. I guess it's set far enough in the future for now to give a lot of leeway, but sooner or later, unless the series is discontinued ( a real possibility) they'll catch up.

Not that it really matters with the propensity for altered timelines and revamps, etc. It's still a nice finale for the character.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 March, 2017, 07:27:08 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 21 March, 2017, 06:35:38 PM
Logan.

I don't dislike the other Wolverine films, but, yes, this was very special.

Don't look at this if you haven't seen it yet (obviously):
[spoiler]Considering the ending, (and setting for that matter) i wonder how this will affect future X-Men films. I guess it's set far enough in the future for now to give a lot of leeway, but sooner or later, unless the series is discontinued ( a real possibility) they'll catch up.

Not that it really matters with the propensity for altered timelines and revamps, etc. It's still a nice finale for the character.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I saw it very much as a Dark Knight Returns/Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? type story. Just one possible future/ending for these characters. Also, we're talking about a series where multiple versions of the same characters exist and one of the main characters in the franchise has now died on-screen twice - I don't think they're particularly concerned about continuity.[/spoiler]

Having had more time to think on it, I do feel more and more strongly that they went a bit overboard with the violence and other R rated content in Logan. In particular, I really didn't like that they [spoiler]killed the farmer family. It seemed excessive and mean-spirited on the part of the film that literally every single character in the entire movie dies except Laura and a handful of mutant kids we barely know, and also basically makes Logan and Charles indirectly responsible for their deaths.[/spoiler] To me, the often absurd level of violence undercut the mature tone they managed to achieve in the rest of the movie - it reminded me a little of a late nineties Vertigo comics in that regard - a little gratuitous and ott.

I also didn't really care for the [spoiler]Logan clone. Wish they hadn't gone down that route, was hoping for something more inventive. Richard E Grant was also wasted.[/spoiler] On the flipside, the main trio were absolutely phenomenal. I honestly don't think its unrealistic or hyperbole to suggest that Patrick Stewart deserves serious awards recognition for his performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 22 March, 2017, 12:57:06 AM
Bjarnfreðarson

Finally after years of pursuit - my partner found a book/DVD deluxe edition of this in a shop in Reykjavik and it has become somewhat of a holy relic in our house. After three series of excellent and occasionally astonishingly dark character comedy the trio hit the big screen and the results are extraordinary. A masterpiece in character dissection - pulling apart the childhood of monstrous communist grouch Georg and rebuilding him from the ground up. It's tragic, it's inspiring and it's deeply referential to the series so to get anything from it at all you'll need to watch all that first. Just hop on a plane to Reykjavik...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 March, 2017, 01:39:02 AM


Pity the BBC never showed the rest of the series.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 March, 2017, 10:46:03 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 March, 2017, 07:27:08 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 21 March, 2017, 06:35:38 PM
Logan.

I don't dislike the other Wolverine films, but, yes, this was very special.

Don't look at this if you haven't seen it yet (obviously):
[spoiler]Considering the ending, (and setting for that matter) i wonder how this will affect future X-Men films. I guess it's set far enough in the future for now to give a lot of leeway, but sooner or later, unless the series is discontinued ( a real possibility) they'll catch up.

Not that it really matters with the propensity for altered timelines and revamps, etc. It's still a nice finale for the character.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I saw it very much as a Dark Knight Returns/Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? type story. Just one possible future/ending for these characters. Also, we're talking about a series where multiple versions of the same characters exist and one of the main characters in the franchise has now died on-screen twice - I don't think they're particularly concerned about continuity.[/spoiler]

I quite liked Mark Kermode's take on it, that the [spoiler]existence of the comic books in the film and the way Logan dismisses them as prettied up versions of what actually happened, is almost like him pointing at the previous films and saying the same thing. That those films were fantastical takes on the events but that we're in the real world now. Put a nice spin on it I thought.

I agree about the clone as well, I felt like the first half of the film was more engaging that the latter parts, just because it did such a great job of seperating itself from the usual superhero fare that once it actually became about evil scientists and fighting a super-clone it almost felt like it was letting itself down a bit, like that stuff didn't really fit the atmosphere they'd built. I was also disappointed that it went the 'taken in by a kindly family who get killed for their troubles' route, not because their deaths seemed cruel, just because it was so damn predictable and has been used so many times that it felt like a lazy detour.[/spoiler]

That sounds really negative, and I really really liked the film, just have some quibbles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 22 March, 2017, 02:03:51 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 March, 2017, 10:46:03 AM
I quite liked Mark Kermode's take on it, that the [spoiler]existence of the comic books in the film and the way Logan dismisses them as prettied up versions of what actually happened, is almost like him pointing at the previous films and saying the same thing. That those films were fantastical takes on the events but that we're in the real world now. Put a nice spin on it I thought.[/spoiler]

Nah. Sneering at the source material very much places it in the first three movies' timeline.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 March, 2017, 05:32:59 PM
I can only echo the general consensus on Logan - overall very good but becomes a bit of a predictable, over-gory stab-fest towards the end - in fact, as soon as all the characters were in place, I pretty much predicted how the rest of the movie would pan out.

I thought the girl was very good, and Patrick Stewart was outstanding - that idea of his "seizures" was remarkable, both in concept and execution.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 25 March, 2017, 10:37:08 AM
umm, i watched Power Rangers today (so sue me, it was that or Beauty and The Beast) and I must say that was alot of fun, almost as much fun as I wanted the Transformers movies to be but they weren't. Power Rangers are a bit bellow my age group (Im a late 80's early 90's kid) but I did watch a bit on TV when it first started (I liked that man in suit Japanese type stuff).  the teens were pretty basic characters with one that any kid could relate to (Fallen Jock, Fallen Queen Bee, Outsider, Brain/Apergers guy and Lesbian, well I think Yellow is meant to be a lesbian) It was a bit light on the actual Power Rangers themselves but when they did turn up it was lots of fun, could've done with a bit more straight Power Rangers action before they moved onto the Zords and Megazords and Rita was quite nasty for a kids movie villian but all up a fun movie I had a bog goofy grin on my face as it ended.  And as a strange thing there was actual clapping in the cinema as the credits rolled which I dont think I've ever seen.
3 1/2 Megazords out of 5

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 March, 2017, 10:44:21 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 25 March, 2017, 10:37:08 AM
umm, i watched Power Rangers today (so sue me, it was that or Beauty and The Beast)..... I think Yellow is meant to be a lesbian)

Which is why it's been given an 18 certificate in Russia - in fact both of those films have been denounced as gay propaganda by the same judge:https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/24/power-rangers-russia-age-restriction-lgbt-character (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/24/power-rangers-russia-age-restriction-lgbt-character)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 March, 2017, 02:58:43 PM
Wasn't there also social media chatter about the Pink Ranger distributing child pornography to get back at someone?

Shin Godzilla - which is kind of the Casino Royale of Japanese Godzilla films: a more grounded reboot of a monolithic franchise with a history of wild swings between grittily angsty and laughably silly, sometimes within the space of the same film.  This outing travels the familiar path of Toho's Big G reboots by returning to the tropes of a nation responding to catastrophe that's often hit home with a Japanese audience well-used to God's attempts to wipe them from the face of the Earth, but this time out, the treatment focuses more on bureaucratic cowardice and the intrusive militarism of the Americans (who are played by Japanese actors) in the face of some disaster effects that might look familiar to anyone who watched footage of the 2011 tsunami.  The script is not exactly coy about what it's taking a swing at, and that anger is something I don't think we've really seen in a Godzilla film in quite a while.
Godzilla himself gets a remake as a morphing, mutating horror working his way through several forms to a final evolution into The Most Dangerous Monster Of All - so fair warning [spoiler]to Twilight Zone/Scary Door viewers that the final shot might feel a bit cheap[/spoiler] - and is pretty horrible to behold right up until the reveal that the plan to stop him is to get him too drunk to fuck.  There's a bit where they knock him down and then use a crane with a hose on it to spray antifreeze into his mouth to get him airlocked and the look on his face - I don't think I've ever seen any version of Godzilla look that happy, and then he gets up and starts swinging wildly (now we know that Godzilla is a mean drunk) it just made me think of Bill Murray's line from Ghostbusters about the giant Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man and how they just needed to get him drunk and laid.  This bit looks really silly in practice, especially all the trains and cranes moving really quickly to get the drinking straw for a cocktail into Godzilla's mouth, but I do appreciate that the makers wanted to differentiate from the overused ticking bomb dynamic of this kinds of finale, and also the fact that Godzilla movies have been here many, many times before, and just having him explode, turn into a giant skelington, or even melted by his own awesomeness has already been done.
A little long for kids, and probably not silly enough, but worth a look if you liked the recent US remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 March, 2017, 03:20:31 PM
But unlike the US version,this one actually has Godzilla in it. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 25 March, 2017, 06:41:12 PM
'Voyage to the bottom of the sea - the movie'.

Bought this on DVD a few years ago and finally watched it other night. Good movie if not a patch on the TV series it served as a pilot for. Barbara Eden (aka I dream of genie) is as beautiful as ever in this. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 March, 2017, 11:46:31 AM
The Machinist (2004)

I haven't seen this since studying it as a student over a decade ago and it's actually far more likable than I remember it what with the lilting classical score and offbeat tone. It's stylistically impressive - succeeding in putting across a deep sense of unease with near-total desaturatuation, the mesmerizing spiral into  paranoia and the harrowing appearance of Bale. It still firmly sits in the category of "early 00s sombrecore" but it certainly functions well on its own terms.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2017, 12:23:44 PM
Kong: Skull Island. Not much to add other than in general agreement that the characters are largely paper-thin and the plot is fairly perfunctory, but that none of this matters because the cast has more than enough screen presence to carry off this nonsense with admirably straight faces and the whole thing is tremendous fun and Kong himself is fantastic.

(As an aside, I very nearly shouted "Shut up and take my money!" at the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 27 March, 2017, 03:19:30 PM
Oh dear I must be the only one that didn't like Kong.

Terrible plot and even worse acting.

Kong was the best actor in it although he's unlikely to win any awards.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 27 March, 2017, 03:41:51 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2017, 12:23:44 PM
(As an aside, I very nearly shouted "Shut up and take my money!" at the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer...)

I watched all 3 trailers on a friend's brand new 50 inch 4K telly on Saturday.

Excitedly looking forward to it doesn't cover it...looking forward to this even more than SW ep 8.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 March, 2017, 05:54:43 PM
Get Out

Very good despite one or two plot holes (the opening scene being one).
Enjoyed it a lot 8/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 28 March, 2017, 06:41:37 PM
Green Room. Oof! Not what I expected (in a good way). That was truly brutal. I think knowing little about this going in really helped. Patrick Stewart worth the metaphorical admission price alone, as always!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 March, 2017, 09:19:25 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 28 March, 2017, 05:54:43 PM
Get Out

Very good despite one or two plot holes (the opening scene being one).
Enjoyed it a lot 8/10

Out of curiosity (and with spoiler tags!) what was the opening scene plot hole? I didn't pick up on anything there but I don't often spot such things.

Great movie I thought (although there was a very loud clanging noise in the screen we were in which persisted for the whole film and which I assumed would warrant some sort of refund but all we got was an apology. Took the tension out of it all a bit).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 March, 2017, 12:47:07 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 March, 2017, 09:19:25 AM

Out of curiosity (and with spoiler tags!) what was the opening scene plot hole? I didn't pick up on anything there but I don't often spot such things.



[spoiler]It did not match up with the rest of the film at all. It seemed like the black guy was killed. Why kill him. It set the film up to be about racists when it's actually quite the opposite. It's been made clear that the victims of the 'body swaps' are brought to the house by Rose and then auctioned off but the abducting a random black guy off the street? I appreciate that he could have made his own way and was following directions but to me it seemed like a bit of mis direction so that you don't try and guess the rest of the movie straight out of the gate. I thought, on reflection, that there were quite a few plot holes but no enough to stop me enjoying it.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 March, 2017, 02:14:04 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 29 March, 2017, 12:47:07 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 March, 2017, 09:19:25 AM

Out of curiosity (and with spoiler tags!) what was the opening scene plot hole? I didn't pick up on anything there but I don't often spot such things.



[spoiler]It did not match up with the rest of the film at all. It seemed like the black guy was killed. Why kill him. It set the film up to be about racists when it's actually quite the opposite. It's been made clear that the victims of the 'body swaps' are brought to the house by Rose and then auctioned off but the abducting a random black guy off the street? I appreciate that he could have made his own way and was following directions but to me it seemed like a bit of mis direction so that you don't try and guess the rest of the movie straight out of the gate. I thought, on reflection, that there were quite a few plot holes but no enough to stop me enjoying it.[/spoiler]

Ah, gotcha. I didn't take it that [spoiler]he'd been killed, thought he'd just been chloroformed and bundled in the trunk. They mention later on when they're explaining their nefarious plans that the main character is lucky it was Rose who brought him in because the son of the family had different, less pleasant 'wrangling' methods, so I took that to mean it was him doing the kidnapping at the start. The directions thing seemed to just be him getting lost (he mentions he's at such-and-such Street when he should be at such-and-such Avenue or something) and wandering into their hunting area.

So that stuff didn't bother me, the one element that I wasn't too sold on was the way the transplanted characters behaved, because the performances definitely gave the impression of brainwashed zombie-like people rather than just white folk put into different bodies. If they were just being transplanted over and then living their lives as normal in new bodies then they were behaving really oddly. There's obviously a remnant of the original person in there supressed, so I wondered if they're behaving that way because it's a constant struggle to maintain that and keep them squashed down, in which case it sounds like a real nightmare so not sure why they'd bother with the whole process! Something with that wasn't gelling perfectly for me, but other than that I loved the film. Usually I can brush aside the odd plot hole for the sake of enjoying the whole, that or I'm just not perceptive enough to really pick up on them (more likely).[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 March, 2017, 08:12:42 AM
Finally got around to watching Inland Empire from David Lynch (only 11 years late).
Wow! Utterly brilliant.
I thought Muholland Drive was good (and it is) but Inland Empire turns it all the way up to 11.
I loved it, although mentally, and curiously physically, draining.
10/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 March, 2017, 12:24:52 AM
Black Dynamite (2009)

Good solid fun. A parody that takes itself far too seriously is an absolute joy to watch and here the cast and crew are clearly in love with the source material to such a degree that they can't quite decide how straight to play it which is utterly utterly marvellous and gives the whole endeavor some real solid weight - so when it does jump the jiveshark about halfway through and goes completely crazy it feels fully justified and is extremely satisfying. Fucking amazing score too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 31 March, 2017, 04:56:42 AM
I've been trying for years to remember the name of a play that was centred around that idea, everyone else hamming it up really badly and one actor playing it straight.  It's driving me nuts!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 31 March, 2017, 09:29:50 PM
The Suicide Shop (2012)

Utterly beautiful visually but morally blank. A digitally animated semi-musical set in a shop that caters exclusively to suicidal customers (surely not a growth industry in the long run) only the morbid family that run it birth a child that's determined to make the world happy, which he does through the medium of pimping out his sister. OH WHAT LARKS.

Again - stunning to look at, really snappy and characterful animation, gorgeous backgrounds but shallow and stunningly tone-deaf in its construction. Aiming I imagine for the camp gothiness of Nightmare Before Christmas but falling short by a long, long way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 31 March, 2017, 10:52:12 PM
Daddy/Daughter date tonight, so I took Small Rocka to Beauty & The Beast. Mocketh all ye like, fellow squaxx, but both of us absolutely loved it. Kinda like Les Mis without the relentless misery (and lot more Stockholm Syndrome). Emma Watson nailing her role and the whole cast having a ball.
Say what you like about Disney, but when they deliver a great family film, they do it properly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 April, 2017, 12:04:17 AM
Quote from: DrRocka on 31 March, 2017, 10:52:12 PM
Daddy/Daughter date tonight, so I took Small Rocka to Beauty & The Beast. Mocketh all ye like, fellow squaxx, but both of us absolutely loved it. Kinda like Les Mis without the relentless misery (and lot more Stockholm Syndrome). Emma Watson nailing her role and the whole cast having a ball.
Say what you like about Disney, but when they deliver a great family film, they do it properly.

Good for you. I have lots of goodwill towards the animated version ((always really liked the design of the beast).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 April, 2017, 07:16:46 AM
Drive. Probably for the 10th time. Still amazing. Love how he (the driver) morphs into a movie monster.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 01 April, 2017, 11:01:43 AM
Ghost in The Shell, well it was okay I guess, stunning soundtrack and looks stunning and certainly easier to follow than the original anime but I think it kinda misses the point of it a bit, kind of like the best actiony bits of the anime but misses the heart or soul :).  Also finishes all of a sudden but IIRC the anime does that too, its been a while since I watched it, it was never my favorite (nothing can top Akira IMHO) but still enjoyable, those that absolutly love the original may not like it too much though.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 01 April, 2017, 12:03:51 PM
Denial.

A film based on the real life events and centres around the libel case brought against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books, by that most wretched and odious individual; The Holocaust denier David Irving.

Without giving away the ending  ;)  It's always worth repeating this particular undeniable fact; "The English court found that Irving was an active Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, and racist, who "for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence". In addition, the court found that Irving's books had distorted the history of Adolf Hitler's role in the Holocaust to depict Hitler in a favourable light."

Very good performances in the main, and a film that stands as a timely reminder that these people are still out there, and are still pushing their corrupt ideology.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 April, 2017, 12:32:02 PM
Bubblegum Crash was an attempt to conclude the brilliant Bubblegum Crisis series 6 years too late. A three episode OVA made from recycled footage, low quality new footage, obnoxiously basic story telling and a complete miss-characterization of the four leads. Utter dross, hardly worth the 50P I paid for it at CEX.

And the dub, FUCK ME the dub!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 02 April, 2017, 01:41:33 AM
Not long back in from seeing Ghost in the Shell. And you know what? It ain't bad!

I'll try to compose a proper revieew and post it on my Youtube channel tomorrow. But for now, I'll say this:

The film does a lot that isn't strictly necessary. And it feels hollow in comparison to pretty much anything else in the franchise. It has glaring issues, like the twist in the end, which I wanted to believe wouldn't be a problem, but is actually properly 'Hollywood dumb.' And it commits a grave sin in reducing its iconic central character to a much weaker shadow of what she SHOULD be.

BUT...

That said, taken as its own thing, free of preconceptions the franchise may have already instilled in fans (and yes, if I can do that, anyone can,) it's pretty damned solid. Some of the action is neat. And even if it does make a couple of characters gun slinging tough guys when they've never been portrayed that way in the material that came before it, the sceneswhere it does that WORK. One of them is even the coolest part of the whole movie for me. Most of the nods to the previous anime work, and the really pleasant surprise for me is that, rather than being a hodge-podge of the best bits from the 'real' Ghost in the Sell, it really is its own beast.


Super simple verdict: Not brilliant, but most definitely not bad.

I'll go into more detail on Youtube tomorrow, as time permits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 April, 2017, 01:32:14 PM
Watched Young Offenders for the second time in a month with my family yesterday and they loved it. Really can't recommend it higher - gets the mix of melodrama and hilarity just right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2017, 07:17:47 PM
BLADE RUNNER  - The Final Cut.

It must be twenty years since I last saw this and while visuals and soundtrack are still amazing, I was surprised that Deckard is so rapey and that there is zero chemistry between him and Rachel. Really, they spend about twenty minutes together - even less in screen time. Is there a cut where their relationship seems remotely real?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 02 April, 2017, 07:34:03 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2017, 07:17:47 PM
BLADE RUNNER  - The Final Cut.

It must be twenty years since I last saw this and while visuals and soundtrack are still amazing, I was surprised that Deckard is so rapey and that there is zero chemistry between him and Rachel. Really, they spend about twenty minutes together - even less in screen time. Is there a cut where their relationship seems remotely real?

It's a replicant thing 😉
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 April, 2017, 02:00:58 PM
Greetings, people of the future - I speak to you from the far-off historical period you refer to as the 1990s, which is the only explanation for Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers being in cinemas, barring some time-looping catastrophe befalling mankind and we've gone back to a lady PM inexplicably backed by the entire spectrum of the British media, the Middle East on fire and America and Russia at it again.
Beauty and the Beast is not as slick as the cartoon version, with Belle in particular being less animated than her cartoon counterpart.  Realised in live actors, some of the problems of the original story become more apparent, too - and I don't mean the obvious bestiality jokes, I mean what a repugnant snob Belle is and how she looks down on her neighbors for being uneducated.  In this context, there's a sense that the real story is Beast taking her down a peg or two with what are clearly textbook abusive boyfriend controlling tactics, and I guess this sadomasochistic element is at least in keeping with the folklore roots of these kinds of fairytales.  Some of the songs weren't as good as the cartoon version, too - Angela Lansbury as Ms Teacup or GTFO, film.
Power Rangers is neither bad or good enough to be memorable.  Obviously with this amount of cash thrown at it, it looks nice enough, so you get a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of competence if not much else.  The CGI robot fights owe more to Ultraman than Super Sentai, the messy mecha designs and angsty teen leads owe more to Genseishin, and the 90 minutes you have to wait until any of that appears onscreen owes more to a poor creative decision for a modern superhero movie.  This is shorter than most superhero flicks, but it's still just shy of two hours long and all the good stuff happens in the second half of the third act.  As with most YA media these days, there's also so much recycling of elements from other things that I don't even know if some of it is a deliberate nod of the head or if the writers just have a limited pool of influences - there's a bit where the Zords are being pushed into a big fiery pit and I wondered "is this a reference to when Rita destroys the Zords by casting them into a fiery chasm in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 1, episode 20 (Green With Evil pt4)?"  On balance, I figured it was just some stuff that was happening.
Also, I missed where that thing originated where characters put their hands on a glass partition of some sort and make a sad face to someone on the other side because they cannot touch, but I'm seeing it everywhere now - is it a Wrath of Khan thing, or was it in some big YA movie like one of the later Twilights I couldn't be arsed watching?
Anyway, fuck this 1990s throwback shit, as tomorrow I'll go see Ghost in the Sh - actually, never mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 03 April, 2017, 06:09:19 PM
Being a bit cheeky by sharing this here, but I made good on my threat of a Youtube review of the Scartoko Johannsunagi version of Ghost in the Shell.

'Ere ya go:

https://youtu.be/LE_fScHwAa4 (https://youtu.be/LE_fScHwAa4)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 03 April, 2017, 09:19:29 PM
Free fire

very good - great cast, breezed by and has one particularly memorable scene + a fair few wince-inducing moments.

I'm not sure what the typical attendance for my local Curzon is, but there were only 2 other people in the screening at 6:45 - there's an Odeon next door which might have got the more casual punter.

Recommended anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2017, 11:19:40 AM
XXX: The Return of Xander Cage contains every kind of stupid you can imagine in a movie without it being a comedy.  At one point Vin Diesel recreates the end of The Iron Giant and it's not even remotely the dumbest thing that happens in this film.
Gloriously stupid to the point that I didn't see the most obvious cameo ever coming near the end, it's also to be commended for the shoehorning-in of a multinational cast almost guaranteed to annoy the basement-dwellers constantly kvetching online about "social justice and diversity" ruining everything, though a few of the cast could do with acting lessons, or at least work on their delivery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 05 April, 2017, 05:04:14 PM
Tickled

An NZ documentary about the bizarre world of competetive endurance tickling.

It starts weird and gets dark real quick so if that's your thing you should enjoy this.

Also finished Peaky Blinders -  WOW!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 April, 2017, 11:01:42 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 05 April, 2017, 05:04:14 PM
Tickled

An NZ documentary about the bizarre world of competetive endurance tickling.

It starts weird and gets dark real quick so if that's your thing you should enjoy this.

Also finished Peaky Blinders -  WOW!

Really looking forward to watching this. Read an article about the people who created the competition, and it sounds utterly fascinating.

For further reference, the The Dollop podcast had an early episode that explored the world of competitive tickling, and it is absolutely hilarious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 06 April, 2017, 12:18:21 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 05 April, 2017, 05:04:14 PM
An NZ documentary about the bizarre world of competetive endurance tickling.

It starts weird and gets dark real quick so if that's your thing you should enjoy this.

Dark?  Should I ask?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 06 April, 2017, 04:12:57 PM
There's nothing obscene or grisly happening, it's not dark in that way.

It just starts out as a bit odd and after 10 minutes it just goes right off the deep end.

So many 'WTF????' moments and although you can see the plot twist coming it's very entertaining nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tony Angelino on 07 April, 2017, 09:41:38 PM
Gone in 60 Seconds. The original 1974 one. Its better than the remake by virtue of not having Nicholas Cage in it and is best known for its extremely long car chase.

Its okay and at least the car jump at the end of the movie was done for real as opposed to the remake where it is clearly CGI. The jump in this one isn't quite as dramatic but looks very painful for the driver involved. 

Bizarrely numerous real US police departments took part in the filming but the overall feeling you get from the movie is that it does tend to glamorise car theft a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 09 April, 2017, 12:05:03 AM
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

No. Not quite.

Having grown-up a Potterlad this film doesn't quite scratch the itch. It's not indulgent enough, it's not relatable enough.

Don't get me wrong though - it functions perfectly well but sort of nineties-blockbuster-ish. Everyone serves their purpose and nothing really beyond that. Fogler's likable as Jacob - Farrell is cold and nasty - Redmayne and Waterston are bumbling and relatable. Will they? Who knows. I don't particularly mind or care.

It's a solid framework but a poor story - it's all been placed there to weave into the climax which unfolds predictably. The rich magic which enchants the books of my childhood drifts aimlessly around the skeleton of the narrative. Will this ever be the beloved franchise that WB wants? Who can say? Without any source text behind this we're left like the WB executives desperately scrabbling to find something meaningful in nothing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 April, 2017, 02:45:29 PM
I fell stone asleep and woke up in time to see Colin Farrell make a rather strange make-up choice.

In better movie news, the movie Get Out is a corker. Well worth seeing at the cinema for the sheer tension and dread the big, immersive screen will get you. Only weird bit is seeing Daniel Kaluuya with an American accent, for those of you who enjoyed Tea-Leaf in Psychoville or The Fades.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 10 April, 2017, 03:26:06 PM
With Covenant coming up i gave Prometheus yet another chance last night (it's fourth).

Sigh, no. It's still a mess.  An attractive mess......but a mess nonetheless. Think that was its last chance.......probably.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 10 April, 2017, 07:09:10 PM
Had a movie bonanza this weekend:

Get Out - Is this the first black horror movie? I really enjoyed it, it's kind of a slow burner but the tension builds nicely. It's beautifully shot and pretty much everyone is great in it. It reminded me of that German movie [spoiler]Transfer[/spoiler] so if you liked this you might like that.

Hidden Figures - It's got cool cars, cool clothes, SPACE!!!!, maths and unfortunately lots of racism. It's not the best movie I've ever seen but certainly a story that deserved to be told.

Beauty and the Beast - Did not know this was a musical, don't like musicals but I do like Emma Watson. The Beast was hotter as the Beast so I was disappointed at the transformation in the end. Also I'm just going to come right out and say it if no one else has - weird bestiality vibes. Yeah that was a weird one.

The Wolfpack - Documentary about a family who grow up in New York and are never allowed to their apartment. This is fascinating stuff. They lengths they go to to entertain themselves - incredible! Sweet and odd at the same time.

Who Took Johnny? - Documentary about the first missing kid to ever appear on a milk carton. They never found him and this documentary explores the lengths his parents especially his mother went to to try get him back. I was left with quite a few questions at the end of this.

Table 19 - I'm quite a fan of Mark Duplass, I loved The League and The One I Love. This movie has no bite though. It's nice but there's nothing to it really.

Tried to watch the latest Underworld and fell asleep twice.

I think that's pretty much it ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 10 April, 2017, 11:38:30 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 10 April, 2017, 07:09:10 PM

Who Took Johnny? - Documentary about the first missing kid to ever appear on a milk carton. They never found him and this documentary explores the lengths his parents especially his mother went to to try get him back. I was left with quite a few questions at the end of this.


Intrigued by this, I tracked it down on Youtube - the full film is on there - and boy, what a documentary....

The struggle that the parents find themselves up against, in regards to attitudes from the Police, the FBI, and - in part - the media, is depressingly familiar.

Given the subject matter, it goes without saying that this is not an easy watch at all, and as you say, It does leave you with a good few questions at the end of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 11 April, 2017, 10:58:07 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 10 April, 2017, 07:09:10 PM
Had a movie bonanza this weekend:

Get Out - Is this the first black horror movie?


Not by a long chalk. I can think of Blacula (and it's sequel), Tales From The Hood, JD's Revenge, Blackenstein, Abby, and Ganja and Hess just off the top of my head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2017, 11:13:35 AM
Ganja and Hess is a horror movie on a whole other level, easily one of the best vampire tales ever crafted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 April, 2017, 11:22:21 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 11 April, 2017, 10:58:07 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 10 April, 2017, 07:09:10 PM
Get Out - Is this the first black horror movie?
Not by a long chalk. I can think of Blacula (and it's sequel), Tales From The Hood, JD's Revenge, Blackenstein, Abby, and Ganja and Hess just off the top of my head.
Candyman
Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror
Leprechaun in the Hood
etc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 April, 2017, 11:35:17 AM
Let's put it another way.

Is this the first non-blaxploitation horror movie? That stars a black protagonist, doesn't revolve entirely round the 'hood and has a black creative team... Certainly not, as Ganja & Hess appears to fit all those points! Looks like one I will have to chase down. But still - I think that if pressed for a black horror movie that wasn't an exploitation movie, we would all jump to Candyman, a decent movie but one with a white person in every major role but the boogeyman.

(All that said, whilst race does factor into the story of Get Out and the characters, it's not a movie about race per se.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 11 April, 2017, 11:38:42 AM
I stand corrected - thank you!

I don't watch a lot of horror movies on account of having a very overactive imagination.
I still check under my bed for monsters, I'm 37.

Re: Who Took Johnny?

[spoiler]Epic levels of WTF??? Wasn't it odd that the one day his Dad did not go with him he was abducted? Why were the police so reluctant to look for him? Why wouldn't they interview Paul Bonacci? Was that really him that showed up on the mother's doorstep all those years later? Where is he now? Jesus H Christ. WHO SENT HIS MOTHER PICTURES OF YOUNG BOYS BOUND AND GAGGED?[/spoiler]



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 03:04:54 PM
Thanks to being nagged by my dad to 'switch off the computer and do something fun for a couple of hours' last night, I finally got to watch Rogue One on Blu Ray.

Well... it got me away from the computer for a  couple of hours.

That, ladies and gents, was a truly atrocious movie. Bereft of life, horribly acted for the most part, full of unnecessary padding and saddled with horribly inconsistent logic. I am simply amazed that there are folks out there who like it.

It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie I've ever seen. And certainly the worst Gareth Edwards movie I've seen. If I was done with the franchise before, I'm doubly done with it now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 11 April, 2017, 04:30:30 PM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 03:04:54 PM
Thanks to being nagged by my dad to 'switch off the computer and do something fun for a couple of hours' last night, I finally got to watch Rogue One on Blu Ray.

Well... it got me away from the computer for a  couple of hours.

That, ladies and gents, was a truly atrocious movie. Bereft of life, horribly acted for the most part, full of unnecessary padding and saddled with horribly inconsistent logic. I am simply amazed that there are folks out there who like it.

It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie I've ever seen. And certainly the worst Gareth Edwards movie I've seen. If I was done with the franchise before, I'm doubly done with it now.

I posted on another message board recently that I was baffled by the number if people comparing this film to the original trilogy and stating that it was an equal to empire. Needless to say I got a curt response. It is certainly rank last out of all the star wars films for me. Some nice sequences but by no means a consistent film, you can see its hasty re-edits and re-shoot tinkering throughout. It's major crime is that it's mostly dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 April, 2017, 05:03:10 PM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 03:04:54 PM
Thanks to being nagged by my dad to 'switch off the computer and do something fun for a couple of hours' last night, I finally got to watch Rogue One on Blu Ray.

Well... it got me away from the computer for a  couple of hours.

That, ladies and gents, was a truly atrocious movie. Bereft of life, horribly acted for the most part, full of unnecessary padding and saddled with horribly inconsistent logic. I am simply amazed that there are folks out there who like it.

It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie I've ever seen. And certainly the worst Gareth Edwards movie I've seen. If I was done with the franchise before, I'm doubly done with it now.

I won't argue with you. While I felt it was better than the prequels it is by no means a great film.

Still, it's head and shoulders above Independence Day: Resurgence, which I finally allowed myself to be goaded into watching. Horrible film from start to finish with not a single redeeming quality. Blech.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 April, 2017, 05:54:06 PM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 03:04:54 PM
Thanks to being nagged by my dad to 'switch off the computer and do something fun for a couple of hours' last night, I finally got to watch Rogue One on Blu Ray.

Well... it got me away from the computer for a  couple of hours.

That, ladies and gents, was a truly atrocious movie. Bereft of life, horribly acted for the most part, full of unnecessary padding and saddled with horribly inconsistent logic. I am simply amazed that there are folks out there who like it.

It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie I've ever seen. And certainly the worst Gareth Edwards movie I've seen. If I was done with the franchise before, I'm doubly done with it now.
I agree.I was just too afraid to say it online. :-X
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 April, 2017, 06:40:49 PM
I enjoyed it far more than any SW film since the original trilogy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2017, 06:51:34 PM
I fudging loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 April, 2017, 06:55:33 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 April, 2017, 06:40:49 PM
I enjoyed it far more than any SW film since the original trilogy

Likewise, although I haven't yet seen it at home, which may be a different experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 07:09:39 PM
This, ladies and gents... THIS is the comment on Rogue One I most agree with here (so far.)

Quote from: SIP on 11 April, 2017, 04:30:30 PM

I posted on another message board recently that I was baffled by the number if people comparing this film to the original trilogy and stating that it was an equal to empire. Needless to say I got a curt response. It is certainly rank last out of all the star wars films for me. Some nice sequences but by no means a consistent film, you can see its hasty re-edits and re-shoot tinkering throughout. It's major crime is that it's mostly dull.

That dullness aspect is what really struck me. A film about war in space, with spaceships and walking personnel carriers and robots and aliens and everything should NOT feel like a chore to watch.

What got me most was how shockingly inept the writing and direction were. I hasten to add, I don't like to be *that guy* who harps on about things he didn't like about a film when other folks have said they enjoyed it, but this film is BAD.

Just off the top of my head, here are serious problems things that leapt out at me:

1. Gareth Edwards' direction on this film is deplorably bad. There's an ACTUAL drama shot in this film of STUFF FALLING OVER. Not important stuff. Just stuff. It reminded me of a dire cable TV film I saw years ago that featured an inexplicable close up of a car exhaust after said car had parked. Me and my dad actually looked at each other agog at that point. Sort of similar to this shot was the heavy handed reveal of the Master Switch during the final act. Oh look! There's a computer console with a dirty great yank handle on it. That must be it.

Other offenses: multiple establishing shots - mostly of spaceships flying about or coming in to land, which bloat out the first act to a ridiculous degree. As well as failing to properly establish (at least visually) one key detail late in the film, that being that [spoiler]the Death Star is capable of hyperspace travel.[/spoiler]

2. Wonky character arcs. Critically, the lead character's. Jyn Erso grows up disinterested and resentful of the Rebel Alliance because 'all it's brought her is pain.' Then later in the movie, after [spoiler]her dad gets blown up [/spoiler] she's suddenly giving speeches to the Rebel Alliance about how important they are and how they're built on a foundation of hope.

Wait - WHAT?! This woman just witnessed [spoiler]her OWN FATHER being blown up BY THE REBEL ALLIANCE![/spoiler] And that doesn't further the idea she's developed that the Rebel Alliance is a bad thing? As Chris Griffin might say: UWHAAAAAAAAT?!

3. The blind space not-a-Jedi. Holy crap this was a fumbled play! A potentially awesome concept. And in execution, at least early on, it WAS awesome. But, how is it that this blind space samurai is able to take out an entire beach of stormtroopers with naught but a stick, fire a gun at a moving airborne target with pin sharp accuracy, sense that he's having a hood placed over his head in an earlier scene, but then, [spoiler]when he goes out to yank the Master Switch... starts fumbling about for it on the console?! [/spoiler]

Come to think about it... how trusting are those Rebel types to hand over a weapon to a blind guy with an overt devotion to a wacky space religion?


So, while I'll defend until death anybody else's right to enjoy this movie and be genuinely entertained by it... I'll also defend until death my own verdict that it's complete and utter balls.

Our Blu Ray has been ebayed at a profit of (shockingly!) 200%. I have no words.

My apologies in advance if the above upsets folks who enjoyed the film. I don't want to poop on anyone's parade. But I DO like to encourage folks to question the quality of their entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 07:24:16 PM
In fact, just to undo a little of my above bitterness, I'm going to share something more positive:

Over the weekend, I saw a movie I'd been curious about for a bit but reluctant to actually pick up - mostly because these kinds of things have a habit of proving unsatisfying when you actually sit down in front of them.

But I was wrong this time! The Shallows, which is all bout Blake Lively being stranded on a rock with nothing but a flightless seagull and a ravenous people-hungry great white shark, is actually rock solid stuff.

It's a really good looking movie on Blu Ray, with some really spectacular cinematography. The only downside is that the HD experience does reveal some inconsistent CG. There are shots that look pretty obviously composited and poorly keyed i[spoiler][/spoiler]n, while in others, the effects are VERY convincing.

Blake Lively is absolutely fantastic in the film, and I was really pleased to see that, while there are some gruesome moments, the film doesn't skew towards outright gore or gratuitous shock tactics.

Only two minor quibbles: I didn't care for the tweenybopper songs that got inserted into the movie, because I'm old now, and the entire film seems predicated on one rather shoddy bit of happenstance. The shark in this film is depicted as a single minded murder machine, and yet, early on, [spoiler]it bites Blake Lively's character and lets her go with comparatively little fuss.[/spoiler]

BUT! Minor complaints aside, it's a surprisingly good movie. If you haven't seen it yet, and it appeals, see it in Hi-Def.

And now I'm off to letter comics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 April, 2017, 07:40:31 PM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 07:24:16 PM
In fact, just to undo a little of my above bitterness, I'm going to share something more positive:

Over the weekend, I saw a movie I'd been curious about for a bit but reluctant to actually pick up - mostly because these kinds of things have a habit of proving unsatisfying when you actually sit down in front of them.

But I was wrong this time! The Shallows, which is all bout Blake Lively being stranded on a rock with nothing but a flightless seagull and a ravenous people-hungry great white shark, is actually rock solid stuff.

It's a really good looking movie on Blu Ray, with some really spectacular cinematography. The only downside is that the HD experience does reveal some inconsistent CG. There are shots that look pretty obviously composited and poorly keyed i[spoiler][/spoiler]n, while in others, the effects are VERY convincing.

Blake Lively is absolutely fantastic in the film, and I was really pleased to see that, while there are some gruesome moments, the film doesn't skew towards outright gore or gratuitous shock tactics.

Only two minor quibbles: I didn't care for the tweenybopper songs that got inserted into the movie, because I'm old now, and the entire film seems predicated on one rather shoddy bit of happenstance. The shark in this film is depicted as a single minded murder machine, and yet, early on, [spoiler]it bites Blake Lively's character and lets her go with comparatively little fuss.[/spoiler]

BUT! Minor complaints aside, it's a surprisingly good movie. If you haven't seen it yet, and it appeals, see it in Hi-Def.

I agree completely. I saw this some time ago and was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was a solid film with some good tension and not overly gory. I was also surprising as I'd never heard of the Lively lass before.

If you like sharky, bitey films, this one is quite a treat.

Quote
And now I'm off to letter comics.

Just don't let the shop owner catch you at it. ;) :crazy:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 April, 2017, 07:49:11 PM
It only a film
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 April, 2017, 07:55:29 PM
The Force Awakens set the bar pretty low for future Star Wars films, but I have to be honest and admit that Rogue One was okay.  I think a lot of criticism of it isn't objective, though, being mostly a mix of nitpicks and confirmation bias best summed up by those tutting at Darth Vader being in it and insisting there's no reason for him to be there.

On a personal note, it felt like the first "proper" Star Wars film I'd seen since the original series.  The story didn't feel very Star Warsy - except in a sort of "backup comic strip in a Marvel UK comic from around 1982-83ish" kind of way - but the trappings, the atmosphere, the unrushed direction of characters and scenes felt more like the original trilogy than the Prequels or The Force Awakens did - especially the climactic space battle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 08:03:41 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 11 April, 2017, 07:49:11 PM
It only a film

I like you. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 11 April, 2017, 08:40:42 PM
I will waiting for Special Edition or Director's Cut in 10 years time for those missing scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 April, 2017, 09:20:11 PM
Breaking Bad: The Movie. Before you get too excited, this is a fan-made project whereby the tv series has been chopped up and distilled into a two hour single film. Of course, it suffers for this and is not the best film ever made by a long shot, with plot-holes aplenty and some mystifying character development.

That said, the source material is of such high quality that I can honestly say I've watched far worse films in my time. Far worse. For all its obvious flaws it hangs together pretty well and has been cut and spliced in a way that doesn't jar. If you fancy a bit of BB but don't want to trawl through the whole thing again, this film is an acceptable reminder of how awesome Walter White's adventure really was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 11 April, 2017, 09:25:30 PM
Maybe you will all have a different take on Rogue One to me.......i am a Star Wars fanboy and this got me through the first viewing - think I was just wowed by seeing Darth Vader. The whole thing completely fell apart for me on the second viewing.  It becomes blatantly apparent that it's a mess.

After seeing a Star Wars film twice, my previous form with a Star Wars movie is to look forward to the next 20 or 30 viewings. Hell, I've seen revenge of the sith at least 50 times (I know...).  And yet I haven't even bothered to buy Rogue One.

Say what you like about Force Awakens, it IS a cohesive and generally fun film. I can't say either of those things about Rogue One.  I look forward to the Force Awakens sequel and hopefully its trailer before the end of the week. That film had new enjoyable characters in it that I am interested to follow. I got to The end of Rogue One and genuinely couldn't care less about the fates of any of the characters involved.  Just made me think "damn, should have used Vader a bit more while we still have James Earl Jones".

Really keen to hear what people think of Rogue One once they have seen it multiple times (though the last person I said that to told me that they had seen it 11 times and still loved it.....so there you go).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tony Angelino on 11 April, 2017, 09:37:03 PM
Interesting view. I loved Rogue One (although I've only watched it once) while I thought The Force Awakens was a bit bland.

I didn't like the two CGI characters and it definitely has other flaws but I thought it was great, possibly even my favourite Star Wars film.

I was disappointed a bit in Ben Mendelsohn though as he is a great actor and if you haven't watched Netflix's Bloodline then it is one to look out for. I thought he was a bit miscast in the Rogue One role and would have been far better in a Han Solo type role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 10:05:50 PM
Quote from: Tony Angelino on 11 April, 2017, 09:37:03 PM

I didn't like the two CGI characters and it definitely has other flaws but I thought it was great, possibly even my favourite Star Wars film.

I was disappointed a bit in Ben Mendelsohn though as he is a great actor and if you haven't watched Netflix's Bloodline then it is one to look out for. I thought he was a bit miscast in the Rogue One role and would have been far better in a Han Solo type role.

Interesting you bring these points up. I was actually quite surprised at how well I thought they recreated Peter Cushing. The voice was wrong, to my ears, but visually I found him convincing. I wasn't so enamoured with the digitally rebuilt Carrie Fisher, though. She just looked scary.

And there were a few moment where I thought that Krennic dude looked a bit liek a craggier Han Solo. So I definitely see what youre driving at there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 11 April, 2017, 10:19:51 PM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 10:05:50 PM
Quote from: Tony Angelino on 11 April, 2017, 09:37:03 PM

I didn't like the two CGI characters and it definitely has other flaws but I thought it was great, possibly even my favourite Star Wars film.

I was disappointed a bit in Ben Mendelsohn though as he is a great actor and if you haven't watched Netflix's Bloodline then it is one to look out for. I thought he was a bit miscast in the Rogue One role and would have been far better in a Han Solo type role.

Interesting you bring these points up. I was actually quite surprised at how well I thought they recreated Peter Cushing. The voice was wrong, to my ears, but visually I found him convincing. I wasn't so enamoured with the digitally rebuilt Carrie Fisher, though. She just looked scary.

And there were a few moment where I thought that Krennic dude looked a bit liek a craggier Han Solo. So I definitely see what youre driving at there.

On the CGI characters in Rogue One, I first saw the film on 3d I max and the cgi didn't look at all convincing. On the second viewing, in 2d on a lot smaller screen, it loked much better. I was quite impressed with it. I suspect it may look wholly more impressive again on a standard TV screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 12:04:32 AM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 07:09:39 PM
This woman just witnessed [spoiler]her OWN FATHER being blown up BY THE REBEL ALLIANCE![/spoiler] And that doesn't further the idea she's developed that the Rebel Alliance is a bad thing?

I'd be the first to say that Jyn's character is a bit of an uncomfortable fudge, the victim of substantial last minute changes, but what you describe isn't what happens... She's just learnt that far from being an Imperial stooge that abandoned her, her father gave up his whole life, and effectively hers too,  to work on a planet-killing monstrosity just so that he could build in an Achilles' Heel.  Despite the fact that she's pissed off with the Alliance's murder of Galen, which is compelling evidence of their deeply conservative and defensive thinking in a war they are losing, the fact is that their resources are the only hope she has of making something out of her father's sacrifice. In re-using Cassian's 'hope' speech she's criticising what the Rebellion is, and exhorting them to be what she needs them to be: risk-takers, martyrs, gambling everything on this one last chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 April, 2017, 03:24:21 AM
I thought whatsisface with the white cloak was completely forgetable. They should have doubled down and just used Vader as the primary antagonist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 April, 2017, 10:06:29 AM
I find it difficult to understand the extremities of opinion on Rogue One (I'm horrified to find I'm in agreement with Professor Bear!). Its okay. When it came out people seemed to adore it. Now apparently people hate it.

Its okay.

I mean yes its the best film since the original trilogy. But then that's not really setting a high standard is it.

Its nowhere near as good as any film in the original trilogy. But then that does have a high standard.

Its okay.

The big black robot was very cool mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 10:28:15 AM
Yeah, I'd agree with that: it wasn't what I want from a SW movie, but it has some really fantastic bits, and it adds value to the OT and the Prequel cartoons rather than s****ing on them, so I'm calling it a victory on points.

On the other hand, WTF is this piece of half-arsed hackwork masquerading as a professional DVD cover:

(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1611/7503/products/Rouge_One_2dDVD_300x.jpg?v=1488881945)

As far as I can tell from that, this movie is about some gap-year students whose bus into Patong hasn't turned up on time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 April, 2017, 10:36:54 AM
Vader really out to get that Death Star sized zit on the back of his head checked out...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 April, 2017, 10:50:32 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 10:28:15 AM
On the other hand, WTF is this piece of half-arsed hackwork masquerading as a professional DVD cover:

Needs more lens flare.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 April, 2017, 10:52:03 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 April, 2017, 10:50:32 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 10:28:15 AM
On the other hand, WTF is this piece of half-arsed hackwork masquerading as a professional DVD cover:

Needs more lens flare.
I think that one that's perfectly framed to silhouette Jyn's arse is enough.

Urgh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 11:23:48 AM
I did enjoy Rogue One the first time I watched it at the cinema, enough to download a copy to put me on until I could buy the dvd. I've watched it again a couple of times and enjoyed it a bit less with each viewing - now I'm waiting to buy the dvd on offer or at a charity shop/ car boot sale.

I still like it well enough - I like all the SW films well enough but they're not my favourites - but mainly for the ship/creature/location/machinery/sound designs rather than the characters or story. I don't think anything can beat them for overall design.

For me it's the stories and characters that let the films down. For instance, Forest Whitaker's Saw Whatsisname character - not a bad idea as a kind of rebel version of Darth Vader, with his robotic parts and plastic wheezey mask. He's obviously shown a great deal of resilience and determination to not only survive his bodily erosion but also to keep on fighting but, in the end, instead of helping to convince the rest of the rebels to grow a pair and go on the offensive, join in that last battle to die a heroic death or even make a run for a ship, he just gives up. He allows himself and his men, to whom he seems to pay no attention to in the end,  to be consumed by the destructive wave as meek as a lamb. Waste of a good character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 April, 2017, 11:29:45 AM
Saw Gerera is a character carried over from the Clone Wars cartoon where he was a freedom fighter and liberator. The backstory as to how his respiratory system got fucked was covered in Rebels Season 3 as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 11:34:40 AM
I haven't seen Clone Wars but I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Rebels - looking forward to S3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 April, 2017, 12:00:22 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 11:34:40 AM
I haven't seen Clone Wars but I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Rebels - looking forward to S3.

It's very good. The back end of the season is excellent. Wait until you get to Ep19. :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 12:11:46 PM
Great stuff, now I'm chomping at the bit to see it! I loved Darth Vader's appearances - he was even more effective here than in Rogue One, I thought, and when [spoiler]Darth Maul[/spoiler] turned up I was properly impressed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 12 April, 2017, 12:20:59 PM
Well,he was in Clone Wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 12:23:12 PM
Damn. Looks like I'm going to have to hunt that down as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 12:24:10 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 11:23:48 AM... in the end, instead of helping to convince the rest of the rebels to grow a pair and go on the offensive, join in that last battle to die a heroic death or even make a run for a ship, he just gives up. He allows himself and his men, to whom he seems to pay no attention to in the end,  to be consumed by the destructive wave as meek as a lamb. Waste of a good character.

Spot on there.  I still think he's a great addition to the film, and the overall mythos, but I just can't work out what's going on in his head at the end: I've sort of settled on imagining his identifying the end of his long war with Jedha's plight, and with its destruction his fight is over (in reality the character is another victim of the last-minute rewrite that saw him cut out of the story after Jedha, but it would have been nice if that had been towards the Ben Kenobi end of the convenient-write-out spectrum, rather than heavily on the Padme side).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 April, 2017, 01:11:47 PM
Perhaps he's just tired of running. His home world Onderon was annexed by the Sepratists, leading to a violent civil war. Onderon was later one of the worlds destroyed as a test run by the Death Star, every planet he set foot on during the Galactic Civil War somehow ended up well and truly dead (Geonosis for one). Perhaps in relation to Rogue One as a self contained serial his sacrifice doesn't make much sense, but in relation to his previous appearances I think it makes more sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 01:23:28 PM
Even if that's true it's lazy writing. I think Tordels is right about him being the victim of rewrites. It would have been so easy to, for example, have him mentally broken by seeing the might of the Death Star ("all I did - for nothing... Nobody can fight that..."), giving up in the wake of the death of a loved one ("I can't fight any more, not without her at my side,"), trapped under rubble, unable to run, shouting defiance with his last breath or any number of other ways. But no, he just fizzles out and I think that's a crying shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 April, 2017, 01:24:35 PM
He had wonky legs and couldn't run, you insensitive monsters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 01:27:31 PM
Maybe so - but he could at least have tried to hop it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 April, 2017, 01:31:40 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 April, 2017, 01:24:35 PM
He had wonky legs and couldn't run, you insensitive monsters.
The ablism in this forum has gone too far this time!

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 12 April, 2017, 01:23:28 PM
giving up in the wake of the death of a loved one ("I can't fight any more, not without her at my side,"),
Amazingly that actually is a part of his story line as far back as Clone Wars!

But as you say, taken out of context it's kinda ropey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 12 April, 2017, 06:01:40 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 April, 2017, 12:04:32 AM
Quote from: HdE on 11 April, 2017, 07:09:39 PM
This woman just witnessed [spoiler]her OWN FATHER being blown up BY THE REBEL ALLIANCE![/spoiler] And that doesn't further the idea she's developed that the Rebel Alliance is a bad thing?

I'd be the first to say that Jyn's character is a bit of an uncomfortable fudge, the victim of substantial last minute changes, but what you describe isn't what happens... She's just learnt that far from being an Imperial stooge that abandoned her, her father gave up his whole life, and effectively hers too,  to work on a planet-killing monstrosity just so that he could build in an Achilles' Heel.  Despite the fact that she's pissed off with the Alliance's murder of Galen, which is compelling evidence of their deeply conservative and defensive thinking in a war they are losing, the fact is that their resources are the only hope she has of making something out of her father's sacrifice. In re-using Cassian's 'hope' speech she's criticising what the Rebellion is, and exhorting them to be what she needs them to be: risk-takers, martyrs, gambling everything on this one last chance.

This is the kind of thing that the reasonable part of me, that's still ticking away underneath all the bile and hatred, wants to look back at the film for.

But that's not gonna happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 April, 2017, 08:20:27 PM
If anyone can square the circle about her father being a collateral victim of the war against the Empire, arguably it's Jyn: a Rebel extremist for many years, eventually turning her back on the cause not because she lost faith in it but because she was excised by yet another father figure.  As TB points out, without that disappointment in Saw and Galen that had sent her on a downward spiral, Jyn's faith in the Rebellion/hatred of the Empire was free to reassert itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 12 April, 2017, 11:16:32 PM
I have absolutely no idea who any of these people you're all talking about are. And I'm pretty fucking damn sure I saw ROGUE ONE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 12 April, 2017, 11:30:10 PM
Echh. Haven't even seen Rogue One yet - we'll get there. Maybe in 2019.

As it stands...

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015)
Meandering but likable. Burdened with a flabby narrative but enriched by solid casting and eye-meltingly glorious special effects. Certainly could be a great deal shorter and a little bit more refined but my love for the genius of Brad Bird remains unfettered - the doe-eyed 60's optimism is endearing and the film is remarkably free of many of the tropes that would make it cynically hateful. For Disney to be making this sort of self-contained original film in the era of the OMNIFRANCHISE is a rare treat - and there's something marvelously Twilight-Zoney about the whole undertaking that makes it more memorable than regrettable in my view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 13 April, 2017, 12:10:22 AM
Super

I loved it! So brutal! Better than Kick-Ass! He really did hit people with that wench!

Watch out for that director James Gunn, wonder what he does now?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 April, 2017, 08:27:03 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 13 April, 2017, 12:10:22 AM
Super

I loved it! So brutal! Better than Kick-Ass! He really did hit people with that wench!

Watch out for that director James Gunn, wonder what he does now?
Super is the cape satire movie Kick-Ass wishes it was.

Blunt as a hammer but so brilliantly cynicle and dry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 13 April, 2017, 09:38:39 AM
I absolutely love Super. SHUTUP CRIME!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 April, 2017, 10:58:04 AM
I'd never heard of Super but due to the love on this forum for it I checked out the trailer.
Looked good.
Now watching it on Netflix.
Trailer has all the good parts.  :|
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 April, 2017, 01:43:14 PM
I really enjoyed the last couple of minutes of Super but it was a pretty low rent Kick Ass for the most part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 April, 2017, 03:23:06 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 12 April, 2017, 11:30:10 PM
Echh. Haven't even seen Rogue One yet - we'll get there. Maybe in 2019.

As it stands...

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015)
Meandering but likable. Burdened with a flabby narrative but enriched by solid casting and eye-meltingly glorious special effects. Certainly could be a great deal shorter and a little bit more refined but my love for the genius of Brad Bird remains unfettered - the doe-eyed 60's optimism is endearing and the film is remarkably free of many of the tropes that would make it cynically hateful. For Disney to be making this sort of self-contained original film in the era of the OMNIFRANCHISE is a rare treat - and there's something marvelously Twilight-Zoney about the whole undertaking that makes it more memorable than regrettable in my view.

I was one of those that saw it in the cinema and was quite pleased at the time. After all the teenage angsty dystopian muck it was a refreshingly positive change. If the story had been more focused I think it would have been much better received.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 April, 2017, 03:40:53 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 April, 2017, 03:23:06 PM
If the story had been more focused I think it would have been much better received.

Agreed - Brad Bird is normally extraordinarily good at narratives. I blame co-writer Damon Lindelof who wrote Lost, Cowboys and Aliens, Star Trek Into Darkness and Prometheus...

Ah well - if the critical fall-out resulted in Bird returning to animation it's no bad thing at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 April, 2017, 04:21:17 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 April, 2017, 03:40:53 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 April, 2017, 03:23:06 PM
If the story had been more focused I think it would have been much better received.

Agreed - Brad Bird is normally extraordinarily good at narratives. I blame co-writer Damon Lindelof who wrote Lost, Cowboys and Aliens, Star Trek Into Darkness and Prometheus...

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of it, right up to the point that I realised that there wasn't going to be any extended sequence in Tomorrowland itself, and the [spoiler]Jules Verne Eiffel Tower[/spoiler] setup was as close as it was going to get; and shortly thereafter that none of the big puzzles were going to be addressed.  And [spoiler]killing off Athena [/spoiler]was a pretty much unforgivable downer in a film whose theme was the value of optimism.

But there's loads to enjoy in there, some great (if odd) performances, great designs, a strong message... it just doesn't quite deliver what it promises. Owen is spot on with his list of Lindelhof films that suffer similar fates. However, much like John Carter it in no way deserved the box office savaging it got.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 April, 2017, 04:33:32 PM
A Damon Lindelof script that promises and never delivers?  I never thought I'd see the day!

Tomorrowland's problem was that it was so reactive to modern YA movies that it never commits to its own supposed convictions.  Theme park/pony/Star Wars enthusiast Jenny Nicholson goes a bit further down the rabbit hole in critiquing the film in a video called "Tomorrowland Ruined My Life And Dreams, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1-74z9dFYs)" but for me, I just couldn't wrap my head around what the point of the film was supposed to be if no-one actually learns the value of optimism that the titular locale represents - the antagonist's complete lack of redemption remains particularly unsatisfying.  If you're going to kill off the baddie, an idea might be to actually make him bad to the point he deserves his fate, rather than just a bit depressed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 April, 2017, 06:15:01 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 13 April, 2017, 04:33:32 PM
Tomorrowland's problem was that it was so reactive to modern YA movies that it never commits to its own supposed convictions.

Well I've seen those sorts of analysis on it - but honestly it's a DISNEY film - it can never reach the level of existential subversiveness that other things of the now can touch on because it's central message seemed to be "STOP THINKING SO HARD AND DREAM". ALSO DISNEY. I enjoyed how uncynical it was (which essentially lies in its vague platitudes I suppose - anything more specific would have felt calculated).

*phew*

In terms of dealing with what is in the film, rather what isn't (never a good basis for judging anything really) - yeah they needed to spend more time in Tomorrowland, they needed to stop fannying around on the Eiffel Tower in a huge sequence that literally meant nothing and yeah killing [spoiler]Hugh and the girl (although admittedly both are accidental not intentional)[/spoiler] felt like the easy option.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 April, 2017, 11:48:50 PM
I would argue that following through on the premise you've spent millions of dollars promoting isn't really subversive, but hey - it was its own bed to shit.

Equals - oh wow, we're just talking about dystopian films and here's one.  Never watch this, it's terrible.  There was a Christian Bale movie called Equilibrium that has the same premise as this, but that was at least passably entertaining because of how dumb and super-Hollywood it got at points, especially the gun-fu scenes and the bit where Bale is trying to hide his emotions from the Emo Nazis while they're asking him if they should set a puppy on fire and his Christian Bale face is practically melting onscreen as he tries to act but not act at the same time.  There's nothing like that in this - no dumb fights, no outrageous OTT melodrama, just a simplistic story of a man and a woman in a society where emotions are a crime and... well, be honest, you already know the rest of the premise just from me saying that much, don't you?  Like Equilibrium, this can be watched as a parody of its genre, but that gets old surprisingly fast with Equals, which doesn't even have a decent title you can implant the word "shit" into to illustrate your low regard for its quality.  "SHITquals" - see?  Doesn't work at all.  Even the fucking title of the film is utterly worthless.

Kong: Skull Island - I enjoyed this more than the last couple of Godzillas.  This is exactly the kind of schlocky pulp nonsense that I wanted to see, with some great lines and images that illustrate how modern CGI can allow directors to transpose concept art directly onto the screen, for better or for worse.  The [spoiler]Godzillaverse[/spoiler] references are surprisingly unsubtle for something like this, and while they're fun for fans, I get the impression that those not aware of the connections going in will likely enjoy all the talk of "the original owners of the Earth" for its Lovecraftian overtones and general air of inescapable doom they bring to proceedings.  Really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 April, 2017, 11:58:21 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 April, 2017, 03:23:06 PMI was one of those that saw it in the cinema and was quite pleased at the time. After all the teenage angsty dystopian muck it was a refreshingly positive change. If the story had been more focused I think it would have been much better received.

You may have just exchanged teenage angsty dystopian muck for middle-age angsty dystopian muck.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 15 April, 2017, 10:49:49 PM
Watch latest Ghostbusters.

Really? What a crap and shit film!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 16 April, 2017, 06:28:35 AM
Robocop (2014).Not as terrible as I expected,but its a generic/mediocre action movie.I got to say,Samuel L Jackson does steal the show.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 17 April, 2017, 04:01:29 PM
Despite having a few new and unwatched bits to go at, I dug out 'No Country for Old Men', and 'Donnie Darko', for yet another re-watch.

Both are kinda perfection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2017, 10:16:18 PM
Warcraft. In a 'how bad could it REALLY be?' moment.

Yes. It's that bad. It's irredeemably awful. The plot makes no sense. The CGI is plastic and weightless. There's not one single character with consistent or comprehensible motivation. The design is so generic your eyes just slide right off it. There isn't a single line of dialogue that rises above functional or cliche. To add insult to injury, it might as well end with a massive 'To Be Continued' caption, because it doesn't even wrap up properly.

This is the worst movie I have seen in years. It's so bad, I can't even feel angry about it -- no one sets out to make a film this terrible, and I just ended up feeling sorry for everyone involved with this stinking turd of a project.

It's even worse than Man Of Steel, and I didn't even get to the end of that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 18 April, 2017, 01:10:21 AM
Duncan Jones is never going to make a 2000 AD film with that kind of talk Jim!

HE DIDN'T MEAN IT MASTER, WE LOVE YOU. MOON WAS GREAT SO I'VE HEARD. SOURCE CODE WAS TOLERABLE I'M LED TO BELIEVE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 April, 2017, 02:05:22 AM
You'll have to take my word that I usually watch bad movies all the way through, but I only made it something like three minutes into Warcraft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 April, 2017, 06:08:45 AM
Warcraft was bad,no argument there.But it was kinda fun.It knows its crap,it caters to the fans of the rts games,it has a few nice easter eggs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 April, 2017, 06:30:47 AM
I was disappointed that Warcraft flopped (rightly so though, it is pretty much unwatchable - got through about an hour before turning it off). Mainly because of what it's done to Duncan Jones's career trajectory.
I don't want to see him go the same way as Danny Cannon or Neil Marshall and pretty much give up with films in favour of TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 18 April, 2017, 09:18:19 AM
Games to films seem like a bit of a poison chalice, with something like Warcraft there's all sorts of design considerations like the chunky armour so that they read well in the top down view.

By the time you've gone from knocked off D&D/Tolkien source to game, and then back to film *and* taking the interactivity out of it, I'm not sure it's ever going to work.

Plus coming into it after Sam Raimi bailed, and dealing with two serious illnesses in the family it must have been a tough project.

I still went to see it at the cinema, and didn't think it was that bad - the Orcs were far more interesting than the humans for the most part.

Looking forward to Mute anyway, seems like that will be more of a return to the likes of Moon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
THE HANDMAIDEN

Oldboy director Park Chan-wook cuts loose on a tale of intrigue and hustles in Japanese occupied Korea in the 1930s.  It's visually compelling to look at from the get-go (and gorgeously scored too) but as events unfold and are retold from different perspectives (giving an entirely new take on what's going on and who's conning who) it gets only better and better.

By the time it finishes, the men are ALL irredeemable bastards and I'm still not entirely sure who was most naive and most conned.

Great stuff.

Oh and if you are a bloke thinking of going to see it just for the hot, lesbian action*, you'll be reminded in the narrative itself why that still makes you a hot sweaty pervert.


*This movie was actually Mrs. Tips choice; and I did warn her off thinking it might get too dark for her tastes so I could stand proud in the cinema that I wasn't a hot, sweaty pervert.


A SINGLE MAN
Colin Firth, an Englishman in LA, struggles to get over the loss of his long-time partner Matthew Goode. It's the sixties so society isn't quite ready to let him grieve openly - he's not even allowed to the funeral in one of the most touching scenes - and this follows him for one day as he struggles with exactly what to do with that old service revolver (in one of the funniest scenes).  Again it's all gorgeously presented (did Tom Ford - director ever do ads?) and framed throughout as Falconer (Firth) is an outsider looking in.  Julianne Moore is in it and is also great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 April, 2017, 01:53:07 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
THE HANDMAIDEN

Oldboy director Park Chan-wook cuts loose on a tale of intrigue and hustles in Japanese occupied Korea in the 1930s.  It's visually compelling to look at from the get-go (and gorgeously scored too) but as events unfold and are retold from different perspectives (giving an entirely new take on what's going on and who's conning who) it gets only better and better.

By the time it finishes, the men are ALL irredeemable bastards and I'm still not entirely sure who was most naive and most conned.

Great stuff.

Oh and if you are a bloke thinking of going to see it just for the hot, lesbian action*, you'll be reminded in the narrative itself why that still makes you a hot sweaty pervert.

Looking forward to this a great deal, as a hug fan of PCW's body of work (I seem to be in the minority who enjoyed Stoker as well!) and The Handmaiden has done nothing but get me hyped, it looks utterly phenomenal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 18 April, 2017, 02:19:06 PM
The Void -  Stick The Thing, Prince of Darkness and Hellraiser in a blender and this is what you get.

Loved - The special effects are mostly make up and suits/animatronics

Hated - There is some very obvious basil in this. "You're just like your father, as he was stubborn just like you're being now", "Don't talk to her like that as she's my ex wife", etc

I quite enjoyed it as a low budget monster movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 April, 2017, 03:12:46 PM
Logan wasn't quite the masterpiece I'd been sold but it was an enjoyable movie with a lot going for it. Definitely worth a watch and enjoyably stabby, violent and sweary. Kid was great and Jackman & Stewart did very well indeed. Professor X's lack of concern over Caliban didn't sit right with me as did Caliban's rather abrupt (clumsy) exit from the narrative, and I also grew tired of the plot armour surrounding the main baddie.

Still I am a sucker for broken heroes and always loved the X-Men as a beacon of hope in a world torn by hatred and fear. More so than the god-like vigilantes and adventurers of the Justice League, or the semi-official standing of the Avengers, the X-Men were superheroes who tried their best in the face of natural adversity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 April, 2017, 03:58:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
THE HANDMAIDEN
*This movie was actually Mrs. Tips choice; and I did warn her off thinking it might get too dark for her tastes so I could stand proud in the cinema that I wasn't a hot, sweaty pervert.

If you're "standing proud" in the cinema, I'd say you WERE a hot sweaty pervert. Keep it in yer pants, dude!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 April, 2017, 09:14:25 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 April, 2017, 03:58:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
THE HANDMAIDEN
*This movie was actually Mrs. Tips choice; and I did warn her off thinking it might get too dark for her tastes so I could stand proud in the cinema that I wasn't a hot, sweaty pervert.

If you're "standing proud" in the cinema, I'd say you WERE a hot sweaty pervert. Keep it in yer pants, dude!
'Snort' :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 April, 2017, 11:41:56 PM
Fast and Furious 8

It starts with [spoiler]Vin Diesel winning a race in an old Cuban Banger powered by laughing gas while going backwards and on fire.[/spoiler] It gradually descends into glorious silliness after that.

The Rock is one charismatic sum'bitch it's gotta be said. He completely outshines the rest of the regular cast (not hard), and Charlize Theron is wonderful as always.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 19 April, 2017, 10:46:25 AM
Ghost In The Shell

9/10 - Best movie I've seen all year
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 April, 2017, 09:57:39 PM
The Wicker Man

At times colossally camp - absurdly hokey - utterly magnetic. It's a gloriously insane tale of pagan ritual and the delusion of faith. The late Woodward and Lee are spectacular. The whole thing vibrates with a grim energy and all the soft porn and 70's folk pop musical numbers fall away with that iconic, enthralling, mind-destroying finale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 19 April, 2017, 10:07:07 PM
Quote from: Smith on 16 April, 2017, 06:28:35 AM
Robocop (2014).Not as terrible as I expected,but its a generic/mediocre action movie.I got to say,Samuel L Jackson does steal the show.

Really?

It was far worse than I expected and I expected it to be really bad!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 19 April, 2017, 10:11:37 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 19 April, 2017, 09:57:39 PM
The Wicker Man

At times colossally camp - absurdly hokey - utterly magnetic. It's a gloriously insane tale of pagan ritual and the delusion of faith. The late Woodward and Lee are spectacular. The whole thing vibrates with a grim energy and all the soft porn and 70's folk pop musical numbers fall away with that iconic, enthralling, mind-destroying finale.

It's certainly unique and is easily my favourite 'folk horror' movie-if there even is any other to compare it too!

Regardless, The Wicker Man is an absolute masterpiece and in a class of its own!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 April, 2017, 02:49:29 PM
Waiting for Guffman

Christopher Guest's underrated 90's return to partially improvised mockumentaries (with music written by the other two from Spinal Tap no less) is a smart dissection of small town attitudes and high ambitions. What would become his usual suspects are all there and on strong form as well as a surprise appearance by a young(er) David Cross. Doesn't overstay its welcome and is full of good moments. Definitely deserves more praise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 20 April, 2017, 03:03:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
A SINGLE MAN
Colin Firth, an Englishman in LA, struggles to get over the loss of his long-time partner Matthew Goode. It's the sixties so society isn't quite ready to let him grieve openly - he's not even allowed to the funeral in one of the most touching scenes - and this follows him for one day as he struggles with exactly what to do with that old service revolver (in one of the funniest scenes).  Again it's all gorgeously presented (did Tom Ford - director ever do ads?) and framed throughout as Falconer (Firth) is an outsider looking in.  Julianne Moore is in it and is also great.

Tom Ford is a fashion designer, hence the visual flair. A Single Man is one of my favourite films in the last few years. Maybe the best cinematic depiction of grief (alongside the opening sequence of Up).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 April, 2017, 03:29:42 PM
Hidden Figures - that cracking noise you can hear is the sound of my bones breaking from all the cringing I did at this film.  Like Pride, it's well-meaning, but never gives its audience the benefit of the doubt that they can figure things out for themselves, with every plot beat and tiny triumph punctuated by embarrassing musical keys that pull you to your next manufactured emotional epiphany by the nose.  More than anything, it feels like a harmlessly anodyne "fight for your rights" state-approved movie-within-a-movie that you'd expect characters in a dystopian drama to be watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 20 April, 2017, 04:07:41 PM
Divergent........ugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 20 April, 2017, 08:38:00 PM
Power Rangers

A violent psychological action film by indie director Dean Israelite, Power Rangers is the story of self-destructive teen, Jason Scott.  As the hero quarterback of his small town's high school team,  these years are likely to be the best of Scott's life and soon he will be trapped forever within this fading town, as his father was before him, forced into a life of unrewarding labour and missed opportunity.  Despite Scott's continued lack of introspection, he appears aware that the approbation of his peers has a limited lifespan, although is clearly unable to articulate his frustration at the life ahead of him.  In the opening scene of the movie, Scott devastates his own life at that of a nameless teammate, when a high school prank ends in a car crash.

From here, the story takes an unexpected turn and the rest of the film, a spiralling power/revenge fantasy, takes place entirely within Scott's damaged and unimaginative psyche, presumably whilst he languishes in a hospital bed.

Fantasizing that he somehow survives the crash with little more than a quickly forgotten knee injury, Scott's mind creates a small squad of two dimensional friends, who, through a serious of violent and unlikely events, are gifted super powers by an alien intelligence, played by Brian Cranston.  In this way Scott's need to carry out destructive and selfish acts are justified, as only through these acts can the universe be saved.

Scott's imagined proteges are indicative of his limited understanding of the world around him and his lack of interest in others.  They exist as little more than placeholders.  The space they take up must be reduced even further, however, as the fulfilment of Scott's fantasies requires that these characters voluntarily submit to being nothing more than colour coded symbols.

The fantasy culminates in a violent showdown against a monsterous and faceless representation of the gold mining industry which defines this small town.  As Scott violently rebels against his likely future, he is able to save the life of his disappointed father, shifting the power balance of their relationship and enforcing his own superiority.   

Ultimately, the message here is that teamwork will save the day, although this takes the form of following Scott's orders and abandoning any form of individuality. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 20 April, 2017, 08:49:57 PM
 :lol: Bravo, sir.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 20 April, 2017, 09:03:54 PM
You're a braver man than me Panthero!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2017, 09:05:59 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 20 April, 2017, 02:49:29 PM
Waiting for Guffman

Christopher Guest's underrated 90's return to partially improvised mockumentaries (with music written by the other two from Spinal Tap no less) is a smart dissection of small town attitudes and high ambitions. What would become his usual suspects are all there and on strong form as well as a surprise appearance by a young(er) David Cross. Doesn't overstay its welcome and is full of good moments. Definitely deserves more praise.

Christopher Guest's films of this type are just fantastic. I'm a big fan of this, A Mighty Wind and best of all Best in Show. All fantastic gems that if people haven't seen (and many don't seem to have) are well worth watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 April, 2017, 11:13:30 PM
I would argue that Best in Show is better than Spinal Tap, and I should be able to relate to Spinal Tap more because I was in a shite rock band. The only dogs I've ever owned have been idiots, and I don't get Dog Shows because smart dogs are boring and stupid ones are awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 April, 2017, 12:26:28 AM
Quote from: Modern Panther on 20 April, 2017, 08:38:00 PMThe fantasy culminates in a violent showdown against a monsterous and faceless representation of the gold mining industry which defines this small town.  As Scott violently rebels against his likely future, he is able to save the life of his disappointed father, shifting the power balance of their relationship and enforcing his own superiority.

The largely patriarchal symbolism exemplified by Scott's only significant parental figure being his disapproving father is also reinforced when he is won over not by Scott's finding purpose, but by his rediscovering the liberating power of violence that was lost when Scott abandoned the brutal homoerotic ballet of football.  I wonder if this Freudian symbolism deliberately extends to the only female figures in Scott's life being embodiments of either sex or violence, be it the child pornographer Kimberly, or Rita "Repulsa", a cruel and demonic avatar of Scott's self-destructive desires whose ultimate goal is to publicly immerse him within a fiery vaginal pit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 21 April, 2017, 09:23:03 AM
Quotewhose ultimate goal is to publicly immerse him within a fiery vaginal pit.

Well, we've all been there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 April, 2017, 10:27:57 AM
Quote from: Modern Panther on 20 April, 2017, 08:38:00 PMFrom here, the story takes an unexpected turn and the rest of the film, a spiralling power/revenge fantasy, takes place entirely within Scott's damaged and unimaginative psyche, presumably whilst he languishes in a hospital bed.

Not another 'Adi Shankar' film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 April, 2017, 03:53:09 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 20 April, 2017, 03:03:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2017, 12:30:15 PM
A SINGLE MAN
Colin Firth, an Englishman in LA, struggles to get over the loss of his long-time partner Matthew Goode. It's the sixties so society isn't quite ready to let him grieve openly - he's not even allowed to the funeral in one of the most touching scenes - and this follows him for one day as he struggles with exactly what to do with that old service revolver (in one of the funniest scenes).  Again it's all gorgeously presented (did Tom Ford - director ever do ads?) and framed throughout as Falconer (Firth) is an outsider looking in.  Julianne Moore is in it and is also great.

Tom Ford is a fashion designer, hence the visual flair. A Single Man is one of my favourite films in the last few years. Maybe the best cinematic depiction of grief (alongside the opening sequence of Up).

Oh it's the same Tom Ford. Like the Humphrey Littleton's, I thought it was a different bloke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 22 April, 2017, 07:56:25 AM
The Hills Have Eyes remake. The set design was good. I was excepting Indiana Jones to come climbing out of a fridge at any moment. Shame the story was about as good as Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 April, 2017, 02:06:17 PM
Riddick.

Not bad, but rather similar to Pitch Black albeit with different monster designs. (Both good in their own way, although I wonder how canine creatures so similar to African wild dogs and hyenas* evolved on that world. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they escaped from captivity making 'dingo dongo'** actually more accurate than one might think.)

Considering how different Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick were, I'm kind of glad they made reference to the second film in this, even featuring Karl Urban briefly. This was mostly just to get Riddick into his current situation, mind you. The start felt rather disjointed as a result, lending one to feel like there was almost a whole other film there, or least a section of film that was sped over. Understandable I guess, as they wanted to make the film about Riddick surviving on a world full of monsters and storms, while holding his own against bounty hunters, rather than a revenge flick 'Riddick vs the Necromongers'. Maybe they'll get to that in the next film.

Anway, result: a film whose main structure is almost exactly the same as Pitch Black, and I think Pitch Black did it better.

But as I said, not bad.

I found myself groaning inside (not in a sexy way) at the hot macho lady who  gives us the impression she is a lesbian, right until Riddick turned her head and she decided to 'ask real sweet like'. Dear me, male heterosexual wish-fulfillment, or what? I mean, I'm a male heterosexual, and I found that distasteful.

I wouldn't say it ruined the film though. It was just rather silly.

* Okay, hyenas aren't actually canines, but they have dog-like characteristics.

** Despite their wild nature, dingos are thought to have descended from dogs brought to Australia by human beings. That explains their difference to other native mammals in Australia who tend to be marsupials. (The couple that aren't are even stranger - egg layers.) Considering the fact that the humans they came over with are likely the ancestors of the Australian Aborigine... well, thousands of years still qualifies them as native to my mind though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 April, 2017, 08:59:44 AM
Colossal

An indie dramedy/kaiju mashup starring Anne Hathaway, which is a weird sentence to type. Definitely one of those films where its best that you know as little as possible going in so you can enjoy the twists and turns.

I wasn't fully convinced until about halfway through the movie (and the premise is so preposterous it barely hangs together at times - I suspect that its a bit of a Marmite film and that many viewers just won't be able to go along with it) but it ultimately won me over, and the ending is a real triumph. Really enjoyed it.

4/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 April, 2017, 09:18:27 AM
Mindhorn, the new Julian Barratt (him off The Mighty Boosh) comedy. Very, very funny and immensely likeable stuff. Should go down great with anyone who enjoys his brand of humour or has a soft spot for Partridge-style characters and dialogue. Laughed heartily throughout and look forward to seeing it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 24 April, 2017, 08:22:04 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 April, 2017, 09:18:27 AM
Mindhorn, the new Julian Barratt (him off The Mighty Boosh) comedy. Very, very funny and immensely likeable stuff. Should go down great with anyone who enjoys his brand of humour or has a soft spot for Partridge-style characters and dialogue. Laughed heartily throughout and look forward to seeing it again.

Sweet - heard Barratt talking about this on the Adam Buxton podcast. Think it's going to release straight to Netflix over here - looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 28 April, 2017, 09:24:02 AM
I am Groot, I am groot....I am Groot i am Groot,  I am Groot, I am Groot....I AM GROOT!!!!!!

Just got back from Guardians ot The Galacxy Vol 2 - it was Groot!!!!!  I mean really really Groot, probably one of the Grootest movies I've seen this year.  Easily as Groot as the first one if not better (first one might just have it as it came as such a supprise but this one is expected to be great).
Some really nice eater eggs for Marvel fans and Stans cameo has to be his best yet [spoiler]He telling a bunch of Watchers about his cameos in various movies!!![/spoiler]
The main cast is Groot again, Baby Groot is awww shucks so cute but not annoyingly so, added depth to Rocket and even the returning Nebula and Yondu work out really well [spoiler]Yondu in particular, wont go into details but I nearly shed a tear[/spoiler]
Kurt Russel as EGO the lioving Planet works perfectly even though you'd wonder how the hell can they pull something like a living planet off in a film they do it.  Sylvester Stallone has only a small part but does well.  I'm really glad Gunn is back to do Part 3 he's knocking these out of the park, 2 for 2 so far now if he can get out the difficult 3rd album these will go down as the greatest trilogy of the Marvel movies.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 29 April, 2017, 06:41:58 AM
Lot of Vin Diesel related talk on this page! Even though I don't know if he portrays Baby Groot.  :lol: Can't wait to see that, I love Riddick, and saw Fast and Furious 8 earlier this week, was pretty good.

Tonight saw In Bruges, loved it, me mates loved it as well, I hadn't seen it oddly enough! Great great stuff.

I'll also mention Better off Dead which is solid stuff I hadn't seen before recently, and Moulin Rouge which was a pretty solid kooky musical drama.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 April, 2017, 09:37:27 PM
Finally got around to watching High-rise... man that was disappointing. How can a film be both rushed and ponderous?

For the first 45ish minutes it was really good. For the next 45 it hung onto interesting... its fingers losing grip all the time. The last 30 it was just underlining and adding detail yet no substance. By the end it was scribbling so quickly it had all but obscured the point it was trying to make. The characters didn't need or deserve closure, surely that wasn't the point?

Anyway looked great, had fantastic potential but was completely over egged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 29 April, 2017, 09:50:36 PM
Colin YNWA completely in agreement over that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 07:05:05 AM
Neil Stryker and The Tyrant of Time was the movie tonight... delivered the goods! We were all pretty eager to see Neil's newest adventure, since it'd been quite a while since his original movie Evil Cult (2003), not to be confused with the also good Jet Li movie The Evil Cult.

If you want some hilarious glorious sci-fi action comedy... just call Neil Stryker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 April, 2017, 10:20:51 AM
Got my giallo groove back on last night with SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CATS EYE (dir. Antonio Margheriti, 1973). It's a strange one, being a period piece as well as a giallo, it evokes the Bava era mysteries over the Argento post modern melodramas, and it's not without it's share of bloodshed and thrills, even if they are somewhat tame by comparison to either Bava or Argento. I feel the intentions to make this a period piece set in Scotland (i'm not a history novice enough to make an educated guess at the time frame but 17th century seems a rough guesstimate, and bollocks, I just realized setting up a period piece movie without making it clear WHEN your movie is set is REALLY bad script writing and set design) as a back drop to Italy's changing class system in the 70's, but this kind of comes with a lot of baggage and flab that bloated the primary story line and made the kill sequences jarring.

Not a great giallo, but a curious one none the less, and the new BD from 88 looks stunning. For a giallo with genuinely good social commentary stick to The Cat o' Nine Tails or Death Laid and Egg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 06:48:05 PM
Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies. I like Nightmare Beach, also I love that Giallo parody/homage by Astron6 The Editor.

The only Mario Bava I've seen is Bay of Blood, which I respect for being so influential to the slasher genre, but those slasher movies like Friday the 13th pt 2 are more entertaining for me than this one. Also doesn't grab me like say Tenebre or The Bird with the Crystal Plumage etc. I tend to like the more slick and cool or just somehow entertaining to me ones, some feel like so-so Hitchcock movies to me, like The Psychic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 May, 2017, 12:04:45 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 06:48:05 PM
Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies.

If you're an Argento fan, you've presumably seen the greatest giallo of them all, Profondo Rosso. Non-Argento favourites, off the top of my head:

The Killer Must Kill Again (in many ways the anti-giallo - at no point are we confused, we always know who the murderer is -  a film that has grown on me immeasurably over the years.)
Black Belly of the Tarantula
Don't Torture a Duckling (Fulci - memorable dry run for the chain-whipping sequence from The Beyond.)
What Have You Done to Solange?
All the Colours of the Dark
The Short Night of the Glass Dolls
The House With Laughing Windows
A Blade in the Dark (Lamberto Bava - one of his better ones.)
Stage Fright (more of a slasher than a giallo, but bloody brilliant -because it's by Michele Soavi, who could so easily have been the true successor to Argento.)

You won't go far wrong with those. I'm sure the mighty Hawkmumbler can augment that list with his own choice cuts though, since he seems to devour the glory of Italian cinema with an utterly admirable voraciousness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 01 May, 2017, 05:34:46 AM
Very cool, thanks! And always looking to add more movies to my watch list.

Dario's movies are all so cool they're on another level for me, Profondo Rosso like you mentioned, the style and the music is all so cool, it'd be hard for that movie to lose. And even without those elements it'd be a good entry in the genre.

I can enjoy less flashy ones too, but do like pizazz. And pizzas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 May, 2017, 10:40:32 AM
Just watched 'The Killer Has Reserved Nine Seats' on Netflix.
It's an awesome giallo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 May, 2017, 11:17:13 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 06:48:05 PM
Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies. I like Nightmare Beach, also I love that Giallo parody/homage by Astron6 The Editor.

A very good questions! I'll start off by doubling down on some of Greg's superb recommendations, Don't Torture a Duckling (AKA Don't Torture Donald Duck! Yikes indeed!) is the true unsung masterpiece of the genre. Arguably Fulci's best movie as well, next to The Beyond. A movie that bucks as many trends as it sets, and is across the board simultaneously lush and dank. And the finale has to be seen to be believed.

A Blade in the Dark stands up as Bava Jr's best movie. It's by no means essential but it has it's place in the pantheon that makes it note worth, this one owes a great to deal to early Argento. The Short Night of Glass Dolls is one of the trippiest experiences committed to film, the loops the plot throws you threw are pretty daring I must say.

To double down with What Have They Done to Solange? I highly recommend it's sister movie, What Have They Done to your Daughters?, it's certainly one of the most unflinching, grim, and startling murder mysteries committed to film. Both the opening and closing sequences are hauntingly chilling, and some of the set pieces are gloriously set up. Not for the faint hearted.

A recent addition to my favorites list is the surprisingly unique A Bloodstained Butterfly, this was a very obscure one until Arrow put it out in HD recently, and it mashes giallo melodrama and bright colour schemes with court room drama. There's nothing quite like it, and I really rate this one.

Probably one of the genres most beloved mid tear titles is The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, a movie with some brilliantly creepy set design and foreshadowing, and an unforgettable stalking sequence up there with Tenebre is audaciousness. I also rather enjoyed it's follow up, The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave.

Really, I could go on and on about this particular genre, it pickles my fancy so very much, and this is before we even get into the euro-crime subgenre (though both WHTDTS? and WHTDTYD? are crossovers in this regard, particularly the later) but for now, i'd say these are good entry points for some of the none Argento or Bava Snr. titles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 May, 2017, 03:46:39 PM
Just got back from GOTG 2.
It's good, very good, and the 3-D is probably the best I have seen in a cinema. It's very much like VR in places, enough to give me slight motion sickness.
Goes on about 20 minutes too long in my opinion and they really are taking these epilogues a bit too far (3 I think).
Went with the missus and my (soon to be) 13 year old and we all enjoyed it.
Probably not as good as the first. Soundtrack very good, but again, not as good as the first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 01 May, 2017, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 May, 2017, 11:17:13 AM

Really, I could go on and on about this particular genre, it pickles my fancy so very much, and this is before we even get into the euro-crime subgenre (though both WHTDTS? and WHTDTYD? are crossovers in this regard, particularly the later) but for now, i'd say these are good entry points for some of the none Argento or Bava Snr. titles.

Much thanks! Great to have more movies to check out from fans who've seen a lot.
Title: Last movie watched...
Post by: JoFox2108 on 02 May, 2017, 09:34:13 PM
I just saw a Sci-Fi film called "Transcendence" (2014) this weekend.  It was on TV a short while back here in the UK.  It's essentially a story about building an AI using a biological neural map. The subject seemed pretty interesting so I recorded it on the TiVo but when I came to watch it I realised that it had Johnny Depp in it.  Now I thought he was great as Jack Sparrow but I didn't really want to see that same act with another name so I nearly didn't watch it.  I'm so glad I gave it a go.  Depp was excellent, so much so that I felt bad for having doubted him.  What really got me was that there was a twist which I didn't see coming at all.  I won't say more but I think it was real!y worth watching - I'm still thinking about the implications of it days later.

Sent from my HUAWEI M2-A01W using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 02 May, 2017, 09:39:51 PM
GOTG2.  Not good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 May, 2017, 11:56:34 PM
Best in Show

A more nuanced and carefully structured mockumentary than Guest's Guffman and all the stronger for it. The gradual merging of the storylines is brilliantly paced and the film sparkles with dozens of excellently observed characters. Genuinely a bit magical.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 03 May, 2017, 06:53:14 AM
Yup, Best in show is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 03 May, 2017, 10:56:15 AM
Don't start namin' nuts now!

Brazil.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 May, 2017, 02:03:47 PM
I have two left feet. No literally, I have two left feet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 May, 2017, 02:38:22 PM
Kuky se vrací

An extremely endearing bit of Czech cinema magic that really needs a ton more exposure. An asthmatic child is forced to throw away his teddy bear and on escaping the tip the little straw-stuffed feller gets entangled in a forest adventure. It's absurdly physical - like Ghibli and Pixar artists fannying around in the trees with puppets. The little contraptions and fungal caricatures are astounding, the scenery teems with insects and animal life. The caper is brilliant fun and there's an elegant message about aging and acceptance running underneath all of it that makes it irresistible. Seriously - find it, see it. The Czech DVD/Blu-Ray release has English subtitles YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.

(http://images.static-bluray.com/movies/covers/18529_large.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 May, 2017, 02:52:22 PM
Caravan Of Courage partly because it was Star Wars Day, but mainly because I watch a lot of shite.
I have officially seen this more times than I have seen The Force Awakens and I'm not that bothered that this is the case.  It's quite episodic, possibly as a consequence of its tv roots, and some of the dialogue and plotting is next-level bad, but more in a "it's for kids" kind of way than objectively terrible.  The big rat/wolf thing that looks like a Spitting Image caricature of Jimmy Nail is terrifying, though, and some of the backscreen shots of giants chasing people in the foreground are pretty impressive.  For some reason I found the killer spiders adorable - possibly because of the clearly-visible strings holding them up.
The Ewoks themselves are more creepy and scary than I remember - especially their crazy cannibal teeth and shark-like eyes - but overall, this reminded me of an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which is... good.  I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DKCX on 05 May, 2017, 11:27:17 PM
What We Do in the Shadows 2014
A documentary team films the lives of a group of vampires for a few months. The vampires share a house in Wellington, New Zealand. Turns out vampires have their own domestic problems too.

Really great comedy that nobody knows about, well worth a watch....vampires and quirky New Zealand humour that works so well!
Hope they follow up with a sequel!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 May, 2017, 11:29:11 PM
There's a sequel in production. It's called We're Wolves
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DKCX on 05 May, 2017, 11:47:11 PM
The Guest 2014
A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.

Better than I expected, Dan Stevens was very impressive in it and is truly odd yet mesmerizing in some of his scenes.

Great News on the follow up We're Wolves, the scene between the vampires and wolves was hilarious!
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi are involved in other recommended moves Boy, Eagle versus Shark and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Great thread, I'm working back through the whole lot (Page 704) and drawing up a list of movies that everyone has recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 May, 2017, 11:06:17 AM
Quote from: DKCX on 05 May, 2017, 11:47:11 PM
Great thread, I'm working back through the whole lot (Page 704) and drawing up a list of movies that everyone has recommended.

Not as monumental a task as it sounds actually as I imagine at least 150 pages are taken up with Prometheus discussion
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 May, 2017, 09:37:31 PM
Quote from: DKCX on 05 May, 2017, 11:47:11 PM
Great thread, I'm working back through the whole lot (Page 704) and drawing up a list of movies that everyone has recommended.

Be interesting to see what you've picked out from here if you fancy sharing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 07 May, 2017, 08:22:50 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 May, 2017, 11:17:13 AM
Really, I could go on and on about this particular genre, it pickles my fancy so very much, and this is before we even get into the euro-crime subgenre (though both WHTDTS? and WHTDTYD? are crossovers in this regard, particularly the later) but for now, i'd say these are good entry points for some of the none Argento or Bava Snr. titles.

I've been looking around and getting some of these giallo movies recommended, but while I'm at it... any recommendations for those euro-crime movies?  :cool:

Almost Human (1974) looks lively, by that Lenzi guy, and Gambling City also looks promising. What are your favs that you've seen in that genre so far?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 May, 2017, 09:21:32 AM
Almost Human is essential! Lenzi and Millian at there barmy best, and while your at it, The Cynic, The Rat and the Fist aint half bad either, starring the omnipotent genre icons Merli.

When it comes to eurocrime, one director rains supreme however, Fernando Di Leo. He directed some of the snazziest, classy and intriguing mob movies ever, his opus being Milano Caliber 9, a movie that can go toe to toe with Goodfellas, but then he also directed some glorious trash like The Boss, which is glorious in it's own way.

Dellamano concluded his trilogy after WHTDTYD? And WHTDTS? with an out and out cop thriller, Colt 38 Action Squad. It's a fairly gritty fair, but one of the beat of the genre. In stark contrast is the barmy Di Keo scripted (and candidate for the best title to a movie ever) Live Like a Cop...Die Like a Man! from Rogero Deodato. It opens with an unlicensed motorcycle chase that saw the director taken to court and concludes with a miniature sea yot exploding on a freeze frame. It's awesome!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 May, 2017, 11:18:46 AM
I'm not so well-versed in this genre, but I did enjoy Enzo G. Castellari's The Big Racket. I saw it described as Death Wish via The Magificent Seven, which is about right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 07 May, 2017, 11:42:08 PM
In an uncharacteristic act of pure evilness the Souster woman switched over to PROMETHEARSE on Channel 4 and promptly fell asleep on the remote.

It's still on. As. I. Type.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 08 May, 2017, 05:49:05 AM
Thanks for the recommendations, many cool looking movies to check out!

I saw Sexy Beast recently by the way, pretty entertaining stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 09 May, 2017, 05:39:33 AM
Dead Presidents.It goes all the way from a slice-of-life to a war film to a heist film.
Also,painting your self like a mime might not be the best disguise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 11 May, 2017, 07:42:59 AM
Alien : Covenant

[spoiler]Or should that be Prometheus 2? Since I got home half an hour after seeing it I am still processing the film, but I can say without hesitation that it was much better than Alien 3, Resurrection, AVP, AVP:R and Prometheus. I'm still not sure how I feel about how much this film changes Alien lore. Definitely go and see it at the cinema because the effects and scenery are both gorgeous. Some of the casting choices weren't up to par, but the action and gore made up for that. I think a re-watch is in order to give it a proper evaluation but on first watch I'd say make this the next film you see.[/spoiler]

If you didn't like Prometheus I'm not sure how much enjoyment you will get from this as it feels more like a sequel to that than a continuation of the Alien saga. But it was well worth the $10.50 entry price.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 11 May, 2017, 11:37:51 AM
The Void
Certainly earns it's 18 rating, and for an independently made movie, it's pretty impressive as it focuses on practical effects rather than CGI. Very nighmarish in a Carpenter/The Thing/Event Horizon kinda way, but it does lose some coherency towards the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 May, 2017, 07:30:01 AM
Alien: Covenant

[spoiler]I enjoyed it but not as much as I was hoping for. The first hour is very slow paced and if you haven't seen Prometheus then much of it will go over your head. The final 30 minutes are fun, and much more of what I had hoped for. I shall be going to see it again next week. A solid 7/10 for me. Good but not as good as it could have been and poses more questions than it answers.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DKCX on 13 May, 2017, 01:18:01 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 06 May, 2017, 09:37:31 PM
Quote from: DKCX on 05 May, 2017, 11:47:11 PM
Great thread, I'm working back through the whole lot (Page 704) and drawing up a list of movies that everyone has recommended.

Be interesting to see what you've picked out from here if you fancy sharing?

Mr Nobody
Strange Days
Existectz
THX 1138
2010
Alpha Papa
triangle
the last stand
room 237
lockout
best in show
colossal
the killer has reserved 9 seats
handmaiden
single man
the void
tickled
the wolfpack
suicide shop
young offenders
free fire
shin godzilla
Get out
Green Room
Black Dynamite
Swiss army man

This list represents movies recommended that I haven't seen going back to page 680 so far... Existectz I have seen but want to see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DKCX on 13 May, 2017, 01:52:51 PM
Mr Nobody
Strange Days
Existectz
THX 1138
2010
Alpha Papa
triangle
the last stand
room 237
lockout
best in show
colossal
the killer has reserved 9 seats
handmaiden
single man
the void
tickled
the wolfpack
suicide shop
young offenders
free fire
shin godzilla
get out
green room
black dynamite
swiss army man
What Happened Miss Simone
Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Slow West
Porco Rosso
The BFG
life of crime
captain fantastic
War on Everyone
The founder
split
Hunt for the wilderpeople
Crimson Peak
A monster calls
Bone Tomahawk
UNder the shadow
Ethel and Ernest
cop car
A walk among tombstones
Pusher Trilogy
The Homesman
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
April and the Extraordinary World

Missed half my list in the last posting, looking forward to checking these out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 May, 2017, 06:08:20 PM
Wow you got some time on your hands!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 May, 2017, 07:04:19 PM
And not one single film with SHIT  in the title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 May, 2017, 08:17:04 PM
SHIT GODZILLA

Just kidding, Shin Goji is AMAZING!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 May, 2017, 10:17:35 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 13 May, 2017, 07:30:01 AM
Alien: Covenant

[spoiler]I enjoyed it but not as much as I was hoping for. The first hour is very slow paced and if you haven't seen Prometheus then much of it will go over your head. The final 30 minutes are fun, and much more of what I had hoped for. I shall be going to see it again next week. A solid 7/10 for me. Good but not as good as it could have been and poses more questions than it answers.[/spoiler]

On my way back from the cinema after seeing this and this review pretty much matches mine.

[spoiler]I wish I hadn't read and watched online as much as I had before as they spoiled too much. Also not keen on Davids role in the alien genesis, but the twist at the end was interesting. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 13 May, 2017, 10:51:52 PM
Literally just watched Alien: Covenant, and quite frankly thought it was absolute bollocks. Very disappointing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 14 May, 2017, 11:42:30 AM
Alien: Covenant.
Better than Prometheus...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 May, 2017, 01:32:26 PM
Alien: Covenant, better than Prometheus in some ways, worse in others-especially when it's borrowing scenes and ideas wholesale from previous entries.

Pound for pound, arguably Prometheus is the better film, even considering its poor execution, because it felt more fresh and original.
Covenant often feels like the same Alien tropes implemented in routine fashion.

It looks nice though and Fassbender is always watchable in his dual roles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 14 May, 2017, 02:09:28 PM
Well I liked Covenant, best acting from James Franco ever :)
Nice and gory sure it messes with the whole mysterie of the Xenomorphs but I can live with it, if the creator of the franchise says this is how it happens i guess this is how it happens.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 14 May, 2017, 02:34:00 PM
That fingering line though...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 May, 2017, 02:43:14 PM
Quote from: Andy Lambert on 14 May, 2017, 02:34:00 PM
That fingering line though...

That got an audible titter from the audience I saw the film with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 May, 2017, 02:45:33 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 14 May, 2017, 02:09:28 PM
Well I liked Covenant, best acting from James Franco ever :)


:lol:

Sadly, the film offered nothing new.
Which was a shame after Prometheus attempt, at least, to develop the mythos!

Oh well, maybe next time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 14 May, 2017, 03:12:04 PM
I thought the first hour was okay, but after that... ugh.
[spoiler]That ridiculous line aside, I just feel this whole business leading up to the original movie is unnecessary and is confusingly muddying the whole concept of the Xenomorph.
There wasn't actually much of a story, events were plainly signposted before they happened - David cuts his hair after meeting Walter - could their be an impersonation planned? And yet no-one questioned David's sudden change of appearance.
The Xenomorphs did help to liven up their parts in what was otherwise a very tedious film, but even they lacked the fearsome threat they once possessed in previous films, whilst looking so obviously cartoony in their CGI rendering... man, how I missed the 'man in the suit'.
The climatic struggle towards the end, both on the planet and on the ship felt rushed and mundane and was nothing we hadn't seen before - even in this franchise. The actors were capable but not especially engaging or memorable, with the female lead suddenly becoming a heroic Ripley knock-off when the moment called for it. [/spoiler]
Prometheus certainly had it's problems, but my god, so does this - arguably more so. Even Alien Vs Predator was more entertaining than this drivel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 14 May, 2017, 03:24:25 PM
I saw Alien Covenant yesterday and while it is better than Prometheus it's not great. It's not awful either but I did catch myself thinking about half way through that if they had kept the Alien out of it and just tried to do something new and different it would have been better for both movies.

Fassbender was a massive disappointment in it although that fingering line was hilarious.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 May, 2017, 01:47:31 PM
Rewatched Prometheus, still really like it and don't really see why it gets such a kicking. Also must be said, as well as being possibly the best looking, it has the best audio mix I've ever heard on a blu-ray. Everything is absolutely crystal clear, there was no annoying riding of the volume buttons throughout the film to try and hear the dialogue without risking annoying the downstairs neighbours, and lots of really smart and immersive usage of the surround speakers. Pretty much the standard all movie mixes should aim to achieve I reckon.

By contrast we watched a couple of Marvel Blu-rays this week (Ant Man and Civil War) and the sound mix was appalling, muddy dialogue, hugely inconsistent volume and a real pain in the rear to constantly be turning things up and down. Really took the edge off some of the banter in Ant Man and I found myself not enjoying it as much as I'd like. The direction was very flat and workmanlike, and I kept wishing Edgar Wright had stuck around.

Civil War was great though, and Ant Man was easily one of the best things about it. Rudd is brilliant, and he really came off a lot better in this than in Ant Man I thought. Probably the best action scenes in a Marvel film yet (and although I love the Guardians movies more than any other Marvel movies, I'm including them in that - they're quite guilty of the 'massive thing of incomprehensible scale going on so that it's difficult to really parse what's going on' thing that most Marvel movies descend into in their last act). Readable and weighty and really thrillingly choreographed and shot.

Then we went to see Alien: Covenant, which we loved. Many, many people won't, for reasons I'll no doubt completely disagree with, and I'm bracing myself for having to defend it in years to come. Much like Prometheus really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 15 May, 2017, 01:48:21 PM
Watched The Autopsy of Jane Doe last night with the missus (who amusingly is also a Jane, with a surname rhyming with 'Doe', but I totally didn't mean it when I told her I wished she was dead cause she wouldn't stop texting throughout).

I'm always on the lookout for a decent / inventive horror, and this ticked many boxes.
Great performances, in particular from the ever dependable Brian Cox.
It just fell short of instant classic status for playing its hand a bit too early and for being a little OTT by the end.
Highly recommended though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 15 May, 2017, 01:55:30 PM
I watched Alien Covenant at the weekend and, the more I think about it, the more it bothers me.
[spoiler]Apart from everything else, where did the space jockey on LV426 in Alien come from? I thought it had been there for decades/centuries, but apparently David must have killed off the Engineers, leaving that one conveniently alive for the time being, then filled the ship with eggs and sent it on its way. The ship must have crashed the day before the Nostromo arrived (comparatively). All a bit of a mess and I can't see how the next film will resolve that. Or am I missing some crucial point that explains this?  [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: jacob g on 16 May, 2017, 09:03:24 AM
Covenant is unique, for the first time in my life watching Rildey Scott movie was a struggle. I'm not a fan of today's Scott but at least he works with Wolski and this guy can make every movie a thing of the beauty. But in Covenant even he failed. I don't know, he was trying to much mediocre writing or what but when I don't have many good words about one of my favourite cinematographers it's bad.

When I was teenager with unconditional and stupid love for Mad Max, Terminator, Aliens or Escape from New York I had and eye opening moment, premiere of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Don't get your hopes to hight when your favourite movie/s become a franchise, that was a lesson. And now Covenant is somewhat reminescent of that lesson (never mind splendid Fury Road).

I will not go into plot details, sorry. The main problem with the Covenant is I barelly found anything interesting in this movie, and I'm the guy who kind of enjoyed Promtheus with all his flaws. Damn, I love Alien Ressurection, movie that people love to criticize.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 May, 2017, 09:12:12 AM
Already sang my paean of love for GotG2 on the dedicated thread, but feel the need to discuss the fallout here too.  To-wit, my 7-year old daughter now emerges from the bathroom on a semi-regular schedule announcing "I have famously huge turds".  She does a bit of acting and seems to be able to pick up lines verbatim after one hearing, so when challenged on her crudeness she does the whole Rocket/Peter/Drax exchange from that scene, before collapsing in hysterical laughter.

On reflection I grow increasingly impressed by how the film mixes that kind of Farrelly Brothers humour with genuine pathos and a half-decent exploration of morality, and how its many-threaded plot spools out naturally from what we know about the mysteries and motivations of the characters from Vol 1. There are some lovely mirroring moments that make the two volumes seem like parts of the same story, e.g. Quill exposes himself to vacuum to save Gamorra in Vol 1, [spoiler]Yondu does the exact same to save Quill in Vol 2[/spoiler].  And I challenge anyone to come up with better dying words than "[spoiler]He may have been your father boy, but he wasn't your Daddy"[/spoiler].  Very satisfying.

Thumbs up from this house, Marvel!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 16 May, 2017, 11:41:23 AM
I nice article on Alien: Convenant and why killing the mystery is a bad thing:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/16/hollywood-sci-fi-alien-covenant-blade-runner-2049
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 16 May, 2017, 01:44:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 May, 2017, 09:12:12 AM
Already sang my paean of love for GotG2 on the dedicated thread, but feel the need to discuss the fallout here too.  To-wit, my 7-year old daughter now emerges from the bathroom on a semi-regular schedule announcing "I have famously huge turds".  She does a bit of acting and seems to be able to pick up lines verbatim after one hearing, so when challenged on her crudeness she does the whole Rocket/Peter/Drax exchange from that scene, before collapsing in hysterical laughter.

On reflection I grow increasingly impressed by how the film mixes that kind of Farrelly Brothers humour with genuine pathos and a half-decent exploration of morality, and how its many-threaded plot spools out naturally from what we know about the mysteries and motivations of the characters from Vol 1. There are some lovely mirroring moments that make the two volumes seem like parts of the same story, e.g. Quill exposes himself to vacuum to save Gamorra in Vol 1, [spoiler]Yondu does the exact same to save Quill in Vol 2[/spoiler].  And I challenge anyone to come up with better dying words than "[spoiler]He may have been your father boy, but he wasn't your Daddy"[/spoiler].  Very satisfying.

Thumbs up from this house, Marvel!

My 2 girls (7 & 8) come out with "[spoiler]I'm Mary Poppins y'all[/spoiler]" at least once a day - hits the spot each time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 May, 2017, 02:07:20 PM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 16 May, 2017, 01:44:31 PM
My 2 girls (7 & 8) come out with "[spoiler]I'm Mary Poppins y'all[/spoiler]" at least once a day - hits the spot each time.

Oh that one had us rolling around in the cinema, especially seeing as TordelGirl had appeared in a production of "the Cockney Play" only the previous weekend...

There was also a lengthy back-of-the-car discussion as to whether Ego [spoiler]would need to grow different-shaped penises to cope with the likely-different 'holes' of the various alien ladies... [/spoiler]I swear to goodness sometimes I wish I had taken a more repressive patriarchal tack with those children. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 May, 2017, 03:19:24 PM
Just got back from watching GOTG 2 for the second time and I enjoyed much more this time round.

Going to see Alien: Covenant again tomorrow, hopefully with the same results.

Then, on Friday, I am going to see King Arthur. Just to see if it's as bad as the reviews are making out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 16 May, 2017, 03:26:10 PM
Stuckmann said its okay-ish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 16 May, 2017, 03:45:37 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 May, 2017, 03:19:24 PM
Just got back from watching GOTG 2 for the second time and I enjoyed much more this time round.

Going to see Alien: Covenant again tomorrow, hopefully with the same results.

Then, on Friday, I am going to see King Arthur. Just to see if it's as bad as the reviews are making out.

I experienced the same feelings on my second viewing of GOTG2, liked it a whole lot more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 May, 2017, 04:16:11 PM
Quote from: SIP on 16 May, 2017, 03:45:37 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 May, 2017, 03:19:24 PM
Just got back from watching GOTG 2 for the second time and I enjoyed much more this time round.

Going to see Alien: Covenant again tomorrow, hopefully with the same results.

Then, on Friday, I am going to see King Arthur. Just to see if it's as bad as the reviews are making out.

I experienced the same feelings on my second viewing of GOTG2, liked it a whole lot more.

Can't say why. Perhaps it's because I did not have to follow the storyline so closely and could just enjoy the characters and the script a bit more.
Or perhaps my expectations were not so high. I enjoyed it the first time round, and saw it in 3-D which was superb. Perhaps the 3-D detracted from the film, as good as it was.
Who knows?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 16 May, 2017, 05:02:29 PM
I felt completely let down by it on the first viewing, I suspect that my extreme anticipation for the film could only lead to disappointment. I really loved the first film. Knew exactly what I was getting second time around and could just enjoy it for what it was. That sounds like I'm damning it with feint praise, but I don't mean it that way, I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 May, 2017, 05:52:50 PM
FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT

More like the 5 year shit.

Turns out that not only does Emily Blunt suck at this kind of comedy but she drags Rhys  Ifans into the pan with her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 May, 2017, 08:35:22 PM
My girlfriend was watching Sausage Party and I caught the first twenty minutes or so.

Nope.

Seemed to be desperately trying to ape the tone of the type of thing Matt Stone and Trey Parker do, but it was just embarrassingly juvenile and unfunny.

Listened to podcast instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 17 May, 2017, 05:32:19 AM
I think Jackie Brown is my new favorite heist film.
Usual Suspects.Great,but I saw the twist coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 May, 2017, 08:45:17 AM
Quote from: Smith on 17 May, 2017, 05:32:19 AM
I think Jackie Brown is my new favorite heist film.


I love Jackie Brown. My joint favourite Tarantino film.
Out of Sight is just behind it, but only just.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 May, 2017, 09:59:52 AM
A Mighty Wind

Another Guestumentary here and it essentially follows the formula laid out by Best in Show although chooses to eschew a lot of the wider detail and focus largely on O'Hara and Levy's Mitch & Mickey which it then smartly builds into a genuinely effective climax. The intricately-constructed songstering is remarkably well done (the DVD even features the whole uncut concert and early videos) and lends a tone of real craft to the endeavor. Less funny than Best in Show but with a lot more heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 May, 2017, 03:49:47 PM
Sitting around today, marvellously :)

Avatar

Merrily skipping over the hype and diving into this nearly eight years after its release I was actually pleasantly surprised. The effects are mostly incredible, despite its bloated running time it rattles along at a steady pace and ... well Sigourney Weaver. She never phones it in. However what didn't come as a surprise was how insipid the whole thing was - Avatar is right. It emulates everything - that's just a horse, that's just a native tribe, that's just a 70's prog cover, and YES The Lorax WAS their favourite book in the school.... schheeeez. If you can stomach the old-fashioned undertones the message is tolerable enough but it's told with such broad strokes and with such mechanical functionality that it's ultimately quite hard to properly engage with.

What the shit are the sequels going to be about? "ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE BLUE CATPEOPLE" anyone?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 May, 2017, 04:19:20 PM
I think Kermode put it best, 8 years ago Avatar hit the scene, grissed a record breaking sum of money, wowed audinces world wide...then vanished and left no mark on pop culture at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 17 May, 2017, 04:50:12 PM
Quote from: radiator on 16 May, 2017, 08:35:22 PM
My girlfriend was watching Sausage Party and I caught the first twenty minutes or so.

Nope.

Seemed to be desperately trying to ape the tone of the type of thing Matt Stone and Trey Parker do, but it was just embarrassingly juvenile and unfunny.

Listened to podcast instead.

I walked in on my wife watching Sausage Party the other day, and rolling around in fits. Like you say, I gave it five minutes before realising I'd probably rather eat my own shit than watch another second of it. Definitely the worst film I've seen in ages.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 May, 2017, 06:37:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 May, 2017, 04:19:20 PM
I think Kermode put it best, 8 years ago Avatar hit the scene, grissed a record breaking sum of money, wowed audinces world wide...then vanished and left no mark on pop culture at all.

Yeah - look at the 10 highest grossing films of the moment:

10 - Iron Man 3 (Huge Marvel fandom)
9 - Frozen (MASSIVE IMPACT - huge Frozen fandom)
8 - Harry Potter's Deathly Halitosis - Part 2 (Enormous Harry Potter fandom)
7 - Avengers: Mage of Boltron (Marvel again)
6 - Furious 7 (I've met people who looooove this series, a fandom exists)
5 - The Avengers (Marvel)
4 - Jurassic World (A fandom building from an incredibly beloved original film)
3 - Star Wars: StormPilot <3 (Basically just a religion)

and then you have

2 & 1 - Titanic & Avatar

Titanic certainly made cultural waves (NO PUNS, STOP LOOKING FOR THEM) but for Avatar up til now there's been what? Aside from a Cirque du soleil stage show (true story) and a theme park that's not opened yet... no fandom, no conventions, no comics, no convention panels, no spin-off games. There's just, no yearning for it is there? Will the disturbing exception of AVATAR TATTOO MAN (http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/meet-iggy-the-worlds-biggest-neytiri-fan.html):

(http://www.odditycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Avatar-tattoo-guy4-550x614.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 17 May, 2017, 06:47:36 PM
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ODEAkXybGvk/UxdCqHArdaI/AAAAAAAAuZg/cgCCSXIchsE/s1600/MY+EYES.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 17 May, 2017, 06:55:36 PM
It's nothing compared to my Waterworld tattoo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 17 May, 2017, 11:10:44 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 17 May, 2017, 06:37:21 PMAside from a Cirque du soleil stage show (true story) and a theme park that's not opened yet... no fandom, no conventions, no comics, no convention panels, no spin-off games. There's just, no yearning for it is there? -

Not to correct you, dearest chum (and by the way - belated happy returns!) but I DID find out something fairly interesting a while back.

I was tasked to write a feature about Avatar video games for a Youtube venture that now isn't happening. I was actually pretty surprised to find out how much merchandise there IS for the movie. Excluding things liek mobile games and tablet apps, I found three pretty meaty and actually pretty good games on different home console platforms. One on PS3 (which may be on PC and XBox-able as well - I didn't get as far as checking) another on the Nintendo Wii and one for the Nintendo DS. To my shock and amazement, they're all actually pretty well regarded.

Before finding out about these, I was previously under the impression that no effort had been made to merchandise Avatar in any meaningful way at all. I do take the point (and have been vocal about it before) that the movie seems to have absolutely no momentum behind it, though. It's like it came and went and there was about as much appetite for it as a plate of hors d'oeuvres at a swanky dinner do. They look bright and tasty, and they get gobbled up quickly enough... but then everyone moves on looking for something more satisfying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 18 May, 2017, 01:12:19 AM
I just watched The Frame  - an independent film from Jamin Winans who brought us Ink which I've talked about in another thread.
Mr Winans is a real talent - that's two movies he's made without any major film company funding, and both have been fantastic. At just over two hours long, it may be a bit overlong - but the creativity, poignancy and thought-provoking story telling is well worth sitting through. Again, Winans musical score is beautiful, and the mind-bending visuals are striking. It's a very clever film, it requires your patience and imagination and it will reward you with an extraordinary movie experience. The closest comparison I can make to a similar film maker is Christopher Nolan - if you enjoyed the weirdness if Inception, you should enjoy The Frame - and Ink for that matter.

Trailer 1 (don't watch if you're prone to seizures)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUm04OmjZMA

Trailer 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXh8ARkkwAo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 May, 2017, 12:31:55 PM
The Drop - Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and a poignant final screen outing by James Gandolfini anchor this taut and tense little crime drama, rendered a bit different from the usual fare by revolving mainly around an adorable little pit bull puppy called Rocco. Great performances all round and enough twists in the plot to keep you interested. It isn't going to change your life but there are far worse ways to spend an hour and a half!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 18 May, 2017, 05:34:59 PM
Quote from: HdE on 17 May, 2017, 11:10:44 PMno spin-off games. There's just, no yearning for it is there? -

Before finding out about these, I was previously under the impression that no effort had been made to merchandise Avatar in any meaningful way at all. I do take the point (and have been vocal about it before) that the movie seems to have absolutely no momentum behind it, though.
[/quote]

Yeah - fair point there are computer games and I knew that, I just misstyped in a flurry of what I like to call "twat-handedness". I agree though - essentially what I was saying was that it doesn't have what other big sci-fi/fantasy movies have in that list and that's a massively exuberant and wildly creative fandom despite its spectacle and visual beauty. It just doesn't seem to have grabbed people in that way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 09:05:14 AM
Saw Alien Covenant last week. Weyland TED speech short, Prometheus, The Crossing short before it.

While not perfect, I really enjoyed them. Especially thanks to David's journey. Really creepy, really fascinating. Even feel sorry for him now and then, bit like Roy Batty.

Far away from being up there with Alien or Blade Runner (just mentioning that just in case), but I still enjoy it for what it is. Couple of stupid scientists trapped between some old ancient aliens and a damaged android.

Ridley has said he has 2 more Alien films he wants to make. Regardless how well or not it ties into the first Alien film, I'm quite sure I'll enjoy them as their own thing.

Btw, what year does the first Alien take place? Haven't seen a set date other than speculation based on tie in books and guessing based on the sequel Aliens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:03:18 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 09:05:14 AM
Btw, what year does the first Alien take place? Haven't seen a set date other than speculation based on tie in books and guessing based on the sequel Aliens.

57 years before Aliens :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:04:56 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:03:18 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 09:05:14 AM
Btw, what year does the first Alien take place? Haven't seen a set date other than speculation based on tie in books and guessing based on the sequel Aliens.

57 years before Aliens :P

Slightly more useful answer: Aliens takes place in 2179 so Alien takes place in 2122.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:07:48 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:04:56 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:03:18 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 09:05:14 AM
Btw, what year does the first Alien take place? Haven't seen a set date other than speculation based on tie in books and guessing based on the sequel Aliens.

57 years before Aliens :P

Slightly more useful answer: Aliens takes place in 2179 so Alien takes place in 2122.

Potentially there's nothing in the main films and Incubus that contradict themselves, so the films could almost take place in the same universe as JD (the first film taking place entirely in space during the run of Judge Dredd and the second taking place in the time of Strontium Dog).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2017, 06:08:24 PM
Quote from: Andy Lambert on 14 May, 2017, 02:34:00 PM
That fingering line though...

When I originally read this comment I had no idea what you were talking about despite only having just seen the film. I was in a theatre with at least 20 other people and there was no reaction to the line and I barely even registered it.
Saw it again just now and again, no reaction from the audience or myself.
Seemed a perfectly normal line.
You pervs have dirty minds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 06:58:55 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:03:18 AM
57 years before Aliens :P

Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:04:56 AM
Slightly more useful answer: Aliens takes place in 2179 so Alien takes place in 2122.

Thanks :)

Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:07:48 AM
Potentially there's nothing in the main films and Incubus that contradict themselves, so the films could almost take place in the same universe as JD (the first film taking place entirely in space during the run of Judge Dredd and the second taking place in the time of Strontium Dog).

Ha, brilliant. Alien: Convenant/Awakening/Incubus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 21 May, 2017, 09:16:21 AM
Saw Sorcerer and Endless poetry last night.

Sorcerer (1977) to me is quite akin to Apocalypse now and Das Boot. People (all dead on the inside) on a slow moving death/road trip towards their goal/doom. Everything about the film feels outright dangerous, in a good way :)

Endless poetry is a great follow up to Dance of reality. Probably the least mental film I'v see by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Still magical. His retelling of when he started writing poetry. A joy to watch. I very much hope I get to see the rest of the films he wants to make about his young years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 May, 2017, 10:24:41 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 21 May, 2017, 09:16:21 AM

Sorcerer (1977) to me is quite akin to Apocalypse now and Das Boot. People (all dead on the inside) on a slow moving death/road trip towards their goal/doom. Everything about the film feels outright dangerous, in a good way :)


I love Friedkin's Sorcerer but unfortunately it suffered by being a remake of the fantastic Wages of Fear and coming out around the same time as Star Wars.
Great film though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 21 May, 2017, 12:58:36 PM
King Arthur, legend of the sword.

Saw this last night and despite few niggles- loved it to bits. Some really good moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 21 May, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 May, 2017, 06:58:55 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 20 May, 2017, 11:07:48 AM
Potentially there's nothing in the main films and Incubus that contradict themselves, so the films could almost take place in the same universe as JD (the first film taking place entirely in space during the run of Judge Dredd and the second taking place in the time of Strontium Dog).

Ha, brilliant. Alien: Convenant/Awakening/Incubus.

And I say potentially because I've never watched them in the context of looking out for JD continuity.  I need to have a Predator and Alien/s/etc watching marathon at some point (there are things I like about all the films in both series, so it won't be a chore for me).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 May, 2017, 04:15:23 PM
Heat. Thats certainly grand.3 hours.Michael Mann.An all-star cast(and Val Kilmer).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 22 May, 2017, 04:25:55 PM
Quote from: Smith on 22 May, 2017, 04:15:23 PM
Heat. Thats certainly grand.3 hours.Michael Mann.An all-star cast(and Val Kilmer).

Heat is a fantastic film. On my rewatch list soon I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.

I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 May, 2017, 06:51:53 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 21 May, 2017, 10:24:41 AM
I love Friedkin's Sorcerer but unfortunately it suffered by being a remake of the fantastic Wages of Fear and coming out around the same time as Star Wars.
Great film though.

Heard about that as well. A shame. Should be up there with Apocalypse now and Das boot.

Quote from: sheridan on 21 May, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
And I say potentially because I've never watched them in the context of looking out for JD continuity.  I need to have a Predator and Alien/s/etc watching marathon at some point (there are things I like about all the films in both series, so it won't be a chore for me).

I've only seen the main line Alien films, as well as Predator 1 -2. But I'm quite sure the AvP films are good entertainment if nothing else.

Really looking forward to Shane Black's upcoming Predator film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 May, 2017, 07:22:57 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 22 May, 2017, 06:51:53 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 21 May, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
And I say potentially because I've never watched them in the context of looking out for JD continuity.  I need to have a Predator and Alien/s/etc watching marathon at some point (there are things I like about all the films in both series, so it won't be a chore for me).

I've only seen the main line Alien films, as well as Predator 1 -2. But I'm quite sure the AvP films are good entertainment if nothing else.

Really looking forward to Shane Black's upcoming Predator film.

There was another film that came out as well - Predators, in 2010.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 May, 2017, 08:06:35 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.

I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.

I loved The Ghost and the Darkness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tony Angelino on 22 May, 2017, 09:28:59 PM
Val Kilmer was also great in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Robert Downey Jr. Very funny in places. I like him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 May, 2017, 09:37:54 PM
What was that Mars one he was in with the murderous robot? I enjoyed him in that, too.

Red Planet (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Planet_(film)).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 May, 2017, 02:11:14 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 22 May, 2017, 07:22:57 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 22 May, 2017, 06:51:53 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 21 May, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
And I say potentially because I've never watched them in the context of looking out for JD continuity.  I need to have a Predator and Alien/s/etc watching marathon at some point (there are things I like about all the films in both series, so it won't be a chore for me).

I've only seen the main line Alien films, as well as Predator 1 -2. But I'm quite sure the AvP films are good entertainment if nothing else.

Really looking forward to Shane Black's upcoming Predator film.

There was another film that came out as well - Predators, in 2010.

I pretty much like them all (even those that seem to be universally derided) although I have major reservations concerning AvP:Requiem, because it was too dark! I mean, literally! It didn't help that the predalien looked so much like the predator until you were up close in good light.

After Alien Covenant [spoiler]I guess it's best to view AvP and the predator films as another continuity, I guess. Kind of a shame in some ways, much as I liked Covenant for what it was.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 23 May, 2017, 05:28:23 PM
I was kidding,I got nothing against Kilmer.
Thief (1981) Most of the time I was thinking: Man,Jim Belushi was young.  :)
So okay,not the greatest movie,but its not bad either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 24 May, 2017, 08:56:41 AM
Quote from: Andy Lambert on 11 May, 2017, 11:37:51 AM
The Void
Certainly earns it's 18 rating, and for an independently made movie, it's pretty impressive as it focuses on practical effects rather than CGI. Very nighmarish in a Carpenter/The Thing/Event Horizon kinda way, but it does lose some coherency towards the end.

I just saw this recently, and was a little disappointed to be honest.
Great effects, great premise, just not what I was hoping for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 24 May, 2017, 01:31:28 PM
Lock,Stock and two smoking barrels.Im the last person on the planet to see the film,so what could I really add?Its pretty great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 24 May, 2017, 02:28:49 PM
Love that movie and even more so, as it is set on the same street I used to work on. And their premises features in the PS2 game The Getaway (albeit in different form, but it is there in"real life".)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 May, 2017, 04:34:41 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.

I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.

I've been a fan of Kilmer's since Real Genius. I love that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 24 May, 2017, 04:57:53 PM
In the whole heist-film-marathon,I forgot to mention Bottle Rocket.A really spirited film.You have to like the Wilson brothers,right?  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2017, 05:41:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 May, 2017, 04:34:41 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.

I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.

I've been a fan of Kilmer's since Real Genius. I love that film.

We appear to have unearthed a lot of Val fans. I recall reading somewhere that he was a bit of an ass-hat though. Shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 24 May, 2017, 06:14:21 PM
I have liked Kilmer since I saw 'Willow' as a kid. An underrated actor as anyone that's seen the aforementioned films will attest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 May, 2017, 07:43:48 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2017, 05:41:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 May, 2017, 04:34:41 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.

I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.

I've been a fan of Kilmer's since Real Genius. I love that film.

We appear to have unearthed a lot of Val fans. I recall reading somewhere that he was a bit of an ass-hat though. Shame.

If you've seen Real Genius then you know there is no question that he's an ass-hat.  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2017, 08:05:48 PM
I've heard of Kilmer that he's no worse than most, but he always goes full-on method with his characters during filming - even when he leaves the set for like a holiday or something, never turning it off - and he's made a career playing intense arseholes so gravity took care of the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 May, 2017, 08:37:23 PM
Quote from: Smith on 24 May, 2017, 04:57:53 PM
In the whole heist-film-marathon,I forgot to mention Bottle Rocket.A really spirited film.You have to like the Wilson brothers,right?  :)

Really like that movie. Maybe not quite up there with Wes Anderson's later movies but certainly a sterling early effort.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 24 May, 2017, 09:08:58 PM
Trainspotting 2.
I found the whole thing kind of pointless, none of the characters seem any wiser than they were 20 years ago, and whatever plot there is (was there one?) is incredibly dull. More like something you'd come across on Sunday night on BBC2. Shame really, there were one or two hilariously dark scenes and some excellently shot set pieces.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 24 May, 2017, 09:52:26 PM
I think whether Val Kilmer is an " ass-hat" or not is kind of irrelevant. I don't want him to come around for dinner, just want to enjoy his acting. 

The history of cinema is full of great actors that were unpleasant people after all ( not inferring that Val Kilmer is unpleasant in any way).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 May, 2017, 05:47:30 AM
John Wick 2.IMO its not quite as great as the first,but its still very good.Actually,best duology(for now) since Boondock Saints.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 25 May, 2017, 09:50:36 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2017, 05:41:22 PM
We appear to have unearthed a lot of Val fans. I recall reading somewhere that he was a bit of an ass-hat though. Shame.

By his own admission, Val was a total ass-hat on-set THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, something he's since attributed to divorce proceedings being instigated against him at the time. He may well be an ass-hat anyway but I wouldn't be surprised if his reputation (as that of others) is due more to people's own hubris, that smug sense of moral superiority at some perceived Grandee being taken down a peg or three.

Especially when it happens to a sleb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 May, 2017, 10:28:37 AM
Not to turn this into a Val Kilmer thread but on the Reddit Ask Me Anything, Val Kilmer was pretty adamant that he was incidental to the problems with Doctor Moreau and feels the director/execs used him and Brando as scapegoats (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/67qzrx/hello_reddit_i_am_actor_and_artist_val_kilmer_i/dgsnqjx/)
Quote
There were several embarrassed execs who made it seem worse than it was to do because the film was so poorly received, and the replacement director was desperate for a comeback and blamed me for the films failure which doesn't hold water when you watch it because I die in the film and the whole last half is just as bad as when I was alive so how could I have made stuff I wasn't in not work? Doesn't make any sense. I worked like a dog to make that film as entertaining as I could because it was such a privilege to work with the greatest. [Brando] was not really respected tho and the film suffered greatly by not taking his suggestions.

Kilmer seems to do AMAs like every few months and he's pretty good in his responses, I would check them out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 26 May, 2017, 12:16:57 PM
Quote from: DrRocka on 24 May, 2017, 09:08:58 PM
Trainspotting 2.
I found the whole thing kind of pointless, none of the characters seem any wiser than they were 20 years ago,
Just like real life ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 May, 2017, 11:13:39 PM
Catching up with some of the stuff I've missed.

Doctor Strange - good fun, lovely bright visuals, must have looked pretty great on an IMAX screen.

Now have Age of Ultron and Civil War to go.

Oh and BvS (sucker for punishment) and also picked up the Black and Chrome Edition of Fury Road.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 May, 2017, 03:28:27 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2017, 05:41:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 24 May, 2017, 04:34:41 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2017, 05:37:49 PM
I like Kilmer ever since TOMBSTONE and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.
I LOVE YOU MAN. A romantic comedy that follows the tropes of a romantic comedy exactly but, because it's a bromance, kinda  works and feels a bit different. But it isn't really.
I've been a fan of Kilmer's since Real Genius. I love that film.
We appear to have unearthed a lot of Val fans...
Anyone keen to unearth some quality Kilmer which they may have overlooked should check him out in Spartan. It's a David Mamet directed action/thriller which eschews a lot of the trademark snappy dialogue in favour of some very nifty visual storytelling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 28 May, 2017, 09:57:03 AM
Drive

Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 28 May, 2017, 10:46:16 AM
Made for TV Turdfest, Atomic Dog! A puppy gets contaminated by Radiation and shit, some bad acting occurs and a resolution is reached! The first five minutes were actually ok - an old man is led out of the contaminated area crying "but what about my Dog?" which actually seemed quite sad.

The Horror channel does churn out some proper stinkers but it also shows repeats of Star Trek - original series and Voyager, so it's not all bad...

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 28 May, 2017, 11:12:26 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 28 May, 2017, 10:46:16 AM
Made for TV Turdfest, Atomic Dog! A puppy gets contaminated by Radiation and shit, some bad acting occurs and a resolution is reached! The first five minutes were actually ok - an old man is led out of the contaminated area crying "but what about my Dog?" which actually seemed quite sad.

Sounds like something from Troma
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2017, 05:18:51 PM
The Worlds End

I'd seen this at the cinema where I considered it quite good but not quite what I was expecting.

I really enjoyed watching it on TV last night though. There are some really well written characters in the film - I think we all have a bit of Gary King in us and we all have friends that we do favours for knowing that they wouldn't do the same for us!

The final scene is really cool too and looks just like something from an early 90s low budget Sci-Fi - 'The King' could have come straight out of 'Hardware' or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2017, 08:43:45 PM
For me the real revelation of The World's End (my current favourite of the three) was Nick Frost - by 'eck can that man act when he wants to, not something the previous two instalments impressed on me.  By coincidence I was watching Hot Fuzz last night, and oh what a joyous craftsman Wright is: there isn't a shot or a sequence in that film that isn't precisely composed for maximum fun. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 29 May, 2017, 01:14:30 AM
Yeah I was a real fan of how World's End unfolds. I was younger when Shaun & Fuzz came out and End hasn't had nearly enough time to get in there but I'm looking forward to watching it again.

Eyes Without a Face
Unnerving and arresting French b/w curio, this. Georges Franju, like the Brassuer's obsessive surgeon, directs with a meticulous and detached coldness. Shots linger for far too long - and this mixed with smartly understated effects work leads to a few genuinely disquieting scenes which haven't dated in the least. Apparently extremely toned down from the source material (and rightly so from the sounds of it) but still a nicely bleak film with a few stunningly troubling moments. Basically a more palatable Face/Off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 29 May, 2017, 04:01:23 AM
To me Worlds End was the weakest of the 3. I feel Simon Pegg played Shaun in SOTD superbly. He was good in the other two films but that one fitted him perfectly. Fuzz had some great gags (the when's your birthday line gets me every time). Thinking about it now, Shaun feels to me the most grounded in reality. And I think that's why it wins top spot for me.

Just watched Taken 3. S**t film. Whoever directed this turd want's a good telling off. I'm not a director but even I know there is more to making an action film that just cutting between shots ever two and half seconds. It was almost unwatchable. If I had been watching alone I would have turned it off after the first ten minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 29 May, 2017, 12:21:26 PM
There's a really good interview with Edgar on Adam Buxton's podcast, well worth a listen.

http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/2017/05/28/podcast-ep-45-edgar-wright/ (http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/2017/05/28/podcast-ep-45-edgar-wright/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 29 May, 2017, 12:41:45 PM
Triple 9,It certainly has an impressive cast,and a good opening act,but that's about it.It never comes together,story is pretty thin.Somebody had a boner for Michael Mann,but they didn't quite figure out why his style worked.In the end,pretty mediocre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 30 May, 2017, 01:37:33 PM
Quote from: Smith on 25 May, 2017, 05:47:30 AM
John Wick 2.IMO its not quite as great as the first,but its still very good.Actually,best duology(for now) since Boondock Saints.

Should be going to see it this weekend. The girlfriend is a bit apprehensive after the first one as shes a big animal lover. I can't imagine they are going to kill his dog again...are they??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 May, 2017, 01:58:40 PM
Quote from: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 30 May, 2017, 01:37:33 PM
Should be going to see it this weekend. The girlfriend is a bit apprehensive after the first one as shes a big animal lover. I can't imagine they are going to kill his dog again...are they??

SPOILER: [spoiler]No, the dog is fine.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 31 May, 2017, 08:09:14 PM
Re-watching Nightcrawler , it really brilliant dark, and Jake Gyllenhaal is excellent creepy! (Very finest actor!)

It on BBC iPlayer
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 May, 2017, 10:49:36 PM
Alien: Covenant. A little ponderous, maybe, but otherwise I enjoyed the film. It got me wondering whether [spoiler]Ash in the original film was actually part of an android conspiracy to destroy humanity rather than a corporate plant.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 June, 2017, 02:32:58 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 31 May, 2017, 10:49:36 PM
Alien: Covenant. A little ponderous, maybe, but otherwise I enjoyed the film. It got me wondering whether [spoiler]Ash in the original film was actually part of an android conspiracy to destroy humanity rather than a corporate plant.[/spoiler]

Hmm. I like that idea. Will this lead to an Alien/Blade Runner cross-over, I wonder...*

*Actually, please, let it not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 June, 2017, 07:57:51 AM
Wonder Woman

I really enjoyed this. Some cracking action sequences and feels very much 'on message' at the moment.
Yes, it's a super hero film, and if you don't like them in general then you ain't gonna like this much either.
But I thought it was solid and entertaining.
7.5/10
[spoiler]Don't hang around after the film finishes. There is no 'after credits' scene.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 05 June, 2017, 08:10:28 AM
Now you see me(both movie) The first part is a bit better,thou the second part has the father/son duo of [spoiler]Michael Caine and Daniel Radcliffe,which was a joy to watch.[/spoiler]
They both put style over substance,but they do it in style.So even if the stories are kinda weak,strong performances pull it thru.Point to the first movie,I didn't see the twist,which rarely happens.It wasn't really foreshadowed anyway.So,in short,2 enjoyable,fun movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 05 June, 2017, 11:39:37 AM
John Wick 2

or Keanu Reeves murders hundreds of people.

A bit too much killing for the girlfriend. I had a blast. Reminded me of XXX in places, especially the concert setting (without the Rammstein)

My only gripe was that talentless aussie was in it. At least she had no dialog I suppose. But still why must Hollywood continue to cast her I do not know. I've had floaters that have more of a range than her.

If you like seeing multiple people being shot in the head, definitely go see this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 06 June, 2017, 06:51:28 PM
In the Blood...I have got to stop chosing movies at random,cuz this was crap.I feel bad for the actors (most of them,anyway).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 06 June, 2017, 09:26:57 PM
Quote from: Smith on 06 June, 2017, 06:51:28 PM
In the Blood...I have got to stop chosing movies at random,cuz this was crap.I feel bad for the actors (most of them,anyway).

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-blood-2014 (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-blood-2014)

It doesn't sound much cop based on the ebert.com review. Surely you must have been suspicious when you saw Danny Trejo's name on the box? :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 June, 2017, 06:25:15 AM
Like the review said,you do feel bad for Danny Trejo.The whole thing is a boring mess.Sooner I forget it,the better.
Back to good movies,Heist.That was a great movie.Gene Hackman kills it,as always.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2017, 10:18:54 PM
Just watched Dredd for the first time in a while. Good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 June, 2017, 05:42:29 PM
Quote from: Smith on 07 June, 2017, 06:25:15 AM
Like the review said,you do feel bad for Danny Trejo.The whole thing is a boring mess.Sooner I forget it,the better.
Back to good movies,Heist.That was a great movie.Gene Hackman kills it,as always.

They guy certainly gets around, though. TV programmes, rather than films, and but I was watching Breaking Bad the other day and he was in that. Now I'm on Sons  of Anarchy season 4 and he turned up as Romeo...

And he was a Mexican vampire bounty hunter a while back in From Dusk till Dawn (series).

He is rather typecast, and none of these roles are poles apart (although his role was more comedic in Breaking..., and broke type in not being much of a hard man) but he is fun to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 08 June, 2017, 07:23:23 PM
Arrival-scandalous pro xenos movie where the Imperium fails to obliterate the ghastly alien in the name of the god -emperor. I've been  reading alot of Wh40k recently I think it's beginning to affect my mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 09 June, 2017, 07:14:03 PM
Rewatched Rush Hour(for like the 20th time).Still kills me every time. :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 10 June, 2017, 09:34:40 AM
Labyrinth

It's an odd one, this. Whereas it has imagination in spades and a thousand top creative brains behind it - the story is arse. Connelly's character is flat and there's no strong narrative running through it at all. Essentially it's a few tropes propped up by ropey musical numbers and remarkable physical effects. Which means that it's cheesy as hell, rammed with memorable moments and ends up meaning little to nothing.

On repeat viewing I really enjoyed how straight Bowie was playing it - he seems genuinely quite malevolent. Although a lot of his sinister edge might have to do with that sequence where he tries to seduce the fifteen-year-old protagonist ... yeesh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 11 June, 2017, 07:04:36 PM
The Mummy

As much as I wanted to dislike it this was great fun. Think Indiana Jone + American Werewolf in London plus Mummy films of the past.
It was scary in places, funny in places, and nonsensical in places but most importantly it was short, to the point, and fun.
A decent start to the Dark Universe franchise imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 June, 2017, 10:18:51 PM
Guardians volume 2 - hits most of the same marks as the first one and suffers for the familiarity, but still a lot of fun. Michael Rooker is the highlight along with Drax. The 'main characters' are probably the least interesting as you know how it's going to pan out for Star Lord. But nothing to complain about at all, and lots of lovely Easter eggs for the fanboys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Supreme Pizza Of The DPRK on 12 June, 2017, 04:40:31 AM
Bushwhacked (1995)

After the success of the Home Alone films and City Slickers, Daniel Stern stars in this hilarious 90's comedy also staring a whole bunch of child actors who were never seen again!

Sterns angry guy acting is about the only good part of the film. Spend your time elsewhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 June, 2017, 07:38:54 AM
Nerve

Came across like an American (ie sanitised) Black Mirror. Ultimately, forgettable puff. And let down by the first proper out-of-the-blue Deus Ex Machina that I've come across in a while: [spoiler]...and then a mysterious hacker gang come out of nowhere and stop it.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 12 June, 2017, 01:28:52 PM
Inside Man was pretty good.Its pretty interesting to frame a heist movie from a police perspective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 12 June, 2017, 09:26:25 PM
John Wick.......for the fifth time. Such a cool film with some great memorable dialogue and fantastic action sequences.  Got my second viewing of John Wick 2 coming up on Saturday and I can't wait.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 June, 2017, 08:04:15 AM
A fish called Wanda I kinda remember that being funnier. :-\
Btw,anyone knows a good kaiju movie besides Godzilla and Gamera series(I kinda watched them all)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 June, 2017, 08:09:33 AM
For Toho none big G titles, Mothra, Rodan and War of the Gargantuas are pretty damn excellent. The Mysterians ain't half bad either.

Outside if Toho, Ultraman The Next is the greatest Ultra movie, and despite not being a kaiju movie persay the Kamen Rider 90's trilogy was pretty damn good (Shin, ZO, and J).

Finally for a slightly dufferent kaiju, theres Gorgo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 June, 2017, 08:47:31 AM
I watched the Mothra series and some other Toho stuff.But the other stuff I will check out.Thanks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 June, 2017, 08:27:47 PM
Wonder woman.

I enjoyed that a lot, although I [spoiler]wondered about that new power too. At least it was kind of established early in the film, although that seemed to be more like she was emitting a concussive blast out of her bracelets, rather than the Yoda trick she did with the lightening, later. I think the point is that as a god killing weapon she can deflect their own powers back at them, possibly magnified. Its a bit different from her comic power-set, but I guess it differentiates her powers a bit more from Superman. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 June, 2017, 08:44:15 PM
Just realised the comments I were referring to were actually in a dedicated Wonderwoman thread! Never mind...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 June, 2017, 09:24:37 PM
John Wick 2... I was a bit bored to be honest. Loved the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 18 June, 2017, 11:01:16 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 18 June, 2017, 09:24:37 PM
John Wick 2... I was a bit bored to be honest. Loved the first one.

You are officially not in my cool book. John Wick 2 rules.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 June, 2017, 08:25:07 AM
Disney's THE BLACK HOLE

From a scientific accuracy perspective, this is more like THE SHIT HOLE but do you know what? I kinda liked it. It's does not overstay it's welcome, it manages to give some character to four of the main cast (admittedly one of those by sole virtue of being voiced by Roddy McDowell) and the production design and John Barry score are both jolly good.

Plus, I love the fact that studios after "the next Star Wars" were given the likes of Dune and this with [spoiler]it's Heaven and Hell [/spoiler]ending.  "We can't put that on a fucking lunch box!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 19 June, 2017, 10:40:48 AM
The Black Hole was always a guilty pleasure from my youth.  Films like Tron, Blade Runner, the Star Wars trilogy, the Star Trek's were the pinnacles but films like this, the Last Starfighter, Flash Gordon ... films to watch with the brain disengaged really.  The visuals of TBH were really what made it for me.  VINCENT, BOB, Maximillian, the Security Robots, ...

... that and having the story LP.  Unfortunately I can still quote great swathes of the film from memory!  Sad but true.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 19 June, 2017, 12:44:40 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 19 June, 2017, 10:40:48 AM
The Black Hole was always a guilty pleasure from my youth.  Films like Tron, Blade Runner, the Star Wars trilogy, the Star Trek's were the pinnacles but films like this, the Last Starfighter, Flash Gordon ... films to watch with the brain disengaged really.  The visuals of TBH were really what made it for me.  VINCENT, BOB, Maximillian, the Security Robots, ...

... that and having the story LP.  Unfortunately I can still quote great swathes of the film from memory!  Sad but true.

Some great films there - and some of the best robots committed to film!



(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/82/12/4b/82124b3a242a7d3c432062fbb35362c7.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 June, 2017, 01:22:28 PM
Maximillian is still genuinely scary.

The less said about the 'Robomen' or whatever they call the cyborg lackeys the better.


Has anyone watched The Ice Pirates lately? That's one I loved as a kid but haven't seen it since sometime in the 80s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 June, 2017, 02:21:18 PM
I watch The Black Hole every now and again. It's still a guilty pleasure for me. Such a strangely dark film from Disney.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 19 June, 2017, 04:43:42 PM
Snatch,The only truly funny Brad Pitt movie.Funny question,did Rade Šerberdžija ever play anything other then a Russian villain?
Jokes aside,it a lot like Two Smoking Barrels,but its a good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 19 June, 2017, 06:55:23 PM
I think I've seen Black Hole more often than I've seen Star Wars.

And I watch Flash Gordon every time it's on telly.

Love 'em!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 June, 2017, 07:00:40 PM
I own Flash Gordon, but there's something magical about finding it on telly, you just have to watch it. Adverts and all. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 June, 2017, 07:09:32 PM
Flash Gordon is chuffing ace! Nutty as a snickers and cheesey as chedder but one of the most visually and stylistically memorable movies ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 19 June, 2017, 10:19:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 19 June, 2017, 07:00:40 PM
I own Flash Gordon, but there's something magical about finding it on telly, you just have to watch it. Adverts and all. :)

I don't own a TV, but I do remember switching on the B&B TV when I was on holiday one time and watching it to the end :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 20 June, 2017, 07:09:02 AM
Horror of Dracula I think it holds up pretty good.Cant say that I was really scared,but then again,horror movies never scared me before.Unlike the news.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 June, 2017, 07:59:15 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 June, 2017, 11:01:16 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 18 June, 2017, 09:24:37 PM
John Wick 2... I was a bit bored to be honest. Loved the first one.
You are officially not in my cool book. John Wick 2 rules.
I enjoyed it the first time but was left somewhat unsatisfied by a second viewing until I realised the airline had carefully edited out a lot of the headshots. Nonetheless, there's a lot of arch waffle in it that I could easily do without. Much like The Raid 2, the expansive, "world building" scenes don't do much for me beyond building up the anticipation for the next round of brutality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 20 June, 2017, 11:53:58 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 20 June, 2017, 07:59:15 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 June, 2017, 11:01:16 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 18 June, 2017, 09:24:37 PM
John Wick 2... I was a bit bored to be honest. Loved the first one.
You are officially not in my cool book. John Wick 2 rules.
I enjoyed it the first time but was left somewhat unsatisfied by a second viewing until I realised the airline had carefully edited out a lot of the headshots. Nonetheless, there's a lot of arch waffle in it that I could easily do without. Much like The Raid 2, the expansive, "world building" scenes don't do much for me beyond building up the anticipation for the next round of brutality.

I think it's a solid "middle" film. Third and final one on the way, and if that is a satisfying conclusion to the story then this will stand up as a great action trilogy. If the third one sucks, then I think it will have a retrospective impact on how I see 2. At that point I would just stick with the first film on future viewings, much like I do with the matrix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 June, 2017, 01:37:31 PM
Law if diminishing returns see also Taken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 20 June, 2017, 01:42:37 PM
Other taken 1, they are rubbish. John Wick 2 is still very good, it just needs a solid  part 3 to round it off, as it finishes in an unresolved manner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 20 June, 2017, 02:23:39 PM
Quote from: Smith on 20 June, 2017, 07:09:02 AM
Horror of Dracula I think it holds up pretty good.Cant say that I was really scared,but then again,horror movies never scared me before.Unlike the news.

The next two are even better, in my opinion! If you liked that then give Brides of Dracula and Dracula Prince of Darkness a go. The fourth entry is a bit of a snore-fest - but the fifth, Taste the Blood of Dracula is a cracker. After that the quality's really variable and continuity goes completely out the window!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 June, 2017, 02:37:30 PM
Lo, I have just seen that there is a John Wick comic coming out illustrated by Greg Pak. Good choice!

Quote from: SIP on 20 June, 2017, 11:53:58 AM
<SNIP>https://forums.2000ad.com/Themes/default/images/bbc/spoiler.gif
I think it's a solid "middle" film. Third and final one on the way, and if that is a satisfying conclusion to the story then this will stand up as a great action trilogy. If the third one sucks, then I think it will have a retrospective impact on how I see 2. At that point I would just stick with the first film on future viewings, much like I do with the matrix.

It was alreet, just felt a bit bored by it all. None of the shooty parts had any impact to me in stark contrast to the first and it was all a bit old hat by the end. Didn't enjoy the portentiousness of the whole secret society lark that much either - and found the Central Park scene utterly ridiculous. Sniggered a bit at shooting silenced pistols at each other with no one noticing when just seconds earlier a crowd had screamed and ran away at the exact same level of gunfire. And god knows what was going on with Morpheus and his competing tribe of NYC hobo ninjas - guess they were trying to contrast with the poncy pretention of Ian McShane and the magical word of the Continental.

Essentially my disbelief never managed to get suspended, probably because this time round John's motivations were pretty weak. "I'm back. Again. Like I just was. Because they blew up my house so I would do a job for them, so I did it but then they tried to kill me to clear up loose ends, don't ask me how that would have cleared up loose ends - I am a legendary hitman and everything is an open secret in any case - but anyway I now have to kill everyone who wears black until I catch up with the bloke with the daft hair".

At least last time it was "I was out. I'd retired. But you came to my home. You took the last pieces of the woman I loved away from me, all because you thought you were untouchable."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Krakajac on 20 June, 2017, 02:42:57 PM
A bit late to the party - but speaking of The Black Hole.  On a recent jaunt to Japan, found this in one of their numerous toy stores...a vintage Maximillian model (11 inches in height).  Quite hard to come by these days.

(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/krakajac/3C1E742A-C976-457F-8BE4-5B7C92154CDB_zpsb9z86oaz.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/krakajac/media/3C1E742A-C976-457F-8BE4-5B7C92154CDB_zpsb9z86oaz.jpg.html)

(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/krakajac/9F24D8EE-98B2-4C0C-A27D-102AA3C59D1A_zps1lv4gzmp.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/krakajac/media/9F24D8EE-98B2-4C0C-A27D-102AA3C59D1A_zps1lv4gzmp.jpg.html)

The movie had quite an impact on me as a kid.  I wish someone would release a nice model of Vincent and/or Bob.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 June, 2017, 03:59:44 PM
I had that kit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 June, 2017, 06:11:31 PM
Packed in quite a few films on a recent plane journey to UK and back:

Free Fire
Fun little action movie by Ben Wheatley - it's basically one long gunfight. Script and story are a little barebones, but it's elevated by an absolutely amazing cast. In particular I was really impressed by Armie Hammer. It feels like he's been cast in a lot of big things but has never had a big break. I remember that he was going to be Batman in George Miller's abandoned Justice League movie - shame he never got to play the role.
4/5

Get Out
Liked rather than loved this - probably a victim of its own hype. It feels like a bit of a stretch to call it a 'horror' movie - feels more like a feature length Twilight Zone episode.
3/5

Doctor Strange
A bit meh, to be honest. Incredibly by the numbers origin stuff, flat and uninteresting characters, boring generic villain. Livened up only by some genuinely awesome visuals (but even those ultimately feel a little derivative of Inception). I must admit this was quite late into the first 12hr flight and I was drifting in and out of sleep and a little distracted by following the incoming election results. Missed the ending, probably won't go back to rewatch it.
2/5

Shin Godzilla
Confession: I've never actually seen a Godzilla movie other than the 1997 Hollywood remake... This was pretty fun though. Tbh I found a lot of the non monster scenes kinda dragged, the acting pretty ropey (especially the fake american accents) and the overall plot was incredibly predictable, but the scenes with the actual monster were fun. Loved the modern Godzilla redesign, especially the bonkers first form with its haunting googly fish eyes.
3/5

Arrival
I was worried this might be a bit dry (which was why I didn't see it in the cinema) and I wasn't fully convinced until the ending (in particular I wasn't sure about the paradoxical way in which it's all wrapped up), but that last montage and revelation came out of nowhere and punched me right in the feels. Must admit I shed a single manly tear as the credits rolled. Fantastic film.
5/5

Hell or High Water
Superior modern Western/thriller about a pair of bank robber brothers and the ageing Texas Ranger on their trial. Beautifully shot, scored and paced, superbly acted and all four principal characters are really well-rounded and engaging. Really absorbing atmosphere and poignant themes. I love how it plays with your sympathies throughout until an ending that leaves you to draw your own conclusions. I really can't overstate how much I loved this film or recommend it highly enough - one I'll certainly return to in the future.
5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 20 June, 2017, 07:55:40 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 20 June, 2017, 02:37:30 PM
It was alreet, just felt a bit bored by it all. None of the shooty parts had any impact to me in stark contrast to the first and it was all a bit old hat by the end. Didn't enjoy the portentiousness of the whole secret society lark that much either

It's been suggested on another forum I somehow managed to sleep through all the action sequences because I genuinely can't remember any, bar the car chase at the beginning. And the suicide. Oh, and something kicking off in NYC, I think. Alcohol may have been a factor.

But, yeah. T'was disappointing given the free-for-all the trailer seemed to promise. And because at the time I'd decided against seeing the first one at the flicks I even hired it on DvD from my local library prior to watching Chapter 2. Bah!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 June, 2017, 07:58:28 AM
We've talked at length before about the good and the bad of gore master Lucio Fulci and his cinematic frightfests. He's made some gems he's made plenty of stinkers but one that seems rather decisive is The House by the Cemetery. It cant be denied it's an awful movie, but also with its fair share of stand out moments. As a result it stands alongside City of the Living Dead as a hard to define movie thats a little too plodding for its own goid with just enough shock and horror to keep you going. Not a classic, but pretty entertaining in it's own way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 21 June, 2017, 11:02:43 AM
Watched Rob Zombie's 31 last night, overall watchable, but it veered from wretchedly derisive to inspired (the inspired bits being the first and last 5 minutes).

Really great final scene, Aerosmith's Dream On was used perfectly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 June, 2017, 12:00:49 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 21 June, 2017, 11:02:43 AM
Watched Rob Zombie's 31 last night, overall watchable, but it veered from wretchedly derisive to inspired (the inspired bits being the first and last 5 minutes).

Really great final scene, Aerosmith's Dream On was used perfectly.

I wasn't a huge fan of this movie as a whole, I usually really like Rob Zombie's original films but found large chunks of 31 quite dull and repetitive.

I did however think Richard Brake's performance as Doomhead (and the way the character is written and filmed) was pretty incredible. Definitely one of the best, most charismatic horror movie villains of recent years, I reckon he'd probably be positively iconic now if the movie surrounding him had been a bit stronger.

A friend of mine met Brake quite recently (he came into his guitar shop) and asked him what it's like to have to play such a creepy character, and he just gave him a wicked Doomhead smile and said 'Hey, that's my thing, and I loooove it'. I'd have run out the shop at that point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 07:12:39 AM
John Wick. Last night was my first proper night off in a while and I wasted it on this pile of old bobbins. Wronged ex-killer murders his way through sixteen and a half thousand bad guys in pursuit of revenge. I didn't even make it to the end as my attention was grabbed by some paint drying. Truly awful, this one's going straight to the Charity Shop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 June, 2017, 10:18:28 AM
Oh no he DIDN'T!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 25 June, 2017, 10:46:36 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 07:12:39 AM
John Wick. Last night was my first proper night off in a while and I wasted it on this pile of old bobbins. Wronged ex-killer murders his way through sixteen and a half thousand bad guys in pursuit of revenge. I didn't even make it to the end as my attention was grabbed by some paint drying. Truly awful, this one's going straight to the Charity Shop.

WTF???????!!!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 25 June, 2017, 11:06:34 AM
John Wick = awesome.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 11:12:49 AM
I know - I'm as surprised as anyone. There seems to be a lot of love for this film on this thread, which is why I watched it. This thread hardly ever lets me down but this time it has. I found the film boring, formulaic and boring. Yes, I said boring twice because it was. It wasn't even annoying enough to get on my wick... Sorry to everyone who loved it but I won't be bothering with the sequel at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 June, 2017, 11:15:26 AM
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/71/71bf4186f2fd86fe7990f814bb956dd6d77d68ee46e6de9d981f02268d87422f.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 25 June, 2017, 11:31:47 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 11:12:49 AM
I know - I'm as surprised as anyone. There seems to be a lot of love for this film on this thread, which is why I watched it. This thread hardly ever lets me down but this time it has. I found the film boring, formulaic and boring. Yes, I said boring twice because it was. It wasn't even annoying enough to get on my wick... Sorry to everyone who loved it but I won't be bothering with the sequel at all.

Brexit, Donald Trump and now this........madness I tell you.....madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 25 June, 2017, 11:47:07 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 11:12:49 AM
I found the film boring, formulaic and boring.


You did better than I did - I couldn't even make it to the end. Not for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 June, 2017, 12:08:57 PM
Quick and the dead (1995) Wild West revenge stories have been done to death,but the setting of a gunslinger tournament is pretty original,and performances are great;so in the end-great movie.
Power Rangers(2017) I cant judge it too harshly seeing its a Power Rangers movie.It has its flaws and annoying teen tropes,but its okay.If you liked MMPR before,watch the movie,if you didnt,this wont change your opinion.However,as far as revivals-of-tv shows-as-movies go,this is probably one of the better ones.
Expendables 3 Again,I cant be too harsh since its Expendables,but seems like a serious case of sequelitis.Its sometimes funny(when people are quoting themselves),Mel Gibson is pretty good as the villain,Snipes is okay,Harrison Ford is here.Other new faces are either unneeded(the young team) or wasted(Antonio Banderas).Look,its Banderas,have him carry a whole arsenal in a guitar case.Thats all I ask.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 25 June, 2017, 02:10:28 PM
Two films on Netflix yesterday.

Ant-Man: watched this with my son. It was ....ok. Nowhere near the level of an Iron Man, Captain America or GoTG. But he enjoyed it. Glad I saw it but I won't be re-watching it anytime soon. Now I know it is all fantasy/ sci-fi but the physics was a load of tosh. Ok so it strinks the space between atoms....right so how does that make the Thomas the Tank Engine toy heavier? And don't even get me started on the trip to the quantum world.

Spooks The Greater Good. I didn't even know this existed until Netflix suggested it. Watched with my wife. She said "this won't be much good" and she was right. It was like a double episode, but a not very good one. I just couldn't seem to care. And how come Oliver Mace was back as the DG of MI5? Hadn't he left in disgrace years ago?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 June, 2017, 04:35:59 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 25 June, 2017, 02:10:28 PM


....right so how does that make the Thomas the Tank Engine toy heavier?


Well, obviously the embigenning process causes a quantum vacuum between the receding atoms which induces a multidimensional harmonic resonance throughout the whole intermolecular lattice and leads to clumping of the quantum foam, which in turn twangulates several frequencies of virtual energy, coagulating it into semi-realistic, artificial matter which, exposed to the Earth's magnetic ecostructure, act like normalised atoms to result in the simulation of actual mass.

Simples.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 June, 2017, 09:01:31 PM
It's bigger, so it's heavier.  FFS, keep up, lads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 26 June, 2017, 12:20:20 AM
I watched John Wick 2

I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the first one. Keanu Reeves had a go at acting and it didn't work. After the opening scene it started taking itself too seriously. That lass from Orange is the New Black was in it. Although it was a non speaking role, she still managed to put in an atrocious performance. Much like the movie itself, looked good, but not all that convincing or entertaining.

I felt the attempts to set up a franchise undermined this. The first movie was an unexpected treat* out of the leftfield, the really should have left it at that**.

*Maybe the hype deminisned it for Shark and the like.
**Much like The Matrix***.
***Lawrence FishBourne was in this as a crazy hobo prophet. Him and Keanu teamed up again, so that was nice
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dr Feeley Good on 26 June, 2017, 08:39:10 AM
Watched this myself over the weekend, not a patch on the first... instantly forgettable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 26 June, 2017, 08:43:05 AM
Well I paid to watch the latest Transformers at the cinema this weekend, it was better than the last one if that means anything to you.  A lot of noise and big explosions all the characters shouted the plot and one actually phoned in his performance like literally!!!  But I can't say it m upset I really liked the first Bay Transformers but from then on they really have been pretty pooie I don't know why I would expected any more from this one.
Tron 2 was on TV last night I'd still love to see a version of that with all the dialogue removed and I st the soundtrack as it's pretty arsom

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 26 June, 2017, 09:45:33 AM
Brutal Tales of Chivalry The plot reminded me a bit of Godfather.Like the Yakuza Godfather,I guess.Good movie.
Dead or Alive (1999) That was unique. :o
And disturbing.And has the most ridiculous ending I have ever seen.I mean,it needs to be seen to be believed.
Seriously,a yakuza movie,standard shootout and then this happens. :lol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxNdJ7aC6Is (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxNdJ7aC6Is)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 28 June, 2017, 11:39:48 PM
The Adventures of Prince Achmed

I saw this performed with live musical accompaniment at Glastonbury Festival and it was genuinely astounding. I couldn't believe it was made 90 years before - the paper-and-lead stop motion is frequently stunning. Particularly the landscapes and the stunning final shape-shifting wizard duel (later paid homage to in Disney's Sword in the Stone). The narrative drags around the introduction of Aladdin but for the time it is remarkably engaging. What an experience!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 30 June, 2017, 09:12:56 PM
Baby Driver

Very, very good - hope it does well for Edgar, he's been a PR machine on this project and it deserves a good box-office to go with the reviews.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 30 June, 2017, 10:39:46 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 30 June, 2017, 09:12:56 PM
Baby Driver

Very, very good - hope it does well for Edgar, he's been a PR machine on this project and it deserves a good box-office to go with the reviews.

Bit of a flabby third act I felt, but a hell of a lot of fun-deserves to do bank!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 July, 2017, 02:53:11 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 30 June, 2017, 09:12:56 PM
Baby Driver

Very, very good - hope it does well for Edgar, he's been a PR machine on this project and it deserves a good box-office to go with the reviews.

Seeing it tomorrow.
Looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 02 July, 2017, 02:33:32 PM
I saw Baby Driver last night and was surprised at how much I liked it. I hated the trailer but the film is pretty good although it definitely loses it's way towards the end. I would have also liked more driving.

I also saw Hampstead which is a very sweet movie without being cloying, great performance from Brendan Gleeson.

And I saw The House which is a decent comedy but not outright absolutely hilarious. There are worse ways to spend a few hours ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 July, 2017, 03:20:16 PM
Okja - on Netflix, damn they are getting good at making movies, both mad and sad and happy the whole lot, very good story well acted nice mesh of Korean and Holywood film making.  From the director of Snowpiercer but way better and the damn Superpig was absolutly adorable.
Also watched Train to Busan the otehr week, a great Zombie movie when you think they couldn't do anything original with zombies anymore strongly recomend both.
Also while not a movie it is in Netfix GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) is great too, binged all 10 episodes in two day and well worth it.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 July, 2017, 08:53:38 AM
Baby Driver

Agree with what has already been said here. It's great fun but the majority of the really good, cool stuff is in the first two acts of the film leaving the final act to be slightly underwhelming in my opinion.
That's not to say it's not loads of fun, it is.
The cast are superb across the board and the whole film almost felt more like ballet than anything else. Sort of a musical Reservoir Dogs, especially the first time Baby goes and gets coffee with his weaving in and out of passers by and the lyrics to the song appearing on the walls as he goes by. La-La Land esq but this whole way of presenting the film disappears in the final act leaving it to be a standard, if very well made, heist/drive movie.
7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 July, 2017, 10:42:15 AM
Train to Busan had me on edge for the entire thing. Zombies were cool too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 July, 2017, 05:13:25 PM
I loved Baby Driver, and already trying to plan a second viewing. Anyone else catch what I'm assuming was a [spoiler]DREDD[/spoiler] reference when he's tuning the car radio?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 03 July, 2017, 06:29:12 PM
Missed that one...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 July, 2017, 07:30:44 PM
Trance - A very interesting film with lots of twists and turns.[spoiler]In the real world, I'm not sure hypnotism is as powerful as depicted here,  but as this is a fictional world next door, that's okay. [/spoiler]

Rosario Dawson, who plays the nurse character in the Netflix Marvel series has quite a major role in this... and you see rather a lot of her. Ahem. 😱😆
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 July, 2017, 09:14:43 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 03 July, 2017, 06:29:12 PM
Missed that one...

It's just a quick line, [spoiler]when he carjacks someone while on the run from the final job, as he's scrolling through the radio to find a song a news report (or it might be the police frequency?) mentions gunfire at Peach Trees.[/spoiler]

Knowing how much of a 2000AD fan Edgar Wright is it's pretty neat that he threw that in!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 04 July, 2017, 09:54:16 AM
Yes I definitely heard that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 04 July, 2017, 11:04:20 AM
I didn't notice it on the radio but noticed some peach tree signage.

There's a lot of peach tree going on in Atlanta apparently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 July, 2017, 11:06:38 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 04 July, 2017, 11:04:20 AM
I didn't notice it on the radio but noticed some peach tree signage.

There's a lot of peach tree going on in Atlanta apparently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peachtree_Street)
It is the capital of the Peach State.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 05 July, 2017, 01:25:01 AM
Alien: Covenant
Thought it was absolutely shocking, to be honest. The first half hour seemed to be a less imaginative remake of "Alien", and the less said about the rest, the better. Zero suspense, hugely predictable, this felt more in the AvP mould than something from the great director that made The Duelists, Gladiator and Blade Runner. All I can think of is that some studio offered Ridley Scott tons of money to make his own better project next if he tossed this one out. Seriously, not good at all.

Wonder Woman
I managed half an hour of this, then switched off. To be honest, I've been pretty much done with CGI, folks - leaping - about- in - slow - motion movies based on American comic books for quite some time, and this did nothing to draw me in. The leads seemed very good, everyone concerned seemed to be doing a good job, it's just not for me. The Greek myths exposition part seemed to be written by someone who thinks Homer is only a guy who's married to Marge.
Plus, how clunky is that opening scene, in the present day? Immediately it's saying NEVER MIND THIS MOVIE, WAIT TIL YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT ONE. Whatever happened to people making great standalone movies without eyeing up six more?

Gah, two misfires for me tonight. Firing up the Pink Panther box set to salvage something of the evening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 05 July, 2017, 01:36:13 AM
Quote from: DrRocka on 05 July, 2017, 01:25:01 AM

Wonder Woman
I managed half an hour of this, then switched off.
Plus, how clunky is that opening scene, in the present day? Immediately it's saying NEVER MIND THIS MOVIE, WAIT TIL YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT ONE. Whatever happened to people making great standalone movies without eyeing up six more?


Yeah, as a two hour flashback it didn't really cut it for me either.

And the coda set in the present day almost felt like an apology for the period setting that preceded it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 July, 2017, 05:44:14 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 03 July, 2017, 07:30:44 PM
Trance - A very interesting film with lots of twists and turns.[spoiler]In the real world, I'm not sure hypnotism is as powerful as depicted here,  but as this is a fictional world next door, that's okay. [/spoiler]

Rosario Dawson, who plays the nurse character in the Netflix Marvel series has quite a major role in this... and you see rather a lot of her. Ahem. 😱😆

TBF;TL.

I enjoyed it. Quite twisty turn with some expected and some unexpected. Unsettling performance from McAvoy (he's a bit too kick ass at times). And a great turn by Vincent Cassell.  Plus great cinematography  (is it the bloke that did Dredd?) And a cracking soundtrack
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 07 July, 2017, 10:03:44 PM
It Comes At Night is an utterly engrossing and, at times, harrowing psychological horror film with superb performances all round!

Not to be missed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 07 July, 2017, 10:13:47 PM
Despicable Me 3

First, some background:
Tiny Rocka is now 10, about to finish primary school, and though she still loves Minions, they're not quite the all - encompassing force of nature they were for her a couple of years ago. So, after chips by the seaside (we're lucky enough to live near St Anne's Island Cinema, where every movie ticket is £4 and you if go to a premiere there are no adverts or trailers, just the movie coming straight on at the time on ticket. Imagine how we all freaked at the opening night of Force Awakens), we're in and down to business. I of course fall asleep ten minutes into it (I'm 44 now and a gigging musician, so the second I get into a comfy chair, I'm having a quick ten minutes, thank you very much), but I doubt I missed much.
We've loved all the Gru movies so far, and this one was ok, but showing definite signs of Franchise Syndrome. It's a kids film, fee Gawd's sake, it's not reinventing the wheel. That said, there were logic gaps left right and centre ("why are the Minions suddenly in jail, Dad?"), but it's a passable and inoffensive way of keeping your Small Folk occupied for a couple of hours.
That said, we both agreed our scores for the other Despicable Me movies (and Minions) would all be 8/10, and this one's a 5. Definitely one for the ickle 'un's. Or perhaps both of us Rockas are developing more sophisticated tastes?

Captain Underpants looks like being a riot, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 July, 2017, 07:05:10 PM
Bone Tomahawk. Jesus wept. Utterly unbelievable plot, bland characters and pointless gore. A rather good core idea completely wasted - even Kurt Russel (the best thing in it by a country mile) couldn't save this steaming pile.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2017, 07:28:24 PM
Spider-Man: Homecoming. That was a lot of fun. Stark isn't in it nearly as much as the trailers might have you believe. Holland is believable and engaging, whilst Keaton is genuinely excellent, arguably the best villain to date in a Marvel movie. The stakes are kept pleasingly low-key and personal; much of the comedy is excellent. Stay for the end of the credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 09 July, 2017, 07:46:14 PM
The adjustment burea   Terrific. Love Dick inspired films
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 09 July, 2017, 09:59:01 PM
Sense and Sensibility (1995)

It was literally the first EVER Austin thing I'd ever consumed in any form back in 2012 and it still is, as I first thought, terribly dry. The settings are beautiful, the people are beautiful and it's well performed but despite Thompson's heavy efforts to simplify and embolden the story for modern audiences it still comes across as cheesy, over-sentimental and drier than a cracker in the desert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 09 July, 2017, 11:01:13 PM
The Founder! (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/no-126-founder.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 10 July, 2017, 09:19:15 AM
Spider-Man, Homecoming:

Really enjoyed this. Thought Keaton was as superb throughout. He has some really good moments throughout the the film. Really like the 'neighbourhood' moments. They gave the film a lot of heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 July, 2017, 09:34:07 AM
Deadpool

I saw it at the cinema, but I recently picked up the Blu-Ray in a two* for a tenner deal at Asda, so I watched it again recently. Very enjoyable. There's too much swearing for my liking, but it's a funny enjoyable romp.

There's plenty of extras on the Blu-Ray too. I rarely watch these things more than once, (or all of them for that matter) but they're nice. Looking forward to checking out the commentaries later. Probably not all one after the other, there being three!

* The other was The Martian. I've yet to see it, but it but picked it up after good reviews mostly of the 'example of a good film Ridley Scott produced in the present day' variety. (To be fair, I didn't mind Prometheus or Alien:Covenant myself.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 July, 2017, 09:39:27 AM
I disagree with everything Sharky said about Bone Tomahawk (by standards of unbelievable plots, it's... pretty tame. *Nudges stack of 2000ADS with foot*)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 July, 2017, 09:57:35 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 July, 2017, 09:34:07 AM
Deadpool
There's plenty of extras on the Blu-Ray too. I rarely watch these things more than once, (or all of them for that matter) but they're nice. Looking forward to checking out the commentaries later. Probably not all one after the other, there being three!

Correction: there are two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 July, 2017, 07:53:44 PM
Spider-Man: Homecoming. Been pretty disappointed with most of my film choices recently so it was good to finally break that miserable run. This film was never going to be as jaw-droppingly good as the first Tobey Maguire one because that's the film (for me) when special effects finally caught up with the idea of a Marvel super hero and the effects in this new offering were good enough, which is all I expected. The story was good and moved along at a decent pace and all the actors were on form. I was especially glad that I didn't have to sit through another origin story. Not the best Marvel film I've ever seen but also far from being a disappointment - a decent addition to the continuing MU series.

As a plus, on the way out of the cinema I saw a guy taking down a couple of big vinyl posters. "I suppose those are spoken for," I said to the guy.

"Take 'em," he said, "it'll save me carrying them back to the van."

So, I got a big vinyl poster for War for the Planet of the Apes and my mate got one for Baby Driver.

Good film and a nerdy freebie - result!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 July, 2017, 11:25:21 PM
Kes

My first Loach film is his hallmark - it's more of a slice of time than a coherent narrative though. The gritty textures of late sixties Barnsley, the greasy quiffs and chips. The fuckin' Dandy. The smoky factoryscapes and grubby green fields. The stuttering stumbling incoherent locals and the lurchingly uneven tone of it all is massively charming. It is reality awkwardly stuffed into a film and all messily busting out at the edges. Like - why was there a running score on the screen for the football game?! Why did it end so suddenly?! I genuinely can't wait to watch it again. My Loachquest begins here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2017, 01:36:45 AM
So  a gag 17 years in the making came to fruition tonight when we watched the sublime CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. (DIRECTORS CUT)

Spielberg at the height Of his powers ably assisted by John Williams and Douglas Trumbull. My goodness it's great. Barely a word of exposition and the climactic final 40 minutes just flies by.

Anyway, the gag was that when Tiny Tips was actually Tiny , I used to sing "Good night Tiny Tips" as a  lullaby to him to the tune of the five notes from Close Encounters. All the time. Then when he got to about the age of four and, sadly, no longer needed snuggling to sleep, I stopped.

But tonight, watching Close Encounters for the first time he was... "I know that music! Where do I know that music from?".

Am I a genius parent or am I evil?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 15 July, 2017, 05:08:02 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2017, 01:36:45 AM
So  a gag 17 years in the making came to fruition tonight when we watched the sublime CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. (DIRECTORS CUT)

Spielberg at the height Of his powers ably assisted by John Williams and Douglas Trumbull. My goodness it's great. Barely a word of exposition and the climactic final 40 minutes just flies by.

Anyway, the gag was that when Tiny Tips was actually Tiny , I used to sing "Good night Tiny Tips" as a  lullaby to him to the tune of the five notes from Close Encounters. All the time. Then when he got to about the age of four and, sadly, no longer needed snuggling to sleep, I stopped.

But tonight, watching Close Encounters for the first time he was... "I know that music! Where do I know that music from?".

Am I a genius parent or am I evil?

Strange, I watched this tonight too!!!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 July, 2017, 10:24:02 AM
"Amy", the docu on Amy Winehouse. Quite heavy to watch. Knew it'd be bad, but not as this. Lots of tragedy. Still, I thought there where alot of glory in her story. Perhaps that what made it worse watching it. Very much recommending this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 July, 2017, 11:26:30 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 15 July, 2017, 05:08:02 AM
Strange, I watched this tonight too!!!  :o

This means something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 July, 2017, 12:55:00 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 July, 2017, 01:36:45 AM
....we watched the sublime CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. (DIRECTORS CUT)

CE3K is simply aces. Perhaps my favourite Spielberg film. Even though, as I've gotten older, the film makes less and less sense.

And something seems to be gearing up for it's 40th anniversary - here (https://youtu.be/YUMEMU454G0)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 July, 2017, 01:23:15 PM
The Lego Batman movie, how I laughed. Featuring the BBC's [spoiler]"British robots".[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 16 July, 2017, 02:01:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 July, 2017, 11:26:30 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 15 July, 2017, 05:08:02 AM
Strange, I watched this tonight too!!!  :o

This means something.

Watch the skies, TordelBack!

If we develop a strange compunction to model the Devils Tower and take a road trip, I think you could be right!!!   :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 July, 2017, 06:09:19 PM
War For The Planet Of The Apes.

I have a lot of time for the PotA movies thus far, being comfortably the smartest and most affecting big studio SF franchise I can remember for a lot of years. This final entry is surprisingly low-key -- [spoiler]the titular war is actually between two human factions with the apes caught in the crossfire, and it doesn't arrive until late in the final act.[/spoiler]

Nonetheless, it's a fitting and effective finale to the trilogy. I'm sorry to see it finish, but I'm very satisfied with how this plays out. The CGI, as ever, is remarkable for its ability to capture nuance and emotion, and there's a surprising amount of well-judged humour. I normally twitch a bit at films much over two hours, but this zips through a 140-minute running time. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 July, 2017, 08:34:41 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 July, 2017, 06:09:19 PMNonetheless, it's a fitting and effective finale to the trilogy.


I have a feeling the linear re-do of POTA will continue (http://www.slashfilm.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-sequels/).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 July, 2017, 08:53:55 PM
I've been enjoying these films and look forward to seeing this latest one and those to follow.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 July, 2017, 09:14:57 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 16 July, 2017, 08:34:41 PM
I have a feeling the linear re-do of POTA will continue (http://www.slashfilm.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-sequels/).

Fair enough. I'd missed that, and this movie had been built up as the final one. That said, there are some plot threads that, whilst not exactly dangling do hint at possible future developments. [spoiler]The fact that "Nova" demonstrates that the virus is not the death sentence the Colonel believes it to be, for instance.[/spoiler]

I did also wonder whether the throwaway line about the 'lost' astronauts on Mars at the start of Dawn was a hint that this franchise was playing a very long game...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 July, 2017, 09:52:43 AM
Watched David Lynch: The Art Life, really fascinating documentary/interview film with some great music and lots of insight into Lynch's mindset. His films are barely featured, the focus is on his paintings and other artwork, which is an area of his I confess I'd never looked into so found really interesting to see. My only gripe was it finished quite abruptly and unexpectedly, the running time flew by and I could have happily watched for another couple of hours.

Then I watched the documentary about the wrestler Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) that's on the WWE Network, because we were scrolling through and thought it'd be a nostalgic laugh because we remembered his whole machismo schtick from childhood. There was indeed some nostalgic fun to be had from seeing him and other forgotten faces pop up, but it was surprisingly dark. The guy had a ton of problems and it doesn't shy away from showing you them - there's some footage of him having to go out to the ring when he's far too inebriated to even stand or speak which is sad to watch. There are docs on the network for most of the wrestlers I remember from childhood, but I fear many of them will have similar trajectories, those kind of personal problems seem to be a bit of a staple with professional wrestlers (The Wrestler really nailed that part).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 July, 2017, 04:32:01 PM
The Big Sick - semi-autobiographical rom com starring Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and co-written by him and his wife Emily Gordon.

It's.... OK. Veered into mawkishness a little too much for my liking, and wasn't quite funny enough, despite some good lines here and there. I also don't think enough character work was to get the audience to invest in the two leads and their relationship.

Watchable enough, but certainly not the rehabilitation of the rom com genre it's been hyped up as in the reviews.

2.5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 July, 2017, 08:18:27 PM
Blair Witch

By same team who did brilliant films You're Next and The Guest

It was available in Netfilx. I really enjoyable it. Very creepy into the woods. Nice touching with found footage theme. Perfect sequel to the Blair Witch Project.

I am looking forward to their next film; Death Note.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 July, 2017, 09:44:12 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 July, 2017, 09:14:57 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 16 July, 2017, 08:34:41 PM
I have a feeling the linear re-do of POTA will continue (http://www.slashfilm.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-sequels/).

Fair enough. I'd missed that, and this movie had been built up as the final one. That said, there are some plot threads that, whilst not exactly dangling do hint at possible future developments. [spoiler]The fact that "Nova" demonstrates that the virus is not the death sentence the Colonel believes it to be, for instance.[/spoiler]

I did also wonder whether the throwaway line about the 'lost' astronauts on Mars at the start of Dawn was a hint that this franchise was playing a very long game...

Yeah I was under the impression this was a trilogy and that this part was still billed as an end. Still while I'm yet to see this (soon, I hope, soon) I'm glad there's more based on the first two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 July, 2017, 10:04:17 PM
Phantasm

I think this is the first time I've seen it all the way through from the beginning. There are some genuine jump scares (although I've found I've become hardened to those somewhat) and the imagery is very interesting. But what a strange film it is! This is not a bad thing in some ways, but the ending was rather confusing.

[spoiler]One guy, who appeared to die earlier is suddenly back with no explanation  (although I guessed his wound would not be fatal since I remember him in the sequels sporting a triple barrel shooter) . Another has died off-screen supposedly in a car crash... or is the entire scene including the back flash to the grave a dream? [/spoiler]

I wonder if there's a longer cut of the film which makes more sense. Maybe Phantasm 2 makes more sense of it. Another film, I haven't seen all the way through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 July, 2017, 09:45:27 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 17 July, 2017, 08:18:27 PM
Blair Witch

Almost as bad as 'Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows' IMO.
Zero subtlety and a cast you were wishing dead after 8 minutes.
The movie also made the mistake of presenting one of those 'impossible' situations where it is clearly apparent that there is no way out for the protagonists, which kills all suspense.

I really wanted to enjoy this, but found it genuinely unbearable. And when it comes to horror I'll watch any old shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 July, 2017, 10:01:48 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 17 July, 2017, 08:18:27 PM
Blair Witch

By same team who did brilliant films You're Next and The Guest

It was available in Netfilx. I really enjoyable it. Very creepy into the woods. Nice touching with found footage theme. Perfect sequel to the Blair Witch Project.

I am looking forward to their next film; Death Note.
You really shouldnt...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 July, 2017, 12:40:19 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 17 July, 2017, 08:18:27 PM
Blair Witch

It was... okay. Maybe better than I was expecting, and very much a 'proper' sequel, but the first film's much simpler 'lost in the woods and walking in circles' scares were so much more effective than the scaled-up scares we had here. Less is usually more. Setting it all at night also somehow robbed it of chills rather than doing the opposite.

And it's all just that bit too contrived to suspend disbelief and buy into the story - was very much aware I was watching a Hollywood 'attempt' at found footage rather than buying into it as the real deal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 July, 2017, 02:53:09 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 July, 2017, 05:13:25 PM
I loved Baby Driver, and already trying to plan a second viewing. Anyone else catch what I'm assuming was a [spoiler]DREDD[/spoiler] reference when he's tuning the car radio?

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 July, 2017, 09:14:43 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 03 July, 2017, 06:29:12 PM
Missed that one...

It's just a quick line, [spoiler]when he carjacks someone while on the run from the final job, as he's scrolling through the radio to find a song a news report (or it might be the police frequency?) mentions gunfire at Peach Trees.[/spoiler]

Knowing how much of a 2000AD fan Edgar Wright is it's pretty neat that he threw that in!


Also thought this reminded me of something.

(http://www.shockmansion.com/wp-content/myimages/2017/03/Baby2-300x285.jpg)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 18 July, 2017, 08:42:39 PM
I was never really a massive fan of Amy Winehouse although I like her music. I had heard this was good so thought I'd give it a go. I would absolutely recommend it as well. It's quite hard to watch at times especially after she becomes a drug addict. It's just so sad what happened to her and the real tragedy is that it could have been very easily prevented or brought under control a lot sooner.

Quote from: Apestrife on 16 July, 2017, 10:24:02 AM
"Amy", the docu on Amy Winehouse. Quite heavy to watch. Knew it'd be bad, but not as this. Lots of tragedy. Still, I thought there where alot of glory in her story. Perhaps that what made it worse watching it. Very much recommending this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 July, 2017, 08:36:26 PM
Antman

I started it a while back but never continued at the time for some reason.

I rewatched the whole thing again today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That was a fun film.  I loved the [spoiler]tank twist and the unsung hero Thomas the Tank Engine, or his US equivalent. (Maybe this was Charlie the Choo-Choo? Fitting considering the upcoming Dark Tower film.)[/spoiler]

I wonder how the [spoiler]sacrificial lambs[/spoiler] went down with the kiddies though. (Little monsters probably loved it.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 July, 2017, 08:51:58 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 July, 2017, 08:36:26 PM
Antman

I started it a while back but never continued at the time for some reason.

I rewatched the whole thing again today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That was a fun film.  I loved the [spoiler]tank twist and the unsung hero Thomas the Tank Engine, or his US equivalent. (Maybe this was Charlie the Choo-Choo? Fitting considering the upcoming Dark Tower film.)[/spoiler]

I wonder how the [spoiler]sacrificial lambs[/spoiler] went down with the kiddies though. (Little monsters probably loved it.)

Antman is my favourite Marvel film to date. I haven't seen Spiderman:HC yet though. I thought it was a terrific mix of humour and action, and cast damn near perfectly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 July, 2017, 10:18:13 PM
Just watched The Thing (John Carpenter's) for the first time in years and I enjoyed it as much as I remember enjoying it back in the day, whenever I saw it last.

What impressed me most was how tight it was. In this day and age of so many 2 hr plus, bloated movies, in a very little over 1 1/2 hrs it packs a lot in. While the concept and setting might make it appear slight there's a lot going on, not in any sort of intellectual way, just in terms of stuff happening and ground covered, and people (and dogs) dispensed with in so many grusome ways.

Yeah very enjoyable and lean film making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Old Tankie on 21 July, 2017, 05:19:47 PM
"Dunkirk" - good action scenes and some good acting but many factual inaccuracies, too much emphasis on the small ships, 7 out of 10 for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 July, 2017, 07:02:33 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 20 July, 2017, 10:18:13 PM
Just watched The Thing (John Carpenter's) for the first time in years and I enjoyed it as much as I remember enjoying it back in the day, whenever I saw it last.

Yeah very enjoyable and lean film making.

Agreed on all accounts! A masterful movie and one of, if not THE, deffinitive Lovecraftian horror movies. Just superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 July, 2017, 10:22:01 PM
Revised another classic I've not seen in years and this time the grim glory that is 'Cross of Iron'. James Coburn has the ability to lend any film a degree of cool, but the way he does so in a film like this is so stunningly effective. Its a quite astonishing cast, David Warner a personal fav and I do love the ending James Mason gives his (David Warner's) character. I'm not sure its depiction of the chaos and dehumanising nature of war has ever been so effective, either before or since. Especially as the harden cast make it all so human.

Genuinely a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 July, 2017, 09:06:25 AM
Take out the slo-mo explosions and earth being flung into the air and Cross Of Iron actually has a thirty minute run time. But Yeah, it's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 July, 2017, 09:34:54 AM
Slow Mo usually pisses me off but not so in Cross of Iron, it actualy makes everything that bit more visceral, nasty. One if the most brutal war movies ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 23 July, 2017, 04:35:26 PM
Colin YNWA I only watched it for first time a few months ago and wasn't disappointed. Great movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 23 July, 2017, 06:57:35 PM
ANTIMATTER. Pretty obvious but still pretty good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Dunkirk

Brilliantly constructed, beautifully shot. Moments of unnerving, alien stillness contrasted with near-unbearable tension. Dialogue is minimal, but the actors are all excellent and the result is surprisingly affecting. Also, at a lean 106 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Thoroughly recommended. See it in IMAX if you can -- its very, very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2017, 09:20:34 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Dunkirk

Brilliantly constructed, beautifully shot. Moments of unnerving, alien stillness contrasted with near-unbearable tension. Dialogue is minimal, but the actors are all excellent and the result is surprisingly affecting. Also, at a lean 106 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Thoroughly recommended. See it in IMAX if you can -- its very, very good.

My 11 year old is dying to see this - I know we all grew up on war movies, but I'm a bit worried that the modern big screen version might be too intense for one more used to SF/fantasy genre action. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 09:30:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 July, 2017, 09:20:34 PM

My 11 year old is dying to see this - I know we all grew up on war movies, but I'm a bit worried that the modern big screen version might be too intense for one more used to SF/fantasy genre action. Thoughts?

The violence is very restrained, certainly by modern standards. There's barely a drop of blood, and if you're worried about a Private Ryan level of carnage, it's not even in the same league.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2017, 09:36:10 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 09:30:57 PM
The violence is very restrained, certainly by modern standards. There's barely a drop of blood, and if you're worried about a Private Ryan level of carnage, it's not even in the same league.

Cheers, Jim. That was exactly my concern - I found SPR hard going, and a French girl I saw it with was shaking and in floods of tears*, so I didn't really want a repeat of that! I shall see if either my Dad or my Father in Law (or both) will accompany us.


*Quiet, you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 09:55:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 July, 2017, 09:36:10 PM
Cheers, Jim. That was exactly my concern - I found SPR hard going

The intent is most definitely not visceral. I was reminded more of... Kubrick, Malick and Lean. There's a cleverness in the construction of disparate, converging timelines that some people have found distancing, even distracting, but I can only say that that wasn't my experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2017, 08:24:05 AM
Agree about Dunkirk. It's superb.
And considering the is not one frame of CGI in this makes it even more amazing.
The timeline is cleverly done.
Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 24 July, 2017, 09:37:15 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Dunkirk

Brilliantly constructed, beautifully shot. Moments of unnerving, alien stillness contrasted with near-unbearable tension. Dialogue is minimal, but the actors are all excellent and the result is surprisingly affecting. Also, at a lean 106 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Thoroughly recommended. See it in IMAX if you can -- its very, very good.

Knowing how upset I get simply thinking about my maternal grandfather's experience in Dunkirk I'm genuinely torn about seeing this. I suspect I will but I don't think I've ever balked the way I have with any other film the way I'm hesitant with Nolan's latest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2017, 10:39:39 AM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 24 July, 2017, 09:37:15 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Dunkirk

Brilliantly constructed, beautifully shot. Moments of unnerving, alien stillness contrasted with near-unbearable tension. Dialogue is minimal, but the actors are all excellent and the result is surprisingly affecting. Also, at a lean 106 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Thoroughly recommended. See it in IMAX if you can -- its very, very good.

Knowing how upset I get simply thinking about my maternal grandfather's experience in Dunkirk I'm genuinely torn about seeing this. I suspect I will but I don't think I've ever balked the way I have with any other film the way I'm hesitant with Nolan's latest.

If people, like you, have a personal interest in Dunkirk then I can see it being a very tough watch.
Having experienced the film (you don't watch it) I'm so glad I went to Dunkirk 15 years ago and walked along the beaches and took in the museum.
Really enhanced the experience for me especially because it was all really filmed there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 July, 2017, 08:50:26 PM
Alien: Resurrection

I hadn't seen this since it first came out and I declared it one of the worst films I'd ever seen.

I've seen lots more films since then and it's not as bad as I'd remembered. It's still chock full of problems though, not least that the whole thing looks like it was shot as a straight to video rip-off. It looks incredibly cheap and tacky and the design is terrible - unforgivable for an Alien movie.
Ripley-morph isn't given any time to develop as a character. Weaver gives a reliable performance but the character is just 'monosyllabic badass' in a film which has about ten other monosyllabic badasses as Alien fodder. Ripley seems unnecessary even though the plot is all about what the company are doing with her DNA.
Winona Ryder is absolutely terrible - an annoying, petulant brat throughout.
The hybrid monster at the end is a fucking embarrassment. It looks like a monster off the cover of some dodgy 80s computer game that's basically Aliens without the licence. I don't know - considering the previous film already established that the Aliens take on characteristics (so presumably DNA?) of their hosts I think they just went too far with the human characteristics.
I think this could have been a half decent comic book mini-series (and with a primo artist letting loose on the hybrid designs it could have been quite special) but the story wasn't strong enough for the big screen treatment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 24 July, 2017, 10:10:56 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2017, 08:50:26 PM
Alien: Resurrection

My least favourite movie in the fourth-parting of the triloget due (in hindsight) to Josh Whedon's involvement.

Didn't SFX compare the hybrid to Casper the Friendly Ghost?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 July, 2017, 02:11:21 AM
Alien Resurrection has its problems, but I confess to rather liking it.

That underwater sequence was really good. The Betty had a look which wouldn't be out of place in Firefly/Serenity.

It's probably the weakest of the Alien films (I'm undecided concerning Alien Covenant. I'm not including Prometheus or the Alien Vs Predator films, in my comparison) but I found it kinda fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 July, 2017, 10:54:11 AM
I got around to watching Alien Covenant. Slightly better than Prometheus, still v.bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 25 July, 2017, 03:31:12 PM
ghost in a shell [never seen the manga] superb
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 25 July, 2017, 04:47:52 PM
Sole Survivor (1970) - The original 'Made for TV' movie, I believe. This story is loosely based on the discovery of the B-24 "Liberator" bomber the "Lady Be Good" that was found in the Libyan desert after the crew got lost on their 1st bombing mission to Italy.

I remember this being often repeated back in the 70s, and would always try to catch it. And though star William Shatner does indeed take his shirt off, he doesn't wrestle any aliens or kiss any women. Someone has uploaded the full movie onto Youtube (https://youtu.be/VqxZoVLn6Tg), and a UK Blu-ray/DVD combo was released fairly recently as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 25 July, 2017, 07:59:44 PM
Scored some free cinema tickets.

Seen Cars 3. Unrealistic plot: [spoiler]guy hits middle age, loses "it" to the younger up and comers and ends up training those who are just fundamentally and technically more gifter than he ever was[/spoiler]). The CGI was stunning but a bit too uncanny valley for my taste.

Also saw Spiderman: Homecoming. The perfect Spiderman movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 25 July, 2017, 09:19:12 PM
I've watched a few documentaries lately.

1. OJ Simpson Made in America - Absolutely fascinating. I have no idea how famous he was and what a big deal this actually was. [spoiler]It was also fascinating, in a really grim way, that he had distanced himself from the black community until the murder charges.[/spoiler].

2. Gringo. The story of John McAfee of the internet security company fame and his incredibly bizarre life.

3. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden. Documentary about two German's who rejected civilization in the 1930s and moved to one of the Galapagos Islands. They became famous in Germany which inspired others to move to the islands as well with disastrous consequences.

4. Hypernormalisation. I had balked at the idea of a three hour documentary about how we are living in a fictional reality and how this was created but by the end I wished it was longer.

Would absolutely recommend any of them.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 July, 2017, 10:24:58 PM
If you liked Hypernormalisation, I'd recommend you check out the companion documentaries Bitter Lake and The Emperor's New Clothes - the latter being Russell Brand's baby, but there is zero chance that Curtis didn't have a significant hand in it given the overlap in themes and continuation of lines of thought about Western media hegemony explored in the other two.

A Wrinkle In Time - a 2002 premake of the upcoming Disney bomb, apparently not much liked by the author of the original book and it's easy to see why: some nice character moments, but boy is this thing boring, as well as having some pretty messy character arcs and a female lead for some reason delegated to holding the beer of another character.  There also seems to be an assumption that a tesseract and a wormhole are the same thing.  I expected better from a Disney telemovie for 8 year olds.

Very Important Person - not much in the way of laughs, but an entertaining enough WW2-set POW romp about a charmless boffin who accidentally gets banged up in a Kraut soldier pokey.  There's the beginnings of a couple of good films in here, but most of feels like it goes nowhere, including a largely pointless sub-plot about a variety show.  The feelgood ending was out of nowhere, but nice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 July, 2017, 01:32:38 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 25 July, 2017, 07:59:44 PM
Also saw Spiderman: Homecoming. The perfect Spiderman movie.

It is, isn't it? I have a soft spot for the first two Raimis, but this blows them out of the water. I was extolling its virtues to a colleague today, and realized that for me the stand-out gasp-inducing moment in a megamillions superhero movie is when some guy opens his hall door. This can only be the case because you are invested in all the characters, and thus instantly understand the stakes: top-notch filmmaking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 26 July, 2017, 08:48:17 AM
I was doing a lot of re-watching these past few days.
Stargate (1994) It does actually hold up pretty well.
Enemy Mine Such an unappreciated classic.
The Last Starfighter Great,fun movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 July, 2017, 02:34:54 PM
Quote from: Smith on 26 July, 2017, 08:48:17 AM
I was doing a lot of re-watching these past few days.
Stargate (1994) It does actually hold up pretty well.
Eminently watchable.

Quote
Enemy Mine Such an unappreciated classic.
I haven't watched it a while, but it is certainly an understated gem.

Quote
The Last Starfighter Great,fun movie.
Absolutely love this film. I still look for a Starfighter video game when I'm in strange, out of the way places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 26 July, 2017, 06:46:39 PM
Fitzcarraldo

Herzog's rambling mesmerizing tale of one man's dream to bring an opera house to early 1900s rural Peru. Despite some dodgy dubbing it feels deeply real - especially the grueling boat-lifting sequence to which the only plausible response is "which mad German are these tribes people really working for - Kinski or Herzog?!" It's a nicely focused delve into idiosyncratic ambition through mad exploitation with some strong secondary characters and anchored by the hypnotically unstable Kinski.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 July, 2017, 06:52:23 PM
Herzog is a director i've little exposure to, his Nosferatu remake is about it. I'll have to add more of his works to my to watch pile me thinks...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 July, 2017, 07:18:31 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 July, 2017, 06:52:23 PM
Herzog is a director i've little exposure to, his Nosferatu remake is about it. I'll have to add more of his works to my to watch pile me thinks...

I started with Aguirre, but I think Fitzcarraldo's probably the better starting point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 26 July, 2017, 08:55:12 PM
Hi Captain Obvious checking in .. you know they did they for real? I mean lifted the boat over the mountain. That *actually* happened. I just find that absolutely bloody bonkers, beautiful but bonkers.

The documentary about Kinski and Herzog is pretty interesting as well. My Best Fiend it's called.

Will definitely check out Bitter Lake and The Emperor's New Clothes, thanks for the tip Prof. Bear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 27 July, 2017, 03:31:50 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 July, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Dunkirk

Brilliantly constructed, beautifully shot. Moments of unnerving, alien stillness contrasted with near-unbearable tension. Dialogue is minimal, but the actors are all excellent and the result is surprisingly affecting. Also, at a lean 106 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Thoroughly recommended. See it in IMAX if you can -- its very, very good.

Saw in 70mm. Plan on watching it in IMAX as well. I hear it's superloud. Can't wait to hear those Spitfire engines roar. Really enjoyed the gimmick of stories told in one hour, one day and one week. Made for more than a couple of aha moments when something or someone turns out quite different than in the first glance. Towards the end [spoiler]the soldier who didn't see that the old man -who "wouldn't look him in the eye"-
was blind[/spoiler] tied it all together thematically for me :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 July, 2017, 02:29:05 PM
Spider-Man: Homecoming.
I enjoyed it. Doesn't really add anything new to the genre but it's lots of fun.
7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PM
I watched Spider-man: Homecoming too.

Yes, I enjoyed that a lot. [spoiler]I have mixed feelings concerning the twist concerning Peter's love interest. On on hand it's a rather contrived coincidence. On the other hand it did provide some interesting drama and flavoured the attitudes of both Spidey and The Vulture. So overall, I guess it worked.[/spoiler]

Small spoiler (I won't bother tagging it, since it's something established right at the start of the film)
I kinda like the fact that the huge battle at the end of The Avengers had ramifications for later films and series. I.e. lots of alien tech hanging around...

I like the fact there's an overall Marvel film-TV universe, period. I hope they continue to keep the X-Men-verse separate however. I think X-Men and the other mutant spin-offs work better in their own universe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 28 July, 2017, 04:45:54 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PM
I like the fact there's an overall Marvel film-TV universe, period. I hope they continue to keep the X-Men-verse separate however. I think X-Men and the other mutant spin-offs work better in their own universe.

Agreed, but I would love a crossover movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 July, 2017, 07:52:49 PM
I enjoyed Spider-man - both Holland and Keaton were great - I did hate [spoiler]the talking suit with a gazillion gadgets[/spoiler] though
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 July, 2017, 08:10:34 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PMSmall spoiler (I won't bother tagging it, since it's something established right at the start of the film)
I kinda like the fact that the huge battle at the end of The Avengers had ramifications for later films and series. I.e. lots of alien tech hanging around...

A theme that featured all the way back in the Marvel One-Shot Item 47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0owKxd_7Ys) from 2012.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 28 July, 2017, 08:37:41 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 28 July, 2017, 08:10:34 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PMSmall spoiler (I won't bother tagging it, since it's something established right at the start of the film)
I kinda like the fact that the huge battle at the end of The Avengers had ramifications for later films and series. I.e. lots of alien tech hanging around...

A theme that featured all the way back in the Marvel One-Shot Item 47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0owKxd_7Ys) from 2012.

Ah, I kinda miss the Marvel one-shots. They had a real thrill-powered 2000AD feel to them IMO.
'Hail To The King' is a mini masterpiece!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 July, 2017, 09:44:23 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 July, 2017, 07:52:49 PM
I enjoyed Spider-man - both Holland and Keaton were great - I did hate [spoiler]the talking suit with a gazillion gadgets[/spoiler] though

I liked that [spoiler]the suit AI[/spoiler]was named after Plankton's computer wife. Actually, I liked pretty much everything about it, even if I couldn't quite square the 'moving house' business with the Avengers 2/Ant-man/Civil War timeline, and didnt really understand why Peter had a vintage SW figure collection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 July, 2017, 07:41:26 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 July, 2017, 09:44:23 PM
didnt really understand why Peter had a vintage SW figure collection.

Well, he did seem like a bit of a Star Wars nerd. I know lots of Star Wars nerds and every single one of them has some vintage Star Wars figures.

Agree about Karen the talking suit. Seemed miles over the top and provided little to the movie bar some comic relief.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 July, 2017, 09:17:00 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 29 July, 2017, 07:41:26 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 July, 2017, 09:44:23 PM
didnt really understand why Peter had a vintage SW figure collection.

Well, he did seem like a bit of a Star Wars nerd. I know lots of Star Wars nerds and every single one of them has some vintage Star Wars figures.

Not saying it's unprecedented, but it seems like vaguely lazy set-dressing/signification for a 15 year old boy in 2017 to have the same 'toys' as a 10 year old Elliott in 1982. 

The suit annoyed me at first ('is this Iron Man or Spiderman?'), but as well as the over-under gadget-gags and biochip-style exposition, it was used to make some great character points, and gave the homemade rig sequences great impact. It was also something new for the 6th Spidey movie in 15 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 29 July, 2017, 11:10:04 PM
DUNKIRK.

Still processing but currently disappointed it was 'only' very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 29 July, 2017, 11:25:11 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 July, 2017, 09:17:00 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 29 July, 2017, 07:41:26 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 July, 2017, 09:44:23 PM
didnt really understand why Peter had a vintage SW figure collection.

Well, he did seem like a bit of a Star Wars nerd. I know lots of Star Wars nerds and every single one of them has some vintage Star Wars figures.

Not saying it's unprecedented, but it seems like vaguely lazy set-dressing/signification for a 15 year old boy in 2017 to have the same 'toys' as a 10 year old Elliott in 1982. 

Uncle Ben: Peter, with great power there must also come...great responsibility...and remember, take care of my Star Wars collection. Don't flog it on ebay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 30 July, 2017, 12:11:34 AM
Dunkirk - It's merely OK, and the non-linear narrative, is messy, and kills the tension. Still, it has Tom Hardy in it, flying a Spitfire, killing Nazis, so not a total washout.

Nolan is not for me, it would seem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 30 July, 2017, 10:18:22 AM
The Big Sick -  This romantic comedy is heavy on the comedy. The romance is genuine and sweet without ever being cloying. It was so much funnier than I thought it would be and really moving in parts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2017, 01:58:02 PM
I'm always on the lookout for a rom-com that isn't more like a rom-shite, a shite-com or more often a shite-shite. So I will check this out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 30 July, 2017, 01:58:57 PM
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I had the strangest experience with Eternal Sunshine this evening - watching it again after maybe nine years and trying to remember it as it unfolded. Given the subject matter it added another layer to what is already a fairly emotionally complex concept. I loved rediscovering how fractured it all is, how flawed the characters are and how entirely seriously it takes its offbeat concept. I'd remembered how gloriously restrained Carrey was, I'd vividly recalled him reliving his childhood, I remembered the blank heads and Ruffalo and Dunst jumping on the bed but I didn't remember the end. How could I not remember the end?!

Nine years ago I wasn't in a relationship - and I certainly wasn't in a long and complex adult one. Now I am the ending was as striking as a hammer-blow. We can't delete our memories at will - we can't erase our flaws and the things that make us hurt, we can't erase the stupid things we said and the horrible things we've done - and being in a relationship is about living with all of that, in spite of all of that, because of all that. It's messy. It's horrible. It's incredible. Eternal Sunshine is an amazing film for managing to bring that all up and somehow making it sad and funny and coherent and blimey, actually quite brief. A perfect film about imperfection.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 30 July, 2017, 02:23:17 PM
You won't be disappointed, it's really good. It's based on a true story too.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2017, 01:58:02 PM
I'm always on the lookout for a rom-com that isn't more like a rom-shite, a shite-com or more often a shite-shite. So I will check this out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 July, 2017, 06:28:35 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PM

I hope they continue to keep the X-Men-verse separate however. I think X-Men and the other mutant spin-offs work better in their own universe.


I really enjoyed the crossover in Deadpool. The irreverence of it caused me deep joy and I can't wait for the sequel - this is still my favourite Marvel flick, with Logan a close second.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 July, 2017, 10:10:58 PM
Drive Angry - it is very silly B-Movie but it so enjoyable!

William Fichtner was so brilliant as The Accountant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 30 July, 2017, 11:17:39 PM
The first time I saw this movie I didn't get it because I had never been in love. The second time I couldn't watch it because I had.

That scene where Jim Carrey just loses it in his car as Beck (I think?) sings ' Everybody's gotta learn sometime..'

Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 30 July, 2017, 01:58:57 PM
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 July, 2017, 11:48:10 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 July, 2017, 06:28:35 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 July, 2017, 04:42:08 PM

I hope they continue to keep the X-Men-verse separate however. I think X-Men and the other mutant spin-offs work better in their own universe.


I really enjoyed the crossover in Deadpool. The irreverence of it caused me deep joy and I can't wait for the sequel - this is still my favourite Marvel flick, with Logan a close second.

Agreed, although I think Deadpool fits better in the X-men film-verse than the Marvel film-verse.

Also I don't have an issue with other films/series spin-offs set in the X-Men universe. Legion for example. (Actually I'm not sure that is set in the main universe or its own, but I don't mind if it is. I understand Professor Xavier exists in Legion, but I however, although he has yet to appear.)

But I'm glad the main Marvel film-verse is separate. I wouldn't want the X-men to turn up in that, or mutants in general, in the way X-men uses the word.

The closest we've come to that so far is Quicksilver turning up in both, and he isn't mentioned by that name in either, and the characters are totally different, aside from their power, and the source of that is different. I wouldn't count Scarlet Witch as a cross-over either, as I think the character in the comics is closer associated with The Avengers than the X-men, and her abilities are the result of genetic engineering in the films rather than mutation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 July, 2017, 12:16:59 AM
Dunkirk.

Bloody help that was tense. As Tiny Tips says, a twelve year old watching that would have share themselves. Zimmer  knocks it out of the park especially with the final musical flourish on the final Spitfire.

Can't wait to see it again.

By the way, awesome in Imax. If Nolan is going to go to the trouble of strapping an Imax camera to a Spitfire, the least I can do is see it in that format.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 July, 2017, 02:47:54 PM
Wargames. I watch this one fairly regularly, but I came up with a little drinking game for the next time.

Every time someone says DEFCON or you see the DEFCON sign, you take a drink. Every time Gen. Berringer says DEFCON you take two drinks (or finish your drink).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 July, 2017, 11:21:51 PM
Terminator Genisys. So I thought Family Guy was going a step too far doing their extended Terminator spoof episode entirely as ropey CGI, but boy was I wrong: absolutely hilarious. 

More seriously, it was good of Alan Taylor to populate his movie with such appallng performances and insane miscastings that Emilia Clarke didn't really stick out.

(I did like CGI 80s Arnie though).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 August, 2017, 06:16:37 PM
The 80s electro pop soundtrack is definitely the best thing about Atomic Blonde. It's possible that the mishmash of conflicting elements is a stylistic metaphor for the asinine observation towards the end about the various spies and agents always trying to present a different face to each faction. It's also highly unlikely.

On the one hand, you've got some respectable actors trying to give the whole thing a Smiley's People kind of gravitas. On the other, glammed up Charlize battering everybody. And on the third, the aforementioned Deutschland '83 period stylings.

The action scenes are all well done, but again there's an odd mixture of cartoonish martial arts and wacky Die Hard roof-jumping followed by a couple of much more brutal extended fights towards the end where you're obviously meant to be stunned by the impact of screen violence.

I saw this on a rooftop summer cinema in Budapest and my girlfriend excitedly pointed out all the supposed parts of East Berlin that were actually filmed right round the corner from where we were. There were also points when I couldn't tell if the sirens were in the film or real life.

It's easy to understand how mashing up all these ingredients with a dash of male-gazey Sapphism seemed like a good idea and I did enjoy it at the time but I guess I wanted it to be great and was disappointed. Ultimately, if you want to watch a fantastic, violent spy thriller with a tough female lead, a bunch of respectable actors gleefully double-crossing each other in shifting timelines and some bone-crunching fight scenes then stay at home and watch Haywire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 04 August, 2017, 09:31:58 PM
The Voices! (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/no127-voices.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 04 August, 2017, 10:20:06 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 04 August, 2017, 09:31:58 PM
The Voices! (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/no127-voices.html)
Huzzah!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 August, 2017, 01:20:04 AM
Dunkirk
I saw it on imax. Unfortunately the screen was far smaller than I'd expect from Imax but the screen clarity and the sound was amazing.

The film itself wasn't really my cup of tea, but I think it succeeded well in what it set out to do. I don't mean that in a patronising way. I think it deserves all commendations it receives. It was a wonderful spectacle, and it captured the various viewpoints of the characters well. I just didn't enjoy the story that much, and I feel a bit of a Heathen for admitting that. No disrespect intended to the real people who took part on the real events during that Dark time. Many were truly brave souls. I think it was the jumping between several viewpoints which prevented some of my enjoyment, making it seem rather fractured in narrative. I'm not sure. I appreciate that collecting a wide swathe of viewpoints to encapsulate that seminal event was probably the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 August, 2017, 08:11:27 AM
Saw Alien 2 and 3 the other night. 2 was like I remembered i. A really good action movie. Quite exciting and good fun. Doesn't hold up as well as 1 does for me, but still good. Then there's 3. Perhaps the assembly cut is different, but it wasn't for me. To say the least.

Is the assembly cut much different? Hear that it's quite good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 August, 2017, 12:14:55 PM
I think the assembly cut is better. While some scenes are just a bit different and don't really add much to the story (the alien hatches from a different animal for example) it has a whole chunk of plot [spoiler]involving a twist[/spoiler] included that wasn't in the theatrical cut.

It's a bit messy as a cut. There are scenes which look grainy, and there's a bit of minor duplication (I noticed a character repeat a line), so it's not perfect. But overall I found it very interesting and it adds a whole lot to the story.

You also get to see a bit more outdoors stuff at the start too. That doesn't add to the plot at all, but it sets the scene better concerning the prisoner's planet, working the oxen, etc, it's visually quite stunning in a lonely desolate kind of way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 06 August, 2017, 05:04:18 PM
Valerian and the...

Looks fab, some great ideas in the first mission.

Scuppered a little bit by the leads, Valerian seemed like he needed to be more Han Solo, but comes across as more human resources sex-pest nightmare.

Delves a bit too much into videogame territory, ship computer narration "you need this item", "these are the 4 sectors", but the visuals still make it worth a look - saw it in 3D and just enjoyed the graphics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 August, 2017, 10:09:20 AM
Finally got around to seeing Spiderman: Homecoming. Was sold the minute I heard the cartoon's theme-tune put to cinematic score, and was smiling to myself all the way through Peter's "Friendly Neighbourhood" routine. Dragged slightly in places though largely due to the usual slog that is the last 20-30 minutes of a superhero slog. Thought all the young cast were great and I look forward to seeing the next one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 August, 2017, 10:52:31 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 August, 2017, 12:14:55 PM
I think the assembly cut is better. While some scenes are just a bit different and don't really add much to the story (the alien hatches from a different animal for example) it has a whole chunk of plot [spoiler]involving a twist[/spoiler] included that wasn't in the theatrical cut.

It's a bit messy as a cut. There are scenes which look grainy, and there's a bit of minor duplication (I noticed a character repeat a line), so it's not perfect. But overall I found it very interesting and it adds a whole lot to the story.

You also get to see a bit more outdoors stuff at the start too. That doesn't add to the plot at all, but it sets the scene better concerning the prisoner's planet, working the oxen, etc, it's visually quite stunning in a lonely desolate kind of way.

I've had a look at the intro, ending and inbetween. Felt like it works better. But doesn't save the "whole" for me. Still, I can see why some really like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 August, 2017, 12:31:56 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 06 August, 2017, 05:04:18 PM
Valerian and the...

Looks fab, some great ideas in the first mission.

Scuppered a little bit by the leads, Valerian seemed like he needed to be more Han Solo, but comes across as more human resources sex-pest nightmare.

Delves a bit too much into videogame territory, ship computer narration "you need this item", "these are the 4 sectors", but the visuals still make it worth a look - saw it in 3D and just enjoyed the graphics.

Pretty similar view here - it looks amazing, the best bit is the idyllic beach intro. The leads are poor though - Cara monobrow is okay at action quipping but you can get splinters off her when she tries to act, and he's just a bit insipid. The Rihanna cameo is just an excuse for some sauciness and cgi shapechanging. By the last half hour I was bored and wishing it would just end. A whole heap of style over substance
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 09 August, 2017, 01:04:24 PM
The bubble thing fell flat for me, seemed like it needed a whole crowd scene in there, like the Diva scene in the fifth element, or Jessica Rabbit's act.

Favourite character by far was the eager to please PA to the chief.

Think she was handed some pretty duff dialogue to deliver anyway, but also someone like Eva Green might have been a more interesting choice for Laureline.

I've never read the comics, but someone said the whole romance subplot wasn't in them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Judge Olde on 09 August, 2017, 01:06:02 PM
Just seen Dunkirk on iMax, really enjoyed it. A friend recently saw it & hated it. Really can't believe he & I watched the same film. Tempted to see it again on standard cinema screen to see how it compares (I've got the Odeon card thingy)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 August, 2017, 05:34:52 PM
"Don't look now". Good 70s horror (I think you could say it's such) with Donald Sutherland. The ending really put me on the edge of my seat, and the twist was great.

Really enjoyed how the details told the story. For example the cut between a woman screaming and the sound of a power drill. The use of glass, water and the colour red.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 August, 2017, 08:37:10 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 August, 2017, 05:34:52 PM
"Don't look now". Good 70s horror (I think you could say it's such) with Donald Sutherland. The ending really put me on the edge of my seat, and the twist was great.

Really enjoyed how the details told the story. For example the cut between a woman screaming and the sound of a power drill. The use of glass, water and the colour red.

One of my all time favourite films. Saw this a year ago (for the umpteenth time) at the BFI last year.
Also made a pilgrimage to Venice and visited many of the places they filmed including the church that was being renovated and the place where the final scene takes place.
The short story it's based on is also brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 August, 2017, 03:21:39 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 10 August, 2017, 08:37:10 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 August, 2017, 05:34:52 PM
One of my all time favourite films. Saw this a year ago (for the umpteenth time) at the BFI last year.
Also made a pilgrimage to Venice and visited many of the places they filmed including the church that was being renovated and the place where the final scene takes place.
The short story it's based on is also brilliant.

Cool to hear! Considering reading that short story!

Watched THE CONVERSATION last night. Great film on paranoia. Feels very relevant in our times of misinformation. Especially enjoyed the bit on spreading information can have grave consequences. Love how subtle the ending was [spoiler]with the bug probably being in the saxophone[/spoiler]. I also like it how it doesn't take the paranoia and make it about a man vs some cool sounding conspiracy, but rather a hollow man's slow descent into getting ruined. In that sense, I think Harry Caul feels every bit as fascinating as Travis Bickle and Benjamin Willard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 August, 2017, 04:37:17 PM
My Shin Gojira build up once again had me revisiting two of my favourites...

Gojira (Ishiro Honda/1953) needs zero introduction and no defence, it's an absolute masterpiece. An analogue for the effects of nuclear war on Japan, it's harrowing, dark, pondering, but also up alongside Quatermass as some of the best political sci-fi. It truly is essential viewing.

Return of Godzilla (Koji Hashimoto/1984) is a superb 'soft' reboot to the series, ignoring everything in the showa continuitu bar Gojira. The movie is perhapse this week more relevant than ever, as a direct commentary on the cold war and its effects on anti-nuclear war nations like Japan. It's comfertably the second best movie in the franchise, and highly recomended also. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 August, 2017, 08:17:10 PM
Barbarella. An hour and thirty eight minute glimpse into the fevered wet dreams of ten thousand nerds and an absolute triumph of style over substance. Magnificent!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 10 August, 2017, 09:21:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 August, 2017, 08:17:10 PM
Barbarella. An hour and thirty eight minute glimpse into the fevered wet dreams of ten thousand nerds and an absolute triumph of style over substance. Magnificent!

What an opening sequence..........good time 😊
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 August, 2017, 12:27:07 AM
Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

I've seen it twice before at the cinema, and finding it fairly cheap in CEX yesterday, I couldn't resist buying it.

I get people's criticisms that it's too much like A New Hope. I agree, but I thoroughly enjoyed it again none-the-less.

I'm really looking forward to The Last Jedi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: don wiskerando on 11 August, 2017, 01:25:40 PM
Nocturnal Animals.

The nearly 2 hour running felt like it flew and dragged at the same time but when I sat dragged, I mean it in a good way.   The tension that pervades some of the early scenes is like a physical presence pushing you down. Time just seems to stretch out leaving you trapped in this nightmare scenario with the characters, unable to escape until they do.

In a wonderful cast Michael Shannon still manages to outshine the rest.

Do not watch with kids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 August, 2017, 02:59:03 PM
CHE: The Argentine and Guerilla. Two parter, Benicio Del Toro playing Che Guevara. He was good in the role, but as a film (split in two) I wasn't that impressed. Some sparks now and then, like the immediacy when he speaks at the UN or towards the end of part 2 when he's about the "get it", but otherwise I thought it was quite flat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 August, 2017, 04:20:02 PM
Razorback (1984). Everybody's favourite killer pig movie! I love the look and feel of this film (with just a small rewrite it could have been an ace Mad Max episode) but have only just discovered that the actor playing grizzled old razorback hunter Jake Cullen was none other than Bill Kerr of Hancock's Half Hour fame. Live and learn, eh?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 August, 2017, 06:36:27 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 August, 2017, 04:20:02 PM
Razorback (1984). (...) I love the look and feel of this film

Russell Mulcahy, demonstrating his talent for making shit material look great. I believe this was his first movie.  I've only seen it once, many years ago, but I remember thinking then that it was very much making a silk purse out of a massive homicidal pig's ear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 August, 2017, 06:37:49 PM
Transformers the movie,surprising how well it looks after 30+ years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 August, 2017, 11:42:11 PM
Origin Wars - low-budget (Aussie?) sci-fi thriller bought from the supermarket's "3 For £10" bin about a soldier who goes AWOL to save his daughter when the terraforming company he works for decides to wipe out every living thing on a distant colony planet to cover up that they've been performing illegal genetic experiments on prison inmates to turn them into the mutant monsters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret Of The Ooze.
This is a hot mess of a film, but in a good way, with the creature effects having a pleasing physicality to them I haven't seen in much more expensive films.  Likewise the general art direction of the film is more coherent than more expensive movies, with the over-designed CGI spaceships actually looking like they belong in the same time and place as the organic-tinged interiors.  There's one or two instances of CGI compositing that looks off, and the characters spend the first hour and twenty minutes on a quest to reach a city and then suddenly they just magically appear there like there's a scene missing, but on balance they probably get away with it.
It's all over the place and never quite pulls the emo strings it wants to, but it's a decent sci-fi potboiler that's well-made and decently-acted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 August, 2017, 09:18:38 AM
Thor: The Dark World.

I saw this at the cinema on release and immediately judged it as Marvel's weakest offering to date.
On a second watch I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. The film still has major problems - mainly IMHO that the villain is incredibly weak and undeveloped and that the scenes in London (in fact the scenes on Earth in general) are unfunny and a bit cringey (Jane Foster's best friend is particularly annoying).
All of the Asgard stuff is pretty great though and they almost could have set the entire film there. I liked the Warriors Three but would have liked to have seen more from them as well as from Lady Sif so that her unrequited love for Thor had more impact.
Hemsworth and Hiddleston are as good as ever - the Thor/Loki scenes are the best in the film. I like Portman as Jane Foster but she's swimming hard against the tide of bad dialogue and annoying support.
It all feels like something of a missed opportunity but there are still some successes amongst the failures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JLC on 13 August, 2017, 10:06:05 AM
Lamberto Bava's Demons
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2017, 10:08:35 AM
Quote from: JLC on 13 August, 2017, 10:06:05 AM
Lamberto Bava's Demons

Bloody bugnuts crazy isn't it! Not a conventionally good movie by any means but a total blast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2017, 05:00:01 PM
Shin Godzilla (Hideaki Anno/2016)...well...that was certainly an Anno movie! Most certainly a brazen and ballsy reboot to the series (Yes, an actual honest to god reboot! '53 doesn't get mentioned once!) and feels like a live action Evangelion movie....yeah, I said it. So that will either sell it or sink it for you, but I thought it was chuffing brilliant, often times hilarious. Nice to see it with a crowd who obviously where as big a fans as I was too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 13 August, 2017, 05:09:48 PM
Way to much focus on the politics there.Whole thing was pretty mediocre IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2017, 05:15:16 PM
Look, all I want is Godzilla with fricking laser beams attached to his back...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 13 August, 2017, 05:19:48 PM
With an added commentary about Japanese government reaction to Fukushima?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 August, 2017, 07:03:23 PM
Get Out.

Loved it, and so glad I really avoided spoilers/trailers

[spoiler]Felt like an extended Twilight Zone/Black Mirror episode more than the straight horror I was expecting[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 13 August, 2017, 07:39:11 PM
VALERIAN I like Luc Besson's visual style but oh dear.

I've always thought Clive Owen was a charisma-free zone but he acts the socks off the young fella who plays Valerian, which shows you how bland I thought he was.

I'll give it 2 out of 5 just for the visuals but at times it just resembled a video game in all the chase scenes.

Not recommended
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 August, 2017, 07:50:29 PM
Quote from: Smith on 13 August, 2017, 05:19:48 PM
With an added commentary about Japanese government reaction to Fukushima?

Holding the current government up to scrutiny over their crass handling of Japan's disaster of the age is arguably the kind of open goal that a series that's been allegorically exploring nuclear angst and natural disasters for five decades can't really ignore, but Shin Godzilla explored the effects of the 2011 Tsunami rather than the Fukushima meltdown specifically, and even recreates famous news footage of water washing away entire homes with a glee that makes the film border on snuff porn IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 13 August, 2017, 08:09:18 PM
I apologize in that case.
Im more of a Heisei era person anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2017, 08:16:38 PM
Against my better judgement, and mainly because t'missus fancies seeing the sequel later in the year: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Fuck me, that was so unapologetically, determinedly stupid that it actually ended up being enormous fun. No one is more surprised by this than me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 August, 2017, 12:00:56 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2017, 08:16:38 PM
Against my better judgement, and mainly because t'missus fancies seeing the sequel later in the year: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Fuck me, that was so unapologetically, determinedly stupid that it actually ended up being enormous fun. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I was in Holland a couple of years back when one of my hosts chose this film to watch. I'll admit it didn't really appeal to me, when considering the trailers, etc. Then I watched it and found myself thoroughly enjoying it.

There was an amusing moment* when my friend (a nice Polish lady) turned to me and said "But Chris**, you're English! You don't sound like that!" (Referring to the main character's accent and style of speech.)

* I'm probably easily amused.
** She doesn't know my real name, Mardroid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 August, 2017, 10:26:47 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2017, 08:16:38 PM
Against my better judgement, and mainly because t'missus fancies seeing the sequel later in the year: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Fuck me, that was so unapologetically, determinedly stupid that it actually ended up being enormous fun. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I loved it.

Expectations of it were pre-loaded with contempt due to who wrote the comic, but I thought it was incredibly well directed, had great perforamnces throughout and had some lovely moments.

That Church scene alone is worth the rental fee.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 August, 2017, 10:26:47 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2017, 08:16:38 PM
Against my better judgement, and mainly because t'missus fancies seeing the sequel later in the year: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Fuck me, that was so unapologetically, determinedly stupid that it actually ended up being enormous fun. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I loved it.

Expectations of it were pre-loaded with contempt due to who wrote the comic, but I thought it was incredibly well directed, had great perforamnces throughout and had some lovely moments.

That Church scene alone is worth the rental fee.

Matthew Vaughn is generally pretty good I think. I've enjoyed most of his films.


The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

I thought the basic story was pretty good but I didn't like the direction or writing (some really awful lines) and the soundtrack was just awful (loads of heavy OTT violins and ambient whale-music type sounds).
Much as I respect Amy Adams I didn't even like the central performance very much. The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler] 
In fact, I think 'mopey' sums up the tone of the film pretty well.
Renner was okay and Forest Whitaker gave solid support, as you'd expect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 August, 2017, 12:12:52 PM
Quote from: Rately on 14 August, 2017, 10:26:47 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 August, 2017, 08:16:38 PM
Against my better judgement, and mainly because t'missus fancies seeing the sequel later in the year: Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Fuck me, that was so unapologetically, determinedly stupid that it actually ended up being enormous fun. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I loved it.

Expectations of it were pre-loaded with contempt due to who wrote the comic, but I thought it was incredibly well directed, had great perforamnces throughout and had some lovely moments.

That Church scene alone is worth the rental fee.

I didn't even know that it was based on a Mark Millar story until recently. If I had, it wouldn't have put me off, as I don't dislike him as a writer. He gets a bit too nasty for nastiness sake at times but I've enjoyed some of his work. I do like the Kick-ass films a lot.

I think it was partly the idea of kids being secret agents and the main characters style of speech, sounding like he is channeling Ali G which irritated me. (A lot of youngsters talk like that now. A personal peeve of mine. Not something I'm particularly happy about myself, incidentally as I don't like to think I'm prejudiced.)

But on seeing it, I liked it. Its not my favourite film, and I have no inclination to get the dvd, but it was fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 14 August, 2017, 12:24:51 PM
Atomic Blonde. Maybe not perfect but I enjoyed it. Charlize Theron is very good and there are some pretty brutal* (Bourne/John Wick-esque) fight scenes that keep the momentum going through to the end. Good (i.e. realistic) use of stamina in the fight scenes was refreshing to see, in contrast to lots of action movies where the combatants appear to be powered by Duracell, and Theron's agent is clearly not physically stronger than the men she has to fight meaning her attacks are both savage and desperate (Broughton knows she has to take her assailants down quickly because she's no match for them if the fights last more than 30 seconds). Jane Bond she is not. (She gets roughed up more than even Daniel Craig tends to do.) James McAvoy is nicely sleazy but Sofia Boutella's talents are perhaps somewhat under used, while Toby Jones and John Goodman deliver typically Toby Jones and John Goodman performances as expected.

The plot is a fairly basic MacGuffin of a missing list of agents and standard spy tropes of double agents, defectors and double-crossing with the fall of the Berlin Wall thrown in as a historical backdrop. The film captures the look of late-'80s Berlin (both East and West) well but I'm not sure there isn't a major plot hole in the film's narrative which blows its internal logic wide open [spoiler]if Spyglass has memorised the List why doesn't he know who Satchel is? And if he does, why doesn't he recognise them? Obvious 'no-prize' answer is he's bluffing about the eidetic memory thing[/spoiler] but I'd have to watch it again to check. Excellent soundtrack and nice to see Tarkovsky's Stalker getting name-checked.

*Reckon it would have been an 18-cert maybe ten(?) years ago rather than a 15. Certainly doesn't skimp on the headshots and blood splatter like some films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 02:31:01 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler]

I assumed this was a deliberate attempt to make the viewer [spoiler]see Adams' character as a grieving mother from the opening scenes so that the twist comes as a surprise, but the side-effect is that retroactively, her character at the start of the film doesn't make any sense.[/spoiler]

If you want a good version of the original story upon which the film is based - Ted Chiang's The Story Of Your Life - give the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine a rewatch, although in the spirit of the twist, DS9 came out five years before Chiang's story did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:05:13 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 02:31:01 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler]

I assumed this was a deliberate attempt to make the viewer [spoiler]see Adams' character as a grieving mother from the opening scenes so that the twist comes as a surprise, but the side-effect is that retroactively, her character at the start of the film doesn't make any sense.[/spoiler]
Its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect. You as a viewer are doing the work, inferring an emotion on the actor based on the juxtaposition of images etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 03:27:42 PM
Quote from: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:05:13 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 02:31:01 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler]

I assumed this was a deliberate attempt to make the viewer [spoiler]see Adams' character as a grieving mother from the opening scenes so that the twist comes as a surprise, but the side-effect is that retroactively, her character at the start of the film doesn't make any sense.[/spoiler]
Its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect. You as a viewer are doing the work, inferring an emotion on the actor based on the juxtaposition of images etc.

...and the fact she has a mopey frown on her face  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:36:57 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 03:27:42 PM
Quote from: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:05:13 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 02:31:01 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler]

I assumed this was a deliberate attempt to make the viewer [spoiler]see Adams' character as a grieving mother from the opening scenes so that the twist comes as a surprise, but the side-effect is that retroactively, her character at the start of the film doesn't make any sense.[/spoiler]
Its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect. You as a viewer are doing the work, inferring an emotion on the actor based on the juxtaposition of images etc.

...and the fact she has a mopey frown on her face  :(
No. As I said, its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 03:55:00 PM
That can only be ascribed in retrospect, but doing so robs her character of her only defining trait, hence in retrospect her only defining trait is that she's mopey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 03:57:10 PM
Quote from: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:36:57 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 03:27:42 PM
Quote from: JLC on 14 August, 2017, 03:05:13 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 14 August, 2017, 02:31:01 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 14 August, 2017, 11:30:18 AM
The last film I watched was Arrival starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

The character's general mopeyness doesn't really have context [spoiler]when the plot twist hits in the final act.[/spoiler]

I assumed this was a deliberate attempt to make the viewer [spoiler]see Adams' character as a grieving mother from the opening scenes so that the twist comes as a surprise, but the side-effect is that retroactively, her character at the start of the film doesn't make any sense.[/spoiler]
Its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect. You as a viewer are doing the work, inferring an emotion on the actor based on the juxtaposition of images etc.

...and the fact she has a mopey frown on her face  :(
No. As I said, its basically a variation of the Kuleshov effect.

Sorry, I was just being flippant.

More seriously though, musical score and sound design plays a huge part so I don't think you can lay the tone of the early scenes, or our perception of the character purely at the feet of the Kuleshov effect (although I'm sure it plays a part).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 15 August, 2017, 10:44:48 AM
The Eyes of my Mother

A powerful horror that definitely won't be for everyone, but I was quite impressed with this debut film from the young Nicolas Pesce.
Some very disturbing scenes that will linger, I was reminded of the first time I watched Martyrs.
Recommend for genre fans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 August, 2017, 04:10:12 PM
The Angry Red Planet (1959) Four astronauts visit Mars, and have a run-in with the local wildlife, including a growling, tentacled space-minge, a corrosive blacmange with a rotating eyeball, and the film's most iconic denizen, the awesome bat-rat-spider. It's fun once they actually set foot on the planet and encounter red-tinted drawings standing in for background, but first you've got to sit through half-an-hour of control-room pottering. That bat-rat-spider though, he's the man.

Castle of the Living Dead (1964) Prime French / Italian gothicism, now most famed as being Donald Sutherland's first movie, and having Witchfinder General's Michael Reeves as second unit director. A travelling troupe of performers visits Christopher Lee's castle, where Lee is engaged in a kind of experimental taxidermy (sans actual stuffing.) Nightmarish black and white ambience, filmed in the Gardens of Bomarzo in Italy, and therefore filled with huge monstrous sculptures. Definitely worth a watch for lovers of atmospheric horror and dwarf-based heroism.

A Bell from Hell (1973) Profoundly odd and unsettling Spanish horror / thriller, featuring a young man who returns from an asylum, plotting revenge on the aunt (Viveca Lindfors) and three female cousins who sent him there. However, whilst protagonist is undoubtedly a twisted fellow, he's also a much-more complex and ambivalent character than might be assumed. Furthermore, his relationships with his cousins are decidedly incestuous, and things don't quite play out as expected. A sordid but stylish movie, in part a meditation on Franco-era fascist Spain, which unfortunately contains a very nasty and potentially unwatchable slaughterhouse sequence in which real cows are killed.

Super Duper Alice Cooper (2014) Oddly frustrating Alice Cooper documentary that never actually shows you any of the participants speaking as they comment on the life and times of Alice. Some good footage in there, including the infamous chicken-lobbing, but could have been improved immeasurably if the director had just cut to Dennis Dunaway or Neal Smith occasionally.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 15 August, 2017, 05:40:31 PM
Horror Channel comes good at lunchtime yesterday with The Lost Continent (1968) from Hammer.
Eric Porter captains a dilapidated tramp steamer whose passengers all seem to be running from various respective shady pasts, most of which come to light as the film progresses. Coming a cropper in the man-eating seaweed of the Sargasso Sea, it's a cavalcade of giant crabs, sea monsters, heaving bosoms and the degenerate descendants of a lost Spanish Galleon, whose inbred Conquistadors feed all prisoners to the god-beast in the bilge of their ship, led by a boy king and a ravening Torquemada-alike who thinks the Inquisition's still going.
They truly don't make 'em like this any more. Somewhat ropey effects are made up for by a fascinatingly flawed clutch of characters, fantastic sets, the aforementioned heaving bosoms and an unexpectedly ambiguous ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 August, 2017, 06:59:01 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 15 August, 2017, 05:40:31 PM
...the aforementioned heaving bosoms

It's certainly notable how much of the publicity material for the film features a relatively bored-looking Dana Gillespie leaning forward in a low-cut top, whilst large crabs grab her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 15 August, 2017, 08:13:28 PM
Even for a Hammer film it's gratuitous!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 August, 2017, 08:17:04 PM
Shackleton . Two part tv movie starring Kenneth Brannagh as the eponymous explorer; my childhood hero and leader of one of the greatest stories of human fortitude and endurance ever told.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 August, 2017, 08:28:06 PM
I haven't seen Shackleton in years. Brannagh was marvellous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 16 August, 2017, 08:16:18 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 August, 2017, 08:17:04 PM
Shackleton . Two part tv movie starring Kenneth Brannagh as the eponymous explorer; my childhood hero and leader of one of the greatest stories of human fortitude and endurance ever told.

Sharky you should get yourself up to my work:

(http://www.nls.uk/media/1490296/frank-hurley-692.jpg)

Enduring Eye' showcases Frank Hurley's photographs of the the 'Endurance Expedition' of 1914-1917, alongside items from the Library's polar collections.

http://www.nls.uk/ (http://www.nls.uk/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 August, 2017, 10:40:35 PM
Oh wow, that looks awesome!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 16 August, 2017, 11:17:17 PM
Atomic Blonde - very good, and beautifully (if violently) directed
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2017, 04:01:46 PM
The Man Who Haunted Himself, starring the late, great Roger Moore. A car accident leaves a London buisnessman clinically dead for several minutes, and thereafter he begins to suspect he has a doppelganger making moves on his life... It's a bit slower in pace than is best for it at times, and it would have been nice if the stakes were a bit higher than an impending buisness merger. Cracking central performance from Roger though, and I love the 1970s bowler, brolly and Gentlemen's Club aesthetic. A worthwhile oddity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 August, 2017, 05:07:37 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2017, 04:01:46 PM
I love the 1970s bowler, brolly and Gentlemen's Club aesthetic.

Jimbo's a huge Pat Mills fan, but isn't reading the current series of Greysuit.

Nobody tell him


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2017, 05:32:36 PM
Quote from: Frank on 17 August, 2017, 05:07:37 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2017, 04:01:46 PM
I love the 1970s bowler, brolly and Gentlemen's Club aesthetic.

Jimbo's a huge Pat Mills fan, but isn't reading the current series of Greysuit.
Quote from: Frank on 17 August, 2017, 05:07:37 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 17 August, 2017, 04:01:46 PM
I love the 1970s bowler, brolly and Gentlemen's Club aesthetic.

Jimbo's a huge Pat Mills fan, but isn't reading the current series of Greysuit.

Ha, I'm getting the gist of it from perusals of the review threads! My politics have always been wildly at odds with the Guv'nor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 August, 2017, 05:42:25 PM

IT'S ALL BOWLER HATS, BROLLIES, AND GENTLEMEN'S CLUBS!

Every page. It's like the inside of Jacob Rees-Mogg's head.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 18 August, 2017, 10:52:00 PM
Don't really watch films but gave Marvel Avengers Assemble another go last night. It's one of the successful ones from what I've gleaned so it's still probably me...

Well, I made it to 70 mins then gave up. Something about spandex in a movie is utterly tedious. By far the best thing about it is the Pepper Potts/Tony Stark banter, that was genuinely sharp and sassy.

Still never managed a Marvel movie to the end...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 18 August, 2017, 11:33:26 PM
The Supergrass

The Comic Strip hit the big screen and much like the series it's tonally all over the shop but boasts a strong cast and sparkles with solid moments. Bizarrely I used to watch this on a VHS my dad had taped when I was nine. I was genuinely shocked at how far it goes in terms of dark themes and how little that seemed to have shocked or even interested me as a kid. Highlights include Alexei Sayle's enthusiastic motorbike policemen and Robbie Coltrane leaping into the sea to take on a boat with a chainsaw which is something everyone needs to see at least once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 August, 2017, 12:00:51 PM
Doctor Terror's House of Horrors

A 1965 Amicus production featuring an almost unrecognisable Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee (in this case a snobbish art critic who [spoiler]gets his come uppance[/spoiler]) and various other very familiar faces.

I think maybe it should be called Doctor Horror's Train of Terror, since the framing device for the anthology is a train, not a house (although most of the individual stories feature houses).

I'll admit I found the stories more comedic than scary, and not a little silly, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think the art critic story and the vampire one may be my personal favourites.  The homicidal vine plant one, was probably the most silliest. (Key scene in mind, the botanist viewing a leaf under a microscope and seeing a brain structure. "Just as I thought!" he says. Day of the - Triffids, it isn't.)

I've seen it a few times and the ending has me scratching my head a bit. [spoiler] The idea is that the last tarot card will provide a get out option to prevent their futures from happening. In their cases, the last card is always Death. Fair enough. The only way they'll escape their tragic fates (which isn't death for all of them, incidentally, although some might wish it) is if they die. But in the end death actually wasn't an option. They had no choice in the matter. Seen in that way the predictions are not their futures, but what would have happened if the train hadn't crashed. Death (literally)  stepping in and sparing them a fate worth than death, maybe?[/spoiler]  I'm probably over thinking it. It was just a framework with another twist to tell a bunch of stories.

An enjoyable, but silly romp. It would have been nice if the stories were a bit more scary. I seem to remember other anthology films where this is the case.

Oh, and and there were very cool jazz sequences, if you're into that sort of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 19 August, 2017, 01:57:51 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 19 August, 2017, 12:00:51 PM
The homicidal vine plant one, was probably the most silliest.

I can't think what's silly about DJ Alan 'Fluff' Freeman being attacked by plastic foliage. Proper horror? Not 'arf! Mind you, I think the werewolf story has a foreboding atmosphere that builds up quite well, but you're right, the stories are comfortingly spooky rather than scary. The titular 'house', apparently, is Dr. Terror's deck of cards.

'Dr. Terror...' is probably the most iconic of the Amicus anthologies - it's the first one they did - but it's not the best. It's certainly outstripped by 'Asylum' and 'Tales from the Crypt', but 'From Beyond the Grave' is the jewel in the crown.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 19 August, 2017, 02:23:10 PM
Groundhog Day,still great. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 19 August, 2017, 03:41:26 PM
(Jet Li is) The One - retitled to cash in on the star's name no doubt.It was on Channel Drunk the other night and it started out as just about the most 2000ad movie I've ever seen. Basically it starts with Stan Lee beating up a bunch of judges before Sinister Dexter turn up to take him down and then beam back to the doghouse. Sadly the Kung fu set pieces are rather lacklustre but there's enough dimension hopping sci-fi to make up the slack. Really wish this had been the pilot to an 80s TV show
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Angry Vince on 19 August, 2017, 07:36:11 PM
The Back to the Future trilogy.

Watched it with my 8 year old son (his first time) over the weekend.

It still holds up, genuinely funny moments and a few tense moments here and there. A couple of shonky FX shots and a lot of swearing - every time someone said 'shit', 'son of a bitch' or 'bastard', my son would look at me and say 'but it's still a PG!'.
Definitely worth watching again, maybe with a kids eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 19 August, 2017, 09:38:25 PM
Watched them again recently with my kids, still think the first film is a nigh on perfect movie.........along with raiders of the lost Ark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 August, 2017, 12:46:09 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 19 August, 2017, 01:57:51 PM
I think the werewolf story has a foreboding atmosphere that builds up quite well,
You're right. That one started promising. I quite liked the twist at the end of that tale.

QuoteThe titular 'house', apparently, is Dr. Terror's deck of cards.
I'm dense. I missed that.

Quote'Dr. Terror...' is probably the most iconic of the Amicus anthologies - it's the first one they did - but it's not the best. It's certainly outstripped by 'Asylum' and 'Tales from the Crypt', but 'From Beyond the Grave' is the jewel in the crown.

I recorded Asylum some while back*, but I never got round to watching it yet. I'll dig that out soon!

*I've used my PS3s PlayTV gadget to record a load of stuff. A wonderful gadget... until it broke down recently. It still loads but keeps freezing during liveTV for some reason. On looking online it seems prone to that.

I bought it second hand rather cheap, and got plenty out of it in the short time I had it so I guess I mustn't complain. I really miss pausing/rewinding in LIVE TV though. I went years not doing that, only to find I really miss that little feature now it's been taken away. 😁

Thankfully I was able to export the library videos when I realised it was going funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 20 August, 2017, 08:43:17 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 20 August, 2017, 12:46:09 AM
I recorded Asylum some while back*, but I never got round to watching it yet. I'll dig that out soon!

Asylum's an interesting one - there are better individual stories in other Amicus anthologies, but Asylum has the best framing sequence and the best central conceit of any of them. It also has Robert Powell, and everything's better with more Robert Powell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 August, 2017, 01:34:26 PM
Seen numerous heist films recently.

If I told you that Going in Style stars Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman as honest ex-working men forced to turn to bank robbery after the dissolution of their pension fund then I'm confident you could already tell me how everything plays out. It's a pleasant 90 minutes with some gentle barbs at banks and capitalists and observations about the pifalls of aging. It's hardly Black Mirror, but mildly amusing without being too saccharine.


Seems like the banks have now taken on the mantle formerly held by Latino drug cartels, white supremaxcists and people traffickers as the go-to bad guys in American cinema. The protagonists of Hell and High Water also offer up a moral justification for their crime spree as they need the cash to prevent the bank repossessing the family plot where some oil has just been struck. It's a much less comedic effort than Going in Style yet the jokes it does have hit harder.

Captain Kirk is fine as the sensible brother (naturally, there is a less stable one) while Jeff Bridges steals the show as the sherrif on their trail. A role which, to be fair, is basically the same as Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men

It's a fairly slow film, some might even say po-faced and heavy-handed in its insistence on repeatedly beating the viewer over the head with the impact of unfettered capitalism on poor communities, but it's the relatively small scale of the crime and the ambitions of the brothers which best illustrates the point its trying to make.


Finally, Baby Driver has the most enjoyable parts of any of these films yet, on balance, I think I hated it. The first couple of car chases are a lot of fun, Jamie Fox is great, Kevin Spacey was mostly entertaining and the Michael Myers joke was . As even the positive reviews mention, it completely runs out of steam after an hour and becomes a series of unlikely reversals for no other reason than because that is what's supposed to happen in this kind of film.

However, my two biggest problems with it were Baby and Debra. I was really worried during the opening scenes that he was going to turn out to have some sort of bizarre, cinematic mental illness. I was extremely relieved when he turned out to be just annoying rather than actually offensive. Debra's role is so underwritten it's hardly there. She's happy to go off with some weirdo who gets her mixed up in a bunch of violent crimes why? Because she's a bit bored at work? Maybe this can also be filed under "things which happen because thats what happens in these films" but it's especially disappointing because Scott Pilgrim was an asbolute tosser as well, but it was the differing attitudes and reactions of the various female characters to that which made the film enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 20 August, 2017, 02:06:08 PM
The Lobster is a genuinely amusing idea, which would of worked fine as a short, but is stretched to an almost unbearably long feature length.
In the film's world being single is frowned upon and anyone not successfully mated has to go through the conversion procedure of being turned into an animal of one's choosing-hence the title.

The film has some pertinent things to say about modern relationships and its Pythonesque approach to the material works for the most part and elicits some chuckles, but it's subplot of a 'sigleton' terrorist organisation doesn't really go anywhere and the overtly stylised and manored delivery of the dialogue from Colin Farrell and a host of British film and TV stalwarts, makes it hard to engage or care about the characters.
Ultimately, it's the protracted running time that eventually sinks the whole enterprise.
File under 'misfired curio'. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 August, 2017, 02:35:03 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 20 August, 2017, 02:06:08 PM
The Lobster is a genuinely amusing idea, which would of worked fine as a short, but is stretched to an almost unbearably long feature length.
...
Ultimately, it's the protracted running time that eventually sinks the whole enterprise.
File under 'misfired curio'.
I would agree that it's too long but I think I enjoyed it up until the living in the woods part. Farrell is great though.

If you haven't seen it, I'd really recommend the director's first film Dogtooth. It has a similarly wacky premise played straight but doesn't fall apart in the same way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 20 August, 2017, 04:10:28 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 20 August, 2017, 02:35:03 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 20 August, 2017, 02:06:08 PM
The Lobster is a genuinely amusing idea, which would of worked fine as a short, but is stretched to an almost unbearably long feature length.
...
Ultimately, it's the protracted running time that eventually sinks the whole enterprise.
File under 'misfired curio'.
I would agree that it's too long but I think I enjoyed it up until the living in the woods part. Farrell is great though.

If you haven't seen it, I'd really recommend the director's first film Dogtooth. It has a similarly wacky premise played straight but doesn't fall apart in the same way.

Cheers, I shall look out for that!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 August, 2017, 06:52:04 PM
Saw the last of Lawrence of Arabia this morning. Not sure how correct it is, and don't care much either. Quite amazed how complex it was. Was expecting a typical hollywood hero. Him teaching the arabs how things are done. But I was pleasingly surprised how it rather explored his legend, his and other views on it and himself. Also how "he" (again, not sure how accurate the story is) was effected by the little war of his he was waging.

Really enjoyed the last minutes. He sits in the car, hoping to get recognized by those riding camels to no avail, and then the soldier on a motorbike driving by like a doppelganger of death (in relations to the beginning), I must say I was quite gripped by it. Felt an urge watching it again. If only I had 4 more hours to spare and the energy. But will soon enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 August, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
The Keep was on Film4 the other night and I've watched it over the last couple of nights... and .... well ... that was quite something... yes something.

Its not  a film I'd heard much about, so I did a bit of reading (a lot here as it goes) about it and was intrigued but approached it with caution. It had the kernal of an interesting film buried in it. Alas that kernal was lost in some pretty appalling, hamfisted execution. In summary German soldiers arrive at a Welsh slate mine masquerading as a Romanian village, home of a big scary slate Keep, which is actually a prison for... well some ill defined metaphysical nightmare. At first the sin of greed releases the beastie and the germans are picked off... or so we're told we don't see this. Then the SS arrive to raise the sins of man stakes (I think) while a jewish... what ... historian type.... is pulled to the scene with his daughter to befriend the beastie in a quick scene and get miracilous healed by it.

Meanwhile Scott Glenn fresh from how to look stern and ethereal lesson in Greece makes his way slowly to the piece so he can, in a scene make out with the jewish man's daughter and look stern and mysterious. From here in about 15 minutes there's some shouting and nearly everyone dies. The final confrontation between the also metaphyisical beastie as it turns out Scott Glenn and the original beastie, in what could be a metaphor for the evil in man challenged by the good and no one really winning but life going on...

Its been suggested that the original cut of this was over 3 hours and within that with a less murderous edit lays a good film. While the edit of this version was rubbish and so a longer version could cure many of its ills, I also suspect that it's just be another 1 1/2 of slightly ill considered pap.

The terrible thing is I think I'd put myself through it to find out. I'm a bloody idiot I suspect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 21 August, 2017, 12:00:14 PM
Quote from: Frank on 17 August, 2017, 05:42:25 PM

IT'S ALL BOWLER HATS, BROLLIES, AND GENTLEMEN'S CLUBS!

Every page. It's like the inside of Jacob Rees-Mogg's head.

(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2221/32124773554_b5b3a8f158_c.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2017, 08:26:55 PM
(http://www.frenchtoastsunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Dark-Star1_2728295k.jpg)

This old film's still got it!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 August, 2017, 05:13:30 PM
The Dark Tower. The books are easily my favourite thing I've ever read, and I've spent years re-reading and fantasizing about what a movie adaptation could be like. The scale of the whole thing is so massive that the idea of doing the mainline story stuff as a series of movies but having an accompanying TV show that filled in the gaps  and adapted the bulk of the flashback stories sounded like a really smart way to do it. The casting got me really excited too, because Elba and Mcconaughey seemed perfect choices, and every set photo or trailer shot fired up my imagination even more and convinced me that this was the epic adaptation that I'd wanted.

Went to see it yesterday and the more I think about it the more gutted I am with what they've done with it.

I know this is said often about adaptations but I'm genuinely, absolutely certain that nobody involved with writing this thing has read any of the books. It feels like they just got someone to spend five minutes describing them while they only half-listened, so you wind up with a weird mish-mash of broad stroke images and moments from the novels but without any of the connecting tissue, character or story. It feels rushed in every single way, there's no attempt to establish or communicate any of its ideas and it's painfully obvious that nobody had the confidence to commit to adapting it as a series so they've bottled it and just tried to knock together as short a standalone film as they could, possibly to fill some kind of contractual obligations. It also weirdly feels very much like they've tried to redress it as something for the YA market, which wouldn't be so bad (some of those adaptations are great!) but they've clearly felt the need to dumb it down ridiculously in order to try and get there.

I've no idea how someone who hadn't read the books would find the film, maybe it'll work as a serviceable but forgettable adventure film. I'd imagine they might just wonder what all the fuss was about with the books, seeing as there's nothing on the movie's bare bones to mark it out from any other property.

I know this is coming across as one of those 'they changed my beloved book!' rants, where nit-picks get blown out of all proportion, but the number of balls that have been dropped on this really is staggering, and everywhere you look there's something to be upset about. The run-time is way too short for this sort of thing, so there's no attempt to set up Mid-World, or the Gunslingers, or the paths of the beams and what they represent (Roland mentions a 'beamquake' at one point, but they haven't even bothered to explain what that means), or even Roland himself. The launch-pad for the books is Roland's obsessive, self-destructive quest to find the Dark Tower, and the tower itself takes on a mythical presence, almost more of an idea than a physical object, where just the act of trying to find and get to it feels like an impossible, insane task. In the film Roland doesn't really give a toss about the tower, probably because (as established in the first five minutes) it's just a building about as close as your nearest Tesco's, and the first sight we get of it Mcconaughey is firing telepathic child-powered mind-missiles at it. God typing that made my heart sink.

And as for the much teased (by King himself no less) angle that [spoiler]it's a sequel to the books because of the whole horn of Eld thing? Not even touched on in the film, there is literally not a single element to suggest that this is the case, so that now seems to have just been some (admittedly very clever) deflection of any criticisms that it's not sticking to the books.[/spoiler]

I know this is just a rambling complaint now, but I just don't think I've ever before had the feeling of source material I hold so dear being flippantly, off-handedly, utterly squandered like this, and the saddest thing is that this feels like it's now had its shot, and because this thing with the Dark Tower name on it is out there underwhelming people, I'll probably never see anyone take a run at a faithful adaptation.

Sigh.

Maybe now that I know what it is I can watch it a second time and enjoy it more, but right now I just feel quite sad about the whole thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 23 August, 2017, 08:55:20 AM
Jumanji - as watch it on Netflix, not see it for many years, and still entertainment, so fun! Very dark for young children.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 23 August, 2017, 10:14:18 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 August, 2017, 05:13:30 PM
The Dark Tower. I've no idea how someone who hadn't read the books would find the film...
As someone who hasn't read the books I can tell you exactly what how I found the film: woeful. It wasn't difficult to follow the story (what little story there was) it just seemed so... pointless; and I've never seen an audience vacate a cinema so quickly once the credits started rolling. There was a [non]literal stampede to the exit.

Here's the review I posted on FB:
[spoiler]Everyone says The Dark Tower series is King's great epic but if the film is symptomatic of the books then I don't know where this praise comes from. Maybe the problem is trying to distil seven novels into a 95min film?

At the risk of spoilers, why have a Tower that can be destroyed by the mind of a child? Why, if you find such a child, don't you kill him to protect the Tower? (The kid stumbles around with such a gormless, slack-jawed expression I wouldn't hesitate to shoot him if I was the Gunslinger.) Perhaps these questions are explained in the books? Well, I'm sure I wouldn't know because, based on this film, I'd never read them.

My daughter was to have seen TDT with me but went to a party instead. I'd say, if you'll excuse the pun, she dodged a bullet on this one. Seriously, don't waste your money on it.

(Btw, had I known Akiva Goldsman had had a hand in writing/producing TDT I'd have passed on it. As far as I'm concerned his name is synonymous with bad films.)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 August, 2017, 01:38:16 PM
I can totally understand why seeing the film has put you off the idea of ever reading TDT, which is a shame. I would say definitely don't judge the series itself on the film adaptation, because the film bears very, very little resemblance to them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2017, 02:06:54 PM
Oh wow, Akiva Goldsman is linked to *alot* of stinkers. Possibly the best one on there is Nu-Trek, if you don't include Good-Bad movies like Deep Blue Sea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 August, 2017, 06:04:58 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 23 August, 2017, 02:06:54 PM
Oh wow, Akiva Goldsman is linked to *alot* of stinkers. Possibly the best one on there is Nu-Trek, if you don't include Good-Bad movies like Deep Blue Sea.

Just checked his filmography- it's like searching IMDB for "disappointing"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 23 August, 2017, 06:14:41 PM
Batman and Robin. :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 August, 2017, 07:44:54 AM
Seeing The Dark Tower later today.
It's been made clear, for a couple of years now, that this first film is a primer, simply to introduce the characters and themes that run through the series of books.
If this film is successful in anyway, shape, or form, it is the producers design that a series of three films and a TV series will follow.
It's a risky gamble but one of the reasons that TDT has a short running time.
Personally I adore the books and have been following the adventures of Roland since the early 80's when I picked up the original short stories in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine back in the early 80's due to being such a massive King fan.
I'm not concerned. The books are still there, unchanged, on my shelf. I always think that when they make a film from a book it's an interpretation rather than adaptation. It can't really be anything else because a book is so personal where a film is perceived, in general, in the same way by all.
I'm still looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 August, 2017, 09:02:46 AM
I hope you enjoy it! That plan sounds great, and I do hope it pans out and that the sequels and series happen. Would love to see how they plan to get it on course with the story. My problem is that as a primer it doesn't actually set up the world or the characters at all - there's barely any backstory or attempt to explain the world, and when they do offer up some morsels of information they just feel...wrong. If this film had been all set-up and world building it could have been amazing, but instead it feels like it's thrown all that out in a rush to the finish line.

I do fully expect to watch it again at some point with a more forgiving eye, and hopefully enjoy it a lot more on its own merits, but right now that disappointment that it doesn't feel like the books is the main thing I'm feeling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 24 August, 2017, 09:45:02 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2017, 08:26:55 PMThis old film's still got it!

I love that film.  It's been years since I watched it though; will dig it out for a viewing over the weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 August, 2017, 11:40:01 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 August, 2017, 09:02:46 AM

I do fully expect to watch it again at some point with a more forgiving eye, and hopefully enjoy it a lot more on its own merits, but right now that disappointment that it doesn't feel like the books is the main thing I'm feeling.

I do understand that it's hard sometimes, especially on subject matters that you lovely dearly, to accept the changes and differences.
I'll come back later and let you know what I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 August, 2017, 02:16:12 PM
Quote from: Smith on 23 August, 2017, 06:14:41 PM
Batman and Robin. :lol:

Uh Oh, you'vyou've summoned Professor Bear.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 August, 2017, 02:17:48 PM
ATOMIC BLONDE

Why didn't I really enjoy this? It had all the right bits in all the right places but for me was less than the sum of those parts.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 August, 2017, 03:11:31 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 August, 2017, 02:16:12 PM
Quote from: Smith on 23 August, 2017, 06:14:41 PM
Batman and Robin. :lol:

Uh Oh, you'vyou've summoned Professor Bear.

Don't look at me, I think Batman and Robin is a terrible film.  It achieved the impossible task of making Batman look silly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 August, 2017, 04:16:21 PM
Just got back from watching The Dark Tower. I think the two negative reviews on here must have prepared me for the worst because I quite enjoyed it.
Sure it plays like a pilot of a TV (even with a cheesy 1980's buddy movie ending) and I can completely understand that those that hold the eight novels (and one novella) in such high esteem, of which I count myself, maybe disappointed.
However, I did feel it was a decent introduction to Roland, Jake, R.F, the breakers, and nature of The Tower. The explanations of many of these things were short and often explained in one short sentence but I was glad that was the case as I think it would have bogged the film down. If the viewer pays attention all things are explained.
Personally I can't see the film being successful enough to warrant a TV series and a series of films and I think that was a shame. I thought the cast were very good especially of the three leads.
Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, more of a taster of things to come and a solid 6/10 for me.
I went with the missus who finished the books just under a year ago and she enjoyed it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 August, 2017, 05:59:53 AM
Hunter Prey is actually,pretty original.At least it shows you dont need tons of money to make an interesting SF movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 25 August, 2017, 03:07:34 PM
Moneyball. Watched that last night on SKY movie. Had seen it before but they missus had not so I suggested it. We are both sports fans, which helps, and both enjoyed it, me for the 2nd time. 7/10

American Made. Saw this at the cinema today. Enjoyable (true) story. Nothing overly spectacular, just solid entertainment and personally I like Tom Cruise and think he's a fine actor. Period setting played well (late 70's to mid 80's) and plays similar to a Scorcese movie, especially the latter 35 minutes of Goodfellas. Enjoyable 7/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 August, 2017, 04:26:31 PM
"Detriments, is it? Detriments!? Well, let me remind you that it was detriments like us what built this bloody empire! And the bloody Raj! Hats on..."

Michael Caine and Sean Connery set fire to the screen in the sublime The Man Who Would Be King. A quid from the charity shop - bargain of the month!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 August, 2017, 06:43:36 PM
I bloody love that film: "you call that a ruby Peachey? Now THIS is a ruby!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 August, 2017, 06:51:38 PM
It really is fantastic, isn't it? The end ("...Daniel never let go of Peachy's hand...") always brings a tear to my eye.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 August, 2017, 07:51:30 PM
Wonder Woman - a competent but characterless superhero flick.  Hammers the cliche button like crazy, "there are no men on this island now if you'll excuse me I have to go pick up my three year old from school" pretty much sums up the internal logic, and that Ares stuff at the end where he was real, then not real, then real but someone else, and then wasn't manipulating people to go to war at all but actually he really was because "they're doing it to themselves" got really old quite quickly.  There is also something incredibly crass about people in clown costumes fighting in the trenches of a war, and the film lacks the courage of its supposed convictions when it presents the Germans as one step away from being Klingons - especially when it takes pains to paint them as the architects of war crimes and the Allies as inherently noble underdogs.  Ends with the expected CGI-fest, though Steve Trevor does his old man proud by going out like George Kirk.

Aftermath - another feel-good Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in which he avenges the wrongful death of his wife and pregnant daughter and good prevails and evil is punished and OH NO WHAT IS HAPPENING...
As best I can describe it, it's like someone got an idea for a comedy sketch for Arnie to do about how his character suffers an injustice and then is too old to Arnie-up and take on an army in revenge, and Arnie for some reason agreed to be in the sketch but they shot too much footage and only trimmed the jokes when it came to editing.  There's no reason that craggy, monolithic face can't be utilised in a serious drama about a lonely old man left with nothing but memories - and to be fair, Arnie nails the whole haunted look of isolated despair thing down - but this isn't that movie.  maybe worth a look if you're morbidly curious, but apart from that, no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 August, 2017, 08:14:24 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 August, 2017, 07:51:30 PM
Wonder Woman - a competent but characterless superhero flick ... There is also something incredibly crass about people in clown costumes fighting in the trenches of a war ...

And sexy. James Cameron finds the film's depiction of its heroine very, very sexy:

"All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood's been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She's an objectified icon, and it's just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I'm not saying I didn't like the movie but, to me, it's a step backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!"

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/24/james-cameron-well-never-be-able-to-reproduce-the-shock-of-terminator-2

Not sure I agree. Whatever Cameron's intentions, all the non-morphing talk about T2 was Hamilton's newly hot body. Plus, I'm not sure there's anything wrong with objectification - the problem's surely when that's the only way a group is presented or valued.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 August, 2017, 09:41:18 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 25 August, 2017, 06:43:36 PM
I bloody love that film: "you call that a ruby Peachey? Now THIS is a ruby!"
a

Possibly my favourite Conner and Caine film. I'm comparing it to the films they star in individually too, otherwise this wouldn't say much...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 August, 2017, 10:12:43 PM
The Brillaint Thai classic The Tears of the Black Tiger. A film that couldn't be imagined from western cinema, if only becuse on the surface its such a unsubtle parody of just that.

However the hyper-realsied visual, acting and script, cut through with glorious moments of beautiful clarity raise this beyond its simple surface quality and make it a fantastic look at what it is to grow up and how the world tries us.

Yet its so playful on the surface as it be a effortless, joyous story at the same time. The two juxetaposed lead to a simply compelling combination. A film experience not quite like any other I've seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 August, 2017, 12:49:47 PM
Finally got around to seeing Spiderman: Homecoming. I'll admit I was confused by the title for the longest time, but now I understand. They could have dropped the whole Homecoming part IMO.

Overall it was quite enjoyable, but there was far too much Tony Stark (as I feared from the promos).

[spoiler]And I was pleasantly shocked to find Michael Keaton's villain as the father of Peter's love interest. It was nice to be surprised for a change.[/spoiler]

The entire cast was very good and of course Marisa Tomei is still a stunner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 27 August, 2017, 08:50:02 PM
Netflix's Death Note

It about a high school student who discovers a notebook "Death Note" and if he wrote name of person, it will died. It based on Japanese Manga series. Think people would don't like it cos of white casting.

I really enjoying it. Very dark and thriller, deaths was very well done (Sorry for said that!)

[spoiler]Willem Dafoe as Ryuk was nice touch, so remind of Green Goblin, but think it could better version of Green Goblin! Also he is the best thing of the film[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 August, 2017, 10:22:49 PM
I saw that today as well! I was a bit cynical what with it being a Western(ish) take on the Japanese programme, but it actually was okay.

[spoiler] I found this version of Light a bit less ruthless than the Japanese version (the latter started off just targeting villains but wasn't opposed to killing police, etc, if they got in the way) which I guess made him a bit easier to root for. He was also a lot less ranty.[/spoiler] 

I wouldn't say it was better overall,  however but it wasn't a bad adaptation.

I was a bit surprised as I thought it was a series. This first episode is really long and is covering quite a bit of ground, I thought. Silly me. I think a series would have done it better justice, but maybe it's a good thing as the Japanese anime got there first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 August, 2017, 10:46:16 PM
Death Note.

Rubbish. Tone changed every two minutes, from Final Destination to Sherlock via Marilyn Manson.

And, I'm sorry, but even I can't suspend disbelief enough to accept a remote school tortures orphans to make them into Great Detectives. They then work with the police? Who are okay with that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2017, 01:59:11 AM
After watching Death Note, I can see why weeaboos hate it: its flaws are huge and glaring, but they're the flaws of the original work magnified by an overly-literal script that excludes the kind of localised nuance necessary to create a believable fiction.  Basically Death Note - a Western film - is an advertisement for why insisting on arbitrary and pointless notions of "retaining authenticity" over authorial intent in localised translations of foreign works is both unworkable and destructive to art, as this could have been a great deal better if it just ignored the source material and went its own route, since one thing western film has done well over the decades is chart a course through the tropes herein which draw heavily from the likes of Wishmaster and Final Destination.  Western cinema had this one in the bag, but making it emulate the storytelling shorthand of the dramatic school of a distinct culture just drags it into ham-fisted logical jumps and almost comically-bad dialogue.
Which is not to say it's without merit: the cast are good (and it's great to know that Lakeith Stanfield is a bit mad (https://www.gq.com/story/a-bonkers-interview-with-lakeith-stanfield)), Ryuk is well-utilised, the director does a great job, and the soundtrack draws from teen comedies and the work of John Carpenter with equal nonchalance.  Ironically, the audience I can see most benefiting from and enjoying this are the audience that weeaboos seem desperate to exclude from enjoying Japanese culture: kids.  Hopefully there are enough bad parents out there who don't encode their Netflix access to allow enough kids to watch this and make it successful enough to get a sequel, because I've seen a lot worse than this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 August, 2017, 07:29:30 AM
The Hitman's Bodyguard.

Very.
Very.
Bad.

2/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2017, 09:56:03 AM
Jurassic World - I didn't think this was particularly bad, but it definitely wasn't very good either. I think the original is one of the greatest blockbuster movies ever made (and one of my happiest and most vivid childhood cinema memories) so that makes it all the more disappointing that this is so...standard. Also, given the amount of money that was probably thrown at it (and how well the original still holds up) I was kind of surprised that the effects weren't a lot better.

Transporter 2 - Ooooft. I'd seen the first film years ago and while it wasn't good, it was fun throwaway beer and a movie action fodder so I stuck this on hoping for more of the same. Just couldn't get into it given how appallingly executed it all is. If you ever wanted to perfectly illustrate to someone how important competent direction and editing is to an action scene, then sticking on a double bill of The Raid 2 and this should do it. The choreography might have been fantastic, I can't comment on that because I didn't see any of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 August, 2017, 10:13:29 AM
Kinda glad my interest in Death Note is firmly planted in 2006, and no interest in revisiting the franchise I so fell out of love with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 August, 2017, 03:07:03 PM
Logan Lucky. Enjoyed it. Was a 6/10 but the final 10 minutes elevate it to a solid 7/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 28 August, 2017, 03:21:15 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 28 August, 2017, 07:29:30 AM
The Hitman's Bodyguard.

Very.
Very.
Bad.

2/10

Yup, absolute fucking toss!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 28 August, 2017, 07:23:11 PM
Red Tails.  On the one level a poor rehash of Tuskegee Airmen but with more action and higher quality special effects.  On another level an interesting dissertation on discrimination and resilience.  Need to dig out the Dreaming Eagles and reread as a comparison.  Still an enjoyable evening's viewing and far better than some of the alternatives I've noted of late.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 August, 2017, 10:06:46 PM
Looper

Now that's a really good film that does some really interesting stuff with time travel. And the child actor was actually pretty good too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 29 August, 2017, 01:17:00 PM
Detroit. Difficult to express what I thought about this. It's very well made (as you'd expect from Kathryn Bigelow) and yet it's quite frustrating. The historical context is kind of hazy; it's a real life series of events but Bigelow doesn't nail down exactly when the events are taking place until quite late in the film when someone mentions what year it is. There's no real narrative for the first hour(?), just kind of random vignettes about the characters we'll be focussing on during the core of the film's event. Then when the actual event in question take place no-one does the obvious thing and tells the truth about what occurred, which is presumably historically accurate so it's how the people behaved in real life but I'm watching it thinking [spoiler]just tell the cops that it was the guy they've already killed who fired a starting pistol out the window[/spoiler]. When the film wraps up in the final 20 mins I didn't even realise that John Boyega's security guard was [spoiler]actually on trial alongside the white police officers[/spoiler]. I thought he was going to be [spoiler]a witness[/spoiler] not [spoiler]a defendant[/spoiler] so that point was entirely lost on me.

All I can think is that Bigelow and Mark Boal assume the audience is already familiar with the events depicted so don't need to actually explain what it's all about but when your movie's tagline is "It's time we knew" and "Based on the true story of one of the most terrifying secrets in American history"[1] that's a very strange assumption to make.

[1]Apparently white American police officers and/or juries in the '60s were racist. Who'd have thunk it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 August, 2017, 04:20:58 PM
Death Wish 2 - Netflix. After re-reading some old copies of Cinema Sewer I found myself hankering for some old fashioned sleaze and DW 2 fit the bill nicely. After seeing his housekeeper and traumatised daughter (from the first film) raped (and in the case of the housekeeper, multiple times) and then killed Bronson seems rather put out, if not terribly upset,  and goes after the gang that committed the crimes. This is pretty poor fair and Michael Winner, the director, is pretty salacious in filming the multiple rape of the housekeeper, and far more restrained with the rape of the daughter. Still, the characters are all one dimension and this sequel holds none of the power that the original film had. 5/10 novelty value only.
 
Green Room - Netflix. Finally caught up with this movie starring Patrick Stewart about a punk band playing their last gig on a low rent tour in a rural setting to a club full of neo Nazis. When the band witness the murder of a young woman they are kept at the club as the club owner, Stewart, decides how to 'solve' this problem. Well made, well acted with quite a bit of gore and plenty of suspense. 6.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 August, 2017, 08:04:08 AM
It Follows - Netflix.
Another film I had been meaning to watch since I was sent the screener DVD a couple of years ago for Frightfest.
 
Decent horror film and because of it's musical score and surburbian setting (Detroit, in this instance) it has a definite 'John Carpenter' feel to it.
The story itself is more 'Ring' but it's pretty well done. 6.5/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 30 August, 2017, 09:02:35 AM
Scary movie weekend:

Life. More dumb astronauts, not as daft as the crew of the Alien: Covenant but would still struggle in a pub quiz against the Muppets' Pigs and Space. Gravity was much scarier without a beastie.

Get Out. Good but so many daft moments and plot holes, and the plot is too obvious, too early on.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe. This was proper creepy with great work from Brian Cox (the good one), Emile Hirsch, and Trollhunter director André Øvredal. The conclusion might not be as satisfying as the slow build up, and there were a couple of overused horror tropes, but still great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 August, 2017, 12:31:11 PM
Atomic Blonde. A so-so film overall. Not enough of either action or intrigue to stand out as either one or the other. Shame really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 August, 2017, 01:34:08 PM
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
Gosh, this is pretty to look at but so incredibly empty. A disappointment. Stick with the comic series 5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 August, 2017, 07:53:03 PM
The Warriors last night. Not seen that film in an age, I mean a real long time and... well ... I don't know I remember thinking it was so hard and cool and scary back in the day... its not aged well has it. Yet I still found it completely compelling and engaging.

Me I'd just get a taxi next time if I was them!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 30 August, 2017, 10:11:36 PM
Rewatch Captain America First Avenger, just awesome it get so much better sequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 August, 2017, 03:24:00 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 30 August, 2017, 07:53:03 PM
The Warriors last night. Not seen that film in an age, I mean a real long time and... well ... I don't know I remember thinking it was so hard and cool and scary back in the day... its not aged well has it. Yet I still found it completely compelling and engaging.

Me I'd just get a taxi next time if I was them!

Classic. To this day I can't see two empty coke bottles without doing the clink-clink "Warr-iors, come out to pla-a-y" line. But you're right - nowadays those gangsters look more like Jets & Sharks than Bloods & Crips
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 August, 2017, 06:17:23 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 August, 2017, 03:24:00 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 30 August, 2017, 07:53:03 PM
The Warriors last night. Not seen that film in an age, I mean a real long time and... well ... I don't know I remember thinking it was so hard and cool and scary back in the day... its not aged well has it. Yet I still found it completely compelling and engaging.

Me I'd just get a taxi next time if I was them!

Classic. To this day I can't see two empty coke bottles without doing the clink-clink "Warr-iors, come out to pla-a-y" line. But you're right - nowadays those gangsters look more like Jets & Sharks than Bloods & Crips

Spot on.
One of my 'go to' movies.
Absolutely love it. Saw it first in 1983 on VHS. Dislike the 'new' version with the comic panels though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2017, 07:58:02 AM
The Nice Guys.

Absolutely loved it. I didn't think they made quality buddy films like this anymore.
It was quite reminiscent of The Last Boy Scout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 02 September, 2017, 10:21:00 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 02 September, 2017, 07:58:02 AM
The Nice Guys.

Absolutely loved it. I didn't think they made quality buddy films like this anymore.
It was quite reminiscent of The Last Boy Scout.

Did you watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2017, 10:26:14 AM
No, I'd heard he title but I think I got it mixed up with The Long Kiss Goodnight for some reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 02 September, 2017, 10:36:36 AM
Worth it to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2017, 11:12:09 AM
I'll have to check it out. Be handy if it's on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 September, 2017, 08:37:18 PM
Made in America

I'm not really into films based on real stories, but I was with friends, so I figured it's worth a go.

It was quite an interesting film, actually. It's amazing to see what Tom Cruise's pilot character got away with... and then remember... it's based on stuff that happened.

There was quite a bit of humour along the way too.
I confess that by the last half hour (or was it an hour? It seemed very long...) I was bored silly and hoped the film would end soon. I suspect this is me, but I not the film,  though.

Not a favourite film, by a long shot, but I'm glad I watched it, as it's quite an eye opener.

I hope I get film choice next time we go, though.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 September, 2017, 10:25:10 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 02 September, 2017, 08:37:18 PM
Made in America

I'm not really into films based on real stories, but I was with friends, so I figured it's worth a go.

It was quite an interesting film, actually. It's amazing to see what Tom Cruise's pilot character got away with... and then remember... it's based on stuff that happened.

There was quite a bit of humour along the way too.
I confess that by the last half hour (or was it an hour? It seemed very long...) I was bored silly and hoped the film would end soon. I suspect this is me, but I not the film,  though.

Not a favourite film, by a long shot, but I'm glad I watched it, as it's quite an eye opener.

I hope I get film choice next time we go, though.  :lol:

The Infiltrator is on SKY movies at the moment and stars Bryan Branston and basically continues the story and is very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 September, 2017, 12:35:45 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy 2. A worthy successor to the first film.

Back to School. Probably my favourite Rodney Dangerfield film. I have to watch it every few months. There are just so many great performances and one liners.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 September, 2017, 06:15:53 PM
Moonlight is not a projects-set werewolf film as I originally hoped, but a sexual awakening drama examining three stages of the stunted emotional growth of a young black man unable to defy toxic masculinity within African-American culture as he progresses from child to teen to adult.  An interesting choice of subject matter married to a triptych narrative structure creates a sadly unique take on young black Americans, but I ultimately felt alienated by its lack of insight or possibility of happiness for its protagonist.  His emotional epiphany seems somewhat confused, too, being a mix of his and another character's experiences melded in one final image.
An interesting but - for me - ultimately unrewarding film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 September, 2017, 07:58:26 PM
Who are you, and what have you done with the Prof?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 September, 2017, 09:04:19 PM
I also watched Robot Jox.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 September, 2017, 10:25:24 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 September, 2017, 09:04:19 PM
I also watched Robot Jox.

Cancel that all-points 10-57, dispatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 03 September, 2017, 10:48:31 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 September, 2017, 09:04:19 PM
I also watched Robot Jox.

The scene where Robot Jox wanks off the other robot jox was sensitively handled.

Moonlight is the most over praised film I've seen. It's perfectly nice and conspicuously well behaved*, but it's unexceptional.

The Oscar win was definitely a case of marking a moment. The next seven Best Picture award winners will be Trump's most terrible legacy.


* Its approach to homosexual sex is analogous to the way Gone With The Wind depicts slavery; calculated not to alienate anyone who finds the topic uncomfortable
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 September, 2017, 11:10:48 PM
Quote from: Frank on 03 September, 2017, 10:48:31 PM________ is the most over praised film I've seen. It's perfectly nice and conspicuously well behaved*, but it's unexceptional.

You can slot just about any 'best' film into that sentence.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2017, 10:20:42 AM
Hush - Mick Garris had an interview with the director of this on a recent Post Mortem podcast (which is fantastic if you like horror!) and hearing him talk about his films got me interested enough to check them out. I thought this was really good, a nice twist on the home invasion slasher horror (the resident is deaf and mute, and that idea of someone creeping around your house when you can't hear them is pretty chilling) with some excellent tense moments and shocks. Will definitely be watching more of his films.

The Assassin - If I'm honest I struggled to follow the plot for chunks of this, or maybe just failed to absorb some of the early exposition and set-up enough to follow later events clearly (it was very late in my defence) but my word did this look so sumptuous that the plot didn't matter. A gorgeous film to look at, I got totally lost in it. Makes some interesting use of colour, sound and changing aspect ratios from scene to scene, but never in a way that's distracting, always in a way that feeds the experience. Will watch again (and pay more attention to the early plot set-up)!

Trance - This was okay, I maybe expected a bit more with it being Danny Boyle. The performances are great (especially Dawson and McEvoy) and I was right on board and pretty gripped for the bulk of it, but it did start to lose me a bit about mid-way when it just seemed to lose a bit of focus and get a tad messy. It definitely has a strong concept and some neat twists, but just didn't really hold together as well as it could have. There was also one particular shot which had been used in the trailer which turned out to be a bit spoilery which was annoying. Oh and there was that other shot or Rosario Dawson, which no doubt is what the film will be most remembered for. Crikey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 September, 2017, 10:33:19 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2017, 10:20:42 AM
Hush - Mick Garris had an interview with the director of this on a recent Post Mortem podcast (which is fantastic if you like horror!) and hearing him talk about his films got me interested enough to check them out. I thought this was really good, a nice twist on the home invasion slasher horror (the resident is deaf and mute, and that idea of someone creeping around your house when you can't hear them is pretty chilling) with some excellent tense moments and shocks. Will definitely be watching more of his films.

I thought Hush was pretty good too, well worth seeking out for genre fans.
Garris was the man behind the great but uneven 'Masters of Horror' TV series, featuring the most disturbing hour of TV ever broadcast- Imprint.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2017, 10:57:21 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 04 September, 2017, 10:33:19 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 September, 2017, 10:20:42 AM
Hush - Mick Garris had an interview with the director of this on a recent Post Mortem podcast (which is fantastic if you like horror!) and hearing him talk about his films got me interested enough to check them out. I thought this was really good, a nice twist on the home invasion slasher horror (the resident is deaf and mute, and that idea of someone creeping around your house when you can't hear them is pretty chilling) with some excellent tense moments and shocks. Will definitely be watching more of his films.

I thought Hush was pretty good too, well worth seeking out for genre fans.
Garris was the man behind the great but uneven 'Masters of Horror' TV series, featuring the most disturbing hour of TV ever broadcast- Imprint.

Yeah I'm really fond of Masters of Horror, there was a lot of genuinely great stuff came out of it (John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns was probably by my favourite, and Imprint was really intense) and even when the quality dipped it was always at least interesting and different to anything else that was on. Really enjoyed working through the boxsets and never being quite sure what you'd be seeing from episode to episode (and the extras were great)!

Garris is a great interviewer too and the calibre of guests he can get on is fantastic, really loving that podcast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2017, 12:42:15 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard - a nice bit of action comedy fluff for a Sunday evening.  Some of the rather OTT violence didn't sit well with the comedy at times, but there were definitely laugh out loud moments.  Ryan Reynolds was totally unlikeable, and Samuel L J stole the show as usual.

I won't be watching it more than once though, unless it comes on the telly and I'm too hungover to lift my head and look for the remote.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 September, 2017, 01:59:12 PM
Z for Zachariah. Excellent cast and performances, especially the ludicrously young-seeming Robbie and some really nuanced emoting from Ejiofor, but badly let down by a needlessly contrived plot: the unlikeliness of the basic setup is the only contrivance required, when it starts piling coincidence and convenience on top the film takes on the feeling of a Lost-like/Hunger Games-ish otherworldly morality play, even though it isn't. If it had just followed its characters and how they dealt with their situation, with the examination of faith and morality coming from that rather than imposed by fiat, it could have been a classic adaptation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2017, 04:09:41 PM
But who is to say that if O'Brien had survived to revise his novel before publication, he wouldn't have added Captain Kirk to it?

Adding a third character to a binary relationship that examines cynicism vs innocence is tone deaf enough, but this is also pretty much the exact kind of move for which people mock fanfiction: introducing a handsome new character with no discernible flaws that gets to do grown-up hugs with the female character.  This is the literal definition of cringe, and it surprises me not one jot to see modern journalists falling over themselves to call it a radical addition to the original text.
I suspect that like Starship Troopers before it, the ZfZ movie was half in the bag before someone pointed out similarities to an existing novel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 September, 2017, 04:14:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2017, 12:42:15 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard - a nice bit of action comedy fluff for a Sunday evening.  Some of the rather OTT violence didn't sit well with the comedy at times, but there were definitely laugh out loud moments.  Ryan Reynolds was totally unlikeable, and Samuel L J stole the show as usual.

I won't be watching it more than once though, unless it comes on the telly and I'm too hungover to lift my head and look for the remote.

So a distinct possibility then. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 September, 2017, 05:14:28 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2017, 04:09:41 PM
But who is to say that if O'Brien had survived to revise his novel before publication, he wouldn't have added Captain Kirk to it?

I think the film could have survived adding a surprise extra bloke as a way of getting more visually explicit tension in there, and as always Chris Pine plays second-banana well: it was more the convoluted and improbable situations which arose: e.g. [spoiler]oh no, the ONLY source of suitable hydro-project wood in the valley is Daddy's church!  I almost starved last winter but the only shop is still full of million-calorie soft drinks and snacks, except the ones I like! While recovering (somehow) from radiation sickness in a cave the easiest way for me to get food was to sneak down to your farm and steal eggs - as opposed to the aforementioned shop! The starving teenager I killed looked exactlly like your brother! Every time we go out on our own together an opportunity for accidental homicide arises![/spoiler]

It's a pity, because the cast were great, and really could have handled a more sensible version. Ah well, we'll always have the Secret of NIMH.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 September, 2017, 05:58:30 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2017, 12:42:15 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard - a nice bit of action comedy fluff for a Sunday evening.  Some of the rather OTT violence didn't sit well with the comedy at times, but there were definitely laugh out loud moments.  Ryan Reynolds was totally unlikeable, and Samuel L J stole the show as usual.

I won't be watching it more than once though, unless it comes on the telly and I'm too hungover to lift my head and look for the remote.

Even if I was dead I would find a way to turn over the channel (or destroy the TV).
The worst film I have seen in decades.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 September, 2017, 06:04:16 PM
Salute of the Jugger. Rutger Hauer has made some piss-poor films in his time. This is not one of them.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 September, 2017, 10:11:41 PM
AMERICAN ASSASSIN.

Actually, I only saw the trailer the other night with LOGAN LUCKY. But I might as well have seen the film because the trailer appeared to give away the whole plot and all of the big action beats. Almost a summary of the film narrative and in same order.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2017, 10:43:37 PM
That's to avoid it being spoilered for you on social media.

Go North - post-apocalyptic Bildungsroman starring one of the junior Schwarzeneggers, in which kids living in the aftermath of an unspecified catastrophe which kills all the adults set out to leave their oppressive commune and make for greener pastures.  For some reason their journey takes them along a route comprised entirely of abandoned buildings and country backroads which have in no way suffered the ravages of time or neglect, but maybe I just noticed that because I've seen so many Last Of Us and Fallout fan movies at this point - though to be perfectly honest, some of those were a lot more convincing than this was, with the Last Of Us fan-movies in particular plowing this storytelling furrow good and proper.

Flesh and Blood is undeniably a Paul Verhovan flick, but his visual style and the sweeping score make it feel like it comes from an earlier era than 1984.  It comes across as a successor to the Hammer style of garish period melodrama, complete with burning castle finale, big-tittied wenches wailing about the plague, and a king who's an utter bastard.  Rutgar Hauer is a highlight as the antagonist scumbag mercenary who only wants to better his position in life so that he can become a father and respectable landholder, but is held back by the social pressure of his peers to conform to the accepted norms of their status and also by the rapes and murders he does.
Good crack, but I would probably have enjoyed it more if I was drunker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 September, 2017, 08:00:48 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 September, 2017, 10:11:41 PM
AMERICAN ASSASSIN.

Actually, I only saw the trailer the other night with LOGAN LUCKY. But I might as well have seen the film because the trailer appeared to give away the whole plot and all of the big action beats. Almost a summary of the film narrative and in same order.

Know how you feel. I've seen that trailer 6 times now.
'Snowman' trailer starring Fassbender is even longer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 05 September, 2017, 07:30:52 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 04 September, 2017, 06:04:16 PM
Salute of the Jugger. Rutger Hauer has made some piss-poor films in his time. This is not one of them.



Chort vozme!  Now that is going back a bit.  Early nineties wasn't it?  That era when a hell of a lot of cheese was being made that included some real gems.  Pretty much every sci-fi flick of the time was set in a post apocalyptic landscape (because it made the sets dirt cheap IIRC).  Trying to remember if it was him in that weird one set in a semi flooded London that got made a few years later.  Of course that could have been a really bad dream rather than a bizarre film that actually got made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 05 September, 2017, 08:12:32 PM
What Happened To Monday as it on Netflix, enjoy it as interesting and it very familiar story but well done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 06 September, 2017, 10:00:34 PM
Top Gun + Goodfellas + Lord of War = American Made. It's the sort of film that Tom Cruise can make in his sleep, so not particularly stretching his acting chops but I enjoyed it. Doug Liman brings the kind of directorial and editing flourishes, including splicing archive news footage and clips of older movies into the mix, that I quite like in a semi-fictionalised biopic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 September, 2017, 06:06:42 PM
Kong Skull Island I liked it.It kinda tries to go for Aliens and Apocalypse Now feels,but never quite gets there.But there are plenty of monster fights.So its a nice adventure/monster movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2017, 03:03:21 PM
"It" - Cinema
I was really looking forward to this having bought and read the book in 1986 (I still have the first edition on my shelf) and also enjoyed the 1990 TV mini series when it came out, of which I rewatched recently on blu ray and was happy the way it still stood up today, especially the children's section.

Unfortunately this new version is awful. They clearly missed the 'sh' off the title.
Full of unnecessary jump scares and loud noises on the soundtrack. 
The film is bloody awful and overlong by a good half an hour.
Terrible film. 2/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 September, 2017, 04:29:22 PM
Oh man that's such a shame. Loved the book (must re-read that and see if it holds up) and the telly show was pretty good (saw that again not that long ago and it holds up okay). Had been watching the trailers for this with interest as they seemed pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2017, 05:07:14 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 September, 2017, 04:29:22 PM
Oh man that's such a shame. Loved the book (must re-read that and see if it holds up) and the telly show was pretty good (saw that again not that long ago and it holds up okay). Had been watching the trailers for this with interest as they seemed pretty good.

Hey, it's just my opinion, and I probably did not do myself any favours by watching the TV mini series so recently. The cast are pretty decent but they are saddled with a piss poor script and a director with an eye to directing TV commercials in the future.
But don't let me put you off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 08 September, 2017, 05:32:31 PM
(https://i.redd.it/1xit1x9pzdty.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 08 September, 2017, 05:38:52 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2017, 05:07:14 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 September, 2017, 04:29:22 PM
Oh man that's such a shame. Loved the book (must re-read that and see if it holds up) and the telly show was pretty good (saw that again not that long ago and it holds up okay). Had been watching the trailers for this with interest as they seemed pretty good.

Hey, it's just my opinion, and I probably did not do myself any favours by watching the TV mini series so recently. The cast are pretty decent but they are saddled with a piss poor script and a director with an eye to directing TV commercials in the future.
But don't let me put you off.

I never liked the TV series either so it's got a hard task impressing me.

Still intrigued to see it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 September, 2017, 05:48:51 PM
TV soundtracks on 90s American drama shows are almost always awful. IT is no exception. The shitty music and sound effects completely ruin the TV version for me.
The film has been getting pretty good reviews so I'll certainly be willing to give it a go. I'm expecting Stranger Things with jumps and gore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2017, 07:38:23 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 08 September, 2017, 05:32:31 PM
(https://i.redd.it/1xit1x9pzdty.gif)

Lol, pretty much my reaction today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2017, 07:38:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 September, 2017, 05:48:51 PM
TV soundtracks on 90s American drama shows are almost always awful. IT is no exception. The shitty music and sound effects completely ruin the TV version for me.
The film has been getting pretty good reviews so I'll certainly be willing to give it a go. I'm expecting Stranger Things with jumps and gore.

Going to happy then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 September, 2017, 09:46:20 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 September, 2017, 07:30:52 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 04 September, 2017, 06:04:16 PM
Salute of the Jugger. Rutger Hauer has made some piss-poor films in his time. This is not one of them.



Chort vozme!  Now that is going back a bit.  Early nineties wasn't it?  That era when a hell of a lot of cheese was being made that included some real gems.  Pretty much every sci-fi flick of the time was set in a post apocalyptic landscape (because it made the sets dirt cheap IIRC).  Trying to remember if it was him in that weird one set in a semi flooded London that got made a few years later.  Of course that could have been a really bad dream rather than a bizarre film that actually got made.

Late eighties, I think, but a really good flick. I remember the flooded London one too, vaguely - wasn't there a monster in it with metal teeth and Ray Bans or were we telepathically linked to the same fever dream?

Anyway, I reckon Salute of the Jugger is probably his third best film after Blade Runner andThe Hitcher.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 09 September, 2017, 10:12:18 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 04 September, 2017, 04:14:45 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 September, 2017, 12:42:15 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard - a nice bit of action comedy fluff for a Sunday evening.  Some of the rather OTT violence didn't sit well with the comedy at times, but there were definitely laugh out loud moments.  Ryan Reynolds was totally unlikeable, and Samuel L J stole the show as usual.

I won't be watching it more than once though, unless it comes on the telly and I'm too hungover to lift my head and look for the remote.

So a distinct possibility then. ;)

Nah. If I can stay up til 5am outdrinking Bisley and Fabry, and still be well enough the next day for a sightseeing tour of London, then it's unlikely I'll ever see this film again.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 September, 2017, 10:54:14 AM
Eraserhead, in 4K, on the big screen. Many heads where scratched, many laughs where had. A brilliant classic movie by one of the great geniuses of our time.

It was preceded by Lynch's 1970 short, The Grandmother, which i'd never seen before and it is frankly one of the freakiest experiences of my life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 09 September, 2017, 03:55:01 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 September, 2017, 09:46:20 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 September, 2017, 07:30:52 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 04 September, 2017, 06:04:16 PM
Salute of the Jugger. Rutger Hauer has made some piss-poor films in his time. This is not one of them.



Chort vozme!  Now that is going back a bit.  Early nineties wasn't it?  That era when a hell of a lot of cheese was being made that included some real gems.  Pretty much every sci-fi flick of the time was set in a post apocalyptic landscape (because it made the sets dirt cheap IIRC).  Trying to remember if it was him in that weird one set in a semi flooded London that got made a few years later.  Of course that could have been a really bad dream rather than a bizarre film that actually got made.

Late eighties, I think, but a really good flick. I remember the flooded London one too, vaguely - wasn't there a monster in it with metal teeth and Ray Bans or were we telepathically linked to the same fever dream?

Anyway, I reckon Salute of the Jugger is probably his third best film after Blade Runner andThe Hitcher.

May well be eighties rather than nineties.  Remember watching the video (sheesh!) when I was stationed at Wildenrath so I guess the original release date would have been earlier.  Couple of others he did that were daft but fun.  A quick filmography search makes for fun reading:  Hitcher, Wedlock, Blind Fury, the Buffy movie ...  At least he didn't do a Nick Cage!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 September, 2017, 09:40:24 PM
And... Hobo With a Shotgun.

*shudder*

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 September, 2017, 11:02:39 AM
Wonder Woman. Generic and by the numbers. A very tame film all in all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 11:47:42 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 10 September, 2017, 11:02:39 AM
Wonder Woman. Generic and by the numbers. A very tame film all in all.

Yep!
The praise heaped upon this film utterly baffles me!
It's like some collective mass delusion, unless people are frightened to call it out for just how mediocre it is, in fear of being accused of sexism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 September, 2017, 12:28:05 PM
Eye of the beholder and all that.  Female geeks have only had tv's Supergirl as their aspirational superhero figure until now - that's how desperate they are for a superhero of their own after a decade of the genre's cultural prominence, so why not let them have this one?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 10 September, 2017, 12:44:28 PM
Then again when you consider the current level of mediocrity in cinema it's not completely surprising.  I'm struggling to remember a film that really made me want to go rushing out to the cinema to see it.  When the bar is as low as it is at the moment it doesn't take much to get people raving.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 01:00:02 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 10 September, 2017, 12:44:28 PM
Then again when you consider the current level of mediocrity in cinema it's not completely surprising.  I'm struggling to remember a film that really made me want to go rushing out to the cinema to see it.  When the bar is as low as it is at the moment it doesn't take much to get people raving.

Tired old tropes and formulas are arguably more prevalent than ever in mainstream "blockbuster" movies.

Still, there's good stuff out there if you hunt for it.

It Comes At Night, Get Out and Hell Or High Water are examples of recent films that prove there are filmakers still willing to take risks and deliver quality cinema.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 September, 2017, 02:20:31 PM
Watched Wonder Woman myself last night - pretty average, but not actively bad. So a big step up on the last two Superman movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 September, 2017, 02:44:42 PM
For something to resonate with an audience does not mean it's either brilliant or bad, nor does it always matter what anyone thinks for it to make money. The critic consensus has rated Wonder Woman around a 7-7.5 which I think is about right for an average film that hasn't totally shit-the-bed, so I don't think it's overhyped in terms of reviews.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 02:57:04 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 September, 2017, 02:44:42 PM
For something to resonate with an audience does not mean it's either brilliant or bad, nor does it always matter what anyone thinks for it to make money. The critic consensus has rated Wonder Woman around a 7-7.5 which I think is about right for an average film that hasn't totally shit-the-bed, so I don't think it's overhyped in terms of reviews.

I don't know, I've read critics that claims the film's a watershed and borderline epoch defining, which it clearly isn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 September, 2017, 03:10:04 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 02:57:04 PM
I don't know, I've read critics that claims the film's a watershed and borderline epoch defining, which it clearly isn't.

That's not the general consensus, though. Few are indicating WW is a modern masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 10 September, 2017, 03:10:23 PM
The Hero,basically Sam Elliott plays himself.Maybe a bit slow,but its an interesting film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2017, 03:48:00 PM
It. Overall really enjoyed it and it creeped me out a fair bit. I vaguely remember the TV version, but I vividly remember reading the book as a kid (I probably shouldn't have, but being the same age as the characters really stuck a chord at the time) and this felt like a good adaptation of that.

I do get the jump scare criticism though, it's something that's doing my head in with horror these days. I wish more directors had the guts to just put the scary thing on screen and let you be scared of it without jolting you with a loud noise and a jump cut. In those cases it's the sound and the cut that scares you before you even know what you're looking at. Way more effective for me is what I've always thought of as the 'quiet jump scare', where something might appear in frame or in the periphery and, without any smashy nonsense, your eye takes a moment to pick it out, them your brain takes a moment to process what you're looking at, and it's that brief moment where you feel the realization creeping up on you that is scarier than any traditional jump scare. 

Can't actually think of a good example to illustrate it off the top of my head but hopefully that makes sense and it's not just me!

Overall though yeah, good job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 September, 2017, 03:58:30 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 September, 2017, 03:10:04 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 02:57:04 PM
I don't know, I've read critics that claims the film's a watershed and borderline epoch defining, which it clearly isn't.

That's not the general consensus, though. Few are indicating WW is a modern masterpiece.

It's unquestionably the greatest female superhero film of the last few years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 10 September, 2017, 04:01:38 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 September, 2017, 03:58:30 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 September, 2017, 03:10:04 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 10 September, 2017, 02:57:04 PM
I don't know, I've read critics that claims the film's a watershed and borderline epoch defining, which it clearly isn't.

That's not the general consensus, though. Few are indicating WW is a modern masterpiece.

It's unquestionably the greatest female superhero film of the last few years.
Probably because its the only female superhero movie in the last few years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 September, 2017, 04:43:25 PM
Quote from: Smith on 10 September, 2017, 04:01:38 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 September, 2017, 03:58:30 PM
Female geeks have only had tv's Supergirl as their aspirational superhero figure until now ... It's unquestionably the greatest female superhero film of the last few years.

Probably because its the only female superhero movie in the last few years.

Bet Pro Bear wishes he'd said that.

It seems unreasonable to expect it to be a great movie when most superhero movies are The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Reminds me of Chris Rock's observations on his neighbourhood:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kxp9CEJeAg


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 September, 2017, 04:54:36 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2017, 03:48:00 PM
... something might appear in frame or in the periphery and, without any smashy nonsense, your eye takes a moment to pick it out, them your brain takes a moment to process what you're looking at, and it's that brief moment where you feel the realization creeping up on you that is scarier than any traditional jump scare. 

Can't actually think of a good example to illustrate it off the top of my head

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp0OWdkt2LA


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 10 September, 2017, 05:48:12 PM
Legend of Tarzan.Its a good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 September, 2017, 06:44:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2017, 03:48:00 PM
Way more effective for me is what I've always thought of as the 'quiet jump scare', where something might appear in frame or in the periphery and, without any smashy nonsense, your eye takes a moment to pick it out, them your brain takes a moment to process what you're looking at, and it's that brief moment where you feel the realization creeping up on you that is scarier than any traditional jump scare. 

Can't actually think of a good example to illustrate it off the top of my head but hopefully that makes sense and it's not just me!


Some of the stuff in BONE TOMAHAWK? And there's a great bit in THE DESCENT where you see one of the troglodytes in the background of a shot... not entirely sure what you've seen but it scares the bejeezus out of you. (Well, me, anyway).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 10 September, 2017, 08:56:32 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 for once no diminishing returns that sequels sometime are, but another great fun movie -some rude-ish bits but nothing too untoward.  And has some amusing lines "You shouldn't have killed my Mom and squished my Walkman." for one. And Rocket rules!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 11 September, 2017, 07:55:56 AM

I do get the jump scare criticism though, it's something that's doing my head in with horror these days. I wish more directors had the guts to just put the scary thing on screen and let you be scared of it without jolting you with a loud noise and a jump cut. In those cases it's the sound and the cut that scares you before you even know what you're looking at. Way more effective for me is what I've always thought of as the 'quiet jump scare', where something might appear in frame or in the periphery and, without any smashy nonsense, your eye takes a moment to pick it out, them your brain takes a moment to process what you're looking at, and it's that brief moment where you feel the realization creeping up on you that is scarier than any traditional jump scare. 

Can't actually think of a good example to illustrate it off the top of my head but hopefully that makes sense and it's not just me!


[/quote]

Annabelle: Creation. Just saw this in a completely empty 200 seat cinema and there are several examples of the 'quiet' scare you are talking about in this movie, as well as plenty of the jump scares.
6/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2017, 09:52:38 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 10 September, 2017, 08:56:32 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 for once no diminishing returns that sequels sometime are, but another great fun movie -some rude-ish bits but nothing too untoward.  And has some amusing lines "You shouldn't have killed my Mom and squished my Walkman." for one. And Rocket rules!
Yup, re-watched Guardians 2 on blu last night. The "700 Jumps?!" scene is still an absolute laugh riot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 11 September, 2017, 10:53:40 AM
They could have improved Guardians 2 a lot of they'd just held back a little with all the characters laughing hysterically at their own jokes......all through the film. It was seriously over played.

Then, lose 10-15 minutes of the film, mostly from the final act. Also, dont kill your best character.

It would then have been a strong 7-8 out of 10, instead of the 6 that I think it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 September, 2017, 01:39:33 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 September, 2017, 06:44:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2017, 03:48:00 PM
Way more effective for me is what I've always thought of as the 'quiet jump scare', where something might appear in frame or in the periphery and, without any smashy nonsense, your eye takes a moment to pick it out, them your brain takes a moment to process what you're looking at, and it's that brief moment where you feel the realization creeping up on you that is scarier than any traditional jump scare. 

Can't actually think of a good example to illustrate it off the top of my head but hopefully that makes sense and it's not just me!


Some of the stuff in BONE TOMAHAWK? And there's a great bit in THE DESCENT where you see one of the troglodytes in the background of a shot... not entirely sure what you've seen but it scares the bejeezus out of you. (Well, me, anyway).

Yeah that's exactly the sort of thing I mean! The Audition scene is a good example too. Or movies about hauntings where there'll be a figure in the room, or something passing by in the background that takes a moment to register. Something about that just really scares me in a properly scary way, rather than just a 'startled by a loud noise' sort of way.

If directors had the confidence to let the viewer register the scare themselves more often instead of using the music and editing to tell them they should be scared then these modern horrors would be way more effective.

All a taste thing obviously, everyone is scared by different things to results are sure to vary wildly!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2017, 07:00:26 PM
Kingsman: the secret service on C4 last night. I read the first book of this, which was OK but didn't make me want to read more, and had no real desire to see it when it came out. Turns out it was way better than I expected. If you can swallow the silly Bond-esque plot, the performances and action scenes were really well done - Colin Firth [spoiler]going kill-crazy and massacring a church full of people[/spoiler] was pretty awesome. I may even shell out to see the sequel rather than waiting for that to reach TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 September, 2017, 07:54:10 PM
Silly Bond-esque plot is the whole point. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 September, 2017, 08:37:16 PM
Star Trek The Motion Picture.

I watch this every few years when I'm in the mood. In some ways it's my favourite Trek film. It gets a bad rap for being boring but I think that's just because it's a bit slow and ponderous. It's not the goodies vs baddies story lots of people were wanting when it was released.
I guess it does drag a bit towards the end of the second half and certain scenes go on a bit too long (the Enterprise reveal takes about 5 minutes. I quite like it personally).
The whole thing is still visually impressive though. The Enterprise looks great and the main cast are still looking pretty fit and strong.
I wish they'd explored this story further. I can't believe Vger hasn't been connected to the Borg in a more meaningful way - you could easily hang another movie or two on that. Missed opportunity from the Next Gen lot if you ask me.

Anyway, very enjoyable. I think the original series movies are probably my favourite of all Trek iterations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 11 September, 2017, 09:28:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2017, 09:52:38 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 10 September, 2017, 08:56:32 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 for once no diminishing returns that sequels sometime are, but another great fun movie -some rude-ish bits but nothing too untoward.  And has some amusing lines "You shouldn't have killed my Mom and squished my Walkman." for one. And Rocket rules!
Yup, re-watched Guardians 2 on blu last night. The "700 Jumps?!" scene is still an absolute laugh riot.

Totally! But the beginning had me hooked with Mr Blue Sky playing against a interdimensional cosmic horror battle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2017, 11:09:53 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 September, 2017, 08:37:16 PM
I can't believe Vger hasn't been connected to the Borg in a more meaningful way

Shatner wrote a whole series of novels about Kirk in the TNG timeline that covered this - apparently it was the Borg that turned it from a simple probe into that world-destroying creature in ST:TMP - I forget why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 September, 2017, 07:52:39 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2017, 07:00:26 PM
Kingsman: the secret service on C4 last night. I read the first book of this, which was OK but didn't make me want to read more, and had no real desire to see it when it came out. Turns out it was way better than I expected. If you can swallow the silly Bond-esque plot, the performances and action scenes were really well done - Colin Firth [spoiler]going kill-crazy and massacring a church full of people[/spoiler] was pretty awesome. I may even shell out to see the sequel rather than waiting for that to reach TV.

First time I saw this I hated it. Then when the trailer first started showing for the sequel (about 2 months ago) I re-watched it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'll be making a trip to the flicks to see the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 September, 2017, 09:59:40 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 September, 2017, 11:09:53 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 September, 2017, 08:37:16 PM
I can't believe Vger hasn't been connected to the Borg in a more meaningful way

Shatner wrote a whole series of novels about Kirk in the TNG timeline that covered this - apparently it was the Borg that turned it from a simple probe into that world-destroying creature in ST:TMP - I forget why.

Yeah I'd heard about the novels but I'd have liked to have seen something on film.
To my mind 'a world of living machines' doesn't sound much like Borg. They're cyborgs. I think the new life form that Vger creates when merging with the human Captain would make better sense as a Borg origin. Maybe making the original crew complicit in the Borgs' creation is a bit dark. Would've been cool to explore in First Contact though (anything would be better than the Borg queen).
It could've been good to see the machine world at the other end of the galaxy in Voyager.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 September, 2017, 02:44:39 PM
The Limehouse Golem.
Enjoyed this. Gruesome period drama with an excellent cast.
7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 13 September, 2017, 06:43:18 PM
I'm not a horror fan at the best of times so I'll be skipping 'It'.

I haven't been watching much stuff lately although I did go see 'The Hitman's Bodyguard' which I didn't enjoy. It's like they recycled Ryan R as Deadpool but made him good looking. Although there were a few LOL moments over all I think it might have been improved if they went full on dark comedy instead of criminal comedy caper. The movie has too much drama to be really funny and too funny to be taken serious.

The Dark Tower: I have not read the books so maybe that's a good thing. The movie is supposed to be a sequel and an adaption from what I gather and the confusion about the story they are trying to tell is evident. There was a good story to be told but it didn't come across on screen. I quite liked Idris Elba in it though and he had some great shooting scenes.

American Made: I love Tom Cruise so I don't think I can give an honest review of this. I really enjoyed it but it does feel like we've seen this movie before ..

The one thing I can wholeheartedly recommend is a documentary 'Winter on Fire' about the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine in 2014/2015. It's the best thing I've seen in quite some time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2017, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 13 September, 2017, 06:43:18 PM
There was a good story to be told but it didn't come across on screen. I quite liked Idris Elba in it though and he had some great shooting scenes.

Yeah, considering the backlash the film recieved* over his casting, I thought it was the strongest aspect of the whole thing. He's given virtually nothing to work with, and doesn't get a chance to really portray the character from the books, but his presence and delivery is spot-on.

*From racists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 September, 2017, 09:46:06 AM
Cosmos (Dir. Andrezj Zulawski, 2015) his final movie, before sadly passing away last year. Zulawski is a director of limited exposure in the UK, most well known for arguably his opus Possession which somehow found it's way onto the DPB Nasties list. Cosmos deals with many of the same themes as that masterpiece so much so it could almost be considered a spiritual sequel, and is visually ravishing, violent and at times a truly painful watch. Not recommended for the faint of heart but for those wanting something a little different pick up both movies, they're unforgettable if nothing else, life affirming at their best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 14 September, 2017, 10:57:26 AM
That's sad to hear, he is an amazing actor and definitely the best thing about this movie.

Matthew McConnaghey was a bizarre casting choice for The Man in Black, who I would know as Randall Flagg from The Stand, I gather they are the same person although he has a different name on that world.
He just looked like a super-tan Christopher Walken so why didn't they just get CW to play the role. He might have been much better in it.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2017, 09:36:12 AM
Yeah, considering the backlash the film recieved* over his casting, I thought it was the strongest aspect of the whole thing. He's given virtually nothing to work with, and doesn't get a chance to really portray the character from the books, but his presence and delivery is spot-on.

*From racists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 September, 2017, 12:23:58 PM
The Dark Tower was the last film I saw too.

I'm a big fan of the novels, and I'd read a lot of negative posts elsewhere on the film, so I watched the film suitably forewarned.

As an adaptation of the novels, it's pretty poor. I understand that this is a sequel of sorts* but I would have preferred it to be closer to the books. It also needed a slower pacing, I think. Jake's introduction to Mid-World was rushed. [spoiler]That whole stuff with he haunted house should have been much more scary.
[/spoiler]

That being said, I enjoyed it. As a sci-fi action oriented film dealing with a gunslinger from a parallel world, I thought it was okay. Idris Elba** was pretty good in it, as was the kid who played Jake, and Matthew McConaughey, although he seemed much closer to his hard-case RF persona from The Stand than the more subtle trickster Walter/Marten from the novels.

It needed to slow down and take a bit of a breather though. I hope, if there are future films, they do this.

*I won't explain how, without spoiling things for the novels, but if you have read the last novel to the end, you will get what I mean, and a certain comment by Walter in this film may have a whole new meaning for you.

** I disagree that that those who disliked Elba's casting of Roland was for racist reasons though. I'll admit, I wasn't keen myself, not because I'm racist, but because I wanted someone who fit the description of Roland in the novels. If they had cast a white woman as Odetta/Detta/Sussanah, I would have found that even more offensive. [spoiler]There is also a conflict between Roland and Detta in the second novel which related partly to their different races, although I suspect that plot will just be ditched in future films, in the unlikely event that happens.[/spoiler] Suze doesn't turn up in this film though, so I guess that's academic.

I will say though, Idris was pretty good in the role. I accept him now, and wouldn't be against his continuing in the role in future films/series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 September, 2017, 10:34:07 AM
Batman-Harley Quinn. Don't bother. It really is awful. They can't decide whether it's a parody or a adult themed ride. Dire pacing, two rubbish musical bits that warble on far too long (I'll never be able to think of Blondie's Hanging on the Telephone song ever again without this dire version in my head also) ,  and a plot micron thin.

An abysmal waste of this character, leering backside shots, fart jokes and an appearance by Swamp Thing that's more like something out of Monty Python only not funny.

There's much better animated DC films than this. All of them I suspect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 16 September, 2017, 11:01:17 AM
I managed to catch Atomic Blonde before it leaves the cinema.

It's gorgeous and cool, so stylish and yet a load of absolute nonsense. No one looked that cool in the 80s and the plot had more holes than a fishing net.

It was beautiful to look at but ultimately a very frustrating experience with the twist at the end being particularly annoying [spoiler]Oh yee ha, America saves the day once again[/spoiler]

However the fight scenes were particularly good as [spoiler]we get to see the combatants actually get knackered after a few minutes of struggle and end up looking like they actually have had the fight we've seen[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Spikes on 16 September, 2017, 04:22:07 PM
God's own Country, and Insyriated. Whilst on a long weekend away in that there London.

Both very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 16 September, 2017, 10:51:12 PM
It (2017)

Went with five other folk to see this. Their opinions all ranged from 'it was sort of ok...' to 'it was absolutely terrible.' Personally though, I thought it was great. The various kid actors were excellent - I thought the guy playing Eddie was a particular standout - and whilst the film didn't really have that much of a plot (it's basically 'kid threatened by something nightmarish, repeat for next kid, intersperse with Goonies sections'), that didn't bother me at all. Definitely too much reliance on jump scares but this was counterbalanced by some memorable set pieces ([spoiler]the headless figure in the library was my favourite[/spoiler]). I predict the film'll stand up well to a rewatch - it's certainly the most I've enjoyed a mainstream movie in ages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 17 September, 2017, 11:42:10 AM
Darren Aronofsky's latest, Mother.
Self indulgent, pretentious twaddle or a visual arresting, existential nightmare-you decide (maybe both).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 September, 2017, 01:54:53 PM
Heat.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It was alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 September, 2017, 05:25:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 September, 2017, 01:54:53 PM
Heat.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It was alright.

Always felt that way about that movie. I remember there was all the fuss when it came out about DeNiro and Pacino appearing on screen together for the first time. Alas it was all just so average. My overriding feeling when leaving the cinema the first time I saw it. There is no way Al Pacino could kick Henry Rollins' ass!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 17 September, 2017, 08:34:07 PM
4K cinema screening of Close Encounters.

Guess it was the final cut (none of the ship interior released a couple of years ago)

It was a bit jarring for a 9/10 year old to see on its original release, coming off the back of Star Wars and getting domestic breakdowns rather than wall-to-wall pew pew flying saucers.

Lovely to see on the big screen, although the Mr Tickle alien at the end looks ropey as hell, especially the leg joints. The mothership on a huge screen makes up for it.

Preceding by a short making of/introduction - interesting to see Spielberg making his own movies/badgering the cinematographer between takes.


And An American Werewolf in London on Blu Ray - still great with copious extras, and the making of the Piccadilly Circus scene is amazing.

Apparently some gore was cut from the homeless guys getting eaten, surprised that has never seen the light of day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 September, 2017, 09:56:54 PM
Hateful Eight - taken me a while to get around to this, stumbling across it in a charity shop this week put a end to that, which is a shame (my delay)  as I think its one that would have well served by seeing on the big screen. Loved the supposedly over long beginning, which provided a wonderful panoramic contrast to the tight claustrophic secomd 2/3s.

All the typical Tarintino things are there, but since I love a Tarintino film no great lose there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 September, 2017, 11:17:52 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 17 September, 2017, 01:54:53 PM
Heat.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It was alright.

My thoughts exactly. It's not at all bad, but it's not brilliant.  Never really understood all the palaver at the time, and especially now that it stars the guys from Meet the Parents, Oceans's Thirteen* and Batman Forever.


*I was struggling to think of a really bad movie Pacino has been in - this was as close as IMDB could get me**, which may tell you something.

** He apparently plays himself in Jack & Jill, but I don't think that counts.  I haven't seen it, and don't plan to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 September, 2017, 09:42:48 AM
30 Days of Night - Okay, looked very nice but was fairly predictable and  also seemed to seriously lack tension, which for something that could have been a vampire Assault on Precinct 13 is a real shame. Not bad, decent enough Sunday afternoon fare.

GLOW - Loved season 1 of Netflix's Glow series so watched the doc about the actual how it's based on. Very entertaining, and fun to see how much certain characters and events in the Netflix show have been clearly inspired by reality.

Spectre - An alright Bond movie, I'd heard people coming away from it saying it was the best one in ages so expected a bit more I guess. I know a lot of people didn't like Skyfall but I have to say I enjoyed that a lot more, this was still entertaining enough though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 September, 2017, 12:51:19 PM
SPECTRE has a great opening (though I don't like some of the bits where mere chance saves Bond from being killed/injured) and an OK song but for me it was downhill all the way after that. Craig has a 50/50 hit rate for me with his Bonds. Or rather: SPECTRE? More like SHITRE.  QUANTUM OF SOLACE? More like BUCKET OF SHIT.

All of which served to remind me I never actually mentioned LOGAN LUCKY when I was ranting about the American Assassin trailer.  It's a fun caper movie in an unusual locale (no glossy Casinos or Hi-Tech banks or Art Galleries)  with a great cast who have varying degrees of success at doing lightly comedic turns. Nearly every scene or line (even seemingly inconsequential ones) has a later payoff.  There's no real twist as such but it's nice to see some of the characters are a bit smarter than shown on screen. Worth a punt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 September, 2017, 01:48:46 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 September, 2017, 12:51:19 PM
Craig has a 50/50 hit rate for me with his Bonds.

Yeah, as I looked at the list of his Bond films there the old Star Trek 'even ones are good' rule came to mind. Casino Royale and Skyfall have hit the spot with me, but Quantum was bad and Spectre is just a bit bland really. That helicopter opening is great though.

Also, the way the music is designed for that whole first sequence is really impressive. There's a big mix of in-world music and score, with music from the parade overlapping with music inside the hotel etc. and all of it is the same tempo and weaves in and out and overlaps really seamlessly. I know the 'showy' element of that sequence is the uninterrupted shot, but the way the music is handled is every bit as intricate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 02:49:48 PM
Ooof, I thought Skyfall was appalling, especially the ludicrous final act (from the moment James and M go on a road trip it feels like ghastly Bond fan fiction, then Home Alone 6, and it only gets worse as it goes on.  By the end I was hoping Jaws would show up dressed as a vicar and at least give us a chuckle).  Casino and Quantum, on the other hand, I really liked.  Now you have me intrigued enough to bother to track down Spectre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 September, 2017, 05:00:10 PM
It (2017).

A real mixed bag and a bit of a letdown. Some good stuff, but a lot of stuff that doesn't really work.

I (mostly*) liked the young cast and their interactions, but I found those scenes far too brief, and they felt rushed through in order to get to the next horror set piece. I honestly feel like the 1990 TV movie, for all its faults, does a better job of establishing the main cast and giving them all something to do. It's probably heresy to fans of the book, but I really think the 2017 movie would have been a lot better if they had cut Stan and Mike completely, or amalgamated their character traits into some of the other cast members. As it is, there are simply too many characters in the core group, so characters like Ben - who should be really central going into part two, kind of get lost in the shuffle. I honestly forgot he was there during the third act.

And as for those horror set pieces, I thought they were all very unscary and quite silly, like they were taking design cues from a Disneyland haunted house theme park ride, and almost all of them went way over the top for me. Again, I think in some respects, the 1990 version - as cheesy and dated as it is, is more effective and creepy. The 'blood sink' scene is a good example - genuinely unsettling in the TV movie, over the top and silly in the 2017 movie.

I thought the art direction often bordered on cartoonish - the Neibolt St house was so stylised it almost felt like something from a Tim Burton movie, and I didn't care for the design of Pennywise either. You don't need to add anything to a clown to make it look scary - they're already terrifying as is.

Overall, my feeling on the horror aspects were 'less is more'. Most of the horror scenes and jump scare moments were so telegraphed they lacked any kind of impact, and would have been much more creepy if they had been played more subtle, and focused more on building tension.

*I thought the kid playing Bill was miscast. IIRC from the novel he's supposed to be charismatic, a natural leader. Imo they needed a 'River Phoenix in Stand By Me' type, but they cast a 'Wil Wheaton in Stand By Me' type.

It was watchable enough, but could have been so much more.

2.5/5.

Sicario.

Finally got round to seeing this. Yep, every bit as good as I'd been led to believe. A proper grown up action thriller. Gorgeously shot - didn't realise it was Roger Deakins doing the cinematography until the credits rolled. Having loved both this and Hell or High Water, I'll be seeking out everything else Taylor Sheridan has written. I find his style a little reminiscent of John Wagner at his best - sparse, efficient action storytelling with great character work and a little more substance than the genre usually allows.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:08:42 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 02:49:48 PM
Ooof, I thought Skyfall was appalling, especially the ludicrous final act (from the moment James and M go on a road trip it feels like ghastly Bond fan fiction, then Home Alone 6, and it only gets worse as it goes on.  By the end I was hoping Jaws would show up dressed as a vicar and at least give us a chuckle).  Casino and Quantum, on the other hand, I really liked.  Now you have me intrigued enough to bother to track down Spectre.

Can wholeheartedly agree with you there, baffled by the love Sky fall gets.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:09:33 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!

Tsk, how can you not like scent of a woman?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 September, 2017, 07:19:30 PM
Skyfall is silly but is also pretty fun. Imagine how much more fan-wanky it could have been if they'd convinced Sean Connery to come out of retirement for the Albert Finney part!

Bond is doomed to forever walk a line between serious espionage drama and silly gadgets & girls nonsense. Personally I think it's most entertaining when it goes for one extreme or the other. Give me a Moonraker/View to a Kill or a From Russia With Love/Casino Royale and I'm happy.

Spectre was okay (the opening scene was the best bit) but they should have shown more commitment to the ostentatious secret-lair thing - there should've been more monorail action!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 09:21:58 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

Funny like a funny smell?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 19 September, 2017, 07:15:48 AM
mother!
This film is going to be massively diversive but I loved it.
I came out of the cinema with my senses battered thinking it was about one thing but after a couple of hours pondering decided it was about something completely different.
I haven't felt this way about a movie since Mulholland Drive.
9/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 10:16:48 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:09:33 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!

Tsk, how can you not like scent of a woman?

It's absolute mawkish drivel and Pacino hams it unbearably!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 19 September, 2017, 10:39:54 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 10:16:48 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:09:33 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!

Tsk, how can you not like scent of a woman?

It's absolute mawkish drivel and Pacino hams it unbearably!

Nah, it's great. Nothing wrong with a bit of sentiment and Pacino is fantastic in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 September, 2017, 11:04:49 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 09:21:58 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

Funny like a funny smell?

Funny in that it was amusing to see Pacino take the piss out of terrible celebrity adverts.  Then I discovered that Dunkin Donuts still exist (there hasn't been a franchise in Ireland since the '90s), so it is basically an actual terrible celebrity advert.  Ah well.   

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 11:46:21 AM
Quote from: SIP on 19 September, 2017, 10:39:54 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 10:16:48 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:09:33 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!

Tsk, how can you not like scent of a woman?

It's absolute mawkish drivel and Pacino hams it unbearably!

Nah, it's great. Nothing wrong with a bit of sentiment.

There is when it's so poorly executed, but each to their own.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 September, 2017, 12:53:14 PM
Watched Laputa Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke over last couple of days. First time for Laputa (loved it) but about 4th or 5th for Mononoke (loved it still) - been introducing the wife to Ghibli bit by bit. Beautiful movies with so much damn heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 19 September, 2017, 01:09:05 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 11:46:21 AM
Quote from: SIP on 19 September, 2017, 10:39:54 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 19 September, 2017, 10:16:48 AM
Quote from: SIP on 18 September, 2017, 07:09:33 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2017, 04:58:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 September, 2017, 10:04:09 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 02:40:08 AM
Yes, Al Pacino was in Jack and Jill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6eUFbOfIU)

So very confused now, 'cos that was pretty funny.

And don't forget Scent Of A Woman!
Scent Of A Turd, more like!
How Pacino bagged an Oscar for this and not Carlito's Way is just one of life's unfathomable mysteries!

Tsk, how can you not like scent of a woman?

It's absolute mawkish drivel and Pacino hams it unbearably!

Nah, it's great. Nothing wrong with a bit of sentiment.

There is when it's so poorly executed, but each to their own.  ;)

To be fair, it's sort of widely regarded as being a good film, so don't feel the need to fight my corner too hard here.

But as you say, each to their own.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 September, 2017, 04:49:19 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 September, 2017, 09:56:54 PM
Hateful Eight - taken me a while to get around to this, stumbling across it in a charity shop this week put a end to that, which is a shame (my delay)  as I think its one that would have well served by seeing on the big screen. Loved the supposedly over long beginning, which provided a wonderful panoramic contrast to the tight claustrophic secomd 2/3s.

All the typical Tarintino things are there, but since I love a Tarintino film no great lose there!

I just bought that one for a 2 for a tenner deal at Asda! It was the original film of IT that caught my eye, leading me to search around for another to reap the £10 deal*. I've never seen The Hateful Eight, so took a chance on this, but seeing on the read-up it was a Tarantino film (and largely liking his films) I thought, why not?

Anyway, glad you like it. Seems likely I will too.

*The irony isn't lost on me that these deals actually cause me to spend more than I would usually have done. It's all very psychological, isn't it? £8.00 for one film (not bad deal really) or just £2.00 more to get another film as well that I probably wouldn't buy otherwise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 September, 2017, 12:01:48 AM
Five - post-apocalyptic drama by Lights Out! creator Arch Oboler.  Up the thread somewhere, I suggested that the makers of the latest Z For Zachariah adaptation were making another film entirely, and I suspect it was this one.  Light on biblical allegory where Z was leaden, Five basically covers the same ground but in a more interesting way by recasting the serpent in the Garden Of Eden as a French person who is racist and lazy.  Okay, there's a bit more to it than that and the year it was made (1951) precludes it drawing on traditional B-reel features and pulp roots for inspiration (it's credited as the first post-apocalyptic American movie), so it looks to other sources, the most obvious being the debt the fatalistic ending owes to The Grapes Of Wrath.
"Enjoyable" is possibly not the word I am looking for here, but it is a curiosity for fans of the PA genre, devoid as it is of seemingly any fantastic elements beyond the premise itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:14:25 PM
IT was seriously underwhelming and, maybe more surprising, pretty dull.  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 September, 2017, 06:23:24 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:14:25 PM
IT was seriously underwhelming and, maybe more surprising, pretty dull.  :-\
That is exactly how I saw it.
I was so bored throughout.
Jump scares and nothing else.
I appreciate that anyone who is 15, or has that mental age, might enjoy it but for me It was a major disappointment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:29:31 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 September, 2017, 06:23:24 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:14:25 PM
IT was seriously underwhelming and, maybe more surprising, pretty dull.  :-\
That is exactly how I saw it.
I was so bored throughout.
Jump scares and nothing else.
I appreciate that anyone who is 15, or has that mental age, might enjoy it but for me It was a major disappointment.

I entirely agree with your assessment!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 September, 2017, 06:35:13 PM
For me it's definitely one I'd only watch if it came on TV and I had nothing more pressing to do ... and yet it seems to be absolutely smashing the box office (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/19/uk-box-office-it-mother-judi-dench-emoji-movie) - apparently it's "well on the way to becoming the biggest horror movie of all time at the UK box office"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 23 September, 2017, 07:40:18 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:29:31 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 September, 2017, 06:23:24 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 September, 2017, 06:14:25 PM
IT was seriously underwhelming and, maybe more surprising, pretty dull.  :-\
That is exactly how I saw it.
I was so bored throughout.
Jump scares and nothing else.
I appreciate that anyone who is 15, or has that mental age, might enjoy it but for me It was a major disappointment.

I entirely agree with your assessment!  :thumbsup:
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 September, 2017, 03:33:34 PM
Hmm. It's* curious, that It is largely disliked by viewers here, considering how well it's doing. That being said, I've seen negative views elsewhere too, although overall it seems to have done well.

I'm still looking forward to watchig it next week.

I picked up the earlier 90s adaptation recently, and I've been watching that. I know it has it's detractors, (it is a bit cheesy in places) but I think it holds up pretty well. I remember finding the scene with Beverley in the old lady's flat genuinely creepy. My older hardened self is less affected, but it's still a great scene. And there's the infamous blood sink splatter earlier...

Bill's wife's accent is driving me a bit nuts though. Is that supposed to be English? What with my recent viewing of American Horror Story: Roanoke, I seem to be plagued with dodgy English accents lately.

*No cheap rubbish pun intended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 September, 2017, 03:44:06 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 24 September, 2017, 03:33:34 PM
Hmm. It's* curious, that It is largely disliked by viewers here, considering how well it's doing. That being said, I've seen negative views elsewhere too, although overall it seems to have done well.

Similar to the TV series back in the day, the film's a very mainstream version of the story made to appeal to the broadest of audiences. Chase Palmer & Cary Fukunaga's version of the screenplay was much closer to the tone of the book and presumably would've had some of the True Detective vibe if it had made it to the screen.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 04:23:43 PM
Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 04:24:48 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 24 September, 2017, 03:33:34 PM
Hmm. It's* curious, that It is largely disliked by viewers here, considering how well it's doing. That being said, I've seen negative views elsewhere too, although overall it seems to have done well.

I'm still looking forward to watchig it next week.

I picked up the earlier 90s adaptation recently, and I've been watching that. I know it has it's detractors, (it is a bit cheesy in places) but I think it holds up pretty well. I remember finding the scene with Beverley in the old lady's flat genuinely creepy. My older hardened self is less affected, but it's still a great scene. And there's the infamous blood sink splatter earlier...

Bill's wife's accent is driving me a bit nuts though. Is that supposed to be English? What with my recent viewing of American Horror Story: Roanoke, I seem to be plagued with dodgy English accents lately.

*No cheap rubbish pun intended.

I re-watched the 90's It the other day on blu ray. The first half, the children's half still stands up very well whilst the second half drags and is marred with some over the top performances and a pretty bad monster imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 24 September, 2017, 05:15:48 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 04:23:43 PM
Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.

Got to say, I found the first film pretty puerile (and not even in a knowing way) nonsense, so not in a rush to see the reportedly even worse sequel.
Thanks for warning though.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 September, 2017, 05:18:46 PM
Logan. A hot, dusty, and gritty film. Realism in super hero stories taken to it's logical conclusion. I'll watch it again, but not any time soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 05:46:12 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 24 September, 2017, 05:15:48 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 04:23:43 PM
Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.

Got to say, I found the first film pretty puerile (and not even in a knowing way) nonsense, so not in a rush to see the reportedly even worse sequel.
Thanks for warning though.  :)

You are welcome.
To be fair I hated the first one on first viewing and warmed to it more upon another viewing.
This...I'm not so sure but time will tell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2017, 06:25:23 PM
The Force Awakens.  Almost two years and many viewings later, the gift of a Blu Ray Collectors' edition prompted another family viewing. I'm not going to change anyone's mind here, so please spare me the usual litany of criticism, but I've really come round to this film: I don't know whether it was the lovely crisp copy, but aside from being drawn into a story which now almost makes sense to me, I was impressed by a host of terrific little details and lighting schemes. Pleased to see a new SW film that has aged well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 09:02:34 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 September, 2017, 06:25:23 PM
The Force Awakens.  Almost two years and many viewings later, the gift of a Blu Ray Collectors' edition prompted another family viewing. I'm not going to change anyone's mind here, so please spare me the usual litany of criticism, but I've really come round to this film: I don't know whether it was the lovely crisp copy, but aside from being drawn into a story which now almost makes sense to me, I was impressed by a host of terrific little details and lighting schemes. Pleased to see a new SW film that has aged well.

Preaching to the choir here.
Always enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2017, 09:32:01 PM
One thing that really struck me this time round was just how good the dogfight at Starkiller base is, something I'd always dismissed as just more of the same, but there's actually a lot of cool little sequences in there.  The parallel sequence with Han and Ren has some amazing lighting design that I'd missed - the shaft of unnatural blue twilight that illuminates Han is coming from the door that Rey and Finn enter through, and are silhouetted by; Ren stands just outside the light in the red glow of the regulator chamber, and when the sun finally goes out Han fades almost to black just before [spoiler]Ren kills him[/spoiler].  It's heavy handed to be sure, but very effective, especially as the symbolism plays out against the real-world implications of the artificial darkness.

I'm sure I've noted this before, in relation to Rogue One if not to TFA, but I find myself tearing up every time Carrie Fisher is on screen.  That's never happened to me with any deceased actor before.  Helps that she gives a fantastic performance here, and that her screen chemistry with Ford remains simply electric. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 25 September, 2017, 12:07:04 PM
Went and saw mother! last night. Can't say I was particularly impressed. Like last year's Nocturnal Animals, mother! is unquestionably well-made and, to be sure, there's the germ of an interesting exploration of the (male) creative urge somewhere at its centre, but I felt the narrative was largely formulaic, the allegory rather obvious, and rather like Nocturnal Animals, not without a trace of misogyny (although unlike NA I think it's unintentional or, perhaps, unavoidable given the allegory Aronofsky depicts). [spoiler]Narratively the film is 2 parts Polanski (Repulsion/Rosemary's Baby), 1 part Kubrick (The Shining) and 1 part Greenaway (The Baby of Mâcon) filtered through director/writer Aronofsky's own fever dream. And 'fever dream' is the only way to make a lick of sense of the film, which scotches any sense of peril for Jennifer Lawrence's central character.[/spoiler] I wouldn't say it's not worth seeing - and I can see Lawrence getting an Oscar nod for it - but it's perhaps a film you wouldn't want to expend anything other than your time on. In which case, wait for Film4 to screen it in a couple of years time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 September, 2017, 05:04:57 PM
The Hills Have Eyes - In a rare case of this (I usually avoid remakes) I'd seen the remake of this and not the original, and listening to a Wes Craven interview convinced me I should finally check it out. It's pretty intense, and while the 'civilized folks encounter savages and have to unleash their inner savage to survive' thing is such a common trope in horror nowadays I guess this must have been one of the earlier examples of it. Pretty unpleasant, I hear the sequel was a bit of a shambles so unsure if I'll try that one (although a lot of people mention the fact it features a dog having a flashback so that might be worth 2hrs of my time after all).

El Mariachi - Similarly, despite Desperado being a favourite, I'd somehow never seen this. They were both showing as a double-bill so went along. Really enjoyable, loads of energy, even if it is very rough and awkward in places now. I'd always thought Desperado was a remake of EM, hadn't realized it works as a direct sequel, so it was great to see them back to back like that.

Desperado - Still as stylish and fun as I remember (it had been a long time)! Loads of great dialogue, brilliant action with a lot of inventive humour in the set-pieces, and seeing it on a big screen made me realize that Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek have possibly never been dethroned from the title of hottest on-screen couple in movie history. Ooooft. Great film, still holds up brilliantly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 25 September, 2017, 07:38:46 PM
Baby driver.

A nice looking movie with some really cool music moments. First and last 20 minutes of it was really good. Over the top in a good way. But the stuff between wasn't my cup of tea. I thought the dialogue was much too campy and lacked self awareness. Characters felt like caricatures. Even making Drive's Nino looking and sounding cool in comparison.

Really wanted to like this one more than I did. Especially since how much I enjoy the director Edgar Wright's Shaun of the dead, Hot fuzz and The world's end. With their fun spin on each of their genre, Baby driver's didn't deliver on a  car centric heist film. Quite a shame  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 September, 2017, 07:45:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 25 September, 2017, 05:04:57 PM
The Hills Have Eyes - In a rare case of this (I usually avoid remakes) I'd seen the remake of this and not the original, and listening to a Wes Craven interview convinced me I should finally check it out. It's pretty intense, and while the 'civilized folks encounter savages and have to unleash their inner savage to survive' thing is such a common trope in horror nowadays I guess this must have been one of the earlier examples of it. Pretty unpleasant, I hear the sequel was a bit of a shambles so unsure if I'll try that one (although a lot of people mention the fact it features a dog having a flashback so that might be worth 2hrs of my time after all).

El Mariachi - Similarly, despite Desperado being a favourite, I'd somehow never seen this. They were both showing as a double-bill so went along. Really enjoyable, loads of energy, even if it is very rough and awkward in places now. I'd always thought Desperado was a remake of EM, hadn't realized it works as a direct sequel, so it was great to see them back to back like that.

Desperado - Still as stylish and fun as I remember (it had been a long time)! Loads of great dialogue, brilliant action with a lot of inventive humour in the set-pieces, and seeing it on a big screen made me realize that Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek have possibly never been dethroned from the title of hottest on-screen couple in movie history. Ooooft. Great film, still holds up brilliantly.
Desperado trilogy is one of my favorite movies ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 26 September, 2017, 12:33:18 PM
Hot Fuzz

Missed out on the cinema release 10 years ago, but had seen it on DVD.

There was a 35mm showing at the Prince Charles Cinema - Jock was signing a limited edition vinyl along with the David Arnold. (Although not having a turntable I missed out on that - looks lovely though)

I'd forgotten how constantly entertaining it is, still spotting things in the background like Skinner's life drawings, and the Die Hard bit in the hotel room with Rory McCann and Simon Pegg always makes me grin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 September, 2017, 09:39:17 AM
The Running Man was showing at the GFT in Glasgow so went along to that. I've always loved it, but really wasn't prepared for just how well it played. People were cheering throughout and clapping along with the music, and every single line and beat landed perfectly. Also, it's obviously got a lot of camp appeal what with Arnie's one-liners and whatnot, but aside from that as a piece of satire it still feels really surprisingly sharp, possibly even more than ever. I definitely got a whole new appreciation for how great the script and the look are and how strong some of the performances are (Richard Dawson is absolutely incredible).

So aye, it was a great night. Always been an iconic film and it was a real experience to see it like that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2017, 10:25:22 AM
Spectre.  Hooo momma, what a mess of a thing.  And yet, I really rather enjoyed it.  Much of that may be because Léa Seydoux is hypnotically beautiful and surprisingly charismatic (I'd always found her rather devoid of screen presence prior to this), in keeping with some gorgeously mannered shot composition and colour schemes throughout. Location work was superb, and the whole thing just looked fantastic.

I could see what they were trying to do, re-frame a 70's Bond movie in the 10's/Craig style, and they certainly achieved a lot of that, but it was a fine line between restraint and dullness, which they didn't always walk.  For example, in the OHMSS sequence I really missed some crazy skiing, possibly with parachutes, and in the YOLT supervillain lair/ Goldfinger torture sequence I greatly missed the Spectre octopus from the credits having a menacing role in proceedings; and when James chases a helicopter with a speed boat on the Thames, I really want him to do more than shoot at it; etc etc.

Conversely, the 'realism' angle completely vanished when the criminally underused Bautista reappeared after going headfirst through a windscreen onto his bonnet without acquiring any facial injuries, and when Bond claimed he never gave any thought to his murderous role, despite having spent large chunks of the previous three films doing exactly that.  This duality was far more successfully handled than in Skyfall, mind, as was the 'episode in a continuing story' aspect.

The transformation of MI6 into the Scooby Gang, and Fiennes' careerist M into a gun-toting action-hero in particular (surely Moneypenny's role, as a former field agent in this continuity), was probably the thing I liked least.  And the music was universally awful, title sequence and throughout.

But yeah, a pleasing conclusion of sorts to the four Craig films, and as I said, very, very pretty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 28 September, 2017, 09:14:27 AM
Oxide Ghosts

An hour long compilation of unseen footage/out-takes/commentary on Brass Eye culled from his collection of VHS tapes of rushes.

Director Michael Cumming is touring with it and doing Q+As, and says it's not going to be uploaded/released on DVD.

Well worth catching if you liked Brass Eye.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 30 September, 2017, 10:17:55 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 05:46:12 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 24 September, 2017, 05:15:48 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 September, 2017, 04:23:43 PM
Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
6/10 (just).
Overlong, reliant on too many slow motion gun fights with groovy music (I especially like the country and western version of Word Up). There is a lot wrong with it but it does have some charm. On the other hand I find it's basic premise difficult to agree with actually siding with the President on this one.
And there is a fair proportion is misogynistic script writing in the film that made me a tad uncomfortable and makes me wonder whether Vaughn slipped it in there (yes, yes, I know) when Jane Goldman wasn't looking or that she just let her principles slide for this one (I'm looking at you Glastonbury scene).
Nowhere near as charming and endearing as the first in the series but still a film watch and forget and far too long.

Got to say, I found the first film pretty puerile (and not even in a knowing way) nonsense, so not in a rush to see the reportedly even worse sequel.
Thanks for warning though.  :)

You are welcome.
To be fair I hated the first one on first viewing and warmed to it more upon another viewing.
This...I'm not so sure but time will tell.

Even more cartoonish than the first, a gnat's hair away from a double-taking pigeon.

[spoiler]In a film that has Elton John wearing full glam rock gear flying kick a henchman, it's still not as ludicrous as the concept that no-one on the Fox News team appears to be on drugs[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 October, 2017, 01:56:56 PM
Nightmare City (Umberto lenzi/ 1980) is one of the less interesting Italian guro staples, less funny than the Demoni movies, less gory than any Fulci entries, and not quiet different enough to be Contamination levels daft balls, instead it's all a little formulaic. Oh, and the ending has to be seen to be believed, the definition of derivative.

Still, nice mayhem scenes that make this somewhat reminiscent of The Crazies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 October, 2017, 02:05:11 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 October, 2017, 01:56:56 PM
Nightmare City (Umberto lenzi/ 1980)

I've got a certain fondness for this one - mostly the airport scene - though the ending is indeed terrible. I'd agree that it lacks that undefinable something that makes, say, the equally preposterous Burial Ground / Nights of Terror so special.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 October, 2017, 03:58:28 PM
WarGames.  Still good stuff if not quite as nail-biting as I remember from 35 years back, but to my disappointment 'Reality TV Star Goads North Korea' never materialises as one of Joshua's Global Thermonuclear War scenarios: I suppose some things are too far-fetched for even a super-computer to simulate. 

Mathew Broderick is stiffly one-note to the point of embarrassing, actually worse than he is in the near-contemporary Ladyhawke: he goes on quite an acting journey between this and Ferris and Private Jerome, one he sadly retraced back to its origins for Godzilla.  Luckily the director has decided that the far more charismatic Ally Sheedy is where to leave the camera in any given shot, even if that means following her gratuitous exercising in a rather worryingly lascivious way, given her character's stated age. 

Had great fun explaining all the prehistoric tech (and geo-politics) to my kids.  Don't think they believed the bit about PCs having 8" floppy disks (I typed that one very carefully) instead of hard-drives, but no-one should believe everything their parents tell them. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014): The cost of making them watch WarGames was watching this.  Actually, this isn't as bad as I feared (and I knew Michael Bay was the producer), as long as you aren't too invested in any of the Turtles' previous incarnations (I'm not).  It's twee to the point of nausea, the human characters are hopeless ciphers, there's no hint of internal logic whatsoever, but: the character designs work surprisingly well; the Power Rangers fight scenes are quite fun; and the centrepiece off-piste multiple-sliding-vehicle battle is precisely what was missing from Spectre.  The only really sour note is the explicit worshipping of Megan Fox's arse by Lego Batman, which feels like it belongs in an entirely different film (probably not one nominated for Best Actress at the Kids' Choice Awards), and one which I wouldn't want to watch.   

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 October, 2017, 04:37:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 October, 2017, 03:58:28 PM
WarGames.  Still good stuff if not quite as nail-biting as I remember from 35 years back, but to my disappointment 'Reality TV Star Goads North Korea' never materialises as one of Joshua's Global Thermonuclear War scenarios: I suppose some things are too far-fetched for even a super-computer to simulate. 

I think if you go back and freeze-frame the Tangerine-Buffoon scenario does appear briefly. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 October, 2017, 09:58:17 AM
Rewatched Phantasm II at the weekend, got a nice Blu-ray set recently which we're slowly working through. I've seen them all except V but Bea had only seen the first film, and it's always great fun watching an old horror film with her when she's seeing it for the first time. Doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, her reactions always make them seem fresh and I think seeing it through someone else's eyes like that gives them a bit of new life.

I really like this one because you can really see what's happened in horror cinema in the years between Phantasms 1&2 - it's clearly been informed by the success of Nightmare On Elm Street and Evil Dead 2, with a new emphasis on Reggie as a horror-action icon and on fun splattery gore effects. The road movie aspect of the first half is cool and the idea that the Tall Man has been travelling across America leaving 'murdered' towns in his wake is really bleak and gives it an almost post-apocalyptic vibe, but it does give it a very languid pace. Then it really comes to life in the last act when a bigger sense of fun and gory mayhem takes over, great stuff.

Like the first film, it's really hokey in places, but great fun. Only complaint is that the new 5.1 sound mix was very poor - the dialogue was so barely audible that I started to worry one of my speakers had blown or something, but it would appear to just be mixed that way which is disappointing. Oh, and there's nowhere near enough fake blood pumped out during the silver ball deaths in this one (watching the extras it confirms the ratings board made them cut out a great deal) which is a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 08 October, 2017, 09:23:09 PM
Lobster, on Netflix. A dark comedy about a world where, if you don't find your true love within a set period of time, you get trans formed into an animal of your choosing...or have to run of and live in the woods where people will hunt you.  A charming tale of societal expectations.

Couple of hours to burn...hmmm, this looks interesting.  Oh, its got Colin Farrell in it.  Oh, and whatshisface...Ben Wishaw.  This is a bit weird.  Aaah, I get it now.  Olivia Coleman as well.  And John C Reilly.  That's quite a collection.  Umm..this is a bit strange.  Oh, its....no, it can't be a...OH, SWEET JESUS, THEBLOOD, THE BLOOD, THIS IS HORRIBLE.  THE POOR DOG!...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 08 October, 2017, 09:44:48 PM
Quote from: Modern Panther on 08 October, 2017, 09:23:09 PM
you get trans formed into an animal of your choosing

Just like Time Lords (and Ladies)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 October, 2017, 10:14:07 AM
Quote from: Modern Panther on 08 October, 2017, 09:23:09 PM
Lobster, on Netflix. A dark comedy about a world where, if you don't find your true love within a set period of time, you get trans formed into an animal of your choosing...or have to run of and live in the woods where people will hunt you.  A charming tale of societal expectations.

Couple of hours to burn...hmmm, this looks interesting.  Oh, its got Colin Farrell in it.  Oh, and whatshisface...Ben Wishaw.  This is a bit weird.  Aaah, I get it now.  Olivia Coleman as well.  And John C Reilly.  That's quite a collection.  Umm..this is a bit strange.  Oh, its....no, it can't be a...OH, SWEET JESUS, THEBLOOD, THE BLOOD, THIS IS HORRIBLE.  THE POOR DOG!...

Yeah that was a weird one for me. The trailers had me expecting a dry, spiky but ultimately heartwarming love story, and initially I felt like that's what I was getting. And then things got dark real fast. It's way more brutal in its dissection of relationships and societal pressures and expectations than it first appeared, and there are some events in it that were really disturbingly grim and stuck with me a bit. I think it's a very good film, but I definitely didn't leave it feeling good.

My latest watch was Blade Runner 2049, which I loved a greeeeeat deal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 14 October, 2017, 07:48:48 PM
29th Street.Meh,I remember it being funnier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 14 October, 2017, 09:21:47 PM
Wonder Woman. Thought it was terrific much better than BvsS and had something rather dark to say about human nature but our better selves do exist within us. Effects were occasionally ropey, but the cast was excellent particularly Ewan Bremner as a  sniper suffering from PTSD. Well worth a watch.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 14 October, 2017, 09:25:57 PM
Just back from The Snowman. I honestly can't recommend this movie .. I felt there were bits in the trailer that never made it to the screen cut and the movie (like the book apparently) leaves a few strands of the plot unresolved. If you absolutely had to, it's not the worst way to spend a few hours but don't expect much going in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 October, 2017, 10:57:39 PM
Caesar goes full Monkey Jesus on us in War For The Planet Of The Apes, with crucifixion and the spear in the side and everything, and it even has a bit of Monkey Moses thrown in for good measure.  As fun as a post-apocalyptic movie where [spoiler]the humans get wiped off the face of the Earth[/spoiler] can be, the first and second halves seem to be on nodding terms only, with the revenge flick first hour giving way to sword and sandals stuff in the second, and a last twenty minutes that shoehorns in some explosions.
For all the biblical allegory, the central premise of revenge doesn't really get resolved one way or another, but despite that, it's a good laugh and one of the best Apes flicks.

Mutant Apocalypse - cobbled together from three episodes of the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, as with almost all modern Western animation, the influences are apparent to the point of obnoxiousness, but it takes a sterner man than me to turn down a Ninja Turtles film set 50 years after the extinction of humanity in which Old Man Raphael sports a ludicrous beard and travels with a bio-chipped Donatello across the parts of America that are easy to render on a mid-range pc.  First it's Steel Dawn, then it's Fury Road, then it's Beyond Thunderdome - it's quite ephemeral and inoffensive, but also surprisingly brutal in places.  A fun waste of an hour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 October, 2017, 10:39:04 AM
DUNE

I actually think I'm growing to love this more everyone I see it. The Harkonen scenes obviously the most lynchian aspect of the whole thing. They are so delicously OTT that if these scenes were badly sound synched, they'd fit right into Mulholland Drive. And I've grown to love the score.

The special effects (involving anything that moves) were always shit though despite the inventiveness of the imagery and the obvious ambition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 15 October, 2017, 12:39:23 PM
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJS3B0vyriV3biTDU3_tOaqLOwHwN_IlTtvtvmz5cnsJ307znxYw)

Wild (Film 4, last night); the one with Reese Witherspoon, not Stephen Fry(e).

It's easy to see why Witherspoon chose this role; the growth trajectory of her character is the same as Legally Blonde (but with with cancer and heroin), and lots of the early scenes rely on her likeable persona and comic abilities to reassure the nervous viewer (me) that it's not all going to be shooting your dead Mum's horse and rough sex with strangers in alleys.

I watched it as a counterpoint to Jeremiah Johnson, which was on ITV the same day. Both are wilderness survival stories about learning to live without other people - and it was interesting to see how many of the same character functions and story turns feature in both - but Witherspoon doesn't murder nearly as many native American tribes people.

Like End Of Tour, it also functions as a nineties nostalgia piece, although producer/screenwriter Nick Hornby's canny music choices avoid the obvious candidates. I'm not sure the central metaphor* works, and it's fun to entertain the possibility that all the rationalising of bad behaviour is misdirection, and the character is just an awful person.

This is the kind of Oscar bait - virtue signalling from people and organisations that, like Harvey Weinstein, spend the rest of the year making decisions of which they are (rightly) ashamed - I would never have chosen to rent or buy, which is something I can say of many films I now rank amongst my favourites.  I'll be sad when broadcast telly finally goes.

I enjoyed it, despite the lack of aliens and robots. I like a good cry.


* 'I'm walking my way back to the person my Mom thought I was'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Arkwright99 on 16 October, 2017, 06:24:17 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 14 October, 2017, 09:25:57 PM
Just back from The Snowman. I honestly can't recommend this movie .. I felt there were bits in the trailer that never made it to the screen cut and the movie (like the book apparently) leaves a few strands of the plot unresolved. If you absolutely had to, it's not the worst way to spend a few hours but don't expect much going in.
100% agree. I was slightly concerned during the credits when I saw there were two separate editors - the legendary Thelma Schoonmaker and Claire Simpson (not a name I recognise but she edited Platoon, Someone To Watch Over Me & Wall Street, amongst others, so clearly not a neophyte) - but there are entire scenes/sequences in the trailer that simply don't feature in the final movie or are heavily truncated to within a gnat's crotchet of their life and it's almost as if they shot two films and left the better one on the cutting room floor.

How the Norwegian PD solve any crimes at all is the greatest mystery in the film. No-one in the department seems to have a clearly defined role or any sense of process and Fassbender's Harry Hole just wanders around picking up other people's files, having a shufty at cases he's not been assigned to and then sticking his nose in. Loads of time is spend on [spoiler]an utterly inconsequential Winter Olympics bid[/spoiler] which doesn't go anywhere and is swiftly dropped the moment it becomes even less relevant to the main storyline (despite there being the whiff of a Harvey Weinstein-esque scandal at its core.)

When it comes to the ending/reveal it's almost as though everyone got bored and decided sod it, let's just finish up and go home. To be honest, I can't say I blame them. Avoid, unless you want to see how far Val Kilmer has fallen from his glory days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 October, 2017, 06:56:07 PM
Quote from: Frank on 15 October, 2017, 12:39:23 PM
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJS3B0vyriV3biTDU3_tOaqLOwHwN_IlTtvtvmz5cnsJ307znxYw)

Wild (Film 4, last night); the one with Reese Witherspoon, not Stephen Fry(e).

It's easy to see why Witherspoon chose this role; the growth trajectory of her character is the same as Legally Blonde (but with with cancer and heroin), and lots of the early scenes rely on her likeable persona and comic abilities to reassure the nervous viewer (me) that it's not all going to be shooting your dead Mum's horse and rough sex with strangers in alleys.

I watched it as a counterpoint to Jeremiah Johnson, which was on ITV the same day. Both are wilderness survival stories about learning to live without other people - and it was interesting to see how many of the same character functions and story turns feature in both - but Witherspoon doesn't murder nearly as many native American tribes people.

Like End Of Tour, it also functions as a nineties nostalgia piece, although producer/screenwriter Nick Hornby's canny music choices avoid the obvious candidates. I'm not sure the central metaphor* works, and it's fun to entertain the possibility that all the rationalising of bad behaviour is misdirection, and the character is just an awful person.

This is the kind of Oscar bait - virtue signalling from people and organisations that, like Harvey Weinstein, spend the rest of the year making decisions of which they are (rightly) ashamed - I would never have chosen to rent or buy, which is something I can say of many films I now rank amongst my favourites.  I'll be sad when broadcast telly finally goes.

I enjoyed it, despite the lack of aliens and robots. I like a good cry.


* 'I'm walking my way back to the person my Mom thought I was'

I like that movie. It was filmed all around where I live and I have been to a lot of the shooting locations, so I have a special affection for it.

I believe a local hiker took it upon themselves to locate and retrieve the boot Witherspoon flings from the mountaintop at the beginning of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 16 October, 2017, 07:03:16 PM
Quote from: Arkwright99 on 16 October, 2017, 06:24:17 PM
100% agree. I was slightly concerned during the credits when I saw there were two separate editors - the legendary Thelma Schoonmaker and Claire Simpson (not a name I recognise but she edited Platoon, Someone To Watch Over Me & Wall Street, amongst others, so clearly not a neophyte) - but there are entire scenes/sequences in the trailer that simply don't feature in the final movie or are heavily truncated to within a gnat's crotchet of their life and it's almost as if they shot two films and left the better one on the cutting room floor.

Trailers are cut by trailer companies from selected footage supplied sometimes well in advance of a film's completion. They're not generally cut by the editors of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 October, 2017, 04:30:57 AM
Crimson Peak

I found it rather predictable, but it was enjoyable, well acted, looked sumptuous, and the ghosts looked pretty freaky.

What's with Del Toro film ghosts having evaporating blood, though? Not that I dislike the effect, it's just the second film where I've seen this.

[spoiler] Also,why is it that in these films, ghosts who actually care enough to return with a warning for their loved ones,  do it in a scary way? I get that they maybe can't help their corpse-like appearance and gratey voices but can't they just say "Hello dear, don't be scared it's just your old mother. I know I look a bit peaky, and forgive the raspy voice. Dying of the black cholera* will do that for you, and throat lozenges literally go through me. I just wanted to warn you not to go to Crimson Peak."

Instead, old mother ghost wiggles the door handle violently, then when her daughter goes to check, she screeches at her from the end of the hall. When asked what she wants to say, the ghost lunges through the door and grabs her instead of just... you know... telling her. That doesn't even include what she did on her first visit to her ten year old daughter, she was waving her arms about in an eerie way, then grabbing her daughters shoulder suddenly...

Okay, I suppose the real reason is because it's a horror story and supposed to be scary and to add a bit of misdirection. I guess an In-world reason is that the trauma of their death twists their minds and they come back wonky. But even so...  [/spoiler]

*or whatever it was
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 17 October, 2017, 05:58:58 AM
Quote from: Arkwright99 on 16 October, 2017, 06:24:17 PM
When it comes to the ending/reveal it's almost as though everyone got bored and decided sod it, let's just finish up and go home. To be honest, I can't say I blame them. Avoid, unless you want to see how far Val Kilmer has fallen from his glory days.

Oh my! How could I have forgotten Val Kilmer, what the hell was he doing in this? Surely he can't be broke?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this confusing.

[spoiler]Ok so the plastic surgeon was procuring women for the politician - but why did the killer kill him?What was he getting too close too? Surely a murder will confirm they're on the right track. Also killed him in the same style he killed yer one's father - why? And old was he when he did that? Doesn't the trailer show Chloë Sevigny being chased after getting her foot in a trap? And the end 'I know why you hate your Mother' Just stand there .. yeah .. one more second .. ok time to die.. thanks bud[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 October, 2017, 09:45:35 AM
Rewatched Ghost In The Shell: The New Movie (as in the Arise movie) because on a first watch a while back I found I struggled to follow the story. Blamed it on my tiredness at the time and gave it another crack. Still couldn't follow the story particularly, but it's more action-heavy than most GiTS stuff, and the action is very, very stylish and cool so I still enjoyed it a great deal.

Maybe on a third watch while fully alert I'll follow that plot better and will know why everyone is fighting each other.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 17 October, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
The Dark Tower.

A strange one, this. I enjoyed it but felt the story was a bit on the thin side, almost like 30-45 mins had been ripped out of it. Excellent performances from the main cast and some good special effects that actually seem to serve the story rather than be there just for eye-candy. And a few well placed Easter eggs for the fans.

There was a lot of internet tutting knobbery about Idris Elba playing the part of the Gunslinger. I thought he played the part well. And as for the "But he's Black!" argument, well, Fuck off to be honest, it's irrelevant, and can even be explained away with Nerdery - He's a different 'Roland' from a different reality. I would suggest that the way the film starts with [spoiler]Roland holding his dying father[/spoiler] actually tells you this isn't the same Roland from the books, [spoiler]No Ka-Tet, no horn of Eld and he still has all of his fingers. Never mind the fact that he actually beats the Man in Black[/spoiler]

Anyway, enough ranting. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination and it crams a lot into it's short running time but it's a solid watch.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 October, 2017, 10:35:22 AM
I quite enjoyed Kingsman: The Golden Circle. It was never going to be as fun as the first and is thirty minutes too long (the three fight finale could have been one) and despite initially liking Julianne Moore's villain, she outstayed her welcome.

Top marks for this vs you don't often see in spy movies [spoiler]the President spending the baddies an - It's not often a film lime this asks you a big question and what side of the fence you sit on.

The Golden Circle of the title not being the criminal organisation  after all

Taking the bum sex gag from the first film and turn I g it I to a relationship... And a couple more good gags. Back stage pass indeed.[/spoiler]

And while I thought the Glastonbury scene was a bit too excessive and adolescent, I could see what they were goi g for. Not sure I get the misogyny - we established that this was the kind of character she was; as was Whiskey (sic) and both she and Eggsy are explouting each other for their own ends. The other females in the film more than show that this is not the film, the writer or the director's attitude to women.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 October, 2017, 12:19:35 PM
Baby Driver. I really wasn't looking forward to this but was pleasantly surprised. It's a lot of fun and jogs along at a pleasing pace. The characters are all interesting and Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx both seem to be enjoying themselves enough to give solid performances. I really enjoyed the use of music, with some gunshots popping of to the rhythm of the soundtrack. Recommended.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 October, 2017, 04:20:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 October, 2017, 10:35:22 AM
Not sure I get the misogyny

I think they could have done 'that scene' a tad more tastefully. And yes, that is the character she is...But someone had to write it like that.

The film comes across like it was written by committee by a group of 13 year olds in their lunch break at a private school. Just because you can write anal sex jokes, and turn them into a plot (of sorts) doesn't mean you should (read that in a Jeff Goldblum voice please.)

But each to their own.

I liked the first one (eventually) but like Kick Ass the second seemed like a bet of how far they could push the envelope of bad taste.

Too far in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 October, 2017, 06:15:30 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 17 October, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
The Dark Tower.


[spoiler]No Ka-Tet, no horn of Eld and he still has all of his fingers. Never mind the fact that he actually beats the Man in Black[/spoiler]


Spoilers for film and novels:

[spoiler] Actually, although, it's not clear on film and doesn't appear in that limited flashback, Roland apparently had the horn (snigger) this time round. So you're not far off in your theory. Change 'world' for 'cycle' although that could kind of be the same thing. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 October, 2017, 06:51:58 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 18 October, 2017, 06:15:30 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 17 October, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
The Dark Tower.


[spoiler]No Ka-Tet, no horn of Eld and he still has all of his fingers. Never mind the fact that he actually beats the Man in Black[/spoiler]


Yes, he did.

Spoilers for film and novels:

[spoiler] Actually, although, it's not clear on film and doesn't appear in that limited flashback, Roland apparently had the horn (snigger) this time round. So you're not far off in your theory. Change 'world' for 'cycle' although that could kind of be the same thing. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 20 October, 2017, 04:17:42 PM
Nightmare on Elms street 3 This franchise is a lot like the Harry Potter movies.In that the first 3 are good,and the rest are just meh.Its good,really ridiculous at times,but that's why we like it.
Jeepers Creepers 2 Rarely for a sequel,it manages to outdo the first movie.
Also,I kinda remember cellphones being a thing in 2003.  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 October, 2017, 08:00:34 AM
Life.
Good cast wasted. 5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 October, 2017, 07:37:15 AM
The last two films I have seen were two Tarantino westerns namely:

The Hateful Eight
I enjoyed this a lot. It goes to a rather dark disturbing place, but it was largely good. I kind of like the fact that in Tarantino films, there are long scenes where people can chat a lot of rubbish... and those scenes do not drag, and are not boring. The introduction to this film where nothing really happens at all apart from a wagon driving past, DID drag, though.

Django Unchained

Very different from the Hateful Eight, but also very good. [spoiler]I like that it ended on a more positive note than the previous film. Not sure why Tarantino decided to speak with an Aussie (or was it Kiwi, I'm not good at telling them apart. Apologies to anyone from down-under who reads this.) accent in his cameo,
but it was amusing. Much like the Kiwi girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere in  The Hateful Eight.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 October, 2017, 08:04:12 AM
That'll be Zoe Bell, a New Zealander. She initially started in the business as a stunt person and Tarantino used her as an actress in Death Proof. She's not a very good actress in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 22 October, 2017, 09:55:07 AM
She probably has really nice feet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 22 October, 2017, 10:29:10 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 22 October, 2017, 07:37:15 AMNot sure why Tarantino decided to speak with an Aussie accent in his cameo, but it was amusing.[/spoiler]

Because he was playing an Aussie character!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 October, 2017, 10:31:57 AM
Well, yes, I just wondered why. I'm not complaining, mind. It's certainly original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 22 October, 2017, 04:29:24 PM
Quote from: Smith on 20 October, 2017, 04:17:42 PM
Nightmare on Elms street 3 This franchise is a lot like the Harry Potter movies.In that the first 3 are good,and the rest are just meh.Its good,really ridiculous at times,but that's why we like it.
Jeepers Creepers 2 Rarely for a sequel,it manages to outdo the first movie.
Also,I kinda remember cellphones being a thing in 2003.  :-\

Have to disagree with this, Wes Craven's A New Nightmare, film number 7 Is one of the best, with its forth wall busting, post modernist, meta narrative being one of the most ingenious in the entire series.
Oh, and all the Harry Potter films are shit!!!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 October, 2017, 04:41:13 PM
Im not sure if I even watched that one.So if I get to it...

I still hold that first 3 are good,but  everyone has a right to their own  opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 22 October, 2017, 05:35:00 PM
Quote from: Smith on 22 October, 2017, 04:41:13 PM
Im not sure if I even watched that one.So if I get to it...

I still hold that first 3 are good,but  everyone has a right to their own  opinion.

It's really great!
Arguably of equal quality to 3 and far, far superior to 2!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 22 October, 2017, 07:18:14 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 October, 2017, 05:35:00 PM
Quote from: Smith on 22 October, 2017, 04:41:13 PM
Im not sure if I even watched that one.So if I get to it...

I still hold that first 3 are good,but  everyone has a right to their own  opinion.

It's really great!
Arguably of equal quality to 3 and far, far superior to 2!  :thumbsup:

I'd agree with all of this  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 October, 2017, 09:35:21 AM
Quote from: Woolly on 22 October, 2017, 07:18:14 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 22 October, 2017, 05:35:00 PM
Quote from: Smith on 22 October, 2017, 04:41:13 PM
Im not sure if I even watched that one.So if I get to it...

I still hold that first 3 are good,but  everyone has a right to their own  opinion.

It's really great!
Arguably of equal quality to 3 and far, far superior to 2!  :thumbsup:

I'd agree with all of this  :thumbsup:

Yup, I am also nodding in agreement! New Nightmare is brilliant, and definitely up there with 1&3 (although 3 has a special place in my affections possibly because of the age when I saw it - it definitely seems to be the one I've watched the most often and have the fondest memories of).

I did a rewatch of them all a few years back and was really surprised at how badly 4, 5 and 6* hold up. 2 isn't great either, but for some reason I really enjoy it, it's a bit of a big mad mess and that's endearing.

*Although I do have good memories of three of us renting it on VHS and it only coming with 2 pairs of 3D glasses, meaning my brother got a headache during the 3D section. And you've got to love a film with 3D where the cue for the audience putting on their glasses is a character in the film picking up and putting on 3D glasses. Gloriously cheddar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 23 October, 2017, 10:12:53 AM
Dave Made a Maze - Guy builds a cardboard maze in his living room and gets lost in it. Friends go in to rescue him only to discover its bigger on the inside and its full of deadly traps. Oh and there's a minotaur. Quite a quirky fun film that I enjoyed more than I probably should have.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 23 October, 2017, 01:03:47 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 October, 2017, 09:35:21 AM
*Although I do have good memories of three of us renting it on VHS and it only coming with 2 pairs of 3D glasses, meaning my brother got a headache during the 3D section. And you've got to love a film with 3D where the cue for the audience putting on their glasses is a character in the film picking up and putting on 3D glasses. Gloriously cheddar.

I've still got my 3-D glasses from when I saw it at the cinema. I keep any old tat.

Watching the first one in the cinema is one of my greatest memories of attending the pictures.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 October, 2017, 04:59:50 PM
Battle of the Sexes.

Historical comedy-drama about Billie Jean King and women's tennis in the 1970s starring Emma Stone and Steve Carrel.

A likeable film with a great cast - I'll basically watch Carrel in anything and he's on fine form here - but I ultimately found it far too broad and lacking in substance for my tastes. It's also weird that it somewhat assumes that the viewer will already be familiar with it's principal characters and events depicted, and does little to contextualise those events - eg, we see very little in the way of actual tennis matches until the very end of the movie. It also rather bashes the viewer over the head with it's 'message' rather than let them come to their own conclusions. Though well-meaning, there's a single line of dialogue delivered in the closing seconds of the movie that is so on the nose to the point of cringe.

3/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 24 October, 2017, 05:46:39 AM
The Princess Bride 30th Anniversary Showing

I went to see this last night and what an utterly charming movie.

However at the end I was delighted to spot a Judge Dredd t - shirt draped over the back of the chair the grandfather sits on. It was very like this.. I'm sure it's been spotted before but this was my first time seeing it.

(https://img0.etsystatic.com/074/0/10878072/il_340x270.827823898_53qz.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 24 October, 2017, 11:42:02 AM
I too went to see the princess bride and noticed the JD t- shirt for the 1st time. it depicted mc mahon's cover where JD sits on a bullet-riddled CRIME' spelt out in concrete....(http://www.x-entertainment.com/updates/pics/fredroom/big3.jpg)

see?(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NCiS60Lx8wI/UwR7V0k5iGI/AAAAAAAAJPU/qMTSDQDEcy8/s1600/2000ad168.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 24 October, 2017, 12:00:45 PM
Thinking of how many times I've seen that film over the years and never noticed that ....


:o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 October, 2017, 01:51:38 PM
The two last films I saw:

The Dark Crystal - I think I'd seen bits of it, but never watched it all the way through. However on watching it, there were scenes that were rather familiar considering I couldn't remember much about it before hand. Anyway, a lovely story. Wonderfully made creatures and world. The main plot is a standard fantasy quest type thing, but it does it well. Lovely.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - As you can probably imagine, scouts are out camping while a zombie outbreak occurs at their home town while they're away, and they have to deal with it when they get back. OH and there's an attractive cocktail waitress from a local stripper bar they team up with.

I actually found it very entertaining, and very funny in places, although some of the humour is rather juvenile, and there's some rather rude gross-out stuff. ([spoiler]That thing with the zombie willy. They actually did that? I also wonder what that actress who played 'Officer Hottie' thought, about her rather small but memorable (ahem) role...[/spoiler])

To be fair, women are not just reduced to sex objects however. The afore-mentioned cocktail waitress turned out to be one of the toughest characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 24 October, 2017, 07:41:27 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 24 October, 2017, 11:42:02 AM
I too went to see the princess bride and noticed the JD t- shirt for the 1st time. it depicted mc mahon's cover where JD sits on a bullet-riddled CRIME' spelt out in concrete...

*coughs* nerd *coughs*  :P

Did you go to see it in Cineworld in Dublin?

If so, are you going to see Predator next month?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 25 October, 2017, 02:15:44 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 23 October, 2017, 01:03:47 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 October, 2017, 09:35:21 AM
*Although I do have good memories of three of us renting it on VHS and it only coming with 2 pairs of 3D glasses, meaning my brother got a headache during the 3D section. And you've got to love a film with 3D where the cue for the audience putting on their glasses is a character in the film picking up and putting on 3D glasses. Gloriously cheddar.

I've still got my 3-D glasses from when I saw it at the cinema. I keep any old tat.

Watching the first one in the cinema is one of my greatest memories of attending the pictures.

Still got my glasses too!
Glad I'm not the only one!!!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 25 October, 2017, 02:30:16 AM
Thor: Ragnarok is as formulaic, insubstantial and exposition heavy as we've come to expect from the Marvel movies.
It's further handicapped by a poorly developed antagonist and a rather flacid climax.
What it does have in spades is some rather effective humour and some obvious chemistry between an excellent cast who bring their A game to bare and elevate the whole enterprise into something exceptionally enjoyable, resulting in one of the better films in the franchise.
Nice use of Led Zep too!   :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 28 October, 2017, 09:26:17 AM
Pumpkinhead Its a serviceable 80's horror.It doesn't really have an identity of its own,but its okay.
Final Destination Im not sure why does this movie work,but it works.I guess its fun to guess what household accident is going to happen.Or is that just me?  :-\
Nightmare on Elm Street 4 It was meh,but Freddy had some snappy one-liners.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 October, 2017, 09:49:27 AM
Quote from: Smith on 28 October, 2017, 09:26:17 AM
Final Destination Im not sure why does this movie work,but it works.I guess its fun to guess what household accident is going to happen.

Like the first ten minutes of Casualty.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 29 October, 2017, 01:26:52 PM
The Mummy 2017-missing just about everything that re-incarnated (oh! see what i did there!) the franchise in the early twoothies. It was okay but not exactly stellar. No real humour and a cast that seemed a bit lost. Too many distractions (Aussie flap-mouth Russell Crowe as Jekyll and Hyde, okay I suppose, he didn't seem to be acting during the Hyde parts) ,  the mummy herself was the best thing in it but, as she spent alot of time in a box or chained she was a bit of a loss. Not terrible but hardly scary and too desperate to make it as a monster franchise. Tom Cruise  and the others were alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 October, 2017, 03:29:31 PM
I thought The Mummy could have been salvaged with a more focused final act - [spoiler]smashing the stone[/spoiler] would have been the obvious point to wrap things up - but instead it just went off on a bunch of tangents and hand-waving.  The Easter eggs that established other Universal monsters were okay, but the use of Jekyl & Hyde was overplayed and never went anywhere, so it really stuck out as unnecessary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 October, 2017, 06:03:40 PM
Thor: Ragnorak

Decent film. Very much on the light side. Enjoyed it but not as much as Winter Soldier or either of the GotG movies. A solid 7/10.

Happy to watch it again on blu ray but I won't be going back to the cinema to see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 October, 2017, 08:09:08 PM
FOUR CHRISTMASES.
If you add together all of the manipulative shite you get in rom-coms together with all of the manipulative shite you get in Christmas movies you still wouldn't get close to the contents of this utterly joyless manipulative turd of a movie with a nonsensical tacked on "happy" ending. I thought Reese Witherspoon was meant to be able to do comedy. And as some wag pointed out, Vince Vaughan looks like he's eaten as many turkeys as he has starred in.

Four CHRISTMASES? More like Four Shites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 29 October, 2017, 09:57:53 PM
Thor: Ragnarok
Utterly astonishing, visually stunning, hilarious and just completely brilliant in just about every way possible. Not only my favourite Marvel movie by miles, but everything I go to the cinema for, in 2hrs 10mins. Just about perfect, and I cannot wait to see it again. And again. It flew by, even with a full bladder.
Stan and Jack have never been better served, and bits were as close to Kirby's amazing pages as it's possible to get.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 29 October, 2017, 10:15:49 PM
I enjoyed 'Get Out' - late to this party but it was well worth the watch - reminded me of 'Society' but I bet I'm not the first to say that.

Also really liked What Happened to Monday (http://100wmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/no259-what-happened-to-monday.html) which jumped from Netfix straight into my 'W' Blog boat. Sex, violence, sci-fi and swearing - all good stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 October, 2017, 10:34:26 AM
Quite surprised by the odd mixture of Cowboys & Aliens. It was just as ridiculous as I'd always assumed but played absolutely straight rather than with the tongue in cheek I expected. Surprising amount of grit and gore, of the type which I'm sure 10 year old boys approve. At the other end of the spectrum, take out some of the more saccharine character arcs and Craig and Ford could easily have carried this as a straight-up, no chaser Western. Odd.

I would hardly ever go out of my way to watch a Spielberg film, but almost always enjoy them when I do. He must be doing something right, I suppose. Catch Me if You Can is a textbook example. The subject matter didn't interest me at all but Tom and Leo's entertaining cat and mouse act is wrapped up in such a slick package it's impossible not to be entertained.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 October, 2017, 01:48:19 PM
Jigsaw (6.5/10)

Despite having only seen the first two films out of this franchise I quite enjoyed this one.
It's exactly what I expected with no real scares but plenty of gore and a twisty bit at the end.

Good, Halloween fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 October, 2017, 01:59:37 PM
Went to see Prince of Darkness in a church the other night. I've always considered it Carpenter's most underrated film, because me and Mrs Monkey both find it to be one of the scariest horrors out there. Not sure why it strikes such a nerve of terror with us, it is pretty hokey on the face of it but all that apocalyptic Brotherhood of Sleep and Satan in a canister stuff just shits us right up.

It worked great in the church, and it definitely added another level of dread to it, and the amazing soundtrack sounded great. Partially ruined by the couple behind me who talked through the entire thing, and in a sneery 'aren't horror movies stupid' sort of way. Not sure why they were there, or why they thought other people would be happy to pay £11 to listen to their hipster snark for 2hrs, but clearly it was beneath them and they needed everyone in the room to know it.

Despite that, what felt great was that there were people there who clearly hadn't seen it and you could really feel how effective the movie was in their reactions. There was one particular jump scare (you probably know it if you've seen it) where the entire room completely lost their shit (even the chatty hipster snides) and it was glorious. Plus there was a real sense of panic in the place as things escalate towards the end. And boy do I love the way the film escalates. Such a slow suspenseful build and then things get really wild and just keep on going that way. Excellent stuff.

Still great, and it feels like people often talk about the mid to late '80s as being when Carpenter's stuff started to get poor, which I can't get on with, because Starman, Big Trouble In Little China, They Live, Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness, is a pretty fantastic run of output, all of which I rate really, really highly. So really he just made a couple of duffers in the '90s so that's pretty good going.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 30 October, 2017, 02:17:39 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 October, 2017, 01:59:37 PM
Went to see Prince of Darkness in a church the other night. I've always considered it Carpenter's most underrated film, because me and Mrs Monkey both find it to be one of the scariest horrors out there. Not sure why it strikes such a nerve of terror with us, it is pretty hokey on the face of it but all that apocalyptic Brotherhood of Sleep and Satan in a canister stuff just shits us right up.
Yeah. Even though it's just Assault on Precint 13 with zombies I've always enjoyed this one too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 October, 2017, 03:03:28 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 October, 2017, 01:59:37 PMNot sure why they were there, or why they thought other people would be happy to pay £11 to listen to their hipster snark for 2hrs, but clearly it was beneath them and they needed everyone in the room to know it.

From experience, I can tell you that while these people are sometimes just passers-by who spot events and only go in to sneer, most often they've got their tickets for free through promotions, well-intentioned gifts, or acquaintances in event/venue staff.  They generally bring everyone else down because the event has literally no value to them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 30 October, 2017, 03:16:14 PM
We thought let's watch a movie on Saturday night. My wife then said "how about a Tom Hanks movie?" So we searched for one on Netflix and came up with The Circle.

First thing to say is, it is actually more of an Emma Watson movie than a Tom Hanks movie. He is in it for probably less than ten minutes (and no I didn't count), where as she is on screen virtually the whole time. Fortunately she is the best thing about the movie. As for the rest of it...well we thought it wasn't great.

It's a Netflix original and is probably the least best thing I have seen that is.

There is no point spoiler tagging anything as they telegraph what the whole movie is about in the first ten minutes: keen young worker gets a job at an Internet giant and despite them portraying everything they do as for good / your benefit, they really aren't and everyone's privacy gets sacrificed in the process. And don't get me started on the "optional" work social activities.

It was all just too obvious what was going to happen. We rated it one star.

Bizarrely it was described as a sci-fi, but really all of the tech on show is around now or probably could be made with the state of technology today without much of a stretch at all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 October, 2017, 04:09:09 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 October, 2017, 01:59:37 PM
Went to see Prince of Darkness in a church the other night.

One of Carpenter's films that I saw at the cinema on it's original release and disliked but have come to love with a great passion.

I saw someone walk out of Jigsaw today with 10 minutes left. I wonder what exactly he was expecting? Some people are just weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 November, 2017, 11:30:35 PM
The Handmaiden! (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/no128-handmaiden.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 November, 2017, 08:13:36 AM
A Cure for Wellness. Relentlessly tedious.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 03 November, 2017, 10:07:02 AM
The Death of Stalin - Mildly amusing and quite horrific in equal measure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 November, 2017, 02:56:55 PM
The Wages of Fear.
I've recently obtained the Friedkin blu ray which is a remake of this movie and took the opportunity to view Clouzot's original first thanks to the wonderful recent blu ray release from the BFI.

What a joy this film is! It's two and a half hours long, in French, released in 1953, and in black and white and is an absolute triumph.

Probably the best film I have seen this year. Looking forward to watching the re-make now but can't possibly expect Friedkin to top Clouzot.

Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 November, 2017, 04:02:23 PM
I loved Death of Stalin- I think a few people were disappointed it wasn't a rip-roaring laugh fest, but there's only so much lolz you can get from tyranny and mass murder. I thought it was, as Satanist says,  both funny and horrific. Favourite line was from Stalin's daughter lambasting his doctors - "you're not old, and you're just made of hair and YOU - you're not even a man, you're a testicle"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 03 November, 2017, 09:01:13 PM
'The Stalker'
Beautifully shot post-apocalypter from 70's Soviet Russia. Much of the existential intellectual elements went over my head, I've no doubt,- and - it moved at at a pace that makes BladeRunner2049 seem comparatively breakneck.
Looked it up subsequently on wikipedia to discover that all the original footage perished and that they had to completely reshoot every frame in Talinn Estonia... in a place so toxic that a lot of the crew may have died as a result of filming there; nothing like authentic misery to give your post-apocalypse that ' edge'.

I honestly wasn't surpised.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 04 November, 2017, 11:57:24 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 24 October, 2017, 07:41:27 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 24 October, 2017, 11:42:02 AM
... the princess bride ..
Did you go to see it in Cineworld in Dublin?
If so, are you going to see Predator next month?
Alas I'm based in Limerick Citayy and, as-you-know- ' tis a tidy step from Stabsville to the Big Potatoe...
:(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 November, 2017, 05:12:50 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 03 November, 2017, 09:01:13 PM
Looked it up subsequently on wikipedia to discover that all the original footage perished and that they had to completely reshoot every frame in Talinn Estonia...

I believe it was the footage from first half of the film and there's debate about whether it was a defective batch from Kodak, incorrect development, incompetence or sabotage – but the scrapped footage has a greenish hue.

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/

(http://www.cinephiliabeyond.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/14-3.jpg)

(http://www.cinephiliabeyond.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/15-4.jpg)



"Stalker had problems. The picture's fate was strange somehow. There was this producer Gambarov in West Berlin. He had the world distribution rights to Tarkovsky's films and supplied him with the Kodak stock which was scarcely available in those days. For Stalker he sent some kind of new Kodak film that had just been introduced. Georgi Rerberg was then the cameraman on Stalker, he'd photographed The Mirror for Tarkovsky. But then the disaster struck. The artesian well at Mosfilm broke down and they had no artesian water needed to process the film. They didn't tell us anything but the material sat unprocessed for 17 days. And film which is exposed but not processed loses quality, it loses speed and it otherwise degrades. In a word, the whole material for the first part ended up on the scrap heap. On top of that — here I'm repeating what Andrei himself told me — Tarkovsky was certain the film was swapped. This newer Kodak which Gambarov sent specifically for Stalker was stolen and in some way or another ended up in the hands of a certain very well-known Soviet film director who was Tarkovsky's adversary. And they gave Andrei a regular Kodak except that nobody knew about this and that's why they processed it differently. Tarkovsky considered it a result of scheming by his enemies. But I think it was just the usual Russian sloppiness.

"The review of the ruined footage ended in a scandal. Tarkovsky, Rerberg, the Strugatskys, and Tarkovsky's wife Larissa were all sitting in the projection room. Suddenly one of the Strugatskys turned towards Rerberg and asked naively: «Gosha, and how come I can't see anything here?» Rerberg, always considering himself beyond reproach in everything he did, turned to Strugatsky and said: «And you just be quiet, you are no Dostoievsky either!» Tarkovsky was beside himself with anger. But one can understand Rerberg. Imagine what it means for a cameraman to see the entire material turning up defective! Rerberg slammed the door, walked to his car and drove away. He wasn't seen on the set again. Then the cameraman Leonid Kalashnikov appeared on the scene, unquestionably a master. He spent two weeks with us and subsequently he honestly admitted he could not understand what Tarkovsky wanted from him. Kalashnikov left the picture on his own and Tarkovsky thanked him for such an honest, courageous action. And then Aleksandr Knyazhinsky joined us."

From the recollections of the former deputy Chairman of the Goskino USSR Boris Pavlyonok:
"It was obvious that if Tarkovsky was not given the opportunity to reshot the film it wouldn't be made at all. The governing body decided: reshoot the film, give the necessary means (something like 400 thousand roubles)..."

https://people.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/nostalghia.com/TheTopics/Stalker/sharun.html


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 November, 2017, 05:14:29 PM
Murder on the Orient Express.

Decent film, decent cast, and if you know the story pretty much as expected with one or two very small changes.

Good production values too (dodgy accents aside) 6/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 05 November, 2017, 11:08:47 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 November, 2017, 05:12:50 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 03 November, 2017, 09:01:13 PM
... they had to completely reshoot every frame in Talinn Estonia...
I believe it was the footage from first half of the film
some sources claim the entire thing was re-shot:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/nostalghia.com/TheTopics/Norton.html
The wikipedia page claims only the outdoor footage was ruined, and that the idea of two-parter idea was a solution to getting the increased budget to finish it (two films for the price of more than one), but the quoted source for that info from the Russian Cinema Council is, despite being all in russian , obviously a blank page.

There's some talk of Johnathan Nolan, one of the creators of Westworld citing it as an influence- but I don't see it anywhere meself. What I would readily believe, is that it influenced someone who worked on the TV series 'Stranger Things' ... That 'toxic-dust in the air' element from the 'Shadow-Vale' feels very Stalker to me...
Whaddya reckon?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 November, 2017, 05:57:50 AM
1922 on Netflix.

Beautifully shot - really captures the settings of the 1920s well*. It is very faithful to the original Stephen King novella. It has a slow pace, and it is rather grim, but this serves the film well. [spoiler]Despite the awful thing that the main character and his son do - and not to condone the act at all- the character is so very relatable, and the wife, so unlikable, the motive is understandable. It was evil and wrong, and as is stated near the end "there was another way, there always is...", but this character is not a psychopath.[/spoiler]

*Says the guy who was a kid in the 70s and 80s. Okay, it captures well how I imagine 1920s America to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 06:27:00 AM
LouisvTheroux: My Scientology Movie

What a strange and sinister organisation. I've seen a few documentaries about Scientology and find them quite fascinating but they're also frustrating because the organisation itself is so secretive. I'd love to know what really goes on and how much the 'Operating Thetans' really believe.
This was good but I kind of felt sorry for some of the actors. I wonder if this will negatively affect their careers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 November, 2017, 07:45:47 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 November, 2017, 05:57:50 AM
1922 on Netflix.

Beautifully shot - really captures the settings of the 1920s well*. It is very faithful to the original Stephen King novella. It has a slow pace, and it is rather grim, but this serves the film well. [spoiler]Despite the awful thing that the main character and his son do - and not to condone the act at all- the character is so very relatable, and the wife, so unlikable, the motive is understandable. It was evil and wrong, and as is stated near the end "there was another way, there always is...", but this character is not a psychopath.[/spoiler]

*Says the guy who was a kid in the 70s and 80s. Okay, it captures well how I imagine 1920s America to be.

I enjoyed it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 November, 2017, 09:56:02 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 06:27:00 AM
LouisvTheroux: My Scientology Movie

What a strange and sinister organisation. I've seen a few documentaries about Scientology and find them quite fascinating but they're also frustrating because the organisation itself is so secretive. I'd love to know what really goes on and how much the 'Operating Thetans' really believe.
This was good but I kind of felt sorry for some of the actors. I wonder if this will negatively affect their careers.
Still want to see this, Theroux previous two encounters with the cul...sorry, faith, where suitable terrifying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 10:47:29 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 November, 2017, 09:56:02 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 06:27:00 AM
LouisvTheroux: My Scientology Movie

What a strange and sinister organisation. I've seen a few documentaries about Scientology and find them quite fascinating but they're also frustrating because the organisation itself is so secretive. I'd love to know what really goes on and how much the 'Operating Thetans' really believe.
This was good but I kind of felt sorry for some of the actors. I wonder if this will negatively affect their careers.
Still want to see this, Theroux previous two encounters with the cul...sorry, faith, where suitable terrifying.

It was on BBC2 last night so I expect it's on iPlayer. Well worth a watch but you have to bear in mind that they couldn't really get to the heart of things because the organisation is so locked down.
They're so incredibly frustrating to deal with and they know exactly what they're doing. Their psychological techniques are really effective. Even the affable Mr Theroux was getting quite close to losing his rag at certain points.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 November, 2017, 12:58:33 PM
Saw 'Going Clear' the other week, which is oft-cited in response to Louis' inability to get close. Probably is the better documentary!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 06 November, 2017, 01:06:35 PM
The bikini girl, who interrupts filming, is actress 'Paz De La Huerta' who the cops may arrest Harvey Weinstein for raping: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/03/paz-de-la-huerta-accuses-harvey-weinstein-of-sexual-assaulting-her-on-two-occasions-nypd (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/03/paz-de-la-huerta-accuses-harvey-weinstein-of-sexual-assaulting-her-on-two-occasions-nypd)

So um... small world.

'Going Clear' is the better doc... But Theroux is more even-handed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 01:08:47 PM
Never heard of Going Clear. Might see if I can find it on Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 06 November, 2017, 01:18:02 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 06 November, 2017, 01:06:35 PM
The bikini girl, who interrupts filming, is actress 'Paz De La Huerta' who the cops may arrest Harvey Weinstein for raping: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/03/paz-de-la-huerta-accuses-harvey-weinstein-of-sexual-assaulting-her-on-two-occasions-nypd (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/03/paz-de-la-huerta-accuses-harvey-weinstein-of-sexual-assaulting-her-on-two-occasions-nypd)


She's a weird one when you look into it. Not in reference to the Weinstein **** but just in general.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 06 November, 2017, 01:27:48 PM
Agreed.
All the same ; the case is lookin'  bad for Mr Weinstein; she's on tape talking about it at the time- her therapist has records of her account and it's within the NY statute of limitations. It may well be the one they get him for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 November, 2017, 06:25:21 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 November, 2017, 01:08:47 PM
Never heard of Going Clear. Might see if I can find it on Netflix.

It's on HBO, so you won't find it on Netflix.

As for Scientology stuff, I heartily recommend checking out the episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with outspoken former scientologist Leah Remini. It's a real eye-opener....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 November, 2017, 02:49:17 AM
Quote from: darnmarr on 06 November, 2017, 01:27:48 PM
Agreed.
All the same ; the case is lookin'  bad for Mr Weinstein; she's on tape talking about it at the time- her therapist has records of her account and it's within the NY statute of limitations. It may well be the one they get him for.

The worst decision Weinstein ever made was not becoming a Scientologist.

Allegations are stacking up against Danny Masterson, the former star of That '70s Show and longtime member of the Church of Scientology. The actor has been accused of rape by four women, according to HuffPost, three of whom were also Scientologists. The Los Angeles Police Department began investigating the claims in 2016, but the case against Masterson has curiously stalled, despite the existence of "compelling evidence," per HuffPost. (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/danny-masterson-rape-allegations)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 November, 2017, 02:54:34 AM
Quote from: radiator on 06 November, 2017, 06:25:21 PMAs for Scientology stuff, I heartily recommend checking out the episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with outspoken former scientologist Leah Remini. It's a real eye-opener....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A)

Unfortunately his worst interview is with a potentially more interesting subject: David Miscavige's father, Ron Miscavige (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVVdCikBDQk).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 November, 2017, 06:02:16 AM
Another recent Stephen King adaptation: Gerald's Game

I wondered how they'd pull this off as it's based on the novel concerning a woman handcuffed to a bed, alone. The answer is: very well. A great bit of acting and character study. Genuinely disturbing in places, with a couple of scenes that should make you grimace... yikes. There was a bit at the end I'm in two minds about [spoiler](from a character's arc resolution POV it's nice, but part of me would prefer a certain thing were left up to viewer's interpretation)[/spoiler]  but overall it worked out very well.

I think I even preferred it to 1922, although the stories are very different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 November, 2017, 08:54:08 AM
Nightmare on Elm Street 6.That was just boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 07 November, 2017, 12:56:19 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 November, 2017, 06:25:21 PM
As for Scientology stuff, I heartily recommend checking out the episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with outspoken former scientologist Leah Remini. It's a real eye-opener....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0-VeWMr-A)
That was quite fascinating. Thanks for the link.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 November, 2017, 07:25:28 PM
Off to see the rather ordinarily named Paddington 2.

The first was the unexpected delight of 2014, and as a firm fan of the books was very happy indeed, so have high hopes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 November, 2017, 10:17:31 PM
Watched Paddington last night. Thought it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 November, 2017, 10:56:21 PM
Murder On The Orient Express.

I suspected that you can't throw that much acting talent at the screen and not come out with something watchable, and I was right. Branagh steals the show largely because when you divide a two hour running time by that many actors, no one really gets to do that much.

However, I thought Branagh, behind one of cinema's most outrageous moustaches, actually managed the first screen portrayal of Poirot that I didn't think was a complete dick, and everyone else was under-used, but great. The film looks sumptuous and doesn't outstay its welcome. Branagh's Poirot is slightly more... muscular than previous screen incarnations — imagine Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes, then dial it down a dozen notches. It's more or less exactly right for this movie.

I'll confess that I've never read the novel, and had haven't watched a screen adaptation for many years, so I actually thought I'd forgotten the twist until about thirty minutes from the end, when my terrible memory handily served it up to me.

Strongly reminiscent of a kind of film they don't really seem to make any more... in a good way. There's a heavy hint that another classic Christie might follow, and I rather liked Judy Dench's suggestion on the Graham Norton Show a couple of weeks ago that Branagh recasts the same actors in new roles for a sort of repertory theatre feel to the thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 November, 2017, 08:26:54 AM
The Martian

The film deserves its reputation. It's a good film. I confess the story was not entirely my cup of tea (there isn't anything actually wrong with it. It's just not the kind of story I'm all that into.) but it was enjoyable enough. Well worth the watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 November, 2017, 08:47:22 AM
Dreamscape.

Haven't seen this since the 80's and then on VHS.

Bought the blu ray remembering that I liked it at the time. Sadly my memory was wrong. It's not very good. Has some nice moments but they are few and far between. The script is poor. Quaid, Capshaw, Von Sydow and Plummer are decent but are poorly served by the Director. And the 'score' is awful.
Barely a 5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 November, 2017, 09:36:13 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 November, 2017, 10:56:21 PM
Murder On The Orient Express.

and I rather liked Judy Dench's suggestion on the Graham Norton Show a couple of weeks ago that Branagh recasts the same actors in new roles for a sort of repertory theatre feel to the thing.

If Branagh plays Miss Marple I'll definitely buy a ticket! :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 November, 2017, 07:17:26 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 November, 2017, 10:17:31 PM
Watched Paddington last night. Thought it was great.

Good to hear - I'm a huge fan of the original - it's a modern classic as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately it isn't out here until the new year... Shame, as this would be perfect for Xmas viewing. Oh well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 November, 2017, 05:59:34 AM
Transformers: Age of Extinction

While it's not very good, I didn't find it as bad as many would suggest on this ol' internet. It was fun enough, if rather silly. The transformers comedy characters actually seem to let it down a bit, and I do like comedy.

Also not sure about the dinobots being so very large. I know they wanted to turn them into steeds for the main autobots (so it makes sense that they would be proportionally as large to them as the real beasts - and original dinobots- would have been to us) but as I thought the alternate forms of transformers were supposed to be based on things in the planet they're visiting, something a bit more accurate would have been nice. Not that the originals would exactly fit in being metallic, etc,.... okay dinosaurs have small brains anyway. I guess having them extra large makes sense in that light...

They don't appear to be any form of dinosaur I know though. One was vaguely T-Rex, except they weren't that spikey. I understand there is a bipedal dinosaur like that, but he seemed to have the little hands thing of a T-Rex.  Another dinosaur type took me a while to work out, then I guessed it was supposed to be a stegosaurus, except with a carnivorous looking head. The tricerotops was probably closest apart from that large mouth full of teeth (but to be fair, I remember the original Slag not being too different from that). And the pterosaur has two head for some reason. Hm.

Also the new stuff concerning the transformers origins (or certain transformers, the so called Knights- are they the Prime bots?) was added to and hence confused.

As more of the same with giant robots slugging it out (and this time you could make it out a bit better) it wasn't bad. I wonder if the Samurai Autobot raised some eyebrows though. The design was actually quite cool, but I think they maybe should have toned down the accent a bit...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 14 November, 2017, 06:49:20 AM
Alternate forms dont always serve as a disguise.Sometimes they act as a protective shell,like in Beast Wars.
But its Michael Bay,so I doubt he thought that far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 November, 2017, 08:16:43 AM
Agree with Jim about Orient Express. While it doesn't bring anything new to the table (I assume the lovely stuff about balance is all in the source material),  it's so long since I saw a version of it that the pace, the cast (again, as Jim says, Brannagh is great) and the lush production values kept me engaged. 

Daisy Ridley may well get type cast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Juan De La Karite on 14 November, 2017, 10:13:04 AM
Been to the cinema three times this week as I was sick recently and wanted to catch Blade Runner 2049 and Thor Ragnarok while they were still out. I can discuss those in their respective threads, just wanted to give a shout for Death of Stalin.

Dark, horrible, based on true events but hilarious and with a brilliant cast portraying real people.

If you liked any of The Thick of It, Four Lions, Veep, In the Loop, etc then you'll like this.

Special praise for Jason Isaacs as Field Marshall Zhukov, legend haha.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 14 November, 2017, 11:00:20 AM
Saw Stalker. Was a bit ill when watching it, perhaps not the best idea. While my attention wasn't where it should'v been the whole movie, I still somewhat got the idea. And it was undoubtly a beautiful movie. No doubt about it that Tarkovsky had an eye for good photo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 November, 2017, 11:57:56 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 November, 2017, 05:59:34 AMAlso not sure about the dinobots being so very large. I know they wanted to turn them into steeds for the main autobots (so it makes sense that they would be proportionally as large to them as the real beasts - and original dinobots- would have been to us) but as I thought the alternate forms of transformers were supposed to be based on things in the planet they're visiting, something a bit more accurate would have been nice.

The logic boat has long since sailed for the TF movie series.  In the very first movie they actually hide in some bushes so as not to be seen outside the main character's house, despite the fact that their entire species' identity revolves around turning into something innocuous in order to blend into their environment.  I mean, it is the actual fucking name of the film and everything.
Anyway, my point is that the movie Transformers are kind of shit in general when it comes to the concept of camouflage, so you may as well just ask why they're trying to blend in with dinosaurs at all - who, exactly, are dinosaurs going to tell if their suspicions are aroused?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 November, 2017, 02:06:06 PM
Quoteyou may as well just ask why they're trying to blend in with dinosaurs at all - who, exactly, are dinosaurs going to tell if their suspicions are aroused?

The Plod?
Sorry....

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 November, 2017, 07:04:58 PM
Quick call-back to previous page.

If anyone's interested, the scientology documentary Going Clear is on Sky Atlantic at 9pm tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 21 November, 2017, 08:15:48 PM
Pride and Prejudice, with Zombies.

Having HAD to watch countless cozzie dramas this finally made me like em...  funny if you know the source, and at last the characters have some decent motivation  :lol:   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Fungus on 22 November, 2017, 09:29:11 AM
Not really one of my threads, but:
Murder On The Orient Express

Enjoyed it a lot, due to the beautiful shots conjured up and that dramatic ending. Knew the twist going in - like 90% of us - but I doubt I've ever bothered to watch any version. Have a feeling the ending was modified a bit but then that's only a feeling rather than based on past reading/viewing.

Branagh seemed to mumble much of his dialogue and so some of it passed me by, while the accent faltered mid-sentence sometimes - to my ears - so that jarred a bit.

The finale made it for me. A sad tale, convincingly told. Moving, in fact.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 November, 2017, 10:36:31 AM
Quote from: Fungus on 22 November, 2017, 09:29:11 AM
Knew the twist going in - like 90% of us

I was part of the 10% demographic- really enjoyed the movie and the twist was great.

The other half has always been a Poirot fanatic (the box set is trotted out most Sunday's), so I may have to join her next time instead of burying my head into a comic or video game.

I'd definitely go back for seconds if Branagh does a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 November, 2017, 10:41:09 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 November, 2017, 10:36:31 AM
I'd definitely go back for seconds if Branagh does a sequel.

Box office has been pretty positive, so Death On The Nile is looking quite likely. I'd certainly be very happy to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 22 November, 2017, 10:44:55 AM
Welcome news indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 November, 2017, 12:00:42 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 November, 2017, 10:41:09 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 22 November, 2017, 10:36:31 AM
I'd definitely go back for seconds if Branagh does a sequel.

Box office has been pretty positive, so Death On The Nile is looking quite likely. I'd certainly be very happy to see it.

According to The Times today it's already in pre-production.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 24 November, 2017, 10:47:33 PM
I missed the Glasgow forum night out to watch The Destructors (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/no-129-destructors.html) - a piece of crap from Michael Caine's lesser period. That and having to fetch and carry the wife rom her night out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 26 November, 2017, 11:06:43 AM
Spiderman: Homecoming. I thought it was rather good with Tom Holland as Spidey and Michael Keaton excellent as the Cybersuited villain who had made a smart career choice after being laid off by the Spooks squad. It wasn't about saving the World; it had both humanism and humour plus a learning curve for the protagonist. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 November, 2017, 02:18:26 PM
Geostorm - one half of the Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich double act flies solo to make a film about terrorists hijacking the weather, and rather than it being just as awesome as that sounds, it is just as awful as that sounds, achieving the previously-unthinkable of making you believe the phrase "Roland Emmerich was the talented one."
I wanted it to be at least entertaining, but it is really poorly shot and the cast are next-level bad at acting to the point I felt sorry for Ed Harris.  I was really confused who the terrible actor was that looked like Gerard Butler so I had to Google it and holy shit it is actually Gerard Butler, who I never really rated but thought could do better than this.  According to the same wikipedia page, somehow Danny Cannon got roped into this for reshoots, too, so what I saw was apparently the film after it had been made better.
More like Geoshite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2017, 10:40:19 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 12 February, 2017, 05:15:00 PM
Finally got around to seeing 'Hacksaw Ridge' .. war has never looked so good.

The beginning is a bit schmaltzy and goes on too long but it was very good overall.
Its beautifully shot but the gory parts are really disturbing.

I think Gibson screwed the pooch with this one. The first battle sequence and Doss's  heroism are well portrayed (admittedly in a compressed for the movies timeframe) but despite Garfield giving it his all, the home sections are pure cheese, the drill camp is nothing we haven't seen 100 times before and the ending descends into war porn. And, by giving the major characters all a little "action movie hero" moment, it kind of undoes the message about the senselessness and randomness of it all.

And Vince Vaughn is least convincing drill sergeant ever. He looks even worse when he gets a grease gun in his hands.  He looks like he was the one who objected to handling guns. Give him a pie, however, and he looks like he knows what to do with that.

More like HackShit Ridge.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 December, 2017, 11:04:35 AM
Oh god the training camp sequences in Hacksaw Ridge are appalling.  If you imagine Mitchell and Web in the Vaughan and Garfield (or even Garfield and Vaughan) roles the dialogue is revealed as way more appropriate to a comedy spoof.  That feeling of unreality persists throughout, unforgivable when the factual subject matter itself is so utterly unlikely.  Even the battle sequences, while surely intense, have unreal backdrops: the cliff-climbing set itself looking vaguely like a Dr Who or Star Trek quarry. Annoying, when Gibson was quite capable of making the bizarre vistas of Apocalypto convincing, and Garfield acts his socks off to sell this incredible person. 

I'm very grateful this film brought Doss' story to my attention, and while there's a great film still to be made about him, this one isn't it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2017, 12:30:16 PM
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN also falls into the movie trap of giving everyone a little hero scene in the final battle. Whereas in the opening, you sigh with relief every time Tom Hanks shows up because you know HE isn't going to get his face shot off but every other GI is fair game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 02 December, 2017, 02:32:00 PM
The Actors (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/no-130-actors.html)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 December, 2017, 10:09:09 AM
The Evil Dead

I recently bought the Ash Vs Evil Dead Season 2 Blu-Ray (which I just finished this morning actually. I've seen plenty of criticism on one of the fan sites - not entirely without merit - but I thoroughly enjoyed it) so I rewatched the Blu-Ray (also recently purchased) of the first film The Evil Dead (original version) to prepare, as there is a returning character from that film in the series. (Apart from Ash, I mean.) [spoiler]Cheryl, played by the original actress. (Interestingly out of all the ladies of the Evil Dead, she has probably changed the least in over 30 years. She obviously looks older, but she is recognizable. ) Oh and Henrietta also comes back, played (partly) by Ted Raimi, but she is in the film sequel.[/spoiler]

Pretty enjoyable, I'd say. I think I prefer the second with it's blend of horror and insane comedy, but this is the better horror film. The acting isn't great. Some bits seem just a bit too nasty for the sake of it. [spoiler](did they really need the woodland rape scene and the thumbs through eyesockets, later?) And while I was critical of the remake for it's over use of self mutilation, I forgot that scene when Shelly chewed her own hand off for no particular reason apart from having it slashed by the Kandarian Dagger. I expect gore,
but there was no real reason for this. Mind you, there's no real reason for the spurting blood too, but I found that amusing.[/spoiler] The story and cinematography, however (especially, love Raimi's camera angles) is good. I also watched the remake recently, and while it was also enjoyable, I think I prefer the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 December, 2017, 12:22:52 PM
The gore needs no reason, it is and always will be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 December, 2017, 02:32:30 PM
Valerian. Gorgeous and a very fun film. I don't know why it didn't do better in the cinemas. This could have become a great franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 December, 2017, 03:03:08 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 04 December, 2017, 02:32:30 PM
Valerian. Gorgeous and a very fun film. I don't know why it didn't do better in the cinemas. This could have become a great franchise.

I disliked this quite a bit. Yes, it looks pretty but I found it rather vapid and populated with some pretty poor actors.

Only seen it the once mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 December, 2017, 03:29:03 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 04 December, 2017, 03:03:08 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 04 December, 2017, 02:32:30 PM
Valerian. Gorgeous and a very fun film. I don't know why it didn't do better in the cinemas. This could have become a great franchise.

I disliked this quite a bit. Yes, it looks pretty but I found it rather vapid and populated with some pretty poor actors.

Only seen it the once mind.

I can understand that. It was my first time seeing it. I guess I was in just the right headspace for this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 December, 2017, 07:26:24 AM
It's often been the case where I have had a negative reaction to a movie only to change my mind on subsequent viewings.

I shall purchase on blu ray when it comes out and see if I change my mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 December, 2017, 02:07:17 PM
Last night I watched Batman v Superman for the first and only time.  The best I can say about it is that it was boring.  I'm also really glad I have little to no personal investment in Batman or Superman.

The next film I'm likely to watch will be Superman from 1978.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 December, 2017, 08:11:14 PM
The Florida Project

An American has finally figured out how to Loach and results are tremendously affecting. Deftly edited, stunningly shot, flawless performances. Incredibly absorbing. Only very slightly let down by rare drifts into film-studies-symbolism. Worth watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 December, 2017, 08:56:04 PM
Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Just Make A Barbossa Movie Already arguably nails its colours to the mast with that bold and entirely accurate subtitle, with wife-beating Johnny Depp now officially ruining everything he's in for reasons other than his acting and the newb characters arguably not being too gifted in the charisma department based on this outing.
As usual, a succession of should-be-amazing setpieces are utterly wasted through an overabundance of too-obvious CGI, poor action direction and lazy editing, while the series continues to have problems with balancing tone and inconsistent characters, this time compounded by glaringly expository dialogue that tells rather than shows, and you will note that what it tells rather than shows is anything resembling a backstory or motivation for female characters: Sparrow gets entirely superfluous flashbacks to a time long before the movies began, new boy Turner gets lengthy scenes explaining his motivations in unnecessary detail, but the female lead gets to breathlessly list her backstory and motivations to a script NPC as an afterthought in a scene about Jack Sparrow, despite her backstory being something the film's finale hinges upon, as well as being revealed as significant to the arc of one of the series' primary characters.
More like Shites of the Shite: Shite Men Shite No Shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 December, 2017, 10:08:43 PM
Yep, PotC 5 is really poor. When the only reason that Depp isn't the worst thing in it is because Orlando Bloom has a lengthy cameo, you know something has gone terribly wrong. Geoffrey Rush tries very hard to save the sinkng ship but he's only one man and no one else seems to care that he's the main character on this one, and Javier Bardem *might* have been good but I was too mesmerised by his hair animation to notice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 December, 2017, 04:06:01 AM
The Disaster Artist.

Among the best cinematic experiences I've had in years, and easily the best and most accomplished thing James Franco or Seth Rogen have been involved with since Freaks and Geeks back in the day. I honestly think Franco deserves some serious awards recognition, and I also think that far from being one big insufferable inside joke (as I had feared), I even think people who have never heard of the film that inspired it will get a lot out of it - it's just so damn entertaining.

I honestly don't think I can remember hearing so much laughter during a film screening before - maybe the South Park movie? I think it helped a lot that it was a sold out screening at a cinema that shows The Room regularly, so I think there were a lot of fans there (though I can imagine the film perhaps going down less well in different circumstances).

It's also one of the only films where I would consider reading the full cast list a spoiler. Seriously, I can't believe who they got to be in this movie. I mean, there aren't any mega A list stars or anything like that, but seeing who they got for certain roles is such a delight.

So yeah, a high recommend.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 December, 2017, 01:42:42 PM
Rogue One - prompted by post-flu insomnia, another airing for the done-in-one SW outing, and this time I notice the mythical elements, particularly the ascent from darkness in the final climb up the data storage/communications tower only made possible by the rebirth of hope among those without it.  Base motivations keep characters dwelling in self-imposed purgatorial limbos until this point, best symbolised by Cassian's cold-bloodied killing of an informer so that he can climb to safety alone, later sacrificing himself for another so that they can do the same - he gets better from this sacrifice, but I wonder if this was in the original cut of the film?  Either way, it still works.
I originally viewed the film as episodic in structure - in fact, this was one of the main selling points for me, as it evoked the era of Star Wars (the Star Wars cash-in especially) if not the actual movies themselves - but I can appreciate now that it exists as a binary narrative across two hours, the first hour being hopelessness, the stories of murderers, terrorists, criminals, seditionists, people without a plan until the second hour, when they decide to make one and be pushed forward by it rather than be dragged down by inertia - no coincidence that this second hour is what most people liked about it, and rightly so, capturing as it does the Star Wars ethos of heroes that pay dearly for victory in pursuit of doing the right thing.  The rudderless Rebellion's spies and assassins gather as one and die so that the Rebellion can be reborn through hope and go forward without them or more importantly, the need for them, and avoid their inevitable decline into becoming a loose and warring web of factions akin to Guerrera's extremists.
I'm not sure if there's a meta component to the transition of the grimdark tropes of the modern blockbuster to the retro heroic fantasy narrative that propelled Luke & co so much as a basic incompatibility between the demands of both that arguably came through in the studio shitting bricks at the thought of releasing the film in its original form, but if you want to make a purely surface reading of the two movies, I think R1 works as a clearing of the decks of the Rebellion's terrorist baggage to become the purely heroic and admirable force it was in the original trilogy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 December, 2017, 03:15:01 PM
Nicely put. Reminded me of the two leaps made by the hero in Conrad's LORD JIM.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 December, 2017, 05:43:31 PM
Locke. Tom Hardy, a BMW and a telephone. That's it. What a fantastic little film - the man is such a phenomenal actor. He even makes concrete fascinating.

Recommended.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 06 December, 2017, 06:56:58 PM
Wow.... that's a lot to write about Rogue One.

It's complete crap though eh? Beautifully filmed, lovely looking, expensive.....but rubbish nonetheless.

Every time I've had to sit through it I've disliked it more and more. I had to sit through it again last Sunday when my dad was watching it......and I'm hoping it's the last time I'll ever have to sit through it again in this lifetime.

Roll on episode 8......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 December, 2017, 07:59:32 PM
It's not as bad as The Force Awakens, and we can ask no more of it than that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 December, 2017, 08:23:30 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 06 December, 2017, 07:59:32 PM
It's not as bad as The Force Awakens, and we can ask no more of it than that.

Faint praise indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 December, 2017, 08:49:06 PM
It's actually a much better film than its critical reputation suggests, it's just that a lot of its problems are "Cinema Sins problems", IE: not.
This is not to say there isn't still plenty wrong both objectively and - more importantly - relative to everyone knowing the film was extensively re-shot.  I don't actually think that bit with Jyn walking along that platform and not encountering a TIE Fighter will ever be seen objectively, for instance, and a lot will be dismissed as either action sequences (the climb, Vader's massacre of Rebel troops), while a lot of the visual themes - particularly Edwards' use of light and shadow as narrative foreshadowing - will probably get no more of a nod than the bit where the Death Star eclipses the sun being a bit like that bit in TFA.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 December, 2017, 09:09:22 PM
Quote from: SIP on 06 December, 2017, 06:56:58 PM
Wow.... that's a lot to write about Rogue One.

Nice to see you engage with a reasoned critique in such a sensible way. "I didn't like it, so everyone else is wrong."

Well, I did like it, so clearly you're wrong. Glad we sorted that out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 06 December, 2017, 09:36:20 PM
I've done my reasoned critique earlier in thread (or in a star wars thread). I thought that this thread was for people to say whether they liked a film or not? To offer their opinion?

Plenty of one line reviews here doing exactly that.

And so, in my opinion,  it was rubbish.

And for the record, nowhere do I recall telling anyone else what they should like or that they are wrong to like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 December, 2017, 06:52:50 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 December, 2017, 09:09:22 PM
Quote from: SIP on 06 December, 2017, 06:56:58 PM
Wow.... that's a lot to write about Rogue One.

Nice to see you engage with a reasoned critique in such a sensible way. "I didn't like it, so everyone else is wrong."

Well, I did like it, so clearly you're wrong. Glad we sorted that out.

It's my favourite Star Wars film  :-[ :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 07:10:04 AM
Ha ha. Fair enough!

For sheer lack of creativity and originality, unlikeable shallow  characters, choppy disjointed storytelling and continuity disasters, it's my least favourite Star Wars movie. It's soulless like none of the others are......and there are admittedly some turkeys in there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 10:07:35 AM
"Soulless" is an utterly bizarre reading of Rogue One.  Of all the Star Wars films, I can't think of a single one that sledgehammers home - to the point many people counted it as a major criticism of the film - the importance of undiluted moral certainty in service to others, and how it can lead to redemption for even the worst of people, but at great cost.  Rogue One is borderline biblical in its morality and the depiction of the cost of doing good, which in itself is fascinating when contrasted with the Eastern mythical cycle that Lucas famously drew upon for his SW films.
As for shallow characters, well, you've got me there.  This is the only Star Wars film that uses archetypes, and it's just a shame that it didn't have the characters be unlikable on purpose so they could be redeemed or something.

MEANWHILE, IN THE FORCE AWAKENS
Finn: "because it's the right thing to do"
Audience: "I am entirely satisfied with that motivation and Finn is one of my favorite characters now."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 10:56:21 AM
I'm really not putting forward a bizarre opinion here, plenty feel the same.

I genuinely didn't care about the demise of a single character in Rogue One, not one, and I'm an emotional wreck at the best of times. It just made no impact whatsoever. Not a flicker.

The film feels like an emotion vacuum, a by the numbers get from A to B.

I just genuinely didn't care......and it isn't like I didn't want to! I'm a star wars fan by all accounts, but this film is a frustrating, empty, what could have been experience for me.

And never in 2 hours of cinema has the word "pilot" been used so much.....if it was a drinking game, you'd need a liver transplant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 December, 2017, 11:39:05 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 10:07:35 AM
MEANWHILE, IN THE FORCE AWAKENS
Finn: "because it's the right thing to do"
Audience: "I am entirely satisfied with that motivation and Finn is one of my favorite characters now."

Bad example!  Finn is instantly rumbled as lying on this point - pure terror of 'reconditioning' is his sole motivation in that scene, indeed his main motive throughout: until he realises that Rey is more important to him than his fear of the First Order.

R1 isn't my kind of SW film, but I have to agree that the thematic structure and moral trajectory is rock solid, starting with Saw staring down into the darkness where Jynis hiding alone, and intoning "we have a long journey ahead of us".  Where  I think the movie slips up (other than the irritating cameos and Uncanny Equatorial Trench issues) is in not nailing down Jyn's character - as the pole that gives everyone else direction she needed to be something more than the vague mess of Daddy issues she comes across as. I accept that at some point after Eadu she is selfless and driven, and everyone rallies around the force of her conviction, but I don't really know when or why that happened.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 December, 2017, 11:42:22 AM
SUPERMAN (1978)  After watching Man of Steel and Batman v Superman this film was so refreshing to revisit.  I had not seen since I was a little kid.  It had some wonderful moments alongside some silly and cheesy moments.  It's an engaging film that only seems to drag at one point (the flying scene with Lois - my least favourite part of the film).  The actors did a good job and I loved all the characters.  For all its faults I feel it still holds up and does a good job of introducing the Superman character.

As for Rogue One, I liked that film more than Force Awakens.  It is probably my favourite Star Wars movie.  It's a weird film because I knew they were going to get the plans and die at the end, so the film became more about the journey than the destination.  I actually liked the characters and finding out what they were about and felt that through them they fleshed out the universe more adding new dimensions.  Sure, I can see why some don't like it, but I can see that with every Star Wars film.  As a stand-alone film it is an entertaining sci-fi romp and that is how I enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 04:29:21 PM
Quote from: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 10:56:21 AM
I'm really not putting forward a bizarre opinion here, plenty feel the same.

If it makes you feel any better, it's perfectly okay for them to be wrong, too.

Quote from: TordelBack on 07 December, 2017, 11:39:05 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 10:07:35 AM
MEANWHILE, IN THE FORCE AWAKENS
Finn: "because it's the right thing to do"
Audience: "I am entirely satisfied with that motivation and Finn is one of my favorite characters now."

Bad example!  Finn is instantly rumbled as lying on this point - pure terror of 'reconditioning' is his sole motivation in that scene, indeed his main motive throughout: until he realises that Rey is more important to him than his fear of the First Order.

Not really, as my point was the double standard applied: Rogue One is subject to surface readings at best, but The Force Awakens gets a pass for almost identical non-problems.  People will make the effort for the Skywalker series, but not R1, although I do like my mate's opinion hand grenade that he likes to throw into the room on this subject: "funny how no-one can decide exactly why they don't like the only Star Wars film with gay characters in it."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 05:35:47 PM
I should carry on debating at this point........but life's too short to argue the validity of my opinion.

I'll think twice before giving my opinion on a film in the film thread in future. The hostile reception isn't much fun (much like "Rogue One").
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 December, 2017, 05:44:05 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 04:29:21 PM
Not really, as my point was the double standard applied: Rogue One is subject to surface readings at best, but The Force Awakens gets a pass for almost identical non-problems.

Very valid point, was just pointIng out that 'right thing to do' wasn't ever Finn's motivation, and his claim to that effect was immediately shot down. Very simple, clear motivations are one of the strengths of TFA, IMHO (in stark contrast  to the prequels). OTOH the more complex motivations in R1 are one of  its strengths -  I find Cassian a particularly compelling character, Bodhi and Galen too,  and wish we'd had more time with them. The iate addition of the Kafreen murder scene was genius.
I just struggle with Jyn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 December, 2017, 06:05:26 PM
For me, the writing in Rogue One and TFA was equally weak, but the difference was charm. TFA went out of its way to endear the audience to these characters - for whatever reason (and I know its subjective up to a point) I just instinctively liked Finn and Rey, and I wanted them to succeed. Their motivations and backstories make little sense, and it puts a lot of the heavy lifting on the charisma of the actors, but it just about works well enough to get me to overlook a lot of flaws in the writing.

Rogue One is just plain dour. Despite having some genuinely great actors in the cast (Riz Ahmed ftw) they are squandered and/or underused, and Felicity Jones is fatally miscast as the lead imo. And because I don't like or care about any of the cast, I never felt invested in the story, and no amount of technical wizardry can hold my attention.

Anyway...

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Predictably great, but a lot heavier than the trailer would suggest. It's still peppered with moments of humour, but man, this is one bleak movie. Beautifully shot and acted - I was absorbed for the full running time, and it'll stay with me for a long time. Oh, and when DC inevitably recasts the Joker, they could do a lot worse than Caleb Landry Jones. Guy has such a unique look about him.

5/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2017, 07:47:14 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 December, 2017, 05:44:05 PM
I just struggle with Jyn.

She is a bit vapor, but it could be argued that this is the point, as without higher purpose Jyn is nothing - she's not even particularly gifted as a pilot like Luke was, or gifted as a pilot, lightsaber duellist, Force user, martial artist and mechanical genius like Rey was.
Jyn's only world after her parents being the goals of the Rebellion as filtered through Saw, when Saw cut her loose - presumably in a moment of self-awareness about what happens to people around him - she had literally nothing in her life and became the unremarkable petty criminal we see in the opening scenes of the film - we never even get to see any of her crimes because they - like Jyn - are nothing of note.  Choosing hope is Jyn's salvation from inconsequence and mediocrity much as Rey or Luke's taking up the call to adventure was.

It is a shame that she wasn't a bit more memorable away from her sacrifice, really, otherwise she might have got some of the credit rather than it all going to the Bothans, whom I presume are a race of PR people or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 07:53:25 PM
The bothans relate to the information collected on the emperor and Death Star 2 from Return of the Jedi. The thieves of the original death star plans from new hope are only referred to as " rebel spies".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 December, 2017, 08:49:57 PM
Quote from: SIP on 07 December, 2017, 07:53:25 PM
The bothans relate to the information collected on the emperor and Death Star 2 from Return of the Jedi. The thieves of the original death star plans from new hope are only referred to as " rebel spies".

(http://www.bluemilkspecial.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-01-02-ROTJ-100.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 December, 2017, 09:53:45 AM
Watched What Happened To Monday on Netflix the other night, had a really good time. It's got a really neat concept and does some fun things with it, and I have to say it was genuinely unpredictable. It kept going to places we didn't expect and that's a bit of a rarity these days, it's quite a gritty set-up but then it has a lot of fun throwing in WTF moments. We had a blast. Bonus is if you like Noomi Rapace (and I love Noomi Rapace) she plays 7 characters and does a great job of them all. It's impressive from a technical standpoint and is impressively executed in such a way that after the initial 'WOW THERE ARE LIKE 7 NOOMIS AT THIS DINNER TABLE' moment you just stop thinking about it. Could have been gimmicky but really didn't feel that way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2017, 10:34:12 AM
Batman (1989)  I always liked this film.  Definitely one of Tim Burtons better movies.  It was kind of weird watching this after Superman as the two films sort of feel like they are in the same universe.  I don't have much in the way of criticisms, the film is what it is and I enjoy it for that.  I think it holds up well enough that it doesn't diminish the nostalgia I have for the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 December, 2017, 01:11:06 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 08 December, 2017, 10:34:12 AM
Batman (1989)  I always liked this film.  Definitely one of Tim Burtons better movies.  It was kind of weird watching this after Superman as the two films sort of feel like they are in the same universe.  I don't have much in the way of criticisms, the film is what it is and I enjoy it for that.  I think it holds up well enough that it doesn't diminish the nostalgia I have for the film.

I didn't really like this film when it came out (after loving the Superman films) because I'd been reading the London Editions Batman reprints and for me Batman was athletic and fast moving. I couldn't quite accept an armoured version of Batman.
I didn't like Jack Nicholson's Joker much either - mainly because I'd read The Killing Joke and much preferred that version of the character and his origin.
Now I'm older and wiser I can accept almost any version of Batman as there have been so many. I actually think this is about as good as Batman films ever got. I far prefer this to Nolan's stuff (I still think the scarred gangster version of Joker is the least interesting direction for the character though).
The comic adaptation of this film is good too - lovely artwork.

Unfortunately Batman Returns is still shite, being one of Burton's dark fairytales (yawn) with a Batman veneer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 December, 2017, 03:51:56 PM
I was with you all the way to that last sentence - I prefer Batman Returns to the first one - everything else is in place but DeVito and Pfeiffer are much more interesting (and better acted) villains than Nicholson's Joker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 December, 2017, 04:43:32 PM
The model work in BATMAN looked shockingly bad on first release. Now it looks risible and unforgiveably amateurish.

(And I also like Walken in Bateman Returns).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2017, 04:45:55 PM
Batman Returns certainly has a different feel to it and that's pretty well established from the start.  It has a fantastic cast who gave it their all.  It is the sort of film I liked Tim Burton for.  This kinda dark camp thing.  I like Batman Returns and find it very enjoyable to watch, but I get that it has niche aesthetics like much of Burton's work.

Nolan's Batman was fine.  I didn't like them as much as Burton's, but they had their merits and they aren't unwatchable (except maybe the last one).  First time I watched Dark Knight I did get bored and I didn't become a fan of Ledger's Joker.  The third film was a chore to watch and I'd probably prefer to watch Forever again over that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 December, 2017, 06:00:43 PM
I like the difference in approach between the first Burton and first Nolan Batman movies — Burton tries to give us a world in which Batman makes sense; Nolan tries to give us a Batman who makes sense in the world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 December, 2017, 06:25:20 PM
There are three good Batman movies; the two Tim Burton efforts and Adam West. You can keep the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JLC on 08 December, 2017, 09:42:26 PM
Mother!  :cool:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 December, 2017, 10:00:35 AM
Batman Begins
After speaking here about Batman movies I decided to rewatch this.  I appreciated the vision behind the film and think that it was executed well enough to be entertaining, but I don't think it accomplishes a more serious and realistic Batman very well.  The Scarecrow is also severely underused and one thing I like about watching Batman movies is the villains.  I would have liked to have seen a better Scarecrow villain because he appeared in the first Judge Dredd comic I ever read.  At times it felt like it was trying to cram too much into its run time with it's various themes, plot points and two villains.

I prefer it to the sequel because I have similar problems with Dark Knight, just amplified.  Nevertheless, I don't find them unwatchable and lacking entertainment.  I may have to give Dark Knight Rises another go at some point as I think I've only seen it once (certainly not more than twice) and I felt that film to be boring and stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 December, 2017, 11:48:16 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 December, 2017, 10:00:35 AM
Batman Begins
I may have to give Dark Knight Rises another go at some point as I think I've only seen it once (certainly not more than twice) and I felt that film to be boring and stupid.

You're not far wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 December, 2017, 09:22:49 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.

Me too. The only Batman Sequel from those films  I disliked was Batman and Robin.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 December, 2017, 09:54:46 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.
You're a good lad, Colin. Always thought the ridiculous head-shaped skyscrapers and whatnot made a better Gotham than Burton's gothica.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2017, 10:59:19 AM
The Hitman's Bodyguard is an fine film.  I enjoyed Ryan Reynolds because I usually do.  Samuel L. Jackson's character shines the most probably because the care free attitude is not something I'm used to see from the actor.  The story has a nice enough premise, being an action odd-couple plot, but it all comes across as pretty generic.  The comedy was pretty standard, not really making me laugh.  It was merely endearing.  I'd definitely recommend it for a watch if you like both of the lead actors.  Salma Hayek puts in a good performance as well with her screen time being a highlight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2017, 11:53:35 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.

The only Batman film I've struggled to get through, as it's not quite bad enough to be entertaining like the Burtons are, good enough to be compelling like the Nolans are, or even objectively interesting as a piece of cinema like Batman and Robin or BvS were.  I'm not even criticising Batman Forever here, it's just sort of... there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 December, 2017, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2017, 11:53:35 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.

The only Batman film I've struggled to get through, as it's not quite bad enough to be entertaining like the Burtons are, good enough to be compelling like the Nolans are, or even objectively interesting as a piece of cinema like Batman and Robin or BvS were.  I'm not even criticising Batman Forever here, it's just sort of... there.

It has possibly the worst Batmobile ever seen on film, along with the worst haircut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2017, 08:30:15 PM
I did watch Batman Forever a few months back because a friend really likes it and I thought I'd give it another shot (although I did manage to convince him that Keaton is the better Batman/Bruce Wayne) and I was actually surprised.  It had some really good scenes in there and started quite strong but then it just fell apart piece by piece until we got a bad Adam West Batman pastiche at the end.  It's a mixed bag.

Still, I chuckled when I heard the "Holey rusted metal, Batman" line, just like I did when I saw it in the cinema as a kid.  That was a kinda nice moment for me as age has removed the nostalgic veneer off many a beloved childhood entertainment property.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2017, 10:47:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 10 December, 2017, 07:14:49 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2017, 11:53:35 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 08 December, 2017, 07:43:43 PM
I really like Batman Forever... I know, I know, but I do.

The only Batman film I've struggled to get through, as it's not quite bad enough to be entertaining like the Burtons are, good enough to be compelling like the Nolans are, or even objectively interesting as a piece of cinema like Batman and Robin or BvS were.  I'm not even criticising Batman Forever here, it's just sort of... there.

It has possibly the worst Batmobile ever seen on film, along with the worst haircut.

I kind of liked that Val Kilmer looked like Jim Aparo's Batman.  If you step back and strip out the camp and overacting, the film seems very much like a Denny O'Neill Batman story from the 1970s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 December, 2017, 02:59:00 PM
I think I prefer Forever to Returns. In some ways it feels more like a sequel to the first film in that the villains are once again criminals rather than supernatural fairy-tale characters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 December, 2017, 03:51:31 PM
Keeping on the Batman vibe, we threw on The Dark Knight Rises last night for the first time since it originally came out. Haven't gone back to it in the same way I do the first two and I think because we've seen it the least the whim took us.

Have to say, really enjoyed it, a lot more than I expected to. Was pretty disappointed with it on release, but with enough distance from that I think it holds up really well. It's hard to get away from how unintentionally comical Hardy's delivery is though, the weird accent and voice processing (not to mention the fact his voice is ADR'd and mixed way louder than the rest of the dialogue so never sits in the scenes well) gives his lines a bit of a Schwarzenegger quality where a lot of them elicit a chuckle when they really shouldn't. On the original IMAX preview we saw he was pretty muffled, but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.

Still, that aside, really liked it. Begins is still my favorite though, and seems to be the one that stands up to repeated viewings the best (for me).

Also finally watched The Martian, which was brilliant. Had loved the book and they really did a great job of adapting it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 December, 2017, 08:57:20 PM
Justice league, a short  while ago.

I enjoyed that. Kind of lightweight and predictable, but it was fun enough. Flash was probably the highlight character. [spoiler]And the lasso of truth led to a very amusing moment with Aquaman.[/spoiler]

Oh and those who got a bit irate when a photo of amazon's showing a lot of skin was posted*, don't worry. Most are more covered than that. Mind you the couple that are dressed that way are guards which is still a bit silly, but point is: that article way took things out of proportion.

The  armour is of the boobicentric kind though, but then again I believe it was in Wonder Woman too. Diana's certainly is in both films.

*and comparing it to the amazon's clothing in Wonder Woman and thus highighting the naughtiness of male directors and their tokenism of ladyflesh compared to their female counterparts. To be fair I did an eye role at the time too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 December, 2017, 11:23:25 PM
Took the boys along for their first, my second viewing of JUSTICE LEAGUE. I still liked it and they gave it a thumbs up too.

The plot timing is all over the place though.

And some of the Amazons do look like something out of a perfume advert; skinny super models on skimpy outfits swinging big hammers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 December, 2017, 12:01:05 AM
Yep, those were the guards I was referring to. I think they were guards anyway, posted near the doors then [spoiler]blocking the way of Steppenwolf. [/spoiler] The rest seemed to be attired with full torso armour. That I noticed, with my dark 3D glasses. (Concerning the 3D, it was nice enough but I stopped noticing it fairly early. That chasmic view between the city blocks made my belly feel slightly funny, though. Heh.) 

Incidentally, I wonder with Steppenwolf's repetitive [spoiler] references to a mother, if Darkseid is going to turn out to be female in this incarnation [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 December, 2017, 08:17:58 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 December, 2017, 03:51:31 PM
but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.


Are you listening through and amp?

I find this constantly and recently took to going through my amp and turning the centre speaker up quite a bit and the front and back L & R down so it's more ambient. Took me about an hour in all but I finally have a mix that has worked on all of the discs I have thrown at it and is also very good for Dolby EX for shows like The Walking Dead and live football where I think the centre speaker is often drowned out by the front and rear L & R.
Worth taking the time and playing with the settings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 December, 2017, 09:38:05 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 12 December, 2017, 08:17:58 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 December, 2017, 03:51:31 PM
but I'm sure they could have found a middle ground. Also, the sound mix in general was pretty awful and I had to spend the whole movie riding the volume to try and make sure we could hear the dialogue but wouldn't terrify the neighbors when the next explosion happened. Quite often a problem with a lot of blu-rays these days, but this seemed particularly bad for it.


Are you listening through and amp?

I find this constantly and recently took to going through my amp and turning the centre speaker up quite a bit and the front and back L & R down so it's more ambient. Took me about an hour in all but I finally have a mix that has worked on all of the discs I have thrown at it and is also very good for Dolby EX for shows like The Walking Dead and live football where I think the centre speaker is often drowned out by the front and rear L & R.
Worth taking the time and playing with the settings.

Actually, now that you mention it I realize that's something I did with our old amp years ago but haven't done since we replaced it quite recently. This time around I used the auto-calibration thing (where you sit a mic where your head will be and it tunes the system for you) but I'll definitely jump into the settings and give that centre speaker a bump. Some films have been fine (the three Ridley Scott movies I watched recently were all crystal clear) but with other things the dialogue is definitely getting lost.

The blu-ray player on the Xbox does have a Dynamic Range Control on it which in theory would be a great fix, but it doesn't really seem to be helping, although my understanding is it only works with certain audio formats. Thanks for the advice!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 December, 2017, 11:02:15 AM
I did the initial set up with the mic in the middle of the room too but as we are quite spaced out in our living room it worked to a degree but then I fussed about with it until everyone was happy (and what a fun Sunday afternoon that was! lol).

I bumped the centre by a fair chunk and lowered the rears by quite a bit and the front left and right by a smaller margin.

Definitely improved my viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 December, 2017, 04:15:24 PM
Caught Paddington 2 at the Hebden Bridge Picturehouse last night. Just like the first, pretty much a perfect 'family' movie. Heartfelt, funny and never overly saccharine with just enough quirk and bombast to keep a children's story moving for the adults. I felt like the CGI bear was slightly worse this time around but I suspect the cinema might just not have been quite in focus. The ending was immediately obvious from the second Paddington spotted the book,[spoiler]given how everyone has a Notting Hill mansion I reckon they could easily afford a plane ticket from Peru without clubbing together[/spoiler] but of course, such a thing is not really the point. Great performances all round with Ben Whishaw's voice-acting fitting the bear's expressions perfectly - can't imagine Colin Firth in the role anymore - and Brendon Gleeson being, as always, the highlight of the supporting cast. Special mention also has to go to Hugh Laurie whose faded West End star shines brighter than the villains of the last movie, even if the plot is a little Dan Brown this time around.

The cynical part of me can't help but watch even this pleasant stuff without comparing this London to the London I lived in. In Paddington, the ordinary people live wonderful lives. It's a world where only the well-off live, with average people living in the multimillion quid properties of Portobello road rather than cramming into shared rooms, studio flats and other grinding conversions of decent properties. There's no Grenfell tower scarring the skyline. I'd very much like to live there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 December, 2017, 07:37:34 PM
x 10. It's Tom Hardy in a car on for the phone for 90 minutes and it's absolutely riveting.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 06 December, 2017, 05:43:31 PM
Locke. Tom Hardy, a BMW and a telephone. That's it. What a fantastic little film - the man is such a phenomenal actor. He even makes concrete fascinating.

Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 December, 2017, 07:49:23 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 December, 2017, 04:15:24 PMThe cynical part of me can't help but watch even this pleasant stuff without comparing this London to the London I lived in. In Paddington, the ordinary people live wonderful lives. It's a world where only the well-off live, with average people living in the multimillion quid properties of Portobello road rather than cramming into shared rooms, studio flats and other grinding conversions of decent properties. There's no Grenfell tower scarring the skyline. I'd very much like to live there.

You Canary-reading remoaners always have to politicise everything - because you lost.  Get over it already: it's just a film about a brown guy who comes to live in England and when he benefits from acceptance and tolerance he returns it and improves the lives of those in his adopted community for the better and everyone is happier for it - stop looking for some kind of message.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 12 December, 2017, 08:11:18 PM
Really?  Because I thought it was all about an illegal immigrant who cons his way into the home of some bleeding heart lefty liberal sandal wearing sap, sponges off him and his family and plays the authorities for muppets.  A stark portrait of how easily this country is being overrun by benefit tourists who know what heart strings to pull on.  Sure we're talking about the same film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 December, 2017, 08:15:45 PM
LIFE

I highly recommend it. I found it to be viscerally unsettling, almost like torture porn, just waiting for the next person to die. A great example of its type. Its type being stupid humes being killed in space.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 December, 2017, 09:15:14 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 12 December, 2017, 08:11:18 PMSure we're talking about the same film?

There's a bit where Paddington - who I remind you is brown - is running on The Underground with a suitcase and not once is he shot to death by our hard-working bobbies.*  Talk about a liberal fantasy - what if this was actually a Die Hard film and Paddington had a bomb because the film had a different plot?  Dozens of fictional people could have died because of revisionist cuck libtard cultural Marxism.




*who are simultaneously worth every penny and yet also overpaid.  While also being up against it and yet also there are too many of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 13 December, 2017, 05:50:13 AM
Ah, there we go.  I remember now!  To top it all off, the liberal 'fake news' press then try to portray Paddington as an innocent bystander who was attempting to deliver his dirty suitcase bomb to MI5 HQ for defusing rather than to kill hundreds of valiant servants of the state.  They glossed over his final words: "Death to the Imperialists!  Long Live the People's Party of Peru!  (But not the Peruvian People's Party, Splitters!)" and tried to spin them as a mistranslation of "Quick, run for your lives before this bomb explodes!"  Like you say, they tried to sell the idea that he was racially profiled due to the colour of his fur and that if he was a Polar Bear then it would never have happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 December, 2017, 10:34:38 AM
Exactly - if all of that had happened rather than what actually happened, it would have been carnage in that film.  You couldn't make it up - and they didn't!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 13 December, 2017, 03:36:26 PM
The Michael Caine-a-thon continues with The Island (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/no-131-island.html) (not the Ewan McGregor / Scarlett Johansson one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 December, 2017, 05:10:16 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 13 December, 2017, 03:36:26 PM
The Michael Caine-a-thon continues with The Island (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/no-131-island.html) (not the Ewan McGregor / Scarlett Johansson one).

Shite as it maybe I still enjoyed it. Cheesy beyond belief but still fun. Who doesn't like pirates that aren't Johnny Depp?  :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2017, 07:35:30 PM
Ghost In The Shell features a running theme about the theft of distinctive identities in order to produce shallow knock-offs that can service the bottom line of large faceless corporations, which to me seemed like the last thread they should have been tugging upon but here we are.  Scarlett Johannsson fights terrorists by advertising Soda Stream in real life, but she also fights them in films by living in a CGI version of Hong Kong where all the major characters are played by Caucasian actors and an animatronic replica of Takeshi Kitano, and where binmen carry machine guns and invisibility cloaks.  Where Kusanagi in the anime was a study in laconic confidence, the Scarbo version is instead insecure and neurotic thanks to the introduction of a moody teenager backstory, and where once the property could explore the inherent dichotomy of any gender identity that's placed upon a synthetic human, the American version has simplified the theme to "she's a lipstick lezzer" via a seemingly tacked-on scene where she nearly makes out with a hooka.
I know it probably seems unfair to keep harking back to previous iterations of this material, but you see, not doing so is impossible, as for some reason the majority of the film's visuals and plot is replicated from the 1990s anime despite a lot of that looking the way it did because of the constraints of animation and the mangaka visual sensibility of creator Masamune Shirow and director Mamoru Oshii, though the one thing they seem to have got right is the clumsy English dialogue, which sounds exactly as bad as 1990s anime dubs did.

I'm overthinking this.  The film misses the point on almost every level and yet is also too slavish to the '95 anime.  It would have been better if they'd just concentrated on making an action film with these characters in it, because this is just garbage.
More like Ghost in the SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 December, 2017, 11:16:36 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2017, 07:35:30 PM
...
More like Ghost in the SHITE.

I am getting perverse satisfaction in enjoying negative takes on the live action Ghost in the Shell.  From the '95 film to the second series of SAC, GitS is one of my favourite sci-fi properties.  The idea of a hollywood live action version annoyed me and the more I heard about what they were doing with it, the more annoyed I became.  Your view pretty much sums up what I thought it would end up being.  More reason for me not to bother with it.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 December, 2017, 05:57:24 PM
Caine does more definite work in The Hand (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/no-132-hand.html) - well worth a look if you like big piles of crap!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 December, 2017, 07:47:23 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 December, 2017, 05:57:24 PM
Caine does more definite work in The Hand (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/no-132-hand.html) - well worth a look if you like big piles of crap!

Oh God I remember this back in the day when renting a video was an exciting threat and this one sounded so exciting and cool... it wasn't
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 December, 2017, 08:11:08 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 December, 2017, 11:16:36 AMI am getting perverse satisfaction in enjoying negative takes on the live action Ghost in the Shell.

"How Not To Adapt A Movie." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2soHxEN79c)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 20 December, 2017, 08:29:39 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 12 December, 2017, 09:15:14 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 12 December, 2017, 08:11:18 PMSure we're talking about the same film?

There's a bit where Paddington - who I remind you is brown - is running on The Underground with a suitcase and not once is he shot to death by our hard-working bobbies.*  Talk about a liberal fantasy - what if this was actually a Die Hard film and Paddington had a bomb because the film had a different plot?  Dozens of fictional people could have died because of revisionist cuck libtard cultural Marxism.

Assuming I've understood you both correctly, this wants to be a Richard Curtis film but fails because it has a non-white character who (a) has a speaking role and (b) isn't married to Keira Knightley?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 December, 2017, 12:47:03 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 20 December, 2017, 08:11:08 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 December, 2017, 11:16:36 AMI am getting perverse satisfaction in enjoying negative takes on the live action Ghost in the Shell.

"How Not To Adapt A Movie." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2soHxEN79c)

I caught that video ;)

The montage scene from the '95 film that he mentions is my favourite scene out of all the movies I watch and still evokes an emotional response as strongly as the first time I saw it, if not more.  Director Mamoru Oshii uses these types of scenes in many (certainly all that I've seen) of his films and this one is still my favourite.  There is always a point to them as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 December, 2017, 08:46:25 PM
Bright - Netflix debut.

Has been absolutely slated by the critics, called the worst movie of 2017. Which is pretty much moth to a flame for me. Also wanted to see what a $90m Netflix movie looked like.

I'm not sure how much of the bad reviews are because Max Landis wrote it, the weird premise, that it's a way to stick it Netflix, as it's pretty much Alien Nation but swapping aliens out and replacing them with orcs/elves etc.

Average yes - worst movie of 2017? Hmm.

The first 40 mins are the most interesting - once the elf squad gets involved it's a bit of a re-run of Fifth Element combined with Underworld.

Personally I wanted to see more of the [spoiler]Centaur mounted division[/spoiler]

Joel Edgerton was really good in it, Will Smith was Will Smith...

I'd put it around a C+ to B- something like RIPD

Mind you critics were raving (for the most part) about the Last Jedi, which I thought had some issues so what do I know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 December, 2017, 09:59:09 PM
I know this isn't really what some would call a quote-unquote "high bar" but Landis hasn't raped anyone so Bright is a must-see for me.  Ahead of a single frame of it being shot, he legit Tweeted (now deleted) that Bright was going to be the next Star Wars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 22 December, 2017, 10:27:57 PM
More of a soundbite than the next Resident Evil/Underworld

They've greenlit a sequel anyway.

Overblown criticism on this just makes critics look like idiots, and the flipside of those sending out a petition about the Last Jedi.

We had an emoji movie in 2017 with Sir Pat voicing an animated turd, I can't imagine Bright is even close to the 'worst movie of 2017'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 23 December, 2017, 09:10:44 AM
I'm looking forward to watching Bright over the Cmas holiday - I thought it looked pretty good from the trailer.
If anything's ever going to be the 'new Star Wars' (unlikely) I'd like it to be the remake of Nightbreed. Clive Barker always intended the original to be to the horror genre what Star Wars is to sci-fI/fantasy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 December, 2017, 01:12:21 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 22 December, 2017, 09:59:09 PM
I know this isn't really what some would call a quote-unquote "high bar" but Landis hasn't raped anyone so Bright is a must-see for me.

wah wah wah waaaahhh (https://www.themarysue.com/sexual-assault-allegations-landis-twitter)

Despite that I enjoyed Bright quite a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 24 December, 2017, 09:05:02 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 23 December, 2017, 09:10:44 AMIf anything's ever going to be the 'new Star Wars' (unlikely) I'd like it to be the remake of Nightbreed. Clive Barker always intended the original to be to the horror genre what Star Wars is to sci-fI/fantasy.

Overall, it's more than a bit of a mess (although I rated it quite highly at the tender age of 19), but there are some really good moments in it. The monster designs and David Cronenberg's performance in particular stand out. I understand a Director's Cut came out in 2014, but from what I've read it's not very good, sadly.

I'd like to see a remake, as long as the monsters were physical, not CGI (I've no problem with CGI, but the quality of the physical make-up stood out in the original, so I think it's important to pay tribute to that). I can't see a remake being an 18, though - it's too good a merchandising opportunity.

Perhaps a TV series, exploring the backstories of the monsters?

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 December, 2017, 09:52:30 AM
Bright. Enjoyable disposable tosh. Exactly what you expect but Smith is charasmatic and carries it. Bit too much swearing in it; lots of "shit" to "mofo". Glad I checked that out before putting it on for my niece!

Miles better than Last Jedi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 December, 2017, 02:55:57 PM
Star Trek: Beyond

Quite enjoyable but dragged a bit in the middle. I'm not sure why it has such negative reviews. Okay the science is a bit dodgy, but it often is in Star Trek.

Nice to see the Enterprise era ship, too! [spoiler](Actually, from the captain's experiences it should be post Enterprise, but the technology seems to be a bit before. Unless they gave him a ship with old tech....) I.e,by the end of Enterprise they were equipped with Photonic Torpedoes and the transporter was used fairly frequently to move personnel. The ex-captain claimed to have fought in the Romulan war, however...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 December, 2017, 05:00:23 PM
Bright.

I quite enjoyed that.
It wasn't a very 'nice' film and could have done with some optimistic characters. Far, far too much swearing. The running time should have been cut down to about 90mins.
Generally speaking it was pretty good though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 December, 2017, 05:47:40 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 24 December, 2017, 02:55:57 PMNice to see the Enterprise era ship, too! [spoiler](Actually, from the captain's experiences it should be post Enterprise, but the technology seems to be a bit before. Unless they gave him a ship with old tech....) I.e,by the end of Enterprise they were equipped with Photonic Torpedoes and the transporter was used fairly frequently to move personnel. The ex-captain claimed to have fought in the Romulan war, however...[/spoiler]

He was also supposed to have been involved in the Xindi incident, though there were only about two Macos that made it back from that, and I think I would have remembered Dris being one of them.
Continuing the Enterprise nitpicking, tho: an anti-alien xenophobe using advanced mining tech and a superweapon against Starfleet vessels is basically Peter Weller's season four Enterprise baddie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 December, 2017, 09:48:25 PM
Ghostbusters (2016).  Wait, what?  Against my expectations, that was a perfectly enjoyable film, and markedly better than GB2.  It lacked the brilliantly defined character roles of the first one, and humour and tone were miles away, but it worked.  The four leads and Hemsworth played off each other well (and warmly), the improv-y dialogue bits were strong, some nice ideas (the Ghostbusters logo [spoiler]itself as the big baddie [/spoiler]was cool) and it had quite a decent plot.  I thought Leslie Jones was particularly funny, and her Patty the best of the characters. I'm sorry we won't see more of the new team, TBH.

My main complaints would be uneven pacing (as usual in so many modern wannabe 'blockbusters'), and that with the teensiest bit of tweaking (e.g. Erin and Abby's book was a scientific analysis of the original Zuul incident instead) it would have worked grand as a sequel rather than a reboot - there are a few scenes where it even looks like it was originally meant to be. 

It was different to the original, but it wasn't half bad entertainment. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2017, 12:09:39 AM
I'm the only one in our circle that watches Star Trek, so was vaguely outraged when someone other than me said at the end of The Mountain Between Us that it was "a bit like that one with Quark and Odo on the mountain", not least because this was an entirely fair critical analogy, as The Mountain Between Us says and does nothing we haven't seen on 30 year-old tv shows - not even the nookie, thanks to many years of enthusiastic shipping.  There are two characters in this, and I cared more about whether their dog would be okay than if one of the humans fell off a mountain or into a frozen lake, so I probably should have watched Antarctica instead.

Dig Two Graves is the story of a young girl who makes a bargain with seedy rednecks to revive her dead brother - if she picks a replacement to take his place in the grave.  Seedy rednecks are always above board, so what could go wrong?  I benefited from watching it cold so shan't say any more of the plot, but it certainly does well with what little it has, and the young cast acquit themselves well alongside the ever-reliable Ted Levine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 28 December, 2017, 01:39:54 AM
Just watched Jaws (which is being followed by Jaws 2, but I have work in the morning so I have to go to bed once I finish my coffee).

It stars Roy Sheider, and not Rob Schneider, as Rackle guessed :D - that would have been a very different film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 December, 2017, 06:46:48 AM
Forget the movies what on Earth are you doing drinking coffee before going to bed???!!!!

6pm is the latest I allow myself a cup of tea... I'm off topic aren't I!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 28 December, 2017, 08:58:27 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 28 December, 2017, 06:46:48 AM
Forget the movies what on Earth are you doing drinking coffee before going to bed???!!!!

6pm is the latest I allow myself a cup of tea... I'm off topic aren't I!
I assume it's because he knew Jaws 3D was on after.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 December, 2017, 09:45:30 AM
Baby Driiver.

I meant to see this film on release but got around to it. I got the DVD for Xmas though (along with the excellent soundtrack LP) so gave it a watch last night. I really enjoyed it - I was a bit worried that I may find the lead a bit annoying but he was really good. The story was nice and straight forward and the jeopardy was small scale but you found yourself really rooting for Baby and Deborah. The way the visuals work in time with the music is just fantastic - definitely a film that has the rewatchability factor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 December, 2017, 09:47:13 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 December, 2017, 09:48:25 PM
Ghostbusters (2016).  Wait, what?  Against my expectations, that was a perfectly enjoyable film, and markedly better than GB2.  It lacked the brilliantly defined character roles of the first one, and humour and tone were miles away, but it worked.  The four leads and Hemsworth played off each other well (and warmly), the improv-y dialogue bits were strong, some nice ideas (the Ghostbusters logo [spoiler]itself as the big baddie [/spoiler]was cool) and it had quite a decent plot.  I thought Leslie Jones was particularly funny, and her Patty the best of the characters. I'm sorry we won't see more of the new team, TBH.

My main complaints would be uneven pacing (as usual in so many modern wannabe 'blockbusters'), and that with the teensiest bit of tweaking (e.g. Erin and Abby's book was a scientific analysis of the original Zuul incident instead) it would have worked grand as a sequel rather than a reboot - there are a few scenes where it even looks like it was originally meant to be. 

It was different to the original, but it wasn't half bad entertainment.

Yeah, I thought Ghostbusters was generally good fun with some really great bits here and there. I'd have definitely watched a sequel with this cast. It's a real shame about all the online negativity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 December, 2017, 10:15:11 AM
Watched The Accountant last night.
It's strange how a person's mood (or at least in my case) can affect how a film is perceived.
I had seen it before but on the first viewing I bailed 20 mins before the end as I really did not like it.
Emboldened with the Christmas spirit (and some Christmas spirits) I watched it again last night and enjoyed it quite a bit.
How peculiar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 28 December, 2017, 10:23:33 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 28 December, 2017, 06:46:48 AM
Forget the movies what on Earth are you doing drinking coffee before going to bed???!!!!

6pm is the latest I allow myself a cup of tea... I'm off topic aren't I!
I'm one of the people who isn't affected by euphoric effects of caffeine...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 December, 2017, 01:31:01 PM
just watched 2015 puritan horror flick The Witch.  Excellent stuff; nice to see Finchy laughing on the other side of his face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 December, 2017, 11:36:26 PM
I fear there's something wrong with me: hot on the heels of positive reviews for The Last Jedi and Ghostbusters  (2016), I'm now in the position of saying nice things about Bright.

Cant deny that I really enjoyed it, terrific premise (what if our world really was the Fifth Age of Middle-Earth-with-the-numbers-filed-off, as opposed to the Shadowrun/Allen Nation thing I was expecting), some good action and decent performances. Will Smith was the wrong man for the part, way too much movie baggage combined with way too familiar a schtick, but other than that, how I wish this was a pilot for a Netflix show. We never even saw the dwarves!

I'm sure I'll get back in lockstep with the gatekeepers of contemporary criticism soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 December, 2017, 11:50:36 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 December, 2017, 11:36:26 PM
I fear there's something wrong with me: hot on the heels of positive reviews for The Last Jedi and Ghostbusters  (2016), I'm now in the position of saying nice things about Bright.

Cant deny that I really enjoyed it, terrific premise (what if our world really was the Fifth Age of Middle-Earth-with-the-numbers-filed-off, as opposed to the Shadowrun/Allen Nation thing I was expecting), some good action and decent performances. Will Smith was the wrong man for the part, way too much movie baggage combined with way too familiar a schtick, but other than that, how I wish this was a pilot for a Netflix show. We never even saw the dwarves!

I'm sure I'll get back in lockstep with the gatekeepers of contemporary criticism soon.

I watched Bright. I'm not as enthusiastic about it as you TordelBack, but it was good. Netflix has already said there will be a sequel, so perhaps a show isn't too far in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 December, 2017, 12:32:02 PM
Did anyone see the trailer for the next Netflix movie which played after the Bright credits?
It's a revenge flick called The Foreigner in which Jackie Chan goes after Gerry Adams (or rather Pierce Brosnan as a thinly veiled Gerry Adams).
It looked a bit troubling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2017, 01:16:18 PM
I walked in on my dad watching The Foreigner, and he seemed terribly confused by it.  His take seemed to be that either Brosnan or Chan were under contract to make X amount of films for someone and are now at the stage where they agree to anything just to get it all over with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 December, 2017, 11:49:54 PM
Just had me an X-Men marathon, haven't seen the first three in years but still enjoyed them all - and I'll tell you what: you can keep The Last Jedi, Logan is still my favourite film this year.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 31 December, 2017, 12:04:08 AM
Couldn't finish Bright to be honest, thought it would be more aptly titled Shite- a noisy, moronic mess of a film, with the total waste of a talented cast!
There were a few lines of dialogue here and there that lifted it above the risible, but not enough to save it.

I think I'll fire up the far superior Alien Nation instead, which the film blatantly cribbed from.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 31 December, 2017, 06:26:52 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 December, 2017, 11:49:54 PM
Logan is still my favourite film this year.
I second that emotion.
As for Bright,it was okay,but the cop movie Ayers is directing never really mashes with the comic book movie Landis is writing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 31 December, 2017, 10:12:50 AM
Finally had some time to watch some documentaries ..

Prophets Prey - It's about the breakaway sect of Mormons who still practice polyamory. In particular it's about how the current leader became the current leader and how he uses and maintains his power.

Mommy Dead and Dearest - How do I describe this without major spoilers? A single mother struggles to raise her sick daughter alone but all is not as it seems ... makes it sound like a movie but you couldn't make this stuff up
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 December, 2017, 11:13:22 AM
Due to an unexpected bit of free time yesterday and nothing else on the schedule that fitted the time we had available: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

I'll admit to never having seen the original, so I didn't come to this with much baggage and I thought it was terrific fun. The cast are uniformly great*, the script is sharp and funny, and the film barrels through its two hour running time at an entertaining clip. Literally my only gripe is that someone leaned on the orange-and-teal preset a bit hard in the colour grading suite and it's a little hard on the eyes in a few scenes.

*Karen Gillan, in particular, proves very deft at comedy, which I've not seen her do before. (I know the GotG movies are funny, but I don't think Nebula really qualifies as a comedic role.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 December, 2017, 01:21:35 PM
Atomic Blonde

I don't like to get myself hyped up over movies because that almost always leads to disappointment.  I did see the trailer for this film however, and made a mental note to give it a viewing when I had the opportunity.  Unfortunately this film did end up disappointing me a bit, but probably because of my lack of expectation.

I saw the trailer off the back of watching both John Wick, which I enjoyed for the well shot fight sequences.  Atomic Blonde looked to be a film that was following John Wick in that aspect.  And it does for the most part.  The film has some really well shot and thought out fight sequences.  It also has a slow-mo fight sequence where it kept slowing down and speeding back up and slowing down and speeding back up.  It wasn't the worst example of this I've seen in a movie.  In the last year Wonder Woman has probably the worst example I've seen and it's my second biggest complaint about that film.  Nevertheless, I am no fan of it.  But Atomic Blonde doesn't over-do it and I can let it off.

Atomic Blonde also has this sexy 80's vibe going, which again I'm no fan of generally but in this film I liked it.  It wasn't perfect, however.  Sometimes it clashed with its setting and sometimes the modern cinematography.  James McAvoy was a delight throughout and easily the shining star in the film.  Charlize Theron was a bit of a disappointment.  I usually like her in whatever she's in, but in this she struck me a dull.  I dunno, maybe that was the point.

My big disappointment with the film is the spy thriller aspect.  I felt it was setting things up nicely, but as the film progressed I was getting concerned how they would tie everything together.  I hated the ending.  I thought it was stupid.  I mean, it made sense in a 'let's not think too much about it' kinda way.  I got it.  I just felt most of the film deserved better.  It was a let down.  Something simpler and more obvious would have been more satisfying.  It was at that point I realised that I expected too much from the film.

I'll probably watch it again in the future.  I'd need no other reason than James McAvoy is great in it and I loved his character.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 December, 2017, 02:15:33 PM
When I saw Atomic Blonde what it made me want to do was watch Alec Guinness in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People.

I enjoyed AB well enough that I'll watch it again, but it put me in the mood for more Le Carre type books and films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 December, 2017, 04:44:46 PM
I did consider making a comparison between AB and the TTSS mini-series, but felt that would be unfair as the quality of the mini-series is hard to compete with.  Both TTSS and Smiley's People are an absolute joy to watch and are gems I am glad I was introduced to.  Still, they are were my mind also went after viewing AB.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 January, 2018, 04:37:51 AM
Bright

I enjoyed that a lot. Comparisons to Alien Nation are understandable but I think the fantasy spin on it worked well. It's interesting that it didn't just go with a humans and others theme, dumping the other races all into the unjustly maligned roles. The orcs are in that situation, (and there's a historical reason for this) but the elves,if anything, are put in an elite wealthy caste, which makes sense as they're often depicted that way in fantasy novels.

It was rather predictable in places - [spoiler]who didn't forsee the revelation concerning Will Smith's character a mile off[/spoiler] but it wasn't unsatisfactory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 01 January, 2018, 06:09:52 AM
Kingsman Golden Circle, okay but not as good as the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 01 January, 2018, 03:36:02 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 December, 2017, 11:13:22 AM
Literally my only gripe is that someone leaned on the orange-and-teal preset a bit hard in the colour grading suite and it's a little hard on the eyes in a few scenes.
While set in a jungle?  Orange and teal genuinely work well in films like Mad Max (desert and blue sky), but you'd think they'd go for green and possibly red (if they're keeping with complementary colours) if they set it in leafy environments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 January, 2018, 04:42:36 PM
LEGO BATMAN.

Very fast and funny but also a pretty damned good Batman movie. It genuinely wouldn't take much tweaking to make it the best "serious" Batman movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 January, 2018, 04:50:10 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 01 January, 2018, 03:36:02 PM
While set in a jungle?

It's some of the non-jungley scenes where I found it a bit grating. Really, it's just a nitpick — I'm not trying to claim it spoiled the movie or anything...!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 01 January, 2018, 05:04:35 PM
I watched Call the Midwife at my parents over Christmas - felt like they'd picked a bunch of Fremen to play anyone with remotely blue eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 January, 2018, 06:33:04 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 01 January, 2018, 05:04:35 PM
I watched Call the Midwife at my parents over Christmas - felt like they'd picked a bunch of Fremen to play anyone with remotely blue eyes.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 January, 2018, 04:51:45 PM
Saw two absolute crackers over the weekend.

First up was I, Tonya - the Margot Robbie-starring biopic of infamous figure skater Tonya Harding, which I been looking forward to seeing ever since the first trailer dropped - and it didn't disappoint. There's a quote in the trailer that compares it  to Goodfellas, which I initially assumed was flippant, but it's actually on-point - structurally and stylistically the film is very reminiscent of Goodfellas, down to it's pop music montage sequences, narration, even down to how well it's lead actors portray the same characters at wildly varying ages. And like Goodfellas the film veers jarringly between hilarious and horrifying, often within the same scene. All three leads (Robbie, Sebastian Stan and Alison Janney) are superb, but it's arguably newcomer Paul Walter Hauser that steals the show as hapless bodyguard Shawn Eckhart. Probably my pick for film of the year 2017.

Next was The Shape of Water which was almost as great. It's certainly not going to click with everyone, and I can see it getting a lot of stick - it has some pretty goofy sequences, the characters (though very likeable) are a little broadly drawn and there's a certain hamminess to some of the dialogue, but I can happily overlook these things as everything about the movie is so endearing and well-crafted. It's an incredible looking film, the soundtrack is gorgeous, and the cast and performances are on the whole pretty great - Sally Hawkins is just incredible in everything and this really gives her a chance to shine. It's a really lovely film, and my girlfriend - who was suffering from mild jetlag and who I basically had to drag to the cinema with me to see it - was entranced throughout, and as the credits rolled proclaimed it one of the best films she had ever seen(!). Not something I ever thought I'd hear from her about a Guillermo Del Toro monster movie!  :lol:

Also finally got around to seeing Miami Connection with some friends just before Christmas, and it was predictably great. Every bit the equal to The Room in the 'good-bad' stakes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 January, 2018, 06:04:07 PM
Bright - as with others, pleasantly surprised that this wasn't terrible but instead fairly trashy fun. As mentioned elsewhere I enjoyed that this wasn't Shadowrun (Magic has appeared in the mundane) but instead a world where all of the fantasy and fantasy racism has always been part of the world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 03 January, 2018, 11:09:24 AM
A varied mix of films for me over the last couple of days, most notable of which was Stalker (1979). I've had the DVD of this sitting around for ages, but never got round to watching it - more fool me. A stunning study of human motivation in a crumbling post-industrial wilderness - the shifting, capricious, alien-touched Zone, home to a room that may grant wishes - this features some of the most beautifully-shot and strange scenes I've ever witnessed in a film. Deliberately slowly, deeply profound, absolutely wonderful. My idea of a truly great piece of science-fiction and a truly great movie.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955): A movie it is impossible to describe without using the phrase "apocalyptic film noir", Kiss Me Deadly is best known for its explosive finale, as a Pandora's Box of hissing nuclear evil is opened, resulting in a terrifying set-piece that surely had an influence on the conclusion of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Of particular note is the portrayal of our 'hero', Mike Hammer P.I. - Ralph Meeker plays him as an absolute sadist, whose face simply lights up when given the chance to dominate and bully someone weaker than him. The scene where he  'coaxes'  information out of a man by trapping his hands in a drawer is unforgettable.

The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993): Prime Hong Kong mentalness - a ridiculously silly (and hugely enjoyable) mickey-take of the wuxia genre. Highlights include the main villain attempting (and repeatedly failing) to kill a man who actively wants to be killed, and an impromptu game of football using a floating head as the ball and featuring a Hong Kong rendition of the Match of the Day theme. Daft but enormous fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 January, 2018, 03:53:21 PM
The Stepford Wives - erm, well... this was probably great in its day.  Let's leave it at that.

The Mission - they do not make 'em like this anymore.  Sumptuous period piece that only served to remind me that Jeremy Irons is capable of something other than high-class panto camp and making stupid comments about marriage equality.  Also: holy cats, Robert DeNiro was young once - as was Liam Neeson.  Probably not a film I'd watch over and over, but I'm glad I saw it at least once.

Justice league - coincidentally also starring Jeremy Irons, who doesn't seem to do any butler-ing in this, so ironically for someone with Irons' stupid opinions IRL and his character's distraction with "Master Bruce" not getting any tail, his character just seems like he's Bruce Wayne's live-in boyfriend from a sitcom.  Kind of turns into a videogame at the end, but the odd jokey comment helps a lot with making these characters seem less horrible than usual, particularly given how hollow Wonder Woman's comments about compassion seem in contrast to the actor's IRL opinions about wiping out Palestinians like rats - boy, I guess it'll just always be a mystery why Wonder Woman never fought the Nazis in her movie, huh?  Aquaman especially seems very affable compared to what you'd expect of such a broody and pompous character and all his attendant baggage about small coastal communities ruined by THE MAN, but I wonder if Batman doesn't work better as a completely serious character?  I mean, I don't mind the jokes, I just wonder if he's maybe not distinctive enough from the others.
This film isn't atrocious, and I think we should just take the win there.  A bit messy, but easily the best of the current DCU movies for me so far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 January, 2018, 04:55:35 PM
Seems like your problem is more with the actors then the movie.Not that Im really defending the movie.But I hope Super Ultimate Directors Cut Kai will iron out some things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 January, 2018, 06:59:35 PM
Sometimes movie types can do things that are so beyond the pale that I can't see past it to their art - which is is why I don't watch Roman Polanski films, and don't have any plans to start watching House of Cards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 January, 2018, 07:19:22 PM
I get that,but in general I think we should separate the art from the artist,or at least try.
Otherwise,there is a path to madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 January, 2018, 09:00:31 PM
I tried to give Rolf Harris a second chance and decided to check out some of his videos on Youtube, but the first one that came up was called "Two Little Boys".  Sometimes the fuckers are just rubbing your face in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 06:22:16 AM
Not defending anyone,but the works are not guilty for their creators sin.We know Gene Rodenberry was an ass,but should that stop us from watching Star Trek?
Or another example,Im disgusted by Gerard Jones,but did that desecrate the comics he wrote?No,Hals post-Crisis adventures were still as fun as they used to be.
Only for obvious reasons,that wont be collected anytime soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 08 January, 2018, 12:37:36 PM
I definitely can't always separate the person from the art, if they're poisoned enough. I wouldn't turn to dust, but I've noticed I don't really watch Tom Cruise films anymore for example. If they're a prolific paedophile or a figurehead complicit in the dodgy activities of a sinister cult, it's a prism I find it hard not to see them and their art through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2018, 12:55:28 PM
Hmmm, interesting points.  For myself, even though History's Greatest Monster does Tharg's PR (whenever he takes a break from bringing down the comic from the inside), I still buy the prog every week... Does this make me an enabler of his high-altitude evil-doings?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 January, 2018, 01:43:52 PM
Absolutely - especially when you call him "my Dark Master" and keep sacrificing runaways to the likeness you've crafted of him from human flesh and dolphin bones, but I don't owe Roman Polanski or Gerard Jones anything.  It's an individual choice, and I individually choose not to financially reward child rape and genocide.

Quote from: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 06:22:16 AMWe know Gene Rodenberry was an ass,but should that stop us from watching Star Trek?

Roddenberry was a chancer who surrounded himself with dodgy characters like Leonard Maizlish, he was not actually a child rapist to the best of my knowledge.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2018, 02:05:54 PM
I do tend to approach this issue on a more instinctual level, rather than putting much thought into it: I reject consuming Polanksi's work out of hand (and contemporary abusers and rapists like Harris and Saville and Gadd), whereas in an unexamined way I'm more accepting of the work of shitheels from the slightly more distant past: for example, racists like Lovecraft.

That isn't to say I stop criticising their attitudes and actions because of some statute of moral limitations, but there's always a voice in my head reminding me that human rights, equality, universal franchise and not being an utter shit to everyone are terribly recent, and terrifyingly fragile, in their physical actuality if not their conception, and there but for the grace of grud go I.  Feeling up kids in hospital wards and hot-tubs, I'm reasonably sure I would have passed on, be it 700BC or 1970.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 02:35:18 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 08 January, 2018, 01:43:52 PM
Absolutely - especially when you call him "my Dark Master" and keep sacrificing runaways to the likeness you've crafted of him from human flesh and dolphin bones, but I don't owe Roman Polanski or Gerard Jones anything.  It's an individual choice, and I individually choose not to financially reward child rape and genocide.

Quote from: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 06:22:16 AMWe know Gene Rodenberry was an ass,but should that stop us from watching Star Trek?

Roddenberry was a chancer who surrounded himself with dodgy characters like Leonard Maizlish, he was not actually a child rapist to the best of my knowledge.
http://atomicjunkshop.com/separating-the-art-from-the-artist/ (http://atomicjunkshop.com/separating-the-art-from-the-artist/)
Also,I wouldnt say that owning an early 90's comic supports anyone.Seeing all the royalties were paid for,a long time ago.
But again,Im not trying to defend anyone,and If you feel uncomfortable with some creators/actors,thats perfectly fine too.Not everyone can separate the art from the artist,and I understand that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 January, 2018, 06:37:03 PM
I can probably list on my hands the number of creatives whom's art has been tainted by their BS. Frank Miller, Orson Scott Card, Roman Polanski, Douglas TenApple...

Won't give the scum my money,
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 07:02:07 PM
I agree.But is the truth about Weinstein stop me from rewatching Pulp Fiction?Not really.

Thou,I admit,I couldnt watch Cosby show if you paid me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 08 January, 2018, 08:06:28 PM
What did Frank Miller do? I cant seem to find anything. Nothing too heinous I hope, I don't want to have to edit him out of Robocop 2
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 January, 2018, 08:43:46 PM
Quote from: Smith on 08 January, 2018, 07:02:07 PM
I agree.But is the truth about Weinstein stop me from rewatching Pulp Fiction?Not really.

He ain't the artist and you shouldn't need to pay for the film at this point so watch away.

I'll still watch Chinatown, The Fearless Vampire Killers, and Rosemary's Baby because they can't be unmade, it's the work of a collective of crafts-persons, not just one, and they're 'free'. I wouldn't support any new film by Polanski.

People like Cosby, Gadd or Savile were always unappealing, so no bother there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 January, 2018, 09:26:18 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 08 January, 2018, 08:06:28 PM
What did Frank Miller do? I cant seem to find anything. Nothing too heinous I hope, I don't want to have to edit him out of Robocop 2

He made The Spirit - damn HIM TO HADES!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 January, 2018, 09:48:12 PM
Frank Miller just turned into a big ball of crazy. Other than the ever more obnoxious and lazy output of stuff like All Star Batman, he wrote long blog posts railing against those damn protesters undermining America before writing Holy Terror in peak-FOX news conversion, and then there was stuff like the abuse of his assistant (involving faeces).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 08 January, 2018, 09:59:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2018, 02:05:54 PM
I do tend to approach this issue on a more instinctual level, rather than putting much thought into it: I reject consuming Polanksi's work out of hand (and contemporary abusers and rapists like Harris and Saville and Gadd), whereas in an unexamined way I'm more accepting of the work of shitheels from the slightly more distant past: for example, racists like Lovecraft.
With Gadd and Harris you have the very real possibility that consuming their products puts money into their hands right now, and not through some convoluted route or to their estate.  Lovecraft's work is now in the public domain (or at least the early work is - not entirely sure how that works as I thought it was generally a blanket effect based on years elapsed since the author's death).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 January, 2018, 10:38:15 PM
I'll only read pre-2016 forum posts from Joe Soap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2018, 11:00:04 PM
DUNKIRK again. Still brilliant. And my goodness, the sound design and soundtrack! Watched the extras and it pretty much confirmed what I guessed I.e. that Nolan just got Spitfires and Destroyers and 5000 extras and built a mole and got a fleet of Dunkirk little vessels and filmed it all blowing up.

TOMORROWLAND - Could have done with losing the Eiffel tower bit * and making the threat and the associated paradox a bit more explicit because it made the heroes seem a bit harsh on Hugh Laurie and L'il Android Annie. But some really inventive fights and action sequences.

* or actually make the Eiffel Tower more relevant to the plot because it just ended up a cool looking diversion.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2018, 11:07:46 PM
Oh and did I mention that I enjoyed Ryan Reynolds rom-com DEFINITELY MAYBE. It's "How I met your mother" done in 2hours but with gags and a charming lead. The three women (Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks and Isla Fisher) get variable amounts to do with pretty standard characters. I should state that I fancy them all (including Ryan) so this may have clouded what little judgement I have. And I liked the soundtrack. it


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 January, 2018, 11:30:09 PM
The Journey, the story of the final leg of the 2006 Northern Irish peace talks, starts out telling you it's not based on real events, almost apologetic for what follows - as well it should be.  Great performances from Tim Spall as Ian Paisley and Colm Meaney as Martin McGuinness, as well as a less memorable performance from Norman Bates as their driver, but the script is pretty rotten.  I actually met Martin McGuinness once: some mates dragged me out of bed saying "we're going to a U2 concert" so the day was already off to a bad start, but as we were getting into the car, my local councillor appeared ninja-like and introduced me to McGuinness, who was doing the rounds on our street because of some politics stuff going on, and the only thing I could think to say as he shook my hand was "Deep Space Nine is my favorite show."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 10 January, 2018, 12:34:40 AM
I'd love a story where we see how that random declaration to him set in motion a chain of events and changed history forever :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 January, 2018, 02:10:49 PM
Logan

I absolutely loved it. I thought it was a really entertaining action film and struck a perfect balance between having its own stand-alone identity and still keeping in continuity with what went before. Some of the action scenes were ace [spoiler](I really loved the bit where the car was dragging the fence around)[/spoiler] and I thought the performances by Jackman and Stewart were fantastic. It benefited greatly by not having a 'save the world' plot and by keeping things relatively small scale. The best X film by a mile in my opinion.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 January, 2018, 02:28:41 PM
Kong: Skull Island.  Hiddleston is a bit of a plank in this one, and too many of the cannon fodder are devoid of any real personality, but the chunky trifecta of John C Reilly, Dan Goodman and Kong himself make up for this in spades, and I'll be damned if this isn't even more fun than I remember from the cinema. 

The super-sized Kong performed by Terry Notary is a truly accomplished and strangely believable creation, and I've even warmed to the design of the Skullcrawlers, which in fairness to Legendary really don't look like anything else, despite their multitude of influences.  There's a restless enthusiasm to the camerawork, and no opportunity to frame a colourful image or compose a cheesy sequence is passed up, but all done so briskly that it's just amusing rather than irritating.

It all makes very little sense at all (even if the most improbable thing in it is Brie Larson's magic camera), but it's definitely the best Kong movie since 1933.  My daughter (8) watched much of it through her fingers, fearing that Kong (rather than Our Heroes) would be badly hurt or killed, and that is how it should be. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 January, 2018, 02:53:41 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 02 January, 2018, 06:04:07 PM
Bright - as with others, pleasantly surprised that this wasn't terrible but instead fairly trashy fun. As mentioned elsewhere I enjoyed that this wasn't Shadowrun (Magic has appeared in the mundane) but instead a world where all of the fantasy and fantasy racism has always been part of the world.
Saw the first four minutes of this at the weekend before it was declared "too stupid" and we watched 2012 instead...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 10 January, 2018, 10:34:58 PM
The Statement (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/no133-statement.html) - Geriatric Nazi Michael Caine gets chased around France by Tilda Swinton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 January, 2018, 09:57:52 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 09 January, 2018, 11:30:09 PM
The Journey, the story of the final leg of the 2006 Northern Irish peace talks, starts out telling you it's not based on real events, almost apologetic for what follows - as well it should be.  Great performances from Tim Spall as Ian Paisley and Colm Meaney as Martin McGuinness, as well as a less memorable performance from Norman Bates as their driver, but the script is pretty rotten.  I actually met Martin McGuinness once: some mates dragged me out of bed saying "we're going to a U2 concert" so the day was already off to a bad start, but as we were getting into the car, my local councillor appeared ninja-like and introduced me to McGuinness, who was doing the rounds on our street because of some politics stuff going on, and the only thing I could think to say as he shook my hand was "Deep Space Nine is my favorite show."

Colm Meaney acts in Deep Space Nine. That's the triggering episode here. Martin McGuiness knew all about triggers. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 January, 2018, 08:14:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 10 January, 2018, 02:10:49 PM
Logan

I absolutely loved it. I thought it was a really entertaining action film and struck a perfect balance between having its own stand-alone identity and still keeping in continuity with what went before. Some of the action scenes were ace [spoiler](I really loved the bit where the car was dragging the fence around)[/spoiler] and I thought the performances by Jackman and Stewart were fantastic. It benefited greatly by not having a 'save the world' plot and by keeping things relatively small scale. The best X film by a mile in my opinion.



I enjoy all the X-Men movies (Wolverine Origins excluded), even The Last Stand - which isn't that good, but I find it entertaining none-the-less.  Nevertheless, I will agree that Logan is the best.  Your right that its focus is what really elevates this film.  I was really impressed with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 January, 2018, 11:23:17 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 10 January, 2018, 02:53:41 PM
Saw the first four minutes of this at the weekend before it was declared "too stupid" and we watched 2012 instead...
[/quote

Oh it is so, so stupid. But I would say maybe 5% smarter than 2012.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 12 January, 2018, 11:33:01 AM
Finally watched "IT"

That was very enjoyable and suitably scary. The book has long been a favourite, although I must confess that it's status as an "all-time personal horror classic" is entirely based on having read it once, when I was 14.

But it seemed to be faithful enough, and Pennywise was great.

Still think it might have been better served as a big budget mini-series, as there's enough content in the 1100 pages for a season or two, but perhaps the feeling is that we've been there and done that already, with the Tim Curry version.

I wonder if the very similar Dan Simmons book, Summer of Night, will get the TV/ film treatment, after the success of this and also the Stranger Things phenom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 12 January, 2018, 04:39:38 PM
It Stains the Sand Red - I had high hopes for this as from the trailer it looked like they were bringing the scares back to zombies. Lone woman stuck in the desert being pursued by a single zombie. The tone of it is all over the place though ranging from comedy to one particularly nasty scene.

so more like It Shits its own Bed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 January, 2018, 10:58:15 PM
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Sluggish, linear, cheap and wholly unnecessary. An odd damp squib of a finale for the 70s sci-fi franchise that manages to fritter away any interesting social commentary or any engaging continuity fun (really? The apes wore the same type of clothes for nearly 2000 years?!). McDowell is great as always and (as many have commented) watching a beweaponed school bus rollicking about the fields blowing up apes is something but... nah. It's not a surprise we didn't hear a peep from the apesaga until (bizarrely) the year this film is set.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 January, 2018, 11:48:01 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 January, 2018, 10:58:15 PM
It's not a surprise we didn't hear a peep from the apesaga until (bizarrely) the year this film is set.

Battle... was followed-up by the live-action and cartoon TV series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 14 January, 2018, 02:40:51 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 13 January, 2018, 11:48:01 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 13 January, 2018, 10:58:15 PM
It's not a surprise we didn't hear a peep from the apesaga until (bizarrely) the year this film is set.

Battle... was followed-up by the live-action and cartoon TV series.

Plus a (Marvel?) comic series around the same time, and I think a Dark Horse one in the 1990s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 January, 2018, 07:05:23 AM
Noah

A curious take on the Biblical story complete with rock giants* and Methuselah with a magic sword. I expected a film to pad things out a bit, but they didn't half take liberties. And Russell Crow's Noah came across as a bit of a nob.

A curious watch, but a bit rubbish, I thought.

Before that I saw Grandpa's Great Escape: a delightful story based on a children's book by David Walliams, who also stars in a supporting role as the main protagonists amusingly boring father. It was a bit silly, in a good way, a bit sad, also in a good way. It did get a bit sentimental, but this did not ruin the film at all for me. Despite the sad part of the story (it deals with an old man suffering from altzeimers after all) it finds a lot of humour in the situation, without denigrating or mocking it, and ultimately is an uplifting tale. And spitfires are cool.

* The fallen angels are mentioned briefly in Genesis just before the Noah story, and they are named and described in more detail (this time described as 'watchers', where they obviously got the name for the creatures in this film) in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. They were not rock giants however, but they are mentioned as teaching humanity and are the fathers (by human women) of the nephilim who were giants, although probably not rocky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 January, 2018, 07:17:34 AM
Concerning Noah: I recognised the name of the main antagonist in this film as the new moniker of Happy Shrapnel: Tubal-Cain. After a bit of research, I see he was a renowned metal-worker briefly mentioned in the Bible. (He didn't fight Noah in the original account though.) I see why Mr. Mills chose the name!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 January, 2018, 11:14:30 AM
Akira  It has been a while since I have seen this film.  I loved it as a little kid and it was definitely one of my favourites at the time.  I am still impressed with how this film looks, it is a real treat for the eyes.  I was also surprised to find I still enjoy the story, especially as I've just finished reading the manga.  I ended up appreciating how certain elements of the manga were incorporated into the film, but not in a way that just mimics the source.  As a kid I felt it was a complex story, but watching it now I can appreciate it for its simplicity in plot.  Then again, that might just be my familiarity with it speaking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 January, 2018, 12:54:02 PM
Paddington 2. Such a wonderful film. And Hugh Grant is priceless. I hope they make a third.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 January, 2018, 11:56:50 PM
Bright  Yup, just finished watching it and it was certainly a film.  Not the worst thing I've seen and not the best.  The characters, I felt, started poor but did improve.  The villain was rubbish but exceedingly well dressed.  Her outfit is my favourite part of the film.  The premise was decent and the plot, as a concept, was workable, but I felt both in execution were missed opportunities.  In the end the film was watchable, which I guess is the least I can ask from a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 January, 2018, 09:19:03 AM
Tale of Tales - Really enjoyed this, it's a fairy tale movie but in the classic fairy tale sense, ie. everything is quite dark and grim and at times very bloody. Great stuff.

A Monster Calls - Oh boy did I love this. Looks beautiful and is incredibly emotionally charged (not ashamed to say we were both in floods of tears watching it at points). Just thinking back to it now I'm getting the face tingles, so to prevent me bubbling at my desk I'll say no more. An incredible film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 15 January, 2018, 10:21:39 AM
Agora.
Reading about the discovery of incredible alien rock 'Hypatia' lead me to wonder about the person the rock was named after-- which lead me to this film I'd never heard of. A friend had already seen it and told me it was boring over-long rubbish so my expectations were set to extremely low.

I found it ...'interesting'. I'd never seen early Christianity depicted as the scary anti-civilisation fundamentalist apocalyptic death cult that it must have seemed at the time. The whole thing is a piece of Atheist propaganda- but give me that over Mel Gibson's Christian propaganda any day. As a film in it's own right, probably not great, but , as I said 'Interesting'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 January, 2018, 11:24:59 AM
Dead Man's Shoes.  Brilliant stuff; the kind of film that haunts you for weeks to come. Touch of the first Button Man series about it; though with a lot more swearing and drugs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 January, 2018, 05:18:53 PM
Paddington 2.

Not quite up there with the first - something about the first half felt a little off to me, and a few of the gags didn't quite land, but it really starts to build up steam (hah) towards the end, and the last 20-30 minutes is just pure joy. The end credit sequence is just phenomenal. Pretty much perfect family films - I rate either of the Paddingtons on a level with anything Pixar have done. It is so disheartening how this film is underperforming in the US.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 January, 2018, 05:38:12 PM
I'm not sure Paddington was ever very popular in the US. However, releasing it after Christmas there seems like a bad idea to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 January, 2018, 06:34:20 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 January, 2018, 05:38:12 PM
I'm not sure Paddington was ever very popular in the US. However, releasing it after Christmas there seems like a bad idea to me.

I don't think they had much of a choice. Pre Christmas is just owned by Disney now. In any case, the first one did alright back in January 2015.

Regardless, this one seems to be doing significantly less well than the first, which seems a real shame - you'd think that the first one would have built up a lot of momentum on home video.

Fingers very much crossed for a third, but a US opening weekend of just $15m doesn't bode well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 January, 2018, 06:41:31 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 January, 2018, 06:34:20 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 January, 2018, 05:38:12 PM
I'm not sure Paddington was ever very popular in the US. However, releasing it after Christmas there seems like a bad idea to me.

I don't think they had much of a choice. Pre Christmas is just owned by Disney now. In any case, the first one did alright back in January 2015.

Regardless, this one seems to be doing significantly less well than the first, which seems a real shame - you'd think that the first one would have built up a lot of momentum on home video.

Fingers very much crossed for a third, but a US opening weekend of just $15m doesn't bode well.

I hate the fact that the chance of a sequel for a top quality film like this relies on doing well in the US. Hmmm... where have I come across this situation before? ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: HdE on 15 January, 2018, 06:42:30 PM
I saw Shin Godzilla recently and really, really hated it.

This was a film where large parts of it where taken up with characters talking about doing things, only to then get into a long discussion about whether it was okay to do the things, then deciding to do things, then checking it was really, really okay to do the things, before going to do them. Then they would get to where they had to do the things, only to discover that while they were argung about whether to do the things, Godzilla had done the thngs they wanted to do the things to stop him from doing. And then they realised they'd taken too long to do the things.

This has been spun in reviews as a commentary on the indecisive nature of Japanese politicians. But it's not. It's just really terrible film-making.

I'm off to do things now.

If that's okay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 15 January, 2018, 07:10:55 PM
Quote from: HdE on 15 January, 2018, 06:42:30 PM
This was a film where large parts of it where taken up with characters talking about doing things, only to then get into a long discussion about whether it was okay to do the things, then deciding to do things, then checking it was really, really okay to do the things, before going to do them. Then they would get to where they had to do the things, only to discover that while they were argung about whether to do the things, Godzilla had done the thngs they wanted to do the things to stop him from doing. And then they realised they'd taken too long to do the things.

long tedious conversations are what puts me off some Japanese anime series when I try to watch them. In those cases they're usually sillily melodramatic and overwrought, and pop up at implausible times :D . Filler is the word I guess, anime series are a masterclass in wringing as much content as you can out of a budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 January, 2018, 07:44:30 PM
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Having watched the telly show I now delved into Fire Walk WIth Me in prep for (hopefully) getting the new series soon (I'd buy it tomorrow but I've made that classic error of putting the new series onto my Wish List for my up coming B'day - daggnabbit). Now I've not seen this since I moved from VHS to DVD many moons ago and to be fair a good couple of years before that I don't doubt... so I was shocked by how disturbing it was, so utterly disturbed. I'd completely forgotten how affecting the whole thing was. It felt like all the tension and darkness of the best bits of the telly show, amplified and distilled into a 2 hour film. Quite shocking. At times violent and graphic to boot. Yet also shockingly good.

Such a powerful piece of cinema.

I do question how good it would be as a stand alone movie if you weren't versed in TP... but I guess that's kinda not its main concern.

Lynch at his (almost) best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 January, 2018, 08:48:41 PM
Quote from: HdE on 15 January, 2018, 06:42:30 PMThis has been spun in reviews as a commentary on the indecisive nature of Japanese politicians. But it's not. It's just really terrible film-making.

The non-Godzilla portions of the film I found to be no more boring than usual - the average Big G film usually having a wasteland middle hour where nothing happens - but it wasn't reviewers who came up with that spin: Hideaki Anno said before the film came out that it was a direct commentary on the government's mishandling of the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and the current trend in Japan's conservative government to suck America's dick.*




* He may not have used this precise euphemism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 January, 2018, 09:41:29 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 January, 2018, 08:48:41 PM
Quote from: HdE on 15 January, 2018, 06:42:30 PMThis has been spun in reviews as a commentary on the indecisive nature of Japanese politicians. But it's not. It's just really terrible film-making.

The non-Godzilla portions of the film I found to be no more boring than usual - the average Big G film usually having a wasteland middle hour where nothing happens - but it wasn't reviewers who came up with that spin: Hideaki Anno said before the film came out that it was a direct commentary on the government's mishandling of the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and the current trend in Japan's conservative government to suck America's dick.*




* He may not have used this precise euphemism.

Yeah I really enjoyed Shin Godzilla largely for those scenes, they took on a really grim humor. We watched it in a packed cinema and every new piece of red tape or awkward departmental shuffling around got a laugh, felt like it was definitely designed to highlight how ridiculous meetings and conversations like that are in a situation like that, and I found the government bods fluffing the whole thing and being totally unable to react sufficiently to such a bizarre situation was all part of the black humor of it.

I might have been watching it wrong, but that's definitely the way it came across in that screening! It's obviously got some pretty bleak things to say at times too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 01:03:47 PM
I watched two horror comedies.  Grabbers and Deadheads.  Grabbers is a nice enough film with the premise and execution being enough to carry it.  Although isn't drunk Irish people a stereotype?  I enjoyed the characters and jokes more than the story itself, which ends in tiresome cliche.

Deadheads is an ok concept that I think has been done better since with the film Warm Bodies.  Deadheads has enough charm for me to find it entertaining and watchable (for the most part).  I enjoyed the Brent and Cheese characters the most, but found the Mike character annoying at times.  Again, it ends in tiresome cliche, but given the context the film provides for the cliche I am more than willing to give the film a pass on that.  I might watch Warm Bodies again as I remember enjoying that one a lot more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 January, 2018, 01:50:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 01:03:47 PM
Although isn't drunk Irish people a stereotype?

More of an observation.  Some things become clichés because they happen a lot...

You're spot-on about Grabbers, the concept, characters and locations are fun, and make for an enjoyable film, but the plot doesn't really add much to proceedings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 16 January, 2018, 02:04:14 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 01:03:47 PM
I watched two horror comedies.  Grabbers and Deadheads.  Grabbers is a nice enough film with the premise and execution being enough to carry it.  Although isn't drunk Irish people a stereotype?  I enjoyed the characters and jokes more than the story itself, which ends in tiresome cliche.


Perhaps raise your issues regarding stereotypes and cliches to the director, who is from Northern Ireland, and the writer, who is Irish. Don't forget to copy in Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Board, who funded it.

Did you find Father Ted equally "problematic"?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 January, 2018, 03:03:22 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 16 January, 2018, 02:04:14 PM
Did you find Father Ted equally "problematic"?

A HatTrick production for Channel 4, that one, so not a great example of self-parody, despite @Glinner and Arthur Mathews on keyboards. Absofragginglutely hilarious nonetheless, of course.

However, there's nobody better at promoting the image of an Irish culture of drinking to excess than we-ourselves, despite obvious negative consequences, so I think Pictsy can be completely forgiven for picking up on a classic example here.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 16 January, 2018, 03:43:36 PM
mother!

It's....er....different. There's a huge polarity in critic reception, which is always interesting before you watch a film, and you can understand why. I went from loving it to hating it across the space of a few minutes, but while it is certainly an acquired taste, it's not a film you will forget easily.

It was reminiscent at times of someone trying to make a horror film in the style of Peter Greenaway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 04:51:22 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 16 January, 2018, 02:04:14 PM
Perhaps raise your issues regarding stereotypes and cliches to the director, who is from Northern Ireland, and the writer, who is Irish. Don't forget to copy in Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Board, who funded it.

Did you find Father Ted equally "problematic"?

:)
Surprisingly I was fully aware that the production was Irish and that drunk Irish people is a stereotype.  The question was tongue-in-cheek.

As for Father Ted, it is one of my favourite sitcoms and still manages to make me smile to this day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 January, 2018, 08:55:35 PM
A lot of bishops lurk on this board. Bishops love sci-fi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 January, 2018, 09:03:18 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 16 January, 2018, 02:04:14 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 01:03:47 PM
I watched two horror comedies.  Grabbers and Deadheads.  Grabbers is a nice enough film with the premise and execution being enough to carry it.  Although isn't drunk Irish people a stereotype?  I enjoyed the characters and jokes more than the story itself, which ends in tiresome cliche.


Perhaps raise your issues regarding stereotypes and cliches to the director, who is from Northern Ireland, and the writer, who is Irish. Don't forget to copy in Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Board, who funded it.

Did you find Father Ted equally "problematic"?

That would be an ecumenical question.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 16 January, 2018, 09:20:15 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 16 January, 2018, 09:03:18 PM
That would be an ecumenical question.

MATTER, an ecumenical matter. Now feck off or I'll kick you up the arse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 January, 2018, 09:37:20 PM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 16 January, 2018, 09:20:15 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 16 January, 2018, 09:03:18 PM
That would be an ecumenical question.

MATTER, an ecumenical matter. Now feck off or I'll kick you up the arse.

Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 16 January, 2018, 09:54:49 PM
QuoteRide me sideways
That was another one
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 January, 2018, 10:42:05 PM
Warm Bodies  I definitely enjoy this one more than Deadheads.  It's really soppy.  Really soppy.  [spoiler]The cure is love![/spoiler]  It's quite well made, though.  The inner dialogue adds a lot.  We actually watch the relationship develop over time and that's the real crux of the story.  The zombie context wraps around it nicely and seems to give some weight to soppy nature of the film.  It has some interesting ideas and despite not exactly being an original concept on it's release, certainly feels like something fresh.  I had a blast watching this for the second time and I'd probably have to rate it as one of my favourite zombie based pieces of media.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 January, 2018, 04:49:21 PM
1922 on Netflix. One of the best Stephen King adaptations and in and of itself, a creepy, low-key horror that delivers unease throughout. Tom Jane smashes it as the main character and there's excellent camera and sound in a fashion that ratchets up the horror as the spiral continues.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 08:40:42 PM
Dunkirk. You download scores of obscure podcasts, if you're me, and listen to recorded lectures and debates on the most dull topics, delivered by the most diverse proponents boredom can spawn, and you think you're getting a handle on things. You know that war is either a profitable scam run by the 1% on the rest of us or a consequence of small groups of people with too much power acting all like hard-ons in the name of Stupidus, the occult god of stupidity, arrogance and penis envy. Or a mixture of the two. Probably.

Whatever. WWII was no different; a clusterfuck caused by elite douchebaggery of one form or another and paid for with ordinary human lives. Small lives caught like grain between the quarrelling millstones of big lives. All those people, on all sides, who would rather be left alone to live their lives in peace but get pressed into the service of the state whether they like it or not. A clusterfuck aided by the elite douchebaggery of their rape and humiliation of the German people after WWI. A clusterfuck exacerbated by the greed and psycopathy of a pack of ravening bankers and industrialists. A clusterfuck facilitated through the Prussian method of public education and the private trivium method. A clusterfuck ignited by a bigot with an Oliver Hardy moustache and fanned by liver-spotted fists filled with dollar bills. A clusterfuck of clusterfucks. The Perfect Clusterfuck.

Ahem.

So, if you're me, you approach films like Dunkirk with a certain tonnage of cynical baggage.

I enjoyed it.

That last deserved a line of its own because it surprised me. Logically, I know that any depiction of a historical event is a feeble shade of the actual event in itself; shallow and narrow and subjective. All a film of this type can be is a reflection of the mythology woven by the winners. I was surprised at how deeply this British myth still affects me, and what a superb job of reflecting this particular myth the film does. (I should probably clarify that I do not use the word "myth" in a derogatory sense. I am given to understand that myths are lessons in how to be human, and it is in this sense that I call Dunkirk a myth.)

If Dunkirk is a myth, and I think it should be, then it is a myth worth telling. A myth teaching us what happens when the authorities reach the limits of their illusory* power. When we get to your actual ragged edge, what's left, propping it all up? People. People just like you and me, but generally younger. People doing their best to survive the grind of those expensive millstones. And that, to anyone with the stamina to read this far, is worthy of mythologising. This film, I think, does a commendable job in that respect.

I loved the rhythm of the film, the way it progressed from moments of calm to moments of sheer terror. The depiction of the rapidity of encroaching waters is terrifying enough to ensure I suffer disquieting dreams tonight. Kenneth Brannagh stole the show for me. His one line, "Home," brought an actual tear to my eye. Tom Hardy's Spitfire pilot was the heart of the myth, for me. It doesn't matter about all that shit I typed at the beginning of this post novella, this is what matters. To draw a line against the night with every action you take or decision you make and to never, ever give in.

Like I said, a myth worth having.

TLDR: Dunkirk. I thought it was okay.

* trust me. Go on, be brave...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 17 January, 2018, 09:08:00 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 08:40:42 PM
Dunkirk. You download scores of obscure podcasts, if you're me, and listen to recorded lectures and debates on the most dull topics, delivered by the most diverse proponents boredom can spawn, and you think you're getting a handle on things. You know that war is either a profitable scam run by the 1% on the rest of us or a consequence of small groups of people with too much power acting all like hard-ons in the name of Stupidus, the occult god of stupidity, arrogance and penis envy. Or a mixture of the two. Probably.

Whatever. WWII was no different; a clusterfuck caused by elite douchebaggery of one form or another and paid for with ordinary human lives. Small lives caught like grain between the quarrelling millstones of big lives. All those people, on all sides, who would rather be left alone to live their lives in peace but get pressed into the service of the state whether they like it or not. A clusterfuck aided by the elite douchebaggery of their rape and humiliation of the German people after WWI. A clusterfuck exacerbated by the greed and psycopathy of a pack of ravening bankers and industrialists. A clusterfuck facilitated through the Prussian method of public education and the private trivium method. A clusterfuck ignited by a bigot with an Oliver Hardy moustache and fanned by liver-spotted fists filled with dollar bills. A clusterfuck of clusterfucks. The Perfect Clusterfuck.

Ahem.

So, if you're me, you approach films like Dunkirk with a certain tonnage of cynical baggage.

I enjoyed it.

That last deserved a line of its own because it surprised me. Logically, I know that any depiction of a historical event is a feeble shade of the actual event in itself; shallow and narrow and subjective. All a film of this type can be is a reflection of the mythology woven by the winners. I was surprised at how deeply this British myth still affects me, and what a superb job of reflecting this particular myth the film does. (I should probably clarify that I do not use the word "myth" in a derogatory sense. I am given to understand that myths are lessons in how to be human, and it is in this sense that I call Dunkirk a myth.)

If Dunkirk is a myth, and I think it should be, then it is a myth worth telling. A myth teaching us what happens when the authorities reach the limits of their illusory* power. When we get to your actual ragged edge, what's left, propping it all up? People. People just like you and me, but generally younger. People doing their best to survive the grind of those expensive millstones. And that, to anyone with the stamina to read this far, is worthy of mythologising. This film, I think, does a commendable job in that respect.

I loved the rhythm of the film, the way it progressed from moments of calm to moments of sheer terror. The depiction of the rapidity of encroaching waters is terrifying enough to ensure I suffer disquieting dreams tonight. Kenneth Brannagh stole the show for me. His one line, "Home," brought an actual tear to my eye. Tom Hardy's Spitfire pilot was the heart of the myth, for me. It doesn't matter about all that shit I typed at the beginning of this post novella, this is what matters. To draw a line against the night with every action you take or decision you make and to never, ever give in.

Like I said, a myth worth having.

TLDR: Dunkirk. I thought it was okay.

* trust me. Go on, be brave...

I enjoyed your superbly overwrought satirical review more than the film, which bored me.

And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 09:18:29 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 17 January, 2018, 09:08:00 PM
And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.

You really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 17 January, 2018, 09:31:47 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 09:18:29 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 17 January, 2018, 09:08:00 PM
And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.

You really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.

Glad I am not only one to notice that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 10:45:02 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 09:18:29 PMYou really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.
I thought that was my job!? Somebody call The Union! I put a lot of time and effort into being the Forum Asshole (remember Deaddinosaurjuicegate?) and I'm not happy playing second fiddle (oo-er Missus) to some Johnny Come Lately!!! Hang on a minute...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 10:49:50 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 10:45:02 PMI thought that was my job!?

Get to the back of the queue. ;-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 10:54:17 PM
Curses! Foiled again!


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 11:04:06 PM
Hey Jim, while I think on and have booze...

I was thinking about how we've butted heads in the past, and how counterproductive that was, and how bad that made me feel, and I thought I'd try to build a few bridges, or at least a row of stepping-stones. We both love the Twooth and so I was wondering if you'd like to team up with me to do something for this Rogue Trooper fanzine.

No probs if not, don't sweat it.

*closing joke deleted*

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 18 January, 2018, 12:54:37 AM
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore

(which really could've done with a less self-harming-teenagers-bedroom-door-slamming-exit-shout of a title), was funny and tense and sharp and warm and stood up for the notion of 'ordinary decent people' in a way that reminded me of 'Fargo' when it 1st came out. I strongly recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 January, 2018, 06:36:28 AM
Sharky,wouldnt you by definition hate war movies then?
I mean that as a neutral question.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 January, 2018, 07:27:26 AM
Good question, Smith.

I think it's more that I hate war itself rather than war films. To me, a good war film is about how people get through it, not how many of the enemy they can kill. From this perspective, war becomes a backdrop like an earthquake or similar deadly disaster. One might despise war itself and pray for less of it but to steer clear of war films is to ignore its existence which, I think, ignores how terrible it is and pushes the survivors out of sight.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 January, 2018, 08:38:07 AM
I suspect that no war film ever made even approaches 'reality'. Otherwise more would start with the protagonist getting gutted by shrapnel and dying of sepsis in the sand for the remainder of the running time while the rest of the conflict plays on out of sight.  Like all entertainment, they mostly pick the palatable and engaging stuff, even while pretending to be hard-hitting and/or unflinching.  Which is totally understandable.

Great review of Dunkirk there, Sharky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 January, 2018, 08:56:06 AM
I would recommend Come and See,in that case.But its not an easy watch.At all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 January, 2018, 10:04:33 AM
Thanks, Tordels.

And thanks, Smith; I'll search that one out.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 January, 2018, 10:12:23 AM
I watched The Water Diviner on telly t'other night. Really good Russell Crowe flick that had totally passed me by until now - I'm not sure the rather non-descript title helps, though it makes perfect sense in context.

Not quite a War film so much as an... aftermath film? Crowe travels to the Dardanelles in the wake of the Great War searching for the bodies of his three missing-presumed-dead sons, fighting against a tide of scepticism and bureaucratic obstruction. It's not a theatre of war that gets much focus so it's fascinating if only on that score, but it is also a really superb examination of the Gallipoli fiasco in its own right, and the logistics of what happens when the guns fall silent and there are 270,000 bodies to identify and bury. I also liked that Crowe isn't raging against the Turks or the Germans or the ANZAC higher-ups; there's no overwrought 'Why was this allowed to happen?' or 'What a pointless waste of young lives!' He just walks quietly through the aftermath and it's left entirely to the viewer to decide how he feels about things. The actual flashbacks to the fighting are brief but really powerful - I had a Great-Grandad at Gallipoli who survived the War but came home crippled by shellshock and was dead by 1919, so they were a hard watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 January, 2018, 11:01:17 AM
It  The effects were well done and it was satisfactorily creepy throughout.  I did have some problems with the film.  The loud blasts of noise were awful.  They took me out of the film and just ruined the effect.  Some of the kid characters were poorly fleshed out as well and I found it difficult to connect to the group as a whole because of this.  Because of this, the bleak tone of the film ended up being too bleak for me.  The horrible adults everywhere, the bullies and IT were too much antagonism for me because it wasn't offset by enough levity and/or likeable characters.  I just found it hard to get invested and the tone was just tiring me out.  I mean this wasn't the case throughout the film but it happened enough for me to start feeling bored and just wanting it to wrap up.  That all being said, it was a good film that has a lot going for it.

My opinion on the film is probably skewed because I have a fond place in my heart for the mini-series.  Specifically the kids sections.  Ever since watching it as a kid, viewing the mini-series has always had me very much invested in what the characters are doing and the danger that seems to be ever present.  I know the adult sections of the mini-series are far from great, but they had their charm (for me, at least).

Comparing the two I can't say I prefer the film over the mini-series and as it currently stands with only one film, I'd probably choose watching the mini-series over the film.  I actually think that they are both as good as each other, because the film does some really great stuff.  It just fails more where the mini-series excelled and vice-versa. 

A second viewing of the film may change my opinion, now I know what to expect.  I might also need to rewatch the mini-series to check if nostalgia might be messing with my judgement too much. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 18 January, 2018, 11:33:10 AM
Ingrid goes west
A very modern film, I guess. Watching it felt like a fairly good episode of Black Mirror to me.

You know you're old when watching stories of contemporary tech (that you haven't bothered catching up with* ) feel a bit like watching speculative science fiction...


*In this case 'Instagram'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 18 January, 2018, 01:08:33 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 18 January, 2018, 11:01:17 AM
It  The effects were well done and it was satisfactorily creepy throughout.  I did have some problems with the film.  The loud blasts of noise were awful.  They took me out of the film and just ruined the effect.  Some of the kid characters were poorly fleshed out as well and I found it difficult to connect to the group as a whole because of this.  Because of this, the bleak tone of the film ended up being too bleak for me.  The horrible adults everywhere, the bullies and IT were too much antagonism for me because it wasn't offset by enough levity and/or likeable characters.  I just found it hard to get invested and the tone was just tiring me out.  I mean this wasn't the case throughout the film but it happened enough for me to start feeling bored and just wanting it to wrap up.  That all being said, it was a good film that has a lot going for it.

My opinion on the film is probably skewed because I have a fond place in my heart for the mini-series.  Specifically the kids sections.  Ever since watching it as a kid, viewing the mini-series has always had me very much invested in what the characters are doing and the danger that seems to be ever present.  I know the adult sections of the mini-series are far from great, but they had their charm (for me, at least).

Comparing the two I can't say I prefer the film over the mini-series and as it currently stands with only one film, I'd probably choose watching the mini-series over the film.  I actually think that they are both as good as each other, because the film does some really great stuff.  It just fails more where the mini-series excelled and vice-versa. 

A second viewing of the film may change my opinion, now I know what to expect.  I might also need to rewatch the mini-series to check if nostalgia might be messing with my judgement too much.

I was a massive fan of the book when I was a kid (14 or whatever), and the characters and setting really resonated. I loved it and it also really scared me. There was so much detail, so much to take in, that it felt real.

And so the mini-series, while enjoyable, didn't come close to matching the book, even though Curry was excellent.

I haven't re-watched it, or re-read the book for decades, so I watched the film thinking it would be a relatively clean slate, but no. It all came flooding (floating?) back.

I thought it was great. Scary and immersive, and much better than the mini-series. But I do agree that the film, despite being "the first half" of the book, seemed to skim over some of the characters. I remembered more about Richie Tozier and Ben Hanscom from my memories of 30 years ago, than I got from the film, it was a long running time, but the introduction to each kid was a scary vignette, and that was about it.

Bev and Bill were the only ones who had any kind of depth on screen.

But I still thought it was very good, and Pennywise was great. Maybe the problem is, like with the (truncated) two-part miniseries, there is just TOO much book to film.

It would perhaps have been better served in a high-budget Netflix series over 8-10 episodes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 January, 2018, 11:09:29 AM
Groundhog Day  I love this film.  Definitely one of my favourites.  I love the concept of repeating the same day over and over again, the way it is presented in the film and the implications it raises in my mind.  I also think it is great that there is no explanation as to why it is happening and it's not entirely clear why it stopped, either.  It gives the film a real enigmatic quality.  With the dark tones, the feel good moments and the characters it just oozes entertainment.  I do wonder about the nature of what is happening to him sometimes.  Like the idea that each time the 24 hours ends a version of Phil carries wakes up the next morning in some alternate dimension thingy.  Also, how Phil will cope when he stops repeating.  A lot of his agency at the end of the film will disappear as he loses a ridiculous amount of control on his environment.  Would he not be in some way institutionalised into the repeating structure of his life by that point?  It seems unlikely that he'd not be left with some degree of trauma.

I really love this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 19 January, 2018, 12:31:11 PM
Leatherface
The new one, not the old one. This is Texas Chainsaw 8, and an attempt to tell Mr Face's origin story- which I'm sure has been done at least once before, probably twice.
This time, however, it largely works. It's a good story, with a central narrative question ("which one of these kids is Leatherface?") that successfully twists and turns a bit throughout the ninety minute running time.
Doesn't feel like any of the other films in the series, at times more resembling The Devil's Rejects, but benefits from a strong cast, some nice shooting, and some joyful grue.
It could be argued that only the first ten minutes and the last fifteen are necessary, but I think that's disingenuous to the story they were trying to tell. For the most part it works very well, and the end while being predictable, is satisfying, and the only time it reverts to type.
Top half of the franchise then, better than some, but obviously not in the same league as Hooper's two originals. As if that were possible.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2018, 12:32:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 January, 2018, 11:09:29 AMI also think it is great that there is no explanation as to why it is happening and it's not entirely clear why it stopped, either.  It gives the film a real enigmatic quality.

I've thought about Groundhog Day rather too much over the years, and even more-so since I became effectively addicted to the recording of Tim Minchin's sublime musical adaptation, but I think Phil finally breaks the cycle when he stops striving to be somewhere/when else, stops trying to manipulate people and just experiences and enjoys the day he has. 

It's always tempting to see it as some sort of Quantum Leap fix-everything type of deal, but I think the set up of the last day indicates that his journey is from complete self-imposed insulation from his surroundings to completely embracing and appreciating them, not least by accepting and respecting the agency of others.  As the musical puts it (suggesting that there being two Phils is no coincidence), he emerges from his burrow, and doesn't see his own shadow. 

I think that he could bring that perspective into the world, and live a good life, day to day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 January, 2018, 07:02:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 January, 2018, 12:32:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 January, 2018, 11:09:29 AMI also think it is great that there is no explanation as to why it is happening and it's not entirely clear why it stopped, either.  It gives the film a real enigmatic quality.

I've thought about Groundhog Day rather too much over the years, and even more-so since I became effectively addicted to the recording of Tim Minchin's sublime musical adaptation, but I think Phil finally breaks the cycle when he stops striving to be somewhere/when else, stops trying to manipulate people and just experiences and enjoys the day he has. 

It's always tempting to see it as some sort of Quantum Leap fix-everything type of deal, but I think the set up of the last day indicates that his journey is from complete self-imposed insulation from his surroundings to completely embracing and appreciating them, not least by accepting and respecting the agency of others.  As the musical puts it (suggesting that there being two Phils is no coincidence), he emerges from his burrow, and doesn't see his own shadow. 

I think that he could bring that perspective into the world, and live a good life, day to day.

It could be that the cycle is to do with Phil and Rita's relationship.  There are indications of this in the film.  Phil apparently falls for her when he first sees her.  He also ends up meeting most of her criteria for her ideal man by the end.  It is a driving force for Phil and provides for some of the big beats of the film.  Phil's initial inability to relate to Rita because of what an arse he his.  At this point he has no real way of processing his feelings.  When he initially realises what is going on he goes to Rita for help, but is unable to convince her.  Realising that he is stuck in the situation he embraces his egotism and the notion of having no consequences to his actions.  He manipulates people and his surroundings.  He tries to manipulate Rita to get what he wants, expressed at sex at this point.  He still has the desire to connect but fails over and over again. 

When he realises he is getting nowhere he becomes depressed and we enter the suicide montage.  That turns out to be just as pointless and frustrating and Phil is broken.  He reaches out once more to Rita, using what he knows to simply try and convince her.  He wants her to believe him.  When she does and when she decides to stay with him it is another major turning point, this time to the positive.  With a more positive outlook on his situation and thanks to some input from Rita which he takes to heart, Phil endeavours to make the most of things and become the person he needs to be to be with Rita.  The final cycle shows us him achieving that.

I actually prefer your interpretation to this idea, but this is why I seriously love this film.  It is just such fun to think about the film and what it is doing.  If they explained what was happening and why, this film would not have resonated so well with me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2018, 07:31:18 PM
You're right to cite Rita as the key, in so much as their relationship is the visible litmus for Phil's drawn-out transformation.  I don't think Phil is either stuck or released because of Rita, but I do think that by letting go of the objective of trying to persuade her to shag him (initially) and like him (subsequently), and instead just concentrating on being his best self, is what brings everything to a conclusion. 

I agree that pondering the whys and wherefors is the real joy of the film, even if they may not all be there in the filmmakers' intent. 

BTW, if you haven't caught up with the musical version you definitely should - it takes the time to look at the inner lives of some of the minor characters (Ned, Nancy, Ralph), and is a fascinating companion to the movie.  (Memorably when Bill Murray went to see it, he showed up again the following night). 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 January, 2018, 08:47:13 PM
GERALD'S GAME
Blimey! Let's think about all of the things that make for uncomfortable viewing and squeeze as many of them into one movie as possible. But I really enjoyed it. Carla and Bruce look purdy and give great performances (not always subtle). Bruce is especially good as the Jessie that is full of self loathing and doubt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 20 January, 2018, 09:37:00 AM
The seventh and last Michael Caine Definite Article film The Magus (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/no-134-magus.html) - unless someone can find me a copy of the unreleased 'The Debtors'?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 January, 2018, 10:06:20 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 January, 2018, 09:37:00 AM
The seventh and last Michael Caine Definite Article film The Magus (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/no-134-magus.html) - unless someone can find me a copy of the unreleased 'The Debtors'?

Watched this a few months ago after reading the book.

I enjoyed it but the book is better imo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 January, 2018, 07:59:47 PM
Finally got round to watching Man of Steel and Batfink vs Superjesus: Pre-Credits Montage for Justice League, back to back.  They were in no way as bad as I was expecting, and as episodes of a story that rather clumsily continues into Wonder Woman/Justice League, they were actually pretty enjoyable.  In particular I liked how the second film was entirely built around the central flaw of the first (Superman's complete disregard for non-Lois bystanders, which was appallingly distracting, to the point that I was getting hoarse screaming at the screen). 

Now don't get me wrong, there was some really powerful stupidity on display, and an almost wilful decision to not show us Superman being remotely Supermanish, but, well, there were good parts too.  Cavill, Affleck, Adams and Shannon (as Zod) were all fine in their parts: even Eisenberg's Lex was at least vaguely original, if hard to connect with the source character. I enjoyed all the Kryptonian beetle-y designs, and (heaven help me) I enjoyed the Batman-Superman punch-up, and (oh god, can't believe I'm saying this) the Trinity versus Doomsday one too. 

In the first movie, Pa Kent's death scene was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen committed to the screen, followed closely by the USA's anti-alien military command/task force being like four people. 

In the second, it was Lois's inexplicable spear hide-and-seek game, and the FAILURE OF ANYONE TO TELL ANYONE ELSE WHAT WAS GOING ON, JUST ONE IN SINGLE SHORT SENTENCE, EVER.  And Gotham being visible from the Daily Planet.  Oh, and the World's Greatest Detective's failure to Google 'White Portuguese'.  And the name 'White Portuguese'.

But other than way too much snarling, posing and not enough (any?) heroing, and not including any kind of Superman that I recognise, I don't think these things deserved the bad rep they have.  Rather looking forward to Justice League now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 January, 2018, 08:58:52 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 20 January, 2018, 09:37:00 AM
The seventh and last Michael Caine Definite Article film The Magus (http://thedefinitearticlemovies.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/no-134-magus.html) - unless someone can find me a copy of the unreleased 'The Debtors'?

Have you watched The Swarm already? That's always good for a laugh. I like the caption at the end which makes it clear that the film is about evil foreign bees and not good, hardworking American bees.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2018, 12:52:46 PM
The last two thirds of FANTASTIC VOYAGE. Actually does a pretty good job of keeping the tension going and has some special effects which still look cool today.

The music though is oddly generic sixties movie music. I dunno if that's this score got recycled a lot or, was itself, recycled.

Boy did I have a crush on Raquel Welch back in the day - as did a lot of people I suspect. You you fosters might have to look her up. Sort of like Kelly Brook but better at acting. Could she sing? I recall reading somewhere she was dubbed in those TV specials (which remain fascinating insights into how TV used to be).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 03:42:25 PM
A terrible politician who couldn't even win an election in the UK against bolsheviks mere months after winning WW2, Winston Churchill is fetishised uncritically in Darkest Hour, and with almost supernatural synchronicity, I checked Twitter after seeing the film and and some Irish guy was doing a poll about what people thought of Winston Churchill, and obviously the usual minor incidents blown up out of all proportions were being tossed about, like his founding the Black And Tans, his Indian genocide, deploying tanks against Scottish strikers, "I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion", the Bengal famine being the fault of Indians for "breeding like rabbits", his military campaign against Afghan civilians including women and children, his targeting civilians during the war, his internment and rape and torture and murder of Kenyans - you know, the usual Trot whataboutery and fake news, but Darkest Hour is having none of that, it shows the real Churchill: man of the people, salt of the Earth, misunderstood by his own party who wanted to kowtow to the Nazis and undermined by socialists of the Labour Party, including the literally frothing-at-the-mouth Atlee.
Darkest Hour is basically 2 hours of Churchill being wanked off in front of you in an embarrassingly unironic way to the point that even if you know absolutely nothing of what Churchill did to non-English subjects of the British Empire - especially the ones that come in darker hues - this is borderline parody stuff, the first few minutes alone making me think of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, only this is arguably funnier as long as you never remind yourself it's supposed to be taken seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 21 January, 2018, 09:25:46 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 03:42:25 PM
A terrible politician who couldn't even win an election in the UK against bolsheviks mere months after winning WW2, Winston Churchill is fetishised uncritically in Darkest Hour, and with almost supernatural synchronicity, I checked Twitter after seeing the film and and some Irish guy was doing a poll about what people thought of Winston Churchill, and obviously the usual minor incidents blown up out of all proportions were being tossed about, like his founding the Black And Tans, his Indian genocide, deploying tanks against Scottish strikers, "I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion", the Bengal famine being the fault of Indians for "breeding like rabbits", his military campaign against Afghan civilians including women and children, his targeting civilians during the war, his internment and rape and torture and murder of Kenyans - you know, the usual Trot whataboutery and fake news, but Darkest Hour is having none of that, it shows the real Churchill: man of the people, salt of the Earth, misunderstood by his own party who wanted to kowtow to the Nazis and undermined by socialists of the Labour Party, including the literally frothing-at-the-mouth Atlee.
Darkest Hour is basically 2 hours of Churchill being wanked off in front of you in an embarrassingly unironic way to the point that even if you know absolutely nothing of what Churchill did to non-English subjects of the British Empire - especially the ones that come in darker hues - this is borderline parody stuff, the first few minutes alone making me think of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, only this is arguably funnier as long as you never remind yourself it's supposed to be taken seriously.

Hollywood is forever rewriting history dumping historical accuracy in favour of a good yarn.Churchill is synonymous with the Victory in WW2 so anything that detracts from that is ignored.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 January, 2018, 09:34:11 PM
To be fair to Hollywood, a lot of Britain is happy to rewrite this bit of history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 10:12:39 PM
I forgot to say "more like Shitest Hour".

I have failed you all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 January, 2018, 06:38:48 AM
Im kinda afraid to comment it here,but here it goes...Michael Collins.A good biopic.Neeson delivers a great performance,but Rickman steals the show whenever he shows up.And you have to give the movie credit for not even pretending to be objective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2018, 09:26:11 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 10:12:39 PM
I forgot to say "more like Shitest Hour".

I have failed you all.

I'd have gone for DARKEST SHITE myself.

Ps: and it was Cosh who came up with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 January, 2018, 09:33:59 AM
Colossal - Brilliant. Not at all the screwball wacky comedy that the trailers marketed it as, which might be why it has a pretty low rating on Prime Video (must be pulling in people looking for a different experience entirely). It's occasionally quite funny for sure, and the big conceptual hook seems tailor-made for gags, but it uses the big monster idea as a way to explore different, darker themes entirely, and in a really powerful way.

Totally took me by surprise, fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 09:51:46 AM
Quote from: Smith on 22 January, 2018, 06:38:48 AMAnd you have to give the movie credit for not even pretending to be objective.

Or historically accurate in even the vaguest of ways.  At least William Wallace was actually executed in 1305, unlike (the Stephen Rea character) Ned Broy, who died in 1972 as a retired Garda commissioner and former President of the Olympic Council, and thus probably wasn't tortured and killed in 1920, after burning files  in Dublin Castle, a place he'd never worked.  Ditto Harry Boland (Adian Quinn) , who was wounded at a hotel in Skerries and died in hospital several days later, and not while running away in a suspiciously Harry Lime-esque shootout in a Dublin sewer.

(Nor was Collins 'Minister for Intelligence' (he was Finance), nor was he head of the Treaty delegation, nor was the 1916 surrender outside the GPO etc etc etc).

Wind that Shakes the Barley remains by far the better film of these events, even if it has it own biases to parade, at least it tries to clothe them in facts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 03:42:25 PM
A terrible politician who couldn't even win an election in the UK against bolsheviks mere months after winning WW2, Winston Churchill is fetishised uncritically in Darkest Hour, and with almost supernatural synchronicity, I checked Twitter after seeing the film and and some Irish guy was doing a poll about what people thought of Winston Churchill, and obviously the usual minor incidents blown up out of all proportions were being tossed about, like his founding the Black And Tans, his Indian genocide, deploying tanks against Scottish strikers, "I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion", the Bengal famine being the fault of Indians for "breeding like rabbits", his military campaign against Afghan civilians including women and children, his targeting civilians during the war, his internment and rape and torture and murder of Kenyans - you know, the usual Trot whataboutery and fake news, but Darkest Hour is having none of that, it shows the real Churchill: man of the people, salt of the Earth, misunderstood by his own party who wanted to kowtow to the Nazis and undermined by socialists of the Labour Party, including the literally frothing-at-the-mouth Atlee.
Darkest Hour is basically 2 hours of Churchill being wanked off in front of you in an embarrassingly unironic way to the point that even if you know absolutely nothing of what Churchill did to non-English subjects of the British Empire - especially the ones that come in darker hues - this is borderline parody stuff, the first few minutes alone making me think of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, only this is arguably funnier as long as you never remind yourself it's supposed to be taken seriously.

Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:49:48 AM
Quote from: Smith on 22 January, 2018, 06:38:48 AM
Im kinda afraid to comment it here,but here it goes...Michael Collins.A good biopic.Neeson delivers a great performance,but Rickman steals the show whenever he shows up.And you have to give the movie credit for not even pretending to be objective.

Hmmm, I haven't seen Michael Collins because I have zero interest in the subject matter, beyond the historical facts, but it would have to go some to get anywhere near the (surely undisputed?) champion of totally made-up historical bollocks, "Braveheart".

A film so far removed from "things that actually happened" it managed to provide Stewart Lee with about 20 minutes of top quality material.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 10:51:22 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 03:42:25 PM
A terrible politician who couldn't even win an election in the UK against bolsheviks mere months after winning WW2, Winston Churchill is fetishised uncritically in Darkest Hour, and with almost supernatural synchronicity, I checked Twitter after seeing the film and and some Irish guy was doing a poll about what people thought of Winston Churchill, and obviously the usual minor incidents blown up out of all proportions were being tossed about, like his founding the Black And Tans, his Indian genocide, deploying tanks against Scottish strikers, "I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion", the Bengal famine being the fault of Indians for "breeding like rabbits", his military campaign against Afghan civilians including women and children, his targeting civilians during the war, his internment and rape and torture and murder of Kenyans - you know, the usual Trot whataboutery and fake news, but Darkest Hour is having none of that, it shows the real Churchill: man of the people, salt of the Earth, misunderstood by his own party who wanted to kowtow to the Nazis and undermined by socialists of the Labour Party, including the literally frothing-at-the-mouth Atlee.
Darkest Hour is basically 2 hours of Churchill being wanked off in front of you in an embarrassingly unironic way to the point that even if you know absolutely nothing of what Churchill did to non-English subjects of the British Empire - especially the ones that come in darker hues - this is borderline parody stuff, the first few minutes alone making me think of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, only this is arguably funnier as long as you never remind yourself it's supposed to be taken seriously.

Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?

^^^Achtung! - Ridiculous flame-bait question -  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:02:28 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 10:51:22 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2018, 03:42:25 PM
A terrible politician who couldn't even win an election in the UK against bolsheviks mere months after winning WW2, Winston Churchill is fetishised uncritically in Darkest Hour, and with almost supernatural synchronicity, I checked Twitter after seeing the film and and some Irish guy was doing a poll about what people thought of Winston Churchill, and obviously the usual minor incidents blown up out of all proportions were being tossed about, like his founding the Black And Tans, his Indian genocide, deploying tanks against Scottish strikers, "I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion", the Bengal famine being the fault of Indians for "breeding like rabbits", his military campaign against Afghan civilians including women and children, his targeting civilians during the war, his internment and rape and torture and murder of Kenyans - you know, the usual Trot whataboutery and fake news, but Darkest Hour is having none of that, it shows the real Churchill: man of the people, salt of the Earth, misunderstood by his own party who wanted to kowtow to the Nazis and undermined by socialists of the Labour Party, including the literally frothing-at-the-mouth Atlee.
Darkest Hour is basically 2 hours of Churchill being wanked off in front of you in an embarrassingly unironic way to the point that even if you know absolutely nothing of what Churchill did to non-English subjects of the British Empire - especially the ones that come in darker hues - this is borderline parody stuff, the first few minutes alone making me think of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, only this is arguably funnier as long as you never remind yourself it's supposed to be taken seriously.

Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?

^^^Achtung! - Ridiculous flame-bait question -  :lol:

"It would have been a price worth paying"

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 22 January, 2018, 11:11:51 AM
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!

The story of Indian Olympic runner, Milkha Singh. I'm not really into biopics of Sports personalties and have very little interest in sports in general but I enjoyed this. There's a scene where [spoiler]Milkha is running on the track and his coach is shouting "Bhaag" (Run): cue flashback to the past and a Village under attack, and a young Milkha running for his life. Then we return to the present and the bandages are falling from his feet as he races to the win.[/spoiler] This probably sounds like a massive wedge of cheddar but it was actually quite a touching moment. Worth a watch!


Pixels

Pig Shit more like! Jokeless Turdfest about aliens attacking Earth using 1980's computer game sprites. Less funny than Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which isn't even a comedy!


Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 11:13:11 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 10:51:22 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?

^^^Achtung! - Ridiculous flame-bait question -  :lol:

The 'useful monster' defense has a lot of merit, but I think most of us who exist outside the UK's group-think hegemony would just be happier if Churchill was viewed with any kind of nuance at all, and that just maybe the experiences of non-English non-white people might be worth including somewhere in the non-stop hagiography .  It is possible to acknowledge, even revere, his critical contribution to defeating the embodiment of evil, and also view him as a prime example of blinkered imperialist thug. (Of course many narratives start from the position that the Empire was a universally good thing, selflessly bringing enlightenment and democracy to the fuzzy wuzzies and muck savages, so there is quite a hill to climb there).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:18:03 AM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 22 January, 2018, 11:11:51 AM
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!

The story of Indian Olympic runner, Milkha Singh. I'm not really into biopics of Sports personalties and have very little interest in sports in general but I enjoyed this. There's a scene where [spoiler]Milkha is running on the track and his coach is shouting "Bhaag" (Run): cue flashback to the past and a Village under attack, and a young Milkjha running for his life. Then we return to the present and the bandages are falling from his feet as he races to the win.[/spoiler] This probably sounds like a massive wedge of cheddar but it was actually quite a touching moment. Worth a watch!


Pixels

Pig Shit more like! Jokeless Turdfest about aliens attacking Earth using 1980's computer game sprites. Less funny than Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which isn't even a comedy!


Cheers

Pixels was on telly at the weekend, so I watched it for 15 minutes or so, at least until Dinklage came on.

I quite liked his dwarf Billy Mitchell impression, but not enough to continue watching.

A perfect example of a totally awful, creatively bankrupt piece of shite, machine-tooled to appeal to less discerning foreign audiences such as China, and rightly destroyed by domestic critics, and largely ignored by domestic audiences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:21:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 11:13:11 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 10:51:22 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?

^^^Achtung! - Ridiculous flame-bait question -  :lol:

The 'useful monster' defense has a lot of merit, but I think most of us who exist outside the UK's group-think hegemony would just be happier if Churchill was viewed with any kind of nuance at all, and that just maybe the experiences of non-English non-white people might be worth including somewhere in the non-stop hagiography .  It is possible to acknowledge, even revere, his critical contribution to defeating the embodiment of evil, and also view him as a prime example of blinkered imperialist thug. (Of course many narratives start from the position that the Empire was a universally good thing, selflessly bringing enlightenment and democracy to the fuzzy wuzzies and muck savages, so there is quite a hill to climb there).

The Darkest Hour is a film about Churchill during a specific time period in World War 2, so it was probably rather hard - and also fucking pointless - to shoe-horn any kind of "blinkered imperialist thug" messages, or hand-wringing "But hey, just wait a minute, man" narrative about the British Empire into the film.

And, happily, they didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 January, 2018, 11:39:35 AM
@Tordel Maybe its not much of a defence,but its a movie,not a documentary.Some things were changed for the sake of drama.And as you said,some characters were fused.
But I wouldnt quite say its worst then Braveheart in that regard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 11:51:11 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:21:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 11:13:11 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 January, 2018, 10:51:22 AM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
Would you have preferred a nicer war-time PM, but ended up losing the war?

^^^Achtung! - Ridiculous flame-bait question -  :lol:

The 'useful monster' defense has a lot of merit, but I think most of us who exist outside the UK's group-think hegemony would just be happier if Churchill was viewed with any kind of nuance at all, and that just maybe the experiences of non-English non-white people might be worth including somewhere in the non-stop hagiography .  It is possible to acknowledge, even revere, his critical contribution to defeating the embodiment of evil, and also view him as a prime example of blinkered imperialist thug. (Of course many narratives start from the position that the Empire was a universally good thing, selflessly bringing enlightenment and democracy to the fuzzy wuzzies and muck savages, so there is quite a hill to climb there).

The Darkest Hour is a film about Churchill during a specific time period in World War 2, so it was probably rather hard - and also fucking pointless - to shoe-horn any kind of "blinkered imperialist thug" messages, or hand-wringing "But hey, just wait a minute, man" narrative about the British Empire into the film.

And, happily, they didn't.

But your question isn't about the film - it's about Chruchill's status as PM and whether the other poster would have preferred to have had someone else in the role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 12:00:15 PM
Quote from: Smith on 22 January, 2018, 11:39:35 AM
@Tordel Maybe its not much of a defence,but its a movie,not a documentary.

Of course, and it is a pretty entertaining flick, but as with Braveheart (although not necessarily Darkest Hour), it's likely to be the only contact a lot of people have with the historical events - and people - it purports to depict.  There's something pretty unsavory about having scenes like Dev sobbing behind the turf stack, or Kitty Kiernan waving a revolver around, or the IRA using car-bombs in 1920, when it's entirely fictional and distorts general understanding of the people and the time.  Omissions, simplifications, conflations, these I can understand - but were pure fabrications and outright lies things really necessary to tell an exciting story?


And very few things are worse than Braveheart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 12:03:12 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:21:53 AM
The Darkest Hour is a film about Churchill during a specific time period in World War 2, so it was probably rather hard - and also fucking pointless - to shoe-horn any kind of "blinkered imperialist thug" messages, or hand-wringing "But hey, just wait a minute, man" narrative about the British Empire into the film.

I'd take your point more seriously if he wasn't on the £5 note and regularly voted 'greatest Englishman ever', or if there was ever a film presenting him in any other light. If people want Churchill to be presented the embodiment of all that is best about England, that's fair enough, but you can expect some push-back.

I haven't seen the film, and so almost certainly shouldn't comment, but from reports it seems to be yet another chapter in the uncritical glorification of a questionable man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 12:18:29 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 12:03:12 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 22 January, 2018, 11:21:53 AM
The Darkest Hour is a film about Churchill during a specific time period in World War 2, so it was probably rather hard - and also fucking pointless - to shoe-horn any kind of "blinkered imperialist thug" messages, or hand-wringing "But hey, just wait a minute, man" narrative about the British Empire into the film.

I'd take your point more seriously if he wasn't on the £5 note and regularly voted 'greatest Englishman ever', or if there was ever a film presenting him in any other light. If people want Churchill to be presented the embodiment of all that is best about England, that's fair enough, but you can expect some push-back.

I haven't seen the film, and so almost certainly shouldn't comment, but from reports it seems to be yet another chapter in the uncritical glorification of a questionable man.

I'm not sure there would be a massive audience for a "Churchill: THE MONSTER WITHIN" type of film.

Perhaps a documentary would have less of a problem with the total lack of commercial potential, or maybe a self-published book?

Maybe even a Twitter campaign to get him removed from any UK currency and replaced with, I dunno, someone really nice and peaceful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 12:19:42 PM
I don't fancy the Churchill films for the reasons already stated. I think the only way to watch them is as mythology or fantasy, the way I decided to view Dunkirk. The danger of these films is that they promote state propaganda as actual history and reinforce the idea of fealty to leaders no matter what. One can't have world wars without states.

I know most people think I'm full of stomm on this issue and to a certain extent I know I am. I was raised suckling at the tit of British and American propaganda, my formative years blighted by the portrayal of savage and bloodthirsty Red Indians threatening fine, upstanding cowboys. It was horrible to realise that one of my favourite films growing up, Zulu, was about an indigenous people giving their all to repel a technologically advanced and quite ruthless invader. How can one cheer the bravery of a small contingent of outnumbered, surrounded and isolated Redcoats after realising they were the ones in the wrong? But my indoctrination into the British Myth runs deep and this film is still a guilty pleasure for me. If nothing else, I can watch it and think, "thank God I don't buy into this imperialistic state bullshit any more" and look on all the combatants, on both sides, as disposable pawns pressed into the service of bloodthirsty leaders.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 12:24:01 PM
Damn, if only I'd stated that Churchill had won the war.  In the first sentence of my review, perhaps?  That would have been a good place for it.

Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 11:13:11 AMIt is possible to acknowledge, even revere, his critical contribution to defeating the embodiment of evil

Yes, but "what about", TB?

Darkest Hour's problem isn't that it refuses to acknowledge Churchill's racist imperialism specifically, it is that it is almost entirely uncritical and thus rings false, descending into parody.  It affords time to treat his enemies critically - even the King gets several scenes to be portrayed as an indecisive coward - yet the film's subject escapes such scrutiny, his only foibles being to illustrate that he is misunderstood by anyone who isn't a rich white conservative, and those rich white conservatives that plot against him eventually come to be browbeaten to his way of thinking rather than won around with reason or (possibly more relevantly in such a glamorous and romantic story) patriotism.  It isn't that this is a problem with the depiction of Churchill (although it is), it's that this is an objective narrative failing of the film, and it's a shame, because it does actually do something different in at least being critical of the British upper classes during wartime, something we see precious little of in any media - the narrative tending to default to "we were all in it together", which is a touching notion that is sadly very, very far from the truth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 January, 2018, 12:58:19 PM
Who said it!? Hitler or Churchill????

Quote"They needed to recognise the superiority of race."

QuoteI propose that 100,000 degenerate _____ should be forcibly sterilized and others put in labour camps to halt the decline of the _____ race.

QuoteThe unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the feeble-minded and insane classes, coupled as it is with steady restriction among all the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks constitutes a national and race danger which is impossible to exaggerate. I feel that the source from which the stream of madness is fed should be cut off and sealed before another year has passed

QuoteI am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.


Take a guess! If needed you can check out those 'self-published books' and 'documentaries'!

Feel like I'm in the wrong thread here but it's a fair discussion of the complete white-washing of Winston Churchill. Let's see the story of the plucky pashtun resistance fighter against the brutal collective punishment of a foreign force, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 01:43:57 PM
I've not seen Oldman's Churchill film yet, but does a film about Churchill during the war have to be completely objective like a documentary and show every trait, every deed and misdeed? He is a hero even if he's a racist one by today's standards, I don't mind them focusing on some of the good things for a few hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 22 January, 2018, 02:03:20 PM
I don't mind it either. But let's not pretend the bad things are ever focused on. As you can see here, even mentioning them will lead to the spontaneous appearance of a straw man, who claims that a less racist or murderous man would never have been capable of winning the war.

The obsession with The Great Men of History is fueled by the myopic, rose-tinted way they are portrayed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 January, 2018, 02:03:20 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 01:43:57 PM
He is a hero even if he's a racist one by today's standards, I don't mind them focusing on some of the good things for a few hours.

I'd like to think that someone whose fingerprints are all over the Bengal famine would be reprehensible by any day's standards.

As I've already said on a parallel discussion on FB: Nice people don't win wars, I think. It's still startling to me that the British electorate was sufficiently sophisticated to recognise that although Churchill may have been exactly the right man to lead the country during the war, they sent him on his way the moment it came to choosing a government to tackle the aftermath.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 02:15:16 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 01:43:57 PM
... does a film about Churchill during the war have to be completely objective like a documentary and show every trait, every deed and misdeed?

I dunno man, if there was a film about Hitler that only showed his role in energising political support for the wehrmacht through rousing speeches, and his role in the strategic brilliance of the almost-bloodless rebalancing of territorial losses through anschluss and blitzkrieg, and occasionally playing fetch with his dog, one might demand some balance.  Yes, yes, I agree, no justification for comparing Churchill to Hitler (unless you were watching your children starve in Bengal in 1943, or dying pointlessly on a Turkish beach in 1915, when it was probably much of a muchness).

Of course Churchill is a hero to many, and films have to pick their tone, their version of the story and push on with getting bum on seats.  Go, enjoy - as I used to enjoy his boyhood adventures in "The Happy Warrior" in Eagle, and recently his alternative-history role as a resistance leader in C J Sansom's Dominion. 

But it would be naive to expect everyone else to shut up about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 02:30:17 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 January, 2018, 02:03:20 PM
I'd like to think that someone whose fingerprints are all over the Bengal famine would be reprehensible by any day's standards.

Thats a tough one. As I understand it because of world war 2 Churchill prioritised feeding the armed forces at a time when there wasnt enough food to go round, which contributed to the famine. It may have been the wrong thing to do with hindsight, I'm not sure what impact that food had on the war effort. It doesnt make him a monster to me though.

It wouldnt be mentioned in a film set in 1940 though, of course.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 22 January, 2018, 02:31:41 PM
downfall didnt have context/backstory/nuance
just told story of those few days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PmzdINGZk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 02:45:45 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 02:30:17 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 January, 2018, 02:03:20 PM
I'd like to think that someone whose fingerprints are all over the Bengal famine would be reprehensible by any day's standards.

Thats a tough one. As I understand it because of world war 2 Churchill prioritised feeding the armed forces at a time when there wasnt enough food to go round, which contributed to the famine. It may have been the wrong thing to do with hindsight, I'm not sure what impact that food had on the war effort. It doesnt make him a monster to me though.

Food was at subsistence levels in Bengal even before the war, but Churchill took it regardless and sent it to the Middle East where it wasn't actually required.  You can't even argue that he couldn't have seen this leading to mass starvation, because it's more or less what happened with the Irish famine, added to which he also directly prevented American and Canadian aid from being delivered to India once famine was known to be affecting the region.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 03:03:12 PM
I will risk derailing the Churchill thread with film talk to say that I think Transformers: The Last Knight is a transcendentally bad film to the point that film school papers will be written about it in years to come.
It has some really great elements, though, particularly Anthony Hopkins getting to pay his bills by doing panto (he has a robot butler called Cogman), and the Cybertron/Earth scenes at the end looking dang Lovecraftian, eventually devolving into a robot dragon fighting alien robots on flying islands as the US military mobilise in force to shoot a million bullets at something offscreen and you realise holy fuck they made a movie of an Iron Maiden album, but it is 2 and a half hours long and really feels like it thanks to the episodic structure that I realised was so that the film could be watched in chunks on DVRs, or possibly to make it easier to splice in scenes to make the film friendlier for certain foreign markets.  It also has the effect of reminding me a lot of how utterly batshit insane a lot of the later Generation 1 Transformers cartoon episodes were, thanks to the way it just nonchalantly segues from King Arthur and Merlin using a dragon Transformer to form the Round Table, to Stonehenge being a USB port to link Earth and Cybertron together, to Bumblebee fighting the Nazis in WW2, to the Royal Submarine Museum being a Transformer - this is exactly the kind of nonsense you would expect to see in a 1980s cartoon show about toys that was being written by people who really knew they were slumming it but would never in a million years break the fiction by not doing the whole thing with a straight face.
Also funny is the little girl in it, whose character was - I suspect - given the actor's IRL name because Michael Bay couldn't remember the name of two female characters at once, and fair play, once you have that nugget in your head, good luck not noticing that Marky Mark's character states his name a lot in this film at the start of scenes, or other characters introduce him to other characters, almost like this was deliberately in there for someone's benefit.  This is the second TF film in a row where there's a jailbait kid knocking about telling people her age onscreen for some reason, and I'm pretty sure someone told Michael Bay that he had to put in a young girl into his movie because all the big sci-fi franchises were cashing in on the previously-untapped young female market, but unfortunately no-one stopped to consider who they were talking to and how he only knows one way to film female characters: bouncing towards the screen in slow motion, and this is like the second shot of the character, so if you're a dad with a young daughter, good luck not having nightmares at the world you've created for her thanks to your financial support of trash like this.
I have no idea why anyone thinks Optimus Prime is a good character apart from having a great voice, either, as he is as completely shite in this as he was in all the other films, as well as only in it near the end to take focus off other characters - though to be fair, none of the other characters get any development anyway.
I'll stop now.  Despite my high expectations, this film was terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 03:04:06 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 02:15:16 PM
Yes, yes, I agree, no justification for comparing Churchill to Hitler (unless you were watching your children starve in Bengal in 1943, or dying pointlessly on a Turkish beach in 1915, when it was probably much of a muchness).

Do you agree though or is that sarcasm? If they made a film that concentrated on a short period of Hitler's life that didnt involve constant racism and megalomania, I'd be fine with that. I think that would be the like for like analogy.

Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 02:15:16 PM
But it would be naive to expect everyone else to shut up about it.

I hope you don't think I do!

Quote from: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 02:45:45 PM
Food was at subsistence levels in Bengal even before the war, but Churchill took it regardless and sent it to the Middle East where it wasn't actually required.  You can't even argue that he couldn't have seen this leading to mass starvation, because it's more or less what happened with the Irish famine, added to which he also directly prevented American and Canadian aid from being delivered to India once famine was known to be affecting the region.

Whereabouts in the middle east was it sent? Wasnt a lot of it used for self-defence, to feed the army stationed in India too? They had the enemy on their border by then. I wouldnt argue he didnt know it would have led to starvation, but the war was of the utmost importance.

I've not heard about him blocking aid from other countries, that sounds bad, have you got anything I can read?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 January, 2018, 03:13:28 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 02:15:16 PM
Go, enjoy - as I used to enjoy his boyhood adventures in "The Happy Warrior" in Eagle, and recently his alternative-history role as a resistance leader in C J Sansom's Dominion.

Off topic, but Dominion was badly written tosh and, in my edition at least, had an afterword by the author on the evils of Scottish Nationalism and how the SNP are modern day Nazis. Bizarre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 03:17:24 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 03:04:06 PMhave you got anything I can read?

I highly recommend ReGeneration One, as it shows how the G1 Transformers story finally ends, though I also hear good things about The War Within.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 03:22:47 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 03:17:24 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 22 January, 2018, 03:04:06 PMhave you got anything I can read?

I highly recommend ReGeneration One, as it shows how the G1 Transformers story finally ends, though I also hear good things about The War Within.

:D I'm a G1 guy so I'll check it out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 January, 2018, 03:26:26 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 22 January, 2018, 03:13:28 PM
Off topic, but Dominion was badly written tosh and, in my edition at least, had an afterword by the author on the evils of Scottish Nationalism and how the SNP are modern day Nazis. Bizarre.

Yeah, the afterword was bizarre (albeit coming from a well-established general opposition to populist nationalism, which I share), but while I personally enjoyed the yarn a lot, I can't deny that the news that he's writing another Shardlake is much more to my liking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 22 January, 2018, 03:37:09 PM
Jumanji The new one.
That was thoroughly enjoyable and probably more so than the original. Definitely worth a go see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 06:23:43 PM
It. Probably the most boring film since The Boring Adventures of Bory McBoring in the Utterly Dull Kingdom of Boredomia. Part IV.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2018, 07:52:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 06:23:43 PM
It. Probably the most boring film since The Boring Adventures of Bory McBoring in the Utterly Dull Kingdom of Boredomia. Part IV.

Oh, come On! There is a ready made scathing review template that Cosh  invented for such occasions. And there a few films that it fits sooo well. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 07:54:59 PM
It can't be more boring than the first time I saw Derek Jarman's Blue, which, if you haven't heard of it, is just several hours of a blank blue screen.  Seriously, it was the dullest 4 hours of my fucking life.

Apropos of nothing, make sure your dvd aerial is actually plugged into the back of your tv before you watch anything experimental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 08:52:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 January, 2018, 07:52:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 06:23:43 PM
It. Probably the most boring film since The Boring Adventures of Bory McBoring in the Utterly Dull Kingdom of Boredomia. Part IV.

Oh, come On! There is a ready made scathing review template that Cosh  invented for such occasions. And there a few films that it fits sooo well.
IT is well and truely a HIT!

Best horror movie of 2017.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 09:33:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 08:52:36 PM

IT is well and truely a HIT!



There's a capital 'S' missing from that sentence, surely?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 09:40:07 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 09:33:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 08:52:36 PM

IT is well and truely a HIT!



There's a capital 'S' missing from that sentence, surely?
Sharks where never renowned for their eye sight I see, alas nope, against all the odds as a resident King anti-fan I found myself toroighly delighted by the charm of IT. Thoroughly excellent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 January, 2018, 09:52:39 PM
I watched the second Kingsman movie. I should have just watched the first one again.

Golden Circle? More like Brown Circle!

(did I do it right?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 January, 2018, 06:44:30 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 09:40:07 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 09:33:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 January, 2018, 08:52:36 PM

IT is well and truely a HIT!



There's a capital 'S' missing from that sentence, surely?
Sharks where never renowned for their eye sight I see, alas nope, against all the odds as a resident King anti-fan I found myself toroighly delighted by the charm of IT. Thoroughly excellent.

Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed it, Hawkie - it just wasn't for me, I guess.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 January, 2018, 08:38:02 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2018, 03:03:12 PM
  Despite my high expectations, this film was terrible.

You had high expectations? Hadn't you seen any of the others in this franchise? Looks like it's going to sweep the board at this years Razzies though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 January, 2018, 01:05:15 PM
I saw the others, but all the indications were that this one would be good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 January, 2018, 01:06:55 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 January, 2018, 01:05:15 PM
I saw the others, but all the indications were that this one would be good.

I'd expect no less from man with such strong faith.   I'm sorry that it was so sorely tested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 January, 2018, 06:55:28 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 January, 2018, 06:23:43 PM
It. Probably the most boring film since The Boring Adventures of Bory McBoring in the Utterly Dull Kingdom of Boredomia. Part IV.

Clearly you've never sat through The History of Boredom aka American Made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 January, 2018, 08:32:19 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 January, 2018, 01:06:55 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 January, 2018, 01:05:15 PM
I saw the others, but all the indications were that this one would be good.

I'd expect no less from man with such strong faith.   I'm sorry that it was so sorely tested.

It has Marky Mark in it doing serious acting.  All the signs pointed to this turning out well and I don't know what could have happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2018, 06:41:26 PM
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars. A fairly straightforward Mobile Infantry v Bugs tale of adventure and derring-do that jogs along at a brisk pace. It's a full cgi film and it looks fantastic, worth watching just for that.

It's the kind of film that the Squaxx in me finds very frustrating because we have so many cool characters and stories that would look awesome given this kind of treatment. Rogue Trooper, A.B.C. Warriors, Slaine, Strontium Dog, Nemesis, Ace Trucking and, of course, Judge Dredd - the list is practically endless - any one of them could be superb with this level of animation and a story like the Apocalypse War could be truly magnificent.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2018, 11:05:25 PM
San Andreas. So you hire a living mountain of screen presence and easy charm to play your heroic Helicopter Rescue pilot in an earthquake spectacular,  and instead of having him heroically rescue people,  you have him steal an endless series of vehicles while having an interminable reconciliation conversation with his incredibly dull ex-wife. And don't get me started on casting Alexandra Daddario (28) to play their college-freshman daughter, a character who has inherited her father's larcenous ways,  looting equipment from a fire engine in front of two cops and then going on her merry way.

Never thought I'd say this,  but Dwayne,  you need a new agent:  you're better than this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 January, 2018, 11:50:01 PM
Yeah he is the worst rescue person ever.

A MONSTER CALLS.
Went in expecting an ET type tale. Boy was I wrong. I'm not crying, YOU are crying. Fantastic stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 January, 2018, 05:03:31 PM
Sicario. Grim take on the war on drugs. Very dark and heavy. Not a very nice movie, in a very good way. Ditto the way it felt meaningless. Had a certain sadness to which I really liked. Especially the ending. Only one slight quip really, one or two plot points felt a bit a bit off [spoiler]the thing with the guy Macer picked up[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Alejandro's silent gunning towards the end looked a bit too easy and stylish[/spoiler]. Other than that, I'm looking forward to the upcoming sequel :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 January, 2018, 10:10:19 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 January, 2018, 11:50:01 PM

A MONSTER CALLS.
Went in expecting an ET type tale. Boy was I wrong. I'm not crying, YOU are crying. Fantastic stuff.

Yeah saw this quite recently myself and cried pretty hard, beautiful film.

Went to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri last night and absolutely loved it. It's properly laugh-out-loud funny throughout but also emotionally gripping as a drama, the writing is fantastic and the performances are amazing across the board. I couldn't get over how well it manages that one-two punch of hitting you in the feels hard and then getting a laugh out of you moments later. Brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 29 January, 2018, 10:22:55 AM
Open House, a "Netflix Original".

One of the worst films i have ever seen.

Diabolically shit, in every possible way. Whoever was responsible for this abortion should never be allowed to write, direct or produce a film ever again, and Netflix need to have their fucking heads examined for actually showing it. It's offensively terrible and if this tsunami of sewage is what Netflix thinks is the sort of original content people want, they can fuck off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 January, 2018, 11:20:30 AM
Re-watched 'Misery' last night for the first time in over 20 years.

Wow, it still holds up pretty darn well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 January, 2018, 05:55:28 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 29 January, 2018, 10:22:55 AM
Open House, a "Netflix Original".

One of the worst films i have ever seen.

Adding it to my watch list as we speak. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 January, 2018, 05:59:28 PM
A Futile and Stupid Gesture the first Netflix film I can honestly say I liked. It's the story of the founding and founders of the National Lampoon magazine. I've never actually read an issue, but I have seen a couple of the films. It was a rather funny and informative film. I was quite surprised to have enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 30 January, 2018, 09:31:48 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 January, 2018, 05:55:28 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 29 January, 2018, 10:22:55 AM
Open House, a "Netflix Original".

One of the worst films i have ever seen.

Adding it to my watch list as we speak.

Why? I've told you it's terrible. Do you like really terrible films?

How odd
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2018, 09:58:17 AM
I have this friend who hates all the films I love and loves all the films I hate. If he tells me he's watched a film and hated it I always make a point of watching it and, nine times out of ten, I enjoy it. He has the same kind of hit-rate with the films I hate. I suspect Tordels is reasoning along similar lines.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: manwithnoname on 30 January, 2018, 10:02:33 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2018, 09:58:17 AM
I have this friend who hates all the films I love and loves all the films I hate. If he tells me he's watched a film and hated it I always make a point of watching it and, nine times out of ten, I enjoy it. He has the same kind of hit-rate with the films I hate. I suspect Tordels is reasoning along similar lines.

Yeah, but that sounds like "hey look at me! I like/ hate (delete as appropriate) this film that everyone else hates/ likes (delete as appropriate)" which is always suspicious, as it suggests that taking such a stance is actually the only way the individual can pretend to be interesting.

Risible.

I watched "Open House" and it's shit.

Not "haha! so terrible it's great" or "Why does everyone else love this, it's AWFUL?!"

I have no interest in such things. I watched it. It's shit. The End.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2018, 10:12:58 AM
That's not what I meant. It's not a case of superior tastes over inferior tastes but different tastes being as useful in selection/appreciation as similar tastes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 January, 2018, 10:16:39 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2018, 09:58:17 AMI suspect Tordels is reasoning along similar lines.

"Reasoning" might be a strong word for what I'm doing, but "reacting" probably covers it.  I do seem to find myself on the opposite side of whatever opinion manwithnoname is expressing (which is fine, world would be a boring place etc), so I thought I might at least get some use out of the observation.  I've enjoyed rather a lot of things people have assured me are objectively shit, increasingly so these days it seems. So much so that any minute now I fear may transform into SBT(reborn), but without the devilish good looks, obviously.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 January, 2018, 10:27:30 AM
I refuse to believe you simply react, Tordels - your posts simply ooze reason!

Unlike my own posts, which generally just ooze...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 January, 2018, 10:47:46 AM
I get that.  I've known people whose tastes have been consistently the opposite of mine it has effected what I consider watching.  Very much in the same vein of watching films recommended by people I know have similar tastes to my own, or just know me well enough to figure I'd get some sort of kick out of watching something.

Last year I had the latter experience when a friend recommended we watched all the Fast and Furious movies together.  I had absolutely no interest in watching them figuring I'd just hate their mediocrity.  Nevertheless, I had a blast watching them with him not least because of how we appreciated how ridiculous they are. 

Our shared experiences help shape our understanding of one another and can inform our choices.  Maybe Tordel will hate the film also, and have a point of commonality with manwithnoname that will effect future decisions.  Maybe Tordel will like the film and affirm the contrary relationship with manwithnoname, but that will still effect future decisions. 
I might be over thinking things a little.

That all being said I can't argue that if someone wanted to watch a film because I said it sucked that it wouldn't feel like a bit of a slap in the face.  I'd hope I wouldn't take it to heart, this forum can have a playful tone at times :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 January, 2018, 10:55:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 January, 2018, 10:47:46 AM
That all being said I can't argue that if someone wanted to watch a film because I said it sucked that it wouldn't feel like a bit of a slap in the face. 

There is that. 

Much as my mother always votes the opposite to my father in any referendum to cancel out his vote (I have no idea why, other than ingrained mischief), so that my father now espouses the contrary view in the run up to any vote, in order to trick her into voting the way he wants... It may be genetic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 30 January, 2018, 11:13:29 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 January, 2018, 10:55:22 AM
...my mother always votes the opposite to my father in any referendum to cancel out his vote (I have no idea why, other than ingrained mischief), so that my father now espouses the contrary view in the run up to any vote, in order to trick her into voting the way he wants...

:lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 11:24:51 AM
The thing with Mr Tordels is that his posts are always so well considered and articulated (with zero aggressive content) that I can't help but reconsider my own opinion on whatever is being discussed.

It doesn't necessarily change my opinion, but it certainly gives me pause to consider a different perspective. That's online discussion I like......I'm not too keen on the "you're wrong and your opinion is stupid" line of debate.

They are just opinions, personal taste....one persons is no more valid than another's.  It's a futile and arrogant pursuit to put someone else's opinion down because it doesn't match your own. What is interesting is people articulating the foundations of their opinion.....when that's done well it can prove enlightening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 11:33:15 AM
I watched "Commando" with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday. I love it!

Under no circumstances am I going to try and justify that one......I know it's complete rubbish. But I still love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 January, 2018, 12:49:57 PM
Quote from: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 11:33:15 AM
I watched "Commando" with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday. I love it!

Under no circumstances am I going to try and justify that one......I know it's complete rubbish. But I still love it.

No-one's going to argue with that view, not even on the internet.  It's not my favourite piece of wonderful '80s Arnie drivel, but that's only because there are so many more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 January, 2018, 12:56:30 PM
Quote from: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 11:33:15 AM
I watched "Commando" with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday. I love it!

Under no circumstances am I going to try and justify that one......I know it's complete rubbish. But I still love it.

I think I've said this before but Commando is one one of my all time favourites. It's the quintessential 80s action film for me (it's a sort of perfect mix combining the budget and slickness of 'superior' films of the period  and the hokeyness and unashamedly unrealistic macho violence found in the straight to video fare).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 01:13:46 PM
Ultimate Arnold for me is Predator.......but you've got to love Vernon Wells "Bennet" as the most hilarious bad guy ever, and the absolute carnage Matrix inflicts when he gets to the island. It is the perfect 80's action movie. Silly and fantastic in equal measure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 30 January, 2018, 01:17:40 PM
Predator is good but I actually prefer the second one.

Bennet is such a great villain - just mental. Sully is quite good too - he's such a little shit, you can't wait for Arnold to his hands on him!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 January, 2018, 02:22:26 PM
Quote from: SIP on 30 January, 2018, 11:33:15 AM
I watched "Commando" with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday. I love it!

Under no circumstances am I going to try and justify that one......I know it's complete rubbish. But I still love it.

One of Ah-nuld's best really. Best line has to be 'I'm warning you Sully, this is my weak arm.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 03 February, 2018, 07:15:11 PM
Just watched Mad Max Fury Road on Netflix.

I watched it in two parts, the first 45 mins a couple of weeks ago and the rest last night.

I wasn't  actually all that bothered but was aware of high praise from this forum, so decided to give it a go.

After watching the first "part" I read a few reviews. Basically they said it was one of the greatest ever action movies. I was really surprised to read that.

At that point I was finding it a bit dull, didn't like the manic look and behaviour of the war boys and wasn't really looking forward to another hour plus of car chases in the desert.

I watched the rest last night and was (initially) underwhelmed.

I have subsequently gone back and read huge chunks of the thread on here about it. That has provided great insight into it and has made me think totally differently about it, so much that I have embarked on rewatch. So thanks guys for your three year old posts that are totally relevant for someone watching for the first time now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 February, 2018, 08:15:33 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 03 February, 2018, 07:15:11 PM
Just watched Mad Max Fury Road on Netflix.

I'll be honest — although I own this on DVD, I haven't watched it since I saw it at the cinema because I suspect it's a film that really needs to be seen on the biggest damn screen with the loudest damn sound system you can find.

That flare goes out at the end of the sandstorm sequence... I saw it twice in the cinema and both times I only realised I was gripping the arm-rests on my seat when I let go at that point. It's a film designed to overwhelm you and I think it needs to fill your eyes and ears to work properly.

It's a remarkable movie, but I think, more than any film other than Dunkirk, it's one you kind of have to see at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 February, 2018, 09:11:41 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 February, 2018, 08:15:33 PM
[Mad Max Fury Road ...

It's a remarkable movie, but I think, more than any film other than Dunkirk, it's one you kind of have to see at the cinema.

I get that, I understand the fear but by the heavens get it watched again Mr Campbell its still absolutely magnificent on the small screen and in some ways (well some small ways) better, its not a mind=blowingly exhilerating and as such I notice so much more each time I watch it as its not quite as visceral as it is in the cinema.

Mind speaking of films that should bee seen at the cinema watch Coco with the kids today and my the heavens that ones a visual treat. The stuff in the land of the land is quite breath-taking especially the spirit guides as they cut in sharp contrast, by the heavens (or hell or whatever afterlife it is) its a marvel to look at. Helped by a fine, moving story cut with humour but driven by humanity.

Jez its a golden age to be a parent drive to see 'kids' films on the big screen, so many are so good and this one ranks amongst the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 February, 2018, 09:15:51 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 February, 2018, 09:11:41 PM
Mind speaking of films that should bee seen at the cinema watch Coco with the kids today and my the heavens that ones a visual treat.

Next weekend, with a bit of luck...

And I have taken your words to heart. I shall finish reading my glorious Art of Fury Road book, and then get it watched again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 03 February, 2018, 10:38:07 PM
Yes I did wonder how much was lost my watching it on TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IndigoPrime on 03 February, 2018, 10:47:05 PM
Just watched the Kingsman sequel. If you enjoyed he original, avoid the follow up. It's horrible. I mean that in every sense. To elaborate: it's [spoiler]full of cheap deaths[/spoiler], is relentlessly gory, and is utterly mean-spirited. The original felt like an amusing – if confused (notably politically) take on spy films. This one just felt like someone took a shit on your telly when you were watching it. The £1.47 I just paid Amazon to rent it was precisely £1.47 too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2018, 10:56:25 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 January, 2018, 10:10:19 AM

Went to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri last night and absolutely loved it. It's properly laugh-out-loud funny throughout but also emotionally gripping as a drama, the writing is fantastic and the performances are amazing across the board. I couldn't get over how well it manages that one-two punch of hitting you in the feels hard and then getting a laugh out of you moments later. Brilliant film.

Caught this at the Hebden Picture House last night - agree wholeheartedly. Everyone else seemed to like it too and my wife started a small round of applause at the end, much to her delight. Could not predict where it was going at all
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2018, 09:29:53 PM
Moon Zero Two - Hammer did a proper sci-fi film?  Obviously I was going to watch this, and I'm glad I did even if I don't know what to make of it, from the proprietary theme tune by Julie Driscol to the hilariously over-the-hill protagonist and his magnificently receding hairline to the daffy mix of western tropes and Gerry Anderson-level production design and FX - the cast even includes Catherine "Maya" Schell - this is a bit of an oddity, coming on the heels of 2001 and Planet of the Apes, it mixes the former's attention to the mechanics of space exploration and the latter's full-throttle commitment to its schtick no matter what basic flaws can be poked in any of it.
It will surprise you to discover that to a modern viewing, this film about a billionaire's plan to do a land-grab from a prospector on the moon and which was made in 1968 by Hammer is very very goofy, the presence of Bernard Bresslaw in a straight role being but the least of its barriers to being taken seriously, but its predictions about the corporate takeover of space exploration have turned out to be sadly bang-on, and what little achievements man manage in the story - ie: colonising Luna - currently seem wildly optimistic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 February, 2018, 09:43:30 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2018, 09:29:53 PM
Moon Zero Two - Hammer did a proper sci-fi film?  Obviously I was going to watch this, and I'm glad I did even if I don't know what to make of it, from the proprietary theme tune by Julie Driscol

And don't forget, a proper animated intro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f-ULb1AvG0
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 February, 2018, 12:51:37 PM
Equilibrium

A bit naff but really good fun. It looks its age and is a bit inconsistent with its rules but it's really watchable. The gun-kata and sword fights are pretty well done.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Utterly boring so I turned it off before the end. It looked really ugly which surprised me and the characters were all dull as fuck which didn't tbh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2018, 01:50:03 PM
Watched Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie at the weekend and while it was really enjoyable it's frustrating that he got so little actual access, so the end result is I don't feel like I learned anything new about the whole thing. The recreations of the audits and sessions were the most interesting part probably, and more than ever it's clear watching it just how much of a cult the whole thing is, but I couldn't help but feel that the ex-member he was mainly getting his info from was a bit of an unreliable narrator. I mean, there's no question from the way they behave in the movie that they're mental, but he seemed too close to it all, and when they're recreating some of the more abusive stuff he seems to be oddly relishing it in a way that made me think he was just too tied up in it all to be the balanced viewpoint that Theroux probably needed to make the film work.

It's also a really weird set-up for a documentary, but I guess the lack of access would have been frustrating to Theroux and his team too and that they made the best of what they could get. Hands down I still think the oddest thing about the church is the secrecy. It's bizarre to think there's a religion which is so aggressively opposed to the outside world having any insight into their practices, you'd imagine that taking part in documentaries would be seen as a great opportunity to set the record straight or even draw more people into the church.

That is, unless they're just lunatics and are up to no good, which is the impression they seem to almost actively pursue.

An interesting film, but a frustrating one.

Then we rewatched Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, because my missus was glum and I thought a slick-but-dumb action flick would cheer her up. Did the trick! I stand by those movies as good popcorn fodder if you just want something a but cheesy and fun. Plus Milla jumping about in 4K kicking and shooting her way through the hordes is a wonderful thing. Incidentally the Atmos track on this was one of the best I've heard, the mix is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2018, 02:57:58 PM
I missed Kong of Skull Island at the cinema and I'm gutted 'cos having just watched it on DVD I can only begin to imagine what a treat it would have been in the big screen.

I have no idea why as its absolute huckum and nonsense, but by gosh I've not seen hockum and nonsense done with such a sense of fun for a long time and the fact that it takes itself seriously strangely works in showing how it doesn't take itself seriously.

By George I should hate this movie but by George I loved it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 05 February, 2018, 05:06:32 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 02 April, 2017, 01:32:14 PM
Watched Young Offenders for the second time in a month with my family yesterday and they loved it. Really can't recommend it higher - gets the mix of melodrama and hilarity just right.

You might be pleasantly surprised to see that there is a TV series starting this coming Friday night on BBC (first episode already up on iPlayer)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 February, 2018, 06:12:55 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2018, 02:57:58 PM
I missed Kong of Skull Island at the cinema and I'm gutted 'cos having just watched it on DVD I can only begin to imagine what a treat it would have been in the big screen.

I have no idea why as its absolute huckum and nonsense, but by gosh I've not seen hockum and nonsense done with such a sense of fun for a long time and the fact that it takes itself seriously strangely works in showing how it doesn't take itself seriously.

By George I should hate this movie but by George I loved it!

I saw it on the big screen and my little 10x4 screen at home and it's still fun shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 February, 2018, 06:25:53 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 03 February, 2018, 10:47:05 PM
Just watched the Kingsman sequel. If you enjoyed he original, avoid the follow up. It's horrible. I mean that in every sense. To elaborate: it's [spoiler]full of cheap deaths[/spoiler], is relentlessly gory, and is utterly mean-spirited. The original felt like an amusing – if confused (notably politically) take on spy films. This one just felt like someone took a shit on your telly when you were watching it. The £1.47 I just paid Amazon to rent it was precisely £1.47 too much.

Cheers for this. I almost rented it yesterday, but I guess I should be thankful I didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 February, 2018, 06:57:22 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 05 February, 2018, 06:12:55 PM
I saw it on the big screen and my little 10x4 screen at home and it's still fun shit.

Can confirm.  It's outrageously enjoyable on any screen.  So many talented people having so much fun with a dumb idea is hard to ignore, whatever size they are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 February, 2018, 07:19:32 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 February, 2018, 06:25:53 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 03 February, 2018, 10:47:05 PM
Just watched the Kingsman sequel. If you enjoyed he original, avoid the follow up. It's horrible. I mean that in every sense. To elaborate: it's [spoiler]full of cheap deaths[/spoiler], is relentlessly gory, and is utterly mean-spirited. The original felt like an amusing – if confused (notably politically) take on spy films. This one just felt like someone took a shit on your telly when you were watching it. The £1.47 I just paid Amazon to rent it was precisely £1.47 too much.

Cheers for this. I almost rented it yesterday, but I guess I should be thankful I didn't.

you are right not to. it's toilet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Modern Panther on 06 February, 2018, 09:04:53 PM
The Cloverfield Paradox, in which an international bunch of astronauts try to save the world.  In keeping with the Cloverfield ethos...all in spoilers:

[spoiler]Its a really well made bad film[/spoiler]
[spoiler]a crew of astronauts struggle to start the big space engine that will provide the world with limitless clean energy, thereby ending war.  Ignore that we already have this sort of technology here on Earth, but don't build the generators because people complete that they ruin the view[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Everything goes wrong.  Realities clash, and whilst the people on Earth find themselves trapped in a really low budget version of The Mist, the space crew are trapped in a less bloody remake of Event Horizon[/spoiler]

[spoiler]all stereotype boxes are ticked.  the heroic American.  the comedy irishman, the angry Russian,
the efficient but possibly evil German, the religious guy who we're just waiting to go nuts and kill everyone[/spoiler]

[spoiler]on the subject of comedy Irishmen, Chris O'Dowd seems to be taking part in an entirely different,
much funnier film. He's wasted on this straight faced nonsense [/spoiler]

[spoiler]the terror of colliding parallel worlds, and the worry that your mate might actually be a goatee wearing mirror version of himself, is almost immediately abandoned, and instead we get a funhouse of ever "haunted house in space" idea ever[/spoiler]

[spoiler]even before the logic just disappears, this is already a space station with full gravity everywhere, that brought along a tank of big earthworms for no reason, but didn't bring replacements for its most important equipment. Where if something goes wrong, and you have to jettison part of the station, you have to be standing in the jettisoning part.  Its a spacestation which is filled for the first hour with Chekhov's guns[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Nothing makes sense. At one point, the captain decides that the important task needs three people to carry it out...one to turn a handle, whilst the others watch. [/spoiler][spoiler]Meanwhile, back on Earth, the only character we meet wanders round staring at his mobile phone.  He drives through a warzone, staring and sending text messages without problems.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The big twist, which everything builds towards, isn't a twist.  [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Truly terrible.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 February, 2018, 05:16:49 PM
I also watched The Cloverfield Paradox.

If I tried to list all the things in this film that didn't make sense I'd be here all day. I really don't know why they bothered - it must have been obvious from the script, or even a brief outline that this would be a turd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steven Denton on 09 February, 2018, 03:26:10 PM
I watched Lucy on film 4 Last night: It sucks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2018, 04:47:51 PM
The Cloverfield Paradox is more than an objectively terrible film, it's also a paradigm of everything that's lazy, derivative and wrong with modern film-making.  A catalogue of other things bolted together - it starts out as Gravity, turns into Space 1999, then it's Event Horizon and has bits of Evil Dead - yet it's never as interesting as any one of those things.
[spoiler]Was all the water appearing out of nowhere supposed to be coming from the other space station that was dunked in the ocean?  If the space stations swapped places, why was the one from our dimension in deep space and the other one just in the ocean?  How was the other station back on its version of Earth and not in our dimension?  Why did the blonde lady need our wrecked space station if hers was on Earth now?  If the space station appeared in deep space it wouldn't have been anchored in orbit around anything and would have moved, so how was it back in the same place in Earth orbit it left before?  And what was with IT Crowd man's arm - how did it become a standalone intelligent being?  What was the point of the Chinese actor speaking in Chinese at length when no other nationality on the station spoke in their native tongue? [/spoiler]

Utter horseshit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 February, 2018, 04:55:01 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2018, 04:47:51 PM
The Cloverfield Paradox is more than an objectively terrible film, it's also a paradigm of everything that's lazy, derivative and wrong with modern film-making.  A catalogue of other things bolted together - it starts out as Gravity, turns into Space 1999, then it's Event Horizon and has bits of Evil Dead - yet it's never as interesting as any one of those things.
[spoiler]Was all the water appearing out of nowhere supposed to be coming from the other space station that was dunked in the ocean?  If the space stations swapped places, why was the one from our dimension in deep space and the other one just in the ocean?  How was the other station back on its version of Earth and not in our dimension?  Why did the blonde lady need our wrecked space station if hers was on Earth now?  If the space station appeared in deep space it wouldn't have been anchored in orbit around anything and would have moved, so how was it back in the same place in Earth orbit it left before?  And what was with IT Crowd man's arm - how did it become a standalone intelligent being?  What was the point of the Chinese actor speaking in Chinese at length when no other nationality on the station spoke in their native tongue? [/spoiler]

Utter horseshit.

I didn't understand [spoiler]how the characters were going to escape in a lifepod back to Earth when they were on the opposite side of the sun from it? [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 09 February, 2018, 04:56:23 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2018, 04:47:51 PM
The Cloverfield Paradox is more than an objectively terrible film, it's also a paradigm of everything that's lazy, derivative and wrong with modern film-making.  A catalogue of other things bolted together - it starts out as Gravity, turns into Space 1999, then it's Event Horizon and has bits of Evil Dead - yet it's never as interesting as any one of those things.
[spoiler]Was all the water appearing out of nowhere supposed to be coming from the other space station that was dunked in the ocean?  If the space stations swapped places, why was the one from our dimension in deep space and the other one just in the ocean?  How was the other station back on its version of Earth and not in our dimension?  Why did the blonde lady need our wrecked space station if hers was on Earth now?  If the space station appeared in deep space it wouldn't have been anchored in orbit around anything and would have moved, so how was it back in the same place in Earth orbit it left before?  And what was with IT Crowd man's arm - how did it become a standalone intelligent being?  What was the point of the Chinese actor speaking in Chinese at length when no other nationality on the station spoke in their native tongue? [/spoiler]

Utter horseshit.

Yeah, pretty much.

My questions eventually ended up delving into more existential territory. Didn't at least one of these astronauts trapped on their spacecraft with shit going down ever rent and watch a movie about astronauts trapped on a spacecraft with shit going down and then wonder why their current predicament was a shite version of what they'd watched?

I guess I could level that question at the movie's writers too.

In the end, the only winner here is Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2018, 05:15:37 PM
China's cultural imperialism also wins.  They got another Chinese-speaking actor shoved into a movie that wasn't even released in the Chinese box office.

Quote from: JamesC on 09 February, 2018, 04:55:01 PMI didn't understand [spoiler]how the characters were going to escape in a lifepod back to Earth when they were on the opposite side of the sun from it? [/spoiler]

[spoiler]They went back to the exact spot they left in their own dimension.  Good thing the galaxy isn't moving at thousands of kilometers a second or anything or they'd have ended up somewhere else.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Big_Dave on 09 February, 2018, 05:23:47 PM
beats me why netflix keep making
awful flims like this & bright

as soon as theyre released
there are 1000s of posts on sociel
media advertising how bad they are
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 February, 2018, 06:15:53 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 09 February, 2018, 05:15:37 PM
China's cultural imperialism also wins.  They got another Chinese-speaking actor shoved into a movie that wasn't even released in the Chinese box office.

Quote from: JamesC on 09 February, 2018, 04:55:01 PMI didn't understand [spoiler]how the characters were going to escape in a lifepod back to Earth when they were on the opposite side of the sun from it? [/spoiler]

[spoiler]They went back to the exact spot they left in their own dimension.  Good thing the galaxy isn't moving at thousands of kilometers a second or anything or they'd have ended up somewhere else.[/spoiler]

Not that it matters but [spoiler]before they went back to their original dimension the main woman and the blonde interloper were going to stay in the alternate dimension and go to that Earth in a life pod. But it had already been established that they were on the other side of the sun to that Earth. Is that not right? Granted I was losing the will by this point so may not have been paying adequate attention.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 09 February, 2018, 07:24:27 PM
Quote from: Big_Dave on 09 February, 2018, 05:23:47 PM
beats me why netflix keep making
awful flims like this & bright

as soon as theyre released
there are 1000s of posts on sociel
media advertising how bad they are

Netflix didn't make The Cloverfield Paradox; they bought it from Paramount who decided not to release it. They've also bought Extinction from Universal. I assume Netflix know what they get out of it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 February, 2018, 09:54:45 PM
Neither Bright nor this sound so terrible I would cancel my Netflix subscription, even if they are daft (and Paradox sounds actually bad rather than enjoyably lazy bad like Bright).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 10 February, 2018, 10:52:23 AM
I didn't really dislike Cloverfield Paradox, it was just...dull. I made it all the way through though, unlike Bright, which lasted 20 mins then was unceremoniously switched off in order to save my sanity/tv screen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 February, 2018, 11:12:58 AM
I wonder if Netflix looks at stats like the number and type of films people don't watch to completion? It sounds like something they should be looking at.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 February, 2018, 07:31:35 PM
Definitely
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 11 February, 2018, 09:41:25 PM
Acts Of Vengeance on Netflix.

The kind of mildly diverting action, revenge flick that would of starred Jean-Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren back in the 80's, but instead here has Antonio Banderas avenging the murder of his wife and child.

Some fairly well staged and choreographed fight scenes and a bulked up Karl Urban who gets to utter the line "creeps" being the few things to recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2018, 08:28:44 PM
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Wow. Absolute gem of a film. Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson knock it out of the park. I haven't been as impressed with a screenplay treating such dark material so very lightly, and with so much easy, natural humour since Fargo.

Highly recommended!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 14 February, 2018, 10:28:42 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2018, 08:28:44 PM
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Wow. Absolute gem of a film. Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson knock it out of the park. I haven't been as impressed with a screenplay treating such dark material so very lightly, and with so much easy, natural humour since Fargo.

Highly recommended!

It's a deft fillum, all right. As I recall, the only time it comes close to condoning anyone's actions is [spoiler]Mildred's firebombing the cop shop[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 February, 2018, 09:02:55 PM
Sing.

Was hopeful for this thanks to the involvement of Garth Jennings, who I like a lot. Unfortunately, the offbeat sensibilities and boundless visual imagination present in his classic music video output are almost entirely absent in Sing, which is about as broad and bland an animated feature as you could imagine. The soundtrack is largely on the nose with very few surprising choices - and anything remotely interesting gets cut off within a few seconds in maddening ADHD fashion, and sad to say the humour is incredibly weak, and I can't imagine anything in it amusing anyone over the age of 8.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 February, 2018, 09:14:49 PM
The Big Lebowski. Gets better every time I watch it, man. It's kinda' like that whole, er, cinema fantasy, er, you know, man, new things come to light and there's lots of ins and lots of outs and, yeah, you dig?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2018, 08:08:20 AM
Yeah well thats just, like, your opinion man!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2018, 10:59:06 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2018, 08:08:20 AM
Yeah well thats just, like, your opinion man!

And the heroic effort of will it took to stop myself from posting that exact comment is wasted...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 February, 2018, 12:05:31 PM
Forget it, Tordels. You're out of your element...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2018, 01:42:21 PM
I don't need your f**kin' sympathy, man, I need my f**king johnson!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 February, 2018, 01:46:50 PM
Watched Need For Speed at the weekend, which was probably the most faithful videogame to movie adaptation I've seen based on the couple of NFS games I've played through.

It's hardly high art (it's the quintessential greasy hamburger of a movie) but if you want to switch off your brain and just watch someone who has to drive a car really fast for honor, love and justice then it's actually surprisingly enjoyable trash. It's no Tokyo Drift but makes an alright fist of it.

Tonight I'm going to see Iron Eagle in the cinema, which I haven't seen since renting it about a dozen times as a kid. I'm sure it still holds up great and isn't a load of dated cheese at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2018, 03:24:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2018, 10:59:06 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 February, 2018, 08:08:20 AM
Yeah well thats just, like, your opinion man!

And the heroic effort of will it took to stop myself from posting that exact comment is wasted...
Give me this one moment Tordels, give me the moment or vwe fuck you UP!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 February, 2018, 06:45:06 PM
Less quotable but I watched the boys remake of TRUE GRIT.  (Inspired in part by having finished Godless). It's beautifully rendered stuff both in cinematography and two keen performances from Rooster (which I'll admit to thinking was a weak link first time round) and Mattie. The sudden ending works well in this one (as opposed to endings i found jarring in Burn After Reading and No Country).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2018, 10:27:50 PM
Coco. Pixar raise the bar again on what you can do with an animated movie. The film is exquisitely, heartbreakingly beautiful to look at — imaginative, stylish, perfectly judged colour choices and lighting. It's gorgeous.

But... oh my god. It's gentle and good humoured and charming at the start, rather than outright funny, but if you don't get to the end without —ahem— something in your eye, you have a heart of stone. I was pretty much a wreck for about the last twenty minutes... not due to cynical sentimentalist tugging on the heartstrings, but because the film stares very directly at real truth and finds beauty in its sadness.

It's remarkable. I have no idea what kids will make of it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 26 February, 2018, 11:58:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2018, 10:27:50 PM
It's remarkable. I have no idea what kids will make of it...

My girls (almost 8, and 9) got it - [spoiler]they've experienced the loss of their 2 maternal great-grandparents in the last couple of years, and they realised what it was all about around that 20 minute from the end mark. [/spoiler] As for my wife....she was in bits for ages after it ended.

The film is gorgeous indeed - the scene where Miguel plays the guitar in the town towards the start of the film had me flummoxed because it looked so real. The animation in this just went to a whole other level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 February, 2018, 06:07:44 AM
Quote from: DaveGYNWA on 26 February, 2018, 11:58:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2018, 10:27:50 PM
It's remarkable. I have no idea what kids will make of it...

My girls (almost 8, and 9) got it ...

Yeah my 8 year old loved and and saw it with Mum and then insisted that me and the boy (6) went to see it too. We did and everyone loves it. Both as a visual treat, a funny film bit most as a film with such a human heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 February, 2018, 07:55:58 AM
Mute, on Netflix.

Eric from True Blood plays an Amish mute in a Blade-Runner lite Berlin, hunting for his vanished girlfriend..

It's by Duncan Jones and is much better than I made it sound, with some lovely Moon Easter Eggs thrown in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 28 February, 2018, 04:41:01 PM
So I watch Speed 2 on Netflix as last time I saw it about 20 years ago.

Seriously? It still shit as last time I see it, who ever thought that fucking plot? What a poor film!
As I love the first film Speed, I got totally respect for Keaue Reeves who can't do this film as he was out on his band tour!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 February, 2018, 05:20:23 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 28 February, 2018, 04:41:01 PM
... I got totally respect for Keaue Reeves who can't do this film as he was out on his band tour!

Unlike the Glastonbury crowd that saw him on that tour (I think it was that tour) - he was belted with mud - it was hilarious!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 February, 2018, 05:47:54 PM
QuoteSo I watch Speed 2 on Netflix

Goaty - you're aware that you only have a limited amount of time on Earth, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 28 February, 2018, 05:50:02 PM
Quote from: radiator on 28 February, 2018, 05:47:54 PM
QuoteSo I watch Speed 2 on Netflix

Goaty - you're aware that you only have a limited amount of time on Earth, right?
Maybe he watched it on fast forward?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 28 February, 2018, 07:08:24 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 28 February, 2018, 04:41:01 PM
So I watch Speed 2 on Netflix as last time I saw it about 20 years ago.

Seriously? It still shit as last time I see it, who ever thought that fucking plot? What a poor film!
As I love the first film Speed, I got totally respect for Keaue Reeves who can't do this film as he was out on his band tour!

Don't think I ever made it past the first half hour.
Utter (Sandra) Bullocks!!!!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 28 February, 2018, 10:42:24 PM
Hehe. Simple just I choose random film a week on Netflix.

Cross Wars - that was totally crappest I ever saw!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 March, 2018, 11:58:43 PM
Jupiter Ascending. Another perfectly entertaining and rather gorgeous SF flick that seemed to get a critical and box-office drubbing it didn't deserve.  As the lead Mila Kunis is maybe a bit dour and passive right up until the very end,  but Channing Tatum makes a perfectly acceptable strong-silent action hero, and the rest of the cast is pretty great: Eddie Redmayne's baddie is particularly memorable, and Nikki Amuda-Bird's starship captain and her crew seem like they could carry a TV series of their own.

The Wachowskis bring their particular brand of involved crazy to an interesting mix of Masters of the Universe, Dune and Flash Gordon (or at least their movie incarnations)
that would fit nicely into the Prog, and damned if I wouldn't have enjoyed more of this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 March, 2018, 12:38:35 AM
See, I didn't like Redmayne's baddie and Channing Tatum is just overpowered, I thought. I can't even remember anybof the action set pieces. It did look pretty though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 March, 2018, 09:26:00 AM
Tatum's Mr. Wise is crazily over-powered, and the most glaring logic problem with the film is why a cashiered soldier is the only person in the galaxy with gravity boots and a personal shield, but once I decided that the protagonists were the SF'd-up equivalent of Greek gods (Tatum as Perseus, or even Hermes) I enjoyed it quite a lot.  The set pieces are repetitive (a Wachowksi flaw), but there are some good ones: the initial aerial battle over Chicago, the escape from Redmayne's imploding base as it falls through Jupiter's atmosphere, the clinic shoot-out with the most deliciously creepy Greys. 

Mainly I enjoyed the plethora of well-done aliens/cyborgs, the massively OTT set designs (some real beauties), the really excellent Kafka/bureaucracy sequence, and the fresh execution of the old-chestnut farming-humans plot. I thought Redmayne did a remarkable job of quietly mumbling all his dialogue but keeping it all crystal clear, conveying simmering danger all the while.

There are obvious structural/editing problems: Her-off-Sense8 doesn't appear again after her early attempt to seduce Jupiter (gratuitous lingering bum shots not unwlecome, mind), there's an awful lot of falling-jeopardy sequences for a universe where main characters have wings and/or gravity boots, and the repetition of Wise-saves-Jupiter-from-signing-a-contract scenes is odd.  There's also way too many scenes of people standing still while explaining things to each other.

But overall, yeah, file it alongside John Carter and Tomorrowland as movies that, while flawed, I felt should have been given more of a fair shake.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2018, 10:52:12 AM
If nothing else, its similarities - flaws included - to another space opera franchise's soft-reboot that people were going doolally over prompts some questions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 02 March, 2018, 11:10:32 AM
Spy 2015
Cast : Melissa Mcarthy, Jude law, Alison Janney, Jason Stratham, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz...
score 7 IMDB     94% critics score on Rotten Toms.
I liked the beginning, - thought it was a good premise, just the sort of light nonsense that I was in the humour for...  but as soon the story started it just seemed to become incrementally less funny on a gag- by- gag basis until about 20 mins into it- I had to turn it off in bewildering frustration.

A comedy so shite that it put me in a bad mood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 March, 2018, 11:45:49 AM
Quote from: darnmarr on 02 March, 2018, 11:10:32 AM
Spy 2015
Cast : Melissa Mcarthy, Jude law, Alison Janney, Jason Stratham, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz...
score 7 IMDB     94% critics score on Rotten Toms.
I liked the beginning, - thought it was a good premise, just the sort of light nonsense that I was in the humour for...  but as soon the story started it just seemed to become incrementally less funny on a gag- by- gag basis until about 20 mins into it- I had to turn it off in bewildering frustration.

A comedy so shite that it put me in a bad mood.

I have very similar feelings. My wife wanted to see this, but to me, McCarthy is just plain un-funny. They should have given Miranda Hart the lead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2018, 03:48:08 PM
If it makes you feel any better, there's a mid-credits scene where it's implied that Jason Statham's character raped the film's lead, and the final line is "stop screaming - you loved it."

Spy was the first film I saw that involved any of the prominent players - McCarthy, Feig, etc - and I thought it was okay, just not terribly encumbered by belly laughs.  There was a nagging feeling I'd missed something all through it, tho - like it was a new comedy genre or something that I'd missed the boat to get on board with and now I didn't know where it was at, Daddio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 02 March, 2018, 07:44:26 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 March, 2018, 12:38:35 AM
See, I didn't like Redmayne's baddie and Channing Tatum is just overpowered, I thought. I can't even remember anybof the action set pieces. It did look pretty though.

I found Redmayne's constant mincing tiresome and it was far too generic to keep my interest- with the 'spot the homage' being the only engaging aspect to it.

Needed more Blessed!

Also Mila Kunis must be a contender for most insipid and dull heroine in film history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 02 March, 2018, 09:32:25 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 March, 2018, 03:48:08 PM
If it makes you feel any better... it's implied that Jason Statham's character raped the film's lead, and the final line is "stop screaming - you loved it."
Thank you: that does make me feel better (about switching Spy 2015 off... I'm just as bewildered as ever ). :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 March, 2018, 10:29:41 PM
Quote from: darnmarr on 02 March, 2018, 11:10:32 AM
Spy 2015
Cast : Melissa Mcarthy, Jude law, Alison Janney, Jason Stratham, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz...
score 7 IMDB     94% critics score on Rotten Toms.
I liked the beginning, - thought it was a good premise, just the sort of light nonsense that I was in the humour for...  but as soon the story started it just seemed to become incrementally less funny on a gag- by- gag basis until about 20 mins into it- I had to turn it off in bewildering frustration.

A comedy so shite that it put me in a bad mood.

Agree completely - I had heard people rave about this back when it came out ('comedy of the year' etc) and it has some great people involved in it, but I couldn't make it through more than about half an hour. I think of myself as a comedy fan with a pretty broad taste, but I just found Spy desperately unfunny. Feels like the actors are literally just making everything up on the fly, and so it has about as good a gag hit rate as that implies. I'm all for improvisation, but off the cuff ad libs should be a cool bonus, not the entire basis for all comedy in the film. It's so lazy. Like, write a script ffs.

As far I can tell Paul Feig's other films are of a similar standard (I can't even make it through the trailer for his Ghostbusters remake). Such a shame, as his TV series Freaks & Geeks is absolutely wonderful - heartfelt, gentle, warm and hilarious, everything his films apparently are not.

As for Jason Statham.... I just cannot fathom his appeal at all. He always seems to me like a Eastenders actor who took a wrong turn on set and ended up in a Hollywood blockbuster. Do people genuinely think he's a credible movie star? Only I always get the sense that even those who claim to be his fans are doing so in a semi-ironic way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 March, 2018, 10:40:09 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 02 March, 2018, 07:44:26 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 March, 2018, 12:38:35 AM
See, I didn't like Redmayne's baddie and Channing Tatum is just overpowered, I thought. I can't even remember anybof the action set pieces. It did look pretty though.

I found Redmayne's constant mincing tiresome and it was far too generic to keep my interest- with the 'spot the homage' being the only engaging aspect to it.

Needed more Blessed!

Also Mila Kunis must be a contender for most insipid and dull heroine in film history.

Yeah,  she's a weak point alright,  but plank-like passive heroes are a Wachowski thing, so it may not be all down to Kunis.

Anyway,  I thought Redmayne had a wonderfully contained menace. His Balen (sp?) will stay with me for a good while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 March, 2018, 10:21:16 AM
The shape of water

Wow! Really good stuff. Guillermo Del Toro remakes ET but [spoiler]ET is a fish and Elliott fucks him.[/spoiler]

It's gentle and violent and full of nudity but not overtly sexualised all at the same time. There are no surprises as to where you will end up (excepting maybe [spoiler]is the end Richard Jenkins fantasy [/spoiler] but the performances, humour and gorgeous look all make it a very pleasant journey. And it also takes time out to give each of the supporting characters a moment or two of their own.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 04 March, 2018, 11:54:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 March, 2018, 10:21:16 AM
Guillermo Del Toro remakes ET but [spoiler]ET is a fish and Elliott fucks him.[/spoiler]

Sold!  :D

He's a bit good that Guillermo eh
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 March, 2018, 12:11:38 PM
Blackhat. A masterclass of film making on how to use a potentially relevant, exciting, and interesting topic and turn it into a dull, turgid, and pointless affair.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 March, 2018, 01:25:56 PM
Earth to Echo.  ET as a You-Tube channel, no more, no less.  It's okay, but it keeps wanting you to like things you've been given no reason to like (Echo himself, all the characters...), preferring to verbally assert the unbreakable closeness of eternal relationships many of which are less than a single day old, rather than actually showing any of it. Also, the title is insanely bad.

But my kids liked it a lot (which is the point), it doesn't cop-out with a totally happy ending, and I suppose it does a fair bit with what I suspect was a miniscule budget. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 March, 2018, 11:21:28 PM
Die Hard With a Vengeance.

To my mind a very underrated movie, and the only canonical Die Hard sequel as far as I'm concerned (2 being ok but a little preposterous and entirely disposable). Vengeance takes the suspense of the original movie (and parallels the plot in a pleasing way) but mostly does its own thing rather than attempting to just directly copy the formula of the original. Not bad for a script that was famously at various points a Lethal Weapon sequel and an entirely unrelated thriller called 'Simon Says'. McClane is recognisably McClane (not the superhuman secret agent of the regrettable later films) and Willis has great on screen chemistry and banter with Samuel L Jackson.

The first hour - everything up to the water jug puzzle/bomb defusal - just zips by, and is on a par with the first movie. It is pretty much as perfect an action movie as you'll find. It sadly goes off the boil a little in the second half and shambles on towards an underwhelming (but still fairly entertaining) finale.

The fact that so much of the movie was clearly shot on location in New York City is to me a far more impressive technical achievement than any amount of modern cgi wizardry.

What really sank in watching it this time round is that this film simply wouldn't be made today. For a start, it would be PG-13 so wouldn't have the same visceral feel to the violence, it would most likely be shot in Vancouver (unconvincingly dressed up to look like NYC) and it would be full of cgi nonsense in the place of real stunts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 March, 2018, 05:30:45 PM
ANNIHILATION.

Wow. Garland knocks it out of the park again. Awesome, awesome film - intense sci-fi action/horror and packed with just enough interesting themes and concepts that it really stays with you afterwards and demands dissection and discussion and yet never threatens to disappear up it's own arse. And to those who say Garland is weak on third acts, this is the one to break that curse. The last twenty minutes of the film really brings it all together and has some of the most intense combinations of imagery and music I've seen in a long time. Absolutely captivating. It's such a shame that it's not getting a theatrical release outside the US as it really deserves to be seen on the big screen - I can imagine it losing a lot of its impact on TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 March, 2018, 08:20:59 AM
Thor: Ragnarok.

Very entertaining - I liked it but think it was possibly a little too comedic. The comedy worked well for this particular film but I don't know if they'll ever be able to get back to the terrifying Hulk we saw in Avengers.
Speaking of Hulk, Ruffalo seemed to be playing an entirely different Bruce Banner to the one we've seen in previous films. He didn't seem the same at all to me.
I was a bit disappointed by both Hela and Valkyrie. Hela was just another scenery chewing big mouth and Vakyrie was a bit forgettable. From what I'd heard online I thought Valkyrie was going to have some really memorable arse-kicking fights but hey never materialised.
I think the first Thor film is still the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 March, 2018, 11:08:42 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 March, 2018, 10:29:41 PMAs for Jason Statham.... I just cannot fathom his appeal at all. He always seems to me like a Eastenders actor who took a wrong turn on set and ended up in a Hollywood blockbuster. Do people genuinely think he's a credible movie star?

Seth Rogan is a movie star, so yes, I can buy Statham.  At some point over the last couple of decades all bets were off and I've made my peace with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 March, 2018, 11:23:03 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 06 March, 2018, 11:08:42 AM
Quote from: radiator on 02 March, 2018, 10:29:41 PMAs for Jason Statham.... I just cannot fathom his appeal at all. He always seems to me like a Eastenders actor who took a wrong turn on set and ended up in a Hollywood blockbuster. Do people genuinely think he's a credible movie star?

Seth Rogan is a movie star, so yes, I can buy Statham.  At some point over the last couple of decades all bets were off and I've made my peace with it.

I think Statham is quite charismatic and has a certain amount of presence. He's also pretty good at stunt work. He's no actor though and I wish they'd just forget the idea of him doing different accents.
He's basically okay in action fodder and should stick to the likes of Expendables and Crank.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 March, 2018, 11:42:23 AM
Statham is great in B-movie fodder like Death Race and Transporter, but like Seagal, Van Damme, Dacascos, etc, that's his level and he should stick to it.  His "stardom" depends largely on being in low to mid budget films that don't have to make back too much cash to turn a profit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 02:03:10 PM
Look, his shirtless antics have got me laid on many a Saturday night, so long may his career endure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 March, 2018, 05:17:58 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 02:03:10 PM
Look, his shirtless antics have got me laid on many a Saturday night, so long may his career endure.

Yeah, keep it up, Seth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 06 March, 2018, 06:37:00 PM
Pineapple Express  Tordelback Express
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 08:15:24 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 March, 2018, 05:17:58 PM
Yeah, keep it up, Seth.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 06 March, 2018, 09:32:48 PM
 
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 02:03:10 PM
Look, his shirtless antics have got me laid on many a Saturday night, so long may his career endure.

:o :o :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 10:30:53 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 06 March, 2018, 09:32:48 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 02:03:10 PM
Look, his shirtless antics have got me laid on many a Saturday night, so long may his career endure.

:o :o :o

Who cares who summons the sandworm,  as long as the spice flows. I view Statham as a labour-saving device, a human thumper, if you will.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 March, 2018, 10:34:34 PM
Bah, foiled by the edit!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 March, 2018, 02:06:29 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 10:30:53 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 06 March, 2018, 09:32:48 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 March, 2018, 02:03:10 PM
Look, his shirtless antics have got me laid on many a Saturday night, so long may his career endure.

:o :o :o

Who cares who summons the sandworm,  as long as the spice flows. I view Statham as a labour-saving device, a human thumper, if you will.

That may be the best review Statham has ever had or will ever get.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 07 March, 2018, 07:09:53 PM
Gerald's Game
Basic  horror about 'kinky' sex gone wrong.. Effing brilliant!. proper good acting from yerwan who was aged up to portray the original 'Silk Spectre' from Watchmen. A bit mad. Tense. Great.
Original,  truleh creepeh.
Explained itself a little more than I personally felt it had to.
I Strongly recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 March, 2018, 07:12:05 PM
Heard good things about Gerald's Game.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 08 March, 2018, 09:20:01 AM
I love Jason Statham. Proper action movie star.

I'll watch a film specifically because he is in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 March, 2018, 09:37:49 AM
Jason Statham went to my High School (a few years before me - I think it was probably still the Grammar School then).
His dad is a singer and still performs in pubs around town as Barry Wild (Yarmouth's own Tom Jones).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 March, 2018, 09:47:08 AM
Quote from: darnmarr on 07 March, 2018, 07:09:53 PM
Gerald's Game
Basic  horror about 'kinky' sex gone wrong.. Effing brilliant!. proper good acting from yerwan who was aged up to portray the original 'Silk Spectre' from Watchmen. A bit mad. Tense. Great.
Original,  truleh creepeh.
Explained itself a little more than I personally felt it had to.
I Strongly recommend.

Watched that with the missus a while ago, and we both really enjoyed it.
Only minor quibble is the reveal at the end- just didn't land smoothly for either of us.
Still, a strong recommendation from me too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 March, 2018, 09:09:51 PM
Darkest Hour. I was amused to note the production company "Perfect World" in the opening credits, because that's what this film is - or rather, it's a perfected world. It's essentially a cinematic version of a myth, and as such I think it does a decent job. The performances were all top-notch and the settings convincing. Like Dunkirk, this film spoke to me on a human level. Putting all my anarchist notions and disdain of authority aside, I found this study of The Great War Leader Story quite satisfying and even a little thought-provoking. I liked the way the political world and the wider world were portrayed as being apart from each other. TL:DR - Darkest Hour. Much to enjoy. Captain Fantastic. And next, a film that speaks to my disdain of the state. Vigo Mortensen lives in a big teepee in the wilderness with his flock of kids. His wife, their mother, dies and her father takes charge of the "normal" funeral, banning Vigo and the kids from attending. But old Vigo's an anarchist and has taught his children everything from Plato to mountaineering via music and logic so they decide to gatecrash the funeral. It's an anarchist's view of the ideal family and family life. Now, that's all well and good but in the end the film had no bite. [spoiler] Anarchists visit the state and don't like it very much so they steal a body and go home. [/spoiler] This is the main problem with anarchist fiction; it's extremely dull because everyone more or less rubs along in a cloud of good intentions and mutual respect. It's a fairly decent portrayal of the ideal, though, even if it doesn't really go anywhere. TL:DR - Captain Fantastic. Not entirely pointless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 10 March, 2018, 12:28:53 AM
Deadpool - I knew very little about this other than remembering it got a good review on The BBC film programme. Watched it on Netflix tonight and it was ace.

I was going to say easily the best Marvel film I have seen, but let's call it a tie with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: darnmarr on 10 March, 2018, 12:28:58 PM
Logan Lucky
A heist movie, basically, entertaining and well-made on that score- as a comedy...hmmmmn... it relied way too heavily on the 'aren't red-necks gas altogether with their Nascars and whathaveyou' trope to amuse my good self, but overall, I'd still say it's worth the watch, (if only to see Kylo Ren as a one-handed surly bartender) .

Also:
Quick warning to subjects of Her Majesty ,- Seth McFarlane (who I'm normally a big fan of ) has a cameo portraying what I think is supposed to be a British* person; he isn't very good at it.

*Or Australian/Pakistani/South African/ maybe Welsh**--.

EDIT**Yes , I know Welsh is technically British- but they do have a distinctive accent that's fairly different from what might be termed as British RP or whatever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 11 March, 2018, 07:47:58 AM
Game Night

Decent with a few laugh out loud moments but chuckly throughout.

A bit long but worth a watch if you need cheering up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 11 March, 2018, 11:22:24 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 March, 2018, 09:37:49 AM
Jason Statham went to my High School (a few years before me - I think it was probably still the Grammar School then).
His dad is a singer and still performs in pubs around town as Barry Wild (Yarmouth's own Tom Jones).
And I went to the same University as Liam Neeson, which is not a specific reason to watch any film he is in.

But works as an excuse since he's good in anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 March, 2018, 12:38:37 PM
Annihilation was every bit as good as I'd hoped for and possibly even better than anticipated.

No spoilers, but it was visually sumptuous, with excellent performances all round.

Horrifyingly and equally beautiful, with elements of Arrival, The Thing, Alien, Under The Skin with some Cronenberg body horror thrown in for good measure, but combining all these elements into an original vision-no mean feat!

Another triumph from Alex Garlend, who is fast becoming one of the most interesting filmmakers to watch today.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 March, 2018, 06:20:14 PM
I went to the same school as Boris Karloff...At different times...I hope that's obvious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 09:58:44 AM
Annihilation. Absolutely incredible, loved it. Exactly the kind of atmospheric sci-fi that I can see myself watching many, many times because just the feel of it is something I need to get my fix of again and again.

I read the book last week and having it so fresh in my mind might have been a small mistake, because the film is so vastly different to the book in a lot of ways (not thematically, just in terms of events themselves) and I sometimes found the differences a little distracting on a first watch. Not in a disappointed 'this isn't as good as the book' sort of way, more in that expectation that certain things were still to happen and a curiosity about how they were going to pull off certain things. That hung over it a bit and I did have tiny pangs of disappointment here and there whenever I realized another thing I loved in the book had been jettisoned, but there's another part of me that knows that's a very silly complaint because what the film does do is amazing in its own right. Definitely a really, really minor quibble and one that I know won't be a factor on re-watches. Most of that stuff probably got nixed for being impossible to translate to film anyway.

One of my favourite things about the story is the atmosphere that's created by treating the phenomenon as something so alien that it's impossible to comprehend in traditional ways, that tip-of-the-brain understanding that's almost like a weird dream logic. My wife read the book before me and described it as like those moments when you start to fall asleep and your thoughts stray into odd places that don't make sense moments later when you acknowledge it happened, but that seemed perfectly normal in the moment. I think she kind of nailed something there which I would really struggle to describe! The film captures that brilliantly, it just has to go about it in a different way, and that's great. The meat and potatoes events of the book are less important than the overall sensation of the thing I reckon.

Looks and sounds amazing, colour plays such a huge part in the movie so if you can watch it in HDR then do because it's eye-poppingly gorgeous. The soundtrack is perfect too, organic and comfortingly familiar when it needs to be, disturbingly alien when that's called for.

I've heard that people are having quite hostile reactions to it because they don't feel like enough is explained, which I really don't get. It's all up there, if anything it makes some things a little more explicitly clear than I might have preferred. Saying that, there are still plenty of things that are open to interpretation and it was really fun to talk about our takes on certain things afterwards (I was really glad Bea had also picked up on [spoiler]the thing with the arm and the accent change, because once I noticed that I spent a bunch of the movie looking for more confirmation of it and wondering if I'd imagined it entirely. It's possible we both did though...)[/spoiler].

Anyway, I'll shut up now. Loved it so damn much, want to see it again ASAP and I know it's a new classic that I'll be watching for years and that will be swimming around in my brain for a very long time after every viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 March, 2018, 10:26:47 AM
Deadpool. A really solid and original first hour, let down a bit by some rare misfires in the humour, then a dull and unfocused third act where people hit each other for what seems like ages while Morena Baccarin looks decidedly uncomfortable hanging about in suspenders.  It was certainly a lot better than I expected, particularly the structure of the opening, and Reynolds and Baccarin were both great, but for me it just sort of petered out into incoherence, complete with a cop-out ending. I did like the Ferris Bueller gag in the end-credits (as much as for 'so that's what it reminds me of!' as anything else), and I'd certainly be on to give the second one a try.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 12:49:36 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 09:58:44 AM
Annihilation. Absolutely incredible, loved it. Exactly the kind of atmospheric sci-fi that I can see myself watching many, many times because just the feel of it is something I need to get my fix of again and again.

Me too! Watched it last night, blew my socks off and I couldn't really articulate it better than Keef. [spoiler]They loved it but I saw RLM criticise the film for having a 'twist ending' with natalie portman being a changed person, but I didn't think of it as a twist ending, because we already knew she'd been roundly refracted by the shimmer. I had been waiting for more symptoms for a while![/spoiler]

[spoiler]Their other small niggle was the framing device of Natalie in the hospital being interviewed, undermining the tension regarding her survival, but I've got to say to me it wasn't exactly a traditional horror film where the body count, the variety of deaths and the guessing game of who will survive are the draw. With her surviving and being interrogated, perhaps more chance I might get to see the mystery of the shimmer explained![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 02:29:46 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 12:49:36 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 09:58:44 AM
Annihilation. Absolutely incredible, loved it. Exactly the kind of atmospheric sci-fi that I can see myself watching many, many times because just the feel of it is something I need to get my fix of again and again.

Me too! Watched it last night, blew my socks off and I couldn't really articulate it better than Keef. [spoiler]They loved it but I saw RLM criticise the film for having a 'twist ending' with natalie portman being a changed person, but I didn't think of it as a twist ending, because we already knew she'd been roundly refracted by the shimmer. I had been waiting for more symptoms for a while![/spoiler]

[spoiler]Their other small niggle was the framing device of Natalie in the hospital being interviewed, undermining the tension regarding her survival, but I've got to say to me it wasn't exactly a traditional horror film where the body count, the variety of deaths and the guessing game of who will survive are the draw. With her surviving and being interrogated, perhaps more chance I might get to see the mystery of the shimmer explained![/spoiler]

Yeah, totally agree with you there! [spoiler]For me the tension came from what she might have seen or experienced while she was there, rather than from who did or didn't survive. I wanted to find out what happened but at the same time dreaded it because the sense that it's going to be something really disturbingly odd and alien keeps building.

Plus the suspicion that whatever happened has changed her so she's come back different is there really early on I think. Obviously having read the book colors that impression but it's handled very differently in the book and the film, and I'd imagine the point where she draws attention to the tattoo during the interrogation would be a bit of a tipping point for that.[/spoiler]

Such a good movie, been thinking about it all day!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 03:30:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 02:29:46 PM
Yeah, totally agree with you there! [spoiler]For me the tension came from what she might have seen or experienced while she was there, rather than from who did or didn't survive. I wanted to find out what happened but at the same time dreaded it because the sense that it's going to be something really disturbingly odd and alien keeps building.

Plus the suspicion that whatever happened has changed her so she's come back different is there really early on I think. Obviously having read the book colors that impression but it's handled very differently in the book and the film, and I'd imagine the point where she draws attention to the tattoo during the interrogation would be a bit of a tipping point for that.[/spoiler]

Such a good movie, been thinking about it all day!

[spoiler]That's a great way to put it yeah, there was so much interesting going on in the film, mysteries and phenomena and group dynamics. it wasn't really about who survives to me.

Yah she even tests her blood at one point and finds she's 'infected' as it were.

Here's a question regarding that awesome talking bear scene, do you think the bear had mutated to mimic its prey, or in the act of eating Cass (in particular ripping her throat out maybe, as you see on the mutilated corpse) had absorbed some of her genetics to become a Bear/Cass hybrid?[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 04:27:34 PM
[spoiler]I thought the end bit with the eyes was a bit redundant, and the interpretative dance with the alien/clone/mirror image went on a bit (I also thought it could have looked a bit more unearthly), but liked it overall.

The grade on Kane's video at the end seemed to wander around a bit, but that was a minor thing.

Did I miss something or was Jennifer Jason Leigh's character mentioned or seen at all afterwards? She just wandered off but I don't recall seeing any sign of her.

Interestingly Matt (Johnny Alpha from our SD film) filmed some stuff as a special ops soldier, but didn't make the cut - I guess it was probably in that memory card sequence...

[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 04:51:19 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 04:27:34 PM
[spoiler]
Did I miss something or was Jennifer Jason Leigh's character mentioned or seen at all afterwards? She just wandered off but I don't recall seeing any sign of her.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]That was her in the lighthouse, she exploded with energy and 'gave birth' to that floating cyclops alien entity.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 05:07:47 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 03:30:22 PM
[spoiler]
Here's a question regarding that awesome talking bear scene, do you think the bear had mutated to mimic its prey, or in the act of eating Cass (in particular ripping her throat out maybe, as you see on the mutilated corpse) had absorbed some of her genetics to become a Bear/Cass hybrid?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Yeah I wasn't sure what to make of the bear thing at first, because I couldn't tell if its face had rotted away to the bone or if that was like 'extra' skull and a mutation, and I do like the idea that it's absorbing and combining with its victims, or that the shimmer itself has mashed them together. I'm convinced that Portman's character has her DNA combined with the other team members on the way to the lighthouse (hence the tattoo), so that would fit that. I'm not sure (I need to rewatch this so bad!) but it seemed Kane had a different accent in his final 'phospher grenade' video, which makes me think the same thing happened to his team - he made it to the lighthouse and absorbed his team mates along the way. Or I just imagined that and jumped on it because it supports the absorbing theory![/spoiler]

Quote from: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 04:27:34 PM
[spoiler]I thought the end bit with the eyes was a bit redundant, and the interpretative dance with the alien/clone/mirror image went on a bit (I also thought it could have looked a bit more unearthly), but liked it overall.

Did I miss something or was Jennifer Jason Leigh's character mentioned or seen at all afterwards? She just wandered off but I don't recall seeing any sign of her.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I wasn't keen on the eyes either, it pushed a point that was heavily implied anyway. Just those shots facing the camera without any CG trickery to the eyes would have been way more effective for me. It's weird, despite a lot of people disliking the film because it's too ambiguous and doesn't offer enough answers, that moment left me thinking the opposite, that it was confirming something that would have been better left to hang in the air a bit.

Oh, and do you mean Jennifer Jason Leigh not being seen after she heads off on her own? She was in the lighthouse when Portman arrives there, she's in the hole and they have a short chat and then she kind of...spores everywhere.

She has a lot more to do in the book, and we both commented that it would have been great to see that as it's one of the most interesting parts of it I think. They hint that they're going to go down that route in the film (when they can't remember setting up camp you get a little shot of her looking a bit suspicious) but they never really follow that plot through. Maybe Garland decided it would be better left hanging to add a bit of mystery, it was just one of those things I kept waiting for them to follow up on![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 05:10:23 PM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 04:51:19 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 04:27:34 PM
[spoiler]
Did I miss something or was Jennifer Jason Leigh's character mentioned or seen at all afterwards? She just wandered off but I don't recall seeing any sign of her.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]That was her in the lighthouse, she exploded with energy and 'gave birth' to that floating cyclops alien entity.[/spoiler]



Cheers, must be losing it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 05:27:12 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 March, 2018, 05:07:47 PM
[spoiler]Yeah I wasn't sure what to make of the bear thing at first, because I couldn't tell if its face had rotted away to the bone or if that was like 'extra' skull and a mutation, and I do like the idea that it's absorbing and combining with its victims, or that the shimmer itself has mashed them together. I'm convinced that Portman's character has her DNA combined with the other team members on the way to the lighthouse (hence the tattoo), so that would fit that. I'm not sure (I need to rewatch this so bad!) but it seemed Kane had a different accent in his final 'phospher grenade' video, which makes me think the same thing happened to his team - he made it to the lighthouse and absorbed his team mates along the way. Or I just imagined that and jumped on it because it supports the absorbing theory![/spoiler]

[spoiler]At first I thought it had blended genetically with an animal that mimics its prey and was mimicking Cass's distress to hunt the others, because why would it only imitate the distress call of Cass if it had merged with her genetically, but I'm probably overthinking it. Genetic blending of some sort for sure!

Kane's accent definitely changed when he was making the lighthouse video, I heard it too. Sounded a bit southern USA to me. I didn't think of a good reason why though, that's a cool idea that he had absorbed traits of his team. Would be interesting to see if any of his team mates in the earlier video had a similar accent. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 March, 2018, 05:31:57 PM
Haha, feel like we need a spoiler thread for this one! So much to discuss.

What I loved about Annihilation was that 1) for a sci fi/horror piece it had some truly fresh and original visual design (hard to do in this day and age - I truly feel that the [spoiler]'nightmare bear'[/spoiler] will become iconic in time and 2) it really stuck with me afterwards (unlike most blockbuster type movies which  tend to slide right off my brain immediately after viewing).

And Steve - about that end scene 'going on a bit'... I think that's possibly a consequence of not viewing it as intended (on the big screen with the sound cranked up to maximum). I generally have a very short attention span for that sort of thing, but in this case I was totally transfixed throughout, and didn't even realise until it was pointed out to me that there's basically a 15-20 minute sequence that's purely visual with almost no dialogue at all.

Agree about the 'dream logic' kind of feel. Little things like no one wearing any kind of breathing apparatus would generally bother me in a movie (as it did in Prometheus) but weirdly didn't in this case. It actually struck me that Annihilation on the whole is the exact kind of movie that Prometheus was trying to be, but it's executed far, far better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 13 March, 2018, 05:40:19 PM
Well I did watch it projected, although the sound wasn't particularly high because of neighbours.

Geoff Barrow mentioned on twitter that the score had been mixed -5db in one mix.

I think it was just that specific [spoiler]Mirroring/dance that went on a bit for me and I didn't go much on the design of it [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 06:06:09 PM
[spoiler]Ive seen Tomb Raider 1 (the game) brought up in regards to that ending haha, with Alex Garland being a gamer too.

and he did a film with Alicia vikander.. who's now Lara Croft.. illuminati!!

I really enjoyed that part of the film myself, with the music and the dreamy bizarreness of it all I was transfixed.
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 06:08:08 PM
Warning, kind of spoilers for Annihilation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzsbTl5o0gA&t=12

how do you spoiler cover links?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 13 March, 2018, 11:32:53 PM
You can't! But unless someone clicks it, no spoilers to be seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 March, 2018, 09:25:53 AM
Quote from: GrudgeJohnDeed on 13 March, 2018, 06:06:09 PM
[spoiler]Ive seen Tomb Raider 1 (the game) brought up in regards to that ending haha, with Alex Garland being a gamer too.

and he did a film with Alicia vikander.. who's now Lara Croft.. illuminati!!

I really enjoyed that part of the film myself, with the music and the dreamy bizarreness of it all I was transfixed.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Yeah I was transfixed for that whole part, so otherworldly and odd, like a weird dance. Frightening and beautiful at the same time.

It's really impressive how they managed to create that weird dreamy atmosphere. Even when the bear attacks at night and drags Sheppard away, when I saw a glimpse of that in the trailer I worried it would be a full-on blammo action scene but the way it's shot and cut kind of subverts the jump scare it could have been. It happens so quietly and quickly and it's not accented with a big musical moment or anything, it just...happens. Hard to describe what I mean, but there was something really unsettling about that scene, beyond just 'WAAAAGH A SCARY MONSTER!'[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 14 March, 2018, 09:50:05 AM
Watched Annihilation this morning and it was every bit as good as I wanted it to be. I've not read the book, but probably will eventually (best wait a year or so to get some distance from the fillum) and absolutely loved it. Alex Garland has made some of the most thought provoking SF in recent times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 14 March, 2018, 01:04:15 PM
You Were Never Really Here. Lynne Ramsay's previous film, We Need To talk About Kevin, was my top of the pile for 2011, so expectations were high for this. Not sure I'd rate this as highly, but it's still an incredibly intense character study, with Joaquin Phoenix brilliant as the hulking and troubled Joe. There's very spare dialogue, and mood is built through stunning sound design and glimpsed flashback images. A dark and dense drama.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 March, 2018, 01:57:52 PM
After reading all the great stuff about Annihilation I gave it a go today.

Man, that is one amazing film.

Can't really add too much more than what has been said but,

[spoiler]Yes, Kane's voice definitely changes in the video. The end sequence with the mirroring was superb. the music and the lack of dialogue reminded me strongly on 2001 a Sapce Odyssey. As previously mentioned it has a The Thing, Cronenberg, Kubrick vibe going on throughout but at no time did I think derivative. Haven't read the books but after viewing I've ordered all three.

I really thought Arrival was the best sci fi film of the last 20 years but now this takes it's place. Utterly superb in every aspect.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 March, 2018, 03:56:10 PM
Also thought it was very clever of Garland [spoiler]to show that she survived and so that was not the focus of the film. Not whether she lived or died but the mystery of the shimmer, how it affected her (as we had seen the affects on several people) and what she had to do to get out. That was were the intrigue lie, not whether she lived or died, and I thought that was much more interesting.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 14 March, 2018, 04:07:52 PM
Apparently it's a very loose adaptation of the book - I've heard it said that the movie adapts '10-15%' of the book, but done I believe with cooperation of the author, who acknowledges that the changes are probably necessary. A friend who has read the books says they are weird - even weirder and more ambiguous than the movie, so ambiguous and dreamlike that apparently you find out in later books that [spoiler]characters you thought were male are actually female and vice versa[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 March, 2018, 09:34:32 PM
Watched It again this evening with my Wife on the big screen and it's so much better. The colours really pop.

This seriously needs to be seen in the cinema in my opinion.

Superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 14 March, 2018, 09:55:20 PM
If you're in London there is going to be a screening and Q+A

https://www.everymancinema.com/hampstead/film-info/annihilation-live-qa#scroll (https://www.everymancinema.com/hampstead/film-info/annihilation-live-qa#scroll)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 15 March, 2018, 01:52:55 AM
Bugger, I'd go to that if I was a Londoner. Here's hoping they film the Q&A and put it on YouTube!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 March, 2018, 04:23:40 PM
I joined the ANNIHILATION gang today. I think I preferred EVOLUTION because it had more fart and bum jokes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 March, 2018, 05:35:03 PM
I've not looked at the spoiler Radiator spoiler-tagged (I'm just finishing up book 2!) but it is indeed a very, very loose adaptation. While also feeling really faithful in a weird way? Other than the shimmer (which isn't called the shimmer) and the returning husband prompting her to join the expedition, literally none of the events or moment to moment happenings and plot developments from the book are in the film (one very major plotline is hinted at and then left out completely which felt strange). BUT all the themes and the atmosphere have made the translation brilliantly, and that feels like the most important thing to capture and also the most difficult.

I do admit I was a little torn between how many of my favorite events were left out which I was looking forward to seeing in the film, and how much I was loving the film as its own thing and a really unique experience in its own right. On the one hand I found it occasionally distracting wondering when and how they would get to certain things in the book that I was certain must have been brought over (but weren't), and on the other hand once I came to terms with the fact it was venturing into completely unknown territory I was much more gripped and lost in it than I possibly would have been had I been more familiar with it and known where it was going.

It's very cool that anyone who watches the film and decides to try the book is going to have a similar experience, it'll still feel incredibly alien because the film can't really set up for it and vice versa.

Man I loved it, going to watch again this weekend I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 March, 2018, 11:29:54 PM
By Grud, I was forced to sit through The Brothers Grimsby at a friend's home. I really need to serious rethink some people I claim as friends if that is the sort of rubbish they consider a good use of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 17 March, 2018, 12:04:46 AM
I loved Annihilation. Intelligent, thought-provoking sci-fi. It's such a shame it didn't get a release at UK cinemas, as it's no less a film than Blade Runner 2049, although that did have an audience of interested people already. Maybe this is the shape of things to come.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 March, 2018, 12:46:24 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 17 March, 2018, 12:04:46 AM
I loved Annihilation. Intelligent, thought-provoking sci-fi. It's such a shame it didn't get a release at UK cinemas, as it's no less a film than Blade Runner 2049, although that did have an audience of interested people already. Maybe this is the shape of things to come.

I don't think there's any doubt about that - the cinema is increasingly becoming the place where you go to watch the latest Marvel/Star Wars/Fast and the Furious film, whereas pretty much everything else gets watched at home. Annihilation getting unceremoniously dumped on Netflix is proof that studios just don't have any faith that a film like that can be profitable in the current market.

Can't pretend I'm not a little gutted about this - no matter how good your home cinema setup is, it just cannot replicate the feeling and sense of immersion you get from seeing a movie at the cinema, not least because it's simply so easy to get distracted when you watch something in your living room. Personally, these days I'm trying to prioritise seeing more independent or original films over the big blockbusters when i go to the cinema - eg opting to see Annihilation (I live in the US) over Black Panther.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2018, 05:50:33 AM
Quote from: radiator on 17 March, 2018, 12:46:24 AM
Can't pretend I'm not a little gutted about this - no matter how good your home cinema setup is, it just cannot replicate the feeling and sense of immersion you get from seeing a movie at the cinema, not least because it's simply so easy to get distracted when you watch something in your living room.

You've not been to my local Cineworld then.

So far this year I've seen films that were too quiet, too loud, shown in the wrong ratio, that have been blurry. And as for distractions at home... I find a room of 150 people all constantly munching and slurping far more distracting than anything in my own home.

I'm lucky in that I have a projector and a room that is completely pitch black and a 7.1 amp that can put my Cineworld's sound system to shame (although probably not if they used it correctly).

Whilst I do love watching movies on the big, big screen sometimes it's just not worth the time and money spent watching it with idiots who are bored by the time the trailers come on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2018, 08:53:48 AM
Yeah that was the boon about the Netflix release for me too, the lack of distractions. I might be hypersensitive to this stuff or something (or maybe I have terrible luck with audiences) but people's lack of manners in the cinema really distract and pull me out of the experience more than anything in my living room could. I went to The Shape of Water a couple of nights later - fantastic film but one couple had a wee chat about each scene whenever one ended and a row of teenagers got the snorting giggles anytime anything sexual was referenced. I walked away from that looking forward to a better second viewing at home, such is a feeling I leave the cinema with often. The picture size isn't even that important to me, I don't have a projector but I've got a large 4k TV in a fairly small living room so I still get that sense of scale, and the colours and picture quality are better than my local cinema (and Annihilation makes fantastic use of the 4k/HDR).

The one thing I wish I could see it in the cinema for is the volume. I've got a decent surround speakers setup with Atmos etc. so the surround effect is great but living in a flat I just can't crank it up to the levels that something like Annihilation needs. Plus, Netflix seem to have squashed all the dynamics out of the sound mix with this one. I keep seeing people talk about how loud the finale was in the cinema, but the sound feels very flat and compressed on the Netflix version. I'm sure I saw the composer complaining on twitter that the score had been dropped by 5db in the transfer, which is a shame.

For that reason I really hope they put it out on 4k Blu-ray at some point with a properly cinematic audio mix and Atmos support. Then we just need to move somewhere remote where we can turn it up to eleven!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2018, 09:16:06 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2018, 08:53:48 AM
Plus, Netflix seem to have squashed all the dynamics out of the sound mix with this one. I keep seeing people talk about how loud the finale was in the cinema, but the sound feels very flat and compressed on the Netflix version.

Interesting to see you noted this too.
For me it was variable from scene to scene with some sounding superb and other scenes sounding very flat. So much so that on first viewing I had to check my rear speakers were still working twice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 March, 2018, 09:18:02 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 March, 2018, 08:53:48 AM
For that reason I really hope they put it out on 4k Blu-ray at some point with a properly cinematic audio mix and Atmos support. Then we just need to move somewhere remote where we can turn it up to eleven!

When I got my new amp just over a year ago I did check with my sole neighbours a couple of times about the sound level as I like mine cranked up quiet high.

The only thing they noticed was the low hum of the LFE but it did not bother them but the house we live in has pretty thick walls.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 17 March, 2018, 10:37:14 AM
I'm wondering if this is a general Netflix thing, I've noticed a few things sounding off, but wasn't sure if it was my setup or the mix.

But yeah, another one living in a flat so I'd never be able to crank it up anyway...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 18 March, 2018, 12:15:24 AM
Watched Annihilation after the comments on here. Maybe it's me but it didn't really do it for me.

I find with a lot of flims or TV series where they are all about "what's going on" are actually a let down, as the answer is often disappointing. X-Files, Lost, I'm thinking of you.

So with Annihilation [spoiler]it's an extra terrestrial thing that is changing the world and the creatures within it. Yeah ok, but is that it? Shouldn't there be more?[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 March, 2018, 04:46:42 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 14 March, 2018, 01:57:52 PM
[spoiler]As previously mentioned it has a The Thing, Cronenberg, Kubrick vibe going on throughout but at no time did I think derivative. Haven't read the books but after viewing I've ordered all three.[/spoiler]


It echoes some familiar horror scenes but the films it is closest to are Andrei Tarkovsky's atmospheric excursions into the unknown and the uncanny Solaris (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(1972_film)) and Stalker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_(1979_film)) – it has the same set-up and premise as Stalker right down to the creation of The Zone (Area X in Annihilation) being caused by [spoiler]an object crashing to earth from space and altering the landscape into a kind of psychological trap where souls who wander into it face their personal demons. The alien sea in Solaris serves a similar function as a metaphysical mirror that can recreate mental and physical forms.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 March, 2018, 05:12:52 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 18 March, 2018, 12:15:24 AM
So with Annihilation [spoiler]it's an extra terrestrial thing that is changing the world and the creatures within it. Yeah ok, but is that it? Shouldn't there be more?[/spoiler].

I assume the whole film is the more bit, as in [spoiler]it's the journey of discovery for Lena about her relationship with her husband and ultimately the discovery for us as to what happened both. The alien stuff is the device to hang the themes of destruction and creation in nature on, and to show the mechanics of both in a colourful, arty way.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]By the end of the film both are reborn, which seems like an intentional nod to the end of Andrzej Żuławski's Possession – a surreal horror film about a very destructive marriage where both partners end up replaced by doppelgängers with different coloured eyes.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 March, 2018, 05:28:12 AM
Quote from: radiator on 17 March, 2018, 12:46:24 AM
Annihilation getting unceremoniously dumped on Netflix is proof that studios just don't have any faith that a film like that can be profitable in the current market.

I can't blame the studios, it's rare a film like this makes any money after all the promotional/distribution cost is factored in. Ex Machina was fortunate in that it cost a third of Annihilation so it could be platformed in fewer cinemas and expanded after favourable returns. Annihilation would have to compete with the general fare of blockbusters and rom-coms because of its cost. Without Netflix, a film like Mute would never have been made [spoiler]– many might wish it hadn't.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 18 March, 2018, 09:10:34 AM
I watched Mute last night and it's a bit of a muddle. Some good ideas get lost in a contrived missing person plot. I enjoyed Moon and Source Code but haven't seen Warcraft. Hopefully Duncan Jones can return to the quality of his previous films next time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 March, 2018, 10:49:59 AM
Warcraft is surprisingly entertaining.  There's only so much you can do with the awful designs and derivative setup of the source material, but Jones does a good job with the material he's handed.

IIRC it actually worked out as the most financially successful of the game-adaptations, which seems hard to believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 18 March, 2018, 01:30:23 PM
Yeah games to films are always going to be a mixed bag at best and a poisoned chalice at worst.

The games from that era tended to be knock-offs/inspired by other media in the first place.

With Doom taking a bit of Aliens and Evil Dead, Warcraft with LOTR and D&D - it's already recycled by the time it makes the transition to the screen.

Add to that designs tailored for top down RTS games, and already having lost the interactivity, it seems like it would be more suited in something like Wreck-it Ralph than taken seriously.

Some might argue the same for novels or comics being adapted for screen I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 March, 2018, 02:38:41 PM


Rampage will break 'the curse' and be a hit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 18 March, 2018, 02:57:08 PM
I don't see any reason at all why movies based on games can't be awesome. I was so excited for Doom, the game had a great premise and setting, tons of atmosphere, great visual and sound design. You could definitely make a fantastic horror film out of it if you connect with the source material. So when the film was announced, I let myself imagine someone had an inspired idea/script or else why the hell are they making a Doom film??

I wish John Carpenter had made that Dead Space film! I'm replaying Dead Space 2 at the moment and it's better than most horror anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:29:09 PM
The Witch

As it just on Netflix so watch it first time. Wow that was so brilliant. So perfect horror film that I want for long time, so terror by some moments there. But the first part with [spoiler]what happens to the baby would haunting me.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 19 March, 2018, 09:28:40 PM
The Square. I really liked this. What at first appears to be a satire on the art world moves on to encompass most aspects of modern life. Funny, surprising, and at times jaw-dropping, it's perhaps a bit too long at 2.5 hours, but it's never dull and brilliantly acted. Deserved its Palme D'Or at Cannes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 19 March, 2018, 10:24:39 PM
QuoteYou've not been to my local Cineworld then.

I must just be extremely luck - in a lifetime of visits, from dingey fleapits to big multiplex chains, I can count the number of negative cinema experiences I've had on one hand. But then I've also never subscribed to the idea that audiences should sit in monk-like silence during a film either.

For me the distraction of home viewing vs the cinema comes from simply being at home - I'm a fidget, and the older I get the harder I find it to just relax and sit still for extended periods of time. If I'm sitting in my living room, there are a hundred things that can potentially distract me, from my phone, to a work email, to my Switch, to a sink-full of undone washing up - for some reason sitting in an actual cinema just feels much more like a special experience - the outside world just ebbs away and I'm just much more receptive to enjoying a film. Watching something on Netflix just doesn't have a fraction of the impact. It's the same reason I will regularly pay money to go to the cinema to an old watch film I could watch for free at home. Something I've observed is that when I watch a film like, say, Back to the Future or Die Hard on the big screen with a live audience, I notice so many little things I've previously missed, background details, subtle gags etc. It's like seeing it with fresh eyes.

The other major problem with home cinema systems is already apparent from other people's posts - ie that  having a hefty surround sound setup arguably a bit pointless if you have to keep the volume way down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2018, 08:45:16 AM
I never understand why people I go to the cinema with invariably want to sit as far back as possible - I always sit near the front so that the worst thing about the cinema - other cinemagoers fidgeting, talking, eating and checking phones - is all behind me and so not distracting, whilst my whole field of vision is taken up with the screen.

Prompted by the rave reviews here, I checked out Annihilation - pretty good, but not amazing, and fairly derivative - mismatched team of people with backstories? Check. Scary mission with random danger as team picked off one by one by monsters? Check. Big cosmic 'explanation' that leaves lots of unanswered questions? Check.

As an example of the genre however it was really well done - I'm sure I'll spot lots that I missed if I watch again such as [spoiler]that figure 8 tattoo - am I wrong or did she not have that when she went in? I also liked the tree people and the creepy-voiced bear thing.[/spoiler] The visuals were superb and the soundtrack suitably atmospheric.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 20 March, 2018, 09:11:02 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2018, 08:45:16 AM
I never understand why people I go to the cinema with invariably want to sit as far back as possible - I always sit near the front so that the worst thing about the cinema - other cinemagoers fidgeting, talking, eating and checking phones - is all behind me and so not distracting, whilst my whole field of vision is taken up with the screen.

I like to sit far enough back so that I can see the whole screen without needing to move my head. If you sit too close you can't actually see the whole thing without doing that.

I remember going to see Apollo 11 and the only seats left where in the very front row and it was impossible to see the whole screen at once. It also felt like you had to look up all the time.

So I like to sit where you can comfortably look at the whole screen with your head at a natural angle and that means sitting a reasonable distance back. Unfortunately certain cinemas have copped on to this and charge extra for premium seats at just such locations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 20 March, 2018, 10:00:19 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 18 March, 2018, 01:30:23 PMWith Doom taking a bit of Aliens and Evil Dead, Warcraft with LOTR and D&D - it's already recycled by the time it makes the transition to the screen

The original Warcraft game was more of a rip-off of Games Workshop than anything else :) I have no idea why they decided that making a game out of that era of the WC story was a good idea, rather than fast forwarding to the Lich King with its awesome Steampunk vs. Undead craziness, which is the film that I wanted to see...

Blizzard's cinematics were much better than that movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYNCCu0y-Is


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 March, 2018, 04:33:17 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 20 March, 2018, 09:11:02 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2018, 08:45:16 AM
I never understand why people I go to the cinema with invariably want to sit as far back as possible - I always sit near the front so that the worst thing about the cinema - other cinemagoers fidgeting, talking, eating and checking phones - is all behind me and so not distracting, whilst my whole field of vision is taken up with the screen.

I like to sit far enough back so that I can see the whole screen without needing to move my head. If you sit too close you can't actually see the whole thing without doing that.


I always sit slightly nearer the front than the middle and dead centre. That way the whole screen is in my vision and most people are behind me. Cineworld does indicate what seats are dead centre and I've been so often now that I know what seats suit me best. Rarely sit too far back as the aisles and 'low level lighting' are in my view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 March, 2018, 06:51:10 PM
Midway seating for me. Not too close, not too far. I'm not that fussed though, if I can't get those. I prefer aisle seats so I don't have to squeeze past people too.

Last film watched:  Crowning Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.

It was okay. The dialogue was a bit ,cheesy not really helped that most people were speaking English this time. I would have preferred Mandarin with English subtitles like the original. Which I could have got, by changing the audio and subtitle settings but then mouths would have been out of synch. (I'm not really a fan of dubbing.) I guess they figured the film would appeal more to an international audience in English, but I thought the original did pretty well.

Before that, last film I watched was Logan Noir. That's a black and white version of Logan which came on the Blu-ray with the original.

Seems like a gimmick? It actually works, very well, adding to the atmosphere and fitting the setting wonderfully.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 March, 2018, 06:58:21 PM
Off to see Black Panther now!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 March, 2018, 12:17:37 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:29:09 PM
The Witch

As it just on Netflix so watch it first time. Wow that was so brilliant. So perfect horror film that I want for long time, so terror by some moments there. But the first part with [spoiler]what happens to the baby would haunting me.[/spoiler]

I know a lot of people who raved about this movie, but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot to like, but ultimately the eerie creepy mood was constantly being undercut be silly things I just couldn't take seriously. Like[spoiler]a goat named Phillip was really the devil all along and then he started talking.[/spoiler] I liked that it had a happy ending though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: K2 on 21 March, 2018, 05:58:03 AM
Monte Walsh with Tom Selleck. Best "cowboy" (not western) movie ever.

K2
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 March, 2018, 12:54:54 PM
THE MECHANIC

All this talk of Statham with his shirt off led me to this soulless remake of a 70s Charles Bronson flick. It has all of the right bits in all of the right places but somehow fails to connect with the viewer in anyway. Ben Foster is about the high spot; suitably messed up and conflicted but strangely he manages to look TOO old to be a protege.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 March, 2018, 04:58:47 PM
Black Panther yesterday.

Plot was rather formulaic, but it was a very enjoyable film. [spoiler]I was disappointed with the fate of Serkis's Crawe character so early. It made sense in providing the main villain's pathway towards the Wakandan throne, but he is such a great villain, and strangely likeable. It would have been nice if they had utilised him more. [/spoiler] Overall the film was a triumph. It had three dimensional characters: it made me feel for even the main villain. [spoiler]He had a major chip on his shoulder, but his motivations were understandable.[/spoiler]

It had a good message without being too preachy and it was a good action movie and there was some amazing African (or stand in African, I think it was filmed in Korea, but that might have only been part of it) scenery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Blue Cactus on 21 March, 2018, 08:11:10 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 21 March, 2018, 12:17:37 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:29:09 PM
The Witch

As it just on Netflix so watch it first time. Wow that was so brilliant. So perfect horror film that I want for long time, so terror by some moments there. But the first part with [spoiler]what happens to the baby would haunting me.[/spoiler]

I know a lot of people who raved about this movie, but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot to like, but ultimately the eerie creepy mood was constantly being undercut be silly things I just couldn't take seriously. Like[spoiler]a goat named Phillip was really the devil all along and then he started talking.[/spoiler] I liked that it had a happy ending though.


Was the stuff with the goat and the devil not meant to be (possibly) all just puritan paranoia and near-starvation hallucination, though? True enough, Philip seems a silly name for a goat. But those two kids that named it were weirdos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 March, 2018, 09:51:18 AM
Quote from: Blue Cactus on 21 March, 2018, 08:11:10 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 21 March, 2018, 12:17:37 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:29:09 PM
The Witch

As it just on Netflix so watch it first time. Wow that was so brilliant. So perfect horror film that I want for long time, so terror by some moments there. But the first part with [spoiler]what happens to the baby would haunting me.[/spoiler]

I know a lot of people who raved about this movie, but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot to like, but ultimately the eerie creepy mood was constantly being undercut be silly things I just couldn't take seriously. Like[spoiler]a goat named Phillip was really the devil all along and then he started talking.[/spoiler] I liked that it had a happy ending though.


Was the stuff with the goat and the devil not meant to be (possibly) all just puritan paranoia and near-starvation hallucination, though?

That was my take from the movie as well, that [spoiler]it was more about religious hysteria and delusion than anything else. I haven't seen it for a while (and only once) so I may be mis-remembering but the very end of the film rattled around my head for a while after seeing it. As she's levitating with the witches and just as she's in the throes of being all witchy with them there's a cut to her completely alone, and the movie ends on that shot. I found that the most haunting moment of the whole thing and it seemed to confirm that idea.[/spoiler]

On the subject of witchiness I saw another interesting witchy film recently called Pyewacket. It's a bit more of a mainstream/teen horror thing (high school kids messing around with the occult and curses and whatnot) but it's loaded with dread and really sucked me in and has lingered for a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 22 March, 2018, 05:43:07 PM
The Shape of Water.

Looks great, fine performances all around, but I think all the hype around it - and Best Picture Oscar - raised my expectations too much.

Personally I would have given the award to either Blade Runner 2049 or Logan (Patrick Stewart wuz robbed!)

By the film's end, all I could think was that Swampy got more action in a couple of hours than I've had in the last 12 years, lol.

I know what I'm dressing up as this Halloween. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 March, 2018, 06:10:27 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 March, 2018, 09:51:18 AM
Quote from: Blue Cactus on 21 March, 2018, 08:11:10 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 21 March, 2018, 12:17:37 AM
Quote from: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:29:09 PM
The Witch

As it just on Netflix so watch it first time. Wow that was so brilliant. So perfect horror film that I want for long time, so terror by some moments there. But the first part with [spoiler]what happens to the baby would haunting me.[/spoiler]

I know a lot of people who raved about this movie, but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot to like, but ultimately the eerie creepy mood was constantly being undercut be silly things I just couldn't take seriously. Like[spoiler]a goat named Phillip was really the devil all along and then he started talking.[/spoiler] I liked that it had a happy ending though.


Was the stuff with the goat and the devil not meant to be (possibly) all just puritan paranoia and near-starvation hallucination, though?

That was my take from the movie as well, that [spoiler]it was more about religious hysteria and delusion than anything else. I haven't seen it for a while (and only once) so I may be mis-remembering but the very end of the film rattled around my head for a while after seeing it. As she's levitating with the witches and just as she's in the throes of being all witchy with them there's a cut to her completely alone, and the movie ends on that shot. I found that the most haunting moment of the whole thing and it seemed to confirm that idea.[/spoiler]

On the subject of witchiness I saw another interesting witchy film recently called Pyewacket. It's a bit more of a mainstream/teen horror thing (high school kids messing around with the occult and curses and whatnot) but it's loaded with dread and really sucked me in and has lingered for a while.

Well if the baby eating witch coven wasn't real, then what was the point of the scene near the start where they show the witch eating the baby in the middle of the forest where the hungry hysterical heathen haters wouldn't see it?

I don't hate this movie, I want to love it but it just won't let me
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 22 March, 2018, 10:57:40 PM
Get Out

I was gonna switch off after 20 minutes, thinking it was becoming very predictable. How wrong can you be? SO glad I didn't. This is wonderful filmmaking, superb acting, just a class act all round. Tense, with elements of social commentary and outright bananas craziness,  I really recommend this. Fab.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 March, 2018, 08:33:25 PM
Justice League.  That was a bit of fun, surprised to say. 

Horrible design, laughably bad CGI (Batman's cape, Superman's upper lip, every single backflip or tumble - jeebus wept, did they reuse assets from Lawnmower Man!?!), re-shoots/pick-ups so glaring that they may as well have had Sunnydale High in the background, a plot that depended entirely on a series of cock-ups, a villain who may as well not have been there at all...

BUT: all the principals were value for money, especially the still-terrific Wonder Woman and engaging Cyborg, and even Superman the Lip of Steel came across as far more of a decent fellow than he did in the last two (he even cared about civilians at one point!).  Whedon's gags and character beats would have worked better if they hadn't stood out like sore thumbs, but at least they did work. It should be noted that I have no real emotional attachment to any of the characters in their comics incarnations, so my opinion may not hold any weight, but they'e an entertaining bunch here, and I'd probably watch another one with this line-up. 

Maybe the conclusion of this protracted journey through selfishness, death and misery means future DC films could continue with the lighter tone that is so welcome here?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 March, 2018, 11:10:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 March, 2018, 08:33:25 PM
Justice League.  That was a bit of fun, surprised to say....Superman's upper lip,   

Yeah,I enjoyed it more than I expected too, but despite being forewarned and looking out for it,I couldn't spot any issues with the superphiltrum at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 March, 2018, 11:32:03 PM
Hellboy. Haven't seen it in ages, but it's still a great film and a lot of fun. If the sequel hadn't been so bad, I would have said to expect a dozen Hellboy films. What ever happened to Selma Blair? She's just so gorgeous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 March, 2018, 03:42:09 AM
Superman and the Mole-men

I picked up the blu ray collection of the first 5 Superman films secondhand at CEX today. Unfortunately it wasn't the series I'd hoped for including the Donner cut of Superman 2 (which I've yet to see) but it did come with an impressive bunch of extras nonetheless including a bunch of Superman based cartoons (one beng a 1943 colour cartoon based around Bugs Bunny as 'Super-rabbit' and the 1953 film of Superman and the Mole-men, starring George Reeves in the titular role.

Apparently this is actually the first Superman theatrical film ever produced. It was an interesting curiosity. [spoiler]While the plot was somewhat formulaic and predictable, I was impressed that it didn't fall into the trap of depicting the mole-men as evil, just because they were strange and different. If anything it was a film more interested in promoting understanding and avoidance of ignorance. The main villains were in fact the gun happy townsfolk.[/spoiler]

It wasn't a great film. It was kind of cheesy. George Reeves had this amusing habit of putting his hands on his hips while in his Superman garb. It was interesting to see how differently George Reeves and Christopher Reeve depicted Clark Kent, the former being a 'take charge' type fellow, the latter an amusing clumsy wally.

While I acknowledge that George Reeves came first, I consider Christopher Reeve as my Superman as I grew up with those films and his version was more likeable and humble, but the bulked up George certainly looks the part.

It wasn't a great film,  but I'm glad I watched it. And it strikes me as curious (I'm easily fascinated) that the first Superman film is the last one I've actually seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 March, 2018, 07:59:16 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 March, 2018, 11:10:53 PM
Yeah,I enjoyed it more than I expected too, but despite being forewarned and looking out for it,I couldn't spot any issues with the superphiltrum at all.

It's beautifully rendered,  but in about half his scenes it doesn't seem to move at all - just sits there like a horizon across his perfect teeth. -shudder-
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 March, 2018, 08:34:53 AM
While I'm here: Annihilation. That was bloody great that was,  truly a 2001 for today. My only reservation - genuinely my only niggle - was that everything seemed too small or detailed to properly see on my mid-size TV screen. I seemed to be constantly squinting at things,  although i accept that may have been intentional.

Such a great cast, so many clever juxtapositions and themes, non-stop atmosphere and tension, enough images and puzzles to toss about in the noggin for days.

But boy I bet the New Mutants movie folk are pissed off with [spoiler]the wonderful bear: there goes the single most interesting thing about that franchise - it may as well have been drawn by Sienkiewicz.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AM
I watched Annihilation yesterday. Unfortunately I didnt think much of it. While I can see where comparisons with 2001 come from, I didnt think this film was anywhere near the same league. In 2001, the space mission is completely believable and the suspense is built brilliantly as it becomes increasingky apparent that HAL is a threat.
Annihilation didn't convince at all in terms of the preparation or implementatin of the mission. No breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission, no plan to go beyong the Shimmer and return with samples before trying to go all the way to the lighthouse.  It just didnt convince me. I think similar situations were handled more convincingly in Village of the Damned or even Stargate.
Natalie Portman did a good job, as did Jennifer Jason-Leigh. The other scientists on the mission were pretty forgettable.
As for the story structure, [spoiler]the affair thing served as nothing more than a motivation for Portman's character and her husband before her to go into the Shimmer. I didn't care. I had nothing invested in the characters.[/spoiler]
I had similar feelings about Ex Machina. In both films there are things I like but neither convinces me that the story is taking place in a real place to real people. Neither film envoked any kind of emotional investment - I just watched them with cold detachment and didnt really enjoy them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:30:10 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AM
I watched Annihilation yesterday. Unfortunately I didnt think much of it. While I can see where comparisons with 2001 come from, I didnt think this film was anywhere near the same league. In 2001, the space mission is completely believable and the suspense is built brilliantly as it becomes increasingky apparent that HAL is a threat. Dave is completely stuck in a terrifying situation despite his best efforts.
Annihilation didn't convince at all in terms of the preparation or implementatin of the mission. No breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission, no plan to go beyong the Shimmer and return with samples before trying to go all the way to the lighthouse.  It just didnt convince me. I think similar situations were handled more convincingly in Village of the Damned or even Stargate.
Natalie Portman did a good job, as did Jennifer Jason-Leigh but the characters really could've done with more development. I didn't feel empathy for Portman's character (the way I do for Dave in 2001), she's something of an emotionally stunted wreck who somehow found herself on a badly conceived mission, the parameters of which are not particularly clear. The other scientists on the mission were pretty forgettable.
As for the story structure, [spoiler]the affair thing served as nothing more than a motivation for Portman's character and her husband before her to go into the Shimmer. I didn't care. I had nothing invested in the characters.[/spoiler]
I had similar feelings about Ex Machina. In both films there are things I like but neither convinces me that the story is taking place in a real place to real people. Neither film envoked any kind of emotional investment - I just watched them with cold detachment and didnt really enjoy them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 25 March, 2018, 01:55:51 PM
just got back from Pacific Rim Uprising, even more Anime than the first, from the plucky teenage pilots to the Evangelion sort of drones [spoiler]when they were deployed and taken over by the Kaju brains they looked very Evangelion to me[/spoiler].  I had fun, the missus enjoyed it wasted a couple of the characters that were in it from the first [spoiler]poor Mako didn't hve much to do before she was knocked off and di't like the reveal about Dr geiizler but it was fairly predictable[/spoiler]and no Ron Pearlman was a bit dissapointing but overall a decent blockbuster watch.   The new Jagers a quite a bit more nimble than the old lot but I suppose that could be put down to 10 years of advancements, oh and the actress that played the head of the Chinese corporation that was working on the drone program was absolutley geogeous.
Fun 3 1/2 out of 5 stompy robots from me.

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 March, 2018, 11:38:08 PM
I somehow managed to miss Too Many Cooks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGrOK8oZG8) when it first appeared, and now I can't get the damn theme out of my head.  If you are unaware, it is a fantastic Adult Swim short that bears repeat viewing to unpack its meta narrative, but going in cold is recommended, as a big part of the charm is the misdirection.

Somehow, I also managed to not only never read Fahrenheit 451 but also to never see the 1966 film.  I gather this is well thought of but it's hard to see why as its world is full of logical inconsistencies and I couldn't understand why the firemen didn't just move everyone into those brutalist architecture houses as everyone hoarding books seemed to live in normal homes.  Was writing illegal?  And reading?  How did people know what the tv schedules were if there were no magazines and no-one was allowed to read?  Like most Bradbury, it works best as a parable than it does as a story (I just this morning read The Happiness Machine and my only takeaway was that the main character's wife was a hateful shrew who caused the destruction of a potential treatment for depression because she couldn't not be a stroppy bitch for five bloody minutes), though there are hints of modern dystopian tropes in there, particularly the use of reality tv.
Not great, but interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 March, 2018, 11:57:55 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 March, 2018, 11:38:08 PM
Was writing illegal?  And reading?  How did people know what the tv schedules were if there were no magazines and no-one was allowed to read?

They read the opiate of the masses, comics.

(https://resizing.flixster.com/wf34aGcCwGKZCARfo0UML5kSrE4=/2048x1536/v1.bjsyMzI2NzQ7ajsxNzY0MjsxMjAwOzIwNDg7MTUzNg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 March, 2018, 09:13:12 AM
Annihilation: A very interesting film which went to a very strange place. I enjoyed it.

Before that : Superman (The 1978 Christopher Reeve film)
Still holds up as a great film. Considering that lengthy bit at the start with the sentencing of Zod, Non and Ursa, were they already planning for the sequel, as that really feels tacked on otherwise? I suppose it gives an an indication of Kryptonian culture and justice. Ironic that in sentencing these villains to the Phantom Zone they effectively saved their lives.

Yes I like this film a lot. The time rewind stuff at the end makes little sense though. [spoiler] Even if we buy the idea that flying really fast around the planet and causing the Earth to revolve backwards will reverse time,* he does not move Lois from her location. Since he rewound time to before the aftershock quake hit her section of road, it's gonna happen, right? You don't see him fix that, or did he do it off screen?[/spoiler]

Possibly the best Superman film there is, although I might like Superman 2 a bit more.

*[spoiler]Or maybe it's just a illustrative way of depicting what's really going on. As it seems this version of Superman was crammed full of knowledge via capsule computer in his travel from Krypton to Earth maybe the key to time travel was explained to him off-screen. A bit odd as he is told not to interfere with Earth history...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 26 March, 2018, 09:29:22 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2018, 09:13:12 AM
Considering that lengthy bit at the start with the sentencing of Zod, Non and Ursa, were they already planning for the sequel, as that really feels tacked on otherwise?

Donner was shooting both Superman I and II simultaneously.

https://www.popmatters.com/192936-superman-and-superman-ii-what-is-and-what-might-have-been-2495535795.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 March, 2018, 12:17:40 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 25 March, 2018, 11:57:55 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 March, 2018, 11:38:08 PM
Was writing illegal?  And reading?  How did people know what the tv schedules were if there were no magazines and no-one was allowed to read?

They read the opiate of the masses, comics.

(https://resizing.flixster.com/wf34aGcCwGKZCARfo0UML5kSrE4=/2048x1536/v1.bjsyMzI2NzQ7ajsxNzY0MjsxMjAwOzIwNDg7MTUzNg)


Don't be silly, comics don't count as reading.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2018, 12:22:54 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AM
Annihilation didn't convince at all in terms of the preparation or implementatin of the mission. No breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission, no plan to go beyong the Shimmer and return with samples before trying to go all the way to the lighthouse. 

It's possible I might be mish-mashing in my brain things that are explained in the book and not the film (and vice versa) but there have been many expeditions before this one (it's the 12th) and at this point they're just throwing different configurations of teams and equipment at it to see what happens. [spoiler]I think going in for samples and bringing them back has long been abandoned because in the movie nobody from the previous expeditions has ever returned (I'm sure Portman's husband is the first to come back?), so (in the film at least) the sole objective of the expeditions seems to be to keep throwing people at it in desperate attempts to see if someone can actually make it to the lighthouse and might be able to change something.

One thing I don't think the film ever covers is the technology thing - in the books they sent a camera with the first expedition and then decided never to do that again, partly because of the effect the footage had on people reviewing it and partly due to a theory that taking technology into the shimmer provokes it in some way so it's all notebooks from there on.[/spoiler]

So yeah, that stuff didn't bother me in the film (and even added to it) but it's hard to say how much the book prepped me for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 March, 2018, 12:49:28 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2018, 12:22:54 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AM
Annihilation didn't convince at all in terms of the preparation or implementatin of the mission. No breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission, no plan to go beyong the Shimmer and return with samples before trying to go all the way to the lighthouse. 

It's possible I might be mish-mashing in my brain things that are explained in the book and not the film (and vice versa) but there have been many expeditions before this one (it's the 12th) and at this point they're just throwing different configurations of teams and equipment at it to see what happens. [spoiler]I think going in for samples and bringing them back has long been abandoned because in the movie nobody from the previous expeditions has ever returned (I'm sure Portman's husband is the first to come back?), so (in the film at least) the sole objective of the expeditions seems to be to keep throwing people at it in desperate attempts to see if someone can actually make it to the lighthouse and might be able to change something.

One thing I don't think the film ever covers is the technology thing - in the books they sent a camera with the first expedition and then decided never to do that again, partly because of the effect the footage had on people reviewing it and partly due to a theory that taking technology into the shimmer provokes it in some way so it's all notebooks from there on.[/spoiler]

So yeah, that stuff didn't bother me in the film (and even added to it) but it's hard to say how much the book prepped me for it.

I would like to think the book possibly covered it in more depth.
There could have been any number of reasons or people to not return. Surely it makes sense to be as prepared as possible. I mean it could have just been full of noxious gas.
Have you ever seen Village of the Damned? In that film they put a budgie cage on the end of a stick and use that to test the perimeter of the affected area. They also tie a rope around a guy's waist and send him in, reeling him back when he collapses. There's nothing in the film to suggest that either of these approaches wouldn't have been useful. That none of this stuff was covered just gave the impression that the whole operation was half arsed.
I don't think they even specified what the objective of the mission was. Was it to determine the cause and effects of the shimmer? Was it to destroy whatever was causing the shimmer? Was it simply to stop the shimmer from spreading?
I just found the whole thing completely unbelievable. I could happily have bought the more fantastical elements if the human characters reacted like real people instead of like stupid headless chickens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 26 March, 2018, 05:55:31 PM
Going In Style

Knackered last night and couldn't be bothered to search for a film to put on I let SKY choose for me.

Wasn't actually half bad. Not going to stay in the memory for long but enjoyable hokum heist malarkey and Alan Arkin was very good.

Good one to switch your brain off too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 March, 2018, 07:29:05 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AMNo breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission...

Kane [spoiler]had apparently survived a year-or-so in the Shimmer, so whatever was going on in there breathing apparatus couldn't have seemed necessary by the time Lena went in - and who's to say earlier missions which didn't return at all hadn't gone in wearing full spacesuits[/spoiler].  Plus Kane's mission was filming itself.   

As to the relevance of Lena and Kane's relationship... [spoiler]well, as with pretty much everything and everyone else in the movie, it was being transformed/destroyed from within.  Note that Ventress has terminal cancer, Shepherd describes her old self as having been killed by her daughter's death,  the gorgeous Tessa Thomson's character (Radick?) is cutting herself etc[/spoiler].  The (a?) point is that the Shimmer [spoiler]is refracting/merging/duplicating/consuming... but that isn't just an alien introduction, these are things that are happening all the time[/spoiler].   

One of my big questions is the significance of the landing-site/centre being in a lighthouse.

And is there a pointed Alien reference in Kane's name? 


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 26 March, 2018, 07:56:34 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2018, 07:29:05 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 25 March, 2018, 10:02:38 AMNo breathing apparatus, no one filming the mission...

Kane [spoiler]had apparently survived a year-or-so in the Shimmer, so whatever was going on in there breathing apparatus couldn't have seemed necessary by the time Lena went in - and who's to say earlier missions which didn't return at all hadn't gone in wearing full spacesuits[/spoiler].  Plus Kane's mission was filming itself.   

As to the relevance of Lena and Kane's relationship... [spoiler]well, as with pretty much everything and everyone else in the movie, it was being transformed/destroyed from within.  Note that Ventress has terminal cancer, Shepherd describes her old self as having been killed by her daughter's death,  the gorgeous Tessa Thomson's character (Radick?) is cutting herself etc[/spoiler].  The (a?) point is that the Shimmer [spoiler]is refracting/merging/duplicating/consuming... but that isn't just an alien introduction, these are things that are happening all the time[/spoiler].   

One of my big questions is the significance of the landing-site/centre being in a lighthouse.

And is there a pointed Alien reference in Kane's name?

I'm pretty sure we could go around in circles for ages 'yeah-butting'...but -

One person has returned out of I don't know how many over the course of a dozen missions. He has organ failure for reasons unknown. If I were going in, I'd probably want a hazmat suit to be on the safe side. I certainly wouldn't take Kane's return as proof-positive that there are no contaminants.
I could go into more detail of what I would expect to see or how the mission preparation would make more logical sense but you get my drift.

I can see what you're saying about the thematic reasons behind the failed relationship and the other characters' reasons for accepting the mission. None of this made me care though. I thought Portman did a good job with what she had, Jason-Leigh was her usual magnetic self and the rest of the cast did what they could with characters so barely sketched that, for me, they were impossible to care about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 March, 2018, 08:28:04 PM
For me it worked because Annihilation was much more interested in the mood, the characters and the metaphysical side of things than the plot. I didn't mind so much about all the stuff that was kept vague or the slightly wonky logic and plausibility of whole setup.

I will often call out other genre/blockbuster films for weird logistical gaps that intefere with suspension of disbelief (for example there is a widely-ridiculed scene in Prometheus where the crew, after landing on a previously unknown planet, one by one remove their helmets and breathing gear on a whim*) but maybe that's because those films tend to be much more convoluted and plot-heavy than Annihilation, I don't know. For whatever reason this stuff didn't really distract me and I was able to enjoy Annihilation on it's own terms. In 'reality', sure, the team would probably be wearing hazmat suits, but they weren't because I'm guessing that no one wants to watch 90 minutes of actors trying to emote through a heavy layer of perspex, I guess you either go along with the conceit or you don't.

*perhaps it's widely ridiculed simply because the scene exists and therefore calls unnecessary attention to itself?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 March, 2018, 08:34:11 PM
Why didn't someone just stand on each side of the Shimmer and the one outside could just ask the one inside what it was like?  Also "and stay where I can see you."
The plot for Annihilation is a bit like the setup for Kamen Rider Build, only not as good because no-one in Annihilation has a laser sword or a talking motorbike and there's no kung fu or explosions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 26 March, 2018, 08:46:12 PM
Unsane. Steven Soderbergh's return to film after a self-imposed retirement is an entirely IPhone-shot, almost unbearable exercise in intensity. That it stays the right side of extremely watchable is testament to Soderbergh's directing skills and an incredible central performance from Claire Foy. Have I said it's intense yet? It is. Very.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 March, 2018, 10:54:40 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 March, 2018, 07:56:34 PM
...the rest of the cast did what they could with characters so barely sketched that, for me, they were impossible to care about.

Obviously I can't make you care where the filmmakers have failed to do so,  but I really don't get this criticism. Are the other three really that much thinner than the supporting cast of any other SF film?  They all seemed believable and interesting enough that I was sorry when each departed. And the manner of their going was significant in each case too.

As to the technical believability of the mission, I think there's a meta-reason for that: other alien-contact movies have worn the hazmat/MALP path pretty intensively (Close Encounters,  ET,  Arrival,  2001 etc), not sure we as an audience needed to see it again: the more prosaic Southern Comfort-style hike into the woods was visually fresh,
and established that this is regular Earth, our familiar backyard that's being transformed,  rather than an expedition to another world; and then there's the in-universe reason,  that there have been many,  many previous missions,  and this one smacks of weary,  not to say suicidal, desperation.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eric Plumrose on 26 March, 2018, 11:19:36 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 25 March, 2018, 11:57:55 PM
They read the opiate of the masses, comics.

Truffaut had it drawn in Greek to elicit a genuine reaction from Werner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 March, 2018, 01:40:25 AM
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 26 March, 2018, 11:19:36 PMTruffaut had it drawn in Greek to elicit a genuine reaction from Werner.

Fabian always gave the best reactions.

(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/30/51432411_3429ceeded_z.jpg?zz=1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM41nxK62Kg
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 March, 2018, 02:19:15 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 26 March, 2018, 09:29:22 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2018, 09:13:12 AM
Considering that lengthy bit at the start with the sentencing of Zod, Non and Ursa, were they already planning for the sequel, as that really feels tacked on otherwise?

Donner was shooting both Superman I and II simultaneously.

https://www.popmatters.com/192936-superman-and-superman-ii-what-is-and-what-might-have-been-2495535795.html

Okay, that makes things clearer. Thanks for posting that: an interesting read!

Last film watched: Superman 2.

Also a very good film. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun. Watching the 2 nearly back to back is interesting in that I noticed the lack of Brando in the second film including the slightly different version of the sentencing of the  supervillains. I put it down to the studio saving money by not reemploying such a large salaried actor, but I see from the article above that there was other things going on... though certainly relating to salary.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 March, 2018, 07:48:20 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 26 March, 2018, 08:46:12 PM
Unsane. Steven Soderbergh's return to film after a self-imposed retirement is an entirely IPhone-shot, almost unbearable exercise in intensity. That it stays the right side of extremely watchable is testament to Soderbergh's directing skills and an incredible central performance from Claire Foy. Have I said it's intense yet? It is. Very.

Looking forward to this very much. And Soderbergh ended his 'retirement' 18 months ago with the release of Lucky Logan didn't he?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 08:42:22 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2018, 10:54:40 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 26 March, 2018, 07:56:34 PM
...the rest of the cast did what they could with characters so barely sketched that, for me, they were impossible to care about.

Obviously I can't make you care where the filmmakers have failed to do so,  but I really don't get this criticism. Are the other three really that much thinner than the supporting cast of any other SF film?  They all seemed believable and interesting enough that I was sorry when each departed. And the manner of their going was significant in each case too.

As to the technical believability of the mission, I think there's a meta-reason for that: other alien-contact movies have worn the hazmat/MALP path pretty intensively (Close Encounters,  ET,  Arrival,  2001 etc), not sure we as an audience needed to see it again: the more prosaic Southern Comfort-style hike into the woods was visually fresh,
and established that this is regular Earth, our familiar backyard that's being transformed,  rather than an expedition to another world; and then there's the in-universe reason,  that there have been many,  many previous missions,  and this one smacks of weary,  not to say suicidal, desperation.

I'd put the supporting characters on par with Jesse Ventura's turn in Predator.

I'm sure you're right about the lack of technical beleivability - it was undoubtedly a conscious decision. For me it had the opposite effect to making it feel like it was taking place on Earth - I couldn't believe anyone on Earth could be so half-arsed! I think like Radiator says, you either go with it or you don't...and I couldn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 March, 2018, 09:27:43 AM
Benedict Wong's character is suited up and Natalie Portman is in isolation after coming out of it.

They'd presumably already done the whole hazmat suit and it made no difference - the final expedition were the canaries, a last throw of the dice.

It didn't bother me in the way Prometheus' characters acted more like teens in a slasher flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 09:52:27 AM
Quote from: Steve Green on 27 March, 2018, 09:27:43 AM
Benedict Wong's character is suited up and Natalie Portman is in isolation after coming out of it.

They'd presumably already done the whole hazmat suit and it made no difference - the final expedition were the canaries, a last throw of the dice.

It didn't bother me in the way Prometheus' characters acted more like teens in a slasher flick.

They'd done the whole 'guns' thing which made no difference but they still went in armed.
It doesn't make sense, I'm over it, but trying to justify it with 'everyone else died so there's no point having safety procedures anymore' just makes it sound even more stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 March, 2018, 11:36:03 AM
I can see why they don't want them in Hazmat suits for the duration, it would be harder work for the audience.

I also wasn't sure how much distance they were going to cover but it seemed 20 miles+... is it even practical to cover that amount of ground in hazmat suits, how about with o2 tanks to be perfectly safe?

Maybe they just don't work over those distance and aren't practical, but guns are.

They could quite easily had just had them in hazmat suits to start with, and then ditched them after they wake up with memory loss, but they didn't - so there's obviously a pretty good reason for it.

But like I said, it didn't bother me, it kind of fitted in with the fatalistic nature of the group and the self-destructive themes.

In the real world people are willing to carry guns, but smoke and drink and eat too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 12:18:50 PM
I just feel sorry for the bloke who worked in that lighthouse. A four day hike and a day's canoe trip away from the nearest shop is pretty remote. I bet he had shit broadband.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 March, 2018, 12:31:37 PM
It's an unlikely crossover.

(https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F93%2F78%2F19%2F9378192cb1b1dd6549e1ba45cdd628b9.jpg&f=1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 March, 2018, 12:34:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 08:42:22 AM
I'd put the supporting characters on par with Jesse Ventura's turn in Predator.

No higher praise for a supporting character!  Blain is one for the ages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 27 March, 2018, 12:40:07 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 27 March, 2018, 07:48:20 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 26 March, 2018, 08:46:12 PM
Unsane. Steven Soderbergh's return to film after a self-imposed retirement is an entirely IPhone-shot, almost unbearable exercise in intensity. That it stays the right side of extremely watchable is testament to Soderbergh's directing skills and an incredible central performance from Claire Foy. Have I said it's intense yet? It is. Very.

Looking forward to this very much. And Soderbergh ended his 'retirement' 18 months ago with the release of Lucky Logan didn't he?

Ah yes, you're right. I keep getting that and Baby Driver mixed up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 27 March, 2018, 01:21:33 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 12:18:50 PM
I just feel sorry for the bloke who worked in that lighthouse. A four day hike and a day's canoe trip away from the nearest shop is pretty remote. I bet he had shit broadband.  :lol:

don't need a lighthouse for that!  Just buy yourself a house in the Rhondda.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 27 March, 2018, 04:58:55 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 March, 2018, 12:34:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 March, 2018, 08:42:22 AM
I'd put the supporting characters on par with Jesse Ventura's turn in Predator.

No higher praise for a supporting character!  Blain is one for the ages.

Blaine is fantastic, pretty much all the supporting cast in that film are fantastic! Billy's a big favourite of mine too. 'There's something out there waiting for us *pregnant pause* and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die.' Yeah cheers Billy thanks for that
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 March, 2018, 10:09:00 AM
THE REZORT.

There's an alternate universe where it's Hugh Jackman reduced to starring in "it's Jurassic Park/Westworld but with zombies". The only other thing you need to know is that it is mercifully short (even with a clumsy, uncecessary  framing device), poorly executed and thinks it has something to say about refugees but doesn't quite know what.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 30 March, 2018, 08:57:38 PM
I watched Terminator Geysis the other night. I had to go to the toilet at one point and it's possible that the plot was explained while I was out of the room but I doubt it. The whole film was pretty pointless and the constant reminders of the first film only served to showbhow rubbish Genysis is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 30 March, 2018, 10:47:02 PM
The Dead Zone. One of the 10ish Stephen King adaptations that's really good. Cronenberg, Walken and a great supporting cast create an intense psychological horror that just works really well. Enjoying it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tinmachine on 31 March, 2018, 12:28:16 AM
The Shining - Special Edition. Thought the additional scenes added a fair bit to the story.  One of the few special editions along with The Abyss, Aliens and Blade Runner that I really enjoyed more than the original cut of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 01 April, 2018, 12:23:56 AM
Lost Soul: documentary about the troubled history of the 1996 version of The Island of Dr Moreau, one of the worst films I've ever seen. Original director Richard Stanley's vision could have been brilliant, but circumstances dictated it wasn't to be. Fascinating if you have any interest in how great ideas end up unrealised or compromised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 01 April, 2018, 01:51:08 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 01 April, 2018, 12:23:56 AM
Lost Soul: documentary about the troubled history of the 1996 version of The Island of Dr Moreau, one of the worst films I've ever seen. Original director Richard Stanley's vision could have been brilliant, but circumstances dictated it wasn't to be. Fascinating if you have any interest in how great ideas end up unrealised or compromised.

Saw this doc at the London horror fest several years ago and subsequently picked it up on Blu-ray-it is indeed fascinating stuff, describing events that are equally hilarious and tragic- it's so disappointing that Stanley never got to see his vision brought to life.

I do have a soft spot for the finished film though, as it's like watching a car crash play out on screen!
Brando's performance is nothing short of bizarre and many of the cast appear pissed, stoned or both on screen!

It's pretty much the Apocalypse Now of horror/fantasy films, but not in a good way!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 01 April, 2018, 04:48:44 PM
I was intrigued about HG Wells accusing Joseph Conrad of plagiarism, I didn't know about that before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 01 April, 2018, 04:49:28 PM
Jesus Christ Superstar. Well it is Easter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 02 April, 2018, 11:42:07 AM
Justice League: I quite enjoyed it despite the incoherent story, CGI overload and Henry Cavill's awful CGI'd mouth movements. The Flash I found to be the most entertaining of the characters with the most compelling background story though Jason Momoa's Aquaman was solid too. He really should play Lobo as he was boozing all the time. Marvel films are better-made none the less, and there was a flashback scene where the Amazons, Atlantians and even Green Lantern's combined to take on Steppenwolf together. This scene contrasted badly with a similar one in Thor: Ragnorak where Valkyrie battled Hela which showed you what happened rather than exposing you to an info dump and exposition. It's uneven with many plot holes, but JS has some good moments and might have been much better if they'd made it longer rather than trying to cram everything into a two-hour run. Spiderman: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnorak are better-made films, but despite the poor storytelling I still feel there's some hope for the DCEU yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 April, 2018, 12:20:23 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 02 April, 2018, 11:42:07 AM...despite the poor storytelling I still feel there's some hope for the DCEU yet.

That sums it up for me too.  In a way the Cavill Superman films work far better now as a trilogy with Justice League as its final part, giving Clark some sort of arc from a life of dour self-absorbed looming-about to finding purpose and joie-de-vivre via a Super Breakfast Club, with Batman as both matchmaker and gooseberry.  Gags like Aquaman [spoiler]sitting on the lasso[/spoiler] go a long way to puncturing the pomposity of the first two flicks, and even the cack-handed ground-level view from the NotChernobyl family served to introduce stakes other than the principals' delicate egos and love-lives.

If they can capitalise on the excellent casting (anchored by the luminous Gal Gadot) and keep the light-hearted fraternal squabbling going, while following the current plot back to more Fourth World stuff (rather than the hinted detour to [spoiler]Injustice League[/spoiler], ugh), there really is potential for better to come.

(Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman cancel each other out Awful:Wonderful to yield a nett zero for the other DCU films).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2018, 02:05:07 PM
Went to Isle of Dogs and Pacific Rim: Uprising at the weekend and loved both of them. The animation in Isle of Dogs was beautiful and the story was great, just a very nice pleasant experience of a movie. Definitely one of my favourite Wes Anderson films.

Was a bit worried about Uprising as the response has seemed pretty mixed to it and I absolutely love the original, but I felt like it did everything I needed from a sequel but also threw in some good surprises and story and action beats I really didn't see coming. Was grinning like a loon throughout and genuinely felt that rush of excitement from the action scenes that's all too rare these days. Cast were excellent, lots of great chemistry (Boyega is all charisma and great to watch), and the mechs were badass. I know Pacific Rim movies are easy to dismiss as big dumb popcorn fodder, but given how much more enjoyable they are than any of the Transformers movies they're clearly not as dumb as they might appear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Satanist on 02 April, 2018, 02:27:50 PM
The Shape of Water - A modern day fairytale where a mute woman fucks a magic fish-man which also has something to say about homophobia & racism.

I was glad they explained how his dick worked as I had been wondering about the mechanics.

It looked nice and Michael Shannon really does have the oddball bastard roles nailed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 April, 2018, 05:30:29 PM
Isle of Dogs - not much to add over what Keef said. Beautiful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2018, 11:21:56 PM

...(anchored by the luminous Gal Gadot)...

Are we still allowed to fancy her?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 April, 2018, 10:33:18 AM
The Glitterball

A 1977 Children's Film Foundation effort - a sort of bargain basement ET. I have some vivid memories of watching this as a child so it was pretty nostalgic and fascinating. I couldn't believe the size of the tins of Rover biscuits and Quality Street chocolates in the supermarket scenes - they were huge!
The story is pretty simple. An alien (the titular Glitterball - a ping pong ball painted silver) crash lands on Earth and is found by a young boy. The lad and his mate soon communicate with the alien and realise that it A: needs to eat as much 70s junk food as possible (preferably Heinz Custard. I don't think Heinz even do custard anymore) and B: tap into a high voltage electricy supply so it can 'phone home'. Progress is hampered by 'Filthy Potter' a part time window cleaner and petty thief who wants to kidnap the Glitterball in the hope that it can help him break into the Supermartket safe.
It's all good fun with some quite nice stop motion animation and even some half decent model work on the simple but effective space ship. The whole thing looks like it cost about £500 to make which is all part of the charm. It's only about an hour long - definitely worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 April, 2018, 10:42:29 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2018, 11:21:56 PM

...(anchored by the luminous Gal Gadot)...

Are we still allowed to fancy her?

It's antisemitic not to.

(Ducks and covers.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 April, 2018, 11:23:39 AM
Two possible jokes in response to that, the first being "Don't worry, Jim, you'll be safe because you aren't a Palestinian child", and of course the ever-popular "THAT IS TYPICAL OF THE HARD LEFT", which can be embellished by drawing attention to the use of the word "hard" in relation to Gadot's history as little more than eye candy in expensive films.

Robot Overlords - a low-budget UK sci-fi I bought from Poundland that is heavily inspired by John Wyndham's Tripods trilogy, but kneecapped by disastrous dystopian YA novel storytelling sensibilities, a constant struggle with tone, and an episodic script.  It manages a neat trick of not reducing at least one of its two female characters to sex object or matriarch archetypes until the final minutes of the film where for some reason two asexual protagonists develop a physical attraction to each other, and to be fair to it, it's not so much bad as just cheap-looking and lacking in any identity - if you told me this was a couple of episodes of a CBeebies tv show strung together and with some PG swears dubbed in post, I would have no problem believing it.  Somehow Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley got roped into this, and they give proceedings more legitimacy than they deserve, but I bought it from Poundland, so I can hardly say I was expecting better or that I feel cheated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 April, 2018, 11:37:15 AM
Quigley Down Under

Sounds like something you'd hear in a Doctor's office but it's actually a forgotten western from 1990 starring Tom Selleck.
It's a pretty interesting film - Quigley (Selleck), an incredible sniper/sharpshooter travels to western Australia ostesibly to shoot dingos and vermin from the land of evil ranch own Marston (Alan Rickman) but it turns out the job is actaully to murder aborigenes. Quigley takes exception to this, throws Marston through a window and adventure ensues. The tone's a bit uneven. It's actually quite a dark film with something to say about equality and the corrupting influence of power. Rickman still thinks he's playing the Sherrif of Nottingham though and hams it up to high heaven. Selleck is really charming and charistmatic - he makes a great cowboy and is completely believable as the capable and self confident foreigner. It's a shame Selleck didn't do more westerns.
The film is probably 20 mins too long and drags a bit towards the end. it's definitely worth checking out though, especially if you like westerns but feel like something a little different. It's on Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 03 April, 2018, 12:52:33 PM
Quote from: Satanist on 02 April, 2018, 02:27:50 PM
It looked nice and Michael Shannon really does have the oddball bastard roles nailed.

I watched Nocturnal Animals the same weekend as The Shape of Water- the guy is a bona fide acting genius.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 April, 2018, 01:11:40 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 April, 2018, 11:23:39 AM...little more than eye candy in expensive films.

You say that like it's a bad thing, when in fact eye candy is almost all some of those films have going for them.

I'm still aggressively separating Gadot's screen roles from her real-world background (and alleged behaviour) in my head, but is increasingly difficult.  On the days when I'm successful in my efforts, I do think her Wonder Woman is absolutely terrific - she sells the mix of chirpy naif and weary immortal really well, and dear goodness me is she a handsome woman to behold.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
47 METRES DOWN
It would be pretty hard not generate tension and suspense in a film where your two leads are stuck 47m down, running out of air with a couple of Great White Sharks circling.

The crossing open water scenes being particularly scary. They fumble the actual kills though and I genuinely think it would be better with [spoiler]the two endings swapped[/spoiler]. But overall, I enjoyed it despite still being twenty minutes too long on a lean run time.

BLACK PANTHER
I think someone already mentioned how closely the first hour resembled a BOND movie but my goodness, it actually looks like they reused the Casino set from Skyfall.
Enjoyable enough stuff. Would have loved the car chase to have been more practical leaping from vehicle to vehicle rather than just a cgi shooty chasy snooze.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 April, 2018, 04:24:00 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
BLACK PANTHER
I think someone already mentioned how closely the first hour resembled a BOND movie but my goodness, it actually looks like they reused the Casino set from Skyfall.
Enjoyable enough stuff. Would have loved the car chase to have been more practical leaping from vehicle to vehicle rather than just a cgi shooty chasy snooze.

The CG was a bit of a barrier to me getting fully into Black Panther to be honest, I felt like it all had that cheap weightless quality that took all the thrills and punch out of the action. I was surprised it was as bad as it was, given Marvel movies have a great track record with that stuff and this supposedly had a bigger effects budget than most of them.

That and I thought the third act was quite generic and predictable if you've ever seen another Marvel film. I know the structures all have a bit of a cookie cutter cut and paste feel to them at this point, but after the first half feeling more interesting than most Marvel movies in terms of the world-building and the villain and the character motivations etc. it did feel a bit like it ran out of ideas a bit midway through so just checked off all the usual beats.

Still really enjoyed it though, the cast were all brilliantly watchable, it just didn't dethrone the Thor and Guardians series' as my top Marvel movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 April, 2018, 09:45:08 PM
MIB3. What a fantastic film. After the grottily disappointing sequel (two-headed Johnny Knoxville?  Really?), I'd given up on the series,  but the third one is quite superb: Josh Brolin is excellent as a young Tommy Lee Jones,  and Jemaine Clement steals the show as the magnificent Tim-Curry-alike villain Boris (just Boris) The Animal. Michael Stuhlberg's Griff exhibits the most entertaining version of precog powers I've seen,  worthy of a Moore Time Twister,  and the tight plot ties up the series in a very satisfying way.  Even Will Smith is okay,  and only yet another wooden turn from Alice Eve lets the side down a little.

Giving this one 5/5 stars with extra points for getting a closeup look at the Apollo 11 launch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 April, 2018, 04:20:00 PM
Arh the joys of school holiday cinema trips are a mixed bag. Today the kids finally got to see Wrinkle in Time, which is surely the most Disney fim ever. I was kinda bored but the kids loved it, especially my 8 year old daughter, who I'd guess is its prime audience and so from that perspective the fact she didn't want to move at the end so engage was she means its a good film for what it is...

... just not for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2018, 04:25:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
47 METRES DOWN
It would be pretty hard not generate tension and suspense in a film where your two leads are stuck 47m down, running out of air with a couple of Great White Sharks circling.

The crossing open water scenes being particularly scary. They fumble the actual kills though and I genuinely think it would be better with [spoiler]the two endings swapped[/spoiler]. But overall, I enjoyed it despite still being twenty minutes too long on a lean run time.
It's a pity then that as a qualified Tec diver I found 47MD to be the best comedy in years, with absolutely hilarious lack of knowledge in diving methodology and technique, they should have been narced after the first 5 mins, and suffering explosive decompression by the second act.

Worst movie I saw last year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 04 April, 2018, 06:51:48 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 April, 2018, 09:45:08 PM
MIB3. What a fantastic film. After the grottily disappointing sequel (two-headed Johnny Knoxville?  Really?), I'd given up on the series,  but the third one is quite superb: Josh Brolin is excellent as a young Tommy Lee Jones,  and Jemaine Clement steals the show as the magnificent Tim-Curry-alike villain Boris (just Boris) The Animal. Michael Stuhlberg's Griff exhibits the most entertaining version of precog powers I've seen,  worthy of a Moore Time Twister,  and the tight plot ties up the series in a very satisfying way.  Even Will Smith is okay,  and only yet another wooden turn from Alice Eve lets the side down a little.

Giving this one 5/5 stars with extra points for getting a closeup look at the Apollo 11 launch.

We saw this at the cinema immediately after watching Prometheus. It cheered us up no end. Who'd have thought it would be the better movie by far.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 April, 2018, 08:44:57 PM
Watching Thor Ragnarok, loving it so far. Only negative thing so far is Dr Strange and his accent.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2018, 04:25:18 PM
It's a pity then that as a qualified Tec diver I found 47MD to be the best comedy in years, with absolutely hilarious lack of knowledge in diving methodology and technique, they should have been narced after the first 5 mins, and suffering explosive decompression by the second act.
Worst movie I saw last year.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing Hawks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 April, 2018, 10:48:36 PM
Pacific Rim 2

First time I've ever heard my youngest go "woah" in a cinema.

How do you improve on the giant robots versus giant monsters action in the first? It's obvious, but I'll tell you anyway: giant robots versus [spoiler]giant monsters inside giant robots[/spoiler] , that's how.

I really enjoyed it.

CAVEAT: I loved Maniac 5

Next up: Ready Player One, then Avengers. God bless free cinema tickets through my works' life insurance!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 April, 2018, 10:53:39 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 April, 2018, 11:23:39 AM
Two possible jokes in response to that, the first being "Don't worry, Jim, you'll be safe because you aren't a Palestinian child", and of course the ever-popular "THAT IS TYPICAL OF THE HARD LEFT", which can be embellished by drawing attention to the use of the word "hard" in relation to Gadot's history as little more than eye candy in expensive films.

Robot Overlords - a low-budget UK sci-fi I bought from Poundland that is heavily inspired by John Wyndham's Tripods trilogy, but kneecapped by disastrous dystopian YA novel storytelling sensibilities, a constant struggle with tone, and an episodic script.  It manages a neat trick of not reducing at least one of its two female characters to sex object or matriarch archetypes until the final minutes of the film where for some reason two asexual protagonists develop a physical attraction to each other, and to be fair to it, it's not so much bad as just cheap-looking and lacking in any identity - if you told me this was a couple of episodes of a CBeebies tv show strung together and with some PG swears dubbed in post, I would have no problem believing it.  Somehow Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley got roped into this, and they give proceedings more legitimacy than they deserve, but I bought it from Poundland, so I can hardly say I was expecting better or that I feel cheated.

Didn't Pat Mills write that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 April, 2018, 10:55:08 PM
My bad.

THis is what I was thinking of:

Quote from: rogue69 on 05 March, 2015, 11:33:17 PM
On Saturday 21st March at the MCM Birmingham, Pat Mills will be hosting the Q&A panel for the new UK  sci-fi adventure "Robot Overlords" with the makers of the film

The panel will feature Jon Wright (Director), Mark Stay (Writer), Paddy Eason (VFX Supervisor) and more TBC, plus giveaways and exclusive extended clips from the movie.

http://www.mcmcomiccon.com/birmingham/2015/03/05/all-hail-our-robot-overlords/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2018, 09:50:15 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2018, 04:25:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
47 METRES DOWN
It would be pretty hard not generate tension and suspense in a film where your two leads are stuck 47m down, running out of air with a couple of Great White Sharks circling.

The crossing open water scenes being particularly scary. They fumble the actual kills though and I genuinely think it would be better with [spoiler]the two endings swapped[/spoiler]. But overall, I enjoyed it despite still being twenty minutes too long on a lean run time.
It's a pity then that as a qualified Tec diver I found 47MD to be the best comedy in years, with absolutely hilarious lack of knowledge in diving methodology and technique, they should have been narced after the first 5 mins, and suffering explosive decompression by the second act.

Worst movie I saw last year.

Ah, but they had those bits of kit on that stopped that bit happening. I mean they didn't show it or mention it but it must have been there.

Poor jokes about the hoops some fans will jump through to justify stuff, I have always wondered whether other professionals stare with disbelief at the screen like I used to do when stupid stuff happens in a movie "Computers don't work like that!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 10:25:37 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2018, 09:50:15 AM
Poor jokes about the hoops some fans will jump through to justify stuff, I have always wondered whether other professionals stare with disbelief at the screen like I used to do when stupid stuff happens in a movie "Computers don't work like that!"

I think it's everyone.  Working as an archaeologist completely ruins a significant portion of all media.  People often assume I mean Indiana Jones, but actually those aren't half bad, once you ignore the substituted shooting locations and their inevitable destruction - the classroom sequences in particular contain much that is worthy.  However, I'm still not over the ST:TNG episode where they 'carbon date' a lump of alien metal: I can't even count the ways....  etc

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 05 April, 2018, 11:42:23 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 10:25:37 AM
the classroom sequences in particular contain much that is worthy. 

We don't wanna know how many times a chungwan in your class stenciled "LOVE YOU" to her eyelids.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 01:24:34 PM
TBH I got more mileage out of the apples from that one young fella.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2018, 01:41:40 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2018, 09:50:15 AM
Poor jokes about the hoops some fans will jump through to justify stuff, I have always wondered whether other professionals stare with disbelief at the screen like I used to do when stupid stuff happens in a movie "Computers don't work like that!"

With computers you have the in-built getaround of licencing preventing tv shows/movies showing something like Windows without Microsoft's permission, so the characters are probably using a proprietary Linux OS that works differently.  I imagine most hardcore hackers would use their own OS to keep their systems secure from script kiddies/bots, so it kind of tracks.

I used to work as a glazier, so every time someone goes through a window in a show or movie I just think "nope."  Also every time someone uses any kind of glass cutting tool - you actually have to break glass from the opposite side of the glass on which you make a cut (ie: if you cut glass on the outside, you have to break it from the inside).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 02:02:45 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2018, 01:41:40 PMI imagine most hardcore hackers would use their own OS to keep their systems secure from script kiddies/bots, so it kind of tracks.

Makes sense,  just not sure why everything is rendered in a 96pt font, and why copying files to USB drives generate loud digital countdowns and giant red sliders.

As to your specialist knowledge,  "glazier" eh,  is that the Norn Iron equivalent of "locksmith"?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 April, 2018, 02:17:12 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2018, 09:50:15 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 April, 2018, 04:25:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
47 METRES DOWN
It would be pretty hard not generate tension and suspense in a film where your two leads are stuck 47m down, running out of air with a couple of Great White Sharks circling.

The crossing open water scenes being particularly scary. They fumble the actual kills though and I genuinely think it would be better with [spoiler]the two endings swapped[/spoiler]. But overall, I enjoyed it despite still being twenty minutes too long on a lean run time.
It's a pity then that as a qualified Tec diver I found 47MD to be the best comedy in years, with absolutely hilarious lack of knowledge in diving methodology and technique, they should have been narced after the first 5 mins, and suffering explosive decompression by the second act.

Worst movie I saw last year.

Ah, but they had those bits of kit on that stopped that bit happening. I mean they didn't show it or mention it but it must have been there.
Two Words.

Gas. Narcosis. The whole movie was a 2 second hallucination before the bends set in.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2018, 03:14:56 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 02:02:45 PMMakes sense,  just not sure why everything is rendered in a 96pt font, and why copying files to USB drives generate loud digital countdowns and giant red sliders.

When you go open source, you can have your OS do anything you want and those things are probably just how the hacker rolls, daddy-o.
Or - and this is my personal theory - this is how the aging writers/directors/producers of these things have their computers set up to compensate for the declining state of their eyesight and hearing, AKA: death takes a down-payment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 05 April, 2018, 03:42:47 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 02:02:45 PM
... not sure why everything is rendered in a 96pt font, and why copying files to USB drives generate loud digital countdowns and giant red sliders.

Plus, you never see them stuck with the spinning beach ball of death or a 'cannot eject, file in use' error ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 05 April, 2018, 07:03:37 PM
I liked Black Panther but some thoughts thereon:

Within the Marvel universe the events depicted in BP run more or less concurrently to events in Captain America Civil War and yet there is no reference to CACV in BP. BP features heavily in Civil War but the issue about how he can be fighting here and there is not addressed.

BP's best friend turns his back on him due to his failure to bring his fathers killer to justice yet [spoiler][spoiler]teams up with the man who set his fathers killer free - denying him that justice[/spoiler][/spoiler]

Which of the other Marvel hero's are as hen pecked? BP always seemed to have a female character jeered at or poking fun of him.

Where are there no African actors used? The majority of male actors are African American while the female actors are mixed nationality. It's just disappointing that a movie about a African nation was neither filmed in nor contained local actors.

I did however think it was a very interesting take on American - Vs- African ideas about being black. Although lol @ the idea of Wakanda opening their first outreach program in Oakland.

Also why didn't he just say [spoiler]no to the challenge[/spoiler] .. I mean come on ...

Just a few thoughts ..

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 April, 2018, 04:24:00 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2018, 01:12:14 PM
BLACK PANTHER
I think someone already mentioned how closely the first hour resembled a BOND movie but my goodness, it actually looks like they reused the Casino set from Skyfall.
Enjoyable enough stuff. Would have loved the car chase to have been more practical leaping from vehicle to vehicle rather than just a cgi shooty chasy snooze.

The CG was a bit of a barrier to me getting fully into Black Panther to be honest, I felt like it all had that cheap weightless quality that took all the thrills and punch out of the action. I was surprised it was as bad as it was, given Marvel movies have a great track record with that stuff and this supposedly had a bigger effects budget than most of them.

That and I thought the third act was quite generic and predictable if you've ever seen another Marvel film. I know the structures all have a bit of a cookie cutter cut and paste feel to them at this point, but after the first half feeling more interesting than most Marvel movies in terms of the world-building and the villain and the character motivations etc. it did feel a bit like it ran out of ideas a bit midway through so just checked off all the usual beats.

Still really enjoyed it though, the cast were all brilliantly watchable, it just didn't dethrone the Thor and Guardians series' as my top Marvel movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 April, 2018, 08:09:23 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 05 April, 2018, 07:03:37 PMWithin the Marvel universe the events depicted in BP run more or less concurrently to events in Captain America Civil War and yet there is no reference to CACV in BP. BP features heavily in Civil War but the issue about how he can be fighting here and there is not addressed.

Surely BP takes place after the events of Civil War? For most of CW T'Challa has been hunting Winter Soldier to avenge the death of his father, at the end he[spoiler] realises his mistake, secretly brings Steve and Bucky back to Wakanda offering them sanctuary and treatment[/spoiler]. Then he makes his formal public return to Wakanda at the start of BP to take up his presumed succession as King.  At the end, we see[spoiler] Bucky has been under Shuri's care during the movie and seems to have got his marbles back, although still hasn't had a decent haircut this century[/spoiler]. 

QuoteWhich of the other Marvel hero's are as hen pecked? BP always seemed to have a female character jeered at or poking fun of him.

In the MCU: Cap (Agent Carter and Black Widow). Iron Man (Pepper, Black Widow and Friday). Spidey (Michelle), Star-Lord (Gamorra). Thor (Valkyrie). Non-stop in all cases when they're on screen together... it's very much an MCU thing.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 06 April, 2018, 09:02:41 AM
I don't know man, I watched CW after Black Panther and both events appear to take place in the immediate aftermath of the UN bombing and his father's death.

That was not my take on it .. I thought that the women in BP got the upper hand on him more often than not. I thought it was an attempt to market to the female African American audience by portraying BP as a man very much in need of the guidance of strong black women. He is surrounded by women (his mother, his sister, his love interest and his military leader). Not that there's anything wrong with that but I don't see other characters in the MCU receiving the same treatment.

Also the fact that it is ultimately a white guy [spoiler]Frodo Baggins that "saves" Wakanda in the end [/spoiler].. food for thought ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 April, 2018, 09:07:16 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 06 April, 2018, 09:02:41 AM
I don't know man, I watched CW after Black Panther and both events appear to take place in the immediate aftermath of the UN bombing and his father's death.

Very much not my impression either, I'm afraid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 April, 2018, 09:32:35 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 06 April, 2018, 09:02:41 AM
I don't know man, I watched CW after Black Panther and both events appear to take place in the immediate aftermath of the UN bombing and his father's death.

That was not my take on it .. I thought that the women in BP got the upper hand on him more often than not. I thought it was an attempt to market to the female African American audience by portraying BP as a man very much in need of the guidance of strong black women. He is surrounded by women (his mother, his sister, his love interest and his military leader). Not that there's anything wrong with that but I don't see other characters in the MCU receiving the same treatment.

Also the fact that it is ultimately a white guy [spoiler]Frodo Baggins that "saves" Wakanda in the end [/spoiler].. food for thought ..

The director was black, so I doubt he was attempting to show black people in a negative light. Even the main villain was relatable and understandable in his motivations. [spoiler]And it was my take that the CIA chap played his part . They all saved Wakanda, and he was part of the team.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 06 April, 2018, 10:03:38 AM
Apparently the events of Civil War begin on June 8 2016 and the BP events begin on June 23.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 08 April, 2018, 10:41:10 AM
Open Windows. An attempt at a tech thriller that's way too contrived and ridiculous to make any sense whatsoever, which sometimes can give entertainment value, but not in this case. Pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 April, 2018, 11:14:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 02:02:45 PMMakes sense,  just not sure why everything is rendered in a 96pt font, and why copying files to USB drives generate loud digital countdowns and giant red sliders.

Probably because computers, like mobile phones, are the most anti-cinematic but almost unavoidable things to put on screen. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 08 April, 2018, 01:56:41 PM
The Wave (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3616916/) on amazon prime.
Pretty good Norwegian disaster movie with some tense underwater scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 April, 2018, 02:25:00 PM
Isle of Dogs. Can't say I'm familiar with Wes Anderson's oeuvre* but I rather liked it. Whimsical, charming, distinctly odd. Given a fairly specific time window to squeeze a movie in, it was this, Ready Player One or Pacific Rim: Uprising. To my considerable surprise, I'm glad I went with this...

*Apart from Nightmare on Elm Street. This seems a bit of a departure, stylistically...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 April, 2018, 03:21:52 PM
Ghost Stories

Desperately wanted to see this in the theatre but just couldn't make it so was so looking forward to the film...Which is a bit pants.

Not scary, the twist is fairly obvious, and the whole thing is rather mundane.

I love portmanteau films like Tales From The Crypt, Dr Terror's House of Horrors, Creepshow, and the House That Dripped Blood but Ghost Stories pales in comparison.

I really wanted to love it. 4/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 April, 2018, 03:52:56 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 April, 2018, 02:25:00 PM
Isle of Dogs. Can't say I'm familiar with Wes Anderson's oeuvre* but I rather liked it. Whimsical, charming, distinctly odd. Given a fairly specific time window to squeeze a movie in, it was this, Ready Player One or Pacific Rim: Uprising. To my considerable surprise, I'm glad I went with this...

*Apart from Nightmare on Elm Street. This seems a bit of a departure, stylistically...

Wes Anderson is the Grand Budapest Hotel and Royal Tenenbaums bloke.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is Wes Craven.

You're probably going to say you were joking and I've spoiled it but it's really hard to tell sometimes.
Anyway, I was tempted by Isle of Dogs - I really like the style of animation but it's Wes Anderson that's putting me off a bit. I'm not really a fan of his self consciously quirky style and tend to find his films annoying. I might give this a go though as I've heard lots of good things about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 08 April, 2018, 03:54:26 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 April, 2018, 02:25:00 PM
*Apart from Nightmare on Elm Street. This seems a bit of a departure, stylistically...

Please tell me you've not mistaken Wes Anderson for Wes Craven...

*edit*
Ah. Beaten to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 April, 2018, 04:30:37 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 April, 2018, 03:52:56 PM
You're probably going to say you were joking and I've spoiled it but it's really hard to tell sometimes.

I was joking and you've spoiled it. I'll concede that it really wasn't a very good joke, however.

On the film itself, the only other Wes Anderson film I've seen is Grand Budapest Hotel, which I really enjoyed. Even on that limited basis, I think I'd have identified Isle of Dogs as another Anderson film so I think that if GBH annoyed you, this probably will, too! OTOH, it's reasonably short (1hr40) so it might not outstay its welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 08 April, 2018, 05:59:46 PM
Isle of Dogs was great - really funny and touching and witty and clever. Great personalities in the puppets and even the celebrity voices weren't too distracting.

Wes Anderson is probably my favourite director with 'Rushmore' my favourite film. That and 'The Royal Tennenbaums' are great Anderson starter choices although every one of his films is a visual and writing treat.

Even his ads are great - check out this one he did for Prada : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b87B7zyucgI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b87B7zyucgI)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 08 April, 2018, 06:23:47 PM
Well, a night to myself last night with the girls out at the theatre / sleepover.  Finally got round to watching Alien Covenant.  Maybe having set sights incredibly low was an advantage but I was pleasantly surprised.  Quite a few bits that had either been telegraphed so far in advance or were such obvious plot contrivances that they could be seen a mile away but I did like the way they were handled (the accelerating heartbeat monitor was a natty little touch) and a couple of nice nods to the original film.   I don't think that they have ever fully captured the full glory of the original film (Aliens was enjoyable but so stylistically incongruous in comparison for me) but this was not the most horrendous use of an evening I thought.

As an aside, having lost count of the number of times they've re-released these on DVD / Blu ray etc but how many of the more recent re-releases include the 'directors cut' versions?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 April, 2018, 07:20:02 PM
FWIW, I think Grand Budapest is maybe the least Wes Andersony of Wes Anderson films. My favourite too.

I watched Red 2 and Hitman's Bodyguard. Both pretty dumb popcorn movies, completely forgettable but explodey and shooty enough. Red 2 is far better than the latter though it's not saying much (the latter thinks it's central conceit is way more interesting than it actually is).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 April, 2018, 08:54:32 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 08 April, 2018, 05:59:46 PM
Wes Anderson is probably my favourite director with 'Rushmore' my favourite film.

While maybe not my favourite film in my 10 ten no doubt and better than my other favourite Anderson flick The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which seems to get a needless hard time?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 08 April, 2018, 09:25:56 PM
Ghostbusters, 2016 version. A good mix of action and comedy, with fun cameos from the original cast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 April, 2018, 11:26:26 PM
LIFEFORCE
Yes, the naked space vampire one.
Actually cheesy fun with some outright unbelievably bad characterisation (Peter Firth as the wettest SAS man ever), bad science and laughable security precautions. The potential alien threat is secured by locking it in a room with wood and glass windows. Our cats are more secure when I shut them in the dining room. The ending erupts in a mad apocalypse, Frank Finlay has a brilliant in character final line and by the time it finished I was wishing it was a six part HBO serial.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 09 April, 2018, 12:31:36 AM
Spider Man:Homecoming which was a good film but I all I could think was thank God someone at Sony had the good sense to realise that they were making terrible films and getting on the coat tails of the MCU was the best option available.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 April, 2018, 10:10:57 AM
Annihilation - My wife read the book yesterday so we watched it together. I enjoyed it more than she did but we both felt it was a little lacking, largely in the conclusion. Which would always have been difficult but the end [spoiler]of Area X/The Shimmer with the burning of the doppleganger was probably the least satisfying element [/spoiler]. Loved, loved the [spoiler]bear, though the attached use of guns and physical danger was also a big departure from the source[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 06:22:30 PM
Twin Peaks: Fire walk with me Last time I saw it I had just recently finished binge watching Twin Peaks season 1-2, and was somewhat dreading "having to watch" the lost pieces after it just before Season 3 hit.

Having just watched the movie now, on it's own, just before rewatching The return it's a whole other beast. One of the most painful films I'v seen, and in a good way. Sheryl Lee's portrayal is brutal. Powerful and painful to watch. Fantastic actress. The lack of weirdness in the later half of the film makes her downward spiral even more heavy. Almost felt like it was a safety that had been taken from me.

Last time I watched season 3 I was mostly interested in the weird bits and to see what was up with Cooper. This time around I feel I'll be much more invested in the trauma caused by Laura's life and death.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 07:15:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.

Such a lovely and strange scene  :lol:

I connect it to the disappearance of agent Desmond and Cooper. That he came from where they went. Arriving in a vision, a bit like Cooper later does when he is asking Laura not to take the ring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 April, 2018, 11:37:15 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 April, 2018, 11:14:53 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 April, 2018, 02:02:45 PMMakes sense,  just not sure why everything is rendered in a 96pt font, and why copying files to USB drives generate loud digital countdowns and giant red sliders.

Probably because computers, like mobile phones, are the most anti-cinematic but almost unavoidable things to put on screen.

Indeed.  And further,  rewatching 90s genre TV (e.g. Buffy),  it's impossible not to imagine almost every week's plot unravelling in the potential presence of 'cellphones'.  When we slide into the 2000s and mobiles are essentially unavoidable,  almost every plot requires a scene where reception and/or batteries fail.  Hateful things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 April, 2018, 12:04:56 AM
Mobile phones also have the side effect of making films date incredibly quickly. Nothing makes a relatively modern film feel more dated than someone using, say a Blackberry or a flip phone. Even an older-model iPhone appearing onscreen feels like a giant timestamp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 10 April, 2018, 06:19:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 07:15:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.

Such a lovely and strange scene  :lol:

I connect it to the disappearance of agent Desmond and Cooper. That he came from where they went. Arriving in a vision, a bit like Cooper later does when he is asking Laura not to take the ring.

I'm hoping you've seen the big chunk of deleted scenes from the film with Bowie?

I love seeing his character cameo quickly in TP:FWWM - one of my favourite Bowie moments in film - but those deleted scenes are just bugnut-insane...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 April, 2018, 08:06:36 AM
Sunday morning saw me struck down with the novovirus.
What was most galling was I started vomiting at 6 am and was supposed to fly out to Venice at 1pm.
Despite delaying leaving it as late as possible it quickly emerged that I was going to be in no state to travel, needing the toilet every 15 minutes or so. So the Wife and my Son jetted off without me leaving me feeling rather sad and sorry for myself (Venice is my favourite city in the World. I've been twice before but I was looking forward to showing my Son around. So Sunday was a wash out and I went to bed very early but on Monday the worst had passed so I decided to wrap myself up and have a mini movie marathon.

Wanted something funny and uplifting so my first choice, via Netflix, was;

David Brent: Life on the Road. I had seen it before and did not think much of it but decided to give it another go. Wish I had not bothered. It's still crap 2/10

My next choice, still demanding something amusing, was;
Stephen Fry at the Royal Festival Hall: More Fool Me. This I enjoyed. Fry is at his driest and despite the fact that it's just him on a stage for 90 mins I enjoyed it 6/10

With my funny bone sated, and the sun going down my next choice was;
The Autopsy of Jane Doe. (All 3 so far on Nteflix). This I enjoyed a lot. Different, creepy, clever and interesting. Great fun 7/10

Finally, to round the day off, I put on;
Dr. No. Whilst I have seen this, the first James Bond movie, many times I had yet to watch it on the blu ray I purchased as a set 4 years ago. So I opted to put it through the projector. Wow! It looks stunning. The level of detail blew me away and it really felt like I was watching it in the cinema. Excellent film and a top notch blu ray.

Anyway, I'm feeling better now so I have booked a seat at the cinema this afternoon for A Quiet Place. My Wife and Son fly back late this evening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 10 April, 2018, 08:16:58 AM
Quote from: inkymonkey on 10 April, 2018, 06:19:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 07:15:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.

Such a lovely and strange scene  :lol:

I connect it to the disappearance of agent Desmond and Cooper. That he came from where they went. Arriving in a vision, a bit like Cooper later does when he is asking Laura not to take the ring.

I'm hoping you've seen the big chunk of deleted scenes from the film with Bowie?

I love seeing his character cameo quickly in TP:FWWM - one of my favourite Bowie moments in film - but those deleted scenes are just bugnut-insane...

The David Bowie sequences from both the final cut of FWWM and The Missing Pieces are "explained" in Twin Peaks series 3, along with a whole lot more bugnut insanity. Highly recommended if you can handle 18 hours of full-on David Lynch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 April, 2018, 09:51:01 AM
Went to see A Quiet Place, which was brilliant. Very impressed with how hard they commit to silence and how well they manage to sustain tension throughout, a pretty amazing accomplishment.

One guy didn't agree - in the lift after the film a chat started up about it and he said he wished it hadn't been as quiet as it was because 'you miss stuff don't you? When you're looking at your phone and the film isn't making any noise then you miss stuff'.

Sigh.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 10 April, 2018, 12:43:06 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 10 April, 2018, 08:16:58 AM
Quote from: inkymonkey on 10 April, 2018, 06:19:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 07:15:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.

Such a lovely and strange scene  :lol:

I connect it to the disappearance of agent Desmond and Cooper. That he came from where they went. Arriving in a vision, a bit like Cooper later does when he is asking Laura not to take the ring.

I'm hoping you've seen the big chunk of deleted scenes from the film with Bowie?

I love seeing his character cameo quickly in TP:FWWM - one of my favourite Bowie moments in film - but those deleted scenes are just bugnut-insane...

The David Bowie sequences from both the final cut of FWWM and The Missing Pieces are "explained" in Twin Peaks series 3, along with a whole lot more bugnut insanity. Highly recommended if you can handle 18 hours of full-on David Lynch.

Well, having FINALLY finished this f-----g terrible film I've been on, I might just have time to watch series 3!!

Then again, maybe I should be bugging Tharg as to whether he might have a spare story that needs an artist.

Tough choice...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 April, 2018, 05:16:15 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 10 April, 2018, 08:16:58 AM
Quote from: inkymonkey on 10 April, 2018, 06:19:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 April, 2018, 07:15:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 09 April, 2018, 06:30:09 PM
I never quite understood what that weird sequence with David Bowie in FBI HQ was about... but I love the fact it's there.

Such a lovely and strange scene  :lol:

I connect it to the disappearance of agent Desmond and Cooper. That he came from where they went. Arriving in a vision, a bit like Cooper later does when he is asking Laura not to take the ring.

I'm hoping you've seen the big chunk of deleted scenes from the film with Bowie?

I love seeing his character cameo quickly in TP:FWWM - one of my favourite Bowie moments in film - but those deleted scenes are just bugnut-insane...

The David Bowie sequences from both the final cut of FWWM and The Missing Pieces are "explained" in Twin Peaks series 3, along with a whole lot more bugnut insanity. Highly recommended if you can handle 18 hours of full-on David Lynch.

Been a while since I saw the missing pieces. Remember them as being quite funny.

Rewatching season 3 now! Haha, as you say: "explained". Feels like one big movie. Really like it.  For me it and Fire walk with me is what I want out of Twin peaks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 April, 2018, 06:02:32 AM
I haven't gotten round to the recent season of twin peaks yet. Hope to catch it soon.

Last film I watched was The Dark Tower on Blu Ray.

I'm a fan of the books (although I have reservations about certain stuff) and I kind of wish they'd made it a bit closer to the books.

For what it is, I don't think it's too bad. I do like it, and Idris Elba is pretty good as Roland. I do think it could and should have been so much better though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 April, 2018, 06:03:34 PM
The Last Movie Star. Burt Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a retired if not exactly washed up movie star who accepts a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. The ageing, forgotten star turns up to find the "film festival" is just a load of geeks in a bar.

It's a simple story about facing old age and unashamedly appeals to the emotions of the audience but, you know, Burt Reynolds. He nails it here, and it's obvious the film was written for him. The scene with doddery old Reynolds in the canoe with the iconic Reynolds from Deliverance[/i] is wonderful - the 70s epitome of male strength and virility withered away by time.

Poignant,witty, thoughtful and more or less predictable - plus, you know, it's Burt f*cking Reynolds!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2018, 08:17:01 PM
The LEGO Movie for the first time since the cinema. Was very worried it wouldn't hold up but much to my surprise I love it even more! Genuinely think this has the material to be an all time family film classic.

SPACESHIP!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 April, 2018, 11:37:51 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 April, 2018, 06:03:34 PM
The Last Movie Star. Burt Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a retired if not exactly washed up movie star who accepts a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. The ageing, forgotten star turns up to find the "film festival" is just a load of geeks in a bar.

Michael Sheard and Shedcon anyone?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trout on 12 April, 2018, 04:28:22 AM
WHO INVOKED ME?

Oh, you mentioned Sheard. Sorry. As you were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2018, 06:49:49 AM
Haven't you got shelves to fill? Jump to it, fish-boy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 April, 2018, 04:01:28 PM
A Quiet Place

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Excellent film as long as you don't think about it too much.

The suspense is intense all the way through this film and surprisingly the themes are not what you expect them to be.

I was lucky in that I saw this in a cinema with 15 other people, all of whom were chomping away during the adverts and trailers but were then perfectly silent throughout the film.

To those people; I salute you. You made the experience of watching this somewhat unique film all the more pleasurable.

The last time I was this surprised by a movie at the cinema was last years 'Get Out'.

A very entertaining watch 7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 April, 2018, 06:06:59 PM
Rampage

Ok, it's a film, starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson titled Rampage. So you know what to expect.
It's clichéd, badly written, badly plotted (of what plot there is), not well acted but, and this is the rub, never dull.
There are some good set pieces, of which the movie is based around, and it's entirely predictable, and yet it's still mindless, popcorn fun.

If you like Godzilla (the old ones), or Pacific Rim, then you'll like this (just). Otherwise, stay away.

It's the epitome of a popcorn film. Loud, brash and lots of shit gets trashed and very few people get killed (although those that do go, go in a very gory way for a 12A).

Like Godzilla films? 5.5 /10
Hate Godzilla Films? 2/10

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 15 April, 2018, 12:10:26 AM
I saw Ready Player One on Friday night and I knew I was in for a bad time once i saw the trailer. My partner loves the book and insisted that I read it and I didn't know how to tell her that it was the biggest pile of toss i have read in ages. And I have read a lot of terrible books; not only have I read Bravo Two Zero more than once, I have read just about every other book on the topic. I know a shit book when I read one. I wasn't expecting much from the film because it's hard to make a terrible source material into a non-existent film. Basically I didn't like the book and even though I have forgotten what I was on about I didn't like the film either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 April, 2018, 12:21:49 AM
Ah, the things we do for love
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 April, 2018, 04:18:16 PM
Quote from: Colin Zeal on 15 April, 2018, 12:10:26 AM
I saw Ready Player One on Friday night and I knew I was in for a bad time once i saw the trailer. My partner loves the book and insisted that I read it and I didn't know how to tell her that it was the biggest pile of toss i have read in ages. And I have read a lot of terrible books; not only have I read Bravo Two Zero more than once, I have read just about every other book on the topic. I know a shit book when I read one. I wasn't expecting much from the film because it's hard to make a terrible source material into a non-existent film. Basically I didn't like the book and even though I have forgotten what I was on about I didn't like the film either.

I enjoyed the book for what it was. A nostalgic trip through my nerd youth. As science fiction though it's tosh. I wanted to see the film initially, but have been reticent about it since it came out. I'm glad I didn't since I'm hearing more and more how awful it really is. I've now relegated down to a Netflix viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 April, 2018, 04:45:01 PM
I enjoyed the book for the same reasons von Boom cited, and I thought the film was ok.
Not great but not bad either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 April, 2018, 05:58:09 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard on Netflix.

Really enjoyable tosh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 16 April, 2018, 08:32:20 PM
A Quiet Place. Really liked this. A great idea and maintained a high level of tension throughout. Nicked ideas from a few other films, but it's getting harder not to do that. Highly entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 April, 2018, 08:26:46 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 April, 2018, 05:58:09 PM
The Hitman's Bodyguard on Netflix.

Really enjoyable tosh.

I hated this so hard. So very, very hard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 17 April, 2018, 08:04:28 PM
Rampage. Some films defy any intellectualisation and this is one. Mostly terrible dialogue, wanton destruction and Jeffery Dean Morgan enjoying chewing the scenery as a Negan-lite government agent. An absolute guilty pleasure which I enjoyed immensely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 17 April, 2018, 08:06:12 PM
Forgot to mention it's like a mash-up of King Kong and Godzilla.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 April, 2018, 08:26:36 PM
FFS, guys, not only does Rampage star the Rock but it's based on an arcade game. What did you expect?

It was an 80s arcade game.Which Warner Bros have made free to play on t'internet, right here:


http://game.rampagethemovie.com/arcade/ (http://game.rampagethemovie.com/arcade/)

I think that may give more minutes of fun than the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Blue Cactus on 17 April, 2018, 09:42:50 PM
I used to play Rampage on my Atari ST. A lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GrudgeJohnDeed on 17 April, 2018, 11:37:21 PM
Annihilation Spoilers:

https://twitter.com/BBW_BFF/status/984198334129717248

[spoiler]
yikes, I didnt notice a lot of that detail at the time, definitely human DNA in there eh![/spoiler]

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 18 April, 2018, 08:12:41 AM
Ghost Stories (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5516328/)

Effective British portmanteau horror with some good jump scares and splendid performances by Andy Nyman, Paul Whitehouse, Martin Freeman, and everyone's favourite disturbed teenager Alex Lawther.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 April, 2018, 12:16:29 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 April, 2018, 08:26:36 PM
It was an 80s arcade game.Which Warner Bros have made free to play on t'internet, right here:


http://game.rampagethemovie.com/arcade/ (http://game.rampagethemovie.com/arcade/)

Had totally forgotten the arcade game, wasted some quality insomniac hours on that last night!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 24 April, 2018, 07:50:49 PM
Isle of Dogs. Finally got round to this after what seems like a year since first seeing the trailer. Visually stunning, with lots of stuff going on in the corners of the screen I'm sure I missed. However, despite my love for Wes Anderson's last film The Grand Budapest Hotel, I thought this was just a bit too quirky for its own good. Still glad I saw it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 April, 2018, 07:18:23 AM
Godzilla Planet of Monsters.Its a mashup uf Macross and Godzilla basicly.Its not bad,thou the much-talked-about twist at the end is pretty easy to guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 April, 2018, 12:53:20 PM
Damnation Alley (1977). Piffle. Probably only of any interest to The Cursed Earth fans - and even then it's still piffle.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2018, 01:15:49 PM
It had George Peppard playing himself, what more do you want?

Red Sparrow - remake of some mid-80s tv movie I vaguely recall about Russkie hotties taught to shag for the motherland, featuring mid-80s politics to boot.  I am so old I can remember when people said The Hunt For Red October was the last movie of the Cold War (okay I actually read it on a Tom Clancy wiki page), but here we are in 2018 doing the same old Black Widow schtick instead of a more accurate depiction of Russian vs American politics where a bunch of bored office workers paid to fake English language social media accounts spam Twitter with stories about Hillary Clinton running a pizzeria that serves child sex instead of hot mozzarella, and then run stories about Trump being pissed on by underage hookers because I don't know the whole thing is very Russian.  The current geopolitical arena is far more interesting than this rather binary story about girl spy meets boy spy and then does a double cross - OR DOES HE/SHE? - so it's a good thing it's so well-made and performed otherwise there'd be naff all to pique your interest - unless you're willing to pay the admission price to look at Jlaw's baps or something, but we have the internet for that.
Nicely-crafted, but uninteresting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 26 April, 2018, 02:02:05 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 April, 2018, 12:53:20 PM
Damnation Alley (1977). Piffle. Probably only of any interest to The Cursed Earth fans - and even then it's still piffle.

Also: Giant Scorpions
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 April, 2018, 05:53:47 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2

I enjoyed it a lot. I think I prefer the songs in the first one. This one is less comedic and light hearted, but being an emotional exploration of family, this wasn't a bad thing. It's still pretty funny in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 26 April, 2018, 09:39:39 PM
Avengers Infinity War. No spoilers but suffice to say this delivers on plot, character, action and humour. Going before I say any more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2018, 10:52:06 PM
Valerian etc. I... liked it?  It married a very retro tone with some lovely visuals, and delivered a non-universe-threatening plot that I actually cared about seeing resolved.  I thought the leads were enjoyably different from the norm, and while Delavingne (sp?) clearly isn't the greatest actress ever, her extravagant eyebrows successfully distracted from her shortcomings - plus Laureline herself was an interesting enough character, in a 1960s Agent 99 way.

It's major flaw was the Rhianna diversion.  Personally I like a bit of Rhianna, but this whole sequence was either way too long or way too short: it could have been neatly snipped out of the movie with little change (just give the shapeshifting ability to a gadget), or it could have been expanded to make Bubble more integrated with the story: as it was, it just slowed everything down, and the whole sex-district thing was awkward (Jessica Rabbit cosplay included) in what was otherwise a kids' film.

But yeah, I'd have watched another of these, sad that I never will.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 April, 2018, 10:54:15 PM
THE ISLAND
I thought I'd catch up with this slice of Bayhem from 2005 and somehow still managed to be surprised at how terrible it is. I don't want to tread on Prof Bear's ground but it climaxes with what looks like a British Airways ad having just established that Ewen McGregor's character (with a mental age of thirty) porked Scarlett Johansen who has a mental age of 15 and then carries a small pistol up her chuff for half a day while buying ice cream for kids and playing on a swing. And I haven't even got to the heavy handed slavery and gas chamber imagery yet.

And I have no ducking idea how Ewen McGregor got his memories.

The Island? More like The Shitland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 April, 2018, 10:56:46 PM
Yeah, Valerian was much better than I thought with some very inventive stuff in it. Luc Besson is infuriating. For Me, Subway remains his masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2018, 10:57:11 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 April, 2018, 10:52:06 PMand the whole sex-district thing was awkward (Jessica Rabbit cosplay included) in what was otherwise a kids' film.

I would argue so was Valerian's serial sexual harassment of co-workers, for which he is ultimately rewarded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 April, 2018, 11:13:08 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 26 April, 2018, 10:57:11 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 April, 2018, 10:52:06 PMand the whole sex-district thing was awkward (Jessica Rabbit cosplay included) in what was otherwise a kids' film.

I would argue so was Valerian's serial sexual harassment of co-workers, for which he is ultimately rewarded.

True, but like I said, very retro tone, of which this is a large part. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 30 April, 2018, 08:23:26 PM
Beast. Intense psychological drama that tips just that bit too far into melodrama for my liking. Great performances from the cast though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 30 April, 2018, 10:25:04 PM
Iron Man 3. Not seen in years. Not sure why. Still brilliant to this day. Tightly written big fun action with a big heart and something actual to say. Love everything from Stark's battle with panic attacks and PDST (why isn't this happening to more super heroes??) to the twist [spoiler]fun enough on it's own, even more so knowing people actually think the Mandarin is an actually cool villain before the reveal :D[/spoiler]. Not to mention each character had a place in the film and delivers snappy dialogue without it sounding overwritten or rehearsed to death.

Next up. Winter soldier, followed by Thor: Ragnarök.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 April, 2018, 10:51:18 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure I like the third act too much, but the main twist is really superb, and many of the performances are terrific.  Here, do we know if [spoiler]Pepper still has her Extremis[/spoiler] superpowers as of Avengers 3?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 May, 2018, 07:15:13 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 April, 2018, 10:51:18 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure I like the third act too much, but the main twist is really superb, and many of the performances are terrific.  Here, do we know if [spoiler]Pepper still has her Extremis[/spoiler] superpowers as of Avengers 3?

Did you find it too over powered and over the top?

Also, these end credits. Awesome  :P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxL1p99EVCQ

If I remember correctly [spoiler]Pepper got cured. I think Tony reasons that if he was able to scribble it down while drunk, he'd be able to fix things sober.[spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 May, 2018, 07:40:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 April, 2018, 10:54:15 PM
THE ISLAND
I thought I'd catch up with this slice of Bayhem from 2005 and somehow still managed to be surprised at how terrible it is. I don't want to tread on Prof Bear's ground but it climaxes with what looks like a British Airways ad having just established that Ewen McGregor's character (with a mental age of thirty) porked Scarlett Johansen who has a mental age of 15 and then carries a small pistol up her chuff for half a day while buying ice cream for kids and playing on a swing. And I haven't even got to the heavy handed slavery and gas chamber imagery yet.

And I have no ducking idea how Ewen McGregor got his memories.

The Island? More like The Shitland.

I'm pretty sure that the company that made this optioned Michael Marshall Smith's superlative Spares, then let the option lapse and made this - which had a number of odd plot changes to make sure it was in no way at all anything like Spares. Apart from the cloning. And the basic plot of man goes on run with clone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 May, 2018, 07:42:13 AM
Gave up on Alien: Covenant, shortly after a crew decide to land on an alien planet without doing any kind of atmospheric testing or wearing helmets. I allowed the bit where they decide to split up for no good reason, but the prodding of alien flora for no good reason was stupid.

Compare and contrast with Alien, where they wear full suits and think about quarantine and stuff.

Did IQs drop sharply while Ripley was away?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 01 May, 2018, 08:32:00 AM
You know Covenant is set before Alien, right?

Pedantry aside, I know what you mean.  I sat all the way through it in two or three sittings, which tends to be pretty much par for the course these days.  I'd like to say that the quality decision making improves but I'd probably get booked by trading standards for misrepresentation.

Decided to take a punt on One Crazy Summer, an early nineties student caper that I remember seeing on VHS.  A passable piece of comedy with John Cusack, Demi Moore and Bobcat Goldthwaite.  Some nice visual gags (Goldthwaite dressed as Godzilla stumbling all over a model housing estate with a cigar steaming away in the costume's mouth).  Fairly typical of its genre and the time but erring towards the higher end of the spectrum.  Certainly enough laughs to brighten up a fairly maudlin spate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 May, 2018, 11:42:19 AM
Captain America: Winter Soldier. Thought it was okay first time I saw it. It had some ideas, a bad ass Sam Jackson and a quite cool old Hüdra komputer speaking funny.

But it felt a bit short on those things this time around watching it. Last act mostly felt like a bunch of running from special effects, back flips, landing rolls and people punching each other in hopes of feeling interesting enough for me to remember them till the next scene they're in. The ending did nothing for me [spoiler]with the "heroes" (after causing a fantastic amount of death and destruction) talking their way out of things, with the compulsory burn some shit to erase the past --scene.[/spoiler] Not a bad film, but not for me. Would'v liked more of the Hüdra komputer and getting something to think about.

Now. On to Thor Ragrarök. Hoping it with all it's comedy holds up as well as Iron Man 3 did for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 May, 2018, 08:28:21 PM
Thor: Ragnarök. Not as brilliant as iron man 3 in my opinion, but really good. And not only the "funny movie" many sees it as. Has a bit of brain as well. And a bit like DREDD showed that 2000AD can work on the screen, I think Ragnarök shows that a Jack Kirby-esque movie is possible. A wild and colourful film, one which I'm hoping for is used as a reference for the New Gods film which is said to be on the plans [spoiler]this one could perhaps even serve as an intro to it, how the old gods died.[/spoiler]

And while mentioning DREDD, that goes as well for it being more of a personal story rather than "save the world (and the occasional girl).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 May, 2018, 09:14:23 PM
Finally got around to Isle of Dogs and man I'm glad I did. Okay I don't think the kids appreciated it as much as they did Fantastic Mr Fox I did. Such a compelling film and while okay the end felt a little neat and forced it such a joy getting there I let it slide very easily.

The visuals are just so stunning, the character so gloriously realised, the humour so ... funny and the its genuinely exciting at time.

Love Wes Anderson and this is no exception. Just brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 May, 2018, 01:42:09 PM
Split, for the first time. Before that, I watched Unbreakable. Not for the first time in this case, but it was my first time seeing it on blu-ray.

Both quite different, but very compelling and enjoyable films.

[spoiler]In some ways, I wish I hadn't seen that spoiler online that connects the two films, as it would have been nice to be surprised.  But paradoxically, if I hadn't I might never have watched Split, anyway. It's a film that pretty much passed me by when it came out. I think I vaguely remember it advertised but didn't feel compelled to watch it, then I forgot about it.

I was still thoroughly enjoyed that bookend/cameo, however.

As for the main plot of the film, it didn't spoil at all.[/spoiler]

I'm looking forward to Shyamalan's new film, Glass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 May, 2018, 09:21:55 AM
UNLIKELY HERO; a comedy with Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds might be good if it had any funny bits and anything actually fucking happened and it didn't end with a character deciding not to be mentally ill any more.

More like UNLIKELY SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 May, 2018, 02:18:23 PM
Just got in from a morning out a Sheffield 'Highland Fling', slightly disappointing family fun day, all a little hot and tired I sat down to notice Princess Bride was on Channel 4 and as luck would have it on 4+1 I was just in time for the sword fight... no intention of watching it, other stuff to do, but the family slowly drifted into the room one by one and by the time Vizzini dead drops to the right my wife declared, shall we get the DVD out and watch this properly.

Cheers all round.

No, just, no other film can do what Princess Bride can!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 May, 2018, 03:10:15 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 07 May, 2018, 02:18:23 PM
Just got in from a morning out a Sheffield 'Highland Fling', slightly disappointing family fun day, all a little hot and tired I sat down to notice Princess Bride was on Channel 4 and as luck would have it on 4+1 I was just in time for the sword fight... no intention of watching it, other stuff to do, but the family slowly drifted into the room one by one and by the time Vizzini dead drops to the right my wife declared, shall we get the DVD out and watch this properly.

Cheers all round.

No, just, no other film can do what Princess Bride can!

So true.

Any time it's on in the cinema locally my wife and I make a point of going to see it. Through countless viewings it has never lost its charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 May, 2018, 12:11:24 PM
Had a solid triple bill yesterday with some friends hiding from this blistering heat. I concur with Colin on Isle of Dogs, Wes Anderson is a true autuer of our times and his second animated outing is an absolute delight. Also very delightful to see a family film thats not patronising to the kids or tedius to an older audience.

Much the same can be said of Mary and the Witches Flower the first outing for StudioPonoc, the natural successor to Ghibli. Delightful, charming, funny, heart raising and jolly damn wonderful.

Washed down with a special screening of 4K Time Bandits. Now thats a delightful romp, quiet why I had never seen it before escapes me but it's just the tonic, so much so I instantly bought the blu just to watch it again, and certainly has me eager to check out The Adventures of Baron Munchousen and Jabbawoky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 May, 2018, 06:42:47 PM
Like the majority of the viewing public, I got tired of the inexplicably-lauded Orphan Black, but luckily someone at Netflix decided to do a condensed version and then file off the serial numbers, hence: What Happened To Monday, an unexceptional near-future thriller about seven identical sisters - all played by Noomi Rapace - who were born after the introduction of a single child policy.  It goes nowhere you don't expect it to, including yet another example of the non-twist that seems to be plaguing modern dystopian storytelling, but it's competently made and really, do we ask any more than that?  This is the kind of sci-fi we deserve, so get your snout in the trough and lap it up.

I am not blind and/or deaf so must admit up front that 1990: The Bronx Warriors is utter fucking shit.  An Italian biker movie set in a dystopian NYC of the space year 1990AD, it's terrible in almost every way, but the final scene - [spoiler]after everyone is killed and the evil corporation wins[/spoiler] - is amusingly vicious, as are the various graphic instances of characters joining the choir eternal.  If you watch the blu-ray extras, the behind-the-scenes story of the lead actor Mark DiGregorio/Mark Gregory dropping off the face of the Earth after finding movie people to be a bunch of wankers is also pretty entertaining - though you get no resolution in the extras and have to do some digging online to find that the movie uberfans looking for him eventually - "probably" - tracked him down to an Italian self-help company where he claims he's much happier and seems well-preserved to the point you may suspect witchcraft until you take note that he was only 17 when he starred in Bronx Warriors after being picked up from a gym because of his brick shithouse proportions.
Not the best example of 1980s post-apocalyptic trash I've seen this week - that honor falls to the enjoyably daffy Warlords of the 21st Century made for buttons in New Zealand during one of the mid-80s US Writers Guild strikes - but it kills a laid back 90 minutes in the company of beer and pizza, and I'm actually quite looking forward to the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 May, 2018, 06:48:42 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 13 May, 2018, 06:42:47 PM


I am not blind and/or deaf so must admit up front that 1990: The Bronx Warriors is utter fucking shit.  An Italian biker movie set in a dystopian NYC of the space year 1990AD, it's terrible in almost every way, but the final scene - [spoiler]after everyone is killed and the evil corporation wins[/spoiler] - is amusingly vicious, as are the various graphic instances of characters joining the choir eternal.  If you watch the blu-ray extras, the behind-the-scenes story of the lead actor Mark DiGregorio/Mark Gregory dropping off the face of the Earth after finding movie people to be a bunch of wankers is also pretty entertaining - though you get no resolution in the extras and have to do some digging online to find that the movie uberfans looking for him eventually - "probably" - tracked him down to an Italian self-help company where he claims he's much happier and seems well-preserved to the point you may suspect witchcraft until you take note that he was only 17 when he starred in Bronx Warriors after being picked up from a gym because of his brick shithouse proportions.
Not the best example of 1980s post-apocalyptic trash I've seen this week - that honor falls to the enjoyably daffy Warlords of the 21st Century made for buttons in New Zealand during one of the mid-80s US Writers Guild strikes - but it kills a laid back 90 minutes in the company of beer and pizza, and I'm actually quite looking forward to the sequel.

I like The New Barbarians in which the hero straps a giant drill to his car and drives it up the baddie's bum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 May, 2018, 09:16:28 PM
Things going into buttholes that wouldn't normally go into buttholes is an underappreciated subgenre of the post-apocalyptic action movie, so I shall put New Barbarians on the list for future viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 13 May, 2018, 09:41:37 PM
Made it the 'Princess Leia is Space Mary Poppins' moment in The Last Jedi.

I mean Ill probably finish it at some point but really that was just the most laughable thing I'd seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 15 May, 2018, 11:45:40 AM
Three days, three movies.

Swamp Thing- the Craven original. I loved Wes Craven movies as a kid, but now every time I watch one I'm struck how utterly bloody awful they are. This one leaves me scared to watch Elm Street (which I haven't seen in ten years, I guess). Truly abysmal on every level, and not even an Adrienne Barbeau topless scene can save any of it.

Cold Skin. The novel was one of those irritating books that was lauded by people who don't usually read that type of thing. The movie is just a bit dull. Nothing you haven't seen before, a few crappy makeups, mumbled dialogue, Ray 'The Punisher' Stevenson banging a fish. Nothing of interest, to be honest, and a great disappointment.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Yeah, probably my favourite Star Wars film since Empire. Still surprising, still funny, still very poignant. Not much about this I don't like, to be honest, even when it goes a bit off the rails and stops feeling like Star Wars. Or worse, when it feels a bit like the prequels.

Next up will most likely be either The Greatest Showman or Deadpool 2, depending on the missus's choice tomorrow. Neither of which appeal greatly, but we will see.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 May, 2018, 06:06:43 PM
The Greatest Showman* doesn't really appeal to me either (although strangely I often end up liking stuff that I wouldn't consider my cup of tea when/if I see it). I'm very much looking forward to Deadpool 2 though, but I did really like the original. Hope to see that soon, but I might end up seeing Infinity war again. I don't usually go to films twice, but I've a mate who hasn't seen it yet, and I don't mind. Often adds something watching a second time with someone else, checking they'd reactions etc. Not that I'll be oggling him all the way through. That would be distracting.

* 'showman' became 'snowman' on my phone. Heh. I was tempted to leave it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 15 May, 2018, 08:20:53 PM
Deadpool 2. No spoilers, suffice to say it's suitably daft fun that entertains.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 16 May, 2018, 10:15:13 AM
Deadpool 2 is HILARIOUS.

For best results take a friend who gets upset when films don't follow the comics exactly. Double thefun if they REALLY love X-Force and are looking froward to seeing them all onscreen!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 May, 2018, 11:03:36 AM
Deadpool 2.

A lot of fun- and I finally got to see Colossus really let loose. Sigh... :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 May, 2018, 11:55:40 AM
Quote from: Bad City Blue on 16 May, 2018, 10:15:13 AM
For best results take a friend who gets upset when films don't follow the comics exactly. Double thefun if they REALLY love X-Force and are looking froward to seeing them all onscreen!

Stab their eyes!

< Bodyslide by one >
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 May, 2018, 01:52:03 PM
Deadpool 2

So very silly, and enjoyable. It would go to a serious(ish) emotional place too on occasion, but it didn't really feel off.

I thought they might have done the meta stuff a bit too much this time, although it was amusing. Oh and definitely stay for the 2 mid credits gags after. I haven't laughed that hard for a long time! [Spoiler]And I haven't seen Green Lantern![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 May, 2018, 05:36:57 PM
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA.
Thor, Spider-Man and two Peaky Blinders (three if you count Thor's wife) take on a 100 foot white whale and lose even though Q is helping them.

It's unrelentingly old fashioned from beginning to end, the pergormanves are flat - and you can't really make a "high seas adventure tale" about whalers without getting the audiences sympathy in the wrong place. The Herman Melville framing device doesn't really help; it would have been better just to focus on Brendon Gleeson and Cat Tully's relationship.

And the cinematography is really odd; that fully artificial look that DC movies like JUSTICE LEAGUE have.

More like IN THE HEART OF THE SHIT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 May, 2018, 11:51:03 PM
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.  So I've been putting this one off for years, despite my contention that Wright is one of the greatest living filmmakers, as I didn't enjoy the comic much, I really don't care for Michael Cera or Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and I tend to dislike cross-media comicky FX gimmicks (see also: Sin City, Hulk). 

So after this one I'm still not sold on Mary Elizabeth Winstead and I care even less for Michael Cera.

But feck me if it isn't one really terrific movie!  Supporting cast more than makes up for the leads, especially Kieran Culkin, the amazingly dreamy Alison Pill and an excellent villainous turn by Jason Schwartzman.  The Wright magic is in full effect, with deep and thoughtful casting right down to doormen and tangential siblings, snappy two-handed dialogue, the central metaphor is well sustained (in a way I felt the comic fluffed), and the inventive beat'em up visuals never get boring.   

Adding this to the list of reasons for Edgar Wright's inevitable Ascension.  The man can do no wrong AFAIC.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 May, 2018, 06:49:12 PM
Power Rangers. God the 90s version was so much...better? And I don't mean just because I was 8.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 May, 2018, 12:53:53 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 18 May, 2018, 06:49:12 PM
Power Rangers. God the 90s version was so much...better? And I don't mean just because I was 8.

It's always a key moment when you look at some megabucks screen jobbie, and think "wait, that really crap grating no-budget cheesy costume/cardboard buildings/bad dubbing original was so much better than this".

Hire a script writer. HIRE A SCRIPT WRITER..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 19 May, 2018, 09:12:26 AM
I actually kinda liked that new Power Rangers movie, though that is quite the exception for these reboot type of things. It had some heart and fun I felt. But for sure, the 90s stuff holds up as a lot of fun, and I'd embrace more of that energy and off the wall charm in a sequel.

And agreed Scott Pilgrim is one excellent movie!

And also agreed Deadpool 2 is a good time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2018, 10:04:21 AM
Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger >>>>>>> Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Keep up gaijin weebos!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 19 May, 2018, 11:19:29 AM
I think we've talked about tokusatsu shows on twitter before, I am a fan of that stuff as well.  :) Gokaiger is my fav. Zyu isn't one of my favs though, and MMPR with it's Saved By The Bell meets crazy cartoon mayhem style is to me one of the more inspired adaptations. But overall I prefer Super Sentai. For oldschool stuff I dig Liveman, yessir.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2018, 12:17:02 PM
"Friends, why did you sell your souls to the devil?"
2 seconds later.
'The Moon Explodes'

Livemans OP tells you all you need to know, it's bonkers and amazing, and I love it.

Props has to be given to Dairanger though, thats a superb series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 May, 2018, 01:14:59 PM
Dekaranger FTW - the movie version is one of the best superhero films ever made, and I'm not just saying that because it pisses off after 42 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 20 May, 2018, 10:35:17 AM
2001: A Space Odyssey

They are doing some theatrical screenings in 70mm and I've only ever seen it at home, on a projector.

Hard to separate from the jokes/nods that have seeped into popular culture - the Jupiter Mission and HAL's breakdown was by far the most interesting part for me.

Lux Aeterna is a bit harsh as well, just became annoying rather than alien after a while.

A family in front of me had brought their under 10s with them - no idea how they lasted...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2018, 07:39:09 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 20 May, 2018, 10:35:17 AM
2001: A Space Odyssey

They are doing some theatrical screenings in 70mm and I've only ever seen it at home, on a projector.

Hard to separate from the jokes/nods that have seeped into popular culture - the Jupiter Mission and HAL's breakdown was by far the most interesting part for me.

Lux Aeterna is a bit harsh as well, just became annoying rather than alien after a while.

A family in front of me had brought their under 10s with them - no idea how they lasted...
I watched it last night on the home projector.

Awesome!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2018, 07:40:59 PM
Deadpool 2

It's ok. [spoiler]But not a patch on the first. Nice end credits stuff though.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 22 May, 2018, 08:40:10 PM
That Good Night. John Hurt delivers a brilliant final lead role as a curmudgeonly writer in the Algarve. The story itself is fairly slight, but Hurt and the gorgeous Portuguese scenery make it. Plus there's a great appearance by Charles Dance. Nice to fit a quiet one in amongst all the Marvel and Star Wars shenanigans. RIP John.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 May, 2018, 09:51:00 PM
I really didn't like this one. Just didn't believe in anybody the characters especially Hurt and why anyone would put up with him.

Plus there was too much "Come on dear, let the men talk."

But it was pretty to look at.

More like RAGE AGAINST THE DYING SHITE!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 May, 2018, 07:23:50 PM
Fahrenheit 451?  More like FarenSHITE 45wait I should do the review first.

In previous centuries, they had these things called "bukes" which were basically epubs, but there was only one epub per buke, and it was like the size of a brick and made of paper, which sounds very inefficient if you ask me, but apparently there's an epub by Ray Bradbury that this film is based upon and its about people who stockpile bukes until they catch fire or something.
I've never really read this epub as it was one of the thousand or so that came pre-installed with the e-reader app and I still have Mortal Instruments, Ready Player One, and, oh I dunno, some Andy Weir shit about whatever to get through, but anyway, the epub was like a Black Mirror episode but for the 60s, so they had to make some changes to make it more relephant to modern audiences so now someone says "you can have data on a computer" at one point and then they smash a computer because it has epubs on it, but after that they just go back to being about paper bukes because the people making this have no new ideas of their own, which is sort of why you remake something in the first place.  To be fair, they get done with the original story with about 40 minutes to kill, so they add on a plot about someone having saved the contents of Wikipedia which the goodies stuff up a canary's bottom at length.  Before you ask: no, I am not making that up.
I liked that some of the goodies' lines were quoted directly from classic films that my dad watched, like Bad Boys 2, and that when they find computers the computers have bright flashing lights all over them and go "WHUMMMMMMMM" all the time - very stealth - and that clearly Twitter still exists in this dystopian future but unlike real Twitter it only seems to be used by people who support oppression and want no change in the status quo.  I also liked the lady who lets herself be burned with her bukes who was very subtly alluded to as a martyr by having her strap bukes to her chest like a suicide vest and then set herself alight and no I am not making that up either this is something they did in this film.

Coincidentally, I watched the original recently - I think I gave it a mensh up the thread somewhere -and the lead in that (Oskar Werner) wasn't a native English speaker, so I did look him up and he was an ex member of the Wehrmacht during WW2, which certainly explains the mad autopilot look in his eyes in some scenes in that film, but the cast of this are all native English speakers and the lead in this is just sort of there most of the time, even when he's setting some hapless chump on fire.  I mention this because apart from the oddly unnatural dialogue that makes the film seem like a dub at times, there's the pointless addition of racism to the text of the remake which I assume comes from the lead being African American now, but it goes absolutely nowhere even though there's a chance to channel some of the lived-in intensity that Werner might have brought to proceedings with his experience of living in a fascist state and being forced to do things he didn't want to which culminated in him - I shit you not - deserting and living rough in the woods for two years with his half-Jewish wife, so no fooling, Oskar could relate to Bradbury's material, whereas the lead in the new one never visibly reacts to racism.  The racism is not there for him to riff off, and it contributes nothing to the work, so... a bit odd.

Anyway, it wasn't very good.   More like Farenheit Four Five ONE BIG PILE OF SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2018, 03:02:54 PM
ANON, which is that Black Mirror episode about people recording things with their eyes*, only stupid.
Remember how the Black Mirror episode was about someone trying to keep a lid on something bad they did when they had to walk around with a recording of the event in their eyeball hard drive that cops could access if they ever wanted to, and how it eventually snowballed and ruined that person's life?  Well imagine instead that the story was that the person who did the bad thing was a sexy lady with big knockers who is also a super eyeball hacker who has sex with people and then kills them.  What has this got to do with hacking eyeballs and exploring the erosion of privacy in an an age where people opt in to having their lives catalogued and recorded in real time via social media?  Fuck all.  It has fuck all to do with it.
Clive Owen basically makes a living now saying yes to the first thing his agent offers, but I imagine he also thought it sounded good that 90 percent of his screen time involved sitting down and having a smoke while not having to say anything, while the other 10 percent was Amanda Seyfried using him as a trampoline.  Nice work if you can get it.
More like... erm... A N-other shite film.

* yes, I know there's been a few with that premise, and this nicks from at least two of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 May, 2018, 06:04:14 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2018, 03:02:54 PM
Clive Owen basically makes a living now saying yes to the first thing his agent offers, but I imagine he also thought it sounded good that 90 percent of his screen time involved sitting down and having a smoke while not having to say anything, while the other 10 percent was Amanda Seyfried using him as a trampoline.  Nice work if you can get it.
More like... erm... A N-other shite film.

:lol:

Basic N-stinct?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 26 May, 2018, 08:08:18 AM
Finally got around to watching Atomic Blonde.

Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's like the female version of John Wick but with even more outrageous violence and a dollop of lesbian sex thrown in. What's not to like! The soundtrack, if you dig 80's music, is killer too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 27 May, 2018, 11:08:32 AM
BATMAN NINJA.

If there is one Anime movie in the world to avoid it is this cartoon Film which has nothing of merit to recommend except some well rendered 3D models.  An intriguing idea: Batman is thrown back in time to a feudalist Japan is spoilt by the awful plot contrivances as not only has the Batcar somehow travelled in time but Alfred and half a dozen Allies of the Caped Crusade as well. All the major villains are here too, but not one of them is memorable, and even the fight scenes seem jarring, far to cut and paste to satisfy. Tasteless, witless, I had to fast forward through it such was the ignominy I felt to this travesty upon the Batman legend. You could only feel embarrassment for all concerned, wonder what the hell is happening in the DC Universe and hope that the only way is up for their most iconic character. Only view this film if your a masochist and you want your mind to bleed. Truly, truly awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 27 May, 2018, 03:33:50 PM
Which is to be expected of recent DC animated movies.Except for the two Adam West ones,oddly enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2018, 04:20:43 PM
Yeah, the DC animated movies have been pretty poor.  Apart from anything else, what's their dang hurry to adapt anything of note that DC have ever printed* into a cheaply-animated straight-to-dvd feature?  And do we really need another animated movie based on The Death Of Superman?

* and some comics by Geoff Johns
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 May, 2018, 06:55:18 PM
I've only seen a couple of the DC animated films but what's struck me is that the timing of certain scenes seems to be off. Scenes that I imagined being pretty brief are dragged out and vice versa.
The best example I can think of is in TDKR. I'd always imagined the Batmobile to turn up at the mud pit, shoot a couple of rockets, basically as a shock and awe tactic, and for Batman to jump out and attack during the confusion/commotion. In the animated film the batmobile sits there for ages, firing off rockets at the Mutants. While the look of the scene is very similar to the comic, the pace seems totally off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 May, 2018, 08:39:57 PM
Atlas Shrugged Trilogy. I had no idea this even existed. I found it very interesting because of my love for the book but I reckon most people will hate it. Still, it's a decent enough adaptation and a passable critique of government imposed collectivism. Like Ayn Rand's novel it doesn't get everything right by any means but has a solid core and raises some important questions. I reckon I'll be watching this trilogy again, more than once, just as I'll be reading the book again as soon as I can get my grubbies on another copy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2018, 11:50:47 AM
Ironically, Rand did actually make a fantastic contribution to the socialist cause through example when she died penniless but supported by state handouts, though I always kind of admired that she legit put out a book whose premise was a 13 year-old doesn't want to do chores so they run away to teach their parents a lesson - except the 13 year old is a billionaire, his chores are taxes, and his parents are his workers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 May, 2018, 03:26:10 PM
After all these years, and several heartfelt explanations, I can still never get my head around the idea that a bloke so transparently decent, compassionate and questioning as the Legendary Shark can feel anything but deep unending nausea while reading Rand.  Her whole philosophy seems so contrary to basic humanity that I can't understand why anyone who has escaped the extreme solipsism of adolescence can stand it, let alone someone who puts so much thought into everything.  "I'm alright Jack, but you teat-suckling unter-drones are holding me back anyway".  It's not exactly the rallying cry for a better tomorrow i'd have hoped for.

Just do me a favour and stay well away from Jordan Peterson, Shark! 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 May, 2018, 05:09:53 PM
Rand isn't right about everything, for sure, but her opposition to state-enforced altruism is spot on. In order to be altruistic, one must have the ability to earn. To give money or time to a charitable or social cause voluntarily is laudable but to be forced to do so is a different kettle of fish altogether.

As with any philosophy, one must take the good parts and discard the rest. I don't, for example, embrace her ideas surrounding intellectual property rights as she expressed with Rearden Metal or the vacuum engine in that the inventor has sole rights to produce them. If the inventor of the flint blade or the discoverer of fire had thought the same way, the human race could have been retarded by centuries. Once an idea is out in the world it belongs to the world, in my view, and anyone who can replicate it and produce it in an acceptable fashion should be free to do so. Where I agree with her is that a beneficial invention cannot be appropriated and suppressed by government for some woolly "greater good" reasons.

In Atlas Shrugged, the government wants to do just this with Reardon Metal, a superior alloy, purely in order to protect existing, traditional metal corporations from "unfair" competition. Such a move retards invention and innovation, hobbles economies, reinforces the current status quo and stagnates the advancement of society.

The selfishness angle of her ideas, which I think has beenv somewhat misunderstood, is simply an expression of property rights. If I buy something or invent something then it's mine and nobody has the right to arbitrarily appropriate those things, no matter who they are. In the case of lawfully acquired property I think most of us feel the same way. In the case of inventions it's slightly different, I can invent something and keep it secret but if I release the formula or product into the wild, whether I'm making money out of it or not, anyone is free to reverse-engineer, copy or improve it as best they can and thereby enter into free-market competition with me. This doesn't mean they can break into my safe or factory and steal the fruits of my work for their own profit or create legislation to deprive me of those fruits. Putting in the work to copy, reverse-engineer or improve my fruits is fine by me as it encourages innovation and advancement but stealing them and/or keeping them secret to protect existing industries is wrong.

As I said, she didn't get everything right but there is much in her writing that is well worth exploration.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 May, 2018, 07:38:09 PM
Deadpool 2. Not far behind the original in terms of humour and action. Generally a fun film all round. It's been a while since I left the cinema smiling, but I did with this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 May, 2018, 07:45:37 PM
Yeah, I enjoyed Deadpool 2 almost as much as the first one - the only annoyance was waiting all the way to the end of the credits for nothing, but that's a small gripe. Other than that I loved every minute of it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 May, 2018, 07:50:58 PM
I did the same thing. It's rather irritating that we've been conditioned by Marvel/Disney to sit through the credits for something that may or may not happen.  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 May, 2018, 08:34:38 PM

Well, at least we got our money's worth out of the seats...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 May, 2018, 08:40:05 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 27 May, 2018, 08:39:57 PM
Atlas Shrugged Trilogy. I had no idea this even existed. I found it very interesting because of my love for the book but I reckon most people will hate it. Still, it's a decent enough adaptation and a passable critique of government imposed collectivism. Like Ayn Rand's novel it doesn't get everything right by any means but has a solid core and raises some important questions. I reckon I'll be watching this trilogy again, more than once, just as I'll be reading the book again as soon as I can get my grubbies on another copy.


If I come across them, I'll watch them out of morbid curiousity. Not a fan of the book, but I'm fascinated by it. The impact it's said to have had on people. I'm also quite fascinated by Ayn. But I'll leave it at that.

I saw Frankheimer's Seconds from 1966 today. Chilling to say the least. About a man who gets the chance to begin anew. Love the feverish camera work. The film evoked the feeling when you'v done a mistake which you'll regret and feeling of having f*cked it up sets in and the desperation that follows it... Scary stuff. Definitely gonna watch it again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 29 May, 2018, 09:07:40 AM
After Hours. Martin Scorsese doesn't often do comedy, but here is a brilliant dark farce, with Griffin Dunne well cast as a cocky young man getting increasingly more desperate over the course of one night as events seem to conspire against him. An often overlooked film of Scorsese's career which I enjoyed seeing again.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 May, 2018, 10:14:03 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 May, 2018, 07:45:37 PM
Yeah, I enjoyed Deadpool 2 almost as much as the first one - the only annoyance was waiting all the way to the end of the credits for nothing, but that's a small gripe. Other than that I loved every minute of it.

Well, if you stay to the end of the credits you do get [spoiler]the acapella version of the big Holy Shitballs action theme[/spoiler], which gave us a good laugh. Thought it was a fun note to go out on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 May, 2018, 11:42:15 AM
Yes! I need that as a ringtone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 May, 2018, 02:15:12 PM
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
Pleasantly surprised by this £1.99 rental. I don't think I would go as far as unreservedly recommending it and there is something slightly off about the pacing and lack of a villain of note but the Rock as a nerd is super cute.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 29 May, 2018, 09:34:03 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. Intriguing tribute to Italian Giallo films of the 70s, it's a bit obscure to reach a mainstream audience, but it has Toby Jones, a fantastic sound design, and a great title sequence for the fictional film within a film. Recommended if you fancy something a bit out there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 May, 2018, 08:10:59 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 29 May, 2018, 09:34:03 PM
Berberian Sound Studio. Intriguing tribute to Italian Giallo films of the 70s, it's a bit obscure to reach a mainstream audience, but it has Toby Jones, a fantastic sound design, and a great title sequence for the fictional film within a film. Recommended if you fancy something a bit out there.

I really enjoyed that too. Thumbs up from me also.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 30 May, 2018, 08:56:18 PM
The Consequences of Love. Typically sumptuously directed character study from Paolo Sorrentino, with regular collaborator Toni Servillo as a man of few words but great characterisation. Sorrentino seems to be on the way to being one of my favourite directors of the human condition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 June, 2018, 08:52:31 PM
The Foreigner. I hadn't watched this one because of reports that Jackie Chan wasn't really in it all that much and that it wasn't very entertaining. Wrong!

Chan was wonderful as a distraught father looking for justice for his murdered daughter. He's completely believable as an aging ex-soldier falling on old skills to do what needed to be done.

Pierce Bronson is also equally as believable as an ex-IRA soldier and all around arsehole.

A very well done and entertaining film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 June, 2018, 09:17:28 PM
Shaolin Soccer

Possibly the greatest film I have ever seen.

Overdubbed, fast cut, cliched Oriental amazement.

I need to digest more. But the bad guys were called Team Evil.

If I was five, this is the movie I would have written.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 June, 2018, 09:23:17 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 June, 2018, 09:17:28 PM
Shaolin Soccer

Possibly the greatest film I have ever seen.

Overdubbed, fast cut, cliched Oriental amazement.

I need to digest more. But the bad guys were called Team Evil.
If I was five, this is the movie I would have written.

I love that film. If you haven't already, check out Kung Fu Hustle by the same dude - it's more of the same, but even better IMHO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 June, 2018, 11:36:15 PM
Okay, here's an internet first - i was wrong

Just watched kung fu hustle again, specifically cos you put the idea in my head and I don't have a DVD of Shaolin soccer. It/s been a while but I seem to remember SS as being more consistently funny

the first half hour is priceless, but loses focus later on.,Shaolin Soccer is more fun .... must see that again
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 June, 2018, 08:14:08 PM
Early Man. Yet another great film from Nick Park and Aardman. While the film is funny in itself, a lot of the wit is in the scenery gags behind the action. A fun and charming film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 03 June, 2018, 08:57:08 AM
Saw You were never really here yesterday. Really really liked it. Basically about a hired guy who often goes about his business with a hammer in hand (for which there is a reason) and having an internal crisis. A bit like Mad Max in Fury Road but less of a rabid doggy who's mumbling. It's one of those ugly movies which manages to feel beautiful. Which doesn't need to show violence to feel violent.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVkAknQt790

I think it's director Lynne Ramsay is a name to look for in the upcoming years. Wouldn't mind it if  took on Wagner and Ranson's Button man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 04 June, 2018, 08:46:23 PM
2001 A Space Odyssey. First time seeing at the cinema, I'm absolutely blown away. From the dawn of man to brain-melting finale, Kubrick's photography, effects, use of music and sheer confidence in the universe he created with Arthur C Clarke are like nothing else before or since. Awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 June, 2018, 08:19:17 PM
Movie version of videogame is not very good shocker - Tomb Raider (2018).
Hard to know where to start on this one, but I guess I'd begin with the main character being punched from one situation to another for the film's running time, or the bizarre dissolution of what little agency she might have claimed as backstory by making her story engine "daddy issues" - daddy goes away and Lara is angry for twenty years is pretty much all the character she has, so she rides a bicycle around London for a bit, then falls off a boat, then magically knows how to be a ninja.
There's a tendency to say "this movie looks like a video game" but this movie genuinely does look like a video game to the point it's mystery why they didn't just have big buttons appear onscreen during fights or when Lara is running into the screen.  There's a bit where Lara looks up on a sinking boat and there's some handily-placed monkey bars overhead and I just laughed, much as I did when she ran across a floor where the tiles are dropping into a chasm below, or when she cries "it's a colour puzzle!" while trying to figure a way out of death trap.
The game this is based on had a decent story, so it's hard to see why they changed the things they did, especially the stuff with her dad, as the only thing like that in the games was the background arc in the Keely Hawes-voiced reboot game series where Lara constantly encountered references to a maternal force in the ancient civilisations she encounters, a narrative flourish that utilised acknowledged monomythic cycles, and the movie - in being based on the current game series' first outing - centers on a female deity figure as a central McGuffin, making Lara's dad (rather than her mum) being the central focus of her character and story arc all the more baffling.  It's almost as if this was just a bunch of the action scenes from the 2013 Tomb Raider game stitched together with random story elements.

Alicia Vikander is a very purdy lady and she does what she can with material that is limited to grunting when she gets punched, looking grumpy at Dominic West's beard, and sighing at everyone else, but that's it.  Walton Goggins phones it in, and there are some Chinese blokes talking Chinese in it, because capitalism is failing on its ass and the commies are buying up all our shit from under us - even our terrible movies, one scene at a time.  It's directed by some bloke Roar Uthaug who I looked up and his other movies actually sound kind of neat, so I'll give those a look, but this is gash stuff.  I'd recommend you watch the compilation movie of the 2013 Tomb Raider game's cinematics on Youtube, as it actually clocks in around the same amount of time as the live-action movie, only the action scenes are a bit better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 07 June, 2018, 10:11:54 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 07 June, 2018, 08:19:17 PM
Movie version of videogame is not very good shocker - Tomb Raider (2018).
Hard to know where to start on this one, but I guess I'd begin with the main character being punched from one situation to another for the film's running time, or the bizarre dissolution of what little agency she might have claimed as backstory by making her story engine "daddy issues" - daddy goes away and Lara is angry for twenty years is pretty much all the character she has, so she rides a bicycle around London for a bit, then falls off a boat, then magically knows how to be a ninja.
There's a tendency to say "this movie looks like a video game" but this movie genuinely does look like a video game to the point it's mystery why they didn't just have big buttons appear onscreen during fights or when Lara is running into the screen.  There's a bit where Lara looks up on a sinking boat and there's some handily-placed monkey bars overhead and I just laughed, much as I did when she ran across a floor where the tiles are dropping into a chasm below, or when she cries "it's a colour puzzle!" while trying to figure a way out of death trap.
The game this is based on had a decent story, so it's hard to see why they changed the things they did, especially the stuff with her dad, as the only thing like that in the games was the background arc in the Keely Hawes-voiced reboot game series where Lara constantly encountered references to a maternal force in the ancient civilisations she encounters, a narrative flourish that utilised acknowledged monomythic cycles, and the movie - in being based on the current game series' first outing - centers on a female deity figure as a central McGuffin, making Lara's dad (rather than her mum) being the central focus of her character and story arc all the more baffling.  It's almost as if this was just a bunch of the action scenes from the 2013 Tomb Raider game stitched together with random story elements.

Alicia Vikander is a very purdy lady and she does what she can with material that is limited to grunting when she gets punched, looking grumpy at Dominic West's beard, and sighing at everyone else, but that's it.  Walton Goggins phones it in, and there are some Chinese blokes talking Chinese in it, because capitalism is failing on its ass and the commies are buying up all our shit from under us - even our terrible movies, one scene at a time.  It's directed by some bloke Roar Uthaug who I looked up and his other movies actually sound kind of neat, so I'll give those a look, but this is gash stuff.  I'd recommend you watch the compilation movie of the 2013 Tomb Raider game's cinematics on Youtube, as it actually clocks in around the same amount of time as the live-action movie, only the action scenes are a bit better.

Now don't hold back, did you like it or not?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 June, 2018, 10:59:03 PM
I thought it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 June, 2018, 11:27:15 PM
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is on Netflix and I managed to avoid spoilers all this time having only ever seen the firstvtrailer.

Well, that was rather good.

John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are great and there is as much fun to be had from piecing together their back stories (some leaps to be made as it isn't all spelt out for you) as there is in the constant cranking up of tension.

And yeah, the ending both suckered and satisfied me immensely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 June, 2018, 07:47:40 PM
La Tortue Rouge - French/Japanese animated film in which a shipwrecked man encounters a giant red turtle which he kills and fucks, in that order.  Bloody French.
Worth a look if you fancy letting the kids watch something different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 June, 2018, 08:05:37 PM
Was he shell-shocked?
:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 June, 2018, 08:37:52 PM
Did he make soup out of it afterwards?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 08 June, 2018, 09:36:04 PM
Man walks into a fancy dress party in a green tracksuit with a woman over his shoulder.

Host asks him what he's come as.

A teenage mutant ninja turtle.

Host squints. Thinks. What about her?

That's Michelle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 June, 2018, 10:41:11 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 08 June, 2018, 07:47:40 PM
La Tortue Rouge - French/Japanese animated film in which a shipwrecked man encounters a giant red turtle which he kills and fucks, in that order.  Bloody French.
Worth a look if you fancy letting the kids watch something different.

Factually accurate, tonally dissonant :P
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2018, 11:19:19 AM
PHENOMENA

Been the best part of a decade since I saw this Argento oddity. It's such a peculiar beast, somewhere between his conventional gialli and his Three Mothers trilogy, but damned if it doesn't have a lot to love. Jennifer Connelly mind controlling insects, Donald Pleasence with his psychic chimpanzee, killer babies and a cesspool of decomposing children's corpses. Oh, and Argento made this as a commentary on the catholic school system. Can you tell?

Mothra

The Ishiro Honda original. There's something about this first wave of Toho kaiju movies, Godzilla Raids Again not withstanding, they're cheesy but theirs a sense of earnestness to them missing from Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster onward, where they become extremely self aware. But yes, Mothra is a joy. A glorious slice of fantasy kaiju fair that makes perfect sunday morning viewing to just chill out and enjoy. So much fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 June, 2018, 12:09:49 AM
Why have I not seen BEFORE SUNRISE until this evening?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 June, 2018, 10:16:32 AM
This is intended as a compliment so please take it as such; I can normally tell it's one of Hawkmumbler's posts just from the film titles. Similarly if you see the word "dick" several times in relation to a mainstream blockbuster, you can tell it's  Prof. Bear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 June, 2018, 02:06:43 PM
Pacific Rim 2: Uprising - I think the critics might have a point about this sequel never reaching the intellectual heights of the first movie, but this is probably the first film I can think of that's been actively kneecapped by a shameless pandering to other territories rather than the obvious pandering elements just being amusing.  There are a whole bunch of arcs that go nowhere* because a (rather bad) Chinese actor is shoehorned into scenes clearly set up for the annoying kid character and her home-made robot, but that character is in the rest of the movie so she has to be given something to do in the final act, which requires that a Chris Evans lookalike be written out of those scenes hurriedly without resolving his arc with John Boyega's character - which is basically Boyega's entire arc in the film.  So lots of stuff goes nowhere because one actor is crowbarred into scenes built around other actors' characters, but where this gets funny is if you Google the actor and find she is apparently not liked in China specifically because she's been crowbarred into many high-profile projects despite limited acting experience, so she's more likely to keep Chinese audiences away.  It's quite bizarre.
Anyway, despite the use of rocket science in the final act**, this is not actually rocket science as a movie, but it looks great and is entertaining even if nothing is ever really resolved very well and the non-monstery bits set in expensive-looking sets, the blatant China pandering, the alt-history setting and the open ending just makes it seem very similar to Independence Day: Resurgence - the whole "aliens want our molten lava!" McGuffin probably doesn't help, either.


* the "scrapper" robot arc, the single-pilot arc, Boyega/Not Chris Evans characters' animosity, annoying kid's trauma arc, etc
** especially a shameless theft from Kamen Rider Fourze
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 June, 2018, 06:08:47 PM
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Surprisingly decent. The best prologue, in my opinion (obvs) of all 5 films.
A good first act, punchy that gets the exposition out quick, a good second act, but a slightly flabby 3rd act which goes on too long.

Good fun, despite 3 or 4 glaring plot holes. Enjoyed this but like most modern films (said the grumpy old git) over long by 15 mins at least.

Still, fun, fun, fun. 7/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 10 June, 2018, 09:08:49 PM
Robin Redbreast, on YouTube. Loved it.  Tightly scripted bit of proto-wickerman / straw dogs folk horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 June, 2018, 10:55:24 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 10 June, 2018, 09:08:49 PM
Robin Redbreast, on YouTube. Loved it.  Tightly scripted bit of proto-wickerman / straw dogs folk horror.
Oh lovely! Picked up the BFI DVD sometime ago, really must sit down with it if it cones with the JBC approval!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 June, 2018, 08:21:33 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 June, 2018, 12:09:49 AM
Why have I not seen BEFORE SUNRISE until this evening?
Dunno. And don't worry, I took at as a compliment. I absolutely adore these films, as I  bored on about at some length here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg769860;topicseen#msg769860). NB second half of link contains spoilers for Before Sunset.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 June, 2018, 12:38:50 PM
Alien Covenant:

I was pleasantly surprised by this - really enjoyed it. Fassbender is always good value and you get twice the value out of him in this film. I've no idea how it's supposed to tie in to the beginning of Alien - probably through some overly convoluted bollocks which will no doubt become apparent over the next two or three films. I don't have too much invested in the Alien brand - I don't know what the hardcore fans made of this but it certainly kept me amused for a couple of hours.

Brawl in Cell Block 99:

Really good but far too violent (it's from the guy who made Bone Tomahawk). I don't know how many times I need to see a man stomp on another man's head. The specific threat made against the protaganists wife and unborn child also semed unnecessarily nasty. This guy definitely knows how to make a film but I think he needs to reign in his dark-side a bit. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 12 June, 2018, 02:21:26 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 June, 2018, 10:55:24 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 10 June, 2018, 09:08:49 PM
Robin Redbreast, on YouTube. Loved it.  Tightly scripted bit of proto-wickerman / straw dogs folk horror.
Oh lovely! Picked up the BFI DVD sometime ago, really must sit down with it if it cones with the JBC approval!

Great film, and great disc from the BFI too.
Interesting interview with John Bowen included, discussing the chilling real-life inspiration for the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 12:54:50 PM
Jaws

How can you possibly improve this movie? It would be an impossible task I suspect, it genuinely is a work of perfection the likes of which is rarely seen.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/79/0e/cf/790ecfc264d5de44bf8c3f2ca293fd88.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 June, 2018, 02:05:52 PM
Don't disagree Hawkmumbler.

My favourite all time film. Saw it as a 7 year old in 1975 at the pictures.

Well, I say 'saw it'. I saw up to the bit with Ben Gardner's head and then hid under the seat for the rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 June, 2018, 02:48:51 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 12:54:50 PM
Jaws

How can you possibly improve this movie? It would be an impossible task I suspect, it genuinely is a work of perfection the likes of which is rarely seen.

Perfection is the word.  There isn't a frame wasted, or a beat missed.  Extraordinary piece of craft.  Even better on the big screen.

It's my wife's favourite movie, to the point of obsession, and partly as a consequence I have seen it uncountable times.  I didn't think it too many.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 June, 2018, 04:16:53 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 12:54:50 PM
Jaws

How can you possibly improve this movie? It would be an impossible task I suspect, it genuinely is a work of perfection the likes of which is rarely seen.

Most of the action and scares were because the shark was so well hidden. Just like our deepest fears. Need to watch again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 June, 2018, 04:36:59 PM
My favourite film too, obviously! It's the inspiration behind my interweb persona. The "comparing scars" sequence is probably my favourite scene of all time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 05:01:26 PM
Aye! There's just that briefest of moments where Quint and Hooper are drunkenly laughing at emotional scars, and Brody briefly looks at a stab wound on his stomach. It's brilliant character work, nothing is said but you now know exactly what drove a family man cop to move to a quite, seemingly safer island community.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 14 June, 2018, 06:08:06 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 05:01:26 PM
Aye! There's just that briefest of moments where Quint and Hooper are drunkenly laughing at emotional scars, and Brody briefly looks at a stab wound on his stomach. It's brilliant character work, nothing is said but you now know exactly what drove a family man cop to move to a quite, seemingly safer island community.

Is that what that's meant to imply? I always assumed it was an appendix scar, and he realised he couldn't compete with the other scar-stories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 June, 2018, 06:18:47 PM
I took it as an appendix scar too but I do like the stab/bullet wound reading.

The bit I like best his how Quint stops singing first, then Hooper, then Brodie. That's just a brilliant way of demonstrating their respective experiences.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 06:20:48 PM
The scar WAS Roy Scheider's actual appendix scar, and I suppose it can be read either way as it was never truly explained, I always preferred reading into it as it tied into several conversation between the Brodie's about their life before moving to Amity Island.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 June, 2018, 06:48:53 PM
Maybe he got shot by accident - cool wound, crap anecdote.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 10:38:10 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 June, 2018, 06:48:53 PM
Maybe he got shot by accident - cool wound, crap anecdote.
To quote an entirely different Spielberg movie...
Shoot AAAAH!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 June, 2018, 12:32:04 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 06:20:48 PM
The scar WAS Roy Scheider's actual appendix scar, and I suppose it can be read either way as it was never truly explained, I always preferred reading into it as it tied into several conversation between the Brodie's about their life before moving to Amity Island.

Always read it the same way you did, Hawkie.  They're all having a laugh, and Brody realises his scar isn't funny to him. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 June, 2018, 12:57:49 AM

Anyway, tonight Jurassic World V II, in really glorious IMAX 3D with fantastic sound.  Feck me but I enjoyed that.  The [spoiler]underwater[/spoiler] prologue is great, then the first half is serviceable but very samey (persuading people to go on a dodgy mission, dinos in the ruins of the old park, duplicitous mercs, cracking glass, dinos loaded on ships etc.), I was getting a bit frustrated despite the volcanic novelty, but the second half - wowzers!   

Now bear in mind that I also enjoyed the previous outing, and find Pratt and Howard a watchable screen couple (Howard in particular does a good turn in this one, with Pratt maybe losing sight of the boundary between Peter and Owen a bit). But.  There are moments of proper horror/suspense filmmaking in the latter part of this movie that took my breath away, plus at least one pretty decent new idea left dangling.  I mean to say, I thought the back end of the film, and its montage-y conclusion, were just terrific. It picks up the most interesting thread from JW1, and left me longing for No. VI III.

Supporting cast is a bit weak, notable exceptions being the simply extraordinary kid who plays Maisie (Isabella Sermon, I'm told, probably the best single thing in it) and the always wonderful Toby Jones in full OTT flight (gets the best sight gag in the movie too).  They also go back to the T-Rex & Raptor well too often, and much of the plot aggressively makes no sense at all, not least the soft-rebooty disappearance of Isla Sorna, but i feel the dino-diversity balances all that out: great Carnotaurus and Baryonyx in particular.

Thumbs up from me!


   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 June, 2018, 08:00:20 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 June, 2018, 05:01:26 PM
Aye! There's just that briefest of moments where Quint and Hooper are drunkenly laughing at emotional scars, and Brody briefly looks at a stab wound on his stomach. It's brilliant character work, nothing is said but you now know exactly what drove a family man cop to move to a quite, seemingly safer island community.

I always thought of it as an appendix scar too, which is why he doesn't bother.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 June, 2018, 05:26:10 PM
The Last Castle.

A load of silly bollocks. Don't like Robert Redford much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 June, 2018, 05:55:24 PM
Thinking about it the script for The Last Castle could have worked if the tone had been less serious. It just came off as unintentionally hokey. They should have embraced the hokeyness and cast Nicholas Cage or John Travolta.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 16 June, 2018, 01:44:01 AM
QuoteThe Last Castle.

That was amazing(ly bad).  It flirted with being so bad it was good.  Like where did the trebuchet come from?  I was managing to go along with the internal logic right up until they magic a trebuchet out of nowhere.  There wasn't even an A-Team stylee bit where you saw them constructing it earlier.  No foreshadowing.  Just a magic trebuchet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 June, 2018, 06:08:59 AM
Was this the film with James Gandolfini as a rubbish army officer forever mooning over his military memorabilia?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 June, 2018, 10:53:35 AM
That's the one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 June, 2018, 12:20:59 PM
Thanks. Yep, rubbish.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 June, 2018, 12:22:28 PM
Sorcerer (40th Anniversary 4K Remaster)

Will Friedkin is rarely mentioned in the same sentence of other legendary directors of the 70's and 80's, despite having The Exorcist, The French Connection and To Live and Die in LA under his belt. THIS, however, is the movie that tips him into the master race of directors. Tense, gripping, and visually visceral yet stunning. The rope bridge sequence alone made my heart stop at least twice, my palms where sweaty and and my stomach was in knots.

A superb film, do yourself a fave and buy the blu-ray, well worth the investment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 June, 2018, 05:51:10 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 June, 2018, 12:22:28 PM
Sorcerer (40th Anniversary 4K Remaster)

Will Friedkin is rarely mentioned in the same sentence of other legendary directors of the 70's and 80's, despite having The Exorcist, The French Connection and To Live and Die in LA under his belt. THIS, however, is the movie that tips him into the master race of directors. Tense, gripping, and visually visceral yet stunning. The rope bridge sequence alone made my heart stop at least twice, my palms where sweaty and and my stomach was in knots.

A superb film, do yourself a fave and buy the blu-ray, well worth the investment.

Already have. And despite this being a wonderful film I don't think it even comes close to the original 'Wages of Fear'. But still a very good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 June, 2018, 05:53:45 PM
Hereditary.

Very good film. Slow burn in the first hour, but necessary and then loses it's shit (in a good way) in the second hour.

As a seasoned horror fan, for at least forty years, there were four sequences that sent genuine chills up my spine. Compare this to The Sixth Sense where this happened twice.

Has a good 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to it.

Recommended if you like creepy horror.

7.5/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 17 June, 2018, 07:15:30 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 June, 2018, 12:22:28 PM
Sorcerer (40th Anniversary 4K Remaster)

Will Friedkin is rarely mentioned in the same sentence of other legendary directors of the 70's and 80's, despite having The Exorcist, The French Connection and To Live and Die in LA under his belt. THIS, however, is the movie that tips him into the master race of directors. Tense, gripping, and visually visceral yet stunning. The rope bridge sequence alone made my heart stop at least twice, my palms where sweaty and and my stomach was in knots.

A superb film, do yourself a fave and buy the blu-ray, well worth the investment.

Saw this for the first time recently, thought it was brilliant.

The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen. The title isn't accurate, as I've seen 9 of the films discussed, but it's still entertaining enough as a pointer to films to check out if you're a fan of the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 June, 2018, 09:00:53 PM
My Friend Dahmer (2018)

An adaptation of Derf Backderf's autobiographical comic about going to high-school with Jeffrey Dahmer. It's pretty faithful to said comic, though not nearly as good. The lack of Backderf's authorial voice robs it of quite the same sense of impending doom, though Ross Lynch does well as Dahmer, increasingly becoming a kind of human void as the film progresses. Almost everyone around Dahmer is monstrously selfish, using him as a pawn - the sole exception is his awkward but well-meaning father - and as such, you can feel sympathy for the boy, if not for the man he'll become. Not bad, but if you haven't read the comic, I'd recommend that instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 June, 2018, 12:48:10 AM
Sunshine

On bluray for father's day (thank you Tiny Tips). Stellar stuff with a great cast (some of them doing great work with very limited screen time), gorgeous visuals, music and big questions. What happens if we dare we touch the face of God? (And it's hard to think of the sun as anything else in this). You know what? I even like the element that most people dislike (but I won't spoil).

Every time I finish watching it, I just want to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 June, 2018, 10:05:40 AM
One of my favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 June, 2018, 10:07:08 AM
Solo:

I had little enthusiasm for this which is why it's taken me so long to get around to seing it. I really enjoyed it - action packed, good performances, some nice design and locations that felt a bit different. Surprisingly I think this may be my favourite of the modern Wars films.

The Hitman's Bodyguard:

Reasonable fun. It all feels pretty lightweight and throwaway but it passed a couple of hours well enough. I thought the level of violence (quite a bit of blood and explosive bullet wounds) and swearing was a bit OTT. This would have worked just as well with A-Team style violence and toned down language.

12 Strong:

Chris Hemsworth as Captain of the first US special forces team to be sent into Afghanistan after 911. Predictably patriotic in the way Americans do so unironically. Flags and rousing speeches about freedom every 5 minutes but it was a pretty good film. No idea how historically accurate it is but the action seqences are well done. Worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 18 June, 2018, 03:17:47 PM
Jurassic World

Kind of crap. Some standout sequences (the underwater pod rescue is amazing), and the odd bit of pathos, but overall, it seems like they just said "Yes!" to everyone's first, most obvious ideas, and rolled it out as quickly as possible to soak up the money. The dinosaurs are truly exceptional, to be fair, with the exception of a crying velociraptor and a smug/smiling indoraptor (although that bit did make me laugh, I must admit).

I don't usually feel "insulted" by a film in the way that so many haters love to claim, but this film certainly had a low opinion of its audience. When the likes of the MCU shows ongoing respect for its characters and its fans, this kind of thing really stands out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 June, 2018, 04:29:00 PM
Oddly I thought the opposite for certain parts of the JW2:TFK.  I thought parts of the 'haunted gothic mansion' sequences were way ahead of what I was expecting - the way the camera rotates[spoiler] to follow the Indo Raptor down over Maisie's balcony doors, the jump-scare of its face in reflection of the museum case... and the concept of Maisie herself[/spoiler].  I agree, most of it is pure predictable lowest-common-denominator, most of the return-to-the-island bits being a case in point (although I did like a lot of the volcanic effects, and the Brach vanishing into the smoke), but by the time we got to the deliciously indulgent auction, mass breakout and corridor/rooftop chases I was well into it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 18 June, 2018, 08:23:47 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 June, 2018, 05:53:45 PM
Hereditary.

Very good film. Slow burn in the first hour, but necessary and then loses it's shit (in a good way) in the second hour.

As a seasoned horror fan, for at least forty years, there were four sequences that sent genuine chills up my spine. Compare this to The Sixth Sense where this happened twice.

Has a good 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to it.

Recommended if you like creepy horror.

7.5/10

I mostly agree, although it seemed a bit muddled at times, but maybe some processing will iron that out. A brilliant performance from Toni Collette plus an unsettling atmosphere from the start make this an overall hit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 20 June, 2018, 11:03:24 AM
Ocean's 8

Dragged to see this with my wife, who then spent the time trying to work out of every unaccompanied male in the cinema was gay or not, because it was "a chick flick". Standard heist movie, enlivened by the presence of Sarah Paulson from American Horror Story, but hamstrung by Helena Bonham Carter doing an intensely irritating turn as an Irish fashion designer and James Corden playing an arse.
Not funny, and lacking any tension as to whether they get away with it, which I thought was a prerequisite in this type of thing. Also, my seat was bum-numbingly uncomfortable.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2018, 11:19:07 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 20 June, 2018, 11:03:24 AM
...and James Corden...

Jesus, why?  Why do they keep putting him in things?  Does he pay them?   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 20 June, 2018, 11:27:55 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 20 June, 2018, 11:03:24 AM
...James Corden playing an arse.

Playing?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2018, 12:29:11 PM
The Jurassic Games - look at that title and ruminate upon it for a moment and I'm sure you'll guess what two properties are being banged together for a quick cash-in.  I often wish that the people involved in these things had some kind of talent or enthusiasm for making films, or at least wanted to be entertaining, but The Asylum has established the financial model for these things - "quality is irrelevant, there just has to be content to sell" - and the movies now turn out exactly as you would expect based on that philosophy.  So is squandered yet another potentially great movie premise wherein death row convicts are given the chance to escape their convictions if they survive a gauntlet of traps and flesh-eating dinosaurs, their suffering broadcast to the world - on paper this sounds entertaining, but on film not so much.
Maybe I expected too much from a recent rewatch of all the Death Race movies, but this is not even entertainingly bad, it just... exists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 June, 2018, 06:11:53 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2018, 12:29:11 PM
The Jurassic Games

Looking forward to The Hunger Park where a bunch of teenagers slowly starve to death on a deserted island.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 June, 2018, 06:59:04 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 June, 2018, 06:11:53 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 20 June, 2018, 12:29:11 PM
The Jurassic Games

Looking forward to The Hunger Park where a bunch of teenagers slowly starve to death on a deserted island.
It exists. Punishment Park. It's legitimately great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 20 June, 2018, 07:40:19 PM
Actually thought Corden was quite restrained playing the insurance investigator.
HBC's wobbly Irish accent was terrible and pointless, why not just make her a British?

Not a great film though, lacked some zing and the script could have done with some comedic punch-up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 June, 2018, 04:31:37 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 18 June, 2018, 03:17:47 PM
Jurassic World
... this film certainly had a low opinion of its audience....

Took the boy to see this and have to say I'm in complete agreement with Wedgeski. The plot is really weak and has so many plot holes that I couldn't ignore them... I tried as you know COOL DINO ACTION... but Jez they made it impossible with some pretty low witted and glaring story points. Made all the more obvious with some absolutely paper thin cliche characters... but COOL DINO ACTION... even if the use of pachycephalosaurus we now know is poppycock and adds to Jurassic various' misuse of our extinct friends... once again though a story that can't think of ways to make dinosaurs exciting so makes MORE use of nonsense super-genetic-dino-farces... drives me nuts that. If a writer doesn't think regular dinos are an interesting enough threat - get a new writer with an imagination and some creativity BUT I knew that going in and the ending did at least seem to stress the point.

Oh and another great thing is the ending and the potential that sets up... if done well... which would require a different time than made this!

Bloody rubbish even if it does have COOL DINO ACTION... sigh...

Oh but more importantly the boy loved it, absolutely loved it, so it might have done the most important thing it could have a rekindled his love of the majestic beasties.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 26 June, 2018, 08:28:11 PM
The Happy Prince. Rupert Everett writes, directs and acts the last days of Oscar Wilde with the right balance of decadence, wit, tragedy and damaged dignity. The cast are brilliant and Everett delivers with some often beautiful cinematography on what is clearly a labour of love for him. Liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 July, 2018, 07:10:35 AM
Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado
Saw this one yesterday. I think it was quite alright. Not as brilliant or haunting as the first one, but it did it's thing. The story is basically Brollin and Del Toro's characters igniting a civil war among the cartels in the light of the US president labeling the cartels the T word.

I think it's a really cool idea, but I wish the implementation was a bit better. With less cliché. There are no big distractors of such but enough to itch. Especially towards the end.

On the plus side of things, Del Toro and Brollin are really good. I especially like Del Toro's Alejandro. There's a scene in the film tying into his back story which really shines.

By large. Feels like a tie in movie novel or comic, which happens to set up a third movie. One I'm sure will create a divide among people wether it was great or not (not great = not as great as the first one).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 July, 2018, 12:55:51 PM
Wolfen

Saw this, one of three excellent Werewolf movies from 1981, on the big screen last week. Cracking suburban horror retelling on the classic formula, with a native twist that really works. Thoroughly deserving of a proper home video release. My screening used what must have been a poorly stored original 35mm print. On the one hand, quiet the privilege, on the other was dirt and scratches and no less than 3 instances where the film reel snapped. A pity.

The Guyver

Brian Yuznas PG-13 live action take on the gritty hyper violent manga. It's OK, but somewhat ruined by Jimmie Walker in zoenoid make up that makes him look like a Ninja Turtle fucked a Gremlin, rapping through a toilet seat. Has plenty of horror staples like Michael Berryman and Jeffrey Combs to keep us entertained, and the effects on the budget ain't bad. Mark Hamill even gets turned into a giant slug!

Big Trouble in Little China

Verdict:
(http://imgur.com/GyVQMN7.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 July, 2018, 02:55:36 PM
I have the Wolfen on Blu ray.
This Blu ray is region free and pretty cheap.
Excellent film.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_67/wolfen_blu-ray.htm
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 01 July, 2018, 04:28:23 PM
Hacksaw Ridge. If there is a film that more graphically shows the horror and senseless waste of human life in war than this, I have yet to see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 July, 2018, 07:20:18 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 01 July, 2018, 04:28:23 PM
Hacksaw Ridge. If there is a film that more graphically shows the horror and senseless waste of human life in war than this, I have yet to see it.

Come and See (1985) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oFlKz6V_-4)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 02 July, 2018, 07:59:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 01 July, 2018, 07:10:35 AM
Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado
Saw this one yesterday. I think it was quite alright. Not as brilliant or haunting as the first one, but it did it's thing. The story is basically Brollin and Del Toro's characters igniting a civil war among the cartels in the light of the US president labeling the cartels the T word.

I think it's a really cool idea, but I wish the implementation was a bit better. With less cliché. There are no big distractors of such but enough to itch. Especially towards the end.

On the plus side of things, Del Toro and Brollin are really good. I especially like Del Toro's Alejandro. There's a scene in the film tying into his back story which really shines.

By large. Feels like a tie in movie novel or comic, which happens to set up a third movie. One I'm sure will create a divide among people wether it was great or not (not great = not as great as the first one).

Ditto this. I for one hope they don't do a third one, as the situations and characters seem to be played out now. Thought it was OK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 July, 2018, 08:31:05 PM
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This was my second viewing and I was so over the death of Luke, the Canto Bright stuff and a few other bits I wasn't sure about first time around. This time I just sat back and enjoyed it for what it was. I loved it and I've totally come around to Luke's rejection of the Jedi and his sacrifice. I like this new trilogy, I'm invested in the characters and I can't wait to see what happens next - I hope it's something that surprises and shocks me the way this one did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 02 July, 2018, 09:55:29 PM
MCU Binge

Thor: Ragnarok
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Spider-man: Homecoming
Black Panther.

Probably enjoyed Spider-man the most, due to it being relatively small-scale, had to listen hard on some of the snappy dialogue and the editing at the end with the stealth transport plane seemed pretty choppy, but I'm getting old.

Thor and GOTG looked pretty, just find it kind of hard to feel much jeopardy for characters when they're ragdoll cgi characters flinging around. Agree with some of the sentiment that Thor tended to undermine itself at moments which should have had more impact.

Black Panther was interesting visually and decent characters - the stored energy on the suits was a nice touch - but Phantom Menace flashbacks and OTT camera moves in the final battle didn't do much for me.

Think that's me more or less caught up - bar infinity war, oh and the TV series, and the netflix... oh god... it never ends.

The 3 other Sony Spider-mans I've never bothered with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 08 July, 2018, 08:40:23 PM
Suspiria by Dario Argento.
Dream like horror movie. A bunch of witch related murders at a balett school. Really liked it. Never found it scary, but still a bit eerie. It's use of colour and music is fantastic. Found out afterwards there's a remake coming out as well which seems like an interesting take on the film.

Deep Red by Dario Argento.
Not as fantastic as Suspiria, but still quite good. Feels like a Hitchcock movie made by Carpenter, but with a bit less charm. Basically a bunch of murders which a man then tries to solve. what follows is a bunch of additional murders to some fairly out of place sounding music. Has a weird quality I wish more slashers had.

Isle of Dogs by Wes Anderson
Really really weird, but good fun. Stop motion film. Basically Japan puts all of it's dogs on a trash island. In comes a little boy set on rescuing his fav. pooch.  Weird Wes Anderson fun ensues. I quite like his films, and this was no exception.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 July, 2018, 10:05:01 PM
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is about the legacy of a capitalist society, and some have complained that its second half where it turns into Resident Evil 1 is a bit leftfield, but this ignores that the JP franchise is at heart a story about a failing capitalist endeavor that results in people dying, and in the first movie/novel, this took the form of a malfunctioning theme park where consumers paid the price for corporate hubris, and in this one, it takes the form of millionaires literally scoffing at the law in a big mansion castle and then being eaten by the things they were trying to buy.  It isn't leftfield, it's just unsubtle.

The whole "should we save the dinosaurs we created" stuff is a nice nod to how US corporatism works - if your business is a banking ponzi scheme the government bails you out, but if you're some folks on an island that's technically part of America and run by American businesses but has a Latin-sounding name, then fuck you, buddy - not the government's job to bail out private industry!
"Your children - an entire generation grew up in a world where dinosaurs exist" offers one character - the character is a ginger, as it happens, also an endangered species - further highlighting that the current and last generation have left nothing behind but a fucking nightmare for those who will inherit the results of our short-sightedness, a dangerous and uncertain world where dinosaurs (of the literal variety) call the shots.
I liked the first half more than the second half, and hope they don't get too fancy with the sequels and have the dinosaurs do a poo on Wall Street or something, but the after-credits bit has Terana - Petraron - Peterra-ranna - Terrarannaduns - Petra some flying dinosaurs perching atop a tower overlooking Las Vegas, so they might not be done with the pretending to be clever stuff just yet.  Shite, but entertaining.  More like JurrASS World etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 July, 2018, 01:37:10 PM
After buying the Mad Max Anthology blu-ray recently, I decided to watch the first film Mad Max. I've seen it before, a couple of times but it's been a while. Usually the ones repeated on the telly are The Road Warrior, and Beyond Thunder-dome.

I seem to remember it not being very good, but it held up quite well. I was rather puzzled by the amount of American accents, as I though I remembered Australian accents, originally. On further investigation, I find out the American release was actually dubbed! When I checked the sound section on the blu-ray it seems you have the option of English Dubbed (technically American English) or Original Australian Theatrical English... defaulting to the former.

Ridiculous.

Still an enjoyable film. Just wished I'd known there were two English versions. I'd have set the audio for the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 11 July, 2018, 02:57:44 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 July, 2018, 01:37:10 PM
Still an enjoyable film. Just wished I'd known there were two English versions. I'd have set the audio for the original.
Spare a thought for people who had the old VHS boxset where that wasn't an option!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2018, 05:30:36 PM
The US dub of Mad Max is abysmal, but ine of the best unintentional comedies of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 12 July, 2018, 08:29:49 PM
Skyscraper. Mashes up The Towering Inferno and Die Hard with a whole lot of cheese. The script's terrible and the plot's so full of holes you could fit several very tall buildings through it. It just about gets away with it though thanks to tense and well-sequenced action scenes. My favourite Dwayne Johnson film of the year so far is still Rampage though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 July, 2018, 02:30:03 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 12 July, 2018, 08:29:49 PM
My favourite Dwayne Johnson film of the year so far is .
That's a phrase I didn't think anyone would ever utter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 13 July, 2018, 11:47:13 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 July, 2018, 02:30:03 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 12 July, 2018, 08:29:49 PM
My favourite Dwayne Johnson film of the year so far is .
That's a phrase I didn't think anyone would ever utter.

He's the highest-paid film star in the world, like it or not. Like Arnie or Sly used to be, only more family-friendly.

The Death of Stalin. Such dark subject matter shouldn't work as comedy, but it does in the hands of a brilliant script and cast. A standout is Simon Russell Beale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 July, 2018, 12:11:32 AM
Rampage - fun b-movie romp about giant monsters doing a rampage and then having a fight inside Chicago.  I liked it when the monkey give the Rock the finger, and when the monkey done the hand signal for doing sex, but I am not sure the science in this was accurate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 July, 2018, 04:39:07 PM
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

the Blu-ray had an optional introduction, which was quite interesting. I didn't know that after being released in Australia as 'Mad Max 2' it was renamed 'The Road Warrior' in the States, apparently to hide the fact it's a sequel since the majority of Americans had never seen Mad Max.

I always figured it was just one long title: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but there you go. Curiously* the Blu-ray disk title drops the number 2, so it appears as 'MAD MAX The Road Warrior' which fits with the titling of the other two sequels.

Anyway, having recently just watched the original film, I was interested to see that the introductory montage includes quite a bit of stuff in the first film, more than I originally noticed.

Film itself still holds up very well. It is arguably better than the first, and possibly the best of the Mad Max films, although I like things about all of them. (I'd also argue Fury Road is as good, which isn't something I'd have expected to say concerning a modern sequel with a whole other actor in the lead role.)

There is a part in Mad Max 2 which drags a bit for me (and I think this says more about me than the quality of the film, itself.) but then it really takes off again to a rip roaring end [spoiler]with a nice little twist[/spoiler].

Annoyingly both this film and Mad Max skip in places. I did buy the box set second hand from CEX, so this is likely ordinary wear, I guess. I wish I'd gotten it new now. That being said the skipping doesnt involve missing much of the film, but I find it very annoying.

I'm really looking forward to the next one: Beyond Thunderdome. I understand many regard this as a downturn in quality, but I've always liked it and admired it for bringing something new to the series. More about that when I watch it.

* If you're easily fascinated, like me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 July, 2018, 07:48:52 AM
Happy Deathday

I was looking forward to this.


Sadly it's not very good. Not good at all. 4/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 17 July, 2018, 08:39:47 PM
The Secret of Marrowbone. Mostly effective horror that delivers on atmosphere, chills and scares throughout. Worth a look if you fancy a few shivers up the spine in the current heatwave.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 July, 2018, 09:31:36 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 July, 2018, 04:39:07 PM
I'm really looking forward to the next one: Beyond Thunderdome. I understand many regard this as a downturn in quality, but I've always liked it and admired it for bringing something new to the series. More about that when I watch it.

I was disappointed with Thunderdome when I first saw it as a kid, but I think only because I loved Mad Max 2 so much. Me and my friends watched that so many times and the chase scene was so insane and exciting that we expected Thunderdome to top that, but it doesn't even really try to. There is some vehicle action in it but it feels a bit too brief and not as mental as I'd expected after 2. I came to the conclusion that was a sensible choice because the chase scene thrills in 2 probably couldn't ever be matched let alone bettered, which is why Fury Road blew me away so much. It felt like the ultimate version of that thing 2 was.

On a positive note I now really like Thunderdome, it holds up way better on a rewatch than I'd expected, and it really benefits from going in knowing you're not getting another Road Warrior movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 July, 2018, 05:58:39 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 18 July, 2018, 09:31:36 AM

I was disappointed with Thunderdome when I first saw it as a kid, but I think only because I loved Mad Max 2 so much. ...
On a positive note I now really like Thunderdome, it holds up way better on a rewatch than I'd expected, and it really benefits from going in knowing you're not getting another Road Warrior movie.

Yeah re-watched that for the first time not too long ago and pretty much agree. While its a disappointment when you expect it to be a follow on to Road Warrior in and of itself its a pretty good movie. Full of problems but very watchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 July, 2018, 06:45:45 PM
Skyscraper

There was literally nothing else we fancied on, and we'd really enjoyed Jumanji, which was the first Dwayne Johnson film I'd seen since The Mummy Returns, so we thought we'd give it a go.

This is a STUPID movie. I wouldn't be surprised if its genesis was literally Johnson saying: "Die Hard? I could do that standing on one leg... and while you're at it, set the building on fire."

But... I'm sorry, it was enormous fun. Every plot twist is telegraphed in advance, there isn't a character you could even dignify with the description of "two dimensional", but it's enormous fun. And it only runs to about an hour fifty, so it doesn't outstay its welcome. If you have a high tolerance for ridiculous tosh and like action movies, there are much worse ways to kill a couple of hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 19 July, 2018, 12:58:14 PM
I watched The One, the Jet Li movie. What a great concept! Killing your alternate selves to gain their power until you become a god. Like a (properly) sci-fi Highlander (no aliens pls). Cheesy and corny as of course thanks to Jason Statham's cod-american growly accent - why oh why not just let him use his actual voice - and the extensive use of metal as the sound track. But baffled I didn't watch this earlier, all problems aside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 19 July, 2018, 03:38:27 PM
The One is bonkers but I'm not sure it's quite as bonkers as Unleashed in which Jet Li fights Bob Hoskins! It also stars Morgan Freeman (what a cast!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 July, 2018, 03:39:19 PM
Plague of the Zombies

Excellent mid-60's Hammer flick, part of their experimental cycle to try and find a new franchise to rival Dracula or Frankenstein. Nothing from this period seemed to stick but we did get some phenomenal one and dones from '62-66, and this is one of the strongest.

Andre Morell is fab in this and it's delightful to find a zombie movie that isn't about a contagion, which appears to be the flavour of the genre currently, a return to more mystic roots for the genre is long overdue.

Studio Canal delivery a fantastic bluray which I highly recomend, for a movie on the older side of 50 it looks astounding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 19 July, 2018, 06:21:39 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 19 July, 2018, 12:58:14 PM
I watched The One, the Jet Li movie. What a great concept! Killing your alternate selves to gain their power until you become a god. Like a (properly) sci-fi Highlander (no aliens pls). Cheesy and corny as of course thanks to Jason Statham's cod-american growly accent - why oh why not just let him use his actual voice - and the extensive use of metal as the sound track. But baffled I didn't watch this earlier, all problems aside.

I think I commented on this a while ago when I caught it on late night TV but can't find it - IIRC it felt to me like a TV pilot that never got made, and I wasn't that impressed by the set-piece fight scenes. great premise though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 July, 2018, 08:45:26 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 July, 2018, 03:39:19 PM
Plague of the Zombies

Excellent mid-60's Hammer flick, part of their experimental cycle to try and find a new franchise to rival Dracula or Frankenstein. Nothing from this period seemed to stick but we did get some phenomenal one and dones from '62-66, and this is one of the strongest.

Andre Morell is fab in this and it's delightful to find a zombie movie that isn't about a contagion, which appears to be the flavour of the genre currently, a return to more mystic roots for the genre is long overdue.

Studio Canal delivery a fantastic bluray which I highly recomend, for a movie on the older side of 50 it looks astounding.

It does indeed. They did a good job.

Not so good on the Devil Rides Out one though...Grrr
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 July, 2018, 10:16:02 AM
The addition of the new special effect to The Devil Rides out is baffling, as an optional extra sure that works wonders for a lot of classic Doctor Who, but as the only option? Horrible decision.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 July, 2018, 11:19:01 AM
Agreed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 July, 2018, 03:01:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 July, 2018, 10:16:02 AM
The addition of the new special effect to The Devil Rides out is baffling, as an optional extra sure that works wonders for a lot of classic Doctor Who, but as the only option? Horrible decision.

Say what now.  One of my favourite horror films, please say they didn't Lucasify it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 July, 2018, 03:16:14 PM
Perhapse not to the degree of the original SW trilogy, but the alterations are visible, especially coming off the DVD.

http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2017/4/11/the-devil-rides-out-restored-and-altered

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/news/article/the-devil-rides-out-special-edition/14124
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 July, 2018, 07:58:28 PM
Blimey.  That Death background addition reaches Ronto levels of unnecessary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 July, 2018, 11:49:37 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 18 July, 2018, 06:45:45 PM
Skyscraper

There was literally nothing else we fancied on, and we'd really enjoyed Jumanji, which was the first Dwayne Johnson film I'd seen since The Mummy Returns, so we thought we'd give it a go.

This is a STUPID movie. I wouldn't be surprised if its genesis was literally Johnson saying: "Die Hard? I could do that standing on one leg... and while you're at it, set the building on fire."

But... I'm sorry, it was enormous fun. Every plot twist is telegraphed in advance, there isn't a character you could even dignify with the description of "two dimensional", but it's enormous fun. And it only runs to about an hour fifty, so it doesn't outstay its welcome...

Agreed. Ludicrous and enjoyable in equal measure. And overwritten to within an inch of its life. "How will he do X?" "Let's have some Basil earlier on that explains he used to do X!".

And if the sequel doesn't have blatant WD40 product placement, I'll be really disappointed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 23 July, 2018, 08:09:25 PM
Brat/Brother.Its a pretty unique thing,and I can see why it enjoys a cult classic status.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
Green Room

What a horrible film.

A punk band witness a murder at a venue and are then trapped and hunted by a group of muderous nazi skinheads.
I don't know why anyone wants to make a film like this. It had nothing to say, it wasn't clever in any way, just horribly violent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 24 July, 2018, 01:51:51 PM
Incredibles 2

Sequel to my favourite Pixar movie, and very good it was too. Lots of genuine hilarity, and it looked amazing. Suffered a little from naff villain syndrome (Ithangyou). Amazingly imaginative and heartfelt, with a great score. Win!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
Green Room

What a horrible film.

A punk band witness a murder at a venue and are then trapped and hunted by a group of muderous nazi skinheads.
I don't know why anyone wants to make a film like this. It had nothing to say, it wasn't clever in any way, just horribly violent.

I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 05:10:27 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
Green Room

What a horrible film.

A punk band witness a murder at a venue and are then trapped and hunted by a group of muderous nazi skinheads.
I don't know why anyone wants to make a film like this. It had nothing to say, it wasn't clever in any way, just horribly violent.

I liked it.

Out of interest, what did you like about it? I thought it was competently made and acted but the story was pretty thin and the violence seemed gratuitous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 July, 2018, 05:36:58 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
Green Room

What a horrible film.

A punk band witness a murder at a venue and are then trapped and hunted by a group of muderous nazi skinheads.
I don't know why anyone wants to make a film like this. It had nothing to say, it wasn't clever in any way, just horribly violent.

I concur.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2018, 05:50:07 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 05:10:27 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 24 July, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 24 July, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
Green Room

What a horrible film.

A punk band witness a murder at a venue and are then trapped and hunted by a group of muderous nazi skinheads.
I don't know why anyone wants to make a film like this. It had nothing to say, it wasn't clever in any way, just horribly violent.

I liked it.

Out of interest, what did you like about it? I thought it was competently made and acted but the story was pretty thin and the violence seemed gratuitous.

The above. It was well made, well acted, it gave me a sense of danger, it was like a rollercoaster.

I liken it to Deliverance. Not something you enjoy but endure and come out the other side with a sense of relief. Like roller coasters or most horror films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:04:22 PM
How it Ends, a Netflix Original Thing.  Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.  More like how did this thing get made, and why did I watch it. Anyway, this is the almost certainly the dullest end-of-the-world movie ever put to film; it doesn't even attempt to do anything original, or really do anything at all. The characters act like morons and remain steadfastly unlikeable (Our Heroes fuck over every person they meet, even the nice ones), the perils encountered are no greater or more mysterious than the average US road movie, and the ambient threat level lurches from fighting to the death over a jerrycan of petrol to everyone having a good night's sleep in unguarded houses full of food and water.   

It adds insult to boredom-inflicted-injury by sacrificing its last 15 minutes to the thinnest imaginable rip of Z for Zachariah (and not the book or TV adaptation, but the recent film version), being so blatant as to call the bloke 'Jeremiah'.  And then just when it might redeem some credit[spoiler] by killing its vacant protagonists off, the still-unspecified disaster turns into one of those 2012 volcanic clouds that goes just slightly faster than a 4-wheel drive on a mountain road, before sort of giving up and letting our Adam & Eve drive into an unblemished Washington State sunrise[/spoiler].

There's obviously some talent involved somewhere, because the opening shots of Chicago are glorious (if irrelevant), and the road-trip background landscapes are frequently gorgeous; there's even a wondefully creepy abandoned waterpark location that looks like it could have been fun, if anything happened there. There is one single element of surprise, if only by omission, in which the Native American Stereotype [spoiler]leaves the party, and doesn't reappear at an opportune moment[/spoiler].

Finally, would somebody please pay Forest Whitaker enough money for something that he doesn't have to say 'yes' to every single script he's handed - that guy must have an incredibly expensive lifestyle to support.  There are other actors that can play whispery curmudgeon, you know.


Johns Christopher and Wyndham are spinning in their respective graves.  AVOID!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 26 July, 2018, 07:15:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:04:22 PM
How it Ends

Merchant Ivory's best film.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 July, 2018, 07:37:45 PM
QuoteGreen Room

What a horrible film.

Yep. Great, isn't it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:43:01 PM
Quote from: Frank on 26 July, 2018, 07:15:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:04:22 PM
How it Ends

Merchant Ivory's best film.

If only it had as much high-concept apocalyptic action as its almost-namesake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 July, 2018, 09:12:01 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:04:22 PM
How it Ends, a Netflix Original Thing.  Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.  More like how did this thing get made, and why did I watch it. Anyway, this is the almost certainly the dullest end-of-the-world movie ever put to film; it doesn't even attempt to do anything original, or really do anything at all. The characters act like morons and remain steadfastly unlikeable (Our Heroes fuck over every person they meet, even the nice ones), the perils encountered are no greater or more mysterious than the average US road movie, and the ambient threat level lurches from fighting to the death over a jerrycan of petrol to everyone having a good night's sleep in unguarded houses full of food and water.   

It adds insult to boredom-inflicted-injury by sacrificing its last 15 minutes to the thinnest imaginable rip of Z for Zachariah (and not the book or TV adaptation, but the recent film version), being so blatant as to call the bloke 'Jeremiah'.  And then just when it might redeem some credit[spoiler] by killing its vacant protagonists off, the still-unspecified disaster turns into one of those 2012 volcanic clouds that goes just slightly faster than a 4-wheel drive on a mountain road, before sort of giving up and letting our Adam & Eve drive into an unblemished Washington State sunrise[/spoiler].

There's obviously some talent involved somewhere, because the opening shots of Chicago are glorious (if irrelevant), and the road-trip background landscapes are frequently gorgeous; there's even a wondefully creepy abandoned waterpark location that looks like it could have been fun, if anything happened there. There is one single element of surprise, if only by omission, in which the Native American Stereotype [spoiler]leaves the party, and doesn't reappear at an opportune moment[/spoiler].

Finally, would somebody please pay Forest Whitaker enough money for something that he doesn't have to say 'yes' to every single script he's handed - that guy must have an incredibly expensive lifestyle to support.  There are other actors that can play whispery curmudgeon, you know.


Johns Christopher and Wyndham are spinning in their respective graves.  AVOID!
That is one of the best film reviews I have ever read. Bravo.

For Whitaker, also see: "Doomed mentor" (Rogue One, Black Panther).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2018, 01:55:31 AM
Mission Impossible: Fallout
More like...
Mission Impossible: Fucking fantastic go see it on an IMAX as soon as you can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2018, 10:12:10 AM
I mean, it has it's faults (there's a hint of bringing in too many threads from previous movies, it stops for Basil every now and then plus elements of the action sequences have been done before... just not as well) but I have not seen such energetic action consistently realistically on screen ever. But somehow it manages to be not just about the spectacle. Sometimes a thrilling chase scene pays off with an elegant side step rather than big explosion.

And what a muscular version of the M:I theme tune; dialled up to 11.

I am aware of what will be described as a "troubled" production if this bombs; Cruise breaking ankle, Cavill's 'tache and effectively starting with a list of action set pieces but no script. There's loads in the trailers (especially the first) that isn't in finished movie.

Damn, I just want to see it again right now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 July, 2018, 11:18:59 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2018, 10:12:10 AM
if this bombs ...

Seems unlikely ($63m opening) (https://deadline.com/2018/07/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-fallout-opening-weekend-1202434739/). The cinemascore (https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/mission-impossible-fallout-tom-cruise-franchise-james-bond-1201987208/) audience rating is the highest of the series* and it's 86** ('Universal Acclaim, Must See') on Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/mission-impossible-fallout) - the highest rated film on release by a huge margin.

If Cruise's wranglers can keep him away from soft furnishings, Mission Impossible 7 is a certainty.


* The highest audience score this year since Black Panther.

** The same critic rating as Oscar winners Argo and Slumdog Millionaire
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 July, 2018, 11:24:27 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2018, 01:55:31 AM
Mission Impossible: Fallout
More like...
Mission Impossible: Fucking fantastic go see it on an IMAX as soon as you can.

The missus and I are booked in for tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 July, 2018, 11:34:48 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 July, 2018, 07:04:22 PM
How it Ends, a Netflix Original Thing.  Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.  More like how did this thing get made, and why did I watch it. Anyway, this is the almost certainly the dullest end-of-the-world movie ever put to film; it doesn't even attempt to do anything original, or really do anything at all. The characters act like morons and remain steadfastly unlikeable (Our Heroes fuck over every person they meet, even the nice ones), the perils encountered are no greater or more mysterious than the average US road movie, and the ambient threat level lurches from fighting to the death over a jerrycan of petrol to everyone having a good night's sleep in unguarded houses full of food and water.   

It adds insult to boredom-inflicted-injury by sacrificing its last 15 minutes to the thinnest imaginable rip of Z for Zachariah (and not the book or TV adaptation, but the recent film version), being so blatant as to call the bloke 'Jeremiah'.  And then just when it might redeem some credit[spoiler] by killing its vacant protagonists off, the still-unspecified disaster turns into one of those 2012 volcanic clouds that goes just slightly faster than a 4-wheel drive on a mountain road, before sort of giving up and letting our Adam & Eve drive into an unblemished Washington State sunrise[/spoiler].

There's obviously some talent involved somewhere, because the opening shots of Chicago are glorious (if irrelevant), and the road-trip background landscapes are frequently gorgeous; there's even a wondefully creepy abandoned waterpark location that looks like it could have been fun, if anything happened there. There is one single element of surprise, if only by omission, in which the Native American Stereotype [spoiler]leaves the party, and doesn't reappear at an opportune moment[/spoiler].

Finally, would somebody please pay Forest Whitaker enough money for something that he doesn't have to say 'yes' to every single script he's handed - that guy must have an incredibly expensive lifestyle to support.  There are other actors that can play whispery curmudgeon, you know.


Johns Christopher and Wyndham are spinning in their respective graves.  AVOID!
I wish I'd seen this review a few hours earlier. Heed Tips' words for they are wise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2018, 11:47:17 AM
It was Tordels.

If I had reviewed it, it would have read:

"HOW IT ENDS: More like SHIT, WHEN WILL THIS END?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 29 July, 2018, 12:39:49 AM

(https://www.contramuro.com/wp-content/uploads/the-wich.png)

This film is evil. Every spooky noise from the small gale blowing through the trees outside is now a devil at the window, every half-lit shape I see on the way to the bathroom is about to unfurl and reveal its true form.

All the lights in the house have been switched on and I'm not sure I'll ever turn them off again. I'm going to listen to ABBA or something; anything pure and good, that hasn't had Satan's slimy glans wiped all over it.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 29 July, 2018, 06:01:37 AM
As TordelBack is saying do not waste energy watching How it Ends. Best part of the movie is the credits, which you can skip with the rest of the movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 July, 2018, 05:22:25 PM
Mission Impossible: Fallout

Incredible! Just...Wow! 147 minutes and it felt more like 30.

Super fast with some of the best stunts, chases, double, triple, quadruples crosses you will ever see.

A super smart, funny script with every actor at the top of the game and Cruise leading the way.

Just so much fun.

Easily the best film of the year and possibly the decade.

Love, love, loved it. Seeing it again tomorrow.

9.5/10 (there was one minor niggle that I thought of during the film that I have now forgotten such is the pace of the damn thing.) It literally leaves you breathless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 July, 2018, 07:17:37 PM
Hmmm. I really enjoyed MI: Fallout, but I feel like I must have missed something, because I'm just not getting all these superlatives.

It's a fantastic action/thriller piece, but ultimately felt like disposable product to me. High-quality, certainly — I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing it — but it doesn't have even an ounce of the heart or vision of, say, Fury Road.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 July, 2018, 07:20:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 29 July, 2018, 07:17:37 PM
Hmmm. I really enjoyed MI: Fallout, but I feel like I must have missed something, because I'm just not getting all these superlatives.

It's a fantastic action/thriller piece, but ultimately felt like disposable product to me. High-quality, certainly — I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing it — but it doesn't have even an ounce of the heart or vision of, say, Fury Road.

Each to their own.
I liked Fury Road a lot. A hell of a lot.

But it's nowhere near imo.

But that's the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 July, 2018, 07:44:46 PM
True  - Fallout is a bit of a product but an exceptional one, I thought. And it is at number six in the series. It would be great if Fury Road got five sequels that maintain such high quality.

In terms of action, it'll be hard to beat for a few years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 29 July, 2018, 08:26:24 PM
Riddick
On C4 last night with a little cameo from "Dredd" himself 😄 Karl. Although I had watched the other Riddick films the most striking thing for me with this one was some of the similarities it had for a Strontium Dog scenario - mercenaries hunting for a bounty on a far flung alien planet. Riddick himself with glowing eyes (although not Jonny's power). Hover bikes that could have been taken straight form a Stront storyline. Maybe I'm just looking too much into it and hoping that in the future that there will be a full Jonny Alpha trilogy as he's a dam sight better character than Riddick!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 29 July, 2018, 11:36:37 PM
I loved Green Room. Tense, unsettling, raw. Patrick Stewart makes a bloody good baddie too.

Quote from: Frank on 29 July, 2018, 12:39:49 AM
anything pure and good, that hasn't had Satan's slimy glans wiped all over it.

You don't get that from Kermode!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 30 July, 2018, 12:13:42 AM
A Ghost Story. Rave reviews led me to give this quirky little gem a chance, and boy am I glad I did. A Texas muscian dies in a car crash; moments after his wife has identified his body at the morgue and pulled the sheet over his head, he sits up and follows her home. From that point on we know him only as a walking sheet with two little eyeholes - it's such a goofy, cartoonish image that the film can afford to go to some deeply sombre and thoughtful places.

Early on I must admit my patience was tried. It all seemed just a little too indie, a little too hipster, a little too pleased with itself. We spend five minutes watching a woman eat a pie at one point, and I thought about giving up on it - and then it got me. Boy, did it get me! A beautiful meditation on time, loss and love that has a lot to say with very little dialogue at all, because the visuals and the music do all the heavy lifting. Not necessarily a film I would watch again in a hurry, but I was still mulling it all over a few days later, and that hasn't happened for a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 30 July, 2018, 09:46:25 AM
Mother!

S'alright I guess. Well made, but I didn't get any meaning from it at all until I read an interview with the director where he outright says [spoiler]it's an allegory for mother nature, our home, spiced with some religious imagery[/spoiler]. And even with that explicitly given, lots of the movie doesn't fit that allegory.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 July, 2018, 11:29:30 AM
I feel i'm something of an outlier in my complete ambivalence to te whole Mission Impossible series. I get the appeal, but I find them very half baked, low denominator action fodder rarely worthy of the superlatives the franchise is associated with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 July, 2018, 11:38:16 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 July, 2018, 11:29:30 AM
I feel i'm something of an outlier in my complete ambivalence to te whole Mission Impossible series. I get the appeal, but I find them very half baked, low denominator action fodder rarely worthy of the superlatives the franchise is associated with.

I hears ya Hawkboy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 July, 2018, 12:34:57 PM
I actually feel like the MI movies go harder on plot than a lot of similar franchises, there are always some really satisfying twists, turns and double crosses that keep that side of it genuinely unpredictable and a bit more thrilling than a standard blockbuster.

And the action is always exceptional, the fact that any series can get to part 6 and be putting out action as thrilling as what's in Fallout is really something special. There wasn't any one singular stunt this time around that really blew my mind (at least personally there wasn't anything that I thought had the BLOODY HELL I CAN'T BELIEVE HE DID THAT factor that running down that Dubai tower or hanging off that airplane did - the Halo jump and the heli stuff is amazing when you watch the behind the scenes stuff after the fact but at the time I think it's started to feel so over the top that my brain doesn't register it as a human being doing that stuff and just assumes it's CG - I've seen it described as the reverse uncanny valley effect), but I was thrilled and exhilarated throughout the action scenes in a way that very few action movies actually manage.

Love the series, loved Fallout. I've always felt the problem with the last few Bond movies is that the MI movies are doing what the Bond movies should be and doing it much, much better for the most part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 July, 2018, 01:47:40 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 July, 2018, 12:34:57 PM

Love the series, loved Fallout. I've always felt the problem with the last few Bond movies is that the MI movies are doing what the Bond movies should be and doing it much, much better for the most part.

Agree and I LOVE Bond.

Said to the missus as soon as we came out of the cinema that the next Bond has got to go some just to keep up.

Also agree that these are clever scripts from the IM team. Not your standard stuff. You actually have to pay attention to what's going on for a change.

Also; I go to the cinema, on average, 8 times a month and have done for the last 3 years. This was the first time I have been to a showing. at 1.50 pm on a Sunday afternoon no less, that was completely sold out and it was the cinema's largest screen.

This movie is going to get into profit in days I reckon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2018, 02:40:10 PM
I see where people are coming from though: The stories are clever certainly but they never tackle any big themes or make you think after the event; it's standard stuff about loyalty and friendship that you get in a lot of action movies.

And the story telling is clear and good but you don't get the sort of genius flourishes you see in Fury Road for example.

Bond used to be a different kettle of fish; obviously not set in the real world as we know it. But since Daniel Craig they have tried to move there... and do tend to show up lacking somewhat compared to these last two M:I films. (Ghost Protocol seemed to be more in the Bond universe, with deliberately cartoonish action, than say, Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 July, 2018, 02:49:35 PM
If you want cartoonish Bond, look no further than Skyfall.

However, comparing any action flick to Fury Road is hardly even fair: it's just raw genius start to finish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 July, 2018, 03:27:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2018, 02:40:10 PM
I see where people are coming from though: The stories are clever certainly but they never tackle any big themes or make you think after the event

Which is pretty much what I want in my summer blockbuster fare.

"Get Out" and "Mother!" are two that spring to mind that did make me think and did tackle big issues and I loved them both.

Surely there is room for both types of movie and surely people can appreciate both types for what they bring to the table.

I can't say that any Star Wars or Star Trek film brings anything very deep to the table either but I'm not expecting them too.

Sometimes I just want a solid good time. And in my opinion IM:Fallout was just that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 30 July, 2018, 04:43:01 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 July, 2018, 12:13:42 AM
A Ghost Story.

That one took me by surprise, one of the best films I watched last year.
Was thinking about it for a good while afterwards too.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 July, 2018, 09:16:34 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 July, 2018, 02:49:35 PM
However, comparing any action flick to Fury Road is hardly even fair: it's just raw genius start to finish.

Testify.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 30 July, 2018, 09:44:02 PM
Enjoyed Fallout, although I did half-expect the Cruiser to say more than once, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing", but of course he didn't. Maybe a touch too long, but the action, humour and plot all work well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 02 August, 2018, 09:32:13 AM
I'll hop on the Fallout love train. Stunning! McQuarrie and Cruise clearly get each-other. I'll take another one, please, and if you feel the need to kill off Ethan Hunt, that would be okay. Cruise is ageing spectacularly well, but it's going to catch up on him at some point. (If nothing else, on the basis of this film, he has to be rated as one of the best stunt-men in Hollywood.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 03 August, 2018, 04:53:31 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 02 August, 2018, 09:32:13 AM
I'll hop on the Fallout love train. Stunning! McQuarrie and Cruise clearly get each-other. I'll take another one, please, and if you feel the need to kill off Ethan Hunt, that would be okay. Cruise is ageing spectacularly well, but it's going to catch up on him at some point. (If nothing else, on the basis of this film, he has to be rated as one of the best stunt-men in Hollywood.)

Saw this last night and I agree that this is a great action movie in all senses
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 August, 2018, 04:45:01 AM
The Matrix

The Warchowskis are like that band that made one brilliant, innovative and visceral album, an album that combined styles and genres in ways you never would have considered possible. Then every follow up attempt is a dismal dissapointment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 05 August, 2018, 06:00:01 PM
Ant-Man and the Wasp

As you would expect. Darn good fun and funny with it.

2 after credits 'bits'. Both worth catching.

I enjoyed this as did my Wife and my 14 year old Son.

Was a pleasant afternoon out in the lovely air conditioned cinema
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 August, 2018, 07:35:09 PM
Seconded for Ant-Man and the Wasp. A lot of proper laughs in there, but retains the rather sweet heart of the first movie. A genuine, playful sense of fun and some pretty good running gags. A decent attendance for a Sunday afternoon, and a reasonably full house all laughing for much of the movie.

Good stuff. And, yes, stay for the mid and end credits scenes.

EDIT: also, yes, air conditioning. God, yes...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 05 August, 2018, 08:15:53 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 05 August, 2018, 04:45:01 AM
The Matrix

The Warchowskis are like that band that made one brilliant, innovative and visceral album, an album that combined styles and genres in ways you never would have considered possible. Then every follow up attempt is a dismal dissapointment.

Couldn't agree more. Not really liked anything they have dine since.

The sequels to the Mateix are so disappointing. Best watched by itself, I now pretend that they never made the other two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 05 August, 2018, 08:19:15 PM
Glad to see two positive reviews of Antman and the Wasp. I'm seeing that Tuesday!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 August, 2018, 05:40:53 PM
Ant Man and Wasp: Yup, that was supremely fun! Some stunning action sequences alongside the now stable MCU wit makes for another satisfying outing. Very little I can say at this point, piked the last dozen movies? Watch this one, and stay for the post credits!

The Valley of Gwangi: Revisited a childhood favourite in glorious HD. It's daft, pulpy and innocently entertaining as hell. Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs. A winning formula, and what did we ever do to deserve Ray Harryhausen? A genius of his craft and entertaining people for years after his passing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 07 August, 2018, 07:28:03 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 07 August, 2018, 05:40:53 PM
The Valley of Gwangi: Revisited a childhood favourite in glorious HD. It's daft, pulpy and innocently entertaining as hell. Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs. A winning formula, and what did we ever do to deserve Ray Harryhausen? A genius of his craft and entertaining people for years after his passing.

Talking about Ray Harryhausen just brought back fond memories of Clash of the Titans (1981). One of my all time favorites
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2018, 07:54:03 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 07 August, 2018, 05:40:53 PM
The Valley of Gwangi: Revisited a childhood favourite in glorious HD. It's daft, pulpy and innocently entertaining as hell. Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs. A winning formula, and what did we ever do to deserve Ray Harryhausen? A genius of his craft and entertaining people for years after his passing.

Became one of my favourite movies the first time I set eyes on it one million years ago,  and it has remained so through countless viewings - simple,  beautiful,  almost mournful in places,  and for me always evokes the same feelings as that dream where you find a hidden room in your house, in a way that more fantastical lost worlds don't. That maybe,  just maybe,  it wasn't a dream,  and there really is a hidden valley somewhere that we just haven't noticed.

And then the realisation that if there was we'd fuck that up too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 August, 2018, 08:40:57 PM
Indeed boys, it's one of a number of movies my dead old nan tapped off the telly some many sundays ago that instilled and continues to maintain a sense of wonder and delight rarely captured. Other movies from thise happy times where Gwangis natural predecessors, The Lost World, King Kong and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and a whole slew of Doug McClure and Godzilla movies.

It's amazing that a movie with such an outlandish premise somehow suceeds in all areas and is a genuine masterpiece of subtlety. No mean feat for an old Western with a stop motion Allosaurus!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 August, 2018, 11:22:57 AM
Well I figured i'd make a day of it so...

Streets of Fire: Walter Hill's neo-noir, Bi-lit send up to 50's rock and roll cinema is fundamentally flawed, but runs along at a cracking pace, has some fabulous set pieces and a thumping great score. A rough diamond but a fun 90 mins.

Brazil: Decided to revisit Terry Gilliam's odd ball dystopian epic after my recent viewing of Time Bandits, and it's still a cracking good time. Easy to imagine it as a favourite to many about here. Don't cross your Bs and Ts!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 08 August, 2018, 11:27:33 AM
Quote from: SIP on 05 August, 2018, 08:15:53 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 05 August, 2018, 04:45:01 AM
The Matrix

The Warchowskis are like that band that made one brilliant, innovative and visceral album, an album that combined styles and genres in ways you never would have considered possible. Then every follow up attempt is a dismal dissapointment.

Couldn't agree more. Not really liked anything they have dine since.

I may be the only person who prefers Cloud Atlas to The Matrix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 August, 2018, 12:37:26 PM
Tales From the Crypt (based on the EC comics).

The old anthology horror from Amicus (I think) starring Joan Collins, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cushing and lots more 'I know him, he used to be in...' style actors.
Great fun. I love these old anthology horrors and this is one of my favourites. The best story is the one set in the home for the blind.

Incidently, I have, somewhere kicking around, a Tales From the Crypt pocket book which reprints exactly the same selection of stories as this film - I guess it must have came out at the same time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 08 August, 2018, 12:47:55 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 08 August, 2018, 11:27:33 AM
I may be the only person who prefers Cloud Atlas to The Matrix.

I enjoyed Cloud Atlas even Jupiter Ascending. The sequels to Matrix where all below average.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 August, 2018, 04:51:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 August, 2018, 12:37:26 PM
Tales From the Crypt  ... The best story is the one set in the home for the blind.

Oh yes - I somehow saw this film far too young and that one really disturbed me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 08 August, 2018, 05:04:01 PM
It's very often the final story in an Amicus anthology that's the best (The Door in From Beyond the Grave, Drawn and Quartered from Vault of Horror) and Blind Alleys is no exception - definitely one to include if you were assembling an ultimate Amicus compilation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 August, 2018, 05:39:26 PM
Final Cut put out a lovely double bill of Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror, another Amicus production i've been hankering for a quality home video release of The House that Dripped Blood for some time now.

There was just something special about the early 70's anthology horror scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 August, 2018, 06:54:58 PM
Oh I'm a huge fan of the Amicus anthology movies. SO much so, that the last issue of my horror comic was inspired by them;

http://www.lulu.com/shop/paragon-comic/aaiieee-2-night-flight-of-terror/paperback/product-21759062.html

Not only all the usual suspects contributing (including a number of Zarjaz regulars) but also Si Spencer, currently writing for the Meg.

Use the code LULU10 when you check out to get 10% off!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 09 August, 2018, 12:54:07 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 August, 2018, 11:22:57 AM
Brazil: Decided to revisit Terry Gilliam's odd ball dystopian epic after my recent viewing of Time Bandits, and it's still a cracking good time. Easy to imagine it as a favourite to many about here. Don't cross your Bs and Ts!


Are you going to finish the trilogy?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 09 August, 2018, 08:23:43 PM
The Hateful 8. This seems to divide people according to its Wikipedia page.

Now I generally like Quentin Tarantino films but I'm in the "didn't like it camp" on this one.

For me it was way too long, far too talky and the violence, when it kicked in was far too gratuitous; I'm definitely not squeamish about this sort of thing, but it felt all a bit unnecessary.

I also didn't find the mystery that engaging.

Samuel L Jackson seemed to be trying to reprise Pulp Fiction. The British chap reminded me of Schultz from Django Unchained, but just not as good. In fact for me that sums it up - like other QT films but just not as good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 August, 2018, 09:43:14 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 09 August, 2018, 12:54:07 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 August, 2018, 11:22:57 AM
Brazil: Decided to revisit Terry Gilliam's odd ball dystopian epic after my recent viewing of Time Bandits, and it's still a cracking good time. Easy to imagine it as a favourite to many about here. Don't cross your Bs and Ts!


Are you going to finish the trilogy?
I have never seen The Adventurous Of Baron Munchausen, so I might do just that soon...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 August, 2018, 10:58:10 PM
Treat in store there,  Hawk.  Massively underrated film, IMHO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 August, 2018, 10:59:59 PM

Yeah, I love Baron Munchausen - brilliant film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2018, 04:27:30 PM
Ant Man & The wasp - a fun but inconsequential addition to the canon. the shrinking and growing effects are marvellously done and many of the tropes from the first film are repeated - Michael Pena reapeats his long explanation acted out in flashbacks schtick, familiar pop-culture items are shown in massive scale - last time it was Thomas the Tank Engine, this time it's a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser. Did anyone else wonder how the lab, the delicate equipment and the people inside survived all that mucking about?

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 05 August, 2018, 07:35:09 PM
Good stuff. And, yes, stay for the mid and end credits scenes.

I'd say you should definitely stay for the mid credits one as it contains importation plot teasers for the ongoing story (intriguing - wonder what THAT was all about?), but I was annoyed to have sat through the rest of the interminable credits for a throwaway sight gag which we'd already seen
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 August, 2018, 06:13:34 PM

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Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction
« Reply #1906 on: Today at 06:09:53 pm »
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Deathstalker.

I was on the lookout for some Conan type stuff on Netflix and came across this piece of shit. The reward for saving women from rape is that, er, you get to rape them. Even the fights are crap. Did we really put up with this even in the eighties? I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 August, 2018, 06:49:30 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2018, 04:27:30 PM
Did anyone else wonder how the lab, the delicate equipment and the people inside survived all that mucking about?

No, because the fundamental premise makes no scientific sense whatsoever. Either roll with it, or don't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2018, 07:40:46 PM
 :lol: Fair enough!

Hank Pym may be a genius in quantum physics but he'd be a crap architect - I seem to recall some story about building your house on sand.....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 August, 2018, 08:26:21 PM
The king of comedy.
Such a funny, awkward, dreamy and unsettling gem of a film. Not to mention satire. Scorsese directs De Niro in what rivals Taxi Driver for both when it comes to my favorite of theirs'. De Niro especially. He's fucking scary the way he plays Rupert. Naive, annoying, obsessed. Adding to the damage Scorsese blend of reality and the grand delusions of a mad person.

Incredible. Can't wait to watch it again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 11 August, 2018, 05:38:00 PM
Avengers Infinity War
Loads of interchangeable superheroes fight each other with their CGI superpowers over and over and you generally won't know or give a toss who's who or why you should care but then something happens in space and the bad guy's clearly the most interesting character but then everyone has to go to Africa and fight some more FOR NO REASON and the bad guy does stuff and the green girl's completely gorgeous and it all ends in a puff of anti- logic and you'll wonder why you bothered.

Better than Justice League though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 August, 2018, 05:58:33 PM
Because Wakanda is the most technologically advanced place on Earth, and that's where the goodies take the last Infinity Stone to try to separate it from their teammate and friend so they can destroy it without killing him? Also, everyone complains when superhero throwdowns always take place in big cities. This one doesn't.

Or it's a timely homage to Phantom Menace,  take your pick.

The green girl is truly gorgeous though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin Zeal on 12 August, 2018, 12:09:04 AM
I thought the trip to Wakanda in Infinity Wars was very clearly explained.

Rocky sequel Creed was on the telly earlier and I thought it was very good. I spent a long time trying to work out the gap between Apollo Creed dying in Rocky 4 and his son fighting in 2015 but eventually gave up.

Then I caught the start of Wanted and wondered why I had never seen it before. At that point I remembered that I think the comic was one of the worst comics I have ever read and a piece of 14 year old boy masturbatory wish fulfilment nonsense. I turned the film off because I knew i even if it was as good as the comic it would still be terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 12 August, 2018, 12:18:35 AM
To be fair, it was gone 2am when I watched Avengers, and I've not really been following all the Marvel movies, so I probably missed a few bits and bobs here and there.

Anyway Ghost Stories
Nice little British horror with more jumps than the Grand National. Wasn't keen on the ending, but hey, it was a little different. And once again, Paul Whitehouse proves himself to be one of our best actors, and should be immediately promoted to the status of National Treasure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 12 August, 2018, 06:28:40 PM
Ant-man and the Wasp is good fun, humour and action well combined. Stay for the mid-credits scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 12 August, 2018, 09:20:51 PM
The Meg.

Enjoyable shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2018, 05:29:19 PM
The Happiness of the Katakuris: Barmy mad Takashi Miike horror comedy about a family of innkeepers who's guests continually die in ludicrous accidents and rather than risk the wrath of the authorities bury the poor travellers themselves. They return as mischievous zombies and open the doors to hell, jinks ensue. Utterly insane but deliriously fun, undertones of Harold and Maude and Re-Animator with Miike's flair for the disturbing, a good ride.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 August, 2018, 05:59:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2018, 05:29:19 PM
The Happiness of the Katakuris: Utterly insane but deliriously fun

No film that begins with a claymation uvula theft could be anything less. All that, and it's a musical too, with some ridiculously catchy numbers. Love the dramatic little tune when they discover the first 'victim'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 13 August, 2018, 08:40:00 PM
The Meg. Knows exactly how daft it is and keeps a fairly even keel throughout. Sometimes you don't need to think, just enjoy, and this does the job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 13 August, 2018, 08:40:58 PM
I'm a few days late as usual, but never mind...

Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2018, 04:27:30 PMDid anyone else wonder how the lab, the delicate equipment and the people inside survived all that mucking about?

Probably something to do with inertial dampeners.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 13 August, 2018, 09:09:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2018, 05:29:19 PM
The Happiness of the Katakuris: Barmy mad Takashi Miike horror comedy about a family of innkeepers who's guests continually die in ludicrous accidents and rather than risk the wrath of the authorities bury the poor travellers themselves.

Do check out Quiet Family, the Korean original on which Katakuris is based. A great film in its own right and also very funny, though in a completely different way - really rich black humour rather than the 'wtf' belly laughs of Miike. It makes Katakuris even funnier in retrospect, when you know just how absurd and audacious the remake is!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 August, 2018, 05:48:16 PM
Skyscraper: Borrowing the TipsTest(tm) here...'ahem' more like SkysCRAPER am I right?!

Yeah it's pretty bad, and too polished and somehow too self aware to be much fun either, a very poor riff on Towering Inferno and Die hard that somehow forgets what makes those movies entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 15 August, 2018, 12:01:45 AM
Quote from: Robin Low on 13 August, 2018, 08:40:58 PM
I'm a few days late as usual, but never mind...

Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 August, 2018, 04:27:30 PMDid anyone else wonder how the lab, the delicate equipment and the people inside survived all that mucking about?

Probably something to do with inertial dampeners.

Regards,

Robin

I've read that the lab was built at suitcase size, so it never 'shrinks' as such, it just returns to it's normal size. Thats why it can handle all the moving about in the action scenes.

Or something.
It's Marvel science, so anything goes i guess! Still enjoyed the film, thats the important bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 August, 2018, 11:47:31 PM
Cor yeah,  Antman & the Wasp,  that was a fine,  fine movie. Delighted they managed to sustain the humour and visual inventiveness from the first one,  not an easy feat.   Gotta love a film where everyone [spoiler]except the Eric Trump lookalike turns out to be a fine human being in the end,  and nobody gets hurt or dies[/spoiler]. Well, up to a point, obviously...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 August, 2018, 12:40:45 AM

Yeah, no 'villain' problem here because it's less about superheroes and supervillains but simply protagonists and antagonists. A point made more succinctly in Antman & The Wasp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 August, 2018, 01:13:55 AM
Mmmm, thought it was terrific that the stakes were so simple: (1) Janet would stay lost or (2) Ava would disintegrate (or whatever), and set against this (3) if he got involved Scott could go back  to prison and let Cassie down. A wonderful antidote to world-ending threats, all the better for having three father-daughter relationships,  or perhaps just three families,  at the heart of each dilemma. 

Went with three kids 8, 11 and 12 and they all loved it - after a laughter-filled cinema,  you could have heard a pin drop at the end of the middle credits scene.  Superbly judged stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 19 August, 2018, 01:47:05 AM
Yes, I was consistently surprised by the gentleness with which it treated all its characters and their decisions – not just serving the plot but the story. It had me from the off with choosing to start the film by jumping right back to the most effective scene from the first instalment: [spoiler]Janet and Hank's mission to disable the missile.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 19 August, 2018, 10:26:32 AM
The Alien, DeepStar 6, Thing rip off Life.  Ultimately shifting to watching it on fast forward and it still made the same amount of sense.  So glad I didn't waste good money on this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Krakajac on 19 August, 2018, 02:05:25 PM
Flash Gordon (1980) on blu-ray (on the cinema screen at home).

First time I've watched this since I was a kid back in the day.  Not quite as polished as I remembered it (or scary).  Some shoddy editing/acting, but...

...still some amazing sci-fi designs and model-making for it's time.  Topped off with Queen and Brian Blessed doing their thing.

My Japanese wife didn't know what to make of it. :)

And strike me down if I didn't see Robbie Coltrane as an extra (at the start when Flash and Dale board the plane, I'm damn sure he closes the plane door before walking off-camera).

EDIT - just confirmed it was his third role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 19 August, 2018, 03:01:26 PM
Flash Gordon is my absolute favourite sci-fi movie of all time. If I catch it on tv when channel hopping I WILL stop and watch it. I've watched this more than any other, including Star Wars or Trek.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 August, 2018, 07:17:01 PM
Damn hard to beat, that's for sure.  I first saw it on a dodgy projector in a parish hall with almost non-existant sound and I fell completely in love - and I was all ready to hate it because I was a devotee of the Buster Crabbe incarnation, and however curvy his pecs, Sam Jones was no Buster Crabbe.  Everyone else though, even Peter Duncan, just magnificent.  Even thinking about it makes me smile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 19 August, 2018, 07:19:51 PM
Flash Gordon was great. The gold old days when CGI did not exist
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 August, 2018, 09:45:20 PM

Yes it did - Cardboard, Glue, Imagination...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 August, 2018, 10:28:29 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 19 August, 2018, 09:45:20 PM

Yes it did - Cardboard, Glue, Imagination...
Satan is pleased by this response. >:D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 August, 2018, 12:05:42 AM
With the borderline seductive voice of Peter Wyngarde rounding out the cast, it's certainly a movie that is as great to listen to as to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 August, 2018, 09:51:09 AM
Some Deep Roy action too, fresh from the set of Blake's 7. Basically a technicolour collage of marvelous things.

(Please note my restraint in not mentioning Ornella Muti while making loud Homeresque drooling noises).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 August, 2018, 10:23:52 AM
Quote from: Krakajac on 19 August, 2018, 02:05:25 PM
Flash Gordon And strike me down if I didn't see Robbie Coltrane as an extra (at the start when Flash and Dale board the plane, I'm damn sure he closes the plane door before walking off-camera).
Yes! This has always tickled me.

You can get a similarly surprising hit of Coltrane in a very different kind of sci-fi if you watch Death Watch, which also features Karvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton driving around the more derelict parts of 70s Glasgow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 August, 2018, 10:48:09 AM
Idaho Transfer - possibly the world's first Youtube movie, such is its quality and storytelling coherence.  Scientist men accidentally invent time travel and use it to do fuck all, apart from sending teenagers into the future to look at stuff because older people can't handle the stresses of "The Transfer".  Then they get stuck in the future, wander around a bit, one of them what was dead suddenly isn't and has killed some others possibly, then one of them gets turned into petrol.  A stupid film, not very well made or acted, but has the germ of some decent ideas in there - it's just a pity it never develops any of them in any interesting ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 August, 2018, 03:22:12 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 12 August, 2018, 09:20:51 PM
The Meg.

Enjoyable shite.

That it was...Eventually. The first 40 minutes or so is painfully slow, the acting is poor, Jason Statham's accent is weird and the script is pretty awful.

But my, those shark set pieces, of which there are about four of them, are just a joy to behold.

A B movie in all regards (not to mention being a practical remake of Deep Blue Sea) and if viewed as such there is fun to be had.

Just don't expect too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 22 August, 2018, 09:10:57 PM
The Festival. Inbetweeners creators mine a similar vein with Joe Thomas playing a version of Simon with elements of Will amid much embarrassment and gross-out. It's not too long so I wasn't bored and laughed several times. Nothing I didn't expect apart from a couple of surprise cameos, but it was good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 22 August, 2018, 09:26:36 PM
King Arthur Legend of the sword.There are shitty movies and there are thing that feel like you blended together 5 shitty movies.
I dont know where to even start.Im not the greatest expert on the Arthurian mythos,but Im pretty sure there are no similarities to the legend here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 August, 2018, 05:00:07 PM
10 Cloverfield Lane

Very interesting. The sequel, that isn't really a sequel at all*. More of a claustrophobic psychological horror... and I like the idea that [spoiler]while the main antagonist really is a paranoid conspiracy theory toting nut job... that doesn't mean he isn't kinda right in this case. I sort of saw the twist outside  coming, but it was pretty much signposted, and it's not entirely about that.[/spoiler]

I enjoyed that a lot, probably more than Cloverfield. Then again, while I did enjoy Cloverfield I did find it a little overrated, much like many found movie films. It's still a good film, though.

Looking forward to The Cloverfield Paradox, although the reviews I've read have not been good.

*[spoiler]There are big monsters out there, but they're not the same big monsters. This is more of an alien invasion thing, than the Godzilla stuff from the first film. I like the fact the monster/invasion is pretty much besides the point. Okay, it's the reason they're all in the bunker to start with, but it's more about the issues between the main characters stuck there.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 23 August, 2018, 05:16:34 PM
I really loved _10 Cloverfield Lane_.

I did not love the _Cloverfield Paradox_.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 August, 2018, 10:12:08 AM
I love 10 Cloverfield Lane, and my only gripe with it at all is that they slapped that title on it! Drawing a superficial connection to the original film sends you in with certain expectations and I found that a little distracting on a first watch, when it's a strong enough film to more than stand on its own. It's a fantastic tense thriller, and the performances are excellent.

Paradox I didn't particularly like. I didn't hate it, it was just really forgettable and could have been way better. Another case of them retrofitting the brand onto an existing film apparently, and it really shows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 August, 2018, 01:22:40 PM
Yes, I understand that 10 Cloverfield Lane wasn't meant to be attached at all, originally. Then when checking themes, they figured it was a 'spiritual successor'.

Thing is, they could have had it set in the same world as the original with the original beasts, and changed very little as far as the main plot is concerned. Even the 'bad air' could have been explained as [spoiler] nuclear fallout from bombing New York,[/spoiler] or just the guy's paranoia. [Spoiler] (I.e.he was half right about the bad air. It wasn't everywhere as he imagined, but the aliens do use gas as a weapon in a more specific surgical way.)[/spoiler]

On the other hand, we'd not have had the [spoiler]strange interesting biomechanical ship/creature designs if they'd gone that route.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 August, 2018, 10:29:25 PM
Antman and The Wasp

Yes, that was very entertaining. And I loved the mid and post credit scenes. Including the very silly thing at the end. It tickles my sense of humor our that people sat through the credits for that. [Spoiler]Boom, tish![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 August, 2018, 10:50:11 AM
Time After Time (1977)

All the talk of Ready Player One reminded me of a movie that was also chock full of references, unlike RPO however, the subject matter and execution meant to cultiral nods enhanced the story, not detracted from it. A lovely send up to the works of H.G. Wells and Conan Doyle. Good solid time travel fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 August, 2018, 11:04:07 AM
Twelve Tasks of Asterix

Well sometimes its best not to return to those golden moments of your youth!

Well okay there were some great moments and some of the latter task (Building of Insanity and Face the Beast) are actually pretty good but overall a bit of a dud and the animation was pretty poor.

Shame I remember it so fondly!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 27 August, 2018, 03:01:16 PM
Black Klansman

A real return to form from Spike Lee.

Uneven for sure, with the Tarantino-esque visual cues just the right side of pastiche, but feeling a little old hat and while the point of racism being bad is rather hammered home at times (never a bad point to hammer home to be fair), it's an entertaining watch with some great performances and a coda that left the audience I was watching it with in stunned silence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 27 August, 2018, 06:31:18 PM
QuoteTwelve Tasks of Asterix

Well sometimes its best not to return to those golden moments of your youth!

Well okay there were some great moments and some of the latter task (Building of Insanity and Face the Beast) are actually pretty good but overall a bit of a dud and the animation was pretty poor.

Shame I remember it so fondly!

This was the first film for me that the saying "wasn't as good as the book" rang true. And I was only a wee bam at the time but still thought the animation didn't live up to my idea of how Asterix & Obelix sounded 😩
Still enjoy the books to this day and the twelve task is one of my fav.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 27 August, 2018, 09:09:19 PM
I'm quite disappointed that Arnie's second movie career seems to have run out of steam. He puts in a decent effort in the nastily violent thriller Sabotage, but the film itself is too much of a mess to love. All the right elements seem to be in place but nobody was able to put them together in the right order. The initial mystery runs out of steam too quickly, the strand which replaces it doesn't make a huge amount of sense and the denouement is just unmitigatedly nasty. Everyone who dies deserves it but that doesn't leave us with anyone to latch onto.

Good reviews of the latest installment reminded me that I didn't see Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation at the time. I vaguely remember being annoyed by the increased prominence of Simon Pegg's character. He still grates but does become a more important member of the crew here. Few other surprises: the series continues to be the very highest calibre of big money entertainment.

Euro-summer outdoor cinema round-up.

A Hellboy spin-off in all but name, The Shape of Water has a great look and not much else. Del Toro is never going to make another film even half as good as Pan's Labyrinth or Blade 2, is he?

I enjoyed Lady Bird quite a bit but was surprised how conventional and schmaltzy a lot of the story beats were, having read the opposite about it. Ultimately, the spiky, real relationship between Saoirse Ronan and her mum gave the film a heart which overcame that.

The larger than life subject of Tally Brown, New York is a gift to any documentary maker. Cabaret singer, Warhol luminary and fixture of the New York gay scene, she has enough stories, strangeness and laughter for a ten-part serial. It's also an incredible flashback to a New York and an underground culture that no longer exists.

The prosaically titled documentary Punk in London was a fascinating time capsule. Made for German TV, its slightly earnest makers track down an assortment of leading and lesser lights of the 70s punk scene. Alternately candid and hilariously blank interviews in artists' mums' sitting rooms and squats coupled with concert footage and live recordings made for the film. Really worth a watch if you're remotely interested in the music, or if you want an idea of the kind of dereliction and desperation which the country will be returning to post-Brexit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 27 August, 2018, 11:11:55 PM
Jurassic World. Just watched it with my son who is mad keen on dinosaurs and had been asking to see it recently. By happy coincidence it was on ITV last night.

It felt like a remake of the original Jurassic Park to me, with many elements feeling familiar:

Helicopter journeys. Check.
Park owner completely complacent over the dangers of the park. Check.
Kids get into trouble in the park. Check.
People hiding from Dino under / in a car. Check.
Dino pushes car aside like it was a toy. Check.
Velociraptors. Check.
Dilophosaurus. Check.
Baddies attempting to steal dinosaur embryos. Check.


But despite all that I thought it was great and the time just flew by. Would definitely watch it again.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 28 August, 2018, 10:18:59 PM
The Children Act. Quality drama with a great performance from Emma Thompson in the lead, backed up by a top supporting cast. Ian McEwan adapts his own novel into a top-class piece of work all round.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 31 August, 2018, 05:56:14 PM
Slender Man. Well, 30 minutes of it. The first time I've ever walked out of the cinema. So, so bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 September, 2018, 03:13:55 PM
I was thinking of going to see that.

Maybe I'll wait for the download.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 01 September, 2018, 05:37:28 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 September, 2018, 03:13:55 PM
I was thinking of going to see that.

Maybe I'll wait for the download.

Yeah, seriously, don't waste your money. On a basic level it fails: it's terribly shot and edited, acting's piss poor etc. Plus it's not scary and uses tired cliches like a character being strangled only to see their reflection and that they're actually strangling themselves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 September, 2018, 12:50:42 AM
Red Sparrow. Not what I was expecting, but rather a good film in the end. I'm not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, and she was flat yet again, but for this role it works. The most unbelievable part is her as a prima ballerina. It was like watching a seal in a tutu dance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 02 September, 2018, 12:28:01 PM
Upgrade-shameless B movie high jinks of the highest order!

It wears it's influences pretty obviously on it's sleeve-everything from prime time Cronenberg to prime directive Verhoeven, but none the less, manages a little ingenuity and identity of its own.
There's even a bit of a subversive 2000AD feel to the film's comic book aesthetic and tone.

Solidified by a simply fantastic performance from Logan Marshall-Green and "voice in the head", Stem, played by Simon Maiden and a script just the right side of knowing parody, upgrade is one guilty pleasure you won't feel guilty about watching!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 03 September, 2018, 08:20:56 PM
The Equalizer 2. Fairly contrived if reasonably enjoyable sequel which flags up a couple of moral quandaries, then abandons them in favour of action set-pieces. 6 out of 10, like the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 September, 2018, 09:38:13 PM
Put a great wrong to rights last night. Not only had I not seen Lost Highway for whatever reason until a year or so ago and some conversation here, some how I'd missed its existance.

So yeah its bloody great, superb. I of course have no idea what's going on, but as ever with David Lynch its best to immerse yourself and allow events to wash over you and by the end (though of course the circular nature of this story doesn't really leave you with an end) I find I've pulled together a story that works with what I'm given. Watch it again and I'll get something else. Its just great and the idea that there's no likable characters could hold but they are all engaging.

What really struck me however was the parallels to Twin Peaks. They seemed many fold and I do wonder if there is some deliberate links. I'm not suggesting its meant to be set in some kinda Twin Peaks universe but I do wonder if its not just recycling ideas but addressing some problems with the middle of season 2? Is this how David Lynch wanted to tell Mike's story in the that famous Twin Peaks lull? I'm almost certainly over reading it and there's no intentional linkage at all... but as I say the great thing about Lynch is you let in wash over you and draw from it what you can!

Mind as ever I forgot the golden rule. Don't watch spooky ass David Lynch films on your own. It doesn't make for a good nights sleep. So for my second night of freedom tonight I went to safer ground... but I'm just off to find some comments I've made on that movie before... hold onto ya hats...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 September, 2018, 09:47:19 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 October, 2015, 10:17:57 PM
Well Beyond Thunderdome wasn't as bad as I remember, though I've only seen it all once before and was so disappointed haven't seen it in its entirity since. This time I quite enjoyed it, but its a film with many flaws and is for me by far the weakest of the trilogy (that is no more)... SOME... WELL A LOT OF RAMBLING ON....

Yet still for all its problems it was entertaining, it worked as a film in its own terms, just not sure its a great addition to the series of films, well aside from the fact it looks like the perfect evolution of the work, the design is exemparliy once again, but that aside its kinda Goons meets Time Bandits meets Mad Max, not the third Mad Max film.

All of this is true but I've washed it again tonight with expectations managed and you know what I really enjoyed it. It felt far more coherant. Told a strong, worthwhile narrative and is entertaining from start to finish. Now its still the weakest in the trilogy of four but by heck its a strong bottom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2018, 12:10:32 PM
Island In The Sky - atypical John Wayne outing as though he plays someone impossible to tell apart from any other John Wayne character (for a change), the voiceover informs us of how up shit creek the crew of a crashed plane really are and how Wayne's Dooly character is forced into shallow bravado to hide his fear and self doubt, which makes an amusing meta observation about other Wayne performances that - let's be honest - may not have been the most subtle or nuanced.  It's enjoyable enough, but dated horrendously, especially with the addition of some forced melodrama that would never fly in a modern movie oh wait I also watched

Tag - in which a group of childhood buddies continue a game of tag well into middle age and come together to break the unbroken streak of a ridiculously elusive friend who's never been "it" in three decades.  An okay but unexceptional comedy based on a true story, it crowbars in some forced sentiment near the end that only serves to highlight how it could really have done with being shorter and more to the point, or maybe even just sketched in some better characters.  May also possibly have benefited from some jokes, but then I'm old fashioned when it comes to comedy.

Rollerball (1975) - bo-ring.  I couldn't get a grasp on Johnathan E at all, or what motivated him.  Do I understand this correctly: he wanted to know how the corporations make decisions?  How does this actually help him in any way?  What was his endgame?  What was the point of the dumb computer?  I had to check online to see what I'd missed and found an interview wherein James Caan admitted he didn't know what to do with the character and just went with it, though he apparently fondly remembers the games of Rollerball he and the crew would play between takes.  Passable, but dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 September, 2018, 01:17:22 PM
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

I hadn't seen this in years and really, really enjoyed it. It's so hard and brutal in places yet almost sentimental in others - it's also funny, with Napoleon Wilson's lines guaranteed to raise a snigger. Just brilliant.
It does an excellent job of making you wonder what's happening off camera. What are this crazy gang/cult up to? Where did they come from? What happens next?

This got me in a John Carpenter mood, so the next day I went for my copy of The Thing.
I have the 2 movie Blu Ray set, so I felt obliged to re-watch...

The Thing (2011)

I'm not really sure what to say about this. It isn't a terrible film - in fact there's a lot to like - but it's very much a straight forward monster flick. All The Thing does is attack - there's very little to make you wonder what's its motivation or broader plan is (since reading Peter Watts's The Things http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/, I can't help wondering about the situation from the creature's perspective). I can reconcile the ceature's behaviour to some extent - it's probably quite disorentated from spending 100,000 years in the ice.
Something of a missed opportunity though.

The Thing (1982)

This is more like it. The creature has got its shit together and has a more devious, cautious nature, leading to an atmosphere of extreme paranoia. It really fucked up by not waiting a bit before trying to absorb all those dogs though (seriously, the bloke's only just left the room - at least let him get out of earshot).
Like 'Assault...' it does a great job of making you wonder about the befores, afters etc.
I do have some small criticisms - such as using the same scalpel to draw blood for testing (a great way to infect everyone) and the creature's final gambit of confronting MacCready as a giant dog-headed weirdo and writhing about a bit. Why not just face grab him in human form like you did to the other guy 2 minutes ago?
There's a reason it's a classic though - a bloody entertaining and thought provoking couple of hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 September, 2018, 04:40:23 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2018, 12:10:32 PM

Rollerball (1975) - bo-ring.  I couldn't get a grasp on Johnathan E at all, or what motivated him.  Do I understand this correctly: he wanted to know how the corporations make decisions?  How does this actually help him in any way?  What was his endgame?  What was the point of the dumb computer?  I had to check online to see what I'd missed and found an interview wherein James Caan admitted he didn't know what to do with the character and just went with it, though he apparently fondly remembers the games of Rollerball he and the crew would play between takes.  Passable, but dull.

Heresay! I thought, if anything, this film would be more appropriate now than when it was made.

A stone cold classic in my book (helps if you like football and hate the Premier League I have to admit).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 September, 2018, 04:41:32 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 04 September, 2018, 01:17:22 PM
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

I hadn't seen this in years and really, really enjoyed it. It's so hard and brutal in places yet almost sentimental in others - it's also funny, with Napoleon Wilson's lines guaranteed to raise a snigger. Just brilliant.
It does an excellent job of making you wonder what's happening off camera. What are this crazy gang/cult up to? Where did they come from? What happens next?

This got me in a John Carpenter mood, so the next day I went for my copy of The Thing.
I have the 2 movie Blu Ray set, so I felt obliged to re-watch...

The Thing (2011)

I'm not really sure what to say about this. It isn't a terrible film - in fact there's a lot to like - but it's very much a straight forward monster flick. All The Thing does is attack - there's very little to make you wonder what's its motivation or broader plan is (since reading Peter Watts's The Things http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/, I can't help wondering about the situation from the creature's perspective). I can reconcile the ceature's behaviour to some extent - it's probably quite disorentated from spending 100,000 years in the ice.
Something of a missed opportunity though.

The Thing (1982)

This is more like it. The creature has got its shit together and has a more devious, cautious nature, leading to an atmosphere of extreme paranoia. It really fucked up by not waiting a bit before trying to absorb all those dogs though (seriously, the bloke's only just left the room - at least let him get out of earshot).
Like 'Assault...' it does a great job of making you wonder about the befores, afters etc.
I do have some small criticisms - such as using the same scalpel to draw blood for testing (a great way to infect everyone) and the creature's final gambit of confronting MacCready as a giant dog-headed weirdo and writhing about a bit. Why not just face grab him in human form like you did to the other guy 2 minutes ago?
There's a reason it's a classic though - a bloody entertaining and thought provoking couple of hours.

Assault is awesome. Simple.
The Thing (re-imaging) is a good shot but never comes close to the original which is in my top 3 fave films of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2018, 04:47:48 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 04 September, 2018, 04:40:23 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2018, 12:10:32 PM

Rollerball (1975) - bo-ring.  I couldn't get a grasp on Johnathan E at all, or what motivated him.  Do I understand this correctly: he wanted to know how the corporations make decisions?  How does this actually help him in any way?  What was his endgame?  What was the point of the dumb computer?  I had to check online to see what I'd missed and found an interview wherein James Caan admitted he didn't know what to do with the character and just went with it, though he apparently fondly remembers the games of Rollerball he and the crew would play between takes.  Passable, but dull.

Heresay! I thought, if anything, this film would be more appropriate now than when it was made.

A stone cold classic in my book (helps if you like football and hate the Premier League I have to admit).
Seconded, a dystopian flick thats only got better with age and was strangely prophetic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 September, 2018, 05:02:51 PM
Is it dystopian?  There's little evidence of a wider world beyond the ego struggle between two alphas and one of its biggest storytelling problems for me was that there seemed to be little context to any of it.  I'd hoped that was where E's arc was ultimately leading, but we got nothing but questions about how or why any of this was supposed to work, and all it made me think of was how pro wrestlers fight for the "Champion of the Whole Universe" title belt or whatever.  It really only works as a power struggle drama between Johnathan and Bartholomew, to the point where the remake apparently eschews the entire future setting and social commentary for a straight sports drama set in the (then) present.
Although I gather the remake was utterly terrible, and was responsible for the sad downfall of John McTiernan, so I'll probably give it a miss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 04 September, 2018, 05:55:29 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 September, 2018, 09:47:19 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 October, 2015, 10:17:57 PM
Well Beyond Thunderdome wasn't as bad as I remember, though I've only seen it all once before and was so disappointed haven't seen it in its entirity since. This time I quite enjoyed it, but its a film with many flaws and is for me by far the weakest of the trilogy (that is no more)... SOME... WELL A LOT OF RAMBLING ON....

Yet still for all its problems it was entertaining, it worked as a film in its own terms, just not sure its a great addition to the series of films, well aside from the fact it looks like the perfect evolution of the work, the design is exemparliy once again, but that aside its kinda Goons meets Time Bandits meets Mad Max, not the third Mad Max film.

All of this is true but I've washed it again tonight with expectations managed and you know what I really enjoyed it. It felt far more coherant. Told a strong, worthwhile narrative and is entertaining from start to finish. Now its still the weakest in the trilogy of four but by heck its a strong bottom.

Personally I adore Thunderdome, due to the slight change of pace to the rest of the series.
I read somewhere that the location scout for the Max movies died in an accident, and George Miller stepped back from production because of this, only directing some of the vehicle stuff near the end and leaving the rest to another director.
Not sure on the accuracy of the above, but if true it does explain quite a lot!

Still love it though. It's got 2000AD written all over it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 04 September, 2018, 08:25:35 PM
Searching. Thriller that takes place entirely on computer screens. Seen the format before on a couple of horrors, but this works well here, building tension as John Cho becomes increasingly desperate in a search for his missing daughter. I wouldn't like to see this format all the time, but I enjoyed this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 September, 2018, 09:09:52 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 04 September, 2018, 05:55:29 PM

I read somewhere that the location scout for the Max movies died in an accident, and George Miller stepped back from production because of this, only directing some of the vehicle stuff near the end and leaving the rest to another director.
Not sure on the accuracy of the above, but if true it does explain quite a lot!

Close it was actually the producer Byron Kennedy who had worked with George Miller for pretty much all of his career (if not all) was killed in a helicopter crash while scouting location for the film. George was apparently and understandably distraught.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 September, 2018, 09:27:20 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 04 September, 2018, 05:55:29 PM
and George Miller stepped back from production because of this, only directing some of the vehicle stuff near the end and leaving the rest to another director.
Not sure on the accuracy of the above, but if true it does explain quite a lot!

He had a co-director on the film.

(https://i.imgur.com/Y370kCs.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 September, 2018, 11:29:45 AM
Avengers: Infinity War
After a dismal presentation at the cinema, where the projection was so awful I could barely make out what was going on, the dvd viewing was sheer unadulterated bliss.
After twenty movies over ten years, I (and the rest of the audience) have taken these characters into my heart and am completely invested in them all. Even Bucky and Sam Wilson. Shove them up against a villain as beautifully rendered and well-rounded as Thanos, and you have what is honestly one of the all-time great film experiences. It doesn't put a foot wrong, is thrilling and funny and absorbing and the end packs a hell of a dramatic punch.

There is no way Avengers 4 can live up to this, and is BOUND to be a crushing disappointment. He says in the same whiny, annoying voice of those saying the superhero bubble is soon to burst, and all these movies are populist crap anyway.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 September, 2018, 12:08:33 PM
It's a testament to how well Disney have handled their Marvel lexicon that i'm more excited for the freaking supporting cast of any given movie than I am for WBs handling of freaking Superman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 05 September, 2018, 01:01:19 PM
I really rate Beyond Thunderdome - it has some of my favourite Max moments of them all.

- Handing over weapons in Bartertown.
- The Thunderdome itself (and the fight with Master Blaster in particular).
- The telling of the great disaster, with the cave paintings and the telling stick (or whatever it's called).
- 'Bust a deal - face the wheel'.

All lovely stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 September, 2018, 01:42:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 04 September, 2018, 01:17:22 PM
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

I hadn't seen this in years and really, really enjoyed it. It's so hard and brutal in places yet almost sentimental in others - it's also funny, with Napoleon Wilson's lines guaranteed to raise a snigger. Just brilliant.
It does an excellent job of making you wonder what's happening off camera. What are this crazy gang/cult up to? Where did they come from? What happens next?

We've been doing a bit of a chronological Carpenter rewatch of late too, and I was really taken aback by how well Assault still holds up. My memory of it is so vague that I'm not even 100% certain I'd seen the whole thing before, and my wife definitely hadn't, but we were on the edge of our seats throughout and cheering during the finale. It's so fantastic at building, sustaining and releasing tension. When the credits rolled she turned to me and told me it was absolutely brilliant, which is a more enthusiastic review than some of my other movie picks have had! A proper classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 05 September, 2018, 07:51:44 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 04 September, 2018, 09:09:52 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 04 September, 2018, 05:55:29 PM

I read somewhere that the location scout for the Max movies died in an accident, and George Miller stepped back from production because of this, only directing some of the vehicle stuff near the end and leaving the rest to another director.
Not sure on the accuracy of the above, but if true it does explain quite a lot!

Close it was actually the producer Byron Kennedy who had worked with George Miller for pretty much all of his career (if not all) was killed in a helicopter crash while scouting location for the film. George was apparently and understandably distraught.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 04 September, 2018, 09:27:20 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 04 September, 2018, 05:55:29 PM
and George Miller stepped back from production because of this, only directing some of the vehicle stuff near the end and leaving the rest to another director.
Not sure on the accuracy of the above, but if true it does explain quite a lot!

He had a co-director on the film.

(https://i.imgur.com/Y370kCs.jpg)

Cheers for clearing that up chaps, all makes a bit more sense now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 September, 2018, 07:42:57 AM
Kubo and the Two Strings. Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 September, 2018, 03:12:10 PM
The Nun

Standard fare with plenty of 'hommages' to the likes of Fulci, Argento and Friedkin.

The middle drags horribly (I nearly dozed off) but the soundtrack is pretty bombastic (which kept me awake).

Lots of 'jump scares' hardly any of which worked although a woman a couple of seats down from me visibly jumped four times and screamed, genuinely, twice.

It's not that good though. 6/10 if you like this kind of stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 September, 2018, 05:34:57 PM
Hardcore Henry - a fun and innovative action-movie experiment, filmed throughout from the protagonist's POV as in a FPS videogame, but the novelty wears a bit thin over an hour and a half - the music video that came out a few years ago to showcase the technique is a lot more fun.

They have not only taken the relentless action and visual approach of a FPS but the threadbare plot as well - manic action scenes interspersed with an endlessly-regenerating comedy NPC popping up to nudge the hero on to the next level scene (Well played by Sharlto Copley of District 9). Even Tim Roth shows up in a (rather pointless) flashback. It was engaging enough to keep me watching to the end (though I was checking my phone a lot during the climactic punch up against dozens of white-clad super-soldiers).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 10 September, 2018, 08:34:14 PM
BlacKKKlansman. Spike Lee's latest joint weaves humour, engaging characters and dark drama into a satisfying and thought-provoking whole. Great 70s period design too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 September, 2018, 10:12:52 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 10 September, 2018, 08:34:14 PM
BlacKKKlansman. Spike Lee's latest joint weaves humour, engaging characters and dark drama into a satisfying and thought-provoking whole. Great 70s period design too.
"Did you just sign up to the KKK under your real name?"
"Oh Sheeeee-it-"
"Well enjoy your new redneck life i'm sure you'll fit right in..."

Brilliant movie, and the last few minutes are a bunch to the guts, eveb to those already aware of the hideous state of white nationalism in the west today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2018, 12:57:18 PM
Prison (1988) Charles Band produced ghost story set in, you guessed it, a Prison. Quiet an enjoyable romp, i'd argue one of the great underrated ghost movies, an atmosphere comparable to Shawshank meets The Keep, with some memorable death set pieces and some surprisingly developed characters for an 80's US Horror. Recommended.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) is still the best Holmes movie. Everything about this works, both affectionately sending up the works of Conan Doyle and Gillete, and nodding to all the series issues also. Fabulous to look at, genuinely funny at times, Christopher Lee being THE version of Mycroft, and a submersible disguised as Nessie. Billy Wilders most under appreciated film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 12 September, 2018, 02:05:53 PM
The Villainess

A woman massacres an entire building of goons. She's captured and recruited by a government dark ops spy network. But of course all it not what it seems...

This is a twisty turny thriller with some incredible action scenes. It's as if Park Chan-wook saw La Femme Nikita and Hardcore Henry and decided "I'm having some of that."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 12 September, 2018, 08:18:23 PM
The Predator. It could never be as iconic as the original, but updates and references it with no small amount of humour and verve. Entertaining enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 September, 2018, 10:57:21 PM
Sneaky re-watch of The Last Jedi (eighth time for me,  I think). Not wanting to antagonise or upset those of a different PoV,  but I really love this film. It's got plenty of flaws,  and it's about one major sequence too long,  but there is just so much good stuff in there, and I see more of it each time.  Hamill and Driver in particular give just phenomenal performances. Hoping against hope that Abrams picks up some of the threads laid out for him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2018, 12:53:22 AM
Very late to the party but as the missus is away I caught up on some stuff she doesn't like to watch.

The Thing (2011) is just confusing as to what it is meant to be if you've seen the 1982 one. Why make it both a prequel and a remake at the same time? Too many story beats and scenes almost identical for it not to be considered a remake.

I also don't understand how they go from sensibly saying "Stick together... don't find yourself alone with this thing" and then going round doing things in pairs.

Or how a creature reliant on stealth and having enough time to absorb people is so fucking gung-ho and noisy.

Only Mary Elizabeth Winstead stops this getting a...

The Thing? More like Shit Thing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 16 September, 2018, 05:38:36 PM
Lucky. I've been wanting to see this ever since seeing the trailer a year ago and then hearing of Harry Dean Stanton's passing away shortly after. It was worth the wait. Harry Dean plays an ornery old cuss, with a supporting cast that includes David Lynch. It reminded me of both The Straight Story and Smoke, as like those films, characters muse on the meaning of life, with amusing and poignant results. A fitting epitaph for the great Harry Dean. RIP.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 September, 2018, 06:21:26 PM
The Predator

It's not very good. [spoiler] That whole business of the initial predators arm brace spitting out tech when the character needed it was kinda deus ex machina-ish. The cloaking-device is contained in a small ball that just pops out by pressing random buttons instead of properly integrated into a piece of armour?[/spoiler]* It was rather silly, and certain plot points made little sense, or were poorly explained.

That being said, I really enjoyed the film. It was a lot of fun. Unlike Predators (which I also quite enjoyed, to be fair) it wasn't that similar to the first film. It did something different.

*Actually thinking about it,[spoiler][spoiler the modularity of the tech does make sense from an easy replacement maintenance POV, but predator security is really rubbish. This is also illustrated at the end when the main hero slides around the flying vessel through an open doorway. Yes, I know there was a forcefield (which he'd ducked under)but even with force field capabilities, I'd want a shut door if I was flying into space wouldn't you? What if the forcefield fails?[/spoiler][/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2018, 10:37:10 PM
I researched PREDATORS yesterday. It was more fun than I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 September, 2018, 09:47:45 AM
Went to The Predator and had a great time. It's very silly but very fun and me and my other half were laughing throughout. Turning the franchise into an all-out action comedy doesn't seem to have paid off given the reception to it, but we had a real hoot. Cast were great, dialogue was snappy and witty and it had some great splattery kills, even if the action is quite messy and unreadable at times (at least one major death went completely unnoticed by us until we looked it up online after the fact...we were really confused about where that character had gotten to!).

Can see why if it didn't click with people they might hate it, but we kind of loved it to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 18 September, 2018, 12:32:13 PM
I enjoyed The Predator, but felt it could have been tighter in a narrative sense. Missed quite a few lines in mumbling, too.

I liked tghe snappy dialogue, but that's Shane Black all over.

The biggest cock up was the Predator Dogs, which were unnecessary and behaved illogically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 18 September, 2018, 12:54:44 PM
I tried to enjoy The Predator for what it was but when the Predator did comedy hijinks (the bit with the decapitated arm giving the thumbs up) I checked out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 18 September, 2018, 02:27:01 PM
Yep The Predator was pretty execrable!

Uneven pacing, incoherent plotting, inexplicable antagonists that become allies because, well, the plot demands it and to top it all some of the poorest eye rollingly bad dialogue in a long time.
In the plus column-the first 15 minutes showed promise.
A complete mess and I expected far better from Shane Black.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 September, 2018, 11:56:28 PM
Predator. The original. Simply fantastic 80s sci-fi action. I probably won't bother with the new comedy version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 September, 2018, 02:24:48 PM
Ran (1985) Dir. Akira Kurosawa

Kurosawas opus. His last, great masterpiece, among many. A sprawling country wide, Game of Thrones-esque political thriller of a despot king and his three sons, both sending up to the ancient 'Three Arrows' pathos and to King Lear in a glorious display of technicolour, tribal ferocity, and espionage. Highly recommended to the point i'd say if you where to watch any other movie for the first time this year, make it Ran.

Simply superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 September, 2018, 07:42:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 September, 2018, 02:24:48 PM
Ran (1985) Dir. Akira Kurosawa

Kurosawas opus. His last, great masterpiece, among many. A sprawling country wide, Game of Thrones-esque political thriller of a despot king and his three sons, both sending up to the ancient 'Three Arrows' pathos and to King Lear in a glorious display of technicolour, tribal ferocity, and espionage. Highly recommended to the point i'd say if you where to watch any other movie for the first time this year, make it Ran.

Simply superb.

One of my absolute favorite films. I almost tear up everytime I watch this fan trailer of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbbfDntoRRk

Seen Kagemusha?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 September, 2018, 08:07:54 PM
Shin Godzilla (2016)

Godzilla, acting like a stand in for the Fukushima disaster, attacks Tokyo and politicians try to act. Much like the recent Fury Road, Twin Peaks: The return and Blade Runner 2049 I found myself liking it much more than I thought I would. The first part of the film has a lovely weirdness to it, which is then undone by the destruction of the city. A tone shift the film carries magnifiently. Which is especially impressive since the perspective is that of politicians in what often feels like a parody of how the Fukishima incident was handled.

I really recommend this one. I cannot wait to watch it again. So much more than just a big monster movie :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6BIrQPNo-8
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 September, 2018, 02:46:19 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 September, 2018, 07:42:25 PM
Seen Kagemusha?
Have the blu-ray! It's on my list to watch soon, looks qually lush!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 September, 2018, 04:04:17 PM
Kagemusha was my first Kurosawa. At the GFT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2018, 12:22:08 AM
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette on Netflix.
This is all a bit "look at me, a lesbian, from a town of sheep shagging inbreds" at the start but get through that(which isn't as out of context as you think) and you won't regret it. Powerful stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 September, 2018, 07:51:40 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 September, 2018, 02:46:19 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 September, 2018, 07:42:25 PM
Seen Kagemusha?
Have the blu-ray! It's on my list to watch soon, looks qually lush!

It's amazing. Really cool story. A good tragedy. Gonna have to watch it again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 23 September, 2018, 11:47:17 AM
Solo - the star wars one, not the tv sitcom with Felicity Kendal.

Pretty enjoyable - some of the more interesting characters took an early bath, and L3 'doing a Rose' covered the same ground as TLJ.

I would liked to have spent a bit more time on the WW1 style planet - that looked like it had a bit more mileage in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 12:57:20 PM
The Meg - more like The SMEG.
There are many good bad films, but this is not one of them, this is just bad.  The interference of China in Western films is turning me into a bit of a racist, too, because as soon as I saw the Chinese logos in the list of sponsors at the start of the film I knew this was going to be sunk by some Chinese actress with the charisma of a short plank and lo and behold, there's a Chinese actress playing a central role and it's not that she can't act for toffee, it's that she is really, really bad to the point it breaks every scene she's in.  She actually has a kid and the kid can barely speak English either and she still out-acts the actress playing her mum, though there's at least one good scene she shares with Jason Statham that serves an admirably humanitarian purpose in illustrating that Statham is not the worst actor ever - but boy does he work really hard to prove otherwise.  I think he'd do better if he hadn't tried to act at all and just been Jason Statham on-set, as he actually seems to have put in some effort, particularly when he has to do "cute" scenes with the young actress playing the sassy kid, his wrinkly old-man/baby forehead creasing all the way from his brow until it circles his skull and ends up a bunch of folds at the back of his neck as he realises he can't call on his usual lady-interaction repertoire and kiss or punch her, so instead he has to stand there and let noises fall out of his food hole and it is clearly a situation that is confusing him and making him uncomfortable.  I just kept thinking "Kelly Brook left him for Billy Zane - BILLY FUCKING ZANE - when will life stop kicking this poor man in the balls?
Lengthy scenes of carnage at one of China's most photogenic beaches are also a bit of a giveaway as to who foot the bill on this turkey, but to adhere to China's rules on content, no Chinese people actually get munched by the monster - yes, that's right, there's a 30 minute finale set in a tourist hotspot in which a rampaging dinosaur shark eats zero people.
Who is this movie made for?  On paper this should have been a no-brainer full of dumb deaths and playful gore, but instead it's a largely bloodless (the only gore is chopped-up fish and a dead whale here and there), sexless, cheap-looking, and for all its attempts to be cute, it is a remarkably humourless film.
The sooner we go to war with China the better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 September, 2018, 01:05:01 PM
That's one of the real positives about Solo - almost everything looked like it had more mileage in it than we got.  Han's Imperial career,  the Mimban conflict,  Val,  Rio, Enfys Nest,  Lando, Qi'ra,  Crimson Dawn... none of it was really flogged to death,  much if it was original,  and I could definitely stand to watch more of all of it.

Really enjoyed last night's Blu-Ray re-watch, the smaller scale works great on the small screen. I noticed all sorts of interesting things I'd missed before, and disonant elements like L3 seemed to bed in better with repeat exposure, which is always good.  It's full of odd flaws and weird structure,  and sometimes the referencing gets a bit heavy (not Rogue One heavy,  but still...), but on the whole it's just good fresh space outlaw fun with some great casting.  Pleased to have it,  wish we were getting more in the same vein.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 23 September, 2018, 03:10:58 PM
Wow.....serious anti-Meg review  :lol:

I liked it, silly, mostly light hearted, fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 04:24:04 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 12:57:20 PM
The interference of China in Western films is turning me into a bit of a racist ... The sooner we go to war with China the better.

Could you try not being so much of a racist in public?

One assumes there are solutions to your perceived problem of Chinese nationals funding movies that don't involve declarations of war.  And if you're being, I don't know, post-modern, or ironic or something like that: you need to provide more clues.  You just come across as being bluntly racist.

The actress whose work you dislike is Bingbing Li.  Whilst you are, of course, free to dislike her work, she has a long and storied career  (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0508356/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm)which includes a few Best Actress gongs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 September, 2018, 04:29:41 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 04:24:04 PM
Could you try not being so much of a racist in public?

Forgive the Prof.; tongue welded in cheek runs through almost all his posts. We wouldn't want him any other way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 04:36:22 PM
If it really is tongue in cheek, then some context is required that would indicate that.  Some small clue.  Otherwise it's just offensive, and "just kidding" doesn't hold water.  It starts to sound like "I can say anything I like, however offensive, and if you don't like it I can pretend I didn't mean it."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 September, 2018, 04:41:33 PM

I thought the hyperbole and arcane knowledge of Statham's love-life gave it away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 05:07:59 PM
Wait, then.  So you're saying that Professor Bear actually really loves the movie The Meg, thinks that Bingbing Li is a great actress, the amount of bloodshed in the movie was perfect and that he loves the level of financial investment in movies provided by Chinese nationals?  In other words, I need to reverse everything he says because he's playing a permanent game of Opposite Land?

Sorry: I'm not that smart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 September, 2018, 05:31:54 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 23 September, 2018, 04:29:41 PM
We wouldn't want him any other way.

I dunno, I've always felt we should rastafy him by 10%-or-so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 05:37:57 PM
You just want me to stop making jokes about the famine.

The phenomenon of financial interference in Western cinema by Chinese backers was first brought to the public's attention by that notoriously anti-Chinese group (checks notes) the Chinese, after some particularly glaring localisation work on one of the Iron Mans featured polorising Weibo mainstay, Bingbing Fan, and the continuing and baffling cinematic omnipresence of Jing Tian, but there is probably an important conversation to be had about the spreading influence of China's corrupt and toxic brand of authoritarian corporatism to other markets, particularly given the oppressive restrictions on foreign investment that allows the Chinese state to appropriate intellectual property (including technology patents) from the West.
On balance I decided to go with mocking how most Chinese co-financed films made for English-speaking audiences haven't been very good - because they haven't - and pretending I don't watch every film Jason Statham makes - which I don't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 September, 2018, 05:44:54 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 04:36:22 PM
If it really is tongue in cheek, then some context is required that would indicate that.  Some small clue

(https://i.imgur.com/sFecxn2.png?1)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 06:01:36 PM
I know I should be concerned that my defence seems to be "everything he posts is stupid", but I've worked for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 07:01:24 PM
Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 spoilers. (https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/kevin-feige-confirms-defeating-thanos-will-require-weird-10-minute-scene-in-china/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 September, 2018, 08:08:18 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 23 September, 2018, 05:37:57 PM
but there is probably an important conversation to be had about the spreading influence of China's corrupt and toxic brand of authoritarian corporatism to other markets, particularly given the oppressive restrictions on foreign investment that allows the Chinese state to appropriate intellectual property (including technology patents) from the West.

As long as we can sell them our wares no one cares.

Movie Star Fan Bingbing's Disappearance Raises Questions About the Chinese Justice System (http://time.com/5400559/fan-bingbing-missing-china-justice/)

The mystery highlights the opacity of Chinese justice. The use of so-called black jails has been ramped up across China since President Xi Jinping came into power in 2013. In August, a U.N. human rights panel said it had received credible reports that 1 million members of the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighur minority are being held in secret camps for "re-education."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 08:22:48 PM
I'm not a fan of the Chinese government: it's a totalitarian state.  But I'm also not a fan of people who conflate that with the Chinese nation. 

The following statement does not attack the Chinese government, it attacks the nationality:

Quoteas soon as I saw the Chinese logos in the list of sponsors at the start of the film I knew this was going to be sunk by some Chinese actress with the charisma of a short plank

The follow up "The sooner we go to war with China the better." just comes across as intensely jingoistic.  Frank's suggestion that if I read another 6000 or so posts I'll see the funny side is (frankly) ludicrous.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 September, 2018, 08:54:27 PM

Now you've explained it, I think you're right. Sorry.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 September, 2018, 10:35:11 PM
THE PREDATOR.

Apart from the last thirty seconds (where I was expecting [spoiler]Arnie[/spoiler]), I really enjoyed it.

There's enough material for two films rammed in there, the jokes work for me, the gory kills work for me, the bigger emphasis on laughs works for me, the way it turns into a treasure hunt with four conflicting parties after the prize worked for me.

Like I say, up until the last thirty seconds, I was ready for more.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2018, 12:44:02 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2018, 05:07:59 PM
Sorry: I'm not that smart.

If you really, genuinely think that PB was advocating a declaration of war on China, then yes, I may have to agree with you. If you can't spot that as irony, maybe the internet isn't the place for you - or maybe just take a moment to consider the possibility before calling someone racist.

There's a ton of REAL racism on the internet, it's not hard to find, why not devote your energies to tackling some of that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 September, 2018, 01:32:40 PM
That statement bereft of context is an attack on the chinese nationality. The actual post is an attack on the arbitrary creative changes driven by an attempt to reach consumers in China, as driven by the restrictions of the chinese government.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 September, 2018, 03:05:02 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/EQ9a6.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 24 September, 2018, 04:16:21 PM
I watched Mandy last night.

Quite a difficult film to digest- unless you can handle copious amounts of LSD that is.
I've been mulling over different interpretations today, and so far nothing quite fits comfortably.
A basic, formulaic plot, but with stylistic and often bewildering overtones.

I will admit some bias before watching it- didn't think I'd enjoy it simply due to Nicolas Cage being the lead.
But he was great.
Solid performances all round in fact, including scene stealing turns from Richard Brake, Bill Duke and the haunting Andrea Riseborough.

It's a rare recommendation twofer; a modern horror and a Nicolas Cage movie.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 September, 2018, 04:27:35 PM
Jóhann Jóhannsson's score for MANDY is epic stuff.  I've seen it unfairly pigeonholed as a John Carpenter homage, but its range is wider than that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 24 September, 2018, 04:34:43 PM
Deadpool 2. Insanely good. Laughed until I was wheezing and had to take a puff of Salbutomol.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2018, 10:18:42 PM

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Again. Still my favourite Trek film by a long way - the emotional ending spoiled only by the loony magic-science-piffle-resurrection-nonsense in III. Though I was glad to have Ol' Pointy back again for the later films, a part of me would be content to have this as Spock's swan song. Gets me every time. Just about perfect and more enjoyable to me than any Star Wars film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2018, 10:28:31 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 24 September, 2018, 04:16:21 PM
I watched Mandy last night.

Quite a difficult film to digest- unless you can handle copious amounts of LSD that is.
I've been mulling over different interpretations today, and so far nothing quite fits comfortably.
A basic, formulaic plot, but with stylistic and often bewildering overtones.

I will admit some bias before watching it- didn't think I'd enjoy it simply due to Nicolas Cage being the lead.
But he was great.
Solid performances all round in fact, including scene stealing turns from Richard Brake, Bill Duke and the haunting Andrea Riseborough.

It's a rare recommendation twofer; a modern horror and a Nicolas Cage movie.

Interesting piece about Cage and how his deliberately OTT style is unfairly ridiculed - made me think:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/19/nicolas-cage-rage-internet-meme-mandy (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/19/nicolas-cage-rage-internet-meme-mandy)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 September, 2018, 11:19:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2018, 10:18:42 PM

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Again. Still my favourite Trek film by a long way - the emotional ending spoiled only by the loony magic-science-piffle-resurrection-nonsense in III. Though I was glad to have Ol' Pointy back again for the later films, a part of me would be content to have this as Spock's swan song. Gets me every time. Just about perfect and more enjoyable to me than any Star Wars film.

This is clearly racist against Vulcans.  I love The Wrath of Khan - not only is it the best Star Trek movie ever made, but it was such a relief after the Songs of Praise comfortable cardigan sugar-flavored snot that was "Star Trek - The Motion Picture".  It started the whole "the even ones are the best" belief (neatly derailed later by First Contact), it had brain-washing brain weevils in it and it had the balls to be a sequel to a fifteen year old television episode (and recast Ricardo Montalban).  So good.

(Next best is Undiscovered Country, clearly.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 September, 2018, 02:11:05 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 24 September, 2018, 04:27:35 PM
Jóhann Jóhannsson's score for MANDY is epic stuff.  I've seen it unfairly pigeonholed as a John Carpenter homage, but its range is wider than that.

It's certainly denser, more majestic and closer to the heavy textures of Vangelis's Blade Runner which makes me more curious about Jóhannsson's rejected music for Blade Runner 2049 - which was replaced by Zimmer's more Teutonic sound.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 26 September, 2018, 09:41:06 AM
Bed of the Dead. Four Twenty-Somethings  go for a Kinky foursome in a brothel, with Hilarious consequences!

While partying the group succumb to the murderous intentions of a haunted bed. If that doesn't sound shit enough there's also a brooding cop with a troubled past and some weird time-travel talking involving phones, just because. Full of plot holes and an affront to the senses. Avoid!

Bed of the Dead? Commode full of Crap, more like!

Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 26 September, 2018, 09:44:40 AM
A Quiet Place
Sorry I missed this in the cinema.
I thought it was splendid, excellent character and story beats throughout. great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 September, 2018, 11:17:23 AM
I love Nicolas Cage. http://screencrush.com/nic-cage-ghost-rider/

I wish that he would be in better movies as he's generally the best part of some utter crap. See 'Pay the Ghost', where he plays a relatively normal human being, but is submerged in the tedious mess of the direction/script/production.

Reminds me I still need to watch Drive Angry
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 26 September, 2018, 11:35:01 AM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 26 September, 2018, 09:44:40 AM
A Quiet Place
Sorry I missed this in the cinema.
I thought it was splendid, excellent character and story beats throughout. great stuff.

It depends. If you saw it in a cinema where people were nice and quiet and did not munch their way through the film (which is how I experienced it) then yes, you missed a great experience.

However, I know lots of people who saw this with noisy audiences completely ruining it for them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 September, 2018, 07:11:01 PM
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. I've probably only watched this film about three or four times, and certainly not in at least ten years, because I hated the whole Genesis-Spock-rejuvenation angle.

But.

You know, it's not so bad as I remember. It's not the best in the series by a long chalk but holds some classic moments - from the destruction of the Enterprise to Christoper Lloyd's joyous hamming as Commander Kruge to, "Jim. Your name... is Jim." For the first time ever, I actually enjoyed watching this one - and I'm not even stoned!

Now onto the enjoyable romp of Film IV.

...And the adventure continues...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 September, 2018, 07:38:43 PM
III is certainly the odd numbered Trek movie that breaks the trend of only the even ones being quality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 September, 2018, 10:00:44 PM
Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973)

Classic anthology horror from Amicus. Both movies comprised of 5 segments each, with the highlights of the former comprising a pair of retail sharks driving Peter Cushing to suicide...that can only end well, and a hostel of blind folks taking their revenge on a cruel major in charge of their ward. Wonderfully brutal stuff. Vaults highlights include a village of Vampires and Tom Baker using voodoo to take revenge on a group of art critics. Lovely stuff also, with a final scene surprisingly moody and emotive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2018, 12:56:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 September, 2018, 07:11:01 PM
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. I've probably only watched this film about three or four times, and certainly not in at least ten years, because I hated the whole Genesis-Spock-rejuvenation angle.

But.

You know, it's not so bad as I remember. It's not the best in the series by a long chalk but holds some classic moments - from the destruction of the Enterprise to Christoper Lloyd's joyous hamming as Commander Kruge to, "Jim. Your name... is Jim." For the first time ever, I actually enjoyed watching this one - and I'm not even stoned!

Now onto the enjoyable romp of Film IV.

...And the adventure continues...

Not to mention the destruction of the Enterprise. Not as heartwrenching as the death of Spock, but a wrench nonetheless. The Klingons really came into their own in this film as well. Well, they did until Discovery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 September, 2018, 09:43:16 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 September, 2018, 07:11:01 PM
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. I've probably only watched this film about three or four times, and certainly not in at least ten years, because I hated the whole Genesis-Spock-rejuvenation angle.
This was my favourite Star Trek for much of the '80's, when I was slightly too young to appreciate the true brilliance of Wrath of Khan. The VFX were incredible. James Horner's score, picking up where his genius work on Khan, was amazing (STII is his best ever work, IMO). It introduced the now-classic klingon Bird of Prey. Loads of tension, action, and great performances from *everyone* (Shatner in particular, probably his best turn as Kirk). The resurrection angle is hard to swallow, but overall, a very under-rated movie IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 September, 2018, 09:46:17 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 September, 2018, 07:11:01 PM
Now onto the enjoyable romp of Film IV.

...And the adventure continues...
You're not going to make yourself watch ST V are you? I counsel against it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 10:07:01 AM
I know - but I must. I doubt V will surprise me like III did and I'm not looking forward to it but, if memory serves, it does have that shot of the Enterprise with the moon behind it, which might be worth a screen-grab for my desktop.

Besides, Kirk v. God is kind of a neat idea...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 10:21:57 AM
V:TFF has a great beginning and a really great end.  It's only the middle bit that is... troublesome (tries to block memories of Uhura fan dance... fails). III:TSFS on the other hand is pure brilliance start to finish - if it has a flaw, and I'm not sure it does, it's that Robin Curtis is no Kirstie Alley.

Rewatches in the past few years have led me to the conclusion that the 'even ones are good' might be better framed as 'even ones make money'.  Despite loving them at the time I don't think IV:TVH VI:TUC and VIII:FC (other than as a James Cromwell and Alfre Woodward vehicle, at which it is brilliant) stand up quite as well these days, whereas despite being monumentally stupid XI:2009 remains very enjoyable nonsense,  and the box-office disaster XIII:B is probably in my top-three ST films with II:WOK and III:TSFS.

Of the odds only VII:G is really without any merit - even IX:I is okay if you like the visual style of Xena and Hercules.  Of the evens XII: ID and X:N are so bad they never happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 10:34:19 AM
I think the only one that never happened for me has to be I:TMP - I didn't start my re-watch with this turkey and even you didn't mention it, Tordels!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 September, 2018, 10:43:14 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 10:21:57 AM
Of the odds only VII:G is really without any merit - even IX:I is okay if you like the visual style of Xena and Hercules.  Of the evens XII: ID and X:N are so bad they never happened.

Generations has no merit? - strongly disagree!.

In order, my list (today at least, it changes, and not counting the reboots) would be

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek I: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek VII: Generations (1994)
Star Trek IX: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek X: Nemesis (2002)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 10:59:52 AM
Other than absolutely beautifully lit views of the Enterprise D interiors,  and maybe the modelwork in the crash sequence, what has Generations ever done for us?  Other than feck just about everything up.

Its central failing is summed up for me in the scene where Picard just casually chucks his Kurlan naiskos down in the rubble of his cabin: it appropriates the elements of two great series, horribly misuses them and then discards them. Ugh I say.  UGH.

(I am not insensible to the irony of a fan of The Last Jedi taking this stance).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 September, 2018, 11:01:50 AM
Generations: Hey kids, do you love Kirk? Well he's dead now. All your heroes are dead now. Buy our merchandise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 11:05:57 AM
Heh! And no-one did... 

Missed Sharky's I:TMP comment.  No need to have an opinion on this one,  it's just a really lovely screen-saver.  It worked out much better when they remade it as TNG.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 September, 2018, 11:07:57 AM
Okay let's do this. My list:

Khan: Nothing needs to be said. To Star Trek as Empire is to Star Wars.
Search for Spock: Brilliant, underrated, see above.
Insurrection: My favourite TNG movie, a simple morality tale in Star Trek prose.
Generations: Many fine qualities, but not, I think, what everyone was looking for from the first TNG movie.
Undiscovered Country: Bought ticket with great trepidation. Ended up loving it.
Voyage Home: Enjoyable plonk. Can't stand the score though.
Motion Picture: I like this more than most. I remember my dad's loud gasp of amazement when the new Enterprise went to warp speed for the first time. The extended cut is really good too.
First Contact: I rate this lower than most. Looks great, sounds great, lots to enjoy, but I simply can't get over the plot contrivances.
Nemesis: Far from a classic, but does it deserve so much derision?
Final Frontier: Utter crap. Even if the plot is kind of okay, the sub-par VFX (and that's being kind) are unforgivable in a Star Trek film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 11:19:02 AM
Pardon me for the textual diarrhea,  I'm having a bad case of work avoidance.

One of the things that I love about ST:Beyond is that it quite explicitly sets out to stop The Motion Picture from ever happening in the Kelvin timeline: that's essentially the plot. At the beginning we're just at the point in the 5-Year mission where TOS ended: we discover Kirk is considering a promotion to a desk job and Spock is about to leave Starfleet.  The film is about them finding reasons not to end up where they all did in TMP. 

I do like TMP,  but it's a lot of work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 27 September, 2018, 11:43:52 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 September, 2018, 10:00:44 PM
Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973)

That the 'Double Feature' Blu-ray, Hawk?
Picked it up a few months ago cheaply enough on Amazon, a collection essential.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 10:07:01 AM

Kirk v. God


Classic oxymoron.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 September, 2018, 11:48:33 AM
I enjoy all of the original cast Star Trek films, you just have to be in the right mood to watch them. TMP is a great Sunday afternoon with a pot of tea and some biscuits cozy adventure. I think IV May be my favourite - it's pretty weak in many ways but it's so enjoyable and fun.
Probably my least favourite is First Contact. The reason being that the Borg Queen is such a terrible idea. And I wish the emotion chip had never been invented - it ruins Data in the TNG films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 27 September, 2018, 11:53:30 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 27 September, 2018, 11:48:33 AM
Probably my least favourite is First Contact.

I accept almost all of the criticism for First Contact, but 10 seconds of footage of The Defiant taking on a Borg Cube buys you a free pass to most rides in my carnival.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 12:16:20 PM

I love First Contact because... James Cromwell.

Also, Picard's rant.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 27 September, 2018, 12:33:31 PM
I don't like James Cromwell much either!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 27 September, 2018, 12:44:37 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 11:19:02 AM
Pardon me for the textual diarrhea,  I'm having a bad case of work avoidance.

One of the things that I love about ST:Beyond is that it quite explicitly sets out to stop The Motion Picture from ever happening in the Kelvin timeline: that's essentially the plot. At the beginning we're just at the point in the 5-Year mission where TOS ended: we discover Kirk is considering a promotion to a desk job and Spock is about to leave Starfleet.  The film is about them finding reasons not to end up where they all did in TMP. 

I do like TMP,  but it's a lot of work.

The whole JJ Abrams wanting to exclude TOS from licensing and make all the new tat 'his' stuff was interesting.

I love TMP extended cut, just wish they'd thought ahead/had the budget and done the new CGI at a higher resolution for HD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 12:49:10 PM
One of the problems with FC is that the guest stars (Cromwell,  Woodward and Krige) just work so much better than the rest of the cast,  who are forced into relationships and behaviours that make very little sense for their characters. Stewart (and his rants) is great too,  but he's playing an entirely different person to TNG's Picard. Aside from being driven mad by revenge (what?), this version is apparently Data's bessie mate despite probably having less of a relationship with him than almost any of the TNG crew.

The scene where Beverley defends Picard's insane course of action to Lily,  it's a great line,  but who is this person?  Etc.

It's a good action film,  gorgeous looking,  and the Cochrane subplot is great fun, but in order to get where it wants to go everyone and everything have to be changed out of recognition  - even the Borg.

But I can almost forgive all of that for Marina Sirtis' magnificent drunk acting. A priceless scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 September, 2018, 02:37:51 PM
now that DOES sound like a Last Jedi criticism - these are not the same people preserved in amber as they were years ago, they have grown and developed. Picard has become darker and broodier, I found their characterisations in FC much more mature, nuanced and believable (apart from data's emotion chip, which was just silly). Picard was always data's biggest champion, taking a close interest in his development and sticking up for him when Riker, Worf etc used to get frustrated at his androidisms - only Geordi could be said to be closer, so I didn't find their relationship in FC at all odd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 September, 2018, 02:40:29 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 27 September, 2018, 11:43:52 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 September, 2018, 10:00:44 PM
Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973)

That the 'Double Feature' Blu-ray, Hawk?
Picked it up a few months ago cheaply enough on Amazon, a collection essential.
The very same, currently £10 in Fopps Halloween sale. An essential addition indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 02:57:01 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 27 September, 2018, 02:37:51 PM
Picard has become darker and broodier...

Picard was always dark and broody,  but he was also a rational and measured Starfleet officer, and quite able to deal with the Borg on two previous post-Locutus occasions without turning psychotic - poor Ensign Lynch!  FC wants to be a sequel to BoBW,  but wants us to forget that there were 4 years of TV since then.  And I don't deny that Picard stuck up for his frequently-delinquent android officer,  but they were never pals - FC wants them to be Kirk and Spock. Beverley,  Deanna, Riker, Guinan and of course Wesley and Geordi were all more involved with Data on a regular basis.  Less so Woof.

And that's just Picard.  Riker is about the only guy that stays in character,  and he directed the thing! (Well maybe Barclay too).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 September, 2018, 05:32:12 PM
I remember thinking when I first watched Emissary that he was being a bit of an arsehole about the whole Locutus thing, and certainly lacked any humility about what he'd done to Sisko's family.  In retrospect, FC writer Ron Moore might have been deferring to the version of Picard that appeared on DS9, the Trek show into which Moore had the most input, but even allowing for that, Emissary Picard was still just kinda huffy, tbh, and it just comes off as one of Sir Pat's off days.

On the subject of "in order of quality" lists, someone on That There Twitter posted a list of the Star Wars films and his followers argued whether or not the guy was a misogynist because he'd put Force Awakens and Last Jedi at the bottom - he'd listed them in the order they'd come out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 September, 2018, 05:49:44 PM
I actually like First Contact because, for a while, it was the least "Star Trek" Star Trek thing around. Actually showing an epic story on epic scale with full on action scenes.

(I like Tale of Two Cities best as well. Dickens least Dickensian book).

I took the Picard going mental to be born of the fact that at that point in the movie, he has lost to the Borg. All his efforts for nothing. He's pretty rational and measured when he takes command of fleet to destroy the Borg cube.

And as for going to rescue Data, by that point I think it's more what Data represents, he is no longer willing to sacrifice any of the crew to achieve his goal.

Plus there's a scene where Data gets a 12 certificate blow job.

The rest of the TNG films do make Jean Luc more Die Hard than Picard though. But still retain enough elements for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 05:56:59 PM

We're sailing close to needing a dedicated Star Trek thread, methinks...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 06:02:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 September, 2018, 05:49:44 PM
I took the Picard going mental to be born of the fact that at that point in the movie, he has lost to the Borg. All his efforts for nothing.

This is sort-of my objection - Picard never reacted to defeat by losing his principles: and plenty have tried to break him before.  He gets angry, but he doesn't go no-surrender, full-on tommy-gunning members of his own crew. I know Lily lampshades the whole thing quite nicely, but I still don't know who this even-balder John McClane fellow is.  But then I don't know who the guy at the end of Generations is either.  At least I recognise him again in Insurrection.

Griping aside, First Contact is a well-made enjoyable film, with plenty of laughs and some really solid spectacle. Plus the titular event is about as cool as it could have been.  I've just cooled a lot from my one-time position of thinking it the best thing since sliced gagh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 27 September, 2018, 06:34:52 PM
I thought Picard lost the plot because he could actually hear the Borg inside his head. He even blasts out some tunes to block their voices. Another thing could be that his single minded determination to destroy them is a counter-point to their single minded determination to assimilate the Human race. Or I could be reading far too much into it. Anyway, good film and one of my favourite in the series.

In other Trek news I have Star Trek Beyond waiting to be watched. I picked it up for a fiver in the newsagent. Been putting this off because I'm not a fan of the other two for reasons I won't drone on about, suffice to say I think they're awful for the most part. More details available on request.

The Motion Picture is also one of my faves despite the Brown and Cream 70's style uniforms. Throw in the political machinations in Undiscovered Country and you have a good Top three, IMO. All the other films have their good and, sometimes, excessively bad but they are all worth a watch.

Cheers



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 September, 2018, 06:55:24 PM
I'd still rate it below a lot of the other Treks, but Beyond is up there as one of the fun ones, and of the three reboot movies, is the only one that has its heart in the right place - possibly to the point that Pine's Kirk feels too much like the original and we never got to see a satisfying transition from one to the other.
Mainly, Beyond was pretty great for me because I hated Into Darkness so much, as it works as a direct riposte to the shallowness of NuTrek up until that point by having Kirk figuratively and then literally battle a confused mess of a character that has nothing once you take away revenge as their motivation.  There's some meta stuff going on there, and while I did find some of it cringe-y, it wasn't cringe-y in the uncomfortable boob-grabbing/underwear-oogling way the previous movies were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 September, 2018, 06:58:55 PM
Not just a defeat in a battle though. He has utterly and completely lost all of humanity and the Federation. Everything he loves and holds dear. I don't  recall anything on that scale before. That's why I thought it worked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 07:24:01 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 September, 2018, 06:55:24 PMMainly, Beyond was pretty great for me because I hated Into Darkness so much, as it works as a direct riposte to the shallowness of NuTrek up until that point by having Kirk figuratively and then literally battle a confused mess of a character that has nothing once you take away revenge as their motivation. 

Yep,  I think that nails my feelings too.  Beyond also scores points with me because tries to recapture that feeling of Trek being in the far future: [spoiler]Krall and the Franklin dating from the birth of the Federation a century earlier, and the insanely Culture-ish Yorktown pushes Starfleet into new territory even for jaded 2018 eyes[/spoiler].

As to Tips' thoughts on Picard in FC: that's a very fair reading,  but I think we'll have to ATD there. For me it still feels like Picard is manouvered into being a veiny action hero to serve the story they want to tell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 27 September, 2018, 07:34:52 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 September, 2018, 07:24:01 PMFor me it still feels like Picard is manouvered into being a veiny action hero to serve the story they want to tell.

Would I be right in remembering that some of that manouvering was done by Patrick Stewart himself, who relished the opportunity to do Die Hard Picard? (For the record, I think it's a competent enough film, but doesn't feel particularly Trek to me. Mind you, controversially, I'd say more or less the same thing about Wrath of Khan.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 07:38:36 PM

WoK feels close to the episode Balance of Terror to me - one of my all time favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 27 September, 2018, 07:48:24 PM
I think WoK is a good film in its own right, but it's so unrelentingly nasty, in a manner that, to me, seems too much for Star Trek. Dead bodies everywhere, Scotty's burnt-up nephew and that really upsetting bit when irradiated Spock walks into the glass. Grim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 September, 2018, 08:21:57 PM
Breaking away from the Trek Talk Hour to cover some more of what Bolt-01, much to my delight, described as 'weird stuff' at Thought Bubble...

Black Sabbath aka The Mask of Satan dir. Mario Bava (1960)

One of the most influential of Gothic horrors, coming on the heals of Hammers Renaissance in the genre. A retelling of the Viy mythology of Russian folk lore, as a witch and her vampire cohorts are burnt at the stake for witchcraft and arise 200 years later. Moody, atmospheric, and delightfuly macabre, a must watch for horror aficionados.

La Bete aka The Beast dir. Walerian Borowczyk (1975)

Where to begin....it's a late entry into the French new wave....it's a deconstruction of the Beauty and the Beast tale.....it's considered the most sexually explicit none pornographic movie ever made, almost all of it highly taboo....it's not for everyone, but I loved the shit out of it. Sordid, highly critical of the Church, disturbing as shit. Great stuff for seasoned cinema hounds, but probably not recommended easily...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 September, 2018, 08:34:28 PM
Bugger it, Black SUNDAY not SABBATH. Thats an unrelated later Bava movie, starring Boris Karloff as a crypt keeper type character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 09:41:44 PM
Star Trek V: The Final Insult.



That is all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 27 September, 2018, 10:01:55 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 09:41:44 PM
Star Trek V: The Final Insult.



That is all.

Would it be controversial at this point to say that I think Star Trek V is nowhere near as bad as the rap it gets........yup, budget issues, but I never tuned in to classic trek for its special effects. I like it, I think it's an interesting storyline with some solid character moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2018, 10:29:22 PM


I wanted to like it but no. Utter piffle from start to finish, the only highlight being that one single shot. David Warner - why the Hell was an actor of his quality even there? His role could have been filled by literally anyone else in the entire world galaxy universe multiverse - must be the easiest paycheck he ever earned. He could at least have been cast as "God" but even that wouldn't have saved this horrible monstrosity.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 September, 2018, 10:47:08 PM
The quality of STV has long been acknowledged as the result of the troubled production process in which the studio did everything they could to sink the movie, from slashing the budget to firing the SFX company and even shelving the film entirely when a monster suit for the film's finale got damaged.  I gather The Shat's ego didn't do him any favors before and during shooting, but he did salvage the film from sitting on a shelf and killing movie Trek dead by paying for the final shoot out of his own pocket, and how do we repay this unsung cinematic auteur for winning Captain Kirk's greatest battle?  By taking the Red Pill and siding with The Man and his pro-corporate historical revisionism.

I always liked FFV, it was a silly romp that felt like an episode of the show - a season 3 episode, admittedly - but it was definately back to basics stuff, with the stakes lowered from galactic threats to personal drama.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 September, 2018, 12:23:21 PM
If ST:V had been the last film of the original crew it would have made a nice bookend to the films. From the overly cerebral TMP to the plain silly FF, but no, they had to go and spoil it by giving us Undiscovered Country. A quality Star Trek film and my favourite ST film after WoK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 September, 2018, 05:10:25 PM
Lars von Trier's The nymphomaniac director's cut. The 5h version of the film, with a sfx sex scenes. Actors' faces cgi:d into body double actors acting out the good stuff. Quite allright overall. Not a perfect film, but very interesting. I really enjoy the ending. If it has the effect I'm thinking it has, then it's brilliant. If anyone's planning on watching it, a warning. It has some quite shocking scenes in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 September, 2018, 07:09:45 PM
I was so caught up in the Star Trek conversation that I thought you were saying that Lars Von Trier had edited Star Trek V so that it included porno scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 28 September, 2018, 09:19:49 PM
Wow how did I miss this Star Trek thread?

It's too difficult to put them in order but what I would say is:

I would happily never watch ST TMP again because I find it extremely dull (and those grey uniforms don't help).

I don't get Tordel's Generations is worthless comment; I like it a lot. The Enterprise crash is just heart wrenching.

I don't get the general dislike for ITD either.

FC is generally pretty good but it is far from the best use of the Borg. That was and always will be Q Who (which is the best episode of any TV series ever).

I really want to see Nemesis again, if only because I didn't know who Tom Hardy was at the time  and as I recall he is totally unrecognisable in it compared to Peaky Blinders or Taboo. Not to mention MM FR.

STV FF rates pretty low for me, but it is the only one I haven't seen in the cinema and that might cloud my judgement of it.

Just trying to find the time to watch Beyond whilst it is still on Netflix. Again I don't get the dislike for it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 September, 2018, 10:34:49 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 28 September, 2018, 09:19:49 PM

I don't get the general dislike for ITD either.


Well, there's the fact that Khan's 'plan' makes literally no sense whatsoever. On top of that, for the simple sake of plot convenience, the film invents the ability to transport across the galaxy, making starships instantly redundant. Oh, and the whole curing death thing. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 September, 2018, 10:48:23 AM
Add to that that it duplicates almost every sequence from the 2009 outing,  and throws in the skeeziest scene since Showgirls for good measure. In fact,  add every scene Alice Eve appears in - just ghastly casting for an awful character. And those grey uniforms with peaked caps!

The sheer disdain for sense that the production has is exemplified by the fact that Admiral Marcus has a bloody model of his super-secret super-evil spaceship on open display in his office.

Last time of watching,  the main (only?) positive I extracted was that the future cityscapes were very well realised,  even if San Francisco had become surprisingly flat.

In my experience,  most people who dislike Beyond don't seem to have seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 12:42:18 PM
My head canon for Khan's plan is that, believing Marcus has killed all his followers, he attempts to start the Klingon-Federation war (possibly even luring the Klingon "random patrol" to intercept Kirk's mission to do so), whereupon he will side with the Klingons and feed them tactical and technical information so that they can obliterate Starfleet for him. His plans change when he guesses the nature of the torpedoes aboard the Enterprise.

The cure for death, however, also bothers me - although as Bones freezes Kirk to "preserve brain functions" it may indicate the Captain wasn't actually all the way dead to start with, just as near as dammit. It would have worked better for me if the process had been used to cure a handful of other crew members as well and not just Kirk.

The first reboot bothers me in that it takes only a few minutes to get from Earth to Vulcan but seemingly forever to get back to Earth from Vulcan. It could be argued that Nero was taking a circuitous route to give him time to get the codes or whatever from Pike but this doesn't scan for me either - he's just demolished an entire group of starships with apparently little effort so sweeping through a few primitive (from his perspective) border defences doesn't seem beyond his capabilities. Somehow, my head canon misfires every time I try to figure that one out.

Still, I enjoy all the reboots so I have to fall back on suspending my disbelief.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 September, 2018, 12:46:12 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 12:42:18 PM

Still, I enjoy all the reboots so I have to fall back on suspending my disbelief.
That's a very long fall for those films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 01:01:01 PM

Infinitely long - so no chance of ever hitting the bottom!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 September, 2018, 02:40:11 PM
Into Darkness features a scene where Kirk has to "jump start" the Enterprises's engine by beating a giant spark plug into a socket using his fists, which is dumb enough before you even notice that he finally succeeds in making it move vertically downwards by kicking it horizontally.
In the cinema, I recall hearing someone say "it's people" just before the torpedo reveal, and I was thinking the exact same thing at that moment because there was no setup for it to be anything else we'd seen, and the film was so stupid that any reveal would have to be something that a non-Trek audience could understand.
Revenge: everyone is motivated by it, just like in the previous film.  Kirk is avenging the death of a dad for a second time.
Also, the sexism: apart from the obvious ogling stuff and Uhura having no character beyond being a huffy girlfriend, she's also set up to be revealed as practically useless with the dreadful "LET ME SPEAK KLINGON" stuff - whereas in Beyond, she digs in, never takes her clothes off, has her crew's back, and even sacrifices herself to save Kirk, which is nice from a character standpoint, but also actually makes her relevant to the plot now.

Everything about Into Darkness stalls characters and the property exactly where they were, but everything in Beyond moves those characters forward - sometimes jarringly so, as in the aforementioned Kirk now being just as compassionate and - most uexpectedly for NuTrek - clever as he was in the original show/movies to the point I couldn't ratify him with the smug bully from the previous two films.  The worst thing about Beyond may be that it does too good a job in redeeming him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 02:58:07 PM

Why isn't there a sensor in the crews' badges that automatically has them beamed to sick bay if they get spaced? Does Health and Safety mean nothing to these people? Gah.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 September, 2018, 03:22:30 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 12:42:18 PMThe cure for death, however, also bothers me - although as Bones freezes Kirk to "preserve brain functions" it may indicate the Captain wasn't actually all the way dead to start with, just as near as dammit.

I do think this is the intention, with Bones later even making a perfectly-delivered crack about Khan's "super blood" and Kirk being barely dead.  It's not a huge leap to think that an engineered superhuman from the Eugenics Wars might have some kind of cellular repair gizmo in his blood that fixed radiation damage,  it's the fact that Kirk is dead that makes the whole thing daft - I wouldn't be surprised if he was only mostly dead in some original script,  hence the reuse of the torpedo cryo tube,  but this was amped up to full death to give Spock an excuse for some more revenge rage*.

Incidentally,  I do like the opening volcano stuff in ITD,  suitably prime-directive violating Kirk action, with the craziest anti-science solution.  The alien make-up is very effective too.


*if I was Uhura I'd be pretty worried about my boyfriend's tendency towards bludgeoning people with his super-strength in blind rages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 03:58:15 PM

Yeah, I do like Nu-Spock's struggle with his emotions. I think it works quite well.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 September, 2018, 04:56:21 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 September, 2018, 03:22:30 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if he was only mostly dead

Would Kirk have had a better reason than 'to blave' for coming back then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 September, 2018, 08:57:35 PM
Kirk is well known for his tendency to blave - look at "The Corbomite Manoeuver". But it's not inconceivable he was saying "oogle Carol's booooobs".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 September, 2018, 09:18:55 PM

Ooh - I learned a new word! Thanx, guys!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 September, 2018, 10:48:16 PM
Joe, starring Nicolas Cage.  This is one of his more subdued performances, and follows a recent genre that you might call US White Trash Noir.  It's low key and smoldering interspersed with sudden acts of terrible violence.  Cage's titular character becomes father figure to a young man who might otherwise be trapped in a cycle of violence and poverty.  Unfortunately, the wisdom that violence won't solve your problems is then overturned in a tricky third act.  Good, though.

---

Mississippi Burning, starring Gene Hackman and Wilem Defoe.  I haven't watched this since it came out in 1988, so it felt fresh.  It's based on a true story (of racial violence in the 60s south of the US), and follows an FBI investigation into three murders carried out by the KKK.  It caused controversy on release as it had white FBI defeating white KKK and seemed to leave the black community to play faceless victims but at the same time it does expose an uncomfortable history that many like to pretend didn't happen.

The local state authorities refused to prosecute the murders so the FBI had to prosecute under civil rights laws (as in: you violated their civil rights by killing them).  Most of the perpetrators ended up serving around 6 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 01 October, 2018, 08:12:46 AM
The Serengeti Rules.  Fantastic, not totally doom and gloom (but mostly*) film based on Sean Carroll's book, about the game-changing keystone species concept.  If you're at all interested in life on Earth, seeing yet another example of how humans are screwing things up but have at least some limited hope of turning things around in some cases, I'd highly recommend seeing this.



* To be honest, this was far more soul destroying than even the 'family picnic' scene in The House that Jack Built, which I saw the day before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 01 October, 2018, 07:19:53 PM
A Simple Favour. Entertaining thriller that mixes humour in with the twists and turns of the plot and gets the balance about right. Good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 07 October, 2018, 08:17:35 PM
Idiocracy,a chilling documentary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 08 October, 2018, 04:10:50 PM
Humanity Bureau a movie staring Nicolas Cage. If you want to lose 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back, watch this. The highlighted was [spoiler]at the end of the movie all the main characters die so thank the gods no sequels[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 08 October, 2018, 08:02:37 PM
Venom. Left after about an hour as it's a complete mess. Can't even say it was a typically eccentric performance from Tom Hardy, as only one scene (the one in the restaurant) made me chuckle a bit. Maybe the wider Marvel universe can do something with the alien parasite if they get the rights to it, but on the basis of this and the equally bad third Tobey Maguire Spiderman, it needs to be left out in space for a long time to come. Utter pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 08 October, 2018, 08:19:44 PM
Ironically, I had heard that the second half of the film was much better than the first half (not joking).

If I've paid that much money to see something, I'm not leaving until the ordeal is over!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 October, 2018, 10:20:09 PM
Quote from: SIP on 08 October, 2018, 08:19:44 PM
Ironically, I had heard that the second half of the film was much better than the first half (not joking).

If I've paid that much money to see something, I'm not leaving until the ordeal is over!
Something all submissives say to their doms.  ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 October, 2018, 10:02:03 PM
Venom

Not the best film but it was fun. It had a lot of humour and that goes a long way with me.

[spoiler]And a nice taster for the new Spider-Man animation at the end[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2018, 04:37:10 PM
First Man. I imagine that this film had the same effect on me as The Passion of The Christ had on the more visceral variety of Christian, so brace yourselves for some speaking in tongues.

I don't think I have ever felt more completely in a movie than I was during the Gemini 8 sequence,  or the initial moonwalk scene.  And while I accept that this is a movie and not an historical documentary,  I've never really appreciated before quite why Armstrong was the perfect man for the job.

Gosling continues to successfully employ his androidlike acting to stunning effect,  and Claire Foy must be in serious contention for Best Supporting; she's nuanced,  understated, breathtaking.   Everyone else was amazing too,  even Ciaran Hindes' Permanent Caesar was deployed appropriately. I've heard people complain about Corey Stoll's abrasive Aldrin,  but I thought he was perfect, and perfectly loveable.  And even though I haven't quite forgiven Jason Clarke for Terminator Genitals [sic], his poor doomed Ed White is superb.

Oh look,  I could go on,  but I'll summarise my babbling praise by just saying that it is a masterclass in the use of focus - the camera is always fixed on exactly what it should be, and nothing else, eschewing spectacle for what felt like lived experience.  Intimate,
rather than infinite, space.   Further comment on the use of different camera formats and film grades would probably constitute a spoiler.

Absolutely brilliant, go see it, on the biggest loudest Imax screen you can find.


(Irish peeps: my first visit to the Blanchardstown Imax, what a cinema! I may never go anywhere else ever again).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 October, 2018, 05:56:23 PM
I thought it was great that they made a movie about the runners-up in the space race without it ever feeling like they were cataloguing a famous failure, ALA Cool Runnings or Rocky 1.  I genuinely felt like being first to set foot on Luna and then never capitalising on that achievement - in the way the comrades did with the invention of satellite communication and the establishment of manned space stations - was still an important achievement rather than a hollow symbol of the greatness and unity America could never achieve under capitalism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 October, 2018, 06:24:52 PM
While I agree entirely with the general sentiment,  the movie's not about the space race, it's about Neil Armstrong and his part in it (although it does explicitly frame the methodology of the moon missions as a response to being hammered by the Soviets on every point - starting a new approach entirely from scratch so that the Russians' lead in all other areas is irrelevant).

tl;dr: He died for your sins,  Bear! And it was the Jews that killed him!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 October, 2018, 04:52:23 PM
Your comments are proof that the British Labour Party is riddled with... (spins wheel) antisemitism.

Rollerball (2004) - this film is not very entertaining, so now I want war with China.  No wait that's for my review of Skyscraper, I meant: dang this is... okay?
I'd heard this was terrible for various reasons such as director John McTiernan's original (and more violent) cut running to nearer two hours than this 90-minute theatrical version, the removal of any social commentary or satire from the script, and the setting being changed from future America to a fictional but contemporary Eastern European country, and fair enough the end result is a bit choppy in places, but otherwise it holds together pretty well and while not any kind of classic, I still think I enjoyed it more than the dull original, to which, if you squint a bit, this kind of works as a prequel, showing how a bunch of opportunistic scumbags accidentally luck into creating a crowd-pleasing bloodsport meant initially to placate downtrodden workers blowing off steam but finding a wider global audience thanks to innovations in streaming technology.
As for "no social commentary or satire", the setup for the story is that a poverty-stricken kid flees the authorities in his homeland (America) and finds himself essentially cage fighting in the ruins of the Soviet Union in order to distract underpaid miners from their exploitation by corrupt police and politicians owned by gangsters, and the kid's life becomes imperiled when the game is rigged in order to help sell it to Americans - apart from the obvious critiques of the narrative-building of neo-American folklore and late stage capitalism inherent in a violent televised bloodsport based around wacky over the top characters, the implication is that Russian gangsters are influencing US society by promoting violent unrest via the internet (the movie ends with [spoiler]a likely-doomed violent riot by drunken workers[/spoiler]), I mean... there's commentary here, and it's not exactly hard to find, I think reality may just have taken a decade and a half to catch up with satire is all.
Chris "I have no idea who this is" Klein plays a pretty anodyne lead, LL Cool J does about as well as an actor as one might expect of a grown fucking man who calls himself LL Cool J, and Rebecca "I am not going to try spelling it and nor shall I google it" whatsername doesn't get much elbow room to act in a weird tough girl/helpless tottie flip-flop act, but pretty much nobody gets to do anything noteworthy, not even Jean Reno - though Naveen Andrews sort of seems like he's trying for a panto dame thing, which is commendable even if the script isn't going to help him out.

Passable and doesn't outstay its welcome.  These days, I ask literally nothing more of a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2018, 05:13:02 PM
So I've been watching the Indiana Jones films with the kids over the last few weekends when we've had time. The kids have loved them and had a right mard on when we're not had time to watch one... which I've been chuffed with ... except for the fact that .... well... I knew this moment would come.

I've not watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull since I first watched it when it came out. I've approached it with hope that maybe I was wrong, maybe I'm not doing it justice and maybe a second viewing, much later, with a fresh pespective on the world and entertainment I'd find I like it... or at least not hate it as much as I did...

...alas not... much as it warms the cockes that the kids love Indie almost as much as they love Star Wars, it breaks my heart that they haven't yet developed to realise that this, like the prequels is pretty much unwatchable tosh.

I mean its worse than I remember it! Why must my children love the bad with the good... when will I be free of Crystal Skulls and Phantom Menaces?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 October, 2018, 06:04:11 PM

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was excellent, I thought. Well worth digging out.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 October, 2018, 06:11:05 PM
I hated Crystal Skull at first but now it's my second favourite after Raiders. It has its problems but I find it really fun and entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 October, 2018, 06:33:45 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 October, 2018, 06:04:11 PM

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was excellent, I thought. Well worth digging out.

This used to be on BBC1 on a Saturday morning (I think) and I really enjoyed the random, episodes I'd see. I've been meaning to investigate the boxed sets for years, so I might revisit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 14 October, 2018, 06:35:28 PM
Something broke inside me when I watched Crystal Skull. I lost faith in humanity and the future. We're all fucked, and that film is the proof.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 October, 2018, 06:54:37 PM
Ah it's not that bad,  just not... good.  By coincidence I rewatched it the other week too, and while I liked it quite a bit at the time, I find myself less and less enthused as the years pass. Its heart is in the right place, which is as a late '50s sequel to Raiders, rather than a 4th Indy movie, and it's hard to fault Ford and Allen's chemistry,  but by heck is it let down by hopeless new characters and some dire, incomprehensible sequences.

Young Indy is fun, but the bizarrely re-edited DVD boxsets are hard to adapt to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 October, 2018, 07:15:50 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 14 October, 2018, 06:35:28 PM
Something broke inside me when I watched Crystal Skull. I lost faith in humanity and the future. We're all fucked, and that film is the proof.
If Serenity hadn't done that to me already, I'd probably agree with you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2018, 07:52:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 October, 2018, 06:54:37 PM
Ah it's not that bad,  just not... good.  By coincidence I rewatched it the other week too, and while I liked it quite a bit at the time, I find myself less and less enthused as the years pass. Its heart is in the right place, which is as a late '50s sequel to Raiders, rather than a 4th Indy movie, and it's hard to fault Ford and Allen's chemistry,  but by heck is it let down by hopeless new characters and some dire, incomprehensible sequences.

Yeah the trouble is it tried to be a a 50s sci-fi B-movie AND the 4th Indy Film and as such a 30's adventure serial and thus didn't commit to either and therefore work as either. It needed to be bolder in its intent and ambition to change, or be commited to its origins. Rather it failed in both ways.

Ford and Allen were of course brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 October, 2018, 08:11:51 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2018, 07:52:31 PM..ittried to be a a 50s sci-fi B-movie AND the 4th Indy Film and as such a 30's adventure serial and thus didn't commit to either and therefore work as either. It needed to be bolder in its intent and ambition to change, or be commited to its origins. Rather it failed in both ways.

Fair point, but I liked the alien aspect,  I thought it was neat to just make a direct swap between God and his earthly leftovers and aliens and theirs, rather than changing genres. I liked seeing Indy dealing with the von Daniken version of archaeology instead of the Albright one, and in much the same way.

For me the failures weren't really thematic so much as too many awful set-pieces, unlikeable characters and frankly shoddy sets and CGI. The plot, the 50s window dressing and Indy's post-Crusade story I actually enjoyed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SIP on 14 October, 2018, 08:36:22 PM
I can always find something to enjoy in it, especially the Indy character moments. The film would be improved greatly without the dreadful mess that is "Mac".....and we could do without Oxley too for the most part. We end up with too many characters and it gets messy. The CGI jungle sequence is fairly ugly, though it ends well with the ant sequence.

Ultimately, it really falls down in the second half of the film, but I still have a soft spot for it. There is fun to be had if you don't take it too seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 October, 2018, 10:10:56 PM
Inferno (2016). In a word, boring. I'd have to work blue in order to describe my disappointment in this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 October, 2018, 04:19:19 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 14 October, 2018, 07:15:50 PM
If Serenity hadn't done that to me already, I'd probably agree with you.

Woah, what?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 October, 2018, 04:47:54 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 16 October, 2018, 04:19:19 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 14 October, 2018, 07:15:50 PM
If Serenity hadn't done that to me already, I'd probably agree with you.

Woah, what?
When Serenity came out my wife was more excited than I was I think. We had planned to spend the day at the cinema. We'd watch it 2 or 3 times that day. Then Whedon had the utter gall to kill Wash the way he did. My wife was in tears at the suddenness of it all. I wasn't far from it to be honest.

I think we've watched Serenity once since that day, although we'll happily watch Firefly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 October, 2018, 04:48:31 PM
Had a day off yesterday so caught up with a couple on the Netflix watchlist.

First up was Veronica, a Spanish ouija-seance-gone-wrong movie from one of the writer/directors of [REC]. [REC] is top 5 material for me, an absolute stone cold classic in sustained terror, so I went in with high expectations and it didn't let me down. It's brilliantly spooky, very stylishly shot (there was one shot that had me applauding from the couch - thinking about it now it would be really simple to pull off but in the moment it blew my mind and left me really disorientated) and scary in a completely different way to [REC]. Loved it, will probably watch again with the wife over Halloween.

Then watched The Villainess which I was a bit up and down on. The action is incredibly well staged and technically pretty amazing. There are a ton of really long uninterrupted shots (I'm certain there are cuts all over the place but they're masked to give the illusion of one big fluid take) where characters are fighting on motorbikes, leaping out of windows etc. and it's all pretty breathless. Hell, if you want a taster just throw the first 10 minutes on, which is all filmed in first person and is really quite mental.

The story was a problem for me, not because it isn't good, but because it's told in a jump-around staccato flashback method that I found a bit annoying and made a very simple tale needlessly complicated to follow. I was very tired at the time which didn't help but I do think it may have hooked me better with a more linear structure.

The action is amazing but I found a lot of it weirdly unengaging, it was just so frantic and technical that I found myself being distracted by wondering where the edits were and how they pulled off the impossible camera moves and that made me detach from it a bit if that makes sense. I guess I mean I was constantly impressed by the action, but often in a bit of a cold unexcited sort of way.

If you imagine that amazing shot from The Raid 2 where the camera watches a fight inside a car before moving through the window, down the road into another car and then out the other side (which was all done practically and creatively - with camera-men handing the camera around and disguising themselves as seats and stuff) - it's sort of like that relentlessly and to the point where it's a bit numbing, and with what seems to be a lot more CGI assistance.

I'll watch it again sometime, as I say I was very tired and the more I think about it the more I think I'll probably enjoy it more on a second watch. May have just been the wrong film in the wrong mood!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 17 October, 2018, 06:51:11 PM
Started watching Avengers Infinity War on Sunday. We are half way through and in between I watched Doctor Strange on Netflix. It was entraining enough even if the middle bit was all a bit Batman Begins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 October, 2018, 08:11:56 PM
Yeah,  been doing a Phase 3 re-watch ourselves over the past few weeks, in no particular order. There's some truly incredible stuff in there - Black Panther alone is absolutely stunning (and by heck do the kids love it - there's been nonstop 'Wakanda forever!'-ing), and I'd forgotten just how funny Dr Strange is, not to mention Thor Ragnarok which is genuinely hilarious start to finish.

I think we just have Spiderman Homecoming to go.

I know MCU has its problems,  but taken together it is an incredible body of work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 October, 2018, 08:25:03 PM
Venom. Pretty mediocre, I thought. Although Tom Hardy is, as always, very good, the film itself felt to me like a tv pilot. The MCU, as Tordels says, is pretty incredible as a whole and so Venom has a great deal to live up to and, for me, didn't quite manage it. Don't get me wrong, it's no Fantastic Four (the last one - the first two were ace) and if there's a sequel, or a crossover, I'd be more than happy to go and see it. As for the dvd, though, I'm content to wait until it turns up on a car boot sale or in a charity shop.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2018, 08:25:28 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 October, 2018, 08:11:56 PM
I know MCU has its problems,  but taken together it is an incredible body of work.

I've enjoyed some movies more than others, but I think the only one I didn't enjoy at all was Iron Man 2 (which I'll confess I've only seen once and may be judging harshly). I'm fairly kindly disposed towards Age of Ultron — its only real fault is that it tries to do too much (waaaay too much) and, let's be honest, there are worse faults a film can have.

Even the much-derided Thor: Dark World isn't terrible, it's just... off. Somehow, none of its scenes seem to be the right length. It feels like all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order.

But, by and large, that MCU brand is pretty much a guarantee of a couple of hours of decent cinema entertainment — sometimes merely pretty good, often great. That's a hell of a thing over eighteen (?) movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 October, 2018, 08:43:34 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 October, 2018, 08:25:28 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 October, 2018, 08:11:56 PM
I know MCU has its problems,  but taken together it is an incredible body of work.

I've enjoyed some movies more than others, but I think the only one I didn't enjoy at all was Iron Man 2 (which I'll confess I've only seen once and may be judging harshly). I'm fairly kindly disposed towards Age of Ultron — its only real fault is that it tries to do too much (waaaay too much) and, let's be honest, there are worse faults a film can have.

Even the much-derided Thor: Dark World isn't terrible, it's just... off. Somehow, none of its scenes seem to be the right length. It feels like all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order.

But, by and large, that MCU brand is pretty much a guarantee of a couple of hours of decent cinema entertainment — sometimes merely pretty good, often great. That's a hell of a thing over eighteen (?) movies.

20 now isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 October, 2018, 08:52:54 PM
And amazingly No. 20 was great too, despite being a bloody Ant-Man sequel. An Ant-Man sequel fercrissakes, getting just one seemed like a ridiculously fortuitous blip in the space-time continuum, but two?  And two good ones?  Madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 October, 2018, 01:18:50 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 October, 2018, 08:52:54 PM
And amazingly No. 20 was great too, despite being a bloody Ant-Man sequel. An Ant-Man sequel fercrissakes, getting just one seemed like a ridiculously fortuitous blip in the space-time continuum, but two?  And two good ones?  Madness.
Ant-Man is still my favourite of the MCU films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 18 October, 2018, 01:58:42 PM
Venom

Surprisingly tedious. Film takes far too long to get Eddie and the symbiote hooking up. Villain is dire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 October, 2018, 02:13:23 PM
venom is the greatest gay coded love story of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 18 October, 2018, 02:59:01 PM
Yeah, there's some... interesting fan art out there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 18 October, 2018, 05:54:40 PM
Watched Nuts In May for about the millionth time - so much to love about these character observations.

I do wonder how it would be recieved these days though. Would its depiction of Keith and Candice-Marie's values be deemed offensive?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 October, 2018, 06:12:08 PM
Mandy.

An arthouse grindhouse movie - sort of a mashup of Drive and The Evil Dead with Nicolas Cage at peak Caginess. Has a grainy, oversaturated burned-in VHS aesthetic that looks like nothing else out there and the soundtrack and sound design in general is insane, and holy shit is it loud! The plot is so thin as to be almost immaterial - this film is 99% mood and atmosphere which makes it one to see on the big screen - I imagine it would lose a hell of a lot watching it on a TV. No doubt its fans would claim 'that's the whole point' but I felt it took far too long to get going and was at least 30 mins too long, to the point where it really struggled to hold my attention by the end. Wouldn't watch it again, but kinda glad I saw it nonetheless. It's certainly memorable, and people who love this movie are really going to love it.


Sorry to Bother You.

Satirical arthouse movie with a surprising sci-fi twist. Sort of like a feature length, avant garde episode of Black Mirror. Amazing cast, and voice cast (you'll have to see the movie to see what I mean... ). Creative, visually inventive and full of righteous anger but ultimately a bit too unfocused and messy to really get it's message across. Tbh it really lost me in the second half, it just got too out there for me to follow what was happening and what the director was trying to say. Ultimately feels like a surrealist comedy sketch that outstays it's welcome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 October, 2018, 04:58:01 PM
Halloween (2018)

Does exactly what you would assume although there are some very good set pieces along with shed loads of plot holes (as you would assume). Michael kills 5 in the original (this film continues if the films after the original did not happen) and 20 (if my maths is correct) in this one. Some are very, very nasty [spoiler]but at least he did not kill the baby. There are some boundaries that even Michael won't go past[/spoiler] Solid and enjoyable. 6.5/10

The First Man
The opening 90 mins are a solid 5/10. Some good stuff but far too much gazing, navel contemplating, and out of focus art shots for my tastes but the final 45 minutes from the launch of Apollo 11 onwards are mesmerising. Truly spectacular stuff and worth the admission on it's own. If you really want to know what it's like to be on the moon then those last 45 minutes (a 9/10 for those alone) are for you. Overall I give it a 8/10.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 22 October, 2018, 09:39:15 AM
We chose to remind ourselves how good Inglorious Basterds is last night, by watching it again. Creeping to the top of my Tarantino fave list, I think, just edging out Jackie Brown. You can't go back, of course, so the tension has all been used up, but what's left -- dialogue, performance, all the usual Tarantino stuff -- justifies any re-watch, and the the way the whole thing slides into comic absurdity as it takes a left-turn from established history is brilliant. We might just go on a Tarantino binge after this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 October, 2018, 10:31:34 AM
Went to the new Halloween after revisiting the original the night before. Always forget how breathless the last 15mins of the Carpenter film are, so much time spent building tension and earning that finale.

Enjoyed the new one much, much more than I thought possible because I definitely had a bit of cynicism about the idea of making a new Halloween and how it might turn out. I'm also usually dead against the idea of retconning out a load of sequels (did I endure Busta Rhymes karate kicking Myers in Resurrection for nothing?) but in this case the only sequel I'm really fond of is Season of The Witch so it wasn't a problem at all. For me it feels like we've wound up with the best case scenario, something that can sit alongside the original and hold its own, and that really feels like justice for the franchise. Being able to push all those poor follow-ups out the way and have these two be canon gives me a weird sense of closure on Halloween, so I'm really hoping that the huge success it's seeing doesn't then spawn a load of increasingly inferior sequels, because then we're back where we were before.

Loved it, smart, witty, tense and the score was absolutely fantastic. The way Carpenter and his band have updated the themes and fleshed things out and added new life to it is really something special, so glad to have another classic Carpenter soundtrack to add to the collection.

As for that moment Mattofthespurs mentioned, [spoiler]I thought that was genius and very deftly handled. He didn't have to kill the baby for the moment to be scary, just the fact that he walked through the room had the whole cinema tense up with 'no way' energy. I'm sure they could have made more of it or had him ponder or pause then move on, but it was much smarter than that I thought, and those smarts and good choices ran through the film.[/spoiler]

We also went to see Carpenter live at the weekend and then played the Big Trouble In Little China game, so it was a very JC few days really!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 October, 2018, 10:48:44 AM
Oh just to add, I went to Glasgow Cineworld and watched it on their 'Superscreen' and while the screen was nice, they barely dimmed the lights at all when the film came on. Really impacted the atmosphere so I doubt I'd go to a horror movie there again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 11:40:56 AM
Apollo 13. Watched as a sequel to the superb First Man, this holds up really well. Very different in visual style,  and eschewing any sense of the internal lives of the characters, it nonetheless engages you fully in their plight, and the Earthbound hubbub surrounding it.  The zero-G scenes remain spectacular, and the on-board scenes in general are fantastic - unfortunately they sometimes feel like they're not really in the same movie as the external and earthside shots.

I've been a big fan of Paxton since Weird Science, and he was seldom better than his understated Freddo Haise. The Mission Control scenes feel a bit stagey and gung-ho, with lots of swelling music and carved-from-Apple-Pie Ed Harris intensity, but their incredible achievements carry you through that, and at least the determination of Gary Sinise's lucky/unlucky Mattingly is solidly believable.  Hanks and Bacon are Hanks and Bacon,  no more no less,  but that's fine,  and Kathleen Quinlan gives a far more balanced performance than I remembered.

Surprise hit in our house was Ma Howard (Jean Speegle) as Ma Lovell - her brilliant interactions with Armstrong and Aldrin,  and her killer throat-lumpening line "If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it" just about steal the show. Talented family,  those Howards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 October, 2018, 05:32:08 PM
Free Solo
Documentary about climber Alex Honnold and his attempt to be the first person to summit El Capitan in Yosemite National Park free solo - ie no ropes or safety measures. Really well made doc that just breezes by, and Honnold makes for a pretty interesting subject - he's clearly somewhere on the spectrum and has trouble operating in the everyday world and relationships - he often comes across as slightly aloof and callous, but also displays a level of self-awareness and humour that makes him quite a likable guy. Very good stuff, well worth tracking down, especially if you can see it on a big screen.

American Animals
A curious hybrid of heist movie, college drama and documentary by the director of the equally genre-bending The Impostor from a few years ago. Tells the story of four college students who conspire to raid their school's vault of priceless books. The film mostly plays as a straight dramatisation of the events, but it's also interspersed with talking head interviews of the real people involved (including the wannabe thieves themselves),  and as the film progresses the documentary and fictionalised strands cross over in surprising and inventive ways. Evan Peters (who folks here will probably recognise mostly from his role as Quicksilver in the X Men movies) is fantastic as the co lead role, playing a really charismatic shithead. Absolutely gripping movie - funny, shocking, at times almost unbearably tense, with a surprisingly moving and impactful ending. High recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 October, 2018, 06:23:15 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 11:40:56 AM
Apollo 13. Watched as a sequel to the superb First Man, this holds up really well. Very different in visual style,  and eschewing any sense of the internal lives of the characters, it nonetheless engages you fully in their plight, and the Earthbound hubbub surrounding it.  The zero-G scenes remain spectacular, and the on-board scenes in general are fantastic - unfortunately they sometimes feel like they're not really in the same movie as the external and earthside shots.

I've been a big fan of Paxton since Weird Science, and he was seldom better than his understated Freddo Haise. The Mission Control scenes feel a bit stagey and gung-ho, with lots of swelling music and carved-from-Apple-Pie Ed Harris intensity, but their incredible achievements carry you through that, and at least the determination of Gary Sinise's lucky/unlucky Mattingly is solidly believable.  Hanks and Bacon are Hanks and Bacon,  no more no less,  but that's fine,  and Kathleen Quinlan gives a far more balanced performance than I remembered.

Surprise hit in our house was Ma Howard (Jean Speegle) as Ma Lovell - her brilliant interactions with Armstrong and Aldrin,  and her killer throat-lumpening line "If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it" just about steal the show. Talented family,  those Howards.
This is one of my favourite films. I've seen it umpteen times and I still hold my breath during the radio blackout. The cast is outstanding. I can't think of one wrong choice. I remember tears welling up in my eyes when the Apollo rocket lifted off when I saw it in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 09:10:17 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 October, 2018, 06:23:15 PMI remember tears welling up in my eyes when the Apollo rocket lifted off when I saw it in the cinema.

Same here,  but then any indirect contact with the relics of Vostok,  Mercury,  Gemini, Voskhod and Apollo leave me in a state. I was only half kidding last week when I compared First Man to Passion of the Christ: if there's a scrap of religious sentiment left in me, it is fully focused on the seraphim and cherubim of the first astronauts.  And their modern prophet Chris Hadfield,  'natch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 October, 2018, 09:59:10 PM
You'll get me started on THE RIGHT STUFF next...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 11:06:41 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 October, 2018, 09:59:10 PM
You'll get me started on THE RIGHT STUFF next...

We've been cursing ourselves that we didn't preface the visit to First Man with a re-watch of The Right Stuff, if only to keep the emergent trilogy in order.  If I'm remembering rightly, TRS ends with Cooper on the last Mercury launch, so it should dovetail perfectly with Armstrong signing up for Gemini, just as Apollo 13 kicks off with the Tranquility landing.  Gus Grissom plays a distant second fiddle to Ed White (as Armstrong's neighbour and friend) in Last Man, so it would have been nice to see him in the spotlight beforehand.

That's next weekend's family movie night sorted anyway!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 23 October, 2018, 12:46:41 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 16 October, 2018, 04:47:54 PM
Then Whedon had the utter gall to kill Wash the way he did. My wife was in tears at the suddenness of it all. I wasn't far from it to be honest.

I think we've watched Serenity once since that day, although we'll happily watch Firefly.

Ah -for the best reasons then!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 October, 2018, 03:07:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 09:10:17 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 October, 2018, 06:23:15 PMI remember tears welling up in my eyes when the Apollo rocket lifted off when I saw it in the cinema.
Same here,  but then any indirect contact with the relics of Vostok,  Mercury,  Gemini, Voskhod and Apollo leave me in a state.

Think you guys could be the right audience for this, if you're not already aware of it: See You on the Other Side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8LlUrT7MFo).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 October, 2018, 03:55:17 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 23 October, 2018, 03:07:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2018, 09:10:17 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 October, 2018, 06:23:15 PMI remember tears welling up in my eyes when the Apollo rocket lifted off when I saw it in the cinema.
Same here,  but then any indirect contact with the relics of Vostok,  Mercury,  Gemini, Voskhod and Apollo leave me in a state.

Think you guys could be the right audience for this, if you're not already aware of it: See You on the Other Side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8LlUrT7MFo).
If you haven't seen it already you can experience the Apollo 17 mission in real time.

http://apollo17.org/ (http://apollo17.org/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 October, 2018, 04:00:58 PM
In regular rotation on the old MP3, love it. Always spend the LoS bit imagining what it must have been like to be the first to ever see the far side, and to suddenly have the bulk of the Moon between you and every person that ever lived. And then the kick of Jim Lovell's voice.  Pure magic.

That mission is probably the third greatest of all time (After Vostok 1 and Apollo 11) - to leave Earth's orbit for the first time, and for almost a week!  .

EDIT: Oooh,  hadn't seen the Apollo 17 thing, cheers VB!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 October, 2018, 04:06:11 PM
You're welcome TB.

I forgot to say thanks for that link Cosh. I'm downloading it to my phone right now!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 October, 2018, 09:26:16 PM
I've watched Bone Tomahawk over the last few nights. Man I wish I'd had time to watch it in one go as I'd love to have let its different elements and tones wash over me in one go allowing the contrasts to run riot and I assume the brutal ending to hit all the harder.

Its a glorious western, comedy, odd couple (well quartet), horror movie. And somehow it all hangs together. Really enjoyed that... well when I was squirming behind the sofa!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2018, 01:37:17 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 October, 2018, 09:26:16 PM
I've watched Bone Tomahawk over the last few nights. Man I wish I'd had time to watch it in one go as I'd love to have let its different elements and tones wash over me in one go allowing the contrasts to run riot and I assume the brutal ending to hit all the harder.

Its a glorious western, comedy, odd couple (well quartet), horror movie. And somehow it all hangs together. Really enjoyed that... well when I was squirming behind the sofa!
One if my favourites of recent years. Kurt Russell can carry a western like few modern actors can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 October, 2018, 01:46:03 PM
Project Almanac

An MTV time travel movie.

Started off well, then turned all shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 October, 2018, 05:09:52 PM
Apostle on Netflix, starring your man Dan (Stevens) and Michael Sheen, directed by Gareth Evans of the-movie-that-stole-Dredd's-Thunder.

I really rather enjoyed this. The foreboding rural gothic tone, the cultish feel of the island settlement, the tension of violence and danger in every scene, and Dan Steven's turn as a pathologically driven man lurking within the cult's naive yet sinister flock carries every moment of discomfort and fear. He never comes across as anything more or less than capable, fragile but determined in the middle of the enemy. Balanced out with some humanity in the form of the supporting cast, it might well be my favourite horror movie of the year (though I'm still to catch The Endless, a Quiet Place or They Remain).

Short on the explanation but long on what is often referred to as 'Mythos' (i.e. weird, dark supernatural stuff), it's perfect fodder for a Call of Cthulhu game. I'd love to see more of this stuff from Gareth, and more genre from Dan Stevens - with this and The Guest he's winning lots of favour with me - but it's Michael Sheen's passionate prophet that gives the best performance, along with Mark Lewis Jones (Letho of the Witcher, an AT AT captain in Last Jedi) as an absolute drokking madman of menace.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 24 October, 2018, 10:50:20 PM
The Wrestler.Sort of like The Hero but about pro wrestling.Actually,this came before,so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 October, 2018, 08:38:30 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 24 October, 2018, 05:09:52 PM
Apostle on Netflix, starring your man Dan (Stevens) and Michael Sheen, directed by Gareth Evans of the-movie-that-stole-Dredd's-Thunder.

I really rather enjoyed this.

I did too, but something about the set-up just didn't sit right.
I think it was the scale of the island settlement I just couldn't get straight in me head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 25 October, 2018, 08:45:42 AM
The Fog, John Carpenter. [Horror Channel] Some genuine scares I forgot its subtext of Colonial guilt for the founding of America on a lie. Very prescient considering Black Panther and others have mentioned such, Hollywoods understandable fear at what's happening in the world. Carpenters film is worth a rewatch despite its seventies dress code. However, the moment where one of the dead sailors gets up and wanders around to collapse at Jamie Lee Curtis's feet- AND then write the number 3 onto the Hospital floor using a scalpel is daft and adds nowt to what went before.     
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 25 October, 2018, 09:17:45 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 25 October, 2018, 08:45:42 AM
The Fog, John Carpenter. [Horror Channel] Some genuine scares I forgot its subtext of Colonial guilt for the founding of America on a lie. Very prescient considering Black Panther and others have mentioned such, Hollywoods understandable fear at what's happening in the world. Carpenters film is worth a rewatch despite its seventies dress code. However, the moment where one of the dead sailors gets up and wanders around to collapse at Jamie Lee Curtis's feet- AND then write the number 3 onto the Hospital floor using a scalpel is daft and adds nowt to what went before.     
Second only to The Thing in my top Carpenter films. I love the opening ten minutes in particular -- wonderful, slow-burn creepiness. And of course the soundtrack, as always: brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 26 October, 2018, 02:07:38 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 October, 2018, 09:17:45 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 25 October, 2018, 08:45:42 AM
The Fog, John Carpenter. [Horror Channel] Some genuine scares I forgot its subtext of Colonial guilt for the founding of America on a lie. Very prescient considering Black Panther and others have mentioned such, Hollywoods understandable fear at what's happening in the world. Carpenters film is worth a rewatch despite its seventies dress code. However, the moment where one of the dead sailors gets up and wanders around to collapse at Jamie Lee Curtis's feet- AND then write the number 3 onto the Hospital floor using a scalpel is daft and adds nowt to what went before.     
Second only to The Thing in my top Carpenter films. I love the opening ten minutes in particular -- wonderful, slow-burn creepiness. And of course the soundtrack, as always: brilliant.

That's my top two Carpenter films as well. Then Followed by Escape to New York and Assault on Precinct 13.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 26 October, 2018, 02:28:38 PM
The Thing
Halloween
Assault on Precinct 13
The Fog
Escape from New York

That order will vary from month to month.


Apostle:
Grisly but good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 October, 2018, 10:11:46 AM
The Thing
Prince of Darkness
The Fog
Halloween
Escape from New York
In the Mouth of Madness
Assault on Precinct 13
Big Trouble in Little China
They Live
Body Bags

In descending order
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Andy Lambert on 27 October, 2018, 01:06:45 PM
The Fog, The Thing and Prince Of Darkness are my top three from Carpenter.
Halloween for me is tedious and overrated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 27 October, 2018, 03:14:40 PM
Carp is BY far my favourite filmmaker working today, which is sadly easier to say after the death of George A Romero. There's something magnificent in all of his films, even when he's battling a shitty idea or not firing on all cylinders.

I'd put my favourites as:

The Thing
The Fog
Halloween
Cigarette Burns
In The Mouth of Madness
Prince of Darkness
They Live
The Ward

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 27 October, 2018, 03:42:54 PM
Since we're all doing it... my top three are the Apocalypse Trilogy, albeit not in the usual order.

1: Prince of Darkness: maybe not objectively the best, but it is my favourite. Dennis Dun is trapped in the closet, and he will not be saved by the god Plutonium.
2: The Thing: probably objectively the best, and one that always has me tied to the couch.
3: In the Mouth of Madness: A slow-burner, but once the movie cranks up a gear about halfway in, it's superb.
4: Assault on Precinct 13: Darwin Joston should have been a bigger star than he was.
5: Big Trouble in Little China: Just because.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 October, 2018, 05:53:50 PM
My go-to Carpenter movie is Ghosts Of Mars.

Well anyway, moving right along - I Kill Giants.  The book presents a cute metaphor for dealing with things beyond your experience, but the film bets hard on only one interpretation of that material (that the fantasy elements are all imagined), thus changing it from a whimsical tale of a young girl learning to grieve in her own time and turning it into a story about a bullied child's struggle with dissociative paranoia that leads her into violent outbursts, self-harm, arson and life-threatening situations, and the film offers no resolution to this new interpretation of the material rather than a slightly disturbing allusion to an offscreen visit to some kind of Pray The Gay Away camp from which the protagonist has returned with a more socially-acceptable attitude and appearance.  The book gets away with a trite wrap-up that the film can't replicate, so they don't try, thus lots of characters and subplots are just abandoned and never resolved, like the school bully or the bratty brothers who just disappear from the film at some point.  The kid actors are good, but the adults are... uhhhhh... well, the kid actors are good.
I get the feeling they just tried to replicate other entries in this kind of slightly depressing subgenre of literary adaptation (Bridge To Teribithia, Where The Wild Things Are), but while that might work in the realm of saturday morning cartoons where screenwriter Joe Kelly (who wrote the original book!) usually plies his trade cobbling ideas, scenes and jokes from other things together and calling it a day, in practice with something that demands more focus and a tangible start and end point and a director not keen to replicate any of the book's more memorable fantasy visuals, it results in a drab, unfocused and joyless film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 October, 2018, 09:51:18 AM
Saw Halloween yesterday. Enjoyed it very much. A really good slasher. The killing managed to be both funny and scary. Characters making stupid decision getting them killed felt right at home. The ending was brilliant, with some really cool twists. People in the cinema applauded bunch of times towards the end, and it was one of those times when I actually agreed with it happening.

Meyers felt really heavy in every scene he was in. Equal parts terminator and evil cat. He had a bizarre quality to him. Things he did to people. What's even better is that the film doesn't go in trying to explain everything, rather it feels like it's putting it into question: why people are so obsessed with evil getting explained, sometimes almost rationalized.

Laurie's trauma felt like real weight. Having recently seen what trauma can do to a person (esssentially destroying them) I really felt for her. It didn't turn her into some hero or something, it's something she has to carry and deal with, as is her family. Cool to see something else than someone becoming Batman or Lisbeth Salander.

They're apperantly making another one. Regardless how it turns out, I'd be really good with this being an ending to Laurie and Meyers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 October, 2018, 12:14:04 PM
FIRST MAN - loved it. Like Dunkirk, a masterpiece at building tense scenes (even though and especially because you know the outcome). And I love the way they save the showy special effects  for something very special. Utterly immersive. I forgive him for La La Land.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 28 October, 2018, 12:43:20 PM
Well finally got around to watching Venom, was expecting the worst but really quite enjoyed it.  A lot funnier than I expected, the interplay between Venom and Eddy being the highlight, the bike chase was veery entertaining but the final fight a bit of a mess but I suppose should be expected as it was two CGI  messes just going at each other.  3 out of 5 from me, didn't knock it out of the park but certainly better than a lot of the reviews would have you believe.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 12:24:35 PM
Night of the Demon (1957)

The superb early folk horror masterpiece finally has a top dollar blu-ray courtesy of Indicator. There's nothing extra I can add to what I believe is a fan favourite in these parts, it's glorious and one of the icons of 50's brit horror, with effects sequences that cast there influence for decades. If you can swing for the pricey but phenomenal new blu set, do so, it's got all 4 different cuts restored in glorious 2K, as well as substantial material on Casting the Runes as a through line for folk horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 October, 2018, 12:39:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 12:24:35 PM
Night of the Demon (1957)

The superb early folk horror masterpiece finally has a top dollar blu-ray courtesy of Indicator. There's nothing extra I can add to what I believe is a fan favourite in these parts, it's glorious and one of the icons of 50's brit horror, with effects sequences that cast there influence for decades. If you can swing for the pricey but phenomenal new blu set, do so, it's got all 4 different cuts restored in glorious 2K, as well as substantial material on Casting the Runes as a through line for folk horror.

I've got that set, just not had a chance to watch it yet. If you ordered direct from Powerhouse then it came with an exclusive calling card, as seen in the movie, with the faint runes on it.
Might well be my viewing for tomorrow night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 12:58:17 PM
Aye those rune calling cards where a nice touch, missed out on one as I bought in store at Fopp, but a quick message to Indicator and an order of Wolf and The Sinbad Trilogy boxset and they've stuck a card in for me. Good lads, are independent labels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 30 October, 2018, 03:24:32 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 12:58:17 PM
Aye those rune calling cards where a nice touch, missed out on one as I bought in store at Fopp, but a quick message to Indicator and an order of Wolf and The Sinbad Trilogy boxset and they've stuck a card in for me. Good lads, are independent labels.

They are indeed!
It's a great label. Got everything they have put out so far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 October, 2018, 09:16:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 12:58:17 PM
Aye those rune calling cards where a nice touch, missed out on one as I bought in store at Fopp, but a quick message to Indicator and an order of Wolf and The Sinbad Trilogy boxset and they've stuck a card in for me. Good lads, are independent labels.

Whow there Fopp still exists, where does Fopp still exist... I miss Fopp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 10:51:59 PM
They're all over the place, Colin! Not sure about your world of Sheffield but certainly theres a few, I spend way too much in my branch.
https://www.fopp.com/stores/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 31 October, 2018, 05:56:52 AM
Screw Fopp. MVC forever!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 31 October, 2018, 07:17:58 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2018, 10:51:59 PM
They're all over the place, Colin! Not sure about your world of Sheffield but certainly theres a few, I spend way too much in my branch.
https://www.fopp.com/stores/

Arh we had a Fopp which took over from Warp but it closed YEARS ago. I thought the whole company had gone down. Nice to know some are still going... well it would be if I wasn't bitter and jealous...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2018, 11:53:15 PM
STARCRASH - I saw this at the cinema some 40 years ago and, how pretty Caroline Munro is aside, I thought it was terrible.

I watched it again tonight and it really is inept in ways I did not know were possible.

Still, Christopher Plummer talking straight to the audience at the end was 'kin awesome.

STARCRASH? More like STARSHIT!

Prof. Bear? Do you want to come along and defend it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 November, 2018, 10:58:17 AM
Prof might not but I will! Starcrash is crazy, bonkers and inept in a way only and italian knock off could be and I freaking adore it.

Also, missed opportunity Tips! StarGASH surely!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 03 November, 2018, 11:11:51 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 November, 2018, 10:58:17 AM
Also, missed opportunity Tips! StarGASH surely!

Oooh! That's going to be hard to live down!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2018, 02:53:26 PM
Starcrash is terrible, Tips, why would you waste your time watching bad films when there are so many good films out there?

Attack The Block, with its naff blokes in suits monsters and mangled pastiche of inner city patois (the Hi Hatz scenes just gave me flashbacks to the OG Loc missions from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) reminds me of the broad but well-intentioned stabs at creating genre films for the international market that Britain attempted in the 1980s-1990s while the VHS rental economic model was dominant.  Films like Proteus, Hardware, Paperhouse, or Rawhead Rex, although the practical effects in some of those were probably better than those in ATB.
Despite the cheapness, some of the actual shots of the monsters are fantastic, particularly in the final chase sequence, and the matter-of-factness in the way they clumsily move about lends them a physical weight that still eludes even the best CGI, while I'm torn between thinking the glow in the dark Dracula fangs like you used to get on the cover of kids' comics before the EU decided they were too sharp or something - TAKE BACK CONTROL!!1! - are a genius visual gimmick, and thinking they're dead naff.
Actors are good, but John Boyega does nothing except glower and look handsome - I'm not gay or anything, but I probably would.  Doctor Who is okay, and the rest of the cast is on the right side of the "annoying"/"not annoying" scale that kid actors should be.
More charming than it is good, but it's still pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 November, 2018, 03:03:21 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2018, 02:53:26 PM
Starcrash is terrible, Tips, why would you waste your time watching bad films when there are so many good films out there?

A momentary lapse of reason. It was actually amazing to see just how bad a professional product could be. And I don't think everyone was being intentionally bad. Some were trying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 November, 2018, 03:11:26 PM
StarCrash is bad but it has best space-helmet ever (which I believe is a water-tank of some sort).


(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_70dmkwIyY/U5N9ARtFF0I/AAAAAAAAGac/djP8_thB_pM/s1600/star+3.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 November, 2018, 03:14:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 November, 2018, 10:58:17 AM
Prof might not but I will! Starcrash is crazy, bonkers and inept in a way only and italian knock off could be and I freaking adore it.



I won't have a word said against Star Crash. Well, not since I met Luigi Cozzi at the Profondo Rosso shop in Rome (where he often tends the till) and we had a great conversation about Contamination and Star Crash and then he signed some books I was buying.

A thoroughly decent man banging out a Star Wars clone for little/ no money but with his tongue firmly in his cheek.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 November, 2018, 03:15:36 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2018, 02:53:26 PM
Starcrash is terrible, Tips, why would you waste your time watching bad films when there are so many good films out there?


I can do both.

Watched Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri last night.

Superb!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 November, 2018, 06:02:39 PM
A Monster Calls is a carbon copy of I Kill Giants: a movie adaptation of a book about a child coming to terms with the terminal condition of their mother through encounters with a giant monster that may or may not be real depending on how you interpret the story.  I checked and the original publication of I Kill Giants predates A Monster Calls' first printing by three years, and to add insult to injury the movie version of AMC covers the material better and even features similar scenes, so that Three Act Structure For Dummies book is clearly a good investment for budding screenwriters.
A Monster Calls has some serious problems, particularly some reveals being really funny rather than poignant - the bit where the camera suddenly reveals that the kid has trashed his granny's house is comic timing that a sitcom director would be proud of, but it's meant to be a serious "OMG" moment, while some of the bits with the kid and the monster in the graveyard are like a pastiche of a Hollywood movie.
The film does its final reveal well, though, and isn't afraid to embrace whimsy like IKG was.  Okay, but overlong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 November, 2018, 11:57:41 AM
I also watched 3 Billboards. Really enjoyed it but the ending was rubbish. It just stopped. I hate it when they do that in films. I was also a bit weirded out by Woody Harrelson's wife looking about thirty years younger than him.

I also just watched Bram Stoker's Dracula. I loved it. I'd never seen it before but I loved how they gave it a sort of 'Hammer' look and Dracula's powers were really weird and creepy. Loved how his shadow moved independently, a really cool effect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 November, 2018, 03:13:28 PM

I loved the ending of 3 Billboards, just like life where the story never ends (or really begins) and that last smile from Frances McDormand just lit up the screen for me. I think that smile was what the whole story led up to so there was no need for any more in my view.

I strongly agree with what you say about Bram Stoker's Dracula as well - a supremely good take on the story - properly atmospheric and very creepy, I especially loved the scene where Big D transforms himself into rats. (Might have to watch that again, now!)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 November, 2018, 03:30:16 PM
Bram Stoker's Dracula is awful, awful stuff. But I love it all. Even Keanu.

I once enthusiastically recommended it as the closest adaptation of the book to a very cultured senior academic while somewhat drunk; he took my advice, and never looked me in the eye again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 04 November, 2018, 09:30:33 PM
Bohemian Rhapsody - it's cliched, generic, gets everything in the wrong order and misses out all the interesting bits, but by grud, me and mini Rocka loved every minute. An absolute powerhouse performance from the lead (and the guy playing Brian May is just a clone of the man), an it's the second time now that "Who Wants To Live Forever" has made me shed a tear during a movie. So long as you're not a complete Queen hater, this is just a GREAT night out in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 November, 2018, 10:10:35 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 November, 2018, 03:30:16 PM
Bram Stoker's Dracula is awful, awful stuff. But I love it all. Even Keanu.

I once enthusiastically recommended it as the closest adaptation of the book to a very cultured senior academic while somewhat drunk; he took my advice, and never looked me in the eye again.
The most accurate adaptation will always be Count Dracula courtesy of the beeb, with Louise Jourdan as the Count.

I'm fond of many versions of Stokers tome, but more keen on pastiche movies that utilise the Count for original, and sometime delirious, results. The Hammer sequels, Blacula, or Count Draculas Great Loves (basically Dorian Gray with a vampire).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 November, 2018, 10:33:27 PM
Dad's Army. I didn't bother when it was released, but I so wanted it to be good. Best leave it there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 November, 2018, 04:23:24 AM
An interesting weekend double bill of The Spy Who Dumped Me and Blade Runner 2049.

Cartoon violence, plot holes and illogical villains aside, I really enjoyed both of them.  The Spy Who Dumped Me was way more entertaining than the last Bond movie I watched, and had at least one tea-splatter laugh.

2049 was good - a very good movie.  But I didn't understand the need for the Jared Leto character.  I don't get why he's so carelessly wasteful.  And why visit the person at the end?  Isn't that dangerous given that everyone's been magically tracked at all earlier points? 

Still, it's way better than a Blade Runner sequel has any right to be.  I'd have said it was impossible to make a good sequel to that all these years later, and look!  Edward James Olmos gets a look in as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 06 November, 2018, 09:49:59 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 03 November, 2018, 03:11:26 PM
StarCrash is bad but it has best space-helmet ever (which I believe is a water-tank of some sort).


(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_70dmkwIyY/U5N9ARtFF0I/AAAAAAAAGac/djP8_thB_pM/s1600/star+3.jpg)

And don't forget David Hasselhoff's Man-Perm!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sinx on 07 November, 2018, 03:41:49 PM
Bohemian Rhapsody - An opportunity missed to do a really interesting film but sort of comes across as if it were a feature length Hollyoaks episode. The actors look and play the parts well but the dialogue is mostly cliched and stilted. I was pleased with myself when I recognised Mark Martell as being the singer whose voice they used to replicate the Freddie singing parts. 3/5
Halloween - They locked away Michael Myers to study him and try and understand his relentless desire to kill. I would be more interested in understanding his relentless recuperative powers being that he's had a fair old beating in the last thirty years and is still walking around like a man half his age ... maybe he's Wolverine in disguise. Always a problem when they try and apply logical timeline to slasher fantasy. OK entertainment. 3/5
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 November, 2018, 05:33:10 PM
Quote from: Sinx on 07 November, 2018, 03:41:49 PM
relentless recuperative powers being that he's had a fair old beating in the last thirty years and is still walking around like a man half his age

This film is supped to be a sequel to the original and Halloweens 2 onward never happened.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 November, 2018, 09:50:40 PM

Pompeii. Jack Bauer and John Snow try to hack lumps out of each other with swords completely undeterred by the fact that the top's come off the local mountain and loads of fire's squirting out of it.

A total waste of eyesight.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 November, 2018, 01:02:07 AM
Total waste of ink as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 November, 2018, 07:20:57 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 November, 2018, 09:50:40 PM

Pompeii. Jack Bauer and John Snow try to hack lumps out of each other with swords completely undeterred by the fact that the top's come off the local mountain and loads of fire's squirting out of it.

A total waste of eyesight.

Ghastly, innit. Hard to imagine a worse use of such a compelling backdrop. Supposedly we were once going to be getting an Orlando Bloom/Scarlett Johansson* adaptation of the Robert Harris novel too,  so I could be wrong...





*Presumably playing a Nubian slave girl.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sinx on 08 November, 2018, 12:04:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 07 November, 2018, 05:33:10 PM
Quote from: Sinx on 07 November, 2018, 03:41:49 PM
relentless recuperative powers being that he's had a fair old beating in the last thirty years and is still walking around like a man half his age

This film is supped to be a sequel to the original and Halloweens 2 onward never happened.
Ah I see. I guess now that's why Myers is still so full of rage 40 years later ... an enlarged prostate will do that to you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2018, 03:35:47 PM
Starting a rewatch of the Man with No Name trilogy, and by god though The Good, The Bad and The Ugly made a house hold name out of the character and Eastwood, A Fistful of Dollars is a damn good way to open a trilogy. It gets better with each viewing and though I have doubts it will ever eclipse For a Few Dollars More, my favourite of the saga, it's still a top tier western.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 November, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Which order? I am sure you are aware that in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, he picks up the outfit in which he starts Fistful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 November, 2018, 05:24:41 PM
You should read the novels too. He goes hot air ballooning in one of them!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2018, 11:32:46 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 November, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Which order? I am sure you are aware that in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, he picks up the outfit in which he starts Fistful.
In release order. As intended.

Decided to break up the Samurai and Western binge i've been on recently, too much of a good thing ain't so good after all, as Home in Manchester housed a special screening of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and, stop me if this sounds familiar, though not my favourite of the trilogy (that goes to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, a perfect adventure movie) you still get all the hallmarks of 50's Harryhausen wrapped up in a lavish and delightfully garish package. The Dragon in particular is still a joy to watch. I've said it several times, but we did nothing to deserve Ray Harryhausen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2018, 11:35:47 PM
Oh, and I saw Bohemian Rhapsody the other night. Profoundly disappointed, and no one could have wished to love it more than I.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 09 November, 2018, 01:04:46 AM
I just got done watching all the Marvel movies with commentaries, after deciding on a whim to replace my dvds with blu-rays. Talented directors they may all be, but lets just say some of them are less well endowed in the charisma department than others. I'm naming no names,
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 November, 2018, 07:34:42 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 November, 2018, 05:03:46 PM
Which order? I am sure you are aware that in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, he picks up the outfit in which he starts Fistful.

Cool. I wasn't aware of that. Gonna watch it and Fistful back to back when I visit my mum and dad this christmas :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 12 November, 2018, 09:26:36 AM
Sicario 2. Really great, but doesn't hit anywhere near as hard as the first one. Josh Brolin is the Dan Abnett of Hollywood right now, and equally as reliable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 12 November, 2018, 12:43:07 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 12 November, 2018, 09:26:36 AM
Sicario 2. Really great, but doesn't hit anywhere near as hard as the first one. Josh Brolin is the Dan Abnett of Hollywood right now, and equally as reliable.

Brolin is brilliant in it.

I'm intrigued to see where they go with the story in the third movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 November, 2018, 12:25:58 PM
Finally wrapped up the two trilogies on my watch pile.

For a Few Dollars More does what all great sequels do, raise the stakes, gives us another day in tge life of Maco, a second protagonist with his own take to tell, and a cabaret of truly disgusting antagonists. A great second instalment. It still comes a distant second in the saga, though. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a perfect western, and a perfect war movie. Even in it's nearly 3 hour extended cut it doesn't miss a beat or waste a scene, or score, or a line. Leone made something special and I think he knew it.

Contrary to popular opinion I feel The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is the best of the lot. Everything from the casting to the cinematography is nothing short of superb, Harryhausen is at the peak of his game and the movies unremitting sense of fun is infectious. That being said The Eye of the Tiger ain't half bad either, brimming with fun and whimsy. Not a bad weeks viewing at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 November, 2018, 12:33:20 AM
Quite enjoyed OUTLAW KING especially the fact there wasn't a kilt in site. I am a bit rubbish at Scotch (sic) history but I doubt Bruce was quite such a man of the people and warm and noble. Loved the trebuchet!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 16 November, 2018, 02:57:59 AM
Outlaw King was really enjoyable, anyone who has Netflix and likes history this is for you
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 16 November, 2018, 11:05:32 AM
Thanks for the recommendations- I'm looking forward to catching this one.

I got chance to watch Layer Cake with Nano-bolt last night. For me the film has aged well, but my little girl went to great lengths to explain that there was something badly off for the film with it's treatment of the ladies. She loved the final twist, and the juggling of all the plot elements, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 16 November, 2018, 05:11:54 PM
Ready Player One I could rant about pop-culture regurgitation,escapism,death of imagination and aso on...but it has Gundam RX-78-2 vs Mechagodzilla.All my arguments are invalid.
Apparently,Lawgiver Mark 2 is seen at one point,but I missed that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 23 November, 2018, 08:05:26 PM
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs on Netflix

Fantastic. Looks great, with a story for everyone.
Personal favourite is Mortal Remains.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 November, 2018, 08:57:36 PM
Mommy Dead and Dearest, which is a documentary.  Warning: very hard going, but terribly compelling. Tragic, with a sort of desperate hope.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 November, 2018, 11:49:06 PM
Outlaw King. Someday I'm going to understand why filmmakers put a tonne of money and thought into authentic costuming and locations, hire good actors and even depict real events with reasonable accuracy,  and then go ahead and populate their stories with pantomime heroes and villains and their fantasy duels. Bit of a waste, but it did look lovely. Florence Pugh steals the show.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Surprisingly enjoyable, and a more than worthy sequel. Convincing performances from the 'adult' actors sell the idea that they are really the same kids we met at the start (one never doubts Jack Black is actually Bethany,  for example) and there's a really good running gag about penises which had my daughter in stitches. Also the Rock effortlessly commanding the entire screen as per usual.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 November, 2018, 12:57:22 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 November, 2018, 11:49:06 PM
Outlaw King. Someday I'm going to understand why filmmakers put a tonne of money and thought into authentic costuming and locations, hire good actors and even depict real events with reasonable accuracy,  and then go ahead and populate their stories with pantomime heroes and villains and their fantasy duels. Bit of a waste, but it did look lovely. Florence Pugh steals the show.

I read up on the history of The Bruce so I could see how Outlaw/King matched up (especially after witnessing the hilariously unlikely fantasy duel).  So, apart from that, it is reasonably accurate.  What was most acute was the omission of the Harrying of Buchan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrying_of_Buchan) , where Robert, prior to being in a position to defeat the English forces, must first cement his position at home by utterly destroying his political opposition.

In a Hero:Villain setup, the movie makers didn't want to muddy the waters by a) giving the villain a nice hair cut or b) mentioning that the hero ordered "a ruthless exercise by fire and sword which even in an age of violence was regarded as unprecedentedly savage". 

It's like the whole Churchill thing, I suppose.  It's difficult to honor your heroes when you know how flawed they are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 25 November, 2018, 11:50:10 AM
Suspiria: haven't seen the original but really enjoyed this remake. It's quite long but runs at a decent pace and is visually delightful. Didn't find out until after that there is a post credits scene so if you go to see it then you might hang about for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 25 November, 2018, 02:15:04 PM
Ant-man and the Wasp, so this last night. It was a good sequel with some good laughs and action sequences. It is one of those movies you d not need to think to much just watch and enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 November, 2018, 06:52:42 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 June, 2018, 04:29:00 PM
Oddly I thought the opposite for certain parts of the JW2:TFK.  I thought parts of the 'haunted gothic mansion' sequences were way ahead of what I was expecting - the way the camera rotates[spoiler] to follow the Indo Raptor down over Maisie's balcony doors, the jump-scare of its face in reflection of the museum case... and the concept of Maisie herself[/spoiler].  I agree, most of it is pure predictable lowest-common-denominator, most of the return-to-the-island bits being a case in point (although I did like a lot of the volcanic effects, and the Brach vanishing into the smoke), but by the time we got to the deliciously indulgent auction, mass breakout and corridor/rooftop chases I was well into it.

Don't think I would describe myself as well into it but enjoyed it more than I thought I would. As you say, the back to island bits are terrible and obvious (apart from the opening bone retrieval which was suitably horrifying) but once it moves into proper bonkers B-movie in a haunted house populated with comic book villains at an auction the results, though predictable are fun and well delivered.

The four "heroes" are all fucking terrible people but dull as dishwasher too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 November, 2018, 07:00:25 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 June, 2018, 11:19:07 AM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 20 June, 2018, 11:03:24 AM
...and James Corden...

Jesus, why?  Why do they keep putting him in things?  Does he pay them?

Amused by Nephew (about six at the time who was a big Dr. WHO fan) describing the episode with Corden as "Good but why did it have that bloke who is in everything in it?"

Also described Man Of Steel as "Good but that did have an awful lot of explosions".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 December, 2018, 09:23:23 PM
Boy childs birthday and miserable weather took us to see Ralph Breaks the Internet, as much by chance as anything else, we've not seen the first Weck it Ralph but by George this was a find. Immense fun and genuninely hilarious at times. Okay so the over blown end sequence feels a little cliche in its overblownness but I'll forgive it and it kinda works in context of the film as a whole.

Just another animated treat that almost justifies the effort in raising the small little blighters!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 December, 2018, 11:31:55 PM
FB2:The Crimes of Grindelwald.  Funny old title, that.  Starts out as an absolute mess of a film, but it eventually settles down in the second half and manages to be pretty exciting. 

Declaration of interests: long-term Potter fan, enjoyed the first one of these quite a bit.

Visually it is beyond gorgeous: the inter-war cityscapes of London and Paris are densely worked and beautifully lit; the monsters are even more lovely than in the first one - the Chinese dragon alone is a real work of art, and the Kelpie, the Kappa and the Matagot cats are cool too.  Unfortunately the beasts are less of a focus than they were, as we move slowly out into the larger plot: Newt and the way he relates to the creatures remains the best thing about the series.

The only really disappointing visual for me was Hogwarts - again, beautifully constructed and lit to a degree not seen before, but once inside it's depressingly unmagical and small and boring.  The kids in the flashbacks (from the 1910s, I guess) look (and sound) more like the cast of Grange Hill in co-ordinated polyester jumpers than Belle Epoque wizardlings. And this is the other visual disappointment: none of the adult wizards wear robes at all, it's all standard period garb and absurdly well-tailored suits. This I really don't get.   

Casting is terrific, most of the new additions like Zoe Kravitz as Leta and Callum Turner as Theseus are really very good, standouts being Jude Law as a hunky Dumbledore and Joshua Shae as a note-perfect teenage Newt.  But dear lord this where the problems really start: there are FAR TOO MANY OF THEM. 

This film is drowning in characters, endless, endless pointless characters, many with surnames from the Potter series that distract you momentarily as you try to remember things like 'wasn't a Rosier one of the Death Eaters in the Dept of Mysteries?' just long enough to almost miss the name of the next character 'wasn't there a McClaggen in Gryffindor?' and so on... and on... and on.  Some, like Claudia Kim's inexplicable [spoiler]Nagini[/spoiler], are so bewilderingly pointless that you spend most of the movie waiting for them to so or say something relevant - but don't worry, they don't. They're just sort-of there, cluttering up the place.

And of course the worst thing about this overdose is that there are already plenty of characters in Fantastic Beasts, and most of them are pretty interesting, if only they were given five minutes to do something in between all the introductions. For just one example, my personal highlight of the previous film, Alison Sudol's delightful Queenie, previously a warm cheerfully optimistic foil to the others, shows up acting wildly out of character, giving out about an obvious segregation-analogue, mopes around Paris on her own for a bit and then does something completely bizarre: [spoiler]she joins Grindelwald[/spoiler].  The bizarre bit might have been impactful if we had the faintest sense of what was going on with her.

But we don't because now the movie has concocted this unbelievably complex dynastic mystery linking Leta LeStrange to [spoiler]Credence[/spoiler] (remember him?), herself already the centre of a love quadrangle. Leta's another interesting character, but her family history requires the introduction of another half dozen new characters, who are variously sworn to kill/protect each other, across four timeframes.   

We inevitably run out of time to solve that mystery in any meaningful way so we have a solid ten minutes of head-wrecking exposition to bring it to a confusing close, or rather to open another dynastic mystery, this one completely insoluble with the info we have at hand (and even with the info we remember from the Potter books).

And then wedged in around all this we have a very well-done alt-right rally featuring a surprisingly good Depp as the speechifying baddie who really should have been the focus of this dogs dinner of a story all along (his names in the title after all). The climax is pretty ace, to be fair, but there's a level of power on display that makes the maguffin of FB1 seem very puny by comparison. 

Holy crap, this review is already too long and complex, and I've barely been skimming over the surface of this thing!  Did I mention that there are what appear to be teams of aurors from 3 separate national ministries running about? The cool French Ministry archivist? Nicholas Flammel? The circus? The aerial chase through New York? A weird lizard thing? Some MaCUSA (they've stopped calling it that, BTW) guy who turns traitor for no obvious reason?  TOO MUCH.

I can see how this thing would work in a book, a series of largely unconnected wandering subplots and ever-expanding cast of characters and call-backs, that even if they don't resolve eventually arrive in the same place, but as a movie... sheesh! 

I confess I did enjoy it, mainly because I like Newt himself and his creatures tremendously, Law and Depp make for convincing frenemies, and the final act is fairly engaging stuff.  But it so badly needed an editor.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 December, 2018, 11:56:04 PM
Fantastic Beasts II: I agree entirely agree about all of this. There was an assumption that I'd remember a metric fucktonne of stuff from the first movie that rendered at least the first thirty minutes incomprehensible to me. Yes, it kind of settles down into something watchable in the last hour and I didn't hate it, but I thought it was very much the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest of this series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 December, 2018, 01:22:14 AM
I only pretend to be leftwing so I have an excuse to avoid anything with JK Rowling's name on it.  There's no going back from Back To The Future: Part II The Cursed Child.

Atomic Blonde - a decent action movie, but a bog-standard espionage thriller, full of anachronisms and obvious cuts in long-take action scenes, though the action is nice and brutal.  The setting is an interesting choice, but entirely superfluous, as in practice the depiction of "1989 Berlin" seemed to be indistinguishable from the unnamed "Eastern European nation" I recently watched in John McTiernan's Rollerball remake - just some blokes with tight haircuts milling about in long coats looking menacing now and then.  There's also this really weird neon aesthetic in a lot of scenes that make them look like something from one of those CW superhero shows, only shot on film so it looks 10-15% less garish and cheap so I half-expected the ARROW opening credits to start whenever someone with a stubbly chin looked grumpily offscreen.  Continuing the theme, it also lifts the weird set design from tv shows where every room is fucking massive to the point there's a scene with Theron and Boutella in a nightclub toilet cubicle that is legit bigger than my living room.
I also appreciate that the writers/director couldn't decide if they wanted to end their movie with the Most Obvious twist ever or The Dumbest and so instead settled for giving us value for money by doing both, one after the other - thanx, lads.  Theron is great, and is clearly why Liam Neeson is retiring from action movies, though Sofia Boutella is wasted, although she does gay up with Theron if you like that kind of thing.  Which I do - again: thanx, lads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 December, 2018, 11:12:02 PM
Fast and Furious 5 - What can I say? I like superhero movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 07 December, 2018, 01:46:18 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 December, 2018, 01:22:14 AM
There's also this really weird neon aesthetic in a lot of scenes that make them look like something from one of those CW superhero shows, only shot on film so it looks 10-15% less garish and cheap

No-one shoots on film anymore apart from a few outliers and luddites like Nolan, PT anderson, and big studios for the nostalgia porn of the Star Wars saga, and serious, important DCEU films – because WB thought it would make them more like Nolan films and less like Marvel.

That's partly why a lot of TV and film can look generally the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 December, 2018, 08:42:43 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 December, 2018, 11:56:04 PM
Fantastic Beasts II: I agree entirely agree about all of this. There was an assumption that I'd remember a metric fucktonne of stuff from the first movie that rendered at least the first thirty minutes incomprehensible to me. Yes, it kind of settles down into something watchable in the last hour and I didn't hate it, but I thought it was very much the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest of this series.
This was a big disappointment for us. It should've been much better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 December, 2018, 09:41:32 AM
Definitely should (and could) have been better,  but not a total disaster either.

Anyone have any theory on how Grindelwald has obvious mastery of the Elder Wand,  despite being defeated by Tina in the first one (as per Draco's defeat of Dumbledore, then Harry's defeat of Draco)? Given that this 'master of the Elder Wand' business is much of the plot of Deathly Hallows, and largely the cause of [spoiler]Snape's death and Voldemort's defeat[/spoiler],and the whole FB2 movie campaign is draped in the Deathly Hallows symbol despite the wand being the only one that appears, it seems far from a minor problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 December, 2018, 03:02:42 PM
Fans: We love Harry Potter but a tad more diversity would be nice-

Warner Bros: [spoiler]Voldemorts snake was a Korean lass all along![/spoiler]

Fans: No not like that-
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2018, 03:56:57 PM
If you've been watching JK Rowling's bitter descent towards conservatism over the last few years of social media, you would know it was far more likely a case of OH YOU WANT DIVERSITY DO YOU WELL I'LL FUCKING GIVE YOU DIVERSITY YOU BUNCH OF UNGRATEFUL CUN
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 December, 2018, 04:02:19 PM
Have to assume that particular piece of cackwomblery was Jo's idea, and it's a truly terrible one. It also detracts from Harry being an [spoiler]accidental human horcrux [/spoiler] if Voldemort had already made one out of a person.

It's noticeable that all the non-white characters, other than Leta who was sort-of introduced last time, are totally superfluous, with all the hallmarks of last-minute shoehorning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 December, 2018, 05:01:24 PM
Venom - menIMM ummmmumm umm-mm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CdcCD5V-d8) - is easily the worst superhero movie I've seen in a long while.
I've got lots of time for Tom Hardy but I have absolutely no idea what he's doing here, as far as I can tell doing an impression of those tv actors that seem to thrive on doing a Tom Hardy impression, like that guy who played Norman Bates' brother in Bates Motel, or Kenny Johnson from The Shield and SWAT.  The script clearly has the Eddie Brock from the comics in mind - an intense but charismatic presence who could easily slip into some kind of delusional psychosis in which he believes himself to be doing heroic, admirable work that justifies his violent acts and even puts a sheen on his selfish quest for vengeance, but Hardy plays the character as a flake and a stumblebum who's never impacted in any meaningful way by what happens around him.  There's a bit where the story skips forward in time by six months and Eddie's life is supposed to be in ruins at the hands of a petulant Elon Musk-style billionaire, but Eddie is still exactly the same character, still living in a huge apartment, still riding an expensive motorbike, still drinking in bars and giving away his seemingly endless supply of money to homeless people/  He pays lip service to being sad about his fiance ditching him, but never actually shows it.  The rest of the cast don;t make much of an impact, though a brief glimpse of [spoiler]Woody Harrelson as Kletus Cassidy[/spoiler] was nice.
I'd be lying if I sad the film wasn't entertaining in places - they make an effort to differentiate Venom from Spider-Man in how he moves, fights, swings around, etc, and it really pays off in places like when he's running from the cops, but these moments are too brief, and the transition between them and Eddie Brock stumbling about in a sweaty hoodie are so clumsy they actually draw attention to where the CGI stops and starts, and maybe it was because I didn't realise it was coming, but the timing of Stan The Man's cameo was pretty much perfect, but by and large, the bad and the indifferent material outweighs the good.  In the words of Bernard Black, it's dreadful, but it's quite short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 09 December, 2018, 01:25:20 PM
Mortal Engines, quite entertaining and some nice miniature work I do believe not all CGI (though there was plenty of that too).  A tad predictable in spots and even though it was very Steam Punkish it definitely cribbed quite bit from Starwars I think [spoiler]i saw the Hester I'm your father bit coming from along away off[/spoiler].  Unfortunately it'll probably flop as it isn't a remake, sequel or super hero movie.
I recommend though if you get a chafe definatly worth a watch.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2018, 09:23:32 AM
Bohemian Rhapsody.

So sue me, I liked it a lot. Queen was the soundtrack of my youth so the recreations here were beltingly done.

Shamelessly emotionally manipulative and possibly more historically inaccurate than Braveheart. But top performances (Timmy form Jurassic Park is great), top songs and Mike Myers in terrible terrible self aware gag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 December, 2018, 10:03:51 PM
Finally got around to watching Slow West which I recorded an age ago. You know there's a type of modern western that is a little laconic, yet often says much. Almost whimsical but laced with violence and grit (true or otherwise) and I love them.

This is one of those. A Western dreamscape, a wonderful story of the power of unrequited love. Superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 December, 2018, 10:15:55 PM
Krampus.

Been hearing more and more the last few years about how this is a modern Christmas cult classic, so gave it a watch the other night. It's a Christmas-themed horror/comedy very much in the vein of Gremlins and probably intended for the same young-ish audience.

I liked certain aspects of it lot. The cast is great and it has some really terrific creature designs and visuals, but overall as a film it didn't really click for me. It has amusing moments, but isn't imo funny enough to stand alone as a comedy. I also didn't feel like I got to really know the characters enough to feel emotionally involved when it starts to unravel. It also doesn't really have the same sense of rules that Gremlins has regarding the supernatural threat and there isn't much buildup - it just takes a sudden jarring swerve into monster movie chaos after the first 30 minutes of dark family dramedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2018, 11:31:45 PM
Halloween (2018) - more like uhhh HalloWANK.
This is the film that cemented in my mind that Hollywood is officially cancelled.  Nothing new in the tank, just recycling brands with soft reboots that ignore producer or fanboy head canon ala The Force Awakens.  I should actually have thought this with The Predator, which is a good 1980s-style b-movie romp, it just has fuck all to do with the Predator franchise, but that was actually entertaining, while Halloween is just a sub-par slasher movie cruising on the reputation of the original and the premise of being the only "true" sequel to a genre classic rather than just the third reboot of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 December, 2018, 11:42:25 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 10 December, 2018, 10:03:51 PM
Finally got around to watching Slow West which I recorded an age ago. You know there's a type of modern western that is a little laconic, yet often says much. Almost whimsical but laced with violence and grit (true or otherwise) and I love them.

This is one of those. A Western dreamscape, a wonderful story of the power of unrequited love. Superb.
Adding to my ever growing list of To Watch Westerns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 December, 2018, 05:57:01 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 18 June, 2018, 08:23:47 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 June, 2018, 05:53:45 PM
Hereditary.

Very good film. Slow burn in the first hour, but necessary and then loses it's shit (in a good way) in the second hour.

As a seasoned horror fan, for at least forty years, there were four sequences that sent genuine chills up my spine. Compare this to The Sixth Sense where this happened twice.

Has a good 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to it.

Recommended if you like creepy horror.

7.5/10

I mostly agree, although it seemed a bit muddled at times, but maybe some processing will iron that out. A brilliant performance from Toni Collette plus an unsettling atmosphere from the start make this an overall hit.

Watched this recently too; some of it is horrifying in a way that has seeped into my brain and made me uneasy for days.

These bits were the [spoiler] family's reaction to the awful decapitation though, and the fact that the poor mam had to find Charlie's body in the car[/spoiler].

Things get a little bit silly when [spoiler] people start flying and chalks write on boards though,[/spoiler] and I can't help thinking it would have been better without the supernatural elements at all (in a Kill List kind of way, perhaps).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 December, 2018, 09:31:20 PM
I didn't like The Predator. The whole premise regarding the autistic son .. there's nothing wrong with having autism so [spoiler]what the heck was that people with autism are the next step in human evolution plotline all about?[/spoiler]

Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 December, 2018, 11:31:45 PM
Halloween (2018) - more like uhhh HalloWANK.
This is the film that cemented in my mind that Hollywood is officially cancelled.  Nothing new in the tank, just recycling brands with soft reboots that ignore producer or fanboy head canon ala The Force Awakens.  I should actually have thought this with The Predator, which is a good 1980s-style b-movie romp, it just has fuck all to do with the Predator franchise, but that was actually entertaining, while Halloween is just a sub-par slasher movie cruising on the reputation of the original and the premise of being the only "true" sequel to a genre classic rather than just the third reboot of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 December, 2018, 09:36:34 PM
I don't normally watch horror movies but I gave this a go and regretted it as scenes from the movie kept coming back to me usually when I was just about to fall asleep.

For me it was [spoiler]the mother on the roof and sawing her own head off, the decapitated body floating into the tree house and the naked people just appearing in the house[/spoiler].

Genuinely creepy.

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 11 December, 2018, 05:57:01 PM

Watched this recently too; some of it is horrifying in a way that has seeped into my brain and made me uneasy for days.

These bits were the [spoiler] family's reaction to the awful decapitation though, and the fact that the poor mam had to find Charlie's body in the car[/spoiler].

Things get a little bit silly when [spoiler] people start flying and chalks write on boards though,[/spoiler] and I can't help thinking it would have been better without the supernatural elements at all (in a Kill List kind of way, perhaps).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 December, 2018, 11:33:10 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 12 December, 2018, 09:31:20 PM
I didn't like The Predator. The whole premise regarding the autistic son .. there's nothing wrong with having autism so [spoiler]what the heck was that people with autism are the next step in human evolution plotline all about?[/spoiler]

I enjoyed The Predator because it was hokum, which is also a handy shield against many - but not all - of the criticisms leveled against it (IE: there's no excuse for hiring a convicted nonce).
Technically, the film doesn't actually contend that [spoiler]autism is an evolutionary leap - a character points out that some have speculated as such, but that character - a biologist - does not express any personal faith in the notion, and why the Predator is interested in the child is open to interpretation because it's not seeking him out because of autism specifically, it's seeking him out because he's displayed potentially useful abilities in accessing the Predator's technology[/spoiler].
In the context of a sci-fi b-movie, the idea that autism gives you superpowers has to be viewed as no more reliable or believable a theory than that of climate change being caused by aliens.

As dumb and tasteless as the autism stuff is, I'm also not sure if you want to pick holes in the movie's depictions of mental disability that you should start with someone on the higher functioning end of what is acknowledged to be a very wide spectrum of behaviors, certainly not when there is a literal bus full of mental patients suffering from "hilarious" forms of PTSD right there on the screen - including [spoiler]one suicidal character glamorously topping himself in the final act.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 14 December, 2018, 12:40:29 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 11 December, 2018, 05:57:01 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 18 June, 2018, 08:23:47 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 June, 2018, 05:53:45 PM
Hereditary.

Very good film. Slow burn in the first hour, but necessary and then loses it's shit (in a good way) in the second hour.

As a seasoned horror fan, for at least forty years, there were four sequences that sent genuine chills up my spine. Compare this to The Sixth Sense where this happened twice.

Has a good 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to it.

Recommended if you like creepy horror.

7.5/10

I mostly agree, although it seemed a bit muddled at times, but maybe some processing will iron that out. A brilliant performance from Toni Collette plus an unsettling atmosphere from the start make this an overall hit.

Watched this recently too; some of it is horrifying in a way that has seeped into my brain and made me uneasy for days.

These bits were the [spoiler] family's reaction to the awful decapitation though, and the fact that the poor mam had to find Charlie's body in the car[/spoiler].

Things get a little bit silly when [spoiler] people start flying and chalks write on boards though,[/spoiler] and I can't help thinking it would have been better without the supernatural elements at all (in a Kill List kind of way, perhaps).

In a light year for horror, Hereditary has to top most lists.
I agree that it could have been improved- maybe with a little bit of restraint, but I quite enjoyed it.
The re-watch too, only then catching the occult sigil on the specific telephone pole that [spoiler]decapitates little demon Charlie[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 December, 2018, 09:13:34 PM

Hereditary. I liked the look of this film more than the content, especially the way the sets looked like models - as if . Despite finding the story very dull, I did enjoy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 December, 2018, 09:20:12 PM
... [spoiler]the mother hiding on the wall in the shadows before scuttling away noiselessly[/spoiler] behind the young lad - that scene did impress me and will stay with me for a long time. Apart from that, I found it a bit meh. I guess stylish ghost/demon stories just aren't my thing.

Sorry about the split post - some kind of ghost in the machine, I guess.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 December, 2018, 09:44:23 PM
I greatly enjoyed Hereditary, one of the three great horror movies of the year in my books.

Nabbed the blu of The Legend of the Lone Ranger so gave it a whirr this afternoon. It's fun to see the story of John Reid re-imagined for the 80's HBO scene, and utterly worrisome dubbing not withstanding it made for a fun Sunday (or friday, working weekends messes up my leisure time) morning duvet viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 December, 2018, 11:23:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 December, 2018, 09:44:23 PM
I greatly enjoyed Hereditary, one of the three great horror movies of the year in my books.


Can you tell me the other two?  I'm looking for decent horror films to watch on these cold winter nights.  I watched A Quiet Place recently too; with Jimfromtheoffice.  I liked it but didn't think it quite lived up to the reviews.  Though, as I said, Hereditary lost me a bit when the supernatural elements took over, I found it way scarier - I think the mother's reaction to the [spoiler] awful way her son handled her daughter's death[/spoiler] will probably stay with me forever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 December, 2018, 11:48:46 PM
A Quiet Place was one of them, the other was the utterly bizarre Suspiria remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 December, 2018, 12:38:45 AM
Cheers, HM.  I was wondering if Suspiria was worth a watch - I'll give it a go.  I watched the original years ago; while I can't quite remember what it was about I remember enjoying it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 December, 2018, 07:50:06 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 December, 2018, 12:38:45 AM
Cheers, HM.  I was wondering if Suspiria was worth a watch - I'll give it a go.  I watched the original years ago; while I can't quite remember what it was about I remember enjoying it.
Argento's Suspiria is in my top 10 horror films of all time.

For that reason alone I am approaching the re-make with extreme trepidation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 December, 2018, 09:43:13 AM
It's a very different beast than the original, a more muted, bitty horror that gets under your skin rather than dazzle you like Argentos. My vote for best horror remake (even though it's resemblances to the original are minimalist, it's more an alternative retelling of the Mater Suspiriama short story) of the decade.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 December, 2018, 02:32:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 15 December, 2018, 09:43:13 AM
It's a very different beast than the original, a more muted, bitty horror that gets under your skin rather than dazzle you like Argentos. My vote for best horror remake (even though it's resemblances to the original are minimalist, it's more an alternative retelling of the Mater Suspiriama short story) of the decade.

Cool, think that's going to be my Sunday afternoon hangover viewing.  Probably not a bad thing to deviate from the original; remakes that are too derivative (Psycho with Vince Vaughn, FFS] don't always work.

(Afterthought - except for when they do, like Scarface and Cape Fear.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 15 December, 2018, 05:30:03 PM
Just come back from seeing Aquaman

Biggest pile of shite I have seen at the cinema in many a year and I have a Cineworld unlimited card and go to 40-50 films a year.

It's fucking terrible. Awful script, nonsensical story line, terrible acting and just awful.

There are some nice scenes, but not many. The descent into the Kingdom of the Trenches is pretty neat but in a film that run for a million hours 143 minutes these are few and far between.


I have just come home and bleached my eyes. I may not see again. It'll be worth it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2018, 07:59:03 PM
Inclined to agree with Matt about Aquaman in every particular. 

Some of the surface sequences in the second act are fun (the Sicily chase, mainly), Momoa has occasional flashes of charm, and I did like some of the creature designs quite  a lot, but if it wasn't for Amber Heard's décolletage I fear I would have fallen asleep more than once.  It managed to be shockingly pedestrian and drawn-out while at the same time wildly overstuffed and more than a little crazy. Or to put it another way, despite excruciatingly long sequences of exposition, no single element ever gets time to be developed (example: in about 20 minutes we get through previously-unseen kingdoms of [spoiler]merpeople, crab people, deep-ocean-trench people and pterodactyls at the Earth's core, without ever getting to know anything about any of them[/spoiler]).  The de rigueur climactic battle that takes up much of the trailer is between King Orme and "The Kingdom of Brine", a bunch of creatures we were never even introduced to - but they went to the bother of hiring John Rhys Davies for the two lines that their single talking representative has.  I won't even comment on Julie Andrews' bizarre contribution, or what the point of casting Dolph Lundgren was supposed to be.  Wasteful, and frustrating.

There's absolutely no point picking holes in any of it, cos it's all holes but but but: [spoiler]Orme sends singulaly unimpressive tidal waves to crash into the world's coasts, specifically including Maine, but when we see the Currys' lighthouse there's no hint of damage - even the rickety landing stage is intact. Ditto all of Sicily. Speaking of Sicily, the map they find there points the way to the deepest ocean trench giving access to the hidden ocean at the Earth's core... in the Med?!? [/spoiler]. Oh i need to stop, we'll be here all night

The de-ageing craze continues apace with what seem like rather gratuitous jobs on Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe, and a bizarrely unrecognisable shot at Temuera Morrison.  Actually, Morrison isn't half bad in this.

On the positive front, my wife assures me that Jason Momoa remains a very fine figure of a man, and even on the rare occasions when he is wearing a shirt on it appears to be painted on.  Take that as you will.

The real disappointment is that a film obviously designed to capitalise on Aquaman's surprisingly enjoyable turn in Justice League... doesn't. Everyone around him is so grim and serious all the time that the brief glimpses of that humour seem utterly out of place without other lighter characters to play off.  Oh, and large chunks of the third act are lifted from How To Train Your Dragon 2, but not in a good way. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 December, 2018, 08:21:24 PM
I'm just in the middle of watching Disney's 3d animation Christmas Carol.  I'm a sucker for a Dickensian Christmas and they've done a decent job of it.

I can't help thinking, though: I don't know if Brian Blessed has ever played the Ghost of Christmas Present, but if not, somebody's missed a trick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 December, 2018, 08:31:41 PM
According to IMDB, he played him in the Roland Rat version!

I'm not mad about the Disney Christmas Carol (I'm watching it too!), but it's certainly a faithful adaptation. My go-to's are Muppets, Alastair Sims' and Patrick Stewart's ones, and of course Scrooged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 December, 2018, 09:31:20 PM
Ant-Man and the Wasp - really good fun.  I liked the family themes and smaller stakes than usual for a superhero movie, and I also liked the legacy themes going on in regards to the superhero mantles and it has not gone unnoticed at where this is playing out in the greater scheme of the MCU as founding members reach the end of their tenure and the depressing inevitability of a Black Widow movie slowly begins to crush my enthusiasm.
Liked Michael Pena's turn, though it just got me thinking of how he - like the charismatic Donald Glover - was so joyless in The Martian.  Larry Fish is usually good value, but like Walton Goggins seems a bit wasted, possibly inevitably in a piece with such great character work on display elsewhere.  The leads are terrific, even the de-aged stuff doesn't look half as duff as it usually does, though if I was an SFX guy I would totally have stitched Kirk Douglas' head on the young Hank Pym to see if anyone noticed and then pretended the original brief was confusingly communicated - this prank would have cost a mere 2-3 hundred thousand dollars and I am sure it would be taken in good spirit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 December, 2018, 01:14:18 AM
FAST AND FURIOUS 6

New drinking game, knock back a shot anybody in the film says the word "family".

Just kidding, you'd die.

Like Roger Moore as Bond, knows exactly how ludicrous it is and is all the better for it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 16 December, 2018, 03:23:41 AM
Mortal Engines, if you can look beyond the concept of giant cities then it is not to bad. The soundtrack is the best part of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 16 December, 2018, 12:54:35 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 15 December, 2018, 08:31:41 PM
According to IMDB, he played him in the Roland Rat version!

I'm not mad about the Disney Christmas Carol (I'm watching it too!), but it's certainly a faithful adaptation. My go-to's are Muppets, Alastair Sims' and Patrick Stewart's ones, and of course Scrooged.

I really want to watch the Roland Rat version now.  I haven't seen the Patrick Stewart one, but I've heard him read the audiobook, and it was perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 December, 2018, 01:00:00 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 16 December, 2018, 03:23:41 AM
Mortal Engines, if you can look beyond the concept of giant cities then it is not to bad.

Giant cities isn't a particularly out there concept.

A Star Is Born - apparently the fourth remake of a film from the 1930s, and with its odd relationship with suicide and alcoholism, you can tell we're dealing with the product of a different age, modern setting or no.  A rambling and overlong film, it goes to lengths to avoid seeming like it's taking the piss out of its audience by substituting soft rock songs for country music and "tinnitus" for cancer, but this is basically a parody of the cliches of a country song about a good old boy what loves a woman and gets a dawg but is undone by his hard drinkin ways yee haw.  It pretty much hinges on death in the final act which is shot in an unintentionally funny way, as its central premise of a star on the wane is never adequately portrayed onscreen for my money, especially as the fall from grace is a central tenet of US country music narratives and you'd need to do something distinctive to make it seem like something other than a journeyman version of a well-worn tale, but we're just expected to buy that a character pissing themselves is somehow a step too far for an industry which regularly rehabilitates wife-beaters and even the odd murderer.
Ah but what do I know?  This has made like a quarter of a billion dollars by now.  It was alright, but I can't see myself revisiting it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Paul faplad Finch on 16 December, 2018, 02:29:15 PM
New Spider-Man. Was worried it would all be lost on me because I don't know any of the characters (other than PP, obviously) but within minutes I was hooked and the whole thing was just joyous from start to finish.

Probably my favourite Spider-Man film, if I'm honest, and good enough that I wanted to sing it's praises so badly I actually engaged with other humans in something more than grudging grunts. That's powerful movie making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 16 December, 2018, 05:16:54 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 16 December, 2018, 12:54:35 PM
I really want to watch the Roland Rat version now.

On your own head be it...
https://youtu.be/haevGvS9E9g?t=2804 (https://youtu.be/haevGvS9E9g?t=2804)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 December, 2018, 05:28:24 PM
That's the one, rat-fans!  There's some more Blessed early on and some pre-incident Leslie Ash at the mid-point, if that's your thing.  You'll need a fairly strong constitution unless you're judicious with the slider.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 December, 2018, 07:11:21 PM
Agua hombre For me it was like seeing Star wars, Lord of the rings and Big trouble in little china at the same time. Big, campy weird fun. Had a blast watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 December, 2018, 07:16:08 PM
Another thumbs-up for Water Thor here.

Easily the best DCEU movie that isn't Wonder Woman. It's as dumb as a box of rocks, but it looks terrific, coasts on Momoa's substantial charisma, and manages to be a lot of fun along the way. ‬Extra bonus points for action scenes where I actually knew what was going on.

If DC's first two 'universe' movies out of the gate had been Wonder Woman and this, they'd be having very different conversations in the executive boardroom right now.

(Although: please insert obligatory comment about muddled, noisy, over-CGI-ed final act here.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 December, 2018, 09:34:19 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 December, 2018, 07:16:08 PM
(Although: please insert obligatory comment about muddled, noisy, over-CGI-ed final act here.)

Thought it was a bit much at first, but then I saw [spoiler]Arthur enjoying himself riding in on a gigantuous sea food while commading fishes.[/spoiler] Couldn't help but to enjoy it. He earned it, especially with the abitility of his not always seen in a positive light.

Another thing was after [spoiler]defeating his brother Orm[/spoiler] and [spoiler]telling him "when this is over. We'll talk."[/spoiler]. I thought that was quite nice. Especially [spoiler]after having told him why he wanted to meet his little brother.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 December, 2018, 10:04:43 PM
(Nu)Ghostbusters what was on the telly last night and I recorded... and was okay I guess.

I mean it wasn't the shot for shot remake that the trailer made me fear it was going to be, but then it did try a little too hard with the references, cameos etc. It was all a bit Force Awakens at points - though loved Dan Ackroyd's bit.

There was some genuinely great bits. Loved the 'Don't be the mayor from Jaws' bit. Thought the bits between Kristen Wiggs and Melissa McCarthy were great (though I must admit to being a bit in live with Wiggs). I though Chris Hemsworth was superb.

Or bits sucks... about the first hour to be honest and vast chunks didn't make a lick of sense. Also I think Kate McKinnon was trying to channel Bill Murray, I mean seriously don't even try that, no one can do Bill Murray like Bill Murray and I found her absolutely infuriating.

So over all it was watchable but I'm glad I didn't spend any money going to see it at the cinema or buying it on DVD, which I almost did a few weeks ago. Oh still better than Ghostbusters II!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 December, 2018, 10:13:37 PM
Mmmm, to my surprise my kids were very impressed by the non-fatal resolution of Aquaman  Other than [spoiler]Manta's dad and the king of the mer-people[/spoiler], none of the characters died, heroes and villains alike (faceless extras galore, mind).  You'd know it wasn't a Disney! 

I've a high tolerance for stupid movies,  but I'm being hard on Aquaman because I feel it wasted too many opportunities to be good. The script was utterly dire and gave the cast hardly any chance to shine, and the world was poorly communicated,  despite the obvious buckets of effort that went into creating it. It's not good when I'm almost dozing off during action sequences.

All that said,  there's no doubt it's at least as good as Justice League, which puts it in joint 2nd place as far as DC movies go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 16 December, 2018, 11:21:16 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 16 December, 2018, 05:16:54 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 16 December, 2018, 12:54:35 PM
I really want to watch the Roland Rat version now.

On your own head be it...
https://youtu.be/haevGvS9E9g?t=2804 (https://youtu.be/haevGvS9E9g?t=2804)

Well, I wasn't expecting that.  Here goes...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 December, 2018, 11:26:57 PM
Sabata

Lee Van Cleef once again rides out into the wild untamed western frontier, this time as a bounty hunter heavily invested in the conspiracy surrounding a bank robbery. Standard western fare elevated by a lovely sense of world building and a top tier cast for the spagball western genre. Recommended for those interested in if Colnel Mortimer or Angeleyes ever got their own movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2018, 01:36:09 AM
First Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4) - the people in this are either boring or mean.  Neil Armstrong is boring and everyone else just makes fun of him for it, with his wife asking people if they got any interesting goss out of him and journalists sniping at him in press conferences with cruel jokes about his acting ability with questions like "how would you describe the feeling compared to buying a car?"  To be fair, Neil is probably bored by the lengthy and weightless SFX sequences and I can't say I blame him for checking out.
Buzz Aldrin is also a bit of a tactless chump in this, which for some reason annoyed me.  The stuff about Neil's dead daughter I found ghoulish.  This charts a course through a moment in history of no small significance and gluing on a dead kid subplot that basically amounts to some Michael Bay visuals seems out of order, though no doubt it will be cited as the emotional backbone of the film rather than just another of the borderline comical string of deaths that follows Armstrong around.  I don't feel I had a handle on Armstrong.  The film follows some threads about how the moon landings were a political stunt because the US kept getting cock-blocked by the commies, yet we don't see the American flag being planted on the moon, the whole point of the mission, or the decision processes by which Armstrong was chosen over the slightly more engaging Aldrin or... uh... the other one - was there a third guy?  Well anyway, we don't see why Armstrong - a block of wood whose value seemed to be entirely in his skillset and experience rather than his charisma - gets to be the first foot on the moon and the first voice to relate the experience back to a waiting Earth, and not Aldrin, who in later life wrote books and punched conspiracy nutters and advocated for Martian colonisation and developed new forms of trajectory to help do so - and he was on the Simpsons when it was still good.
I thought it was boring, so that probably means it's a classic.  The studio seems to be getting a good run out of the Gosling replicant, it's a shame it can't have more than a few months of life left.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 December, 2018, 02:10:21 AM
This is going to be one of those alarmingly common situations where we disagree, Bear! I luuurved it, and didn't find a single minute of it boring (although I do agree that Aldrin was depicted as almost comic relief, rather than just the bluntly ambitious character he is, which was a pity).

I thought the film was very clear about why Armstrong was the man in the chair - he was shown as utterly calm and focused, as well as a proven pilot and fast-thinking engineer, best showcased in the Gemini 8 docking disaster (best scene in the film). 

Given that, in the event, the Eagle overshot its target by 4 miles and Armstrong had to had to manually select an alternative and bring the lander down right at the edge of its fuel range, that decision was shown to be correct. In an all-veteran crew he was the one who had successfully dealt with the first mission to be aborted in space. He was selected for pure technical competence, contrasting with the political weight surrounding the mission. 

The bits with his daughter are holdovers from the Hansen biography that the film is an adaptation of, and I thought they gave some needed speculative insight into the head of a notoriously private man.  The last bit with the bracelet was gratuitous (and not in the book, IIRC), but I suppose it acted as a visual symbol of the conclusion of his journey.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 December, 2018, 09:22:27 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 16 December, 2018, 10:04:43 PM
(Nu)Ghostbusters what was on the telly last night and I recorded... and was okay I guess.
We found this 'okay' as well...which I categorise as a big disappointment. I wish they'd let these scripts cook for a bit longer. Everything was in place for a great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 December, 2018, 11:12:19 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 December, 2018, 10:13:37 PM
I've a high tolerance for stupid movies,  but I'm being hard on Aquaman because I feel it wasted too many opportunities to be good.

I'll be honest — I'm probably giving it an easy ride because DC has set the bar so pitifully low. If this was a Marvel movie, I don't think I'd be even half as forgiving of its many idiocies.

That said, I thought there was a lot to like, and it passed the time very agreeably, and I'd happily see more films created in this vein than the abomination that lurched out of the editing suite calling itself Suicide Squad.

QuoteAll that said, there's no doubt it's at least as good as Justice League, which puts it in joint 2nd place as far as DC movies go.

I think it's objectively better than Justice League. It looks terrific, for a start. The plot, although linear and dumb, is comprehensible and broadly logical. I understood what both the primary and secondary villains wanted to achieve and why they wanted to do it and, in the case of [spoiler]Ocean Master[/spoiler] you even have to admit he has a point. I don't think I'd argue any of those things for Justice League.

(I also very much liked the fact that both the primary and secondary villains were very faithful to the look of their comic counterparts, and I loved the little touch of [spoiler]animating Ocean Master's mask[/spoiler].)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 17 December, 2018, 12:12:54 PM
Quote from: Paul faplad Finch on 16 December, 2018, 02:29:15 PM
New Spider-Man. Was worried it would all be lost on me because I don't know any of the characters (other than PP, obviously) but within minutes I was hooked and the whole thing was just joyous from start to finish.

Probably my favourite Spider-Man film, if I'm honest, and good enough that I wanted to sing it's praises so badly I actually engaged with other humans in something more than grudging grunts. That's powerful movie making.

Agreed this was a very good Spider-Man movie. The animation was certainly out of the top-drawer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 17 December, 2018, 01:23:03 PM
I'm in agreement with Tordelback re First Man. I've seen the movie twice now and I'm not ashamed to say that I've shed a few - albeit discreetly hidden - Man-tears at both screenings*. It is one of the most incredible and gripping cinema experiences I can remember in years. I am just in awe at what Armstrong, Aldrin and all their colleagues, scientists, engineers and back-room staff achieved in the face of such huge technical, logistical and natural odds.

As regards the portrayal of Neil Armstrong, I felt that it was precisely because - as played by Gosling in such a restrained manner - he revealed so little of his inner thoughts and kept his emotions in such check, that on those rare occasions when he does give vent to what he is feeling, those moments have real power and emotional impact.

I'm actually old enough to vividly recall the day of the moon landing itself. It was a defining event for me at such a young age, and to see it replicated so faithfully in First Man was an absolute pleasure. I was hooked from the thrilling opening seconds all the way through to the haunting, beautifully rendered lunar scenes.

A wonderful, thought-provoking and inspiring cinematic experience.


*My first time seeing the movie was alone at a quiet, afternoon screening which is generally my preferred time to visit the cinema.

Unfortunately, the second time around I saw it with a friend at an evening screening. She thought that it was good, but what took away from the experience were the fuck-wit couple a few seats down in the row behind us. Bad enough that they couldn't just shut the fuck-up talking among themselves at certain times. But it takes a special kind of thoughtless, selfish, brain-dead muppet to MUNCH and CRUNCH on a tube of funking PRINGLES during those SILENT moments of the lunar landing itself.

I was sorely tempted to shout out "IN SPACE, NO ONE SHOULD HEAR YOU SNACK!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2018, 02:50:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 December, 2018, 02:10:21 AM
This is going to be one of those alarmingly common situations where we disagree, Bear!

That's okay, they told Jesus he was wrong, too.

QuoteI thought the film was very clear about why Armstrong was the man in the chair

I got why he was the man to pilot the mission, I just didn't get - in the context of the movie story - why he was the public face of the mission given the singular importance of PR to the project, for which the film even provides the welcome period contextual colour of Gil Scott-Heron's spoken word performance and politicians talking about the cost of the project in negative terms (although this rings particularly untrue given how we know politicians view public coffers as an infinite resource and their concern is only where industry gets its slice of the pie, and the film's efforts to impress the importance of a propaganda win against the Sovs).  The whole point of the mission is overlooked in the final act in favor of the dead child stuff, which as I mentioned above, I found ghoulish and unwelcome.  Possibly the modern language of movies and how they communicate emotion through slow motion sepia-tinted flashbacks to that time the characters were running in front of some lens flares is just not my bag, daddio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 December, 2018, 06:02:47 PM
Anna and the Apocalypse

A film that very much transcends it's fairly hack premise* with surprising levels of creativity, heart, an amazing young cast and a standout soundtrack of original and insanely catchy pop songs. An absolute winner, and it's a great shame that it's been pretty roundly ignored at the box office. This is a future (Christmas) cult classic if ever I saw one. I'd literally watch it again right now - see it if you can.

*'Zombie Christmas Musical' admittedly sounds like one of those witless late 2000s Shaun of the Dead knock-offs
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 December, 2018, 06:22:28 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2018, 02:50:44 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 December, 2018, 02:10:21 AM
This is going to be one of those alarmingly common situations where we disagree, Bear!

That's okay, they told Jesus he was wrong, too.

QuoteI thought the film was very clear about why Armstrong was the man in the chair

I got why he was the man to pilot the mission, I just didn't get - in the context of the movie story - why he was the public face of the mission given the singular importance of PR to the project, for which the film even provides the welcome period contextual colour of Gil Scott-Heron's spoken word performance and politicians talking about the cost of the project in negative terms (although this rings particularly untrue given how we know politicians view public coffers as an infinite resource and their concern is only where industry gets its slice of the pie, and the film's efforts to impress the importance of a propaganda win against the Sovs).  The whole point of the mission is overlooked in the final act in favor of the dead child stuff, which as I mentioned above, I found ghoulish and unwelcome.  Possibly the modern language of movies and how they communicate emotion through slow motion sepia-tinted flashbacks to that time the characters were running in front of some lens flares is just not my bag, daddio.

That's cool. You didn't get it. No worries  :)
Move along. Daddio.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 December, 2018, 06:50:08 PM
Open Range

Somehow this passed me by on its release back in 2003, but it's a satisfying western where Kevin Costner wisely lets Robert Duvall do most of the talking, and provide the moral compass of the movie.  Beautifully shot, with a great action set piece in the third act, it suffers a little from Western cliche (as the bad sheriff dresses in black and has a thin mustache, which he only just manages to avoid twirling).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 December, 2018, 06:56:35 PM
To get into a more festive mood we watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Again. One of those rare films that is nearly perfect in every respect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 December, 2018, 07:19:41 PM
Without wanting to get into an "I liked it", "Well, I didn't" cycle, I have never been able to watch more than five minutes of Planes, Trains and Automobiles without leaving the area.

The weird thing is that I know it's highly regarded and it's got two of my favorite comedy actors in it: but it's like watching paint dry.  I'm the same with Spaceballs.  No laughs at all.  Both movies just flat-line for me.

I love The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, Uncle Buck, Stripes, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein.  It's not like I'm not a comedy fan.  Oh well...can't laugh at 'em all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 December, 2018, 07:28:17 PM
I get that. I don't care for Spaceballs either. But I'm not fond of any spoof films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 December, 2018, 07:40:14 PM
I'm in the 'Planes, Trains' is a perfect movie camp. It's not even a film I grew up with or have nostalgia for - I only saw it for the first time a few years ago, but watch it every year now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 December, 2018, 11:13:57 PM
Passengers. SHIIIIIIIIIIIITE. I could watch Jennifer Lawrence doing laps all day, and Pratt, Sheen [spoiler]and Fishbourne [/spoiler] can all turn in a good performance,  but it's just not enough to save this poorly thought-out insult to a staple SF premise. The complete absence of chemistry between the leads only focuses attention on a setup by writers whose sole reference for interstellar travel appears to be Wall-E. It's actually making me cross thinking about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 December, 2018, 11:21:21 PM
You may get even more cross after Nerdwriter1 points out to you the minor, blindingly obvious tweaks to the film that would have likely made it better. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gksxu-yeWcU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 December, 2018, 12:18:10 AM
Apologies TordelBack. I watched Passengers a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't bring myself to admit to anyone that I actually watched that drek to the end. If I had perhaps I could have saved you the aggravation. Maybe a support group is needed.

Hi, I'm Vince and I watched Passengers...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 18 December, 2018, 12:47:01 PM
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

I sort of enjoyed this but I can't really see what all the fuss is about (this is a fairly standard reaction with Coen Bros films). It looked lovely and the performances were good but I didn't think the stories were up to much. The title story was probably the most enjoyable part of the film - very stylishly done with a weird unsettling tone. The Gal Who Got Rattled was strongest from a narrative point of view but - blimey - they dragged it out a bit. Meal Ticket was like watching paint dry and was very slight in story terms.

Aquaman

Was enjoyable for the flash,bang,wallop but ultimately wasn't very satisfying.
I'd have liked to have seen more build up around Aquaman himself - so we knew at least something about him other than that he hangs round bars and drink-drives [spoiler]and blames himself for his mum's death.[/spoiler]
Where does he live? Does he have any friends? Does he have a job?
[spoiler]The fact that Vulko had been training him seemed to come out of nowhere.[/spoiler]
I thought the performances were all a bit bland and there was no chemistry between Momoa and Heard.
As it was, I thought the dad was the best character in the film and his scenes were my favourite bits.

Oh, and Dolph looked cool with pink hair and a beard!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 December, 2018, 01:01:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 17 December, 2018, 06:02:47 PM
Anna and the Apocalypse

A film that very much transcends it's fairly hack premise* with surprising levels of creativity, heart, an amazing young cast and a standout soundtrack of original and insanely catchy pop songs. An absolute winner, and it's a great shame that it's been pretty roundly ignored at the box office. This is a future (Christmas) cult classic if ever I saw one. I'd literally watch it again right now - see it if you can.

*'Zombie Christmas Musical' admittedly sounds like one of those witless late 2000s Shaun of the Dead knock-offs

Saw this advertised then forgot all about it.

Thanks for the reminder!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 December, 2018, 05:37:59 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 18 December, 2018, 01:01:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 17 December, 2018, 06:02:47 PM
Anna and the Apocalypse

A film that very much transcends it's fairly hack premise* with surprising levels of creativity, heart, an amazing young cast and a standout soundtrack of original and insanely catchy pop songs. An absolute winner, and it's a great shame that it's been pretty roundly ignored at the box office. This is a future (Christmas) cult classic if ever I saw one. I'd literally watch it again right now - see it if you can.

*'Zombie Christmas Musical' admittedly sounds like one of those witless late 2000s Shaun of the Dead knock-offs

Saw this advertised then forgot all about it.

Thanks for the reminder!

You might have to act quickly - I think it's leaving cinemas where I am in the next couple of days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dudley on 21 December, 2018, 10:56:13 AM
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.  My boy's first superhero film in the cinema and it sets a really high benchmark. The animation mixes multiple styles in the same frame to really beautiful effect, the characters are all well drawn, and any child watching this will be instantly sold on the idea of future Miles Morales movies. The finale maybe gets a little confusing, but I was impressed with how solid a grasp I had on the space where it was all taking place considering that it was [spoiler]multiple Spidermen swinging through a multiverse crash[/spoiler]. Kingpin was a truly evil-hearted bastard and the secondary villain reveal was a brilliant surprise. Hoping for much, much more of this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 December, 2018, 02:55:01 PM
Can we just appreciate Spuderverse has by far the best post credit scene i've ever seen?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 December, 2018, 06:17:34 PM
Just on my way back from the cinema on my half-day off work. I was thinking of either Aquaman or Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.

I went for the latter, mainly due to it being the next one showing, but I did fancy it more, too.

Yes, that was pretty good. The screen looked kind of fuzzy, like out of focus on occasion, but I think that was intentional. It seemed little over the top, though.

I felt it dragged a little at the start, but when it got into the, ahem, swing of things (cough) it worked very well.

[spoiler]No punk Spider-Man, though? Actually, that might be a good thing. He might have been a bit too much. Also I think Fisk is depicted way too strong in this but he often is in the comics too.[/spoiler]

A very good Spider-Man film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 December, 2018, 03:16:15 PM
Watched Aquaman today and I really enjoyed the movie. The cast work well with the movie and Jason Momoa casting as Aquaman was a great choice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 December, 2018, 10:47:56 PM
I was told Batman & Robin was a terrible film, I was told Pearl Harbor was a terrible film, I was even told Paul "Wank Shaft" Anderson's Three Musketeers movie was terrible, and maybe they were, but by golly they were a hoot to sit through, so I was all ready to give Pompei a fair shake despite its drubbing by all and sundry but... more like Pom-piss.  Or... POOmpei, amiright?  I dunno.
Keifer Sutherland has the right idea, and makes a good bad hammy villain even if his English accent is distractingly funny, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (we all know I Googled how to spell this and then copy and pasted it, let's just move on) is quite the charismatic figure, but the rest of the onscreen thesps are just so much wooden planking passed off as talent, which is okay because this is just a load of old action movie shit you can watch with a beer and some pizza, and even though the CGI is occasionally really bad, it's enjoyable enough until they totally fluff the tone of the ending and retroactively make all the rest of it seem much worse than it was.  The last time a movie ending with a volcano eruption annoyed me this much was How It Ends, a movie that trolled you before it even fucking started with that title, but what happens to the couple in that is the opposite of what happens to the couple in this, so ehhh - maybe there just isn't a good way to end a volcano movie or something.
I was enjoying the gladiator stuff, cliched as it was, but then the eruption happened and it got in the way of everything else, mainly thanks to the aforementioned rubbish CGI.  If the ending had been a bit more by the book and they'd trimmed out a few of the more obvious 3d sequences for the non-3d version, this might at least have been salvageable as a good bad film.  As it is, it's just toss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 23 December, 2018, 01:57:13 PM
Bumble Bee, well it took them what 5 - 6 attempts but I think they finally made a decent Transformers movie (though I didn't mind the first one for all my sins).  The opening 15 minutes or so just gave me warm tingles for the original series which I guess it was supposed to (and proof the original designs can work in live action) and the rest wasn't too bad too, sure it was all a bit ET and Iron Giant but if you're gonna rip off some movies you might as well go for some good ones.  That wrestler guy was okay but the whole military sub plot was a tad undercooked, the main girl did pretty well good little actress and quite cute too but way too young for me these days l, the real star was definitely Bumble Bee he was so well done, solid and endearing. I liked lots

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 December, 2018, 09:50:31 PM
Spider-Verse. Hot damn! If you've ever enjoyed a superhero comic, you'll love this. As Spider-Man is my favourire superhero of all, i was blown away. Powerful in every way, from its tear-jerking Stan Lee spot to its genius end credits. Killing [spoiler]Peter Parker[/spoiler] - for real - in the first 15 mins took some serious cojones, and it just got better from there. Unreservedly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 December, 2018, 08:16:48 PM

A Quiet Place.  Idea for sequel:

https://youtu.be/b2bzrCCKDwc


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 December, 2018, 11:33:22 PM
Long Way North - Anime nerds almost universally agree on one thing: "never watch the English dub", and that applies especially to this French/Danish 2d animated feature about a 19th century Russian girl who runs away from home to follow her grandfather's doomed polar expedition.  The art style of the animation is great, really coming into its own in the atmosphere it creates in the arctic sequences, while the themes of thwarted ambition, stubbornness and coming of age aren't overplayed.
A really lovely little film, criminally overlooked in favor of more expensive CGI efforts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2018, 10:39:12 AM
TOMB RAIDER - the recent one with Alicia Vikander.

A couple of neat and suspenseful sequences aside it's pretty run of the mill stuff. She just gets thrown from one scene to the next to an extent where you get the feeling she isn't in control of any of the action - needed to be more proactive. Hell, it's even the drunken sailor proposes and sets up her initial escape from the baddy's camp. It looked like they were hoping she'd be more proactive in the sequel but that's not likely is it?

Dominic West spends seven years in cave and still comes out looking like a quick wash oh his hair with head and shoulders will make him look all handsome again.

More like TOMB SHITTER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 26 December, 2018, 11:20:07 AM
Infinity War, which was on Sky Premier last night when I happened to flick over about fifteen minutes in. Have seen it a couple of times already, and wasn't really looking for a third viewing so soon after... But you know what, after giving it five minutes with a "I'll have an early night after that" proviso, I sat through the whole thing.
I think it's just "one of those movies"- like American Werewolf and The Wicker Man (and The Happening, but for entirely other reasons) that is endlessly entertaining. Probably one of my favourite films ever, to be honest.
They really did get everything right, didn't they? Might watch it again tomorrow.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 December, 2018, 03:43:05 PM
Indeed! Among its many strengths is the degree to which it fully embraces the corny: for example, Cap's entrance, complete with swelling theme music and convenient shadows to emerge from, should play as predictable and overblown: instead it's exhilarating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2018, 07:05:41 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 23 December, 2018, 01:57:13 PM
Bumblebee (...)
the main girl did pretty well good little actress and quite cute too but way too young for me these days l, the real star was definitely Bumble Bee he was so well done, solid and endearing. I liked lots

CU Radbacker

Most people on Twitter who want to fuck the car don't even bother coming up with a pretext, so kudos for putting in the effort.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 December, 2018, 03:16:03 AM
Saw Bumblebee today.

A bit cheesy in places but a sweet enjoyable film. I loved seeing the G1 designs.

[spoiler]It does appear to create some continuity plot-holes when considering it with the Bay films... but much of those could still be explainable since we don't know what happened in the time period in between. Maybe a sequel will iron those out, but even if it doesn't, it's a good film in its own right. Probably the best in the franchise, although that's not saying much. (That being said, I thought the first film was okay, and don't hate the others that I've seen, although I thought them a bit rubbish.)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 December, 2018, 11:26:24 AM
Santa brought me MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE  - FALLOUT.

Still awesome.

Naturally not as awesome as first time on IMAX but the "single shot" HALO jump is a thing of genuine beauty and ideal showcase for blending digital tricks and real live action in camera lunacy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 31 December, 2018, 01:05:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 December, 2018, 11:26:24 AM
Santa brought me MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE  - FALLOUT.

Still awesome.

Naturally not as awesome as first time on IMAX but the "single shot" HALO jump is a thing of genuine beauty and ideal showcase for blending digital tricks and real live action in camera lunacy.

They will be missing a trick if they don't involve Christopher McQuarrie in the next reboot of the Bond movies. Some of the set-pieces in Fallout were absolutely outstanding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 December, 2018, 07:27:51 PM
AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

Don't. One of the worst films I have ever suffered. A good idea (family stuck in their house on Christmas by something unknown, which blocks all exits) but it collapses into an anti-thrill ride of logical inchoherence, poor characterisation and just blatant nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 31 December, 2018, 11:31:59 PM
Aquaman

It was visually stunning but it was kinda cheesy in places* and somewhat predictable.

If my description above makes it seem more style over substance, don't let that put you off. A fairly simple story, but it had a good heart and it was loads of fun.

That's three decent films I've seen over the holidays.

* [spoiler]They actually say "once and future king" a couple of times.
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dr Feeley Good on 01 January, 2019, 01:40:20 AM
I finally watched Infinity War yesterday and absolutely loved it, much better than I expected, think it helped a lot that I had watched Thor, Spiderman and Black Panther all in the last few weeks..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 January, 2019, 03:50:35 PM
Justice League. Much better than I thought it would be given the many negative things I've heard. And coming in at two hours it was nice to feel that it could have been a bit longer rather than 40 minutes too long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 January, 2019, 09:32:36 PM
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children: What a difference not having Helena Bonham-Carter in it makes to a Tim Burton movie.

ISTR critics were pretty sniffy about this when it came out, but it feels like Burton in fairly restrained mode, with a decent screenplay by Jane Goldman, an excellent cast, and mercifully free of Danny Elfman recycling his Tim Burton Movie Score for the umpteenth time.

Some of the timey-wimey stuff was a bit muddled (or poorly explained) but I thought this was inventive and entertaining. There are definitely worse ways of passing an evening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2019, 10:21:08 AM
The trailer made it seem so utterly Burton that even Eva Green couldn't tempt me. But I might give it a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 January, 2019, 12:01:05 PM
Stan and Ollie (2019) Anchored by two absolutely stunning performances from John C Reilly and Steve Coogan, this is a gently funny, sad, extremely touching tale of Laurel and Hardy in their later years. Reilly's Ollie is an easy-going, affable fellow, who struggles to resist temptation; Coogan's Stan is a steelier, more driven figure, the comedy engine of the double act. The plot is slight, but the film as a whole is a moving meditation on the nature of friendship. Also of note are the pair's wives - Nina Arianda, as Laurel's blunt Russian bride, Ida, threatens to steal every scene she's in, whilst Shirley Henderson as Lucille Hardy tends to undercut Ida's boasts in a quieter, more low-key manner. Overall though, a genuinely warm, beautiful movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 January, 2019, 12:11:31 AM
Solo: A Star Wars Story. Rambling and stumbling but not awful. Not great though either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 January, 2019, 12:29:38 PM
ANTMAN AND THE WASP
Nice to have it all back to personal stakes (I take it this was set before but released after Infinity War) and I thought Rudd and Lily have a nice chemistry.

No idea whether it was faithful to any comics or not but it thrilled me and made me laugh.

Job done, surely?

But no... couldn't put finger on it but vaguely unsatisfied at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 January, 2019, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 January, 2019, 12:29:38 PM
ANTMAN AND THE WASP
Nice to have it all back to personal stakes (I take it this was set before but released after Infinity War)


Did you not see the 'bit' at the end of the credits?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 14 January, 2019, 02:40:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 January, 2019, 12:29:38 PM
ANTMAN AND THE WASP
Nice to have it all back to personal stakes (I take it this was set before but released after Infinity War) and I thought Rudd and Lily have a nice chemistry.

No idea whether it was faithful to any comics or not but it thrilled me and made me laugh.

Job done, surely?

But no... couldn't put finger on it but vaguely unsatisfied at the end.

I watched this on a flight recently and it was perfectly suited to that. There a bit of humour, some action and likeable characters. In six months time I probably won't remember anything about it, but it was perfect to pass two hours on a dull long-haul.

I haven't seen Infinity War so I found the credits sequence very confusing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 January, 2019, 04:27:14 PM
Legends of the Fall - Brad Pitt is such a brooding and dreamy bad boy that it actually kills people or sends them insane.  This is literally what this film is about, and the old Native American guy narrating even says "he was the rock on which they broke themselves" near the end.
I enjoyed the first 90-odd minutes of it, but then it descended into an - admittedly very funny - parody of Hollywood melodramas with its shootout finale, Pitt becoming a sort of Prohibition-era Batman, and then the supposedly mythic ending [spoiler]that made me genuinely laugh out loud when it turns out Pitt's character, after having lived a long and fruitful life, has merely been lulled into a false sense of security by a bear he stabbed in the paw 60 years earlier, who promptly ambushes him and when the camera turns around for a DUN DUN DUNNNN reveal I was in fucking stitches.[/spoiler]
Anthony Hopkins is on top form among a cast of reliable hams, but I'm surprised that bit where his elderly post-stroke character is flipping the bird hasn't become an internet meme.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 16 January, 2019, 08:06:22 PM
I caught a few things on the plane from CES last week, so in order of what woz best:

Incredibles 2 is of course, the best of all possible choices. Heroes! Doing their best in a world that hates and fears them, a world crafted of 60s retro-tech and fantastical powers! Far from a cheap sequel, it was bleeding marvelous.

Hereditary weird, off-putting and incredibly dark. I wondered where it was all going on multiple occasions and could never have predicted the final act and its glorious waking nightmare. Will be harvesting for a Delta Green game in the near future.

Hail Caesar Not much actually...happens? Or at least, what happens doesn't matter much. But it's of course, lots and lots of fun. The dialogue is incredible and the style, immaculate. George Clooney playing a buffoon is always fun too, particularly when said buffoon is also playing the charismatic leader of the Roman forces.

The Predator this was bad, but good. Fun but really stupid and lame in so many ways. So many points that jumped up and screamed STUPID at me; the baddie humans and their utter stupidity (which ends with [spoiler]one of them literally blowing their own head off with an alien weapon [/spoiler]); the alien dog; the predator's evil plan of... exploiting our self-guided extinction in a hands-off fashion; the 'good' predator's plan of...what exactly? And lots of things that were just painful - the superpowered autistic kid who gets told to 'reign his psychosis in', and the lechery 'tourettes' sufferer played by Tom Jane - but despite all that, it was still an enjoyable watch. But this abortive franchise should really stay limited to the first movie and the Dark Horse comics.

I also watched The Emperor's New Groove and Alien, but the statute has passed on those I think.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 16 January, 2019, 08:54:17 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 16 January, 2019, 04:27:14 PM
Anthony Hopkins is on top form among a cast of reliable hams, but I'm surprised that bit where his elderly post-stroke character is flipping the bird hasn't become an internet meme.

It just needs to be picked up... (https://www.kapwing.com/videos/5c3f9722479d90001406740d)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2019, 10:39:15 PM
DEADWOOD

The pilot. Bloody good it was too, like if Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid as a mid-2000's HBO series, looking forward to binging this and the potential news of the sequel movies means I better get a wiggle on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 17 January, 2019, 11:51:48 AM
Strap yourself in Hawk.

I've watched this 3 times through now, and it gets better each time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 January, 2019, 04:11:54 PM
[spoiler]Cock[/spoiler]sucker!

I'm sorry, the spirit of Al Swearinjun compelled me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 17 January, 2019, 06:30:32 PM
Hold the Dark

New Netflix film by the director of Green Room. It isn't a patch on that film, sad to say. Very well shot and acted and it's a more ambitious film, dense with arty farty symbolism. But the plot, such that it is, is a confusing trainwreck of muddled motivations and characters doing very implausible things for little to no given reason. I was so confused by certain plot developments that I actually had to pause the movie about halfway through and check the Wikipedia plot summary to see what I had missed, but I hadn't missed anything - the script really is just deliberately vague on the context for basically everything that happens in the film, so in my mind not an effective or involving mystery/thriller. Avoid.


Thoroughbreds

Thriller about some spoiled upper crust kids and a murder plot gone awry. It isn't a 5/5 smash and it won't be for everyone (I personally think it could have benefitted from leaning more heavily into the low key black humour) but it's a brisk watch (clocks in at under 90 mins) that is admirably restrained (it leaves a lot up to the viewer's imagination - there is very little graphic content and it's really only an R rated film because of it's thematic content rather than anything that happens on screen) and I really enjoyed for what is was. The cast (including The Witch's Anya Taylor Joy and British actor Olivia Cooke as well as the final performance of Anton Yelchin in full sleazeball mode) are really strong, and writer/director (Cory Finley) is one to watch for sure. Recommended.


The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

New Netflix Coen Brothers Western anthology film. It's a bit self-indulgent - some of the stories go on a bit, and some of them are stronger than others, but I really enjoyed it overall. Proper filmmaking, nice to see Netflix throwing big money and something so unique and creative. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 17 January, 2019, 10:01:21 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 17 January, 2019, 04:11:54 PM
[spoiler]Cock[/spoiler]sucker!

I'm sorry, the spirit of Al Swearinjun compelled me.

:lol:

Saw a stat once about Deadwood - 36 episodes of the show, [spoiler]cocksucker[/spoiler] is used over 300 times. And [spoiler]fuck[/spoiler] was used almost 3000 times.

Remember kids - swearing isn't big or clever....but from the mouth of Al Swearengen, it's bloody poetry. (And he wasn't called Swear Engine for nothing)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 January, 2019, 10:25:56 PM
And which that is to say they didn't speak that way back then...goldarn it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood_%28TV_series%29#Use_of_profanity)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 January, 2019, 08:34:16 PM
Glass

I enjoyed that. Quite slow paced, but I didn't find it boring, but judging by the bloke who looked like he had dropped off a couple of seats down from me, not everyone may feel the same.

[spoiler]I don't think it was ever explained how Mr. Glass got out of his cells, though. Maybe they figured since he's a genius, we don't need an explanation.[/spoiler]

I have mixed feelings concerning the ending, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. [spoiler]There were a couple of nice little twists too.[/spoiler]

Oh, and it was quite funny in places too, often for the right reasons, although I thought some of the action didn't quite work. To be fair, it's not really an action film, though.

Anyway, worth a watch, but make sure you've seen Unbreakable and Split first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 January, 2019, 11:27:58 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2018, 10:39:12 AM
TOMB RAIDER - the recent one with Alicia Vikander.
...  you get the feeling she isn't in control of any of the action - needed to be more proactive....
I'd completely forgotten I even saw that (it was on a long flight) until I read this. Completely agreee: totally forgettable and the initial gritty, urban Croft setup might have worked if it didn't then turn into her waiting for someone else to solve every problem.

4am on the same flight and I thought Avengers: Infinity War might be the thing to help me sleep. Completely the opposite. I've seen very few of the recent Marvel films but this worked really well as a huge, ensemble piece full of wild superhero space shit and anchored by a great villain. Definitely keen to see part 2 now, which I wouldn't even have considered before.

Some people might have found being dropped into The Monkey King 3 a little disorientating, but once you get that it's the latest entry in a fairly big budget Chinese adaptation of Journey to the West, it soon makes just as much as sense as the tv series. In this episode, our heroes find themselves trapped in the land of the women, with unexpected and hilarious consequences. More expensive special effects aside, the main differences are that this Monkey tries to move more like a monkey and some of those jarring cultural differences like a comedy trip to the lake of aborted fetuses.

The funnest part was trying to explain the cultural significance of the tv series to my girlfriend and then her even greater bemusement when I finally found an episode on youTube.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 January, 2019, 01:39:45 PM
Bumblebee - there's a running gag about people on social media wanting to fuck the robot car in this movie, the flimsy justification being that the lead actress in this is too young for audiences to find attractive so they have redirected their disgusting heathen urges elsewhere, but it's a significant plot point that Bumblebee has the mind of a child so now I just have more concerns than ever.
This film is stupid, and not just in a good way, it is also stupid in the bad way, like when the soldiers are driving around doing training exercises on jeeps armed with giant harpoons, which I assume the producers thought is the kind of thing only army nerds would know wasn't general issue equipment for the USMC in 1987, and they seem to be doing this army training and (it is implied) live fire of explosive ammunition roughly five meters away from campers - deaf campers, considering the number of explosions that occur which don't seem to be noticed, at least one of which was caused by a giant fireball from space.
I really enjoyed it.  For all its attempts to dismiss lazy writing as knowing stupidity, including some hilariously on-point Chekov's Gunning of the lead character's high diving expertise that ultimately amounts to absolutely fuck all, it's still a pretty good approximation of the sensibility of the mid-80s dumbass kids' adventure movie in a way that the likes of Stranger Things or Summer Of 84 never quite manage.  A lot of the comedy sequences were admittedly grating and went on far too long, the movie's version of an African American nerd seems to be exclusively into white nerd cultural references, all the "poor people" seem to have fucking enormous houses, and one of the last things we see is a character's selfie portrait but okay.  Nitpicks aside, it's a fun romp and pretty family-friendly, with not a single racist stereotype robot to be seen, the camera doesn't take long lingering shots of the lead female's body, and giant robot testicles don't swing around the screen like a thing from nightmares, so yes, as low as this may set the bar, it is easily the best of the live-action Transformers movies.
One sour note was [spoiler]the mixed-race romance angle which the producers didn't just shy away from, they literally have the lead female recoil in disgust from the touch of a black dude and then laugh right in his fucking face, and this was the last thing we see before the end credits roll.[/spoiler]  Jesus Christ, movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 21 January, 2019, 10:29:36 AM
I watched Hold the Dark, and I enjoyed it for the atmosphere and thinking how it would make a good Delta Green game rather than the central plot. Which as mentioned, is pretty non-existent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 January, 2019, 11:54:41 AM
I think if I'd gone into Hold The Dark without seeing his previous films I'd probably have been way more impressed, I did find it absorbing but after the gutpunch feeling of Blue Ruin and Green Room it didn't really have the impact I expected. Decent enough though, loaded with atmosphere.

Finally watched Gerald's Game and loved it, but it's very intense and goes to some dark places. I haven't read the book and didn't know anything beyond the basic 'trapped on a bed' concept and was pretty blown away. It's a pretty common complaint that Stephen King's style rarely adapts well to film and there seem to only be small handful of directors/writers who have managed to capture it, and this felt very King (I really enjoyed Hush as well, so this director is definitely on my watch-list now). The one thing that I thought might really turn people off isn't even the dark story turns it takes, but the [spoiler]really quite intense degloving scene. It takes a lot of gore to shock me, but I was squirming and wincing like crazy at that point, it's horrible. Thankfully the whole film isn't a total gorefest but I can imagine some folk deciding at that point that they've had enough which would be a shame given how things turn out.[/spoiler]

Went straight into Bird Box from there, which suffered a bit from not being as good as Gerald's Game really. It has some neat ideas and I really liked some of the themes outside of the high concept horror conceit ([spoiler]I may have taken my own baggage into the movie and overthought it, but my wife and I have recently been talking about how we feel like we should want kids but we really, really don't have any interest in it, so the whole thing about feeling that cold detachment to parenting felt a bit timely and was interesting[/spoiler]), plus that Reznor/Ross score is excellent (they're so damn good at that blanket of music approach, ever-present but never showy or attention-grabbing, they service the films they work on to perfection I think).

Something about it just didn't hit hard enough for me though horror-wise though and it all fell a bit flat. I straight-up love the basic idea that [spoiler]there is something you can see which causes you to kill yourself immediately, that idea that it might be so indescribable and incomprehensible that it snaps your mind like that is pure Lovecraft (although it's only occurred to me now that with some people seeing it as dead relatives then perhaps what they're seeing is a glimpse of the afterlife which is so beautiful they have to join them? Hmmmm), but I think having the fact you've seen it manifest in that weird clouding of the eyes undermined that a bit and made it feel a bit hokey because it maybe comes across as less psychological that way and more of a physical ailment. Anyway, wasn't keen on that. A solid enough film, but no Gerald's Game.[/spoiler]

Oh, and as a palette cleanser we decided to pick a madcap comedy so watched Gringo, because the trailer suggested that's what we'd get. It wasn't really that at all (it took some pretty depressing turns in places) but was excellent and we really enjoyed it. Not a full-on zany comedy, more of a crime caper with some dark laughs. Very funny in places and there are some brilliant performances in it, so was just what we needed after all that relentless grim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 January, 2019, 06:22:43 PM
Bird Box.

The basic premise was pretty scary, although it wasn't all that frightening as a film. Quite an original idea though, a very different take on post apocalyptic films.

Very decent film and Sandra Bullock ages very well, although she might have had some help there...

Oh and that's two films recently where I've seen Sarah Paulson, albeit her role was smaller in this film than Glass. She certainly gets around as I've seen quite a bit of her in recent years on Netflix.

I remember her as Merlin* the quirky ghost ghost girl from American Gothic. Remember that?

*Pronounced "maer-lin" by her psychic little brother Caleb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 January, 2019, 07:40:10 PM
Under the Silver Lake is nice because it's been ages since I saw genuinely bad film that has no excuses for turning out the way it has.  Ostensibly it's a rip-off of The Bogie Man, with an unlikeable hipster* with undiagnosed mental problems conjuring up an elaborate conspiracy from "clues" he sees in popular culture.  There is a good story in this premise - John Wagner and Alan Grant have proved that several times over by now - but this is not it, as the premise rather hinges on the main character not being so utterly charmless that you think the worst of them at all times.  Not worth your time.

* You may insert your own punchlines about my using unnecessary qualifications here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 January, 2019, 08:49:46 PM
Dunkirk.

I must admit I'd kinda written Nolan off after Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, but thoroughly enjoyed this. Very effective piece of blockbuster filmmaking that didn't oversimplify the events or insult the viewer's intelligence, allowed some nuance in the characters (Harry Styles' character would probably have been positioned as a 'bad guy' or a coward in a typical Hollywood war movie, but is treated with sensitivity and comes across as someone just trying to survive.

My major complaint about the film is its colour grading - which probably represents the single most damaging and egregious use of an orange and teal colour palette I've ever seen. Having the characters skin and the sand on the Dunkirk beach be rendered a ghastly shade of neon orange is a truly baffling creative choice, and also really works against the period setting and subdued tone of the film. I thought Nolan was classier than that - it seems so strange to go the lengths he does of shooting on film and on IMAX cameras, using minimal cgi and all that, then layering on a heavy, garish digital colour treatment that makes his film look like a mid-2000s Michael Bay production.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 January, 2019, 09:26:33 PM
Quote from: radiator on 22 January, 2019, 08:49:46 PM
My major complaint about the film is its colour grading - which probably represents the single most damaging and egregious use of an orange and teal colour palette I've ever seen.

I wonder if this has been tweaked for the home market? I haven't seen Dunkirk since the cinema and whilst I wouldn't describe the palette as naturalistic, it had a slightly desaturated quality that wouldn't have had me reaching for 'neon' as an adjective. Baffling, if the film has been messed about with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 January, 2019, 09:55:00 PM
(https://spectator.imgix.net/content/uploads/2017/07/TRY-BB-SDTKT-002.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=730&h=486)

(https://static1.squarespace.com/static/578e7a0c197aea26a696f7f1/t/59756d41440243f8d19aae76/1500867938801/?format=1000w)

That's interesting - it looked super obvious and incredibly distracting to me - certain scenes were essentially monotone - literally everything on screen was either orange or blue, and the skin tones looked almost comically saturated and orangey in a lot of scenes... Maybe I need to adjust my TV settings?

Have to say, I normally don't even really notice things like colour grade if I'm into the film and/or if it suits the tone of the film as a whole - I'm not a fan of orange and teal generally, but I will say that it at least seems far more appropriate for something that was shot in say, Southern California.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 January, 2019, 10:42:54 PM
I'm on record as a right whinger about orange & teal grading (I even had a minor gripe about it in the recent Jumanji movie) so I'm fairly sure I'd have had a moan if it had been that egregious in the cinema. I'm of an age where my memory could be playing tricks on me, of course, but I honestly don't remember the cinema release looking like that.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 22 January, 2019, 11:01:13 PM
As I say, I may need to adjust the colour saturation settings on my TV, but I swear the sand on the beaches was this really warm peachy/orange colour in a lot of sequences which looked very odd and out of place. Perhaps it wasn't so much a saturation issue as it was how heavily the grade was applied and how it strangled a lot of subtlety out of the natural colour tones of a given scene. It almost looked a bit like when they 'colorize' old black and white footage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 23 January, 2019, 08:08:17 AM
Quote from: radiator on 22 January, 2019, 11:01:13 PM
As I say, I may need to adjust the colour saturation settings on my TV


This. I took possession of a new 65 inch LG not so long ago and I spent about an hour getting the settings right for the picture (used one of the discs that come with the old Criterion sets).


Just checked Dunkirk myself and see nothing to suggest that it's been tampered with for the home market. Certainly no neon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 January, 2019, 11:03:21 AM
The Flying Guillotine (1975, Meng Hua Ho and RunRun Shaw)

Part of the legendary Shaw Brothers mid 70's pantheon, The Flying Guillotine caters it's usual flair for excellent wushu choreography and surprisingly lush set designs, with a surprisingly socialist take on the effects conditioning in the military system on a person. The titular (allegedly real?!) weapon is front and centre and creates for an fun set of decapitations and some glorious choreography. Good fun from a dependable era in Hong Kong cinema.
(https://i.gifer.com/1Phf.gif)

Stan and Ollie (2019, John S. Baird)

A delightful send up to the legendary duo in their twilight days. Heartwarming, charming and sincere, and i'll echo any sentiment that John C. Riley stole the show. In ever way he was the spits of Oliver Hardy. Shall revisit this many a time I feel.
(https://media.giphy.com/media/1wQOHDT79ZuRqfhijM/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 23 January, 2019, 05:18:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 23 January, 2019, 11:03:21 AM
The titular (allegedly real?!) weapon is front and centre and creates for an fun set of decapitations and some glorious choreography.

Cor! Sold!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 January, 2019, 05:19:43 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 23 January, 2019, 05:18:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 23 January, 2019, 11:03:21 AM
The titular (allegedly real?!) weapon is front and centre and creates for an fun set of decapitations and some glorious choreography.

Cor! Sold!

It's chuffing great fun Greg, and for more wushu weirdness check out todays viewing...

Killer Constable (1979, Kuei Chih-Hung)

What Yojimbo was to A Fist Full of Dollars, The Good The Bad and The Ugly is to Shaw Brothers Killer Constable, following china's chief law enforcer and his wild bunch purser thieves who stole 200,000 gold taels from the palace treasury, and leave a trail of corpses in their wake. Among the best Hong Kong wushu movies i've seen and highly recommended to fans of Kurosawa and Leone.
(https://i2.wp.com/78.media.tumblr.com/45ca502f5d2b9235002e7d3e4664413f/tumblr_oy1ox8K0Jy1wstc5to1_1280.gif?w=605&ssl=1)

Django...Kill! aka If You Live, Shoot! (1967, Giulio Questi)

One of a slew of not-Django euro westerns from the late 60's and early 70's stands out from the crowd in part due to it's acid western vibe and starring genre mega star Tomas Millian, the chameleonic charisma cuban. A lone gun, risen from the grave, is stripped of his chance for revenge and finds himself on the run between lynch mobs and a posy of gay BDSM cowboys. Filled with the trappings of euro western whilst also predicting El Topo and the like. Worth a punt.
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/800fad2549fab91a780172848d7e2e29/tumblr_oxa1sdUuwF1s8tcc9o7_500.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 January, 2019, 10:07:09 AM
Glass

A film that unravels at a glacial pace but still pretty entertaining. James McEvoy steals the show, once again, and there is a twist but it's not very 'twisty'.

I enjoyed it but it would certainly help if you have seen 'Unbreakable' and 'Split' beforehand, although the latter not as much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 January, 2019, 02:43:25 PM
Mortal Engines is mostly good, and I really enjoyed it despite its many problems.
A lot of it is ham-fisted, like the "you're history" quip, the McGuffin that has USA emblazoned on it, and especially the "you wuuuuv him" bit that really should have left things unsaid and allowed the actors to sell it, as even though this is as high concept as it gets, I think a little bit more subtlety would have helped it warm with audiences, as it feels a lot like those cgi-heavy movies that have been trickling out of the East in the last decade or so that reproduce the trappings of Western movies, but the storytelling is still steeped in the shorthands of entirely different theatrical schools and traditions with no direct equivalents over here, so they feel a bit off.  Cognitive dissonance and suspension of disbelief gets tricky in some places, but the Londoners cheering on poor people's homes being destroyed like it's a sport rings true, as does the central concept of London being a massive parasitic entity sucking up all the wealth and resources and eventually - when its needs become unsustainable - seeking a union with China, herein depicted as a homogenous monoculture comprising all peoples of the East from Indians to Chinese to Japanese, and naturally hiding behind a giant wall.
Like I say, a bit of subtlety would have been nice, but as a high concept romp, it's great fun, reminding me a lot of the emotionally and thematically disappointing but often visually-spectacular Escaflowne theatrical movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 January, 2019, 11:35:01 PM
Spiderman: into the Spiderverse. I was at a loose end on a wet Sunday, and was surprised, not only to find it still showing, but to almost a full house. Loved almost everything about it except ... help me out here guys: Did I just watch a 3D print advertised as 2D or was it supposed to look like that? Lots of the backgrounds were blurry with clear colour-separation. Nobody else seemed to object, but I didn't like that.

Even the bits that may have given me nerd-nigggle (spider-people instantly 'knowing' each other via spider-sense, Aunt May having a huge spider-cave under the back yard) didn't even register on my grumpometer. The audience ranged from about 6 to the fifties (ahem) and everyone seemed to love it. Also liked the many knowing nods - the old cartoon theme song, the Stan Lee cameo and all the names (L Kirby, B Bendis etc) in people's phones. An excellent movie.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 January, 2019, 01:07:04 PM
The was something off with the graphics to me too, and it was mainly that blurriness. I think that was the intentional style though.

I think my mind cancelled or out by the end.

Yes, probably one of, if not the best Spider-Man movie, and that's for a character* who had been served pretty well in the movies.

*Okay,it's mainly a different character, but Peter Parker still  has a fairly major role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 January, 2019, 04:04:14 PM
CLOSE - Netflix original movie.  Pitching at the level of a 1990s action flick but shot to look like a BBC drama, there's nothing much to recommend it, but at one point someone has a bullet shot out of their arse, which I don't think I've seen before.  One of the baddies also falls into a fishtank and the fish beat him up, which is also something I don't think you see very often in action films, though admittedly I haven't watched that many of late.
And why does every action hero have to have PTSD and be a distant emo jerk?  It just seems like the writers acknowledging that their A-plot doesn't really hold the attention so they have to have an excuse for the actors to do shouting at someone to stop the audience checking their phones when things aren't exploding or being shot at.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 28 January, 2019, 04:24:43 PM
Polar - Nextflix movie based upon a Dark Horse comic book. If you like your action/violence ala John Wick this is for you. This will only consume 2 hours of your life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 28 January, 2019, 04:41:29 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 January, 2019, 04:04:14 PM
CLOSE - Netflix original movie.  Pitching at the level of a 1990s action flick but shot to look like a BBC drama, there's nothing much to recommend it, but at one point someone has a bullet shot out of their arse, which I don't think I've seen before.  One of the baddies also falls into a fishtank and the fish beat him up, which is also something I don't think you see very often in action films, though admittedly I haven't watched that many of late.
We watched this over the weekend as well. Apart from some good fisticuffs (Noomi Rapace gives it some on this front), it's pretty bad. The fish tank section is particularly weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 January, 2019, 04:58:00 PM
The Commuter

Liam Neeson pays the bills.  To be fair, I didn't actually watch the entire movie.  I got as far as the climactic money shot, and then saw there was still half an hour of movie after that, started to lose the will to live and abandoned it.  There's only so much of my life left: so doing a Jack Nicholson (https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1vykd9/elijah_wood_talks_about_jack_nicholsons_view_of/) seemed fair.

It's SO stupid.  Even the phrase "dumb as a bag of hammers" doesn't get close to the dumbness of this movie.  Your willing suspension of disbelief will get kidnapped and tortured to death by the 30-minute mark, and then have its corpse flayed for about another hour before they launch it into space - directly at the heart of the sun.  Do something else with your life: even watching paint dry has the potential for meditative contemplation, which has to be, on a karmic scale, better than allowing this desperate plot anywhere near your brain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 January, 2019, 06:29:27 PM
I've seen some Friday The 13th movies but not all, and other than the first one and Jason X I couldn't remember which ones I had seen. Being a horror buff that felt really wrong, so obviously the only way to remedy that is to watch them all in order.

It's been a really rough road because damn those films are rough, and almost all (so far) exactly the same so there's no wonder they all blended into mush for me. Thankfully it finally became worth it with Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, because it was heaps of fun. There's a real tonal shift to amusingly self aware trash that made it really enjoyable, hopefully that's the way the series will continue (I've seen the one in space so I at least know it'll get more and more ridiculous).

Rewatched Resident Evil too, just because playing the fantastic new remake of Resi 2 reminded me I have a real soft spot for those Milla movies and a blu-ray set I never cracked open. I know they're objectively mince, but I really enjoy them anyway so I guess they qualify as guilty pleasures (except I feel no guilt)!

Had never bothered to watch Kong: Skull Island, I think because it had been lumped into the same universe/franchise as the Godzilla reboot and I really didn't enjoy that film. Was buying some 4k blu-rays on a 2-for-£30 deal though and had to make up the numbers so decided to give it a try. Loved it, so much damn fun and exciting spectacle and just a great thrill-ride. Looked incredible in 4K too, the extra detail and the super vibrant colours made it pop so good, plus it has probably the best Atmos soundtrack I've heard at home, really all encompassing particularly when Kong belts out a big grumpy roar.

Really surprisingly thrilling and enjoyable, right on board for the next film in this monstery franchise now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 January, 2019, 12:59:45 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 28 January, 2019, 04:41:29 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 January, 2019, 04:04:14 PM
CLOSE
We watched this over the weekend as well. Apart from some good fisticuffs (Noomi Rapace gives it some on this front), it's pretty bad. The fish tank section is particularly weird.

The low-rent 007 opening credits sequence is hilariously naff.  I was looking at it trying to figure out if it was snowflakes or a kaleidoscope to see if it had any thematic relevance to the rest of the film, but it's just some whirly stuff that plays while the titles roll.  Then it smash-cuts to the globe-trotting billionaire industrialist's uhhh... luxury alpaca ranch.  Then the main character is using Fred Flintstone's laptop to send text messages because this is the only way she can be contacted.
It might actually have been amusingly bad, but the director takes it far too seriously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2019, 05:41:55 PM
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Warner Bros

I'm not remotely invested in Harry Potter as an entity. I find it bloated, dreary, anal in extremis, and not even the best YA novel series of the 90's-00's. So to say i've no real investment in the spin-off series with the few interesting elements of the books (Dumbledore, Snape et al) completely sapped out or watered down to an even more peripheral, dull deep lore fan wank. And that sums up my experience with the Fantastic Beasts sequel. An overly long, repetitive experience that has pretty much nailed the coffin shut for me on ever trying any Potter paraphernalia again. Give it a miss.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 30 January, 2019, 07:52:32 PM
I like the HP films well enough, but have zero interest in the Fantastic Beasts series. I'll be genuinely interested to see whether they actually get to make all five films though, seeing the diminishing box office returns on that last one.

To me it seems like the same thing as Solo - you can't really really on niche fan trivia stuff to sustain a multibillion dollar mainstream franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 January, 2019, 09:39:57 PM
The problem with Solo was that Rogue One was a war movie with Star Wars trimmings and everyone knew what they were getting.  I liked Solo, but it starts out an urban crime drama, then it's a war movie, then it's a heist movie, then it's a kung fu movie, then it's a space opera - who's the audience for this?  Not every movie has to be stuck in a particular box, but some movies - tentpole releases with a budget of a quarter of a billion dollars, for example - arguably benefit from it.
Likewise with the world of Harry Potter, you knew what you were getting into with the adaptations of the famous children's books, but with Fantastic Beasts, who is it aimed at?  Kids?  Adults?

Speaking of grown-up versions of children's worlds: Christopher Robin.  Did we need to see a beloved children's book character reinvented as a PTSD-stricken adult wrestling with the evils of capitalism?  Apparently we did.
Some of the animals are terrifying in their new live-action washed-out grey tones, like Tigger, whose white snout makes him look like he's a thousand years old, and the comfortable marriage of cuddly innocent animals and melancholic real-world drama reminded me initially of Adventure Time, but by the end it just reminded me of those buzzkills on the internet who were utterly outraged by Hobbes and Bacon because it acknowledged the passage of time.
God knows what Americans made of a CGI-led children's film that didn't have twerking or fart noises, but I enjoyed this just fine.  Fun fact: Chinese president Wing Jun Ping Chun Li whatever the fuck I dunno is nicknamed Winnie The Pooh by sassy kids on the internet* because of his portly shape and he so despises it that censors banned this film in China even after the makers avoided any reference to Pooh in the name.

* Or "domestic terrorists" as they're known in China.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 January, 2019, 09:50:37 PM
It's Xi Jinping, Professor Bebop le she bop babar whatever the fuck I dunno.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 January, 2019, 11:31:03 PM
Agree with Funt's sentiment there, Bear.

I wasn't on board with Jade Goody casually dismissing Shilpa Shetty with a broadly racist stereotype name so I don't  think you should be doing it. Weapons grade sarcasm or not.

So please, in future, take care Bear.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 January, 2019, 01:07:52 AM
You're right, Tips, that was an ill-advised gag and I apologise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 January, 2019, 10:21:09 AM
No worries. I've certainly been guilty of it myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 01 February, 2019, 05:11:06 PM
 :thumbsup:

I don't know if i mentioned it, but I rather enjoyed that Birdbox. Not a great movie by any means and turns out I only like Sandra Bullock on a bus with Keanu Reeves - but I like the concept, its got John Malkovich, and it's well made enough. Sanity splitting horrors roaming the Earth in a vague and undefinable form? Could have easily been "Birdbox? More like Birdshit!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 February, 2019, 10:07:23 PM
Just finished Running Man. Set in 2019 it's strangely prophetic. The technology is quite accurately predicted and the political situation is disturbingly familiar. I expect the real life Running Man to debut on or about 30 March. ::)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 February, 2019, 12:09:11 PM
Already here; they just do dating and backstabbing instead of hand-to-hand fighting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2019, 04:31:34 PM
Despite being made by an utter monster, I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, but it's very glossy, everyone is very British and affable and in its own way it's just as big a spoof of the British rock star as Spinal Tap, though apart from a few parties in Freddie's house, there's not much in the way of excess on show, nor is there much of a struggle to get famous, they just meet Freddie, he pushes them to record an album, and then everyone is married and thinks they're over the hill dinosaurs because all the kids of the time are into REO Speedwagon and they just can't top the masterpieces they've already recorded - even though the movie itself shows you onscreen how the music press shat all over what they did and Bohemian Rhapsody - while a cracking track and deservedly acknowledged as a classic - didn't really achieve epic status until Mike Myers and Dana Carvey turned it into a pop culture joke.
I'm no big city Queen scientist, but it seems that a lot of this is all over the place, with Who Wants To Live Forever presented anachronistically as predating Live Aid when it was notoriously written in the back of Brian May's car after watching a rough cut of the film Highlander a couple of years later, and Mike Myers shows up as a record executive announcing that Bohemian Rhapsody was not a song that kids would "bang their heads to in their cars", which is cute, certainly, but again, I'm not sure that white trash heavy metal was something that greatly concerned record execs in 1975.
But okay, it's glossy, that's fine.  It's very enjoyable and the Live Aid sequence is very well done and caps the film off nicely.  I don't know how accurate Rami Malek's depiction of the real-life Freddie Mercury is, but as a character performance it's fantastic, and I don't know why, but the guy who plays Brian May is just hilarious to behold - like he watched the Star Fleet video and decided that was enough research.
Best bit: Freddie's wife finally twigging that Freddie is a gay man because he gets along with Kenny Everit.  They really put that in the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 February, 2019, 09:50:37 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2019, 04:31:34 PMBohemian Rhapsody - while a cracking track and deservedly acknowledged as a classic - didn't really achieve epic status until Mike Myers and Dana Carvey turned it into a pop culture joke.

Bullshit - I was 9 when it ruled the charts, and while the critics may have been sniffy, I wasn't aware of that at the time because I didn't read the NME- I just remember it being huge. It even made the news bulletins for being so weird and the extraordinary number of weeks it stayed at number 1 - it was genuinely massive, and was regularly referenced in comedy shows and suchlike. Because my big brother, who I shared a bedroom with, was a massive Queen fan, I gained great kudos in the primary school playground by being able to sing the whole song, even the weird bits. in timethough , as always, the next HUGE pop-culture thing happened and took the limelight.

Eighteen years later, Wayne's World used it for a joke, but it was epic waaaaay before that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2019, 10:21:16 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 February, 2019, 09:50:37 PMin timethough , as always, the next HUGE pop-culture thing happened and took the limelight.

Which is sort of my point.  Lots of songs are epic in their day, and many of those even get to enter the charts a second time years - even decades -  later, but the trajectory you describe for BR before it got its Wayne and Garth relaunch, people who were kids at different times could easily ascribe to any number of songs from Number of the Beast to Macarena.
I personally live in dread of hearing once again that the Vengabus is coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 February, 2019, 11:01:10 PM
Was in the charts more than twice. Bohemian Rhapsody was the UK Christmas number one (again) and selling a mental amount of copies the year before Wayne's World was out at the pictures, on account of Freddie kicking the bucket.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 February, 2019, 11:15:00 PM
How To Train Your Dragon 3:

Narratively the least satisfying of these movies by a substantial margin. And yet, oddly, thematically perfect. Assuming this is the last movie, it's a brilliant capstone to the trilogy in many ways...

...and yet, not actually that great a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 February, 2019, 01:33:06 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 02 February, 2019, 10:21:16 PM
I personally live in dread of hearing once again that the Vengabus is coming.

That really did make me laugh out loud. (Yes it deserves writing out in words, it was that funny)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 February, 2019, 10:35:10 AM
I quite enjoyed the THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS by the Coen brothers on Netflix.

Particular kudos to the dialogue (which remains accessible while seeming authentically archaic; though frankly, i haven't a clue what they spoke like).

A fantastic cast give pleasing performances (Tom Waits and Liam Neeson work particularly well for me) and score and cinematography give the small, personal tales an epic feel.

And to the effortless way the tone shifts downward from the lighthearted black comedy of the opening ballad through the nightmarish "Meal Ticket" finishing with, to my mind the slightest but, thematically perfect "Mortal Remains". Overall, on completion, it reminded me of the oft quoted death rattle theme of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Which is pretty good company.

Minor quibbles; native americans are treated as bogeymen (albeit with a sense of humour, though my history is not good enough to know how they would be in the historical context of the stories), a couple of the tales go on too long and the "picture plate" spoils THE GIRL WHO GOT RATTLED.

And actually, Meal Ticket is the stuff of nightmares.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 February, 2019, 11:25:50 AM
I saw,The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, recently too. Liked it a lot.

Superbob, yesterday on Amazon Prime.

It's a comedy superhero film, with a largely British cast set largely in a place I used to go regularly: Peckham.

How did I miss this?

Bob is basically an ex postman , who got bit by a meteor in Rye Park and ended up with Superman powers. It's essentially about him balancing being a superhero with having a life, and how he is exploited. So not the most original thing, maybe, but with the tone it all somehow works. Or it did for me, anyway.

It's told in the form of a kind of documentary. It has a strong element of parody, yet does its own thing too. I found it very funny in places, but it's not afraid to go 'sad and poignant' too. Generally a rather sweet film, that's not afraid to be rather silly, and have a decent message to.

I enjoyed that a lot.

Shortly before that, I saw The Girl with all the Gifts.

Kind of another take on the Zombie genre, but not JUST another take on the Zombie genre. Well worth watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 03 February, 2019, 07:41:22 PM
I saw a trailer for Superbob like 6 years ago, only now have I seen any way of actually watching the movie...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 February, 2019, 08:10:19 PM

Was spellbound by The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, loved every minute of it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 February, 2019, 08:17:10 PM
"When they built this boy they forgot to include the quit..."

Agreed with all on Buster Scruggs. The Coens have made a modern western classic, and an anthology no less.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 February, 2019, 09:20:52 PM
Well for all sorts of none reasons I hadn't got around to War for the Planet of the Apes but finally got to it and wow did I enjoy it.

To manage to make a finale for Caesar whereby he manages to be both Jesus AND Moses in the same movie without it being absolute nonsense is a tribute to all. Its basically the greatest Biblical epic ever.

It just about always managed to pull that off, always just about staying on the right side of the balance. The cute bits like Bad Ape (I think he's called), just about keep in the movie in the right tone and don't push to far. The plot contrivences just about keep on the side of suspended belief. The dialogue toys with but never quite becomes hackneyed. The action just about holds together. And the even the nods to the other apes movies just about hold the line, though calling the mute girl Nova was pushing its luck on that front!

Because it does all that it manages to make the film a magnificent meladrama and not a ridiculous farce.

Well done all involved and now having watched that one the full re-watch of all the Ape movies beginning to end can begin. All bought from HMV for under £21 I believe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 04 February, 2019, 02:05:37 AM
Just rewatched Shaun of the Dead for the first time in years.  Great film, shall have to dig out There's Something About Mary (the 2000AD prequel/trailer).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 04 February, 2019, 11:02:51 AM
We couldn't resist Polar on Netflix over the weekend. I had inadvertantly read some scathing reviews, but despite the extreme violence, dodgy moralistic premise and absurdist characters...we quite liked it. I have little patience for on-screen torture these days and one sequence had me gritting my teeth, but Mads Mikkelsen holds it all together very well. A surprise hit in the Wedgeski household.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2019, 12:17:29 PM
The Hobbs & Shaw trailer had us itching to rewatch Fast & Furious 8, still great fun and those two characters really steal the show so very excited to see the new movie.

Also rewatched Resident Evil: Apocalypse (the second one). I sort of wish they'd numbered these films because I have a hell of a time remembering which is which just from the title. Has always been my least favourite of the series, while the rest are all enjoyable over the top trashy fun (in my opinion) this one goes over the edge into hot garbage territory. Even at the time I was a bit gutted with it (although the soundtrack album had a remix of 'The Outsider' by A Perfect Circle which I loved so damn much that I listened to that album a ton).

The videogame cosplay approach to the characters and creatures is both one of the worst and best things about it, because on the one hand seeing the Nemesis recreated as he looks in the game is laughable rubbery awfulness, but on the other hand Jill Valentine also looks like the walking embodiment of the game character, and I was at the right age playing it to have had a bit of a crush on her even when she was just a load of pointy polygons so it's got that going for it.

It definitely feels noticeably ropier than the other RE films (which I know don't set the highest benchmark imaginable) and it was only on this watch that I noticed from the credits that it's the only film with a different director, who doesn't appear to have helmed another film before or since. Yikes.

Still enjoyed it in a popcorn trashy B-movie way, but then I have a high tolerance for that specific kind of rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 February, 2019, 01:31:05 PM
Ghost Story

A kind of anthology. Quite good, if a bit silly in places. Genuinely spooked me a bit and made me jump in places. Particularly the first 'case' with Paul Whitehouse.(I'm a big girl's blouse where ghost stories are concerned. I think a lot of what me makes me jump isn't so much the ghoulish appearance as the loud sound affects, though.)

It ended in a rather odd way... but its worth a watch if you like this kind of thing.

Oh, nice little homage to The Evil Dead films in 'Case 2'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 04 February, 2019, 02:07:36 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 04 February, 2019, 01:31:05 PM
Ghost Story

A kind of anthology. Quite good, if a bit silly in places. Genuinely spooked me a bit and made me jump in places. Particularly the first 'case' with Paul Whitehouse.(I'm a big girl's blouse where ghost stories are concerned. I think a lot of what me makes me jump isn't so much the ghoulish appearance as the loud sound affects, though.)

It ended in a rather odd way... but its worth a watch if you like this kind of thing.

Oh, nice little homage to The Evil Dead films in 'Case 2'.

Saw this in the cinema last year and it creeped me out. Particularly because there was a woman sitting in the front corner of the cinema who was fiddling with her bag all the time and I managed to convince myself that she was getting ready for some sort of audience jump scare like they did at the stage show, or in the Woman in Black. She wasn't btw, she was just searching her bag for something.


Free Solo. Possibly the most scared I have been in a cinema for years.  :o Really sweaty palms, and to think that I used to do a bit of climbing for a while. Urggh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 04 February, 2019, 02:52:43 PM
Miami Vice (2006) Some enjoyable and well made action sequences fail to rescue ridiculous, leaden and po-faced dialogue and characters, i.e. it's a Michael Mann film. Colin Farrell's hair and 'tache are magnificently daft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 February, 2019, 02:53:29 PM
Ant-Man and the Wasp. A fun film that I think will stand up to many viewings. A worthy successor to the first.

The Lego Batman Movie. Good but with some genuine laugh out loud moments. I've found a piece of rope to leave at my desk at work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 February, 2019, 04:12:25 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 04 February, 2019, 01:31:05 PM
Ghost Story

A kind of anthology. Quite good, if a bit silly in places. Genuinely spooked me a bit and made me jump in places. Particularly the first 'case' with Paul Whitehouse.(I'm a big girl's blouse where ghost stories are concerned. I think a lot of what me makes me jump isn't so much the ghoulish appearance as the loud sound affects, though.)

It ended in a rather odd way... but its worth a watch if you like this kind of thing.

Oh, nice little homage to The Evil Dead films in 'Case 2'.
So desperately wanted to like this. Had tickets to the stage play which I couldn't make in the end.
Love ghost stories and have over 300 books on the subject (fiction and 'non fiction) but when I saw this at the cinema is just bored me.
Thinking I must have missed something I bought the blu ray and watched it again.
Whilst clever in sections it still bored me. Certainly did not scare me, not even a jot.
Maybe I'm just too much of an old hand at this kind of thing.
Was well made though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 February, 2019, 04:48:04 PM
The play was better than the movie, but it was still good in my book. Just the whole twist thing doesn't come off as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 February, 2019, 12:31:33 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 February, 2019, 04:48:04 PM
The play was better than the movie, but it was still good in my book. Just the whole twist thing doesn't come off as well.

It didn't come off at all. It may as well have been Bobby stepping out of the shower.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2019, 07:51:37 AM

"Also rewatchedResident Evil: Apocalypse (the second one). I sort of wish they'd numbered these films because I have a hell of a time remembering which is which just from the title"

As one wag pointed out, you could probably edit together random scenes from all of the movies and generate a new one; and people might not notice.

But oddly, I like them too. Every critical cell in my body screams "Nooooo!". But I can't help it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 05 February, 2019, 09:13:23 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2019, 12:17:29 PM
Also rewatched Resident Evil: Apocalypse (the second one)... it's the only film with a different director, who doesn't appear to have helmed another film before or since. Yikes.
Not so! Extinction (or, the one which is closest to being a halfway decent film in its own right) was directed by Russel Mulcahy of Highlander fame. I too have a huge, uncritical softspot for the RE films but I realise now that I've still never seen the last one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2019, 10:08:39 AM
You're right, I hadn't spotted that! I do remember it being one of the more memorable films, maybe because the desert setting made it stand out a bit. Pretty sure the last one has popped up on Netflix now, I think it's probably one of my favourites. It's as bonkers as ever, and they'd obviously seen Fury Road by this point and decided to throw some dollops of that into the mix, which I was right up for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 05 February, 2019, 05:59:22 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 05 February, 2019, 12:31:33 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 February, 2019, 04:48:04 PM
The play was better than the movie, but it was still good in my book. Just the whole twist thing doesn't come off as well.

It didn't come off at all. It may as well have been Bobby stepping out of the shower.

I wouldn't go as far as a B. Ewing comparison, but it did achieve the strongest face-palm ending since Switchblade Romance for this jaded horror aficionado.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 05 February, 2019, 06:34:58 PM
Evil Dead Saw the one from 2013. Not seen it in years. Really like it. Not as humerous as the rest of the series, but I still got a couple of laughs out of it. Especially in some of it's more brutal moments. It does those well. I also quite like the idea it takes place during someones cold turkey. Doesn't do much with it besides a scene of greenery and sunlights towards the ending, but I still liked it. Probably has my fav post credit scene ever with Ash saying groovy in a way which makes Duke Nukem sound light. A warning. Perhaps not a film some of you should watch too late during the evening and alone. Which I did. Almost felt lucky I managed to sleep without any "interesting" dreams :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 February, 2019, 06:43:09 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 February, 2019, 04:48:04 PM
The play was better than the movie, but it was still good in my book. Just the whole twist thing doesn't come off as well.

Did I read too much into the twist, beyond "[spoiler]It was all a dream[/spoiler]"? Which would have multiple English teachers turning in their grave, frankly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 February, 2019, 06:43:39 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 05 February, 2019, 06:34:58 PM
Evil Dead Saw the one from 2013. Not seen it in years. Really like it. Not as humerous as the rest of the series, but I still got a couple of laughs out of it. Especially in some of it's more brutal moments. It does those well. I also quite like the idea it takes place during someones cold turkey. Doesn't do much with it besides a scene of greenery and sunlights towards the ending, but I still liked it. Probably has my fav post credit scene ever with Ash saying groovy in a way which makes Duke Nukem sound light. A warning. Perhaps not a film some of you should watch too late during the evening and alone. Which I did. Almost felt lucky I managed to sleep without any "interesting" dreams :)

The opening of this film is some supreme horror, in my view.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2019, 09:38:11 AM
I need to give that remake another watch, I was pretty disappointed first time round but there's a good chance I'd enjoy it more if I know what I'm getting going in. Those movies have such a weird tone that seems really hard to nail down and perfect, and it didn't feel like it was hitting it for me. Saying that, there was a point right towards the end [spoiler]where it's raining blood[/spoiler] and I thought 'now THIS is an Evil Dead movie', but then it seemed to finish just as it was hitting its stride there. Could have been the mood I was in, will need to go back to it!

I was also pretty underwhelmed by the ending to Ghost Stories, despite liking the film a lot overall. The marketing for the play made such a big deal about not telling anyone what happens because it would spoil the surprise, so I maybe expected a lot more. The movie is creepy as hell though, and I thought Paul Whitehouse gave a great performance against type (or at least I've only ever seen him do comedy, outside of the odd tender moment in The Fast Show).

Watched half of the Netflix Fyre documentary last night and it's really something! Had to put it off just as the attendees were arriving, so looking forward to jumping in tonight and seeing how that panned out (from social media I at least know the cheese sandwiches were disappointing).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 February, 2019, 07:43:34 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 February, 2019, 06:43:39 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 05 February, 2019, 06:34:58 PM
Evil Dead Saw the one from 2013. Not seen it in years. Really like it. Not as humerous as the rest of the series, but I still got a couple of laughs out of it. Especially in some of it's more brutal moments. It does those well. I also quite like the idea it takes place during someones cold turkey. Doesn't do much with it besides a scene of greenery and sunlights towards the ending, but I still liked it. Probably has my fav post credit scene ever with Ash saying groovy in a way which makes Duke Nukem sound light. A warning. Perhaps not a film some of you should watch too late during the evening and alone. Which I did. Almost felt lucky I managed to sleep without any "interesting" dreams :)

The opening of this film is some supreme horror, in my view.

It is. And the post credit scene is absolute awesomeness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0mYGWmQ7fc :)

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2019, 09:38:11 AM
I need to give that remake another watch, I was pretty disappointed first time round but there's a good chance I'd enjoy it more if I know what I'm getting going in. Those movies have such a weird tone that seems really hard to nail down and perfect, and it didn't feel like it was hitting it for me. Saying that, there was a point right towards the end [spoiler]where it's raining blood[/spoiler] and I thought 'now THIS is an Evil Dead movie', but then it seemed to finish just as it was hitting its stride there. Could have been the mood I was in, will need to go back to it!

I was also left with the feeling that it was different, but I like it even more for it. Got the originals (not yet seen the tv series), and also it. It doesn't try to crash the party.

I think Fury Road and Halloween (2018) managed to do something similar for me. For me they worked both as reimaginings, sequels as well as their own thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 06 February, 2019, 11:21:25 PM
Alita: Battle ANgel. Simply stunning, a near perfect SF movie. Go see it in 3D as it's well worth the upgrade.

There's a very violent game called Motorball, and all I could think of when watching it was "Kevin O'Neill should draw this"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 07 February, 2019, 05:24:28 AM
Quote from: Bad City Blue on 06 February, 2019, 11:21:25 PM
Alita: Battle ANgel. Simply stunning, a near perfect SF movie. Go see it in 3D as it's well worth the upgrade.

There's a very violent game called Motorball, and all I could think of when watching it was "Kevin O'Neill should draw this"

Haven't seen the film yet, but the original manga does get a bit 2000AD at times. Sometimes literally...

https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=28197.0 (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=28197.0)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 February, 2019, 10:17:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 06 February, 2019, 07:43:34 PM

...not yet seen the tv series...



You are in for a treat when you do!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 February, 2019, 10:49:51 AM
Glad to hear Alita is a blast, one of my most anticipated movies in a very long time being a huge fan of the manga.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 07 February, 2019, 11:13:11 AM
I saw the trailer for Alita before Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (highly recommended). I thought the character design and animation was creepy and very much at the bottom of the uncanny-valley. Maybe that's deliberate? It's hard to judge from a short clip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 07 February, 2019, 04:27:44 PM
It's frikkin gorgeous from head to toe
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 February, 2019, 10:20:07 AM
Watched the Fyre festival documentary on Netflix, which was pretty fascinating. The thing that struck me most was the insane level of self-belief all those idiots putting it together had. It's weird to watch people who believe they're geniuses just because they're wealthy, it's a peculiarly Trumpy sort of delusion. It only barely touches on the ethical question of how accountable 'influencers' should be for this sort of thing - if you have a huge Twitter following and someone pays you a ton of money to endorse a scam, then surely you're a participant in the scam for duping all those people for cash?! Apparently Fuck Jerry had final approval on the cut, which will be why they don't seem to get much of a kicking in it for their part in it, which is a shame as would be nice to see them get their comeuppance.

There's a remorselessness to the way the main organizer fella fleeces everyone continuously (his post festival 'business' venture is pretty jaw-droppingly brazen) that's quite disturbing to watch, there's some weird disconnect with reality going on there. A good watch, curious how the rival Hulu doc portrays things.

Also saw Cherry 2000 for the first time, as a friend was putting on a double-bill of that and Steve De Jarnatt's other film Miracle Mile. It's very different, and very much a straight to video '80s action cheesefest but it's a got a lot of charm and character, and the world is a weird post-apocalyptic sci-fi western mash of styles that reminded me of something like Fallout: New Vegas. It played really well, with people cheering on the action and chuckling along with the villain (Tim Thomerson plays an awesomely quirky bad guy with some great cheeseball lines) so if you like that brand of trashy '80s B-Movie then you'd get something out of it.

It's so different to Miracle Mile though that it's a bit crazy to think it was made by the same guy, he definitely has a ton of imagination and heart so it's a shame those seem to be the only two movies he directed. Cherry 2000 is a bit of fun cheesy throwaway fun, but Miracle Mile is a proper masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. Saw it for the first time at a movie marathon screening a year or so ago knowing nothing about it and it blew my mind, and seems like everyone at this screening had that same experience. If you haven't seen it then thoroughly recommend going in as cold as possible, as not knowing what it's about made for one of the best cinema experiences I've had.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 February, 2019, 04:37:08 PM
Ok, time for some serious mea culpa.
Inspired (!) by this thread I went back to Ghost Stories one more time (this being the third).


This time I was unimpeded by wine or tiredness or even high expectations. In fact I still thought I would be disappointed. How wrong I was. I watched the movie today (in the middle of the day, with the black out curtains closed and the amp turned to 11) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Finally caught all the little nuances I had missed before (such as [spoiler]every single clock or watch being set at 3.45 (well, nearly)[/spoiler].
I then watched it immediately again with the commentary and picked up so much more that my tiny, sleep deprived, wine addled brain had missed in the first two viewings.


As so happens with me, It and Ghost Stories being two great examples, my expectations were so high that I became annoyed within minutes of the film starting and therefore failed to pay attention thereafter. My initial reactions to both were less than favourable and now I consider them both (and several other films to boot) very good.


Consider this my apology. Stupid me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 09 February, 2019, 04:04:00 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 February, 2019, 10:20:07 AM
Watched the Fyre festival documentary on Netflix, which was pretty fascinating. The thing that struck me most was the insane level of self-belief all those idiots putting it together had. It's weird to watch people who believe they're geniuses just because they're wealthy, it's a peculiarly Trumpy sort of delusion. It only barely touches on the ethical question of how accountable 'influencers' should be for this sort of thing - if you have a huge Twitter following and someone pays you a ton of money to endorse a scam, then surely you're a participant in the scam for duping all those people for cash?! Apparently Fuck Jerry had final approval on the cut, which will be why they don't seem to get much of a kicking in it for their part in it, which is a shame as would be nice to see them get their comeuppance.

There's a remorselessness to the way the main organizer fella fleeces everyone continuously (his post festival 'business' venture is pretty jaw-droppingly brazen) that's quite disturbing to watch, there's some weird disconnect with reality going on there. A good watch, curious how the rival Hulu doc portrays things.

Also saw Cherry 2000 for the first time, as a friend was putting on a double-bill of that and Steve De Jarnatt's other film Miracle Mile. It's very different, and very much a straight to video '80s action cheesefest but it's a got a lot of charm and character, and the world is a weird post-apocalyptic sci-fi western mash of styles that reminded me of something like Fallout: New Vegas. It played really well, with people cheering on the action and chuckling along with the villain (Tim Thomerson plays an awesomely quirky bad guy with some great cheeseball lines) so if you like that brand of trashy '80s B-Movie then you'd get something out of it.

It's so different to Miracle Mile though that it's a bit crazy to think it was made by the same guy, he definitely has a ton of imagination and heart so it's a shame those seem to be the only two movies he directed. Cherry 2000 is a bit of fun cheesy throwaway fun, but Miracle Mile is a proper masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. Saw it for the first time at a movie marathon screening a year or so ago knowing nothing about it and it blew my mind, and seems like everyone at this screening had that same experience. If you haven't seen it then thoroughly recommend going in as cold as possible, as not knowing what it's about made for one of the best cinema experiences I've had.

Good movies! Have you seen Radioactive Dreams? That's another fun cool movie that'd fit in somewhere on a shelf with those. Also Repo Man (1984) if anyone in here hasn't seen that somehow, one of the greats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 09:24:49 AM
Researched Batman vs. Superman. For a movie striving sooo hard to be iconic and memorable, it really isn't that memorable.

I warmed a little to Man Of Steel on second viewing but a second look at BvS turned me off. 

Goyer and Snyder just don't understand Superman and Batman.  But that's Ok. You could still make a great film with those versions of the characters.

But it also seems, they have forgotten how to write a story or characters in a way that makes the action (and the iconic shots) they have in their heads seem earned.

It is literally just a collection of "ideas" which they filmed and added some short bridging scenes.

More like DAWN OF SHIT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dudley on 09 February, 2019, 12:30:01 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 09:24:49 AM
Researched Batman vs. Superman. For a movie striving sooo hard to be iconic and memorable, it really isn't that memorable.

I warmed a little to Man Of Steel on second viewing but a second look at BvS turned me off. 

Goyer and Snyder just don't understand Superman and Batman.  But that's Ok. You could still make a great film with those versions of the characters.

But it also seems, they have forgotten how to write a story or characters in a way that makes the action (and the iconic shots) they have in their heads seem earned.

It is literally just a collection of "ideas" which they filmed and added some short bridging scenes.

More like DAWN OF SHIT.

Check out Moviebob/Bob Chipman's epic takedown of BvS on YouTube. Longer than War and Peace, but worth it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 February, 2019, 12:35:17 PM
Quote from: Dudley on 09 February, 2019, 12:30:01 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 09:24:49 AM
Researched Batman vs. Superman. For a movie striving sooo hard to be iconic and memorable, it really isn't that memorable.

I warmed a little to Man Of Steel on second viewing but a second look at BvS turned me off. 

Goyer and Snyder just don't understand Superman and Batman.  But that's Ok. You could still make a great film with those versions of the characters.

But it also seems, they have forgotten how to write a story or characters in a way that makes the action (and the iconic shots) they have in their heads seem earned.

It is literally just a collection of "ideas" which they filmed and added some short bridging scenes.

More like DAWN OF SHIT.

Check out Moviebob/Bob Chipman's epic takedown of BvS on YouTube. Longer than War and Peace, but worth it.
Was about to say, Bob pulls no punches in that series, his disdain for Warner Bros franchise attitude in general is very noticable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 04:37:44 PM
His 10 minute review was amusing - I don't think I can spare 2 hours of him expanding on it. Unless his longer critiques talk more about film making in general and how this compares.

I was thinking about Miller's Crossing because of Albert Finney and how people generally acknowledge the two awesome scenes in that (Danny Boy and "Look into your heart). And how the screen play earns those moments, they are pivotal to plot and character and rightly, in my mind, iconic. BvS never does the legwork but wants the results.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 February, 2019, 05:10:35 PM
Did you watch the ultimate cut? I think it fairs a bit better.

I like it mostly because of a couple scenes. Intro 1, 2, superman montage, Warehouse fight and the burial. Love those. But overall it's not my favorite, but still okay to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 February, 2019, 06:51:36 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 04:37:44 PM
His 10 minute review was amusing - I don't think I can spare 2 hours of him expanding on it. Unless his longer critiques talk more about film making in general and how this compares.

I've been listening to this all afternoon while I work. Haven't quite got to the end of Pt3, but it's good stuff. Closely observed and well-argued. Takes in Snyder's other works (worth noting that Bob thinks Snyder is a good film-maker, a view I don't share), talks about comparable films from the MCU, other DCEU movies, has an excellent and completely relevant diversion into the brilliance of Starship Troopers, says some insightful stuff about the comics that gave rise to a movie like this...

It's smart stuff. Crucially, he's coming at this from the starting point of: this is the work of a whole bunch of talented people who weren't setting out to make a terrible movie, so how did we end up with this...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 February, 2019, 07:10:11 PM
I have a bit of a drive tomorrow so I'll give it a go. Starship Troopers was the clincher.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 February, 2019, 07:49:18 PM
I tried listening to MovieBob, but he's from the school of Youtube that insists on talkingreallyfastwithoutanypauseswhatsoeverlikethelegalverbiageattheendofUSadvertsanditsfuckingannoyingtolistento so I had to give up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 February, 2019, 10:46:14 PM
Well enjoyed Part 1 of that very much. My reaction to the Jimmy Olsen reveal (in the Ultimate Cut) was the same as his!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 11 February, 2019, 09:22:16 AM
Heathers
I have a real soft spot for high school films and I hadn't seen this one since the 90s.
It's much funnier than I remember but the satire is pretty dark. I wonder how modern audiences would react to its theme of teen murder and social justice. I can see why they never show it on TV!
Definitely worth a watch. Winona Ryder and Christian Slater both give good performances – as do the Heathers who are all absolutely vile.

A Quiet Place
Was enjoyable but I really can't see what all the fuss was about. There were some good ideas and the performances were excellent but it certainly lacked originality. I felt like I'd seen that monster design a million times before and [spoiler]the revelation that the creatures with hyper sensitive hearing were vulnerable to high pitched frequencies was like – no shit Sherlock. It's the first thing I'd have thought of because that's always the vulnerability for monsters with hyper sensitive hearing.[/spoiler]
I was left with the impression that this film had been marketed as a cut above the normal horror fare and lots of people who never watch horror watched it because of Emily Blunt and her Writer/Director/Actor husband and thought they were seeing something original.
In summary – very competently made, some good ideas, very good performances but let down by an unoriginal story and lame monsters.

Enemy
Jake Gylenhall plays a history teacher who finds he has a doppelganger on the other side of town.
I sort of enjoyed this film. Again, the performances were good and it had lots of rude bits.
It was a bit arty farty though. The story was pretty slight and I thought they could have done more with it. I was expecting some sort of Hitchcockian thriller which is probably why I ended up disappointed.
Worth a watch but don't expect to be blown away by the story – it's all about the mood and the feels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 February, 2019, 11:25:26 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 09 February, 2019, 04:04:00 AM
Good movies! Have you seen Radioactive Dreams? That's another fun cool movie that'd fit in somewhere on a shelf with those. Also Repo Man (1984) if anyone in here hasn't seen that somehow, one of the greats.

I haven't seen either of those, but funnily enough the friend I went to Cherry 2000/Miracle Mile with brought me in a loan of the Repo Man DVD the next day, and said if I liked those I would love it! Looking forward to watching it. Had to google Radioactive Dreams there and surprised I haven't heard of it, looks barmy. Will try and check it out, thanks for the recommendation!

Watched An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn at the weekend and really enjoyed it, but it's bizarre enough that it probably won't appeal to everyone. I still haven't seen the writer/director's previous film The Greasy Strangler but remember a lot of people I knew watching it and being a bit dumbfounded, so I'd imagine this is a similar tone and humour as that. A really good cast putting in some really amusingly odd performances and some really surreal laughs. Probably has very niche appeal, but we laughed a lot. It's bonkers.

Also tried to watch Garbage Pail Kids The Movie and made it about half an hour in which was good going I think. Had heard how awful it was and needed to satisfy my morbid B-movie curiosity, but the wee kids themselves were total nightmare fuel and I couldn't take it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 February, 2019, 12:55:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 February, 2019, 09:22:16 AM
Heathers
I have a real soft spot for high school films and I hadn't seen this one since the 90s.
It's much funnier than I remember but the satire is pretty dark. I wonder how modern audiences would react to its theme of teen murder and social justice. I can see why they never show it on TV!
Definitely worth a watch. Winona Ryder and Christian Slater both give good performances – as do the Heathers who are all absolutely vile.


I was just thinking the other day I must get around to watching this again. One of my favourite filsm back in the day but haven't seen it in years. Good to hear it holds up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2019, 01:11:45 PM
If anything in an era of 80's nostalgia, where coming of age teen comedies are now back in vogue, Heathers holds up even more as an oddly prescient satire. I make no secrets of my love for that films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 February, 2019, 01:53:19 PM
As I mentioned elsewhere I recently picked up all the Apes movies (well I'm not counting Tim Burton's effort) for about £21 the other day and so I'm happily working my way through them in production order.

I've always loved Planet of the Apes (1968) and its a film that really stands up to repeated viewing, even if Chuckie H's performance is very overstated at times, he still makes Taylor if not likable entirely engaging and the Apes are all top notch. The satire is sharp and well placed. Its the classic I always think it is.

What struck me more was the differences from the first film to its sequel 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'. Now I want to say before I go any further that I enjoyed BtPotA a lot more than I remember doing in the past with this viewing. Its full of lovely kinetic nonsense and while the satire isn't as sharp, possibly a bit to on the nose (?) its a fun action romp, if completely in the shadow of its predecessor.

What struck me most however was while PotA (1968) feels like a movie parible, but feels like a big screen production BtPotA I enjoy on the level of a decent Doctor Who story. It just doesn't feel like a movie. I know budgets had already begun to diminish, but its not that, I think it still holds up visually pretty well given its age and all, rather the way the story feels a lot less tight than the original.

Having recently read another book about the making of the movies I'm reminded of the tricky time they seemed to have finding a story for the sequel that would work. Now it not as if PotA (1968) didn't have its own share of pre-production struggles but the core concept and story, however departed from Boulle's book, is so fantastic that however many interations it went through it still holds onto those tight core ideas so well. BtPotA feels like a story looking for a reason to be. Or rather the type of Doctor Who 6 parter that really should have stayed a 4 parter. It feels stretched and slightly directionless at time. I'm not sure if it has too much, or too little going on with it but the story doesn't quite hold.

Still enjoyed both and can't wait for the next which I've always held as my favourite, though I don't know if that will hold as it been a long time since I saw it last.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 11 February, 2019, 02:04:38 PM
No love for the Burton Apes movie?  I found I liked it once I got past the whole "this is dreadful" thing.

I am pretty sure that Aquaman overall was quite rubbish, but I enjoyed it anyway, as it had good action and likeable characters to offset its shite story.  What foul sorcery does Nicole Kidman practice to still look this way?
Nice to see a DC movie with amiable characters, and a protagonist that actually grows throughout the film and learns a worthwhile lesson, but sweet Christmas did the whole "let's do Arthurian myth because his name is Arthur" thing drop out of a cereal packet?  I sincerely hope so, because I would be deeply worried if someone was paid money for it.
Momoa is very affable in this even when his whole deal at the start of the film is that he's an angry loner who shuns people because of his angry loner pain - and then the first thing he goes and does after saving the lives of a bunch of sailors is take his dad for a pint and then takes goofy selfies with bikers and then when Mera shows up sounding like a gothy teen saying people are rubbish, Arthur spends his time defending people and insisting they are inherently good and capable of change.  He's like the antithesis of Clint Eastwood's arsehole character from those bare knuckle boxing films with the orange monkey, in that all the elements are there for a dreadful and unlikable character, but then he just does nice things and is nice to people.  I mean, this is the exact opposite of what the script seems to want at that point (the point of contention between Arthur and Manta hinges on his being a darker, harder character), but I don't really mind, and I don't think most people would, either.

It is all over the place, but I suppose that helps when it turns into a mid-90s heavy metal album cover at the end complete with sick guitar riffs, warring monsters, and stacked ladies, and especial kudos to the makers for correctly identifying that mid-90s metal suffered from a severe lack of Dolph Lundgren with a pink beard.  There are plenty of films coming out of Asia that look like this now that SFX technology is so cheap and easy to implement*, which kind of makes me wonder where they spent all the cash - and more importantly, why, as the Sicily action sequence is probably the best one in the whole film, and only the bit with the fish aliens in the storm seemed like it took advantage of the budget to do something memorable rather than large-scale cgi for its own sake.  Some of the cgi is a bit ropey, but what can you do?
Anyway, like I say, this is probably complete rubbish, but it's enjoyable rubbish, and it often illustrates that its heart is in the right place.  Probably my favorite of the DCMU films so far.


* Though sadly nothing worth your time since Space battleship Yamato, and while the likes of Enthiran and Ra.One were fun distractions, I have high hopes for The Wandering Earth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8LAwozrXPo), though any breakout success for it will surely spell doom for that Seveneaves adaptation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 11 February, 2019, 02:19:19 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 11 February, 2019, 02:04:38 PM
What foul sorcery does Nicole Kidman practice to still look this way?

CGI.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 February, 2019, 08:45:35 PM
Paddington 2
Lovely film. Lots of fun and lots of heart. +5 Joy gained from watching it. Can never grow to old to enjoy this sort of film.

How's the first one? Anyone seen it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 February, 2019, 09:31:45 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 February, 2019, 08:45:35 PM
How's the first one? Anyone seen it?

Really good. Although I haven't (yet) seen the second, everyone seems to think it's better than the first, so you might not enjoy it as much watching them in reverse order...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 February, 2019, 12:05:32 AM
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Saw this last night - it was a lot of fun. The plot is a little flimsy* and the twists are hit and miss - I thought one surprise reveal concerning a certain villain worked great, while another similar twist regarding a second villain feels a bit incongruous and didn't really work for me, and overall it all feels a bit too meta and irreverent to really count as a great standalone Spider-Man film (imo)... but the visuals are the main selling point here, and it's worth seeing for them alone. Genuinely fresh and original, and looks unlike anything I've seen before.

*Did they even explain where the spider that bit Miles came from? It all seemed quite vague. Quite a lot of the plot points felt a bit glossed over and you just had to go along with it and not think about it too much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 12 February, 2019, 05:51:19 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 February, 2019, 09:31:45 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 February, 2019, 08:45:35 PM
How's the first one? Anyone seen it?

Really good. Although I haven't (yet) seen the second, everyone seems to think it's better than the first, so you might not enjoy it as much watching them in reverse order...

Still sounds like it's worth a try :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 12 February, 2019, 08:05:35 AM
Quote from: radiator on 12 February, 2019, 12:05:32 AM
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
*Did they even explain where the spider that bit Miles came from? It all seemed quite vague. Quite a lot of the plot points felt a bit glossed over and you just had to go along with it and not think about it too much.

The way it flickered suggests to me that it came over in the huge dimension-ray-thing that Kingpin built. I've had to spend the last week explaining alternate dimensions, Spider-Ham, who Spider-Gwen is and why there were two Peter Parkers to my daughter. She has taken it in her stride. I thought it was great.

Paddington and Paddington 2 are both excellent. The second film shades the first, purely for some brilliant set pieces (window washing and barbers) and Hugh Grant's best-performance-ever. The first one does have it's own wonderful moments, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 February, 2019, 08:34:38 AM
Got free tickets for Battle Angel Alita tomorrow... will report back
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 12 February, 2019, 12:15:14 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 February, 2019, 08:45:35 PM
Paddington 2
Lovely film. Lots of fun and lots of heart. +5 Joy gained from watching it. Can never grow to old to enjoy this sort of film.

How's the first one? Anyone seen it?
Excellent -- much better than the trailer made it look!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 February, 2019, 01:03:45 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 12 February, 2019, 12:15:14 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 February, 2019, 08:45:35 PM
Paddington 2
Lovely film. Lots of fun and lots of heart. +5 Joy gained from watching it. Can never grow to old to enjoy this sort of film.

How's the first one? Anyone seen it?
Excellent -- much better than the trailer made it look!

Another massive thumbs up for Paddington 2!
A modern kids film that actually doesn't talk down to its audience and Hugh Grant was brilliant!
Something truly special!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 12 February, 2019, 01:04:29 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 February, 2019, 08:34:38 AM
Got free tickets for Battle Angel Alita tomorrow... will report back

At least the tickets were free!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 12 February, 2019, 05:34:21 PM
While they're both wonderful (probably my favourite film series of the last decade), I actually think the first Paddington is slightly better than the second. The family characters feel a little sidelined in the sequel, and the first film also packs more of an emotional punch I would say - the scene where Paddington gets his coat, and the one where he first meets the Browns (and the lost/found sign illumination) almost make me tear up just thinking about them.

The Paddington films didn't do especially well in the US, so when I rave about them to people here they give me a very suspicious look, as the trailers do indeed make them look awful.

Last I heard the director is now working on a Willy Wonka reboot for Warner - hope that doesn't mean we won't be getting a third Paddington.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 12 February, 2019, 06:07:20 PM
I'll definitely pick up Paddington when I get the chance then. Sounds great  :)

I've heard that the director of the first two will still be involved in some extent. Producer or such. With some luck it'll be something similar.

Some people at work had also seen it. They loved it as well. Liked it as much as the kids did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 12 February, 2019, 06:39:07 PM
Quote from: radiator on 12 February, 2019, 05:34:21 PM
While they're both wonderful (probably my favourite film series of the last decade), I actually think the first Paddington is slightly better than the second. The family characters feel a little sidelined in the sequel, and the first film also packs more of an emotional punch I would say - the scene where Paddington gets his coat, and the one where he first meets the Browns (and the lost/found sign illumination) almost make me tear up just thinking about them.

The Paddington films didn't do especially well in the US, so when I rave about them to people here they give me a very suspicious look, as the trailers do indeed make them look awful.

Last I heard the director is now working on a Willy Wonka reboot for Warner - hope that doesn't mean we won't be getting a third Paddington.
Not to worry.
http://collider.com/paddington-3/ (http://collider.com/paddington-3/)

Also I imagine Paddington 1/2 were/will be well received on streaming services.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 13 February, 2019, 10:03:28 AM
Lego Movie 2 - I think I enjoyed it even more than the first one, and I really enjoyed the first one. Laughed most of the way through it - there's so many little references and jokes in there, I probably missed about 50% of them...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 02:59:20 PM
Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter's not-very-good film from 1987 but in 4k.

Apparently you can polish a turd.

It's still a poor film but, wow! In 4k it looks amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 February, 2019, 03:39:58 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 02:59:20 PM
Prince of Darkness

John Carpenter's not-very-good film from 1987 but in 4k.

Apparently you can polish a turd.

It's still a poor film but, wow! In 4k it looks amazing.
Not-very-good? I think this is a wonderfully creepy film. Now I must have a 4K version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 February, 2019, 04:10:36 PM
The visions of the future scenes are pure Lovecraftian horror and really make the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 04:37:07 PM
Prince of Darkness is easily my favourite Carpenter movie. The Thing is probably objectively better, but Prince of Darkness has Dennis Dun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 February, 2019, 05:03:33 PM
I always find it weird that Prince of Darkness is often referred to as one of Carpenter's bad films, I'm a huge fan of it. I find it incredibly creepy and intense (and my other half maintains PoD and [REC] are the most scared she's ever been by a film). Also has one of my favourite Carpenter scores (the theme is fantastic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFb0XzoOZhk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFb0XzoOZhk)).

For me it captures the sense of being besieged in a situation that keeps on getting more intense (for want of a better description, the Night of The Living Dead thing) better than almost any film out there. I can totally see how watching it in a certain mood it might come across as very hokey, but personally it's always scared the bejeezus out of me!

Went to see it in a church once and the people there who hadn't seen it were absolutely terrified, which was fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 05:30:39 PM
Not-very-good compared to Carpenter's other films.

I'm a massive JC fan (the director not the Son of God) and compared to Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Escape From New York and Christine (a controversial choice I admit) Prince of Darkness is B rate. I rate the rest A. I have the 4k discs of The Fog, Escape From New York and They Live (another B rate film of his for me) yet to watch.

I would happily watch Carpenter's movies over most, I rate him that much. Prince of Darkness is fun but much of the acting is poor and he badly misses Dean Cundey imo.

Still looks fucking marvellous on 4k though. I saw it at the cinema in '88 (we didn't get it until then) and then VHS, DVD and blu ray but this presentation blows them all away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 05:31:59 PM
And in regards to the theme; I found it quite intrusive in the film but very good on it's own on the CD.

I think it's overused in the movie itself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 05:33:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 February, 2019, 05:03:33 PM

For me it captures the sense of being besieged in a situation that keeps on getting more intense

Which he did miles better in Assault on Precinct 19 (another A+ film from Carpenter for me)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 05:35:16 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 February, 2019, 05:03:33 PM
Went to see it in a church once and the people there who hadn't seen it were absolutely terrified, which was fun.

That sounds cool. According to one of the extras on the disc they still hold showings of the film in the theatre which once was the church in the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 05:36:09 PM
At no point in Assault on Precinct 13 does Alice Cooper impale anyone with a bicycle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 February, 2019, 05:39:34 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 05:36:09 PM
At no point in Assault on Precinct 13 does Alice Cooper impale anyone with a bicycle.
And it's the poorer for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 05:40:08 PM
My point precisely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 February, 2019, 05:51:04 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 05:30:39 PM
They Live (another B rate film of his for me)

You wound me, sir. Wound me. If you say anything untoward about Big Trouble in Little China I think my head may explode.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 06:08:10 PM
BTILC...

Yeah, it's a B movie. And it wears it well.

And Alice Cooper, in a non speaking role, fucking ruins those scenes. Because it's Alice Cooper. And that bike scene. Well, it's plain shit. Pandering to the Fangoria crowd. Good JC would never have done that. Never.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 February, 2019, 06:08:55 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 05:36:09 PM
At no point in Assault on Precinct 13 does Alice Cooper impale anyone with a bicycle.

But you do have a child shot in the head at an ice cream van.

Much, much better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 February, 2019, 06:36:14 PM
Don't get me wrong, I think Assault on Precinct 13 is a superb film. But, to borrow a familiar phrase: "Hello... hello... I've got a message for you and you're not going to like it..." - Prince of Darkness is also a superb film. They're just very different, despite the superficial similarities of the 'under siege' set up. The former takes a simple premise and milks it for every ounce of tension available, whereas Prince of Darkness keeps on throwing in crazy new quantum curveballs which nonetheless fit perfectly with the main premise (and within Carpenter's much loved 'Rio Bravo' framework.) It's an imaginative tour de force of Grand Guignol glory (by way of some serious Nigel Kneale worship) blessed with endlessly quotable dialogue, and a lot of clever, eerie little moments to counterpoint the madness. (The bit with the disappearing playing card must be one of the sharpest.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 February, 2019, 10:11:26 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 February, 2019, 12:55:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 11 February, 2019, 09:22:16 AM
Heathers
I have a real soft spot for high school films and I hadn't seen this one since the 90s.
It's much funnier than I remember but the satire is pretty dark. I wonder how modern audiences would react to its theme of teen murder and social justice. I can see why they never show it on TV!
Definitely worth a watch. Winona Ryder and Christian Slater both give good performances – as do the Heathers who are all absolutely vile.


I was just thinking the other day I must get around to watching this again. One of my favourite filsm back in the day but haven't seen it in years. Good to hear it holds up.

So took a detour on my Apes trip to make good on this and very glad I did I enjoyed it. Sure its dated in some ways but in others remains entirely timeless and its funny as all hell as well as being a wonderfully sharp satire.

The only problem I think I'd conflated its soundtrack with 'Pump Up the Volume'. Which isn't a problem in itself as I think the actual soundtrack was perfect for this film BUT means I now want to check out that movie as well and I'm not sure that will hold up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 February, 2019, 11:01:45 PM
For a modern take on Heathers, check out Thoroughbreds. It's a little different in tone and much lighter on the humour, but has a similar feel at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 13 February, 2019, 11:13:49 PM
I actually think we've had this exact conversation before! Prince of Darkness is the second last great Carpenter film for me and probably my favourite of his overt horrors. Except The Thing, obviously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dudley on 14 February, 2019, 07:25:20 AM
Raw

Finally caught up with this French film. Well, that's what I call  a great toe-sucking scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKcXj63vynA%5B/url), and the parties were amazing. It really makes vet school look very tempting.  Certainly one of the best campus coming-of-age films I've seen in a long time, with some excellent moments of black comedy. The gay roommate in particular was a brilliant character, and I also liked the Goth sister.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 February, 2019, 09:23:18 AM
I'd say Prince of Darkness, They Live and Big Trouble are the B rate Carpenter films that could have been great.
They all have the same problem in that they seem to meander a bit around the 3/4 mark and my attention always starts to wander before the end. To a lesser extent The Thing does the same but just about manages to keep things on the boil (and the good bits are so good it still manages to get an A rating).
IMHO Assault is Carpenter's best film by a country mile, followed by Halloween. I'd put Escape in the top category as well - it manages to keep its hokey energy sustained throughout.
Even the B grade films still have plenty to love about them though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 14 February, 2019, 10:59:17 AM
The future messages of Prince of Darkness are by far and above my favourite part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 February, 2019, 11:56:52 PM
A STAR IS BORN
I dunno, I want my tear jerkers to actually make me cry but this just did not engage me or Mrs Tips emotionally. And she fucking well cries at anything!

There was a distracting lack of geography and establishing shots which mean I spent the first minute of each scene trying to work out where we were. Plus Bradley and Sam Elliot mumbled a lot.

Bradley and Gaga are pretty good though. Even though she blows the last scene.

More like A SHIT IS BORN.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2019, 12:21:15 AM
(Thinking about it, the establishing shot thing was probably deliberate as it's mostly Bradley's POV and not knowing where he was at any given moment is in character. But it still didn't work for me)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 16 February, 2019, 09:56:46 AM
Recently found a 1977 animated version of the Hobbit & a 1980 animated version of The return of the King. They are simplified versions of the stories but are worth a watch for the novelty value
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 February, 2019, 10:07:34 AM
Detroit
Quite interesting film. Starts with some animated paintings portraying the abuse of afro americans in america, then jumps over to a raid on a club which leads to afro americans rioting in Detroit in the 60s. Then the focus is shifted to a very disgusting incident (which happened) of police and military terrorizing a couple of young black men in a hotel, in hopes of finding a gun (which was a toy gun), with some horrific results. Aftermath comes in the form of pictures of the real victims, as well blured of the tormentors ([spoiler]since they were never freed in court[/spoiler]).

While I don't agree on the jump between focus and scale, I found it in one way to be interesting. While the parts didn't carry each other as I believe they're intended to, it got me thinking that perhaps they do to some. Lets say someone in america who happens to be black and had some really bad experiences due to this person's race, something not made the easier to handle thanks to the history of abuse towards other afterican americans. It's not a big relevation for me, that I perhaps can't get the full "experience" of someone elses world, but I felt it was good to reminded of such. Even if this was the intention or not.

For the film itself, I found the hotel incident to be the most powerful. Which is a really ugly situation with scary power dynamics. Almost like watching a horror movie. I even found myself thinking that they could'v made it into one.

First time watching it. Felt more like an experience than a movie. I'll probably watch it again soon, see if I don't see things differently. Regardless, interesting film. A story I hope gets told more times, in different ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 February, 2019, 01:36:20 PM
Hereditary

What a disappointment.

Ponderously dull, this two hour film meanders through a lot of nothing for the first 110 minutes before descending into cliche.

The [spoiler]decapitation[/spoiler] half an hour in is a stand out shock but, really, this is not worth your time.

It plods along giving the characters nothing to do - Gabriel Byrne is criminally wasted - and seems to mistake bass rumbling for plot development. Is there anything as lazy as a rumbling soundtrack to signpost "this is meant to be tense and/or scary"? Although that is needed here, as the writing is neither.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 February, 2019, 02:17:02 PM
‪Good word of mouth overcame my resistance to some very lacklustre trailers for Alita: Battle Angel. Glad I went — it's good. Never read the manga, so have no idea how it compares, but the film is a solidly entertaining couple of hours. ‬
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 February, 2019, 03:18:11 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 February, 2019, 01:36:20 PM
Hereditary

What a disappointment.

Ponderously dull, this two hour film meanders through a lot of nothing for the first 110 minutes before descending into cliche.

The [spoiler]decapitation[/spoiler] half an hour in is a stand out shock but, really, this is not worth your time.

It plods along giving the characters nothing to do - Gabriel Byrne is criminally wasted - and seems to mistake bass rumbling for plot development. Is there anything as lazy as a rumbling soundtrack to signpost "this is meant to be tense and/or scary"? Although that is needed here, as the writing is neither.

Could not disagree more, but I value your opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 February, 2019, 03:42:07 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 February, 2019, 02:17:02 PM
‪Good word of mouth overcame my resistance to some very lacklustre trailers for Alita: Battle Angel. Glad I went — it's good. Never read the manga, so have no idea how it compares, but the film is a solidly entertaining couple of hours. ‬

I enjoyed this too. Didn't know what to expect. I thought my kids would love it, but it didn't resonate with an 11 and 14 year old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 February, 2019, 05:57:44 PM
I'm kind of on the fence about watching Battle Angel Alita.

The large eyed CGI of the main character irritates me a bit for some reason. I was under the understanding that she had the large eyed look in the original media due to the fact all the characters are drawn that way*, and I think it's even more exaggerated with females.

If that's the case, in translation to live action, shouldn't she just look like a young woman? At least until part of her flesh gets scraped away... So why not just have a young actress in the role on screen, rather than through motion capture? (Fair dues, that's a major job in itself, probably actually harder than being on-screen. I'm not knocking motion capture characters in any way.)

I guess her unique appearance is an intentional part of the story, a way of showing that she is visually unique,
and in danger of prejudism as a result, bit suspect that could have been done another way. I don't have anything against that in itself, but I wonder if it strays from the intentions of the original for an excuse for Cameron and co to push the envelope of what is possible with CGI. I actually like CGI, but I feel it should serve the story, not the other way around.

On the other hand, reviews here seem largely positive, which is swaying me. And....*

*having never read the manga or an the anime, I could be wrong here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 16 February, 2019, 06:12:06 PM
You might like

https://youtu.be/rcnQ7Dlk_Ks (https://youtu.be/rcnQ7Dlk_Ks)

Quote from: rogue69 on 16 February, 2019, 09:56:46 AM
Recently found a 1977 animated version of the Hobbit & a 1980 animated version of The return of the King. They are simplified versions of the stories but are worth a watch for the novelty value
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 16 February, 2019, 06:14:00 PM
I'm with Matt on this one, really thought this was good. I'll never watch it again though ..

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 February, 2019, 03:18:11 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 February, 2019, 01:36:20 PM
Hereditary

What a disappointment.

Ponderously dull, this two hour film meanders through a lot of nothing for the first 110 minutes before descending into cliche.

The [spoiler]decapitation[/spoiler] half an hour in is a stand out shock but, really, this is not worth your time.

It plods along giving the characters nothing to do - Gabriel Byrne is criminally wasted - and seems to mistake bass rumbling for plot development. Is there anything as lazy as a rumbling soundtrack to signpost "this is meant to be tense and/or scary"? Although that is needed here, as the writing is neither.

Could not disagree more, but I value your opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 17 February, 2019, 07:03:07 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 February, 2019, 05:57:44 PM
I'm kind of on the fence about watching Battle Angel Alita.

The large eyed CGI of the main character irritates me a bit for some reason. I was under the understanding that she had the large eyed look in the original media due to the fact all the characters are drawn that way*, and I think it's even more exaggerated with females.

If that's the case, in translation to live action, shouldn't she just look like a young woman? At least until part of her flesh gets scraped away... So why not just have a young actress in the role on screen, rather than through motion capture? (Fair dues, that's a major job in itself, probably actually harder than being on-screen. I'm not knocking motion capture characters in any way.)

I guess her unique appearance is an intentional part of the story, a way of showing that she is visually unique,
and in danger of prejudism as a result, bit suspect that could have been done another way. I don't have anything against that in itself, but I wonder if it strays from the intentions of the original for an excuse for Cameron and co to push the envelope of what is possible with CGI. I actually like CGI, but I feel it should serve the story, not the other way around.

On the other hand, reviews here seem largely positive, which is swaying me. And....*

*having never read the manga or an the anime, I could be wrong here.

Wasn't sure either. Went in and saw it with two friends. Quite entertaining movie. The effects didn't bother me at all, in fact I thought she was brilliantly done. Only times she became an effect for me was when giving it some thought how good I thought the actress -underneath- was. I think the big eyes thing even served the story [spoiler]thanks to the flashbacks[/spoiler].

Only thing which bothered me now and then was how brutal it was. Movie starts "soft" on details (for example cutting away before someone gets a blowtorch in their face) but later on it's show all with cyborgs getting their limbs and faces cut off. Even if it's essentially just "metal", the ones on the recieving end of loosing half their face seems pretty bothered by it.

All and all. I quite recommend it. Really good action and Rosa Salazar is brilliant in the role as Alita.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 17 February, 2019, 10:22:02 AM
I picked up the Blu Ray of Troll Hunter for £2.50 in a charity shop.
I'd seen it when it first came out and remembered enjoying it so I watched it again last night.
It was even better than I'd remembered. I just love the way they totally embrace the folklore elemements of the Trolls and the creature designs are fantastic and really stand out amongst the host of generic looking CGI beasties we usualy see these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 February, 2019, 07:12:43 PM
Watched Iron Man (the first one) last night.

10 or 11 years old, but still fun. The plot is really simple compared to yer average superhero movie nowadays
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 17 February, 2019, 08:21:53 PM
Witness For The Prosecution. Directed by Billy Wilder, starring Charles Laughton delivered by Eureka Masters of Cinema on blu ray.


Never seen it before but it's a master class in court room drama. Funny, witty, suspenseful and with a couple of great twists. I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 February, 2019, 10:14:47 PM
By George I do love Escape from the Planet of the Apes, it really is probably my favourite of the lot. It's not without its faults and contrivanes - I mean Cornelius does kill that fella in a fit of rage and folks are very quick to forgive that - but I can move past that as the overall tone of the movie is so wonderful.

The initial comic tone deftly revealing it's darker undertones, the creepy nature of events building at pace as events develop and fear tightens it's grip. That early lighthearted surface help this all the more. The other thing that really works is to the benefit of this is the villain of the piece Doctor Hasslein, he's played wonderfully. No meladramatics, no evil plans, just a calm polite real world fear hidden beneath his elegant surface. Just fantastic. As are the performances by Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as our lead apes, magnificent to get so much from under such heavy prostetics.

And the story just builds and builds to what is one of the all time great conclusions, worthy of a sequel to the original classic. I'm never quite sure why this one isn't hailed more, is it just me?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 17 February, 2019, 11:37:27 PM
Thanks for your suggestion of WIZARDS Rara Avis, it was a good fun watch & you can see how he used this animation style as a warm up for his work on his version of Lord of the Rings a year later. Also I noticed that the concept art was by Mike Ploog & Mark Hamill voiced one of the characters.
You can play game with this film, what is stock footage & what films did they use for the painted over live action parts [spoiler] Zulu, El Cid, Battle of the Bulge, Patton and Alexander Nevsky[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 18 February, 2019, 07:59:08 AM
The Kid who would be King - had some cinema vouchers to use up, and also a cold - so thought I'd give it a whirl.

Pretty good although the main villain's whispering schtick got old fairly quick.

A few really well done set pieces, and had a kind of charm which reminded me a little of Joe Dante's Explorers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 February, 2019, 10:24:57 AM
We went to see Alita: Battle Angel and really, really enjoyed it. Helped that it was an IMAX showing but it looked and sounded absolutely stunning, and I thought the designs were really cool and the action was very well executed, it's rare I actually feel excited by action scenes these days (maybe a bit numb to how overblown things have gotten in this CG age?) but even when things got pretty wild the confrontations in this still felt meaty and grounded. It helped that for a 12A they've really not been shy about making the fights feel pretty bone-crunchingly impactful (and they also used [spoiler]their one 12A F-Bomb very effectively I thought)[/spoiler]. The Motorball sequence was really thrilling in particular.

The fact she's completely mo-capped wasn't as distracting as I feared from the trailer, yeah her eyes are massive but the performance capture is pretty exceptional and the performance underneath is really strong so I was won over early on and just stopped thinking about it. I do wonder why they felt they really needed to do it though, as introducing that kind of uncanny valley element for no reason other than I guess to replicate the anime look is a weird choice if it's maybe going to put some people off. I thought it was perhaps because she's not supposed to look entirely human, but then people interact with her as if she is human until they see her cyborg limbs, so it just strikes me as a bit unnecessary, but not particularly bothersome.

It really is about as close to a live action anime as I think I've seen, and the kind of cyberpunky anime that I particularly enjoy, so I had a great time with it. We came out of it chatting giddily about how fun a sequel would be, and a bit bummed about how unlikely that is given it seems to have been tarred with the turkey brush before release so will probably flop pretty hard.

Also got to Resident Evil: Extinction on my RE rewatch, and Cosh was right about it being the closest thing to an objectively good film that the series has. Maybe it's coming off the really poor looking Apocalypse, but this just feels way more visually confident and focused than the others. It's all staged pretty well, the story is intelligible, the desert gives it all a great post-apocalyptic Mad Max With Zombies vibe, the action scenes are pretty great and with the duster and knives combo it has maybe Milla's most badass look of them all. Really enjoyed it, and not even in the guilty pleasure way that I enjoy some of the others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 February, 2019, 02:56:00 PM
Bad Times AT The El Royale

This film is a hoot. Funny, gruesome, and full of intrigue.

Anyone thinking of watching this should try to go into it without knowing too much about it.

Which is why I shall now shut up except to say it's very, very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sinx on 18 February, 2019, 05:46:20 PM
Saw Alita : Battle Angel recently and it was not too bad at all - probably preferred it over Aquaman. Seeing it in IMAX definitely helped, the cinema shakes when ever there's a big impact. Just scraping a 3/5 from me.
The only thing about the film though was every time I see Ed Skein now, before I actually register who it is, I just remember that scene when Ryan Reynolds is trying to guess his name in Deadpool and says "Is it Basil Fawlty?" in his faux Cockney accent  :lol: :lol: Just can't take the fella seriously any more!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 February, 2019, 01:10:04 PM
Yup, Alita Battle Angel is the sci-fi manga movie i've wanted for years. Slick, quick and visually wicked. Will probably see again this week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 February, 2019, 02:30:22 PM
Got to Resident Evil: Afterlife on my rewatch and it holds up pretty great! The action scenes at the start and end are pure CG assisted over the top craziness, but the main meat of the movie in the prison is surprisingly restrained (for Resi) and a tense, and feels a lot more like the confident pace of Extinction than the ADD onslaught of something like Apocalypse. It looks great too, I own the others on regular Blu-ray but this one was 4K and the difference was stunning in places. It borrows a fair bit (landing on the roof is pure Escape From NY) and as soon as they set up the shower room it's hard not to roll your eyes at how obviously they're craning to set up a 'soaking wet hot women fighting big hammer wielding beast thing' situation but when it happens it does look fantastic so it's hard to mark it down for it.

After that the Wesker fight doesn't really impress too much, although it is (I think) the first time* they use the Danny Lohner remix of 'The Outsider' by A Perfect Circle to soundtrack a fight and that's one of my favourite pieces of music ever so I've always got a real thrill out of hearing it there.

Still enjoying this Resi-rewatch, and thought on a revisit this stands pretty comfortably alongside Extinction as maybe the best couple in the series. I can't remember a great deal about the next film so curious to see how it holds up.

*The remix was actually done for the second film, but despite appearing on the soundtrack album I've still to spot it appearing in that movie, so I guess it's particularly nice they finally found a spot for it! I'm sure it pops up again in subsequent films too. That drum sound is the BEST.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 February, 2019, 10:15:49 PM
There's no way Conquest of the Planet of the Apes can be seen as an objectively good movie but by heck its a fun if frustrating one.

The budget cuts really begin to tell, while it doesn't lack ambition for that, it does fail to land that ambition. Its too short to really explore any of the ideas it has with any conviction. Its too short for the plot to hang together well in fact. So many corners cut with in the first 50 minutes or so to get to the uprising the posters and trailers promised audiences that it struggles to hold together and I stuggled to suspend disbelieve...

...but somehow I did. As the ideas, if not executed or fleshed out enough, are very good. There's some really effective performances and while everything's a little 'comic book' I after all love comic books and this film does rather play out like an early 2000ad story... and that's probably why I really enjoyed it.

The final 30 minutes that really shouldn't work - after all they're entirely inconsistantly realised apes, clubing human to pieces in ever increasing escalation capped by overwrought speeches and dialogue - somehow works quite magnifcently. To be fair is at times very effectively shot and the lighting creates brilliant menacing atmosphere.

Okay so it is immense fun, it is also a wasted opportunity and so we are lucky that the modern movies have sort to put this right and re-imagine this part of the apes story and done it so well. I'm very glad this film exists but I'm also very glad they thought to redo it properly this time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 22 February, 2019, 08:38:42 AM
Zootropolis - my 7 year old daughter chose this as a family film for us. I watched the first 5 minutes and then had to take a call for half an hour and then came back to watch the rest.

I was pretty much caught up after 5 minutes and wow it was great. Really looking forward to watching it again, all the way through this time.

Have to admit I didn't think I would like it after that initial 5 mins but it was really entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 February, 2019, 10:37:22 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 22 February, 2019, 08:38:42 AM
Zootropolis - my 7 year old daughter chose this as a family film for us. I watched the first 5 minutes and then had to take a call for half an hour and then came back to watch the rest.

I was pretty much caught up after 5 minutes and wow it was great. Really looking forward to watching it again, all the way through this time.

Have to admit I didn't think I would like it after that initial 5 mins but it was really entertaining.

Possibly my favourite Disney animation. Love this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 February, 2019, 11:04:03 PM
Surprised to note I've seen fully 50% of this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees.

The Favourite is by far the best of them. A smart script full of brutality and black humour combine with disorientating cinematography and deadpan absurdity to make something quite extraordinary. It's a period drama detached from my preconceptions about what that means. A power struggle between three women in an era where most power lies with men. Through costume and makeup all the male characters are made to seem ludicrous even while we still see their authority is an ever present threat to at least one of the leads.

Taking a more  a more grounded, wordy script and shooting it through with the absurdist elements of the director's previous films like Dogtooth was a stroke of genius. I was left staring wide-eyed in joyous disbelief as the final scene faded into the credits.

Of the others, A Star is Born was watchable. No big surprises but both Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga were good and the music could've been worse.

Haven't kept up to date with the Marvel empire in recent years, nor is Black Panther a comic I've ever read, but this was a great one. It's hard not to think of it in political terms but so I wont. It's actually a small sign of progress to live in a world where at least one huge company can say: fuck it, we don't need to pander to your racist bullshit anymore and we can still make a billion dollars. I hope Sun Ra would be proud. It's refreshing to see something visually different in a blockbuster and, despite the inevitable horde of CGI monsters, the final showdown has an emotional and thematic heft that most of these don't.

A bit too easy to bracket Blackkklansman as a companion piece to this - in Oscar terms at least - but it surely has one of the most sympathetic portrayals of the Black Panthers on film! It's not up with his best, but it's great to see Spike Lee on the way up again. The real story behind this is obviously ludicrous enough but I think it takes a fairly idiosyncratic voice to throw his film nerd juxtaposition of Gone with the Wind and Shaft into the mix of odd couple comedy and brave 70s styles. Fortunately, he never loses his confrontationl edge and the sucker punch denouement is the unarguable counterpoint to my T'Challa inspired optimism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 February, 2019, 06:11:47 PM
Miracle Mile - so that's where Cloverfield nicked its ending from.  A decent of-its-time thriller about a bloke who answers a wrong number in a phone booth that then ruins his night entirely.  Some good character moments, and the tension builds nicely to the finale.  Not much in the way of setpiece moments, but the meeting with cops at a gas station that goes badly sideways and the traffic jam scene come dang close.

Bird Box - more like ShiteBox.  It's not a good film, but I did enjoy it for its tense moments, which are well done even if the central premise is the kind of stupid that might just break the thing entirely for you.  I would say it's more memorable for its atmosphere and growing sense of dread than I would its ending or characters, though the bit where Bullock's character manipulates the little girl into chucking herself under the bus is a great moment that illustrates how a protagonist can straddle the line between sympathetic and irredeemable.  The bit with the shadows on the video camera made me think of the apocalyptic movies of John Carpenter, but also made the monsters entirely supernatural.  Worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 24 February, 2019, 02:04:38 PM
Alita Battle Angel - I went to watch the movie this afternoon. I can highly recommend the movie, especially watching it in a 3D Imax theater. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 February, 2019, 02:08:31 PM
Lego Movie 2: charming and funny and smart. Also just a little bit sly and subversive. Very welcome in a big studio movie like this. ‬
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 February, 2019, 05:03:52 PM
Battle for the Planet of the Apes holds on to its reputation as the weakest of the Apes movies, though fair to say its not entirely without merit.

The budget reductions are fully realised but this should almost have worked to the films advantage. Many mock the Mutant arms silly looking vehicles but the make complete sense in the context of the shattered world we are seeing. However the design lets them down and there's not the chaotic touches that would make it all work without one imagines much expense.

The films biggest issue is that the set pieces lack the conviction of the last film. Where Conquest, with similar limited resource finds a way to make its set piece ending work here it fails. It basically boils down to the biggest act of playing possum ever given to cinema (i'd imagine!) ... it even fails to be the end with the highly undramatic treetop 'struggle' between Aldo and Caesar drags things needlessly out.

Prehaps the film is best represented by Governor Kolp so quietly menacing in Conquest so over the top and flacid here.

Shame it has some good ideas but neither time, nor conviction to land them... for all that I still enjoyed it... its just why escapes me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 February, 2019, 01:44:23 AM
Alita: Battle Angel

Despite my reservations, mentioned above, I thought I'd give it a chance. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it a lot.

I did find the CGI of certain characters very noticeable (Likely as it involved humanoid types. I probably wouldn't have noticed so much if it were just vehicles and scenery). Apart from Alita herself, I'm particularly referring to that huge male cyborg. (Forgive me, I'm terrible remembering names.) But it didn't really take me out of the film or bother me much. It just did seem more like a CG animated movie than live action in places because of it. Which, I guess it was, anyway, really.

The big eye thing for Alita, I'm still not convinced it was really needed. [spoiler]It turns out it's not typically a cyborg thing, as there's actually lots of cyborgs in this film with regular faces. I guess it sets her apart in that she is literally an older generation of cyborg specifically designed as a soldier, and a Martian one at that, although I figured the Martians were human colonists in this case rather than aliens, but I could be wrong.[/spoiler] But I got used to it, and she's all round very endearing.

[spoiler]It ended in a way, strongly suggesting there should be a sequel. I hope this happens, but if it doesn't, the film still works in a 'she's found her place in this world, and the struggle continues' [/spoiler]kind of way.

[spoiler]Part of me thinks they missed a gag, by not showing an after credits scene of a scavenger finding her half a boyfriend on the junk heap as she was found, but it's probably a good thing they didn't do that.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if something like this did happen in the sequel (she survived the fall from a similar distance after all) but maybe they shouldn't.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 February, 2019, 11:41:46 AM
Yeah my feelings about the big eyes were that they didn't bother me, but that they definitely could bother some viewers, so for that reason it seems a risky design and because it doesn't really have any bearing on anything I didn't understand why they went with it. Like I say though, I forgot about it pretty quickly and it wasn't a problem for me.

We watched The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor at the weekend. Had seen the first two (and rewatched recently because Bea hadn't seen them and loved the ride at Universal) and still find them really good fun adventure romps, but this was my first time seeing this one. It was pretty poor, none of the fun and humour seems to have carried forward, and as great as Maria Bello is it feels odd to just recast that character (and also to make a weird reference to it in the film). The yetis livened things up a bit, but it's easy to see the wheels had come off the series a bit with this one.

Oh and finally saw Ant Man & The Wasp and had a blast. I was one of the few people who wasn't particularly taken with the first film (I really wanted to love it but for some reason it just didn't click and felt really bland to me) but this was way better. The dialogue and gags felt way more natural and zingy and the action was great. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 February, 2019, 09:58:03 AM
Went to a screening of The Gate last night, it was one of the first horror films I think I saw as a kid and definitely one of the movies that set me on the path of horror fandom, hadn't seen it many many years though (since primary school maybe?).

It's still great! I had forgotten that one of my weird irrational fears can be traced back to it - there's a (pretty tame really) mirror-based scare (the old 'seeing something scary in the mirror that isn't in the room' gag) that stuck with me so much I was terrified to look directly into mirrors at night all through childhood. If I'm in a jumpy mood mirrors still make me a bit uneasy now if I'm honest, and that's all thanks to this gem.

Watching now it's easy to see why it hooked me in as a kid. The 'kids vs evil' angle played a big part, plus I was starting to rebel a bit against being dragged to church so all the demonic mythology felt cool and exciting. Add in the fact that a metal record features so prominently (I was a rock kid from a very young age!) plus the wee demons have a sort of cute factor made it a pretty great entry level horror. For all that though it still has some pretty effective scares and some awesome imagery and effects (it's got a great Harryhausen look at times).

It was really cool to revisit something that fired up my imagination so much as a youngster, and to connect the dots a bit on why I'm into a lot of the weird things I'm into!

It was being shown in a double-bill with Monster Squad, which I also love (it's Goonies with monsters!) but had to grudgingly leave before it started to catch the train. Will need to give it a rewatch soon too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 28 February, 2019, 04:10:59 PM
Velvet Buzzsaw

Not bad. Good cast. The message is a little garbled but I quite enjoyed what it was trying to do and if the end justifies the means then the movie succeeds. Just.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 February, 2019, 06:11:06 PM
Kong: Skull Island What utter gobshite. Not even the presence of Tom Hiddleston could save it for me. It make me look back at Peter Jackson's King Kong fondly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 February, 2019, 06:42:35 PM
All the Kong reboots keep getting it horribly wrong.  I think Peter Jackson can be great - I have a lot of time for the LOTR trilogy, but he needs an editor now.

I didn't finish watching Kong: Skull Island - it was moronic.  If you want to watch over-confident gung-ho troopers getting spectacularly offed Aliens did it the best and most quotably. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 February, 2019, 07:41:27 PM
I enjoyed Skull Island. Dumb as a bag of frogs and it is painfully obvious Hiddleston was hired to add cred (he doesn't actually do ANYTHING) but a lot of fun to be had, I thought, with great action scenes and some good tension in parts.

But i know I have a tendency for mediocre sometimes, as long as I leave the cinema smiling. Sure, I'll never buy it or choose to research it over other stuff. But if I come across it on telly, I'll enjoy the heck out of it. Does this make me a bad person?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 February, 2019, 08:56:06 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2018, 02:57:58 PM
I missed Kong of Skull Island at the cinema and I'm gutted 'cos having just watched it on DVD I can only begin to imagine what a treat it would have been in the big screen.

I have no idea why as its absolute huckum and nonsense, but by gosh I've not seen hockum and nonsense done with such a sense of fun for a long time and the fact that it takes itself seriously strangely works in showing how it doesn't take itself seriously.

By George I should hate this movie but by George I loved it!

The egotistical self quote. But man I enjoy this movie its such fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 February, 2019, 08:58:47 PM
I can enjoy awful movies (that are either logic-lite, or in the so-bad-it's-good category), but if I have a choice over Skull Island or On The Waterfront, Skull Island ain't even a contender.

This was highly amusing but entirely awful back in '86:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/90/Eliminatorsposter.jpg/220px-Eliminatorsposter.jpg)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 February, 2019, 09:12:01 PM
You know how we do that thing where you change a word in the title of a movie that's no good to "shite"?  Well Overlord deserves a version of that but with the word "meh" instead.  Overmeh, Mehverlord - something like that I dunno.
During D-Day, an American soldier is shot down behind enemy lines and finds the Krauts are doing devilish experiments upon French villagers to develop a zombie serum that can create immortal soldiers DUN DUN DUN, it isn't terrible per se, more just an aggressive form of banal and it seems pointless to nitpick about anachronism (rap theme tune) or shallow characters (2d Nazzis) in what is essentially a schlock horror movie that I probably didn't enjoy because I watched it sober.  I spotted Fitz from Agents of Shield, but that's as far as recognizable actors go.
Competently put together, but ultimately uninteresting
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 March, 2019, 02:46:31 PM
Finally got around to watching Train To Busan.


Fucking loved it. Possibly my favourite ever zombie movie. Certainly in the top 5.


9/10


(I also enjoyed Kong: Skull Island. Yes, it's dumb as a bag of nails but it's a monster movie. What do you expect?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 01 March, 2019, 08:32:10 PM
Mattofthespurs have you watched the animated prequel to Train to Busan Seoul Station it's just as good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 March, 2019, 07:30:10 AM
I watched the trailer. The blu ray now resides in my amazon basket :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 March, 2019, 10:17:50 PM
Just as good is a bold, bold claim. But definitely worth a watch
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 March, 2019, 08:13:30 PM
Got to Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night and have to say I really enjoyed it again. I looked back to what I said here after watching it the first time and have to say I pretty much stand by that... so another self quote - oh the humanity... though to be fair far from being based on ego I do this purely from the view of laziness.

Quote
Personally I loved it. I thought it was engaging and entertaining. Okay at times it boarded on the melodramatic (but then what Hollywood movie doesn't these days?) and there were plot holes and leaps of logic you could drive a bus through. For all that though it was interesting enough and had good enough characters through out the first two thirds of the film that I let these pass and just allowed myself to be entertained. During the last third frankly who gave a toss by that point it was such an roller coaster romp and such a thrill a minute. To my amazement the CGI was on the whole convincing as well, where so often it seems it abilities seem very over estimated here they seemed to get things just about right, a few sticky moments aside.

Biggest gripe, why oh why is James Franco believed to have enough charisma to lead a film? I find Ben Affleck more engaging. Fortunately he was surrounded by enough great actors to not be to distracting, or is that bland enough to melt into the background? To be fair this might have been a deliberate move to raise the profile of the true star Caesar?

The best thing, the scale of the piece. It didn't over extend itself. The motives and resolution were thrilling enough to be exciting and feel really important, largely due to the excellent set up that proceeded it. It didn't take things too fair and try to cram too much in. These days Hollywood seems to want to cram an extra hour onto any film and the way the film ends here would often have just been the first section leading into a bum numbing third hour that was uncomfortable and not required. Here however they were very clever I felt. There was a real and powerful end that left the film feeling very satisfactory but enough of a tease of what's to come to mean that a sequel is very well set up and they've clearly thought ahead about some of the very questions people have been asking in anticipation of this film. I can't wait for the sequel. Mind I will be avoiding all possible trailers and spoilers of that as a few things aside much of the plot was clear from the outset.

Overall this was a flawed but romping success well worth the trip to the cinema, but then in the word (singular) of The Cosh I'm an ape-ologist.

Onto Dawn tonight...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 March, 2019, 11:47:14 AM
I loved Skull Island! I'd really disliked the Godzilla reboot so didn't expect much, had a great time.

Was at Frightfest at the weekend so saw a ton of movies, will try and be brief but here are my thoughts on what I saw -

Lords of Chaos - Dramatized true story of the events around the band Mayhem, and that whole Norwegian black metal mess in the '80s where churches were being burnt and people were being murdered and all sorts. Had a passing knowledge of the events just from reading rock mags back then, but didn't know a lot of the details and the way the movie depicts the whole scene is pretty fascinating. It's a very tough watch in places, particularly as the tone swings around wildly from fun rock n' roll romp to very unpleasant and very violent tragedy. One suicide scene in particular is depicted in such intense detail that it was really hard-going, and at that point the film had to be stopped and an ambulance called as an audience member seemed to faint or have a seizure (we've been told since that he's fine, but was quite worrying at the time).

The performances are fantastic, and despite the Daily Mail apparently seeking to have the film banned for glorifying murder and church-burning, it actually just makes it all look incredibly sad. Just a lot of angst-ridden posers desperate to out-edge each other resulting in things escalating quickly and horribly. Definitely a very difficult film, but I thought it was excellent none-the-less (even if I don't think I'd ever watch it again - after the stoppage in the cinema they were rewinding it a few minutes to resume and we were massively relieved when they picked it up post-suicide, because I don't think anyone in the room had any desire to see that scene again).

Level 16 - This was very good, about women living in a mysterious facility from childhood and being trained to be good and obedient until they graduate to being adopted by a family. As sinister as that is, there are obviously even more sinister motivations going on, and I thought the film did a good job of keeping the intrigue going. Found the last chunk weaker than the journey there, but really liked this overall.

The Dead Center - This was my favourite of the first day of films, keeps the dread and foreboding dripping nice and thick and has some great performances (Shane Carruth of Primer/Upstream Color fame plays the lead and is brilliant, he should be in more stuff!). Really liked this, really tense and creepy and with some moments and images that stuck with me.

Here Comes Hell - A horror spoof shot in a '50s style which is pretty reliably funny throughout. Some great Evil Dead style moments and everyone in it hams it up with glee, great fun!

Black Circle - This had a really odd hypnotic quality to it, and although I felt like it dragged a little in parts it was odd and unusual enough that I found it really absorbing. Right from the start it creates a very off-kilter atmosphere and sustains that admirably, so I give it a thumbs up for that.

Dead Ant - A hair metal band on their way to play a festival get attacked by giant ants. That makes it sound a bit more fun than it is, but it was still quite fun. Might have just been the late night slot it was in, but I found myself laughing at almost as many lines as I groaned at. Basically it's bad, but in the right mood it's the right kind of bad. It's a shame the ants were all terrible cheap CG though, I don't hate CG as such but it's really taken the charm out of cheap horror movies. Some awful physical effects probably would have elevated something like this to cult status, as it stands it'll probably not make it much further than the SYFY channel Sharknado slot.

The Rusalka - This has already been renamed apparently (to The Siren), and was really good. Being a bit of a monster movie/love story means it could probably draw some Del Toro comparisons, but it feels very different. It has a slow and meditative beauty that really drew me in. Quite a mezmerizing film, very much liked it.

Automata - Really wanted to like this one, because the setup is interesting and it's been made in Scotland so I was kind of rooting for it I guess, but it was kind of a mess. Definitely has a ton of ambition and there's an intriguing gothic romance in there which in other hands could have turned out great (actually, Del Toro could probably make a masterpiece with the basic idea), but it just feels unfocussed and very cheap and some of the acting is absolutely howling.

Finale - A very well made, well acted and very good looking film, that did nothing for me really. It just didn't do anything new or interesting enough to justify existing I guess. Expected more but it descends into pointless torture porn eventually, and even the bursts of character that shine through feel reminiscent of other better films. The film it reminded me of most was Rob Zombie's 31, which even as a Rob Zombie fan/apologist I didn't find particularly good, but that at least had that incredible Richard Brake performance that made it hugely memorable all the same. I think I'll only remember this one for making me wince at a couple of nasty moments.

The Witch Part 1: The Subversion - This was BRILLIANT and I absolutely loved it. Basically feels a bit like a Korean X-Men origin story, but when things kick off they kick off with a violent glee that you probably wouldn't see from a similar Hollywood film. Can imagine some folk might find the first couple of acts a bit slow and light on action, but the characters are so absorbing that it had me hooked throughout and when things kick off they kick off in some brilliantly blood-flinging and bone-crunching action scenes. I can't wait to buy this and watch it a bunch more.

Freaks - Again, I loved this, it is very, very, very good. Like The Witch it sometimes feels like an unconventional X-Men story, and the way it starts out massively intriguing (father keeps his daughter sealed up in their house with very little explanation) and then just escalates and escalates means it starts out cool and then just gets better and better as it goes. I'm a little worried that when it eventually gets released the marketing will give away too much, because I went in completely cold so felt like it surprised me constantly and kept up a very admirable pace of discovery and surprises throughout.

I loved this so much, and I'm going to be banging on about it to everyone until I get the chance to see it again. Feels like it could be absolutely massive if it gets the right release, but no doubt it'll wind up as a Netflix original (the director mentioned during the Q&A that the current plan is to remake it as a TV series, which could be very cool but dammit people should see this film!!!)

The Hoard - A spoof reality show thing that was occasionally funny, but mostly just a bit awkward and stilted. People seemed to be enjoying it so maybe I was just tired at this point, but it didn't really do it for me and after the Witch/Freaks double punch of magnificence this felt a bit of a damp fart ending to the festival.

Overall was a pretty great fest though! And because you can never have too much horror, also rewatched Halloween (2018) last night because Mrs Monkey missed it in the cinema. Still love it, think it's about as perfectly fitting a follow up to the original as I could have hoped for and the soundtrack is incredible. Mrs Monkey also loved it, commented early on [spoiler]that she hoped Laurie and her family fight back and turn the table on Myers, so for the whole last act she was cheering them on and fist-pumping with delight.[/spoiler] Was really nice to see her enjoy it as much as I did. As much as I love it though I'm very much not interested in them doing any more, I know it was a huge hit so a sequel is probably inevitable, but it feels like it did justice to the franchise [spoiler]by finally giving Laurie Strode the closing chapter she deserved[/spoiler], and I almost feel like continuing to milk it from there would be a bit of a betrayal of what they did here. Hoping against hope that they'll leave it at this, but I know they won't!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 March, 2019, 12:40:17 PM
A lot to look forward to from the sounds of it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 04 March, 2019, 04:55:03 PM
Off to watch ALIEN on the big screen tonight.

Jovus I love that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 March, 2019, 05:18:15 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 04 March, 2019, 04:55:03 PM
Off to watch ALIEN on the big screen tonight.

Jovus I love that film.
Be doing the same next Tuesday, the new 4K restoration I believe!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 04 March, 2019, 06:04:08 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 March, 2019, 11:47:14 AM

Lords of Chaos - Dramatized true story of the events around the band Mayhem

I just watched the trailer for this, and it seemed a lot... well, cheesier... than I'd expected. Your review suggests that may not be the case though. I'm pretty well-versed in the events depicted (not least through the book of the same name by Michael Moynihan, which I assume this is based on) and I suppose I'd expected something more fundamentally humourless (no fun, no core, no mosh, no trends) and drenched in evil.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 March, 2019, 11:12:52 AM
Yeah the trailer does make it look a fair bit cheesier than it is, the tone is generally pretty grim. It definitely has some deliberate laughs though and swings pretty hard between the fun rock and roll side of it and the nastiness. In that way it could probably be criticized for trying to be two things at once but I thought it worked for the story, although there were a couple of moments where I felt they'd been a bit too flippant about certain things maybe.

Also I've no idea quite how factually accurate it is! Instead of the intro text stating 'based on a true story' it says something like 'based on truth, lies and what actually happened' which seems a bit of an admission that they've taken some liberties or maybe based it on unreliable accounts. I guess there's no way of knowing what happened in places so they've had to take a fair bit of artistic license.

To someone like yourself you already knows the story then that might be a problem - nobody comes out of it looking good as such but I definitely felt the film pushing me very hard towards taking a particular side in the whole thing, and I don't know how much of that was truthful or just to make the story work!

Didn't realize there was a book, curious to read that now too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 05 March, 2019, 12:03:56 PM
The book is a collection of observations on the 90s Scandinavian black metal scene, and features interviews with its various members. Inevitably, the guts of it involve Mayhem and the events (I presume) of the movie. No-one comes out of it looking remotely good - Vikernes seems keen to justify the unjustifiable and likely rewrites history as he does so, but he is, by his very nature, the definition of unreliable. (Of the core Norwegian black metallers of that era, Ihsahn of Emperor is one of the few who comes off as having a degree of class.)

A caveat: Moynihan, the book's controversial co-writer, is generally known to be or have been fairly far-right in his own political beliefs - or, at the very least, he is undoubtedly fascinated by the topic. At no point does the book promote such beliefs, though it certainly gives Vikernes a little too much opportunity to spell out his own warped views. Nonetheless, I'd still give the book a qualified recommendation, provided you are prepared to read about some reprehensible attitudes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 05 March, 2019, 12:16:26 PM
I absolutely loath wrestling, so I set myself with a fall for this one-harg, harg!
But knock me down with an elbow drop if Fighting With My Family didn't ultimately win me over.

Some really excellent performances, a very witty script with some surprising grit and a satisfying, if rather predictably structured plot, complete with feel good ending, made for a very enjoyable night out.

It's even got Ma Ma in it!

Definitely a King Of The Ring!


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 05 March, 2019, 01:55:45 PM
Watched If Beale Street Could Talk last night - extremely powerful movie, beautifully shot, acted and scripted. You feel the love between the main characters even as you feel their tragedy and the fury of a world that takes all their agency away, just because it can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 March, 2019, 04:08:18 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 05 March, 2019, 12:03:56 PM
A caveat: Moynihan, the book's controversial co-writer, is generally known to be or have been fairly far-right in his own political beliefs - or, at the very least, he is undoubtedly fascinated by the topic. At no point does the book promote such beliefs, though it certainly gives Vikernes a little too much opportunity to spell out his own warped views. Nonetheless, I'd still give the book a qualified recommendation, provided you are prepared to read about some reprehensible attitudes.

That's interesting, I came away with only a really vague understanding of what his views actually were so they thankfully seem to have been very conscious about not making the film a platform for them.

There's obviously some ranting about the church but Nazism only gets touched on incredibly briefly, and really only as a point of ridicule to show how messy and contradictory his views are when questioned. It doesn't really give a sense of how deep he was into that stuff, it's portrayed more as posturing and a desperation to be taken seriously.

I think that was one of the things I found most interesting about it (at least in the way the film portrays events), the really intense way that music scene appears to have favored authenticity and the lengths that drove people to.

Quote from: dweezil2 on 05 March, 2019, 12:16:26 PM
I absolutely loath wrestling, so I set myself with a fall for this one-harg, harg!
But knock me down with an elbow drop if Fighting With My Family didn't ultimately win me over.

I very much enjoy wrestling so was probably going to watch this anyway, but if it's even entertaining people who can't stand it then I'll probably love it! Seems to be getting a lot of good reviews all over the place, looking forward to seeing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 05 March, 2019, 05:15:04 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 05 March, 2019, 12:16:26 PM
I absolutely loath wrestling, so I set myself with a fall for this one-harg, harg!
But knock me down with an elbow drop if Fighting With My Family didn't ultimately win me over.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 05 March, 2019, 04:08:18 PM
I very much enjoy wrestling so was probably going to watch this anyway, but if it's even entertaining people who can't stand it then I'll probably love it! Seems to be getting a lot of good reviews all over the place, looking forward to seeing it.

I'm clearly not the target audience but went to see it based on strong reviews, the cast and Merchant as writer and director.

Be interesting to hear what you think of it!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 March, 2019, 06:53:46 PM
Watched Dawn of the Planet of the Apes last night and its really - nearly - a complete success. Great movie BUT its one problem is the over the top ending that just tries to pack a little too much in. It seems to lack the confidence of the rest of the film to tell a story well and allow the explosions to fall in all the right places.

The ape attack on the human citadel would have a much better ending - all be it we do need to wrap up Koba's story. The fight between Caesar and Koba feels a bit like its stretching to reach those heights but doesn't make it (mind its better then the trip through the tree tops ending to Battle!) and to try to force it up a notch in the drama stakes they have the humans blowing up the tower bolt on.

Its all a bit of an overwrought shame as I think otherwise this would claim top spot when I attempt to rank all the Apes movies after a rewatch of War of which I hope to get to in the next few days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 06 March, 2019, 09:54:01 AM
Fighting With my Family - absolutely brilliant, with real heart and lots of very funny lines. Fans may be annoyed at the liberties taken with the wrestler Paige's actual story (which involved a LOT more than is in the film), but as I'm not a wrestling fan I bloody loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 March, 2019, 08:02:36 AM
A rewatch of 'War' in correct chronological place last night means I now come to the almost impossible challenge of ranking the Apes movies. I'm excluding Tim Burton's from this as it feels such a different beast and I've not rewatched it, I doubt it would be anywhere other than bottom, but can't be bothered to find out if I'm honest.

Unlike many other franchises with which I think my order is pretty set I strongly suspect if I did this again in a couple of weeks it would read different - but for now...

Escape (marginally) > PotAs > Dawn > War > Rise >> Conquest >> Beneath > Battle

Even at the bottom I have a lot of affection for 'Battle' and there's none I don't enjoy, the last three however are objectively much worse movies than the first 5, any of which I can happy watch at any time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 March, 2019, 08:28:18 AM
I really like the Apes movies but can never remember which one is which or what order they go in. Is the one with the big nuclear bomb at the end stil chronologically last or did that get retconned?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 08 March, 2019, 11:07:35 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 March, 2019, 08:28:18 AM
I really like the Apes movies but can never remember which one is which or what order they go in. Is the one with the big nuclear bomb at the end stil chronologically last or did that get retconned?

Aren't the original 5 films circular in Chronology, so you can start at any of them?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 March, 2019, 01:29:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 March, 2019, 08:28:18 AM
I really like the Apes movies but can never remember which one is which or what order they go in. Is the one with the big nuclear bomb at the end stil chronologically last or did that get retconned?

That was Beneath... It was second made, but it was the last one chronologically... but not in a timely wimey way as the apes from Escape... travelled back after those events, if that makes sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 March, 2019, 06:42:02 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 08 March, 2019, 01:29:55 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 March, 2019, 08:28:18 AM
I really like the Apes movies but can never remember which one is which or what order they go in. Is the one with the big nuclear bomb at the end stil chronologically last or did that get retconned?

That was Beneath... It was second made, but it was the last one chronologically... but not in a timely wimey way as the apes from Escape... travelled back after those events, if that makes sense.

Yeah its Escape that 'turns' the corner. The new movies essentially give an alternative origin to the Planet of the Apes 'replacing' Escape, Conquest and Battle if you so desire.

Production order is:

Planet of the Apes; Beneath the Planet of the Apes; Escape from the Planet of the Apes; Conquest of the Planet of the Apes; Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 March, 2019, 09:52:49 PM
ah man, I love the ape movies, both classic and modern. I've even got a soft spot for that silly TV series, though I never really delved into the comics.

So many classic moments, but I vividly remember a distinct frisson of fear the first time I saw the bit where the gorilla soldier comprehends the meaning of the old circus poster and goes (ahem) apeshit (although I couldn't tell you which film that was in ...Beneath?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 08 March, 2019, 10:10:02 PM
PADDINGTON. Just as funny and charming as I found the second to be. Laughed and cheered through every second of this lovely film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trout on 09 March, 2019, 12:49:33 AM
Rocky Sullivan died a coward.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 09 March, 2019, 06:21:30 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 08 March, 2019, 08:28:18 AM
I really like the Apes movies but can never remember which one is which or what order they go in ...

... and of course there is also the TV series to add to the confusion.  Short lived, very much a product of its time, but still some nice moments.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 March, 2019, 06:59:19 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 08 March, 2019, 09:52:49 PM
ah man, I love the ape movies, both classic and modern. I've even got a soft spot for that silly TV series, though I never really delved into the comics.

The Boom! Comics are great. I keep meaning to get the recent reprints of the old Marvel stuff but not quite done so yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 March, 2019, 08:18:48 AM
Loved the UK Marvel comics as a child.
So much so that I still have them all (and Dracula Lives).
Was going to get the reprints that recently came out but prevaricated on volume one and now it's sold out and going for silly money.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 March, 2019, 04:10:25 PM
Christoper Robin. Thank you, Disney, for turning me into a teary mess. You've made it impossible for me to maintain any sense of authority in my own home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 March, 2019, 06:16:07 PM
Captain Marvel: ‪tremendous fun. Exciting, with a great soundtrack and several proper laugh-out-loud gags, plus a number of really good in-jokes. Two extra scenes in the credits, as usual. The mid-credits one (actually pretty early) you'll want to stay for. The post-credits one is... not essential but I'm glad I waited for it.

(You may want to stiffen that upper lip at the very start of the movie, though.)

A thoroughly entertaining couple of hours — The fact that it's triggered so many MRA snowflakes is just the icing on the cake. ‬
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 March, 2019, 07:55:20 PM
Captain Marvel Thought it was alright. I especially enjoyed the scenes where Caroll visits Rambeau. Could'v done with more of that. Just a shame she'll probably have a role in ruining Thanos' success in Infinity war  :'(

And I also really liked the cat in the film.

#THANOSDIDNOTHINGWRONG
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 10 March, 2019, 04:39:22 AM
Watched Captain Marvel as well. I can recommend to both movie to anyone that is either a Marvel or Sci-Fi fan. No need to know anything about the extended universe to enjoy the movie. The cat as already stated is the coolest. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 March, 2019, 10:07:43 AM
Serenity with  Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Diane Lane.

Better than expected. Very pretty to look at with a slight twist halfway through which completely changes the direction of the film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2019, 02:39:46 PM
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - a good cast wasted on a dreadful script filled with not-great cgi setpieces.  This is named after a 30 year old hair metal song, so it's not the first movie to be called Welcome To The Jungle and I can safely say that not only is it one of the lesser movies called Welcome To The Jungle, it's not even the best movie featuring The Rock called Welcome To The Jungle.
More like... uh... You Are Welcome To The Bloody Jungle Because It Is Shit.  Hey, they didn't put any effort into their script I don't see why I should put any effort into insulting it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 March, 2019, 03:45:42 PM
Captain Marvel.

Thumbs up from me too. Lighter in tone and content than the usual Marvel fare but a fun movie all the same.

Somewhat perturbed that the 90's is being looked at through nostalgic eyes as it only seems to have happened a couple of years ago to me.

Cool cat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2019, 04:33:50 PM
I thought the 1990s being presented as a distinctive period in history was too soon for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and that came out in 2004.  It didn't even register with me that Treme was a period piece because it was "only" set in 2005.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 10 March, 2019, 09:47:49 PM
Bohemian Rhapsody.

Decent enough but uplift beyond the mediocre by the last 20 mins.
The final scenes over the credits show what a real showman Freddie truly was.

Not enough music but a fond epitaph none the less.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 March, 2019, 10:14:11 AM
Watched Life on Netflix, which didn't seem to generate much buzz when it came out so I'd sort of forgotten it existed. Turned out to be really enjoyable! A good tense threat on a space station movie that takes some surprisingly brutal and dark turns (the Hollywood cast and glossy production had me expecting a much tamer affair). Enjoyed it enough that I'm surprised I've never heard anyone talking about it, but since I watched it and started mentioning it to people it's become apparent it does actually have quite a few fans.

Also watched Repo Man, which was fun. Such an odd, punky movie, with an entertainingly anarchic style. I knew nothing about it going in so was a bit taken aback by the weirder moments, in a good way! Lots of people call each other dildos, and it has some great Harry Dean Stanton moments. Also reminded me that Emilio Estevez is pretty great in the right part.

Oh, and obviously Captain Marvel, which I thought was a really good Marvel movie. Maybe not in my personal top tier (my faves are the Guardians and Thor movies) but also maybe is up there (I'll need to watch it some more and see where it sticks)! On a first watch it was definitely cracking.

It's funny, thought the story was really good and more interesting and surprising than I've found some other superhero movies, Brie Larson was massively charismatic in the role (not to mention stunning) and the action scenes were exciting.

I don't quite get why [spoiler]everyone seems to be going nuts about the cat, but then I've never found cats cute or automatically amusing for some reason, so there's probably something wrong with me. I did find the running joke quite funny, but while waiting for the final post-credits scene I turned to my other half and jokingly said 'if this is a lazy cat gag then I'll be a bit disappointed'. I was a bit disappointed.[/spoiler] The rest of it was great though!

Also great to see the box office going so great for it, we all know it anyway but it's always nice to see it confirmed by the numbers that the whole MRA tantrum movement are a noisy but very insignificant demographic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2019, 04:22:46 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2019, 02:39:46 PM
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - a good cast wasted on a dreadful script filled with not-great cgi setpieces.  This is named after a 30 year old hair metal song, so it's not the first movie to be called Welcome To The Jungle and I can safely say that not only is it one of the lesser movies called Welcome To The Jungle, it's not even the best movie featuring The Rock called Welcome To The Jungle.
More like... uh... You Are Welcome To The Bloody Jungle Because It Is Shit.  Hey, they didn't put any effort into their script I don't see why I should put any effort into insulting it.

I loved this. I really loved my 7 year old loving it. I think you may not have been the targe audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 March, 2019, 10:05:27 PM
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

From having a title that tries far too hard to not even having the decency to cast Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy, this was always struggling.

About a third of the way through, I realised that the story I really wanted to see was Elizabeth and her resistance and [spoiler]ultimately, her death[/spoiler] but no, we get another 70 minutes of a writer struggling to find themselves and love. That guy from Game Of Thrones and Hill House is quite handsome. But I have no idea what accent he was going for.

More like SHITerary Society.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 March, 2019, 01:08:07 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 March, 2019, 04:22:46 PM
QuoteYou Are Welcome To The Bloody Jungle Because It Is Shit.

I loved this. I really loved my 7 year old loving it. I think you may not have been the targe audience.

I think you're right that I'm not the target audience, but considering it's named for a 30 year old hair metal song and the makers don't seem to know how videogames work, I'm not sure who the target audience actually was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 12 March, 2019, 10:17:07 AM
I mean that's exactly how videogames work isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 13 March, 2019, 08:01:00 PM
They shall not grow old Only thing I could fault it for is that the b/w introduction went on for a bit too long, the rest of it is brilliant. I've been thinking of wanting to see Charly's war on the big screen and I think this did the job. Young men (mostly boys) stuck up to their knees in mud made out of death and shit, and amazingly some of them manage (at least seem to) survive as humans, and not just survive. A horrifying and amazing film which I hope alot of people get to see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 March, 2019, 08:04:08 PM
Another thumbs-up for Captain Marvel from me. It's astonishing how these films keep up such a high standard, for the most part (Fantastic Four and Venom, I'm looking at you), and this one is no different. It's fast, fun and even inspiring - a worthy addition to the series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 March, 2019, 09:56:01 AM
Well, I mean there's an obvious reason there - "These Films" don't include FF and Venom, and the last Spiderman was so much better than the previous because it became 'These Films' (the MCU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 March, 2019, 10:35:29 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 12 March, 2019, 10:17:07 AM
I mean that's exactly how videogames work isn't it?

Anyone YOOF can tell you that you need to input a code to access your computer's real life facility.  Clearly the makers were "nubes".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 15 March, 2019, 02:46:31 PM
I had a harrowing month spent in Raccoon City, recently, do not recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 05:19:48 PM
Captain Marvel.

It was ok, run of the mill Marvel fare, really.

Some unexpected plot twists ([spoiler]it was nice that Mendlesohn got to play against type for a change[/spoiler]) and some cool visuals aside it was mostly forgettable with some slightly cringey moments and awkward attempts at humour thrown in. Its a bit nitpicky I know, but I was quite distracted throughout by how easily most of the human characters seemed to gloss over the experience of meeting aliens for the first time, which you'd think would be kind of a bigger deal...?

I thought Danvers made for a very bland protagonist if I'm honest - a literal blank slate of a character with few quirks or much in the way of a discernable personality. What little we do get of a backstory is compressed into about 10 seconds of flashback, so the big 'stand up' moment at the end, though nicely filmed, rang totally hollow for me, as I don't think we'd been on anything close to an emotional journey with her, and she was pretty much identical at the end of the film to how she was when it began.

I don't expect deep characterisation from these things, but the more memorable MCU characters for me tend to be so in part because of their flaws and idiosyncrasies, or have some kind of internal conflict that needs to be resolved. I can see the logic of gong with the structure they did, but perhaps a straight chronological telling would have worked better in terms of letting us get to know the characters better and give us more than a very shallow surface read?

I'm in agreement with Keef about the cat stuff being quite lame and predictable. Ditto the 90s nostalgia, which seemed like very low hanging fruit. There seemed to be quite a bit of 'here's a reference to something from the 90s in place of an actual joke' going on. Quite telling that the thing that got by far the biggest reaction from the audience I saw it with was the Blockbusters logo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 March, 2019, 05:39:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 05:19:48 PM
I thought Danvers made for a very bland protagonist if I'm honest

One of the MCU's biggest problems has been its inability to use Marvel's best female characters. The reason? They're all X-Men. (Even most of the stuff that's actually interesting about Carol Danvers in the comics is X-Men-related  – her time as Binary, her connections to Rogue and Wolverine.) Wanda and She-Hulk (the latter in particular) are probably the most interesting of the female Avengers in print, but the former can sometimes end up less a character and more a plot device. I haven't seen the film yet, so can't comment on Carol's depiction therein, but I'll be interested to see if the character can really bear the weight Marvel are putting on her as their surrogate Wonder Woman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 06:05:47 PM
I know absolutely about Captain Marvel from the comics, but there's a lot of potential for interesting avenues to go as presented in the film - the idea of on alien stranded on Earth (kind of an inverse of Star Lord from the GotG movies), themes about identity and memory - false or otherwise. But the movie touches on these things very briefly, then does absolutely nothing with them.

But I'm talking more about Danver's actual personality - and the fact that she doesn't really have one. I'd be really hard pressed to describe her as a character than in anything but the most vague terms - 'strong', 'powerful' 'weapon'... That's really all I could say about her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 March, 2019, 06:18:06 PM
That's sort of what I mean - her personality's not that interesting in the comics either. I'd broadly describe her as 'dedicated but a bit cross.' She undoubtedly has a fanbase, but I'd say she's not half as relatable as her successor, Kamala Khan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 06:32:39 PM
I get that, but I also understand that the film version of Peter Quill is quite different from the comic book version? Like, they took a fairly mundane character and figured out a way to humanise him and make him relatable?

(also - typo - should say 'absolutely nothing' in the above post)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 March, 2019, 06:42:07 PM
In the case of Quill, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the comic. They really made him into the wise-cracking, slightly hapless smartass that the film takes and runs with. I take your point though - you could of course take a fairly bland  comic character and make her interesting, but I suspect (and again, haven't seen it yet, so could be wrong) they were more focused on 'she has to be a tough, powerful capable woman', possibly to the exclusion of all else?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 March, 2019, 07:07:37 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 15 March, 2019, 06:42:07 PM
In the case of Quill, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the comic. They really made him into the wise-cracking, slightly hapless smartass that the film takes and runs with. I take your point though - you could of course take a fairly bland  comic character and make her interesting, but I suspect (and again, haven't seen it yet, so could be wrong) they were more focused on 'she has to be a tough, powerful capable woman', possibly to the exclusion of all else?

I kind of got that impression, yeah.

There's a slight suggestion of an arc in how [spoiler]she's been kept down at various times (generally by male authority figures) and has to overcome this in order to achieve her full potential, but again, it's so brief as to be barely there and so the moment of triumph/payoff at the end really falls flat. She basically goes from being super powerful to being mega powerful. Perhaps they were afraid to really lean in to it and risk angering the manbabies?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 16 March, 2019, 12:45:41 AM
'Cargo' with Martin Freeman. A low key zombie film set in the Outback. Pretty good really. Different from your usual zombie fare. Quite touching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 March, 2019, 01:09:35 AM
I think somebody realised the lack of backstory at some point, so they stuck in that whole 'getting knocked down and getting back up again' memory montage
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 08:20:52 AM
The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 16 March, 2019, 10:43:52 AM
I really enjoyed Captain Marvel but agree with what everyone says about the character / movie being two dimensional. The whole point of the movie was [spoiler]that once she realised who she was she achieved her full powers [/spoiler]but not enough time was spent really developing her back story. Even one well written scene from her childhood or career (which we only see flashes of) would have worked so much better. The flashes are highly illustrative but don't allow you to connect emotionally with the character. Although the audience laughed a good few times I didn't find it that funny myself.

That cat better eat Thanos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2019, 04:08:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 08:20:52 AM
The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.

Are you referring to Blow Out by De Palma and starring Travolta and Lithgow?

If so, it's a great film and very similar to The Conversation but more like Blow Up, the film from the 60's which stars David Hemmings (which is also awesome)

If not, then I've never heard of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 04:41:27 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2019, 04:08:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 16 March, 2019, 08:20:52 AM
The blow out A bit like the conversation, but with a slasher villian. Wasn't sure first. The music isn't the best and the story didn't become as interesting as I'd hope (not until the ending at least. THAT ending!), but I was hooked through out the whole movie. Amazing visuals. Great movie. Hope to watch it again soon.

Are you referring to Blow Out by De Palma and starring Travolta and Lithgow?

If so, it's a great film and very similar to The Conversation but more like Blow Up, the film from the 60's which stars David Hemmings (which is also awesome)

If not, then I've never heard of it.

Yep, without the "the". The one by De Palma with Travolta and Allen. I haven't seen Blow up in years, but it also comes to mind. Even heard reviwers accidently calling Blow out "Blow up" several times while discussing it haha.

Regardless. To it's credit. I'm still thinking about the film (Blow out).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 March, 2019, 08:40:42 PM
It's a great film.

One of De Palma's best imo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2019, 01:59:29 PM
So me and Mrs. Tips accidentally had a pretty gay movie night and it was great.

Still lots of problems with the way things are portrayed as difficult for heterosexual people to deal with but a good effort.

MOONLIGHT was fantastic stuff where nothing much seems to happen but everything, well Life, does! Great performances throughout (even Naomi Harris which was a suprise to me) but Trevante Rhodes gangsta, Black,  nearly had me in tears.

This was followed by a quick peek at the Comic Relief FOUR WEDDINGS reunion. Some sparse laughs among the overwhelming sense of backslapping. Your mileage may vary but Alicia Vikander goes a long way to offsetting the bad in any project.

Sadly we then ended up with the most egregious thing I've seen in a long time; DEATH AT A FUNERAL. I'm sure everybody involved regrets thinking it was funny the way they depicted people's reactions to finding out a loved one was bisexual and how disabled people go to the toilet. Avoid.

Lastly we hit upon Michael Douglas and Matt Damon camping it up to the max in BEHIND THE CANDLEBRA. Yet some how, they got nowhere near as camp as Liberace himself from my memories.

So it struck me how hard it must be for people in a same sex relationship to have to watch, night after night, nothing but hetero relationships on telly and film.

Though a thousand times better than when I was growing up, normalised gay relationships in mainstream media still seem slim pickings.  Goodness knows how our trans brothers and sisters manage.


And a couple of THE PREDATOR cast hiding in the evening as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 March, 2019, 10:12:51 AM
We went to see Fighting With My Family at the weekend and loved it. Really funny, full of heart, great performances all round and punched me in my emotional weak spots with pinpoint accuracy. I think it's really, really great, and I daresay it would be just as great even if you don't care a jot about wrestling. Ace.

Also introduced Mrs Monkey to Miracle Mile for the first time, I really enjoy sharing that film with people who know nothing about it! I always remember how sweet the romance element is but I do tend to forget [spoiler]just how grim it gets and how absolutely harrowing it is in places. I still love the uncertainty of the whole thing, up to a certain point it's really easy to believe that it could be a prank gone horribly out of control, and it plays on that really well. She really enjoyed it and we both agreed that as nice as the love story is if we were in that situation we'd totally be the shirtless guy out of his mind on the rooftop because why try even running?![/spoiler]

Have MI: Fallout a rewatch too and it is just as brilliant on a rewatch. It's really testament to how fantastic the action sequences are that they're still edge-of-your-seat stuff even when you know how they pan out. The tension and excitement is still all there on repeat watches and it struck me how rare that is.

I spent a lot of the film thinking the 4K/HDR was a bit disappointing, but the environments in the final act look absolutely stunning so I guess it's just down to the colour pallette for the earlier chunks not being all that attention grabbing maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 20 March, 2019, 11:02:19 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 17 March, 2019, 01:59:29 PM
MOONLIGHT was fantastic stuff where nothing much seems to happen but everything, well Life, does! Great performances throughout (even Naomi Harris which was a suprise to me) but Trevante Rhodes gangsta, Black,  nearly had me in tears.


If Beale Street Could Talk was so good, I moved Moonlight immediately into my 'to watch' queue.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 March, 2019, 08:22:46 PM
DREDD I never tire of showing it to friends who haven't seen it. Lovely to watch again (I've seen it at least 10 times). Still amazingly entertaining, as well as being a movie which actually invites to some quite interesting discussions. Everything from how it ends (who's riding the bike), if Dredd is a product of the system and so on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2019, 09:38:53 PM

True story: the last time I watched Dredd with someone who hadn't seen it (I too like spreading (Dredding?) my love of this film), it turned out that person I was showing it to had spent many years in prison for shooting someone in his teens. The slow-motion drug bust dug up some powerful emotions in him. A particularly tense evening ensued.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 March, 2019, 09:41:35 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 March, 2019, 08:22:46 PM
Everything from how it ends (who's riding the bike).


Going by the number, and overall shape, of segments on the back-armour of the rider (4 segments for male Judges, 3 for female), it's Joe Dredd himself.


(http://i.imgur.com/y0InQZy.jpg) (https://imgur.com/y0InQZy)

(https://cdn.instructables.com/FNZ/ORIV/I20VWVRU/FNZORIVI20VWVRU.LARGE.jpg)
(https://www.studiocreations.com/howto/dredd/images/anderson_vest_back.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 March, 2019, 09:55:29 PM
It never occured to me that it wasn't.

But I also never understood why some people thing that it's ambiguous whether Anderson passed or failed at the end of the movie (she obviously did, right?).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 March, 2019, 10:10:30 PM

Apart form the the fact it's stated she passed, there's also the re-purposed shot of her with her helmet walking out of the Hall of Justice that was originally intended to be used for a scene at the beginning of the film – which I assume is the shot that leads some to think it's Anderson on the bike.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2019, 10:15:51 PM
I can't remember the precise details, but I recall there was some transposing of scenes in editing between the initial setting off on the assessment footage and the closing sequence, which could account for any inconsistencies. Narratively, I think we're supposed to think it's Anderson riding off on her first shift, but I don't think it was originally filmed that way (or at all really, hence the need to cannibalise other footage).

EDIT - Damn, beat me to it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 March, 2019, 11:03:09 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2019, 10:15:51 PM
Narratively, I think we're supposed to think it's Anderson riding off on her first shift, but I don't think it was originally filmed that way (or at all really, hence the need to cannibalise other footage).


I don't think it was originally ever intended to be Anderson riding off – I still don't think it is (although it can work either way if you want while squinting at the bulid of the stunt-rider).

The shot of Anderson was inserted on a suggestion from John Wagner that he thought the film needed one more moment with Anderson before the end (presumably to leave her status a little less ambiguous) – which more or less confirms it was always meant to be Dredd at the end riding out of Peach Trees. It's also in the script that Dredd walks alone to his bike while the sound of dispatches from Control play-out in the background.

Side-note: there's a version of the film (scripted, recorded and edited) with Anderson as the narrator/point-of-view character.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZdgC0us.jpg)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 March, 2019, 03:18:03 PM
Us
Damn! That was a fine movie. Witty, smart, pretty violent and not what I was expecting at all, based on the trailer.
There is a lot to process and I suspect a second viewing, before the weekend is out, is on the cards.

Based on this movie and Get Out I can't wait to see the new Twilight Zone on the 1st of April.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DrRocka on 22 March, 2019, 05:59:42 PM
The Dirt
It's even more formulaic than the Queen movie, and takes at least as many liberties with the truth, but if nothing else, it manages to make Motley Crüe quite likeable. There. Words I never EVER thought I'd say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 March, 2019, 07:11:48 PM
Captain Marvel
Fun film.[spoiler]I guessed the twist before it happened, and kinda wish they'd made the Kree morality a bit more ambiguous,[/spoiler] but I enjoyed that a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 March, 2019, 09:14:50 AM
Blade of the Immortal.

An immortal ex-samurai partners a young girl to help her get revenge for her father's murder and whatever they did to her mum.
Great fun with some outlandish characters and cool fight scenes (some of them go on a bit though). The two leads are both really good and the baddie is quite interesting and sympathetic which is what makes the whole thing work.
It reminded me of both True Grit and Once Upon a Time in the West in parts, though it's more light hearted than either of those.
Good fun and worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2019, 02:41:02 PM
Add me to the list of Captain Marvel fans.

A worrying opening where it felt like we might be in an X-Box squad based shooter game soon gave way to lots of fun.

Really enjoyed it and knowing nothing about the comics and Skrull-Kree war it all played out well and pulled various rugs from under me [spoiler]I had assumed, just from the casting that Jude Law might be a bad guy but to have the whole war exposed so was refreshing even though the use of Accusers did sort of tip the hand[/spoiler]. The sequence of her [spoiler]escaping the Skrull ship was the best action scene I felt[/spoiler]

Some minor niggles; she never really showed that losing control of her power was a problem; sometimes she takes multiple Skrull down with relative ease then struggles in a one on one fight; by the climax she is way over-powered and a bit too flippant about the death she is causing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 24 March, 2019, 07:57:09 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 March, 2019, 09:41:35 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 March, 2019, 08:22:46 PM
Everything from how it ends (who's riding the bike).


Going by the number, and overall shape, of segments on the back-armour of the rider (4 segments for male Judges, 3 for female), it's Joe Dredd himself.


(http://i.imgur.com/y0InQZy.jpg) (https://imgur.com/y0InQZy)

(https://cdn.instructables.com/FNZ/ORIV/I20VWVRU/FNZORIVI20VWVRU.LARGE.jpg)
(https://www.studiocreations.com/howto/dredd/images/anderson_vest_back.jpg)

Perhaps 4 segments is the movie's "full eagle" ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 March, 2019, 02:07:50 PM
Watched a few films at the weekend -

Us - Had quite an odd cinema experience with this one, at the morning showing in the Glasgow Cineworld. There's a scene where the characters are talking about weird coincidences, and then the power cuts out and it's all very tense...and then the power cut out in the cinema. Spooky. The power came back up and they told us they'd get the film back up and running shortly, but after a 40 minute wait announced that nobody in the building knew how to dim the lights again so we'd have to watch the rest of it with all the lights on. That didn't appeal, so we took a refund instead and went about our day, planning to go back at a later date. We were talking about that first chunk so much on the walk home though and the intrigue had set in pretty hard so we ended up going to another cinema later that day to get some closure!

Glad we did, loved it! It's interesting (and great) to see it being so huge at the box office because I think it actually feels like a much less commercial movie than Get Out. That film seemed really accessible as a psychological thriller to people who ordinarily might not watch a straight-up horror, but Us feels way more overtly horror, and also a bit more abstract with its ideas and themes. It'll definitely trigger some interesting discussions and takes, there are some layers to unpeel! It looks incredible and the performances are fantastic, I really hope it being more of a horror doesn't earn it a Hereditary-style snubbing when awards season comes along, because it should definitely be up for a few. Lupita Nyong'o is incredible in it, and it has one of the best movie scores I've heard in years (annoyingly it doesn't seem to be available anywhere yet, no doubt Mondo/Death Waltz will do a great vinyl at some point)! We both commented that going by how absorbing the first half was on the second watch, that the whole movie will probably hold up great to repeat viewings and keep on giving.

On the other end of the horror quality spectrum I finally got to Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, and oh boy is it not good. It doesn't have the smidgen of self-awareness that made VI surprisingly fun, and like every single other movie in the series so far it's 80 minutes of annoying teenagers and tension-free stabbings, climaxing in 10 minutes of actually quite enjoyable confrontation. The one thing it does to shake that formula up a bit is to include a girl with super powers, but that's nowhere near as fun as it sounds. Total trash, but I'm certain that at some point soon I'll be giving the exact same review of Part VIII.

More interesting was The Endless, which is on Netflix. One of those solid low budget high concept slightly horror slightly sci-fi sort of deal that had some really interesting things going on between the lines I felt. Liked it a lot.

Also got round to John Wick Chapter Two finally, which was fun as expected. The action does get quite numbing after a while in a way that something like The Raid movies don't for me, not sure why. There are 'oooooft' moments peppered throughout the film but there's maybe just a bit too much repetition to the moves and the fights for it to keep the excitement going. I did find it a more visually striking film than the first though. Some of the settings for the shootings were imaginative and cool to watch, and the car combat reminded me of the climax to John Woo's Bullet In The Head which was nice. I liked seeing more of the actual hitman community and how they operate, and it pans out very well for what'll be a pretty intense third movie so looking forward to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 25 March, 2019, 03:05:42 PM
Agree about the score. Top class [spoiler]Especially during the confrontation between both of Lupita's characters in the classroom towards the end[/spoiler]

Also, took me a while but realised that [spoiler]her Son is also one of the underground lot too. Nice double twist.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 March, 2019, 03:29:37 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 25 March, 2019, 03:05:42 PM
Also, took me a while but realised that [spoiler]her Son is also one of the underground lot too. Nice double twist.[/spoiler]

I totally missed that- where is it mentioned?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 25 March, 2019, 03:50:49 PM
Erm...In the film?

[spoiler]Basically the look she gives him at the end. The fact that he bought a magic trick the year before at Santa Cruz and can't remember how to work it (because he was taken then). How he has a good knowledge of the tunnels where the Tethered live (because he's been living there for a year). The whole thing with the mask (especially the last show when he pulls it down after his Mother smiles at him. Him being attracted to the man on the beach with his hands out. Basically he wants to join in.[/spoiler]

There is quite a bit of foreshadowing in regards to this throughout the film but to be honest it did not hit me until a day or so later.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 March, 2019, 05:13:54 PM
I saw Us too. Didn't really do much for me tbh.

Well made, great cast and performances and some cool visuals, but to me it just felt like a lot of decent but half-formed ideas shoved together, and the more the story was explained the less sense it all made. I also thought the weird tonal shifts between horror and light comedy quips didn't really work. The comedic lines often felt like they came from a different movie.

And regarding [spoiler]the twist, isn't 'I WAS THE EVIL TWIN ALL ALONG!' the twist in literally every single story about doppelgangers/clones/evil twins, to the point where it's kind of beyond a cliche at this point?[/spoiler]

But then, I didn't really see what all the fuss was about Get Out either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 March, 2019, 05:51:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 25 March, 2019, 03:50:49 PM

[spoiler]Basically the look she gives him at the end. The fact that he bought a magic trick the year before at Santa Cruz and can't remember how to work it (because he was taken then). How he has a good knowledge of the tunnels where the Tethered live (because he's been living there for a year). The whole thing with the mask (especially the last show when he pulls it down after his Mother smiles at him. Him being attracted to the man on the beach with his hands out. Basically he wants to join in.[/spoiler]


The main twist was so obvious I was hoping there'd be another one, but I dunno about this Matt - seems too far fetched even in the context of the amount of disbelief you have to suspend with this film.
For 'Jason' to adapt like that in a year? I don't buy into it.

Quote from: radiator on 25 March, 2019, 05:13:54 PM
The comedic lines often felt like they came from a different movie.

I enjoyed it more than you Rad, but yeah, some of the comedy was ill judged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 March, 2019, 06:05:43 PM
The bit that really jumped out was when [spoiler]the family start jokingly comparing 'kill counts'[/spoiler]. It felt really unrealistic and off tonally, and spoiled the tension that had been built up to that point.

I also didn't really understand why the [spoiler]doppelgnagers kept fannying about so much if their goal was simply to kill their counterparts? all the monologuing seemed really contrived and Bond villainish[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 25 March, 2019, 06:26:35 PM
I stick by initial assumption. And I thought the comedy in the film was borderline sublime to be honest.

[spoiler]In my opinion it was the Tethered's aim to show the 'above ground' people what the cost is. Hence the Hands across America. It's a story about how the rich trample upon the poor, regardless of colour which is shown in the film. Hands across America was never, and did not, achieve anything. Just another Reagan bullshit policy[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:43:01 AM
[spoiler]Not sure if I see the thing with the son, his speech would be more messed up if he'd been raised with the tethered surely. To me the meaningful looks at the end were more down to him seeing his mother go pretty feral during the final confrontation and it dawning on him that there really isn't much separating them from the tethered. It's an interesting theory mind you, so will definitely keep it in mind on a rewatch. Mrs Monkey brought up the fact that the boy could control his doppelganger when nobody else seemed able to, that was interesting. I figured it was down to his double being younger and not having learned to break from the control yet, but there might be more going on there.[/spoiler]

Watched Firestarter last night (the old Stephen King adaptation) for the first time in a long time! I was really into the book and movie when I was very young, and watching it now it's interesting how much went over my head back then. I was definitely too young to register just how creepy Rainbird's interest in Charlie is, that all seems pretty dark now.

Doesn't actually hold up too badly though. It's a bit dull in places and can feel a bit silly in others, but when she goes full Carrie you get some really fun fireball action and flying flaming bodies, from a pre-CG time when seeing that stuff in movies had a bit more of a thrill to it because you knew stuntmen were doing some real crazy shit. It also reminded me that Drew Barrymore The Child Actor was actually really good as far as kid actors back then go, I forget that because I find Drew Barrymore The Grown Up Actor to be really awful in everything she's in!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:54:02 AM
Oh also regarding Firestarter - I only just found out looking into the film now that it was developed as a John Carpenter film, but he got replaced after The Thing flopped. Now I'm wondering what John Carpenter's Firestarter would have been like!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 26 March, 2019, 10:29:17 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:54:02 AM
Oh also regarding Firestarter - I only just found out looking into the film now that it was developed as a John Carpenter film, but he got replaced after The Thing flopped. Now I'm wondering what John Carpenter's Firestarter would have been like!
Food for thought! For Carpenter on King see: Christine. Also very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 26 March, 2019, 12:10:59 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:54:02 AM
Oh also regarding Firestarter - I only just found out looking into the film now that it was developed as a John Carpenter film, but he got replaced after The Thing flopped. Now I'm wondering what John Carpenter's Firestarter would have been like!

Fangoria #2 Volume 2 (the last issue out, which came out in February) has a rather large article, including pages of script, detailing just what Carpenter's 'Firestarter' would have been like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 12:18:14 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 26 March, 2019, 12:10:59 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:54:02 AM
Oh also regarding Firestarter - I only just found out looking into the film now that it was developed as a John Carpenter film, but he got replaced after The Thing flopped. Now I'm wondering what John Carpenter's Firestarter would have been like!

Fangoria #2 Volume 2 (the last issue out, which came out in February) has a rather large article, including pages of script, detailing just what Carpenter's 'Firestarter' would have been like.

Nice! Thanks for letting me know, I'll be popping into Smiths on the way home tonight then.

I do really like Christine too Wedgeski, find myself humming the theme quite often!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 March, 2019, 01:47:28 PM
Caught Captain Marvel last night, and I enjoyed it. Liked seeing the Skrulls not being the bad guys, even if they do get killed off like them. I didn't really find any flaws in Captain Marvel the character, other than the awkwardness of the whole amnesiac thing, which inherently obstructs character arcs when you've got two hours and plot to deal with (see: Bucky in the MCU vs The Winter Soldier in the comics). I've seen people whine about the music, which I don't see the problem; Guardians of the Galaxy isn't the only movie allowed to use contemporary music, you big nerds.

Anyway. I probably won't watch it again, but then that's true of most of the Marvel movies, and I didn't have any major complaints about it. It was fun, it was visually spectacular, and I think it did some nice worldbuilding in its own way.

I want to see Monica Rambeau as Photon though immediately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 26 March, 2019, 02:01:27 PM
I f*****g LOVED Captain Marvel. I expected it to be good, but wasn't prepared for the super-confident characterizations and pervasive humour. Not being an expert on Marvel lore, I didn't see the [spoiler]act 2 switcheroo[/spoiler] coming, either. And Sam Jackson's rejuv job was amazing (Coulson's, not so much).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 March, 2019, 03:33:28 PM
Well, the skrulls are totally the bad guys in 99% of Marvel Comics. But then the Kree are too, most of the time, but less of the time than the Skrulls.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 March, 2019, 10:03:11 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 March, 2019, 01:47:28 PM
I've seen people whine about the music, which I don't see the problem; Guardians of the Galaxy isn't the only movie allowed to use contemporary music, you big nerds.

I enjoyed a lot of the music choices, with a couple of very minor quibbles. Having her wear the NIN logo for a chunk of if the movie but not using any Nine Inch Nails felt like a strange choice for a start! That and [spoiler]slapping No Doubt's 'Just A Girl' over that fight scene felt really cringey to me for some reason. It's really awesome to see a female-led superhero movie and to watch her kicking so much ass throughout it, but that moment felt a bit like having a (probably male) producer grab you and go 'bet you didn't think a girl could be awesome right?!!', which I thought undermined how cool it was, because I was never in any doubt that women can be awesome.

I do actually like the song though, so even think that if they'd really made a feature of it by choreographing the action or cuts to the tempo it might have been a cool sequence, but it was clearly just sort of plonked on there over the top after the fact. I'm sure I'll enjoy it more on a rewatch (even typing this now it seems like a dumb quibble to have) but in the moment it gave me the big groany eye-rolls.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 29 March, 2019, 06:32:54 PM
Agreed re: music choice. It was just too obvious. I'm sure there's plenty of decent fem rock songs that would have gone much better with that scene. I think the difference between the soundtrack for GOTG and CM was that with GOTG you know most of the songs but might not hear them that often. Whereas with CM you hear those songs on the radio (if you're not still listening to them) all the time. It's hard to get nostalgic about a song you heard last week. It would have been more effective if the soundtrack was songs you don't hear ALL the time.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 27 March, 2019, 10:03:11 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 26 March, 2019, 01:47:28 PM
I've seen people whine about the music, which I don't see the problem; Guardians of the Galaxy isn't the only movie allowed to use contemporary music, you big nerds.

I enjoyed a lot of the music choices, with a couple of very minor quibbles. Having her wear the NIN logo for a chunk of if the movie but not using any Nine Inch Nails felt like a strange choice for a start! That and [spoiler]slapping No Doubt's 'Just A Girl' over that fight scene felt really cringey to me for some reason. It's really awesome to see a female-led superhero movie and to watch her kicking so much ass throughout it, but that moment felt a bit like having a (probably male) producer grab you and go 'bet you didn't think a girl could be awesome right?!!', which I thought undermined how cool it was, because I was never in any doubt that women can be awesome.

I do actually like the song though, so even think that if they'd really made a feature of it by choreographing the action or cuts to the tempo it might have been a cool sequence, but it was clearly just sort of plonked on there over the top after the fact. I'm sure I'll enjoy it more on a rewatch (even typing this now it seems like a dumb quibble to have) but in the moment it gave me the big groany eye-rolls.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 29 March, 2019, 06:41:23 PM
[spoiler]I thought that Evil Adelaide had hidden him in that locker and that's how he ended up down there. I did wonder how she knew exactly where to go though. I think Jason learned to control his double when they were playing that game in the cupboard upstairs. He witnessed and heard the final exchange between the two Adalaide's and heard his mothers animalistic grunting so I think the scene at the end is where Adalaide confirms she is the evil one and he realises it. [/spoiler]

Great movie, really enjoyed it.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2019, 09:43:01 AM
[spoiler]Not sure if I see the thing with the son, his speech would be more messed up if he'd been raised with the tethered surely. To me the meaningful looks at the end were more down to him seeing his mother go pretty feral during the final confrontation and it dawning on him that there really isn't much separating them from the tethered. It's an interesting theory mind you, so will definitely keep it in mind on a rewatch. Mrs Monkey brought up the fact that the boy could control his doppelganger when nobody else seemed able to, that was interesting. I figured it was down to his double being younger and not having learned to break from the control yet, but there might be more going on there.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 29 March, 2019, 08:44:47 PM
The dark tower Idris Elba is as always awesome, as is the OST by Junkie XL. Other than that, okay I guess. Quite weird and shallow. Was apperantly made in hopes of making a tv show, and it shows. The ending felt like that of an tv episode. But it made me interested in reading the first book, so I guess that's something at least.

Valerian Beautiful to look at, some neat ideas, but overall it wasn't for me. Can't recommend it, but I don't mind having watched it.

Three billboards outside Ebbing Missouri Wish I went in more blind watching this one, not having watched the trailer. Basically about angry people adding to a situation spiraling out of control. Very tragic, very funny. Same guy who made In Brouges. Frances McDormand is fantastic in it. Watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 March, 2019, 11:46:23 PM
PEPPERMINT Jennifer Garner does Jane Wick meets Death Wish. (On Amazon)

It has Jennifer Garner in it so not much point saying anything else about it.

Jennifer Garner.










Jennifer.


Garner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 March, 2019, 01:45:10 PM
The Highwaymen. A Netflix film about the hunt and killing of Bonnie and Clyde. This is the first film from Netflix I can honestly say I loved. Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson play the ageing Texas Rangers brought back to track them down with the understanding that Bonnie and Clyde were to be brought in, dead.

There are numerous wonderful moments between Costner and Harrelson and also how they interact with the younger, more technologically savvy police forces.

A top film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 March, 2019, 11:37:37 PM
Us

Kinda different. I liked that. I think some of the stuff meant to be scary turned out unintentionally comical (although they need not be mutually exclusive) and I think they should have made it[spoiler]just about the family, rather than this being a widespread event. That would have been more eerie I think. I liked the twist, altbough, it wasn't entirely unexpected. I wonder how much was remembered and forgotten by the two women however. She said little about it, suggesting she was born to that world.  It then again she had gone insane, and it does explain the extent of her  actions somewhat [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 April, 2019, 01:50:06 PM
Us

I absolutely loved it. We both guessed 'the twist' at the start but it didn't affect our enjoyment of the movie at all. The actor who played the father is I think, the weakest point of the movie, but the lead is absolutely brilliant as both parts. The kids are great too, as are the friends.

I didn't find the comedy robbed any of the horror of its impact and I thought the tension was sublime right up until day break, when the shift goes from survival to the dramatic confrontation. But even then, beautiful choreography, imagery and acting brings

I'm not sure if I prefer it [spoiler]being a widespread event rather than just one family,[/spoiler] or if the other would be more effective. Certainly I think you could make a brilliant movie [spoiler]with just that one family and with no explanation of where they came from, but the widespread nature works well for me in honesty. One thing I didn't like was a nod towards logistics of any kind, or the trip beneath]; I would have preferred that to be an impossible space, glimpsed only in the flashback of the twist. My wife kept obsessing over "Who fed the rabbits" "Who gave them clothes" and so forth, whilst I just took Adelaide Prime's explanation of the tethered as an experiment abandoned as the invention of a child suddenly thrust into the inverse of her life, and not the truth. Like Shadow Adelaide, she took on her opposite role, but unlike Shadow Adelaide - or any of the tethered before her - she had some idea of the world above, words to describe them, the ability to make things all of her own.

To me, it's fantastical horror, so I gave up thinking about that. It's truly impossible. So the best explanation is to be something like Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, where instead of a London Below there's an America Below. And it requires no explanation other than the reasoning given in that broken, stilted voice right at the beginning[/spoiler]

I keep thinking of that shot in the classroom, where one Adelaide is right up next to the camera. Some utterly fantastic scenes and I will never ever go to Santa Cruz.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 April, 2019, 03:30:27 PM
Pet Sematary (2019)

Just got back from the first showing today. First half is standard fare if you have either read the book or seen the original version of the movie and it's fairly dull if I'm honest.

However, the 2nd half ramps things up in style and veers quite a bit from the source material and if you thought King's original ending was downbeat then you ain't seen nothing yet.

I'll leave it at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 April, 2019, 04:35:33 PM
Ah good, I was a bit disappointed at the trailer. Not because it clearly is changing things up, but because the trailer seemed to show far too much.

Other movies I watched recently include Black Dynamite, currently on Amazon Prime. It's incredible. Everything I hoped for and so much more, I thought it might disappoint like so many parody movies do, but Black Dynamite delivers on every single level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 04 April, 2019, 04:36:50 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 April, 2019, 04:35:33 PM
Ah good, I was a bit disappointed at the trailer. Not because it clearly is changing things up, but because the trailer seemed to show far too much.

I thought exactly the same thing but the trailer shows nothing from the final 20 minutes where the plot veers most significantly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 April, 2019, 11:58:32 AM
Also enjoyed THE HIGHWAYMEN. It seems to me that the popularity of Bonnie and Clyde may have been a rejection of banks, government and authority figures like we are experiencing now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 07 April, 2019, 03:36:28 PM
Just back from the other Captain Marvel (Shazam).  Lots of fun just on the right side of cheese.  I don't really know too much about the character except what I e caught on the J.L cartoons but overall a fun little romp.  Don't know a lot about the legal hassles but oh my I can see the similarities with the other other Marvel Man (Miracleman).  [spoiler]i clapped when the rest of the Marvel family showed up[/spoiler].
D.C. Seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, Aquaman was more fun than it should've been now this, maybe they should give the big two a break for a while and concentrate on the also rans.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 07 April, 2019, 03:56:04 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 07 April, 2019, 03:36:28 PM
Just back from the other Captain Marvel (Shazam).  Lots of fun just on the right side of cheese.  I don't really know too much about the character except what I e caught on the J.L cartoons but overall a fun little romp.  Don't know a lot about the legal hassles but oh my I can see the similarities with the other other Marvel Man (Miracleman).  [spoiler]i clapped when the rest of the Marvel family showed up[/spoiler].
D.C. Seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, Aquaman was more fun than it should've been now this, maybe they should give the big two a break for a while and concentrate on the also rans.

CU Radbacker

Saw it yesterday. Had a blast. Lots of laughs and some "feeelz". A bunch of kids behind me were talking quite alot during some scenes, but I actually enjoyed it. One of the kids was whispering "Shazam... Shazam..." when she thought it was a bit scary, and at one time when Billy said it she loudly proclaimed "BEST MOVIE EVER!" :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 April, 2019, 05:32:00 PM
Just got back from Shazam! too.

Good film. Nice bit of feel good. DC still not got over that their endings are far too long. Decent start, very strong middle, so-so ending [spoiler]bar the last shot.[/spoiler]

There is one post credits sequence. You'll need to know your DC lore to understand it though but it does come pretty quick into the credits sequence.

A fun film. Big meets Superheroes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 April, 2019, 05:53:21 PM
Hotel Artemis on SKY premier last night.

Really enjoyed this. Foster and Bautista are very good. Recommended for a slice of John Wick/ Bladerunner fun (and by that I mean it's set slightly in the future).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 07 April, 2019, 07:46:08 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 04 April, 2019, 03:30:27 PM
Pet Sematary (2019)

Just got back from the first showing today. First half is standard fare if you have either read the book or seen the original version of the movie and it's fairly dull if I'm honest.

However, the 2nd half ramps things up in style and veers quite a bit from the source material and if you thought King's original ending was downbeat then you ain't seen nothing yet.

I'll leave it at that.
Managed to avoid all trailers and spoilers and really enjoyed the changes they made. Technically a much better film than the original, although some of the scares from the 80s version were better.
Nothing earth shattering but an enjoyable romp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 April, 2019, 02:15:59 PM
Reached Resident Evil: Retribution (the 5th one) on my rewatch, and it definitely takes the Silly Crown from the second film. It's absolutely bonkers, but as with all of them it's quite fun. There are a couple of particularly good fight scenes where the choreography is pretty impressive. It struck me how little the films are really concerned with cast continuity between installments, this one ends on a typical cliffhanger but by the time the next film starts that's been forgotten about and a bunch of the characters are just...gone, with no explanation that I can recall, and that happens to people on and off through the series. Dumb as hell but had a good time.

Also rewatched Halloween (2018) because a friend hadn't seen it, he loved it and I was still really into it on my third watch. Still think they did a great job with it.

Watched The Crazies (2010) and it's a pretty good (rare) example of a worthwhile remake. I thought the original had some great ideas but was pretty messy, here I thought everything was executed way more solidly and made for a pretty thrilling action horror romp. The one thing I missed from the original was the [spoiler]whole thread about them trying to find a cure, and the leads realizing they were immune and how that panned out, but it had some new ideas of its own and knowing how the previous film ended didn't set me up for what I thought was a great closing moment in this one.[/spoiler]

Went to Pet Sematary, always loved the book and the previous adaptation (I even find Pet Sematary 2 pretty fun) and thought for the most part this was a decent adaptation. As others have mentioned it does veer off from the source material pretty heavily after a certain point and I personally didn't find the changes quite as effective. [spoiler]Having an older child come back meant the interactions between her and the dad came off as more goofy than creepy (in my opinion). Also I always found the ending of the book quite beautifully tragic while this ending had more downbeat shock value but a lot less meaningful impact for me - it's a horrible event to leave an audience with so lingers in that regard but doesn't have the same fatalistic melancholy as the 'waiting' ending in the novel and original film.[/spoiler]

It feels like it's very conscious of the fact that people will have read or seen the story before though, using moments you're familiar with and things you're expecting but subverting them so that they still surprise, so there's some self-awareness there which is probably why they felt they needed to change things up storywise too. For me it wasn't that successful and I enjoyed the more faithful first half way more than the second half, but I think if someone went in not knowing the story they'd have a very different (and probably better) experience. I'll probably enjoy it way more on its own merits when I rewatch it at some point.

Speaking of rewatches, my wife hadn't seen the prequel to The Thing so we watched that last night. I hadn't enjoyed it at all on my first watch and some of those complaints remain (it doesn't have the patience to allow any real prolonged paranoid tension to creep in, and the CG isn't scary and looks charmless) but I think I probably judged it too harshly first time round, because we enjoyed it quite a lot. It's not a bad monster movie, and the effects aside it's a well made movie that looks pretty great.

I do often find horror movies that didn't faze me on a first watch are way more effective when I rewatch them with Amy, I tend to overthink films as I'm watching on my own sometimes (I definitely did that with this as the original is a Joint First Place Greatest Movie Of All Time number for me) but she's way less of a pretentious jaded horror buff so having her freaking out and getting really into them is always infectious and I wind up getting way more tense and scared as a result! Maybe that's weird, I guess horror movies are supposed to be scarier on your own.

Was glad to give it a revisit, I'd written it off pretty harshly on release and I actually think much more highly of it after that watch, just a shame they couldn't have used the physical effects. It could never match up to the original (which remains an absolutely perfect movie in my eyes) but that would have at least helped.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 April, 2019, 03:07:45 PM
Me again (I do seem to be watching a lot of movies lately!), watched Cam yesterday on Netflix and thought it was really good. About a cam girl chasing after higher rankings for her stream and before long very creepy things start happening. The obsession with her place on the chart and the focus on chat-rooms and live streaming make it all come across a lot like a feature length Black Mirror, and not in a bad way. Genuinely pretty unsettling and well executed.

Also gave Riddick a rewatch as I still have a real soft spot for that universe even if Riddick himself can be a real knob at times, particularly in this one. I can almost take the way he treats Katee Sackhoff's character as just him being the mean-spirited jerk we know he is, but [spoiler]the fact she's set up as a real take no shit lesbian character who is basically reduced to a notch on his bed-post by the end suggests that someone (Vin Diesel?) thought all that stuff would come across as genuinely seductive, and that part is a tad bothersome.[/spoiler] That aside, and the fact that it's pretty slow and ponderous at times, I did enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 11 April, 2019, 04:33:59 PM
So, Hellboy.
Darker (Literally. Put a light on, man!), bloodier and swearier than previous movies. You could have not had the intestines falling out and still told the same story.
David Harbour makes a good fist of the title character but his colouring was all wrong; Hellboy wasn't Demon Red, he was more Ginger Caught in the Sun Red (and I know that colour!) and he mumbled through his make up. Enunciate, dear chap!
I'm not keen on Ian McShane so felt he was miscast as Prof Bruttenholm - didn't that character die in the last film?
On the plus side, the script has funny moments - Stephen Graham as the Gruagach - and exciting moments such as Lobster Johnson turning up.
If you go in wanting to hate it, you will. If you go in with an open mind you'll find enough in there to enjoy. If the Del Toro/Perlman movies were four star, this one's a three.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 April, 2019, 05:34:53 PM
Hellboy (2019

Whilst I did not find it as dark (literally) as Davey I did find it slightly overlong. Overall though it's a decent romp that won't live long in the memory.

What I did find interesting is the changing of attitudes at the BBFC. This film includes many graphic depictions of violence (all CGI it must be said) including many that would not have been out of place in The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, and Hostel (something that Kevin Mahler points out in his 1 star review of the film in The Times today (it's not a 1 star film. 2 at worse, but probably a 3 just). The point I'm making is that Hellboy is a 15 when 25 years ago this would have been an 18 all day long. Whilst films like An Officer and a Gentleman and Pretty Woman, which have overtly sexual scenes, were the equivalent of a AA or a 15 would not be an 18.

So we now live in a society where dismembering someone (many people actually), an unnatural act, is worthy of a 15, but sex (a completely natural act) would earn a film an 18.

Weird. We are slowly turning into America.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2019, 11:30:38 PM
Well me and Mrs. Tips right enjoyed SHAZAM. It doesn't have the pyrotechnics of the bigger superhero movies but has nice arcs for the main characters, lots of laughs, thrilling if relatively low key action, the plot isn't overly complicated but still has plenty of surprises (the trailer actually gives little away) and more heart than every other DC movie put together.

Might be the best DC yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 April, 2019, 08:04:00 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 13 April, 2019, 11:30:38 PM

Might be the best DC yet.

2nd best for me. Wonder Woman, I think, tops it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 April, 2019, 09:08:07 AM
It's deffo between this and Wonder Woman (though the sheer bat shit bonkersness of Aquaman was also great) but WW ending let it down. SHAZAM was just more consistent for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 April, 2019, 11:39:33 AM
We enjoyed Hellboy for what it is, it doesn't have the same kind of class as the Del Toro movies (and I did watch it with a twinge of heartbreak that we'll never see him finish his trilogy) but it did feel like a splattery scattershot fun time to me. It's messy as hell, but it's a bit of a mad fun mess. So, nowhere near as good as GDT's movies, but I still had a pretty good time with it. The gore didn't bother me, but the swearing got tiresome, just because after a while it was pretty clear they thought that having the big warthog guy swear in every single line was somehow enough to make his lines amusing, and it really wasn't (imo). Other than that most of it landed, and I thought David Harbour was really good in the role, especially impressive because Ron Perlman personified the part so much. Perlman will always be my Hellboy, but with massive shoes to fill I can't really fault Harbour's take on it. Would watch it again for sure.

Rewatched GDT's first Hellboy as well, and it struck me how much that for all the talk about the new film being more faithful to the comics, what it doesn't nail is the look, tone and atmosphere of them. It's way more of a literal adaptation of the books where GDT just sort of took it as a base and did his own thing with it, but he definitely captured something from the comics that the new film doesn't.

Speaking of things Del Toro did that were then picked up by someone else, we rewatched Pacific Rim: Uprising and still found it a real hoot. Still a great fun sequel that I'm really happy happened.

Headshot was good for a bit of The Raid style action, it's not on that kind of level (is anything?!) but it's got some good bone-crunchingly violent fights and it's always a thrill to watch Iko Uwais kick and punch people. I met him once actually, he was about half my height but I have no doubt he could have killed me with a thought.

And finished the weekend with Keanu, which was okay. It was enjoyable, but it probably only got a couple of real out loud laughs, and we love the Key and Peele sketches so much that we expected it to be pretty hilarious. Maybe the core joke just wasn't enough to carry it, or maybe the mood wasn't right but it just didn't click too much unfortunately. Those big laughs were good mind you, and the whole thing was fairly low-key amusing, just expected more big guffaws based on the talent involved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 15 April, 2019, 02:28:27 PM
I watched First Man this weekend and it was an excellent movie, anyone that likes the whole saga about the moon landing must watch this
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 15 April, 2019, 09:18:53 PM
I also saw Hellboy this weekend. Reminded me a bit about Sam Raimi's 90s films, as well as a bit of Spawn. I think if they'd cut it down to 90min I think it'd feel like a really solid and fun gore movie.

One thing I could not understand were the constant rock song montages. Bit like with the swearing. Wore out it's welcome quite quickly.

Regardless. I got to watch another solid Hellboy with David as well as on screen rendtions of Baba Yaga and Lobster Johnson. Started reading the recent omnibuses right after I came home from the cinema. Not a bad thing really :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 April, 2019, 01:27:10 PM
There may be a point here about low expectations, but Shazam was very good fun, tied with Wonder Woman for best of the DCs for me. Not being aware of the comic, wife & kids thought the central 'twist' was great. The overlong and rather disturbing opening sequences nearly put me off, but within the context of the overall movie they were entirely justified.

I award 100 bonus points for no character making any kind of joke about suddenly having adult sexual characteristics, and no interior shots of the strip club (most gratuitous cliché in all of cinema).  Minus 25 points for not going [spoiler]Full Tawky[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 April, 2019, 05:42:50 PM
It took me a little while to join the dots in my head for the different [spoiler]tiger[/spoiler] motifs. But I grinned big when it clicked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 April, 2019, 11:42:26 AM
Thought Shazam! was great fun, and benefited massively from not being tied into any larger scheme of DC film universe stuff, just a really solid fun standalone movie doing its own thing.

We enjoyed it so much we finally rented Justice League which we've been putting off for a while because of all the hate, and I guess the bad rep set up our expectations properly because it was way better than I expected. Not great, and it's pretty shitty that it largely comes down to [spoiler]'ah it's fine, Superman will just come along and sort everything'[/spoiler] and of course a lot of that CG mess at the end is a CG mess but it was an enjoyable enough dumb superhero knockabout. As I say though, that was probably because we went in expecting to hate it!

Also watched Cobain: A Montage of Heck which left me pretty depressed. So much talent wasted and whether it's the way it's all in the portrayal what I thought came across was that meeting Courtney Love and having their miseries and addictions combine and feed off one another was a bit of a turning point for things going downhill fast. Made me think that maybe if he'd fallen into some sort of healthier relationship then things may have been different and he may have found the help and support he needed. Some of it was uncomfortably familiar to me - obviously not the huge talent and success part but I had a lot of problems with depression and drinking myself miserable when I was younger and the movie made me realize how incredibly lucky I am that I met who I did and got the help to pull up out of all that, and how differently things could have gone if I'd instead found someone who would wallow with me and indulge my problems instead of helping beat them.

So a bit of a miserable watch for me really (and apologies for the heavy review but it really did stick with me)!

Got round to War For The Planet of The Apes too which I thought was a really good installment in what's been a great series. I can't believe how amazing the motion capture performances are and how stunning the effects work on them is. Seeing how they can pull that off while Justice League couldn't convince me Henry Cavill didn't have a moustache was quite the contrast.

Oh and I watched The Conjuring 2 as well, which was good but probably not as good as the first film (my memory is hazy). There were some good inventive scares ([spoiler]the nun in the painting was a great scene)[/spoiler] and I think the fact that I remembered the haunting itself from creepy books I read as a kid probably helped it to creep me out more. Definitely a cut above some of the other glossy Hollywood haunting movies I've seen (there's a nice '70s style sensibility to the direction that I like, you can tell the filmmakers were raised on the classics!) but didn't blow me away or anything.

Oh and got to Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan on my Jason trawl and while I've not found any of them to be great this was not one of the better ones. Has its nice cheesy moments that were good for a laugh, but the promise of Jason taking to the city streets is barely delivered on, and you have to get through a whole lot of fannying about on a ferry before it happens. I'm only really continuing to watch these through a weird sense of commitment now as none of them have been any good really!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 April, 2019, 10:48:38 AM
The Long Good Friday Really good gangster movie with a bit to say which still feels relevant 40 or so years later. Bob Hopkins and Helen Mirren are fantastic in it. Impressed with how well it told a fairly big story in just 1,5h hours as well.

Aguirre, the wrath of God Really cool and epic movie about some conquistadors trying to find Eldorado. There's almost a documentary feel to it, especially with Klaus Kinski apperantly not just playing insane, but is (if the documentary My best fiend is to believed). Regardless Kinski is scary good in it. As is the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2019, 10:50:48 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 28 April, 2019, 10:48:38 AM
The Long Good Friday Really good gangster movie with a bit to say which still feels relevant 40 or so years later. Bob Hopkins and Helen Mirren are fantastic in it. Impressed with how well it told a fairly big story in just 1,5h hours as well.

A damn near perfect movie, and a personal favourite of mine. Could sing it's praises all day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 April, 2019, 07:54:38 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2019, 10:50:48 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 28 April, 2019, 10:48:38 AM
The Long Good Friday Really good gangster movie with a bit to say which still feels relevant 40 or so years later. Bob Hopkins and Helen Mirren are fantastic in it. Impressed with how well it told a fairly big story in just 1,5h hours as well.

A damn near perfect movie, and a personal favourite of mine. Could sing it's praises all day.

I dont know why I wrote "really good". Its fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 April, 2019, 08:32:44 PM

I've never really been into music, it always seemed like something that happened to other people. Sure, I've been moved by it the odd time and my foot can tap with the best of them but, somehow, I never really got it.

I've just watched Bohemian Rhapsody. It made me want to learn how to sing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 29 April, 2019, 04:05:10 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 April, 2019, 08:32:44 PM

I've never really been into music, it always seemed like something that happened to other people. Sure, I've been moved by it the odd time and my foot can tap with the best of them but, somehow, I never really got it.

I've just watched Bohemian Rhapsody. It made me want to learn how to sing.

I also watched this over the weekend and I enjoyed it. Highly recommended
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2019, 10:51:52 AM
Watched Predestination at the weekend (it's on Amazon Prime) and it's the kind of time travel movie which probably falls apart if you think about it too much, but rolling with it we really enjoyed all the time wimey turns it took. From the writers/directors of Daybreakers which I also enjoyed, and maybe because of that I expected more of a sci-fi action romp but it's more of a thinker, with a couple of performances that I thought were really quite exceptional.

Other than that rewatched Infinity War (still great) and went to see Endgame. Won't say much here (will keep that for the spoiler thread!) but absolutely loved it. They really stuck the landing and after everything that's lead here that feels pretty special to watch.

Watched the Doomed doc on Amazon too, all about the Roger Corman 'fake' Fantastic Four movie, and now I really want to see that film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 April, 2019, 11:06:03 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2019, 10:51:52 AM


Watched the Doomed doc on Amazon too, all about the Roger Corman 'fake' Fantastic Four movie, and now I really want to see that film!

I've got that on a pirate DVD I picked up at a comic mart many years ago.

It's truly awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 29 April, 2019, 11:34:38 AM
Oh I dunno, if you put aside the FX budget, it stands up to the other awful versions. You can watch it on dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19pvwt (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19pvwt)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 April, 2019, 12:31:00 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 29 April, 2019, 11:06:03 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2019, 10:51:52 AM


Watched the Doomed doc on Amazon too, all about the Roger Corman 'fake' Fantastic Four movie, and now I really want to see that film!

I've got that on a pirate DVD I picked up at a comic mart many years ago.

It's truly awful.

It was floating about on YouTube a brave few years back. In it's defense it's probably the best Fantastic 4 movie that's not called The Incredibles
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 April, 2019, 12:56:35 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2019, 10:51:52 AM
and went to see Endgame. Won't say much here (will keep that for the spoiler thread!) but absolutely loved it.

I'm intrigued is 'Endgame' particularly vulnerable to spoilers? There's been a lot of fuss made about not spoiling it and folks seem to be respecting that - from the little I've noticed.

Is there a specific thing that needs to be avoided spoiler wise (obviously don't say what if there is!) or is it just a very clever bit of marketing to get folks rushing to queues to see it as soon as possible? If so well done them as its clearly worked!

Just wondering what folks who've seen it thought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 29 April, 2019, 01:47:27 PM
Colin I avoided trailers as much as possible for Endgame- and was rewarded. There are, depending upon perspective, several moments which caused loud exclamations in the screening I saw and I was glad not to have had any warning that this was the case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 April, 2019, 02:06:53 PM
Yep, loads of instances where stuff happens and it makes you gasp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 April, 2019, 02:29:18 PM
ENDGAME trailers were very good and, from what I recall, gave very little away. But that makes it hard to say more about the direction it takes without spoiling it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 April, 2019, 02:51:35 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 29 April, 2019, 12:56:35 PM
I'm intrigued is 'Endgame' particularly vulnerable to spoilers? There's been a lot of fuss made about not spoiling it and folks seem to be respecting that - from the little I've noticed.

Just to agree with everyone else: yes, definitely. I'm sure there's still plenty to enjoy if you did cop for some spoilers, but the trailers, as Tiplodocus says, give almost nothing away and if you go in un-spoiled you're in for a bit of a treat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 April, 2019, 03:50:43 PM
I'm off to see Endgame tomorrow. Yes it's still opening week but i'm hoping 12:45PM on a Tuesday is as quiet a screening at this point I can hope for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 May, 2019, 10:02:43 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 29 April, 2019, 11:34:38 AM
Oh I dunno, if you put aside the FX budget, it stands up to the other awful versions. You can watch it on dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19pvwt (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19pvwt)

Thanks, I'll give it a watch! From what they show you in Doomed it seems to have a goofy charm to it, and it was really endearing how much the people involved genuinely seemed to want to do it justice, so it's good that it's out there to watch in some way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 May, 2019, 01:19:41 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 29 April, 2019, 03:50:43 PM
I'm off to see Endgame tomorrow. Yes it's still opening week but i'm hoping 12:45PM on a Tuesday is as quiet a screening at this point I can hope for.

I've just booked myself in for a second viewing on Friday morning at 11.30 am and at the moment I'm the only one booked. I hope it stays that way (I do love a private screening :)  )
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 May, 2019, 03:08:32 PM
WIND RIVER
Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye as rookie FBI and experienced hunter trying to solve a rape and murder on a reservation in the bleak Wyoming (?) landscape and even bleaker existence (if you don't look at it right).

It doesn't follow a predictable path and has got character beats in place of convoluted whodunnit shenanigans and a couple of very tense sequences. From Taylor Sheridan what did Siccario and Hell Or Highwater. The man knows how to take a good squint at America. Oh and The Punisher pops up too.

But be warned, I had to watch some WALKING DEAD afterwards to cheer myself up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 May, 2019, 03:40:29 PM
I watched Wind River recently as well. And to echo Tips, this film takes you to dark places. Prepare to watch an enjoyable romp afterwards, like Reservoir Dogs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 02 May, 2019, 09:20:58 PM
Superman the movie I think I did things a bit differently than most and watched this one instead of Avengers (which I'll watch in a week or so). Haven't seen in it 20 years. Felt like a really nice little reunion. I'm amazed how well it held up. Only nit pick would be that the movie probably could'v been a bit shorter. Clocking in at 2h30m is a bit excessive.

The movie very elegantly manages to combine lovely romantics (Sup's and Lois date in the sky is magical) heavy moments, good action and camp fun like no other. Also it's intro on Krypton felt interestingly strange and almost a bit eerie, especially with Krypton's destruction.

And the thing I probably liked the most about, Superman makes being a good person feel like the most awesome thing there is. Much like why I love the book Allstar Superman so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2019, 10:21:23 AM
We watched the Assassin's Creed movie at the weekend and it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Despite playing a bunch of the games (everything up to Unity I think) I don't have any particular fondness for the series (although Black Flag is great). I did think that in the first few minutes they'd done a better job of explaining the plot than any of the games has so far managed, although my other half (who hasn't played the games but I think picked the movie based on the shirtless Fassbender thumbnail) was a bit confused about a couple of things so it's possible the games primed me for it a bit.

I thought it looked very stylish and apart from being slightly dull in places was surprisingly alright, and almost really good in places but not quite. A lot like the games then.

Also rewatched The Gate 2 for the first time since I was a kid, because a recent revisit of the first film reminded me how much I loved that movie. The first holds up great, but I remember this one being a bit disappointing at the time and it's definitely not on the same level. Some cool moments and it still has some goofy charm in places, but not a patch on the first film which I still think is a bit of a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 May, 2019, 02:29:08 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2019, 10:21:23 AM
Also rewatched The Gate 2 for the first time since I was a kid, because a recent revisit of the first film reminded me how much I loved that movie. The first holds up great, but I remember this one being a bit disappointing at the time and it's definitely not on the same level. Some cool moments and it still has some goofy charm in places, but not a patch on the first film which I still think is a bit of a classic.

Wait, theres a sequel to one of the best canucksploitation movies? Since when?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2019, 04:19:07 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 May, 2019, 02:29:08 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 May, 2019, 10:21:23 AM
Also rewatched The Gate 2 for the first time since I was a kid, because a recent revisit of the first film reminded me how much I loved that movie. The first holds up great, but I remember this one being a bit disappointing at the time and it's definitely not on the same level. Some cool moments and it still has some goofy charm in places, but not a patch on the first film which I still think is a bit of a classic.

Wait, theres a sequel to one of the best canucksploitation movies? Since when?!

There is! Think it was a couple of years later, is called The Gate 2: Trespassers in some places I think. Definitely feels more low-rent than the first film but has its moments and a couple of neat effects. A fun enough cheesy horror if you approach it the right way but that first one is such a cool and unusual gem that it's a shame the sequel isn't better!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 May, 2019, 06:36:15 PM
Liked The Gate in, what, 1987 (Vestron video or is my memory playing tricks with me?) but not a fan of the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 May, 2019, 07:48:25 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 06 May, 2019, 06:36:15 PM
Liked The Gate in, what, 1987 (Vestron video or is my memory playing tricks with me?) but not a fan of the sequel.
Vestron it was, and still is! Lionsgate revived the label and are re-releasing it's catalogue on blu-ray, including The Gate and other classics like Lair of the White Worm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 May, 2019, 08:33:55 AM
Nice one. Thanks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 May, 2019, 11:32:23 AM
Watched the 2018 Halloween and thought it was alright, definitely better than most of the other Halloween movies I've seen beyond the first.

About 1/3 of the way through Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse and I can already tell this is going to live up to the hype. From the comic book thought bubbles to a touching cameo from Stan Lee, it's my favourite superhero done in a way I never thought possible. And typically speaking, I think Spidey works best at a street level (at least Homecoming style) but of course there's so much good in the crazy world of comics that he lives in.

"Looks like a kid dressed like spiderman, dragging a homeless corpse behind a train..."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2019, 09:37:36 AM
Watched Jigsaw at the weekend, because I missed it in the cinema and after watching the previous 75 Saw movies (or however many there are) I'm in way too deep to turn back. It wasn't the worst in the series but it did just remind me of how cool and tight that first movie was way back in the day, and how the more convoluted and tangled up in its mythology it all became, the further it got from that simple, brilliant concept of the original. It passed the time though.

Got to Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday on my Friday 13th rewatch and it turns out this is one of the ones I've seen and have a vague memory of. I found it one of the better ones, in that it really doesn't take itself very seriously and embraces the silliness. After a pretty wild opening it takes a bit too long to get to the fun stuff, but the finale is clearly going for a bit of a madcap Evil Dead vibe [spoiler](complete with a Necronomicon cameo!) [/spoiler]which makes the last chunk a bit of a hoot. It's just a shame it didn't have that energy throughout, it feels like it only really comes alive towards the end.

It is not the final Friday at all, so next up will be Jason X which I know for sure I've seen a bunch of times already (the rest all blur together in my memory but being set in space is hard to forget).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 May, 2019, 03:01:13 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2019, 09:37:36 AM


It is not the final Friday at all, so next up will be Jason X which I know for sure I've seen a bunch of times already (the rest all blur together in my memory but being set in space is hard to forget).

It's also, imo, got one of the best kills of the series [spoiler]the liquid ice shatter kill[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2019, 05:02:25 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 13 May, 2019, 03:01:13 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 13 May, 2019, 09:37:36 AM


It is not the final Friday at all, so next up will be Jason X which I know for sure I've seen a bunch of times already (the rest all blur together in my memory but being set in space is hard to forget).

It's also, imo, got one of the best kills of the series [spoiler]the liquid ice shatter kill[/spoiler]

Yes, that's an absolute classic! As far as best kills the ones that really stick in the memory are that, [spoiler]the sleeping bag against the tree kill and him punching that guy's head clean off in Jason Takes Manhattan.[/spoiler] It's a shame most of the films don't really come up with many imaginative kills like that, it all gets a bit repetitive when it's just stabbing after stabbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 May, 2019, 09:56:00 AM
I did watch Jason X last night, and it turns out I'd forgotten more than I remembered so it was a fun watch. I'd probably say it's my favourite of the lot actually, and probably the only one I wholeheartedly enjoyed and didn't find a bit of a slog for large portions.

It's so trashy and ridiculously daft, but in the right way and knows exactly what it is and that makes it way more fun than the others. You get short bursts of that knowing B-movie tone in the rest of the films, but they tend to be quite fleeting and buried among a lot of surprisingly dull stalking and slashing. Jason X totally revels in its own silliness and is a hoot for it.

Guess I just have Freddy vs Jason to go now, which I did see in the cinema and thought was a good laugh, although all I can really remember is that Kelly Rowland was in it for some reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 18 May, 2019, 05:09:38 PM
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

This basically the 'boss fight' after the first 2 films.

It contains very little dialogue and lots and lots and lots of death. I loved it.

Taken on it's own it's not very good but as the 3rd part of a piece it does exactly what you expect.

I'm shallow. So sue me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 09:59:36 AM
I loved John Wick 3, it has the most inventive action scenes of the series yet, looks incredible and is fantastically choreographed to the point where they've been confident enough to just let the camera show you the fight happening, instead of shaking it around like crazy and cutting every second to try and cover the cracks. A lot like The Raid movies in that regard, and for me that's very, very high praise indeed. It even has some of the actors from The Raid in it and doing some great work, it was pretty exciting to see them pop up in the background and know that meant a great fight was lined up for later!

Looks stylish as hell and the sound design is fantastic, as someone who spends a lot of time and work putting music to action it feels self-defeating to be saying this, but the way they pull all the music out for long stretches of the action scenes without it ever feeling like something is missing is really impressive. They're happy to let the gunshots and impacts fill the space and again it shows massive confidence in those action scenes being thrilling through the quality of their staging, without feeling like they need to overload your senses to simulate excitement.

Suffice to say I was pretty blown away, looking forward to another watch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2019, 10:55:26 AM
I watched it again yesterday. Twice in 24 hours.

It stood up, in fact I enjoyed it just as much. So much happens so quickly it demands at least 2 viewings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 May, 2019, 11:16:31 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 09:59:36 AMThey're happy to let the gunshots and impacts fill the space and again it shows massive confidence in those action scenes being thrilling through the quality of their staging,

I read a hilarious thing in an interview with Chad Stahelski recently: the signature long unbroken takes in the first movie's fight scenes were largely the result of the very limited budget — they only had camera and often the first guy to die had to run round behind the camera and come back on from the other side to get killed again at the end of the sequence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 12:21:59 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 May, 2019, 11:16:31 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 09:59:36 AMThey're happy to let the gunshots and impacts fill the space and again it shows massive confidence in those action scenes being thrilling through the quality of their staging,

I read a hilarious thing in an interview with Chad Stahelski recently: the signature long unbroken takes in the first movie's fight scenes were largely the result of the very limited budget — they only had camera and often the first guy to die had to run round behind the camera and come back on from the other side to get killed again at the end of the sequence.

That's awesome! Taking a low budget and using the limitations to make something cool, love it.

It's such a big series now I always forget the first film was one of those lower budget films that only really found its audience on dvd. To go from that to apparently knocking Endgame down the charts this week is pretty amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2019, 03:47:08 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 May, 2019, 11:16:31 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 09:59:36 AMThey're happy to let the gunshots and impacts fill the space and again it shows massive confidence in those action scenes being thrilling through the quality of their staging,

I read a hilarious thing in an interview with Chad Stahelski recently: the signature long unbroken takes in the first movie's fight scenes were largely the result of the very limited budget — they only had camera and often the first guy to die had to run round behind the camera and come back on from the other side to get killed again at the end of the sequence.

If memory serves, and it often doesn't, he said that in the disc commentary. Ingenious use of his means. It's got pretty poor reviews in the mainstream press but I think that's because they don't have much of a sense of humour when it comes to films of this ilk.

In both the screenings I attended the laughter at most of the inventive killings was very loud.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 05:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 20 May, 2019, 03:47:08 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 May, 2019, 11:16:31 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 May, 2019, 09:59:36 AMThey're happy to let the gunshots and impacts fill the space and again it shows massive confidence in those action scenes being thrilling through the quality of their staging,

I read a hilarious thing in an interview with Chad Stahelski recently: the signature long unbroken takes in the first movie's fight scenes were largely the result of the very limited budget — they only had camera and often the first guy to die had to run round behind the camera and come back on from the other side to get killed again at the end of the sequence.

If memory serves, and it often doesn't, he said that in the disc commentary. Ingenious use of his means. It's got pretty poor reviews in the mainstream press but I think that's because they don't have much of a sense of humour when it comes to films of this ilk.

In both the screenings I attended the laughter at most of the inventive killings was very loud.

Same here, people were really audibly reacting to the fights and laughing at the over the top kills, and when the film finished there was actually some light applause which is a rare thing. Think the last time I saw an action movie get cheers and applause was The Raid, but that was a Saturday night film festival thing so for a movie to get anything like that kind of reaction at 10am on a Sunday morning is pretty impressive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 May, 2019, 06:54:56 PM
John Wick on the NES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKB-WMGVu_w&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0KcJ1DoTxEofncBuT7cKN_TU3kgRRGWmUKzD8KbasWk6BZUmZzvi_vYHw
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 May, 2019, 08:01:52 PM
The Meg. Incredibly, an attempt to cash in on the success of Sharknado, but without the laughs and originality. Best bit by far was Pim's Thai cover of 'Hey Mickey', although I suppose we enjoyed Pippin the dog a bit too. Answer to the question "how do you make a boring film about Megalodons eating only ugly people?'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 May, 2019, 11:25:44 PM
SHAZAM! - feels less like a superhero movie and more like one of those YA adaptations of a book series you've never heard of, right up until it turns into a Disney Channel movie.  That sounds like I thought it was mince, but I enjoyed it.  The whole family angle feels cynically constructed (unlike the themes in all the other organic, arthouse superhero movies that get released), but is also something different for superhero movies and DC flicks in particular, which tend to favor snarky jackasses going it alone.  In my heart I sort of know that the execs just banged Superman and Deadpool together and then made everything PG13, but while this lasts it's pretty good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 May, 2019, 07:35:36 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 May, 2019, 08:01:52 PM
The Meg. Incredibly, an attempt to cash in on the success of Sharknado, but without the laughs and originality. Best bit by far was Pim's Thai cover of 'Hey Mickey', although I suppose we enjoyed Pippin the dog a bit too. Answer to the question "how do you make a boring film about Megalodons eating only ugly people?'.

Watched this at the cinema (it was a slow week) and then again on SKY recently. Stupid dumb ass of a film but fun all the same. It's a monster movie pure and simple. And yes, that rendition of 'Hey Mickey' over the closing credits did make me leave the cinema with a smile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 21 May, 2019, 08:29:04 AM
The Favourite. Really, really excellent, if not quite the Oscar-winning humdinger I had been led to believe. I could've done with a more traditional score, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 22 May, 2019, 11:08:01 AM
John Wick 3 - amazing and beautifully brutal
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 25 May, 2019, 04:51:07 PM
Rocketman. If you like the music of Elton John (and I do) then you will enjoy this.

Stylised more like a musical than a biopic it's rather self indulgent but good fun none the less.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 26 May, 2019, 06:29:27 PM
If you like your action ultra-violent and fast paced go and see John Wick 3. If you like pillow fights and some romance avoid this movie like the plague.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 26 May, 2019, 08:49:01 PM
Porque no los dos?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 27 May, 2019, 06:46:57 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 25 May, 2019, 04:51:07 PM
Rocketman. If you like the music of Elton John (and I do) then you will enjoy this.

Stylised more like a musical than a biopic it's rather self indulgent but good fun none the less.

I'm pretty neutral on the subject of Elton John - no strong feelings about the man or his music - but a friend wanted to see this, so off we went. On the plus side, Taron Egerton is very good in the leading role, and the film has style to spare. On the other hand, I found the script a bit cringeworthy at times, particularly the 'Elton must learn to love himself' psychodrama. Entertaining enough film for the first two-thirds, starts flagging towards the end. The main thing I learned is that Bernie Taupin is a nice chap.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 May, 2019, 12:26:44 PM
We watched the recent version of The Mummy, and thought it was...fine? Maybe the slatings had lowered expectations enough but as messy as it was I didn't strongly dislike it or anything. There was even the odd moment here and there in the action scenes that I thought were pretty inventive. It definitely is a bit of a mess though, and it's a bit embarrassing that they went all out on setting up this Dark Universe franchise just to have this dribble out with no follow-up. Would at the very least have been interesting to see what the plan was for the other monsters. I'd thought Dracula Untold was part of it but maybe not, I actually quite liked that one!

Rewatched a couple of things too, Freddy vs Jason (which is fun enough to be probably my second favourite film with Jason Vorhees in it, but not a patch on the best of the Freddy movies) and the first John Wick, which I still really enjoyed, even if I was surprised at how tame it now seems compared to how bonkers the series has become!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2019, 03:41:05 PM
Captain Marvel - well made, but aggressively banal.  The throwback vibe to 1980s sci-fi adventure movies feels largely accidental, but the cast - aside from the bland lead - do their best with par material.  I found the cat stuff annoying.
Probably the most inconsequential of the Marvel movies so far - which just makes the nerd rage at it all the funnier, tbh.

The Road To El Dorado - also well-made but aggressively banal.  Not quite the disaster I was led to believe, it's still hard to pin down what people were expected to like about it, as the leads aren't terribly engaging, the songs are forgettable, and the story isn't particularly good.  Feels a lot like one of those cheapo cash-ins on Disney animated movies, though I gather this was intentional.
Passes the time, but I wouldn't suggest anyone go out of their way to watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 May, 2019, 04:51:29 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 May, 2019, 03:41:05 PM
The Road To El Dorado - also well-made but aggressively banal.  Not quite the disaster I was led to believe, it's still hard to pin down what people were expected to like about it, as the leads aren't terribly engaging, the songs are forgettable, and the story isn't particularly good.  Feels a lot like one of those cheapo cash-ins on Disney animated movies, though I gather this was intentional.
Passes the time, but I wouldn't suggest anyone go out of their way to watch it.

This was a regular viewing in my youth. Sunday Radio Times listing, friends houses, those mind numbing end of term weeks where you're just turning up to show up. Despite having likely seen it a dozen times, all I remember is the suspiciously rotoscoped Aztec female lead who convinced me the animators weren't taking enough cold showers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 May, 2019, 08:25:48 PM
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME By far my favourite Roger Moore Bond (possibly my favourite overall, let me research From Russia With Love and get back to you...). Moore, obviously, is great. The main stunts are fab, the plot is a retread, the girls are gorgeous but I'd love to have a special edition to fix all of the dodgy rear projection and even worse sexism.

Should we forgive it because it's forty two years old? They really should have known better by then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2019, 12:21:10 PM
And you didn't even mention the underwater Lotus Esprit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2019, 12:26:25 PM
I watched low-budget sci-fi revenge thrilller Upgrade the other night.
I was really impressed. The action scenes were great and it offered a few surprises here and there.
If you fancy a decent action flick with a dark tone and a bit of a Cybepunk flavour you could definitely do worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 29 May, 2019, 09:49:39 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 28 May, 2019, 12:26:25 PM
I watched low-budget sci-fi revenge thrilller Upgrade the other night.
I was really impressed. The action scenes were great and it offered a few surprises here and there.
If you fancy a decent action flick with a dark tone and a bit of a Cybepunk flavour you could definitely do worse.

Really enjoyed this a lot more than i expected, having been led to it by the Junkfood Cinema Podcast.

Low budget, but lots of good ideas, and the action scenes were fantastic along with a lovely soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 29 May, 2019, 03:20:29 PM
Ghost in the Shell, the 2017 Scarlett Johansson version.

I dimly remember watching the anime twenty years ago. It didn't make a great impression, I suspect for similar reasons as this version.

The visuals in the 2017 movie are stunning in places and it definitely harks back to an 80s/90s cyberpunk future. Even the vehicles reflect that (is that a Citroen XM that Beat Takeshi drives?). There's a real problem with the script, though. Dialogue is incoherent and characterisation is broad-brush, at best. It's a seriously flawed film. The production design is top notch, however, and makes it worth watching for a fan of the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 June, 2019, 06:26:01 PM
Kin, which was a pretty cool sci-fi film with a good atmosphere and some cool ideas. Mogwai did the soundtrack which meant I'd listened to that for months before the movie came on Netflix so it was weird watching it and knowing the music so well, felt like I'd done things backwards a bit.

Went to see Godzilla: King of The Monsters as well which had some alright moments but for the most part I found it surprisingly dull for what should be a glorious huge monsters smush-fest. I found the action scenes uncomfortable to watch because I really felt like it was a strain to try and read what was going on during them, not helped by the fact it's incredibly dark. Probably intentional to make it look gritty but end result was it was largely just a murky mess. I say largely, because there is the occasional shot or moment that looked awesome and was genuinely exciting, but overall it just didn't click for me I guess. My other half liked it way more, so it's definitely going to hit the spot for some.

I enjoyed it more than the previous Godzilla movie (which I didn't like much either) but nowhere near as much as Kong: Skull Island, which I had a great time with (partly because I could see what was happening in it, but mainly just because I think it was way more successful at what it was trying to do).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 07 June, 2019, 09:30:24 AM
X-Men, Dark Phoenix.

Saw this last night and I now have a new favourite X film. Really enjoyable - though it is far from without flaws.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 June, 2019, 09:35:12 AM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 07 June, 2019, 09:30:24 AM
X-Men, Dark Phoenix.

Saw this last night and I now have a new favourite X film. Really enjoyable - though it is far from without flaws.

Good to hear, the recent series (First Class onwards) have been among my favourite comic book movies so going to this tomorrow. It's getting a kicking from the critics but that's not stopped me enjoying them before!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 07 June, 2019, 10:33:27 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 June, 2019, 09:35:12 AM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 07 June, 2019, 09:30:24 AM
X-Men, Dark Phoenix.

Saw this last night and I now have a new favourite X film. Really enjoyable - though it is far from without flaws.

Good to hear, the recent series (First Class onwards) have been among my favourite comic book movies so going to this tomorrow. It's getting a kicking from the critics but that's not stopped me enjoying them before!

I'm going tomorrow too. Kevin Maher in The Times today gave it 2 stars out of 5 based on the fact that he thought there were not enough jokes in it  ::)

I never let his reviews put me off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 June, 2019, 10:45:18 AM
I thought Apocalypse was dire so.... not sure about this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 June, 2019, 10:49:19 AM
Logan for me is where the saga ended. I've never much cared for X-Men, and the film series is the perfect manifestation of why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 June, 2019, 04:49:12 PM
Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Was going to see Dark Phoenix but as that will still be on next week and Godzilla probably not we chose to watch the latter.

Big mistake. It's very, very poor. It's biggest mistake was being boring.

Take out the humans and it probably would have been ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 08 June, 2019, 04:51:23 PM
Watched Dark Phoenix today and the movie is much better than the reviews make it out to be. I enjoyed this one more than Apocalypse
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 08 June, 2019, 06:45:43 PM
Artic with Mads Mikkelsen is thoroughly splendid and engrossing viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 08 June, 2019, 11:20:05 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 June, 2019, 04:49:12 PM
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
It's biggest mistake was being boring.


To be fair, I'd imagine that wasn't planned in advance 😉
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 June, 2019, 08:18:53 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 08 June, 2019, 11:20:05 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 June, 2019, 04:49:12 PM
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
It's biggest mistake was being boring.


To be fair, I'd imagine that wasn't planned in advance 😉

True, I don't think they set it out that way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 June, 2019, 07:03:06 PM
To repeat:

DO NOT WATCH GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

I fell asleep in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2019, 07:15:33 PM
I freaking loved King of the Monsters for the big budget Heisei bug nuts insane action pomp it was and I have zero guilt in admitting this kaiju fan was well and truly satisfied.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 June, 2019, 08:11:54 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 June, 2019, 07:03:06 PM
To repeat:

DO NOT WATCH GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

I fell asleep in the cinema.

I'm in agreement. I liked Rampage. Really like Kong: Skull Island.

This was just so overwrought it sucked the life out of me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 June, 2019, 10:45:33 PM
I'm with GODZILLA block.

Sure there's a dull twenty to thirty  minutes in the middle on the sub but even that I rationalized by thinking "So the kid that's playing with all of their toys and smashing them together in a fight has been sent to have a bath so is continuing the story in their head as best as they can".

It is actively childish and more than stupid but for me, it delivered the smack downs I wanted and I could see what was going on.

They could have pushed the boat out a bit more with the other titans. And I'm not sure why you hire Charle and only have him barking orders that a second string baddie could have done. (Or have a cast deliver so much basil!)

But Looking forward to the next one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 June, 2019, 11:38:54 PM
Christ, how bad was Venom?!
If it was aiming for that Deadpool level of irony, it failed abysmally!
It reminded me of a distinctly 90's version of a comic book movie-step forward Spawn!
To take a quote out of the film, what a turd in the wind!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 June, 2019, 09:30:17 AM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 09 June, 2019, 11:38:54 PM
Christ, how bad was Venom?!
If it was aiming for that Deadpool level of irony, it failed abysmally!
It reminded me of a distinctly 90's version of a comic book movie-step forward Spawn!
To take a quote out of the film, what a turd in the wind!
Venom had what it needed for success but I'm with you on this. DC continue to make films as if Kevin Feige and the MCU had never been born. Hardy and Venom made a good double act, but by god, the villain was like something out of a very bad Playstation game. I watched it on a plane so it had the benefit of being *slightly* less numbing than just two hours just staring at the headrest of the seat in front of me -- but not by much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 June, 2019, 11:54:22 AM
Enjoyed Dark Phoenix a fair bit, it's not up there with my favourite X-Men movies (DoFP, First Class) but I didn't think it was a low point in the series for me (I liked it more than Apocalypse and it's nowhere near as bad as something like the Wolverine Origins movie or Last Stand). After really not liking King of The Monsters at all, this was a much better trip to the cinema (aside from the girl talking all the way through it to her disinterested dad who browsed Facebook for the entire movie...why can't people just stop being dicks in the cinema?!)

Not a classic, but the kicking it's getting seems quite disproportionate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 June, 2019, 11:56:48 AM
Just got out of Dark Phoenix. Thought it was dire to be frank, haven't cared about the X-Pats movies in years (Logan was quiet the surprise) and it's evident why. They've long lost their mojo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 10 June, 2019, 02:19:42 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 June, 2019, 09:30:17 AM
Venom had what it needed for success but I'm with you on this. DC continue to make films as if Kevin Feige and the MCU had never been born.

Venom's a Marvel character, just part of Sony Pictures generally terrible series of films (past Raimi #2) rather than the MCU. Thank god they let Marvel just make the new Spiderman movies...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 June, 2019, 03:22:50 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 June, 2019, 02:19:42 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 June, 2019, 09:30:17 AM
Venom had what it needed for success but I'm with you on this. DC continue to make films as if Kevin Feige and the MCU had never been born.

Venom's a Marvel character, just part of Sony Pictures generally terrible series of films (past Raimi #2) rather than the MCU. Thank god they let Marvel just make the new Spiderman movies...
Ah, yup, I now mistakenly associate the spiderverse with Marvel Studios. Search/replace DC for Sony.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 13 June, 2019, 11:07:36 PM
I Am Mother on Netflix

Excellent, smartly plotted film. A slow burner that keeps it's cards to it's chest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 June, 2019, 08:43:00 AM
Yeah, I enjoyed I Am Mother. I really like the robot design.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 14 June, 2019, 12:15:43 PM
I am Monter was a good sci-fi tale. The beauty for me was that we only saw two and a half humans in the whole story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 June, 2019, 01:29:16 PM
Stargate Origins is terrible in every way, but apart from that it's quite good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 03:25:22 PM
Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)

Johnny Weissmuller stars as Tarzan, no Jane is present but she writes to him asking him to go get some "fever medicine" that is located in a mysterious jungle across a desert and at the end of the film.

When he gets to the end of the film,  and reaches the jungle, Tarzan finds giant lizards, lions, carnivorous plants and eventually a giant spider. And it that huge arachnid that concerns me.

This is THE Tarzan film of my childhood. And the giant spider was at least as memorable as any number of Dr Whos,  Hammer House of Horrors or episodes of Nationwide in which Frank Bough warned us all about werewolves.

However, it wasn't this spider.

Honestly, the sequence is great but it's nothing like I remember. Wrong spider,  wrong size,  Wrong web, wrong location, wrong person in the web,  wrong wrong wrong.

So- is this a case of memory cheating? And if so, how do you explain my mate having the same memory as me? Is there another Tarzan vs Giant Spider epic? Do we both remember a completely different film, not Tarzan at all? And if so,  how? Were Weissmuller Tarzans always shown in a certain slot during the mid seventies and then one week something different was shown, so confusing two ageing men prone to reminiscing about.such things?

Argh.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 June, 2019, 03:55:26 PM
Not Johnny Weissmuller as Jungle Jim in Fury of the Congo?

https://bigdamnspider.com/2017/10/02/fury-of-the-congo-1951/

(https://bigdamnspider.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/furycongo_spider_fight.jpg)


(https://bigdamnspider.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/furycongo_spider.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
Ha, no, but that is excellent and now I need to see that. There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider.
SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 14 June, 2019, 05:14:51 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider


I try to watch this once every year: https://youtu.be/Wo2KB1dEDdk


... and you and your friend have been reinforcing each other's false memories (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28347-4) for three decades
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 14 June, 2019, 09:22:24 PM
This would be my go-to Giant-Spider-Movie-Scene. Ropey effects and all, it still creeps the bejaysus out of me. What a great movie!

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzm8f

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 14 June, 2019, 09:45:56 PM


This one is my favourite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfWS8lJ7U5k

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 June, 2019, 12:22:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
Ha, no, but that is excellent and now I need to see that. There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider.
SBT

I knew Citizen Kane was lacking something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 June, 2019, 02:10:11 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 June, 2019, 12:22:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
Ha, no, but that is excellent and now I need to see that. There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider.
SBT

I knew Citizen Kane was lacking something.

Yet somehow, it didn't help EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 June, 2019, 02:11:40 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 June, 2019, 02:10:11 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 June, 2019, 12:22:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
Ha, no, but that is excellent and now I need to see that. There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider.
SBT

I knew Citizen Kane was lacking something.

Yet somehow, it didn't help EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS.
Imagine how bag it would have been without the spiders!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 15 June, 2019, 02:19:45 PM
I have a great deal of affection Eight Legged Freaks- as it was a favourite of my kids when they were small. However, the decision to give the spiders squeaky voices sunk it for me. The short film that got them the gig to make it in the first place (included on the UK dvd) is far, far better.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 June, 2019, 03:47:44 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 June, 2019, 12:22:20 PM

I knew Citizen Kane was lacking something.

It's got pterodactyls (and rubber octopus footage borrowed from a Fu Manchu movie) - what more do you want?

A giant spider, evidently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 15 June, 2019, 04:14:32 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 03:25:22 PM
Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)

Johnny Weissmuller stars as Tarzan, no Jane is present but she writes to him asking him to go get some "fever medicine" that is located in a mysterious jungle across a desert and at the end of the film.

When he gets to the end of the film,  and reaches the jungle, Tarzan finds giant lizards, lions, carnivorous plants and eventually a giant spider. And it that huge arachnid that concerns me.

This is THE Tarzan film of my childhood. And the giant spider was at least as memorable as any number of Dr Whos,  Hammer House of Horrors or episodes of Nationwide in which Frank Bough warned us all about werewolves.

However, it wasn't this spider.

Honestly, the sequence is great but it's nothing like I remember. Wrong spider,  wrong size,  Wrong web, wrong location, wrong person in the web,  wrong wrong wrong.

So- is this a case of memory cheating? And if so, how do you explain my mate having the same memory as me? Is there another Tarzan vs Giant Spider epic? Do we both remember a completely different film, not Tarzan at all? And if so,  how? Were Weissmuller Tarzans always shown in a certain slot during the mid seventies and then one week something different was shown, so confusing two ageing men prone to reminiscing about.such things?

Argh.

SBT

I don't remember the names, but I think I remember 2 Tarzan films ( or maybe once was a TV episode) featuring giant spiders. Iseem to remember one being like a huge hairy tarantula (possibly more than one), and another being a more hairless thing. I thinking of the latter as a big pink monstrosity, but that might be my memory playing tricks,as I'm not sure it would have been colour, and I remember having a toy spider that looked similar.

I'm referring to memories around 30 years old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 15 June, 2019, 04:30:26 PM
Tarzan and giant spiders seem to go together,  I feel. At least on screen. In the original ERB novels I'm not so sure, as I've only just started reading them. Maybe it's the cryptozoological stories of the J'ba Fo'fi, but deepest colonial Africa and giant arachnids seem a good fit. So much so I would be surprised if they weren't featured on a semi regular basis.

That said, extensive Googling has revealed only Desert Mystery. I would LOVE to see any more.

The Ron Ely tv show, which was the Tarzan of many people now between 35-45 (being slightly older, my Tarzan is Weissmuller) was surely too low budget, and low on special effects to have featured them? And in colour, which my memories aren't. But- we had a black and white tv until at least 1973, and I had one in my bedroom a lot later than that. And memories, eh? Who can trust them?

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 June, 2019, 10:02:09 AM
STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Khan.

Practically perfect in every way. It was a Director's cut which has a few extra scenes and some extended ones.  Most of which work though I don't remember Bones being quite so harsh to Spock in the original cut (he uses  very strong "You green-blooded inhuman etc." insults which seemed a bit harsh given how long they've been the holy trinity but as my memory is failing, I can't remember if these were always there or additional).

What amazes me is that I always remember it as being more action packed than it is; there are only two big set pieces in the whole thing; both space battles but both are so brilliantly paced with clear stakes laid out that they seem much more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 17 June, 2019, 10:18:14 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 17 June, 2019, 10:02:09 AM
STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Khan.

Practically perfect in every way. It was a Director's cut which has a few extra scenes and some extended ones.  Most of which work though I don't remember Bones being quite so harsh to Spock in the original cut (he uses  very strong "You green-blooded inhuman etc." insults which seemed a bit harsh given how long they've been the holy trinity but as my memory is failing, I can't remember if these were always there or additional).

What amazes me is that I always remember it as being more action packed than it is; there are only two big set pieces in the whole thing; both space battles but both are so brilliantly paced with clear stakes laid out that they seem much more.

This is one of my favorite Trekkie movies. What is interesting of this movie is that the director Nicholas Meyer has never seen an episode of  Start Trek.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 June, 2019, 10:29:54 AM
Finally saw Aquaman and thought it was great fun. Like a big campy underwater Flash Gordon, really benefited from not taking itself anywhere near as seriously as all those other dour DC movies, and seeing a superhero movie that's just throwing as much bonkers stuff around as possible was really refreshing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 17 June, 2019, 12:38:42 PM
Double bill last night of Destroyer and Overlord.

Both pretty violent though very different. Destroyer is a good watch, Nicole Kidman is good in the lead and the noir cred is pretty good throughout. Overlord was also fun, though objectively a lesser movie it never dragged and had some good performances and did its range of cliches pretty well. I would have enjoyed a more nightmarish descent into Eldritch forces in WW2 but I'm not complaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 June, 2019, 04:12:13 PM
I finally saw Captain Marvel. That's about all I can say for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 22 June, 2019, 12:08:21 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 17 June, 2019, 04:12:13 PM
I finally saw Captain Marvel. That's about all I can say for it.

That's pretty much my thoughts on Justice League,  which I watched last night.   Wonder woman  was great, and Batman was far better than previous Affleck Batman (touch of the Lego Batman about him, in a good way) but it was a mess. The bad guy was rubbish, and a waste of Ciaran Hinds' talents.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 June, 2019, 07:31:30 PM
I liked both. And really liked Captain Marvel.

I don't disagree Justice League could have been better mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 23 June, 2019, 10:15:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 June, 2019, 02:10:11 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 June, 2019, 12:22:20 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 14 June, 2019, 04:29:09 PM
Ha, no, but that is excellent and now I need to see that. There is no movie ever made that would not be improved at least 50% by the inclusion of a giant spider.
SBT

I knew Citizen Kane was lacking something.

Yet somehow, it didn't help EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS.

On the other hand,  it's hard to imagine Eight Legged Freaks without spiders.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 June, 2019, 10:26:55 AM
LAST BREATH on Netflix. This documentary makes the concept of saturation diving scary enough and full of "Nope. Not doing that no matter how much they pay me". And then things start to go wrong...

You'll be watching with bated breath for the resolution.
And one of the divers involved comes off as a very cold person but my goodness, you'd want him beside you in the trenches.

On another, worse note, it led me down a rabbit hole of other diving/decompression accidents on Wikipedia some of which is the stuff of nightmares no matter how they define "instantaneous".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2019, 11:44:57 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 June, 2019, 10:26:55 AM
On another, worse note, it led me down a rabbit hole of other diving/decompression accidents on Wikipedia some of which is the stuff of nightmares no matter how they define "instantaneous".

Yeah I haven't seen Last Breath yet but a while back I did look up some stories about decompression accidents (I think I'd seen one in a horror film and was morbidly curious if it would actually happen like that) and it was immediately pretty disturbing so I didn't look too deeply into it. Last Breath sounds great though, will need to check it out.

Went to see the new Child's Play, hated the idea of rebooting it and the trailer made it look like a dud so I was going to give it a miss but a couple of good reviews convinced me to give it a shot. Glad I did, really enjoyed it. It's surprisingly funny and has a lot of heart (it's weirdly touching in places), and has the kind of splattery sense of gory fun that you don't tend to find in a lot of more mainstream Hollywood horrors (at one point in the movie there's some heavy referencing of Texas Chainsaw 2 and while it's not quite as over the top as that it's definitely been an inspiration).

I didn't like the idea of the supernatural/serial killer element being removed but the angle they've taken actually works great and as much as I really didn't want to hear someone other than Brad Dourif playing Chucky, Mark Hamill plays it so differently that it stands on its own as a very different thing performance-wise I think. Really glad I gave it a go, a pleasant surprise for someone who usually avoids horror remakes like the plague.

Oh, also watched The Maze Runner which was fun enough YA adventure fare, and one that didn't feel particularly YA for the most part. Just a bit grimmer and more visceral than I would have expected I guess, other than the young cast there's not all that much separating it from the kind of sci-fi tinged horror movies I'd hunt out on VHS as a youngster. Didn't love it or anything, but again was pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 June, 2019, 12:57:43 PM
With Fopp making it's glorious return to Manchester's high street I indulged in the Arrow Video sale, came away with some right gems.

Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD requires no introduction, happy to upgrade from the DVD to an extras laden pack and an absolutely wonderful package. The documentary is as great as ever, and the Mills finale still elicits more laughter than is probably healthy. FUCK OFF.

Got back into my western binge with Texas, Adios! starring the genres most under rated actor, the brilliant Franco Nero. It's a fine yarn, no Django (made the same year) but still an excellent example of the early spaghetti western cycle.

Do you want a bizarre alien invasion movie that feels like it belongs in the prog? Watch The Visitor. Words fail me. I'm not sure i'd call it good, but it's got the same aura to it as Zardoz. Off the cuff, cheap, utterly barmy science fiction at it's most esoteric.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 24 June, 2019, 12:59:11 PM
If you have Netflix then make sure you watch I Am Mother - brilliant, intelligent sci fi
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2019, 02:03:39 PM
Saw Men In Black International a couple of weeks ago. It's not terrible, but it's not great, either... it's mildly amusing throughout, but essentially just coasts through a pretty perfunctory script on the ample charisma of its leads, with a fairly beefy supporting cast (Liam Neeson, Rafe Spall, Emma Thompson...).

Would probably pass an evening at home agreeably enough as an undemanding watch with a couple of drinks, but not really worth making the effort to see in the cinema, which is a real shame when you think what Hemsworth and (Tessa) Thompson could have done with stronger material.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 24 June, 2019, 07:43:10 PM
Toy Story 4. Mostly enjoyed, possibly 10-20 minutes too long, but infused with much humour, (mild) horror and pathos to make it worth a watch. Think the toy box needs to be closed now though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 11:14:55 AM
Tom Hanks has stated that this is the last one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 June, 2019, 11:16:41 AM
I saw King of the Monsters again.

Yeah, I still like it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 25 June, 2019, 12:02:39 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 11:14:55 AM
Tom Hanks has stated that this is the last one.

Yeah, right. Considering how much effort Disney have gone to putting the Toy Story lands into the parks, I bet we'll see more eventually. That IP needs to be serviced.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 12:10:08 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 25 June, 2019, 12:02:39 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 11:14:55 AM
Tom Hanks has stated that this is the last one.

Yeah, right. Considering how much effort Disney have gone to putting the Toy Story lands into the parks, I bet we'll see more eventually. That IP needs to be serviced.
[spoiler]What's Toy Story without Woody? I think we can safely assume, albeit not guarantee, it will be the last one with this collective.[/spoiler]
Spoiler added just in case...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 25 June, 2019, 12:28:57 PM
Think you may well be right, but I wouldn't write them off. Plenty of room for shorts in that universe...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 04:49:44 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 12:10:08 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 25 June, 2019, 12:02:39 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 11:14:55 AM
Tom Hanks has stated that this is the last one.

Yeah, right. Considering how much effort Disney have gone to putting the Toy Story lands into the parks, I bet we'll see more eventually. That IP needs to be serviced.
[spoiler]What's Toy Story without Woody? I think we can safely assume, albeit not guarantee, it will be the last one with this collective.[/spoiler]
Spoiler added just in case...
[spoiler]I haven't even seen it! I meant only that I've seen Tom Hanks say it's the last one. Now I think I kow a bit more...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 25 June, 2019, 06:01:28 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 25 June, 2019, 11:14:55 AM
Tom Hanks has stated that this is the last one.

Didn't George Lucas say that after a New Hope?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 June, 2019, 03:00:18 PM
John Wick 3: Parabellum

Very much enjoyed this. Some of the action lands better than other bits; knives, horses, armoured seat and mano e mano all yes; motorcycles = no; Halle and the dogs, middling.

Similarly thecwuirky characters don't always land; the Doctor is a yes, the Bowry King and Mark Dacascos channelling NoHo Hank should be a win but isn't.

I liked the detour to ballet school as a way of explaining his supernatural ability to absorb damage.

But I can't help but think they should have stopped at three.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 27 June, 2019, 09:03:00 AM
X-Men: Dark Pheonix.

Not as bad as I was lead to believe from the overriding negative, and at times misogynistically tainted, responses from various review sites and social media outlets.

There's some interesting ideas about the abuse of power and issues surrounding mental health and female empowerment that are sadly never truly developed and James McAvoy, in particular, puts in some good work, but the final act is a mess, and considering the reports of reshoots that's no real surprise, with one prolonged action sequence feeling particularly disjointed and unintelligible.

The film was still arguably on a par with the frankly poor blockbuster output this summer so far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 27 June, 2019, 09:04:38 AM
Nuts in may - followed by the lady in the van [last night] - both superb
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 June, 2019, 10:53:58 AM
Has anybody here not seen WHAT WE DO ON THE SHADOWS yet?

Get your arse along to Netflix now, you won't regret it.

(Mockumentary about vampires flat sharing in New Zealand. Full on murderous vampires plus quirky NZ humour and doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Why the blood of virgins? Well, I suppose it is like when you have a nice sandwich..."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 June, 2019, 10:57:35 AM
SNATCH on the other hand... was surprised I hadn't actually seen it before. What joke there is wears pretty thin after thirty minutes and it's really just all round too unpleasant for a lovable rogues caper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 29 June, 2019, 11:57:33 AM
What we do in the shadows is fantastic. They've made a TV show of it but I'm not sure if it's worth watching - as the film was so good

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 June, 2019, 01:13:45 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 29 June, 2019, 10:53:58 AM
Has anybody here not seen WHAT WE DO ON THE SHADOWS yet?

Get your arse along to Netflix now, you won't regret it.

(Mockumentary about vampires flat sharing in New Zealand. Full on murderous vampires plus quirky NZ humour and doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Why the blood of virgins? Well, I suppose it is like when you have a nice sandwich..."

Yep. Recently enjoyed the tv series too. (You can catch it on BBC iPlayer). It's set in New York, but it's in the same world. (Ie. not a remake.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 30 June, 2019, 07:35:54 PM
It's 3 other vampires in Staten Island, obviously huge similarities but is generally a different story in the same broad setting rather than a reskin of any of the movie's characters or jokes. Even where it is, they build on it in an interesting/funny way (the Familiar for example).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 30 June, 2019, 09:14:59 PM
Plus it stars the great Matt Berry. And Colin Robinson is unforgettablezzzzz....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 July, 2019, 10:32:44 AM
Wine Country on Netflix, which is really likeable and full of great people but not as funny as I'd expected given the great cast. Overall I definitely enjoyed, just never gets the big laughs you can feel it reaching for, but that's sort of fine because it's a pleasant way to pass some time and the characters are generally likeable.

Rewatched Christine for the first time since childhood and it's still really enjoyable. Not top god-tier Carpenter, and the ending is a bit flat, but there are some great moments and he wrings a lot more tension out of a car than I'd have thought possible (at one point some headlights popping on made us yelp, so kudos to Carpenter for setting up the right atmosphere to get a jump scare out of that). The killer car thing is one of those Stephen King ideas that he makes work great on paper but which could have been incredibly silly on screen, and I think it works surprisingly well. He manages to sell a lot of the more outlandish moments well. Plus the main theme is one of Carpenter's best (mind you I find myself saying that about so many of them that it probably doesn't mean much at this point)!

Something was definitely up with the surround mix on our Blu-ray though, it was the fairly recent Indicator release where they've upmixed the original stereo to 5.1 and while nothing whatsoever came out of the surround by my head the one on the other side of the couch was blasting my wife in the ear with pretty much the entire soundtrack. Figured she might have been exaggerating so we switched seats and yup, it was mental. Thought that might have been my set-up but checked it all afterwards and it's fine, just a very weird mix choice (or fault?). In future I'll stick to the original stereo on that film I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 03 July, 2019, 01:24:37 PM
Spider-Man Far From Home - The Spider man film you've been waiting for! Fun, well scripted with must watch post credits scenes.

Great job bringing Mysterio in and giving  him a credible backstory that fits in with the MCU.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 July, 2019, 02:12:29 PM
I do feel [spoiler]Disney expecting us to suspend our disbelief that Mysterio, a villain who's entire shtick is being the master trickster and illusionist, was a good guy in the trailers.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 03 July, 2019, 03:13:10 PM
I agree but there's plenty of kids who wouldn't know his history
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 July, 2019, 09:10:33 PM
Shazam - Really been disappointed with the DC Universe movies thus far, so this movie turning out to be so entertaining, well cast, charming and sweet was as welcome as it was surprising.

Zachary Levi and the young cast are superb, and hopefully they keep the same creative team together for any sequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 July, 2019, 09:37:59 PM
QuoteWine Country on Netflix, which is really likeable and full of great people but not as funny as I'd expected given the great cast. Overall I definitely enjoyed, just never gets the big laughs you can feel it reaching for, but that's sort of fine because it's a pleasant way to pass some time and the characters are generally likeable.

I found it painfully unfunny, tbh - would have switched it off after 15 minutes if it had been my choice to watch it in the first place.

Amy Poelher is such an incredible comedic performer given the right material - see Parks and Rec - but the script for Wine Country, such as it is, was incredibly weak imo. Above all it just seemed so lazy - kinda reminded me of one of those Adam Sandler movies where him and his old SNL mates go on a jolly to an exotic location under the pretense of making a film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 July, 2019, 04:13:41 PM
Quote from: radiator on 03 July, 2019, 09:37:59 PM
QuoteWine Country on Netflix, which is really likeable and full of great people but not as funny as I'd expected given the great cast. Overall I definitely enjoyed, just never gets the big laughs you can feel it reaching for, but that's sort of fine because it's a pleasant way to pass some time and the characters are generally likeable.

I found it painfully unfunny
^ This. Switched off after 10 minutes.

I can honestly say I don't like any of the people involved with this 'film' so I was probably never going to like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 04 July, 2019, 04:40:11 PM
A Field in England - I saw most of this on the launch night, but wasn't paying enough attention, but I picked up the DVD recently and it truly is an amazing piece of work, brutal, mystical and trippy. I can see how some would be annoyed at the impossible things that happen - the character who is killed, and then turns up again alive, the way they pull Tires O'Neill out of the ground on a rope - but if you accept these, it's a wild hallucinogenic journey. Reece Shearsmith and Michael Smiley are particularly good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 July, 2019, 04:11:27 PM
Spider-Man: Far From Home

Curious film in many respects. Firstly, it's the bridging film from the end of the old guard (Endgame) and the start of something new. This is all well and good except at times it feels like a bridging film with a plot added to the script after the effect.

Of course the cast have all aged quite a bit since the last Spider-Man film and it shows but this is explained in regards to 'The Blip' (where half of the students disappeared for a number of years after Infinity War).

Secondly, the film is almost meta in regards to it's nearly a film within a film [spoiler]After Mysterio is shown to be the villain the film takes on a much more realistic feel to it. Having been to Venice and Prague it's seems to me that both cities were depicted as what people would expect them to look like rather what they actually look like. For instance Venice looked much smaller (the Rialto Bridge for example is twice the size that it looks like in the movie, and Prague is not all cobbled streets, although a fair bit of it is. Then the flip side of this is that Berlin and London look almost hyper real in comparison. That's what it felt like to me, anyway[/spoiler]

Anyhoo. I enjoyed it and it had some nice touching moments and some of the stuff [spoiler]inside the augmented reality[/spoiler] was excellent.

Just a footnote to this; I read a fun interview with Tom Holland who said he thought the producers were trolling him. He said that when he filmed 'Homecoming' he had to relocate to America, 3000 miles away, and when he filmed 'Far From Home' he said loads of it was shot at Leavesden, just a 15 minute drive from his house.

Amused me, anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 July, 2019, 04:28:07 PM
Oh, just to add, there are two post credit sequences. The 2nd of which answers a lot of questions I had about the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 July, 2019, 04:46:30 PM
Also, towards the very end of the film [spoiler]Newark airport, which I have been to, looks suspiciously like Stansted airport with the traffic facing the opposite way and a bus with dollar signs on it. I don't mind them filming stuff in different places (Berlin airport in Civil War was clearly not Berlin airport) but they could at leats make an effort![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 July, 2019, 05:11:45 PM
So in many respects it's the most comic book films I have ever seen as in that it takes liberties with almost everything, unlike some of the more 'realistic' comic book films.

In that regard I quite like it.

I'll shut up now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 July, 2019, 06:45:26 PM
Spiderman FFH: yeah, a very odd film, the decision to put two critical plot points in as end-credits scenes notwithstanding. I did enjoy it,  Holland and Gyllenhall are both solid, and their scenes together good, but everyone else seems off (admittedly some explanation for that in the end credits scene).

In fact if I was to point at any overall issue it's that the supporting characters set up in the first one are largely wasted: Flash is now just an idiot and Ned is a full-on fat comedy sidekick. Most egregiously MJ is no yet another vaguely defined love-interest. We get no sense of what she might see in the evasive, absent, awkward Peter to crack her formerly cynical armour, and no hint at all of her artistic side. It's a pity, since the school setting was this version's strength, and now as we learn in the mid credits scene [spoiler]that's essential blown.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 July, 2019, 11:39:26 PM
Just on my way back from Spider-Man Far From Home. I had a slightly surreal moment on the way to the men's before the film. Through an initial set of doors leading to the rollers is this small lobby area and there was Spider-man. "Hi!" he says, while adjusting his costume. I think he'd just come out of the toilet and had as bit more adjusting to do.

Quite a decent version of the costume too. Later or became clear he was a kid donning the costume promoting a comic stool that had been set up.

Anyway, I enjoyed the film a lot. 2nd end credit scene was a good gag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 08 July, 2019, 12:14:55 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 July, 2019, 11:39:26 PM
... he'd just come out of the toilet and (was) promoting a comic stool that had been set up

That's what I call marketing.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 July, 2019, 01:04:37 AM
The holding pattern continues.

Tonally the MCU itself feels like an extension of the Raimi films but MCU Spider-Man lacks the pathos and flair of those earlier flicks – Spider-man trapped in Mysterio's phantasmagoria is great, though, and I'm sure Raimi would loved to have done it if he could.

They managed to crack the concept of an updated Mysterio as a workable antagonist (Gyllenhaal returning with Keaton's Vulture would be great) but the theme seemed to override the supporting cast rather than working with them, and everyone is just a little bit too familiar with each other for me.

If [spoiler]J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson[/spoiler] is filling-in for Stan Lee cameos in the MCU, it'll be a masterstroke.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 July, 2019, 01:58:48 AM
Quote from: Frank on 08 July, 2019, 12:14:55 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 July, 2019, 11:39:26 PM
... he'd just come out of the toilet and (was) promoting a comic stool that had been set up

That's what I call marketing.

Dirty [spoiler]night[/spoiler] monkey!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 July, 2019, 10:14:33 AM
Quote from: radiator on 03 July, 2019, 09:37:59 PM
QuoteWine Country on Netflix, which is really likeable and full of great people but not as funny as I'd expected given the great cast. Overall I definitely enjoyed, just never gets the big laughs you can feel it reaching for, but that's sort of fine because it's a pleasant way to pass some time and the characters are generally likeable.

I found it painfully unfunny, tbh - would have switched it off after 15 minutes if it had been my choice to watch it in the first place.

Amy Poelher is such an incredible comedic performer given the right material - see Parks and Rec - but the script for Wine Country, such as it is, was incredibly weak imo. Above all it just seemed so lazy - kinda reminded me of one of those Adam Sandler movies where him and his old SNL mates go on a jolly to an exotic location under the pretense of making a film.

Yeah it definitely wasn't good, but it didn't actively annoy me in the way that some failed comedies do. I was fine with just letting it run and wash over me a bit. It was the definition of meh for me, and I was knackered so that was kind of what I was after I guess.

Watched these this week -

The Thing From Another World - Despite The Thing being possibly my favourite movie of all time (it's jostling up there with a couple of others) this was only the second time I'd watched this. I remember being really disappointed the first time because it doesn't have the imposter paranoia that makes the Carpenter film so gripping, but watching it now I enjoyed it for what it is. It's a good example of that era of sci-fi/horror with some likeable characters.

Atomic Blonde - I didn't do a great job of following the plot to this, possibly more because that side of it was quite dull rather than because it was complicated. I just didn't care why the fight scenes were happening, but oh boy did I enjoy the fight scenes. Thought they had a great physicality to them, some real bone-crunching sweaty visceral punch-ups. I liked that they felt a little more raw and clumsy than in a lot of movies, and they really got the blood pumping. Also I may be a little bit in love with Sofia Boutella so if Hollywood could put her in everything that would be great.

Midsommar - Loved this. I thought Hereditary was brilliant (seriously, that movie and Toni Collette being snubbed for Oscar noms that year is genre snobbery at its finest) so went in with high expectations and wasn't disappointed. It's long (about two and a half hours I think) but has such a mesmerizing dreamy atmosphere that the length felt perfect to me, really gives you the space to sink into it and soak it all in. It has some horrifying moments (and is very gory in those moments) but uses shock very sparingly, instead it's all about maintaining that unique atmosphere it has going on.

The whole cast are good, and if Florence Pugh gets snubbed at awards shows the same way Toni Collette was for Hereditary it'll be a crime because she is amazing in it. Genuinely one of the best performances I've seen in years, with this and Fighting With My Family she's really come out of nowhere and become one of my favourite actors.

The whole thing looks gorgeous and the soundtrack and sound design is an incredible achievement, dynamic but using volume sparingly and always in interesting and intense ways. Audience were absolutely pin-drop silent for the entire thing too which was amazing and rare these days. Basically I was pretty blown away, I went in slightly worrying it would be a bit of a Wickerman rip-off, but while there are certainly similarities to that film it's got a lot more going for it than that and is very much its own thing. Also went in expecting to come away disturbed and horrified but got so much more than that.

I can't wait to watch it again at some point, because I haven't stopped thinking about it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 08 July, 2019, 10:14:59 AM
Mike Leigh's Happy-go-lucky

No one does real life like him

lovely film
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 July, 2019, 10:43:53 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 08 July, 2019, 01:04:37 AM
  Spider-man trapped in Mysterio's phantasmagoria is great, though, and I'm sure Raimi would loved to have done it if he could.

They managed to crack the concept of an updated Mysterio as a workable antagonist (Gyllenhaal returning with Keaton's Vulture would be great) but the theme seemed to override the supporting cast rather than working with them...

The main illusion sequence was quite brilliant (although when [spoiler]Team Mysterio found time to design and render all that[/spoiler] I have no idea...). My son also made the connection to this Spidey feeling like a tamer Raimi version.

Whoever it is in MCU HQ that takes second-rate comics villains and reinvents them so they work on screen should have their own Oscar category - Thanos, Vulture, Mandarin, Ego and now Mysterio FFS! Complete with fishbowl!

Fingers crossed some convoluted deal permits us the Hulk vs Mole-man or Micronauts vs Hatemonger movies we deserve. 

Circling back onto the negative side, I also felt the European setting was underdeveloped: it was a good opportunity to touch on the chaos of 'the Blip' beyond the also-underused Aunt May charity bits, contrasting the largely-Snapped kids' idealised views of Venice etc. with the reality of a traumatised world.

Didn't have to be much, but it's hard to square business-as-usual tourist traps with the economic and emotional madness that the global situation must have caused. Half these buildings and vehicles have been abandoned for 5 years, half of all the people we see have been dead, there's presumably been a prolonged economic depression the likes of which we've never seen. Im not sure footage of a basketball mtach really covered it. Anyway.

What there was on screen was good Spidey fun, and that's what matters. It's interesting that my complaints echo the problems thst ongoing character books have with endless crossover events. Just let me enjoy the adventures of Night Monkey!

But gawds those school-teachers were poorly done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 08 July, 2019, 10:47:15 AM
The Ritual.

Pretty good though felt a bit familiar, especially once they found their way into the woodlands (that's on the poster so presume it's not a spoiler), as certain scenes bring to mind other horror movies that have gone before. But within that are some nice, unique visual touches that mean I will remember this over some of the other ones that retread similar ground to the likes of Blair Witch etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 July, 2019, 01:15:06 PM
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 08 July, 2019, 10:14:59 AM
Mike Leigh's Happy-go-lucky

No one does real life like him

lovely film

I really enjoyed this too, but found myself veering between the two camps re Poppy - some find her endearingly lovely, others quite annoying. (also, I recall this came out very soon after the smoking ban, and even after such a short time, it was really weird to see people smoking in pubs)

EN-RA-HA!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2019, 09:56:51 AM
My mate's free movie night theme last night (every Monday at the Banshee Labyrinth for any Edinburgh folk!) was big pigs, so he put on Razorback and Boar. I had to leave before Boar came on but really enjoyed Razorback. Going in I couldn't remember if I'd seen it as a kid, definitely had those vague VHS memories of it. Turns out I must have at least seen some of it because the finale came flooding back. Basically Jaws with a massive pig, and quite a decent stab at it really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2019, 10:02:23 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2019, 09:56:51 AM
Basically Jaws with a massive pig, and quite a decent stab at it really.

If memory serves, it's Russell (Highlander) Mulcahy's first gig as a director, after a lot of music videos and he wrings a great deal of style out of a pretty minuscule budget.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 July, 2019, 10:09:26 AM
Have only seen Razorback once when it was shown on Alex Cox's Moviedrome in the early 90's.

I do remember I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 July, 2019, 10:13:04 AM

I love Razorback. Took me ages to realise that the old guy in it is the same Bill Kerr who starred with Tony Hancock for all those years.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 July, 2019, 10:45:02 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 July, 2019, 10:13:04 AM

I love Razorback. Took me ages to realise that the old guy in it is the same Bill Kerr who starred with Tony Hancock for all those years.

Hah, was it really! Never knew that! It's good fun alright, but for some unknown reason I always mentally pair it with wonderfully named but otherwise atrocious* comedy-bestiality-horror Revenge of Billy the Kid.


* I lie. The fact that at least three characters are named Ronnie/Ronald MacDonald offers another redeeming feature.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2019, 10:02:23 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 July, 2019, 09:56:51 AM
Basically Jaws with a massive pig, and quite a decent stab at it really.

If memory serves, it's Russell (Highlander) Mulcahy's first gig as a director, after a lot of music videos and he wrings a great deal of style out of a pretty minuscule budget.

He certainly does! There are some really stylish moments in it, not least the lost in the outback dream sequences. Those looked pretty amazing, and the whole thing has a bit of a nightmarish tinge to it. I'm sure when I was a kid I thought it was a post-apocalyptic movie, Mad Max style.

Had no idea he'd gone onto do so many other films I saw young, like Highlander and The Shadow! He made one of the best looking Resident Evil movies too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 09 July, 2019, 12:32:13 PM
Razorback was a late-night favourite of my dad's, so we watched it often. Great film.

I caught up with Spiderman over the weekend. Tons of fun. I didn't feel completely satisfied, but emerged into daylight with a smile on my face, so no complaints.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 09 July, 2019, 01:43:16 PM
I remember as a teenager feeling very grown up when watching Moviedrome on a Sunday evening.

First real movie experiences with the likes of Assault On Precinct 13, The Terminator, Q The Winged Serpent, Walk On The Wild Side and so many more.

Why the BBC don't have something like this on their current output is a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 11 July, 2019, 03:10:38 PM
Midsommar

I preferred Hereditary but this was something rather different, and I rather enjoyed it. Even if loads of people in the cinema with me got bored (2 people left, other people on their phones,  bad crowd all round)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 12 July, 2019, 05:53:45 PM
going to watch "Rango" in a mo'
a film that always "zens-me"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 12 July, 2019, 05:59:51 PM
Just started & holy sh@@ number 5's (from the umbrella academy) girlfriend is in it

She must be a character actor
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 July, 2019, 07:04:18 PM
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 12 July, 2019, 05:59:51 PM
Just started & holy sh@@ number 5's (from the umbrella academy) girlfriend is in it

:lol:

Not so much type-cast as vacuum-moulded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 July, 2019, 05:31:33 PM
Yesterday

Ok, it's Richard Curtis whom without the buffer of Ben Elton is an overly sentimental c*nt but I quite enjoyed this.

Helps that I like the music of The Beatles and that Lily James is frickin' gorgeous but the last 3 musical tracks on this absolutely rock. the music is pumped right up and it's fun.

Wouldn't run to watch it again or buy it on blu ray but it's a pretty good diversion on a dull Saturday afternoon.

Fun but shallow. Just like my good self.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 July, 2019, 05:48:36 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 13 July, 2019, 05:31:33 PM
Yesterday

Ok, it's Richard Curtis whom without the buffer of Ben Elton is an overly sentimental c*nt but I quite enjoyed this.

Helps that I like the music of The Beatles and that Lily James is frickin' gorgeous but the last 3 musical tracks on this absolutely rock. the music is pumped right up and it's fun.

Wouldn't run to watch it again or buy it on blu ray but it's a pretty good diversion on a dull Saturday afternoon.

Fun but shallow. Just like my good self.

I need to see this - it was filmed in my town (Gorleston). The Pier Hotel is a 10 min walk from my house.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 July, 2019, 06:36:29 PM
It has that going for it. The Pier Hotel is mainly used in the last 10 minutes or so.

Nice location.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 July, 2019, 11:46:36 AM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 11 July, 2019, 03:10:38 PM
Midsommar

I preferred Hereditary but this was something rather different, and I rather enjoyed it. Even if loads of people in the cinema with me got bored (2 people left, other people on their phones,  bad crowd all round)

Saw this last week, and was initially slightly disappointed. Upon reflection, I loved it.
I can certainly sympathize with those that considered the run time too long - my own pal (who I dragged along to see it) was squirming in his seat trying to resist looking at his phone.

Perversely, I'm looking forward to the forthcoming Blu-Ray release with a much longer cut - possibly 30-60 minutes?
As with most movies that I rate, the proof will be in the distraction-free home viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 July, 2019, 01:47:02 PM
I know everyone else already knows how good Into The Spiderverse is but I only just got round to watch it and wowzers that was good. Easily the best Spider-Man film out there, and a strong contender for best Marvel film. Such a constant delight to watch.

Watched The Innkeepers and Revenge as well at the weekend and they were both great too, particularly Revenge. As far as movies where a woman is wronged by some scumbags and then turns the tables on them it has to be one of the best out there, and easily one of the most stylish and bloody things I've seen in yonks. The events that trigger the titular revenge are obviously pretty rough to watch and the first act might put many off because it seems very deliberately shot in a leery male gaze - seems like a conscious choice to put the viewer in an uncomfortably voyeuristic or complicit position. There were a bunch of these exploitation rape/revenge movies back in the day and they've never interested me one bit but as far as I'm aware they were all made by men so it could the female writer/director's spin on it that made it so much more gripping and interesting. Loved it and enjoyed the soundtrack so much I immediately ordered the vinyl.

The Innkeepers is an early film by Ti West (House of The Devil/The Sacrament) and has a much quirkier tone and sense of humour than those films had me expecting, with some touching and likeable characters and banter. When it does scares though they're definitely the kind of scares that freak me out a fair bit (I don't handle hauntings very well) so still works as an effective horror for me while feeling a bit different to similar films out there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 July, 2019, 10:15:44 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 July, 2019, 01:47:02 PM
I know everyone else already knows how good Into The Spiderverse is but I only just got round to watch it and wowzers that was good. Easily the best Spider-Man film out there, and a strong contender for best Marvel film. Such a constant delight to watch.

Agreed. It's one of my daughter's favourite films so I must have watched it a dozen times now. I still enjoy it and still smile when she asks to put it on.

I'd say go so far as to say it's the best Superhero movie made. Certainly the best for comics readers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 28 July, 2019, 07:38:37 PM
Watched Shazam and must say that it is an enjoyable fun movie.  Good the see that DC can also do a light-hearted movie full of laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 July, 2019, 08:38:50 PM

Prospect. Pretty good low-budget sci-fi/western about a prospector and his daughter looking for something like pearls/amber on a forested moon. It looks amazing and portrays a small slice of a fully realised and deep world but focuses mainly on characters. Would not look out of place, or be overshadowed by, being on a double bill with Moon. Well worth your time.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 July, 2019, 03:08:58 PM
The boys from Clan Tips right enjoyed Spider-Man: far from home even the bizarrely essential end credit scenes (surely lots of parents with younger kids and weaker bladders missed these?)

Tom Holland is just fabulous - already a National Tteasure - and we thought Peter and MJ made a believable dorky couple.

Not really that big on the comics so not sure if MJ is meant to be girl next door or unachievable prom queen but this version of neither works fine for me.

And apart from knowing Mysterio was... you know... one of them... I know little history but, again, this incarnation seemed believable and a satisfying fit for this universe and a modern audience.

But they really didn't think the Snap/Blip thing through it appears... so do they just ignore it (which this did for the most part) or is there something bigger down the line coming (which would be ballsy!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 July, 2019, 12:20:41 PM
Suspiria (2018)

I was deeply suspicious of this re-make and consequently ignored it (like most of the public) but a year later up it pops on Amazon Prime so I thought I would give it a chance.

And it's utterly, utterly brilliant. Loved every single second.

Can't wait for the UK blu ray to come out in October.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 03:46:14 PM
It really is rather brilliant. Going back to the original Three Mothers text and taking a very different approach to Argento's Technicolor fantasy into straight up Eldritch horror, the result is brilliant and I sincerely hope the Matter Tenenbraum teaser means we'll be seeing a rebooted Inferno as well!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 31 July, 2019, 04:22:30 PM
THE WICKER MAN.
The original version. I'd never seen this before so approached it with a feeling of trepidation. A really enjoyable film, with Ed Triple-wood playing possibly the most appaling character I've seen presented as the protagonist.

I was actually rooting for the islanders by the end.

I'm not sure how the film went down with audiences at the time - I imagine that we, the audience, were expected to side with the christian despite his awfulness and so feel horror at the eventual outcome with all its pagan trappings.

I loved the disclaimer at the start and was hoping for a similar one at the end wishing Lord Summerisle well with his upcoming harvest...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 04:29:15 PM
I actually believe Robin Hardy and Ewawoowaa deliberately intended Howie to be an genuinely unlikable, stick up his ass xenophobe who's less a protagonist as a point of view character. We're as clueless as he is as to the mystery unfolding, and as such as in the dark about the fate of Rowan Morris and the culture of the Islanders. There was supposed to be a sequel where he survived and would become a sort of "Quatermass for cultists" but thankfully it was never made.

Don't watch the belated sequel, The Wicker Tree, also directed by Hardy. It's a bit shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:41:26 PM
...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

I don't think Howie's religion or the islanders' religion are either endorsed or ridiculed by the film – it just presents us with two very different systems of belief and shows us what happens when they come into conflict. Both Howie and Lord Summerisle make good points at different stages of the film.

I don't find Howie at all unlikable though – he's dogged, moral, sticks to his beliefs, and is genuinely trying to do his duty. More importantly, he's hopelessly out of his depth from the moment he arrives, and I like to support the underdog. Yes, he's uptight, narrow-minded, repressed and hugely judgemental, but equally the islanders are a sordid bunch of dirty, duplicitous bastards who believe in human sacrifice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 04:44:33 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:41:26 PM
...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

The Richard Burton flick? Been meaning to see that for quiet some time, looks very much my slice of folk horror pie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:51:42 PM
Let's just say it has certain similarities of structure and character, and shares at least one piece of key dialogue with 'The Wicker Man'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 July, 2019, 05:04:55 PM
I'm still stunned that Bolt has reached his advanced years without ever seeing the Wicker Man!


I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 July, 2019, 05:46:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 04:44:33 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:41:26 PM
...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

The Richard Burton flick? Been meaning to see that for quiet some time, looks very much my slice of folk horror pie.

A new blu ray of that has just been released.

And the original 'Wicker Man' is utterly sublime.

One of my all time favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 31 July, 2019, 05:47:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 03:46:14 PM
It really is rather brilliant. Going back to the original Three Mothers text and taking a very different approach to Argento's Technicolor fantasy into straight up Eldritch horror, the result is brilliant and I sincerely hope the Matter Tenenbraum teaser means we'll be seeing a rebooted Inferno as well!

I would hope so too but judging from the look warm (to say the least) reception the film got I'm not holding out for it sadly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 31 July, 2019, 07:20:16 PM
Finally saw Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, and it was enormous fun.
Really wish it was a live-action film that brought Toby McGuire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland together, while establishing a proper Miles Morales franchise, seperate from the MCU.
But we can't have everything I guess 😉
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 July, 2019, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 July, 2019, 05:04:55 PM
I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.

My first job as a body double. I thought I did quite well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 August, 2019, 09:36:03 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 31 July, 2019, 05:46:14 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 31 July, 2019, 04:44:33 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:41:26 PM
...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

The Richard Burton flick? Been meaning to see that for quiet some time, looks very much my slice of folk horror pie.

A new blu ray of that has just been released.


Never heard of this film, and now - right now - must decide on purchasing the cheapo DVD or overpriced BD.

Quote from: Greg M. on 31 July, 2019, 04:41:26 PM
I don't think Howie's religion or the islanders' religion are either endorsed or ridiculed by the film – it just presents us with two very different systems of belief and shows us what happens when they come into conflict. Both Howie and Lord Summerisle make good points at different stages of the film.

I don't find Howie at all unlikable though – he's dogged, moral, sticks to his beliefs, and is genuinely trying to do his duty. More importantly, he's hopelessly out of his depth from the moment he arrives, and I like to support the underdog. Yes, he's uptight, narrow-minded, repressed and hugely judgemental, but equally the islanders are a sordid bunch of dirty, duplicitous bastards who believe in human sacrifice.

100% this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 August, 2019, 10:01:09 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 01 August, 2019, 09:36:03 AM
Never heard of this film, and now - right now - must decide on purchasing the cheapo DVD or overpriced BD.

My DVD is not the best in terms of picture quality, from what I remember - faded and washed-out looking. I haven't seen the Blu-Ray, but can only assume it's a massive improvement.

I won't claim Absolution is anywhere near as good as The Wicker Man, but it does deal with some interesting themes, is well worth a watch, and has Billy Connolly in it. And if people had problems with Howie, wait till you see Richard Burton's Father Goddard...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 August, 2019, 11:48:44 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 July, 2019, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 July, 2019, 05:04:55 PM
I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.

My first job as a body double.

Well, they say you always have to start at the bottom...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 August, 2019, 01:45:52 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 August, 2019, 10:01:09 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 01 August, 2019, 09:36:03 AM
Never heard of this film, and now - right now - must decide on purchasing the cheapo DVD or overpriced BD.

My DVD is not the best in terms of picture quality, from what I remember - faded and washed-out looking. I haven't seen the Blu-Ray, but can only assume it's a massive improvement.

I won't claim Absolution is anywhere near as good as The Wicker Man, but it does deal with some interesting themes, is well worth a watch, and has Billy Connolly in it. And if people had problems with Howie, wait till you see Richard Burton's Father Goddard...

The blu ray is superb and is a massive improvement. Plus there are tons of extras. £17, I don't think is overpriced, but if you order from Powerhouse's own site it's £15.99
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 August, 2019, 02:12:53 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 01 August, 2019, 11:48:44 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 July, 2019, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 31 July, 2019, 05:04:55 PM
I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.

My first job as a body double.

Well, they say you always have to start at the bottom...

I say he peaked early.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 02 August, 2019, 12:27:09 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 August, 2019, 01:45:52 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 August, 2019, 10:01:09 AM
Quote from: Link Prime on 01 August, 2019, 09:36:03 AM
Never heard of this film, and now - right now - must decide on purchasing the cheapo DVD or overpriced BD.

My DVD is not the best in terms of picture quality, from what I remember - faded and washed-out looking. I haven't seen the Blu-Ray, but can only assume it's a massive improvement.

I won't claim Absolution is anywhere near as good as The Wicker Man, but it does deal with some interesting themes, is well worth a watch, and has Billy Connolly in it. And if people had problems with Howie, wait till you see Richard Burton's Father Goddard...

The blu ray is superb and is a massive improvement. Plus there are tons of extras. £17, I don't think is overpriced, but if you order from Powerhouse's own site it's £15.99

Cheers lads.

Zavvi have the BD on sale for £14.99, which should cost me minus 200 Euro incl. shipping thanks to the Brexit lol-a-thon.

https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/absolution-limited-edition/11822634.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 02 August, 2019, 05:48:09 PM
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Solidly entertaining and frequently funny, but a little aimless and meandering at times. I'm still not quite sure what Tarantino was going for with this, honestly. I probably need a little more time to digest it. I'd probably rank it as lower tier Tarantino, however I found both Django and Hateful Eight similarly indulgent and overlong at first and enjoyed them a lot more on second watch, so that could change.

More than anything, it's just refreshing for a big name director to get a lavish budget to spend on things other than cgi for a change - in that respect alone it's worth supporting and seeing on the big screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 August, 2019, 08:54:32 PM

Cold Pursuit. Liam Neeson loses his son (seriously, this guy is the unluckiest parent in recorded history) in the snowy end of America and goes on one of his patented killing sprees, which turns into a general free-for-all murder fest.

So much for the plot. This film, though, is a little more stylish than most. It aspires to be Fargo - but it ain't. Comes fairly close, though, but not quite close enough.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 August, 2019, 01:51:36 PM
The Mummy (2017). I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be a fun and enjoyable film. I think this should have kicked off Dark Universe in style. A shame really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 04 August, 2019, 04:14:46 PM
Conversely I couldn't stand even 10 minutes of The Mummy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 August, 2019, 07:20:31 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 04 August, 2019, 04:14:46 PM
Conversely I couldn't stand even 10 minutes of The Mummy

I watched the whole thing. It was terrible and I have a very low threshold for what constitutes a terrible movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 August, 2019, 09:36:12 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 04 August, 2019, 01:51:36 PM
The Mummy (2017). I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be a fun and enjoyable film. I think this should have kicked off Dark Universe in style. A shame really.
it had stuff going for it, I thought. Just needed to cook a bit longer before going in front of the camera.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 August, 2019, 09:42:52 AM
'1 Hour in, Nothing has happened'

Oh look, Gillmans hand!

'Another Hour of nothing happening'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 August, 2019, 09:34:10 AM
Saw Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers on Netflix out of morbid curiousity... Felt like I was watching a This Is Spinal Tap take on UFO "documentaries".

I wasn't a believer of UFOs before watching it, and now I'm even less of one. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 August, 2019, 09:44:21 PM
Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Bit of a mixed bag, and one of the more forgettable Marvel movies in recent years.

It has some fairly clever ideas and concepts in play, but the storytelling (and narrative connective tissue) is super flimsy at times - even by MCU standards. It also has way too much plot for one single movie - so much happens and it moves so fast that there isn't really time for anything to sink in (the ramifications of the events of Endgame are handwaved in a really unsatisfying way, and we're supposed to invest in the relationship between Parker and Beck after they've had, what, 3 to 4 minutes of screen time together?) and certain plot developments are so contrived and implausible that the film all but breaks the fourth wall and winks at the audience with a stupid grin on its face.

There's also something off about the editing, pacing and overall direction that's hard to put my finger on, but it felt like there were frames or scenes missing or something - the film overall felt weirdly slapdash, with a lot of strange cuts, unfinished looking visual effects, awkward scene transitions and some pretty lame attempts at humour. Perhaps the strain of Marvel putting out three massive movies in the span of barely four months is evident on screen?

The MCU Spider-Man movies are what they are - they're so connected to the larger overall plot of the MCU that they don't really feel like standalone movies so much as cobbled together partworks, and they aren't even close to being in the same league as the Raimi films imo. It's a shame as I think they are slightly squandering the really solid cast they have.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 August, 2019, 06:09:27 AM
Toy Story 4

Got to admit, I was a bit skeptical going in and had avoided rushing out to see this as I assumed it would be the latest in a long line of rather underwhelming and unnecessary Pixar sequels, but I was happy to be proved wrong - it was absolutely sublime.

A fully worthwhile continuation of the series that manages to bring some really imaginative new ideas (and characters) to the table and feels relatively fresh despite essentially being yet another spin on the old 'toy rescue mission' plot. The animation of the creepy ventriloquist dummies was a highlight. Absolutely loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 August, 2019, 08:17:25 AM
The Greatest Showman. Feck me but that was some overrated shite. Entertaining as Hugh Jackman can be, I was having real problems seeing him and his perpetual rictus grin as a young man starting out in the world. And that was before some of the drab numbers went on for 15 fecking minutes. Zendaya's radiant countenance was an occasional bright spot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 09 August, 2019, 09:19:37 AM
Tords - totally agree on the Greatest Showman. I thought it might make a decent stage show, but there just wasn't enough plot for it to be a film of any great depth.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 August, 2019, 09:22:18 AM
Had a friend over who wanted to see what Shudder had to offer, so put on Revenge (still excellent on a second watching) and The Void which I hadn't seen. It's fairly low budget and a heavy homage to Carpenter films (particularly Prince of Darkness) as well as in its ending [spoiler]a big nod to The Beyond[/spoiler]. It's nothing mindblowing but I thought it had some very striking and memorable imagery and it's biggest strength is that it's chock-full of old school practical creature effects which is really nice and refreshing these days. Enjoyed it!

Also rewatched Blade Runner 2049, still love it and still really, really happy and surprised that they made a new Blade Runner movie and that it actually turned out to be a more than worthy sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 12 August, 2019, 09:50:04 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 August, 2019, 09:22:18 AMAlso rewatched Blade Runner 2049, still love it and still really, really happy and surprised that they made a new Blade Runner movie and that it actually turned out to be a more than worthy sequel.
Just like the original, this gets exponentially better the more you watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 August, 2019, 02:34:32 PM
Glad to see positive comments on Bladerunner 2049.

To be fair, a lot did seem to like it, but plenty seemed not to. I really liked it myself, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 August, 2019, 03:03:50 PM
Had a pulpy Sunday lazy day after handing in my final assignment, so camped out on a WWII double bill of The Dirty Dozen and Von Ryans Express. Both fun in their own ways with some splendid action set pieces and you just can beat that cast on Dozen (how did actual brick shit house Clint Walker never play Superman?!) perfect for a detox, I watch so much pretentious and sometimes exhaustive cinema that occasionally it's just nice to watch some solid action pulp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 12 August, 2019, 03:56:05 PM
I watched Von Ryan's Express as an eight year old for the first time many moons ago.

[spoiler]Cried when old blue eyes bought the farm, I really did.[/spoiler]

My favourite War films are Where Eagles Dare, A bridge too Far, The Longest Day and Battle of the Bulge.

Love those movies. Whenever I come across them on the TV I have to watch them. House rules.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 August, 2019, 09:13:06 AM
Kelly's Heroes was on yesterday with its strange hippy beat while blasting Nazis and stealing gold. Very materialistic for the supposed sixties counter culture. The Bridge at Remagen with George Segal and Ben Gazzara is another of those perennial war movies. Some good action scenes and stunt work in both.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 August, 2019, 09:22:57 AM
Took in Dredd again over the weekend. Still depressingly good.

Are the picture quality issues fixed in the UHD version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 13 August, 2019, 12:20:08 PM
I saw Top Secret! for the first time on the weekend. I was hoping it would be as laugh-out-loud funny as the Naked Gun, but was more 'mildly amusing'.  It definitely is of its time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 August, 2019, 01:41:56 PM
Love Peter Cushings cameo in Top Secret!, but the facts thats all I can recall is quiet telling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 August, 2019, 02:51:18 PM
Is Top Secret the one with the giant phone perspective gag?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 13 August, 2019, 04:27:25 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 13 August, 2019, 02:51:18 PM
Is Top Secret the one with the giant phone perspective gag?

Isn't it his eye in the magnifying glass?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 14 August, 2019, 09:27:55 AM
Turns out they're both in there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJoTBlDfVhk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYTVl0iOkk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2019, 10:27:00 AM
There's also a giant wristwatch gag.
Top Secret is excellent, a favourite of mine from childhood. The songs are hilarious and Val is great as Nick Rivers. I could quote the film all day but how could anyone not love the introduction of the French resistance (haven't we met somewhere before monsieur)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 August, 2019, 02:48:48 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 14 August, 2019, 09:27:55 AM
Turns out they're both in there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJoTBlDfVhk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYTVl0iOkk

those are the only two bits I remember from the whole film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 August, 2019, 05:14:47 PM
Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood

It's self indulgent and over long but it's jolly good fun.

Brad Pitt steals every single scene he's in and it's nice spotting some of 'the old gang' (Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell etc...Tim Roth was in it to but his scene (s) were cut).

Quentin's foot fetish continues and Margot Robey is there to look stunning (and she does) but has barely 7 or 8 sentences in the whole film (it's probably more than that but it doesn't seem so at the time).

Overall a solid 4 out 5 but could have done with losing about 40 minutes but, hell, it's all entertaining enough.

And curiously [spoiler]bar the bad language, it could have been rated a 12 A until the last 10 minutes which are a riot.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 August, 2019, 05:50:16 PM
Into the Spider-verse

I liked it but was disappointed with yet another 'special effect wave of ill defined peril' finale. I'm really sick of these in Superhero/Sci Fi/horror films.
Lovely animation and super stylish though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 August, 2019, 07:50:50 PM
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood continues the historical revisionism Tarantino started in Inglorious Basterds but is arguably more successful this time around.

Great performances, with the undercurrent of melancholia from the film's subject matter- specifically the passing of the golden age of Hollywood into to more cynical times, making it quite moving.

Stunning photography and a fantastic soundtrack too.

A real return to form from Tarantino.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 August, 2019, 08:56:25 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 14 August, 2019, 07:50:50 PM
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood continues the historical revisionism Tarantino started in Inglorious Basterds but is arguably more successful this time around.



Agreed.

Although if I had read this before I had seen the movie I would have been seriously pissed at you for spoiling this for me.

Just saying.

[spoiler]I was dreading watching the 'last day' as I did not want to see Tate murdered. So the end for me was great. Glad it was spoilered.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 15 August, 2019, 07:14:48 PM
That was a pretty shit thing to do, where did you read that?  :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 15 August, 2019, 10:45:27 PM
He's talking about your post. Its pretty spoilery if te person reading it can put 2 and 2 together - I'd get a mod to edit it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 August, 2019, 11:58:53 PM
I know what the film's about from a couple of newspaper reviews, and I've read that post a dozen times now and I can't see any spoilers. Certainly hasn't told me anything, but my arithmetic must be bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 August, 2019, 01:04:28 PM
There's zero spoilers there IMHO, the trailers pretty much state it's another bit of historical revisionism from Tarantino and at this point he's so synonymous with that framing device it should be expected.

Saw Hobbs and Shaw last night and it was daft as a back of bricks but god it was a fun time. The series has evolved to the point where it's clearly just Jojos Bizarre Adventure by way of M.A.S.K and is having a blast with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 17 August, 2019, 04:21:08 AM
Hobbs and Shaw is daft fun but I had a laugh when the girl I work with who watched it said she didn't like it as it was too unbelievable compared to the Fast and Furious movies she absolutely loves!!!  Too unbelievable 😂😂😂😂 compared to Fasat and Furious!!!!

Cu Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 17 August, 2019, 10:12:13 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 August, 2019, 11:58:53 PM
I know what the film's about from a couple of newspaper reviews, and I've read that post a dozen times now and I can't see any spoilers. Certainly hasn't told me anything, but my arithmetic must be bad.

I can only guess it's already been moderated, as I couldn't detect any spoilers either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 17 August, 2019, 02:40:07 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 17 August, 2019, 10:12:13 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 August, 2019, 11:58:53 PM
I know what the film's about from a couple of newspaper reviews, and I've read that post a dozen times now and I can't see any spoilers. Certainly hasn't told me anything, but my arithmetic must be bad.

I can only guess it's already been moderated, as I couldn't detect any spoilers either.

It hasn't been moderated and I specifically avoided any spoilers-bizarre!  :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 17 August, 2019, 02:53:50 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 August, 2019, 10:45:27 PM
He's talking about your post. Its pretty spoilery if te person reading it can put 2 and 2 together - I'd get a mod to edit it.


Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not a biographical film, that's made pretty clear by the trailers, for example there was never a Cliff Booth and he never fought Bruce Lee, same with Rick Dalton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 17 August, 2019, 03:01:26 PM

If Dweezil's comment spoiled Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, then so did every review I've read in every mainstream publication or heard on podcasts.

Any discussion of the movie says it doesn't end as you'd expect and Tarantino's done this before. No offence to the fantastic Matt, but [spoiler]SPOILER[/spoiler] culture does my tits in*


* The end of a movie - any movie - is no more important than any other part of the movie. I've watched The Big Sleep every year for the last two decades, despite knowing Carmen didn't do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 August, 2019, 07:14:33 PM
Quote from: Frank on 17 August, 2019, 03:01:26 PM
The end of a movie - any movie - is no more important than any other part of the movie.

I'd argue that there's something in the first time viewing that you can't get on repeat viewing (and even more so in certain pieces), and so I disagree with your sentiment.  There's clearly a difference between knowing and not knowing, especially when a particular reveal is like the final piece in a jigsaw that you weren't even fully aware was being put together until that point.

Key examples:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 17 August, 2019, 07:55:58 PM
Just home from watching Once upon a time in Hollywood. Such a lovely film. It's 60's Hollywood felt like it was filmed back then. Amazing attention to detail and a fantastic tribute to films. It gave me the feeling that of reading a Grant Morrison comic book in which the heroes are also reading comic books with it's scenes of the main characters watching movies. So much so it made people walking past the screen in my cinema fit the film, adding to the feeling of watching a movie.

I also liked the driving and listening to music. It managed to add both to the setting as well as each character. Especially Brad's character Cliff. Such a wonderfully complex character. Felt as ugly and charming as Landa in Basterds.

Loved the ending, but at first I wasn't sure what Tarantino wanted said with the film, but it clicked when a friend (who I watched it with) wanted to know more about Charles Manson and Tate's murder. [spoiler]Basically managing to strip Manson & c/o of the fame which was given to them. A bit like how Hateful 8's ending made use of the Lincon letter after the violence came to an end.[/spoiler]

Another thing which hit me [spoiler]while watching what felt like a happy ending, and then realising the gate to Tate and Polanski's house felt it was the one to heaven and the sad music which played... It felt like the dying dream of Rick fucking Dalton's carrier, being invited into heaven by Tate.[/spoiler]

I'm quite likely to watch it again soon. Fantastic film.

I also watched Hail Ceasar this morning. A good movie to watch before Once upon a time in hollywood. Very funny and weird about a "fixer" working for hollywood in the 50-ish's during the commie scare. Delivers a existential story which I really relate to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 August, 2019, 02:00:20 PM
Avengers: Endgame. Zzzz. Is it over yet?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 August, 2019, 05:01:26 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 17 August, 2019, 07:14:33 PM
Quote from: Frank on 17 August, 2019, 03:01:26 PM
The end of a movie - any movie - is no more important than any other part of the movie.

I'd argue that there's something in the first time viewing that you can't get on repeat viewing (and even more so in certain pieces), and so I disagree with your sentiment.  There's clearly a difference between knowing and not knowing, especially when a particular reveal is like the final piece in a jigsaw that you weren't even fully aware was being put together until that point.

Key examples:

  • Sixth Sense
  • The Usual Suspects
  • Citizen Kane
  • Soylent Green
  • The Third Man
  • Fight Club

The Empire Strikes Back


Anyway, watched Rushmore last night. Creepy 15 year old tries to woo nursery teacher. Funny in places, but he just made me feel a bit queasy. It's akin to Harold and Maude I guess, though that is a much better film.

Anyway, we're doing a comedy film each week, picking from a 'top 100' list (which correctly places Spinal Tap at no1 but incorrectly places Ghostbusters below Trading Places) just to try and keep things light, when all I talk about is the climate crisis and all my partner talks about is abused women and children.

Anyhow... watching The Castle next weekend, an Aussie film which comes highly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 19 August, 2019, 05:22:28 PM
Long Weekend (1978): Aussie eco-horror in which a married couple, their relationship crumbling, go for a camping trip and are punished by nature itself for their casual disrespect for the environment. Much odder than it sounds, and much more suspenseful than your average 'when beasts attack' flick, though there's a bit of that too, courtesy of fierce possums and vengeful eagles. One for the Hawkmumblers of this world, or anyone else that wants to see a dysfunctional couple stalked by a dead dugong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 August, 2019, 06:47:02 PM
Always loved Long Weekend, although I think I may have originally seen it a bit too young because it freaked me out quite a bit. Great sound design, genuinely scary. Anyone seen the remake from a few years back?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 August, 2019, 09:55:38 PM
We probably saw it round the same time Tords, as it freaked me out too, to the point I think I instantly forgot it until seeing a still of it many years later that opened the door of horror again. It's got that peculiar Peter Weir(d) Ozploitation vibe that just gets in on you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 August, 2019, 02:52:48 PM
Quote from: Radbacker on 17 August, 2019, 04:21:08 AM
Hobbs and Shaw is daft fun but I had a laugh when the girl I work with who watched it said she didn't like it as it was too unbelievable compared to the Fast and Furious movies she absolutely loves!!!  Too unbelievable 😂😂😂😂 compared to Fasat and Furious!!!!

Cu Radbacker

As mad as it might sound I do actually get what she means! I described it to a friend as being more cartoonish than the main F&F films, those are over the top ridiculous fun but they have quite an odd tone that's somewhere between totally self-serious melodrama and knowingly ridiculous machismo superhero fantasy. I don't know if 'grounded' is the right word, but there's definitely something there in those films that Hobbs & Shaw feels like it's cut loose from to go full fantasy superhero movie.

I don't think I'd see it as a reason to dislike it mind you, I thought it was a lot of fun. Or at least, I think it would have been if my screening wasn't absolutely rammed with people talking through the whole thing when they weren't using their phones. Seriously, I had a day off and some films to catch up on so booked 3 films and went home after film number two because I'd had enough of the cinema experience. Went home and watched a blu-ray instead and had a much better time. I'd forgotten they'd shot so much of H&S in Glasgow, I used to walk past all the trashed vehicles in the morning going to work, so it was fun to see that chase through streets I know and being able to see how that bus actually got the big hole in it (I took a photo of that at the time)!

Other film I managed was Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood which I had a weird love/confused reaction to. I always love a Tarantino film and in many ways I thought this was him at his very best, in fact the writing I thought showed a different side to him - much less showboaty monologue-style chunks of dialogue with one eye on quoteability. I (mostly) love that stuff in his other films but while in other Tarantino films every character seems to speak with the same voice (Tarantino's) in this the conversations felt natural in a way I don't think he manages very often. The dialogue was still hugely engrossing, and the great characters and fantastic performances definitely helped, but there was a level of maturity and restraint in the writing which I don't think I'd normally expect from him.

Where it was less successful for me was in actual plot. I went in not really knowing what the film was about, and while I really, really loved all the character stuff [spoiler]whenever the Manson storyline popped up it felt like a diversion or a side story, and I didn't enjoy it as much as the surrounding stuff I kind of saw all those scenes as being a bit of a distraction from what I really wanted to see more of, which was Dicaprio and Pitt tooling about on movie sets and trying to get by. So when in the end that distracting side story turned out to be what it was all building to I was a bit thrown. It seems a bit like Tarantino maybe had that idea and then worked backwards, crafting everything else to get things to that finale, but all the other stuff he crafted was so much richer and more engaging than that (I'm assuming) initial idea.

Also the switch to ultraviolence felt jarring, it was like the movie just flipped into something totally different for 10mins. I love a bit of slapstick gore (I really enjoyed how much Hateful Eight brought to mind Evil Dead and The Thing) but I found the smashing of the girl's head into things too prolonged and mean-spirited to be fun. I did however laugh heartily when the flamethrower came out.

Overall I really liked it and will watch it again and maybe the things I didn't like will work better once I know what I'm getting into, but on a first watch I'm definitely a little disappointed that it takes that swerve into wacky, because the characters and the world they were in was strong enough that it didn't need it at all.[/spoiler]

And the blu-ray I watched was Starman, which I don't think gets talked about much as far as Carpenter films go but I have a real love for. It's really different to the rest of his movies so it's understandable it doesn't get mentioned in the same breath as Halloween/The Thing etc. but it was a repeat rental for me on VHS as a kid and going back to it after many years felt very warm and fuzzy. Some of the effects are very poor but others still look great, and both leads are brilliant in it (and there can't be many more beautiful shots in cinema than [spoiler]that final shot of Karen Allen looking absolutely incredible[/spoiler]), plus Carpenter's direction is as great as ever and shows he has way more than action and horror up his sleeve.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 August, 2019, 07:01:27 PM
QuoteI'd argue that there's something in the first time viewing that you can't get on repeat viewing (and even more so in certain pieces), and so I disagree with your sentiment.  There's clearly a difference between knowing and not knowing, especially when a particular reveal is like the final piece in a jigsaw that you weren't even fully aware was being put together until that point.

Key examples:
Sixth Sense
The Usual Suspects
Citizen Kane
Soylent Green
The Third Man
Fight Club

Agreed. If you say [spoiler]'Historical revisionism' [/spoiler]and mention it in the same breath as [spoiler]Inglorious Basterds[/spoiler], you're essentially telegraphing exactly how the film will end, robbing it of much of its tension. I don't consider myself excessively prissy about spoilers, but I'd personally have been a little annoyed if I'd inadvertently read that particular sentence before seeing the film myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 21 August, 2019, 07:47:00 PM
I really don't want to talk about the ending of Once upon a time in Hollywood, but I'd like tell those who haven't seen it --you have no idea what your in for.

Mind the gap Quite the docu. A kid films his friends skate boarding from young age up to 20ish, and things go from having fun all the time to realising a thing or two what took place behind all the fun, at home. The guy behind the documentary also finds out a thing or two about some of his friends, and some of it is pretty bad. Really made me think about people I grew up with. I don't know what to say besides it's a rough movie which is tough on the viewer, and one I really recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 August, 2019, 07:28:48 AM
Quote from: radiator on 15 August, 2019, 10:45:27 PM
He's talking about your post. Its pretty spoilery if te person reading it can put 2 and 2 together - I'd get a mod to edit it.

That is exactly what I meant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 24 August, 2019, 07:32:36 AM
Quote from: radiator on 21 August, 2019, 07:01:27 PM
QuoteI'd argue that there's something in the first time viewing that you can't get on repeat viewing (and even more so in certain pieces), and so I disagree with your sentiment.  There's clearly a difference between knowing and not knowing, especially when a particular reveal is like the final piece in a jigsaw that you weren't even fully aware was being put together until that point.

Key examples:
Sixth Sense
The Usual Suspects
Citizen Kane
Soylent Green
The Third Man
Fight Club

Agreed. If you say [spoiler]'Historical revisionism' [/spoiler]and mention it in the same breath as [spoiler]Inglorious Basterds[/spoiler], you're essentially telegraphing exactly how the film will end, robbing it of much of its tension. I don't consider myself excessively prissy about spoilers, but I'd personally have been a little annoyed if I'd inadvertently read that particular sentence before seeing the film myself.

Well, at least one person agrees with me  :lol:

Glad it did not ruin (well, ruin is too strong a word but it's early) anyone elses enjoyment of the movie.

My OP was too harsh in retrospect in it's language but I did not think it was too hard to put 2 and 2 together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 August, 2019, 10:01:10 AM
Saw Crawl at the weekend and really, really enjoyed it. It's not trying to be anything more than a fun scary monster movie (the monster in this case a massive alligator) and delivers on that in spades.

Also the first film I've seen in 4DX, I've always hated the idea but it was the only morning showing of the movie so reluctantly went for it. Mostly pretty impressed with the experience and pleasantly surprised by how much it added at times. During the hurricane scenes it was genuinely a huge extra layer of immersion, having mist and light rain and some wind blowing it all around during those blustery scenes was really something, and I hadn't expected it to be as elaborate as it was or as absorbing. The seat movement was a bit hit or miss, it seemed to work great when the film was generating unease, having the seat gently drifting around worked weirdly well. Also it was good for maintaining fear after a jump scare (usually an audience will jump and then collect themselves, but with this you were jumping and then remaining rattled for a while, because you were literally being rattled around). Meant I found myself gripping the arm-rests with genuine excitement/panic in a way I don't often get with films these days, but it could be over the top during scenes that really didn't need it (at one point early on the character is driving a car and the seat was bouncing all over the place in a way that was just distracting). Also distracting were the effects that made too much noise, there was a weird air puff thing that happened now and then, didn't seem to add anything and made such a loud guff noise that it pulled me out of every moment it seemed to want to accent.

Similarly, the thing that prods you in the back through the seat just felt weird and distracting and yanked me out of the movie every time it happened. It just feels way too mechanical and the moments it was deployed didn't seem to make any sense or gain anything at all from the distraction. It was just annoying more than immersive.

I would probably do 4DX again at some point depending on the film, this one seemed a good first experience given it's a bit of a fun rollercoaster of a movie anyway so was well suited to the theme park ride vibe. Some effects absolutely added loads to the immersion, and some had the opposite impact, but overall was impressed.

Whatever way you see it though I'd definitely recommend Crawl if you want some good tense breezy horror fun.

Also gave The Silence of The Lambs a rewatch, still brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 August, 2019, 10:56:42 PM
Shazam.

No.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 August, 2019, 11:21:25 PM
Yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 August, 2019, 11:29:24 PM
Shazam! was a delightful surprise. I'm thoroughly worn out on Superhero movies, but the energy in this wee number was well worth the time of day. So much fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 27 August, 2019, 12:49:27 PM
I had the misfortune to watch Aquaman.

Woo, there was so much in there that I kinda liked, but when the army of Blue swarmed over the army of Red I realised I'd rather be playing Auralux!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 August, 2019, 02:26:14 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 27 August, 2019, 12:49:27 PM
I had the misfortune to watch Aquaman.

Woo, there was so much in there that I kinda liked, but when the army of Blue swarmed over the army of Red I realised I'd rather be playing Auralux!
Yep. A pretty film. Pretty awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 August, 2019, 02:38:09 PM
Best parts feature Dafoe slumming it, but even when phoning it in he's the best actor in the movie.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 27 August, 2019, 03:12:04 PM
I was so convinced that Defoe was going to betray Aquaman that I was still predicting it at the end of the film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 August, 2019, 04:00:21 PM
I was certain of that as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 August, 2019, 05:07:47 PM
Watched it again for the 2nd time last night. Enjoyed it much more.

Also re-watched Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood for the 2nd time.

Loved it the first time round, loved it even more the second. And do stay for the 'bit' at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 August, 2019, 10:46:01 AM
Found Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark quite fun, but reckon will probably work best as one of those introductory horror movies parents watch with kids looking to eventually graduate to the harder stuff. Every generation needs one of those, and this fits the bill pretty well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 August, 2019, 11:37:54 AM
I mercifully caught Once Upon A Time in Hollywood last night, just before it exits the local cinemas.

A hugely satisfying film - superb in every detail, and the two lead performances were absolutely spot on.
I'd have gladly watched an extra hour of footage of Pitt & Dicaprio just drinking in an bar.

Was waiting all evening for the [spoiler]flamethrower[/spoiler] to be unleashed, once it was revealed to still be in Rick's possession - didn't disappoint.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 August, 2019, 01:44:24 PM
The Lion King (2019)

The original is one of our families favourite Disney films and whilst this looked utterly superb it felt kinda soulless.

The extra material over the original is mostly in the opening 45 minutes of the film which is, to be, the dullest part and it's true here. Once Simba teams up with Pumba and co it's a lot more fun.

Still prefer the original though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 31 August, 2019, 03:48:01 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/vOlxqTL.png?1)


Star Wars (1977) Despecialised Edition

I'd read a little bit about this (http://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/2015/05/episode-219-star-wars.html) and thought it would only appeal to pedant, fundamentalist obsessives; the ones who really don't like Rey and Finn, for some mysterious reason.

I don't mind the extra stuff - I don't like it; no reasonable person would - but even something as innocuous as adding A NEW HOPE to the opening crawl gave me a Herbert Lom twitch.

Basically, I now have the version of the film I watched 200* times (on a video I taped off the telly) back, minus the ad breaks and the screen/audio wobble when the Death Star explodes.

The Despecialised Editions of all three films are available wherever good films are pirated**


(https://i.imgur.com/xd83Ec5.png?1)


* Not hyperbole or a figure of speech. My mum kept count, through gritted teeth.

** I'm sure Disney will do something like them for the 50th anniversary, or maybe for the launch of their streaming service. Might be worth doing just for Harrison Ford's commentary track, which would be 90% silent
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2019, 09:28:43 PM
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2019, 03:48:01 PM
I'd read a little bit about this (http://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/2015/05/episode-219-star-wars.html) and thought it would only appeal to pedant, fundamentalist obsessives; the ones who really don't like Rey and Finn, for some mysterious reason.

The Despecialised Edition project does, of course, predate the Sequels by several years and was an effort by fans concerned by Lucas' refusal to submit a print of the theatrical film which was released in 1977 to the National Film Registry for preservation, as Lucas only offered the organisation the Special Edition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 September, 2019, 08:37:07 AM
I have Region 1 DVD's of all 3 Despecialised and these are legit. Had them awhile. Think they were released around the time the first of the prequels came out. They also have the correct soundtracks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 September, 2019, 02:23:12 PM
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2019, 03:48:01 PM
I don't mind the extra stuff - I don't like it; no reasonable person would - but even something as innocuous as adding A NEW HOPE to the opening crawl gave me a Herbert Lom twitch.

Basically, I now have the version of the film I watched 200* times (on a video I taped off the telly) back, minus the ad breaks and the screen/audio wobble when the Death Star explodes.

Sadly (?) the version you taped off the telly would have already had the Episode IV: A New Hope biteen on it. This was added just after Empire came out*, and Star Wars didn't make it to telly on ITV until 1982, two years later.

I only managed to tape the audio, lacking a VCR, but even that was ruined by my continually yelling at my brothers to shut up, and a failure to sync the side-changes with the ad breaks.


*IIRC some claim to have seen the retitled version as early as 1978, but there's no hard evidence of this, and Lucas denied it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 September, 2019, 02:43:42 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 September, 2019, 02:23:12 PM
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2019, 03:48:01 PM
I don't mind the extra stuff - I don't like it; no reasonable person would - but even something as innocuous as adding A NEW HOPE to the opening crawl gave me a Herbert Lom twitch.

Basically, I now have the version of the film I watched 200* times (on a video I taped off the telly) back, minus the ad breaks and the screen/audio wobble when the Death Star explodes.

Sadly (?) the version you taped off the telly would have already had the Episode IV: A New Hope biteen on it. This was added just after Empire came out*, and Star Wars didn't make it to telly on ITV until 1982, two years later.

*IIRC some claim to have seen the retitled version as early as 1978, but there's no hard evidence of this, and Lucas denied it.

That's m'boy.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 September, 2019, 03:01:31 PM
Apart from some shot/FX and numerous audio changes that occurred even between releases in 1977, the crawl was completely redone and the opening shot changed.

For the 1981 re-release, the line "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" was added to the opening crawl. While this is the most noticeable alteration, the entire opening crawl was redone. A new starfield was used, one that was made and used in The Empire Strikes Back, the "Star Wars" title is also from The Empire Strikes Back, but it fades out before the crawl starts. The crawl was reformatted for the music to stay in synchronization and the word "rebel" in "rebel spies" is capitalized, which was not capitalized in the original 1977 crawl. The Tantive IV and Star Destroyer were recomposited with finer border, removing some prominent black lines. More subtly, the lasers and engine glows were adjusted to fit and the moons are in different positions relative to the planet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 September, 2019, 03:16:06 PM

Great work, guys. This really takes me back to those bygone days, playing with my Hasbro Boba Fett action figure and his rocket-firing backpack.

May the Force be with you, all the time.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 September, 2019, 03:45:21 PM
I'll not be satisfied until the re-release of Return of the Jedi with Declan Mulholland CGI'd in for all Jabba's scenes, George you fuckin' coward!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Steve Green on 01 September, 2019, 04:17:10 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 September, 2019, 08:37:07 AM
I have Region 1 DVD's of all 3 Despecialised and these are legit. Had them awhile. Think they were released around the time the first of the prequels came out. They also have the correct soundtracks.

Those are from the Laserdisc masters I believe.

The Despecialised ones are fan efforts to restore from better sources.

I've seen a 4K one, and it's very good quality - there are 2 versions, one with a light grain removal, one without.

There was also another project with some guy actually reshooting extra scenes/miniatures for Empire - no idea what happened to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 September, 2019, 05:04:26 PM
You fucking nerds.

Quote from: Steve Green on 01 September, 2019, 04:17:10 PMThere was also another project with some guy actually reshooting extra scenes/miniatures for Empire - no idea what happened to that.

I got a Youtube rec for a review of a fan edit of The Last Jedi that seemed to be based on the idea of Luke being dead through the whole movie rather than just at the end, and apparently the guy doing it had some sort of crowdfunding whip-round and actually shot scenes with stunt performers to stand in for Luke/Ray's training sequences.  I kind of admire that fanboys turned their disappointment into something practical and productive rather than just spending their time harassing actors on social media, but tbh I also think this sounds kind of cringe-inducing and I'm convinced I must never watch it under any circumstances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 September, 2019, 09:10:50 AM
Did a couple of rewatches at the weekend, both of films I wasn't keen on in the cinema but was curious how they'd hold up on a re-appraisal.

I was pretty crushed at the missed opportunity of The Dark Tower when I first saw it, and it's still really disappointing that they didn't attempt to do any of the world-building or to adapt any of the books, but going in knowing I wasn't going to get that I enjoyed it a great deal more. Still think the casting is fantastic, and it really looks the part. There are some great sequences, seeing Roland shoot his way through the Dixie Pig really gave me a thrill this time. It's a shame it's just the bare bones of The Dark Tower, and especially after watching the extras about the making of I get the frustrating feeling that with some more meat on those bones it could have been a lot more satisfying. Even another 30mins to the runtime (it's very short for what it is) to do the world-building needed to give the whole thing weight, and to let the moments and interactions breathe, and it could have been a much better film.

I was really surprised to find myself enjoying it as much as I did though after being so crushed on a first watch, so I may have come to terms with it and accepted it for what it is. Hopefully the Amazon series will be the straight adaptation I'm after. Also, the 4K blu-ray looks and sounds absolutely stunning, one of the best I've seen so far.

And Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, which I didn't enjoy much at the time and didn't improve on a rewatch. It has some interesting ideas and the occasional great shot - I do think he does well with surreal imagery and the dream/fantasy sequences in this show the beginnings of a visual flair that would properly come out in Lords of Salem, which I know is a real Marmite movie but I like a great deal (for my sins).

I've just never found his Michael Myers a frightening presence, despite him ramping up the brutality to ridiculous degrees. It's ludicrously violent, and really mean-spirited - I know all Zombie's films are violent but this is honestly the only one that I think feels cruel like that. Even the awful things that happen in something like The Devil's Rejects are offset by a weird humour that I think makes them more cartoonish than upsetting, but in H2 it feels like he's tried to push the brutality as much as possible and it just feels mean and disturbing.

That's clearly what he was going for but it feels so far removed from Carpenter's masterful control of suspense that it just doesn't work. I do appreciate that after having a surprise hit with the first film he decided to do something so different with the sequel and put his own stamp on it, but apart from some visuals that really stick it doesn't really hang together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 September, 2019, 09:51:36 AM
Quote from: Frank on 01 September, 2019, 03:16:06 PM

Great work, guys. This really takes me back to those bygone days, playing with my Hasbro Boba Fett action figure and his rocket-firing backpack?

Naughty boy!  😂
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2019, 12:38:03 PM
Brightburn.

It's not going to win any Oscars but I enjoyed it for what it was.
It's a pretty straightforward 'what if Superman was bad?' story - shifting a bit towards the horror genre.
It doesn't really offer any surprises but it's certainly entertaining.
The nature/nurture thing isn't really explored. Brandon Breyer is just bad because he's bad (which kind of implies Clark Kent is good because he's good). I thought it would have been interesting to put him in a situation where his upbringing could possibly be blamed for his behaviour.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 02 September, 2019, 02:15:13 PM
Really? That's a shame - I think there is a lot of room in telling a story about Superman being bad despite his upbringing and because he just doesn't see why he should care for humans when all he experiences as a child is relentless bullying and intolerance.

Have you read the Cape?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 September, 2019, 02:31:33 PM
There's definitely loads of mileage in the story which isn't even touched upon. [spoiler]They don't really go into why he's crash landed on Earth but it's implied that it may be some sort of alien seeding thing and that his mission from day one was to take over the planet.[/spoiler]
I haven't read The Cape but it looks interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 September, 2019, 02:50:28 PM
Been watching an awful lot of movies to fill the void during my current stint with unemployment, from revered classic like The Long Goodbye and Night of the Hunter (masterpieces both) to pretentious wank that I still love like the Jean Rollin Vampire Cycle, but the other day I participated in a special tribute screening to Easy Rider and Henry Fonda in Chapeltown Picturehouse. It's held up stupendously, and watching it in a crowd of genuine film fans with great affection was a delight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 04 September, 2019, 02:15:18 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 02 September, 2019, 02:15:13 PM
Really? That's a shame - I think there is a lot of room in telling a story about Superman being bad despite his upbringing and because he just doesn't see why he should care for humans when all he experiences as a child is relentless bullying and intolerance.

Have you read the Cape?

Have read the original The Cape short, and really enjoyed it, particularly the ending.

Definitely has the potential for a great TV show or movie.

Managed to grab the comic bundle from Humble Bundle, and that was a purchase from about two to three years ago, but still to get around to reading them,

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 September, 2019, 12:16:32 PM
Hail Caesar
Finally caught up with this delightful bit of Coen brothers whimsy and really enjoyed it.

It's very slight; almost an exercise in how far you can coast on amusing performances from charismatic stars (and Jonah Hill) but it turns out that is pretty far.

A series of vignettes about life on a fifties movie lot, tied together by a day in the life of studio fixer Josh Brolin. Sadly a lot of the best gags were in the trailer but  it still generates good will and smiles as it progresses.

I'm off to YouTube now in the hope that there are longer versions of NO DAMES and LAZY OL' MOON out there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2019, 05:33:32 PM
It. Chapter 2

A missed opportunity in my opinion. Whilst the first one built on friendship and felt more like 'Stand By Me' this one goes back to the tropes of horror films in the 80's and goes for jump shocks, which is a shame, and a complete waste of the excellent cast.

Direction is good but a lazy script lets it down quite badly. Good opening 15 minutes, good closing 5 minutes, everything inbetween is not up to the standards of the first film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2019, 07:45:43 PM
Or, in short, [spoiler]the bullied bully the bully to death.[/spoiler]

Doesn't sit that well tbh. Unless I've read that wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 September, 2019, 10:39:15 AM
I actually really, really enjoyed It Chapter Two and think I like it a lot more than the first film. I liked Chapter One but other than one or two moments it didn't really knock my socks off. This I enjoyed whole-heartedly throughout. I didn't find it scary (but I didn't find the first film scary either - slide projector scene aside) but it works as a dark adventure romp and I did find it nailed that other tricky part of King's writing that usually gets lost in adaptations, his sense of heart and fun.

The movie legit has more (intentional) laugh out loud moments than most mainstream comedies these days, and the themes of childhood friends and memories and the things you lose as you get older sort of snuck up on my emotions so stealthily that I found myself suddenly having a bit of a bubble during one moment. It's treading similar ground to Stand By Me in some respects I suppose, and that's a side of King that I think gets ignored in a lot of movies adaptations that get hung up on the horror side of it.

Thought the casting was really inspired too, they found the perfect adult versions of their child cast, and Bill Hader in particular is magnificent in it. There's also the moment [spoiler]where it just straight up rips off The Thing, which I might have had a problem with if they hadn't done it with such brass and then owned up to immediately. As it stands I loved that moment and thought it was a great nod.[/spoiler]

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 08 September, 2019, 07:45:43 PM
Or, in short, [spoiler]the bullied bully the bully to death.[/spoiler]

Doesn't sit that well tbh. Unless I've read that wrong.

[spoiler]I can totally see how it could be read as an endorsement of retaliatory bullying, but I can't say my mind went there when watching it. Just saw some folk realizing that when you stop running from your problems they don't appear as big as you thought. It's something that I think works just as powerfully for the adult characters as it did for the kids, so I liked it a lot.[/spoiler] It's not perfect by any means, but I really enjoyed it.

We had the Sunday blues last night so spent the evening snuggled up and rewatching the movie equivalent of comfort food, big Trouble In Little China. Still very few movies with the sort of anarchic glee and fun spirit as that film, and it's still an absolute riot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't. The adult casting was brilliant, with special props to James Ransone (thanks imdb) whose extension of Jack Dylan Grazer's (ditto) amazing performance as Eddie in the first one could have been awful, but ended up a riot. Lots of comedy, which I think is how any one of us would try to deal with a situation so bizarre and horrific, and lots of the feels as well...all-in-all very good from a character standpoint. I did not like ending, especially since they edited the werewolf out of the first chapter, where the whole "it must abide by whatever form it takes" theme should've been foreshadowed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 September, 2019, 01:23:25 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
... they edited the werewolf out of the first chapter...

At least that removed any opportunity to obsess over Bev's 11-year-old breasts for the equivalent of a hundred pages or so...

I haven't seen either film, but fresh off a highly enjoyable re-read (with heavy caveats for all the underage perving) 'm keen to do so. Does Chapter 2 wrap things up completely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 02:02:49 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 September, 2019, 01:23:25 PMI haven't seen either film, but fresh off a highly enjoyable re-read (with heavy caveats for all the underage perving) 'm keen to do so. Does Chapter 2 wrap things up completely?
Yup, done and done, no hint of any sequel escape hatches.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:11:32 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't.

The Times and The Mail on Sunday both gave it two stars which I am inclined to agree with. Much preferred Chapter 1. In my opinion it's a fairly solid 3 star film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:13:06 PM
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Not that bad tbh. Obviously aimed at the 15-19 year old market but more fun than I expected. Has the habit, as most films do these days (and I'm looking at you, It Chapter 2), of going on far too long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 03:03:38 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:11:32 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 09 September, 2019, 11:06:08 AM
I enjoyed It Chaper Two a lot, but I had been led to believe by a couple of reviews that it was a five-star masterpiece, and it isn't.

The Times and The Mail on Sunday both gave it two stars which I am inclined to agree with. Much preferred Chapter 1. In my opinion it's a fairly solid 3 star film.

And yes, even I can see the mistake I made there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 September, 2019, 03:16:56 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 02:13:06 PM
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

Not that bad tbh. Obviously aimed at the 15-19 year old market

Yeah, the trailers made that clear, so I didn't bother with it.
Someone mentioned up-thread that it would be a good training-wheels horror movie, so I might get to watch it with my nephews at some stage.
They planned to watch Krampus (2015) last Christmas to pop their horror cherry, but bottled it at the last minute!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 05:37:00 PM
I quite enjoyed Krampus too (although not as much as the Inside No 9 Krampus episode).

It appears that whenever I go into a film with expectations I am often disappointed but when I am expecting nothing I find myself far more relaxed and enjoy what is presented to me.

Having said that I would be far more prepared to re-watched It Chapter 2 than Scary Stories. It, is of course, far more layered than Scary Stories which is just a straight horror story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 September, 2019, 11:56:55 PM
Stan and Ollie. Loved it. Coogan was perfect. Now I need to watch Alpha Papa again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 September, 2019, 12:48:59 AM

The Kid Who Would Be King

Caught this on a flight just now. It's a real shame it flopped and that there is seemingly absolutely no one out there championing - or even talking about - it,  as I thought it was a charming little family film that deserved to do much better. I smiled a lot throughout, and the guy who plays young Merlin is a hoot, easily the standout character and actor. It's testament to how funny and watchable he is that while Merlin's older self is sporadically played by an extremely well-loved older actor,  you actually find yourself wishing you were watching the young guy and not him.

If I have a complaint, its that the film is a good 20mins too long - there's a lengthy section in the second act that really should have been cut. There are at least one too many 'all is lost' moments, and the film as a whole seems like it would flow much better with a zippier 90-100 minute running time. Still, its a strong four out of five for me and a future cult classic for many, I expect/hope. For a 2000ad connection, I caught ex art droid Robert Bliss' name in the credits as a concept artist.

I also tried to watch Bumblebee (another recent underperforming family film) on the same flight but switched it off after 30 minutes or so. I haven't seen any of the previous Transformers films but I had heard good things about this one. Didn't really do anything for me - the script and dialogue seemed very trite and witless compared to that of The Kid Who Would Be King, and the overuse of the period pop soundtrack was a bit obnoxious. I like 80s music as much as the next person, but constantly blasting 20 seconds of a different song seemed a bit hack, and is excessive to the point where it started to get on my nerves a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 September, 2019, 01:20:10 AM
Heh, whereas Bumblebee is the only Transformers movie I've really enjoyed, I thought it was quite charming. Not a patch on TKWBK mind, which was endlessly entertaining and even surprising in places, with a great cast. I do agree though, quite a bit too long - I'd have cut a bit off the 3rd Act rather than the 2nd: but it's still a future classic in my book, deserving of a slot on the shelf between The Railway Children and Labyrinth. Deserved much better treatment, and probably a much better title too. (I've a proper review somewhere upthread).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 September, 2019, 06:35:41 PM
QuoteDeserved much better treatment, and probably a much better title too. (I've a proper review somewhere upthread).

The studio really sent it out to die, didn't they? The marketing was dreadful - even the posters sucked. And was it written into [spoiler]Patrick Stewart's[/spoiler] contract to not appear in any trailers? His appearence would be a neat surprise if you weren't expecting it (hence the spoiler tag) but it seemed odd to not even mention him in the marketing. Hope it eventually finds the audience it deserves on streaming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 September, 2019, 06:38:31 PM
Also - it has undoubtedly the coolest visual portrayal of magic (as in wizardy stuff) I've ever seen in a film. Wonder who came up with all that hand jive stuff - could watch that stuff all day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 September, 2019, 06:39:19 PM
Yet to see TKWWBK but I did love Bumblebee almost without reservation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 September, 2019, 09:20:37 PM

WTF is TKWBK?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 September, 2019, 09:36:47 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 September, 2019, 09:20:37 PM
WTF is TKWBK?

£3.49 on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kid-Who-Would-King-DVD/dp/B07NFCNLFD), £5.49 on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TADKiHYj6RE).


Quote from: TordelBack on 10 September, 2019, 01:20:10 AM
TKWBK (is) deserving of a slot on the shelf between The Railway Children and Labyrinth.

What kind of indexing system are you using?


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 September, 2019, 09:38:29 PM

There are systems?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 September, 2019, 09:41:29 PM

(And thanks for the link.)

My acronyming IWIUTB.

What happened to LOL? I miss LOL. You knew where you were with LOL. :-(

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 12 September, 2019, 08:36:19 PM
I watched Pearl Harbor many years after it got a savaging and I thought it was fucking hilarious, and don't understand why it's not elevated alongside Michael Bay's other so-ludicrous-they're-great efforts like The Rock or Con Air, and I think the same thing happened when I watched IT (2017), as I found this film indistinguishable from parody and couldn't take it seriously.  Great cast and it's unquestionably well-made, but Pennywise is shite, none of it is scary, and there's nothing I haven't seen before.
I did actually try reading the book many years ago and thought it would have made a great kids' adventure movie - apart from one scene near the end of part one where the kids try to rebuild their bond which sounds like it would be right at home in a children's movie but trust me it would not - and I think that's what they went for here, as I think younger viewers would get the most out of this, as it's all very meme-friendly and full of camp.
A rubbish horror, a passable comedy, or a decent adventure romp - take your pick, really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2019, 04:13:59 PM
BEOWULF
Take the oldest tale in the English language, do an absolutely cracking job of adapting and updating it, apply (then) cutting edge motion capture and computer animation techniques, make Grendel both shitscary and sympathetic.

And then make people think they are seeing the (then) hottest woman on the planet,and a heroically idealised version of the (then) coolest man on the planet, naked.

And throw in Brendan Gleeson and Anthony Hopkins for good measure.

My goodness this gets so much absolutely right that I can forgive the obvious sops to the gimmicky 3d, the uncanny valley, the slight slow motion feel of character movements and the really odd horse motion capture.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 September, 2019, 05:26:23 PM
In Beawulfs defence, it was the mid (early?) 2000's and as far as I can recall, the first mo-cap movie produced on this scale. The slightly rough, awkward animation isn't any more distracting to me than the now pretty poor animation on the first half a dozen Pixar films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:26:28 PM
Gaiman on the screenplay, innit? He's a posey twat, and commits many crimes against historical context, but does that boy ever know how to make old stories vital.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 September, 2019, 07:39:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:26:28 PM
Gaiman on the screenplay, innit?

Seamus Heaney had a better pitch (https://youtu.be/AaB0trCztM0), but he doesn't look as good in shades.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Not many measure up to Heaney* on any score, and certainly not to his Beowuif, despite all the controversy. It had that 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' vibe for me, along with Kinsella's Tain and Fagles' Illiad.



(*Disclosure/Brag: distant cousin).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 September, 2019, 07:55:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Beowuif

From the makers of Dogtanian.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 09:04:42 PM
Quote from: Frank on 16 September, 2019, 07:55:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Beowuif

From the makers of Dogtanian.

Hwart! Ana for eall ond eall for ana
We Great Danes are ealway ready
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 September, 2019, 09:09:35 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 09:04:42 PM
Hwart! Ana for eall ond eall for ana
We Great Danes are ealway ready

Bravo!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 September, 2019, 09:11:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 09:04:42 PM
Quote from: Frank on 16 September, 2019, 07:55:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Beowuif

From the makers of Dogtanian.

Hwart! Ana for eall ond eall for ana
We Great Danes are ealway ready
Post of the year!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 September, 2019, 09:17:58 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 09:04:42 PM
Quote from: Frank on 16 September, 2019, 07:55:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 September, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Beowuif

From the makers of Dogtanian.

Hwart! Ana for eall ond eall for ana
We Great Danes are ealway ready

Sir its taken a few posts to get you there but you've finally shown us forum perfection. We all have to stop now I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 September, 2019, 11:15:28 PM
Ha ha.

Looking back, the original thread for the movie back in 2007 was titled something like "Beowoof! Woof!". Probably a reference to some boarders finding this depiction of Grendel's mother attractive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 September, 2019, 10:23:15 AM
Ey thenk yooo.

Frank does make a clever point about Heaney's Beowulf, but as I have read neither Dumas in French nor Beowulf in Old English I don't know which is the most faithful.  But I do know that translation is always adaptation.

Daughter-instigated re-watch of the Star Wars cinematic canon commenced at the weekend. Phantom Menace remains remarkably fresh: the art design, practical builds and location work are astonishing, not equalled in any of the subsequent films, and while McGregor and Lloyd's performances are pretty far from what one might wish, the rest of the cast do a very good job chewing the ball-bearings they've been fed. Pre-Taken Neeson conveys a real sense of inner strength and conviction, and Portman is charming throughout, switching between kabuki formality and an eager openness. I timed the sole Senate scene for a laugh, it's all of 2 and a half minutes long and it's about a planetary invasion, not taxation: not quite what popular memory would have you believe.

Attack of the Clones on the other hand is a cack-handed mess, a series of disjointed sequences, some quite excellent (the arrival at Coruscant, the speeder chase, Kamino, the Clone battle, Dooku and Sidious' little chat), some dire (all of Naboo, most of Tatooine, the younglings, the droid factory, dear god the droid factory), many just boring. The awful compositing of poorly-directed Jedi extras posing aimlessly into 'scenes' in the arena is unforgiveable.  In a sub-series famed for its plot lacunae, this really takes the biscuit. We tried to puzzle out what the actual scheme of Palpatine's was that was proceeding as foreseen, and failed. 

Surprisingly it's not Reflections on Sand that is the nadir: it's Padme comforting Anakin after he admits to murdering children that is the low-point of the whole saga: "to be angry is to be human", she says - well yes, but the real trick is not butchering children with a lightsabre while you're out of sorts: at that exact moment I lost all hope of ever being invested in their toxic relationship.

On the plus side, Morrison's Jango is appropriately threatening and Lee is quite excellent, every time he speaks he lifts everything around him, even when it makes no sense: they should have ditched General Grievous entirely and given him a bigger role in RotS. I found Threepio's cheesy bon mots quite funny this time, and that opening sequence is still my favourite of the entire series.       
 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 September, 2019, 05:04:19 PM
PM has the duel of the fates, so I can't bring myself to hate it utterly, and I agree with many of your comments on Clones. Kamino in particular; Obi-Wan vs. Jango (less so the obnoxious little Boba); the whole last 20 mins. Absolutely spectacular, ground-breaking imagery in that Jedi. vs everyone hoopla. If I ever re-watch them, it certainly won't be for Annakin's narrative arc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 September, 2019, 05:46:27 PM
I remember seeing Clones in cinemas first time around aged 7, even then I thought it tiresome and overly tedious.

In retrospect Menace has generated a certain appeal over time, and most certainly isn't the poorest of the prequels, if for no other reason than the aforementioned Clones.

Not sure I agree with Tordels on General Grievous exclusion from Sith though, he was in many ways one of the highlights of that immensely flawed final part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 September, 2019, 07:21:43 PM
Grievous is cool, a great design with lovely movement, but his presence reduces Dooku's role to nothing, and I'd really have liked more Lee.

We'll pass over the fact that Hawkie outed himself as a fetus.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 September, 2019, 07:33:21 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 September, 2019, 07:21:43 PM
We'll pass over the fact that Hawkie outed himself as a fetus.
(https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/databank_rottathehuttlet_01_169_9d6f6e21.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C1560%2C878&width=960)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 September, 2019, 07:45:38 PM
I quite like Attack of the Clones - certainly more so than the other prequels. It's superficially exciting, astonishingly violent, and, whilst bits of it are like watching someone else play a video game, it also features Obi-Wan going for a drink, which is about the most human moment of the whole prequel trilogy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 September, 2019, 08:44:11 PM
Ah yes, that is a good point. Obi-Wan at the bar and at the diner are both good character bits. There's a much better movie to be had in just following Obi-Wan's story (no Naboo, no Tatooine and no goddamn droid factory).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 17 September, 2019, 09:57:42 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 September, 2019, 08:44:11 PM
There's a much better movie to be had in just following Obi-Wan's story

... in all 3 Prequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 September, 2019, 11:25:16 PM
(https://pics.me.me/hello-there-34330817.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2019, 10:56:03 PM
So last Saturday I took a trip dawn south to see a personal favorite of mine in what could be a once in a life time screening considering the legal madness the franchise is trapped in in the West.

So yeah, Macross Plus is the most under appreciated piece of science fiction to come out of the last 50 years. It's a superb meta narrative on the Macross franchise as a whole up to the point, a startlingly frank discussion on the dangers of yet inevitability of transhumanism, and just look and sounds gorgeous. This was an OVA/Movie that seriously benefited from being seen on the big screen, and as a last hurrah until Harmony Gold vanishes up it's own arse and relinquishes the life long rights, it damn near brought a tear to my eye.

(https://media.giphy.com/media/12zXoy5WOQdlJK/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 September, 2019, 10:31:49 AM
Anaconda

A really fun mid-budget 90s creature feature with an excellent cast of scenery chewers who all seem to be having a great time.
Jon Voight is hilarious - he really should have played more crazy baddies.
There are some great lines - my personal favourite is when Jonathan Hyde knocks out Voight with a golf club "Arsehole in one!"

Accoridng to IMDB the dodgy CGI cost $100,000 a second!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 20 September, 2019, 11:06:35 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 September, 2019, 10:31:49 AM


Accoridng to IMDB the dodgy CGI cost $100,000 a second!

Sweet Jesus.

The Jon Voight performance is one for the ages. Amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 September, 2019, 02:29:32 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 September, 2019, 11:25:16 PM
(https://pics.me.me/hello-there-34330817.png)

Stared at this a lot. I really don't get it. Man, I feel old.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 September, 2019, 05:38:09 PM
I still down get it???
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 September, 2019, 07:31:27 PM
The "Hello There" scene has become something of a long running meme on social media, it's generally just mixed in with anything random for the sake of nonsense humor.

My standards of comedy must really have slipped recently!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 September, 2019, 10:04:08 AM
Detective Pikachu.  What a bizarre film. The Pokemon themselves are beautifully realised, and some (some) of the scenes of them bustling along through the streets and skies of Ryme City are magical (in other later scenes the budget seems to have mandated that they were all elsewhere, and Ryme City appears to just be London): so on that score you get what you came for. The human cast is just about okay on a Transformers/TMNT scale, with Chris Geere a disturbingly spot-on Milo Yiannopolous clone, and Bill Nighy continually looking like he's about to doze off, as usual. The ostensible plot is daft but quite fun, there are some nice action set pieces, the villain-swap is obvious from the beginning, but what were you expecting.

However there is one enormous, extraordinary problem: Detective Pikachu himself.  He's an adorable-looking chap, and Ryan Reynold's All-Ages Deadpool schtick isn't the worst thing ever, and certainly the best performance in the movie. The problem is that MASSIVE SPOILER IF YOU CARE AT ALL [spoiler]the character doesn't actually exist: it's just Justice Smith's amnesiac father Ryan Reynolds' mind in Pikachu's body. So after following this cute caffeine-raddled talking Pokemon through the whole film (and potentially the game too, as my daughter had) he gets split back into ordinary Ryan Reynolds and a bog-standard Pikachu whose original personality we never see. That's right, there is no Detective Pikachu in Detective Pikachu. This concept might fly in the vastly superior Kubo and the Two Strings, but here it just feels like a cruel con job.  In fairness to Reynolds, he has the decency to look utterly mortified by this outcome.[/spoiler]

Anyway, if you can get past this betrayal, there are some very pretty effects, and it passes the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 September, 2019, 10:15:21 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 09 September, 2019, 05:37:00 PM
It appears that whenever I go into a film with expectations I am often disappointed but when I am expecting nothing I find myself far more relaxed and enjoy what is presented to me.


I know that - I try to go into films adapted from other works with which I'm familiar with low expectations.  In this way I enjoyed Tank Girl.  I'd have enjoyed a film more closely based on the comic more, but watching it without expecting it to be in any way good helped.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 22 September, 2019, 10:17:45 AM
For me, the trend is I'll watch a movie that everyone hated and then think it's decent because my expectations were lowered. As will hopefully be the case when I see Ad Astra today...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 September, 2019, 10:27:58 AM
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).  I really must be getting cynical in my old age, because I didn't think this was great either. Yes, the stellar cast is almost unbelievably good, yes, the sombre music and grimily dressed (although surprisingly unsmoky) 70's rooms are atmospheric, the washed-out panoramas of London, Budapest and Istanbul are evocative.  The sole action sequence is tense to a fault.

But at some level the story just doesn't amount to anything much in this very compressed format: it's hard to engage with the core who-is-the-mole problem when we don't really know anything about the main players. That we learn far more about the more active side characters, like Ricky Tarr and Jim Prideaux, than we do about Smiley's suspects seems unfortunate. For example, I struggle to recall a single thing about Ciarán Hind's appropriately named Bland. As a result I didn't really engage with the revelation and resolution as much as I wanted to. I enjoyed Oldman's frowning, I greatly enjoyed Kathy Burke poshing it up, I liked Tom Hardy's broken menace and Mark Strong's rather fey schoolteacher turn.  I wanted to enjoy Toby Jones (I always do) but never really got a chance. And I did admire the restraint in the interrogation scenes. 

But overall a bit of a non-event.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2019, 11:04:13 AM
More like TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SHIT  then?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2019, 11:16:39 AM
Fortunately, the original BBC Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy with the irreplaceable Alec Guinness just got a blu-ray release, so thats reminded me to nab that masterpiece!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 22 September, 2019, 11:56:51 AM
Just back from Ad Astra, nearly fell asleep twice!! Exceptional looking film I'm no scientist but I don't think some of the space science adds up to well.  The previews sell it as something different than what it is though.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 22 September, 2019, 04:51:03 PM
Ah, I really enjoyed Ad Astra. Got a bit bored during the climax but the first hour flew by. I thought it a very good, if not quite great, film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 September, 2019, 05:02:54 PM
So for anyone whom liked Downton Abbey the series, the movie is more of the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 September, 2019, 09:08:27 AM
Really enjoyed Ad Astra, but I'm very partial to big scope sci-fi with that kind of languid pace. I love that kind of ponderous space stuff (and it looks and sounds particularly great) which is why Steven Soderbergh's criminally underrated Solaris is one of my go-to rainy Sunday movies. I didn't like this as much as that, but it'll fill some of those rainy Sunday slots for sure. Also found parts of it hit me on a very personal level so I had a bit of an emotional experience with it. Can see why people wouldn't like it, but it very much connected for me.

Also found out at the weekend that I've spent most of my life living a lie - I've always been certain that I've seen When Harry Met Sally, but my wife hadn't so she picked it for a watch and turns out I hadn't seen it either. I guess it's just one of those movies you see clips from so often and references to that it just feels familiar, it's dug in the public consciousness in that way so I just assumed I'd watched it.

Anyway, it's brilliant and one of the best relationship movies I've ever seen, so it's place in movie history is definitely warranted. Glad to have finally (actually) seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 23 September, 2019, 11:26:14 AM
Enjoyed Ad Astra as well. The last hour the pacing felt little bit slow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 September, 2019, 12:02:09 PM
The Princess Bride.  Nah, apparently I've not become as not as cynical as I feared, because this was still absolutely ace.  Everyone here enjoyed every bit of it, yet again, and there isn't a dud line or a flabby performance in the thing; every relationship is believable, every motivation clear. Count Rugen may be the greatest villain in cinema, Christopher Guest is mesmerising the whole time he's on the screen (although not quite so distracting as the McMahon t-shirt). And goodness, Andre the Giant really was immense.

It's instructive to compare Princess Bride with the superficially-similar storybook fantasy Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves from only a few years later.  Despite another great villain performance from Rickman, and the dawn of the age of Ubiquitous Freeman, that one is now virtually unwatchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 23 September, 2019, 12:40:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2019, 11:04:13 AM
More like TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SHIT  then?

I really liked this at the cinema but it does come with a serious health warning. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the TV series say that they enjoyed it. There are clearly problems with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 23 September, 2019, 01:55:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2019, 11:16:39 AM
Fortunately, the original BBC Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy with the irreplaceable Alec Guinness just got a blu-ray release, so thats reminded me to nab that masterpiece!

BBC have also announced Edge Of Darkness on Blu-Ray as well, so I think I shall add both to my Christmas list.

Just great TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 23 September, 2019, 02:14:12 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 23 September, 2019, 12:40:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2019, 11:04:13 AM
More like TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SHIT  then?

I really liked this at the cinema but it does come with a serious health warning. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the TV series say that they enjoyed it. There are clearly problems with it.
I would like to break that duck for you. Neither read nor seen the BBC version, but I'm riveted by every second of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 September, 2019, 02:32:44 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 23 September, 2019, 12:40:06 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2019, 11:04:13 AM
More like TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SHIT  then?

I really liked this at the cinema but it does come with a serious health warning. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the TV series say that they enjoyed it. There are clearly problems with it.

Yup, I tried to put my (fairly distant) memories of the TV series aside watching it, and while I thought it did a good job of making the plot clear, I felt that it ended up being a character-driven thriller that lacked the requisite characters, largely due to its compression into 2 hours rather than any fault in the performances. There's no real surprise in [spoiler]Haydon being the Kim Philby stand-in[/spoiler], because he's essentially the only mole-candidate who gets to do anything, or have any real relationships with the other characters. Even so has to more-or-less talk directly to the audience at the end to tell us what his supposed motivations are, and we don't even have any basis to judge whether he's telling the truth.

Being a bit more charitable, there is an interesting hint ([spoiler]in this version) that Smiley orchestrated his and Control's removal so that he could be placed outside the leaky Circus in order to winkle out the mole, embarrass his rivals and then ascend to command.  His awareness of Karla's identification of his own weakness concerning Ann may given him the clues as far back as the Christmas Party, and he's playing a sort of treble-bluff around Prideaux's capture, but I really had to scrabble around to come up with that.
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 24 September, 2019, 12:47:15 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 23 September, 2019, 02:14:12 PM
[I really liked this at the cinema but it does come with a serious health warning. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the TV series say that they enjoyed it. There are clearly problems with it.
I would like to break that duck for you. Neither read nor seen the BBC version, but I'm riveted by every second of the film.
[/quote]

Ditto, though recognise the flaws previously highlighted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 24 September, 2019, 01:09:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 September, 2019, 12:02:09 PM
The Princess Bride.  Nah, apparently I've not become as not as cynical as I feared, because this was still absolutely ace.  Everyone here enjoyed every bit of it, yet again, and there isn't a dud line or a flabby performance in the thing; every relationship is believable, every motivation clear.


Good news, everybody!  In case you've missed it, they are working on a remake (more technically accurate, a new adaptation of the book).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 24 September, 2019, 01:48:19 PM
Sheridan - how on earth could that be considered good news? The mere thought is incontheiveable!

The Princess Bride is a film that should not be messed with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 24 September, 2019, 02:09:01 PM
Bolt is correct. Why remake Princess Bride ?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2019, 02:39:20 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 24 September, 2019, 02:09:01 PM
Why remake Princess Bride ?

Hollywood's general creative bankruptcy?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 September, 2019, 02:59:11 PM
Well, yes, but a new adaptation of the book is not quite the same thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 September, 2019, 03:27:05 PM
I think he was being sarcastic. And like Prof. Farnsworth, good news is never that.

It will be billed as a remake - same as DREDD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 08:24:43 PM
Okay I've never watched Princess Bride because the premise - a fairytale romcom -just didn't appeal.

However, given the lavish praise I've read about it here, I decided I must give it a go.

I lasted halfway. Hammy acting, cheap effects and I really didn't care one iota about any of these unrealistic cardboard characters. I felt like the kid at the start: "is this a kissy book? When's it gonna get good?", but unlike him, I was not won over.

I guess that's the problem with "cult" movies - if you're not part of the cult, they're just crap.

Princess Shite more like
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 September, 2019, 08:33:55 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 08:24:43 PM
Okay I've never watched Princess Bride because the premise - a fairytale romcom -just didn't appeal.

However, given the lavish praise I've read about it here, I decided I must give it a go.

I lasted halfway. Hammy acting, cheap effects and I really didn't care one iota about any of these unrealistic cardboard characters. I felt like the kid at the start: "is this a kissy book? When's it gonna get good?", but unlike him, I was not won over.

I guess that's the problem with "cult" movies - if you're not part of the cult, they're just crap.

Princess Shite more like

S'right
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2019, 09:06:01 PM
I would not say such things if I were you! All these years and I've never used the Block function... and now twice in one day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2019, 09:10:37 PM

My name is Inigo Montoya, you dissed my film, prepare to die!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 September, 2019, 09:24:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 08:24:43 PM
Princess Shite more like

INCONCEIVABLE!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 10:01:36 PM
I really don't get it. I assumed as you guys aren't all pre-teen girls that there would be some subtext, knowing adult jokes or subversion of the genre, but all it reminded me of was a Mills and Boon novel crossed with all the awful pantomimes I was dragged to as a kid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2019, 10:29:19 PM
I thought that too when I first watched it when it came out on video. I turned to my brother with that sinking feeling of being conned out of my money and said "what is this kiddie crap and why is Columbo in it". Ten minutes later I was in love. On learning it was back in the cinema that same year, my mates and I went to see it every Friday after school for a month. It's what we had wanted every game of D&D to be, but they somehow never were.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 25 September, 2019, 01:46:29 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 September, 2019, 03:27:05 PM
I think he was being sarcastic. And like Prof. Farnsworth, good news is never that.

It will be billed as a remake - same as DREDD.

I was indeed being sarcastic.

I also said it'd technically be a new adaptation of the book.  But then Tim Burton said that about his Planet of the Apes, and it was much more a remake of Planet of the Apes than it was Monkey Planet (by Pierre Boulet).

I probably spelled Pierre's surname incorrectly.  Also, I prefer both films to the book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 September, 2019, 01:54:38 AM
QuoteI assumed... that there would be some subtext, knowing adult jokes or subversion of the genre

You.... did watch the film, right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 September, 2019, 07:07:28 AM
I openly weep for those once respected peers. To have such a cold dead heart as to not love The Princess Bride makes me weep, weep big dripping man tears for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 September, 2019, 08:34:55 AM
The ending (final assault on the castle) IS a bit flat though. Played relatively straight (from what I recall) and as a result all of the OTT staging and acting seems just that without gags to support it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 25 September, 2019, 09:11:32 AM
I was lucky enough to watch Princess Bride as part of a school film festival a couple of years ago. It remains to this day the best cinema experience I've 'ever' had. The 8-10 year olds were utterly engrossed in the story and exclaimed in all the right bits. This is from a film that is around 30 years old, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 September, 2019, 09:20:17 AM
Quote from: radiator on 25 September, 2019, 01:54:38 AM
QuoteI assumed... that there would be some subtext, knowing adult jokes or subversion of the genre

You.... did watch the film, right?

I don't know someone could watch the sword-fights, in particular, and not see that it is both a high watermark for the genre and a brilliant parody of it.

Horses for courses, I suppose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2019, 02:07:37 PM
The Princess Bride is the perfect mawiiage of the high fantasy and satire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 25 September, 2019, 02:27:51 PM
I won't begrudge your opinions but I will say I've never seen anything so wrong on the entirety of this board, and I keep up with the political thread.

The book is also great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 September, 2019, 02:34:35 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 08:24:43 PM
Princess Shite more like
(https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpersephonemagazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F01%2Fmal-speechless.gif&f=1&nofb=1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 September, 2019, 03:59:07 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 25 September, 2019, 09:11:32 AMThe 8-10 year olds were utterly engrossed in the story and exclaimed in all the right bits.

Oh I would have probably loved it at that age, and would probably still love it if I had that early attachment, but seeing it the first time as a middle aged dude in 2019, it came across as ... well, a children's movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 29 September, 2019, 04:30:54 AM
On Netflix now In the Shadow of the Moon. It is about a serial killer that appears every 9 years. This is a interesting story with a interesting twist
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 September, 2019, 08:19:55 PM
Aquaman. I had lots of negative things to say about this film when I saw it in the cinema, but a home viewing proved me wrong: it's really very good fun, and the level of visual invention is impressive.

Originally I was put off by the last half hour, which just throws one thing after another at you (the Trench, the Hidden Sea, the kaiju-thing, the Brine..), but being aware of how it all fits together the spectacle is a lot more enjoyable. To my chagrin an early bit of exposition sets all this out quiteam clearly, but it went completely over my head first time out.

Lots of silliness, but no worse for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 September, 2019, 10:54:55 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 September, 2019, 09:24:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 September, 2019, 08:24:43 PM
Princess Shite more like

INCONCEIVABLE!

You have to admit it's a clever twist on the title though  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 September, 2019, 09:33:55 AM
Watched a cheap and cheerful monster movie called Boar on Shudder at the weekend, the monster in question obviously being a massive boar. In that regard it obviously draws Razorback comparisons, but it's a lot brighter and more fun, has some fun (and funny) creature effects mixed in with some ropey CG, and you do get to see that massive guy from Fury Road (I had a little baby brotha!) face off against a huge pig. I enjoyed it!

Also I mentioned to a friend who knows my taste really well that I hadn't ever watched Contact, and he insisted I should because I'd love it. He was right! Thought it was fantastic, and obviously some of the effect stand out as a bit dated now but other than that it holds up brilliantly. Was utterly engrossed throughout, can't believe I haven't seen it sooner really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 30 September, 2019, 09:46:43 AM
Detective Pikachu. I love me some Pokemon, so I liked this probably more than objectively appropriate, but man, they nailed it. Putting Ryan Reynolds in that electrified sack of yellow fur was genius. A lead character who doesn't want anything to do with Pokemon? Sounds insane but grounds the whole thing perfectly. The plot could and should have been better, but even that didn't bother me. One sequel to go please.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 September, 2019, 12:26:36 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 September, 2019, 09:33:55 AM
Watched a cheap and cheerful monster movie called Boar on Shudder at the weekend...

The most important thing here is that there's a channel called SHUDDER (bold and italics mine) - that's just great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 September, 2019, 12:29:11 PM
Contact is wonderful - and contains probably my all time favourite opening sequence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 30 September, 2019, 02:06:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 September, 2019, 12:29:11 PM
Contact is wonderful - and contains probably my all time favourite opening sequence.
Yes, wonderful film. Only the political maneuverings at the end, with capital being made that somehow the industrialist dreamed up all this amazing technology just to prank everyone, feels forced.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 September, 2019, 02:31:11 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 September, 2019, 12:29:11 PM
Contact is wonderful - and contains probably my all time favourite opening sequence.
I feel the same Sharky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 September, 2019, 03:34:00 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 30 September, 2019, 12:26:36 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 September, 2019, 09:33:55 AM
Watched a cheap and cheerful monster movie called Boar on Shudder at the weekend...

The most important thing here is that there's a channel called SHUDDER (bold and italics mine) - that's just great.

Ha, it's good! It's a subscription service, sort of a horror Netflix. They have some good stuff (they're putting out weekly episodes of a rebooted Creepshow at the moment which is great).

I mainly signed up because a film I saw at a fest a couple of years ago finally got a release exclusively on Shudder and I was desperate to see it again - Tigers Are Not Afraid, an absolutely incredible film that has had me in tears with every watch! More of a Del Toro style creepy fairy tale than a horror though so a shame Shudder is the only place anyone can see it when it would be loved by a lot of folk who don't like horror.

Quote from: von Boom on 30 September, 2019, 02:31:11 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 September, 2019, 12:29:11 PM
Contact is wonderful - and contains probably my all time favourite opening sequence.
I feel the same Sharky.

The opening is indeed brilliant, such a perfect way to begin that story and pull you right into it immediately. Really sets you up for the vastness of the themes it's going to be dealing with too. Already looking forward to another watch sometime soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 September, 2019, 04:12:39 PM

I love Contact's exploration of belief and how it effects us in opposition to reason, and how a balance of the two most desirable. JMS put it more bluntly in B5's, "Faith and reason are the shoes on our feet, we can get further with two than just one."

Also, Jodie Foster is very hot att... app... good in the role.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 01 October, 2019, 11:02:13 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 29 September, 2019, 10:54:55 PM
You have to admit it's a clever twist on the title though  :D

I don't think that word means what you think it means (:D)

Rewatching Dredd as I'm sure all of us do from time to time. Always something I pick up on each time that makes me appreciate just how great it is.

"12 serious crimes reported every minute, 17000 every day. We can respond to about 6%."
"Which 6%?"
"Your show Rookie. You decide."

A tiny bit of dialogue that really sells how stretched the Judges are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 October, 2019, 02:25:05 PM
Rambo Tier:

First Blood*
Rambo ('08)
Last Blood
First Blood Part II
Rambo III

*Glad this is getting a resurgence in popularity in recent years, it's a genuinely brilliantly slick, low tier action movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 October, 2019, 03:52:06 PM
Rambo 3 below Rambo 2008?  INCONCEIVABLE.

Rambo 3 was a bullshit movie at the time, but the intervening years have given it a sheen it didn't have before, thanks to a central premise wherein a Vietnam veteran aids insurgents in a proxy war between the Cold War superpowers being a great critique of American exceptionalism.  What was grisly onscreen gore at the time is also now an overt examination of the consequences of violence, while the macho dialogue now takes on a different meaning - all the talk of "God would forgive - he won't!" just sounds like someone describing PTSD symptoms, and makes Rambo 3 probably the only other movie apart from First Blood to explore the idea that while Rambo may be the protagonist, he's actually kind of frightening and broken.

GAME NIGHT - mumblecore comedy about a competitive couple who get caught up in a real kidnapping during a fake kidnapping.  The leads are good, but it's more goofy than outright funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 October, 2019, 06:15:34 PM
Plus Rambo III gets extra points for the giant Spetznatz kill; simultaneously exploded and hung.

I haven't watched 2008 for in an age so while it gets props for the themes of the cyclical nature of violence (particularly like the use of the bomb from a war long gone), it's a hard watch because there is too much slaughter  of innocents at the beginning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 01 October, 2019, 06:59:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.

Vile film. All Mexicans are rapists, traffickers and generally nasty people.

Build the wall!

Horrible film and a stain on the name of 'First Blood' which was the exact opposite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 October, 2019, 07:23:37 PM
The Reef
I've been partial to a shark movie ever since the summer of '75 when a copy of JAWS did the rounds at our school with all the dirty parts earmarked.

I mean, if I was ever eaten by a shark, you could genuinely say "It's what he would have wanted!"

I'm trying to think of a creature that has had more movies made about it which also fit in different sub genres (survival, horror, action, monster movie, adventure). Very versatile as 100 million years of evolution does for you.

I'd started watching THE MEG  when I was on holiday but only got forty minutes in before giving up.

But this, presumably low budget, Aussie film does the job. It favours suspense and tension over shocks and gore but keeps you on the edge of the seat for it's short 85 minute running time.

The shark is cleverly realised by pasting real shark footage into the same frame as the victims.

If I had to complain, they don't really give you enough character to care too much about; sure you sympathise with their plight but you aren't exactly rooting for them... more hoping for them. And they are just victims, this is a survival movie so doesn't have the cod heroics of, say The Shallows.

And if the dilemma the characters find themselves in is a metaphor for relationships, then the writer/director must have been dealt a shitty hand.

But overall, I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 07:27:51 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 October, 2019, 06:59:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.

Vile film. All Mexicans are rapists, traffickers and generally nasty people.

Build the wall!

Horrible film and a stain on the name of 'First Blood' which was the exact opposite.

I don't want to get into an argument about the moral standing of a Rambo film but I think this is a bit unfair. The aunt, daughter and journalist are all major characters and aren't depicted as nasty people. Other than that, it's pretty explicit that we're dealing with a gang of criminals rather than average Mexicans going about their business. It's like saying John Wick makes all Russians look like killers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 08:00:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 07:27:51 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 October, 2019, 06:59:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.

Vile film. All Mexicans are rapists, traffickers and generally nasty people.

Build the wall!

Horrible film and a stain on the name of 'First Blood' which was the exact opposite.

I don't want to get into an argument about the moral standing of a Rambo film but I think this is a bit unfair. The aunt, daughter and journalist are all major characters and aren't depicted as nasty people. Other than that, it's pretty explicit that we're dealing with a gang of criminals rather than average Mexicans going about their business. It's like saying John Wick makes all Russians look like killers.

Thinking about it some more, I've changed my mind.
I've realised there's not actually any reason for the baddies to be Mexican at all. All the bits where they go over the boarder, they could have just been going to the nearest city. The gang members could have been anybody.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 October, 2019, 08:35:20 PM
No reason for the villains in the 2008 movie to be Asians, either.  I find it charming that the most fondly-remembered antagonists in the series are cops and the US government's treatment of veterans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 October, 2019, 08:49:14 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 08:00:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 07:27:51 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 October, 2019, 06:59:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.

Vile film. All Mexicans are rapists, traffickers and generally nasty people.

Build the wall!

Horrible film and a stain on the name of 'First Blood' which was the exact opposite.

I don't want to get into an argument about the moral standing of a Rambo film but I think this is a bit unfair. The aunt, daughter and journalist are all major characters and aren't depicted as nasty people. Other than that, it's pretty explicit that we're dealing with a gang of criminals rather than average Mexicans going about their business. It's like saying John Wick makes all Russians look like killers.

Thinking about it some more, I've changed my mind.
I've realised there's not actually any reason for the baddies to be Mexican at all. All the bits where they go over the boarder, they could have just been going to the nearest city. The gang members could have been anybody.

For me at least it seemed the filmmakers were going out of their way to portray the Mexicans as nasty, vile people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 October, 2019, 10:43:10 AM
Given that the US's biggest problem with criminals and terrorism is via their own charming white supremacists, surely a more daring and accurate Rambo film should have been set on their own soil?

But you know, Hollywood - there's a lot of money in demonising the 'other'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 October, 2019, 12:19:00 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 08:00:28 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 07:27:51 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 01 October, 2019, 06:59:42 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 01 October, 2019, 11:24:17 AM
Rambo: Last Blood

You could write the plot on the back of a postage stamp and at times it feels like a straight to video Steven Segal film or something.
An hour and a half flew by though, and if all you're after is to see Rambo fucking up some baddies it's good fun.
Not as good as the last Rambo but better than III and probably better than II.

Vile film. All Mexicans are rapists, traffickers and generally nasty people.

Build the wall!

Horrible film and a stain on the name of 'First Blood' which was the exact opposite.

I don't want to get into an argument about the moral standing of a Rambo film but I think this is a bit unfair. The aunt, daughter and journalist are all major characters and aren't depicted as nasty people. Other than that, it's pretty explicit that we're dealing with a gang of criminals rather than average Mexicans going about their business. It's like saying John Wick makes all Russians look like killers.

Thinking about it some more, I've changed my mind.


Not something you hear very often and I applaud you for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 October, 2019, 09:14:32 PM
Thanks mate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 October, 2019, 12:37:32 PM
Terminator: Salvation.  The Boy is working his way through the Terminator flicks, and last night we reached this one, which I don't think I'd ever seen all of. It's different enough from the rest to be mildly interesting. Sam Worthington's Marcus character is an enjoyable addition to the story, poor Anton Yelchin's Kyle Reese isn't too bad, but for my money Bale's John Connor is awful - very hard to connect this person with any of the previous versions. And the less said about Bryce Dallas Howard's somnolent Kate the better: ouch. And then somewhere below even that level of shit casting there's Michael Ironside as the leader of the global resistance, presumably only because Lance Henrikson had already been killed in the first one.

I quite liked some of designs for the various silly robot things, and the Arnie CGI is actually surprisingly solid, and not over-used - however my wife was disappointed he didn't appear to have a digi-wang, which I can understand. 

Ultimately though the movie falls flat for me because Skynet is so utterly shit - and not just because it's personified by a lost-looking HBC (although partly that).  Nowhere looks like its actually been nuked during Judgment Day (although there are little fires burning everywhere, no idea how or why), just sort of depopulated - most scenes look largely the same as the desert sequences in T2 and T3. Far from the hard-pressed urban guerillas minutes from extinction that we've been shown before, this time the Resistance is more like Operation Desert Storm, camped out in the open desert with hangars full of tank-busting fighters and (for some reason) a full suite of heart transplant equipment.

The super-intelligent global defence network with an army of unstoppable killing machines seems unable to do anything whatsoever about this, except hang around in a(nother) giant factory waiting to be attacked (despite T3 establishing that Skynet was a distributed system and there was no 'base' or 'core' to destroy - which turns out to be the case at the very end, despite everyone carrying on as if this was going to sort it all out). Skynet is so bloody thick that despite somehow knowing that Kyle Reese is a critical piece in the equation, it sticks him in a cell rather than killing him immediately, and thereby winning the war. John Connors' sole role in all this appears to be ensuring that John Connor continues to exist: that Marcus' story is by far the more interesting of the two strands is a big problem.

But look, it is a bit of a departure from the previous two (essentially remakes of the first one), and there's some good effects and action sequences. And when we watch Terminator: Genisys, this one is going to look like a bloody masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 October, 2019, 04:32:08 PM
McG really only makes dumb romps and Salvation was slightly hamstrung by its generally serious tone, but I liked it as a post-nuclear knockabout in the vein of 1980s straight-to-video trash like America 3000 or Steel Frontier.

Speaking of low expectations, most Youtube short movies I watch usually don't amount to much and are just a director's demo reel that for some reason they've advertised as a proper film, but there are the odd exceptions and Where Blood Lies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okugKk7xYtM) is one of those, coming complete with a beginning, middle and end - admittedly a low bar, but it's also not one that a lot of short movies tend to reach.  It's worth a look, though as it has Nazis and vampires in it and will only take 10 minutes of your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 October, 2019, 04:35:55 PM
I'm always amazed at the number of widely regarded fan movies on YouTube that are just fights. So I'll give that one a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 October, 2019, 08:10:38 PM
It would be nice if more creators concentrated on setup and payoff rather than just the flashy bangs, but I don't imagine it's easy to get all the parts in place to make a movie from the volunteer work of people on different continents, so I don't really blame creators for concentrating on the one stretch of the story that might get them work if the right person sees it.

Sci-fi writer Marc Scott Zicree has been trying to make a movie like this, but it's taken him the better part of a decade and only in the last few years when he turned to crowdfunding did it actually start to come together.  The first hour is up on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLFSXgVDLtA), and is worth watching for the back projection (https://youtu.be/eLFSXgVDLtA?t=305) on the car driving sequence, about which we will say only nice things because everyone did their best.  I guess it's also worth a gander to play spot-the-sci-fi-convention regulars - Robert Picardo is clearly not done playing space doctor just yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 05 October, 2019, 09:53:03 PM
Thief by Michael Mann. This one took me a bit by surprise. Starts out as near procedure on how to get a safe open only to focus on the main character Frank, a theif. Has a genuinely moving scene in which he confesses a thing or two about himself... I'll just leave it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBYhb49Hfw8

I was very fascinated where the story ended up. The pain he dealt with, the consequences of those coping mechanisms. Couldn't stop thinking about it for a week.

Only thing I wish was better was some of the editing. Felt a bit hasty at times. But in a way it fit the film due to the nature of James Caan's portrayal of Frank.

An easy film to recommend. I think especially if someone likes HEAT or DRIVE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 October, 2019, 08:38:08 PM

Hustlers

Lightweight but solidly entertaining 'true life' crime drama about down on their luck strippers ripping off bankers in post credit crunch Manhattan. I can imagine someone watching this on Netflix and being underwhelmed, as its really a fluffy, loud and brash popcorn kind of a film purely designed to be seen with an audience.

While I would have liked the script to delve a little deeper into its characters (it's fairly light on character development and its supporting characters are really little more than loose sketches) I'd say it succeeds at what it sets out to do and I had a good time with it. The two lead actors (including a standout performance by - I can't quite believe I'm typing this - Jennifer Lopez) are very strong and elevate the material even when the script is a bit wobbly and on the nose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 October, 2019, 09:52:38 PM
Mrs Tips was out on a hen so me and Student Tips snuck in KONG: SKULL ISLAND.

Still better than it has any right to be and the monster action is short but very sweet. Two hours flies by.


I think the fact it isn't a Kong/Ann Darrow "beauty and the beast" means they have to find a new theme. And what do warriors do when war hasn't worked out for them and is ending fits the bill nicely. I still wish Toby Kebble mad it to the end intact though. I was really rooting for him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 October, 2019, 09:31:12 AM
"Still better than it has any right to be"

I see this term an awful lot these days. It seems like a very back-handed compliment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2019, 09:46:42 AM
Joker, which I mostly enjoyed in the moment but the things I didn't like have eaten away at my enthusiasm a bit the more I've thought about it. It's definitely an interesting film with an amazing performance, I'm just not sure if the surrounding film is everything it's cracked up to be.

Definitely didn't think it was bad though (I've tried to articulate a bit more of how I feel about it in the Joker thread).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 October, 2019, 10:38:39 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 07 October, 2019, 09:31:12 AM
"Still better than it has any right to be"

I see this term an awful lot these days. It seems like a very back-handed compliment.

I didn't mean it as such. Perhaps "better than the film I expected it to be" is what I should have said.

It was a film for me that a) came out of nowhere as I had missed any marketing hype b) when I did see a trailer it didn't look anything like classic Kong story I was familiar with c) had scope to be Transformers all flash effects and no substance

It certainly tops all of those. But there is always a bit of surprise when a monster movie has a theme over and above wondering for what the monster is a metaphor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 October, 2019, 11:19:04 AM
Skull Island is great fun, a genuinely engaging monster movie, and even if Hiddleston and Larson are a bit flat the rest of the human cast more than makes up for it. Kong himself is a joy.

While not wanting to derail the thread again, we're trudging on with daughter-mandated SW rewatch.  Against my better judgement we watched Revenge of the Sith over three nights last week. Watching in little chunks allowed me to enjoy it a lot more than I have recently - there's so much good stuff in there that (for me) is overshadowed by the awful, awful last 10 minutes, that it was nice to be able to reflect on the good bits without the foul aftertaste that comes with sitting through the whole thing. While I've given out at length about the terribly fumbled turn to the Dark Side, it's set within such a powerful sequence that I may have to forgive it. I also really enjoyed the visual feasts of Coruscant, Utapau and Mustafar as backdrops. The latter in particular is a work of art that I may not really have appreciated before - it's hard to believe that it's all (mostly) one vast shooting miniature with rivers of orange goo flowing through it, composited with realworld eruption footage. Anyway, not as hopeless as I remembered: next time I'll just switch it off as soon as Yoda wakes up from his meditation on Polis Massa and all may be well.   

This was followed by Solo, which went down in one barely noticeable bite yesterday evening.  Now there's a film that's 'better than it has any right to be'. Shorn of any expectations after many viewings, I really loved it. Yes, it's very silly (the Imperial March being the Imperial March in particular!), yes there are many inexplicable turns (why does Beckett suddenly think he can get away from Crimson Dawn at the end, when before it was unthinkable? How is a trainload of Coaxium equal in value to two Wookiee-portable cannisters? How (never mind why) did that Star Destroyer get there so quickly when the whole point of the Kessel Run in this film is how long it takes? How is everyone in these Disney films a genius mechanic?), but it's so relentlessly good-humoured and commendably brisk that I don't really care. I'd pay good money to see more of this kind of thing.

I have a bit of a theory that in earlier versions Qi'ra may have secretly been in league with Enfys Nest (which might explain how Enfys knows about the train heist, and why Qi'ra suggests Savareen in particular for processing the coaxium): it certainly feels there was meant to be a good bit more to the reveal of Enfys than we got.  In fact, one of this film's combined strengths and weaknesses is that it keeps introducing cool new characters and then moving on or disposing of them almost immediately (Moloch, Lady Proxima, Rio, Val, L3) - only Beckett really gets a decent crack at the whip (in this film we have a Beckett, a 'Ciara' and an  Eamonn - did Lucasfilm spend too long in Ireland?). 

Anyway, despite having all the makings of an unasked-for cash grab, this was a genuinely enjoyable watch, and the biggest question I had at the end is when did Emilia Clarke become such a solid actor?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 October, 2019, 11:35:09 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 October, 2019, 11:19:04 AM
I also really enjoyed the visual feasts of Coruscant, Utapau and Mustafar as backdrops. The latter in particular is a work of art that I may not really have appreciated before - it's hard to believe that it's all (mostly) one vast shooting miniature with rivers of orange goo flowing through it, composited with realworld eruption footage.

I had no idea! Just watched a video about that scene. Pretty amazing, those prequels get a bad rap for being CG-fests but there's some amazing model and miniature work going on amongst it all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 October, 2019, 09:52:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 12:29:39 PM
Persevere with Cloud Atlas - I really liked it.

It isn't really convoluted. If you haven't already clicked already, the tales are nested. e.g. The South Sea voyage is
a book being read in the tale of the musicians/gay lovers which is the letters being read in 70s San Francisco by Halle Berry which is a pulp novel being published by... etc.

They behaviours in one tale often relfect into the other tales - Tom Hanks has the most obvious (and lovely) character journey

Necroquoting myself... this was the other movie I watched while Mrs. Tips was away. Still great stuff with a simple and beautiful philosophy at the heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 October, 2019, 09:03:56 AM
Saw Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo on the big screen last night and it was quite the experience. One of those movies you can't quite believe exists, you constantly have to remind yourself it's not a weird cheese-induced fever dream or something.

Hard to pick a highlight, but the gang fight is pretty special - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsaA903oxvc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsaA903oxvc)

I haven't seen Breakin' 1 but managed to follow the plot anyway because I'm dead smart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 08 October, 2019, 10:20:04 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 October, 2019, 11:19:04 AM
the biggest question I had at the end is when did Emilia Clarke become such a solid actor?

Yes!  I thought that at the end of Solo also! 

Because up until that point she had always seemed entirely wooden to me. In Solo she was emoting all over the place! More of that kind of thing please.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2019, 10:45:53 AM
Joker

It was fine. Solid 6/10. Not gonna redefine the genre. Still just a silly corporate comic book movie. Mildly self indulgent. Probably won't see again.

Can we stop talking about it now? I'm so very tired of the discourse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 October, 2019, 11:10:01 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 08 October, 2019, 09:03:56 AM
Saw Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo on the big screen last night...

And I thought "in my great and unmatched wisdom" was the most unlikely phrase i'd read this week!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 08 October, 2019, 06:46:10 PM
Roger Waters US + THEM. Very good, though you know what you're getting if you're a fan of the music and live show.

Weirdest thing about seeing my first concert film at a movie theatre was me wanting to applaud and go "wooooooo!" after every song and then realising everyone else was sat quietly.

That and eating popcorn whilst watching a gig.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 October, 2019, 11:56:58 AM
Had a Terou Ishii and Rampo Edogawa double bill this week, two of Ishii's 1969 outings into the weird, stunning and harrowing. Both where some of the most amazing yet baffling genre deep dives i've taken in a long while and i'll be more than ready to check out both more Ishii movies (his Yakuza Law films look bonkers!) and Edogawa novels, thankfully most appear to have been translated into English.

Horrors of Malformed Men

Ishii's adaptation of a pair of Edogawa's novellas focusing on detective Kogoro Akechi, as an amnesiac man estranged from his family follows a trail of cover ups, murder, hypersexual fetishes and an island of deformed and angry men.

(http://pa1.narvii.com/6115/1f14e1d28d1a1c5f4aa57a974aacb29223798c9a_00.gif)

Orgies of Edo

Ishii's anthology following the misfortunes of working class women in Edo period Japan, as power mad lords and bandits terrorize the working classes in increasingly strange and violently esoteric ways.
Not many movies feature a matador race where the bulls are on fire, i'll give it that!

(https://66.media.tumblr.com/d6a64f0652cbe8bc7de817c174bae62e/tumblr_piq51zQNvC1xxh5i0o1_400.gifv)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 October, 2019, 12:40:13 PM
Terminator Genisyhte. By far the stupidest film produced for this brand, despite being a reasonable idea.

Many of its failings are down to the worst casting decisions I have ever seen. Michael Biehn is nobody's idea of a top thesp, he has a bit of screen charisma and can out-gravel many, and that's about it - but replacement Jai Courtney makes him look so damn good. This Kyle Reese apparently comes from a future where his gym buddy and nutrition coach John Connor helps him wax those hard-to-reach areas during one of their regular spa days. Gone is the haunted, desperate, half-starved guerilla betrayed by the commander he worships into chasing a dream of beauty into the past, replaced here instead by an easy-going bro with a good dental plan.

It's equally hard to believe that Jason Clarke's (deeply unlikeable) John Connor's rubbery scars belong to a franchise that pioneered believable facial prosthetics.

Even the usually reliable J K Simmons is hopelessly out of place, doing a sort of impression of Randy Quaid's character in Independance Day. And don't get me started on Matt Smith as Skynet: come back HBC, all is forgiven.

Arnie and Emilia Clarke (she's no Linda Hamilton, but she's not awful awful) are about the only people who come out of this with any credit; them and whoever did the work on modding the '84 Arnie footage: that was the only pleasure I got out of the whole thing.

Ghastly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 October, 2019, 02:57:43 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 October, 2019, 12:40:13 PM
Terminator Genisyhte. By far the stupidest film produced for this brand, despite being a reasonable idea.

Many of its failings are down to the worst casting decisions I have ever seen. Michael Biehn is nobody's idea of a top thesp, he has a bit of screen charisma and can out-gravel many, and that's about it - but replacement Jai Courtney makes him look so damn good. This Kyle Reese apparently comes from a future where his gym buddy and nutrition coach John Connor helps him wax those hard-to-reach areas during one of their regular spa days. Gone is the haunted, desperate, half-starved guerilla betrayed by the commander he worships into chasing a dream of beauty into the past, replaced here instead by an easy-going bro with a good dental plan.

It's equally hard to believe that Jason Clarke's (deeply unlikeable) John Connor's rubbery scars belong to a franchise that pioneered believable facial prosthetics.

Even the usually reliable J K Simmons is hopelessly out of place, doing a sort of impression of Randy Quaid's character in Independance Day. And don't get me started on Matt Smith as Skynet: come back HBC, all is forgiven.

Arnie and Emilia Clarke (she's no Linda Hamilton, but she's not awful awful) are about the only people who come out of this with any credit; them and whoever did the work on modding the '84 Arnie footage: that was the only pleasure I got out of the whole thing.

Ghastly.
This should be used as a disclaimer before the film plays anywhere from now on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 October, 2019, 03:20:06 PM
Every couple of years they try to give us a new leading man... Sam Worthington, Taylor Kitsch... but Jai Courtney is real barrell scraping.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bad City Blue on 09 October, 2019, 11:30:13 PM
JOKER. Quite prepared not to like this. I mean, it's arty, it's won awards, it's not really a Joker movie in the normal sense, it rips off Taxi Driver and king Of Comedy...

But wow. What an amazing, powerful film. Dark, distressing, sad, bleak... All those things yet riveting, much like the two films it owes so much to.

Phoenix is amazing, Oscar will beckon, but the film itself also deserves one. The perfect orchestral score helps, whilst the period music (aside from one horrendous misstep), sets the era well.

Go see it, it's stunning.

Holy Fleck, Batman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 October, 2019, 12:27:20 AM
Quote(aside from one horrendous misstep)

I know what you mean, and I'm going to assume that it was an honest mistake on the part of the filmmakers...(?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 October, 2019, 06:54:32 AM
Quote from: radiator on 10 October, 2019, 12:27:20 AM
Quote(aside from one horrendous misstep)

I know what you mean, and I'm going to assume that it was an honest mistake on the part of the filmmakers...(?)

It seems more like another attempt at what's become a hallmark of the film and its marketing campaign: to generate a level of faux controversy to sell it as something it isn't i.e. 'dangerous'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 08:16:58 AM
I have some American friends who had no idea who sang the song or that there was any controversy around it (apparently it's played all the time at sporting events over there) but yeah I find it hard to believe it wasn't an informed decision by someone, somewhere down the line.

I saw it yesterday too and really enjoyed it, for the most part. Weirdly, I don't know if I'll watch it again or at least for a long time as it makes you feel a lot of things and not all of them are enjoyable.

I did like how it plays with what was or wasn't in Arthur's head throughout the movie. [spoiler]Such as how none of the interactions he had with his neighbour (besides the initial lift meeting and when he kills her) actually happened.[/spoiler]

One thing this *isn't*, though, is "incel the movie" as I've seen it referenced (presumably by people who haven't seen it), though I think it does give a voice to the kind of people who snap and then go into, say, a movie theatre with a gun without explicitly showing that as being a bad thing.... there's a definite point where I think you as the audience stop sympathising with him but the movie continues to act like you're supposed to and that made me uncomfortable.

But overall a very good movie and - unbelievably - I think this is the first role I've ever seen Phoenix in! He's definitely well-cast and this is an interpretation of Joker I'm interested in seeing (unlike Leto's).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 October, 2019, 09:09:11 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 08:16:58 AMBut overall a very good movie and - unbelievably - I think this is the first role I've ever seen Phoenix in! He's definitely well-cast and this is an interpretation of Joker I'm interested in seeing (unlike Leto's).
You haven't seen Gladiator??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 10 October, 2019, 09:37:53 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 October, 2019, 09:09:11 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 08:16:58 AMBut overall a very good movie and - unbelievably - I think this is the first role I've ever seen Phoenix in! He's definitely well-cast and this is an interpretation of Joker I'm interested in seeing (unlike Leto's).
You haven't seen Gladiator??
Or Walk the Line?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 11:33:30 AM
No and no! I've never been much of a movie-watcher, outside of horror/sci-fi.

That'll change now though as we had a new Odeon Luxe open here and I decided to get a Limitless membership, since it costs less than two films per month and I can see as many as I want.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2019, 11:57:46 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 11:33:30 AM
No and no! I've never been much of a movie-watcher, outside of horror/sci-fi.

Signs? Space Camp? Parenthood? (The latter being Horror, obviously).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 October, 2019, 04:22:24 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 October, 2019, 06:54:32 AM
Quote from: radiator on 10 October, 2019, 12:27:20 AM
Quote(aside from one horrendous misstep)

I know what you mean, and I'm going to assume that it was an honest mistake on the part of the filmmakers...(?)

It seems more like another attempt at what's become a hallmark of the film and its marketing campaign: to generate a level of faux controversy to sell it as something it isn't i.e. 'dangerous'.

That seems to have been part of the US marketing. US podcasts are full of millennials describing the film as dangerous, disturbing and how it gave them nightmares. That's not part of the conversation about the film anywhere else.

As well as planting stories in the media about the possibility of Aurora-style shootings by Incels, US theatres employed security staff to stand guards in cinemas and displayed signs banning unaccompanied males from screenings.

It's the post-Blair Witch (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a28381265/the-blair-witch-project-greatest-horror-real-hoax-20th-anniversary/) equivalent of the medical staff Hitchock employed to attend early showings of Psycho (https://www.wired.com/2012/11/hitchcock-psycho/) and the gimmicks of William Castle (https://youtu.be/FiglN_Q-SnM).


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2019, 04:26:52 PM
Quote from: Frank on 10 October, 2019, 04:22:24 PMUS theatres ... displayed signs banning unaccompanied males from screenings.

This was, I believe, revealed as a hoax by some attention-seeking scrote.  Which rather supports the rest of your post.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2019, 04:48:12 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 October, 2019, 04:26:52 PM
Quote from: Frank on 10 October, 2019, 04:22:24 PMUS theatres ... displayed signs banning unaccompanied males from screenings.

This was, I believe, revealed as a hoax by some attention-seeking scrote.  Which rather supports the rest of your post.
YUP (https://twitter.com/comicgeekelly/status/1181328773825880066)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 10 October, 2019, 05:10:28 PM

I only heard about that two hours ago and it's been Snopesed already? I hate living in the future.

Nobody better mess with this enormous pile of paperwork I've stacked precipitously on the edge of my desk.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 10 October, 2019, 07:45:14 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 10 October, 2019, 09:37:53 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 October, 2019, 09:09:11 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 10 October, 2019, 08:16:58 AMBut overall a very good movie and - unbelievably - I think this is the first role I've ever seen Phoenix in! He's definitely well-cast and this is an interpretation of Joker I'm interested in seeing (unlike Leto's).
You haven't seen Gladiator??
Or Walk the Line?

Trying to remember the title of that black comedy he was in about US army in Germany, ah yes "Buffalo Soldiers." Now that was well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 10 October, 2019, 08:27:11 PM
I have very fond memories of Buffalo Soldiers - want to watch it again soon to see if it holds up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 October, 2019, 08:32:02 PM
Quote from: Frank on 10 October, 2019, 04:22:24 PM
That seems to have been part of the US marketing. US podcasts are full of millennials describing the film as dangerous, disturbing and how it gave them nightmares. That's not part of the conversation about the film anywhere else.


The director built a career out of playing both ends against the middle. The whole film is designed around it.

https://www.themarysue.com/marc-maron-todd-phillips-woke-comedy/
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2019, 08:36:07 PM
Always listen to what Marc Maron has to say. Wise, and funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 11 October, 2019, 07:35:22 AM
Netflix's Apostle.

Wow! Was seriously impressed with this one, not a single way I can fault it. Looks gorgeous, superbly acted, keeps you interested over its two-hour run time and I almost wish it was a 4-6 episode mini-series or something as I feel like you could easily expand on a lot of it.

Not a lot on the horror front but there is one good and unexpected scare and another scene that I couldn't even watch, I had to hit the "skip forward" button a couple of times.

Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 13 October, 2019, 12:26:02 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 11 October, 2019, 07:35:22 AM
Netflix's Apostle

or, as all the cool kids are calling it ...


WELSH BONE TOMAHAWK


See also: The Wickermen Of Harlech. I was interested in this as overspill from the Dredd3D covfefe, it being directed by Gareth Evans (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2153088/), the Indonesian filmmaker with the Welshest name since Ivor Pitclosure (i)

Despite the Welsh setting, Evans retains the key creative collaborators from his Raid movies, which might explain the off-centre feel of the film. That's most apparent in fight scenes, where the established tone of naturalism suddenly gives way to genre stylisation.

One of the many documentaries on Texas Chainsaw features a filmmaker remembering the panic he felt when he realised the kids who made the movie he was watching didn't know the rules of cinema - which meant anything could happen.

That's how I felt here - you can't do that to X; they've been established as a goodie - and Stevens, in particular, suffers more indignities than agents commonly allow films to inflict on male leads. Stevens makes choices regarding mannerisms that are maybe brave (ii)

The Children Of The Corn mythology's (mostly) left unexplained, which is good, but taking the same approach to the physical infrastructure of the colony - the tunnel system underpinning it - makes for some odd transitions at first.

Those sudden transitions from one world to another reflect the nature of the film. One minute you're in a Victorian detective story, then suddenly you're watching From Usk Till Dawn (or Se7ern), which makes the storytelling feel a little uneven.

That jumble of ideas and narrative shunts (iii) mean The Apostle feels like a first film, although one that looks absolutely fantastic and is otherwise very well made. On that basis, I'm keen to see what Evans & Co do next and would recommend this to fans of the horror genre(s), but maybe not The Raid.


Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80158148)


(https://i.imgur.com/LahcVzv.jpg?1)


(i) The Land Of His Fathers flung money (https://i.imgur.com/sn1eC1F.png) at this - in the form of tax breaks, I assume - so Victorian Wales is a picture postcard and the valleys never more green. That and the casting of Stevens might see Netflix's algorithm pimp this to Downton fans, which would be a hoot.

(ii) in the Sir Humphrey sense

(iii) The music, too. The score's great, but the diagetic music is very much what Indonesian composers imagine Welsh Victorians might play - guitar-led variations on the zydeco or bluegrass they've heard in Westerns, rather than the popular ballads, folk or music hall and austere instrumentation Britons of that period suffered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 13 October, 2019, 03:21:27 PM
Prince of darkness by John Carpenter. Weird mix between scares and cheesy fun. Has a very intersting premise of the god in the bible perhaps not being the good god people are hoping for, but rather an anti god who grows stronger the more people pray to it.

Doesn't look like it had a very high budget, but Carpenter made impressive work with what he had. Some really amazing visuals. Has a dream like quality to it which reminds me a bit of Twin Peaks. Wouldn't surprise me if Lynch and Frost picked up a thing or two from it.

Not my favorite by Carpenter, but easy to recommend. Too interesting to pass up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 14 October, 2019, 01:51:37 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 October, 2019, 03:21:27 PM
Prince of darkness by John Carpenter. Weird mix between scares and cheesy fun. Has a very intersting premise of the god in the bible perhaps not being the good god people are hoping for, but rather an anti god who grows stronger the more people pray to it.

Doesn't look like it had a very high budget, but Carpenter made impressive work with what he had. Some really amazing visuals. Has a dream like quality to it which reminds me a bit of Twin Peaks. Wouldn't surprise me if Lynch and Frost picked up a thing or two from it.

Not my favorite by Carpenter, but easy to recommend. Too interesting to pass up.

Watched this in 4k UHD format just over a month ago.
I remember not liking this at all when I originally saw it in the cinema during it's original run but liked it a lot more this time round.

As you say, some cheesy fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 14 October, 2019, 02:36:11 PM
I watched the new Godzilla movie "Godzilla King of the Monsters" and if you like some brain dead do not think let's destroy everything paper-thin plot lines then this is the movie for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 October, 2019, 04:08:44 PM
Quote from: Frank on 13 October, 2019, 12:26:02 PM
On that basis, I'm keen to see what Evans & Co do next and would recommend this to fans of the horror genre(s), but maybe not The Raid.

If you want to see an Evans (short) film that's more likely to appeal to both, you should check out his segment in V/H/S 2, Safe Haven. It also features a sinister cult, but it's him doing found footage horror with all the energy that he threw into The Raid and it's exhilaratingly bonkers. When I heard about Apostle I actually assumed it would be a fleshed out version of Safe Haven, but it turned out to be a really different film (which I also liked a lot).

Watched El Camino, the Breaking Bad movie that just came on Netflix and it's great. I was happy with the way the show ended so didn't have any real hunger for an epilogue going in, but as soon as it started I was so glad to be in the company of those characters again and loved it.

I had a similar 'not fussed/actually love it' feeling about Better Call Saul when it was announced, I couldn't see how that show was a good idea at all, and I now rate it higher than Breaking Bad personally. I should probably stop thinking I know what I want, because I'm almost always wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 October, 2019, 04:55:05 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 14 October, 2019, 02:36:11 PM
I watched the new Godzilla movie "Godzilla King of the Monsters" and if you like some brain dead do not think let's destroy everything paper-thin plot lines then this is the movie for you.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is one of the most astute anti-American polemics I have seen in quite a while.
The entire film could have ended after the first half hour when Godzilla is about to kill King Ghidorah, who is literally decapitated as their natural cycle is coming to a close in the way it is supposed to, but then the US military decides to intervene and the result is that the whole thing ends up being a drawn-out mess in which cities are destroyed and an incredible number of people die.  The Americans are directly responsible for everything that happens after King Ghidorah escapes death because of their interference, including the wild weather that causes many American cities to become flooded.  They interfered in the sovereign affairs of a South American country, ended up allowing a genocidal monster to go on a rampage that costs countless lives, and set in motion a chain of events that destroys the environment, and all this is before you even start to unpack the human arcs like the blonde lady who gets radicalized by a terrorist and ends up joining him in attacking the US and its allies, how the Americans respond to this and every other turn of fortune with some variation of "welp that was a whole ten minutes ago and we gotta team up to fight the bigger monster now", or the environment being fixed with magic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 October, 2019, 06:06:26 PM
Who is Godzilla in this wonderful analogy?  Autochthonous elf-determination?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 October, 2019, 08:29:38 PM
Godzilla is nature itself righting its course in response to human climate change - and that's not even my spicy take, that's the explicit text of the film.  My take is that Godzilla is communism, if only because it would explain why the Americans can't stay out of his fucking business.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 October, 2019, 08:58:45 PM

No, no, no - Godzilla is cheese, the USA is ballbearings and Japan represents existential indifference.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 14 October, 2019, 11:23:08 PM
You're thinking of Gorgonzola.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 18 October, 2019, 05:18:40 PM
Been sticking on various horror movies throughout the month, so haven't been too fussed about re-watching things. Decided to go with 'Cabin Fever' the other night, which I (still) haven't seen in about 15 years and discovered I was actually watching a remake. I remember so few specifics and it follows it so closely early on that I didn't notice until one of the characters referenced GTA5 and I thought "huh?!" and googled the movie.

Didn't get to the end. This is true of the original, but the way the female characters are treated is pretty gross; there only to titillate and suffer much more visceral and horrific deaths than the men.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 20 October, 2019, 07:59:46 AM
mother!

Wow. That was an intense viewing experience. I'm going to have that one rattling around my brain for a while.

On a purely technical level, they pulled off what must have been some very difficult scenes to shoot and Jennifer Lawrence was superb in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 20 October, 2019, 04:39:44 PM
Watched Aladdin but I must say I preferred the animation one
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 October, 2019, 08:23:21 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 20 October, 2019, 04:39:44 PM
Watched Aladdin but I must say I preferred the animation one

I was the same with The Lion King.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 October, 2019, 09:03:53 AM
Paddington, which was pretty much exactly what we needed to shake the Sunday blues. I don't often watch that kind of family fare but it's just so nice and genuinely witty that it was impossible not to get carried along. I laughed very hard when his baguette went in to the mail tube, but that was one laugh of many. Looking forward to giving the sequel a watch sometime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2019, 11:08:54 AM
Paddington is very delightful, just one of those wonderful genuinely feel good movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 21 October, 2019, 01:15:18 PM
Mandy, which was shocking, haunting, baffling and demands another viewing. It's a film which has clear influences but manages to be original. I'm curious to see what Panos Cosmatos (what a great name for a director!) does next. Nicolas Cage goes full Nicolas Cage, which is wonderful to see.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 21 October, 2019, 01:16:12 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 October, 2019, 09:03:53 AM
Paddington, which was pretty much exactly what we needed to shake the Sunday blues. I don't often watch that kind of family fare but it's just so nice and genuinely witty that it was impossible not to get carried along. I laughed very hard when his baguette went in to the mail tube, but that was one laugh of many. Looking forward to giving the sequel a watch sometime.

Be prepared for Hugh Grant's greatest-ever performance in the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 October, 2019, 02:16:53 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 21 October, 2019, 01:16:12 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 21 October, 2019, 09:03:53 AM
Paddington, which was pretty much exactly what we needed to shake the Sunday blues. I don't often watch that kind of family fare but it's just so nice and genuinely witty that it was impossible not to get carried along. I laughed very hard when his baguette went in to the mail tube, but that was one laugh of many. Looking forward to giving the sequel a watch sometime.

Be prepared for Hugh Grant's greatest-ever performance in the sequel.
Precisely that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 21 October, 2019, 02:45:23 PM
I enjoyed both Paddington movies and can recommended it to any family.

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 21 October, 2019, 08:23:21 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 20 October, 2019, 04:39:44 PM
Watched Aladdin but I must say I preferred the animation one

I was the same with The Lion King.

It looks like Disney is running out of ideas. The are remaking all their animation movies into live action movies. What happens when they are done ? Start remaking Star Wars Episode IV ?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 21 October, 2019, 03:22:15 PM
What Disney are doing is a modern version of a practice they have pushed since the birth of the product.

Back before home video - the Disney fillums were periodically re-released to help find a new audience (typically parents taking kids and thereby indoctrinating them into the way of the Mouse) and even once the VHS era began they would only allow a film to be available for so long before it was withdrawn.

These films would then be re-released as a new 'faffed about with' edition a few years later, and this process has carried on till today.

All these new 'live' versions are is a way of continuing to market the original IP, keeping kids watching and further growing the brand.

As for the recent 'live action' films - I liked the Jungle Book one, but have avoided the rest - I'd rather watch the original animation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2019, 03:29:58 PM
You also just have to look at Disneys back catalog being uploaded to Disney+. Before they started acquiring everything in existence, 90% of Disneys output was absolute dreck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 21 October, 2019, 03:39:31 PM
Careful now Hawk.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2019, 05:01:10 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2019, 03:29:58 PM
Before they started acquiring everything in existence, 90% of Disneys output was absolute dreck.

Is Absolute Dreck the one where Donkey has half-dragon babies? Cos that was Dreamworks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2019, 06:23:24 PM
Disney didn't factor provincial VHS rental outlets into this marketing scam, though - my local was offering Song Of The South for rent right up until the day it suddenly closed down in the late 2000s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 21 October, 2019, 08:27:22 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 October, 2019, 06:23:24 PM
Disney didn't factor provincial VHS rental outlets into this marketing scam, though - my local was offering Song Of The South for rent right up until the day it suddenly closed down in the late 2000s.

I've still got a VHS original of that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 22 October, 2019, 02:31:34 AM
 Zombieland: Double Tap

I think I might  prefer the first film a bit, but this was good fun, and pretty amusing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 October, 2019, 09:23:24 AM
Eve of Destruction, which I thought was an '80s relic but just checked and it came out in '91. It's another of those cheesy straight to video Terminator knock-offs that were all over the place back then. Exactly the kind of thing me and my friends would have rented on VHS when we were definitely too young to watch it so I had a lot of fun watching it from that perspective. The USP is that the killer robot woman is based on the image and memories of the scientist who designed her, so she has to help the grizzled government assassin man (Gregory Hines absolutely nailing straight-to-video-government-assassin-man) while he constantly shakes his head in disbelief at the hubris of science.

A bad film, but one of those time capsule movies that's so of an era that it was good fun, even had a couple of decent ideas in amongst all the cheddar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 October, 2019, 11:15:28 AM
Is she called Eve by any chance?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 October, 2019, 01:51:45 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 October, 2019, 11:15:28 AM
Is she called Eve by any chance?

I don't want to give away too much of the plot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 October, 2019, 02:54:32 PM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Justice_(film) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Justice_(film))

Janet Jackson stars as a poet called Justice.

It might be the best film ever but... well... you'd just feel stupid watching it, wouldn't you?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 October, 2019, 04:54:44 PM

Beasts of No Nation. (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1365050/) The harrowing story of a child soldier in an unnamed African country. Well worth watching, especially for Idris Elba's chilling portrayal of the charismatic and ruthless Commandant.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 October, 2019, 11:31:20 PM
Colossal. Don't personally care for Ann Hathaway or Jason Sudekis, but that actually works to the advantage of this film where they play some pretty awful people, surrounded by other awful people. Hits some of the same notes as Russian Doll, which is a good thing. Would have liked some closure on Tim Blake Nelson's character, although it's saying something when the most likeable person in a film is a [spoiler]cokehead[/spoiler]. I was really pleased that at least one of them experienced some kind of redemption by the end, and one got their comeuppance. It's a very enjoyable oddity, and pleasingly tight. Yeah, good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 October, 2019, 06:52:13 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate  By no means up there with T2 (not sure if it was a mistake watching it the day before watching Dark fate) but I had a really good time watching it.

Linda's return as Sara Connor is a real stand out. Her pain looks real through out the film. Arnie does a really good job as well, I was surprised how genuinly funny he could be on film (without being the butt of the joke). The new cast is also solid. I was especially pleased with Grace, who looked like she'd be a bit annoying in the trailers but I think the film she was really good. Same goes for the Rev 9 Terminator. Not very exciting in the trailers but he sure is in the movie.

It plays it quite safe. Nothing mindblowing. A bit like the recent Halloween, borrows a bit here and there from the sequels it's said to ignore. Not a movie I'll watch every time after rewatching T1 and T2, but all and all a really solid action film with a suprising amount of humour and heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 October, 2019, 09:58:06 AM
Yeah I saw Terminator: Dark Fate too and really, really enjoyed it. I thought they did a great job of making the Terminator menacing and creepy again (which surprised me because he looked really bland in the trailer), it was awesome seeing Linda Hamilton back and her character was treated great, and I thought Mackenzie Davis was fantastic in the protector role, she nailed a really great mix of being tough as nails while also being scared as hell.

Is it as good as T1 or T2? No, but it's closer than I expected, and definitely way closer than any of the other sequels managed to get to that particular breathless chase movie intensity. I was surprised by how much I was gripped by the action because that's rare for me these days, properly on the edge of my seat at times. Particularly for the last chunk, which made me realize how invested it had got me in the lead characters, so they did very well on that front. Looking forward to seeing it again sometime, I'd say in a triple bill but I actually find T2 quite long on rewatches these days so that thought is a bit daunting.

Also saw Cloud Atlas for the first time, which was definitely interesting and visually sumptuous. I get the impression it gets a bad rap for being an overly ambitious mess, and while I won't argue that it isn't I was still completely absorbed for the whole thing, which at 3hrs is no mean feat.

Oh and 3 From Hell, which I didn't actually dislike, I just found it a bit of a pointless retread (verging on remake) of The Devil's Rejects. It literally has the exact same structure and plot points from start to finish, it's just the same things happening in slightly different places to slightly different people. It has a couple of great moments (as much as people write off Rob Zombie's films as trashy garbage - and I won't defend all his films - I do think he has a real visual flair that comes out sometimes in some really great shots, similarly he can often match the right music to a scene really well to make it memorable) but after The Devil's Rejects being so different to House of 1000 Corpses it's pretty disappointing that he hasn't done something different with the third film. Hell, if he was going to hark back to one of those two films I would have been way more into a callback to the wackier Dr Satan carnival vibe of 1000 Corpses, because there's a lot less of that kind of thing around.

It's also a real shame that the most memorable character from those films, Captain Spaulding, isn't really a presence in this one. I know Sid Haig was very unwell at the time so was swapped out for Richard Brake as a new character, and while I think Brake is brilliant and scene-stealing in everything he's in (his performance in the otherwise dull 31 is genuinely one of the best horror villain performances ever) in terms of the story it feels a random and cheap to just swap that character out for a proxy. Maybe they were too deep into production to call things off, but it does feel like if they couldn't have the 3 in 3 From Hell, then maybe it would have been better to just leave it be.

Nobody could argue the ending of The Devil's Rejects didn't feel final, so making another always seemed an odd choice anyway unless he had something new that he really needed to do with it, so I expected a lot more from it than a fairly pointless rehash I guess. Watching it again with a friend soon so maybe I'll like it more on a 2nd watch without any expectations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 October, 2019, 12:50:38 PM
Halloween (2018)

This was far better than I was expecting. I have to say I really enjoyed it.
Jamie Lee Curtis was really cool in her Sarah Conner-esque prepper guise.
I guess you could say it went off a bit towards the end, becoming more of a predictable slash-fest. I'd have liked to have seen a bit more of the journalists but generally speaking it was great fun.
The opening scene in the asylum and the bit with the bus were really excelllent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2019, 01:03:11 PM
HALLOWEEN 2(.3)018 is a great wee movie I really rate up in the chronology at the series, easily on par with Part 2 (but inferior to Season of the Witch, because what isn't). Surprisingly being freed of Loomis enabled this sequel to do something different, unrestrained by the duality of the good doctors antithesis to Michael, instead allowing JLC to really go full Rambo on Myers this time around.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 October, 2019, 01:30:07 PM
The Freighteners. (1996) Holds up very well with a great story and some excellent acting. I think this is one of the early films to use CGI extensively and it was done very well. They used it where needed and not just to pass the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 28 October, 2019, 02:49:03 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 26 October, 2019, 06:52:13 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate  By no means up there with T2 (not sure if it was a mistake watching it the day before watching Dark fate) but I had a really good time watching it.

Linda's return as Sara Connor is a real stand out. Her pain looks real through out the film. Arnie does a really good job as well, I was surprised how genuinly funny he could be on film (without being the butt of the joke). The new cast is also solid. I was especially pleased with Grace, who looked like she'd be a bit annoying in the trailers but I think the film she was really good. Same goes for the Rev 9 Terminator. Not very exciting in the trailers but he sure is in the movie.

It plays it quite safe. Nothing mindblowing. A bit like the recent Halloween, borrows a bit here and there from the sequels it's said to ignore. Not a movie I'll watch every time after rewatching T1 and T2, but all and all a really solid action film with a suprising amount of humour and heart.
I was a bit let down by this. The main problem is that I thought the terminator *did* become the butt of the joke. Second to that, I didn't feel at all sympathetic to the girl targeted for termination. Her arc, such as it was, was fumbled. There was lots to like though. The final fight sequence was particularly good, Grace was a sympathetic character very well played, and it was awesome to see Sarah Connor back on-screen kicking the shit out of some bad metal. Also Sarah's flashback sequence was extremely cool -- I just wish they'd played it straight, rather than as some pseudo dream sequence. Maybe the budget was getting thin!

Overall not the return to form I'd been led to believe, just more of the same, really, with some fan-pleasing twists. Honestly I think Salvation did a better job of regenerating the idea than this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 28 October, 2019, 02:55:13 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 October, 2019, 01:30:07 PM
The Freighteners. (1996)

Is that the one about the haunted haulage company?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 28 October, 2019, 07:22:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2019, 11:31:20 PM
Colossal. Don't personally care for Ann Hathaway or Jason Sudekis, but that actually works to the advantage of this film where they play some pretty awful people, surrounded by other awful people. Hits some of the same notes as Russian Doll, which is a good thing. Would have liked some closure on Tim Blake Nelson's character, although it's saying something when the most likeable person in a film is a [spoiler]cokehead[/spoiler]. I was really pleased that at least one of them experienced some kind of redemption by the end, and one got their comeuppance. It's a very enjoyable oddity, and pleasingly tight. Yeah, good stuff.

Really liked that movie back when I saw it in the cinema - it didn't play out at all how I was expecting. The trailers made it seem like it was going to be a twee indie romance with a sci-fi/kaiju twist, which its anything but.


Good to hear the positive(ish) buzz around Dark Fate - I'll be going to see it when it releases over here next week. It'll be the first new Terminator film I've bothered with since T3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 29 October, 2019, 08:19:08 AM
Quote from: radiator on 28 October, 2019, 07:22:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 October, 2019, 11:31:20 PM
Colossal. Don't personally care for Ann Hathaway or Jason Sudekis, but that actually works to the advantage of this film where they play some pretty awful people, surrounded by other awful people. Hits some of the same notes as Russian Doll, which is a good thing. Would have liked some closure on Tim Blake Nelson's character, although it's saying something when the most likeable person in a film is a [spoiler]cokehead[/spoiler]. I was really pleased that at least one of them experienced some kind of redemption by the end, and one got their comeuppance. It's a very enjoyable oddity, and pleasingly tight. Yeah, good stuff.

I found Terminator Salvation quite watchable if not great, whereas Genisys I only managed 30 minutes of before having to turn it off. God awful. I'll be seeing this at some point.

Really liked that movie back when I saw it in the cinema - it didn't play out at all how I was expecting. The trailers made it seem like it was going to be a twee indie romance with a sci-fi/kaiju twist, which its anything but.


Good to hear the positive(ish) buzz around Dark Fate - I'll be going to see it when it releases over here next week. It'll be the first new Terminator film I've bothered with since T3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 October, 2019, 11:56:48 AM
I watched Sicarrio 2 and London has fallen back to back and it was interesting to see the differences in their approach to action and tension.

Leaving aside the stereotypical depiction of world leaders at the start of London, it's pretty much of the "might is right " school of action and character ethics.

The director and stunt and effects teams throw ludicrous amounts of kinetic energy and pyrotechnics into every scene which ultimately renders a lot of it unbelievable.


This extends to the script where there is only one single line where our complicity in this shit show is questioned.

The bad guy arms dealer says "I'm just doing what you do; sell weapons for profit regardless of whose hands they end up in" but this is quickly sidelined for another patriotic speech and stoic act of sacrifice followed by somebody getting punched in the head.

More like "London has SHAT itself."

Siccario 2, like it's protagonists, is much more comfortable working in the shadows and grey areas.

Nearly everything they do is wrong and they know it and are quite comfortable to let the audience know it too.

The action is probably still unrealistic but toned down enough to make it seem believable. Plans don't get foiled because of a patriotic last stand but because of a random encounter. People don't survive because they are action movie tough but because someone can't aim right. I'm up for part 3.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 October, 2019, 01:22:31 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 28 October, 2019, 02:55:13 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 October, 2019, 01:30:07 PM
The Freighteners. (1996)

Is that the one about the haunted haulage company?
No. Michael J. Fox can see ghosts and has a couple in his employ to scare up customers so he can charge them for getting rid of the ghosts. Things take a turn when unexplained deaths happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GordyM on 29 October, 2019, 01:25:01 PM
Wounds. A barman finds a lost phone in his pub filled with photos of murdered people and videos of creepy weird shit. His life very quickly becomes in every sense a waking nightmare.
I really wanted to like this film as it builds well, sets up some intriguing mysteries and has some good scares. But then it just suddenly ends with huge plot threads left dangling. So many set ups with no pay offs.
And so sadly not worth your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 October, 2019, 03:09:42 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 29 October, 2019, 01:22:31 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 28 October, 2019, 02:55:13 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 October, 2019, 01:30:07 PM
The Freighteners. (1996)

Is that the one about the haunted haulage company?

Oh grud. I just caught my spelling error. What a prat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 29 October, 2019, 03:35:48 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 29 October, 2019, 03:09:42 PM
Quote from: von Boom ilink=topic=31824.msg1016303#msg1016303 date=1572355351
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 28 October, 2019, 02:55:13 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 October, 2019, 01:30:07 PM
The Freighteners. (1996)

Is that the one about the haunted haulage company?

Oh grud. I just caught my spelling error. What a prat.
:lol: No problem vB!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 29 October, 2019, 04:08:19 PM
Re-watching Rear Window for the first time in years.

Jesus, Jimmy Stewart's character is such a dick. And Grace Kelly is so very beautiful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 November, 2019, 09:30:24 AM
Doctor Sleep - a VERY GOOD adaptation that suffers from (actually) being a sequel to a bad one, as the Overlook Hotel still standing in this universe proves to be to the movie's detriment. The first two hours are great but then it leans too far into nostalgia, for my tastes when it was doing perfectly well on it's own merits. It does the thing of recreating all the iconic moments and set pieces from the first which I'm sure will please some viewers but produced groans from this one.

[spoiler]Interesting choice to change the ending so that Danny doesn't survive the final battle, whereas in the book he does. I'm torn between whether I like it or not.... on the one hand it sort of fits with the role Danny plays earlier in the film and provides a happy ending of sorts, on the other it's kind of sad that the Overlook eventually claimed him, too.[/spoiler]

Still very much worth a watch as it looks fantastic and the casting is great (bar one character, though that's more to do with who isn't playing them rather than who is).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 November, 2019, 11:07:29 AM
Ah, so it's a sequel to the film version of The Shining? I did wonder, when I saw those seems in the hotel, and I've read the Doctor Sleep novel.

I guess I can understand their taking that route considering many viewers would know the Kubrick film but wouldn't have read the novel.

I actually rather liked the Shining film, but yes, as an adaptation it's somewhat questionable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2019, 12:43:39 PM
I've never read a King novel I liked, but I adore Kubriks The Shinning.

I'm not very popular in the film community for holding that opinion, Kings fans can get a little....eccentric.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 01 November, 2019, 12:49:31 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2019, 12:43:39 PM
I adore Kubriks The Shinning

Groening (https://youtu.be/XYPOBrMWM8E), actually.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 November, 2019, 01:33:11 PM
Oh I didn't mean that 'The Shining' is a bad movie, just that it strays further from the source material than 'Doctor Sleep' does and I think the elements of this story that are the weakest come from it's connections to the movie continuity rather than the book's.

Also something I meant to note, the way they did the title sequence is absolutely brilliant and will stick with me for a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 November, 2019, 01:33:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2019, 12:43:39 PM
I've never read a King novel I liked, but I adore Kubriks The Shinning.

I'm not very popular in the film community for holding that opinion, Kings fans can get a little....eccentric.

What have you read and disliked, out of curiosity?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 November, 2019, 04:42:24 PM
Doctor Sleep

Enjoyed this and it's good that it differs from the book imo.

In fact the book is a sequel to The Shining novel whilst the movie is a sequel to The Shining Movie so we have the best of both worlds.

Dodgy accents aside (wtf happened to Rebecca Ferguson's accent...Now you hear it now you don't) a decent movie. A little indulgent and a little overlong but fun none the less.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 November, 2019, 05:44:10 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 01 November, 2019, 01:33:54 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 November, 2019, 12:43:39 PM
I've never read a King novel I liked, but I adore Kubriks The Shinning.

I'm not very popular in the film community for holding that opinion, Kings fans can get a little....eccentric.

What have you read and disliked, out of curiosity?

My reading of King books is limited, but there are some absolute gems there.  The Body (or Stand By Me, as the movie was called), the Long Walk, Misery and It (apart from the [spoiler]child sex and giant turtle[/spoiler]) were incredibly riveting and well-written, and I much preferred the Shawshank Redemption story to the film.

On the other hand, I read Needful Things a few years ago and didn't like it at all, and listened to the audio book of the first Dark Tower book which bored the bejaysus out of me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 02 November, 2019, 05:48:16 PM
The first book of The Dark Tower (which was 5 separate stories published in the late 60's, early 70's) are hard going. Once you get to the 2nd book, The Drawing of The Three, it's rockets along and is truly one of the best series of books ever written.

Throw out Your Game of Thrones, this is the real stuff.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 02 November, 2019, 06:37:46 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 October, 2019, 09:58:06 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 26 October, 2019, 06:52:13 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate  By no means up there with T2 but I had a really good time watching it. It plays it quite safe. Nothing mindblowing. Not a movie I'll watch every time after rewatching T1 and T2, but all and all a really solid action film with a suprising amount of humour and heart.

I saw Terminator: Dark Fate too and really, really enjoyed it. Is it as good as T1 or T2? No, but it's closer than I expected, and definitely way closer than any of the other sequels managed to get to that particular breathless chase movie intensity.

There is no profit (https://deadline.com/2019/11/terminator-dark-fate-linda-hamilton-harriet-motherless-brooklyn-weekend-box-office-1202774477/?fbclid=IwAR1Pd4NlGIm8_EmFWls1EqI34EgFAuwUA5DLawfaDgpTteq5v7STqiO49P4) but what we make:

Terminator: Dark Fate is seeing an awful future at the weekend domestic box office with $27.1M, a terrible result for a tentpole costing $185M (some even say $196M). Breakeven for Dark Fate lies around $470M+ according to finance sources.

Production went over-budget, there were script problems and creative battles between Tim Miller and producer James Cameron during editing, but Dark Fate was crushed by early reviews which spoiled that [spoiler]a key character [/spoiler][spoiler]dies[/spoiler], sending the mythology of the franchise and its fans into tailspin.

Dark Fate wasn't a fresh reboot, more a retread of earlier pics with new characters. T2 raised the bar with its visual effects, but Dark Fate uses the same morphing gimmick. Stateside audiences have thumbed-down Dark Fate, with 3 1/2 stars on PostTrak and a lackluster B+ score.

The studios never took into consideration who their target audience was. The over-25 crowd came out at 72%, but Dark Fate failed to excite the 18-24 set, with a 25% draw - and Dark Fate comes too soon on the heels of Genisys, which stalled stateside with $89.8M.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 November, 2019, 11:10:45 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate. What was the point of that? Basically a re-skinning of the (metal) bones of T2. Competently directed and assembled, but lacking any originality or, frankly, excitement with the added handicap of some credulity-stretching plot logic (or lack of it).

If the box office is as lacklustre as Frank suggests above, it's high time this franchise was rested indefinitely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 03 November, 2019, 04:07:50 AM
Watched The King on Netflix and anyone who loves historical based stories will love this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 03 November, 2019, 02:11:57 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 02 November, 2019, 05:48:16 PM
The first book of The Dark Tower (which was 5 separate stories published in the late 60's, early 70's) are hard going. Once you get to the 2nd book, The Drawing of The Three, it's rockets along and is truly one of the best series of books ever written.

Throw out Your Game of Thrones, this is the real stuff.
70's-80's I think you'll find. :)

I loved the Dark Tower up until its [spoiler]meta turning point[/spoiler], then went a bit cold on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 03 November, 2019, 03:14:34 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 03 November, 2019, 02:11:57 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 02 November, 2019, 05:48:16 PM
The first book of The Dark Tower (which was 5 separate stories published in the late 60's, early 70's) are hard going. Once you get to the 2nd book, The Drawing of The Three, it's rockets along and is truly one of the best series of books ever written.

Throw out Your Game of Thrones, this is the real stuff.
70's-80's I think you'll find. :)

I loved the Dark Tower up until its [spoiler]meta turning point[/spoiler], then went a bit cold on it.

You are correct on publication. King says that he wrote the first story in the late 60's and then shelved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 03 November, 2019, 06:58:29 PM
I've been a bit hot and cold on the Dark Tower book series, I really liked books 1, 3 and 5 but didn't like 2 that much and ended up giving up on 4 and reading the Wikipedia entry to finish it's story. 5 I thought was really good but I also feel like my interest in the story had been stretched by that point.

I did however just read another King novel for the first time, due to [spoiler]a character from it[/spoiler] that shows up in book 5 which has reinvigorated my interest a little.

Haven't seen the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 04 November, 2019, 07:25:58 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 November, 2019, 11:10:45 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate. What was the point of that? Basically a re-skinning of the (metal) bones of T2. Competently directed and assembled, but lacking any originality or, frankly, excitement with the added handicap of some credulity-stretching plot logic (or lack of it).

If the box office is as lacklustre as Frank suggests above, it's high time this franchise was rested indefinitely.

Even if you don't stick around for Red Letter Media's review of the movie, the first 5 minutes are a hilarious attempt to explain the history of the sequels, which explains the problems this movie faces:

https://youtu.be/Hugsy-pQ61U


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 November, 2019, 09:25:53 AM
As many on this thread have already said, Paddington 2 was marvelous. Great fun, lots of heart (we were both having a bit of a warm-hearted cry by the end, although the tears had started a lot earlier for my wife - a cute bear in mild peril was always going to be a tearjerker for her, it was the [spoiler]possible drowning that pushed her over the edge I think[/spoiler]).

Brilliant films those, and very different to the previous night's viewing, when we watched Mother!

It's been out for a while but I was glad we got to go in totally cold (the one trailer we'd seen thankfully didn't give anything away at all) so to preserve that experience for others I'll spoiler tag most of this!

I thought it was fantastic, and we were totally riveted throughout. I have to admit that [spoiler]it was fairly far in before it hit me what it was actually doing, but once the biblical theme was in my mind it was fun to think back on previous events in the film and realize what they had all represented. The post-film conversation was great, piecing it all together.

It's an incredibly stressful film, and seems designed to create maximum anxiety (it really feels like a surreal stress dream, and I'm not sure I've seen anything that nails that peculiar logic quite as well).

It's very unusual, and not very subtle, but feels supremely confident in its execution and in what it's doing and telling an epic, biblical story using a claustrophobic domestic setting as a microcosm is very ambitious and personally I think it worked brilliantly.[/spoiler]

I would imagine it's the ultimate marmite film though and can see why many people would hate it, but I've never really seen anything like it and was bowled over (although the high stress levels mean I may not revisit in a hurry).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 November, 2019, 05:26:58 PM
I'd put the two Paddingtons in my top 10 movies of the last decade, along with Dredd, Mad Max: Fury Road and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Perfect movies all.

Speaking of Wilderpeople, I caught the new Taika Waititi film Jojo Rabbit over the weekend.

First thing to note is that it's not a film for everyone - the melding of tone and subject matter is undoubtedly going to rub some people the wrong way, and Waititi's offbeat sense of humour isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. That said, it absolutely blew me away. Saw it with a sold out crowd in a giant theater and it absolutely brought the house down.

I can't imagine the kind of confidence and audacity required to blend such seemingly disparate tones - from laugh out loud goofiness, to gnawing tension and dread, to emotional gutpunch and back to hilarity again, often in the space of 5 minutes of screen time, but it somehow works and feels like a coherent vision.

Waititi is the real deal. Can't wait to see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 04 November, 2019, 06:02:22 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 04 November, 2019, 09:25:53 AM
As many on this thread have already said, Paddington 2 was marvelous. Great fun, lots of heart (we were both having a bit of a warm-hearted cry by the end, although the tears had started a lot earlier for my wife - a cute bear in mild peril was always going to be a tearjerker for her, it was the [spoiler]possible drowning that pushed her over the edge I think[/spoiler]).

Brilliant films those, and very different to the previous night's viewing, when we watched Mother!

It's been out for a while but I was glad we got to go in totally cold (the one trailer we'd seen thankfully didn't give anything away at all) so to preserve that experience for others I'll spoiler tag most of this!

I thought it was fantastic, and we were totally riveted throughout. I have to admit that [spoiler]it was fairly far in before it hit me what it was actually doing, but once the biblical theme was in my mind it was fun to think back on previous events in the film and realize what they had all represented. The post-film conversation was great, piecing it all together.

It's an incredibly stressful film, and seems designed to create maximum anxiety (it really feels like a surreal stress dream, and I'm not sure I've seen anything that nails that peculiar logic quite as well).

It's very unusual, and not very subtle, but feels supremely confident in its execution and in what it's doing and telling an epic, biblical story using a claustrophobic domestic setting as a microcosm is very ambitious and personally I think it worked brilliantly.[/spoiler]

I would imagine it's the ultimate marmite film though and can see why many people would hate it, but I've never really seen anything like it and was bowled over (although the high stress levels mean I may not revisit in a hurry).

I've already waxed lyrical about mother! a page or two ago but yes, it is utterly fantastic. Most of the scenes (particularly later on) feel like they must have been extremely difficult to pull off and nothing feels like they fell short.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 05 November, 2019, 09:39:12 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 November, 2019, 11:10:45 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate. What was the point of that? Basically a re-skinning of the (metal) bones of T2. Competently directed and assembled, but lacking any originality or, frankly, excitement with the added handicap of some credulity-stretching plot logic (or lack of it).


I haven't seen it, and will unlikely do so until one dark drunk night 10 years from now when I can't find the TV remote, but I did read a spoiler heavy review - I genuinely guffawed reading the detail about "Carl".
WTF were they thinking?

Watched a few horror movies over the Halloween season, including a new Blu-ray purchase of 'Incident in a Ghostland'.
It was alright. Slick, sick and has a twist that just about works, but I don't think I'll revisit it anytime soon.
I was blown away by Martyrs a few years back, and Laugier's name probably heightened expectations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 November, 2019, 10:28:38 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 04 November, 2019, 06:02:22 PM
I've already waxed lyrical about mother! a page or two ago but yes, it is utterly fantastic. Most of the scenes (particularly later on) feel like they must have been extremely difficult to pull off and nothing feels like they fell short.

Yeah it all flows so well that in the moment I didn't even consider how technically ambitious it is and how difficult a lot of the staging must have been. It's quite the accomplishment!

Watched The Witches last night, not the Roald Dahl adaptation but the '60s Hammer thing. It was enjoyable enough and had some unease in places, even if the ritual scenes got a few unintentional laughs. It's clearly going for a Wicker Man finale level of unease and terror but is so over the top and hysterically acted that it doesn't really get there and just winds up feeling very quaint. Enjoyed it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM
Quote from: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 November, 2019, 05:26:40 PM
"I had a ticket for Disney on Ice" or was that the book?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 05 November, 2019, 07:48:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

Not controversial at all.  I don't know if you ever watched Manhunter but Cox's performance is far more restrained and potentially chilling.  In fact I always consider it a far superior film to Silence on so many levels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 05 November, 2019, 09:48:36 PM
Mads Mikkelsen is my Hannibal, personally. NBC's adaptation is one of my favourite shows of all time (the second season in particular is up there).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:39:55 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM
Quote from: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

For me, the best performance in the whole movie is Ted Levine. He is utterly terrifying and pathetic. A great actor, and I've enjoyed him in everything from Monk to the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. A superb actor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:44:18 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 November, 2019, 07:48:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

Not controversial at all.  I don't know if you ever watched Manhunter but Cox's performance is far more restrained and potentially chilling.  In fact I always consider it a far superior film to Silence on so many levels.

Wonder how Brian Cox would have approached the role in Silence Of The Lambs? A shame he was never in with a chance of getting it. Always jars that the initial choice was Gene Hackman.

Of all the movies that have adapted Thomas Harris' work, I still think Manhunter is the best. The music, the performances and the performances from Peterson, Noonan and Allen. Just a great movie, and one I originally saw all those years ago on BBC2's Moviedrome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 November, 2019, 02:52:06 PM
Quote from: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:44:18 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 November, 2019, 07:48:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

Not controversial at all.  I don't know if you ever watched Manhunter but Cox's performance is far more restrained and potentially chilling.  In fact I always consider it a far superior film to Silence on so many levels.

Wonder how Brian Cox would have approached the role in Silence Of The Lambs? A shame he was never in with a chance of getting it. Always jars that the initial choice was Gene Hackman.


Should totally have had Ned Beaty in the next cell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:57:53 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 November, 2019, 02:52:06 PM
Quote from: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:44:18 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 November, 2019, 07:48:10 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

Not controversial at all.  I don't know if you ever watched Manhunter but Cox's performance is far more restrained and potentially chilling.  In fact I always consider it a far superior film to Silence on so many levels.

Wonder how Brian Cox would have approached the role in Silence Of The Lambs? A shame he was never in with a chance of getting it. Always jars that the initial choice was Gene Hackman.


Should totally have had Ned Beaty in the next cell.

:lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 06 November, 2019, 03:06:12 PM
I finally got around to seeing Joker

Wow! This is a cinematic masterpiece. I truly think it is. Just so much to absorb from the film on what it says about society, government, the class system, etc, etc plus it's set in a very realistic 'comic book' film.

Arthur's transformation through the film is utterly stunning.

And about that controversial music cue...I think that is very deliberate too. It would be far too jarring for it not to be. Everything other single piece of music was chosen very specifically. I was just glad they (deliberately) did not use enough of it so they would have to pay any royalties.

A stunning piece of cinema that was almost perfect in every single way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 November, 2019, 05:02:14 PM
Quote from: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:39:55 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM
Quote from: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

For me, the best performance in the whole movie is Ted Levine. He is utterly terrifying and pathetic. A great actor, and I've enjoyed him in everything from Monk to the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. A superb actor.

There was an episode of the podcast I Was There Too with the actor who played the senator's daughter/kidnap victim where she talks about working with Levine - great stuff.

https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/ (https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 11:16:27 PM
Quote from: radiator on 06 November, 2019, 05:02:14 PM
Quote from: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:39:55 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM
Quote from: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

For me, the best performance in the whole movie is Ted Levine. He is utterly terrifying and pathetic. A great actor, and I've enjoyed him in everything from Monk to the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. A superb actor.

There was an episode of the podcast I Was There Too with the actor who played the senator's daughter/kidnap victim where she talks about working with Levine - great stuff.

https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/ (https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/)

Cheers for the link! Sounds fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 November, 2019, 11:24:58 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate

[spoiler]More of the same (T1-T3 wise, anyway) but done really well. I thought the de-aging done for younger Sarah Connor and John was really good. It's come a long way. I had mixed feelings about what happened to John in an Alien 3 kind of way, but it served this film, at least.

I'm not sure I buy what happened to 'Carl' but I suppose there was some pointers to that in T2 when 'Uncle Bob' explains about emulating humans more when around them. He was a good source of comedy, at least.[/spoiler]

Overall a good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 08 November, 2019, 10:05:16 AM
Just recently realised that the wig he is wearing where he does his 'Goodbye Horses' dance is actually a human scalp.

You can kind of see it here above his left eye:

(https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_medium/11/114183/6613481-buffalo_bill.jpg)

[quote author=

For me, the best performance in the whole movie is Ted Levine. He is utterly terrifying and pathetic. A great actor, and I've enjoyed him in everything from Monk to the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. A superb actor.
[/quote]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2019, 02:29:53 PM
The "PUT THE LOTION IN THE BASKET" sequence is a masterpiece in subtle acting methods, you can make out every twitch and split second change in attitude, from playful to livid to vindictive in seconds. Absolutely criminal he was never nominated for an award for Buffalo Bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 08 November, 2019, 04:05:19 PM
Transplanting Lecter to that dungeon was a bit daft, but no arguing with the effect it had on me when I saw it as a youth. That film taught me many idelible lessons about filmcraft. Manhunter's Lecktor was a different creature, a smarmy, vindictive uncle that I never found very scary. Framing an evil of that type needs a Demme, not a Mann, IMO, but Manhunter overall is still a brilliant piece of work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 08 November, 2019, 04:15:49 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 November, 2019, 11:24:58 PM
[spoiler]I'm not sure I buy what happened to 'Carl' but I suppose there was some pointers to that in T2 when 'Uncle Bob' explains about emulating humans more when around them. He was a good source of comedy, at least.[/spoiler]
That whole subplot just wrecked it for me, despite the film's other qualities, of which there were many. [spoiler]It's the terminator, ffs. I'd rather Sarah had tracked it after John's death, decommissioned it, and pulled it out of mothballs when they needed some help. No character arc, sure, but better than taking the T-800 less seriously even than comic relief.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 November, 2019, 04:58:16 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 08 November, 2019, 04:15:49 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 November, 2019, 11:24:58 PM
[spoiler]I'm not sure I buy what happened to 'Carl' but I suppose there was some pointers to that in T2 when 'Uncle Bob' explains about emulating humans more when around them. He was a good source of comedy, at least.[/spoiler]
That whole subplot just wrecked it for me, despite the film's other qualities, of which there were many. [spoiler]It's the terminator, ffs. I'd rather Sarah had tracked it after John's death, decommissioned it, and pulled it out of mothballs when they needed some help. No character arc, sure, but better than taking the T-800 less seriously even than comic relief.[/spoiler]


I understand where you're coming from. [spoiler]It does kind of mess with Arnold's depiction in T1, as described by Kyle Reese as a "relentless machine that can't be reasoned with, and won't stop until you're dead". (Not an exact quote.)

You get the impression that Carl can totally be reasoned with.

That being said, I do think this is explainable. I think a terminator's programmed mission takes precedent, and until it is fulfilled, they won't stop, and absolutely can't be reasoned with aside from being captured and reprogrammed. Up until John Connor's assassination, I think this was true for the T800 who became Carl too.

After that, he'd fulfilled his mission, his very reason for being. The T800* in T2 stated "I can't self terminate", so he has to find some new purpose. I guess he could have gone on a human killing spree but he and other such infiltrators aren't  programmed for that. They kill their target, and anyone who gets in their way without remorse, but they don't just kill everyone for the sake of it. He didn't even kill Sarah directly after shooting her son. You even see the Rev-9 endoskeleton walk past a shocked guy and glance at him, but it doesn't harm him in any way as it sees no need, even despite it's robot nature being exposed.

And so Carl finds another purpose. The learning computer reaches its full potential and he changes.

I totally get why this depiction of him could be annoying and feel at odds with past characterisations though. And it does seem somewhat of a stretch, although it didn't bother me that much.

I confess the drapes thing amused me.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2019, 06:21:25 PM
I kinda wish [spoiler]Carl survived the final battle and that someone else saved the day.[/spoiler] It was all a bit samey for me - not crap and not brilliant, just another Terminator flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 November, 2019, 07:25:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2019, 06:21:25 PM
... just another Terminator flick.

Those four simple words really say something about where we're at with movies in general.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2019, 07:30:16 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 08 November, 2019, 07:25:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2019, 06:21:25 PM
... just another Terminator flick.

Those four simple words really say something about where we're at with movies in general.

Yeah, that feels true to me. Or maybe I'm just getting old and jaded.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 09 November, 2019, 08:09:21 AM
Quote from: radiator on 06 November, 2019, 05:02:14 PM
Quote from: Rately on 06 November, 2019, 02:39:55 PM
Quote from: radiator on 05 November, 2019, 04:24:46 PM
Quote from: Rately on 05 November, 2019, 11:34:57 AM
Re-watched Silence Of The Lambs.

Wow. Had forgotten just what a fantastic movie it is, and by modern standards, how lean and fast moving it is.

I've seen it about twenty times, at a conservative estimate, but every time Howard Shore's score tinkles into my ears, I'm watching attentively, as if it's my first viewing.

It's a classic. It might be controversial to say, but Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is probably the least interesting thing in the movie for me. Always find his performance very hammy and a bit over the top compared to the genuinely frightening/quotable Buffalo Bill and other lower level creeps like Chilton.

For me, the best performance in the whole movie is Ted Levine. He is utterly terrifying and pathetic. A great actor, and I've enjoyed him in everything from Monk to the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. A superb actor.

There was an episode of the podcast I Was There Too with the actor who played the senator's daughter/kidnap victim where she talks about working with Levine - great stuff.

https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/ (https://www.earwolf.com/episode/silence-of-the-lambs-with-brooke-smith/)

What a fantastic interview. Thanks so much for the heads up!

Worth a listen for her description of Ted Levine's inspiration for playing the role, and his response to the casting agent during his audition!

Also, what a career she has had!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 November, 2019, 07:49:23 PM
It's taken me long enough to get my arse into gear to finally sit down and watch it, but watch it I have and I must say that You Were Never Really Here comes highly recommended.

An unflinching, and commendably unglamorous, performance from Joaquin Phoenix, with suitably sweaty and oblique direction from the great Lynne Ramsay.

Pheonix's character has just enough twisted morality and humanity to make his descent in to extreme vengeful violence utterly compelling.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 November, 2019, 10:09:50 PM
So like do I have to hand my Nerd Badge back in if I admit that until watching it again tonight I'd never realised that Starman is a John Carpenter film? If so I'll no mention it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 11 November, 2019, 02:36:41 PM
Watched the new Terminator in Harrogate last night as I wasn't leaving until today.

It was watchable. I think I'd have enjoyed it more if they didn't have Arnie in it as a Terminator as it feels like each new sequel is just trying to find new ways to shoe-horn him in that don't always make sense. And with this one, it felt like they were trying to [spoiler]hit the same emotional beats as T2[/spoiler] so it felt a bit samey by the end.

Some impressive and ambitious set pieces though, which are well-realised even if the CG (outside the terminators) wasn't entirely convincing. And it was fun watching Sarah Connor on screen again.

[spoiler]I can live with the John Connor twist, even though I'd be more comfortable with it as a "what if?" kinda story. It does undermine all the efforts of T2 for him to simply just be shot in a bar by a Terminator soon after.[/spoiler]

Honestly I can't say as I feel that enthusiastic about recommending it but I think they achieved what they set out to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 November, 2019, 05:10:57 PM
Parasite.

There's a lot to like about this film - it's very well made and I was very entertained for the first two thirds - the entire second act is basically one long scene of suspense - but it started to lose me a bit towards the end, with one absurd plot twist after another that stretched my suspension of disbelief far beyond breaking point.

Ultimately, having now seen both this and Snowpiercer, I just don't think I like Bong Joon Ho's style of filmmaking all that much. I'm a very literal-minded person when it comes to films. Subtext is all well and good, but I don't like it when theme and metaphor dominates the storytelling and takes things into a more fantastical, dream logic kind of place. Strip away all of the commentary on poverty and inequality and you're left with a basic suspense thrill that doesn't really hold up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 15 November, 2019, 06:52:43 PM
The Aeronauts.

Found it very enjoyable and definitely a movie worth seeing on the big screen... beware though, if you have any kind of severe aversion to heights, you might be holding onto your seat cushions at times! There were a few scenes in this that definitely made you feel like you were there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 16 November, 2019, 04:00:42 AM
Anna, a nice action spy movie in the time just before the fall of the Soviet Union. It is a Luc Besson movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 November, 2019, 09:01:02 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 15 November, 2019, 06:52:43 PM
beware though, if you have any kind of severe aversion to heights, you might be holding onto your seat cushions at times!

TBH, there were a couple of bits in the trailer that made me feel quite queasy. Possibly not one for me!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 16 November, 2019, 05:33:00 PM
Little Monsters (Sky)
This was great fun. A fairly lightweight addition to Zombie cinema but enjoyable non the less. The bit at the end where [spoiler]the zombies play along to 'If you're happy and you know it' song is priceless[/spoiler]. A decent film

Le Mans '66. I'm no petrolhead (can't even drive a car) but this was great. Two and a half hours flew by with great performances from Jason Bourne and Batman. Especially by Batman. The sound especially demands that the movie be watched in a cinema. Really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 16 November, 2019, 09:23:14 PM

Bone Tomahawk (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bone-Tomahawk-Kurt-Russell/dp/B01N9538RT)-guy wonders whether his aesthetic might be applied to the seventies crime thriller. Charley Varrick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTGXIY0tXXg) by way of Dead Presidents (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8P2qseokk)


(https://i.imgur.com/kZUG2DW.png?1)


I had the cold last week and watched Paddington 2* to make myself feel better, so I thought I'd balance that out with Dragged Across Concrete (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udyitulKgfI), a casually, shockingly violent film that makes the ballistic projectile injuries of Starship Troopers look documentary in tone.

Characters say and do vile things without comment from the filmmaker, which feels like an endorsement, but watching the film all the way to the end doesn't leave you with that impression. Zahler (https://www.theringer.com/movies/2019/3/22/18276913/s-craig-zahler-dragged-across-concrete-brawl-in-cell-block-99) shows you what his characters do but isn't interested in telling you how he feels about that. 

This is a crime thriller with a shoot-out as its centrepiece, but there's more character work going on here than in Best Picture nominees. One minor player gets a length of backstory devoted to her that's the best example of the old horror dictum of getting to know someone so that when they get popped it has real effect that I've seen since Aliens (1986).


* I managed to make it all the way to the end without greetin', but when everyone clubs together to fly Aunt Lucy over and he buries his beaming face in her old lady overcoat ... you'd have to be deid!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 November, 2019, 07:52:00 PM
Well me and (not so) Tiny Tips right enjoyed Terminator: Dark Fate. We agreed that we'd have enjoyed it more if they hadn't put nearly every reveal in the trailers. After the brutal opening it sort of treads water and feels a bit flat a bit until you kbow who arrives and by the final three chained action scenes I was well and truly pumped.

I did laugh at stuff seemingly determined to upset republicans ;[spoiler] "It's your womb that they are frightened of", a terminator in Border Patrol uniform slicing through immigrants, and that undocumented immigrants save the world. [/spoiler]

But on the other side of the fence, to annoy the liberals... the same [spoiler]Terminator is a Mexican and also slices through Border Patrol staff, Carl's right to bear arms means our heroes are equipped to take on the Terminator.[/spoiler]

Get off the fence!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 November, 2019, 09:22:15 AM
Really liked Doctor Sleep the other day, and aside from a couple of changes from the book that I felt were made purely for tidyness sake rather than impact thought it was a great adaptation of the book with brilliant performances all round. Not sure how most people will find it just coming to it as a sequel to The Shining (but judging by the box office not many people have sadly). I think Flanagan is one of those rare film-makers who really gets King's writing and how to put it on a screen (even Hill House feels like a great Stephen King novel), maybe Darabont is the only other time his work as been paired with a director so well (The Mist is still the daddy of King adaptations for me).

Also watched Jumanji last night (not the 'new' new one but the first new one, and the third one if you count Zathura which I absolutely do) and thought it was great fun. Laughed a lot, it had a ton of heart and a thrilling adventure, the cast were all clearly having a blast and doing a great job, it was a bit of a joy really and just the pick-me-up we needed after a weekend in loaded with the cold and feeling sorry for ourselves.

Oh and I rewatched Terminator: Genisys, which I still don't think is as bad as most people think it is, but I still wouldn't strongly defend particularly! It's definitely in my guilty pleasures pile.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 November, 2019, 10:24:19 AM
I recall enjoying Genisys in a greatest hits kind of way and liked the poppinginto scenes from previous movies thing. Now it has shown up on Netflix I think I'll give it a second watch. But yeah, I don't think I'd go so far as to defend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 November, 2019, 01:13:52 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 18 November, 2019, 09:22:15 AM
Also watched Jumanji last night (not the 'new' new one but the first new one, and the third one if you count Zathura which I absolutely do)

Wait, there's been three? If you mean Welcome to the Jungle (which has just dropped on Netflix), I watched that last week and it really is a lot of fun. Karen Gillan's lip-biting attempt at flirting made me laugh
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 18 November, 2019, 01:28:07 PM
DDD

Jumanji - Robin Williams
Zathura - Space board game shenanigans.
Jumanji - The Rock.

I love Zathura.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 November, 2019, 01:32:07 PM
Oh yes, I totally forgot (and haven't seen) the space one. I understanbd the Rock et al are soon releasing a fourth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 November, 2019, 01:39:26 PM
The re-doing of earlier sequences are the best bits of Genisys, with one passable shock, and Arnie and Emilia are fine: everything else is please god make it stop. My 13 year old rates it though, so what do I know.

The first Rock/Pond Jumanji is way more fun than we'd any right to expect. Wee-wee humour is timeless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 18 November, 2019, 05:10:46 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 18 November, 2019, 09:22:15 AM
Really liked Doctor Sleep the other day, and aside from a couple of changes from the book that I felt were made purely for tidyness sake rather than impact thought it was a great adaptation of the book with brilliant performances all round. Not sure how most people will find it just coming to it as a sequel to The Shining (but judging by the box office not many people have sadly). I think Flanagan is one of those rare film-makers who really gets King's writing and how to put it on a screen (even Hill House feels like a great Stephen King novel), maybe Darabont is the only other time his work as been paired with a director so well (The Mist is still the daddy of King adaptations for me).

Also watched Jumanji last night (not the 'new' new one but the first new one, and the third one if you count Zathura which I absolutely do) and thought it was great fun. Laughed a lot, it had a ton of heart and a thrilling adventure, the cast were all clearly having a blast and doing a great job, it was a bit of a joy really and just the pick-me-up we needed after a weekend in loaded with the cold and feeling sorry for ourselves.

Oh and I rewatched Terminator: Genisys, which I still don't think is as bad as most people think it is, but I still wouldn't strongly defend particularly! It's definitely in my guilty pleasures pile.

Man I just couldn't get through Genisys. I thought the early sequences that recreated moments from the first film were pretty entertaining (and well-realised) but once that was out of the way, I couldn't stand the characters enough to continue watching. Maybe I'll give it a second go.

Saying that though, I genuinely think Salvation is my favourite modern sequel (mostly for the fact it didn't just try to tell the same story again) so, you know...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 18 November, 2019, 05:34:49 PM
"New Jumanji" is my current recommendation for anyone who wants a good family film. I feel it's grossly under-rated. It has a timeless appeal to all, akin to Back to the Future (or, to a lesser extent Gremlins or Ghostbusters, although they have scary bits).

I'm not saying it is great. It's just a solid family movie, of which there are precious few.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 November, 2019, 06:31:25 PM
QuoteI feel it's grossly under-rated

Underrated? Didn't it make like a billion dollars?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 18 November, 2019, 06:46:20 PM
Hunter Killer turned up on prime so I thought I'd give it a go.  Definitely a 'disengage brain' film but passable enough.  Pleasantly surprised that they didn't bother with the surprise twist of someone in the US high command turning out to be in cahoots with the Russians (my money was on Oldman's character .....) and just decided to go with some Clancey-esque 'America is great and going to save the world' schtick.  All the usual submarine cliche's trotted out but entertainingly done.

[Hey, I got further with it than Genisys which I still haven't managed to finish even on a second attempt ....]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 November, 2019, 05:54:30 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 18 November, 2019, 06:46:20 PM
Hunter Killer turned up on prime so I thought I'd give it a go.  Definitely a 'disengage brain' film but passable enough.  Pleasantly surprised that they didn't bother with the surprise twist of someone in the US high command turning out to be in cahoots with the Russians (my money was on Oldman's character .....) and just decided to go with some Clancey-esque 'America is great and going to save the world' schtick.  All the usual submarine cliche's trotted out but entertainingly done.

[Hey, I got further with it than Genisys which I still haven't managed to finish even on a second attempt ....]
Yeah, saw this a while ago on Prime. It felt like they scavenged all the submarine films for the last thirty years and picked pieces from each to assemble them into this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 November, 2019, 09:24:03 AM
Quote from: radiator on 18 November, 2019, 06:31:25 PM
QuoteI feel it's grossly under-rated

Underrated? Didn't it make like a billion dollars?

I think I know what he means though. It might have been commercially massive but it's one of those films I skipped and had pretty much written off as some dumb family blockbuster fodder that me and my friends wouldn't be into, and then once I watched it and recommended it to friends they were pretty skeptical and then came back saying they'd really enjoyed it too. So possibly not underrated by people who have watched it but underrated/written-off by a lot of people who haven't I guess.

I had a similar experience with the Paddingtons actually, I don't think anyone who has seen those hasn't enthused about them but you can get some incredulous looks sometimes when you tell people they're great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 November, 2019, 12:07:04 PM
Quote from: radiator on 18 November, 2019, 06:31:25 PM
QuoteI feel it's grossly under-rated

Underrated? Didn't it make like a billion dollars?

Plenty of movies that no-one thinks very much of have made a lot more that that!  I confess I approached a watch with no enthusiasm whatsoever, even a general fondness for the Rock and a more specific fondness for Karen Gillan's pins couldn't shift the "a Jumanji remake with Jack Black? Why?" atmosphere surrounding it. But as it turns out, one of the most solidly enjoyable family films of recent years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 21 November, 2019, 06:47:53 PM
Le Mans 66.

A very well-made movie with good racing scenes that will appeal to petrolheads I'm sure but I was pretty bored throughout, as someone with no interest in cars. Considered walking out, even, but decided to stay since the film was doing what it intended to well.

You win some, you lose some.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM

Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?

Sunshine. What a dreary old load of arse.

I need cheering up after those two yawn-fests. Sod it, I'm in the mood for a classic. The Shootist, methinks.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 November, 2019, 10:21:09 PM
I love both of those.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 21 November, 2019, 10:31:51 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 November, 2019, 09:24:03 AM
Quote from: radiator on 18 November, 2019, 06:31:25 PM
QuoteI feel it's grossly under-rated

Underrated? Didn't it make like a billion dollars?

I think I know what he means though. It might have been commercially massive but it's one of those films I skipped and had pretty much written off as some dumb family blockbuster fodder that me and my friends wouldn't be into, and then once I watched it and recommended it to friends they were pretty skeptical and then came back saying they'd really enjoyed it too. So possibly not underrated by people who have watched it but underrated/written-off by a lot of people who haven't I guess.

I had a similar experience with the Paddingtons actually, I don't think anyone who has seen those hasn't enthused about them but you can get some incredulous looks sometimes when you tell people they're great.

I kind of see what you're saying - I guess its just hard to think of a film that got very strong reviews and made a ton of money as underrated.

I'm generally a little wary of kids action/adventure films that get good reviews, because they're a genre - much like studio comedies and especially romantic comedies - where the bar is so low that anything that isn't completely crap tends to get a little overpraised.

The Paddington films are genuinely underrated here in the US - neither film did much business - they dumped the second one in cinemas in January, the cinema equivalent of a graveyard slot - and almost no one I talk to has heard of them, which is such a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 November, 2019, 12:02:58 AM

The Shootist. Sublime.

That is all.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 22 November, 2019, 08:03:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM

Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?



I adore Inception. Fantastic film with action and a heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 22 November, 2019, 08:49:55 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 November, 2019, 08:03:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM

Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?



I adore Inception. Fantastic film with action and a heart.

Love Inception.

One of my favourite soundtracks from Hans Zimmer, and a great story that is brilliantly shot and performed. Just bubbles below The Prestige as my favourite Nolan movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 November, 2019, 09:32:23 AM
So I just went back and watched Terminator: Genisys on Netflix and it was much, much worse than I remembered. The gun stops after the first 40 minutes (when the Back To The Future style shenanigans end).

Thereafter it's a retty tedious run of the mill action flick. None of the setpieces are particularly imaginitive, well realiaed or memorable and only the odd flash of charisma from the stars (no, not Jai Courtney, the other two)  shining through.

Is there a theme in there? Possibly "You become what you set out to destroy and that shits over any good you previously did" but that actually feels like a metatext in this case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 November, 2019, 10:15:15 AM
Quote from: Rately on 22 November, 2019, 08:49:55 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 November, 2019, 08:03:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM

Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?



I adore Inception. Fantastic film with action and a heart.

Love Inception.

One of my favourite soundtracks from Hans Zimmer, and a great story that is brilliantly shot and performed. Just bubbles below The Prestige as my favourite Nolan movie.

Yeah was actually having a Nolan chat with a friend yesterday where we were doing some personal rankings of his films and while we both had different ideas about where everything else in his filmography sat we both put The Prestige and Inception at 1 and 2 and agreed there's not much between them for it. Both masterpieces in my mind, and so absorbing to be hugely rewatchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 November, 2019, 01:36:27 PM
Nolan is my favorite modern director. He made my all time favorite superhero movie and the awesome Memento
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 November, 2019, 01:30:15 PM
Frozen 2. It says something about the elusive nature of art that the entire might of the Disney hegemony couldn't rustle up a few decent songs in 5 long years.  While not entirely devoid of interest (Olaf is consistently funny, there are some visually strong Elemental scenes and the conclusion is pretty satisfying), it's a fairly shocking mess of a film all the same. Miring itself in flashback within flashback and lengthy VO exposition from the very start, before moving on to deathly dull domestic scenes and then a series of vague and ever-shifting goals (magical lands beyond magical lands beyond magical lands) it struggles to get going for about half its runtime. Even when it finally finds its feet it keeps pausing to insert snippets of songs, dialogue and designs from the original, only serving to remind you how much tighter and more cohesive Frozen was than this hodge-podge of underdeveloped characters and weak tunes

Perhaps most disappointing of all it dispenses with the intricate costumes and early-modern architecture in favour of sticking Elsa in a generic Grade 1 Dance Recital leotard and setting much of the action in a noble-savage version of a Suomi reindeer herder camp.

Not enough trolls, no Alan Tudyk, inexplicable geography, dull songs, snails-pace opening act and a generally overcomplicated plot. Anna and Elsa's relationship is still a good focus, as is the Christof and Sven double act. On balance, a full-on Olaf movie would have worked better - certainly the only time the kids in our cinema shut up was when he was on the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 23 November, 2019, 02:17:57 PM
I have a theory the creators of the original Frozen blew their wad of story notes and tunes on the Galavant tv show, which managed some great tunes across its short run - including two damnably catchy season themes - and covered plot ground that would have slotted nicely into a Frozen sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 November, 2019, 02:32:26 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 November, 2019, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM
Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?

Frozen 2 ... a fairly shocking mess of a film ... Miring itself in flashback within flashback ... and then a series of vague and ever-shifting goals (magical lands beyond magical lands beyond magical lands)

Christmas Inception.  Or Frozen: reloaded (https://youtu.be/DQvjl-Z_V6s)


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 23 November, 2019, 02:48:29 PM
Refrigerated

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 23 November, 2019, 03:20:14 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 23 November, 2019, 02:48:29 PM
Refrigerated

Honk! Matrix: refrigerated is a much better gag. This must be how it works in the writers' room of Big Bang Theory.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 November, 2019, 03:36:34 PM
Quote from: Frank on 23 November, 2019, 03:20:14 PM
This must be how it works in the writers' room of Big Bang Theory.

Only if the guy that writes the autism and speech impediment gags is out that day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 November, 2019, 06:53:09 PM
So I may have written about the Richard Curtis TomTom ABOUT TIME before but I've just gone into a cupboard and clenched my fists and gone back in time to fix it.

Richard Curtis is really easy to dislike; his characters live in a fantasy version of Britain that I don't recognise; he seems to only have about four supporting character types which he just recycles in every film and he often doesn't actually know how love works as opposed to the stuff he often serves up.

But sometimes, like here, despite nearly all of the above sins being present, a genuine sincerity runs through it and his characters grow and you end up with something that almost brings a tear of satisfaction to your glass eye as the final message lands.

Bill Nighy plays a bearable version of Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander does his usual sweary routine (to be fair, he still makes me laugh) but Domnhall Gleeson unexpectedly works well as romantic lead who starts off doing things for selfish reasons but grows and learns as the obvious theme comes to the fore (and overpowers my objections about the mechanics of TIME travel presented here).

So, for context, I've had a lovely family based couple of days and am slightly pissed so your mileage may vary.

Oh and we also have Rachel McAdams and an early appearance by Margot Robbie so that might make you want to go into a darkened room and clench at least one of your fists.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 23 November, 2019, 09:03:09 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 November, 2019, 10:15:15 AM
Quote from: Rately on 22 November, 2019, 08:49:55 AM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 November, 2019, 08:03:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2019, 07:13:26 PM

Inception. How can a film so chock-full of good actors, nice effects and cool ideas be such a boring old load of arse?



I adore Inception. Fantastic film with action and a heart.

Love Inception.

One of my favourite soundtracks from Hans Zimmer, and a great story that is brilliantly shot and performed. Just bubbles below The Prestige as my favourite Nolan movie.

Yeah was actually having a Nolan chat with a friend yesterday where we were doing some personal rankings of his films and while we both had different ideas about where everything else in his filmography sat we both put The Prestige and Inception at 1 and 2 and agreed there's not much between them for it. Both masterpieces in my mind, and so absorbing to be hugely rewatchable.

I like Nolan's films, but something about the way they are edited breaks my brain. They often feel like feature length trailers, if that makes any sense? Like, you quite often never get any kind of sense of how much time is passing.

I'd say Dunkirk and Memento are the exception because of how they are structured.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 November, 2019, 12:14:15 PM
I like to support independent cinema and I like World War II films. So imagine my surprise when MIDWAY turns out to be one of the most expensive independent movies ever.

It rocks and sucks at the same time. The context and manoeuvring leading to the titular battle are well played out. Mrs Tips managed to follow it all nicely and she knows nothing of the real historical set up describing it as a gigantic game of cat and mouse.

The main engagement look spectacular as you'd expect from Emmerich with plenty of liberties taken with historical accuracy for the sake of cinematics. (From what I recall, fleets don't sail that close together and Japanese AA fire was lacklustre compared to others).

So what sucks? Pretty much everything else. The screenplay ad dialogue would have stretched the patience of cinemagoers in the forties who might have seen this as a propaganda piece. The parts for women are as pointless as a detour to cover the Doolittle Raid. The dialogue is delivered in about the least naturalistic style you can imagine.

So pretty much what you'd expect going in. And as such, quite enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 25 November, 2019, 02:17:45 AM
Watched the new CHARLIE's Angels and supprisingly didn't spontaneously grow a womb!!!  It was actually average to okay just wish th action scenes were cut a bit better.  That girl from Twilight was pretty funny in it and it had Sir Patrick Stewart it as well.  Doesn't deserve the absolute drubbing it's getting in the box office but in a world where the last Terminator flick can flop for being too WOKE (fuck I hate that terminology) what do you expect, probably better than the McG fiascos though

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 November, 2019, 01:52:32 PM
Blade Runner. Had to get another watch in this month before it turns into a period piece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 02:54:50 PM
El Camino

If you're reluctant to watch this because you feel that the Breaking Bad ending was just fine, and nothing needs be added to the series, your reasoning would be accurate.

But don't let that stop you. It's really good. A very worthwhile watch, I'd say. It was interesting to see a certain actor who died pretty recently too. Since this wasn't filmed all that long ago, I guess this must be one of his last roles. It was his usual type of role (he tends to play similar characters) but he does it so well, and this swan song ended on a high note.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 25 November, 2019, 06:11:52 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 02:54:50 PM
El Camino

If you're reluctant to watch this because you feel that the Breaking Bad ending was just fine, and nothing needs be added to the series, your reasoning would be accurate.

But don't let that stop you. It's really good. A very worthwhile watch, I'd say. It was interesting to see a certain actor who died pretty recently too. Since this wasn't filmed all that long ago, I guess this must be one of his last roles. It was his usual type of role (he tends to play similar characters) but he does it so well, and this swan song ended on a high note.

I believe it was that actor's last role, and they died on the day the movie was released.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 07:21:55 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 25 November, 2019, 06:11:52 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 02:54:50 PM
El Camino

If you're reluctant to watch this because you feel that the Breaking Bad ending was just fine, and nothing needs be added to the series, your reasoning would be accurate.

But don't let that stop you. It's really good. A very worthwhile watch, I'd say. It was interesting to see a certain actor who died pretty recently too. Since this wasn't filmed all that long ago, I guess this must be one of his last roles. It was his usual type of role (he tends to play similar characters) but he does it so well, and this swan song ended on a high note.

I believe it was that actor's last role, and they died on the day the movie was released.

I didn't know that. Sad, but admirable. Coincidentally, I only watched the last series of Twin Peaks recently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2019, 08:23:09 PM
Election.

This film is so widely praised, and has such cult classic status, but I've seen it twice now and while I appreciate elements of it, I do struggle to see what all the fuss is about. Every character in it is either a sociopath, a creep or an idiot. It's occasionally amusing, but not really funny enough to be an out and out comedy, and it's just so cynical and mean-spirited a film that it's hard to see what its trying to say, or what the point is, beyond edge-lordy nihilism?

Blue Ruin.

Finally got around to this, and it's just as great as I hoped it would be - a really lean and atmospheric thriller, with a neat twist I haven't seen in a movie before, in that the guy on the rampage of revenge is pretty useless and inept, but this isn't played for laughs, it actually ratchets up the tension a lot. Great performances by the lead actor and also Buzz from Home Alone, who I've seen in a few things lately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 November, 2019, 08:56:26 PM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2019, 08:23:09 PM
Election ... Every character in it is either a sociopath, a creep or an idiot.

Chris Klein's character is a sweet dope, which, realistically, is as much as most of us can aspire to. Everyone likes to delude themselves that they're the brilliant hero of their own story, but we'd be better off concentrating on just not becoming nasty creeps.

I really like Election (https://youtu.be/23aV47A_5tg?t=26) and Blue Ruin (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Ruin-Macon-Blair/dp/B01FMQZ2YU)'s one of the best movies I have ever seen.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 November, 2019, 10:30:15 PM
The story behind Blue Ruin is really sweet too. Apparently the director and lead actor grew up together making films, and following a string of failures Blue Ruin was their one last roll of the dice to make careers in filmmaking, and it paid off. I actively disliked Hold the Dark, but Green Room was similarly terrific.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 25 November, 2019, 10:52:38 PM
Quote from: radiator on 25 November, 2019, 10:30:15 PM
The story behind Blue Ruin is really sweet too. Apparently the director and lead actor grew up together making films, and following a string of failures Blue Ruin was their one last roll of the dice to make careers in filmmaking, and it paid off.

As told here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041yjy7) (9 min). $200,000 budget and we both loved it more than Endgame*


* I liked and enjoyed Endgame. I haven't watched half the movies but I blubbed three or four times
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 10:40:13 AM

November 27th is the day everyone's an

IRISHMAN (https://www.netflix.com/title/80175798)




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 10:52:12 AM
Quote from: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 10:40:13 AM

November 27th is the day everyone's an

IRISHMAN (https://www.netflix.com/title/80175798)

Saving it for the weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 27 November, 2019, 12:24:15 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 07:21:55 PM
Coincidentally, I only watched the last series of Twin Peaks recently.

"Gotta light?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 27 November, 2019, 01:02:37 PM
Quote from: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 10:40:13 AM

November 27th is the day everyone's an

IRISHMAN (https://www.netflix.com/title/80175798)

Couldn't miss the chance to catch it on the big screen last week.
An indulgent masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless.

Pips Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Joker for movie of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 01:10:12 PM
Instead of watching Scorcese's latest white boy crime-wank movie I checked out Dolemite Is My Name, an Eddie Murphy vehicle based on the life of African American stand-up comic turned movie star Rudy Ray Moore that seems both a natural fit for Murphy, and a natural choice for the biopic treatment, and while it hits all the usual notes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3q3LEaK7_U), something is a bit off about it and it was only near the end that I twigged that it's not a biopic of Moore, but of Dolemite, Moore's onstage persona.
When the movie starts, Moore isn't a young, gifted comedian but a flabby, over-the-hill journeyman, and his big break doesn't come from a producer taking a chance but from Moore stealing material from hobos and freeloading off his aunt to publish a record.  The film's story isn't that Moore was a genius but that he got lucky with the right material at the right time, and then never actually became any better as an artist or saw out any grand vision, his victory comes from finding a shallow validation in his cult status among an African-American community literally abandoned to the inner cities by white people (as explained in a brutally-unsubtle minor turn by Bob Odenkirk doing his best not to channel Saul Goodman while delivering what are clearly Saul Goodman's lines).
Biopics are tricky because if the subjects are alive or have a legacy maintained by an estate, the movies tend to be flattering and safe, but this isn't flattering at all.  Moore certainly doesn't come across as a bad person - he doesn't do drugs, beat his wife or abandon his kids - but he also doesn't come across as particularly interesting or even that good in his chosen profession, he's just a man who succeeded through the work and/or indulgence of others with more talent or wit but who in the end gave back more than what he took by ultimately becoming a part of the African-American folklore he cynically stripmines to achieve success.
The pacing seems a bit off, but it's otherwise quite enjoyable.  If nothing else it was nice being reminded that Wesley Snipes can actually act and doesn't just parody the tough guy act he was peddling in the 1990s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 04:05:57 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 01:10:12 PM
Instead of watching Scorcese's latest white boy crime-wank movie .

Wow. I have to say that is one of the most brilliant summary of a film you have not watched.

Due to Link Prime's post, and the fact that today ended up being a free day for me, I watched it (damn, I'm so weak.)

Professor Bear you are so far wide of the mark it's almost impossible to be that wrong.

It is in fact a film about how crime can hurt those around you and does not glorify crime, be it 'white boy crime wank' or black boy crime wank or any racial stereo crime wank at all.

I suggest you see it first then decide about the film. And it is a film. It's cinema at it's peak.

As Link Prime said, it's up there as one of the best films this year. I can't decide which I prefer. OUTIH is great fun and brilliantly made but The Irishman has an emotional heart that will resonate for a long time. Made by an auteur.

If that's 'white boy crime-wank' then bring it on. I hope more gets made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 04:22:30 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 27 November, 2019, 01:02:37 PM
Quote from: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 10:40:13 AM

November 27th is the day everyone's an

IRISHMAN (https://www.netflix.com/title/80175798)

Couldn't miss the chance to catch it on the big screen last week. An indulgent masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless. Pips Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Joker for movie of the year.

The luxurious running time means Scorsese doesn't have the control and mastery of the material that he enjoyed on Goodfellas or Raging Bull. Then again, if you told me you had a three-hour edit of either of those films I'd slam your head in a car door until you turned it over.

This feels much more like Wolf Of Wall Street; a series of wonderfully realised studies for a painting presented for exhibition alongside the finished piece because they have considerable merit in their own right. And the extra running time allows the story to avoid some of the glibness of those (incredible) movies.

Ray Liotta collecting his newspaper on the porch of his witness protection home in Nowhere is a great end to Goodfellas, but The Irishman would have shown you Henry Hill working at his boring job for forty years, his retirement and eventual death. It's just such a protracted end sequence that distinguishes the film from a Greatest Hits set and emphasises the film's concern with finality and mortality (i).

Although death and endings are constant themes throughout the film thanks to a blackly comic version of the on-screen information in Brink, where whenever a supporting character is introduced the movie freezes and a caption informs the viewer exactly how and when they will eventually meet their (invariably violent and bloody) end.

No cast members survive to join Sheeran in the rest home, but the film thinks they're the fortunate ones. You probably have to be eighty to make a film that argues the only meaningful choice we have in life is how we feel about and respond to watching everyone we know die (ii).

Rather than playing Hoffa, Pacino's playing Al Pacino (iii), in the same way that Scorsese's making a Martin Scorsese film, which is fine because they're both great at it. There's a scene where Pacino makes a life or death decision seated beside a lake - you don't put Pacino in the lakehouse (https://youtu.be/5Weaop_aiTg) accidentally or without realising its significance.

Plemons, Cannavale, and Graham represent the next generation (X and Millennial) of actors who, if the movie industry - not even what Scorsese grandly termed 'cinema', but just the movie industry - still existed, would be playing the roles that De Niro and Pacino once did, but who have done their signature work on telly.

Link Prime's exactly right - this is an indulgent but wonderful film. It probably won't be Scorsese's final movie, but it'll feel like a fitting end to a career once he's dead - tying up a body of work in the same way Endgame capped-off the MCU - and it makes a beautiful farewell to an entire era of movie making and popular culture, too.

Check the name of the film on the marquee:


(https://i.imgur.com/7S1YwDJ.png?2)


(i) If you're interested in watching this film to witness De Niro restored to the beauty and vitality of his youth via the miracle of CGI de-ageing technology, you'll be disappointed. DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci look like men in their seventies wearing hairpieces and eyeliner. They've dialled De Niro's age back ten years at most, even when he's supposed to be in his thirties. Everyone's too old to play these roles - there's one scene where Pesci introduces DeNiro as 'the kid I was telling you about' and you look around the screen to see who the kid is supposed to be - but if you were fine with a black Miss Moneypenny or a female Iago - and I was - then that isn't going to bother you.

(ii) The film's concerned with the end but also how we ended up in the place we are now. It's the story of how the (white) blue-collar members of post-WWII US society knowingly conspired in corruption, operating a sort of double-consciousness that allowed them to go along with the lies American society is built upon as long as the lie benefited them and they felt the liar in charge was on their side.

From its (sub)title - I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES - onwards, the film's about a society based upon saying one thing and meaning another, knowing fine well that everyone knows exactly what you actually mean. Pacino's character dies because he doesn't understand what people are trying to tell him because they never say what they actually mean and he's been telling lies for so long he doesn't believe anything he's told.

Sheeran's baby boomer daughter Peggy, who works in a bank, understands the lies and sees the corruption but her only response is silence and to (literally) put the shutters up. By a coincidence, I watched an episode of South Park last night in which protesting white nationalist truck drivers were replaced by Alexa, their chant of 'you will not replace us' figured as pointless protest demanding the return of a world that has passed into history.

(iii) Or maybe Sil from The Sopranos, which is like accusing John Lennon of imitating Liam Gallagher. Van Zandt turns up as a lounge singer in a pivotal scene, sharing screen time with Pacino, whose performance in Godfather III he memorably parodied in The Sopranos (https://youtu.be/3yPjwWgJytY). This film boasts more Sopranos cast members than you could shake a stick at, which, considering that show made a conspicuous point of hiring Goodfellas alumni, creates a dizzying spiral of self-reflexivity
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 04:28:10 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 01:10:12 PM
Instead of watching Scorcese's latest white boy crime-wank movie I checked out Dolemite Is My Name, an Eddie Murphy vehicle based on the life of African American stand-up comic turned movie star Rudy Ray Moore that seems both a natural fit for Murphy, and a natural choice for the biopic treatment, and while it hits all the usual notes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3q3LEaK7_U), something is a bit off about it and it was only near the end that I twigged that it's not a biopic of Moore, but of Dolemite, Moore's onstage persona.
When the movie starts, Moore isn't a young, gifted comedian but a flabby, over-the-hill journeyman, and his big break doesn't come from a producer taking a chance but from Moore stealing material from hobos and freeloading off his aunt to publish a record.  The film's story isn't that Moore was a genius but that he got lucky with the right material at the right time, and then never actually became any better as an artist or saw out any grand vision, his victory comes from finding a shallow validation in his cult status among an African-American community literally abandoned to the inner cities by white people (as explained in a brutally-unsubtle minor turn by Bob Odenkirk doing his best not to channel Saul Goodman while delivering what are clearly Saul Goodman's lines).
Biopics are tricky because if the subjects are alive or have a legacy maintained by an estate, the movies tend to be flattering and safe, but this isn't flattering at all.  Moore certainly doesn't come across as a bad person - he doesn't do drugs, beat his wife or abandon his kids - but he also doesn't come across as particularly interesting or even that good in his chosen profession, he's just a man who succeeded through the work and/or indulgence of others with more talent or wit but who in the end gave back more than what he took by ultimately becoming a part of the African-American folklore he cynically stripmines to achieve success.
The pacing seems a bit off, but it's otherwise quite enjoyable.  If nothing else it was nice being reminded that Wesley Snipes can actually act and doesn't just parody the tough guy act he was peddling in the 1990s.

I noticed Dolemite last night, when I was looking for The Irishman like a junkie waiting to score. I'd read the fantastic reviews but managed to miss the information that it was a Netflix joint, so that was a pleasant surprise.

You offer an entertaining and original perspective, as always - it's next on my list.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 November, 2019, 04:34:37 PM

Yes, yes, yes... But is it any good?

(Great review, btw, can't wait to see it after that.)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 04:39:29 PM
Spoilers surely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 06:15:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 04:05:57 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 01:10:12 PM
Instead of watching Scorcese's latest white boy crime-wank movie .

I FEEL ATTACKED


Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 07:24:13 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 06:15:34 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 04:05:57 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 27 November, 2019, 01:10:12 PM
Instead of watching Scorcese's latest white boy crime-wank movie .

I FEEL ATTACKED


Like shooting fish in a barrel.

Jesus. Really. Is being a cunt a thing now on this forum?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 08:18:43 PM
Sorry to refer to you as that word.

That was uncalled for.

I meant unpleasant vulva.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 November, 2019, 09:22:03 PM
People have been banned for that. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's actually an official policy on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 09:39:51 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 November, 2019, 09:22:03 PM
People have been banned for that. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's actually an official policy on it.

I have been reprimanded in regards to my comment.

I could not change the original post thus I apologised and re-phrased it.

I am willing to take a ban. Almost hoping for one in fact.

I could do without the aggro of putting up with the passive aggressive sh*t of that persons comments.

I thought this was a nice place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 November, 2019, 10:25:24 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 09:39:51 PM
I have been reprimanded in regards to my comment.

Sorry. I'm still a little bit sore about getting hit with a ban for using the word under a spoiler block and with part of the word asterisked out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 November, 2019, 02:21:35 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 27 November, 2019, 12:24:15 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 07:21:55 PM
Coincidentally, I only watched the last series of Twin Peaks recently.

"Gotta light?"
Heh! That whole episode was super weird! I understood some of it but [spoiler]what was with that insect frog thing?I'm guessing that young woman is one of the older ladies who went a bit barmy, but I missed who. I'm terrible at remembering names.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 November, 2019, 02:38:54 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 28 November, 2019, 02:21:35 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 27 November, 2019, 12:24:15 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 25 November, 2019, 07:21:55 PM
Coincidentally, I only watched the last series of Twin Peaks recently.

"Gotta light?"
Heh! That whole episode was super weird! I understood some of it but [spoiler]what was with that insect frog thing?I'm guessing that young woman is one of the older ladies who went a bit barmy, but I missed who. I'm terrible at remembering names.[/spoiler]

Sorry, don't answer that here. I just remembered this is the movie thread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 November, 2019, 09:31:34 AM
Quote from: Frank on 27 November, 2019, 04:22:30 PM
The luxurious running time ...

Of your summary was equally enjoyable.

I'll also add a note regarding the CGI de-aging technology.
I generally thought it worked well, but seemed much more effective in some scenes than others.
There were two aspects that could never sell it fully though; the eyes and the physicality (when '30-something' De Niro was beating up the green grocer I had to stifle a laugh).


Also forgot to mention that all groups of male friends aged 15 - 55 that I observed leaving the cineplex were rambunctiously talking to each other like Gambino Capo's.
Quite contagious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 November, 2019, 09:32:40 AM
Matty...That, uh, academic friend of ours is causing some concern.
You want me to, ya know?

< Imperceptibly nods towards holstered firearm > 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 November, 2019, 12:00:00 PM
Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 27 November, 2019, 09:39:51 PMI am willing to take a ban. Almost hoping for one in fact.

I could do without the aggro of putting up with the passive aggressive sh*t of that persons comments.

I thought this was a nice place.

This is literally passive aggression, which I guess is a step up from the actual aggression.

You started out of the gate aggressive at a random comment meant in jest at Frank's all-in stanning for the Irishman - which now I am hoping he has taken in good humor - and escalated until you got an official warning.  You were abusive and when called on it your defence was "but they made me do it", so I suggest you make use of the board's ignore function like I plan to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Frank on 28 November, 2019, 01:00:09 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 November, 2019, 12:00:00 PM
... Frank ...

I will destroy you.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 November, 2019, 01:30:56 PM
Not if I beat you to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 December, 2019, 10:08:18 AM
Knives Out.

Watched this after a long day in crowded Birmingham and pretty knackered so was fighting to stay awake at points. Not the movie's fault but I think that's what I can put me not quite following one minor plot thread down to, so I'll give it a pass on that one.

Besides that, it was pretty good. A few good laughs and great performances all around. Worth seeing if it's not your usual kinda thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2019, 05:08:34 PM
Return of the Jedi in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker.
It was great. I've even grown to love the Ewoks which eighteen year old me thought were a bit too childish. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 December, 2019, 05:21:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2019, 05:08:34 PM
Return of the Jedi in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker.
It was great. I've even grown to love the Ewoks which eighteen year old me thought were a bit too childish.

I've long cited RotJ as my least favourite of the 'real' SW films*, but a recent re-watch with an identical purpose really showed me how fantastic that whole final act is, and how brilliantly the intercutting of the three strands is judged. They're all good, and they all get just the right amount of time to shine, in the right order.


*Although I've always liked the Ewoks, what we see of them on the screen and what we think about them due to merch, spinoffs etc is so often confused.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 December, 2019, 05:29:15 PM
PROMARE

Studio Triggers latest theatrical venture is like snorting 5 lines of coke and looking into a neon lava lamp for 2 hours with the sounds of Bowie echoing in your head.

It's a superbly daft movie, as is any Trigger production, about a militia of weaponized spontaneous combustion aliens and firefighters with giant robots and firetrucks trying to stop a white supremacists neo-nazi from starting a mass exodus to another universe as the planets about to blow up.

Yeah. Thats about the plot.

And lots of skin on display. This movie is oozing Bisexual energy. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Leigh S on 01 December, 2019, 06:16:45 PM
I thought John Wick was supposed to be good?  Remove Keanu and it is like a less interesting Accident Man (and I'm talking about the movie version let alone the comics).

That's harsh, Keanu is a likeable lead so it is watchable, it is action packed, but.... did I miss something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 01 December, 2019, 06:37:48 PM
Just finished a marathon session watching The Irishman. For me the movie struggled to get going and was a big disappointment.  The thing that was done quite exceptionally is the make-up  or rather the technology on the actors to de-age them. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 01 December, 2019, 07:25:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 December, 2019, 05:21:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2019, 05:08:34 PM
Return of the Jedi in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker.
It was great. I've even grown to love the Ewoks which eighteen year old me thought were a bit too childish.

*Although I've always liked the Ewoks, what we see of them on the screen and what we think about them due to merch, spinoffs etc is so often confused.

I was young enough to like the Ewoks at the time and haven't gone through any 'hate' phase.  I really dislike the Tarzan yell and the Wilhelm scream in Jedi though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 01 December, 2019, 07:26:17 PM
Last film watched: Bladerunner: The Final Cut - because it was a contemporary film until yesterday.  Now it's a historical drama.

(https://bleedingfool.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/DadXiqdVMAEiuVc-1024x456.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 December, 2019, 07:44:56 PM
There's a bit in Rambo: Last Blood where Rambo has to sneak into America from the Mexican side of the US/Mexico border, so he drives up to a run-down waist-high wire fence in the middle of nowhere and just drives over it.  You know it's the border because it has rusty signs sprayed with shit that say "US Border" and "Do Not Cross" in English.  Because subtext.
The Rambo movies - even at the lunk-headed nadir of Rambo 3 - are about the consequences of violence, from Rambo's PTSD to the scarred wastelands of Afghanistan and postwar Vietnam becoming the playground for his enemies - but this movie revels in sadism to the point that Rambo ends up yelling down a phone that the baddies will "feel muh RAAAAAAGE!" and describing the ludicrous things he's going to do to them, which he then does.  The action doesn't start until the last 10 minutes of the film, but when it does it turns into Tom And Jerry stuff, with Rambo magically appearing to shoot off the tops of people's heads after they've stood on a rake.
The closest it ever gets to awareness that there were other Rambo movies and that they were about "stuff" is when we find out Rambo has dug loads of tunnels under his backyard, because uhhhh the Vietcong had tunnels I guess?  But nothing is made of it, even though the tunnels come into play later in the film.
This is a really poor send-off for this character - or maybe that's the point: maybe it's a commentary on how victims of violence sometimes don't move past it and just end up turning it into a toxic hatred for foreigners, with the final act essentially being the most pointed endorsement of the Stand Your Ground laws you're likely to see.  After I watched this, I asked if a mate had seen it and he said he wasn't bothered about Stallone anymore as he'd turned into "a massive Trump c*cksucker" in recent years, which I am glad I didn't know going in, as seeing anti-Mexican sentiments in the text would have been unavoidable.  As it was, I just saw a very stupid film that had learned the wrong lessons from successful franchises of recent years like Taken, but now it's hard to see its anti-Mexican themes as anything other than cynical capitalising on current US racism, something even First Blood Part Two - in which Rambo returned to Vietnam to fight the Vietnamese - didn't do in the far less-enlightened times of the early 1980s.  First Blood Part Two never actually went after the Vietnamese as a race as they were merely depicted as cannon-fodder flunkies of the Soviets, which is relatively clever in how it cynically exploited the original circumstances of the Vietnam War in order to finally declare a victory in it, but it wasn't actually racist.  Last Blood can't say the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 01 December, 2019, 07:56:14 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 01 December, 2019, 07:25:50 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 December, 2019, 05:21:10 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 01 December, 2019, 05:08:34 PM
Return of the Jedi in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker.
It was great. I've even grown to love the Ewoks which eighteen year old me thought were a bit too childish.

*Although I've always liked the Ewoks, what we see of them on the screen and what we think about them due to merch, spinoffs etc is so often confused.

I was young enough to like the Ewoks at the time and haven't gone through any 'hate' phase.  I really dislike the Tarzan yell and the Wilhelm scream in Jedi though.

Heh. I remember The Last Jedi being criticized for sending itself up somewhat with that ironing scene* but right back in Return of the Jedi they had that Tarzan parody. Which I confess I also found amusing.

I like RotJ a lot. It might even be my favourite of the original films. I get the criticisms (the cutesy stuff with the Ewoks -which never bothered me**  and the similarities in the latter part of the film to A New Hope, with the whole Death Star stuff) but it's got so much else going on. I particularly liked the whole redemption arc with Luke and Vader. Curiously I've seen that criticised, as it appears many would prefer Vader to have just remained a one dimensional villain, or they dislike the idea of bad guys being redeemed instead of getting their comeuppance. (Not directed at anyone here, I hasten to add. Just something I've seen online.)

*Not by me. I found it very amusing.

** Those weird teddy bears are actually pretty grim, when you consider what they were planning to do to Han and Luke. Alive.  Part of me wishes they'd gone with the original idea of using the wookies instead of the ewoks though. I've got nothing against the ewoks, and I understand why Lucas went that route (and I'm not cynically referring to the merchandising opportunities, although he might have had that in mind as well). It's just we have a wookie support character, so having an arc dealing with saving his species from slavery (it makes sense that the Empire might use Wookie muscle to build their new space station), would have been nice and provide extra symmetry, maybe. Still, we've still got the Holiday Special😝. ( I've never actually seen that!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 December, 2019, 08:38:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 December, 2019, 07:56:14 PM
Still, we've still got the Holiday Special😝. ( I've never actually seen that!)

Keep it that way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 December, 2019, 09:09:32 AM
Knives Out, which I absolutely loved. Very funny, brilliantly written and directed and with a wonderful ensemble cast all hitting it out the park. I kept thinking while I was watching it how I haven't really seen anything like it in a very long time and wondering why I don't watch more of that style of film, and realized it's because they don't really make them like that anymore. I'm glad Rian Johnson did!

Also watched The Changeling for the first time, a haunted house horror from 1980. It's aged pretty well and has some creepy moments but feels more like a mystery than a nerve-shredding horror, focusing more on figuring out what happened in the house. Enjoyed it.

Oh and a rewatch of This Is Spinal Tap, because it's mandatory to wheel that out occasionally. Still brilliant, and I still find every time I watch it a different line is my favorite. This time it was the preserved moose line that killed me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 02 December, 2019, 07:10:26 PM
The Fly (1986) – I watch 'The Thing' every year. It's consistently wonderful. But 'The Fly' – possibly the greatest practical-effects body-horror movie of them all – only lurches from its telepod into my DVD player a few times a decade, and then consumes me for weeks on end, living with me unbidden. It is unique – graphically gory but unutterably, achingly sad. With only three significant characters, all of whom are well-played, complex and real, you could almost do the whole thing as a play. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are superb, but John Getz was the standout this time around – at first he seems the classic sleazy 80s asshole antagonist, but whilst Seth Brundle steadily loses his humanity over the course of the film, Stathis Borans discovers his, and ends the movie a genuine hero.

The Fly II (1989) – Tonally, this film is all over the place – fascinatingly so. It's a B-movie monster flick that cheerfully employs 80s-kids'-adventure-film tropes, whilst also indulging itself in particularly nasty manifestations of post-Robocop cruelty. It misses so many tricks – most of the worst fates are doled out to hapless redshirts when there's at least two characters who deserve far nastier demises than they get -  yet it also lands some sickening punches: poor dog! Poor (evil) Bartok! Best viewed as a 'What If?' rather than a canonical sequel, so it can be appreciated in its own demented right, rather than merely skulking in the shadow of its untouchable sire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 December, 2019, 09:07:15 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 02 December, 2019, 07:10:26 PM
The Fly (1986) – I watch 'The Thing' every year. It's consistently wonderful. But 'The Fly' – possibly the greatest practical-effects body-horror movie of them all – only lurches from its telepod into my DVD player a few times a decade, and then consumes me for weeks on end, living with me unbidden. It is unique – graphically gory but unutterably, achingly sad. With only three significant characters, all of whom are well-played, complex and real, you could almost do the whole thing as a play. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are superb, but John Getz was the standout this time around – at first he seems the classic sleazy 80s asshole antagonist, but whilst Seth Brundle steadily loses his humanity over the course of the film, Stathis Borans discovers his, and ends the movie a genuine hero.

The Fly II (1989) – Tonally, this film is all over the place – fascinatingly so. It's a B-movie monster flick that cheerfully employs 80s-kids'-adventure-film tropes, whilst also indulging itself in particularly nasty manifestations of post-Robocop cruelty. It misses so many tricks – most of the worst fates are doled out to hapless redshirts when there's at least two characters who deserve far nastier demises than they get -  yet it also lands some sickening punches: poor dog! Poor (evil) Bartok! Best viewed as a 'What If?' rather than a canonical sequel, so it can be appreciated in its own demented right, rather than merely skulking in the shadow of its untouchable sire.

Haven't seen The Fly II in many years but remember [spoiler]the dog[/spoiler] messing me up! The first film is a real masterpiece, what always hits me hardest is the line [spoiler]"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over and the insect is awake. I'm saying... I'll hurt you if you stay..."[/spoiler], an incredible line delivered in such an amazingly haunting way, twists my guts every time I hear it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 December, 2019, 10:26:46 AM
The Fly really is an absolute masterpiece of a movie.

Jeff Goldblum's performance is just utterly amazing, as he slowly realises what is happening to him and tries desperately to cling onto his humanity.

All these years later, when I have a re-watch, I'm still holding out hope for a happy ending for Seth.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 03 December, 2019, 10:37:51 AM
I have little to add except to say that, at age 15, "The Fly II" was the first time I got into an 18 film! The ticket people at my local Odeon were sticklers for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 December, 2019, 06:39:17 PM
I saw The Fly in the cinema when it was released way back when and it was a very visceral experience. I watched The Fly a few months ago and my experience is pretty much unaltered. The whole arm-wrestling sequence is a disturbing and brilliant piece of work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 December, 2019, 11:18:17 PM
WELP I thought I liked Call Of The Wild (the 1935 one) because it omitted a great deal of the novel, yes, but the bits it omitted involve animal cruelty and racism so I wasn't terribly bothered by that - and then they shoehorn in a bit of racism and misogyny in the last minute and I was like "hmmm" and then the end credits announced their proud association with the NRA and was like "double hmmm" and then I checked out the movie for any interesting trivia and it turns out this was the one Clark Gable was making when he raped co-star Loretta Young, so... uh.  Fuck this movie, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 December, 2019, 07:54:31 PM
Apocalypse now: Final cut on IMAX. Probably the best time I've ever had in a movie theater.

As for the final cut. It's similar to Redux, but tighter. Pretty much perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2019, 10:57:07 AM
We put up the xmas tree at the weekend so wanted to watch something festive, and Amy made the shock announcement that she'd never seen Scrooged so it had to be that. Was one of my favourite films as a kid, the point where I have to admit I still get a bit emotional at points. It fills me with cheer!

And then another xmas film, Prometheus, which we both still love. I genuinely get a bit anxious putting it on sometimes because so many people hate it that I think I might be about to have some revelation, that the scales will fall from my eyes and I'll see it for the turd that everyone says it is...but nope, still really, really enjoyed it. Looks incredible in 4K too, and still has one of the best home audio mixes I've heard, powerful without sacrificing clarity or stealing space from the dialogue, which is depressingly rare these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2019, 01:01:17 PM
Is Prometheus a Christmas movie?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2019, 01:07:53 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2019, 01:01:17 PM
Is Prometheus a Christmas movie?

Well it all happens in December, so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2019, 01:25:12 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 09 December, 2019, 01:07:53 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 December, 2019, 01:01:17 PM
Is Prometheus a Christmas movie?

Well it all happens in December, so...

Yup! Proof - https://i.gifer.com/Nm1s.gif (https://i.gifer.com/Nm1s.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 December, 2019, 02:37:03 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2019, 10:57:07 AM
We put up the xmas tree at the weekend so wanted to watch something festive, and Amy made the shock announcement that she'd never seen Scrooged so it had to be that. Was one of my favourite films as a kid, the point where I have to admit I still get a bit emotional at points. It fills me with cheer!

Yeah, it doesn't get much more festive than Scrooged.  How Carol Kane doesn't have an Oscar is beyond me.

For identical reasons, we watched Arthur Christmas, which I tend to think of as the Forgotten Aardman, and which may be the only decent Christmas flick on Netflix. As we are experiencing Last Child to Disbelieve growing pains in TordelTowers, it offers a timely perspective on the undeniable reality of Santa: when the titular Arthur, youngest son of a hereditary line of Santas running a hi-tech SHIELD-like magic-free present-delivery operation, looks in despair at a child's drawing of the Smelly Old Man, he exclaims something along the lines of "this isn't a picture of Dad, or Granddad, or Steve [elder brother and Heir Apparent]: this is a picture of SANTA".  Which is very much the point.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 December, 2019, 04:34:47 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 December, 2019, 02:37:03 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 December, 2019, 10:57:07 AM
We put up the xmas tree at the weekend so wanted to watch something festive, and Amy made the shock announcement that she'd never seen Scrooged so it had to be that. Was one of my favourite films as a kid, the point where I have to admit I still get a bit emotional at points. It fills me with cheer!

Yeah, it doesn't get much more festive than Scrooged.  How Carol Kane doesn't have an Oscar is beyond me.

For identical reasons, we watched Arthur Christmas, which I tend to think of as the Forgotten Aardman, and which may be the only decent Christmas flick on Netflix. As we are experiencing Last Child to Disbelieve growing pains in TordelTowers, it offers a timely perspective on the undeniable reality of Santa: when the titular Arthur, youngest son of a hereditary line of Santas running a hi-tech SHIELD-like magic-free present-delivery operation, looks in despair at a child's drawing of the Smelly Old Man, he exclaims something along the lines of "this isn't a picture of Dad, or Granddad, or Steve [elder brother and Heir Apparent]: this is a picture of SANTA".  Which is very much the point.

Have you seen the Netflix Kurt Russell Xmas film? I really liked that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 December, 2019, 05:05:31 PM
I really like Arthur Christmas - a rare modern Christmas movie I can tolerate.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 10 December, 2019, 02:33:23 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

It's 30 years old!

Still a wonderfully odd, creepy and, at times, baffling, follow-up.

The Arrow blu ray is, unsurprisingly, lovely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 10 December, 2019, 03:03:17 PM
Quote from: karlos on 10 December, 2019, 02:33:23 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

To me, it's the best of the Hellraiser films - it's much more over the top and even more grotesque than the first one, and Channard's a great villain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 10 December, 2019, 03:06:19 PM
Totally agree, Greg  - I love it...

...Unlike Sean Chapman, who plays Frank - his interview on the Hellraiser II blu is very open and honest!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 10 December, 2019, 08:11:02 PM
Nativity 1 and 2. Daft fun with a heart-warming message, perfect seasonal entertainment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 December, 2019, 08:47:18 PM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 10 December, 2019, 08:11:02 PM
Nativity 1 and 2. Daft fun with a heart-warming message, perfect seasonal entertainment.

There is nothing about the premise, and little enough about the casting, of those two films that would interest me one jot. And the finale of the first one makes absolutely no sense. And yet I agree wholeheartedly: warm, silly fun that I end up watching whenever they happen to be on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 16 December, 2019, 11:36:45 AM
6 Underground.

Bay.  Reynolds.  Netflix.

Er...yeah.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 December, 2019, 02:47:35 PM
6 Underground. This could have been very good, I thought, if they'd had a decent editor to clip out the needles slow motion bits and dark broody shots. Get rid of all that and put it all in the right order and this could have been a tight action film coming in at around 90 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 16 December, 2019, 03:07:42 PM
I enjoyed 6 Underground for it was an over-the-top action romp. It could have done with less slow motion sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 December, 2019, 03:16:46 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 10 December, 2019, 03:03:17 PM
Quote from: karlos on 10 December, 2019, 02:33:23 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

To me, it's the best of the Hellraiser films - it's much more over the top and even more grotesque than the first one, and Channard's a great villain.

It was my favourite for a really long time, it has some brilliant moments and really nightmarish imagery. The whole depiction of Hell is fantastic, especially all the 'Leviathan, Lord of The Labyrinth' stuff which has a great mythic weight to it that's prime Barker. Rewatching them these days I do think I prefer the first one for how focused it is, but some of the best moments in the franchise are definitely in Hellbound.

Watched a bunch of movies over the last few days, starting with the old Stephen King adaptation Graveyard Shift which I'd seen as a kid but could remember almost nothing about. It's a cheesy but fun creature feature, with the magnificent Brad Dourif rocking up to steal every scene he's in.

We rewatched The Predator for the first time since the Cinema and had a hoot again. Sure, it's very dumb in places but it's also just really good fun and I really like it. Also gave the 4k Blu-ray of Alien a watch and it was stunning as always. It's always when I put on a movie that I've seen loads and feel like I know intimately that I'm really hit with what the extra resolution and HDR adds. From the first shots of the ship I felt like I was seeing colours and details I've never noticed, it really gives it a new lick of paint. And of course it's a flawless film so was a joy to watch again.

Something I watched for the first time at the weekend was Eyes of Laura Mars which I heard mentioned in so many John Carpenter docs/interviews that I figured I needed to watch it (it's a movie he wrote the screenplay for before selling it and going off to make Halloween). It was decent enough, very much an American Giallo film, which with a couple of exceptions isn't a genre I'm generally that keen on. What kept me gripped was the great cast, was fun to see a young Tommy Lee Jones (I wasn't aware he was ever young) and once again Brad Dourif was absolutely fantastic and stole the show as usual. What a mesmerizing actor he is, in whatever role you fling at him.

Performances aside I wasn't bowled over by it, but glad I watched it and added it to the collection for Carpenter completion sake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 17 December, 2019, 10:53:05 AM
Conan The Destroyer was on telly last night.

Massively different to CTB, this has aged pretty well into a cheesy, obvious, D&D-esque kinda Conan (much like how the Marvel comics were at the time, IIRC).

A lot of fun, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 19 December, 2019, 12:55:21 PM
The latest version of Black Christmas is really bad.

It's like someone was told to write a movie about the #metoo movement and their research consisted of reading Twitter for half an hour. It's very much an "extremes of social media" take on it all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 December, 2019, 11:41:24 PM
The Last Legion which is a bizarre fall of Rome and Arthurian Legend mash up with a great cast giving terrible performances. It feels like four hours of movie edited down to two by simply cutting every scene in half.

And I wasn't expecting historical accuracy but surely having the 9th Legion re-appear as a fighting unit in 470Ad would be a bit like having Sharpe's company turn up in Saving Private Ryan. Worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 December, 2019, 12:00:04 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 01 December, 2019, 08:38:29 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 01 December, 2019, 07:56:14 PM
Still, we've still got the Holiday Special😝. ( I've never actually seen that!)

Keep it that way.


Yeah - the best bits  you can no doubt find on youtube (did I say bits, should have been the one bit)*.










* first appearance of Boba Fett, in a ten-minute cartoon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 December, 2019, 12:05:05 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 December, 2019, 09:07:15 AM
Haven't seen The Fly II in many years but remember  messing me up! The first film is a real masterpiece, what always hits me hardest is the line , an incredible line delivered in such an amazingly haunting way, twists my guts every time I hear it.


I don't remember that line!  Riffing on Zhaungzi (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zhuangzi) - clever!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 22 December, 2019, 04:36:25 PM
So I saw Cats. Didn't think I'd have any interest but it turned into one of those films I had to go see to find out if it is as irredeemably awful as it seems to be.

In short... not quite, but it's baaaad. I think the best way to describe it would be a lot of competent performances beneath god awful CGI that never, at any part, makes the characters feel convincingly a part of their environments. If you watch their feet (as I was, constantly) you can never sense any physical contact with the floor and at some points the perspective between the two elements seems way off. The rest of the time, the movements are jerky and lacking fluidity in a way that reminds me of the animation in early console games.

Ian McKellen, Judi Dench and Idris Elba have some scene-stealing moments that are absolutely everything to do with their physical performances and nothing to do with the cgi. Besides that, you'll spend 95% of the thankfully short experience trying not to gawp at how bad the effects are.

Also, I counted 4 walkouts which is a record in a screening I've attended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 December, 2019, 07:56:12 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 22 December, 2019, 04:36:25 PM
So I saw Cats.

Spotted your mistake straight away there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 26 December, 2019, 03:20:25 PM
Midway an enjoyable war movie. The action sequence are well constructed but with any ‎Roland Emmerich‎ movie except some Gung-ho, Rambo sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2019, 07:09:45 PM
And I thought I was the only person that saw MIDWAY at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 December, 2019, 11:31:44 AM
Jumanji: The Next Level. As with 'Welcome to the Jungle', this one is also terrific fun. The sly tweaks to the formula of the previous movie all pay dividends and keep everything lively. TBH, Awkwafina's [spoiler]tremendous Danny DeVito impression[/spoiler] is practically worth the price of admission alone.

A lot more of the narrative 'heavy lifting' falls to Karen Gillan this time around, who proves comfortably equal to the task, but the cast are again all excellent. A thoroughly entertaining way to kill two hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: blackmocco on 30 December, 2019, 08:14:02 PM
Quote from: karlos on 10 December, 2019, 02:33:23 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

It's 30 years old!

Still a wonderfully odd, creepy and, at times, baffling, follow-up.

The Arrow blu ray is, unsurprisingly, lovely.

The director's daughter works at my place. She has never seen it and apparently he doesn't want to talk about it. Haha!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 31 December, 2019, 04:39:03 PM
The Mule Clint Eastwood makes bank by going back and forth between the US and Mexico with "naughty salt". Not much else happens and then all of the sudden things stop and the credits roll. It's mostly Clint being do goody, and at times a bit Forrest Gump-esque (bedding two women in a threesome, at two different points among other things). Best bits are Clint sitting in his truck and singing along to country songs. All and all, quite okay to watch: It's a movie with Clint.

A star is born Heard alot of good about it, and I got really surprised. It was really really good. Can't say I'm a big fan of the music in the film, but that only speaks to how good it is. Gaga and Cooper shines in it. Their chemistry together is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 December, 2019, 05:43:40 PM
Jumanji: The Next Level. A sequel that feels deserved, natural and satisfying. I've seldom heard more consistent laughter from a packed and utterly focused cinema. If you've ever wondered who would win in a fight between the Rock and the Hound, or wanted to see Awkwafina pull a reverse-Johansson on an elderly Italian-American, or just enjoy well-crafted all-ages jokes about testicles, this is the film for you. Unreservedly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 December, 2019, 06:43:33 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 December, 2019, 05:43:40 PM
Jumanji: The Next Level. A sequel that feels deserved, natural and satisfying.

Yeah. Everyone in it just seems to be enjoying themselves enormously, in a way that's completely infectious. It's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 02 January, 2020, 07:49:20 AM
Aye I watched it at the cinema on Boxing Day having never seen any of the previous films and found it enjoyable enough. One of those movies where the cast is obviously enjoying themselves so you do, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 January, 2020, 01:34:28 AM
KNIVES OUT is a great fun whodunit which is cleverly structured so that it[spoiler] manages to have you rooting for the Detective and the "murderer[/spoiler]". Charismatic cast all having great fun, some brilliant minor characters and some good laughs to be had.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 03 January, 2020, 11:44:39 AM
That is brilliant, Blackmocco - and certainly explains his total and utter absence in the special features!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 January, 2020, 02:59:52 PM
DELUGE is an atypical mix of apocalyptic fiction and Hollywood melodrama from 1933 where unexplained tidal waves batter the world's coasts and send humanity back to the stone age.  Americans do what Americans always do when faced with setbacks and form rape gangs, so one lady - not unreasonably - decides to take her chances in the waters and washes up on the doorstep of a grieving husband whose wife and kids were killed during the floods - or were they?
Pretty tame by today's standards, some of the effects work is pretty good - especially the slo-mo tidal waves wrecking New York that would later be recycled in Universal's various movie serials in the 1940s and 50s - but arguably better than more recent examples of the genre like The Day After Tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 January, 2020, 04:12:47 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 January, 2020, 02:59:52 PM
...arguably better than more recent examples of the genre like The Day After Tomorrow.

Arguably?!?  Deluge quite absorbed me when we ended up with a VHS copy at some point in the early '80s, whereas TDAT just made regret my entertainment choices.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 January, 2020, 11:16:57 PM
Just seen JoJo Rabbit. Horrifying and hilarious in equal measure. It's a dark comedy, but it gets really dark.

A brave move to make a comedy out of such a horrendous subject, but it works.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 05 January, 2020, 12:12:45 AM
Seconded, just back from JoJo Rabbit myself and I'm going to be talking about that movie for a while, I'm sure. Not got much movie time with my current schedule but going to have to squeeze another viewing in.

It kinda reminded me of Black Adder in a weird way, in places. Nice cameo from a well known British comedy writer, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 January, 2020, 08:01:47 AM
Watched a film called Prospect last night on Film 4. Never heard of it, read the blurb about a man and his daughter hunting resources on an alien planet cast into a world of danger and it caught my imagination. The cast included a couple of alumni from The Wire so gave it a try.

Man it was such a frustrating film. Its was so many very good on a number of counts and yet didn't quite make it on any. As a tense survival thriller it was a little too disjointed to work. Each challenge felt disconnected from the last and so there was no sense of momentum.

As a character piece nothing quite gelled. The major shifts in the film driven by the leads weren't quite sold. So you were left with some really interesting character changes and developments that I wasn't quite engaged with and carried by and so they seemed to be there to serve the plot only.

As an action piece a little low key.

In the end you get a space western a bit like Outland in that its not quite as good as it looks. It does look superb on what I assume is a limited budget. Okay the forest that provides most of the backdrop is a little too Earthly but some nice lighting makes it work. The suits and other design reminded me a bit of Alien - without the Alien - and the world and environment felt real and convincing. Alas just nothing else, still pretty good and kept me up until 11pm so must of had something!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 05 January, 2020, 10:07:47 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 05 January, 2020, 12:12:45 AM
Nice cameo from a well known British comedy writer, too.

Having looked at the promotional material for the movie I see this probably wasn't as much a surprise to most people in the theatre as it was to me... XD
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 January, 2020, 04:26:55 PM
Went to see JoJo Rabbit (on the strength of the trailer and having previously loved What We Do In The Shadows), and thought it was great: I laughed, I cried.

I was surprised to find it was utter Marmite for critics, though. I wanted to know what Mark Kermode thought (because even when I disagree with him, his points are interesting), but instead I got a Robbie Collins review (https://youtu.be/kEsCdoLLHg8). He despises it.

I still wanted to give him a chance to air his views, but I couldn't sit out the whole video because it turns out that he's a Scunthorpe. Rather than let Edith Bowman interject (to correct him when he was factually incorrect) he went "lalalalala" [9:50] to stop her from talking.

Summary:
  JoJo Rabbit: I laughed, I cried.
  Robbie Collins: I switched him off for mansplaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 January, 2020, 05:44:02 PM
The Thing (1982). A classic and a masterpiece. Now is the time to do a sequel. MacReady is living alone in the arctic when Childs finds him to tell him that there may be a new infestation.

Game Night (2018). What an unexpected surprise. It's billed as a comedy but it's also an excellent thriller. The cast is extremely entertaining. I won't say anything about the plot. Just see it for yourself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 06 January, 2020, 06:10:40 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 January, 2020, 04:26:55 PM
Went to see JoJo Rabbit (on the strength of the trailer and having previously loved What We Do In The Shadows), and thought it was great: I laughed, I cried.

I was surprised to find it was utter Marmite for critics, though. I wanted to know what Mark Kermode thought (because even when I disagree with him, his points are interesting), but instead I got a Robbie Collins review (https://youtu.be/kEsCdoLLHg8). He despises it.

I still wanted to give him a chance to air his views, but I couldn't sit out the whole video because it turns out that he's a Scunthorpe. Rather than let Edith Bowman interject (to correct him when he was factually incorrect) he went "lalalalala" [9:50] to stop her from talking.

Summary:
  JoJo Rabbit: I laughed, I cried.
  Robbie Collins: I switched him off for mansplaining.

I'm in the same boat - I thought it was a wonderful film (it came out here back in October last year). I can completely understand why some would object to the film on a fundamental level because of the subject matter, and not want to engage with it, but I was surprised how negative the general reception to it was amongst critics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 09 January, 2020, 06:43:09 PM
Back to the future. First time watching it. Had a blast. A wonder I never saw it as young.

Anaria. Swedish sci fi about a giant space ship drifting towards doom. It does a lot different, as can be seen in the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MIlE9R00ik. If BRINK would get adapted I wouldn't mind something akin to this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 January, 2020, 11:43:40 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 January, 2020, 06:43:09 PM
Anaria. Swedish sci fi about a giant space ship drifting towards doom. It does a lot different, as can be seen in the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MIlE9R00ik. If BRINK would get adapted I wouldn't mind something akin to this movie.

That trailer looks great, definitely going to keep an eye out for this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 10 January, 2020, 05:15:41 PM
1917.

If you know anything about the movie then you won't be surprised that a lot of the praise is focused around the way it's filmed. It is certainly a very interesting and engaging way to present this story that must have been very difficult to pull off (there are certain scenes when I can't imagine how the choreography worked) but I think it's a success, for the most part. I certainly felt a lot of tension during a couple of moments, possibly more so if it were not presented as it was.

I did feel a disconnect with the reality of the story when a certain Benedict Cumberbatch turned up (knowing nothing of the cast) but I can probably put that down to me being far more familiar with him than anyone else in the movie (save for Andrew Scott). Had I recognised more faces earlier on then that possibly wouldn't have been as much of a shock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 10 January, 2020, 06:05:46 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 10 January, 2020, 05:15:41 PM

I certainly felt a lot of tension during a couple of moments, possibly more so if it were not presented as it was.

*more so THAN if it were not presented as it was, that should have read.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 January, 2020, 03:24:51 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 January, 2020, 06:43:09 PM
Anaria. Swedish sci fi about a giant space ship drifting towards doom. It does a lot different, as can be seen in the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MIlE9R00ik. If BRINK would get adapted I wouldn't mind something akin to this movie.

Damn, that does look good! Did you catch it on DVD, or Netflix or something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 January, 2020, 03:57:46 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 11 January, 2020, 03:24:51 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 09 January, 2020, 06:43:09 PM
Anaria. Swedish sci fi about a giant space ship drifting towards doom. It does a lot different, as can be seen in the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MIlE9R00ik. If BRINK would get adapted I wouldn't mind something akin to this movie.

Damn, that does look good! Did you catch it on DVD, or Netflix or something?

On blu ray https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aniara-Blu-ray-Emelie-Jonsson/dp/B07W7GWDJN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I'd also recommend the poem Aniara :)   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 11 January, 2020, 07:16:42 PM
JoJo Rabbit is definitely worth your time- a young boy has an imaginary friend, Adolph Hitler, as played by Taika Waititi. Surely that alone makes it worth viewing?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2020, 07:43:08 PM
Uncut Gems is an early contender for movie of the year for me, a pity it got here 3 months later or else it would have been my 2019 flick. The Safdie Bros are the best directors in the industry right now.

I also saw the new 4K remaster of El Topo on the big screen afterwards, and it's still a harrowing, hallucinogenic, deeply unsettling piece of cinema that for everything deeply unsettling about it I can't help but love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Aaron A Aardvark on 11 January, 2020, 09:25:31 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 11 January, 2020, 07:16:42 PM
JoJo Rabbit is definitely worth your time- a young boy has an imaginary friend, Adolph Hitler, as played by Taika Waititi. Surely that alone makes it worth viewing?!
Seconded. Edgy comedy that made me laugh a lot but also makes some serious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 12 January, 2020, 01:33:57 AM
Knives Out

Comedy whodunnit - a good laugh, even with Daniel Craig's crazy accent! TBH, these complicated fast- paced twisty turny films go a bit over my head on first viewing, but I let it all wash over me, and enjoyed the characters, situations and moments. Good cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 12 January, 2020, 04:07:01 PM
Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Pretty good, but needed more Hitler.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 13 January, 2020, 12:17:41 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 January, 2020, 03:57:46 PM


Anaria

On blu ray https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aniara-Blu-ray-Emelie-Jonsson/dp/B07W7GWDJN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I'd also recommend the poem Aniara :)   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniara

Wow, that was one of the eeriest sci-fi films I've seen since Solaris. Compelling! Thanks for the heads up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 January, 2020, 12:42:04 AM
I didn't have high hopes for the Child's Play remake as I don't like horror much as the trend of late is to be unpleasant rather than terrifying - if I never see Hereditary* again in my entire life it will still be too soon - and there's lots of gore in this as well as a latter plot turn where the killer doll frames its crimes on the kid it's stalking, but it's just so reminiscent of the era of slasher horror that spawned the original that I really enjoyed it.  There's a neat trick in that only slimeballs get the chop up until a point in the film so you know when the plot has turned a corner from playful gorefest to For Reals, and a line in anti-capitalist humor that I am almost certain the usual sponds have tried to decry like it wasn't an element of the original series (in which an evil corporation literally rebuilds a murder doll just to generate good PR) just as much as they do the scene in while a female friend of the lead male character is shown to be brave and competent.
If you look past the -occasionally quite gross - gore, this is also a half-decent kids' adventure movie, though I wouldn't show it to kids.


* it is a good film and I recommend it to anyone who likes horror, but once was enough for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 January, 2020, 11:58:30 AM
I did enjoy the Child's Play remake, and that's as someone who rolls his eyes whenever a horror reboot comes along. Went in cynical but it was too fun not to win me over, and as much as I love Brad Dourif and everything he does I liked what Mark Hamill did with it.

Watched In Search Of Darkness yesterday which at nearly 4hrs long was the perfect hangover Sunday afternoon viewing! It's one of these talking heads docs where people reminisce about horror in the '80s and I loved it, but I have a big appetite for hearing anecdotes and seeing clips of films from the era. I could watch that all day, but might not be for everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 13 January, 2020, 09:49:17 PM
Ready Or Not

I think the praise I'd heard for this film raised my expectations unreasonably high, because what I saw was a very underwhelming, run of the mill horror comedy that wasn't scary or shocking enough to be a good horror movie, nor funny enough to be a decent comedy  (think Severance or Grabbers, or a far less clever Cabin in the Woods). The premise of the movie starts out super far-fetched and never really gets sufficiently fleshed out for it to be convincing, and the characters are so thin that it's hard to care much about any of them.

Not sure what all the fuss was about, honestly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2020, 06:10:51 PM
Bit of a quick fire round:

Duck, You Sucker! (aka A Fistful of Dynamite)

Sergio Leone's last western and, goddamn it, it's another masterpiece. Coburn should have got all the awards.

"For once Juan, I know what i'm fighting for. And i'm happy, my friend."

Zombie Holocaust

Attempts to ape off of both Deodato via Cannibal Holocaust and Fulci via Zombi 2. It's as good as neither and is mostly a curio as a rare instance of genre crossover. Fun gore scenes though.

Mondo Cane

For "Macaroni Januari" over at letterboxd. There's no reason to watch these "shockumentaries" today, they're tame at best but mostly boring when not focasing on the animal slaughter.

Jojo Rabbit

Well intentioned but a complete tonal mess, honestly had a few genuinely great laughs but failed to fallow through on them. Waititi at his most defanged.

The Rise of Skywalker

Get in the fuckin bin!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 17 January, 2020, 06:40:25 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2020, 06:10:51 PM

Jojo Rabbit

Well intentioned but a complete tonal mess, honestly had a few genuinely great laughs but failed to fallow through on them. Waititi at his most defanged.

I kind-of know what you mean - it doesn't totally commit to its premise, or completely nail the jokes in quite the same way as it might have done if it were, say, an Armando Iannucci or Chris Morris satire. Instead, it pulls back and tries to be a heartwarming Nazi comedy. I still liked it though - mostly because Waititi absolutely lights up the screen whenever he appears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 17 January, 2020, 06:52:24 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2020, 06:10:51 PM

The Rise of Skywalker

Get in the fuckin bin!

Don't forget to add petrol and a match. It's the only way to be sure!

There's much I dislike about the sequel trilogy movies but I'm happy to ignore them in favour of my EU/Legends collection of novels.

/Waves hand across forum - There is no sequel trilogy!

Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2020, 09:08:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2020, 06:10:51 PM
Duck, You Sucker! (aka A Fistful of Dynamite)

Sergio Leone's last western and, goddamn it, it's another masterpiece. Coburn should have got all the awards.

"For once Juan, I know what i'm fighting for. And i'm happy, my friend."

While its not Leone's best  its still a damned fine film and yes Coburn is the very definition of cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 January, 2020, 01:50:26 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2020, 06:10:51 PM

Jojo Rabbit

Well intentioned but a complete tonal mess, honestly had a few genuinely great laughs but failed to fallow through on them. Waititi at his most defanged.

I have to disagree with this reading. Tonally, Waititi has always been unconventional, and I wouldn't call this work defanged because I don't think he has ever been particularly biting.

I really enjoyed this, even if the German accents were a bit Allo' Allo'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 18 January, 2020, 02:31:23 AM
I thought the best thing about Jojo Rabbit was how well it held together despite the wild swings in tone. It's quite an impressive high wire act. Though I can totally appreciate that others might not gel with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 January, 2020, 10:36:23 AM
Your Name, which I've had on my to-watch pile for a long time. Absolutely tremendous, beautiful film. About halfway through I found myself in tears at a relatively small character moment and realized how utterly it had hooked me, and I was on a hair trigger for the rest of the film and wound up crying a few more times! I just found the whole thing immensely touching and moving, and you can't beat a good cry sometimes so I guess I must have needed that.

Brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 January, 2020, 12:23:44 PM
The Hustle - which is basiclaly a Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels remake starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway.

It's a fun enough watch and Rebel Wilson is amusing enough while doing here usual thing. Anne Hathaway is unbelievably bad though. Like, I can't believe she actually got paid for it. If they'd cast a decent actress with a bit of gravitias it would have lifed the whole thing immeasurably.

Us - which I really enjoyed. The script was quite witty as these things go and the cast were top class.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 20 January, 2020, 05:04:32 PM
Little Women (2019)

I really, really wanted to like this as I loved Greta Gerwig's previous film Lady Bird, and the cast and overall production is outstanding... however (and this may be down to me being a bit slow) due to the non-linear structure (the narrative unfolding over two concurrent timelines) I found the film almost impossible to follow scene to scene for the first hour or so. It eventually settled into a rhythm I could grasp towards tue end, but throughout I just constantly found myself thinking that the jumbled timeline seemed like an unnecessary flourish, and wishing that the movie just played out chronologically instead.

I can totally appreciate that Little Women is a very well known story that has been filmed multiple times, so I can understand the impulse to shake it up and do something fresh with the material... but for someone like me who actually isn't intimately familiar with the beats of the story, I just found it needlessly obtuse and confusing, to the point where it feels like a remix aimed at people already familiar with the story rather than a proper adaptation for people who aren't.

There is an attempt, with the use of contrasting colour palette to delineate the timelines (warm summery tones for the past vs cool winter tones in the 'present'), but it doesn't always work - it seems much more pronounced in some scenes over others and some scenes with the 'summer' scheme take place in winter etc). Honestly, for the most part I just found it distracting that everyone's skin looked bright orange half the time. The confusing timeline makes an already quite episodic narrative even more choppy and bitty; character arcs don't seem to flow organically, and big dramatic moments often feel lacking in enough build up or context for them to have much dramatic impact.

The structural problems aren't helped by the often frenetic editing and pacing - scenes just come and go so fast that I often felt like I was watching a montage or a trailer rather than an actual movie.

A bit of a frustrating misfire, and a real shame, and not a film I'd recommend despite occasional moments of real charm and beauty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 January, 2020, 12:30:52 PM
My girlfriend got me to sit down and watch Rogue One, the first full Star Wars movie I've seen since Phantom Menace. She's a big fan of the series and desperate to get me involved, but it's always left me totally cold. You know what? It was pretty good. Very little to fault really, some funny bits, some great action... but I wasn't left with any particular desire to watch another (to the gf's annoyance).

Best bit? The droid character - made me long for that Insurrection movie!

Weirdest bit - Peter Cushing. Despite some great CG I never for a moment felt I was watching a real person.

Biggest complaint? Too much assumed knowledge (and I acknowledge this is totally my fault, as it's fair enough to assume the average viewer will be a paid-up SW fan); things like the Jedi, the Force, the Empire, Resistance - there's barely a line of explanation for any of them, and while cultural osmosis means I'm pretty au fait with all that in a general sense, a bit more in-universe context for everything (or anything!) that was happening would have been nice. There were also a lot of character backstories hinted at, and unless I'm misremembering, none of them were ever explored/revealed - meaning come the end, everyone was still a bit of a cypher. Maybe all that is why my over-riding feeling was just 'Yeah, it was okay, I suppose.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 24 January, 2020, 12:36:59 PM
It was certainly better than Phantom Menace, anyway!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 January, 2020, 03:23:33 PM
Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who led a Union platoon against the confederacy in the American civil war, in which she also served as a spy for the Union and in one action which she personally commanded, rescued 750 slaves from Confederate forces and incurred not a single Union fatality.  Postwar, she dedicated her life to feminist causes, and after receiving brain surgery without anesthetic - reasoning that biting down on a bullet was good enough for her troops in the war when they underwent surgery - she lived a long and happy life until the age of 91, whereupon she was noted to have said on her deathbed "I'm going ahead, to prepare a place for you", likely a reference to her time before the war, when she ferried slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
None of this is in Harriet, her biopic, which is a two hour movie about her relationship with a white guy, the only thing that was interesting about Harriet Tubman's life, apparently.

I did not like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 25 January, 2020, 01:37:07 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 24 January, 2020, 03:23:33 PM
Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who led a Union platoon against the confederacy in the American civil war, in which she also served as a spy for the Union and in one action which she personally commanded, rescued 750 slaves from Confederate forces and incurred not a single Union fatality.  Postwar, she dedicated her life to feminist causes, and after receiving brain surgery without anesthetic - reasoning that biting down on a bullet was good enough for her troops in the war when they underwent surgery - she lived a long and happy life until the age of 91, whereupon she was noted to have said on her deathbed "I'm going ahead, to prepare a place for you", likely a reference to her time before the war, when she ferried slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
None of this is in Harriet, her biopic, which is a two hour movie about her relationship with a white guy, the only thing that was interesting about Harriet Tubman's life, apparently.

I did not like it.

Sweet Jesus.

The only bigger kick in the balks would be Laurence Fox playing the white guy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 January, 2020, 02:55:39 PM
Lawks!  My daughter is a fan of Harriet Tubman, and after the Oscar nominations made us aware of its existence I was setting up for a watch. Maybe not, eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 January, 2020, 09:19:56 AM
MAGIC MIKE which is pretty good if you ignore the beatification of the lead character. It shifts tone pretty effortlessly in the middle and has some cracking performances throughout.

And lots of handsome, ripped men in thongs dry-humping the stage.  If you like that sort of thing. Which I didn't know I did. But you lot had probably guessed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 26 January, 2020, 09:20:40 AM
I, Madman (1989).  Watched this about 30 years ago and then yesterday.  Over here it was known as Hardcover and it's a horror film about a guy who cuts bits off of peoples' faces. 

Pros:

Stars the girl who was the lead in Near Dark and she does alright in it.
Feels like a comedy film noir (but in colour and with no jokes, hard to explain) so it's quite charming.
Is under 90 mins.

Cons:

Isn't very scary.
Resorts to stop motion at times.


Overall I liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 26 January, 2020, 11:12:49 AM
Saw 'The Grudge' last night, hoping it might not be as bad as you'd expect given Sam Raimi's involvement but apparently he had less of a hand than I had thought.

It is pretty terrible. Too much of a focus on gore, jump scares and sound scares and not enough time spent building up tension towards a final climactic scene that I could not believe was as flat as it was. Several around me were also confused as to whether the film had actually ended or not when the credits began to roll.

---

On a side note, I wound up seeing 'JoJo Rabbit' three times at the cinema and it's still on my mind. Can't wait for the DVD release.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 January, 2020, 12:29:39 PM
We're WEREWOLVES not SWEARWOLVES!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:40:55 PM

"No smoke alarms..."

Great stuff from start to finish!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 January, 2020, 06:23:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.
The TV series was pretty good too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 January, 2020, 07:32:56 PM
Watched Battles without honour and humanity. It's the first part out of five about the rise of the japanese mob following Japan's defeat in WW2. It's a very loud and brutal film. Everyone are betraying each other guns blazing, and no one can shoot straight. No one in the movie dies from a single bullet, they all get to roll around screaming in agony before finally dying. The only somewhat honourable gangster in the movie is the main character Hirono. I almost felt sorry for him for all the things he has to put up with trying to remain true to the yakuza code. Easy to recommend. Makes a lot of american crime films look like straight up commercials for the mob.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/8GULC_-0654
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 January, 2020, 12:41:01 AM
1917
As mentioned up thread, you'll have seen a lot about the way it was filmed in the publicity material. But that technical gimmickry doesn't stop this being very affecting. It doesn't take long for you to stop looking for "the joins".

Like Dunkirk, it is essentially "Tension: the movie" and like Dunkirk, it uses narrative time (or the two main characters perception of it) to tell the simple tale in a different way.

Quite a few big names pop up in small parts but the George Mackay and Dean Charles-Chapman are fantastic whether reacting to grim and gritty trench warfare or trippy trance like hellscapes. It reminded me of Apocolypse Now in that respect.

Very good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 January, 2020, 09:25:49 AM
I saw 1917 yesterday and had the opposite reaction I think! I wanted to love it but it just didn't grab my emotions for the most part, even though I knew exactly what I should have been feeling and when. It's so well made that I can't really fault it or put my finger on why exactly I was a bit numb to it, other than a vague sense that I was finding the technical aspect distracting.

I love a showy one-shot usually but I think it maybe works best when it creeps up on you (Mr Robot once did a 1hr shot and it wasn't until half an hour in I realized it hadn't visibly cut, likewise with a lot of oners in movies) and maybe going into this knowing that's what it was made the difference. I can see why on paper it would really add to the immersion but for some reason I found it pulled me right out because the film-making aspect was so in your face that I never had that moment where I forgot I was watching a film and let myself be carried along by it. Plus once I spotted a couple of the tricks they were using to mask cuts I couldn't help looking for them!

The one exception was the night sequence, the whole film looks and sounds incredible but that whole scene was pretty astonishing, eerily dreamlike and beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Loved that. I think on a second watch where I can hopefully detach myself from the technical side the film might feel less clinical and I might get the tension that I'd been wanting from it.

As a contrast to that movie, I also watched Booksmart and thought it was great. I've seen people call it 'Superbad with girls' and I can definitely see that but I thought it was really well done, loved the characters and laughed a whole lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 January, 2020, 04:25:52 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 27 January, 2020, 09:25:49 AM
As a contrast to that movie, I also watched Booksmart and thought it was great. I've seen people call it 'Superbad with girls'
I've heard it call the same but maybe not for the same reasons.

I watched a film I'd not seen in ages. Starter for 10. I had forgotten how much I liked this film with such a great cast, James McAvoy, Dominic Cooper, Allice Eve, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Gatiss, James Corden, Catherine Tate.

It's one of those films that should have a better reputation but doesn't seem to. Maybe it just hit my nostalgia buttons but I must give it another viewing soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 28 January, 2020, 08:48:05 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 January, 2020, 06:23:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.
The TV series was pretty good too.

Matt Berry was an inspired bit of casting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 January, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 28 January, 2020, 08:48:05 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 January, 2020, 06:23:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.
The TV series was pretty good too.

Matt Berry was an inspired bit of casting.

Mind you should just shorten that to

Matt Berry is inspired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 January, 2020, 10:04:30 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 28 January, 2020, 08:48:05 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 January, 2020, 06:23:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.
The TV series was pretty good too.

Matt Berry was an inspired bit of casting.

The montage of pornos he'd made through the decades was priceless.

Watched in the wrong order, so I've always avoided the film because I'd probably be disappointed by a feature-length version of a TV show I like, but that doesn't feature the cast I love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: DaveGYNWA on 28 January, 2020, 12:40:32 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 28 January, 2020, 08:48:05 AM
Matt Berry was an inspired bit of casting.

I really shouldn't laugh as much as I do at "BAT!!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 January, 2020, 02:37:33 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 January, 2020, 10:04:30 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 28 January, 2020, 08:48:05 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 January, 2020, 06:23:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 January, 2020, 12:20:46 PM

Finally got around to seeing What We Do in the Shadows and it was pretty flipping good. Definitely one for the core collection.
The TV series was pretty good too.

Matt Berry was an inspired bit of casting.

The montage of pornos he'd made through the decades was priceless.

Watched in the wrong order, so I've always avoided the film because I'd probably be disappointed by a feature-length version of a TV show I like, but that doesn't feature the cast I love.

I can understand that. The film cast are pretty good too though, in their own way.

Small spoiler [spoiler]They actually appear briefly in one of the episodes as members of the vampire council so you've met them already. I guess they've come up in the world since their film debut.[/spoiler]

The series isn't so much a remake of the film as a similar premise (the whole documentary thing) dealing with different vampires in a different part of the same world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 January, 2020, 02:41:28 PM
Went to a dino double bill last night, both films were bad but one was good bad and the other was just bad bad. I also can't remember if I already saw these as a youngster and just wiped them from my memory, they did feel very familiar.

Tammy & The T-Rex (or 'Tanny & The Teenage T-Rex' as the mispelled title card called it) is a screwball splattery gore film where a young Paul Walker has his brain put in an animatronic dinosaur by a mad scientist and then tries to reconnect with his girlfriend (a young Denise Richards) while evading the police and said scientist. He massacres a lot of people along the way and it's knowing enough to be one of those low budget trash movies that's fun to watch. Some gags have dated really badly (aren't gay people hilarious!) but for the most part it's endearingly rubbish. Apparently was originally released as a kids film with all the gore cut out, I feel like if I did see it back in the day it must have been that version.

So that was the good bad film, Theodore Rex was the bad bad film. There are lots of movies that get referred to as total trainwrecks and unwatchable messes, but rarely do you get something that's such a catastrophic failure on every level as this thing. Nothing about it works at all, Whoopi Goldberg clearly doesn't want to be there (I found out afterwards that she tried to back out and was only in it because they sued her and she lost, and you can see she's raging about it), and it looks like genuine money went into it but nobody involved was competent enough to use it (budget was $33 million which is absolutely staggering when you see what a state it is...apparently it held the record for the most expensive film to ever go straight to VHS).

Everything about it looks like it'll be a hilariously bad unintentional laugh riot, but it's all just too awkward to work on even that level. Maybe worth a watch just to see what an actual turkey looks like, I might point people to it next time I hear someone call something like Tank Girl* a total mess, because oh boy you don't know a real turkey until you've seen Theodore Rex.

*Yeah, I like Tank Girl, it's great fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 29 January, 2020, 12:40:00 PM
Guardians, (AKA The Russki Avengers). Moscow is threatened by ex-KGB super villain scientist, so a hot army major is tasked to reunite a team of all his previous genetic experiments, and frankly they don't take a lot of convincing to get the band back together.

The team comprises of a lame telekinetic who looks like Action Man with Realistic Hair and Beard, can only affect rocks and is into Ben Grimm cosplay; a stereotypically inscrutable super-fast ninja assassin with a tragic backstory and unfeasibly curved swords that you would have to dislocate both your shoulders to draw; an amnesiac invisible girl (but only when wet)(don't) with kick ass Kung Fu skills who can completely regulate her own body temperature, so she doesn't have to wear much (of course); and an angry dude who turns into a bear - as Harry Hill would say, I think we all get the idea with that one. Oh, and Ursus would be too obvious a name so he's called Arsus, which isn't at all silly and made me laugh every fucking time someone said it.

The plot and acting are 100% number dva, but they've thrown a lot of money at it so the action scenes are fun. My favourite bit was when Arsus (snarf), who has now been kitted out with a sweet shoulder mounted machine gun, throws a dude into the air just so he can machine-gun him into oblivion.

I'd give it three (red) stars
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 29 January, 2020, 03:52:40 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 29 January, 2020, 12:40:00 PM
Guardians, (AKA The Russki Avengers). Moscow is threatened by ex-KGB super villain scientist, so a hot army major is tasked to reunite a team of all his previous genetic experiments, and frankly they don't take a lot of convincing to get the band back together.

The team comprises of a lame telekinetic who looks like Action Man with Realistic Hair and Beard, can only affect rocks and is into Ben Grimm cosplay; a stereotypically inscrutable super-fast ninja assassin with a tragic backstory and unfeasibly curved swords that you would have to dislocate both your shoulders to draw; an amnesiac invisible girl (but only when wet)(don't) with kick ass Kung Fu skills who can completely regulate her own body temperature, so she doesn't have to wear much (of course); and an angry dude who turns into a bear - as Harry Hill would say, I think we all get the idea with that one. Oh, and Ursus would be too obvious a name so he's called Arsus, which isn't at all silly and made me laugh every fucking time someone said it.

The plot and acting are 100% number dva, but they've thrown a lot of money at it so the action scenes are fun. My favourite bit was when Arsus (snarf), who has now been kitted out with a sweet shoulder mounted machine gun, throws a dude into the air just so he can machine-gun him into oblivion.

I'd give it three (red) stars

Sounds Horrendous.

* Frantically searches Netflix, Amazon and any other number of streaming services to acquire and watch *
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2020, 02:26:10 PM
Off to see The Lighthouse again, got to see it earlier than most back in October for Horrofest Manchester but well worth a revisit, fans of folk horror don;t wont to sleep on this one. A moder classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 February, 2020, 12:39:09 AM
Hellboy 3. You know the one I mean. Look, Harbour isn't all that bad but almost everything around him is, starting with horribly miscasting McShane and Milla, two performers who I love just utterly stinking up two key roles.  Every iota of the charm of the first two films has been expunged and replaced with excessive unimaginative swearing and bad CGI ultra-gore. The choice of story is also bizarre, being one that would have worked far better as the basis of a third Perlman movie where we are invested in the character's backstory, than in a reboot, where these origin expositions just get plopped out on the table.

The only real positive is that Baba Yaga and the Gruagach were very nicely realised as practical effects. Oh and Lobster Johnson's cameos.

Anyway, I think The Kid Who Would Be King did the whole thing way, way better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 February, 2020, 09:02:39 AM
Yeah that Hellboy has a load of problems, but I thought Harbour did well and there's some nice visual stuff going on in places so I do still stick it on occasionally. I really wish we'd got a conclusion to the GDT trilogy instead though.

Went to Bad Boys For Life, which I took a while to warm to but once it hits its stride (and sh*t gets real, as them bad boys would say) it's good throwback fun if you have a soft spot for that particular kind of popcorn buddy action movie (which I do). This one isn't Michael Bay, so compared to the massive excess of Bad Boys 2 it actually feels relatively restrained and contemplative. Relatively. I liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 February, 2020, 10:02:25 AM
Not a great weekend of films.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) - well, it's rubbish isn't it?  The only high point in the film is Grace.  She's a liability but as a character she's watchable.  Everything else was awful though.  Especially grumpy Sarah Connor who now looks like Katie Hopkins.

Bliss (2019) - pretentious vampire film.  Terrible acting and story.  I hated everyone in it from the second that I saw them.  Does have some reasonably effective vampy gore but that wasn't enough to save it.  Hated the ending a lot too (not what happened but how it is was shot).

All Hallow's Eve 2 (2015) - horror anthology.  The first one had three stories that were a mixed bag but did introduce a character called Art the Clown.  This one had eight stories and some pumpkin masked killer.  Some good stories, plenty of rubbish ones.  Okay overall.

It Came From the Desert (2017) - daft giant ant comedy horror.  Rubbish CGI, ridiculous characters but overall it was a lot of fun and had a fair bit of heart.  Based on the 90s Amiga game, and that features in the credits.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 February, 2020, 11:06:07 AM
Batman Begins!

One of those movies I happily watch every time it pops up on some obscure, newly re-named ITV channel in the late of night.

The story is well told, the cast are excellent and it features lots of Fuk Yeah moments, that you can't help but be swept up in.

Christopher Nolan does a great job of retelling Batman's origin in such a way that it helps build the character, and moves the momentum of the plot along. I could gripe about the obvious set-ups, but they are so well done that by the time Batman murders Rhas Al Ghul, I'm just fist pumping and searching the shelves so I can pop on The Dark Knight straight after.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 03 February, 2020, 04:25:44 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2020, 02:26:10 PM
Off to see The Lighthouse again, got to see it earlier than most back in October for Horrofest Manchester but well worth a revisit, fans of folk horror don;t wont to sleep on this one. A moder classic.

I went to see it at the weekend. Absolutely brilliant.

The sound design and cinematography are incredible. The dialogue uses rich, arcane terms and reeks of atmosphere. Dafoe and Pattinson are both sensational.

The best film I've seen in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 February, 2020, 01:44:03 PM
Went to a '90s slasher night and the first film was I Know What You Did Last Summer which I haven't seen since back in the day, actually held up surprisingly well as far as teen slasher movies go. Like all those post-Scream slashers from back then it doesn't have the smart self-awareness that made Scream a classic but it has a smart set-up and a decent plot (even if the red herrings are a bit thick and fast). Couldn't remember anything going in but it all came flooding back, as did the memory of my teen crush on Jennifer Love Hewitt (swoon). Enjoyed that.

The second film was Urban Legend but I had to catch a train, gutted because I was curious to see how that one played too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 05 February, 2020, 10:01:14 AM
Watched Basket Case last night having never seen it and inheriting a box set from a friend. I'd seen Brain Damage from the same creator so I somewhat knew what I was getting myself into and expected it to be pretty messed up. It was pretty messed up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 February, 2020, 10:12:22 AM
"Whats in the basket?!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 February, 2020, 09:51:43 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 05 February, 2020, 10:12:22 AM
"Whats in the basket?!"

Lots of creepy weird stop-motion apparently!

Went to The Lighthouse last night and absolutely loved it. On the face of it it's very different to The Witch but it's every bit as masterful with atmosphere (possibly moreso, haven't seen The Witch in a while!), and the claustrophobic ratio and the way shadows play around the frame and dance across the actors' faces during those amazing performances, the dialogue, the music and sound design and that feeling of indescribable cosmic dread that's very Lovecraftian and a rare delight to see pulled off so well in a film...it's a bit of a masterpiece eh?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2020, 10:28:46 AM
HARK! I SAW YEE! I SAW YEE FOND OF ME LOBSTER!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 06 February, 2020, 02:32:42 PM
Why'd ya spill yer beans, Keef?

I liked that so much of it was so close to comedy - it's relentlessly quotable, and, speaking from a Scottish perspective, it's absolutely impossible to watch a film about lighthouse keepers getting on each other's wick without recalling Chewin' the Fat's classic 'Gonnae no dae that' sketches. And yet, it doesn't overwhelm the film - it works to counterpoint the creeping existential dread.

Plus... the movie definitively answers the one question we've all had about mermaids...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 February, 2020, 07:05:02 PM
It really is very good, i'm seeing it again next week, the finale might be the most nerve wracking thing i've ever seen.

"It's bad luck, to kill a seabird..."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 06 February, 2020, 07:09:48 PM
I kind of wish I hadn't read reviews which highlighted [spoiler]the links to the myth of Prometheus[/spoiler] - after I knew that, I figured out the ending. It would have been more shocking if I hadn't guessed it was coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 February, 2020, 10:12:56 PM
Snowpiercer

Knew nothing about this going in and thought it had a terrible name. The info on the Film4 preview just sounded so bad and silly... and yet something about the trailer caught my attention. And I'm so glad it did. Just wonderful, wonderful stuff.

Its like Wes Anderson did a dystopian action movie... well one that doesn't involve cool animated dogs anyway... its off centre tone just worked so well to give you the sense of other and make a film that on any real level made no sense make complete sense. I was pulled in, belief suspended and just relished the ideas, humour, violence and madness as if the whole thing made perfect sense. Just brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 07 February, 2020, 10:08:47 AM
Some quick recents:

Queen + Slim. Very good, great cast all round.

The Personal History of David Copperfield. Wasn't blown away but enjoyed it, I think the trailer had me expecting more of a comedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 07 February, 2020, 01:13:06 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 06 February, 2020, 10:12:56 PM

Its like Wes Anderson did a dystopian action movie... well one that doesn't involve cool animated dogs anyway...

Side note - did you know our very own Mike VK, he of Dredd Lawgiver and bike cannon design, designed the robot dogs in that? And a lot of the background items scattered about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 February, 2020, 09:20:17 AM
Saw a bunch over the weekend, with top of the bunch being Parasite. I knew it had a lot of buzz but had been dodging any details and trying to duck the hype, and it is more than worthy of all the praise it's getting. Absolutely fantastic in every regard, utterly engrossing and brilliantly acted. It's a lot of things and juggles its varying tones incredibly well, I can't wait to watch it again. Sublime.

Underwater has been getting a bit of a kicking, but me and my other half both really, really enjoyed it. It's definitely very much our cup of tea though, so experiences may vary! It reminded me a lot of the wave of post-Alien horror movies that flooded the VHS market when I was young, I loved all of those so got a thrill from seeing another one (albeit with a much bigger budget than those films could ever afford). I'm not even really on board with what seems to be the main criticism that it's ripping off Alien with no ideas of its own - I honestly found that beyond the aesthetic and the type of tension its aiming for it was enough of its own thing for me, and the title card and opening shots seem to very clearly be the director acknowledging the debt any film like this owes to Alien, in as blatant a way as possible so as to get over that hump from the outset. I've always seen 'Alien-alike' as a bit of a genre unto itself (probably thanks to all those childhood VHS rentals) so I don't see it as the same criticism many do maybe.

It seems to be getting branded a turkey but I honestly thought it was tense, scary, great-looking, full of atmosphere and well acted (Kristen Stewart is particularly great in it, and I've never paid her films much attention previously and may now have a fairly massive movie crush on her).

Watched Uncut Gems and I can see why it's getting all the hype, because it is undoubtedly brilliant. Unfortunately it also feels exactly like a horrible stress dream and as such I can't say I 'enjoyed' it. Mainly I felt sick and thought I was going to have an anxiety attack throughout. Sandler is incredible in it and it's amazingly well written and directed, and the fact that it captures the atmosphere it does and sustains it and ramps it up for 2hrs is amazing, it's just a shame that it's such an unpleasant atmosphere that I don't think I can watch it again. I've thought about it lots since watching it, and whenever I do I feel a bit queasy and stressed out. A rare, peculiar thing to find a film great but also be so unsure if I liked it.

Oh and ended the weekend with Dark Pheonix, which we'd seen in the cinema and thought was a bit disappointing (although didn't see it as the total trainwreck most did). Watching it now, distanced from all the negativity that was going around it when it came out, I found it a bit hard to see why everyone hates it so much. It's fine. Some really good moments, some others that fall pretty flat, but it's fine. I don't like it as much as DoFP or First Class, but I'm not sure I find it significantly worse than Apocalypse which I think fell flatter for me, and I still think it's more interesting than a lot of the superhero films that come out. Nothing special, but it's fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 11 February, 2020, 12:11:17 PM
Birds of Prey and the etc.

Genuinely traumatic cinema visit aside, this is huge fun - silly yet clever, funny, never boring and Robbie was clearly born to play Harley Quinn.

Utterly bewildering why it's floundering at the Box Office.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 February, 2020, 12:34:56 PM
Quote from: karlos on 11 February, 2020, 12:11:17 PM
Utterly bewildering why it's floundering at the Box Office.

I'm not sure reports of its floundering are entirely fair... it's certainly not doing the sort of box office superhero movies, even the DCEU ones, are expected to make these days, but its opening take was almost identical to Ford vs Ferrari, which was immediately hailed as a box office hit and cost more to make than BoP.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 11 February, 2020, 12:43:58 PM
I read the numbers and it seemed as if it had opened at the BO just fine...and then it's all over the net that it's doing poor business.

Maybe people are hoping it'll bomb (and why I'll never know, beyond the braying idiots on YT and such)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2020, 01:37:13 PM
I suspect Chinese cinemas not exactly being at full capacity right now for obvious reasons is also a consideration.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 February, 2020, 08:17:02 PM
I went to the cinema Sunday with the intention of watching Birds of Prey. ( I had my eye on The Gentlemen, too but as I was tired, and thinking a Guy Ritchie film would involve lots of plots, and possibly plots within plots, figured BoP would be the better option.)

I arrived a bit late for BoP though. (Actually, considering the large amount of ads at the start I'd have been fine but I'm a bit funny about getting in there before it all starts.) I ended up opting for The Gentlemen after all.

I did get a tad lost near the end [spoiler](just how did The Coach and his gang of young lads learn of that twist at the end?[/spoiler]) but I largely needn't have worried. It wasn't that hard to follow. It was a typical Guy Ritchie film in many ways, but this isn't a bad thing as I largely like those that I've seen. It was very amusing, had too much swearing (although that was sometimes used to comedic effect) but was overall a decent romp, I think. Maybe not Lock Stock... good, but it was a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 12 February, 2020, 08:57:37 PM
Film 21 of the year was The Night Eats The World.

I wasn't even sure it was possible to make a good zombie movie but they managed it with this one.

Good concept well executed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: moogie101 on 13 February, 2020, 12:46:47 PM
Quote from: repoman on 12 February, 2020, 08:57:37 PM


I wasn't even sure it was possible to make a good zombie movie but they managed it with this one.



Booo!!!

"Train To Busan" says otherwise, and its even available right now on All4 if people haven't seen it yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 13 February, 2020, 12:56:55 PM
Quote from: repoman on 12 February, 2020, 08:57:37 PM
Film 21 of the year was The Night Eats The World.

I wasn't even sure it was possible to make a good zombie movie but they managed it with this one.
Good concept well executed.

That's the one about the musician trapped in a Paris apartment, yes?

Really liked that one. It's as much about surviving the grinding, tedious boredom of being stuck in the building, never able to make a sound, as it is about surviving the zombies outside. Really liked the [spoiler]fakeout with the parkour-girl visitor[/spoiler] as well. Can't for the life of me remember how it ends - good excuse to rewatch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 February, 2020, 12:10:47 AM
Jumbo, that's the one.  Ending was alright.

Quote from: moogie101 on 13 February, 2020, 12:46:47 PM
Quote from: repoman on 12 February, 2020, 08:57:37 PM


I wasn't even sure it was possible to make a good zombie movie but they managed it with this one.



Booo!!!

"Train To Busan" says otherwise, and its even available right now on All4 if people haven't seen it yet.

It was okay but the outrageously over the top acting killed it.

It's like the actors had never seen crying before and had only read about it.

The last good zombie film was One Cut of the Dead but that's not really a zombie movie.


22 - AMI.  A Black Mirror type of thing where a girl's phone is evil.  Was better than that sounds though.

23 - Polaroid.   Final Destination type of horror.  Not brilliantly executed but some decent scares.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 February, 2020, 05:29:44 PM
Atlantis: The Lost Continent - knockabout romp from the 1960s.  Basically that movie Pompeii, if in the third act, Kiefer Sutherland started shooting lasers at people.  Which would have improved Pompeii immeasurably, but hasn't done Atlantis: The Lost Continent any favors.  Very reminiscent of the old movie serials, especially the random side-plots like the Atlantian gene-splicing programme that turns slaves into human/animal hybrids.

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - which I watched to see if it was as bad as the comics it's based on, and it isn't, but I have to say that while this is a very low bar to clear, the film is still amusing and lacking in the smug grimdark self-importance that made the comics borderline-unreadable.  Also features a side plot about human/animal hybrids.

The People Under The Stairs is the story of greedy landlords who inherited their wealth and now literally hoard it rather than spend it in their community, which they view as a parasitic mass of undeserving thieves and layabouts to the point of creating a barricaded mansion in which to lock themselves, and how they try to drive poor people out of their homes in order to gentrify the area.  Anyway, this is quite dated and modern audiences would struggle to find anything to relate to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 February, 2020, 05:58:47 PM
I like the People Under the stairs.
One of those films I'd just come across, watch, forget, but thoroughly enjoy each time.

I hardly watch broadcast TV anymore, mainly streaming stuff either from Netflix or Amazon Prime, or the older channels on demand services. I love having that facility to watch things when I want, but I do miss the old days of channel flipping and just happening across stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 February, 2020, 10:18:19 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 February, 2020, 05:58:47 PM
I like the People Under the stairs.
One of those films I'd just come across, watch, forget, but thoroughly enjoy each time.

I hardly watch broadcast TV anymore, mainly streaming stuff either from Netflix or Amazon Prime, or the older channels on demand services. I love having that facility to watch things when I want, but I do miss the old days of channel flipping and just happening across stuff.

Was having a conversation with some friends and we were talking about the joys of a late night movie find on terrestrial TV. The likes of Judgement Night late Friday on BBC1, or The Ring on Film Four, which, at the time scared the pants off me. I think nowadays we are spoiled with the ability to find and search in such specificity, that by the time we identify what we want to watch, it sucks the joy of discovering a movie, and basking in the sharing of it with your mates. Mind you, the level of choice we now have with so many different streaming devices means we usually spend so much time trawling fir what we want, that by the time we identify the bloody movie, you are so nackered it has to wait till later. Repeat!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 February, 2020, 11:34:29 PM
24 - Jojo Rabbit.  Well it's brilliant.  As funny as it is emotional.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 February, 2020, 02:31:14 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 February, 2020, 10:18:19 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 February, 2020, 05:58:47 PM
I like the People Under the stairs.
One of those films I'd just come across, watch, forget, but thoroughly enjoy each time.

I hardly watch broadcast TV anymore, mainly streaming stuff either from Netflix or Amazon Prime, or the older channels on demand services. I love having that facility to watch things when I want, but I do miss the old days of channel flipping and just happening across stuff.

Was having a conversation with some friends and we were talking about the joys of a late night movie find on terrestrial TV. The likes of Judgement Night late Friday on BBC1, or The Ring on Film Four, which, at the time scared the pants off me. want, that by the time we identify the bloody movie, you are so nackered it has to wait till later. Repeat!

Alex Cox's Moviedrome was my introduction to so many great movies, often drunk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 February, 2020, 05:35:21 AM
Moviedrome - The People Under The Stairs (Alex Cox) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eHlKzo2uLU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 15 February, 2020, 07:55:50 AM
Ah man, I loved Moviedrome.  It's how I saw Trancers and Terminator.

Also, Cox directed my favourite ever film.  Repoman, obviously!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 February, 2020, 06:32:57 PM
I liked Repo Man, but always thought it was a shame there were no sequels.

Cox isn't entirely correct in dismissing the idea of social commentary in Craven's films, as this was a common element of horror that only increased in the VHS era as creators had more freedom to write and direct what they wanted as long as they met the constant demand for content.  I suspect most people thought horror couldn't be socially relevant as they saw the self-aware aspects of it as being as far as it could go given the schlocky nature of the material and the cheapness of most films/series, though much is now open to reinterpretation, from the Reagonomics that drove the Friday the 13th series, to the exploration of America's gay panic that powered the original Nightmare On Elm Street.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 15 February, 2020, 07:07:33 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 February, 2020, 06:32:57 PM
...to the exploration of America's gay panic that powered the original Nightmare On Elm Street.

Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2, surely?
Not sure that idea holds up for part 1...  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 15 February, 2020, 07:40:47 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 February, 2020, 06:32:57 PM
I suspect most people thought horror couldn't be socially relevant as they saw the self-aware aspects of it as being as far as it could go given the schlocky nature of the material...
Barry Norman, who shaped much of the popualr film discussion of the 80s and 90s, didn't understand horror. Yes, he celebrated a handful of releases, but there were instances where he looked decidedly uncomfortable praising the films so often fell back on praising those involved rather than the end product. There were a number of people - Mark Kermode and Jonathan Ross, among many others - who understood that something more was going on.

I've never been comfortable with its classification as horror (mainly due to the cast), but if Freaks is regarded as a genre piece then it is, undoubtedly, the most socially aware horror film ever released. People finding the film on its re-releases (and re-re-releases) in the sixties understood this. When Night of the Living Dead - and Dawn - took the subtext up to another level people did notice.

That a handful of the most prominent reviewers were utterly confused shouldn't be taken as a sign that the public wasn't aware of the use of horror films to talk about what was happening in the world.

The fracturing of audiences over the past twenty years means that many "big name" reviewers aren't shaping opinion as much as they would like to think they are - the utter incompetence of certain media channels certainly isn't helping them get their points across as easily as they would have a few years back.

John Brosnan really is missed...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 16 February, 2020, 09:58:14 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 February, 2020, 02:31:14 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 February, 2020, 10:18:19 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 February, 2020, 05:58:47 PM
I like the People Under the stairs.
One of those films I'd just come across, watch, forget, but thoroughly enjoy each time.

I hardly watch broadcast TV anymore, mainly streaming stuff either from Netflix or Amazon Prime, or the older channels on demand services. I love having that facility to watch things when I want, but I do miss the old days of channel flipping and just happening across stuff.

Was having a conversation with some friends and we were talking about the joys of a late night movie find on terrestrial TV. The likes of Judgement Night late Friday on BBC1, or The Ring on Film Four, which, at the time scared the pants off me. want, that by the time we identify the bloody movie, you are so nackered it has to wait till later. Repeat!

Alex Cox's Moviedrome was my introduction to so many great movies, often drunk.

The drink had a lot to do with falling in love with so many movies!

And I have lost count to how many great movies, and introductions to great directors, actors I had through Moviedrome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 16 February, 2020, 11:47:54 AM
Quote from: repoman on 15 February, 2020, 07:55:50 AM
Ah man, I loved Moviedrome.  It's how I saw Trancers and Terminator.

Also, Cox directed my favourite ever film.  Repoman, obviously!

I'm also a huge fan of Repoman. Saw it five times when it was first released in the cinemas. I remember seeing a version of it on the telly some years later. I can't recall if it was on BBC or ITV, but the version shown was slightly dubbed, so that the words "Fuck" and "Mother-fucker" were, respectively, replaced with "Flip" and "Melon-Farmer".

Really wish that I had taped that particular version.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 16 February, 2020, 04:09:49 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 16 February, 2020, 11:47:54 AM
Quote from: repoman on 15 February, 2020, 07:55:50 AM
Ah man, I loved Moviedrome.  It's how I saw Trancers and Terminator.

Also, Cox directed my favourite ever film.  Repoman, obviously!

I'm also a huge fan of Repoman. Saw it five times when it was first released in the cinemas. I remember seeing a version of it on the telly some years later. I can't recall if it was on BBC or ITV, but the version shown was slightly dubbed, so that the words "Fuck" and "Mother-fucker" were, respectively, replaced with "Flip" and "Melon-Farmer".

Really wish that I had taped that particular version.  :D

Alex Cox also oversaw that redubbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 February, 2020, 10:10:04 AM
Watched Spotlight which was great. Some fantastic performances in it, great writing, and it was a bit of an eye opener (yeah I knew the church were up to their knees in abuse cover-ups, but I had no idea how complicit the legal system was in assisting that). A heavy movie but a very good one.

On the other side of the spectrum we went to Birds of Prey (or Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey as the cinemas have been asked to rebrand it) and thought it was a hoot. Really fun and stylish, Ewan MacGregor was a great heel and the goodie team were all strong and fun to watch (although Winstead stole the show for me with her grumpy Huntress). Best of all though were the action scenes - maybe it's the relatively lower budget (for a DC movie) but they're actual proper (comparitively) small scale action scenes where the choreography and direction is selling the moves and giving them impact, rather than it just being a mush of CG with a winner at the end like many comic book movies have. There was something thrillingly old fashioned and (again comparitively) down to earth about them, really enjoyed that.

I'd watch it again, which is more than I can say for most post-Nolan DC movies. It certainly knows what it wants to be and nails the brief.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 February, 2020, 10:19:27 AM
Quote from: paddykafka on 16 February, 2020, 11:47:54 AM
Quote from: repoman on 15 February, 2020, 07:55:50 AM
Ah man, I loved Moviedrome.  It's how I saw Trancers and Terminator.

Also, Cox directed my favourite ever film.  Repoman, obviously!

I'm also a huge fan of Repoman. Saw it five times when it was first released in the cinemas. I remember seeing a version of it on the telly some years later. I can't recall if it was on BBC or ITV, but the version shown was slightly dubbed, so that the words "Fuck" and "Mother-fucker" were, respectively, replaced with "Flip" and "Melon-Farmer".

Really wish that I had taped that particular version.  :D

That is the version I grew up with.  It had a couple of extra scenes too.

One of the versions I've got on DVD has that cut I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 17 February, 2020, 12:37:41 PM
Quote from: repoman on 15 February, 2020, 07:55:50 AM
Ah man, I loved Moviedrome.  It's how I saw Trancers and Terminator.

Also, Cox directed my favourite ever film.  Repoman, obviously!


Another vote for Alex Cox Block from here!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 18 February, 2020, 08:17:56 PM
JoJo Rabbit.

I liked that a lot. Very funny, yet poignant and sad in places with a good message. If films need to have that. While I did find much of the main plot predictable, the sum of its parts was something rather unique, I thought. The humour is a curious thing, ranging from downright silly (in good way) [spoiler]German Shepherd gag, I'm looking at you[/spoiler] to jet black [spoiler]"Go hug an American soldier." I confess I laughed at that, then felt slightly guilty when considering what was actually going on. Yikes.[/spoiler]

Both young leads did a great job and the supporting cast were likably quirky.

A very good film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 20 February, 2020, 07:07:51 AM
Birds of Prey - fun and enjoyable romp, some top action in it nice a clean and actually looks like real fights none of those quick cuts style fights that marred Charlie's Angels.  Ewan is a right bastard in this and it was very satisfying when he got his come uppance at the end also[/spoiler]Hyena survived I was most upset when it looked like he'd copped it[/spoiler], missus really enjoyed it too.
Sonic - big Sega fanboy but really wondered how they could actually turn Sonic into a half decent movie but they did.  Nice breezy and enjoyable, the new much talked about Sonic design certainly suited it more than the original eldritch design, Sonic is annoying as f&$k which I'm thinking he should be an Carey as Robotnick is very good.  I liked Detective Pickachu more but this was still pretty good.  The missus fell asleep 10 minutes in and woke up with 10 minutes left, in her words "boring"

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 20 February, 2020, 08:03:02 AM
25 - Blade 2.  The best Blade.  Still holds up, even the CGI.  One of the best vampire films.

26 - Muerte: Tales of Horror.  Dismal portmanteau film.  Some of the worst acting ever.

27 - Saw 2.  I'm doing a Saw slog.  This one is better than I remembered.

28 - Knives Out.  Set up like a whodunnit and feels a bit like a Columbo episode which is no bad thing.  Really liked it.

29 - The Bye Bye Man.  Reasonably effective modern horror film.  Fairly scary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 February, 2020, 08:33:52 AM
Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky... well that wasn't as good as I remember. Though it is interesting to see Mr Gilliam learning his craft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 February, 2020, 09:52:39 AM
Sharkenstein, which I went into expecting a cheap trashy B movie and discovered there are many, many levels of cheap trash below what I previously thought possible. Saying that, we had a pint with it and laughed throughout, so it was a really good time to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 20 February, 2020, 10:27:36 AM
Quote from: repoman on 20 February, 2020, 08:03:02 AM
25 - Blade 2.  The best Blade.  Still holds up, even the CGI.  One of the best vampire films.
It is truly, properly funny, and not in the silly way that parts of Blade: Trinity attempted (and failed), it has glorious visuals (even the slightly flubbed CGI, where the complexity was too much for the time is decent), and the performances are among the best in the series. It is untimately a powerful film because it has emotional resonance. and the conclusion actually means something to the character. Without that scene, as the sun rises and Blade accepts events unfolding before him, it would merely be a good film, but by twisting the knife into the viewer one last time is brilliance.
And I totally did not cry. Not even a single tear. No siree...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 20 February, 2020, 10:37:08 AM
Quote from: Gary James on 20 February, 2020, 10:27:36 AM
Quote from: repoman on 20 February, 2020, 08:03:02 AM
25 - Blade 2.  The best Blade.  Still holds up, even the CGI.  One of the best vampire films.
It is truly, properly funny, and not in the silly way that parts of Blade: Trinity attempted (and failed), it has glorious visuals (even the slightly flubbed CGI, where the complexity was too much for the time is decent), and the performances are among the best in the series. It is untimately a powerful film because it has emotional resonance. and the conclusion actually means something to the character. Without that scene, as the sun rises and Blade accepts events unfolding before him, it would merely be a good film, but by twisting the knife into the viewer one last time is brilliance.
And I totally did not cry. Not even a single tear. No siree...

There seems to be a lot of hatred for the movie, but I've always enjoyed it.

The line, "Like Hammered Shit.", immediately scores an 8/10 for me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 20 February, 2020, 11:17:54 AM
Quote from: Rately on 20 February, 2020, 10:37:08 AM
There seems to be a lot of hatred for the movie, but I've always enjoyed it.
Don't take anything I say as popular consensus - I tend to disagree with most of the standard film texts and review sites, and my reputation for being contrary about certain Japanese and European films is well earned. For as good as some resources are (Virgin and Time Out edging slightly over Halliwell's1), they have a tendency to err on the side of caution.
For the longest time I thought I was the only person on the planet to love The Humanoid, but there are more of us out there than you would imagine...

1. The habit of picking lines from reviews to encapsulate an entire thought process really irks me. There isn't a single Pauline Kael review which is improved by only using a single quote, and Roger Ebert is demonstrably better in long form.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 21 February, 2020, 09:41:23 AM
Darkman

Wow. Had forgotten what a touchstone this movie was to a young Rately back in the day.

Loved it, and I was fearful it would be one of those nostalgia movies where it doesn't live up to what I remembered. Thankfully I was very, very wrong.

You get great performances, a brilliant, slimy villain in Larry Drake and the kind of inventiveness, unique shots and chaos that Sam Raimi brings to his movies.

"TAKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT!"

Any movie where Liam Neeson delivers a line like that is worthy of a re-watch.

If Sam Raimi directs the Dr Strange movie, we might get something unique, that doesn't follow the formula of the majority of the Marvel movies. And I love the Marvel movies, just hope they shake things up with the next slate of movies and deliver movies that are unique visually, and have actual stakes and surprises.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 21 February, 2020, 10:22:56 AM
The pink elephant, if you please!  Man, I've not watched that in ages.

Nice to see some Blade 2 love on here.

30 - Countdown (2019).  I found this one genuinely scary.  Horror film about a phone app that tells you when you are meant to die.

Not gory or anything but I was cacking it.  Which hasn't happened since It Follows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 21 February, 2020, 10:29:19 AM
Quote from: repoman on 21 February, 2020, 10:22:56 AM
The pink elephant, if you please!  Man, I've not watched that in ages.

Nice to see some Blade 2 love on here.

30 - Countdown (2019).  I found this one genuinely scary.  Horror film about a phone app that tells you when you are meant to die.

Not gory or anything but I was cacking it.  Which hasn't happened since It Follows.

Ha!

Brilliant film. I really was blown away by how good it was, not having seen it in a good decade or so.

It is a shame we don't see more from Sam Raimi. The man makes great movies, and A Simple Plan and The Gift deserve much more love than they get, as does Drag Me To Hell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 21 February, 2020, 01:20:17 PM
The Void

It can be a bit wearing hearing things described as 'Lovecraftian', but I'm going to apply it here, as it fits well.  There's definitely that vibe in this film - weird goings-on, cultists, occult symbols, sanity-testing events and creatures, and weird twisted alternate dimensions.  Kind of reminiscent of The Thing, but in a hospital setting. I really enjoyed it.  I was never bored, that's for sure.

Seven tentacles out of ten Elder Gods.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 21 February, 2020, 03:50:53 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 21 February, 2020, 01:20:17 PM
The Void

It can be a bit wearing hearing things described as 'Lovecraftian', but I'm going to apply it here, as it fits well.  There's definitely that vibe in this film - weird goings-on, cultists, occult symbols, sanity-testing events and creatures, and weird twisted alternate dimensions.  Kind of reminiscent of The Thing, but in a hospital setting. I really enjoyed it.  I was never bored, that's for sure.

Seven tentacles out of ten Elder Gods.

Yeah I really enjoyed this one, it has a great atmosphere and good looking old-school splattery effects and also some really cool dreamy imagery in places.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 February, 2020, 02:03:19 PM
Close encounters of the third kind A movie I never thought I'd come around to watch. A friend's dad's UFO "studies" (article cut outs, videos, constant ramblings) frightened me quite a bit as a kid, and CEot3k always looked really creepy. And while the film had some creepy moments (im not that scared by ufo stuff any longer) it had a lot of heart. And everything from the story, the direction, effects, actors to the music are fantastic. Alot of the scenes in the film is a masterclass in making one go through the emotions. The abduction scene in particular. The kid's innocence and sense of wonder shines through even with the sinnister situation.

In short. Watch it if you havent :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 February, 2020, 02:31:13 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 22 February, 2020, 02:03:19 PM
Close encounters of the third kind A movie I never thought I'd come around to watch. A friend's dad's UFO "studies" (article cut outs, videos, constant ramblings) frightened me quite a bit as a kid, and CEot3k always looked really creepy. And while the film had some creepy moments (im not that scared by ufo stuff any longer) it had a lot of heart. And everything from the story, the direction, effects, actors to the music are fantastic. Alot of the scenes in the film is a masterclass in making one go through the emotions. The abduction scene in particular. The kid's innocence and sense of wonder shines through even with the sinnister situation.

In short. Watch it if you havent :)


The thing that always puts me off CEOTTK is that the main character is such an unlikeable piece of shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 22 February, 2020, 02:46:16 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 22 February, 2020, 02:03:19 PMClose encounters of the third kind A movie I never thought I'd come around to watch.
This film is the reason I am no longer allowed to order anything with mashed potatoes when I'm eating in a fancy restaurant...
Quote from: JamesC on 22 February, 2020, 02:31:13 PMThe thing that always puts me off CEOTTK is that the main character is such an unlikeable piece of shit.
He's the protagonist, not the hero. There's no reason that an MC has to even be understandable, never mind likeable (see Under the Skin), so that isn't a film problem so much as it is audience preference. I doubt that there will ever be a film universally loved by all.
The tune which is used to communicate with the aliens really is an astounding piece of composition, right up there with the most iconic themes ever written. For that, and that alone, the film should earn a place on any list of all-time greats.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 February, 2020, 09:58:54 AM
Dunkirk - Not a war film guy (most of 1917 feel weirdly flat for me) but I do like the occasional one and love Nolan films so finally gave it a go. It's brilliant, fabulously tense and the weird nested way the three perspectives are told is really smart (and very Nolan).

Terrified - A creepy Argentinian haunting movie I found on Shudder, very atmospheric and with some good scares (one scare got a rare yelp out of me so well played).

Cheap Thrills - Again on Shudder, not a horror though (although people do some horrifying things in it!). Probably the most memorable of the three films I watched over the weekend, it has a very dark streak of humour and keeps going to quite unexpected places.

It's basically about a couple of guys with money problems out drinking who get entangled with a rich couple who start throwing money at them for silly games (first person to drink a shot gets fifty bucks etc.), but the games get more extreme and the money gets bigger and things soon escalate to the point where there's a lot of tension in not knowing where things are going to go next. And it goes to some places for sure. Has the always good Ethan Embry in it (everything I've seen with him in the last few years has been really good). It's one of those interesting thought experiments of a movie - if you were desperate then at what point would you walk out and once you were in deep enough and the sums of money were large enough where would the line be?

Mostly it's just really good gross out tense fun though, liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 24 February, 2020, 05:04:06 PM
31 - Color out of Space.  Nick Cage film where a family living on a farm get an unexpected visit and EVERYTHING GOES MAD.

A good mix of Close Encounters and The Thing.  And then every film where Cage goes mental.

It was really good.



32 - Clown.  Very average clown horror.  Not great but had some moments.  The actual clown character was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 24 February, 2020, 05:18:15 PM
Ad Astra. Pretty bad, I'm not gonna lie.

Some nice visuals though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 24 February, 2020, 05:25:52 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 24 February, 2020, 05:18:15 PM
Ad Astra. Pretty bad, I'm not gonna lie.

Some nice visuals though.
yeah that one was a struggle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 February, 2020, 05:53:48 PM
Quote from: repoman on 24 February, 2020, 05:04:06 PM
31 - Color out of Space.  Nick Cage film where a family living on a farm get an unexpected visit and EVERYTHING GOES MAD.

SOLD!

Is that available on Netflix/Amazon?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 February, 2020, 05:34:55 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 February, 2020, 05:53:48 PM
Quote from: repoman on 24 February, 2020, 05:04:06 PM
31 - Color out of Space.  Nick Cage film where a family living on a farm get an unexpected visit and EVERYTHING GOES MAD.

SOLD!

Is that available on Netflix/Amazon?

It's out in selected cinemas at the mo. None in Cardiff whatsoever, which sucks, 'cos I REALLY WANT TO SEE THIS FILM!

In the meantime, can we get this director back for another 2000AD film please?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 25 February, 2020, 01:35:05 PM
It'll be nice to see Cage back on form, as a few of his films have been... less than decent is probably the politest thing to say.

I am really not having much luck with the DVDs I've picked up. Because there is enough venom spewed forth from certain corners of the internet I made the decision that I would try to find positive things to say rather than rip apart what doesn't work1, so there may not be any lengthy reviews of films appearing anywhere... It may be that I've simply been unlucky in grabbing things that should have been interesting, but it is disappointing to see so many bad films in one week.

And disappointing films. Some weren't terrible, but they weren't brilliant either.

1. Don't. Say. A. Word. It's harder than it looks, and at least I'm trying... Not entirely successfully, though that was probably to be expected.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 25 February, 2020, 02:50:17 PM
Maggie expecting an Arnie zombie juggernaut and got a surprisingly deep dark thoughtful movie... (if only he could change the accent), and the wonderful Joely Richardson too
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Sinx on 25 February, 2020, 05:31:11 PM
Birds of Prey

An astoundingly lazy, badly scripted, poorly put together pile of nonsense. I was willing to give this a try since I think Harley Quinn as a character has potential (even though I'm not really a big DC fan) and Margot Robbie has screen presence but this was just bad on so many levels. Harley Quinn has absolutely no character arc and remains pretty much exactly the same from the first minute to the last.

A waste of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 February, 2020, 07:16:44 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 25 February, 2020, 02:50:17 PM
Maggie expecting an Arnie zombie juggernaut and got a surprisingly deep dark thoughtful movie... (if only he could change the accent), and the wonderful Joely Richardson too

Yes, it is a good film. Very tragic and sad. I really felt for all the folk in it. Schwarzenegger was surprisingly good in such a sensitive role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 25 February, 2020, 07:45:05 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 25 February, 2020, 02:50:17 PM
Maggie expecting an Arnie zombie juggernaut and got a surprisingly deep dark thoughtful movie... (if only he could change the accent), and the wonderful Joely Richardson too

Joely's in Color Out of Space too.  She's great!

Also watched;

Legion (2010) - decent humans vs. angels flick.  Is on Netflix.  Is like The Prophecy but with more action.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 26 February, 2020, 08:07:39 AM
6 Underground on Netflix.
It's a Michael Bay movie through and through, my missus stopped watching 20 minutes in as all the jumping cuts we're giving her a headache 😊 I actually enjoyed it but if you don't like Bay don't bother, lots of nonsensical plot hole, fast cut action, pretty nasty violence, leering camera on the female form like I said typical Bay

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 February, 2020, 10:30:24 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 February, 2020, 05:53:48 PM
Quote from: repoman on 24 February, 2020, 05:04:06 PM
31 - Color out of Space.  Nick Cage film where a family living on a farm get an unexpected visit and EVERYTHING GOES MAD.

SOLD!

Is that available on Netflix/Amazon?

It's hitting cinemas on Friday, and streaming not long after. As a huge Richard Stanley, Lovecraft, and Cage fan, this is an unholy marriage for me. Seeing it on Sunday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 26 February, 2020, 11:04:23 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 26 February, 2020, 08:07:39 AM
6 Underground on Netflix.
It felt like a Greatest Hits album rather than something new - surprising to see so many familiar things lumped together in a single story, as if Bay was engaged in a challenge to see how many things he could mash into a whole without adding anything which could have elevated the story beyond its component parts. Although saying that it is derivative is like saying the sun is hot...

Reynolds is the only reason that I stayed to the end, and it is his performance that largely saves the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 27 February, 2020, 04:48:16 PM
Quote from: Gary James on 25 February, 2020, 01:35:05 PM
It'll be nice to see Cage back on form, as a few of his films have been... less than decent is probably the politest thing to say.

If you haven't seen Mandy, I highly recommend it.

I went to see Little Joe last night. A slowly paced and paranoid film about a plant genetically engineered to alter mood. There is a lot of wry wit in the script and production design (which is incredible). Well worth watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 February, 2020, 03:49:12 AM
Color Out Of Space - I am increasingly convinced that Nicholas Cage doesn't act in films but is instead followed around by a camera crew who periodically swap out his family with a bunch of actors who have specific stage directions and then events unfold like a mix of Bowfinger and The Truman Show.
Anyway, this is pretty good, even if the meaning behind the alien incursion is never put into any larger context.  Worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 February, 2020, 09:18:35 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 27 February, 2020, 04:48:16 PM
Quote from: Gary James on 25 February, 2020, 01:35:05 PM
It'll be nice to see Cage back on form, as a few of his films have been... less than decent is probably the politest thing to say.

If you haven't seen Mandy, I highly recommend it.

I went to see Little Joe last night. A slowly paced and paranoid film about a plant genetically engineered to alter mood. There is a lot of wry wit in the script and production design (which is incredible). Well worth watching.

I'll second the Mandy recommendation, that film is a real mood and Cage is fantastic in it.

Keen to see Little Joe, but my local Cineworld that I have a card for isn't even showing it at all which sucks. Instead I've opted to catch The Invisible Man and True History of The Kelly Gang this weekend so I can get some use out of the card, both look pretty good so here's hoping they're decent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 28 February, 2020, 11:14:53 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 27 February, 2020, 04:48:16 PMIf you haven't seen Mandy, I highly recommend it.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 February, 2020, 09:18:35 AMI'll second the Mandy recommendation, that film is a real mood and Cage is fantastic in it.

Added to the list. And dear goddess, that's a bloody long list now.

I think I may upset the internet with these observations, but...

Ghostbusters wasn't bad. In fact, I liked the reboot better than Ghostbusters 2 right up until the final act, where everything seemed to get thrown at the screen in a pointless attempt at going one better. It ruined what could have been the best installment in the franchise - and I really, really love the animated series and its comics spin-offs from the 80s, so that's saying something.

Charlie's Angels was a massive disappointment. Preachy and slow at the start, then it wasted a decent cast with a re-tread of plot points which have been done to death - not to mention flubbing the one scene which could have been a desperately needed shot in the arm with some awful sound editing. If someone is going to get caught near an explosion I expect at least as good an audio mix as in the beach scene from Saving Private Ryan.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw isn't merely the most disappointing film in the franchise, it is one of the most disappointing films I've sat through in the last decade - and I've sat through the DVD of Space Marines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duRkaaOLP1c) a bunch of times. Not a single idea in its empty little head, and no matter how good the glossy, slick presentation is, there's no substitute for an interesting story. Don't watch it immediately after Rampage, however good a double bill might sound - it is somehow less realistic than a film about a giant, intelligent gorilla.

The virus plot from M:I-3, a Marvel supervillain, a Transformers cameo, the croaky 80s MacGyver section at the end... Even Jason Statham (who normally delivers the goods even in the creakiest of movies) can't bring it up to the level of a B-movie. I was trying my hardest to see what Hobbs & Shaw was attempting, but the only thing I'm left with is "we want a cut of the Marvel success story," which is no good reason to make a film.

Haven't seen The Shape of Water yet, so there's still hope that I can provide some slightly more positive comments about the state of cinema...

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 February, 2020, 09:18:35 AMInstead I've opted to catch The Invisible Man and True History of The Kelly Gang this weekend so I can get some use out of the card, both look pretty good so here's hoping they're decent.
True History of the Kelly Gang sounds maginally more interesting of the two, and (maybe its only me, but...) there's a detectable touch of Flashman about the book - alternate takes on well-known events may be slightly out of synch with what's going on in the world (the tedious Fake News chants), but the film looks to be one of the highlights of the year.

The New Three Kingdoms, if it is even released in 2020, probably takes my spot for most promising film of the year though - if it is done correctly, that is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 February, 2020, 01:25:27 PM
Little Joe

Hausner is very much in that 'near dystopia' style you can only find in european sci-fi, and I was eager to see their take on a Body Snatchers type scenario.

Unfortunately it's a more thoughtfull feature in theory than it is in practice, about 20 mind too long and doesn't really do anything the other 'imposter' stories haven't already. A missed opportunity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 29 February, 2020, 09:47:11 AM
Apollo 11. Brilliant docu on the moon landing. Caught me off guard how good the picture quality and tight direction were. Stunning. Just stunning.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpLrp0SW8yg

10 min from it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgUYurzK-tM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 29 February, 2020, 08:11:48 PM
Just sitting down to watch Color Out of Space.. Will report back shortly!

Walking to the cinema I've been listening to the soundtrack of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (Sorry, couldn't find the 'film soundtrack' thread!) I haven't considered it so closely before, but it is a work of thematic genius!

To expand, it is a war throughout the score between two themes - those of Kirk and Khan. They are so radically different in tone and texture that they are unmistakeable.

Kirk's theme is set early in a lovely major key - sweeping crescendos of horns and violins, moving quickly but gracefully in and out. Sometimes gregarious, sometimes soft and simple, but always upbeat and lyrical.

When you hear Khan's theme it is an instant 'here comes the baddie' moment - a minor key of almost discordant fury with a quick sharp horn sting, underpinned by plucked strings in a sinister tap-tap-tap staccato.

These two themes literally battle it out across the entire score. They play opposite each other; one comes in as the other goes out; often you can hear one theme submerged beneath another as they battle for dominance.

This is the most apparent during the cat and mouse in the nebula - just as Kirk and Khan try to outwit each other onscreen, so too can you hear their themes dance around each other, sweeping up from the depths or pouncing from great heights.

Even as Kirk's theme appears the victor, and the music begins a tense countdown as Genesis is about to explode, Khan's theme leaps out one more time in a "from Hell's heart I stab at thee" musical phrase.

It is almost a relief then when these warring themes are replaced by the soothing lyrical sweeps of the Genesis theme in the epilogue, as the music liltingly considers the creation of new life and Spock's (not so) final resting place.

Just as John Williams is the 'secret sauce' (Lucas's words) of Star Wars, Horner's superb orchestral work here elevates a fun sci-fi romp, and two actors trying to out-ham each other, to something quite special.

I am very much looking forward to seeing this film in the cinema for the first time since I was a child later this month.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 29 February, 2020, 10:25:31 PM
Fuck me. Color Out of Space. You need to see this in the cinema. Jesus H Christ, what did I just watch?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 February, 2020, 11:16:16 PM
Dunkirk: some nice musical cues doing a lot of heavy lifting, the time-thing is clever and the various sinkings are well done, but ultimately it felt inappropriately small-scale and a bit twee. I don't think Nolan is for me.

Seven Psychopaths: for all that it feels like Guy Ritchie producing an unfilmed early Tarantino script with delusions of becoming a Coen brother, I thoroughly enjoyed this silly story. Sustained by universally good performances and some gruesome violence, the first half is stronger than the second, but it's all harmless fun without the quiet desperation at the heart of In Bruges.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 March, 2020, 02:59:24 PM
Little Monsters

We've had a fun afternoon watching this bizarrely heartwarming film about a school teacher and wannabe rock musician, who find themselves having to protect a class of five year olds from a zombie holocaust during a day trip to a farm.

For the zombie fans there are some great gruesome moments. For the comedy fans, well, we were laughing our socks off throughout.

This is a brilliant Sunday afternoon of entertainment after a heavy Saturday night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 02 March, 2020, 06:51:10 AM
Daylights. Good disaster movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2020, 09:54:38 AM
The Invisible Man, thought it was brilliant, really knocked my socks off and was very pleasantly surprised that it's not the fast cut jump scares of a lot of more mainstream US horror.

Instead it's a film of genuinely well crafted and deliberately paced suspense and tension, and I was properly bricking it throughout. Obviously as with all great horror there's the welcome extra layer of allegory for living with and dealing with the trauma of a past abusive relationship and it works brilliantly on that level, but even without that reading it still works great as a creepy as hell and nerve-shreddingly tense horror film. Obviously horror is different for everyone and some might not find it scary at all but I was really, really impressed with it and wanted to applaud some of the craft on display.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 02 March, 2020, 09:59:32 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 March, 2020, 09:54:38 AM
The Invisible Man, thought it was brilliant, really knocked my socks off and was very pleasantly surprised that it's not the fast cut jump scares of a lot of more mainstream US horror.

Instead it's a film of genuinely well crafted and deliberately paced suspense and tension, and I was properly bricking it throughout. Obviously as with all great horror there's the welcome extra layer of allegory for living with and dealing with the trauma of a past abusive relationship and it works brilliantly on that level, but even without that reading it still works great as a creepy as hell and nerve-shreddingly tense horror film. Obviously horror is different for everyone and some might not find it scary at all but I was really, really impressed with it and wanted to applaud some of the craft on display.

Good to hear.

I really enjoyed Leigh Whannell's Upgrade. So looking forward to seeing this, and seeing what he does with the idea of an Invisible Man in a surveillance society.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 03 March, 2020, 09:11:18 AM
Just some brief thoughts on movies I've seen in the last few weeks.

Parasite - Difficult to keep your expectations in check when seeing this one and it did feel a bit long to me but, otherwise, it is very good.

The Invisible Man - it was OK, I'd say avoid the trailer if you do go and see it because I had pretty much pieced together the entire story from that. It does manage one or two unexpected twists though so I'll give it that, plus Moss is always great.

The Lighthouse - Not much to say that hasn't already been said. Effectively unsettling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 March, 2020, 10:47:17 AM
Quote from: Rately on 02 March, 2020, 09:59:32 AM
Good to hear.

I really enjoyed Leigh Whannell's Upgrade. So looking forward to seeing this, and seeing what he does with the idea of an Invisible Man in a surveillance society.

I like the look of Upgrade a lot and keep hearing great things, it's one of those movies I'm constantly on the lookout for popping up on one of my streaming services. I should really just bite the bullet and pay for the thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 March, 2020, 11:07:42 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 03 March, 2020, 10:47:17 AM
Quote from: Rately on 02 March, 2020, 09:59:32 AM
Good to hear.

I really enjoyed Leigh Whannell's Upgrade. So looking forward to seeing this, and seeing what he does with the idea of an Invisible Man in a surveillance society.

I like the look of Upgrade a lot and keep hearing great things, it's one of those movies I'm constantly on the lookout for popping up on one of my streaming services. I should really just bite the bullet and pay for the thing.

Great movie, and I'm surprised it isn't more well known.

Has a great soundtrack, and some lovely action set pieces and performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 04 March, 2020, 09:51:45 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 29 February, 2020, 08:11:48 PM
Walking to the cinema I've been listening to the soundtrack of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (Sorry, couldn't find the 'film soundtrack' thread!) I haven't considered it so closely before, but it is a work of thematic genius!
Without a shadow of a doubt James Horner's best work. From the overtures to the ambients to the Reliant/Enterprise combat music, a work of real talent. Some of his other work gets rightly criticised but I have no doubt of his brilliance between this and STIII.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 04 March, 2020, 02:23:44 PM
It's good, but it's not Krull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 07 March, 2020, 07:40:16 AM
Onward.

Didn't do much for me, honestly. I was really quite bored throughout.

Overall it seemed really lacking Pixar's usual stamp of quality and level of polish - I found the character design and plotting especially weak. The central concept is a clever one and seems like it would be rich in terms of ideas to explore, but the execution is quite half-baked and the 'quest' plot seemed really perfunctory and lacking in imagination.

There are occasional flashes of visual invention but overall it feels like a concept and story that needed a lot more time in the oven. Definitely lower tier Pixar, wouldn't recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 07 March, 2020, 05:56:52 PM
Pontypool

Was alright.  Bit limited by the setting but pretty good. 

I really liked the film that the same writer went on to do.  It was called Ejecta and it was a pretty effective alien horror film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 March, 2020, 10:34:47 PM
The Stranglers Of Bombay is based on the British military's (apparently apocryphal) uncovering of the Thugee cult in 19th century India, and is surprisingly brutal even for a monochrome Hammer offering.  Highly enjoyable camp.

War of the Worlds: Goliath - animated steampunk sequel to the HG Wells novel.  Surprisingly enjoyable given the clearly limited animation budget and raft of z-list stars doing the voices, though I wish they'd leaned a bit more into the knowingly-outrageous jingoism that sees a ripped AF Teddy Roosevelt toting a machine gun atop a stampeding tripod vowing to send the Martians back to Hell.  If you liked the Starship Troopers 'toons and don't mind retro-futurism and downgrading to cel animation, you'll probably like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 March, 2020, 11:51:08 PM
Shiteburn. Sorry, Brightburn.

"Evil Superman" is not a film. It's barely a pitch. This effort was so dependent on knowing the Superman story that it became the movie equivalanet of a comic board thread post.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 March, 2020, 04:26:54 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 06 February, 2020, 10:12:56 PM
Snowpiercer

Knew nothing about this going in and thought it had a terrible name. The info on the Film4 preview just sounded so bad and silly... and yet something about the trailer caught my attention. And I'm so glad it did. Just wonderful, wonderful stuff.

Its like Wes Anderson did a dystopian action movie... well one that doesn't involve cool animated dogs anyway... its off centre tone just worked so well to give you the sense of other and make a film that on any real level made no sense make complete sense. I was pulled in, belief suspended and just relished the ideas, humour, violence and madness as if the whole thing made perfect sense. Just brilliant.

Watched this on Amazon in preparation for seeing Parasite and really enjoyed it.

There's a momentum to it that drags you in and like the best train journeys (Or lives) it has a little bit of everything. At times it feels like Wizard of Oz. At times it feels like Fury Road. I particularly liked the reveal about sacrifice near the end and the very violent but not excessively gory action.

Chris Evans was great, but so is everybody, and Colin's point above about how it makes no sense and perfect sense at the same time is spot on. That's the power of metaphor for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 08 March, 2020, 08:12:42 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 March, 2020, 11:51:08 PM
Shiteburn. Sorry, Brightburn.

"Evil Superman" is not a film. It's barely a pitch. This effort was so dependent on knowing the Superman story that it became the movie equivalanet of a comic board thread post.

I enjoyed it, and found it a rather effective and genuinely unsettling horror story. Sure, it plays with Superman's toys, but that's kind of the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 March, 2020, 09:39:51 AM
Was at Glasgow Frightfest over the weekend so saw a load of movies, and very nearly all of them were enjoyable to some degree so can't complain.

Saint Maud was probably the best thing there and is going to make The Witch/Hereditary/Midsommar style waves when it comes out I reckon because it's really that good. The writer/director did a Q&A and apparently it's her first feature which is amazing (the composer had never scored a film either and the music is fantastic).

Lots of other cool stuff though, I'd already posted tiny reviews on Facebook so I'll stick them here -

GREAT STUFF:
SYNCHRONIC - cool sci-fi timey wimeyness from the makers of The Endless that I really, really liked
A GHOST WAITS - really touching and funny ghosty romance
ZOMBIE FOR SALE - brilliant, warm and hilarious zombie comedy, loved it loved it loved it!
SAINT MAUD - blown away, probably the best film of the weekend, really intense and powerful and just...wow. Probably going to hit big when it comes out, it's pretty incredible
VFW - really fun splattery early Carpenter homage with an amazing cast and good synthy score. Action was pretty unreadable a lot of the time - really shakey fast cutty and dark and murky - but the whole energy of the thing and the ensemble badass performances made that very easy to forgive. Other than that loved it and will watch again for sure

GOOD STUFF:
DEATH OF A VLOGGER - decent cheap DIY spooker that gets by on the charm of its lo-fi format and some surprisingly good scares!
THE CLEANSING HOUR - fun trashy internet exorcism movie with some decent ideas and a great baddie
IN THE QUARRY - really grim slow burner that you know is heading towards nasty tragedy so feels horribly tense
SEA FEVER - good 'infected on a boat' stuff, which you've seen before on in space or arctic research bases, but the boat gave it a cool vibe
THE MORTUARY COLLECTION - a really fun and funny Creepshow homage that nails the format and has great wraparound stuff
BUTT BOY - a guy puts things and sometimes people up his bum to a cool Feathers soundtrack. Opinions on whether this is a thing that should exist may vary, but I give it a big brown thumbs up while also acknowledging that it might have been better suited to a 15minute Tim & Eric short or something
A NIGHT OF HORROR: NIGHTMARE RADIO - another anthology but not as successful as Mortuary Collection because it feels way less authored and more obviously some disparate shorts cobbled together. There was a really short Spanish segment and apparently the projector wasn't set up to handle the subtitles so those were missing - that would have been fine but right before the end of the segment they fussed around trying to sort it which meant stopping the film and having a chunk of stoppage time to reboot it (just in time for the segment to finish) - was a really heavy handed reaction I felt and it killed any atmosphere or momentum the film had unfortunately

HONKERS:
ANDERSON FALLS - the only objectively bad film I reckon. Love Shawn Ashmore so was really looking forward to this and he did his best but the writing was just wonky as hell throughout and unintentionally funny in its tin-eared clunkiness, really disappointing and because of a technical problem closed Saturday instead of opened it so ended the fest on a bit of a wet squelcher
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 March, 2020, 11:06:41 PM
PARASITE? More like PARASHITE.





Nah, that was excellent stuff. So much to unpack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 March, 2020, 08:08:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 March, 2020, 09:39:51 AM

THE MORTUARY COLLECTION

I need to see this immediately.  It sounds like exactly my sort of thing from your description.

Portmanteau horror films are basically my favourite thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 March, 2020, 09:33:52 AM
Quote from: repoman on 10 March, 2020, 08:08:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 March, 2020, 09:39:51 AM

THE MORTUARY COLLECTION

I need to see this immediately.  It sounds like exactly my sort of thing from your description.

Portmanteau horror films are basically my favourite thing.

Yeah I love them and they don't come along very often these days so was good to see a good 'un! As always some stories are stronger than others but I thought they were all pretty strong and a couple in particular were really great, most importantly the whole thing had a good sense of fun that was very old school, I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 11 March, 2020, 12:53:40 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 March, 2020, 09:33:52 AM
Quote from: repoman on 10 March, 2020, 08:08:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 09 March, 2020, 09:39:51 AM

THE MORTUARY COLLECTION

I need to see this immediately.  It sounds like exactly my sort of thing from your description.

Portmanteau horror films are basically my favourite thing.

Yeah I love them and they don't come along very often these days so was good to see a good 'un! As always some stories are stronger than others but I thought they were all pretty strong and a couple in particular were really great, most importantly the whole thing had a good sense of fun that was very old school, I loved it.

There's a lot of recent ones but most of them suffer from the same problem.  Namely, they are usually a bunch of short movies that get packaged together, usually with little or no linking/wraparound story or even a common theme.

Occasionally though you'll get a good one.  I've watched some this year already.  Including this one yesterday...

Skeletons in the Closet - so frustrating.  The set up is good, it's very meta and knows it is an anthology and the first story is really creepy.  Unfortunately the second is rubbish and the third is good but ruined with terrible camera work!

The way everything links up is very cool though.  This is just a few decisions away from being good.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 March, 2020, 02:01:37 PM
Quote from: repoman on 11 March, 2020, 12:53:40 PM
There's a lot of recent ones but most of them suffer from the same problem.  Namely, they are usually a bunch of short movies that get packaged together, usually with little or no linking/wraparound story or even a common theme.

This was exactly the problem with the other anthology that showed that weekend, A Night Of Horror: Nightmare Radio, it was very very obvious (and I read up and confirmed it later) that it was just a bunch of unrelated short films that were already out there on YouTube and whatnot. They'd literally just thrown a very weak and thin connective scene in there (a radio DJ telling spooky stories on air) and it meant that it was all over the place, although a couple of segments were decent it just didn't feel like a film. The Mortuary Collection is all written and directed by the same guy and it makes a world of difference, especially as the linking story is one of the best parts rather than an afterthought!

I should give Skeletons In The Closet a go, even if just for the first story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 13 March, 2020, 07:44:38 AM
The Hunt (not the Mads Mikkelsen film!)

Went into it with low expectations but that was very enjoyable indeed! Maybe I misremembered the trailer but it was more comedic than I had expected, which worked in its favour as there's a particular plot point that didn't work for me but you're having so much fun that the story doesn't really matter so much.

Betty Gilpin is (unsurprisingly, as the lead) the show stealer with a very memorable performance, her character oddly reminded me of Villanelle from Killing Eve throughout, accent aside.

Recommended!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 13 March, 2020, 07:44:58 AM
PS I have never been so nervous to cough in my life
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 13 March, 2020, 10:09:42 AM
Thinking out loud, so take what follows as it is...

The problem with anthology films - going all the way back to the Amicus run of films at least, if not all the way to the thirties when the format began - is that the narrative stops every so often and has to rebuild its momentum, and there really is no way around that without maintaining the central core of characters (which is slightly cheating the format). It is interesting to compare and contrast critical reception to comic anthologies, short story collections, and film anthologies, and see how vastly more difficult it is to pull off on the big screen than in other media.

Given that narrative film originally took most of its cues from the stage (at least in France and the US) it isn't at all surprising that the Aristotelian unities were folded into the melange of influences, traditions, and conceits - although it quickly developed into its own thing, that early ideology persists to this day in much arthouse fare.

Due to anthologies abruptly stopping and starting, with entirely new casts in many cases (V/H/S largely works, strangely, because of its acknowledgement of the media format it focuses on) that unity is not only broken, but completely shattered. While I'm not saying that films work better if there is a core driving narrative, it does seem to indicate that audiences have been trained by repeated film viewing to expect a cohesive through-line.

Comics come from the literary tradition, which has always had anthologies, so readers are prepared for there to be more latitude in how a narrative unfolds. Oddly (at least to me) radio seems to be the best media outside the printed page for the anthology format, which probably harkens back to oral tradition (which informs literary tradition) having prepared audiences for digressions, asides, and complete breaks from the story at hand.

---

Though I've not been scoring films as I've watched them (which is slightly too anoraky even for me), I have been keeping track of the joys and disappointments of what I've been watching... My strike rate is waaaay down, and it looks as if I'm going to cover more awful films taking into consideration reviews.

I like Borley Rectory, even though it looks like it was shot for sixpence and a bag of humbugs (which is somehow appropriate), and the cast is excellent. There are moments where the clever artiness is slightly too explicit - and there are a few scenes, such as a character looking straight up through a broken pane of glass, which don't work - but overall it is the best take (which isn't a book) on the subject.

There are important things missing, and the footage which was shot of the ruins - where you can see the rooms laid out on the ground - ought to have been included at the end as a coda, but it is a difficult film to criticize due to the obvious love for the subject on display.

I really dislike Last Christmas. I could spend a few thousand words listing each and every hoary old cliche brought out to play, and all the ways it insults its audience, but it is far easier to simply state that I would rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty spoon than sit through it again. Fantastic cast, but the script...  :'( The one thing it leaves me with is a fascination for Emilia Clarke's eyebrows, which is surely not the intention of the film.

There were no high expectations for The Mummy (Tom Cruise version) nor Gemini Man, but even so...

The Mummy is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. There isn't a scene which works perfectly in the entire film, and it lurches from set-piece to set-piece with all the grace of a drunken sailor. For someone who was practically raised on classic horror films it isn't merely a disgrace to the genre but an insult to the memory of Boris Karloff.

Gemini Man is slightly better, though that's like saying that losing a finger is marginally more appealing than losing an arm. Some of the effects are extremely bad, and the lauded de-ageing technology is more unconvincing than in some other films of the recent past. It also takes far, far too many plot points from better films and stories of the last twenty years. Why it felt like a project intended for Jean-Claude Van Damme eludes me, but that's my overall impression.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 March, 2020, 06:50:57 PM
Robocop 2 (1990)

Bafflingly structured, weirdly (almost charmingly) reliant on stop-motion effects and tonally all over the place, Robocop 2 is absolute train-wreck – a complete mess of a film on every conceivable level. And yet... it's quite watchable, and not without substantial trashy charm, despite itself. Though they may have bastardised his script, it's also one of the most Frank Miller things you'll ever see – particularly the bit when those darn liberal do-gooders render Robocop impotent through conflicting wishy-washy directives, or when they naively try to rehabilitate a murdering junkie cultist on the basis that he's just 'socially misaligned'. The design for Cain's baroque cyborg body is the most memorable thing in the film – it'd probably look great on paper, but in three dimensions, it's just endearingly rickety. (Those skinny little legs!) Overall: frequently stupid, seldom boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Gary James on 13 March, 2020, 07:28:55 PM
The Avatar Press adaptation of the script, titled Frank Miller's RoboCop rather than RoboCop 2 for some reason, does a slightly better job than the film of telling the story, though isn't without problems of its own.

And RoboCop 2 is still far better than the abysmal reboot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 13 March, 2020, 07:45:11 PM
The simple fact that it's got so many of the same cast members - particularly the fact it's still Peter Weller playing Robocop - lends Robocop 2 a certain authenticity that papers over some of the chasm-like cracks in the movie. I've seen few films so badly structured though - it's just a bunch of stuff jammed jarringly together. Still enjoyed watching it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 13 March, 2020, 10:00:53 PM
Robocop 2's most Frank Miller-y moments are ones you probably don't even notice, like Robocop driving through a picket line, or, faced with answering to the demands of society or dying, he marches out of his robochair and hugs a million volts of electricity without hesitation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 March, 2020, 01:53:00 PM
Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Absolute shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 14 March, 2020, 01:55:22 PM
I quite liked Robocop 2 but I really liked the Marvel Comics adaptation. Some nice artwork and a really entertaining condensed version of the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 14 March, 2020, 02:13:57 PM
The latest Jay and Silent Bob film.  Utter garbage.  I don't know what I was expecting, but still - absolute bollocks. Incoherent narrative, badly acted, not even remotely amusing. What a waste of a £2 rental.  I could have got a bag of chips with that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 14 March, 2020, 05:24:31 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 13 March, 2020, 06:50:57 PM
Bafflingly structured, weirdly (almost charmingly) reliant on stop-motion effects
As opposed to...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 14 March, 2020, 05:42:56 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 14 March, 2020, 05:24:31 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 13 March, 2020, 06:50:57 PM
Bafflingly structured, weirdly (almost charmingly) reliant on stop-motion effects
As opposed to...?

Larger-scale physical props for the cast to interact with directly? I'm not criticising the idea of stop-motion - I love Ray Harryhausen as much as the next man - but it seems oddly anachronistic in a 1990 movie, and occasionally a bit cheap (see the section with Johnson and the failed attempts at a new cyborg.) It also creates a weird distancing effect: you're keenly aware that Cain's not really there, as he's not half as well integrated with the action as, say, the monsters in Sinbad movies. (Obviously ED-209 is animated in that manner too in the previous film, but there's also a big ED prop, he only appears three times, and his design is much less intricate, so it works better.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 14 March, 2020, 08:38:20 PM
CGI wouldn't be anywhere near ready for motion pictures until the late 1990s, with Starship Troopers likely being the watershed moment.
You can see how a practical robot prop would have worked out visually by watching Judge Dredd: nice visuals when it isn't moving, but when it was in motion and/or interacting with the actors, the clunky movements made it look like a fairground exhibit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 March, 2020, 09:24:07 PM
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. While not as good as Excellent Adventure it's still wonderfully uplifting viewing. Be excellent to each other is a disarmingly apt idea these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 15 March, 2020, 04:47:01 AM
I watched Bloodshot and the unfortunate think is that it feels just like any of the latest generic action movies. Nothing really stands-out but still I enjoyed it for what it tried to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 15 March, 2020, 09:28:23 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 14 March, 2020, 09:24:07 PM
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. While not as good as Excellent Adventure it's still wonderfully uplifting viewing. Be excellent to each other is a disarmingly apt idea these days.

I've always preferred Bogus Journey, then that was the one I saw first which is often the case when it comes to favourites
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 March, 2020, 04:05:39 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 15 March, 2020, 04:47:01 AM
I watched Bloodshot and the unfortunate think is that it feels just like any of the latest generic action movies. Nothing really stands-out but still I enjoyed it for what it tried to do.
Save Vin Diesel's career?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 15 March, 2020, 05:49:40 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 March, 2020, 04:05:39 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 15 March, 2020, 04:47:01 AM
I watched Bloodshot and the unfortunate think is that it feels just like any of the latest generic action movies. Nothing really stands-out but still I enjoyed it for what it tried to do.
Save Vin Diesel's career?

He still has the FF franchise going.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 March, 2020, 09:17:59 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 15 March, 2020, 09:28:23 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 14 March, 2020, 09:24:07 PM
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. While not as good as Excellent Adventure it's still wonderfully uplifting viewing. Be excellent to each other is a disarmingly apt idea these days.

I've always preferred Bogus Journey, then that was the one I saw first which is often the case when it comes to favourites

I saw them in the right order and while I loved them both it's Bogus Journey that I love bestest. It just has so many memorably barmy ideas in it and had a great soundtrack album (that Faith No More track!) so it just feels way more of an iconic film of my youth I guess.

Watched Drive Angry for the first time, and while I went in expecting some trashy madness it was considerably more trashy and more mad than I was really prepared for. It's mental, and the effects in places are really awful and there's that mad sex scene that's basically the same as Shoot 'Em Up (not sure what came first!) and I guess it was quite fun. Amazingly for all the energy in it it was still a bit dull, and my wife fell asleep so I had to tell her what happened in the last third. I don't think she believed me.

Also finally gave Sin City 2 a go, and found it really boring. I do like the first film, but here the stories are arranged and paced in a much less cohesive way and there's a big center-piece story (A Dame To Kill For) that just highlights that the stories in Sin City really aren't interesting enough to work in more than bitesize chunks, and I guess the novelty of how the whole thing looks has worn off a bit because a handful of really stylish moments aside it all looks a bit cheap and hokey. I think the style of the first film went a long way to papering over the cracks in the whole thing, and here there are cracks a plenty and I just found it all a bit dull and cringe-inducingly juvenile in places unfortunately.

I needed to watch some sure things after that so put on a couple of old favourites and watched the first two Infernal Affairs films. Love them and have seen them loads but for some reason only ever saw the 3rd one on release and never revisited it, so the rewatch is mainly for a refresher so I can give 3 another shake soon. Hopefully it just came along at the wrong time for me so didn't hit as hard. Anyway, 1&2 are still fantastic, and as much as people love The Departed (and it is a good movie as far as remakes go) I've always found these way, way better. So good, had been a few years and loved going back to them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 March, 2020, 02:09:31 PM
Got round to Infernal Affairs 3 on that rewatch and can definitely see why it didn't really hit as hard for me when it came out. I think it tries to do a bit too much maybe and ends up a bit messy and confusing. There are elements of it I think are great and story beats that I think are good to have but even then I'm a bit undecided about whether it's better to see the aftermath of the first film or to leave it be, I think I probably lean towards preferring the way the first film leaves things than having the extended resolution 3 gives us.

I still think it's good, just all feels a bit unnecessary (like it was perhaps only conceived to make it a trilogy) and I love the first two films so much that it's a shame it doesn't really reach those heights for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 March, 2020, 03:38:02 PM
The White Buffalo - mix of Western and creature feature from the 1970s about Wild Bill Hickock and Crazy Horse teaming up to kill the titular rampaging buff.  Crazy wants to kill it in revenge for his dead child, while Wild Bill wants to kill it because it's called him from across half the planet by haunting his dreams.
It all looks very stage-y, and the buffalo has been shot entirely as an animatronic effect, and while this clearly looks fake, it also gives the beast a solid and unearthly appearance.  Enjoyable despite/because of its obvious age and pacing, and bonus points for the General Custer cameo  in which he skedaddles the moment superior numbers fail to win a drunken saloon shootout.

Detective Pikachu - if you've seen the recent Watchmen tv show, you'll find the plot twists in this very familiar, which I thought was hilarious because this was made first.  Watchmen stole its plot from a Pokemon movie.  Amazing.
The film is standard stuff about a young man and his talking rat, though it has some decent effects sequences later, as well as a large number of callbacks to the original Pokemon animated movie from 1999, to which it serves as a direct sequel.  Perfectly adequate entertainment.

Sonic the Hedgehog - more enjoyable than it has any right to be, and some have made a meal of how it utilises incredibly dated pop culture references such as Speed and hipster jokes, but this misses a great deal of the meta commentary of a movie based on a 30 year old videogame and how it is a product with an audience that is composed of people who have inherited the culture of another generation because that generation is the one currently making media like this.  In the same way that Family Guy's audience of 12 year olds unironically goes on about how great the 1984 Transformers cartoon was, Sonic absorbs the pop culture of a 30-something couple and creates an "in" for the parents of the children likely to be watching this, so you will almost certainly find yourself relating to the sherrif's early midlife crisis just as much as kids will relate to the hyperactive blue asshole at the center of the world.
All of which is largely irrelevant to a forgettable but perfectly entertaining experience while it lasts, but the funniest meta-joke must surely be vocal anti-vaxxer Jim Carrey playing a character who has absolute faith in science.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 March, 2020, 10:29:34 AM
I think I was too hard on the remake of The Evil Dead on release, just gave it another watch and it's actually pretty great. I remember coming out and complaining that it only really comes alive and captures the spirit of the Raimi trilogy in the last 10mins or so, and it's definitely by far the strongest stuff in the film (that shot with [spoiler]the cabin on fire and the lovely Jane Levy chainsawing a corpse while it rains torrential blood...that's fantastic and about as Evil Dead as you can get[/spoiler], but I appreciated the rest of it a lot more this time round.

It's still not a patch on my beloved original films but a good splattery horror movie in its own right, and if the whole thing had been infused with the humour and madcap energy of the last scenes it would stand alongside the others no bother.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 20 March, 2020, 12:31:31 PM
The Yakuza (1974/5 - no-one can quite agree)

I just wanted to mention this one, really, as I think it's a beautiful film.

Robert Mitchum and Takakura-Ken meet up in ultra-cool early 70s Japan to save a young woman, leading to a truly incredible climax.

A pretty much perfect noir, spliced with elements of Japanese swordplay and Gangster flicks, but with a plot that really does surprise.

The older I get, the more it resonates with me.

Please check it out if you can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2020, 12:46:50 PM
The Yakuza could and should be doubled up with The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Mitchum was one of the finest of a golden age and these two complement each other superbly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 20 March, 2020, 12:52:38 PM
Totally agree, Hawkmumbler - Eddie Coyle is another great piece of 70s noir, and Mitchum is superb in it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 March, 2020, 02:00:58 PM
Go Karts. An absurdly entertaining film about a young teen trying to win a go-kart championship in Australia. Pure tripe, but in the best possible way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 22 March, 2020, 04:48:52 PM
Watched 'Climax' last night, after putting it off for a long time because I thought it might be a bit crap or one of those movies that's soft porn disguised as horror. Boy was I wrong! I was exhausted by the end but it was absolutely mesmerising at parts. Then it was also pretty disturbing and traumatic. It reminded me a lot of how I felt watching 'mother!' which I left feeling like I'd been beaten up but still enjoyed the shit out of.

Probably not for everyone, but highly recommended if you like psychological fuckery. Also one of those movies that makes you wonder about how it was made so I enjoyed reading up about the making of.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 22 March, 2020, 08:34:31 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 22 March, 2020, 04:48:52 PM
Watched 'Climax' last night, after putting it off for a long time because I thought it might be a bit crap or one of those movies that's soft porn disguised as horror. Boy was I wrong! I was exhausted by the end but it was absolutely mesmerising at parts. Then it was also pretty disturbing and traumatic.

Sounds like my average day.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 March, 2020, 09:21:38 PM
No party like a Gasper Noe party.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 23 March, 2020, 07:34:08 AM
Quote from: paddykafka on 22 March, 2020, 08:34:31 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 22 March, 2020, 04:48:52 PM
Watched 'Climax' last night, after putting it off for a long time because I thought it might be a bit crap or one of those movies that's soft porn disguised as horror. Boy was I wrong! I was exhausted by the end but it was absolutely mesmerising at parts. Then it was also pretty disturbing and traumatic.

Sounds like my average day.  :D

What?  Soft porn disguised as horror?   :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 23 March, 2020, 12:15:38 PM
We rented The Hunt, we'd planned to see it in the cinema before all this kicked off and it's one of the films that has had an early (albeit priced at cinema ticket rates) rental release.

Really, really enjoyed it and we laughed out loud a ton, which is what was needed I think. Beyy Gilpin is an absolute treasure, over the course of Glow S2 I'd come to really appreciate how great a comic performer she is and here she's hilarious. Great timing and delivery, and a master of the comical facial expression. The satire is very very far from subtle, but it's politics also aren't as simple as the 'aren't Trumpers awful?' message that some portrayed it as to get it shelved. It's very pointed about showing both sides as being reactionary and a bit ridiculous and is more about how we can all be quite easily manipulated be into conflict on social media etc.  The knee-jerk reaction when the film was first announced is probably a good case in point, with people rushing to condemn it without knowing what it was about. I definitely fall pretty far on one side being lampooned but I don't mind laughing at myself so didn't take offence to any of the 'lefties can be dumb too' gags.

It is very broad and very on the nose (the characters are very much caricatures and stereotypes) and that might put a lot of people off but even putting all the satire stuff to one side we just found it really, really fun and that's the most important thing with a comedy.

Also watched King Arthur: The Legend of The Sword (the Guy Ritchie thing that bombed) and it was fine, I didn't find it significantly worse than your average blockbuster and some of the designs and action scenes had a lot of flair to them. At one point we both commented that it feels a lot like what the Assassin's Creed movie probably should have been. It's nothing special and I didn't love it, but definitely curious what would have they would have done with it as a franchise had it been successful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 March, 2020, 12:20:10 AM
"THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME"

More like "THE SH... "

Oh I can't even be added. Just shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2020, 10:54:07 AM
Splinter, on Amazon. It's pretty decent low budget monster movie with some nicely old school practical effects and splatter, I quite enjoyed it.

Also rewatched The Phantom Menace, and I know loads of it is ropey but the good stuff (mainly the pod race and the saber triple threat match) is great so I still really enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 11:13:03 AM
The best thing that can be said about The Phantom Menace is that it isn't Attack Of The Clones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 26 March, 2020, 01:30:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 11:13:03 AM
The best thing that can be said about The Phantom Menace is that it isn't Attack Of The Clones.

Or the Holiday Special.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 01:40:17 PM
The best thing that can be said about Attack of the Clones is that it isn't any of the sequels. (Bollocks to that, anyway - Clones is the best of the prequels.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2020, 01:53:00 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 01:40:17 PM
(Bollocks to that, anyway - Clones is the best of the prequels.)

I agree. For me, the least awful by some margin, although that's an admittedly low bar. The plot is overly convoluted, but broadly makes sense. The Anakin/Padme 'romance' is toe-curlingly awful but it doesn't take up that much screen time and I enjoyed pretty much all of the rest.*

*Disclaimer: I haven't watched it for years. My memory may be being kinder to it than it deserves...!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 March, 2020, 02:28:56 PM
I really liked AotC. I mainly liked the Obi-wan Kenobi detective plot thread, rather than the romance stuff though. It's one of the few times (outside the Clone Wars cartoon...*) you get to see Jedi undertake the kind of thing they'd do during the Republic era. Okay, you also saw them undertaking their diplomacy roles in TPM, and they've done the warrior stuff in nearly every film, but seeing an old style investigative plot was very welcome. I like a good detective story. 

*Which I love. I got the free trial of Disney+ recently, mainly because I want to watch The Mandalorian, but got a nice surprise to see the new series of Clone Wars is there! I did read about that elsewhere before hand, but had forgotten. Even in this series they're mainly generals and commanders, which isn't their true calling, but you do see them doing other stuff too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 03:52:39 PM
I'm gonna kick the hornets nest but, there are really only two actually good Star Wars movies.

Empire and Last Jedi.

The rest is just either mind numbing mid 2000's saturated CGI bollocks or horribly misguided pulp pap.

Star Wars is at it's best on the small screen, lets be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 04:11:26 PM
Nah, while Hawkie has correctly identified the two best films, IMHO it's all good, cartoons and Mando too.  There are bits of individual movies that aren't for me, RotS and AotC being particular offenders, but on the whole they're all  perfectly watchable, even if there has to be occasional shouting to drown out the nonsense on screen.  I say this as someone who just yesterday sold another bit of his soul to the Mouse and now has shiny streaming access to Absolutely Everything* (as opposed to the ripped, compressed versions that have been accreting on his MP3 player for almost 2 decades now) playing away as he works.



*Except Resistance, apparently?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 04:30:23 PM
It's funny because though I would never describe myself as a Star Wars fan, I do LOVE Empire and Last Jedi, and most of the tv shows too boot.

I just don't much care for the rest. "New Hope" and TFA are alright I guess in retrospect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 04:40:02 PM
I can just about understand why you like The Last Jedi - you mostly hate Star Wars, and so does The Last Jedi - but TordelBack rating it above IV and VI? Oh dear god...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 March, 2020, 04:41:28 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 26 March, 2020, 10:54:07 AM
Splinter, on Amazon. It's pretty decent low budget monster movie with some nicely old school practical effects and splatter, I quite enjoyed it.


Big fan of Splinter. Also, I liked The Signal which is an overlong futureshock and on Prime I think. It's not my last movie watched though. That was Glass which was okay but suffered for M Night's need to have a twist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 March, 2020, 04:41:51 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 04:40:02 PM
I can just about understand why you like The Last Jedi - you mostly hate Star Wars, and so does The Last Jedi - but TordelBack rating it above IV and VI? Oh dear god...

Tee hee
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:16:19 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 04:40:02 PM
I can just about understand why you like The Last Jedi - you mostly hate Star Wars, and so does The Last Jedi - but TordelBack rating it above IV and VI? Oh dear god...

Well yeah, that is a bit of an unintentional aberration. I actually meant of their respective sets. In my own head there are the actual Star Wars movies IV-VI (of which Empire is best), and then there are the other Star Wars things (of which Last Jedi is the best), including the Prequels and the Sequels and the cartoons etc. - all of which I love, but which aren't actually engraved frame for frame on my essential being: I can enjoy them, and I can ignore them, or any bits of them as I please.  Of these, TLJ is my current fave, a film of almost painful beauty, changing places periodically with TPM and the Genndy Clone Wars, which are also kriffing gorgeous.

Sorry if I caused any further distress through my thoughtless phrasing.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 05:36:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:16:19 PM
...a film of almost painful beauty...

I'll agree with one word of this. And it's not 'film'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:47:53 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 05:36:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:16:19 PM
...a film of almost painful beauty...

I'll agree with one word of this. And it's not 'film'.

I set 'em up...  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 06:04:45 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:47:53 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 05:36:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 March, 2020, 05:16:19 PM
...a film of almost painful beauty...

I'll agree with one word of this. And it's not 'film'.

I set 'em up...  :D

And J.J.Abrams lets us down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 March, 2020, 06:05:43 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 04:40:02 PM
I can just about understand why you like The Last Jedi - you mostly hate Star Wars, and so does The Last Jedi - but TordelBack rating it above IV and VI? Oh dear god...

Eeehhh as someone who didn't see the OG trilogy until his early 20's...gotta tell you Greg, IV is ROUGH at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 26 March, 2020, 06:14:10 PM
I'm not a Star Wars fan in the way that TordelBack is - it didn't really follow me that far into adulthood - but IV-VI are so inextricably linked to my childhood that it's impossible to be too objective about them. The most objective I can get is to suggest that, contrary to popular opinion, Empire's the weakest of the three overall (but has the best sequence of any of them.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 March, 2020, 06:31:09 PM
I'm on record as saying Last Jedi is the third best Stars Wars film full stop. And I stand by that. It's better than Return.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 27 March, 2020, 09:06:03 AM
I find it, obviously, hard to discuss any other Star Wars things in the same terms as the original trilogy. It's a bit like comparing a series of step parents to the original two who birthed you.
That said, I bloody loved the sequel trilogy- and while Rise was utterly phenomenal and a perfect end to the saga, Last Jedi was the better film- and probably the one I will return to most often.
The prequels are the prequels. Absolutely unnecessary as they are, Clones is at least hugely watchable and Sith is most like a proper film.
My childhood love of Star Wars has not inspired me to watch any of the spin off tv shows with any close attention. If they release The Mandolorian on dvd at some point, I may pick it up.
Wasnt a huge admirer of Rogue One, but Solo is remarkable- shame we wont get a sequel.

The last lockdown film i watched was Justice League, which wasnt awful and passed however long it was on for pleasantly enough. Then I put BvsS on and spooned out my eyes after an hour and had to turn it off. What a load of toss.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 27 March, 2020, 02:28:47 PM
I quite like BvS but you have to watch the extended version as it makes certain things much clearer, like how much Luthor was manipulating things in the background.  The theatrical release cut out too much important stuff and that's why a lot of it made no sense.

I'd still rather sit and watch Batman and Superman duke it out than them fighting that baddie in Justice League.  Best bit for me in JL was when they woke Supes and were fighting him - that was more interesting than the final act of that film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 28 March, 2020, 05:32:58 PM
4 years ago yesterday BvS had it's first screenings.

I was there, day one, and yes, it was very underwhelming.

The "Ultimate" extended version is much, much better - as you say, Recrewt, it still has problems but now it makes sense, whereas the theatrical cut is pretty much butchered, narratively speaking.

Justice League is legendary for the behind the scenes meddling that saw the film literally made twice.

Here's to the original version finally seeing the light of day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 March, 2020, 09:05:05 AM
As far as I'm aware I've only ever seen the extended version of BvS, I didn't enjoy it but when I read up on what had been missing in the theatrical version it seemed crazy and like none of the story would have made an ounce of sense. Can't imagine what they were thinking when they hacked that thing to bits.

Watched Bloodshot and thought it as a decent enough comic book origin movie, I have a possibly strange fondness of seeing Vin Diesel being all gruff and punching people though so depending how into that you are experiences may vary! I thought it had some good Vin punching though, and a couple of the action scenes were staged in a very visually striking way that I liked. I'd watch a sequel, but it occurred to me that the usual measure for whether a potential franchise gets off the ground (box office) doesn't apply here so wonder how that decision will be made.

Also rewatched Captain Marvel, quite liked it in the cinema but then sort of forgot all about it and tended to think of it as one of the weaker Marvel films. For some reason enjoyed it way more this time, like all the sci-fi designs and Brie Larson is a great hero lead. Actually think it might be one of my favourites now, not sure why it washed over me so much first time round!

And Teeth, which I remember everyone talking about in the '90s but somehow never got round to. We had a hoot watching it, yelping at all the injuries (some of it is a lot more graphic than I expected and cannot now be unseen, there were a couple of real 'cushions over faces' moments) and it got laughs in all the intended places. Glad we finally ticked it off the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 30 March, 2020, 09:50:34 AM
Well the girls have been nagging about Disney plus.  Given the current circumstances I relented.  Mind you, the chance to have a gander at the Mandalorian did help their case.  First up though was a re-watch of the Black Hole.

To a certain extent it still holds up well.  A cracking cast, albeit Maximilian Schell hamming it up to the nines. Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowell, Yvette Mimeux, Anthony Perkins. Robots all over the place and a script I unfortunately can still quote virtually entirely as a result of the soundtrack LP my parents bought me back in the day ...  "Oh, you can't mess with perfection!". "We are going through!"

It really does benefit from a suspension of disbelief though.  One moment the cast are trying to avoid being sucked into space after a meteorite strike, the next moment they are clambering over the outside of the Cygnus.  It's just is odd in places.

One of those films that didn't go down too well at the time, that doesn't have much love even today, but still rewards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 30 March, 2020, 10:38:11 AM
The Platform.

Quite enjoyed that, in a was-also-pretty-disturbed sort of way. The sound design didn't help my misophonia at all when the characters were greedily stuffing their faces at various points but it wasn't that big a deal.

An interesting concept and I like how much was left ambiguous, despite seeing that as a criticism of the movie. You know about as much about what's going on as the characters do by then end and, whilst that might be unsatisfying for some, it worked for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 March, 2020, 01:53:14 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 30 March, 2020, 09:50:34 AM
Well the girls have been nagging about Disney plus.  Given the current circumstances I relented.  Mind you, the chance to have a gander at the Mandalorian did help their case.  First up though was a re-watch of the Black Hole.

One of those films that didn't go down too well at the time, that doesn't have much love even today, but still rewards.

I've always had a real soft spot for it and was excited to see it on the Disney+ service! Haven't seen it in many years but as a kid it left a massive mark, particularly [spoiler]the ending, which I think sparked me asking my parents lots of difficult and annoying philosophical questions about the afterlife etc! Not sure I'd seen a depiction of Hell (if that's indeed what it's supposed to be!) like that at that age so when I think of a hellish afterlife my goto image is always the villain trapped in that robot on that horrifying landscape, it really left a dent on my poor young brain![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 March, 2020, 02:45:15 PM
Oh man, not reported in for awhile, binged a bunch of stuff in isolation, but prior to that caught the simply divine PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE the day all my local cinemas closed. What a gorgeous bit of film making, a strong contender for top 10 of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 30 March, 2020, 04:08:06 PM
Color Out of Space - second time of watching, this time at home.  Enjoyed it immensely.  My partner wasn't so impressed.  I still think it's a superb slice of insanity!

Fire Walk With Me - the prequel to Twin Peaks. If you're after a load of impenetrable bollocks against a backdrop of evil spirits, paedophilia, rape and murder, then this is for you.  It didn't do it for me, but my partner is a huge Twin Peaks fan, and I think she just wanted me to have to endure something she knew I'd find as godawful as she found Color Out of Space.   :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 March, 2020, 10:08:06 PM
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: it's an anthology western by the Coen brothers. For some of you, that'll already have sold it. The first segment (the actual Ballad of the title) made me laugh so hard I thought I might die (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGbe5qy5274).

I've only watched three of the six vignettes so far: but it's already worth recommending to ... all of humanity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 March, 2020, 10:10:44 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 30 March, 2020, 10:08:06 PM
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: it's an anthology western by the Coen brothers. For some of you, that'll already have sold it. The first segment (the actual Ballad of the title) made me laugh so hard I thought I might die (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGbe5qy5274).

I've only watched three of the six vignettes so far: but it's already worth recommending to ... all of humanity.

"Ain't no man compel another to engage in recreation, especially not one as surly and ill tempered as yourself."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 March, 2020, 10:17:53 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 30 March, 2020, 10:08:06 PM
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: it's an anthology western by the Coen brothers. For some of you, that'll already have sold it. The first segment (the actual Ballad of the title) made me laugh so hard I thought I might die (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGbe5qy5274).

I've only watched three of the six vignettes so far: but it's already worth recommending to ... all of humanity.

Also Tom Waits I believe for the double sell... not that I've seen it yet but I will...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 March, 2020, 08:06:57 AM
It's arsom start to finish. Tom Waits is fab in it, my favourite segment. Whole film has a heartstopping eye for huge colourful landscapes, much needed when trapped inside.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 March, 2020, 07:30:52 PM
The Liam Neeson one is the stuff of nightmares. But yeah, it's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 31 March, 2020, 11:26:22 PM
....and if - like me - you go insane trying to figure out who plays the unfortunate limbless dude in the Liam Neeson segment, I'll save you some googling time; it's Dudley from the Harry Potter movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 April, 2020, 09:57:13 AM
Basket Case 2 for the first time. I do enjoy how scrappy and unhinged these films are, and have always been a fan of cheap rubbery monsters and there are loooooads of those in this one. The 'freaks hiding out' angle did make me think of Nightbreed though, and how I'd probably be better off watching that. Other than that it was fun enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 April, 2020, 10:05:37 AM
Haunt on Amazon, a tricks and traps Saw-style movie that's decent enough as far as that sort of thing goes. There were some ideas I really liked and wished it had taken its time with a bit more but as a bit of a fairground ride it was pretty enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 03 April, 2020, 11:31:38 AM
The lockdown screenings continue with the agreeable potboiler Best Seller, starring everyone's favourite slease ball James Woods playing this time a slease ball ex hitman alongside Brian Dennehy as a cop, moonlighting as a novelist, who Woods approaches with an idea for book, involving corporate corruption and murder.

Woods is suitably sleazy and Dennehy suitably grizzled in what amounts to a buddy movie with most the enjoyment coming from the clash of opposing moral compasses.
The plot is fairly perfunctory stuff, but it is surprisingly cruel and violent at times with a nice line in bleak cynicism.
The chemistry between the two leads manages to lift the film above merely average.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 April, 2020, 11:45:05 AM
Fans of gritty and bitty Brit mob movies should give Jesse V. Johnsons new prison thriller AVENGEMENT with Scott Adkins in full brutality mode. Haven't flinched at fist fights this rib cracking since Raid 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 April, 2020, 02:17:35 PM
31 - I am not saying this movie is bad, but I walked out of the showing at 29 minutes and 19 seconds in, so I couldn't bear to experience another 41 seconds just so I could say that I walked out after half an hour.  To be clear: the showing was in my house, and happening during a global pandemic - cops might have asked me why I was walking around out in the open for no good reason and I would say "I am avoiding watching the rest of 31, the 2016 crowd-funded horror project written and directed by Rob Zombie" and the officer would reply "I have not seen it so cannot speak from experience as to its quality, but from your verbal description alone I feel you made the correct decision."
The made-up policeman I encountered is, in my opinion, a bit judgmental, as I for one expected more from a film written and directed by Rob Zombie and funded entirely by donations from 13 year old heavy metal fans, but anyway, I did not care for this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 April, 2020, 03:11:01 PM
The trouble is that review is so funny it's made me want to watch the movie so I have context!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 April, 2020, 03:38:16 PM
Yeah that is an entertaining and wholly accurate review! Rob Zombie is hit or miss with me, I really like some of his films and really don't like others, and this was definitely a big old miss (and also mess). The one thing I do think it has going for it is a really intense villain performance by Richard 'Intense Villain Performance' Brake. He's pretty much the only memorable thing about it but if I remember correctly he won't even have really appeared by the time you walked out so I can't blame you for missing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 April, 2020, 09:04:50 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 April, 2020, 03:11:01 PM
The trouble is that review is so funny it's made me want to watch the movie so I have context!

Same.  This is the problem with many of the Bear's more scathing reviews.  One might suspect it's the reverse-psychology ploy of a committed sadist.  Or maybe misery just really loves company.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 April, 2020, 10:25:32 PM
Trawling through the depths of Amazon Prime's lower backwaters I came across the cheapest, tackiest and most ill-begotten movie - Adventures of a Plumber in Outer Space - it looked like an ironic bit of risqué fun but was so crap I reckon the producer must be sleeping with someone at Amazon.

It's basically a 2019 attempt to recreate the British sex comedies of the seventies, but without the acting talent, production budget or any actual nudity. At 43 mins I wonder if it was a soft (or hard) core porno that's had all the tits and bums removed, but this is so amateurish I really can't fathom why it's there.

Seriously, I don't recommend watching it  but take a look and tell me how that shite gets onto a global streaming platform.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2020, 11:42:32 AM
I probably saw OCEAN'S ELEVEN on its cinematic release back in 2000(?) and remember thinking that Soderbergh had actually polished a turd (the Rat Pack original)  but what the actual fuck was Don Cheadle's accent?

Rewatching it last night and it's still a gorgeously shot and scored, slick, star powered heist movie which is a lot more linear than I remember it but Don's cockney is not the thing that stands out.

There's a problem that Danny (Clooney) and Rusty (Pitt) are just too similar so no real conflict or drama arises with them.

There is a problem that you can clearly see the padding (the emp device).

But most of all, it's such a sausage fest. Julia Roberts is the only female speaking role (excluding strippers, hookers and croupiers), and is LITERALLY a trophy fought over by the hero and the villain.

Hard to believe that twenty years ago, updates weren't really all that updated. And at the time, I didn't even notice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 April, 2020, 07:35:58 PM
CATS - 90 minutes of furries singing songs about themselves and then one of them gets euthanised.  Andrew Lloyd Webber may despise poor people, but he sure does love cats, so while I don't think the stage show was meant as furry porn, the movie has a case to answer.
Anyway, it is a very odd film and the tone is all over the place, but I enjoyed it for the spectacle and the tunes. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 April, 2020, 08:10:42 PM
Deathgasm. A very 80s toned horror/comedy film from New Zealand. The performances were quite good and the effects suitably low budget. It's not funny enough to elicit big laughs or scary enough to induce any sort of lasting impression but the combination is enough to sustain the film. Not worth ever watching again but it was fun enough to pass the 90 minute run time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 04 April, 2020, 08:27:36 PM
I've heard that there are plans for a Martial-Arts styled sequel to Cats.

Current working title is: Fists of Furry
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 April, 2020, 09:43:08 PM
It's called Fur And Loathing now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 April, 2020, 05:27:26 PM
I've been rewatching the SAW and Final Destination movies.  The FD ones are often quite brilliant.

Currently watching Automation which is cheap and terrible so far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2020, 11:17:53 PM
 I like the way the Final Destination movies have to play with an audiences expectations of a kill so that you end up with some convoluted sequence of events each one of which MIGHT have killed the victim until you get to the actual killer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 April, 2020, 11:22:27 AM
Yeah those Final Destination movies are a hoot, really fun to watch some of the Rube Goldberg style elaborate death sequences and the punchlines are usually great and unexpected!

Something we probably wouldn't have chosen if Disney + hadn't come along is Maleficent, really not a 'classic' Disney household (we like some of the Pixar animated stuff but no particular fondness for the princess/fairytale stuff). Despite that we had a great time with this, really really liked it. Were very invested and pretty taken aback by how much we enjoyed it to be honest, now wondering what other Disney gems we've missed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 April, 2020, 12:43:34 PM
Kingsman: The Secret Service.  If you didn't know this was a Millar adaptation, you wouldn't be long guessing. It's entirely predictable, Jackson's lisp is very annoying, the anal-sex bit at the end is just wildly out of place, and there's this vague sense of this being Eccleston-era Dr Who that undercuts the violent edginess it seems to be going for, but... it is pretty brisk fun, everyone puts their back into their paper-thin roles (Mark Strong is the obvious standout, but Egerton and Boutell are good too), and there is some surprisingly stylish design (the way it embraces the choreographed head-explosions is remarkable).

It's almost admirable that it never for one second addresses the morality of a secret order of British super-assassins, except on a class basis.  The funniest thing in it may be that the Swedish PM travels in a jet marked "Swedish Air Force", which takes patronising your audience to new levels.

Passes the time, will probably try the sequel(s) at some point, if only to see what a world without all the dignitaries on Valentine's list looks like...





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 April, 2020, 01:57:03 PM
The Walk. As with all true story films take this one with a pinch of salt. The story of Phillipe Petit's outlandish highwire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York in 1974.

I didn't know all that much about the event since it happened when I was very young but this film manages to make all the work leading up to the event quite entertaining. It plays much like a grand caper film where all the players come together and the story is in the planning, not in the execution, although that was a work in itself as well. The narration of Gordon-Levitt as Petit throughout the film could have been reduced or dropped IMO. I would rather the film kept its focus on the story without the constant interruption. It would also have made the film 30 minutes shorter without taking much away from the story.

The walk itself was almost anti-climatic after everything leading up to it. Seeing it at home the heights were pretty dizzying on my 4K screen. In the cinema, I might have felt vertigo at the views to the ground. A decent enough way to pass a couple of hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 April, 2020, 09:37:21 AM
Basket Case 3, bonkers. Mostly suprisingly dull for how bonkers it is though, just a little too awkward to be as fun as it could have been. Some of the splattery rubbish rubber gore gags later on are a good laugh though and [spoiler]Robo-Belial[/spoiler] really was a good madcap surprise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2020, 08:32:49 PM
The Producers - musical version of the Mel Brooks original.  Full of gags and upbeat numbers, I didn't know that musical movies made in the 21st century were allowed to be good, so this and Hairspray have been a pleasant surprise.  It is willfully politically incorrect, but a lot of that has to do with dating terribly in the last fifteen years since it was made ("Leo - he's wearing a dress!") rather than Mel Brooks doing his thing.  It is also - despite its crudity in places - incredibly old-fashioned compared to ponderous monstrosities like Les Miserables, to the point that a lot of critics actually slated it for the actors "acting like they're in a musical".

The Last Boy - well, I certainly expected better from a post-apocalyptic thriller made for under 50k and starring Luke Goss.  Episodic and ultimately pointless, but I admit I was happy to see an apocalypse not involving zombies.

Hands Of Steel - mid-80s Italian trash originally shot and released as Vendetta dal futuro about a cyborg assassin who goes on the run from his evil industrialist creator John Saxon - or was Saxon playing an evil CIA operative?  I genuinely can't remember and it doesn't matter.  Complete horseshit, but enjoyably so, like when it just stops doing Terminator and does Over The Top instead, with all disagreements between butch men getting settled in arm wrestling matches or highway chases in big rigs.

Zootropolis was just what the doctor ordered for our interesting times.  I am a little troubled by how sexualised a lot of modern cartoon characters are, and Shakira's performance at the end of this didn't exactly help matters, but it's a small blip in an otherwise great film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 April, 2020, 08:44:55 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 07 April, 2020, 08:32:49 PM
Hands Of Steel - mid-80s Italian trash originally shot and released as Vendetta dal futuro about a cyborg assassin who goes on the run from his evil industrialist creator John Saxon - or was Saxon playing an evil CIA operative?  I genuinely can't remember and it doesn't matter.  Complete horseshit, but enjoyably so, like when it just stops doing Terminator and does Over The Top instead, with all disagreements between butch men getting settled in arm wrestling matches or highway chases in big rigs.

Any movie with George Eastmen in it is worth a moment of any ones time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 April, 2020, 09:45:21 PM
 COFFEE AND KAREEM on Netflix. Not my choice.

If "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" was a buddy cop movie but utter, utter, utter shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 April, 2020, 07:40:20 AM
I watched Ichi the killer the other night. Feels like a ultra brutal yakuza anime version of Clockwork Orange. Still one of the most violent and disturbing movies I've seen, but unlike other similar extreme movies I actually watch it again now and then. It's visually very striking and it has very weird and interesting characters. Especially Kakihara. His love for recieving/giving pain makes him very unpredictable and scary. Up there with Anton Chigurh and The Joker.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmHxzsbAZZc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 April, 2020, 03:27:56 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 April, 2020, 09:45:21 PM
COFFEE AND KAREEM on Netflix. Not my choice.

If "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" was a buddy cop movie but utter, utter, utter shit.
I'm not a fan an Ed Helm's and never had any intention of watching this, but it's good to hear my instincts confirmed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 08:37:26 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 10 April, 2020, 07:40:20 AM
I watched Ichi the killer the other night. Feels like a ultra brutal yakuza anime version of Clockwork Orange. Still one of the most violent and disturbing movies I've seen, but unlike other similar extreme movies I actually watch it again now and then. It's visually very striking and it has very weird and interesting characters. Especially Kakihara. His love for recieving/giving pain makes him very unpredictable and scary. Up there with Anton Chigurh and The Joker.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmHxzsbAZZc

Long may Takashi Miike continue making such delirious, OTT, fascinating movies. Recently washed his adaptation of Blade Of The Immortal, having not read the Manga, and thought it was brilliant.

I haven't seen Ihchi The Killer in years, but I'm going to hunt down my DVD of it and give it a spin tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 12:36:24 PM
I remember seeing Audition on 35MM at the Prince Charles.

You could tell when THE moment happens, who in that screening hadn't seen it before.

Sheer. Bloody. Terror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:44:36 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 12:36:24 PM
I remember seeing Audition on 35MM at the Prince Charles.

You could tell when THE moment happens, who in that screening hadn't seen it before.

Sheer. Bloody. Terror.

And what a moment.

Christ. I'll never forget watching it on Film4 yonks ago, with my brother. I was literally gripping the seat by the end of it.

Speaking of Miike, I've yet to find a copy of his Masters Of Horror episode, Imprint. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth tracking down?

I vaguely remember Mike Garris saying he still couldn't bring himself to watch it from start to finish without taking a break.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 April, 2020, 01:26:50 PM
 UNCUT GEMS on Netflix.
So yes, Sandler (the entire cast even in the smallest roles) is fantastic and yes it is unbearably tense from the very get go with a frenetic energy in visual and sound design that just doesn't stop ( reminded me of DUNKIRK as regards the tension). And it does give you a sense of how horrible the addiction must be.

But ultimately I was left feeling "So what?". Everyone in it  is horrible. And the fact that you can't polish a turd is a truism that surely doesn't need expanding upon?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 13 April, 2020, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.

Saw it yesterday. Sure was something! But good! As with Ichi, no doubt I'll watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 07:52:42 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 April, 2020, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.

Saw it yesterday. Sure was something! But good! As with Ichi, no doubt I'll watch it again.

A fabulous movie. The lurch from a movie that is shaping up to be a romantic comedy about a bereaved man to...

Wonder how many people were fed the DVD by a friend who didn't give any hint of what was to come!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 14 April, 2020, 08:16:15 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 07:52:42 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 April, 2020, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.

Saw it yesterday. Sure was something! But good! As with Ichi, no doubt I'll watch it again.

A fabulous movie. The lurch from a movie that is shaping up to be a romantic comedy about a bereaved man to...

Wonder how many people were fed the DVD by a friend who didn't give any hint of what was to come!

I plan to ;) Bit like with Oldboy hehe.

I'll just say it's a very dark and morbid film, and make it sound as if it's the audition bit. 

A bit like with Once upon a time in Hollywood. [spoiler]Telling people about Sharon, that movie can only end in one way. Very bloody. Love the look on people faces when they understand what I meant by "Very bloody" :) [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 08:46:45 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 14 April, 2020, 08:16:15 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 07:52:42 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 April, 2020, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.

Saw it yesterday. Sure was something! But good! As with Ichi, no doubt I'll watch it again.

A fabulous movie. The lurch from a movie that is shaping up to be a romantic comedy about a bereaved man to...

Wonder how many people were fed the DVD by a friend who didn't give any hint of what was to come!

I plan to ;) Bit like with Oldboy hehe.

I'll just say it's a very dark and morbid film, and make it sound as if it's the audition bit. 

A bit like with Once upon a time in Hollywood. [spoiler]Telling people about Sharon, that movie can only end in one way. Very bloody. Love the look on people faces when they understand what I meant by "Very bloody" :) [/spoiler]

Fantastic!  :lol:

Oldboy was another superb movie. That hallway fight scene is just utterly ridiculous.

Have you seen the re-make? Have not got around to it yet, but I've now time on my hands to watch a lot of stuff I've been putting off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 April, 2020, 11:38:25 AM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:44:36 PM
Speaking of Miike, I've yet to find a copy of his Masters Of Horror episode, Imprint. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth tracking down?

I vaguely remember Mike Garris saying he still couldn't bring himself to watch it from start to finish without taking a break.

It was included in the Masters of Horror DVD boxsets if those are still available! Great box sets those, loved working through all the films and poring over the extras!

It's been a very long time but I remember Imprint being very creepy and pretty intense, although its reputation might make you expect something more extreme. There is some torture involved which I'd assume was the issue with airing it, but from memory I'm not sure it's anything you won't be prepared for if you've seen that sort of thing elsewhere. Definitely bonkers in the context of an episode of a TV show though, not surprised it was banned/never aired. I've been thinking of a big Masters of Horror rewatch so will be interesting to see if it still feels as shocking nowadays when telly can get away with a lot more. It's possible it'll seem a bit tame (but probably not)!

Quote from: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 08:46:45 AM
Oldboy was another superb movie. That hallway fight scene is just utterly ridiculous.

Have you seen the re-make? Have not got around to it yet, but I've now time on my hands to watch a lot of stuff I've been putting off.

I've only seen a couple of scenes while it was on telly and I stumbled on it and kept watching out of curiosity! One of the scenes I saw was the hallway fight though, which is dreadful in the remake sadly. Felt like they were trying to ape it without really understanding anything about why it was good in the first place, so that put me off giving it a proper watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 April, 2020, 11:49:04 AM
 All the hype that surrounds the hallway fight in OLDBOY actually made me think it was a different kind of film (something like The Raid) I was about to watch. It was a pleasant(!) surprise what it actually turned out to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 April, 2020, 11:53:40 AM
Finding the working from home situation is helping me watch more films, that couple of hours where I'm normally commuting can now be put to better use!

The Grey was great, and way more intense than I expected. Always imagined it'd be a bit of a slick Hollywood action thriller but it's more of a grim and gritty survival film, loved it.

Knowing is very, very silly but I do have to hold up my hands and admit I did not see where it was going so fair play. The Cage dial is set disappointingly low which is the worst part, he mumbles through the whole film like he's sedated or (more likely) doesn't want to be there.

Serenity I haven't watched since it came out, and while I liked Firefly I don't have the same reverence for it many do. Still, this is just a cracking fun sci-fi film and it holds up pretty great.

Wreck It Ralph is one of those films I've always been curious to see but before Disney+ probably would never have gotten round to it. It's funny and charming and well written (there's some great plotting that all comes together nicely!) and I'm keen to watch the sequel now.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 April, 2020, 11:49:04 AM
All the hype that surrounds the hallway fight in OLDBOY actually made me think it was a different kind of film (something like The Raid) I was about to watch. It was a pleasant(!) surprise what it actually turned out to be.

Totally get what you mean, I think what makes that fight stand out is just how unlike an action movie fight scene it is. It's clumsy and exhausting and paced in little bursts of energy and just feels really brutally 'real' I think. He doesn't know how to fight, it's just pure resolve keeping him flailing his way through it.

The remake seemed to go the other way to make Brolin look more like an invincible Hollywood badass, and while they've tried to ape the one-take approach they either haven't been able to pull it off or they've been made to cut it down in the edit I think. There was at least one cut during it that left me disorientated because the fight jumped to another floor suddenly (I think they try to one-up the original by having the fight take place on multiple levels of scaffold or balconies or something and it just doesn't work anywhere near as well). Maybe it was edited for TV actually? It did seem very wonkily staged and cut.

That's all I've seen of it mind you, rest of the film might be great! But then even if it is, I still wonder what the point of it existing would be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 April, 2020, 12:53:59 PM
Saw Serenity in the cinema, and loved it. I consider it the best thing Joss Whedon has ever done, and even though we didn't get a sequel, or another series of the show, it was a miracle we got a film, and a great film at that.

Speaking of Whedon, I was listening to the Evolution Of Horror Podcast, and listended to the show that featured Cabin In The Woods. Might give that a spin as I haven't see it in years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 April, 2020, 12:56:48 PM
A shame to hear the Oldboy re-make isn't up to much, especially with the talent involved, and having Josh Brolin starring.

At least we have the incredible original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 April, 2020, 01:11:38 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 15 April, 2020, 11:53:40 AM

Wreck It Ralph is one of those films I've always been curious to see but before Disney+ probably would never have gotten round to it. It's funny and charming and well written (there's some great plotting that all comes together nicely!) and I'm keen to watch the sequel now.

The sequel is FANTASTIC - slightly overblown ending aside. Well worth it and very, very funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 15 April, 2020, 03:51:31 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 April, 2020, 01:11:38 PM
The sequel is FANTASTIC - slightly overblown ending aside. Well worth it and very, very funny.

Seconded. Big fans of Ralph in this house.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 April, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 08:46:45 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 14 April, 2020, 08:16:15 AM
Quote from: Rately on 14 April, 2020, 07:52:42 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 April, 2020, 04:59:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 April, 2020, 12:14:25 PM
Watched Detective Pikachu yesterday. Didn't mind it. Quite fun now and then. Probably one of the better video game to movie adaptations?

Quote from: Rately on 11 April, 2020, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 April, 2020, 10:42:04 AM
His most recent film, comedy yakuza come boxing drama FIRST LOVE seemed a bit divisive but I thought it a brilliant self satire of his early mob movies.

You will laugh out loud quiet a bit during it's madness.

Cheers, another one for the list.

The sheer number of movies, and the genre jumping, is staggering!

Seconded!

I've yet to watch his audition and DOA 2 and 3. Really liked DOA1 and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.

Audition. All I will say is... WOW!

Apestrife, you are in for a treat. Also moments of panic, terror and hilarity.

Saw it yesterday. Sure was something! But good! As with Ichi, no doubt I'll watch it again.

A fabulous movie. The lurch from a movie that is shaping up to be a romantic comedy about a bereaved man to...

Wonder how many people were fed the DVD by a friend who didn't give any hint of what was to come!

I plan to ;) Bit like with Oldboy hehe.

I'll just say it's a very dark and morbid film, and make it sound as if it's the audition bit. 

A bit like with Once upon a time in Hollywood. [spoiler]Telling people about Sharon, that movie can only end in one way. Very bloody. Love the look on people faces when they understand what I meant by "Very bloody" :) [/spoiler]

Fantastic!  :lol:

Oldboy was another superb movie. That hallway fight scene is just utterly ridiculous.

Have you seen the re-make? Have not got around to it yet, but I've now time on my hands to watch a lot of stuff I've been putting off.

Watched some of it. Among other things, the ending. Didn't grab me. Felt a bit like the remake of Let the right one in. A less dangerous version for an audience who'v yet learnt the joys of subtitles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 April, 2020, 10:09:57 AM
Watched a John Carpenter double bill last night. In the mouth of madness and The Fog. Hadn't seen either, and went in not being that grabbed by either film's premise. I'm happy to say I was wrong. Both rocked. Madness really grabbed me with it's horror and many ins and outs on what's going on. The fog felt a bit like a Scooby Doo adventure at first but quickly got quite eerie. A really good and fun little horror with an interesting quality that it manages to make light feel a little scary :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 16 April, 2020, 11:28:16 AM
I love The Fog, but the first 20 minutes is an especially brilliant slow-burn creep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 April, 2020, 02:46:10 PM
Excalibur

I hadn't seen this in years.
It doesn't feel as epic as it did when I was 10 and it all looks a bit cheap.
There's still lots to like about it though. Merlin in particular is great.
I reckon this would really benefit from a remaster as the dvd version I watched was very spotty and the sound was all over the place.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 16 April, 2020, 03:16:23 PM
The Fog is a wonderful, atmospheric movie.

Worth it for the opening scene with the Ghost story being told on the beach. Lovely scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 April, 2020, 05:23:20 PM
That intro to The Fog is definitely up there with the all-time great movie openings. So much atmosphere in that campfire ghost story, and sets you up perfectly for what the film is. I've always loved In The Mouth of Madness too, it has some of my favourite Carpenter moments. The scene where [spoiler]Sam Neill is looking through the torn page into the void while the book is being read is incredible, a fantastic example of letting the viewer's imagination do the the bulk of the work and one of the most atmospheric horror movie scenes out there[/spoiler].

I watched it with my wife a few months ago, she'd never seen it and it's always a bit hit and miss how well these things hold up, but it went down brilliantly and is one of her favourite Carpenter movies (and her very favourite Carpenter theme - I love the story behind that where he had temp scored it with Enter Sandman by Metallica and then couldn't use that so he basically wrote his own version of it. Once you know that it's pretty obvious that was the inspiration, definitely one of his most rocking themes!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 April, 2020, 12:29:43 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 April, 2020, 02:46:10 PM
Excalibur

I hadn't seen this in years.
It doesn't feel as epic as it did when I was 10 and it all looks a bit cheap.
There's still lots to like about it though. Merlin in particular is great.
I reckon this would really benefit from a remaster as the dvd version I watched was very spotty and the sound was all over the place.

I love that film. Nicol Williamson is indeed fabulous. Not to mention Helen Mirren and Cherie Lunghi! *sigh*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 April, 2020, 07:31:12 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 16 April, 2020, 05:23:20 PM
That intro to The Fog is definitely up there with the all-time great movie openings. So much atmosphere in that campfire ghost story, and sets you up perfectly for what the film is. I've always loved In The Mouth of Madness too, it has some of my favourite Carpenter moments. The scene where [spoiler]Sam Neill is looking through the torn page into the void while the book is being read is incredible, a fantastic example of letting the viewer's imagination do the the bulk of the work and one of the most atmospheric horror movie scenes out there[/spoiler].

I watched it with my wife a few months ago, she'd never seen it and it's always a bit hit and miss how well these things hold up, but it went down brilliantly and is one of her favourite Carpenter movies (and her very favourite Carpenter theme - I love the story behind that where he had temp scored it with Enter Sandman by Metallica and then couldn't use that so he basically wrote his own version of it. Once you know that it's pretty obvious that was the inspiration, definitely one of his most rocking themes!)

Ha! I didn't know that, Keef! I'll have to dig out my copy for a Friday night rewatch!

Always loved this movie, which, seems to be considered a lesser Carpenter offering by a lot of people.

Mans a genius. Just a shame he now seems to be completely retired.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 April, 2020, 09:13:47 PM
Rambo: Last Blood. Awful. Just awful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 April, 2020, 10:35:34 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 April, 2020, 09:13:47 PM
Rambo: Last Blood. Awful. Just awful.

Whats funny, is I remember initially enjoying it for a pulpy slice of exploitation nonsense.

But upon my second viewing, I was struck by what a hateful, nasty bit of film making it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 April, 2020, 11:25:15 PM
 MIB International. It was okay, but unfortunately put all its hopes in no-show chemistry between C. Hemsworth and T. Thompson that clearly requires T. Waititi as a catalyst. Frustratingly drops plot threads all over the place too. Not a patch on the underrated MIB 3, but not awful either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 April, 2020, 12:41:30 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 18 April, 2020, 10:35:34 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 April, 2020, 09:13:47 PM
Rambo: Last Blood. Awful. Just awful.
a hateful, nasty bit of film making it is.
An excellent summary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 April, 2020, 08:48:42 AM
Had another double of Carpenter last night. Christine and Ghosts of Mars. Christine became another nice surprise for me (As with The fog), how good it was. In no way did I find it scary, but it was very very entertaining. A slasher movie about a possessed, jealous and murderous car and a easily led geek who wants reveange on the world. Carpenter really pulled it off! As for Ghosts of Mars. I was hoping for a movie like Escape from LA. Loud, fun and often so cheesy it hurts. But sadly it didn't deliver. Mostly boring. Which was made worse by a fairly imaginiative set up of heavy metal ghosts attacking a colony on Mars. Damn shame.

This morning I've finally managed to watch American Graffiti. Another movie I was happy to be wrong about. Thought it'd be a comedy with some hot rod nostalgia at most, but it was so much more than just that. A true gem about friendship and how it can be to grow up. Couldn't help it but thinking about back when I was young, with adulthood just around the corner. Felt good :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 April, 2020, 09:54:54 AM
We watched the first Maze Runner a while back and quite enjoyed it as a bit of Hunger Games style YA entertainment, spotted the second film The Scorch Trials was on Netflix so gave it a watch. Really impressed! I found myself looking up the director afterwards to see if he's ever made a straight-up horror film, because there are some creepy scenes in this that I thought were handled really well. Turns out he hasn't, but he definitely knows his stuff. The action was decent too, and it's got some good additions to the cast. Surprised to be enjoying this franchise as much as I am but looking forward to seeing the third now.

Also watched Tetsuo: The Iron Man for the first time and it was pretty intense. Can see where the reputation comes from! More arthouse than I expected, I thought I'd be getting B movie splatter but it's more like if young David Lynch had a horror nightmare after watching a Cronenberg film. Mostly interesting to realize how much of what I was into in the early '90s was clearly influenced by it, Trent Reznor definitely saw it and had his life changed, because the influence of its visual language and the industrial soundtrack are all over his Broken/TDS era output. More disturbing than enjoyable, but one of those movies that's unlike anything else, which given it's 30 years old is pretty impressive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 April, 2020, 10:02:14 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 April, 2020, 09:54:54 AM
Also watched Tetsuo: The Iron Man for the first time and it was pretty intense. Can see where the reputation comes from! More arthouse than I expected, I thought I'd be getting B movie splatter but it's more like if young David Lynch had a horror nightmare after watching a Cronenberg film. Mostly interesting to realize how much of what I was into in the early '90s was clearly influenced by it, Trent Reznor definitely saw it and had his life changed, because the influence of its visual language and the industrial soundtrack are all over his Broken/TDS era output. More disturbing than enjoyable, but one of those movies that's unlike anything else, which given it's 30 years old is pretty impressive.

One of my all time favorites. Shinya Tsukamoto's entire catalog is worth a watch, especially Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and Tokyo Fist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 April, 2020, 10:51:45 AM
Disney Plus is proving a bit of a treasure trove: very enjoyable weekend double-bill of the the James Mason 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth.  The set design in both is simply spectacular, and the effects aren't that far behind - the extended Dimetrodon sequence in the latter film is the probably most successful use of the dubious stick-things-on-an-iguana-and-shout-'Action!' technique, but the endlessly inventive cavern designs really show up how unimaginative those ubiquitous cave sets in genre TV shows have been since.

I would have rated 20,000 Leagues as one of my favourite films as a kid, and I remembered every detail of whole sequences exactly - but conversely I also remembered major scenes which aren't in the movie at all!  Somehow I had conflated memories of episodes from the book, but quite explicitly starring Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre.  Prior to Sunday you could not have convinced me that Kirk Douglas didn't harpoon a giant dugong in the Red Sea, or that the climax of the film wasn't Douglas and Lorre rowing desperately against the pull of the maelstrom in the Nautilus' skiff.  I can even remember the specific model-work of the Nautilus going down the whirlpool!  What a bizarre thing the human brain is.

Great fun film though, my only real viewing problem was continually seeing Mason's Nemo as Stephen Toast ("Yes Professor Aronax, I can fucking hear you").

I enjoyed the various additions to Journey, a film I knew even less well.  The failure of the two supposedly brilliant academics to learn a single word of Icelandic in 9 months of being roped to inexplicably-loyal duck-hunter Hans is quite amusing, as is the wonderfully pervy obsession with the gorgeous Arlene Dahl's corset (a particularly wise addition to the expedition).  But I do wonder why they didn't include at least the giants (if not their technically-challenging mammoths) from the book - the subterranean world seemed quite barren without them, although having a rather fine baddie in David Theyer provides some alternative tension. Main issue: why bother transposing the framing scenes from Germany to to Scotland if you're going to utterly stuff up the accents and dialogue?

On to The Black Hole tonight!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 April, 2020, 01:34:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 April, 2020, 10:51:45 AM
Disney Plus is proving a bit of a treasure trove: very enjoyable weekend double-bill of the the James Mason 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth.  The set design in both is simply spectacular, and the effects aren't that far behind - the extended Dimetrodon sequence in the latter film is the probably most successful use of the dubious stick-things-on-an-iguana-and-shout-'Action!' technique, but the endlessly inventive cavern designs really show up how unimaginative those ubiquitous cave sets in genre TV shows have been since.

I would have rated 20,000 Leagues as one of my favourite films as a kid, and I remembered every detail of whole sequences exactly - but conversely I also remembered major scenes which aren't in the movie at all!  Somehow I had conflated memories of episodes from the book, but quite explicitly starring Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre.  Prior to Sunday you could not have convinced me that Kirk Douglas didn't harpoon a giant dugong in the Red Sea, or that the climax of the film wasn't Douglas and Lorre rowing desperately against the pull of the maelstrom in the Nautilus' skiff.  I can even remember the specific model-work of the Nautilus going down the whirlpool!  What a bizarre thing the human brain is.

Great fun film though, my only real viewing problem was continually seeing Mason's Nemo as Stephen Toast ("Yes Professor Aronax, I can fucking hear you").

I enjoyed the various additions to Journey, a film I knew even less well.  The failure of the two supposedly brilliant academics to learn a single word of Icelandic in 9 months of being roped to inexplicably-loyal duck-hunter Hans is quite amusing, as is the wonderfully pervy obsession with the gorgeous Arlene Dahl's corset (a particularly wise addition to the expedition).  But I do wonder why they didn't include at least the giants (if not their technically-challenging mammoths) from the book - the subterranean world seemed quite barren without them, although having a rather fine baddie in David Theyer provides some alternative tension. Main issue: why bother transposing the framing scenes from Germany to to Scotland if you're going to utterly stuff up the accents and dialogue?

On to The Black Hole tonight!
You see, it's reviews like this that weaken my resolve against subscribing to Disney+. Thankfully, I have both 20,000 Leagues and The Black Hole on disc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2020, 07:43:51 PM
So the girl child has been reading Veronica Roth's Divergent series of books (well I'm reading them too her, which is cool) as a what to read after you read Hunger Games type thing and we're watching the films after each book. Divergent was okay, not to bad BUT by heck is Insurgent the very definition of why movies of book aren't a particularly good idea... well not if you love the book(s).

The books are fine for teen fiction, not quite as interesting as Hunger Games and very meladramatic as all good teen fiction should be. There's some pretty big themes, some nicely drawn characters, with decently realised things to learn and the story keeps driving and keeping things interesting... the film... well...

... we know that films will alway make compromise on the book to fit the medium and 'space' available and the trick is how you do that and don't lose sight of the themes and ideas of the book. Or do and be bold enough to take the idea into a complete new direction. Insurgent fails utterly in all options. They do change elements of the story but every alternation seems to similify  things enough to just about to keep things going along the line of the story but remove all real exploration of the books ideas. We get a mcguffin that purpose seems to be to hold and trap all the interesting ideas and character arcs in the book and never let them escape. BUT when the thing happens to the thingie cos of some thing (by the end I was surfing as my daughter watched and only half watching - but even not paying too much attention it was driving me nuts - and the girl child was pulling it apart by the end.)  still allowed the whole thing to wrap up in a way that wasn't as good, while being exactly the same.

Oh even typing about it feels like a waste of time.

Rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2020, 07:45:35 PM
Oh and there another one of these bloody thing to go and even thought the girl child didn't like this one - she still wants to see it... which is very disappoiinting cos she'll make me watch it with her!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 21 April, 2020, 09:57:11 AM
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge - very violent anime that retells the original Mortal Kombat story.  I hate anime generally and animated films for the most part but I've got a soft spot for MK's story and so I enjoyed this.

Time Trap - likable time mangling sci-fi thing currently doing well on Netflix.  Way better than I expected.

Zoo - felt like an episode of Black Mirror but was a rom-com zombie thing.  Very dark humour.  Enjoyable enough but clearly had a budget of 10p so don't expect any good zombie moments.  Similar to some French zombie thing I watched recently (The Night Eats The World or something like that).

Alien - still one of the best films ever made.  How is it that 40 years ago they could make an amazing Alien film and now with all our tech they can't even make a good one?

Saw 6 - I've been watching all of them and 6 is definitely the best after the original for me.

The Death and Resurrection Show - a documentary about the band Killing Joke.  Should be brilliant.  Just show their music and tell their story.  Unfortunately it descends into a load of bollocks about magic and everyone in it comes across as pretentious.

Eat Brains Love - likable zombie rom-com.

Automation - dreadful sci-fi film about a robot going mad in an office.  Toilet.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2020, 10:02:53 AM
If you where looking for something to wash the taste of LAST BLOOD out of your mouth, Jackie Chan vs. The IRA might tickle your fancy, THE FOREIGNER on Netflix right now.

Does for Chan's POLICE STORY what GRAN TORINO was for DIRTY HARRY.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 21 April, 2020, 12:27:20 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 April, 2020, 10:02:53 AM
If you where looking for something to wash the taste of LAST BLOOD out of your mouth, Jackie Chan vs. The IRA might tickle your fancy, THE FOREIGNER on Netflix right now.

Does for Chan's POLICE STORY what GRAN TORINO was for DIRTY HARRY.
I heard that it wasn't very good at first, but when I finally watched it I loved it. Jackie Chan was wonderful and the story was really tight and well done. I put the negative reviews down to the kung-fu brigade not liking it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 April, 2020, 03:04:41 PM
So The Black Hole is as crazy as a pangolin baguette. It's the most jarring collection of elements - exciting believable designs, state-of-the art late '70s models and seamless wire-work, plus Star Wars-level cool robots, jumbled up with utterly flat dialogue and bland characters that would have sat quietly in any under-performing film from the '50s on, all dropped into what is essentially a horror film with some heavy religious framing.

Maximilian remains the coolest of robo-Satans, the Humanoids are creepy as hell, Roddy McDowell's V.I.N.C.E.N.T. is a likably brave know-it-all, and some of the set-pieces are really superb - the decompressing garden dome, the humanoid funeral, the meteor swarm, anything with Maximilian strutting his stuff or the brilliantly realised black hole effect itself. 

There's the heaviest helping of weird, from the crystal palace Cygnus, the famously 2001-alike finale with added Dante, and there's Kate's ESP connection with a robot. What's that about, then?  Is it just her? Is it just robots? Is it just V.I.N.C.E.N.T.?  (Wouldn't it have been cool if Maximilian had used the reversed version of that linlk to control the humanoids).  And talking of Kate and the humanoids, why doesn't she seem paticularly bothered that her father is almost certainly one of the cyborgs arrayed about the bridge?

But then the human characters are all non-entities (even Schell's Reinhart is a dull bargain-basement Nemo - Perkins' wide-eyed Dr Durant comes closest to being interesting, so naturally is the first to die) there are endless stilted conversations, static shoot-outs where laser-blasts seem to have been drawn on with luminous crayon and interact with nothing around them.

All this dissonance means it feels simultaneously original and horribly dated for its time, much like Flash Gordon if Flash was po-faced and had an extended vision of Hell as its finale.

I first saw this one for my 8th or 9th birthday and amassed a giant collection of bubble-gum cards, and the good lady reports she had V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and Maximilian action figures, so it's safe to say it was a big deal for its intended audience in its day - and it definitely held our two kids' attention throughout.

But it is weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 21 April, 2020, 03:16:26 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 April, 2020, 03:04:41 PM
So The Black Hole is as crazy as a pangolin baguette.

....

But it is weird.

Also-fraggin-lutely it is!  That's the beauty of it.  I mean, where else have you come across a film where one minute characters are being sucked out into space and the next they are staring out of a smashed travel tube at vacuum without a thought.  Not to mention a character floating off into space as they clamber over the outside of the ship!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 April, 2020, 03:24:35 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 21 April, 2020, 03:16:26 PMI mean, where else have you come across a film where one minute characters are being sucked out into space and the next they are staring out of a smashed travel tube at vacuum without a thought.  Not to mention a character floating off into space as they clamber over the outside of the ship!

The Last Jedi.



;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 21 April, 2020, 04:02:55 PM
My favourite element of The Black Hole was the wonderful music by John Barry. It sounds as good now - from what I've been able to hear online - as it did then. I've been trying to source the soundtrack on CD but they are as rare as hen's teeth and very expensive.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 21 April, 2020, 04:18:11 PM
Pretty cheap on vinyl though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 21 April, 2020, 07:27:48 PM
Aye, but I don't have a record player (and no particular interest in getting one either). And it's a pain-in-the-arse listening to the soundtrack on You-Tube because of the frequent advert interruptions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 25 April, 2020, 07:38:43 PM
Oh boy, watched Videodrome today. A nightmare take on the media trifecta of sex/violence/paranoia. Reminded me of The manchurian candidate, They live and Eraserhead. Was quite the trip, to say the least. Every bit as brilliant as well. 

Are there more Cronenberg movies like it?

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cLj6L6zvo

I also saw Dead or Alive 2: Birds. As the first DOA movies it's a very weird and darkly humouristic Yakuza-movie, but it also has some very heart felt bits of two childhood friends reminiscing about the past while visiting the place where they grew up.

Trailer https://youtu.be/hdl-HHBE7dg
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 April, 2020, 11:42:14 PM
Tron. It's not very good. The middle act, aka The Bit With The Video Games, is good fun. Before that it's dull 80s corporate stuff, after that it's sketchy nonsense with some shoddy animation (the MCP in particular is awful).

Still, enjoyed recognisng the great Peter Jurasik

I spent a decent chunk of my childhood writing a light-cycle game, and never really got anything fun out of it, and decades later a good while trying to develop it as a project for CoderDojo, with similarly disappointing results. I wasted a lot of money on the bitty arcade game, and never got anywhere with the C64 game (no relation). Maybe Tron was just never what I wanted it to be.

Nevertheless, on to Tron Legacy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 April, 2020, 12:41:18 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 April, 2020, 11:42:14 PM
Nevertheless, on to Tron Legacy!

I like this movie a lot. Better than the first one, for all the reasons you list. Any movie that shows me something I haven't seen before gets a big pass in my book, and the [spoiler]climactic dogfight[/spoiler] in Legacy does exactly that. Also, no movie with Olivia Wilde in it is a waste of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 April, 2020, 10:45:50 AM
Saw Carrie (the original from 1976) this morning. First time watching it, and even if I knew what would happen towards the end (much like a certain father and son moment before watching Star wars ep 5) it still really grabbed me (much like a certain father and son moment still do in Star wars ep 5). A very sweet and sad horror movie. I especially enjoyed how playful the film is up to the point it all crashes down. The sped up chip munk dialouge during the tuxedo test, silly music during certain scenes and so on... Even the way the bucket is handled. And then the fun stops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0EUQnElEE

Awesome film. Easily up there with De Palma's Blow out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 26 April, 2020, 10:52:24 AM
I need to watch that one again.  It was always pretty effective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 27 April, 2020, 12:46:19 PM
Speaking of Tron, Cindy Morgan popped up in a film I found on YouTube called The Midnight Hour (1985).

A TV movie that I'd never heard of - a camp, sweet, daft little film that apparently is a bit of a Halloween institution in tbe states.

If you're in tbe mood for some ultra 80s it's worth a peep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 27 April, 2020, 01:06:04 PM
Anyone who likes violent over-the-top action movies will enjoy Extraction currently showing on Netflix
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 April, 2020, 01:13:07 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 27 April, 2020, 01:06:04 PM
Anyone who likes violent over-the-top action movies will enjoy Extraction currently showing on Netflix
The missus has been pressuring me to watch this one. Can't Hemsworth think why.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 27 April, 2020, 03:18:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 April, 2020, 01:13:07 PM
The missus has been pressuring me to watch this one. Can't Hemsworth think why.

Its because of the awesome acting, the deep story-line and the Oscar award directing.......
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 April, 2020, 06:34:01 PM
One Cut of The Dead on Shudder is fantastic, but because I went into it knowing nothing very little about the premise I'm really wary to describe it to anyone because I don't want to rob them of how enjoyable it was to go in cold like that! What I will say is that the way it starts out feels very generic (film crew get attacked by zombies while shooting a film about zombies) with seemingly the only really interesting aspect being the gimmick that it's all one (very impressive) continuous shot (and a proper continuous shot, seemingly without all that 1917 editing magic) BUT then it takes one of the smartest turns I've seen in a film and the rest of it was fantastic.

For people who have seen it, [spoiler]what a great and unique way to structure a zombie comedy eh? By having the finished product at the outset and then giving you the context that makes all of that amusing in retrospect it meant the comedy worked in a really unusual way that I found really refreshing, hilarious and very warm and uplifting[/spoiler], which really isn't the film it started out as at all. So I do feel like if I'm recommending it I should tell people to push past the intro if they're not feeling it! Certainly my wife checked out and went to bed thinking it was just the kind of zombie flick she'd seen a hundred times, and I can imagine many doing the same.

Also watched The Wandering Earth, a bonkers Chinese sci-fi disaster movie on Netflix where the initial premise is that the sun is going to destroy the Earth so they basically strap rockets around the planet to drive it somewhere else. Obviously things go wrong, and they go wrong in massive epic spectacular style and I loved it. Not sure how the science holds up but don't particularly care, I was on board for a visually amazing thrill ride and definitely got it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 27 April, 2020, 06:40:55 PM
OCoTD is wonderful.  I'd urge everyone to watch it without reading anything.  And prepare for the first third to seem awful
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 April, 2020, 08:48:35 PM
Spirited Away. Fan-fecking-tactic. Splendid movie that feels simultaneously 10 minutes long and a lifetime spent in a whole involving world. Every shot, every character is a joy, and constantly trusting the audience to join the dots.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 27 April, 2020, 09:46:45 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 27 April, 2020, 01:06:04 PM
Anyone who likes violent over-the-top action movies will enjoy Extraction currently showing on Netflix

I'm sure I will watch the rest of it at some point, but ten minutes into this, I was reminded of that old Judge Dredd story where he and another judge are working crowd control at a parade commemorating the end of the Apocalypse War, and one of them says something along the lines of "I think half of these clowns are celebrating the start of the war", and this strikes me as an accurate summation of Hollywood's relationship with 911.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 27 April, 2020, 11:30:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 25 April, 2020, 07:38:43 PM
Oh boy, watched Videodrome today. A nightmare take on the media trifecta of sex/violence/paranoia. Reminded me of The manchurian candidate, They live and Eraserhead. Was quite the trip, to say the least. Every bit as brilliant as well. 

Are there more Cronenberg movies like it?

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cLj6L6zvo



I've long found Cronenberg a fascinating film-maker, and possibly his nearest to Videodrome, certainly from the biology-machine interface perspective, is Existenz, which I think Cronenberg himself described as a comedy. It's a while since I've seen it and some scenes still stick in my head which I don't think any other film-maker could have pulled off without them seeming ridiculous. No spoilers though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 28 April, 2020, 10:03:44 AM
I just found out that James Horner, who famously composed the Wrath of Khan soundtrack I waxed lyrical about earlier in this thread, also composed the music for ALIENS!!

I had no idea!!

So that's going straight on my downloads to listen to while I work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 April, 2020, 10:13:54 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 28 April, 2020, 10:03:44 AM
I just found out that James Horner, who famously composed the Wrath of Khan soundtrack I waxed lyrical about earlier in this thread, also composed the music for ALIENS!!

I had no idea!!

So that's going straight on my downloads to listen to while I work.

The soundtrack to Alien is sooo good. Well the whole.. sound thing ... all of the sound and yuour mention of it makes me really want to watch it again... even though I've got so much new stuff to watch... must resist... must resist...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 April, 2020, 10:35:00 AM
Alien and Aliens both have soundtracks that I can't hear without being completely transported, those sounds are just embedded with so many amazing movie memories. So special! I know the films aren't as well regarded, but I also enjoy listening to the Prometheus and Covenant soundtracks from time to time, the music in those films is also excellent and have some wonderful themes.

Just watched Pi for the first time and it was good but I possibly went in expecting too much. Watching it for the first time now it has the weight of everything incredible Aronofsky and Mansell have both done since and while (for me) it doesn't reach the heights of my their best work it is interesting to see the beginnings of that brilliance.

Also, after missing the social interaction of a beer and a film with pals me and a friend jumped on a Zoom chat and had a synced watch of Arena, a cheesy space boxing film I used to rent on VHS as a kid. It was great fun, mainly for the beer and banter but it was definitely the right film for the right situation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 April, 2020, 08:43:28 PM
Just finished Tomorrowland once more. Great viewing with a positive message to keep me from getting too down in the mouth. For me, it's Clooney's best role since From Dusk till Dawn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 April, 2020, 10:17:04 PM
Bad Land - Road to Fury

So as the title suggests this seemed to be low budget B movie, designed to pull in folks who like Mad Max and weren't averse to watching a cheaper rip off... so traling through Amazon Prime a wee while ago I stumbled across it and added to my watch list, this fully intending to drop in when I fancied something schlocky and rubbish, watch half of it and dismiss it... watched the trailer and that kinda turned my head as it looked interesting - but again thought it was playing a hand with little it in very well.

So watched it tonight to discover the name is misleading, while it does elude to a world that might becomes Mad Max's world in a few years, its original name Young Ones - Bad Land is its UK release name, I imagine as Young Ones has too many connotations here - is more fitting what I get is a wonderful sevenities revenge western, with a modern sensiblity and a robot that's as emotive as the two in 'Silent Running'. Its wonderfully performed, fantastically shot and a visual treat, if barren and stark. Much like its plot. Its fantastic.

Quite why no one else seems to like it I genuinely don't know. Its gets a rubbish scores on all the aggregaters and I just can't figure out why. Its a bleak treat and if you have Amazon Prime I can't recommend it enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 29 April, 2020, 01:07:59 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 April, 2020, 08:43:28 PM
Just finished Tomorrowland once more. Great viewing with a positive message to keep me from getting too down in the mouth. For me, it's Clooney's best role since From Dusk till Dawn.

I just love this film. I know it's far from perfect, but I love the 'feel' of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 April, 2020, 01:15:37 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 29 April, 2020, 01:07:59 PM
I just love this film. I know it's far from perfect, but I love the 'feel' of it.

Likewise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 02:25:18 PM
Darkman.

I hadn't seen this since renting it on VHS in the early 90s.
A really enjoyable, fun, comic book style film. It's much better than I remembered. It's a pretty simple tale of revenge with some horror elements and humour. Liam Neason in full on crazy mode is great fun - he should do more stuff like this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 29 April, 2020, 02:58:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 02:25:18 PM
Darkman.

I hadn't seen this since renting it on VHS in the early 90s.
A really enjoyable, fun, comic book style film. It's much better than I remembered. It's a pretty simple tale of revenge with some horror elements and humour. Liam Neason in full on crazy mode is great fun - he should do more stuff like this.

Recently re-watched it, and couldn't;'t agree more.

Sam Raimi gets so much out of everyone in the movie, the crew and what could have been an utter car wreck of a movie is made into something with a lot of heart, and some lovely set-pieces and moments of almost surreal humour.

Will be intriguing to see what he does with a Marvel property, especially in a movie system that doesn't seem to gel very well with maverick film makers with unique voices and styles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2020, 03:36:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 29 April, 2020, 02:58:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 02:25:18 PM
Darkman.

I hadn't seen this since renting it on VHS in the early 90s.
A really enjoyable, fun, comic book style film. It's much better than I remembered. It's a pretty simple tale of revenge with some horror elements and humour. Liam Neason in full on crazy mode is great fun - he should do more stuff like this.

Recently re-watched it, and couldn't;'t agree more.

Sam Raimi gets so much out of everyone in the movie, the crew and what could have been an utter car wreck of a movie is made into something with a lot of heart, and some lovely set-pieces and moments of almost surreal humour.

Will be intriguing to see what he does with a Marvel property, especially in a movie system that doesn't seem to gel very well with maverick film makers with unique voices and styles.

He did pretty much start the big superhero boom I guess with Spiderman 1-3, but as happy as I was to see one of my favourite directors get massive like that I was a little sad that there wasn't more of the Raimi style that made me love the Evil Dead movies. There were glimpses of Evil Dead Raimi here and there in Spiderman 2 but by 3 it seemed like the system had knocked a lot of the character out of him.

Was really glad when Drag Me To Hell came out and showed the old Raimi was still in there and still had it! Hopefully he'll bring some of that gusto to this, if the word about it being a more horror-tinged Marvel film then it could be absolutely perfect for him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 29 April, 2020, 04:25:47 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2020, 03:36:15 PM
Quote from: Rately on 29 April, 2020, 02:58:18 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 02:25:18 PM
Darkman.

I hadn't seen this since renting it on VHS in the early 90s.
A really enjoyable, fun, comic book style film. It's much better than I remembered. It's a pretty simple tale of revenge with some horror elements and humour. Liam Neason in full on crazy mode is great fun - he should do more stuff like this.

Recently re-watched it, and couldn't;'t agree more.

Sam Raimi gets so much out of everyone in the movie, the crew and what could have been an utter car wreck of a movie is made into something with a lot of heart, and some lovely set-pieces and moments of almost surreal humour.

Will be intriguing to see what he does with a Marvel property, especially in a movie system that doesn't seem to gel very well with maverick film makers with unique voices and styles.

He did pretty much start the big superhero boom I guess with Spiderman 1-3, but as happy as I was to see one of my favourite directors get massive like that I was a little sad that there wasn't more of the Raimi style that made me love the Evil Dead movies. There were glimpses of Evil Dead Raimi here and there in Spiderman 2 but by 3 it seemed like the system had knocked a lot of the character out of him.

Was really glad when Drag Me To Hell came out and showed the old Raimi was still in there and still had it! Hopefully he'll bring some of that gusto to this, if the word about it being a more horror-tinged Marvel film then it could be absolutely perfect for him.

A shame we will probably never get to see Raimi finish up the Evil Dead series on the big screen. I've watched the majority of the TV show, and while it certainly has its moments, it just doesn't have that Raimi magic.

Spider-Man 3 really was a mess, and a massive disappointment, from what he has said, it was Studio interference and a rush to get it made, which he partly takes blame for, that left us with such an underwhelming movie. He thought he would have got to put things right with a fourth movie, which was supposedly going to have The Vulture as villain, but that didn't pan out.

Dr Strange, with his sense of humour, and schlocky effects, could be a real treat.

Recently re-watched Drag Me To Hell, and it is just a superb movie. It just never pays to be the hero in a Raimi movie, and here is hoping that at some stage we get to see a new, original Raimi horror movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 05:06:25 PM
It was a shame about Spider-Man 3. Apparently the studio were dead set on including Venom, which Raimi was against.
They should have allowed Raimi to finish his trilogy his way and then brought in a new director for a Venom focused trilogy, giving the whole black costume thing a bit of room to breathe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 April, 2020, 08:58:15 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 April, 2020, 05:06:25 PM
It was a shame about Spider-Man 3. Apparently the studio were dead set on including Venom, which Raimi was against.
They should have allowed Raimi to finish his trilogy his way and then brought in a new director for a Venom focused trilogy, giving the whole black costume thing a bit of room to breathe.

After the sccess of Spidey 2, 3 was a real fumble and such a shame for it. It did make that classic error of trying to top what had gone before by throwing more at it. MORE BIGGER VILLIANS. MORE DRAMA. BIGGER SET PIECES etc etc. This forgetting the very thing that worked about 2 was a more focused examination of character (admittedly one with cool cybernetic arms) that made you care about whatever action / set pieces they put in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 30 April, 2020, 09:28:03 AM
Alfred Molina is probably the best villain in the history of comic book movies, certainly the best performance.

Such a performance. From amiable, caring and considerate husband, to vicious, cruel villain who, thankfully, redeems himself. Just a fantastic performance from an amazing actor.

Colin, you are spot on, Spider-Man 3 just did not have the heart of the first two, and the character development.

JamesC, Totally agree. A second trilogy with Venom as the Big Bad would have been the way to go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 09:11:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Eh? Brilliant film, wonderful performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 01 May, 2020, 11:24:33 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 09:11:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Eh? Brilliant film, wonderful performances.
Daniel Craig is doing a Kentucky accent,that alone is ridicolous enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 May, 2020, 12:30:07 PM
Quote from: Smith on 01 May, 2020, 11:24:33 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 09:11:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Eh? Brilliant film, wonderful performances.
Daniel Craig is doing a Kentucky accent,that alone is ridicolous enough.

I believe this was originally conceived as a Columbo reboot with Mark Ruffalo as the lead. You can see the DNA there, but it's nowhere near as classy or smart as its progenator (yes, I'm including the 80s revival, but not Columbo likes the Nightlife)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 01:19:18 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 01 May, 2020, 12:30:07 PM
Quote from: Smith on 01 May, 2020, 11:24:33 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 09:11:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Eh? Brilliant film, wonderful performances.
Daniel Craig is doing a Kentucky accent,that alone is ridicolous enough.

I believe this was originally conceived as a Columbo reboot with Mark Ruffalo as the lead. You can see the DNA there, but it's nowhere near as classy or smart as its progenator (yes, I'm including the 80s revival, but not Columbo likes the Nightlife)
I don't think that's true, which is not to say you can't see Columbo all over it. Rian Johnson has cited it as inspiration.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 May, 2020, 02:29:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 01 May, 2020, 11:24:33 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 01 May, 2020, 09:11:38 AM
Quote from: Smith on 30 April, 2020, 07:08:30 AM
Knives Out. Great setup,but the rest is just a mess.
Eh? Brilliant film, wonderful performances.
Daniel Craig is doing a Kentucky accent,that alone is ridicolous enough.

Loved the accent! Thought it was clearly supposed to be ridiculous, to heighten the farce of the whole thing.  Thought it was a really funny, very smart film which was duking it out with Midsommar once I started trying to think what my film of the year pick would be (I still haven't decided which of them I liked more).

Watched The Babysitter on Netflix, was a bit clunky in places but it got a lot of laughs out of me so job done. Has some great splattery gore gags and is actually very sweet in places.

Also watched Playing Hard (the Netflix doc about the development of For Honor) which I didn't think worked very well, in that it seems to skip all the conflict and go straight from setup to aftermath. Vandenberghe is clearly an intense guy who begins to resent being sidelined during the development of his baby, and the doc seems to infer that he then acts out or overplays his hand to the point that he's deemed impossible to work with and removed, but I'm having to assume a lot because none of that is shown. All you get is the setup and then the bitterness after the fact, so knowing whether that bitterness is justified or if he dug his own grave is impossible to say because while you do see him being sullen and difficult at the cert celebrations by that point he's already talked about how he's hurt or butted heads with people (not shown) and allegedly been sat down and told he has no future with any potential franchise (also not shown).

It's like somewhere on the cutting room floor there's either a great movie about a guy with an idea having it torn from him by an evil corporation, or a great movie about a guy with an idea who lets things go to his head, behaves terribly and crashes and burns (like the brilliant Overnight). This is neither of those movies unfortunately, and by glossing over so much it doesn't even really serve to illustrate how intense the final months of game development can be.

Plus, if you're watching the film in English there are no Netflix subtitles for the French speakers so the only option I could find was to watch with closed captions on and subtitles for both languages (suspenseful music plays).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 03 May, 2020, 02:41:25 AM
I watched Phase IV tonight, a rather creepy 70s film about ants battling against scientists. It was rather good, despite really showing its age.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 03 May, 2020, 08:07:00 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 03 May, 2020, 02:41:25 AM
I watched Phase IV tonight, a rather creepy 70s film about ants battling against scientists. It was rather good, despite really showing its age.

I went looking on YouTube to see if this was an ant film that scared me as a kid (I don't think it was, but it looks interesting), but I spotted something else - someone using molten aluminium to cast a fire ant colony. It's off topic, but thought I'd share:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 03 May, 2020, 10:58:11 AM
Quote from: repoman on 21 April, 2020, 09:57:11 AM
The Death and Resurrection Show - a documentary about the band Killing Joke.  Should be brilliant.  Just show their music and tell their story.  Unfortunately it descends into a load of bollocks about magic and everyone in it comes across as pretentious.
If you see them live, be prepared for Jaz Coleman to go off on one about his latest conspiracy theories between songs...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 May, 2020, 01:58:13 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 03 May, 2020, 10:58:11 AM
Quote from: repoman on 21 April, 2020, 09:57:11 AM
The Death and Resurrection Show - a documentary about the band Killing Joke.  Should be brilliant.  Just show their music and tell their story.  Unfortunately it descends into a load of bollocks about magic and everyone in it comes across as pretentious.
If you see them live, be prepared for Jaz Coleman to go off on one about his latest conspiracy theories between songs...

have done quite a few times and yeah this was definitely the case.  Unless he was out of his mind drunk.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 03 May, 2020, 04:34:12 PM
Saw Rio Bravo this morning I found it to be a very enjoyable cowboy movie. Not sure if there's that much of a story (a gang tries to bust out a guy from jail a couple of times --didn't need to be more than that), but I loved drinking my coffee and spend some time with it's characters. John Wayne and Angie Dickinsons' especially.

I've mostly watched Leone westerns (with the occasional Hateful 8, El Topo and such) but I feel I should give a couple more of them a try. Another by Howard Hawks, or perhaps a Corbucci? :)

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPO12ZzGS84
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 03 May, 2020, 04:54:51 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 03 May, 2020, 04:34:12 PM
Saw Rio Bravo this morning I found it to be a very enjoyable cowboy movie. Not sure if there's that much of a story (a gang tries to bust out a guy from jail a couple of times --didn't need to be more than that), but I loved drinking my coffee and spend some time with it's characters. John Wayne and Angie Dickinsons' especially.

It's a film that unites John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino in admiration. 'Assault on Precinct 13' in particular is 50% Rio Bravo, 50% Night of the Living Dead.

Quote
I've mostly watched Leone westerns (with the occasional Hateful 8, El Topo and such) but I feel I should give a couple more of them a try. Another by Howard Hawks, or perhaps a Corbucci? :)

If it's Corbucci, you can't go wrong with Django or The Great Silence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 06:07:56 PM
Tron Legacy. Considerable improvement on the original, in terms of plot, performances, effects and designs. Was oddly bothered that Tron himself never came out [spoiler]from behind his new persona[/spoiler]. Was de-ageing Boxleitner a budgetary step too far?  It seems like it'd be less of a job than the halfway successful work on Bridges.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 03 May, 2020, 07:46:34 PM
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I really enjoyed this. The stand out scene for me was when Brad visits the commune. I was on the edge of my seat.
To be honest, I'm not sure the film is that successful in a completely stand alone sense. It only really works if you know a bit about the Tate murders and Hollywood of that era.
If you weren't aware of any of that I'm not sure what you'd make of any of the Margot Robbie scenes - and the ending only really works if you know what really happened.

A real experience to sit and watch though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 03 May, 2020, 08:57:12 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 06:07:56 PM
Tron Legacy. Considerable improvement on the original, in terms of plot, performances, effects and designs. Was oddly bothered that Tron himself never came out [spoiler]from behind his new persona[/spoiler]. Was de-ageing Boxleitner a budgetary step too far?  It seems like it'd be less of a job than the halfway successful work on Bridges.

Truly fantastic soundtrack, too. Can't say I'm a massive Daft Punk fan normally, but this was a great bit of work.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 09:52:05 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 03 May, 2020, 08:57:12 PM
Truly fantastic soundtrack, too. Can't say I'm a massive Daft Punk fan normally, but this was a great bit of work.

It's absolutely great - and they're in it too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 May, 2020, 11:41:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 06:07:56 PM
Tron Legacy. Considerable improvement on the original, in terms of plot, performances, effects and designs.

I like it a lot. I even quite like the uncanny valley quality of CLU in the computer world — the creepy not-quite-rightness of it, intentional or not, actually works in the story's favour. I'm sorry it didn't do better at the box office, because I'd have happily seen more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 04 May, 2020, 06:32:01 AM
Another vote for Tron 2, one of my favourite belated sequels.  Another upvote for the soundtrack too, you can actually watch the movie with the soundtrack only and still get a pretty good gist of what's happening especially if you are familiar with the first one.
Been on a bit of an Asian movie kick at the moment as SBS have been playing a nice collection this month, quite a varied collection such a Journey to the West 2, big budget and bombastic, League of Gods another big budget CGI fest but probably didn't enjoy it as much as Journey not being familiar with the story but the two standouts for me were The Mermaid from Stephen Chow (Kungfu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer) which is very slapstick and bonkers but lots of fun and The Villainess which is top stuff.  Anyone in Oz can watch these for free on SBS on Demand

CU Radbacker   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 04 May, 2020, 09:21:32 AM
I love the original Tron and didn't think the sequel was up to much -- maybe I'll give it another go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 May, 2020, 09:30:04 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 04 May, 2020, 09:21:32 AM
I love the original Tron and didn't think the sequel was up to much -- maybe I'll give it another go.

I think the problem with Tron: Legacy is that a lot of people didn't think it was as good as the version of the original movie they have in their heads. However, the version in their heads is a lot better than the actual movie which, a handful of memorable and genuinely visually ground-breaking scenes aside, is actually pretty sluggish and a bit dull.*

*IMO, YMMV, etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 04 May, 2020, 10:03:55 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 May, 2020, 11:41:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 06:07:56 PM
Tron Legacy. Considerable improvement on the original, in terms of plot, performances, effects and designs.

I like it a lot. I even quite like the uncanny valley quality of CLU in the computer world — the creepy not-quite-rightness of it, intentional or not, actually works in the story's favour. I'm sorry it didn't do better at the box office, because I'd have happily seen more.

It did well enough that they did a TV series (which I've not seen so can't comment upon).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 04 May, 2020, 10:05:55 AM
Last film seen: Grabbers (https://amzn.to/2Yx47K0) - 2012 British/Irish sci-fi horror comedy starring one or two people you'll recognise from other places.

'tis good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 04 May, 2020, 10:15:28 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 04 May, 2020, 10:03:55 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 May, 2020, 11:41:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 May, 2020, 06:07:56 PM
Tron Legacy. Considerable improvement on the original, in terms of plot, performances, effects and designs.

I like it a lot. I even quite like the uncanny valley quality of CLU in the computer world — the creepy not-quite-rightness of it, intentional or not, actually works in the story's favour. I'm sorry it didn't do better at the box office, because I'd have happily seen more.

It did well enough that they did a TV series (which I've not seen so can't comment upon).

The cartoon was already in development and deals for cast and crew were in place at the time the film was released. It was promptly cancelled after its first season due to lack of viewers.

https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/71470-tron-uprising-coming-to-disney-xd-in-2012
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 May, 2020, 10:43:31 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 May, 2020, 09:30:04 AM
I think the problem with Tron: Legacy is that a lot of people didn't think it was as good as the version of the original movie they have in their heads. However, the version in their heads is a lot better than the actual movie which, a handful of memorable and genuinely visually ground-breaking scenes aside, is actually pretty sluggish and a bit dull

Very much agree. There are some really inspiring sequences in Tron, from an age where nothing comparable existed in any arcade (Battlezone coming closest - the unforgettable Star Wars cabinet was still a year or more away), and it was certainly my dream to recreate/play the disc game, the tanks and recognisers, and most of all the light cycles. But the lesson of my recent re-watch is thst these make up a depressingly small amount of the movie compared  to my memories of same, and the rest is nothing to write home about.

Legacy OTOH has way more of that good stuff, and more spectacle besides, and it's a more engaging storyline as well.

The cartoon is on Disney+, and I confess to being tempted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 04 May, 2020, 12:25:58 PM
'Errementari' on Netflix, well worth a punt!

Lots of great performances in this one and it seemed like the dub isn't that bad either (though I watched it subtitled in the original language). I was a little surprised by how it seemingly [spoiler]turned into a comedy halfway through after a very dark start[/spoiler] and it goes places I wouldn't have anticipated but I found it very enjoyable. Great visual effects, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 May, 2020, 02:27:54 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 04 May, 2020, 12:25:58 PM
'Errementari' on Netflix, well worth a punt!

Lots of great performances in this one and it seemed like the dub isn't that bad either (though I watched it subtitled in the original language). I was a little surprised by how it seemingly [spoiler]turned into a comedy halfway through after a very dark start[/spoiler] and it goes places I wouldn't have anticipated but I found it very enjoyable. Great visual effects, too.

Big fan of this! It was on at Frightfest a while back and I've been meaning to give it a rewatch since, if it's on Netflix then I'll need to get on it.

Also very into Tron Legacy, it works on all levels for me as a great looking, great sounding sci-fi spectacular, love it. Haven't watched the original in years but I remember finding it surprisingly slow and dull when I did, taking away the nostalgia I think Legacy is easily the superior film by a long way, even if as a kid the eerie look of the whole thing left a massive impression. Got the animated series on my Disney+ watchlist so looking forward to seeing it at some point.

Being massively behind the times (and with Disney+ making it easier to watch) I finally got round to Toy Story 3 last night and it was great. Not much new I can say about it because I know everyone saw it years back, but it really is a heartwarming lovely experience, and yes I cried (twice).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 04 May, 2020, 04:08:07 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 03 May, 2020, 04:54:51 PMIf it's Corbucci, you can't go wrong with Django or The Great Silence.

I'll definitely check out The Great Silence. Looks great, and also Klaus Kinski stars in it. "Loco" is a fitting name for him haha. Saw Django 15 years ago. I remember it being really good. It and Great Silence could do for a nice double bill. Thanks for the suggestions :)

This morning I saw princess mononoke. Not seen it in years. Lovely film in every way. Surprisingly brutal at times.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OiMOHRDs14

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 04 May, 2020, 04:38:28 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 May, 2020, 09:30:04 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 04 May, 2020, 09:21:32 AM
I love the original Tron and didn't think the sequel was up to much -- maybe I'll give it another go.

I think the problem with Tron: Legacy is that a lot of people didn't think it was as good as the version of the original movie they have in their heads. However, the version in their heads is a lot better than the actual movie which, a handful of memorable and genuinely visually ground-breaking scenes aside, is actually pretty sluggish and a bit dull.*

*IMO, YMMV, etc.
Well, I've watched it a ton, so that wasn't my problem. :) It has a lot of problems, but it's also pretty short, and sums up a lot of 80's cinema for me, especially in its soundtrack. I guess I wanted Legacy to be Tron, but with all the bad bits removed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 05 May, 2020, 11:10:23 AM
Wicked City (1987) and Demon City Shinjuku (1988)

Never saw these back during the early 90s anime craze, but noticed they are on YT.

And yeah, these are some crazy stuff - beautifully, and brilliantly, done at times.

They certainly wouldn't get made in the same way now (it was alright in the 80s, etc), but for the most part these are fantastically imaginative animations that make me want to seek out the rest of director Yoshiaki Kawajiri's work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 May, 2020, 03:53:29 PM
AvP - I hated this in the cinema but it is kind of watchable now.  Certainly better than Requiem (my most hated film ever), Prometheus (flawed) and Covenant (breathe on the nostrils of a horse ponce nonsense).  I enjoyed it.

Guns Akimbo - fun Daniel Radcliffe shoot 'em up but I've never seen a film try so hard.  Kind of like Crank did but doesn't pull it off nearly as well.

This is the End - despite feeling like a vanity project for the actors this was pretty funny and enjoyable.  Liked it way more than I expected.

Universal Soldier - an old favourite and one that has stood the test of time quite well.  Top three Van Dammage for sure.

Killing Zoe - my favourite heist movie.  Amazing performances all round.





Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 May, 2020, 12:14:37 AM
Watched Blood Quantum on Shudder, just as I thought every idea for an apocalyptic zombie movie had been done I feel like I've seen a handful with unique spins on things lately! This one is set in the '80s on a Native American reserve, with its wrinkle being that only white people seem to catch the zombie virus, while the Native Americans are immune. It makes for an interesting setup and it's got a good look about it, with the effects being pretty decent throughout.

Liked the characters too, my only gripe was that some developments or events seemed a bit rushed and could have done with more time to simmer, maybe another 20mins of film to set up some of those turns more gradually would have been nice. It's very, very grim so definitely not for everyone, but if you're into zombie movies I reckon it's worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 May, 2020, 11:05:27 PM
Good shout that.   Watched it today and liked it.  I usually dont rate zombie flicks but this had the tone of Near Dark but with the silly gore effects of something much more daft.

Cheers, Keef.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 11 May, 2020, 11:32:56 AM
Watched the most recent True Grit adaptation last night after reading the book in April.

Everyone has leaped to tell me that I should watch the original movie but I really enjoyed this and it's extremely faithful to the source material, save for an extra scene or two. Hailee Steinfeld in particular gave a great performance as Mattie Ross, but everyone was on point. Most of the characters were just how I'd imagined them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2020, 11:34:59 AM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 11 May, 2020, 11:32:56 AM
Watched the most recent True Grit adaptation last night after reading the book in April.

Everyone has leaped to tell me that I should watch the original movie but I really enjoyed this and it's extremely faithful to the source material, save for an extra scene or two. Hailee Steinfeld in particular gave a great performance as Mattie Ross, but everyone was on point. Most of the characters were just how I'd imagined them.

Yeah if you've read the book the Coen Brothers version is a beaut and ya know Coen Brothers so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 May, 2020, 12:17:29 PM
"Time just...gets away from you."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 May, 2020, 01:00:52 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 11 May, 2020, 11:32:56 AM
Watched the most recent True Grit adaptation last night after reading the book in April.

Everyone has leaped to tell me that I should watch the original movie but I really enjoyed this and it's extremely faithful to the source material, save for an extra scene or two. Hailee Steinfeld in particular gave a great performance as Mattie Ross, but everyone was on point. Most of the characters were just how I'd imagined them.

It's a beaut in every respect. Don't get some of the dislike I've seen for Bridges' mumbling delivery, it's spot-on and generally exactly as intelligible as it needs to be. He uses it to tread a wonderfully fine line between shambling hasbeen and ice-cold killer. Much prefer it to the Wayne adaptation (which I do like), but that contest is a bit unfair since I love almost everything the Coen brothers have ever signed their names to, whereas my early hero-worship of Wayne has been tarnished by mature understanding that he was a thoroughgoing prick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 01:32:27 PM
The Void

On Amazon.

The illegitimate child of  From Beyond and Prince of Darkness

Great 80s style horror. One of the most true takes on the Lovecraftian mythos I have seen on film. Total WTF ending.

I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2020, 01:37:33 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 01:32:27 PM
The Void

On Amazon.

The illegitimate child of  From Beyond and Prince of Darkness

Great 80s style horror. One of the most true takes on the Lovecraftian mythos I have seen on film. Total WTF ending.

I liked it.

Oh that's good to hear. Added it to my watch list on Prime but haven't got around to it. Might just elevate up the ordering in this case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 May, 2020, 02:57:40 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 01:32:27 PM
The Void

On Amazon.

The illegitimate child of  From Beyond and Prince of Darkness

Great 80s style horror. One of the most true takes on the Lovecraftian mythos I have seen on film. Total WTF ending.

I liked it.
Prince of Darkness is one of my favourite horror films. I'll definitely check out The Void. Cheers, Dr. X.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 03:16:43 PM
I also enjoyed The Hive on Amazon.

The illegitimate child of Memento and Dawn of the Dead
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 03:17:53 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 11 May, 2020, 02:57:40 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 01:32:27 PM
The Void

On Amazon.

The illegitimate child of  From Beyond and Prince of Darkness

Great 80s style horror. One of the most true takes on the Lovecraftian mythos I have seen on film. Total WTF ending.

I liked it.
Prince of Darkness is one of my favourite horror films. I'll definitely check out The Void. Cheers, Dr. X.

It's closer to From Beyond, but still wears its Carpenter on its sleeve.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 May, 2020, 06:33:43 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 04 May, 2020, 04:08:07 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 03 May, 2020, 04:54:51 PMIf it's Corbucci, you can't go wrong with Django or The Great Silence.

I'll definitely check out The Great Silence. Looks great, and also Klaus Kinski stars in it. "Loco" is a fitting name for him haha. Saw Django 15 years ago. I remember it being really good. It and Great Silence could do for a nice double bill. Thanks for the suggestions :)

Ive now seen The great silence. Really good. Really liked its gritty and snowy setting. Hell of a an ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 11 May, 2020, 06:43:20 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 May, 2020, 06:33:43 PM
Ive now seen The great silence. Really good. Really liked its gritty and snowy setting. Hell of a an ending.

I love a good snow western, and yup - The Great Silence has some superb performances, not least Jean-Louis Trintignant, despite his character's limited ability to express himself. And the ending - that either makes or breaks the whole film. Glad it worked for you. It's worth looking at the alternate ending they shot, which goes in completely the opposite direction - almost comically so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 May, 2020, 04:40:55 PM
Phantom Menace

Well the boy wanted to watch all the Star Wars films and I've not watched Phantom Menace in years and so sat with him fully expecting to wonder off ... but the opening was kinda fun... and then the trip to Tatooine, then the Pod race ...and on and before I knew it classic three way end, space battle, ground battle and sabre fight - jobs done rewards all round roll credits. It fair flew by.

Now its absolutely riddled with problems, and when it does get things wrong it gets them spectaularly wrong - I'll not list them all here as we're all pretty well versed in it but the one example that really bugged me was the focus on Jarr Jarr in the Battle of Naboo stealing what could have been a pretty effective and exciting sequence - all be it Lucas did fumble the battle droids having any menace - by making it a comedy turn.

That said when it gets things right it gets them very right, music and visuals - for all the CGI shiny were wonderful. The pod race is fun and I still stand by the fact that the three way sabre battle at the end is the best sabre fight of any of the films. Its also very successful at having the feel and tone of the Saturday morning serials that so influenced Lucas. Its does that really well and is shiny like Flash Gordon is at times.

You know what I didn't hate it at all - not in the way a do TFA - at least Lucas was braver here for all its terrible mistakes. Most significently its made me want to watch the other two to re-evaluate them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 May, 2020, 06:09:11 PM
I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again - TPM takes a brave and original direction, has absolutely magnificent design and sound, and despite being saddled with terrible dialogue and flat performances,  it's my favourite prequel (currently tied with Solo). An heroic failure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 15 May, 2020, 07:27:26 PM
The trouble with re-evaluation the prequels is that we've become so used to expecting them to be crap that any positive is amplified.
With the talent involved, and the toys they had to play with, some nice design and decent action sequences is the absolute least that should have been achieved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 15 May, 2020, 08:52:12 PM
I've really warmed to TPM over the last decade or so.
Sometimes you have to admit to yourself that Star Wars should only be taken at face value, as a daft spectacle and nothing more. TPM delivers in spades, even if it's worst parts (the opening crawl, the focus on Jar-Jar*..) make me shudder a little.

In hindsight, the good stuff more than makes up for it. A heroic failure indeed.


*I've really no problem with Jar-Jar per se, just wish he was given a meatier role than the annoying comic relief...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 May, 2020, 04:00:54 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 May, 2020, 04:40:55 PM
Well the boy wanted to watch all the Star Wars films ... Phantom Menance yakkity yak...
...You know what I didn't hate it at all - not in the way a do TFA - at least Lucas was braver here for all its terrible mistakes. Most significently its made me want to watch the other two to re-evaluate them.

So we started Attack of the Clones this afternoon. 1 hour 20 minutes in the boy said shall we stop for now and I can go onto the trampoline. I didn't feel any need to resisit his request. Man this one is hard... we'll probably finish it tomorrow but to this point its worse than I remember... but maybe the best bits are in the second half... I mean I remember a cool battle and a cool sabre fight... right...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: auxlen on 16 May, 2020, 04:45:55 PM
My wife loves action films (escpecially revenge) and we watched 'Avengement' absolutely outstanding revenge action film.
'Run All night' a decent Liam Neeson flick with the ersatz Robocop and support.
'The Last Stand' a recent Arnie that was pretty good.

All in all, not my bag 100% but I give thanks every day I don't have to watch the Notebook or something of that ilk
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 May, 2020, 05:37:31 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 15 May, 2020, 07:27:26 PMWith the talent involved, and the toys they had to play with, some nice design and decent action sequences is the absolute least that should have been achieved.

SOLO had all that going for it, and look what happened.  I recently I saw Twitter threads featuring the SOLO concept art, and they were full of character and colour and seemed to depict a much more interesting and enjoyable film.  I wish I'd seen that film instead of the one they shot in a coal mine.

SEA FEVER - Irish horror movie that does nothing new and covers a lot of ground familiar to horror and sci-fi fans.  If I said the words "Despair Squid" there's a good chance you already know what this is about, but it does the job and I found it a perfectly agreeable waste of 90 minutes of the ever-dwindling remainder of time allotted to my decaying flesh robot on this dying planet in an infinite and uncaring universe of random cruelty.

BIRDS OF PREY AND THE CONTRABULOUS FABTRAPTION OF HARLEY QUINN - I find Harley Quinn to be a rubbish character at the best of times and I can't stand Margot Robbie, so I was really looking forward to this awful film which often feels like a really expensive Legends Of Tomorrow spin-off thanks to the willfully self-aware highlighting of its own plot shortcomings, lengthy but pointless action scenes, and gratingly abrasive characters who only exist in the form they do because of the current vogue in screenwriting to equate being an asshole with being clever and/or right.  If you want to see this kind of thing done well, there's an animated Harley Quinn series that is much, much better, and which is actually funny on occasion rather than grating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 May, 2020, 05:59:40 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 16 May, 2020, 05:37:31 PMI wish I'd seen that film instead of the one they shot in a coal mine.

Oh yes indeedy.

I really, really enjoy Solo, but my first viewing of it was hands-down my worst Star Wars cinema experience for that very reason.  Later visits to a superb IMAX helped a lot, but home-viewing (and I've done a lot of that) leaves me squinting and rewinding repeatedly. With the exception of the Vandor train heist and the stuff on Savareen, it's early '90s fully painted artwork all over again.  Shame, because it has a lot going for it, when you can see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 May, 2020, 10:39:52 PM
Men in Black. A lot of fun and perhaps the very definition of a popcorn film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 May, 2020, 03:26:19 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 16 May, 2020, 04:00:54 PM
So we started Attack of the Clones this afternoon. 1 hour 20 minutes in the boy said shall we stop for now and I can go onto the trampoline. I didn't feel any need to resisit his request. Man this one is hard... we'll probably finish it tomorrow but to this point its worse than I remember... but maybe the best bits are in the second half... I mean I remember a cool battle and a cool sabre fight... right...

And finished it today and the second hour (well last 50ish) minutes are immense fun, when it remembers its meant to he high octane Sci-fi nonsense. As soon as we arrive on Geonisis the film remembers it meant to be a Saturday morning serial, throws in some Ray Harryhausen monsters and lobes enough action, explosions and cool - ohh look loads of Jedis running around with no idea, but being cool - that I entirely forgot the excusiating pain of watching the first 1 hour 20 minutes the day before. The boy child picked the perfect spot to stop yesterday. Get the pain over so when watching the second bit we could just think it must have been brill as this was and all quite exciting.

I forgot quite what an excellent job they did of making Yoda fighting not only work, but be ACE. Okay so some of the effects were at the pinnacle of the time when filmmakers thought they could do anything with CGI about 10 - 15 years before they could do most things.

I also forgot that the end did explain some of the jaw droppingly daft bits you thought you were seeing in the first half. The trail to lead to the clone army and the baddies was deliberately laid and the whole point was to use the Trade Federation to start a war and miltilarise the Republic... its actually a pretty cool plot in the end.

The film overall learns the mistakes of the first movie, gone are any mention of Midchloridiansthingies and illusions to being a biblical epic, learning that Jar Jar was a terrible mistake and so using him as a tool of unknown destruction. Having jetisoned those mistakes it has time and space to make fresh, new, even worse mistakes of its own. The first 1 hour 20  minutes would be pretty damned dull, even the set pieces feeling pretty uninspiring and forced. The only thing stopping it being so is the gut wrenchingly bad romance between Anakin and Padme. The pain of that dialogue meaning you don't have strenght to be bored.

The biggest mistake however even the end can't save and that's making Anakin such a twat. I mean the one thing the movie has to do to be successful is make us like the chap so that his decent to the darkside matters. I'm not going to blame Hayden Christensen as the evidence of Natalie Portman, someone we know has acting chops - suggests that even the finest actor can't work with this stuff. But Anakin lacks charm and rather than see him experience a decent its more a case of seeing him be a bit more of a git as the film goes on, but he started pretty gitty so there's no real sense of lose.

If only he'd had some charm like Ewan McGregor maybe this film could have worked so much more. Alas no and so it fails on its single most important thing. This is why the last 50 minutes watched in isolation works then. Cos there's too much flash bang whollop to really notice it doing so.

So it fundementally fails as a movie but damn that last 50 minutes is some brainless fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 May, 2020, 06:02:19 PM
Watched Underwater. 

I don't recommend it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 18 May, 2020, 08:23:57 AM
Quote from: repoman on 17 May, 2020, 06:02:19 PM
Watched Underwater. 

I don't recommend it

Yes, I watched it as well and your review is spot on
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 18 May, 2020, 09:21:17 AM
Took me years, but now I've started to watch Bergman. 7th seal and Fanny and Alexander. Really liked both of them. Some of the most powerful movies I've seen about death, magic/imagination and the silence of god.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 18 May, 2020, 12:02:38 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 May, 2020, 06:43:20 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 May, 2020, 06:33:43 PM
Ive now seen The great silence. Really good. Really liked its gritty and snowy setting. Hell of a an ending.

I love a good snow western, and yup - The Great Silence has some superb performances, not least Jean-Louis Trintignant, despite his character's limited ability to express himself. And the ending - that either makes or breaks the whole film. Glad it worked for you. It's worth looking at the alternate ending they shot, which goes in completely the opposite direction - almost comically so.

His muteness was very interesting. The alternative ending was included on the DVD (albeit without sound). Made for a good laugh considering the ending they went with :)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 18 May, 2020, 12:10:57 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 18 May, 2020, 08:23:57 AM
Quote from: repoman on 17 May, 2020, 06:02:19 PM
Watched Underwater. 

I don't recommend it

Yes, I watched it as well and your review is spot on

The main probs for me were that I couldn't really see or hear anything that was going on.

On the plus side I watched Eat Locals which is a horror/comedy about vampires and was a lot of fun indeed.  Great cast too.  Really surprised me that one. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2020, 09:45:22 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 18 May, 2020, 12:02:38 PM
Quote from: Greg M. on 11 May, 2020, 06:43:20 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 11 May, 2020, 06:33:43 PM
Ive now seen The great silence. Really good. Really liked its gritty and snowy setting. Hell of a an ending.

I love a good snow western, and yup - The Great Silence has some superb performances, not least Jean-Louis Trintignant, despite his character's limited ability to express himself. And the ending - that either makes or breaks the whole film. Glad it worked for you. It's worth looking at the alternate ending they shot, which goes in completely the opposite direction - almost comically so.

His muteness was very interesting. The alternative ending was included on the DVD (albeit without sound). Made for a good laugh considering the ending they went with :)

I do love the theatrical ending, a true bait and switch on the established Yojimbo-Dollars-Django ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 19 May, 2020, 11:55:38 AM
I liked Underwater a lot, but I can't argue with the fact it's hard to see what's going on half the time. It's a hell of a murky film.

We actually watched one of the director's previous films the other night, The Signal, and enjoyed it. It's got some good bonkers ideas and feels a lot like something you'd read in a Future Shock or one of Tharg's Thrill3rs maybe! Not mindblowing and I can imagine a lot of people not getting on with it but I liked it.

Also watched Monstrum, which I loved! It's a Korean monster movie set in the 1500s and supposedly based on actual record of the time when a rumour about a monster in the forest was used to make the King look weak. And it's great, has some drama but also a great sense of fun which makes the characters really likeable, and while it isn't really an action film as such the action scenes in it are splendidly thrilling. Very much recommend that one.

Oh and rewatched the Appleseed reboot movie from 2004 (I think?), which I remember seeing in the cinema at the time because the CG animation was getting a lot of hype. With that in mind it's amazing how dated the CG looks now, and it definitely isn't my favourite take on Appleseed (I have a real soft spot for the original '80s animation) but still enjoyed revisiting it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 May, 2020, 10:48:01 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2020, 01:37:33 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 May, 2020, 01:32:27 PM
The Void

On Amazon.

The illegitimate child of  From Beyond and Prince of Darkness

Great 80s style horror. One of the most true takes on the Lovecraftian mythos I have seen on film. Total WTF ending.

I liked it.

Oh that's good to hear. Added it to my watch list on Prime but haven't got around to it. Might just elevate up the ordering in this case.

So watched it tonight and it was pretty intense. Maybe could have done with an extra 10 minutes at the start to build up the tension rather than throwing one thing at you after another  as soon as things kick off. But maybe that was the idea to eschew the typical horror structure, right down to the cop being the main 'goodie'. Pretty entertaining gripping, instense stuff, even if it didn't really add anything new.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 22 May, 2020, 01:39:04 PM
I was really excited about seeing The Void but it kind of left me cold to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 May, 2020, 02:49:55 PM
Big fan of The Void, I'm sure I read somewhere that the director's new movie is called Psycho Goreman and I've resisted looking into anything else about that film because any new info can't possibly live up to the title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 May, 2020, 11:16:07 AM
The last movie I watched (with my eyes, I had Just Friends on last night whilst painting some miniatures, but just listened to it) was House Bunny.  I wasn't expecting much from it, but it was OK.  Really basic and formulaic plot that I found somewhat amusing.  Not bad for when I want to just watch junk.

The last really good film I watched was The Endless (2017).  It's a well considered Lovecraftian horror with compelling character dynamics and interesting situation.  The horror element I felt was an ever present looming factor that never took over as much as the mystery element of the film.  Really engaging.  Not as beautiful/disgusting as Color Out of Space but it grabbed my attention more.  Color Out of Space is pretty good as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 May, 2020, 08:11:02 PM
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Still a very good film, but it's quite amusing that aliens would travel millions of miles to Earth and only ever abduct Americans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 May, 2020, 08:31:26 PM
I came across The Void around a month ago, but was put off watching it by a friend who really likes that sort of film (and is generally more forgiving of films than I am).  I put it on the back burner for when I'm up for watching something I might not like.  I was watching stuff like In the Mouth of Madness at the time.  That's a good film.

I've never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind (except the ending when it was on the tele once).  I really don't know why I have never been interested in watching it.  Maybe it's because no one has really recommended it to me.  I get told "it's a good film" but not "you should watch it".  That might be an explanation. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 23 May, 2020, 10:10:14 PM
Close Encounters is one of those films that if you saw it as a kid you probably like it and remember it with some fondness, but you're right, I can't ever remember recommending that someone should watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 24 May, 2020, 10:12:13 AM
I cannot bare Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. He's such a horrible character who I find it impossible to sympathise with. Totally ruins the film for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 May, 2020, 11:31:11 AM
I dunno, I always read Roy as a completely ordinary person (which perforce includes all kinds of shitty behaviour) being driven mad by the message in his head. The only point at which I question his behaviour is where [spoiler]he abandons his children, potentially forever, to go on a space adventure[/spoiler].

It's a good film, I would - and do - recommend it. But with the caveat that I first saw it in the cinema when I was 7, and history has shown that that can twist a person.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 May, 2020, 03:16:55 PM
Sonic The Hedgehog - pleasantly surprised by a second viewing of this.
It's just a kids' movie, and tbh not a particularly good one, but all the mechanical parts of the plot work just fine and the movie makes a good fist of reframing Sonic's character from being an invincible badass superhero to being a lonely kid not used to being around people.  The film manages to come up with a good spin for why the character makes all these dated comedy references: he observed from hiding as adults watched stuff from their childhoods on tv (there's a running theme about how those adult characters smother themselves with comfortable memories because they're afraid of change), and Sonic leans into the references while trying to be liked, creating a poignant commentary on how the culture that informs his and the childhoods of the film's audience is comprised of a patchwork of second-hand nostalgia coupled with late-stage capitalism's inability to innovate.  Even the presence of Jim Carrey doing his schtick from the same decade which spawned Sonic circles back to these themes, though obviously the main meta-takeaway with Carrey is in how he portrays a man who has absolute faith in the power and authority of science despite Carrey himself being an unapologetic anti-vaxxer.
Hbomberguy did a video essay in which he explored the existential loneliness of Sonic "the" Hedgehog (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oco4WYRdaU), the only one of his kind, burdened with the impossible task of continuing their legacy and masking the pain of the impending death of his race with humor etc, but the makers of this movie straight-up looked at that video which any normal person can see is meant to be a joke and took it completely seriously, which is why there is now a film for children about the mental trauma of Sonic the Holocaust Survivor.

The Grapes Of Wrath - pretty good adaptation of the Steinbeck novel your English teacher erroneously assured you would be enjoyable.  Obviously it takes some liberties with the novel because there is no way in Heck a 1940 movie is going to end on a starving man throwing the corpse of a baby into a river while cursing the rich, so instead it ends on an inevitable We The People monologue that's probably meant as an upbeat affirmation of the hardiness of the American populace in the face of adversity, but is really just another affirmation of how badly America needs socialism.

Wild Boys Of The Road - because why only watch one movie about the constant and inevitable collapses that are built into capitalism?  While enjoyable, this one isn't quite so politically-charged as GOW despite covering the same ground of Hoovervilles and transient labor, though its relationship with the depiction of institutions of law is equally complicated, with some authority figures being portrayed sympathetically, while others are child-rapists whose murders at the hands of a mob are implied to be deserved.  Made during the (misleadingly named) Great Depression rather than after it as Grapes was, and this alongside a good cast of young actors lends things an immediacy typical of the exploitation flicks of the pre-code era.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 May, 2020, 04:12:59 PM
Well the boys re-watch continues with Revenge of the Sith and well... sigh...

I mean objectively its the best of the first three (second three that is). As Attack of the Clones learns from Phantom Menace, so this learn from Attack of the Clones and from beginning to end can never be decisioned as dull. I mean it opens on an astonishing set piece and then pretty much keeps them going unrelentlessly from there to the end... but to be honest I was getting pretty bored... see thread about finding the origins of obsure Brian Bolland art. It was there all flash bang whollop and quite boring for it. In ways that utterly escape me.

Its biggest problem is how handfisted it delievers any number of its key moments. Is it the dialogue, their delivery or most likely the combination of the two - I've never understood that Tom Stoppard was involved in polishing the script to improve it - really Tom Stoppard, really... maybe that's not true.

So on paper this is the best of the bunch... but I can't give it that as I spent the last hours looking at Brian Bolland art and watching this out the corner of my eye...

So I guess - to my amazement - I go TPM > RotS > AotC... I reserve the right to flip that in seconds. What I will say is at least, unlike Force Awakes they tried to be different and that has to count for something at least!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 May, 2020, 04:49:26 PM
It's kinda funny.  I've been swung around to the opinion that PM was the best of the prequels.  I've always hated RotS and AotC is just forgettable.  RotS was made worse when I watched the prequels with the Clone Wars series inserted in between the second and third film.  It made all the flaws of RotS so much more glaring, especially the characterisation of Anakin.  The dialogue is worse than AotC in places, the acting is worse, the pacing is worse.  I really feel it's a trilogy with steep diminishing returns.

Although trying to figure out what the best prequel movie is an act akin to deciding where the best place to be kicked by a boot with steel toecaps is.

The one thing I can say that is positive is some very talented visual artists created some amazing looking stuff for RotS.  An artbook for the film would no doubt be worth the investment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 May, 2020, 05:12:46 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 24 May, 2020, 04:12:59 PM
So I guess - to my amazement - I go TPM > RotS > AotC...

Good, goood.  With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant. It is unavoidable. It is your destiny.

I've also been at the Lucas catalogue, with a very enjoyable viewing of Willow. I've never been a huge fan, apart from the animation on the brazier/font thingie at the end, but this time out it really hit the spot.  I don't know if this is some re-mastered version Disney+ are streaming, but the effects seemed almost flawless - especially the complex blue-screen bits with the brownies, which I remembered as being rather ropey. It's hard to square the lovely landscapes and sharp SFX with the pound-shop Troll costumes.

Part of my usual reservation stems from a deep-seated dislike of the acting stylings of one Val Kilmer, and that did not change this time out, but I was really taken with Warrick's performance - only 17 at the time! - and the no-previous-acting-experience Julie Peters as Willow's wife is terrific too. The sometime Mrs. Kilmer, Joanne Whaley, is convincing too.  James Horner music is good but a bit repetitive, and I thought the story was more solid than I'd remembered it too.

Kept the kids' attention too (one long-time fan, one newbie), which is a metric I find myself applying more and more these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 May, 2020, 09:11:38 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 May, 2020, 11:31:11 AM
I dunno, I always read Roy as a completely ordinary person (which perforce includes all kinds of shitty behaviour) being driven mad by the message in his head. The only point at which I question his behaviour is where [spoiler]he abandons his children, potentially forever, to go on a space adventure[/spoiler].

It's a good film, I would - and do - recommend it. But with the caveat that I first saw it in the cinema when I was 7, and history has shown that that can twist a person.

Yeah. I've never checked the chronology but I would be amazed/dismayed I'd Spielberg was married with kids when he wrote CE3K.

Me, personally, I love it. Dreyfuss being a dick is the only sticking point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 25 May, 2020, 12:22:11 PM
The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which I don't think I've ever heard anything about at all, good or bad. So going in with no expectations whatsoever I was pretty bowled over by its charms. A really fun film with bags of style, great leads and a lot of thrills and laughs. A shame it didn't make a bigger splash, because if it had become a series I definitely would have been back for more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 25 May, 2020, 12:30:01 PM
Finally watched 1917.  It is well directed movie and I enjoyed it. The movie was carried by George MacKay he is unknown actor to me and was supported by few big actors (Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch) playing smaller roles.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 May, 2020, 02:05:34 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 25 May, 2020, 12:22:11 PM
The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which I don't think I've ever heard anything about at all, good or bad. So going in with no expectations whatsoever I was pretty bowled over by its charms. A really fun film with bags of style, great leads and a lot of thrills and laughs. A shame it didn't make a bigger splash, because if it had become a series I definitely would have been back for more.
It's one of the few films based on television shows I thought was really well done. I thought I heard that a sequel wasn't out of the question, but that may have changed now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 May, 2020, 03:46:13 PM
Accepted.  I needed something light and amusing, so I just rewatched this.  There is something about the early to mid 2000's brightly coloured optimism I find comforting in these dark times.  This film also has less of that white American middleclass entitlement that this genre of film inevitable has.  I guess it's due to the underdog nature of the film.  I like the film.

I also liked The Man from U.N.C.L.E when I saw it.  I liked Ritchie's Holmes movies well enough, but this film was a delightful surprise.  I should revisit it sometime soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 May, 2020, 04:04:38 PM
GALAXY QUEST
which is pretty good fun for your average civilian and would imagine that there's more in there for you if you follow behind the scenes going on in Trek.

The special effects (practical and CG) still look pretty good.

But it's overall toothless and somewhat has it's cake and eats it.

Despite Sigourney Weaver's character moaning that she literally had nothing to do on the Galaxy Quest show other than repeat commands, that's literally all they give her to do here. And disrobe her as the film progresses. And make her the reward for the "Captain".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 25 May, 2020, 06:17:42 PM
Jojo rabbit was a gem. Saw it last night. Gave me a good laugh, broke my heart and then put it together. Listwning to Bowie's "Helden" will never be the same  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 May, 2020, 10:39:19 PM
Legend

It's basically a perfume commerical directed by Terry Gilliam. Which given Ridley Scotts origin story probably shouldn't be a surprise.

I'd not seen this one for years and though I have very fond memories of it have never really been tempted to track it down for another watch and had very few recollections, aside from the obvious Tim Curray (and extensive make-up) turn as the Lord of Darkness. And I can see why it drew such blanks from me. Its as souless as a perfume commercial. For all its potential its pretty dull.

Kinda makes me worry about watching 'Company of Wolves' again as this has always sat next to that in my mind - God knows why. I can only assume it was a VHS double bill of old? Or is it just the fairy tale thing?

Interesting on an utter side note Amazon Prime - through which I watched this seems to mix up its details withn Indian film (I assume of the same name) which has lead to some curious recommendations. Should I watch more Indian cinema its never appealled and the couple I've seen have done nothing to change my view but happy to be persuaded if folks have suggestions?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 May, 2020, 12:07:21 AM
Watched it again a few years back*, and Company of Wolves hasn't aged terribly well, but it has heart and a lot of sincere weirdness underlying its crazy visuals and disjointed stories. Also, Danielle Dax. Certainly a more rewarding re-watch than Legend, the best thing about which has always been the poster.


*Before my last VCR finally expired, and I was forced to accept that there was a mountain of taped-from-TV stuff that I would never watch again. Which reminds me,  is there a decent copy of Company of Wolves out there somewhere?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 26 May, 2020, 03:29:09 AM
It's certainly available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Company of Wolves has been one of my favourite films since it was first broadcast on Channel 4, (I think), in the 80s, not least because they couldn't have packed more 'genuine' werewolf-lore into it if they'd tried. I consider the disjointedness, artificiality and visual non-sequiturs as points in its favour, because the bulk of it is intended to be a dream and it's very similar in 'feel' to some of the freakier dreams I've had.

Legend, on the other hand, is far more Disneyish in terms of both looks and storyline, (even if Meg Mucklebones was apparently based on Jenny Greenteeth). Liked it well enough when I first saw it on video when younger, but it didn't strike the same chord.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 26 May, 2020, 07:04:13 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 May, 2020, 10:39:19 PM
Legend

It's basically a perfume commerical directed by Terry Gilliam. Which given Ridley Scotts origin story probably shouldn't be a surprise.

I'd not seen this one for years and though I have very fond memories of it have never really been tempted to track it down for another watch and had very few recollections, aside from the obvious Tim Curray (and extensive make-up) turn as the Lord of Darkness.

I think it also depends on which version you end up watching.  For me this is very much a case of how much the soundtrack makes the film.

So their is either the orchestrated, Goldsmith version or Tangerine Dream's version.  IIRC the first time I saw the film it was with Dream's ST and I didn't realise that this was not the generally distributed version for the UK.  When I saw it on Sky years later i had the WTFIT reaction.

It's still not great but it is certainly more tolerable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 May, 2020, 10:15:10 PM
When I was a kid starved of cinematic sci-fi I'd lap anything I could get my hands on. So a remake of Magnificent Seven with cool space ships like Battle Beyond the Stars was manna from heaven.

Seeing on Amazon Prime when searching for things to watch all sorts of evocative memories came back. I mean I was pretty sure it was going to be terrible, but it had George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, John Saxon and John Boy the bloke from IT (original) so  it can't be that bad... well of course it is. Its pretty terrible ... but the spaceships were cool and some of the cast was good and...

...well it was a ridiculous blast from the past and I'm glad I watched it... uh what's this up next Beastmaster that's gotta be worth a go too... actually maybe not...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 May, 2020, 11:15:55 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 27 May, 2020, 10:15:10 PM
uh what's this up next Beastmaster that's gotta be worth a go too... actually maybe not...
Worth it for Tanya Roberts alone.

Men in Black: International Not as dire as I heard it to be but not up to the level of the first three. It was lacking the charm of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 28 May, 2020, 08:29:03 AM
I rewatched Beastmaster a few years ago and really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 May, 2020, 08:45:16 AM
Bloodshot

Ugh.  A boring film with ugly action.  I did consider turning it off before it ended, but I endured the whole thing.  It also has the most un-London looking London ever.  Looked more like a west-coast US city when the chase scene kicks in.  That was the most memorable thing about the film, a location screw-up.

Apparently I will be watching Promare tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 May, 2020, 10:16:30 AM
Got the latest Star Wars 4K blu-ray boxset and it's a beauty! Took a day off yesterday and watched episodes I-III and it was a grand day. I'm sure there's nothing new under the sun to say about those films, but I always enjoy them and watching them back to back I was really taken by just how much I unreservedly enjoy watching III, and it looks pretty fantastic. Reckon I'll take another midweek movie holiday next week and do IV-VI!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 28 May, 2020, 10:28:55 AM
The Hitcher - Haven't seen this since the early nineties, and I'd forgotten what an unsettling and dread filled movie it is. Rutger Hauer is brilliant, and the action scenes are generally very well shot. The ending is as bleak as they come.

Checking IMDB, the writer also wrote Near Dark, so that's the next thing on the watch list!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 28 May, 2020, 01:30:45 PM
Near Dark is a wonderful film.

I first saw that on VHS in '89(?) and watched it three times before it went back. A firm favourite in my house and a film I'm very pleased to say made the generational leap and my kids love it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 28 May, 2020, 01:59:46 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 28 May, 2020, 01:30:45 PM
Near Dark is a wonderful film.

I first saw that on VHS in '89(?) and watched it three times before it went back. A firm favourite in my house and a film I'm very pleased to say made the generational leap and my kids love it too.

I've seen it once or twice, pretty sure it was a showing on Channel 4 that I caught in the mid 2000s!

Looking forward to a re-watch. And I seem to recall that the soundtrack is a wonder synth score?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 May, 2020, 02:07:27 PM
Quote from: Rately on 28 May, 2020, 01:59:46 PM
And I seem to recall that the soundtrack is a wonder synth score?

Tangerine Dream. Not my sort of thing, normally, but it adds a lot to the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 28 May, 2020, 02:23:38 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 May, 2020, 02:07:27 PM
Quote from: Rately on 28 May, 2020, 01:59:46 PM
And I seem to recall that the soundtrack is a wonder synth score?

Tangerine Dream. Not my sort of thing, normally, but it adds a lot to the movie.

Ah! To Spotify I go.

Cheers, Jim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 28 May, 2020, 03:37:01 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 28 May, 2020, 01:30:45 PM
Near Dark is a wonderful film.

I first saw that on VHS in '89(?) and watched it three times before it went back. A firm favourite in my house and a film I'm very pleased to say made the generational leap and my kids love it too.
Close to my favourite vampire movie, although the Aliens cast reunion probably has something to do with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 May, 2020, 11:18:03 PM
Fright Night is my favourite vampire film but Near Dark is right up there.  Perfect movie.

The Hitcher is phenomenal too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 29 May, 2020, 09:47:46 AM
Mad Max

I'm doing a rewatch of all the MM films. My brother is watching at the same time and we're what's apping our observations as we go.

The first film is probably the most different to the rest of the series. Society is still just about hanging on, with utilities and the basic pillars of civilization still in place. There's a great feel of impending doom though.
The film isn't perfect. The pacing is all over the shop and there's very little in the way of characterisation. Max's wife is a barely sketched character and his kid - only referred to as Sprog - just exists with no interaction to the main character.
The action still stands up brilliantly though. The whole opening sequence with the Night Rider is really impressive - especially on a low budget.
The final act is pretty good too but I wish they'd made a bit more of Max cutting a swathe of vengeance through the Toecutter's gang. I suspect they'd have spent more time on this if they'd had the budget.
I really like how Toecutter's demise is kind of low key. Okay, there's a cool chase and a great stunt, but no personal reckoning in the 'you killed my family' vein.
More time is spent on Max's vengeance on the shittiest most snivelling shit of a gang member - the one you really want to punch. Still a memorable ending and one that made an impression when I first watched this as a kid. It's a very sudden ending though and, really, the film is most interesting as a precursor to what's coming.
Actually, another thing that's really impressive is the way everything and everyone are made as interesting, memorable (and weird) as possible (other than the wife and child). Everyone's a sort of pantomime grotesque. Fifi the police cheif, the guy with the voice synthesiser, Johnny Boy with his weird delivery, even the granny with her leg callipers.
Anyway, enough waffle, I really enjoyed it.

Looking forward to Mad Max 2. My brother's never seen that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 May, 2020, 10:29:12 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 29 May, 2020, 09:47:46 AM
Mad Max

I'm doing a rewatch of all the MM films. My brother is watching at the same time and we're what's apping our observations as we go....

Looking forward to Mad Max 2. My brother's never seen that one.

I did this recently(ish) and my comments will be here somewhere and almost certianly not worth the effort but the great thing about the Mad Max films is they are all so different, yet the same. There's threads and themes that bridge them and of course Max but they are different in tone and feel to me and other ways.

And man your brother is in for a threat!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 29 May, 2020, 10:55:16 AM
Brilliant series of movies. George Miller shoots action like nobody else, and having recently re-watched Fury Road, I really can't wait for the prequel, and whatever else he comes up with.

Fury Road might just be one of the best looking movie ever put together.

In saying that, I've always loved Thunderdome the most, but Fury Road certainly picking at its heels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 May, 2020, 10:56:57 AM
Near Dark

After reading the posts here I looked the film up and thought "heeyy, I remember that!"  I managed to grab it off the TV many moons ago and enjoyed it.  I think it was a double bill with John Carpenter's Vampires and Near Dark was certainly the one that stuck in the mind more.  So I gave it another go.

It's as I remember it.  Decent enough.  Certainly entertaining and engaging.  I enjoyed it and was happy rewatching it.  I'll have to rewatch that JC Vampires film again at some point.

The first Mad Max is certainly the weakest of the four.  The second or fourth are arguably the best, but I probably enjoy Thunderdome the most.  It's acting is certainly better than it's predecessors (I love Tina Turner's performance) and I find the story more fleshed out and compelling.  They are all entertaining in their different ways and it's certainly worth while watching all four.  I hope you enjoy the other films :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 29 May, 2020, 11:12:59 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 26 May, 2020, 03:29:09 AM
Company of Wolves has been one of my favourite films since it was first broadcast on Channel 4, (I think), in the 80s, not least because they couldn't have packed more 'genuine' werewolf-lore into it if they'd tried. I consider the disjointedness, artificiality and visual non-sequiturs as points in its favour, because the bulk of it is intended to be a dream and it's very similar in 'feel' to some of the freakier dreams I've had.


The first video I ever bought.  Not a fan of the 'toybox' start but I love the rest of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 May, 2020, 10:54:44 AM
Battle Beyond the Stars

Just because I saw people talking about here and I had never seen it before.  I liked it.  It's nothing special, but it was watchable, entertaining and had enough interesting elements to endear me to it.  I liked it's style.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 May, 2020, 11:06:15 AM
Van Wilder

I couldn't think of anything better.  This film is weird.  It is that sophomoric, offensive and gross type of film but it has this genuine sweetness to it as well.  It is a bizarre juxtaposition.  I also always feel that Ryan Reynolds should be annoying but instead I find him charming. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 May, 2020, 07:49:03 PM
The live action of LADY AND THE TRAMP is continuing the "what's the point?" theme of the remakes. I suppose this one is set in a weird future utopia where people of all races live in harmony together and there is no poverty but where, bizarrely, the technology is all 1910 or thereabouts
So it has that going for it.

More like LADY AND THE SHIT.

Which coincidentally is how people describe the missus and me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 May, 2020, 07:53:42 PM
Followed by THE FINEST HOURS which is resolutely old fashioned but in a good way. Chris Pine handsomes his way into saving the crew of a tankerthat broke in two in 1952.

True story, apparently.

The lot is as straightforward as you get, water effects are gob smacking, the characters thinly sketched but I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 May, 2020, 08:40:55 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 May, 2020, 07:49:03 PM
More like LADY AND THE SHIT.

Which coincidentally is how people describe the missus and me.
Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you look very fetching in a frock.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 June, 2020, 09:11:52 AM
Tremors

Do I need to make any comments about this film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 June, 2020, 10:48:47 AM
Extra Ordinary, a charming and wacky Irish comedy on Netflix about a driving instructor who can do exorcisms. Immensely likeable and charming, and also very funny.

Did some rewatches over the weekend too, Avengers: Endgame which was my first rewatch since the cinema. Really enjoyed it again, and still feels like an epic finale to something truly huge so gives me the goosebumps a lot, even if it did seem to completely quench my desire for Marvel movies. Just don't seem to have a craving for any new ones after this and still haven't watched the Spider-Man one that came out since, maybe once Black Widow finally comes out it'll ignite that spark again.

Also continuing to rewatch the Star Wars movies so squeezed in Solo and Rogue One before I get round to the middle trilogy. I'm still really surprised that Solo was the film I was least bowled over by in the cinema, it fell really flat for me on a first watch but every home viewing has been better than the last and I enjoy it so much now that I can't figure out why I didn't initially. It's great! Rogue One also great, and while I'd struggle to try and pick one SW movie as my absolute favourite, Rogue One would definitely feature heavily in the conversation. Love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 June, 2020, 11:09:16 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 01 June, 2020, 10:48:47 AM
Also continuing to rewatch the Star Wars movies so squeezed in Solo and Rogue One before I get round to the middle trilogy. I'm still really surprised that Solo was the film I was least bowled over by in the cinema, it fell really flat for me on a first watch but every home viewing has been better than the last and I enjoy it so much now that I can't figure out why I didn't initially. It's great! Rogue One also great, and while I'd struggle to try and pick one SW movie as my absolute favourite, Rogue One would definitely feature heavily in the conversation. Love it.

Rogue One is probably my favourite SW movie.  I also had a great time with my only viewing of Solo.  I thought it was an entertaining romp.  I do like a self-contained sci-fi action adventure film and these two really did hit the mark for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 June, 2020, 10:21:32 AM
Ticks, a splattery B-movie with a young Seth Green and Carlton from the Fresh Prince. Quite fun, from the director of Hellraiser II but there aren't really any glimpses of that nightmarish visual flair here, but he maybe just didn't have as much to work with in terms of money and concepts!

Enjoyed it though, a load of schlocky fun and as someone who hates bugs I found the ropey tick effects surprisingly skin-crawly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 June, 2020, 10:52:38 AM
The Legend of Billie Jean.

This was recommended to me on the basis that I would probably like it.  I think I liked it.  An empowering film showing struggles of class and gender and against sexual violence... but aimed at kids... I think.  Helen Slater was great in the titular role and the character she played was fantastic in many ways.  It's a bit of a cartoon, like many 80's films, but that's fine.  It probably adds to the charm.  The phrase "fair is fair" has poignant relevance in this dark and dismal times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 June, 2020, 09:59:07 AM
Premature (2014)

This is a Groundhog Day High School Romantic Comedy were the repetition is ejaculation.  You'd think it'd be more juvenile than it actually is.  I mean, it's pretty juvenile.  I like it.  I don't know how much that is to do with the fact that Groundhog Day is one my Top Ten Favourite Films.  I think the film has charm beyond the gimmick.  It has Alan Tudyk in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 June, 2020, 11:36:49 AM
Star Wars Eps IV-VI back to back (still working through the 4K blurays). Really flew by, and loved every minute. Empire predictably the best looking and has dated the least, but they all looked pretty great. Did notice some of the effects have been touched up in RoTJ since the last time I watched it, and now Greedo says MACLUNKEY for reasons unknown. Wish they'd just stop tinkering with that scene and just revert to the original, but that's a small quibble (I do love the moment in Solo where [spoiler]Han decisively shoots first, as it seems like a high five to those of us who preferred the OG version of the Greedo scene![/spoiler] Feels quite cathartic)! I had forgot that everyone is constantly smiling at each other in RoTJ to the point where they look a bit unhinged, I've always wondered if that was a reaction to Empire feeling downbeat.

Loved them though, and it must be decades since I watched them all in a sitting like that and I was quite taken aback by how well it works in a marathon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 June, 2020, 11:53:45 AM
The Quiet Earth

New Zealand Sci-Fi from '85.  I picked this up for cheap over a decade ago on DVD mostly because I judged it by its cover.  I wasn't disappointed.  It's actually one of my best blind buys.  It's about a man who wakes up to find he is the only living thing on Earth and everyone else has just seemed to have disappeared.  So it's major themes are about loneliness and relationships.  I don't think it goes into too much depth with those themes, but that certainly isn't to the detriment of the film.  It also has a stunning ending visual.  It's good sci-fi.  Oh, my DVD copy turned out to be utter crap when I tried watching it months ago... terrible quality and in standard def, which is a real shame.

I find it tiresome rewatching the original Star Wars trilogy.  It's all the new Special Edition junk.  It ruins my immersion and puts me off.  I actually want to watch Empire with that weird boggly eyed Emperor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 04 June, 2020, 03:57:30 PM
My missus has recommended The Quiet Earth funnily enough. Will get onto it soon.

Recently watched the original Omen trilogy.  They hold up quite well to be fair.  Suitably creepy.

Also watched Slither.  One of those rare films that is rubbish for the first half but good for the second.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 June, 2020, 08:55:09 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.

I agree.  I'm not a huge SW guy.  I've seen them all, mostly in the cinema, but I can take or leave it as a series.  I tend to treat each film as a separate entity and judge it on how entertaining it is and how good the action and setpieces are.  Solo completely delivered on all of that.

Oddly, my least favourite has been Rogue One.  Mainly because the first half was so boring, the lead actress was far less charismatic than the lady from the recent trilogy and they completely underused Forest Whittaker.  The battle sequence was really well done but felt like it was just too much, kind of like a Marvel/DC film where they just go CGI crazy for an hour.   The Darth Vader bit was great though.

That said, I really need to rewatch it.  I've only seen it once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 June, 2020, 10:42:45 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.
I didn't like it at the cinema, bought it for cheap during one of HMV's many 3-for-2 Blu Ray deals, and have watched it several times since. It is definitely a grower. Part of my disappointment initially was simply the shadow thrown by Rogue One, which for me is the best Star Wars film since Empire, and my disappointment with Last Jedi, which after Force Awakens and Rogue One, took the shine off the new movies once and for all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 June, 2020, 11:57:20 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.

I bloody love this film!  It's a cracking sci-fi heist movie with some Star Wars in it.  I thought the folk brought in to represent a young Han and Lando were pitch perfect!!

I could totally see that young Han turning into the jaded mercenary we saw at the start of Star Wars.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 June, 2020, 03:48:15 PM
Demolition Man. One of Stallone's best films IMO. And now the absurdities of not touching and 'be well' greetings are spot on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 June, 2020, 06:26:29 PM
I watched Solo around the time I was watching a lot of Red Letter Media videos, trying to decide whether I thought they were good or not.  They really seemed to be the focal point of negativity towards the film from my perspective of wider reactions.  I really thought I was an outlier in actually liking it as a fun romp.  I don't get why the film was shat on so much and why it didn't do very well.

2010
The sequel to the wonderful 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I like 2010.  I think it's horribly overshadowed by its predecessor to the point I'm not sure how many people even know that film got a sequel.  I like a little space mission in our solar system.  The mystical oddity and cold war stuff added flavour.  It's very good.  Looks good, too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 June, 2020, 10:39:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 June, 2020, 06:26:29 PM
I watched Solo around the time I was watching a lot of Red Letter Media videos, trying to decide whether I thought they were good or not.  They really seemed to be the focal point of negativity towards the film from my perspective of wider reactions.  I really thought I was an outlier in actually liking it as a fun romp.  I don't get why the film was shat on so much and why it didn't do very well.

2010
The sequel to the wonderful 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I like 2010.  I think it's horribly overshadowed by its predecessor to the point I'm not sure how many people even know that film got a sequel.  I like a little space mission in our solar system.  The mystical oddity and cold war stuff added flavour.  It's very good.  Looks good, too.
2010 is an overlooked classic IMHO. It took a mostly okay book and transformed it into a tense, political sci-fi thriller with a real dedication to not shitting on its predecessor. I'll watch Scheider in anything, but he's brilliant in this, as are most everyone else.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 June, 2020, 02:45:22 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.

Because customer reaction was swayed by relentless aggressive negativity from the same kind of overly vocal edgelord pricks that helped us into Comicsgate, Brexit, Trump and #AllLivesMatter, who were angry this time because some other Star Wars film now had ladies and worse, asian ladies (but not the f**kable kind).

Most charitably, it just sounded like a really bad idea for a movie.  It's a testament to the original developers, a spectacular cast and some very clever halfway reworking by Howard that it's so bloody watchable. There is no SW property that I would be more interested in seeing than Solo 2. Alas,  it forever nestles beside Dredd 2 and Hellboy 3 on the Blu-Ray shelves of Lucien's library.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 June, 2020, 02:53:27 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 June, 2020, 02:45:22 PM
Because customer reaction was swayed by relentless aggressive negativity

Although I don't doubt that this played a part, certainly in a lacklustre opening, I'm still convinced that a really big factor was sticking the film out in May during the two weeks between Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War. Any idiot could have seen where all the cinema-goers pounds/dollars/euros/yen were going to go a week or so after it was released. There was no time for any good word of mouth to rally the film's fortunes before Infinity War sucked up all the box office cash in the world.

Which was made doubly baffling by the fact that Disney had no Star Wars movie for Christmas that year, and the only 'tentpole' movie scheduled for that December was Aquaman, which no one had any expectation of being any good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 June, 2020, 03:32:03 PM
I didn't get why Disney didn't release Solo in December.  I find it a shame that Infinity War didn't tank instead, because that film was utter crap.  I would much rather have Solo 2 than Endgames as well, because Endgames was utter crap too.

Hostage The Bruce Willis negotiator film.  It's not good.  Presenting a lazy, Hollywood world view of social issues to an almost problematic level like many a Bruce Willis vehicle.  It's like Die Hard, but crap.  Not 4.0 crap, but still crap.  I found it watchable, all that said.  I don't think it ever crosses the line and it is pretty much serviceable.  I would have probably preferred to watch The Negotiator but I'm not sure I'm ready to return to films starring Kevin Spacey (if I ever will be).  I'm pretty certain I'll never be able to enjoy The Usual Suspects again for it's double whammy of Spacey and Bryan Singer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 June, 2020, 03:39:19 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 June, 2020, 03:32:03 PM
I find it a shame that Infinity War didn't tank instead, because that film was utter crap.  I would much rather have Solo 2 than Endgames as well, because Endgames was utter crap too.

If your mouth was full of any more wrong, your head would explode.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 June, 2020, 03:46:52 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 June, 2020, 02:53:27 PM
Although I don't doubt that this played a part, certainly in a lacklustre opening, I'm still convinced that a really big factor was sticking the film out in May during the two weeks between Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War.

No question about that,  my feeling has always been that it was effectively dumped  into a doomed slot just 6 months after TLJ (too small a gap even for me,  and my SW appetite is strong indeed) to get the perceived unpleasantness out of the way. Nobody had any faith in this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 June, 2020, 05:23:32 PM
Blowing Up Right Now - a nuclear attack on Los Angeles makes a young couple's breakup even more awkward than it has to be.  Very low budget, and the script, direction and performances don't quite deliver on a cute but admittedly threadbare central theme, but it does its job and is a good addition to the mumblecore comedy genre.

The Fast and the Fierce - another Asylum knock-off of a famous franchise, but a gallon of petrol costs more money than the Asylum is willing to spend on a movie - yet they could still afford Adrian Paul - so the actual film is set in the world's most unconvincing airplane interior.  If the plane goes below 50 miles an hour it will explode!  Or is it less than 50 feet in height?  Fuck it I don't care, and neither should you - Adrian Paul certainly doesn't.  Sometimes it is entertainingly bad, which is basically the best an Asylum movie can ever hope to achieve, but mostly it is just dull.  I expected better from the Asylum etc

The Invisible Man - I liked it when he was a metaphor for trauma, but less so when he was an actual man that was invisible.  I had seen absolutely nothing of this before watching it and that was for the best, as I got to feel like my mate must have done that time he finally watched the Terminator movies and was surprised that Arnie was the good guy in T2 and Robert Patrick was the baddie, which I had never noticed as a bait-and-switch the first time I watched the movie because everyone knew Arnie played the good guy months ahead of the movie's release.  Anyway, The Invisible Man is actually quite good, but do yourself a favor and try to see it cold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 June, 2020, 08:33:24 PM
Let the bullets fly Bit like a Sergio Leone western (think "Fistful of Dynamite") set in China. A Robin Hood-ish gangster poses as a mayor in order to swindle some big money of a noble man. A bit too long, but I had a good time watching it. Has some wonderfully absurd scenes.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFoLfRA5ghw

Creature From The Black Lagoon A b/w horror classic. First time watching it. Mostly out of curiosity since I like Del Toro's Shape of water (which it inspired) so much. Wouldn't say it's a scary by today's standards, but I think it had a good atmosphere. Even got a bit invested in the monster. It's presented well and feels otherworldly. Very impressed by some of the underwater scenes. Diving around in the monster suit couldn't been easy.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svyPswixryM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 07 June, 2020, 10:03:21 AM
I first watched The Breakfast Club in what I estimate to be 1986, possibly 1987. It had quite an impact on me at the time, but until last night I'd never rewatched it. I joked to the colleague who lent it to me that I'd probably end up shouting at the screen, "Oh, you bunch of whiny teen wankers!" As it turned out, I still enjoyed it, and a lot of things that had stuck in my head over the decades were pretty accurate, although I'd forgotten a lot of other details. It feels a bit disjointed, but that kinda makes sense given that we're only seeing snapshots of a day crammed into an hour and a half. The stand out scene has to be Emilio Estevez's character explaining why he's in detention.

Big mistake, though, for me to go online and look up all the actors, which only served to reinforce my ongoing resentment of growing older and mortality. Part of me ends up wanting to see that riskiest of all projects, the where-are-they-now? movie. I suppose I ought to watch the sequel to Gregory's Girl. Or maybe not.


Regards,

Robin

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 June, 2020, 11:01:51 AM
For some reason I ended up watching DOOM (2005).

To say it's underwhelming is a massive understatement. Run and gun action with multiple monster types is replaced with haunted house/slasher movie stuff with just a couple. Which is poorly executed too.

Any redeeming features? Well,  The Rock; he wasn't Dwayne yet. And that means he doesn't just play smart alec super cop spy guy. (which I love). And Urban and Rosamund Pike.

Rosamund Pike had me thinking about female parts. I don't know why more movies don't do the sibling thing. It let's the lead characters have a relationship without shoehorned romance and allows for better written female parts. Not that they take advantage of it here. 

But ultimately: DOOM? More like SHIT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2020, 11:16:26 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 June, 2020, 11:01:51 AM
Rosamund Pike had me thinking about female parts.

FNARR.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 June, 2020, 11:27:27 AM
I watched Doom again a month or two ago.  It is largely boring.  I did like the nano-wall thing.  A decent enough idea.

Bubba Ho-Tep
I haven't watched this in a long, long time and it was damn well worth revisiting.  Elvis swapped out his life with an impersonator and now he is stuck in some dingy retirement home in Texas.  I finds a new lease on life when other residents start dying and he smells adventure.  With the help of his friend, JFK, he embarks on a quest to save the residents of the retirement home and their souls.  This film is great.  Bruce Campbell is in his element and this might be my favourite performance of his next to Evil Dead 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 11:57:06 AM
Bubba Ho-Tep remains superb, a quite unique film that knows exactly what to do with its star's searing charisma.

Ralph Wrecks the Internet. Having found the first one a bit dull, I approached the sequel with phone in hand ready to offer my sage opinions on a few of Colin's proliferating deathmatches. Alas, my thoughts on GFD were postponed,  because this was much more fun than expected. Yes, it's one giant corporate love-in, but The Disney Princesses sequence is as tightly written a piece of comedy as you're likely to see, and the embodying of targeted pop-ups had me giggling repeatedly.  I did enjoy seeing Pinterest wrecked by a swarm of clone Ralphs.

Silverman, Reilly and Tudyk are pretty great, enjoyment of the rest of the cast may depend on your tolerance for Gal Gadot (mine is quite high). Surprisingly good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 12:16:51 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 11:57:06 AM
Ralph Wrecks the Internet.... Surprisingly good.

I loved this one. Need to watch it again but it got the balance of kids jokes with adult edges pretty much spot in as I recall. The end is a little overblown though which is a shame as otherwise its spot on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 07 June, 2020, 12:21:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 June, 2020, 11:27:27 AM
I watched Doom again a month or two ago.  It is largely boring.  I did like the nano-wall thing.  A decent enough idea.

Bubba Ho-Tep
I haven't watched this in a long, long time and it was damn well worth revisiting.  Elvis swapped out his life with an impersonator and now he is stuck in some dingy retirement home in Texas.  I finds a new lease on life when other residents start dying and he smells adventure.  With the help of his friend, JFK, he embarks on a quest to save the residents of the retirement home and their souls.  This film is great.  Bruce Campbell is in his element and this might be my favourite performance of his next to Evil Dead 2.

Just a shame the 'Bubba Nosferatu' sequel never happened! (Though apparently it's reference in the end credits was just a joke anyway)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 June, 2020, 12:32:47 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 07 June, 2020, 12:21:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 June, 2020, 11:27:27 AM
I watched Doom again a month or two ago.  It is largely boring.  I did like the nano-wall thing.  A decent enough idea.

Bubba Ho-Tep
I haven't watched this in a long, long time and it was damn well worth revisiting.  Elvis swapped out his life with an impersonator and now he is stuck in some dingy retirement home in Texas.  I finds a new lease on life when other residents start dying and he smells adventure.  With the help of his friend, JFK, he embarks on a quest to save the residents of the retirement home and their souls.  This film is great.  Bruce Campbell is in his element and this might be my favourite performance of his next to Evil Dead 2.

Just a shame the 'Bubba Nosferatu' sequel never happened! (Though apparently it's reference in the end credits was just a joke anyway)

Agreed. They did do a comic (it's a prequel, not a sequel) but I didn't think it was that good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 07 June, 2020, 12:54:22 PM
After being recommended ages ago I've jumped in and started the John Wick films. Got through Chapters 1 & 2 and I've enjoyed the romp so far. I'll try and get 3 watched in the next day or so to finish the trilogy.
One drawback is the repetitive way & number of kills he does during the fight scenes.
Hopefully he'll get a conclusion to his quest for a quite life.
Overall enjoyable switch off action films
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 June, 2020, 01:12:38 PM
I felt personally insulted by John Wick 3.  Never has a film gone to such great efforts to waste my time.  I would recommend avoiding it because it is utterly pointless.  It reeks of a cash grab, a cynical sequel in service of prospective future sequels.  I wouldn't necessarily mind that, but [spoiler]it finishes the way it starts and nothing in between seemed to count for anything[/spoiler].  If you find the action repetitive then stay away from 3.  It's pretty much all it has going for it.  There is no conclusion, there is no continuation, there is nothing but fights and stupidity.  I don't know whether it is coming across, but I despised the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 07 June, 2020, 01:45:35 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 June, 2020, 02:45:22 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 05 June, 2020, 08:42:25 AM
Sat down and watched Solo - a Star Wars story yesterday.
Honestly think it's the best Star Wars film for 35 years. Don't know why it didn't do better business.

Because customer reaction was swayed by relentless aggressive negativity from the same kind of overly vocal edgelord pricks that helped us into Comicsgate, Brexit, Trump and #AllLivesMatter, who were angry this time because some other Star Wars film now had ladies and worse, asian ladies (but not the f**kable kind).

It was only two years ago - has everybody forgotten that half of the negative comments online were shown to be from Russian bots and trolls?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 07 June, 2020, 01:48:27 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 06 June, 2020, 05:23:32 PM
The Invisible Man - I liked it when he was a metaphor for trauma, but less so when he was an actual man that was invisible.  I had seen absolutely nothing of this before watching it and that was for the best, as I got to feel like my mate must have done that time he finally watched the Terminator movies and was surprised that Arnie was the good guy in T2 and Robert Patrick was the baddie, which I had never noticed as a bait-and-switch the first time I watched the movie because everyone knew Arnie played the good guy months ahead of the movie's release.  Anyway, The Invisible Man is actually quite good, but do yourself a favor and try to see it cold.


As with Phantom Menace (and I think I've gone in to this on this forum before) the pre-publicity ruined one of the best bits of both films.


Phantom Menace - it's a real surprise when Darth Maul extends his lightsabre in both directions, showing that he's prepared to fight both jedi.  Except it isn't a surprise because we'd all seen the toys beforehand.


In T2 there's some nice foreshadowing as Patrick looks at a shiny silver shop mannequin, which shouldn't have meant anything to the viewer if we hadn't already seen it all in the trailers and Guns 'n' Roses music video already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 07 June, 2020, 02:27:32 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 June, 2020, 01:12:38 PM
I felt personally insulted by John Wick 3.  Never has a film gone to such great efforts to waste my time.  I would recommend avoiding it because it is utterly pointless.  It reeks of a cash grab, a cynical sequel in service of prospective future sequels.  I wouldn't necessarily mind that, but [spoiler]it finishes the way it starts and nothing in between seemed to count for anything[/spoiler].  If you find the action repetitive then stay away from 3.  It's pretty much all it has going for it.  There is no conclusion, there is no continuation, there is nothing but fights and stupidity.  I don't know whether it is coming across, but I despised the film.

Thanks for the heads up I might just put this on the back burner until I've exhausted all my other options
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 June, 2020, 02:31:34 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 June, 2020, 11:16:26 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 June, 2020, 11:01:51 AM
Rosamund Pike had me thinking about female parts.

FNARR.

I thank you.

I'm here all week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 June, 2020, 03:00:39 PM
Mail's double ender was in the trailer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 03:21:00 PM
Well the boy child and I are working our way through 'The Skywalker Saga' as I believe it is now called and over the last couple of weekends have watched Star Wars (A New Hope - if you must) and well its still got it hasn't it.

There's probably nothing left to say about this classic - well its more than a classic isn't by now this legned of cinema... but as ever that won't stop me will it.

The thing that surprises me each time I view it is how well its aged. Now fair to say that view is through the lens of someone whose mind has been shaped since the age of 5 (or more likely 6 by the time I actually saw this) by adoring this movie. Its shaped - along with 2000ad what I think of as good entertainment - but it looks so good. In fact a few graphics aside and bits and bobs the things that have dated the worst are the 'new edition' CGI add ons.

I asked the boy about this to try to get past my filters and he shrugged and said it looked fine - except it was a bit dark at times so you couldn't see all the detail in the backgrounds. Other than that he liked that everything looked old and used and the ship and costumes were cool.

I've long said, either by luck or design the key elements of Star Wars help this immensely. Barren sand worn hick planet that looks timeless. Stiff classic military uniforms likewise timeless. And a design of ships and vehicles that was so original that it defied its time and in many ways defined what followed so hae avoided aging so well.

It all looks so authentic... well as authentic as a story about space wizards and rocket battles can!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 03:34:16 PM
Oh and meant to add the boy asked as soon as it finshed - 'Why didn't they give Chewie a medal?'

He's a fanboy in the making!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 04:35:50 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 03:34:16 PM
Oh and meant to add the boy asked as soon as it finshed - 'Why didn't they give Chewie a medal?'

He's a fanboy in the making!

Am I misremembering,  or was this addressed in the original Thomas/Chaykin comic adaptation (which was everyone's main source of SW rewatches in the pre-video era)? The line I half-recall is "Few space-princesses are tall enough, Chewie will have to pin his medal on himself". I know he gets one in the ADF pre-novelisation. So for more than 40 years he always got one in my head!

So much of my thinking about SW comes from that Marvel series (well,  the B&W UK reprint), starting with either Goodwin or Thomas editorial tagline "the greatest space fantasy of them all! " which disabused me of any idea that this was SF like 2001, Silent Running or Close Encounters,  and the restatement that this was a civil war, something only the opening crawl had ever touched on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 04:40:26 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 04:35:50 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 03:34:16 PM
Oh and meant to add the boy asked as soon as it finshed - 'Why didn't they give Chewie a medal?'

He's a fanboy in the making!

Am I misremembering,  or was this addressed in the original Thomas/Chaykin comic adaptation (which was everyone's main source of SW rewatches in the pre-video era)? The line I half-recall is "Few space-princesses are tall enough, Chewie will have to pin his medal on himself". I know he gets one in the ADF pre-novelisation. So for more than 40 years he always got one in my head!

What do you take me for - I showed him my reprints of that very thing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 04:43:30 PM
How could I ever doubt you!  Did i remember a-right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 04:53:36 PM
Yep - almost word perfect

(https://i.imgur.com/y1sFXt3.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 05:01:22 PM
Mmmm, that's a juicy page!  Is that a recoloured collection, or just remastered?  Rather fancy that.

Incredibly I only own a few tattered issues of the Marvel UK floppies (lost in the attic somewhere) that my friends and I mercilessly spindled, folded and mutilated one long summer, having sold the rest in aid of the WWF ( non-wrestling version)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 05:13:55 PM
Its the Dark Horse collections from a few years back now. Not the one's with computer remastered art. The first volume was called Doomworld and there's 7 in the series. Recommend them - even with all the reprints that Marvel have done never really considered replacing these.

Just want the Boy child to read them but still can't get him to... yet...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 05:37:31 PM
To eBay it is, so...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 June, 2020, 09:04:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 05:37:31 PM
To eBay it is, so...

You do digital don't you? Literally just seen - while watching PJs drawing show - so much fun - that Comixology have these in Epic Collections in digital sale - each Epic Collection is £6.39 each have the first 4 up. Seems good value and looks like art is original colours too - though only a very quick look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 09:33:57 PM
Those are mighty tempting! Amazing how good those old colours look.  I haven't ventured into buying digital collections before, but maybe now's the time.  Cheers, Mr.  YNWA.  Best of luck heading  back to the real world tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 07 June, 2020, 10:05:06 PM
The recent Marvel Epic Collections are spectacular too. I spent the first part of lockdown reading the first volume (the movie adaptation and all those stories of Jaxxon the rabbit, the pirates/ dragonriders on the water world and the cyborg bounty hunter, as well as the Pizzazz magazine stories (and the episodes previously printed only in Star Wars Weekly). They were ALL gorgeous, nostalgic and I loved the whole book.

Well, the Pizzazz stories were a bit pants, but the rest was great.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 June, 2020, 09:08:12 AM
Rat Race

The thing that made me nearly wet myself was the kid at the end exclaiming with joyous surprise "It's Smashmouth!"  They also sung their Mystery Men song.  The film is watchable, I guess.  It is not particularly funny.  Rowan Atkinson shining the brightest with his psuedo Mr Bean thing. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 08 June, 2020, 09:38:31 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 June, 2020, 04:35:50 PMAm I misremembering,  or was this addressed in the original Thomas/Chaykin comic adaptation (which was everyone's main source of SW rewatches in the pre-video era)? The line I half-recall is "Few space-princesses are tall enough, Chewie will have to pin his medal on himself". I know he gets one in the ADF pre-novelisation. So for more than 40 years he always got one in my head!

Oddly enough, until Dark Horse reprinted it, the 3 page short epilogue was a Marvel UK exclusive to pad out the weekly.

That Marvel UK content got collected a few years ago in a massive 800 page book.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Collection-Omnibus-Legends/dp/1302908200
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 08 June, 2020, 10:44:06 AM
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which I enjoyed more than I expected. The original JP still lives in my memory as one of the (if not THE) definitive cinema trips of my youth (along with the holiday spent being absolutely gripped by the novels) but haven't found any of the sequels memorable, with the last Jurassic World being the weakest of all for me so was a bit surprised I liked this one.

It's a decent adventure film with some cool moments and a decent popcorn muncher. Still not even close to recapturing the JP experience, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll probably never like anything that much again because I'm not a kid anymore.

Oh and Coco, which is great. Looks lovely and has a very touching story (and yes, I cried a little).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 11:07:37 AM
The Wave

Hey, it's Justin Long.  I remember him.
The overall message of The Wave came across as hollow more than it ordinarily might due to... well... everything in 2020.  As a very bright spotlight highlights the various disparities and inequalities, being told [spoiler]that the universe just wants to find a balance[/spoiler] is laughable.  It's cute, but laughable.  That's pretty much my criticism of the film.  Despite being trite and surface level it was pretty good.  There are some really interesting effects that have left an impression and give the film some memorable moments.  I ended up enjoying it and I'm glad I watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 June, 2020, 03:28:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 11:07:37 AM
The Wave

Hey, it's Justin Long.  I remember him.
The overall message of The Wave came across as hollow more than it ordinarily might due to... well... everything in 2020.  As a very bright spotlight highlights the various disparities and inequalities, being told [spoiler]that the universe just wants to find a balance[/spoiler] is laughable.  It's cute, but laughable.  That's pretty much my criticism of the film.  Despite being trite and surface level it was pretty good.  There are some really interesting effects that have left an impression and give the film some memorable moments.  I ended up enjoying it and I'm glad I watched it.
Funny you should mention Justin Long. I just watched him in Accepted. A group of kids, led by Long, create a fake university when they don't get in to any of the real ones. It's light and predictable, but still a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 05:11:09 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 June, 2020, 03:28:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 11:07:37 AM
The Wave

Hey, it's Justin Long.  I remember him.
The overall message of The Wave came across as hollow more than it ordinarily might due to... well... everything in 2020.  As a very bright spotlight highlights the various disparities and inequalities, being told [spoiler]that the universe just wants to find a balance[/spoiler] is laughable.  It's cute, but laughable.  That's pretty much my criticism of the film.  Despite being trite and surface level it was pretty good.  There are some really interesting effects that have left an impression and give the film some memorable moments.  I ended up enjoying it and I'm glad I watched it.
Funny you should mention Justin Long. I just watched him in Accepted. A group of kids, led by Long, create a fake university when they don't get in to any of the real ones. It's light and predictable, but still a lot of fun.

It's funny that you mention Accepted.  I watched it a couple of weeks ago and even wrote about on this thread (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg1028478#msg1028478).  I like Justin in the film, he definitely carries it and the film itself is different enough to not feel stale.  It's one I certainly return to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 June, 2020, 06:43:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 05:11:09 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 June, 2020, 03:28:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 11:07:37 AM
The Wave

Hey, it's Justin Long.  I remember him.
The overall message of The Wave came across as hollow more than it ordinarily might due to... well... everything in 2020.  As a very bright spotlight highlights the various disparities and inequalities, being told [spoiler]that the universe just wants to find a balance[/spoiler] is laughable.  It's cute, but laughable.  That's pretty much my criticism of the film.  Despite being trite and surface level it was pretty good.  There are some really interesting effects that have left an impression and give the film some memorable moments.  I ended up enjoying it and I'm glad I watched it.
Funny you should mention Justin Long. I just watched him in Accepted. A group of kids, led by Long, create a fake university when they don't get in to any of the real ones. It's light and predictable, but still a lot of fun.

It's funny that you mention Accepted.  I watched it a couple of weeks ago and even wrote about on this thread (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg1028478#msg1028478).  I like Justin in the film, he definitely carries it and the film itself is different enough to not feel stale.  It's one I certainly return to.
I missed that. You are spot on in your assessment of the film though. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 June, 2020, 07:00:36 PM
Oh god...I watched The Core! They read "science fiction" and decided to ignore the science and take a nice, healthy bite of the fiction and just gorge themselves on it.

It's passable as an unintentional comedy, especially in the highly enjoyable bird scene (https://youtu.be/MAu2e0VbvY4) in which a London bus driver who's got a phobia of birds entirely fails to remain calm or find the brakes: instead opting to accelerate and swerve wildly towards the inevitable. 

To re-spin the Earth's core and thus avoid Global Mass Chaos by Pigeon, a group of people with no experience in drilling anywhere build a magic and stupidly spacious drill submarine with Star Trek gravity systems and tunnel to the center of the Earth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 June, 2020, 07:59:35 PM
The Core is great fun!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 June, 2020, 08:35:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 09 June, 2020, 06:43:42 PM
I missed that. You are spot on in your assessment of the film though. :)

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has discovered and enjoyed that film. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 June, 2020, 09:42:54 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 June, 2020, 07:00:36 PM
Oh god...I watched The Core! They read "science fiction" and decided to ignore the science and take a nice, healthy bite of the fiction and just gorge themselves on it.

It's passable as an unintentional comedy, especially in the highly enjoyable bird scene (https://youtu.be/MAu2e0VbvY4) in which a London bus driver who's got a phobia of birds entirely fails to remain calm or find the brakes: instead opting to accelerate and swerve wildly towards the inevitable. 

To re-spin the Earth's core and thus avoid Global Mass Chaos by Pigeon, a group of people with no experience in drilling anywhere build a magic and stupidly spacious drill submarine with Star Trek gravity systems and tunnel to the center of the Earth.
Oh my god that film. "But what if we could?" The answer should have been, don't. Just don't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 June, 2020, 09:54:47 AM
Promare

There is a lot to like about this film.  The animation is top class, the design and colours a fantastic and it's even funny in places.  Nevertheless, it is an assault on the senses going at 100mph from start to finish never taking a breath and just barraging me with constant, frenetic movement.  I found it hard to watch and the narrative was too generic for me to forgive it jumping up and down, shouting and waving its arms at me in a desperate attempt to insure that I don't turn away for even a millisecond.  I also think it may have queer baited.  The soundtrack was abrasive too.  It's a damn shame the film couldn't take 20 minutes extra to calm down and just reflect on itself, because otherwise there might have been lots to love.

The friend I watched with it said it had excellent pacing, but I entirely disagree.  A film that is going full pelt all the way through is badly paced.  Good pacing is not a constant.  It ebbs and it flows.  No doubt it is where the concept of the three act structure comes from.

I'll be clear, there are slow moments in the film, but they are peppered here and they fail to slow the film down.  I think it's largely due to the need to have everything, including the camera, in constant motion in the action scenes (which there is an over abundance of).

In the end I feel like I have missed out and I'll add it to the list of recent anime films that just fail to charm me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 June, 2020, 04:27:10 PM
I rewatched Spielberg's take on The War of the Worlds the other day. I used to really dislike it, in part because it had Tom Cruise in it, and I struggled to reconcile it against the beloved book.

However, it's a bit of a grower, it seems.  I really enjoyed it this time.  For example, [spoiler]despite applying a critical eye to the construction and pacing of the first Martian War Machine scene, I was still very much caught up in the terror as people ran away from the heat ray.

Spielberg lingers on a woman's face as she flees in abject terror and desperation, moments before she is turned to dust, and there's something quite horrible and affecting about that which has you really feeling for the predicament of the crowd, and Cruise's character. 

Then he gets home in utter shock, and his kids are all like "what have you got all over you?" and he realises it's basically dessicated people. [/spoiler] Grim, but brutally effective.

And it's that [spoiler]emotion that helped carry me through on this viewing.  I think previously I was more intent on the spectacle, and of seeing the glorious War Machines on the big screen. This time I took note of Cruise's acting.  While I'm not a massive fan of his, I was actually quite impressed by his range.  He was utterly convincing as the layabout good-for-nothing poor father figure. Then he totally sold me re someone in shock having seen his friends and his town turned to dust and rubble. Then he very much portrayed a man having to compartmentalise that to get a plan in place and get his kids to safely quickly.  Brilliant stuff.

It doesn't end there of course - later on there's having to relinquish his son, the tension between him and Robbins in the cellar, [/spoiler] and so on.

It's not always effective though.  That scene in [spoiler]the cellar with the one-eyed robot snake having a look around, while cleverly paced and put together, dragged on a bit. Also, there's a sense that the film peters out in the closing 10 minutes or so.[/spoiler].

I did reconsider how it used elements of the original novel though, which I thought were by-and-large successful. [spoiler]

Heat ray - check. 
Killer tripods - check. 
Death, destruction, devastation - check.
Vast swathes of mankind reeling wildy about not knowing where to go or what to do - check.
The military largely useless against the invader - check.
Trapped in a collapsed building as the Martians rove about above - check.
The Martians draining folk of blood - check.
The Red Weed - check.
The vicar and the artillery man - check, but both of these came as one person, Tim Robbins' character.
Reflections upon the human condition - check.
And of course, ultimately being killed by bacteria - check.
[/spoiler]

So overall, I'm much happier about accepting it into the WotW media canon than previously, especially after that godawful BBC attempt set in the original Edwardian era which fell so bloody flat, plus that FX version set in present day that bore little or no resemblance other than the title.

The Spielberg film is probably the best adaptation of the book we're likely to see grace our cinema/TV screens.

The best overall adaptation though, is STILL Jeff Wayne's 'The War of the Worlds' musical though -  the stage show is also just EPIC.

What did you folk think of the Spielberg version?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 June, 2020, 04:33:35 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 10 June, 2020, 04:27:10 PM
The Spielberg film is probably the best adaptation of the book we're likely to see grace our cinema/TV screens.

I like it a lot. As I've (doubtless) said before: Wells' book is about hubris and the humbling of the pre-eminent military/imperial power in the world. Why the hell wouldn't you do a version set in the US...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 June, 2020, 04:38:05 PM
I've been a fan of Spielberg's take since it was released. I don't have any issues with Tom Cruise, he's a fine actor, and plays his part convincingly in this as well. The whole first half is stunning. We've seen an awful lot of big budget alien invasion film and TV in the last few years, but back when this was released, it was still kind of novel. Things are more uneven in the second half.

One element I will never get over is the characterisation of his son, who is just goddawful annoying, but Dakota Fanning more than makes up for that. If the film peters out, it's because the book peters out, but kudos to the screenwriters for holding fast to the original ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Citi-Def_Joe on 10 June, 2020, 04:52:07 PM
Last weekend I watched Maleficent: Mistress of Evil which was not as good as the first one (which  i kind of enjoyed  :-[ ) but the kid liked it and it passed some time while i shovelled pizza in to my face. Some very ropey CGI....
Sunday night I got to watch Crawl which I have wanted to see since it came out in the cinema, and boy did I enjoy it. Fun, a ash of gore,  nice upping of tension with lots of "out of the frying pan in to the fire" moments and concise (sub 90 mins) a perfect daft film for a weekend with a couple of beers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 June, 2020, 05:01:31 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 June, 2020, 04:38:05 PM
I've been a fan of Spielberg's take since it was released. I don't have any issues with Tom Cruise, he's a fine actor, and plays his part convincingly in this as well. The whole first half is stunning. We've seen an awful lot of big budget alien invasion film and TV in the last few years, but back when this was released, it was still kind of novel. Things are more uneven in the second half.

One element I will never get over is the characterisation of his son, who is just goddawful annoying, but Dakota Fanning more than makes up for that. If the film peters out, it's because the book peters out, but kudos to the screenwriters for holding fast to the original ending.

Spot-on Wedgski, especially with regard to the end of the book.  It's a very fine adaptation, the best one so far, but I think the son's characterisation as an infuriating prick could have been saved simply by having him stay dead.  I actually believed his actions as person, but I also believed they had dire consequences, until they didn't. A 50% win for Cruise would have been enough for me.   

Not mad about Tim Robbins' whole bit either, but ehhn.

And yeah Shaolin_monkey, that opening attack is absolutely terrifying, no matter how many times I watch it: I find the whole atmosphere from the lightning strikes onwards to perfectly catch that sense of powerlessness in the face of unreality intruding on our lives that we've all had a taste of lately.  That Spielberg can shoot a mood.

And while I would never consciously list Cruise as an actor I like, he has a disturbing habit of (a). picking great movies to be in and (b). working his tiny little arse off in them. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 June, 2020, 05:06:12 PM
Quote from: Citi-Def_Joe on 10 June, 2020, 04:52:07 PM
Last weekend I watched Maleficent: Mistress of Evil which was not as good as the first one (which  i kind of enjoyed  :-[ ) but the kid liked it and it passed some time while i shovelled pizza in to my face. Some very ropey CGI....

I didn't care for the film (or the first one for that matter), but I thought the CGI was insanely good.  The complex designs of the Fae were just spectacularly well animated - the featherwork alone!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 June, 2020, 05:07:00 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 June, 2020, 05:01:31 PM
And while I would never consciously list Cruise as an actor I like, he has a disturbing habit of (a). picking great movies to be in and (b). working his tiny little arse off in them.

I don't think I've ever actively sought out a movie specifically because Cruise is in it — in fact, I actively avoided him for about a decade after someone made me sit through Days of Thunder — but in the last twenty-plus years, I've seen quite a lot of movies he's been in, and I don't think he's ever been bad in any of them, and been excellent in several.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 10 June, 2020, 08:40:39 PM
The kids absolutely ruin War of the Worlds for me.
There's loads I really like about the film but I gnash my teeth every time that bloody kid wants to stop the car and then walk about half a mile for a piss.
If aliens had invaded when I was a kid I'd have pissed myself in the car.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 June, 2020, 01:41:04 AM
Yeah, definitely annoying, particularly the teenager. I think that's another thing that put me off the film initially.

However, on second viewing (well, probably fifth viewing now) I can see why Spielberg included them. He needed a hook other than just a bloke wandering around experiencing the horror. There had to be a goal (get the kids to Boston), and a sense of jeopardy (protect the kids).

I think they were also essential for the character arc. He was clearly seen as useless and unreliable, and this pained him, particularly when the brother and sister turned to each other for comfort, cutting their father out altogether, right in front of him.

As the film progressed, this relationship changed, firstly 'cos the son cleared off, but then also when he had to kill the dude in the cellar to keep his daughter safe. Then she went to him to give him comfort after he sat there on the stairs shell shocked from having to take a person's life. This showed recognition of what he needed then, but also that he was a father prepared to go to any lengths to protect his child.

I think they were irritating, but perhaps made to be deliberately so. We may not have connected to Cruise's character otherwise.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 June, 2020, 10:24:09 AM
Capricorn One

What I find interesting about this film is its parallel to the fake moon landing conspiracy.  When I read the synopsis of the plot I thought that maybe they were inspired by the conspiracy theory, but looking into it I can say that isn't the case.  The script was written and film began production before the first instance of theory was published.  It's also too close to say (even tongue-in-cheek) that the conspiracy theory came from the film.  It's just kinda weird.

The film itself is okay.  Very silly.  I thought it was meant to be comedy at times and that wasn't due to joke telling astronaut.  There was some good dialogue, it served its premise well enough and things threaded together into a logical conclusion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 June, 2020, 10:31:27 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 June, 2020, 10:24:09 AM
Capricorn One

What I find interesting about this film is its parallel to the fake moon landing conspiracy.  When I read the synopsis of the plot I thought that maybe they were inspired by the conspiracy theory, but looking into it I can say that isn't the case.  The script was written and film began production before the first instance of theory was published.  It's also too close to say (even tongue-in-cheek) that the conspiracy theory came from the film.  It's just kinda weird.
I have no doubt whatsoever that fake landing conspiracy theories were doing the rounds by mid-late 1970's.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 June, 2020, 10:52:29 AM
Anyone seen Underwater?

I've a voucher for a movie download and was thinking this might be worth a watching?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 June, 2020, 01:48:23 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 June, 2020, 10:31:27 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 June, 2020, 10:24:09 AM
Capricorn One

What I find interesting about this film is its parallel to the fake moon landing conspiracy.  When I read the synopsis of the plot I thought that maybe they were inspired by the conspiracy theory, but looking into it I can say that isn't the case.  The script was written and film began production before the first instance of theory was published.  It's also too close to say (even tongue-in-cheek) that the conspiracy theory came from the film.  It's just kinda weird.
I have no doubt whatsoever that fake landing conspiracy theories were doing the rounds by mid-late 1970's.

The script was finished in '72 and the first published instance (and likely progenitor) of the conspiracy theory was '76.  The writer of the film didn't seem to bring up the conspiracy theories when talking about the film, his motivations being more for commentary.  I think it's just a weird coincidence.  I would like to think one inspired the other, but that doesn't seem entirely credible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 June, 2020, 01:51:45 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 June, 2020, 10:52:29 AM
Anyone seen Underwater?

I've a voucher for a movie download and was thinking this might be worth a watching?

I liked it a lot, but got the impression nobody else did particularly! A big criticism seems to be that it's a bit too reminiscent of other sci-fi horrors from way back in the day, but I personally saw that as a plus because I have a bottomless appetite for that sort of thing. Results may vary!

Had another Star Wars Wednesday yesterday and watched episodes 7-9. Nothing new to be said about those under the sun I'm sure, but I had a great time and enjoyed it immensely. Has been great watching through them all and now I've run out of Star Wars films I'll need to find something else, maybe time to do a big Star Trek movie rewatch seeing as I can't remember which couple I missed at the time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 11 June, 2020, 06:33:32 PM
Yeah, I really really liked Underwater. Its a paranoid monster movie, that is never less than thrilling, has one or two really standout moments, and a surprise thing that turns up at a surprising time to give you a surprise, which depending on your reaction to early twentieth century and contemporary pop culture will either thrill you to the bottom of your socks, or make you go "meh". I squealed a little and did a little bounce.

Very much want a sequel.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 12 June, 2020, 05:35:20 AM
A double bill of Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. Had a blast watching these. A real good time. First time for both. Surprised how different they they were from the 1st and it's remake. I also know now where all those 90:s shooters got their brilliant onliners from  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 June, 2020, 08:35:45 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 12 June, 2020, 05:35:20 AM
A double bill of Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. Had a blast watching these. A real good time. First time for both. Surprised how different they they were from the 1st and it's remake. I also know now where all those 90:s shooters got their brilliant onliners from  :D

Two fantastically entertaining films.  I have intended on watching the remake but never got around to it.  The first two seasons of Ash vs. the Evil Dead are pretty good as well (didn't watch the third).

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Such a silly film.  It's still enjoyable.  I did watch it, in part, because of the Face the Music trailer.  Sadly I'm not left with much optimism for a third film.  I'm not seeing what a third film, 30 years on, can bring to the table.  Also, am I the only one that think Keanu Reeves seems perpetually sad.  There is some deep melancholy about him as a person.  It is completely absent from Excellent Adventure but it's in most of the stuff I've seen him in since, including in person stuff.  My brother reckons it might have something to do with River Phoenix's death.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 June, 2020, 02:07:03 PM
Bliss on Shudder. I like Joe Begos a lot from his appearances at Frightfest, he's always a very likeable and entertaining chap. Saying that I've yet to really love one of his films, (Almost Human was pretty dull and although I really like VFW even that had really murky and difficult to follow action - still to watch The Mind's Eye which I hear is pretty good though).

This again had things I really liked (one painting sequence in particular has some incredible score and is genuinely hypnotically intense and brilliant) but it feels like a long time to spend with what are, to be honest, the kind of characters you'd find too annoying to spend 5 minutes with if you got cornered by them in the pub. Overall it just feels like it's trying too hard to be grimy and edgy but when it does occasionally loosen up it's quite impressive, so maybe worth a watch for the good stuff if it's your kind of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 13 June, 2020, 11:03:48 AM
Artemis Fowl on that there Disney+.

Oh, dear. I think there might be a good film in there, but the one released isn't it.

It came to something when the part I feared the most - Josh Gadd playing the mightly Mulch Diggums - was a highlight of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 13 June, 2020, 04:40:33 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 13 June, 2020, 11:03:48 AM
Artemis Fowl on that there Disney+.

Oh, dear. I think there might be a good film in there, but the one released isn't it.

It came to something when the part I feared the most - Josh Gadd playing the mightly Mulch Diggums - was a highlight of the film.

(https://i.imgur.com/jDJGdAw.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 June, 2020, 06:11:53 PM
Speaking of Disney

National Treasure

This film is stupid.  Nicolas Cage is so aghast and offended at the idea of stealing the American Declaration of Independence that he ends up stealing the American Declaration of Independence.  The rest of the film is pretty dumb anyway and I wasn't expecting anything other than dumb, but that plot point is so fucking moronic.  On the plus side, Sean Bean survived a film.

My god it was stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 13 June, 2020, 07:37:52 PM
DDD - Bravo, sir.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 June, 2020, 07:55:12 PM
Mad Max (1979). Mad Max is one of those rare films that stands up completely. I still find it thrilling and disturbing. There is a slow build-up of tension that tends to be lacking in modern films. Everyone one of the cast elevates the film far beyond what it should be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 June, 2020, 11:35:43 AM
National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Less stupid than the first film, but more boring.  Nicolas Cage got to Nicolas Cage in this one and it was awful.

Moonwalkers

Comedy about Ron Perlman and Rupert Grint trying to fake the moonlanding.  It was OK.  I didn't have any major problems with it despite it being largely unremarkable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 15 June, 2020, 01:16:41 PM
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, must be decades since I watched this one! Enjoyed it, yeah it's slow and has dated in a lot of ways but I found it really absorbing and the big long slow sequences were pretty hypnotic to watch (I was sleepy and spaced out at the time so it fitted my mood).

Young Adult, which was not what I expected. Having had plenty of brushes with mental illness both in my own life and with family members it struck me that it's quite rare for a film to portray a character in this way, in that it isn't scared to show the character and her behavior as unlikable. There are definitely other films that do it, it maybe just struck me with this one because I didn't know what it was about going in and was expecting something lighter and funnier so it took me by surprise a bit. It means it really won't be for everyone but I know that when I was at my very lowest the ways I treated the people close to me definitely wasn't sympathetic so it was refreshing and unusual (and occasionally a bit painful) to see that particular brand of 'unwell' being depicted. I liked it.

For a change of tack I then watched Mulan, I don't often bother with the animated Disney offerings but the trailer for the live action version genuinely looks great so I thought I'd see the original. Enjoyed it, parts of it were great and lovely to look at, even if it did occasionally remind me why that brand of Disney isn't necessarily my thing (I forgot they have songs!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 15 June, 2020, 01:19:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 June, 2020, 07:55:12 PM
Mad Max (1979).

That reminds me - I watched Mad Max: Fury Road a few days back, in glorious 3D on my PSVR.

It's only the second time I've seen it, the first being at the cinema. I had forgotten what a relentless, bonkers, batshit crazy film it is.

The real stars of the show are Charlie's Theron and the other women, plus that young lad that switches sides. Hardy is a monosyllabic non-entity really, but that's ok.  The others more than make up for him.

Anyway, great film - thoroughly enjoyed the second viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 June, 2020, 01:55:22 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 June, 2020, 01:19:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 June, 2020, 07:55:12 PM
Mad Max (1979).

That reminds me - I watched Mad Max: Fury Road a few days back, in glorious 3D on my PSVR.

It's only the second time I've seen it, the first being at the cinema. I had forgotten what a relentless, bonkers, batshit crazy film it is.

The real stars of the show are Charlie's Theron and the other women, plus that young lad that switches sides. Hardy is a monosyllabic non-entity really, but that's ok.  The others more than make up for him.

Anyway, great film - thoroughly enjoyed the second viewing.

Just an astonishing movie. The imagery, sound.

I think I saw it three times in the cinema, but I haven't really appreciated just what an oddity, and bonkers bit of Gonzo cinema it is. No other filmmaker makes movies like George Miller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 June, 2020, 10:14:05 AM
Artemis Fowl, hard to judge because I'm really not the target audience! Feels very messy so I couldn't really get into it, but kids might not care about that stuff and could possibly just enjoy it as a colourful adventure film. Watched it because quite often I do enjoy that stuff myself, but this just didn't grab me. Definitely feels like something where if dumping it on Disney+ wasn't an option it might have just gotten shelved, because I can't imagine it standing shoulder to shoulder with similar fare at the cinema.

Like I say though, clearly not aimed at me and kids will probably like it! I definitely didn't actively dislike it, was just a bit numb about the whole thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 June, 2020, 11:13:45 AM
Quote from: Rately on 15 June, 2020, 01:55:22 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 June, 2020, 01:19:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 June, 2020, 07:55:12 PM
Mad Max (1979).

That reminds me - I watched Mad Max: Fury Road a few days back, in glorious 3D on my PSVR.

It's only the second time I've seen it, the first being at the cinema. I had forgotten what a relentless, bonkers, batshit crazy film it is.

The real stars of the show are Charlie's Theron and the other women, plus that young lad that switches sides. Hardy is a monosyllabic non-entity really, but that's ok.  The others more than make up for him.

Anyway, great film - thoroughly enjoyed the second viewing.

Just an astonishing movie. The imagery, sound.

I think I saw it three times in the cinema, but I haven't really appreciated just what an oddity, and bonkers bit of Gonzo cinema it is. No other filmmaker makes movies like George Miller.
It's an incredible spectacle. The sheer *colour* of it all (which is ironic given how well the black and white version was received -- not for me, that one). Weird and interesting storytelling, with the titular character not much more than an instigator, and the real character arcs reserved for everyone else, even the bad guys. It's almost like they shot the prequel to an as-yet unfilmed *actual* Mad Max story *first*. And then the action, which is every bit as good as the originals. It took me a second watch to really understand what they were going for, but I've enjoyed it several times since then. Big screen, lights down, surround sound pumped up...it's pretty unique.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 June, 2020, 11:36:05 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 17 June, 2020, 11:13:45 AM
Quote from: Rately on 15 June, 2020, 01:55:22 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 15 June, 2020, 01:19:22 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 June, 2020, 07:55:12 PM
Mad Max (1979).

That reminds me - I watched Mad Max: Fury Road a few days back, in glorious 3D on my PSVR.

It's only the second time I've seen it, the first being at the cinema. I had forgotten what a relentless, bonkers, batshit crazy film it is.

The real stars of the show are Charlie's Theron and the other women, plus that young lad that switches sides. Hardy is a monosyllabic non-entity really, but that's ok.  The others more than make up for him.

Anyway, great film - thoroughly enjoyed the second viewing.

Just an astonishing movie. The imagery, sound.

I think I saw it three times in the cinema, but I haven't really appreciated just what an oddity, and bonkers bit of Gonzo cinema it is. No other filmmaker makes movies like George Miller.
It's an incredible spectacle. The sheer *colour* of it all (which is ironic given how well the black and white version was received -- not for me, that one). Weird and interesting storytelling, with the titular character not much more than an instigator, and the real character arcs reserved for everyone else, even the bad guys. It's almost like they shot the prequel to an as-yet unfilmed *actual* Mad Max story *first*. And then the action, which is every bit as good as the originals. It took me a second watch to really understand what they were going for, but I've enjoyed it several times since then. Big screen, lights down, surround sound pumped up...it's pretty unique.

I play it through a Projector, bargain basement one which does the job until I can upgrade, and through a Sonos Playbar. Lovely sound system. Big images, big noise and spectacle.

Have yet to watch the black and white version, but I'll definitely be getting around to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 18 June, 2020, 09:59:20 AM
I really struggled with Fury Road myself.  I saw it in the cinema and after an hour I suddenly realised how bored I was.  To me it just seemed like cars bouncing off of a truck for a couple of hours.  I don't tend to like films set in deserts though as they just feel like one endless scene.

I think the issue for me is that if you put on a random ten secs of that film I'd have no idea what part of the film it was from.  I think films need different scenes and sets to help them feel like they are moving.  Unless you've got amazing dialogue.

That said, it is definitely due a second watch on a comfier sofa and with a better choice of snacks.

Anyway, recent watches.

The Omen 1, 2 and 3.   1 and 2 are still good.  Very creepy, great actors.  3 is better than I remembered but has the weakest ending this side of the third Predator film.

The Quiet Earth (1985).  Does the whole 'last man on Earth' thing quite well.  The set up is great and the actor does a good job of conveying a survival mentality while also going mad.  It kind of tails off a bit but I enjoyed it overall.

Dinner Rush (2000).  A great indie film about a restaurant that is run by a possibly Mafia-connected guy.  Has a ton of great actors in it and is just a very enjoyable watch from start to finish.  Mark Margolis as an art critic is just sensational.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 June, 2020, 10:49:38 AM
Continuing a bit of a Star Trek rewatch watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan this morning, and it really is brilliant isn't it? The dialogue is sharp, the performances from the crew are great, the whole theme of them being older and facing mortality, the James Horner music, the horrible brain leeches that haunted me as a kid...a stone cold classic and perfect Star Trek movie. Not to mention the fact I've never gotten through the last chunk without crying and this was no different!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 18 June, 2020, 11:34:53 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 18 June, 2020, 10:49:38 AM
Continuing a bit of a Star Trek rewatch watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan this morning, and it really is brilliant isn't it? The dialogue is sharp, the performances from the crew are great, the whole theme of them being older and facing mortality, the James Horner music, the horrible brain leeches that haunted me as a kid...a stone cold classic and perfect Star Trek movie. Not to mention the fact I've never gotten through the last chunk without crying and this was no different!

I've seen the movie over the years in bits and pieces, and really need to get around to sitting down and watching it uninterrupted.

Vividly remember the final few scenes, though. Incredible, emotional stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 June, 2020, 12:32:02 PM
Quote from: repoman on 18 June, 2020, 09:59:20 AM
The Quiet Earth (1985).  Does the whole 'last man on Earth' thing quite well.  The set up is great and the actor does a good job of conveying a survival mentality while also going mad.  It kind of tails off a bit but I enjoyed it overall.

How did you like the ending?

The Witches of Eastwick

I watched this because of the Mad Max talk.  I had a look at George Miller's filmography and I never realised he directed the film.  I remember enjoying it loads as a kid, but haven't watched it since.  It's an odd film.  There is very little exposition to the film so it has an enigmatic quality.  It isn't a straightforward film, but I found it hard to see it saying anything.  There is a "be careful what you wish for" quality to it, but that isn't entirely realised.  There are a lot of threads to pull on that don't necessarily go anywhere and because it's not just a straightforward film about witches summoning a Jack Nicholson (I am not entirely sure what he is in the film) I don't think I can take it on face value.  It's also not a bad film.  That all just makes it extremely esoteric.  I really enjoyed it and was very glad I revisited it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 18 June, 2020, 08:30:30 PM
Goliath Awaits. In 1981 a diving team stumbles across the sunken wreckage of a luxury liner torpedoed by a U-boat in 1939 - and, impossibly, the colony of survivors who have lived down in the gloom ever since...

Think this first appeared on my radar when mentioned in reference to our own Leviathan, and there's very much a similar vibe, although Goliath is working with a fairly meagre budget (yay comics!)

Nobody can help a low budget; the real trouble is, the script's fairly functional, with few memorable lines or scenes in the whole 3-hour run-time - though there are some nice scenes towards the end. Best thing about it is Sir Christopher Lee as leader of Goliath's crew (that resonant bass voice giving gravitas to some occasionally mediocre lines) and John Carradine's scene-stealing turn as a fruity old thesp.

A bit slow and sometimes turgid, but certainly original and sometimes really atmospheric. Worth a go... just.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 19 June, 2020, 01:30:47 AM
Goliath Awaits was a tv miniseries, hence the deathly slow pace and excessive running time.

Blood Quantum - I am done with zombies to the point that if they're in games, movies or tv shows, it's an automatic pass from me, so why I watched this I cannot possibly say, but I am glad I did because it is pretty good.  Native Americans find themselves immune to the zombie virus, so fortify their reservation and dig in to wait out the end of the world, but as usual THE WHITE MAN has other ideas.  There's obviously a whole heap of metaphor going on here with the Native Americans hiding from an infection brought to them by white settlers - at one point someone burns a blanket just to make sure you get it - as well as a good dollop of self-awareness in things like the now-obligatory person who kills zombies with a sword ("I have no need of guns when I KNOW THE BLADE"), but the relatively low stakes make it feel like an episode of one of hose zombie tv shows, albeit a good one, and one with lots of gore - like seeing people get their ripped-out guts eaten by zombies?  This has your back.  Love seeing people get a chainsaw to the face?  This has your back.  Love to see pregnant zombie ladies swinging their dead zombie babies around like a mace?  Get some help you fuckin weirdo.

Domain - this seemed a bit crass, being a film about seven people trapped in isolated bunkers to wait out a pandemic while getting increasingly paranoid and only able to communicate with arseholes on the internet, but it was apparently made in 2017.  It tips its hand too early - even if you don't just guess after years of reading Future Shocks - what the twist is, and the mechanics of how/why it all supposedly works make no sense, but it commits to its bit and is satisfyingly dark right to the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 19 June, 2020, 10:16:44 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 18 June, 2020, 12:32:02 PM

How did you like the ending?


I was okay with it.  I think by the time it came I was ready for the film to be over and a film that weird was never going to have a normal ending!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 June, 2020, 06:18:18 PM
Quote from: repoman on 19 June, 2020, 10:16:44 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 18 June, 2020, 12:32:02 PM

How did you like the ending?


I was okay with it.  I think by the time it came I was ready for the film to be over and a film that weird was never going to have a normal ending!

Can't argue with that :)

Muppet Treasure Island

It's got Muppets.  It's got Tim Curry.  It's not as good as the Muppet's Christmas Carol movie.  I don't think I need to say more than that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2020, 09:28:37 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 June, 2020, 06:18:18 PM
It's not as good as the Muppet's Christmas Carol movie. 

Very little is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 20 June, 2020, 08:58:46 AM
Gemini Man

A not-too-bad action thriller directed by Ang Lee and starring Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Clive Owen.
I enjoyed it but it felt really dated somehow - like it could have been sitting in a drawer for ten years. There's some pretty dodgy (and unnecessary) CGI going on and the film is spoiled pretty badly by the trailer and promo material.
Smith and Winstead are both good and Owen is his usual wooden self (this time with a dodgy American accent).
All in all, pretty fun but could have done with a better action director and a better baddie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 June, 2020, 12:53:42 PM
Psiconautas, los niños olvidados
aka Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

This was an experience.  Really bleak.  Wonderfully animated.  I don't know what to say about it.  We follow three children trying to escape their miserable lives in an awful community paralleled and the hardship of Birdboy who has an obligation and demons to combat.  These are heavy themes and it is jam packed with them and others from start to finish.  It's presentation comes across as very child friendly.  In many ways I felt like I was being held close and told "no, it's not going to be alright".  I really enjoyed it, despite the despair.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 20 June, 2020, 02:23:54 PM
Jaws Been years since I last saw it. Starts quite mild, but manages to ramp it up quite alot one hour in. At one point I got me a jump scare in the middle of a zip of coffee... Luckily the rug looks alright now after cleaning it. That aside, I really enjoyed watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2020, 02:55:40 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 20 June, 2020, 02:23:54 PM
Jaws Been years since I last saw it. Starts quite mild, but manages to ramp it up quite alot one hour in. At one point I got me a jump scare in the middle of a zip of coffee... Luckily the rug looks alright now after cleaning it. That aside, I really enjoyed watching it.

Never gets dull,  not for a second.  One of the most rewatchable films ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 June, 2020, 04:35:36 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 June, 2020, 08:58:46 AM
Gemini Man

I preferred the bloke with the digital watch what made him all invisible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWLDa5DnpQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2020, 05:25:53 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 20 June, 2020, 04:35:36 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 20 June, 2020, 08:58:46 AM
Gemini Man

I preferred the bloke with the digital watch what made him all invisible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWLDa5DnpQ)

Now may not be the time to confess that I had assumed that the Will Smith version was a cinema re-do of exactly that...

Still, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, you say?  I developed a very bad old-man crush on her over the course of Season 3 of the wonderful Fargo, so may have to give this a watch (geddit).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 June, 2020, 08:44:03 PM
Mad Max 2. Continuing on from the first film the world has degenerated to bands of bandits and savages scavenging fuel to keep their war vehicles running. I still love this film. The vehicles are works of violent art and you can't help but feel a profound sense of loss when Max's GT Falcon goes up in flames. Even though the world has turned to crap there is an underlying sense of hope to the film.

On a side note, I learned a little history about Mad Max as there was an introduction to the film by Leonard Maltin. I never knew that the first film wasn't well-received in America, that it had been dubbed to get rid of the Aussi accents and that Mad Max didn't get any traction in the US until this second film was released.

On a side, side note, ever since I saw this way back when I've used the phrase 'much as you want ka-junk ka-junk' any time someone in my family asks for more of something. My wife watched with me today and this was the first time she realised that this is where I took the phrase from.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 June, 2020, 09:50:18 AM
The Money Pit

Starring Tom Hanks and Shelly Long, this is a comedy about a couple buying a house that turns out to be more than they bargained for.  It's mostly slapstick humour, with one impressive set-piece in particular that did remind me of Buster Keaton.  It's a cute enough film and I have no complaints.

I had only seen Shelly Long in Cheers before and I really didn't like her character in that program.  I never thought of her much as an actor because of it.  Apparently it was just the character I didn't like, because she is very good in this film.  I really liked her character to the point that I found her more likeable than Tom Hanks.

Overall, it was enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 June, 2020, 11:23:42 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 20 June, 2020, 08:44:03 PM
On a side note, I learned a little history about Mad Max as there was an introduction to the film by Leonard Maltin. I never knew that the first film wasn't well-received in America, that it had been dubbed to get rid of the Aussi accents and that Mad Max didn't get any traction in the US until this second film was released.
This is why Yanks normally refer to it as just The Road Warrior.

One of the most disappointing things ever to happen to me was when I bough the Mad Max Trilogy (three films on two VHS) from a Virgin Megastore, rushed home to watch it and discovered it was the dubbed version. Arseholes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 June, 2020, 11:54:37 AM
I have the Mad Max blu ray set and even that has the American dub as the default setting. You have to go into the menu to select the original Aussie version.

I recently rewatched all the Mad Max films, along with my brother who had only seen the original and Fury Road.

They stand up remarkably well.

Mad Max does so much with so little. There's a great atmosphere to the film and it feels like a real effort has been made to make everything as interesting as possible. The bit part characters are almost grotesques. For example, when they go to the country for sanctuary there's no reason for them to be staying with the caliper legged granny and her man-child son other than it makes things more interesting and adds a bit of flavour.
There are some pacing problems but it's still pretty great.

Mad Max 2 is my favourite. It's the archetype and is such a tight, thrilling ride. The first film reminded me of Leone with its grotesque characters (particularly the scene at the train station) and this just doubles down on that.

Beyond Thunderdome has lots to like too. Everything about Barter Town is fantastic. It feels very Cursed Earth. I actually like the idea of the valley populated by kids and it's handled pretty well. The child actors are very good. The biggest problem is with the soundtrack. The theme for the kids is more childish and sappy than anything that's actually on the screen. I'd actually like to watch it with the soundtrack removed to see what a difference it makes.

Fury Road is just an assault on the senses and a fantastically realised vision. There are some great performances in the film but I'm not 100% sold on Hardy as Max. I don't think he has Gibson's charisma.

I rate 2 as the best one, closely followed by Fury Road, with MM1 and Thunderdome joint third.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 21 June, 2020, 05:20:28 PM
I, Robot

Another Will Smith vehicle but one I have a lot of time for. I don't think the Asimov association does the film many favours (I remember people getting bent about the Calvin portrayal. That and the product placement) but I think it's a really watchable Sci fi adventure.
The effects are showing their age a bit, but there's some nice design and Sonny the robot is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 June, 2020, 05:32:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 June, 2020, 09:50:18 AM
The Money Pit
It's mostly slapstick humour, with one impressive set-piece in particular that did remind me of Buster Keaton.

I still remember the inspired quicksand gag with the carpet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 June, 2020, 05:33:33 PM
I'd agree that I, Robot is watchable, but it is very by-the-numbers.  I'd agree that it does suffer from the Asimov association as well, because it doesn't hold a candle to his stories.  As a stand-alone film it's fine, if generic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 June, 2020, 09:27:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 June, 2020, 05:33:33 PM
I'd agree that I, Robot is watchable, but it is very by-the-numbers.  I'd agree that it does suffer from the Asimov association as well, because it doesn't hold a candle to his stories. 

You'd have to wonder why we haven't had a properly faithful R Daneel Olivaw TV series at this point, preferably with added Susan Calvin to give it more breadth. Caves of Steel etc. is the perfect meeting of Asimov's SF and Murder Mystery genii. Leave out the Foundation connections,  though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 June, 2020, 11:51:25 PM
Because that wouldn't be as cool as Will Smith jumping motorcycle while blasting robots with a submachine gun in each hand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 June, 2020, 09:35:03 AM
Caves of Steel is the only book of that series I've read so far, and that was a while ago.  But I did think that it would have been something better to adapt than I, Robot... from what I remember it was closer to that film anyway.  Still, Tips is right, they gotta have their action.  It tests well with the target demographic, after all.  And looks fantastic in the trailers.

My copy of I, Robot has the movie poster on the cover and I'm really disappointed.  Especially as much of my Asimov collection has that fantastic 70s/80s artwork on it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 June, 2020, 09:43:30 AM
The Core

I forgot for a moment that I watched this last night.  Partly because it came up here a week or two ago and partly because it came up in conversation with a friend, I decided to take the risk and give it a go.

I think it helped knowing it was stupid going in.  Because it is really stupid.  Nevertheless, it is fun.  I can think of less enjoyable disaster movies (I'm guessing that's its specific genre).  I even got invested in the characters.

It's certainly interesting watching it whilst we are in the midst of two global disasters. 

I'm somewhat interested in rewatching Deep Impact now.  I remember enjoying that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 June, 2020, 11:00:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 June, 2020, 09:43:30 AM
I'm somewhat interested in rewatching Deep Impact now.  I remember enjoying that one.

I've grown to like Deep Impact over the years despite its sappy fatalism: it actually delivers (more or less) on the global catastrophe it promises, and the 'ground level' characters and stories are well defined thanks in part to (depending on your Téa Leoni threshold) a really superb cast.

Notably Mimi Leder gives the best line to her hubby (IIRC, forgot his name) who plays Elijah Wood's tepid love-interest's father-in-law, as he notes the approaching cometary fragment that will kill him is named for his new son-in-law with a simple snarled 'Biederman'.

Also arguably the film that made the Obama presidency possible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Watched a bunch over the weekend, of varying quality!

2036 Origin Unknown, a Netflix sci-fi movie with Katee Sackhoff. I'll watch any sci-fi with Sackhoff in it (blame Battlestar) but this didn't really land for me. I liked a lot of it and think there's a good story in there somewhere but a bit messily told, maybe some more drafts to construct something leaner and tighter might have worked. It does have its moments and as a film that's largely just Sackhoff in a room on her ownshe carries it well, it's just a bit dull and its reveals feel clumsy.

Sequence Break, a horror on Shudder about an arcade cabinet repair guy who starts working on a mysterious game that starts doing...weird stuff. It plays out like a long Black Mirror episode really. It's pretty creepy and has some good ideas and genuinely icky moments, it also has a nice bumbling love story which gives it a lot of heart. It just feels again a bit dull and repetitive at times and the low budget is definitely felt in places. Interesting though, in that 'didn't love it but glad I watched it' sort of way.

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock - have to say, this made me think all that 'only the even numbered ST films are good' thinking is pretty flawed, because this was great. Really, really enjoyed it. Had seen it as a kid but going back it holds up very well, and is quite moving in places. I do very much love that the films are separated from the TV show by enough time that the age of the crew and the ship is a big aspect, when they assemble on the bridge in this one it really feels like a bunch of dads rocking up for a night on the town and I love that. Plus all the banter and the way the cast can deliver it to each other is really something. I remember loving IV (it was the first one I saw in the cinema) so looking forward to that next.

Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 June, 2020, 05:42:04 PM
I enjoyed Search for Spock quite a lot the first time I watched all the OS Trek films.  I didn't dislike 5 that much either.  I appreciate The Motion Picture, too.  So yeah, that only even number thing is horse crap.  I can't stand TOS but the films are all good romps that I enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 22 June, 2020, 06:08:26 PM
I've been rewatching the Mission: Impossible films with my brother (over WhatsApp).

I wasn't hugely enthusiastic but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed MI1.
I'd forgotten it was directed by Brian DePalma and it really does feel like a pretty classy action spy thriller.
The opening sequence is great and still quite shocking (poor Emilio), the restaurant scene is excellent and very tense and the much mimicked Pentagon heist is a great set piece.

MI2 on the other hand is absolute shit.
I never really got the John Woo thing and in this movie he bins all the MI tropes, other than the masks and makes something that feels more like Face/Off 2 than a Mission Impossible film.
It really is just rubbish with few redeeming qualities. On top of all that it feels incredibly dated with the excruciating nu-metal soundtrack (they even manage to ruin the iconic theme music).

MI3 is a return to form with an excellent turn from Philip Seymour Hoffman as a creepy, ice cold baddie.
There are double dealings, heists, a great supporting cast of IMF specialists and spectacular stunts.
I really enjoyed this one and it had me nailed to my chair from the excellent tension filled opening.

Ghost Protocol tomorrow night (we might leave it there as we've both seen the later ones recently).
After this we're doing Alien, Aliens Special Edition and Alien 3(blu ray assembly cut/special edition).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 22 June, 2020, 07:28:10 PM
Just remember not to think about how long the series has been going.

Romancing The Stone - boy, 1980s films are a trip now.  I remember this being well thought-of, but this was a cringe-inducing viewing experience in 2020 as I think I have - despite my best efforts - developed something akin to taste and/or empathy over the years, so watching characters who are clearly pricks get away with blue murder - often directly rewarded for being assholes - just doesn't seem cool or funny anymore.  The central romance is really unconvincing, which doesn't help matters.

Bounty Killer - cheapo post-apocalyptic action flick from 2013, a time before movies tried to get by on being so terrible that somebody might find them compelling.  It isn't good, but it feels like it's trying, and I think that should count for something.  It does have some good moments here and there, like the 'stagecoach' that's a caravan pulled along by motorcycles instead of horses, and has the odd good line or shot here and there.  I enjoyed this, and was surprised to get to the end and see it was based on a graphic novel.

The Mountain - Spencer Tracy plays Zachary Teller, an aging mountaineer who's watched many men die on the slopes of nearby murder mountain Mt Blanc and took the hint a decade ago, swearing never to climb again, but a crashed plane at the mountain's peak is rumored to have gold in its belly and this is too much temptation for Zachary's greedy brother, Christopher, who threatens to climb homicide heights on his own.  Robert Wagner is on fine form playing a greedy, cowardly, murderous piece of shit thug to the hilt, to the extent that I straight-up laughed when he got his.  Tracy plays a much simpler character and does most of the heavy lifting on the acting side, but they work well off each other.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 23 June, 2020, 09:09:34 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 June, 2020, 06:08:26 PM
I've been rewatching the Mission: Impossible films with my brother (over WhatsApp).

I wasn't hugely enthusiastic but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed MI1.
I'd forgotten it was directed by Brian DePalma and it really does feel like a pretty classy action spy thriller.
The opening sequence is great and still quite shocking (poor Emilio), the restaurant scene is excellent and very tense and the much mimicked Pentagon heist is a great set piece.

MI2 on the other hand is absolute shit.
I never really got the John Woo thing and in this movie he bins all the MI tropes, other than the masks and makes something that feels more like Face/Off 2 than a Mission Impossible film.
It really is just rubbish with few redeeming qualities. On top of all that it feels incredibly dated with the excruciating nu-metal soundtrack (they even manage to ruin the iconic theme music).

MI3 is a return to form with an excellent turn from Philip Seymour Hoffman as a creepy, ice cold baddie.
There are double dealings, heists, a great supporting cast of IMF specialists and spectacular stunts.
I really enjoyed this one and it had me nailed to my chair from the excellent tension filled opening.
MI2 is the only weak link in an amazingly high-quality franchise. The recent Chris McQuarrie ones are setting the standards for your modern techno-thriller, IMO. Cruise is never less than excellent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 23 June, 2020, 09:58:13 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 22 June, 2020, 07:28:10 PM

Romancing The Stone - boy, 1980s films are a trip now.  I remember this being well thought-of, but this was a cringe-inducing viewing experience in 2020 as I think I have - despite my best efforts - developed something akin to taste and/or empathy over the years, so watching characters who are clearly pricks get away with blue murder - often directly rewarded for being assholes - just doesn't seem cool or funny anymore.  The central romance is really unconvincing, which doesn't help matters.



I have a lot of love for it and watched it recently and still enjoyed it.  Feels like a proper movie.

I can't bring myself to watch Jewel of the Nile yet though.  I was always pretty disappointed by it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 June, 2020, 12:53:45 PM
Deep Impact

This film held up reasonably well.  There is a lot of silly in it and it is very American centric in that it has that 90's American egotism that looks a lot more quaint these days.  I'm not going to carry on watching disaster movies.  They are really weird to watch whilst we are experiencing disasters.  Mainly because it shows governments having some competence.  The film comes across as so optimistic despite its really bitter sweet ending.  I also remember it being more epic.  The film felt smaller, and that was a disappointment.

I don't know whether I will watch a film this evening.  I've been watching a film almost every evening for the last few years, mostly ones I hadn't seen before.  I feel a real need to break the habit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 23 June, 2020, 02:44:24 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM

Sequence Break, a horror on Shudder about an arcade cabinet repair guy who starts working on a mysterious game that starts doing...weird stuff. It plays out like a long Black Mirror episode really. It's pretty creepy and has some good ideas and genuinely icky moments, it also has a nice bumbling love story which gives it a lot of heart. It just feels again a bit dull and repetitive at times and the low budget is definitely felt in places. Interesting though, in that 'didn't love it but glad I watched it' sort of way.

SOLD!

(http://www.the80smovieclub.co.uk/images/nightmares1.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 23 June, 2020, 05:59:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!

It is great fun, and I'm sad that I'm unlikely to ever see it in the cinema again. Feeling your sternum vibrate to the roar of the wind adds to the experience!

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 June, 2020, 04:26:20 PM
In the Light of the Moon on Netflix

Avoid.

Totally ignores the grandfather paradox it creates, spoiling what was a decent time travel flick for anyone with even a passing knowledge of sci-fi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2020, 06:41:59 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 23 June, 2020, 05:59:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!

It is great fun, and I'm sad that I'm unlikely to ever see it in the cinema again. Feeling your sternum vibrate to the roar of the wind adds to the experience!

Regards,

Robin

I imagine it made a fantastic big screen big soundsystem movie! Wish I'd seen it at the time myself now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 26 June, 2020, 12:29:02 PM
Beverly hills cop Roughly 20 years since I watched it last time. Not sure why haven't watched a 20 times since. A really good action comedy. One thing I really like is how there's almost a buddy cop dynamic between Axel and everyone he meets. I'm guessing that Eddie Murphy is a  really cool dude to be around having a reason to do with it. Just feels like like they all had a really good time making the film.

That said. I've actually never seen his 48h. Gonne try hunt it down at some 2nd hand store.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 26 June, 2020, 02:53:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 26 June, 2020, 12:29:02 PM
That said. I've actually never seen his 48h. Gonne try hunt it down at some 2nd hand store.
You won't regret it. A fantastic film, and maybe his best performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 26 June, 2020, 04:48:28 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2020, 06:41:59 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 23 June, 2020, 05:59:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!

It is great fun, and I'm sad that I'm unlikely to ever see it in the cinema again. Feeling your sternum vibrate to the roar of the wind adds to the experience!

Regards,

Robin

I imagine it made a fantastic big screen big soundsystem movie! Wish I'd seen it at the time myself now.

Yes, and now I think about it, it wasn't just the physicality of the sound, it was almost a feeling you were there. When the characters are inside the vehicles looking out through screens, you're kind of looking through the screen with them, with the rain spattering on the window and roof around you.

Funny, I've seen a lot of really good films since then, but I still feel strongly about this one. If ever there was an argument for the cinema experience, Twister is it. Similarly, I saw Naked Lunch in a little fleapit of a cinema in Dublin, and a more perfect venue I cannot imagine. It could never be the same in, say, a modern flat furnished in Ikea sterility.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 June, 2020, 10:29:36 AM
The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot

I watched this because of its ridiculous title.  It sounds like a stupid but entertaining film.  It is not.  It is good.  Totally unexpected.  If you haven't seen it I'm going to recommend you do.  Whilst watching it I was reminded of the more esoteric story telling that has been found in the pages of 2000 AD.  I'd say its a calmly paced character study with a narrow scope and a welcome amount of depth.  It was also shot really well, with great lighting and framing.  This contends with Birdboy for the film that I have watched this year that has pleasantly surprised me most.

What is it about?  It's about the man who killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 27 June, 2020, 03:44:40 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 26 June, 2020, 02:53:01 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 26 June, 2020, 12:29:02 PM
That said. I've actually never seen his 48h. Gonne try hunt it down at some 2nd hand store.
You won't regret it. A fantastic film, and maybe his best performance.

Saw it this morning. Was good! Murphy was really good in it! :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 June, 2020, 06:10:16 PM
Father Ted: A Song for Europe. You say that's a television episode? Well someone at Netflix saw it and redid it as a film but set in Iceland. It now goes by the title Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Will Farrell and Rachel McAdam are a terrible duo that become Iceland's entry after all the others are killed in a mysterious explosion.

Typical Netflix stuff; overlong, not very funny and ultimately disappointing. The one bright spot is Pierce Brosnan as Farrell's very ashamed father.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 June, 2020, 09:18:18 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 26 June, 2020, 04:48:28 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2020, 06:41:59 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 23 June, 2020, 05:59:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!

It is great fun, and I'm sad that I'm unlikely to ever see it in the cinema again. Feeling your sternum vibrate to the roar of the wind adds to the experience!

Regards,

Robin

I imagine it made a fantastic big screen big soundsystem movie! Wish I'd seen it at the time myself now.

Yes, and now I think about it, it wasn't just the physicality of the sound, it was almost a feeling you were there. When the characters are inside the vehicles looking out through screens, you're kind of looking through the screen with them, with the rain spattering on the window and roof around you.

Seeing all the talk about this film I decided to watch Twister again myself. I've watched it at least once a year since I first saw it in a cinema that had recently upgraded its sound and it was frankly incredible. The sound is half the experience. You can't duplicate that in a flat at normal volumes, but the film is too good not to watch over. It's a favourite of mine and my wife's.

I think Twister may be the greatest action film of all time where science is the star.

On a tangent, if you love this film I would recommend the book Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling. An ecopunk novel about storm chasers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 28 June, 2020, 09:36:59 AM
ju on the grudge had a moment or two in the beginning which got me thinking "this is a bit creepy", but then it got lost on me. Never found the kid painted white scary at all. Still, I enjoyed the film's atmosphere. Has a nice little weird vibe going for it. Just wish it could'v been scary as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2020, 10:42:47 AM
ZOOTROPOLIS is a rather fun animated feature that adults can enjoy even without youngsters around. It's more than a little bit relevant just now and delivers a much more nuanced message than the usual "just be yourself!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 June, 2020, 11:46:05 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2020, 10:42:47 AM
ZOOTROPOLIS is a rather fun animated feature that adults can enjoy even without youngsters around. It's more than a little bit relevant just now and delivers a much more nuanced message than the usual "just be yourself!"

Probably my favourite modern Disney, a genuninely wonderful film with such a good heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 June, 2020, 12:27:41 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 28 June, 2020, 11:46:05 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 28 June, 2020, 10:42:47 AM
ZOOTROPOLIS is a rather fun animated feature that adults can enjoy even without youngsters around. It's more than a little bit relevant just now and delivers a much more nuanced message than the usual "just be yourself!"

Probably my favourite modern Disney, a genuninely wonderful film with such a good heart.

I absolutely, unapologetically, love it. Funny, warm, visually inventive, strong message,  catchy tune, Idris Elba as a Cape buffalo. One of the best movies of the last 20 years in any genre, along with The Incredibles.

And by coincidence I finally watched The Incredibles 2 last night. Definitely lots to like, good action and some fantastic design, but for a movie that took 14 years to make I do wish they'd come up with a plot that wasn't the exact same as the first one. A little more character development for the main cast, and a lot more fleshing out for the new heroes would have been nice. It starts very strongly, but then hands about half of the runtime to Jack Jack, which was probably a mistake, however funny his slapstick antics. The result was a fistful of abandoned threads and a weak and implausible conclusion.

Still fun, but falling short of its magnificent predecessor, which remains the high watermark of superhero cinema.

Also watched Artemis Fowl, against my better judgement. As with Frozen 2, Josh Gadd just walks away with this film, and I kept thinking I'd much rather be watching a Mulch Diggums feature, much as I'd have preferred an Olaf adventure to the F2 we got. Great character concept, wonderful performance and disturbing CGI visuals! 

I haven't read the books, so have no opinion on where things gang aglae, but it was definitely a terrible burden to place on such an inexperienced child actor to have to play a character as utterly insufferable as Artemis was written here. Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen had it easy compared to this.

That said, the world established was fun, I can certainly see the appeal, and some of the action set pieces were good. It does however finish about 30 minutes before the credits roll.  Aerial shot if Dunluce aside, quite why such a fuss was made about shooting this in Ireland when what's on screen makes it hard to believe anyone involved in the production design had ever even Googled the place, let alone set foot there, I don't rightly know. Considering the same was true of Hellboy 2, I wonder what the problem is?  If you can't make the Causeway Coast look magical with a bit of Second Unit footage you're in the wrong business.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 June, 2020, 04:32:32 PM
Rise of Skywalker.

Skipped this at the cinema, at which my wife expressed mild disappointment... so I relented in the absence of any consensus on last's night's viewing, and the film being included in my shiny new Disney+ sub.

What the fuck did I just watch?

I mean, Palpatine, who we have been given no indication, not one tiny hint, is involved at any point in the previous two movies is resurrected in the opening crawl. At only one point does anyone say "How can Palpatine be back?" and they literally get the answer "Cloning? Magic? I dunno."

The opening, what — quarter? Third? — of the movie is spent chasing after plot tokens that have absolutely no bearing on the plot, and genuinely make no sense into the bargain... it was awfully lucky that Rey happened to stand in the exact and only spot where the Death Star dagger would point to the gizmo, for example.

Rey gets, then loses, a Wayfinder gizmo, gets another one, uses it to go somewhere other than the place we've been told the fate of the galaxy depends on the Resistance finding, then destroys it. Except, oh, it's not destroyed, and then... GAAAAAH! FUCK!

Abrams continues his Star Trek habit of taking existing plot devices and deciding they can do whatever he needs them to do, regardless of any repercussions for story logic. Teleporters can send people halfway across the galaxy in Into Darkness (presumably instantly rendering spaceships obsolete) and here the Force can *takes deep breath* heal people, bring people back from the dead, bring down large flying vehicles, blow up large flying vehicles, allow Rey to detect the presence of Chewie on a massive starship when the plot requires her to go and find him, but not to tell whether he's on the much smaller ship she just blew up and the plot requires her to think he's dead, teleport objects across vast distances... I'm sure I've missed something, but by this point I just didn't care.

You have to completely disconnect your brain to watch this movie and treat each scene (all of which are beautifully visualised and realised) as some little mini-movie with no real relevance to what precedes or follows because, placed in sequence, most of it makes absolutely no sense.

To be fair, it wasn't a terrible way to pass an evening while you're knocking back a few G&Ts but I'm very pleased I didn't see it in the cinema, which is a fairly awful indictment of $275M movie. A noisy, empty spectacle devoid of logic or any real emotion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 28 June, 2020, 04:48:20 PM
Freaks on Netflix.

Pretty good, I could imagine this as a 2000AD limited series.
Although it is a bit similar to Stephen King's Firestarter.  :-*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 June, 2020, 05:15:50 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 June, 2020, 04:32:32 PM
Rise of Skywalker.
You have to completely disconnect your brain to watch this movie and treat each scene (all of which are beautifully visualised and realised) as some little mini-movie with no real relevance to what precedes or follows because, placed in sequence, most of it makes absolutely no sense.

Not a word of a lie there, Jim, but I still enjoyed it - perhaps because I did find the emotion in it. The otherwise pointless treasure-hunt storyline was there to give the main trio a decent chance to have adventures together, so I can understand why they went for it - and it gave Threepio his many moments to shine too, which I appreciated

Some of the unprecedented Force stuff you refer to is down to the unique circumstances of Rey and Ben's bond, and some of it is set up pretty well in The Last Jedi (teleporting things, for example): and I don't see a problem with the power of the Force being extended beyond the rather dull routine of fightin' real good, moving stuff and sort-of seeing the future. It's always worth remembering that Force telekinesis, acting across distances (Vader choking the Sheard), telepathy and super-speed were all introduced without warning in Empire Strikes Back, plus the Jedi in the Prequels keep muttering about how their ability to use the Force is diminished: so plenty of room for expansion. 

And as to Palp's return being down to 'cloning, dark science, magic', well, that's what a lot of SW has been down to thus far: even the 'technological terror' itself the Death Star turns out to have been powered by holy rocks. The problem for me is his presence in this trilogy full-stop, and allowing that it was inevitable the failure to properly seed his involvement in the previous two movies (although Ren's apparent communion with Darth Vader, a character we the audience know not to exist any more, was a decent hint). 

Other stuff is pure Abrams baloney, no question.  The hyperspace skipping-gibbberish, the dagger map, the starship-based planet-killing weapons... ugh, makes shite of the existing universe, same as his Star Trek.

But it could definitely have been a lot worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 June, 2020, 05:54:14 PM
Abrams back at the helm is a major reason I still haven't watched that film.  As someone else pointed out, Abrams can't finish anything.  He lays plot threads and mysteries and hooks and all his mystery bollocks, but doesn't know what to do with it.  So I am not surprised that I've heard nothing but condemnation when it comes to him attempting to wrap up a trilogy.

I may one day watch it when I'm coerced by someone else, but unless that happens I think I can live a happier life not having seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 28 June, 2020, 06:01:43 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 28 June, 2020, 04:48:20 PM
Freaks on Netflix.

Pretty good, I could imagine this as a 2000AD limited series.
Although it is a bit similar to Stephen King's Firestarter.  :-*

I enjoyed Freaks as well.
I've also been dipping into "hidden gems" tab on Netflix and watched a good few on there. They change the list every now and again but since lock down I've enjoyed:
Kayaking
Funny Cow
The siege of Jadotville
Beasts of no Nation
Shadow
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 June, 2020, 06:05:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2020, 05:54:14 PM
I may one day watch it when I'm coerced by someone else, but unless that happens I think I can live a happier life not having seen it.

Yeah. Having not really enjoyed either of the previous two movies, I very deliberately gave this one a miss. I never watch a movie with the intention of disliking it — life's too short. When this popped up on Disney+, I hoped my expectations had been sufficiently pre-lowered but apparently not.

I'm glad lots of other people enjoyed it more than I did, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 28 June, 2020, 06:24:35 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 28 June, 2020, 06:01:43 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 28 June, 2020, 04:48:20 PM
Freaks on Netflix.

Pretty good, I could imagine this as a 2000AD limited series.
Although it is a bit similar to Stephen King's Firestarter.  :-*

I enjoyed Freaks as well.
I've also been dipping into "hidden gems" tab on Netflix and watched a good few on there. They change the list every now and again but since lock down I've enjoyed:
Kayaking
Funny Cow
The siege of Jadotville
Beasts of no Nation
Shadow

Should check before posting (fecking auto correct)

It's Kajaki not Kayaking 😣
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 June, 2020, 06:55:01 PM
The Visit

It's one of those first person video perspective films, something I was a bit reticent about but ended up working well.

It concerns 2 youngsters going to visit their grandparents (estranged due to a falling out with their mother) and what happens on their visit. The video is essentially their documentary of their visit, as well as serving another function...

A very enjoyable if rather unsettling and disturbing film in places. It made me jump a couple of times although it's not just about the jump scares. The eldsters in the film are really good actors and the kids aren't that annoying. (Well the boy is a bit, but he's kind of supposed to be.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 June, 2020, 10:56:19 PM
There is a limit to how many times I can rewatch Marvel movies, Dr Who and Rick & Morty during lockdown, so I've been trying to expand my horizons a bit.

John Wick I'm usually not much of a fan of bloodthirsty revenge dramas but I couldn't ignore all the good stuff I've heard about this and it was free on Amazon Prime. I loved it! The film lives or dies by Keanu, and for me that guy can't put a foot wrong. Part 3 is free on Amazon but I may shell out £3.49 to rent part 2 first.

Booksmart Charming and funny coming of age drama with Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever. If you can squint a bit and pretend everyone is actually 18, this film has a lot of heart and some funny moments.

Downsizing Great concept but disappointing. My attention kept wandering to the ramifications of this tech, and I came up with about a dozen stories more interesting than what was happening on screen. The supporting cast was good, but I find Matt Damon a charisma-free black hole of dullness. The two rich characters were unconvincing too - I think they were supposed to be eccentric and quirky, but they came across as assholes for the first half of the film and then somehow morphed into genial grandpas.

Nice Guys Unlike Keanu, Russell Crowe is someone I don't particularly want to like, as I think he's a dick, but he's great in this. Could've done with less of the precocious kid, but good fun
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 June, 2020, 09:48:12 AM
What We Left Behind

Documentary about DS9 and a hypothetical Season 8 opening episode.
I love DS9, it is one of my favourite TV shows and is my favourite Star Trek.  It was nice to see the actors, but kinda sad to see the now dead ones.  It had a few funny moments.  Nevertheless it was meh. 

There wasn't a whole lot of substance behind it and it did, on occasions, resemble the vacuous, surface level shallowness of Behind The Music. 

The hypothetical episode was not good either and I'm happy that they don't have an opportunity to make it.  Frankly, too much time has passed. 

In the end it just made me feel sad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 June, 2020, 10:00:58 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 June, 2020, 06:41:59 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 23 June, 2020, 05:59:41 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 22 June, 2020, 04:50:29 PM
Twister, which I've never seen but is one of my wife's favourite films from her youth so whenever it came up she was incredulous that I'd ever watched it. Finally sorted that, and it's pretty damn good! Always love Paxton and him and Helen Hunt are both excellent, pretty much all the effects hold up surprisingly well, properly exciting and also very touching in places. Glad I finally saw it!

It is great fun, and I'm sad that I'm unlikely to ever see it in the cinema again. Feeling your sternum vibrate to the roar of the wind adds to the experience!

Regards,

Robin

I imagine it made a fantastic big screen big soundsystem movie! Wish I'd seen it at the time myself now.

Twister is being remade for 2022.

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a32964576/twister-remake-back-to-the-future-frank-marshall/

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 June, 2020, 10:05:46 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 29 June, 2020, 09:48:12 AM

The hypothetical episode was not good either and I'm happy that they don't have an opportunity to make it.  Frankly, too much time has passed. 


Yeah, wouldn't be something I'd like to see either.
DS9 had an almost perfect ending (switching the fates of Damarr and Garak would be the only change I'd make).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 June, 2020, 10:23:31 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 28 June, 2020, 09:36:59 AM
ju on the grudge had a moment or two in the beginning which got me thinking "this is a bit creepy", but then it got lost on me. Never found the kid painted white scary at all. Still, I enjoyed the film's atmosphere. Has a nice little weird vibe going for it. Just wish it could'v been scary as well.

It's been many years but I do remember it putting the scares up me, with one scare in particular sticking with me for a while - [spoiler]there's a point where a character hides like a kid under a bed sheet from the ghost in their flat, only to find the ghost is under the bed sheet with her. That I thought was really effective, making that safe space where since childhood we'd instinctively hide from the scary things no longer safe I thought was a great horror movie move[/spoiler]!

Nice to see people discovering Freaks on Netflix too, I saw it at a festival a while back and knowing absolutely nothing about what genre it was or what it was about going in there was a lot of mystery and I had a great time watching the plot reveal itself. It surprised me a lot, has a load of fresh feeling ideas that movie.

I watched The Jungle Book, the semi-live action Favreau one. It was really good I thought, really enjoyed it. I've always held a bit of a grudge against the animated one because as a kid I went to see Vice Versa with Fred Savage and was really excited to see it but the projectionist melted the reel 5 minutes in and they put on The Jungle Book instead as an apology. I was really upset about that, but that isn't really The Jungle Book's fault. Anyway, this was good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 29 June, 2020, 10:45:44 AM
Attempted to watch Exorcism at 60000 Feet.  Absolutely rubbish.  Bailed after 30 mins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 29 June, 2020, 12:08:43 PM
Quote from: repoman on 29 June, 2020, 10:45:44 AM
Attempted to watch Exorcism at 60000 Feet.  Absolutely rubbish.  Bailed after 30 mins.

Ooooh clever .... saw what you did there ....   ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 29 June, 2020, 01:58:25 PM
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 28 June, 2020, 04:48:20 PM
Freaks on Netflix.

Pretty good, I could imagine this as a Welcome to the 2000AD Online Forum.*

Fixed that for ya. "We Will Make You One Of Us...."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 29 June, 2020, 06:55:08 PM
After the review above, I watched Freaks yesterday.

Yeah, that was very good. [spoiler]I enjoy how you can easily think it will be one thing at the start.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 29 June, 2020, 08:26:33 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 June, 2020, 10:00:58 AMTwister is being remade for 2022.

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a32964576/twister-remake-back-to-the-future-frank-marshall/

I bet the only thing they keep from the original (aside from a few twisters) is the cow.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 June, 2020, 03:37:21 PM
Quote from: Robin Low on 29 June, 2020, 08:26:33 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 June, 2020, 10:00:58 AMTwister is being remade for 2022.

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a32964576/twister-remake-back-to-the-future-frank-marshall/

I bet the only thing they keep from the original (aside from a few twisters) is the cow.

Regards,

Robin
And that will be the only good scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 July, 2020, 11:01:07 AM
Freaks

I think people had mentioned this one on the forum.  I don't remember what was said about it.  I thought it was pretty good.  Unsettling.  Not at all sure what I'm supposed to take away from it.  Be justifiably scared of people who are different to you, because their kids will [spoiler]psychic you to death[/spoiler]?  Maybe it's that the circle of violence is imposed onto the marginalised through their persecution?  To be honest, I don't think the film makers had thought much about what messaging their film had, so I'm just left slightly disturbed [spoiler]by the murder child[/spoiler].  Taking it on face value then, it was pretty good.  I liked the way it was shot and the way a limited budget was used to great effect.  I enjoyed it and I'll probably rewatch it in the future.

Oh, the kid actor was a star.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 04 July, 2020, 12:25:07 PM
Hereditary

It was okay. I can't really see what all the fuss was about.
There were some genuinely creepy and surprising moments. The performances were pretty good too.
It's another from the glacial pace/ambient drone soundtrack school of film making though, so it dragged on a bit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 July, 2020, 06:44:58 PM
WATCHMEN
In prep for the TV show. Mrs Tips had a real go at me for making her watch it. She knows nothing of the comics but her main gripe was how the women were portrayed and how they, along with the violence, we're fetishised. And thinking back, yeah Laurie and Sally get pretty shoddily treated in the comic too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 July, 2020, 11:04:44 AM
April and the Extraordinary World

French Alternate History Steampunk Animation.  It's great.  The style is wonderful, the animation is A-Class and the story is engaging.  It is most certainly a fun adventure and refreshing in its presentation.  I would recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 05 July, 2020, 06:48:18 PM
Eurovision: Fire something or other (can't be bothered to look it up) - a very tired formula of 'will they won't they fall in love/fall out with each other/ win the competition' etc etc. If you imagine an Icelandic version of that Father Ted 'My Lovely Horse' episode, but which drags the arse out of everything, you won't be far off. Supposedly a comedy, I only laughed at one bit with elves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 July, 2020, 09:20:32 PM
It's full name is EUROVISION SHIT SHIT: SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT.

But Dan Stevens belting out LION OF LOVE  was awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 July, 2020, 10:15:51 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 05 July, 2020, 06:48:18 PM
Eurovision: Fire something or other (can't be bothered to look it up) - a very tired formula of 'will they won't they fall in love/fall out with each other/ win the competition' etc etc. If you imagine an Icelandic version of that Father Ted 'My Lovely Horse' episode, but which drags the arse out of everything, you won't be far off. Supposedly a comedy, I only laughed at one bit with elves.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 July, 2020, 09:20:32 PM
It's full name is EUROVISION SHIT SHIT: SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT.

But Dan Stevens belting out LION OF LOVE  was awesome.

Glad to have my earlier thoughts (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg1031811#msg1031811) confirmed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 09:28:22 AM
Ginger Snaps

I remember watching this in the early 2000's and it definitely spoke to me back then.  I really loved it.  Then I went over ten years without seeing it.  Returning to it after all this time had me worried.  I have remembered things from my past being better than what they were, where I failed to see their problems and faults.  Most of the time I'm OK with that.  My youth isn't sacred.  Nevertheless, I didn't want this film to be worse than what I remembered.  Thankfully, it wasn't.  This was like meeting a friend you haven't seen for years and picking up where you left off, not missing a beat.

Really it is a pretty simple werewolf movie.  I used to think it was a pretty heavy handed allegory for menstruation and growing up and this is the only thing that has changed.  I know think it isn't an allegory.  I think that's blatantly the story and the werewolf stuff is just additional stuff on top.  There is no metaphor or allegory at play here, it is pretty literal.  I'm happy with that.  I'm glad I rewatched it after all this time and that I still like it as much as I ever did.

At some point I will watch the inferior sequel and prequel(?).  Just for completionist sake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 06 July, 2020, 10:08:02 AM
Alien

After our Mad Max and Mission Impossible watch through we've decided to do Aliens 1,2 and 3 (special editions of 2 and 3). We're not bothering with the others as they're shite.

Watching Alien on bluray last night I was really struck by the incredible sound design.
Also, something I've not noticed before is that the sillouette of the Nostromo is very reminiscent of a classic, gothic haunted house (which speaks to the haunted house in space vibe the film makers were going for).
Also, I really love the weirdness of Harry Dean Stanton's final scene. It's basically raining inside the spaceship and the hanging chains, while being gothic in their own right, took the place of barren trees in a rainy forest.
The cast are fantastic. Holm is really scary as the ice cold yet self satisfied Ash.
The interactions between the crew feel entirety natural and there's a real sense of grit. There's also a great sense of the vastness and inhospitality of space that's completely missing from the later films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2020, 11:19:17 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 July, 2020, 10:08:02 AM
Also, something I've not noticed before is that the sillouette of the Nostromo is very reminiscent of a classic, gothic haunted house (which speaks to the haunted house in space vibe the film makers were going for).

That's a great point, it's such an unusual ship design and I've never really seen it as that before but now I don't think I can think of it any other way.

Wife picked The Witches of Eastwick the other night as she'd never seen it, I hadn't since I was a youngster (too young to be watching TWoE probably) and was surprised to see George Miller's name pop up as director, had no idea. It holds up okay in a lot of ways, it's a bit messy but it chock full of memorable and vivid moments and everyone involved is hamming it up brilliantly. It doesn't feel like the classic I've always kind of thought of it as, and I realized that one of the reasons it probably stuck with me was because at the age I was the triple threat of Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon probably melted my brain a bit. Still fun though.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which was the first Trek I saw in the cinema and I have pretty vivid memories of that trip. It's great, although on this revisit I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did 2&3. I think it's the writing, it feels more like a funny adventure romp where 2&3 surprised me with how good the character writing and drama held up. It's all relative though, I still had a great time.

And for something funny watched Game Night, which I thought was a real cut above most big American comedies these days. I'm very weary of the go-to style Hollywood comedies adopt nowadays, where you go in with a vague waft of a story structure (usually the same as the last one) and no script and just stick 3 cameras on people improvising and reacting endlessly until you can chop together something funny out of it. I feel like that works for the occasional film but more often than not has started to feel incredibly lazy to me.

This on the other hand feels like someone actually wrote it, and storyboarded it, and planned out elaborate sequences and stylish ways to shoot them. It reminded me of Edgar Wright a bit, as I always hold him up as a comedy writer and director who actually writes and directs comedy movies rather than cobbling together improv skits. It means there are some real standout moments, a lot of genuinely witty laughs and some great comic performances (plus Rachel McAdams is very, very lovely). It also has some fairly dark gags in it that I found really amusing, because clearly something inside me is broken.

Took me by surprise that film, really liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 01:04:58 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 July, 2020, 10:08:02 AM
After our Mad Max and Mission Impossible watch through we've decided to do Aliens 1,2 and 3 (special editions of 2 and 3). We're not bothering with the others as they're shite.

I never had that much of a problem with Resurrection, although I didn't like it as much as the previous three.  Nevertheless, when I watched the Special Edition of Resurrection things about it made a lot more sense.  I appreciated the film a hell of a lot more now.  Most of the front half of the film is contextualised better, imo.  It's still Resurrection so your mileage may vary, though.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2020, 11:19:17 AM

Wife picked The Witches of Eastwick the other night as she'd never seen it, I hadn't since I was a youngster (too young to be watching TWoE probably) and was surprised to see George Miller's name pop up as director, had no idea. It holds up okay in a lot of ways, it's a bit messy but it chock full of memorable and vivid moments and everyone involved is hamming it up brilliantly. It doesn't feel like the classic I've always kind of thought of it as, and I realized that one of the reasons it probably stuck with me was because at the age I was the triple threat of Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon probably melted my brain a bit. Still fun though.

I watched this a few weeks ago (gave my thoughts here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg1030967#msg1030967)).  I actually returned to it because of discussions about Mad Max and George Miller prompted me to visit his IMDB page to discover he directed it.  What did your wife think of it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 06 July, 2020, 01:26:06 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 05 July, 2020, 06:48:18 PM
Eurovision: Fire something or other (can't be bothered to look it up)


Fire Walk with Me, I think ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 06 July, 2020, 01:27:09 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 01:04:58 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 06 July, 2020, 10:08:02 AM
After our Mad Max and Mission Impossible watch through we've decided to do Aliens 1,2 and 3 (special editions of 2 and 3). We're not bothering with the others as they're shite.

I never had that much of a problem with Resurrection, although I didn't like it as much as the previous three.  Nevertheless, when I watched the Special Edition of Resurrection things about it made a lot more sense.  I appreciated the film a hell of a lot more now. 


I knew there was a special edition of Aliens, but had no idea about Cubed and Resurrection!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 06 July, 2020, 02:41:54 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 06 July, 2020, 01:27:09 PM
I knew there was a special edition of Aliens, but had no idea about Cubed and Resurrection!

I don't remember the extended cut of Resurrection being anything special, but the Assembly cut of Alien 3 considerably improves the film and is worth watching (it's still nowhere near as good as 1 or 2 though)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 July, 2020, 03:09:36 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 09:28:22 AM
Ginger Snaps

I remember watching this in the early 2000's and it definitely spoke to me back then.  I really loved it.  Then I went over ten years without seeing it.  Returning to it after all this time had me worried.  I have remembered things from my past being better than what they were, where I failed to see their problems and faults.  Most of the time I'm OK with that.  My youth isn't sacred.  Nevertheless, I didn't want this film to be worse than what I remembered.  Thankfully, it wasn't.  This was like meeting a friend you haven't seen for years and picking up where you left off, not missing a beat.

Really it is a pretty simple werewolf movie.  I used to think it was a pretty heavy handed allegory for menstruation and growing up and this is the only thing that has changed.  I know think it isn't an allegory.  I think that's blatantly the story and the werewolf stuff is just additional stuff on top.  There is no metaphor or allegory at play here, it is pretty literal.  I'm happy with that.  I'm glad I rewatched it after all this time and that I still like it as much as I ever did.

At some point I will watch the inferior sequel and prequel(?).  Just for completionist sake.

I really like Ginger Snaps. It's one of my favourite werewolf films. While I agree that it is a pretty straightforward werewolf film, the tone feels original.

I have a soft spot for the sequel too, although probably it isn't as good. It did something different anyway.

The (sort of*) prequel ... not so good but it was kind of interesting due to the period setting.

* I say 'sort of' because the story doesn't really relate much to the original. They use the actresses from the first film in this period setting, and it's not clear if they're meant to be ancestors of the others although it's a while since I've seen it, so I might be missing something, or the same characters in a different setting like some kind of parralel world. Ginger's personality in this film is quite different (less rebellious I guess) but that could be due to, upbringing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 03:26:50 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 July, 2020, 03:09:36 PM
I really like Ginger Snaps. It's one of my favourite werewolf films. While I agree that it is a pretty straightforward werewolf film, the tone feels original.

I have a soft spot for the sequel too, although probably it isn't as good. It did something different anyway.

The (sort of*) prequel ... not so good but it was kind of interesting due to the period setting.

* I say 'sort of' because the story doesn't really relate much to the original. They use the actresses from the first film in this period setting, and it's not clear if they're meant to be ancestors of the others although it's a while since I've seen it, so I might be missing something, or the same characters in a different setting like some kind of parralel world. Ginger's personality in this film is quite different (less rebellious I guess) but that could be due to, upbringing.

I think the first one might also be one of, if not my favourite Werewolf film.  Saying that, I haven't seen An American Werewolf in London.  I have been told countless times that I should but I never really think to. 

I remember the GS sequel being a let down in part because of where it decided to take the story, but that is also its charm.  It has been just as long since I last saw it so my memory is fuzzy.  I also didn't mind the prequel, but it is weird with the whole period thing.  Both films were apparently released the same year as well.  There might be an interesting production story behind what was going on with those two films and why they decided to do period Werewolf film with the same actors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 06 July, 2020, 03:56:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 03:26:50 PM
I think the first one might also be one of, if not my favourite Werewolf film.  Saying that, I haven't seen An American Werewolf in London.  I have been told countless times that I should but I never really think to. 
All I can say is...you really should. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2020, 03:59:50 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 01:04:58 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2020, 11:19:17 AM

Wife picked The Witches of Eastwick the other night as she'd never seen it, I hadn't since I was a youngster (too young to be watching TWoE probably) and was surprised to see George Miller's name pop up as director, had no idea. It holds up okay in a lot of ways, it's a bit messy but it chock full of memorable and vivid moments and everyone involved is hamming it up brilliantly. It doesn't feel like the classic I've always kind of thought of it as, and I realized that one of the reasons it probably stuck with me was because at the age I was the triple threat of Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon probably melted my brain a bit. Still fun though.

I watched this a few weeks ago (gave my thoughts here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=31824.msg1030967#msg1030967)).  I actually returned to it because of discussions about Mad Max and George Miller prompted me to visit his IMDB page to discover he directed it.  What did your wife think of it?

She laughed a fair bit, but did say she'd expected a bit more. Particularly from the ending, she said she found it a bit weak that [spoiler]the resolution is just that they're now saddled with kids and are still thinking back on the relationship in a bit of a wistful way. She found it made the casting out of the toxic ex to be a bit less empowering than it could have been. Seemed a fair point![/spoiler] Other than that she enjoyed it though, but wasn't bowled over. I think the general reaction was similar to your own comments, about it having a lot of interesting threads but it being difficult to really know what it's doing or saying with them. It feels really enjoyably unsubtle in a lot of ways and really vague and strange in others. Pretty unique film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 04:51:57 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 06 July, 2020, 03:56:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 July, 2020, 03:26:50 PM
I think the first one might also be one of, if not my favourite Werewolf film.  Saying that, I haven't seen An American Werewolf in London.  I have been told countless times that I should but I never really think to. 
All I can say is...you really should. :)

OK, OK.  I'll add it to my list (yes, I have a actual list of films I might be interested in watching in the future). ;)

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 06 July, 2020, 03:59:50 PM
It feels really enjoyably unsubtle in a lot of ways and really vague and strange in others. Pretty unique film!

I think that's an excellent way to describe the film :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 July, 2020, 06:35:42 PM
Alien: Resurrection. What can you say about this film? Sigorney Weaver puts in an adequate performance as Ripley's clone. There are some good moments and Brad Dourif is his usual creepy self, but this is a film where the sum is much less than its parts. I think Whedon forgot that Alien is supposed to be scary. There are no real frights, but a couple of mildly gross scenes and far too many quips. Could easily be renamed Alien: Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 July, 2020, 09:55:04 AM
The Girl With All The Gifts, pretty good and a nice original approach to the zombie genre. Watching it so close after playing through The Last of Us 2 felt fitting, very similar post-apocalypse aesthetic going on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 07 July, 2020, 09:12:17 PM
The Tent - no-budget post-apocalyptic drama that blows its twist wad too early so you sit through the rest knowing it won't get any better, and then the budget really starts to creak, but sadly not enough to obscure the terrible script.

Underwater - (spits)

Morituri - mostly-enjoyable WW2-set thriller starring Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner, about attempted sabotage on the high seas.  Some fine actifying, but not as tense as one might expect.  It also feels like it doesn't quite take advantage of its sprawling sets in the way it could.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 10:27:22 AM
Got to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier on the rewatch, turns out I could remember so little about it that I'm now a bit unsure if I ever saw it in the first place.

It's not great eh? I know it's got a bad rep (Rotten Tomatoes has it pegged as the worst in the series) but even going in knowing that it does feel like the first really shoddy one, after being really pleasantly surprised with how great 1-4 have held up. It still has its fun moments and I quite like the central premise but overall does feel like a weaker TV episode stretched out to a feature.

Still quite enjoyed it though and I know there's more good stuff to come so will continue on!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 10 July, 2020, 11:17:01 AM
Another John Carpenter double bill

The Ward Went in very low expectations. Heard it was bad. Wasn't that bad to be honest. Nothing mind blowing, but an okay film to watch and talk over with a couple of buddies.

Cigarette Burns Felt like Carpenter doing a David Lynch film. Some really cool and imaginative scenes. Didn't find it scary at all, but I really liked it. Felt like a follow up to Mouth of Madness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 10 July, 2020, 11:30:32 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 10:27:22 AM
Got to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier on the rewatch, turns out I could remember so little about it that I'm now a bit unsure if I ever saw it in the first place.

It's not great eh? I know it's got a bad rep (Rotten Tomatoes has it pegged as the worst in the series) but even going in knowing that it does feel like the first really shoddy one, after being really pleasantly surprised with how great 1-4 have held up. It still has its fun moments and I quite like the central premise but overall does feel like a weaker TV episode stretched out to a feature.

Still quite enjoyed it though and I know there's more good stuff to come so will continue on!
I don't think I have ever been as disappointed in a film. Coming off 1-4, all of which I loved, and at the height of my young persons's "Star Trek is simply the best thing ever" mania, it felt depressingly cheap and slipshod. Decades later, I still think it's awful, but I understand the story behind its failures, and it has a few moments. "I need my pain" is a great scene.

At the time I assumed it would be the end of the road for the original crew movies, but Trek 6 turned out to be very good indeed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 11:37:51 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 10 July, 2020, 11:17:01 AM
Another John Carpenter double bill

The Ward Went in very low expectations. Heard it was bad. Wasn't that bad to be honest. Nothing mind blowing, but an okay film to watch and talk over with a couple of buddies.

Cigarette Burns Felt like Carpenter doing a David Lynch film. Some really cool and imaginative scenes. Didn't find it scary at all, but I really liked it. Felt like a follow up to Mouth of Madness.

I'm really fond of Cigarette Burns, and I genuinely do find it pretty scary! Something about the film footage and the way it's presented is really creepy to me. Plus the jump scares in that one do get me. I watched that whole Masters of Horror series in the dark with headphones which I think helped them to land the scares, I remember a few of them really freaking me out. I recall not liking Carpenter's other episode (Pro Life) as much so never rewatched it, while I do go back to Cigarette Burns now and then. I should give Pro Life another shot I think.

The Ward is another one I keep meaning to rewatch, it definitely wasn't a classic but I remember quite liking it. It's not top tier Carpenter but I can find enjoyment in all his films. I didn't even watch Village of The Damned until last year because it was regarded as such a lesser Carpenter movie and I was pleasantly surprised that it has some great scenes and music, particularly in the early mood setting sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 11:41:17 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 10 July, 2020, 11:30:32 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 10:27:22 AM
Got to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier on the rewatch, turns out I could remember so little about it that I'm now a bit unsure if I ever saw it in the first place.

It's not great eh? I know it's got a bad rep (Rotten Tomatoes has it pegged as the worst in the series) but even going in knowing that it does feel like the first really shoddy one, after being really pleasantly surprised with how great 1-4 have held up. It still has its fun moments and I quite like the central premise but overall does feel like a weaker TV episode stretched out to a feature.

Still quite enjoyed it though and I know there's more good stuff to come so will continue on!
I don't think I have ever been as disappointed in a film. Coming off 1-4, all of which I loved, and at the height of my young persons's "Star Trek is simply the best thing ever" mania, it felt depressingly cheap and slipshod. Decades later, I still think it's awful, but I understand the story behind its failures, and it has a few moments. "I need my pain" is a great scene.

At the time I assumed it would be the end of the road for the original crew movies, but Trek 6 turned out to be very good indeed.

Yeah my memories of VI are really vague but I do remember it feeling like a real return to form. Cheap and slipshod is definitely the way to describe V, after Nimoy doing such a good job on the last couple it maybe seemed a good idea to give one to Shatner but I wonder if that was its downfall and it might have been better in more experienced hands!  It's definitely a credit to how much I love that cast that they still managed to wring some good moments out of it like you say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 July, 2020, 01:39:45 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 July, 2020, 10:27:22 AM
Got to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier on the rewatch, turns out I could remember so little about it that I'm now a bit unsure if I ever saw it in the first place.

It's not great eh? I know it's got a bad rep (Rotten Tomatoes has it pegged as the worst in the series) but even going in knowing that it does feel like the first really shoddy one, after being really pleasantly surprised with how great 1-4 have held up. It still has its fun moments and I quite like the central premise but overall does feel like a weaker TV episode stretched out to a feature.

Still quite enjoyed it though and I know there's more good stuff to come so will continue on!
Yeah, it's not great, but I liked the Sybok character a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 July, 2020, 03:32:35 PM
Shatner's gloriously pretentious explanation of the symbolism of the mountain-climbing scene is toe curling - save yourself the time and stick with the musical remix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 July, 2020, 04:37:30 PM
As self-important as he is, Shatner's Trek outing was plagued by problems beyond his control, ranging from writer's strikes and rainstorms in the movie's desert shooting locations to ILM being unavailable to do the SFX.
For all that, I've always had a soft spot for it, as it's lighter in tone and more of a romp than most of the other movies.  Its throwaway nature places it among the good bad sci-fi b-movies of the era like Spacehunter and Ice Pirates.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 July, 2020, 12:03:19 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 July, 2020, 03:32:35 PM
Shatner's gloriously pretentious explanation of the symbolism of the mountain-climbing scene is toe curling - save yourself the time and stick with the musical remix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ)

Ha ha! Brilliant! First time I've seen that, thanks for posting!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 July, 2020, 12:08:31 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 July, 2020, 04:37:30 PM
As self-important as he is, Shatner's Trek outing was plagued by problems beyond his control, ranging from writer's strikes and rainstorms in the movie's desert shooting locations to ILM being unavailable to do the SFX.
For all that, I've always had a soft spot for it, as it's lighter in tone and more of a romp than most of the other movies.  Its throwaway nature places it among the good bad sci-fi b-movies of the era like Spacehunter and Ice Pirates.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone? Ages since I've seen it, but I loved that as a kid! That being said, I can understand why it's considered bad. That bit at the start with the model ship with the model figures, oh my. But yeah, I found it a lot of fun.

Those mutant kids creeped me out.


Last film watched: Spirited Away on Netflix.

I enjoyed that a lot aside from a resolution at the end which just didn't quite work for me. [spoiler]The river name bit.[/spoiler] Maybe something was lost in translation, though.

Quite an odd little fantasy film, but this isn't a bad thing. Very charming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 July, 2020, 10:02:17 AM
Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (geddit?)

Well.  No.  I don't remember this being anything particularly good, but it was certainly worse than what I do remember.  I had clearly, in the years since last viewing this film, created a much better film in my memory where the werewolf aspect was called into question and there was the possibility that it was just a psychological trauma.  Nope.  It's not that.

I honestly don't know how they could have followed up on Ginger Snaps.  I don't know why anyone would try.  Unleashed lacks all of the originals charms.  The original has a bitter sweet ending, but the sequel largely erases even that and I'm not a fan.  The conclusion to unleashed just begs the question "what was the point?"  The film ends up being an exercise in futility.  When I started to remember the film as I watched it, my heart sank more and more as realised why I didn't remember it clearly.

Will this be the same for the prequel?  I barely remember anything about that other than it having a lot more werewolves.  I could be wrong.  I will probably find out tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 July, 2020, 04:43:48 PM
The Old Guard, the latest from Netflix.

Same Old Garbage more like. Predictable and comes across as a pilot for a series that will never be made...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 11 July, 2020, 06:14:18 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 July, 2020, 04:43:48 PM
The Old Guard, the latest from Netflix.

Same Old Garbage more like. Predictable and comes across as a pilot for a series that will never be made...
Thanks, Dr X. I was considering this, but from the preview, there was no discernable plot to speak of. You've saved me the bother of confirming it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 11 July, 2020, 06:45:50 PM
For anyone that is interested in WW2 movies you cannot go wrong with Greyhound.  Tom Hanks is the captain of a destroyer called Greyhound tasked to protect a host of ships crossing to Atlantic.  A well made movie with some nice tense moments. Solid 4 star movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 11 July, 2020, 09:02:21 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 June, 2020, 06:05:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 June, 2020, 05:54:14 PM
I may one day watch it when I'm coerced by someone else, but unless that happens I think I can live a happier life not having seen it.

Yeah. Having not really enjoyed either of the previous two movies, I very deliberately gave this one a miss. I never watch a movie with the intention of disliking it — life's too short. When this popped up on Disney+, I hoped my expectations had been sufficiently pre-lowered but apparently not.

I'm glad lots of other people enjoyed it more than I did, though.

Yeah, if people liked it then fair enough, whatever. But you're right Jim, it was absolute gibberish.

I saw it only once in the cinema, and came out just bewildered that people seemed to have enjoyed it. I tried to watch it on Disney Plus the other day - got halfway through and had to give it up. It looks and sounds nice, but that's just not enough. You need a cohesive plot, an understandable story, some internal logic. It had none of those things. It is the Star Wars film I have seen the least. I rate it below The Phantom Menace.

To be honest, the only truly good Star Wars films since the original trilogy are Rogue One (despite a slow start) and Solo, the latter being a cracking sci-fi heist movie with Star Wars bits in it. L337 freeing those robots on Kessel cracks me up every time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 12 July, 2020, 03:44:57 PM
Color Out of Space I think this captured the general wierdness of Lovecraft's original story quite well. There were several unsettling moments with a good degree of creepiness. If you're a fan of Lovecraft and similar stories there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 July, 2020, 04:32:21 PM
Support Your Local Sheriff

I'm not a fan of Westerns but my friend requested we watched this together.  He was apologetic before hand as the last film we watched I didn't get on with (Uncut Gems).  He needn't have worried, I enjoyed the film.  It was the right level of amusing and entertaining that it suitably filled in the couple of hours before going to bed.

Quote from: von Boom on 12 July, 2020, 03:44:57 PM
Color Out of Space I think this captured the general wierdness of Lovecraft's original story quite well. There were several unsettling moments with a good degree of creepiness. If you're a fan of Lovecraft and similar stories there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

Color Out of Space is pretty cool.  I'd recommend watching The Endless, I think there's a good chance you'd enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 12 July, 2020, 08:06:28 PM
Gunga Din.

A film that inspired Bertold Brecht, Steven Spielberg, John Sturges, Rian Johnson, Peter Sellers, The Beatles, and William Goldman.

For everyone who misunderstands Kipling ....

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
[/i]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 July, 2020, 11:21:20 AM
Watched two Netflix movies over the weekend;

Calibre - A simple enough premise, elevated to a superior film due to some very intense scenes and great naturalistic performances by Tony Curran (in fairness he would rarely let you down) and Martin McCann (who previously impressed me as the lead in 'The Survivalist'). Warning - it's a tough, tough watch in places.

In the Shadow of the Moon - First 20 - 30 minutes were pretty good, but it predictably devolved into pure and utter tripe. A rudimentary time-travel plot so hackneyed it would give the Future Shocks submissions reader goosebumps, coupled with a distasteful underlying philosophy.
I can only assume Boyd Holbrook lost a bet with his manager when he wagered he couldn't get him a worse lead-starring role than 'The Predator'.  
I expected better from Jim Mickle.  
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 July, 2020, 11:22:04 AM
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, remembered this being one of the really good ones and it holds up great, and is a real return to form after the messiness of V. Was a tad emotional in the last scenes realizing it's the last of the original cast films, and [spoiler]the fact they all 'sign-off' in the credits is such a nice touch[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 13 July, 2020, 11:44:49 AM
Alien 3.

This is far worse than I remembered.
I watched the special edition which I think is probably better than the theatrical cut but it's still a frustrating mess.
Having watched the previous two films over the course of the week, this is the first time I've watched this in such close succession and it really suffers from the comparison to the others.
The opening act is definitely the strongest part of the film.
The killing of Newt and Hicks is a baffling decision but the crash landing on Fury, the set up of the work-prison location, the introduction of Charles Dance's character is all pretty good.
It soon goes downhill though. From the point of Dance's death it's pretty worthless. No other characters have been sufficiently developed to fill the void, Ripley doesn't really have much to do, the Alien looks shit and the trapping of the alien, with everyone just running down corridors shouting Fuck and Motherfucker is just tedious.

Absolute crap but kind of interesting in a 'how not to handle a sequel' way.
I don't think the series ever recovered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 July, 2020, 11:56:57 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 July, 2020, 09:20:32 PM
But Dan Stevens belting out LION OF LOVE  was awesome.

I wanted to enjoy this film as much as Stevens obviously did while making it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 July, 2020, 11:35:14 AM
Star Trek: Generations, enjoyed that. I'd forgotten most of what happened in it ([spoiler]I had a vague memory of Kirk being retired at a wee cabin and totally forgot TNG is set 70 years after he retired so all the Nexus time travel stuff had totally left my memory seemingly)[/spoiler]! It's good fun and McDowell makes a good Star Trek villain, it does feel a little odd watching all the films in close succession and having the TNG cast suddenly take over but as far as a changing of the guard I thought this film did the job well. First Contact next, which I remember being one of my very favourites so looking forward to revisiting that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 14 July, 2020, 01:21:48 PM
The Old Guard

VERY faithful adaptation of the first mini series, and mostly enjoyable.

As per a lot of Netflix films, it's overlong and a bit of a plod but it sticks the landing.

Let's face it, it's always nice to see Theron kicking ass onscreen.

[spoiler]Interesting little twist after the end credits, too.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 July, 2020, 09:40:04 PM
Suicide Squad

The very definition of style of substance... and I didn't like the style and the little substance it had was made out of cold (when it thought it was cool) senseless nonsense fried in poppycock.

I don't watch many superhero movies anymore and this has done nothing to motivate me to reconsider that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 15 July, 2020, 09:14:32 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 July, 2020, 09:40:04 PM
Suicide Squad

The very definition of style of substance... and I didn't like the style and the little substance it had was made out of cold (when it thought it was cool) senseless nonsense fried in poppycock.

I don't watch many superhero movies anymore and this has done nothing to motivate me to reconsider that.
It's a terrible film no matter what genre it's in!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 July, 2020, 09:26:15 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 15 July, 2020, 09:14:32 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 July, 2020, 09:40:04 PM
I don't watch many superhero movies anymore and this has done nothing to motivate me to reconsider that.
It's a terrible film no matter what genre it's in!

Yeah its daft to think a single film reflects an entire genre, but I decided to watch Suicide Squad as I fancied some modern - flash bang whollop - (or thought I did, turned out I was wrong!) and this was on Prime and it was a superhero movie I'd heard was a bit more interesting - so alas I associated it with judging the genre in my head going in. Utterly unfair and silly, but also there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 July, 2020, 10:32:40 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 July, 2020, 09:26:15 AM
Yeah its daft to think a single film reflects an entire genre, but I decided to watch Suicide Squad as I fancied some modern - flash bang whollop - (or thought I did, turned out I was wrong!) and this was on Prime and it was a superhero movie I'd heard was a bit more interesting - so alas I associated it with judging the genre in my head going in. Utterly unfair and silly, but also there.

Of the non-Snyder DC movies, Wonder Woman is great, barring a muddled and noisy finale (but there's a lot to enjoy getting there), Aquaman is as dumb as a box of rocks but manages to be ridiculously enjoyable nonetheless, and Shazam delivers on its Big-meets-Superman premise with considerable charm and bags of humour.

As I've said with tedious regularity — if the DCEU's first three movies out of the gate had been these ones, they'd be in a lot less of a mess than they ended up in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 16 July, 2020, 07:57:03 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 15 July, 2020, 09:26:15 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 15 July, 2020, 09:14:32 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 July, 2020, 09:40:04 PM
I don't watch many superhero movies anymore and this has done nothing to motivate me to reconsider that.
It's a terrible film no matter what genre it's in!

Yeah its daft to think a single film reflects an entire genre, but I decided to watch Suicide Squad as I fancied some modern - flash bang whollop - (or thought I did, turned out I was wrong!) and this was on Prime and it was a superhero movie I'd heard was a bit more interesting - so alas I associated it with judging the genre in my head going in. Utterly unfair and silly, but also there.

It wasn't great, but I didn't hate it. The only think I actively hated was the way they handled Amanda Waller. My experience of the character is from her appearances in Justice League International/America/Europe back in the early 90s. She was arrogant, hard as nails and in Oberon's word a "big fat black broad". I thought she was great. As I remember she had a moral centre albeit a little off-centre... [spoiler]but not as off as in the film. I just didn't like what they did with her in the film.[/spoiler]

Not a huge fan of what's happened to Harley Quinn, either, but that seems to have happened in the comics, too.

I did like the brief Batman/Deadshot stuff and I particularly liked what ultimately happened with El Diablo, as it was a moment when being a superhuman accurately equated with being a god. Like Thor bringing the lightning, only more so.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 July, 2020, 10:45:09 PM
Well watched Charlie Brooker's Dead Set as a palate cleanser after Suicide Squad and while I know its not a movie it could well be and as such is in a bite off with Dawn of the Dead - which I play to watch this weekend - for my favourite zombie movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 July, 2020, 11:59:45 PM
Blimey! DEAD SET is a blast from the past. Very good but we say too long if I recall. Zombie Davina made me laugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 18 July, 2020, 04:37:30 PM
Loved Dead Set! I remember it feeling like a really cool bit of event telly at the time, I was so excited that Charlie Brooker was making a zombie show.

I saw Howl's Moving Castle when it came out but it didn't leave much of an impression on me, so gave it another go today. It looks gorgeous for sure and that's enough to warrant watching it I think, but I have to admit I didn't really get engaged in what was going on particularly. Can see why people love it though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 July, 2020, 10:54:01 PM
Ah Dawn of the Dead why did I ever doubt you. You are indeed the greatest, indeed perfect Zombie movie. You have to wonder how The Walking Dead has got to, what 10 Seasons now and I strongly suspect (having only watched the first 7 I do intend to catch up at some point) hasn't said anything more than is said in the little over 2 hours of this piece of horror comedy perfection.

Out of interest does anyone have any suggestions as to the best DVD version. I have an very old (1999) 'Directors Cut' which I do love, but is a pretty poor print and in 4:3 ratio - remember that! I'm eyeing up the 3 disc trilogy set from Arrow Studios which while the reviews elsewhere suggest this is the one to go for the reviews on Amazon are an insane jumble of versions so I'm not 100% this is the one to pop for. Mind not seem Day of the Dead for years so might be worth it for that alone?

Anyway anyone got this three disc set

https://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Romeros-Trilogy-Night-Living/dp/B005KITEKY/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=dawn+of+the+dead&qid=1595108545&refinements=p_n_binding_browse-bin%3A383381011&rnid=383379011&s=dvd&sr=1-4 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Romeros-Trilogy-Night-Living/dp/B005KITEKY/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=dawn+of+the+dead&qid=1595108545&refinements=p_n_binding_browse-bin%3A383381011&rnid=383379011&s=dvd&sr=1-4)

and if so is this the full Director's Cut rather than the cinema release which I believe is significently edited?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 18 July, 2020, 11:04:30 PM
The version of Dawn I have, the region one Anchor Bay DVD Ultimate Edition, has four discs comprising the US theatrical version (1.85:1), the extended version (1.85:1), the european version (1.85:1) and the Dead Will Walk, Document of the Dead documentaries and home movies, Monroeville Mall tour, plus trailers, tv spots, galleries and commentaries on all three film versions. It's all I've ever needed.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 July, 2020, 11:08:28 PM
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning

This was fine.  I liked it.  Much better than Unleashed.  It has a pretty tenuous relationship with the other film going for a cyclic kinda thing.  It does have an enigmatic charm, nonetheless.  There's not a great deal to say about it.  I don't think it offers anything particularly interesting, but I find it hard to call it generic.  I can say it's not as good as the original Ginger Snaps and thinking of it as a trilogy of films, in my mind at least, does do a disservice to the original.  I am once again questioning whether it was as good as I remember.  In the end they are three very different films of varying quality.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 July, 2020, 11:11:23 PM
You might want to hold off on picking up an overpriced, second hand edition of Dawn of the Dead, Colin.

Second Sight has a news bells and whistles edition coming out, all 4 cuts in UHD, Blu-Ray, and DVD.
https://secondsightfilms.co.uk/products/copy-of-dawn-of-the-dead-limited-edition-4k-uhd-pre-order-available-26th-october-2020
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 18 July, 2020, 11:33:29 PM
Oh god, MANEATER (2015, dir: Hank Braxtan).

No, not the Maneater movie in which Gary Busey fights a tiger, or the Maneater movie with Dean Cain, or even the old one with the couple being hunted by two tigers. No, this is the one in which Judge Dredd and Endless Bummer star James Remar fights a rogue polar bear in the Alaskan wilderness.

Obviously I watched this because of Shako, and for the first half if you squint it could almost be a sort of dodgy cheap sequel to a movie version of our beloved strip. But then they screw it up y revealing the bear is in fact a genetically altered polar bear with wolf DNA, presumably to excuse the shoddy (and shaggy and not very bear-like practical effects/ puppet/ costume).

It's not very gory, the cast is a bit crap, the man-in-a-suit bear is frankly weird, and while it does have its moments, time would be better spent reading Shako again. Though the one-liner climax is worth hanging around for, if only for being the sort of thing Pat Mills would definitely have written in 1977 to wrap this sort of thing up. And I wont spoil it for you here.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 July, 2020, 10:25:12 PM
LOCAL HERO

Now I don't know what on gruds green earth took me so long to finally watch this absolutely heart of gold gem, but i'm glad I did, this week of all times. Been feeling extremely homesick for the see and the Channel Islands of late, away from family, from the sea and sky and air, and away from home for so long has...hurt.

Local Hero brought it all back, and actually made me a bit weepy (that final shot, bloody hell, that final shot). I can see this becoming a personal favorite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 July, 2020, 12:18:11 AM
You got me snooping and I found a wee piece by Mark Kermode on The YouTube: Mark Kermode discusses Local Hero with Bill Forsyth (https://youtu.be/z25fWLawYtM).

---

My dad took us to see Gandhi when I was a kid, but it was sold out: so he said "well, let's go and see this Local Hero thing instead", which annoyed all of us siblings (frankly - both ideas annoyed us) - made even worse because as we waited for the first screening to finish, a man and his family walked out shouting about it being the worst thing they'd ever seen.

And then, of course, it wasn't the worst thing ever - quite the opposite in fact. A real gem of a movie. (I saw Gandhi years later. Local Hero's better.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 July, 2020, 09:32:32 AM
Suck

Vampire Horror Comedy Music Thing.  It's an odd little film.  A struggling band are on tour looking for fame when a vampire takes an interest in their bassist and high jinks ensue.  I found it somewhat amusing.  It has Malcolm McDowell in it, so that's a selling point (I think).

I've been watching a lot of Canadian films lately, it seems.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 20 July, 2020, 10:39:54 AM
The Old Guard, which everyone I know seems to have disliked. We enjoyed it, action was well choreographed and it was shot in a way that said action could actually be seen which is always quite refreshing when it happens. Liked the idea, Charlize Theron beating people up is incredibly watchable, and I'd watch a sequel if it happens (which given it's apparently been wildly successful for Netflix seems likely). Literally my only complaint (and it was a biggie) is that there are a lot of what I found to be very poor choices musically. Too many vocals incorporated into the score gave it the feel of a videogame trailer at times, and the music rarely felt appropriate. Other than that it was a fun action romp.

Also watched Mayhem on Shudder and it was great fun. Basic idea is a virus that increases aggression breaks out in the office block of a law firm who incidentally had a hand in setting a legal precedent for murderers not being liable while infected, and the titular mayhem ensues. It's played for laughs (albeit very dark and gory laughs) and the two lead actors (Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving) are really great fun in it. Always liked Yeun in The Walking Dead and after this and The Babysitter and I think Weaving is fantastic so I'll be watching anything she appears in now I reckon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 20 July, 2020, 12:11:37 PM
Local Hero is one of those films that I keep coming back to and thinking about. Wonderful film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Ghost MacRoth on 20 July, 2020, 10:26:02 PM
Midway

Another vapid, soulless, showy affair from Emmerich.  CG that makes it look like a computer game, awful acting from the principal cast, and a by the numbers 'true story' script.  Very disappointing considering the supporting cast assembled could have made it a very enjoyable film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 21 July, 2020, 03:46:17 AM
The Old Guard , watched over the weekend and I enjoyed it. The movie is very much like the comic series as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 21 July, 2020, 03:06:42 PM
Justice League - I liked this first time around.  Not so much this time.  The CGI is awful and there's a distinct lack of Superman in it.  I couldn't care less about Batman, Wonderwoman and Aquaman, so that's not good.  The Flash wasn't as good as his Marvel counterpart.

Suicide Squad - again, liked it the first time but not much this time.

Storage 24 - imagine Alien but in a storage unit in London.  It almost manages it too but is let down by having b-level English actors, so everyone sounds like they are a TV actor.  Also, the main man in it is Noel Clarke, so yeah.  That's never a good thing.  Liked it overall but not one to rewatch.

Saw 7 - I've been working through them all.  This is one of the less good ones.  The 3D is terrible, which I knew because I saw it in 3D in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 21 July, 2020, 03:49:15 PM
Quote from: repoman on 21 July, 2020, 03:06:42 PM
Justice League - I liked this first time around.  Not so much this time.  The CGI is awful and there's a distinct lack of Superman in it.  I couldn't care less about Batman, Wonderwoman and Aquaman, so that's not good.  The Flash wasn't as good as his Marvel counterpart.

Suicide Squad - again, liked it the first time but not much this time.


Oddly, I have found the exact opposite with most DC movies, including these two which I have also revisited during lockdown - on the first watch I see only the faults and annoying editorial decisions and find them disappointing, but going back with lower expectations, I find I can switch off my brain and enjoy them much more. On a whim, I even forked out to rent Birds of Prey (I wasn't drunk enough to actually buy it though!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 25 July, 2020, 08:46:41 AM
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

I'm not much of a Will Ferrel fan but this was good fun and I really enjoyed it.
It's pretty formulaic stuff but was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Ferrel is slightly subdued and the show is stolen by Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens who are both fantastically watchable and likeable (and seem to be having a whale of a time).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 July, 2020, 12:17:34 PM
Troop Beverly Hills

I enjoyed Shelly Long in the Money Trap, so I gave this ago.  On the face of it, it is a mediocre family film.  Made back in a time when US culture still couldn't handle the notion of divorce so of course the divorcing parents get back together again.  Well done Hollywood for giving a generation of children false hope that their separating parents will reunite.  It's also a garish revelry in Late Stage Capitalism that portray one percenters as a downtrodden, misunderstood underdog minority.  It's tonal and textual endorsement of systemic wealth corruption is in sharp contrast of it's underlying message and moral.  A respectable moral about playing fair, doing your best, finding how to be comfortable in yourself and supporting those you care about.  Shelly Long is great in it and the child actors all do a good enough job... for the most part.  It is sweet in its presentation and amusing for it's somewhat moronic and tone deaf presentation.  Exactly the sort of thing I was in the mood for watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 26 July, 2020, 09:36:33 AM
Man, they really need to sort out the spambot filters on this site.  Anyway, watched three more films.


VFW - it's basically Assault on Precinct 13 meets The Expendables.  Very gory, a bit grindhouse.  I actually really liked it.  Had a real '80s vibe, harking back to things like The Exterminator and Enemy Territory.

Remains - zombie thing based on a comic.  Absolute gash frankly.  Terrible effects, really lacking in zombies (and they aren't done particularly well) and some really poor actors.  Hated it.

13 Sins - I really like modern horror films as long as they aren't straight up b-movies.  This one was decent and was well made.  I won't get into the plot here but it's on Netflix and worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 27 July, 2020, 10:55:31 AM
This Is Where I Leave You, which I'd never heard of but has a great cast of recognizable names so I'll assume it bombed on release. We really enjoyed it, it's the kind of indie dysfunctional family drama that often lands for me, and we laughed a lot and found the right bits emotional.

Reached Star Trek: First Contact on the rewatch, and it's still one of the best. Great time hopping story, lots of good Borgy peril and the TNG cast getting fully into the swing of the movie thing after Generations feeling like a bit of a baton-pass. Watching them all now I did miss the OG crew, but that's just a symptom of watching them all so close together like this.

Oh and I finally finished off Deadwood by watching the movie, and it was fantastic. It really is the perfect send-off for the characters and I was surprised how much it felt like seeing some old pals considering I only started watching the show relatively recently. It must have really felt particularly special for people who had watched it as aired and gone through the cancellation and waited years for the hope of some closure!

It felt like a great way to do it justice and while there's always the worry that going back to something like that so long after the fact won't work, I thought it was a couple of the best hours of Deadwood that exists so it definitely didn't disappoint. Big thanks to CrazyFoxMachine whose recommendation was what finally got me to watch the show, it was every bit as good as you said!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 July, 2020, 12:24:40 PM
The Whole Nine Yards

Matthew Perry plays an apparently likeable dentist thrown into the mob world thanks to his new neighbour.  I don't know why I picked this out to watch.  I have seen it before years ago and it really didn't leave a great impression on me.  Nor should it, it's not that good.  Nevertheless, I was surprised at how watchable it actually was.  Nothing landed particularly flat, but the film doesn't do anything especially interesting either.  It is competently made, which I think is still worth something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 July, 2020, 10:28:44 AM
Jigsaw (Saw 8)

I've been rewatching the series.  This one wasn't bad actually.  Clever way to get Tobin Bell on screen despite his character dying about 5 films ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 29 July, 2020, 02:07:45 PM
Quote from: repoman on 28 July, 2020, 10:28:44 AM
Jigsaw (Saw 8)

I've been rewatching the series.  This one wasn't bad actually.  Clever way to get Tobin Bell on screen despite his character dying about 5 films ago.

Jigsaw was pretty good. Didn't reach the highs of I - III or VI, but didn't hit the lows of V or VII.

It was amazing having Tobin Bell back onscreen for so much of that film, and a shame that Matt Passmore's Logan won't return.

In a parallel universe we would have already seen Chris Rock's anticipated sequel / 'reboot' (Spiral) a few months ago.
Sumthin to look forward to in 2021 I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 29 July, 2020, 04:29:04 PM
Playing Ghost of Tsushima (and loving it) has made me realize I've never actually watched Seven Samurai so I sorted that! It's great, but everyone else already knew that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 July, 2020, 10:19:07 PM
Have you seen the Yojimbo movies?  They are stellar :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 30 July, 2020, 10:11:55 AM
I haven't! I should get on those soon too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 30 July, 2020, 12:37:10 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 30 July, 2020, 10:11:55 AM
I haven't! I should get on those soon too.

Also give his samurai films in colour a go. Ran and Kagemusha are stellar!

Ran trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKZP8X51O-k
Kagemusha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Nx17joxJ8

There are also a bunch of nice ones beyond Kurosawa. Sword of Doom and Harakiri are very easy to recommend! :)

Sword of Doom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NnvtTw9gQA
Harakiri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRp1tUHpWNs
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 July, 2020, 01:37:22 PM
I was on a Kurosawa kick last year, but got distracted by the Zatoichi film series... which I didn't finish.

Maybe I'll revisit them both again soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 30 July, 2020, 03:56:35 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 29 July, 2020, 02:07:45 PM
Jigsaw was pretty good. Didn't reach the highs of I - III or VI, but didn't hit the lows of V or VII.

yeah that's pretty much right.

Six is so good.  I think ended up liking 2 a bit more this time around (hated it previously).  It does suffer from have a lot of nu-metal video scratchy FX on the screen though.

I felt like Logan was sort of conjured up for this one.  Even by Saw standards he seemed a bit too convenient.

His mad lab partner was ridiculous.  Gets a nice apartment or whatever that was and fills it with Saw traps for no reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2020, 10:20:55 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 July, 2020, 01:37:22 PM
I was on a Kurosawa kick last year, but got distracted by the Zatoichi film series... which I didn't finish.

Maybe I'll revisit them both again soon.

The only Zatoichi film I've seen is the Takeshi Kitano one from the early 2000s, went along to the cinema for that and remember really enjoying it. I really haven't seen much in the way of samurai films so all these recommendations are very welcome!

Today it was time for Star Trek: Insurrection though, which I thought held up great. Surprised because it seems like one of the worst-reviewed of the series, but I thought the story was great and it looks excellent. The space scenes in particular are really beautifully handled and other than one or two shots the effects stand up to more modern CG no bother. Didn't realize Frakes had directed it until this watch, I reckon he did a good job.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 31 July, 2020, 01:17:58 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2020, 10:20:55 AM


Today it was time for Star Trek: Insurrection though, which I thought held up great. Surprised because it seems like one of the worst-reviewed of the series, but I thought the story was great and it looks excellent. The space scenes in particular are really beautifully handled and other than one or two shots the effects stand up to more modern CG no bother. Didn't realize Frakes had directed it until this watch, I reckon he did a good job.

The main plot about starfleet collusion is good, but the action/narrative was so cliched - I'm sick of people having to climb up big towers or cross collapsing walkways against a ticking clock, to push a button or insert a chip to prevent the Bad Thing happening. Who the hell designs these spaceships with enormous empty chambers crossed by tiny walkways anyway? ST managed variations of the theme in Generations, First Contact and the first reboot movie, Capt America had to do it in Winter Soldier, to name just a few, but it's such a lazy overused way to create a dramatic finale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 July, 2020, 01:43:42 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 31 July, 2020, 10:20:55 AM
The only Zatoichi film I've seen is the Takeshi Kitano one from the early 2000s, went along to the cinema for that and remember really enjoying it. I really haven't seen much in the way of samurai films so all these recommendations are very welcome!

I've had that film on DVD for years and thoroughly enjoy it.  I knew it was based on an older series from the DVD extras but only considered the original films after watching the Yojimbo movies.  They are obviously not as good Kurosawa, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 July, 2020, 03:59:45 PM
New Rose Hotel. An interesting if ultimately flawed attempt to adapt William Gibson's story by the same name. While the adaptation remains very faithful to the story it dwells far too much on X's relationship with Sandii and skims over the more action oriented part of the story. Also the set dressing is decidedly not cyberpunk. You don't feel like you're in the future at all.

If you're a cyberpunk nut like I am then I would say watch it, once. Otherwise you may safely pass on this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 August, 2020, 01:52:27 PM
Await Further Instructions - English horror film set in one place.  Pretty effective and I quite liked where it went.  Let down, like nearly all UK horror films, by having actors that sound like they should be in Doctor Who.  Despite that I enjoyed it.  Is on Netflix.

Showdown in Little Tokyo - early '90s Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee buddy cop thing.  Some bad dialogue and a completely nonsense level of unregulated killing aside, it's a ton of fun.  A long-term favourite of mine. Unashamedly so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 August, 2020, 06:49:27 PM
Keanu

A film about men fighting over a kitten.  It's quite amusing and I watched it mainly because of the writing and acting credit of Jordan Peele.  Actually interesting in seeing the new Candyman movie he wrote the script for.  My expectations will be higher than usual.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 02 August, 2020, 07:33:58 AM
Cosmos (2019) - Two hour film about astronomy that is mostly set in a car.  I guess ultimately it's a film about friendship.  You could easily trim it to 80 minutes and not lose anything important.  By the end of it I was bored and irritable. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 02 August, 2020, 09:05:27 AM
Wonder Woman.

Good film! DC have managed to make a film where the Heroes don't randomly destroy whole city's in their quest for peace.

Seriously though, it is very good. Couldn't fault the acting or plot although there is one small Ropey (Ha! Did you see what I did there? Yes, please shoot me in the head) scene involving a rope and some lackluster SFX. It's very minor and doesn't spoil the film.

Looking forward to the next one which is something I wouldn't say about most modern Super Hero/Sci-Fi franchises.


Cheers

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 02 August, 2020, 12:46:03 PM
I struggled with Wonder Woman.  For me it was an hour too long and had plenty of chances to just wrap it up earlier.

Watched a couple of films already this morning.

The Terminator.  The original and still the best.  Holds up really well.  Even if hi def does it few favours.

Bad Taste.  Peter Jackson's first film.  Daft, gory and cheap but also still funny and effective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 August, 2020, 05:55:28 PM
The Predator. Utter, utter shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 02 August, 2020, 07:55:24 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 02 August, 2020, 05:55:28 PM
The Predator. Utter, utter shite.

Isn't it just?

I saw it in the cinema and the projection (or whatever they do now) was a tiny bit blurry but I got a good sense that the film was trash.

Watched it again earlier this year and yeah it's awful.  The CGi is particularly bad.

Hard to tell if it's worse than Predators.  That film really was bad and had a complete non-ending, making it a complete waste of time, but it did have Walton Goggins and that's something.

Controversially, Predator 2 is my favourite.  I absolutely love Predator, but I like the sequel more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 August, 2020, 08:11:10 PM
Quote from: repoman on 02 August, 2020, 07:55:24 PM
Isn't it just?

I saw it in the cinema and the projection (or whatever they do now) was a tiny bit blurry but I got a good sense that the film was trash.

Watched it again earlier this year and yeah it's awful.  The CGi is particularly bad.

Hard to tell if it's worse than Predators.  That film really was bad and had a complete non-ending, making it a complete waste of time, but it did have Walton Goggins and that's something.

Controversially, Predator 2 is my favourite.  I absolutely love Predator, but I like the sequel more.
For a long time I didn't rate Predator 2 highly, but I rewatched recently and it's actually a very good film as sequels go. I think my original estimation was due to my disappointment that Arnold wasn't in it at the time. While I don't prefer it to Predator I do think it's something worth watching again when the mood strikes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 August, 2020, 09:31:59 PM
Quote from: repoman on 02 August, 2020, 07:55:24 PMControversially, Predator 2 is my favourite.  I absolutely love Predator, but I like the sequel more.

As I've noted before, Predator 2 has a plot and a sub-plot, which is two whole plots more than the first one. I like it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 03 August, 2020, 03:55:07 AM
Yeah went to the cinema for the first time in ages to watch something new,  Unhinged in which Russell Crow plays himself loosing his shit and road raging a poor lady.  Quite enjoyed it, some edge of the seat stuff in there and nasty violence, has a bit to say about our increasingly violent and disconnected world and fin r a change it doesn't drag on too long (a lean 90 minutes).  I don't get scared or squeamish watching horror movies but this did a very good job unnerving me as it seems all too possible and n today's world, I definitely will think before I beep my horn next time I'm cut off in traffic 😊 I think a solid B+ of a movie but I might have given it a bit more than it was worth as I was so happy getting back to the cinema.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 August, 2020, 10:00:09 AM
Deadtectives

This was surprisingly enjoyable.  A bunch of TV ghost hunters are off to Mexico to try and save their show from cancellation.  There are lessons to be learned, jokes to be had and ghosts to run away from.  The acting had the potential to get shrill and annoying, but never actually did (which was a blessed relief).  Overall, it was pretty good.  I'd totally recommend it.

Also, Predator is awesome and Predator 2 is great.  Predators is weak and The Predator is garbage that made me angry at how bad it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 August, 2020, 10:26:52 AM
Big fan of Predator 2, even as a kid I wasn't disappointed, remember me and my friends thinking it was cool as hell that it was in the city so had a different vibe. Saying that, I thought The Predator was perfectly fun and have enjoyed it both times I've watched. The only Predator movies I've really actively disliked are the AvP movies but even then they didn't particularly bother me, I just kind of shrugged and kept eating my popcorn.

We watched some stuff over the weekend, best of which was The Vast of Night, a really neat sci-fi movie on Amazon. As far as I'm aware it's the director's first movie and made on a really low budget, but it's got flair for days, some brilliant stylistic choices and some really impressive sequences. Bags of atmosphere, really enjoyed it.

How To Build A Girl was pretty decent, I thought some of the comedy felt a bit awkward in places but very funny in others and quite often the writing really shone through for some very touching moments.

And got Star Trek: Nemesis watched, which I understand people really didn't like on release. If I did see it at the time then I must have blanked it out because it was one of only a couple on this rewatch that I found myself totally unsure about whether I'd ever seen it before. I enjoyed it though, Hardy makes a great villain and while it's not up there with my favourites it's not in the lower leagues either. Worth it for a couple of really great and very touching moments, mostly involving [spoiler]Data[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 August, 2020, 10:41:55 AM
One problem I have with Nemesis is that they had to get one last space rape of Troy in there.  There are many other problems with the film.  I remember enjoying it for the most part as a dumb space opera action film.  Tom Hardy is always value for money and Ron Perlman can be good as well.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to rewatch it, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 03 August, 2020, 03:19:36 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 August, 2020, 10:41:55 AM
One problem I have with Nemesis is that they had to get one last space rape of Troy in there.  There are many other problems with the film.  I remember enjoying it for the most part as a dumb space opera action film.  Tom Hardy is always value for money and Ron Perlman can be good as well.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to rewatch it, though.

Yeah that scene is pretty iffy, especially because when she tells the rest of the crew Picard's response is something along the lines of 'well if you don't mind the probability of being psychically raped again I'd appreciate if you got back to work'. Starfleet sensitivity training obviously not what it should be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 August, 2020, 08:14:41 PM
The main problem with Nemesis is that it's shite. The Troy bit is the poop-flavoured icing on the crapcake, but it fits in well with the overall theme of having everything that happens to the characters be something that has happened to them before, often many times. For some reason the only good bits ended up as deleted scenes; I presume the 'Keep it'/'Burn it' files were swapped in a transporter accident.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 August, 2020, 10:16:22 PM
Well I managed to enjoy Nemesis and The Predator. But yeah both far from perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 03 August, 2020, 10:34:08 PM
Space Cowboys. Four ageing pilots who never got their shot at being astronauts are the only one that can fix an obsolete Russian/Soviet satellite. A very good film with a terrific cast and great story. It's one of my favourite NASA/space films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 August, 2020, 12:18:57 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 03 August, 2020, 08:14:41 PM
The main problem with Nemesis is that it's shite. The Troy bit is the poop-flavoured icing on the crapcake, but it fits in well with the overall theme of having everything that happens to the characters be something that has happened to them before, often many times. For some reason the only good bits ended up as deleted scenes; I presume the 'Keep it'/'Burn it' files were swapped in a transporter accident.

Did you mean:

"Star Trek: Nemesis? More like Star Trek: Nemeshite!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 04 August, 2020, 08:43:21 AM
Mom and Dad - a decent horror/thriller/comedy which is essentially the reverse of Children of the Corn in that the adults are the ones that go a bit mental.  Nic Cage at 100% Nic Cage, so it is completely mental but it was a lot of fun and a film I'll be watching again in a few years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 August, 2020, 09:16:06 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 August, 2020, 12:18:57 AM
"Star Trek: Nemesis? More like Star Trek: Nemeshite!"

Never let it be said I made free with another man's schtick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 04 August, 2020, 03:09:04 PM
Watched a film called Mandroid last night, one of those things that's clearly been made with no money whatsoever over a number of years by some pals (think Bad Taste but much lower budget. No, lower. I find some of those films a bit painful and try-hard but this one was really likeable. It might have helped that we have a drinking game with our B movie nights where you have to take a drink if someone in the film says the name of the film and in Mandroid people say Mandroid a LOT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 05 August, 2020, 06:23:31 PM
Unforgiven Funny I'd never watched this one before, given the number of westerns and all sorts of noir films I've seen. Which is how I view it, sort of a western noir. I really enjoyed how gritty it was. Just wish it was a bit more dirty. For example when Munny comes into the saloon from the rain, and doesn't look too wet. Regardless, the scene is really dirty in tone. As are many others as well. For example when the "heroes" are to shoot the "heavy" one of the them starts to hesitate, and when the shooting is done the guy they're gunning for (who gets it while being unarmed and trying to crawl to saftey) is bleeding out from a gut shot. Not something I've seen too often in westerns. And I think Unforgiven is one of the best ones I've seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 August, 2020, 07:08:53 PM
Unforgiven is a film that made me believe I could like a Western.  I am not a fan of the setting of Westerns, but I did enjoy that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 06 August, 2020, 12:21:21 AM
Unforgiven is the best western movie I have ever seen by quite some margin.  I wish I could go back and see it again for the first time.

The shootout in the saloon at the end - wow, that's some Saint of Killers stuff right there!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 August, 2020, 09:27:23 AM
Unforgiven is probably my favourite Western.

The scenes between Gene Hackman and Clint Eastwood are bloody amazing, and when he rides out of the town at the end it still gives me chills.

That final shoot-out is still as tense now as it was the first time I saw it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 August, 2020, 09:59:19 AM
I really feel like rewatching Unforgiven after reading those posts, it's been a very long time and it's so damn good!

Watched The Gift there, I'm not sure why I went in expecting a horror movie (I forget how it was marketed but maybe that plus Blumhouse doing a lot of horror set that expectation) but it was quite different and I'm glad I went in not really knowing what it was. I mean, it deals with horrible things and definitely plays on some horror movie fears, but it's much more interesting than the scary stalker movie I thought I was getting into. Interesting film and really good performances all round!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 August, 2020, 11:45:18 AM
Onto the reboot Star Trek movies now so rewatched the first one. I know a lot of old Trek fans don't like what they did with it and I can understand that, but I really like it and still really enjoyed it going back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 02:56:50 PM
Star Trek Reboot Movies:
The first one is great fun - moronic in almost every way, but completely watchable. Cast quite spectacular. Alas, George Kirk, we hardly knew ya.
The second one is a re-shoot of the first one that somehow sucks all the fun out of it. Opening volcano sequence good, cast still good, almost everything else poor fare indeed.
The third one is just properly terrific, probably the best Star Trek we've had since the finale of Deep Space Nine. I'll happily accept it as an episode of Season 4 of the Original Series. That it signalled the end of the sub-franchise is a crying shame, and shows that people are just stoopid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 07 August, 2020, 03:10:49 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 02:56:50 PM
Star Trek Reboot Movies:
The first one is great fun - moronic in almost every way, but completely watchable. Cast quite spectacular. Alas, George Kirk, we hardly knew ya.
The second one is a re-shoot of the first one that somehow sucks all the fun out of it. Opening volcano sequence good, cast still good, almost everything else poor fare indeed.
The third one is just properly terrific, probably the best Star Trek we've had since the finale of Deep Space Nine. I'll happily accept it as an episode of Season 4 of the Original Series. That it signalled the end of the sub-franchise is a crying shame, and shows that people are just stoopid.

Totally agree on the first two, and yet to see the third one, so your review fills me with optimism.

Remember thinking the first movie was terrific when I saw it in the cinema, with some fantastic casting. First time I ever saw Chris Hemsworth, and thought for what little screen time he had, he was great.

Sad we might never see another one in the series, because the premise I read sounded terrific, seeing as they were trying to lure Chris Hemsworth back! Schedules and salaries probably strangled it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 August, 2020, 05:12:09 PM
Yeah the casting really is terrific all round, and watching it so close after the original cast movies has made me really appreciate what a good job Karl Urban does of Bones in particular. I've only seen Beyond the once but remember really enjoying it so looking forward to seeing it again. Definitely sad that they stopped making them, I know Pegg has been quoted as saying he can't see it happening because a 4th film wouldn't bring in the kind of bank it would need to for the budget to happen. Bit gutted about that, they were really onto something good with them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 07 August, 2020, 07:35:09 PM
Star Trek 2009 was pretty good. I think they should have left it there.

Into Darkness was shite.

Beyond was an above average Sci fi adventure film but a rubbish Star Trek film. All that Beasty Boys stuff really made me cringe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 08:51:56 PM
I dunno, I thought it was the most Star Trek-y of all three: it's actually about space exploration, strange new worlds, the characters' purpose and what happens to warriors when war is over. The Beastie Boys stuff is overdone, but it's still a fun sequence with great visuals. I love that the utterly crazy starbase elicits the same sense of wonder from my jaded eyes as Spacedock did in ST:III.

I'm a fan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 August, 2020, 08:58:50 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 07 August, 2020, 05:12:09 PM
Yeah the casting really is terrific all round, and watching it so close after the original cast movies has made me really appreciate what a good job Karl Urban does of Bones in particular.

It was positively uncanny!

Quote from: JamesC on 07 August, 2020, 07:35:09 PM
Star Trek 2009 was pretty good. I think they should have left it there.

Into Darkness was shite.

Beyond was an above average Sci fi adventure film but a rubbish Star Trek film. All that Beasty Boys stuff really made me cringe.

How so? I thought it felt more Star Trekky than ever - of course they had to ramp the threat up to Federation-threatening levels, but the basic 'investigate planet/oh no disaster/find a clever way to beat it' formula is pure ST. And as you said, its a well-made sci-fi film in it's own right. And is it the whole maguffin you didn't like or just the choice of music? I'll concede it was semi cringey.

EDIT - Tords posted while I was typing, but yeah, what he said
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 09:01:20 PM
We are of one mind!  Not much of a mind, mind, but definitely singular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 August, 2020, 09:02:24 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 09:01:20 PM
We are of one mind!  Not much of a mind, mind, but definitely singular.
my mind to your mind
my thoughts to your thoughts...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 09:05:58 PM
Damnit Dan, I'm a pedant not a comedian!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 August, 2020, 09:07:42 PM
Your mother is so obese, she outweighs the needs of the many
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 08 August, 2020, 11:59:45 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 07 August, 2020, 08:51:56 PM
I dunno, I thought it was the most Star Trek-y of all three: it's actually about space exploration, strange new worlds, the characters' purpose and what happens to warriors when war is over. The Beastie Boys stuff is overdone, but it's still a fun sequence with great visuals. I love that the utterly crazy starbase elicits the same sense of wonder from my jaded eyes as Spacedock did in ST:III.

I'm a fan.

It certainly had Star Trekky elements and the cast were still good.
It just didn't feel like Star Trek to me.

It's like when you get an English breakfast in a Greek hotel. You get the elements but the scrambled eggs taste strangely sweet, the bacon is wafer thin with little boney bits in the middle and the sausages are like hot dog weiners.

One thing I particularly dislike about most modern Trek is the tendency to make the ship combat like air combat - it's all dog fights and high speed chases like something from Star Wars or Independence Day.
I like my Star Trek combat to feel more Naval. 

Just look at this scene. You've basically got McCoy flying a fucking X-Wing. It's shite.

https://youtu.be/HYctFVhe2Rc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 August, 2020, 02:26:01 PM
It was a pretty underwhelming movie story so I agree it wasn't Star Trek, but it was Captain Kirk - for probably the first time in the whole reboot.  The reboot movies are aggressively stupid by design, so they only have these thin caricatures instead of actual characters, and Kirk was the absolute worst, reduced to some sort of smug walking erection that kept getting into fistfights which he then lost.  There's an inescapable reading of his actions that sees them as exacerbating bad situations rather than resolving them, but Kirk in Beyond was clever, introspective and compassionate - basically what he was in the old show rather than the frat boy of the previous two movies.  He was almost a rebuttal of what had went before, and for that alone I was quite grateful to the film.

Beastie Boys stuff was definitely cringe, tho.  It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in The Orville.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 09 August, 2020, 10:54:36 AM
My last movie watched was Demolition Man.

I don't think I'd seen this since the 90s so it all felt pretty fresh to me.
It's a really fun film which I very much enjoyed. Stallone puts his best foot forward with the affable tough guy routine and Sandra Bullock is an absolute joy - loveable and vulnerable but also smart and capable. I really liked her character.
Wesley Snipes is great fun as a pantomine-esque super-psycho villain. He looks like he's having great fun. And then you've got (bizarrely) Nigel Hawthorne chewing a bit of scenery.
The whole package is much better than I'd remembered with a pretty witty script and a great balance of action and humour. It's possibly 15 minutes too long and the subterranean underclass bit didn't quite come off - still a solid effort though.

It's obviously impossible to watch without comparing it to Judge Dredd. Demolition Man is by far the better film - Stallone seems more comfortable and they even manage to keep Rob Schneider on a leash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 August, 2020, 12:20:27 PM
Liquid Sky

Gah!  It's not good.

It is an mangled mess of a incompetent production with stilted and unconvincing acting.  A mean spirited exercise in pretentious pointlessness that felt the need to have three rape scenes.  A confused narrative with terrible pacing and a plethora of redundancies.  The soundtrack is abrasive and awful.  A wretched assault on the ears that sounds like a child playing with a Casio keyboard and finding the most obnoxious settings possible.  I feel those that made it thought they were saying something, yet ended up being as vacuous and empty as the scene they were "commentating" on.  Saying it is not good is a kindness. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 August, 2020, 09:45:27 PM
Taking the boy through the Jurassic Park films (as we're playing Lego Jurassic World and its perked his interest) and the first one remains a bit of a masterpiece, if a little of its time. As the boy child pointed out 'So was seeing dinosaurs like this really special when you saw this.' and the answer is of course yes. Much of the early part of the  film was carried by the joy we see in Alan Grant being in part at least shared by the audience. It still works for me, but the boy thought it dragged at the beginning - he's 8.

He loved it when it 'Gets scary'

Anyway that's not why I'm here we watched 'The Lost World' today and man its ... well actually better than I remember. Not a patch on the first but it was better than I remember... until that ending. Man that ending is bad. I've become a bit obsessed with what happened on the crew of the ship that takes the T-Rex to San Deigo. I've read lots of theorys from raptors off screen, to the T-Rex (this seems to be what the film wants to go with with the crew member (or someone) explaining the whole downer and upper things the poor chap had been through. Maybe in its drug enthused frenzy it was able to repair the damage it must have done to the ship?) To my now favourite John Hammond hired some mercenaries to kill the crew and frame the... dinosaurs who may or may not have been on the ship.

All of that is such good fun. All utter nonsense. But what a massive shame that a film maker with the skill of Steven Spielberg can leave one of cinema's great clangers (surely) there for all to see. I mean I'm over it now and the rest of the film is okay BUT of course the boy things it was cool as it had more dinosaur actions.

I've got to stop showing him less good follow ups he loves them!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 August, 2020, 11:40:34 PM
Knives Out

It's fair to say I'm not much of a Rian Johnson fan — Looper annoyed the living shit out of me because it was not only incredibly stupid but it thought it was incredibly clever, and although I appreciated the intent of Last Jedi, it was a fucking terrible movie.

Knives Out, however, was terrific. Smartly subversive of the whodunnit format whilst somehow still managing to be love letter to it, beautifully shot, and with a magnificent cast. I'm sorry I passed on it at the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 August, 2020, 12:12:58 AM
Knives Out was certainly a very engrossing, entertaining and satisfying film.  I was left delighted with its wonderful conclusion and I would like the live in a world where this is the first film of a classic trilogy of films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 August, 2020, 05:38:01 AM
Wrong thread pals, this is the LAST movies thread. Porns down the hall.

Please DO NOT reference the spam. That way posts like this won't seem odd!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 10 August, 2020, 09:26:11 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 09 August, 2020, 09:45:27 PM
Taking the boy through the Jurassic Park films (as we're playing Lego Jurassic World and its perked his interest) and the first one remains a bit of a masterpiece, if a little of its time. As the boy child pointed out 'So was seeing dinosaurs like this really special when you saw this.' and the answer is of course yes. Much of the early part of the  film was carried by the joy we see in Alan Grant being in part at least shared by the audience. It still works for me, but the boy thought it dragged at the beginning - he's 8.

He loved it when it 'Gets scary'

Anyway that's not why I'm here we watched 'The Lost World' today and man its ... well actually better than I remember. Not a patch on the first but it was better than I remember... until that ending. Man that ending is bad. I've become a bit obsessed with what happened on the crew of the ship that takes the T-Rex to San Deigo. I've read lots of theorys from raptors off screen, to the T-Rex (this seems to be what the film wants to go with with the crew member (or someone) explaining the whole downer and upper things the poor chap had been through. Maybe in its drug enthused frenzy it was able to repair the damage it must have done to the ship?) To my now favourite John Hammond hired some mercenaries to kill the crew and frame the... dinosaurs who may or may not have been on the ship.

All of that is such good fun. All utter nonsense. But what a massive shame that a film maker with the skill of Steven Spielberg can leave one of cinema's great clangers (surely) there for all to see. I mean I'm over it now and the rest of the film is okay BUT of course the boy things it was cool as it had more dinosaur actions.

I've got to stop showing him less good follow ups he loves them!

That John Williams score is something else. Great movie.

It's a memory of mine that I was in secondary school, and when they started previewing Jurassic Park on the morning breakfast shows, it was seismic due to the effects involved. They really were, and still are, breath-taking at times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 August, 2020, 09:34:58 AM
Heathers

Been many years since I last watched this and it is still enjoyable.  It is a very cynical film and would be in very bad taste now we live in an era of recurring American high school massacres.  I am slightly curious how they have made a series from this film... probably not enough to watch it, though.

As for Jurassic Park, that was one of the most important films to me as a kid, but as I have got older I don't hold it in such high regard.  It's still a good and fun watch (and definitely the best of franchise), but does come across as a little... I dunno... hokey.  A little B-Movie, perhaps.  Nevertheless, Rately is right, the score is amazing and is hands down the best thing about that film.  The main theme is one of John Williams best compositions ever.  It's the music that makes me feel like a 10 year old again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 August, 2020, 11:05:33 AM
I like Heathers, and think of it every time I hear the Mogwai track 'I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School' because I imagine that title must have come from a Heathers viewing.

Was time to rewatch Star Trek: Into Darkness, and I honestly still really enjoyed it. It does get messier and noisier as it goes on, but just about holds it together and as far as sci-fi action thrills go it's a real blast in places. I totally see why people aren't keen but while I can see the cracks I can't say they bother me that much. Pending a rewatch of Beyond to see how that holds up I do agree that Into Darkness is easily the weakest of the three mind you, I just still find plenty to enjoy with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 August, 2020, 10:15:59 AM
Me again, Free Solo. I didn't realize how tense I was until the film finished and I noticed my palms were literally dripping with sweat and a bit tired from clenching. Some very NO WAY WHAT THE HELL shots in that film, especially for someone like me who gets dizzy up a small ladder.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 11 August, 2020, 10:31:57 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 11 August, 2020, 10:15:59 AM
Me again, Free Solo. I didn't realize how tense I was until the film finished and I noticed my palms were literally dripping with sweat and a bit tired from clenching. Some very NO WAY WHAT THE HELL shots in that film, especially for someone like me who gets dizzy up a small ladder.

Absolutely horrendous watch.

Some of the camera angles really should come with a viewer discretion warning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 August, 2020, 04:40:49 PM
The Crazies

Caught this on Amazon Prime. It's was directed by Romero, and this was a kind of zombie apocalypse film without actual zombies. In this case they're people who have become homicidally insane due to a virus infecting their water supply.

Interestingly the 'crazies' are different from the infected from 28 Days Later despite the similar premise. I.e. the infected in that film run around in a mindless rage, while the 'crazies' in this film show a degree of cunning, although they become more manic as the virus progresses.
It was pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 11 August, 2020, 04:54:21 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 August, 2020, 04:40:49 PM
The Crazies

Caught this on Amazon Prime. It's was directed by Romero, and this was a kind of zombie apocalypse film without actual zombies. In this case they're people who have become homicidally insane due to a virus infecting their water supply.
Top performances from future 'Dead' series actors Richard France and Richard Liberty.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 12 August, 2020, 10:57:48 AM
Out of Sight. I last watched this about twenty years ago and remembered it as an enjoyable heist movie with witty dialogue, likeable leads and a funky soundtrack. Somehow I completely forgot that Soderbergh did a really clever cut up of the timeline, which switches all over the place but remains completely clear. It really is an excellent piece of film-making, particularly when you consider how often that technique has been done badly by talented screenwriters and directors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 August, 2020, 11:15:59 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 12 August, 2020, 10:57:48 AM
It really is an excellent piece of film-making, particularly when you consider how often that technique has been done badly by talented screenwriters and directors.

...which is one of the reasons why I treasure Soderbergh's take on Fury Road:

QuoteI just watched Mad Max: Fury Road again last week, and I tell you I couldn't direct 30 seconds of that. I'd put a gun in my mouth. I don't understand how [George Miller] does that, I really don't, and it's my job to understand it. I don't understand two things: I don't understand how they're not still shooting that film and I don't understand how hundreds of people aren't dead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 12 August, 2020, 11:40:50 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 August, 2020, 11:15:59 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 12 August, 2020, 10:57:48 AM
It really is an excellent piece of film-making, particularly when you consider how often that technique has been done badly by talented screenwriters and directors.

...which is one of the reasons why I treasure Soderbergh's take on Fury Road:

QuoteI just watched Mad Max: Fury Road again last week, and I tell you I couldn't direct 30 seconds of that. I'd put a gun in my mouth. I don't understand how [George Miller] does that, I really don't, and it's my job to understand it. I don't understand two things: I don't understand how they're not still shooting that film and I don't understand how hundreds of people aren't dead.

Perfect quote.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 August, 2020, 06:46:55 PM
Groundhog Day

This is my favourite Bill Murray, my favourite comedy and one of my top ten favourite films.  I love it.  It's great.  It's a joy to watch.  I love Phil's character arc in the film and the concluding day is so very satisfying.  I think it has a beautiful message in there.  The film makes me happy.

I also really like the suicide montage because I'm a little bit morbid and macabre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 12 August, 2020, 11:29:10 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 August, 2020, 04:40:49 PM
The Crazies

Caught this on Amazon Prime. It's was directed by Romero, and this was a kind of zombie apocalypse film without actual zombies. In this case they're people who have become homicidally insane due to a virus infecting their water supply.

Interestingly the 'crazies' are different from the infected from 28 Days Later despite the similar premise. I.e. the infected in that film run around in a mindless rage, while the 'crazies' in this film show a degree of cunning, although they become more manic as the virus progresses.
It was pretty good.

Hard to believe given how awful horror remakes tend to be, but I actually really liked the remake of The Crazies and thought it was a worthwhile watch in its own right. The Olyphant factor probably helped a great deal (I could probably watch him in just about anything) but as far as modern US horror movies go it's easily one of the better ones kicking about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 13 August, 2020, 12:34:55 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 12 August, 2020, 11:29:10 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 11 August, 2020, 04:40:49 PM
The Crazies

Caught this on Amazon Prime. It's was directed by Romero, and this was a kind of zombie apocalypse film without actual zombies. In this case they're people who have become homicidally insane due to a virus infecting their water supply.

Interestingly the 'crazies' are different from the infected from 28 Days Later despite the similar premise. I.e. the infected in that film run around in a mindless rage, while the 'crazies' in this film show a degree of cunning, although they become more manic as the virus progresses.
It was pretty good.

Hard to believe given how awful horror remakes tend to be, but I actually really liked the remake of The Crazies and thought it was a worthwhile watch in its own right. The Olyphant factor probably helped a great deal (I could probably watch him in just about anything) but as far as modern US horror movies go it's easily one of the better ones kicking about.

I've never seen the original, but thought the remake was excellent.

And I'm a massive fan of Timothy Olyphant! Especially his recent cameo in The Good Place. Great actor.

Around the time it came out, the director was linked to a rebooted Escape From New York. I wouldn't have held my breath for anything matching the original, especially that perfect ending, but if you dropped Timothy Olyphant in as Snake Plisken, i would have been quite hopeful of a decent movie.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 August, 2020, 08:20:38 PM
The pitchfork bit was genuinely terrifying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 August, 2020, 01:34:36 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 August, 2020, 06:46:55 PM
Groundhog Day

This is my favourite Bill Murray, my favourite comedy and one of my top ten favourite films.  I love it.  It's great.  It's a joy to watch.  I love Phil's character arc in the film and the concluding day is so very satisfying.  I think it has a beautiful message in there.  The film makes me happy.

I also really like the suicide montage because I'm a little bit morbid and macabre.

One of the very best ever.  I love it so much.  Despite being set in February, it feels like a Xmas movie and it's just wonderful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 14 August, 2020, 04:20:16 PM
Anyone seen/planning ob aeeing new Netflix sorta superhero film, Project Power?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 August, 2020, 04:46:27 PM
Quote from: repoman on 14 August, 2020, 01:34:36 PM
Despite being set in February, it feels like a Xmas movie and it's just wonderful.

Although it doesn't for, I can see where you are coming from with that.  A wintery feel good movie and all. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 09:50:21 AM
The Lost Boys

I thought this film was so cool when I watched it as a kid.  The railway bridge scene always stuck prominently in my mind.  I really loved this film.

Rewatching it, there is nothing remarkable about it.  If I was fresh to it today I would say it as an OK vampire film with some nice bits, but overall kinda dorky. 

Nevertheless, on this rare occasion nostalgia has won out.  I still really like it.  The film is very efficient with it's time and it seems like there might be more going on than actually does.  That made it enigmatic for me and is what probably hooked me as a child.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:13:29 AM
The Meg.

Christ. Where to start. I can enjoy B movies, and I can usually enjoy a Statham movie for the dumb action, ropey one-liners and unintentional laughs, but this was a movie that the Director, effects team, writers etc. seemingly had little enthusiasm or love for. Terrible performances all round, ropey effects that rendered the main creature looking like a tech demo for a new console launch, bizarre plotting and logic, weird cuts and framing and just a general sense of meh to the whole thing.

Really should have been a lot better, considering the people involved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 10:39:13 AM
Quote from: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:13:29 AM
The Meg.

Christ. Where to start. I can enjoy B movies, and I can usually enjoy a Statham movie for the dumb action, ropey one-liners and unintentional laughs, but this was a movie that the Director, effects team, writers etc. seemingly had little enthusiasm or love for. Terrible performances all round, ropey effects that rendered the main creature looking like a tech demo for a new console launch, bizarre plotting and logic, weird cuts and framing and just a general sense of meh to the whole thing.

Really should have been a lot better, considering the people involved.

This film is awful.  I found it hard to believe they failed at making a Jason Statham vs. Giant Shark film.  I wish I could say it was the worst film I watched at the time, but I followed this one with The Predator.  It was not a good week of movie viewing for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:48:37 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 10:39:13 AM
Quote from: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:13:29 AM
The Meg.

Christ. Where to start. I can enjoy B movies, and I can usually enjoy a Statham movie for the dumb action, ropey one-liners and unintentional laughs, but this was a movie that the Director, effects team, writers etc. seemingly had little enthusiasm or love for. Terrible performances all round, ropey effects that rendered the main creature looking like a tech demo for a new console launch, bizarre plotting and logic, weird cuts and framing and just a general sense of meh to the whole thing.

Really should have been a lot better, considering the people involved.

This film is awful.  I found it hard to believe they failed at making a Jason Statham vs. Giant Shark film.  I wish I could say it was the worst film I watched at the time, but I followed this one with The Predator.  It was not a good week of movie viewing for me.

Yeah, The Predator was a massive disappointment for me, considering the Director and Writer involved.

Really expected a lot more. The whole thing was just very flat and uninspired, and most of the Actors seemed to be in a daze for the majority of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 17 August, 2020, 11:32:18 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 09:50:21 AM
The Lost Boys

I thought this film was so cool when I watched it as a kid.  The railway bridge scene always stuck prominently in my mind.  I really loved this film.

Rewatching it, there is nothing remarkable about it.  If I was fresh to it today I would say it as an OK vampire film with some nice bits, but overall kinda dorky. 

Nevertheless, on this rare occasion nostalgia has won out.  I still really like it.  The film is very efficient with it's time and it seems like there might be more going on than actually does.  That made it enigmatic for me and is what probably hooked me as a child.

I watched this again last year. The greased-up saxophonist was just as funny as I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 11:35:02 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 17 August, 2020, 11:32:18 AM
I watched this again last year. The greased-up saxophonist was just as funny as I remembered.

Haha!  I forgot that.  You reminding me of it has brought a smile to my face.  Cheers :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 02:52:24 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 17 August, 2020, 11:32:18 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 09:50:21 AM
The Lost Boys

I thought this film was so cool when I watched it as a kid.  The railway bridge scene always stuck prominently in my mind.  I really loved this film.

Rewatching it, there is nothing remarkable about it.  If I was fresh to it today I would say it as an OK vampire film with some nice bits, but overall kinda dorky. 

Nevertheless, on this rare occasion nostalgia has won out.  I still really like it.  The film is very efficient with it's time and it seems like there might be more going on than actually does.  That made it enigmatic for me and is what probably hooked me as a child.

I watched this again last year. The greased-up saxophonist was just as funny as I remembered.

This is definitely one of my favourite 80s films as I was of the age I would have loved to be part of the frog brothers gang fighting for truth, justice and the American way. (cracking sound track as well)

If you've tried to watch the sequels and there's at least 2 of them I think, there's a cameo of the sax player which is equally as funny- think of a middle aged greased up sax player that's hit hard times on a street corner. If you blink you'll miss it.

On the nostalgic theme I eventually watched the remake of  Red Dawn again really liked the original as a teenager I thought it would be cool to stomp around the country shooting the ruskies.
As flag waving as both films are I still prefer the original story line and 80s fashion 😂😂😂😂
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 August, 2020, 02:54:40 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 10:39:13 AM
Quote from: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:13:29 AM
The Meg.

Christ. Where to start. I can enjoy B movies, and I can usually enjoy a Statham movie for the dumb action, ropey one-liners and unintentional laughs, but this was a movie that the Director, effects team, writers etc. seemingly had little enthusiasm or love for. Terrible performances all round, ropey effects that rendered the main creature looking like a tech demo for a new console launch, bizarre plotting and logic, weird cuts and framing and just a general sense of meh to the whole thing.

Really should have been a lot better, considering the people involved.

This film is awful.  I found it hard to believe they failed at making a Jason Statham vs. Giant Shark film.  I wish I could say it was the worst film I watched at the time, but I followed this one with The Predator.  It was not a good week of movie viewing for me.

I saw them both in the cinema and was disappointed.

The Meg's big issue is how little gore it had.  Even the scene where the Meg is at a crowded beach.  They managed to make it pretty much blood free.  I'm not someone who needs gore in films but in a shark film there should at least be some.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 August, 2020, 02:55:29 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 17 August, 2020, 11:32:18 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 09:50:21 AM
The Lost Boys

I thought this film was so cool when I watched it as a kid.  The railway bridge scene always stuck prominently in my mind.  I really loved this film.

Rewatching it, there is nothing remarkable about it.  If I was fresh to it today I would say it as an OK vampire film with some nice bits, but overall kinda dorky. 

Nevertheless, on this rare occasion nostalgia has won out.  I still really like it.  The film is very efficient with it's time and it seems like there might be more going on than actually does.  That made it enigmatic for me and is what probably hooked me as a child.

I watched this again last year. The greased-up saxophonist was just as funny as I remembered.

I've got that song (I Still Believe) on my running playlist and every time it comes on I get a little boost.  It's amazing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 03:03:55 PM
Quote from: repoman on 17 August, 2020, 02:54:40 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 10:39:13 AM
Quote from: Rately on 17 August, 2020, 10:13:29 AM
The Meg.

Christ. Where to start. I can enjoy B movies, and I can usually enjoy a Statham movie for the dumb action, ropey one-liners and unintentional laughs, but this was a movie that the Director, effects team, writers etc. seemingly had little enthusiasm or love for. Terrible performances all round, ropey effects that rendered the main creature looking like a tech demo for a new console launch, bizarre plotting and logic, weird cuts and framing and just a general sense of meh to the whole thing.

Really should have been a lot better, considering the people involved.

This film is awful.  I found it hard to believe they failed at making a Jason Statham vs. Giant Shark film.  I wish I could say it was the worst film I watched at the time, but I followed this one with The Predator.  It was not a good week of movie viewing for me.

I saw them both in the cinema and was disappointed.

The Meg's big issue is how little gore it had.  Even the scene where the Meg is at a crowded beach.  They managed to make it pretty much blood free.  I'm not someone who needs gore in films but in a shark film there should at least be some.

I definitely noticed that when they made it to the Beach in China.

Was really looking forward to some shlocky fun at least, but it wasn't even enjoyable in a so-bad-its-good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2020, 04:12:06 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 02:52:24 PMOn the nostalgic theme I eventually watched the remake of  Red Dawn again really liked the original as a teenager I thought it would be cool to stomp around the country shooting the ruskies.
As flag waving as both films are I still prefer the original story line and 80s fashion 😂😂😂😂

It's pretty well-known that Red Dawn is beloved of right-wingers, gun nuts and mountain-dwelling survivalists, so I always found it funny that it started life as an anti-war movie and then the original producers took the script to MGM, who promptly decided they wanted a pro-war movie featuring kids for a summer release, so hired John Millius to direct it, a man so pro-war and right-wing that when he agreed to direct the movie, he was - and I swear I am not making this up - paid in guns.
Millius had the script rewritten to make it explicit that "left wing Mexicans" were the real threat to the US if WW3 were to happen, which was a take so batshit that MGM hired a right-wing thinktank to talk Millius off the ledge in a language he could understand by suggesting that "Soviet-allied Nicaraguans" front and center of an invading South American coalition was more feasible, and at some point even the Pentagon decided this film had a problem with Latinos and withdrew their cooperation.
When the remake was mooted, Millius read the script and said he didn't like the historically-unlikely scenario of a Chinese ground invasion and that invaders would likely come from a nation bordering America, such as - ohhhh, just as a "for example" off the top of my head here - Mexico.  When he viewed the remake as a finished product and saw that they'd gone with North Koreans as the primary antagonists, he said he didn't like the film.

If you're jonesing for more John Millius anti-commie propaganda, though, I can recommend Home Front: The Voice Of Freedom, which is a tie-in novel to the Red Dawn-inspired videogame Home Front, allegedly written by Millius himself, and  which is very reminiscent of mid-80s cold war pulp like the early Survivalist novels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 August, 2020, 06:22:26 PM
I didn't see Red Dawn until I was an adult and I had a pretty good idea about it going in.  As a curiosity it was interesting, but the experience did leave a bad taste in my mouth.  I don't think I'll watch it again.

The Meg's beach scene sticks out as being so utterly moronic.  I think it's the point I cracked when watching the film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 06:48:38 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2020, 04:12:06 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 02:52:24 PMOn the nostalgic theme I eventually watched the remake of  Red Dawn again really liked the original as a teenager I thought it would be cool to stomp around the country shooting the ruskies.
As flag waving as both films are I still prefer the original story line and 80s fashion 😂😂😂😂

It's pretty well-known that Red Dawn is beloved of right-wingers, gun nuts and mountain-dwelling survivalists, so I always found it funny that it started life as an anti-war movie and then the original producers took the script to MGM, who promptly decided they wanted a pro-war movie featuring kids for a summer release, so hired John Millius to direct it, a man so pro-war and right-wing that when he agreed to direct the movie, he was - and I swear I am not making this up - paid in guns.
Millius had the script rewritten to make it explicit that "left wing Mexicans" were the real threat to the US if WW3 were to happen, which was a take so batshit that MGM hired a right-wing thinktank to talk Millius off the ledge in a language he could understand by suggesting that "Soviet-allied Nicaraguans" front and center of an invading South American coalition was more feasible, and at some point even the Pentagon decided this film had a problem with Latinos and withdrew their cooperation.
When the remake was mooted, Millius read the script and said he didn't like the historically-unlikely scenario of a Chinese ground invasion and that invaders would likely come from a nation bordering America, such as - ohhhh, just as a "for example" off the top of my head here - Mexico.  When he viewed the remake as a finished product and saw that they'd gone with North Koreans as the primary antagonists, he said he didn't like the film.

If you're jonesing for more John Millius anti-commie propaganda, though, I can recommend Home Front: The Voice Of Freedom, which is a tie-in novel to the Red Dawn-inspired videogame Home Front, allegedly written by Millius himself, and  which is very reminiscent of mid-80s cold war pulp like the early Survivalist novels.

When I first saw Red Dawn in the 80s I wasn't considering the right wing messages all I did was linked it with one of my favourite tooth strips of the 80s - Invasion. The scene of paratroopers floating in and the speed & ease which the invaders took over (& subsequent resistance) just rung a bell.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 17 August, 2020, 08:34:20 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 06:48:38 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 17 August, 2020, 04:12:06 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 17 August, 2020, 02:52:24 PMOn the nostalgic theme I eventually watched the remake of  Red Dawn again really liked the original as a teenager I thought it would be cool to stomp around the country shooting the ruskies.
As flag waving as both films are I still prefer the original story line and 80s fashion 😂😂😂😂

It's pretty well-known that Red Dawn is beloved of right-wingers, gun nuts and mountain-dwelling survivalists, so I always found it funny that it started life as an anti-war movie and then the original producers took the script to MGM, who promptly decided they wanted a pro-war movie featuring kids for a summer release, so hired John Millius to direct it, a man so pro-war and right-wing that when he agreed to direct the movie, he was - and I swear I am not making this up - paid in guns.
Millius had the script rewritten to make it explicit that "left wing Mexicans" were the real threat to the US if WW3 were to happen, which was a take so batshit that MGM hired a right-wing thinktank to talk Millius off the ledge in a language he could understand by suggesting that "Soviet-allied Nicaraguans" front and center of an invading South American coalition was more feasible, and at some point even the Pentagon decided this film had a problem with Latinos and withdrew their cooperation.
When the remake was mooted, Millius read the script and said he didn't like the historically-unlikely scenario of a Chinese ground invasion and that invaders would likely come from a nation bordering America, such as - ohhhh, just as a "for example" off the top of my head here - Mexico.  When he viewed the remake as a finished product and saw that they'd gone with North Koreans as the primary antagonists, he said he didn't like the film.

If you're jonesing for more John Millius anti-commie propaganda, though, I can recommend Home Front: The Voice Of Freedom, which is a tie-in novel to the Red Dawn-inspired videogame Home Front, allegedly written by Millius himself, and  which is very reminiscent of mid-80s cold war pulp like the early Survivalist novels.

When I first saw Red Dawn in the 80s I wasn't considering the right wing messages all I did was linked it with one of my favourite tooth strips of the 80s - Invasion. The scene of paratroopers floating in and the speed & ease which the invaders took over (& subsequent resistance) just rung a bell.

I remember watching the film in the 80's, when I was a teenager and finding it uncomfortably jingoistic even then, years before I even knew what jingoism even was!!!  :lol:

Same reason I can't stand the horrendously overrated piece of propaganda trash, Top Gun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 August, 2020, 08:50:02 PM
Bad Times at the El Royale

Someone decided to impersonate Tarintino. They did a really damn good impression.

You decide if that is good or bad. My view on this film is in italics.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 18 August, 2020, 08:24:04 AM
Agreed - that was a cracking piece of storytelling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 18 August, 2020, 03:23:22 PM
Found a rare unseen 80's horror on Netflix last night - Humanoids from the Deep

Cheap, sleazy, grotesque, trite, exploitative; I had a great time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 18 August, 2020, 06:42:24 PM
Watched Inception and Interstellar, since Tenet is just around the corner. Think both held really well. Inception felt smooth and well phased, definitely one of the best action movies I've seen. Interstellar grows with every viewing for me. One thing I noticed this time around is how the ending sort of feels like [spoiler]an afterlife, heaven or something for both Coop and Murph. Coop surviving a black hole and getting to meet his daughter. Murph saving mankind and on her death bed getting to meet her dad.[/spoiler] I really enjoyed both movies. Hope Tenet will deliver as well :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 August, 2020, 06:21:37 PM
TENET quite cool, but it left me a bit empty. I understood the story, but I got quite lost at times during it. Couldv been the lack of subs on the 35mm print I watched. Didnt think the ending didnt pack the same punch as for example Inception either. Also lacked effective scenes to ground the ideas its throwing around. Felt like the backwards thing shows up snd everyone accepts without much fuzz. But all and all, liked it. Loopy story with some good action. but it feels like I need to watch it again. Interstellar needed a second viewing as well for me  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 August, 2020, 08:50:11 PM
Watched a few films while I was away.

Last time I watched Aliens I was quite hard on it. I felt it'd dated so was keen to give it another go. Once again it was like slipping on a comfie old dressing gown. It has it all. Top draw action, fun and engaging character, its as quotable as all hell and it has emotical strings to pull your along and makes the scares scarier. Its tough and tender at the same time. Its still not as good as Alien. but its still bloody magnificent.

Asterix and the Secret of the Magic Potion finally got an airing and it was... okay... I'm a fan of many an Asterix film and the last 'Mansion of the Gods' was one of my favs. This one built on that with some great laughs but it fumbled a lot too. Pulling bits and pieces from all over the place and not quite pulling it all together well. The ending felt like they were trying to match the OTT endings of many a Disney film. Which an Asterix film shouldn't need, they should be relying on wit and guile, rather than flash, bang whollop (well unless the whollop is on a roman!).

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou not seen this one for a while. Which is weird as its one of my all time favs and this viewing did nothing to shake that. Charming, warm, witty, sharp and intriguing. Its a wonderful film and I adore it.

The kids also watched Zootropolis I was doing other things... or was meant to be... its so good I kept getting distracted by my fav bit... then the next fav bit... and the next... and the sloths...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 22 August, 2020, 09:05:51 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 22 August, 2020, 08:50:11 PM
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou not seen this one for a while. Which is weird as its one of my all time favs and this viewing did nothing to shake that. Charming, warm, witty, sharp and intriguing. Its a wonderful film and I adore it.

Thanks for mentioning Life Aquatic.Classic. And I've only watched it once... Going to try to fix that ASAP!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 August, 2020, 09:21:37 AM
The Scout

A film in the same genre of film as Good Will Hunting, but came before that film and is Baseball instead of Maths.  Also, nowhere near as good.  It is okayish.  I say that because the performances are what they needed to be.  The story is another matter.  It is so weak and flimsy.  Nothing is explored or developed, very little happens and when it does it sometimes feels like important bits were missed out and the resolution is idiotic.  Nevertheless, it was watchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: kev67 on 25 August, 2020, 07:45:30 PM
The last film I watched at the cinema was Le Mans, which was not bad. The best film I saw at cinema last year was Joker, and the worst was Ad Astra. The last film I saw anywhere was The Godfather III, which was ok, but not as good as I or II, although II was too long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2020, 10:31:45 AM
True History of The Kelly Gang just appeared on Amazon, it was one I'd been very keen to see in the cinema before things went bonkers so glad to get the chance to watch it now.

Still reeling from it a bit, it has a very intense mood and atmosphere that I know will be sticking with me for a while. Visually and musically it's very powerful, a real experience and a fantastic bit of film-making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 August, 2020, 11:00:17 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2020, 10:31:45 AM
True History of The Kelly Gang just appeared on Amazon, it was one I'd been very keen to see in the cinema before things went bonkers so glad to get the chance to watch it now.

Is that based on Peter Casey's book? Good book if so and I might need to check this out.

Anyway me and the boy got back onto out Jurassic Park rewatch with Jurassic Park III over the last week and have to say I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, personally think its actually much beeter than 'The Lost World'.

Surprised as I've only ever seen this once, way back in the day and my memory of it is pretty damning and like many (I think) I assumed it was by far the worse of the initial movies. Now clearly it has significent issues and isn't a patch on the original. Though the boy child likes the fact it gets to the exciting bits much quicker. He struggled with the steady build up in Jurassic Park, and these days the wonder of seeing such fantastically realised dinosaurs isn't something that sustains 'cos its bread and butter to him. Don't know they're born them kids.

Personally, well yes the way they dismiss the Spinosaurus vs. T-Rex fight as something that needs to be got out the way to establish how kick ass the Spinosaurus, is a massive shame. Sure I see the way it alludes to King Kong (original) were his might is clearly shown with an early fight with a dino. But here its like they get their big guns out way too early and as fun as many of the later set pieces are, nothing is T-REX vs SPINOSAURUS good. I mean jez just typing those words, T-REX vs SPINOSAURUS is cool. In the film its made to feel lack a necessary evil, rather than the cinematic power punch it should be.

After that the film rather lurches along, moving a fairly two dimensional cast of characters from one thrilling action sequence to another. Each character following an 'arc' that is pretty clear from the outset. The thing is this makes for a simple fun and entertaining ride most of these set ups are thrilling, so all good.

The end is pretty disappointing, but just about holds together. Overall though it goes a decent job of making a thrilling adventure with cool dinosaurs chomping things, so does its job for me.

Next we move to Jurassic World - which I've never seen all the way through - I seen chunks on telly at times - but I'm worried about this one, as having taken the boy to see 'The Fallen Kingdom' that was pretty terrible (he loved it) so I'm not going in with great hope...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2020, 01:47:36 PM
The Blood Beast Terror is one of those films that makes me wonder why people keep bitching about the 3-act structure, because God forbid something should have a clearly-defined beginning, middle and end, or story/character arcs that move with purpose towards a defined resolution.
"Why can't characters just do things arbitrarily?  Why can't the story just sort of meander about for 80 minutes?"  This dreadful film about a were-moth is why.  A woman is a were-moth, but also a vampire, but also a sexy seductress, but also a Frankenstein - yes, I know what I am describing clearly sounds awesome, but trust me, they found a way to make it boring.

Saturn 3 - having pulled a muscle standing up too fast yesterday, seeing Kirk Douglas at 60-something jumping around like a blue-arsed fly in this just makes me sad.  I kept getting distracted by the impracticality of the setup, by which I mean both the many dumb conceits of the movie story and the stupid sets, but I also wondered far too much about the practicality of keeping a dog on a space station, how that doesn't seem like a large enough amount of crops to feed a planet, and how they never adequately address why Douglas and Fawcett don't just club the clunky robot with lumps of metal or something.
It's pretty much Douglas carrying this with that intensity he exudes, while Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel are just sort of there.  It's not very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2020, 02:15:42 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 28 August, 2020, 11:00:17 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 28 August, 2020, 10:31:45 AM
True History of The Kelly Gang just appeared on Amazon, it was one I'd been very keen to see in the cinema before things went bonkers so glad to get the chance to watch it now.

Is that based on Peter Casey's book? Good book if so and I might need to check this out.

It is, I hadn't heard of the book before watching but bought a kindle copy immediately, looking forward to reading it now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 August, 2020, 03:13:09 PM
The book is indeed excellent, as Carey usually is.  Looking forward to seeing the film, someday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 09:40:06 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 August, 2020, 01:47:36 PM
Saturn 3 - having pulled a muscle standing up too fast yesterday, seeing Kirk Douglas at 60-something jumping around like a blue-arsed fly in this just makes me sad.  I kept getting distracted by the impracticality of the setup, by which I mean both the many dumb conceits of the movie story and the stupid sets, but I also wondered far too much about the practicality of keeping a dog on a space station, how that doesn't seem like a large enough amount of crops to feed a planet, and how they never adequately address why Douglas and Fawcett don't just club the clunky robot with lumps of metal or something.
It's pretty much Douglas carrying this with that intensity he exudes, while Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel are just sort of there.  It's not very good.

Back in the days when a young teen's birthday party would involve your folks taking you and a few friends for a movie and a burger, as opposed to hiring a caterer and a DJ, we saw Saturn 3 for my 13th birthday on a double bill with Hawk the Slayer.

All I can remember of the former is Farrah Fawcett's boobs, a huge movie star that was in all those films on telly, Farrah Fawcett's boobs, a big robot, and Farrah Fawcett's boobs.

My strongest memory of the latter was disappointment that the so-called "giant" turned out to be just the tall bloke from the carry on films in built-up shoes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 28 August, 2020, 10:00:05 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 09:40:06 PM
All I can remember of the former is Farrah Fawcett's boobs, a huge movie star that was in all those films on telly, Farrah Fawcett's boobs, a big robot, and Farrah Fawcett's boobs.

Count yourself lucky, DDD. For my 13th birthday I was brought to see Piranha. At least you have the fond memory of Farrah Fawcett's boobs to cling to. What have I got? Swarms of flesh-stripping fish!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 10:28:55 PM
Fair point, but you didn't have the conflict of seeing Farah Fawcett's boobs with your hormonal 13yo buddies on one side and your mum on the other
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 28 August, 2020, 10:49:53 PM
Worse than that. It was my sister on one side and my mum on the other.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 28 August, 2020, 10:55:03 PM
PS: My Sister spent most of the film shrieking in terror. Which was, to say the least, distracting...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 11:10:15 PM
terror and screams are one thing, but boobage in front of your mum was different. I vividly remember the awkward, silent atmosphere that would descend on the living room when a sex scene came on the telly (three sons, catholic family)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 29 August, 2020, 01:06:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 11:10:15 PM
terror and screams are one thing, but boobage in front of your mum was different.

Which is ironic because boobage in front of your mum is the entire reason that boobage exists in the first place...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 29 August, 2020, 01:07:53 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 August, 2020, 09:40:06 PM
on a double bill with Hawk the Slayer.

My strongest memory of the latter was disappointment that the so-called "giant" turned out to be just the tall bloke from the carry on films in built-up shoes.


Bernard Bresslaw?  I know he's the cyclops in Krull, but didn't realise he was in Hawk the Slayer too?  Must have been angling for a career in fantasy film monstering.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 30 August, 2020, 02:33:06 PM
Second time watching TENET. Made much more sense this time around. Things like [spoiler]the bomb from the future, reversing everything[/spoiler] and such. The ending also resonated with me more as well. Still feels like I need to watch it a couple of more times hehe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 30 August, 2020, 08:48:26 PM
Just finished watching Bill and Ted Face The Music (at home)!

I'd say the climax is a bit of a dud, though the writers do a decent job in paying off what is a difficult concept, but everything up to that is good fun and there are many genuine laughs along the way.

By far the most fascinating aspect of the movie for me was the depiction of daughters, Theo and Billie. No spoilers, but their characters defy all expectations of gender and sexuality and will no doubt be the part of this movie that I will continue to think about the most.

Alex Winter slips back into the roll of Bill like he was never away but, ironically, I think the best depiction of "Ted" in this movie comes from Brigette Lundy-Paine in the role of Billie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 August, 2020, 10:29:03 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 30 August, 2020, 08:48:26 PM
Just finished watching Bill and Ted Face The Music (at home)!

I'd say the climax is a bit of a dud, though the writers do a decent job in paying off what is a difficult concept, but everything up to that is good fun and there are many genuine laughs along the way.

By far the most fascinating aspect of the movie for me was the depiction of daughters, Theo and Billie. No spoilers, but their characters defy all expectations of gender and sexuality and will no doubt be the part of this movie that I will continue to think about the most.

Alex Winter slips back into the roll of Bill like he was never away but, ironically, I think the best depiction of "Ted" in this movie comes from Brigette Lundy-Paine in the role of Billie!

Just finished it myself and the daughters are indeed wonderful. I wasn't expecting the lightning of the first but my fears that Bill and Ted would just step aside were unfounded. Be sure to watch after the credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 31 August, 2020, 08:10:55 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 30 August, 2020, 10:29:03 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 30 August, 2020, 08:48:26 PM
Just finished watching Bill and Ted Face The Music (at home)!

I'd say the climax is a bit of a dud, though the writers do a decent job in paying off what is a difficult concept, but everything up to that is good fun and there are many genuine laughs along the way.

By far the most fascinating aspect of the movie for me was the depiction of daughters, Theo and Billie. No spoilers, but their characters defy all expectations of gender and sexuality and will no doubt be the part of this movie that I will continue to think about the most.

Alex Winter slips back into the roll of Bill like he was never away but, ironically, I think the best depiction of "Ted" in this movie comes from Brigette Lundy-Paine in the role of Billie!

Just finished it myself and the daughters are indeed wonderful. I wasn't expecting the lightning of the first but my fears that Bill and Ted would just step aside were unfounded. Be sure to watch after the credits.

Haha yes I saw.

Bogus Journey is my Bill and Ted high point, though it was the one I saw first so that's how it usually goes.

And I used to watch this... XD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iv82iJ_MT4

Seemed like everything had a cartoon back in the day. I used to watch cartoons of this, Back To The Future, Beetlejuice, Ace Ventura...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 31 August, 2020, 03:29:45 PM
Watched Host last night on Shudder, I had misunderstood a couple of review quotes I'd seen along the lines of it being 'smart' and 'witty' to mean that it was horror in the tongue in cheek played for laughs vein and I sold it as such to my other half. She's rarely in the mood for horror but the promise of it being a bit of a jape (plus the short running time of 1hr) really helped sell it.

It is not that at all and it was surprisingly creepy and actually scared the heck out of me in that way that only a good haunting or found footage movie seems to. It's a very smart and very current spin on the found footage thing though, and really quite an impressively staged and put together accomplishment (it's a horror film made during lockdown and set entirely in a Zoom conference call), and I was well impressed. It was giving me serious Ghostwatch vibes at times, but at least this time around I knew I was watching a film and not a live TV documentary (thanks for the childhood nightmares BBC)!

My wife kept telling me I was an idiot afterwards though for not knowing what I was getting into, which is fair. She clocked immediately the kind of film that was being set up and says she kept her eyes closed for most of the second half so she didn't see the scary bits, and I'm not sure a film has done that to her since [REC]. I wouldn't say it's up there with that film but it's definitely one of the better horror films I've seen of late so would heartily recommend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 31 August, 2020, 03:44:23 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 31 August, 2020, 03:29:45 PM
Watched Host last night on Shudder

Had that pegged as a cheaper version of 'Unfriended' and glad to hear I was wrong.

Still haven't convinced the other half that we need a Shudder account yet, as she rightly puts it we barely have enough time to watch a few hours of Netflix a week together, but I shall persevere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 31 August, 2020, 04:16:56 PM
Aye I watched Host recently too and enjoyed it.

You can get Shudder on a free trial to check it out for a month, if that helps.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 August, 2020, 04:28:16 PM
Solo again, this time with a lot of pausing and peering about. I really, really like this film. It's a splendid if nonsensical little adventure, with some terrific performances. Its biggest flaws are the rather cruel way it burns through great characters like Val,  L3 and the wonderful Rio, and the relentless murk of the first 20 or 30 minutes. In fact this same issue persists through way too many scenes, almost as if Howard is trying to hide the aliens and environments instead of the usual showcasing.

Pushing the brightness up as far it will go for the cantina and spaceport on Vandor and taking it slo-o-o-w reveals some very impressive work that should have been memorable if you could have seen it, ditto the underground action on Kessel. There's no saving much of Corellia and Mimban, though - Fincher himself wouldn't go as far into the fog as this crowd goes. It's a shame.

I actually really appreciate that it's so unashamed about being a dependent prequel/episode rather than pretending to be its own film, using heavy-handed musical cues to lampshade moments that have no intrinsic impact without the viewer already having seen at the very least the OT,  some of the PT and a chunk of Clone Wars. But I can see how that stirs up the ironically Pavlovian responses of the RLM posse.

Ultimately it's just a good fun journey,  chockablock with loveable characters. Easily in the top half of my overall SW list,  and in the top two of the Disney movies, and Q'ira's story really must continue in some form,  with or without Han & Chewie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 31 August, 2020, 05:33:37 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 August, 2020, 04:28:16 PM
Solo again, this time with a lot of pausing and peering about. I really, really like this film.... Ultimately it's just a good fun journey,  chockablock with loveable characters.
It's great fun - the only post-Lucas SW film I've really enjoyed. Lots of enjoyable performances - Emilia Clarke in particular gives a very charismatic turn.

On a related note, I finally saw Episode IX. It's probably on a par with TFA - that is to say, awful but with a couple of things going for it. It's good to see Finn with a bit more get up and go again, and the film just about manages to redeem Ben Solo - I'd have let him survive. However, the first half is surprisingly unengaging, even on a superficial don't-think-about-it-too-hard level. I did like the pig-faced aliens in the desert - they were awfully nice. And the big slug fella with the pointy bits - I wanted more of him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 31 August, 2020, 07:15:30 PM
Solo was much better than any off the new trilogy for me. The new trilogy never felt like one cohesive story. It was like when I was in school and we will sit in a circle. One person start a story and the next person adds something to the story. The original concept is completely lost when the story is returned to the originator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2020, 10:32:23 PM
Bill & Ted Face The Music - or rather, Bill & Ted Face Mortality, having already been killed off in the previous film, they instead face an existential threat both metaphorical and literal as their failure to live up to the potential of their youth suddenly intrudes upon their middle-aged lives and goodness me but that isn't a subtle metaphor, yet it did elicit at least one "aww" from me when [spoiler]they're both laying in their deathbeds and Bill says "just one more thing to do before we go."[/spoiler]
On a meta level, it's a reboot movie where middle-aged white blokes are replaced by women, but instead of shitting themselves in an hour-long Youtube essay about it, Bill & Ted accept it gracefully that they aren't the ones to decide the shape of the future because it's not for them and there is a time coming when they won't be in it.

It does occasionally look shockingly cheap, and the ending does get a bit RTD-era Dr Who, but I enjoyed it.  They really ought to make more comedies that aren't mean-spirited.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 September, 2020, 09:04:05 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 31 August, 2020, 10:32:23 PM
It does occasionally look shockingly cheap

For the most part I thought it looked great, but when they're taken to the far future (as shown in the trailer) the composition of the actors over the CGI environment - which, in itself, looked fine - was pretty shoddy.

On the subject of the daughters, I have wondered if [spoiler]the usual types will complain about a male-centered series giving more prominence to female characters[/spoiler] but then [spoiler]are any of those types of people Bill and Ted fans anyway?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 01 September, 2020, 10:27:56 AM
Did you just ask if there's much overlap on the Venn diagram of rock music and misogyny?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 01 September, 2020, 10:41:55 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 September, 2020, 10:27:56 AM
Did you just ask if there's much overlap on the Venn diagram of rock music and misogyny?

:lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 September, 2020, 02:05:35 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 01 September, 2020, 09:04:05 AM
but then [spoiler]are any of those types of people Bill and Ted fans anyway?[/spoiler]

I'm pretty sure the Ghostbusters/Star Wars fanboys who did the most yapping about female-centric reboots weren't fans of the originals, and if they were, they weren't paying attention to them very closely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 01 September, 2020, 04:13:02 PM
Just saw Tenet, I'd been pretty nervous about going back to the cinema as didn't know how comfortable I'd feel but the distancing was good (despite everyone but me taking their masks off as soon as the film started) and I only felt a bit anxious about whether the yappers a few rows behind me were going to shut up (spoiler: they didn't).

As far as the film though, I thought it was pretty good and has the potential to be way more enjoyable on another watch. I found the first half surprisingly dull though. After introducing its reverse-time concept it seems to wait an age to do anything very interesting with it, and the first hour feels more like a fairly generic Bond film rather than the Nolan mindbender I was hoping for.

When it does start doing interesting things with its idea though, it does some very interesting things with it indeed, and it makes for some very unusual set-pieces and action scenes that really don't look like anything else out there. I think the thing that impressed me most was mainly that, that he's found another way (after Inception's nested realities and logic-defying hallways) to make action scenes that look unique.

I do think that while the idea itself is if anything probably simpler than something like Inception, it possibly doesn't do as good a job of depicting it in a way that's as readable in the moment to moment action. By which I mean I never really hit that point where the visual language of the concept became second nature and I stopped thinking about it enough to get lost in the excitement of the action if that makes sense. Other (smarter!) folks may fare better in that regard but I found my brain was constantly having to decode the why and how of things in a way that was a bit distracting.

I do think on subsequent watches though that'll become easier, and that the puzzle aspect is part of the appeal. I just have to hold my hands up (slightly ashamed) and say that as someone who doesn't usually have a struggle following films that are supposedly painfully complicated, I did find this one confusing to watch. I did have to go to the loo midway through and am certain I missed the explanation of why exactly a particular element was incredibly important so that won't have helped.

Looking forward to another go, although I have to say that after getting used to watching at home being the norm, the experience didn't do much to convince me that cinema (and chattering patrons) enhances the film experience significantly enough for me to start going frequently again so given the option I'll still be watching at home when I can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 01 September, 2020, 08:08:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 01 September, 2020, 04:13:02 PM
I do think on subsequent watches though that'll become easier, and that the puzzle aspect is part of the appeal. I just have to hold my hands up (slightly ashamed) and say that as someone who doesn't usually have a struggle following films that are supposedly painfully complicated, I did find this one confusing to watch. I did have to go to the loo midway through and am certain I missed the explanation of why exactly a particular element was incredibly important so that won't have helped.

I'm happy to hear people liking the puzzle aspect of the film. Figuring it out. Had alot of fun discussions at work about the ins and outs of it.

Watching it the second time it almost felt like I had "trained" my brain into better make sense of it changing between moving forward and backwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 September, 2020, 11:06:31 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 01 September, 2020, 08:08:14 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 01 September, 2020, 04:13:02 PM
I do think on subsequent watches though that'll become easier, and that the puzzle aspect is part of the appeal. I just have to hold my hands up (slightly ashamed) and say that as someone who doesn't usually have a struggle following films that are supposedly painfully complicated, I did find this one confusing to watch. I did have to go to the loo midway through and am certain I missed the explanation of why exactly a particular element was incredibly important so that won't have helped.

I'm happy to hear people liking the puzzle aspect of the film. Figuring it out. Had alot of fun discussions at work about the ins and outs of it.

Watching it the second time it almost felt like I had "trained" my brain into better make sense of it changing between moving forward and backwards.

Totally, I was chatting to a gamer friend about it and I described it as feeling like I've done the tutorial level now so when I go back to it things will really flow a lot better! Which is probably a good thing for cinemas, there isn't much in the way of releases just now so they're probably glad they've re-opened with a film that compels people to come back for more.

I just watched Ghost In The Shell SAC: The Laughing Man, I've watched and rewatched the show a bunch over the years but never saw this film version. It came with the most recent box set so gave it a go. It's basically the first season of the show edited down to movie length (well, 2hrs40mins so the length of a long movie) mainly by removing any elements or storylines that aren't part of the overarching plot. I guess it works pretty well and would be an efficient way of just digesting that storyline in one chunk, but it did make me realize how much I particularly like the standalone episodes and stories in that show so doesn't feel the ideal way to watch SAC. There's a film cut of the second season included too so will give that a watch at some point too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 02 September, 2020, 11:23:24 AM
Have booked ticket to go and see Tenet tomorrow, and glad that it seems to be getting positive, if puzzled, reviews. Nothing new for a Nolan film.

Had a re-watch of The Prestige, and Inception, to get me in the mood. Have to say, I love Inception, and seeing it again after a few years made me appreciate the fact that in Nolan, we have a fella not afraid to make the viewer think, while still delivering incredible visuals and moments of action. Really head melting movie on first viewing, but all these years and views later, it really is a magnificent piece of filmmaking with a belting Hans Zimmer soundtrack.

That said, The Prestige, is my personal favourite of Nolans. Just a great movie from start to finish, with great acting and some lovely moments and an incredibly well filmed, atmospheric movie. The stuff with Tesla could be a movie on its own.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 02 September, 2020, 01:44:26 PM
The Prestige is my favourite too, I love most of his films but for some reason that's the one to beat for me. Haven't done a full rewatch of Inception for a while but caught the last half hour on TV the other night and was reminded just how incredible that soundtrack is. It gets pigeonholed as the bombastic BWAAAAAARM score but the themes are absolutely beautiful and so perfectly suited to the dreamy visuals. I find the piece that plays that plays over the whole last sequence [spoiler]where he wakes on the plane etc.[/spoiler] incredibly moving, there's such an aching yearning sound to it that it really seems to grab something in me and squeeze all the feels out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 02 September, 2020, 02:08:20 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 02 September, 2020, 01:44:26 PM
The Prestige is my favourite too, I love most of his films but for some reason that's the one to beat for me. Haven't done a full rewatch of Inception for a while but caught the last half hour on TV the other night and was reminded just how incredible that soundtrack is. It gets pigeonholed as the bombastic BWAAAAAARM score but the themes are absolutely beautiful and so perfectly suited to the dreamy visuals. I find the piece that plays that plays over the whole last sequence [spoiler]where he wakes on the plane etc.[/spoiler] incredibly moving, there's such an aching yearning sound to it that it really seems to grab something in me and squeeze all the feels out.

Keef, it has to be my favourite soundtrack. As you say, it got lumbered for the bombastic BWAAAAARMMMM trailer, but as you say, it has some wonderful, personal pieces of music that really do get the eyes watering. So many great moments in the movie are played out to wonderful, low key background music.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 03 September, 2020, 12:10:55 PM
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 31 August, 2020, 04:16:56 PM
You can get Shudder on a free trial to check it out for a month, if that helps.

Good to know, although I will likely forget to unsubscribe in my dotage!

Watched The Nightingale last night - good enough, but a pretty tough watch in places, and seemed to meander a bit by the final act (or maybe that was just my mind wandering).

I stuck with it to the end to see some of the biggest bastards in onscreen history get their just deserts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 04 September, 2020, 10:22:17 AM
Tenet

Wowzers. Another puzzle piece by Nolan, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, although I won't pretend that I understood or followed the entire plot/some scenes etc. Definitely need another viewing to really get my head around the inversion puzzle, and the fact that I found some of the dialogue indecipherable because of the sound mix, which at times I found oppressively loud, but assume that is Nolan's intention. So, next viewing will no doubt be accompanied by Blu Ray subtitles. Some of the reverse action bits are mind blowing, and the skill in editing them together, the actors performances and the technical mcgubbins are astounding.

It staggers me that Nolan somehow always manages to make even his most extravagant movies such hard work for the audience, but still brings in the Box Office, and at this stage it seems Warner Brothers would literally allow him to make a £320m adaptation of Coronation Street with no questions asked. Russell Crowe for Jack Duckworth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 04 September, 2020, 11:03:52 AM
With Scarlett Johansson as Vera Duckworth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 04 September, 2020, 11:07:03 AM
Quote from: paddykafka on 04 September, 2020, 11:03:52 AM
With Scarlett Johansson as Vera Duckworth.

This movie is getting near the top of my to-watch list with every new casting announcement!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 September, 2020, 03:33:15 PM
Ryan Reynolds for Ken Barlow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 September, 2020, 05:33:49 PM
Moana. Disney+ sub continue to be good value - I really enjoyed this one. A simple story imaginatively told, with surprise musical contribution from Jermaine Clement, which is never a bad thing. Hair animation is truly stunning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 04 September, 2020, 07:03:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 September, 2020, 05:33:49 PM
Moana. Disney+ sub continue to be good value - I really enjoyed this one. A simple story imaginatively told, with surprise musical contribution from Jermaine Clement, which is never a bad thing. Hair animation is truly stunning.

Still having hair at our age is truly stunning!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 September, 2020, 10:10:26 PM
Oh I still have hair. It's just migrated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 04 September, 2020, 10:36:04 PM
Yes, but combing over your back hair is not a good look. Trust me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 September, 2020, 09:27:07 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 04 September, 2020, 10:36:04 PM
Yes, but combing over your back hair is not a good look. Trust me.

Hey, why let it go waste. Just gave to train that ear-hair out and up and I'll almost have the full Trump.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 06 September, 2020, 09:36:19 AM
Watched the second Ghost In The Shell SAC film edit thingy, The Individual Eleven. I thought in terms of the pacing and structure this season worked better than the first in this format, but was quite taken aback by just how ruthless the cuts are to get it to the required 2hrs40m this time! Entire episodes of backstory and relationships excised, but the trade-off is that it rattles along at a great pace and builds to an epic climax. Still not as great as watching the episodes, but made for a good film watching experience none the less.

Also watched Now You See Me, which was good silly inventive fun. For some reason I think I expected something more self-serious or more of a gritty heist movie but it's just an all-out daft romp and I had a blast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2020, 10:29:45 AM
I love GitS SAC, but can't bring myself to watch the film edits.  I would probably end up feeling like I wished I just watched the series instead.

I enjoyed Now You See Me.  The sequel isn't up to scratch, suffering from sequelitas... the same but bigger.  Nevertheless, not unbearable to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 September, 2020, 07:59:22 PM
Insomnia Missed out on this one. A nice little game of rugged cop v a murderer taking place in an ever sunny Alaska. It's summer and the sun never sets. Local cop Hillary Swank is getting help from Al Pacino's LA cop (think HEAT) solving a murder.  Robin Williams is a stand out as a writer who's trying to help Pacino's character. My favorite bit of the film was probably the wear the insomnia and stress has on Pacino's cop. Straight up a really good psychological thriller.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 September, 2020, 10:03:20 PM
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It shouldn't be possible but the makers of this film found a way to bore the arse off me with dinosaurs. I half slept through it. Dull, uninteresting, utterly charmless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 September, 2020, 10:08:25 PM
The Girl with all the Gifts

Entirely effective new take on the zombie plague - well kinda zombie. Effective in that it gives a new spin. Takes the premise of 'We're the walking dead' and spins it further to 'We're the monsters" but does much the same as many of these types of films. Questions our inhumanity to ourselves and others. Takes a small group and makes us like them to allow tension and drama to have maximum impact. Annoys the hell out of you with - wait, what why would you do that? moments.

But enjoyable and a fine cast. I stumbles across it on Amazon, if you do the same (moving on soon I believe) well worth checking out.

Edited to add: Just checked and yes its by Mike Carey ex of these pastures and comics in general. Apparently from a book of the same name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 06 September, 2020, 11:38:18 PM
Game Night.

Jason Bateman and Amy Adams comedy vehicle. Has some great laughs, and is very well put together, with a great cast and a scene stealing performance by Jesse Plemons. I don't know what it is, but Jason Bateman rarely makes a dud movie, and his being in the cast was the reason I gave it a chance.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 07 September, 2020, 10:33:12 AM
Host.

Effective, very well made little Horror movie with some great performances and effective shocks. Seeing as it was made during current times, i would love to see how they put it all together, with social distancing in mind.

Very short running time! Which a lot of movies would benefit from.

[spoiler]Really wish that they could come up with more effective, original monsters than zombie-ghosts.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 07 September, 2020, 10:43:46 AM
Also really enjoyed Girl With All The Gifts and Game Night! Game Night in particular was way funnier than I expected.

Closed out my big rewatch of GiTS SAC with the Solid State Society film, have already seen it a bunch and it's great. It was always a film (rather than a heavily trimmed season) so obviously works better than the Laughing Man and Individual Eleven movies, and was good to see it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 September, 2020, 06:14:50 PM
The Guyver.

I liked both the animes of this and hope to read the manga one day, but never saw the live action film.  It's crap, but watchable.  Someone, at some point during this production, had passion for the source material.  Then someone else thought it was stupid and joke.  I think there is another live action film with proper Zoanoids, so I might watch that on my next movie night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 September, 2020, 07:15:58 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA
link=topic=31824.msg1038135#msg1038135
date=1599426505

The Girl with all the Gifts

Apparently from a book of the same
name.

I really enjoyed the book and felt the film made a decent job of it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 08 September, 2020, 01:44:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 September, 2020, 06:14:50 PM
The Guyver.

I liked both the animes of this and hope to read the manga one day, but never saw the live action film.  It's crap, but watchable.  Someone, at some point during this production, had passion for the source material.  Then someone else thought it was stupid and joke.  I think there is another live action film with proper Zoanoids, so I might watch that on my next movie night.

Ages since I watched it but the second film is definitely a lot closer to the source material. I remember a review at the time comparing it to The Incredible Hulk telly series crossed with The Power Rangers, but gorier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 09 September, 2020, 11:30:29 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 08 September, 2020, 01:44:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 September, 2020, 06:14:50 PM
The Guyver.

I liked both the animes of this and hope to read the manga one day, but never saw the live action film.  It's crap, but watchable.  Someone, at some point during this production, had passion for the source material.  Then someone else thought it was stupid and joke.  I think there is another live action film with proper Zoanoids, so I might watch that on my next movie night.

Ages since I watched it but the second film is definitely a lot closer to the source material. I remember a review at the time comparing it to The Incredible Hulk telly series crossed with The Power Rangers, but gorier.

Yeah the second Guyver film (Dark Hero?) has some real Power Rangers vibes but I remember enjoying it for sticking more closely to the anime, it's definitely better than the first film. It's confusing though, round my way the first film was called Mutronics instead of The Guyver for some reason, although it might have been rebranded since then! I'm sure the cover art also had Mark Hamill transforming into The Guyver even though he's not the lead in the film so I guess they needed to push that Hamill star power.

I watched Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, it was the kind of thing I was in the mood for and have to get the money's worth out of the Disney+ somehow while we wait for The Mandalorian! Fairly average family YA Potter style stuff.

I recognized the main actress but wasn't sure where from, turns out it's because my Instagram suggested accounts feed went through a few days of constantly throwing up fan pages devoted to pictures of her doing the shopping or getting in and out of cars, even though I honestly don't look for or follow any of those kinds of accounts. I'm not sure how Instagram's algorithm works, my wife gets loads of cool horror creature effects pages and that's what I want to see!

But anyway, Percy Jackson was okay I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2020, 10:12:03 AM
The Transporter 3 was a load of nonsense, even if it did have quite a fun gimmick in the Statham/Car explodey Wedlock idea. Totally unintelligible action though so didn't even really do the trick as a dumb action movie. I'm sure those fights were pretty good too before they were subjected to 7000 cuts per second, but I should have expected that from the director who once used 15 shots to show Liam Neeson hopping a small fence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 10 September, 2020, 08:10:01 PM
Elstree 1976

A pretty straightforward talking heads documentry that examines the lives before a moment of Star Warsdom and the lives after of 6 or 7 bit part players (and David Prowses) in Star Wars. It should be dull, but it crafts a wonderful diverse set of journeys to a single point. The impact of that shared moment and the diverse paths they all follow afterwards. Turns it into a fascinatingly human story.

The fact that its Star Wars that unites these folks is almost academic, expect it brings the audience to the yard and so its very smart piece of work and I'd heartily recommend it. As long as you accept and embrace the face its almost 2 hours of talking heads, which I'm fine with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 September, 2020, 08:44:20 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 10 September, 2020, 10:12:03 AM
The Transporter 3 was a load of nonsense, even if it did have quite a fun gimmick in the Statham/Car explodey Wedlock idea. Totally unintelligible action though so didn't even really do the trick as a dumb action movie. I'm sure those fights were pretty good too before they were subjected to 7000 cuts per second, but I should have expected that from the director who once used 15 shots to show Liam Neeson hopping a small fence.

I wouldn't say the first Transporter is anything note worthy, but the sequels took a nose dive in quality.  I don't really remember what happens in them, but after my last viewing of them I vowed never to watch them again.  There are definitely better Statham films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 11 September, 2020, 03:35:17 PM
Yeah it had some inventive fights but they were just too frantically presented to be enjoyable! I did enjoy the first as a cheesy action romp though.

Watched The Canal this morning (on Amazon and Shudder), it was a pretty decent Irish ghost story with some really creepy moments. A lot of it maybe a tad too predictable if you're well versed in that sort of thing but definitely an impressive stab at the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 11 September, 2020, 07:26:32 PM
Had a real shit day at work, and left early around lunch. Walked past a cinema, and there were still tickets left for TENET in IMAX. So I watched it for the third time. Not only did I understand 80% of the story this time, but it also had quite an effect on me. Both what I percieved as the message of Washington's The Protagonist but also the whole backwards thing. Went beyond being just a fun gimmick for me so to say. It also had an effect on me when waiting for the train on the opposite side of the platform  --because for a moment logic told me that trains moves backwards haha.

Another thing I noticed was how much I like the soundtrack to the film. Especially TRUCKS IN PLACE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaSiqlwkK7U
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 12 September, 2020, 09:07:11 PM
Saw Showgirls tonight. Very entertaining (at least up to a certain scene towards the end). Every bit as campy and sleazy as I imagined it to be. And for all it's nudity it felt very un-erotic. It feels like the film trusts the viewer to be in on the joke. The tone reminded me alot of Starship Troopers, especially the way dehumanisation is glorified. Especially of it's "heroes".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 13 September, 2020, 03:20:11 PM
Don't often out documentaries on (with movies we're usually after escapism!) but watched Hail Satan last night and it was brilliant. Funny and entertaining and really interesting. I think Lucien Greaves might be my new hero. On Netflix, recommend!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2020, 12:55:52 AM
So TENET is pretty damned good despite some absolutely major flaws. 

It's hard to review in too much detail or even in broad strokes without spoiling it so really don't  click on below.

[spoiler]The finale is very, very hard to follow. Yes I get the gist but it just seemed like lots of people running around, some backwards, while firing guns. It would have been better suited to a smaller scale - but still a time ponder- where the squads had clear objectives.

And yeah, the film needs a female lead. I know, let's put her in an abusive relationship storyline. That's really what this time heist movie needs.

And yeah, Nolan needs the sound mix person not to know the script inside out because so much crucial dialogue is drowned out.

Oh and for the first forty minutes I thought The film should have been called BASILISAB

Geuinenly would love to see someone with a sense of humour make the same film.[/spoiler]

But fark me, I'm glad Nolan is here to take a look at my favourite medium, that relies on sequences of images and story telling being done in a forward manner and say "Foes it though?". And not only do it in an art house movie but to make wildly entertaining blockbusters out of it.

There was a Black Widow trailer too. I realised I am so done with Marvel. I enjoyed their 40 hour tv series but it No longer excites me.

My first cinema trip and I felt it was the safest public experience I've had some lockdown. Safer than pubs or restaurants or giving blood. Ten people in a massive auditorium. And I got a Vegan Magnum too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 September, 2020, 09:26:56 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 September, 2020, 12:55:52 AM


There was a Black Widow trailer too. I realised I am so done with Marvel. I enjoyed their 40 hour tv series but it No longer excites me.



Totally agree.

The only thing they have coming that i'm vaguely interested in, is the Sam Raimi Doctor Strange, and even then, i'd rather he was making something original. Mind you, there is still time for "creative differences" to surface.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2020, 10:26:47 AM
Yeah I did really enjoy the whole Marvel saga and loved going to see Endgame and having all of that wrap up, but it just feels done to me now, Endgame put a nice full stop on it and I can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for more!

Watched Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the first film was fun and I'd heard this one wasn't as good and it really is a bit of a mess. Still had its fun moments, have to admit we [spoiler]laughed at a few of the Elton John gags despite (or more likely because of) how silly it was[/spoiler], but a bit disappointing even going in with low expectations.

Also [spoiler]Aliens of The Deep[/spoiler], a James Cameron underwater doc on Disney +. Pretty interesting, looking at a trip to the bottom of the ocean from the point of view of it being prep for what exploring somewhere like Europa might be like. Was a pretty good watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 14 September, 2020, 10:51:46 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 14 September, 2020, 10:26:47 AM
Watched Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the first film was fun and I'd heard this one wasn't as good and it really is a bit of a mess. Still had its fun moments, have to admit we [spoiler]laughed at a few of the Elton John gags despite (or more likely because of) how silly it was[/spoiler], but a bit disappointing even going in with low expectations.

I watched this too and it was ok and then watched League of Extraordinary Gentleman which was ok as well and it got me thinking about the 2000AD connections and how did these characters get to the big screen yet other characters and stories (in my mind better) within the tooth world never get a mention !!

Maybe in the future with their big new studio at hand they will start? Let's hope Dante🤞🏻😉
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 15 September, 2020, 03:45:05 PM
I feel like that Black Widow film doesn't need to be made at all.  Aside from the fact that Marvel films should have stopped at the end of Infinity Gauntlet or whatever it was called because that would have been a brave ending, but I feel like the BW film is going to just be the same as all the other female solo agent kicks a lot of men unconscious films.  Red Sparrow, Atomic Blonde etc etc.

Still, I enjoyed Arnie, Van Damme and Stallone basically making the same film over and over for two decades so maybe I should shut up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 16 September, 2020, 01:46:36 PM
Antiviral, which I think is the first Brandon Cronenberg film I've seen. I'm sure I won't be the first person to comment that he's definitely inherited some of his dad's sensibilities and eye for squirmy body horror, and it's got some really interesting/horrible ideas about the fixation with celebrity and it feels horribly plausible (if you were selling cold sores harvested from the lips of Lady Ga Ga someone would definitely buy them). Good, but icky so not for everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 September, 2020, 08:31:09 PM
The Platform

A bit of an English lit student story, but good fun nonethless. Bit of a Harry 20 vibe.

Really well dubbed in places (it's Spanish) and not so good in others.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 September, 2020, 09:47:06 AM
Guyver: Dark Hero

This film is pretty boring.  I'm not going to say the goofiness of the first film was better.  It was just a different kind of rubbish.  Nevertheless, the first film had Mark Hamill and Jeffrey Combs, so it wins out on that basis only.

It just wasn't exciting enough to warrant a 2 hour run time and just dragged along.  It was nice to see some additional story elements from the source material, but there was only as much as there was in the first film.  I would have been happy if there was a lot more melodrama.

I'm not sure whether the attempted to replicate the Zoanoid designs and if they did, they failed hard.  It's a minor gripe, but I would have enjoyed seeing a silly Gregor costume.

I'm glad I didn't watch these films when I became aware of them.  I don't think I'd have been as forgiving as I am now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 17 September, 2020, 10:17:51 AM
I really wish they'd re-release the original Guyver anime series, the closest I've been able to find is a few old DVDs of a later remake series, but that original one which Manga UK released as a monthly 'video comic' was really a big thing for me back then but never seems to have resurfaced here!

Watched Random Acts of Violence on Shudder, didn't hate it but it was a bit dull. There were some stylish moments but overall didn't do much for me. Also it seems to always be the case that whenever a movie or TV show features a fictional comic (it's about a serial killer taking inspiration from a hit slasher comic) they never look anywhere near as good as actual comics. Get some 2000AD artists on the job!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 September, 2020, 11:45:42 AM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 17 September, 2020, 10:17:51 AM
I really wish they'd re-release the original Guyver anime series, the closest I've been able to find is a few old DVDs of a later remake series, but that original one which Manga UK released as a monthly 'video comic' was really a big thing for me back then but never seems to have resurfaced here!

That was my introduction to Guyver as well.  I had the whole OVA series on VHS.  I do think the second series adaptation is better in every regard and it would have been nice to see it continue, especially as the Manga is still being published.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 September, 2020, 10:53:46 AM
Hackers

I haven't seen this in such a long time.  I have never been a fan and I actually remembered it being better than it is.  Angelina Jolie is terrible in this, Jonny Lee Miller is an uncharismatic lead and Alberta Watson is either half asleep, drunk or both.  Fisher Stevens and Matthew Lillard delightfully chew the scenery (honourable mentions to Darren Lee and Peter Kim for their roles as Razor and Blade).  Everyone else puts in a capable performance.

The plot isn't really that interesting.  The film is largely built on a foundation of style and it really just comes across as trying too hard in hindsight.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's representative of 90's style.  It seems to me the film wanted to set the trend rather than follow it.  So I guess it does have that going for it and probably explains it's cult film status.

One thing I have to give this film credit for is its awesome soundtrack.  In some ways, the soundtrack was so good it was distracting me from the film.

Overall the film wasn't too idiotic to make it unwatchable and, as ridiculous as it is, it followed it's own internal logic and kept a coherent but pedestrian storyline.  It makes it an unchallenging evening distraction.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Angry Vince on 18 September, 2020, 11:03:28 PM
Just watched Train to Busan.

Hands down the best zombie movie I've seen in a long time. Avoids those lazy jump scares & tired tropes and has genuine adrenaline-fueled zombie action. 10/10 brains.

Will watch Peninsula next weekend after a cool down.

In the meantime, I'm off to play Zombie Army 4 - for unrelated reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 September, 2020, 11:33:53 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 18 September, 2020, 10:53:46 AM
Hackers

I haven't seen this in such a long time.  I have never been a fan and I actually remembered it being better than it is.  Angelina Jolie is terrible in this, Jonny Lee Miller is an uncharismatic lead and Alberta Watson is either half asleep, drunk or both.  Fisher Stevens and Matthew Lillard delightfully chew the scenery (honourable mentions to Darren Lee and Peter Kim for their roles as Razor and Blade).  Everyone else puts in a capable performance.

The plot isn't really that interesting.  The film is largely built on a foundation of style and it really just comes across as trying too hard in hindsight.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's representative of 90's style.  It seems to me the film wanted to set the trend rather than follow it.  So I guess it does have that going for it and probably explains it's cult film status.

One thing I have to give this film credit for is its awesome soundtrack.  In some ways, the soundtrack was so good it was distracting me from the film.

Overall the film wasn't too idiotic to make it unwatchable and, as ridiculous as it is, it followed it's own internal logic and kept a coherent but pedestrian storyline.  It makes it an unchallenging evening distraction.
It's one of those films that's so ridiculous it's fun. Some of the references are good. Like those sweet, sweet Gibson mainframes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 20 September, 2020, 06:24:42 PM
First time in more than 6 months I have been to the theaters and i watched Tenent . All i can say this is a great movie but I will want to watch it again to add all the what is happening together. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 September, 2020, 09:57:28 PM
Possibly of interest to those intending to see - or already have seen - Disney's live-action Mulan remake, Xiran Jay Zhao has a few observations and so made a Youtube channel to talk about them. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3QKq24e0HM)
What was interesting to me is that she picks up the "born for greatness" trope (as opposed to making oneself great through force of will and good character) as a cultural difference between the East and West's heroic fantasies.  Thinking about how our screen heroes still draw from classical myths from 2-8000 years ago, this is a pretty interesting take.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 September, 2020, 05:15:56 PM
Red 2

It's an action romp with a decent cast.  Probably better than the first one.  Not familiar with its source material so I can only judge it on its own merits.  It is pretty light entertainment with some amusing moments.  I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 21 September, 2020, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 September, 2020, 05:15:56 PM
Red 2

It's an action romp with a decent cast.  Probably better than the first one.  Not familiar with its source material so I can only judge it on its own merits.  It is pretty light entertainment with some amusing moments.  I enjoyed it.

I reckon if you ditch Die Hard 4 and 5 and replace them with Red 1 and 2, you've got the best quintology ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 22 September, 2020, 10:50:39 AM
Vivarium on Shudder, a weird and unsettling film with some really creepy stuff going on. I liked it a lot, and the lead performances were great, especially considering I rarely enjoy Jesse Eisenberg.

Before The Flood, a Dicaprio doc about climate change on Disney +. I've owned the soundtrack to this for yonks and listened to it loads but only just getting round to watching the film and it's good, and also scary and that soundtrack is still excellent.

And Bombshell, which I thought was good and everyone in it was great. I had trouble seeing the Megyn Kelly it presents as the same person I'm sure I've seen in Fox clips being horrendous to any guests that don't share Fox's right wing views, but I guess that person might not have made as relatable a movie protagonist so can see why they'd do some character airbrushing (the Murdochs also come out of it looking alright, so I got the impression there were certain people they were wary about offending).

Obviously regardless of what kind of TV presenter she is that doesn't take away from the story it's telling, and it's a good depiction of how that kind of abuse can go on unchallenged in a workplace when it comes from the top, and how difficult it would be to kick against it. Also pretty entertaining just for the parade of actors they get in constantly to play people, usually with a rubber chin or a bonkers accent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2020, 01:40:02 PM
Quote from: repoman on 21 September, 2020, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 September, 2020, 05:15:56 PM
Red 2

It's an action romp with a decent cast.  Probably better than the first one.  Not familiar with its source material so I can only judge it on its own merits.  It is pretty light entertainment with some amusing moments.  I enjoyed it.

I reckon if you ditch Die Hard 4 and 5 and replace them with Red 1 and 2, you've got the best quintology ever.

This sparked some curiosity so I looked up a list of quintologies on wikipedia.  Turns out there isn't much in the way of competition.  Although original Planet of the Apes fans may disagree (I've only seen one of those films, so I have no clue).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 September, 2020, 05:50:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 21 September, 2020, 09:03:19 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 September, 2020, 05:15:56 PM
Red 2

It's an action romp with a decent cast.  Probably better than the first one.  Not familiar with its source material so I can only judge it on its own merits.  It is pretty light entertainment with some amusing moments.  I enjoyed it.

I reckon if you ditch Die Hard 4 and 5 and replace them with Red 1 and 2, you've got the best quintology ever.

Except it makes no sense that Bruce Willis' spook character in Red was also an NYPD detective in Die Hard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 September, 2020, 05:58:03 PM

The NYPD job was obviously a cover...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 September, 2020, 08:24:59 PM
I think one would suspend disbelief just so as not to watch DH 4 and 5 again.

I never saw 5.  4 was bad enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Keef Monkey on 24 September, 2020, 10:16:22 AM
I can actually enjoy DH4 on a 'doesn't stand alongside the first 3 but is a fun enough action movie' sort of way, but 5 was just dreadful, really couldn't find anything to like there.

Street Trash is a film that showed a couple of times at All Night Horror Madness nights that I went to but always on a night where I never made it to the end so never caught it. Watched it on Shudder there and it's really something. Absolutely dreadful, but in the kind of outrageous and gross-out offensive way that probably would have been a fun riot at one of those movie nights but on your own on a Thursday morning falls pretty flat. It's like Troma times a thousand and has some hilarious body melt gore moments so did make me laugh a few times, but pretty hard work without an audience to enjoy it with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 September, 2020, 02:02:01 AM
Enola Holmes - liked it, great fun. Millie Bobby Brown nails it as Sherlock and Mycroft's little sister. Some people may hate the fourth wall breaking, but I thought it was very well done - there's one glance to camera when she first meets The Boy that is so telling. My only big problem was the last ten minutes: [spoiler]When Helena Bonham Carter just shows up, I wanted Enola to punch her, or at the very least demand some answers about her terrorist bombing campaign, but it was all forgotten with a hug[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 26 September, 2020, 10:35:55 AM
Ah - I was sure it was a series.  Might have a watch later.

Me, I finally got round to watching On the Waterfront - deserves its place in cinema history.  I always had this feeling that Marlon Brando was a bit of a twazzock, but that was the first time I saw him play a decent, upfront kind of guy (well, apart from his few minutes as Jor-El, that is).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 26 September, 2020, 10:43:59 AM
I also watched Enola Holmes and I agree with Dan that it was very enjoyable
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2020, 03:37:01 PM
Zodiac. That was really good!  Don't know how I missed this one for so long,  probably because I recoil from real-life serial killer things, but it's actually a brilliantly original take from Fincher.  Very much desensationalising both killer and killings,  and focusing on the investigations and investigators, with a great sense of place and of time and its passage. 

RDJr isn't quite in his full modern pomp,  but Ruffalo is on brilliant form. Easy to see how they were paired for Avengers soon after.  I don't much like Jake Gyllenhaal or Chloe Sevigny,  always finding it hard to see them as anything other than actors,  but they're solid here. Beautiful cinematography, great colour pallette(s) and a compelling story. It's a long runtime,  but it flies by.  Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 September, 2020, 04:40:09 PM
Tiny Tips also recommends ZODIAC  so I will add that to the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 September, 2020, 04:45:45 PM
IDENITY THIEF Melissa McCarthy ends up on a mismatched buddy road trip (does she make any other kind of movie?) with he bloke whose identity she stole and "hilarity ensues". Except it doesn't. At all. Not one little bit.

I'm done with Melissa now. I found her amusing two or three times but the ad-lib shtick just gets cruder and less funny every time she gets in a car with someone.

More like "SHITEdenSHITy Thief".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 September, 2020, 04:53:07 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 September, 2020, 02:02:01 AM
Enola Holmes - liked it, great fun. Millie Bobby Brown nails it as Sherlock and Mycroft's little sister. Some people may hate the fourth wall breaking, but I thought it was very well done - there's one glance to camera when she first meets The Boy that is so telling. My only big problem was the last ten minutes: [spoiler]When Helena Bonham Carter just shows up, I wanted Enola to punch her, or at the very least demand some answers about her terrorist bombing campaign, but it was all forgotten with a hug[/spoiler]

Agree with all of that - a really high energy piece with a great line in joie de vivre. ("Enola Bueller's Day Off".)

The denouement was problematic, and I assume that's because it was trying to tie things up but at the same time leave them open for a sequel. Clearly, tying and untying at the same time leads to problems.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 September, 2020, 04:57:38 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 26 September, 2020, 10:35:55 AM
Me, I finally got round to watching On the Waterfront...

I went through a phase in my 20s of catching up with all these classics I'd heard about: The Godfather, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane and (yes) On the Waterfront.

It's just so good. The classic scene with his brother (https://youtu.be/uBiewQrpBBA) is (perhaps predictably) what attracted me to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2020, 09:03:39 PM
Enola Holmes a highly entertaining addition to the burgeoning alt.Holmes genre, and I'm forced to conclude that MBB is going to rule the world if they ever make movies again: serious star quality. Cavill pulls off the neat trick of being an action-variant Sherlock who gives every impression of being both intriguing and hugely capable, but never once moves out of the background. I was sad to find myself thinking "wow, he'd make a great Superman". Rest of the cast pretty great, plot rather silly and some of the set dressing quite ropey, but who cares when you're having fun. Would work well as a double bill with the Levinson/Columbus Young Sherlock Holmes.

Many bonus points were earned for confounding my weary theory that the (really quite saggy) conclusion would involve a Doctor recently returned from Afghanistan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 September, 2020, 12:41:35 AM
Going to agree with all the positive words here for Enola Holmes. Don't get me wrong — it's not going to change your life, it's not pushing the boundaries of the medium... but it is tremendous fun. Brown is terrific, and I mean honestly great. The entire movie rests on her, and she carries it with apparently effortless charm.

Aficionados of Holmes lore will likely bridle at the traducing of Mycroft, but Cavill's unusually beefy Holmes breezes through the story with much charisma and is surprisingly convincing. The plot, TBH, is largely secondary to the fun, which is hugely infectious. Also: I didn't want to kill Helena Bonham-Carter, which is an achievement in itself.

A genuinely entertaining way to kill a couple of hours and thoroughly recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2020, 01:29:50 PM
What can I say about Enola Holmes that hasn't been mentioned? Fun, charming and hugely entertaining. Cavill's thoughtful and sincere Sherlock was an interesting change to the typical Sherlock Holmes which he played very well. Even non-Sherlock Holmes fans will enjoy this film I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 27 September, 2020, 06:38:59 PM
Bad Samaritan

I saw this on the Horror Channel, but this was much more a thriller. It starred Robert Sheehan ( the Irish kid from Misfits and the bloke with the medium powers from The Umbrella Academy) playing a scammer/burglar type partnered up with another chap. Basically they're the guys who take your car and park it at posh restaurants, except they drive it to your house and burgle it first while you're eating a poncy dinner with your yuppy chums.

As you can imagine, he ends up at the house of the wrong yuppy, in this case played with some angsty relish by David Tennant.

I won't say what happens after that but I found it highly enjoyable. Sheehan, curiously, [spoiler]while in a more villainous vocation compared to the other two roles mentioned above, shows a stronger more moral centre here.  (The characters in those other shows are a bit dodgy too, but he doesn't outright rob people that I remember... although his Misfits character was being punished with community service so, I'm not sure what he did.)[/spoiler]

They're both very good, and I found it all rather enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 27 September, 2020, 07:20:46 PM
I watched The Devil All the Time on Netflix. I almost stopped watching after the first third of the movie, but I did at least finish it.  It felt like a lot of disjointed stories but all of them do come together. The last 20 minutes of the movie is where everything happens. I am not sure if I can recommend the movie it is a dark, morbid, twisted tale.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 28 September, 2020, 10:50:16 AM
As a card carrying nerd and owner of at least a few titular comic books and action figures I felt duty bound to give Venom a go on Netflix at the weekend.

It is an absolute f**king car crash.

Performances, special effects, plot, dialogue - you name it - all bottom rung.
I actually feel embarrassed for Hardy and Ahmed - equally terrible acting and both woefully miscast.
Biggest disappointment since 2018's The Predator, but not quite at that (omega) level of cringe.
Avoid like an extraterrestrial plague.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2020, 12:14:59 PM
I enjoyed Enola Holmes, which at its heart shows how misguided the suffragettes were in not pursuing peaceful democratic reform and waiting to be saved by handsome young lord.
I personally could have done without the Sherlock Holmes element, tbh, as I don't think it needed it, but I grant you that any detective story in this era is always going to be an enterprise in his shadow, so folding him into the narrative and turning that problem into a selling-point seems eminently sensible.
It's not rocket science - the characterisation of the lead and their fourth wall-breaking in particular makes it seem like a Victorian-era riff on Kuffs - but it's a fun enough waste of two of your hours, I mean what else are you going to do, go outside?  Ahahah aw.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 28 September, 2020, 02:22:40 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 September, 2020, 04:57:38 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 26 September, 2020, 10:35:55 AM
Me, I finally got round to watching On the Waterfront...

I went through a phase in my 20s of catching up with all these classics I'd heard about: The Godfather, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane and (yes) On the Waterfront.


Me and all; it helped that we had an art college library stuffed full of classic videos for the film students to watch but available to the rest of us too.  So I managed to catch Night of the Hunter, the aforementioned Godfather and Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now, White Heat (finally realising where Torquemada's brother's 'end of the world' quote came from), and even the old Soviet progaganda films that broke new bounds in technology.

But I never got round to On the Waterfront.  And I still haven't seen Gone With the Wind, or Casablanca for that matter.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 September, 2020, 08:04:08 PM
The People Under the Stairs

I love this film.  It is definitely a gem.  It is hard to know where to start with praise for the film.  I had a blast watching it and was entertained from start to finish.  It is so unlike any other film and so jammed packed with interesting elements, without it being overwhelmed and remaining pretty simple.  It is elegant in it's visuals and storytelling.  Many thumbs up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2020, 08:38:04 PM
Why not let Scaredy Matt explain why The People Under The Stairs is also a pretty spot-one political allegory about why and how landlords are evil bastards? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIauCZkRtr4)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 September, 2020, 12:35:37 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2020, 08:38:04 PM
Why not let Scaredy Matt explain why The People Under The Stairs is also a pretty spot-one political allegory about why and how landlords are evil bastards? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIauCZkRtr4)

By coincidence, YouTube has started recommending Scaredy Matt to me recently.  You are indeed right that his analysis of the film is spot-on and pretty much hits every point in a concise manner.  I do have a big appreciation for the aesthetics of the film as well as themes and commentary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 30 September, 2020, 11:10:05 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 September, 2020, 08:04:08 PM
The People Under the Stairs

I love this film.  It is definitely a gem.  It is hard to know where to start with praise for the film.  I had a blast watching it and was entertained from start to finish.  It is so unlike any other film and so jammed packed with interesting elements, without it being overwhelmed and remaining pretty simple.  It is elegant in it's visuals and storytelling.  Many thumbs up.

Me too. I haven't seen it in a while (it seemed to be one of those films I just happened across, flicking channels. Each time I've seen it -anout 3 times I believe.) but strangely I was thinking about it recently....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 01 October, 2020, 09:22:54 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 September, 2020, 08:04:08 PM
The People Under the Stairs

I love this film.  It is definitely a gem.  It is hard to know where to start with praise for the film.  I had a blast watching it and was entertained from start to finish.  It is so unlike any other film and so jammed packed with interesting elements, without it being overwhelmed and remaining pretty simple.  It is elegant in it's visuals and storytelling.  Many thumbs up.

Seen this in my teen years one late Friday night on BBC1 and loved it, despite struggling to be able to explain to my friends what is brilliant about it.

Haven't seen it in a good decade or so, so off to the Digital Bin i go to fish it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 03 October, 2020, 04:39:34 AM
The Usual Suspects is the last movie I've seen.  Stands the test of time very well, I thought.  I'd forgotten the exact denoument, so the bit where [spoiler]something very clever revealed all to someone[/spoiler] came as an interesting surprise.  Gabriel Byrne was brilliant. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: RocketMother on 04 October, 2020, 06:02:41 PM
El Camino.

I was expecting Breaking Bad Lite which is exactly what it was. I'm not sure why people seemed to dislike it so much when it came out (maybe they were expecting Breaking Bad 2 or something?) but for me it lived up to my expectations for it.

And now I can start catching up on Better Call Saul.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 October, 2020, 03:48:36 PM
I loved El Camino.

I'm currently doing a 31 days of horror thing but instead of watching all the usual horror stuff that I like, I'm using the opportunity to watch things I've never seen before.  I'm getting mixed results!

1.  Escape Room (2017).  Low budget thing where four friends end up in an Escape Room with a demon.  Actually a better premise than that sounds.  Not brilliant though but notable for Skeet Ulrich and Sean Young being in it.

2.  Book of Monsters (2019).  An Irish take on Cabin in the Woods with a bit of a Ghostbusters (2016) thing to it (but not rubbish or dull).  Surprisingly entertaining and plenty of silly gore.  A lot of fun.

3.  A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio (2019).  Australian portmanteau that is clearly just a bunch of short films thrown together with a linking story wrapped around it.  That said, most of the stories were good and a couple were pretty scary.  To be fair the original (A Night of Horror Volume 1) had one of the scariest, and best, stories in it so there was a standard to meet and this film did okay.

4.  Offerings (1989).  Cheap and cheerful film that just aches to be Halloween.  I HATE all the Halloween movies and didn't hate this as much, even though technically its a worse film.  Worth watching once, I won't bother again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 October, 2020, 06:22:37 PM
Blood Quantum

Canadian Zombie film.  Very solid film.  Effects can be ropey at times, but it is very forgivable.  I like its concepts.  Like a lot of people I got sick of Zombie everything, but this film was fresh.  It does have Zombie cliches, but I think what it does and what it brings to the table that is new makes up for it.  Thoroughly enjoyable watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:29:44 PM
I've not posted here much in the last while- despite it being me (I was shocked to find) who started the thread way back when.

With that in mind, I'll hope you'll forgive me from binging over a bunch of Facebook statuses about films from the last few months.

This will be in several parts, as the forum only allows 20000 characters per post.

Underwater

I was a bit cross with my wife when she watched Underwater without me the other night. I'd been looking forward to it, as it's sort of *exactly the kind of movie I love*. Now, having seen it, I'm no longer cross, just a bit jealous that she saw it before me.

Wow! I know people are going to be snarky about it, but fuck me, that was sensational.

Okay, so the "thing at the end" wasn't *quite* right and a bit over-designed for the sake of it, but I got the point. Loved every single second and if they wish to make a totally unnecessary sequel, then that's *absolutely fine with me thank you very much*.

Color Out of Space: Well, bloody hell. That was a lot better than I feared and a hundred times better than I hoped. Two fer two today. And now: soup.

Well, I've just watched DEATH LINE (1972) albeit under its alt title of 'Raw Meat' and on YouTube, rather than the glorious VHS copy shown in this picture.

How, I ask myself, have I never seen this before?

Donald Pleasence delivers what must be the single greatest performance of his career, and Christopher Lee turns up for five minutes of distilled menace the like of which I've not seen him provide since the first Hammer Dracula.

It's no exaggeration to say not only do I want to see this again, immediately, but that I also want to delve into the whole world in which it inhabits. I want more stories of Inspector Calhoun and his continuing snarky battles against Stratton-Villiers of MI5. I want to know if "Mind The Doors Man" did indeed survive, and if not I want to be with the team sent in to investigate that little enclave under Russell Square, and to read their notes afterwards.

Just... wow. I feel ashamed that I've ignored it this long, and feel like turning in my furry  Fangoria badge with moving eyes.

I may be getting my fan club merchandise mixed up there.

Hereditary

Late again to the horror party. I really am going to have to hang up my horror hat and horror underpants, quite aside from my horror badge. No more secret horror handshakes for me.

HEREDITARY. Truly one of the most chilling and frightening films I've ever seen. At least four scare sequences that I'd put up there with "that bit" in The Exorcist III and "those bits" in Ghost Watch. Not to mention, well duh, "the obvious bits" in Day of the Dead, American Werewolf and The Thing.

Possibly the purest horror film I've seen since The Blair Witch Project- which was the last time a new film scared the crap out of me.

Astonishingly good.

Midsommar

There seems to be a growing trend towards sending American teenagers back to the past. Largely, sending then back into the plots of seventies horror films. MIDSOMMAR is the latest iteration of this, and as with THE GREEN INFERNO and numerous TEXAS CHAINSAW remakes and sequels beforehand, it proves to have fuck-all new to say in the process.

To say Midsommar is a derivative piece of shit that pisses away the promise shown by the director's last film (Hereditary, see yesterday's status) in favour of lazy riffing on far better films would be an understatement that eclipses any of the characters' constant musings that things seem a bit off in the Swedish Summerisle equivalent in which they've ended up.

Every cliche is layered on, notably the lack of children which very early on indicates the whole point being some kind of sex/magic ritual designed to "renew" the community. (I wont dignify that bollocks by adding a 'k'. If you're the sort of person who thinks 'magic' should ever have that extra letter on the end, please go read a book about biology or physics and come out of the nursery).

The "young people" (awkwardly highlighted by the spectacularly cloth-eared dialogue, "these are the other young people of the village") are all in their twenties, and theres no one over 72. At 72 you have to jump off a cliff, you see.

When two septuagenarians jump off a cliff, the American teenagers moan a bit but don't even try to get the fuck out of there. If they had, maybe it would have evolved into a different type of film- maybe a straight rip off of Wrong Turn or The Hills Have Eyes, with them being hunted through the forests- instead of a rip off of The Wicker Man and Texas Chainsaw (bad characters even indulge in sympathetic screaming at the good characters' anguish, there are innumerable pseudo-cannibalistic dinner table scenes, skinned faces are worn, huge mallets are wielded "by surprise" and then characters are dragged out of shot... etc etc ad nauseum).

There's not a single original idea in the whole, boring, confused mess. OF COURSE, the "Queen of the May" storyline is a distraction from the *bad thing that will befall the male character*- because Rowan Morrison was never the point of The Wicker Man, it was the entrapment of Sergeant Howie. OF COURSE he will get sewn into a bear suit, because Howie put one on in the last remake of The Wicker Man. OF COURSE he will burn to death trapped inside an offering, having fulfilled his plot responsibility of ensuring the "salvation" of the village, because so did Howie. And OF COURSE all the strangely blank and unworldly villagers can sing strange folk songs, because there was a very famous and successful soundtrack album to The Wicker Man.

It doesn't stop there. The filmmakers also use exactly the same sudden audio/visual cut from discordant violins to silence as is used in The Wicker Man at almost exactly the same moment in the plot. And, as a final insult, the films end on almost exactly the same visual shot- except Midsommar assumes its audience is a bit dim and has to push in a close up of the main character smiling evilly so you get the point that she chose her bloke to die. I actually shouted "oh fuck OFF!" at the screen at that point.

I don't know what the current fascination with redoing older and better movies in this way is,  rather than just remaking them. Unless it's that remakes tend to be sneered at, while this kind of "thematic mirroring" (I'm being nice, it's blatant childlike theft of a better idea) gets lauded and has awards bestowed upon it. But by taking the route of pretending to be something deeply serious and important, Midsommar (unlike the very similar but thoroughly trashy and purposefully ludicrous Green Inferno) instead becomes a hash of pisspoor choices made by a director continually trying to distract from the basic fact that his material is so thin, you can see the curves of the model underneath. "Look at the big hat!" he seems to be shouting, as if you'd never notice that his knickers are showing.


Next door continues their 24 hourshouty hippy party, complete with banjo and mandolins. Almost drowned out THE SKULL (1965, Amicus, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee) but not quite.

Another one I should have seen years ago, but somehow never have. Cushing comes into possession of the skull of The Marquis de Sade, which has a life all its own and begins a rampage of poltergeist activity and demonic Dennis Wheatley-style Evil. Freddie Francis pulls out all the stops in the direction, playing with points of view (notably from "inside the skull, looking out"- achieved by seemingly placing a cheap shop-bought skull mask over the camera lens, because it never matches the actual prop) and somehow stretches the budget to a number of excellent sets- which surely must have been built for something else? The interior set-bound graveyard and the apartment rented by occult antiquities seller Marco (a wonderful performance by Patrick Wymark, topped only by Peter Woodthorpe as his landlord Bert Travers and Cushing himself) are beautiful pieces of design and dressing.

There's a lovely "hanging judge" dream sequence involving Russian Roulette that shows Cushing's acting chops, as well as, again, superior set design. And the final- almost dialogue-free fifteen minutes are very effectively set up and orchestrated.

A shame the musical score is abysmal- taking what could have been a contemporary occult horror movie a la Rosemary's Baby if given a mid sixties electronic score- and setting it firmly in the style of period Hammer Horror.

Based on a story by Robert Bloch, the creator of Psycho, amongst others. Good stuff.

Lacking Maltesers or lemonade, I decided to pop back to 1958 and sink into a shortish and mostly overlooked film that I've passionately loved since I first saw it a few years ago. WOMANEATER is the story of a mad scientist and his Amazonian plant that, er, eats women. "She will merge with the plant!" he says, "then I will distill the elixir to bring the dead to life!". Because that's what happens when you stick an aubergine in the blender with a bit of human woman blood.



Anyway, it's very of its time and British. Mad scientist has an indian ("native") manservant (presumably from the Indian Amazon jungle in Africa, where the opening scenes seem to be set and where Kenny Lynch would have turned up had this been shot five years later), and nice English girls have to warned not to be scared of him (they still are though).

Even though the actor would these days be at home in any uk drama, here he says "You want Master?" to house callers, and is mostly naked other than big cloth underpants, like Aladdin's evil brother. He grins maniacally as he feeds successive girls into the maw of a man dressed in a carpet waggling extra puppet arms.

I love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:32:03 PM
Sunday morning double-bill Chez me: THE UNCANNY (1977) and THE GORGON (1964), both starring Peter Cushing, ably supported by Donald Pleasence (in The Uncanny), Christopher Lee and Patrick Troughton (in The Gorgon).

Neither of these is a personal favourite. In the first, an anthology, Cushing plays a writer who fears cats are plotting to take over the world. In the film's wraparound story, he attempts to get Ray Milland to publish his work, all the while telling stories about how cats have been responsible for many deaths. The best-remembered tale is the first, in which Susan Penhaligan and Simon Williams conspire to screw Williams' aunt out of her money, after she changes her will and leaves everything to her cats. While the makeups are excellent, the film suffers because filming cats is, well, like herding cats. Anyone with a cat will recognise that, no matter how much the shot would like to convince that the cat is angry or scary, the cat is actually just mildly pissed off- the default attitude of a cat.

The best story is the third, with Pleasence playing a murderous and unfaithful Hollywood horror actor of the 1930s called "VD", who gets his comeuppance at the ickle paws of a ginger cat whose kittens he drowned and whose owner (his wife) he killed. Of the second story, in which terrible child actors and even more terrible grownups play around with black magic, the less said soonest mended.

THE GORGON is a problematic one for me, as I fell asleep the last time I tried to watch it- and again the glacial pace of the plot found me fighting the urge to go away and do something else. German Doctor Cushing is curiously restrained, German Professor Christopher Lee towers over everyone, especially Chief of Police Troughton- with whom he shares a remarkable face-off that's worth the entrance fee- but the most hypnotic thing is Troughton's hair. Here, two years before he modelled the mop-top Beatle wig (and later grew his hair to match) in Doctor Who, he has a very 21st Century "hard man crewcut" that somehow looks completely out of place, but suits the character perfectly.

The Gorgon of the title is Medusa's sister Megara, who absconded to a castle in a German forest apparently (2000 years ago, when her sister was killed by Perseus), to continue her full moon (?) reign of terror. It's an unconvincing makeup, the effects are few and no one mentions that when she's turned people to stone, they are basically awkward statues. Everyone somehow accepts they used to be human beings, and doesnt say for example "no, we haven't found the missing girl, but we did find a statue that sort of resembles her, albeit a poor likeness".

Ho hum.

While I love horror movies, generally unconditionally (in that i will most likely choose to watch a genre film over anything else at any given moment), I do have my particular favourites. I think because of how I was raised- and the horror I absorbed as a child in stolen snatches of tv showings, film posters outside the cinema, illicit looks at horror mags and library books and other playground thrills- the likes of Universal and Hammer (and Amicus, Tigon and RKO) will always be my true ancestral "home".

Its quite remarkable therefore, to watch a Hammer film at the age of forty-nine and realise that for one, I've never seen it before- despite being extremely familiar with its most famous images- and secondly that it might just be one of the best.

I talk, obviously, of THE REPTILE (1966), which despite lacking Cushing or Lee, manages to be extremely exciting indeed, very clever, has more than it's fair share of wit, has two sequences in which I actually *jumped*, and a clumsy but also quite beautiful makeup on a young Jacqueline Pearce (later to be the hugely camp Commander Servalan in Blake's Seven). It also gives Hammer regular Michael Ripper what may be the best role I've ever seen him play. Why he was never a big star I have no idea- they should have found a place for him in Dad's Army, and if they had it may have been him playing Grandad in the BBC kids sitcom and not Clive Dunne.

Clive Dunne's Dad's Army cohort John ("We're doomed!") Laurie is in The Reptile too (and he and Ripper share scenes), and here he shows how he can dial it down and play a similarly extreme character ("They call me Mad Pete. I'm not mad!") with a subtle charm that rarely showed itself in his more famous tv role. It's a pleasure to see both he and Ripper on screen, both absolute professionals at the top of their game.

There's a glorious mansion, a tumbledown cottage, the moors, a graveyard, day-for-night shoots, cravats and a backstory about Colonial India. Also, there's a particular scene in what may be the heaviest rainstorm ever committed to film. What more could you want?

And it only cost £100,599, which is just a snidge under two million in today's money. Bargain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:33:49 PM
As a young teenager I raided my aunt's collection of old Dennis Wheatley paperbacks, only to find far from the sordid thrills promised by the lurid covers they were in fact badly-written twattery of the lowest order. I think 'The Irish Witch' was the only one I finished.

So here I sit, watching Hammer's 1976 effort TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER and wondering if it was worth the space on my tv recorder.

It looks like shit. Like a particularly cheap tv movie or two episodes of The Sweeney stuck together. No one seems to have paid any attention to the set design or lighting, as the actors just wander around in whatever location they've happened to find themselves employed to say words that day, accidentally sitting or standing in front of the camera, with no sense of framing whatsoever. Sometimes they are half out of shot, sometimes the camera moves around them and forces them to stand in unnatural places on the 'set' so as not to trip over wires. It's quite distracting. And don't get me started on the continuity. A woman with no knickers on (and a very un-seventies tidy muff) has just been writhing around on a bed, delivering some kind of antiChrist (I'd imagine, the plot isn't clear at present) and then magically donning pants for the next shot, then bloodily giving birth in the next, back in the nud. I'm not sure why they'd stick an insert in that's less explicit than the rest of the scene, but there you go.

There are some pleasingly familiar actors, but none appear anything other than very bored indeed. Christopher Lee sleepwalks throughout as an evil priest in his last proper film for Hammer, Denholm Elliot says words, Honor Blackman is as terrible as she always is, Frances De La Tour has just turned up for ten seconds and a very young Natassja Kinski plays a nun who is somehow at the centre of this whippetshit. Bet she gets her kit off at some point, because it's that kind of Seventies Satanist Cult film.

It's absolutely terrible, and I have no idea why my otherwise staid and respectable aunt had a collection of Wheatleys, no.

EDIT: OH MY GOD!! There is a frankly incredible sequence where Kinski is assaulted by the demonic, blood-covered rubber puppet baby, which crawls between her open thighs and performs oral sex on her before (it's not clear, but it looks like the intention is) crawling up inside her fanny as she smears blood all over her nether regions. Amazing.

And yes, a minute or so later, Kinski stands up, sheds her robes and walks starkers towards the camera, showing that the muff in the previous sequence definitely wasn't hers. Unless she's wearing a merkin to keep warm. It does look a bit chilly in the grounds of that old folly, and a bush like a beekeeper's beard would be eminently sensible.

To escape from the various apocalypses we seem to be living through, I once again descend into the depths of the Hammer back catalogue, and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966).

Now, I was born in 1970, which means that for me zombies have *always* meant "the apocalypse" and wanton flesh-eating. But, remarkably, there was a time before that (pre-1969 and Night of the Living Dead) when zombies were *entirely* about voodoo, black magic and slavery, and the walking corpses just shuffled around, gurned at the camera and throttled people. Their horror came from their very unnatural existence, rather than what they did to us. That changed the year before I was born, when the ghouls got suddenly hungry and the world ended. It's been much the same ever since, and these days nothing so parochial as the living dead inhabiting a Cornish tin mine would ever get the green light.

Which is a huge shame, as Plague of the Zombies is very, very good indeed.

Shot on the same sets and locations as THE REPTILE, by the same director, back to back, and sharing both Jacqueline Pearce and Michael Ripper across both productions, Plague is a faster, more compelling film with better use made of its resources. And if you remember how much I liked The Reptile, you'll understand how I consider that high praise.

I wont explain the plot- Cornish village, strange deaths, a local landowner who may be behind it all, protagonists who decide to go grave robbing (at this point, both films seem more or less indistinguishable) then more deaths... and zombies! Genuinely creepy-ass ridiculous zombies! And a beheading, a stabbing, a dream sequence that amps up the strangeness, zombies rising from the graves, a horrible and weird scene where Jacqueline Pearce undergoes the most subtle and pointless transformation ever seen on film (and I presume because she famously refused any more prosthetics after The Reptile, though I dont know if that was definitely shot first) that both manages to be hugely wasteful (she ends up looking the same as she started, so I dont know why they spent money in post production) and absolutely freaky as hell. She crawls from her open coffin in living dead form, and it's glorious. The film even ends with a big fire, like The Reptile, but it's so much better filmed (and looks absolutely terrifying to have experienced on set) that I'm more or less convinced director John Gilling used the climax of one as a run-through for the other.

Everything about Plague impresses. Andre Morell as Sir James "Head of Medical Science at London University" (previously Quatermass) is brilliant- commanding and stuffy, warm and sarcastic in turn, happy to get his hands dirty, whether investigating a voodoo cult in a scary mansion, doing the washing up, or cutting up the corpse of his daughter's best friend while her widower (his former best pupil) assists. He carries the film, ably assisted by Pearce- who is strangely naturalistic here in contrast to everyone else's melodrama, and good old Michael Ripper- squeezed into a policeman's costume too small for even his tiny frame.

The dialogue crackles with snappy retorts ("Dont walk home, you may be attacked"/"I already have been attacked- and it was in your house!"), the story turns and undermines your expectations at certain crucial points (though of course, this being Hammer, it all ends as you'd expect), and, if you do as I will suggest and watch both back to back starting with The Reptile, you'll see pleasing reversals of many scenes. The grave robbing sequence I mentioned is so different to the earlier film despite being shot on the same set, that it really does make you sit up and take notice. It's very cleverly done.

Two things i noticed: one, the villain's scheme is reliant on accidents he can't possibly predict (cutting yourself on a broken glass) and two: as that infamous Public Information Film of the Seventies pointed out, "set a rug on a polished floor and you might as well SET A MAN TRAP!", because there is indeed a rug on a polished floor in the mansion, and the actor does indeed slip.

Modern eyes will see a pleasing anti-fox hunting theme running through bits, and may find the zombies disappointing, their makeups primitive in comparison to what we are now used to. That is true up to a point. There is one scene, in the mine towards the end, when a zombie is set on fire and staggers about still trying to strangle the heroes. Underneath is a stunt man swathed in fireproof padding and wearing a mask to approximate the makeups the zombies have been wearing up to that point. It being a mask, it has gaping sightless black holes for eyes, and is both very silly and utterly chilling.

Also, the first sighting of a ghoul, carrying the lifeless corpse of Jacqueline Pearce- the one on all the posters and in the stills that you will have seen even if you've never watched the movie, because Pearce is showing a lot of cleavage and magazines like that- is suddenly, shockingly frightening. I think it's because the walking corpse *laughs*, which we are not used to, and which is bloody horrifying.

It's a great movie and I liked it an awful lot.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:35:12 PM
Today's Hammer double-bill here has been THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1957) and THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974), neither of which I've seen in far too long.

Both star my favourite actor, the splendid Mr Peter Cushing- one at his absolute prime (and to be fair, a year before he really hit the big time in Curse of Frankenstein) and the other as Hammer's legend was receding, their films becoming more old-fashioned and staid in comparison to the horrors that were making their way across the Atlantic: The Exorcist, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby... or The Satanic Rites of Dracula? Audiences chose, and Hammer were more or less gone by 1975.

One last-ditch effort was The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires- an awkward mash-up of kung-fu and horror, that continually falls between the two stools. The martial arts scenes are too long for people like me who haven't the slightest interest in crap dancers playing with weapons and sound effects, and the horror puts off an audience who wanted Bruce Lee.

Note: I've never seen, nor have any interest in seeing, a Bruce Lee film. I just dont care. I imagine they are all like this, only marginally more homoerotic and lacking rubber bats. The only bodily sweat here is on Cushing's forehead, under his pith helmet, and no one wears tight trousers or fights other big men.

Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires underperformed at the box office, and that was it for Hammer- their last Dracula death-scene is a pathetic scuffle between Christopher Lee-cosplayer John Forbes-Harrison (voiced by another actor and wearing alarming lippy, orange peel vampire teeth and a powdered wig) and Cushing, in which Dracula accidentally stumbles onto a stick and decomposes. Well, it's a spear, but the effect is the same. As the final battle between these arch enemies that had been going on since 1958 across nine films, it's somewhat underwhelming.

By far the better film is The Abominable Snowman. Written by Nigel Kneale (Quatermass, The Stone Tape, Beasts and haha Halloween III: Season of the Witch) and based on his own tv play also starring Cushing, this is a truly gorgeous looking epic about a British scientist based temporarily at a Himalayan monastery, who hooks up with some brash Americans to go hunt for the yeti.

It's beautiful to look at, with amazing sets (mountain passes that actually look real! Shot at Bray studios and Pinewood), a monastery that has weight and a sense of space and location. It even has actual footage shot especially second unit in real snowy mountains, and my god it all fits seamlessly.

The script is smart, and has a definite point to make in its monster movie trappings- these yeti maybe arent just animals, but something much, much stranger (no, not alien robots, that's Dr Who you're thinking of there). The climactic scenes of Cushing and Forrest Tucker in the cave, being driven out of their minds by psychic attack (or are they? Is it really an attack?), is unbearably tense and wonderful. When the yeti finally turn up, the makeup resembles nothing less than the leading man himself- I thought that immediately, and in researching for this status post, I found critics at the time mentioned it too. It was, apparently, accidental. Is there actually a resemblance? Or are we reading that into the image, having picked up the theme of the film and extrapolated it beyond the scope of the makeups of the time? Dunno. I like to think either explanation is neat.

The Abominable Snowman is undoubtedly one of Hammer's greatest films and I would urge you to watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:37:24 PM
Class of 1984

The last time I saw this, I was younger than the characters in the film. Class of 1984 was one of "those" films from the early 80s: the notorious ones, the ones that got swiftly removed from shop shelves when the plod raided. For a while though, it was a regular Friday night rental around my way.

Having not seen it in the best part of four decades, I was shocked at how much I remembered- and equally shocked at how much had slipped under my radar. I guess I hadn't yet grown to love Roddy McDowall because I'd forgotten he was present. How the hell could I have forgotten his many stand-out scenes? And Michael J Fox, with his bowl cut, showing just why he was but a short time away from being a major star.

Far more disturbing than I remembered, I was taken by the prescience it displayed- CCTV, knife scanners in schools, the change in relationship between teachers and kids- all brutally terrifying. And the cast of ne'er-do-wells are fantastic- not an ounce of camp or amateur showboating between them, despite the parody of early 80s fashion on display.

And how the hell did I forget the arm being lopped off by a circular saw? Was that cut from our version back then? 

Anyway- brilliant stuff. Do I dare track down Class of 1999, which I remember as being a bit rubbish?

Class of 1999

Ext. Night. A seventeen year old boy dressed like a cross between Simon Le Bon and Vanilla Ice approaches a school on a moped. He dismounts and climbs the steps, addressing a gang of similarly attired teens.

"Inside this school are three inhuman teaching monsters. The ones running this game. They kidnapped my girl. They killed Sunny, Reedy, Mohawk... and Noser. And Angel... Now I'm going in there to waste some teachers. Are you with me?"

Yes, it's CLASS OF 1999 (1989, Mark Lester). Hurrah!

Fifteen years after Class of 1984, the situation in America's schools has gotten worse. Especially in the field of fashion- as the kids appear to have raided 1982's wardrobe and just added a bunch of leather and ammo bandoliers. The result is a school play version of Duran Duran's Wild Boys video with some Mad Max camp thrown in. Schools are in police no-go zones, gang warfare is always present and everyone is hooked on drugs.

Into this comes Cody Culp (Bradley Gregg- presumably because Corey Feldman wouldnt do it), just out of prison and back at school. He wants to go straight, and the gangs wont let him- his younger brother Angel is desperate to join his brother's old gang, and Cody gets sucked in again. And because this is a late eighties teen movie, he meets the new principal Malcolm McDowell's beautiful daughter (Traci Lind, who would go on to date Dodi Fayed) and falls for her.

So far so much so-so.

Ah, but here comes Stacy Keach (at this point recently out of Reading prison for cocaine possession) in a white mullet wig and white contacts, who is brought in to... replace the teachers with robots. And just so its guaranteed to go tits up, not just any robots- murderous ex-military killer androids who have been hastily reprogrammed with the school curriculum.

Do the androids go mad and kill students for minor infractions? Why funny you should ask, yes they do.

The main thing about Class of 1999, in comparison to its predecessor, is that is just isnt very good. The characters are dull, the actors are strictly am-dram, and despite the gunfire and car chases and explosions, it's not very well paced or cut together, rendering the whole thing a bit drawn out and tedious.

It's also lacking any stand-out gore scenes, as the producers seem to shy away from blood in favour of a green "engine oil" effect during the robots skin-ripping transformations.

However, much was forgiven in the final showdown, when- wearing its influences brazenly on its sleeve- the film decides to go all Terminatory and has the last remaining robo-teach stripped of most of his skin, and stalking the hallways as a stop-motion/ animatronic puppet. And do you know what, I'd say it was at least as good an endoskeleton, as that in the original Terminator, and in some ways even better. There is a particular moment when an animatronic fleshy eye narrows in hatred, that makes me long for the days when films were made in this way, and CGI was at least 18 months in the future.

So- if you like robots and mayhem and ridiculous fashions, watch this. If you would prefer instead a film along the same lines but considerably smarter and better made, you need only go as far as 1984.

The second part of my double bill last night was one I haven't seen since 1984, when it first appeared as a big box rental vhs: C.H.U.D.

Cool kids in the know, will immediately recognise that stands for CANNIBALISTIC HUMANOID UNDERGROUND DWELLER. Perhaps cooler kids than I might inform me of why this has been so successfully sidelined over the years, when so many lesser films from the same time have deluxe bluray editions. I had to watch this on bloody YouTube! In MP4 format! But at least it was in widescreen, which is more than it was on video.

C.H.U.D is the story of homeless people disappearing from the streets of New York- and I believe is the first time I was introduced to the sad fact that many people are forced to live *beneath* the streets to survive, in the used and disused subways and sewer system: a concept with which I was already familiar through comics, but didnt really think such things happen.

While the film would never claim to be a searing indictment of social issues, it's a lot more subtle and pointed than you may think... at least, for an early eighties low budget horror movie. The cast helps greatly- Christopher Curry is solid as Captain Bosch (looking like the bastard offspring of Jim MacDonald from Corrie and Columbo) but it's Daniel Stern (Marv from Home Alone) and John Heard (Kevin's dad from Home Alone) who really impress. Stern especially is excellent, turning in a real acting performance in a film largely painted in broad strokes.

What lets C.H.U.D down is the chuds. I seem to remember special makeup creator John Caglione Jnr (13 Oscar nominations, 1 win) bemoaning that the creatures looked fantastic when shot properly... but under the mostly flat and unexciting lighting used in the big effects scenes, they ended up looking like the men in rubber suits they were. There's one sequence where the creature demonstrates a blatant fx gag superpower, that plainly didnt work on set and as a result the scene makes little sense, but most of the time they just shamble around with glowing eyes and keep demonstrating their animatronic jaws, like they are very proud of them indeed.

C.H.U.D has developed a cult reputation over the decades- and much is made of the initial reviews from back in the day, which overplayed the comedy aspect. In truth it's not a comedy, or even a particularly amusing film- much of it is very dark indeed and I get the impression most people involved took it very seriously. As well they should have, because as half-remembered early eighties monster movies go, C.H.U.D was a real treat and one of the best.

Nothing on this earth would ever get me to watch the sequel, C.H.U.D 2: Bud The Chud, ever again though. One of the most ill-advised and hideous films it's ever been my misfortune to watch. Once, in that case, was more than enough.

Well, never let it be said that I always watch the same type of movies. Three today- THE MANITOU (1978), A WEREWOLF IN ENGLAND (2020) and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1972).

Of the three, I have to say I enjoyed The Manitou the most- while High Plains Drifter was undeniably the most assured, I found it tedious. I like my westerns weird, and this- even as a ghost story- just wasn't weird enough for me.

A Werewolf In England has to be experienced. Actually, no it probably doesn't. Not unless you're very forgiving, or possibly very drunk. Usually I turn movies like this off after about twenty minutes and go cry in a dark room somewhere... but something about the cast (of unknowns) and the very British script kept me watching. Ludicrous werewolves- all practical costumes, shot digitally, ludicrous effects- avoid unless, like me, you're a bit of a werewolf completist. Otherwise please god no never again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 October, 2020, 10:39:15 PM
Thanks for the lengthy reviews. Abominable Snowman sounds the pick for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 October, 2020, 10:54:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:35:12 PM
Note: I've never seen, nor have any interest in seeing, a Bruce Lee film. I just dont care.

Och, ye will:

Bruce lee at the restaurant - Way of the dragon - fight scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpt8MQVCytM)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 October, 2020, 01:05:17 PM
Great read,  SBT!  Brought back some happy memories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 06 October, 2020, 02:04:16 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 October, 2020, 10:54:27 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2020, 07:35:12 PM
Note: I've never seen, nor have any interest in seeing, a Bruce Lee film. I just dont care.

Och, ye will:

Bruce lee at the restaurant - Way of the dragon - fight scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpt8MQVCytM)


Great link Funt,  Brought back some happy memories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 06 October, 2020, 02:19:43 PM
I love The Manitou.  It's a great film.  Pure '70s wonderfulness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 October, 2020, 03:21:11 PM
Quote from: repoman on 06 October, 2020, 02:19:43 PM
I love The Manitou.  It's a great film.  Pure '70s wonderfulness.

Yes. This, The Entity and The Amtiville Horror ("Geeeet ouuuut") are the epitome of a certain 70s vibe that encopasses classics such as Snow Beast and The Beast Must Die, and ended with Poltergeist (albeit that was 80s).

A golden period of creepy mood after the ham-ness of Hammer but before video nasties took hold.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 06 October, 2020, 04:35:39 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 October, 2020, 03:21:11 PM
Quote from: repoman on 06 October, 2020, 02:19:43 PM
I love The Manitou.  It's a great film.  Pure '70s wonderfulness.

Yes. This, The Entity and The Amtiville Horror ("Geeeet ouuuut") are the epitome of a certain 70s vibe that encopasses classics such as Snow Beast and The Beast Must Die, and ended with Poltergeist (albeit that was 80s).
Poltergeist was the first film to really, truly terrify my entire family. Excellent Hallowe'en viewing, might have to do that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 06 October, 2020, 06:30:05 PM
Peter Jackson's King Kong from 2005. A bit long, but I think in large it earned it. Really enjoyed the emphasis on the big ape caring for Naomi Watts' Ann. Not only for being a special effect with heart, but also Naomi's performance. Another thing I liked about the film was how -at times- ruthless it was. Kong throws people around right and left and Adrien Brody's Jack Driscoll accidently hits pedistrians during a car chase. Not the deepest movie I've seen, but a nice and big adventure film.

Also watched Disney's Fantasia from 1940. A really nice collage of amazingly arranged segments of colourful animation and classic music. Went in thinking it was all about Mickey and the wizard, but I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of it as well. Especially one of the last ones about witches and a demon. Has some absolutely amazing visuals. Cannot recommend it enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 October, 2020, 07:54:49 PM
The Jackson Kong is good fun, especially the ludicrously long extended edition (best watched as a mini-series). Its main failing is that it's not a patch on the original, but then it's hardly alone in that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 07 October, 2020, 05:27:36 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 October, 2020, 07:54:49 PM
The Jackson Kong is good fun, especially the ludicrously long extended edition (best watched as a mini-series). Its main failing is that it's not a patch on the original, but then it's hardly alone in that.

I'll definitely give the extended version a try someday (days) :)

Remember enjoying LotR ext. that way. A couple of chapter per day. Much better than watching them all in one day. Did that once...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 07 October, 2020, 04:55:32 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 October, 2020, 03:21:11 PM
Quote from: repoman on 06 October, 2020, 02:19:43 PM
I love The Manitou.  It's a great film.  Pure '70s wonderfulness.

Yes. This, The Entity and The Amtiville Horror ("Geeeet ouuuut") are the epitome of a certain 70s vibe that encopasses classics such as Snow Beast and The Beast Must Die, and ended with Poltergeist (albeit that was 80s).

A golden period of creepy mood after the ham-ness of Hammer but before video nasties took hold.

Amityville is great and very scary but I hate The Entity.  It's a nasty, upsetting film that I saw far too young and wish I hadn't.

Watched Vampires vs. The Bronx last night.  I'm not saying it is up there with Lost Boys or Fright Night but if it was branded as a sequel to either it would not have let the title down at all.  Absolutely loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 October, 2020, 08:06:59 AM
 THE MEG; more like THE MEH!

Aggressively sanitised and generic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 October, 2020, 09:10:16 AM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

As I have finished the series I decided to watch the movie.  The movie is... a bit of a mess, tonally.  There are little bits that are just so out of place with the rest of the film, the most glaring example being Pee-wee's hammy death scene.  Overall it ends up being very mediocre.

The Meg is garbage but I still liked it more than The Predator.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 12 October, 2020, 09:32:12 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 October, 2020, 08:06:59 AM
THE MEG; more like THE MEH!

Aggressively sanitised and generic.

I saw it in the cinema and it was a waste of time and money.  It had less blood than Jaws.  Ridiculous decision.  Especially the bit at the beach.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 October, 2020, 12:25:43 PM
The Meg is very weak beer indeed.  As I probably commented on this very thread before,  the best (only good?) thing in it is Pim's cover of 'Hey Mickey'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 14 October, 2020, 05:45:36 AM
Escape from New York Saw it in a local cinema. Still a classic. Lean and mean. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 October, 2020, 10:12:36 AM
Quote from: Apestrife on 14 October, 2020, 05:45:36 AM
Escape from New York Saw it in a local cinema. Still a classic. Lean and mean.

What a movie. Incredible soundtrack, and Movie's greatest ever anti-hero.

Pretty sure this was another Moviedrome watch.

For my money, that final shot as Plissken walks off, tearing the cassette tape to bits is my favourite movie moment of all time. Just the camera pause, and him continuing off the shot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2020, 10:15:00 AM
Okay I'm going to say this. Then grab my things and run for cover. I loved 'Escape from New York', loved it... but last time I watched it - a few years ago now. I thought it had aged terribly and I thought it was pretty weak...

Sound track is great mind...

... right I'm leggin' it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 October, 2020, 10:21:43 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2020, 10:15:00 AM
Okay I'm going to say this. Then grab my things and run for cover. I loved 'Escape from New York', loved it... but last time I watched it - a few years ago now. I thought it had aged terribly and I thought it was pretty weak...

Sound track is great mind...

... right I'm leggin' it...

I will FIND you, Colin...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 October, 2020, 10:25:37 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2020, 10:15:00 AM
Okay I'm going to say this. Then grab my things and run for cover. I loved 'Escape from New York', loved it... but last time I watched it - a few years ago now. I thought it had aged terribly and I thought it was pretty weak...

Sound track is great mind...

... right I'm leggin' it...

I'm with you on this.  It is far from Carpenters best work. 

At least it isn't Escape from L.A.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 October, 2020, 10:26:37 AM
I'm now putting the re-watch off, whilst tracking down Pictsy as well!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 October, 2020, 12:59:58 PM
Escape from NY is great.  Harry Dean Stanton was a treasure.  LA was proper gash though.

The fact that it doesn't make my John Carpenter top 5 shows how great he was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 October, 2020, 12:52:38 PM
Carpenters best work remains PRINCE OF DARKNESS, closely followed by IN THE MOUTH Of MADNESS. Few big budget horror movies have managed to grasp the concept of Liggotian existential dread, insignificance and helplessness.

The aforementioned to so to such a degree they rewrote the cinematic book on how to depict cosmic horror on screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 October, 2020, 01:28:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 15 October, 2020, 12:52:38 PM
Carpenters best work remains PRINCE OF DARKNESS, closely followed by IN THE MOUTH Of MADNESS. Few big budget horror movies have managed to grasp the concept of Liggotian existential dread, insignificance and helplessness.

The aforementioned to so to such a degree they rewrote the cinematic book on how to depict cosmic horror on screen.

Two amazing movies. I really need to get around to a re-watch of In The Mouth Of Madness.

Recently re-watched Prince Of Darkness, and it is just a stunning movie. Creeping dread!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2020, 01:30:53 PM
Prince of Darkness is a great movie. Nice Alice Cooper cameo too, which usually involves anyone I am watching saying "nah, it's not" and me disproving them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 15 October, 2020, 01:46:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 15 October, 2020, 12:52:38 PM
Carpenters best work remains PRINCE OF DARKNESS, closely followed by IN THE MOUTH Of MADNESS. Few big budget horror movies have managed to grasp the concept of Liggotian existential dread, insignificance and helplessness.
Prince of Darkness remains my personal favourite Carpenter, but I still think The Thing is objectively his best work. Still those two (with the slightly more flawed In the Mouth of Madness getting the bronze) would be my Carpenter top three.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 October, 2020, 02:57:52 PM
Thoughts on They Live?

Probably the most bonkers movie in a Library of bonkers!

He made an all time classic in Halloween, and i don't even think that touches my Carpenter Top 5.

True, some of his movies probably come across dated, old fashioned, but i still thrill when i hear the synth music hit in, knowing that despite the fact I've seen the movie a hundred times, i'll still have enjoyment in taking it in again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2020, 03:29:31 PM
The Thing is our household's favourite.

Followed by...

Halloween
Prince of Darkness/ Mouth of Madness (depending on mood)

Halloween has aged terribly, whereas The Thing has matured well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 15 October, 2020, 03:30:52 PM
Norma Rae - pretty good pro-communism movie from Liberal Hollywood™.  I mean, it's not actually about communism, it's about the importance of working class solidarity and how the ruling classes divide the working classes based on any and every possible subtext ranging from race to religion, to income inequality, to employment hierarchies, and even examines the complicity of law enforcement, so maybe give this a watch and think about it the next time you start going on a rant about Leave voters or whoever.  Was Sally Field always a fox?  I feel that this is something I should have been aware of before now.

Antarctica - the story of the fallout from an ill-fated expedition to the South Pole as experienced by its victims, who are doggies, it's also part of a wave of Japanese cinema that challenged the utilitarian nature of their society, and alongside Hachiko Monogatari, Antarctica examines this through the medium of dog.
Nah, I'm only kidding, this is a film about dogs, there's no politics in it.  Anyway, after being left behind by capitalist adventurers in a desolate wasteland to fend for themselves because their lives mean nothing and they're just slaves, a troupe of sled dogs slowly starve to death until they finally smash their chains and escape into the marketplace of ideas where all but two of them die.  This is a dead doggy movie is what I am saying.  It is one of those movies that Harrison Ford will one day show to particularly cunning or adaptive replicants in order to judge if they're human or not by seeing if they cry at the end, and if they don't, he shoots them in the head, right there on the spot.  Statistically speaking, they might actually be human, but it's better to shoot them anyway - you don't want the kind of psycho who doesn't cry at the end of Antarctica walking around in the world.  You know why Dekard was so grizzled in that movie?  He'd watched Antarctica so many times.  This is a good movie and I liked it.  Even Vangelis' stupid disco music couldn't ruin it.
It also occurred to me that this is the plot of The Martian, which I will now consider a product of cultural appropriation on top of all its other problems.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 15 October, 2020, 04:07:07 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2020, 03:29:31 PM
The Thing is our household's favourite.

Followed by...

Halloween
Prince of Darkness/ Mouth of Madness (depending on mood)

Halloween has aged terribly, whereas The Thing has matured well.

The Thing is just an amazing bit of movie-making. Still regret i have never seen it in a cinema. And, as you say, it is one of those ageless movies that will continually be rediscovered, and heaped with more praise as the years pass us. The music, the incredible performances by everyone in the cast and the fact that you are just constantly terrified watching, knowing that literally anyone could turn out to be the creature.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 October, 2020, 04:24:38 PM
Yeah The Thing makes and interesting comparison with Escape from New York released only a year ish apart and as said The Thing remains absolutely timeless and a brilliant piece of film making where as, as I've said behind plated glass - Escape from New York has aged terribly.

Maybe cold snowy places and the kit you wear just doesn't change were as we all know future gang stuff flips in and out of fashion like nobody's business.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 October, 2020, 04:44:44 PM
Quote from: Rately on 15 October, 2020, 04:07:07 PM
The Thing is just an amazing bit of movie-making. Still regret i have never seen it in a cinema.

My local Cineworld showed it a few years back as part of their "Classic Movies Wednesday" programme. It's basically perfect — there's not a single frame I wish had been done differently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 October, 2020, 05:54:16 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 October, 2020, 03:30:52 PM
Norma Rae

... should be watched as a double-bill with Blue Collar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 16 October, 2020, 12:39:36 AM
1.  The Thing
2.  Big Trouble in Little China
3.  Prince of Darkness
4.  They Live
5.  Vampires

I recently rewatched all of the Halloween films and it turns out I hate all of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 October, 2020, 08:03:53 AM
The Thing is great and I have a soft spot for Vampires. Escape and Precinct are both excellent and I still think Halloween holds up.
Some of the others though...
Big Trouble is overlong and bloated.
Prince of Darkness is just boring.
They Live is overlong, boring and has the least charismatic lead I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 16 October, 2020, 09:33:29 AM
Carpenter is by far my favourite film director- knocking Romero into second place purely by virtue of still being with us, somehow, and I admire his tenacity. I'd say The Thing is his magnum opus, without doubt, and that The Fog and Halloween are almost impossible to remove from positions #2 and #3.

After that, it becomes far more subjective. My own favourites are Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness, Cigarette Burns (his Masters of Horror mini-movie) and The Ward. But your mileage may vary. Despite it being largely hated, I have a lot of time for Ghosts of Mars too. And Vampires, despite James Woods presence making it an uncomfortable watch.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 16 October, 2020, 10:06:34 AM
I'll watch the aforementioned The Thing, Halloween, The Fog, and Big Trouble at *any* time, no matter what mood I'm in. They're foundational to my movie-watching landscape. The others I can take or leave.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 16 October, 2020, 10:37:24 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 October, 2020, 08:03:53 AM
Big Trouble is overlong and bloated.

(https://miro.medium.com/max/480/1*BqkSzWlY_VaZnj26BXQ7Hg.gif)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 October, 2020, 10:47:54 AM
Quote from: repoman on 16 October, 2020, 10:37:24 AM
Quote from: JamesC on 16 October, 2020, 08:03:53 AM
Big Trouble is overlong and bloated.

(https://miro.medium.com/max/480/1*BqkSzWlY_VaZnj26BXQ7Hg.gif)

Sorry, it just bores the tits off me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 16 October, 2020, 10:54:51 AM
I do think Carpenter is an interesting creator and there's always lots to like, even in the films which I think don't really work.
They Live, in particular, is so close to being an excellently weird action thriller, it just has this really long, quite dour first act with an actor who just can't bring enough to the performance. Then te finale doesn't quite hit the spot in terms of action.
It's a great idea though and I'd love to see a remake (hopefully a bit tighter). To be honest, I think the material is a bit out of Carpenter's wheelhouse. Verehoven would have been a good shout for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 October, 2020, 01:54:38 PM
I'm always shocked to hear someone doesn't like Big Trouble, but the fact is I'm in the minority. Carpenter's films in the 80s were pure gold to me. Prince of Darkness will be watched yet again very shortly. It is one of the creepiest films I can think of. Not overtly scary really, but the tension and sense of impending doom is palpable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 October, 2020, 02:58:30 PM
Big Trouble in Little China is in my incomplete list of top 10 favourite films (I have difficulty picking a favourite).  I loved it the first time I saw and every time since.  I had a crappy recorded-off-TV copy and loved it to bits.

In general I like Carpenter's films with only a small amount that I actively dislike (the most sacrilegious of which is Halloween).  Despite my comments on Escape from NY, I still like it.  Escape from LA is garbage.  The weirdest thing is that I legitimately, and without any sense of irony*, enjoy Ghosts of Mars.  It is a bad film.  I'm not even sure that the concept is really that good.  Yet it thoroughly entertains me.

*Except the way the main villain makes noises.  That always cracks me up and I love doing an impression of his non-threatening nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Apestrife on 16 October, 2020, 08:25:34 PM
I really love Big Trouble in Little China. One of the finest movies there is to enjoy in the company of friends. On my top 3 of his together with Escape from New York and The thing.

Also really like Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Prince of Darkness (such a weird film), They live, Mouth of madness and Cigarette burns.

There's also one I'd do well not mentioning: over the top dumb fun and quite the joy to watch with friends late at night over a beer or two.

The only Carpenter films I haven't seen are Vampires and Elvis. Vampires any good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 17 October, 2020, 01:01:01 AM
Vampires is great! A wonderful mix of action and vampire mythology. It owes a lot to From Dusk 'til Dawn though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 October, 2020, 09:19:53 AM
I saw Vampires as part of a double bill on TV with Near Dark.  I even recorded them to VHS and watched them as double bills again afterwards.  Nevertheless, Near Dark is the only one I remember anything from. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 17 October, 2020, 12:23:41 PM
If anyone was inspired by my cheerleading a few pages back for Hammer's THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1957), The Horror Channel (Sky 317) are playing it tomorrow at 6.50pm, and of course an hour later on +1.

If you fancy a long Sunday indulgence, it's being shown in a double bill with CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), which starts at 5.20pm (and an hour later on +1, obvs).

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 October, 2020, 09:04:53 PM
Party Girl was a cool film back in the day. When I started being a librarian and had recently discovered filsm by the like of Hal Hartley the idea of cool indie film goddess Parker Posey playing a ... well party girl becalmed by the world of librarianship, well the thought was begiling, the characters cool and kooky. This film just dripped cool.

For whatever reason I've not seen it since then (late 90s) and so was very happy to stumble across it on Amazon the other day... alas time has not done it well... or maybe it just doesn' fit into modern me. The party scene seems a bit forced and false (or maybe just don't remember the best parties I went to honestly?... or would hate them now?) no one master Dewey that quick and easy. For all the 90s indie cool dripping from the movie its story is actually pretty dull and stodgy.

Extreme character finds redemption and a different way to live in an unexpected place. They struggle with their mentor and eventually disaster. They fall onto hard times and suddenly all that effort to change seems lost BUT loe at the end joy is found, mentor / character who changes them forgives them and to a degree their different world learn to co-exist. WAHEY.

Its essentially Kindergarden Kop!

So yeah I found this a bit of a chore and now I worry about watching a Hal Hartley film again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2020, 09:10:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 October, 2020, 09:19:53 AM
Nevertheless, Near Dark is the only one I remember anything from.

This is the correct answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 October, 2020, 10:28:21 PM
Sleeping Dogs

Well I never thought I'd get caught up in a 1977 film that apparently launched the new wave of New Zealand cinema... I never even knew New Zealand had a new wave, well outside Peter Jackson schlock horror and The Piano. But apparently this launched it.

Its an interesting movie I stumbled across on Amazon, mainly due to the cool image of Sam Neill in apparently this second movie. Its themes of the raise of a totaliatrian government and one man's attempt to avoid involvement in resistance to it are horribly prescient these days (the fact that New Zealand is so far from this right now is hard to forget as well!) but can't avoid falling into events. Its should be powerful stuff, but as it is its just solid.

These days this would be a 12 part series and to be honest would benefit from that. Its a good story but throws too much in and uses typical cinematic shorthand that sells some of its ideas short - apparently based on a novel that I imagine gives things a lot more space and time to work.

Still a fascinating insight into how bold 70s cinema was, but how so much of it hasn't dated too well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 26 October, 2020, 10:42:52 AM
Bit off-topic, but seeing as we have mentioned it previusly, Ben Wheatley is directing The Meg 2!

Now, that is going to be a shift in tone from the original!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 October, 2020, 09:17:02 PM
That might be fun.

In other news, I actually enjoyed a rom-com.

JULIET, NAKED is based on a book by Nick Hornby (who I like) and has a really well judged turn from Ethan Hawke as a musician who disappeared and is now the subject of obsessive fan forums - which are a divisive factor in the already crumbling relationship of Chris O'Dowd and Rose Byrne .

No, no, it's much funnier than it sounds with some great visual storytelling (e.g. where Duncan gets the batteries for his walkman). It's well paced, well performed (especially one phone call that doesn't go according to plan) if occasionally predictable but has some great side characters too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 October, 2020, 07:30:45 PM
Six String Samurai

Buddy is on his way to Las Vegas to claim the title of the King now that Elvis is dead.  He is accompanied by a young child he saved from savages in this post-apocalyptic world where the Soviets took over the US.  Low budget film with good action, odd sense of humour and weird ideas that is shot really well.

Jaws

Haven't seen this in decades.  It's a fine movie.  The delineation between the first part set on the island and the second part set on the boat was really stark.  It's well made and tells the story it wants to.  Not a lot I can say about it as I assume everyone here is very familiar with the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 October, 2020, 10:32:57 PM
A Lonely Place to Die

The good thing about having something like Amazon is you can take a pitch on a movie just based on a trailer and the like and watch things you have no real expectation of and thus be genuninely surprised by a movie. And so it is with A lonely Place to Die. For some reason the trailer hooked me, it didn't even seem that good, just some schlock fun and cos I was in the mood for some schlock fun I watched it and was very pleasently surprised.

Don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing orginal about this movie. Its Deliverence set in the Scottish Highlands. But it does what it does very very well. The villains are gloriously villainous, just avoiding turning into silly. The action has a very effective build. The heroes die in all the right places. There is little or no surprise as to who does or doesn't . But the tension racks up, the action feels real and thrilling and over all its a very effective thriller, with decent horror undertones.

Its not going to blow you away but its better than most big action movies these days and actually pretty damned good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 October, 2020, 11:13:18 AM
As a long-time non-scrot when it comes to all matters anime, my weeb-adjacent daughter has been marching me through Studio Ghibli these past few months. What a revelation it's been. Currently watching Howl's Moving Castle for the second time, and constructing head-canon that places it as a prequel to Kiki's Delivery Service. Fight me.

(Now if I can just link Totoro to Kaonashi via the soot-sprites...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 29 October, 2020, 11:26:48 AM
Howls Moving Castle is a sublime film that rewards rewatching.

eg: Nano-bolt tells me that Howl's first line of dialogue in the film is actually a response to an event involving Sophie from later in the film that only becomes clear once you work out Howl's timeline.

I love the book too, even though it is so different is so many ways.

Last night I watched A wonderful day in the neighbourhood and once again marvelled at just how good Tom Hanks is. A very well made film that pushes a lot of emotional buttons. The film was not what I expected it to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 09:09:10 AM
Ooo, I really like Ghibli.  My faves are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and The Cat Returns.  My least favourite that I've seen is My Neighbour Totoro.  Really cool visuals but it just lacks a particularly interesting story.  There are number of Ghibli films that meander about then abruptly end.  Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for their high end animation.

Oh, and I've only watched Grave of the Fireflies once because it's too depressing and the world is too depressing for me to handle it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 09:09:10 AM
My least favourite that I've seen is My Neighbour Totoro.  Really cool visuals but it just lacks a particularly interesting story. 

My general feeling is that the presence of the Catbus negates any requirement for plot or other such fripperies. More seriously, "just stopping" is definitely a feature of the ones I've watched so far, but I almost prefer that to the tyranny of a third-act resolution. My frustration with the ending of the splendid Nausicaa cannot be overstated, however.

(My beef with Totoro is wondering why the Dad hasn't given the hospital his work number).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 30 October, 2020, 10:34:44 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
My general feeling is that the presence of the Catbus negates any requirement for plot or other such fripperies.

Truth. Catbus precludes any need for anything non-catbus, so the everything else about the film is just a bonus.
It's a very low key sweet little story, I think it's my favourite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 30 October, 2020, 12:36:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
My frustration with the ending of the splendid Nausicaa cannot be overstated, however.

Nausicaa has been ruined for me because I came to it after reading the manga; the film can only ever be the poor cousin, now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 30 October, 2020, 04:03:17 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 09:09:10 AM
Oh, and I've only watched Grave of the Fireflies once because it's too depressing and the world is too depressing for me to handle it.

Is that the one about wartime orphans where everybody dies at the end? I've not even attempted that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 05:19:31 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 October, 2020, 12:36:09 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
My frustration with the ending of the splendid Nausicaa cannot be overstated, however.

Nausicaa has been ruined for me because I came to it after reading the manga; the film can only ever be the poor cousin, now.

I'll have to check out the comic, so, because the film (what there was of it) was fantastic. If there had been a chance of a continuation it would have been so much better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 07:42:23 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
More seriously, "just stopping" is definitely a feature of the ones I've watched so far, but I almost prefer that to the tyranny of a third-act resolution. My frustration with the ending of the splendid Nausicaa cannot be overstated, however.

There are Ghibli films that wrap up a lot better and I do think they are better for it.

I never count Nausicaa as the film was made before Ghibli was formed.  Nevertheless, I really like that film as well.  I hope I one day get to read the manga.

Quote from: Dandontdare on 30 October, 2020, 04:03:17 PM
Is that the one about wartime orphans where everybody dies at the end? I've not even attempted that one.

Yes.  It's harsh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgefloyd on 31 October, 2020, 12:37:35 AM
Me, I'm re-watching Ryuzu and the  Seven Henchmen, a  2015 Yakuza comedy from Takeshi Kitano.  Hilarity ensues as a gang of aging Yakuza try to get back in the game.  It's a very Japanese movie, so some of the humour depends on knowing a bit about how the yakuza and associated scumbags operate there.  One thing I like is that it has lyrical filmy moments that are almost Ozu-like. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 October, 2020, 09:16:11 PM
Ghostbusters (1984), for the night that's in it. This film fails to age, Venkman's predatory behaviour aside, the effects are glorious (eliciting several exclamations of "Cool!"* from my first-timer daughter), the plot is solid, the cast are all spectacular, the gags quotable, and Sigourney's pins have never looked finer.

A true classic.


*...and obligatory Dad response each time: "No, Zuul".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 31 October, 2020, 09:23:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 31 October, 2020, 09:16:11 PM
Ghostbusters (1984), for the night that's in it. This film fails to age, Venkman's predatory behaviour aside, the effects are glorious (eliciting several exclamations of "Cool!"* from my first-timer daughter), the plot is solid, the cast are all spectacular, the gags quotable, and Sigourney's pins have never looked finer.

A true classic.

We did the same tonight as well. Alas aside from the predatory nature of Venkman - we will come back to this - another thing has aged. The kids felt some of the effects 'were terrible'... damnit... but they really enjoyed it.

I did however make a deal with my daughter half way through as we explained that while Dad loves Bill Murray with unequaled passion, Mum was entirely right and he's an absolute dick in this movie ... well his character. So we'll watch the new one (2016) where I seem to recall they have an interesting reversial on the gender rolls.

As I recall I thought the movie was no where near as good, but the gender balance and new effects suggest I owe it to my kids to watch it with them and see how they compare the two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 October, 2020, 10:55:31 PM
If it's any consolation, my two both said that while they enjoyed the original, they preferred the new one. Sic transit gloria mundi.

I really didn't think there was any problem with the effects, the stop motion on the devil-dogs in particular is lovely, but then we do have a crap TV.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 November, 2020, 09:10:44 PM
Ready Player One. Mehhhhh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 November, 2020, 10:58:02 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 30 October, 2020, 04:03:17 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 09:09:10 AM
Oh, and I've only watched Grave of the Fireflies once because it's too depressing and the world is too depressing for me to handle it.

Is that the one about wartime orphans where everybody dies at the end? I've not even attempted that one.

No, it's the one where they die at the very start and then things get worse.
Grave Of The Fireflies should be seen.  It's a profoundly anti-war work that deserves better than to be dismissed on the basis it might give you The Feels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 02 November, 2020, 12:32:25 AM
Highlander Such a great film and a wonderful performance by Sean Connery as Ramirez. It's one of those films that should never have been as good as it is. Shame they never did a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JamesC on 02 November, 2020, 09:52:24 AM
The Witch

I thought this was really fantastic. So creepy and atmospheric. The horror came as much from the religious dogma of the family - and their helplessness in the face of a failed harvest - as it did from the supernatural goings on.

I have the director's second film The Lighthouse lined up ready to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 November, 2020, 10:16:06 AM
Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D

I popped my Troma film cherry last night with this nutjob of a film.  It definitely lives up to Troma's reputation and I got out of it what I thought I would.

It was enjoyable, silly, stupid, fun, problematic, entertaining and goofy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 02 November, 2020, 11:20:21 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 02 November, 2020, 12:32:25 AM
Highlander Such a great film and a wonderful performance by Sean Connery as Ramirez. It's one of those films that should never have been as good as it is. Shame they never did a sequel.

It's for the best - they would have probably mucked it up and made it about space aliens or something...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 02 November, 2020, 12:46:38 PM
Quote from: Pyroxian on 02 November, 2020, 11:20:21 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 02 November, 2020, 12:32:25 AM
Highlander Such a great film and a wonderful performance by Sean Connery as Ramirez. It's one of those films that should never have been as good as it is. Shame they never did a sequel.

It's for the best - they would have probably mucked it up and made it about space aliens or something...

Thank God they didn't. Sounds a ridiculous plot. So bad. No producer would have went with that...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2020, 01:54:58 PM
It might have made a good TV series... in the grin of KUNG FU but with claymore! Pure fried gold!. I wonder why they never did that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2020, 02:11:22 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 November, 2020, 01:54:58 PM
It might have made a good TV series... in the grin of KUNG FU but with claymore! Pure fried gold!. I wonder why they never did that.

Obviously because "there can only be one", so as Lambert would be too expensive then they'd need to concoct some half-assed explanation for why "there can only be one... except for all these others."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 November, 2020, 04:10:10 PM
I suppose the only good that might have come out of a sequel would have been non-comics work for at least one of Tharg's finest, who might then have gone on to help create the greatest SF movie of the past decade. Luckily that happened anyway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2020, 07:24:04 PM
Live-Die-Repeat: Edge of Oblivion. Fun eyeball candy with some of the freakiest-looking aliens I can remember, lots of cool hardware, stunts and explosions and Tom Cruise doing his usual fine job playing Tom Cruise. Not Emily Blunt's usual fare, but she was very good.

Instantly forgettable, but it passed another evening of lockdown well enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2020, 08:02:45 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2020, 07:24:04 PM
Live-Die-Repeat: Edge of Oblivion. Fun eyeball candy with some of the freakiest-looking aliens I can remember, lots of cool hardware, stunts and explosions and Tom Cruise doing his usual fine job playing Tom Cruise. Not Emily Blunt's usual fare, but she was very good.

Instantly forgettable, but it passed another evening of lockdown well enough.

I really liked this, and I think there is talk of a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 November, 2020, 09:32:24 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2020, 07:24:04 PM
Live-Die-Repeat: Edge of Oblivion. Fun eyeball candy with some of the freakiest-looking aliens I can remember, lots of cool hardware, stunts and explosions and Tom Cruise doing his usual fine job playing Tom Cruise. Not Emily Blunt's usual fare, but she was very good.

Instantly forgettable, but it passed another evening of lockdown well enough.

Great movie, with so many great character actors in it as well.

Sequel is in pre-production, apparently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 November, 2020, 09:39:27 AM
Quote from: Rately on 03 November, 2020, 09:32:24 AM
Sequel is in pre-production, apparently.

Spoiler: [spoiler]It's the same movie, played backwards.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 03 November, 2020, 09:47:34 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 November, 2020, 09:39:27 AM
Quote from: Rately on 03 November, 2020, 09:32:24 AM
Sequel is in pre-production, apparently.

Spoiler: [spoiler]It's the same movie, played backwards.[/spoiler]

Christ, Jim! I was looking forward to watching it unspoiled!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 03 November, 2020, 12:52:33 PM
The book it was based on was just as much fun too. No idea how they'll work a sequel, but that's never stopped 'em before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 03 November, 2020, 02:08:26 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2020, 07:24:04 PM
Live-Die-Repeat: Edge of Oblivion. Fun eyeball candy with some of the freakiest-looking aliens I can remember, lots of cool hardware, stunts and explosions and Tom Cruise doing his usual fine job playing Tom Cruise. Not Emily Blunt's usual fare, but she was very good.

Instantly forgettable, but it passed another evening of lockdown well enough.

Watched this recently too and for the most part I really enjoyed it til the final scene and I was confused!!!'[spoiler]why did it take him back to a different point in the "past" and not back to the same point he returned to throughout the film? Then I gave up trying to make sense other than it makes for a happy ending[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 03 November, 2020, 02:28:37 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2020, 07:24:04 PM
Live-Die-Repeat: Edge of Oblivion. Fun eyeball candy with some of the freakiest-looking aliens I can remember, lots of cool hardware, stunts and explosions and Tom Cruise doing his usual fine job playing Tom Cruise. Not Emily Blunt's usual fare, but she was very good.

Instantly forgettable, but it passed another evening of lockdown well enough.
I found this quite a long way from instantly forgettable! One of the best original sci-fi's of the past few years IMO. We've watched it many times on BR.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 03 November, 2020, 06:23:45 PM
All these Tom Cruise sci-fi action flicks just merge into one in my mind. The "groundhog day" concept was interesting, but made no sense at all really if you think about it. Aside from that it was just (very well done) bangy-bangy whoosh action. TC is a great actor when he puts his mind to it, but I never get a sense of different characters with his action stuff - he's just Cruise in different suits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 November, 2020, 12:00:55 AM
I fancied more of the same so I gave Oblivion a go. Oblivishite more like.

Mr Cruise deploys his fine action skills and his two facial expressions (goofy grin and brow-furrowed puzzlement) perfectly well, and the tech, action and effects were first rate, but the story was laughable. The big reveal was obvious from the opening monologue but took over a hour to get to, and every plot twist was painfully foreshadowed and predictable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 November, 2020, 12:25:51 AM

On learning the sad news, I've treated myself to a Connery Bond marathon.

It was great - and a little bit poignant.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 06 November, 2020, 02:54:21 PM
Watched Commando last night and it's classic bad 80s action movie and a need to watch when a teenager growing up in that decade just to say you seen the ripsaw blade kill!!.
It's Arnie season on film 4 so will give a few more of his films another view to see how well or bad they hold up. I hadn't rewatched this since the early 90s and I have to say Commando does not hold up well. (Some of his others, in my mind, do - Terminator, Running Man & Predator- and they could even get away with a remake considering the effects back then - but not with Arnie)
Still not Oscar caliber but entertainment nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 November, 2020, 03:08:36 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 06 November, 2020, 02:54:21 PM
Watched Commando last night and it's classic bad 80s action movie and a need to watch when a teenager growing up in that decade just to say you seen the ripsaw blade kill!!.
It's Arnie season on film 4 so will give a few more of his films another view to see how well or bad they hold up. I hadn't rewatched this since the early 90s and I have to say Commando does not hold up well. (Some of his others, in my mind, do - Terminator, Running Man & Predator- and they could even get away with a remake considering the effects back then - but not with Arnie)
Still not Oscar caliber but entertainment nonetheless.

I was planning, with a friend, to double bill Commando and Running Man for over a year now.  We both think fondly of the latter but I've always held that Commando is a bad film.  I'll probably be entertained by it, but that doesn't make it good.

I agree about Terminator, Running Man and Predator.  Predator is probably my favourite Arnie film.  I find Terminator odd... Kyle Reese is a weird creep, but it has atmosphere and a really good soundtrack.

I think the most underrated of Arnie's films is Last Action Hero.  The cartoon cat breaks the concept a little for me, but otherwise it is a real existential and metaphysical treat of an action-comedy.

I still find enjoyment in the classic Arnie films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 November, 2020, 04:32:11 PM
Commando has some great one-liners. Objectively it's a bad film, but I've always found it entertaining and watch when in need of some 80s action. Running Man is a better film for the time but I always thought it never did the book justice. Still, you can't go wrong for 80s action with this double-bill.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 November, 2020, 07:31:51 PM
Guy I knew from school was a bodybuilder and worshipped Arnie. When I was home from uni, I'd say hi to the folks and get the train to Manchester to spend a week getting wrecked and watching Arnie marathons with the old gang.

Quote from: pictsy on 06 November, 2020, 03:08:36 PM
I think the most underrated of Arnie's films is Last Action Hero.  The cartoon cat breaks the concept a little for me, but otherwise it is a real existential and metaphysical treat of an action-comedy.

Agreed, I watched this in the first lockdown and it was better than I remembered, and I really enjoyed it the first time.

Terminator and Predator will always be cool, 'nuff said. Running Man's got some great bits but when you're getting your idea of menacing costumed villains from comics, some of those costumes just seemed naff... it's been a while though, so it's on the LOCKDOWN II: THIS TIME IT'S COLD OUT watchlist. I've got a real soft spot for Twins 'cos I love Danny DeVito even more than I love Arnie, and it's got the funniest Sly gag of them all. Total Recall's another good 'un. And Conan of course, so many. Not keen on Kindergarten cop - too many Hollywood stage-school gremlins desperately trying to out-cute each other in mortal terror of the silent ride home with Mom. Batman and Robin didn't happen. And Commando's just bloody good fun - they knew what they were doing.

But if you asked Big Jim, top of the list would always be Pumping Iron. And you didn't argue.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 November, 2020, 09:05:30 PM
Inception, finally. Whole family (11-49) loved it, far less effects-flashy than I had expected (a good thing), and the innumerable homages we'd all seen over the years somehow hadn't spoilt it one bit. Going to have to stop being ambivalent about Nolan, I think. 

Agree that Predator is Arnie's best, but I love most of them from his classic period, Conan being a particularly guilty pleasure. Last Action Hero is a blast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 November, 2020, 12:36:01 AM
Commando is was way better than Running Man. More like Running Shit!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 November, 2020, 01:14:25 AM
*phew* I thought I'd be the one getting the backlash (steps back and opens popcorn)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Greg M. on 07 November, 2020, 06:32:24 PM
Frustratingly, England's lockdown is knocking out Scotland's cinemas - distribution issues - so I nipped out to see Korean zombie-flick Peninsula (2020) last night before my local filmhouse closed today. It's a perfectly serviceable mix of Day of the Dead / Land of the Dead with Fast and Furious and Mad Max 3, and is the semi-sequel to Train to Busan. At its best when it goes quirky and Korean, at its weakest when it overindulges in cloying sentimentality. Reasonable way of passing a couple of hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 07 November, 2020, 09:15:32 PM
Jo-Jo Rabbit really good. Thought the actor playing Jo-Jo was fantastic and some great side characters. I know there was some criticism whether we should have films about Hitler youth and is it a subject to take lightly but funny moments aside it has it's thought provoking moments.
I'd recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 07 November, 2020, 11:32:06 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 07 November, 2020, 09:15:32 PM
Jo-Jo Rabbit really good. Thought the actor playing Jo-Jo was fantastic and some great side characters. I know there was some criticism whether we should have films about Hitler youth and is it a subject to take lightly but funny moments aside it has it's thought provoking moments.
I'd recommend it.

Agreed. I was that at the cinema. Yeah, while they did play the Hitler Youth stuff for laughs they never depicted it as a good thing, in fact the lad [spoiler]overcoming his negative indoctrination[/spoiler] was kind of the point, so I had no problem with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 November, 2020, 11:46:21 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 07 November, 2020, 11:32:06 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 07 November, 2020, 09:15:32 PM
Jo-Jo Rabbit really good. Thought the actor playing Jo-Jo was fantastic and some great side characters. I know there was some criticism whether we should have films about Hitler youth and is it a subject to take lightly but funny moments aside it has it's thought provoking moments.
I'd recommend it.

Agreed. I was that at the cinema. Yeah, while they did play the Hitler Youth stuff for laughs they never depicted it as a good thing, in fact the lad [spoiler]overcoming his negative indoctrination[/spoiler] was kind of the point, so I had no problem with it.

Yeah, this movie doesn't make light of or excuse nazis like former President Trump, it aped and lampooned them, made them look very silly. Silly like former President Trump
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler]"Heil Hitler!"[/spoiler]

And so forth..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 November, 2020, 04:47:59 PM
Ghost Stories (2017)

This was an interesting anthology horror movie.  Unfortunately, I think the first story is the most effective and it is diminishing returns.  [spoiler]It is also undermined as a horror film, imo, but the final story that suggest that the whole thing is a coma nightmare.  It's interesting, but it gutted the horror for me.[/spoiler]  Nevertheless, it was still an entertaining watch, with some familiar faces, good performances and good ideas.  I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 09 November, 2020, 12:00:46 AM
I loved Ghost Stories. I've seen the West End Theatre show twice and was initially a bit hesitant to watch the film version, however I was pleasantly impressed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 November, 2020, 12:33:00 AM
Jojo Rabbit

Oh Kay.  I got the humorous tone and chuckled here and there but did not think this film was especially funny.  Quirky, maybe, but not funny.  There are wonderful characters and performances.  My highlights are Sam Rockwell (because of course) and the kid who I am going to call mini-Nick Frost, who made the best deliveries in the entire film.

Ultimately, though, this is a bittersweet love story that, at the end, punched me in the gut hard and made me weep.

I really feel I was mis-sold this film.  I wanted to watch something a lot sillier than this and really was not expecting to have  such an emotional response to the film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 November, 2020, 09:28:28 AM
Quote from: Michael Knight on 09 November, 2020, 12:00:46 AM
I loved Ghost Stories. I've seen the West End Theatre show twice and was initially a bit hesitant to watch the film version, however I was pleasantly impressed.

Did the West End version have the same 'twist'?

I will admit my anticipation to see this film a few years back was fueled by the rave reviews of the West End version, but just like Pictsy the twist ending undermined it a bit too much for my liking.

To this day it has not been added to the Portmanteau Horror Blu-ray / DVD collection.
Just can't see myself ever re-watching it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:20:39 AM
I really like (http://www.the80smovieclub.co.uk/t8mc-guide-portmanteau-films/) portmanteau films and so was quite excited about Ghost Stories what with it getting a cinema release but I was very let down by it.

Part one was really bad mainly because Paul Whitehouse isn't an actor.  It's all to easy to film some dark corridors and let the audience's imagination do the heavy lifting.  Making it a former insane asylum too.  So on the nose.  The story is basically Paul making terrible decisions.

Part two was unoriginal, not scary and that kid isn't the most believable actor either.

Part three is the best part even though it's just a standard poltergeist tale.  I didn't rate it much.  Also I can't really see Martin Freeman as anything but the smug guy in the phone adverts now.

The worst thing though was the main actor.  Andy Nyman is basically the Ian Brown of acting which is to say he is the worst at what he does.  That and the ridiculously generic stories.

It's a shame because I really did want to like it.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:24:52 AM
As for Arnie.  I love Arnie films to a degree. 

Terminator is my favourite film with Arnie in it but it's almost not an Arnie film given how little dialogue he has.  It's by far the best Terminator film anyway but it'd make my top 3 all time horror list.

Pumping Iron is my favourite Arnie performance though.  It's his most quotable film.  Super easy to rewatch.  A real fave.

Commando is always fun, Running Man is okay (prefer the book though), Predator is great but I actually prefer the 2nd film and True Lies is great too but not as rewatchable as the others. 

I've never really gelled with Total Recall despite seeing it in the cinema at the time.  It's good but feels like a less good John Carpenter film.  I can appreciate what it does but it just isn't for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 10 November, 2020, 11:42:52 AM
I finally got to see TRAIN TO BUSAN last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The running time fairly rattled past and It was great to see many of the tropes of Zombie movies handled differently. Highly recommended.

The zombies were very similar to those in the excellent Netflix serial Kingdom too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 November, 2020, 12:00:58 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:20:39 AM
I really like (http://www.the80smovieclub.co.uk/t8mc-guide-portmanteau-films/) portmanteau films and so was quite excited about Ghost Stories what with it getting a cinema release but I was very let down by it.

For my money Crooked House (2008) is the best 'modern' Portmanteau Horror, and when viewed as it originally aired (3 parts over 3 nights) could be considered part of the 'Ghost Story for Christmas' series thread too.
Gatiss' most successful entry at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 12:01:29 PM
I still need to watch Peninsula but I probably need to watch Train to Busan again before I do.

Busan had some great moments and handled the zombies well but it had one massive problem which speaks to what Greg said earlier.  The cloying sentimentality but more specifically the ridiculous crying in it.

Do Korean people really cry like that?  Because grown men going 'BWOO HOOO HOOOOOO' with all of the believability of a toddler looking for attention is ridiculous.  It was completely at odds with the rest of the film.

Slightly related:  watch One Cut of the Dead.  You know how if a film is terrible for the first half, you may as well turn it off?  DO NOT DO THAT WITH THIS FILM.  It's well worth sticking with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 12:01:51 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 November, 2020, 12:00:58 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:20:39 AM
I really like (http://www.the80smovieclub.co.uk/t8mc-guide-portmanteau-films/) portmanteau films and so was quite excited about Ghost Stories what with it getting a cinema release but I was very let down by it.

For my money Crooked House (2008) is the best 'modern' Portmanteau Horror, and when viewed as it originally aired (3 parts over 3 nights) could be considered part of the 'Ghost Story for Christmas' series thread too.
Gatiss' most successful entry at that.

Colour me interested.   Thanks buddy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 November, 2020, 12:11:20 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:24:52 AM
Terminator is my favourite film with Arnie in it but it's almost not an Arnie film given how little dialogue he has.  It's by far the best Terminator film...

Not often that I see someone rate T1 over T2.  I would agree, though.  I can't stand T3 and Genesys.

Dark Fate surprised me.  I'd say it's the only sequel worthy enough to follow on from T2.  It was nice to be entertained by a new Terminator film.  (Okay, I was entertained by Salvation, but that film is mess so fails to satisfy me with its story).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 November, 2020, 12:12:33 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 12:01:51 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 November, 2020, 12:00:58 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:20:39 AM
I really like (http://www.the80smovieclub.co.uk/t8mc-guide-portmanteau-films/) portmanteau films and so was quite excited about Ghost Stories what with it getting a cinema release but I was very let down by it.

For my money Crooked House (2008) is the best 'modern' Portmanteau Horror, and when viewed as it originally aired (3 parts over 3 nights) could be considered part of the 'Ghost Story for Christmas' series thread too.
Gatiss' most successful entry at that.

Colour me interested.   Thanks buddy.

The DVD may be hard to get hold of now, hope you manage to see it regardless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 02:19:15 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 10 November, 2020, 12:11:20 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 11:24:52 AM
Terminator is my favourite film with Arnie in it but it's almost not an Arnie film given how little dialogue he has.  It's by far the best Terminator film...

Not often that I see someone rate T1 over T2.  I would agree, though.  I can't stand T3 and Genesys.

Dark Fate surprised me.  I'd say it's the only sequel worthy enough to follow on from T2.  It was nice to be entertained by a new Terminator film.  (Okay, I was entertained by Salvation, but that film is mess so fails to satisfy me with its story).

Although I was 17 when I saw T2 in the cinema, Terminator was already firmly established as a favourite film by then and I have to admit I was disappointed that day by T2.  The comedy, the 'I know now why you cry' nonsense and of course the fact that the main twist was spoiled by every news outlet at the time.

I've since grown to like the film, especially because of the extended cut.  It's a really good film but the first has the edge over it for me.

Now oddly I didn't mind T3.  It was the first film where the CGI felt like it had weight.  Especially the toilet fight.  Lots of set pieces.  Doesn't go on too long.  Great ending too.  It is one of those films that looks better with time considering what followed.  Much like an Alien: Resurrection (although I confess I loved that in the cinema and still do).

Salvation's main problems were that it took the iconic future scenes from T2 and turned it into a dull Transformers movie.  Didn't have enough Terminators in it either.  But the real issue was the ending which, if I'm understanding it right was that a vet took a heart that had been punched by CGI arnie and put it into Worst John Connor in a desert location.  Didn't really wrap up anything either. 

The first 15 or so minutes of Genesys had me cooing like a baby.  I was so into it.  Everything after that was incredibly dull though and Joint Worst John Connor's storyline was very stupid.

Dark Fate though.  I hated basically everything about it apart from one thing.  I hated Sarah Connor looking like Katie Hopkins and her whole grumpy grandma schtick.  I hated nappy changing Arnie.  I hated the main character whose name I couldn't remember even when the film had just ended.  I hated the new Terminator.  However, it did win a lot of points back because of Grace who was just superb all the way through it.

What are you doing?

Future shit.

She's the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 November, 2020, 10:32:29 PM
Quote from: repoman on 10 November, 2020, 02:19:15 PM
Salvation's main problems were that it took the iconic future scenes from T2 and turned it into a dull Transformers movie.  Didn't have enough Terminators in it either.  But the real issue was the ending which, if I'm understanding it right was that a vet took a heart that had been punched by CGI arnie and put it into Worst John Connor in a desert location.  Didn't really wrap up anything either.
I don't entirely remember Salvation's "plot".  I remember it being stupid nonsense.  Nevertheless, I liked all the post-apocalypse stuff and some of the more imaginative robot ideas.  I think the world it showed was interesting and the difficulties of living in that world worth exploring.  The film didn't really do that, so I won't defend it.  It just didn't bore me like T3 did and it wasn't a rehash of T2 like T3 is.

Quote
The first 15 or so minutes of Genesys had me cooing like a baby.  I was so into it.  Everything after that was incredibly dull though and Joint Worst John Connor's storyline was very stupid.
Pretty much the same with how I felt.  I was really excited that something interesting was going to be done with the time travel concept and then it became clear the film was nothing by cynical fan service.  I was pissed off with it before it ended.

Quote
Dark Fate though.  I hated basically everything about it apart from one thing.  I hated Sarah Connor looking like Katie Hopkins and her whole grumpy grandma schtick.  I hated nappy changing Arnie.  I hated the main character whose name I couldn't remember even when the film had just ended.  I hated the new Terminator.  However, it did win a lot of points back because of Grace who was just superb all the way through it.

I would have said Grace was the main character.  I liked Dani's character and story.  I liked the idea that if John Connor gets taken down, someone else would fill void.  That really helps the franchise start moving forward with its concepts again.  I liked that Arnie wasn't at the forefront.  That was the right move.  The franchise has used him as a crutch and it's still the case in this film to an extent, but at least it's an effort to move on.  I liked Sarah Connor in no small part because it was great to see Linda Hamilton back and in a much more prominent role.  The three women working together but somewhat at odds with one another was a wonderful dynamic and added additional layers of tension.  I also felt the tension, which was admittedly missing from the three previous films for me.  I was unsure about the new Terminator, but I was won over by the end. 

Regardless of all that, the important thing I take away from Dark Fate is that it feels like it is continuing the story and not like it is trying to just cash in on franchise (or try something new and making a trainwreck out of it).  I will gush over this film because I wasn't expecting it to be as enjoyable to watch as it was.  I have only seen it once, but there is a chance I might end up liking it more than T2.

All said, Terminator is my favourite.  The atmosphere, streamline storytelling, great soundtrack, childhood nostalgia and dunking on Kyle Reese for being a weird creep are what win out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 16 November, 2020, 11:26:01 AM
I watched American Werewolf in London for the first time in a while.  My brother had it recorded off the telly back in the day and so I watched it countless times as a kid.  Bought it on DVD about 20 years ago and oddly it left me a bit cold.  Not sure why.

Anyway, I finally got around to watching it this weekend and it's basically a perfect movie.

David Naughton is fantastic in it.  The horror aspects are good, the comedy works.  The thing that really struck me are the little details.  Like that kid who says 'no!' all the time.  Sort of unnecessary to have him in two scenes but it all just works.

I was worried that the werewolf effects wouldn't hold up but they still do.  It's not really a genre that has ever nailed it but AWIL does a good job.  The only thing I don't like is when he looks at the camera during the transformation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2020, 11:45:07 AM
The Prophecy

This was not what I was expecting.  It was pretty cheesy, but well within my wheelhouse of enjoyment.

Nevertheless, the plot is moronic.  [spoiler]It centres on a renegade angel trying to gain possession of the soul of a monstrous army general because he is incapable of waging the war in heaven effectively without it.  So another angel puts that soul in a little girl who gets possessed by the general and they run around and blah blah blah.  Seriously, if you can't have that specific generals soul, get another.  It's not like humanity is short of evil army generals.  There is nothing said that makes that generals soul especially necessary outside the idea that he was the most evil.  Get the next most evil, I'm sure the plan will still work.[/spoiler]  Whatever, it has plenty of Christopher Walken hamming it up, so I'm happy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 November, 2020, 12:08:13 PM
Demolition Man. The action has aged a bit, but it's still a surprisingly clever, genuinely funny film. Stallone and Bullock both work their gorgeous arses off at their respective bits to great effect, Hawthorne makes for a decent baddie, and if Snipes is fecking annoying throughout then that's what the script wants him to be. Impossible not to see Brink in the brilliantly sustained swearing-fine gag. The building designs are often extraordinary,  and thinking about what the working vehicles must have cost is terrifying. Ahh, what Dredd '95 - or even Dredd '12 - might have been.

"This fascist crap makes me want to puke". Wise words, John Spartan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 November, 2020, 12:36:54 PM
That rare joy experienced when you feel that you haven't wasted 2 hours of your life was mine for the taking after watching indie sci-fi horror The Endless on Netflix last night.

Some mind bending time distortion stuff to process, but I went to bed satisfied that I had teased out all the answers after the credits rolled.
Or at least I think I did...

Will be re-watching it very soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2020, 01:12:53 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 16 November, 2020, 12:36:54 PM
That rare joy experienced when you feel that you haven't wasted 2 hours of your life was mine for the taking after watching indie sci-fi horror The Endless on Netflix last night.

Some mind bending time distortion stuff to process, but I went to bed satisfied that I had teased out all the answers after the credits rolled.
Or at least I think I did...

Will be re-watching it very soon.

I watched this earlier in the year.  I think it was around the same time I saw Color out of Space.  I ended up preferring Endless.  It was very engaging, very weird, made sense and had a conclusion that left me very satisfied.  If I were to make a top 10 list of the best films I've watched this year, The Endless would definitely make the list.  Also glad other people are finding it and enjoying it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 16 November, 2020, 01:20:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 16 November, 2020, 11:26:01 AM
The only thing I don't like is when he looks at the camera during the transformation.

I know what you mean, Johnson bugs me senseless every time he does a presser ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 November, 2020, 02:54:14 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 November, 2020, 01:12:53 PM
If I were to make a top 10 list of the best films I've watched this year, The Endless would definitely make the list.

Same for me, if not the top 5.

Another recent Netflix diamond in the rough was Time Trap.
It has some superficial similarities to The Endless, but quite a different tone.

If you manage to get past the frankly annoying Goonies-lite start and subpar performances there are some genre treasures to be discovered in the third act.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 November, 2020, 04:33:43 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 17 November, 2020, 02:54:14 PM
Another recent Netflix diamond in the rough was Time Trap.
It has some superficial similarities to The Endless, but quite a different tone.

If you manage to get past the frankly annoying Goonies-lite start and subpar performances there are some genre treasures to be discovered in the third act.

I'll give it go.  Possibly on my next movie night.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 November, 2020, 04:48:55 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 November, 2020, 04:33:43 PM
I'll give it go.  Possibly on my next movie night.  :)

90% chance you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 November, 2020, 04:52:44 PM
The Gentlemen

Enjoyable tosh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 November, 2020, 05:22:30 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 November, 2020, 04:52:44 PM
The Gentlemen

Enjoyable tosh.

Not a massive fan of Guy Ritchie movies, but this passed by and was decent enough, with Hugh Grant blowing everybody else off of the screen. With this and Paddington 2, i'm now quite happy to watch whatever High is currently popping up in, which is something I wouldn't have said a decade or so ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 November, 2020, 09:10:45 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 November, 2020, 04:33:43 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 17 November, 2020, 02:54:14 PM
Another recent Netflix diamond in the rough was Time Trap.
It has some superficial similarities to The Endless, but quite a different tone.

If you manage to get past the frankly annoying Goonies-lite start and subpar performances there are some genre treasures to be discovered in the third act.

I'll give it go.  Possibly on my next movie night.  :)

And so I did.  I can't add much to Link's description, it's pretty spot on.  I did end up enjoying it.  I found it really built up to a very satisfying conclusion [spoiler]although I'm sad we don't get to see them save the giant spaceman[/spoiler].

Even with the expectations I had of the film, I was pleasantly surprised.  Those genre treasures add a huge amount to the charm.  The characters were good as well, especially Brianne Howey's Jackie.

In conclusion, thanks for the recommendation. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 November, 2020, 10:07:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 November, 2020, 09:10:45 AM
In conclusion, thanks for the recommendation. :)

:thumbsup:

Something I was unable to confirm via a more than cursory internet search - was that guy playing the 'spaceman' Doug Jones?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 November, 2020, 03:52:27 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 November, 2020, 10:07:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 November, 2020, 09:10:45 AM
In conclusion, thanks for the recommendation. :)

:thumbsup:

Something I was unable to confirm via a more than cursory internet search - was that guy playing the 'spaceman' Doug Jones?

From what I can find out, the role is credited to Sabin Smith who has only two other acting credits to his name. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 November, 2020, 09:27:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 November, 2020, 03:52:27 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 November, 2020, 10:07:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 November, 2020, 09:10:45 AM
In conclusion, thanks for the recommendation. :)

:thumbsup:

Something I was unable to confirm via a more than cursory internet search - was that guy playing the 'spaceman' Doug Jones?

From what I can find out, the role is credited to Sabin Smith who has only two other acting credits to his name.

Cheers Pictsy.

He's a shoo-in for the next Hellboy flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 November, 2020, 05:27:07 PM
Bonsoir et bienvenue!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 December, 2020, 01:59:35 PM
Figured I'd get a Xmas movie in.  Black Christmas (2019).  Having not seen the previous two versions, I didn't know what to expect.  This was terrible though.  A horror movie marketed at a specific type of teenager and therefore a PG13 sanitised horror that was too long and then too rubbish.  The worst slasher film since Halloween (2018).

I hate having to call films by their year also.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 December, 2020, 02:13:22 PM
Quote from: repoman on 05 December, 2020, 01:59:35 PM
I hate having to call films by their year also.

Just wait for the 1984 remake/reboot/new adaptation.  ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 December, 2020, 09:15:35 AM
Arrival

This is pretty good.  A nice bit of high concept sci-fi that I believe got mostly praise from the linguistic community.  Maybe not the best film to watch when the world is falling to pieces, but if I was going to let that effect me I'd never see the damn film.  I think it is most engaging because of its presentation and premise.  One of those rare occurrences where a film can hold it's own without any remarkable action, characters or plot.  My biggest complaint with the film is it dragged at the end.  It had a clear end but carried on going well after the point was hammered home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 December, 2020, 09:44:38 AM
I watched We Summon the Darkness last night, on quaint old DVD.

A squarely average attempt at an 80's horror, holding it's head above water thanks to some ok music and Alexandra Daddario's mesmerizing eyes.
I liked that the obvious twist was a red herring, but the secondary and potentially more intriguing twist kinda fell apart when I thought about it for more than five seconds - probably one second longer that the screenwriter.
Not sorry I watched it, but won't be re-watching it again.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 10 December, 2020, 02:15:46 PM
Hotel Artemis. Somehow I'd missed this film on release, but happened across it on Prime. It's a near-future cyberpunk thriller set in a private hospital for criminals. Jodie Foster is excellent as a jaded and damaged medical professional (they call her the Nurse, but she's clearly some sort of trauma surgeon). Dave Bautista is an orderly who keeps the patients in line, Sofia Boutella is an assassin with some seriously impressive martial arts skills and Sterling Brown is the clichéd gangster-who-just-wants-get-out (he does a good job with the role, though). There are also some visitors, who I won't spoil.

I really enjoyed this. There's some great action sequences, particularly Boutella's, and the plot moves on at a rapid pace. There's not a lot of originality in terms of character, but the actors do a lot with them.

A good one to enjoy on a cold saturday night with a beer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 10 December, 2020, 03:33:07 PM
good film that.  Jodie Foster is a gem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 December, 2020, 06:31:41 PM
I remember enjoying watching that film as well.  Jodie Foster certainly did stand out with her excellent performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 December, 2020, 07:12:08 PM
Bad Santa and Bad Santa 2 because it's September and I watch Christmassy films at this time.

I like the indiscriminate discrimination. Some of the puts down are grossly offensive but delivered with verve and pinache.

Billy Bob Thornton shows real chops by making such an unlikeable guy at least tolerable.

Next up Santa Clause 3; I watched the first and second over the last couple of Decembers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 11 December, 2020, 09:48:00 AM
It doesn't get the recognition as a Xmas film but it definitely is and that's The Long Kiss Goodnight which stands up as one of the best action films of the '90s.  Watched it last night.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 December, 2020, 09:27:12 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 10 December, 2020, 02:15:46 PM
Hotel Artemis.

Watched this last night on your recommendation. It plays like a pleasingly efficient (run time a compact 90min) adaptation of an admittedly-lesser William Gibson short story. It isn't, but that's exactly how it feels. I doubt it's going into anyone's Top Ten Best Movies, but it rattles through its running time at a brisk pace and the supporting cast do a decent job with broadly-sketched roles around Foster's excellent central performance.

I rather enjoyed it, and there are definitely much worse ways to kill an hour and a half.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 December, 2020, 02:11:41 PM
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent

This really isn't a particularly good series.  Christopher Walken does not save this film like he did the previous two.  The story is lacklustre and the rest of the cast are not very good.  The villain gets changed out at the end of the film and it being a big plot point, it isn't particularly focused on.  The main villain (by screen time, at least), Zophael played by Vincent Spano, is where the film spends most of its focus.  Vincent is very boring in the role and fails to be convincingly menacing at any point.  It would be hard to replace Christopher Walken at the best of times, but Vincent isn't even worth the effort.  The film is, essentially, boring shit.

There are two more films in the franchise.  Straight to video, filmed in the same year, no Christopher Walken... so I'm not going to bother with those.  The first two Prophecy films were worth the watch but the story really did conclude in the second film as they had nothing for the third.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 16 December, 2020, 11:36:24 AM
I really like The Prophecy.  The sequel is okay too, notable for young Brittany Murphy stealing every scene she's in from the great Christopher Walken.

Third one was terrible from what I remember.

Watched The Last Boy Scout for the first time.  Was good.  Got Speed, Demolition Man, Last Action Hero and The Crow lined up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 16 December, 2020, 11:51:31 AM
Mad Max : Fury Road.

Still astonished by it, and the fact that a bloody action movie should have won every Oscar it was put up for.

No harm, but I know what movie I'll still be watching in another ten or fifteen years, and it won't be The Revenant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 16 December, 2020, 01:32:37 PM
Quote from: repoman on 16 December, 2020, 11:36:24 AM
Watched The Last Boy Scout for the first time.  Was good.  Got Speed, Demolition Man, Last Action Hero and The Crow lined up.
Are you from 1995?  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 December, 2020, 01:51:04 PM
Quote from: repoman on 16 December, 2020, 11:36:24 AM
Got Speed, Demolition Man, Last Action Hero and The Crow lined up.

Last Action Hero would be my personal pick of that bunch.

Last time I saw The Crow I felt it had aged badly.  Or maybe it was just more apparent that it had to be cobbled together due to Brandon Lee's death... I dunno.

I have never rated Speed or Demolition Man.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 16 December, 2020, 02:05:35 PM
The Departed.

I've watched this twice in the last week and a bit, and I really am asking myself why I was mildly a fan first time around, because it is a hell of a movie, and has a gut punch ending or two.

Great performances, a lovely soundtrack and Jack Nicholson at his most Sharkiest.

Have seen the Korean original, but for the life of me, I can't remember how closely it sticks to the premise of that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 December, 2020, 09:26:36 AM
Quote from: Rately on 16 December, 2020, 11:51:31 AM
Mad Max : Fury Road.

I saw it in the cinema and went in hoping to love it but after about 45-60 mins in I realised I was bored and irritated.  It felt like all that happened was a bunch of smaller vehicles were bouncing off of a truck for the whole film.  Also, being set as it is in a desert, it meant that it all felt like one long scene.

BUT with that said, I definitely need to give it another go.  I've really disliked films in the cinema and then found that I didn't mind them when watching them a second time at home.  Weirdly I hated Reservoir Dogs, Mars Attacks and to a lesser degree Terminator 2 in the cinema but ended up growing to like them more after.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 December, 2020, 09:32:51 AM
Quote from: repoman on 17 December, 2020, 09:26:36 AM
Quote from: Rately on 16 December, 2020, 11:51:31 AM
Mad Max : Fury Road.

I saw it in the cinema and went in hoping to love it but after about 45-60 mins in I realised I was bored and irritated.  It felt like all that happened was a bunch of smaller vehicles were bouncing off of a truck for the whole film.  Also, being set as it is in a desert, it meant that it all felt like one long scene.

BUT with that said, I definitely need to give it another go.  I've really disliked films in the cinema and then found that I didn't mind them when watching them a second time at home.  Weirdly I hated Reservoir Dogs, Mars Attacks and to a lesser degree Terminator 2 in the cinema but ended up growing to like them more after.

I suppose it literally is one long, extended chase through the desert, but I don't know what kind of alchemy George Miller conjured up, but I could watch this movie from start to finish a few times and never be bored of it. The fact that every bump, hit and explosion is real, and that there weren't multiple deaths from making it astounds me.

The story of it even getting made, with ten years of pre-production, miracle rain scuttling them as they're about to shoot, multiple recasting's etc. would make a hell of a movie alone.

Definitely give it another go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 December, 2020, 09:40:31 AM
Witness it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 December, 2020, 11:06:02 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 December, 2020, 01:51:04 PM
Last time I saw The Crow I felt it had aged badly.  Or maybe it was just more apparent that it had to be cobbled together due to Brandon Lee's death... I dunno.

I hope that's not how I see it.  So here's the thing, I saw The Crow eight times in the cinema.

To be fair, I was working next door to the cinema so it was quite easy.  But I just loved it so much.  I was a huge Bruce Lee fan (and so was interested to see what Brandon was able to do), a huge fan of The Cure.  So it was all good for me.

Has been a few years since I last saw it though.  I'm hoping it holds up for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 December, 2020, 02:38:52 PM
Quote from: repoman on 17 December, 2020, 11:06:02 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 16 December, 2020, 01:51:04 PM
Last time I saw The Crow I felt it had aged badly.  Or maybe it was just more apparent that it had to be cobbled together due to Brandon Lee's death... I dunno.

I hope that's not how I see it.  So here's the thing, I saw The Crow eight times in the cinema.

To be fair, I was working next door to the cinema so it was quite easy.  But I just loved it so much.  I was a huge Bruce Lee fan (and so was interested to see what Brandon was able to do), a huge fan of The Cure.  So it was all good for me.

Has been a few years since I last saw it though.  I'm hoping it holds up for me.

I hope it does, too.

Maybe I should rewatch it with my now much lower expectations.  I might appreciate it for what it is and not what I remembered it being.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 17 December, 2020, 03:46:10 PM
Such a sad thing to see a fella who had the world at his feet, and put in a good performance in the movie, die so needlessly.

I think I'll add The Crow to my re-watch list, and hope, that it hasn't aged as badly as a lot of movies from the nineties have.

Whatever, it has a hell of a soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: janus stark on 17 December, 2020, 04:54:16 PM
Julian templeS biopic "crock of gold ". Shane McGowan story , had to turn on the subtitles so i could understand Johnny Deps Irish accent
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 December, 2020, 08:09:25 PM
Quote from: Rately on 17 December, 2020, 03:46:10 PM
Whatever, it has a hell of a soundtrack.

It certainly has!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 December, 2020, 10:23:07 PM
Just finished a rewatched Westworld which I've not seen in years and have to say it holds up really well. The beginning just about hold on to its ability to build tension while be light and frothy enough to allow you to avoid thinking too much. Moral and story don't hold up to much scrutiny - though the lack of morality is of course the point as highlighted by the victim in the medival dungeon.

For all that it is of course the last half hour that makes the film so unforgetable. The relentless chase and brutal ending. Just one of the best.

And of course the glory of Yul Bruyner playing such a physically brilliant role. Seeming and mistakely seen as an easy part, as he makes it seem so. But the brilliance of his lack of humanity portraying humanity so quietly when needed is sublime.

Yep enjoyed this one. Must track down Futureworld soon - seem to think its pretty good too?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 December, 2020, 11:02:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 August, 2013, 01:43:19 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 August, 2013, 01:16:47 PM
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Michael Mann's 1992 version with Daniel Day-Lewis.
I never tire of watching this - some fantastic merging of sound and vision - especially in the almost dialogue free final ten minutes.

Didn't realise it when I saw it the cinema, but LotM has definitely become one of my favourite movies.  It's full of action, spectacle, tragedy, great music, quotable lines ("Just dropped in to see how you boys was doin'"), and the wife assures me that DDL's buckskin-laced thighs are a wonder to behold. And as Tips says, the dialogue-free pursuit in the last 10 minutes is just a magnificent use of music and a model of restraint that many a film-maker could learn from.


This.

There's a shiny new version (looks restored and almost didtractingly pristine) up on Netflix.

Spotted Pete Postlethwait and Jared Harris among the British ranks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 December, 2020, 11:42:59 PM
Don't miss Colm Meaney while you're there!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 December, 2020, 11:58:33 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 December, 2020, 10:23:07 PM
Yep enjoyed this one. Must track down Futureworld soon - seem to think its pretty good too?

Haven't seen either for over 30 years, but I share your love of Yul Brynner's cheerfully relentless performance in Westworld, that movie blew me away as a kid - I seem to remember being pretty disappointed when I went back to see Futureworld, compared to how much I'd enjoyed the first movie, but I really must watch the original again ... brings back so many memories of Unit 4 in Blackburn - sneaking in the fire door age 12 to watch the smutty x movies, Star Wars, Hawk the Slayer, Ghostbusters *nostalgic sigh*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 December, 2020, 02:11:20 PM
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Ugh, okay, this film, well, er, so.
This film is not good.  I don't even think it's entertaining.  It's too self aware in its premise and it's a sad way to capstone the Smithverse films.  Clerks 2 was better at drawing a line under it all and saying it's done.  This film does nothing to bring back to mind what one might like from a collection of films mostly from the 90s.  It is a shameless cameo-fest and excuse for Smith to get his daughter in another film.  The fact they lampshade that latter part doesn't make it any less gross.  I don't think she gave a compelling performance either, but I'm not going to judge her abilities to act based on this pile of shit.  It also made me feel really old when it didn't need to do that.  That was just mean.

That all being said, I am glad I watched it.  Mostly because there is a comment in the film that clearly shows that Kevin Smith has recognised, finally, that his film Chasing Amy is problematic at best.  He didn't face criticism at the time with any grace, so it's nice to know he has pulled his head out from his arse.  There are some other nice little call back moments and I chuckled at the references to the previous films at times.  Largely it seems it was made for Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes to gush over how they love being Dads.  It wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't really a film either.  It's a gushing love letter to their pasts and futures that is cosplaying as a film.

So I don't know whether I like it or not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 December, 2020, 04:23:02 PM
Elf. Remains enormously good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 December, 2020, 09:22:42 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 December, 2020, 09:27:12 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 10 December, 2020, 02:15:46 PM
Hotel Artemis.

Watched this last night on your recommendation. It plays like a pleasingly efficient (run time a compact 90min) adaptation of an admittedly-lesser William Gibson short story. It isn't, but that's exactly how it feels. I doubt it's going into anyone's Top Ten Best Movies, but it rattles through its running time at a brisk pace and the supporting cast do a decent job with broadly-sketched roles around Foster's excellent central performance.

I rather enjoyed it, and there are definitely much worse ways to kill an hour and a half.

Yes, those were my thoughts as well.

I think it wears the Gibson influence quite openly. Low-life and high-tech. Sofia Boutella's character could be Molly Millions with a very light rewrite. Glad you enjoyed it too!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 22 December, 2020, 10:35:07 AM
Watched The Night Before.  A Xmas comedy from the Seth Rogan people.  Was actually really good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 December, 2020, 10:05:18 PM

Iron Sky. Again.

Every time I watch this film (this is about the third or fourth time) I love it a little bit more. It really takes me on a ride, just getting madder and madder as it goes - which is a neat trick when you start with Moon Nazis. It really is a little masterpiece, I think, with some genuine laugh-out loud moments. I'll be chuckling at the scene where "President Palin" demands to know [spoiler]which of the nations didn't arm their spaceships and only the representative of Finland sheepishly raises his hand[/spoiler] will have me chuckling for days.

It almost goes too far in so many places and in so many ways but always pulls back just in time. And, after loving the ride, I love the last message it leaves me with - that we gotta' find a better way.

Great little film. Love it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 December, 2020, 11:41:08 PM
Iron Sky ended up being more goofy than I thought it would be.  The sequel is incredibly silly as well... and pretty dumb, to be honest.  At least it wears it all on it's sleeve and there is no pretence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 23 December, 2020, 12:06:00 AM
The Christmas Chronicles

On Netflix, from 2018. There's a sequel this year.

This was fun, in the right frame of mind. Very much in the mould of Santa Clause: The Movie, but with Kurt Russell and not Dudley Moore.

My eldest said: "How does it make you feel, that Snake Plisken is Snata?"

I had no answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 December, 2020, 01:29:35 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 23 December, 2020, 12:06:00 AM
The Christmas Chronicles

On Netflix, from 2018. There's a sequel this year.

This was fun, in the right frame of mind. Very much in the mould of Santa Clause: The Movie, but with Kurt Russell and not Dudley Moore.

My eldest said: "How does it make you feel, that Snake Plisken is Snata?"

I had no answer.

Mini-Solo, 8, enjoyed it a lot. It was recommended to her by her grandpa, who's 79.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 December, 2020, 08:44:22 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 December, 2020, 02:11:20 PM
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Ugh, okay, this film, well, er, so.
This film is not good.

You're not kidding! I usually watch until the bitter end. I watched the first 30 mins of this, thought 'why am I wasting my life with this' and don't regret switching it off for one moment.

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 December, 2020, 04:23:02 PM
Elf. Remains enormously good.

It is stupidly charming. Whatsisface's best role, not that I'm a fan particularly. Zoey Deschanelle is just gorgeous in a winsome way. Lovely singing voice. Great message throughout the film - don't be a grumpy conniving dickhead, basically.

Krampus - first time of watching it. Creature design great. Some good moments. Quite liked the ending. Otherwise it was all a bit 'meh'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 December, 2020, 09:54:43 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 December, 2020, 08:44:22 AM
You're not kidding! I usually watch until the bitter end. I watched the first 30 mins of this, thought 'why am I wasting my life with this' and don't regret switching it off for one moment.

I really don't blame you.  I'm not upset that I watched it start to end, but I can see why someone wouldn't want to and I can't say it gets better towards the end.  It doesn't.  It gets worse.  Although the bit before the credits was sweet it's not worth sitting through the nonsense that was Chronicon (a.k.a the third act.. I think... this film was bad).

Quote
Krampus - first time of watching it. Creature design great. Some good moments. Quite liked the ending. Otherwise it was all a bit 'meh'.

I had this film sold to me on the basis that the guy who made Trick 'r Treat (of which the association with Bryan Singer I just found out about makes that film a bit icky) made Krampus and I was expecting more than what I got.  It was a let down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 23 December, 2020, 10:19:12 AM
Ignoring anything Christmasy, instead over the last few weeks we've been tearing through some old DVDs here.

We started of with Pirates of the Caribbean which I remember really enjoying in the cinema (sequels not so much). On a rewatch it's really not that good - there's some striking sequences with the undead pirates and it looks really good, but it's really carried by Depp and Geoffrey Rush and if you take them out the rest of the film is pretty weak. Furthermore if you've started to find Depp's pirate schtick tiresome then it's basically Barbosa or nothing.

Production levels drastically dropped after that as we watched Death Machine, a terrible film on many levels but one of the best B-movies of all time imo. I haven't seen this one for well over a decade and I'd forgotten how self-knowing it was with the character names referencing other sci-fi greats and little touches that almost veer it into satire territory. The special effects are bad but still hold up, but it's all about Brad Dourif who at his absolute lunatic-playing best here.

Followed that up with Bitch Slap. Objectively bad on a great many levels but when you realise it's supposed to be a terrible homage to old Russ Meyer stuff it sort of clicks: the problem with a homage to a bad genre is that your homage will of course also be bad, and on a rewatch this was both better and worse than I remembered: I like the all the greenscreen stuff but the script is pretty dire and sometimes it veers into a film for the Nuts / Loaded generation. America Olivo is great and if you like overacting sweary women punching each other.

Most recently Battle Beyond The Stars which I'd expect all here to be familair with. For a Roger Corman rip-off movie I think this film is still really watchable - most of the Starship designs are lovely and the quirky characters make it for me. Sybil Danning of course is the best thing ever but I love Nestor eating his hot dog and Cowboy's drink-dispensing belt. Is the score the same one from Krull?

We also squeezed in Men of War after the passing of poor old Tiny Lister. My favourite Dolph film of all time - it looks lush, surprisingly smart plot (admist a lot of macho nonsense of course) Dolph himself is pretty charismatic and some suprb character work from the likes of Tim Guiness, Don Harvey and especially BD Wong - plus in incomparable Trevor Goddard playing an over the top villain. Love this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2020, 12:31:19 PM
Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 12:52:33 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2020, 12:31:19 PM
...the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

Do, please!  Sorely tempted, even knowing I've nothing worth playing them on!


Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 23 December, 2020, 08:44:22 AM

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 December, 2020, 04:23:02 PM
Elf. Remains enormously good.

It is stupidly charming. Whatsisface's best role, not that I'm a fan particularly. Zoey Deschanelle is just gorgeous in a winsome way. Lovely singing voice. Great message throughout the film - don't be a grumpy conniving dickhead, basically.

The thing that always wins me over is Mary Steenbergen's character's reaction to finding out her already-distsnt husband has an adult son - it just runs so completely against comedy expectations: pure acceptance and support, instantly, with none of the usual strife and/or farce. In the same vein, the quiet time given to Caan wistfully remembering Buddy's mother, without recourse to flashbacks. Those two scenes just anchor the film in a good-hearted reality that somehow allows Buddy's anarchic fantasy world to slot right in.

Favreau's no slouch when it comes to the heartstrings, although a bit of racial diversity might have been nice in a film set in NYC.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 23 December, 2020, 01:44:48 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 23 December, 2020, 10:19:12 AMWe started of with Pirates of the Caribbean which I remember really enjoying in the cinema (sequels not so much). On a rewatch it's really not that good - there's some striking sequences with the undead pirates and it looks really good, but it's really carried by Depp and Geoffrey Rush and if you take them out the rest of the film is pretty weak. Furthermore if you've started to find Depp's pirate schtick tiresome then it's basically Barbosa or nothing.
If you take out the good bits, it's...less good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 23 December, 2020, 02:07:48 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2020, 12:31:19 PM
Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

Mrs X is giving these to me for Christmas. I know, 'cos I bought them and handed them to her.

I can't wait to watch them, over the next month or so I guess!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 December, 2020, 07:33:00 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2020, 12:31:19 PM
Having gazed in horror upon the Christmas TV schedules, it looks like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day evenings will see a stoked-up woodburner, a decent bottle of red, and the deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy. Will report back after viewing... :-)

I could tell you some grim things about those wood burners, but I will save it until after Xmas, so enjoy! I too have a 4K to watch - the remaster of Akira! I expect I'll have to watch that one on my own though, as anime of any kind bores my partner senseless. As does most sci-fi except Star Wars.

Anyway, Xmas films for us will most definitely include The Empire Strikes Back or Jedi. We always watch Die Hard too. It is not Xmas until someone says "I've got a bad feeling about this" or "Now I have a machine gun - Ho Ho Ho."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 23 December, 2020, 09:03:20 PM
Since we dont have a "things I've managed to find that are worth watching this xmas"/ "it's not like it was when I were a lad" thread, I guess here is as good a place as any.

Netflix have Midnight Sky- based on a novel i read fairly recently that i unexpectedly *quite* enjoyed, so i will be watching that sometime over the next couple of days.

And since my wife is a massive Tim Burton fan who has never seen Ed Wood, i imagine we will find time for that too.

On the actual tv, it goes as far as the new Worzel Gummidge tomorrow, and that's it.

And on topic here, I did catch the John Wick trilogy recently... loved the first one unreservedly, but thought 2 and 3 were unnecessary and, by the time the third one came round, shonky and dull, just about holding my interest til the end, but it was a close run thing.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 09:05:58 PM
Galaxy Quest. Still unreasonably enjoyable. Cast is just superb, and somehow that includes frequently objectionable human Tim Allen, although Rickman and Rockwell are predictably the standouts. Solid effects effects work too, not least whatever practical magic holds Sigourney's tattered costume together. I think its at-the-time dated view of TV SF (this was after DS9, Bab5, Farscape and even Futurama) has given it a timelessness, but there's definitely some strange alchemy at play when you start genuinely rooting for the good guys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 December, 2020, 10:52:56 PM
The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.  It does manage to be somewhat thought-provoking, but mostly in the "how did they get this so wrong" bucket.

The end credits scene could be used in film schools to teach people how not to movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 December, 2020, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 23 December, 2020, 09:03:20 PM
Since we dont have a "things I've managed to find that are worth watching this xmas"/ "it's not like it was when I were a lad" thread, I guess here is as good a place as any.

Did anyone else ever used to get the double-size Radio Times (for BBC1 & BBC2) and TV Times (for ITV) only at Christmas, and the whole family would circle their must-sees - cue violent arguments and negotiations with my brothers over any overlaps.

Quote from: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 09:05:58 PM
Galaxy Quest. Still unreasonably enjoyable.

Me too (because Netflix told me to) and it is still very good, Rickman in particular.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 10:59:32 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 December, 2020, 10:52:56 PM
The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.

Think you've just saved me a wasted movie slot, I was lining it up for tomorrow on the basis of platonic Clooney love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 December, 2020, 11:19:25 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 December, 2020, 10:58:22 PM
Did anyone else ever used to get the double-size Radio Times (for BBC1 & BBC2) and TV Times (for ITV) only at Christmas, and the whole family would circle their must-sees - cue violent arguments and negotiations with my brothers over any overlaps.

Oh, yes - made much simpler after my siblings "left home"* and I got to schedule the entire two weeks.

*That's the code I use instead of admitting that I murdered them and buried them in the garden due to an argument over Tiswas vs. Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.


Quote from: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 10:59:32 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 December, 2020, 10:52:56 PM
The Midnight Sky - turgid, maudlin, disjointed, soulless and too reliant on slow piano tinkling in a vain attempt to provide emotional heft.

Think you've just saved me a wasted movie slot, I was lining it up for tomorrow on the basis of platonic Clooney love.

Well, Clooney is great - but was clearly too busy acting to do a good job of directing. Shame: nobody sets out to make a turkey (unless they're the special effects department for a Mr. Bean seasonal special).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 December, 2020, 11:54:30 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 December, 2020, 10:58:22 PM
Did anyone else ever used to get the double-size Radio Times (for BBC1 & BBC2) and TV Times (for ITV) only at Christmas, and the whole family would circle their must-sees - cue violent arguments and negotiations with my brothers over any overlaps.

No.  That was the expensive option for posh people.  We had a TV guide that came with a newspaper.  I also don't remember any real arguments because I'm the youngest of six and lost all arguments of the like by virtue of being the youngest of six.  We generally looked to see what films we could record off the TV, because recording them off the TV was cheaper than buying them from the shops (especially if you record on long play).  Of course I could only record things no one else wanted to.

Now I'm going to bang my head on the wall until I forget my childhood again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 December, 2020, 12:05:26 AM
This was before newspapers were allowed to print TV guides and "recording" was something you'd only seen on Tomorrow's World. We only ever got the local evening paper (and comics, thank God), never a daily (why bother - that stuff was on the telly for free anyway), but when those those two magazines came on sale, it was officially Christmas (this was also when people decorated their houses a week before Christmas, not in fucking November)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 December, 2020, 08:51:58 AM
Yeah, us too. Radio Times in our house which embedded a prejudice against ITV that I still carry today. I know BBC puts out as much celebrity shit as the commercial channels but it just seems classier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2020, 10:40:31 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 December, 2020, 08:51:58 AM
I know BBC puts out as much celebrity shit as the commercial channels but it just seems classier.

I don't know how you can say that, when ITV is offering us a festive edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire featuring those stellar talents and living embodiments of classiness: Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 December, 2020, 11:55:02 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 December, 2020, 12:05:26 AM
This was before newspapers were allowed to print TV guides and "recording" was something you'd only seen on Tomorrow's World. We only ever got the local evening paper (and comics, thank God), never a daily (why bother - that stuff was on the telly for free anyway), but when those those two magazines came on sale, it was officially Christmas (this was also when people decorated their houses a week before Christmas, not in fucking November)

Thank you for making me feel young(er)  :D

I looked it up and listings in newspapers started when I was eight.  I double checked with my Mum and before TV guides in newspapers we didn't have a guide.  I'd say that we got a VCR around the time the TV listings were in newspapers because I remember the first thing I ever recorded and that I saw it in the guide (it was Annie).  I guess we just enjoyed our presents before then and had whatever on the TV like the rest of the year.

I also remember a period of time with the Argos and Index books and making list of toys I'd like that I knew I'd never get.  A very special kind of Christmas masochism.

I still decorate our house a week before Christmas.  To be fair, I do hate putting the crap up so I put it off for as long as possible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 24 December, 2020, 12:20:34 PM
Quote
I also remember a period of time with the Argos and Index books and making list of toys I'd like that I knew I'd never get.  A very special kind of Christmas masochism.

Yes! We had something similar in Edinburgh in the 70s/early 80s, a pay-it-off-over-a-year catalogue, in which I always circled the AT-AT. Never got it. Hardly surprising - it cost £30 in those days, which was like a gazillion dollars or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 24 December, 2020, 12:39:37 PM
TBH my memories of telly growing up are quite weird.  Earliest memories are of Iranian television which ran Star Trek alongside a slightly out of sync BBC World Service English translation.  We had one at Northwood in the late seventies when Dad wanted to watch either the Olympics or Commonwealth Games.  Gave us the chance to see Blakes 7 and Bakers Doctor Who along with re-runs of Space 1999 (heady days!).

We had a little b&w portable out in Germany that only picked up the American Armed Forces Network.  On the plus side it meant a chance to see some of the US stuff that rarely got to the UK.  For some reason Dad had trained as a projectionist and he was responsible for the films in the Brit club in our block of flats, along with picking the films too!

I think the weirdest recollection though has to be the regional variations that could result in some interesting experiments with aerials.  If you lived in the right place and angled your aerial right you could sometimes pick up signals from other ITV regions.  So some of the programming variations could result in a lot of twisting and flexing of coat hanger aerials!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 December, 2020, 12:56:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 December, 2020, 12:05:26 AM
This was before newspapers were allowed to print TV guides and "recording" was something you'd only seen on Tomorrow's World. We only ever got the local evening paper (and comics, thank God), never a daily (why bother - that stuff was on the telly for free anyway), but when those those two magazines came on sale, it was officially Christmas (this was also when people decorated their houses a week before Christmas, not in fucking November)
I think we may have lived on the same street. ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2020, 07:13:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 December, 2020, 12:52:33 PM

Do, please!  Sorely tempted, even knowing I've nothing worth playing them on!

Hah. Turns out I stupidly assumed my less-than-a-year-old Blu-ray player would play these fucking things. Turns out that this particular model is actually five years old and is having none of it. Looks like it's Mrs Brown's Boys for us tomorrow... :-(


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 December, 2020, 07:34:21 PM
Dear god no, have they found your cyanide capsules?

First cinema trip since who knows when for us (could have been Jumanji 3?), Nightmare Before Christmas at the drive-in, superb views of sunset over the Dublin Mtns, good bright screen and lots of chat and messing. Plenty of detail I'd missed on the small screen, so very much worth the trip.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 25 December, 2020, 02:59:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 December, 2020, 10:05:18 PMIron Sky. Again.

Every time I watch this film (this is about the third or fourth time) I love it a little bit more. It really takes me on a ride, just getting madder and madder as it goes - which is a neat trick when you start with Moon Nazis. It really is a little masterpiece, I think, with some genuine laugh-out loud moments. I'll be chuckling at the scene where "President Palin" demands to know  will have me chuckling for days.


I remember seeing that at the cinema - midnight showing (presumably a premier) and it happened that one of the others present was from Finland.  They thought it was hilarious :)

QuoteIt almost goes too far in so many places and in so many ways but always pulls back just in time. And, after loving the ride, I love the last message it leaves me with - that we gotta' find a better way.

Great little film. Love it.


You certainly know what you're getting from the trailer and it doesn't disappoint!  I found the sequel wasn't so great, but still good in places (really should re-watch at some point).  Starts off with a character who you suspect is based on a real person.  Then said character takes their top off (they're male) and starts doing cossack dancing, which kind of confirms it...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 December, 2020, 12:23:49 AM
So, hastily casting around for things to watch last night after the LotR plan went out of the window... we thought we could go a dumb action movie, and Prime has been pushing Olympus Has Fallen so we figured what the hell...?

Yeah. No. Turned that shit off after thirty minutes. Watched Die Hard instead, which we've probably not seen in a decade and is, I believe, as close to the platonic ideal of an action movie as anyone has ever made.

Tonight, we watched Pixar's Soul, which is fantastic, and Wonder Woman '84 which, sadly, isn't — it's a shapeless, overlong mess of a movie that decent turns by Pascal and Wiig in support of Gadot and Pine (who are excellent again) can't rescue.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2020, 01:35:40 PM
INCEPTION
I love it; it's gripping from beginning to end. I know the faults so you won't convince me otherwise. Dunno if I'd just forgotten or not noticed before the idea of Mal's childhood trauma (assuming some form of abuse)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 26 December, 2020, 09:34:07 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2020, 01:35:40 PM
INCEPTION
I love it; it's gripping from beginning to end. I know the faults so you won't convince me otherwise. Dunno if I'd just forgotten or not noticed before the idea of Mal's childhood trauma (assuming some form of abuse)
Is the top still spinning?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2020, 10:14:13 PM
 It's not his totem so doesn't matter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 12:09:57 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2020, 12:31:19 PMthe deployment of my shiny new 4K HD ultra-super-duper versions of the LotR trilogy.

So, I actually bought a new Blu-ray player for this Lord of the Rings 4K HD box set, and we watched 'Fellowship' (Extended) tonight.

A couple of things first, though:

1) We do not have a massive telly. I treated us to a decent-ish 43" LG in the summer with some of the money I wasn't spending in the pub. I'm really not an A/V nerd.

2) Following on from 1), I discovered I'm not really a fan of 4K TV. Turns out, I like film grain, I like motion blur. With 4K, far too much stuff looks sterile or just fake — sets look like sets, costumes look like costumes. I'm sticking with it because I have to, but I'm not really liking it that much.

With that out of the way...

OH MY FUCKING GOD. I imagine this 4K HD Super-duper treatment won't favour many films the way it favours LotR, with its *insane* levels of attention to detail, but in this case it plays like a new movie. 'Nothing' shots that you glossed right over suddenly leap out at you. Establishing shots you never gave a second thought look like paintings by the Old Masters. Details emerge from the shadows in almost every scene and everything feels fresh again.

Also, although I haven't gone back to do a side-by-side comparison, I've seen these movies A LOT — I mean, three times in the cinema, theatrical release DVD, extended edition DVD, now this. And it seems to me like they've fixed some FX shots — there are several composite shots that I've thought were pretty shonky since Day One, that seem to have been fixed. Don't get me wrong — it's all the same FX, but there were several composited group shots that seem to have been tweaked. I'm not techy on this stuff, but the film's been extensively regraded for colour, I believe, so I wonder if they've done a localised colour tweak to better bring the composite elements into the environment. Whatever, there are several FX shots that I remember looking like shit that now seem look a lot better.

Also, also: audio. There are several lines in the extended cut of Fellowship that I've always thought were indistinct, which are now not. Specific example: Gandalf's line in Moria about Bilbo's mithril shirt being worth "more than the value of the Shire" has *definitely* been fixed.

So... honestly? Probably worth the £200 I dropped on a new Blu-ray player. For my wife. Obviously.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 December, 2020, 09:42:29 AM
Shaun The Sheep Movie

Watched this on Christmas Day.  Shaun the Sheep is great fun and this movie captures a lot of that.  It likes its gags and pulls them off really well.  It is also brave enough to have no dialogue.  The film is really sweet as well.  It was a great choice for Christmas.

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon

In some ways more like the TV show, in other ways more like a traditional movie.  I don't think this is as good as the first film and I think that's because it lacks the gags and has aliens.  It was a lot more sweet and very cute.  I still had fun and thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

Game Change  I don't know whether this counts as I haven't finished watching it.  This one is about Sarah Palin and I had heard it allowed the viewer sympathy for her, but I just didn't feel it.  The film was hard for me to watch because it was about awful people and I couldn't engage with it.  I was hoping that it would at least be funny, considering the subject matter, but it's not.

It is exceptionally well acted by Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson is a delight like he always is.  It is a well made film and what I saw was very good.  I'm just not keen on watching the lives of... unpleasant people... at the moment.

Nekrotronic  This is an Australian action film about ghosts with sci-fi elements.  It is very mediocre.  I struggle to find any reason to recommend watching it, probably because there isn't one.  It feels like a film made with a checklist and it reeks of a desperation to be cool and funny that just serves to highlight the lack of quality.  That being said, to a degree it is competently made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2020, 11:38:00 AM
I rewatched THE RISE OF SKYWALKER as part of a family zoom...thing that I'm just glad I was able to mute.

Don't rewatch THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Don't make the same mistake I did, it's worse than we remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 December, 2020, 01:00:56 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2020, 11:38:00 AM
I rewatched THE RISE OF SKYWALKER as part of a family zoom...thing that I'm just glad I was able to mute.

Don't rewatch THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Don't make the same mistake I did, it's worse than we remembered.

Oh now you've made me want to rewatch Rise of Skywalker. Bought the DVD when it first came out and we still haven't watched it again!?!

Now I'm curious as to how bad it can be?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 December, 2020, 01:45:58 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2020, 11:38:00 AM
I rewatched THE RISE OF SKYWALKER as part of a family zoom...thing that I'm just glad I was able to mute.

Don't rewatch THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Don't make the same mistake I did, it's worse than we remembered.

Haven't watched it, so can't rewatch it.  Should I not watch it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 02:43:22 PM
Netflix original The Midnight Sky - is it bad if you guess a twist five minutes into a movie, even though you're going in cold and don't know there's a twist?  If so, maybe give this a go anyway, as it's an interesting failure if nothing else, with its built-bummer ending (a terminally-ill main character experiencing a global apocalypse) that is pretty much inescapable, even when some of the plot gets a bit too stupid to keep the movie functioning ([spoiler]said character gets dunked in Arctic waters for several minutes, then walks around a frozen wasteland for several hours during a blizzard[/spoiler]) and you get a creeping suspicion that the writing might actually be bad enough to try for a happy ending.  AND NO-ONE WANTS THAT.
What really tanks it is the two concurrent plot strands, as just as the Earth-bound plot breaks in half, we have to go spend time with some dull spacemen until their plot breaks in half, too ([spoiler]they expend all their resources - including over half their crew - getting to Earth from Saturn, then decide to turn around and go back to Saturn -[/spoiler] you can sort of spot the basic math problem with this scenario).

Despite all that (and some other concerns), I enjoyed it, and would recommend sci-fi lovers give it a go.  If nothing else, it's got George Clooney with a lockdown beard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 December, 2020, 02:54:28 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 02:43:22 PM
...is it bad if you guess a twist five minutes into a movie, even though you're going in cold and don't know there's a twist?

IMO No.  I watched a film and got the the twist on right at the start on the titles.  I think it was intentional, but as a thing for a second viewing.  It was done well, though and the film was enjoyable.  I think that's the issue, because a twist executed badly or even telegraphed badly can count against the film, but figuring out a twist in-and-of itself shouldn't.

You not-so-glowing recommendation has me curious.  I have been known to enjoy some bad sci-fi films.  I might give it a look :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 December, 2020, 01:45:58 PM
Haven't watched it, so can't rewatch it.  Should I not watch it?

Honestly, it's fucking terrible. It makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight. It looks great, and the cast are fine, but unless you're really quite drunk, or treating it as a series of largely unconnected three-minute mini-plays, you'll spend 142 minutes going "Wait... WHAT?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 28 December, 2020, 04:13:03 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2020, 11:38:00 AM
I rewatched THE RISE OF SKYWALKER as part of a family zoom...thing that I'm just glad I was able to mute.

Don't rewatch THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Don't make the same mistake I did, it's worse than we remembered.
Since I have no intention of ever subscribing to Disney+ there's a more than even chance I'll never see RoS.

I wonder if Alan Dean's Foster might have improved it?
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/star-wars-novelist-alan-dean-foster-episode-ix-treatment-retcon-the-last-jedi-terrible-film/?fbclid=IwAR3nZRQ6BIWah8KEh1xjAKZRnRBSyaq_fatwYMUO2juSL0VyDkKmqAubUk0 (https://comicbook.com/movies/news/star-wars-novelist-alan-dean-foster-episode-ix-treatment-retcon-the-last-jedi-terrible-film/?fbclid=IwAR3nZRQ6BIWah8KEh1xjAKZRnRBSyaq_fatwYMUO2juSL0VyDkKmqAubUk0)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 04:28:40 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PMIt makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight.

JJA has very definite opinions about the attention span of his audience.  I still remember how the opening shot of his Star Trek reboot is a spaceship flying through space making spaceship noises, and then a minute later another spaceship is shooting very loud space lasers, while many loud space explosions happen.  Then someone falls out of a door or something into space, which is deathly silent because there is no noise in space.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 28 December, 2020, 04:46:56 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 28 December, 2020, 04:13:03 PM
I wonder if Alan Dean's Foster might have improved it?

I read his treatment, it's worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 December, 2020, 04:55:28 PM
re. The Rise of Skywalker - I had to look up which one that was, because even though the original trilogy is laser-grafted onto my brain in script-regurgitating accuracy, I can't really track all the new parts of the monstrous cyborgian cash cow it's become. And I'm older, and care less.

It was a fairly pants movie, but I noticed two things:

1. 7-year old mini-Solo got hit by the wow factor when [spoiler]a ka-zillion Rebel ships showed up to save the day[/spoiler]. I thought it over-egged the cake. This reminded me that the pod race in The Phantom Menace was the most exciting thing in the universe for my young nephew at the time, while it made me yawn, think of commercial tie-ins and want the moppet to die. (Not my nephew - Anakin.) Summary: these movies are not made for our generation, so I don't really know if they're good or not.

2. The ads before the movie were too frightening for 7-year old mini-Solo, because all of them featured almost constant gun-play and bloody, merciless violence. It was a PG-13, so maybe I should have considered that, but there's a difference between an evil space wizard and magic swords, and Ryan Reynolds getting beaten to a bloody pulp in a hyper-violent main street fantasy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2m-08cOAbc).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 28 December, 2020, 05:35:26 PM
The more I think about the new trilogy films the less impressed I find myself.  There is just so much that really does not make sense.  The middle film is the most peculiar one, right from the word go.  Don't get me wrong, the space bombers are impressively designed but they just don't make sense.

First off, they move incredibly slowly.  Why?  It just makes them so much easier to hit (which strangely is what happens!)  Then .... they 'drop' bombs ... in space ...  Seriously?  Who came up with that idea?  Could we explain the gaping flaw here?  I mean, when it comes to space 'suspension of disbelief' takes on a whole new meaning here.  Not to mention the old ... they fall really slowly ... easy to hit ... problem.

Then the whole of the rebellion fits in a single spaceship.  Sorry .... try that again .... the 'whole' of the rebellion?  They're chased by a massive armada but now they're down to this single ship ... okay?

Don't get me wrong, Star Wars is supposed to be about as realistic as a promise by Alexander Johnson.  I get that.  But at the same time I really have to wonder if the people in the script pitching meeting were even listening to themselves speak, never mind each other.  More to the point, if that is the sort of lame thinking that qualifies for international cinema script-writing these days then I've got a remedial English class that could do with some work ... (actually reading that last bit back I realise how insulting that is to those English students).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 December, 2020, 05:52:59 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 28 December, 2020, 05:35:26 PM
.... they 'drop' bombs ... in space ...

This was where my own willing suspension of disbelief struggled. I've had people argue back to me all sorts of reasons why that makes sense (somehow), but none of it rang true. It was just stupid. The first movie (I mean from 1977) had more of a sense of us being in a three dimensional space, with the sphere of the Death Star, and the fighters twisting and turning. The trench is used to provide a sense of up and down.

It's interesting, because I'm entirely able to forgive all sorts of other bits of space logic - like magic gravity on board ships, and nearly all alien life being bipedal and carbon-based, and everyone speaking English, and sound traveling through a vacuum, and the engines always being at the back, and FTL travel not breaking causality, and humans being in charge of controlling the space ships when a computer would be more efficient for nearly every task you can imagine etc.

But, yeah, space bombers are a stupid idea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 28 December, 2020, 06:18:54 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 04:28:40 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PMIt makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight.

JJA has very definite opinions about the attention span of his audience.  I still remember how the opening shot of his Star Trek reboot is a spaceship flying through space making spaceship noises, and then a minute later another spaceship is shooting very loud space lasers, while many loud space explosions happen.  Then someone falls out of a door or something into space, which is deathly silent because there is no noise in space.
This tired old thing? Cinema plays with reality at every turn, yet somehow it's wrong when sci-fi does it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 28 December, 2020, 06:38:59 PM
I enjoy the recent trilogy for the spectacle it is--much as how I enjoyed the prequels for the same reason. This will carry me for a few watches before I lose interest. Much as I love the three-way light-sabre duel in Phantom Menace, Maul still gets punked by Obi-Wan at the end, and I can listen to Duel of the Fates any time I want...thus, I haven't watched the film in years. I suspect the same thing will happen with the latest three, especially since the series' narrative choices rubbed the shine off whatever excellent goodwill TFA earned with me.

In the end that's what grinds my gears. To have embarked on these films with no plan, no three-act structure, no metaplot under which any number of top-tier directors would have happily gone to work...it's inexplicable and, to my mind, unforgivable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 06:57:30 PM
For me, there was no going back for The Last Jedi after Leia Poppins.

Quote from: wedgeski on 28 December, 2020, 06:18:54 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 04:28:40 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PMIt makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight.

JJA has very definite opinions about the attention span of his audience.  I still remember how the opening shot of his Star Trek reboot is a spaceship flying through space making spaceship noises, and then a minute later another spaceship is shooting very loud space lasers, while many loud space explosions happen.  Then someone falls out of a door or something into space, which is deathly silent because there is no noise in space.
This tired old thing? Cinema plays with reality at every turn, yet somehow it's wrong when sci-fi does it.

The point, of course, was not about the representation of reality that a director chooses to utilise, but that he contradicts what he has already portrayed onscreen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 December, 2020, 07:42:34 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 06:57:30 PM
For me, there was no going back for The Last Jedi after Leia Poppins.

Quote from: wedgeski on 28 December, 2020, 06:18:54 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 04:28:40 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PMIt makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight.

JJA has very definite opinions about the attention span of his audience.  I still remember how the opening shot of his Star Trek reboot is a spaceship flying through space making spaceship noises, and then a minute later another spaceship is shooting very loud space lasers, while many loud space explosions happen.  Then someone falls out of a door or something into space, which is deathly silent because there is no noise in space.
This tired old thing? Cinema plays with reality at every turn, yet somehow it's wrong when sci-fi does it.

The point, of course, was not about the representation of reality that a director chooses to utilise, but that he contradicts what he has already portrayed onscreen.

JJ Apologists might try to claim that the pew pew lazer sounds were non-diagetic. Worse than that was the whole Beastie Boys bit. They reference Star Trek a few times in their lyrics, so how does that square up? Is Adam Yauch precognitive or a time traveller? In this universe did the Beastie Boys not release their arguably most successful single, Intergalactic? It's been a while since I watched Star Trek Beyond, but didn't they just need to broadcast an FM radio signal and the Beastie Boys was all they could broadcast for reasons? With all their tech they couldn't broadcast a simple tone? Or get Spock to scream into a microphone, while having one of the temper tantrums that JJ seems to think are appropriate for the character? Or would that just be silly?

As for Star Wars, I joke that the prequels never happened, but now I have to actively try to forget the Sequels if I want to enjoy the Originals. Palpitine still being alive completely undermines Anakin rejecting  the dark side and casting down his manipulator* to save his son. Luke casting aside his lightsabre and refusing to give in to anger was pointless, since he was manipulated to contemplate murdering his teenage nephew in his sleep. The 1983 movie needs to be renamed The Cameo of a Dubious Jedi

*bUt yOu NeVEr sEe hIs bODy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 December, 2020, 08:08:24 PM
JJA has always sucked and I'm glad more people are waking up to his bullshit.

That said, there is always chance for redemption.  Eli Roth directed a film I really enjoyed!  There's hope for anyone.

Except Zack Snyder, he's a waste of skin.

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 03:10:57 PM
Honestly, it's fucking terrible. It makes no sense, not only disregarding established continuity but also not even being able to keep its own internal narrative rules straight. It looks great, and the cast are fine, but unless you're really quite drunk, or treating it as a series of largely unconnected three-minute mini-plays, you'll spend 142 minutes going "Wait... WHAT?"

Well, I remember it being panned almost universally when it came out and decided that I really didn't care enough.  Thanks for solidifying it for me.  I'll put it on my will-never-watch list under the listing pointless waste of time.

I don't really care that the new Star Wars trilogy was largely crap.  Star Wars has been over-hyped for decades now.  Maybe it will temper the praise I don't see it having earned.  As far as I can tell there have been some very well made spinoffs for the franchise recently.  I don't think I need to watch bad films and I don't need Star Wars to complete my life.  That's what comics are for.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 December, 2020, 04:55:28 PM
...Ryan Reynolds getting beaten to a bloody pulp in a hyper-violent main street fantasy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2m-08cOAbc).

A Ryan Reynolds vehicle were he does his Ryan Reynolds thing?  Count me on board.  I've even watched R.I.P.D.  Twice.  I'll probably watch it again, sometime.  Jeff Bridges is fun in it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 December, 2020, 09:14:12 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 28 December, 2020, 07:42:34 PM
JJ Apologists might try to claim that the pew pew lazer sounds were non-diagetic.

I just assumed he copied the low-noise space bits from Battlestar Galactica and knew that his audience wouldn't remember as far back as three minutes ago on account of having been on their phone since then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 December, 2020, 11:13:00 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 28 December, 2020, 07:42:34 PM
Worse than that was the whole Beastie Boys bit. They reference Star Trek a few times in their lyrics, so how does that square up? Is Adam Yauch precognitive or a time traveller? In this universe did the Beastie Boys not release their arguably most successful single, Intergalactic?

A noted before in these halls, it's clear that at least one of the Adams was on that LA bus with Kirk and Spock in 1986, overheard their conversation, extrapolated from and incorporated it into the Beastie's later work. More generally, Star Trek is full of things that shouldn't or wouldn't exist without Star Trek, this is hardly a first (the name of the test-model shuttle Enterprise, for just one example).

As to the specific use of Sabotage in ST:Beyond, it was the track that young Kirk listened to as he drove another vintage jalopy, hence his approval, and it was the specific character of "beats and shouting" that disrupted swarm communications, not just the signal.

For my money ST:Beyond, while tenuously strung-together nonsense, is the only one of the reboot movies that feels like Star Trek, so I'm prepared to extend it all kinds of leeway.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 December, 2020, 11:18:48 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 December, 2020, 11:13:00 PM
For my money ST:Beyond, while tenuously strung-together nonsense, is the only one of the reboot movies that feels like Star Trek, so I'm prepared to extend it all kinds of leeway.

Agree. My favourite of the three, by some margin if I'm honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 December, 2020, 02:43:49 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 December, 2020, 11:13:00 PM
...it was the specific character of "beats and shouting" that disrupted swarm communications, not just the signal.

Like I said "reasons". If it was that specific, I would suggest that Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' to fuck with. "Wu-Tang killer bees, we are the swarm", would have been nicely thematic. Maybe the fast and furious guy* who directed it had Hip-Hop knowledge just as deep as his Star Trek knowledge.

Quote from: TordelBack on 28 December, 2020, 11:13:00 PM
For my money ST:Beyond, while tenuously strung-together nonsense, is the only one of the reboot movies that feels like Star Trek, so I'm prepared to extend it all kinds of leeway.

Yes, I agree it is the best of the reboots...

*Could be wrong about that, don't care to check
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 December, 2020, 09:25:41 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 29 December, 2020, 02:43:49 AM
*Could be wrong about that, don't care to check

Justin Lin directed Fast and Furious movies 3-6 and is set to return for 9 and 10.

If Star Trek Beyond is anything like the FaF films he worked on then it is fun but very stupid.  I haven't seen Beyond, but frequently had it recommended... by people who know I hate the reboot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 29 December, 2020, 05:11:52 PM
Had a bad day of film watching yesterday.

Dawn of the Dead (1978).  Oddly I'd never watched it before.  Didn't like it at all.  The problem was the horrible editing (it was the director's cut) and the utterly laughable zombies.

I was bored and irritated which is never good when watching a film.

Wonder Woman 84.  Dull, too long, badly written, Gal Gadot isn't an actress, enormous plot holes and the lamest bad guy from a super hero film ever.  Roughly as bad as the other Wonder Woman film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 12:25:40 AM
I watched Wonder Woman 1984, and I could follow it okay despite not seeing the previous one thousand nine hundred and eighty-three films.  The problem with this joke of course is that if you've watched all the DCU movies before this one, it does actually feel like there's been that many (and there might soon be that many if Zack Snyder insists on taking his revenge on the world by remaking them all), and this one drags a lot, too.
It was only when the action scenes - in which Wonder Woman is Spider-Man now for some reason - started that I realised there were no musical numbers, because this thing is like a Bollywood superhero movie more than anything else I've seen in years.  Just not in a good way.
I guess if it had the musical numbers I might have liked it more, if only because I would know that it knew how stupid it was, but there's some troubling subtext in here about that is never quite unpacked and ratified with the supposedly compassionate and warm person at the center of the story, such as how exactly does this person lecture anyone when her mission is exporting Themyscira's philosophy of an isolationist, martial society which ritualises violence, seems to have drafted its entire population into its military, and which teaches its children that they must fear the Other outside their walls who are perpetually warlike and would be pitiable if not for how dangerous and lesser they are?  "The enemy is both weak and strong" - I mean, come on now.
We keep hearing about compassion from Diana, but it's just words, which is a shame because I actually quite liked the idea of ending one of these seemingly endless superhero films on something other than a giant space machine menacing the world and having to be dropped on the baddie's head, but there's a character in this movie who seems like they really should have been the one talking the baddie down off the ledge (his son) rather than Diana, a demigod who is already fully-formed as a character when the film starts and thus has no real need to grow from her experiences.  Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of a hero as a film's moral compass, too, but there's that small matter of The Fascism that never gets addressed before the hero shows up dressed head to toe in glittering gold like something out of an Aryan wet dream.  I will also never forgive the makers for having her show up with giant stupid wings yet never find a pretext for the actor to utter the words "Gordon's Alive".  For fuck's sake, this is basic cinema.
Anyway, did I actually like it?  The first half is okay, if very low-key silly and not much to do with Wonder Woman, but the second half is more openly dumb, concerning an orbital death ray laser that shoots wishes and is powered by the Mandolorian in a Quantum Leap Accelerator, and I do love me some orbital death ray action - the final act of Die Another Day was the best part - so I did like the willful stupidity of it all, but all told, it felt like a lesser movie than the previous Wonder Woman outing.
A perfectly passable superhero film, but unremarkable and entirely forgettable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 30 December, 2020, 12:43:41 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 12:25:40 AM
  I will also never forgive the makers for having her show up with giant stupid wings yet never find a pretext for the actor to utter the words "Gordon's Alive".  For fuck's sake, this is basic cinema.
:o That's in the Hollywood Primer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 30 December, 2020, 01:10:58 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 12:25:40 AM
... there's some troubling subtext in here about that is never quite unpacked and ratified with the supposedly compassionate and warm person at the center of the story, such as how exactly does this person lecture anyone when her mission is exporting Themyscira's philosophy of an isolationist, martial society which ritualises violence, seems to have drafted its entire population into its military, and which teaches its children that they must fear the Other outside their walls who are perpetually warlike and would be pitiable if not for how dangerous and lesser they are?  "The enemy is both weak and strong" - I mean, come on now.

You mad!!! An actor doesn't get a Producer credit just so's someone can piss on their parade.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 30 December, 2020, 05:55:32 AM
Watch the latest Wonder Woman in the theatres and I was extremely disappointed in the movie. The main plot was just underwhelming and just not interesting enough to keep me wanting more. It is not that it was a bad movie it just could not get into the villains of the movie. After he first movie I was really looking forward to this, but I do not think it is a worthwhile venture trying to watch this is the movies. If you have HBO Max rather watch it via that media.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 December, 2020, 10:04:17 AM
I've got a friend that has started pestering me to see the new Wonder Woman to see what I think of it.  I'm guessing there is a suspicion I won't like it.  I don't think the first one was especially good.  I'm really tired of the Superhero thing now.  I'm not keen on watching anything Superhero related.

Dellamorte Dellamore a.k.a Cemetery Man

Wow.  This film is nuts!  The film is definitely about death and love.  Every moment when I think I've got a handle on where the film is going, it pulls the rug from under me.  It's a lot of fun and has no plot.  I don't think it even has a narrative.  It just happens.  Seems quite fitting considering its themes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 December, 2020, 10:30:19 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 12:25:40 AM
there's some troubling subtext in here

Not to mention Diana's apparent lack of concern that [spoiler]her dead boyfriend's spirit/whatever has over-written the personality of a living human being whose life has simply been... stopped. She actively acknowledges that this is the body of someone else but "only sees" Steve Trevor. Well, to hell with that poor schlub and whatever life he was having previously — Steve and Diana are quite happy to use his body as a proxy fuck toy. Diana's moral dilemma, her supposedly noble sacrifice, is to reluctantly give another human being back a life that was taken away from him without his consent. How very heroic.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 30 December, 2020, 11:18:39 AM
Can't argue with any of that.

I still loved WW84, for all it's faults, though.

It legit made me tear up, as well.  Twice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 December, 2020, 11:22:29 AM
The second we hit the Israel/Palestine stuff I had to clock out and comeback to it later.

I did not want to deal with a corporate movie produced and starring Gal Gadot dealing with this subject, hell no.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 December, 2020, 12:05:33 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 December, 2020, 11:22:29 AM
The second we hit the Israel/Palestine stuff I had to clock out and comeback to it later.

I did not want to deal with a corporate movie produced and starring Gal Gadot dealing with this subject, hell no.

Oh that thought has put me off any desire to see this. Unless, against my expectations, anyone can tell me its done with any balance? I had no idea it went there (as a subject as opposed to geography).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 03:11:13 PM
Gadot certainly has expressed problematic opinions, but she's just an actor, and the script being co-written by Geoff Johns makes me think that a lot of what people might find troubling may very well just be tropes he's copied from elsewhere without fully appreciating what subtext they carry.  I didn't read Doomsday Clock, but I was told there's a bit where all the non-white supervillains lead a Black Lives Matter mob in an attack on the Whitehouse, so if you're going to apportion blame to anyone for Wonder Woman 1984 being propagandist/tone-deaf, I suspect it should probably be the guy who wrote that.

EDIT: I guess there's an ethno-nationalist desert city that has a wall around it in the movie and which is painted as an unambiguously Bad Thing in the context of the film, and now I think about it, this happens in an explicitly Muslim country complete with stereotypical 1980s action movie 'Evil Arabs' for the goodies to duff-up, so there's a case to be made that the film is ascribing certain behavior to Muslims and Muslim nations.
But again, all this is really on the writers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 December, 2020, 03:15:51 PM
Gadot was also a producer on WW84.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 30 December, 2020, 03:34:43 PM
But look at it from the other way around, HM - what the movie is saying can be thrown in Gadot's face every time she makes another bone-headed endorsement of the IDF.

So I say: good for Gadot for making a movie about how a desert country walling itself off and practicing apartheid is bad.
I particularly liked the bit in the film where the American oil company deposed the ruler of a Muslim country, causing the nation to fall to chaos and forcing all the Arabs to be bad, so the violent things they do are explicitly the fault of the US - if only all American movies so openly portrayed how capitalism is destabilizing the Middle East and vilifying Muslims.
Especially liked how US television was portrayed as a vehicle for pro-capitalist propaganda that promises to fulfill your desires but ultimately just leaves you much worse off than you were before, and guarantees the destruction of the planet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 December, 2020, 05:33:58 PM
When I was visiting alternative 23 at the weekend, I saw Guy Gadot in Wonder Man 1848 - it was just as bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 December, 2020, 09:08:21 PM
Peterloo. Wow, that's a flick. Mike Leigh leaves us a bit cold at the end, with no real picture of the aftermath (Obligatory: other than the world we live in now) beyond a single funeral and an audience with Prince Regent Percy Percy, but other than that it's a pretty flawless piece of formal work that feels like it belongs in another era of cinema, not 2018. The anti-Bridgerton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 30 December, 2020, 10:13:53 PM
WW84 had a million problems.  Gadot's bit to camera towards the end made me think of that awful Imagine video she made.

Anyway, yesterday I watched the fantastic After Hours (1985) and today Death of Me (2020).

The latter was interesting enough.  It reminded me of Blair Witch in some ways but instead of the scary woods it was the equally scary South East of Asia.

Maggie Q is great in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 31 December, 2020, 05:53:51 PM
Teen Titans Go to the Movies, based in the kids TV show loosely based on the comics, have to say that was really quite good fun. Its a kids movie but with enough nerdy references to keep the nerdy adults happy - and actually very funny in a fun childish way.

Want to say all superhero moveies should be like this, but they shiouldn't, but I'm quite glad this one is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 31 December, 2020, 07:47:01 PM
Extinction (2018) - not perfect, by any means, but a neat slice of action sci-fi that you could rate as Black Mirror+, but it wouldn't land in your sci-fi Top Twenty.

A man has visions of aliens landing on earth, which frustrates his wife - wait, that's the plot of Close Encounters! But this gets mashed up with an Independence Day vibe, because these aliens aren't those cute little pixie-types, but land more in the Mars Attacks! bucket as regards consideration for the current occupants of the planet.

And then it gets weird, [spoiler]with a Cronenberg / Asimov vibe[/spoiler] and I don't want to spoiler it for you by saying any more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 December, 2020, 08:10:06 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 30 December, 2020, 09:08:21 PM
Peterloo. Wow, that's a flick. Mike Leigh leaves us a bit cold at the end, with no real picture of the aftermath (Obligatory: other than the world we live in now) beyond a single funeral and an audience with Prince Regent Percy Percy, but other than that it's a pretty flawless piece of formal work that feels like it belongs in another era of cinema, not 2018. The anti-Bridgerton.

It's important to consider how this movie impacted how Lancastrian history was taught and understood.
Growing up I had no idea one of the single worst acts of domestic genocide in our countries long, sordid, blood soaked history happened within meters of the hospital I was born in.
Now it's part of a number of collage curriculums here in Bolton. Bury, Salford and Greater Manchester.

Indeed, it needed a bit more follow through post massacre, but my god does it deliver in every other sense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 31 December, 2020, 08:47:52 PM
It really does. Still thinking about it.

Interesting what you say about how Peterloo wasn't widely taught, it was definitely an important part of at least one of my school history courses, sitting on the far side of the Napoleonic Wars from the French Revolution as another sad act in the Age of Revolutions, and a sort of a prelude to the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

I suspect this is because our heavily revolution-focused history teaching was always keen to set Irish independence movements in the context of social unrest, economic policy and resistance to reform in Britain. And a bit of British brutality elsewhere was seldom overlooked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 December, 2020, 09:19:30 PM
It wouldn't be the Christmas season if I didn't watch the most classic Christmas film of all time, Die Hard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 01 January, 2021, 01:45:54 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 31 December, 2020, 09:19:30 PM
It wouldn't be the Christmas season if I didn't watch the most classic Christmas film of all time, Die Hard.
Ah but Christmas isn't Christmas without The Great Escape!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 January, 2021, 09:30:01 AM
Memento

I managed to get the friend I used to watch films with to watch a film with me again.  I think I had to use guilt.  I don't know whether that makes me a bad person.  Memento was his pick because he never seen it before.  After watching it he asked me whether I enjoyed watching again and yes, I did.  I've seen it a number of times and knowing how it plays out doesn't diminish it.  It's certainly one of Nolan's best films.  I had to bring up Irreversable when talking about it, but add that I'm not keen on rewatching that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 January, 2021, 10:20:58 AM
Highlander

Its on iPlayer and I recommend we all go watch it to re-evaluate. I'd not seen it in years, but loved this movie back in the day ranking it alongside Terminator, Predator etc etc as one of the all time vital action movies. Its not as good as either of those but it really is glorious poppycock. It shouldn't and really doesn't work on so many leaves. But has a charm, humour and vigour that really makes it essential, fun viewing.

I do wish they'd gone for Clancy Browns take on The Kurgan though - he wished to make him a far darker, more sympathetic villain just sick of it all and that sounds really appealing. Though his OTT tour de force of villainy is good fun it doesn't really add anything... well aside from a that fun...

Oh and much as I love Queen and Flash Gordon is one of the great soundtracks their efforts here show this was a time they were well past their best-by date - happy to debate anytime where the good times ended with News of the World, or whether Jazz was just a blip as both The Game and the aforementioned Flash Gordon are both good, if not great, records... ahem... that's for another thread...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 January, 2021, 12:40:10 PM
I watched an old favourite, After Hours.  First time the missus saw it.  She hated it.  She's wrong though, it's amazing.

Finished out the year with Predator 2 which is my favourite Predator film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 January, 2021, 05:10:22 PM
All that talk down thread got use to settle down this afternoon and finally do something we've been meaning to do for a while now. We watched the Rise of Skywalker DVD that we bought pretty much as soon as it came out. The fact that its taken us this long to get to and the kids weren't initially that fussed about watching it speaks volumes.

As it is it offers nothing on second viewing I wasn't expecting. Its remains a cowardly piece of film-making which retains nothing of the bold and interesting decisions that TLJ left it. I knew that was going to happen going in - after all TLJ did undo much of what JJ Abram laid out in the dreadful TFA. It watches like a fan's attempt to pull it all back to the place the films are firmly established and offers nothing to acknowledge that the world and cinema has moved on 40 plus years since the originals - aside from special effects that allow for such over the top, overblown nonsense that marked the finale of this one.

Its all that, yet ultimately its a perfectly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon if there is nothing better to do. The trouble it has is there's an awful lot better to do.

So anyway here's the 'new Star Wars order'

1 Million and 1
Sixty-six
1 Billion, twenty-five, seventy-five thousand...

...no hold on that's something else. Here's the new Star Wars order from best to worst:

ESB
SW (NH if you must)
TLJ
RoTJ
...
So
R1
...
...
...
TRoS
PM
RotS
AotC
TFA
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 January, 2021, 05:29:18 PM
Oof! TLJ ahead of TROTJ?! Really? I mean, horses for courses etc, but apart from the excellent Rashomon-style sequences, and Luke's overall arc, the rest was just dreadful! TROTJ really capped the previous two with some fantastic swashbuckling at the start, with great monsters and aliens and bounty hunters and all sorts,  and a perfectly choreographed three-pronged battle. It felt cohesive and was definitely a part of the OT. It's just a better film!

Anyway, I guess Star Wars is what you make it. I probably wouldn't dispute the rest of your choices particularly. Here's my faves, from best to worst.

ESB
SW (ANH)
ROTJ
SOLO
RO
LTJ
TFA
TROTS
TROS
TPM
TAOTC
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 January, 2021, 06:02:34 PM
We're doing this again? In the spirit of initialisms:

TCW*
SW
ESB
ROTJ
TM**

And fuck everything else. This is more of a viewing order for the bits of Star Wars I like.

*Tartakovsky's Clone Wars
**The MandalorianTM
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 January, 2021, 06:18:11 PM
Is Mando worth watching? I'm pretty much all SW'ed out for the next...decade at least.

But I can't deny....Pedro Pascal can sell me on almost anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 January, 2021, 06:18:27 PM
I'm pretty neutral about Star Wars as I didn't really like the films when I was a kid (I fell asleep in the cinema watching Empire Strikes Back but I was very young).  But in adulthood I've seen them all and enjoyed them all to some degree.

Of all of them, I'd say that The Force Awakens is my favourite.  It feels like a remake of the first one but with better characters.  I always found Luke to be awkward and weird so Rey seems like an upgrade.  Her storyline with Adam Driver's character is the best thing about the trilogy for me. 

I really didn't get on with Rogue One.  The first half was so boring to me.  The main character had no charisma at all and the mighty Forest Whittaker was wasted.  The big battle at the end was decent but by then the film had lost me.  The Darth Vader sequence was fantastic though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 01 January, 2021, 06:23:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 January, 2021, 06:18:11 PM
Is Mando worth watching? I'm pretty much all SW'ed out for the next...decade at least.

But I can't deny....Pedro Pascal can sell me on almost anything.

Yes, Mando is worth watching. This is the best Disney has done with the franchise. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 01 January, 2021, 06:52:33 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 01 January, 2021, 06:23:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 01 January, 2021, 06:18:11 PM
Is Mando worth watching? I'm pretty much all SW'ed out for the next...decade at least.

But I can't deny....Pedro Pascal can sell me on almost anything.

Yes, Mando is worth watching. This is the best Disney has done with the franchise.

Agreed. The Mandalorian IS Star Wars. For me it recaptures the magic of the OT. I am a fan happily serviced. Very well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 January, 2021, 07:20:05 PM
Quote from: repoman on 01 January, 2021, 06:18:27 PM
The Darth Vader sequence was fantastic though.

I just re-watch that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxL8bVJhXCM) ... probably too much.

---

I also really liked the conceit that Kylo and Rey had a weird force-connection thing going on. Still, the best thing about Kylo Ren is probably when he does Undercover Boss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsE).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 January, 2021, 01:01:42 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 01 January, 2021, 09:30:01 AM
Memento

Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 January, 2021, 10:20:58 AM
Highlander

Quote from: repoman on 01 January, 2021, 12:40:10 PM
Finished out the year with Predator 2 which is my favorite Predator film.

All my fave movies.
Memento - the movie you can watch numerous times and yet, still get something new. Arugably, oneo f Nolan's best.

Highlander - timeless story, sympathetic hero, charismatic villain, cool romantic subplot, cool swordfights, Queen soundtrack, 1980s aesthetics...what more can I ask for? Btw, it's interesting to see Kurgan progressing from the original script (which, in a way, was way more darker than finishing film) to the over the top Clancy Brown performance.

Predator 2 - well, I like the original more, but P2 is pretty darn close. Danny Glover and Gary Busey. Opening shootout ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 02 January, 2021, 01:53:35 PM
Bad times at the El Royale. Pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 January, 2021, 12:15:28 AM
Bad Times at the El Royale

This one has been popping up on this thread for a while now and I grabbed a copy a while back and just haven't got around to it.

Cynthia Erivo and her character Darlene stand out as the best thing in the film, easily.  Jeff Bridges is his usual delight, but I still feel he just supports her wonderful performance.

It starts really strong and I found myself invested and interested.  Until Chris Hemsworth.  The Manson shit really bugged me as being cheap and I felt it gutted what was a strong premise.  I didn't think it flowed with the set-up and created a disjoint within the narrative that hadn't fully established itself.  I did not like how Hemsworth swans in near the end declaring himself the bad guy just to allow the story to wrap itself up.  I know it's set up a little earlier in the film, but I think it is interesting how [spoiler]the other characters have title cards referring to their room numbers except Hemsworth.[/spoiler]  It just reeks of not knowing how to end it, having a weak idea and then laying the ground work within a better premise.  Essentially, the film lacked follow-through and I think it lazily ties itself together.

In the end, the film ended up a huge disappointment despite mostly being very interesting and having a lot of potential.  The best I can say is it's ok.  It could have been great, but it wasn't.  It was just ok.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 03 January, 2021, 04:40:28 AM
Cool movie talk! I love Highlander and Memento and whatnot. On El Royale, I say everything needs more Jon Hamm. Very charismatic dude.

Beastie Boys Story is my latest watch, so good! Live on stage music doc, very very cool. I Am Thor and Story of Anvil are also good watches. And anything with Lemmy, such as Decline of Western Civilization 2.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 January, 2021, 10:20:00 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 03 January, 2021, 04:40:28 AM

...anything with Lemmy, such as Decline of Western Civilization 2.


BBC 4's going right downhill.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 January, 2021, 11:49:47 PM
Bill & Ted Face the Music

I wasn't expecting much from this film and it met my expectations.  As a completely unnecessary follow up to a couple of goofy comedy films from about 30 years ago I can't say it's good.  I wasn't really thinking it would be good.  I watch the original films and I see some joy in Keanu Reeves performance and in this film he is just the same old sad Keanu we've just become accustomed to.  Why is he such a sad man?  Am I the only one that sees the constant sadness in his eyes?

In terms of following up what came before, it is a disaster.  Bogus Journey actually wrapped the story up and I was certainly happy with it.  I don't know why they went for the "these two are losers" angle as that's antithesis to Bill & Ted.  They act stupid and appear clueless, mostly have their hearts in the right place and prove their detractors wrong.  It's also funny that they are saviors of humanity.  So it's a bad sequel.  I was expecting it to be a bad sequel.  The continuity on Face the Music with the other films is terrible.

The production and thought in the narrative is very lacking.  Compare the extremely imaginative interpretation of hell that appears in Bogus Journey to Face the Musics bland representation.  It's a loose rehash of Excellent Adventure coupled with a goofy version of a time paradox.  OK, fine, but there wasn't really any kind of adventure.

I wanted to like the kids, but they didn't really shine in the film.  I think that comes from splitting the movie between them and Keanu and Winter.

The biggest crime is no Station.  Oh, they say Station, but Station isn't in this film.  Pfft.  (and no Good Robot Bill and Ted)

So.  Unsurprisingly I am not fond of the pointless sequel to a couple of films I enjoyed as a kid and still enjoy as an adult without irony or nostalgia.  Nevertheless, I did like some things.  The robot was kinda funny.  The counseling scenes were good.  There were some jokes I chuckled at and as a mediocre comedy film it's inoffensive and watchable.  I liked the idea of retconning the kids as being daughters and having them play a big part in the film, even if I found it to be a bit weak in execution.

This felt more like a reunion film than a sequel.  More of a fanservicey thing rather than a well thought out follow through.  A film that asks the question "remember Bill & Ted?  What if they were old now and had to live in our world?"  On those terms, it being crap is fine.  I have no malice towards this film, despite it's utter redundancy.

My final thought is I am really disappointed that they couldn't recapture the fun and joy of the Bill & Ted films.  There is a bouncy, youthful glee to those films.  I wasn't expecting it to be there, but if it was I would have appreciated the film a whole lot more than I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 04 January, 2021, 12:22:52 AM
6 Underground - a two hour and eight minute, exposition-heavy intro-scene to (presumably) some other movie. By the end of the Baby Driver knock-off opening scene, you'll have lost the desire to continue - possibly with life itself. Perhaps playing well to a demographic consisting of sado-psychopathic military cadets, it's taken Ryan Reynolds out of the cool box and into the smugassbord of the Bay pantheon.

Also, the cars use the same kakka-kakka-kakka sound effect that's apparently required of all Michael Bay movies whenever anything made of metal does something, but that nobody alive has ever heard because it was made up in a computer. And there's fucking parkour in it, as well.

Summary: expensive-looking tosh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 January, 2021, 01:18:39 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 January, 2021, 11:49:47 PM
Bill & Ted Face the Music
  I watch the original films and I see some joy in Keanu Reeves performance and in this film he is just the same old sad Keanu we've just become accustomed to.  Why is he such a sad man?  Am I the only one that sees the constant sadness in his eyes?


He has had a brutal life.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keanu-reeves-tragic-story/

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 January, 2021, 09:39:17 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 04 January, 2021, 01:18:39 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 January, 2021, 11:49:47 PM
Bill & Ted Face the Music
  I watch the original films and I see some joy in Keanu Reeves performance and in this film he is just the same old sad Keanu we've just become accustomed to.  Why is he such a sad man?  Am I the only one that sees the constant sadness in his eyes?


He has had a brutal life.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keanu-reeves-tragic-story/

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the constant sadness in his eyes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 04 January, 2021, 10:01:47 AM
Will continue the Predator 2 love. Just a great movie, with so many great character actors, and some lovely, shlocky Horror / action moments.

That shoot-out at the start puts a lot of modern movies to shame.

Was this one of the first movies to hint at a franchise crossover?

Coincidentally, I watched Aliens the other evening, and it is still as fantastic as the first time I watched. Lovely ratcheting tension, the design of the Alien Queen, Lance Henriksen with one of the greatest moments of synthetic body horror in a movie when he "meets" the Alien Queen!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 January, 2021, 10:51:28 AM
Gave up on Ava after twenty minutes last night. I've never seen it, but I had seen it before - if you see what I mean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 January, 2021, 10:52:08 AM
Quote from: Rately on 04 January, 2021, 10:01:47 AM
Will continue the Predator 2 love.

Was this one of the first movies to hint at a franchise crossover?


I think it was. Or was the alien skull just an in-joke?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 04 January, 2021, 11:13:31 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 January, 2021, 10:52:08 AM
Quote from: Rately on 04 January, 2021, 10:01:47 AM
Will continue the Predator 2 love.

Was this one of the first movies to hint at a franchise crossover?


I think it was. Or was the alien skull just an in-joke?

Such a great moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 04 January, 2021, 07:02:58 PM
I Love You, Philip Morris

Sorely underrated (and underseen) Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor movie which came out around ten years ago (but I think had sat on a shelf for a couple of years before that).

Dark and twisted but also somehow weirdly heartwarming and laugh out loud funny. Also based on a bizarre true story, and zips by in a little over 90 minutes.

Definitely not suitable for family viewing tho...!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 January, 2021, 10:32:20 PM
Speaking of Jim Carrey

Sonic the Hedgehog

and he was the worst thing in it.  Usually I can tolerate him and he is in a film that might be in my top ten, but I didn't like him in this at all.  Didn't sell the character for me.

I'm glad they sorted out that crappy Sonic model.

It was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be.  Very mediocre with a bog-standard plot and jokes that will go out of date in a couple of years.... those that aren't already horrifyingly out of date.

I am disappointed they didn't make more game references, but I wasn't expecting them to acknowledge the games anyway.  I mean it's Sonic.  That franchise is all kinds of a mess.

I don't really have any complaints.  It's exactly what you should expect from a live action Sonic film.  Why the hell was this made in the first place?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 January, 2021, 09:04:48 PM
Whilst Back to the Future proved that you don't need a protagonist to arc if you have a solid resolution (and characters you care about), there's something missing from the mil-pron-tastic ghostly goings on of Spectral.

The plot is that there are ghosts that can kill your all-American grunts by wooshing through them, and they're invulnerable (being ghostly, and all). Solution: make a magic gun that can kill them.

The moral of the story: you can kill anything with good old American know-how! The protagonist is good at observing the problem and then figuring out how to kill it - but that's true at the start and the end. So, effectively, nothing happens.

Best thing about the movie: the ghosts go "wooooo!" as they murder people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 January, 2021, 02:42:36 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 January, 2021, 09:04:48 PM
Best thing about the movie: the ghosts go "wooooo!" as they murder people.

Sounds worth it :D

An American Werewolf in London

Finally watched it and I think it's a good movie.  Did I need to see it sooner in my life?  No.  I get why I've had it recommended to me so many times.  It is a good movie.  It just wasn't a revelation.  Out of the last four movies I've watched, it is easily the best.  I really liked the undead aspect and it was effective in its minimal use of horror.  That's one ticked off the list.  What should I watch for the first time next?  Close Encounters of the Third Kind?  The Great Escape? Casablanca?  Citizen Kane?  I don't know why I'm asking because it will most likely be A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 January, 2021, 02:50:14 PM

Casablanca.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 02:53:01 PM
The Shark is right. Second choice is Close Encounters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 January, 2021, 02:53:32 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 06 January, 2021, 02:50:14 PM

Casablanca.

This is the right answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 January, 2021, 02:55:02 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 06 January, 2021, 02:50:14 PM
Casablanca.

Shark is correct — it's very good. Also, fairly short. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 January, 2021, 04:26:57 PM
What's wrong with A Nightmare on Elm Street? (The original).

This was highly original at the time, and is still an effective horror.

And the answer to the pub quiz question "What was Johnny Depp's first film?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 January, 2021, 04:42:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 06 January, 2021, 04:26:57 PM
What's wrong with A Nightmare on Elm Street? (The original).

Apparently Casablanca is better.  I wouldn't know, I haven't seen either.  Nevertheless, A Nightmare on Elm Street is still probably the next film I'm going to watch.  Then I'll do the series at least up until Dream Warriors which I hear is many peoples favourite.  After that, who knows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 05:09:47 PM
It's a great list of movies and they're all eminently watchable - I think people's love for Casablanca came shining through.

Casablanca - great characters, great drama, impossible love, Nazis, quotable bits, even a sing-a-long. It's the one that critics and audiences love equally.

Citizen Kane - required viewing for film school, a great technical achievement of it's time, anti-establishment and definitely not a bad movie. But ... required viewing. Perhaps a bit stodgy around the middle.

Close Encounters - can I say it's a poor cousin to E.T.? Don't get me wrong: I love this movie and am entranced especially by the difficulties portrayed in the protagonist's marriage. Arguably a twee ending. Great homage in The Goodies.  Everyone gets to play those notes on the piano.

The Great Escape - embedded in my childhood psyche as the best of the mini-genre of POW movies. Steve McQueen has never been cooler.  The tragedy of the various characters is compelling. Nazis.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - not a bad slasher - certainly caused a stir on initial release. But I've never wanted to re-watch it. Maybe that's just me and horror movies, though. They're one-hit wonders for consumption.

---

Aliens - it wasn't on the list, but I can't really not mention it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 January, 2021, 06:11:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 January, 2021, 02:42:36 PM
An American Werewolf in LondonIt is a good movie.  It just wasn't a revelation.

It was in 1981!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 January, 2021, 06:38:39 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 05:09:47 PM
Aliens - it wasn't on the list, but I can't really not mention it.

I've seen it... many times.  That's why it wasn't on the list ;)

Also, this may not be a popular opinion, but Aliens is my third favourite Alien film.  Alien and Alien 3 being my faves... especially the later when I saw the special edition.  Nevertheless, they should have kept it as the dog that gets infected.

I kinda doubt any film from the Alien franchise would make my top 10 favourite film list (work in progress), but Predator might.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 07:21:04 PM
Alien is in my top ten horror movies. Aliens is in my top ten action movies.

(Probably. Top tens shift around all the time. I find it too difficult to top ten movies without splitting by genre. Did a top fifty once, but I was stuck in a remote cabin during a storm, so the madness had taken hold.)

I probably should give Alien 3 another go after all this time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 07:27:30 PM
How It Ends has something going for it, in terms of tense atmosphere and Forest Whitaker - we could probably watch him musing over a shopping list for half an hour and be enthralled. The main problems are an acceptance that a world so hugely interconnected and has somehow had a disaster befall it that remains a mystery to everyone pretty much through to the end, and that it's stupidly male-focused.

It could've been called Who Own Her?, as all the female characters get relegated to 1. Stay At Home Because The Men Will Deal, 2. I Cannot Cope With Difficult Situations Because Emotions and 3. I Am The Prize Who Must Be Rescued, Fought Over And Won.

So - that makes a hat trick of pretty dire movies. I need to be more picky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 January, 2021, 08:41:58 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 07:21:04 PM
Top tens shift around all the time.

I had this issue and never bothered with top whatever lists.  Then I rewatched Groundhog Day for the upteenth time and said to myself "I really love this movie" and my top ten favourite films list was born.  It is a list of films I love to return to and never seem to diminish for me.  Quality is not important as it's entirely personal.  So far I have:

Groundhog Day
Big Trouble in Little China
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Patlabor the Movie

Contenders for the list are Predator and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Revisions might be made in the future because they keep making films and I keep watching them.

The worst movie that I unironically* enjoy the most is Ghosts of Mars.  It doesn't work, it's badly acted and looks awfully cheap.  And I don't care.

*Not entirely unironic.  There is one thing that makes me laugh every time. [spoiler]The main villains goofy gibberish voice.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 January, 2021, 08:59:56 AM
A Nightmare on Elm Street

I should have watched Casablanca.  Seriously, though, this was ok.  Nothing remarkable, really.  Weird and abrupt ending, I can dig that.  It is nice to see a Freddy that isn't wisecracking.  The acting wasn't particularly good.  It was visually very interesting and had some legit spooky moments.  The story also made sense for the most part.  It was a mixed bag.  Not much is really said about the mob justice that brutally murdered a man and I thought the "he got away with it because the warrant wasn't filled in properly" was stupid.  Plays into that whole repulsive myth that cops would be more effective if we cut the red tape and let them act with total impunity.  With that in mind, I find the underlying premise one of the weakest parts of the film.

What would have been more interesting is if the families thought he was a child killer, he was found innocent in court and they then killed him out of their own fear and ignorance.  Also focusing more on the effects of sleep deprivation.  You could have a story about families falling apart as the guilt of what the parents did comes back to haunt them.  All the while the kids are losing grip on reality and don't know what is Freddy or the sleep deprivation.  I'm guessing the remake didn't explore these interesting ideas.

I'm looking forward to A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge.  I hear it's a gay allegory.  If it is I bet it's all kinds of clumsy because the 80's.  Anyway, I hope it's fun :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2021, 04:55:58 PM
Do you mean "A Nightmare on Elm Street... more like A Nightmare on SHIT Street"?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 January, 2021, 05:06:59 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 January, 2021, 04:55:58 PM
Do you mean "A Nightmare on Elm Street... more like A Nightmare on SHIT Street"?

Nope :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 January, 2021, 06:58:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 January, 2021, 08:59:56 AM
I'm looking forward to A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge.  I hear it's a gay allegory.  If it is I bet it's all kinds of clumsy because the 80's.

You described the film just perfectly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 January, 2021, 07:25:52 PM

Quote from: pictsy on 07 January, 2021, 08:59:56 AM

I'm looking forward to A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge...


Casablanca. In the name of God, please, CASAfreakin'BLANCA!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 January, 2021, 02:34:20 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 January, 2021, 07:25:52 PM
Casablanca. In the name of God, please, CASAfreakin'BLANCA!

Sorry, Shark.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

Wasn't Freddy's Revenge the first film?  That's the plot, right?  Well that's my original hot take out of the way.

I actually enjoyed this.  It wasn't as clumsy as I thought it was going to be, but when it did get clumsy with its theme at the end it kinda undermined the whole thing and stank a little of pro-conversion therapy bullshit.  This film could easily be read as anti-homosexual propaganda and it's really the ending that creates that context.  I didn't read it like that, but that's because I did know some of the context of the production going in.  Regardless of how much it fails, it certainly succeeds at being a very interesting film.

The opening scene is very good.  I was worried the film shot it's load at the start, but it carried on being interesting.  I liked the constant references to the house being hot and the fires.  Something the first amazingly missed.  The possession angle was something a bit different and the allegorical link between it and an internalised conflict of our protagonists sexuality was nicely done.  It's not subtle, but not overt.  I really good mix.  It is a shame it gets undermined, however, copying the bad ending idea from the first film might suggest that the apparent resolution at the end wasn't a resolution at all.  Kinda reaching with that one, though.

I really enjoyed the film, more so than the first one.

Next up Cassablanca.

Sorry, I meant to type (and consequently did not go back to edit my mistake as I am perfectly capable of doing) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 08 January, 2021, 03:58:42 PM
Imagine your dad did something really bad like killing someone, and then you have to live with that hanging over your family name forever.  Well, if you're Max Landis, you don't think of that as a badge of shame so much as the start of a competition with your old man to see who can be the biggest piece of shit, which I guess is an understandable yardstick for Max Landis to choose, because the guy who made BRIGHT sure ain't gonna make better movies than the guy who made AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.
Anyway, Max Landis is a piece of shit.  He's garbage in human form, and when I recommend a movie he wrote, I don't want you to buy it, I want you to download it, illegally, and I give you permission to do this.  If you absolutely must buy it, please do so via Ebay or other second-hand sales outlets so that no-one involved in this film is rewarded, because they don't deserve it.

The movie is Shadow In The Cloud, a film whose objective best parts - mainly the premise - are lifted entirely from elsewhere, in particular "The Mission" from Amazing Stories, but then it goes some really dumb places, and I was genuinely impressed by how bad it became.  Not just like regular bad where it fails to capitalise on its potential or the execution is notably poor, no I mean it gets so incredibly stupid you can't see anything else.  There's a bit where [spoiler]a character is trapped in a gun turret on the belly of a WW2 bomber plane, and they escape by climbing out of it, mid-flight, and then crawling along the underside of the wing using bullet holes as handholds, then rescues a baby from a gremlin monster - oh yeah I probably should have mentioned there is a gremlin monster in the film now, and it has kidnapped a baby, because there is a baby on a WW2 bomber plane you know what, don't worry about it - then crawls along the outside of the plane - with the baby - until they can crawl through a hole in the side of the plane, [/spoiler]and then it actually gets stupider.
It's amazingly bad to the point it becomes entertaining, and I hate myself for enjoying it* because it is clearly Landis deliberately trying to be outrageous and I hate to see him succeeding at it because, as mentioned, Max Landis is a piece of shit.
Don't get me wrong, though, there's certainly plenty of objectively poor parts of the movie to complain about, like the pretty forced "casual misogyny" of the airmen, some really bad dialogue and acting, and there's an extended sequence where a character is trapped in a confined space and we only have voices on a radio to tell us what's happening elsewhere and it feels like they either should have found a way to do a whole movie like this, or they should have done this bit a lot better, because as it is, it just feels like the film can't pick a lane, as all through this sequence the movie still has a pretty straight face and it's only after this sequence falls apart pretty spectacularly that the really dumb/fun stuff starts happening - kind of like From Dusk Till Dawn if, instead of being a deliberate choice of two different kinds of movie in one, Dusk Till Dawn's first half kinda sucked and then they decided they had to do a vampire movie because what they'd already shot wasn't working and they had to pull something out of their ass.
Also, you know those guys who complain when a female character is super-competent 'without explanation' in a movie?  Get ready to be one of those guys whether you like it or not, because there are some baffling shifts in the portrayal of the main character to the point that when she's chasing down a monster and then beating it to death with its own arm, you're just thinking "this is awesome - but isn't her whole character motivation that she's terrified of a drunken husband?  She just beat a monster to death with her - and also his own - bare hands and right before that she shot down some enemy fighters while crash-landing a plane with a broken arm and several broken fingers, so why is this super-hard queen so afraid of some old misogynist guy?"
The misogyny is something I have mentioned a couple times now, and if you are aware of why Max Landis is a piece of shit - and he is (https://medium.com/@features_71187/finally-max-landis-is-cancelled-6e2fafeb24f6) - then you can probably guess why he's clumsily crowbarred this stuff in so that the main character can have her girl power moments, but knowing how contrived it is just so the writer can desperately try to rehabilitate his image just makes it more entertaining than it otherwise would be.
Anyway, I am pretty sure this sucks by any objective measure and I would not reccomend it for those of a serious temperament, but I really enjoyed it even though Max Landis is a piece of shit.



* I am a fan of Star Trek and 2000ad, so this is not a new experience for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 January, 2021, 04:10:23 PM
I'd never heard of Max Landis by name but Jez from a very quick, ill informed read how the f**k is he still working. Hollywood really isn't making progress yet is it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 January, 2021, 05:44:37 PM
Despite recommending that film, I find that thorough explanation just put Shadow in the Cloud on my do-not-watch list.  Admittedly, it was pretty much there with "from the guy who made BRIGHT".  The only good thing in Bright was the villains outfit.  That was some really snazzy costume work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 January, 2021, 11:12:09 PM
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors

More like A Nightmare on Shit Street 3:  Shit Warriors.

This film was a serious downgrade in quality.  So utterly dumb.  For everything Freddy's Revenge does right in terms of gay representation, Dream Warriors does wrong for mental health.  The actual Dream Warrior part is a total let down as well.  I was expecting something dumb, but not quite this dumb.  I was also hoping it'd be a lot more fun than it is.  The acting took a hit again with Patricia Arquette's endless squealing being notably grating.  I've enjoyed her in other things, but she isn't good in this.  Seeing Nancy return was not enjoyable.  Heather Langenkamp is just unconvincing.

There were some OK things in the film.  Set design and special effects were mostly impressive. I liked the Taryn character, but she was largely under utilised.

So, the series completely nosedived.  The question is, will I survive A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 January, 2021, 12:43:27 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2021, 05:09:47 PM
Close Encounters - can I say it's a poor cousin to E.T.? Don't get me wrong: I love this movie and am entranced especially by the difficulties portrayed in the protagonist's marriage. Arguably a twee ending. Great homage in The Goodies.  Everyone gets to play those notes on the piano.

So, my interest in the protagonist's marriage made me start thinking about the end of the movie again, and I need to shift away from twee. Uhm ... given that I know some people haven't seen it yet I should move into spoiler mode.

[spoiler]Our hero has been sort of hypnotized by the approach of the aliens - and his obsession with his visions makes his wife think he's insane, and she takes the kids and leaves him. He, still obsessed, makes his way to the aliens and boards their ship and ascends to the stars. What about his responsibility to his kids? Spielberg was focused on the positive message of hope - that aliens who visit us are nice. But the disgorging of prior visitors (or abductees) from decades gone by suggests that Roy will be gone for some time, thus missing perhaps his children's entire lives. Is this not morally bankrupt?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 09 January, 2021, 11:55:55 AM
I watched Overlord yesterday and was very impressed.  I'm really into modern horror films as there are lots of good ideas, lots of a fun b-movies and some decently produced surprises to be found.  The genre lost me in the '90s and '00s due to all the rubbish CGI but this is a good era.


Quote from: pictsy on 08 January, 2021, 11:12:09 PM
So, the series completely nosedived.  The question is, will I survive A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master?

Dream Warriors was my favourite but mainly because I was the right age for it (kind of like how Terminator 2 is for a lot of people despite it not being nearly as good as the original).

I can tell you this, having recently watched all of them, it doesn't get much better from that point on.  The last film is alright because it is quite different.  Freddy vs. Jason is fun though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 January, 2021, 01:16:36 PM
Quote from: repoman on 09 January, 2021, 11:55:55 AM
I watched Overlord yesterday and was very impressed.  I'm really into modern horror films as there are lots of good ideas, lots of a fun b-movies and some decently produced surprises to be found.  The genre lost me in the '90s and '00s due to all the rubbish CGI but this is a good era.

I remember enjoying Overlord.  It was a couple of years ago I saw it, but I remember it being shlocky fun.

Quote from: repoman on 09 January, 2021, 11:55:55 AM
Dream Warriors was my favourite but mainly because I was the right age for it (kind of like how Terminator 2 is for a lot of people despite it not being nearly as good as the original).

I can tell you this, having recently watched all of them, it doesn't get much better from that point on.  The last film is alright because it is quite different.  Freddy vs. Jason is fun though.

I'm not going to be watching New Nightmare.  It was the only one I'd seen previously and I didn't enjoy it.  I will be watching Freddy vs. Jason regardless of whether I continue with the rest of the Nightmare movies.  After that, who knows, maybe I'll watch Casablanca.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 January, 2021, 01:31:56 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 January, 2021, 12:43:27 AM
So, my interest in the protagonist's marriage made me start thinking about the end of the movie again, and I need to shift away from twee.

Completely agree with your conclusions there Funt, and have since I saw the Special Edition in the cinema in 1980, which seemed to foreground the impact (of his obsession) on Neary's family more than than the original. It doesn't take away from my love of the film, but the realisation of what his wide-eyed decision means puts a different spin on the character and the ending. If anything the theme of [spoiler]desertion of family by men in pursuit of their own personal fulfillment (or more charitably, 'duty') gives the film a more realistic grounding. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 January, 2021, 10:50:42 PM
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4:  The Dream Master

Actually surprised at this one.  It's proper dumb 80s slasher at this point and does some crappy things, but I don't think it's a bad as 3.  I actually liked Alice as a character and this film being about a young woman finding her confidence in herself was done pretty well.  I think the acting was an improvement over 3 but it did lack some of visual zest in places.  Still pretty interesting effects work going on.

I also like that the love interested serving only as a facile trophy/reward for the protagonist was a guy.  I wasn't expecting something that subversive from this film, but there it is.

3 set the bar pretty damn low, but I think regardless of that 4 is the better movie of the two.  The real question I find I'm asking myself now, is 4 more enjoyable than 1?  Also, why am I enjoying sequels more than the original?

My expectations are thrown out the window as it seems anything can go now as to whether I'll enjoy A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 January, 2021, 12:39:54 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 08 January, 2021, 11:12:09 PM
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors

More like A Nightmare on Shit Street 3:  Shit Warriors.

The best thing about this film was the song by Dokken.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 January, 2021, 01:40:13 PM
ZODIAC from 2007 and directed by David Fincher. Which is very good if twenty minutes too long. Genuinely didn't know what to expect on going in... thought it would be more like MINDHUNTER than it was. It actually ended up quite like Close Encounters, coincidentally..

Mostly understated turns from all the leads (and at one point you aren't sure who the leads are) but the decades long nature of the story means you don't get too long to settle on the consequences of one sequence before jumping two years on. This also means some of the callbacks can't be exactly subtle.

I know the nature of the beast makes this a predominantly all male, all white cast but you'd think you could composite some characters to add a bit of diversity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 January, 2021, 05:32:09 PM
Zodiac didn't leave the best impression on me.  I don't remember disliking or thinking it was bad.  I think it was the sprawling nature of the film you describe that ended up not leaving much of an impression on me or a desire to return to the film.

It's just one of those films.  Good, but you could get away with only ever watching it once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 10 January, 2021, 06:32:51 PM
Watch Missing Link and it is just plain good fun. This is one of those movies that the whole family can watch and enjoy. Missing Link is a stop-motion animated in the trend of Wallace and Gromit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 January, 2021, 10:59:30 PM
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

Fuck this film.

I didn't go into it much when I wrote about 3, but Freddy's backstory is fucking repulsive.  It has gross attitudes towards mental illness and children of rape.  It also has the disgusting notion of criminality being genetic.

5 is all about this backstory.  Throw in several instances of misogyny and we're already way past the point of calling this problematic.  It is also really fucking dumb, with many parts of the film not making sense or alternatively going absolutely nowhere.  This isn't about as bad as what came before, this is a whole new level of bad.  The effects are shit, the directing is shit, the writing is shit.  Everything positive I could say about the previous films is not only missing, but considerably worse.

It's interesting to note that this is where the wisecracking starts.  I thought it would've started in 2 given how ubiquitous it is in references to the franchise, but nope, this is where it starts.  And it is awful.  It's not even wisecracking.  It's just Freddy saying things vaguely related to the "ironic" death that is happening on screen.  Constantly.  Without break.  It's annoying.  And stupid.

I would like to find some positives in this film, but it doesn't deserve my good will.  Fuck this film and it's revolting bullshit presented in it's shit veneer.

Well, now the bar has been set so low the question now is can Freddy's Dead:  The Final Nightmare possibly be worse?  Also, hasn't Freddy been dead all this time?  Dumb title doesn't bode well, but 2's title is dumb as well, so maybe it's the masterpiece of the entire franchise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 January, 2021, 12:52:38 AM
It is worse. But New Nightmare is, from memory, okay. Albeit a bit meta and self indulgent. It's almost a stand alone film, so you might do yourself a favour and skip to it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 11 January, 2021, 06:28:45 PM
This one gave me the heebie jeebies - that scene where he comes over the hill in his rigout with that bag on his head absolutely terrified me. Did you know they recently decoded his second massage?

https://youtu.be/-1oQLPRE21o (https://youtu.be/-1oQLPRE21o)

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 January, 2021, 01:40:13 PM
ZODIAC from 2007 and directed by David Fincher. Which is very good if twenty minutes too long. Genuinely didn't know what to expect on going in... thought it would be more like MINDHUNTER than it was. It actually ended up quite like Close Encounters, coincidentally..

Mostly understated turns from all the leads (and at one point you aren't sure who the leads are) but the decades long nature of the story means you don't get too long to settle on the consequences of one sequence before jumping two years on. This also means some of the callbacks can't be exactly subtle.

I know the nature of the beast makes this a predominantly all male, all white cast but you'd think you could composite some characters to add a bit of diversity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 January, 2021, 11:49:06 PM
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Well.  I don't think it was as bad as 5.  It's very idiotic, largely abandons sense and continuity.  The film goes off on it's own bizarre tangent and I found myself starting to enjoy it after half way through.  It's really hard to put this one into words.  It's not a good film, it has some ablism that was just mean spirited and pointless and it looks cheap and terrible.  It's also all over the place that it's probably the most dreamlike experience any of these has been.

I managed to get through the six main films and not bail out and I feel kinda pleased about that.  The last film will be Freddy vs. Jason.  I'm skipping New Nightmare because I have seen it before and I already know I don't like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 January, 2021, 01:29:32 PM
Pictsy

Are you watching the Elm St films via an official source or through... alternative... means? You've made me want to watch them again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 12 January, 2021, 04:03:28 PM
Gotta agree with Pictsy that Dream Child is the worst by miles. It's been a long time since I've seen it but I'm unsurprised that it's got some horrible attitudes expressed in it too.

Freddy vs Jason however is ace!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 January, 2021, 08:03:15 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 January, 2021, 01:29:32 PM
You've made me want to watch them again!

It's been an interesting journey.  Dream Child is an endurance and Freddy's Dead is an utter mess (although it did end up entertaining me), otherwise I'd say the other four are certainly worth rewatching.  Pretty certain I will in the future sometime.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 January, 2021, 11:31:48 PM
Freddy vs. Jason

Well that was garbage, but pretty much entirely what I thought it would be.  I can't really talk about the Friday the 13th part of this film.  I have only ever seen Jason X.  The actual vs. bit is ok, needed to be a lot more of it in the film.  The 00's stuff was annoying and very 00's.  One notably unnecessary part was one character was in an abusive relationship and then was ever getting raped or was about to be raped when she died.  Through in some casual racism and homophobia, shouting and annoying teenagers and plot points that don't really go anywhere and you've got that very special 00's charm.  Despite being no expert I think Jason was on diet pills as well.  I don't know whether I like slimfast Jason or not.  The Jason Mewes homage is weird.

It kinda confirms a thought I had been having through this watch through.  The cultural impression of Freddy and the Nightmare films is largely based on the last two movies.  That's really sad.  I was wondering when the Freddy I was expecting would show up.  Awful wisecracking and calling every woman he meets a bitch several times over didn't start in earnest until those two films.

Some thoughts about the franchise, then.  2 is the best, easily and by a long way.  4 was surprisingly entertaining and on a first viewing is my second favourite.  1 is a good start and an interested film on its own, but the acting did get on my nerves.  6 was kind of an entertaining mess that took 45 minutes to draw me in... pretty much once all the killing was done with.  Freddy vs. Jason is very dumb but in a watchable way, I guess.  3 had good visual effects and set design but some mean spirited garbage and a stupid story.  5 can go fuck itself.

Overall I'd say I enjoyed the franchise.  5 pissed me off, but I think it was worth watching all the others.  It has it's ups and downs and has a good premise, although not always fully realised.  It had a lot of unfulfilled potential, but is certainly better in parts than it has any right to be.  None of these films are masterpieces, not in cinema, horror genre or even slasher genre, but there is a lot of diversity with each film not really resembling any of the others. 

The real question is, would I have been better off just watching Casablanca?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 13 January, 2021, 07:21:50 AM
Tales from the crypt (1972). Nice collection of stories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 09:16:34 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 January, 2021, 11:31:48 PM
Freddy vs. Jason
Well that was garbage, but pretty much entirely what I thought it would be...

With my scheduled evening plans cancelled, I also watched Freddy vs Jason last night with this thread in mind.
Definitely not as good as I remembered it - turns out my memory had mostly glossed over all the stuff at the start with the horrible teens and was mainly hooked on the two antagonists fighting each other. I had definitely forgotten about the abusive relationship stuff. Freddy is full on creepy-sexual-predator-y in this which makes Jason almost the anti-hero despite the fact that he kills most of the cast, and it's true that most of the cast is really annoying and, as you say, really '00.
I think once Freddy and Jason kick off on each other it's really enjoyable though and the manner the script goes about bringing them into conflict is nicely done. On many levels it's a bit of a homage to the two franchises and it's better than all bar the first two Nightmare films and all bar the first two Friday films too.

Watching it, and reading Pictsy's thoughts on the series, made me realise I don't really want to watch any of the other Nightmare films again though.

Quote from: pictsy on 12 January, 2021, 11:31:48 PM
Despite being no expert I think Jason was on diet pills as well.

It's a different actor playing Jason for this film, they wanted a taller actor to emphasise the height difference between Freddy and Jason so didn't use Kane Hodder. I'm sure I'd read somewhere that they had to pad Ken Kirzinger up with extra layers because he lacked bulk but I might be imagining that.
Also I'm sorry to hear you watched Jason X, it's dreadful.

Next instead of watching Casablanca I think you should remain in a loop of watching bad 80s slasher franchises and reviewing them, because I've enjoyed your thoughts on these very much.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 09:33:56 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 09:16:34 AM
Also I'm sorry to hear you watched Jason X, it's dreadful.

I love Jason X.  After FT13 part 6, it's my favourite one because it's just so much fun.

I enjoyed FvJ for what it was worth but Freddy is the weak link in it as it's all played for laughs.  That's pretty much the problem with a lot of the Freddy films.  It's all wisecracks and silliness.

People hate the Elm Street remake from a few years back but I thought it was good because it got rid of all the humour and made Freddy genuinely scary.

I tend to like the Friday films (and the Hatchet ones if you want something similar but more over the top).  The Elm Street films don't really do it for me.  I like Dream Warriors but after I watched the box set I ended up selling it.

Of all the big horror series though, Halloween is my least favourite and yet the one that seems to have the most credibility.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 11:40:36 AM
Interesting! I think Jason X starts off great, and has some cool ideas (like the holodeck bit) but the middle of it is just... eh. In fairness I've not seen it for almost 20 years but I remember being super let down by it.

I also like the Friday films a lot more than the Halloween or Elm Street series - Freddy just gets up my nose, he's too over the top. Have you seen Behind the Mask?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 12:55:08 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 11:40:36 AMHave you seen Behind the Mask?

No, not heard of that.  Some sort of documentary about the whole series?

Oddly, despite being a fan of the series.  I actually started at number 4 and really ought to watch the first three sometime!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 02:08:47 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 09:16:34 AM
Next instead of watching Casablanca I think you should remain in a loop of watching bad 80s slasher franchises and reviewing them, because I've enjoyed your thoughts on these very much.

That is very kind, thank you.  I don't know whether I could manage another long series right after this one and I'm not actually well versed in slasher flicks.  I was thinking of doing Poltergeist soon as a rewatch, but I need a palette cleanser.

Quote from: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 09:33:56 AM
I enjoyed FvJ for what it was worth but Freddy is the weak link in it as it's all played for laughs.  That's pretty much the problem with a lot of the Freddy films.  It's all wisecracks and silliness.

Although the wisecracking arguably starts early on, I'd say it's never an actual feature of the character until the last two films.  I was legitimately surprised at how long it took to start because I was under the impression that it was what Freddy was after the first film.  One of the biggest surprises for me was how Freddy strongly resembles the character in the first film (unnecessarily gross and idiotic origin stories aside) until film 5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 02:25:06 PM
Quote from: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 12:55:08 PM
No, not heard of that.  Some sort of documentary about the whole series?

It's kind of a faux-documentary about a film crew following a slasher as he preps for a rampage. It deconstructs a lot of the genre tropes and it's quite funny in a very black, deadpan sort of way (so nothing like Man Bites Dog, a similar concept for a film but one I found pretty sickening) and it has a twist that whilst kind of predictable I won't spoil for you here, but if you're interested in Friday / Halloween style films I think it's well worth seeing.
And definitely watch the early Fridays, they're the best ones IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 02:30:05 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 02:08:47 PM
I'm not actually well versed in slasher flicks.

This may be for the best!
But yeah, good critiques all the more interesting from your not being into the genre. I find it a bit alarming watching an old film and realising how much casual misogyny/ homphobia / racism is floating about in them and at the time that just didn't even register with me as a viewer because it was 'the norm' and I didn't know better. It's interesting to see it called out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 03:02:54 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 02:30:05 PM
...I find it a bit alarming watching an old film and realising how much casual misogyny/ homphobia / racism is floating about in them and at the time that just didn't even register with me as a viewer because it was 'the norm' and I didn't know better. It's interesting to see it called out.

I'm very much the same.  I think going back and seeing the problematic elements of the media we enjoyed in the past (or present) shows our growth as people and our understanding of peoples experiences and lives that are not our own.  Especially when our experiences and lives are privileged with having never to face actual discrimination and being considered the norm.  If we can be vigilant of it in the media we consume, we can be vigilant of it in real life.  I find it interesting to see it called out as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 04:07:52 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 02:08:47 PM
Although the wisecracking arguably starts early on, I'd say it's never an actual feature of the character until the last two films.  I was legitimately surprised at how long it took to start because I was under the impression that it was what Freddy was after the first film.  One of the biggest surprises for me was how Freddy strongly resembles the character in the first film (unnecessarily gross and idiotic origin stories aside) until film 5.

You should give the remake a go.  It might still be on Netflix.  It's just a whole lot darker.  A bit unpleasant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 11:11:42 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 11:40:36 AM
Have you seen Behind the Mask?

I have now.

This was an interesting film.  I really feel I should complain about a film that wants to be two different things at the same time, but it actually pulled it off.  I don't think this is a spoof mockumentary comedy horror film.  That'd be pretty cool and it seems like that is what it is through a lot of the run time.  I was going to complain that it should have had more of What They do in the Shadows vibe.  Making the absurd mundane and all that.  To begin with I thought this film was doing that.  Then it kicked in.  It doesn't matter that it's twist is predictable.  It's all predictable.  It's meant to be.  The film gives everything away.  Even the credit scene.  This is no spoof.  We have the deconstruction of the slasher genre using another genres presentation to create a legitimate, postmodern slasher film.  I'm surprised how well it ended up working and I'm generally impressed with the film.

It's not often I get to unequivocally gush over a film.  What a good recommendation. :D

Next I'll be rewatching The Voice (2014). 

(Casablanca can wait... for now)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 14 January, 2021, 05:43:06 AM
The Cloverfield Paradox is a fun bit of sci-fi horror that fits into a mini-genre (or cliche) of a group of people in a spaceship where What Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong, in the same sort of magical way that Final Destination works.

Whatever services the plot to move it to the next bit of heightened mayhem works because ... quantum flux capacitor dimensional rift blah. Not taking itself too seriously works in its favor, and it manages the (almost) straight-faced line "I think my arm is trying to write something", in reference to the character's disembodied limb, which has been trapped in a perspex box and given a pen and paper.

Probably more of the plot could have revolved around this, as it worked so well in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. And Evil Dead II.

---

In a more tedious way, Revolt is an alien invasion story in which special effects heavy robots without a personality (that make repetitive sound effects borrowed from Transformers) do some invading until someone eventually EMP's their collective ass. Like in almost all alien invasion stories.

Only really worth it for this bit of cheesy-like-nachos dialogue:

Male hero: you shoot well for a ...
Female love interest: ...woman?
Male hero: ...doctor!
Female love interest *swoons*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 January, 2021, 09:01:16 AM
How many Cloverfield films are there??
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 January, 2021, 10:38:10 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 14 January, 2021, 09:01:16 AM
How many Cloverfield films are there??

Cloverfield, The Cloverfield Paradox and that movie with John Goodman that they hastily back ended with a Cloverfield mash-up, 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Really enjoyed 10 Cloverfield Lane, and it could easily have been an entertaining movie without the last 15 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 January, 2021, 10:59:34 AM
Oh.  OK, it is the amount of films I thought it was.  Guess I just didn't realise that Paradox was the other film.

I hear good things about 10 Cloverfield Lane but am aware it's just using the franchise name and that is a little off-putting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 14 January, 2021, 11:03:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 11:11:42 PM
This was an interesting film.  I really feel I should complain about a film that wants to be two different things at the same time, but it actually pulled it off.  I don't think this is a spoof mockumentary comedy horror film.  That'd be pretty cool and it seems like that is what it is through a lot of the run time.  I was going to complain that it should have had more of What They do in the Shadows vibe.  Making the absurd mundane and all that.  To begin with I thought this film was doing that.  Then it kicked in.  It doesn't matter that it's twist is predictable.  It's all predictable.  It's meant to be.  The film gives everything away.  Even the credit scene.  This is no spoof.  We have the deconstruction of the slasher genre using another genres presentation to create a legitimate, postmodern slasher film.  I'm surprised how well it ended up working and I'm generally impressed with the film.

YES! Exactly this. You think it's one thing and then it flips to being something else entirelyThat's a very good analysis and better than I could have written.
Also I'm really glad you enjoyed it, it's a nice feeling to recommend something that isn't pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 January, 2021, 12:07:49 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 14 January, 2021, 11:03:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 January, 2021, 11:11:42 PM
This was an interesting film.  I really feel I should complain about a film that wants to be two different things at the same time, but it actually pulled it off.  I don't think this is a spoof mockumentary comedy horror film.  That'd be pretty cool and it seems like that is what it is through a lot of the run time.  I was going to complain that it should have had more of What They do in the Shadows vibe.  Making the absurd mundane and all that.  To begin with I thought this film was doing that.  Then it kicked in.  It doesn't matter that it's twist is predictable.  It's all predictable.  It's meant to be.  The film gives everything away.  Even the credit scene.  This is no spoof.  We have the deconstruction of the slasher genre using another genres presentation to create a legitimate, postmodern slasher film.  I'm surprised how well it ended up working and I'm generally impressed with the film.

YES! Exactly this. You think it's one thing and then it flips to being something else entirelyThat's a very good analysis and better than I could have written.
Also I'm really glad you enjoyed it, it's a nice feeling to recommend something that isn't pants.

Another thing I didn't really bring up is that the way the film uses the tropes.  For a film full of them, it adheres to very few.  The more I think about the film, the more impressed I am with it.  Especially as this is a 00's film.  I'd have been happy with being just entertained, but this is something I'm definitely going to recommend to others.  Gotta share the love. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 January, 2021, 12:43:16 PM
pictsy any further distraction from watching Casablanca is an act of self harm akin to Brexit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 January, 2021, 01:06:34 PM
I've watched a lot of schlock and shit in my life.

But never Casablanca.

Figure it being on Iplayer now's as good as ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 January, 2021, 01:13:45 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 02:25:06 PM
Quote from: repoman on 13 January, 2021, 12:55:08 PM
No, not heard of that.  Some sort of documentary about the whole series?

It's kind of a faux-documentary about a film crew following a slasher as he preps for a rampage. It deconstructs a lot of the genre tropes and it's quite funny in a very black, deadpan sort of way (so nothing like Man Bites Dog, a similar concept for a film but one I found pretty sickening) and it has a twist that whilst kind of predictable I won't spoil for you here, but if you're interested in Friday / Halloween style films I think it's well worth seeing.
And definitely watch the early Fridays, they're the best ones IMO.

I didn't get on with Man Bites Dog but this sounds good.  I'll check it out!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 January, 2021, 12:13:27 AM
The Voices

A dark comedy that focuses on the unfortunate trope of psychosis (in this case AVH) being depicted as criminal.  I'm no authority but I think the treatment of the main character is pretty good within and by the movie and I did empathise with him.  That is no doubt largely due to Ryan Reynolds performance.  Nevertheless, there are points where he is extremely sinister.  Not in that tired sadistic way we often see in films, but in a frightened and desperate way.  The movie has nuance, great performances and interesting story.  Beyond a tired cliche that does more harm than good, the film is thoroughly enjoyable.  It's kinda weird as well and very disturbing and it juxtaposes a twee delusion with a grim reality.  I'd recommend this if you like Ryan Reynolds.

Don't know what I'll be watching next.  For some reason no movies come to mind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2021, 09:27:50 PM
Tenet

Sweet Jesus. Avoid. Avoid like leprosy. Don't even start it in the hope it cannot be "that bad".

It's worse. This is a bad future shock which with a $100m budget.

This is incomprehensible pish, made worse by its own belief that it is clever. It's the rabid gibberings of a first year physics student.

And if that wasn't enough for you, the sound edit is terrible. You can't make out half the dialogue.

The first irony is that it's a waste of time.

The second is that you'll probably want to see it because of this review, only to realise I'm right
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 January, 2021, 09:39:18 PM
I quite liked it. Not Nolan's best but still remarkably good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 January, 2021, 09:49:56 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2021, 09:27:50 PM
The second is that you'll probably want to see it because of this review, only to realise I'm right

A little, yes.  I think I need context.  What do you think of Nolan's other films?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2021, 10:12:13 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 January, 2021, 09:49:56 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2021, 09:27:50 PM
The second is that you'll probably want to see it because of this review, only to realise I'm right

A little, yes.  I think I need context.  What do you think of Nolan's other films?

Loved all of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 January, 2021, 11:59:01 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2021, 10:12:13 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 January, 2021, 09:49:56 PM
A little, yes.  I think I need context.  What do you think of Nolan's other films?
Loved all of them.

Hmm, that's interesting.  I think at some point I will probably give the film a go then, but will temper my expectations.  If it's that bad I'm curious to see how it fails.  I'm personally wary of Nolan anyway as I haven't been all that impressed by five of his films.  I never bothered watching Interstellar as it didn't look interesting.

For some reason I've been compelled to watch a black and white classic, so this evening I revisited π for the first time in nearly 20 years.  For a film where very little happens, it is jam packed.  I'm not sure whether this is about a genius who finds the key to understanding the universe, whether it's about a mental breakdown caused by loneliness and obsession or both.  It's probably both.  Anyway, like I say, not much happens in the film really and it's pretty short.  It seems to mostly be Aronofsky flexing his directing muscles.  It has silly sci-fi elements that haven't aged at all well, tying together with mysticism and numerology (which even gets lampshaded) and a little dash of a critique on capitalism.  I mean the film has a six inch floppy disk being used in a computer that has a processor that "hasn't been declassified yet", whatever that is supposed to mean.  It's pretty goofy.  Nevertheless, the over-exposure, frenetic camera work and Clint Mansell's excellent soundtrack sell the film.  I like it as much as I ever did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 January, 2021, 12:27:08 AM
While you lot are all watching Paul Bettany in WANDAVISION, I caught up with him in UNCLE FRANK (on Amazon Prime).

There's not a lot new in the  "prodigal child returning home for a family funeral"  but this is elevated by three great central performances and a short but mostly joyous road trip section. That and thinking that, though it's set in 1973, it's sadly still relevant.

I don't often say this but it was twenty minutes too short. Some of the reveals needed a little more breathing space and we didn't see enough of the magnificent Margo Martindale and Lois Smith in their supporting roles.

The main female lead looks uncannily like Anna Friel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 January, 2021, 11:17:03 PM
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Maybe I should have watched Casablanca instead.  I'll get there one day.

The kindest feeling I have towards this film is cold indifference.  I can't say I enjoyed it, because I didn't.  It has the structure of an epic and is an impressive spectacle but I don' think it really had much substance.  I really did not enjoy Roy's storyline.  [spoiler]In the end his family were disposable in service to the plot and that was unpleasant and unenjoyable to watch.  This film is no allegory, but it does have parallels in parts to mental health issues that can cause strain on a family and the way that Roy's wife deals with his obsession is entirely unsympathetic, but I felt bad in myself because it's never as simple as that.  We just don't get to see her perspective.  It's made even worse by the fact Roy is not delusional and is entirely right.  But she and the kids have to be out of the picture before the credits run.  I may not have been bothered by this if we are shown Roy before his encounter not being satisfied with his life and needing to find this meaning.[/spoiler]  So I had this kinda sickly feeling watching it and I just couldn't enjoy those parts.  I didn't like the puppets, either.

I did thoroughly appreciate all the other visual effects.  The spaceships are fantastic looking and I think the lights during the night design was inspired.  Absolutely beautiful.  I real testament to the eras visual effect techniques.  Best thing in the film, by far.  I also like that at one point it looks like the aliens fuck about with people just so they can have a jam session.  The peripheral aspects were nice but I think they needed more development.

I wasn't expecting to be so harsh to this film.  I get why it has a legacy and I may have been more kind if I saw it many moons ago.  So yeah, "meh" is the best I can say about the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 January, 2021, 02:45:48 AM
In a zeitgeisty way, I wonder if Close Encounters was such a big hit because it came on the heels of Jaws and American Graffiti, in (both of) which Richard Dreyfuss's character is far more relatable. And shiny lights in the sky being appealing was something people really needed because the idea of a nuclear holocaust was, like, prevalent.

Everyone's pretty quick to make pals with these little grey guys even after they kidnap a bunch of people and traumatize a single mum. Bit weird.

---

Reverse psychology: do not watch Casablanca, whatever you do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 18 January, 2021, 06:36:35 AM
I get your point Pictsy, CEOTK is a curious beast on one level.  There are several iconic scenes and a sense of wonder in places but I would agree with your overall analysis.

In particular the suggestion that Neary's prior situation is already shaky.  There are hints there.  Considering the size of the house the fact that the living room is dominated by a massive train set points to him being quite selfish.

The same is true of his handling of the choice of activities.  He tries to manipulate the kids into supporting his preference.

Another point that struck me was that it was always his wife that answered the phone for work calls.  It gave the impression that he was not particularly competent and needed constant management.

It feels at times though like there are too many ideas bouncing around in the film.  There is not much coherence in that regard.

It really is the high visual set pieces that give the film its reputation in many respects.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 18 January, 2021, 06:49:15 AM
I watched to contrasting movies this weekend. One is an action movie whereas the other was more a drama. I can enjoy both genres but one think that made like the one and found the other just average was the characters. The movies I am talking about is News of the World and Outside the Wire. I could not get into characters of Wire and ended not caring for nay of them whereas Tom Hanks pulled me into his character and again proven why is such a good actor. The action sequences of Wire were good not spectacular. One theme I am tired of is where a AI decides what is right and what is wrong (this theme is so used and boring).  This also contributes to the averageness of Wire. News of the World is a great movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2021, 08:26:44 AM
I watched Adventures of Baron Munchausen , while there's nothing wrong with it persay I found it a little disappointing, certainly compared to my memories of it. I've not seen it in years and I guess in that time I've built it up in my mind as an amazing film of fantasy that sits along side Gilliams other classics like Brazil and Time Bandits... its not.

Somehow for all the wonderous powers the characters have. The trips to the Moon, inside Vulcan's volcanic home, into the belly of a sea monster its somehow manages to be a little drab.

For the life of me I can't put my finger onto why, but there you go it just is.

Weird, but not in the 'and wonderful' way it aims for.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 January, 2021, 10:30:22 AM
Brazil became a documentary, basically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 January, 2021, 10:41:07 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 January, 2021, 02:45:48 AM
Everyone's pretty quick to make pals with these little grey guys even after they kidnap a bunch of people and traumatize a single mum. Bit weird.

Yeah, that was very weird.  A lot of the Alien stuff felt like it was there to tick some UFO Mythology boxes.  The (iirc) UN group that was investigating the occurrences made some discoveries off screen, that are tangentially relevant to the ending.  Although I did like the payoff of [spoiler]the mother taking photos at the end.[/spoiler]

Quote from: Tjm86 on 18 January, 2021, 06:36:35 AM
In particular the suggestion that Neary's prior situation is already shaky.  There are hints there.  Considering the size of the house the fact that the living room is dominated by a massive train set points to him being quite selfish.

The same is true of his handling of the choice of activities.  He tries to manipulate the kids into supporting his preference.

Another point that struck me was that it was always his wife that answered the phone for work calls.  It gave the impression that he was not particularly competent and needed constant management.

These are all interesting points.  I wish the film did more to elaborate on those aspects.  I think I could have tolerated it more if there was empathy for Roy's wife. 

I think his wife answering the phone is largely there to create the conflict in the relationship.  Her role seems mostly to be to react negatively to what is going on.  I think the film doesn't empathise with her and makes her slightly unpleasant just so we don't feel too bad for Roy when [spoiler]she takes the kids and leaves him.  He is free to go off into the stars with those children in Halloween customs and ugly puppets and we don't have to worry about the family he left behind.[/spoiler]

Roy's inability to follow directions is touched upon a few times in the movie, which is thematically relevant.  Ties a little into his wife answering the phone so she can see he needs her to drive him at night because he can't find his way by himself.

Quote
It feels at times though like there are too many ideas bouncing around in the film.  There is not much coherence in that regard.

It really is the high visual set pieces that give the film its reputation in many respects.

Yup.  I don't necessarily think this ruins a film, either.  If it wasn't for the fact that I found the family stuff unpalatable, I could have thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 January, 2021, 02:45:48 AM
Reverse psychology: do not watch Casablanca, whatever you do.

It was going to be my next film, but now you say that I'll put it off a little longer :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 January, 2021, 10:42:06 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2021, 08:26:44 AM
Weird, but not in the 'and wonderful' way it aims for.

I have similar thoughts: the Baron Munchausen in my mind is always far better than the reality of the film itself, which aside from a few sequences is just a bit flat and underwhelming. Apt, I suppose!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 18 January, 2021, 01:36:26 PM
The hunt for Red October. I forgot how great that movie is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 January, 2021, 01:38:35 PM
I may be wrong but I think, quite a while ago, Spielberg said that he wouldn't do the family stuff in CE3K the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 18 January, 2021, 02:23:19 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 January, 2021, 01:38:35 PM
I may be wrong but I think, quite a while ago, Spielberg said that he wouldn't do the family stuff in CE3K the same.
I would hope not!

CE3K is too entrenched in my movie history for me to analyse effectively, and I must have watched it 50 times by now. It's my "go back to a simpler time" escape hatch. Even as a kid I could see that Roy wasn't entirely sympathetic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 18 January, 2021, 02:26:41 PM
Quote from: Smith on 18 January, 2021, 01:36:26 PM
The hunt for Red October. I forgot how great that movie is.
God yes, it's very high on my re-watchability list. Alec Baldwin's self-sure, all-in, take-no-prisoners Ryan is still the best depiction of that character IMO, and with that supporting cast...perfection!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 January, 2021, 03:00:36 PM
Quote from: Smith on 18 January, 2021, 01:36:26 PM
The hunt for Red October. I forgot how great that movie is.
Absolutely. Baldwin is still the best Jack Ryan IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 January, 2021, 03:05:45 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 18 January, 2021, 10:42:06 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2021, 08:26:44 AM
Weird, but not in the 'and wonderful' way it aims for.

I have similar thoughts: the Baron Munchausen in my mind is always far better than the reality of the film itself, which aside from a few sequences is just a bit flat and underwhelming. Apt, I suppose!

I have always thoroughly enjoyed this film.  Not for its story, although the unreliable narrator thing is interesting, I'm not a big fan of this skewed fantasy/reality thing.  Stuff like Big Fish as another example.  I would have liked the story more if it was just a straight fantasy film.

The reason I thoroughly enjoy this film is the aesthetic.  I love how it looks.  All the design work that went into this film is very appealing to me.  It's one of those rare films where the style overwhelms any issue I could have with substance.  Time Bandits has a much better story, but isn't quite the visual feast.  Brazil is the one that hits both notes for me.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 18 January, 2021, 01:38:35 PM
I may be wrong but I think, quite a while ago, Spielberg said that he wouldn't do the family stuff in CE3K the same.

I looked it up.  He said he wouldn't have done the ending the same because of how he leaves his family behind.

Quote from: Smith on 18 January, 2021, 01:36:26 PM
The hunt for Red October. I forgot how great that movie is.

I'm not sure if I've seen this or not.  I've definitely seen Crimson Tide.  Can't go too wrong with Denzel.  I definitely haven't seen Das Boot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 January, 2021, 04:08:45 PM
Das Boot: most submarine movies let you out of the submarine quite a lot - you'll get to see the destroyers launching their depth charges and so on. Das Boot keeps you with the submariners, so that you get a sense of the terrifying claustrophobia. You're only getting out of the submarine if they are.

A great movie that I'm glad I watched but because it does what it does so very well, isn't on my re-watch list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 18 January, 2021, 04:30:59 PM
Speaking of Das Boot, I watched Enemy Mine yesterday. My wife claims she had never seen it so you can imagine the great wailing and gnashing of teeth as first Drac dies and then Zammis is captured. I got hold of myself eventually. Still one of my favourite films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2021, 04:31:09 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 January, 2021, 04:08:45 PM
Das Boot: most submarine movies let you out of the submarine quite a lot - you'll get to see the destroyers launching their depth charges and so on. Das Boot keeps you with the submariners, so that you get a sense of the terrifying claustrophobia. You're only getting out of the submarine if they are.

A great movie that I'm glad I watched but because it does what it does so very well, isn't on my re-watch list.

No sure which version you saw but many moons ago there was a TV mini-series that was greatly extended from the original movie cut (and I think other cuts) and it was quite astonishing. My Dad recorded it all and every so often he'd drag it out. We'd whine a bit as he all but insisted that we should all watch and a pretty quickly we were all utterly captivated for the whole 5 plus hours (not in one sitting). A staggeringly effective bit of film making and man that ending!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 January, 2021, 04:44:12 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 18 January, 2021, 04:30:59 PM
Speaking of Das Boot, I watched Enemy Mine yesterday. My wife claims she had never seen it so you can imagine the great wailing and gnashing of teeth as first Drac dies and then Zammis is captured. I got hold of myself eventually. Still one of my favourite films.

Such an enjoyable film.  It was one of those caught-on-tele-by-accident films for me and took me a while a find out it's name so I could rewatch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 January, 2021, 04:48:39 PM
"Your Mickey Mouse is a stupiddope."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 12:26:59 AM
Crimson Tide

I was reminded of the film so decided to revisit it.  It is a very good film.  It gives the impression it is based on real events with beginning and end text, but it's not.  Largely the film is about power dynamics, attitudes towards the military and the use of nuclear weapons.  Given Denzel is portraying our protagonist it's easy to sympathise with his point of view, especially as Gene Hackman's character is so wrong.  The antagonism between Hackman's Ramsey towards Washinston's Hunter is clear from the outset through what I can only describe as heavy handy subtly.  With stakes really high and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the submarine the tension ramps up considerably. 

My big complaint is the ending.  It tries to invoke some sort of sympathy towards Ramsey, but his actions were monstrous.  It wants to give a feel good happy ending and not take sides in an issue the film otherwise takes a very clear stance on.  This is not surprising given the film had the cooperation of the US Navy and they are notorious in insisting that films do not paint them in a bad light.  After all, Hunter could have been wrong.  The only problem is Hunter is never wrong.  Except in the case three quarters of the way through the film where a line of dialogue suggests he is wrong in following procedure.  Honestly, I think this is in service to the cop out ending, because it doesn't entirely fit with all the procedure babble that came before.  Like they pulled it out their arses.  So I don't count it.

Aside from the dissonance, the drama is superb in the film.  The acting is wonderful with Denzel and Gene playing off each other really well.  And it gets really exciting, especially towards the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 January, 2021, 12:47:49 AM
The Color [sic] Out of Space.  Well I came to laugh, but I honestly enjoyed that. Some suitably horrifying bits with icky practical-looking effects, leavened considerably by No-holds Cage turning it up to Eleventy Eleven. Was he really doing a full-on Trump impression for large chunks? Always good value,  that man.

The short is one of my favourite Lovecrafts, and I thought this wasn't a half-bad go at modernizing and accelerating the story, while retaining the atmosphere of inescapable cosmic corruption. In fact,  I can see myself watching this again.
"Now if you don't mind it's time to milk the alpacas".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 10:14:05 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 January, 2021, 12:47:49 AM
The Color [sic] Out of Space. 

I found that film to be very visually impressive, at times being very beautiful with the lovely pinks and purples and very horrifying with the body horror. 

I seem to be the only one who thinks Cage didn't go full on Cage in this film.  Although he does certainly Cage it up I don't think it's even close to the levels of something like Vampires Kiss.

Despite everything going for the film, it hasn't left as big an impression on me as The Endless did.  Sometimes a good story can beat out the pretty pictures. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 10:20:46 AM
Psycho 2 - Haven't seen this since it was shown late, way back in my childhood, one night on the BBC. A very good sequel, with a brilliant premise and some absolutely lovely moments played by Anthony Perkins as he slowly begins to lose his grip on reality. Loved the fact that all is not what it seems, and it is all played very effectively, and with a lot of humour. And I'm a sucker for any movie with Robert Loggia.

True Lies - James Cameron does Bond, and does it a lot better than the majority of actual Bond Movies as he takes the super-spy and injects enough humour, and edge of your seat action that it makes the long running time fly by. Some lovely, comic moments from Bill Paxton and Jamie-lee Curtis, who steal the movie and even Tom Arnold is sufferable for the most part. That soundtrack is a bit bloody good as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 January, 2021, 11:03:03 AM
Watched Withnail and I last night. It remains a work of genius... where is that Endlessly Rewatchable thread?

I've not seen it in years but can still almost do the dialogue word for word as I go along. Its never gets dull. Is still hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure and this rewatch reminds me its in my top ten films of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 January, 2021, 11:15:49 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 10:14:05 AM
... I don't think it's even close to the levels of something like Vampires Kiss.

Adding that one to the watch-list,  so!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 12:19:20 PM
Quote from: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 10:20:46 AM
Psycho 2 - Haven't seen this since it was shown late, way back in my childhood, one night on the BBC. A very good sequel, with a brilliant premise and some absolutely lovely moments played by Anthony Perkins as he slowly begins to lose his grip on reality. Loved the fact that all is not what it seems, and it is all played very effectively, and with a lot of humour. And I'm a sucker for any movie with Robert Loggia.

I saw this before I did the original a very, very long time ago.  I remember liking it.  If I recall correctly it was quite the tragic film.


Quote from: TordelBack on 20 January, 2021, 11:15:49 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 10:14:05 AM
... I don't think it's even close to the levels of something like Vampires Kiss.

Adding that one to the watch-list,  so!

That sounds like a great idea :D  It is a tour de force of Nicholas Cagery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 01:26:11 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 12:19:20 PM
Quote from: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 10:20:46 AM
Psycho 2 - Haven't seen this since it was shown late, way back in my childhood, one night on the BBC. A very good sequel, with a brilliant premise and some absolutely lovely moments played by Anthony Perkins as he slowly begins to lose his grip on reality. Loved the fact that all is not what it seems, and it is all played very effectively, and with a lot of humour. And I'm a sucker for any movie with Robert Loggia.

I saw this before I did the original a very, very long time ago.  I remember liking it.  If I recall correctly it was quite the tragic film.


Quote from: TordelBack on 20 January, 2021, 11:15:49 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 10:14:05 AM
... I don't think it's even close to the levels of something like Vampires Kiss.

Adding that one to the watch-list,  so!

That sounds like a great idea :D  It is a tour de force of Nicholas Cagery.

Tragic is the word. Great movie, which will have you screaming at the screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 20 January, 2021, 01:53:21 PM
Quote from: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 10:20:46 AMTrue Lies - James Cameron does Bond, and does it a lot better than the majority of actual Bond Movies as he takes the super-spy and injects enough humour, and edge of your seat action that it makes the long running time fly by. Some lovely, comic moments from Bill Paxton and Jamie-lee Curtis, who steal the movie and even Tom Arnold is sufferable for the most part. That soundtrack is a bit bloody good as well.
We re-watched that over the weekend! It's one we go back to often, just an absurdly entertaining film with both Arnie and Bill Paxton on top form. Act 2 is weird and kind of problematic, but it also has all the best lines.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 02:14:37 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 20 January, 2021, 01:53:21 PM
Quote from: Rately on 20 January, 2021, 10:20:46 AMTrue Lies - James Cameron does Bond, and does it a lot better than the majority of actual Bond Movies as he takes the super-spy and injects enough humour, and edge of your seat action that it makes the long running time fly by. Some lovely, comic moments from Bill Paxton and Jamie-lee Curtis, who steal the movie and even Tom Arnold is sufferable for the most part. That soundtrack is a bit bloody good as well.
We re-watched that over the weekend! It's one we go back to often, just an absurdly entertaining film with both Arnie and Bill Paxton on top form. Act 2 is weird and kind of problematic, but it also has all the best lines.

Bill Paxton is just brilliant in it. Unreal to think that Bill Paxton is no longer with us, because he brought so much charisma to every role he played.

That bit with the Horse on the rooftop always terrifies me, for some reason.

Recently watched Frailty, one of the few movies Bill Paxton directed, and it is an astonishing wee movie with a great Matthew McConaughey performance, and a lovely script that keeps you on your toes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 January, 2021, 10:49:50 AM
The Hunt for Red October

I enjoyed this as much as I did Crimson Tide.  This one didn't have a weak ending that kinda undermines the point of the film like CT does, but it doesn't hit the same tension level as CT, so I think it balances out.  Surprisingly I am still not sure whether I have seen this film before or not.  I think it has a generic quality were nothing seems unfamiliar but also nothing stood out as being familiar.  It makes sense as the film is light propaganda.  It's made well, nevertheless.  Good pacing, good acting, coherent narrative, throw in some light sci-fi elements and we've got a pretty decent film here.  I can't really complain about much.  It's politics is Cold War politics, it's Tom Clancy, we're not getting any treatise on the nature of War here.  It has an edge of realism mixed with a healthy amount of the ridiculous.  It does what it does well, but it has very little to say and is shallow (ha!  because submarines!) and that's about as critical as I think I can get.

Other things I liked were the cast.  Alec Baldwin can be hit and miss for me, but he's alright here.  Connery, Neill and Glenn are all as good as you'd expect.  [spoiler]I liked Neill's stuff about moving to Montana.  That was pretty weird.[/spoiler]  I actually liked the performances of Tim Curry and Courtney B. Vance the most.  They don't have big roles, but I was always happy to see them on screen.

Overall I'm glad I watched it.  Maybe this time I'll remember that I've seen it (assuming I have before).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 22 January, 2021, 05:55:25 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 12:19:20 PM
That sounds like a great idea :D  It is a tour de force of Nicholas Cagery.

Some epic Nicholas Cagery to be had in Mandy. Quite simply epic:

https://youtu.be/rI054ow6KJk (https://youtu.be/rI054ow6KJk)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 January, 2021, 08:53:54 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 22 January, 2021, 05:55:25 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 January, 2021, 12:19:20 PM
That sounds like a great idea :D  It is a tour de force of Nicholas Cagery.

Some epic Nicholas Cagery to be had in Mandy. Quite simply epic:

https://youtu.be/rI054ow6KJk (https://youtu.be/rI054ow6KJk)

This might be considered a spoiler considering how much of the film you have to sit through before Nicholas starts Caging. 

If you want full on Cagery go for the second Ghost Rider film.  It's utter shite, but it's 100% Cage start to end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 January, 2021, 09:04:53 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 January, 2021, 10:49:50 AM
The Hunt for Red October

I enjoyed this as much as I did Crimson Tide.  This one didn't have a weak ending that kinda undermines the point of the film like CT does, but it doesn't hit the same tension level as CT, so I think it balances out.  Surprisingly I am still not sure whether I have seen this film before or not.  I think it has a generic quality were nothing seems unfamiliar but also nothing stood out as being familiar.  It makes sense as the film is light propaganda.  It's made well, nevertheless.  Good pacing, good acting, coherent narrative, throw in some light sci-fi elements and we've got a pretty decent film here.  I can't really complain about much.  It's politics is Cold War politics, it's Tom Clancy, we're not getting any treatise on the nature of War here.  It has an edge of realism mixed with a healthy amount of the ridiculous.  It does what it does well, but it has very little to say and is shallow (ha!  because submarines!) and that's about as critical as I think I can get.

Other things I liked were the cast.  Alec Baldwin can be hit and miss for me, but he's alright here.  Connery, Neill and Glenn are all as good as you'd expect.  [spoiler]I liked Neill's stuff about moving to Montana.  That was pretty weird.[/spoiler]  I actually liked the performances of Tim Curry and Courtney B. Vance the most.  They don't have big roles, but I was always happy to see them on screen.

Overall I'm glad I watched it.  Maybe this time I'll remember that I've seen it (assuming I have before).
I plan to watch this tomorrow. It never disapoints.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 22 January, 2021, 09:06:37 PM
Double the cage! (//http://)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 23 January, 2021, 08:22:06 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 January, 2021, 08:53:54 PM
This might be considered a spoiler considering how much of the film you have to sit through before Nicholas starts Caging. 

If you want full on Cagery go for the second Ghost Rider film.  It's utter shite, but it's 100% Cage start to end.

My personal favouite has to be the Wickerman remake. It's just so bad but also so good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 January, 2021, 09:04:35 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 23 January, 2021, 08:22:06 AM
My personal favouite has to be the Wickerman remake. It's just so bad but also so good.

I've only heard of the level of Cage in that film.  I never watched it.  I didn't enjoy the original, so had no interest in a sequel.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 January, 2021, 09:18:57 AM
HOW DID YA BURN? HOWD YA BURN HOWD YA BURN?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 January, 2021, 10:14:09 AM
Down Periscope

Rounding off the submarine marathon with this somewhat entertaining odd-ball under-dog comedy staring Kelsey Grammer.  There's some patronising chauvinism in the film, the jokes aren't that good, the characters aren't that interesting and yet I still enjoy this film.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for an odd-ball under-dog comedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 23 January, 2021, 04:48:07 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 13 January, 2021, 11:40:36 AM
Interesting! I think Jason X starts off great, and has some cool ideas (like the holodeck bit) but the middle of it is just... eh. In fairness I've not seen it for almost 20 years but I remember being super let down by it.

I also like the Friday films a lot more than the Halloween or Elm Street series - Freddy just gets up my nose, he's too over the top. Have you seen Behind the Mask?

Jason X was quite entertaining. I got a kick out of the fact the two actresses from Andromeda played main characters, with  human/robot roles  that appeared to be swapped from their Andromeda series. I.e. Lexa Doig played an Android character (and computer) in Andromeda  while Lisa Ryder played a human character. In  Jason X Doig is the human and Ryder an android.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 January, 2021, 08:22:39 AM
The Terminator

I so often drop off the 'The'. This one is fun as ever but its not quite in the 'Endlessly Rewatchable' league. For not its the weaker of its comtempories (which aren't really contempories but fall into the category of films I felt were essential as a kid) so Alien, Predator and Highlander I guess (may be others I'm forgetting). Shows its limited budget and ambition and is very much a good B Movie as opposed to a great movie. Still utterly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 24 January, 2021, 08:33:14 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 January, 2021, 09:04:35 AM
I've only heard of the level of Cage in that film.  I never watched it.  I didn't enjoy the original, so had no interest in a sequel.

I know people enjoyed the original and hated the remake but I think you might be a prime candidate to actually prefer it. Would love to hear what you think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 January, 2021, 09:42:41 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 24 January, 2021, 08:33:14 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 January, 2021, 09:04:35 AM
I've only heard of the level of Cage in that film.  I never watched it.  I didn't enjoy the original, so had no interest in a sequel.

I know people enjoyed the original and hated the remake but I think you might be a prime candidate to actually prefer it. Would love to hear what you think.

From what I know of the film I think I'd probably still be in the "the original was better" camp, despite not liking the original.  Also, from what I know of the film I think I'd dislike it on its own merits.  I don't know why I called it a sequel, I know it's a remake.  Thinking about Cage performances has probably turned my brain into a puddle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 January, 2021, 11:39:41 PM
Casablanca

Well.  I'm a little worried about commenting about this film.  I'm going to start with my biggest complaint.  The character Sam struck me as more than problematic.  I'm no authority being white and British, but this did reek of a character stuck in the subservient days of US slavery.  Given the time the film was made and the audience it was made for I'm not going to be charitable and say this might not have been intentional.  It was and we know it.

Next complaint.  Rapist French guy.  Didn't like the casual way the film treated his raping.  Sure, Rick helped out one woman, but it was hand waved away when the French shit said he had another in line anyway and it was referenced as being frequent.  Yes, it's constantly referencing he's a bad man, but such a nice man and a good friend of Ricks.  It wants its cake and to eat it.  It portrays him as a sympathetic character and it's very shitty how it treats sexual assault.

Next complaint.  This isn't the films fault.  This film has been referenced too much in other media.  It was weird seeing the source.  And sooooo much of this film has been referenced.  It doesn't help Red Dwarf did a total rip off of the final act in the episode Camille.

Last complaint.  Mostly, I just wasn't very engaged by it.  Take out the gross elements, which is thankfully not a lot of the films runtime, and you've got a story I can't connect with.  It's with these last two complaints I feel I didn't need to see this film.  I was largely bored and the familiarity didn't help.  There are a few smaller complaints I have, but I think that the film failed to engage me is enough to end on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 January, 2021, 06:21:12 AM
Oh well after the build up we gave it this was always going to happen wasn't it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 07:30:33 AM

I think the gross elements are essential to the story as Casablanca itself is basically a prison (the shadows at the start establish this), so the characters are faced with the choice of living in that prison or in a war.

I understand your disappointment - I felt the same the first time I watched it. Once I started looking at screenwriting courses to help with my comic scripts and watched it again - wow. I think it's a disappointing first watch because it's so good, almost archetypal, and has been copied and referenced countless times.

Don't throw the film out - give it some time then watch it again - it will grow on you.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 10:43:20 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 January, 2021, 06:21:12 AM
Oh well after the build up we gave it this was always going to happen wasn't it!

Some punchlines are inevitable.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 07:30:33 AM

I think the gross elements are essential to the story as Casablanca itself is basically a prison (the shadows at the start establish this), so the characters are faced with the choice of living in that prison or in a war.

I understand your disappointment - I felt the same the first time I watched it. Once I started looking at screenwriting courses to help with my comic scripts and watched it again - wow. I think it's a disappointing first watch because it's so good, almost archetypal, and has been copied and referenced countless times.

Don't throw the film out - give it some time then watch it again - it will grow on you.

I like your optimism.

I was pretty critical with my thoughts and I didn't really offer anything positive about the film.  Now I wouldn't say I was disappointed.  This is kinda what I thought Casablanca was.  I just wasn't engaged enough with the narrative.  I can see why it would be used for a screenwriting course.  The structure of the film is very solid.  It's also well directed.  If it were a modern film I'd call it competently made.

I think you may have missed my point on the parts I found gross.  Sam's character could have had more agency.  I don't think I'd go so far as to say it is outright racist, I don't think it's my place to make that call.  After all, Rick does make a point that Sam has his own agency (even if Sam never demonstrates it) and no one uses slurs or treats him badly.  He knows his place and his place is in service to Rick.  He doesn't come across like Rick's friend, but more like a loyal dog.  So maybe it is a racist depiction.  Throw in a load of real world context and this is my problem with the character.  It's not essential to the story, but it is demonstrative of an attitude that unfortunately still persists to this day.

The French police chief's corruption is certainly more informative to the narrative.  He's corrupt, he drinks and gambles on duty, collaborates with Nazi's, rapes women etc.  He's a monster, essentially.  Alas, no.  I'm sorry.  Got that last bit wrong.  He's the comic relief.  It's played for laughs.  Even the scene where it becomes explicit he is raping women.  Rick helps one woman out and the punchline is "well, I have another lined up, so I'm OK".  The film has no disgust for the man, and it should.  Honestly, I think the narrative would have been better served if it took sexual assault more seriously.  Not like it's a gag, but a serious crime.  We'd have a character with more nuance and complexity than we got.  We needed to see he was corrupt, but we didn't need to see it in this way.

These aren't my only complaints.  There were other things that bothered me, but I chose these two because I think it is important to recognise what's problematic and why it's not OK.  If we dismiss it's existence in our media we are one step from dismissing it in real life.  That's why when I think I recognise it in films, I like to share my thoughts on it.  I don't think these problems make Casablanca a bad film, it just means Casablanca has some problems.  The gross parts of Kickboxer make that a bad film.

Why I ended up not particularly enjoying the film is I didn't find the story engaging.  I got bored watching it.  Nevertheless, it has been known that a second viewing can change how I look at a film, so I'll not rule out watching it again.  Maybe I will appreciate it more now I know precisely what I'll be getting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 10:51:09 AM

Can't disagree with any of that, really. You also seem to have got more out of your first watching than I did - which probably explains why I have to study screenwriting courses!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:12:16 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 10:51:09 AM
You also seem to have got more out of your first watching than I did - which probably explains why I have to study screenwriting courses!

;)
I don't know about that.  I don't think I could write a script worth much of a damn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 11:14:20 AM

Of course you could.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 11:14:20 AM

Of course you could.

Maybe if I had an idea and learned how to write scripts well.  Maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 11:56:01 AM

Go for it!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:11:35 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 11:56:01 AM

Go for it!

Don't tempt me ;)

I actually have enough on my plate pursuing other artistic endeavours at the moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 12:23:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:11:35 PM
I actually have enough on my plate pursuing other artistic endeavours at the moment.

Any new 2000AD related pieces?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:30:38 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 12:23:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:11:35 PM
I actually have enough on my plate pursuing other artistic endeavours at the moment.

Any new 2000AD related pieces?

No.  I've been doing fantasy map designs and I'll be going back to designing paper miniatures for gaming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 12:46:57 PM

I love designing imaginary maps - there's something really satisfying about it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:59:54 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 12:46:57 PM

I love designing imaginary maps - there's something really satisfying about it.

I've been thinking about doing it on commission, but I need to do tests to see how long it takes so I can charge accordingly.  I've been practising topographical style maps and a realistic satellite type style.  They are really satisfying and relaxing to create, but have been time consuming.  Maybe I should post some stuff in Creative Commons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 03:48:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:30:38 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 12:23:31 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:11:35 PM
I actually have enough on my plate pursuing other artistic endeavours at the moment.

Any new 2000AD related pieces?

No.  I've been doing fantasy map designs and I'll be going back to designing paper miniatures for gaming.

Our loss!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 January, 2021, 04:01:19 PM
Two films this weekend:
Damsel a 2018 western by the Zellner brothers (on Netflix), and starring David Zellner, Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson. I'd never heard of this or the Zellners and decided to give it a shot. It has surreal elements which it doesn't quite pull off and that just seem a bit derivative of other, better films. My wife successfully predicted the plot after about 15 minutes, which was also an issue. It's just.... not particularly good. Wasikowska and Pattinson play their roles well enough, but they are paper thin.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (on Amazon Prime). It took me a bafflingly long time to get round to this considering how much I love In Bruges. The central performance from Frances McDormand is outstanding, but the rest is just a bit baggy and ill defined. What is the purpose of Peter Dinklage's character? The redemption arc for Sam Rockwell's character is ridiculous and the casting of Abbie Cornish as Woody Harrelson's wife is jarringly weird. The problems with the film have actually made me think about In Bruges again, and the problems it has. With all that being said, Three Billboards is a good, well made film. But it's far from the tour-de-force that the reviews at the time suggested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 04:09:00 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 03:48:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 12:30:38 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 25 January, 2021, 12:23:31 PM
Any new 2000AD related pieces?
No.  I've been doing fantasy map designs and I'll be going back to designing paper miniatures for gaming.
Our loss!

I would be more likely to carry on doing 2000AD related stuff if the art comp on the forum was still around.  The replacement comp is too large scale for me.  The low stakes and small scale with the forum comp made it a lot of fun to participate.  I miss it and I don't see it coming back, either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 25 January, 2021, 04:46:52 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 04:09:00 PM
I would be more likely to carry on doing 2000AD related stuff if the art comp on the forum was still around.  The replacement comp is too large scale for me.  The low stakes and small scale with the forum comp made it a lot of fun to participate.  I miss it and I don't see it coming back, either.

Not wanting to derail the film thread (I'll start a fresh one if there's any interest) but I've been toying with the idea of an unofficial "Art Sketch" competition for the forum.

Two reasons for the "Sketch" thing — 1) I don't want to steal any of the official comp's thunder, and 2) with the old forum comps, the long deadline ended up with perfect being the enemy of, well, finishing anything for a lot of people... so I wondered if there'd be any interest in an informal competition with a short deadline and a time limit* on the actual work so people (well, me, for a start) wouldn't perpetually blow the deadline.


*Obviously, this would require a certain amount of good faith on the part of the participants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 25 January, 2021, 05:24:48 PM
Sketch posting is about all I might be able to work for these days. Well interested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 05:26:18 PM

I'm in.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 25 January, 2021, 06:34:36 PM
JFK. It last over 3 hours,but it sucks you in so much you don't really notice it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 January, 2021, 08:00:22 PM
Yeah a new art comp would be tops.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 25 January, 2021, 08:14:25 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 January, 2021, 08:00:22 PM
Yeah a new art comp would be tops.

A new thread about this will be along in the morning, to thrash out some details while avoiding further derail of the movie thread...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 January, 2021, 09:18:45 PM

Arctic. Mads Mikkelsen tries to survive in the Arctic wilderness after his 'plane crashes.

I love tales of survival and endurance. I love tales of the wilderness. I love Mads Mikkelsen.
And I love this film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 25 January, 2021, 11:20:37 PM
2021 is out of the gate with 2 smashes:

Promising Young Woman
Feels like a real breath of fresh air, and the arrival of a really strong new cinematic voice in writer/director Emerald Fennel. Amazing cast led by the always excellent Carey Mulligan, a banging soundtrack, gorgeous art direction and a brutal, no holds barred twisted tale that stays in your mind for a long time afterwards. Fantastic stuff.

News of the World
Unfortunate title and some slightly oddly-paced sequences aside, this is an extremely well-made and likable Paul Greengrass/Tom Hanks Western (reteaming after their collaboration on Captain Phillips). It's arguably a little formulaic and predictable, but I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish and the ending left me [spoiler]grinning from ear to ear and honestly a little teary-eyed[/spoiler]. The young girl who plays the co-lead is astonishingly good and is one to watch for the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:23:00 PM
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I have never understood the appeal of this film, but I thought I'd give it another shot.  I still don't understand the appeal of this film.  I always thought Ferris was incredibly selfish in his actions, if not his words.  Horribly manipulative and opportunistic.  I am left with the impression that his friends supposed "best day of his life" will end up being the worst when Daddy comes home.  The rest of the stuff I've never found funny.  Is it the structure that is good?  The fourth wall break?  The irreverence?  I simply don't get it.  Thinking about it, I didn't get Better Off Dead either.

I'm running out of ideas for films to watch.  I don't really know what I'm in the mood for.  That usually means something light, dumb, but fun and entertaining... and that I haven't watched within the last year.  Or science fiction.  I may have to do some research.  I'm tempted to rewatched Hardcore Henry soon.  Only seen it once before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 January, 2021, 12:52:02 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:23:00 PM
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
I'm running out of ideas for films to watch.  I don't really know what I'm in the mood for.  That usually means something light, dumb, but fun and entertaining... and that I haven't watched within the last year.  Or science fiction.  I may have to do some research.  I'm tempted to rewatched Hardcore Henry soon.  Only seen it once before.

Some recent(ish) Hidden(ish) Gems I'd recommend:

Dolemite is My Name
Cop Car
American Animals
Anna & the Apocalypse
The Kid Who Would Be King

I'd also recommend the new HBO documentary about Tiger Woods. I couldn't care less about golf, but I found it riveting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 26 January, 2021, 01:39:01 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:23:00 PM
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I have never understood the appeal of this film, but I thought I'd give it another shot.  I still don't understand the appeal of this film.  I always thought Ferris was incredibly selfish in his actions, if not his words.  Horribly manipulative and opportunistic.  I am left with the impression that his friends supposed "best day of his life" will end up being the worst when Daddy comes home.  The rest of the stuff I've never found funny. 

Well, each to their own but Ferris is a very funny film to me.  Its the little things that crack me up like the teacher with the incredibly boring voice and then all the faces of the pupils!   :lol:

On the face of it, he is an incredibly cocky person who seems to always 'get away with it' but given that the whole movie is about him trying to help out his depressed friend, I don't know if I'd call him incredibly selfish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 26 January, 2021, 09:37:47 AM
Quote from: radiator on 26 January, 2021, 12:52:02 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 January, 2021, 11:23:00 PM
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
I'm running out of ideas for films to watch.  I don't really know what I'm in the mood for.  That usually means something light, dumb, but fun and entertaining... and that I haven't watched within the last year.  Or science fiction.  I may have to do some research.  I'm tempted to rewatched Hardcore Henry soon.  Only seen it once before.

Some recent(ish) Hidden(ish) Gems I'd recommend:

Dolemite is My Name
Cop Car
American Animals
Anna & the Apocalypse
The Kid Who Would Be King

I'd also recommend the new HBO documentary about Tiger Woods. I couldn't care less about golf, but I found it riveting.

Cop Car an underrated gem of a movie, with a great performance from the two kids, and a wonderful, malevolent Kevin Bacon.

Whoever caught this, and thought that the Director would be perfect for Spider-man should be applauded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 January, 2021, 10:08:06 AM
Yeah I've always struggled with the affection with which Ferris Bueller's Day Off is held. I find the main characters 'nasty'. Though maybe I need to try it again taking on board what Recrewt says?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 January, 2021, 11:23:13 AM
It's in many ways the perfect movie for the 80's American landscape.
Crass, morally bankrupt, and basically just an excuse to flaunt capitalist excess.

Can't stand it myself, in case that wasn't obvious already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 11:36:21 AM
Ferris is explicitly an over-privileged inconsiderate asshole, and the enjoyment from the film comes largely from the depth of chaos and frustration that his wilful assholery creates for those around him.  This is basically the John Hughes formula, and it's probably a take-it or leave-it proposition for most of his work, even if you can look past the unpleasantly dated sexual aspects. Happily I can, so I get to list a silly number of his films as favourites.

The particular aspects of Ferris Bueller that work for me are:
(a). His complete mastery of a dull controlling school environment, where he not only cheats the system but has the respect and affection of all his peers, without any hint of cruelty: this is just fun, and a pretty unusual fantasy to see realised;
(b). His willingness to risk his whole school career for one chance to show his friend that he doesn't need to limit himself by reference to the expectations of others;
(c). The observation that the people who suffer most from Ferris' assholery are those who choose to pay most attention to it. If those people (Rooney and Jeanie) didn't invest quite so much time in policing Ferris' largely victimless activities, they'd have far fewer problems in their own lives.
Moral: live your own life, not other people's.
Or more properly: life move pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while,  you could miss it.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 26 January, 2021, 12:25:59 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 11:36:21 AM
life move pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while,  you could miss it.

Pipe down Tordel, one more word of praise and these carping millennial's will demand you recreate Rooney's walks of shame to the school bus via TikTok.  
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 January, 2021, 12:56:15 PM
A problem I have is I find the premise of the film, Ferris is trying to help is friend, completely unconvincing.  Ferris is a selfish shit who bunks off school to hang out with his friends and negs one of them into compliance.  Why did Ferris need to bring his girlfriend along?  Why did Ferris need to steal Cameron Dad's car?  Why did Ferris choose the activities?  Why is it Ferris on the parade float and not Cameron?  Because it's all about Ferris.

Cameron's story conclusion is unconvincing as well.  He's taking responsibility because he needs to stand up to his Dad?  Good luck with that.  My suspension of disbelief fails and I really don't see things ending well for Cameron.  Ferris screwed him over and Cameron told him repeatedly throughout the film to stop.  Ferris did not respect Cameron's boundaries.  Ferris knows he has done this at the end of the film.  He has so thoroughly gaslit Cameron that Cameron says he could have stopped Ferris at any time.  The film says otherwise, but whatever.  Ferris doesn't have to face the consequences of his actions.  Jeanie is entirely right about him and is right to be pissed off about the situation (and that's not even getting into the bullshit about the police thinking she's made a prank call).

Ferris is unreliable in telling us the message of the film because, as we see from the start, he is a liar and manipulator.  I don't see why that should stop with the audience.  I don't trust him, what he says is going on, what his professed intentions are, because what I see tells a different story.  I think Hawkmumbler and Colin hit the nail on the head.

Y'know, I didn't think that sleeping on it would make me dislike the film even more.  Things don't always look better in a new light of day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 January, 2021, 01:17:25 PM
I always preferred Risky Business to Ferris Buellers Day Off ... although in hindsight that's an even dodgier premise to sell nowadays.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 01:27:09 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 January, 2021, 12:56:15 PM
Because it's all about Ferris.

It's all about Ferris because he's already able to do these things. Cameron can't (yet). He's leading by example.  He brings Sloane along because they're all going to different places once school is finished, and this may be the last hurrah for their friendships. Also, it makes it less of a weinerfest.

You're not supposed to think Ferris is a great guy: he's a serial liar, a cheat and an egotist. He's even, incredibly, hard done by. But you are supposed to enjoy the wrecking ball he brings to pompous "adult" society and its norms and expectations.

Just like Buck Russell,  Kevin Macallister, Del Griffith, John Bender, Clark Griswold and even those little perverts in Weird Science. Of course you're entitled not to enjoy these characters' antics (I don't like all of them by any means) but it is the central conceit of the whole John Hughes stable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 01:37:41 PM
Pretending fior a moment that FBDO isn't an '80s teen comedy for kids, but a serious film worthy of analysis: Do you think Cameron will regret this day?  Do you think his life will be better or worse for having had it, and for having had Ferris as a friend?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 January, 2021, 02:04:05 PM
I don't watch Tom Cruise films.  Purposefully.  If he's in it, I won't watch it.  Can't stand him.  In anything.  I'm happier not watching his films than I would be if I did.

Quote from: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 01:27:09 PM
It's all about Ferris because he's already able to do these things. Cameron can't.

And Cameron doesn't.  That also undermines the "live your own life message".  Also, is it Cameron can't or Cameron doesn't want to?  Ferris thinks he should want to, but he clearly demonstrates resistance throughout the film.  It's not all about Ferris because he's already able to do these things and Cameron can't.  It's all about Ferris because the whole film is all about Ferris.  Everyone is focused on Ferris, including Ferris.  I don't believe his conceit.

Quote
He brings Sloane along because they're all going to different places once school is finished, and this may be the last hurrah for their friendships. Also, it makes it less of a weinerfest.

Again, I think this makes my point about it being about what Ferris wants.  He wants this time with his friends.  I'm not actually given the impression the Sloane and Cameron have any real connection beyond Ferris.  It's still not about Cameron.

And weinerfest?  Really?

Quote
But you are supposed to enjoy the wrecking ball he brings to pompous adult society. 

And this is where the film misses for me, I guess.  Without this all I'm left with is an unpleasant and obnoxious character.  We've nailed down what it is I'm missing from the film.

This is a slight aside, but twice in the film I could swear it was ripping off Blues Brothers because twice I thought of that film and twice I wished I was watching it instead.  Maybe I should revisit it.

Quote from: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 01:37:41 PM
Pretending fior a moment that FBDO isn't an '80s teen comedy for kids, but a serious film worthy of analysis: Do you think Cameron will regret this day?  Do you think his life will be better or worse for having had it, and for having had Ferris as a friend?

Yes and worse.  I find the dynamic of their relationship to be very toxic.  I don't think Ferris is a good friend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 02:16:12 PM
Certainly it's anyone's right not to enjoy it, and criticisms about an amoral celebration of capitalist excess are also completely valid (as with almost all Hughes films), but ultimately I do find it hard to accept that the Cameron who starts the film immobilised in bed by hypochondria, misery, and a distant controlling father would be in a better place than the Cameron who has been on a memorable hedonistic rampage through a sunny Chicago with his friend, leading to a resolution to take charge of his life and stand up to his father. That seems like a good day's work to me.

Can we have a go at Some Like it Hot next?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 January, 2021, 02:57:14 PM
Oops, forgot to add this: 'weinerfest' is a joke, of sorts: the film partly takes place at the Von Steuben Day festival, and Ferris passes himself off as 'the sausage king of Chicago'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 26 January, 2021, 04:50:53 PM
Anti-porno

Hummm. Well it was pretty. Very pretty. But the 'point'... hummmm. Not sure.

The Long Goodbye (1973)
Awesome. Put it way above the sacred cows of The Godfather, ...in the West and The Deerhunter. Plus Schwarzenegger with a tash lols.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Leigh S on 26 January, 2021, 06:14:09 PM
Re Casablanca

I may be biased on this one, as it is a film that means a lot to me patly due to the circumstances and timing of when I have seen it - never seen it outside of a cinema, which I thnk helps - first in 1992 for the 50th anniversary, last a few years back at the same cinema

You can definitely critique the dated casual attitudes, but you can do that to stuff as recent as "Friends" and newer.

Sam, I think is for the time a pretty "decent" if obviously flawed to modern eyes attempt to not be racist - Bogart was very much a Left Wing Liberal and there is some effort to show that Ric and Sam are friends - yes it isnt enough today for Rick to state that Sam makes his own decisions, but for the time, that's a pretty progressive statement.

Worse I agree is Captain Renault - I'd argue, that Rick and the Captain aren;t "friends" - Rick doesnt do friends.  Consider the characters in this film are stand ins for the Nations they represent - Rick represents "America First" - "I stick my neck out for nobody".  On the last watch, Rick actuaally came out worse with his self pity and moping, but again, that is a comment on selfish self isolation.  The core drive of the story is "will this man do the right thing for himself, or the Right thing for the World?"  Renault represents French collaboration and capitulation.  Ilsa and Victor are subjugated Europe fighting back. 

Viewed on both levels, the flaws of the characters are not so much mistakes that make you dislike them, but crucial to the parallel the film is drawing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 26 January, 2021, 06:18:43 PM
I've recently watched The Witch which was frankly incredible. I'm not usually a fan of horror (not the jumpscare kind anyway) so this had been on the to watch list for a while. It's an absolute delight.

Also watched The Painter and the Thief the other day - I did enjoy it but couldn't quite understand her fascination with him but worth a watch none the less.

There's also a very interesting documentary about Crack on Netflix at the moment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 January, 2021, 07:22:33 PM
Quote from: Leigh S on 26 January, 2021, 06:14:09 PM
Re Casablanca

I may be biased on this one, as it is a film that means a lot to me patly due to the circumstances and timing of when I have seen it - never seen it outside of a cinema, which I thnk helps - first in 1992 for the 50th anniversary, last a few years back at the same cinema

You can definitely critique the dated casual attitudes, but you can do that to stuff as recent as "Friends" and newer.

Sam, I think is for the time a pretty "decent" if obviously flawed to modern eyes attempt to not be racist - Bogart was very much a Left Wing Liberal and there is some effort to show that Ric and Sam are friends - yes it isnt enough today for Rick to state that Sam makes his own decisions, but for the time, that's a pretty progressive statement.

Worse I agree is Captain Renault - I'd argue, that Rick and the Captain aren;t "friends" - Rick doesnt do friends.  Consider the characters in this film are stand ins for the Nations they represent - Rick represents "America First" - "I stick my neck out for nobody".  On the last watch, Rick actuaally came out worse with his self pity and moping, but again, that is a comment on selfish self isolation.  The core drive of the story is "will this man do the right thing for himself, or the Right thing for the World?"  Renault represents French collaboration and capitulation.  Ilsa and Victor are subjugated Europe fighting back. 

Viewed on both levels, the flaws of the characters are not so much mistakes that make you dislike them, but crucial to the parallel the film is drawing.

I really appreciate this point and fully agree with your analysis.

Also, I do that stuff to Friends ;)  Friends is considerably worse and more problematic than Casablanca, easily.

Actually, after watching Ferris Bueller I feel more inclined towards Casablanca.  Out of the two, I prefer Casablanca easily.  So there's that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 26 January, 2021, 07:41:38 PM
I think you're all misunderstanding Ferris Bueller.

Fact is, he's a righteous dude.

The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 January, 2021, 11:11:56 PM
Psycho Goreman

Well.  This film is certainly a thing.

Where to start?

The costumes are fantastic.  I love this films style.  I most certainly do dig it.

It made me laugh.  More than once.  And out loud.  It made me smile.

It's messed up.  Very messed up.  Ultra violence and a pastiche of... probably more than one type of movie that has morals and stuff, I don't know.  It knows when to dead pan and it does it a lot when horrible things are happening.

Great child actor performances.  I always think it's a plus when kids act well because I've seen too much stuff ruined by crappy kid actors.

I'd be surprised if this film doesn't leave an impression on me and I don't think about it in the days to come.  It was definitely something.

It's a very absurd film and I find myself judging it with a different standard than I would many other films.  I was unsure about a couple of elements, but reconciled to them at the end of film.  I think it neatly ties itself together with a consistent tone and knows precisely what it is doing.

So, no criticisms this time.  I enjoyed it, I think it worked, but I am somewhat still reeling from the experience.  You like stuff like Troma?  Horror comedies?  OK with cartoonish but extremely gory violence?  This might be a film for you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 January, 2021, 07:16:35 PM
I was pondering Ferris Bueller and his infamous day off - given some of the comments on here (none of which I can strongly contend, given that they're personal perspectives), and I was brought to wondering why I think of it fondly - with the caveat that I watched it on release, when I was close to being of-age with Ferris and his friends.

So, one of the appeals is on the surface level and it's pure escapism: the system (adults, school and a hopeless lack of fun) are all set against you - so you break free of them - you beat the system.

It's clear that the life lesson that Ferris presents (that the only thing holding you back is your attitude) is that of a privileged person and doesn't take into account the pressures inflicted by society that really can hold you back and are utterly regardless of your attitude. But then: what kind of advice are we expecting of an eighteen year old hedonista? Surely not wisdom, and perhaps that's part of the point.

Ferris is not in a position to assist Cameron with his depression, because Ferris is Ferris. He tries to (in the only way he knows how) because he cares for Cameron (in the only way he knows how), and Cameron appreciates Ferris because he looks up to him. That doesn't mean Ferris is wise or that his advice is good or that Cameron is mended or even that Cameron's feelings about his parents are valid. Perhaps he's delusional? The movie doesn't really answer any of that.

Or - is this all a fantasy world? Surely the part with Ferris on the float is just part of a mad daydream - that didn't really happen, did it? And the furious, red-faced teacher that attempts to break into the house - that's not realistic, either. Are there really two people, or is this all happening in Cameron's mind? Is Ferris real, or is this the model for Fight Club?

Well, that's probably going a bit far.

Summary: why would anyone expect wisdom from Ferris? His experience of life is naturally very limited.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 27 January, 2021, 07:44:38 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 27 January, 2021, 07:16:35 PM

r - is this all a fantasy world? Surely the part with Ferris on the float is just part of a mad daydream - that didn't really happen, did it? And the furious, red-faced teacher that attempts to break into the house - that's not realistic, either. Are there really two people, or is this all happening in Cameron's mind? Is Ferris real, or is this the model for Fight Club?


The actor that played the red faced teacher was charged with taking explicit photo's of a 14 year old boy some years later.

I love teh Ferris / Fight Club theory btw ..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 January, 2021, 10:01:00 PM
Nova Seed

This is an hour long animated feature made by a handful of people with only one animator.  It is awesome.

It's hard to describe, but I got vibes of Adventure Time, Heavy Metal and Liquid TV about this film.  It looks considerably better than it has any right to.  The sound is ropey with some funny foley done with voices throughout.  It just adds to its charm.  It oozes charm.  Good music.

What's it about?  Saving the world, love, adventure...?  Sod it, with this one it is the journey that matters.

My criticisms?  There's a noticeably bad run animation (that does sort itself out) and a questionable character design.  Overall, I don't have much to criticise about this film.  I need more of this sort of thing in my life.  It might be the best thing I've watched so far this year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 27 January, 2021, 11:21:18 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 27 January, 2021, 07:44:38 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 27 January, 2021, 07:16:35 PM

r - is this all a fantasy world? Surely the part with Ferris on the float is just part of a mad daydream - that didn't really happen, did it? And the furious, red-faced teacher that attempts to break into the house - that's not realistic, either. Are there really two people, or is this all happening in Cameron's mind? Is Ferris real, or is this the model for Fight Club?


The actor that played the red faced teacher was charged with taking explicit photo's of a 14 year old boy some years later.


Oh, Jeffrey Jones! I love that actor, but alas... Nobody's perfect, apparently.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 January, 2021, 11:09:13 AM
Very mild way of putting noncery that.

Watched the WSA MONSTER HUNTER over the weekend. It's obviously absolute bollacks but at a crisp 90 mins is exactly the kind of slick, short action nonsense I needed this week.
I'll stand us for the Resi movies any day of the week too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 January, 2021, 11:45:47 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 January, 2021, 11:09:13 AM
Very mild way of putting noncery that.
Disturbingly so.

Quote
Watched the WSA MONSTER HUNTER over the weekend. It's obviously absolute bollacks but at a crisp 90 mins is exactly the kind of slick, short action nonsense I needed this week.
I'll stand us for the Resi movies any day of the week too.

I would have considered watching this, but evoking the Resident Evil movies makes me want to avoid it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 January, 2021, 09:52:54 PM
Dead and Buried (1981)

This isn't the film I exactly asked for, but likely is the film I needed to see, even at the age of 31. This small budget horror flick is one of the scariest films I ever have seen. Disturbing, bleak, eerie, extremely violent, savage and scary all along. In a small city Potters Bluff, visitors get viciously murdered, making this ostensibly a slasher flick. The opening creeped me out immensely. A photographer gets attacked by townspeople (we regularly see them later in the film, so whodunit mystery isn't exactly on the mark here, although we find the true culprit at the very end). They beat him up, tied him to a lamp post and set him ablaze. However, the worst is yet to come for the poor photographer. Local sheriff is onto the case (adding detective angle), while at the same time we became aware that the dead are somehow brought to life, so this makes D&B essentially a zombie film, where zombies are 180 degrees than zombies we are all familiar with. Btw, special effects are done by legendary Stan Winston, his basically film debut. And special effects are pretty worthwhile and it's obvious that Stan did not just go after blood and gore, but to create the work that'd be respected from artistic point of view. Nerve-racking music score fits the ominous atmosphere of the film. My only complaint is that the plot is basically senseless and the film throws more questions than bothers answering them all, even after unhappy ending and credits start rolling. What is interesting about the movie is that is originally written and shot as a black comedy with horror elements; only it suffered in post production when financiers demanded recuts and insisted on emphasizing the violence and horror, while denouncing the comedy. As result, every scene is somewhat unsettling to watch, while the plot will definitely make you scratch your head.

Watch this with the lights out and if you have the strong heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 January, 2021, 12:07:27 AM
Happy Gilmore

I'm not going to justify why I like this film or why I keep rewatching it.  He's an angry hockey wannabe that ends up playing golf.  I don't like angry, I don't like hockey, I don't like golf.  I still like this film.  It's got jokes that I like on every rewatch and that's a rarity for me.  It's got Adam Sandler in it.  The leading role, no less.  He has a well deserved reputation for producing utter shite.  This is probably my favourite Adam Sandler film.  It's either this or The Wedding Singer.  I'm not sure.  I watch Happy Gilmore more often but Drew Barrymore sends my heart aflutter in The Wedding Singer, so it's a hard call.

Now you have all glimpsed the dark places my cinephiliac tastes can reside!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 29 January, 2021, 03:08:42 AM
Quote from: milstar on 27 January, 2021, 11:21:18 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 27 January, 2021, 07:44:38 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 27 January, 2021, 07:16:35 PM

r - is this all a fantasy world? Surely the part with Ferris on the float is just part of a mad daydream - that didn't really happen, did it? And the furious, red-faced teacher that attempts to break into the house - that's not realistic, either. Are there really two people, or is this all happening in Cameron's mind? Is Ferris real, or is this the model for Fight Club?


The actor that played the red faced teacher was charged with taking explicit photo's of a 14 year old boy some years later.


Oh, Jeffrey Jones! I love that actor, but alas... Nobody's perfect, apparently.

The guy reading out the register at the start (the famous "Bueller, Bueller...." line reading) turned out to be a bit of a shit irl as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 January, 2021, 02:56:57 PM
It turns out that everyone involved in the entire production of FBDO was subsequently found guilty of hideous crimes. If not actual crimes, then certainly crimes against fashion, taste and manners.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 January, 2021, 12:37:54 PM
Be Kind Rewind

What an odd film.  I guess it's about building a community.  It is largely divorced from reality which helps with the humour that leans more on the surreal side.  Some nice dead pan performances.  Jack Black not quite at his most irritating.  It's kind of a jumble, though.  Thankfully we don't get the "it'll be alright in the end" conclusion this type of film is prone to.  Nevertheless, the film lacks any substance, isn't quite funny enough or fun enough.  Just falls short.  Oh, and DVDs are the future is kinda laughable in hindsight.  I guess they didn't see the digital age looming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 31 January, 2021, 12:22:48 AM
Red Sonja (1985). Brigitte Nielsen portrays the comic book version of Robert E. Howard's Red Sonya character. Objectively it's a terrible film, but there's a lot to like. Most especially Ernie Reyes, Jr. and Paul Smith (the Beast Rabban). As S&S films go there are many worse ones.

Conan the Barbarian (1982). My favourite S&S film by miles. Perfect? No. Fun. Yes!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 12:43:28 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 31 January, 2021, 12:22:48 AM
Red Sonja (1985). Brigitte Nielsen portrays the comic book version of Robert E. Howard's Red Sonya character. Objectively it's a terrible film, but there's a lot to like. Most especially Ernie Reyes, Jr. and Paul Smith (the Beast Rabban). As S&S films go there are many worse ones.

Conan the Barbarian (1982). My favourite S&S film by miles. Perfect? No. Fun. Yes!

Yes.  I watched these two, Destroyer and Conan the reboot last year. I loved Red Sonja as a kid and you are very right about it.  The acting in it is almost unbearable, but I love Queen Gedren, the problematic evil lesbian.  She's great to watch.  If I were evil, she'd be my role model.

Barbarian has a grim charm to it the others lack and it's probably the best made.  I did enjoy Destroyer and reboot as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 10:03:37 AM
13 going on 30

This is one of those films where I'm not entirely sure whether I've seen it before or not.  It is largely a Big knockoff.  So it's got uncomfortable visuals of a grown woman hitting on a kid and having a slumber party with the kids.  It fits with the story and the premise, but it is jarring and tonally weird compared to the rest of the film.  Hmm, maybe that's not the right way to say it because there are a number of tonally weird parts that still make narrative sense.  So the film is a little weird.

Andy Serkis is in it and he's not CGI.  He plays the boss character.  A character that isn't, as is usually the case with this type of comedy, an absolute arsehole.  I liked his character.  Mark Ruffalo is the love interest and I like him.  He has this laid back, lazy charm in whatever I've seen him in.  He'd also make an excellent Collumbo, imo.  Jennifer Garner works as the lead, giving a sweet performance that oozed naivety.

The movie fails in presenting a coherent moral or message.  There's stuff in there about not being mean, living a life without regret, appreciating what you have, grow up, don't grow up, have fun, appreciate real people etc. etc.  It also lacks the standard end of second act conflict where our two main leads have a falling out that needs to be resolved in the third act.  I'm going to count that last one in the movies favour.

Overall, I liked it.  It is a very cute film that has bizarre choices in places and breaks a number of conventions of the genre.  Also, Garner rocks those late 90's early 2000's up do hairstyles I love and wish I could pull of myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 31 January, 2021, 01:17:11 PM
Shocker (1989)

Reportedly, this Craven's film was supposed to start another horror franchise with the title character, and in response to Freddy Krueger becoming household name in meantime. Ultimately, Shocker turned to be a lot cheesier film than A Nightmare on Elm Street and its successors. Like, just watch the last 10 minutes. But, still, for what it is, it's still quite entertaining film. I liked the black humor and heavy rock soundtrack which, I believe, is born for slasher flicks. Shocker may not be A nightmare on Elm Street, but...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 01:55:44 PM
Quote from: milstar on 31 January, 2021, 01:17:11 PM
Shocker (1989)

Reportedly, this Craven's film was supposed to start another horror franchise with the title character, and in response to Freddy Krueger becoming household name in meantime. Ultimately, Shocker turned to be a lot cheesier film than A Nightmare on Elm Street and its successors. Like, just watch the last 10 minutes. But, still, for what it is, it's still quite entertaining film. I liked the black humor and heavy rock soundtrack which, I believe, is born for slasher flicks. Shocker may not be A nightmare on Elm Street, but...

I tried watching this one before I started my Elm Street thing, but unfortunately fell asleep through most of it because I was so tired.  I watched it as a kid but I don't really remember it well.  From the bits I remember seeing it took a while for it's premise to kick in and was pretty goofy.  I was disappointed I fell asleep.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 31 January, 2021, 02:36:45 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 10:03:37 AM
13 going on 30

Any movie whose premise means the male characters want to fuck a 13 year-old is arguably going to have a few problems, but I still thought someone involved might, at some point in production, have said "do we really need the scene where an underage girl "who looks older" wakes up in a stranger's bedroom and then he chases her around trying to force her to have sex with him?"  Apart from anything else, from her point of view, he's saying he had sex with her while she slept, so... I dunno, it really feels like someone human - preferably female - should have read the script before they started shooting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 03:28:52 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 31 January, 2021, 02:36:45 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 10:03:37 AM
13 going on 30

Any movie whose premise means the male characters want to fuck a 13 year-old is arguably going to have a few problems, but I still thought someone involved might, at some point in production, have said "do we really need the scene where an underage girl "who looks older" wakes up in a stranger's bedroom and then he chases her around trying to force her to have sex with him?"  Apart from anything else, from her point of view, he's saying he had sex with her while she slept, so... I dunno, it really feels like someone human - preferably female - should have read the script before they started shooting.

To be fair to the film he doesn't chase her around in an attempt to force her into sex at the beginning of the film nor is it suggested he had sex with her specifically whilst she was asleep.

He comes out of the bathroom before having a shower, exposes himself and tells her she can join him if she wants whilst she leaves.  Then he leans out the window when she is on the street and shouts "Don't make me come down there and grab you."  Later in the film he does do a strip tease in front of her.  Then he just disappears.  What happened to him?  Did she dump him?  Did he get eaten by a shark?  Did he return to his home planet?  Who knows, he's gone and we don't have to tense up every time he is on screen.

I'm not defending any of this, just clarifying the problem.

Also, one of the writers is a woman, for whatever that's worth.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 31 January, 2021, 04:17:42 PM
That's not what happened. He went to bed with his 30 year old girl and when she woke up her 13 year old self had been zapped into her adult body. At no point during the movie does she tell him what happened to her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 31 January, 2021, 04:21:33 PM
Recently (this morning) I came across an Ari Aster short (the Herditary, Midsomar guy). This was his film thesis. This is an excellent but deeply disturbing movie so please do not watch if you are triggered by sexual abuse and violence.

The Strange Thing About The Johnsons - https://vimeo.com/155016328

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 January, 2021, 08:42:20 PM

Midsommar. Shitesommar, more like. I really find this kind of thing so boring - naïve civilised people getting nailed to things, chopped up and/or set on fire by a commune of happy-clappy lunatics dressed in foliage. Some nice effects work, though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 31 January, 2021, 09:28:00 PM
I'd have gone for MIDSHITE. Which is where I am right now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 31 January, 2021, 09:36:23 PM
I love that movie, it's an absolute masterpiece <shrug emoji>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 09:50:58 PM
Reading the synopsis of the film, it's not something I'm drawn to.  Communes of death that evoke Satanic panic and/or Charles Manson's Family rarely appeal to me.  It was something I really disliked in Bad Times at the El Royale.

Saying that, I was nearly put off from watching The Endless because there's a commune and that film was totally worth the watch.  Also, Mandy has it and I thought it worked well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 January, 2021, 11:53:41 PM
Hardcore Henry

OK.  Gonna start with big problems.  There is gross ableism in this film, "woman as betrayer" misogynistic trope, a couple of instances of homophobia and a "might is right" mindset.  I'm ok with the ultra violence.

This is one hell of a film.  The protagonist has no dialogue.  It would have been cool if we never saw him either, given it's first person throughout, but they kinda chicken out there at the end.  The first person perspective is utilized very well.  The editing is amazing.  There is some cinematographic weight in this film and achieves something that I don't think can be adequately replicated.  This is a film that adapts the FPS gaming experience.  It has the violence, the attitude (including scummy parts), the structure, the set pieces, the villain and the really dumb story.  A really dumb story with some very interesting ideas.  I don't think this is a movie worth dismissing for those of us that love film.  This is a feat in film making, it is a frenetic roller-coaster and it's a lot of fun.

That being said, I could easily understand someone hating this film.  It is a lot and not nice.  I could see it making people feel motion sickness.  It is relentless ultra violence.  It is not self-aware.  Personally, I largely still enjoyed watching it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 February, 2021, 03:28:46 AM
Midsommar is a movie about a woman dealing with post-traumatic stress, who finds herself turning to her ill-equipped boyfriend for support because there's nobody else available. Whilst there is also a surface plot, this is really a movie about a woman in need of empathy who is not finding it in her available society.

It's also incredibly atmospheric, wonderfully acted (especially by the lead, Florence Pugh) and disturbingly wrought. I would say it's better than it's most obvious inspiration (which I'm deliberately failing to mention in a vain attempt to avoid major spoilers) primarily because I believe this has a more relatable subtext.

It doesn't get under the skin on the same level as Under the Skin, but then what does?

Inserting whimsical faeces-related bon mots into the title to construct a derogatory portmanteau rather demonstrates one's failure to comprehend.

---

Captain Marvel was quite good fun, and leaned heavily into the formula of "just make sure Samuel L. Jackson is tagging along". As a comparison, I had to switch Ant-Man and the Wasp off after a bit because Paul Rudd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 February, 2021, 08:59:10 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 01 February, 2021, 03:28:46 AM
As a comparison, I had to switch Ant-Man and the Wasp off after a bit because Paul Rudd.

This would get you sent to bed without supper in my house ;)

That film was a let down.  Still, I found the Ant-Man in End Games was worse.  That fan-boy thing got on my nerves, but then again whole film got on my nerves.

My favourite thing in Captain Marvel is her neon costume.  Such an awesome look.  I remember enjoying the film as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 01 February, 2021, 10:03:22 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 01 February, 2021, 03:28:46 AM
As a comparison, I had to switch Ant-Man and the Wasp off after a bit because Paul Rudd.

Ugh, I cannot stand Paul Rudd. There's nothing at all I can point to; he's a perfectly good actor, it's just one of those inexplicable 'rubs me up the wrong way' type things. It's a view that's earned me nothing but scorn, derision and outright disgust!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 February, 2021, 10:28:37 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 31 January, 2021, 09:28:00 PM
I'd have gone for MIDSHITE. Which is where I am right now.

I should point out I haven't seen the film yet. I was just trying to offer TLS an alternative.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 February, 2021, 11:39:41 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 February, 2021, 10:03:22 AM
It's a view that's earned me nothing but scorn, derision and outright disgust!  :lol:

Force your detractors to watch Knocked Up/This Is 40. For my money he plays one of the most hideous characters in cinema in those, and I'm honestly not sure if that's the intent.

Personally I can't help but like the bizarrely immortal Rudd (Clueless was 1995 FFS)  and his Antman, but I thought he was poorly served in Endgame. Quite like AM&tW though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 February, 2021, 01:34:38 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 01 February, 2021, 10:03:22 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 01 February, 2021, 03:28:46 AM
As a comparison, I had to switch Ant-Man and the Wasp off after a bit because Paul Rudd.

Ugh, I cannot stand Paul Rudd. There's nothing at all I can point to; he's a perfectly good actor, it's just one of those inexplicable 'rubs me up the wrong way' type things. It's a view that's earned me nothing but scorn, derision and outright disgust!  :lol:
I will refer you to this video of Paul Rudd playing quantum chess against Stephen Hawking. Narrated by that excellent dude Keanu Reeves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 February, 2021, 01:55:38 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 01 February, 2021, 01:34:38 PM
I will refer you to this video of Paul Rudd playing quantum chess against Stephen Hawking. Narrated by that excellent dude Keanu Reeves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44)

That was a giggle.  Cheers :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 01 February, 2021, 06:31:52 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 01 February, 2021, 03:28:46 AM
Midsommar is a movie about a woman dealing with post-traumatic stress, who finds herself turning to her ill-equipped boyfriend for support because there's nobody else available. Whilst there is also a surface plot, this is really a movie about a woman in need of empathy who is not finding it in her available society.

It's also incredibly atmospheric, wonderfully acted (especially by the lead, Florence Pugh) and disturbingly wrought. I would say it's better than it's most obvious inspiration (which I'm deliberately failing to mention in a vain attempt to avoid major spoilers) primarily because I believe this has a more relatable subtext.


I also see it as an exploration of grief - from that harrowing opening scene to it's triumphant conclusion the action in the film also mirrors the 5 stages of grief. Also, I think it's not just about loss but also being lost, not having a place in the world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 February, 2021, 06:37:30 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 01 February, 2021, 01:55:38 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 01 February, 2021, 01:34:38 PM
I will refer you to this video of Paul Rudd playing quantum chess against Stephen Hawking. Narrated by that excellent dude Keanu Reeves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0BzqV_b44)

That was a giggle.  Cheers :D

Agreed - and he has a cool party trick too https://imgur.com/gallery/d4ltkyJ (https://imgur.com/gallery/d4ltkyJ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 01 February, 2021, 08:55:19 PM
Green Card.

Had never seen this movie before despite having very vivid memories of it being released and seeing the trailer a lot when I was a kid. Didn't realise until we put it on that it was directed by Peter Weir. Need to dig deeper into his back catalogue because I love everything I've seen of his.

It's a really lovely little film, and has a lightness of touch and a restraint that you don't often see in what is ostensibly a romantic comedy. For example the wedding itself happens in the first couple of minutes of the film and occurs off camera, which was surprising, and the film isn't afraid to let the audience connect the dots between the scenes themselves - eg the ending, which is satisfying despite leaving things decidedly unresolved. The two main characters have a fun 'opposites attract' dynamic, but it feels authentic and not forced or cliched. You can really get a sense that their two personalities and temperaments would complement and improve each others.

Gérard Depardieu is such an odd choice for a romantic lead (and quite a problematic figure these days), as he's quite a strange looking dude and the sort of actor who would never get given a role like this nowadays, when every actor has to basically look like a model. But there's definitely a kind of undeniable charisma to him.

Funny, sweet, and also an amazing time capsule of what was fashionable in the late 80s/early 90s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 February, 2021, 10:03:57 PM
Quote from: radiator on 01 February, 2021, 08:55:19 PM
Green Card.

Had never seen this movie before despite having very vivid memories of it being released and seeing the trailer a lot when I was a kid. Didn't realise until we put it on that it was directed by Peter Weir. Need to dig deeper into his back catalogue because I love everything I've seen of his.

It's a really lovely little film, and has a lightness of touch and a restraint that you don't often see in what is ostensibly a romantic comedy. For example the wedding itself happens in the first couple of minutes of the film and occurs off camera, which was surprising, and the film isn't afraid to let the audience connect the dots between the scenes themselves - eg the ending, which is satisfying despite leaving things decidedly unresolved. The two main characters have a fun 'opposites attract' dynamic, but it feels authentic and not forced or cliched. You can really get a sense that their two personalities and temperaments would complement and improve each others.

Gérard Depardieu is such an odd choice for a romantic lead (and quite a problematic figure these days), as he's quite a strange looking dude and the sort of actor who would never get given a role like this nowadays, when every actor has to basically look like a model. But there's definitely a kind of undeniable charisma to him.

Funny, sweet, and also an amazing time capsule of what was fashionable in the late 80s/early 90s.
Green Card is one of the films my wife and I saw while were first dating. We watch it at least once a year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

Solid documentary about Grant Morrison, well I guess its kinda an extended interview with additional folks from the industry adding insight. Its fine, but doesn't talk us anything new... if you've read Supergods or anything much about him. Its fun and GMozz himself remains disarmingly charming and seemingly honest.

It also struck how much he's a strikingly beautiful Bob Mortimer...

... it lead me to a trailer for 'Dear Mr Watterson' a documentry that explores Calvin and Hobbes. I've only watched the first 3 or 4 minutes but it left me beaming from ear to ear. That ones next...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 02 February, 2021, 08:21:50 PM
This is Spinal Tap. Now I understand some meme better. 🙂
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2021, 08:52:44 PM
The Dig. Some lovely performances from Fiennes, Mulligan and Stott, and Lily James keeps getting more beautiful by the hour, but ultimately a bit maudlin and (dare I say it) a bit light on the actual archaeology. Still, good attention to (tweaked) detail and nice to see Basil Brown get his well-deserved place in popular consciousness.

Sputnik is a neat little Alien meets Colossal outing with wonderful Soviet atmosphere and institutional architecture that made me nostalgic for my days in UCD's Belfield campus. The two leads, Oksana Akinshina and Fedor Bondarchuk are both terrific, and the alien design is novel and scary. Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 February, 2021, 10:33:10 PM
Hot Tub Time Machine

Urgh.  There is soooo much wrong with this film.  A retro 80s nostalgia comedy that has gross attitudes of the 80s alongside gross attitude of the 00s.  One of the most disturbing things is the depiction of the married man.  You want the best tip on how not to be henpecked and emasculated by your wife?  Shouting obscenity and verbally abusing a 9 year old girl.  That'll keep her in her place and make sure she doesn't cheat.  That's only the tip of the iceberg.  Fuck this film.

I still find it entertaining and it made me laugh more than once.  Fuck me as well, I guess.

So, the film is about arseholes, it has an arsehole attitude and doesn't have anything worthwhile to say about anything and the characters don't really learn any real lessons.  In the end, the take away for me is there is stuff I know is awful that I can happily watch.  I already knew that.  What a waste of time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 February, 2021, 10:36:07 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 February, 2021, 08:52:44 PM
The Dig. Some lovely performances from Fiennes, Mulligan and Stott, and Lily James keeps getting more beautiful by the hour, but ultimately a bit maudlin and (dare I say it) a bit light on the actual archaeology. Still, good attention to (tweaked) detail and nice to see Basil Brown get his well-deserved place in popular consciousness.

Agreement here, on all points. Definitely worth the watch.


Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

I managed about half of this before needing a break - and might do the other half later. It is interesting, but also a bit like someone who won't shut up about their drug experiences and imagines they're more significant than coincidence. For some reason, I really like that sort of narrative from Bill Drummond but find it a bit smug coming from Grant Morrison. Does he really believe he's had an out of body experience to an extra-solar location, or is he just bullshitting for fun? I suppose I just don't find him credible.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 February, 2021, 10:57:32 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 February, 2021, 10:36:07 PM
I managed about half of this before needing a break - and might do the other half later. It is interesting, but also a bit like someone who won't shut up about their drug experiences and imagines they're more significant than coincidence. For some reason, I really like that sort of narrative from Bill Drummond but find it a bit smug coming from Grant Morrison. Does he really believe he's had an out of body experience to an extra-solar location, or is he just bullshitting for fun? I suppose I just don't find him credible.

Smug is certainly a word I'd use to describe Grant Morrison.  I don't find the man credible either.  A few years ago I went on a slight binge on reading interviews with him and an "essay" he wrote and fell into a rabbit hole where the more I read about him, the more I disliked him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 February, 2021, 12:03:27 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 02 February, 2021, 10:33:10 PM
Hot Tub Time Machine

Urgh.  There is soooo much wrong with this film.  A retro 80s nostalgia comedy that has gross attitudes of the 80s alongside gross attitude of the 00s.  One of the most disturbing things is the depiction of the married man.  You want the best tip on how not to be henpecked and emasculated by your wife?  Shouting obscenity and verbally abusing a 9 year old girl.  That'll keep her in her place and make sure she doesn't cheat.  That's only the tip of the iceberg.  Fuck this film.

I still find it entertaining and it made me laugh more than once.  Fuck me as well, I guess.

So, the film is about arseholes, it has an arsehole attitude and doesn't have anything worthwhile to say about anything and the characters don't really learn any real lessons.  In the end, the take away for me is there is stuff I know is awful that I can happily watch.  I already knew that.  What a waste of time.

I think that's why I loved the film. That it didn't end with "oh, we were such assholes", which would turn the whole thing into redemption story, of which the world cinema is crowded lately.

Vampire's Kiss (1988)

Oh, God, I can't believe someone made a film like this. Nic Cage in his probably the most whacked up role; trashing his place, heavily erratic behavior, eating cockroaches and pidgeons alike, and harassing poor Maria Conchita Alonso. Because of his character, 1980s self-indulgent yuppie going mad, who imagines that he's turning into a vampire, it is the only value thing worth in the whole picture. Which is why this film has a small, but cult following and is responsible for numerous internet memes I am sure we're familiar with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 February, 2021, 12:27:45 AM
Quote from: milstar on 03 February, 2021, 12:03:27 AM

So, the film is about arseholes, it has an arsehole attitude and doesn't have anything worthwhile to say about anything and the characters don't really learn any real lessons.  In the end, the take away for me is there is stuff I know is awful that I can happily watch.  I already knew that.  What a waste of time.

I think that's why I loved the film. That it didn't end with "oh, we were such assholes", which would turn the whole thing into redemption story, of which the world cinema is crowded lately.
[/quote]

I like a bit of redemption so long as the character is actually redeemed.  There was no redemption for this gaggle of wankers*.  I agree it would have been worse if they tried.  The same if they actually went for a moral.  Apparently there is a sequel without John Cusack in it.  I like John Cusack as an arsehole.  Like in High Fidelity.

Quote
Vampire's Kiss (1988)

Oh, God, I can't believe someone made a film like this. Nic Cage in his probably the most whacked up role; trashing his place, heavily erratic behavior, eating cockroaches and pidgeons alike, and harassing poor Maria Conchita Alonso. Because of his character, 1980s self-indulgent yuppie going mad, who imagines that he's turning into a vampire, it is the only value thing worth in the whole picture. Which is why this film has a small, but cult following and is responsible for numerous internet memes I am sure we're familiar with.

This film is a ride.  It is the standard of which I judge Cagery.  The film is pretty disturbing as well.  Packs a punch in more ways than one.  I'm still undecided whether I like it or not, but I can't deny it left a lasting impression on me.

*I think the collective noun of wankers might actually be a strangle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 February, 2021, 10:16:32 AM

I thought it was a fapping of wankers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 February, 2021, 01:09:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 February, 2021, 12:27:45 AM

I like a bit of redemption so long as the character is actually redeemed.  There was no redemption for this gaggle of wankers*.  I agree it would have been worse if they tried.  The same if they actually went for a moral.  Apparently there is a sequel without John Cusack in it.  I like John Cusack as an arsehole.  Like in High Fidelity.


Yeah, John Cusack is cool in these type of roles. I don't see him often in pictures lately.


Quote from: pictsy on 03 February, 2021, 12:27:45 AM

This film is a ride.  It is the standard of which I judge Cagery.  The film is pretty disturbing as well.  Packs a punch in more ways than one.  I'm still undecided whether I like it or not, but I can't deny it left a lasting impression on me.

*I think the collective noun of wankers might actually be a strangle.

This film is standard for Cagery, which I don't think The Wicker Man could even top. No doubt it leaves an impression on you afterwards, for all wickedness in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 03 February, 2021, 07:20:27 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 February, 2021, 10:36:07 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

I managed about half of this before needing a break - and might do the other half later. It is interesting, but also a bit like someone who won't shut up about their drug experiences and imagines they're more significant than coincidence. For some reason, I really like that sort of narrative from Bill Drummond but find it a bit smug coming from Grant Morrison. Does he really believe he's had an out of body experience to an extra-solar location, or is he just bullshitting for fun? I suppose I just don't find him credible.

Is it true that Alan Moore once referred to him as a Scottish tribute act?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 03 February, 2021, 07:25:35 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 03 February, 2021, 07:20:27 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods
Is it true that Alan Moore once referred to him as a Scottish tribute act?

:lol: I hope so!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 03 February, 2021, 07:31:32 PM
QuoteYeah, John Cusack is cool in these type of roles. I don't see him often in pictures lately.

He's basically Nicolas Cage level in terms of how many straight to video/streaming garbage movies he appears in these days. It's pretty sad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 February, 2021, 08:39:32 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 03 February, 2021, 07:20:27 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 February, 2021, 10:36:07 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

I managed about half of this before needing a break - and might do the other half later. It is interesting, but also a bit like someone who won't shut up about their drug experiences and imagines they're more significant than coincidence. For some reason, I really like that sort of narrative from Bill Drummond but find it a bit smug coming from Grant Morrison. Does he really believe he's had an out of body experience to an extra-solar location, or is he just bullshitting for fun? I suppose I just don't find him credible.

Is it true that Alan Moore once referred to him as a Scottish tribute act?

Aw, c'mon! It's obvious that Moore based his entire schtick on ... erm ... ah ...

Nope - I just can't. For someone who leans so heavily into the existing creative multiverse, he really is one of a kind.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 February, 2021, 10:12:59 PM
Avengers: Infinity War
This is a really good action movie - although I feel sorry for anyone who watches it without having watched at least a few of the precursor movies, without which it would all seem like an enormously confusing in-joke. One of the main reasons I failed to appreciate The Dark Knight Strikes Again is because it felt like I needed a DC encyclopedia in order to know who half the characters were and therefore why their presence was significant. (Also, it's just a bit shit compared to the first one - which has probably not aged well.)

As it is, I've dipped into enough Marvel comics and MCU movies to be able to tag along successfully on this one. It's major strength is as a sequence of action vignettes that it's difficult to tear our eyes away from, and it drives forward apace. The *twist* is telegraphed fairly obviously by Clumperfrunk Bandersnatch, slightly diluting the light dusting [spoiler]applied to half the people you love[/spoiler] at the end.


Avengers: Endgame
Quite a fun "how do they get out of that", playing like an extended "A-Team stuck in a barn with everything they need to build a cabbage-firing-tank" montage with a slice of Ocean's 11 heist hijinks thrown in to take us towards the money shot battle to end all battles finale.

It doesn't work as well as Infinity War largely because it asks us to accept that one-note characters who are all about their massive egos (Tony, the archer guy) would give much of a shit about family life. You can see this in the scene where Tony/Robert tries to look lovingly into the eyes of his young daughter - he's simply checking his hair in the reflection from her irises, and doing his Blue Steel pout.

As a pay-off of everything that's come before it, this does actually work remarkably well, given its cast of thousands thirty-six.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 February, 2021, 10:13:08 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 February, 2021, 10:14:47 PM
... it lead me to a trailer for 'Dear Mr Watterson' a documentry that explores Calvin and Hobbes. I've only watched the first 3 or 4 minutes but it left me beaming from ear to ear. That ones next...

And the fact it leaves you beaming ear to ear is both the film's blessing and curse. Dear Mr Watterson is a lovely tribute to the greatest comic strip of all time (yes its better then Krazy Kat, and Pogo and Peanuts) and it makes you feel warm fuzzy and reminds you, if you could possibly need reminding that the strip is loved. Its creator has massive integrity. People have nothing but good things to say about it deservedly.

That's the problem, its so nice and warm and fuzzy its not that interesting. Mind when you've had a bad day and you need cheering up watch this as it will remind you that sometimes the world is a good place, with good things, sometimes those things are well worth exploring. So lets go exploring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2021, 11:07:16 PM
The Void - like many horror movies, it seems unable to differentiate between scary and unpleasant, but overall I liked it, particularly the Lovecraftian flourishes.  Lots of splattery body-horror effects - if you like that kind of thing - and very reminiscent of a lot of 1980s straight-to-video schlock, minus the wink-wink vaporwave aesthetic that seems to plague modern examples of such.

Fortress 2: Fortress Harder -LOL remember Christopher Lambert?  Back in the 1990s he was the poor man's Gerard Depardieu before Gerard Depardieu opened his stupid mouth and became the poor man's Gerard Depardieu.  Anyway this film wasn't very good - it's just too obviously cheap and lacks the satirical undercurrent, playful sadism, and fun turns from recognizable b-players that made the first movie a guilty pleasure.  What tropes Fortress 1: Fortress played around with, Fortress 2: More Fortress just replicates uncritically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 February, 2021, 11:20:59 PM
The Iron Lady (2011)


I like to think that the whole reason for the existence of this film is basically filmmakers saying "let's make a movie about female UK PM and let's have Meryl Streep playing in and that's it". As biographer, this movie doesn't have much meat on its bones. True, Meryl's role is outstanding and not just in terms of striking make-up and haircut. Meryl really deserved her Oscar. But everything else is just...bland. The movie missed the opportunity to show what made Margaret Thatcher tick. Also, Meryl really played her character with guts, but real Margaret Thatcher was way more intimidating than this movie showed her to be. And the whole movie is basically brief segments of her coping with own dementia, intertwined with affairs od the past, sometimes in my humbly opinion unnecessary intercut to jarring effect. Situation with Folkland Islands takes about 5-10 minutes of the film, for example. The movie never actually shows the effects and times of her rule, except occassionally showing people protesting against her or people showing her support. However, filmmakers did one thing. They never offered any sort of judgement on Thatcher's time as politician, thankfully, it's all presented from rather neutral, if not flaccid point of view. All that in just above a hour and half, which again, imho, should've been longer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 12:07:12 AM
The Hot Chick

This film is mostly just homophobic jokes.  After that it's mostly casual racism.  It is clumsy, stupid, juvenile and stars Rob Schneider.

I had to delete my lengthy justification for liking the film.  There is no reason.  I don't even need to admit I like the film.  I could have got away with just tearing into it.  It's very bad and very wrong.  Ironically for a film that trades a great deal in sexist stereotypes, the female cast are all a lot of fun in this film.  Especially Anna Faris and Rachel McAdams.  My advice, don't watch, it's garbage.  I'm the only person who likes it and it's my cross to bare.

Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 February, 2021, 11:07:16 PM
Fortress 2: Fortress Harder -LOL remember Christopher Lambert?  Back in the 1990s he was the poor man's Gerard Depardieu before Gerard Depardieu opened his stupid mouth and became the poor man's Gerard Depardieu.  Anyway this film wasn't very good - it's just too obviously cheap and lacks the satirical undercurrent, playful sadism, and fun turns from recognizable b-players that made the first movie a guilty pleasure.  What tropes Fortress 1: Fortress played around with, Fortress 2: More Fortress just replicates uncritically.

I must have skipped this one.  I saw Fortress when I was watching a load of Stuart Gordon films.  I'll use your review as confirmation bias and carry on avoiding this one.  Now I'm reminded of Robot Jox and Space Truckers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2021, 02:42:01 PM
I keep meaning to watch Robot Jox one of these days.  Is it any good?

Quote from: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 12:07:12 AMIt is clumsy, stupid, juvenile and stars Rob Schneider.

Just copy and paste this into any review of a Rob Schneider movie and you'll be fine.  Apart from those people telling you that you forgot to add "racist".
True story: I know someone who used to be an usher* in our local cinema, and I asked her if she got sick of films after seeing them several times a day for a couple of weeks and she said she did, but the exception was Deuce Bigelow 2: European Gigolo, which always made her laugh and is still her favorite film.



* One of the many occupations that existed in The Before Time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 03:52:28 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 04 February, 2021, 02:42:01 PM
I keep meaning to watch Robot Jox one of these days.  Is it any good?

Now that's a tough question to answer.  I wouldn't casually recommend it to just anyone.  All I really remember is some silly robot nonsense that replaced war or something.  I think I need to rewatch it at some point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 04 February, 2021, 04:21:06 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 12:07:12 AM

It is clumsy, stupid, juvenile and stars Rob Schneider.


Never thought I would see that particular sentence on the 2000AD Forum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 09:03:13 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 04 February, 2021, 04:21:06 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 04 February, 2021, 12:07:12 AM

It is clumsy, stupid, juvenile and stars Rob Schneider.


Never thought I would see that particular sentence on the 2000AD Forum.

I don't know whether it's sad or funny, but I forgot that film exists.  Now I don't know how to feel about being reminded about it ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 09:13:49 AM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.

What's the greatest?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 05 February, 2021, 09:19:19 AM
Real Steel?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 February, 2021, 09:22:49 AM
Escape to Victory, obv.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 09:37:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 09:13:49 AM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.

What's the greatest?
Mean Machine,ofc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 05 February, 2021, 09:57:13 AM
Over the Top?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 February, 2021, 10:05:57 AM
Cool Runnings
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 February, 2021, 11:11:33 AM

Any Given Sunday.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 February, 2021, 11:12:36 AM

Rocky.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 February, 2021, 11:36:30 AM
Death Race 2000
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 February, 2021, 11:48:14 AM
Run Fatboy,  Run
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 February, 2021, 11:52:57 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 February, 2021, 10:05:57 AM
Cool Runnings

Every time this movie is mentioned I think back to when Michael Jackson died. I was working in a pub, and we had his funeral on the telly. When they were bearing his pall down the street, a punter walked in and said "Awesome! Cool Runnings is on!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 February, 2021, 12:05:27 PM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.

I thought it's Bull Durham

Jennifer 8 (1992)

Imo, severely underrated thriller from the director of my 2nd favorite UK film (that is Whitnail & I). Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman and Lance Henriksen star. Garcia is a cop who (rightfully) believes that there is serial killer on the loose, who target blind women. What complicates the matter is that nobody in the force believes him, also he falls for a blind girl, played by Uma Thurman. As a movie, the only flaws I could find is that is stretched a bit, clocked at just over 2 hrs. Christmas Eve party lasts for a while (usually, these scenes get trimmed in the cutting room). Also, the movie break up somewhat in the last 10-15 minutes. The ending seems a bit rushed. On a brighter note, characters are top notch. Colorful and interesting. John Malkovich also appears, albeit briefly, his role should at least be nominated for Oscar. He plays asshole on the job who is totally clueless about what is going on. As if someone called him and said:"we have a few scenes and we need someone who chews the scenery". Dialogues are another high point. Witty, clean and precise. The exchanges between Garcia and Malkovich are one of the greatest I've ever seen in cinema. There are also few memorable scenes, such when Garcia and Henriksen are searching for the killer (this comes right up after excessively long Christmas Eve party) ; very creepy, as if you watch a nail-biting slasher. Jennifer 8 is not a masterpiece, but I think the reception it got was harsh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 12:57:48 PM
Bull Durham sucks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 05 February, 2021, 01:36:40 PM
As far as sports films go, I have a soft spot for The Club...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/22/retro-film-review-the-club-is-an-australian-classic (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/22/retro-film-review-the-club-is-an-australian-classic)


Also: the Norwegian title for Cool Runnings is Kalde Rumper (cold buttocks); not quite up there with the titles  used for The Shining (Hotel of Evil) or Deliverance (Picnic with Death) but still pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 February, 2021, 02:36:35 PM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 12:57:48 PM
Bull Durham sucks.

Blasphemy!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2021, 04:16:33 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 09:13:49 AM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.

What's the greatest?

It's fucking well GREGORY'S GIRL and you philistines know it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 05 February, 2021, 04:19:26 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 09:13:49 AM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 07:30:05 AM
The Replacements. Probably the second greatest sports movie ever.

What's the greatest?

Goon?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 05:15:52 PM
JON-A-THAN!

JON-A-THAN!

JON-A-THAN!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 February, 2021, 05:19:44 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 05:15:52 PM
JON-A-THAN!

JON-A-THAN!

JON-A-THAN!

Good shout. Though i did geg a bit bored last time I saw the original and haven't seen the remakre. Either way, it's still no GREGORY'S GIRL.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2021, 05:48:28 PM
Yeah I was wondering about Rollerball having recently rewatch Westworld and finding that held up I had a nosey for this but alas these days resist paying for movies instead wait for them to come around on a free service.

In my minds year this is the best sports film but not seen it for years so don't know if it hold up.

I watch about 30 minutes of the remake and it was more like Rollerballs so went to bed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 05:51:36 PM
Yeah, I just won't watch the remake because (like Robocop - Robocock, more like!) there's really no reason to.

Rollerball does have some dull bits, but (for me) the action sequences really are something to behold. All the mumbling bits between matches have always been difficult to digest.

Good call with Gregory's Girl - I still count "one elephant, two elephant..." because of that.

---

Editing in others for your consideration:
- The Hunt
- Point Break
- Whip It
- Moneyball
- Lords of Dogtown
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 06:17:29 PM
Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 06:23:26 PM
I love Point Break,but its not a sports movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 06:34:07 PM
Quote from: Smith on 05 February, 2021, 06:23:26 PM
I love Point Break,but its not a sports movie.

Unless you count olympic smouldering between Keanu and Swayze.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 February, 2021, 06:36:56 PM

Does Salute of the Jugger count? If so, Salute of the Jugger.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 February, 2021, 06:44:14 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2021, 05:48:28 PM
Yeah I was wondering about Rollerball having recently rewatch Westworld and finding that held up I had a nosey for this but alas these days resist paying for movies instead wait for them to come around on a free service.

In my minds year this is the best sports film but not seen it for years so don't know if it hold up.

I watch about 30 minutes of the remake and it was more like Rollerballs so went to bed.

Only watched it once about 35 years ago, and all I can remember is some dude setting a tree on fire at a party. Am I hallucinating that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 07:09:56 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 February, 2021, 06:44:14 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2021, 05:48:28 PM
Yeah I was wondering about Rollerball having recently rewatch Westworld and finding that held up I had a nosey for this but alas these days resist paying for movies instead wait for them to come around on a free service.

In my minds year this is the best sports film but not seen it for years so don't know if it hold up.

I watch about 30 minutes of the remake and it was more like Rollerballs so went to bed.

Only watched it once about 35 years ago, and all I can remember is some dude setting a tree on fire at a party. Am I hallucinating that?

No - that happened. In order to demonstrate the vacuity of a bought-in life of leisure, we witness depraved party-goers shooting some kind of plasma laser pistol at the trees and torching them, to the hilarity of everyone except our hero.

He is realizing that he can't be bought off because nothing they can give him is of any real worth - which gives him the motivation to fight on against the corporate hegemony.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 February, 2021, 09:12:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 06:17:29 PM
Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.
I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 February, 2021, 09:33:25 PM

Chariots of Fire, purely for the soundtrack, of course. And the story (whatever it was, I forget because I was too wrapped up in the soundtrack). I think there might have been a war in it.

I guess films like Hidalgo and Seabiscuit would also be eligible. What was that fairly recent one about the ice skater who punched people? That was pretty cool.

But yeah, I reckon #1 has to be Escape to Victory - it has Sly and Pele and Nazis [spoiler]getting beaten in the end because football[/spoiler] and... everything. It's like Zulu with FA oversight.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2021, 10:40:11 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 February, 2021, 10:13:08 PM
'Dear Mr Watterson' a documentry that explores Calvin and Hobbes... its so nice and warm and fuzzy its not that interesting...

Which lead me to Indie Gamie: The Movie which has none of these problems. its a wonderfully warts and all insight into the development of independent games. Its full of wonderful characters, all be they, you know real folks, but they are delightful to spend some time with, even if at times a little baffling and even occasionally unpleasent. The passion, commitment and real talent also shines through as well.

I knew nothing about the games and their creators before watching this, I suspect more folks who know more about these things will know these folks the way we know the droids. I think that will add an extra level, but to be honest I really felt the benefit of meeting them cold as they really where fantastic to spend an hour and a half with.

Well worth checking out - free on Amazon Prime if you fancy doing so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 11:11:36 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 February, 2021, 09:12:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 06:17:29 PM
Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.
I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.

Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2021, 11:40:04 PM
How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

I mean, it was LL Cool J's best film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 February, 2021, 11:45:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 11:11:36 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 February, 2021, 09:12:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 06:17:29 PM
Are we still talking Sports Films?

I lost track a page or two back.
I will add the Rob Schneider and sports film The Benchwarmers. An awful film in the best of ways.

Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?
You've only yourself to blame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 11:58:42 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2021, 11:40:04 PM
How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

Or Point Break.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 12:00:54 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 February, 2021, 11:45:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 February, 2021, 11:11:36 PM
Am I now going to be forever associated with Rob Schneider?
You've only yourself to blame.

I know... but still.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 February, 2021, 12:06:30 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 February, 2021, 05:48:28 PM

I watch about 30 minutes of the remake and it was more like Rollerballs so went to bed.

I watched the remake before I knew the movie is so bad and needlessly to say, for a McTiernan fan like me, it was just painful experience. I hated almost everything about the movie. Curiously, I heard that original script for the remake was much better than original film.

Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2021, 11:40:04 PM
How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

I mean, it was LL Cool J's best film.

After Mindhunters and Deep Blue Sea.

Kick Ass 2 (2013)

Well, I thought this was gonna a mess of a film, but ultimately, I was entertained at the end. Although this filmlacks wit of the predecessor and is more restrained than first and certainly watered down compared to the source material. But I admit that is impossible to fairly recreate scene by scene from the comic(s) into a feature film. But action sequences were okay, and I like what they did to the characters. I am big fan of the comic book series and this film doesn't disappoint for what it tried to do with Kick-Ass and Hit-girl.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 February, 2021, 12:34:05 AM
(And still no-one has mentioned Dodgeball, or The Van for that matter).


I quite enjoyed Kick-Ass 2 meself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 06 February, 2021, 12:44:41 AM
Not a sports film (although there are plenty of scenes of young ladies jumping about and kicking stuff) but the most recent film I watched was Sucker Punch.

I think I largely like it. The premise and setting was interesting, as was the concept of layers of fantasy... but I  wish they had done something more clever with it. Instead we got [spoiler]Baby Doll is going to dance as a distraction, while the others complete their current mission. Cue elaborate action fantasy sequences of young ladies kicking strange bottom wearing uniforms which I suspect are not regulation. (Baby Doll saves the day in these scenarios, although in the real world it's the other ladies who are undertaking the dangerous missions, while she prances about -which you never actually see her do -... but it is her fantasy.) They even do that silly dropping from a great height and landing on one knee thing of action films.

I felt sorry for the two dragons. :lol:[/spoiler]


The fantasy action scenes were spectacular, and they were a mad ride... yet I found myself feeling a bit bored after a while.

The overall story was quite slight. That's not necessarily a bad thing... but I think more could have been done with this film. [spoiler]The layers of fantasy did get a little more confusing at the end - again not a bad thing as it gave me something to think about. Mainly there was a suggestion that the scenes that seemed 'reality' were likely just another layer on what was really happening. It is signposted at the start but you spend so much time in that intermediate reality you can miss it until later. [/spoiler]

Overall, okay film. Not quite as clever as it thinks it is, maybe. Interesting but a bit disappointing.  I've seen it dismissed as 'tittilating' and 'style over substance.' I can understand why, although I don't entirely agree. The ladies wear quite skimpy outfits and kick a lot of bottom, although I didn't find it particularly
titillating, although a teenaged boy might. A couple of men at the asylum/bordello do act in a predatory way, but it isn't shown as anything but unpleasant. [spoiler]And they get their comeuppance.[/spoiler]

They certainly aren't vacuous women although it would have been nice to show more of their personalities, in a couple of cases. These women are victims, but the story is about them rising above that, albeit partly through fantasy. Maybe more could have been done with that.

There is some substance but it is buried somewhat in the action montage stuff. (The 'style' if you like.)

Is it odd that I find the film both a bit shallow and thought provoking at the same time? A sign it had something but should have done more with that something, maybe.

I did like the end concerning [spoiler]Baby Doll and Sweet Pea.[/spoiler]

By the way, if you don't switch off during the Bjork number in the end credits, there's am extravagant camp duet performance between the main villain and the Madame character singing 'Love is the drug...'.. with the other actresses as backing dancers. Well I found it amusing.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 February, 2021, 11:46:03 AM
I always think of Sucker Punch as the epitome of 'careful what you wish for'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 12:50:52 PM
I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.  A rule I unfortunately broke when a friend harassed me into watching his two DC films.  The friend profusely apologises even to this day and the rule has been sternly reimposed.  Never again.  Never again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 February, 2021, 01:04:03 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 12:50:52 PM
I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.

It's terrible. Possibly not the worst film I've ever seen, but definitely a contender.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 06 February, 2021, 01:21:41 PM
This thread has inspired Mrs. Wedgeski and I to make Friday night "film we haven't seen night". We were getting into a rut with just watching stuff off our shelf. With cinemas closed for a year, we've barely been watching anything new at all.

Last week was Project Power (Netflix). I have little to say about this. It's a dictionary definition 3-star action film with the occasional novel idea. You should watch it if you literally cannot think of anything else to watch.

Last night was Hotel Artemis (Prime). Here's one we missed on its way past a couple of years ago. We were browsing options for the evening and as soon as Goldblum appeared Mrs. Wedgeski's decision was made. I expected it to be excellent and wasn't disappointed--a kind of post-John Wick criminal mythology setting with great performances from everyone. I'm sure her brokenness was supposed to be mirrored in the rioting-LA-of-the-future but if the film has a weakness it's that the setting outside the walls of the hotel wasn't ever used to its potential, and the idea of a bank-vault-secure criminal hospital as a last refuge for the underworld was played secondary to the plot manipulations needed for the nurse to have her character arc. Nevertheless, we enjoyed every second, and it's nice and short, which in action movies is always a plus in my book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 01:35:12 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 February, 2021, 01:04:03 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 12:50:52 PM
I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.

It's terrible. Possibly not the worst film I've ever seen, but definitely a contender.

I can easily believe it.  I hate every single one of the films that that person made and Sucker Punch was one he wrote as well.  I just don't want to dirty myself with it.

Now, back to the Rob Schneider films I go!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 06 February, 2021, 03:21:04 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 February, 2021, 01:04:03 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 February, 2021, 12:50:52 PM
I never watched that one, especially after deciding never to watch another Zack Snyder ever.

It's terrible. Possibly not the worst film I've ever seen, but definitely a contender.

I always get it mixed up with Donkey Punch, which led to a very confusing conversation in a noisy pub once

(remember noisy pubs? *sigh*)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 February, 2021, 07:17:06 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 February, 2021, 12:34:05 AM
The Van for that matter).

Do you mean the film based on the Roddy Doyle novel?

My wife has an obsession with end of the world/disaster films so we tried Amazon's offering Greenland. Gerard Butler is trying to get this family to safety in Greenland as a comet heads to Earth. Some of the most unbelievable twaddle I've ever seen. I mean, Gerard Butler as an architect. Pish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2021, 11:57:05 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 11:58:42 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2021, 11:40:04 PM
How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

Or Point Break.

He did his best, but even Ray Winstone couldn't save that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 February, 2021, 12:21:59 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 06 February, 2021, 07:17:06 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 February, 2021, 12:34:05 AM
The Van for that matter).

Do you mean the film based on the Roddy Doyle novel?

I do indeed. It's in part a very accurate chronicle of Ireland's particiption in the Italia '90 World Cup, as experienced by those of us not previously interested in soccer. Which is to say, me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 February, 2021, 02:12:30 AM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 06 February, 2021, 11:57:05 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 February, 2021, 11:58:42 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 February, 2021, 11:40:04 PM
How does a movie thread on a forum for a sci-fi comic discuss sports movies yet not even mention Rollerball?

Or Point Break.

He did his best, but even Ray Winstone couldn't save that movie.

You have to admit his death scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnBq6iyk7AI) was poignant, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 February, 2021, 04:45:44 PM
In a twist, what about your next choice of movie?

Next with Nic Cage is on Netflix. Any good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 07 February, 2021, 05:55:20 PM
Literally watching this right now? It's not very good so far but as it's based on a Philip K Dick story I bet it gets real weird real soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 February, 2021, 09:14:41 PM
Conan The Barbarian (2011)
Jason Momoa and Rachel Nichols are very pretty but fuck me, this is a terrible film.

Two questions:
1) why can't we get a decent Conan movie or tv series? The first Arnie film is great but not really Conan. Destroyer has some REH elements right but is pretty poor. And this 2011 version is irredeemableand forgettable shit. I figured out about 1/2 way through that I had seen it before.

2) I was watching on Amazon. We recently got faster broadband and This looked like it was really studio bound, filmed on video and with badly composited special effects. Is it just that my HD reply is finally showing things in he and they don't stand up to the close scrutiny ? Or did this look shot in cinemas?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 February, 2021, 11:00:21 PM
I love you, Man

Like any stereotypical woman I am all about the chick flicks (this is a lie, sci-fi films are my main thing) and this film is without a doubt my favourite Rom-Com.  It makes me smile so much at the end, I love it. 

OK, so there is this thing in the first act where the film suggests that sexuality is a choice and outright calls it a lifestyle but I'm only going to call it gross ignorance because it's trying to be positive about it.  It's like that relative that wants to be cool about things, but doesn't understand it and ends up looking worse because of it.

Now that's out of the way we can get to why I love this film.  It has Paul Rudd as Peter and we've established already that is a plus.  It's a Rom-Com about friendship.  With the first acts weirdness towards homosexuality I wonder whether the first draft was a gay Rom-Com, but I prefer it to be about friendship, that's a proper subversion of the genre.  It adheres so closely to the formula as well, it's crazy and that small twist puts it all in such a delightful and cute light.  It hits every beat.  It even has, to a degree, the evil suitor archetype played by Jon Favreau.  He does a great job as a grade-A arsehole that I now believe that's what he's like in real life.  Peter's wife Zooey (Rashinda Jones) has the role that is usually the best friend character (with end of second act falling out included) and is wonderful in the supporting role.  Even with the problems they face, their relationship is amazingly healthy.  It really helps that Rashinda's beautiful smile melts my heart, and she smiles a lot in the film.

Peter is a great protagonist as well.  In no way following the stereotypes of masculinity.  Part of the conceit is, after all, he's one of the girls and that never changes.  His growth is dependent on becoming "more like a man", but just being more confident in himself.  It's actually part of the the third act resolution.  The only problem with Peter is he's a Real Estate Agent (I know they call them realters, but I hate how that sounds so much).

Despite it's first act missteps, overall the film is incredibly sweet and very unique despite being extremely formulaic.  I don't know of any other film off the top of my head that I can say that about it.

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 February, 2021, 09:14:41 PM
Conan The Barbarian (2011)
1) why can't we get a decent Conan movie or tv series? The first Arnie film is great but not really Conan. Destroyer has some REH elements right but is pretty poor. And this 2011 version is irredeemableand forgettable shit. I figured out about 1/2 way through that I had seen it before.

I agree it's forgettable.  I don't remember as much from this film as the other two Conan films.  I also remember enjoying it for what it was. 

Just to contextualise, I also found the remake of Clash of the Titans enjoyable.  Rewatching the original of that made me feel slightly justified (fyi it's a bit shoddy and no Jason and the Argonauts).

I had heard the Conan remake was utter shite and was expecting that and it just failed to offend my tastes.  I wouldn't go to bat for it.  The first Conan film is the best, as a film.

Nevertheless, Swords and Sorcery is such an unloved genre in film making, I'd still recommend the 2011 version to anyone who likes the genre* just because there isn't a lot of choice.

*I love the fantasy genre in general and feel this point holds true beyond S&S.  Sci-Fi gets a decent amount of love and Horror is a saturated market, but fantasy is so under-represented that I find it hard to find something to watch when I'm in the mood for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 February, 2021, 11:46:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 February, 2021, 04:45:44 PM

Next with Nic Cage is on Netflix. Any good?

I watched that long ago, but I remember it as formulaic thriller, but with the twist in that main guy is basically a psychic.


Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1986)


My third favorite UK film. And I find it weirdly relatable, for I am not from that background (don't know if it's mentality thing, but whatever). But it's clear that the picture is very much rooted in reality, while presenting a somewhat sardonic, but lighthearted view on working class Yorkshiremen. The story is about two girl friends (Rita and Sue), screwing with a married guy (Bob), while acting as babysitters for his kids. The main star of the film is the drunk Dad of one of the girls. I have never seen a movie where a character is drunk out of his mind, until I saw this. And that uber hilarious scene where Bob's wife confronts both Rita and Sue and Sue's parents, while neighbors are watching the spectacle. Somehow I think these type of movies are impossible to be made today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 February, 2021, 11:47:09 PM
Quote from: milstar on 07 February, 2021, 11:46:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 February, 2021, 04:45:44 PM

Next with Nic Cage is on Netflix. Any good?

I watched that long ago, but I remember it as formulaic thriller, but with the twist in that main guy is basically a psychic.


Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1986)


My third favorite UK film. And I find it weirdly relatable, for I am not from that background (don't know if it's mentality thing, but whatever). But it's clear that the picture is very much rooted in reality, while presenting a somewhat sardonic, but lighthearted view on working class Yorkshiremen. The story is about two girl friends (Rita and Sue), screwing with a married guy (Bob), while acting as babysitters for his kids. The main star of the film is the drunk Dad of one of the girls. I have never seen a movie where a character is drunk out of his mind, until I saw this. And that uber hilarious scene where Bob's wife confronts both Rita and Sue and Sue's parents, while neighbors are watching the spectacle. Somehow I think these type of movies are impossible to be made today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 08 February, 2021, 01:39:49 AM
Dungeons & Dragons - nah, just kidding. Once was more than enough.


Alexander - there must be a good way to do a mythical biopic, but this isn't it as we lean too heavily into the narrator filling in long historical gaps as somber trumpets blare away in the background to add historical gravitas to the verbiage.

There is a moment of tension as a young Alexander stands up to his overbearing pop, but then the result of that (which could have been dramatic) is thrown away as mere background narrative as we teleport off into the future.

Also - this guy's got some serious "God striding the Earth" hype surrounding him - but they got Colin Farell in a blonde wig, which just makes me think of Nigel in Top Secret (https://youtu.be/q1FOR3L0VKg). Shouldn't Alexander be ... I dunno ... more impressive than Colin Farrell in a wig?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 08 February, 2021, 08:57:46 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 February, 2021, 04:45:44 PM
Next with Nic Cage is on Netflix. Any good?

I watched this yesterday after my Mam said she enjoyed it... and I did, too. Nic Cage is quite restrained but does a grand job IMO. Really liked the ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 09 February, 2021, 01:37:10 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 06 February, 2021, 11:46:03 AM
I always think of Sucker Punch as the epitome of 'careful what you wish for'.

I think a review at the time summed it up best when they described it as 'Concept Art: The Movie'.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 09 February, 2021, 12:49:08 PM
Gave Brandon Cronenberg's new film, Possessor a watch last night.

Some interesting body swap concepts explored, even if it wasn't quite up to the standards of his dad's most celebrated work.
Some wincingly effective gore too.
Does Sean Bean make to the end of the movie?
Well I gues you'll just have to watch to find out!!!  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 09 February, 2021, 10:39:34 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 09 February, 2021, 12:49:08 PM
Gave Brandon Cronenberg's new film, Possessor a watch last night.

Some interesting body swap concepts explored, even if it wasn't quite up to the standards of his dad's most celebrated work.
Some wincingly effective gore too.
Does Sean Bean make to the end of the movie?
Well I gues you'll just have to watch to find out!!!  :lol:

Jesus, I didn't know that another kid follows his father in cinematographic steps.

Over the Top (1987)

A kinda off-beat entry in Sly's filmography. Can a film about arm wrestling fall under sports movie? Anyway, this is not usual Stallone's film. This one is much more melodramatic in scale. Arm wrestling scenes could have been done a little better imo. Oh, and that corny moment when the kid teaches Sly about winning and loosing, just before Sly's final match. Nice ost, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 February, 2021, 10:36:39 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!

Sounds like Pandorum to me.  The less said, the better.

I liked what Passengers did with it's concept.  I thought the central dilemma was very interesting and explored reasonably well... except maybe the end.  I watched the film after watching Ex Machina, and although I thought Ex Machina was the better film, I enjoyed Passengers considerably more.  I'm not sure what you mean by love over gold here.  I found that the film was exploring a theme of betrayal/abuse and forgiveness.

Maverick

What can I say about this dumb film?  It's an action comedy.  It has a healthy does of 90's naivety.  It has pre-antisemitic-rant  Mel Gibson.  A really bad cameo reference to Lethal Weapon that wasn't worth the screen time.  Jodie Foster and Alfred Molina are good in it.  It's mostly harmless fun, but not without its problems.  The twists raised a lot of questions about what was happening in the film.  Kinda made the whole journey seem pointless.  Not John Wick 3 pointless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 10 February, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 10 February, 2021, 10:36:39 AM

Maverick

What can I say about this dumb film?  It's an action comedy.  It has a healthy does of 90's naivety.  It has pre-antisemitic-rant  Mel Gibson.  A really bad cameo reference to Lethal Weapon that wasn't worth the screen time.  Jodie Foster and Alfred Molina are good in it.  It's mostly harmless fun, but not without its problems.  The twists raised a lot of questions about what was happening in the film.  Kinda made the whole journey seem pointless.  Not John Wick 3 pointless.

I remember Maverick from my childhood. It was fun. I haven't seen that film in a long time. I remember it by intense poker plays between Gibson and Molina. And quirky James Garner performance. As for being pre-antisemitic rant, it still is post-homophobic rant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 February, 2021, 11:54:47 AM
Quote from: milstar on 10 February, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
As for being pre-antisemitic rant, it still is post-homophobic rant.

I missed that one.  So today I've learnt that Gibson's public shittery goes back further than I thought.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 10 February, 2021, 06:53:15 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!

There was a Future Shocks or was it a thriller than had a similar premise. A spaceship sets off for some distant planet with only the caretaker, his wife and their child awake for the duration. When it arrives with the fresh stock for the gene pool they discover that the son has gone mad and turned off the life support systems. Printed or reprinted somewhere in the 600 or 700s.

Passengers wasn't the best or worst movie but that scene in the swimming pool with zero gravity was new!

Watched a movie called Tag on Netflix at the weekend. 0/10 Libera Te Tutemet Ex Inferis etc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 10 February, 2021, 07:11:10 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 10 February, 2021, 06:53:15 PM
There was a Future Shocks or was it a thriller than had a similar premise. A spaceship sets off for some distant planet with only the caretaker, his wife and their child awake for the duration. When it arrives with the fresh stock for the gene pool they discover that the son has gone mad and turned off the life support systems. Printed or reprinted somewhere in the 600 or 700s.

Resentment, prog 537.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 10 February, 2021, 07:49:49 PM
That's the one!

Thank you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 10 February, 2021, 10:08:56 PM
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

So, like, the ocean's not that deep. BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT! What's weird is that this is pretty much the most expensive thing Hollywood could come up with in 1954 but uses nature doc. footage for dolphin pods and such. And there are weird plot contrivances like our protagonist bundle happens upon the Nautilus drifting around a fog bank in neutral and finds it utterly abandoned, until the entire crew come back from some sea-farm-harvesting in these big clunky diving suits. Which, you know, doesn't make sense. I didn't care when I was a kid.

The Nautilus itself is amazing, design-wise, and has a fantastically ornate interior, complete with spooky pipe organ, which the slightly mad Captain Nemo (a wonderful James Mason doing an incredible impression of himself) hammers on prior to ramming into war-ships - which is where the real meat and potato of the movie is (not discounting the fight with a giant squid).

Captain Nemo is battling the unstoppable forces of the global capitalist war machine (and passing overlarge fauna) that had previously enslaved him and damaged his family. So, there's that. For some reason, though, a shifty rogue-type whaler-guy dressed like Pop-Eye is the "hero" who is battling against Nemo's crazed ambition. Played by a shit-eating grin sporting Kirk Douglas, he swashes and buckles all over the screen, and even turns the entire enterprise into a musical at one point (which I assume was in his contract).

Also, we have to swallow the idea that Nemo is all "man of the people", when he's clearly the King aboard his sub-sea palace, and his word is law. Also: he pretends to drown people in order to test their intent. That's a bit fucked up.

Favorite scene is First Dinner, in which Pop-Eye tucks into each course with gusto only to be repelled when Nemo says things like "those are whale testicles marinated in squid spunk". Once got the point across, but they play that out over several dishes to the extent that it seems like a Monty Python sketch.

Summary: allegory with a side-helping of giant squid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 February, 2021, 10:32:23 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!

Normally, miogeny passed me by. But this film has the most rape-y plot I have ever seen in a blockbuster and I am stunned that it's not been called out (to my knowledge). Basically, Pratt has a thing for a pretty girl he's never met, and he thaws her out - condeming her to age and die while her friends and colleagues are in statsi - so that he can get his leg over, which he knows he will because he is literally the last and only man she will ever meet.

She should have stabbed him in the eye for killing her.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 10 February, 2021, 10:45:14 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 February, 2021, 10:32:23 PM
I am stunned that it's not been called out (to my knowledge).

Abduction As Romance (https://youtu.be/t8xL7w1POZ0) - this one really tackles it.

Passengers reviewed by Mark Kermode (https://youtu.be/L6kK8Q4rweY) - this one mentions it but doesn't focus on it.

Passengers, Rearranged (https://youtu.be/Gksxu-yeWcU) - this one recognizes it but doesn't judge it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 11 February, 2021, 12:30:23 AM
Hardware (1990)

Well, I suppose this one is fairly famous on this forum. The core idea taken from a Judge Dredd comic, which resulted in copyright issues as nor the story nor the creators were mentioning during the intro or the end (reportedly resolved in DVD version). Hardware is one of the purest industrial movies. It's shot mostly in dark, claustrophobic, hard to orient environment, with nightmarish feel. Color red is heavily used in the film. As for the film itself, there is some fine filmmaking here despite being a very low budget picture. As for the actors, they are bit subpar, particularly the main two, who don't look much convincing on the screen. Then, there is William Hootkins (Lt Eckhart from Batman) and he steals the scenes he was in (albeit very few), playing voayeur pervert who spies on couples having sex and using extremely vulgar language. I also like the music, especially the song that plays during the end credit and sex scene. I just can't get it out of my head. As horror film, I find the film pretty scary. It maybe needed a bigger budget to work with, but what we got is not bad at all. For 1.000.000$
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 09:17:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Flip those around and you might have the right of it. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 09:56:36 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 09:17:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Flip those around and you might have the right of it. :)

Your unbridled edge has been noted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 10:07:31 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 09:56:36 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 09:17:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Flip those around and you might have the right of it. :)

Your unbridled edge has been noted.
Appreciate that, ty.

Not trying to be edgy. Eraserhead is a film over which I bonded with a long-term friend and thus has significant meaning for me. District 9...all right, it isn't complete shit, but I do remember being disappointed for reasons that now escape me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 February, 2021, 10:08:11 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 February, 2021, 10:32:23 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!

Normally, miogeny passed me by. But this film has the most rape-y plot I have ever seen in a blockbuster and I am stunned that it's not been called out (to my knowledge). Basically, Pratt has a thing for a pretty girl he's never met, and he thaws her out - condeming her to age and die while her friends and colleagues are in statsi - so that he can get his leg over, which he knows he will because he is literally the last and only man she will ever meet.

She should have stabbed him in the eye for killing her.

This is the reason I wasn't happy with the ending.  At no point was I left with the impression that what Pratt's character was doing was right... until the end.  My most charitable reading is it haphazardly introduces the concept of forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of abuse.  I don't think that's the case.  It seemed clear a happy ending was called for and they used a really cheap way to create a reconciliation.  It does undermine what the rest of the film achieves.

Nevertheless, I still liked how it explored the themes of loneliness and abuse up until that point.  I never had the impression that the film didn't understand what it was dealing with (until the end).  I sincerely was left with the idea that it was what the film was exploring and would find it hard to criticise it for that.  In actuality, I thought it handled it deftly and sympathetically (until the end).  Probably why I enjoyed it.

I get why others wouldn't enjoy it.  I've never recommended this film to anyone and it does have a hokey tone.  Plus, the ending.

Hot Shots

Wow.  I used to laugh so much at this type of film.  Rewatching them makes me feel like I've lost my innocence.  I just didn't find it funny.  Nevertheless, it was silly and dumb and that's what I wanted last night.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 11 February, 2021, 10:31:48 AM
The Tomorrow Man (IMDB LINK) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8769848/)

John Lithgow is a grumpy doomsday prepper who meets and falls for Blythe Danner. A rather nice romance ensues and all was perfectly splendid. Then they dropped the ending. Myself and Mrs Bolt were actually sat open mouthed at the ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 11:45:43 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 10:07:31 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 09:56:36 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 09:17:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Flip those around and you might have the right of it. :)

Your unbridled edge has been noted.
Appreciate that, ty.

Not trying to be edgy. Eraserhead is a film over which I bonded with a long-term friend and thus has significant meaning for me. District 9...all right, it isn't complete shit, but I do remember being disappointed for reasons that now escape me.

Oh,its deeeeep. Its like a nightmare,maaaaaaaan. Its like,like spiritual and shit,maaaaaaan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 February, 2021, 12:24:07 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 11 February, 2021, 10:31:48 AM
The Tomorrow Man (IMDB LINK) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8769848/)

John Lithgow is a grumpy doomsday prepper who meets and falls for Blythe Danner. A rather nice romance ensues and all was perfectly splendid. Then they dropped the ending. Myself and Mrs Bolt were actually sat open mouthed at the ending.

Was the ending bad, then?  Did you like the film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 11 February, 2021, 01:05:34 PM
Lack of clarity, sorry. I actually really enjoyed the film. I think both leads were immensely believable and the ending was just such a colossal surprise. I don't want to spoil it or even 'big it up' too much, because it will only disappoint then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 February, 2021, 01:53:12 PM
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 11 February, 2021, 01:05:34 PM
Lack of clarity, sorry. I actually really enjoyed the film. I think both leads were immensely believable and the ending was just such a colossal surprise. I don't want to spoil it or even 'big it up' too much, because it will only disappoint then.

OK, cool :)
If I watch it I shall remember to manage my expectations ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 11 February, 2021, 02:57:37 PM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 11:45:43 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 10:07:31 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 09:56:36 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 11 February, 2021, 09:17:03 AM
Quote from: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 07:12:59 AM
Eraserhead- complete shit.

District 9- it's actually pretty good.
Flip those around and you might have the right of it. :)

Your unbridled edge has been noted.
Appreciate that, ty.

Not trying to be edgy. Eraserhead is a film over which I bonded with a long-term friend and thus has significant meaning for me. District 9...all right, it isn't complete shit, but I do remember being disappointed for reasons that now escape me.

Oh,its deeeeep. Its like a nightmare,maaaaaaaan. Its like,like spiritual and shit,maaaaaaan.

My advice: just agree with Smith. It'll go easier for everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 11 February, 2021, 03:19:45 PM
Im just joking. Like it, don't like it,not my problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 11 February, 2021, 05:58:22 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 10 February, 2021, 10:32:23 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 February, 2021, 09:06:05 AM
Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence playing themselves stuck on a damaged spaceship travelling towards some planet. It was okay-ish with Love over Gold storyline, but I kept thinking what 2000AD would have done with this premise. It would have had them woken up by other passengers, who have all turned cannibals as the food dispensers don't work! Then it would be a battle for survival in the spaceships grey corridors with accountants and sociologists trying to murder Pratt and Lawrence who'd have to team up or be lunch. See? It's always better with 2000AD!


Normally, miogeny passed me by. But this film has the most rape-y plot I have ever seen in a blockbuster and I am stunned that it's not been called out (to my knowledge). Basically, Pratt has a thing for a pretty girl he's never met, and he thaws her out - condeming her to age and die while her friends and colleagues are in statsi - so that he can get his leg over, which he knows he will because he is literally the last and only man she will ever meet.

She should have stabbed him in the eye for killing her.

He does a full psyche eval on her first so he can market himself as the perfect companion to her. He's not a complete arsehole :)

I also loved Eraserhead and District 9, rewatched D9 recently and it's solid it's stands to the test of time. Sharlto Copley is incredible.

I haven't rewatched Eraserhead for a while and struggle to recall what it's about or why I liked it so much.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 February, 2021, 10:31:12 AM
As a follow up to BLACK SAILS I watched the mostly excellent TREASURE ISLAND (Disney 1950).

It's a lavish production despite hardly leaving British shores chock full of great character actors (spot Bond's Defence Minister Geoffrey Keen as Israel Hands) chewing whatever is to hand and fair rattles along (though a modern version would undoubtedly have squeezed a couple more set pieces into the lean running time).

Only after watching did I realise that there is not a woman to be seen in the whole venture (understandable once under sail) let alone given a speaking line.

It also emphasises what a great job the Black Sails tea did making character arcs that would fit into this. Accent aside, Robert Newton's Long John Silver is very much a continuation of what we see in Black Sails. Though Billy Bones has definitely let himself go.

Sad though, is the demise of young Bobby Driscoll who played Jim Hawkins... dead by 31.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 February, 2021, 06:09:41 PM
Dunkirk (2017)

Quite possibly the best war (ww2) film in recent years. Sorry 1917. I remember when I saw it in the theatre, the music was so loud it was overbearing and almost embarrassing. (What would I give to have that feeling again?) But, the music score is sooooo terrific. Hans Zimmer is robbed of the Oscar. As for the film itself, it's made very strongly, completely auteur approach to filmmaking. And CGI use is minimal! Everything was real as it could be. Photography is great. All shots focusing on group of soldiers on the beach, or aerial segments up in the clouds while sea is below are spectacular. Dunkirk isn't without lacking, though. I felt like Nolan tried to make an epic film and at the same time, intimate, personal film, seen thru the eyes of one man. As results, all epicness feels rather timid. Plot itself is intricately crafted (air, sea, mole). But I wish the mole arc got more story. As it is, it looks like it lasts for two days, instead of given one week. For example, it would've been interesting what happens to CIllian Murphy character. About the characters, I like that they are so simple. It's just a survival story of people who desperately attempt to save their lives (including Harry Stiles asshole character, bent to sacrifice the others). Also, what I liked about the film is enemy (Germans) presence being reduced to bare minimum. While it's not their story, I am actually tired of seeing same people in the same uniforms again and again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 February, 2021, 06:21:10 PM
Quote from: milstar on 12 February, 2021, 06:09:41 PM
Dunkirk (2017)

Really didn't enjoy this film.  Found it be very boring.  Very, very boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 February, 2021, 06:43:07 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 12 February, 2021, 06:21:10 PM
Quote from: milstar on 12 February, 2021, 06:09:41 PM
Dunkirk (2017)

Really didn't enjoy this film.  Found it be very boring.  Very, very boring.

Oh me not at all. Intense music that cling you to edge of the seat, while you watch poor soldiers trying to get to their home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 February, 2021, 10:35:13 PM
Neverending Story

I thought I'd not seen this for ages when I saw it on iPlayer cos I really couldn't remember anything about it. Well turns out I don't think I've ever seen it - or it was so dull that have just entirely forgotten it. I guess I thought it was just one of those films I must have seen. But aside from the flying chinese dragon chappie and the sneezing giant turtle pretty much a blank.

Its not that it doesn't display astonishing imagination and wonderful fairy tale ideas, its just that it uses them to such poor dramatic effect. The themes of the power of the reader and the captivating nature of story are laid on so thick and lack any guile in their use.

I just found the whole thing a chore, and there was less than an 1 1/2 of it.

Such a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 February, 2021, 11:03:16 PM
It's a weird film.  I really am never sure about the real world interaction to the fictional world.  I don't like my fantasy films having "reality" shoe horned in.  This is why I have never gushed over The Princess Bride like so many others.  I don't mind Neverending Story despite this because it's got some imagination I like and some good production values I can appreciate.  Nevertheless, the last time I watched it I did think about Return to Oz a lot. 

The sequels are a whole lot worse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 February, 2021, 07:43:54 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 February, 2021, 10:35:13 PM
Its not that it doesn't display astonishing imagination and wonderful fairy tale ideas, its just that it uses them to such poor dramatic effect.

See also, Dark Crystal, which I re-watched for the first time in decades ahead of the (criminally cancelled) Netflix sequel series. Looks lovely, goes nowhere and takes its time doing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 February, 2021, 02:30:23 PM
Greenland on Prime. Better than you might think, with a pleasantly tense first half before sliding into predictability for the second hour. Looks good (for the most part), well-written, and Gerard Butler puts in a more sophisticated turn than usual.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 February, 2021, 07:41:51 PM
I'm on a Nic Cage roll right now.  Next was good fun.

Am watching all the Underworld films.

1 - not great.  Just like I remembered it.
2 - not great.  Worse than I remembered.
3 - actually surprisingly good.

I imagine 4 and 5 aren't great but I'll get onto them soon.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 February, 2021, 11:45:21 PM
CAPTAIN MARVEL which is jolly good but should have ended within five minutes of her standing up montage. She just seems like an overpowered bully at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 February, 2021, 09:30:12 AM
Quote from: repoman on 13 February, 2021, 07:41:51 PM
I'm on a Nic Cage roll right now.  Next was good fun.

Am watching all the Underworld films.

1 - not great.  Just like I remembered it.
2 - not great.  Worse than I remembered.
3 - actually surprisingly good.

I imagine 4 and 5 aren't great but I'll get onto them soon.

When you say 3, do you mean Rise of Lychans?  If so, then I agree with this.  I remember 4 being terrible.  So much worse than what came before.  It's been a long time since I watched these films, however.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 February, 2021, 11:44:39 AM
The Island (1980)

Well, I hate this. One of Sir Michael Caine's forgettable efforts. As if filmmakers weren't sure what movie exactly they are making. The premise is pretty simple. A journalist who travels with his son to the island in the search for his scoop, falls captive (after surviving air wreck) to the group of pirates inhabiting the island, led by David Warner. The first part works as a slasher film, the second as survival horror with strong adventures overtones, and the final part as a second-grade thriller, which probably is the most interesting moments of the film. I was fond of pirates in my childhood, after reading Treasure Island, but there is no treasure here, nor the pirates were interesting at all. All are shown as a group of madmen (although David Warner's character shows some intelligence). Speaking of David Warner, he is poorly used here. Neither Michael Caine is made as a believable hero, [spoiler] except when gunning down with a machine gun, dozen of pirates near the film's end.[/spoiler] And as for pirates themselves, they are shown as someone I would tremble on sight. Even though the filmmakers tried to make them intimidating, by having them using gratuitous, gory violence. Also, there is a quite weird boat raid scene. Oh, and the film uses a tagline that is a reference to Jaws (as both films use the same screenwriter, who wrote both novels). But Jaws is a class film compared to this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 February, 2021, 01:05:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 14 February, 2021, 09:30:12 AM
Quote from: repoman on 13 February, 2021, 07:41:51 PM
I'm on a Nic Cage roll right now.  Next was good fun.

Am watching all the Underworld films.

1 - not great.  Just like I remembered it.
2 - not great.  Worse than I remembered.
3 - actually surprisingly good.

I imagine 4 and 5 aren't great but I'll get onto them soon.

When you say 3, do you mean Rise of Lychans?  If so, then I agree with this.  I remember 4 being terrible.  So much worse than what came before.  It's been a long time since I watched these films, however.

Yep, the prequel one.  So good.  Bill Nighy is amazing in those films and makes up for Sheen not looking anything like a werewolf leader at all.  Looks more like a skinny Simon Pegg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 February, 2021, 01:42:28 PM
Gave Next a look. Not bad as Nick Cage films go, but my wife was seriously put out by the ending.

Tampopo followed by The Ramen Girl. The first is perhaps my favourite foreign-language film, the later is more fun than it has a right to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 February, 2021, 07:07:11 PM
Quote from: milstar on 14 February, 2021, 11:44:39 AM
But Jaws is a class film compared to this.

I dunno. Richard Dreyfuss is a bit too short and tubby to be an effective leading man. Roy Scheider is no oil painting and I'm not sure Robert Shaw has his own teeth. What were they thinking casting these ugly fuckers as heroes? They could have got fit and handsome people.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 14 February, 2021, 07:17:21 PM
applause.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2021, 07:26:05 PM

The shark was gorgeous, though...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 February, 2021, 07:44:21 PM
You're biased though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2021, 07:51:02 PM

Oh behave  - who doesn't get turned on by a sexy shark?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 14 February, 2021, 08:20:26 PM
Jaws is a perfect example of model-replacement fish-bias. There are plenty of sharks who were hungry for the part - just the kind of thing they could really sink their teeth into - a chance to show off their acting chops. And they make an animatronic instead. It's fucking Dumbo all over again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2021, 08:44:54 PM

All the real sharks turned it down or were dropped for being too bitey.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 February, 2021, 09:22:27 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 14 February, 2021, 08:20:26 PM
Jaws is a perfect example of model-replacement fish-bias. There are plenty of sharks who were hungry for the part - just the kind of thing they could really sink their teeth into - a chance to show off their acting chops. And they make an animatronic instead. It's fucking Dumbo all over again!

Your puns hurt my kidneys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 February, 2021, 10:25:49 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 February, 2021, 07:07:11 PM
Quote from: milstar on 14 February, 2021, 11:44:39 AM
But Jaws is a class film compared to this.

I dunno. Richard Dreyfuss is a bit too short and tubby to be an effective leading man. Roy Scheider is no oil painting and I'm not sure Robert Shaw has his own teeth. What were they thinking casting these ugly fuckers as heroes? They could have got fit and handsome people.

Well, if it gets remade today, expect slim bare chested guys in. That's what market "supposedly" dictates. But i did not have problem with the casting. Wait til you see Michael Caine as supposed hero. And I like Roy Scheider.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2021, 07:51:02 PM

Oh behave  - who doesn't get turned on by a sexy shark?


Depends if they give a good bite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 February, 2021, 10:40:46 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2021, 08:44:54 PM

All the real sharks turned it down or were dropped for being too bitey.

I suppose you talk from personal experience? I mean, for the legendary shark?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 15 February, 2021, 10:52:31 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 February, 2021, 08:52:44 PM
Sputnik is a neat little Alien meets Colossal outing with wonderful Soviet atmosphere and institutional architecture that made me nostalgic for my days in UCD's Belfield campus. The two leads, Oksana Akinshina and Fedor Bondarchuk are both terrific, and the alien design is novel and scary. Recommended.

I had a few hours to kill yesterday morning while my liver processed 5 cans of draught Guinness and half a litre of Redbreast whiskey, so scoured my Netflix recommendations for something to ease the pain.
The prior mental note of a Tordelback recommendation led me to 1980's Soviet occupied Kazakhstan.

It was a game of two halves.

I really enjoyed the first hour - great set-up, special effects, atmosphere, acting - the works.
I was rubbing my sweaty palms with anticipation - this was shaping up to be a genuine 10 carat diamond procured from a Gulag coal mine.

Almost exactly at halfway mark the wheels came off like the safety protocols for the Chernobyl 4 Power Station.
What was happening? Random scenes. Confusing or frankly unbelievable character motivation. Jumps in logic.
I just started to sober up couldn't get my head around it.


It's a regretful thumbs down for a flick that could've been a contender.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 15 February, 2021, 03:00:36 PM
Quite a good weekend for my film viewing and saw a couple of new ones:

Uncle Frank (Amazon Prime). A very touching story about the eponymous Uncle (Paul Bettany) and his family in South Carolina in 1970. Frank is gay and has a strained relationship with his dad and family. This is a very well written piece and every character has depth and personality. Bettany is outstanding and I wouldn't be surprised if this comes up at awards season. Well worth a watch.

Booksmart (Amazon Prime). I vaguely remembered this getting plaudits at the time but ignored it as a teen comedy. My loss, as its excellent. The film deftly skewers the stereotyping and narrow roles these films often use and provides a fun and sympathetic cast of characters. Its not exactly a realistic portrayal of teenage life, I can't believe teens in LA have a lifestyle remotely like that, but there is a truth in there. If the archetypal teen movie The Breakfast Club is hard to watch these days, then this is a far superior film and a more than adequate replacement.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 15 February, 2021, 05:33:22 PM
Quote from: TordelBack link=topic=31824.msg1051932#msg1051932
b]Sputnik[/b] is a neat little Alien meets Colossal outing with wonderful Soviet atmosphere and institutional architecture that made me nostalgic for my days in UCD's Belfield campus. The two leads, Oksana Akinshina and Fedor Bondarchuk are both terrific, and the alien design is novel and scary. Recommended.

Ugh. I've seen Russian SF movies and they are not all my cup of tea. Except Stalker, but I don't even observe it as SF.

Goodbye Lover (1998)

Sandra (Patricia Arquette) is self-improving tape freak and sex freak. Her marriage has seen better days, and her husband Jake (Dermot Mulroney) is alcoholic who reached his bottom. Things on his job are no better either, with his brothers Ben (Don Johnson) playing a good brother role. But Sandra is screwing with Ben. Eventually, Ben gets fed up with Sandra and Jake finds out about the two's affair which leads him to the point of contemplating suicide. Ben arrives to stop him, but falls victim the the plot twists that births numerous twists. Basically, this is the premise of this wacked mash neo-noir black comedy. Probably I should have said mess. Up until Ben's Death, the movie seemed just aimless. From then on, it descends into a ridiculous twist after twist, and none of them quite witty. Like, "You know everything you learned about the movie? Well, it's all bullshit." Nothing in this film is actually as it seems and twists are half baked. Wild Things, released the same year, could teach Goodbye Lover a thing or two. Anyway, there is Marie Louise Parker, playing one of those secretaries no one pays attention to. Well, almost. After Ben kicked Sandra off, she dates Ben. [spoiler]But as it turns out, she is screwing with Jake.[/spoiler] Ellen Degeneris plays a detective rife with cynical Outlook on life and trait for uttering one dull reply after another. Actually, I guess she plays a parody of all those famous noir detective, in the vein of Raymond Chandler or Dashiel Hammet. Anyway, she is helped by dimwitted partner, whose role is just to be a dimwit. There's also a subplot involving a serial killer, but that briefly comes into a play in later stages of them. Apart from twists, the film's main problem is that comedy-crime mix doesn't work. True, the humor is very dark, sex scenes are farcical, but it rises above to really be a comedy film. Or crime film for that matter. The two elements seem to put down each other. But there's some fun here, so it's not total wreck. And numerous Dutch angles are always appreciated :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 15 February, 2021, 05:49:22 PM
Sub-threading with "Last movie watched part of the way through before I gave up out of sheer boredom...":

The Bank Job - a Jason Statham vehicle set in 1971 and based on a true story, this is turgid bollocks where the crims are so stupid that you want them to be caught. As dull as dishwater, I managed about two thirds before being distracted by a ladybug crawling over some desk dust.

War Dogs - a Jonah Hill vehicle, although the main character is another actor who sounds like he's doing a Jonah Hill impersonation. It's got a voice over that indicates it's trying to be a cross between Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street, and the plot is all "isn't it fun to be a capitalist shit-heel earning money from global conflict". Openly despising the moral choices of the two leads to the extent that they're not anti-heroes but open-villains made this difficult to swallow and I only managed about a third before jumping ship.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 February, 2021, 07:13:10 PM
Space Sweepers. A Korean film on Netflix. It's surprisingly good up to a point. There are elements I would have changed or dropped but on the whole a film that I would recommend. I recognise elements from 2000AD, The Fifth Element, Star Wars, and Dune. I think it might be compared to The Expanse series but with a more organic feel and better acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 16 February, 2021, 08:25:27 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 15 February, 2021, 05:49:22 PM
War Dogs - a Jonah Hill vehicle, although the main character is another actor who sounds like he's doing a Jonah Hill impersonation. It's got a voice over that indicates it's trying to be a cross between Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street, and the plot is all "isn't it fun to be a capitalist shit-heel earning money from global conflict". Openly despising the moral choices of the two leads to the extent that they're not anti-heroes but open-villains made this difficult to swallow and I only managed about a third before jumping ship.

This sounds a bit like the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War? I remember that being an interesting but uneven film (obviously this description could apply to any Nic Cage film).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 12:39:27 PM
Gone  Girl (2014)

Well, this movie reimbursed my view not to marry. Perhaps never. What this film does is cynical view on the nature marriage of marriage. Like when Nick says:"I loved you and then all we did was resent each other, try to control each other. We caused each other pain." His wife's retort:" That's marriage." My feelings are mixed overall. The movie is cliched. How many times we've seen where a couple has secrets, that not everything is as it seems? Wife (or husband) that goes mad, or hiding from his/her second half? But the intricately plot pays it back. It builds slowly, then descends into a engaging mystery, where we learn that Nick is actually not the ideal husband you'd thought to be, because is not the hero here. Then it breaks up in the second half, which are not that interesting to me as the film. [spoiler]In fact, reveal that Amy escape could be saved for the third act, perhaps. [/spoiler] Also, I wished that Amy got killed or imprisoned. Not often you see the villains win, some might say it's refreshment to see, but I was under - "the psycho bitch must go down". However, 2 and half hours (if you stay thru the last drame of the ending credits) didn't leave me bored, and for a movie of that lenght, it ran up pretty quickly, which is a good thing, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 02:04:40 PM
This might just be me but I don't think basing life decisions, such as whether to get married, on how a thing is depicted in film and televsion is a good idea.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 02:23:35 PM
probably true, but after watching Jaws, I don't think I'll ever swim in the ocean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 February, 2021, 02:37:03 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 02:04:40 PM
This might just be me but I don't think basing life decisions, such as whether to get married, on how a thing is depicted in film and televsion is a good idea.
I still ain't gettin' on no plane, fool!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 16 February, 2021, 03:05:04 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 February, 2021, 02:37:03 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 02:04:40 PM
This might just be me but I don't think basing life decisions, such as whether to get married, on how a thing is depicted in film and televsion is a good idea.
I still ain't gettin' on no plane, fool!

Won't matter if the plane goes down anyway.

I ain't fraid of no ghost.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 16 February, 2021, 03:07:40 PM
Watched Egger's 'the lighthouse'

with patterson and defoe doing each other's nut-in in b/w

fantastic - although i had to keep the subtitles on to properly understand their maritime yarns

after the film ended, i felt like i'd been battered by an ocean wave containing acid

but the ages old question was finally answered : [spoiler]how would you shag a mermaid?![/spoiler]

highly recommend it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 03:25:21 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 02:23:35 PM
probably true, but after watching Jaws, I don't think I'll ever swim in the ocean.

That was me for years until I finally figured "What a fantastic way to go!" There's nothing mundane about your demise if you are eaten by sharks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 04:37:27 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 03:25:21 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 02:23:35 PM
probably true, but after watching Jaws, I don't think I'll ever swim in the ocean.

That was me for years until I finally figured "What a fantastic way to go!" There's nothing mundane about your demise if you are eaten by sharks!

Or by piranhas. Then there won't remain nothing of you. I know, week consolation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 February, 2021, 01:35:34 AM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 04:37:27 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 03:25:21 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 02:23:35 PM
probably true, but after watching Jaws, I don't think I'll ever swim in the ocean.

That was me for years until I finally figured "What a fantastic way to go!" There's nothing mundane about your demise if you are eaten by sharks!

Or by piranhas. Then there won't remain nothing of you. I know, week consolation.

For what it's worth, I don't think piranhas actually do that to people in real life. If you're already dead I think they'd strip your corpse but if you're swimming they'll likely see you as the predator and run. Which makes sense as a I've heard they're good eating.

That being said, one needs to be careful when swimming in South American rivers as there are other little beasties with spines that can swim into ...um... inconvenient places they shouldn't. But I won't elaborate on that, except to say 'ouch!'

Back to movies, I saw a curious British comedy horror film recently called Eat Locals, on the Horror Channel. Small spoilers ahoy:

It starred he of the Daredevil series, Charlie Cox, and a whole bunch of other British actors, including that Welsh lady from Torchwood, the skinny chap from The Office (playing a priest in this) and the lady who played Mrs. Meldrew. I never thought I'd see that lot together. Oh and it also starred one of Tenant Who's lovely companions. And a dark eyed Scottish bloke, who has a familiar face who I've seen around yet I can't quite place what I've actually seen him in. (No criticism of him, he's good enough, although I think he plays similar character types.)

Anyway, it's basically army guys vs vampires involving a house in the middle of nowhere. You're probably thinking it's basically Dog Soldiers with vampires instead of werewolves, but, aside from the premise, it's not really. For one thing it's the vampires who are trapped in the house and the soldiers on the outside. And the soldiers are not the heroes. (I'm not saying the vampires are either. These aren't your modern  emo  'oh we're just misunderstood  victims' types. Neither are they purely one dimensional monsters, but they do drink and kill people. (Aside from Charlie Cox's character. He only feeds on animals, apparently, and does seem to have a conscience, but he isn't exactly forbidding the others either.)

I felt like it wasn't a particularly good film, but it was okay. Kinda cheesy in places, but I think maybe it was supposed to be. It was fun to see all those familiar faces in a film I didn't know even existed. And there were a couple of twists. Extremely low budget I'd say, too, as there's little in the way of horror effects, (not a bad thing in itself) and the occasional creature CGI is a bit dodgy. Like the bit when Mrs. Meldrew sneezes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 February, 2021, 12:11:14 PM
Also, with the probably exception of Bull Sharks*, most sharks are passive creatures that mainly scavenge whale carcasses or eat seals. Attacks on humans are extremely rare and are always derived from misidentification of their part, studies even suggest that most sharks find human meat unpalatable.

I adore JAWS, one of the best thrillers of all time, but my god the stigma it's brought to such beautiful marine animals is a real tragedy.

*And even then mostly only in the breeding seasons, any Floridian will confirm you stay out of the water in the spring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 17 February, 2021, 03:56:54 PM
Doctor Who (1996) It feels amazingly close to the revival series. And also this means I am done with the classic era after 5-6 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 February, 2021, 04:23:56 PM
Stargate

I still like the Ancient Egyptian/Sci-Fi stuff in this film.  It's pretty generic, otherwise.  Kurt Russell is a plus.

Virtuosity

My second time watching this... thing.  Wow, it is very bad and yet quite entertaining.  Russel Crowe outshines Denzel Washington because Russel embraced the film with camp overacting and Denzel seemed to take the idiotic shite that was the script seriously.  This film is also idiotic shite.  Denzel does his best, but he really deserves to be in better films than this (and thankfully has).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 February, 2021, 05:53:33 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 17 February, 2021, 01:35:34 AM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 04:37:27 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 16 February, 2021, 03:25:21 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 February, 2021, 02:23:35 PM
probably true, but after watching Jaws, I don't think I'll ever swim in the ocean.

That was me for years until I finally figured "What a fantastic way to go!" There's nothing mundane about your demise if you are eaten by sharks!

Or by piranhas. Then there won't remain nothing of you. I know, week consolation.

For what it's worth, I don't think piranhas actually do that to people in real life. If you're already dead I think they'd strip your corpse but if you're swimming they'll likely see you as the predator and run. Which makes sense as a I've heard they're good eating.

I dunno. I wouldn't want to be near piranhas either. One is harmless so I've heard, but a flock...

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 February, 2021, 12:11:14 PM
Also, with the probably exception of Bull Sharks*, most sharks are passive creatures that mainly scavenge whale carcasses or eat seals. Attacks on humans are extremely rare and are always derived from misidentification of their part, studies even suggest that most sharks find human meat unpalatable.

I adore JAWS, one of the best thrillers of all time, but my god the stigma it's brought to such beautiful marine animals is a real tragedy.

*And even then mostly only in the breeding seasons, any Floridian will confirm you stay out of the water in the spring.

Hm... Bond movies have certain creepiness with sharks. And not to forget Deep Blue Sea.

Quote from: pictsy on 17 February, 2021, 04:23:56 PM

Virtuosity

My second time watching this... thing.  Wow, it is very bad and yet quite entertaining.  Russel Crowe outshines Denzel Washington because Russel embraced the film with camp overacting and Denzel seemed to take the idiotic shite that was the script seriously.  This film is also idiotic shite.  Denzel does his best, but he really deserves to be in better films than this (and thankfully has).

Virtuosity i haven't seen in a long time, but I remember it fondly for being one of my favorite movies in my childhood. I like that techno thriller angle. And yes, Russell outshines Denzel, that he practically steal the movie. The only thing though, there's gratuitous shot of his bum. But, there's nice nod to Saturday's Night Fever.

The Last Stand (2013)

Not the best Arnie's film, nor the worst. It is decent comeback actioneer, with no surprises. A kind of 80s film, but with modern day aesthetics. The only thing though, Johnny Knoxville, I can't stand him. And what the hell his name and face do on movie's poster? He appears in the film for 10 min max and really is supporting character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 February, 2021, 06:37:56 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 February, 2021, 05:53:33 PM
Virtuosity i haven't seen in a long time, but I remember it fondly for being one of my favorite movies in my childhood. I like that techno thriller angle. And yes, Russell outshines Denzel, that he practically steal the movie. The only thing though, there's gratuitous shot of his bum. But, there's nice nod to Saturday's Night Fever.

The techno thriller thing is a nice idea (probably done a lot better in Strange Days, but I haven't seen that film in years) and there are some nice shots and visuals in the film.  It's a film that is more entertaining than it has any right to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 February, 2021, 04:03:44 PM
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

I'd heard so much about this, particularly recently for some reason, but never seen it and it felt like the kinda film I should have seen... and I've seen it ... and it was, the kinda film I should have seen.

By which I mean seeing it now means rather than being a mindblowing experience that became a corner stone of how I view popular culture. instead its kinda ... yeah I wish I'd seen that when it would have been a mindblowing experience that became a corner stone of how I view popular culture and I can take it and leave it.

It was fun. It is pretty dated, though seems to glory in that, even though it couldn't have been aware of it when it was being made. It did seem almost self consious of the fact its look was so of its time it knew it was going to date and so really played with being of its time. Weird that.

Anyway there is so much going on. Characters come and go in the blink of an eye and no one seems to be on screen much - even the titualr lead, yet not too many character suffer from that. It seems to cram so much in but know how to do to make you aware there's so much going on but nothing feels like its lacking.

Its a really interesting piece... oh and have a said fun, its real fun.

Have to be honest while it didn't blow me away the way it should have I will be returning to it I'm sure - well firstly cos its the first film I've bought digitally - see me dragging myself into the 21st Centrury! but cos  I think its the kinda film that will grow on you the more you watch it.

That end sequence - which is kinda all I knew of the film, with all the characters marching across the aquaduct - be they live or be they dead - really makes me want to see more (and reminds me of Steve Zizzou for some reason).

What a curio - glad I've seen it. Will be happy to return to it. Wish I'd seen it like 30 years ago when it'd have blown me away.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 February, 2021, 04:50:21 PM
Fun fact, early in it's production Big Trouble in Little China was intended as a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai.

I first saw Buckaroo Banzai a few years ago and can agree that I would have liked it more as a kid.  Nevertheless, I don't wish I had seen it as a kid because it would just have been another film I'd end up re-evaluating now I'm an adult.  It's a fine movie that is pretty weird and goes against the grain.  I think I appreciate it for what it is.

At the very least it facilitated the making of Big Trouble in Little China, which is one of my top ten favourite films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 18 February, 2021, 05:03:48 PM
I really like Buckaroo Banzai. As a teenager I and my friends loved it for all it's weird, surreal little touches. My favourite bit is with the cabinet on fire. I like the implication that the Lectroids went through the building and took the time to open that cabinet and set one single file alight. And then Peter Weller just closes the drawer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2021, 05:09:56 PM
Another fun fact, the bridge commissioning plaques for both the USS Excelsior in STIII:TSFS and the USS Sutherland (Data's first (temporary) command in the Kilingon Civil War) have quotes from  Buckaroo Banzai: the Excelsior's motto is "no matter where you go,  there you are", and I forget what the Sutherland's was. All those years on STREK-L and alt.startrek, wasted.

I too didn't see it until it was too late for me. Time for a revisit, perhaps.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 February, 2021, 05:15:12 PM
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, I enjoyed on release, then tried again maybe fifteen years ago and it was like having a six-year old jump on squeaky toys for an hour and a half whilst constantly screaming "SQUEAKY-SQUEAKY-SQUEAKY", but not being able to leave. With Barry Manilow being played through a stadium sound system. And a large video screen looping just the scenes with John Lithgow in them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 February, 2021, 05:59:39 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 February, 2021, 05:15:12 PM
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, I enjoyed on release, then tried again maybe fifteen years ago and it was like having a six-year old jump on squeaky toys for an hour and a half whilst constantly screaming "SQUEAKY-SQUEAKY-SQUEAKY", but not being able to leave. With Barry Manilow being played through a stadium sound system. And a large video screen looping just the scenes with John Lithgow in them.

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that you found it somewhat irritating.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 February, 2021, 06:34:19 PM
Yeah, but it's that thing where I have to respect younger me's enjoyment and older me's lack of patience with that sort of thing.

I have this thought experiment where you get a time machine and you go and get young George Lucas (or Spielberg) and then edit-happy older George Lucas (or Spielberg) and let them have a conversation with each other about Greedo, or Mos Eisley (or the walkie-talkies replacing the guns in E.T.).

I just want to listen to their conversation. Will they be angry, forgiving, possessive? Will older them patronize younger them. Will they age-splain?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 February, 2021, 07:42:35 PM
I imagine both conversations will get as far "wait, I'm HOW rich in the future?" and end quite abruptly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 18 February, 2021, 08:03:14 PM
Dunno about Spielberg but hasn't Lucas always maintained, at least back to his student days, that any work is mutable and should be constantly updated. The Special Editions were not the start. You can argue that the genesis of that is about money and what it helps you achieve but it's at the centre of his artistic philosophy.

I was also a latecomer to Buckaroo Banzai (saw it once maybe fifteen years ago) and didn't know what to make of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 February, 2021, 09:40:54 PM
I think Lucas has always been much more about the money than the craft.  Let's not forget that he did give up directing because he hated making Star Wars.  Something about sand be coarse and getting everywhere.  So I don't think he'd care if older Lucas changed stuff if it made him more money.

Spielberg is somewhat different.  I do think he's a vastly overrated directed, but I think his earlier work shows a love for the craft that his more recent stuff generally lacks.  I don't know whether the talk will be so much about walkie talkies but rather why would Spielberg make utter garbage like Ready Player One.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 February, 2021, 11:17:46 PM
Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009)

I don't know how creators managed to snuck up the title, that sounds rather like fajtasy porn movie, for I can't recall any movie that places a sexual orientation in its title. But, nevermind. If anything is objective here, that is that LVK is pure farcical movie. And you can measure exactly its worth by its title. And while it's not a fantasy porn, it's still is embarassing and I gotta admit shamefully, entertaining film. And I am embarassed that I was entertained by the film :D British B level production ushers us into the miserable lives of two friends, Fletch and Jimmy. Fletch is fired from his job (as a clown, he punched an annoying brat), and Jimmy is dumped by his cheating girlfriend. To escape the burden of their lives, they travel to a remote Village they deduce is rife with hot, sexy ladies. The trouble is, the village is cursed by vampiress Carmilla, in that every peasant girl will turn into lesbian vampire the moment she reaches adulthood. So our pair is basically thrown into "kill the vampires" conflict. I must say, this movie is not for anyone. Aside from B level acting, B level special effect, most of humor is rather infantile and often, sexist. Though, I admit they are few good one-liners too. Stylistically, basically like some cross between a Hammer film and Hot Tub Machine. Gore is cheap, and while there's clear erotic a gle to the film, hardly the film will make for a boy's wet dreams. In brief, I always had a penchant for movies so bad they're good and this is it. Oh, and Paul McGann (from Withnail & I) appears as crazed, but hilarious vicar in the film, and probably is the best character in the film. [spoiler]Perhaps hinting a sequel, the movie ends with gay werewolf howling at moon. [/spoiler] At least it's clocked at 85 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 February, 2021, 11:53:09 AM
So it's a film about killing lesbians starring James Cordon?  Think I'm gonna have to pass on that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 February, 2021, 02:17:04 PM
Yes, lesbian vampires. Yeah, I think if you hated Hot Tub Machine, you'd probably hate this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 February, 2021, 02:48:59 PM
I didn't hate Hot Tub Time Machine.  It's mean spirited garbage, but I still found entertainment in it.

Whereas James Cordon.  There is no entertainment there.  He is where entertainment goes to die.  He is an entertainment graveyard, just filled with the bleached bones of long gone entertainment.  His laugh grates my nerves as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 February, 2021, 03:07:37 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 February, 2021, 02:48:59 PM
Whereas James Cordon.  There is no entertainment there.  He is where entertainment goes to die.  He is an entertainment graveyard, just filled with the bleached bones of long gone entertainment.  His laugh grates my nerves as well.

I'd had almost no exposure to Corden (blissfully) when I was working one Sunday and he came on the radio doing Desert Island Discs. I stuck about fifteen minutes before I had to turn the smug, self-satisfied motherfucker off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 February, 2021, 03:46:59 PM
I thought I was alone...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2021, 03:47:59 PM
My incomprehension at much of the contemporary world of sport and entertainment can be put down to my ageing neurons and incipient misanthropy, but nothing will convince me that I'm wrong in finding absolutely no value in the lifetime output of James Corden.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 February, 2021, 03:55:23 PM
Agreed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 February, 2021, 03:58:39 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 February, 2021, 03:46:59 PM
I thought I was alone...

Oh gosh no - I'm sure he's lovely but he drives me nuts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 February, 2021, 04:56:16 PM
I have never known of anyone who welcomes his presence in media.

I don't know how he has managed to get the work he has because he doesn't appear to be popular and is definitely not talented.

Putting up with him for 15 minutes is an impressive demonstration of endurance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 February, 2021, 07:59:12 PM
Remember that episode of Doctor Who he was in? My nephew, who was about seven at the time remarked "It's that guy who's in *everything*!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 February, 2021, 08:51:07 PM
Roles per year:

Sir Alec Guinness: 1.02
Peter Cushing: 2.77
James Corden: 2.96


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 February, 2021, 09:12:57 PM
He did an AMA on reddit a few years back, with hilarious results. I would link but I'm on my phone and dead lazy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 February, 2021, 10:11:52 AM
If I knew that my comment would lead to several posts dealing with an actor, I wouldn't write anything  :)

Cat Run (2011)

Again, I found myself into yet another trash and crass B film, that however didn't fill my boots, like with Lesbian Vampire Killers, per say(I think the next time I gotta find some really good piece of cinema). The plot is stupid and very cliched. It's obvious it doesn't take itself seriously. It started out as a Guy Ritchie type movie, devolves into overblown James Bond type silliness and then the bodies start stacking up like cord wood.Somewhere in Eastern Europe, in a huge maksion, a fancy party (with lots of booze, drugs and nude gals) is attended by a pervert ex US senator (does someone remembers Christopher McDonald?); who accidentally strangles a hooker during rough (you know what). To cover up the incident, his men for some weird reason decide to shoot everyone up, all but his cohorts. Well, almost everyone. A girl, Catalina (Cat), survivor of the massacre, runs with the disk that recorded dear senator activities and the chase is after her. The movie doesn't bother itself with any sort of credibility whatsover. From the opening shootout to everything else that follows. Senator's associates hire an ex-mi6 spy to track down Cat, kill her and retrieve the disk. This imo, is the film's highest point. When it comes to the characters, my heart goes for Janet McTeer. She practically steals every scene she is in. Janet plays totally heartless, cold-blooded and cruel assassin mixed with stereotypical British poshed up attitude. Meanwhile, two American goofy guys decide to start a detective agency in Belgrade, Serbia, above porn theater (where most of the movie takes place) to track Cat down. Because, the first (white) guy fell in love with her after accidentally bumping on her previously. The other (Afro-American) guy in, well, for some reason, Cat "forgot" to return him his cellphone. I think there are way better reasons to place these two characters that could be think of. Like I said, screw credibility. Then, in later stages, Tony Curran comes as replacement for Janet McTeer [spoiler](who has change of heart) [/spoiler] . The violence in the film is pretty graphic, but it carries, aforementioned, comic undertones. Lots of (imo, unnecessary) nudity in too. So, if you are not in for those, skip Cat Run. As a reedeming side, at least, the scenery looks gorgeous and action sequences look decent, for a B film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 21 February, 2021, 05:29:37 PM
In Fabric, a sensory comedy-horror produced by Ben Wheatley. Ostensibly about a haunted red dress, it's a lovingly crafted evocation of the 1970s - Nigel Kneale by way of Mike Leigh. The framing of every shot, every pulse, crackle and throb on the soundtrack, every fake TV ad, it's all been painstakingly put together. Quite often nothing much happens, but it looks stunning while not doing so.

A film of two halves, Amicus style, but I think I'd have preferred to stick with the one story - not only because I was really invested in the first main character, but because the second half leans a lot heavier into comedy, and seems to largely forget about the haunted dress that supposedly ties everything together.

There's a deliciously vampy sales assistant, a creepy old manager who may be masterminding it all, a great recurring comedic turn by Steve Oram and Julian Barratt, and a lot of gently sexualised shop-window dummies; but ultimately there aren't many answers or explanations. Fittingly for a film about clothes, this one's all about the style. I think you'll either love or hate this one - can't see too many people sitting on the fence!

Greenland, an apocalyptic Gerard Butler vehicle. Going in with pretty low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. It keeps up a great pace throughout, which stops the doomy, oppressive vibe that looms throught from getting too much. And it doesn't pull too many punches - clearly, a lot of people are going to die. There's a perfect moment to end the film that would have been both touching, fitting, but also nicely ambiguous - but (given it was made in 2020) someone must have gotten cold feet as it runs for another five minutes, spelling out things maybe better left to the imagination and laying on a bit of happy-ever-after schmaltz. There's far worse ways to waste your time than this well-made action flick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 February, 2021, 07:46:01 PM
Blade. Aged surprisingly gracefully, thanks in part to stylised proto-Matrix action and a mannered performance from a taking-it-all-very-seriously Snipes that verges on kabuki. It'd be stretching a point to say it's tight, at 2 hours running time, but it certainly keeps a clear focus on a thin wisp of a plot. Dorff is okay, Kristofferson woodenly charismatic, but TBH Traci Lords stole my attention whenever she was on the screen. I'd like to visit that Vampire Bible Museum, if they ever rebuilt it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 February, 2021, 11:53:33 PM
Yeah  I quite enjoyed GREENLAND too. The first half is definitely the best of it and it loses points for the last few minutes and the wife saying [spoiler]"Yeah, maybe it was MY fault you had an affair...". Unless she tripped another woman up and then pushed her husband's dick into her while she was on the deck, I'm pretty sure it's his fault.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 February, 2021, 12:07:39 AM
I enjoy revisiting the Blade movies... all three of them.  I find the first one is very much of its time, but there's some cool stuff going on visually with the film and some nice ideas about vampires being utilised.  Especially when they venture out during the day.

Nevertheless, the second film has Ron Perlman and Danny John-Jules.

I may be the only person in the world who likes the third film for what it is.

Scanners

Carrying on with my silly sci-fi romp fest I decided to watch this light-hearted story about telepaths that can stop peoples hearts, set them on fire and make their heads explode.  It's a laugh riot.

Been a while since I last watched it, but it's pretty damn good.  There aren't many films of this ilk and the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Akira.  Scanners has some ropey acting, which doesn't detract from the film.  It only serves to make certain aspects more alien.  It is, however, still quite stark.  Cronenberg manages to get some body horror into the mix as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 February, 2021, 08:38:52 AM
Bright on Netflix, which the missus had clocked a trailer for and quite fancied. I'll confess I'd forgotten it was a Max Landis thing and would probably have dug my heels in if I'd remembered, but...

The concept is either terrible or genius — Lord of the Rings meets Training Day. However the movie is almost entirely devoid of any sense of fun and you could strip all the fantasy elements out of the plot by substituting the maguffin for a suitcase full of money/drugs and you'd have a completely run-of-the-mill mis-matched cops in peril movie.

Couple that with some of the worst direction I've seen in recent years — I'm pretty sure that during an action sequence, I shouldn't be thinking "Are there two cars in this, or just one?" nor, during a supposedly big dramatic scene, should I be pulled up sharply by asking "Who the fuck is that guy, where did he come from, and where is he standing in relation to everyone else?" (It's not until the end of the scene that we're treated to a wide which acutally shows us the positions of all the characters.)

I mean, Will Smith is, as always, pretty good value for money and there would be worse ways of killing a couple of hours, were it not for the fact that Max Landis is a piece of shit, and that David Ayer (on the basis of both this and the incoherent Suicide Squad) has no idea how to direct a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 February, 2021, 08:52:18 AM
Bright is such a bad film.  There is one thing in it that I really, really, really like.  The antagonist's outfit is gorgeous and I want it.  That's it.  The rest of the film is garbage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 22 February, 2021, 09:46:38 AM
Crimson Peak.  Del Toro hasn't made a great film since Pan's Labyrinth--which is really okay, since Pan's Labyrinth is about as good as it gets. But I wish he'd stop trotting out rock-solid 3-star "I enjoyed it, it was okay" films and rediscover his mojo.

It looks amazing, of course (how many ghost stories have this kind of colour?), it's played well, and it has the creepiness in places, but it's a ghost story with no scares. The ghosts are heavily CG'd and pushed right into the camera from the first scene, making it less of a ghost story and more of a monster movie, but one where the monsters don't really do anything or threaten anyone. I know, I know, it's the humans who are the real monsters, etc., but the simple plot is driven entirely by basic gothic tropes. Like the mansion, the ghosts are set dressing. Still, I enjoyed it. It was okay.

(Additional: I may be in the minority, but Shape of Water was a proper disappointment. It felt like a re-tread of familiar ground walked to greater effect in Hellboy.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 February, 2021, 01:21:41 PM
News of the World (Netflix). Not about phone hacking, this Paul Greengrass film reunites him with his Captain Phillips star, Tom Hanks, in a western about a girl who is the only survivor of an attack and has been brought up by Native Americans. Hanks inherits responsibility for delivering her to her only living relative. The shadow of John Ford's classic The Searchers hangs pretty heavy over this. Its a long time since I last watched that film, but I remember it as having a very dated portrayal of the Comanches and it made it an awkward viewing. NOTW avoids that, mostly by sidestepping any depiction of the Kiowa beyond enigmatic cameos. It's an interesting film, but it leaves a huge amount of questions. I'm a sucker for a western though and its a well made film, so I liked it. [spoiler]There's a very good gunfight sequence about halfway through. I'd recommended it for that alone.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 February, 2021, 01:29:01 PM
One other point on NOTW- the film does a great job of showing just how hostile the landscape and climate in Texas was to settlers and travellers in that period. It really does look like a struggle to get anywhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 22 February, 2021, 01:36:45 PM
News of the World (Netflix). Watched this the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Today also saw me receive a copy of the book it was adapted from, courtesy of Mrs Bolt.

Stan & Ollie (BBC) Just joyous. I love Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy so I had been looking forward to finally getting to watch this. Wreck-it Ralph and Alan Partridge are great in it and it was lovely to spot how much of it was filmed at the Black Country Living Museum. A fantastic hour and a half that left me chuckling with tears in my eyes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 February, 2021, 09:14:41 PM
The Skin of the Wolf.  Utterly beautiful but relentlessly harsh film from Samu Fuentes, set in an almost-deserted Pyrenean mountain village in the 1920s/30s. Mario Casas delivers all of ten short sentences and otherwise conveys the complexity and brutality of his solitary hunter with a fascinating array of sub-vocalisations, grunts and wheezes. Ruth Diaz and Irene Escolar are incredibly even less voluble, but equally expressive. After all the misery, abuse and loneliness, the lasting impression is somehow of tenderness.

Remarkable film, available on Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 23 February, 2021, 01:24:42 AM
I saw News of the World recently too and agree that its a decent movie with the usually dependable Tom Hanks.  I do feel that it pulled a lot of its punches though and I would have liked to have seen some of the events that happened off screen but I appreciate that would have made it a lot darker movie with a higher age rating.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 February, 2021, 06:29:50 AM
Bohemian Rhapsody has sprung up on Amazon Prime and after it getting a lot a great reviews and being a big Queen fan of old I sprung at the chance to watch it... well at least it was free to me huh.

I appreciate that biopics and other films based on true stories have to be granted poetic license to allow them to tell a good story but here - wow! The time covered is so recent, the facts and understanding of the way it plays - very freely - with the truth is stunning. What makes it unacceptable is it turns a truly fascinating tale in reality into an utter movie cliche and I'm amazed the many living folks who surely(?) had a say in this allow it to be told the way it did. There's a slue of songs being recorded in the wrong place - that fine. There's tours and a raise to fame and a MASSIVE concert in Rio that are utterly misplaced in time - which is worrying as it entirely removes a very real struggle with their first management team and a slow and hard rise to success.

But the real crime is the way they remove Queen playing South Africa from the story all together. The fact they supported Apartheid is the reason Live Aid was so redemptive for them. The fact that they remove this means they have to make up the drama and reason they needed redemption and they do this horribly. Queen hadn't been split prior to Live Aid they'd been touring stadiums for a year or so - hence they were so brilliant at Live Aid. The manager - cast as villian wasn't removed until 1986... oh I could go on but what's the point.

The also play very fast a loose with the timing and way Freddie Mercury dealt with his HIV diagnosis which I felt was tasteless.

I'm fine with movies playing with truth for the sake of story. But to remove the truth so you can tell a less interesting, less important and utterly cliche story is utterly unforgivable. Mind at least the key performance of the band were pretty good to great.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Bohemian Crapsody more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 February, 2021, 03:40:53 PM
I watched their Live Aid performance just the other day - it was fucking amazing. Freddy Mercury, man - like a god striding the Earth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2021, 05:53:50 PM
So true. One of the most remarkable performers of all time, and a fascinating person who in a better world should be disappointing us with his Brexit/Covid opinions at this very moment.

I'm delighted that my eldest (14) has been a big Queen fan for several years now,  but glad to see that Colin's thoughts on the movie echo my own, which were partly why I denied the kids a looked-for cinema trip at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 24 February, 2021, 07:35:31 AM
I came out of this movie thinking 'Wow I had no idea Freddie Mercury was straight".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 09:23:28 AM
Conspiracy Theory

This film is better than it has any right to be.  Its use of real conspiracy theories is, at best, clumsy.  But that's only if you are aware of the theories and their proponents (mostly white-supremacists).  The basic idea of the film is "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you!"  And there is a very creepy love story.  Not sure about a woman falling in love with her stalker.

That all said, it's a lot of fun.  Pretty standard action-thriller film.  It has Patrick Stewart failing in doing an American accent.  I like the agency of Julia Roberts character, it's just a shame about the creepy love story part.  The film would have benefited from not doing that as it is bizarre and forced.  Almost like she developed Stockholm Syndrome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 February, 2021, 11:02:27 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 09:23:28 AM
Conspiracy Theory

Somebody check if Tharg's totem is still spinning, I fear Forum inception.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 12:06:48 PM
I'm guessing I've missed something because I don't get it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 February, 2021, 12:27:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 12:06:48 PM
I'm guessing I've missed something because I don't get it

Conspiracy Theory drama (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46366.0;topicseen) occupying a portion of the forum, now here's a report on watching a film dramatising Conspiracy Theory,:who has incepted what in whose subconscious,  which is the deeper dream level and does Funt Solo really look like Leonardo diCaprio?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 24 February, 2021, 01:20:05 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 February, 2021, 06:29:50 AM
Bohemian Rhapsody

Best bit was Freddie's wife finally twigging that he was gay:
"Say, Freddie seems to be getting on really well with Kenny Everitt... (face slowly changes to a look of realisation)"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 02:00:39 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 February, 2021, 12:27:46 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 February, 2021, 12:06:48 PM
I'm guessing I've missed something because I don't get it

Conspiracy Theory drama (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46366.0;topicseen) occupying a portion of the forum, now here's a report on watching a film dramatising Conspiracy Theory,:who has incepted what in whose subconscious,  which is the deeper dream level and does Funt Solo really look like Leonardo diCaprio?

OK  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 February, 2021, 03:29:05 PM
Hard Boiled (1992)

I like to think the perfect mindset for watching this Hong Kong actioneer, is if you have the mind of 15-year old boy. Which is to say, I have yet to grow up :) I remember this film about a decade ago when I watched it with my Dad, who called it trash. Me, greatest action of all time (yes, John McClaine). Nevertheless, after all flaws in the movie, and there are plenty - cheesy plot, cheesy lines, two-dimensional characters, over the top exaggaration, body invulnerability, snippets of (otherwise mindblowing) choppy slow-mo, awful music; I found the great amusement in sound effects, special effect, stuntwork, stylish bloody violence, almost balletic choreography, and slow motion, which Woo perfected with this film - all masterwork that for the genre. It doesn't pretend to be some cinematic high art masterpiece, but for what it tried, it did best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 February, 2021, 03:48:17 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 February, 2021, 12:27:46 PM
...does Funt Solo really look like Leonardo diCaprio?

<---- If Leonardo diCaprio looks like a constipated potato, then the answer is yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 26 February, 2021, 10:47:00 AM
Ladyhawke (Starz on Disney+). I discovered that Disney+ now has an extra tab with quite a number of tv series and an eclectic selection of films. I guess this now justifies the subscription for adults once the rather good WandaVision finishes. Scrolling through, I saw Ladyhawke, which I hadn't seen in a long, long time. Great, I thought.

Fellow squaxx will not be unfamiliar with the jarring sensation of looking at a story you enjoyed when young and realising that time has not been kind. I hadn't realised this is a Richard Donner film, which made it all the more surprising to find that the film is a mess. Matthew Broderick is preposterously miscast as a medieval French thief (he channels Ferris Bueller at some points). Better is Rutger Hauer's silent and brooding knight and Michelle Pfeiffer's peripheral and underwritten fair maiden. However, the monstrously oversized elephant in the room is the score. It's a mix between a traditional orchestral effort and some synth music from the Alan Parsons Project. I can see what they were aiming for, and if it was Vangelis then it could have been great. But it's not. It's bad. So bad that it's stunning they put this film out with it. What on earth were they thinking?

After that, you get to the really weird bits, like the fact that the season changes from scene to scene. What's that about? The plot is paper thin but still isn't coherently conveyed. It's just a total mess. Which would be okay if it was entertaining, but it has huge sections where the story doesn't move, which is just boring and odd for Richard Donner, who is a very good action director.

Lovely scenery, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2021, 01:07:59 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 26 February, 2021, 10:47:00 AM
Ladyhawke (Starz on Disney+). I discovered that Disney+ now has an extra tab with quite a number of tv series and an eclectic selection of films. I guess this now justifies the subscription for adults once the rather good WandaVision finishes.

Don't forget that Falcon and the Winter Soldier starts two weeks after WandaVision wraps up. Loki starts (I think) four or five weeks after that finishes, but if you like Filoni's animated Star Wars stuff, The Bad Batch starts in the gap between F&TWS and Loki.

EDIT: Bad Batch trailer here, (https://youtu.be/BohgNFBR2eE) for anyone that missed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2021, 01:20:49 PM
Gosh was not expexcting that. Jim's is better and that's not false modesty that FACT - see I typed it in capitals so it is. And Shark split his vote with so many great pictures - though come on people that 'Don't piss here' was the winner there surely.

Well done to all and thanks to Jamie Smart for being so brilliant that I could just copy his work.

I will take brides if you have a topic for the next round that you want me to nominate... mind have three ideas already... I'll get them to you in the morning Jim when I've slept on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 February, 2021, 01:43:54 PM
Either I've gone crazy or Colin has posted in the wrong thread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2021, 01:46:39 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2021, 01:20:49 PM
I will take brides ...

Hey, it's a damn good drawing but you're not Picasso!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2021, 02:00:57 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2021, 01:20:49 PM
Gosh was not expexcting that. Jim's is better and that's not false modesty that FACT - see I typed it in capitals so it is. And Shark split his vote with so many great pictures - though come on people that 'Don't piss here' was the winner there surely.

Well done to all and thanks to Jamie Smart for being so brilliant that I could just copy his work.

I will take brides if you have a topic for the next round that you want me to nominate... mind have three ideas already... I'll get them to you in the morning Jim when I've slept on it.

Oh god I take my forum mistakes to a new level... look its been a crazy day at work and my brain is mushier than normal ... so SORRY!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 26 February, 2021, 03:41:48 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2021, 01:07:59 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 26 February, 2021, 10:47:00 AM
Ladyhawke (Starz on Disney+). I discovered that Disney+ now has an extra tab with quite a number of tv series and an eclectic selection of films. I guess this now justifies the subscription for adults once the rather good WandaVision finishes.

Don't forget that Falcon and the Winter Soldier starts two weeks after WandaVision wraps up. Loki starts (I think) four or five weeks after that finishes, but if you like Filoni's animated Star Wars stuff, The Bad Batch starts in the gap between F&TWS and Loki.

EDIT: Bad Batch trailer here, (https://youtu.be/BohgNFBR2eE) for anyone that missed it.

Good stuff.  I think Disney+ is now pretty good value.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 06:10:24 PM
I have fond memories of Ladyhawke from the first go around, but don't doubt that a modern viewing would expose underlying weaknesses. But, really, almost any fantasy movie from that era had a lot going for it in terms of it just being a fantasy movie.

I was watching Air Wolf, Blue Thunder, Knight Rider, Manimal, The A-Team, The Dukes of Hazzard & Dallas endlessly on tele at the time, so it's not as if I was being picky about viewing habits - but fantasy movies were a relatively rare beast.

Dungeons & Dragons was probably the first fantasy movie where I threw my hands up at how utterly pants the entire endeavor was. I hadn't been so disappointed since the D&D cartoon made my cool underground game into a laughing stock at school.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 February, 2021, 06:14:55 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 February, 2021, 02:00:57 PM
Oh god I take my forum mistakes to a new level... look its been a crazy day at work and my brain is mushier than normal ... so SORRY!

Congrats on the win, Colin ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 26 February, 2021, 06:28:54 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 06:10:24 PM

Dungeons & Dragons was probably the first fantasy movie where I threw my hands up at how utterly pants the entire endeavor was. I hadn't been so disappointed since the D&D cartoon made my cool underground game into a laughing stock at school.

I remember the day I read the telly section of the newspaper (how quaintly old-fashioned) at breakfast and saw Dungeons and Dragons listed. No details, just the time. I spent the day at school excited and hoping the bus would get me home before it started.

Thirty-five or so years later, and I still remember the bitter disappointment.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 26 February, 2021, 06:30:18 PM
There's just so many movies that I thought were wonderful back in the 80s only to go back recently and realise they were tosh! Obviously, my tastes have changed too but some of them are just plain bad and young me was clearly blinded by the state of the art effects. 

Masters of the Universe is still a timeless classic though, right?  :lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2021, 07:46:34 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 06:10:24 PMI hadn't been so disappointed since the D&D cartoon made my cool underground game into a laughing stock at school.

This ^^^ is giving me flashbacks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 February, 2021, 09:23:26 PM
Artemis Fowl

Got half way through this and decided it had no hope of improving enough to make the next half tolerable.  This is a pretty bad film, but it is also very dull and boring.  And stupid.  And thinks I'm stupid as well.  It's also insufferably smug.  Also, if you want a drinking game that is sure to kill you, take a shot every time they say Aculos.  You'll be dead within 20 minutes.  Or just run out of spirits.  Hell, even if you don't play a drinking game you'll run out of spirit.  What a bunch of shite.

As for D&D cartoons.  I really liked that cartoon.  I still do.  It's very good.  A bunch of fans got together and made the last episode that was never finished (there was some audio and that was about it).  It's on YouTube.

The D&D film is a train wreck and not even entertainingly bad.  The sequel is interesting.  Much lower budget and still not very good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 February, 2021, 09:37:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 February, 2021, 09:23:26 PM
Artemis Fowl
Got half way through this and decided it had no hope of improving enough to make the next half tolerable. 

You made the right call. The second half is worse. Personally I didn't think it was all terrible, Josh Gad's character is fun at least, but the rest of the production is a series of increasingly incomprehensible choices. (Chief amongst these is the decision to adapt a book by an Irish author, cast Irish actors as the leads, do some location shooting in Ireland, and then create an Ireland so unrecognisable that Captain Janeway would find it unconvincing).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 February, 2021, 09:37:57 PM
...create an Ireland so unrecognisable that Captain Janeway would find it unconvincing).

Quote from: Funt Solo on 25 February, 2021, 10:53:51 PM
What would a truly wild Ireland look like? (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210211-rewilding-can-ireland-regrow-its-wilderness)

*Sorry*

Uhm ... how to get back on topic ... Captain America: Civil War is fairly dire. It's just not really convincing as to why they're fighting each other when it would be much easier not to.

Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg? I know the real answer: because someone thought it would be cool, so they shoe-horned it in, but plot-wise, it just gets dumped into the middle of the movie from space. And why does Bowman have an arrow perfectly suited for exactly what he wants to do in that moment? Why doesn't Black Widow actually sneak anywhere or do any spying?

I'm not the target audience. I mostly think superheroes are stupid, but some of these MCU things have been really cool, and this one just misses and is too much like the results of a corporate ... resist the urge to say wank-fest ... meeting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 February, 2021, 10:04:57 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 February, 2021, 09:37:57 PM
You made the right call. The second half is worse.

Eesh, that's an indictment.  But thanks, this is one life choice I won't regret.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Captain America: Civil War is fairly dire. It's just not really convincing as to why they're fighting each other when it would be much easier not to.

I'm not the target audience. I mostly think superheroes are stupid, but some of these MCU things have been really cool, and this one just misses and is too much like the results of a corporate ... resist the urge to say wank-fest ... meeting.

I have similar sentiments.  Even more so for Infinity War and Endgame.  Two films I very much did not like.  Because they are trash.  I watched the subsequent Spider-Man film and felt the whole MCU thing had played out and I'm just not interested in any more of it. 

I'll probably still watch the Marvel stuff Sony does.  Looking forward to more Venom.  The film wasn't good, but Tom Hardy was very entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 27 February, 2021, 02:25:51 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Captain America: Civil War is fairly dire. It's just not really convincing as to why they're fighting each other when it would be much easier not to.

Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg?

Hulk isn't in Civil War at all.  That sounds like the fight from Age of Ultron although I do appreciate that they all seem to merge into one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 February, 2021, 01:18:07 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg?
Because that's an entirely different film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 February, 2021, 03:46:38 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 27 February, 2021, 02:25:51 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 February, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
Captain America: Civil War is fairly dire. It's just not really convincing as to why they're fighting each other when it would be much easier not to.

Also: I know the violence is cartoon-y, but ... still! And: why are Iron Man and the Hulk suddenly fighting each other in downtown Johannesburg?

Hulk isn't in Civil War at all.  That sounds like the fight from Age of Ultron although I do appreciate that they all seem to merge into one.

That was a very kind way of pointing out my mix-up!  :-[
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 28 February, 2021, 01:01:53 PM
Well, both movies have pretty much the same cast and one leads on from the other so it's hardly the biggest mistake to make!

Personally, I quite like Civil War as I like the whole winter soldier storyline and I find the scaled back action more interesting. I'm more interested in the scene where the police try to raid where the winter soldier is than the huge fight at the airport. I liked the small scale ending too which would have been ruined by adding too many extra characters.

I do get though that it helps if you have an interest in these movies but I really like how they are all inter-linked.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 February, 2021, 02:45:30 PM
 I CARE A LOT
From the fella that brought us the pretty good DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED and the egregious FIFTH WAVE. This has Rosamund Pike on fine form as a hustling guardian of the state who commits eldsters so she can plunder their wealth. But she picks the wrong mark in Peter Dinklage's mother and things escalate from there.

I'm sure there's a fascinating documentary to be made about this frankly criminal enterprise but I doubt it would be as entertaining as this crime romp. It could do with some more twists and surprises along the way to its [spoiler]LAYER CAKE style[/spoiler] ending but, hey, two hours of Rosamund Pike busting balls.

On AMAZON btw.

I'm really annoyed I liked it because I really wanted to post I SHIT A LOT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 February, 2021, 04:13:21 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 28 February, 2021, 01:01:53 PM
I do get though that it helps if you have an interest in these movies but I really like how they are all inter-linked.

I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent, and if you have some time for superheroes, and watch enough of them to become invested in their soap-opera and set-piece antics, then they form a highly enjoyable series. A lot of ifs and buts, but there are far worse things.

I tend to agree that Civil War is overstuffed, and the conflict is highly contrived, but if you accept that the goal of the movie, and the intended viewer, is less a convincing standalone plot and more an excuse for large numbers of costumed goodies to wail on each in carefully posed non-fatal comicky ways, it more than does the trick. The bits of the film centered around Cap himself, and indeed Black Panther, are very good in their own right. The respect this film, and its predecessor, shows for Peggy and the cruelly-truncated Agent Carter series is endearing (although slightly spoiled by Steve snogging his at-some-point-in-time Great Niece). And I just love Chris Evans' Cap,  so I'm always happy to re-watch any of his trilogy (Winter Soldier may be my favourite superhero movie of all).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 February, 2021, 04:21:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 February, 2021, 04:13:21 PM
I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent

And a point that frequently gets overlooked, often even by people who are praising them, is that, pretty much without exception, they are very good at action sequences. I can't think of a single set-piece in twenty-three movies where I didn't have a clear idea of who was where, and doing what to whom — pretty much the only time you lose track of a character is when it's intentional, because they're going to pop somewhere unexpected later in the scene and that gives the narrative enough wiggle room for the character to have gotten from where they were to wherever they subsequently appear.

That may seem like a pretty low bar, but there are plenty of big budget movies by name directors where this is very much not the case.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 28 February, 2021, 04:27:10 PM
M'learned friend Tordelback is correct -- Captain America - Winter soldier is in my opinion the best single film in the MCU. Chris Evans is very much part of that. He has all the charisma and presence required.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 February, 2021, 05:50:36 PM
I did not get on with Winter Soldier.  It's predictability annoyed me a lot.  I think it was the first MCU film I actively disliked.  I didn't like Thor, sure, but that's just because it's forgettable trash.

The way the interconnections were shaping up started bothering me with Age of Ultron.  That film, to me, felt like filler and was only justifiable as part of the build up to IW/EG.

I'm pretty sure that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish left Ant-Man because of this mandate and watching that film was kinda tragic.  You can clearly see the parts that had their mark on it and I'll always wonder what if.

Really, why I don't like the interconnections is because I didn't think it would pay off and I will contest that I was right.  I mean, sure, IW/EG paid off as a cash cow for Marvel Studios and Disneys exploiting fandom and geek culture to it's maximum in the way they have honed to an art form by that point.  And if you like being fanserviced, then knock yourself out.  I won't kink shame here. 

I just don't think the overarching story from Iron Man to Endgame works because there isn't one.  It's all just a promise of more to come.  It's all just mid-credit teasers for the next film, or references so you don't forget.  There was no real plan.  So IW comes along and shits all over Ragnarok's very promising ending because now is the time for the big event that has been teased at for over a decade, so fuck you if you don't like it, we don't have time to carry on that story.  Fuck you if you like Gamora's character development in Guardian's of the Galaxy.  She's getting reset and none of that fucking matters.  It's sloppy. 

I won't even get into why I don't like IW/EG themselves because to do the criticisms justice I'd have to rewatch them and I really would rather not.  I'm not particularly keen on rewatching any of the MCU films.  That is how disillusioned the whole thing made me.  That and they don't live up to their hype.  Me calling them trash is nothing remarkable and I'm just getting angry (in part) because it's not my kind of trash.

OK, I think I've got most of that out of my system now.

Tell you what is my kind of trash.  The Fast and Furious franchise.  That one came as a shock to me as I was forced to watch that odd collection of train wrecks.  Maybe I should rewatch them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 February, 2021, 06:11:13 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 February, 2021, 04:21:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 February, 2021, 04:13:21 PM
I think this is the point. The MCU films are hardly works of cinematic art, but they're almost universally competent
And a point that frequently gets overlooked, often even by people who are praising them, is that, pretty much without exception, they are very good at action sequences.

That's a very good point - while I can complain till the cows come home about various aspects of these movies, pulling off this particular action shot is pretty amazing (and crowd-pleasing) - especially in terms of bringing comics to life right in front of our eyes. It's a double-page spread:

(https://www.cgw.com/images/AP_PS_Frame_01-01-29-04_R_FINAL1095.jpg)

That's 49s in on the opening scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsWyLwj6r2k) of Age of Civil Winter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 February, 2021, 06:26:55 PM

I watch the Marvel films in much the same mood as the short-panted me of many yores gone by watched, nay consumed, all those awesome Ray Harryhausen films. The kind of film I'd do my best to skive off school for if I saw it listed as the Afternoon Film in the Radio Times. It's pure escapist fantasy for me - if I want the meaning of life I'll go elsewhere, but when I sit in front of a Marvel film I ask just one thing of it, entertain me.

And, boy, do they do that in spades.

As a footnote, I do like Civil War very much because Cap's argument resonates with me, as one might suspect. It came as a shock to realise that Cap wants what I want, the right to say No. Superficial, of course, but it deepens my love for CW and Cap's character - after decades of grindingly dour anti-heroes, Cap's instinctive and indomitable white hattery feels like a breath of fresh air.

The only one I didn't like was the new FF film - I wish they could have folded the originals into the overall arc, with Chris Evans playing both Cap and the Torch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 March, 2021, 11:04:23 AM
The Nutty Professor (1963)

This was an interesting watch.  There is a disconnect from the film that I had whilst watching due to not being a young person in the 60's.  I don't have much in the way of criticism or praise for the film.  It felt more like a weird time capsule.

Jerry Lewis is admittedly good in this film.

It's better than the remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 01 March, 2021, 12:07:24 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Starz on Disney+). I've watched this a few times, and I love it more every time. Wes Anderson's stuff can sometimes be a bit much, but I have no doubt that this is a masterpiece. Every frame of it is beautiful. Every bit of casting is inspired. Every line of dialogue is perfect. It is surely one of the best films of the past 10 years.

I think I'm going to watch it again this week.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 01 March, 2021, 01:02:15 PM
I Care a Lot. If nothing else, this film justifies its existence by the light it shines on yet another blood-soaked, money-gorging corner of America, but as a story I didn't get on with it. Call me old-fashioned, but I love to have someone to actually root for. We're watching Rosamund Pike having a really bad few days, yet everything she goes through she's brought on herself and it couldn't possibly be happening to a nastier piece of work. The mum? She knows exactly what's up, so we can't sympathise with her. The son? Pretty clear right from the beginning what kind of nasty shit he's into. The girlfriend? She displays a few superficial pangs of conscience but deserves not much better than the protagonist. The lawyer? A scumbag. The judge? Useless. So from the mid-point on, I asked myself why I was watching...and yet watch I did, waiting for some come-uppance. An odd, well-performed little film that didn't push my buttons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 March, 2021, 01:08:09 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 01 March, 2021, 12:07:24 PM
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Starz on Disney+). I've watched this a few times, and I love it more every time. Wes Anderson's stuff can sometimes be a bit much, but I have no doubt that this is a masterpiece. Every frame of it is beautiful. Every bit of casting is inspired. Every line of dialogue is perfect. It is surely one of the best films of the past 10 years.

It is. I'm very glad we went to see it in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 01 March, 2021, 02:20:49 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 01 March, 2021, 01:02:15 PM
I Care a Lot. If nothing else, this film justifies its existence by the light it shines on yet another blood-soaked, money-gorging corner of America, but as a story I didn't get on with it. Call me old-fashioned, but I love to have someone to actually root for. We're watching Rosamund Pike having a really bad few days, yet everything she goes through she's brought on herself and it couldn't possibly be happening to a nastier piece of work. The mum? She knows exactly what's up, so we can't sympathise with her. The son? Pretty clear right from the beginning what kind of nasty shit he's into. The girlfriend? She displays a few superficial pangs of conscience but deserves not much better than the protagonist. The lawyer? A scumbag. The judge? Useless. So from the mid-point on, I asked myself why I was watching...and yet watch I did, waiting for some come-uppance. An odd, well-performed little film that didn't push my buttons.

I found myself rooting for the gangsters... which was surely the point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 March, 2021, 03:07:49 PM
++SPOILERS AHOY++

Quote from: wedgeski on 01 March, 2021, 01:02:15 PM
I Care a Lot. If nothing else, this film justifies its existence by the light it shines on yet another blood-soaked, money-gorging corner of America, but as a story I didn't get on with it. Call me old-fashioned, but I love to have someone to actually root for. We're watching Rosamund Pike having a really bad few days, yet everything she goes through she's brought on herself and it couldn't possibly be happening to a nastier piece of work. The mum? She knows exactly what's up, so we can't sympathise with her. The son? Pretty clear right from the beginning what kind of nasty shit he's into. The girlfriend? She displays a few superficial pangs of conscience but deserves not much better than the protagonist. The lawyer? A scumbag. The judge? Useless. So from the mid-point on, I asked myself why I was watching...and yet watch I did, waiting for some come-uppance. An odd, well-performed little film that didn't push my buttons.

I had the same experience - Pike's character is set up as the villain, with the mum as perhaps the person to root for, but then that gets undermined and by the end of things the mum is just a MacGuffin. So, then the son is the person to root for, but he's also a terrible villain. Where she takes away the lives of vulnerable older people, he takes away the lives of vulnerable young women. Still, the film sets itself up so for a large chunk of Act II, we're supposed to be rooting for him. Then it flip-flops so that we're supposed to root for Pike. Then we're supposed to like them both as if this is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

It's a movie with no moral compass whatsoever. The early scenes, where a distraught son confronts Pike's character outside the courtroom, and says he hopes she gets r*ped to death - well, she is in the wrong, but his reaction is like incel diatribe. Are we supposed to root for the son (who's morally in the right, except for what he's saying to her in that moment) or Pike's character? Also: evil lesbians and dwarfs.

Not a movie for a snowflake like me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 March, 2021, 05:33:58 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 February, 2021, 06:26:55 PM
... Cap's argument resonates with me, as one might suspect. It came as a shock to realise that Cap wants what I want, the right to say No. Superficial, of course, but it deepens my love for CW and Cap's character - after decades of grindingly dour anti-heroes, Cap's instinctive and indomitable white hattery feels like a breath of fresh air.

Very much agree here. Cap's journey through his three films (and to an extent the other four) is superbly done, the simple "I don't like bullies" attitude remaining intact even as his understanding of who those bullies are is challenged. A determination to serve, but ultimately on the terms of his own conscience.

As to the recent FF reboot, that one isn't MCU-proper, it was a Sony take: we still have that (hopefully-fantastic fourth) version to look forward to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 01 March, 2021, 06:18:42 PM
None of the Sony made Fantastic Four movies have been that good but that last one was especially poor and dogged by stories of studio intervention and multiple reshoots.  They really didn't have a clue what they were doing and the real shame is that they had arguably the best Marvel villain with Dr Doom. 

I'm very interested to see how then integrate X-Men and the Fantastic Four into the MCU. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 01 March, 2021, 07:03:02 PM
The MCU is like the comics - if like me, you grew up loving that interconnectedness where everyone has their own books but with frequent guest appearances and occasional big crossover events, then the movies worked very well. I've watched them all several times, and could stick Avengers Assemble on pretty much any day of the week. Even the weakest (Thor 2 IMO) isn't bad, and I'll happily rewatch it. There have been other good comic-to-movie transitions, but these 23 were the first ones that for me truly recreated the comfortable thrills of a shared universe that I so fondly remember. For a True Believer, I think they were an amazing sequence - Excelsior! (side note - why didn't they call it the marvel movie universe (MMU) so we could differentiate with the marvel comics universe (MCU)?).

My only big gripe with Winter Soldier is the cliched 'sticking chips in a computer against a deadline' climax. So sick of these ticking-clock contrivances taking the place of more imaginative plotting, and why do these ships and bases always have vast inner spaces with precarious walkways? Still, I recognise it's just a narrative maguffin and Steve's journey is the important part, as mentioned above.

Bored with the free stuff, I decided to splash out and rent something at the weekend - Amazon can fuck off with their £16 to rent Wonder Woman 1984 (seriously? I know they have to recoup some money with covid, but almost three times the cinema price to watch a critically so-so movie on my laptop? Nope). So instead, I went for New Mutants.

Very disappointing. The young cast do very well with what they're given, with the exception of an untypically flat performance from Maisie Williams, but it's a lacklustre and predictable affair that seems to be missing an Act 3. Charlie Heaton is particularly good as Sam 'Cannonball' Guthrie, and Sunspot and Magick were also fine, but the protaganist Dani Moonstar is rather dull. [spoiler]Young mutants are experimented on in a cruel hospital, but bust out. I was expecting "and then they..." to follow, but that's where it abruptly ended - I don't mind movies setting up a sequel as long as they actually give us a full movie, but this was just acts 1 and 2 stretched to fill the time. Every cliche you can imagine crops up but the only real threat they face are their own powers. The lone captor hints at an interesting backstory, but it's never developed and once the kids come to terms with their powers and PTSD, they just bust out and that's it.[/spoiler] Even the SFX aren't amazing - With Rahne for example, we never get a good transition scene - we glimpse a full wolf at one point (played by "Chuck" apparently) but most of the time she just sprouts unconvincing sideburns and claws and then jumps on people's backs flailing her arms about and screaming, like a toddler in Wolverine cosplay having a meltdown at comic-con.

Also been on a spy thriller kick recently. I watched three of the later Mission Impossibles in random order, and although Tom Cruise plays exactly the same character in every film he makes, they were rollicking silly good fun. I couldn't face downgrading to the poorer-cousin Jack Reacher films, so I went for the Bournes. The original three are essentially the same film over again, but it's a good one so who cares. They are notable for car chases in which a beat-up stolen taxi or police car takes multiple chassis-crunching high speed impacts and still performs like a Ferrari. Watched the Jeremy Renner reboot and whilst it essentially follows the same playbook (down to the improbably robust vehicles), it wasn't as entertaining. Matt Damon isn't exactly Mr Charisma but I guess it's easier to root for the tortured amnesiac than the desperate junkie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 March, 2021, 03:31:51 AM
Bliss, an Amazon Prime original.  Owen Wilson being serious and Salma Hyek (?) trying to appear grungy and grotty (unsuccessfully I might add, she gorgeous no matter what).  All a bit confusing but I think it's meant to be, I watched it as a Sci-fi movie about VR and all senate realities but after and reading some other reviews and people's thoughts it could also just as easily been a story about drugs and addiction.  Certainly interesting 🤔 and maybe worth a second watch, generally well acted and well filmed and quite confusing to f you try to dig deeper which is either how it's meant to be or because it actually wasn't really any good 😆😆

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 March, 2021, 11:42:33 AM
Dark City

I really enjoy this film and I think it is mostly because of the aesthetic.  The story is fine and the noirish film is very appreciated, but the style is what keeps me watching.  Also, when I first watched it I had a slightly snobby attitude of "The Matrix?!?  pffft, I prefer Dark City!"  Even though I have warmed slightly more towards The Matrix (the first one only) I still prefer Dark City.

One thing I definitely noticed in this watch through is the editing of the film.  It has created a very fast pace as nothing lingers.  I'm not sure there is a shot that is more than 20 seconds long.  It wasn't distracting, but it was definitely there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 March, 2021, 12:36:45 PM
Ladyhawke (1985)

I suppose the 1980s weren't kind to historical fantasy movies. Unless it was Arnie's Conan. This movie...well, it could have been better. I don't know how better, but it just didn't cut for me. Maybe it's the music score, which sounds very dated. Very 1980s, and here I don't mean it in a good way. Some tracks are just timeless, regardless of the decade they were created. I suppose they were aiming for a contemporary niche, but more it sounds annoying. The movie suffers also from uneven pacing. Some scenes feel pointless and do nothing to move the plot. Matthew Broderick is fine, I guess, as a petty thief, who does a bit of Ferris Bueller here (or should I accurately say, Ferris Bueller impersonates this character from Ladyhawke). Possibly a bit of War Games there. Rutger Hauer character is mostly on point, but I wish that filmmakers made him more sympathetic. And Michelle Pfeifer seems miscast here. And the actor who plays the bishop is terrible. Action scenes look mediocre, with hackneyed editing. I suppose I expected more from transformation scenes, but probably that's because I am used to 2000s sfx. Today, you'd probably get to see man transforming to a wolf or vice-versa completely, but for the 1980s it looks pretty decent, not cutting edge, but it does the job. On a brighter note, great, breathtaking Italian scenery pervades the film. Truly beautiful and beautifully shot landscapes. When I look back, Ladyhawke might seem like a movie I would enjoy in my teens, which is probably the core demographic this film is made for. And if anything, I've seen worse from Richard Donner (the director) - 16 Blocks or Timeline.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 March, 2021, 05:36:13 PM
Return of the Living Dead (1985)

I get how this might be appealing to someone. A zombie film with black humor and ushered in rock/punk 1980s aesthetics, but I am turned off by the film. Party because I find zombies interesting when you blast them away in RE series. Pacing is very slow and tedious. Almost all characters are two-dimensional jerks, who feel like they don't take themselves seriously and there's not a single character that is interesting enough. . Acting is quite over the top. Guys screaming like drama queens lol! And what is with that goth chick dancing bare naked in the graveyard? Totally gratuitous. Being horror comedy, you can expect a bit of both, but I find here comic elements choking horror ones. There's practically no tension in the movie. On a brighter note, ROTLD doesn't give us much gore and zombies look cheap and comedy occassionally delves into hysterics (like the dog scene). But mostly is not funny. And I say this as someone who loves 1980s.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 March, 2021, 12:00:36 AM
Meet the Feebles

Mean spirited, gross stereotyping cynicism.  I guess if you're going to make a Muppet's parody that has no taste or class, that's what it'll have to be.

I think this is the first Peter Jackson film I ever saw and it is still enjoyable to watch.  It's pretty impressive considering it's limited budget, but that probably just adds to gross charm of the film, I guess.  Especially with the haggard puppets.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 March, 2021, 04:07:48 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 04 March, 2021, 12:00:36 AM
Meet the Feebles

Mean spirited, gross stereotyping cynicism.  I guess if you're going to make a Muppet's parody that has no taste or class, that's what it'll have to be.

I think this is the first Peter Jackson film I ever saw and it is still enjoyable to watch.  It's pretty impressive considering it's limited budget, but that probably just adds to gross charm of the film, I guess.  Especially with the haggard puppets.

Lol, it's uncannily off-beat knowing that the man who made his fame with epic fantasy trilogy like LotR, started his career doing gross-out, over the top gory comedies (this, Braindead and whatsisname of his first movie), done on shoestring budget.
Kinda reminds me on a discussion I had when I said that Joker isn't the film that Todd Philips is going to be remembered, after a string of successful, raunchy comedies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 March, 2021, 11:47:40 PM
The Mighty Ducks

Disney underdog sports film with kids playing hockey.  I don't like sports, I don't care about hockey and kids can be awful in films.  I do like underdog stories and I also like this film.  My form teacher used to get this (and it's sequel) out for us to watch at the end of terms and I remember really enjoying it despite myself.  I recognised it was corny back then and it is even more blatant now.  It is jam packed full of lessons and morals and messages.  My favourite is wealth inequality is real and has an actual effect on peoples accessibility and ability to do well in life.

There is a lot of stupid stuff in this film as well. The cartoon villainy is very amusing.  Lane Smith constantly adjusting his collar just to make sure we know he's a very bad man is delightful.

Emilio Estevez is also my favourite Estevez.

I've also discovered that a TV series is starting this year with Emilio reprising his role

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 March, 2021, 05:04:39 AM
Hunt For The Wilderpeople - this has the same sort of location-driven charm and surreal streak as movies like Local Hero and Starstuck (1982), and blazes through the first act but meanders quite a bit in a tricky middle. It's definitely a feelgood movie, but lacks a definite message beyond the value of real friendship.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 March, 2021, 06:37:06 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 March, 2021, 05:04:39 AM
...but lacks a definite message beyond the value of real friendship.

It's also a searing exposé of the skuxx life.

(And eminently rewatchable).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeurko on 05 March, 2021, 12:26:23 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 March, 2021, 05:04:39 AM
Hunt For The Wilderpeople - this has the same sort of location-driven charm and surreal streak as movies like Local Hero and Starstuck (1982), and blazes through the first act but meanders quite a bit in a tricky middle. It's definitely a feelgood movie, but lacks a definite message beyond the value of real friendship.
Isn't that a good enough message?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 March, 2021, 02:39:57 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 05 March, 2021, 12:26:23 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 March, 2021, 05:04:39 AM
Hunt For The Wilderpeople - this has the same sort of location-driven charm and surreal streak as movies like Local Hero and Starstuck (1982), and blazes through the first act but meanders quite a bit in a tricky middle. It's definitely a feelgood movie, but lacks a definite message beyond the value of real friendship.
Isn't that a good enough message?

Yes, so the reason I was reaching is because it also touches on questions of state control vs. personal freedom while also allowing that state involvement could be a benefit. Like real life, it's complicated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 March, 2021, 02:49:44 PM
The November Man (2014)

The world of espionage has never more complex, yet so simplified in this Brosnan's mature, and moderately budgeted spy flick. I like to think Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy did it more effectively. Also, I like to think this movie is how Pierce's Bond would be 10, 15, or 20 twenty years after. Cantankerous and grumpy. The biggest flaw in the film is that it tried to say too much (see Tinker Tailor, SOldier, Spy), yet it never steered away from a typical action chase blockbuster movie. Mostly shot and set in Belgrade, Serbia (that also dubs for Moscow), Pierce is a retired CIA agent brought in the streets of Belgrade in hopes to find a girl (Olga Kurylenko) who is said to have incriminating photos of a former Russian general, who is a step away from being elected as president in his homeland. It also involves CIA complicity in crimes committed by Russians against the Chechnya population. Along the way, Pierce (and later, with Olga) have to evade general men and CIA agents, one of them being his former protege, and the relationship between the two marks the significant portion of the film. The November Man is a movie that however has no clear, clean-cut good guys and bad guys. Almost everyone here does something if not dirty, then illegal. In a scene that I don't know why it was shot and put in the movie as it does nothing to advance the plot, Pierce eerily tortures his former's protege (for nothing) one night-stand. If anything, I presume that is put in the movie just to show that Pierce's character is nothing like a hero, Bond for example. On a brighter note, numerous action scenes are solidly shot and if anything, are the most positive aspect of the film. Muddled, but stupid storyline and bland, by the book characters certainly are not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 March, 2021, 11:00:34 PM
The Mighty Ducks 2

This is not a very good film.  I didn't actually watch it all the way through because it turns out I wasn't in the mood for awful, self-satisfied, smug American exceptionalism masquerading as an underdog story.  In many ways it undermines the messages of the first film.  It's also so many degrees more stupid and nonsensical.  I also don't find villainous Icelandics as being all together credible.  They aren't adjusting their collars or anything.

Still, it's not as bad as The Mighty Ducks 3.  I watched that once and once was too many times.

Tomorrow I might rewatch Lego Batman because I watched a YouTube video celebrating how delightfully gay it is and it reminded me of the fun I had watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 06 March, 2021, 05:27:30 PM
Took a punt on the film Vavarium last night and so glad I did.

Part quirky and surreal Charlie Kaufman relationship psychodrama, with a dash of David lynch thrown in for good measure.
Ultimately the film, that comes across as a Twilight Zone episode stretched to feature length, doesn't quite land its ending, but the excellent performance from the always watchable Imogen Poots ensures that it is never less than compelling.
One of the scariest child performances in recent memory too.
Director Lorcan Finnegan certainly marks himself out as one to watch in the future.

It also begs the question of why Imogen Poors isn't a bigger star, though I'm rather glad she isn't if she chooses more interesting and challenging roles like this over mainstream Hollywood pap.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 March, 2021, 10:09:24 PM
The Lego Batman Movie

Adorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 07 March, 2021, 12:51:54 AM
Coming 2 America. Woof. I had only moderate praise for the original, but this adds nothing to its predecessor and in places detracts from it. The only real laughs were when Murphy and Hall put on the make up again and let themselves go. And there wasn't much of that. I think Murphy should just enjoy his money and move on from acting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 March, 2021, 01:33:23 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 07 March, 2021, 12:51:54 AM
I think Murphy should just enjoy his money and move on from acting.

Dolemite Is My Name got very good reviews.

------------

USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage is an entire two-hour movie that fails to be as compelling as Quint's four-minute monologue about it in Jaws (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs). Nicholas Cage doesn't even do any of his schtick - he just plays the part like any normal actor. Watch Jaws instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 07 March, 2021, 07:45:12 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 March, 2021, 01:33:23 AM

USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage is an entire two-hour movie that fails to be as compelling as Quint's four-minute monologue about it in Jaws (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs). Nicholas Cage doesn't even do any of his schtick - he just plays the part like any normal actor. Watch Jaws instead.

The other option would be Mission of the Shark  (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102455/)made years earlier with a far less well-known cast.  Also a hell of a lot better for my money.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 March, 2021, 09:49:31 AM
I think Eddie Murphy should have left acting decades ago.  I actually thought he had until I heard about Dolemite and Coming 2 America.

I remembered enjoying Eddie Murphy as a kid, but when I revisit his films now I find him obnoxious and extremely mean spirited in his humour.  I've also never seen him put in an impressive performance.  I guess it could be worse.  It could be his music career we're talking about.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 March, 2021, 11:57:11 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 March, 2021, 09:49:31 AM
I think Eddie Murphy should have left acting decades ago.  I actually thought he had until I heard about Dolemite and Coming 2 America.

I remembered enjoying Eddie Murphy as a kid, but when I revisit his films now I find him obnoxious and extremely mean spirited in his humour.  I've also never seen him put in an impressive performance.  I guess it could be worse.  It could be his music career we're talking about.
He is unassailably good in both Trading Places and 48 Hours, his two best films IMO. If you haven't seen them, I humbly suggest adding them to your list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 March, 2021, 12:06:48 PM
Eddie has been my childhood hero. Definitely because of Beverly Hills Cop. Among his other movies. I liked Metro, too. Despite being an atypical film for him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 March, 2021, 12:51:53 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 07 March, 2021, 11:57:11 AM
He is unassailably good in both Trading Places and 48 Hours, his two best films IMO. If you haven't seen them, I humbly suggest adding them to your list.

I have seen them both more than once.  I agree they are his best films (that I've seen, at least).  I still don't rate Eddie Murphy's acting.  The dregs of his career are of no surprise to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 08 March, 2021, 01:38:05 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 March, 2021, 01:33:23 AM
Dolemite Is My Name got very good reviews.

Deservedly so. It's excellent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 March, 2021, 02:00:16 PM
Hot Rod

An odd comedy that actually made me laugh.  Out loud.  More than once.  That's a rarity these days.  An amateur dare devil needs to raise money to save his dying step-father so he can beat him up in a fight.  I think it is largely lampooning the 80's.  It's one of those odd ball comedies.  I like it.  It's got a number of funny jokes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 08 March, 2021, 02:36:50 PM
PG Psycho Goreman

Certainly entertaining and different.  The production values are lacking but the film leans into that quite a bit.  Like Sharknado but without the rubbishness.

Doesn't nail any particular aspect but is a lot of fun and well worth one watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 March, 2021, 09:14:32 PM
Freebie and the Bean (1974)

Precursor to the buddy cop films of the 80s. From today's POV, this film definitely looks dated, as it is very much a 1970s film. Which involves heavily politically incorrect humor, rooted in sexist, ethnical and homophobic banter. Aside from that, the whole material in the film suits better for an episode of a cop TV show (aka, Starsky and Hutch). Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin) are cops determined to bring down infamous mob boss Red Myers when they find out that an anonymous hired gun is in town to kill Myers. Most of the movie relies on banter between the two leads, who often trade insults with each other. This comes not only from their background (Bean is Mexican) but personalities as well (Bean is a married man with issues in his marriage; while Freebie is a rather laid back streetwise cop). What I like about this film is a sense of naivety typical of its time. That and very well choreographed car chase sequences. You won't see in another 1970s film where a car flies from a highway into an older couple's apartment. All in all, I can say I had a good time with this film, despite its setbacks (humor is so-so and the narrative doesn't have much meat on its bones).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 08 March, 2021, 11:09:31 PM
QuoteHe is unassailably good in both Trading Places and 48 Hours, his two best films IMO. If you haven't seen them, I humbly suggest adding them to your list.

Murphy in Trading Places is charisma personified. Absolutely electrifying performance. Same goes for Beverly Hills Cop. And IIRC he was scarily young in those movie, like early twenties young.

Coming 2 America

In itself, its harmless enough. The cast all look like they're enjoying themselves, so fair play to them. And it's nice to see Eddie Murphy and especially Wesley Snipes getting a late-career revival - the latter being a truly gifted and underrated comedic actor.

But for me, this film encapsulates almost everything i dislike about modern filmmaking.

It's a pointless, belated and unimaginative sequel to an old classic, which leans heavily on nostalgia and callbacks in lieu of actual jokes or original ideas.

It's full of gross product placement and unnecessary and distractingly cheap looking cgi.

It has that offputting sense of lots of scenes being shot where the actors weren't in the same location and have been cut together in post.

It has that modern thing of looking like it cost a lost of money (in financial terms) but also looking really gross and cheap aesthetically at the same time. I've been trying to put my finger on this for a while, and I think it's because modern movies, especially those made by the streaming platforms, tend to really skimp on things like location shooting, set dressing and digital compositing, which (imo) makes them look jarringly small scale and un-cinematic to my eyes, looking almost more like those old MTV movie award parodies than actual big budget movies. Adding to this, everything in the film seems to be coated in a really unappealing digital gloss.


I also watched Minari.

Not much to say as it's more of a slice of life/character piece, but its a lovely little film with some great young (and old) performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 March, 2021, 05:45:15 PM
Ocean's 11 (2001)

This film is just so easy to watch.  It is effortlessly charming and entertaining.  It's pretty fun and doesn't tax my brain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 10 March, 2021, 09:09:32 PM
I don't remember Rob Schneider in that one. ;)

*ducks*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 11 March, 2021, 12:42:15 PM
Quote from: milstar on 08 March, 2021, 09:14:32 PM
Freebie and the Bean (1974)

Precursor to the buddy cop films of the 80s. From today's POV, this film definitely looks dated, as it is very much a 1970s film. Which involves heavily politically incorrect humor, rooted in sexist, ethnical and homophobic banter. Aside from that, the whole material in the film suits better for an episode of a cop TV show (aka, Starsky and Hutch). Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin) are cops determined to bring down infamous mob boss Red Myers when they find out that an anonymous hired gun is in town to kill Myers. Most of the movie relies on banter between the two leads, who often trade insults with each other. This comes not only from their background (Bean is Mexican) but personalities as well (Bean is a married man with issues in his marriage; while Freebie is a rather laid back streetwise cop). What I like about this film is a sense of naivety typical of its time. That and very well choreographed car chase sequences. You won't see in another 1970s film where a car flies from a highway into an older couple's apartment. All in all, I can say I had a good time with this film, despite its setbacks (humor is so-so and the narrative doesn't have much meat on its bones).

They cast Alan Arkin as a Mexican?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 March, 2021, 01:11:52 PM
The Foreigner. I wasn't even aware of this 2017 Jacki Chan film, but it's rather good. Less exuberant and silly than his classic movies, but worth a watch. Chan plays a London restaurant owner with a murky special forces past whose daughter is killed by IRA bombers and embarks on a campaign of revenge via dodgy deputy first minister, and former provo, Pierce Brosnan. It's a more sombre performance from Chan but his dour blank eyed stare was strangely compelling. The final showdown was a little implausible, but I enjoyed Brosnan's performance, as a Gerry-Adams inspired politician with a terrorist history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
Turbo Kid

This is a highly entertaining film.  It's hyper-violent post-apocalypse with aesthetics of an 80's kids toy thrown in.  Plus Michael Ironside plays the villain.  That was delightful to see.

It isn't a complex story.  I'd almost say it's Mad Max for kids, but this film is really gory so it's not that (although I would have adored this as a child).  The character Apple has an on-the-nose name, but she is absolutely fantastic and Turbo Kid is performed with the required amount of cheese.  I also really like that everyone rides around on bikes.  I can dig it.

I would absolutely recommend this film.  I'd gush over it more, but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who decides to give it a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 12 March, 2021, 09:04:53 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
This is a highly entertaining film.  It's hyper-violent post-apocalypse with aesthetics of an 80's kids toy thrown in.  Plus Michael Ironside plays the villain.  That was delightful to see.
If this is your bag and you haven't already seen it, Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is another fine example of Ironside metal, if you can put up with the film's exploitative nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 12 March, 2021, 09:27:32 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
Turbo Kid

This is a highly entertaining film.  It's hyper-violent post-apocalypse with aesthetics of an 80's kids toy thrown in.  Plus Michael Ironside plays the villain.  That was delightful to see.

It isn't a complex story.  I'd almost say it's Mad Max for kids, but this film is really gory so it's not that (although I would have adored this as a child).  The character Apple has an on-the-nose name, but she is absolutely fantastic and Turbo Kid is performed with the required amount of cheese.  I also really like that everyone rides around on bikes.  I can dig it.

I would absolutely recommend this film.  I'd gush over it more, but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who decides to give it a go.

Pictsy is spot on, this film is absolutely great. Right level of 80s homage & cheese vs actual good filmmaking and some really charming characters. And a gnomestick!
Great soundtrack too, if you're into synthwave it's one of the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 March, 2021, 09:42:29 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 12 March, 2021, 09:04:53 AM
If this is your bag and you haven't already seen it, Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is another fine example of Ironside metal, if you can put up with the film's exploitative nonsense.

Thanks for the recommend.  I'll add it to my list of films I can watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 March, 2021, 09:52:06 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
Turbo Kid

This is a highly entertaining film.  It's hyper-violent post-apocalypse with aesthetics of an 80's kids toy thrown in.  Plus Michael Ironside plays the villain.  That was delightful to see.
Pretty sure I've seen this but the only thing I can remember is the bikes. Great story, I know!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 March, 2021, 01:42:24 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 11 March, 2021, 12:42:15 PM
Quote from: milstar on 08 March, 2021, 09:14:32 PM
Freebie and the Bean (1974)

Precursor to the buddy cop films of the 80s. From today's POV, this film definitely looks dated, as it is very much a 1970s film. Which involves heavily politically incorrect humor, rooted in sexist, ethnical and homophobic banter. Aside from that, the whole material in the film suits better for an episode of a cop TV show (aka, Starsky and Hutch). Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin) are cops determined to bring down infamous mob boss Red Myers when they find out that an anonymous hired gun is in town to kill Myers. Most of the movie relies on banter between the two leads, who often trade insults with each other. This comes not only from their background (Bean is Mexican) but personalities as well (Bean is a married man with issues in his marriage; while Freebie is a rather laid back streetwise cop). What I like about this film is a sense of naivety typical of its time. That and very well choreographed car chase sequences. You won't see in another 1970s film where a car flies from a highway into an older couple's apartment. All in all, I can say I had a good time with this film, despite its setbacks (humor is so-so and the narrative doesn't have much meat on its bones).

They cast Alan Arkin as a Mexican?

Yes.

The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

A slightly offbeat entry for a ww2 film, like perhaps the coolest imho ww2 film ever, and that is Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (made around the same time). Or a movie that I watched in my childhood, where my only memory left is some German pilot trying to escape from English that attacked or something like that. But, back to the topic. This movie is unusual as the main characters are Nazi soldiers and their supporters, unlike Americans or Brits or any other members of the Allied faction. And they (Nazis) are nothing like dumb, incompetent, animalistic people that are usually shown in these types of films. A German paratrooper unit, led by Sir Michael Caine is tasked to land down in an English village and snatch Winston Churchill and take him back to Germany. The cast is quite good. Michael Caine plays Michael Caine but I don't think that is backdown. Robert Duvall is exceptionally good as a German officer who hires Caine for the task. Donald Pleasance basically nailed in a small role as Heinrich Himmler, like the darn clone. Donald Sutherland is a laconic Irishman who helps Caine's cause (Donald plays IRA sympathizer). And Treat Williams as a young hotshot American soldier. I must say that in addition to unlike portrayal of Nazis, Michael Caine and his unit are shown as people of honor and some compassion; like when Caine tries to save a Jewish girl from being sent to a concentration camp, or when a soldier from his unit saves a young girl from death, at the cost of his own life. Which as a result causes the group to be revealed as Nazi soldiers (up to that point, they were masquerading as Polish soldiers) and is where an older English gentleman (in)famously quips "More bloody foreigners". And this is where the movie really kicks in. Because a great portion of the film feels just boring and uninspired, up to that point. Numerous scenes that'd have been trimmed down or entirely cut. Pacing problems aside, there are welcome moments of intentional humor, such as when Donald Sutherland's character nearly chokes on a Russian cigar. The tone of the film is generally lighthearted, but the violence is surprisingly graphic and pretty close to the US R rating. But these moments don't pervade the film. In short, The Eagle Has Landed is a solid contribution to the ww2 genre, but you won't miss really anything if you skip it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 12 March, 2021, 03:15:23 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
Turbo Kid

I still haven't got around to watching it yet, but I have seen this music video prequel, which I assume is VERY SPOILERY...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8kFIbmmuEk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8kFIbmmuEk)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 12 March, 2021, 04:07:20 PM
That videos a prequel and yeah, it is a bit of a spoiler!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 March, 2021, 04:30:52 PM
That was a cool video.  I don't think it spoils much.  I certainly realised that part of the film pretty much straight away, so it isn't going to take anything away from the film knowing it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 12 March, 2021, 04:57:46 PM
No Escape - Owen Wilson must help his family survive a violent uprising in an anonymous Southeast Asian country (bordering Thailand). The trouble with this movie is that it depicts (the vast majority of) the brown people as subhuman monsters incapable of empathy who love to commit inventive atrocities, with a tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it mea culpa from a grizzled Pierce Brosnana who admits that it's all the CIA's fault.

There is some amusement to be had from the idea that Owen just ate some hallucinogenic street food by accident and it's all a terrible fever dream from a panicked tourist, but otherwise it's a difficult ride through an unlikely scenario where the white folks get chased and abused by the brown folks. File under ++NEVER LEAVE AMERICA!++.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 March, 2021, 08:35:22 PM
In a similar vein I watched Eden Lake - now I am afraid of locals and local teenagers because anyone who lives outside a major city is a pure savage.

Tbf it's a pretty decent English made psychological horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 March, 2021, 10:47:38 PM
Dark Angel, also known as I Come in Peace (1989)

Possibly the most underrated and coolest buddy cop film, from the late 80s, with science fiction edge. Dolph Lundgren is typical cop who doesn't play by the book and his partner is annoying, schmucky, slick FBI asshole, who does play by the book. Together, they are to catch an alien drug dealer. Truth to the decade, the film is just exercise in self-indulgence, but I remember this film fondly when I saw it at the age of 16. Cliched, contrived plot, cheesy liners, yet eclectic (Jan Hammer) soundtrack, and as B film, it technically looks above average. Also, this is the film where you'd see a typical badass, streetwise cop (Lundgren), living in a vast, slick apartmant and who also enjoy wine or screwing colleague mortician. Yep. There is also pervading amount of actually very nicely filmed explosions, that actually rob the film of seriosity; then again, this is not the film that requires using any brain cells.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 March, 2021, 10:45:28 AM
Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Quote from: wedgeski on 12 March, 2021, 09:04:53 AM
...the film's exploitative nonsense.

Yup.  Lots of that.  Overt sexism all throughout.  Molly Ringwald is insufferable as well.  There is this annoying screech to her performance.  It has some nice design work going on in places, but overall (when it wasn't being offensive) it was just bland.  Ironside doesn't especially shine because he's not given enough to do.  Plus his character design is fucking stupid.

The stars of this film are the vehicles and locations.  It looks (Overdog aside) better than it has any right to.  So I'm conflicted.  It looks good but the film is garbage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 March, 2021, 02:53:14 PM
National Treasure or Indiana Crohn's & the Sean Bean of Doom - the noughties tried to reinvent adventure archaeology movies, with Tomb Raider ('01), National Treasure ('04) , the haircut that was The Da Vinci Code ('06) and then finally (just to prove that they could mess up the formula as well as anyone else) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ('08). It's difficult to figure out exactly where the bottom is in that pile of compressed dino-poo, but this Nicholas Cage-lite vehicle is definitely down there in the realms of just-about-watchable in the same way as re-runs of The A-Team, but with fewer thrills, smiles or chutzpah. Cage and his sidekick's constant mansplaining to the beautiful tagalong professor woman makes us want to side with not-so-secret villain of the piece Sean "Blonde Locks" Bean. Or maybe that's just my man-crush.

---

Moxie - a Coming of Feminist Age movie, in which Amy Poehler's daughter wakes up one day and suddenly realizes that an annual list of positive and negative traits applied to every female at her school and propagated by the gleefully one-note alpha males is degrading, and she's not going to put up with it anymore! I really enjoyed the movie because it focuses entirely on the quests of the female characters and throws the males into relief, it was feel good in a way that didn't descend into schmaltz and it tackled some real world issues - such as patriarchal dress codes (that are still a current issue in schools). It does have a weak middle, and a too tidy end, but - unlike most movies I'm watching these days as a background to doing other work - it was compelling and made me want to know what was going to happen next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 March, 2021, 04:54:15 PM
Funnily enough, I just watched National Treasure recently.  I remember not minding it first time but this time it didn't do much for me.  Can't see me bothering with the sequel.

I'm going to watch the 4th Underworld movie later.  I know it's going to be dreadful.

Watched PG Psycho Goreman last week.  I get what it was trying to do.  Is flawed but was enjoyable enough.  Can't see me bothering with it again but I'd watch a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 March, 2021, 05:59:33 PM
OK, so you bring up National Treasure and don't mention how Nicholas Cage is so disgusted by the idea of stealing the declaration of independence that he steals the declaration of independence.  Personally, I like the balls the movie has in being that stupid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 March, 2021, 06:21:39 PM
Last month I took out a MUBI subscription, a choice I can highly recommend, best streaming platform out there by miles.

Anyway, just slapped on ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA the last movie I needed to see to close the book on Leone's career. Report back in 4 hours (!!!!)...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 March, 2021, 06:45:10 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 13 March, 2021, 06:21:39 PM
Anyway, just slapped on ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA the last movie I needed to see to close the book on Leone's career. Report back in 4 hours (!!!!)...

It will be four hours well spent. Its a wondeful film. Enjoy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 March, 2021, 06:58:06 PM
The American. No tension. No drama. No point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 March, 2021, 08:25:51 PM
Blade II. So much better than I had remembered, this surprised me by being one of those rare sequel-trumps-original dealies, until I saw del Toro in the credits and realised why it was biting me in my sweet spot: that man can do no wrong.

Truly amazing additions to the cast cast include Ron Perlman,  Donnie Yen, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann and rather improbably both Danny John Jules and Luke Goss. Spectacular design and FX on the Reapers, top-notch makeup and some amusingly gauche attempts at CGI acrobatics that do manage convey the idea that you're watching supernatural beings rather than humans that jump around a lot. Snipes delivers a more subdued performance as Blade, and a lot of the more stylish elements of the first are gone, in favour of a shiny Techno Vampire Nation. I still find Whistler's resurrection irritating and unnecessary,  but I do like the bit where he machine-guns hundreds of embryos.

Very much the film Alien Resurrection only wishes it could have been.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 March, 2021, 08:36:15 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 March, 2021, 05:59:33 PM
OK, so you bring up National Treasure and don't mention how Nicholas Cage is so disgusted by the idea of stealing the declaration of independence that he steals the declaration of independence.  Personally, I like the balls the movie has in being that stupid.

It is as dumb as a bag of hammers. See also: flimsy wooden door in opening sequence protects against barrels o' gun powder explosion that's big enough to upset a glacier. It's not that I don't like Lemony Anyone's Sequence of Unlikely Events movies - I've a lot of time for The Long Kiss Goodnight, for example, but National Treasure isn't ... a, erm, national treasure? It is so awful that I'm curious what strange piece of US historical documentation they try to stuff down their trousers in the sequel. Reagan's vacuum-sealed underpants?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 March, 2021, 08:46:13 PM
Blade II is definitely fun.  I think it is the best presented of the three, but it lacks the charm the first one had.

If you haven't seen the Special Edition of Alien Resurrection, I would recommend it.  It made me re-evaluate my opinion.  A lot of stuff is added to the beginning and I think it puts the film into a much better context.  That said, I've only seen it once and it was a few years ago.

I found Once Upon a Time in America tedious.  I watched it with two of my brothers.  None of us were happy with the experience and were glad when it ended.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 13 March, 2021, 08:36:15 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 March, 2021, 05:59:33 PM
OK, so you bring up National Treasure and don't mention how Nicholas Cage is so disgusted by the idea of stealing the declaration of independence that he steals the declaration of independence.  Personally, I like the balls the movie has in being that stupid.

It is as dumb as a bag of hammers. See also: flimsy wooden door in opening sequence protects against barrels o' gun powder explosion that's big enough to upset a glacier. It's not that I don't like Lemony Anyone's Sequence of Unlikely Events movies - I've a lot of time for The Long Kiss Goodnight, for example, but National Treasure isn't ... a, erm, national treasure? It is so awful that I'm curious what strange piece of US historical documentation they try to stuff down their trousers in the sequel. Reagan's vacuum-sealed underpants?

You're not in any way wrong.  National Treasure is a dumpster fire.

I don't remember what the National Treasure was in the sequel.  I don't remember anything that happened in the sequel.  I certainly watched it.

I'm not going to go to bat for the films, but I know I will watch them again in the future.  Sometimes I like watching dumpsters just burn.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 13 March, 2021, 09:43:46 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 13 March, 2021, 06:21:39 PM
Last month I took out a MUBI subscription, a choice I can highly recommend, best streaming platform out there by miles.

Anyway, just slapped on ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA the last movie I needed to see to close the book on Leone's career. Report back in 4 hours (!!!!)...

I remember that movie from when I was 15 I think. From midnight to somewhere around 4:30am. It was solid film however. Overlong yes and it has that brutal rape scene, but the film had soul.

Quote from: TordelBack on 13 March, 2021, 08:25:51 PM
Blade II. So much better than I had remembered, this surprised me by being one of those rare sequel-trumps-original dealies, until I saw del Toro in the credits and realised why it was biting me in my sweet spot: that man can do no wrong.

Truly amazing additions to the cast cast include Ron Perlman,  Donnie Yen, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann and rather improbably both Danny John Jules and Luke Goss. Spectacular design and FX on the Reapers, top-notch makeup and some amusingly gauche attempts at CGI acrobatics that do manage convey the idea that you're watching supernatural beings rather than humans that jump around a lot. Snipes delivers a more subdued performance as Blade, and a lot of the more stylish elements of the first are gone, in favour of a shiny Techno Vampire Nation. I still find Whistler's resurrection irritating and unnecessary,  but I do like the bit where he machine-guns hundreds of embryos.


I don't know if I am only one here who hated that film (that amusing opening sequence in the first one is still un-topped). Although it's miles ahead of Blade Trinity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 March, 2021, 10:08:08 PM
Blade 2 is a great film.  I tend to think that Blade 1 was good for 10-15 minutes and then boring, occasionally becoming straight up bad.  Blade 2 on the other hand is full of excellent effects and stunts.  Even Luke Goss is good in it.  I'd say it has a lot more character than the first one, especially in terms of having better bad guys.

The third one was really bad.

And yes, Alien Resurrection is great too.  Apart from the Newborn thing.

Underworld 4 ended up being better than I expected.  Just finished it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 March, 2021, 10:17:38 PM
Quote from: milstar on 13 March, 2021, 09:43:46 PM
I don't know if I am only one here who hated that film (that amusing opening sequence in the first one is still un-topped). Although it's miles ahead of Blade Trinity.

I really like the first one, Snipes and Dorff are great, as Milstar says the opening is superb, as is the lighting throughout and the look of all the vampire archives and whatnot: it's simple, fast and stylish.

I hadn't seen the sequel since the cinema, and didn't enjoy it at all then, so it was curiosity rather than expectation that drove a re-watch. It's different to the original and rather overstuffed, but it has some really spectacular Aliens-style action sequences, the Reapers are full-on arsom, and the backstabbing team of vampire commando poseurs is great fun (in the manner of these things). I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I'll approach unseen No. 3 with caution!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 14 March, 2021, 01:18:57 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 12 March, 2021, 09:04:53 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 March, 2021, 10:49:58 PM
This is a highly entertaining film.  It's hyper-violent post-apocalypse with aesthetics of an 80's kids toy thrown in.  Plus Michael Ironside plays the villain.  That was delightful to see.
If this is your bag and you haven't already seen it, Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is another fine example of Ironside metal, if you can put up with the film's exploitative nonsense.

I loved that film although it's been years since I've seen it.  [spoiler]Bounty hunters.Android ladies. Cursed Earth (sort of). Creepy mutant kids. A giant cyborg. And what was with those attractive but bad ladies who seemed to live in an underground river?[/spoiler]  Silly, a little scary in places (for younger me, although present day me would shrug it off. It was mainly those [spoiler]mutant kids[/spoiler]) but a lot of fun.

Thinking back, I can see why you thought it exploitative though, although it didn't really register at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 March, 2021, 01:25:04 PM
Galaxy Quest which, bafflingly, I've never seen. It's basically perfect. Everyone in it is perfectly cast, the gags land brilliantly, the plot (which, let's face it, isn't really the selling point here) trots along at a brisk clip and resolves satisfactorily.

If, like me, you've somehow not managed to see this until now, it's streaming free on Netflix (£2.49 to rent on Prime) and I thoroughly recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 14 March, 2021, 02:55:22 PM
By Grabthar's Hammer, he's right. And it's got Sam Rockwell in it. Always a plus.

---

Mulan (2020) - if you enjoyed The Water Margin (TV show that played in the same schedule slot as Monkey in the 80s) then you'll enjoy this slice of OTT wuxia that explores themes of honor, acceptance, bravery and nobility. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 14 March, 2021, 03:49:11 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 March, 2021, 01:25:04 PM
Galaxy Quest which, bafflingly, I've never seen. It's basically perfect. Everyone in it is perfectly cast, the gags land brilliantly, the plot (which, let's face it, isn't really the selling point here) trots along at a brisk clip and resolves satisfactorily.

If, like me, you've somehow not managed to see this until now, it's streaming free on Netflix (£2.49 to rent on Prime) and I thoroughly recommend it.
I love Galaxy Quest, but I when I saw it in the cinema there was one scene that is now changed by one word. I would love to get an unchanged version although I know that is unlikely to happen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 15 March, 2021, 09:38:44 AM
It's a thumbs down from me for both Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (looks great, is awful) and I suspect controversially also Galaxy Quest, which I tried this weekend and couldn't even get halfway through.

Blade II I could watch again and again however. All the best bits in Blade (original) are in the first 15minutes. Any Blade film following is dire. But Blade II hits the spot. It's a very comicbook movie imo - shallow, brash, exciting - the bit where the Bloodpack are introduced could be straight out of something like early X-Force.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 March, 2021, 10:31:23 AM
The Ice Pirates

This shares some problems with Spacehunter and despite not being as nice looking, Ice Pirates is definitely the better film.  I think it may be a comedy.  They were certainly trying to be funny.  The film does have an instance of a notably offensive racial slur and does have casual racism despite it's efforts not to be racist.  It's not quite as exploitative towards women as Spacehunter, but it's not especially respectful either.  It is a lot of weird fun and I found it mostly entertaining.  It is a collection of things that happen, one of those journey is more important than destination type films.

It has a young Ron Perlman in it as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 15 March, 2021, 11:09:43 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 14 March, 2021, 01:18:57 PM
Thinking back, I can see why you thought it exploitative though, although it didn't really register at the time.
12 year-old me wouldn't have known the meaning of the word! I loved the villain, fancied Molly Ringwald, thought the effects were pretty good, and we had a thing for Mad Max in our house, so anything in that vein was a-okay. Having watched it again recently, its problems couldn't be more obvious, yet I still enjoyed it. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 March, 2021, 07:58:39 PM
The Professor and the Madman

Mel Gibson, Sean Penn and a host of recognisable Brits tell the tale of the Oxford Dictionary. It was engaging and interesting and well performed. Sean Penn has a lived in face. Mel Gibson mangles a Scottish accent but not as badly as you would expect.

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: radiator on 16 March, 2021, 02:44:34 AM
Sound of Metal

This was a phenomenally good film with a trio of truly amazing central performances at its center - the guy who plays the character of Joe was all the more impressive for being a virtual unknown. Something about the themes of the movie really struck a chord with me. Not because I am deaf, or really have a comparable condition to that of the main character (played by Riz Ahmed). It was more something about his particular personality type that really resonated with me on a deeper level.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 March, 2021, 06:25:30 AM
I finished watching Aquaman last night. I don't think I've ever seen a movie so shiny, everything so shiny and hyper-real. The action sequences so shiny and hyper-real. Even the lighthouse and the lawns and hills that surrounded it, so shiny and hyper-real - reminded me of the farmhouse in Babe!

When the giant lobster crab lava beast smashed out the ground I expected Jemaine Clement to burst into 'Shiny' from Moana and The Rock to jump on to start a duet with Jason Mermoa.

Given the subject matter this isn't such a bad thing. Nor the fact that its tongue was thrust so firmly into its cheek that it ached. It was such a bubblegum movie. I wasn't really giving it 100% attention but I don't think at any point I was confused or lost. It lended into to many simple cliche story points it was simple and easy to follow. The trouble was for all the shiny, for all the hyper-real that lack of anything, anything to say at all meant it was still quite dull and therefore didn't hold my attention 100%.

I don't think I enjoyed it as much as it washed over me like a warm friendly light wave on a sunny shore and then quickly retreated leaving bearly a mark.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 March, 2021, 11:31:31 AM
Space Raiders

This was alright.  It's structure is simple enough, but a little odd.  There are a couple of threads just left dangling and the film doesn't bother explaining it's world too much.  Capitalist future and pirates.  I don't think it needs to explain anything more.  There is a slight space western feel to the film, but it doesn't lean too much into it.  So a bunch of raiders accidentally kidnap a child and go about trying to return him home.  Yeah, it was alright.  Not as fun as The Ice Pirates but certainly more interesting the Spacehunter.  Next up, I'll be revisiting Krull

As for Aquaman, I remember that being an intense explosion of colour.  I think there might have been dialogue and an attempt at a story or something.  Who knows with everything whizzing about on screen.  I ended up liking it for the spectacle.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 March, 2021, 05:16:16 PM
Might give Aquaman a go tonight - it didn't appeal enough for me to see it at the cinema, but it was a close decision. I probably would have gone to see Wonder Woman 1984 on the big screen, but Amazon can fuck their £16 for one week's rental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 March, 2021, 07:53:02 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 March, 2021, 01:25:04 PM
Galaxy Quest which, bafflingly, I've never seen. It's basically perfect. Everyone in it is perfectly cast, the gags land brilliantly, the plot (which, let's face it, isn't really the selling point here) trots along at a brisk clip and resolves satisfactorily.

If, like me, you've somehow not managed to see this until now, it's streaming free on Netflix (£2.49 to rent on Prime) and I thoroughly recommend it.

Did you notice Sigourney Weaver's dubbing? I didn't until it was pointed out.

https://whatculture.com/film/10-more-genius-ways-movies-fixed-their-own-mistakes?page=8 (https://whatculture.com/film/10-more-genius-ways-movies-fixed-their-own-mistakes?page=8)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 March, 2021, 03:39:54 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 March, 2021, 05:16:16 PM
Might give Aquaman a go tonight

Yeah that was proper good fun, nothing amazing but free of that soul-sucking grimness that DC seems to think makes superheroes cool. I was glad when his mum's weapon was destroyed so that I could stop shouting THAT'S NOT A FUCKING TRIDENT every ten minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 March, 2021, 06:58:12 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 17 March, 2021, 03:39:54 AM
Yeah that was proper good fun, nothing amazing but free of that soul-sucking grimness that DC seems to think makes superheroes cool.

Yep. It's brash and it's breezy, it's colourful and fast-paced, and it's fun. The action sequences are well-staged and I understood the motivations of both the primary and secondary villains (something you can't say about an awful lot of superhero movies) and Ocean Master even had a pretty good point.

It's as dumb as a box of rocks, but it doesn't care, which is part of the fun. Completely inconsequential but, for me, that makes it vastly preferable to these great slabs of angsty grimdark which I fear the generally positive reaction to the Snyder Cut of JL may see DC/Warner reinstating as a feature in further movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 09:40:07 AM
Krull a.k.a "That's not a Glaive!"

Such a fun movie to watch.  You have a Space Empire conquering a small planet and then it turns into a Fantasy film.  It's not a good film, either, but it's very interesting.  There are a lot of good ideas in the film.  It's got a good pace to it as well so when you are about to question what's happened it moves on.

[spoiler]Fuck the "Glaive", I've got flamethrower hands now![/spoiler]

It's fun.  Now I have switch gears from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, my next film will be Beastmaster and it will be my first viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 10:20:51 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 09:40:07 AM
Krull a.k.a "That's not a Glaive!"

Such a fun movie to watch.  You have a Space Empire conquering a small planet and then it turns into a Fantasy film.  It's not a good film, either, but it's very interesting.  There are a lot of good ideas in the film.  It's got a good pace to it as well so when you are about to question what's happened it moves on.

[spoiler]Fuck the "Glaive", I've got flamethrower hands now![/spoiler]

It's fun.  Now I have switch gears from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, my next film will be Beastmaster and it will be my first viewing.

I find Krull so-so film. The plot is lazy and cliched, but sfx are just outstanding, for its time. Given that the film was given very high budget. And I like the design of monsters and creatures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 09:40:07 AM
It's fun.  Now I have switch gears from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, my next film will be Beastmaster and it will be my first viewing.
Not seen it for years but I loved Beastmaster when I was a kid. Might even have seen it twice at the pictures. There's one quite disgusting part in which left a lasting impression on the 8 year old Cosh.

I remember Krull being pretty fun too but it doesn't have the same memories. Maybe you can try Dragonslayer next to complete the set?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:45:48 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Maybe you can try Dragonslayer next to complete the set?

I've not heard of that one, but sure, I'll give it a go :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 11:57:09 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:45:48 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Maybe you can try Dragonslayer next to complete the set?

I've not heard of that one, but sure, I'll give it a go :)

Or Sword and the Sorcerer?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 12:45:40 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 11:57:09 AM
Or Sword and the Sorcerer?

Sure, ok :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 17 March, 2021, 01:03:19 PM
Oh, I loved The Sword and the Sorceror when it first came out. It had a real energy about it - like a "fun" version of Conan - a charismatic lead with Lee Horsley as the barbarian 'Talon', and a couple of great villains as well. Granted, some of the SFX have aged terribly in the intervening years but that aside, I still enjoyed it. Must have a re-watch soon.

And while we're on the subject of low-budget Sword and Sorcery...

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToR1Kx8vHtZw5JJMA4zHxNtemiE3sp0SiR0OwKiaEh85HvHAL6

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 17 March, 2021, 02:22:34 PM
We're into some of my most beloved films here!

KRULL is a mainly bad film with some really cool bits. I really like the scifi / fantasy mashup The scene where the Slayers rise up out of the swamp is one of my favourites of all time, Ergo is brilliant and it's great for a game of 'spot the actor' (Tucker from Grange Hill!) but the film kind of drops off a cliff after they get into the fortress and the bit with the beast is terrible so it always kind of ends on a bum note when I watch it.

BEASTMASTER is also technically a dreadful film that's hugely enjoyable. The fight choreography is dreadful and the plot is stupid but the core concept is brilliant. The panther is a spray painted tiger and there's obviosuly multiple ferrets playing the two ferrets but this sort of ineptitude just adds to it's charm imo. I won't enthuse more about this yet.

HAWK THE SLAYER is the like the BBC home-made version of these films. On one level, absolutely laughable with it's synthy soundtrack and 'special effects' that include obvious swords on strings, silly string and coloured pingpong balls. It's a bit like a fantasy magnificent seven though and I really, really like it. It's got some really quotable dialogue. I suspect it's one of those films that's beloved if you saw it at the right time and awful otherwise, but it's just so great.

I've watched all three of these recently, but not THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER which I haven't seen since I was a teenager and I need to watch again. I think I often get it mixed up with Deathstalker, a horrible film that suffers from the absolute scourge of 80s sword and sorcery which is masses of rape scenes. A skim of Wikipedia tells me that's not the case, so i should get on it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 02:43:25 PM
Krull is definitely a film of moments.  I don't mind the ending.  Makes about as much sense as anything else in the film.  It ending on a confusing final battle with confusing effects really sums up the film.  I mean, they couldn't all of a sudden make it good.  That would ruin the entire aesthetic.  Maybe it's just because I spent most of my time wondering if the main villains costume was so bad they had to obscure it in muddy effects.  Plus flamethrower hands.  That's one hell of a wedding present!  What an enjoyably dumb film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 17 March, 2021, 02:46:37 PM
i tried watching Krull at the w/e and didn't get very far ! [spoiler]though, i should have held on for the scene with the "cloned" wizard in the forest[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 March, 2021, 02:49:55 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:45:48 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Maybe you can try Dragonslayer next to complete the set?

I've not heard of that one, but sure, I'll give it a go :)
Before CG dragons came to dominate, this film had, hands down, the greatest dragon seen in motion pictures (it gets its hero shot in the last act, so keep watching).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 03:03:22 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 17 March, 2021, 02:49:55 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:45:48 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Maybe you can try Dragonslayer next to complete the set?

I've not heard of that one, but sure, I'll give it a go :)
Before CG dragons came to dominate, this film had, hands down, the greatest dragon seen in motion pictures (it gets its hero shot in the last act, so keep watching).

Amen.

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 17 March, 2021, 02:22:34 PM
We're into some of my most beloved films here!

KRULL is a mainly bad film with some really cool bits. I really like the scifi / fantasy mashup The scene where the Slayers rise up out of the swamp is one of my favourites of all time, Ergo is brilliant and it's great for a game of 'spot the actor' (Tucker from Grange Hill!) but the film kind of drops off a cliff after they get into the fortress and the bit with the beast is terrible so it always kind of ends on a bum note when I watch it.

I remember the spider scene scared me to bits in my youth, but cool effects of the lair imo.

And now that movie is not totally forgotten, I can see influence of Krull in games like Dark Sector or Far Cry blood Dragon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 March, 2021, 03:21:28 PM
I love Krull and Hawk the Slayer because I'm the correct age to be able to bask in the nostalgia.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 17 March, 2021, 03:42:56 PM
Nostalgia is even better than it used to be.

I usually find showing these films to my wife is a good indicator of how rose tinted my view is. She watched Krull once but never again: she didn't even finish Ladyhawke. She liked Beastmaster though.

Another rubbish one that I like, because it's a bit self referential, is Deathstalker II.

"Deathstalker? Is that your first name or your last name?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 04:09:23 PM
Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 05:14:34 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 04:09:23 PM
Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I had to look this up and to see who Larry Cohen is.  This film sounds like a mess and he did The Stuff, so it goes on the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 March, 2021, 05:37:46 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 04:09:23 PM
Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I watched that many, many moons ago when I was pretty into B-movies - when Channel 4 used to show the most wonderful trash and I remember even then being very disappointed by it.

That said having just looked it up to make sure it was that movie - it was - the images make me want to watch it again anyway!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 March, 2021, 06:12:41 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 04:09:23 PM
Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I love Q.  The main thing is that it's just a brilliant bit of acting by Michael Moriarty as he goes through his hoodlum life but with a giant lizard that occasionally flies in and eats people.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 06:20:32 PM
So, Q is must watch film? Great. But first I have to check Cohen's God Told Me To.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 March, 2021, 08:10:39 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 06:20:32 PM
So, Q is must watch film? Great. But first I have to check Cohen's God Told Me To.

A personal favourite of mine, it's absolutely insane. Probably the most ambitious movie ever to be filmed in and around 42nd Street and is woven into one another DNA, while simultaneously paying homage to the surrealists. One sequence straight up references a Dali painting. It's a mad as a box of crackers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 08:58:27 PM
I am rather perturbed with myself for not thinking to ever explore Cohen's work if it's as crazy as all this.  I like esoteric films and The Stuff was a favourite of mine as a kid.  I suppose it's a case of better late than never.  Let's hope I enjoy them when I get around to them.

Right now I'm going to go and watch Beastmaster.  I have my fingers crossed on this one, but I'm managing my expectations.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 10:28:55 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 08:58:27 PM
I am rather perturbed with myself for not thinking to ever explore Cohen's work if it's as crazy as all this.  I like esoteric films and The Stuff was a favourite of mine as a kid.  I suppose it's a case of better late than never.  Let's hope I enjoy them when I get around to them.

Well, Larry Cohen is a sort of icon in low budget science fiction/horror field, though he also did crime films as well (Phone Booth). I didn't like The Stuff because it was too derivative movie to begin with, but I quite like his It's Alive. Very haunting film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:46:31 PM
Beastmaster

OK, it's kinda dull in many places.  There are some likeable elements, but I don't think anything especially shines in this movie.  Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.  The pacing is plodding and the plot is somewhat a jumbled mess of repeating itself.  Characters are static, the film has nothing to say, has no themes, no morals and it's visually dry as well.  I'm not going to say it's awful, because it's not.  It's just mediocre.  Honestly, I think it could have benefited from being more stupid... or had more exciting acting... or something.  I also didn't like the sexual assault by our hero.

The Stuff is a wonderfully biting satire of consumerism and capitalism that is a lot of fun as well.  The only other film I can think it's comparable to is They Live.

Whatever, tomorrow I'm probably watching Dragonslayer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 March, 2021, 04:49:50 AM
God Told Me To (1975)

...Is the phrase that torments tough NY detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) during his investigation of seemingly "unrelated" murder. Which, given that this is science fiction horror film, is only a glimpse into something more sinister and weird. I won't say as much, but that GTMT is a rather flawed, low budget mix of police procedural crime film, weird occultism (whose leader, Richard Lynch plays his proto evil-crazy) and - aliens. And preposterous it sounds, the movie nevertheless, manages to be pretty fun, yet harrowing (in good way) to watch. I like to think that low budget dictated a lot of things in this movie, such as a bad acting, mundane, unconvincing dialogue and visual look. It feels like watching a documentary, as Cohen heavily replies on hand-held camera use. Also, Cohen interjects into his movie chunks of truly hilarious humor, perhaps unintentional(?). In the opening, then unseen assailant is mowing down people with his sniper film, in the typically busy NY day. What looks pretty serious, managed to get me laugh, per movie is low budget and probably stand-ins had no time to rehearse it, it was like watching a video prank where people deliberately over-act as if they have a seizure. Nevertheless, the movie still managed to creep me up, especially in the climax, so the chill factor isn't miserable. And through to the decade, the movie ends on a bleak note, so there's that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 March, 2021, 10:59:40 AM
A personal mantra I've adopted from journalist Jack Hunter is 'NO BUDGET, NO LIMIT' as scribed in his epic Eros In Hell collection of treatments. The lower the budget, the more free you are to just do whatever the fuck you want.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 March, 2021, 12:22:56 PM
Watching Italian gore movies of the 1970s and 1980s, I can concur. In Larry Cohen's case, I can't help but to think how God Told Me To would be with a more acclaimed actor and better special effects. That said, I find his movies hastily edited. How much I liked It's Alive, I think it suffers from the same problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 18 March, 2021, 01:22:22 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:46:31 PM
Beastmaster
...Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.

Booo

Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:46:31 PM
The pacing is plodding and the plot is somewhat a jumbled mess of repeating itself.

This is totally true however

Sorry you didn't enjoy it!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 March, 2021, 02:13:14 PM
I'm not sure whether I enjoyed the film or not.  There were things I liked.  The animals were cute, the weird monster things were a curiosity and Rip Torn and John Amos were enjoyable to watch.  Nevertheless, it's a really dull film.  I think I'm more apathetic towards the film than anything else, but I may warm more towards it on a second viewing now I know precisely what I'm in for... or I may think it's too boring to watch.  Who knows.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 March, 2021, 02:15:11 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 18 March, 2021, 01:22:22 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 11:46:31 PM
Beastmaster
...Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.
Booo

Having watched five minutes of a "best of Beastmaster" on that there YouTube, I think the appeal may lie solely in how much you enjoy an oiled, hairless, muscly, white man running around in a loin-cloth and trying to look sad when his [spoiler]pet ferret buys the farm[/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 18 March, 2021, 03:32:25 PM
What's not to enjoy about that?

I suspect it more depends on if you saw the film in 1982, an experience which could leave you with strange feelings about Tanya Roberts and nightmares about being liquified by bird monsters.*


* speculating for a friend
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 March, 2021, 04:55:30 PM
I can't figure out if I actually saw it back then - I remember Krull, Hawk the Slayer and even some of Blue Thunder and Manimal - it feels like Beastmaster would have been right up my alley (fnarr), but no memory.

Is that the same actor as the guy in Stargate SG-1?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 March, 2021, 12:23:52 AM
Dragonslayer

Better paced and more interesting than Beastmaster, for sure.  Questionable gender politics in this one.  I'd go so far to call it ignorantly chauvinistic.  None of the characters are especially likeable or charming with the exception of Tyrian played by John Hallam.  The story follows a classic formula that works for good reasons.  The dragon effects are mostly good with some really excellent stop motion animations sprinkled in.

There is something odd about the film.  The setting is part our world and part fictional, but it has all the trappings of being an independent fantasy setting.  It not being particularly explicit about the setting made the Christianity stuff come out of nowhere for me and I had difficulty reconciling it all.

The main character Galen's arc lacked any real agency as did his love interest Valerian.  Anything interesting that could have been done with the characters is squandered.  The film has ideas but fails to do much with them.  I stinks of wasted potential.  I'd say in that regard it was a disappointment once I got to the end. 

Overall, it's okay.  Nothing amazing, missed opportunities but not terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 March, 2021, 06:32:25 AM
 Dragonslayer is another one where the poster was the best bit. Who wouldn't want to see this when they were 10?

(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k4__zh4GdZA/TPxRcb-SV1I/AAAAAAAAB4g/aX4K7i5tpe4/s1600/Dragonslayer+poster.jpg)

This one was quite nice too, but I don't remember it at the time.

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUDLh_QOl-Kpv4HtaVrLlRQQAh7Pdqwb-mGfDOia4h1ECQB2M&s)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 March, 2021, 07:13:41 AM
I was shocked recenty when I released the hero Dragonslayer was actually that bloke who liked a 'clean boil' in Ally McBeal. I couldn't settle that in my head!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 March, 2021, 08:45:32 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 March, 2021, 07:13:41 AM
I was shocked recenty when I released the hero Dragonslayer was actually that bloke who liked a 'clean boil' in Ally McBeal. I couldn't settle that in my head!

I prefer to think of him as the Camp Counsellor from Addams Family Values, or even Vigo's enabler in Ghostbusters II. Makes a great creep, dragonslaying hero less so.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 19 March, 2021, 05:51:16 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 March, 2021, 04:55:30 PM
Is that the same actor as the guy in Stargate SG-1?

No, but he played Marc Donovan in 'V'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 March, 2021, 07:21:25 PM
Quote from: Pyroxian on 19 March, 2021, 05:51:16 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 March, 2021, 04:55:30 PM
Is that the same actor as the guy in Stargate SG-1?

No, but he played Marc Donovan in 'V'

That's where I've seen him from - thanks. 'V' was such a big event series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 March, 2021, 10:27:01 PM
The Sword and the Sorcerer

Fuck this film.  I bailed on it half way through as obvious love interest goes from meeting one rapist to another including the fucking "hero" of the film.  So I skipped ahead to check that she does, in fact, fall in love with the would be rapist (she does) only to see the insinuation of her getting raped by a snake.  Seriously, fuck this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 19 March, 2021, 10:46:20 PM
Hmm, sounds like it is the rapey film I remembered it was originally. I'll avoid it too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 March, 2021, 11:05:02 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 19 March, 2021, 10:46:20 PM
Hmm, sounds like it is the rapey film I remembered it was originally. I'll avoid it too.

It ruined my evening.  I'm just glad I bailed on it when I did and that I didn't see any actual rape... except maybe that snake thing, because that was very heavily implying penetration as she screams and the snakes  writhes over her crotch.  It's probably not explicit because a real snake was used.  Then again, it might just look like rape because how rapey it got before I turned it off.

At least I have enough warning about Deathstalkers not to go near that garbage.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 19 March, 2021, 11:31:15 PM
If you're looking for another 80s fantasy then avoid Sorceress (1982). Basically soft-porn staring twin centrefold playmates. It interested me at the time (you guess why) but I tried watching it about a year ago and couldn't get past the first 10 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 March, 2021, 11:42:04 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 19 March, 2021, 11:31:15 PM
If you're looking for another 80s fantasy then avoid Sorceress (1982). Basically soft-porn staring twin centrefold playmates. It interested me at the time (you guess why) but I tried watching it about a year ago and couldn't get past the first 10 minutes.

Thanks for the heads up.  I saw this on IMDB and it looked like crap, so I'll take that as affirmation of my initial impression.  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 March, 2021, 07:22:02 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 March, 2021, 10:27:01 PM
The Sword and the Sorcerer

Just awful, even if a few individual bits are awful enough to be mildly amusing. I'm trying to think of a single '80s fantasy film that was actually any good, and after Conan and Dark Crystal I'm stuck. Labyrinth? (I love the aesthetic, but you have to be prepared to ignore some fairly dodgy stuff in that one too).

No wonder I inhaled Robin of Sherwood when it finally appeared.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 March, 2021, 09:47:51 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 March, 2021, 07:22:02 AM
Just awful, even if a few individual bits are awful enough to be mildly amusing. I'm trying to think of a single '80s fantasy film that was actually any good, and after Conan and Dark Crystal I'm stuck. Labyrinth? (I love the aesthetic, but you have to be prepared to ignore some fairly dodgy stuff in that one too).

No wonder I inhaled Robin of Sherwood when it finally appeared.

I'd say that Excalibur is a good movie.  It's rape scenes have more point to them and, for me, don't come across as exploitative. 

There's also Willow, Princess Bride and maybe The Neverending Story.  I don't know about Legend.  I haven't been able to reassess that one because I stopped watching films with Tom Cruise in.

Krull isn't good, but it is a lot of fun.

Nevertheless, I think the Fantasy genre is grossly under-represented in film.  It might be because it's more costly than it's genre cousins Sci-Fi and especially Horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 March, 2021, 09:53:41 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 March, 2021, 09:47:51 AM
I don't know about Legend.  I haven't been able to reassess that one because I stopped watching films with Tom Cruise in.

Looks amazing, Tim Curry is fantastic, but the film is boring as fuck. It's not that long (from memory) so it's probably worth half-watching once, to let the visuals wash over you and pausing briefly to pay attention when Curry is on-screen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 20 March, 2021, 10:08:25 AM
Seconded. For me, this is Tim Curry at his absolute finest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2021, 10:18:25 AM
Having watched Legend recenty I can confirm its an incredibly dull and unengaging film and as I think I said here you can tell Ridley Scott used to direct adverts - it looks at a perfume advert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2021, 10:19:55 AM
Oh and anyone who doesn't think Princess Bride is the greatest creation known to humankind has a cold dead hearrt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 20 March, 2021, 10:45:15 AM
Legend is awful. Complete snoozefest although it does look really good.
I've watched absolutely tons of fantasy movies and its hard to recommend many. Of the 80s ones the ones aimed atva younger audience do tend to have weathered the test of time better - a lot of the remainder are a bit nasty. The treatment of women in them is generally appalling. The ones I like do tend to be unintentionally awful. I rate Beastmaster but its a bad film objectively and it's tough to go anywhere from there if you don't like it. Within the field Conan is immense - the score alone is just incredible - but there's a huge gap between that and secind tier stuff like Red Sonja and an even bigger gap between that and the b movie crowd. You're probably looking at stuff like Willow maybe?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 March, 2021, 11:23:31 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 20 March, 2021, 10:45:15 AM
Within the field Conan is immense - the score alone is just incredible

Notwithstanding one particularly rubbery snake effect, I think Conan is basically flawless. It looks fantastic from start to finish, Schwarzenegger, called upon to be nothing more than stoic, stony-faced and muscle-bound, is in his ideal role, the supporting cast are great and the score, as you say, is phenomenal. Short on laughs, but I think the film works precisely because it takes itself so very seriously.

I've now just talked myself into popping off to the internet to see if there's a 4K blu-ray. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 March, 2021, 12:06:52 PM
Haven't watched Legend, but Sword and Sorcerer was immense fun for me, for trash Conan rip-off. Perhaps the most successful B movie sword and fantasy title to date.

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

For the record, I am so not into slasher movies. Fetishization of gory killings, masked killer, final girl trope and the last shot that establishes that we'll get sequel one day were comprehensible to me as quantum physics. That said, I do love horrors that have slasher elements in them (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, House on Haunted Hill remake) a lot. Sleepaway Camp I made myself to watch for now its infamous twist ending. Having read the whole plot first (yes, I did that to myself). And gotta say, in the sea of slasher movies of its time, the ending still holds powerful as I presume it was back in '83. Also, I realized that Sleepaway Camp has a plot that's too intellectual to me. Whether that was the director's intention or not, but there are bunch of scenes that heavily really on ambiguity (for example, flashback scenes that become especially harrowing toward the climax) and we were never provided with an open answer, such us the culprit's  clear motivation for the killing; apart from perhaps "they were all bad guys". Angela is traumatized girl after surviving  incident that claimed her Dad and brother. Shy she is, she partakes time in a summer camp with her cousin. When murders start to occur that are somehow related to her. The plot, for most of the time is rather generic. Special effects are neither worst nor cutting edge, even for a B movie like this. Acting is either poor or over-reacting. Although there are moments of I guess intentional hilarity, wrapped in perhaps the greatest line exchanges I've ever seen in a movie that I had to write them down. On rather awkward side, what's it with all those boys in skimpy shorts? Ugh. Which is what one character did (paedophile?) and I confess that I laughed at his infamous quip:"young fresh chicken. We call them baldies". Okay, I shouldn't have laughed here. As for the ending, I gotta admire its boldness. Very ballsy and disturbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 20 March, 2021, 12:07:02 PM
The other issue with Legend is the version you see.  The Tangerine Dream version works better but I would have to agree in terms of its overall appeal.  Tim Curry definitely steals the show though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2021, 12:12:53 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 March, 2021, 11:23:31 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 20 March, 2021, 10:45:15 AM
Within the field Conan is immense - the score alone is just incredible

Notwithstanding one particularly rubbery snake effect, I think Conan is basically flawless. It looks fantastic from start to finish, Schwarzenegger, called upon to be nothing more than stoic, stony-faced and muscle-bound, is in his ideal role, the supporting cast are great and the score, as you say, is phenomenal. Short on laughs, but I think the film works precisely because it takes itself so very seriously.

I've now just talked myself into popping off to the internet to see if there's a 4K blu-ray. :)

Pity they let that go with THE DESTROYER, which though I have a soft spot for really fumbles whenever the plot slows so Grace Jones (though deliciously scary throughout) can crack a deadpan line about the tropes of sword and sorcery.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 March, 2021, 12:53:27 PM
What is best in life? I can't remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 March, 2021, 01:10:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2021, 12:12:53 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 March, 2021, 11:23:31 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 20 March, 2021, 10:45:15 AM
Within the field Conan is immense - the score alone is just incredible

Notwithstanding one particularly rubbery snake effect, I think Conan is basically flawless. It looks fantastic from start to finish, Schwarzenegger, called upon to be nothing more than stoic, stony-faced and muscle-bound, is in his ideal role, the supporting cast are great and the score, as you say, is phenomenal. Short on laughs, but I think the film works precisely because it takes itself so very seriously.

I've now just talked myself into popping off to the internet to see if there's a 4K blu-ray. :)

Pity they let that go with THE DESTROYER, which though I have a soft spot for really fumbles whenever the plot slows so Grace Jones (though deliciously scary throughout) can crack a deadpan line about the tropes of sword and sorcery.
That was a studio decision. They watered the entire film down in order to achieve the 13 rating in the hopes of a bigger box office. How'd that go over?

I recently watched Red Sonja again and while Brigitte Neilsen is about as wooden as a tree on the whole the film is much better than it gets credit for, mainly due to the supporting cast. Even Schwargenner's not-Conan (nudge nudge, wink wink) is better than the Destroyer Conan.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 March, 2021, 12:07:27 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 17 March, 2021, 02:49:55 PM
Before CG dragons came to dominate, this film had, hands down, the greatest dragon seen in motion pictures (it gets its hero shot in the last act, so keep watching).


Vermithrax Pejorative being very influential to George R R Martin - naming one of the dead dragons in Song of Ice and Fire Vermithrax.  And I suspect the name Valerian might have influenced a bit of the lore of SoIaF too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 22 March, 2021, 02:13:11 AM
Extraction - Chris Hemsworth stars in a walk-through for a new action shooter in the Call of Duty series of hit video games. Trying to inject pathos into something with this high a death count for regular cops just doing their job is like trying to find an ounce of kindness in Priti Patel. There's a "twist" that you'd only be surprised at if you've never watched any movies in your life, or read any books, or understand language, and come from a dimension where lies are against the laws of physics.

Top tip: if you're a minimalist, you'll never be sucker-thwacked in a melee by someone using an everyday household object to bludgeon you.

Summary: if you enjoy watching someone else play video games, this might be for you!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 March, 2021, 09:57:05 AM
Q: The Winged Serpent

Engaging but weird.  I don't really mean weird in terms of the plot or premise.  The people just didn't quite behave as I would expect human beings to behave.  There was something uncanny about them.  It was pretty interesting to watch and amusing.  My biggest complaint was how it was so off hand about violence towards women. 

Free Fire

Want to watch a film that's almost entirely a shoot-out?  This one has you covered (geddit?).  It's pretty good and has a dark sense of humour throughout.  It exchanges big action set pieces for comedy violence with a dash of realism (it's not full on slapstick).  Very entertaining and surprisingly attention grabbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 March, 2021, 10:47:54 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 March, 2021, 09:57:05 AM
It's pretty good and has a dark sense of humour throughout.

"Distract 'im with your badinage."

Yeah. Really enjoyed this one, too. It's sort of like the Coen Brothers remade Reservoir Dogs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 March, 2021, 11:05:04 AM
Think it was someone on here a few months back who brought up Leighs PETERLOO and as I hadn't seen it since it's theatrical run picked up the blu-ray and gave it a rewatch. Yup, still wonderfully low key, almost a slice of life drama until the shit hits the fan and the titular massacre begins. Probably one of the best representations of both rural and urban decay as well, with some lovely character touches. Anyone who grew up in the North can absolutely spot a regional 'type' as the Unions come together in St. Peters Field.

Oddly was reminded of Peter Watkins Culloden upon the rewatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 March, 2021, 11:13:28 AM
LIFE on Netflix.

So rather than write a review of this "contemporary" science fiction thriller where a Martian life form invades the International Space Station and starts offing the crew one by one, I recommend that you go read other reviews of this film.

Because while my review will have a handsome and charismatic cast and great production values, it won't be anything that you haven't seen before in other reviews that covered the same ground but with more inventiveness and originality.

So, a bit like the film itself, really.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 22 March, 2021, 11:20:59 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 March, 2021, 11:13:28 AM
LIFE on Netflix.
So, a bit like the film itself, really.
Yeah, not great, but I did think the alien was pretty cool.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 March, 2021, 11:27:04 AM
Justice League The Snyder Cut – With a marathon session we watch this in one go (yes we did take toilet break and made a cup or two). I must say that this was 100x better than the original one. This version gave us a lot of back story which was clearly missing in the original. Further the story was much expanded and things that just whistled pass you where actually given a lot more depth and detail. Do not worry about the runtime because it never felt like 4 hours. Plus, the whole movie is broken down in 6 episodes and an epilogue. These episodes give it a more natural break. So final verdict is it was a great movie enjoyed it from beginning to minute 240.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 March, 2021, 12:00:40 PM
Escape from Pretoria

Daniel Radcliffe might just be my favourite actor at the minute. I've always found something enjoyable in every movie I've seen him in (except Harry Potter*). He seems to have enough "fuck you" money from his childhood stardom to pick and choose only projects which interest him. Usually these projects are either really weird like Swiss Army Man or stylishly bonkers like Guns Akimbo, or creepy and brooding, like The Woman in Black. The common thread being they're all movies that really nail a certain tone. Well Escape from Pretoria nails tense as fuck.

Based on real events, in apartheid South Africa (Surprisingly no Neill Blomkampf regulars, or even Die Antwoord in sight), Radcliffe gives a masterful performance as a man with a constant turtle head poking out.

*nothing against Harry Potter, was just a wee bit too old/not old enough to appreciate it and besides, when I became aware of it, I still had about a back log of about a dozen discworld books to get through. When my sisters dragged me to the first Harry Potter movie ("but we thought you liked wizard stuff?") I was not impressed by Radcliffe, but clearly young Daniel was closely studying his fellow cast of beloved British national treasures. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 March, 2021, 12:04:27 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 March, 2021, 10:47:54 AM
It's sort of like the Coen Brothers remade Reservoir Dogs.

Has there ever been a better one line recommendation for a film? Already added to my watch list!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 March, 2021, 12:11:11 PM
Free Fire is a great example of the one-room genre. Loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 March, 2021, 12:36:53 PM
High Fidelity (2000, on Disney+). After aimlessly flicking through the options of Disney+ for at least 15 minutes, I finally decided on a film that I've got fond memories of. Or I thought I did. Turns out I have fond memories of the Nick Hornby novel, but now I'm afraid to return to that. This has aged extremely poorly. I remembered it as an affectionate look at fan culture and a comedy about a man-child who finally has to face growing up. It turned out to be about a misogynistic serial abuser who faces no consequences of his actions, which are frequently played for laughs. His partners in crime are creepy but, again, played for laughs. The whole thing is repellent.

Why does his girlfriend come back to him? There's no convincing explanation.

John Cusack has always had a distinctive way, definitely not naturalistic, but here he's as wooden as the tree on the cover of John Lennon's critically acclaimed 1970 album "The Plastic Ono Band". Not good.

They've remade this as a tv series with a female protagonist. I guess you'd have to do something like that if you were making it now.

My wife's comment: "Yeah, I've always hated that film. He's a monster." She's not wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 March, 2021, 02:12:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 March, 2021, 11:05:04 AM
Think it was someone on here a few months back who brought up Leighs PETERLOO ...

That may have been me. Watched it over Christmas just gone, and I'm still thinking about it regularly. That's powerful filmmaking.

There's a series of scenes with all the magistrates and knobs in a meeting room overlooking St Peter's Square, while people pour into the city from all over,  full of optimism and good humour, that I can't get out of my mind. The contrast between hopeful desperation, and contemptuous avarice, framed so perfectly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 22 March, 2021, 02:22:24 PM
I really didn't like Free Fire. In fact, it's in my 'DVDs to give away' pile, so if anyone who fancies it is in the Midlands, they're welcome to have it. Perhaps in cold war spy type exchange where I leave it on a bench in a used newspaper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 March, 2021, 03:37:22 PM
I enjoyed Life as a bleak war of attrition as the scientists loose ground.  It might not be entirely original, but it doesn't need to be.

OK, I also wrote what was turning into a very lengthy essay of what I enjoy about High Fidelity.  I decided not to post it because it was getting longer and longer.  I disagree with CalHab's description of the film. 

The main character faces no consequences.  I don't understand this, the film is all about the consequences of his shitty behaviour.  It's the plot.

Why does Laura get back together with him?  I'm not sure why love is an unconvincing motivation and explanation.

I accept someone not liking the film because the protagonist is a shit, that the humour doesn't land, that the consequences and motivations are not satisfying, that the performances are bad and/or they find the film repellent.  There are other of legit criticisms to be made, like a poor handling of mental health (at least, that's my inference) and an uncomfortable scene where one of Rob's exes describes an experience "close to rape" which doesn't seem to register with him.

I don't wish to change CalHab's opinion of the film.  That description, nevertheless, is in conflict with my experience of the content of the film.

OK, gonna stop this now in case it turns into another essay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 March, 2021, 07:47:59 PM
The Parallax View (1974)

Imo, the best film in Pakula's "paranoia" trilogy and one of essential 1970s films. Better than All President Men, that deals with similar thematics. Warren Beatty plays a journalists that uncovers evidence that a clandestine corporation, called Parallax, is behind every world event, often performing hits on a VIP people. True to the decade, the films shares many tropes common for 1970s. Visuals, bleak ending, antiheroes who find themselves in way over their heads. In a way, the film is a statement on JFK murder, with Pakula sharing subtle scepticism on the results of Warren commission. And the idea of deep in, multinational corporation, makes you think. After watching this film, I won't discard that theory aside.
The highest mark in the movie is brainwashing technique for possible assassins, akin to Ludovico treatment in A Clockwork Orange, that basically conveys state of mind of America of its time. Confused, naive, gullible, and utmost perverted. Underrated, thought-provoking film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 March, 2021, 10:12:25 PM
Thanks to Woolly I watched 'Here's Johnny' a documentry about John Hicklenton and his battle with MS. The fact that John is an incredible artist is secondary to his astonishing bravery in the face of this horrible disease.

Now full(ish) disclosure my family has been affected directly by MS and so I have some insight into what the disease can do. It has to be said that for all that John's honesty and the forthright way he tells his story and the impact of his illness has taught me a great deal about something I thought I had good insight into. The disease is different for each person it impacts, as much due to the way the person it inflicits deals with it. John deals with it with a strenght and dark humour that is rich in his art, which has never felt more from his soul than after watching this.

A fascinating and heartbreaking documentry I recommend to all.

Thank you Woolly.

Thank you John.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 March, 2021, 04:15:02 AM
Jiu Jitsu - how the fuck did they get Nicholas Cage to do this? It must have been a favor. The lunk hero has amnesia so everyone else has to Basil Exposition at him all the time, the premise is entirely cribbed from Predator, but for some reason they left the plot out entirely and failed to replace it. Cam switches from third person to first person to strapped on (like Sir Digby Chicken Caesar), seemingly at random. There may be some charm here in the so-bad-it's-good category, but not much.

Summary: [altogether now] Jiu Shitsu, more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 10:05:40 AM
Based off the mainly mediocre reviews yesterday I watched Life last night and I thought it was alright. Less splattery and more peril-y than your average Alien knockoff, but still enjoyably tense and reasonably engaging.
The only thing I'd knock was the CGI - the Alien itself was decent but the blood effects etc were really bad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 12:41:32 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 10:05:40 AM
Based off the mainly mediocre reviews yesterday I watched Life last night and I thought it was alright. Less splattery and more peril-y than your average Alien knockoff, but still enjoyably tense and reasonably engaging.
The only thing I'd knock was the CGI - the Alien itself was decent but the blood effects etc were really bad.

It really grinds my gears when I see that filmmakers adopt CGI to such extent as showing blood effects. Couldn't they get someone who'll just blow a hose or something, instead relying on computer graphics to generate something simple, like blood? Assholes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 01:52:01 PM
Quote from: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 12:41:32 PM
It really grinds my gears when I see that filmmakers adopt CGI to such extent as showing blood effects. Couldn't they get someone who'll just blow a hose or something, instead relying on computer graphics to generate something simple, like blood? Assholes.

IIRC the film is set in zero-g so practical blood effects would not have worked without use of the vomit comet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 02:54:30 PM
Yep, the blood looks awful but having actors gobbing out blood packets wouldn't have worked for the zero-G setting.
I'm not sure how they'd have done it other than use CGI, it's just that the CGI looks crappy, as it almost inevitably does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 03:13:59 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 02:54:30 PM
I'm not sure how they'd have done it other than use CGI, it's just that the CGI looks crappy, as it almost inevitably does.

My strong suspicion, in terms of the general use of CGI blood, is that the risk associated with a practical effect (either explosive squibs or just a concentrated compressed air blast through a blood bag) is non-zero. "Fuck it, we can just add that in post, and no one sues us" is probably a very attractive proposition to most producers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 03:20:14 PM
Agreed. CGI often seems a lazy solution, which is a shame when you think about the ingenious ideas that special effects dudes used to come up with in older films, but I'm not a filmmaker so I'm sure there's more at play than someone just cba.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 03:46:30 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 23 March, 2021, 03:20:14 PM
but I'm not a filmmaker so I'm sure there's more at play than someone just cba.

Again, I have no hard info on this, but I imagine it's largely an accounting decision: is the cost of adding CGI blood in post less than the cost of doing an effect on set, when you also take into account a reduction to your liability insurance? Plus, the added bonus that no one sues you because no one gets injured, either by having small explosive charges strapped to them, or hit in the eye by flying fake blood and scraps of fabric.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 04:24:55 PM
Using CGI for something like that is, like I already said, cheap gimmicks to me. Especially when you see older movies and they pull effects like this and it's like "omg!" state of the art. I mean, I watched documentary on Alien and they pretty much described practical effects they used in great detail and it really was Oscar worth (don't know if the film got Oscar for sfx, though). Luckily, today we have Nolan movies that rarely rely on CGI and that use complex mechanics in order to come up with something that is devoid of CGI use (Nolan probably would shoot this in zero gravity with all practical effects that come into the play). Besides, creating blood should be one of the simplest effects of all, that don't have to be explosive squibs. It's all about camera tricks. Also, I dislike when they show artificial nipples or digital penises, which is what Gaspar Noe does. If he wants to shoot a porno, he shouldn't be shy about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 04:47:28 PM
I think with CGI blood it's just more cost effective and easier to control.  If a practical effect goes wrong you have to clean up and set everything up again.  Considering how much time a shot can take to set up in the first place and how much delays can eat into a budget CGI becomes a lot more efficient.  Get the shot and move on.  If you are using CGI anyway, there might be additional costs in hiring two effects companies over just one.
Given the long history of stunt work in the film industry, I imagine that the legal process for being protected against getting sued due to injury is pretty robust.  I think it's just a case of it being cheaper and easier. 


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 March, 2021, 06:01:33 PM
Quote from: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 04:24:55 PM
Also, I dislike when they show artificial nipples or digital penises, which is what Gaspar Noe does. If he wants to shoot a porno, he shouldn't be shy about it.

What I'm getting from this is that there are two key rules for pron:

1. Don't be shy.
2. Never fake anything.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 06:27:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 04:47:28 PM
Given the long history of stunt work in the film industry, I imagine that the legal process for being protected against getting sued due to injury is pretty robust.

No, the production will have liability insurance against that sort of thing — the insurers usually try to pay off potential litigants because it's cheaper than a court case (and the potential litigants will usually take it, because it's money in their pocket and cheaper than a court case) but liability insurance is really expensive and if you can demonstrate to the insurers that you're taking steps to minimise risk on-set, the premiums will come down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 06:48:32 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 23 March, 2021, 06:01:33 PM
Quote from: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 04:24:55 PM
Also, I dislike when they show artificial nipples or digital penises, which is what Gaspar Noe does. If he wants to shoot a porno, he shouldn't be shy about it.

What I'm getting from this is that there are two key rules for pron:

1. Don't be shy.
2. Never fake anything.

Only sheer authenticism.

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 06:27:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 04:47:28 PM
Given the long history of stunt work in the film industry, I imagine that the legal process for being protected against getting sued due to injury is pretty robust.

No, the production will have liability insurance against that sort of thing — the insurers usually try to pay off potential litigants because it's cheaper than a court case (and the potential litigants will usually take it, because it's money in their pocket and cheaper than a court case) but liability insurance is really expensive and if you can demonstrate to the insurers that you're taking steps to minimise risk on-set, the premiums will come down.
I think that's why they use storyboards first, especially when it comes to sfx shots. Because insurers have to see how much money will cost them that particular frame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 07:46:05 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 06:27:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 04:47:28 PM
Given the long history of stunt work in the film industry, I imagine that the legal process for being protected against getting sued due to injury is pretty robust.

No, the production will have liability insurance against that sort of thing — the insurers usually try to pay off potential litigants because it's cheaper than a court case (and the potential litigants will usually take it, because it's money in their pocket and cheaper than a court case) but liability insurance is really expensive and if you can demonstrate to the insurers that you're taking steps to minimise risk on-set, the premiums will come down.

I looked this up and from what I've deduced from what I've found is it is the stunt person that assumes the risk.  There is even specialised insurance for it for stunt people to take out.  I found no results about those hiring stunt people who get injured being paid off by the productions liability insurance.  I did find some US court cases where stunt people sued for negligence, but that was based on the idea that the stunt co-ordinators changed the nature of the stunt last minute causing an accident and injury.  I also found an essay calling for the end of assumed risk for stunt people.

In any regards, it doesn't matter.  Paying insurance isn't the same thing as getting sued.  From what I can tell, that's a fringe case scenario so I still don't think the idea of being sued plays much of a part in using CGI blood instead or practical effects.

Anyway I was wrong.  The legal framework isn't as robust as I thought it was.  It doesn't seem to work in the stunt persons favour, so, y'know, whatever.

Quote from: milstar on 23 March, 2021, 06:48:32 PM
I think that's why they use storyboards first, especially when it comes to sfx shots. Because insurers have to see how much money will cost them that particular frame.

Storyboards are primarily a way of planning out shots and sequences before filming starts so the production know what to do when the filming starts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 March, 2021, 08:21:18 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 23 March, 2021, 07:46:05 PM
In any regards, it doesn't matter.  Paying insurance isn't the same thing as getting sued.  From what I can tell, that's a fringe case scenario so I still don't think the idea of being sued plays much of a part in using CGI blood instead or practical effects.

Sorry — I honestly wasn't trying to be stroppy, there. I wasn't specifically talking about stunt performers — there are lots of people in the vicinity of an effect that uses explosives, or other means to simulate the effect of a small explosion, to whom the risk is non-zero.* I haven't worked in the film industry, but I have had some experience dealing with large-scale liability insurers and I know that any way you can identify to eliminate risk, and show that you've done so, reduces the premium.

Add to that the practical considerations you mention about not having to deal with on-set delay and disruption, and I can see how something as simple as ditching physical blood FX in favour of a post-production solution could be very appealing to film industry bean-counters.

*You can put all the health & safety measures imaginable in place, and you will never get the risk to zero. For as long as the risk exists, insurers will put some kind of price tag on it, so the only way of reducing the risk to zero is to not do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 March, 2021, 04:27:48 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 04 February, 2019, 11:02:51 AM
We couldn't resist Polar on Netflix over the weekend. I had inadvertantly read some scathing reviews, but despite the extreme violence, dodgy moralistic premise and absurdist characters...we quite liked it. I have little patience for on-screen torture these days and one sequence had me gritting my teeth, but Mads Mikkelsen holds it all together very well. A surprise hit in the Wedgeski household.

Agreed. Polar has lots of ingredients that should make it bad, but Mads Mikkelsen, man. He turns that opportunity yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 March, 2021, 04:53:08 AM
16 Blocks

A rather mediocre actioner from director Richard Donner. Bruce Willis plays a cop so miserable and burnt out that it's almost painful to watch. That's the biggest issue I have with the movie. I prefer Bruce being more playful macho, as what he usually does in his movies. Here, you gotta wonder if that alcoholic, sleepless, limping character is him. His task is to proceed a prisoner, played by ever annoying Mos Def, here ever loquacious, to a court building to testify. In between them, are standing slew of persistent crooked cops, led by Bruce's (former) partner (David Morse), who's all about "oh, I know we cops are bad, but the life is fucked up anyway, so who cares". If someone missed anything, this film is either unofficial remake or plain tip-off of Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet. Similarities are striking. Main character is alcoholic and mediocre cop, who finds himself over his head, his companion (female in Eastwood version) fast talking jail bird, a deadline, crooked cops and; in both movies, there's a rough bus scene. The Eastwood's film was goofy, but a lot more fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 24 March, 2021, 08:53:41 AM
Is Mos Def annoying? He was excellent in Be Kind Rewind, which is a wonderful film.

I think I'll have to see if anywhere is streaming it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 March, 2021, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 24 March, 2021, 08:53:41 AM
Is Mos Def annoying? He was excellent in Be Kind Rewind, which is a wonderful film.

I think I'll have to see if anywhere is streaming it.

I hate his voice. It grinds my (g)ears.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 March, 2021, 05:41:56 PM
I was just noodling about on YouTube and found this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2KX-82ityA

Was kinda surprised that he briefly mentions CGI blood being used in the industry.  This new effects software looks pretty interesting as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 March, 2021, 10:00:17 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 22 March, 2021, 12:04:27 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 March, 2021, 10:47:54 AM
It's sort of like the Coen Brothers remade Reservoir Dogs.

Has there ever been a better one line recommendation for a film? Already added to my watch list!

And Free Fire was as much fun as would be expected. Really enjoyed it. The thing is if I'd seen that like 25 years ago or so when I was a student, or just graduated I reckon I'd have obsessed over this - its like one of those cool movies you watch when young and having fun and become transfixed by. Watched now I loved it but doubt I'll ever feel the need to watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 March, 2021, 10:37:56 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 24 March, 2021, 05:41:56 PM
I was just noodling about on YouTube and found this video.

Well, that was fascinating — thanks!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 March, 2021, 04:18:43 AM
Close - a stylish action thriller in which a bodyguard (Noomi Rapace) finds herself outgunned when assassins try to take out her charge. There are a couple of thriller cliches in here but it clips along at a good pace so they're easily forgiven. Also passes the Bechdel test.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 March, 2021, 09:40:39 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 25 March, 2021, 04:18:43 AM
Also passes the Bechdel test.

I was surprised to discover a couple of years ago that the Bechdel test is named for the author of Fun Home, Alison Bechdel. Comics bleeding into the "real world".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:50:45 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 17 March, 2021, 10:43:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 March, 2021, 09:40:07 AM
It's fun.  Now I have switch gears from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, my next film will be Beastmaster and it will be my first viewing.
Not seen it for years but I loved Beastmaster when I was a kid. Might even have seen it twice at the pictures. There's one quite disgusting part in which left a lasting impression on the 8 year old Cosh.

I loved Beastmaster too, and it's also been years that I've seen it. Did the scene involve [spoiler]those bird head things? [/spoiler] I found those quite disturbing at the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:54:53 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 March, 2021, 04:09:23 PM
Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

Oh yes! I've forgotten most of it, but remember enjoying it.

Also: Wolfen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2021, 02:05:26 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:54:53 PM
Also: Wolfen.

Haven't seen that in years, so my memory may be lying to me, but I remember it being pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 March, 2021, 02:08:20 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:50:45 PM
I loved Beastmaster too, and it's also been years that I've seen it. Did the scene involve [spoiler]those bird head things? [/spoiler] I found those quite disturbing at the time.

There are [spoiler]creatures with sort-of wings that enveloped people and (I assume) ate them.[/spoiler]  Definitely one of the few highlights. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 02:46:40 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 26 March, 2021, 02:08:20 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:50:45 PM
I loved Beastmaster too, and it's also been years that I've seen it. Did the scene involve [spoiler]those bird head things? [/spoiler] I found those quite disturbing at the time.

There are [spoiler]creatures with sort-of wings that enveloped people and (I assume) ate them.[/spoiler]  Definitely one of the few highlights.

That's them. [spoiler]When standing upright the wings look like they're wrapped in cloaks. The film leaves it up to the imagination as to how their victims are consumed as their beaks don't seem to be involved. Just a lot of movement then dropping bones. Brrrr. [/spoiler]

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2021, 02:05:26 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 26 March, 2021, 01:54:53 PM
Also: Wolfen.

Haven't seen that in years, so my memory may be lying to me, but I remember it being pretty good.

It's been a while since I've seen it too, and I enjoyed it. It's weird, and enjoyably so, and does a whole different thing with the werewolf* thing, and there's an [spoiler]eco message[/spoiler] in there too.

There was a bit that managed to be daft and dark at the same time, [spoiler]like the decapitation by wolf, moving eyes scene. [/spoiler]. And that classic [spoiler]"it's all in your head" scene with the Native American on the beach[/spoiler]. Heh.

* Okay, wolfen [spoiler]aren't werewolves, at least in the shape shifting sense[/spoiler], but I'm sure you get what I mean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 26 March, 2021, 11:24:58 PM
Wolfen is a movie with a deep profound message. But I like the novel more. Especially the ending. It can be seen as the way animals see us, predatory humans. 1981 was really fruit bearing year for werewolf movies. American Werewolf in London, The Howling, Wolfen, and again I gotta mention again Larry Cohen, with his rather kid oriented - Full Moon High. Out of all these four, my money goes to John Landis. Gotta love Griffin Dunne part!

Kalifornia

I suppose this movie should serve as a statement about the (unnatural) obsession with serial killers, ushered in a road movie, but at the end, we get a bit of the latter, and whatever the message the film carried got lost as soon as the end credits started rolling. David Duchovny in his pre-X-files venture (he does channels a bit of Fox Moulder here), plays a writer who embarks on a trip in hoping to write a book about serial killers, by visiting places where serial killers dispatched their victims. Michelle Forbes is his photographer girlfriend, who embarks with him on the trip. Along with And Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis as backwood, hillbilly couple who join Moulder and his gf. However; unbeknownst to Moulder, Pitt's character is also a psychopathic serial killer himself and when that is discovered, things aren't going to end pretty. A good portion of the film is spent on (at least the first part) the differences between the two couples. More specifically, their background. Moulder and his gf are typical frivolous, snobbish middle-class guys, while Pitt and his gf, obviously lower, working class. This is highlighted in a scene where Juliette Lewis' character describes how her mate (Pitt) forbids her from cussing, drinking and smoking, something that Michelle Forbes' character is totally unlike. Apart from that, there is not much wisdom in the film. The plot is paper-thin, and Moulder spends a good portion of the movie completely oblivious to Pitt's slightly disturbing antics. I must single out Brad Pitt here; one of the best performances by him there is. He immersed himself in the role. But, he alone isn't enough (and the rest of the cast) isn't worth saving the movie from forgettable mediocrity.

For a good serial killer of the 1990s, Pitt's Se7en is still a masterclass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 March, 2021, 01:54:40 AM
Message From The King - one of those violent revenge movies - if you can stomach the relentless darkness and brutal rage, it's very well made, and Chadwick Boseman is a great lead. Not much in the way of hope here, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 March, 2021, 12:19:09 AM
The DaVinci Code

Meh... I haven't seen this before, but I don't see what's all the fuss about this movie? IBecause religious groups protested against it? I see it as another mystery on the run film that never actually is interesting enough to make it worthwhile, yet you keep looking to the screen. Although I've seen perhaps a fair share of these movies, so nothing really can suprises me. The plot is preposterous and total bullshit. Tom Hanks seems to me as a rather shy and miscast for a history professor. Something that Harris on Ford made with more zeal, but Hanks never seemed much involving. Truth to be said, I was never one of his biggest fans either. Audrey Tautou seems rather nice and weirdly, she makes a nice pair with Hanks. Ian McKellen however, has a rather interesting part; actually the only real surprise in the film came from him [spoiler](when it is revealed that he turned from a passionate scholar to absolute madman). [/spoiler] And Jean Reno. Don't know why, but why when he's always in supporting role, he's made a dork? Overall, The DaVinci Code isn't the movie that I would rewatch soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 March, 2021, 08:31:49 PM
Doors (2021)

A sci-fi with minor horror elements.  Is actually a portmanteau (which is entirely my thing) but not a good one.  The Earth suddenly gets millions of weird alien doors.  Of course, the film's budget only allows you to see a couple of them (despite plenty of lingering location shots).

Of the four stories the first is really stupid because it's set in a school with a Breakfast Club set up except that all the characters are pointless.  The second is meaningless and weird.  The third is actually sort of okay.  The last clearly had a budget of about 10p to work with and was incredibly poor.

Anyway, don't bother.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 March, 2021, 08:49:14 PM
Quote from: repoman on 28 March, 2021, 08:31:49 PM
Doors (2021)

A sci-fi with minor horror elements.  Is actually a portmanteau (which is entirely my thing) but not a good one. 

Did you mean anthology?  If not then I am very interested in a film that can be described as a portmanteau.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 March, 2021, 08:55:34 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 March, 2021, 08:49:14 PM
Quote from: repoman on 28 March, 2021, 08:31:49 PM
Doors (2021)

A sci-fi with minor horror elements.  Is actually a portmanteau (which is entirely my thing) but not a good one. 

Did you mean anthology?  If not then I am very interested in a film that can be described as a portmanteau.

yep anthology/portmanteau.  Basically it's four separate stories based around the one scenario.  It didn't feel like one when I was watching it (oddly) but at the end each part had separate credits and then I realised.   It just felt kind of disjointed up until then.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 March, 2021, 09:43:26 PM
Ahh I see, it is a term used, it would appear, mostly with horror anthologies.  Thinking about it, I've seen it used before and feel a little silly for asking now.

I'm actually disappointed because I thought there was a film that's start had the beginning of one story and the end had the conclusion of a different story. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 March, 2021, 11:40:02 PM
Angels & Demons

Slightly better than DaVinci's Code. More dynamic and the plot is less preposterous and I can say I slightly enjoyed in the film. Even though it completely is set in one location (Rome). Hanks does his usual routine (I still don't find him credible enough in this part), but at least here he explains the plot while running as opposed to standing in a darkened room and doing the same. The movie break apart in the last 20-25, but it's less than I can say for DaVinci's Code.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 March, 2021, 12:52:47 AM
Sweetheart - never heard a thing about this one, and I like me some survival films, I do, and no, I have never watched Castaway starring Tom Hanks, a film which I hear is possibly the finest example of the survival movie genre, because why on Earth would I watch a film that is good and I will enjoy when I can watch Asylum movies featuring Kevin Sorbo?
Anyway, this was good, so of course I watched it by accident.
A young woman is washed up on a small deserted island with her mortally-wounded friend, and things just get worse from there.  Oh boy do they ever get worse from there.  There's a wild animal that attacks at night and before you start groaning about yet another allegorical duel between civilised man and the untamed beasts of the wild, don't worry, the "animal" is actually an evil HP Lovecraft fishman devil beast from a deep dark pit at the bottom of the ocean and he comes at night because he is READY TO FUCK.  Though not literally, I mean it's not a rapey thing, he just wants to tear people to pieces and eat them.
It's not rocket science or anything, it won't change anyone's life, it just gets in and entertains you for 90 minutes and then leaves before it gets weird because it knows the deal and this was never meant to be a long term thing.  You wanna watch a Robinson Crusoe movie where a lady runs around trying to stab a big fish monster with a stick?  Well this is for you.  If you don't want that... well, I wouldn't blame you.  It kind of sounds silly now I type it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 March, 2021, 08:20:27 AM
Lunacy by Jan Svankmajer

The gods ode to both Poe and De Sade is just 90's minutes of debauchery and Daliesque surrealism and it absolutely brilliant. For people who watched Salo and said there wasn't enough sentient tongues.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 29 March, 2021, 09:55:24 AM
watched 'bringing out the dead' yesterday

what a dark[ish] but glorious film, superb music too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TMg9WlKgsU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TMg9WlKgsU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 March, 2021, 02:50:43 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 29 March, 2021, 12:52:47 AM
Sweetheart ...

Thanks for the recommendation - that was my best movie of 2021 so far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 01 April, 2021, 08:41:57 PM
The Stupid Film Where A Monkey Fights A Lizard And It Cost A Quarter Of A Billion Dollars To Make - I enjoyed it overall, even if it suffers from the excessive runtime that plagues a lot of blockbusters and there's a lot of superfluous scenes that could have been dropped, but having said that, it might have benefited from a few more scenes to flesh out the characters, because even by monster movie standards, these are pretty thin caricatures, and there's a whole bunch of people just milling about and I just have no idea why they're even there.
The makers do, at least, give some thought as to how the monsters move around the screen, because this is the first of these big paggas I've seen where you can actually tell what the kaiju are doing at any given moment, even through all the cgi screen clutter, and there's even some nice touches like when Kong smashes his dislocated shoulder back into place by slamming against a building and you can see loads of people falling to their deaths - or when Kong puts his giant monkey axe - which he retrieved from a giant throne at the Earth's core where it was charged by lightning - in the side of a building for safe keeping and when he pulls it back out, you can see where it's set the building on fire and loads of floors are engulfed in flames and people are dying by the dozens, some even jumping to their deaths in a recreation of footage of the September 11 attacks.  Like I say, it's full of fun little touches.
I liked how Godzilla attacks from the water when he first challenges Kong, and how Kong attacks by jumping off buildings and swinging from things when it turns into a more stand-up fight and you think "ahhh - they are using the advantages offered them by their respective environments and now Kong has the upper hand!" [spoiler]and then Godzilla just gets right up and curb-stomps Kong and makes him his punk monkey bitch so badly that it only stops when Godzilla literally gets bored with it and fucks off home.[/spoiler]  Best bit is when Godzilla is randomly trashing Hong Kong (although it had "Kong" in the name, so maybe he thought this is where he'd be hiding) and realises that Kong is at the center of the Earth fighting giant bats (as one does), so just sits there shooting Godzilla lasers at the ground until he shoots all the way through the Earth to where Kong is, and then Kong looks into the hole on one side, and Godzilla looks into the hole at the other and screams (in Godzilla) "FUCK YOU!" and Kong screams back (in King Kong) "FUCK YOU!" and then he climbs all the way to China and they have a big fight.  Whatever my criticisms of the state of what I will for the sake of argument call modern cinema, I must admit that yes, this is absolutely the kind of thing I want to see and would pay the better part of 20 quid to watch.
I know some people prefer the - ugh - gritty realism of the first Godzilla movie and lament the move towards cg spectacle, but I liked this one, where they go to the Earth's hollow core and fight giant zombie cyborg monsters and do clearly identifiable wrestling moves on each other.  It's a completely, utterly, hopelessly stupid film that probably works better as a critique of capitalism, but Godzilla help me, I did enjoy that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 01 April, 2021, 10:20:36 PM
That sounds horrific on so many levels!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 April, 2021, 05:25:51 AM
That sounds horrific awesome on so many levels!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 April, 2021, 11:36:48 AM
It's a kaiju movie in it's purest and most wholesome sense. No Snyder 'vulgar auterism' apologia here, I adored my big dumb stupid kaiju schlocky nonsense from beginning to end. All of it, it was awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 April, 2021, 01:02:00 PM
I watched GODZILLA v KONG too.

A film in which I knew what was going to happen having seen no trailer.

A film filled not so much with plot holes as plot voids. (Wait, there's hole tunnel that leads to a lost world at the centre of the Earth?)

A film that makes the city of Hong Kong look curiously like a mid-eighties night club. (Seriously. Every building has neon lighting along the edges).

A film which is fun and exactly fulfils expectation.

This is a remake of yer 70s Japanese epics. Go into it expecting that, for that is what you get.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 April, 2021, 01:09:43 PM
Statistically speaking, there were probably some people who got 110 minutes into Godzilla vs Kong - having just watched a giant monkey fight his way to the Earth's core so he can smash his way into the throne room of the Kong people to claim a magic axe powered by lightning so he can fight an evil robot Godzilla made from the reanimated corpse of a three-headed space dragon - and were thinking "well maybe if I stick with it, it'll change lanes in this last half hour".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 April, 2021, 01:42:19 PM
I didn't bother with that Godzilla movie because it looked boring, but I did see Skull Island.  It wasn't great and probably wasn't dumb enough.  Based on that I was going to skip this, but I'm getting sold on the idea of this film now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 02 April, 2021, 05:21:06 PM
You guys are paying the £15 or whatever it is to see these things? How does that sit in your households?

I simply can't persuade Mrs. Wedgeski that £15 is a rental fee worth paying, even for the new newness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 April, 2021, 05:34:26 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 02 April, 2021, 05:21:06 PM
You guys are paying the £15 or whatever it is to see these things? How does that sit in your households?

I simply can't persuade Mrs. Wedgeski that £15 is a rental fee worth paying, even for the new newness.

We discussed in it relation to going to the cinema and its miles cheaper BUT its just not same experience. Luckily the kids can never decide on one film anyway so we've not done it yet, but if the right film comes along we have agreed to make a treat of it.

Just depands on how many are going to settle in to watch it. If all four of us are excited we will do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 April, 2021, 05:39:33 PM
I'm ripping it from Amazon Prime so I can assure you I'm getting my £16 worth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 April, 2021, 05:43:31 PM
We've paid online rental fees before, but it's a special treat. I'm usually in the "I'll wait" mindset. It'll be more or less free in a year or so. I can wait. Any movie that has "Star Wars" or "Star Trek"  somewhere in the title defeats my bargain bafflers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2021, 09:07:12 PM
DEEP RISING
How the he'll does this only have 28% on Rotten Tomatoes? Sure you can see *every* film they've cribbed from but it has such a sense of fun that it's hard to complain. Famke looks stunning and acts tough, Treat Williams is a one dimensional hoot and the cast is made of second tier action movie stalwarts. Some of the special effects have a twenty year old sheen and matte line to them but fuck me if it doesn't  look like they [spoiler]blew up an ocean liner [/spoiler]for the finale.

I came to this having watched a John Travolta and Famke Janssen 70S set PI thriller called EYE FOR AN EYE. Famke now unable to emote and basically more like a SHITE FOR A SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 April, 2021, 05:00:59 PM
The 'Burbs

One of rare Tom Hanks films I've seen, done in his earlier time. Tom Hanks plays a suburban guy on vacation, a regular husband and father, but who is bored of that. It's where he becomes obssessive with spying his newly offbeat neighbors. And that's more or less it. The plot is paper thin, but this is not about the plot. It's about the characters. And it rather serves as a statement on asshole, noisy neighbors, obssesed with what's going on the other side of the lawn. For most of the time, things go predictable route and you'd think you already know how it'll end, with worth seeing Hanks going batshit crazy, while giving a moral lecture on who is real neighbor from hell, comes a rather unpredictable twist that saves the movie from being total cliche. Given that this is Joe Dante's film, one can see his usual cast of characters in minor roles (Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, Henry Gibson). Overall, somewhat funny, but utterly mundane comedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 April, 2021, 10:14:22 PM
Godzilla (2014 or whatever) was turgid trash.  King of the Monsters was an absolute mess.

Godzilla vs. Kong is absolutely ace.  I've not smiled so much during a film in forever.  Sure, Millie Brown's story was a bit like the casino world story in that Star Wars film that everyone hated.  Total side quest.  And the selectively deaf girl was unnecessary.

But the battles.  Good lord.  The fight on/in the water was spectacular.  The neon Hong Kong one was great too. 

A lot of it doesn't stand up to basic scrutiny in terms of the science and nor should it.  I want my films to be dumb and entertaining when they are your big blockbusters.  But the action was great.

And I'm so happy that the days of shaky cam are gone and we can actually see the action. 

Super happy with that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 04 April, 2021, 05:56:01 AM
Godzilla vs Kong is one of those movies where you rather put your brain in neutral and just watch the awesome battle scenes. Plot wise little make sense and a lot of the story is based upon lets  just wait and see where the next scene of destruction will be. I still enjoyed this over the top illogical mess for what it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2021, 09:51:21 PM
I'm quite late to the TRAIN TO BUSAN party but it's a Korean treat. A superior Zombie movie that favours emotion of headshots and intestinal gore. And is all the bbetter for it. Some genius imagery as the Zombies rush all over each other. And an utterly nerve shredding but uplifting ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 April, 2021, 08:03:02 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 April, 2021, 09:51:21 PM
I'm quite late to the TRAIN TO BUSAN party but it's a Korean treat. A superior Zombie movie that favours emotion of headshots and intestinal gore. And is all the bbetter for it. Some genius imagery as the Zombies rush all over each other. And an utterly nerve shredding but uplifting ending.

My only issue with it was the crying. Do Korean people just not know how to cry?

Every time it happened it was someone just going 'ahbwooohoooohooooo' in the least convincing way.  It made me want everyone to die.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2021, 08:59:56 AM
I think you mentioned that upthread and was expecting it to be full of ott wailing but actually thought it was judged right for normal people (hedge fund manager, school kids etc) in a terrifyingly extraordinary situation. Stoic ex-military types head-shotting every zombie in sight... we've seen that countless times before.

And it's ok, and healthy, to cry. We don't have to wait for a zombie apocalypse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 05 April, 2021, 02:33:30 PM
The problem with the American remake of Train To Busan is going to be convincing the audience to believe in the utterly ludicrous central concept of a reliable public transport system.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 05 April, 2021, 05:19:24 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 02 April, 2021, 05:21:06 PM
You guys are paying the £15 or whatever it is to see these things? How does that sit in your households?

I simply can't persuade Mrs. Wedgeski that £15 is a rental fee worth paying, even for the new newness.

I work 37.5 hours a week and get a wage for it.  I pay a set amount into the joint account every month and that fulfils my main responsibilities towards the mortgage, bills, food etc.  I invest a fair bit for my/our future also.

The rest is no one else's business.  And the same goes for her cash.  If she wants to buy something, be it a small thing or a gaming PC (she's into that), then cool.  I don't need to know unless she needs me to wait in for the delivery.

Likewise if I want to rent a movie, buy a guitar, buy a PS5 whatever... that's up to me.

I had a mate whisper to me when I went around his house 'if she asks, you sold me the Xbox for £50.'

I don't get it.  You work, you pay your taxes, you pay your bills.

As long as you're not spending it on cocaine or blowing it on fruit machines, who cares?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 April, 2021, 06:24:03 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 02 April, 2021, 05:21:06 PM
You guys are paying the £15 or whatever it is to see these things? How does that sit in your households?

I simply can't persuade Mrs. Wedgeski that £15 is a rental fee worth paying, even for the new newness.

I did think about Godzilla vs. Kong but opted for £3.99 to but Train To Busan instead.

The reviews meant I didn't even consider £15 for renting WW84 even though I would probably have splashed out £30 on a cinema trip ( renting WW84 is cheaper already). Justice League I'm not paying money for. That can wait until streaming as I'm only curious about it.

Sure we can afford it, it's just that in general I can't justify a £15 rental to myself on a home screen (48").  But each to their own.

Several years back I took a decision to stop buying games and films as soon as they became available and it saved an absolute fortune. All i had to do was wait six months. Not a chore, especially if it was something already seen at the cinema.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 April, 2021, 07:05:21 PM
Quote from: repoman on 05 April, 2021, 05:19:24 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 02 April, 2021, 05:21:06 PM
You guys are paying the £15 or whatever it is to see these things? How does that sit in your households?

I simply can't persuade Mrs. Wedgeski that £15 is a rental fee worth paying, even for the new newness.

I work 37.5 hours a week and get a wage for it.  I pay a set amount into the joint account every month and that fulfils my main responsibilities towards the mortgage, bills, food etc.  I invest a fair bit for my/our future also.

The rest is no one else's business.  And the same goes for her cash.  If she wants to buy something, be it a small thing or a gaming PC (she's into that), then cool.  I don't need to know unless she needs me to wait in for the delivery.

Likewise if I want to rent a movie, buy a guitar, buy a PS5 whatever... that's up to me.

I had a mate whisper to me when I went around his house 'if she asks, you sold me the Xbox for £50.'

I don't get it.  You work, you pay your taxes, you pay your bills.

As long as you're not spending it on cocaine or blowing it on fruit machines, who cares?

I asked the same question on why men spend so much on their comic collection, then I was like "oh wait." I nearly got bankrupt once.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 06 April, 2021, 09:27:41 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 April, 2021, 09:07:12 PM
DEEP RISING

Great film. It's rubbish but a complete laugh and has both Wes Studi AND Trevor Goddard in it. Treat Williams is a duff lead imo but it doesn't ruin things
Now watch Deep Star Six and Leviathan for a trilogy of second rate underwater horror action!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 April, 2021, 10:23:42 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 06 April, 2021, 09:27:41 AM

Now watch Deep Star Six and Leviathan for a trilogy of second rate underwater horror action!

Don't know why, but I go with Deep Star Six. Less pretentious than Leviathan. But seems that 1989 was the year of underwater films, just as 1981 was the year of werewolf films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 April, 2021, 10:32:00 AM
Westworld

I call this Terminator film before Terminator. Actors are decent. Yul Brinner channels his character from TMS into Gunslinger. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin standardly good. Off topic, it amazes me how James Brolin looked as Christian Bale back then. The similarities are astonishing! Back to the movie, it drags a bit in the first half; obviously, the best part is when Yul is chasing Richard. And I like the mix of SF and Western, which is not often done in movies. And it doesn't offer explanation why robots in amusement part went berserk, and I liked that ambiguity. I also liked how they stated slow-mo scenes, as if it's taken directly from a Peckinpah movie. Overall, an entertaining picture.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 April, 2021, 11:53:37 AM
Lisztomania

I always had a tremendous respect for Ken Russell. Regardless that I think his Lisztomania pure trash, I find his audacity as filmmaker the rare, if not only auteur who made his movies exactly how he wanted. And when. I don't say that other filmmakers weren't like that, but his movies were in class of its own. Wherever he made his movies (UK or US), his movies always were Ken Russell movies.
Lisztomania is...the 2nd weirdest wtf movie I ever seen, after Zardoz. Ostensibly a Franz Liszt biopic, the movie is actually a ludicrous, often tasteless tale on "Lisztomania", the mania that surrounded composer, much like what Beatles meant for the masses. And much more. Abundance of naked women, giant phalus, bawdy humor, Nazi Frankenstein monster, accompanied by Wagner soundtrack, references to Hitler and Superman and other outlandish Nazi iconography - all make this, to some masterpiece, to some pure sleazy trash - a quite unique, nothing like you ever seen movie. Objectively, Roger Daltry (as Franz Liszt) performing is the weakest part of the film. His acting is bland (as if he watched Monthy Python sketches before the shoot), but then again, this is the kind of movie that easily sweeps away such "trite" issues.

Think I am gonna take a break from watching movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 08 April, 2021, 11:59:03 AM
Days of the bagnold summer [AGAIN !!]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 April, 2021, 01:23:05 PM
Quote from: milstar on 07 April, 2021, 10:32:00 AM
Westworld

I call this Terminator film before Terminator. Actors are decent. Yul Brinner channels his character from TMS into Gunslinger. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin standardly good. Off topic, it amazes me how James Brolin looked as Christian Bale back then. The similarities are astonishing! Back to the movie, it drags a bit in the first half; obviously, the best part is when Yul is chasing Richard. And I like the mix of SF and Western, which is not often done in movies. And it doesn't offer explanation why robots in amusement part went berserk, and I liked that ambiguity. I also liked how they stated slow-mo scenes, as if it's taken directly from a Peckinpah movie. Overall, an entertaining picture.

Saw that at the cinema as a double-feature with sequel Futureworld back in the late 70s and it blew me away. It's one of those that I'm hesitant to rewatch in case it ruins my memories, because the implacable, silent Brynner was such a great sinister villain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 April, 2021, 11:17:42 PM
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Because the films are so long (I watched the extended editions) I had to watch each film in two sittings, so this took a while to get through.

The more I watch this series, the more cracks and flaws I can see.  It's also saddening to know that one of it's legacies is screwing over the workers of the New Zealand film industry (although this is probably more closely linked to The Hobbit).  The shine has gone.  Nevertheless, the film still reminds me of when I saw them in the cinema and that was definitely an experience.

There is still a lot that works for me with these films, regardless.  I really adore the build in Fellowship.  Sean Austin has a surprisingly amount of really good moments - more than any other actor, perhaps.  The climax on Mount Doom (what a dumb name, it's so out of place) is really satisfying.  It still looks great and the creative effort is astonishing.  The part where everyone bows to the Hobbits brings a few tears to my eyes every time without fail.  I like how Viggo Mortensen takes his role so seriously it does get a little comical at times. 

One thing that really sells the whole experience is the fantastic score.  Since the last time I watch these films I got myself a copy and have listened to it a number of times.  Whilst I did so I realised just how much it added to the film... and it's a considerable amount.  I recommend the soundtrack because it holds up by itself as much (if not more) as any of the films do.

There's the casual racism which has never sat well with me right from my first watch through.  There's the aristocratic mindset of the story that just doesn't get counterbalanced enough by other elements.  Some stuff is obviously inherited from the writings of Tolkien but some isn't.  The coding of the "Evil Men" as middle-eastern is unnecessary and having Faramir lampshade it doesn't make it any better.  I could go on.

Anyway, problems aside, I enjoyed it.  They're probably the best fantasy genre films we have to date.  I also can't deny that I get a little nostalgia from watching them.  So yeah, thumbs up I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 03:15:27 AM
Nerdwriter has a great piece about the music in LOTR: Lord Of The Rings: How Music Elevates Story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7BkmF8CJpQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 05:22:57 AM
Concrete Cowboy is a compelling coming of age story that uses as a backdrop the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club of north Philadelphia* (that you may have seen featured in Rudimental's Feel the Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oABEGc8Dus0) music video a few years back).


*The city, not the popular cheese spread.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:38:40 PM
Thunder Force

++BEFORE WATCHING++

Two overweight women in superhero costumes suggests that this will be one of those scream-a-lot US comedies that's probably not very funny. Like an 80s sitcom, there'll be a moral message strapped in somewhere, accompanied by some hugging. There will be a scene, played for laughs, focused on how difficult it is to get into the tight costumes. Because Melissa McCarthy's in it, there'll also be some gross-out humour.

++AFTER WATCHING++

They didn't do a scene about the difficulty of getting into the costumes - instead it was about how difficult it was for two people that size to get into a Lamborghini.

A comedy of no laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 09 April, 2021, 09:14:42 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:38:40 PM
Thunder Force

Because Melissa McCarthy's in it, A comedy of no laughs.
Just a bit of editing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 April, 2021, 10:40:18 AM
The Shining

I haven't seen this film in a very long time.  It's one of those films that was overhyped for me and it didn't live up to the expectations created.  Obviously I recognised it was very well made.  Watching it again I have more of an appreciation for it.  It is a pretty good horror film with very well done tension and a balanced sinister tone.  I like what it did.  I also don't think it's as nuanced and ambiguous as many commentators suggest.  It seemed pretty straight forward to me as to what was going on.  I enjoyed it.

I watched The Shining in preparation for watching

Doctor Sleep - The Directors Cut

Ugh.  It could be said this 3 hour movie is 3 hours too long.  I didn't like it.  It is too long.  By at least an hour.  It drags its feet and has very unnecessary scenes that add absolutely nothing.  It codes the child murdering villains as Roma and Travellers which is problematic to say the least.  There is a heartbeat playing throughout the film that is so ever present I was tempted to turn the film off because it was so annoying.  It's a motif lifted from The Shining and done badly and that's the films mantra for the final act.  It spends the entire final act just lifting straight from it's predecessor and it's not good.

There are some good elements to the film, but they are so outweighed by the bad.  Maybe the theatrical cut is more tolerable, but I can't see how it can be better without being a completely different film.  I relies to heavily on a legacy and is never it's own thing.  A really disappointing waste of time.

I'm hoping I can watch that Ape vs. Atomic Dinosaur thing tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 11 April, 2021, 12:10:06 PM
LX2048

Interesting sci-fi film where everyone lives in VR because the sun has become too dangerous for you to be outside.  Good performance from the fake Sam Rockwell/Dennis Quaid looking lead actor.

Not one to watch twice but it's a good one time watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 11 April, 2021, 05:25:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 April, 2021, 10:40:18 AM
The Shining

I haven't seen this film in a very long time.  It's one of those films that was overhyped for me and it didn't live up to the expectations created.  Obviously I recognised it was very well made.  Watching it again I have more of an appreciation for it.  It is a pretty good horror film with very well done tension and a balanced sinister tone.  I like what it did.  I also don't think it's as nuanced and ambiguous as many commentators suggest.  It seemed pretty straight forward to me as to what was going on.  I enjoyed it.

I watched The Shining in preparation for watching

Are you talking about Kubrick's or Mick Garris' film?

Regardless the answer, seems that Kubrick's The Shining was a fertile ground for conspiracy theories.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 April, 2021, 05:58:44 PM
Kubrick.

The Mick Garris directed adaptation was a mini-series.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 11 April, 2021, 06:23:06 PM

Regardless the answer, seems that Kubrick's The Shining was a fertile ground for conspiracy theories.
[/quote]

Speaking of which, I would recommend the documentary, Room 237. Mad as a box of frogs in parts but worth a look.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 11 April, 2021, 06:40:25 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 April, 2021, 05:58:44 PM
Kubrick.

The Mick Garris directed adaptation was a mini-series.

Ah yes. My mistake.

Quote from: paddykafka on 11 April, 2021, 06:23:06 PM

Regardless the answer, seems that Kubrick's The Shining was a fertile ground for conspiracy theories.

Speaking of which, I would recommend the documentary, Room 237. Mad as a box of frogs in parts but worth a look.
[/quote]

Yes, I've watched that. Quite odd stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 April, 2021, 11:04:38 PM
PALM SPRINGS

A Groundhog Day update, with him from Brooklyn 99 and her from Bridesmaids as sassy alcohol fuelled reprobates stuck in a beautiful hellhole. And him who plays JJ Jameson in the Spiderman films [spoiler]as their grumpy sometimes killer[/spoiler].

Is it a rom-com? I suppose, maybe, but it's also as nihilistic as a teenage goth.

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 April, 2021, 11:17:32 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 April, 2021, 11:04:38 PM
PALM SPRINGS

A Groundhog Day update, with him from Brooklyn 99 and her from Bridesmaids as sassy alcohol fuelled reprobates stuck in a beautiful hellhole. And him who plays JJ Jameson in the Spiderman films [spoiler]as their grumpy sometimes killer[/spoiler].

Is it a rom-com? I suppose, maybe, but it's also as nihilistic as a teenage goth.

I enjoyed it.

Groundhog Day is one of my top ten favourites and I like derivatives like Happy Death Day and Premature.  I might just check this out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 11 April, 2021, 11:29:21 PM
I thought Palm Springs was OK - not a lot added to the Groundhog Day vibe and I could have done with more of the JK Simmons character.

Saw Thunder Force tonight -Shit Force more like. Jason Bateman is the only redeeming feature but even he struggles with a weak script and a dearth of laughs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 12 April, 2021, 01:09:12 AM
Good choice of where to place the "shit". Thunder Shit would have made it sound better than it was.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 12 April, 2021, 08:00:25 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 11 April, 2021, 11:29:21 PM
I thought Palm Springs was OK - not a lot added to the Groundhog Day vibe and I could have done with more of the JK Simmons character.

Saw Thunder Force tonight -Shit Force more like. Jason Bateman is the only redeeming feature but even he struggles with a weak script and a dearth of laughs.

These were the two films I watched at the weekend as well.

I wasn't optimistic about Palm Springs (which is on Amazon Prime btw), but its a good film. Like Groundhog Day, its a dark comedy. Andy Samberg is always a likeable lead and was a good choice for this. I was kind of mystified by JK Simmons' character arc, though. Some well chosen John Cale tracks on the soundtrack improved my opinion of the film as well. There's always room for John Cale.

Thunder Force is very stupid but gentle comedy. The jokes fall flat more often than land. The bad guys don't work and the script relies heavily on a single gross out gag. It's pretty much the epitome of a made for Netflix comedy and could have Adam Sandler in the lead with the lightest of rewrites. Still, I didn't hate it. It's a distraction of a film to have on in the background.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 12 April, 2021, 09:06:54 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 April, 2021, 11:04:38 PM
PALM SPRINGS

A Groundhog Day update, with him from Brooklyn 99 and her from Bridesmaids as sassy alcohol fuelled reprobates stuck in a beautiful hellhole. And him who plays JJ Jameson in the Spiderman films [spoiler]as their grumpy sometimes killer[/spoiler].

Is it a rom-com? I suppose, maybe, but it's also as nihilistic as a teenage goth.

I enjoyed it.
Fun movie--very good performance from the two leads I thought. Not sure where you're getting your Bridesmaids connection from?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 April, 2021, 09:13:01 AM
The Lego Movie 2 - The second part  Everything is still awesome.

Zombieland 2 - Double Tap I wasn't even aware that this sequel existed until it came up in conversation at work. Enjoyed it even more than the first one. I can watch Woody Harrelson in anything, and Eisenberg and Stone are very good too. The whole gag about meeting Owen Wilson & his sidekick was lifted from Shaun of the Dead (which apparently inspired the writing of the first movie), but I can forgive that. Recommended

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 April, 2021, 09:08:21 PM
 CELL
Another "zombie" flick based on a Stephen King novel. So I was expecting visions of a demonic bad guy in the plot. I wasn't expecting what starts out as a refreshing take on zombies combined with commentary on our obsession with phones to turn so quickly into a turgid mess with in engaging leads (Cusack looks thoroughly bored throughout and even Samuel L phones it in) and a non twist of a finale.

"CELL"? More like "SMELLs of shite".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 13 April, 2021, 09:15:46 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 April, 2021, 09:08:21 PM
Cusack looks thoroughly bored throughout

That's kind of all he does. Sometimes he varies it by being a bit sarcastic, in a very stilted way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 13 April, 2021, 02:00:25 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 13 April, 2021, 09:15:46 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 April, 2021, 09:08:21 PM
Cusack looks thoroughly bored throughout

That's kind of all he does. Sometimes he varies it by being a bit sarcastic, in a very stilted way.
Fair play to him though, he's made a decent career out of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 April, 2021, 02:02:34 PM
Godzilla vs. Kong

It was OK.  Not enough Godzilla vs. Kong, too much "story".  It didn't really manage to push my buttons.  I liked all the Neon.  The film is unnecessarily drenched in it.  I liked the deaf girl character.  The fights were decent.  I didn't think the "jokes" were funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 13 April, 2021, 06:19:25 PM
Not sure if I've posted this already:

Promising Young Woman is definitely worth a watch :

https://youtu.be/7i5kiFDunk8

As is Rocks :

https://youtu.be/NULP0s2FhPE
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 April, 2021, 10:28:20 AM
I downloaded a fan edit of Prometheus/Covenant.  It combines both films and trims it all down to 2.5 hours.  I can't quite bring myself to sit down and watch it yet but I feel like Prometheus is salvageable.  The final cut was okay but full of daftness.  There were perfectly good scenes deleted.

Not sure Covenant can be saved though.  It's absolute trash.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:04:12 PM
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. Watched this for the first time since the first time, when I was too sophis...sofistic... old to do any more than cringe.  And... I actually enjoyed it.

It does a hell of a lot with what was obviously a budget consisting of a fiver and a family bag of crisps, and while its retelling of The Hobbit with furry onesies is distinctly dumbed-down, it's also quite surprisingly pretty, and dare I say it, engaging. The hunting-beast stop motion (and prop) is quite scary, the Gorax is a neat bit of bluescreen, and there are some stunning matt paintings. The Towani kids aren't nearly as irritating as I remembered (their parents are morons,though), and the only real letdowns are the profusion of terrestrial animals (stick a horn or some googly eyes on those ponies fercrissakes) and the painful lack of movement in many of the Ewok masks: even this is made up for by some solid physical acting. 

It was particularly cool to see Logray strut his stuff,  although I do wonder why the Ewoks were so wowed by specifically the levitating of their Golden God Threepio (this is a Prequel to RotJ) when this is a power their own mystics have.

Anyhow, it's been added to my personal canon with no regrets. Can you believe that there's never been any official SW figures of any of the new characters? I'd pay good money for Chucka-Trok on his pony.

Should I risk Battle for Endor, a film I do not think I've ever seen?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 April, 2021, 11:07:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:04:12 PM.
Should I risk Battle for Endor, a film I do not think I've ever seen?

CALL YOURSELF A FUCKIN' STAR WARS FAN...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:09:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 April, 2021, 11:07:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:04:12 PM.
Should I risk Battle for Endor, a film I do not think I've ever seen?

CALL YOURSELF A FUCKIN' STAR WARS FAN...?

Surely I burnt that bridge when I openly enjoyed Last Jedi.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 15 April, 2021, 12:26:41 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:09:39 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 April, 2021, 11:07:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:04:12 PM.
Should I risk Battle for Endor, a film I do not think I've ever seen?

CALL YOURSELF A FUCKIN' STAR WARS FAN...?

Surely I burnt that bridge when I openly enjoyed Last Jedi.
This is approaching Christmas Special territory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 April, 2021, 12:47:07 AM

Speaking of Star Wars, I finally tracked down a hookey copy of the Star Wars Something or Other Holiday Special. I watched some of it but fell asleep about half way through. I don't know how it ends and probably never will as I really don't care. I was advised, by luminaries here present, to avoid it. I didn't listen. The most interesting part was the adverts (the copy was an old vhs recording of the original US tv transmission, complete with authentic fizzy fuzz and magnetic artefacts) but even these are no temptation to dive back in. So now it sits on my hard drive like a brooding jar of Marmite, all malignant and sticky and crying out to be deleted. If I had children (and thank the deity or scientific forces of your choice that I don't) then this would be my version of the Naughty Step - which must be in contravention of some, if not all, international treaties on human rights. I'd rather be vaccinated up the arse than watch it again. I'd like to adhere to our tradition of renaming this spatter of cold sick something like the Shite Wars Shitty Special - but even that would elevate this... thing to heights so far above its station as to make literally any other television programme ever made, or cancelled, or not made at all, worthy of every award imaginable. There is only one word to describe it, and that word is 'why?'

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 15 April, 2021, 08:01:47 AM
Is that the one with the Boba Fett animation?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 April, 2021, 08:33:43 AM
I used to own Battle for Endor on VHS.  I enjoyed it as a kid, quite a lot.  I also asked for a copy of Howard the Duck as a kid because I enjoyed that, too.  Take that how you will.

I have never seen Caravan of Courage, but I now have it, Battle for Endor and Howard the Duck, but I'm too afraid to watch them. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 April, 2021, 09:50:03 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 15 April, 2021, 08:01:47 AM
Is that the one with the Boba Fett animation?

Yes - but it's nowhere near as good as it sounds.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 April, 2021, 10:23:02 PM
I just watched Nobody.  Essentially it is John Wick but good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 18 April, 2021, 04:32:55 AM
I also agree Nobody was great
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 April, 2021, 02:48:57 PM
Palm Springs. I'd say your enjoyment is largely dependent on tolerance for Andy Samberg and pals (I'm middling). As a knowing thematic sequel to Groundhog Day this certainly hits the ground running, dispensing with all the usual preamble and getting straight to the main issues. I'm an enormous fan of GHD in its various incarnations (obligatory repeat endorsement of the Minchin Musical, which is superb), so another lesser SNL spin-off team deliberately tackling the same territory was a dodgy proposition for me, but this is surprisingly successful.

The main reasons are Cristin Milioti, who is both extraordinarily believable and likeable as the key novelty, and the significantly increased kookiness of the time-loop mechanics (something something quantum something). JK Simmons is somewhat wasted, but again his very odd character's role greatly adds to the premise (mid-credits scene essential here). It never reaches anything like the cathartic  heights of the original, Samberg is no Murray, and with its larger core cast does proportionately less with the supporting players, but it's still well worth a watch (Samberg-threshold caveat in mind).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 12:08:40 AM
The Lost Boys

I haven't seen this movie before. Nor I seen a movie like this and I quite liked it. A sort of coming of age story with vampiric twist. Because vampires "party" all night, which feels so appropiate for teenage years. Lots of stunning aerial shots in the movie. Cool soundtrack. The plot has upwards and downfalls, and is utterly predictable. It starts interesting, up until Jason Patric becomes the vampire, then loses its momentum, then becomes nail-biting thriller in the last act. I must say, Schumacher's direction is quite competent. As for the cast, Patric is so-so, so are humor bita (which mostly come from the two Cory's), Kiefer Sutherland channels a bit of Stand by Me, while Corey Haim, Corey Feldman (who plays basically the same character from Stand by Ne and Goonies) and the third guy steal the movie. Oh, and there is offbeat Patric's and Haim's granda. All in all, The Lost Boys is the movie that if doesn't exist, it craves to be invented.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 19 April, 2021, 04:25:09 AM
Finally got back to the cinema on the weekend for Godzilla vs Kong, boy am I glad I watched this in the cinema.  I think it's a perfect big screen blockbuster in my opinion, I forgot how loud our cinema was my ears were nearly bleeding!!! I live all the new Godzilla movies and I also really enjoyed Skull Island too so it was probably a given that I'd like this.  Also not sure if it was just because I haven't been to the cinema for a year but the FX work on was amazing it was really like they just filmed a huge monkey and lizard fighting!!
CGI has either really gone up another level in the last year or they spent extra time while the movie was delayed polishing it.  I loved it oh and I'm on team Kong😊

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 19 April, 2021, 08:52:20 AM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 12:08:40 AM
The Lost Boys

I haven't seen this movie before. Nor I seen a movie like this and I quite liked it. A sort of coming of age story with vampiric twist. Because vampires "party" all night, which feels so appropiate for teenage years. Lots of stunning aerial shots in the movie. Cool soundtrack. The plot has upwards and downfalls, and is utterly predictable. It starts interesting, up until Jason Patric becomes the vampire, then loses its momentum, then becomes nail-biting thriller in the last act. I must say, Schumacher's direction is quite competent. As for the cast, Patric is so-so, so are humor bita (which mostly come from the two Cory's), Kiefer Sutherland channels a bit of Stand by Me, while Corey Haim, Corey Feldman (who plays basically the same character from Stand by Ne and Goonies) and the third guy steal the movie. Oh, and there is offbeat Patric's and Haim's granda. All in all, The Lost Boys is the movie that if doesn't exist, it craves to be invented.

How can any discussion of The Lost Boys fail to mention the oiled-up, body builder saxophonist? It's the most important scene of the film and the era.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 19 April, 2021, 09:32:25 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 19 April, 2021, 08:52:20 AM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 12:08:40 AM
The Lost Boys

I haven't seen this movie before. Nor I seen a movie like this and I quite liked it. A sort of coming of age story with vampiric twist. Because vampires "party" all night, which feels so appropiate for teenage years. Lots of stunning aerial shots in the movie. Cool soundtrack. The plot has upwards and downfalls, and is utterly predictable. It starts interesting, up until Jason Patric becomes the vampire, then loses its momentum, then becomes nail-biting thriller in the last act. I must say, Schumacher's direction is quite competent. As for the cast, Patric is so-so, so are humor bita (which mostly come from the two Cory's), Kiefer Sutherland channels a bit of Stand by Me, while Corey Haim, Corey Feldman (who plays basically the same character from Stand by Ne and Goonies) and the third guy steal the movie. Oh, and there is offbeat Patric's and Haim's granda. All in all, The Lost Boys is the movie that if doesn't exist, it craves to be invented.

How can any discussion of The Lost Boys fail to mention the oiled-up, body builder saxophonist? It's the most important scene of the film and the era.

I put myself through one of the sequels (can't remember which one) and the saxophonist has a cameo on a street corner - funniest moment of the film as he's let himself go 😂😂😂
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 09:34:34 AM
Five Nights At Freddies

Sorry, Willy's Wonderland

The plot is something a 12 year old would make up. Not so much plot holes as a plot black-hole.

But... modern Nicholas Cage does what modern Nicholas Cage does. He utters not a word throughout the film, instead giving a nuanced performance where he reveals his character's inner pain by consuming illegal-looking energy drinks and punching demonic animatronics. To death. (And then he rips out those mo-fo's electric spines).

I loved it enough that my immediate response was to Google for a t-shirt. YMMV. It is, however, memorable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 19 April, 2021, 09:44:23 AM
Talking of Nicholas Cage keep away from Jiu Jitsu

I usually don't mind his films heck I enjoyed Ghost Rider but this is rock bottom😳
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 19 April, 2021, 10:37:35 AM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 19 April, 2021, 09:44:23 AM
Talking of Nicholas Cage keep away from Jiu Jitsu

I usually don't mind his films heck I enjoyed Ghost Rider but this is rock bottom😳

The trailer looked appalling. I'm usually all for a Nicholas Cage film (Mandy is in my top films of recent years), but I drew the line at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 01:04:35 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 19 April, 2021, 08:52:20 AM
How can any discussion of The Lost Boys fail to mention the oiled-up, body builder saxophonist? It's the most important scene of the film and the era.

Well, I thought it was weird at first, but then I realized that Santa Carla is weird place. Plus, it's Joel Schumacher's film.

Quote from: Trooper McFad on 19 April, 2021, 09:32:25 AM
I put myself through one of the sequels (can't remember which one) and the saxophonist has a cameo on a street corner - funniest moment of the film as he's let himself go 😂😂😂

The lost Boys has sequels? Are they any good? And why movies that I thought are stand-alone and worj the best as such have forgettable sequels with them (8mm, Turbulence, Starship Troopers, Hard Target to name a few... Oh and The Howling)?

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 09:34:34 AM
Five Nights At Freddies

Sorry, Willy's Wonderland

The plot is something a 12 year old would make up. Not so much plot holes as a plot black-hole.

But... modern Nicholas Cage does what modern Nicholas Cage does. He utters not a word throughout the film, instead giving a nuanced performance where he reveals his character's inner pain by consuming illegal-looking energy drinks and punching demonic animatronics. To death. (And then he rips out those mo-fo's electric spines).

I loved it enough that my immediate response was to Google for a t-shirt. YMMV. It is, however, memorable.

Is it worse than The Wicker Man?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 19 April, 2021, 01:53:49 PM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 01:04:35 PM
The lost Boys has sequels? Are they any good?

A million times no. Avoid at all costs!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 02:02:27 PM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 01:04:35 PM

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 09:34:34 AM
Five Nights At Freddies

Sorry, Willy's Wonderland

The plot is something a 12 year old would make up. Not so much plot holes as a plot black-hole.

But... modern Nicholas Cage does what modern Nicholas Cage does. He utters not a word throughout the film, instead giving a nuanced performance where he reveals his character's inner pain by consuming illegal-looking energy drinks and punching demonic animatronics. To death. (And then he rips out those mo-fo's electric spines).

I loved it enough that my immediate response was to Google for a t-shirt. YMMV. It is, however, memorable.

Is it worse than The Wicker Man?

You seem to have confused my review with criticism. I recommend Willy's Wonderland.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 April, 2021, 03:32:29 PM
Saw that one covered on Scaredy Cats.  Looked like a lot of fun.  It's on my list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 05:37:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 02:02:27 PM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 01:04:35 PM

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2021, 09:34:34 AM
Five Nights At Freddies

Sorry, Willy's Wonderland

The plot is something a 12 year old would make up. Not so much plot holes as a plot black-hole.

But... modern Nicholas Cage does what modern Nicholas Cage does. He utters not a word throughout the film, instead giving a nuanced performance where he reveals his character's inner pain by consuming illegal-looking energy drinks and punching demonic animatronics. To death. (And then he rips out those mo-fo's electric spines).

I loved it enough that my immediate response was to Google for a t-shirt. YMMV. It is, however, memorable.

Is it worse than The Wicker Man?

You seem to have confused my review with criticism. I recommend Willy's Wonderland.

Oh. Seems I confused it with Jiu Jitsu.

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 19 April, 2021, 01:53:49 PM
Quote from: milstar on 19 April, 2021, 01:04:35 PM
The lost Boys has sequels? Are they any good?

A million times no. Avoid at all costs!

Once i made a mistake by not listening and playing RE6. Never again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
War Games

I think I saw this decade plus few years ago and didn't remember well. So, re-watching the movie was like watching it for the first time. Probably, one of more interesting movies that came out of the 1980s. I don't know why it reminiscenced me on the the episodes from Judge Dredd and Moon Olympics. Anyway, seems that Matthew Broderick played essentially the same guy in Ferris Bueller (I like to think that his character in War Games is younger Ferris) or Ladyhawke. Ally Sheedy's part is younger version of her in Short Circuit (also directed by John Badham). Oh, and Michael Madsen makes brief appearance (one of his earliest roles), so no surprise with this two. At the end, I was entertained. War gaming never felt more serious than here. Even though I find the plot heavy handed (in part thanks for me being total ignoramus when it comes to high tech), I liked all the techno military stuff, observed from the point of view of a teenager.

Oh, and what a surprise, War Games has a sequel, which naturally, I wasn't aware of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 20 April, 2021, 09:41:38 AM
Quote from: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
War Games
In that strange way that the mind retains tiny details from years ago, I don't think I've seen this film since it was first in the cinema but I can still remember the crucial password.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 April, 2021, 10:39:51 AM
Mr and Mrs Smith

This film has little value beyond the action.  Nevertheless, I enjoy the action and I like watching this film when I want something that doesn't require too much attention.  The plot is paper thin, the characters are bland, the framing is muddled.  The pacing is good and as I said, so is the action. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 20 April, 2021, 11:32:07 AM
It's entirely reliant on the action and the charisma of the leads. But, on the other hand, the action is well done as you say, and the leads are Jolie and Pitt. So it kind of works.

Doug Liman has made a career out of making films that are better than they look on paper (Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow being the prime examples).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 12:50:02 PM
If there's one thing I remember from Mr. & Mrs Smith, is Angelina in tight, sexy dress, snapping someone's neck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 April, 2021, 02:48:19 PM
Quote from: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
Oh, and what a surprise, War Games has a sequel, which naturally, I wasn't aware of it.

Its does... so its does. Who knew. From a very quick read though might not be worth knowing that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 April, 2021, 06:47:00 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 20 April, 2021, 09:41:38 AM
Quote from: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
War Games
In that strange way that the mind retains tiny details from years ago, I don't think I've seen this film since it was first in the cinema but I can still remember the crucial password.

I have fond memories of that movie, but mostly I just remember the invitation to play (https://youtu.be/rlE75w2JRxQ). I'm pretty sure that swiveling around on a chair between different keyboards and monitors is only really a joyous thing to do because of that movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 April, 2021, 08:10:51 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 20 April, 2021, 09:41:38 AM
Quote from: milstar on 20 April, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
War Games
In that strange way that the mind retains tiny details from years ago, I don't think I've seen this film since it was first in the cinema but I can still remember the crucial password.

I can remember the phrase "I'd piss on a spark plug if it would help"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 April, 2021, 08:33:30 PM

Promising Young Woman. I went into this cold, as I do with most of the films I watch, and if I'd read what it was about first I probably wouldn't have watched it because I can't imagine any description would make it sound appealing to me. So I won't tell you what it's about.

What I will tell you is that I found it disturbing, funny, and moving. The subject of the film is a horrible one, made all the more horrible by its everyday, almost mundane nature.

Not an easy watch but highly recommended - I'm probably the worst film reviewer in the cosmos so take this with an enormous tub of salt, but it feels like an important film to me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 April, 2021, 09:30:34 PM
I'll add my name to the list of PALM SPRINGS (mostly) advocates.

I like Samberg and took ages to remember where I'd seen Miliotti before.

I particularly liked some of the reveals along the way, my kin making a guest appearance, the "seems to know more than she lets on" Grandma and the way that having two people in the loop makes it easier for the writers to construct a metaphor about relationships/marriage.

And yeah, some good songs on the soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 22 April, 2021, 01:39:47 PM
Just finished Falling Down, now on Netflix.

I saw this film at the cinema and remember feeling a lot of sympathy for Micheal Douglas's character and the way he kicks off, in the way we all sometimes want to, at a world full of people and systems that sometimes seem designed to crush the human spirit. I also remember enjoying the way the film unfolds him from anti-hero to villain. Watching it back it's clear he's the bad guy from the start: in his very first interaction with the shopkeeper he's appalling in his violent overreaction, despite the shopkeepers rudeness. It's also easy to see now that this is a film that embraces white middle class male angst: made to feel worthless by a system that doesn't value him, he's raging in a way that now seems really uncomfortable, given he embodies a lot of what ended up being the MAGA movement. It seems America is full of people like him now, and they're terrible people.

That aside I think the film has some great set pieces but feels disjointed - it's not funny enough to be a comedy, but not dark or tense enough to be a decent thriller. I think along the same theme I may watch Fight Club next.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 April, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
I've always hated Falling Down, skilful hot-day-in-the-city visuals aside, precisely because Douglas' character is utterly hideous. Even before he really kicks off, the way he talks to the cashier in McDonalds, I just want someone to punch him. Now you might justifiably argue that I'm supposed to find him completely unsympathetic, but that is most definitely not the way the film was promoted, widely received or indeed entered the vocabulary of popular culture. A great deal of modern consumer behaviour and indignation-for-hire punditry seems to owe Schumaker a writer's credit.

And yes I did work a fast-food counter in 1993, why do you ask?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 22 April, 2021, 09:51:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 April, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
And yes I did work a fast-food counter in 1993, why do you ask?
You glamour boys in front of house irritated the shit out of us Morlocks doing the skut-work in the back.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 April, 2021, 10:14:52 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 22 April, 2021, 09:51:31 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 April, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
And yes I did work a fast-food counter in 1993, why do you ask?
You glamour boys in front of house irritated the shit out of us Morlocks doing the skut-work in the back.

Just because a person starts out in the septic tank doesn't mean be has to stay there. I don't care who I trampled on as long as I got away from that fecking aerosolized chip oil.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 April, 2021, 10:37:30 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 April, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
Now you might justifiably argue that I'm supposed to find him completely unsympathetic, but that is most definitely not the way the film was promoted, widely received or indeed entered the vocabulary of popular culture.

I'm glad I've never been exposed to any of that.  I first watched the film on recommendation without knowing a single thing about it.  I found the character unsympathetic and really thought that was the point, especially as it kept escalating, showing how self-aware he wasn't and just what a piece of shit he is.  That was just me taking it at face value.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 22 April, 2021, 10:40:12 PM
The character really is a horrible bellend of colossal proportions. It's insane to think how differently the film was presented and received 30 years ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 23 April, 2021, 08:38:22 AM
It's a while since I watched it, but I got the impression at the time that Joel Schumacher's satirical intention was completely overlooked by most.

It's the Paul Verhoeven/Dredd/Punisher problem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 23 April, 2021, 09:38:32 AM
Finally got around to watching Justice League: The Snyder Cut.
Succinct review: just as crap, but twice as long.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 April, 2021, 10:21:23 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 23 April, 2021, 08:38:22 AM
It's the Paul Verhoeven/Dredd/Punisher problem.

Funny you should say that, I used to have a similar problem with Starship Troopers (I'm over it now). At the time, smart pals assured me how bitingly satirical and Riefenstahl-literate it all was, but the vast majority of people I knew seemed to think it was an uplifting militarist romp with tits and Doogie Howser, a conclusion not readily challenged by a reading of the novel.

Sometimes the shiny surface is too shiny, and becomes a mirror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 April, 2021, 10:55:44 AM
The more times I watch Starship Troopers the less of the satirical I can see.  The first time I watched it I thought it was biting, but every time since I have question that more and more.

I get the point of comparing those properties with Falling Down, but I don't think Falling Down is satire specifically.  I think it's a grim film about a horrible man.  Nevertheless, I see the parallels. 

I don't know much about The Punisher.  I've only watched the three films and they certainly aren't satire or misunderstood.  Still enjoyable as trashy movies, though.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 23 April, 2021, 11:24:13 AM
The trick with Paul Verhoeven is that his satire is on-point but it's not the overall thrust of the film. Unlike something like, say, Spinal Tap, you can enjoy Starship Troopers or Robocop without realising it's satirical at all: my Mum must have seen Starship Troopers dozens of times through osmosis (she raised three boys) and never realised it was a film essentially about Nazis because it's not really that important to the plot. Verhoeven is having a little sideswipe at Hollywood, at Heinlein and at people who did think it was just a film about soliders fighting giant insects and all a bit mindless fun. Even at the end the characters have neither learned nor accomplished nothing of any real note, everyone decent is dead and the remainder and are just fed back into the meatgrinder.
It's subversive, I think it makes what would have been a very average film excellent.

It's harder to tell with Falling Down what the intent was because the presentation of the main character is such a jumble. His violent, entitled actions are appalling but we're supposed to sympathise at some level with his overreaction to daily frustrations and his actions veer from from sinister to ridiculous - not long after murdering a shopkeeper (he was a nazi, so that's ok, apparently) and calling his wife to threaten her, he has an extended 'funny' interaction with a child showing him how to use a rocket launcher. Tonally it's all over the place and it's difficult to see what the directors intent was, in my opinion.
I definitely remember it being presented on release as a film where we were supposed to have a degree of empathy with Foster as a man who has overstepped the line, but whose grievances are genuine. Perhaps that was simply the way it was marketed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 April, 2021, 02:47:25 PM
Paradise Alley

One of the earliest (and lesser-known) Stallone's films. Also co-stars Armand Assante, Frank McRae, and Stallone's regular Joe Spinell. This sprawling drama that deals with the lives of three Italo-American brothers in poverty-ridden Hell's Kitchen in NY are a film that perhaps is only watching for young Sly. Otherwise, I regret it for it dawdled my time I rather could spend on Breakfast Club. Essentially, Stallone retells the same story of Rocky, but in a more self-indulgent, if not phony manner. Stallone's (who wrote the film, directed it - his directing debut and sung the ending song) story seems disjointed, and in never a focusing way on deciding what really is - comedy, drama, sports drama; dialogues are over the top cheesy, acting goes from mediocre to bad, Sly overacts and his flamboyant manners more incite unintentional laughs from me, especially when he uses his Italo-American accent. Characters are poorly developed and aside from the three brothers' attempt to get rich, everything else is disposable. Now, I read that reportedly, the studio forced Sly to cut several scenes to improve the pacing, if that so, that's okay. However, the only thing left there is its darn dialogue, that I gotta appreciate Sly's honest attempts at really awful humor. I mean:
"Do you know how many men could've been sitting on top of the world, but they let a dame tell them what to do and the only thing they ended up sitting on top of was a toilet."
And let's not forget a monkey who was left dangling while being tied up.

And there is anything that this film gets from me, is seeing Stallone in a totally non-action role, albeit before his 1980s, celebrated era. Otherwise, watching the film feels like a chore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 April, 2021, 04:48:36 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 April, 2021, 10:21:23 AM
Funny you should say that, I used to have a similar problem with Starship Troopers (I'm over it now). At the time, smart pals assured me how bitingly satirical and Riefenstahl-literate it all was, but the vast majority of people I knew seemed to think it was an uplifting militarist romp with tits and Doogie Howser, a conclusion not readily challenged by a reading of the novel.
Interesting. At the time I quite enjoyed Starship Troopers but thought the satire was way too broad compared to the intellectual subtlety of Robocop! My pal, conversely, loved it and saw an element of social commentary lacking from the earlier film.

This led to an argument about the relative merits of the various works of Mr Verhoeven wherein it emerged that he'd only ever seen Robocop on ITV with all the little news reports and adverts and the like cut out to fit into the 9pm slot.

Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 23 April, 2021, 04:49:12 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 23 April, 2021, 04:48:36 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 April, 2021, 10:21:23 AM
Funny you should say that, I used to have a similar problem with Starship Troopers (I'm over it now). At the time, smart pals assured me how bitingly satirical and Riefenstahl-literate it all was, but the vast majority of people I knew seemed to think it was an uplifting militarist romp with tits and Doogie Howser, a conclusion not readily challenged by a reading of the novel.
Interesting. At the time I quite enjoyed Starship Troopers but thought the comedy was way too broad compared to the intellectual subtlety of Robocop! My pal, conversely, loved it and saw an element of social commentary lacking from the earlier film.

This led to an argument about the relative merits of the various works of Mr Verhoeven wherein it emerged that he'd only ever seen Robocop on ITV with all the little news reports and adverts and the like cut out to fit into the 9pm slot.

Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 April, 2021, 06:49:04 PM
Who needs a knife in a nuke fight? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaUsvc9wReU)

If for no other reason, the scene that propels the movie into the realms of genius.

---

The Next Three Days - The Shit Three Days, more like. Russel's wife is found guilty of a murder she didn't commit, so (after an off-screen, two year court case) he decides the best thing to do for her and his young son is to spring her from jail, murder some low-life drug dealers to get some ready cash and then go on the lam to south america.

I've spoilered it for you, but it's really beyond spoiling because it makes no sense at all. He's only gone and made their lives as a group much worse.

Best scene: rather than explain why she disagrees with him, she half falls out of a speeding motor vehicle on a busy highway. This brings them closer together - and they psychically communicate their next actions by briefly grazing their pinky fingers together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 April, 2021, 06:27:29 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 23 April, 2021, 04:49:12 PM
... he'd only ever seen Robocop on ITV with all the little news reports and adverts and the like cut out to fit into the 9pm slot.

Unequivocally the best bits! Well, I suppose Ed-209 in the boardroom is still hard to beat.

Should clarify that I fully accept that the intent behind Starship Troopers is satirical,  and it works great on that level and I very much enjoy it as a fun watch, I just think that in so enthusiastically piling on all that gorgeous smiley flesh, uglying up the Other with a high-water mark in CGI and infusing the propaganda with stirring tones, it badly overshot. Cynical me says that that part was also intentional.

(See also Apocalypse Now, a film whose legacy is less modernisation of Conrad's themes and more pickup horns blaring Wagner and overweight men being wistful about the Proustian qualities of napalm).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 24 April, 2021, 03:24:52 PM
Mortal Kombat (2021)

After the first scene I was ready to proclaim it the film of the year and everything I want from an MK film.  However the film goes off the rails quite badly after that thanks to some poor casting, dreadful CGI, dreary storytelling and slow pacing.

I genuinely prefer the 1995 film over it but there were some good moments too.  And Kano was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 April, 2021, 10:35:53 PM
Shazam!

I mean he is called the Big Red Cheese and boy this film really plays with being nothing more than a big melty lump of it. But just about avoids it. Its does nothing new so hard it has no right to be any good. Yet it carries itself with such charm and a deep sense of fun that it utterly gets away with a multitude of sins by some force of good will.

Enjoyed it - I shouldn't have but best superhero movie I've seen in an age.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 April, 2021, 11:18:40 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 24 April, 2021, 10:35:53 PM
Enjoyed it - I shouldn't have but best superhero movie I've seen in an age.

I'm going to say this yet again: if the DCEU's first three movies out of the gate had been Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam, they'd have avoided the fucking mess that they landed themselves in. All three have good hearts and are, to varying degrees, entertaining, great fun, and thematically important. I'd add Birds of Prey as an outlier but still worthwhile.

Gunn's Suicide Squad 2 looks like it'll land in the same ballpark as those and I keep hoping (against hope!) that this will be the direction that DC's movies will take over the angst and pseudo-psychological drama of Joker and the Snyder JL cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 April, 2021, 11:53:45 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 April, 2021, 11:18:40 PM
Gunn's Suicide Squad 2 looks like it'll land in the same ballpark as those and I keep hoping (against hope!) that this will be the direction that DC's movies will take over the angst and pseudo-psychological drama of Joker and the Snyder JL cut.

Amen to that. 

I've got superhero fatigue.  Lost total interest in the MCU.  DC are still a mixed bag.  I'll consider watching Suicide Squad 2 and maybe whatever weird trash Sony dumps out (I liked Venom... I liked Tom Hardy in Venom).  Otherwise I probably be avoiding them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 April, 2021, 12:49:30 AM
Yeah, the MCU worked because they preserved the essential fun and silliness of the whole comics thing, however serious the storyline. Now Batman is a character that is well suited to a darker interpretation, but once they try to build the whole DCU around that you end up with a load of grim not very fun movies. Shazam was an ouitlier, it was a great romp.

I still think Tim Burton got the balance between Adam West and Frank Miller just about right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 April, 2021, 08:55:37 AM
Well, I got sick and tired of superheroes and I have seen about as half of them all. A movie like Joker came as welcome refreshment, but that movie isn't a comic book movie. Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were right about superheroes. When I saw End Game, I thought they flat out wasted supposed 300 milion $ budget, if only because I have seen movies that look better with double less money spent on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 April, 2021, 09:33:48 AM
Aquaman was the best Saint Seiya movie we got that wasn't actually adapting Saint Seiya.

Sharks with freaking lasers attached to their heads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 26 April, 2021, 11:32:30 AM
On a whim, I watched the Super Mario Bros movie again at the weekend as I saw it was on Prime. Must be the only other time I've seen it since it first came out.

It's..... not.... terrible? Not exactly a Super Mario story, for sure and the fact it's set in a dystopian world is bizarre for that franchise but, hey, I like dystopian fiction.

It's not GOOD by any stretch but it falls firmly into "enjoyably bad" for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 April, 2021, 11:35:07 AM
Mortal Kombat

Not as good as last year's animation, better than the '95 outing.  I'm still very unsure about the new character that's not from the game.  The movie is hard to think about because it does come across as a feature length prologue.  If there is a sequel then I'm interest in seeing what they do.  If there isn't, this film is somewhat a waste of time.  Not the first time that's happened.  Looking at you, Warcraft.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Buttonman on 26 April, 2021, 11:16:14 PM
Stowaway - Shit away more like. I quite fancied the premise of this extra passenger found on board a trip to Mars ala Tintin : Destination Moon , in fact Tintin has several - the Thompsons and [spoiler]that moustached foreign bloke[/spoiler] but I digress.

Strangely they find the unwilling passenger 12 hours out but decide to keep on with the two year trip to Mars and back. No one did a head count before they sealed the doors? Anyway, predictably oxygen becoes an issue - duh! - and terrible decisions have to be made - mostly affecting the plot and dialogue.

The film becomes quest as a handy hut full of oxygen is discovered but a few Galaxy Quest style obstacles away. Massive chunks of the film are spent getting there and then getting back there again. There is sacrifice and an uncertain ending and zero thrills.

I like Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette but they didn't convince as space explorers and the whole thing was a dull disjointed mess. 5/10 territory.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 April, 2021, 11:23:03 PM
I got some way into that last-night before lights out - I thought that interview where we don't hear the questions, whilst noble in intent (let's reflect reality a bit) was just pants in execution. It was like a giant banner across the screen saying "you're watching a movie - the makers of which did this on purpose".

So ... pants. And not in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 April, 2021, 09:35:51 AM
Quote from: Buttonman on 26 April, 2021, 11:16:14 PM
Strangely they find the unwilling passenger 12 hours out but decide to keep on with the two year trip to Mars and back. No one did a head count before they sealed the doors?
The facts of how the extra guy finds himself on the ship are sketchy and glossed over at best, but the fact they can't just turn around is dealt with.

It's a downer, but I kind of enjoyed it. Everyone in it is great, it looks good, and the backdrop includes some neat real-world space exploration ideas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 April, 2021, 02:07:55 PM
Stowaway effectively answers the oft-answered question, "what if Cold Equations, but tone deaf and stupid?"
On Youtube alone you can view an audiobook reading of the original story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-JV_X6y4rM), a stage adaptation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyKgKGDvu6Q), an episode of the Twilight Zone adapting the story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-eVsAl6MRE), an episode of X Minus One adapting the story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhklTqm1TzQ), and - my personal favorite in this instance - a movie adaptation made just three years ago that was named Stowaway (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BL8GsHWtqc), so it's fair to say that these themes have been well-explored and the makers of the Netflix outing had a broad range of interpretations of the material to draw upon so that they could either produce the best possible version of the story to date, or at least could avoid the misogynistic subtext of chucking a woman under the bus so a man could feel sad for surviving.  It is therefore commendable, in a way, that the makers found a way to do none of that and instead replicate the flaws of the story, troubling subtext included, and yet also compound them, with a male character being deemed worthy of salvation through the sacrifice of a female character because he once saved another unrelated female from a fire.
The original story is notoriously derided by actual space boffins because while the physics are sound, the central conundrum only occurs because of incredibly poor redundancy planning for such a critical mission, and that criticism still applies here, but the film isn't really worthy of that kind of critical appraisal because it's mostly just emo flab and tedious space walks.

Mortal Kombat - well, this wasn't very good.  There seems little point dismantling it, but my main takeaway was that it was quite well-made, and that if someone had a good script to work with, they might have made an entertaining film.  As it is, it just takes itself too seriously, yet is too silly to be taken seriously.  The 1995 movie somehow managed this balancing act and has gone on to become a beer and pizza movie staple, and I don't know about the director of the new MK, but I for one would be terribly embarrassed if the director of the Resident Evil movies displayed a greater understanding of tonal consistency and self-awareness.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 30 April, 2021, 06:41:59 PM
Watched Mank on Netflix last night and loved it. The story and cinematography were a delight and Gary Oldman was fantastic. Well worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 30 April, 2021, 06:43:32 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 30 April, 2021, 06:41:59 PM
Watched Mank

Tell me I am not the only one to do a double take there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 May, 2021, 04:57:49 PM
Three Days of the Condor

This is a 70's spy film that I've never heard of before.  It's got Robert Redford in it.  For the most part it is a really engaging spy thriller that does a really good job with its story.  Nevertheless there is a very glaring problem with the film.

[spoiler]Part way through the film the protagonist and hero kidnaps a woman and proceeds to have sex with her.  It just comes across as rape.  Rape is lampshaded before it happens and it's sort of commented on afterwards.  It seems to reflect Stockholm's as well.  It is very weird, gross and a tonal whiplash.  I think it was intended as romance, but it's so tone deaf.  It really stood out and is in sharp contrast to the rest of the film.  I don't know whether there was the need to have the kidnapped victim become an ally of the protagonist, but this was not the approach.  Especially as there was a great opportunity for her to accept his story and get on his side in the next scene.
[/spoiler]
Aside from that problem the film is very good.  The ending was very satisfying.  Ambiguity done well, I think.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 May, 2021, 05:13:54 PM
I recommend Condorman and El Condor next, to complete the "watching movies with the word 'condor' in the title challenge".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 May, 2021, 05:20:59 PM
That's an eclectic mix of films.  Certainly happy to take the recommendations :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 01 May, 2021, 07:42:00 PM
Jason and The Argonauts.  The original one. The Good one!

It was on the telly this afternoon and even though I've seen it many times over the years, by Grud* I watched it again! It's still a fantastic watch and the stop-motion animation remains some of the best I've seen in film. The Bronze Giant and Skeleton scenes are particular highlights.

Nobody.  About a bloke that's a bit tasty and shit! It's more than that really as the guy in question is now leading the quiet family life and in a moment of what is pretty much absolute boredom decides to go back to his old ways. Not as over the top as John Wick and a half decent watch in its own right due to some great acting and fight choreography. Features Christopher Lloyd as The Dad. Worth a watch.

Cheers

*I don't believe in Grud. Spoons are open for debate...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 May, 2021, 07:54:13 PM
I didn't know there was another Jason and The Argonauts. 

I knew Clash of the Titans had a remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: NapalmKev on 01 May, 2021, 07:59:36 PM
I think you're right. I might be thinking of the tv miniseries of JATA.

Cheers
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 May, 2021, 08:12:25 PM
I wasn't even aware of a miniseries.  I'm assuming it wasn't exactly good. 

I know it'd be hard to compare the Dynamation glory of the film.  I revisited it at some point last year and was not disappointed with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 May, 2021, 12:25:08 AM
In nearly all of the world, Coca-cola is the number one selling drink. In Scotland, however, it's Irn Bru.

I suspect you would get a similar situation if you asked about the greatest movie ever made. Most of the world would go for CITIZEN KANE whereas Scotland would vote GREGORY'S GIRL.

Respectively eighty and forty years old they share a common theme of trying to find love in all the wrong places but otherwise are as far apart in style as you can imagine. Despite the age, both are still brilliant.

Even the few lines in GG that might be considered dodgy now aren't too offensive, more a document of the times.

"Tits, bum, fanny... the lot" still makes me laugh. Can younger boarders guess which of the two it is from?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 May, 2021, 10:04:45 AM
High Plains Drifter

I haven't seen this Eastwood's directorial Western debut in a long time. I can't say that Western movies are my cup of tea, though I like some traits these movies have. High Plains Drifter is an interesting piece, however, and not your typical Western film (and not because it has Clint Eastwood in it). Both surreal and supernatural, wrapped in revenge film category where Eastwood basically plays his Man with No Name from Dollar's trilogy. As a matter of fact, there are some references to Sergio Leone in this film. Anyway, Eastwood is a stranger who materializes in the middle of a desert, then rides in the frontier town, where he communicates with townsfolks, gun them down when being challenge and...Well, given the controversial Darkie's Mob thread I unwittingly opened, and reading the pictsy's description of controversial part of 3 Days of Condor, I feel inclined to return at the already heard mantra in DM's thread - "it was of its times". [spoiler] Because, Clint Eastwood's character early in the film, when insulted by a female, he drags her in the barn and casually rapes her. This is all the more glaring because it later comes into the play, she's complicit bitch and rest of the townsfolks (well, not exactly all) are wimpy douchebag slimeballs whose sin is bystander effect, so they deserved all they get. In addition, the raped woman has sex with Clint as a ploy to distract him for townspeople to beat him up. Oh, yes, Clint drags another woman with the intent of raping her, but then faints. Still, they have consensual sex later. A movie like this would definitely couldn't get past the pre-production stage today. Although, for its time, Peckinpah went one step further with his Straw Dogs (and women generally don't do well in his films, but whatever. I am straying off now).[/spoiler]

Aside all this, I find High Plains Drifter being a solid film, with the aura of mysticism and ambiguity (the latter is yet another mark typical for the 1970s) appealing enough to get past its shortcomings.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 02 May, 2021, 02:05:06 PM
I've a lot of time for High Plains Drifter but that scene is deeply problematic. Clint Eastwood's character is absolutely horrible, which is the point, but it's a disturbing and uncomfortable watch.

I think it's better than Pale Rider in the 'ghost cowboy comes back for revenge' genre though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 May, 2021, 05:01:43 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 02 May, 2021, 02:05:06 PM
I think it's better than Pale Rider in the 'ghost cowboy comes back for revenge' genre though.

Agreed. And the way Eastwood tackled ghost-revenge thing, even though he went explicitly for supernatural, Pale Rider looks like a rather meek variation of HPD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 May, 2021, 08:18:29 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 February, 2021, 06:29:50 AM
Bohemian Rhapsody has sprung up on Amazon Prime and after it getting a lot a great reviews and being a big Queen fan of old I sprung at the chance to watch it...

[Much sage comment deleted for brevity]

I'm fine with movies playing with truth for the sake of story. But to remove the truth so you can tell a less interesting, less important and utterly cliche story is utterly unforgivable. Mind at least the key performance of the band were pretty good to great.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Bohemian Crapsody more like.

So I'd said I wouldn't bother watching this based on reviews, but I was outvoted this evening and here we are.

Everything Colin said above.

Look, Rami Malik gives a fine heartfelt if ultimately unconvincing performance, Gwilym Lee certainly looks like Brian May, and the Mike Myers gag is... okay. And as Frank might have said "we liked the music".

But beyond that, good grief, what cackhanded nonsense. This is Freddie Mercury's life as rendered by someone who vaguely remembered overhearing someone reading aloud excerpts from a letter in The Sun while on the bog. Utter garbage, terrible hair, makeup and costuming, incoherent chronology, childish story-making: a crime against both reality and fantasy.

It's also many,  many hours long, and yet somehow, somehow, they left almost all the magic of Queen and Freddie out. Go watch a concert instead,  any concert.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 May, 2021, 11:39:48 PM
Nobody

I really like this.  Just this minute finished watching it and had a massive smile on my face throughout the film.  Was really trying to nail it down and I think I got it.  This film is a wonderful collection of action film cliches strung together in a satisfying narrative with a wry sense of humour.  I can see the comparisons that have been made with John Wick, but I also saw so much more here that it would be harsh to compare it with any one film.  This is a true genre film that knows it's genre.  I also love the juxtapositions.  In any other film the soundtrack would have been too on the nose with what it is doing, but I think in this film it works.  There is so much that is on the nose that I can't help but assume that is the point.

Then again, I may have had slightly too much wine and got a bit over excited about the shooty bang bang.  Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 May, 2021, 08:14:01 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 May, 2021, 08:18:29 PM

But beyond that, good grief, what cackhanded nonsense. This is Freddie Mercury's life as rendered by someone who vaguely remembered overhearing someone reading aloud excerpts from a letter in The Sun while on the bog. Utter garbage, terrible hair, makeup and costuming, incoherent chronology, childish story-making: a crime against both reality and fantasy.

This for me was the most insulting of this awful movies many sins. Deliberately and consciously manipulating the timeline of Mercury's life to bring his diagnosis forward by years just to give Live Aid more 'punch'.

Awful, disgusting movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 03 May, 2021, 11:20:26 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:38:40 PM
Thunder Force

++BEFORE WATCHING++

Two overweight women in superhero costumes suggests that this will be one of those scream-a-lot US comedies that's probably not very funny. Like an 80s sitcom, there'll be a moral message strapped in somewhere, accompanied by some hugging. There will be a scene, played for laughs, focused on how difficult it is to get into the tight costumes. Because Melissa McCarthy's in it, there'll also be some gross-out humour.

++AFTER WATCHING++

They didn't do a scene about the difficulty of getting into the costumes - instead it was about how difficult it was for two people that size to get into a Lamborghini.

A comedy of no laughs.

I liked the fact that the film was centred on two overweight ladies. You don't see that very often. It's good to see films centred on people of different physical types, just as we see (and are) all different types in the real world.  Diversity in film is improving, but it's decidedly wanting in certain areas...

... but yeah, I didn't find the film very good either. The crab guy was very amusing in that initial fight scene though, when he [spoiler]scurries out of harm's reach sideways.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 May, 2021, 11:21:02 PM
The Live Aid bit was great. And there is a great story to be told about Mercury and the fantasy existence he created for himself but this certainly isn't it and I fear has scuppered any chance of it being made. Still it got me revisiting Queen's back catalogue after nearly 25 years so I thank it for that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 May, 2021, 03:10:21 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 April, 2021, 11:04:12 PM
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. Watched this for the first time since the first time, when I was too sophis...sofistic... old to do any more than cringe.  And... I actually enjoyed it.

It does a hell of a lot with what was obviously a budget consisting of a fiver and a family bag of crisps, and while its retelling of The Hobbit with furry onesies is distinctly dumbed-down, it's also quite surprisingly pretty, and dare I say it, engaging. The hunting-beast stop motion (and prop) is quite scary, the Gorax is a neat bit of bluescreen, and there are some stunning matt paintings. The Towani kids aren't nearly as irritating as I remembered (their parents are morons,though), and the only real letdowns are the profusion of terrestrial animals (stick a horn or some googly eyes on those ponies fercrissakes) and the painful lack of movement in many of the Ewok masks: even this is made up for by some solid physical acting. 

It was particularly cool to see Logray strut his stuff,  although I do wonder why the Ewoks were so wowed by specifically the levitating of their Golden God Threepio (this is a Prequel to RotJ) when this is a power their own mystics have.

Anyhow, it's been added to my personal canon with no regrets. Can you believe that there's never been any official SW figures of any of the new characters? I'd pay good money for Chucka-Trok on his pony.

Should I risk Battle for Endor, a film I do not think I've ever seen?

I watched them both for the first time recently and I think I actually preferred the sequel. Warning: [spoiler]Something happens at the start that reminds me of Alien 3.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 04 May, 2021, 11:30:07 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 May, 2021, 12:25:08 AM
In nearly all of the world, Coca-cola is the number one selling drink. In Scotland, however, it's Irn Bru.

I suspect you would get a similar situation if you asked about the greatest movie ever made. Most of the world would go for CITIZEN KANE whereas Scotland would vote GREGORY'S GIRL.

Respectively eighty and forty years old they share a common theme of trying to find love in all the wrong places but otherwise are as far apart in style as you can imagine. Despite the age, both are still brilliant.

Even the few lines in GG that might be considered dodgy now aren't too offensive, more a document of the times.

"Tits, bum, fanny... the lot" still makes me laugh. Can younger boarders guess which of the two it is from?

Local Hero is by far my favourite Bill Forsyth film. It's balm for the soul.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 May, 2021, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 03 May, 2021, 11:21:02 PM
Still it got me revisiting Queen's back catalogue after nearly 25 years so I thank it for that.

Yes, I did dive straight for my MP3 player afterwards, so there is definitely that it its favour. In fact it was my kids' boundless enthusiasm for Queen that led to the regrettable democratic decision to watch it.

The Live Aid sequence itself was undeniably good, atrocious Geldof and Freddie's Offstage Pals Club scenes aside, but really only because it was the least-tampered element: actual footage would have been (is) better. This was brought home by the only genuine footage of the band, "The Show Must Go On" playing over the credits immediately afterwards, which in a few minutes of grainy video delivered everything the pastiche failed to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 04 May, 2021, 12:04:49 PM
Grrr, the footage I'm referring there is (obviously) "Don't Stop Me Now". "Show Must Go On" plays after that.

More positively:

Quote from: CalHab on 04 May, 2021, 11:30:07 AM
Local Hero is by far my favourite Bill Forsyth film. It's balm for the soul.

Oh yes indeed, I don't think I could ever tire of this masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 May, 2021, 02:57:05 PM
Calm down man, its just the northern lights.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 04 May, 2021, 04:31:24 PM
The Wicker Man, for the millionth time.  On May Day this time though, in my neighbour's big and wild garden beside the canal, with a bonfire and beers.  It's not the best film ever made, nor by any means the best film I've ever seen, but it's still my favourite.

It's Nicolas Cage shouting about bees that makes it, of course.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 04 May, 2021, 04:46:11 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 04 May, 2021, 04:31:24 PM
The Wicker Man, for the millionth time.  On May Day this time though, in my neighbour's big and wild garden beside the canal, with a bonfire and beers.  It's not the best film ever made, nor by any means the best film I've ever seen, but it's still my favourite.

It's Nicolas Cage shouting about bees that makes it, of course.

Ba dum tsh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 04 May, 2021, 05:06:12 PM
"Happer is a muthafunster" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLuUu_dT-NI)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 May, 2021, 06:24:52 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 04 May, 2021, 04:31:24 PM
The Wicker Man, for the millionth time.  On May Day this time though, in my neighbour's big and wild garden beside the canal, with a bonfire and beers.  It's not the best film ever made, nor by any means the best film I've ever seen, but it's still my favourite.

It's Nicolas Cage shouting about bees that makes it, of course.

Lol, why I think I've been successfully trolled?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 May, 2021, 07:26:11 PM

Space Sweepers. Pretty standard flashy sci-fi gubbins but it does ask one really good question - if Mars, a planet entirely hostile to life, can be Terraformed to act as humanity's second chance, why not use that superduper technology to fix the still (just about) habitable Earth instead? Surely our disposable culture can't extend to the whole planet? Oh, and there's a little girl who farts.

Godzilla v Kong. It's rubbish, but it's spectacular rubbish so that's fine by me.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 04 May, 2021, 07:34:42 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 04 May, 2021, 04:31:24 PM
The Wicker Man, for the millionth time.  On May Day this time though, in my neighbour's big and wild garden beside the canal, with a bonfire and beers.  It's not the best film ever made, nor by any means the best film I've ever seen, but it's still my favourite.

It's Nicolas Cage shouting about bees that makes it, of course.

Sounds like a wonderful evening to me!

Over the weekend I've watched:

Something Life (AntiLife?) - New Bruce Willis on Netflix. If only it had embraced it's B movie potential but instead tries to fool us into thinking it's something it's not. Makes not a lick of sense and the acting is so bland it will have you actually rooting against the main cast.

Love and Monsters - Not a dreadful premise and well executed. Not a great movie overall but I wasn't actively offended by it.

Hangover Edition: The Switch - To say this movie is problematic is an understatement but only in the early 2000's could a man trick the woman he loves into having his baby and it all ends happily ever after. What a bizarre idea for a romantic comedy. I'm not sure if this is worse than the one where Kevin Costner beds three generations of women from the same family.

This is where I leave you: The patriarch of the family dies and his dysfunctional family sit shiva to honour his last request. This wasn't dreadful and was touching and funny in equal measure. 

Dinner with Friends: Inoffensive comedy about nothing really.

The Night Clerk:  Not a bad movie but all I could think was 'What has Helen Hunt done to her face?'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 May, 2021, 11:14:25 PM
DOOMSDAY
Neil Marshall's homage to much better post-apocolypse movies. Mean spirited, needlessly gory, badly scripted, poorly choreographed and edited, not even a hint of character in the performances, appalling world building and really cheap looking. I kept waiting for it to kick into gear, it never does.
...
Doomsday? More like Shitday.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 May, 2021, 04:01:09 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 06 May, 2021, 11:14:25 PM
Neil Marshall's homage to much better post-apocolypse movies. Mean spirited, needlessly gory, badly scripted, poorly choreographed and edited, not even a hint of character in the performances, appalling world building and really cheap looking. I kept waiting for it to kick into gear, it never does.
...
Doomsday? More like Shitday.

Well, you described every Neil Marshall movie (including Dog Soldiers).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 May, 2021, 08:17:09 AM
The Rite

There's a decent cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Ciaran Hinds and Rutger Huger, plus an underused Toby Jones. But ultimately this is a po-faced re-tread of the Exorcist with less spinning heads and more university lectures.

It suffers for coming to a natural conclusion about an hour in when [spoiler]its possessed character dies[/spoiler], only to realise it still has another half hour to go and not enough plot left to keep going.

It was... okay. But because it's the obvious thing to say: The Rite? The Shite more like.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 May, 2021, 08:59:53 AM
Doomsday is a film that represents The Telegraphs idea of an independent Scotland.

Neil Marshall also seems to have this odd love/hate thing with the Scottish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 07 May, 2021, 09:04:12 AM
Doomsday is a great crap movie, it's excessive and doesn't make a lick of sense, just jumps from one set piece to another. Cannibals! Trains! Zombies! Knights! Mad Max cars! It's a sandbox of stupidity but one I don't mind watching.

In search of a buddy cop movie and unable to find Lethal Weapon on Netflix, I foolishly watched Red Heat. It sucks. Starts well and Arnie is good but James Belushi is unfunny and annoying and the film drags as soon as it shifts out of Russia. I expected the poor pacing and dialogue and pointless nudity in an 80s action film but I also expected some decent action and there's precious little of that. Total rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 07 May, 2021, 10:40:57 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 May, 2021, 08:17:09 AM
The Rite? The Shite more like.

You expect us to believe you're not just Googling movies that rhyme with shite at this stage??

As for Neil Marshall - he's had a few duds, but The Descent is a modern horror classic that I have re-watched on more than a few occasions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 May, 2021, 08:56:57 PM

Snowpiercer. To combat global warming, a chemical is released into the atmosphere that accidentally freezes the entire planet (I know) and the only survivors live on a great long train (I know) that travels around the world once a year (I know). All the plebs live in filth at the back of the train (I know) and all the fancy folk live in luxury at the front (I know).

Anyway, one day the plebs at the back decide to fight their way to the front (I know). On the way, they fight their way through a greenhouse car (I know), a schoolroom car (I know), and an aquarium car - where our heroes take a moment to sit down at a sushi bar for a while (I know).

It's probably a metaphor (I feckin' know, okay?), but an exceedingly clumsy one. Utter piffle from start to finish. All together, now - Snowpiercer? Shitepiercer, more like.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 May, 2021, 10:14:06 PM
I have found Snowpiecer to have a wealth to offer.  Always found the disdain it can garner to be odd. 

Maybe it's like Marmite. 

Because Marmite is revolting (geddit?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 May, 2021, 11:17:23 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 08 May, 2021, 10:14:06 PM
Because Marmite is revolting (geddit?)

Hah! Shamefully, I still haven't seen the movie, but I really like the Netflix TV show — it sounds like it embraces the metaphor much like the movie. Yes, it's on the nose, but it goes for it. The second series takes it a step further (interestingly, to me) by introducing a Trump-like figure in Sean Bean's Wilford that swings the balance of power. Subtle, it's not, but it's refreshing to see SF grapple so unapologetically and so directly with stuff that's desperately relevant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 May, 2021, 11:26:04 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 May, 2021, 08:56:57 PM

Snowpiercer. To combat global warming, a chemical is released into the atmosphere that accidentally freezes the entire planet (I know) and the only survivors live on a great long train (I know) that travels around the world once a year (I know). All the plebs live in filth at the back of the train (I know) and all the fancy folk live in luxury at the front (I know).

Anyway, one day the plebs at the back decide to fight their way to the front (I know). On the way, they fight their way through a greenhouse car (I know), a schoolroom car (I know), and an aquarium car - where our heroes take a moment to sit down at a sushi bar for a while (I know).

It's probably a metaphor (I feckin' know, okay?), but an exceedingly clumsy one. Utter piffle from start to finish. All together, now - Snowpiercer? Shitepiercer, more like.

I must say, I like how they filmed hack n slash scenes in the movie. And Tilda Swinton has really interesting part.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2021, 07:32:24 AM

I think it's the tone of the thing that lacked appeal for me. If it had been a black comedy I might have enjoyed it more but, as it is, I found it childish and simplistic. Even the classy actors involved couldn't save it - Tilda Swinton just looked and spoke like a character out of Wallace and Gromit.

It's like the makers got stoned one night and somebody said, "hey man - ffffffffft - have you ever thought, like, how society's like a really long train? Fffffft."

They've made a tv show out of it? That's... incredible.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 May, 2021, 08:40:17 AM
It's an adaptation of an 80's French comic.  Might see if I can track (geddit?) down a copy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2021, 10:12:21 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 May, 2021, 08:40:17 AM
It's an adaptation of an 80's French comic.  Might see if I can track (geddit?) down a copy.

I'm not going to RAIL against it, and I hope the comic has more salient POINTS to make - I just think this film has ideas above its STATION but I can see how others might be CHUFFED with it.

I'll get me whistle...

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 May, 2021, 10:18:56 AM
REPORTED
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 09 May, 2021, 11:59:16 AM
Tomb Raider

A little bit of pre-story. I never was a die-hard Tomb Raider fan, but I had some TR games that kept me occupied for weeks. A female version of Indiana Jones with the touch of John Woo movies. Mind racking puzzles, exotic settings, and staring at Lara's posterior when she crawls.
Anyway, this movie (I am talking about the 2018 film) was something that I didn't expect much, considering that filmmakers took basis from the 2013 video game reboot, which even then I took as a disappointment. So this film had no real surprises. And Angelina Joe TR movies are yes, cheesy, ludicrous; yet, far cry better than this film.
The story is boring and full of tropes that toddlers have learned by now, dialogues are awful and Lara herself as the character is bland, flat and I find the actress (Alicia Vikander's acting hackneyed. Oh and I don't find her sexy at all. And Walton Goggins plays a baddie - again. The whole father/daughter subplot is totally unnecessary.  And where are Lara's signature dual pistols? Where are good puzzle-solving techniques? Although I have to give credit to Alicia for the feat of having to perform a slew of grueling physical tasks (her and her stunt double) in a number of rather well-crafted and well-shot action sequences. Furthermore, this Lara gets beaten up and roughen up often, which is fine by me, as I have a "fetish" for the sadistic treatment of my heroes (albeit this beats the supposed realism of the movie; I mean, climbing slippery rock surfaces with an open stab wound?). In the end, no matter all shortcomings, this Tomb Raider film isn't a total dud.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2021, 12:15:14 PM

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 May, 2021, 10:18:56 AM
REPORTED

>bows head in shame<

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 May, 2021, 12:26:42 PM
The last Tomb Raider film is one of those films I intend to watch but never get around to.  It looked to me to be a film more based on the reboot game.  That doesn't really mean much to me because I know little about the games.

I might eventually watch it because I kinda want to compare it with the earlier films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 09 May, 2021, 01:02:06 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 09 May, 2021, 12:26:42 PM
  It looked to me to be a film more based on the reboot game. 

Indeed it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 09 May, 2021, 08:12:00 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 May, 2021, 07:32:24 AM

I think it's the tone of the thing that lacked appeal for me. If it had been a black comedy I might have enjoyed it more but, as it is, I found it childish and simplistic. Even the classy actors involved couldn't save it - Tilda Swinton just looked and spoke like a character out of Wallace and Gromit.

It's like the makers got stoned one night and somebody said, "hey man - ffffffffft - have you ever thought, like, how society's like a really long train? Fffffft."

They've made a tv show out of it? That's... incredible.

Well, you're absolutely right about the daftness of the premise (apart from anything else, how are the tracks maintained?), but I must say I enjoyed it.

Found the series a bit harder to get into though. A bit too whodunnit for my tastes, give me a Spartacus-style underclass uprising any day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 09 May, 2021, 08:52:38 PM


Well, you're absolutely right about the daftness of the premise (apart from anything else, how are the tracks maintained?)
[/quote]

By this guy, of course.   :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEZIh7lQ3dc
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 May, 2021, 11:00:56 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 09 May, 2021, 08:52:38 PM


Well, you're absolutely right about the daftness of the premise (apart from anything else, how are the tracks maintained?)

By this guy, of course.   :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEZIh7lQ3dc
[/quote]

Nice.   :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
Tamara Drewe. It warms my heart to think of the last of the Holy Trinity of British Writer-Artists* finally getting a nice big cheque, but I'm not sure this otherwise-faithful adaptation gets to the heart of her work. In short, it's all the middle-class cosy of the drawings, and none of the edge of the writing, drifting away from Thomas Hardy and towards Richard Curtis. 

Gorgeous cast, and some terrific performances (Tamsin Grieg and Charlotte Christie in particular), and who could resist watching Roger Allam [spoiler]trampled by stampeding cattle[/spoiler]. Not bad as adaptations go, but not quite all there.



*Eddie Campbell and Raymond Briggs. Am I being very mean to Don Lawrence, Frank Hampson and Leo Baxendale? Probably, but the Sacred Six-Pack doesn't scan well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 10 May, 2021, 12:11:06 PM
Tamsin Greig is great in that. I still chuckle over her delivery of the "thrush" line.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 May, 2021, 12:47:17 PM
Tamsin Grieg is great in everything. I had a very Tamsinesque lockdown in hindsight - rewatched Green Wing, Black Books, Episodes and Friday Night Dinner.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 10 May, 2021, 01:37:47 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
*Eddie Campbell and Raymond Briggs. Am I being very mean to Don Lawrence, Frank Hampson and Leo Baxendale? Probably, but the Sacred Six-Pack doesn't scan well.

I'd add Bryan Talbot to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 May, 2021, 01:48:39 PM
Fern Gully

I like it.  Protect the rainforest.  Pollution is bad.  Fairies.  Guy finds an ecological conscience because of that very special feeling he felt between his legs.  Robin Williams is a bat, but is still Robin Williams regardless.  Decent enough songs.  Yeah, I like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 04:08:04 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 10 May, 2021, 01:37:47 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
*Eddie Campbell and Raymond Briggs. Am I being very mean to Don Lawrence, Frank Hampson and Leo Baxendale? Probably, but the Sacred Six-Pack doesn't scan well.

I'd add Bryan Talbot to that.

Dammit!  One of my all-time faves and all!  Paul Grist deserves a slot too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 10 May, 2021, 04:15:16 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
Tamara Drewe.

Mmm...Gemma Arterton.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 10 May, 2021, 08:09:14 PM
Kes

Well, finding flaws in this movie would sound like a trolling example to me. And while not perfect, the film is absolutely brilliant and works as both as a warm coming-of-age story (with tragic overtones) and as bitter social commentary in observing the tough brutal realities of growing up in Yorkshire in the 1960s. Well, okay, Yorkie's accent is somewhat off-putting and if I could really get picky, I'd point at three more minor things. Judd's character could be a little less heartless than the nasty sod brother he is. And while the movie is pretty much on Billy and the world around him, it misses the chance to give as some sort of perspective on how he sees things from his head. We only do know that he's interested in falconry, but what about his life? Does he love his mom and brother? What does he think about the school? And the life after school? As far as it goes, Billy was shown as quite indignant of these real-life issues. Even the prospect of a job is somewhat lax on him (although he's shown to have clear animosity toward working in the mines). And I find his buttock naked scenes, while unobjectifying, as totally unnecessary. Briefly, we get to see how the school principal sees his pupils. This I can relate to from my school days (though I haven't my teachers who whipped the hands of their students, compared to my mom, let's say, and only for getting your hands filthy). That's why I am glad that things changed for the better in meantime. I'm also glad I wasn't growing up in Yorkshire in the 1960s. All in all, a thoughtful and honest film, with brilliant acting all around, especially from the young Billy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 May, 2021, 08:42:54 AM
EARWIG AND THE WITCH

The latest in the Ghibli library is probably a text book example of 'vibes do not make a movie alone' as as comfy and charming as scenes are in isolation, if there was a plot to be discerned it was certainly lost in the mist of cottagecore twee and shortbread tin niceties. Hayao Miyazaki hasn't said anything about it but considering Goro's two big directorial features for Ghibli (the other one being the woeful adaptation of Le Guins Earthsea saga) are both flatter than pancakes, I'm concerned for what direction the studio will go in when the big man does eventually pass on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 May, 2021, 09:50:12 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 May, 2021, 08:42:54 AM
EARWIG AND THE WITCH

The latest in the Ghibli library is probably a text book example of 'vibes do not make a movie alone' as as comfy and charming as scenes are in isolation, if there was a plot to be discerned it was certainly lost...

Not entirely an uncommon problem with Ghibli films, I find.  Some instances can be worse than others, but I do find this describes my feelings towards My Neighbour Totoro.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 May, 2021, 10:08:22 AM
The Mitchells versus the Machines. Overlong speechifying and unnecessarily blunt homilies to the indisputable wonder of family life hamstring what is a very pretty, often very funny film. It's a largely successful mash-up of The Incredibles (mainly this), Tron, Into the Spiderverse and The Lego Movie, with the now-ubiquitous Olivia Colman shining as a sarky Siri. Some oddly out-of-place reinforcing of conventional gender roles and middle-class lifeways, an understandably predictable get-to-the-off-switch plot, and some genuinely good gags and inventive visuals but it's telling that the best bit is the family dog. Not boring, but not great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 May, 2021, 10:26:02 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 May, 2021, 10:08:22 AM
The Mitchells versus the Machines. Overlong speechifying and unnecessarily blunt homilies to the indisputable wonder of family life hamstring what is a very pretty, often very funny film. It's a largely successful mash-up of The Incredibles (mainly this)
I'm in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 11 May, 2021, 11:47:11 AM
The Mitchells is now my seven-year-old's favourite film. I thought it was very, very good but I'm worried about what's going to happen when she outgrows my sense of humour in a year or two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 May, 2021, 01:02:13 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 11 May, 2021, 11:47:11 AM
The Mitchells is now my seven-year-old's favourite film. I thought it was very, very good ...

My youngest loved it too. It's well made, and best of all it's funny, but I just felt I'd seen the same family dynamic so many times that I (a joyless 50 year old man) was frustrated that so many scenes took up so much of the run-time by explicitly setting out the same points, rather than being a bit more oblique about it.

But like I say, my jaded palate is hardly what was being catered for, and nor should it have been.

None of this bitterness has anything to do with the fact that my children kept pointing at me and laughing  during the learning-to-use-a-computer, carrying-a-screwdriver and - particularly hurtfully - the gibbon-hooting scenes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 May, 2021, 05:26:22 AM
Short Circuit

Yawn... One of my least favorite John Badham efforts. I still consider Blue Thunder as the top in military sf movies from the 1980s. But, to be fair to Short Circuit, the two movies couldn't be miles apart from each other. After awesome introduction sequence, followed by even more awesome demonstration, the movie quickly falls to bore, to me. Okay, there are some touches of humor that mostly come from Steve Guttenberg and Fisher Steven (the latter playing banter ready Indian) and G. W Bailey, who is essentially doing his Captain Harris schtick from Police Academy. On the other hand, I find Ally Sheedy as source of constant annoyance and unfortunately, the movie seems to favor her scenes over Guttenberg-Stevens. The story couldn't be more simple. A robot goes rogue while being hit by surge of electricity, becoming sentient and aware of himself in the process. Escaping from military facility he's been kept, he goes on the run from the "evil" military guys who want to claim him back. Call me cynical, but I prefer[spoiler] that the movie ended with military getting him back; but I suppose it is naive from me to expect anything else than a happy ending in a typical Hollywood blockbuster.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 12 May, 2021, 10:17:46 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 May, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
Tamara Drewe. It warms my heart to think of the last of the Holy Trinity of British Writer-Artists*



*Eddie Campbell and Raymond Briggs. Am I being very mean to Don Lawrence, Frank Hampson and Leo Baxendale? Probably, but the Sacred Six-Pack doesn't scan well.

Why did I think Eddie was from the antipodes?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 12 May, 2021, 10:44:21 AM
He lived there up until a few years ago. He's originally from Scotland, but lives in London now (I think).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 13 May, 2021, 11:59:16 AM
Runaway

One of the cop movies of the 80s with a robotic twist. Honestly, I find this movie on the edge of self-parodying and not in a good way. I can't even say it's so bad it's good, because it rather treats itself as serious material, even though it's totally bonkers. Michael Crichton did the Westworld decade back, a movie which I enjoyed; Runaway I did not. Tom Selleck plays as he's bored with very limited range of facial expressions; Gene Simmons the same - he just gives a menacing look as if he glances far away and that's it (although, he may be the best part of the film; too bad we the movie doesn't give him much screentime) and Cynthia Rhodes - just meh. In fact, the whole buddy-cop dynamic between Selleck and Rhodes is pretty bland. The plot is silly and filled with numerous plot holes, nor we get the explanation behind the evil guy's scheme - ever and dialogues are even more ludicrous. For the movie where robots practically dictate our lives, its theme was done in a pretty hackneyed manner and subordinated to the typical cops and robbers routine. The music score by Jerry Goldsmith must be one of the poorest in the celebrated composer's filmography. Oh, and staring at the Runaway's poster, Tom Selleck is holding the gun with thermal guidance bullets, but he never uses that weapon in the film (actually Gene Simmons did). All in all, forgettable wreck.

Oh, and for a futuristic movie where the invention of the thermal bullet is considered an unheard achievement, I must say it's already done in a Judge Dredd strip (whose prog name escapes me). So, 2000ad indeed was ahead of its time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 14 May, 2021, 10:18:07 AM
Solomon Kane - yet again !

magnificent
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 16 May, 2021, 03:00:29 PM
Dating Amber (2020, on Amazon Prime). An Irish coming of age film set in the mid-90s in a barracks town outside Dublin. The two teenage protagonists are coming to terms with their homosexuality and dealing with the prejudice and lack of understanding in their community. Tonaly, this seems a bit all over the shop. There are comedy elements that verge on the fantastical, but they're isolated and seem out of step with the rest of the film. The first and second acts are promising, developing the leads (Amber and Eddie) and their struggle. Amber's development is pretty much abandoned for the final act, though. Her relationship with her late father is alluded to, but not explored beyond the surface. [spoiler]She also sacrifices her dream for Eddie in the end. This seems like a betrayal of her character and didn't sit well with me.[/spoiler] Interesting, but a flawed film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 May, 2021, 04:03:00 PM
THE GREEN KNIGHT

I was very lucky to be invited to an advanced screening of this as part of my local indis test screening before reopening tomorrow.
Its pretty damn good, naturally I can't say a lot until its hit wide release but I know it will satisfy the dark fantasy fans and Arthuriana lovers here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 May, 2021, 07:30:24 PM
Blimey, an endorsement from a genuine cineaste like Hawkie ups my anticipation even further!  My brother-in-law worked on this what seems like years ago now, and it's the film project I've seen him the most enthusiastic about in 25 years.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 May, 2021, 11:15:53 PM
The Mitchells versus the Machines

ugh.  No.  I can't even bother to complain about it, it's not worth the effort.  I should have stopped watching it when I knew I hated it... with the opening.  At least then I would have had time to watch something else.

The animation is well done.  It's nice to see creative and talented people get paid for work.  Even if the sum of their efforts is garbage and undervalues their worth as human beings.

In the end, this is the quality I expect from the Emoji movie or the Angry Birds movie (neither of which I have seen.... thankfully).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 May, 2021, 06:18:25 PM
Technically, I haven't actually watched it yet, but thanks to appalling impulse control and the fact there is no sniff of cinemas re-opening in ROI, I watched several dodgy Youtube clips from Spiral: From the Book of Saw (aka 'Saw IX') over the weekend.

The view of the back of a cinema-goers head notwithstanding, that is one fantastic final scene.
Maybe only bettered by the original jaw dropper.

I hope it does relatively well in the cinema / VOD (when available), cause I'd like to see more from Chris Rock and the boys.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 19 May, 2021, 06:54:53 PM
I enjoyed the first saw film a lot and didn't see the twist coming on the first viewing but I'm surprised how many sequels they have managed to churn out, given the laws of diminishing returns!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 23 May, 2021, 08:23:43 AM
Watched Army of the Dead on Netflix. A fun enjoyable movie with over-the-top elements that you can expect from any Snyder movie. Highly recommended for any Zombie fans. The runtime is quite long about 2:30 hours but it never felt like over 2 hours.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 23 May, 2021, 10:25:25 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 23 May, 2021, 08:23:43 AM
Watched Army of the Dead on Netflix. A fun enjoyable movie with over-the-top elements that you can expect from any Snyder movie. Highly recommended for any Zombie fans. The runtime is quite long about 2:30 hours but it never felt like over 2 hours.
Yeah, I didn't rate it that highly. It was barely two minutes in before it started annoying me. Attempts at new (?) zombie lore felt like nothing more than to give the alpha zombie something to get mad about. Characters who were crack shots from 50m suddenly couldn't hit a zombie in the head at point blank range.  Emotional beats missed by similar margins. And if I have to listen to another fudging half-time acoustic cover of a song I like, I'll shoot *myself* in the head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 23 May, 2021, 03:01:16 PM
Donnie Darko

Never seen it before. For a film praised for being unique and innovative, it just seems to tick every cliché there is for an indie film:

- pretentious (check)     
- confuses mystery with plot (check)
- impressed by its own cleverness (check)
- but not actually that clever (check)

That said, its 80s goth rock sound-track is incredible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 May, 2021, 04:40:50 PM
Empire's Donnie Darko review (https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/donnie-darko-review/)

I just had to counter - tis a movie I love. Twisted, complex, beautifully filmed - it manages to do that neat trick of providing us with a teenage viewpoint of an adult-controlled world, and the terrible hypocrisy's that run rampant. I believe it has the courage of its convictions, and so cannot successfully be labeled pretentious.

I also love the soundtrack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 May, 2021, 06:10:02 PM
Donnie Darko was realised when I was the right age for it.  And I loved it.  The cinema I saw it in was so packed there were people sitting on the floor.  I've had some great cinema experiences and this film is up there with the best.

Nevertheless, the last time I saw it I did not like it.  I watched the directors cut and just found it kinda ruined the enigmatic quality of it's more esoteric concepts.  I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I used to and I started to wonder if the nay-sayers were right and I was just remembering with nostalgia.

I think I need to rewatch the theatrical cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 24 May, 2021, 04:47:38 AM
I love Donnie Darko one of my favourite movies.

Watched Nobody last night, bone crunching fun, the previews make it look like a John Wick ripoff but it's quite different.  The violence is next level brutal where Wicks violence is quite comic bookish and all gun fu type this is just so damn cruchy and really makes you cringe with each hit and shot.  One for fans of action movies

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 08:22:07 AM
That's the beauty of the internet, I guess. So many ways for you folks to be WRONG.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 12:39:46 PM
I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 May, 2021, 02:11:32 PM
Death Race 2050

The wikipedia page gives the impression that this is a sequel to Death Race 2000.  It's not.  It's a remake/reboot.  It's kinda fun.  Death Race 2000 is dumb as a bag of bricks.  It's satire lacks subtlety or nuance, it looks and is cheap and it's incredibly daft.  Death Race 2050 is all those things as well.  I wouldn't watch the two films back to back, but I'd probably watch 2050 over Death Race.  And Death Race has Jason Stathom in it!  To be fair, 2050 has Malcolm McDowell claiming another pay cheque, so it's tough competition.  What I'm trying to say is I enjoyed the film and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought it.  Very much like when I first watched Death Race 2000 last year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 03:47:12 PM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 12:39:46 PM
I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.

Impossible as it is to rebut such a cogent argument, I must confess that your silver tongue has swayed me to your way of of thinking. Tell me now, if you would deem to stoop, your thoughts on the subtle ouvre of Milius?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 03:47:12 PM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 12:39:46 PM
I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.

Impossible as it is to rebut such a cogent argument, I must confess that your silver tongue has swayed me to your way of of thinking. Tell me now, if you would deem to stoop, your thoughts on the subtle ouvre of Milius?

Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 24 May, 2021, 05:06:44 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 03:47:12 PM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 12:39:46 PM
I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.
Impossible as it is to rebut such a cogent argument, I must confess that your silver tongue has swayed me to your way of of thinking. Tell me now, if you would deem to stoop, your thoughts on the subtle ouvre of Milius?
Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.
You probably wouldn't have liked it anyway but this is definitely where you've gone wrong. The Director's Cut is notoriously shite and generally taken as evidence (alongside his next film) that the director himself didn't understand what made the film good in the first place.

For what it's worth, I really enjoyed the film at the time but haven't seen it for at least ten years and my tastes and tolerances for certain things have changed a lot. On the other hand, I still love all sorts of pretentious guff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 05:08:11 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 03:47:12 PM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 12:39:46 PM
I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.

Impossible as it is to rebut such a cogent argument, I must confess that your silver tongue has swayed me to your way of of thinking. Tell me now, if you would deem to stoop, your thoughts on the subtle ouvre of Milius?

Ah... If by Milius you refer to John Milius, I find his stories way more interesting in conveying deep philosophy bullshit, where in Donnie Darko, you feel like the director was screaming behind the camera "look at me, I am smart, I am smart" in every single scene.
In other words, Enigmatic Doctor was right about the internet.

Quote from: pictsy on 24 May, 2021, 02:11:32 PM
Death Race 2050

The wikipedia page gives the impression that this is a sequel to Death Race 2000.  It's not.  It's a remake/reboot.  It's kinda fun.  Death Race 2000 is dumb as a bag of bricks.  It's satire lacks subtlety or nuance, it looks and is cheap and it's incredibly daft.  Death Race 2050 is all those things as well.  I wouldn't watch the two films back to back, but I'd probably watch 2050 over Death Race.  And Death Race has Jason Stathom in it!  To be fair, 2050 has Malcolm McDowell claiming another pay cheque, so it's tough competition.  What I'm trying to say is I enjoyed the film and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought it.  Very much like when I first watched Death Race 2000 last year.

Is that the movie where drivers compete against each other in drive-by to death, while having hot chicks as co-drivers, who usually end up dead?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.

Don't get me started on the Director's Cut of Aliens! Mince AND tatties. I'm getting hungry now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 May, 2021, 05:16:34 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 24 May, 2021, 05:06:44 PM
You probably wouldn't have liked it anyway but this is definitely where you've gone wrong. The Director's Cut is notoriously shite and generally taken as evidence (alongside his next film) that the director himself didn't understand what made the film good in the first place.

So it was the Director's Cut that was bad and not me misremembering what I liked about the film. 

I really don't think the DC explains the film, I remember the theatrical cuts plot being pretty simple to follow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 05:53:38 PM
I may have the benefit of spending 20 odd minutes googling this stuff after watching the film.

I watched the theatrical cut. The DC adds around 20 minutes including a series of excerpts from The Philosophy of Time Travel book that features in the film. That book, which was available on the film's website at the time of its release, explains what is going on - that Donnie is in a bubble universe, basically.

Without that explanation, the firm is (take your pick) either impenetrable twaddle, or deep because it lets you draw your own conclusions. The DC has a backlash (not from me) for giving a definitive explanation of what the sneck is going on, thereby shattering the emo-illusions of a generation, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 05:54:31 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.

Don't get me started on the Director's Cut of Aliens! Mince AND tatties. I'm getting hungry now.

But the DC of Aliens isn't needed to explain its plot?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 24 May, 2021, 06:15:23 PM
Donnie Darko DC is an exercise in overindulgence and convolution – a runaway trait that quickly ground the creator's career to a halt. The least interesting thing about the film is the logicality of the plot. Adding more of, or trying to explain it via clunky exposition and incongruous FX scenes, takes away from what is a fairly simple, atmospheric story. The film-maker misjudged that appeal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 06:22:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 05:54:31 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.

Don't get me started on the Director's Cut of Aliens! Mince AND tatties. I'm getting hungry now.

But the DC of Aliens isn't needed to explain its plot?

Arguably, neither is the DC of Donnie Darko. In both cases, the DC actively undermines the theatrical cut, by over-explaining in a way that reduces tension. Given that both narratives thrive on tension, reducing it is ... reductive.

On the other hand, the (original) DC of Blade Runner removed the voice over, which was a studio-applied over-explanation that spoiled the atmosphere of the theatrical cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 06:58:56 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 06:22:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 05:54:31 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 05:12:55 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 04:43:49 PM
Don't be mean! Any film that needs a director's cut to explain its plot is mince.

Don't get me started on the Director's Cut of Aliens! Mince AND tatties. I'm getting hungry now.

But the DC of Aliens isn't needed to explain its plot?

Arguably, neither is the DC of Donnie Darko. In both cases, the DC actively undermines the theatrical cut, by over-explaining in a way that reduces tension. Given that both narratives thrive on tension, reducing it is ... reductive.

On the other hand, the (original) DC of Blade Runner removed the voice over, which was a studio-applied over-explanation that spoiled the atmosphere of the theatrical cut.

Y'know, in 20 odd years on this forum, this might be my first argument. My first on-line argument! Woo-hoo.

Anyway, you're wrong because without the DC...

och, you know what. Life is too short. I know lots of people like Donnie Darko. I didn't. I guess it's just a marmite movie. I am certainly not going to lose any sleep over it. It would be a dull world if we all liked the same things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 07:25:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 May, 2021, 06:58:56 PM
och, you know what. Life is too short. I know lots of people like Donnie Darko. I didn't. I guess it's just a marmite movie. I am certainly not going to lose any sleep over it. It would be a dull world if we all liked the same things.

Hey - we both liked the music!

Totally agree with you - there's nothing I can say to make the movie intrinsically good for you, and then the vice versa is also true (or the arsi versi, as they said in Master & Commander).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 May, 2021, 06:22:38 PM

On the other hand, the (original) DC of Blade Runner removed the voice over, which was a studio-applied over-explanation that spoiled the atmosphere of the theatrical cut.

Is somewhere in existence the theatrical version of BR? It'd work awesome in the noirish atmosphere of the film? Not to mention that I DC version confusing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 May, 2021, 08:41:51 AM
'Laughs in Ghost in the Shell 2.0'

'Cries thinking about the hideous CG in Ghost in the Shell 2.0'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 May, 2021, 09:05:20 AM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Is somewhere in existence the theatrical version of BR? It'd work awesome in the noirish atmosphere of the film? Not to mention that I DC version confusing.

It was included in that lovely tin Collectors' boxset a few years back. Personally I enjoy all the BR versions, the Ford voice-over appealed to me as kid and was good quote-fodder (cf SigueSigue Sputnik) in that '80s Schwarzenegger mode, right up to the Final Cut and its rather ponderous unicorn dream.  I even like BR2049, but it is a bit of a slog in the middle.

They all have something to offer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 25 May, 2021, 10:10:54 AM
Quote from: milstar on 24 May, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Is somewhere in existence the theatrical version of BR? It'd work awesome in the noirish atmosphere of the film? Not to mention that I DC version confusing.

If you look for the US version of the Blu-ray (which is region free) it includes everything up to and including the Final Cut.  Even the long-fabled work print edition.  The DVD boxset did as well mind.  In fact the DVD tin is a surprising example of a superior packaging effort compared to the Blu ray, which in this country was an incredibly inferior product.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Recrewt on 25 May, 2021, 06:06:36 PM
Each to their own but I find the theatrical version with its voice-overs massively distracting and once you are reminded of the naked gun movies, then you can't get it out of your head!  Doesn't it also include the awful driving through the mountains ending too?  I suppose you can always just stop it when the lift doors close to avoid that - the DC/FC ending is far superior in that respect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 May, 2021, 06:12:28 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 25 May, 2021, 06:06:36 PM
Doesn't it also include the awful driving through the mountains ending too?

It does. It's probably redundant for me to mention that's just a clip from a scene in The Shining*, as we all seem to be quite involved Blade Runner geeks.


*Next I'll be telling everyone about Frank Beard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2021, 08:46:40 PM
ZACK SNYDER: Here is a film I have made, and it is about the inevitable failure of capitalism and why concentration camps are bad.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Typical Snyder.  So right wing.

That Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD is an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist work is apparently irrelevant to the living torment that is social media commentary, for Snyder is a right-wing hack and that is the only lens through which his work is allowed to be evaluated.  A Sean Spicer cameo is highlighted as proof that the film is right-wing, but Spicer's cameo actually sees him schooled by an African-American woman for failing to acknowledge racial profiling and America's jailing of political dissidents.  Within minutes of this, we see life in America's concentration camps as a living Hell in which people can "disappear" at the whim of guards who use their authority to hide their raping not just detainees, but also those who enter the camp as medical volunteers.  The camps full of people deemed less than human and a threat to American security, treated like they're diseased, all of them seemingly Latino, all confined behind a massive wall - I don't know who needs to hear this in relation to a Zack Snyder movie but this is not subtle stuff, it is not hard to miss, and none of this is my "hot take", this is the actual text of the film story.

There's a whole sub-plot in this movie where an alpha-male character is struggling to communicate with his daughter, and Snyder devotes long, seemingly aimless minutes to a father and daughter failing to express themselves adequately to each other and they cut the conversation short thinking they have time to work this through.  They've left this conversation in a bad place, but they'll sort it out later.  There's time.
I can think of... another interpretation of this part of the story which was written by Zack Snyder that doesn't involve his right wing politics, but Zack Snyder is right wing, so it's probably just about how he doesn't understand women probably.

There's an axiom in left-wing thinking that goes "we can sooner see the end of the world than accept the end of capitalism", and in recent years this has been born out to be true because capitalists are literally burning the planet to death, but if you want to see a fun examination of this notion played out with a zombie tiger, this movie has your back.  I really enjoyed its silly mix of heist and zombie tropes and while I did feel the running time once or twice, it's got plenty going on to keep you occupied.  It starts with a just-married woman declaring "I love life WOO" and if you know where that's going - and you definately do - but can keep watching anyway, you won't have any problems with this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 May, 2021, 09:09:53 PM
It seems apposite (linked with the themes of Army of the Dead) to link in this long, quite difficult article: Children tell of neglect, filth and fear in US asylum camps. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57149721)

When professionals point out that removing children from their carers (in an example in the article - splitting up two sisters, one of whom was a child) causes the same distress for the child as removing them from their parent (because the carer is a parent figure in their life), the people doing the removing simply respond "but it's federal law", as if that's some kind of an answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2021, 10:01:02 PM
They were only obeying orders.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 May, 2021, 11:05:31 PM
Quote from: Professor Bear on 25 May, 2021, 08:46:40 PM
ZACK SNYDER: Here is a film I have made, and it is about the inevitable failure of capitalism and why concentration camps are bad.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Typical Snyder.  So right wing.

That Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD is an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist work is apparently irrelevant to the living torment that is social media commentary, for Snyder is a right-wing hack and that is the only lens through which his work is allowed to be evaluated.  A Sean Spicer cameo is highlighted as proof that the film is right-wing, but Spicer's cameo actually sees him schooled by an African-American woman for failing to acknowledge racial profiling and America's jailing of political dissidents.  Within minutes of this, we see life in America's concentration camps as a living Hell in which people can "disappear" at the whim of guards who use their authority to hide their raping not just detainees, but also those who enter the camp as medical volunteers.  The camps full of people deemed less than human and a threat to American security, treated like they're diseased, all of them seemingly Latino, all confined behind a massive wall - I don't know who needs to hear this in relation to a Zack Snyder movie but this is not subtle stuff, it is not hard to miss, and none of this is my "hot take", this is the actual text of the film story.

There's a whole sub-plot in this movie where an alpha-male character is struggling to communicate with his daughter, and Snyder devotes long, seemingly aimless minutes to a father and daughter failing to express themselves adequately to each other and they cut the conversation short thinking they have time to work this through.  They've left this conversation in a bad place, but they'll sort it out later.  There's time.
I can think of... another interpretation of this part of the story which was written by Zack Snyder that doesn't involve his right wing politics, but Zack Snyder is right wing, so it's probably just about how he doesn't understand women probably.

There's an axiom in left-wing thinking that goes "we can sooner see the end of the world than accept the end of capitalism", and in recent years this has been born out to be true because capitalists are literally burning the planet to death, but if you want to see a fun examination of this notion played out with a zombie tiger, this movie has your back.  I really enjoyed its silly mix of heist and zombie tropes and while I did feel the running time once or twice, it's got plenty going on to keep you occupied.  It starts with a just-married woman declaring "I love life WOO" and if you know where that's going - and you definately do - but can keep watching anyway, you won't have any problems with this.


I got totally opposite impression from the film. To me, it's lefty piece of work, that serves as anti-capitalist statement and Snyder always comes to me as lefty.
Btw, I got that the whole father - daughter thing is self insert there, given Snyder's personal tragedy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 May, 2021, 07:49:11 AM
Have to say,  I'm glad to see the alternative takes on this movie here (even from folk who believe Robespierre was un Papa centriste). I'm no fan of Snyder,  except as a highly skilled technician, but I do love some Bautista, and so the trailer appealed. I'll give it a shot this weekend.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 26 May, 2021, 11:43:54 AM
Snyder himself recently said he's baffled that he's considered right wing when he is a lefty.

I wanted to love Army of the Dead but found it muddled and all over the place.

I do love me some Snyder in general, though, (adored his Justice League cut).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 26 May, 2021, 01:52:11 PM
I thought Snyder was a follower of the Ayn Rand cult?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 26 May, 2021, 02:57:24 PM
Stowaway on Prime. This film gives unpolished turds a bad name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 26 May, 2021, 04:01:10 PM
Dead of Night (1945, Ealing)

Having just finished Sean Hogan's utterly incredible England's Screaming, which gets much usage of the character Hugo Fitch, I spent the weekend trying to find a cheap copy of Dead of Night on dvd. Then yesterday I found I'd recorded it off the telly last year, and it was sitting on my Sky box all along.

While the Hugo segment is, of course, the best- and Hugo himself a terrifying creation, I also really enjoyed the story about the mirror, and the astonishing end sequence. Shame about the misjudged comedy ghost/ golf segment and the screechiness of Sally Ann Howes' (Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) accent- which hurt my poor ears.

If you've not seen it, it's worth it for Hugo- brrrr.

SBT

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 May, 2021, 05:01:18 PM
Just read the wiki summary and that sounds amazing - I love those old portmanteau films but if I've ever seen this one, it was many years ago. The ventriloquist bit is the only section that sounds familiar, but I may be mixing it up with other spooky-ventriloquist films (wasn't Anthony Hopkins in one?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 26 May, 2021, 06:54:00 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 May, 2021, 05:01:18 PM
Just read the wiki summary and that sounds amazing - I love those old portmanteau films but if I've ever seen this one, it was many years ago. The ventriloquist bit is the only section that sounds familiar, but I may be mixing it up with other spooky-ventriloquist films (wasn't Anthony Hopkins in one?)

It's called Magic. A sad film, actually.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 May, 2021, 10:14:49 PM
Quote from: milstar on 26 May, 2021, 06:54:00 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 May, 2021, 05:01:18 PM
Just read the wiki summary and that sounds amazing - I love those old portmanteau films but if I've ever seen this one, it was many years ago. The ventriloquist bit is the only section that sounds familiar, but I may be mixing it up with other spooky-ventriloquist films (wasn't Anthony Hopkins in one?)

It's called Magic. A sad film, actually.

That's the one. Brilliantly creepy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 26 May, 2021, 11:54:28 PM
Dead of Night pops up on TalkingPicturesTV fairly regularly- which is where I recorded it from.  You will need to adjust your aspect ratio though, because it's automatically played in widescreen and it shouldn't be.

And for anyone in love with British horror films, I cant reccomend England's Screaming highly enough. But that's one for the Reading thread.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 27 May, 2021, 05:01:53 PM
Dead of Night is an absolute classic, one of the very best supernatural films ever made.

Talking Pictures is such a stonking channel: it reintroduced me the masterpiece that is Night of the Demon last year. Great stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 27 May, 2021, 06:10:56 PM
Yep, me too. And then I went and bought a copy for my shelves because it really is one of the best horror films I've ever seen.

And- still on the subject of England's Screaming- Julian Karswell is a main character in the book, and his long shadow and influence runs through it all the way to the end. But again, that's one for the 'Reading' thread.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 May, 2021, 10:14:36 PM
Aliens

Sorry, War for Planet of the Apes

Sorry, Army of the Dead

It was... unexpectedly good
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 28 May, 2021, 10:58:18 AM
I've also just finished Army of the Dead, which I had to watch over a couple of sittings as it's so long.

I thought it was alright... for an action movie it was fairly enjoyable but Grud was it self-indulgent. Aside from the vast running time it was full of homages to other films and dangling plot threads thrown in and then not touched upon again, supposedly either to generate loads of fan speculation or to seed for a sequel. [spoiler]Time loops? Robots? UFOs? And what happened to the woman they rescued?[/spoiler]
A lot of that felt like very flabby filmaking - as though freed from the contraints of a traditional cinema release, Snyder basically did what he wanted with nobody to answer to. It feels... annoying, like I've been mildly trolled.
I did like him trying something different with the zombie 'society' even though it seemed nonsensical and the CGI veered from impressive (Tig) to bad (tiger). Opening credits were great. Not a waste of my time, but not something I'd watch again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 May, 2021, 02:31:57 PM
She was a macguffin, to answer your question.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 May, 2021, 11:32:45 PM
WOMEN AREN'T JUST THINGS, YOU DINOSAUR.

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 28 May, 2021, 10:58:18 AM[spoiler]Time loops? Robots? UFOs? And what happened to the woman they rescued?[/spoiler]

Now, I'm not saying the movie isn't stupid and often illogical, but a lot of the problems I see people having with it are often easily solved by giving it the benefit of the doubt and a couple of moment's thought.

[spoiler]"Time loops" was foreshadowing, and an allusion to the end of the film.  The guy who mentions "everything beginning again" is the one responsible for the virus escaping quarantine, hence his saying "fuck" at the end when he realises that he's responsible for the next zombie outbreak.  This is also meta-commentary, as I don't think there's a single person watching who doesn't know how this movie ends, and Zack Snyder knows it.
The UFO stuff was a reference to one of America's worst-kept secrets: the existence/location of Area 51/Groom Lake, and the conversation about UFOs establishes where the military convoy we see at the start has come from, but also that UFOs are something only crackpots believe in.  It's scene-setting, though as hilariously unsubtle as this sequence is, apparantly it was reshot to include explicit references to Las Vegas because audiences thought the UFO stuff was meant to be literal (the groom was originally played by James Franco, who wasn't available for the reshoots).
The woman they rescued died in the king zombie attack/helicopter crash along with Tig.  Narratively speaking, this makes the surviving character the "parent" of the children seen earlier, so she is adopting the difficult role her father once had and which led to their estrangement.  This resolution is also a loop of sorts, though the obvious implication is that she has come to understand her father's experiences and can forgive him.
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 May, 2021, 11:35:15 PM
Kuffs

Well, this one is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. Uneven in tone (is it an action film or parody of action film?), violent, yet lighthearted, with cheesy, crappy jokes (that you still laugh at), and the plot absolutely ridiculous. Christian Slater from his younger years plays irresponsible dropout who gets to commando a special police unit after his cop brother was gunned down. And like in every such movie, that operates on Beverly Hills Cop level (btw, the score heavily reminescences BHC), the main character manages to solve the case his way. But, one thing doesn't exist in Beverly Hills Cop; the main character constantly breaking the fourth wall, I can't but not to blame Ferris Bueller for that. The rest of the  main cast is so-so. Milla Jovovich looks hm...(and she was only 15 then; may I say that she looked gorgeous?) and she comes quite sympathetic here. Tony Goldwyn is awful or miscast. And so is that. Action scenes look decent, but not particularly remarkable.

All in all: stupid, trashy fun. And did I mentioned that Christian Slater spends significant part of the movie awkwardly bare-chested?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 01 June, 2021, 03:07:34 PM
Good post there Prof. Bear, but I suspect the point of these things being in the film is purely to stimulate discussion / get nerds applying some critical analysis to this film when in reality they were just randomly inserted for a laugh - the time stuff being the most annoying because it blatantly IS [spoiler]the bodies of the cast[/spoiler] in the vault, and the film brings the viewers attention to it, but then doesn't follow it up. Of course I may be hugely underestimating Zack Snyder here. Maybe the whole thing is a dream and there'll be a Nolan-esque sequel.

With regards the vanishing of [spoiler]Geeta, I also think the assumption is that she died in the chopper crash which of course renders the entire second half of the mission pointless, as everybody died for nothing. Yeah, Kate now a lot of cash but I'm pretty sure those kids would rather have their Mum.
If we're looking for themes of parenthood, not only is there the the resolution of the conflict between Scott and Kate and but the thwarted birth of mega-king-zombie and in a wider take, said super zombie's status as 'father' to the advanced zombies meaning the whole film is totally about being a dad. [/spoiler]

Anyway, pretty sure I've now thought about this film more than anyone needs to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2021, 05:20:35 PM
Late to the Into the Spider-verse party but saw it was on All 4 so in an attempt to get the boychild to watch something other than gaming videos I 'made' him watch it with me while I ironed. I had to stop ironing after an 1hr 15 minutes as I was enjoying it so much and struggling to concentrate.

Man that film is a blast. I know there's a lot of this stuff in the comics but the fact almost all of it was new to me made it feel like it was doing it own thing - not trying to cram a comic story into a medium it wasn't made for. And it really worked. Really well. Funny, charming, exciting and even the over the top nonsense MEGA ENDING thing actually made perfect nonsense in the context of the movie.

Just brilliant.

Oh and the best thing is they based the Kingpin on Bill Sienkiewicz's Kingpin in Daredevil - Love and War that really pleased me for some reason - though his voice sulked.

So yeah excited to see they are making a sequel BUT alas the biy hasn't asked to read any of my Spidey comics... still work to do...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 June, 2021, 05:45:30 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 01 June, 2021, 03:07:34 PM
...the time stuff being the most annoying because it blatantly IS [spoiler]the bodies of the cast[/spoiler] in the vault, and the film brings the viewers attention to it...

SPOILERS AHOY FROM ME HERE...

We could allow for some ambiguity - and the idea that other teams have been sent in before and that they're just (like the similar team in Shaun of the Dead) very similar to the team we're witnessing, but not the same.

It could be a commentary on the idea that the workers are being exploited, in a way they've always been, by "the man", with a promise of potential riches at the end of the rainbow.

It could be that we can't trust the camera's view of the world, because the team are going mad with stress, so ... so is the camera.

Or it could be some weird, unexplained Easter egg time loop shit that upsets the narrative, like you say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 June, 2021, 06:18:12 PM
Read that there's another team at a table in the casino in the same attire.

This whole thing has a host of blink and you'll miss it things, including the [spoiler]UFOs[/spoiler] at the start and the [spoiler]robot zombie[/spoiler].

Also, Geeta apparently [spoiler]die die on camera but then her death was cut as a consequence of the pilot being recast[/spoiler]. It was impractical to impose CGI on the shot as needed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 05:08:14 AM
Zeitgiesty Timing™ brings you Honest Trailers | Army of the Dead (https://youtu.be/OxcrNPqaZuI).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 02 June, 2021, 09:48:43 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2021, 05:20:35 PM
Late to the Into the Spider-verse party but saw it was on All 4 so in an attempt to get the boychild to watch something other than gaming videos I 'made' him watch it with me while I ironed. I had to stop ironing after an 1hr 15 minutes as I was enjoying it so much and struggling to concentrate.

Man that film is a blast. I know there's a lot of this stuff in the comics but the fact almost all of it was new to me made it feel like it was doing it own thing - not trying to cram a comic story into a medium it wasn't made for. And it really worked. Really well. Funny, charming, exciting and even the over the top nonsense MEGA ENDING thing actually made perfect nonsense in the context of the movie.

Just brilliant.

Oh and the best thing is they based the Kingpin on Bill Sienkiewicz's Kingpin in Daredevil - Love and War that really pleased me for some reason - though his voice sulked.

So yeah excited to see they are making a sequel BUT alas the biy hasn't asked to read any of my Spidey comics... still work to do...

Spider-Verse, and I realise this may get me booted off the board, is without doubt the greatest film adaptation of a comic. It revels in playing with comic book tropes while adding some of the greatest animation seen in a film. It's outstanding.

Fortunately my daughter agrees. She's more interested in Gwen and Spider-Ham than Miles Morales or Peter Parker, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 June, 2021, 09:52:14 AM
Aeon Flux

I really like the cartoon.  Was thinking about it recently.  So I decided to watch the film.  Again.

I have a soft spot for the film.  I have a soft spot for a lot of average sci-fi action films.  I don't know why anyone thought that trying to transfer Aeon Flux to the big screen using traditional story telling would work.  As an adaptation, it is awful.  The cartoon relies heavily on reference and metaphor.  At least the film tries to explore one of the themes, identity.

Anyway, as a film on its own merits it is fine.  What it lifts from the cartoon works in its favour.  The organic style of the art direction works in its favour.  The action is okay.  The plot is coherent.  There are worse ways to spend an evening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 June, 2021, 10:02:24 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 02 June, 2021, 09:48:43 AM
Spider-Verse, and I realise this may get me booted off the board, is without doubt the greatest film adaptation of a comic. It revels in playing with comic book tropes while adding some of the greatest animation seen in a film. It's outstanding.


Its hard to argue and while I completely accept the local interest surrounding at least one film Spider-verse is just really, rerally well done.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 02 June, 2021, 01:33:59 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 05:08:14 AM
Zeitgiesty Timing™ brings you Honest Trailers | Army of the Dead (https://youtu.be/OxcrNPqaZuI).

Perfect.
Along similar lines: Army of the Dead Pitch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC1LiBBkDdo)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 June, 2021, 07:00:41 PM
Blade Runner (International theatrical cut)

Well, I asked for the voice-over version; I inadvertently got it, on the telly. The moment Deckard explains his job, I thought "oh, great, finally some clarification". The only version of BR that I familiar with was Final Cut.
Anyway, I never thought of BR as one of the greatest movies of all time. Maybe because I thought of it as a blockbuster action film, which only superficially is true about the movie. I like to think that the movie poster where Deckard was looming with his badass pistol over the city was responsible for that. That and some deep shit philosophy. Oh well...
Still, I gotta acknowledge its craft of filmmaking. Ofcourse, the visual look and scenery are nothing short of breathtaking and even 40 years after, it doesn't lose its dazzling flair. And I find the movie pretty unique for the 1980s; in fact, placing BR in any decade wouldn't do it fairly. On the technical level, attention to detail is just brilliant. And despite the epic look of it, I never got that feeling. Tight, murky, cluttered corridors, copious use of close-ups give rather a claustrophobic feel. The music score is beautiful and haunting and fits the scenery and atmosphere on the spot. I also liked how the film adopts noir antics into a futuristic setting. The morally ambiguous protagonist, dark, rainy backgrounds, the Venetian blinds, pessimistic worldview; and despised by some, the voice-over, uttered in typically grumpy, disinterested Harrison Ford's fashion, that somehow adds well to the noirish feel. There ends what I liked about the film. Downsides... well, it's obviously the pacing. The movie just drags and loses momentum in the second hour, which he could be summed to Batty goading JF Sebastian into gaining access to Tyrell, Batty kills Tyrell, Deckard hunts Pris, and Batty...and that's it. The characters in the film are rather empty and impenetrable; Batty is a somewhat more interesting character than Ford's bland and unremarkable as protagonist Deckard; the relationship between Deckard and Rachel (Rachel is awful as femme fatale) is rather awkward (although I get it that the movie tries to make Deckard as alone, miserable man (?!) in search for love, but that doesn't excuse the infamous forcing Rachel to kiss him) and while I do appreciate some philosophical points that the movie tries to raise, it ultimately falls under its own weight by biting into too much deep bullshit of it, helped by its unanimous ambiguity which makes all those points come rather flat. As if someone took all thought-provoking ramblings of humanity and compiled them into a single movie.

This cut? Well, I appreciate the voice-over use, it makes the film slightly less confusing.
And while this cut is excised of the scenes with the Unicorn, a few subtle hints still remain which indicate that Deckard is possibly the Replicant himself (like when Rachel asks him did he ever take the test on himself).

The best SF by milstar? That'd be 2001 or to a lesser extent - The Matrix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 02 June, 2021, 08:49:38 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 June, 2021, 07:00:41 PM
Blade Runner (International theatrical cut)
.... and while I do appreciate some philosophical points that the movie tries to raise, it ultimately falls under its own weight by biting into too much deep bullshit of it, helped by its unanimous ambiguity which makes all those points come rather flat. As if someone took all thought-provoking ramblings of humanity and compiled them into a single movie.
......
The best SF by milstar? That'd be 2001 or to a lesser extent - The Matrix.

Hmmm.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO) is probably in my top five movies - of any genre.

2001 is very, very good - but a bit arty farty, and loses it entirely in the last section when it goes all woo-ey.

The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 June, 2021, 10:35:33 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

Disagree quite strongly. Leaving aside the astonishing drop-off in quality of the sequels, the first movie has an aesthetic that was quite unlike anything we'd seen in a mainstream Hollywood movie before (admittedly one that you could unpick various elements of, but in totality felt very new) and at its heart has a question — does it matter if you're not free if you don't KNOW you're not free? — that's surprisingly smart for a big-budget crowd-pleaser.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 June, 2021, 12:49:57 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 June, 2021, 10:35:33 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

Disagree quite strongly. Leaving aside the astonishing drop-off in quality of the sequels...

I would echo Jim here. The sequel's were piss poor, but The Matrix rewrote the language of action cinema in the late 90s.

I heard the Warchowskis originally wanted one of the characters to be male in the real world, but female in the matrix. The studio blocked it. In hindsight, it's obvious why the Warchowskis wanted that. The Matrix is very much pro trans. The movie says subtle yet definite things about personal identity versus public persona and how "the system" can strip those things away.

Having said all that, I suspect not many Trans people would be terribly impressed that I understand their identity through a 90s Keanu Reeves movie.

Edited for royal fuck-ups on pronouns.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 June, 2021, 05:40:18 AM
Man, you guys are making solid arguments. It's been twenty-two years, so probably I should give it a re-watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 June, 2021, 07:29:20 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO) is probably in my top five movies - of any genre.

2001 is very, very good - but a bit arty farty, and loses it entirely in the last section when it goes all woo-ey.

The Matrix is buttered popcorn - I've remained surprised at fowks high regard for it all the way from its release. All FX and no substance.

2001 - transcendental storyline that laments on the past, present and future of the humanity. Kubrick is genius for setting his shots. And for the music choices he used. And that time and space traveling sequence is something that is yet unseen in cinema. Simply unbeatable.

The Matrix - groundbreaking special effects for its time (though, I think it still pretty holds up) and surprising amount of thought-provoking narrative left, that is akin to 2001. Influence from manga and John Woo's movies. I don't wanna sound like conspiracy theorist, but I find the idea that we all live "in a box", aka com programme, intriguing, with the red pill to wake up and blue pill - keep going. And there's something I find relatable about the movie - "ignorance is bliss".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 03 June, 2021, 08:53:36 AM
I thought The Matrix has some impressive but overused special effects. I didn't find it particularly profound and its themes are better explored in other works. I don't really understand the regard that some people hold it in, but that's fine. After all, I spend my spare time reading comics.

My comment about Milstar's review of Blade Runner was simply that all the criticisms of it (which have some validity) are doubly true of The Matrix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 June, 2021, 10:20:55 AM
I agree with Funt that The Matrix is buttered popcorn.  It's a fun science fiction action film.

The Philosophical concepts it explores are done in a very shallow manner and with large degrees of incompatibility.  The Brain in the Vat thought experiment and Baudrillardian theories don't really have overlap, as an example.  It's a jigsaw puzzle of borrowed ideas and references.  And that's fine.  It's clear it's set dressing. 

When I strip away the themes and ideas that don't really go anywhere in the film, I'd say the film is pretty much just about finding oneself.  It's the only theme I see that runs consistently from start to end. 

Neo is living a life defined by his environment.  He feels something is wrong and he is searching for answers.  He gets introduced to new ideas and a marginalised group of people who show him that he has been living a lie up to that point.  He has to start rebuilding his sense of self.  He finds it difficult to reconcile his old life with his new revelation.  Through conflict and struggle he finally discovers who he is and his place in the world.  He discovers his sense of self and it is (sortof) done on his own terms.

Of course, I could just be projecting.  The messianic stuff muddies a lot of things.

Jim, Mister Pops and milstar make very good points about the film.

Except... how can you say the third film is awful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk)
;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 June, 2021, 03:32:27 PM
There's no doubt it loves the smell of its own farts and I'm not trying to argue that it's particularly profound. But it's not as dumb and crass as you would expect a movie about people in fetish gear knocking each others pans in and disco dancing their way out of gun fights to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 June, 2021, 04:11:18 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 June, 2021, 10:20:55 AM
Except... how can you say the third film is awful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk)
;)

Loving that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 June, 2021, 08:10:24 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 June, 2021, 10:20:55 AM

Except... how can you say the third film is awful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzidu-5iVRk)
;)

Best thing thing I've seen all week.

FTR,  I like the Matrix, and think it's a good film, but I don't really love it. At some point the SF underpinning is just too silly (for me) for a movie that takes itself so seriously.

I do however think highly of the second one, I liked the idea and execution of the ghosts and whatnot.

And I'm enjoying all the metaphors being explored on this thread, most of which hadn't occured to me: I confess the trench coats, sunglasses, redpills, and guns, lots of guns, had swamped my perceptions with their veneer of school-shooter cool. May have to re-watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 June, 2021, 08:33:38 PM
I find Matrix sequels somewhat enjoayble; they had few really cool moments (like Neo fighting 30+ agents) or Neo vs Smith showdown... but the main issue I have with these movies is... they brought nothing to the lore, only confused it. The first Matrix had a proper conclusion on which I never thought they were gonna make a sequel or two for that matter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 June, 2021, 10:07:38 PM
Have I mentioned my far superior idea for the third movie? In either case, I'm sure you'd love to hear it...

So, in the second movie when Neo uses magic powers outside of the Matrix to disable the baddy bots who are trying to mangle his magic floaty ship ... I thought - wtf - how can he do that? It's not like he's Jesus! (At this point, you have to realize, nobody had seen the third movie where it turns out - SpOiLeR alert - Neo is no shiz the real deal, OG, a melonfarming messiah. No way! Way! etc.)

So, how could he disable the baddy bots outside of the Matrix unless he ... was ... still ... in ... the ...

WHA?!

Yes! A matrix within a matrix. Like in Seinfeld when they make a show about nothing. Or in Curb when they make a show about The Producers within the show where Mel Brooks is trying to use the tactic from The Producers. Basically - this idea is old hat, but great.

It's time we saw the Funt-cut.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 June, 2021, 10:14:02 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 03 June, 2021, 10:07:38 PM
Yes! A matrix within a matrix.

That film exists.  It's called [spoiler]The Thirteenth Floor[/spoiler].  I don't remember whether it's an important twist to the film or not, it's been years since I last watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 04 June, 2021, 09:16:07 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 June, 2021, 09:14:46 PM
Blade Runner (any cut, really, but I favor the ones without the VO)

I showed it to my gf last week, for her first time BUT with the original with the VO - it's a futuristic film noir epic with the vo

without the vo [which i tried to watch once but couldn't dig - imho it's just epic cinematography ?!

"Sushi. That's what my ex-wife called me. Cold fish."  classic
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 04 June, 2021, 01:51:24 PM
Cash on Demand. A taut Hammer heist movie, built almost entirely around the performances of leads Peter Cushing and Andre Morrell. Cushing is the upright, uptight bank manager forced to rob his own bank; Morrell is the charming, avuncular thief who makes him do it, on pain of his family's cold-blooded execution. This is as about as lean as thrillers get - the whole film takes place in the bank (or just outside) and there's a total cast of about ten actors; there's not a scene or line of dialogue that's not relevant to the heist, or telling us about the characters. Cushing and Morrell are a powerhouse. The pleasure of the film is not so much in seeing the heist unfold, but watching their verbal sparring. The ending falls a bit flat, which is such a shame, but for what it is the rest of the film's practically perfect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 04 June, 2021, 02:13:04 PM
re cash on demand

what a fab trailer - couldn't find anywhere to stream it though!

i'm guessing harry enfield & paul whitehouse may have stolen Andre Morrell's annunciation - especially the word "money" for their b/w sketch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a0odh8ro08 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a0odh8ro08)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 04 June, 2021, 06:28:22 PM
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 04 June, 2021, 02:13:04 PM
re cash on demand

what a fab trailer - couldn't find anywhere to stream it though!

i'm guessing harry enfield & paul whitehouse may have stolen Andre Morrell's annunciation - especially the word "money" for their b/w sketch

Ahaha - I love those sketches!  :lol:

The whole film's on YouTube, if you're so inclined.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 June, 2021, 08:17:52 PM
Extreme Measures

Hugh Grant in his typically out of place, miserable, yet sympathetic role. Plays an emergency room doctor whose life turns into a real mess when he starts to dig in into a homeless patient that died while being treated in the emergency room. I must say, it's a solid, but a rather disappointing thriller. It builds suspense gradually, posing provocative questions about medical ethics procedures, but then breaks apart in the third act, as if filmmakers were more interested in doing typical man on the run film. . And Gene Hackman plays a rather cliched antagonist, who is more like "I know that what am I doing is bad, but feck it". I wish the movie dealt more with these themes. Therefore, my mantra- "trust the science absolutely. Trust the scientist? It depends on the scientist" feels let down here.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 June, 2021, 08:53:03 AM
ARMY OF THE DEAD

[spoiler]robot zombie[/spoiler]? If it's the blink and you miss it bit I'm thinking about, I rationalized that as the effect of one of Guzman's incendiary/tracer bullets in a headshot.

Anyway, not a lot more to be said... it's pretty much Aliens with Zombies. Waaay too long for no reason. And pretty dull for the two hours between the marvellous opening titles and the climax.

More like  "Shit of the dead".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 June, 2021, 09:06:22 AM
At the other end of the scale, very amusing Japanese Zombie movie "One Cut of the Dead"  is well worth 90 minutes of your time. Just make sure you go in cold, avoid all spoilers and know only the brief synopsis that a small indie film crew making a Zombie film, get attacked by Zombies...

More like "One cut of the... <<insert name of something fantastic>>".  Pizza? Freshly baked Granary bread? Tarka Daal? Hummous? The view of Arran you get from Cumbrae as you round the top of the island having cycled anti-clockwise out of Millport? A cold beer on a hot summer's day? A hot coffee on a cold winter's morn? Ten minutes undisturbed in your favourite armchair? That girl in the brown Elesse top that I danced with thirty years ago in Sankey's Soap...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 June, 2021, 01:46:02 PM
Oxygene, Netflix. Great little sci-fi mystery box. Melanie Laurent superb. Keeps you guessing. Make sure you watch with subtitles, not dubbing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 05 June, 2021, 02:03:42 PM
Highlander on Netflix.

Saw it on it's initial release and every few years since.

You all know it and probably love it as much as I do.

It really is still as great as it ever was.

It's latest remake talk sees Henry Cavill involved. It'll never happen of course, and it absolutely doesn't need to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 June, 2021, 03:05:04 PM
Useless bit of trivia for you: Clancy Brown who plays The Kurgan, went on to voice Mr Krabs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXg-ocFHFV8) in Spongebob Squarepants
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 June, 2021, 03:22:26 PM
Oddly enough, last time I watched Highlander I didn't  love it. It was much noisier (And not nice noise) than I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 05 June, 2021, 03:52:24 PM
Clancy Brown's filmography is a thing to behold.  The man is phenomenal (and genuinely made me queasy when I first saw Highlander as a kid).

I understand what you mean, Tiplodocus.  The last time I saw it, about a year ago, it just failed to click with me as it normally did.  I couldn't work out why.  It IS very soundtrack heavy, that's for sure (a part of Mulcahy's pop video directing roots, no doubt). This time around I loved it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 June, 2021, 04:18:55 PM
It was a staple of drunk Saturday nights with my mates at uni. I re-watched it a couple of years ago, and *apart* from Clancey Brown, I found it pretty bad. We're spoiled for amazing fight choreography these days, and what's there doesn't exactly zing (except for the OTT sound effects). I'd be up for a remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 June, 2021, 05:40:21 PM
Highlander is perhaps if not in mine if not top 5, then top 10 movies. A fairly tale for grown-ups, cool sword fights, epic story, romantic subplot, outcast protagonist, amazing antagonist (I personally consider Kurgan one of the three top villains in cinema) and the Queen soundtrack. What's not to love? Oh, and when Connor says goodbye to Rachel - one of the saddest and poignant scenes I ever saw.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 05 June, 2021, 06:21:15 PM
[spoiler]Another reason to hate the sequels...they kill Rachel off and then, about 10 minutes later, kill Connor off as well (in part 4, I think.)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 June, 2021, 08:44:56 PM
I really enjoy Highlander but I've never thought it wasn't silly and ropey.  That's part of the fun, right?

I keep thinking I should rewatch the second film.  Maybe I will tomorrow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 05 June, 2021, 10:03:54 PM
Highlander 2 is endlessly fascinating to me: a truly terrible sequel that somehow manages  to still be entertaining (sometimes legitimately, sometimes because it's SO laughable).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 June, 2021, 11:08:21 PM
Highlander 2 is somewhat salvageable if you decide to watch Renegade Cut. Theatrical version is a failure on biblical level and not less annoying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 June, 2021, 11:31:33 PM
Highlander's definitely a cult thing that's mostly enjoyable because of the high cheese factor:

- Music by Queen
- Being gross: e.g. licking nuns
- The Scottish guy sounds French
- The Egyptian / Spaniard sounds Scottish
- Great quotes ("I came in disguise!", "My name is Conner McLeod of the Clan McLeod...")
- The death-by-duel montage

Remaking it would only expose it's weaknesses. There can be only one!

(And all the sequels are pish.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 June, 2021, 12:02:13 AM
Speaking of quote, the a-hole cop who arrests Connor/Russell Nash then teasing him in the precinct "Where are you from, Nash?", "Are you fa**ot, Nash"? "You went down to garage for blowjob, but you didn't want to pay for it" gets me every time. In addition to the exact beginning of the scene where the cop stares at Connor/Nash, then looks away admonished when the latter stares back.

Reportedly, the man whom Kurgan throws out of the car with the old lady is Frank Dux, on whose supposed exploits is made Bloodsport, with JCVD.

As for the Highlander direction, I can that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Mulcahy made his name in the music industry, shot many iconic videos (I love Wild Boys for Duran Duran), but I give him credit for having flair for visuals and editing. About a year ago, I watched his debut film - Razorback. True, it's very cheesy, style dominates the substance, but I gotta say it's one of the better Alien/Jaws rip-offs. Beautiful scenery too. And quite inventive nightmare sequence I gotta add.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 June, 2021, 01:38:27 AM
Yeah, I have a lot of time for Razorback.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 06 June, 2021, 04:14:23 PM
Maybe I mentioned it here but I watched Highlander about a year ago with my partner. Her first time. Not mine.

We both loved it.

For me, it's a decent script elevated by Lambert's weirdness and Mulcahy's flashy direction. One of the main reasons it's always interesting to watch is because it is so stylised. Fashion's change with things like that, obviously, but Mulcahy has a visual imagination and flair way beyond what most other directors of sci-do B movies then or now. This sensation you are experiencing is called The Quickening!

Shout out for the effects as well. Because it was done in the cartoon style to start with our doesn't really look dated.

Maybe there's another factor though. There aren't many other big, daft genre movies made in or about Scotland. Fire me and my teenage mates, this was just as big, rewatchable and quotable a movie as Aliens or Robocop.

Never seen Razorback but Mulcahy also directed Extinction, which is the one entry in the Resident Evil series that you could squint and call a legitimately decent film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 June, 2021, 05:36:30 PM
A lot of our college motorbike club got drafted in as extras because of their long hair and beards. They played in both clans; running down one hill in the morning then the opposite one in the afternoon. I was short haired and clean shaven, as always, at the time so missed on that gig.

I can't remember much about Razorback apart from enjoying it when I saw it... But that was thirty years ago.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 June, 2021, 06:14:48 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 06 June, 2021, 04:14:23 PM
Never seen Razorback

You probably should. It's incredibly stylish for its micro-budget and, as I recall, an awful lot better than you might expect for its basic Jaws-with-a-giant-feral-hog premise.

Somehow, I've never managed to see Mulcahy's Shadow... I've been meaning to for years, but never quite actually managing to do it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 June, 2021, 07:58:54 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 June, 2021, 06:14:48 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 06 June, 2021, 04:14:23 PM
Never seen Razorback

You probably should. It's incredibly stylish for its micro-budget and, as I recall, an awful lot better than you might expect for its basic Jaws-with-a-giant-feral-hog premise.

Somehow, I've never managed to see Mulcahy's Shadow... I've been meaning to for years, but never quite actually managing to do it.

Tbh, I find the premise a bit ridiculous in Razorback, but then again, the design of the mutant boar pays it off, despite appearing in the film just a handful of minutes. But, the climax is where I say that Mulcahy's direction comes to full expression. I remember in just a two-three minutes, there is cut every 3 seconds. As for the budget, I read somewhere it was the highest budgeted Aussie film up to that point (5 mil wasn't thrown away).

The Shadow came to be visually imaginative as other Mulcahy flicks and Alec is on the spot in the role, but somehow that movie never rose above an average pulp actioneer for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 June, 2021, 10:21:25 PM
The Terminal - remove your faculties and swim around in the warm cocoa fuzziness of this gentle comedy where Tom "Vladivostock" Hanks Mr. Beans his way through a Kafkaesque nachtmare (but one that's fluffy like a marshmallow).

Or ... be disturbed at the idea of being trapped in a consumerist hell (where Micky-D burgers are shown as something that can halt starvation, as opposed to something that has almost no nutritional value whatsoever) and used as a plaything by an uncaring bureaucracy. Also - playing ethno-Russki is, what is that, west-washing?

Women are alien targets for men to own, often speech-unseen. Deffo failing the Bechdel here. Would you like to get engaged and then quickly married to someone who is too scared to speak to you but has been pestering you via an intermediary for nine months? Viktor is eventually saved by Amelia, who gets him his papers by prostituting herself to the married man who "owns" her.

The Barfinal, more like!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 June, 2021, 10:28:29 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 June, 2021, 10:21:25 PM
The Terminal

Based on a true story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri), no less, of a former Iranian man who assumed the role of a long lost British Raj while stranded in de Gaulle airport while he existed in legal limbo for decades, of his own free will after a point.
A terribly sad story of mental illness I really don't think the movie succeeded in capturing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 June, 2021, 06:12:30 AM
Blade Runner 2049

Well, it's not a secret that I am not one of the biggest admirers of the original Blade Runner. But I admit I admire it in several aspects. That's why I am not going to elaborate detail on the sequel because more or less, all sentiments I have about the first film, I dare to say for this one. Yes, I think 2049 is pretty successing successor to the original. Visually, thematically, even music score is done in the mould of the original, with several cues repeated here. And like in the first film, I find the pacing very slow, and the theme "what it means to be human" too philosophical for me. And yes, this one also drops a few hints on Deckard's humanity. But yeah, this may not be a sequel that everyone asked for, but I gotta say, it's definitely a sequel that is worth seeing, if not for the narrative, then for brilliant scenery (albeit, a bit depressive for my taste), camerawork and the editing. I can only say i was worried on how the movie might end, whether Gosling would join replicant resistance group, or letting Wallace taking Deckard away, but I gotta say, I am satisfied with the conclusion. Ryan Gosling plays...well, Ryan Gosling, with his endless stares into distance, laying emotionless (I think he already did this movie before and it's called Only God Forgives). But of all the actors, I retract what I said about Jared Leto, ever. He steals the movie, Harrison Ford still shows some flair.
Perhaps history won't remember 2049 in the same vein as 1982 Blade Runner, but who knows? One thing also is shared by both movies; scarce luck at the box office.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 June, 2021, 09:33:08 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 June, 2021, 01:38:27 AM
Yeah, I have a lot of time for Razorback.
Same. Great film, beloved of my dear old dad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 07 June, 2021, 09:41:15 AM
Just to buck the trend here, Highlander is total tosh. Awful acting from almost all the leads (Sean Connery in particular totally phones it in: Clancy Brown is pretty excellent though) and a mind-numbingly stupid plot. If you don't like Queen (I don't) then it's got nothing going for it in my opinion other than the fact that it's not as bad as the sequels which are even worse.

Razorback is WAY better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 June, 2021, 09:48:00 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 07 June, 2021, 09:41:15 AM
Just to buck the trend here, Highlander is total tosh. Awful acting from almost all the leads (Sean Connery in particular totally phones it in: Clancy Brown is pretty excellent though) and a mind-numbingly stupid plot. If you don't like Queen (I don't) then it's got nothing going for it in my opinion other than the fact that it's not as bad as the sequels which are even worse.
If you dislike Queen, I don't think there's *any* way to enjoy Highlander!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 June, 2021, 10:00:02 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 07 June, 2021, 09:33:08 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 June, 2021, 01:38:27 AM
Yeah, I have a lot of time for Razorback.
Same. Great film, beloved of my dear old dad.

If I can credit movies for making important decision in my life, then Razorback is guilty for turning me into a vegetarian. That and Jaws for never swimming in an ocean.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 07 June, 2021, 04:26:57 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 07 June, 2021, 09:48:00 AM
If you dislike Queen, I don't think there's *any* way to enjoy Highlander!

Ha! I've long harboured a suspicion that if Queen hadn't done the soundtrack it wouldn't have been so beloved. Imagine it all tracked by Extreme Noise Terror or Klaus Nomi.

I've watched loads of the Adrian Paul series too, as my housemates were well into it at University - it stretches the concept even further and it's all so po-faced. I always thought it would have been better if it were slightly dafter in tone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 07 June, 2021, 07:35:50 PM
The TV show was mostly crap, aye, but I'll always have a soft spot for the very first episode having Lambert turn up to pass the torch on, as well as the onea with Roger Daltrey as a ghost or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 June, 2021, 08:30:00 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 07 June, 2021, 09:48:00 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 07 June, 2021, 09:41:15 AM
Just to buck the trend here, Highlander is total tosh. Awful acting from almost all the leads (Sean Connery in particular totally phones it in: Clancy Brown is pretty excellent though) and a mind-numbingly stupid plot. If you don't like Queen (I don't) then it's got nothing going for it in my opinion other than the fact that it's not as bad as the sequels which are even worse.
If you dislike Queen, I don't think there's *any* way to enjoy Highlander!
I detest Queen yet Flash! and Highlander are two of my favourite films. Something about their straight-faced ridiculousness just works in context.

Had somehow forgotten about The Shadow. Another great wee film whose fond place in history was cemented by an excellent pinball machine!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 June, 2021, 08:57:30 PM
Best pinball machine / movie tie-in: The Addams Family
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 June, 2021, 09:08:03 PM
Highlander II - The Quickening

I was very tired and had drunk a glass of wine so I kinda missed the end. 

It has Michael Ironside as the villain!  OK, his performance doesn't match Clancy Brown's, but it's still a big plus for the film.  The effects weren't as bad as I was expecting either.

It has bad pacing and a weird tone.  The story is kinda bland sci-fi fair.  As a sequel it isn't good as it tries and fails to replicate aspects of the original film and it retcons a lot as well.  As it's own thing it isn't that much worse than the original.  It's a piece of low quality junk, but I think it is watchable.  Perhaps even rewatchable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 June, 2021, 11:37:08 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 June, 2021, 09:08:03 PM
Highlander II - The Quickening

I was very tired and had drunk a glass of wine so I kinda missed the end. 

It has Michael Ironside as the villain!  OK, his performance doesn't match Clancy Brown's, but it's still a big plus for the film.  The effects weren't as bad as I was expecting either.

It has bad pacing and a weird tone.  The story is kinda bland sci-fi fair.  As a sequel it isn't good as it tries and fails to replicate aspects of the original film and it retcons a lot as well.  As it's own thing it isn't that much worse than the original.  It's a piece of low quality junk, but I think it is watchable.  Perhaps even rewatchable.

You had more patience for Quickening than I did.

Mortal Kombat (1995)

I missed MK in the theatres, which, from what I heard, wasn't worth while experience, so I catched this classic 90s film on the telly. The movie is still badass as before (although I wish I am 20 years younger) and it pays tribute to MK lore really well. Okay, compared to other movies based on popular video games, like Street Fighter; which is the movie that should be like MK. But oh well... Anyway, I take it that the majority is familiar with the movie so I won't waste any more words on this, except that the movie runs for my pace too quick, and Sonya and Kano are vastly undermined, but you can't have it all.

Flawless victory!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 June, 2021, 11:50:24 PM
Quote from: milstar on 07 June, 2021, 11:37:08 PM
You had more patience for Quickening than I did.

I was very tired and had a glass of wine... and kinda missed the end.  I reserve the right to change my mind entirely on watching it with a much clearer head ;)

I also didn't point out that the sex scene(?) was a real whiplash.  Utterly bizarre, I couldn't help but laugh at it.  Maybe I shouldn't judge.  Watching an old man decapitate two sci-fi weirdos and then regain his youth would weaken the loins of anyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 08 June, 2021, 08:41:25 AM
To continue the Connery theme:

The Untouchables (Netflix). This is a film I've watched a lot, but probably not in the last 20 years. Anyway, it turns out my other half hadn't seen it. It's a far more interesting film than I remembered it. It takes a done-to-death story and reinvigorates it by taking care with every aspect of the production. David Mamet's script is filled with classic lines. Giorgio Armani's costume design evokes a nostalgia for a 1930 that only existed in Hollywood. Morricone's score is recognisably his but, again, plays with classic gangster tropes. De Palma also has fun playing with the genre conventions and even slips in a wonderful tribute to The Battleship Potempkin (I'd never really noticed the sailor until this viewing).

Of course Costner is very well cast as the naive, whiter-than-white Elliott Ness and De Niro delivers his lines with relish (he has some wonderfully chilling scenes). But, as ever, Connery steals the show. It's an iconic role for him even if his Irish policeman seems to have been brought up in Gorgie.

An utterly brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 08 June, 2021, 08:17:16 PM
Had no idea The Untouchables is on Netflix.

It's a masterpiece, yup, and kickstarted my mild Mamet obsession as a film-crazed teen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2021, 09:19:42 AM
Always loved the fact Bob Hoskins was De Palma's second choice to play Capone, after a few months and De Niro had been announced Hoskins received $12,000 in the post as consolation from De Palma for being his back up.

Hoskins immediately called Brian De Palma and asked him if there where any other movies he didn't want him to be in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 June, 2021, 11:27:30 AM
Had one of those days yesterday, so went for two ice cold bottles of Birra Moretti and a comedy on Netflix as soon as I got in from work.

The Naked Gun 2&1⁄2: The Smell of Fear was my chosen tonic. Still a classic.

Is there a bigger 'separate the art from the artist' situation than still finding The Juice funny after all these years?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 09 June, 2021, 11:29:06 AM
I've been up down and up with The Untouchables.  I really liked it as a kid but saw it about five years ago and the acting was so over the top that it seemed ridiculous and I hated it.  But gave it a go recently and didn't mind it again.  Not a huge fan of Costner, I don't find him to have much charisma but it's a good film.

Anyway, I gave Jacob's Wife a go.  A horror comedy starring Barbara Crampton.  It's a lot of fun.  One of the best in that sub-genre.

Quote from: milstar on 07 June, 2021, 11:37:08 PM
Mortal Kombat (1995)

I like it a lot.  I was a big fan of the first two games and it did a good job of really nailing the atmosphere and characters.  Shockingly, I quite like the sequel too.  It's very very silly but it's basically just a lot of fights and that kind of works given what the games are like.

The new one was utter trash though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 09 June, 2021, 11:38:17 AM
Quote from: repoman on 09 June, 2021, 11:29:06 AM
..starring Barbara Crampton..

Already interested!

The best thing about 1995 Mortal Kombat is Trevor Goddard's depiction of Kano.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 09 June, 2021, 01:18:54 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 09 June, 2021, 11:38:17 AM
Quote from: repoman on 09 June, 2021, 11:29:06 AM
..starring Barbara Crampton..

Already interested!

The best thing about 1995 Mortal Kombat is Trevor Goddard's depiction of Kano.

Oddly the Kano in the new one is the best thing about it also!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 09 June, 2021, 02:10:01 PM
Yay! Just more proof that Kano is the best thing going when it comes to Mortal Kombat!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 June, 2021, 05:50:30 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 09 June, 2021, 11:27:30 AM
The Naked Gun 2&1⁄2: The Smell of Fear was my chosen tonic. Still a classic.

I adore those films, Airplane too of course - I saw the first Naked Gun film in France where it was called "Y'at-il un flic pour sauver La Reigne?" ... there is a logical reason for this, I promise!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 June, 2021, 06:53:46 PM
Nordberg's troubles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2_tJIgfnDA) at the beginning of The Naked Gun crack me up every time.

It's difficult to beat the Police Squad end credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tXrAkkTcWE) sequences though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 June, 2021, 10:55:37 PM
If you can seek out TOP SECRET by the same team, it too is awesome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 June, 2021, 11:13:08 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 09 June, 2021, 11:38:17 AM
Quote from: repoman on 09 June, 2021, 11:29:06 AM
..starring Barbara Crampton..

Already interested!

The best thing about 1995 Mortal Kombat is Trevor Goddard's depiction of Kano.

One of the few things I'll give that film credit for is Linden Ashby's performance as Johnny Cage.

Also in the latest film I found, despite the limited screen time, that Kabal was more entertaining than Kano.  I still liked Kano. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 10 June, 2021, 03:01:53 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 June, 2021, 10:55:37 PM
If you can seek out TOP SECRET by the same team, it too is awesome.

Love that movie. You will recall the cow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb4asEv4jz8).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 10 June, 2021, 06:46:09 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 10 June, 2021, 03:01:53 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 09 June, 2021, 10:55:37 PM
If you can seek out TOP SECRET by the same team, it too is awesome.

Love that movie. You will recall the cow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb4asEv4jz8).

Oh man, aye.  So many gags in that.  An absolutely cracking film.  I'm fairly sure I've seen it on iTunes in the past or maybe Amazon / Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 June, 2021, 11:36:59 AM
Mortal Kombat Annihilation

Or the first twenty minutes of it. I forgot how bad it was. Casting choices aside (and James Remar isn't half as good as Christopher as Raiden), everything else feels like a generic martial arts B film, that doesn't hold the wit and style of the first. Special effects are lousy and Shao Kahn...well, I can't figure why someone thought of Brian Thompson. The man certainly has physique, but lacks flair to play primarily antagonist. And does he needs to raise up arms every time he delivers a line?
Anyway, I switched off to...

Legend

Or Legend European version. This Ridley Scott's dark fantasy adventure wasn't exactly time well spent, but it sure as hell was better than cringy minutes spent on MKA. I guess Rid had no luck with his versions drastically butchered by the studio (first Blade Runner, now this). I felt that in plotwise terms, this film is just very bare bones, as someone was lazy and disintersted in the movie, so it got hackneyed in the way that only very basic plot remains. As result, several scenes are edited down in obviously choppy manner. I also felt that I am about twenty years older than target audience this movie is near-exclusively inclined to. There are moments of sweet, naive innocence that worked me as kitschy and campy soap-operas (but that's just my personal statement). But I commend Rid's audacity to tackle fairy tales and his visual eye doesn't disappoint. Props, set designs, beautiful visuals, moody score, camerawork are all top in the category. And I would probably commit a mortal sin if I don't commend cutting edge make-up effects, that pretty still hold up today, imo. And there's Tom Cruise. Who, at the time, might feel as ideal protagonist, but I find him being elephant in the room when it comes to the acting, with his constant bewildered look and stretched eyes as he was in delirium over the magnificient sets he's in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 June, 2021, 11:20:27 AM
Alien

My 11 year old's first time. Every time I see it, I am struck by how similar it is to Aliens. In my head, they are monumentally different films, with Alien being claustrophobic and Aliens being more gun-ho marine action. But I think that's tempered by the Aliens comics that came after.

The two films are structured in a near identical manner, and Aliens calls back to a lot in Alien: the shots of the dormant ship; the future-eerie soundtrack; the crew eating together; movement sensors and the darkness hiding advancing menace; desperate flight as the location self-destructs; the false ending and confrontation in supposed safety.

And yet, I forget all this until I watch Alien.

It's a toss up between Aliens and Sgt Bilko today. Before anyone says anything snarky, I consider Steve Martin's Bilko movie to be a cruelly maligned, criminally under-rated, comedy master-piece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 June, 2021, 04:24:19 PM
I've only ever attacked the idea of Steve Martin's Sgt. Bilko. I've never actually watched it.  :-\
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 June, 2021, 07:56:43 PM
Yep, just watched Sgt Bilko

As a wise man once said, this is a cruelly maligned, criminally under-rated, comedy master-piece.

Really.

It's a likeable, family friendly comedy, with great performances and a lot of fun gags. With very early appearances by Chris Rock and Bryan Cranston. I've seen it at least a dozen times and have never understood why it gets such bad press.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 June, 2021, 08:22:57 PM
Lethal Weapon

Oh, back when we though Gibson was just acting. Still probably one of the best action flicks of the decade.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 June, 2021, 09:05:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 June, 2021, 07:56:43 PM
Yep, just watched Sgt Bilko

As a wise man once said, this is a cruelly maligned, criminally under-rated, comedy master-piece.

Really.

It's a likeable, family friendly comedy, with great performances and a lot of fun gags. With very early appearances by Chris Rock and Bryan Cranston. I've seen it at least a dozen times and have never understood why it gets such bad press.

What I want to know is does Phil Silver's Sgt Bilko still stand up. Not seen that in years but used to love it back in the day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 June, 2021, 09:11:20 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 13 June, 2021, 09:05:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 June, 2021, 07:56:43 PM
Yep, just watched Sgt Bilko

As a wise man once said, this is a cruelly maligned, criminally under-rated, comedy master-piece.

Really.

It's a likeable, family friendly comedy, with great performances and a lot of fun gags. With very early appearances by Chris Rock and Bryan Cranston. I've seen it at least a dozen times and have never understood why it gets such bad press.

What I want to know is does Phil Silver's Sgt Bilko still stand up. Not seen that in years but used to love it back in the day.

I've always avoided the Steve Martin movie because I loved the television show so much. That's the only reason. I'd give it a go now, on the basis of Dr X's passionate declarations. Added to the list...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 13 June, 2021, 09:53:28 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 13 June, 2021, 09:11:20 PM

I've always avoided the Steve Martin movie because I loved the television show so much. That's the only reason. I'd give it a go now, on the basis of Dr X's passionate declarations. Added to the list...



WARNING: I have never seen the old show. I suspect the bad press for the Steve Martin movie stems from the fact that it is nothing like the show. On its own right, it's a family comedy. As a remake, it may well fail badly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 June, 2021, 09:36:14 AM
King Ralph

Haven't seen this since I was kid and I was hoping it would be really goofy, dumb and fun.  It was very generic.  Entirely mediocre.  I was a little disappointed that it lacked personality, surprised about the pro-Monarchy message but relieved it wasn't complete and utter garbage.  Reminded me a lot of Mr Deeds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 June, 2021, 02:45:53 PM
Peter Rabbit

Or James Corden as the titular rabbit. I hated this. I don't know if this film is supposed to be a comedy, nor I don't know if you, as the viewer, are supposed to hate Peter. Naughty, obnoxious, irredeemable bloke he is, and if anywhere the comedy went wrong, that'd definitely be the infamous blackberry scene. Loud, predictable, and plain stupid are all synonymous with this film. And it definitely wasn't the film I'd blithely show to my potential kids.

Speaking of, is there a role, any role, in existence that James Corden would flat-out refuse to play?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 June, 2021, 07:27:43 PM
I was interested in watching that film.  Until I found out James Corden was in it.  He has always rubbed me the wrong way.  I find him very unpleasant and I find it incomprehensible the amount of success he has had.  I'm not sure I've read or heard a positive word spoken of the man up to this point.  His mere presence in anything makes it unwatchable for me.  So I didn't watch Peter Rabbit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 16 June, 2021, 07:58:39 PM
I have that with Andie McDowell, as well. No real rhyme or reason, I just find her terminally insipid. So Groundhog Day and Four Weddings are both tragedies from my perspective. Shallow as it is. Also find Cordon a talentless, gurning blip of somehow widespread exposure. Evidence that we're in a bugged sim.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 June, 2021, 09:33:35 AM
I can get the Cordon hate - he is a bit of an annoying shit.

Still have a soft spot for Gavin & Stacey though
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 June, 2021, 07:24:33 PM
Falling Down

Hmm...should I dislike a movie that purposefully did everything to make you feel unpleasant, heavy with philosophical undercurrents that ultimately don't rise above the cliched Hollywood formula? Don't know how much of this movie went into Joker, but some similarities are striking. Nevertheless, I find Michael Douglas's role as stereotypical angry white male role (although I firmly believe there is a portion of truth in every stereotype) one of his career-best and on par with Joaquin's titular clown. Anyway, I got mixed feelings about the whole movie. I get the point it tried to make but it tried to show ugliness every step of the way altogether. As if someone wrote down a series of cliched vignettes of what can go wrong to everyday people in a big city (from Boston to Budapest), LA is shown as a cesspool of place, filled with selfish, miserable, bitchy, prickish, cantankerous blips where Michael Douglas serves as judge, jury, and executioner that ramps up his insanity. Robert Duvall perhaps could be the best character in the whole movie, but he takes a dump as the henpecked husband, whose apparent lack of attitude gets him into the butt of the sardonic jokes by his colleagues. Too bad Duvall channels Robert Duvall here and I find his part vastly underwritten. Acting-wise, aside from Douglas, my money goes to that crazy nazi bloke; I dare to say, he stole those scenes from Michael.
In the end, I dare to say that the subject matter should be served with a more serious treatment, perhaps as an indie arthouse production. If it's to milstar, I imagine this as a much darker film, that takes place on some holiday, for e.x Christmas and the main character being a happy family man than an already psyched-up office drone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 June, 2021, 03:53:07 AM
Birthday Girl

Eh... I remember this movie from my childhood when I watched it with my old man and younger brother. Probably I'll forever remember the moment when during one of the intimate encounters between Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin, my brother, who was 8 or 9 then, asked "What are they doing?" And my Dad spontaneously responded "Ugh...they're just...toying".
Aside, I didn't remember the movie as something remarkable. The movie runs out of juice after the first ten minutes, actually, soon Nicole's Russian cohorts get on the scene. Everything after that was painfully boring. Oh, and Ben Chaplin acted like a dork. Nor I got why he, after giving the information on 20 million women in Britain, he had to order a Russian bride. At least Nicole looks good in this movie, as always.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 20 June, 2021, 01:44:58 PM
Spiral

Set in the Saw universe.  It's not one of the better ones (1, 4 or 6) but that's no surprise as it was directed by the guy that made 2, 3 and 5. 

But it's not terrible and it's reasonably short.  I didn't mind it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 21 June, 2021, 11:30:16 AM
Jumper

This has to be one of the most ridiculous science fiction films I have ever seen. And the premise rather suits those B movies of the 1950s. Jump from pace to place, from Hawaii to the Himalayas in an instant coyly activated my cheek muscles for laughter. Unfortunately, the experience of the whole movie is not that warm. While the runtime of just below 1hr and 30 min may seem too short, a rather frantic and hectic pace of the piece makes it up. Adjoined by heavy handheld camera use and ridiculous set pieces. Dialogues and characters are plain stodgy and Hayden Christensen delivers his lines as if the whole life is sucked out of him. Rachel Bilson annoys with frequent crying out her love interest David. Sam L. Jackson is standardly good as always, but he had to be turned into a cardboard villain. Oh yes, let's not forget Jamie Bell, who plays a Scottish jumper a-hole, who perhaps gives on what the whole meaning of jumping is about. "We are not heroes, we don't save the girls!" Pure MGTOW. The highest point in the movie is when he and Hayden are fighting each other throughout various corners of the planet, in a brief instant. Oh, and yes, I get that Assassin Creed stole the idea from this movie. And Templars are Paladins, so yeah...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 June, 2021, 12:54:51 PM
Quote from: milstar on 21 June, 2021, 11:30:16 AM
Jumper

I remember Push being more enjoyable and interesting than this film.  Not a particularly remarkable film, but it in comparison it brings a lot more to the table.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 June, 2021, 07:05:49 PM
The Wrath of Man. An intriguing start rapidly descends into a run-of-the-mill same old, same old fest trying desperately to disguise itself as something clever and fresh.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 June, 2021, 08:12:40 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 June, 2021, 07:05:49 PM
The Wrath of Man. An intriguing start rapidly descends into a run-of-the-mill same old, same old fest trying desperately to disguise itself as something clever and fresh.

Judging by the trailer is this not just Jason Stateham doing shooty-shooty bang-bang?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 June, 2021, 08:50:40 AM
The Wrath of Man I enjoyed. Yes, and tries to make you believe it is more than just an action-fest movie but in its heart it always was an action-fest movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 June, 2021, 10:34:28 AM
The Happening

Okay, for all faults I found in Jumper, that movie is masterpiece to The Happening. I don't think I ever watched any more M. Night Shamalan recent picture, but I after this massacre, I don't think I'll soon. Omg, this was a failure on almost every level, and too much of it just to count them all, nor I really do not wanna waste further space on this movie than it deserves. For all what's worth, I find CinemaSins take on the movie rather enjoyable, but not too much as it always reminds you on how much the utter shite the film is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 June, 2021, 08:23:56 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 June, 2021, 08:12:40 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 June, 2021, 07:05:49 PM
The Wrath of Man. An intriguing start rapidly descends into a run-of-the-mill same old, same old fest trying desperately to disguise itself as something clever and fresh.

Judging by the trailer is this not just Jason Stateham doing shooty-shooty bang-bang?

Yes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 June, 2021, 08:33:10 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 June, 2021, 08:23:56 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 June, 2021, 08:12:40 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 June, 2021, 07:05:49 PM
The Wrath of Man. An intriguing start rapidly descends into a run-of-the-mill same old, same old fest trying desperately to disguise itself as something clever and fresh.

Judging by the trailer is this not just Jason Stateham doing shooty-shooty bang-bang?

Oh cool.  I like Stathem shooty-shooty bang-bang films... well, most of them.  I bet he does some martial arts type stuff and drives a car really fast as well.  And scowls a lot.

Yes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 June, 2021, 02:18:49 PM
Freddy Got Fingered

Or better say - milstar got fingered - up to the end. I suppose everyone can make a movie today with just a decent amount of buck. Braindead, idiotic Tom Green in his braindead, idiotic movie, with braindead, idiotic humor, that not even is saved by the presence of Rip Torn. And as of lately I saw a significant amount of movies that were in the best case - mediocre, I'll take an unspecified break from the cinema. Sod off, Tom Green!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 June, 2021, 03:52:41 PM
"Daddy would you like some sausages?"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 24 June, 2021, 01:48:52 PM
Quote from: repoman on 20 June, 2021, 01:44:58 PM
Spiral

Set in the Saw universe.  It's not one of the better ones (1, 4 or 6) but that's no surprise as it was directed by the guy that made 2, 3 and 5. 

But it's not terrible and it's reasonably short.  I didn't mind it.

Even though I've self-spoiled 50% of it, going to see it tonight in Dublin.
It will be the first film I've seen in the flicks since March 1st 2020 - unbelievable.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 June, 2021, 02:00:10 PM
Quote from: milstar on 23 June, 2021, 02:18:49 PM
Freddy Got Fingered
Sod off, Tom Green!
Gospel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 24 June, 2021, 02:15:23 PM
Godzilla King of Monsters.

Don't. It boggles the mind how offal like this gets budgeted in the region of $170m dollars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 June, 2021, 04:04:33 PM
Naked Gun

I chuckled in places.  The baseball stuff went on too long as I don't give a shit about sport in general or baseball in particular.  I realise I only understand baseball through jokes made about it in american media.  Anyway, I was expecting it to be a bit of a let down, but it turned out to be fine.  If it wasn't for the baseball nonsense and the very unfortunate equivalence of the Palestinian struggle to Idi Amin at the beginning it would have been entertaining throughout.  I may watch the sequel again at some point in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 June, 2021, 09:41:38 PM
"Hey, it's Enrique Palazzo". All movies should list the one line actors this way in the credits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 June, 2021, 01:46:05 PM
Naked Gun 2½

This one didn't do anything for me.  Despite the staggering relevance of the plot, it just wasn't all that fun.  I cringed more than I laughed.  That doesn't say much because I didn't laugh.  I was curious if the film could beat the law of diminishing returns, but I don't think it did.  Not for me anyway.  Still, it's watchable, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 June, 2021, 11:15:23 PM
I'm probably not a good gauge because the Laurel and Hardy joke from Blazing Saddles (https://youtu.be/kuHKWzWtBzM) makes me laugh just by thinking about it - laughing now. But, no laughs at all from Naked Gun 2½? Cheese. Harsh.

I grabbed a random clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz1NJ3fhso0) off The YouTube, and got two laughs in the first six seconds: "Looks like the cows have come home to roost", then slapping the sniper and making him fire.

Ah well - not for everyone, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2021, 11:30:28 PM
THE PRODUCERS popped up on council telly the other night and it had only just begun so I thought, I'll watch ten minutes of this because I can't remember seeing it in more than thirty years.

Needless to say I ended up watching the whole thing and still can't stop humming "Springtime for Hitler".

It's a remarkably slight movie, a few dated attitudes (but doesn't fare too badly considering) and I'm sure would have been instantly forgotten but for two utterly fantastic turns from Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel. They bounce off each other really well - surely some of it improvised.

I know there's a more modern version (is it a musical) and i have it in my head that it's Matthew  Broderick and Natha Lane). I can imagine Lane is superb but I'm too frightened to watch it and find out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 June, 2021, 11:53:52 PM
I've watched some stage versions of The Producers, which have always been entertaining, but Gene Wilder's performance in the movie is simply irreplaceable.

My blue blanket. (https://youtu.be/pZ9UQxzG2po)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 28 June, 2021, 07:54:26 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2021, 11:30:28 PM
I know there's a more modern version (is it a musical) and i have it in my head that it's Matthew  Broderick and Natha Lane). I can imagine Lane is superb but I'm too frightened to watch it and find out.

It's not good. For some reason they do "stage" performances, which just look and sound ridiculous on film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 June, 2021, 09:36:22 AM
Summer of '84

It has a decent premise.  A coming of age film were the kids spy on a suspected serial killer.  It just doesn't come together in a coherent manner.  It leaves dangling threads all over the place and makes a drastic tonal shift right at the end of the film.  Much of it was predictable, including the tonal shift.  The characters were cut outs and their development is stifled.  Really mediocre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 30 June, 2021, 01:07:27 PM
Cop

I love James Woods in this police thriller from the late 1980s. His intensely obsessive portrayals that are borderline psychopathic, which he channels into The Specialist or Videodrome, are nothing short of a treat. I also love that he plays a cop on edge, insubordinate, who is willing to break a handful of rules to exact justice; but is also sly, amoral, and sardonic. And whose idea of ideal bedtime stories for his young daughter is telling her all in realistic detail about his cases. Arguably, on the surface, Cop looks like a typical cop film. A demented serial killer (who brutally dispatches women and one male prostitute), sleazy, shady characters, ominous eerie, score, realistic scenery, but what cop film has a brutal ending, no-holds-barred ending like this? Spoiler link! - [spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgCL__BBD6c[/spoiler]

The movie occasionally slows down, and some scenes add nothing to the film or advance the plot and are better left on the cutting room floor or trimmed down.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 July, 2021, 12:59:52 PM
U-571

Blatant historical inaccuracies aside, this turned to be quite gripping submarine thriller. And Matthew McConaughey, in one of his earlier roles, is excellent lead. This was quite a treat. One thing that always skips me, is where the hell is Bon Jovi? I watched this film numerous times, but could never identify him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 01 July, 2021, 08:06:52 PM
Quote from: milstar on 01 July, 2021, 12:59:52 PM
U-571

Blatant historical inaccuracies aside, this turned to be quite gripping submarine thriller. And Matthew McConaughey, in one of his earlier roles, is excellent lead. This was quite a treat. One thing that always skips me, is where the hell is Bon Jovi? I watched this film numerous times, but could never identify him.
Complete rubbish historically but I love films about submarines and this is one of the better ones.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 01 July, 2021, 09:07:37 PM
When Eight Bells Toll.

Film4: Sir Anthony Hopkins, no less, starred in this early 1970s flick as a blue-collar James Bond, tracking bullion robbers along an isolated Scottish coast. Not bad special effects for its time though the strain on the budget showed towards the end, as the final battle in the villain's underground lair is clearly filmed on a stage. Various British actors dot the scenery, Robert Morley as Sir Anthony's unhappy Boss and Peter Arne as Villain No2 wearing a coat that looked too big for him. You can see the Producers logic concerning a move away from the James Bond mould of suave International Agent to a more down to earth character, and you wonder if Sir Anthony would have returned to the role. Unfortunately, W.E.B.T did poor box office, so the possible franchise was shot down by the Cinema going public. I'll certainly check out some more Alistair McClean novels, that's for sure and might invest in a DVD of this forgotten action film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 July, 2021, 11:56:52 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 01 July, 2021, 08:06:52 PM
Quote from: milstar on 01 July, 2021, 12:59:52 PM
U-571

Blatant historical inaccuracies aside, this turned to be quite gripping submarine thriller. And Matthew McConaughey, in one of his earlier roles, is excellent lead. This was quite a treat. One thing that always skips me, is where the hell is Bon Jovi? I watched this film numerous times, but could never identify him.
Complete rubbish historically but I love films about submarines and this is one of the better ones.

This I remember talking about with my Dad after we watched the movie,  and as I suggested how Americans catched the Enigma and solved ww2, my Dad went nuts:"Oi! Don't ever talk like that!" But I was a dumb kid then.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 02 July, 2021, 07:31:31 AM
I just got into the 70s Three Musketeers movies, with Christopher Lee and whatnot. Pretty damn cool, lotta fun.

And been revisiting The Fast & Furious saga, I am a fan. Bromance perfected.

A few other gems I dug lately, watching a lot of 80s stuff: Into the Night, Cutter's Way, and The Wind in the Willows (83 stop motion one). Also, Hobo With A Shotgun.

(Also just gotta say, since he came up last page, I love Tom Green. He's a hero. Not that movie in particular, but he's just a cool funny guy. Love all his podcasts, webovision talk shows, and his standup comedy too. I even got to see him live and got called on in his crowd work.  :D Such a good dude.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 10:17:06 AM
BLADE

It's absolute gubbins isn't it. Absolute nonsense of the highest order. But goddamn I wish more blockbusters where still this goddamn trim and slick and fun. There's a sense of self awareness in the first two Blade movies and the Raimi Spidermans that has morphed into self-deprecation of late in the MCU and honestly all the knowing winks and 'lol so zanney' moments can't make up for a single well choreographed ode to the Five Venoms.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 02 July, 2021, 11:06:13 AM
I remember that film from the controversy at the time.

It struck me that there's an awful lot of British war movies that erase the contributions of allies. Getting our knickers in a twist over Hollywood doing what Hollywood seems a bit of a waste of time. Still, I guess crap like that sells papers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 July, 2021, 11:40:31 AM
Quote from: CalHab on 02 July, 2021, 11:06:13 AM
I remember that film from the controversy at the time.

It struck me that there's an awful lot of British war movies that erase the contributions of allies. Getting our knickers in a twist over Hollywood doing what Hollywood seems a bit of a waste of time. Still, I guess crap like that sells papers.

What film? (U-571 I guess, and not Venom?).

There was a similar fuss over the one where Ben Affleck wins the Battle of Britain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 12:31:10 PM
No sweat, people. We all know that history taught in the books is much less accurate than history shown in the movies. Har!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 12:33:34 PM
Certainly a few absolute ponces who shall remain unnamed lost their shit over a Sikh soldier appearing for ten minutes in 1917 (a perfectly serviceable if overly lauded film on the whole) that really speaks about just how white washed the private school understanding of the wars has become always been.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 12:45:34 PM
Well, ww1 and ww2 campaigns were much less ethnically diverse than campaigns fought today. That goes for all parties involved, but it also depends on the front in question.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 July, 2021, 01:17:39 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 12:45:34 PM
Well, ww1 and ww2 campaigns were much less ethnically diverse than campaigns fought today.

I suspect, for the British Army, at least, that may not be true. According to the current stats, (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2020/html) the British Army is about 90% white and tends not to undertake joint operations with Commonwealth armed forces as a matter of course, so depiction of a current military operation would legitimately be pretty darned white.

However, the remarkable numbers (https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/bhm-heroes/for-whom-the-bells-toll/) of troops committed to both world wars by Commonwealth/Empire nations mean that there would have been non-white faces all over the place during those conflicts, and it's not unreasonable to expect even fictional or fictionalised accounts of those wars to acknowledge that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 02 July, 2021, 03:05:06 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 12:45:34 PM
Well, ww1 and ww2 campaigns were much less ethnically diverse than campaigns fought today. That goes for all parties involved, but it also depends on the front in question.

That's certainly not true of the Commonwealth contribution. The Indian Army and African divisions in particular  seem to get airbrushed out of many accounts of the war.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 04:00:22 PM
There was the story recently about non-white troops not being afforded the same burial honors as whites: Commonwealth war graves: PM 'deeply troubled' over racism (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56840131).

And this article (https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-08-02/there-were-indian-troops-dunkirk-too) discusses some of the non-white troops present at Dunkirk.

There is a tendency to whitewash war movies. I'm sure I read that there were black troops who were told to f*ck off when it came to filming the liberation of Paris. I'm paraphrasing, and I should really hunt down my source on that for clarity, but there it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
When I said less ethnically diverse, I meant in both world wars and on European soil. I mean, it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks. Sadly, seem that many people, historians today, are more inclined to historical revision on many accounts, not just ethnical stats. I've seen Dunkirk and a black guy was there and he was among French troops. But the thing is, those wars here in Europe have been fought largely by indigenous population and really largely. No any "deviation from the rule" can change that. If you watch Omaha landing, for instance, like in Saving Private Ryan, you couldn't spot a non-white person. With the influx of massive post ww2 immigration, ofcourse the military got diversified. In Britain, in France, possibly Germany (during ww2, Germans employed Africans for their battles, but strictly in Africa).
I'll add this. Telling a story about such historical event like ww1 or ww2 depends on the nature of the story you want to tell. Not everyone deserve their place there in any imaginable context. I became aware of Flora Sandes. Flora Sandes...well, I have a Serbian mate who was telling me about her etc., but Flora was possibly the first female soldier in the history of modern combat. Denied entry in the British army, she somehow got the chance to fight along Serbians when the latter retreat to Greece and came back to reclaim their homeland. If you make a feature film about Flora Sandes, do it on personal, individual level. Not on larger scope of where she is obviously not a main participant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 06:17:52 PM
You're making the acute inability to distinct between an Arab Sikh and a British Born Sikh of Arab Descent, which in the case of 1917 was very much the later instance and was undeniably not entirely uncommon in European battlegrounds in real life.

And thats only an example.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 06:22:36 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

Unless you saw, like, these guys:

(https://history.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/179/2021/04/369th-ship-return-thumb.jpg)
Members of the famed 369th Infantry, a.k.a. the Harlem Hellfighters, wave from deck of a ship as they arrive home from duty in World War I.

Your blether, Milstar, seems based on your false assumptions, rather than on historical accuracy. It's not revisionism to portray reality - it's revisionism to remove non-white troops from history and then do a bunch of hand-waving bollocks about later waves of migration without spending any time learning actual facts. It doesn't make sense to say "just watch Saving Private Ryan" because, and this is key, that was a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 06:25:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 06:17:52 PM
You're making the acute inability to distinct between an Arab Sikh and a British Born Sikh of Arab Descent, which in the case of 1917 was very much the later instance and was undeniably not entirely uncommon in European battlegrounds in real life.

And thats only an example.

Do we actually a place of origin of such character?

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 06:22:36 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

Unless you saw, like, these guys:

(https://history.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/179/2021/04/369th-ship-return-thumb.jpg)
Members of the famed 369th Infantry, a.k.a. the Harlem Hellfighters, wave from deck of a ship as they arrive home from duty in World War I.

Your blether, Milstar, seems based on your false assumptions, rather than on historical accuracy. It's not revisionism to portray reality - it's revisionism to remove non-white troops from history and then do a bunch of hand-waving bollocks about later waves of migration without spending any time learning actual facts. It doesn't make sense to say "just watch Saving Private Ryan" because, and this is key, that was a movie.

I don't blether. I stand by--
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
When I said less ethnically diverse, I meant in both world wars and on European soil. I mean, it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

It is reviosionism to give those people significant part in the war effort. Then learn some facts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 July, 2021, 06:31:57 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
When I said less ethnically diverse, I meant in both world wars and on European soil.

I've literally just linked you to sources that prove this isn't true, and yet you persist.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 06:35:10 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 06:25:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 06:17:52 PM
You're making the acute inability to distinct between an Arab Sikh and a British Born Sikh of Arab Descent, which in the case of 1917 was very much the later instance and was undeniably not entirely uncommon in European battlegrounds in real life.

And thats only an example.

Do we actually a place of origin of such character?

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 06:22:36 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

Unless you saw, like, these guys:

(https://history.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/179/2021/04/369th-ship-return-thumb.jpg)
Members of the famed 369th Infantry, a.k.a. the Harlem Hellfighters, wave from deck of a ship as they arrive home from duty in World War I.

Your blether, Milstar, seems based on your false assumptions, rather than on historical accuracy. It's not revisionism to portray reality - it's revisionism to remove non-white troops from history and then do a bunch of hand-waving bollocks about later waves of migration without spending any time learning actual facts. It doesn't make sense to say "just watch Saving Private Ryan" because, and this is key, that was a movie.

I don't blether. I stand by--
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
When I said less ethnically diverse, I meant in both world wars and on European soil. I mean, it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

It is reviosionism to give those people significant part in the war effort. Then learn some facts.

And even if I get an image of a black soldier on Omaha beach, that guy was just seldom among other combatants.
Aside U-571, movies can be sometimes historically accurate, which always entertains me on when people bleat how JFK is i accurate when, with minor liberties, is actually pretty fair portrayal of JFK assassunation and conspiracies (proven or not) behind it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 02 July, 2021, 06:41:53 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
I mean, it wasn't very likely that you'd be along British forces somewhere in the trenches of Europe and easily spot a non-white soldier among your ranks.

I'm going to stick my head in the Lion's mouth hear and defend this up to a point.  For a significant proportion of the British Army in France, having 'colonial' troops in the regiment was not that common. 

Yes they fought in France and yes they were there in sufficient numbers that their treatment in history texts borders on criminal.  The majority of them though fought as separate regiments.  There were exceptions but it was not that common for them to be integrated.

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/commonwealth-and-first-world-war
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 06:45:53 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 06:25:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 06:17:52 PM
You're making the acute inability to distinct between an Arab Sikh and a British Born Sikh of Arab Descent, which in the case of 1917 was very much the later instance and was undeniably not entirely uncommon in European battlegrounds in real life.

And thats only an example.

Do we actually a place of origin of such character?

'A 10 second Google search later'

British Sikhs served in Flanders, Neuve Chapelle, and Paris as well as the Western Front.

https://scroll.in/article/671238/rare-images-of-sikh-soldiers-who-fought-in-world-war-i (https://scroll.in/article/671238/rare-images-of-sikh-soldiers-who-fought-in-world-war-i)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 07:28:22 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 05:30:40 PM
If you watch Omaha landing ... you couldn't spot a non-white person.

Unless you happened to be looking over ... here:

(https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/omaha_balloon.jpg?w=800&quality=85)
320th Barrage Balloon on Omaha Beach


I get it, though. You start with "there weren't any non-whites", then when you're shown photographic evidence that there were you downplay their value. The goal posts, they do shift. I suppose those Tuskagee airmen were just, oh, I don't know, learning how to tie shoelaces or something, and not actually flying fighter aircraft in combat ops over occupied Italy. Not proper, important, white combat ops, though. Nothing really significant, as you say. Their bullets were probably less significant, somehow - like, you know, non-white bullets don't fly as fast, or something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 07:38:01 PM
Are you sure that image is legit?

At least Miracle at St.Anna partially is accurate in that it indeed deals with non-white participants in ww2, who took part solely in a particular part of the planet. But don't tell me how any non-whites were in a particulate part of the conflict, where there is no evidence left (which includes Normandy beach).

And I'll defend my point to the death that the UK army was much diverse a hundred years ago than today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 July, 2021, 07:40:24 PM
I can't think of any reason why the participation of none-white British/European ally wouldn't be properly documented in the notoriously right wing early 20th century Britain.

Nope, seems far more logical to me these photos are staged. Ask Stanley Kubrick.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 07:47:13 PM
I'd rather believe that than the notion that 20th century Britain told those people:"hey, come fight with us willfully and we'll fuck you off from history books when the conflict is over".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 07:47:51 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 07:38:01 PM
Are you sure that image is legit?

This thread is clearly derailing, so perhaps we should shift to a different one. The only real question I would have at this stage, though, is why you're so determined that there shouldn't be any non-white participants here? What is it about that idea that disturbs you? I've never really understood racism well (although I perfectly understand slavery - that's just people using other people for their own profit - very human) - but the sort of blind racism that just downplays people due to their skin tone, I've never really got a handle on the purpose of. You could help me understand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 09:41:36 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 07:47:51 PM
This thread is clearly derailing, so perhaps we should shift to a different one. The only real question I would have at this stage, though, is why you're so determined that there shouldn't be any non-white participants here? What is it about that idea that disturbs you? I've never really understood racism well (although I perfectly understand slavery - that's just people using other people for their own profit - very human) - but the sort of blind racism that just downplays people due to their skin tone, I've never really got a handle on the purpose of. You could help me understand.

Maybe we should switch onto something else. Your question why am I so determined symbolically lies i nthe notion that some people tried to justify the casting in remake of The Magnificent Seven, saying that Wild West was much diverse than we know, when arguably it wasn't. You had people of color here and there, but not as the movie painted it to be. And maybe I am wrong here, but shouldn't U-571 be more problematic in terms of historical accuracy than Dunkirk?

And this-- (I'll requote)

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 07:47:51 PM
I've never really understood racism well (although I perfectly understand slavery - that's just people using other people for their own profit - very human) - but the sort of blind racism that just downplays people due to their skin tone, I've never really got a handle on the purpose of. You could help me understand.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 07:28:22 PM
I get it, though. You start with "there weren't any non-whites", then when you're shown photographic evidence that there were you downplay their value. The goal posts, they do shift. I suppose those Tuskagee airmen were just, oh, I don't know, learning how to tie shoelaces or something, and not actually flying fighter aircraft in combat ops over occupied Italy. Not proper, important, white combat ops, though. Nothing really significant, as you say. Their bullets were probably less significant, somehow - like, you know, non-white bullets don't fly as fast, or something.

Just because I happen to give more credit on the people who substantially battled (and ultimately won) both conflicts in the trenches of European soil, doesn't make me racist. At least if you made such implication. And it'd take someone smarter than Einstein to connect the two. Have I ever said that those people were worthless cowardly scum who didn't even know how to hold their rifles? Have I? Ofcourse, you can always paint me blind racist, blind sexist, blind anti-lgbt, blind anti-immigration, while we are here, when I am not the man, who, bluntly speaking, dabbles in societal issues. At least it saves my nerves and guts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 10:40:15 PM
So, you're determined that there were no black soldiers on Omaha beach, despite seeing a photo of them, because of The Magnificent Seven? Okay. Figure I can safely assume trolling or idiocy here. I shall retreat. You have the floor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 July, 2021, 11:01:58 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 09:41:36 PM
Just because I happen to give more credit on the people who substantially battled (and ultimately won) both conflicts in the trenches of European soil, doesn't make me racist.

Consistently ignoring evidence that completely disproves your point kind of does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 03 July, 2021, 12:26:27 AM
aaaaaaaaanyyywaaayyyyy....

THE TOMORROW WAR

2.25 hours of paradox ignoring tripe. No matter how low your expectations, and mine were pretty darn low, this is worse than you can imagine.

It's a travesty that plot holes are waved through "because sci-fi".

Questions from my youngest include:

"If they are fighting aliens, then why are they training on human shaped targets?"

"If the aliens are bullet-proof, then why are the soldiers given guns? And why are they not told not to shoot at the armoured parts?"

The only paradox that is honoured here is this: someone clearly thought this film was worth making, yet in making it you have something of no worth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 03 July, 2021, 02:06:32 AM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 09:41:36 PM...some people tried to justify the casting in remake of The Magnificent Seven, saying that Wild West was much diverse than we know, when arguably it wasn't.

The Magnificent Seven is a piece of genre fantasy – a western remake of The Seven Samurai. It doesn't matter what tone of skin the cast are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 July, 2021, 03:30:34 AM
"Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to an estimated 25 percent of workers in the range-cattle industry from the 1860s to 1880s..." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cowboys)

"Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866..." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Soldier)

Feel the Love (https://youtu.be/oABEGc8Dus0) by Rudimental shows the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_Street_Urban_Riding_Club) ("part of a century-long tradition of black urban cowboys and horsemanship in Philadelphia"), depicted (some of them co-starring) in the recent Concrete Cowboy (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8846176/). That's the movie link.

Also, here's Buffalo Soldier (https://youtu.be/uMUQMSXLlHM) by Bob Marley & The Wailers.

---

Moving onto The Magnificent Seven (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magnificent_Seven_(2016_film)#Casting) (2016), in particular, which is set in 1879 and features Denzel Washington in the lead role of Sam Chisolm, a U.S. Marshal. His role is based on real life deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves) (who served from 1875-1893).

---

A strange day, today - every time someone tells me there weren't any black people around doing a particular job at a given point in history, I keep finding them doing that job at that point in history. And I'm not even looking very hard.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 July, 2021, 08:38:38 AM
Ah yes. 18th century USA. A place and time  famous for having no black peoples, nor any form of conflict pertaining to the continuing enslavement of black people.

I'm calling trolling at this point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 03 July, 2021, 10:15:44 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 03 July, 2021, 12:26:27 AM
aaaaaaaaanyyywaaayyyyy....

THE TOMORROW WAR

2.25 hours of paradox ignoring tripe. No matter how low your expectations, and mine were pretty darn low, this is worse than you can imagine.

It's a travesty that plot holes are waved through "because sci-fi".

Questions from my youngest include:

"If they are fighting aliens, then why are they training on human shaped targets?"

"If the aliens are bullet-proof, then why are the soldiers given guns? And why are they not told not to shoot at the armoured parts?"

The only paradox that is honoured here is this: someone clearly thought this film was worth making, yet in making it you have something of no worth.

I quite enjoyed it as dumb action fodder, but even I kept thinking this is pretty lazy. Where were the Heavy Tanks if their vehicles could be so easily overturned, and how come handheld pistols appeared to do more damage than futuristic Assault Rifles? 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 July, 2021, 11:41:30 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 July, 2021, 10:40:15 PM
So, you're determined that there were no black soldiers on Omaha beach, despite seeing a photo of them, because of The Magnificent Seven? Okay. Figure I can safely assume trolling or idiocy here. I shall retreat. You have the floor.

TMS is just one of the reasons. And for the record, the authenticity of the photo is unconfirmed. Sorry, but it is. And if you really care about objectivity, you wouldn't bleat about, let's say a scene on Omaha beach with no black soldiers, than a scene with no non-white soldiers in let's say Burma (who took part in the conflict equally or more than native UK troops).

But since it is mentioned, showing an image of black cowboy in the Wild West is a type of oxymoron. Cowboy, as someone who supervises a property under orders of his landowner - just to make that clear. Not gunslinger or outlaw. Still, those cowboys were extremely scarce in numbers.

The only idiocy here is stating that history lied us too long. And honestly, we have nothing else to discuss elsewhere.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 July, 2021, 08:38:38 AM
Ah yes. 18th century USA. A place and time  famous for having no black peoples, nor any form of conflict pertaining to the continuing enslavement of black people.

I'm calling trolling at this point.

If the trolling is saying that black people had no part above their horrible enslavement, I would agree.

Quote from: JOE SOAP on 03 July, 2021, 02:06:32 AM
The Magnificent Seven is a piece of genre fantasy – a western remake of The Seven Samurai. It doesn't matter what tone of skin the cast are.

Well, I suppose the controversy behind U-571 also doesn't matter.

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 July, 2021, 11:01:58 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 July, 2021, 09:41:36 PM
Just because I happen to give more credit on the people who substantially battled (and ultimately won) both conflicts in the trenches of European soil, doesn't make me racist.

Consistently ignoring evidence that completely disproves your point kind of does.

So far I haven't seen that someone disapproved my point.
I can go on like this forever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 July, 2021, 12:09:04 PM
The Omaha Beach photo was taken on 22nd August 1944 and is from the National Museum Archives you absolute spoon.

https://time.com/5599905/d-day-barrage-balloon-hero/ (https://time.com/5599905/d-day-barrage-balloon-hero/)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 July, 2021, 08:15:18 PM
Quote from: milstar on 03 July, 2021, 11:41:30 AM
I can go on like this forever.

...and you're proud of this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 July, 2021, 08:30:47 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 03 July, 2021, 08:15:18 PM
...and you're proud of this?

This is straight-up trolling. I've blocked this little fucker and I suggest you do the same.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 July, 2021, 07:22:39 AM
(Sorry, that previous post reads very unclearly — milstar is plainly trolling, not Mr Pops!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Lorenzo on 04 July, 2021, 11:55:38 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 July, 2021, 08:30:47 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 03 July, 2021, 08:15:18 PM
...and you're proud of this?

This is straight-up trolling. I've blocked this little fucker and I suggest you do the same.
Is this sort of language really necessary?
It looks like plain ignorance to me (from Milstar that is). If you want this place to be an echo chamber then by all means block anyone who doesn't listen. Alternatively, show him more evidence that he is wrong or just ignore him. Broadcasting that you are blocking him is not exactly helpful or inclusive is it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 July, 2021, 12:11:58 PM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 04 July, 2021, 11:55:38 AM
Alternatively, show him more evidence that he is wrong or just ignore him.

Done that, as have others, some of them at length. It's clearly trolling at this stage and I have neither the time, inclination, or spare millibars of mercury on my blood pressure to engage any further.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 04 July, 2021, 12:49:21 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 July, 2021, 07:22:39 AM
(Sorry, that previous post reads very unclearly — milstar is plainly trolling, not Mr Pops!)

To be fairrr I am a bit of a dick sometimes.

I watched Serpico last night and enjoyed it throughout. Only the quality of Pacino's performance contrasting with some iffy co-stars was occasionally distracting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 July, 2021, 12:53:00 PM
I was like Milstar once. A petty contrarian who asked constantly for proof of other people's assertions (read as: 'object reality') and replayed like a stuck record when proven wrong.

I was also 16 and a bloody idiot, so unless the fellow in question occupies the same headspace i'm not willing to offer any further discussion to dissuade an evidently nonsense position that has already been rebuked by multiple people, often in great detail. Certainly more so than the arrogant position is entitled to.

TOKYO: THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS

An evil Melmoth the Wanderer figure attempts to merge the plains of existence inhabited by earth and hell together only to be foiled by a series of artists, architects, journalists and epistolary alcoholics throughout history. Oh, it's written and directed by Akkio Jissoji. So theres also a shit ton of occultism involved.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 July, 2021, 12:54:06 PM
Ah yes, if you disagree onto something, you must be a troll. In where official history is far from a seldom links posted on this forum. Which, I must say, statement that and Wild West and both world wars were more diverse and non-white people had much bigger contribution than being enslavement victims, equals propaganda done in Song of the South. Everything else makes you a historical revisionist cunt.

I mean, here and there you could find an exception to the rule, a black man who possessed a land in the Wild West, Tuskagee airmen, Red Tails etc, soldiers who fought for Nazi Germany in Africa, British Commonwealth... But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

Actually, I am done with this here. I am sure there are other threads we can butt our heads with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 04 July, 2021, 03:31:35 PM
Quote from: Lorenzo on 04 July, 2021, 11:55:38 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 July, 2021, 08:30:47 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 03 July, 2021, 08:15:18 PM
...and you're proud of this?

This is straight-up trolling. I've blocked this little fucker and I suggest you do the same.
Is this sort of language really necessary?
It looks like plain ignorance to me (from Milstar that is). If you want this place to be an echo chamber then by all means block anyone who doesn't listen. Alternatively, show him more evidence that he is wrong or just ignore him. Broadcasting that you are blocking him is not exactly helpful or inclusive is it?

There's things going on in this thread that are faaar more worthy of your time than Jim's choice of language...

Milstar - Can you please post up some kind of resources for your info? You write like you have some sort of historical knowledge that the rest of us aren't privy to, if you'll pardon my choice of words there.
You've discounted a historical photo as 'unconfirmed', which leads me to think that you believe the other opinions you've posted (regarding diversity in conflict) *have* been confirmed. Again, can you please post your sources?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 04 July, 2021, 05:12:36 PM
Hi all - just in case you're interested - I set up a thread to discuss the sub-topic, so (if you want to) we can move it off this thread: Accurate Representation of Ethnicity in Historical Fictions (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47676.0)

:D

---

Fun With Dick & Jane - isn't. To be fair, I turned it off after about half an hour. It might have gotten really, really fun after that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 05 July, 2021, 04:48:56 AM
Dynasty Warriors on Netflix, yes based on the game where you hit the x button lots.  Actually quite enjoyed it, typical big brash Chinese (?) blockbuster, about as dumb and vacuous as your usual Hollywood tripe but what can I say I like tripe!!!  I love 3 Kingdoms era stories and this one serves it up very fantasy like.  More to. One too as only tells the first part of the epic tale.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 05 July, 2021, 08:15:16 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 04 July, 2021, 05:12:36 PM
Fun With Dick & Jane - isn't. To be fair, I turned it off after about half an hour. It might have gotten really, really fun after that.

Tea Leoni unfortunately made a career out of doing films which were a complete waste of her talents.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 05 July, 2021, 09:51:26 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 05 July, 2021, 04:48:56 AM
Dynasty Warriors on Netflix..

I didn't know this was out, awesome. It looks terrible but on the good side of terrible although I suspect only to those who know the Three Kingdoms story.
Radbacker, have you seen Red Cliff? It's a John Woo directed film of the Red Cliff battle (Wei vs Wu). I'm not sure how it resonates for an audience unfamilair with the sory and characters and it's about four hours long but if you know the story well worth sitting through.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2021, 10:14:50 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 04 July, 2021, 05:12:36 PM
Fun With Dick & Jane - isn't. To be fair, I turned it off after about half an hour. It might have gotten really, really fun after that.

I'm guessing you mean the 2005 remake. The 1977 original with George Segal and Jane Fonda is a classic
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 05 July, 2021, 10:41:04 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 01 July, 2021, 09:07:37 PM
When Eight Bells Toll.

Never heard of this, but will keep an eye out for it.

A combo of a killer hangover and crap weather had me planted on the couch yesterday.
There was only one thing for it - Coca Cola & TEE-VEE:

I Trapped The Devil - I'm normally a sucker for these conceptual horror's and was happy to stumble across this. A strong start and even paced build-up led to a flabby and confusing middle act which drained any goodwill or enthusiasm. There just wasn't enough substance to justify a full movie run time. Did that guy really have The Devil trapped in his basement? Whatever you expect the answer to be, you'll be underwhelmed by what was presented.

Broil - Incredibly uneven, some poor acting, needlessly confusing, dreadful sound mixing - and yet I kinda liked it. The elevator pitch; an autistic 25 year old assassin (who happens to be a renowned chef) is hired by Dracula's daughter to prepare a meal and poison her Da (a magnetic Timothy V. Murphy) during the annual family get together. One grotesque twist in particular caught me by surprise, and nudged this up slightly out of the 6/10 mire.

Fear St Part 1: 1994 - Ahhha...no. I was somehow tricked into giving 20 minutes of my life to this before moderately sobering up.

The Neighbour - A leisurely paced drama about a not very sympathetic middle / old aged man becoming obsessed with the better half of a 30 something year old newlywed couple that move in next door. It had its moments though, and I really liked William Fichtner's understated and measured performance. Worth a look.



Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 July, 2021, 03:44:21 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2021, 10:14:50 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 04 July, 2021, 05:12:36 PM
Fun With Dick & Jane - isn't. To be fair, I turned it off after about half an hour. It might have gotten really, really fun after that.

I'm guessing you mean the 2005 remake. The 1977 original with George Segal and Jane Fonda is a classic

Oh - I did not know it was a remake! Yes, I mean the 2005 lazy-Carrey vehicle. Thanks for the tip - I'll check out the OG.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 05 July, 2021, 04:48:06 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 July, 2021, 03:44:21 PM
Oh - I did not know it was a remake!

I find with Hollywood these days it's easier to assume it's a remake first, saves time in the long run ... plus tends to be fairly accurate ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 05 July, 2021, 06:33:27 PM
The Tomorrow War. If you're tired enough not to think about what is happening or how it unfolds it's okayish. It helps if you nod off for 10 or 15 minutes here and there. You won't miss anything and sleep fuzz helps you from rolling your eyes too hard. If you've had your requisite eight hours then pass on this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2021, 07:01:00 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 05 July, 2021, 04:48:06 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 05 July, 2021, 03:44:21 PM
Oh - I did not know it was a remake!

I find with Hollywood these days it's easier to assume it's a remake first, saves time in the long run ... plus tends to be fairly accurate ...
So many times I've seen a favourite movie in the schedules, only to be disappointed when it turns out to be the new one not the good one.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 July, 2021, 07:26:27 PM
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf

This is a Nickelodeon TV Movie.  With that in consideration it is better than one might expect.  It's still not very good, however.  The weird thing is that it has a decent amount of good ideas.  It just doesn't do anything with them.  Because it's a Nickelodeon TV Movie.  That's the real shame of this film.

The story isn't very interesting.  Dead Mum, Dad finding it hard to cope, Daughter taking on responsibilities and Son acting out.  Obscure relative dies, they inherit a castle and have a lame battle with vampires.  The end.

The werewolf costumes were pretty decent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 05 July, 2021, 08:09:20 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 July, 2021, 06:33:27 PM
The Tomorrow War. If you're tired enough not to think about what is happening or how it unfolds it's okayish. It helps if you nod off for 10 or 15 minutes here and there. You won't miss anything and sleep fuzz helps you from rolling your eyes too hard. If you've had your requisite eight hours then pass on this one.

Well for me this is one of those movies where you do not want to over think anything just sit back enjoy the over-the-top mindless action will you park your brain in neutral (just for breathing purposes) and wholla two hours gone. Yes, I enjoyed this it was fun
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 July, 2021, 11:17:10 PM
FASTER

Billy Bob Thornton plays a junkie cop hunting down Dwayne Johnson's revenge-crazed killer, while The Rock also avoids a prissy billionaire assassin.

This was a whole lot better than it ought to have been. Then again, it did have Billy Bob in it.

This passed me by when it came out - 10 or 11 years ago - and I watched it on Netflix on a whim. It was really quite noir fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 06 July, 2021, 03:52:13 AM
QuoteRadbacker, have you seen Red Cliff? It's a John Woo directed film of the Red Cliff battle (Wei vs Wu). I'm not sure how it resonates for an audience unfamilair with the sory and characters and it's about four hours long but if you know the story well worth sitting through.
Funny you should mention Red Cliff as I was going to bring it up in my original post but edited it out.  One of my favourite 3 Kingdoms movies absolutely epic but as you mentioned very long and much better if you are familiar with the 3 Kingdoms.  Wasn't Woo going to make more 3K movies?

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 06 July, 2021, 08:41:14 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 06 July, 2021, 03:52:13 AM
Funny you should mention Red Cliff as I was going to bring it up in my original post but edited it out.  One of my favourite 3 Kingdoms movies absolutely epic but as you mentioned very long and much better if you are familiar with the 3 Kingdoms.  Wasn't Woo going to make more 3K movies?

I'm sure he said he was, but it doesn't look like he has, sadly. I know the film was raved about but I think also he got some mild stick for changing some of the story (replacing Gan Ning with 'Gan Xing' so he could kill him off and stuff)
I love Red Cliff but I really can't imagine watching it without knowing the story and characters beforehand.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 06 July, 2021, 09:05:37 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 05 July, 2021, 08:09:20 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 05 July, 2021, 06:33:27 PM
The Tomorrow War. If you're tired enough not to think about what is happening or how it unfolds it's okayish. It helps if you nod off for 10 or 15 minutes here and there. You won't miss anything and sleep fuzz helps you from rolling your eyes too hard. If you've had your requisite eight hours then pass on this one.

Well for me this is one of those movies where you do not want to over think anything just sit back enjoy the over-the-top mindless action will you park your brain in neutral (just for breathing purposes) and wholla two hours gone. Yes, I enjoyed this it was fun
I enjoyed it until the last half-hour. It even made a kind of sense up until then, amazing for a time-travel plot. But that last act was mad, like the producers had accidentally found fifty million under the bed and had to spend it by midnight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 06 July, 2021, 09:22:43 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 06 July, 2021, 09:05:37 AM
But that last act was mad, like the producers had accidentally found fifty million under the bed and had to spend it by midnight.

Now you're making me want to watch the feckin thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 July, 2021, 11:21:31 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 July, 2021, 11:17:10 PM
FASTER

Billy Bob Thornton plays a junkie cop hunting down Dwayne Johnson's revenge-crazed killer, while The Rock also avoids a prissy billionaire assassin.

This was a whole lot better than it ought to have been. Then again, it did have Billy Bob in it.

This passed me by when it came out - 10 or 11 years ago - and I watched it on Netflix on a whim. It was really quite noir fun.

What I love about that movie is how conveniently uses 1970s aesthetics. The score, camera angles, lighting, bleak story...I just wished that in order to fully look like a 1970s picture they made Rock die at the end ([spoiler]when Billy Bob shoots him in the head[/spoiler]).

Flawless

This was so-so experience. The film is not flawless, but it has some warmth in it. DeNiro is ultra-conservative cop, who suffers a stroke, which lives him half-paralyzed (his speech is impacted as is his whole right side). Philip Seymour Hoffman in his effeminate pre-Capote role's as DeNiro's drag queen and transexual neighbour. Hoffman's acting may be the best part of the film. Unfortunately, the whole thing is pretty overused and it basically leaves you no surprise. Typical story about two guys who initially hate each other. but grow to be friends later on. As result, the movie is often aimless in terms of the plot, instead everything is subordinated to character development (there is a subplot that involves a gangster seeking stolen money). But what I find the most objecting about the film is the portrayal of transsexual people as sex-crazed freaks. But given it's Joel Schumacher's film (who also wrote it), I don't think it was intentional. Nor I think it's homophobic. Despite numerous homosexual, often rife with the phobic suffix remarks. Although, I do find occasionally hilarious exchange between the two ("I'd rather suck a Hitler's dead dick" - I bet you already did"). Or "I am more man than you'll ever be and closest to woman that you'll ever get".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 07 July, 2021, 04:27:14 PM
trois couleurs blanc. three colours white.
going through the trilogy again, one of the few pieces of high art that changed my life by making me question everything i thought and every way i was for others - this latter makes it ideal viewing (more than a quarter of a century on) during this year of all years.
white is as wonderful as i remember. and as appalling, and as moving, and as funny, and as important, and as sad, too. oh my.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 July, 2021, 05:01:57 PM
Quote from: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 07 July, 2021, 04:27:14 PM
trois couleurs blanc. three colours white.
going through the trilogy again, one of the few pieces of high art that changed my life by making me question everything i thought and every way i was for others - this latter makes it ideal viewing (more than a quarter of a century on) during this year of all years.
white is as wonderful as i remember. and as appalling, and as moving, and as funny, and as important, and as sad, too. oh my.

Ashamed to say I haven't seen any of this trilogy. This must be rectified
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 July, 2021, 05:12:35 PM
The American - we're asked to sympathize with a main character who murders his girlfriend in cold blood in the opening scene because it's easier than explaining, sharing, caring, committing or taking a risk. Having knowingly put himself into a position where this was (by his absurd moral code) necessary, he then sets up a similar situation subsequently and while I assume the filmmakers wanted the audience to be thinking "will our complicated, troubled hero survive his difficulties" all I was thinking was "will someone stop the serial killer from claiming another victim"?

OR it's a metaphor for how America behaves in the world.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 July, 2021, 05:22:00 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 July, 2021, 05:12:35 PM
The American - we're asked to sympathize with a main character who murders his girlfriend in cold blood in the opening scene because it's easier than explaining, sharing, caring, committing or taking a risk. Having knowingly put himself into a position where this was (by his absurd moral code) necessary, he then sets up a similar situation subsequently and while I assume the filmmakers wanted the audience to be thinking "will our complicated, troubled hero survive his difficulties" all I was thinking was "will someone stop the serial killer from claiming another victim"?

OR it's a metaphor for how America behaves in the world.

Is this the film that has George Clooney in it from 2010? 

You got me curious, I might watch it in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 July, 2021, 06:11:54 PM
Yep - tis the Clooney vehicle. It's verging on art house (whatever that means) - but if you think "Clooney plays an assassin" (which is how it gets advertised) then you're probably immediately imagining a completely different movie. It's eminently watchable - I mean, I'd probably just watch Clooney drinking coffee quietly for an hour and a half - but I couldn't shake the morality angle while watching.

It also does that very British crime-in-small-village incongruity of having murders occur in rural idylls that are not immediately national news and would in reality cause a swarm of police and reporters. See Bergerac, Shetland etc. (Not sure why I can only think of ones that are set on islands right now.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 July, 2021, 06:39:49 PM
OK, I'm sold.  I'll manage my expectations, however.

BTW Midsommer is the murder capital of the world that you are somehow overlooking ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 07 July, 2021, 07:03:03 PM
Well, I decided to take on board the sterling recommendations for The Tomorrow War and give it a punt as cooking entertainment.  It is definitely a 'disengage brain cell' kind of film that does not benefit from close watching.  High degree of predictability and a few moments where you think "oh, it's a climate change movie".  I would also definitely agree with Wedgeski about the last half hour or so.  Not the worst new film I've seen in a while but then again that's not saying much ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 July, 2021, 07:21:07 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 07 July, 2021, 07:03:03 PM
The Tomorrow War

"Not the worst new film I've seen in a while" .

Just about sums it up!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 July, 2021, 09:31:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 July, 2021, 06:39:49 PM
BTW Midsommer is the murder capital of the world that you are somehow overlooking ;)

Welcome to sunny Cabot Cove

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Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 July, 2021, 09:51:09 AM
The American

That was definitely a film.  Slow burner.  I'd like to say it's a character piece but it doesn't really explore the characters in anything other than a superficial way.  Really good cinematography.  Clooney was the embodiment of anxiety throughout.  It has really good presentation, but the narrative is well trodden ground full of tropes and cliches.  To the point it becomes very obvious that [spoiler]Clooney dies and he "saves" the prostitute (I can't remember the characters names).[/spoiler]  Even if that might be considered ambiguous.  I don't know why one would think of it that way.  It adds nothing to the film.

Anyway, well paced, well shot, well acted.  I'd say it hits more than it misses so it was definitely worth the watch :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2021, 11:19:13 PM
Black Widow

There's no way I'm going to the cinema right now, so shelled out for this on Disney+. Even with a decent-ish TV and speakers, it's not the same experience as maHOOsive screen and bone-shaking sound of an IMAX, obviously, but I rather enjoyed it.

Good performances all round although David Harbour, unsurprisingly, rather steals the show. Rattles along at a decent pace, with multiple well-staged set pieces and overall plays a lot like a better entry in the James Bond canon, minus the misogyny.

There's an end credit scene, BTW — in the streaming version it's at the end of the main credits, before the foreign language credits kick in.

(I will say, however, that my heart sank when they deployed the horrible cliche thing of 'slow version of well-known alt-rock song performed by indie-ish female vocalist' over the main titles. I felt my goodwill rapidly ebbing away at that point. Fortunately, the rest of the film is eminently watchable.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 10:14:15 AM
THE GOONIES

Bit rubbish isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 July, 2021, 10:18:14 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 10:14:15 AM
THE GOONIES

Bit rubbish isn't it?

Never seen it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 July, 2021, 10:35:10 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 July, 2021, 10:18:14 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 10:14:15 AM
THE GOONIES
Bit rubbish isn't it?
Never seen it.
Wouldn't bother if I was you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 11:19:05 AM
Definitely one of those rose tinted case where the glasses are beginning to drop. I remember 10 years ago you would be driven out of town for daring to say any Donner movie was a bit rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 10 July, 2021, 01:46:49 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 11:19:05 AM
Definitely one of those rose tinted case where the glasses are beginning to drop. I remember 10 years ago you would be driven out of town for daring to say any Donner movie was a bit rubbish.
I think with Goonies you needed to see it as a kid. I didn't.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 July, 2021, 04:59:09 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 10 July, 2021, 01:46:49 PM
I think with Goonies you needed to see it as a kid. I didn't.

I did.  When I revisited it wasn't quite what I remembered.  I still found it enjoyable, but in a weird and deflated way.  It doesn't live up to the hype that has been created around it by nostalgia, that's for sure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 10 July, 2021, 07:03:57 PM
It's a bit... shouty. All those kids spend 90 minutes going "Aaaaaaah!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 10 July, 2021, 07:28:07 PM
The Goonies is one of those films that people never believe you when you've said you've never seen it. Especially if you're a certain age.

I've never seen it. And now it's a matter of some personal.pride that I've never seen it, and so I am never likely to see it. I remember the ads back in the day, on the back of comics- and my reaction then was "that looks rubbish", so I didn't go. Never rented it on VHS, have never watched it on telly. When did it come out? Was there something released at around the same time that would have turned a kid who was up for all those 80s fantasy things, into someone who had quite a different taste and knew that The Goonies would be awful? Or did I just rent The Thing before it's UK release and after that, everything changed? Dunno.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 11 July, 2021, 01:17:17 PM
Watched Black Widow and I enjoyed it. It was much better than the last few Marvel movies. The great thing was that Tony Stark was only mentioned and never seen.  As with all these movies it is heavy infested with action scenes and over the top sequences. A big plus point for me was that even with some illogical moments the characters where quite interesting.

Hopefully Marvel will rather focus on character driven movies going forward and not try to recreate this 50 movie event stuff leading into one messy illogical stupid ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2021, 05:41:34 PM
In contrast I watched Black Widow and in spite of hysterical moment where Florence Pugh gets yanked backwards by a very visible wire after some laughable monosyllabic exchanges with Johansson, found it thuddingly dull and wearysome. Disney Par Excellence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 July, 2021, 05:59:55 PM
Watched the original Assault on Precinct 13 last night and... well it was a little disappointing, I remember it being  clustrophobic and having a tension that built and built... in reality its all rather... thin...Its a decent movie, with some good characters, though a couple are weakened with some slightly lumpy acting. It doesn't have the elements I remember. The tension flairs on occasion, doesn't build and grind you down. Its lighter than I remember, in terms of the fact I remember it being dark as the power is cut and the events take place at night. I remember greater tension between the police and the prisoners, but they get on fine. I remember folks being slowly cut down and the valiant resistance is worn down. I remember the final stand off being nerve racking... itsa kinda okay and a bit silly actually.

The one bit that is almost as I remember gang members being feral creatures, almost unseen. A dark hidden threat with a singular mindless purpose. It gets close to that. Close.

I might watch the remake if its available as maybe some of the elements are from the bits of that I've seen, I've not watched it all I don't think.

Over all the movie is very of its time and doesn't hold up the way I remember it which is a shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 July, 2021, 06:23:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2021, 05:41:34 PM
Disney Par Excellence.

Maybe just don't watch the movies, then...? No one is forcing you to...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 11 July, 2021, 07:25:14 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 July, 2021, 06:23:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2021, 05:41:34 PM
Disney Par Excellence.

Maybe just don't watch the movies, then...? No one is forcing you to...

^This^

Same goes for the Goonies - so many posts from people who haven't seen the film, yet still feel they can slag it off!
Do I love The Goonies because I was a kid when I first saw it? Yes, probably. What's wrong with that?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 11 July, 2021, 07:41:43 PM
I enjoyed the Goonies when I was a kid. I can not tell how well it aged since I have not seen it since 85
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 July, 2021, 09:12:46 PM
I'm forcing Hawkmumbler to watch the latest Marvel films, just so I don't feel the need to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 July, 2021, 09:31:43 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 July, 2021, 09:12:46 PM
I'm forcing Hawkmumbler to watch the latest Marvel films, just so I don't feel the need to.

Indeed, he is consuming mediocre cinema to protect the rest of us. He our cin eater.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 July, 2021, 10:40:55 PM
Just watched 2 Guns.

It was that or the Euro 2020 final.

It was... okay. Marky Mark does what he does. Denzel Washington does what he does. Guns go bang.

The late, great, Bill Paxton steals the show as an insane CIA agent. It helps that he has the best lines.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2021, 10:43:20 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 July, 2021, 06:23:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 July, 2021, 05:41:34 PM
Disney Par Excellence.

Maybe just don't watch the movies, then...? No one is forcing you to...

Morbid curiosity and a forgiving nature all too often get the better of me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 July, 2021, 11:14:11 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 11 July, 2021, 09:31:43 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 July, 2021, 09:12:46 PM
I'm forcing Hawkmumbler to watch the latest Marvel films, just so I don't feel the need to.

Indeed, he is consuming mediocre cinema to protect the rest of us. He our cin eater.

:D
This is class ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 July, 2021, 12:18:18 AM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 10 July, 2021, 07:03:57 PM
It's a bit... shouty. All those kids spend 90 minutes going "Aaaaaaah!"

That's mainly what irritated me about that film. It's got good stuff in it, though. The overall premise is decent, they just needed to tone down the annoying shouting kids. I remember two films coming out around the same time: The Goonies, and Gremlins. The latter I loved...although no shouty kids. At least not human ones.

Coincidentally (in that it's set in the 80s and is centred around kids) I watched Super-8 today. It was okay, although I felt it dragged a bit, and I found it somewhat predictable.

Not sure what it says that near the end, I found certain scenes familiar and concluded that I think I've seen it before... and somehow forgot most of it.

The kids weren't annoying and shouty though. The actual Super-8 zombie film footage in end credits was amusing.

The film felt like the kind that, with just a bit of tweaking and tightening could have been better. Or maybe it's just because I was a bit tired when I watched it. (Started a new job* this week which means I need to sort out my sleep cycle. )

Oh the train crash effects scene at the start was phenomenal!

*Or more accurately returned to old job which I originally lost due to Covid situation, but  now in a permanent situation, which is nice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 July, 2021, 12:26:38 AM
Power Rangers (2017)

Just finished this.  I remember watching it around it's release.  Power Rangers isn't my thing, but I am just about the age for it.  Could never get into the TV show cos I found it hokey.  When I watched this film with my Power Ranger loving friend I said that this is a Power Ranger movie made for me.  Revisiting it years latter, I really dig it.  It really is made for me.  It's largely about the characters and it has a nice feel to it.  My only complaint is Goldar is bad and the Zords and Megazord aren't too much better.  Also, would have been nice if they came outright with the fact the Yellow Ranger is gay.  I didn't pick up on it the first time around because it is so throw away.  Aside from that, I really dig this film and I'm glad I rewatched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 12 July, 2021, 09:21:08 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 July, 2021, 10:14:15 AM
THE GOONIES

I never saw it as a child and only got to watch it about 5 years ago.

It wasn't great.  I think the problem was that all the characters were dialled up to 11 so it was just a constant onslaught of unrealistic interactions.

If you'd told me the kids were all mentally disabled somehow, it would make sense.

Anne Ramsey is always great though.




Bit rubbish isn't it?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 July, 2021, 11:15:44 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 July, 2021, 05:59:55 PM
Assault on Precinct 13

Ah... The 1970s. I remember thinking how ballsy Carpenter must have been to show a kid killed without any remorse. Then again, the decade was no-holds-barred one like this movie.

Cruising

The movie has great potential to stir unrest, not just as a movie that created a massive controversy in 1979 (released the following year). Tbh, I was sure that I was never going to see the picture, but I did. Billy Friedkin's cop thriller could be the grittiest NY picture ever filmed. I realized this when I saw the movie for the first time at the age of 15; after the first murder scene, which immensely freaked me out, I realized this would not be for the weak stomach. Which came into play later on. Here we come to the first infamous, controversial aspect of the film. If anybody who didn't follow, a serial killer murders gay people and. In a rather forgettable role, Al Pacino plays a cop whose character physically matches the look of the victims is sent undercover to the underground gay world, of leather and S&M. And those scenes in the nightclubs, grossed me out. Even today, I felt vastly uncomfortable while watching those. And I'll say that probably it wasn't Friedkin's intention, but the film has considerable potential to turn people homophobic. So, criticisms made that the film is made to shock heterosexuals, unintentionally hold some weight. I know that people have various fetishes, but these are not mine. And watching those scenes made me feel a bit dirty. As if it drew the worst parts out of me.
The next aspect of the controversy is the plot. Friedkin (and I watched the making of the documentary) stated that he deliberately made the film uncertain. And yes, the film heavily relies on ambiguity. While I am drawn to the mystical quality, I realized the film ultimately falls flat because
things, murder cases, remain basically unresolved.
And the film raises many questions without answering them. And there are scenes in it that have nothing to do with the plot (like cops who harass two transsexuals). Friedkin's idea that more killers are operating (the film is based on actual events) is legit. Still, unfortunately, he painted the movie as a "whodunit mystery," which is totally misleading. Hell, it's not even a "whydunit." I have nothing against the ambiguity in films, but only when it's done coherently. Not everything needs to be explained, but not everything should feel so alien to the audience. Right now, I think that the movie is too intellectual for its own good. And here, even character development is ambiguous, or should I say, non-existent. And Pacino is shamelessly wasted here. Paul Sorvino, his boss, plays his part so lifelessly, as if he wonders, "what am I doing in a movie like this?". Dialogues (Friedkin also wrote the movie) are cringe, to say at least. Pick-up routines between gays, probably worked in the 1970s. Now I don't know anyone who talks like that, regardless of sexual affiliation. But I must commend the serial killer. I mean, the voice. Soothing, yet having irresistible, but quite eerie, ominous quality to it. Btw, the documentary reveals that the voice dubbed the lines said by the actors playing the killer(s), also voices the father of one of the suspects and for a line in the crucial part of the film of the said suspect.
Finally, one more interesting thing. The version I watched at the age of 15 had some disclaimer at the beginning, no opening credits. It went, "the movie is not representative of the gay community as a whole" or something. The version I watched yesterday omitted that. Instead, it started with the Warner Bros logo, followed by the Cruising title.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 12 July, 2021, 05:32:07 PM
Oh man.  My attempt to quote that post previously went wrong.  But you get what I was saying.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 15 July, 2021, 02:21:11 PM
Tremors. is on Netflix and there's not much to say that everyone doesn't already know about how awesome this is, but watching it for the 100th time or whatever I'm always impressed how lean - and therefore great - the storytelling is. Key events and items are seeded at the start: it spends a good chunk of it's runtime setting up it's characters and relationships in a way that's not boring, meaning when the action half kicks in you're invested in them already.. The characters are all likeable (apart from Melvin) and that's a real achievement, considering a retrospective watch of lot of films of the era finds the characters acting like dicks. The special effects are not great but the way the film is made covers their limitations perfectly.
Tremors really rules.

Also the Goonies does really suck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 15 July, 2021, 08:04:41 PM
Watched End of the Century: The Story of The Ramones (2003), really really cool rock doc. Compelling, touching, funny, a bit of everything.

Then I watched Rock n Roll High School, what a fun, joyful, rockin' movie. Nutty, clever, and of course the Ramones are great in it. My first time seeing it, really exceeded my expectations, so good. Gabba gabba hey!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 July, 2021, 01:42:09 PM
Gone Baby Gone

Gripping Ben Affleck's directorial debut. And he really made his brother Casey shine in this thriller. The whole thing behind a missing girl wasn't of much interest to me, but I liked the complexity of the entire piece, seen through the main character's eyes. And Ben pretty well uses the cesspit, gritty areas of Boston for that. What I especially liked here is that the movie ends, while on a bittersweet note, it at least divulges from the typical Hollywood lemonade happy endings and imho, the conclusion here is the only possible solution. I wish if just Ben made better use of Michelle Monaghan's character who, only starts to get through in the last ten minutes; otherwise, she's wasted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 18 July, 2021, 06:25:25 PM
Guns Akimdo

Ordinary computer programmer Miles Lee Harris (Daniel Radcliffe), who gets his kicks by trolling online trolls, logs into Skizm's forum to insult viewers who turn murder into entertainment. Riktor, the criminal kingpin and psychopath who runs Skizm, breaks into Miles' apartment with his henchmen Dane, Effie, and Fuckface. After being beaten and drugged, Miles wakes up to find guns bloodily bolted into both of his hands. Miles learns that he has been forced to participate in Skizm by being pitted against Nix, the game's deadliest and craziest killer; she wants out but Riktor requires she kill one last opponent - Miles.

Good action movie with the comedy not over played as Miles stumbles around the city trying to escape the killer & rescue his ex girlfriend from Riktor & his men
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 July, 2021, 12:05:36 AM
12 Monkeys

When I saw this movie as a teenager, it quickly became one of my favorites. Although I hadn't really grasped then how deep, and ambitious and thought-provoking this is. I was carried away by interesting premise, performance (Brad Pitt absolutely nailed playing a total wacko and Bruce Willis showed something greater than being a cop over finding himself over his head) and Terry Gilliam's regular off eat, zany director, rife with grotesque humor and wide, Dutch angles. And I like how the movie offers a statement on insanity, hardly I heard in another movie where psychiatry is compared to a religious cult. Anyway, arguably, one of the best 1990s films.

I wonder if Bioshock Infinite took inspiration from 12 Monkeys... (but that's just me imagining too much).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 July, 2021, 05:41:17 PM
I enjoyed BLACK WIDOW (at cinema) so I don't get the hate.

Definitely in the upper tier of Marvel movies with a smash the patriarchy endingthat Wonder Woman lacked. Some genuine LOLs and nice character bits combine with stunning set pieces.
It benefits from being relatively low key for this sort of thing (and I appreciate that using low key to describe a finale with characters fighting as they tumble to earth amidst the falling and burning ruins of a super massive hovering aircraft carrier sounds daft but that's where we are now.)

Followed this up with an excursion to Glasgae to see what they've done as set dressing to St. VINCENT STREET for Indiana Jones 5. It looks great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 July, 2021, 08:59:26 AM
Face/Off

I thought I hadn't seen this film before so I decided to finally get around to watching it.  I'm convinced now that I have seen it before and just forgot.  It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.  The action is surprisingly bad.  It's a mess, but a fast paced mess, so I was always hit with something new to baffle my brain.  And if it wasn't from the narrative then it was from the eating competition between Cage and Travolta as to who can consume the most scenery.  The answer is Cage, btw.  The answer is always Cage.

In terms of Cagery present in this film, I'd say it is relatively restrained.  I'd probably put it in the middle of the Cage scale of Cagery.  Enough to be satisfied that you are getting your moneys worth of Cage.

Oh and I kinda liked the film despite it being incredible dumb and awful throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 July, 2021, 09:04:57 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 July, 2021, 08:59:26 AM
Face/Off
It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.

I think a large part of the odd tone is down to the fact that it was originally written as a straight SF movie, and then it was decided to make it a current-day action movie, so they filed off as many SF elements as they thought they could get away with, leading to this... thing which is obviously an SF movie but conspicuously pretending it's not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2021, 09:47:06 AM
John Woo never fails to deliver.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 July, 2021, 10:18:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 July, 2021, 09:47:06 AM
John Woo never fails to deliver.

Yeah, he always does something to make each and every shot interesting to look at.

Usually it's molting pigeons taking off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 July, 2021, 01:10:21 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 July, 2021, 08:59:26 AM
Face/Off

I thought I hadn't seen this film before so I decided to finally get around to watching it.  I'm convinced now that I have seen it before and just forgot.  It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.  The action is surprisingly bad.  It's a mess, but a fast paced mess, so I was always hit with something new to baffle my brain.  And if it wasn't from the narrative then it was from the eating competition between Cage and Travolta as to who can consume the most scenery.  The answer is Cage, btw.  The answer is always Cage.

In terms of Cagery present in this film, I'd say it is relatively restrained.  I'd probably put it in the middle of the Cage scale of Cagery.  Enough to be satisfied that you are getting your moneys worth of Cage.

Oh and I kinda liked the film despite it being incredible dumb and awful throughout.

Bleeding hell, it's one my least favorite Woo's films. Too much unfocused drama and seriousness in it and Cage (and Travolta) overact. For my money, Broken Arrow all the way. At least Woo knows how to film an action scene, although by the time the boat chase arrives, the movie runs out of the juice.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 22 July, 2021, 08:20:57 PM
I love Face/Off, lotta fun. John Woo rules, of course I recommend his HK films to anybody who hasn't seen them.

The Killer, Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head, all really moving genuinely intense incredible films. The Killer is my pick for best film in the action genre ever. Because it's just so damn cool, I really care about the characters, plus the action is so cool, it's like a beautiful dance.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 22 July, 2021, 08:35:14 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 July, 2021, 09:04:57 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 July, 2021, 08:59:26 AM
Face/Off
It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.

I think a large part of the odd tone is down to the fact that it was originally written as a straight SF movie, and then it was decided to make it a current-day action movie, so they filed off as many SF elements as they thought they could get away with, leading to this... thing which is obviously an SF movie but conspicuously pretending it's not.

Ah .. that actually explains a lot. My main memory is why nobody was shouting "What the fuck - that's impossible" all the time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 22 July, 2021, 08:50:32 PM
I watched Face/Off when it first came out. Now, I'd need paid (I can imagine quite a lot) to watch it again. File under "no redeeming features".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 24 July, 2021, 12:48:27 AM
Anybody, everybody, check out some vintage Woo, if you haven't. The Killer especially. Chow Yun-Fat is so good too.

This stuff being referenced in Dredd comics surely is a measure of cool. Remember that Johnny Woo guy?

Here's a random one, saw that great 80s B-movie Trancers again recently. So good. Jack Deth is one cool future cop.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 July, 2021, 08:07:22 AM
Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 24 July, 2021, 12:48:27 AM
Anybody, everybody, check out some vintage Woo, if you haven't. The Killer especially. Chow Yun-Fat is so good too.

This stuff being referenced in Dredd comics surely is a measure of cool. Remember that Johnny Woo guy?

Here's a random one, saw that great 80s B-movie Trancers again recently. So good. Jack Deth is one cool future cop.

The Killer may be the least favorite of mine; just for the unnecessarily gut-wrenching ending. Then again, I realized that the plot and characters usually suffer in Woo's movies (then again, these things should be secondary in action movies). That's why I am a huge fan of Hard Boiled. Cliched, overtroped plot, cheesy dialogues, ludicrous music, one-dimensional character that act undestructible - yet, it's the best action film I have ever seen. Take that, Die Hard!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 July, 2021, 09:04:44 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 July, 2021, 09:04:57 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 July, 2021, 08:59:26 AM
Face/Off
It's a really interesting film.  I'm sure not on purpose either.  It seems to be entirely constructed on contrivances.  It almost has themes, but forgets to explore them.

I think a large part of the odd tone is down to the fact that it was originally written as a straight SF movie, and then it was decided to make it a current-day action movie, so they filed off as many SF elements as they thought they could get away with, leading to this... thing which is obviously an SF movie but conspicuously pretending it's not.

The soft sci-fi aspect of the film is something I quite liked.  Nevertheless, this is still quite funny. :D

For all the praise that John Woo gets, Face/Off has laughably bad and hyper-cheesy shots that offer no small contribution to the terribleness of the film.  Watching the languishing attempts to work around the actors shortcomings as action performers (especially compared to the HK crews that Woo would have been used to working with) is cringe worthy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 July, 2021, 12:36:30 PM
Regarding John Woo, I took my time in front of telly to watch a movie that influence Woo's work and that is The Wild Bunch. Peckinpah's film about the last days of outlaws and gunslingers. It's not difficult where Woo took his influence. Grand, haotic, slow-mo, violent shootout which were quite fresh for when the movie is released. Unfortunately, these only occupy the beginning and the ending, and in between there's nothing worthwhile, which makes watching it for 2 and half hours a bit like chore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 July, 2021, 03:29:22 PM
The Wild Bunch is probably in the Top Five for westerns. An excellent movie. Ernest Borgnine has never been better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 July, 2021, 02:31:10 PM
She's the Man

I don't know what devil made me sit in front of the telly to watch this. They made absolutely bollocks of the Shakespeare work, which I cannot even believe they stated that during the opening credits. Annoying gender politics, annoying Amanda Bynes, absolutely predictable and Channing Tatum totally miscast as a teenage kid. Come to think on it, I better re-watch the Gregory's Girl. That is the real movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 July, 2021, 04:03:25 PM
Under Siege - it's a Die Hard rip-off (including the jumping off tall thing attached to a dangly thing* to escape an explosion) and, on paper, it would be easy to argue that it's demonstrably not a good movie - so let's call it a guilty pleasure.


*Although Die Hard in turn borrowed the idea from Harold Lloyd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 26 July, 2021, 06:23:16 PM
Guilty pleasure?  Come on ... Tommy Lee Jones ... Gary Busey in drag ...

Whatever you do though, don't try Under Siege 2 ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 27 July, 2021, 08:25:01 AM
JAWS... but on the big screen.

The picture! The soundtrack! What a movie.

I googled Jaws 2 after. Did you know that there was talk of it being a prequel, with Quint the main character, and set on the USS Indianopolis? Spielberg was up to direct, but the studio couldn't/ wouldn't wait and so it was rushed out.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 July, 2021, 12:26:09 AM
Yeah, I took my boys (both pretty grown up by this point) to see JAWS at GFT a few years back. Tiny Tips came out with an entirely new appreciation of a film that he'd only thought of as "Meh!" when viewed on telly.

I'd love to see CE3K on a big screen again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 July, 2021, 10:40:45 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 26 July, 2021, 06:23:16 PM
Guilty pleasure?  Come on ... Tommy Lee Jones ... Gary Busey in drag ...

Whatever you do though, don't try Under Siege 2 ...

That gave me nightmares in me much younger years.

Fun fact: the movie was originally supposed to be called Dreadnought, as scripted. Too bad they didn't give it a go with that. It's the coolest name ever conceived!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 29 July, 2021, 12:11:19 PM
The Gauntlet

Clint Eastwood in his Dirty Harry persona, but imagine Dirty Harry soaked in booze, who gets an assignment to bring a female witness to a testimony trails. The two spend time constantly bickering, much like in buddy cop movies (he's a cop, she's a hooker) and along the way obviously they had to battle mob members, bikers and Eastwood's own crooked colleagues. Not remarkable picture as Dirty Harry, but it does the job. Cheesy, trashy 1970s fun. Curiously, this film is remade in the 2000s as 16 Blocks with Bruce Willis.

The Rookie

Clint Eastwood in his... Well, every cop he played after Dirty Harry is the amalgamation of his iconic character. Here he mentors the young Charlie Sheen (the rookie) as the duo is onto car theft ring, led by a German, for some infamous reason played by Raul Julia. Aside that, Eastwood direction is rather toneless and drab. But, for some reason, I loved this film in my much younger years. I guess it had to do with the Eastwood-Sheen characters they're playing. But like The Gauntlet, the film is cheese, trashy fun. And Eastwood gets raped, which is done in a rather awkward, weird manner. Considering how went female to male rapes in the 1990s (the other one was Ricochet), it's no surprise we haven't had more of these
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 July, 2021, 07:29:39 PM
The Sum of All Fears - wins a prize for most boring nuclear explosion in a built-up area. Watch Terminator 2 instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 29 July, 2021, 07:49:06 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 29 July, 2021, 07:29:39 PM
The Sum of All Fears - wins a prize for most boring nuclear explosion in a built-up area. Watch Terminator 2 instead.

Memo to self: Rearrange that title to "The Fear of All Sums"; write a screenplay, in which the main protagonist overcomes horrible school experiences of Mathematics, to become a genius numbers monkey, who saves the planet by solving an equation set by a long-dead alien race who once visited here; sit back and let the cash roll in.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 July, 2021, 09:17:13 PM
Odd COINCIDENCE  we watched CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER last week and it got a good thumbs up.

Possibly the best Jack Ryan film (I think I rate it above Red October but not seen that recently;  certainly no other films come close) if not that accurate adaption but a lot of Clancy reads like extracts from a Weapons catalogue so that isn't a bad thing.

The action is great (the ambush rightly celebrated), the plot scarily believable (except where Ryan steps in at the end) though Ryan's deal with the devil at the end is conveniently absolved. Problems? Yeah. I'm pretty sure that a film about the drug war should focus a lot more on how the cartels impact the locals rather than just middle aged white politicians in another country.

Is it the last decent movie headlined by Harrison Ford?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 July, 2021, 10:16:48 PM
The Operative - a rather good spy thriller, co-starring Marting Freeman - and probably his best role since The Office.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 29 July, 2021, 11:02:52 PM
Wolves Within

I went in hoping for The Beast Must Die. Unexpectedly, I got Clue.

I really enjoyed it. However, my whole family started watching it - wife and three teen sons - and by the end, I was the only one left. So I guess your mileage may vary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 29 July, 2021, 11:33:38 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 29 July, 2021, 09:17:13 PM
Odd COINCIDENCE  we watched CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER last week and it got a good thumbs up.

Possibly the best Jack Ryan film (I think I rate it above Red October but not seen that recently;  certainly no other films come close) if not that accurate adaption but a lot of Clancy reads like extracts from a Weapons catalogue so that isn't a bad thing.

The action is great (the ambush rightly celebrated), the plot scarily believable (except where Ryan steps in at the end) though Ryan's deal with the devil at the end is conveniently absolved. Problems? Yeah. I'm pretty sure that a film about the drug war should focus a lot more on how the cartels impact the locals rather than just middle aged white politicians in another country.

Is it the last decent movie headlined by Harrison Ford?

Hm... Air Force One came one year afterwards.

Now that you mentioned it, I may need to revisit Patriot Games (never read the novel though).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 July, 2021, 10:53:05 AM
ANOTHER ROUND

More movies should [spoiler]end with Mads Mikkelsen doing a solo dance number.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 July, 2021, 05:44:03 PM
Midnight Run - if you can get past the 80s guitar synth and everyone chain-smoking in airports, this is a great shaggy dog story about a bounty hunter (De Niro) trying to get his Robin Hood-like target (Charles Grodin) back to LA before time runs out. I love how grimy, downtrodden and lived in the leads are.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2021, 06:08:01 PM
"Hm... Air Force One came one year afterwards."

I did say DECENT movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 30 July, 2021, 08:17:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 30 July, 2021, 06:08:01 PM
"Hm... Air Force One came one year afterwards."

I did say DECENT movie.

The coolest action film with US president in the main role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 31 July, 2021, 11:36:13 AM
The Killing Fields

Sometimes I would stumble across a movie that I feel bad about it. Bad because they were so good I haven't caught them in my much younger years. This is one of it. Bruce Robinson-penned, although narratively it occasionally dips down, this is one of the finest biographical war dramas I ever heard. Nor I did know much about the subject matter. I knew that Paul Pot regime was bad, but not this bad. Also, I like that the movie doesn't try to justify US intervention in Cambodia; in fact, it implies its responsibility for Khmer Rouge movement. The shinest part of the film are not the American journalist trying to cope with the vanishing of his Cambodian translator. For me, it was the translator's struggle to escape the captivity from a Khmer Rouge concentration camp. The moment where he stumbles across a sea of  decomposed corpses nearly brought tears to my eyes. Very harrowing, very startling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 01 August, 2021, 04:57:01 PM
The Killing Fields is an amazing and unforgettable film, and sadly a very accurate portrayal of horrific events. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 02 August, 2021, 09:08:44 AM
I watch the latest Fast and Furious movie (version 9) and it has now become clear that the believe is to make the next one more over-the-top than the previous one.  The action has become such a ridiculous extravaganza that the movie as lost all its charm and excitement. The franchise is just one big illogical super-charged ludicrous event driven drivel that not even a video game can top that. This is a ha-ha movie but not in a funny way. I do not mind over-the-top action but please do not boost it for topping the previous action scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 August, 2021, 10:17:13 AM
Thunder Force

Not as bad as I was expecting it to be.  It was fine.  I really liked the opening scenes.  Then it hits all the marks for a buddy comedy.  I like the premise.  There are a few good ideas in the film.  It doesn't really explore them all that much.  It's junk, but I could see myself watching it again.

Quote from: broodblik on 02 August, 2021, 09:08:44 AM
I watch the latest Fast and Furious movie (version 9) and it has now become clear that the believe is to make the next one more over-the-top than the previous one.

I thought this after watching 6.  I'm looking forward to how they explain Han coming back to life.  I bet it has something to do with family.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 August, 2021, 11:17:54 AM
Dr Strange (second viewing)

Marvel movies are like fish suppers. You look forward to it, you consume it, you feel slightly queasy and guilty, you wonder why you did it... and then three or four months later you do it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 August, 2021, 08:41:22 PM
Wally's Wonderland

This was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed watching this.  I had my preconceptions about this film going in and it met them and surpassed them.  Cage is a delight.  I did wonder how he was going to Cage without talking, but he still manages a little Cagery.  Not too much, just a little.  It was the right amount for the film.  I love how the rest of the cast are just window dressing.  It manages to be like many other horror films and yet it stands apart and brings a lot that is new to the table.  I think I even laughed out loud more than once.

Yeah, I really liked this.  I hoped I would and I'm glad I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 05 August, 2021, 11:48:58 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 August, 2021, 08:41:22 PM
Wally's Wonderland

This was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed watching this.  I had my preconceptions about this film going in and it met them and surpassed them.  Cage is a delight.  I did wonder how he was going to Cage without talking, but he still manages a little Cagery.  Not too much, just a little.  It was the right amount for the film.  I love how the rest of the cast are just window dressing.  It manages to be like many other horror films and yet it stands apart and brings a lot that is new to the table.  I think I even laughed out loud more than once.

Yeah, I really liked this.  I hoped I would and I'm glad I do.

This film was a genuine pleasure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 August, 2021, 10:52:43 PM
John Boorman's sword&sorcery comeback film has its strengths and faults (it's definitely superior to Ritchie's film for millennials), but I think it's worthwhile. The best elements are gorgeous, dreamlike visuals, sfx work is quite good (for its time - the early 80s), and it was nice to hear Carl Orff's music in. Swordfights are well filmed. Btw, it was also nice to see established actors in their earlier years (Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart, and charming as always - Helen Mirren). Unfortunately, the content didn't work much for me. It wasn't the darker approach to Arthurian legends, but rather the contrived plot, if not darn confusing (although defo much easier to follow than Boorman's Zardoz) as if sundry and all Arthurian myths had crammed into a 2hrs film. The film loses a bit in the middle with all the search for Holy Grail. Characters are unsympathetic, Merlin and Arthur included. I get that Boorman perhaps tried to do the film with the flawed protagonists, but there is nothing remarkable about these people, and I find this to be the worst Nicol Williamson role to date. And the lines he utters are often ridiculous.
One thing I do find odd about the movie. It is the fact that Boorman filmed his daughter getting deceived into sex. I do not know another director who did that; technically she wasn't raped to speak of. Actually, Dario Argento did that in The Stendhal Syndrome. Now that movie is truly fucked up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 August, 2021, 10:54:25 AM

Black Widow. Sadly mediocre, in my view. Not crap, though - some okay moments - but not up to snuff.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 August, 2021, 11:55:58 PM
Rush

Ah... One of the best racing movies, with the enough plot and character development. And all based on real people. While i give it that the plot often strays away from the reality, sacrificed for dramatic purposes (like when Hunt beaten that arsehole journalist who asked funny question) , I must say they nailed really well the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt. Because this movie is all about these two characters. And I like how good the two racing legends were revitalized for the screen. Imo, pretty accurate and Chris Hemsworth nailed British accent. I like also how thoughtful is the dive into a racer psychology. Not many (good) racing movies out there lately. Ford v Ferrari is equally awesome. Still, if I have to pick the best, I would go with Steve McQueen's LeMans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 August, 2021, 11:10:04 AM
The Suicide Squad named such because they are too embarrassed about the first film.

It was enjoyable and entertaining.  Probably the best first viewing experience of a James Gunn film I've had.  Idris is a delight and the highlight of the film (so much better than Will Smith).  Daniela Melchior was great as well.  Loved their characters and dynamic.  The rest of the cast do a good job in their respective roles.  I had a blast watching it, but I'm not sure how well it will stand up to repeat viewings.  I find I get less from Gunn's films the more times I watch them.  This film is very well crafted so it might be an exception to that rule.  Only time will tell.

It's also hilarious how much better this film is compared to it's predecessor.  It is an antithesis to the first film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 August, 2021, 03:14:42 PM
THE SUICIDE SQUAD

Fine. Just, fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 August, 2021, 10:25:34 AM
My quest to find every hidden horror gem on Amazon Prime and Netflix before finally giving in and permanently subscribing to Shudder continues; I discovered Cold Moon last night.

By no means the best horror I've seen this year, but it had a few thing going for it, cast included - the always excellent Frank Whaley (58) who's hairline retention will be a personal aspiration in the coming decade, an underused but great Christopher Lloyd and the first time a role was tailor made for Josh Stewart's "evil bastard face" - hey, he's probably a lovely guy in real life.
< Those eyes >

Another positive was the plot tempo - it moves along at a steady beat, answering questions quite quickly, and killing off cast members with visceral glee.
Some spooky Fx (the cycling ghost in particular) and a satisfying conclusion topped off an unexpectedly enjoyable hour and a half.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 10 August, 2021, 02:01:15 PM
Yes Man

One of better Carrey films that isn't Ace Ventura or The Mask. Mildly entertaining with surprisingly some thoughtful messages. And Terence Stamp as the life guru. The ending is a bit corny as you can expect from a Hollywood movie, but it was alright. I might try "yes" philosophy; as I found my life dangerously near to Carrey's pre-yes phase.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 August, 2021, 12:23:27 AM
Brazil

Masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 16 August, 2021, 11:21:32 AM
Kid Detective (2020). This was a fun comedy with some very dark turns. The protagonist is a former kid detective, as in he solved neighbourhood mysteries as a child, and it's set twenty years on and he's never moved on. The film leans heavily on noir tropes and parody of the genre. Not outstanding, but well worth watching.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 16 August, 2021, 11:42:19 AM
Just watched  M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004) for the first time in ages. Good cast story runs along at a slow but suitable pace,but it is ruined by the twist at the end and if you have seen it before you loose alot of the mystic of the story. Not a bad film overall worthspending 1 1/2- 2hrs on if you have nothing better to do
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 August, 2021, 10:43:36 PM
Some guy who kills people

This was a rewatch because I just wanted to watch something.  It's mostly a sweet story about an estranged Father connecting with his Daughter... plus murders.  It's adorable.  Except when it isn't.  Oh and there is a love interest with that woman who was in the Office and that Wonder Woman film.

Scanners 2

This was better than it has any right to be.  Really happy with this one.  Watch it on the sole basis it stars David Hewlett and I've been watching a lot of SG1 recently.  It ended up being everything I hoped it would.  It is in that kinda goofy transitional period between the 80s and 90s, it's kinda cheap looking despite outdoing the original in exploding heads and it's pretty silly.  I was hoping for a good time, I had a good time, but it did end up being a lot better than I was expecting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 August, 2021, 11:49:58 PM
The Breakfast Club

This movie I should've watch months ago, but I think went with some utter garbage instead. Anyway, I love this movie. It's not just 1980s thing, but rather universal stuff. John Hughes dissection of the inner lives of high school teenagers can't be relatable to everyone (everyone who went to school that is). Heck, I know we had a problematic case, a weirdo, a princess, a nerd and a jock. And teachers who are stuck at least 20 years in the past, wilfully unaware of the changes that each generations brings. I find fascinating about the film how easy it goes between funny and sad/serious. Which made to consider Hughes's teenage film rather as coming of age dramas, with humorous undertones. And as a bonus, the movie starts and ends with my favorite song. One thing i find odd here is the hooking of the problematic guy with the princess at the end when they all the movie spend at each other throats. Or maybe is true that there's a thin line between love and hate...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 19 August, 2021, 12:23:39 AM
Worst. Cinematic makeover. EVER!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 August, 2021, 10:43:06 AM

TENET

SHITETIHS
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 August, 2021, 12:00:28 AM

I disagree but  :lol: :lol: :lol:
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 August, 2021, 10:43:06 AM

TENET

SHITETIHS
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 20 August, 2021, 01:03:12 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 August, 2021, 10:43:06 AM

TENET

SHITETIHS

Well done, sir.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 20 August, 2021, 08:47:12 PM
I've been busy with films.

The Toll - 80 minute road horror.  A bit limited in scope and budget but a well put together horror film.  Even though I'm an '80s horror fan, I love the fact that we get so many decent horror films these days with fairly unique ideas.  A solid 7/10, watch once kind of effort. 

Predators - I wanted to see if I still don't like it.  It's not great.  But to be fair I like all of it until Laurence Fishburne turns up.  Then the momentum sort of disappears.  By the end I was bored.  And the lack of an ending makes it even more frustrating.  Has moments though. 

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - A generic action/comedy starring the generic Ryan Reynolds.  Every single modern action/comedy trick is used.  Action sequences set to kooky '80s pop hits etc.  Elevated considerably by Salma Hayek though who is brilliant in it.

Jeruzalem - low budget, low effort Cloverfield rip off.  Remember how Blair Witch got 95% of its tension from them just being lost in the woods?  Well this gets 95% of its tension from you watching girls getting a bit lost in Jerusalem.  Throw in some okayish demon things and you've got a weak horror film but not a terrible one.

Reservoir Dogs - I'm thinking of doing the entire QT run.  I love RD.  Oddly I didn't like it much in the cinema when it came out but now I love it.

Friday the 13th - the first one.  I'm a fan of the Fridays generally, much more so than Halloween (which I find insufferably dull).  Hadn't seen this one in so long that I'm not actually sure if I ever saw it at all.  Anyway, it was surprisingly good.  Not nearly as dated as I feared it'd be.

Meander - girl stuck in a pipe.  Basically its that film Cube but worse.

Terminator Salvation - much like Preds, I wanted to see if I still hate it.  Boy, I sure do.  The problem with Salvation is that there is nothing interesting in it.  Not enough Terminators, boring characters, lacklustre setpieces, stupid ending, even more stupid CGI Arnie.  Absolute shit.

Campfire Tales - middling horror anthology.  Has a couple of good ideas but not brilliantly executed.

The Suicide Squad - I can't say I've really liked a DC film since Superman 2 back in 1980 but that changed with this film.  I know it's not exactly high art but it was pretty funny, had good action and I was never bored.  Harley Quinn was as tolerable as I've seen her and even Idris isn't bad.  Loved it.

A Quiet Place 1 & 2 - hmmm.  I really like AQP when I first saw it but when I rewatched it to then watch AQP2 I ended up not liking it as much.  You can blame that squarely on the liability kids in both films.  Insufferable little fuckers.  Also, for sure don't have a baby when noise will get you torn apart immediately.  America has this thing in films/TV where babies trump everything and it often ruins the story.  Did you ever see Battlestar Galactica?  The guy's robot girlfriend gets pregnant and he immediately forgives her for her significant part in destroying all of humanity.  But anyway, AQP is still good but not as good as I thought.  AQP2 was a bit dull and stupid, much less enjoyable.

Blood Red Sky - decent mix of airplane heist and vampire horror.  Good concept, well executed.  Only let down by another liability kid.

How it Ends - super pretentious end of the world comedy.  Entirely up its own arse but I somehow enjoyed it.

Straight to Hell - Repo Man is my all-time favourite film, so I figured I'd see what else Alex Cox has done.  Oh boy, this was pure dogshit.  Although Joe Strummer and Dick Rude were okay in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 20 August, 2021, 08:56:53 PM
I'm immediately going to have to leap to the defense of JeruZalem- which is not only one of my favourite found footage horror films, but is one of the more-played DVDs in my collection. I've seen this multiple times now, and every viewing adds new layers. I reckon it would be even more impressive if you were of a religious bent, which I'm not in the least, but even when looking at the subject matter as a load of whiffle and hokum it still manages to impress and disturb.

They keep threatening a sequel, but it never appears and it's probably too late now. A shame.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 21 August, 2021, 05:25:18 AM
Quote from: repoman on 20 August, 2021, 08:47:12 PM
Did you ever see Battlestar Galactica?  The guy's robot girlfriend gets pregnant and he immediately forgives her for her significant part in destroying all of humanity.

Most of the plotting of the new, improved BG was absolute bonkers, I agree. I mostly loved it for watching Adama's cratered fizzog grit it's way through every scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 21 August, 2021, 05:50:39 AM
Quote from: repoman on 20 August, 2021, 08:47:12 PM

Predators - I wanted to see if I still don't like it.  It's not great.  But to be fair I like all of it until Laurence Fishburne turns up.  Then the momentum sort of disappears.  By the end I was bored.  And the lack of an ending makes it even more frustrating.  Has moments though. 

Predators is the kind of movie that I bleat on just why they had to spoil the franchise after two immensely superb movies, which I keep very dear to me. Then, it was nothing compared to 2018's crapola. But I must say, Laurence Fishburne role may be the greatest asset to the film, in the way he plays a man who went mad. That's why I never understood why they had to include Topher Grace, whose part is basically redundant.


Straight to Hell - Repo Man is my all-time favourite film, so I figured I'd see what else Alex Cox has done.  Oh boy, this was pure dogshit.  Although Joe Strummer and Dick Rude were okay in it.

Yes, Repo is definitely a must see him. Too bad it may be the only valuable film by Alex, which suggests he was rather lucky.

Flash Gordon

It was okay film. Not bad as I thought at first it's gonna be. The acting is So-so (the actor who plays Flash horrible), dialogues ridiculous and direction rather sterile. But it had its moments. Max von Sydow was surprisingly good. Sets and costumes top-notch. Queen's theme song never bores from listening. If only the movie is treated more seriously. Superman is a campy film by today standards but you never get the feeling it turns into self-parody.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 August, 2021, 11:59:21 PM
Kid Detective

CalHab sold it, I watched it.

I really liked this.  I kinda want to gush about this film but it would all be spoilers.  The kid detective and noir mix works really well.  It reminded me a little of Brick.  I am really impressed with what this film has to offer and I'm really glad CalHab watched it and piqued my interest with his synopsis.  Really liked the ending, it was a good choice.  Yeah, I'd recommend it even if you might not like it as much as me it's at least worth giving it a shot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 August, 2021, 02:01:18 AM
Wrath of Kahn was on Film4 today.

It's such a well put together movie. There's horror tropes in the first act, cut between the Starfleet training stuff. The middle of the movie has very pleasing sciencey Trek, where the maguffin is explained in lovely technobabble. Then the cat & mouse game in the last act yields one of the most compelling space battles ever committed to screen.  Top it off with a delightful villain: Ricardo Montalban chewing scenery while proudly displaying his bosom.

The whole thing is fantastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 23 August, 2021, 03:09:16 AM
Jungle Cruise more like Jungle Snooze 😴
Actually it was alright if a bit to much like The Pirates movies, helps that I seem to like anything with The Rock in it and Ms Blunt is one of my favourite actresses working today.  Tried to watch Snake Eyes but that one truely put me to sleep, might try again at a late date.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 23 August, 2021, 11:43:04 AM
Quote from: repoman on 20 August, 2021, 08:47:12 PM
Straight to Hell - Repo Man is my all-time favourite film, so I figured I'd see what else Alex Cox has done.  Oh boy, this was pure dogshit.  Although Joe Strummer and Dick Rude were okay in it.

I'd definitely recommend Walker and Sid & Nancy. I really rate Cox as a film-maker (and as host of Moviedrome) but his output has been uneven. Patchier, but still interesting is the Christopher Eccleston starring adaptation of Borges' Death and The Compass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 23 August, 2021, 11:55:03 AM
Probably the best thing about Straight to Hell is that their time on set in Spain led to The Pogues writing Fiesta, which is a cracking tune.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnMcF on 23 August, 2021, 05:50:05 PM
I would also recommend Highway Patrolman by Alex Cox. One of his Mexican pictures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 August, 2021, 07:38:27 AM
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
,
Long as its title, eerily long that is (perhaps if it's runtime is slashed by 30 minutes), made the viewing a bit like chore. Which is a bit too bad, because this was very nice period drama and probably the closest we ever got to who really Jesse James and Robert Ford were. Ofcourse some historical facts were sacrificed for dramatically relationship between the two men, but not bad. And Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck were really damn good. And I never liked Casey's act before, but it's here where he started to shine (ironically, his characters gradually changes from minor annoyance to full-fleshed one). And I always liked Sam Rockwell. Some impressive naturalistic visuals and camerawork too. Finally, the whole commentary on the obssession with the celebrity figures, especially brigands, is relevant for contemporary times. America was rotten there, it is rotten now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 24 August, 2021, 08:31:30 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 August, 2021, 11:59:21 PM
Kid Detective

CalHab sold it, I watched it.

I really liked this.  I kinda want to gush about this film but it would all be spoilers.  The kid detective and noir mix works really well.  It reminded me a little of Brick.  I am really impressed with what this film has to offer and I'm really glad CalHab watched it and piqued my interest with his synopsis.  Really liked the ending, it was a good choice.  Yeah, I'd recommend it even if you might not like it as much as me it's at least worth giving it a shot.

I'm glad you enjoyed it too! Looking back at my comment earlier, I think its a better film than I made it sound and I think your post gets it right.

Brick is a very good comparison, but KD doesn't take itself as seriously (despite some plot points being very, very dark). There's an obvious comparison to one late noir film (one of my favourites), but naming that film might give away something of the end of Kid Detective!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 24 August, 2021, 10:20:33 AM
Quote from: milstar on 24 August, 2021, 07:38:27 AM
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I saw this in the cinema on release and it was a genuinely stunning piece of work. Roger Deakin's cinematography is incredible (the unusual lenses are so well used there). I watched it again on tv a few years later and it was still a great film but lost an awful lot of its power, which is a shame.

I might watch it again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 24 August, 2021, 02:36:14 PM
Quote from: rogue69 on 16 August, 2021, 11:42:19 AM
Just watched  M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004) for the first time in ages. Good cast story runs along at a slow but suitable pace,but it is ruined by the twist at the end and if you have seen it before you loose alot of the mystic of the story. Not a bad film overall worthspending 1 1/2- 2hrs on if you have nothing better to do

I think the twist is what saved the movie. All along I thought "what's this all about?", then came the twist and I grew fondly of it. Can't say I saw it coming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 August, 2021, 11:01:33 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 24 August, 2021, 08:31:30 AM

I'm glad you enjoyed it too! Looking back at my comment earlier, I think its a better film than I made it sound and I think your post gets it right.

Brick is a very good comparison, but KD doesn't take itself as seriously (despite some plot points being very, very dark). There's an obvious comparison to one late noir film (one of my favourites), but naming that film might give away something of the end of Kid Detective!

It was definitely a highlight.  The concept itself sounded interesting enough and it's a delight to get more than I expect.  I also really love these well made quirky films.

I haven't actually watched any of the old noir films.  I suppose if I were I'd have to start with The Maltese Falcon.  It's the only one I know off the top of my head.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 August, 2021, 04:59:51 AM
I enjoyed The Maltese Falcon. I also rate:

The Big Sleep (and more Bogart & Bacall chemistry in To Have and Have Not & Key Largo).
The Third Man
Double Indemnity

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 August, 2021, 09:04:28 AM
I didn't like much Bogey "private dick" movies. The Big Sleep was so-so, solid, but bland as adaptation, of otherwise outstanding novel. The Maltese Falcon... Less a detective movie than a character study. And I do hated the characters (some of which may be within the times it was made).

I'd have to go with:
Sunset Boulevard
Kiss me Deadly
In a Lonely Place
Key Largo (albeit it stalls in the middle)
Double Indemnity
The Third Man
Lady from Shanghai
Blue Dahlia
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 August, 2021, 09:59:33 AM
All this talk of Bogart has made me want to find my copy of Wagner/Grant/Smith's The Bogie Man. Now there's a Noir classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 August, 2021, 01:39:37 PM
Red Planet (2000). A very sketchy film about landing on Mars to find out what when wrong with the terraforming project. There are some decent actors in this film and if the story had been a little more science and a lot less fiction this could have been quite a good film. In the end, while it has its moments, there are a number of problems that really detract from the film. Still, it scratched my Mars itch for a couple of hours and I've seen many worse films. The Martin covers much of the same ground but in a much better fashion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 August, 2021, 02:18:31 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 25 August, 2021, 09:59:33 AM
All this talk of Bogart has made me want to find my copy of Wagner/Grant/Smith's The Bogie Man. Now there's a Noir classic.

Hm...I forgot about that. I remember BBC film with Robbie Coltrane. Not particularly fond of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 26 August, 2021, 08:26:06 AM
Quote from: milstar on 25 August, 2021, 02:18:31 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 25 August, 2021, 09:59:33 AM
All this talk of Bogart has made me want to find my copy of Wagner/Grant/Smith's The Bogie Man. Now there's a Noir classic.

Hm...I forgot about that. I remember BBC film with Robbie Coltrane. Not particularly fond of it.

Yeah, the tv version is rotten. But the comic is great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 26 August, 2021, 10:16:50 AM
On the recommendation of a friend I watched a film called Six Underground. I think maybe this guy isn't my friend after all...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 August, 2021, 08:59:18 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 26 August, 2021, 10:16:50 AM
On the recommendation of a friend I watched a film called Six Underground. I think maybe this guy isn't my friend after all...

It's a good album, though.

I looked the film up and thought "ooo, Ryan Reynolds" than read further and thought "eww, Michael Bay".  I think I understand why it may have not been the best film to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 August, 2021, 11:22:18 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 26 August, 2021, 10:16:50 AM
On the recommendation of a friend I watched a film called Six Underground. I think maybe this guy isn't my friend after all...

I could not generate the willpower to watch beyond the first act. It's all tight dresses and chrome and slow-mo and hyper-violence - but dumb as a bag of hammers. And I'm only doing it the favor of that two sentence review (which it doesn't deserve), so I can say this:

Shit Underground, more like.

(Instead, why not watch that one about zombies in Las Vegas!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 27 August, 2021, 09:12:03 AM
Wow, I didn't expect anyone else to watch it.
It's possibly the wilfully worst film I've seen, in that all the stuff that was bad about it is what I suspect Michael Bay (and my mate!) thought was good about it.
FWIW the opening act, which is a car chase that lasts about 9000 years, is the worst bit but it's all terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 27 August, 2021, 09:58:53 AM
Two British gangster flicks connected by the setting and the fact that I felt I wasted my time on them.

The Hit

Earlier Stephen Frears film. I couldn't figure what's all about. I understood the plot, but  not the characters. Which is too shame. It may be one of John Hurt's best roles, and young Tim Roth is awesome. And Eric Clapton guitar tune in the opening credits is nothing short of masterwork. These may be the only positive things about the movie.

The Business

Nick Love's another flashy film about cruel "gangsta" people and their rise and fall, believable if Danny Dyer say it's believable. I got distracted by way too much style over substance. Way too much swearing, dope, hot broads and 1980s music permeating nearly every scene. I also felt the fall of these people is done in incredibly unbelieving film, considering how the film establishes their invulnerability (up to that point).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 August, 2021, 03:10:00 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 August, 2021, 11:22:18 PM
It's all tight dresses and chrome and slow-mo and hyper-violence - but dumb as a bag of hammers.

Take out the slow-mo and that sounds like a film I'd certainly watch.  You almost sold me on the idea, but I sincerely hope to never see another Michael Bay film for the rest of my life.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 August, 2021, 01:20:46 PM
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE really is fucking terrible on every level. It doesn't know who the lead heroic fighter pilot is so it has three of them, it doesn't know who the comic relief is so it has three of them, it doesn't know who to bring back from the original movie so it has about ten of them... it's ugly as sin despite obviously spending a shit ton of time on computer effects, it too often copies shots from the original almost exactly (because, presumably, people liked it the first time round so let's do it again) and the dialogue is pure cheese and too knowingly comedic in tone as opposed to the pure B-movie of the original. And every pilot can not pull off any manoeuvre with screaming. And the message? Apparently we need more guns and militarization.

More like "Independence day: Shit."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 August, 2021, 07:34:00 PM
A film that's been mentioned a time or two here. Dredd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 August, 2021, 09:00:33 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 29 August, 2021, 07:34:00 PM
A film that's been mentioned a time or two here. Dredd.

Any good?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 August, 2021, 09:35:38 PM

I hear it's okay.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 29 August, 2021, 09:41:50 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 29 August, 2021, 09:35:38 PM

I hear it's okay.

Admirable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 August, 2021, 10:48:51 PM
Another movie that's been mentioned a time or two here: 2010.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 29 August, 2021, 11:04:11 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 29 August, 2021, 09:00:33 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 29 August, 2021, 07:34:00 PM
A film that's been mentioned a time or two here. Dredd.

Any good?
Good enough to warrant a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 30 August, 2021, 12:51:13 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 29 August, 2021, 10:48:51 PM
Another movie that's been mentioned a time or two here: 2010.

I was unlucky with this one.

My dad took me to the cinema to see it. 

I was 10, I hadn't seen 2001 and I wasn't a fan of dry sci-fi.

I wonder if I'd like it now though.  Still haven't seen 2001 so I'd need to dip into that first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 August, 2021, 01:01:19 PM
Assault on Precinct 13

Unfortunately I didn't give this my full attention, but I don't think I actually missed anything.  It isn't a complicated film and was pretty fun.  A straight forward action romp.  I had only seen the remake before and I enjoyed that film for being a straight forward action romp as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 30 August, 2021, 01:44:28 PM
2001 and 2010 are very different beasts on the big screen.  The former is far more cerebral and definitely unique in the annals of Sci-Fi films to my thinking.  You can cheerfully watch 2010 without having seen 2001 but there is so much that makes more sense if you've done so.  Just don't make the mistake of watching 2012!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 30 August, 2021, 01:51:27 PM
ACTS OF VENGEANCE

If you can get behind the idea of a high-flying defence lawyer - played by Antonio Banderas - learning how to become a fully-fledged and super-effective MMA fighter in the space of a year, then this is still so-so.

Banderas goes on the war-path and a quest for revenge after a terrible family tragedy, using his newly acquired martial arts skills - and super-powered hearing, as well! - to deadly effect. I'm not a cop, and even I was screaming the obvious answers at him as he stared at photos, evidence etc looking for...well...answers...

The fight scenes are well choreographed and Banderas does seem to be enjoying himself as he chews up the scenery (and anyone who gets in his way). It is all rather silly for what it is but Karl Urban also shows up. Which is an obvious plus!

In any event, this movie is still a breath of fresh air compared to the depressing and horrible Rambo: Last Blood, about which, the less said the better.

And saving the best for last: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

A dark, twisted and comic masterpiece, with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as the feuding sisters - and former film stars - forced by guilt and economic circumstances to live with one another. Inevitably, one of them is bound to snap and when she does? Oh, my giddy aunt!

Davis gives a superb performance (and at times even manages to elicit a certain amount of pity, for her otherwise monstrous character) and Crawford is her equal in every way.

A creepy, disturbing and thought provoking study of mental breakdown.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 August, 2021, 02:01:35 PM
CANDYMAN (2021)

Tony Todd climbed into the husk of my skin and whispered sweet nothings until my flesh curled and died.
The only legacy horror movie from the last 20 years that actually matters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 30 August, 2021, 03:08:51 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 29 August, 2021, 10:48:51 PM
Another movie that's been mentioned a time or two here: 2010.
Really excellent! It's one of my go-to feel good movies. Gives up Kubrik's surrealism for more accesible sci-fi and plays all the right notes from the original film. A more than worthy sequel IMO.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 31 August, 2021, 08:30:04 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 August, 2021, 02:01:35 PM
CANDYMAN (2021)

Tony Todd climbed into the husk of my skin and whispered sweet nothings until my flesh curled and died.
The only legacy horror movie from the last 20 years that actually matters.

Genuinely interested to see where they go with that film. The original is a classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 31 August, 2021, 05:06:41 PM
With all this Candymanning going on, I decided to watch the original for the first time in so long that I didn't actually remember anything about it.

It's pretty good.  I like Virginia Madsen for a start and Tony Todd does a pretty good job in it.  But I'm not a huge fan of when films completely mess with reality.  So when she shows up in that woman's bathroom, that's a bit annoying.  But overall it was fun. 

I'll enjoy watching the remake hopefully but I reckon I'll leave OG Candyman for another 10-20 years. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 August, 2021, 05:43:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 31 August, 2021, 05:06:41 PM

I'll enjoy watching the remake hopefully but I reckon I'll leave OG Candyman for another 10-20 years.


The 2021 film is a sequel to the original, y'know. The main character is the baby from the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 31 August, 2021, 07:18:38 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 31 August, 2021, 05:43:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 31 August, 2021, 05:06:41 PM

I'll enjoy watching the remake hopefully but I reckon I'll leave OG Candyman for another 10-20 years.


The 2021 film is a sequel to the original, y'know. The main character is the baby from the original.

That's a pretty big spoiler :(
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 01 September, 2021, 12:37:53 AM
I don't think that could be considered a spoiler seeing as how he has the same name and it's the same actress playing his mother.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 September, 2021, 12:38:54 AM
Quote from: repoman on 30 August, 2021, 12:51:13 PM

I was 10, I hadn't seen 2001 and I wasn't a fan of dry sci-fi.

I wonder if I'd like it now though.  Still haven't seen 2001 so I'd need to dip into that first.

Ah... 2001. Never have been the hardcore fan of SF, but that movie nearly made me weep on how good it is. It's more than a movie. It's a brooding on humanity.

Quote from: paddykafka on 30 August, 2021, 01:51:27 PM

And saving the best for last: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

A dark, twisted and comic masterpiece, with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as the feuding sisters - and former film stars - forced by guilt and economic circumstances to live with one another. Inevitably, one of them is bound to snap and when she does? Oh, my giddy aunt!

Davis gives a superb performance (and at times even manages to elicit a certain amount of pity, for her otherwise monstrous character) and Crawford is her equal in every way.

A creepy, disturbing and thought provoking study of mental breakdown.

I find Robert Aldrich a very underrated director. Provocative as well. Without Kiss me Deadly and Dirty Dozen, the cinema would be much poorer place. Baby Jane is ofcourse another classic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 September, 2021, 08:07:19 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 01 September, 2021, 12:37:53 AM
I don't think that could be considered a spoiler seeing as how he has the same name and it's the same actress playing his mother.

I've not even seen the film, so sorry if it's a spoiler. I've just seen the BBC review saying, "this is a sequel to the original, ignoring the other sequels, with Actor X playing the child from the first film". The BBC review said it was pretty damn good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 September, 2021, 11:32:21 AM
Edge of Tomorrow

Ah...this was an interesting ride, I have to admit. But it'd probably be the movie that would mark my childhood if I was 20 years younger. The opening minutes reckoned me on Invasion 1984, then it progressed into Deja Vu (which IMO sounds like a more fitting title) and then Groundhog Day. Action and SFX were nice, but nothing that you wouldn't see in a recent Hollywood movie. Tom and Emily make a nice pair, btw. The ending is absolute bollocks, however.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Large48 on 02 September, 2021, 04:18:13 PM
Anyone for Space Truckers????

Ace Garp would turn in his boots!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 September, 2021, 04:28:16 PM
Detention

Plenty of good ideas that don't quite come together.  This was sold to me as a horror movie and it does have some horror themed elements, it is very much not that.  It's a high school comedy.  It hits all the beats of a high school comedy and doesn't really do anything much with the horror and sci-fi stuff.  It's pretty snarky, heavily referential, and quite predictable.  It doesn't come together because it has a large cast of characters but the focus is mainly on four of them, but very specifically one.  It uses vignettes to very briefly explore the other characters and they have their own resolutions, but it rings hollow as we don't spend enough time with them.  It should have ditched the traditional main character narrative structure of the high school comedy and gone for an ensemble character driven comedy.  I really don't understand why the film makers didn't do this.  The film is already pretty weird.

In the end, the recommendation I got was too gushing.  The film is style over substance.  For the weird style I'd say it's OK, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 September, 2021, 01:33:07 PM
Fierce Creatures

Ah...John Cleese is fine actor and cool bloke, but not even he could save this dump and spiritual sequel to his A Fish Called Wanda. There are funny moments here and there, and most of them revolve around Cleese. The rest of the characters are exaggerated to the point of annoyance. Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 September, 2021, 11:08:28 AM
The Spirit

Have never seen this solo-directed Frank Miller project, But now I wish I didn'.t Frankie is much better director than writer here. And that shouldn't say much. Visuals are dazzling, that's for sure. But that's only reason why it's worth spending your time on this braindead shite. Nearly all major flaws in filmmaking are here.
Plot - contrived as the first issue of Elektra Assassin (although I stayed on the movie 'til the end). In fact, every five minutes I forgot what is happening.
Dialogues - way too outlandish, and self-indulgent. There was a time where Miller knew better how to pull of noirish talk, but that was either hit or miss. Here, it's all miss. And there are way too many examples of that. One I'll mention because it sounds very familiar. "Keep the mask on. It's better that way".
Characters - unremarkable and their acting is stiff and boring, at least. Samuel L. Jackson is criminally wasted here. The actor who plays The Spirit is awful. And as far as the female characters goes, one character said spot-on thing; "are all females in this town crazy?"

At least Miller filmed his own decapitation in the film. That's surely something. I don't think a director did something like that in the cinema history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 September, 2021, 11:18:28 AM
Deep Rising

I hadn't seen this in years.  It's an action horror creature feature type thing... on a boat.  Watch as people die.  Watch as people yell and run.  Watch as a contrivance saves the day.

This film answer important questions like "can you open an elevator door by shooting the button with a shotgun?"

This film is loads of fun.  Pretty much how I remember it.  Dumb but entertaining and it has a lot of charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2021, 11:20:31 AM
THE ROAD WARRIOR

Gonna get lynched for this but it's probably my least favourite of the MM films and at times embodies some of Millers worst habits as a director. Still a fun time in the first and final acts with a lot of drag in between.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 September, 2021, 11:36:41 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2021, 11:20:31 AM
THE ROAD WARRIOR

Gonna get lynched for this but it's probably my least favourite of the MM films and at times embodies some of Millers worst habits as a director. Still a fun time in the first and final acts with a lot of drag in between.

I won't judge.  I prefer Beyond Thunderdome to Road Warrior. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 September, 2021, 11:48:48 AM
Well we won't lynch you ... both... but only cos its illegal... I mean really that's the only reason...

And Zac to think I used to have such respect for you..
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2021, 11:52:25 AM
Mad Max '79 still reigns for me as the best in the series. Theres something so...palpable, about its world. The all encroaching sensation the world is just about on the cusp of a massive social-political change. Like some great cosmic horror is happening just off screen and even out in the sticks people have been feeling its influence for some time.

I enjoy the camp pomposity of The Road Warrior but really Fury Road is now just a better, slicker, more refined version of the same concept.

Beyond Thunderdome I at least admire for just being thoroughly bizarre in its intentions.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 September, 2021, 12:15:50 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2021, 11:20:31 AM
THE ROAD WARRIOR

Gonna get lynched for this but it's probably my least favourite of the MM films and at times embodies some of Millers worst habits as a director. Still a fun time in the first and final acts with a lot of drag in between.

Blasphemy!

To think that RW is the best in the series. Then again, I've never been a fan of MM franchise.
No one long chase like in Fury Road and perhaps the best character of Max we've got.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 05 September, 2021, 12:00:37 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 04 September, 2021, 11:20:31 AM
THE ROAD WARRIOR

Gonna get lynched for this but it's probably my least favourite of the MM films and at times embodies some of Millers worst habits as a director. Still a fun time in the first and final acts with a lot of drag in between.

I reserve my judgement and remain silent due to a crushing feeling of horror and deep, deep disappointment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 September, 2021, 12:44:20 PM
I very much enjoyed FREE GUY despite it being predictable and by the numbers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 06 September, 2021, 03:10:31 AM
Shang-chi, best marvel movie since Guardians.  Slick fight choreography, fun not to annoying sidekick that actually has a point rather than just there for the jokes, and some fun cameos [spoiler]who ever thought we'd see Trevor again[/spoiler].  Fun enjoyable couple of hours I think worth it even if you are a bit burnt out from Marvel movies.  First half better that second half and like all Marvel moves es climax is a bit battle in the sky but still a fun time.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 September, 2021, 09:18:51 PM
Screamers

The premise, exposition and setting are all better than the movie itself.  It's a sci-fi horror film with a plot based around paranoia.  Except the paranoid tension doesn't really build and the third act just gets silly.  It starts pretty strong, even with a bit of intrigue that I don't think got explicitly resolved.  Some motivations are... non-existent really, once the film plays out.  Like I say, it gets silly and that does undermine a lot of the narrative.

I enjoyed the look and design of the film.  I enjoyed the performances.  The world building is good.  It also has Peter Weller as the lead.

I'd have to say it's a very mixed bag overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 03:17:57 AM
Mad Max: horror
Mad Max 2 [aka The Road Warrior]: action
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: popcorn
Mad Max: Fury Road: legendary
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 September, 2021, 06:41:27 AM
The Avengers

No. Not Marvel's Avemgers. Yes, these Avengers are indeed horrible. Granted, I never have seen a single episode of the 1960s show, so i don't have a point to compare, but this movie indeed is a failure on other levels (even if being true to the series character-wise, plot-wise and any other - wise). When I was 10 - year old, I actually enjoyed in this. The plot is incoherent (reportedly, around 20 minutes were cut before the release); I don't think the movie would improve even with the full version. Characters are cardboard, Ralph and Uma have zero chemistry, their acting is on the verge of section eight and general treatment of the material is so disrespecting it offends.
And what's up with the built-in tea dispenser with the milk in the Ralph's car?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 07 September, 2021, 06:10:26 PM
Finally caught up with some of those recent Marvel movies last weekend.

Avengers 3: Infinity War I: Infinity War. I'd actually seen most of this before on a very long flight and had wanted to give it a proper watch ever since. This was quite brilliant. It manages the same trick as the first Avengers to have a pretty huge cast and give almost all of them something to do. I've seen less than half of the MCU films , but it was generally fairly easy to work out what was going on and what was important or could be glossed over as being explained in another installment.

The mixture of serious plot stuff and superhero banter was just right. Some pretty heavy plot beats tempered just enough with jokes and leaning into some of the ridiculous, cosmic awesomeness that only comics can give, like Thor having to restart a star to get his new axe. The villain fits into that too: patently ridiculous but played completely straight and with enough gravitas to carry it off.

Probably my favourite thing about it was something completely incidental. Something that mildly irks me is the way that 99% of films are filmed with everything happening in the dead centre of the screen with just the occasional change of focus. I really liked how this had lots of little background jokes, e.g. Mantis bouncing around in low grav, that you catch out of the corner of your eye. The cinematic equivalent of the little details that can be packed into a comic panel and only noticed on third or tenth read!


Avengers 4: Infinity War II: Endgame. Shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 September, 2021, 06:15:48 PM
ENDGAME truly is woeful, and i'm glad some of even the most sycophantic Disney stans are in agreement on that front. Just a turgid, boring, loathsome slog.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 08:44:05 PM
I loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 September, 2021, 09:03:54 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 08:44:05 PM
I loved it.

Yup.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

They were both enjoyable on about the same level for me.

No love for the money-scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT9mxZUQ2JM)?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 07 September, 2021, 10:32:25 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
They were both enjoyable on about the same level for me.

The first is better constructed, IMO. The second is all about pay-offs. If you're not invested, I can kind of see why it would fall a bit flat, but the pay-offs are impeccably set up and, for the most part, solidly earned.

I enjoyed Endgame more on a second viewing, TBH, because on the first I'd spent a year constructing how I thought the movie would play out and was kind of disappointed that it wasn't the film I'd had in my head. On the second viewing, I was able to take it on its own terms, and it delivered perfectly well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 September, 2021, 11:22:20 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

I agree, I don't see why this would be the case.  I hate them both equally, but for different reasons.  Although I've never rated the franchise at being particularly remarkable to begin with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 11:46:17 PM
THE IRON GIANT is pretty much class from beginning to end.

The early days CGI works a treat but the true brilliance is surely in the compact storytelling. Barely a frame wasted... there's nothing in the seconfd half that isn't set up in the first half.

Plus the four key human characters all get a bit of time to breathe and bring the character of the Iron Giant out as much as the animation. Vin Diesel put more effort into his performance here than the last three FAST AND FURIOUS movies put together.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 September, 2021, 08:11:04 AM
The King of Comedy

I was surprised to see how much of it went into Joker (I haven't seen the 1982's film in a very while). I find DeNiro miscast and unsymphatetic, but he really played his part like a true performer. I find the movie funny here and there, but the generally theme of celebrity obsession is something that didn't appeal to me much. And unfortunately, like every movie that deals with such folly matters, it fails to do a detailed psychological vivisection of what pushes regular people to go crazy weirdos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 08 September, 2021, 02:01:37 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 11:46:17 PM
THE IRON GIANT is pretty much class from beginning to end.

The early days CGI works a treat but the true brilliance is surely in the compact storytelling. Barely a frame wasted... there's nothing in the seconfd half that isn't set up in the first half.

Plus the four key human characters all get a bit of time to breathe and bring the character of the Iron Giant out as much as the animation. Vin Diesel put more effort into his performance here than the last three FAST AND FURIOUS movies put together.
I defy anyone to watch The Iron Giant and not tear up. Easily in my top three animated films of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 02:53:12 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

I mean, I think its awful in MANY capacities beyond its comparisons to Infinity War (a thoroughly mediocre is enjoyable experience) due to just how thuddingly, blindingly, dreary and tiresome it is as a piece of "art"* unto itself.

*I use this term with the loosest of meanings when it comes to the house of mouse.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 September, 2021, 03:01:56 PM
I'm starting to suspect ol' Hawks doesn't like them Marvel films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 03:11:33 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 08 September, 2021, 03:01:56 PM
I'm starting to suspect ol' Hawks doesn't like them Marvel films.

I might have mentioned it a few times....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 08 September, 2021, 05:39:30 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 02:53:12 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

I mean, I think its awful in MANY capacities beyond its comparisons to Infinity War (a thoroughly mediocre is enjoyable experience) due to just how thuddingly, blindingly, dreary and tiresome it is as a piece of "art"* unto itself.

*I use this term with the loosest of meanings when it comes to the house of mouse.

I know i often use things like "More like AVENGERS: SHITGAME" as shorthand myself but these are pretty broad brush strokes. Any chance of an example of "dreary" or "tiresome"?

I mean I certainly think some of the set pieces could be trimmed for time especially if there are beats in there for characters I'm not particularly engaged with but "dreary" and "tiresome" I just don't get. Genuinely curious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 08 September, 2021, 06:37:15 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

They were both enjoyable on about the same level for me.

No love for the money-scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT9mxZUQ2JM)?

I'm not a huge fan of superhero movies but I liked Infinity War and I thought the ending was pretty bold.  You could have left it there.

Endgame was too long, was trying to do too much, had too much Jeremy Renner in it.  It was just full on CGI for large parts too.  That battle was like watching a video game cutscene.  And it just felt like five hours long. 

I can forgive so much in films but I can't forgive films that bore me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 September, 2021, 06:47:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 03:11:33 PM

I might have mentioned it a few times....

I remain baffled as to why you keep watching them. Surely, at some point in the 25+ movie franchise you must have thought: these aren't for me...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 08 September, 2021, 07:23:57 PM
MCU Roulette ... just one more try ... nobody has luck this bad ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 08 September, 2021, 07:25:23 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 September, 2021, 05:39:30 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 02:53:12 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 07 September, 2021, 10:22:56 PM
I watched Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back and it's not clear why the second one would be regarded as so woeful compared to the first.

I mean, I think its awful in MANY capacities beyond its comparisons to Infinity War (a thoroughly mediocre is enjoyable experience) due to just how thuddingly, blindingly, dreary and tiresome it is as a piece of "art"* unto itself.

*I use this term with the loosest of meanings when it comes to the house of mouse.

I know i often use things like "More like AVENGERS: SHITGAME" as shorthand myself but these are pretty broad brush strokes. Any chance of an example of "dreary" or "tiresome"?

I mean I certainly think some of the set pieces could be trimmed for time especially if there are beats in there for characters I'm not particularly engaged with but "dreary" and "tiresome" I just don't get. Genuinely curious.

I can see what he means. There is an element of spectacle for spectacle's sake, and at the cost of the plot being driven forward.

BUT these are comic book adaptions. The action is therefore intrinsic to them, and I don't feel they should be criticised for it any more than you could criticise a western for having shots of a cowboy on a horse. You know what you are getting into when you sit down to watch one.

I may not be articulating that properly. It's kinda like saying a steak is too beefy. It is what it is. Don't chow down and expect something else, and definitely don't if you are a vegetarian.

I do feel, as I have said, that these movies are guilty pleasures and like a fish supper - tasty but with instant regret and a sickly feeling.

For me, I admire the technical skill in showing a photo-realistic representation of what comics and my imagination have thrown up for decades. But I also have a slightly guilty feeling that the Marvel movies cost so much, and say so little.

So, yes, I can see how they may be tiresome and dreary. They are noise and fury with nothing to say, and that can be wearing. Like watching fireworks for six hours. It's fun at the start, but soon the booms, bangs and fancy lights are... dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:46:13 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 08 September, 2021, 07:23:57 PM
MCU Roulette ... just one more try ... nobody has luck this bad ...

'Peels off the Iron Man labels from the generic action doll, replaces it with a Dr. Strange label.'

Disney: Hey kids watch our new content.

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 September, 2021, 06:47:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 03:11:33 PM

I might have mentioned it a few times....

I remain baffled as to why you keep watching them. Surely, at some point in the 25+ movie franchise you must have thought: these aren't for me...?

Alas its part of my job to know the deal with these fricking things.

I take no joy in this, I would switch places with any of the saints in their moments of agony any time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:55:50 PM
Anyway I rewatched EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT today and it's probably in my top 5 of the 21st century so far and it's half as long as Endgame, this has been a PSA.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 September, 2021, 08:42:56 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:55:50 PM
Anyway I rewatched EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT today and it's probably in my top 5 of the 21st century so far and it's half as long as Endgame, this has been a PSA.

Not what I'd usually go for these days, but a brief glance and it looks good.  By that I mean the cinematography looks good. 

I've put it on my very long list of films to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 08 September, 2021, 10:27:46 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:46:13 PM
'Peels off the Iron Man labels from the generic action doll, replaces it with a Dr. Strange label.'

There is certainly a sense in which Iron Man / Tony Stark has no character. When a Marvel movie attempts to imbue emotion into an interaction between Banner and Romanoff it's devoid of any heft because (and this is really core to the nature of never-ending comic characters) they don't actually have any character - just a costume or a power or an ability. They're utilitarian creatures. Mannequins. A world of walking MacGuffins.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 09 September, 2021, 12:40:14 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:46:13 PM

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 September, 2021, 06:47:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 03:11:33 PM

I might have mentioned it a few times....

I remain baffled as to why you keep watching them. Surely, at some point in the 25+ movie franchise you must have thought: these aren't for me...?

Alas its part of my job to know the deal with these fricking things.

I take no joy in this, I would switch places with any of the saints in their moments of agony any time.

No idea what it is you folks do that require you to know the deal with the Marvel films, but the active hatred of them is obvious!

Speaking as someone who actually works on the Marvel films and therefore having to watch them multiple times to know them all backwards, I can say that I manage to find things to enjoy in most of the MCU output. There's always things that you think could be done better or differently, and there's a couple that I do find easily forgotten. But I'd rather go into them looking for positives. Much healthier all round!

This goes for all forms of entertainment, I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 September, 2021, 02:18:50 AM
Quote from: inkymonkey on 09 September, 2021, 12:40:14 AM
This goes for all forms of entertainment, I guess.

Triangle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9M76bMe8M)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 09 September, 2021, 07:32:35 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 08 September, 2021, 10:27:46 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 September, 2021, 07:46:13 PM
'Peels off the Iron Man labels from the generic action doll, replaces it with a Dr. Strange label.'

There is certainly a sense in which Iron Man / Tony Stark has no character.

I think he does have character. He is (or at least becomes) a man driven by guilt (Stark Industries' militarism; the loss of Peter Parker) and regret (his relationship with his father), both of which lead to an overdeveloped and overwhelming sense of personal responsibility (his various attempts to 'protect the planet'). And from this comes a profound death wish.

On top of that, he's very funny, charismatic and frequently insufferable. And let's not forget the PTSD.

(Admittedly, Stark has the advantage of appearing in more movies.)


QuoteWhen a Marvel movie attempts to imbue emotion into an interaction between Banner and Romanoff it's devoid of any heft because (and this is really core to the nature of never-ending comic characters) they don't actually have any character - just a costume or a power or an ability. They're utilitarian creatures. Mannequins. A world of walking MacGuffins.

Romanoff's backstory and hence much of her character wasn't really revealed until Black Widow. Half of that is a bit of a cliché, but the family angle is interesting. Like Stark, she's another person motivated by guilt, and personally I find characters driven to redeem themselves inherently interesting.

As for the Banner/Romanoff relationship, I do think you have half a point - it could have done with a movie of its own to explore it. However, the interest for me is the fact we have two obviously lonely people, both of whom have learnt to push down on their emotions.

One could argue that a lot of this is verging on the subliminal, but I find it's there. I think it's one of the reasons that the Marvel movies work better than, say, Star Wars I-III. I don't recall feeling any tears in my eyes during the latter, but quite a few during the Marvels (one or two during The Mandalorian, though).

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 September, 2021, 06:06:11 PM
Continuing on the Brad Bird kick with THE INCREDIBLES.

THE INCREDIBLES? More like INCREDIBLE.

Tiny Tips The Next Generation also loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 11 September, 2021, 12:12:37 AM
Ocean's 8

Ah, redo a movie done almost 20 twenty years ago, but this time with the all female (main) cast.Now I am not a big fan of those movies, but I admire Sodebergh's direction.  In this case, it's no less surprising 2001 film. With cardboard characters and even more cardboard villain (than Andy Garcia was). And while the cast looks actually admirable, I don't see Sandra in any commanding, brain of the group, role. Then there's Awkwafina with her blaccent (I couldn't understand her a bloody thing, but she promised she won't do accents anymore).
Oh, and James Corden is in it. What a waste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 11 September, 2021, 12:31:19 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 08:44:05 PM
I loved it.

I rewatched it for the 4th time at the weekend and still think it's great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 September, 2021, 01:02:47 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 07 September, 2021, 08:44:05 PM
I loved it.

Ditto.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2021, 04:36:48 PM
SHANG-CHI

While we're here I might as well give my thoughts on this latest entry. A perfectly serviceable time let down by some jarring moments of fan wankery and a pretty poor score from West. Had my hopes up from the opening sequence but the rest didn't quite come together. Still probably one of the most fun i've had with one of these since the first Guardians.

Sorry to disappoint the stans but I didn't hate this one, it was fine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2021, 09:38:40 PM
What's a Stan?

Rewatched THE MATRIX last night. It's been a while since I did and, has oft been stated,  the knowledge that Lily and Lana have transitioned adds new layers to it.

Anyway, it's great. If i was to nitpick? The dialogue, though meme city, is either servicable, cliched or too on the nose.

And we're Keanu and Hugo really that young
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2021, 09:45:40 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2021, 09:38:40 PM
What's a Stan?

UrbanDictionary: A crazed and or obsessed fan. The term comes from the song Stan by Eminem. The term Stan is used to describe a fan who goes to great lengths to obsess over a celebrity.

Absolutely more appropriate to Twitter than private forums but man, the MCU has some real dangerous whack jobs in its fandom.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 12 September, 2021, 01:27:50 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 September, 2021, 09:45:40 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2021, 09:38:40 PM
What's a Stan?

UrbanDictionary: A crazed and or obsessed fan. The term comes from the song Stan by Eminem. The term Stan is used to describe a fan who goes to great lengths to obsess over a celebrity.

Absolutely more appropriate to Twitter than private forums but man, the MCU has some real dangerous whack jobs in its fandom.

No offence Hawkmumbler, but I think your obsession with Marvel films being [spoiler]REDACTED[/spoiler] seems a bit stronger than my being a fan of them! :)


Tongue firmly in cheek, of course :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 September, 2021, 09:00:54 PM
Please note, my disdain for the house of mouse is only 90% a bit.

Only.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 12 September, 2021, 09:37:47 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2021, 09:38:40 PM
What's a Stan?

Rewatched THE MATRIX last night. It's been a while since I did and, has oft been stated,  the knowledge that Lily and Lana have transitioned adds new layers to it.

Anyway, it's great. If i was to nitpick? The dialogue, though meme city, is either servicable, cliched or too on the nose.

And we're Keanu and Hugo really that young

The Matrix is still entirely unfuckwittable.  A great film.  I really like the second one too.  And then completely detest the third one.  And now they are making a new one.

So that's basically exactly how I feel about Ghostbusters as a series.

Anyway, the last four films I watched were Alien, Aliens, Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection.  I took a major break from watching them all.  I'm not sure how long but maybe five years or more.  I still love it as a series but was surprised at how bad the ending of Alien3 is and how much I enjoyed Resurrection.

I've always loved all four films but Alien3 has maybe aged the worst out of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2021, 10:39:31 PM
Quote from: repoman on 12 September, 2021, 09:37:47 PM

I've always loved all four films but Alien3 has maybe aged the worst out of them.

I refuse to accept that there are four Alien films. Or six. Or however many horrible things they've made now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 13 September, 2021, 12:14:28 AM
Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia

Sweeping aside casual misogyni typical for Peckinpah's movies, I can't say I enjoyed in this neo western. It's painfully slow (the first half is pure shite), and the main character is so unremarkable as protagonist. And the story leaves much to be desired.
Better to stick with The Getaway, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Cross of Iron (the coolest ww2 film ever made).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
The Hidden

80's sci-fi thriller.  It's about tracking down an alien psycho that is on a crime spree on Earth.  It's a pretty decent film.  Efficient story telling and well paced hitting all the narrative beats when it needs and drip feeding the exposition.  It's pretty engaging, kinda humorous in places.  I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 September, 2021, 11:33:36 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
The Hidden
It's pretty engaging, kinda humorous in places.

Haven't seen it in decades, but still remember yer man biting into an alka seltzer after his first hangover experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 September, 2021, 06:56:53 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2021, 10:39:31 PM
Quote from: repoman on 12 September, 2021, 09:37:47 PM

I've always loved all four films but Alien3 has maybe aged the worst out of them.

I refuse to accept that there are four Alien films. Or six. Or however many horrible things they've made now.

Covenant is good actually.

I'm not inviting anyone to dissuade me on this, its the truth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 September, 2021, 07:04:51 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
The Hidden

80's sci-fi thriller.  It's about tracking down an alien psycho that is on a crime spree on Earth.  It's a pretty decent film.  Efficient story telling and well paced hitting all the narrative beats when it needs and drip feeding the exposition.  It's pretty engaging, kinda humorous in places.  I enjoyed it.

A quiet sci-fi classic from the 80s - tends to fly under the radar but definitely belongs in the worthy bucket. I remember feeling like I'd found it, instead of it hyping itself into my life. (Matrix - I'm looking at you!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 08:48:42 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 13 September, 2021, 07:04:51 PM
A quiet sci-fi classic from the 80s - tends to fly under the radar but definitely belongs in the worthy bucket. I remember feeling like I'd found it, instead of it hyping itself into my life. (Matrix - I'm looking at you!)

A nice way to describe it.  I find myself at loss to say much about the film other than it's good.  It has an interesting ending as well.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 13 September, 2021, 06:56:53 PM
Covenant is good actually.

This is so wrong I am now wondering if Endgame is actually a work of genius and possibly the best film ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 September, 2021, 10:22:22 PM
"Breathe on the nostrils of a horse"

Alien Covenant is rubbish.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 September, 2021, 04:55:52 AM
Quote from: repoman on 13 September, 2021, 10:22:22 PM
Alien Covenant is rubbish.

True waste of time. Then again, I enjoyed in the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (Indiana Jones 4).

The Crow

Nah... I don't see the high praise given to this film as absolutely deserved. In fact, I believe it is so because of Brandon Lee's tragic fate and he's miscast here. Isn't intimidating character at all. And the plot is flat, rehashing the same revenge threads, except this time in underground world of industrial rock music (which I was never into). And the dialogues are too outlandish for my taste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 14 September, 2021, 07:02:48 AM
SLAXX
Canadian horror comedy movie with killer Jeans. A new type of jeans are just about to be launched in a ultra trendy fashion store that have the ability to automatically mold to anyone's body shape. As the staff work over night to set the store for the launch of the jeans one pair comes alive after being put on crushing them inhalf and then go on a killing spree in the store.

It's basic B movie horror film that trys to loosely say something about how the fashion industry uses sweatshops and GMOs whilst promoting a humanitarian and effical image
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 September, 2021, 09:50:13 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 08:48:42 PM
This is so wrong I am now wondering if Endgame is actually a work of genius and possibly the best film ever made.

Quote from: repoman on 13 September, 2021, 10:22:22 PM
"Breathe on the nostrils of a horse"

Alien Covenant is rubbish.

[BLOCKED]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 14 September, 2021, 10:13:24 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 13 September, 2021, 11:10:33 AM
The Hidden

80's sci-fi thriller.  It's about tracking down an alien psycho that is on a crime spree on Earth.  It's a pretty decent film. 

To a certain extent the 80's feels like it was a bit of a golden age for that type of film.  There seem to be a slew of films that didn't capture the popular imagination but actually fare fairly well.  For guilty pleasure you'd have to count the first Philadelphia Experiment film.  Then there's The Quiet Earth.  Slipstream deserves an honourable mention.  The Last Starfighter.  Moon 44.

Mind you, when you consider some of the stuff that was being made for telly at the time ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rately on 14 September, 2021, 10:35:30 AM
Malignant.

Christ, I don't know where to start, I can't tell you even if I enjoyed it, or hated it. It is such a mishmash in terms of storytelling, direction.

There are genuinely fantastic bits, but equally bits that make you wonder if there weren't two or three writers and directors having a day about on set.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 12:18:27 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 14 September, 2021, 10:13:24 AM
To a certain extent the 80's feels like it was a bit of a golden age for that type of film.  There seem to be a slew of films that didn't capture the popular imagination but actually fare fairly well.  For guilty pleasure you'd have to count the first Philadelphia Experiment film.  Then there's The Quiet Earth.  Slipstream deserves an honourable mention.  The Last Starfighter.  Moon 44.

I haven't seen some of these. I'll put them on the list.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 14 September, 2021, 03:01:36 PM
Malignant.
What an absolute dud. As if director, James Wan had briefly flicked through the A-Z of Giallo Horror and thought I can do that.
A woefully tedious police procedural subplot, gives way to a gore drenched, and mildly attention grabbing, batshit crazy final act that lacked any of the style and flair that someone like Argento would have brought to the material.
One to avoid.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 September, 2021, 04:17:46 PM
For a second I was convinced I was going to be alone in thinking Malignant absolutely blew chunks so I'm glad to see more folks coming out in support of the truth.

James Wan is and always has been atrociously over represented in major motion horror pictures.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 04:35:01 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 September, 2021, 04:17:46 PM
James Wan is and always has been atrociously over represented in major motion horror pictures.

Probably that Saw legacy.  I never understood the love for that film.  I watched Saw 2 in its entirety (it is shit) but I couldn't make it through the first one.  So very boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 14 September, 2021, 05:37:53 PM
Quote from: milstar on 14 September, 2021, 04:55:52 AM
Quote from: repoman on 13 September, 2021, 10:22:22 PM
Alien Covenant is rubbish.

True waste of time. Then again, I enjoyed in the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (Indiana Jones 4).

The Crow

Nah... I don't see the high praise given to this film as absolutely deserved. In fact, I believe it is so because of Brandon Lee's tragic fate and he's miscast here. Isn't intimidating character at all. And the plot is flat, rehashing the same revenge threads, except this time in underground world of industrial rock music (which I was never into). And the dialogues are too outlandish for my taste.

Ah man.  I love The Crow.  I saw it a bunch of times in the cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 05:47:16 PM
I have The Crow lined up for a rewatch.  Last time I watched it I thought it was very dated and ropey.  Recently I was wondering if I was being harsh on it so I intend on giving it another go. 

I'll probably watch the sequel as well, to see how that stacks up.  Never seen it before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 September, 2021, 10:54:37 PM
Saw...I never understood such high popularity for pornography of violence.

Quote from: Tjm86 on 14 September, 2021, 10:13:24 AM
To a certain extent the 80's feels like it was a bit of a golden age for that type of film.  There seem to be a slew of films that didn't capture the popular imagination but actually fare fairly well.  For guilty pleasure you'd have to count the first Philadelphia Experiment film.  Then there's The Quiet Earth.  Slipstream deserves an honourable mention.  The Last Starfighter.  Moon 44.

Mind you, when you consider some of the stuff that was being made for telly at the time ...

Something about Michael Pare movies that don't sit well with me. Philadelphia Experiment was a blast to me when I was very young, but after rewatching recently, it was rather mediocre B movie with dumbfounded (happy) ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 11:55:45 PM
The Full Monty

Meh.  I was thinking about Brassed Off the other day so I decided to give The Full Monty another go.  Cos it was very popular back in the day.  Remember when Prince Charles did the Job Seeker line dance thing.  That was hilarious.  Prince Charles at a Job Seeker Centre... funny.

There is casual misogyny and homophobia in the film.  I'm pretty sure two characters "turning out" to be gay is done for a cheap joke.  The first act is full of misogyny and it's never addressed.  It just tones down more as the film goes on.

Is this film about hard times and the struggles in deindustrialised Britain or are all unemployed feckless lay-abouts who just need to go out and get a job?  The film certainly doesn't know and neither do I.

Needed a better kid actor.  Is he sad?  Is he happy?  Is he a robot that kills children in the dead of night and wears their skin as a suit?  Who knows!  I get more emoting from the grouting in my bathroom.

The film is filled with contrivances that make it become more ridiculous as it goes along.  The conflicts are poorly considered and make me question what is really going on with this film.  It is not cohesive to the point that the conclusion does not resolve the inciting incident.  That just magically resolved itself.  Who cares, there is a show to put on!  That's what this was all about right?  Putting on a show?  Right?

So yeah.  It's not particularly good.  Thankfully I was under no illusion that it was.  There is a reason I haven't watched it in over 20 years.

Was there anything good in this film?  Well, kind of, yes.  Firstly, I liked the dance routine at the end.  Secondly, I liked (hang on, gonna look up the characters name) Dave's narrative.  I wouldn't say the film tackled body image problems and how they can effect ones relationship amazingly well, but it does see it through to the end and doesn't just hand wave it away like everything else.  It is the most fleshed out part of the film.  I suppose I should mention that most of the cast are good with what they are working with.

Still, that doesn't save this film.  It's a confused mess in both story and tone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: dweezil2 on 15 September, 2021, 03:12:00 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 04:35:01 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 14 September, 2021, 04:17:46 PM
James Wan is and always has been atrociously over represented in major motion horror pictures.

Probably that Saw legacy.  I never understood the love for that film.  I watched Saw 2 in its entirety (it is shit) but I couldn't make it through the first one.  So very boring.

Yep, put me down as someone who never got the appeal of the Saw movies either.
The more a delve into Wan's output, I come to the conclusion that it's an emperor's New clothes deal and he is in fact a bit of a hack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 15 September, 2021, 06:05:27 AM
Quote from: milstar on 14 September, 2021, 10:54:37 PM
Philadelphia Experiment was a blast to me when I was very young, but after rewatching recently, it was rather mediocre B movie with dumbfounded (happy) ending.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it was amazing stuff, or even close to being so ... It's 90 minutes of brain candy.  The sequel is a bit of an odd beast.  Taking a riff on Man in the High Castle but without the depth.  If you ever do catch it then it is worth dialling expectations down to the basement ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 15 September, 2021, 09:12:52 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 15 September, 2021, 06:05:27 AM
Quote from: milstar on 14 September, 2021, 10:54:37 PM
Philadelphia Experiment was a blast to me when I was very young, but after rewatching recently, it was rather mediocre B movie with dumbfounded (happy) ending.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it was amazing stuff, or even close to being so ... It's 90 minutes of brain candy.  The sequel is a bit of an odd beast.  Taking a riff on Man in the High Castle but without the depth.  If you ever do catch it then it is worth dialling expectations down to the basement ...

Right, so as good as Man in the High Castle.  Gotcha.

p.s. make your mind up - is it not deep or is it in the basement?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 15 September, 2021, 05:58:50 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 11:55:45 PM
The Full Monty


Is this film about hard times and the struggles in deindustrialised Britain or are all unemployed feckless lay-abouts who just need to go out and get a job?  The film certainly doesn't know and neither do I.


I always saw that answer lies in the latter. I mean, didn't they started the whole stripping joint because they are jobless?

I agree that kid's role is weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 15 September, 2021, 06:07:14 PM
Fat Slags

This must the worst film this country produced. A horrid, godawful trainwreck that fails miserably in every segment of filmmaking. Sometimes such movies can be "so bad it's good, but this is "so bad it's bad". Gross-out humor is prevalent, but it belongs rather to toilet category and is completely unfunny. There is no plot sort to speak of. Acting is amateurish and so so annoying...and it's just awful film. I can't believe Jerry O'Connell agreed to take part in this crime against cinema.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 15 September, 2021, 06:49:12 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 14 September, 2021, 11:55:45 PM
The Full Monty
...I get more emoting from the grouting in my bathroom...

You may have a mold problem. The only thing I really remember about The Full Monty is that it taught me that woman can pee standing up. At least, I think that's a scene in that movie.

---

The Kiosk (https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09qlqyz/the-iconic-parisian-landmark-now-under-threat) - a documentary about a traditional Parisian newspaper and magazine kiosk that is struggling in the modern economy - filmed and narrated from the perspective of a young woman who works there. I laughed, I cried: it's an amazingly intimate slice of someone's life that manages to be thought-provoking without being in any way judgmental.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 04:52:55 PM
Brassed Off

"...I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks! Not compared to how people matter."

I still like this film.  It's pretty grim and it's happy ending isn't all that happy, really.  A lot better than The Full Monty.  It is very well paced.  It has a nice balance of levity.  It aims for the gut with its punches.  I'm glad it's everything I remember, but there is clearly a reason I haven't watched it in a long time.  I don't often like to be reminded of how shit life is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 September, 2021, 05:45:53 PM
The Truman Show - probably the best Jim Carrey movie (although there is some contention from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and an ever-relevant critique of religion, reality television, social media and capitalism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 07:12:24 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 September, 2021, 05:45:53 PM
The Truman Show - probably the best Jim Carrey movie (although there is some contention from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and an ever-relevant critique of religion, reality television, social media and capitalism.

Yeah, I'd say ESotSM wins out.  The Truman Show is still a film I thoroughly enjoy and probably watch more often.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2021, 07:17:19 PM
Dumb and Dumber, surely?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2021, 07:44:14 PM
No love for The Cable Guy?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 08:04:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 September, 2021, 07:17:19 PM
Dumb and Dumber, surely?
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2021, 07:44:14 PM
No love for The Cable Guy?

For my personal taste, I prefer watching Liar Liar to these two films.  I have my reasons and they are largely shallow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 September, 2021, 08:13:45 PM

Occupation Rainfall. Aliens have invaded Earth, blah blah, things are not going well, blah blah, cardboard heroes, blah blah, Australia, blah blah, ruthless villains, blah blah, last desperate plan, blah blah, stupid MacGuffin, blah blah. The ending, however, remains a total mystery as I mercifully fell asleep and had no desire to rewind in order to satisfy my curiosity as I didn't have any. At all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 19 September, 2021, 10:12:59 PM
kick-ass 2.

ye gods. give me strength.

exceeded expectations, tho, i suppose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 September, 2021, 11:19:48 PM
You lot are all hacks if you find Truman or ESotSM to be the best Carrey's films. Nobody to mention to The Mask or Ace Ventura (preferably the part 2). And before I forget - The Number 23.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2021, 11:23:18 PM
Ace Ventura is played for Guantanamo inmates.

Watching it should be considered a form of capital punishment.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 11:44:01 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2021, 11:23:18 PM
Ace Ventura is played for Guantanamo inmates.

Watching it should be considered a form of capital punishment.

Seconded and same so for the sequel.  Fuck those films.

Has this just become "name films Jim Carrey has been in"?  Why not Bruce Almighty?  Me, Myself and Irene?  Sonic the Hedgehog?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 20 September, 2021, 03:36:22 AM
Kate on Netflix, not too bad but not awesome just somewhere in between.  In the John Wick/Nobody type of action flick with bone crunching violence but not as good as either.  About a female assassin who has been poisoned by some radioactive gunk and she was not has 24 hours left to live and get revenge, the twist if you could call it that was pretty predictable you could see it coming a mile but off but some nice action and tha main actress is good at what she does, set in Tokyo so it looks great all neon and flash.  Definitely worth a watch if you like action but also definitely a Netflix joint but not a waste of 90 minutes.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 September, 2021, 04:37:20 AM
See, I liked Ace Ventura and The Mask in 1994 - I was stoned out of my gourd and laughed like a drain, for that entire year. Or was I stoned out of my drain and laughing like a gourd. One or the other. But they haven't really aged well. Not the drains or the gourd: the movies!

Milstar's "preferably part 2" puts another weight on the side of the scales that are labeled with "troll", although I'm wiling to accept that we're just poles apart in taste and opinion on any issue or topic you can think of. Including gourds.

As for The Cable Guy, I think that works if everyone admits it's mis-genred as a comedy and is instead clearly a horror movie. Suddenly it's genius! Drain that, you foolish gourds!

Jim Carrey Speech At The Golden Globe Awards 2016 (https://youtu.be/a9J8GaeDqVc)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 September, 2021, 07:25:07 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 September, 2021, 11:23:18 PM
Ace Ventura is played for Guantanamo inmates.

Watching it should be considered a form of capital punishment.

Then I capitally punish myself every year. Some scenes are... Unbeatingly funny.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 20 September, 2021, 04:37:20 AM
See, I liked Ace Ventura and The Mask in 1994 - I was stoned out of my gourd and laughed like a drain, for that entire year. Or was I stoned out of my drain and laughing like a gourd. One or the other. But they haven't really aged well. Not the drains or the gourd: the movies!

Milstar's "preferably part 2" puts another weight on the side of the scales that are labeled with "troll", although I'm wiling to accept that we're just poles apart in taste and opinion on any issue or topic you can think of. Including gourds.

As for The Cable Guy, I think that works if everyone admits it's mis-genred as a comedy and is instead clearly a horror movie. Suddenly it's genius! Drain that, you foolish gourds!

Jim Carrey Speech At The Golden Globe Awards 2016 (https://youtu.be/a9J8GaeDqVc)

It's astonishing to think that you may be a troll, just because you don't get enough out of...rhino scene? But likely the second option is more viable. And I like gourds. Especially pumpkin gourd pie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 September, 2021, 09:30:04 AM
The Crow

I rewatched it because I feared I was overly harsh on it last time I watched it, having been left with the impression that it aged very badly.  I wouldn't say it aged badly, but it hasn't exactly aged well, either.  It is a very 90's film.  There are some weird editing and clunky slow-motion in places.  It can be over-the-top with melodrama.  Some of the effects are ropey.  The film doesn't bother to allow the audience to connect with Shelly, the character for whom Eric is out to avenge.  Her "character" is only there to provide the motivation for Eric, so yeah, it's a fridging.

Nevertheless, the film has a style.  Ernie Hudson is great and Michael Wincott chews scenery like any good villain should.  I can see why the film is still loved and I can believe that new generations coming across this film could easily get something from it.  I also think it covers over Brandon Lee's death very well.  I struggle to find the seams in regards to the pick-ups done without him to get the film complete.  His performance is a little bit of a mixed bag.  Good in most places but not consistent.

So I've re-evaluated the film again and I can say it's ok to decent.  If you liked it back in the day, you might still like... but you might not.  I enjoyed it enough this time that the next film I watch will likely be it's sequel.  I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that before and I'm curious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 20 September, 2021, 11:22:52 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 07:12:24 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 September, 2021, 05:45:53 PM
The Truman Show - probably the best Jim Carrey movie (although there is some contention from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and an ever-relevant critique of religion, reality television, social media and capitalism.

Yeah, I'd say ESotSM wins out.  The Truman Show is still a film I thoroughly enjoy and probably watch more often.

I remember Man on the Moon as being good as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 September, 2021, 11:46:31 AM
Yeah Man on the Moon is a great movie.

Much to my surprise I discovered last night that Jim Carrey also appears in Dirty Harry movie 'The Dead Pool' last night... though I'm not suggesting its his best!

One i would throw into the pot, but I need to watch again to see how it stands the test of time is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I loved back in the day...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 September, 2021, 12:18:38 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 20 September, 2021, 11:46:31 AM
Yeah Man on the Moon is a great movie.

Much to my surprise I discovered last night that Jim Carrey also appears in Dirty Harry movie 'The Dead Pool' last night... though I'm not suggesting its his best!

One i would throw into the pot, but I need to watch again to see how it stands the test of time is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I loved back in the day...

it must be eons since I saw Man on the Moon the last time. But The Dead Pool will forever be remembered by:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43EJTd6cSZ8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43EJTd6cSZ8)

Often considered as his acting as zany scorched-earth, I see why people forget hsi more dramatic and serious roles, which he often had the very wrong material. Like over-long and over-emotional The Majestic or nihilistic trash Dark Crimes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 September, 2021, 02:57:09 PM
I watch The Dead Pool last weekend and Carrey is pretty cringey really. The whole film lets the Dirty Harry series down but at least Eastwood had enough sense to say that's it and move on. Mind you, The Dead Pool is still miles better than a lot of the rubbish put out today.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 September, 2021, 03:28:55 PM
My only excuse for not mentioning Man on the Moon in the same breath as Truman or Eternal Sunshine is that it's not really a Jim Carrey movie: it's an Andy Kaufman movie.

Jim Carrey - Man on the Moon Audition Tape (https://youtu.be/I2-9QV3DJbQ)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 20 September, 2021, 04:28:05 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 20 September, 2021, 02:57:09 PM
I watch The Dead Pool last weekend and Carrey is pretty cringey really. The whole film lets the Dirty Harry series down but at least Eastwood had enough sense to say that's it and move on. Mind you, The Dead Pool is still miles better than a lot of the rubbish put out today.

I honestly thought The Dead Pool was a return to form, myself! Carrey's take on Axel's snake dance get's a laugh from me every time, and the harpoon ending is wonderful ☺
I do have problems with it, but they are mainly the overcast skies and the ratio it's shot in. Gave it a cheap looking, TV movie feel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 20 September, 2021, 04:31:46 PM
My favourite's The Enforcer though. Not as good as the original film by any means, but until 2012 it was the closest I got to having Dredd and Anderson on the screen!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 September, 2021, 05:08:13 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 20 September, 2021, 04:31:46 PM
My favourite's The Enforcer though. Not as good as the original film by any means, but until 2012 it was the closest I got to having Dredd and Anderson on the screen!

Ah...that's probably why I never liked that movie much. Especially in the light of what reputation Harry's partners have.. Then again, I disliked Sudden Impact even more. I'll have to stick with the Magnum Force, very closely followed by the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 20 September, 2021, 06:42:13 PM
Yeah, Sudden Impact is pretty awful.
Always makes me wish that The Gauntlet was a Dirty Harry film instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 20 September, 2021, 07:57:01 PM
I love The Gauntlet. It should have been a Dirty Harry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 September, 2021, 08:04:00 PM
Have watched The Gauntlet recently. It probably didn't age well, but it's still an entertaining movie. I think when I watched it for the first time, I mistaken it for a Dirty Harry film, no kidding.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 September, 2021, 12:28:43 PM
Donnie Darko

I remember we talked here a bit Donnie Darko's (pseudo)intellectual reach, but this movie doesn't sit well with me. And it's just how I remember it since the first time I've seen it. Like William Friedkin's Cruising, the plot is way too "intellectual" for my liking. And I wish they made him into a more sympathetic character, instead of kid who constantly looks as if on the dope.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 12:57:37 PM
The Crow: City of Angels

More like shitty of Angels, amirite?

I'd like to say something positive about this film.  Um.  It has Ian Dury in it.  And Iggy Pop's characters death was visually poetic, I guess.

Otherwise, it just isn't very well made.  Not entirely badly made, but it falls just shy of competent in many places.  The script and characters are really weak.  There are a few interesting visuals, but mostly it just looks bad.  As a sequel it is pretty samey, but where it does try and change things up it fails to really add any value.

What I'm saying is the film is crap and not very entertaining.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 01:39:42 PM
Funnily enough, that film came up in an interview with Iggy Pop last week:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/17/iggy-pop-on-finding-new-music-at-my-age-it-helps-to-remain-curious

He seems to view it as some kind of personal nadir.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 22 September, 2021, 02:01:10 PM
Dunkirk. Finally got around to this admirable piece, but came away dissatisfied as I have with all Nolan films since Dark Knight Rises. The time shifting felt like a piece of gaffer tape rather than a legitimate part of the vision, and while the film had amazing tension in fits and starts, none of it travelled all the way from the opening scenes to the end. I recognise the cinematic value of vignette storytelling, but the unfortunate structure just diluted everything into sludge. One of the great things about Nolan's work is that you can marvel at the imagery and there's always the possibility it was created in camera, but apart from one stand-out shot at the beginning, I never, ever believed there were 300,00 troops on those beaches, which lent the whole thing a boutique scale at odds with the record. Plenty to admire, but more like a newsreel cut into something resembling a narrative. This may have been the director's intention, but I didn't get on with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 02:08:17 PM
Disclaimer: I haven't watched Dunkirk.

I find him an interesting director, but he only has two films that have engaged me on an emotional level: Memento and The Prestige. It's hard to see past the artifice in the rest of his work, as you outline above.

His Batman films have aged particularly poorly, I think
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 02:49:13 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 22 September, 2021, 02:01:10 PM
Dunkirk. Finally got around to this admirable piece, but came away dissatisfied as I have with all Nolan films since Dark Knight Rises. The time shifting felt like a piece of gaffer tape rather than a legitimate part of the vision, and while the film had amazing tension in fits and starts, none of it travelled all the way from the opening scenes to the end. I recognise the cinematic value of vignette storytelling, but the unfortunate structure just diluted everything into sludge. One of the great things about Nolan's work is that you can marvel at the imagery and there's always the possibility it was created in camera, but apart from one stand-out shot at the beginning, I never, ever believed there were 300,00 troops on those beaches, which lent the whole thing a boutique scale at odds with the record. Plenty to admire, but more like a newsreel cut into something resembling a narrative. This may have been the director's intention, but I didn't get on with it.

I tend to agree with this assessment.  In the end I found it a very dull experience.  I rate it is my least favourite of the Nolan films I've seen.

Quote from: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 02:08:17 PM
I find him an interesting director, but he only has two films that have engaged me on an emotional level: Memento and The Prestige. It's hard to see past the artifice in the rest of his work, as you outline above.

His Batman films have aged particularly poorly, I think


I like those two films.  I think Memento may be his best crafted film.  It's a pretty simple story that is made engaging by it's presentation, which is woven into the narrative and breaks are provided by exposition for the gimmick.  Everything works in service of providing an engaging piece of cinema and I respect it a lot for it's efficiency in doing so.

I never especially liked his Batman films from the outset.  I can't take Batman as seriously as the films wanted me to - the concept of the character is too silly for me.  That might be why I like the Lego Batman movie and Batman Returns as much as I do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 03:06:18 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 02:49:13 PM
I never especially liked his Batman films from the outset.  I can't take Batman as seriously as the films wanted me to - the concept of the character is too silly for me.  That might be why I like the Lego Batman movie and Batman Returns as much as I do.

Lego Batman and 1989 Batman are high water marks for the Caped Crusader on screen, and both embrace the absurdity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 06:58:22 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 22 September, 2021, 03:06:18 PM
Lego Batman and 1989 Batman are high water marks for the Caped Crusader on screen, and both embrace the absurdity.

I think Batman and Robin goes too far in the other direction, however.  I couldn't even manage to get all the way through watching that film.

I appreciate the '89 Batman is probably the better of the Burton films, but there's something about Returns I just enjoy that little bit more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 September, 2021, 07:16:15 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 22 September, 2021, 02:01:10 PM
Dunkirk. Finally got around to this admirable piece, but came away dissatisfied as I have with all Nolan films since Dark Knight Rises. The time shifting felt like a piece of gaffer tape rather than a legitimate part of the vision, and while the film had amazing tension in fits and starts, none of it travelled all the way from the opening scenes to the end. I recognise the cinematic value of vignette storytelling, but the unfortunate structure just diluted everything into sludge. One of the great things about Nolan's work is that you can marvel at the imagery and there's always the possibility it was created in camera, but apart from one stand-out shot at the beginning, I never, ever believed there were 300,00 troops on those beaches, which lent the whole thing a boutique scale at odds with the record. Plenty to admire, but more like a newsreel cut into something resembling a narrative. This may have been the director's intention, but I didn't get on with it.

I love Dunkirk, I find it the best war movie in recent years, but one thing bugs me about the movie, is personal vs epic scope, which doesn't seem in agreement with each other. But it's clear that Chris was passionate about this subject and wanted to do the jsutice to all soldiers who evacuated from Dunkirk. And he did. Perhaps I'd even say that time shift wasn't necessary, but at least who you look the whole picture, those transitions have some sense, in cinematic terms. I mean, this isn't just a documentary. And gotta admire no-CGI approach, so common in today's cinema.

His Batman movies? Nah. They are very well crafted, but 1989 Batman is one and only. And Inception is a blast!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2021, 08:32:55 PM
I don't think it's a "no CGI" approach. There's lots of CGI but it's not normally to the primary way he does an effect. The CGI supports the practical stuff. Same as with Fury Road.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 September, 2021, 08:47:15 PM
Batman: The Movie from 1966 is the supreme Batman movie. It's the only one with Shark-Repellent Bat Spray and has the most thrilling bomb disposal scene ever committed to film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2021, 09:08:00 PM
I will not tolerate Batman and Robin slander, embrace the high camp. Joel Schumacher gang rise up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 09:39:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 September, 2021, 09:08:00 PM
I will not tolerate Batman and Robin slander, embrace the high camp. Joel Schumacher gang rise up.

If you want to give props to Schumacher why not go for Forever?  After all, it's Jim Carrey's best movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 September, 2021, 10:17:54 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 09:39:21 PM
If you want to give props to Schumacher why not go for Forever?  After all, it's Jim Carrey's best movie.

No idea if the film holds up now, but I remember seeing it for the first time on a VHS rental and actually watching it again the following morning before I had to take it back to the store. My overwhelming recollection is that it was stupid, but also tremendous fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 22 September, 2021, 10:40:03 PM
I loved Batman in '89 (Skegness cinema, above the arcade), but the Prince* soundtrack and not-quite The Killing Joke plotting are marks against. Batman Returns wins because of the milk & the penguins.

Probably the best thing about the Batman movies is this: "LIFE'S TOO SHORT" - Val Kilmer as "Batman" (https://youtu.be/0yMmiJHOLuI)


*Love a lot of Prince's music but when you experiment that much, some of it's going to be shite.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 10:52:34 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 September, 2021, 10:17:54 PM
No idea if the film holds up now, but I remember seeing it for the first time on a VHS rental and actually watching it again the following morning before I had to take it back to the store. My overwhelming recollection is that it was stupid, but also tremendous fun.

It is the only Batman film I've seen at the cinema.  I like the "Holey Rusted Metal, Batman" joke.  Best part of the film.  Makes me smile every single time.

Otherwise, it's an utter mess of a film.  Last time I watched it I was surprised at how erratic it actually is.  Nevertheless, I'd say stupid and fun is not an unfair assessment.  It's got Drew Barrymore in it.  I always find that weird.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 22 September, 2021, 11:04:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 04:52:55 PM
Brassed Off

"...I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks! Not compared to how people matter."



So that's where that quote comes from!  I only know it from the Chumbawamba song.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 September, 2021, 11:05:13 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 22 September, 2021, 08:32:55 PM
I don't think it's a "no CGI" approach. There's lots of CGI but it's not normally to the primary way he does an effect. The CGI supports the practical stuff. Same as with Fury Road.

I was surprised at how much in Inception is real stuff, no computer enhancing. I think Nolan took the same approach with the movie. Real soldiers, real boats and real planes. And real bombings. Some of it was patched up with CGI in post-production, but still.

Quote from: Funt Solo on 22 September, 2021, 10:40:03 PM
I loved Batman in '89 (Skegness cinema, above the arcade), but the Prince* soundtrack and not-quite The Killing Joke plotting are marks against. Batman Returns wins because of the milk & the penguins.


Well, they adapted the comic for a portion of the film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 September, 2021, 11:21:11 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 22 September, 2021, 11:04:57 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 19 September, 2021, 04:52:55 PM
Brassed Off
"...I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks! Not compared to how people matter."
So that's where that quote comes from!  I only know it from the Chumbawamba song.

I only quoted it because of the Chumbawamba song.  I wasn't expecting it to pay off.  I'm glad it did :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 23 September, 2021, 12:10:36 AM
Re: best Jim Carrey film.  The answer is obviously Earth Girls are Easy.  Which admittedly I haven't seen for a quarter of a century and probably isn't that good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 September, 2021, 01:01:03 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 22 September, 2021, 10:40:03 PM
I loved Batman in '89 (Skegness cinema, above the arcade), but the Prince* soundtrack and not-quite The Killing Joke plotting are marks against. Batman Returns wins because of the milk & the penguins.

Danny DeVito as Penguin in Batman Returns is my favourite portrayal of the character. Burgess Meredith's turn has it's charms. The Penguin should affect a sophisticated and urbane air. DeVito pulls that off while being grotesque and macabre and just villainous.

But Pfeiffer is no Merriwether, so Batman: The Movie is still the best.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 23 September, 2021, 04:34:58 AM
So Danny DeVito is the answer to both best Bat & best Carrey: Batman Returns and Man on the Moon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 September, 2021, 08:40:06 PM
What is wrong with you lot?

BATMAN (1989)? More like SHITMAN (1989)!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 24 September, 2021, 06:12:48 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 September, 2021, 01:01:03 AM
But Pfeiffer is no Merriwether

this!!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2021, 08:07:17 PM
FREE GUY

I want every film burned if 140 years of refining the art culminates in this kind of pap. We need a fresh start.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 September, 2021, 08:25:17 PM
Greyhound. Tom Hanks gives another great performance as the captain of a destroyer in the Battle of the Atlantic. It helps that it's based on the C.S. Forrester novel The Good Shepherd.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 September, 2021, 09:11:49 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2021, 08:07:17 PM
FREE GUY

I want every film burned if 140 years of refining the art culminates in this kind of pap. We need a fresh start.

I liked it. Very feel-good and formulaic, sure but I was in the mood for that and I have a lot of time for Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 September, 2021, 09:13:37 PM
IDK man I reached the point where [spoiler]RR produced a bunch of Disney merch from his pocket with accompanying score as a bunch of smooth brain Youtubers egged him on and just clocked straight the fuck out. It was a solid 'this is bad' up until that point and it only got worse after.[/spoiler]

Revulsive movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 September, 2021, 09:27:37 PM
Greyhound trailer (https://youtu.be/eyzxu26-Wqk)

Not sure why the u-boats are making Transformer noises - I'm worried that they've turned reality into a video game for this one.

Also assuming "inspired by actual events" means that there really was a war, then script writers happened:

(https://i.imgur.com/XJM4J7x.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 26 September, 2021, 08:21:43 AM
Watched Greyhound a while back when it first came out on Apple TV since I had a free membership for 6 months.  Very much by-the-numbers-how-America-Won-The-War. 

One of those that I tend to watch while cooking (or rather, have on in the background and pay a bit more attention to in those quiet "better give this a bit more of a stir" moments).

If they've made it into a video game then it is a particularly dull one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 September, 2021, 03:52:47 AM
Star Trek VIII: First Contact - bad drunk acting, swexy Borg snogs, the collective falling apart when their swexy leader bites the bullet (which makes the collective not really a collective), the farmer from Babe being this down-home alcoholic rocket builder that invents the warp drive in his spare time: everything on paper makes this a terrible movie, but it's mostly harmless fun.  Kinda breaks the "every even one is great" rule, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 September, 2021, 08:31:48 AM
THE GREEN KNIGHT

I really wanted this to be rubbish so I could say"More Like The Green Shite!" but it's pretty much why cinema was invented. Don't understand one of the bits of allegory or metaphor? Don't worry, the episodic nature means another one will be along in five minutes. And the overall theme is actually pretty straightforward. Gorgeous to look at and listen to, beautifully acted and with a brilliant final montage and ambiguous last line, I'll be watching this many more times.

It's available on Prime but we saw it at the cinema which was a wise decision.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 27 September, 2021, 09:32:52 AM
After being a little disappointed in Dunkirk, I went back to double check that Inception is as perfect as I remember it. Good news, it is! Incredible film-making.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 27 September, 2021, 11:46:38 AM
Quote from: wedgeski on 27 September, 2021, 09:32:52 AM
After being a little disappointed in Dunkirk, I went back to double check that Inception is as perfect as I remember it. Good news, it is! Incredible film-making.

Truly mindblowing film. And the part with Cillian Murphy and his Dad - incredibly poignant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 27 September, 2021, 12:18:50 PM
Watch Free Guy this weekend. One of those movies that had a few laughs but nothing special about and by next week I would completely forget about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 September, 2021, 02:14:35 PM
13 (Tzameti)

It's in French and it's in black and white.  It isn't dialogue heavy so gets a lot across with the leads stellar acting.  Pretty simple and solid story about desperation and emotional horror.  Just a solid piece of cinema.  I enjoyed it.

I haven't seen the remake, but I understand the it was made by the same director.

Feast

Should have been better than it was.  It wasn't quite funny enough for a horror comedy and it didn't have enough charm to make up for it.  Bit of a low budget From Dusk Til Dawn knock off.  The acting ranges from shaky to bad.  It wastes both Henry Rollins and Jason Mewes (as Jason Mewes).  The character cards should have been ditched.  They weren't funny and just ended up giving the game away.  There were a few good ideas.  The film should have leant heavier into the big douche arsehole coming out the other side as a decent human being.  They almost had it, but it's messy and unclear if that was even their intention.  It was a disappointment and my expectations weren't high to begin with.  It just failed to be fun enough whilst clearly trying so hard to be fun.  Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 27 September, 2021, 03:33:32 PM
Free Guy

Standard Ryan Reynolds by-the-numbers action comedy.  On the plus side it was fun, likeable and visually pleasing.  On the fuck off side I don't need to see another action sequence filmed to a twee pop song.  That gag has been overused.

Works well as the sort of film you can watch once, thoroughly enjoy and then wait until you catch it twenty minutes in on regular TV in about seven years time.  The sort of thing you don't need to own.

Old

Absolutely dismal.  Fucking hell.  I've not got anything against M Night.  Signs was good.  Well, this leads towards the dogshit side of things. 

I'm not sure what I hated more about it.  The pacing was bad.  Like everyone knew about the ageing thing so just get on with it.  But instead it took ages to get to the point.

The acting was dismal.  I mean shockingly bad.  Like 'doesn't feel like a real film' bad.  It had that weird 'people don't actually talk like this' feel that Alien Covenant has. 

The maths in the film felt completely off.  And the ending was hyper shit.

[spoiler]And I was hoping a classic M Night twist would save it but there wasn't one. 

Oh and 'my uncle doesn't like the coral' literally made my eyes roll out of my head and into my cup of tea.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 30 September, 2021, 11:14:56 PM
The Commuter

One of those Liam Neeson's films that seem to be popular now. Middle aged man in action role, getting himself way over his head. In fact, the best description of this film would be a quasi-remake of Non-Stop, but in a train. Liam looks much older here, but still puts a formidable strength, although he receives a decent amount of nasty knuckles in the process. I like how one of the fights is made into one, several minutes long, unbroken shot The story is rather generic and it gets a bit over the top in the third act when the train spirals out of control. Also, Patrick Wilson, friend [spoiler]and later turned villain (whose reveal is obvious from the very beginning)[/spoiler] does another lousy role. Still, it's entertaining piece and I like Liam so I don't mind that I spent my time on this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 September, 2021, 11:49:20 PM
Free Guy

I struggle to begin with my thoughts on this one.  It's utterly dumb.  Not in any way original.  Insultingly stupid in places.  Entirely clueless.  It almost felt like the script was written by someone watching let's plays of GTA5 or something.  And then re-written by someone who has been locked in a cupboard all their life.  Then re-written by a Disney exec.  Speaking of which, the Marvel and Star Wars references were painful.  They are so bad I'll go as far to say that I am without equivocation entirely of the opinion that both Star Wars and the MCU are lame.  I mean, I've been leaning towards that opinion for a long time anyway, but this film pushed me over the edge.

Am I supposed to know who those cameos are?  Am I supposed to care?  I don't, so I guess the answer to both questions is no.  Maybe someone should tell this movie, because it thinks the answers are yes.  I really don't know who this movie is supposed to be for.  If it is for gamers how can they reconcile all the inaccuracies?  If it's not for gamers how can they reconcile the concept that gaming is a universally popular phenomenon to the extent people watch streaming on TVs?  My guess is this film is for people who like to watch Ryan Reynolds in films.  Hey, that's me.  I like doing that.  No, I don't hate myself.  Why are you thinking that?

So as a person who likes to watch Ryan Reynolds in films, does this film satisfy?  Well.  A little.  I like Ryan Reynolds in this film.  I found him enjoyable to watch and liked his performance as I often do.  This film has some nice moments, especially between Guy and Buddy.  I really liked the part where they were at Buddy's apartment.  It was incredibly sweet.

Other quick thoughts.  The third act was almost unwatchable as to how trite it is (it's where the fucking SW and MCU references are, after all).  Roided Ryan Reynolds isn't funny.  It's a better film than Detective Pikachu, but doesn't have a better concept.  It's a better film than Ready Player One and does have a better concept.  It is a very average film.

It is everything I expected it to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 September, 2021, 11:58:03 PM
So this is slightly antithesis to the thread being that this is not "Last movie watched".  It's "Next movie I am going to watch".

Earlier this year I watched the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise for the first time and had a blast doing so.  I've been getting my horror on a lot more recently.  As I am in the mood and October is the horror themed month now, I decided that tomorrow I will watch the original Friday the 13th film.  Infact, I'm watching all the Friday the 13th films over the next ten days.  Then I'm going to watch another horror franchise*.  I am going to do a horror marathon for the entirety of October.

This is why I watched Free Guy tonight.  I needed a palette cleanser before going into this.

*I don't know which.  Not Halloween.  Maybe Child's Play and all the Hellraiser.  I haven't decided.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 01 October, 2021, 08:48:50 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 September, 2021, 11:58:03 PM
*I don't know which.  Not Halloween.  Maybe Child's Play and all the Hellraiser.  I haven't decided.
Leprechaun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 October, 2021, 09:00:49 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 01 October, 2021, 08:48:50 AM
Leprechaun.

Seen them already ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 01 October, 2021, 09:38:50 AM
Good luck with the Friday the 13th complete watch, I did this a few years back the quality is very variable (ie a lot of them really suck)

Hellraiser would be my suggestion of the next franchise to watch although after the first two they're all awful and even the second one isn't the best. Could you do something like watch all of John Carpenters films?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 October, 2021, 09:59:45 AM
I'm going to do a 31 days of horror thing this month.  Try to catch up on all these horror films.

Rather than do the usual thing of following set categories (which is how the internet does this), I'm just going to watch 31 horror films I've not seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 October, 2021, 10:03:29 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 01 October, 2021, 09:38:50 AM
Good luck with the Friday the 13th complete watch, I did this a few years back the quality is very variable (ie a lot of them really suck)

Hellraiser would be my suggestion of the next franchise to watch although after the first two they're all awful and even the second one isn't the best. Could you do something like watch all of John Carpenters films?

I have some idea of what I'm getting into with Friday the 13th, re quality.  I know 6 is touted as the best, but after my strong disagreement that Dream Warriors is the best Elm Street movie, I'm more sceptical.

I'm thinking maybe Hellraiser.  I loved the first two as a kid and I've seen up to 5.  I actually enjoyed 5 when I watched it nearly 20 years ago.  I'm also thinking Child's Play 1-3.  Should be able to break it up with some other horror films I want to watch.  Nothing (except Friday the 13th) is set in stone, however.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 October, 2021, 10:14:09 AM
6 and X are certainly my favourites.

If you want to see something highly inspired by Ft13 but with sillier more graphic kills, check out the Hatchet series.  There are four of them, again pretty mixed but if you get the uncut ones they're good fun.

They are over the top and a bit gory but it's all in a sort of silly Bad Taste/Brain Dead kind of way rather than some sort of horrible Hostel type of thing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 October, 2021, 10:15:28 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 30 September, 2021, 11:58:03 PM
I am going to do a horror marathon for the entirety of October.

The Saw / Spiral films are brilliant as a horror marathon, largely due to the episodic nature of IV to VII.

I have consistently binged the 'Ghost Stories for Christmas' series of short films over the years, and will often include ancillary titles such as Crooked House and Schalken the Painter in the run.
Horror doesn't get much better than that grouping IMO.

Planning a Wicker Man and Midsommar double bill meself this weekend.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 October, 2021, 01:32:07 PM
It could be nice idea 30 days of horror movies up until Halloween. But I don't think I have a strong heart for all of that.

Perhaps original (and the best in the series) Texas Chainsaw Massacre followed by The Shining, the first three Aliens, the remake of House on Haunted Hill, Dreamcatcher and some lower budgeted efforts. Hm...Dead and Buried totally freaked me out couple of months ago.

Some mentioned here Hellraiser, but I am completely disgusted by the film so I haven't bothered with the sequels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 02 October, 2021, 11:26:31 AM
Quote from: repoman on 01 October, 2021, 10:14:09 AM
6 and X are certainly my favourites.

If you want to see something highly inspired by Ft13 but with sillier more graphic kills, check out the Hatchet series.  There are four of them, again pretty mixed but if you get the uncut ones they're good fun.

They are over the top and a bit gory but it's all in a sort of silly Bad Taste/Brain Dead kind of way rather than some sort of horrible Hostel type of thing.

Would heartily back up the calls for the Hatchet series- or at least the first three. I found 'Victor Crawley' (4) to be mostly unwatchable.

But- before those- and if you want to see Friday the 13th "done right", and especially if you are still close to having seen the original films for the first time- watch NEVER HIKE ALONE, NEVER HIKE IN THE SNOW and JASON RISING. All three are on YouTube, an evening watching the three will take up two hours, and the three together will demonstrate just what the F13 franchise *could* be capable of, were it in the hands of people with talent. Especially Jason Rising- which is incredible.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 02 October, 2021, 01:31:06 PM
Friday the 13th

That was a lot better than I was expecting.  I think I actually liked it.  It was pretty simple.  The murders weren't completely crazy cartoon affairs.  The way the characters are picked off one by one without the other characters knowing was good.  It actually got tense in places because of that.  Betsy Palmer hamming it up is a real juxtaposition to the other performances.  I was actually surprised to be reminded of Psycho rather than Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  The special effects were also surprisingly good.

There are times the pacing fails and it becomes a little tedious and the ending is weird.  I knew the ending was weird going in, but it is a little different experiencing it in context.

It's a decent film.  Nothing stellar, but not even close to how bad I thought it would be.  I was mostly expecting to be bored to tears.

Next up, the Revenge of Sack Head!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 October, 2021, 08:02:20 PM
3:10 TO YUMA
A bit of a sausage party (the only women are mothers and whores) but cracking performances from Russell Crowe, Christian Bale (these two doing the opposite of each other) and Ben Foster deliver a pretty satisfying western.

Mangold is doing Indy 5 so after this and Logan, I'm expecting good things.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 October, 2021, 08:09:18 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 October, 2021, 08:02:20 PM
3:10 TO YUMA
A bit of a sausage party (the only women are mothers and whores) but cracking performances from Russell Crowe, Christian Bale (these two doing the opposite of each other) and Ben Foster deliver a pretty satisfying western.

Interestingly my son and I caught the original a couple of weeks back, or the last 45 minutes or so and the boy child loved it. i mean its a black and white movie and a western two things (which aside from loving the Dollars ''trilogy' sound track he has no interest in but the compelling drama of it all utter engaged him. I was a very happy pappy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 October, 2021, 11:16:52 AM
Similarly our Grandson (2 and a half) has taken to THE INCREDIBLES recently. Nearly two hours long and about a man's midlife crisis... But compelling storytelling is compelling storytelling.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 October, 2021, 02:30:33 PM
Friday the 13th Part 2

That was closer to what I was expecting.  This franchise is already weird.  Jason was living in the woods whilst his mother thought he was dead.  Why?  Well, who cares, we're into proper dumb now.  I can see why many hated it at the time, it is a weaker copy of the first and if that's all the context you have it's very much the inferior film.  It still isn't particularly bad.  The weird endings continue, however.  Also, I think the end of the film dragged on again with plenty of fake-outs.

I did like the Jason of this film for the sole reason that he actually seemed terrified of a chainsaw and wasn't 6'2" with a wrestlers build.

Next up, What is this?  Mighty Ducks!?  In 3D?!?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 October, 2021, 04:16:45 PM
Ben

Well this does exactly what you'd expect a film about a young boy, this rat and the murderous actions of the rat's army of the night and the local authorities, from the early 70s to do. It doesn't really hold any surprises, doesn't really hold up to modern scrutiny, but at the same time has a curious charm and is always entertaining. Its basically Lassie, if Lassie was a warlord rodent with an army of sweller dwelling manchompers.

That said the work done to give Ben, the murderous rat king - mind he's only looking after this ratty people - character and to express emotion is quite wonderful and uses some very clever direction / editing. Also it does a good job of not hammering home its message - why can't we all just get along. It allows it to play out naturally, well until the end. Yeah really enjoyed this...

...oh and I say no surprises, there is one doozy. I was genuinely amazed to learn this is the source of Michael Jackson's early smash hit 'Ben' I mean who'd have thunk such a sweet song would originate from a curious 70s minor horror piece about a warring rat overlord?!? Amazing!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 October, 2021, 09:06:45 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 October, 2021, 04:16:45 PM
Ben
...
Its basically Lassie, if Lassie was a warlord rodent with an army of sweller dwelling manchompers.
Never heard of this but it sounds utterly bonkers. Weirdly, I did know that the Jacko song was about a rat but I guess I thought it was one of his pets.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 October, 2021, 10:09:55 PM
Ben (1972) - Official Trailer (HD) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxv0ZNXvmqk)

1. Kid bugging you for a pet hamster.
2. Show kid the trailer for Ben.
3. No more requests for pet rodents ... but you do have the nightmares to contend with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 October, 2021, 11:33:35 PM
Friday the 13th Part 3D

More like Shitday the Shiteenth Part Shit.

What a bunch of wank.  Got that lovely Conservative moralising bullshit thrown in to a dismally boring, idiotic and badly made piece of trash.  I sincerely hope this is the lowest point of the franchise because this was without merit.  Sure, Jason gets his mask and more screen time with a machete and super human strength (for some reason) but it's utter trash.  Annoyingly awful.  This is really what I thought the first film would be.  It's hard to believe that seven films and a remake followed this dumpster fire.

But Pictsy, you may say, what about that fantastic yo-yo action?  I mean you don't get 3D spectacles like that just anywhere!  Honestly, I thought the in-your-face 3D gimmick would be the downfall of the film, but no.  The film is shit regardless.  Does it escape the curse of weird endings at the very least?  No.  But it is the worst of the weird endings so far.

Next up, And I would have got away with it too if it weren't for that pesky kid!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 October, 2021, 11:35:33 AM
Friday the 13th The Final Chapter

This was better than part 3D.  I think they knew that film was a stinker.  I didn't bring up the really irritating recap shite all these sequels do, but here it is relevant because they used very little footage from part 3D.  Anyway, it's a rehash of part 2 with a family added in and some oddball hunting Jason or something.  It's a mixed bag of unlikable characters, truly awful moments and entertainingly awful moments.  My favourite being the "he's killing me" delivery.  So dumb.  As a final chapter it's fine.  They aren't going out on a high note, but it's satisfying to end things on an improvement over part 3D.

It also continues the weird ending tradition.  Why did Corey Feldman cut all his hair off?  Did he watch Part 2?  Regardless it doesn't make sense, but I think it paid off well with the demise of Jason.  So it wasn't a long franchise and it wasn't great.  The first film was certainly the best of the bunch and it really didn't have any ideas to sustain itself for more than two movies at best.  The fact they got four out is astonishing.

Next up,  A Friday the 13th where Jason isn't the murderer?  It's so unprecedented!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 05 October, 2021, 02:31:48 PM
philomena.
written, produced and starring steve coogan. and not a trace of partridge in sight.
really moving movie about the mother and baby orphanage and adoption scandal in ireland, but very prescient in terms of what we now know. coogan plays former newlabour spin doctor, martin sixsmith, with a brilliantly confused intelligence. judi dench is as perfect as ever - in that you always forget that she's judi dench. definitely worth a view, but full of triggers. only watch with someone on for a big chat afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 05 October, 2021, 02:47:55 PM
Is it bad that for *years now* I have been unable to read the name "Judi Dench" anywhere without substituting "Judge Death" in its place? It has made film posters quite amusing over time.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 05 October, 2021, 02:51:48 PM
she would do a brilliant job ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 October, 2021, 04:52:22 PM
Mrs Gunderson.

I always think Dame Judi Stench after an awkward moment where someone farted, someone else said "That's a bit of a Dame Judi" and someone else, who didn't understand how rhyming slang works helpfully added "You mean Dame Judi Stench!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 05 October, 2021, 06:00:48 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 October, 2021, 11:35:33 AM

Next up,  A Friday the 13th where Jason isn't the murderer?  It's so unprecedented!

Now that film is utter shite. As if F13 aren't B movies already, but this one looks like a C movie, full of cringe and creepy characters.

Kelly's Heroes

Mildly entertaining war caper. I like to imagine it as a movie that inspired to write The Adventures in the Rifle Brigade. Humor is so-so, and it mostly comes from Don Rickles and Telly Savalas character. Donald Sutherland is often off the mark, thanks for his pre-hippy antics and Clint Eastwood is... Clint Eastwood. For my money, the weakest link in the chain. There are some well made set-pieces, despite the plot being preposterous. The assault on the village takes too long to set-up, and the runtime could've been a little trimmed down. At least by 20 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 October, 2021, 10:36:46 PM
Phobia, Nausea ... and Stench!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 October, 2021, 11:24:55 PM
Friday the 13th A New Beginning

It was OK.  It's messy, contrived and stupid.  The opening was good with Feldman back playing young Tommy.  Older Tommy has the moves for a beat down that don't come in useful at all.  It was engaging, though.  I found most of the characters fine.  I even liked some of the characters, which is a step up from The Final Chapter. 

The film doesn't pull off the "who is it?" thing very well.  I don't think it works as an explanation for why Tommy should be the new Jason.  The pacing suffers from it's failures here and it struggles to justify it's existence with it's plot.  But it isn't as mean spirited towards mental health as many horror films that choose this route tend to be.  In the end it was more fun to watch than the previous two.  Especially part 3D, which is still the worst.

Next up, Frankenstein's Monster Lives!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 06 October, 2021, 09:20:11 AM
Quote from: milstar on 05 October, 2021, 06:00:48 PM
Kelly's Heroes

Mildly entertaining war caper. I like to imagine it as a movie that inspired to write The Adventures in the Rifle Brigade. Humor is so-so, and it mostly comes from Don Rickles and Telly Savalas character. Donald Sutherland is often off the mark, thanks for his pre-hippy antics and Clint Eastwood is... Clint Eastwood. For my money, the weakest link in the chain. There are some well made set-pieces, despite the plot being preposterous. The assault on the village takes too long to set-up, and the runtime could've been a little trimmed down. At least by 20 minutes.

I adore Kelly's Heroes - I'm even deep in the middle of building a 1/35 Oddball's sherman - but yes, it could seriously do with a bit of trimming. Probably from exactly where you say, the preparation on the final village assault, and that endlessly bloody ringing bell (or Oddball's attack on the railway yard, which doesn't advance the plot much). Which is weird, because in other places the film gets the pacing exactly right, as when the big river crossing happens. This would be the big set-piece of many another movie - I mean, it's where two of the three shermans get knocked out! - so I love that we just cut straight to the chaotic aftermath. Maybe that was a cheeky budget-saving measure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 October, 2021, 04:28:00 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 06 October, 2021, 09:20:11 AM

I adore Kelly's Heroes - I'm even deep in the middle of building a 1/35 Oddball's sherman - but yes, it could seriously do with a bit of trimming. Probably from exactly where you say, the preparation on the final village assault, and that endlessly bloody ringing bell (or Oddball's attack on the railway yard, which doesn't advance the plot much). Which is weird, because in other places the film gets the pacing exactly right, as when the big river crossing happens. This would be the big set-piece of many another movie - I mean, it's where two of the three shermans get knocked out! - so I love that we just cut straight to the chaotic aftermath. Maybe that was a cheeky budget-saving measure.

Well, the film is shot in then Yugoslavia, so they obviously thought on money well spent. Reportedly, MGM cut 20 minutes from the film. I just can't figure where the young John Landis is, this being his first starring role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 06 October, 2021, 05:12:43 PM
Quote from: milstar on 06 October, 2021, 04:28:00 PM
I just can't figure where the young John Landis is, this being his first starring role.

Hilariously, he's one of the four nuns we briefly see!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2021, 05:29:39 PM
Pity it wasn't the last time he did anything in the industry....
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 October, 2021, 06:45:50 PM
Is he under double secret probation for something?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 06 October, 2021, 07:07:13 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 06 October, 2021, 05:12:43 PM
Quote from: milstar on 06 October, 2021, 04:28:00 PM
I just can't figure where the young John Landis is, this being his first starring role.

Hilariously, he's one of the four nuns we briefly see!

Lol
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 October, 2021, 08:08:38 PM
Plus Splendour in the grass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 October, 2021, 09:34:04 PM
No wait.. I am mixing that up with Burning Bridges.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 October, 2021, 10:20:01 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 October, 2021, 06:45:50 PM
Is he under double secret probation for something?

Well, he did made some pretty great movies... but then he killed two people so he could get a shot, and left it in the movie. I find it pretty hard to retain much affection for him after that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2021, 10:29:32 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 October, 2021, 10:20:01 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 October, 2021, 06:45:50 PM
Is he under double secret probation for something?

Well, he did made some pretty great movies... but then he killed two people so he could get a shot, and left it in the movie. I find it pretty hard to retain much affection for him after that.

Three people. Actor Vic Morrow alongside child actors Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Myca Dinh Le, the later two of which where operating outside legal protective barriers due to Landis convincing their parents to sign a waiver, allowing them to film in the dark under dangerous circumstances. All three died a horrid, completely avoidable death. Landis then attempted to sue the parents and Morrow estate, while they still grieved, before they could hold him liable.

Landis can rot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 October, 2021, 11:14:29 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2021, 10:29:32 PM
Landis can rot.

So can his rapist son, Max.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 07 October, 2021, 12:46:45 AM
Quote from: milstar on 05 October, 2021, 06:00:48 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 05 October, 2021, 11:35:33 AM

Next up,  A Friday the 13th where Jason isn't the murderer?  It's so unprecedented!

Now that film is utter shite. As if F13 aren't B movies already, but this one looks like a C movie, full of cringe and creepy characters.

Kelly's Heroes

Mildly entertaining war caper. I like to imagine it as a movie that inspired to write The Adventures in the Rifle Brigade. Humor is so-so, and it mostly comes from Don Rickles and Telly Savalas character. Donald Sutherland is often off the mark, thanks for his pre-hippy antics and Clint Eastwood is... Clint Eastwood. For my money, the weakest link in the chain. There are some well made set-pieces, despite the plot being preposterous. The assault on the village takes too long to set-up, and the runtime could've been a little trimmed down. At least by 20 minutes.
Ultra Nerdy History Buffs like to point out how much Oddball looks like Germany's leading Panzer Ace Kurt Knispel
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 07 October, 2021, 12:52:33 AM
I hadn't read about the tragic Twilight Zone accident until today. Brutal stuff.

- Landis (& the other defendants) were acquitted of manslaughter in a jury trial.
- The footage was not used in the finished film.
- The accident caused a paradigm shift in safety protocols throughout the film industry.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 October, 2021, 10:48:46 AM
A lot of Golden Age directors today would probably facing accusations for unethical approaches in their work. In Landis case, ofcourse he is not to blame for the stunt that went awry, but his ethics were disgraceful. He forced those kids to be on the set even when the law set the number of hours children can spend by working on a film. In fact, that regulation is still in existing, me thinks.
According to Landis, "not a day goes by without him thinking on the accident". After Twilight Zone The Movie, one can notice his output in making somewhat quality movies to dwindle. Although, I'll admit, I find BHC3 mildly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 07 October, 2021, 10:52:25 AM
Quote from: edgeworthy on 07 October, 2021, 12:46:45 AM
Ultra Nerdy History Buffs like to point out how much Oddball looks like Germany's leading Panzer Ace Kurt Knispel

I wonder if the David Warner's character in Cross of Iron is inspired by Kurt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 October, 2021, 11:30:53 AM
Except he is responsible. In every way. There is no empirical reading of the situation where he ISN'T responsible.

SPIRAL (2000)

Odd one this. Adapted under supervision from original manga creator Junji Ito, its at times nail gratingly creepy with moments of holistic brutality iconic of the author, yet the ponderous, atmospheric town that inhabited the pages of Uzumaki doesn't translate to the third dimension. Everything is tinted green, not unlike the sweaty, claustrophobic works of Luigi Cozzi, but in a more sterile medium making the whole thing feel a bit too clinical for its horrors to truly land.

I have high expectations for the upcoming animated adaptation of Uzumaki, however. That looks incredibly lush.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 October, 2021, 12:41:27 PM
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI

I can see why this is many peoples favourite.  The tonal shift to be more comedic is certainly welcome, but it still manages to keep it stale with a return to the lake.  He really needs to get away from that lake.  Maybe take a cruise or something.  The humour is ok but it's not really parody or satire or anything.  It's just got jokes now.  I'm ok with this.  Regardless, it's not much of an improvement that it shines above the rest and got a little dull towards the end like all of these movies do.

Oh and Jason is some sort of reanimated corpse.  I don't want to say zombie because there isn't much that's zombie about him other than rising from the grave.  Well, I knew that was going to happen but it is funny how it doesn't really change anything.  Now if the films doubled down on the supernatural element that would be even more of a shift.  That said, the franchise is certainly evolving.  This is a vastly different film to the first.

Next up, Jason plans a prank for prom involving pigs blood... what could go wrong?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 October, 2021, 11:44:39 AM
Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood

I think the real crutch of the series that has held it back is the need for Jason to kill teens, preferably besides a lake.  I find one of the weakest aspects so far are the elements I have heard talk of the most over the years.  The kills.  It's a dead weight on the franchise because it just blends together.  At this point even Jason has given up, no long throwing dead bodies through windows but just jumping through them himself.  The last film played things for laughs, but this film highlights why it is a problem.  There was an interesting idea for a story here.  But there had to be teens so there could be the body count and the kills. 

It plays out like all the others.  A mixed bag with pacing issues and a tendency to drag on at the end.  Part 3D stood out as being particularly bad, but now I just can't remember it because everything has become blur.  Will the telekinesis help this one stand out?  Only time well tell.  It ends up not adding much to the film anyway.

I will say that the Jason costume and make-up for this one is the best yet.  Kane Hodder somehow makes Jason seem very angry in this film.  Almost like he is really pissed off and resentful at being resurrected again.  Sure, I can feel his pain, but it's a pretty stark contrast from what came before (and we've had Jason go from being afraid of a chainsaw to casually batting one away with a machete).

Next up, Babe: Pig in the City
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 October, 2021, 03:55:03 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 07 October, 2021, 11:30:53 AM
Except he is responsible. In every way. There is no empirical reading of the situation where he ISN'T responsible.

You give him too much blame. The director's job isn't to rig the stunts and perform sfxs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2021, 04:14:29 PM
"The proximity of the helicopter to the special effects explosions was due to the failure to establish direct communications and coordination between the pilot, who was in command of the helicopter operation, and the film director, who was in charge of the filming operation."
-NTSC AAR, 30/10/84 (https://web.archive.org/web/20120305010558/http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR84-14.pdf)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 08 October, 2021, 05:11:52 PM
I had considered debating the point, but I figured I was never going to influence Hawkmumbler's position, and realized that there was no value in splitting hairs on a topic I didn't give a flying f*ck about until a couple of days ago. Plus, derailing the "Last movie watched..." thread over a decades old tragedy seemed not to be in-keeping with the value of this thread as a mostly very positive area of the board for a light chinwag.

So, with all due respect, may I suggest that a new thread would be appropriate for any further discussion of that particular topic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 08 October, 2021, 07:13:15 PM
Changing the subject...

saw The Addams Family 2 at the cinema today and thoroughly enjoyed it. The animation is based on Charles Addams' original drawings, it's an all-star cast and it has gags in there for all ages. Take the kids (if you have them) but you can expect a laugh for yourself, too (not many kids will get the Carrie at the Prom gag). Worth 90 minutes of your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 October, 2021, 10:38:37 PM
Another one for The Green Knight.

Now I watched it on telly, which goes against everything you hear, as its said to be a visual treat. And it is, just in a predictable way. All lush light, natural gnarls. jagged shapes and wind sweep all sorts. All back light and dramatic... it felt predictable in its visual wonder. I imgaine in the cinema however predictable or not the visual wonder would have won out. My lose.

What isn't lost is the brilliant use of a simple classic tale. Its incredibly well done and while I might have lost a sense of the purpose of some bits, it hangs together vignettes supremely to draw you along however and invite you back for future viewings.

Again the time switch ending is predictable, but who cares when its done so well with some glorious visual storytelling. And then the actual ending is nicely dangling.... and then the end credit ending is even more intriguing, especially given the previous time switch we got.

An indulgent treat this one and well worth a go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2021, 10:41:08 PM
It is an enticing bit that the film ends [spoiler]just as old green lad is about to commit Gawain to the trial of three swings.[/spoiler] Leaving it entirely ambiguous just how much it adheres to the original prose poem.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 October, 2021, 11:19:05 PM
Friday the 13th Part VIII Jason takes Manhattan

Oh wow this film is shit.  It is, by far, the worst instalment so far.  It was an endurance to get through it.  It is such an utter mess and pretty boring.  I am utterly confused at all the choices that were made for this film and there are some terrible and confusing scenes.  Can Jason turn invisible or literally teleport now?  That's a thing that seems to happen.  More than once.  Why is Jason, the indiscriminate murderer, suddenly being discriminating in his murders once he makes it to the big city?  Why does he turn into a child at the end and seemingly then left in the sewer?  Did he turn into a dead child?  Weirdest ending yet.  Why was New York even written into this film?  Did Jason really drown in the lake like the first film says?  What the fuck is going on?  How old is Jason really?  Why am I now being made to questioning the time line of this franchise?

I didn't have a good time.  It's a piece of crap.  This film made me regret doing this marathon.

Next up, Anyone up for delicious corpse heart?  Yummers!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 October, 2021, 10:13:50 AM
Jason Goes To Hell - The Final Friday

What movie franchise was I watching again?  I'm not going to knock this film for being so drastically different.  It's pretty consistent with how engaging it is.  It is still a mess, however.  I did wonder at first whether this was meant to be a stand alone film that had the Jason brand stamped on it to get bums in seats at the cinema.  Apparently that isn't the case.  Jason looks terrible during the couple of minutes he's on screen.

Next up, Space.  The final frontier.  (The only one of these films I had seen previously)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 11 October, 2021, 09:19:33 AM
Jason X is a lot of fun.  I really like it.

I had a mixed weekend of film watching.

Stowaway - Amazingly this film manages to end too abruptly and yet also feel like it's about three hours too long.  The concept is okay and should set up a fun 'The Martian'-esque science 'em up film.  But instead it's just achingly dull.

Four Rooms - I gave up about five minutes into the second segment.  This is one of the worst things I've ever watched.

Halloween 3 - Recently I tried to watch all the Halloweens but skipped 3 as I was just doing the Michael Myers storyline.  It was fucking awful.  I used to rate Halloween 2 but even that seemed plodding and cliched.  I think I bailed after Halloween 5.  They'd gotten really bad by then.  I saw H20 in the cinema (it was rubbish) and I caught that one a couple of years back (also rubbish).

But I really enjoyed Halloween 3.  It's incredibly daft and makes little to no sense but it is fun to watch, has some incredibly silly kills in it and it feels more Carpenter-esque than the original.

The Descent - I really liked this 15 years ago so I don't know why I've waited this long to rewatch.  Much like Blair Witch, the idea of just being there without some sort of malevolent presence is enough.  Fuck every bit of going into caves.  Throw in those things and it's even scarier.  Liked it a lot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 October, 2021, 10:09:01 AM
Jason X

I'm not sure what it says about the franchise that this is one of, if not the best instalment.  It's not a good film, but it stands above many others in terms of being watchable.  I always kind of liked the beginning of the film as well.  I don't have much to say about it because the film is pretty unremarkable taken on it's own terms.

My experience with watching this franchise has not been fun.  It started fine, but I hoped I'd be enjoying it more as it went on and I just didn't.  I really don't recommend doing this.  The first film was a surprise.  It was amazing, but it did feel like a decent horror film.  Those involved had a good grasp on what they needed to do to build tension.  It's dumb, sure, but I did find it tense for the most part.  After that it's just variations on a theme and that gets really tedious.

I wasn't expecting to have the same experience I had with the Elm Street films (a clearly superior franchise), but I wasn't expecting it to become a chore.  If this had ended with Part IV then I'd have better things to say, but it really ended up being an exercise in flogging a dead horse.

I regret my life choices.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 11 October, 2021, 10:47:17 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 October, 2021, 10:09:01 AM
My experience with watching this franchise has not been fun.  It started fine, but I hoped I'd be enjoying it more as it went on and I just didn't.  I really don't recommend doing this.  The first film was a surprise.  It was amazing, but it did feel like a decent horror film.  Those involved had a good grasp on what they needed to do to build tension.  It's dumb, sure, but I did find it tense for the most part.  After that it's just variations on a theme and that gets really tedious.

Kudos to you for doing this Pictsy. I have a boxset of the Friday films and have on occasion thought about doing this myself, but reason always wins through and reading your reviews reminds me I made the right choice.

I really like the first two films - the first one is definitely the best imo as it was made to stand alone but I really like II. VI is a laugh, and I like the first half of X - the opening with Cronenburg is brilliant, and the scene with the liquid nitrogen - but most of the others are so poor and they really do embody a crap franchise - cheaply made rubbish films with no real plot or ideas churned out one after another.
I always think 'yeah, I love Friday 13th' and I still think classic (Kane Hodder) Jason is probably the gold standard for iconic slasher baddies in terms of look and pure menace, but the franchise as a whole really is pants.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 October, 2021, 11:46:22 AM
I think the sad thing is there were good ideas to be found in the series.  They just weren't explored because dead teens and lakes are more important than interesting and enjoyable films.  There is almost a running theme of those suffering trauma, but it's never explored.  It's just window dressing and nothing comes of it.  The franchise lacks follow through and just falls back onto "safe" ground by just being lazy and repeating itself over and over again despite clear attempts to give life back to the franchise. 

4 tries to end it.  5 had an idea of changing it up, but 6 abandons it.  6 changes the tone, but 7 abandons that.  8 abandons what lingering quality is left.  9 abandons it's grip on reality.

I really agree that Kane Hodder's Jason is a gold standard in terms of look because I think it is that and not the films that keeps it in the public consciousness.  To the extent I was sure that a Machete was Jason's weapon of choice.  It isn't.  At all.  He has no weapon of choice.  It's just what ever is lying about.  And failing that, Jason will just squeeze your head until your eyes pop out for those awesome 3D effects.  Jason has transcended the films and is his own cultural iconography set apart from them, in my opinion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: AlexF on 11 October, 2021, 12:40:32 PM
I'm a fan of the slasher franchise films but have never tried marathoning any of them - watching any random F13 or Halloween or NoES typically gives me joy (OK, not F13 part 8, I fully agree that is the WORST), but I can imagine if I watched them in a row they'd all get tedious. I think it helps that I'm still coasting on the fumes of having seen the first instalment of each series first, and young enough that I remember finding each one utterly terrifying (OK, so not most of F13 but that ending remains perhaps the sigle most effective jump I've experienced).

That said, I am totally unsure if I'm excited about Halloween Kills or not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 11 October, 2021, 03:31:16 PM
You've still got Freddy vs Jason to watch I guess?  That's quite good fun.

None of it is high art but I find a lot of the Ft13s entertaining where as I find Halloween a bit too plodding and predictable. 

Deffo check out Hatchet.  But maybe give yourself a few months off from slasher flicks first.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 11 October, 2021, 03:59:53 PM
...and I guess you *have* to watch the remake, don't you? Though no one would judge you if you didn't.

But I really would urge you to go to YouTube and see NEVER HIKE ALONE, NEVER HIKE IN THE SNOW and JASON RISING. At least you will see that there are others out there who like these movies, but wish they were better.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 October, 2021, 06:58:20 PM
Quote from: repoman on 11 October, 2021, 03:31:16 PM
You've still got Freddy vs Jason to watch I guess?  That's quite good fun.

I watched it when I watched the Elm Street movies.

Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 11 October, 2021, 03:59:53 PM
...and I guess you *have* to watch the remake, don't you? Though no one would judge you if you didn't.

I thought about it, but I didn't watch the Elm Street remake so I won't watch the Friday remake.  I need something different.

Quote
But I really would urge you to go to YouTube and see NEVER HIKE ALONE, NEVER HIKE IN THE SNOW and JASON RISING. At least you will see that there are others out there who like these movies, but wish they were better.

I will certainly be checking them out at some point.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 11 October, 2021, 07:07:34 PM
Gave Wahlberg's Infinite a try the other night.  Lasted about 15 minutes and that was only while waiting for the spuds to finish.  I'd call it a car-crash of a movie but IIRC there wasn't much else aside from car chases, including one through a police station for some bizarre reason.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 October, 2021, 03:06:19 PM
The Lighthouse

I'm glad this was good after the slog that was Friday the 13th.  The unreliability of what we are being shown and what is being said is marvellous and well crafted.  As a viewer I related to the paranoid delusions of the characters and I had a blast.  Defoe puts in a excellent performance, one of his best yet and Patterson does a wonderful job keeping up and that's no mean feat.  Patterson definitely demonstrates he's got the chops.

The visuals a hauntingly sublime.  The standard def ratio is a bold choice and the result is staggeringly effectively.  The inky black and white of the film sets the mood so well and the framing is just amazing.

There are other films I've watched this year that I had a more fun time with, but this is one of the best made films overall that I've seen in a while.  It deserves the praise it gets and I'm glad I watched it.

I'm going to watch the Child's Play movies next (the ones names Child's Play, no remake).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 13 October, 2021, 12:08:44 AM
Night of the animated dead

Basicly a shot for shot remake of the original made with cheap basic animation and actors just reading the lines with hardly any emotion. Makes you think why did they bother, just watch the original it's a better film.

Shame there was problems on ownership of the original film so no one endedup with the rights allowing people to reuse the name and make so called remakes that insult the original
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 October, 2021, 01:00:43 PM
Child's Play

This was enjoyable.  The interplay between Andy and Chucky had very disturbing implications.  It made for an interesting slasher with just the right amount of silly.  I was surprised how watchable the film ended up being.

The representation of destitution and homelessness was gross and unnecessary.  The film didn't need to punch down like that to do what it needed to.  That's about my only real gripe.  I had a lot of fun with this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 13 October, 2021, 05:52:41 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 11 October, 2021, 06:58:20 PM

I thought about it, but I didn't watch the Elm Street remake so I won't watch the Friday remake.  I need something different.

I didn't expect much from the Elm Street remake but it's actually very good.  Mainly because it changes Freddy from being a wise-cracking dickhead into a really malevolent force.  It's very effective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 October, 2021, 04:25:42 PM
Child's Play 2

I think this one would be better on a second viewing, now I know that certain annoying characters don't stick around for the duration.  It's just a fun little murderous romp.  I like the new character Kyle and Andy is a compelling character really holding the whole thing together.  It's really good when a child can act, especially if they are front and centre.

The storytelling is weaker in this one, but it's no big deal.

I really like how dumb the Good Guy doll factory is.  It's all bright colours like a factory making toys for kids needs to explicitly signal that it's making a kids product.  For all the stupidity and lurid colours, the film has extremely dark implications that go beyond that of the first film.  Chucky isn't the real horror of these films, it's the life changing situations Chucky causes Andy that is the true horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 October, 2021, 04:27:16 PM
The Killer Elite

Not to be confused with Peckinpah's film of the same name. This one has solid cast. Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert DeNiro and Dominic Purcell. The action is good, and the set-up is good, but plot comes as bit incredulous, predictable and goes off the rails in the last ten minutes. The film also is marked as being based on a true story. Jason has to kill a three/four SAS members, while being pursued by shadowy organization and their psychopathic enforcer, Clive Owen. Jason and Clive have amusing fight in a hospital [spoiler](which ends by Jason punching Clive in the nuts, make out of that what you will).[/spoiler] Reportedly, the story is set in 1980, after Oman conflict, which serves as MacGufffin of the film and of which I am totally clueless about. Having said however, I didn't notice 1980s aesthetics (except maybe cars and Purcell's haircut), otherwise, it has absolutely modern and Jason Statham's feel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 15 October, 2021, 09:53:25 AM
The Dead Don't Die

Very Jarmusch-y, perhaps too much so: felt very self indulgent, sort of meandering along with some beautifully realised characters whose almost every action has no significance to the overall plot. I like his films normally but this was a disappointment.
Excellent cast, as you'd expect, most of whom do nothing really of note and seem oddly unenthusiastic throughout. The 4th wall breaking is amusing at the start but felt jarring at the end.There's a few funny / clever bits and a lot of nods to NotLD but overall I found this to be a bit of a waste of time. The 'we're all consumerist zombies' message is pretty tired but I did like the idea that when the world ends it won't be exciting and epic but rather confused people dying undramatically.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 October, 2021, 10:28:01 AM
Chucky 3

Less enthused by this one.  The setting and ideas are under-utilised, to the extent that this one just fizzles out.  In the end it is just not as engaging or fun.  The beginning (sans Chucky's contrived resurrection) is the best part of the film.  It's not quite as disappointing as it could have been, but that's largely due to sequels frequently offering diminishing returns in quality.

I have no idea what I'll watch tonight.  I'm not doing the Chucky movies and I haven't decided whether I should revisit the Hellraiser franchise.  I'm sure I'll find something.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 15 October, 2021, 10:30:14 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 October, 2021, 10:28:01 AM
I haven't decided whether I should revisit the Hellraiser franchise.

Watch the first one and then leave it at that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 15 October, 2021, 11:57:24 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 15 October, 2021, 10:30:14 AM
Watch the first one and then leave it at that!

The last time I watched the first one I was very disappointed that it wasn't as good as I remembered it being (loved it as kid, along with the second film).  It's been a long while since I've watched any of the films and I am somewhat curious as to what I would think of 1,2,4 and 5 now.  3 is shit and that'll be unchanging.  So if I'm going to watch one, I'll watch seven more.

That being said, I have seen the first five and I'm not sure whether I want to watch films I've seen before for my horror marathon. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2021, 01:19:24 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 15 October, 2021, 10:30:14 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 15 October, 2021, 10:28:01 AM
I haven't decided whether I should revisit the Hellraiser franchise.

Watch the first one and then leave it at that!

Hellraiser 2 is a fantastic film, a direct sequel written by Barker.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 15 October, 2021, 01:38:10 PM
For the month that's in it:

We summon the darkness - Set during the Satanic panic of the 80s, 3 girls attend a rock concert and meet 3 guys in a van who they bring home with them. Murder and chaos ensues. A nice little indie horror.

It comes at night -  If you like the A24 slow psychological horror style of film, you will love this.

Cargo - Set in post apocalyptic Australia, it's the story of a man trying to find a safe home for his infant daughter. Absolutely terrific cinematography; I had no idea Australia could be so beautiful. It's a bit racist but overall I enjoyed it. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 October, 2021, 11:37:30 AM
The Girl With All the Gifts

I only recently found out this film existed and I don't know why.  I was expecting it to be decent, but was surprised at how good it actually is.

Firstly, it looks fantastic.  I love everything it does visually.  The overgrown abandoned civilisation thing is really my bag and I don't think I've seen it done this well in film.  And it just gets better as the film progresses.

Sennia Nanua's Melanie is infectiously likeable and she shines in a film that is already full of good performances.  This is great because the story is very much about Melanie and Sennia Nanua's performance played a major part in my enjoyment of the film.

The story is interesting.  It is a pretty basic survival horror movie.  Nevertheless, it takes an interesting approach from getting from A to B and in the case of this type of movie, the journey is what is most important.  I absolutely love the ending as well.  I found it extremely satisfying and hitting the tone just right.

The horror is also good.  I actually felt tension.  The zombies of this film feel threatening in a way that is refreshing.  Let's face, zombie's have been oversaturated in media and their edge has long faded.  There are broader horrors and implications within the film that all lead to the conclusion of the film.  I guess the overall tension of the film is change.

There are glaring similarities with the game, The Last of Us.  Despite what they have in common, this film is very different.  The similarities appear to be coincidental.  The short story that lead to the book that this film is based on and The Last of Us were both published in the same year.  I bring it up because if you have played The Last of Us this film is definitely going to remind you of it.

Is there anything I have forgotten to gush about?  So far, this is the standout film for my horror marathon and I think that says a lot when I also watched The Lighthouse.  I'm not sure if it is clear but I had a great time watching this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 17 October, 2021, 09:35:37 AM
Yeah that was a good film.  I generally don't rate zombie films at all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 October, 2021, 10:16:03 AM
Night of the Living Dead

This is the first time I've watched this film.  I have seen Dawn, Day and Land.  I was always aware of the cultural significance of this film, the analysis of it in context of the civil rights movement, the codification of the zombie genre.  I knew it was a bit of a cheap affair.  I know many people love it and hold it in high regard.  And you can count me... not among them.  I struggle to say this film is even OK.

It's dated and ropey.  It doesn't really stand out against the imitations that followed. for me.  It's kind of boring.  It is certainly worth watching because it is the originator of a lot of cinema I've consumed, but I am disappointed it wasn't better.  Maybe my opinion is skewed because the film I watched the previous night provided such a good time, but I doubt that.

I am really glad that when I was curious about Zombie film roots many, many years ago that I chose Dawn of Dead.  That film I thoroughly enjoyed.  It is also dated and ropey, but it's not boring.  It's very interesting and compelling, and unlike Night, it is better than many of the imitations that followed.

Anyway, I might struggle in saying that Night is OK, but it's not a terrible film.  It has things going for it, especially Duane Jones' Ben.  It's a good performance.

The end is good as well.  I knew how this film ended before watching it because spoilers weren't always a thing.  Watching it knowing it is coming, it is still good.  Different to what I expected.

For tonight's film the Living Dead will Return.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 17 October, 2021, 05:22:04 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 17 October, 2021, 10:16:03 AM
Night of the Living Dead

This is the first time I've watched this film.  I have seen Dawn, Day and Land.  I was always aware of the cultural significance of this film, the analysis of it in context of the civil rights movement, the codification of the zombie genre.  I knew it was a bit of a cheap affair.  I know many people love it and hold it in high regard.  And you can count me... not among them.  I struggle to say this film is even OK.

It's dated and ropey.  It doesn't really stand out against the imitations that followed. for me.  It's kind of boring.  It is certainly worth watching because it is the originator of a lot of cinema I've consumed, but I am disappointed it wasn't better.  Maybe my opinion is skewed because the film I watched the previous night provided such a good time, but I doubt that.

I am really glad that when I was curious about Zombie film roots many, many years ago that I chose Dawn of Dead.  That film I thoroughly enjoyed.  It is also dated and ropey, but it's not boring.  It's very interesting and compelling, and unlike Night, it is better than many of the imitations that followed.

Anyway, I might struggle in saying that Night is OK, but it's not a terrible film.  It has things going for it, especially Duane Jones' Ben.  It's a good performance.

The end is good as well.  I knew how this film ended before watching it because spoilers weren't always a thing.  Watching it knowing it is coming, it is still good.  Different to what I expected.

For tonight's film the Living Dead will Return.
I watched this many years ago not long after watching Dawn and really enjoyed it for what it was and the "genre ground breaking" film it was. It was the ending which I'd didn't know at the time which made the film. I agree when you revisit it it doesn't hold up well (the remake wasn't that good and didn't bring anything to the franchise)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 October, 2021, 08:11:54 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2021, 01:19:24 PM
Hellraiser 2 is a fantastic film, a direct sequel written by Barker.

Notwithstanding the bizarre shift where they try to pretend that the first film had been set in the US all along, despite the whole film being unmistakably set in England.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 18 October, 2021, 10:05:42 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 October, 2021, 01:19:24 PM
Hellraiser 2 is a fantastic film, a direct sequel written by Barker.

It looks great on the whole and it's got some seriously messed up (cool) ideas, but it spends a lot of it's time explaining stuff that didn't need to be explained and trying to humanise the cenobites and make them weirdly ethical. I think all of that makes the first film weaker and that it works best as as stand alone, where it's an extraodinarily good horror.
That said, it's about a thousand times better than any Hellraiser film that came after it and I'm not saying it's crap.

I didn't know there was a reboot coming in 2022.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 October, 2021, 10:44:10 AM
Return of the Living Dead

Brains!  Brains!

This was pretty enjoyable.  I found it amusing, chuckling to myself a couple of times and smiling more than once.  It has a good soundtrack that sets the mood perfectly and even cues important plot points rather than use dialogue.  Which is great because it really pays off at the end (even if it does double down with a bit of dialogue).  But it's not explicit.  The characters say pretty much what they know.

The effects are great.  The shambling horror from the pod is just a stunning piece of effects work and I loved every moment it's grotesque presence was on screen.

I like the zombies.  Not typical in the slightest and their motivation is a horror in itself.  Chemicals are a better explanation than some nonsense from Venus.  They are fast, fully cognisant and need to eat your brain.

Overall, a fun time had with a very fun movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 18 October, 2021, 01:56:19 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 18 October, 2021, 10:44:10 AM
Return of the Living Dead

Brains!  Brains!

One thing I hate about the film is naked woman dancing in the graveyard. Unnecessarily exploitative, with appropriate name.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 October, 2021, 10:59:31 AM
The Omega Man

I wonder if we will ever get an appropriate Richard Matheson's novel adaption. The treatment of The Omega Man is a typical for nearly ever B SF film of the 1970s. This film looks basically empty and strictly by the book. And the plot only works because writers were obviously self-indulgent to say it works. The whoe thing about the plague is rushed up. And if the plague was such a problem, why some people died, others were turned into albinos? Why those turned into albinos act like religious zealots. Honestly, I wish if their leader had more thoughtfulness, instead of being a rambling one-dimensional villain. Charlton Heston is...well, Charlton Heston. I guess it worked for him to play one and the same character over and over, whose role is very similar to one he did in Soylent Green, so he was okay, no surprise there. The black female co-star thespian abilities are limited, and she gives a lot of cheesy one-liners, that are by now, extremely dated. But what annoys me the most, what stands out as the elephant in the room is the disco score and is just plain awful to listen. At least plain awful for the film.

In short, this was a waste of time for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 19 October, 2021, 01:01:30 PM
Quote from: milstar on 19 October, 2021, 10:59:31 AM
The Omega Man

I wonder if we will ever get an appropriate Richard Matheson's novel adaption.

Oh, I still have a soft spot for Jack Arnold's adaptation of Matheson's The Shrinking Man. Those scenes with the spider still give me the absolute creeps!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 October, 2021, 02:29:16 PM
I remember that piece. Very harrowing, very sad.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 October, 2021, 02:32:36 PM
VENOM 2: LET THERE BE CARNAGE

Probably the best cape movie of the last few years. An absolute riot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 19 October, 2021, 02:33:52 PM
Train to Busan

Well this one ended up punching me in the feels.

Thoroughly enjoyable movie, highly entertaining.  It does so much with the premise of Zombies on a train and the horrors go beyond the Zombies themselves.  What I like is how it explores the idea of competition versus cooperation.  What it is, at a fundamental level, to be a good person.  And it's done with a heartbreaking story about a girl and her father.  There is so much going on and it's done with such efficiency.

The film, for the most part, looks great.  There are some dodgy CGI moments, but they are few and far between and we mostly are treated to a visual feast.  The pacing is spot on and I found myself captivated throughout.

Even though the Friday movies ended up being a slog, I'm really glad I'm doing this now because I've seen three outstanding films this month.  I'm not sure what I'm watching tonight, but I think I'm done with the Zombies for now... perhaps.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2021, 02:23:30 PM
FREDDY GOT FINGERED

Rewatched this twice in the last few weeks and its still the perfect level of absolute vulgarity and strangely, unexpectedly layered gags. I despise the term "ahead of its time" as it generally says a lot more about the critic than the material, but Tom Green strangely understood the shift in taste from sitcom comedy to abstract, often uncomfortable humor without any real rhyme or reason for the sake of vulgarity.

I genuinely love this movie, its fucking hysterical.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2021, 04:00:23 PM
Session 9

I really wasn't expecting much from this film.  It is certainly one of the better films I've watched this month.  It is one of the best haunted house (even if it's set in a mental hospital) films I've seen to date.

The setting carries a lot of the heavy lifting being, iirc, an actual abandoned mental hospital that they did very little set work to.  It's disrepair and overall look gives an almost terrifyingly beautiful aesthetic to the film.  It's creepy as fuck, too.

The central ambiguity and mystery plays out nicely throughout and it gets most of it's tension through character interaction and uncertainty.  I think it does a very good job in this regards.  There is a notion that the ending is ambiguous and I get why but very much disagree.  We are all but literally told what is going on.  What is going on, what is being said and the context it is presented makes it very clear.  Sure, minutiae aren't entirely clear but that's largely irrelevant.  It doesn't matter anyway because the film doesn't benefit from being ambiguous, take from it what you want.

Overall a decent film with some good tension and nice horror moments that has some appreciable visuals.  If you like the psychological horror or haunted house thing, I'd recommend this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 October, 2021, 11:08:42 PM
Hatchet

I went into this with low expectations (pretty standard approach at this point) without knowing anything much about it on the recommendations made to me on this board.

Did I do something to hurt you guys?

Jokes aside, the film is pretty crap.  A lot of choices were made in the production of this film and I question almost all of them.  Amara Zaragoza's acting is terrible.  The conceit is stupid.  Victor Crowley has a terrible design.  The comic relief is not funny.  Parry Shen's character is confusing.  Joel David Moore lacks any level of charisma.  The running around in circles was boring.  The motivation was weak.  The lore is poorly developed.  It is mean spirited.  It's a bad Friday the 13th knock-off.

Okay, okay.  Some positives.  After all, it's not the worst film I've seen (which coincidently is a terrible slasher film).  I liked Joleigh Fiore in this and her sniping with Mercades McNab (of BtVS, Angel and Addams Family Values fame) was decent and the absolute highlight of the film.  I rooted for those two to make it to the end.  You can imagine how I really started loosing interest once they were killed off.  Okay, trying to stay positive.  It's nice to Richard Riehle and Patrika Darbo get work... I've seen them in other things.  Umm.  It's a very 2000's film but it's not the worst example of it.  It's not Hostel.  It only goes on for 80 minutes and five of those are credits.  So there, it's not 100% terrible.

Anyway, I gave it a go and I do appreciate receiving recommendations.  I think it is worth sitting through the occasional stinker if I get to see some gems and I've had more gems recommended to me here than stinkers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 21 October, 2021, 10:05:47 AM
Hmmm. <removes Hatchet from his 'to watch' list>

Train to Busan is one of those films that's great, but such a psuedo-traumatic watch I couldn't ever watch it again. Unlike, say, Army of the Dead which I would never watch again for other reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 21 October, 2021, 10:57:42 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2021, 02:23:30 PM
FREDDY GOT FINGERED

I genuinely love this movie, its fucking hysterical.

(https://i.imgur.com/MabL4ZF.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2021, 11:16:24 AM
Sorry to hear about your bad taste bro.

(https://64.media.tumblr.com/e0e5ba160e9a03e66a79de71da79cda4/tumblr_n19yv1NhNq1rk49y8o1_r5_400.gifv)

MISHIMA A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS

Pretty sure I wrote a more in depth review further down the thread but it bares repeating, this is a perfect movie. Schrader has crafted the perfect fusion of biopic and adaptation into a life of anthologies dedicated to simply one of the greatest writers who ever lived.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 21 October, 2021, 12:05:27 PM
Is Mishima available on a streaming service? I remember hearing about it years ago in Peter Biskind's book but I've never seen it anywhere.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 21 October, 2021, 12:17:19 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2021, 11:16:24 AM
Sorry to hear about your bad taste bro.

(https://64.media.tumblr.com/e0e5ba160e9a03e66a79de71da79cda4/tumblr_n19yv1NhNq1rk49y8o1_r5_400.gifv)


Hawk, loving an idiotic film like Freddy is better example of bad taste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2021, 12:20:36 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 21 October, 2021, 12:05:27 PM
Is Mishima available on a streaming service? I remember hearing about it years ago in Peter Biskind's book but I've never seen it anywhere.

According to Letterboxd its available to stream on Amazon Prime US so potentially on UK Amazon also? If not I can heartily endorse the Criterion Blu-ray, worth the price of entry for the documentary narrated by John Hurt alone.

Quote from: milstar on 21 October, 2021, 12:17:19 PM

Hawk, loving an idiotic film like Freddy is better example of bad taste.

Show me on the doll where Tom Green hurt you...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 21 October, 2021, 12:58:08 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 October, 2021, 02:23:30 PM
FREDDY GOT FINGERED

Rewatched this twice in the last few weeks and its still the perfect level of absolute vulgarity and strangely, unexpectedly layered gags. I despise the term "ahead of its time" as it generally says a lot more about the critic than the material, but Tom Green strangely understood the shift in taste from sitcom comedy to abstract, often uncomfortable humor without any real rhyme or reason for the sake of vulgarity.

I genuinely love this movie, its fucking hysterical.

it's a joy.  I love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 21 October, 2021, 02:44:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2021, 12:20:36 PM
Show me on the doll where Tom Green hurt you...

I think this is enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgPJSBd18MU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgPJSBd18MU)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 October, 2021, 02:52:30 PM
Rip Torns best performance. Pure surrealism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 October, 2021, 12:14:17 PM
It Follows

Sexually transmitted ghost?  Is this film trying to say something?  If it is, I actually missed it because it does come across as pretty straight forward.  It's a decent film.  It kind of burns slow, has very nicely framed shots and builds a lot of tension with relatively little effort.  There are some almost cliche techniques utilised in this film, but it's not aggressive and distracting.  And yeah, it does follow.  And it's really creepy.

Also, here is a film with an actual ambiguous ending.  I like it here.  I think it works in the context of the film.  Keeps it all unsettling.  It's good, because no catharsis is offered in this film.  Exposition is kept to a minimum.  Although, when I think about it I wonder how they know as much as they do.

So yeah, pretty decent.  One of the better films I've watched so far this month.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 October, 2021, 02:58:58 PM
Freejack

I've seen Freejack a long ago. I think I was still in elementary school then, and I guess it entertained me enough then. In the present times, I was only mildly entertained. And only because of Mick Jagger's the best worst roll. Plus, the Scorpions' end tune. And the sequence in Anthony Hopkins' mind is mindblowing, quite close actually to space-time traveling sequence from 2001. The plot is paper-thin; all interesting, but chewed-up ideas why the society is fucked up, are left aside. Yet, chewed they are, I wished that film dealt more with socially intriguing ideas, such as transferring one's mind into another body. Emilio Estevez and Rene Russo make a very unlikely couple. [spoiler]And I wished that film ended on an atypical happy ending route (Anthony Hopkins surviving in Emilio's body - that would make everyone's happy, right?)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 October, 2021, 03:39:41 PM
Hellraiser

I'm doing it!  I'm invested and I'm doing all the Doug Bradley Hellraisers.  Wish me luck as a retread some old ground and finally watch 6, 7 and 8.  The last time I watched all the Hellraiser films there were only 5, but I did rewatch the first more recently.  And I didn't enjoy it that time around.  Much like an experience I had with The Crow I was disappointed once I saw the tattered edges and fraying stitches.  Having a better understanding of the films failures it was nice to revisit this film once again.  I adored it as a kid and was really drawn in with Franks resurrection and the Cenobites.  I actually felt a little nostalgia for that experience.  The Cenobites are imposing, threatening and intimidating but don't do a great deal themselves.  The real horror is with Frank and Julia.  The whole thing is really melodramatic and Andrew Robinson is fun to watch, as ever.

Some of the effects are a real mixed bag.  Some are charming, some are goofy, some are excellent and some are terrible.  The setting is weird.  I'm not entirely sure this film is explicitly set in England.  Just looked it up and it was originally intended to be in the UK, but New World convinced Barker to set it in the US and he did overdubbing for some of accents.  I was going to mention some of the dubbing was bad, so this is probably the reason why.  OK, well, I'm holding it against the film because it is just confusing.

The house being the main setting is a problem for me too.  The house design is not good for filming and the limited shots and angles become very noticeable through their constant repetition.  I also found it difficult to keep track of the geography of the shots which had a negative effect on the flow of action.  These are the major reasons I had a bad time watching it the last time because it just looks cheap and amateurish.

Overall I had a good time.  It is engaging.  The pacing is good, the story is interesting, the lore and world-building has a lot of intrigue.  It is very aggressive in it's BDSM representation and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing.  It's certainly something that all the sequels I watched couldn't get right if they even bothered to do so.  I don't know why, it's pretty clear in the film "Demons to some, Angels to others".

Looking forward to watching Hellbound tonight.  It's been about twenty years and I'm curious how much of it I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 October, 2021, 05:43:45 PM
Dune. Holy sneck. That's how you make a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 October, 2021, 06:27:00 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 October, 2021, 05:43:45 PM
Dune. Holy sneck. That's how you make a movie.

I'm going to take it you're talking about the new one. 

Because if you are not then I congratulate you on such a bold statement ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeurko on 23 October, 2021, 10:18:57 PM
Dune, self-important bland looking, overlong even though they didn't tell the whole story so we gotta wait & see if they even bother finishing it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 October, 2021, 10:48:15 PM
There's a lot of love on here for 2003 western Open Range and I stumbled across it the other day on Prime and watched it with excitment... except I really didn't like it... well that's not fair. There is much to like but some key elements are just hollow and that makes the excellent relationship between Duvall and Costner, the superb gun battle and some good 'authentic work worth ... well if not nothing, then not very much at all.

The villains are the very worst of paper thin cliche. Thrown in to give something to rail against and not even 2 dimensional. The relationship between Costner and Benning is just terrible too. Its rushed, has no depth and just flow past like the very worst of love interest for the sake of it.

The music - poor and freeze frame in the last shot - just awful.

Its half a good western and half an absymal cliche.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 October, 2021, 11:28:35 PM
Patt Garrett and Billy the kid

One of coolest westerns ever. I won't say Peckinpah's best, but it's near. I like how the film establishes early on the friendship between the two titular characters, soon to be arch nemesis. And the music and visuals are great, poetic. Btw, Bob Dylan did the score, but for some unexplainable reason, he's thrown in the film, in a very unclear role. Plus, his acting...the less said, the better. My only big disappointment is the Special Edition I had the chance to see; imho, inferior over, better, but not flawless Preview version. I guess the perfect cut would be a mix of the two, which so far no one plans to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 24 October, 2021, 12:25:51 AM
Silverado. Not just a great western but a great film altogether.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 24 October, 2021, 08:52:51 AM
The Velvet Underground. This was an absolute joy for me. Todd Haynes does a wonderful job of presenting archive footage in context, often with a split screen showing Warhol films alongside interviews or other footage. It works wonderfully.

I'll also add that I could happily watch an entire film of Jonathan Richman talking about the VU.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 24 October, 2021, 10:45:59 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 23 October, 2021, 05:43:45 PM
Dune. Holy sneck. That's how you make a movie.

Gotta agree with this review.  Just saw the new film yesterday - how long until the next half?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 October, 2021, 03:10:46 PM
Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Yeah, pretty much what I remember.  Like it about the same as I did as a kid.  As a follow up to the original it works well.  I'd say it's certainly worth watching the two movies as companion pieces.

Much like with the first there is some really excellent stuff and some ropey stuff.  For the most part I'd just be treading the same ground as before.

Things specifically about this film I like are the expansion of lore.  Going into the Cenobite dimension is certainly something and I think it looks really good.  I like the weird black lighthouse thing going on that is apparently Leviathan.  It's nice to see the OG Cenobites back, even if there are noticeable differences with the Chatterer make-up and the new actress for "Deepthroat".  It still works.  It is great that, in both films, these characters leave such an impression despite the extremely short screentime they get.  Less is more.

The Doctor Cenobite doesn't work as well.  It's okay and does it's job, but it set an unfortunate precedent that lead to the fucking dumb design in HRIII.  At least it wasn't quite as on the nose in this film.  Motivations are a little muddy in presentation and follow-throughs are weak for it.

Overall, another good time had.  I know what is next isn't going to be good at all.  But I know how dumb it is and maybe I'll have some fun at least sniggering at it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 October, 2021, 05:04:33 PM
Scum - a tough watch that meanders a bit as it becomes less the story of Carlin and more the story of the borstal system itself. I'd call it essential cinema, but not for the faint of heart.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 October, 2021, 05:28:30 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 October, 2021, 05:04:33 PM
Scum - a tough watch that meanders a bit as it becomes less the story of Carlin and more the story of the borstal system itself. I'd call it essential cinema, but not for the faint of heart.

Haven't seen this in years.  Used to enjoy it alongside I.D.  I'd agree about it getting very grim and unpleasant.  I think it would still hold relevance today given it's commentary.  Maybe not the specifics of the Borstals but certainly establishment institutions.

After some British film-making that's not for the faint of heart?  Then I recommend Threads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 October, 2021, 05:53:18 PM
I just read a quick review of Threads, and I might watch it some other time! As it came out in 1984, it reminds me that I took my dad to see Blade Runner ('82), and he complained that it was too depressing. He got his revenge a few years later by taking me to see When the Wind Blows ('86). Blade Runner's rather jolly in comparison.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 October, 2021, 07:16:17 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 October, 2021, 05:53:18 PM
I just read a quick review of Threads, and I might watch it some other time! As it came out in 1984, it reminds me that I took my dad to see Blade Runner ('82), and he complained that it was too depressing. He got his revenge a few years later by taking me to see When the Wind Blows ('86). Blade Runner's rather jolly in comparison.

When the Wind Blows is a good film and harrowing in it's mundane depiction of nuclear horror.  Threads is a lot more brutal film in it's bleakness.

I'd like to revisit myself one day soon to see how hard it punches for me now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 October, 2021, 08:57:05 PM
Wow, there seems to be some division on the Dune movie.  I might bother to watch it now.  I was considering not because when I last read the book I realised it's really over rated and has a multitude of issues (beyond the problematic elements).  I'm wondering if the film retains some of these issues. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 October, 2021, 12:27:33 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 October, 2021, 05:04:33 PM
Scum

Way too brutal cinema, even by today standards. More gut-wrenching it is when you realize it's fairly realistic portrayal of borstal schools. That movie isn't made to be enjoyed at.

Tomb Raider

As I am writing this, I almost forgot the film. Runtime passes over too quickly and indicator of my dislike of the film lies in the 2013 reboot of TR, of which this is an adaptation. Not the Lara I remember. That had both grace and right physique, something that Alicia Vikander does not have. Plus, I don't find her sexy. And her grunts are painful to listen. The plot is strictly pedestrian and by the book. Lara's scenes with her Dad are rife with trite sentimentality. Main baddie is just another stupid, cardboard villain. And does every fantasy franchise has to have a grounded, gritty reboot?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 12:51:24 AM
Quote from: milstar on 25 October, 2021, 12:27:33 AM
Plus, I don't find her sexy.

This is exactly the problem I had with Nosferatu! He was fugly as fuck! And not in a good way. And The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - wtf? If they'd managed to get Robert Redford to play Tuco they could have changed the title to the The Good, the Bad and the Hawt, clearly improving the movie and culture at large! Sophie's Choice? More like Sophie's a Munter etc. etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 October, 2021, 02:02:14 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 12:51:24 AM
Quote from: milstar on 25 October, 2021, 12:27:33 AM
Plus, I don't find her sexy.

This is exactly the problem I had with Nosferatu! He was fugly as fuck! And not in a good way. And The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - wtf? If they'd managed to get Robert Redford to play Tuco they could have changed the title to the The Good, the Bad and the Hawt, clearly improving the movie and culture at large! Sophie's Choice? More like Sophie's a Munter etc. etc.

I get your point, but Lara Croft was conceived* as a sex symbol. You're making a false equivalence here.

You're also criticising someone for judging an actor's looks while calling Meryl Streep a munter.


*admittedly in the 90s by tech bros
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 03:01:54 AM
Well, either I was being genuine (in which case I wasn't criticizing the original post) or I was being sarcastic (in which case I wasn't criticizing anyone's looks). You seem to have it that I was doing both at the same time, which is a strange reading.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 October, 2021, 12:20:42 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 25 October, 2021, 02:02:14 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 12:51:24 AM
Quote from: milstar on 25 October, 2021, 12:27:33 AM
Plus, I don't find her sexy.

This is exactly the problem I had with Nosferatu! He was fugly as fuck! And not in a good way. And The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - wtf? If they'd managed to get Robert Redford to play Tuco they could have changed the title to the The Good, the Bad and the Hawt, clearly improving the movie and culture at large! Sophie's Choice? More like Sophie's a Munter etc. etc.

I get your point, but Lara Croft was conceived* as a sex symbol. You're making a false equivalence here.

You're also criticising someone for judging an actor's looks while calling Meryl Streep a munter.


*admittedly in the 90s by tech bros

The recent Tomb Raider film is an adaptation of the rebooted games, which make a clear move away from the sexist and outdated view of Croft in the 90s game. The character is portrayed in the film in a very similar way to how she's portrayed in the game. Funt Solo's point is a good one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 October, 2021, 12:28:40 PM
I started watching Hawk the Slayer this morning as I'm off work for half term - thinking when the boy child got back from a trip to a cafe I'd get him into it...

... I switched its off as he returned - one consigned to the 'best left to the memories bin - alas.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 25 October, 2021, 12:29:39 PM
I've had that experience a few times recently. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 October, 2021, 12:31:36 PM
Well, sorry for not swimming in modern waters. Sex appeal is large part of Lara's personality, having fandom across both male and female gender. Sex appeal is not sexist. And often draws people in (not gonna say that sex sells exclusively, but in some it's intrinsic part of the character).
When a modern like version of Robert Redford plays Larry Croft, let me know.

(Considering that I wrote in not very flattering terms about  TR games reboot in "Last game played" thread, I don't think my take of TR film is that starting).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 October, 2021, 01:05:05 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.

Now see I hope we do. I didn't like it, at all, but a lot of fans of the book seem pleased so who am I to deny them a good time?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 October, 2021, 01:48:34 PM
Hellraiser III : Dream Warriors

oops, wrong franchise.

Hellraiser III : Hell on Earth

Yeah, there is some weird dream nonsense in this film that is a major part of the resolution but isn't really explored in much depth.

When I started watching this one it almost got me.  I thought for a moment it might be better than I remembered.  For a brief moment.  I still think it's crap.  However, I do think it's a lot better than a fair chunk of the Friday the 13th franchise.  Doug Bradley is fun in this film getting a lot more screen time.  The pillar that showed up at the end of II is better designed if not quite as a creepy.  It's pacing is pretty good and the narrative does flow well.  It's actually not unwatchable.  That's it for praise. 

The "psuedo-Cenobites" are just awful.  CDs, cameras, barb wire (I think this guy was a bar tender... the joke is very bad), piston (because sex, apparently) and.... a cigarette???  Motivations are again muddled.  What was established in the first two films seems largely abandoned for something more unclear.  It's not threatening, intimidating, scary, tense, creepy or disgusting.  It's just very, very dumb.  And dumbed down.  This has no edge.  And still, it's actually not unwatchable.

I'm hoping Bloodlines is the fun-dumb I vaguely remember it being.  I definitely remember thinking the space stuff was interesting.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 October, 2021, 01:49:32 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.

You hope people lose their jobs because you didn't like a film? Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 25 October, 2021, 02:07:24 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 October, 2021, 01:49:32 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.

You hope people lose their jobs because you didn't like a film? Wow.

I'm hoping that had been intended as reverse-psychology to get the other half - but you can never tell on the internet...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 October, 2021, 02:52:05 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.
I only hear two things about Dune - It's Great!/It Sucks!. No middle ground it seems.

Dune is my favourite book of all time. I read it at least once a year now. I will see this film but wait until I can watch it at home.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 03:34:21 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 25 October, 2021, 01:49:32 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 25 October, 2021, 12:42:34 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.
So true. Hope we don't get the sequel.

You hope people lose their jobs because you didn't like a film? Wow.
How can people lose jobs when a sequel hasn't been greenlit yet? Have people already been offered employment for a film that hasn't been given the go ahead yet? A strange thing to do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 October, 2021, 03:59:40 PM
Hell yeah! My favourite bits of Star Trek are the Enterprise pron so this sounds right up my street.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 25 October, 2021, 05:40:40 PM
Cue porno music.
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F68.media.tumblr.com%2F6dfbd38978f438509bf401c6e736212f%2Ftumblr_nwiabo6o4q1qj6sk2o2_500.gif&f=1&nofb=1)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 October, 2021, 06:43:08 PM
Phwoooaaar!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 06:43:58 PM
Talking of Star Trek pron ... Commander Riker demonstrates his sexual prowess by coupling with a starship: Commander Riker Manual Docking (https://youtu.be/OmaKXpI3204)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 October, 2021, 07:32:02 PM

I'm loving Lower Decks' take on Riker.

"Gimme warp - in the speed of five, six, se-ven, eight."

"Hrrr - jazz..."

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 October, 2021, 07:58:08 PM
"You know Captain Riker?!"

"Yeah I buy all my contraband off him, Romulan ale-"

'Cut to Riker desperately trying to switch off coms'

Lower Decks is SO good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 October, 2021, 02:46:36 PM
Hellraiser : Bloodlines

Who doesn't like a good Alan Smithee film?

This film sucks.  It's not better than III or more fun, but it might be worse.  I'm not sure, really.  It's not especially coherent.  It being split into three different stories could have worked, but the stories themselves are not very complete.  The narrative that bridges the entire film becomes a mess because of the poor implementation of this device.  It's just frustrating.  Through in some of the usual problems like inconsistent performances and effects and all you can really say is "yeah, I get why the director wanted his name taken off this crap".

As part of a franchise at large it really muddies the waters with what is going.  I don't know what Pinhead is about any more.  He wants a hell on Earth?  He's been bored?  He's about just killing people?  He's been frustrated by the method he gets his victims?  Pinhead is so fucking generic in this film that it hurts.  A really interesting and enigmatic antagonist is replaced with some generic, bland egomaniacal garbage.  The more screen time he gets the worse the character becomes.

Next is Inferno.  I remember really enjoying this one twenty-odd years ago when I watched.  I rated it up there with the first two.  I'm a little concerned because I do remember it being fairly decent and at this point I'm just hoping it's better than the last two films I watched.  I mean, Pinhead is barely in this film so it must good.  Right?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 26 October, 2021, 03:16:09 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 25 October, 2021, 06:43:58 PM
Talking of Star Trek pron ... Commander Riker demonstrates his sexual prowess by coupling with a starship: Commander Riker Manual Docking (https://youtu.be/OmaKXpI3204)

Better not get an STD ;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 October, 2021, 08:11:52 PM
Oh no after not liking Open Range - which seemed to be pretty damned popular here - I've watched another film that seems to get a lot of love and really not enjoyed it. This time Joker.

I found it fundamentally ... well dishonest... I guess ... that's the best way to describe it. By which I mean it seemed to really want to be an examination of mental health and the disconnects in society. Those that have been left behind and what happens to them and society when we do. It really wants to be take seriously, so seriously. It goes as far as to remove comics from DC comics to show how serious it is when it in the credits it gets to 'Based on characters from'.

Why - well I guess (?) disassociating itself from comics means it can be more serious.

Yet by stretching things to extremes. By including all the Thomas Wayne, Batman origin stuff. By pushing creduality to breaking points at times it removes any real power in what its trying to do. And Jez (excuse the pun) the Christ figure on a bonnet was just the hideous. Look how serious we're being we comparing this broken, damaged man to a messiah we're exposing what happens when you push the down trodden too fair. Yet The Joker - or Albert is a pretty horrible person. Nothing to be admired and yes while that is driven by a society that doesn't care. By extreme circumstance and mental health problems its not as if that makes him okay.

The three Wall Street horrors on the train are pretty damned rubbish - in fact cartoon rubbish - but their brutal murder? So we see a man so damaged he killed his own mother. Its very meladrama. The very thing that it seems to wants to disssociate itself from by being so 'serious' is apparent and rips across any attempts it makes to be powerful and in anyway serious. It just wants to be something its not able to allow itself to be. Its brutal actions removing any honestly it might have as an examination of real mental health issues.

Tonight I also started to watch Fanboys and 2009 'comedy' in homage (I think) about fans - I had to stop within 30 minutes!

I need to watch a good film soon!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 October, 2021, 08:18:42 PM
SATATANGO

7 and a half hours of melancholy, wanderings through derelict towns with empty peoples, mutterings of not much at all.

Bela Tarr consistently blurs the lines between immersion art and cinema and this is his opus. Simply no film like it, like spending a night in a haunted town and encountering all manner of broken NPCs, guided by a compelling, demonic force. Simply an incredible movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 26 October, 2021, 09:30:48 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 October, 2021, 08:11:52 PM
Oh no after not liking Open Range - which seemed to be pretty damned popular here - I've watched another film that seems to get a lot of love and really not enjoyed it. This time Joker.

One thing I really disliked in this film.  IIRC the mother was in an abusive relationship and the abusive partner also abused Arthur.  And the film made it clear, to me at least, that it thought that was the mother's fault for being in an abusive relationship.  It's a very small part of the film - blink and you'll miss it.  I did double take and ask myself "did the movie just do that?"

I agree with you that it's dishonest in wanting to say something and just failing to say it.  It is a poor excuse on an examination into anything constantly undermining any point that might be there to be made.  That is what I remember most.  It was shot well and Joaoquin Pheonix does a really good job, but no amount of weird contorted dancing is going to make up for such muddled messaging.

I found it to be a film that looks good, but is shallow and fucking dumb.  You aren't alone in disliking it.

I also could not imagine how horrible it would be to revisit Fanboys.  I don't remember liking it when I watched it ten years ago.

You aren't alone in disliking the film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 October, 2021, 10:05:47 PM

I didn't enjoy Joker either. Films like Taxi Driver and Falling Down did a much better job in more entertaining (and more artful) ways.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 26 October, 2021, 10:20:26 PM
I thought Joker was like a shite cover version of King of Comedy
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 26 October, 2021, 11:55:23 PM
So, Dune Part 2 (https://variety.com/2021/film/news/dune-part-2-sequel-1235094974/) has been greenlit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 27 October, 2021, 11:00:47 AM
QuoteOne thing I really disliked in this film.  IIRC the mother was in an abusive relationship and the abusive partner also abused Arthur.  And the film made it clear, to me at least, that it thought that was the mother's fault for being in an abusive relationship.  It's a very small part of the film - blink and you'll miss it.  I did double take and ask myself "did the movie just do that?"

The treatment of women in the movie is horrible. It's a terribly misogynist movie. I'm sure they'll use the excuse that we're seeing through Arthur's eyes, but that doesn't wash at all.

QuoteI found it to be a film that looks good, but is shallow and fucking dumb.  You aren't alone in disliking it.

The best comment I saw was along the lines of: "A puddle seems deep if you've never seen the ocean".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 27 October, 2021, 11:37:07 AM
Joker was alright in that 'watch it once but never again' kind of way.  It felt like a slog in the same way that the recent Batman films did but I didn't hate it.

I just watched Halloween Kills and, much like all the Halloween films, it was terrible in every way.

Also watched The Descent 2 which was a disappointing retread of the first film and entirely unnecessary.

I love horror anthology/portmanteau films so I also rewatched V/H/S and V/H/S/2.  Both of which are highly variable in scares, acting and quality but both watchable enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 October, 2021, 12:12:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 27 October, 2021, 11:37:07 AM

I just watched Halloween Kills and, much like all the Halloween films, it was terrible in every way.


'The Halloween III: Season of the Witch enjoyer has logged online'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 October, 2021, 01:56:23 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 27 October, 2021, 11:00:47 AM
The best comment I saw was along the lines of: "A puddle seems deep if you've never seen the ocean".

Yeah, that about sums it up.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 27 October, 2021, 04:19:59 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 October, 2021, 10:05:47 PM

I didn't enjoy Joker either. Films like Taxi Driver and Falling Down did a much better job in more entertaining (and more artful) ways.

The praise Joker got is unbelievable. And I agree, Taxi Driver, Falling Down, I'd add King of Comedy are much more engaging movies (although I am not too keen on Falling Down). Joker is borefest, while I am aware that Arthur lives a fucked up life, like many, it's pointless drive into someone's madness. Worse, the film managed to drew the worst feelings out of me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 October, 2021, 06:30:25 PM
Hellraiser: Inferno

It was an improvement.  It's cheesy and cheap and clearly riffs off better movies.  But for everything shoddy about the film it is actually coherent.  It is easy to follow and pretty engaging.  For a DtV it's not too bad.  I understand why people wouldn't like this film, but I do think it is better than the previous two instalments in every regard.  The visual designs and effects are far better than they have any right to be.  We don't have a return to the Cenobites agenda, exactly, but at least it's reasonable and in keeping why they do what they do.  The noir narration is kind of funny.  It gets forgotten about for large chunks of the film so is weird when it keeps popping back in.

Anyway, yes, it's an improvement and I'm glad it's largely what I remember it being.  It has huge amounts of potential but I didn't feel robbed for it not meeting that potential.

Tonight is the first of the Hellraiser films I haven't seen before.  If it can just stay better than Bloodlines then I'll be a happy camper.  Dammit, I should have used that as a joke when writing about the Friday the 13th films.  What a missed opportunity.  *groan*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 October, 2021, 10:41:52 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 October, 2021, 08:11:52 PM
I need to watch a good film soon!

Well YAY I think I found one... well maybe not that good but certainly enjoyable. Dave Made a Maze, the title says it all... well except for the fact that he made the maze out of cardboard, in his living room... and its a LOT bigger on the inside... and has death traps and monsters. There's blood (well red crate paper) and guts (pink crate paper) a plenty.

You know what it could be said to be a better examination of mental health than Joker, though its probably a better reading to say its about creativity, but either way its a damn sight more interesting. Yes it does dance with being twee and cute a little too much BUT just about stays on the right side of the line. More importantly it remains entertaining for all of its 82 minutes (yes a film that realises you can tell a good story in under 2 1/2 hours!) and has a great ending.

Worth a watch if you fancy a horror comedy that's a bit different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 October, 2021, 11:00:39 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 24 October, 2021, 07:37:34 PM
DUNE (2021)

Absolutely blows chunks. If you enjoyed all the scenes of space ships landing in the SW: Prequels I'm glad someone made a compilation playlist for those weirdos.

I mentioned this description to someone and was told that the correct response should have been (verbatim):

"I'm sorry you couldn't see past that. There's some brilliant acting and storytelling in this movie."

Not seen it, just passing on the message. So that's you told!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 October, 2021, 11:24:19 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 27 October, 2021, 10:41:52 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 October, 2021, 08:11:52 PM
I need to watch a good film soon!

Well YAY I think I found one... well maybe not that good but certainly enjoyable. Dave Made a Maze, the title says it all... well except for the fact that he made the maze out of cardboard, in his living room... and its a LOT bigger on the inside... and has death traps and monsters. There's blood (well red crate paper) and guts (pink crate paper) a plenty.

You know what it could be said to be a better examination of mental health than Joker, though its probably a better reading to say its about creativity, but either way its a damn sight more interesting. Yes it does dance with being twee and cute a little too much BUT just about stays on the right side of the line. More importantly it remains entertaining for all of its 82 minutes (yes a film that realises you can tell a good story in under 2 1/2 hours!) and has a great ending.

Worth a watch if you fancy a horror comedy that's a bit different.

The premise has me sold.  It's on my list for post-halloween.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 October, 2021, 11:27:11 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 27 October, 2021, 11:00:39 PM

I mentioned this description to someone and was told that the correct response should have been (verbatim):

"I'm sorry you couldn't see past that. There's some brilliant acting and storytelling in this movie."

Not seen it, just passing on the message. So that's you told!

Oh damn, they got me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 October, 2021, 09:23:18 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 27 October, 2021, 12:12:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 27 October, 2021, 11:37:07 AM

I just watched Halloween Kills and, much like all the Halloween films, it was terrible in every way.


'The Halloween III: Season of the Witch enjoyer has logged online'

Say what you will about Halloween 3 but it's the only one in the franchise that isn't boring.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2021, 09:25:17 AM
Halloween III is superb. By far and away my favourite entry in the series, though then again, my second favourite entry if Rob Zombies Halloween II so once again my taste is at best suspect.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 October, 2021, 09:36:27 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2021, 09:25:17 AM
Halloween III is superb. By far and away my favourite entry in the series, though then again, my second favourite entry if Rob Zombies Halloween II so once again my taste is at best suspect.

H3 is fun and it feels a lot more like a John Carpenter film than the first one did.  It's definitely got a They Live thing going on with it.  It's not very cohesive.  Like early on a guy is killed by the world's slowest car but then it turns out he was probably a super-strong robot.  Also, considering her dad was just horribly murdered, the lead actress seems incredibly flirty.

But it's enjoyable and that's the main thing.

Rob's got this thing where most of his horror seems to be based around redneck types being pricks and I turned off his first Halloween film about five minutes in after some dickhead yelled 'I'm gunna skullf**k yewww in the eye' or something.  Not for me that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 October, 2021, 09:46:09 AM
Hellraiser: Hellseeker

Still better than the third and forth instalments.  This film is much in the same vein as Inferno.  More psychological than straight horror.  It could have benefited from a more charismatic lead as we are being asked to sympathise with the character throughout.  Also, there is a really dodgy effect close to the end that ridiculous beyond words.  The story is pretty basic, but solid and it's easy to follow despite going all over the place (almost Catch 22 style).  Again, it's cheesy and shoddy.  Still better than it has any right to be and not an awful watch.

Kirsty returns for this film and I have to wonder why no one thought to just reintroduce the original Cenobite designs.  It's not like there is an actual continuity to worry about.  Maybe someone did think to do it and wasn't taken seriously.  I mean, I like Doug Bradley as Pinhead but the character is one dimensional and has lost all they're edge by this point.  In fact, most of that edge was lost in II.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 28 October, 2021, 12:02:32 PM
Pictsy, one of the Hellraiser films was on Netflix a few years back.  It was about a cop.  Pinhead and the rest were barely in it.

Hilariously, the blurb on it said something like 'starring the smouldering Dean Winters.'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 28 October, 2021, 12:13:32 PM
 Me and my eldest went to Halloween Kills earlier this week, and we had a great time. Admittedly, the plot is non-existent, replaced instead by just a sequence of stalk-and-kill scenes and a set-up for the next one. But my god it's brutal. I'd have to rewatch Rob Zombie's H2 to be sure, but I would say it's surely a contender for the 'most extreme' entry in the franchise. Some genuinely nasty moments, of the kind that back in the day would have seen it nobbled by the rozzers and on a government list. The knife in the eye socket being a particular stand-out. Two of the kills made me and the boy laugh out loud (the car door bounce and Michael trying out various knives on the husband of the elderly couple) which may have made us look like a couple of nutters in the cinema, but the accompanying shrieks and grimaces from the rest of the audience made it all worth it.

To be honest, it only really felt like a Halloween film for me in the last ten minutes or so, when Michael got his mask ripped off. But the mistaken identity sequence in the hospital, while surely intended to be profound in some way, was scuppered by a) The comedy design of the escaped patient, and b) "Evil dies tonight!" repeated endlessly to the point of becoming the horror equivalent of those adverts that just make you want to go full-on Myers and murder everyone in the vicinity. "Scott's home early!" indeed.

I'm quite a fan of the Halloween series- and especially how they can be now watched in a number of ways, taking various paths through the (by next year) thirteen films. I'm assuming the final film will draw attention to this, and I'm expecting some kind of double ending, with a coda featuring the story being told to a bunch of kids on Halloween night, the various continuities being joked about in the dialogue, and then a reveal of Michael standing outside the house, looking in. Or something. Hopefully with Silver Shamrock masks, the Cult of Thorn and a woman on a white horse very much in evidence.

And I look forward to Halloween 14- even more so if they have the balls to call it just 'Halloween' again.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 28 October, 2021, 12:22:53 PM
Quote from: repoman on 28 October, 2021, 12:02:32 PM
Pictsy, one of the Hellraiser films was on Netflix a few years back.  It was about a cop.  Pinhead and the rest were barely in it.

Hilariously, the blurb on it said something like 'starring the smouldering Dean Winters.'


Amazon description:
Quote from: amazonA smoldering Dean Winters plays a man who survives a car accident in which his wife was apparently killed; because of a head injury, his memory is mixed up
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 October, 2021, 02:34:54 PM
Quote from: repoman on 28 October, 2021, 12:02:32 PM
Pictsy, one of the Hellraiser films was on Netflix a few years back.  It was about a cop.  Pinhead and the rest were barely in it.

Hilariously, the blurb on it said something like 'starring the smouldering Dean Winters.'

Does Dean Winters smoulder?  I thought he looked like Michael Madsen's younger brother or something.  Does Michael Madsen smoulder? 

The one with Dean Winters is Hellseeker, the one I just watched.  The one about the cop is Inferno.  Sorry about the nit-picking. 

I didn't mention that the cop character played by William S. Taylor in Hellseeker was an absolute delight.  He stole all his scenes... except the scene with the really terrible CGI. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 28 October, 2021, 08:20:23 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2021, 09:25:17 AM
Halloween III is superb. By far and away my favourite entry in the series, though then again, my second favourite entry if Rob Zombies Halloween II so once again my taste is at best suspect.

Why I am not surprised that Hawkmumbler calls HIII favorite film in the series?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 October, 2021, 09:47:49 PM
Heh, I was wondering how many pages of horror marathons it would take to draw SBT out from his crypt.

One of my call-centre colleagues wrote the licensed Halloween comics for some big anniversary or reissue. I'm no fan of slasher-horror (Halloween III is the only one I like cos it's weird and creepy), but get him on the subject and he'll talk for ever.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 29 October, 2021, 09:48:03 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 28 October, 2021, 02:34:54 PM

The one with Dean Winters is Hellseeker, the one I just watched.  The one about the cop is Inferno.  Sorry about the nit-picking.   

No worries.  I found it quite forgettable, so I'm sure to be fuzzy on details.

It did that thing where someone is basically reliving a bad day and that's hell.  It's how they did hell in Angel (the Buffy spin-off thing) and more recently Lucifer (one of the worst shows of all time).

That does have a degree of creepiness to it I guess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 October, 2021, 10:28:25 AM
Hellraiser: Deader

What a terrible title.  Deader?  WTF is that?  Oh, it's a major thing in the film, too.  Dumb.
This is another Hellraiser wants to bring you a mind-fuck.  Only it's not quite as coherent as the other times the franchise did it.

One thing I noticed right at the beginning was a production company with Stan Winston's name on it.  And sure, the practical effects in this film are good.  What a shame all that hard work is overshadowed by the appalling bad CGI.  Big, chunky chains too... for reasons.

The story is dumb (go figure).  At least they tried to weave into the narrative a reason why they are filming in Romania on the cheap.  This film taught me Romania is full to the brim with English people.  Including Marc Warren.  It was fun seeing him in this film.

Still, it's better than Bloodlines.

Quote from: repoman on 29 October, 2021, 09:48:03 AM
It did that thing where someone is basically reliving a bad day and that's hell.  It's how they did hell in Angel (the Buffy spin-off thing) and more recently Lucifer (one of the worst shows of all time).

That does have a degree of creepiness to it I guess.

I think this is why it would be very easy to mix Inferno and Hellseeker together as they both do this. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 29 October, 2021, 11:52:42 AM
Quote from: milstar on 28 October, 2021, 08:20:23 PM
Why I am not surprised that Hawkmumbler calls HIII favorite film in the series?

My big galaxy brain stupefies even myself sometimes.


On a Carpenter tangent:

IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS

Getting to see this on 35mm last night was a truly stupendous experience, its criminal this hasn't received a home video release in the UK past VHS as its by far one of Carpenters best. Creepy, ephemeral horror that peels away at the fabric of our understanding, a rare instance of meta narrative working, and an opportunity for Carpenter to poke fun at Stephen King (always down to roast King) wrapped up in some fantastic set design and some hysterically dour lines from Neill just make the whole thing pop.

And fuck the naysayers, I like the rubber monsters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 29 October, 2021, 10:36:26 PM
Hellraiser: Hellworld

I probably should have watched In The Mouth of Madness.  That's a good film.

I knew Hellworld was bad but I wasn't prepared for how bad.  Probably worse than Bloodlines.  It's idiotic nonsense.  But I'm finally done with Hellraiser.  I'm so happy I decided I wasn't going to watch the last two anyway, because from what I've read and heard about the films, the are the worst. 

All in all it wasn't as bad an experience as I was expecting.  It's not great, but considering four of these films are DtV and three of those aren't even the worst entries (that I watched), I'd say that's pretty good going.  I wouldn't recommend anyone follow in my footsteps and marathon this franchise, but I think it was a better experience than doing the Friday franchise.  I guess the lesson I've really learnt is I'm an Elm Street girl.

Two more days of my marathon and I have absolutely no idea how to finish the month off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 30 October, 2021, 08:35:57 AM
I watched VHS Viral.  It was awful.

VHS94 next though.  It's meant to be pretty good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2021, 10:56:24 AM
Quote from: repoman on 30 October, 2021, 08:35:57 AM
VHS94 next though.  It's meant to be pretty good.

Praise Raatma.

Yeah this is a good one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 30 October, 2021, 10:07:30 PM
Kevin Costner's Robin Hood

This high camp, pop retelling of Robin Hood is appropriate for the modern era than the 12th century. But it's not why (mostly) I disliked the film. The amount of money it earned in 1991 is unbelievable. This Robin Hood is dark, grim, joyless, and surprisingly violent (definitely not an adventure film for kids). Yet, rife with trite humorous one-liners that sadly, either exist in wrong places and are not funny at all. I got the feeling I am watching non-intentional self-parody. In addition, Kevin Costner gives one of the worst performances of his career. Going from happy-go and jovial to unconvincingly stern but stilted, his Robin Hood is simply bonkers. And the less said about his accent, the better. Contrivances of the terrible script also do not do justice to Alan Rickman, arguably the highest mark here. Alan channels his Hans Gruber without losing his iconic charm.

Morgan Freeman thespian skills as sturdy, sober Robin's sidekick leaves Kevin in the dust. But he really shouldn't be in the film. His presence gives rather a contemporary feel and not the 12the century England and whose part serves as an excuse to address current religious and racial themes. In addition, the lame script makes his part useless for at least the first half of the film, from which on he is ushered through "magical negro stereotype."

Without going fully rough on the film, I'll say that locations are splendid, while the music score is fittingly epic; having vibes very similar to Highlander.
As such, stylistically, Robin Hood, with the abundance of wide angle close-ups feels more like a Terry Gilliam film, who probably would know what to do with the material, hitting all the right notes. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 30 October, 2021, 10:20:05 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 30 October, 2021, 10:56:24 AM
Quote from: repoman on 30 October, 2021, 08:35:57 AM
VHS94 next though.  It's meant to be pretty good.

Praise Raatma.

Yeah this is a good one.

It was.  Really enjoyed it.  Still a bit variable in quality as you'd expect but higher highs and more tolerable lows compared to the last one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 08:49:27 AM
The Babadook

This is definitely as good as I heard.  This one doesn't pull it's punches.  A really interesting take on supernatural horror that's all metaphorical as well.  But it's such an uncomfortable film to watch.  Not because of the Babadook (which was great in evoking childhood fears), but because of what happens with the family.  It really is extremely harsh and I'm unsure whether I can accept the ending as a satisfactory resolution.  I like the ending, it's nice, but things happened that can't be resolved so easily... mainly if we are looking at the film from the metaphor angle.  It's not a great big issue and I don't mind a horror film leaving me with uncomfortable feelings.

I decided to watch The Mist (2007) to finish off my marathon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 31 October, 2021, 09:25:19 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 08:49:27 AM
The Babadook

I didn't like that one much.  The kid was super annoying (deliberately but still hard to watch) and the Babadook thing reminded me of Papa Lazaru and that made it less scary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 31 October, 2021, 09:58:22 AM
Quote from: repoman on 31 October, 2021, 09:25:19 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 08:49:27 AM
The Babadook
I didn't like that one much.  The kid was super annoying (deliberately but still hard to watch) and the Babadook thing reminded me of Papa Lazaru and that made it less scary.

Yep. Having 'Mum!' shouted at me in an Australian accent for an hour is indeed horrific, but not for the right reasons.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 10:06:07 AM
Quote from: repoman on 31 October, 2021, 09:25:19 AM
The kid was super annoying (deliberately but still hard to watch)...

I was getting this vibe a little bit.  Nevertheless, I found myself reading Samuel as being neurodivergent so I ran with it, because I figured the film was making a point.  I'm glad I did because I found the Samuel to be a really compelling character in the end and Noah Wiseman did an excellent job in the role.

I didn't find the Babadook especially scary, either.  I don't think that's where the horror is in this film.

I can understand you not enjoying it, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

Okay, I'm cheating.  This movie is still playing as I write this, but fucking hell, why is this film regarded so highly?

It is contrived, cliched, awful looking, nihilistic garbage.  It does the idea of exploring the horrors of humanity and the failures of people a disservice by being so derivative.  It is almost entirely predictable and lacks any kind of charisma to carry the trite characterisations and conflicts.  I seriously don't understand why this is so highly regarded.  Watching it in Black and White surely can't make it any less a steaming pile of shit.  It looks bad.  The CGI is terrible and the monster designs are generic and boring.

Hey, you know what film does this concept much better.  Krampus. 

The Mist.  More like fucking shit.

I wish I turned it off when I realised this was utter crap. I skipped through to the end and I don't care. 

Bare in mind, I watched Jason takes Manhattan in it's entirety.  What the hell did that film have to keep me engaged to the end that this film lacked?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 01 November, 2021, 03:14:49 AM
Watched the new Dune in an Imax theater. Enjoyed it and like the scope of the movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 01 November, 2021, 07:41:20 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

Okay, I'm cheating.  This movie is still playing as I write this, but fucking hell, why is this film regarded so highly?


Ah, have you confused it with the 80's film The Fog?  That might explain some of the positive regard.  That one is worth a gander (warning: this is based on recollection of viewing the film back in the eighties!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 November, 2021, 08:49:41 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 01 November, 2021, 07:41:20 AM
Ah, have you confused it with the 80's film The Fog?  That might explain some of the positive regard.  That one is worth a gander (warning: this is based on recollection of viewing the film back in the eighties!)

No, unfortunately I didn't confuse the films.  The Mist has been recommended to me more than once.  I have seen The Fog and I can say that film is a lot better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 01 November, 2021, 09:18:16 AM
My Halloween horror film was Till Death.

Which wasn't really a horror film but more a thriller I guess.  Interesting premise and it plays out with a lot less stupidity than something like Halloween Kills.

It was only really let down by Megan Fox who has all the personality and acting chops of a very aloof cat.  If you did that exact same film but with a decent actress like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, it'd be a much easier film to recommend.  But it was pretty short and never dull, so I quite liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 01 November, 2021, 11:37:36 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

Okay, I'm cheating.  This movie is still playing as I write this, but fucking hell, why is this film regarded so highly?
It is contrived, cliched, awful looking, nihilistic garbage.  It does the idea of exploring the horrors of humanity and the failures of people a disservice by being so derivative.  It is almost entirely predictable and lacks any kind of charisma to carry the trite characterisations and conflicts.  I seriously don't understand why this is so highly regarded.  Watching it in Black and White surely can't make it any less a steaming pile of shit.  It looks bad.  The CGI is terrible and the monster designs are generic and boring.
Hey, you know what film does this concept much better.  Krampus. 
The Mist.  More like fucking shit.
I wish I turned it off when I realised this was utter crap. I skipped through to the end and I don't care. 
Bare in mind, I watched Jason takes Manhattan in it's entirety.  What the hell did that film have to keep me engaged to the end that this film lacked?

Ah, The Mist is an allegory of the post 9/11 world that shows American civilians must pay a terrible price for the power America enjoys. Its movie's theme can be difficult to disentangle from a face value horror story of humans trapped in an Alien environment. The monsters lurking in the Mist is American power, and that's why you see what you see at the end. That's why the Military, who initiate the crisis with the Arrowhead Project, end up riding to the rescue, but far too late. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 November, 2021, 12:03:09 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 01 November, 2021, 11:37:36 AM
Ah, The Mist is an allegory of the post 9/11 world that shows American civilians must pay a terrible price for the power America enjoys. Its movie's theme can be difficult to disentangle from a face value horror story of humans trapped in an Alien environment. The monsters lurking in the Mist is American power, and that's why you see what you see at the end. That's why the Military, who initiate the crisis with the Arrowhead Project, end up riding to the rescue, but far too late. 

This reading of the film makes me hate it more.  I didn't think that was possible.  I really hate that film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 November, 2021, 09:25:51 PM
Airplane!

Maybe it sounds as blasphemy watching this next to my jack o' lantern in the most frightening night in year, but jack didn't complain. And I am sure he laughed as I did. Not every joke wasted and every joke somehow brilliantly fits, especially with Karim Abdul Jabar. According to one scientific study, it is the funnies film ever. Whether it may be true, I'll definitely say, if not at the top, then is very near.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 November, 2021, 10:02:08 PM
I have read that Airplane! has more jokes per minute than any other. I don't know how true it is, but I did read that - in Empire.

---

Plus one vote for the Babadook being a very good movie.

---

What is this Mist that you speak of? Is it worse than Myst?*

* I just watched the trailer and it's set in a US supermarket, so it's already way too close to mundane reality to be watched. It's like when I dream about work - I feel cheated out of the additional pay.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 01 November, 2021, 10:18:07 PM
Quote from: milstar on 30 October, 2021, 10:07:30 PM
Kevin Costner's Robin Hood

Morgan Freeman thespian skills as sturdy, sober Robin's sidekick leaves Kevin in the dust. But he really shouldn't be in the film. His presence gives rather a contemporary feel and not the 12the century England and whose part serves as an excuse to address current religious and racial themes.

'contemporary feel'?  Because you don't know there were black people in England in the 12th century?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 01 November, 2021, 10:33:22 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 01 November, 2021, 10:18:07 PM
Quote from: milstar on 30 October, 2021, 10:07:30 PM
Kevin Costner's Robin Hood

Morgan Freeman thespian skills as sturdy, sober Robin's sidekick leaves Kevin in the dust. But he really shouldn't be in the film. His presence gives rather a contemporary feel and not the 12the century England and whose part serves as an excuse to address current religious and racial themes.

'contemporary feel'?  Because you don't know there were black people in England in the 12th century?

That's odd statement. Plus, they definitely weren't in the role shown in the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 November, 2021, 11:02:04 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 01 November, 2021, 10:02:08 PM
What is this Mist that you speak of? Is it worse than Myst?*
As in the computer game?  I never played really it.  Is it that bad then?

Quote
* I just watched the trailer and it's set in a US supermarket, so it's already way too close to mundane reality to be watched. It's like when I dream about work - I feel cheated out of the additional pay.

Feeling cheated is a good way to describe my experience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 12:26:56 AM
Quote from: milstar on 01 November, 2021, 10:33:22 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 01 November, 2021, 10:18:07 PM
Quote from: milstar on 30 October, 2021, 10:07:30 PM
Kevin Costner's Robin Hood

Morgan Freeman thespian skills as sturdy, sober Robin's sidekick leaves Kevin in the dust. But he really shouldn't be in the film. His presence gives rather a contemporary feel and not the 12the century England and whose part serves as an excuse to address current religious and racial themes.

'contemporary feel'?  Because you don't know there were black people in England in the 12th century?

That's odd statement. Plus, they definitely weren't in the role shown in the movie.

1. And you would know this how?
2. Robin Hood is made up anyway, so it can do anything it likes, really.
3. You said there were no black folk in WW2 then, when you were shown photos of black folk in WW2 you carried on saying they didn't exist, because..?
4. You said there were no black cowboys then, when you were shown evidence that about a quarter of workers in the range-cattle industry of the late 1800s were black you said that was "extremely scarce". A quarter. One fourth. One in four.

Seems like you just don't like black people existing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 12:54:47 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 12:26:56 AM

1. And you would know this how?
2. Robin Hood is made up anyway, so it can do anything it likes, really.
3. You said there were no black folk in WW2 then, when you were shown photos of black folk in WW2 you carried on saying they didn't exist, because..?
4. You said there were no black cowboys then, when you were shown evidence that about a quarter of workers in the range-cattle industry of the late 1800s were black you said that was "extremely scarce". A quarter. One fourth. One in four.

Seems like you just don't like black people existing.

What I don't like, is bending the history that was established well before us. That's how I know. In this case, the talk is about 12th century England. Besides, every legend originated in the truth. And if my remark bothered you, why did you respond in the first place?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 02:03:06 AM
The sheriff's mum's a full blown witch. Which is fine. Richard the Lionheart wasn't there either (and wasn't Scottish), that crusade never happened (then), Hadrian's Wall isn't south of Nottingham, which isn't on the coast etc. etc.

It's all made up. But sure, pick on the black guy and then make sweeping statements about historical fact as if you're some kind of authority on the subject. (Given your track record (https://youtu.be/gqH_0LPVoho), I'd suggest that history is not your area of expertise.)

---

Records show that black men and women have lived in Britain in small numbers since at least the 12th century. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/black_britons_01.shtml)

---

Why did I respond? It's a forum. If you don't want responses you should write a diary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 02 November, 2021, 03:10:56 AM
Dune

Just wow, that was one of the most cinematic experiences I've ever had but damn what a case of blue balls 😆 what the hell would have happened if they didn't green light part 2 as this definitely just ended in a completely unsatisfactory way.  I'm pretty sure they had it part 2 green lit all along and were just telling people it wasn't to drive up ticket sales because this is definitely just half a movie.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 07:10:56 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 02:03:06 AM
The sheriff's mum's a full blown witch. Which is fine. Richard the Lionheart wasn't there either (and wasn't Scottish), that crusade never happened (then), Hadrian's Wall isn't south of Nottingham, which isn't on the coast etc. etc.

It's all made up. But sure, pick on the black guy and then make sweeping statements about historical fact as if you're some kind of authority on the subject. (Given your track record (https://youtu.be/gqH_0LPVoho), I'd suggest that history is not your area of expertise.)

---

Records show that black men and women have lived in Britain in small numbers since at least the 12th century. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/black_britons_01.shtml)

---

Why did I respond? It's a forum. If you don't want responses you should write a diary.

I have right to pick up what I dislike, that definitely isn't going to be a witch. Which, I am sure existed then, but weren't called witches. But all these are just trite overlooks. Nobody mentions that telescopes weren't existing back then, for example. I don't claim i am some authority figure on the subject, but so definitely isn't BBC. On which will take me painfully more to convince me otherwise. But this is response from the developers of Kingdom Come, which can be fully applied to the medieval England as well.

Some publications and websites accused the developers of "whitewashing" for not including a noticeable amount of people of color in the game in the fifteenth century in Central Europe, and for the game's portrayal of Cumans and Hungarians as cruel invaders.[35] The developers responded by asserting that the game is historically accurate since people of color did not inhabit early 15th-century Bohemia in significant numbers.[36]

European media also responded to some aspects of the criticism. A commentator at the Czech newspaper Lidové noviny called the accusations "out of place" and claimed that most Europeans would respond that there were very few, if any, black people in early 15th-century central Bohemia.[37] To evaluate if non-white people lived in 15th-century Bohemia, the German magazine M! Games asked scholars at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. According to them, there were at most Turkic peoples, like Cumans (who appear in the game as enemies), but otherwise the presence of non-whites is "questionable".


No, my question was more hypothetical. Why is response there by people I know they'll disagree with me.

P. S I never have claimed black people did not participate in ww2, I pointed at the obvious; they just wasn't at every known battlefield.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 02 November, 2021, 08:36:55 AM
That doesn't really answer Funt Solo's point which, and forgive me for paraphrasing, is that the Robin Hood film is a fantasy. There is little to no "realism" in the film.

In any case, the film also has a whole sequence showing how he ended up in England. The presence or otherwise of meaningful quantities of people of colour in medieval England is irrelevant to this. Even if the film was trying to be "realistic" which, just to be absolutely clear, its not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: ming on 02 November, 2021, 08:53:43 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

The Mist.  More like fucking shit.

In german the title would translate as 'The Crap' so I guess they did that job for you. (I remember the old chestnut about marketing issues with the Rolls Royce Silver Mist in Germany...)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2021, 09:40:32 AM
Quote from: ming on 02 November, 2021, 08:53:43 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

The Mist.  More like fucking shit.

In german the title would translate as 'The Crap' so I guess they did that job for you. (I remember the old chestnut about marketing issues with the Rolls Royce Silver Mist in Germany...)

But what an ending...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 02 November, 2021, 10:15:53 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 02 November, 2021, 09:40:32 AM
Quote from: ming on 02 November, 2021, 08:53:43 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 31 October, 2021, 11:54:13 PM
The Mist

The Mist.  More like fucking shit.

In german the title would translate as 'The Crap' so I guess they did that job for you. (I remember the old chestnut about marketing issues with the Rolls Royce Silver Mist in Germany...)

But what an ending...

Films, like music, are entirely subjective. What some people might consider a masterpiece is looked upon with bafflement by others unconvinced of its merit. The Mist is probably the best post 9/11 film yet made IMHO a haunting horror show of America torn apart from without and within. We should debate the various quality of movies and TV shows as a second opinion might reveal something you missed. The films I never got anything from? John Carpenters Prince Of Darkness and probably its polar opposite ET: The Extraterrestrial. I couldn't care for either of them.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 02 November, 2021, 12:09:56 PM
Wait until Millstar finds out Jesus wasn't white either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 November, 2021, 12:13:35 PM

Or Adam and Eve.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 02:34:42 PM
Or Adam and Steve.

---

You can't really dismiss E.T. out of hand and maintain any filmic credibility*.









*I'm sort of joking.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 November, 2021, 04:46:39 PM

I saw E.T. at the cinema when it first came out. It bored the pants off me and I've never watched it again. Mind you, I never did claim any measure of filmic credibility, so that's all right...

Also, John Wick is rubbish - so I guess that proves it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 November, 2021, 05:35:54 PM
Nah - I was just being silly - something having academic or historical merit (or even widespread popularity) doesn't mean that people will or should like it.

On the other hand - you didn't like John Wick (https://youtu.be/9MrnAJsxL8c)? What's wrong with you etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 02 November, 2021, 06:27:32 PM
John Wick on paper should be exactly my sort of film but it just isn't.  They're kind of boring to be honest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2021, 09:02:23 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 07:10:56 AM
I have right to pick up what I dislike, that definitely isn't going to be a witch. Which, I am sure existed then, but weren't called witches.

You are incorrect, (again).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 10:34:20 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2021, 09:02:23 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 07:10:56 AM
I have right to pick up what I dislike, that definitely isn't going to be a witch. Which, I am sure existed then, but weren't called witches.

You are incorrect, (again).

Could I safely take you never heard for alchemists?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2021, 11:53:50 PM
Quote from: milstar on 02 November, 2021, 10:34:20 PM
Could I safely take you never heard for alchemists?

I have most certainly heard of alchemists and while there's certainly some crossover in the witches' and alchemists' methods, they're not the same thing and the two words are not synonymous.

First recorded use of the word "alchemist" - 15th century.
First recorded use of the word "witch" - 9th century.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 12:08:45 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 02 November, 2021, 11:53:50 PM

I have most certainly heard of alchemists and while there's certainly some crossover in the witches' and alchemists' methods, they're not the same thing and the two words are not synonymous.

First recorded use of the word "alchemist" - 15th century.
First recorded use of the word "witch" - 9th century.

Ordinary, illiterate people, vox populi that is, saw alchemists as witches and warlocks. Alchemy I think started in 12th century, so basically anyone that tinkered with "uncanny" materials is seen as witch/warlock. I ofcourse, think, all supernatural stuff attributed to these people is crock of crap. Which is why it didn't bother me in Robin Hood. I am more interested in real people.
But when I look back at my earlier comment, I have to retract it and apologize for stating that were no "witches" then, that is, those who tampered with the occult. Such people definitely existed, but not as presented in Robin Hood.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 November, 2021, 12:19:48 AM
I dunno man, complaining about Morgan Freeman being in a movie seems kinda screwy. Is no one gonna mention Costner not even attempting an midland's accent?

I remember reading somewhere that Rickman read the script and decided it was a comedy. Nothing could convince him otherwise and the director just went with it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 12:27:13 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 03 November, 2021, 12:19:48 AM
Is no one gonna mention Costner not even attempting an midland's accent?

I did.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 November, 2021, 03:17:51 AM
2001: A Space Odyssey pisses me off, as well - there were no black monoliths in the prehistoric veldt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 November, 2021, 07:31:59 AM

Tsk, tsk. The correct phrase is monoliths of colour.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 08:50:30 AM
I would appreciate a movie with white Nelson Mandela. And not just any white Nelson Mandela, but albino white Nelson Mandela.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 November, 2021, 09:22:18 AM
Quote from: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 08:50:30 AM
I would appreciate a movie with white Nelson Mandela. And not just any white Nelson Mandela, but albino white Nelson Mandela.

Are you pretending not to understand that Mandela 1) is not fictional, and 2) has a life-story that is inextricably linked to his colour, or are you actually that stupid?

There is literally nothing inherent in the character of, say, James Bond that would preclude his being played by a black actor — I mean, the back story including a public school education and high military rank would be mildly improbable thanks to institutional racism, and a realistic film about a black man in a nice suit driving an Aston Martin would consist of two hours of him getting pulled over by the police, but those would likely not be the least improbable things you'd see in an average James Bond movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 09:39:45 AM
I am that stupid. Wait... There actually was a bloke named Nelson Mandela?
--------------

It's enough for me that Fleming was such a bloke of his times that he never envisioned Bond anything other than white, and male. Ofcourse, I don't exclude a movie with a completely original, non-white spy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 11:02:05 AM
Quote from: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 09:39:45 AM
I am that stupid. Wait... There actually was a bloke named Nelson Mandela?

Nope, we all thought there was but he never really existed.  It's called The Mandela Effect.

Quote from: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 09:39:45 AM
I don't exclude a movie with a completely original, non-white spy.

The Art of War (2000) always felt like a black Bond 'em up.  I remember it being great fun to watch.  Probably needs a rewatch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 November, 2021, 12:05:59 PM
SEVEN SAMURAI

Incredibly unrealistic, everyone knows bandits didn't exist in feudal Japan, can't believe Kurosawa time travelled and ripped off THE  MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, what a hack, 0/100.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 03 November, 2021, 12:25:08 PM
Quote from: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 11:02:05 AM

Nope, we all thought there was but he never really existed.  It's called The Mandela Effect.

Touche.

Quote from: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 11:02:05 AM
The Art of War (2000) always felt like a black Bond 'em up.  I remember it being great fun to watch.  Probably needs a rewatch.

Nah...wasn't my cup of tea. It was solid idea, but poor execution. Still, it's miles better than any Sniper crap he did afterwards (including Blade 2 and Blade Trinity).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:16:07 PM
I can't believe I am going to quibble this.  The Mandela Effect does not state that Nelson Mandela never existed.  It is the belief of Fiona Broome (over ten years after Mandela became President of South Africa) that her false memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison during the 1980's isn't a false memory but proof that she has transferred into another reality. 

Although the term has moved away from it's original coinage to be more synonymous with False Memory, it's cranky and problematic origins make me want to vomit every time someone brings it up. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 November, 2021, 02:37:38 PM

Perhaps we should call it The Fifth Young One Effect instead.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 03 November, 2021, 02:40:55 PM
There's definitely Broome for improvement on this topic.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 02:44:35 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:16:07 PMThe Mandela Effect does not state that Nelson Mandela never existed.   

I know.

I thought the absolute silliness of what I said implied I was joking.  In response to the same jokiness of Milstar's comment before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:53:03 PM
Quote from: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 02:44:35 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:16:07 PMThe Mandela Effect does not state that Nelson Mandela never existed.   

I know.

I thought the absolute silliness of what I said implied I was joking.  In response to the same jokiness of Milstar's comment before.

I got the joke.  Don't mind me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 02:59:07 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:53:03 PM
Quote from: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 02:44:35 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 02:16:07 PMThe Mandela Effect does not state that Nelson Mandela never existed.   

I know.

I thought the absolute silliness of what I said implied I was joking.  In response to the same jokiness of Milstar's comment before.

I got the joke.  Don't mind me.

You watched Hatchet 2 yet?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 November, 2021, 03:18:11 PM
Quote from: repoman on 03 November, 2021, 02:59:07 PM
You watched Hatchet 2 yet?!

Is that another joke? ;)

I have no plans to carry on with the Hatchet films, I really didn't get anything out of the first one. 

There are those YouTube videos I plan to watch at some point... hopefully soon, whilst I still remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 November, 2021, 12:21:32 AM
DUNE. Loved, loved, loved it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 November, 2021, 08:02:31 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 November, 2021, 12:21:32 AM
DUNE. Loved, loved, loved it.

I really want to see it. But, like It, I will wait for the second part. Only hopefully it won't get such terrible reviews that I then don't bother for fear of the book being ruined for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 November, 2021, 10:55:09 AM
The sound design alone makes this a must watch at the cinema. So if you can, I would go see it now. It's a very good adaption do far... Seems to be heading in the right direction and is resisting Hollywood heroic tropes in places it needs to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 November, 2021, 10:57:54 AM
The Searchers

Away from the muds and rain of medieval England and jumping several centuries forward across The Big Pond where John (I nearly wrote Bruce) Wayne searches for his niece, abducted by Comanche Indians. Tbh, the western genre has never been much of an interest to me, usually drawing indifference from me. This film was so-so. The thing that grabbed me the most is the landscape; lifeless, yet, framed in such a beautiful manner it was a joy to look at, and to John Ford's credit, rarely filmed by using more than one camera set-up, whether it's indoors or outdoors. As if you look at some painting. The characters weren't much interesting. The story supposedly reaches across several years, but I got the feeling it never spans more than one week. But I liked how the film wraps up. Out of three possible options, the ending where Wayne had found his niece and brought her home is so poignant and full of tenderness, is definitely the best choice. One odd thing, however, Comanches were obviously played by naturalist Indians, save their chief, who was obviously white. But I suppose they didn't have Indians in the union of the actors then.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 November, 2021, 11:23:35 AM
THE ETERNALS

Man I'm glad I saw this high with friends, glad we're finally getting an MCU movie I think Disney heads will hate even more than folks that don't like the MCU.

Justice for Jack Kirby.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 04 November, 2021, 11:50:33 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 04 November, 2021, 10:55:09 AM
The sound design alone makes this a must watch at the cinema. So if you can, I would go see it now. It's a very good adaption do far... Seems to be heading in the right direction and is resisting Hollywood heroic tropes in places it needs to.


Good news! (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/29/denis-villeneuve-sequel-dune-part-two)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 08 November, 2021, 03:21:30 AM
I watched something on Netflix with Bruce Willis in it, a sci-fi film that was so atrocious I can't even remember it's name and frankly can't be f$&ked looking it up, just know it was really bad and don't be temted to loose 90 minutes watching it. 

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 08 November, 2021, 10:38:40 AM
I started watching the Friday the 13ths again.  Watched the first one a month or two back.  Liked it a lot.

Watched 2 and 3 on Saturday.  2 wasn't great but was entertaining.  3 was pretty awful.


Quote from: Radbacker on 08 November, 2021, 03:21:30 AM
I watched something on Netflix with Bruce Willis in it, a sci-fi film that was so atrocious I can't even remember it's name and frankly can't be f$&ked looking it up, just know it was really bad and don't be temted to loose 90 minutes watching it. 

CU Radbacker

Modern Bruce Willis films are worthless.  Apparently he shows up for one day and demands that all his filming is done then and then he disappears.  Completely phones it in now.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 08 November, 2021, 10:42:47 AM
Brus Willis, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Stallone - all dwelling in lower grade bollock films. Sadly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 08 November, 2021, 12:45:59 PM
Nic Cage is great though and any film he is in is better for him being in it.  He makes a bad film tolerable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 November, 2021, 02:02:31 PM
Venus Wars

I had to take a shift from the Halloween marathon thing.  I started watching some classic OVAs like Cyber City Oedo 808 and A.D Police.  So for movie night I chose to revisit Venus Wars.  One of the films to feature on that classic montage from the beginning of those Manga Entertainment VHS'.  I didn't get to see this during the 90's (there are some things in that montage I still haven't seen), but I did get around to it within the last decade.

The film doesn't have an especially engrossing story.  It's one of those animes that meanders about a bit and then just ends when a sortof conclusion happens.  This one is about a Battle Biker who gets caught up in a war on Venus... and that's your story.  That fine, I don't mind.  The animation is pretty damn good in the film.  I love that vintage analogue cel animation from 80's and 90's anime.  It makes my bones shiver with glee.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 November, 2021, 02:43:27 PM
Risky Business

Supposedly the breakthrough of Tom Cruise. I remember disliking this when I was a kid (13, 14 perhaps) and stopping the middle way thru for some reason. Although my view on the film is now improved (but I still find some flaws). I like the vibrancy, the mashing up of initially unrelated themes; capitalism, materialism, coming of age, and loss of virginity. Tom Cruise is a teenager, horny and occupied by the thoughts of future. When his parents leave him for a few days, he decided to have fun, drinking and having sex (I love here how the camera pans from Tom's character screwing to his pictures from childhood. Classy). I do not know how much plausible hooker party is, but it mashed all the said themes into one.
The music by Tangerine Dream (which I listen to every now and then) is okay, but definitely not one of their best works (the addition of In the Air Tonight might seem unnecessary, but I love that song anyway). The direction is the biggest issue for me. Unclear and stiff. And acting by most is rather high-strung, as if everyone is stressful, which affects some delivery lines (which may be realistic as these kids are at the crossroad of their lives), but it doesn't seem natural and relaxed to me. I'd single John Pantoliano though. He steals the scene every time he's in it. Too bad he appears seldom in the film.
Either way, quite solid, and in a way, entertaining early 1980s film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2021, 04:56:33 PM
I am currently watching a movie on Prime. It is called Legendary, and stars Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren as rival cryptozoologists hunting a giant lizard in China. This is a real thing that exists. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 12 November, 2021, 05:02:03 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2021, 04:56:33 PM
I am currently watching a movie on Prime. It is called Legendary, and stars Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren as rival cryptozoologists hunting a giant lizard in China. This is a real thing that exists.

I am so going to watch this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 November, 2021, 05:33:11 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2021, 04:56:33 PM
This is a real thing that exists.

What, the giant lizard...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2021, 05:39:18 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 November, 2021, 05:33:11 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 12 November, 2021, 04:56:33 PM
This is a real thing that exists.

What, the giant lizard...?

*Obligatory joke comparing Lundgren and Adkins' acting ability to a CGI lizard.*
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 November, 2021, 10:33:42 PM
JUNGLE CRUISE

One part Indiana Jones, one part Pirates of the Carribbean, one part modern sassy female lead. Mixed perfectly.

A negroni movie. You know what you're getting every time, it's hard to get wrong, and you either like it or you don't (and if you don't, then don't order it)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 November, 2021, 11:13:44 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 November, 2021, 10:33:42 PM
A negroni movie. You know what you're getting every time, it's hard to get wrong, and you either like it or you don't (and if you don't, then don't order it)

Thought I'd like this, but it's so aggressively algorithmic that I just bounced right off it. It just feels like someone fed the question "What do we have to do to recreate the success of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie?" into an AI, and this screenplay is the result.

I mean, Johnson and Blunt are very engaging — it's not unwatchable, but it's very, very mechanical.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 14 November, 2021, 02:48:56 AM
Fracture (2007). It's free on that there YooToob.

This like a cross between an episode of Columbo and a courtroom drama, but as it stars Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling and Rosamund Pike, it works surprisingly well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 November, 2021, 01:52:36 PM
Lara Croft Tomb Raider

I guess the Tomb Raider franchise hasn't yet found breakthrough success in feature film adaptions. This TR is perhaps the best and the fairest to video games (that is, until the 2013 reboot). Which, doesn't say much about it. Angelina makes formidable Lara and her accent is at least half better than most American actors doing British, but the plot heavily breaks apart in the second half it nearly ruins this fittingly campy late90s/early 00s romp. Daniel Crag's part is useless and I'd understand if he is solely in the film based on his Bond fame. Then again, I noticed that in TR films, male counterparts are significantly under portrayed or made of cardboard. The moral of the story - play video games.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 14 November, 2021, 03:14:14 PM
Quote from: milstar on 14 November, 2021, 01:52:36 PM
Lara Croft Tomb Raider

Daniel Crag's part is useless and I'd understand if he is solely in the film based on his Bond fame.

Five years before he was Bond? 🤔
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 14 November, 2021, 04:26:21 PM
Unlikely unless Craig had a time machine.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 14 November, 2021, 06:34:46 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 14 November, 2021, 04:26:21 PM
Unlikely unless Craig had a time machine.

Maybe we do live in Tomb Raider's world.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 15 November, 2021, 09:22:47 AM
I watched some things.

You Were Never Really Here

For a relatively short film, there's a lot of unnecessary filler but it was pretty good.  Joaquin Phoenix was decent in it.  Reminded me of the early '80s film The Exterminator but with a less methodical main character.

No Time To Die

Visually stunning, some lovely action set-pieces and I do like Daniel Craig's Bond a lot.  I liked the film overall but I had a few problems with it.  The fact that it expects you to just remember everything from the previous films.  I can barely tell any Bond film apart so I ended up having to stop the film and read through the plot of Spectre just to get to grips with this one.

Obviously, it's far too long.  The ideal length for a film is 80 minutes.  Anything over that is just padding so this one being almost three hours long was a struggle (literally, my eyes started to dry up towards the end).

My favourite thing about the film was watching Rami Malek get out-acted by that toddler in every scene they were in. 

30 Days of Night

I needed a bit of a comfort watch last night.  A dependable horror that I knew wouldn't let me down.  So I rewatched this one yet again.  It's weird that this film got such middling reviews as it's basically the perfect vampire movie.  I think it's absolutely fantastic.  Super evil vampires, the snowy setting.  Exactly how this genre should be done.

It's a shame that the sequel was so dreadful.





Quote from: milstar on 12 November, 2021, 02:43:27 PM
Risky Business

I've not watched that one in a long time but I'll add it to my list.  Tom's obviously weird but he's generally solid in whatever he's in.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 15 November, 2021, 09:31:39 AM
Quote from: repoman on 15 November, 2021, 09:22:47 AM

Quote from: milstar on 12 November, 2021, 02:43:27 PM
Risky Business

I've not watched that one in a long time but I'll add it to my list.  Tom's obviously weird but he's generally solid in whatever he's in.

It's a fair point but I don't think it has aged particularly well.  Given a choice I'd go with Cocktail over this.  Then again ... Brian Brown, Elizabeth Shue ... Cruise is more of a bit part player in it to some extent.  Of course if we're going to start talking about Brown we have to mention FX ... with the added bonus of Brian Dennehy ...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 15 November, 2021, 09:38:28 AM
FX is fun.  I've been meaning to watch the sequel for ages now.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 15 November, 2021, 09:56:32 AM
Watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings over the weekend and I enjoyed the movie. It is definitely  one off the better recent Marvel movies. Maybe because it never felt 100% if it is a Marvel movie but rather something that can stand on it own accord. Soon it will be gobbled up in the MCU and pulled into another 40 movie bore fest reaching another illogical and stupid Averages End Game ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 November, 2021, 10:07:23 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 15 November, 2021, 09:56:32 AM
Watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings over the weekend and I enjoyed the movie. It is definitely  one off the better recent Marvel movies. Maybe because it never felt 100% if it is a Marvel movie but rather something that can stand on it own accord. Soon it will be gobbled up in the MCU and pulled into another 40 movie bore fest reaching another illogical and stupid Averages End Game ending.

Watched it last night and thought it terribly dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 November, 2021, 05:50:36 PM
If any movie should have shook off the 12a shackles, I would have said a martial arts superhero movie. But they played it very safe. The best scenes are at the start but the leads being pretty terrible people at the outset, the love story between Shang Chi's parents seeming false, the fights all seemingly on CGI backgrounds (e.g. the scaffolding fight would have been miles better in a real building site) and the final baddy being an unimaginative CGI horde led by a bigger CGI beastie all let it down.

Nice dragon though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 November, 2021, 12:44:16 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 15 November, 2021, 05:50:36 PM
Nice dragon though.

Yeah, but no Falcor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2021, 02:10:32 PM
Dolemite Is My Name

I liked it.  It put a smile on my face.  Probably the best I've seen from Eddie Murphy.  It is interesting, funny, engaging and well paced.  Definitely on the better end of the biopic spectrum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 16 November, 2021, 02:57:46 PM
I really enjoyed that film as well! It was a touching tribute to a man pursuing his vision. Not unlike Ed Wood (both the film and the man).

I was also really interested in the folkoric aspect of the stories Rudy Ray Moore took from the homeless guy. Its akin to Alan Lomax, going around recording artists without proper attribution or acknowledgement of copyright (to be later ripped off by Moby). There's some interesting historical and ethical questions in there, tied in with exploitation of African-American culture.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 November, 2021, 03:37:21 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 16 November, 2021, 02:57:46 PM
I really enjoyed that film as well! It was a touching tribute to a man pursuing his vision. Not unlike Ed Wood (both the film and the man).

I was also really interested in the folkoric aspect of the stories Rudy Ray Moore took from the homeless guy. Its akin to Alan Lomax, going around recording artists without proper attribution or acknowledgement of copyright (to be later ripped off by Moby). There's some interesting historical and ethical questions in there, tied in with exploitation of African-American culture.

For sure.  As an extension to this I find Eddie Murphy's casting interesting given some parallels (comedian to film star).

One disappointment I had with the film is I found out that multiple sources have gone on the record revealing that Rudy Ray Moore was bisexual and it would have been nice to see some bi representation.  I think the film certainly baits at it, but bait ain't representation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 16 November, 2021, 03:58:35 PM
Cold Skin - free on that there YooToob.

In the new genre of "two slightly mad people stuck in a lighthouse", this mashes up, well, The Lighthouse and survival horror Sweetheart and comes up with something that's watchable but fairly ridiculous. The moral and sexual politics are entirely FUBAR, and David Oakes does a better job of emoting his way through a difficult script than Ray Stevenson manages in his Robinson Crusoe on PCP wig.

Takeaway: you cannot [spoiler]defend your castle if you set fire to it[/spoiler]. Oh, and perhaps more importantly - [spoiler]having a meet-cute with a race you decimated the day before[/spoiler] is ... weird.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 16 November, 2021, 04:26:38 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 15 November, 2021, 09:31:39 AM
Quote from: repoman on 15 November, 2021, 09:22:47 AM

Quote from: milstar on 12 November, 2021, 02:43:27 PM
Risky Business

I've not watched that one in a long time but I'll add it to my list.  Tom's obviously weird but he's generally solid in whatever he's in.

It's a fair point but I don't think it has aged particularly well.

Definitely is a huge time capsule.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life

I disliked this the first time I watched it, and I don't like it now either. Nearly everything is wrong with this movie. Plot holes are apparent throughout. Nobody really bothered writing any decent scene – just embarrassing cliché after embarrassing cliché – there are no surprises and almost no suspense. Flawed it may be, the first Tomb Raider is definitely much more engaging and superior in any way film. The plot arc about the quest for Pandora's box for the vast portion of screentime feels more like a James Bond flick. And witless and convoluted one at that, plus lacking humour and exotic locations, characteristic for TR. Only the last quarter (in Africa) has the feel of the proper Tomb Raider film. Angelina delivers another fine Lara (manners and charisma), but the material she got is just subpar. Plus, her accent is still hit or miss.
Ciaran Hinds delivers your typical cliched mad scientist, bent on destroying the world, and his dialogue is senseless, all-around "humans are filth, so let's create a new world."
On the other hand, Gerard Butler proves to be a more handy sidekick than bit part player Craig; but this is Lara's show, having a sidekick proves to be a mere distraction from otherwise shallow plot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: repoman on 16 November, 2021, 05:12:17 PM
Shang-Chi

Apparently two hours long but felt like four.

I was into it for a while though.  All the kung fu goodness on the bus and at that club.  That was fun and it reminded me just how much I enjoyed fight films back in the day.

But it was a bit of a mess visually.  The CGI was just so apparent constantly.  And all that dragon stuff at the end was tiresome.  It made me feel exactly how I did during Man of Steel and at least a couple of the Marvel films.  If you show too much and go too big, so to speak, it's just too much to take in and becomes tedious.

A lot of these Marvel films are going to look so dated in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 November, 2021, 08:57:11 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 November, 2021, 04:26:38 PM
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life
...
Nearly everything is wrong with this movie.
...
Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 17 November, 2021, 11:19:47 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 November, 2021, 08:57:11 PM
Quote from: milstar on 16 November, 2021, 04:26:38 PM
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Cradle of Life
...
Nearly everything is wrong with this movie.
...
Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?

I vaguely remember watching this in the cinema, and there was a bit where time is reversed and rerun, which at the time I thought was an interesting way of showing the try-die-retry dynamic of the game.

Maybe that was the first film, though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 17 November, 2021, 05:19:30 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 16 November, 2021, 08:57:11 PM
Doesn't she have a really good coat in the snow bit?

touche.

Quote from: CalHab on 17 November, 2021, 11:19:47 AM
I vaguely remember watching this in the cinema, and there was a bit where time is reversed and rerun, which at the time I thought was an interesting way of showing the try-die-retry dynamic of the game.

Maybe that was the first film, though.

Yeah, that was the first. I realized that Daniel Craig plays gender-reversal role (so he wasn't totally useless), opposite of "damsel in distress". But how do you call a guy in distress? Dane in distress?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 November, 2021, 05:23:18 PM
Quote from: milstar on 17 November, 2021, 05:19:30 PM
But how do you call a guy in distress?

I think that's just all men, so there's no need for a qualifier.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 18 November, 2021, 06:30:02 PM
Dandy in danger?

No it's ok! I'll see myself out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 19 November, 2021, 01:03:35 AM
Quote from: milstar on 17 November, 2021, 05:19:30 PM
But how do you call a guy in distress? Dane in distress?

Dude in distress.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 November, 2021, 01:51:30 AM
Dude in distress:

(https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5c731658c03bf21dac2a58b4/master/w_2871,h_4000,c_limit/GettyImages-1131874688.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 November, 2021, 02:20:15 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 November, 2021, 01:51:30 AM
Dude in distress:

(https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5c731658c03bf21dac2a58b4/master/w_2871,h_4000,c_limit/GettyImages-1131874688.jpg)

Is he in distress because he's at the Oscars, thus surrounded by Hollywood's most exploitative predators?

A cock in a frock will cause me no shock, but thon looks like one of them dolls that hide the shame of toilet paper.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 19 November, 2021, 03:17:37 AM
Who can say why he's in distress as opposed to datdress.

Now you mention it though, he does look like the combined upstairs ornamentation of my late grandmother's residence circa 1986, (Charlie Chaplin figurine outside toilet, fancy bog-roll wumman inside).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 19 November, 2021, 02:48:54 PM
Dude in a dress - fixed

(https://i.imgur.com/QYBQfhRm.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2021, 10:08:59 PM
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

I can't deny it — there's something missing about not queuing up at a multiplex with a few hundred other people to see a 'tentpole' movie that adds something to the whole experience, but Cineworld's (my only easily-accessible IMAX cinema) covid mitigation measures are, to say the least, unsatisfactory. So, I have no expectation of going to the actual pictures in the foreseeable future, which is depressing.

So, we caught Shang-Chi on Disney+ tonight.

It's great. I mean, insert your (my) standard complaint about an over-CGI-reliant finale here, but, honestly, I really enjoyed it. It looks lovely throughout — it's worth watching for the early fight sequences (especially the much-praised bus fight at the start) but it's basically Marvel does Crouching Tiger/House of Flying Daggers.

Obviously, if you insert "Marvel" at the start of that sentence then for a non-trivial bunch of people that invalidates the rest of the sentiment, but I really enjoyed it. Stick with it for both the mid-credit and end-of-credit sequences.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: inkymonkey on 19 November, 2021, 10:19:00 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2021, 10:08:59 PM
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

It's great. I mean, insert your (my) standard complaint about an over-CGI-reliant finale here, but, honestly, I really enjoyed it. It looks lovely throughout — it's worth watching for the early fight sequences (especially the much-praised bus fight at the start) but it's basically Marvel does Crouching Tiger/House of Flying Daggers.

Obviously, if you insert "Marvel" at the start of that sentence then for a non-trivial bunch of people that invalidates the rest of the sentiment, but I really enjoyed it. Stick with it for both the mid-credit and end-of-credit sequences.

I have to admit, I did manage to catch it at the cinema here in Oz (finally), and wasn't blown away... but caught it again with the family on Disney+ last weekend and enjoyed it a heap more the second time around.

Had a similar experience with Black Widow, and pretty sure I'll do the same with Eternals. These recent Marvel films do seem to grow on you...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 November, 2021, 08:34:02 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2021, 10:08:59 PM
It's great. I mean, insert your (my) standard complaint about an over-CGI-reliant finale here, but, honestly, I really enjoyed it. It looks lovely throughout — it's worth watching for the early fight sequences (especially the much-praised bus fight at the start) but it's basically Marvel does Crouching Tiger/House of Flying Daggers.

Oh, and I forgot to say: a surprisingly pleasing guest appearance from another Marvel franchise character that I definitely wasn't expecting. :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 November, 2021, 09:01:52 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2021, 10:08:59 PM
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Watched, enjoyed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Smith on 21 November, 2021, 07:38:10 AM
The Titan. It's an interesting concept,but a forgettable movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 22 November, 2021, 04:11:11 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2021, 10:08:59 PM
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

I enjoyed it. The bus fight and the scaffold fight are brilliant set pieces and the lead characters are likeable and charismatic. I thought it went adrift in the final act, but its all good, daft fun. Perfect for a Friday night with a beer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 November, 2021, 05:42:37 PM
Death to Smoochie

Interesting and mildly amusing dark comedy about children's television and corruption.  It was engaging and entertaining but I wouldn't call it anything remarkable.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 November, 2021, 12:01:05 PM
THE FRENCH DISPATCH

Was entertained in the typical 'oh what larks' fashion of Andersons other films, but when the third segment transitioned into a Tintinesque animation evocative of a Bunuel illustration by way of Escher I was inwardly hooting and hollering. Unexpectedly joyful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 23 November, 2021, 12:40:51 PM
Red Notice watched and enjoyed it. Over-the-top action and some nice humor but in essence better to park your brain in neutral.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 November, 2021, 12:20:16 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 23 November, 2021, 12:40:51 PM
Red Notice watched and enjoyed it. Over-the-top action and some nice humor but in essence better to park your brain in neutral.

Maybe I wasn't in the mood but even with my brain switched off this was more like SHIT NOTICE. Every aspect of it seemed fake from cinematography to effects to dialogue to sets to relationships. And how three normally likeable leads can deliver such flat performances is beyond me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 29 November, 2021, 08:49:35 PM
The Italian Job (1969)

I catch this once in a while and always glue my eyes to the telly. I just bloody love this film, unlike washed up American remake. Funny, cool cars, stunts (Minis driving up the building is never less than amusing), Benny Hill as pervert professor (too bad he ain't got much space and time) and utmost British feel. Take that, Mark Wahlberg.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 November, 2021, 04:53:28 PM
The Score

It's a heist movie.  It's fine.  I would have expected a better story or characterisations considering the cast, but it's pretty boiler plate.  The selling point of it is probably that Edward Norton plays a crook who pretends to be neurodivergent - twenty years on it's not so much a selling point.  At best it's odd and at worst it's offensive.  I personally found it tolerable as it didn't go too far over the line, but I recognise it's bad taste.  So it's just ends up being run-of-the-mill with nothing but a cast of actors who have done better in better films.

Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 30 November, 2021, 05:56:19 PM
Black Widow - it's not completely awful. I'm not sure what I'd expect from a Marvel movie at this stage. Scorsese's right: it's not really cinema (even though it is perhaps what some aspect of cinema has become).

The plot seems to be that a whole bunch of Nikita-types have been mind-controlled by a rather portly and wheezing "Ah'm the Daddy now!", and they can only be freed by spraying some magic potion on them.

Also: what is family? Is it beating each other up and hating? Maybe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 November, 2021, 06:48:04 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 30 November, 2021, 05:56:19 PM
Black Widow
Also: what is family? Is it beating each other up and hating? Maybe.

So it's the antithesis to Shazam?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 06 December, 2021, 06:59:41 AM
Finch - A sad but still a fun story about a man's journey to ensure his dogs survival. This is a Tom Hanks movie which takes place in an apocalyptic future world where earth has been devastate by a solar flair and almost all life has been wiped out. Sound strange but this is a great family movie with some touching and sad scenes with some laugh-out moments in-between. I am not sure who steals the show but the robot, the dog and the man makes this movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: von Boom on 06 December, 2021, 02:53:09 PM
Dune (2021). After an excruciating opening 45 minutes it settled down into a somewhat passible adaptation that, while the effects were great, had none of the striking visual flair of Lynch's version.

Surprisingly, Momoa wasn't as scenery chewingly awful as I expected. Fortunately, his dialogue was kept to a minimum. Also surprisingly, Brolin was awful as Gurney Halleck. Many of the characters were so thin as to be invisible really. RM Mohiam, Leto, Thufir, Halleck, Piter, Shadout Mapes, Yueh. Even the Baron was comically menacing. No plans, within plan, within plans here.

[spoiler]My hopes were raised at the end when Villeneuve included the fight with Jamis, but then killed it by not ending this film with Jamis' funeral and Paul giving water to the dead.[/spoiler]

I'll see part two but I can't say I'm excited about it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 December, 2021, 10:16:21 AM
Dave Made a Maze

A fun little adventure set in cardboard with an amusing tone.  It had an underlying theme, I think, that wasn't well developed.  The kindest reading I have is it is about personal achievement.  But the film isn't deep and the theme ends up being kind of vague.  That's fine as it is humorous and I think the funny situation with it's somewhat dark edge is what the film is about.  Overall I had a good time and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 December, 2021, 07:49:01 PM
THE MATRIX: RELOADED.

A lot more fun than I remembered.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 08 December, 2021, 09:29:43 AM
I finally caught Doctor Sleep on Amazon Prime there, went for the special edition, which was pushing the irony a bit at 2.5 hours.

Not terrible, but lets just say I'm glad I didn't splurge for the Blu-ray after all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 December, 2021, 10:05:43 PM
Daniel Johnston is one of the great mysteries of my life. I've always been vaguely aware of them, which given he has been referenced by half the bands I love is no surprise but for whatever reason I've never really listened to his stuff until about a year ago (maybe) and not with any conviction until I got a Spotify Sub and from there I've delved in.

Anyway why am I talking about this musical genius here, well I've just watched 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' a genuinely brilliant biogrpahical documentry. Its utterly inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure and regardless of what you think about the man and his music, if you have even heard of him, this film about his struggle with mental illnes and his creative genius is a film everyone should watch.

Its on Amazon Prime so if you have that just watch this its incredible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 December, 2021, 10:16:47 AM
The Dark Half

George A. Romero does a Stephen King adaptation.  It's certainly a Stephen King adaptation.  It's about a writer.  There's the suggestion of alcohol abuse.  It's a fine story.  Pretty cheesy.  A fun romp.  Nevertheless, nothing really stood out as being especially good or bad.

I also rewatched The Illusionist because I forgot what the film was about. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 December, 2021, 10:22:05 AM
Dune. Riveted by every shot and every performance, deflated by the cut-off. At least they had the knackers to put "Part One" under the opening title. Reassured that Part 2 has been greenlit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 December, 2021, 02:05:39 AM
The Hunter - as part of my Free With Ads kick, I was lured in by Willem Defoe's superlative fizzog -  and Sam Neill's in it as a shady local. But then it turns the fridging up to eleventy-stupid and I immediately lost interest because the main character needs redemption and whatever happens now he's incapable of getting it.

So, not last movie watched, but last movie I stopped watching somewhere in the second act when it derailed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Woolly on 19 December, 2021, 12:38:52 PM
Spider-Man No Way Home.
Well that's gone straight into my top ten of all time.
Magnificent!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 19 December, 2021, 04:23:48 PM
American Gangster

Sir Ridley's epic crime drama was unexpectedly long (almost 3 hours). Not how I remember it from my past viewing (which was basically at the time of the release, in 2007,  but it could be my shaky memory). I have to say, it's a stellar-crafted piece, camerawork and the editing are top-notch, and performances of the Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are on the mark; however, the biggest flaw is its total lack of originality. Take The Godfather, French Connection, and Scarface, and I guarantee the Frankenstein monster produced out of these three films would be American Gangster. In addition, the film takes damn long to set up, and I found Russell's arc better appealing and colourful than Denzel's. And in a way, the film paints Denzel's bloke in sympathetic virtues when the real one was a total piece of shit. But that's only me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 December, 2021, 09:58:55 PM
Spider-Man 23: The one with Sherlock

T'was fine. Utterly, entirely disposable but I didn't want to leave my mortal form every ten minutes so by corporate cape movie standards that gets it a pass.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 December, 2021, 11:12:11 PM
Ok, so you've claimed you're obliged to watch this shite for work*. Fair enough, but you're not obliged to whinge about it here. We get it. Marvel/Disney is beneath you. Maybe tell the people you think are forcing you to watch this drivel instead. Maybe then they'll stop making you watch it, when you call them out on their vapid man-baby fantasies.

The French Dispatch

I like Wes Anderson. While it could be said he's all style over substance, I think his style is the substance.

But** sections of this were a wee bit too wanky and up its own arse, and tarnished the fun parts.

Tilda Swinton is fabulous as always.

*I'm dubious that you couldn't just wing it from memes and reviews
**I like big buts and I cannot lie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 December, 2021, 11:31:31 PM
The Wes Anderson Style Explained — The Complete Director's Guide to Wes Anderson's Aesthetic (https://youtu.be/q45m7RYy7-4)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 20 December, 2021, 02:36:46 AM
Android/Mother, nice little character Sci-fi, wants to be Children of Men but couldn't even come close.  Still did enjoy it if enjoy is the correct term to use, had a depressing af ending though.  Worth a watch if you don't mind getting depressed

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 December, 2021, 12:33:22 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 19 December, 2021, 11:12:11 PM
Ok, so you've claimed you're obliged to watch this shite for work*. Fair enough, but you're not obliged to whinge about it here. We get it. Marvel/Disney is beneath you. Maybe tell the people you think are forcing you to watch this drivel instead. Maybe then they'll stop making you watch it, when you call them out on their vapid man-baby fantasies.

The inverse is also true.

Also its just funny.

LAMB

This was an odd one, very heavy handed with its metaphor to the point of self satire wrapped up in an inverted rape-revenge plot with a [spoiler]personification of the great god Pan walking about[/spoiler] but oft felt somewhat half baked in its melancholy, like the 'is this about learning to live with parental grief' utterly usurped everything else about the character dynamic between the only three characters in the whole thing. An interesting, if not whole successful, spin on the folk genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 20 December, 2021, 02:02:56 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 19 December, 2021, 11:12:11 PM
I like Wes Anderson. While it could be said he's all style over substance, I think his style is the substance.

His Isle of Dogs was damn good anime. Poignant, yet darkly funny.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 20 December, 2021, 07:18:52 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 19 December, 2021, 11:12:11 PM
but you're not obliged to whinge about it here.

Au contraire.

I had an emergency request baby-sitting duty for a bunch of teens / pre-teens on Friday night last, and treated those little shits to their very first viewing of Die Hard.
Only one of the four actually enjoyed it.
I hid my disappointment behind a Harry Ellis style grin of 80's confidence.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 December, 2021, 01:46:47 PM
Hara-Kiri - Death of a Samurai

Finished this up last night and its a great movie. I hadn't realised this 2011 film was a remake of a classic from the early 60s and I really must track that down.

Its a dark, tragic tale the hypocrasy of honour in the wrong hands. It basically a revenge story, but its telling defies the cliche (well most of them) of that commonly used theme and its frankly superbly made in all departments.

On Amazon now so if you have it and are feeling like you can handle clawing misery check it out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 23 December, 2021, 09:47:09 PM
The Great Wall

I realised now how I was misled about the film's content, my mind racing back to the period The Great Wall got released in the theatres. Namely, Matt Damon's character that someone claimed is Chinese (he isn't). Or that white features a "white saviour" trope (it doesn't). But considering this is primarily American production, such criticisms are bonkers.  Plus, I really didn't expect four-legged hounds from hell too, but alas... As it is, the film has very little to do with historical accuracy. Western man in the 10th century China rofl! But I was entertained. The movie doesn't fail on delivering mesmerizing visuals, impeccable production, and costume designs, and CGI is stellar. Plus, the film that doesn't bore with unnecessary long running time so casual in Hollywood epic escapades is okay in my book. The only problem I had was with the by-the-book plot, and the film pulls absolutely nothing of innovative storytelling. Countless times have seen, run of the mill cliche - a stranger in a foreign land, who finds more than he could have bargained for, helps the local population against an impending enemy, meets a girl, they proceed to have a love-hate relationship, but ultimately grow to admire each other [spoiler](though they do not get together at the end)[/spoiler]. But I guess these criticisms are irrelevant now.
Time well spent!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 23 December, 2021, 11:11:11 PM
Resident Evil welcome to Racoon City

This is the new reboot so forget about the Milla Jovovich films this version is a lot darker and follows the games more closely. This is a good opening film for the new franchise and introduces a lot of the key characters from the games. Overall a good zombie movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 December, 2021, 11:30:55 AM
Quote from: milstar on 23 December, 2021, 09:47:09 PM
The Great Wall
Or that white features a "white saviour" trope (it doesn't).
...
a stranger in a foreign land...helps the local population against an impending enemy

I'm having trouble reconciling these two statements but it's Christmas and I genuinely can't remember much about the movie so I'll assume that it somehow cleverly subverts the trope that seems inherent from the set-up
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 December, 2021, 10:10:15 AM
LIFE OF PI
Been meaning to catch this for a while and it's in Disney/Starz.
My goodness it's gorgeous to look at, special effects that aren't there to be showy but to tell a story but they end up being showy anyway.
I went in blind so when the opening looks like it's a writer taking on a Noah's ark story I was prepared to be disappointed but by the end, the animals and the writer thing becomes clear,  and I was completely on board. How does something so seemingly whimsical also end up being so tense? Is it deep? Probably not but it does make you ask yourself some questions about a range of things plus the time flew by and I ended with a big grin on my stuffed face.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 December, 2021, 10:24:25 PM
Well one of the first things I watched with my Disney+ sub was Black Hole a film I've not seen for years, like many years. Possibly since I first saw it, maybe on telly in the 80s? Not sure. Anyway even though I know its rep isn't that great its always kinda lingered in the back of my mind and been something I've long wanted to return to...

... well at least I've got that out my system!

... Well that might not be fair. At its heart its a very good film. Its just the execution is pretty poor. The characters are flat and cliche, the design and effects while often wonderful are also often horribly dated. The music at times swells, at times seems utterly out of place and poorly used. The script is hammy and that's not helped by mixed performances. There are some very exciting sequences, but the direction makes them all feel isolated and they don't hang together.

Such a shame as it could have been so good.

Look to this day I'm baffled as to why anyone thought we needed a remake of Robocop, or Total Recall but why someone hasn't looked at this and thought - christ we can do this film better, we can do the film this should be and justice to the central idea and plot.

AND THE ENDING, the one thing they can't change is the ending. That was quite something. If they nail the remake. And capture the ending there's one hell - literally - of a sequel as Maximillian Reinhardt escape their hellscape and launch into Heaven - I mean it would go very different places but christ I want to see the sequel to this movie... just want the movie to be done better first!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 28 December, 2021, 09:23:36 AM
The Matrix Resurrections - well this re-image re-make or whatever you want to call it was simply put a poor imitation of the real deal. This move very much like Star Wars: The Force Awakens does not know what it want to be so it try to redone the original (in SW case a New Hope) but with uninteresting and bring characters and plots. Both these are good looking but still very weak entries in the franchise and in the case of Matrix it did not need a new sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2021, 03:51:18 PM
THE MATRIX RESSURECTIONS

Owns. The Wachowski sisters can fuck.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 29 December, 2021, 12:48:51 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 December, 2021, 03:51:18 PM
The Wachowski sisters can fuck.

Only one of them.

13 Hours

I rate every military, set in the Middle East movie to Ridley Scott's stellar Black Hawk Down. Rigid rule, but absolute. 13 Hours delivers some of the goods, but fails to reach Sir Rid's masterpiece.
Coming from Michael Bay (the man probably born to do this film), the film is surprisingly dark and mature. But not that it'd matter at the end. Because it's another mindless Hollywood jingoistic crap, this one rooted in real events. It even starta with real life footage of civil unrest in Lybia. I don't know how much of it was truthful, but I don't even care. I don't plan to go on politics rant, so I'll leave all political aspects out if this. About the film, Michael Bay doesn't fail to deliver another high adrenaline actioner (juvenile, pyrotechnics, tons of squibs), but this time he opted I guess for documentaristic approach. Meaning heavy use of hand-held camera set-ups and blink or you'll miss it editing, which was the source of constant annoyance in The Bourne Supremacy (or was it Ultimatum?). Messy it looks, the handling of the story wasn't much better. For the first hour, I had very issues following the story as scenes are jumbled together without any purpose save to move to the gunfight spectacle. The film also never really grabs onto a single soldier, except usual family bits crap. At the end, it didn't matter to me who was who who did what. Which is too bad, because some actors were really good. John Krasinski especially. One thing the film definitely has to be complimented on. At the end are presented images of real life guys the film is based on and I gotta say, the physical similarities are striking. Almost clone-like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 29 December, 2021, 06:53:08 PM
Caught Lamb over the Xmas break and if you are into your dark Scandi (well Icelandic) cinema this one is going to be right up your street. 10/10 from me - absolutely loved it.

Also watched Titane, a new French movie which is equally bizarre but not as gripping. I'm still trying to figure out what it's about - humans relationship with technology or [spoiler]the role of women in society; as either sexual objects or desexualised mother [/spoiler].
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 29 December, 2021, 07:14:18 PM
Spider-Man: No Way Home a super enjoyable movie. This was great fun, action, laughs, over-the-top scenes and it just worked. This is how you do a superhero movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 30 December, 2021, 10:52:38 AM
This week I was invited round for a triple bill of back to back fighting movies. Hoping for something like Ong Bak, what i got was:

Mortal Kombat - the 2021 version. I remember the trailers looking good for this but it being panned by the critics and everyone I knew. Character design was on the whole great and there were some terrific set pieces but this was not an interesting watch, not helped by the decision to include a bland character made up for the film and make him the main character. Kano was excellent, glad to see he's still Australian after the mighty Trevor Goddard's portrayal in 1995.
GI Joe Origins: Snake Eyes - in which famously silent and deadly ninja Snake Eyes is neither silent nor deadly. Almost completely pants, although I did like the Baroness (who was needlessly included) but hated the shaky camera work and another bland lead made this a proper duffer.
Shang Chi was the finale and the best, mainly for having interesting and engaging characters and a nuanced villain instead of moody hard men throughout. The plot was complete nonsense and kind of dropped off a cliff midway but I did like the Dragon. Also had the best fight scenes of the three when the CGI calmed down a bit.

I wouldn't watch any of these again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 31 December, 2021, 04:56:57 PM
The Omen

Still creepy as hell and an effective horror. I'm sure we've all seen it and not sure there's much else to say. Good performances pretty much all round, which really does almost all the heavy lifting. Then you add the score on top of that and that elevates it to a whole different level. It allows it to get away with some bits that otherwise might be a who, what, how moments, but you are carried through the building tension by the deceptively brisk pace and tight direction. Its just a good horror and I fully remember quite why it should never have been the second only proper horror film I saw as a kid and why so much of it is imprinted on my brain.

Which makes me wonder why when it was first released it took a pretty significent critical beating. It was thought to be be daft. Are we just more tolerant of daft these days? Have movies just piled on the daft so much over the years that I don't even see this as daft, particularly? Was it in the 70s there was much more sensitivity to the themes of an anti-christ coming and that made folks shierk it more than they otherwise might, as they were just uncomfortable with it? Or did I just allow the direction, performances and music roll me along and ignore the daft.

Is this still a daft movie. If it is I kinda missed it...

...now onto Omen 2 which I suspect I will find a bit daft, but also suspect I will enjoy as well...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 31 December, 2021, 05:26:09 PM
Fun Fact: About ten years ago, a knock on the front door of the house in which my flat is, was answered by the chap in the flat beside me. From what I could hear, two guys from either the Mormons or Jehovas' Witnesses - I can't recall which - were at the door, talking about God and Jesus etc.

I immediately rushed to my stereo and put on the soundtrack of The Omen, with volume pumped up. After which, I popped my head out the door of my flat and asked the chap talking to the two lads if he could drop that Ram's skull back into me soon, as I would be needing it for a ritual.

To be fair, the two chaps at the door saw the funny side of this and laughed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 December, 2021, 05:43:26 PM

I used to get called on occasionally at my old flat and generally used the same old joke...

"Hello, we're Jehovah's Witnesses."

"Gosh, I didn't know He'd been in an accident."

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 31 December, 2021, 06:07:34 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 31 December, 2021, 04:56:57 PM
I'm sure we've all seen it and not sure there's much else to say.

Except that the David Warner/sheet of plate glass scene remains a fantastic bit of practical FX. :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 31 December, 2021, 09:35:43 PM
David Warner remains fantastic.

Four words nobody can ever argue with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 31 December, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
Rogue One.  Finally.  I didn't want The All-New Boba Show to end, but it did, and I had a craving for more Star Wars so I watched that too.  I liked it anyway, first film I remember seeing in the cinema was The Empire Strikes Back so I'll always get a buzz out of seeing Darth Vader in all his glory.  Also, as an adult man, and I'm no expert on SW-lore, it's nice to see a little plot-hole plugged ([spoiler]So that's why the Death Star had such an obvious weak point![/spoiler]).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 01 January, 2022, 03:45:10 AM
Don't look up – a dark satire which felt to close for comfort. This a movie about the end of the world and how stupid decisions are made along to way to facilitate that the world will end. I can highly recommend this movie, funny, witty, and yes twisted dark as well. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 January, 2022, 08:43:06 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 01 January, 2022, 03:45:10 AM
Don't look up – a dark satire which felt to close for comfort. This a movie about the end of the world and how stupid decisions are made along to way to facilitate that the world will end. I can highly recommend this movie, funny, witty, and yes twisted dark as well.

I enjoyed this, until I was told it's actually about global warming.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 01 January, 2022, 09:39:37 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 January, 2022, 08:43:06 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 01 January, 2022, 03:45:10 AM
Don't look up – a dark satire which felt to close for comfort. This a movie about the end of the world and how stupid decisions are made along to way to facilitate that the world will end. I can highly recommend this movie, funny, witty, and yes twisted dark as well.

I enjoyed this, until I was told it's actually about global warming.

So, you watched it, enjoyed it, later found out it was an analogy for the governmental and media response to human-induced climate change - and that eliminated your earlier enjoyment? How come?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 January, 2022, 12:36:09 AM
It was probably written about Global Warming but equally maps onto the COVID Pandemic.

Watched THE BIG SHORT off the back of my enjoyment of DON'T LOOK UP. There's nothing as funny as a Brontorak in it but it's still worth two hours of your time to get your head round what at the time seemed an impenetrable subject in an entertaining and accessible manner. Full of great performances even down to the single scene people (e.g. Max Greenfield)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 02 January, 2022, 01:44:54 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 December, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
Rogue One...I'm no expert on SW-lore, it's nice to see a little plot-hole plugged ([spoiler]So that's why the Death Star had such an obvious weak point![/spoiler]).

I am also no expert in SW-lore, although I do enjoy the fact that wookiepedia exists, but I never considered that a plot hole. I always assumed it was just Imperial arrogance, also it wasn't [spoiler] an obvious weak point. They desperately needed to get the schematics to reveal it, [/spoiler] you might have missed that because it was just a throwaway line in the opening scroll of Star Wars. Maybe that's why they made this pointless movie, in case you missed how important the Death Star plans were from that one sentence from Star Wars.

And the entire first act of Star Wars.

So they made a whole movie about a doomsday weapon, where a load of forgettable characters get slaughtered for the big pay-off of a dodgy CGI Carrie Fisher getting a USB stick.

I didn't much care for this movie. Can you tell?

The Darth Vader bit was good though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 02 January, 2022, 04:32:37 AM
Quote from: ContraPants
I liked Rogue One - although, yes - the Darth Vader bit is definitely the best bit. But it's my favorite out of ... every single Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi. At least Princess Leia sort of belonged there - more than the droids belonged in the prequels, more than the Kessel Run belonged in Solo, more than Captain Phasma belonged anywhere etc.

Other fave bits for me are K-2SO's dialogue and the ground assault. It's the closest anything up to that point had gotten to telling its own story with its own characters (while recognizing that it is a prequel). Now The Mandalorian* has usurped it, but that's all to the good.

*Even here, there's no really sensible reason why Jawas on different planets have identical sand crawlers, except that it's a lot of fun to see Mando try to climb up one and keep getting knocked off. Star Wars things are always going to be somewhat derivative. Jaws movies will always have sharks.

Well, I agree with everything ContraPants said.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 02 January, 2022, 05:28:34 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 01 January, 2022, 08:43:06 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 01 January, 2022, 03:45:10 AM
Don't look up – a dark satire which felt to close for comfort. This a movie about the end of the world and how stupid decisions are made along to way to facilitate that the world will end. I can highly recommend this movie, funny, witty, and yes twisted dark as well.

I enjoyed this, until I was told it's actually about global warming.

Yes, I also read that the meteorite is a metaphor for climate change. I interpreted the movie little bit differently. And this is just a rhetorical question: How happy are we with our governments, how are they making their decisions and on what do they base it on? Whom are the trying to please themselves, a lobby group, most of the people living in their country? Just my 2 cents and I still enjoyed it does not matter the interpretation of the movie. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 January, 2022, 07:25:42 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 31 December, 2021, 04:56:57 PM
The Omen

...now onto Omen 2 which I suspect I will find a bit daft, but also suspect I will enjoy as well...

Well I finished this last night and its significently worse. While the original built a steady sense of dread as Gregory Peck got closer and closer to the truth, Omen 2 just doesn't have that cohesive progression. Its just a string of grissly deaths enacted on folks as they one by one become a potential risk to Damian. Some are effectively done, I quite like Mark (his step brother's death) and Rumpole of the Bailey's sandy drowning. Other are just a bit hmm. I was so disappoint how ineffective the lady on the lonely road crow pecking out eyes bit was. That's haunted me since I first saw the movie and watching it now it was just a bit silly.

Then the end, which at least is pretty brave in that, well none of the devil types get Hollywood punished for being bad, well except one revealed in a decent twist, just kinda happens. Empire like it is there to set up the sequel, which annoying I don't seem to have access too unless I pay... which I not sure I should as its only worth it for Sam Neill as I recall(?)...sorry getting side tracked.

Why didn't they remake this one instead of the first, there's a decent movie in here that just isn't brough out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 January, 2022, 06:05:20 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 02 January, 2022, 01:44:54 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 December, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
Rogue One...I'm no expert on SW-lore, it's nice to see a little plot-hole plugged ([spoiler]So that's why the Death Star had such an obvious weak point![/spoiler]).

I am also no expert in SW-lore, although I do enjoy the fact that wookiepedia exists, but I never considered that a plot hole. I always assumed it was just Imperial arrogance, also it wasn't [spoiler] an obvious weak point. They desperately needed to get the schematics to reveal it, [/spoiler] you might have missed that because it was just a throwaway line in the opening scroll of Star Wars. Maybe that's why they made this pointless movie, in case you missed how important the Death Star plans were from that one sentence from Star Wars.

And the entire first act of Star Wars.

So they made a whole movie about a doomsday weapon, where a load of forgettable characters get slaughtered for the big pay-off of a dodgy CGI Carrie Fisher getting a USB stick.

I didn't much care for this movie. Can you tell?

The Darth Vader bit was good though.

Fair enough, each to their own. Tbh I hadn't really considered the Death Star weak point a plot hole as such and probably used the wrong term.   But I did think it was a bit weird that the Death[spoiler] Star would be so vulnerable[/spoiler] and R1 went some way toward explaining it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 02 January, 2022, 06:20:42 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 02 January, 2022, 06:05:20 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 02 January, 2022, 01:44:54 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 December, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
Rogue One...I'm no expert on SW-lore, it's nice to see a little plot-hole plugged ([spoiler]So that's why the Death Star had such an obvious weak point![/spoiler]).

I am also no expert in SW-lore, although I do enjoy the fact that wookiepedia exists, but I never considered that a plot hole. I always assumed it was just Imperial arrogance, also it wasn't [spoiler] an obvious weak point. They desperately needed to get the schematics to reveal it, [/spoiler] you might have missed that because it was just a throwaway line in the opening scroll of Star Wars. Maybe that's why they made this pointless movie, in case you missed how important the Death Star plans were from that one sentence from Star Wars.

And the entire first act of Star Wars.

So they made a whole movie about a doomsday weapon, where a load of forgettable characters get slaughtered for the big pay-off of a dodgy CGI Carrie Fisher getting a USB stick.

I didn't much care for this movie. Can you tell?

The Darth Vader bit was good though.

Fair enough, each to their own. Tbh I hadn't really considered the Death Star weak point a plot hole as such and probably used the wrong term.   But I did think it was a bit weird that the Death[spoiler] Star would be so vulnerable[/spoiler] and R1 went some way toward explaining it.

Yeah, different people like different things and that's fine. I liked bits of the movie, just not the characters or plot.

I didn't think the Death Star having a single point of catastrophic failure was odd at all. Would it surprise you to learn the recently launched James Webb Space telescope has about 350? That's for something the size of a Tennis court with a limited scope* of tasks. I can totally see the Empire cutting corners with safety and system redundancies on a project that size.

*totally intended
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 January, 2022, 07:56:38 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 01 January, 2022, 03:45:10 AM
Don't look up – a dark satire which felt to close for comfort. This a movie about the end of the world and how stupid decisions are made along to way to facilitate that the world will end. I can highly recommend this movie, funny, witty, and yes twisted dark as well.
I found this pretty dire to be honest. It had that effect where I could tell what the writers thought was funny about each line but it just wasn't. Every attempt at satire seemed lazy and obvious. Given how much they must have spent on the cast, another pass over the script would've been loose change well spent.

To be fair, it did improve in the second half but it's a little strange that the best least worst bit ended up being the small scale last dinner back home on the ranch.

However, a couple of days later we watched This is the End, which was truly awful, so now I'm a little bit more kindly disposed to Don't Look Up. A weird mixture of self-congratularly, faux-stoner improv horror comedy. There are a handful of laughs and a few well deployed FX shots but mostly it's just a bunch of rich dudes trying to one-up each other by talking about jizzing while they wait for the world to end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 03 January, 2022, 08:07:13 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 24 December, 2021, 11:30:55 AM
Quote from: milstar on 23 December, 2021, 09:47:09 PM
The Great Wall
Or that white features a "white saviour" trope (it doesn't).
...
a stranger in a foreign land...helps the local population against an impending enemy
I'm having trouble reconciling these two statements but it's Christmas and I genuinely can't remember much about the movie so I'll assume that it somehow cleverly subverts the trope that seems inherent from the set-up
It doesn't subvert it so much as completely replace it with a different one. My memory of the story is that the arrogant foreigner thinks he can walk in and sort everything out by himself and nearly gets everyone killed with his stupidity. Only when he is able to see past his own ego and humbly join the battle alongside the brave Chinese people as an equal, insignificant part of the whole can the evil be overcome.

There's definitely some sort of message in there.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 January, 2022, 10:16:20 PM
Well it turns out I did have access to Omen 3 - The Final Conflicit though fair to say I almost wish I hadn't. Has there every been a film series that so defined the Law of Diminishing Returns!

A world meant to be plunging into chaos and despair that seems to be doing okay thanks. Certainly everyone still manages to drive Ford Cortina Estates.

Death as overplayed and meladramatic as we have become used to. Involving steam irons, having a bit of a tumble or being trapped a bit in a pit and not really being dead at all.

The veyr Armageddon, the final conflicit, a world shattering battle waged between the son of the devil himself and 7 dedicated, hand picked priests with the key skills to fight the almighty anti-christ, the ability to wear a duffle coat.

I mean it all really rather lacks the tension needed... well any tension really. Even the hypno-rottweiler spends a number of scenes looking pretty cute and adorable. It was as if the producers they were very carefully trying to ground this movie, drag it back to the simple crawling basics of the first. A chuffin' film about the final battle between demi-gods... I think they got the tone of 2 and 3 all topsy turvey.

The only thing to recommend it is Sam Neill's glorious over the top yet underplayed Damien.

Omen 3 - The Final Crap-pic more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 January, 2022, 11:20:19 AM
Ready or Not. Great little black comedy horror on Disney+. Delightfully bloody and violent. Feels like a Blumhouse movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 January, 2022, 12:45:55 PM
The Fast and The Furious 1-8

Just been casually watching these over the holiday period.  Such an odd series of films.  It starts off as a Point Break ripoff that trades surf boards for cars and becomes some weird cartoonish action franchise with vague global threats.  It is terrible in so many varied and interesting ways.  The characters are pretty two dimensional and all in service of the power fantasy that is Dominic Toretto (or maybe Vin Diesel's ego).  The films are so incredibly dumb I cannot take them seriously, so I don't even try and I have a lot of fun watching the stupidity unfold.  Looking forward to watching the 9th film.

My favourite of the bunch is Tokyo Drift and my least favourite is 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 January, 2022, 02:50:21 PM
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (1954)

Local indie picture house is having a season of movies written by Nigel Kneale (a few i'm skipping but being able to see The Woman in Black, Hammers The Witches, and Quatermass and the Pit on the big screen is going to be dope) and this was a considerable gap in my experience with one of the formative genre teleplay writers. It is, as one would expect, excellent, and dare I say remains probably the best adaptation of the novel on screen?

Seeing a rare, unavailable 35mm print of a 70 year old BBC teleplay in a cinema feels utterly bizarre however. Like some form of celluloid curse is being projected into my brain.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 06 January, 2022, 03:21:29 AM
Ghostbusters Afterlife, absolutely loved it nostalgia done right.  The original Ghostbusters is one of my favourite films ever and this belated sequel hits all the right buttons for me unlike most recent late sequels (cough Matrix cough) truely feels like an earned sequel and not just a cash grab.  Being honest I really didn't mind the reboot from a few years ago but this one shows how poor that movie was.
CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 January, 2022, 09:32:26 AM
The Lighthouse

Its a very interesting piece, in some ways. Seeing there are such positive reviews here I was surprised to not enjoy it more. I certainly appreciated it as a piece of work. The performances from the two characters were magnificent. The use of black and white and the framing made it visually magnificent.

My issue was that its tight focus meant the story had nowhere to go and felt, while brillantly excecuted slight. Now I figure that was kinda the point of the piece. It did leave the story predictable and the themes readily exposed, as if it was underlining its points. I found, for a film like this it lacked ambiguity. Now this needs to be qualified - I took a very specific reading of events, the characters and their motivations. The fact that there were clear aims to make neither protagnoist a reliable narrator means that subsequent views may reveal much more but

1) I have no real desire to watch it again to do that
2) From this viewing and my reading I have no questions I feel an urge to dig into.

The prometheian ending kinda underscored the ideas firmly and left me satisfied I could box this one off. Now I might be missing things as said, but it didn't raise enough questions in my reading to make me inquisitive enough to sit through the discomfort it very purposefully created to go again to find them.

Still very glad I've seen it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 09 January, 2022, 12:37:52 AM
I've just come back from watching Ghostbusters: Afterlife, thought it was good. Very slow at the beginning, but it picks up in the second half, and the ending is brilliantly done. Finally the sequel the original deserved.

(There are extra scenes during and after the end credits, so stay for those.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 09 January, 2022, 03:41:47 AM
I agree with Richard enjoyed the movie but the original Ghostbusters was quite unique and I do not think it will be easy replicated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 09 January, 2022, 07:05:49 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 31 December, 2021, 04:56:57 PM
...now onto Omen 2 which I suspect I will find a bit daft, but also suspect I will enjoy as well...

I wonder what Mike Hodges vision would have been. I am definitely keen on the idea "What if?" What if Stanley Kubrick directed the first Exorcist? Or William Friedkin the third? Or Ridley Scott or Michael Bay I am Legend? Sadly, we will never get the answer.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 10 January, 2022, 03:14:54 AM
Finally got out to see Spider-Man No Way Home, nothing to say except it was f'n brilliant.  Tom Holland is a great young actor and really brought the feels when they were needed.  In fact it was well acted all round by everyone.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 January, 2022, 08:41:53 AM
TITANE

Psycho erotic body horror by way of French extremist feminism cinema and my fuckin god, its been a long time since a film made me squirm. Julia Ducournau is simply one of the best in the industry right now and it quite, quite deranged.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 January, 2022, 10:51:50 PM
The Matrix Resurrections

I considered revisiting the trilogy before watching this and then figured it might be better to just take it as it comes on its own merits.  I have no idea whether that influenced my opinion of the film or not.  The Matrix is a franchise I don't mind watching every now and again, but I never got on the hype train.  I always felt the philosophical elements were poorly slapped together and the action had a tendency to drag on past it's welcome - I got seriously bored watching the second film in the cinema.  As a first time viewing experience, Resurrection is the best time I've had with a Matrix movie.  There are a load of dorky moments, but I felt it worked as a continuation and wasn't left disappointed.  The action did drag a little, but overall I'd say I was entertained.  I liked the ending, too.  I enjoyed the real world context of the film as well.  Lana Wachowski's not-at-all subtle digs at Warner Bros. was funny and it's clear this is something that neither Wachowski wanted to return to.  Ultimately I think it came across as a blatantly personal film.  Nevertheless, this ends up blurring with the fiction and conceits of the movie at times and I felt the themes got a little muddled in places.  Basically, it's a Matrix film and I had a lot of fun watching it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 12 January, 2022, 11:13:59 PM
Step backward compared to the predecessors. Tbh, I wouldn't be interested in seeing this film if it wasn't Kingsman entry. Maybe previous films spoiled me a bit but I didn't feel it as a Kingsman film. I didn't find the ww1 setting inspiring and I was not amused a one bit how the film plays out using real historical happenings (and characters, the latter I've found a bit off) for its narrative, but hey - creative freedom. The first half of the film is disjointed, unfocused (is it spy film, family drama, war film), scenes go back and fourth for the sake of moving the heavily predictable plot. Although there a few, npt-seen-it-coming twists here (one is quite egregious). I like Gemma Arterton here, but she always comes at the right time and saying or doing the right thing. Few of the characters have their quirks, but few really stand-out. Rasputin could have a bigger role and I admit I imagined Alan Moore while watching him. The villains' machinations are a bit outlandish for me, not his goal, but the means to achieve it. Future SNP supporter. I almost believed he's gonna be played by Robert Carlyle (mostly because of that Bond film he is in), but no, it was Ozymandias. And if Ralph Fiennes decide to follow the steps of Liam Neeson and does middle-aged man action roles, he's all set.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 January, 2022, 11:01:06 PM

Troy. The Iliad was the first 'proper' book I ever read and although this film necessarily pares it down and plays with the timeline it's still one of my go-to films when I can't be arsed looking for something new. Achilles is the role Brad Pitt was born to play and the rest of the cast do a pretty magnificent job as well. Love it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 January, 2022, 03:08:31 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 13 January, 2022, 11:01:06 PM

Troy. The Iliad was the first 'proper' book I ever read and although this film necessarily pares it down and plays with the timeline it's still one of my go-to films when I can't be arsed looking for something new. Achilles is the role Brad Pitt was born to play and the rest of the cast do a pretty magnificent job as well. Love it.

It's called The Iliad because Ilium was another name for Troy, and the suffix ~ad means "the story of..", so the title actually translates as Troy Story


I'll get my coat
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 January, 2022, 06:13:47 PM

To Elysium and beyond!

Um, can you get my coat as well while you're at it...?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 January, 2022, 10:53:55 PM
Moonrise Kingdom

I mean its sooooo self consiously a Wes Anderson. Could a film be more Wes Anderson? Which is luckly as I love Wes Anderson and therefore found this witty, charming, beautiful and honest. The fact that ita all so nicely off balance also makes it plesently unsettling in the most comfortable way.

A slightly risque hug of a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 January, 2022, 10:54:17 PM
Rushmore

So it would seem Moonrise Kingdom has inspired a bit of a Wes Anderson Season with a few more available via streaming services meaning I don't need to dig out old DVDs.

More importantly I therefore had to start off with Rushmore which remains utterly wonderful and creepy, not in the scary way. It too is

A slightly risque hug of a movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 10:16:36 AM
Watched The Eternals on Disney+ last night. I'm not sure I get the hate — it's certainly not top tier Marvel, and it's comfortably thirty minutes too long, but it passed the time engagingly enough.

It might have been a different story if I'd seen it in the cinema — the lack of a clearly defined 'villain' for much of its running time contributes to an air of shapelessness, which the slightly leisurely pacing accentuates. Not a problem when you can pause for a pee and grab another G&T, but I can imagine a certain amount of bum-numbness creeping in if you were parked in a seat in a theatre.

From the (admittedly lacklustre) trailers, you'd also have the notion that this was Angeline Jolie's movie, which it very much isn't. Nonetheless, it looks great, has decent enough action sequences, the plot hangs together pretty well (although it fails to engage with several interesting moral/philosophical questions it flirts with).

(I can't help but wonder if some of the initial online negativity was a reaction to the determinedly diverse cast of characters and the fact that the film is strongly female-led. Since I had no intention of going to the cinema to see anything when The Eternals hit theatres, I wasn't paying much attention, and I wonder if there was the hand of the "wokeness is ruining Marvel" crowd in play there.)

But, whatever. It's fine. It feels very tangential to the mainstream MCU, but I think that's part of the point. We were entertained, and I'm certainly interested to see how these characters are going to integrate into the MCU. There are mid and end credit sequences that are worth fast-forwarding to get to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 11:22:23 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 10:16:36 AM
(I can't help but wonder if some of the initial online negativity was a reaction to the determinedly diverse cast of characters and the fact that the film is strongly female-led. Since I had no intention of going to the cinema to see anything when The Eternals hit theatres, I wasn't paying much attention, and I wonder if there was the hand of the "wokeness is ruining Marvel" crowd in play there.)

I think its a very tempting trap to fall into in assuming a lot of criticism for media comes from a place of, at best, bad faith and at worse outright bigotry. Its interesting you would bring this up for THE ETERNALS where, in contrast to Black Panther and Captain Marvel which where tarred and feathered by the right wing nostalgia media losers brigade, was actually largely derided for the simple fact its looked ugly as sin and incredibly dull.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 16 January, 2022, 11:30:24 AM
It was definitely too long but I felt the real issue was that it focused on the least interesting parts of the story and not the most interesting parts.

1. [spoiler]An immortal being suffering from Alzheimer's of whatever it was called.[/spoiler]

2. [spoiler]The death of an immortal & leader and the impact on the group - it's largely glossed over for plot reasons we come to understand later but I felt there was something really interesting to explore here. [/spoiler]

3. [spoiler]With such a diverse and varied cast you don't get enough time with each one to ultimately give a shit about what happens to them.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 11:44:40 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 11:22:23 AM
blahblahblahblahblahblah

Look, I don't why you feel you have some contractual obligation to let everyone know how clever and highbrow you are by chiming in with a bunch of snotty comments every time anyone says they enjoyed one of these movies, but this apparent compulsion to tell people that they're wrong and they have no taste simply because they enjoyed a movie you didn't is incredibly tiresome.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 16 January, 2022, 11:57:33 AM
I watched The Eternals as well I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 12:24:42 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 11:44:40 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 11:22:23 AM
blahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblah'thebigmeancriticbrokemytoys'blahblahblah

SNAKE EYES G.I.JOE ORIGINS

Part of my 2021 catch up of guff action flicks I missed at the time and ya know what, it hits the spot pretty well. You can always depend on Evan Spiliotopoulos to deliver the matinee action pomp and fuck me, getting Iko Uwasai to consult on the action scenes was a call. My type of trash.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Robin Low on 16 January, 2022, 12:31:13 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 10:16:36 AM
Watched The Eternals on Disney+ last night. I'm not sure I get the hate — it's certainly not top tier Marvel, and it's comfortably thirty minutes too long, but it passed the time engagingly enough.

I think that and your subsequent comments some it up pretty well. It's a good, but imperfect piece of entertainment that fits on to the existing setting, rather than feeling perfectly embedded within it.

As for the running time, well, I saw it at the cinema, and just as the opening credits began I started to feel pressure on my bladder. I thus spent most of the film feeling like my groin was about to explode, and not in a good way. By the time I left the cinema, I suspect I was walking funny. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie and stayed to the end of the credits.

One of the things I liked was that they very generously granted DC Comics a place within the MCU.

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 January, 2022, 01:21:12 PM
The last marvel movie I watched was the one where Bobby California was a robot who tried to destroy the world after he went on the internet for five minutes. After that I realised I couldn't really be fucked with these films and stopped watching them. I have heard the one with the big brother from Goonies is good, but the FOMO hasn't got the better of me yet. Still, I wouldn't go around telling people their fun is wrong. Like, I enjoy the Fast and Furious Universe, or the Double Eff U, if you will.

TLDR: I'm the best at watching movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 January, 2022, 03:08:38 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 16 January, 2022, 01:21:12 PM
Still, I wouldn't go around telling people their fun is wrong.

Well, quite. Lots of people seem to have enjoyed the newest Star Wars movies. I didn't, and have said so. What I don't do* is pop up online everytime someone says they did enjoy them and tell them why they're wrong. God knows, everything is depressing enough as it is, without trying to suck the joy out of what little cheer people are able to find.

*...any more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 03:18:29 PM
It is slightly funny folks got in a tizz about someone voicing an opinion, over post where they didn't even voice an opinion. Love to see it.

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

Next on my list of 2021 catch ups, a movie younger me would have loved but man, Edgar Wright really just isn't for me anymore. Self indulgent and fundamentally misunderstanding the genre modes that allegedly inspired him, all to churn out a turgid, weary excuse for a haunting tale. Not good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 January, 2022, 06:18:44 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 03:18:29 PM

a movie younger me would have loved but man


I find myself thinking this more and more, about books, telly and films. I'm not sure how it makes me feel
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 January, 2022, 06:58:35 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 16 January, 2022, 06:18:44 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 January, 2022, 03:18:29 PM

a movie younger me would have loved but man


I find myself thinking this more and more, about books, telly and films. I'm not sure how it makes me feel

I find myself thinking something similar, younger me did like this, but older me doesn't appreciate this new version that's been repackaged for a larger audience.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 16 January, 2022, 09:06:19 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 16 January, 2022, 01:21:12 PM
The last marvel movie I watched was the one where Bobby California was a robot who tried to destroy the world after he went on the internet for five minutes. After that I realised I couldn't really be fucked with these films and stopped watching them. I have heard the one with the big brother from Goonies is good, but the FOMO hasn't got the better of me yet. Still, I wouldn't go around telling people their fun is wrong. Like, I enjoy the Fast and Furious Universe, or the Double Eff U, if you will.

TLDR: I'm the best at watching movies.

Oh how I wish I had your foresight.  It took me longer to give up on the franchise.

I also like the Double Eff U - I love that joke and I'm stealing it.

You are now my idol for watching movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 January, 2022, 09:42:06 PM
Man am I watching a lot of films at the moment - the advent of two new streaming channels in our house is fueling this. Latest is a detour from Wes Anderson as Mrs YNWA wanted the kids to watch 'Don't Look Up'. Bit old for the boy child maybe, but perfect for the Girl one. I mean that in the way it utterly lacks subtly and its a teenage rant about the state of so much in the world. From politics, the media, social media, entertainment and most depressingly the way we consume and are lead by it. Even those who are on the side of 'good', have heard the message, or indeed are trying to deliver it.

I mean its not subtle at all and yet in its hardheaded, stubborn hammering home of its message there's a real uneven charm. Its funny in all the right places. Depressing in all the right places and its simple relentless drive to make its point really works. Its got two great punchlines - which really continue to underscore what its saying. And even at the end, the very very end when I should have been saying "Yes yes I get it cockroachs will survive the apoclypse, we got it already." I was just sniggering at a decent gag.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 17 January, 2022, 08:34:00 AM
Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They went way overboard on the references to the first film, but this still managed to be its own thing. The leads were likeable (not necessarily easy with a child-genius protagonist), and the decision to relocate to the Mid-West paid off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 17 January, 2022, 10:24:03 AM
Dune

I can see why people enjoyed watching this in the cinema.

I thought it was a good adaptation.  They ended it where I thought they should.  It is a pretty film as well.

I thought it was decent.  It's definitely a Dune film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 January, 2022, 11:55:27 AM
We watched Eternals last night and Jim's review sums up our feelings. Some of the imagery is truly epic, some of it not so much (I'm thinking the deviants, which looked like cut-price mimics from Live Die Repeat). The deviant subplot is weak and poorly resolved, and the over-arching plot is clumsily delivered (with the whiff of re-shoots and agressive edits, but I may be wrong). Yet the Eternals themselves are an interesting bunch, very well cast, and pleasingly diverse. Their adventures through history are cool to watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 January, 2022, 04:35:26 PM

MEMORIA

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a strong contender for my favourite living director working in the industry today, so it comes as little surprise his dreamy musings on the death of nature as a slow, drawn out rattle, versus the death of humanity as an explosive whimper (the image of boreholes as a form of trepanation on a cosmic level is inspired) is so wonderfully mesmeric. Actually unfair a movie this perfect drops mere weeks into the year, nothing else stands a chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 January, 2022, 10:27:32 PM
Royal Tenenbaums

In my head Royal Tenenbaums is the best known of Wes Andersons films. I think (??) it was the first I saw and for that I'm really grateful as its lead me to a lot of films I really love. It is however also one I don't return to so much. I've always had it on DVD but its never the one my hand used to land on. I'm really glad I've watched it again now... but don't see myself rushing back.

Its likes its sooo Anderson. Like Anderson distilled to its essense. Yet in being that it loses some indefinable Anderson quality that robs it of something... oh what poppycock... I don't know I just don't like it as much as my favourites.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 January, 2022, 11:04:49 PM
I find that one far too bleak. It's clever, but it's beige.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 21 January, 2022, 08:45:48 AM
I didn't have strong feelings about The Royal Tenanbaums (apart from it being the last new film I saw Gene Hackman in). Anderson's work can seem overly stylised and calculated to me. Not that I don't enjoy them.

The notable exception being The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is a masterpiece which I firmly believe will be ranked among the greatest films of this era.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 22 January, 2022, 02:24:38 AM
Darkest Hour

No, not SF from the 2011.  Another film featuring a pertinent political figure, a committed actor in ton of make - up and blatant historical innacurracies, seems to me some uncanny role model for these modern type of films. Btw, Gary Oldman just nails Winston Churchill and the movie is technically brilliant. I just wish Gary had better material to work with. I admit, I am not fully immersed in the 1940 May Crisis, and this is not biopic about "the greatest Briton ever lived." But some situations are embellishment, if not distortion. For example, the tube scene. I get that filmmakers were in need of a scene with dramatic power, but real Winston Churchill wouldn't do that. Not in the scope the film portrays him he would. And if filmmakers wanted to show Churchill as a leader with doubts, he factually did consider entering in peace talks (albeit, this was perhaps a moment of hesitation). But overall, I enjoyed in the film. That period was always of the tremendous interest to me and Gary's performance is stellar, just stellar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 January, 2022, 10:24:20 PM
Grand Budapest Hotel

Okay - look bare with me, I promise I'll explain. I have for a long time claimed to be a BIG Wes Anderson fan. I count both Rushmore and Life Aquatic in my top ten films and yet... yet.... I'd never seen Grand Budapest Hotel.

See it came hot on the heels of the disappointment that is Darjeeling Limited... well okay it didn't BUT in my head it did. See we had our first child in 2009 and so everything after Darjeeling got merged into a blob of not getting to the cinema cos kids and so I missed Moonrise Kingdom and this - Fantastic Mister Fox I caught up with quicker than the other two as it fell into the anthropomorphic talking animals films I watched exclusively for like 7 years. ANYWAY so yeah I missed and while I caught up with Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel had such a good rep that I seemed to stall on seeing it - there was no way it could live up to my expectations and I didn't like the clips I saw of it - weird I know.

ANYWAY finally got around to it and for the first 20 minutes was convinced I was right and it was going to be a chore to get through... and then it turned, I chilled out and I chuffin' loved it. I have to be honest largely that is of course due to Ralph Fiennes superb turn as M Gustava. Its just astonishing and M Gustava is one of the great characters of cinema on first viewing. He holds together many great performances I have to say. The story is superb. I'll be honest it reminded me in some ways of an early John Irving book. Not 100% sure why, but it did. The tale flexs and turns into wonderful Anderson-positive places and it was just a delight.

I think I need to watch it again without the weight of my doubts, expectations and 8 years wondering why I hadn't got around to watching it.

I will get around to French Dispatch sooner!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 January, 2022, 11:19:05 AM
F9

Hilariously ridiculous.  Loved it.  I think the odd numbered Double Eff You films are certainly the best.  I love how they bring things and people from previous films back - even though it's largely idiotic.  This film has loads of that.  Plus there are genuinely good moments.  A lot of the flashback stuff is good.

My bet for 10 or 11 is that they will be driving down an erupting volcano and/or an earthquake splitting the ground apart.  They are running out of outlandish car related ideas and I think the one in 9 should have been a finale option.  Blew their load early on that one imo.

Also, I think Jesse from the first film should come back as the final villain.

Maybe I should watch that Hobbs and Shaw film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 January, 2022, 12:26:22 PM
If you can suspend your disbelief abandon any semblance of incredulity for the Double Eff You movies the you will probably enjoy Hobbs & Shaw. Or as I like to call it:

Fuck You, They're Superheroes Now

In Samoa

Electric Boogaloo
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 January, 2022, 12:51:19 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 23 January, 2022, 12:26:22 PM
If you can suspend your disbelief abandon any semblance of incredulity for the Double Eff You movies the you will probably enjoy Hobbs & Shaw. Or as I like to call it:

Fuck You, They're Superheroes Now

In Samoa

Electric Boogaloo

Accurate. I think I actually lost several IQ points when I saw it in the cinema, but it was entertainingly stupid. :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 January, 2022, 12:55:58 PM
I think it was solidly established that the Double Eff You is a cartoon world in the fifth film.  I'm 100% on board with whatever nonsense they want to throw at me by this point.

The reasons I avoided Hobbs and Shaw are 1) I'm not that big a fan of Dwayne and 2) it's a spin-off.

Although it does have Idris and Jason in it... sooooooo.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 January, 2022, 01:43:47 PM
At this point FF is basically just M.A.S.K with less spring loaded gimmicks and i'm all in favor of it.
Delightful nonsense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 24 January, 2022, 02:35:26 AM
I really generally don't like the FF films but absolutely loved Hobbs and Shaw, make sure you f that what you will

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 24 January, 2022, 04:23:25 AM
On the one hand, it's like I'm Sideways Scuttleton and I've wandered into an alternate dimension in which the Double Eff You is worth watching. On the other hand - I've never watched any of 'em, so what do I know?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 January, 2022, 10:16:21 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 24 January, 2022, 04:23:25 AM
On the one hand, it's like I'm Sideways Scuttleton and I've wandered into an alternate dimension in which the Double Eff You is worth watching. On the other hand - I've never watched any of 'em, so what do I know?

I was very much like this until a friend insisted we watch all the movies together (I think there were only six or seven at the time).  He did warn me that I'd have to power through the second film and that was the major hump.  I'm not going to say they are good films, although they are entertaining.  The franchise as a whole is engaging and provides much fodder for thought.  From the good stuff to the bad stuff, how it stays consistent whilst being wildly inconsistent, all the great ideas it has and all the wasted themes it fails to utilise.  You can have a serious conversation about it or just laugh about how incredibly dumb it is.

Nevertheless, I think I only got this much out of it because I was warned that I'd have to put the effort in and that I had someone to talk to about the films.  If I watched them on a whim by myself I may have bailed out after the second film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 January, 2022, 01:12:18 PM
I tested the water with FF5 (mainly because we had a new blu-ray player - bought really for streaming and other apps - and it was the only blu-ray in Sainsbury for less than a tenner) and really enjoyed it. If you can't get on board the daftness of 5, you have no hope with the others.

It helps that at this point they still take it pretty seriously... The screenwriter s genuinely seem to be trying to tell character and story with the fights, chases and stunts in general. And they aren't quite superheroes yet... Just super humans.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 January, 2022, 12:39:50 AM


Eternals. I properly enjoyed this film from start to finish. It looks great, the characters are compelling, and if the plot doesn't induce existential dread - or at the very least serve as a signpost along the way - then cover me with monkeys and release the peanuts. Y'know, I think I might be putting this one on the Special Shelf - the shelf where such as Logan live.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 January, 2022, 11:42:40 AM
Stand By Me

Haven't seen this film in an age.  Loved it as a kid growing up.  It still holds up as a macabre coming of age film.

Hobbs and Shaw

Nah, not as good as the main series of films.  It's just a pretty average sci-fi action film.  The dialogue and chemistry between Dwayne and Jason I found unconvincing.  It came across more as a sad and pathetic dick-measuring contest with no winners.  The action was fine, if a little ropey at times.  In many ways I viewed it for what it was - a cynical attempt to make a new franchise separate from the main series.

That said, I did like the Samoan representation and I didn't get too bored throughout.  Yeah, it's just average.

I may be watching Better Luck Tomorrow tonight.

The Fellowship of the Ring

I only watched this because I did myself an injury that had me laid up on pain killers for a few days.  I got part-way through Two Towers before deciding to start reading The Silmarillion.  Elves are dicks.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 January, 2022, 03:33:52 PM
I read The Hobbit. I read the LOTR. I couldn't manage the Silmarillion. Is that where the elves are dicks?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 January, 2022, 09:34:04 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 January, 2022, 03:33:52 PM
I read The Hobbit. I read the LOTR. I couldn't manage the Silmarillion. Is that where the elves are dicks?

Yup.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 January, 2022, 12:01:21 AM
The Silmarillion made me realise that the main story is the only interesting bit of any fictional world, and all the background lore should just be left to your imagination. The old Star Wars EU reinforced this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 29 January, 2022, 01:20:54 AM
He made the Kessel Run in overblown CGI.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 February, 2022, 03:46:33 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 16 January, 2022, 11:57:33 AM
I watched The Eternals as well I enjoyed it.

Ditto. I will admit that I came to it with low expectations, (I don't know the characters at all, and for some reason muddled them in my mind with the Inhumans. ) This wasn't quite as good as some other Marvel films, but it was fine, and did something a bit different.

Speaking of the trailers showing Angelina Jolie prominently, I was amused how prominent she is in the poster, on the Disney App, wearing that body sculpted armour, compared to Gemma Chan who actually does lead the film. I guess it's understandable since the other lady is relatively unknown and they probably wanted a big star to draw people in, but the actual lead is real good. I recognise Ms Chan [spoiler]playing another robot[/spoiler]* in that British TV series Humans. She was wonderful in that too. She brings a real sense of gentleness and quiet inner strength to her roles. (Oh my, do I have a crush?)

*[spoiler]Okay,the Eternals aren't really robots, seemingly as biological as us, but I'm sure you get what I mean.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 February, 2022, 04:31:41 AM

Just watched Eternals again - it gets better. I don't know anything about the comics but I fecking love this film!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 February, 2022, 12:32:49 PM
On a slight side step I rewatched SHANG-CHI last night and ya know what, I really really like this one! Certainly of the three HK actioner headed Hollywood efforts that dropped last year its the lesser entry of the three but its certainly a hell of a time with some of the most clear and engaging choreography in a mainstream feature in years. Really glad theres at least one of these movies I can vibe with.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 04 February, 2022, 06:09:55 PM
Swamp Thing

Ah... This was mild fun, stupid, trashy, monster flick. That'll probably satisfy afficionados of B monster flicks of the 1950s. In this case, overly cheap look, sets look unreal and design of the creature leaves much to be desired (man in rubber suit. Allegedly, budgetary constraints, even for the early 80s (meaning no computer sfx) meant that a lot of goodies from the script had to be put in oblivion. I was aware of this film before, but only because Wes Craven did it, but haven't seen until now. I think Adrienne Barbeau gave the performance of her lifetime; she could have been action heroine much like Sigourney Weaver was. It was odd to see David Hess from Craven's debut, controversial The Last House on the Left (who came a bit like a creep in an interview), makes appearance playing a dumb goon. The actor who plays Arcane, (who also played the main villain in Octopussy), delivers another diabolical, but sophisticated character and chews all the scenes he is in.

Overall, I think it's pretty decent DC adaptation, and while definitely not a high point, nor is the bottom of the well either. I think it came in a rather interesting time. Swamp Thing comics weren't selling well at that point as Moore's run on Swamp Thing occured year afterwards.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 February, 2022, 10:43:48 AM
From Dusk Till Dawn

A lot of fun.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2:  Texas Blood Money

Boring and not well made.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Watched it because it is supposed to be cannon in the Double Eff You.  It doesn't fit into that film series at all.  The character of Han from FF and from this film are quite different and although I accept that characters can change off screen I couldn't reconcile the two.  The film is largely about a group of Asian-American rich kids playing gangster and getting pissed off at a somewhat richer kid.  [spoiler]And killing him.[/spoiler]  The narrative isn't exactly tight, the kids are all arseholes with little charisma and it's pretty creepy in places... especially the end.  Nevertheless, it's fine.  Just okay as a film.  Justin Lin uses some themes in from this film in Tokyo Drift and I think he finally laid to rest the demon of creepy unrequited love he had with that film.  It's not a Fast and the Furious film and it's not really worth watching for the expanded universe.  It is it's own thing and probably fairs better being taken as such.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 February, 2022, 02:12:18 PM
Thir13en Ghosts

A jumbled mess in many ways.  Not a good film.  Although the set design and make-up work is very impressive.  The worst thing about the film is the editing.  Horrendous cutting throughout.  This film is certainly less than the sum of it's parts.  A wealth of missed potential.  It reeks of a film that was pulled in too many different directions by too many people that any clear vision was lost.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 February, 2022, 03:44:26 PM
Boss Level on Prime video

I think the reason that there has never been a good movie adaptation of a video game is because the plots and settings of these games aren't suitable for a movie's narrative. They are at best, very pretty, sometimes overly detailed, window dressing. My hot take is that the fun of video games comes from playing them. That's why there's usually an option to skip the cutscenes.

Boss Level does a good job of capturing the fun of video games. The premise of the recursive deathloop (there's actually a recent game called Deathloop), perfectly echoes reverting to a save point in a game, with our protagonist (white grizzly chiselled man*, just like most video game protagonists) improving and learning to avoid curveballs with every loop.

The plot is a load of bollocks, and there is an unskippable cut-scene at the end of the first act, but if you're looking to switch off and see some cars zooming around, guns going DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA, explosions and swordfights, this is quite enjoyable.

Oh, Mel Gibson's in it. That might be a deal breaker for some people.

*I'm pretty sure he's played by that guy who was in that thing. I'm sure if I bothered to look him up on IMDB, I'd instantly say "Oh aye, that thing" and then it would slide straight off my brain again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 07 February, 2022, 04:43:59 PM
VALLEY OF THE GWANGI
Off the back of the excellent Harryhausen exhibition and a pub chat, I dug this out from my old DVD pile and had a jolly good time. Basically, "King Kong was great but it really needed some cowboys!"

Much more stop motion than I remembered (I may time it to see how it compares with Jurassic Park!) and it's top notch stuff with a degree of complexity in some scenes that borders on masochism.

Obviously it was written at a time when men were men and women could be put on your knee and spanked, so that may wrankle with some viewers but I was fascinated about how irredeemable (or is it refreshing?) some of the characters were. "Oh forget all our dreams of settling down, there's money to be made here!"

But you want depth too? Hey, here's a scientific discovery destroying a church yet simultaneously being destroyed as a result.

Jason and the Argonauts next. Then either One Million Years BC or the Sinbad's.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 09 February, 2022, 10:27:37 PM
Captain Marvel

Watched it over a couple of nights while doing other bits and pieces, but in that context really good. Really enjoyed it. Not sure I have much to say, which does make me wonder if it will stand up to a rewatch terribly well, but on this basis ace fun.

And Hole on the closing credits - that's cool!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 February, 2022, 11:23:27 PM

Cry Macho. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. He's looking very doddery now, as if walking is painful for him. This is a very gentle film and made me sad, but not in a good way. It's more like a saccharine t.v. movie of the week rather than a vehicle worthy of one of Hollywood's True Greats.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 February, 2022, 06:24:35 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 09 February, 2022, 10:27:37 PM
Not sure I have much to say, which does make me wonder if it will stand up to a rewatch terribly well

We did an MCU rewatch over one of the lockdowns and out of all the movies up to that point, I thought Captain Marvel one stood up least well on re-watch. We saw it in the cinema the first time and enjoyed it well enough — the 90s thing is kind of fun, and de-aged SLJ has an amusing novelty, but coming at it a second time, I was acutely aware of the almost complete lack of peril in the movie — there's no sense of danger to Danvers at any time.

Although I understand the reasoning behind holding back revealing the [spoiler]refugee twist[/spoiler] I think bringing that in earlier would have allowed the film to use them as the target for any sense of danger the narrative was trying to build. Add to that the fact that I actually have to google the name of the main 'villain' every single time I want to mention them because they're so unmemorable, and you get a sense of the problem.

I mean, I want to like it. The cast are fine, the plot hangs together OK, but it just felt really... flat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 12 February, 2022, 05:27:22 AM
Dune - oh-ho-holy shit, but that was good. Movie poetry right there. I really enjoyed that - and it really felt like we were on Arrakis - a place I haven't visited since my Dune II days on the Amiga. A great cast as well - I could watch Dave Bautista out-maniac Sting till the cows come home.

Teensy criticism was that Jason Momoa's character, Duncan, was a little too bruh-dude - but then I don't know what else you do with Momoa. I wanted to build a small cottage in Oscar Isaac's beard. Bardem was wonderfully low-key.

The battle-scene was suitably brutal, and the Empire's gutteral language was dark and ominous. Also - just the right amount of spaceships. A wizard arrive's exactly when he means to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 12 February, 2022, 09:50:02 PM
Moonfall. Complete dross. Even the huge SFX disaster scenes which you think might be fun were too busy and confusing.

Matrix Resurrections. Actually kind of amazing. Have been trying to write down my thoughts on all four for about a fortnight but I'm a terrible person with no ability to focus on what's important. I found the first half, where everything is endlessly meta and self-referential, incredible. I'm fully aware that on another day, in another mood or from another angle in another light I'd have hated it. But I didn't.

Flags a bit in the second half but does have a well-deserved ending and a post-credits scene worth waiting for.

Not the film you want or expect but somehow all the better for that. If you hated Revolutions you might love it like I do as it goes even further in the same direction.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 February, 2022, 10:26:20 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 12 February, 2022, 09:50:02 PM
Matrix Resurrections. Actually kind of amazing.

I was somewhat surprised how much I enjoyed this film and had much the same sentiments as you.  It is a contender for my favourite Matrix film and it was definitely the one I had the best time with on a first viewing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 February, 2022, 10:04:57 PM
The History of Future Folk

If Flight of the Conchords were from the alien planet Hondo not New Zealand and they borrowed their plot from Doomlord.

And yes its as good as that sounds.

Don't believe me, well check it out on Netflix.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 February, 2022, 10:12:52 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 13 February, 2022, 10:04:57 PM
The History of Future Folk

If Flight of the Conchords were from the alien planet Hondo not New Zealand and they borrowed their plot from Doomlord.

And yes its as good as that sounds.

Don't believe me, well check it out on Netflix.

Seconded, this is a fantastic film that makes up for its limited budget with a helluva lot of heart

HONDO!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 February, 2022, 10:03:05 AM
Venom Let There Be Carnage

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Venom film.  Not an especially good film, but I found it immensely entertaining largely off the back of Tom Hardy's dual performance.
The second film lacks some of that energy as the characters are already established.  Nevertheless I'd say this film is tighter in places the first was not.  Mainly in the story.  Also the journey of Brock and Venom's relationship from toxic to something more loving (of which the gay element is almost overt and all the better for it) is very endearing and the solid backbone of the film.

I'm not without criticism.  Woody Harrelson is fine as carnage but I thought back to his performance in Natural Born Killers a number of times and couldn't help be a little disappointed.  Not too much though, I don't exactly want him trying to replicate a previous role from a completely different film.
Also, the film is front heavy.  It kind of rushes to it's conclusion because it spent so much time setting up the conflict between Brock and Venom.  Still, not especially bothered by this because the set up is good even if does mess with the pacing.

Overall I enjoyed this film, but for different reasons to why I enjoyed the first.

The Running Man
Cheesy Schwarzenegger violent sci-fi action from the 80's.  I find it a fun romp and have a lot of affection for it.  That said, there is something that has never sat right for me.  Richard's is violent towards Mendez, tying her up, holding her captive and threatening further violence to coerce her into doing what she wants.  It makes the kiss at the end really creepy.
I do like Maria Conchita Alonso's character despite that.  I like her agency and charisma and it's a fun performance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 February, 2022, 10:14:35 AM
Black Swan. Yeah, I'm a decade late for the party, but finally got around to watching this. I had heard nothing but great things and it was... okay? Great performances and it looked spectacular. But I couldn't quite see the point of it or what it was trying so say other than 'Don't overreach or you'll damage your mental health.' Or maybe that's the point... I'll watch it again sometime and maybe that'll draw some more out of it. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 14 February, 2022, 02:52:49 PM
My other half loved Black Swan. I got bored after about five seconds. So it has an audience, but I'm not in it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 February, 2022, 03:26:06 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 14 February, 2022, 02:52:49 PM
My other half loved Black Swan. I got bored after about five seconds. So it has an audience, but I'm not in it.

Same here, and when Portman won an oscar for it was when I began to realise that the academy had a different definition of "best" to me
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 February, 2022, 10:16:18 AM
Tenet

I find Nolan a bit hit and miss.  I found this film a bit hit and miss.  I liked the concept and the cast, but I don't think either were utilised to their potential.  It was hard to get especially invested in what was going on.  The mix of rich-people abusive relationship power dynamic and high concept science fiction didn't work for me.  My biggest complaint is that obnoxious and invasive fucking soundtrack.  It's awful and rarely shuts up.  You know what I like to do?  Hear dialogue.  It was relentlessly pounding into my skull.  I don't think it set the tone right for the scenes as it was largely the same thing throughout with varying degrees of loudness.  It didn't add to the story and punctuate the narrative, it just droned on and on and on and on.  I will go so far to say that it's implementation in this film was incompetent.  For me it turned what could have been an okay movie into an average/below average movie.  It's a shame because the ideas in the film are really good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 21 February, 2022, 11:31:24 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 February, 2022, 10:16:18 AM
Tenet

I find Nolan a bit hit and miss.  I found this film a bit hit and miss.  I liked the concept and the cast, but I don't think either were utilised to their potential.  It was hard to get especially invested in what was going on.  The mix of rich-people abusive relationship power dynamic and high concept science fiction didn't work for me.  My biggest complaint is that obnoxious and invasive fucking soundtrack.  It's awful and rarely shuts up.  You know what I like to do?  Hear dialogue.  It was relentlessly pounding into my skull.  I don't think it set the tone right for the scenes as it was largely the same thing throughout with varying degrees of loudness.  It didn't add to the story and punctuate the narrative, it just droned on and on and on and on.  I will go so far to say that it's implementation in this film was incompetent.  For me it turned what could have been an okay movie into an average/below average movie.  It's a shame because the ideas in the film are really good.

TENET? THISSHIT, more like
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 February, 2022, 06:26:42 PM
That still makes me laugh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 21 February, 2022, 07:51:07 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 February, 2022, 06:26:42 PM
That still makes me laugh.

It's not my gag, but it is funny
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 February, 2022, 09:36:39 AM
Commando

A lot of fun, incredibly dumb.  The pacing in this film is really good and it's very clear what is going on and why it's going on.  Sort of.  I mean, rescuing someone by firing a rocket at them isn't what I'd call smart.  It has a lot of problems.  But it's still fun watching Arnold assault, kidnap, murder, rob, and massacre his way to his goal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 25 February, 2022, 02:01:01 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 February, 2022, 09:36:39 AM
Commando

Ah...this, Running Man (I won't ever forget Arnie's liner "because I am going say please") and Predator were movies that since I saw them for the first time I knew I should watch. For some time,  I even thought these were the most accomplished action films ever. Nothing much has changed in meantime (except I am 20 years older).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 26 February, 2022, 12:43:23 PM
I never got the love for RUNNING MAN. Pedestrian compared to Arnie's other eighties and nineties output.

ONE MILLION YEARS BC is definitely not historically accurate but is brilliant and awful at the same time. Obviously most of the brilliance comes from Harryhausen's stellar work; the young allosaurus attacking the shell people's camp is an obvious highlight as is Martine Beswick's bonkers dance routine. But if there are lessons to be learned from this dialogue free piece of sixties hokum it's that more films should show not tell and that more films should have Raquel Welch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 26 February, 2022, 12:51:38 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 25 February, 2022, 09:36:39 AM
Commando

A lot of fun, incredibly dumb.  The pacing in this film is really good and it's very clear what is going on and why it's going on.  Sort of.  I mean, rescuing someone by firing a rocket at them isn't what I'd call smart.  It has a lot of problems.  But it's still fun watching Arnold assault, kidnap, murder, rob, and massacre his way to his goal.

The phone cover we all need:

(https://i.imgur.com/lixVxZ6.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 February, 2022, 02:09:37 PM
Fans of Schwarzenegger's 80s and 90s output have probably already seen these, but just in case here are Arnie's greatest movies as musicals:

Predator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlicWUDf5MM)
Conan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGOQ7SsJrw)
Commando (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FFQ_g8OoQM)
Total Recall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3Szj6WcCY)
Terminator 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6_awUgbUJs)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 26 February, 2022, 10:18:37 PM
Raw Deal

I caught this Arnie's film yesterday, I thought I could give it a go, as he was the topic recently in this section. Plus, I haven't seen it recently, I think it was maybe 15 years ago.

Probably the least remembered Arnie's film from the 80s (save Red Sonja). It's not difficult to say why. Why most of his movies from this decade were fairly entertaining and cheesy (the latter certainly being this picture), my main issue is that film never really transcended B film qualities. Though I admit it has some entertaining value.

The script is weak and faintly reminescences A Fistfull of Dollars, and requires a huge amount of suspension of disbelief. Arnie is Mark Kaminsky, former FBI agent, summoned to go undercover in mafia ring under disguise of Joseph P. Brenner (this one has a fairly funny one-liner), secretly undermining their ranks in order to bring down the whole group and find a mole inside. I don't why he blew up oil facility in order to stage his death. Arnie's cover gets blown in a dumbed down manner. There is a rather surreal sequence, which I found rather cringy, when Arnie guns down a group of baddies, hiding in a quarry, while listening - I Can't Get no Satisfaction. Although the film quickly redeems itself by massive, pop-out shootout (not unlike the finale of Commando) that quickly follows, and which basically wraps up the film. Action in general has potent mix of gunplay and explosions, not hackneyed, nor mindblowing. As for the rest of the cast, there are familiar faces; Sosa from Scarface, Sam Wanamaker as the main antagonist, Robert Davi as his right hand and colourful antagonist to Arnie and Kathryn Harrold, serving for nothing more but eye-candy part. There are some funny one-liners here and there (this being after all, Arnie's vehicle).
-"What P. in your name stands for?"
-"P***y."
Or "cow's biggest contribution to the world is s**t."

Overall, I don't think this is the worst Arnie's film, but I definitely would stow it medium-lower category. If anything, the end credits have one of the coolest, badass tunes I've heard.
https://youtu.be/5DmxfOGlPIg (https://youtu.be/5DmxfOGlPIg)

Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 February, 2022, 02:09:37 PM
Fans of Schwarzenegger's 80s and 90s output have probably already seen these, but just in case here are Arnie's greatest movies as musicals:

Predator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlicWUDf5MM)
Conan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGOQ7SsJrw)
Commando (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FFQ_g8OoQM)
Total Recall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3Szj6WcCY)
Terminator 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6_awUgbUJs)

Then I feel awkwardly embarassed. How come they skipped Last Action Hero (arguably the most underrated Schwarzenegger film?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 04 March, 2022, 06:12:29 PM
The Batman. I really really enjoyed this. Pattinson is great as always and brings something new to the Wayne/Batman dynamic.
I like how it leans into the Dark Knight Detective side of his in a way previous movies have not. Not there aren't fisticuffs. There are and they are impressive, especially one scene lit only by the muzzle flash of guns.
It's not perfect though. My main complaint was with Alfred. To be exact: [spoiler]why was he even there? He's in, what? Three or four scenes and the one scene where he does anything to move the plot forwards could easily have some from elsewhere. [/spoiler]

But my only real groan was, BIG spoiler if you haven't seen it: [spoiler]When Riddler is sent to Arkham and the inmate in the next cell starts talking to him and I thought' No, please don't do the lazy obvious thing'... but they did. [/spoiler]

I didn't feel the long run time and wouldn't mind seeing this again, or this team having another bash at the character.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 04 March, 2022, 11:01:47 PM
wow. just wow.

quo vadis aida is one of the greatest films i have ever seen. and the central performance is beyond extraordinary - her work in the last 15 minutes almost defies belief.
it's on netflix. there are no aliens. it's real, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 05 March, 2022, 11:03:16 AM
Sin City A Dame To Kill For

Meh.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 05 March, 2022, 04:20:29 PM
Having watched ROMEO AND JULIET WITH DINOSAURS last week, I decided to go for ROMEO AND JULIET WITH FIFTIES JUVENILE DELINQUENTS this week.

Steven Spielberg's remake of WEST SIDE STORY is on Disney+ and do you know what? It's rather good. And I say that as someone who loves WEST SIDE STORY.

It seems obvious that Spielberg would be great at musicals but here he genuinely makes the camera dance along with his fabulous cast. Changes? Sure but all for the better. The racism angle is much more explicit and highlighted by having a returning Rita Moreno sing SOMEWHERE.

The tone shift between the first and second half is almost effortless. In the theatre they normally have the advantage of an actual interval but here, going from the rumble straight into I FEEL PRETTY seems quite brutal.

So classic songs delivered well, fab dancing, great cast, great cinematography and Spielberg delivers his best film in a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 March, 2022, 03:11:30 PM
Southern Comfort

To my shame I didn't even know this film existed until I saw Alex Ronald (once of these pastures and the House of Tharg) mention it on Facebook and it looked interesting. A quick google search later and I learn its by Walter Hill - I adore The Warriors - and I found it.

Okay so I can see why it gets compared to Deliverance but this is a better film I think (though fair to say I do need to rewatch Deliverance I've not seen it in a long time). Its tense but relies more on the failings of it central characters, none of whom are particularly likible  and yet we are made to fear for their fates.

The closing scenes in the Cajun Village are just masterful to.

So yeah how the hell haven't I heard about this movie before?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 March, 2022, 04:39:21 PM
And what a soundtrack!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 March, 2022, 04:40:30 PM
It just dawned on me that there's a new Batman movie out yet here I am posting about musicals. Man, I've changed!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 March, 2022, 08:21:59 PM

Ooh, now I need to watch Southern Comfort again. Love that film, it was probably one of the first videos I ever rented.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 March, 2022, 08:43:12 PM
THE GODFATHER PART II

My white whale. An inexcusable blind spot in my cultural experience, and seeing the 4K remaster of the first movie last week was a damn fine primer to finally break into the sequels.

Yeah. Not much more to add that hasn't been said a billion times already. Art.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 07 March, 2022, 08:56:47 AM
The French Dispatch. You could take any frame from this and it would be instantly recognisable as a Wes Anderson film. Whether that's good or bad. It's an anthology film with a number of short films set around reporters in a fictitious French city. The cast is absolutely incredible, but only some of the films work. The best might be the short cycling film with Owen Wilson, which serves as an introduction to the location. Its a slight piece, but works well. Jeffrey Wright's piece about a police chef is also very entertaining. The del Toro, Seydoux and Brody piece about an artist is good, but is overlong (in a film that is pretty short). I didn't enjoy the McDormand one about student politics. It felt pointless (like the politics). A middling Anderson film, I'd say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 March, 2022, 09:17:47 AM
Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City
This was actually okay.  I'd say it comes out ahead of the previous run of live action films.  It's got some nice compositional choices that I appreciated.  Easy to follow and pretty predictable.  Very light on substance, mainly because of the large cast of characters and a lack of anything to actually say.  The zombie make-up was interesting.
I think it was pulling heavily from the first two games.  That's my best guess as I haven't played either of them, but know of them through references.  I get the feeling that game-fans might not appreciate the film, but I don't care because it was a fine watch.
Oh, there is sequel baiting as well.  Which I don't like.  Boo to that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 12 March, 2022, 08:28:30 PM
Dark Waters on Netflix.

A solid legal drama about how the DuPont Corporation poisoned every single person on the planet.

They are finding that shit in the placenta of unborn babies and when they needed to run tests on blood that was uncontaminated with that stuff they needed to use blood taken from US army soldiers during the Korean War**.

**
https://www.environews.tv/122619-dupont-poisoned-99-7-of-americans-with-teflon-chemsicals-erin-brockovich-filmmakers-fight-back/

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/

https://www.ecowatch.com/teflons-toxic-legacy-dupont-knew-for-decades-it-was-contaminating-wate-1882142514.html
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 March, 2022, 12:25:03 AM
I right enjoyed ETERNALS (on Disney+) despite not liking cosmic god type comics. Busy cast but all with clearly defined powers and personality traits so you always know who is who. Definitely a more thoughtful Marvel movie and though the cinematography remains pretty constant, some of the designs and the saunter through human history are great. I'd watch much more of this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 March, 2022, 04:21:59 PM
Turning Red on Disney+. Wow. Brilliant stuff. Never thought I'd see the day when there was a Disney Pixar movie about a 13-year-old girl getting her first period.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: milstar on 13 March, 2022, 09:11:45 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 06 March, 2022, 03:11:30 PM
Southern Comfort

I remember hating this one the first and only time I saw it. It looked very cheaply made to me. I should revisit it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 March, 2022, 09:26:22 PM

I think it's a cracking little flick.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 March, 2022, 09:37:52 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 March, 2022, 04:21:59 PM
Turning Red on Disney+. Wow. Brilliant stuff. Never thought I'd see the day when there was a Disney Pixar movie about a 13-year-old girl getting her first period.

Absolutely staggering that a Disney weary cynic such as myself thought TURNING RED was an unequivocal delight. More of this, less legacy milking corpos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 14 March, 2022, 02:07:22 PM
Lepsis

Soft sci-fi commentary on the gig economy.  By and large I think it gets it's point across well enough.  Personally I would have preferred it be more explicit in what it's taking aim at.  I thought the film had bite, but I have a familiarity with subject matter.  I'm entirely unsure whether someone who isn't at all familiar would get the points the film is making.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the performances, pacing and narrative.  There is mystery and satisfying resolution (which isn't particularly outlandish, either).  A good watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 March, 2022, 08:13:50 AM
Sprung for Spider-Man: No Way Home on Prime. Not the same as seeing it in the cinema, sadly, but that was great. Enormous fun, but with a surprising amount of emotional heft. This far out from the initial release, there was no way I could avoid spoilers, but [spoiler]Matt Murdock[/spoiler]'s cameo was still a little thrill (and, checking now, [spoiler]Kingpin's introduction in the Hawkeye TV series[/spoiler] happened two days after No Way Home premiered).

I also approve of the message the movie seems to be sending to continuity nerds, which is basically: "This version? That version? Yeah, that all happened. It's all good — you can have all of it."

And that means we get to have Willem Defoe and Alfred Molina in a movie with three Spider-Mans. (Spider-Men?) Bonkers, but in a really good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Mardroid on 19 March, 2022, 03:04:05 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 March, 2022, 08:13:50 AM
Sprung for Spider-Man: No Way Home on Prime. Not the same as seeing it in the cinema, sadly, but that was great. Enormous fun, but with a surprising amount of emotional heft. This far out from the initial release, there was no way I could avoid spoilers, but [spoiler]Matt Murdock[/spoiler]'s cameo was still a little thrill (and, checking now, [spoiler]Kingpin's introduction in the Hawkeye TV series[/spoiler] happened two days after No Way Home premiered).

Yeah, I knew from spoilers that that character would turn up, but I thoroughly enjoyed that scene just the same. [spoiler]"How did you do that?" "I'm a really good lawyer." Hur hur![/spoiler]

I just saw it this week, and yeah, that was very enjoyable. [spoiler]One thing that struck me was how good each of them is in their own way. I think the current MCM Spider-man is closest in character to the comic book version, although I think The Amazing Spider-man actor is pretty close too as a bit older more damaged version, but I've always liked Tobey Maguire's more gentle less flamboyant version. He's just a nice guy (until he wasn't with that Venom spectacle). I wouldn't want to pick one. They're all great , and I like that this film kind of canonises (ptoo! If there's really such a thing!) them all.

I missed one or two of the Amazing Spider-man films. (I was a bit cynical about watching them, happening so soon after Raimi's films, although, I liked the actor's take on him, and did quite enjoy the first film. I think I watched part of the second, also,  in that The Lizard rings a bell but I can't remember much about it. The Electro guy, I remember being advertised as the next film's big bad, but I don't think I saw that film at all. This makes me want to catch them. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 07:56:52 AM
Hey you know what Alien3 isn't that bad... well maybe I should qualify that, its riddled with significent issues, but in and of itself its a good film, full of great performances, from a top cast, in large spoilted only in comparison of what its a part of.

I'd not watched this one for years so was my distaste for it, but when I saw it was finally on Disney+ I figured what the heck it was due a revisit, after all I couldn't really remember what I disliked about it. Watching the first reason is clear straight away. Now normally I'm all for films taking story off in different directions and trying new things, but the dismissal of Newt, Hicks is just poor storytelling. You had great characters, folks were invested in. If you wanted to remove them from the story, that's cool step completely aside from that story.

To just kinda handwave them away in such a final way was poor. Its as if the producers and various writers fell down a trap and no one had the courage to say STOP, just take a sec let's not do that. Still they did and so be it, just puts a downer on the movie from the start, which is already viscually downbeat, which sounds a good thing, but takes things too far. Sure anyone can die, the stakes are raised, but its done in such a way as to actually dismiss the tension, not crank it up.

There lies the second issue. The first two films gave us charismatic cast of characters we quickly invested in and engaged with and so as they started being killed off we cared and it mattered. Good, bad, incompetent the people being slaughtered mattered to us. Now there is a similar cast this time, realised by a wonderful actors, but you aren't made to care for them. However good the performance we aren't really given a reason to engage with the folks being picked off. There are also just too many thrown at us to really give any time to develop. So we just have Ripley, who we know will... oh... that's actually one really good aspect.

Finally its good that they didn't try to top the scale of Aliens as that might have got silly, but it doesn't really add anything to the mythos of the series. It kinda goes back to the first film, kinda takes elements of the second, but ultimately really does very little . It leaves it feeling like a bit of a shoulder shrug of a film. We didn't know what to do but knew we had to do something, so ... well that'll have to do.

Its a shame as its not a bad film, some really hocky dialogue aside. Its just not a good film in the context of what's go before. The end is a little chaotic to really know what the plan is. The alien needing a second death, while a bit silly, is pretty fun. The Corporation is bad bit at the end is successful (and maybe points to what the focus of the film should have been, after all the best zombie movies are when the people involved show they are the problem). Ripley's end is satisfying... and any film that does a call back to Ralph Brown saying "No need to be sarcastic" in Withnail is hard not to love. Throwing in Hudson lines from Aliens is more of a problem! So yeah ultimately this isn't the horror show I though it was and might give it another go.

Its certainly given me the courage to try Resurrection again...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 08:02:31 AM
Oh and watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in the week. Love Tarrintino, struggled with some elements of this, particularly the ending, so Tarrintino in a feel that allows him to do other things BUT so many folks seem to suggest its better on a second watch so I'll hand fire until I get the chance to do that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 March, 2022, 10:30:36 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 07:56:52 AM
Hey you know what Alien3 isn't that bad...

I've been saying this for years.

I never understood the Hicks and Newt thing.  I get there are plenty of folks that love them and were heartbroken that they were disposed of, but I just utterly fail to see why.  I can only see them as boring two dimensional characters... especially Hicks.  Hudson and Vasquez were far more interesting and likeable characters.  Hicks and Newt are props... especially Newt.  Anyway, I'm resigned to the fact I'm unlikely to get much agreement for this apparently unpopular take.

I am curious whether you saw the theatrical version of the "assembly cut".  The latter does fix a lot a problems with the film.  But introduces one as well.  In that version the bull is the incubator for the Alien and it doesn't work because there is a scene which necessitates it being the dog.  Aside from that the film works considerably better.

Similar goes for Resurrection.  The Special Edition flows a lot better than the Theatrical cut.  Especially the opening act. 

Anyway, I've always liked Alien3.  Love it's bleak tone and the finality of it's ending.  I also think because of the production hell it went through it is an actual accomplishment and is a hell of a lot better than it had any right to be.  This is the hill I die on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 02:38:48 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 March, 2022, 10:30:36 AM

I am curious whether you saw the theatrical version of the "assembly cut".  The latter does fix a lot a problems with the film.  But introduces one as well.  In that version the bull is the incubator for the Alien and it doesn't work because there is a scene which necessitates it being the dog.  Aside from that the film works considerably better.

It was the regular one - just whatever Disney+ have slopped out. I'm now very intrigued to see the assembly cut to see what it resolves.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 20 March, 2022, 03:33:49 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 02:38:48 PM
It was the regular one - just whatever Disney+ have slopped out. I'm now very intrigued to see the assembly cut to see what it resolves.

The Assembly cut has a slower build up at the start, and also more character building. I find the prisoners more sinister than the Alien in the assembly cut...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 March, 2022, 07:41:37 PM
There is something like 30 minutes of added material in it.  It is as Pyroxian says, plus I'd say it helps the pacing, tone, context and exposition (aside from the bull thing, I honestly think it was a mistake to include that regardless of the higher quality cinematography involved).

Although it's just nice for me to see someone else get something positive from the film regardless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 March, 2022, 08:05:38 PM
Alas not currently available on a streaming service and the comments from Pyroxian and Pictsy really make me want to see this. Hopefully this cut will become available soon - I do have an uplift DVD player but that's for existing stuff only not for new purchases... no not for new purchases...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 21 March, 2022, 05:33:29 AM
Adam Project or The Adam Project not sure and can't be bothered looking it up.  New Ryan Reynolds movie on Netflix, he goes back in time meets his younger self then goes back further in time and they both meet his absences dead dad.  Not too bad, it's a Netflix movie so variable quality on the FX and you either like Reynolds or don't, the kid they cast to play young Reynolds does a pretty good job and overall enjoyable, I'll rate it the way Netflix let you do just a 👍 from me.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 21 March, 2022, 02:34:30 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 March, 2022, 10:30:36 AM
I never understood the Hicks and Newt thing.  I get there are plenty of folks that love them and were heartbroken that they were disposed of, but I just utterly fail to see why.

Cos everything Ripley fought for during Aliens was casually binned. I'm not going to argue that people shouldn't enjoy the third movie - but it's more of a reboot than a sequel.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 March, 2022, 05:42:02 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 21 March, 2022, 02:34:30 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 20 March, 2022, 10:30:36 AM
I never understood the Hicks and Newt thing.  I get there are plenty of folks that love them and were heartbroken that they were disposed of, but I just utterly fail to see why.

Cos everything Ripley fought for during Aliens was casually binned. I'm not going to argue that people shouldn't enjoy the third movie - but it's more of a reboot than a sequel.

Yes.  I have heard many reasons given and I have made many counter points.  From experience I pretty much know I will make no headway in making the case that it isn't that bad and even works for the story being told in Alien3.  Maybe I'm crap at making a point, I don't know, but the passionate brick wall I hit with this particular point of contention I just don't understand.  So I'm resigned to just having an unpopular take on couple of films.  I've given up really trying with this one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 21 March, 2022, 05:50:38 PM
Probably just one of those subjective things - I was only attempting to offer a reason where you said you couldn't see why people didn't like the deaths.

I feel as if I should give Alien Cubed another go, anyway - just because it's been many moons since I watched it.

I think I was destined to be disappointed with almost any third movie that didn't cause an outbreak on Earth - because that's what I wanted to happen next. First movie: horror. Second movie: action. Third movie: apocalypse. That's what I wanted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 March, 2022, 06:44:01 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 21 March, 2022, 05:50:38 PM
I feel as if I should give Alien Cubed another go, anyway - just because it's been many moons since I watched it.

I am happy you are considering giving it another go.  I hope if you do you get something positive from it.  I honestly do think the film has a reputation that isn't entirely deserved and does have something to offer.  If you don't get anything positive from it, that's fine.  The film is not without problems after all.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Pyroxian on 21 March, 2022, 11:11:59 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 March, 2022, 06:44:01 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 21 March, 2022, 05:50:38 PM
I feel as if I should give Alien Cubed another go, anyway - just because it's been many moons since I watched it.

I am happy you are considering giving it another go.  I hope if you do you get something positive from it.  I honestly do think the film has a reputation that isn't entirely deserved and does have something to offer.  If you don't get anything positive from it, that's fine.  The film is not without problems after all.

I think Alien 3 does suffer from the problem that it isn't the film that people wanted. If it had been a direct sequel to Alien it would probably be better regarded.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 March, 2022, 06:38:29 AM
Alien Resurrection

So my unexpected return to the latter Alien films from the original run has now led to Ressurrection and man is it a frustrating film. I love the Jean-Pierre Jeunet films I'm familiar with and you can see why his disturbing, uneasy visual style would seem a fit for an Alien movie, but this was a director about to make Amelie before being offered this and that explains a lot.

This visual style sits so well against a disarming charm and thrust into a horror chase horror movie it makes for an odd mix, too obvious like its REALLY underlining the film trying to be disturbing and uneasy rather than allowing it to be through script and plot. It kinda works best in the end dream like sequence with the Queen, the Hybrid and the all the over laboured sexual guff. The trouble is that bit of the film just doesn't work that well and the end is a bit rubbish - well aside from the gloriously grim way the Hybrid is dealt with.

The film is close and has some real highlight. Sigourney Weaver is just brilliant hamming it up as Ripley 8, the mercenaries are wonderful cartoon characters and the underwater sequence remains an absolute triumph. It just... lacks something. Its fun, passes the time excitingly enough and I don't hate, I just don't really like it either. It hangs there having much to praise it, but nothing to love it.

Curious, which is maybe what it wanted to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 22 March, 2022, 09:17:40 AM
Just to provide a counterpoint, I still think Alien 3 sucks.
The directors cut IS better than the cinematic cut (is this the same as the Assembly cut?) and it's not a really horrible film like all the other Alien films that came after, but it's still a very poor effort compared to both Alien and Aliens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 22 March, 2022, 09:37:04 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 22 March, 2022, 06:38:29 AM
Alien Resurrection

So my unexpected return to the latter Alien films from the original run has now led to Ressurrection and man is it a frustrating film. I love the Jean-Pierre Jeunet films I'm familiar with and you can see why his disturbing, uneasy visual style would seem a fit for an Alien movie, but this was a director about to make Amelie before being offered this and that explains a lot.

This visual style sits so well against a disarming charm and thrust into a horror chase horror movie it makes for an odd mix, too obvious like its REALLY underlining the film trying to be disturbing and uneasy rather than allowing it to be through script and plot. It kinda works best in the end dream like sequence with the Queen, the Hybrid and the all the over laboured sexual guff. The trouble is that bit of the film just doesn't work that well and the end is a bit rubbish - well aside from the gloriously grim way the Hybrid is dealt with.

The film is close and has some real highlight. Sigourney Weaver is just brilliant hamming it up as Ripley 8, the mercenaries are wonderful cartoon characters and the underwater sequence remains an absolute triumph. It just... lacks something. Its fun, passes the time excitingly enough and I don't hate, I just don't really like it either. It hangs there having much to praise it, but nothing to love it.

Curious, which is maybe what it wanted to be.

I'd say that's an accurate description of Resurrection.

Again, the Special Edition does fix some problems with the film.  I found the added material made it more a coherent whole and a more enjoyable romp.  It also felt a little more like a Jeunet film, especially the beginning and it made a bit more sense.  It's a much better version of the film, but it's still Resurrection and it still has that ending.

I like the film.  It's a fun romp.

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 22 March, 2022, 09:17:40 AM
The directors cut IS better than the cinematic cut (is this the same as the Assembly cut?)

Yes.  I don't know why it's called the Assembly Cut because I highly doubt it's that.  It may be because Fincher disavows the film. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2022, 10:13:10 PM
So next up of course I had to put myself through Alien Vs Predator. I had no real desire to, but it was there and I was on a run, so what the heck I thought, maybe I'll have some fresh awakening about this one too.

I didn't.

Its dumb. Its like someone took all the dumb, threw it in a dumb bag and stuck it up until the dumb was all shaken and confused and made less sense. Then it tossed the confused and silly dumb out on the table in a confused and silly dumb mess.

The smartest thing it does is make sure you do don't have time to realise how dumb any one bit of the film is by throwing the next bit of dumb at you so quickly you haven't had time to digest the previous dumb.

Then cool alien vs predator fight in the middle. I mean damn that is really, really well done.

Then straight back to the dumbfest.

I don't hate the film, you can't hate the film. I just pity it.

But you know the dumbest thing of all. Yep you guessed it. I'm watching Alien Vs Predator Requirm next anyway... now that is dumb!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 March, 2022, 08:02:26 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2022, 10:13:10 PM
So next up of course I had to put myself through Alien Vs Predator. I had no real desire to, but it was there and I was on a run, so what the heck I thought, maybe I'll have some fresh awakening about this one too.

I didn't.

Its dumb. Its like someone took all the dumb, threw it in a dumb bag and stuck it up until the dumb was all shaken and confused and made less sense. Then it tossed the confused and silly dumb out on the table in a confused and silly dumb mess.

The smartest thing it does is make sure you do don't have time to realise how dumb any one bit of the film is by throwing the next bit of dumb at you so quickly you haven't had time to digest the previous dumb.

Then cool alien vs predator fight in the middle. I mean damn that is really, really well done.

Then straight back to the dumbfest.

I don't hate the film, you can't hate the film. I just pity it.

But you know the dumbest thing of all. Yep you guessed it. I'm watching Alien Vs Predator Requirm next anyway... now that is dumb!

Dumb-dumb-dumb!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 March, 2022, 08:44:42 AM
Fresh on Disney+. Hmmm. Still not sure. I mean, I enjoyed it, but it is two or three different movies mashed together. Great first act followed by a delightfully late crash into the main titles. Intriguing twist (even though you can sort of see it coming) into the second act, which is almost a stagy character piece in places. Then the third act where it really goes for it. Not sure if it wants to be a straight-up horror/thriller or a pitch-black comedy. Maybe a bit of both?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 24 March, 2022, 10:54:10 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2022, 10:13:10 PM
But you know the dumbest thing of all. Yep you guessed it. I'm watching Alien Vs Predator Requirm next anyway... now that is dumb!
It's dumb, I agree, and occasionally embarrassing in how hard it's trying to be Aliens. But it definitely has its moments. The queen finale is pretty great IMO!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 March, 2022, 12:13:17 PM

Spider-Man: No Way Home. Another top-notch entry from Marvel. Every time a new Marvel film comes out I expect to be disappointed but rarely am (FANT4STIC, I'm looking at you...). For sheer enjoyment, I think the Marvel films satisfy me more than any other series and this one is the latest cherry on top of a cherry cake already piled high with cherries. The only complaint I have, and it's a minor one coming from my Grumpy Old Man head, is the after credits sequence, which is a trailer and not a teaser. It showed me too much instead of just whetting my appetite. Aside from that, another near perfect addition to the MCU.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 25 March, 2022, 10:46:36 PM
Oh good lord why did I do that to myself Alien Vs Predator - Requirm. Or as I like to call it AvsP in Clichetown. I mean has there ever been a setting which so perfectly ticked ever cliche? The jocks are such jerks, the family so in love, the outsider brothers so cool and misunderstood. Even the sherriff who was doing his best, turns into the authority figure that leads folks to disaster. They even throw in the dumb person trusting authority "the Govenment doesn't lie" and two stoner dudes, slaughter army troops. Oh oh and possibly my favourite myterious unrevealed government agent type on the end of the phone... until they realise there's no reason for them to be myterious and un revealed and so just reveal them. Its quite incredible.

Then that ending. So we were prepared to blow up the entire town literally to stop this getting out BUT we'll let the four folks who witnessed us blow up the whole town get by fine... well wow.

Then you can imagine the conversation in the edit suite.

"Shit what can we do to save this, this is crap."

"Turn the contrast right down"

"But then you won't be able to see what's happening."

....

"ohhhh I see what you mean..."

Shite vs shite - Shite

more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 25 March, 2022, 11:13:51 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 24 March, 2022, 08:02:26 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2022, 10:13:10 PM
So next up of course I had to put myself through Alien Vs Predator. I had no real desire to, but it was there and I was on a run, so what the heck I thought, maybe I'll have some fresh awakening about this one too.

I didn't.

Its dumb. Its like someone took all the dumb, threw it in a dumb bag and stuck it up until the dumb was all shaken and confused and made less sense. Then it tossed the confused and silly dumb out on the table in a confused and silly dumb mess.

The smartest thing it does is make sure you do don't have time to realise how dumb any one bit of the film is by throwing the next bit of dumb at you so quickly you haven't had time to digest the previous dumb.

Then cool alien vs predator fight in the middle. I mean damn that is really, really well done.

Then straight back to the dumbfest.

I don't hate the film, you can't hate the film. I just pity it.

But you know the dumbest thing of all. Yep you guessed it. I'm watching Alien Vs Predator Requirm next anyway... now that is dumb!

Dumb-dumb-dumb!
Its a movie where the highlight is the gratuitous butt-shot ... take what you will from that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 March, 2022, 11:26:04 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 March, 2022, 10:46:36 PM

Shite vs shite - Shite


I would have went with:

Excrement vs Predaturd - Feculence
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 March, 2022, 06:41:52 AM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 25 March, 2022, 11:26:04 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 March, 2022, 10:46:36 PM

Shite vs shite - Shite


I would have went with:

Excrement vs Predaturd - Feculence

More effort than than it deserves ... or seemingly went to writing the script!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 March, 2022, 10:29:14 PM
End my revisits of Alien movies with Predator 2... which is only very, very loosely an Alien film - there is the skull, but I was lead there from AvP films and fancied reevaluating this after not really liking it as a kid.

So much like AvP 1 its as dumb as a box of bees, As with AvP Requirm its full of cliche. The characters are the very worst 80s actio cliches and based on that... I kinda really liked iot. Its shallow, horribly dated (except the Predator effects have they been redone? Looked really good) and cliche BUT damn it fun, shlocky nonsense. Danny Glover is wonderfully atypical - at least in his physical performance, if not in character, as an 80s action hero which is wonderfully refreshing.

Yeah - there's not much to say about it as there's not much about it. Just enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 March, 2022, 11:08:14 PM
"Shit happens!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 28 March, 2022, 11:43:44 AM
Fuckin' voodoo magic, man!

Predator 2 is terrific. It has aged badly in many respects and almost every single character in it is pretty reprehensible: Harrigan is a brutal macho thug, Lambert is a complete sleazebag, Keyes is just Gary Busey - but it's manic pace and over the top antics make it hugely enjoyable. In particular Garey Busey, Bill Paxton and Danny Glover overact like crazy and the scenes with King Willie and the Predator on the subway are fantastic.
I also didn't like it when it came out as I wanted something more like Predator, but in later years have come to really love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 March, 2022, 12:45:43 PM
Plus didn't they COMPLETELY steal the plot of Predator 2 for Batman vs. Predator?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2022, 07:34:06 PM
I'm half way through a pretty lifeless Hallmark TV movie of KING SOLOMON'S MINES. Two handsome leads in Patrick Swayze and Alison Doody (though Swayze is phoning it in and Doody doesn't appear to know when it is set... to be fair to her, neither does the production team) and some pretty shots of Africa aside it has nothing to offer.

Possibly more relevant, by way of rabbit holes and connections, is "how did I end up watching it?".

I'd been looking at an old LXG comic and my Ray Harryhausen poster book last week. There was a great, if reductive,  poster for a ONE MILLION YEARS BC  and SHE double bill.

That got me googling SHE - a film I barely remember - and H Rider Haggard. I hadn't realised there was a SHE and Alan Quatermain crossover (coincidence with me looking at LXG) which took me to KING SOLOMON'S MINES wiki which mentioned this adaption and then when I saw it pop up on Amazon, I thought "This might be fun".

I was wrong, obviously. Do other people arrive at film choices in terrible ways?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 April, 2022, 07:35:48 PM
Actually, some of the supporting cast. (Quatermain's local guides and bearers who actually have names!) are good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 03 April, 2022, 08:41:28 PM
Worth checking out the 1930's SHE produced by Merian C Cooper as a follow up to his production of King Kong. Great stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 April, 2022, 12:34:28 AM

Total Recall. I haven't seen this since it came out in 1990 and now I remember why. Total piffle from start to finish.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 April, 2022, 10:21:01 AM
Total Recall was kind of ruined for me because of the whole "it's ambiguous" thing.  I never thought it was ambiguous to the viewer, only to the protagonist. 

For something like this to sell me on that premise the bare minimum must be that every scene has the protagonist present, so we are seeing it entirely from their point of view.  If I'm seeing stuff they aren't, I'm not sold.

Also don't show me a scene of an event that protagonist has wiped from memory.  If they don't remember it, we shouldn't see it.

If I am to respect the interpretation that within the film the events aren't real, then I can't respect the film.  At this point it's hard to watch because of that.

It's a shame because it was one of favourite Schwarzenegger films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 April, 2022, 12:08:44 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 April, 2022, 10:21:01 AM
Total Recall was kind of ruined for me because of the whole "it's ambiguous" thing.  I never thought it was ambiguous to the viewer, only to the protagonist. 

For something like this to sell me on that premise the bare minimum must be that every scene has the protagonist present, so we are seeing it entirely from their point of view.  If I'm seeing stuff they aren't, I'm not sold.

Also don't show me a scene of an event that protagonist has wiped from memory.  If they don't remember it, we shouldn't see it.

If I am to respect the interpretation that within the film the events aren't real, then I can't respect the film.  At this point it's hard to watch because of that.

It's a shame because it was one of favourite Schwarzenegger films.

I always thought it was real, because when he is under - to have the implant - there is a conversation he cannot hear where the implanters say that the memory has not been implanted yet.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 April, 2022, 12:27:39 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 07 April, 2022, 12:08:44 PM
I always thought it was real, because when he is under - to have the implant - there is a conversation he cannot hear where the implanters say that the memory has not been implanted yet.

Same.  If I'm recalling correctly that's also the scene where they wipe his memory of having been to Recall and send him home.

Nevertheless, Paul Verhoeven has given credence to the ambiguity stating it was his intention to make it that way.  Also that it's both real and fake at the same time.  I can't reconcile that with the movie I see and if he really intended that at the time then he failed in what he set out to achieve.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 April, 2022, 01:06:52 PM
I long ago gave up trying to decide one way or the other. I still think it's incredibly fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 April, 2022, 01:22:49 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 April, 2022, 10:21:01 AM

I never thought it was ambiguous to the viewer, only to the protagonist. 


Yes. The ambiguity, to me, felt like a mind game played on Quaid by Ronnie Cox's bad guy to confuse him and maybe break the reprogramming to get the Evil Quaid back. Also, an alien machine capable of reconfiguring the entire Martian atmosphere in just a few minutes, with air breathable by humans? Puh-lease. It's a shame, really, because I think there's a decent film in there struggling to get out but it was, in the end, unfortunately stillborn. (Although I did enjoy Sharon Stone cracking Arnie in the plumbs. Four times.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 07 April, 2022, 02:09:51 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 April, 2022, 01:22:49 PM
(Although I did enjoy Sharon Stone cracking Arnie in the plumbs. Four times.)

Arnie had the last laugh, though, along with the best line in the film: "Consider this a divorce!"  :)

Despite all the inherent silliness I still love this movie and it's one of my favourite Arnie films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 April, 2022, 09:06:35 PM

Cop Land. Haven't watched this in ages, for some reason, but it's still a groovy movie with a decent story and a top tier cast. Probably my favourite Stallone film, beating First Blood by a half-shaved whisker.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 April, 2022, 09:33:30 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 07 April, 2022, 02:09:51 PM
Arnie had the last laugh, though, along with the best line in the film: "Consider this a divorce!"

"Consider dis a divooorce!"

Great. Just great. Prime Schwarzenegger.

(Actually, I've just remembered that I fuckin' love this movie. I'm off to see if there's a 4K blu-ray RIGHT NOW!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 April, 2022, 09:36:40 PM
Two weeks.

Two weeks.

Twwoooo weeeekkks.

TWWOOOO WEEEKS.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 10 April, 2022, 11:17:02 AM
SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER
More Harryhausen goodness with a trio of creepy troll creatures, an amazingly expressive baboon, giant walrus, troglodyte, sabertooth tiger and a bronze minotaur - who is utterly wasted. 

A completely whitewashed cast (a wooden Patrick Wayne and a young Jane Seymour, Patrick Troughton's gullible genius), pathetic villains (they are outnumbered and outgunned without Minoton) can't derail it though.

Genuinely can't understand how a writer and director set up a villain like Minoton and not have him as part of the climax. Possibly would make it too similar to the end of Golden Voyage?

I particularly like the "Now we have the hard journey home!/ Cut to Coronation Room" ending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 April, 2022, 08:44:04 PM

Cobra. (1986). Cobblers.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 April, 2022, 09:01:20 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 April, 2022, 08:44:04 PM

Cobra. (1986). Cobblers.

Kino entry in the copaganda genre. Absolutely wonderful bollocks, I love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 11 April, 2022, 03:50:35 AM
Sonic 2
It's a movie based on a game where a Blue Hedgehog sprite runs from left to right really fast jumping on bad guy robots, really shouldn't work but like the first one it does.  Was lots of fun, nice little Easter eggs in there for fans of the game, took my 5 year old daughter as her first trip to the cinema and she loved it too, she even sat in her seat for the whole 2 hours, maybe 15 minutes too long they could cut out the whole Hawaii wedding and nothing would be missed.  Jim Carrey bought it as Robotnic again and Edris Elba was great as Knuckles you get a very Drax feeling from the character.  I f you didn't think much of the first one don't bother but for my money both Sonic & Sonic 2 are probably the best Video Game moves so far.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 11 April, 2022, 11:17:31 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 April, 2022, 11:17:02 AM
Genuinely can't understand how a writer and director set up a villain like Minoton and not have him as part of the climax. Possibly would make it too similar to the end of Golden Voyage?

Minaton rules. My brother and I were obsessed with Harryhausen films when we were younger and it was always a source of bafflement / hilarity to us that he spends the whole film rowing the boat and exuding menace only to have a rock fall on him and take him out of the action before the climax. I'm also always struck by poor old Maroof getting killed at the end and nobody basically noticing.

Everything you've said about this film is true including about how the issues can't derail it - beautiful sets and costumes and incredible monsters. Patrikc Wayne is crap but better than the guy who plays Sinbad in Golden Voyage imo (although that one has Caroline Munro, Tom Baker and Kali)

Must watch these again!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 12 April, 2022, 04:30:49 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 April, 2022, 09:33:30 PM
Quote from: paddykafka on 07 April, 2022, 02:09:51 PM
Arnie had the last laugh, though, along with the best line in the film: "Consider this a divorce!"

"Consider dis a divooorce!"

Great. Just great. Prime Schwarzenegger.

(Actually, I've just remembered that I fuckin' love this movie. I'm off to see if there's a 4K blu-ray RIGHT NOW!)

I love Total Recall - it's on my list of Movies I Can't Walk Away From, or MICWAF.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 14 April, 2022, 10:29:40 PM
The Ballard of Buster Scruggs

What a superb movie. 6 vignettes with 'western' settings, though they have great scope in both tone and theme. Each one offers so much and together as a whole they work wonderfully.

There are some superb performances, after all Tom Waits is in there, but many more besides. The best thing is I know each of the stories will be my favourite dependent on what mood I am in. None are weak at all and all offer something to the collective whole.

This has inspired me to do a Coen's retrospective as I did a Wes Anderson one not that long ago (well I watch Hail, Caesar the other might - which is a mh movies and certainly not to their normal standard).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 April, 2022, 10:50:42 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 April, 2022, 10:29:40 PM
The Ballard of Buster ScruggsThere are some superb performances, after all Tom Waits is in there,

I don't dispute the validity of this observation in the context of a movie I haven't seen, but I will argue the logical fallacy of that argument. Tom has delivered cameos in some right dross.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 April, 2022, 06:06:24 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 14 April, 2022, 10:50:42 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 April, 2022, 10:29:40 PM
The Ballard of Buster ScruggsThere are some superb performances, after all Tom Waits is in there,

I don't dispute the validity of this observation in the context of a movie I haven't seen, but I will argue the logical fallacy of that argument. Tom has delivered cameos in some right dross.

Arh but that dross is elevated by his presense.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 April, 2022, 10:38:33 AM
Sometimes you just gotta turn up for that pay cheque.

Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a delight, I still catch myself playing the soundtrack on occasion.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2022, 11:56:00 AM
The Liam Neeson/Harry Melling segment is pure horror.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 April, 2022, 12:15:40 PM
There's a great tradition in "few stood against many" stories whatever the medium and especially in movies. Is there a better example than ZULU? (And actually of war movies in general). I doubt it but I keep looking.

PANFILOV'S 28 MEN is a Russian film available in an attrociously dubbed version  on YouTube (some of the gore may have been cut) and is sort of ok. As ever when everyone has military regulation haircuts, is in uniform and often covered in shit, it's hard to tell who is who (yet Zulu manages it). Military buffs will love to see the prominence of the anti-tank rifles and  the obvious dangers of letting your tanks get too far ahead of your infantry. But everybody and I mean everybody takes several hits but still manages a heroic last throw of a grenade. But the kicker is that a quick Google it's all absolute bollocks - a made up myth of the Soviet propoganda machine.

Rooted slightly more in fact is THE OUTPOST about a battle at a ridiculously isolated American outpost in Afghanistan as they try undermine the Taliban. The cast aren't quite as identikit (at least half a dozen can be recognised from scene to scene) and the action is brilliantly staged with low , long tracking shots following the soldiers as everything blows to shit around them... Very immersive but without the one take artifice that people (not me) found off-putting about 1917. I'm not a soldier and have never been anywhere near the military in my life but the pre-battle interactions have a feel of truth about them. In fact even during the fight there's realism as soldiers sit in armoured cars for cover rather than risk going out to fight/ save people. Deaths are simple and quick... No last gasp heroics.

There were a couple of Medal Of Honour dished out and the film does a good job of showing why the were deserved. But reading the unit citations you wonder why some seemed to get medals for the aforementioned sitting in an armoured car until air support arrived.

I'll not pretend it does a good job of representing the politics of Afghanistan but as an entry into the "lions led by donkeys" subgenre of war movies, it does ok. Some of the lions are sheep too and nobody quips as they kill. All underlined with a simple shot of one of the Medal Of Honour recipients waking from rest in a room full of bodybags.

Can you tell that Mrs Tips is away and I have full control of the evening's viewing?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 April, 2022, 09:14:52 PM

I share the love for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Superb film.

On a completely different note... Tango & Cash (1989). Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russel do silly things in a corny way, but it's great fun and I wish they'd made a sequel or two.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 April, 2022, 08:48:23 AM
Out of Sight

Well its very of its time isn't it. The depressing thing is that its time is my time and I wonder if I'd dated as badly. Don't get me wrong it oozes the chemistry its needs to work due to the leads being so damned sexy. It has numerous fantastic supporting cameos.

It is however over directed (if that is a thing), the time jumps feel forced and don't really add anything, except arguably allowing the pacing to work better. The freeze... frames are annoying and overall while a decent caper the whole thing is a little unpleasent.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 17 April, 2022, 01:02:53 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 April, 2022, 08:48:23 AM
Out of Sight

Well its very of its time isn't it. The depressing thing is that its time is my time and I wonder if I'd dated as badly. Don't get me wrong it oozes the chemistry its needs to work due to the leads being so damned sexy. It has numerous fantastic supporting cameos.

It is however over directed (if that is a thing), the time jumps feel forced and don't really add anything, except arguably allowing the pacing to work better. The freeze... frames are annoying and overall while a decent caper the whole thing is a little unpleasent.
That's exactly my lingering opinion as well. There's an undercurrent to it that I can do without these days.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future. Interesting, the end occurred in a 1950s Missles Silo, Bond being a product of the post-WW2 world. The Villian's motivation seemed slightly skewed, but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 April, 2022, 02:02:37 PM
I've been watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z movies lately.  They are weird.  Where the show had issues of dragging things out for far too long, the films have the opposite problem.  Cramming all the DBZ tropes into 45 minutes at a break neck pace.  It's all going by so fast I barely notice what a bunch nonsense it is.  My favourite is the one where the villain is defeated by whistling.  Classic.

The original Bardoc special was decent enough.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 April, 2022, 12:04:51 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 April, 2022, 02:04:27 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future.

It's a great looking film with some excellent set pieces. My initial quibble with it was that it crossed some hard-to-define line in my head and became just a bit too science fictiony with all the nanotech stuff and, for me, stumbled at the end given that Bond had been handed a literal get-out-of-jail free card [spoiler](in the form of a handy portable EMP generator)[/spoiler] which he then bafflingly fails to use when [spoiler]infected with nanobots.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 April, 2022, 04:26:05 PM
The Northman

We have these wonderful things at the Uni I work at called SHU Tuesdays, basically the day off after bank holidays. This time I landed on my feet as both kids back at school, Mrs YNWA in work so a DAY, a whole goddamn day to myself and free to roam. So I decided  to do something I just don't do enough these days, infact hardly ever and go and watch a adult movie, completely of my choice (well times determine actually wanted to watch Oncoda 10000 nights in the jungle but won't have got to pick the boy child in time damnit), beginning to end in the cinema. Bliss.

And to be fair The Northman is one of those movies that really reminds you why going to the cinema is great. Its visiually stunning and very well made. It truly is a Wagnian  Epic and really plays the part well. Really pretty good. Its problemis similar problems to Robert Eggers' other film (well that I've seen) The Lighthouse. In that it kinda boxes itself in and by doing to leaves itself simply not as interesting, intriguing and different as it otherwise might be.

The utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet, mean you pretty much know where this is going and however much you dress up an action revenge thriller with lush cinematography , nice Viking history bits, I assume pretty accurate, certainly enough to fool my layman Viking knowledge and cooool nordic mythology, its still an action revenge thriller. Throwing some shakespearn references doesn't change that at all.

Its a very good action revenge thriller, a wonderfully grissly action revenge thriller. I got the impression however it felt it was more and going in I was kinda hoping for more and so as such left pretty disappointed that I'd just seen a beautifully shot, thrilling, exciting and slighty more interesting action revenge thriller.

If you go in expect a great action revenge thriller you are in for a real treat.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2022, 04:42:04 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 April, 2022, 02:04:27 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
No Time To Die. The final Bond with Daniel Craig was pretty good with a fine cast, good action scenes, a few shocking twists and a nod to the possible future.

It's a great looking film with some excellent set pieces. My initial quibble with it was that it crossed some hard-to-define line in my head and became just a bit too science fictiony with all the nanotech stuff and, for me, stumbled at the end given that Bond had been handed a literal get-out-of-jail free card [spoiler](in the form of a handy portable EMP generator)[/spoiler] which he then bafflingly fails to use when [spoiler]infected with nanobots.[/spoiler]

That, and the fact that Bond's retired and yet the active agent is sent away with the women and children so that Bond can do Real Man's work.

In fact, I would have rather that the retired bloke bogged off with the women and children and, y'know, let the actual serving secret agent do the hard work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2022, 04:43:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 April, 2022, 12:04:51 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.

Diamonds are Forever is a great Bond movie!!!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 April, 2022, 05:26:17 PM
QuoteThe utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet,

To be fair, it's based on the Viking legend of Amleth, which Hamlet is also based on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 19 April, 2022, 06:15:33 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2022, 04:43:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 19 April, 2022, 12:04:51 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2022, 10:56:26 AM
... but Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and Roger Moore's A View To A Kill was far worse as final Bond films go.

Connery had the pretty sucky DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (if only he'd bowed out on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE). Lazenby gets a good last with OHMSS (which is also a good first) and Dalton has a pretty good last film in LICENSE TO KILL (despite it being a bit US bound like Diamonds).

The villain was deffo the weak bit in NO TIME TO DIE for me.

Diamonds are Forever is a great Bond movie!!!

DIAMONDS the first Bond movie I saw at the cinema but despite that nostalgic pull, I find it almost unwatchable and turgid and tired now. The next one I saw was THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Which just gets better every time I watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 April, 2022, 06:45:06 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 19 April, 2022, 05:26:17 PM
QuoteThe utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet,

To be fair, it's based on the Viking legend of Amleth, which Hamlet is also based on.

Arh this I did not know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 22 April, 2022, 09:41:34 AM
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
I enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I would. The action scenes go on slightly too long (especially the Statue of Liberty sequence but, to be fair, they had a lot to resolve) and the quiet moments are the best. [spoiler]Willem Defoe and Alfred Molina[/spoiler] are obviously having a blast.

I hope Tom Holland isn't type cast in a straight to DVD ghetto after his stint at Marvel. I'd love for him to have a long Kurt Russell style career.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 24 April, 2022, 01:23:57 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 April, 2022, 04:26:05 PM
The Northman

The utterly unsubtle (I assume deliberately) illusion to Hamlet, mean you pretty much know where this is going and however much you dress up an action revenge thriller with lush cinematography , nice Viking history bits, I assume pretty accurate, certainly enough to fool my layman Viking knowledge and cooool nordic mythology, its still an action revenge thriller. Throwing some shakespearn references doesn't change that at all.

I saw this yesterday and while I would recommend it it's not without it's flaws. I'm sure I saw the trailer but it was not evident to me before going what it was about. After the opening scene I was like 'Oh no it's Hamlet'.  Not that I'd have a problem with Viking Hamlet but I was expecting something different. It's quite long as well for such a simple story but yes visually stunning.

I also thought it suffered from some miscasting. I did not like Nicole Kidman and Anya Taylor- Joy's attempt at a Russian accent was dreadful and distracting. Similarly I don't think that Alexander Skarsgard can act. While you might think that his monotone emotionless delivery is appropriate for this role - he is the same in everything. When he's not shouting angrily his performance lacks any nuance or depth.

But overall it's absolutely worth a watch!


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 April, 2022, 10:19:16 PM
Why isn't The Rocketeer universially loved? Its almost impossible not imagine not falling for its easy charms...

...and maybe there lies the problem. I'd not seen it for an age. In fact possibly since not in the day, since it came out (on video) at least. I've seen bits of it loads of times, but never sat down since then to watch it all. I've always cast it aside thinking it was pretty dull. I've loved the comics for years and seeing as a new comic series had started and this was on Disney+ I thought why not give it another go, not expecting much... and loved it, absolutely loved it.

The only problem is that easy charm, its a little too easy, its not dull, far, from it but the direction could be tighter. The action could be a bit slicker. I mean a Nazi, Mob, FBI shot out and it doesn't quite grab and completely thrill you, you are not on the edge of your seat until the final balloon scene. But if it doesn't completely thrill you, it does thrill you. Its charms and amuses, not at a Princess Bride level, but something that at least understands what makes Princess Bride quite the film it is and tries to get there. And damn it gets close.

It looks stunning too.

So yeah why isn't this more lauded? Its as good as most the romantically remembered films of the time and I really wished I'd returned to it sooner as I suspect I'd have watched it many times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 April, 2022, 11:18:47 PM
I've never watched The Rockateer, but the poster's design aesthetic turns me off. I just don't like Googie. See also: The Jetsons.

Of course - this is a shallow bias, and says nothing of the quality of the movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 April, 2022, 06:24:36 AM
I did not know the term Googie before - everyday is a school day as they say.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 27 April, 2022, 12:51:59 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 April, 2022, 11:18:47 PM
I've never watched The Rockateer, but the poster's design aesthetic turns me off. I just don't like Googie. See also: The Jetsons.

Interesting side note: George Jetson was a 40-year old father in 2062, meaning he's born this very year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 April, 2022, 03:18:42 PM
The score is magnificent too. Apparently the poster had people thinking it was animated which put people off.

Timothy Dalton is having a ball, isn't he?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 02 May, 2022, 05:26:58 PM
On a bank holiday I was scrolling through Netflix and plumped for Robot Overlord - not the most entertaining film watched even though Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson are both in it.
However and it's not a spoiler about 10-15 minutes in two characters are sitting in a basement/loft ready 80s porgs (should have paused the film for the prog numbers as they commented on the vocabulary used)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 02 May, 2022, 05:31:13 PM
Quote from: Trooper McFad on 02 May, 2022, 05:26:58 PM
On a bank holiday I was scrolling through Netflix and plumped for Robot Overlord - not the most entertaining film watched even though Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson are both in it.
However and it's not a spoiler about 10-15 minutes in two characters are sitting in a basement/loft ready 80s porgs (should have paused the film for the prog numbers as they commented on the vocabulary used)

I interviewed the director at the time and mentioned that - yeah, he's a squaxx.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 03 May, 2022, 02:02:16 PM
A weekend trip to Edinburgh meant I got to return to the wonderful Filmhouse and catch their screening of Once Upon a Time in the West, part of their Morricone season. I'd only seen this on a tv before, and this was an entirely different experience. The pacing is slow, almost to the point of parody, but it is absolutely riveting throughout. The soundtrack, and the matching of the visuals to it (it was made before the film) might well be unmatched in cinema.

Anyway. Well worth seeing if it appears on a big screen near you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 03 May, 2022, 02:32:11 PM
Watched the Uncharted movie this weekend. I enjoyed the movie for what it is and over-the-top unrealistic action movie. So this is not an academy award winning movie it is a good fun action movie. The movie is  fun that is it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 03 May, 2022, 05:03:32 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 03 May, 2022, 02:02:16 PM
A weekend trip to Edinburgh meant I got to return to the wonderful Filmhouse and catch their screening of Once Upon a Time in the West, part of their Morricone season. I'd only seen this on a tv before, and this was an entirely different experience. The pacing is slow, almost to the point of parody, but it is absolutely riveting throughout. The soundtrack, and the matching of the visuals to it (it was made before the film) might well be unmatched in cinema.

Anyway. Well worth seeing if it appears on a big screen near you.

I love that movie. Better than any of the Eastwood Sergio films (which are all excellent too). I've only seen it on a telly screen, but it must have been an exceptional experience seeing it on a proper cinema screen.

I don't really notice the pacing being slow. As you say its so engaging it zips by. That opening scene at the railway is practically glacial but not a moment feels wasted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 03 May, 2022, 05:06:22 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 03 May, 2022, 05:03:32 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 03 May, 2022, 02:02:16 PM
A weekend trip to Edinburgh meant I got to return to the wonderful Filmhouse and catch their screening of Once Upon a Time in the West, part of their Morricone season. I'd only seen this on a tv before, and this was an entirely different experience. The pacing is slow, almost to the point of parody, but it is absolutely riveting throughout. The soundtrack, and the matching of the visuals to it (it was made before the film) might well be unmatched in cinema.

Anyway. Well worth seeing if it appears on a big screen near you.

I love that movie. Better than any of the Eastwood Sergio films (which are all excellent too). I've only seen it on a telly screen, but it must have been an exceptional experience seeing it on a proper cinema screen.

I don't really notice the pacing being slow. As you say its so engaging it zips by. That opening scene at the railway is practically glacial but not a moment feels wasted.

And imagine what it would have been like to see it at cinema at the time of release "Oh, here comes Henry Fonda, the goodie..."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 May, 2022, 05:31:31 PM
Quote from: CalHab on 03 May, 2022, 02:02:16 PM
A weekend trip to Edinburgh meant I got to return to the wonderful Filmhouse and catch their screening of Once Upon a Time in the West, part of their Morricone season. I'd only seen this on a tv before, and this was an entirely different experience. The pacing is slow, almost to the point of parody, but it is absolutely riveting throughout. The soundtrack, and the matching of the visuals to it (it was made before the film) might well be unmatched in cinema.

Anyway. Well worth seeing if it appears on a big screen near you.

I absolutely love that movie, and the soundtrack is something else - especially the haunting Harmonica theme (https://youtu.be/6MZw_Iv0wdU) - play it loud!

Talking of parody, though: A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques (https://youtu.be/qsehHR-8TR4).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 06 May, 2022, 11:28:28 AM
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I meant to see The Northman, but we turned up at the wrong cinema. Oops. This was on, though, so we saw it instead.

This was a load of fun. It's very recognisably a Sam Raimi film, and he plays up the horror aspects. Bruce Campbell's cameo even references Evil Dead 2.

There are the usual bits of MCU lore and "surprise" characters, which all add to it.

Well worth an evening out. But I still need to see The Northman.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 06 May, 2022, 10:43:24 PM
A friend at work recommended Bo Burnham to me and his film Inside. Now Bo Burnham is a musical stand-up (look I didn't know so maybe you don't and so I thought I should say?) and Inside is a 'documentry' of sorts of what he went through during Lockdown. So I checked him up on Netflix he had a couple of 'Specials'... not sure they count as movies but comedy stand-up by Richard Pryor, Steve Martin etc was when I was a kid and my way of discovering great comedy so I reckon this goes here.... ANYWAY...

He had a couple of stand-up shows on and decided it would be a good idea to check them out before going into such a high concept piece, to get a sense of him as a comedian first, so watched Bo Burnham - Make Happy and heaven above its brilliant. The best, most original comedian I've seen in a long time. Its honest, sharp and funny. Sometimes uncomfortably funny, but bloody funny.

Then the end. Which is still astonishingly funny, but also haunting. Just genius, liberatingly honest and crushingly funny.

If you have Netflix check it out. If you don't, get Netflix.

I'm a bit scared to watch 'Inside' now... excited but scared!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 08 May, 2022, 07:39:01 AM
Bo Burnham - Inside

I'm very glad I checked his other specials before watching this as having a wider sense of the themes Bo Burnham uses in his comedy really helped get additional meaning from this. That said its so burning honest, so raw and on the surface unflitered means its simply a brilliant film in its own right and doesn't require any preknowledge of its creator.

While 'Make Happy' and 'What' (What being a proto Make Happy without quite the depth but with all the fantastic chuckles and well worth watching as well) are traditional format tv standup specials in format if not content - they both transcend what you've have seen before, think watching Bill Hicks for the first time - Inside is something entirely different.

Bo Burnham filmed the 'comedy special' in a single room during the pandemic entirely by himself, over a year (or so) with no one else present. It still plays with the idea of the relationship a performer has with his audience, deals with our new relationship with social media its much more directly about mental health and absolutely compelling. Its less obviously 'funny' than the other specials but all the more powerful for it and to be honest I laughed harder at the points where the comedy hits.

By the end I was in tears (all be it manly northern working class male tears) its just a work of absolute honest genius and so exposed - as he very clearly illustrated at the end that its quite a hard watch ... but I'll be watching it again very soon as its simply one of the best things I've seen for a long, long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 May, 2022, 09:28:16 AM
I've given up on the Dragon Ball Z movies, much like how I gave up on the Dragon Ball Z series.  I decided to watch a different piece of crap.

Raw Deal
It starts off pretty fine.  Arnie is infiltrating a Mafia organisation or something to find out who the rat is in the police force or FBI or something.  I don't know.  Then he just kills them all at the end.  I don't know why, if that was a valid solution, he didn't just do that to begin with.  What a waste of time.  A bad point of view about policing in a film that is utterly pointless in it's own incompetence.  Nevertheless, I'd never watched it before and it's not the worst Arnie film I've seen.  That's not saying much though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 18 May, 2022, 10:58:05 AM
Star Wars: Rogue One.

Still really like it. Looking forward to Andor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2022, 06:35:40 AM
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE & DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

A multiversal double, with one being among the most exocentrically joyous, fun and charming movies I'm likely to see all year filled with exquisite action sequences and tight (if at times over edited) choreography, endearing performances, and a  weirdly layered pay off to oft egged familial trauma narrative.

And the other was the latest MCU movie. Which shite, and I'll leave it at that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2022, 07:34:22 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2022, 06:35:40 AM
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE ....
A multiversal double, with one being among the most exocentrically joyous, fun and charming movies I'm likely to see all year filled with exquisite action sequences and tight (if at times over edited) choreography, endearing performances, and a  weirdly layered pay off to oft egged familial trauma narrative.


Really want to see that film! Everything you say confirms I should.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 19 May, 2022, 09:09:10 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2022, 06:35:40 AM
And the other was the latest MCU movie. Which shite, and I'll leave it at that.

Why are you still watching these?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 19 May, 2022, 10:14:10 AM
I enjoyed Dr Strange, but then I like Sam Raimi, Marvel and Marvel movies (in that order). If you don't like those, then I'm not sure why you'd stump up your hard earned cash for a ticket.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2022, 12:14:29 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2022, 07:34:22 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 19 May, 2022, 06:35:40 AM
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE ....
A multiversal double, with one being among the most exocentrically joyous, fun and charming movies I'm likely to see all year filled with exquisite action sequences and tight (if at times over edited) choreography, endearing performances, and a  weirdly layered pay off to oft egged familial trauma narrative.


Really want to see that film! Everything you say confirms I should. Buckaroo Banzai as a wuxia.

Its wonderful, so so so wonderful.

Quote from: CalHab on 19 May, 2022, 10:14:10 AM
I enjoyed Dr Strange, but then I like Sam Raimi, Marvel and Marvel movies (in that order). If you don't like those, then I'm not sure why you'd stump up your hard earned cash for a ticket.

In my defence I haven't seen the last, what, five? I only saw this one in the vein hope some of the Raimicore would make it into the finished piece. It didn't, so was a suitable DNF. I don't think anyone can doubt these are made by committee at this point, none of the auteur directors hallmarks made it into the finished film. A real shame, as I did have SOME hopes for this one.

Quote from: CalHab on 19 May, 2022, 10:14:10 AM
I'm not sure why you'd stump up your hard earned cash for a ticket.

'Raises jolly roger and rattles wallet of saved money'
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 May, 2022, 03:35:48 PM
It is interesting as a debate point, though, isn't it? I suppose one might "not like horror movies" - or, y'know, insert whatever genre. But is it weird that people who don't like a Marvel movie are told to just back off if they don't like it. I've watched all the Star Wars movies, and not liked quite a few. Should I not try the next one in the hope that the quality improves?

Thing is, if I went down that path, I'd have missed out on Rogue One (which I rate) and The Mandalorian (which was a bucket o' fun). With Marvel - a lot of which is basically cloning the template of "WHANG! BANG! SAVED THE EARTH AGAIN!", I'd have missed out on WandaVision (and Guardians of the Galaxy) if I'd switched off at the twentieth repeat of Hulk's ennui shoehorned clumsily into a scene where CGI rent-a-baddies swarm around a big city protecting a planet buster.

Corralling any genre (but let's pick on Marvel, because it's on topic) behind "not for you, this" signage surely only plays into Scorsese's notion that they're "not cinema".

See also: 2000 AD. If I'd stopped at The Grudgefather etc.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 May, 2022, 10:19:57 PM
(https://i.gifer.com/origin/60/6016c298751d3579696e7fd25b81c9de_w200.gif)









Calling Marvel a specific genre  is like calling McDonalds a specific cuisine.











(https://media3.giphy.com/media/COYGe9rZvfiaQ/giphy.gif?cid=790b761189e07c702bcd165fe8335dad97cfd16e121bed7e&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 May, 2022, 10:31:27 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 19 May, 2022, 10:19:57 PM
Calling Marvel a specific genre  is like calling McDonalds a specific cuisine.

Well, you're right*. I don't think the gist of my post relied on my consistant and correct use of the term "genre", though.

*(But they've marketed the fuck out of the MCU, enough that people do refer it to it as a cultural unit. A bit like McDonalds.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2022, 08:00:46 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 May, 2022, 03:35:48 PM

Corralling any genre (but let's pick on Marvel, because it's on topic) behind "not for you, this" signage surely only plays into Scorsese's notion that they're "not cinema".


Entirely in Marties defense, thats an often misrepresented air quote that completely cuts out the nuance of his take.

From NYT 2019:
"It [Cinema] was about confronting the unexpected on the screen and in the life it dramatized and interpreted, and enlarging the sense of what was possible in the art form-
Cinema is an art form that brings you the unexpected. In superhero movies, nothing is at risk."

Which, I think considering we (and the entire internet) has this debate every 2 months or so, I think indicates he was profoundly on the button.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 20 May, 2022, 10:17:23 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 May, 2022, 03:35:48 PM
Corralling any genre (but let's pick on Marvel, because it's on topic) behind "not for you, this" signage surely only plays into Scorsese's notion that they're "not cinema".

I agree with that. But, when I hear the same "MCU is boring/derivative/cynical commercial shite" points being made about every Marvel movie, I tune out and just want the debate to move on. I completely understand why some people don't like them (I don't like lots of the MCU films), but maybe we should just give it a rest.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 May, 2022, 04:59:52 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2022, 08:00:46 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 May, 2022, 03:35:48 PM

Corralling any genre (but let's pick on Marvel, because it's on topic) behind "not for you, this" signage surely only plays into Scorsese's notion that they're "not cinema".


Entirely in Marties defense, thats an often misrepresented air quote that completely cuts out the nuance of his take.

From NYT 2019:
"It [Cinema] was about confronting the unexpected on the screen and in the life it dramatized and interpreted, and enlarging the sense of what was possible in the art form-
Cinema is an art form that brings you the unexpected. In superhero movies, nothing is at risk."

Which, I think considering we (and the entire internet) has this debate every 2 months or so, I think indicates he was profoundly on the button.

Thanks for reminding me about the subtler original point. See - now if they made a film of Zenith's Phase 1, I think that risk factor comes back in. Or, we could find examples of superhero movies that manage to involve risk - like Unbreakable, for example.

Definitely one of those cases where I agree with Scorsese's point in principle, but I can also find examples that question it. (That's without getting into the idea that perhaps cinema isn't actually what he wants it to be, anymore.)

---

To the point that the argument is stale, I suppose people will stop discussing it if the movies stop being made. I can't really blame the studios for making hay while the sun shines - but people are gonna be commenting on that hay. That hay dollar's a big dollar.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 May, 2022, 08:13:06 PM
Also, MCU be wishin' it was this dope, yo:

(http://manapop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Condorman.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 21 May, 2022, 09:48:54 AM
That's a Disney movie, isn't it? So isn't it part of the MCU?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 May, 2022, 10:22:36 AM

Thanks to Dr Strange dabbling with the multiverse, everything is now part of the MCU.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 May, 2022, 10:42:49 AM
Disney part funded the (woeful) 1992 remake of Ultraman, rebranded as The Ultimate Hero, and whats more Marvel are doing a series of comic book reimagining's of the 60's-70's Ultra series.

So yes, my favourite cape franchise is technically part of the MCU too. I hand my snob card in with shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 May, 2022, 08:58:07 AM
ZULU

Caught this on 35mm last night and you know what, still a banger. Its almost a miracle such a weirdly out-and-proud anticolonial, antiwar could be made on the British crown no less in its time. Stands the test of time better than most, and the print was lush.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 22 May, 2022, 12:55:43 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 May, 2022, 08:58:07 AM
ZULU

Caught this on 35mm last night and you know what, still a banger. Its almost a miracle such a weirdly out-and-proud anticolonial, antiwar could be made on the British crown no less in its time. Stands the test of time better than most, and the print was lush.

I totally agree with you on this. A truly incredible film indeed. It is also worth noting the immense respect that Chief Buthelezi - who liaised with the producers whilst filming took place - had for Stanley Baker (who did all that he could, to ensure that the native population who worked on the movie were treated fairly and decently).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 May, 2022, 02:42:19 PM

It is one of my personal favourites, despite modern sensibilities and my general dislike of jingoism it does manage to depict the bravery of both sides.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 May, 2022, 07:08:23 PM
"Hitch. Hitch? You're alive. I've seen you."
"Oh am I? Thanks Sir."
"NO JOKERS PLEASE."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 22 May, 2022, 10:24:52 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 22 May, 2022, 07:08:23 PM
"Hitch. Hitch? You're alive. I've seen you."
"Oh am I? Thanks Sir."
"NO JOKERS PLEASE."
"Do you think the Welsh can't do better than that, Owen?"
"Well, they've got a very good bass section, mind, but no top tenors that's for sure."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 23 May, 2022, 01:14:57 PM
Everything Everywhere All At Once

Took my kids to this last night, and loved it. Not least for the performances of Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Kuan, who are both magnificent throughout (and Yeoh may possibly be the most beautiful woman in cinema).

It may have been a tad overlong, and the pacing may have faltered a bit towards the end, but it was truly wonderful.

But I'm also damn sure I never want to see it again. Odd that.

SBT
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 23 May, 2022, 01:17:03 PM
I made a trip to my local independent cinema to see the remaster of Robocop (1987). What an absolute delight. Verhoeven revels in taking everything up to 11. So many classic moments that I've finally seen on the big screen, and now in glorious detail.

Observations from this umpteenth viewing: Peter Weller looks and acts like an alien. It's totally disconcerting but works well within the context of the film. Nancy Allen is brilliant in this and her Officer Lewis neatly avoids all the usual tough girl cliches, while being believable as a cop and very able to handle herself. And, of course, Kurtwood Smith is the real star of this film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 23 May, 2022, 02:09:20 PM
The Green Knight

I liked it.  Vaguely remembered some talk on here about it so I thought I'd give it a go.  I really appreciated it.  Really good presentation and easy to follow.  Very stark and striking visuals.  100% my kinda movie!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 27 May, 2022, 06:19:45 PM
Alien Nation (1986?)

Stands up surprisingly well. It's like District 9 before District 9. Well worth a rewatch if you haven't seen recently or a watch full stop if you've never seen. Dare I say forgotten sci fi classic. Well maybe not on this forum.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Trooper McFad on 27 May, 2022, 06:32:36 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 27 May, 2022, 06:19:45 PM
Alien Nation (1986?)

Stands up surprisingly well. It's like District 9 before District 9. Well worth a rewatch if you haven't seen recently or a watch full stop if you've never seen. Dare I say forgotten sci fi classic. Well maybe not on this forum.

I remember enjoying it at the time and the subsequent spin off TV series (but that's probably of it's time now)
Maybe try and catch the film sometime soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 28 May, 2022, 11:56:56 AM
I had forgotten about the tv show but the film is great. Any other forgotten 80s gems worth a watch?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 May, 2022, 04:09:53 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 28 May, 2022, 11:56:56 AM
I had forgotten about the tv show but the film is great. Any other forgotten 80s gems worth a watch?

I'm not sure if they're forgotten or not, but: Repo Man, The Hidden & Near Dark (feel like gems to me).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 May, 2022, 08:47:41 PM
I only recently saw The Hidden for the first time.  Certainly a gem.  As are the other two films.  Been a long time since I watched Alien Nation.  I might give it a watch tomorrow.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 30 May, 2022, 10:45:03 AM
Alien Nation

It was indeed worth a rewatch.  It's a pretty standard buddy cop film, just with an interesting conceit.  It doesn't really do a whole lot with it.  I guess that's why it doesn't wow me.  It does have charm.  The juxtaposition between being generic, having an interesting sci-fi premise and being made well.  I have no real complaints.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 June, 2022, 12:22:03 PM
GET CARTER

Rereleased for its 50th anniversary with a new 4K remaster, its remains one of the great bitty revenge thrillers and a kino entry in the northern cinema canon. Delightfully grotty, grim, and miserable.

MORBIUS

I got a big kick out of this. Its shite, not in a 'oh, this is actually competent monster fare' like the two Venom movies are (which I still maintain are the best cape movies of the last decade) but in a genuine belly busting trash way. Incompetent in almost every way (save for Matt Smith, who clearly knows its rubbish and is just having fun playing a camp vamp) and kind of endearing for it. Will never watch it again but can appreciate why its developing a cult status among trash hounds.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 03 June, 2022, 02:24:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 June, 2022, 12:22:03 PM
MORBIUS

I got a big kick out of this. Its shite, not in a 'oh, this is actually competent monster fare' like the two Venom movies are (which I still maintain are the best cape movies of the last decade) but in a genuine belly busting trash way. Incompetent in almost every way (save for Matt Smith, who clearly knows its rubbish and is just having fun playing a camp vamp) and kind of endearing for it. Will never watch it again but can appreciate why its developing a cult status among trash hounds.

I'm still in two minds about watching Morbius.  I'm not keen on another Suicide Squad (first one) experience where it's pretty much wall to wall incompetence.  On the other hand I'm OK with dumb fun. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 June, 2022, 07:17:52 AM
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Deserves all caps. What a thing this film is. Its exhausting as its fantastic. Its chops and cuts in a whirl of energy, just allowing you to hang on, which given its themes is entirely appriopriate. There are moments of quite brilliant calm in there, as two rocks discuss their dilemma transfered to a dimension where life never started. Yes its does that and more. Its simply drives you along most the time however, never normally letting you stop.

Its also hilarious, I mean laugh out loud funny, as its is exilerating. It plays with your emotions at times of high, intense, teary drama it reminds you its all fun and nonsense... fun and nonsense that says so much. And of wow it does crazy imagination like nothing else.

My son watch Infinity War the other day and I found it a horrible blur of stuff and then stuff and then fight and then more stuff and another fight. It was exhausting, up not worth the energy. This the same, except its a beautiful blur that fills you with energy. If you've not seen it do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 05 June, 2022, 03:54:21 PM
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Tricky third act. I think it's very good and deserves plaudits for all sorts of things - but the spectacle does get too much eventually. Like, the hot dog gag - eventually you just figure they had a lot of footage they wanted to use up. I don't think I'd ever volunteer to watch it again, but I'm glad I watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 06 June, 2022, 08:49:10 AM
Top Gun: Maverick. If you're going to do an unnecessary sequel, then this is the way. The new characters work (particularly Jennifer Connelly's) and the action sequences are stunningly filmed. Nostalgic references to the original hit their mark, but it still works for those who aren't familiar with it.

I won't go into the film's glorification of the US military because, if you're going to see a Top Gun film, you shouldn't be surprised.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 June, 2022, 12:00:54 PM
But is it as beautifully homoerotic as the first film? If not i'm nay interested.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: CalHab on 06 June, 2022, 12:22:58 PM
It doesn't reach that lofty standard, I'm afraid. However, they have included a lovingly shot beach football scene with some spectacularly sculpted abs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 June, 2022, 12:28:36 PM
Ah, that'll do.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 June, 2022, 01:52:07 PM
Twins

What an odd film.  I guess I never realised how little story there is in the film before.  And it has some troubling implications.  The real highlight was the Sainsbury's Hot Salsa I was eating.  Surprisingly tasty salsa.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 11 June, 2022, 10:34:46 AM
Had a Treat Yoself day yesterday and went to the cinema twice.

Jurassic World Dominion: This is worse than bad, it's just dull. They have managed the impossible and somehow have made dinosaurs unexciting. Every character has plot armour so there are no stakes in action scenes.

Top Gun Maverick: This, on the other hand, was one of the greatest cinema experiences I have ever had. It's extraordinary film making and genuinely exciting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 June, 2022, 07:57:36 PM
I rewatched TERMINATOR 3 last night for the first time in goodness knows how long. Obviously it's very much CARRY ON TERMINATING for a lot of its run time but still has some awesome (presumably mostly physical) stunts in the central crane/ car chase set piece and an amusing throwdown in a toilet. Plus that killer ending.

Being nearly twenty years old, some of the CG and FX are a bit ropey but you know what, I think I prefer that to, if made today, where the whole thing would be CG.

Anyway, I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 June, 2022, 06:13:40 PM
Little Monsters 1989

I don't know why I've never seen this film before.  It seems like something I should have seen as a kid.  If I had I would have had fond memories of it.  It's a solid kids film about monsters under the bed and friendship and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Prisoners of the Ghostland

This is a visual feast.  Some Wild West and feudal Japan mashup that isn't being in anyway direct about what it is wanting to say (if anything).  It still works for me, as I feel there is plenty to take away from it.  I don't think it'll work for a lot of people.  It's very esoteric.  Oh, it has Nicholas Cage in it as well.  He doesn't go full on Cage, but he does embrace the humour of the film.  A performance that makes me more keen to watch that film which he plays himself.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 June, 2022, 11:53:05 AM
Everything, Everywhere All at Once. Now that is a movie. Absolutely incredible. Bursting with invention and ideas. Also very very funny, but with an actual heart to it. One thing that was annoying though. I am trying to write a novel at the moment and I had planned a scene where someone gets beat up with a [spoiler]dildo[/spoiler]... they beat me to it.
In summary -watch this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 22 June, 2022, 03:45:03 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 June, 2022, 11:53:05 AM
I had planned a scene where someone gets beat up with a [spoiler]dildo[/spoiler]... they beat me to it.

You have been watching The Boys right?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 June, 2022, 11:07:35 PM


Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. What can I say? I'm biased. I love the MCU. Comic book stories told in motion pictures. Pure fantasy. All the thrills of comics (and then some) without all that tedious page-turning - like, who has the strength, right? The part of me that loves these films is the older version of the part of me that loved Harryhausen and Doctor Who. With that in mind, I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish, all the way through to Bruce Campbell's perfect last words. Definitely one for the Multi-Play list.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 24 June, 2022, 11:30:58 PM
Yes, I enjoyed that too. I thought it sagged in the middle. Ironically at the point that caused lots of fans to cream themselves with the cameos but any film that has a fight with musical notes is fine by me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 June, 2022, 04:02:38 PM
Gunpowder Milkshake

It was okay.  A kind of John Wick clone, but with women.  I think it under utilised it's characters and their inter-personal conflicts in favour for what was (at best) passable action sequences - aside from Michelle Yeoh who can and does deliver the action for the little screen time she is given.  It's got the bones for a better movie, but is serviceable as it is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 July, 2022, 02:49:23 PM
Another vote for TOP GUN: MAVERICK which is half sequel, half update and delivers top notch action, some feels and some punch the air moments.

Trailer for M:I 7 looked pretty good too. Crazy but in a good way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 July, 2022, 02:51:04 PM
Chinatown

Oh dear.

Considering who directed this film it just ended up being really gross and made my skin crawl.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 July, 2022, 07:44:28 PM
The recent PLANET OF THE APES movies are all on Disney so, having not seen the third, we've decided on a re-watch.

And my goodness we are off to a CRACKING start with RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

It fair rattles along, many sections dialogue free(ish) and sets up stakes and world with an efficiency you don't see often enough.

Special effects are just unbelievable for a decade old movie... only comping of baby Caesar in some shots jars slightly.

And it's brilliant the way the protagonist shifts... you start the film rooting for scientist Will but he gets (almost) sidelined as the Apes come to the fore and we cheer them over the Golden Gate bridge. Supporting cast are all great too... We need more John Lithgow.

For some reason, I like James Franco but he's not the best actor and he's outclassed by a motion capture performance here.

Very much looking forward to the next two.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 July, 2022, 11:21:06 AM
QuoteRISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

It was my favourite movie of that year. Serkis should have won an Oscar for that role.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 July, 2022, 12:09:58 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 July, 2022, 11:21:06 AM
QuoteRISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

It was my favourite movie of that year. Serkis should have won an Oscar for that role.

It's a really good movie. I recall actually gasping at both the audacity and the cleverness of the way in which they [spoiler]replayed the original movie's (second?) most famous line.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 05 July, 2022, 12:27:47 PM
And they kind of get better and better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 05 July, 2022, 12:41:11 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 05 July, 2022, 12:27:47 PM
And they kind of get better and better.

Yeah its kinda hard to argue with that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 July, 2022, 09:05:29 PM
French Dispatch

I seem to think it was someone here who said you could take any frame of this and know its a Wes Anderson film. That's its blessing and its curse. It seems a visual treat, the trouble is that seems to create its biggest problem.

I think ... and this is a film I will openly admit I'm not sure I'm getting - Anderson is trying do what great prose, in a magazine like The French Dispatch would have. In such writing the word paint a picture and here maaayyyybbeee Anderson is trying to do the reverse. Use the language of cinema to create the poetry of words.

The problems and twofold:

1) There's a LOT of word to back up the stories and it makes the tales feel heavy and dense. The themes of the vignettes and lost (to me at least) under the weight of it all.

2) By pushing the visuals to such extremes they feel forced and I hate to say it pretenious. They don't back up and reenforce as Anderson normally achieves rathers makes the whole thing reck of style over substance...

... my least favourite Anderson film to date... by far... mind did like the del Toro art one - that kinda reminded me of a Kurt Vonnegut book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 09 July, 2022, 06:44:13 AM
I've been meaning to see that, just rewatched The Royal Tenenbaums. Classic Wes.

Saw Another Round, that Mads movie, pretty darn solid. Also the first time I've seen a movie starring him, after seeing him play so many memorable villains etc.

Beavis & Butt-Head Do the Universe is a treat too, just delightful stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 09 July, 2022, 11:02:50 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 05 July, 2022, 12:41:11 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 05 July, 2022, 12:27:47 PM
And they kind of get better and better.

Yeah its kinda hard to argue with that.

The equally awkwardly titled DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES last night and, yeah, it's another cracker. Tense and exciting from the start and barely let's up.

Sympathies still always with the apes, even as they attack the human compound you feel for them being misled rather than for the human defenders. Helm's Deep this is not.

I particularly like the way all of the characters act rationally given the information they have at any given time. Nobody does anything daft because the plot demands it.

Top notch performances all-round; again, Serkis and the other mo-cap players knock it out of the park. Great to see them in the main cast too not relegated to the special effects section of the credits.

In a film of flawless, utterly flawless special effects there are two bravura shots that stand out; a pov from the twirling turret of a careering armoured car that gives a 360 degree view of the battlefield and that final zoom in to extreme close up on Caesar. I wonder how much physical stuff they actually filmed for some bits.

Simple visual storytelling also abounds. Nobody says what happened to Will but there's a yellow plague cross painted on the house which also lets you know just how dark humanity's slide was. And the difference between how Caesar and Gary Oldman address their citizens is very telling.

My favourite things about it? The apes with their hunting paint on look scary as anything.  The subversive commentary on America's obsession with guns. Things go pretty well until the presence of a gun mucks it up whether it's Carver in the initial meeting, his hiding if a shotgun or, most importantly, Koba getting his hands on an assault rifle.

Oh and the very true and sad  "Human work. Human work. Human work" as Koba points to his ravaged body.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 July, 2022, 09:56:57 AM
Thor: Love and Thunder

I've seen some pretty sniffy reviews of this, but I really enjoyed it and at bang on two hours, it doesn't outstay its welcome.

It opens surprisingly dark in tone (introducing Christian Bale's character, who proceeds to steal pretty much every scene he's in) before veering off into a good-humoured romp with Hemsworth and Portman both likeable and funny, and a decent amount screen-time for Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie. Oh, and a hilarious turn by Russell Crowe.

There's review (spoilery, so I won't link it) over on Ars Technica that nails one of the genuinely great things about the film — there's a gleeful inventiveness in the visuals that calls to mind Jim Henson... particularly in the early battle alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy.

If you didn't like Ragnarok, I don't imagine you'll like this, and if you don't like Marvel movies in general, I doubt this film will change your mind but, if you're not in either of those groups, there's a lot to like.

TBH, it's almost worth it for the goats alone — which (I've only just discovered) it turns out are canonical. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanngrisnir_and_Tanngnj%C3%B3str?fbclid=IwAR32El0zFsgb27maEKxMIalc7jqvC5T477Bt7LN6lVoGqMzJX1-pmMWxpnY)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 10 July, 2022, 03:06:17 PM
I only knew about the goats because of Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" - worth a read if you get the chance.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 July, 2022, 11:43:37 PM
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Caps off the trilogy (and while I didn't want this to end, I also do hope they leave it here) in fine style with great performances, action, special effects, themes and feels.

This is blockbuster movie making at its finest. Plus classy nods to the originals.

Some bits aren't subtle; putting an ape slave labour force to work against the visual of a giant American Flag while the star spangles banner plays. But some stuff is brilliantly underplayed; when Caesar has (mostly) learnt his lesson he stops speaking as much and starts signing again.

Loved, loved, loved all three. And yes, they do get better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 July, 2022, 12:52:15 AM
Logan and Deadpool 2

There's an in-joke that makes these perfect back-to-back, and in the order given.

I enjoyed both of these a lot - the first pulls the same trick as The Dark Knight Returns by pushing out to the future and freeing up the narrative that way. Deadpool 2 is perhaps better than Deadpool, has several laugh out loud moments, and some great play with a superhero (Domino) whose power is being lucky.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 05 August, 2022, 12:58:55 PM
Prey. I have to admit, after the last few movies in this franchise, I had low hopes. Turns out I was wrong. This is a cracking action movie and the best since the original. Some great action sequences and alien and Native American badassery. Oh, and the most amazing screen doggo in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 August, 2022, 12:24:41 PM
There's a bunch of stuff I've watched over the last few weeks.

Rocketman

The Elton John one.  This movie is far better than it has any right to be.  I'm not a fan of Elton John or musicals and I find biopics a very mixed bag.  Nevertheless, this was a story that was well told.  I don't think I've learnt a lot about Elton John.  I don't think the movie makers give a shit about that.  Seems like they just wanted to make an entertaining experience and they certainly got me there.  Loved it.

Midnight Run

Late 80's Robert De Niro buddy/odd couple movie about a bail bondsman.  Surprisingly entertaining film.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Don't need to say much about this one.  It's very good.

Mad God

Mostly stop motion passion project.  Bizarre hellish and grotesque depictions strung together without much in the way of coherent narrative.  This film is about the style and it oozes that.  It comes in at under 90 minutes but it leaves a HUGE impression.  Not for the easily nauseous.

Only Lovers Left Alive

Did you know Jim Jarmusch made a Vampire film?  In 2013?  I didn't.  Know I do and I've seen it.  It met my expectations of a Jarmusch Vampire film.

The Resonator Miskatonic U

This is an OK film, I guess.  It has some charm, but I feel it probably needed more.

Morbius

OK, this film.
I wanted to watch this film for the same reason I chose to watch the first Suicide Squad film.  I wanted to see in what particular way they fucked up.  I wanted to rubberneck at this apparent car crash of a film that is so awful it's still the butt of jokes.  Unlike Suicide Squad I was unaware of any major production troubles, so what could possibly make this film so terrible?

The answer is... it isn't terrible.  It's not an awful movie.  At worst, it's an average movie.  It's coherent.  The performances are acceptable.  The story is kind of generic and silly, so standard comic book adaptation fare.  It never really drags.  The CGI is a little hokey but is at least composited well enough.

I'm not sure I have ever been disappoint that a film wasn't bad before.  It's certainly not a good film.  It's just okay.  It's fine.  It even has some sincere entertainment value in things it does right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 August, 2022, 04:07:48 PM
Morbius is my favourite comic book movie since Venom 2.

Its incredibly memorable.

Make of that what anyone may.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 10 August, 2022, 11:27:20 PM
I think it's the only comic book movie released after Venom 2 that I've seen, so it's my favourite since that film too.

It probably isn't the worse film in that recently-watched-list of mine.  Miskatonic U has a lot more flaws and isn't any more entertaining.  Although Miskatonic U does have tentacle head lady in it for about five minutes.  Morbius definitely lacked tentacle head ladies.

Although both those films suck compared to the rest of the list.  If I haven't sold watching Mad God to anyone then I really don't know what I'm doing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 August, 2022, 12:11:59 AM

I watched Mad God following your recommendation and - Hell fire - that is one memorable film. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 11 August, 2022, 12:32:41 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 August, 2022, 12:11:59 AM

I watched Mad God following your recommendation and - Hell fire - that is one memorable film. I've never seen anything quite like it.

I'm glad you watched it.  It certainly is visually stunning, if repulsive in places.  A strange grotesque beauty, one might say.  I was very impressed by the high frame rate for the stop motion.  It was made by Phil Tippett, the guy who did the stop motion on Robocop and many other films.  He started work on it when he was working on Robocop 2 and shelves it for years before picking it up again years later after a successful Kickstarter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 August, 2022, 12:58:58 AM

The inclusion of Ray Harryhausen's troglodyte in a couple of backgrounds made me smile - but it's not a film for smiles apart from that little homage. If Hell exists, then this film nails it. Definitely one I'll be watching again.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 12 August, 2022, 12:46:45 PM
IT Chapter 2

I mean its just a mass of and THEN THIS and THEN THAT and THEN THIS OTHER THING and nothing quite coalesces and the themes become jumbled and unclear in a mistep of jump scares (all horribly foreshadowed) and monster effects. The attempts to add humanity through humour are horrible in the main and to be honest I couldn't really give two hoots for most the characters... which is a tavesty to anyone who has read the book.

I'm sure someone will have done this already but in the parlance of the thread shIT Chapter 2 more like.


Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 August, 2022, 01:51:55 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 August, 2022, 12:46:45 PM
I'm sure someone will have done this already but in the parlance of the thread shIT Chapter 2 more like.

I know I have watched this film but I remember absolutely nothing from it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 August, 2022, 02:33:51 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 05 August, 2022, 12:58:55 PM
Prey. I have to admit, after the last few movies in this franchise, I had low hopes. Turns out I was wrong. This is a cracking action movie and the best since the original. Some great action sequences and alien and Native American badassery. Oh, and the most amazing screen doggo in a long time.

Loved this, and that's quite a feat to pull off - it's a sequel that's in that rare category of "as good as or better than" the original. It's just that the franchise had to go through 3-5 other sequels before it struck a seam of gold. (Arguments exist for Predator 2 being good, but meh.) Ultimately, I'm in the "Prey is the best" camp.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 27 August, 2022, 11:51:28 AM
Went to the GFT to watch the new restored director edition of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.

It was great. Really, I'll go to bat for this. Starts with a sort of overture (Ilia's theme) and... Well, you know the plot by now.

It whizzed by. I know people refer to it as "the slow motion picture" but at a cinema, as spectacle with a great sound mix on a big screen then sequences that may cause you to shuffle your bum on the sofa get your full attention.

Also great to get a story and resolution that is about understanding and evolving rather than punching and explosions. Which is why I love Star Trek. (I like explosions and punching too... Just not all the time)

And it's great watching Kirk learn from mistakes (compared to most asshole hero's from the late 70s and 80s movies).

Special effects hold up remarkably well for a 43 year old movie (I know some were added/polished up twenty years ago and for this version)

And Mrs Tips - a civilian in the matters (still occasionally gets Trek and Wars mixed up, calls Han "Hans") also thought it was great.

So worth a visit to the cinema even if you have seen it countless times like me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 August, 2022, 06:13:26 PM
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - it's not perfect (there's an odd fumble in the first act regarding motivation and the third act just begins to drag a little prior to the climax) but it's a superb comedy. Pedro Pascal is a revelation (and I may have fallen in love with him a little), and Cage does a wonderful job of being different aspects of himself turned up to eleven, while also managing to portray a struggling persona. It has loads of laugh out loud moments and set-pieces (one that seems like a blend of 007 and Inspector Clouseau), and a grand meta-plot. There's even a sort of reverse homage to Austin Powers, but I don't want to say more and spoil it.

There's a theory that you'll get more out of it if you understand some of the references - so it may help if you've been along for the ride of his career and been able to witness goofy, thoughtful Cage (Raising Arizona), passionate Cage (Moonstruck or Wild at Heart), action Cage (Con Air) and manic Cage (Face/Off) prior to viewing this.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 27 August, 2022, 07:53:13 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 27 August, 2022, 06:13:26 PM
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - it's not perfect (there's an odd fumble in the first act regarding motivation and the third act just begins to drag a little prior to the climax) but it's a superb comedy. Pedro Pascal is a revelation (and I may have fallen in love with him a little), and Cage does a wonderful job of being different aspects of himself turned up to eleven, while also managing to portray a struggling persona. It has loads of laugh out loud moments and set-pieces (one that seems like a blend of 007 and Inspector Clouseau), and a grand meta-plot. There's even a sort of reverse homage to Austin Powers, but I don't want to say more and spoil it.

There's a theory that you'll get more out of it if you understand some of the references - so it may help if you've been along for the ride of his career and been able to witness goofy, thoughtful Cage (Raising Arizona), passionate Cage (Moonstruck or Wild at Heart), action Cage (Con Air) and manic Cage (Face/Off) prior to viewing this.

I also watched this recently.  I enjoyed it.  It's very much the Cage version of My Name is Bruce.  Someone not familiar with Cage or his roles over the years may enjoy the goofiness of this film.  Nevertheless it's not shying away from the fact it's pure fan service. 
That's fine for me, I'm loving the Cage revival.
It's nice to see him do comedy again because he does make a good comedic actor.
I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone unless I knew they were into Nick Cage.  He is not for everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 August, 2022, 08:44:54 AM
Death on the Nile

I really quite liked Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and had originally planned to see this in the cinema. Well, covid helped me dodge a bullet, there.

I'd heard this "wasn't as good" as the first one, but that undersells what an utter dud this is. The second hour isn't completely terrible, but literally nothing happens in the first. It's not even set-up: there's a point towards the end of that first hour, just before the actual story kicks in, where all the characters are in the same room and Poirot's friend just tells him who they all are. And that's about as much characterisation as most of them get.

I don't know if we're supposed to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the endless sweeping shots of scenery during that interminable first hour but, given that almost all of it is CGI ranging from startlingly-average to distinctly sub-par, often combined with some shockingly poor green-screen work, it just doesn't wash.

There's an opening sequence set during WWI that's well-enough staged (which basically serves to explain why Poirot is such a mopey twat for the rest of the movie) but you can honestly fast forward to the one-hour mark as soon as that finishes and miss absolutely nothing.

Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Angry Vince on 28 August, 2022, 10:02:55 AM
Watched Jordan Peele's Nope
Had some of the weirdness and scares of his previous movies, it's relatively solid sci-fi/horror. No great twists or character moments, a good finale but not too surprising.

Watchable but definitely not one of his best. Get Out was way better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 28 August, 2022, 03:49:26 PM
Quote from: Angry Vince on 28 August, 2022, 10:02:55 AM
Watched Jordan Peele's Nope
Had some of the weirdness and scares of his previous movies, it's relatively solid sci-fi/horror. No great twists or character moments, a good finale but not too surprising.

Watchable but definitely not one of his best. Get Out was way better.

Watched this earlier today. I agree it's not his best movie, but it's still bloody amazing. The sequence with the [spoiler]chimp going berserk in the TV studio[/spoiler] was one of the most tense and terrifying things I've seen in a long time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 August, 2022, 05:36:06 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 August, 2022, 08:44:54 AM
Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)

I only managed to get half way through the Dirty Dancing homage before switching it off - although I was on an airplane with a plethora of alternatives, so it didn't feel like I'd lost anything.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not dissing Dirty Dancing. It's just that Poirot having some nosh while a bunch of sweaty dancers do simulated sex in front of him was ... not in-keeping with the expected milieu. I assumed the rest of the movie would be similarly wide of the mark, and decided to move on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 28 August, 2022, 05:48:09 PM
Terminator: Dark Fate - the trailer is much, much better than the movie. So, props to the trailer-makers - they did their job perfectly there.

This is really a big-budget parody of the franchise - so it *might* work as a comedy if you know that going in. I'm going to SPOILER the fuck out of it now, so fair warning. First, the original threat from Cyberdyne has been eliminated sometime previously in the franchise, and there was a need to make Sarah Conner super-bitter, so an Arnie turns up at the start and kills young-John. So, that's an Arnie from a now non-existent future. Having killed John, he becomes a sexless family man with a barn full of mil-pr0n.

However, a different future, with a different AI threat has created pretty much the same setup as the rest of the franchise, with very similar terminators - because that's likely. By the time the movie makes all of this clear to you, you may be wanting to do some terminating of your own.

It *could* work as a straightforward actioner, but instead does that thing where it just layers on so many skin-of-your-teeth, highly unlikely, death-defying scenarios that involve humans surviving impacts that would just kill them outright, or perhaps just flay them - that it all becomes a meaningless blancmange of shooty, boom-boom with no fucking soul and Money by Pink Floyd playing in the foreground.

Shit: Dark Shit, more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 August, 2022, 06:05:58 PM
I really enjoyed Dark Fate.  Best Terminator film since the second one, easily and I'd rate it above the first as well.  Loved the character dynamic between the three women.  Could have done without the Arnie cameo, but it's fine.  It didn't do well at the box office iirc so the next film will likely be another soft reboot.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 August, 2022, 07:40:05 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 August, 2022, 05:48:09 PM
Shit: Dark Shit, more like.

You should probably see your doctor about that
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 29 August, 2022, 03:56:34 AM
Watched the new Stallone flick on Amazon last night.  Called the Samaritan, two brothers born with powers one good The Samaritan and one bad Nemesis fought to the death at a power station years ago and both were never seen again but a teenager who's a big fan of the Samaritan thinks he's the old guy who lives across the street.  Pretty decent movie, it's budget shows in a couple of places but the action when it comes is decent, there is a third act twist that I took me by surprise but really probably should have seen coming.  Stallone is pretty decent in it but it's really the kid that steals the show and the bad guy is pretty decent and played by that guy that played the pirate in Game of Yhrones.  Doesn't overstay it's welcome at just over 100 minutes is a decent way to spend the evening.
Also Rouge One was on TV, good damn this was a great Starwars movie, had high hopes for the new movies after this one the we got the sequels ☹️

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 29 August, 2022, 06:46:37 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 29 August, 2022, 03:56:34 AM
Watched the new Stallone flick on Amazon last night.  Called the Samaritan, two brothers born with powers one good The Samaritan and one bad Nemesis fought to the death at a power station years ago and both were never seen again but a teenager who's a big fan of the Samaritan thinks he's the old guy who lives across the street.  Pretty decent movie, it's budget shows in a couple of places but the action when it comes is decent, there is a third act twist that I took me by surprise but really probably should have seen coming.

I think I've just guessed it from the premise.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Magnetica on 29 August, 2022, 08:35:01 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 August, 2022, 08:44:54 AM
Death on the Nile

I really quite liked Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and had originally planned to see this in the cinema. Well, covid helped me dodge a bullet, there.

I'd heard this "wasn't as good" as the first one, but that undersells what an utter dud this is. The second hour isn't completely terrible, but literally nothing happens in the first. It's not even set-up: there's a point towards the end of that first hour, just before the actual story kicks in, where all the characters are in the same room and Poirot's friend just tells him who they all are. And that's about as much characterisation as most of them get.

I don't know if we're supposed to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the endless sweeping shots of scenery during that interminable first hour but, given that almost all of it is CGI ranging from startlingly-average to distinctly sub-par, often combined with some shockingly poor green-screen work, it just doesn't wash.

There's an opening sequence set during WWI that's well-enough staged (which basically serves to explain why Poirot is such a mopey twat for the rest of the movie) but you can honestly fast forward to the one-hour mark as soon as that finishes and miss absolutely nothing.

Shit on the Nile, more like. :-)

Saw this with the kids and missus back in the February half term in the cinema. Let's say it falls into the category of a remake that is actually completely unnecessary, and has none of the charm of the original*. And yes the CGI shots were really bad. They reminded me of all those studio based planets the away team used to visit in Star Trek TOS.


*at this point it's decades since I watched the original, so I'm kinda assuming it had charm. But it's a fair bet it had more charm than the remake.

But hey the kids liked it, so we watched Murder on the Orient Express when we got home. Again I didn't think it was great, but they liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 29 August, 2022, 11:21:25 AM
Thought it was a bit if a dud too. Worse, I remembered who dunnit and how as soon as the first incident happened. I've come to the conclusion that Gal Gadot can't act. Unless you count being luminous as acting. In which case, she's fantastic.

THE FATHER in which Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins fight to the death for an Oscar. It shows its origins as a stage play but that's not always a bad thing. Needless to say the performances are all top notch - Rufus Sewell in particular makes the most of his little bit and though obviously only superficial, the staging and the jumping between scenes, locations and topics is cleverly done to give you a feeling of the confusion Anthony must feel. One particularly brilliant bit where a scene circles back round to start again stands out. Anyway, draining - especially if your own loved ones are getting on - but worth 100 minutes of your time.

GODZILLA VS. KONG in which King Kong and Gojira fight to the death for a special effects Oscar. It shows its origins as a pulp toho film but that's not always a bad thing. Needless to say the special effects are gobsmacking - the interaction with water in particular. Though the jumping around and trying to gauge the scale of the beasts (light enough to be carried by helicopters) and the speed with which they interact with background scenery can give you a feeling of confusion. One particularly silly bit where ships and aircraft carriers are used as stepping stones stands out. Anyway,  draining - especially if you try keep track of the four "blink and you miss them" plots and twenty characters  crammed in- but worth 100 minutes of your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Angry Vince on 09 September, 2022, 09:21:02 AM
Just starting watching Thor: Love and Thunder and it is good to see the Thor movies return to their mediocre roots.

I like most of Taika Waititi's stuff, but this has really clunky dialogue, the first scene with Jane Foster is a massive downer at the start of the movie, the jokes don't hit and - dare I say it - there's far too much Guns n Roses.

That last comment might be a bit controversial but [spoiler]within the first 30-odd minutes we have two GnR songs (neither of which suits the tone of the scene), a few posters and someone who changes their name to Axel.[/spoiler]

I thought my time was better spent talking about it online instead of watching it.

And I see online that the average review score for this movie have steadily declined since it came out. There was a reason my son didn't want to watch this and, bless his heart, he was damn well right.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 September, 2022, 12:27:41 PM
CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

After briefly becoming embroiled in an NFT scam, Cronenberg is finally getting back to his meat and potatoes with an erotic body horror melodrama that rivals the best of his peak work. Nasty, gnarly, repulsive and horny as shit. Love it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 September, 2022, 10:12:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 09 September, 2022, 12:27:41 PM
CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

After briefly becoming embroiled in an NFT scam, Cronenberg is finally getting back to his meat and potatoes with an erotic body horror melodrama that rivals the best of his peak work. Nasty, gnarly, repulsive and horny as shit. Love it.

ooh, I didn't know this had been released. By what medium did you see it?

Anyway, I just watched Thor. By which I mean the light of its picture hit my eyeballs and the GNR soundtrack hit my ears. Most of it bounced off.

When did Thor become such an asshole?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 September, 2022, 11:04:20 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 September, 2022, 10:12:21 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 09 September, 2022, 12:27:41 PM
CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

After briefly becoming embroiled in an NFT scam, Cronenberg is finally getting back to his meat and potatoes with an erotic body horror melodrama that rivals the best of his peak work. Nasty, gnarly, repulsive and horny as shit. Love it.

ooh, I didn't know this had been released. By what medium did you see it?


Dropped in select cinemas today. Might want to check with your local fleapit to feel suitably violated.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 10 September, 2022, 06:59:25 PM
Watch the latest Marvel movie Thor Love and Thunder and to put it quite simply this is the weakest Marvel movie off them all and was just average. It looks like the tried to make a slap-stick comedy and not a superhero movie. The acting was forced, and you can feel the actors did not believe in the movie (an over-the-top ridiculous movie can be great when actors make it believable). So, I am very disappointed in the current batch of Marvel movies looks like the magic is gone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 September, 2022, 10:00:21 PM
I watched my young grandson playing with his toy cars and action figures the other day. Some cars went through a minefield and everything blew up then they flew through the air on a rope but bad man he gotted way. And then they had more chases and flights and explosions and one of the cars went into space and blowed things up. And a big truck blowed up too.

Or was I watching FAST AND FURIOUS NINE?

To be fair, I was entertained for some of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 September, 2022, 09:46:43 PM
WW84. More like SHIT84.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 20 September, 2022, 07:26:32 PM
RRR on Netflix. I believe the most expensive Indian film ever made and it shows in many places. Quite an astonishing thing to behold. Go in knowing what you will be getting and the 3 hours won't seem too many.

Astonishing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 20 September, 2022, 10:20:39 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 10 September, 2022, 06:59:25 PM
Watch the latest Marvel movie Thor Love and Thunder and to put it quite simply this is the weakest Marvel movie off them all and was just average. It looks like the tried to make a slap-stick comedy and not a superhero movie. The acting was forced, and you can feel the actors did not believe in the movie (an over-the-top ridiculous movie can be great when actors make it believable). So, I am very disappointed in the current batch of Marvel movies looks like the magic is gone.

That was all sorts of awful. Taika Waititi has some interesting work under his belt, but this is dire - and the forced, steady cameo as Korg is just utterly pointless. It's like Taika himself is standing there making tedious non sequiturs. At exactly zero laughs, it's definitely not a comedy. The heroes can teleport away from danger and hang out for perhaps days in a hospital while the baddy waits patiently for them to come back - so it's not a drama.

For all that it features Jane Foster's Thor, the story really revolves strongly around Thor-Thor's feelings about losing his true love (Mjolnir) and, also, not being able to get off with his ex.

Weak sauce.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 September, 2022, 01:14:11 AM

The Gray Man. Ryan Gosling's supercool Agent Six tears his way through a fairly standard jilted-agent action thriller that just keeps gathering steam until there's nothing left to blow up, nothing left to shoot-up, nothing left to smash-up, nobody left to tool-up, and nobody left who ain't beat-up. Bad guy Chris Evans looks like he's having a blast playing a sociopathic mercenary who has no qualms shooting civilian police. To be fair, Agent Six doesn't mind shooting the odd cop either, but only in the limbs, which will leave them crippled and disfigured but not dead, making him the chivalrous Goodie, I suppose. Is it me, or is chivalry not what it used to be? Anyway, complete over the top action all the way - gloriously daft fun. Enjoyed it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2022, 07:52:47 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 September, 2022, 01:14:11 AM

The Gray Man. Ryan Gosling's supercool Agent Six tears his way through a fairly standard jilted-agent action thriller that just keeps gathering steam until there's nothing left to blow up, nothing left to shoot-up, nothing left to smash-up, nobody left to tool-up, and nobody left who ain't beat-up. Bad guy Chris Evans looks like he's having a blast playing a sociopathic mercenary who has no qualms shooting civilian police. To be fair, Agent Six doesn't mind shooting the odd cop either, but only in the limbs, which will leave them crippled and disfigured but not dead, making him the chivalrous Goodie, I suppose. Is it me, or is chivalry not what it used to be? Anyway, complete over the top action all the way - gloriously daft fun. Enjoyed it.

YMMV; this was illogical expo for a few minutes followed by over the top action for ten minutes. Cliche, overlong, underplotted nonsense that sums up everything wrong about modern conveyor belt churned movies. We gave up on it after an hour, but I could tell you how it ends...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Blue Cactus on 22 September, 2022, 10:03:32 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 20 September, 2022, 07:26:32 PM
RRR on Netflix. I believe the most expensive Indian film ever made and it shows in many places. Quite an astonishing thing to behold. Go in knowing what you will be getting and the 3 hours won't seem too many.

Astonishing.

Yeah, this was quite a film!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 October, 2022, 10:03:38 AM
Late to the party, as ever: Prey.

Yep. That was great. I've never been massively invested in the Predator franchise (outside of the first two, I think I've maybe seen ten minutes of one of the AvP movies) but I thought this was comfortably the equal of either of those.

At a pleasingly compact 100 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Spends a little time at the start letting you get to know the characters and doesn't mind lingering on some of those magnificent Canadian landscapes, but I don't have a problem with any of that. Amber Midthunder is fantastic and the doggo is terrific.

Well worth one hour forty of your time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 02 October, 2022, 10:24:40 AM
I, also late to the party, rather enjoyed BILL AND TED FACE THE MUSIC. It's not perfect but so genuinely well meaning and sweet that it carries you through. The actors playing the daughters were absolutely spot on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 October, 2022, 02:54:02 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 02 October, 2022, 10:24:40 AM
I, also late to the party, rather enjoyed BILL AND TED FACE THE MUSIC. It's not perfect but so genuinely well meaning and sweet that it carries you through. The actors playing the daughters were absolutely spot on.

A few years back, I worked on a couple of Bill & Ted books for BOOM — they were pretty good, TBH, but the icing on the cake when Alex Winter contacted the editorial team to say how much he was enjoying them, and was reading them with one of his daughters.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 October, 2022, 01:19:43 PM
Company of Wolves

Some films you shouldn't go back to. Loved this in the day and haven't seen it for years so was looking forward to revisiting having stumbled across it on ITV HUB. I mean watching something via ITV Hub affords it some sympathy but not enough.

I mean its clear what its trying to do. It is visually interesting in place. Ultimatey the characters and ideas are just a bit flat andf obivous for a modern viewer (cos I'm so modern). I mean the character being flat you could forgive on the basis its a dream of a fairy tale and so my working assumption has always been that was the intend. The trouble is they are still flat. It tries lots of ideas and in doing that doesn't really develop many beyond a superficial level.

Its not terrible its just not the film my memory wanted it to be.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 October, 2022, 01:24:12 PM
I think a great appreciation of CoW can be met if you're at all familiar with any of Angela Carters work.
If not it can come across as somewhat stilted.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 04 October, 2022, 01:53:10 PM
I remember being hugely impressed by Company of Wolves back in the olden days and also thinking that the Angela Carter stories it's based on were the business.
Every so often I re-read the title story in Carter's The Bloody Chamber and I still love it. Florid, spooky, erotic, and damn satisfying.
I re-watched the film not so long ago, and while it didn't thrill me, I could still admire its style and ambition.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 08 October, 2022, 01:42:24 PM
Finally got around to watching Psycho Goreman and I loved it but I hate that little kid. What a $hit.

I've quite a few horrors lined up for the month that's in it - any recommendations? I don't like gore or anything with a jump scare but if you've seen anything that induced dread lately let me know.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 08 October, 2022, 01:50:34 PM
What was the name of the film somewhere recommended about a documentary film crew following a guy around who wants to be a serial killer? It's not Mad Bites Dog ... a more recent one .. I had a look back a few pages but couldn't find it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 October, 2022, 02:37:12 PM

Cactus Jack (the 2021 film about the vile bigot living in his mother's basement, not the 1979 Arnold Scwarzenegger / Kirk Douglas western comedy) is quite dreadful. Actually, they're both dreadful but in vastly different ways.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 08 October, 2022, 05:17:35 PM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 08 October, 2022, 01:50:34 PM
What was the name of the film somewhere recommended about a documentary film crew following a guy around who wants to be a serial killer? It's not Mad Bites Dog ... a more recent one .. I had a look back a few pages but couldn't find it.

Behind the Mask?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 10 October, 2022, 04:55:39 AM
Oh Lordy the new Hellraiser is quite good, maybe not as good as the first 2 (very little is imho) but nearly up there, has cut back a bit on the whole S&M vibe of the Cenobites but still recognisably Barkers work.  Love the new Cenobite design all fleshy and nasty and I really like the way they are wearing their flesh as cloths rather than the leather and flesh look from the originals.  Worth a watch it f you like your body horror.
CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 11 October, 2022, 12:32:53 PM
Going to buck the apparent trend and say I thought Prey was middling at best. It did what it did perfectly effectively but what it did was nothing new, accept the apprepriate appreciation of Comanche culture.

Everyone filled there rolls so steadfastly and predictably and met their appropriate fates in exactly the manner anticipated. Its fun and rollocks along but offered nothing interesting.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 October, 2022, 04:22:58 PM
Agreed, PREY is a perfectly agreeable slice of franchise fluff but ultimately feels less than the whole of its parts and lacking a certain unruly atmosphere that makes PREDATOR 2 (the best PREDATOR film. actually) a one up on the original. Still, best sequel in 30 years is a mighty good boast.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 October, 2022, 09:08:23 PM

When I'm bored by the contemporary offerings I dip into my Marvel Films file, and today I chose THOR: RAGNAROK (again). I really love this film. Is it the perfect Marvel movie? I dunno, but it's got to be damned close.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 October, 2022, 10:39:44 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 October, 2022, 12:32:53 PM
... the apprepriate appreciation of Comanche culture.
Which, even though it shouldn't be, is still a pretty big deal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 13 October, 2022, 07:34:21 PM
Watched this last night; all kinds of excellent:

https://youtu.be/6-G39n2sCVU
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 13 October, 2022, 09:10:10 PM
Smile is great, and terrifying!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2022, 05:57:22 PM
Black Adam

Well, that was... very much a DC superhero movie, and I don't mean that in a good way. Shame — I wanted to like it.

I mean, it's not first-Suicide-Squad bad, but it's so achingly, desperately mediocre and at just over two hours, it's at least half an hour too long. The 'characters' are non-existent, from Johnson's Adam all the way down the cast. Brosnan makes a decent fist of what little he's given to work with, as you'd expect, but the rest...? They've got nothing to work with — they're literally there to do whatever the plot requires and deliver the occasional one-liner regardless of whether it seems in-character or not.

I think one of the key problems with the DC movies is that the VFX teams (who, presumably, are only working from storyboards developed with the director's approval) only seem to know how to stage one fight. And most of the movie is fighting. And it's just the same fight, again and again. Even if the VFX were better (and they're pretty average) the fights would still be dull.

There's a point (you'll know if you see the film) where the story appears to be reaching a natural conclusion. They could have ended it there, stuck a To Be Continued on it, and it would have clocked in at maybe 90 minutes and might have been OK, but instead there's a 'twist' that's telegraphed so violently obviously that you can only gasp in wonder at the fact that none of the protagonists saw it coming, and the movie starts up again we're treated to another half an hour of the same fight we've been watching for the last hour and a half.

Catch it on a streaming service when you don't have to pay for it, and maybe drink heavily throughout.

Shit Adam, more like.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2022, 11:14:32 PM
 "Shit Adam"
:lol:
Cosh would approve of this review.

I was looking forward to this based on my crush for the Rock and the trailer but this is yet another review that basically says "Splosions!" So I will go see "Banshees of Inersherin" instead.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 October, 2022, 09:20:48 AM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2022, 11:14:32 PM
I was looking forward to this based on my crush for the Rock and the trailer but this is yet another review that basically says "Splosions!"

I'm generally well disposed towards Dwayne Johnson — almost all the films I've seen him in (which, I'll confess, isn't a lot) have, at worst, been thoroughly entertaining, and, at best, been surprisingly good (the Jumanjis) so, as I said, I went into this wanting to like it (and hoping DC were getting their movie shit together).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 October, 2022, 09:33:11 AM
I actually got quite the kick out of BLACK ADAM. Dumb as a barrel of drunk DC editors but decidedly less po-faced than a lot of cape fair I've seen of late. Not enough Brosnan Doctor Fate though, give me that lads movie.

The new Mark Jenkin cornish folk horror ENYS MEN dropped an advance screening out of the blue so that was a sure fire blind watch, Jenkins BAIT was my favourite movie of the 2010's. One for fans of A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS specials, eerie and ethereal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 22 October, 2022, 01:59:26 PM
Black Adam was quite enjoyable. One thing which I do not like and it has become the norm in these superhero movies is that feature character sometimes does not even "feature" in his/her own movie. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 22 October, 2022, 02:10:24 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2022, 05:57:22 PM
Black Adam

Shit Adam, more like.

A deft bit of wordplay there, my man  :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 October, 2022, 02:12:47 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 22 October, 2022, 02:10:24 PM
A deft bit of wordplay there, my man  :)

Thanks! I was quite proud of that one. ;-)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 23 October, 2022, 12:26:42 AM
BIRDS OF PREY was moderately entertaining if pretty thin fare. Margot Robbie adds a bit of depth to her Harley Quinn and it's nice to see Montoya get a bit of screen time. There are some very unpleasant tonal shifts, it mistakes lots of swearing for being adult and who knows what Ewen McGregor was up to... But I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 24 October, 2022, 08:24:17 AM
Watched Top Gun Maverick over the weekend after a very good dinner.
My brother-in-law was of the opinion that the script had been written by predictive text, but we all agreed that everyone had lovely teeth.
America's shores are guarded, without exception, by good-looking people.
They put on sunglasses, they take off sunglasses. In between they fly big fast aeroplanes.
Recommended.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 October, 2022, 06:59:53 PM
Watched American Werewolf in London last night for the first time in an age and boy does it hold up in ways that Company of Wolves can only dream of!

Charming, witty, chilling and thrilling in equal measure. its just a brilliant film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 28 October, 2022, 07:10:40 PM
First horror film I managed to sit through all on my own, big scaredy cat that I was.
It was the comedic elements that made it possible.
Oh – and Jenny Agutter.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 28 October, 2022, 07:46:04 PM
It really does hold up well for FORTY year old film!
And what struck me when I watched it last is how lean a movie it is - it fair whips along with every scene adding to the story and moving it forward. An amazing 90 minutes.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 28 October, 2022, 07:49:48 PM
Quote from: Daveycandlish on 28 October, 2022, 07:46:04 PM
And what struck me when I watched it last is how lean a movie it is - it fair whips along with every scene adding to the story and moving it forward. An amazing 90 minutes.

Yeah absolutely, but never feels rushed or cramped. Wonderfully paced.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 29 October, 2022, 12:35:55 PM
Just watched the Netflix version of All Quiet on the Western Front.
It looks good but it would have been a much stronger film if it had been a more faithful adaptation of the original story.
The 1929 novel is a gut-punch of a book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 01 November, 2022, 11:27:07 PM
The Banshees of Inisherin

Martin McDonagh has yet to make a bad film. Colin Farrell is amazing. Brendan Gleeson is still the world's greatest living actor.

Set during the civil war, with the plot mirroring the broader political situation, it's an exploration of Irish flaws through black humour, and begorrah and bayjiss, never resorts to tired hollywood Irish stereotypes. All grudge and uncompromising escalation.

Totally bleak and not life affirming at all.

I loved it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 November, 2022, 02:43:32 PM
See How They Run (Disney+)

I meant to catch this in the cinema, but annoyingly it wasn't showing anywhere I could get to easily, so I caught it on Disney yesterday.

A great cast with a witty script rattle through this thoroughly entertaining whodunnit in brisk 98 minutes. It's great fun, leaving no murder mystery cliché undeployed whilst gently sending up the whole genre. Rockwell and Ronan make a great detective duo and I'd be very happy to see them return for another case.

It's no Knives Out, but it's definitely worth a watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 06 November, 2022, 04:36:54 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 November, 2022, 02:43:32 PM
See How They Run (Disney+)

...

It's no Knives Out, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Thanks for the recommendation - I've got a soft spot for Sam Rockwell, so will try this out.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 November, 2022, 07:54:03 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 November, 2022, 04:36:54 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 November, 2022, 02:43:32 PM
See How They Run (Disney+)

...

It's no Knives Out, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Thanks for the recommendation - I've got a soft spot for Sam Rockwell, so will try this out.

I would echo much of what Jim says. If you've ever enjoyed Agatha Christie's work there's a lot of fun little easter eggs sprinkled throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 07 November, 2022, 10:00:07 AM
Agreed. Not as good as Knives Out (which is a high bar, admittedly), but good fun.

[spoiler]I was surprised they played the red herring of it being Sam Rockwell's character so early. This would have been a great distraction from the real culprit in the third act.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2022, 02:31:34 PM
Black Panther Wakanda Forever - Great fun and actually very moving in places. It clocks in at nearly three hours though. It's not without its faults, but is still a superb movie. In a world where justice exists, Angela Bassett should have an Oscar nomination.

Barbarian - A genuine WTF did I just watch? movie. The best horror movie of the year. Best go in knowing nothing though.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 November, 2022, 11:07:50 AM
THE BANSHEES OF INESHIRIN

McDonagh hasn't until this time made a movie that really resonated with me, a lot of his stuff feels like really good single episode TV drama fluff bloated into an incongruous, trite farce.
This suffers from a lot of those same problems, but it is also quite funny, so its probably the movie of his i've enjoyed the most.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 November, 2022, 07:30:23 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 13 November, 2022, 02:31:34 PM
Black Panther Wakanda Forever - Great fun and actually very moving in places. It clocks in at nearly three hours though. It's not without its faults, but is still a superb movie. In a world where justice exists, Angela Bassett should have an Oscar nomination.

Pretty much all of this. The only thing I'd say about the lengthy running time is that, although I'm generally in the "you should be able to say it in 90 minutes" camp, BPWF doesn't feel either padded or particularly leisurely in pacing.*

There are sections that are slower than others but, in a film almost entirely centred thematically on grief and bereavement, not everything's going to be crash-bang-wallop. Even these slower/quieter scenes serve to either move the plot forward, or inform the characters in meaningful ways.

* [spoiler]Notable exception: I quite like Martin Freeman, but I'm pretty sure you could excise his scenes completely and the film would still make sense.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 20 November, 2022, 09:48:38 PM
The Menu. I really liked this, a proper black comedy. Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy are both brilliant, and as it spins out into the horrific it holds its own internal logic. A couple of things left unexplained, but for me 4/5.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 November, 2022, 08:02:29 AM
Enola Holmes 2 on Netflix.

Well, that was pretty much exactly as you might hope — great fun. Brown is, once again, excellent with some fine fourth-wall-breaking acting to rope the viewer in as a confidante and co-conspirator.

Cavill's Holmes gets more to do than in the first film, but overall the story belongs solidly to Brown as the mystery twists and turns engagingly. The younger members of the cast all do well, and the addition of David Thewlis delivering another magnificently creepy turn adds a streak of menace. The film also once again manages the previously-unheard-of feat of making Helena Bonham-Carter almost not-annoying.

Inessential stuff, and I'm not entirely sure it needed to be 130 minutes long, but a thoroughly entertaining way to fill a dreary autumn evening.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 November, 2022, 08:37:10 AM
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 20 November, 2022, 09:48:38 PM
The Menu. I really liked this, a proper black comedy. Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy are both brilliant, and as it spins out into the horrific it holds its own internal logic. A couple of things left unexplained, but for me 4/5.

Yeah this is a lot of fun. For a brief moment it had the standard, nose upturned response by miserable fucks pointing out 'how unsubtle The Menu is' as if it was ever attempting even pretend to be subtle. This is pantomime satire, its ludicrous and so much fun as a result.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: abelardsnazz on 27 November, 2022, 10:40:36 PM
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Daniel Craig has found a brilliant new franchise with his Southarrrwn detective Benoit Blanc. This is great fun, for me better than the first instalment, but it's only on for a week in cinemas before Netflix remove it for a Christmas tentpole.

At least I got to see it it in the cinema, unlike Annihilation.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 04 December, 2022, 09:10:39 PM
The man who killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot 

What a curious piece this is, as the surprisingly literal title suggedts. It has a lot to offer, but let's be honest its carried by a magnificent performance by the magnificent Sam Elliot. Its steady paced and for all its Hitler killing and Bigfoot hunting more a quiet character, very human character piece.

Well worth watching if you fancy something a bit different.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 December, 2022, 04:18:32 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 04 December, 2022, 09:10:39 PM
The man who killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot 

What a curious piece this is, as the surprisingly literal title suggedts. It has a lot to offer, but let's be honest its carried by a magnificent performance by the magnificent Sam Elliot. Its steady paced and for all its Hitler killing and Bigfoot hunting more a quiet character, very human character piece.

Well worth watching if you fancy something a bit different.

Watched this a few years ago.  It certainly delivers on what it promises, plus is pretty good as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 December, 2022, 05:13:00 PM
Quote from: JWare on 29 October, 2022, 12:35:55 PM
Just watched the Netflix version of All Quiet on the Western Front.
It looks good but it would have been a much stronger film if it had been a more faithful adaptation of the original story.
The 1929 novel is a gut-punch of a book.

Can't say I've read the original novel but this version certainly packed a punch to me. Genuinely horrific stuff from the Heinrich's uniform opening to the futile final attack.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 12 December, 2022, 06:41:41 PM
My problem is I'm a WW1 know-all, forever on the lookout for incorrect details or just about anything that looks or feels wrong (don't get me started on Spielberg's War Horse). This film is mostly on the money when it comes to history but, being the alert nitpicker I am, I couldn't help disapproving of every deviation from the book.
Go read the book. It's short and powerful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 19 December, 2022, 09:13:41 PM
You can now get Future Folk on YouTube. If you've not seen it you should.

https://youtu.be/u2oKGSmr9oo (https://youtu.be/u2oKGSmr9oo)

Hondo!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 20 December, 2022, 03:15:44 AM
I watched this little indie movie called Avatar Way of the Water, was good I might even go and watch it again.  If you didn't like the first one you won't like this one.
Absolutely beautiful looking movie, you forget how good CGI can be when done right and in this movie it is done right, honestly after the first 10 minutes you really don't see the CGI it just looks like Cameron found some big blue cat actors 😊. The underwater sequences in the second half are just amazing.  Probably some of the best action set pieces ever played t to film too many honestly can't praise it enough.  If there is one weakness it's probably relatively weak dialogue and the story is nothing too original but t it all plays gangbusters to the crowd.  Oh also the 3D is the best I've ever seen, if you get a chance watch in 3D at HFR it really is like nothing you've seen before.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 20 December, 2022, 08:02:55 AM
Quote from: Radbacker on 20 December, 2022, 03:15:44 AM
I watched this little indie movie called Avatar Way of the Water, was good I might even go and watch it again.  If you didn't like the first one you won't like this one.
Absolutely beautiful looking movie, you forget how good CGI can be when done right and in this movie it is done right, honestly after the first 10 minutes you really don't see the CGI it just looks like Cameron found some big blue cat actors 😊. The underwater sequences in the second half are just amazing.  Probably some of the best action set pieces ever played t to film too many honestly can't praise it enough.  If there is one weakness it's probably relatively weak dialogue and the story is nothing too original but t it all plays gangbusters to the crowd.  Oh also the 3D is the best I've ever seen, if you get a chance watch in 3D at HFR it really is like nothing you've seen before.

CU Radbacker

Nah
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 20 December, 2022, 06:29:41 PM
Triangle of Sadness - From the director of The Square and Force Majeure. This time he's examining the value of beauty or is he making fun of wealthy people? Great movie either way.

The Mouth of Madness -  Wow! Maybe one of John Carpenter's lesser known movies but terrific nonetheless.

You won't be alone - not sure if I'm mentioned this already but one of the best movies I've seen this year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 December, 2022, 09:31:21 AM
I recently watched a couple more Nick Cage films that I hadn't seen before.

Next is a decent sci-fi action film about a man looking for love and getting caught up in explosive hijinks.  It was better than what I was expecting going in.  The CGI has aged poorly, just like the opening to the other film, Lord of War.  Bleak, but enjoyable.
Rather surprisingly, both films get a 0 on the Cage Scale of Cagery.  He completely reigns in his eccentricities for these two films.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 21 December, 2022, 10:20:07 AM
Haven't seen Lord of War since it was in the cinema. The things that stick in my memory are the opening sequence and the lack of costume changes throughout. Oh – and Jared Leto was in it. He was the only thing I really didn't like about the film.
And topically, the guy who inspired the story has just been released from US custody. (Not Jared Leto. As far as I know he's still doing hard time. I mean he must be, right? There is such a thing as justice, after all.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2022, 09:12:39 AM
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

Spoiler free review: it's great. I'm not entirely sure it needed to be 139 minutes — the first half hour is perhaps a little flabby but, once it hits its stride, it's terrific.

Like its predecessor, it's sharp, funny, and well-constructed. Also, I suspect the distinctly Musk-ish billionaire on whose private island the plot unfolds feels more relevant now than when the film was made.

If you liked the first one, you'll enjoy this. If you haven't seen the first one, it's on Prime (although not for free any more) so you should watch that, then this. There are no plot connections between the two, it's just that first one is also brilliant — well worth the £0.99 Amazon is charging to 'rent' it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2022, 12:21:57 PM
WHITE NOISE on Netflix (well I watched it at the flix, not sure if its streaming yet...)

Really wasn't taken by this one, and needed a few days to sit on it. I appreciate some absurdist melodrama as much as the next guy but this all felt a bit po-faced and tiresome.
Apparently the novel it's based upon is some sort of best selling fan favourite, but I've zero point of reference on that front. The second act was probably the best, when it degenerated into Spielbergian infection flick hijinks but neither of the acts sandwiching this period did anything for me at all.

Shite Noise. Merry chrimbob fuckers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 24 December, 2022, 12:46:40 PM
For a moment I thought you meant the 2005 film White Noise starring Michael Keaton.  I was slightly confused.  Given it was clearly not the 2019 documentary White Noise or the 2020 documentary White Noise and unlikely to be the 2004 drama starring Rahul Bose I narrowed it down the actual White Noise to the 2022 film White Noise starring Adam Driver.

Apparently White Noise is an obscenely popular title for short films as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 December, 2022, 06:30:11 PM
It is to movies what 'The S(h)ins of the Father' is to comic books.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 24 December, 2022, 08:03:14 PM
Saw 'The Quiet Girl' - fantastic film. Only realised afterwards it's based in a book called ''Foster' by Claire Keegan, who also wrote this years Booker shortlisted novel 'Small Things Like These', which was also superb.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 25 December, 2022, 03:52:38 AM
Watched Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as well and I am in full agreement with Jim, well worth your time maybe a little bit taking its time in the beginning.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 25 December, 2022, 10:39:59 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2022, 09:12:39 AM
If you haven't seen the first one, it's on Prime (although not for free any more) so you should watch that, then this. There are no plot connections between the two, it's just that first one is also brilliant — well worth the £0.99 Amazon is charging to 'rent' it.

I'm a fool — Knives Out is also on Netflix, so there's no need to pay for it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 December, 2022, 10:49:21 AM
I wasn't massively impressed by the first Knives Out but I do respect it, and would be willing to give the second one a chance given its episodic nature apart from its predecessor.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 December, 2022, 05:59:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 December, 2022, 10:49:21 AM
I wasn't massively impressed by the first Knives Out but I do respect it, and would be willing to give the second one a chance given its episodic nature apart from its predecessor.

My new years resolution is to not be so tediously contrary.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 December, 2022, 06:06:00 PM
I....would have thought that was actually quite a positive statement but alright.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 December, 2022, 02:11:05 PM
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE

Something of a lesser Christmas tradition in Hawk Towers. Not in the disparaging sense that this magnificent, harrowing experience in cinematic trauma is anything as low as 'lesser'. No, I just sometimes don't get around to it, not every year at least.

So it was a considerable joy to see a live stream of the film by resident big wigs MUBI included an optional live Q&A with Takeshi Kitano, and what a delightful, belated Christmas gift that was. Maestro Kitano closing out the screening with a detailed recollection of how his fan club from his stand up comedy days attended the premier in Kyoto and walked out in horror at the atrocities his prison camp warden inflicted on Bowie. King shit, still the best festive movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 26 December, 2022, 03:52:15 PM
Now I'm going to have to watch this again.
I don't remember Takeshi committing any real atrocities. He struck me as just a lifer sergeant getting on with his job – which just happened to involve callous brutality.
What I do remember is [spoiler]his transformation from prison boss to prisoner. It's a wonderful piece of acting in that last scene. When he spoke Japanese he was in charge, but speaking imperfect English as he is at the end, all his human frailty is on show, and he's all the more likeable for it.[/spoiler]
Anyway, I'll have to watch it again just for him.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 December, 2022, 07:50:40 PM
Quote from: JWare on 26 December, 2022, 03:52:15 PM
Now I'm going to have to watch this again.
I don't remember Takeshi committing any real atrocities. He struck me as just a lifer sergeant getting on with his job – which just happened to involve callous brutality.
What I do remember is [spoiler]his transformation from prison boss to prisoner. It's a wonderful piece of acting in that last scene. When he spoke Japanese he was in charge, but speaking imperfect English as he is at the end, all his human frailty is on show, and he's all the more likeable for it.[/spoiler]
Anyway, I'll have to watch it again just for him.

In the context of the time it's important to consider Japan was riding a high of nationalist revisionism in the press and media during the early 80's, with a lot of studios out right refusing to produce works that painted the imperialist zeal of the nation during the battle of the Pacific as anything other than righteous, ethical and puritanical.
So Kitano transitioning, seemingly over night, from what most average Joe film goers would consider a wholesome and apolitical comic figure to a visceral and shameful prisoner of war camp warden would come as a shock to a new-wave of war crime denialists.
Hara, even if not actively partaking in the cruelty inflicted upon on Lawrence and Celiers, is directly complicit in it's enforcement and impotently ineffectual in its de-escalation. Kitanos character is brilliant, for as you point out, he represents the shame of a society turned tyrant by it's own collective insanity after centuries of eschewing individualist ideologies.
A brilliant, brilliant film. Especially 40 years on when we, as Brits, are now thoroughly entrenched in denialism over our own egomaniacal history.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 26 December, 2022, 08:18:36 PM
I was completely unaware of the cinematic/nationalist context of this film. I'll certainly keep it in mind if I do rewatch, thank you.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 December, 2022, 07:50:40 PM
A brilliant, brilliant film. Especially 40 years on when we, as Brits, are now thoroughly entrenched in denialism over our own egomaniacal history.
Don't worry. We, as Irish, will always be happy to remind you. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 December, 2022, 10:47:32 AM
Quote from: JWare on 26 December, 2022, 08:18:36 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 26 December, 2022, 07:50:40 PM
A brilliant, brilliant film. Especially 40 years on when we, as Brits, are now thoroughly entrenched in denialism over our own egomaniacal history.
Don't worry. We, as Irish, will always be happy to remind you. :)
Gods own work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 27 December, 2022, 11:03:20 AM
I don't want to derail the thread, but there's no end to Ireland's denial of her own imperial past.
I've been studying the Irish regiments of the British Army, and what the Irish redcoats got up to in India is nothing to be proud of.
I believe there was some historically tone-deaf gesture a few years back regarding the massacres perpetrated in 1857-8, and for some arse-backwards reason India apologised to Ireland.

I teach history. God knows why, because nobody listens.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 27 December, 2022, 04:47:29 PM
Quote from: JWare on 27 December, 2022, 11:03:20 AM
I don't want to derail the thread, but there's no end to Ireland's denial of her own imperial past.
I've been studying the Irish regiments of the British Army, and what the Irish redcoats got up to in India is nothing to be proud of.
I believe there was some historically tone-deaf gesture a few years back regarding the massacres perpetrated in 1857-8, and for some arse-backwards reason India apologised to Ireland.

I teach history. God knows why, because nobody listens.
Saying that the popular perception of Irish History has holes in it you could march the New Model Army through, would be putting mildly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 27 December, 2022, 05:12:46 PM
Quote from: edgeworthy on 27 December, 2022, 04:47:29 PM
Saying that the popular perception of Irish History has holes in it you could march the New Model Army through, would be putting mildly.
For the past few summers I've had the job of introducing visiting American students to Irish history, and often to the study of history full stop.
Having only three weeks to work on them, I tend to let even-handedness and nuance take a back seat. Instead I start by teaching them the phrase, 'Eight hundred years, ye bastards!'
Then we go out for ice cream.

And could we now get back to something less controversial, like Japanese wartime atrocities and David Bowie's acting skills?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 December, 2022, 05:35:34 PM
Quote from: JWare on 27 December, 2022, 05:12:46 PM
And could we now get back to something less controversial, like Japanese wartime atrocities and David Bowie's acting skills?

Amusingly i've rewatched both THE HUNGER and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH recently and yeah, Bowie is clearly in his most elemental when playing something ancient, and alien, and yet utterly alluring.

Also, watch MOONAGE DAYDREAM anyone who hasn't yet. It's probably in my top 5 of the year, just front the back banger.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 28 December, 2022, 04:46:21 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 25 December, 2022, 03:52:38 AM
Watched Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as well and I am in full agreement with Jim, well worth your time maybe a little bit taking its time in the beginning.

Yeah, it definitely livens up once Andy gets going. Not to say there isn't lots to enjoy before that. Some of the celebrity cameos/name dropping dragged me out of it ever so slightly. I love the fact that it is also a two hour [spoiler]shitpost about Elon Musk[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 January, 2023, 09:50:33 AM
CASABLANCA

First time watch, if you can believe it, on 35mm yesterday. Rarely do i say movies deserve their reputation but yeah, this one absolutely does.

Also no one told me its funnier than about 99% of other movies, massive W.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 03 January, 2023, 10:26:56 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 03 January, 2023, 09:50:33 AM
CASABLANCA
First time watch, if you can believe it
I saw this properly for the first time when it was released in the cinema donkey's years ago and I had pretty much the same reaction as you.
I've probably seen Casablanca too often now, but last week I watched To Have And Have Not, which I hadn't seen in forever, and I loved it. It was made off the back of Casablanca's success and has many of the same elements: a hard-bitten Bogart in the midst of divided wartime loyalties and various beautiful women, and all in an exotic French colonial locale. The studio couldn't get Ingrid Bergman this time round, so they settled for the 19-year-old Lauren Bacall, who smoulders like nobody's business.
Legend has it that the whole thing was the result of a drunken bet between Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks (or maybe it was William Faulker). Anyway – not as good as Casablanca, but a treat nonetheless.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 January, 2023, 12:47:24 PM

I do love Casablanca.

"I came here for the waters."
"But we're in a desert."
"I was misinformed."

Great stuff.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 January, 2023, 03:37:43 PM
"I am shocked, SHOCKED to see there is GAMBLING going on here!"
"Your winnings sir..."
"Oh, thank you very much!"
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 04 January, 2023, 01:46:04 PM
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

Was pretty enjoyable in IMAX 3D despite having plenty of stuff upfront that you can moan about and even more that you can nitpick.

If you liked Avatar (save the rainforest), you will almost certainly like this (save the whale). The fingerprints of Cameron's other films all over this.

Visually and technically it's a marvel... Genuinely looks like they just knocked a hole in the cinema wall through which I was watching Pandora. Was every special effects person in the world working on this? And Cameron can still do a superb action piece or two.

I actually liked that they ran with the kids/ young adult storylines... Though pretty trite, it stops it just being a retread of the first movie but with fish.

Slightly miffed that there is a lot of sequel seeding going on... Especially wrt the key villain who has proved pretty much no threat throughout.

But yeah, go see it on the biggest, brightest screen you can.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 January, 2023, 12:25:40 AM
At the other end of the scale (but still with a surprisingly large list of special effects credits is The Banshees of Inisherin.

A surface simple tale of the escalation of bad blood when one of two life long friends on a small Irish island decides they don't want to be friends any more.

But you can pick whatever metaphor you want from civil war (actually that is in the text) to toxic masculinity to social media interactions.

It's fantastic stuff with (surely?) an Award winning turn from Colin Farrell. Actually, the whole cast is great (Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon, that Clan Tech guy's dad) and the script is laugh out loud funny with an effortless change of tone.

It's on Disney+ at the moment but is a Film4 production so could be on normal telly soon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 January, 2023, 09:42:51 AM
Been on a bit of a Peter Watkins binge recently.
Hate to say that THE WAR GAME might be more harrowing than THREADS but it is, it really really is.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 09 January, 2023, 10:28:34 AM
I was able to distance myself from The War Game because of its sixties setting and documentary style. But Threads was something else. That was the eighties. That was my world.
I don't imagine I'll ever be watching that film again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 09 January, 2023, 11:47:11 AM
I caught The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix over the weekend.

Stunning film.
The pace and premise (Edgar Allan Poe takes the John Watson role, in an Edgar Allan Poe style murder mystery) may not be for everyone, but it had me hooked after 5 minutes.
Amazing array of actors involved, even for relatively small roles.

I'll be re-watching it at some stage - should be a different experience forearmed with the final reveal.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 09 January, 2023, 11:49:30 AM
Aftersun really powerful and affecting, worth all the plaudits it has had recently
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 January, 2023, 02:31:54 PM
Quote from: Marbles on 09 January, 2023, 11:49:30 AM
Aftersun really powerful and affecting, worth all the plaudits it has had recently

Seconded. It's pretty damn great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2023, 08:51:31 AM
GLASS ONION

A very stupid film, with all the typical contrite, annoying Johnson malarkeys you would have come to expect. But it is better than the first one in a such that it actually has SOMETHING to say about class dichotomy, even if its incredibly ham fisted in doing so. I will give anyone a few extra points for attempting to reinvigorate the Murder Mystery genre in the space age year of 2022/3.

Watch THE MENU instead, similar concept, just better.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2023, 11:39:03 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2023, 08:51:31 AM
GLASS ONION

A very stupid film, with all the typical contrite, annoying Johnson malarkeys you would have come to expect. But it is better than the first one in a such that it actually has SOMETHING to say about class dichotomy, even if its incredibly ham fisted in doing so. I will give anyone a few extra points for attempting to reinvigorate the Murder Mystery genre in the space age year of 2022/3.

Watch THE MENU instead, similar concept, just better.

I thought there was class dichotomy in the first one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 January, 2023, 12:54:30 PM
Aye, it did, and I did acknowledge that. It just wasn't a very good example of how to handle said dichotomy.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2023, 08:05:04 PM
Ah yes, rereading your post I can see that.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 January, 2023, 10:36:53 AM
SHIN ULTRAMAN

Yeah I'm an absolute mark for this, obviously. A series I adore being reinterpreted by two of our greatest living auteur directors, who are known fans of the franchise, it was never going to be anything but a triumph.
Fan wank aspects aside I adore how Shin took the series back to it roots, acting both in universe and by cultural association as a counter balance to the desperate politicism of Shin Godzilla by proposing a philosophy of optimism and altruistic good will. Earnestness on such a big spectacle fare as this is desperately lacking in major productions from the West these days.

Also its incredibly funny Anno and Higuchi made Zarab a manlet in a trench coat.

TAR

An excellent yet deeply flawed dramatic black comedy that goes drastically off the rails during the final act.
Blanchett is utterly compelling in the titular role, and some slightly obtuse jabs at contemporary politics aside I feel it was broadly successful in conveying the rational and moral decay of those in positions of authority, regardless of the industry.

Portrait of a Lady in Power.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 January, 2023, 12:04:11 PM
SMILE

Should have been "sigh". A tired derivative of the Ring and It Follows, but not as good. Also a victim of the curiously bloodless horror that so fascinates the USA.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2023, 02:16:24 PM

Amsterdam. A real treat of a film, rich and layered and fun and intricate.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 19 January, 2023, 02:46:36 PM
The Wonder--Unhurried period piece set in post-famine Ireland. Florence Pugh is an English nurse imported to observe the day-to-day of a young girl who hasn't eaten in months. Very good, even if it doesn't ultimately dig its claws all the way into its setup. Brilliant cast, all doing excellent work.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 25 January, 2023, 07:56:04 AM
If you cut off the first few minutes and the last few minutes The Wonder was great.

Liked Glass Onion more than I thought I would.

Recently watched Grey Gardens the documentary about the Kennedy women (well they were related to Jackie so I guess they were Bouvier women). This could have been subtitled Internalised Misogyny: The Movie. Fascinating on multiple levels.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 25 January, 2023, 10:02:44 AM
Quote from: Rara Avis on 25 January, 2023, 07:56:04 AM
If you cut off the first few minutes and the last few minutes The Wonder was great.
I tend to think the last act of the film should be seen in a different light with those sections in place, so I wouldn't want them removed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 25 January, 2023, 07:28:17 PM
We'll have to agree to disagree. I felt they were too on the nose and somewhat unnecessary; they broke me out of the reverie I usually enjoy while watching a good movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 07 February, 2023, 09:12:31 PM
PLANE
Monosyllabic, monolithic title. No one's wasting time on fripperies like titles here. No one's fucking around on this one.
There's this plane, see? Gerard Butler flies it. This is a Gerard Butler film—all the way. It has everything you'd want from a Gerard Butler film.

Plane has dangerous tough guy on board. Plane makes forced landing in one of those isolated jungles that's filled with dissidents, separatists, and malcontents with AKs.
Guns go bangeddy-bang. Passengers scream. Everyone sweats like the clappers.
Dangerous tough guy and Gerard Butler make common cause.
Can they rescue everyone, save the day, and escape from the island in the...
...Plane?

This is not some art-house meditation on the nature of loneliness.
This is Plane.
Best film I've seen all damn day.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 February, 2023, 10:04:55 PM
STARRING...The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 as PLANE!
ALSO STARRING ... Gerard Butler as PLANE'S MAN!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 09 February, 2023, 11:53:05 AM
Quote from: JWare on 07 February, 2023, 09:12:31 PMPLANE

This is not some art-house meditation on the nature of loneliness.
This is Plane.
Best film I've seen all damn day.

Undoubtedly, the sequel will involve Gerard Butler once again flying the plane, but this time he will have to make a forced landing into the sea.

The movie will be called Plane Sailing.  :D
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 February, 2023, 01:54:41 PM

Or maybe James Cameron will blow our socks off with Planes.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 09 February, 2023, 05:49:51 PM
Quote from: JWare on 07 February, 2023, 09:12:31 PMPLANE
Monosyllabic, monolithic title. No one's wasting time on fripperies like titles here. No one's fucking around on this one.
There's this plane, see? Gerard Butler flies it. This is a Gerard Butler film—all the way. It has everything you'd want from a Gerard Butler film.

Plane has dangerous tough guy on board. Plane makes forced landing in one of those isolated jungles that's filled with dissidents, separatists, and malcontents with AKs.
Guns go bangeddy-bang. Passengers scream. Everyone sweats like the clappers.
Dangerous tough guy and Gerard Butler make common cause.
Can they rescue everyone, save the day, and escape from the island in the...
...Plane?

This is not some art-house meditation on the nature of loneliness.
This is Plane.
Best film I've seen all damn day.

I drokking loved this. Is it nonsense? Damn straight it is. Does it know it's nonsense? Damn straight it does.
Just like Jason Statham or Jackie Chan movies, this is basically review proof. You can harp all the live long day about silliness and plot holes - But - get this - THAT DOES NOT MATTER.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Proudhuff on 10 February, 2023, 10:21:17 AM
Where can I see this?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2023, 06:39:22 PM
AVATAR THE WAY OF WATER

Bit baffled by the the buzz this one if getting. It's alright, isn't it? About what I thought of the first movie actually (funny how, after a decade of derision, suddenly thats being considered some modern opus of 'vulgar auteurism') that like its forefather I don't see myself revisiting it much.

Sure, it's pretty. But so's a lava lamp and I think The Way of Water has about as much substance as one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 February, 2023, 07:23:35 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 11 February, 2023, 06:39:22 PMAVATAR THE WAY OF WATER

Bit baffled by the the buzz this one if getting. It's alright, isn't it? About what I thought of the first movie actually (funny how, after a decade of derision, suddenly thats being considered some modern opus of 'vulgar auteurism') that like its forefather I don't see myself revisiting it much.

Sure, it's pretty. But so's a lava lamp and I think The Way of Water has about as much substance as one.

Yeah, it was okay. Looks great, though. Basically Tarzan in Space.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 12 February, 2023, 12:48:12 PM
Watched The Menu for the second time last night and realised that it's essentially Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, (but with a little less chocolate).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 12 February, 2023, 01:05:35 PM
The Menu waited for something interesting to happen then the end credit rolled up. Another Disney+ entry Wakanda was really not that good and I am getting tired of all these superhero movies. MCU and DC-verse are really sucking out the originally in movies. When will we have another original movie hit not linked to either a sequel or a comic-book character? (The exception for me will be another Dredd movie)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 February, 2023, 01:23:46 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 12 February, 2023, 01:05:35 PMWhen will we have another original movie hit not linked to either a sequel or a comic-book character? (The exception for me will be another Dredd movie)

The Menu?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 February, 2023, 01:46:06 PM
Depends what you mean by 'hit'. Just a quick perusal of page 1 of Empire's review list (https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/) shows there are plenty of original movies being made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 13 February, 2023, 01:47:28 PM
Quote from: wedgeski on 13 February, 2023, 01:46:06 PMDepends what you mean by 'hit'. Just a quick perusal of page 1 of Empire's review list (https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/) shows there are plenty of original movies being made.

I am more talking about a massive hit that is not a comic book or a direct sequel
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 13 February, 2023, 06:58:13 PM
Watched Tar and Saint Maud this weekend - would recommend.

Everything, everywhere all at once was a huge hit and that was an orginal movie
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 February, 2023, 03:35:02 PM
EMPIRE OF LIGHT

Had a free few hours so decided to head into the last 35mm screening of this (part of some weird psyop espionage to convince certain goons Empire of Light is good, no doubt) and yep, Sam Mendes continues to be the best director of the most uncinematic cinema of the last few decades.

Just annoyingly cloy and smug, very much not it Sam.

Best bit was the scratched up magenta film leader before the film started, genuinely art.

Bonus round: Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania Trailer

I'm not going to watch the whole movie, because fuck that, but seeing the trailer before EoL makes me wonder why anyone would want to. It seems Disney had AI writing and designing these movies at this point, just a visually unpleasant mass of nothing draped over a repetitive plot.

What's the appeal?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2023, 01:49:26 PM
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

Well, I have to say: I have no idea what all the sniffy reviews are on about. Quantumania is fine, in fact it's pretty good.

Jonathan Majors' Kang is a terrific villain, the main cast are all as good as you'd expect from previous outings — Pfeiffer and Douglas both get a decent amount to do. Fewer jokes and more action, but the good jokes land well.

No, it's not going to change the world or redefine cinema as we know it, but the film looks great and rattles along engagingly without outstaying its welcome.

There are mid-credit and end-credit sequences. Mid-credit is definitely more significant than the end one, but worth sitting through for them both if your bladder permits.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 26 February, 2023, 02:08:33 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2023, 01:49:26 PMWell, I have to say: I have no idea what all the sniffy reviews are on about. Quantumania is fine, in fact it's pretty good.

That is the reason why I actually start to do the opposite, if the movie critics love it I ignore it if the hate it I make a point of seeing it. This is working like a charm.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 February, 2023, 03:36:43 PM
Prey

Finally got around to watching this.

Better than the previous two attempts at Predator films by a country mile (four if we're counting the AvP films).  The call backs to the original film were perhaps entirely unnecessary, but I am not going to hold it against the film.  The lead is a boss, both character and performance wise.  I like it.  Which makes for three Predator films I like. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 01 March, 2023, 09:06:40 AM
We rewatched Predator 2 last week. God almighty, that film is a pile of shit. One good shot of the predator in strobe lights crawling across the roof of a tube train doesn't rescue it, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2023, 07:23:30 PM

Caligula (1979). A vile and horrid film that could've been great if only they'd devoted the many scenes involving tits and knobs to character development and the very few scenes involving character development to tits and knobs.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2023, 07:53:52 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2023, 07:23:30 PMCaligula (1979). A vile and horrid film that could've been great if only they'd devoted the many scenes involving tits and knobs to character development and the very few scenes involving character development to tits and knobs.



One of the greatest movies ever made, looking forward to the reconstruction cut dropping later this year which promises more vile tits and knobs.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 20 March, 2023, 08:47:13 PM
All I ever remember of that film is the mass decapitation scene.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 March, 2023, 09:06:05 PM
No Judge Fish or Aaron.A.AArdvark.


Worst. Adaptation. Ever
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 26 March, 2023, 06:26:08 AM
Watch John Wick 4 yesterday afternoon. This movie moves at a frantic pace, it just stops a few times for the audience to catch their breath. This is an all-action over-the-top no mercy slugfest showdown of a movie. So, if you like the ones before you love this. I especially liked how the last scene played out. Highly recommend, 5 stars.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 April, 2023, 11:41:31 PM
Dungeons & Dragons: Hono(u)r Amongst Thieves

File this one alongside the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, under "Way Better Than A Movie Based On A Licensed Property Has Any Right To Be".

Not only an enormous amount of fun, but recognisably D&D throughout. Engaging characters, good jokes, memorable monsters, well-staged set pieces, a hilarious riposte to Smaug from The Hobbit (movies)...

I haven't played (A)D&D in (Christ!) probably thirty-five years, but this kind of felt... right.*

(Also a fantastic throwaway gag/Easter egg for D&D Fans of a Certain Age™.)

I would very happily watch another half-dozen movies in this vein. Even if you're not THAT kind of nerd, this is a lot of fun.

* OK, my D&D campaigns were a little closer to the Dark Ages and a little further away from the Renaissance than the tone this hits, but the thing D&D always had going for it was its flexibility in accommodating a wide range of fantasy styles. Nonetheless, this pretty much feels like a decent D&D scenario.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 11 April, 2023, 10:36:12 AM
Another thumbs up for D&D.

First half of the film was a bit of a mess, but it's charm carried it through. Once the team was assembled and the plot started to focus it was great. Accessible enough to non-nerds but enough nods to the game and setting to keep nerds like me happy.
Loved seeing some of the iconic monsters on-screen. The paladin character was fantastic and the dragon was even better.
It definitely had the feel of an actual D&D adventure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 April, 2023, 04:54:34 PM
Two thumbs up from me. The trailer had me optimistic and the film exceeded all expectations. Great script, absolutely hilarious in places (who didn't guffaw at the paladin walking in a straight line?), and a good emotional centre. I've grown tired of Chris Pine over the years but he anchored D&D like a pro. I hope we get another.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 April, 2023, 01:07:43 PM
A rare cinema twofer at the weekend, and even more unusually, both were worth the trip:

The Super Mario Bros Movie (watched with kids) - insane fun. Perfect tone, beautiful animation, faithful to the game series. This is a winner for Nintendo, as the box office receipts are showing.

Air (watched with somber mid-forties men) - Surprisingly great. Affleck adds another gold star to his resumé. And that 80's soundtrack is phenomenal too.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 April, 2023, 01:14:25 PM
Yet another pair of thumbs for for D&D: HAT ( :lol: ), now that was rollicking good fun.
Tight, self contained high fantasy guff that really doesn't outstay it's welcome. Have absolutely no affinity for the broader IP but I'm glad this was made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 April, 2023, 07:15:15 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2023, 01:49:26 PMAnt-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Jonathan Majors' Kang is a terrific villain,
He was due to be the big bad over several movies, but I imagine hasty rewrites are being done at Disney HQ right now: https://bgr.com/entertainment/jonathan-majors-future-as-kang-seems-unlikely-but-marvel-is-keeping-quiet/ (https://bgr.com/entertainment/jonathan-majors-future-as-kang-seems-unlikely-but-marvel-is-keeping-quiet/)


Quote from: broodblik on 26 March, 2023, 06:26:08 AMWatch John Wick 4 ...Highly recommend, 5 stars.
I liked the first and watched the next two, but the law of dimishing returns kicked in and I jsut got bored. I liked the air of mystery in the first, but mystery isn't allowed any kmore, we demand exposition and backstory. The more iof that ther was, the less intetersting the story became (I folwed a similar trajectory of waning ineterst reading 100 Bullets) Mentioning this on another forum I had lots of people tell me that 4 is actually the best of the lot, so I may give it a go.


Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2023, 07:23:30 PMCaligula (1979). A vile and horrid film
It's hilarious though how they sneakilly got A-list stars like Peter O'Toole to make a porn film - they filmed all the actorly bits, then filmed all the hardcore orgies using the same sets and extras, releasing two versions of the film, the theatrical cut with bums'n'boobies, and the porn version with full-on orgies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 20 April, 2023, 07:51:35 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 26 February, 2023, 01:49:26 PMAnt-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

Well, I have to say: I have no idea what all the sniffy reviews are on about. Quantumania is fine, in fact it's pretty good.


Agree. Quantumania is solid and nowhere near Marvel's worst films (IM2, Thor2, Eternals). The 3 Ant-Man films are of similar grade: efficient, visually imaginative, enjoyable, and no flab. Any quibbles are mostly down to matters of taste. They have their method down to an art.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 April, 2023, 08:26:33 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 20 April, 2023, 07:51:35 PM...Marvel's worst films (IM2, Thor2, Eternals)... Any quibbles are mostly down to matters of taste.

Agree with you there regarding matters of taste. I agree on IM2 but I'd put FF in place of Thor 2, which I think is okay - but when it comes to Eternals, It's one of my all-time favourites. I properly love it.

Taste, eh? There really is no accounting for it.

Also thought Quantumania was a solid entry.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 April, 2023, 08:02:05 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 April, 2023, 08:26:33 PMI agree on IM2 but I'd put FF in place of Thor 2

Presuming by FF you mean Fantastic Four, Shark?

They've yet to make the MCU version of the foursome (unless you're telling me this from the future).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 April, 2023, 08:32:07 PM

Since Multiverse of Madness, I guess I could include The Hoff's Nick Fury film if I wanted...

If FF's barred, I could slot in that Ten Rings thing instead.

Tbh, I enjoy most of the Marvel films - they're the modern version of Baby Shark being captivated by all those wonderful Harryhausen films; even the crap ones were good.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 May, 2023, 04:00:09 PM

Inspired by a snidey post I made in another thread, I came across the two-part Netflix documentary, Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story. A difficult watch, in places (especially the second part), but very balanced and thought-provoking. It casts light on the minds of an absolute monster who fooled a nation, a nation taken in, and the silent agony of the victims. Recommended - if you have a strong stomach.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 08 May, 2023, 08:00:14 PM
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: is great. If you were unmoved/uninterested in the previous two, this is going to do nothing to change your mind. However, if you are remotely invested in this team of space-adventuring misfits, then Vol3 rounds off the trilogy in fine style. As you'd expect, there are great jokes, lots of action, and some proper tugs at the heartstrings.

I'll also add, without spoiling anything, that this is, in places, a good deal darker than previous GotG instalments and, frankly, most of the MCU movies to date. For squaxx with kids... I dunno, I know we all go on about the inappropriate shit our parents let us watch in the 70s/80s, but I would think long and hard about taking a kid under 12 to see this.

Which isn't a criticism. The certificate literally says that it may not be suitable for kids under 12, and the darker places it goes... well, you'll see, but I didn't think they were gratuitous, and they served the story.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 May, 2023, 09:20:50 PM

I'm properly looking forward to this film - even more so after your review!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 May, 2023, 08:53:57 AM
Raging Bull recently received a 4K restoration and is doing the rounds, if you have a showing near you do yourself a favor and go see it. Marty made more aesthetically accomplished movies later in his career but he is at his most raw here, the boxing sequences are insane when restored to their original, harrowing splendor.
The closest a boxing movie got to outright horror besides the only actual horror boxing movie, Tokyo Fist, which owes a very explicit debt to Raging Bull.
Marty never misses.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 10 May, 2023, 12:29:38 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 May, 2023, 08:00:14 PMGuardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: is great. If you were unmoved/uninterested in the previous two, this is going to do nothing to change your mind. However, if you are remotely invested in this team of space-adventuring misfits, then Vol3 rounds off the trilogy in fine style.

That's what I wanted to hear!

I 100% checked out of the MCU with Endgame, but I will be back for Gunn's GotG send-off.

Speaking of which; does it reference much of the stuff since Endgame?
I remember reading that the crew were in the last Thor film, and a recent Christmas special.
I have no inclination to catch-up on any of it, just want to know if it's relevant.

Left field side note; The recent Guardians of the Galaxy game (2021) is a must have for fans of these films.
Set in a broadly similar yet separate continuity (think the recent PS4 Spider-Man game) it has a brilliant story featuring the 5 key characters - personally, I enjoyed it more than the flicks.
It's very easy to play too, so even gamer mooks like Colin YNWA can impress their kids with artificially enhanced skills.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 May, 2023, 02:53:41 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 10 May, 2023, 12:29:38 PMSpeaking of which; does it reference much of the stuff since Endgame?

I don't think so. As long as you know what happened with/to Gamora, you're good.

QuoteI remember reading that the crew were in the last Thor film, and a recent Christmas special.
I have no inclination to catch-up on any of it, just want to know if it's relevant.

Thor, no. The Christmas special, possibly — although a change in relationship between two of the main team that happens in the special is referenced, it's not a major plot point. OTOH, the Christmas special is great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: nxylas on 10 May, 2023, 03:18:30 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 May, 2023, 02:53:41 PMI don't think so. As long as you know what happened with/to Gamora, you're good.
I didn't, but there's a recap of sorts.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Radbacker on 14 May, 2023, 11:40:51 AM
GOG 3 is absolutely the best I've seen from marvel the last couple of years.  Outstanding in every respect, if there is one criticism it may be one minute it makes you shed a tear the next there is a bit of goofy humor.  Soundtrack like the last two is great as well, turns it up to 11, great SFX too and the hallway scene is great, possibly one of the best action scenes in a marvel movie.

CU Radbacker
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 14 May, 2023, 01:46:51 PM
Renfeld: where Renfield has now started going to Self Help groups to help him cope with his bosses over powering control of his life, goes out to find victims for Dracula and gets mixed up with the city's biggest drug dealers and a corrupt police dept a he tries to break away and regain his independence. Good amusing film with lots of over the top action with Nick Cage suited to playing this version Dracula
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 14 May, 2023, 06:00:42 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 10 May, 2023, 08:53:57 AMRaging Bull recently received a 4K restoration and is doing the rounds, if you have a showing near you do yourself a favor and go see it. Marty made more aesthetically accomplished movies later in his career but he is at his most raw here, the boxing sequences are insane when restored to their original, harrowing splendor.
The closest a boxing movie got to outright horror besides the only actual horror boxing movie, Tokyo Fist, which owes a very explicit debt to Raging Bull.
Marty never misses.

I'll second your admiration for 'Raging Bull', Hawkie. It says something about Scorsese's skill as a film maker - and De Niro's best ever, IMO performance - that even though it's central character is such a horrible and utterly nasty individual, it is still a completely gripping piece of cinema. And by a wide margin, probably the greatest movie about boxing ever made.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 15 May, 2023, 08:33:55 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 May, 2023, 02:53:41 PM
QuoteI remember reading that the crew were in the last Thor film, and a recent Christmas special.
I have no inclination to catch-up on any of it, just want to know if it's relevant.

Thor, no. The Christmas special, possibly — although a change in relationship between two of the main team that happens in the special is referenced, it's not a major plot point. OTOH, the Christmas special is great.

Cheers Jim.
I plan on purchasing the Vol 3 Blu-ray at some stage to complete the trilogy in my collection - hopefully it will include that special as an extra.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 16 May, 2023, 11:45:51 AM
I watched Metal Lords on Netflix yesterday. Films are notoriously bad for getting metal right and this one's no exception although it's better than most, and there's some cameos from some legendary metal musicians at one point. It's not really a film about about metal - it's a coming of age drama and very, very gentle with it but I did like the way it tackled mental health issues.

Also, unlike Teen Wolf and Grease, the actors aren't all 30+.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 May, 2023, 08:04:37 PM

The two Popes. An absolute masterclass by Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, by turns funny, thought-provoking, and moving. I am not religious at all but I wholeheartedly recommend this film.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 18 May, 2023, 01:37:11 PM
Evil Dead Rises - I didn't get on with this unfortunately, I thought it took far to long to get going, the characters were quite unsympathetic, and it kept stopping and starting, there'd be one great scene but then a long tedious moment. The internal logic seemed flawed to (why some come back to life almost instantly while others took ages was really odd) and I found myself bored a lot of the time, and really missed the chaotic madness of the Raimi movies.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 May, 2023, 06:00:11 PM

Another thumbs down for Evil Dead Rise. Evil Dead Dies, more like.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 May, 2023, 01:00:18 PM
LOCAL HERO

Probably my 8th or so rewatch at this point, on a loooovely 35mm print no less.
Not a lot more to say about this one really, is there? Just about perfect, still remains the only movie that actually makes me cry (laugh, go on, I dare you, but there is never a dry eye when those credits roll).

That's cinema magic, baby.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 04 June, 2023, 11:54:16 PM
I finally got around to watching Midsommar.  Well half of it.

This might be controversial, because I've only heard good things about this film, but oh my god is this film a boring pile of shite.  My initial reaction was "oh, this is high-brow hostel".  It may have been, I don't know, I didn't get to the actual horror.  I was too irritated by the arsehole characters and their tedious bullshit.  I'm not fond of the pagan cult bullshit, either.

It would have been better if it were shorter and faster paced, had charismatic and compelling characters or both.

I have sat all the way through utter detestable garbage that I despise, so I think it's pretty damning to a film if I turn it off half way through because I don't think it's worth finishing it.

Nevertheless, I can see why other people might enjoy it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 05 June, 2023, 03:28:04 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 04 June, 2023, 11:54:16 PMI finally got around to watching Midsommar. 
I watched it with an open mind (or possibly an empty mind – I forget) and thought it time agreeably spent.
Anyway, I had just discovered Florence Pugh and this had Florence Pugh in it, never mind that her character was one of the more unsympathetic characters in a bunch of unsympathetic characters.
I can understand the hate for this film. It's too damn long and there's no one in it that anyone would like. I have lost patience with, and walked away from better movies in my time.
On the plus side however, there's an actual honest-to-god blood eagle sacrifice in there, and there's Florence's dreamy smile and mad floral outfit at the end.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 06 June, 2023, 12:10:20 AM
Just seen probably the worst movie ever Queen Kong loosely based on King Kong, staring Robin Askwith & Rula Lenska
The film switches the traditional roles of females and males and reverses the sexes of the original cast of King Kong. The main character Ray Fay plays the damsel in distress, which tends to usually be played by women. He is kidnapped by film director Luce Habit to star in her new African jungle movie. He then finds himself the attraction of an amorous giant female gorilla that pursues him across London.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 07 June, 2023, 07:13:42 PM
Quote from: rogue69 on 06 June, 2023, 12:10:20 AMJust seen probably the worst movie ever Queen Kong loosely based on King Kong, staring Robin Askwith & Rula Lenska
The film switches the traditional roles of females and males and reverses the sexes of the original cast of King Kong. The main character Ray Fay plays the damsel in distress, which tends to usually be played by women. He is kidnapped by film director Luce Habit to star in her new African jungle movie. He then finds himself the attraction of an amorous giant female gorilla that pursues him across London.

That does sound awful but I've got an urge to watch it now, I do have a fondness for really bad movies, especially if they're set in London as I like to see how the city has changed over the years.

The Super Bros. Movie (2023) - I feel all a bit embarrassed writing this, but I really liked the movie. It's bright and colourful and often quite beautifully designed, and moves at a great pace. I could understand someone hating it, I really could, but it was what I was in the mood for yesterday, a turn off your brain and just smile at the pretty pictures kind of movie, and at the very least I think it's better than the first attempt (which I did actually find quite interesting, but it's a terrible adaptation of the games!).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 June, 2023, 07:58:39 PM
I love kaiju movies. I love bad kaiju movies.

But Queen Kong is a bad kaiju COMEDY movie trying to flaunt it's questionable Python adjacent credentials*.

It's fucking unwatchable.

*Director Frank Agraman occasionally claims to have worked as second line producer on Life of Brian, something that has never been verified.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: rogue69 on 07 June, 2023, 09:47:54 PM
You can see why RKO got it's release stopped, it only got limited releases in Italy & Germany plus a Japanese release in 1998 which was redubbed by Japanese comedians where it now has a cult following
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 08 June, 2023, 10:18:39 AM
The Sword and the Sorcerer.
Not seen this for decades and I never realised as a youngster how blatant a ripoff of Conan this was. In fact, it's more faithful to Howard's Conan in many ways than the Arnie Conan film. Change the main character a little and lose the opening backstory (whcih has nothing to do with the rest of the film and isn't referenced again) and you've got a great Conan film right here.

I was concerned this would be a deeply problematic watch nowdays like Deathstalker is, and yes, it does include those staples of 80s films - an attempted sexual assault, an 80s hero who is a bit of a dickhead and a weirdly placed bit of extreme violence near the end. But it's a very watchable film, despite the pacing and tone being all over the place: veering from horror to serious to Romancing the Stone-esque action comedy. Really enjoyed it for what it was. Some great special effects too (and some terrible ones)

I also watched Prisoners of the Lost Universe. This was made by Terry Marcel who did Hawk the Slayer and reuses several of the same actors, props and sound effects. This film is dire. The leads really suck and the film also sucks. Best thing about it is John Saxon, hamming it up like a loon.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 13 June, 2023, 06:44:27 PM
The Boogeyman (2023) - Oof this was bad. Apparently its based on a 1973 Stephen King story but they've taken out the twists and the thing that made it of any interest, and now it's a bog standard horror film with every cliche going, a tedious affair that if I hadn't been with a friend i would have walked out half way through, and not missed anything of any value either.

On the plus side I'm off to see the Spider-Man Spiderverse sequel in about half an hour (I'm lucky that I live within walking distance of the cinema) and am really looking forward to that!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 June, 2023, 09:29:17 PM
ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE

I was genuinely concerned that, after a largely refreshing and for the most part self contained romp the first time around when INTO dropped, that the sequel would devolve into a stream of fan wanking turned up to the highest feasible setting without the entire plot evaporating around it.

Delighted to announce I was only somewhat justified in my concerns, for though it absolutely falls into that most odious of contemporary narrative trends of meta-naval gazing-within-meta-narratives it's undeniably one of the more tactful examples of the type. All the jokes that outstay there welcome are entirely in the service of character building, and without a word of sarcasm I do love these characters.
Lord and Miller have always had a knack for making animated, larger than life characters work on a more intimate level and this does not fail to live up to that legacy.
I want to see more of Miles, Gwen, Hobie and co. as these are arguably some of the most endearing cape types i've seen in a long time, it's fun just seeing them bounce off one another.

I just wish it was in service of a more satisfying, holistic work. For as it stands in stark contrast to the first entry in the series ACROSS feels like a half dozen set up vignettes (which, really, it is) for a sequel that honestly just makes me wish we got a 3-5 hour animated epic one-and-done.

That is, perhaps, a me issue admittedly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 18 June, 2023, 09:58:39 AM
I get where you're coming from storywise, but I absolutely loved this, visually it's astonishing, I genuinely don't know how the studios are going to respond but if the keep on trotting out cgi films like the new Pixar film (Elemental), it's going to look embarrassingly weak. Indeed if they're not going to pull out all the stop to compete I'd even prefer a return to traditional animation, during the pandemic I watched every Disney film which got a cinematic release and enjoyed the majority of them a great deal (except Bambi, sheesh is that a dull film!) and loved the animation to nearly all of the films.

The Flash (2023) - This is going to be quite spoiler-y, (and I can't find a way to spoiler the text), so if you wish to see this I'd suggest looking away now. So i saw this the day after Spider-Verse which was probably a mistake, but I found Ezra Miller's portrayal of both lead characters to be all but unbearable, and though Michael Keaton was great they didn't really give him any memorable dialogue at all. It's frustrating as the opening sequence, the baby shower, was fantastic, as was Wonder Woman's cameo, but from that point it became miserable for far too long as Barry whined about his dead mother and the Russian rescue segment was poorly lit and badly orchestrated. Once the ending arrived I found myself finally enjoying the film, but then some shockingly shoddy cgi turned up (I mean, was that really the best way they could get Christopher Reeve in to the film?) and by the end I had no interest in whether or not their was a post credits scene, and left the second the credits appeared.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 18 June, 2023, 10:25:43 AM
Your summary Badly is spot on about The Flash. The best scene was by far the baby-shower. What I also disliked was the fact that Barry Allen is always unsure about himself. The cgi was quite poor in the movie. One of the strangest choice in the movie was to make Barry's family is Italian. I did like the different cameos in the movie as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 20 June, 2023, 11:31:30 AM
Late to the party on PREY - I was put off by the trailer for it when it came out, mainly due to a rubbish CGI bear. After general good reviews and a friends urging I watched it last week.
The start of the film is not very interesting. It looks beautiful, apart from the CGI animals which are all terrible and immersion breaking: if you can't do a good CGI bird, maybe don't put one in the film? The concept is great but as much as I wanted to root for the main character I found them annoying, the plot meandering, and the film lacking atmosphere.
And then.. at some point I became super invested and started hugely enjoying it. The protagonist went from acting foolishly to being courageous and inventive and I was totally behind them and their journey. The film was tight, tense and atmospheric. The Predator looked great too - I liked the way it moved, more animalistic and hunched, and the way it adapted its fighting methodology to match the combat style whatever it was fighting.
I was cynical we could get another decent Predator film but very glad to be proved wrong.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 20 June, 2023, 03:01:45 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 18 June, 2023, 10:25:43 AMYour summary Badly is spot on about The Flash. The best scene was by far the baby-shower. What I also disliked was the fact that Barry Allen is always unsure about himself. The cgi was quite poor in the movie. One of the strangest choice in the movie was to make Barry's family is Italian. I did like the different cameos in the movie as well.

I thought that was an odd decision about Barry's lack of confidence, it kind of made sense in the Justice League movie as he was relatively new to superhero antics, but years have passed now and I couldn't understand why he acted that way. The same applies with young Barry, who seemed weirdly stupid and I don't know why that was.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2023, 10:06:22 AM
Extraction 2 (Netflix)

I quite enjoyed the first Extraction movie — it was a brisk, efficient thriller with some very well-staged action set-pieces.

I imagine the intention of the sequel was to 'turn it up to eleven'... which they certainly did, but at the expense of making a film that was actually watchable.

Full disclosure: we bailed out after thirty minutes. Maybe the remaining hour-and-a-half is really good, but we'd had enough.

It's basically noise. After a brief catch-up from the end of the first movie, and a laughable montage sequence in which Hemsworth's character (whose name I can't even remember) goes from hobbling, near-death-experience-recoveree to fighting fit killing machine by virtue of chopping some logs, it's into the action.

And, yes, there's plenty of it — it's unrelenting. People get shot, stabbed, blown up, murdered with a variety of garden implements... but I couldn't discern any reason why I was supposed to give a single, solitary shit about any of it.

The directorial obsession with faking long takes and continuous shots was, I suppose, intended to give the audience the impression of being right in amongst the action. The actual effect was both exhausting and amazingly dull — it felt exactly like watching someone else playing a third-person shooter on their XBox. There was little to no sense of peril, increasingly fearsome weaponry appears almost out of nowhere, many cars, helicopters and motorcycles are reduced to burning wreckage...

...And it manages to be terribly, terribly boring.

Which is a shame, because I wanted to like it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 30 June, 2023, 05:12:26 AM
Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood - I was a big fan of Tarantino from Reservoir Dogs through to Kill Bill Vol. 1, but I struggled with Vol,2, and haven't enjoyed anything since. But I was intrigued by this, the performances are strong, the dialogue isn't deliberately convoluted speech, and it's very well shot. I've still a lot of questions about it, and what Tarantino was trying to do with the ending, but despite that it's his best film in  years for me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 02 July, 2023, 10:14:57 PM
Gremlins 2 not really given this much thought since righting it off as another terrible sequel back in the day (I know I saw it in the cinema and maybe once more on video after that) and way watched it again tonight and by George its really rather good fun.

I mean its not as good as the first, few are, but there is no denying its funny, rollocks along and has a sadly amusing Trump parody that is interesting to see.

Yeah glad I revisited it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dark Jimbo on 03 July, 2023, 10:43:05 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2023, 10:06:22 AMExtraction 2 (Netflix)

I quite enjoyed the first Extraction movie — it was a brisk, efficient thriller with some very well-staged action set-pieces.

I imagine the intention of the sequel was to 'turn it up to eleven'... which they certainly did, but at the expense of making a film that was actually watchable.

Yep. My partner turned to me early on and said almost exactly the same as you - 'It feels like watching someone play a videogame.' We watched to the end, and if it doesn't necessarily get any better, it at least becomes a little more coherent as they leave the train/helicopter battles behind for more smaller stakes stuff. On the whole it's just hard to engage with, really - a lot of noise and nonsense, soon forgotten. Which is a shame, because I also liked the first one.

Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 July, 2023, 10:14:57 PMGremlins 2... I mean its not as good as the first, few are, but there is no denying its funny, rollocks along and has a sadly amusing Trump parody that is interesting to see.

It's superb stuff, with lots of nice nods and callbacks to the first one. Name me another film that stars Christopher Lee, Hulk Hogan, and Daffy Duck!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 03 July, 2023, 11:33:52 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 July, 2023, 10:14:57 PMGremlins 2

I mean its not as good as the first, few are, but there is no denying its funny, rollocks along and has a sadly amusing Trump parody that is interesting to see.

On the Films That Made Me podcast director Joe Dante, one of the two co-hosts, quite regularly states how he thinks Gremlins 2 is the better film of the two. Combination of the freedom he was allowed while making it and the meta theatrical elements he used throughout.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Angry Vince on 16 July, 2023, 08:09:35 PM
Quote from: BadlyDrawnKano on 30 June, 2023, 05:12:26 AMOnce Upon A Time... In Hollywood - I was a big fan of Tarantino from Reservoir Dogs through to Kill Bill Vol. 1, but I struggled with Vol,2, and haven't enjoyed anything since. But I was intrigued by this, the performances are strong, the dialogue isn't deliberately convoluted speech, and it's very well shot. I've still a lot of questions about it, and what Tarantino was trying to do with the ending, but despite that it's his best film in  years for me.

I bailed on my first viewing of this - Quentin Tarantino's obsession with feet <shudders>
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 18 July, 2023, 11:26:43 PM
Quote from: Angry Vince on 16 July, 2023, 08:09:35 PM
Quote from: BadlyDrawnKano on 30 June, 2023, 05:12:26 AMOnce Upon A Time... In Hollywood - I was a big fan of Tarantino from Reservoir Dogs through to Kill Bill Vol. 1, but I struggled with Vol,2, and haven't enjoyed anything since. But I was intrigued by this, the performances are strong, the dialogue isn't deliberately convoluted speech, and it's very well shot. I've still a lot of questions about it, and what Tarantino was trying to do with the ending, but despite that it's his best film in  years for me.

I bailed on my first viewing of this - Quentin Tarantino's obsession with feet <shudders>

I can sympathise with that, the main feet scene in this is so over the top that I think Tarantino's just winding up the audience, but it still made me sigh out loud and wish he didn't do such things.

Sisu (2022) - John Wick / Nobody / Oldboy except it's Finland and World War II. This starts strongly and there's a great bit in the third chapter that made me chuckle, but about half way through the film runs out of steam, it continues to be violent but in a surprisingly uninspired manner. A shame, this had potential, but it squandered it before taking a big s*** on top of it. 5.7/10
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 July, 2023, 06:52:27 AM

Fallen (1989). Been a while since I last watched this but it's still great. One of Denzel's best films, maybe even his very best.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2023, 06:20:44 PM

Sisu. This is Die Hard meets Fury in Finland and, despite piling more hurt on the hero than any human being could possibly survive is, nevertheless, enjoyable if you can suspend your disbelief that high. Then again, I guess that's what films like this are all about, in which case Sisu nails it.

I think there may also be a spin-off film following the fortunes of the women screaming out to be made. I'd definitely watch that!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 25 July, 2023, 02:33:36 PM
Mission Impossible: I've already forgotten what it's called, Part One
There's this thing that was on this submarine and Tom Cruise has to get the thing or it'll be The End Of The World but a pretty lady steals the thing so she can sell it to this other pretty lady who's a baddie, and Tom Cruise and the first pretty lady (who's not a baddie) are in this car and they get chased really really fast through tourist destinations by sexy-psycho-girl in a big armoured van, and then later Tom Cruise has to run really really fast so he can rescue a different pretty lady, and then he has to drive a motorbike really really fast so he can stop the baddies.
And there's a fight!
There's a fight on the roof of a train and the train his going really really fast and Tom Cruise has a fight with this other baddie (only this is a different baddie and not the sexy-psycho-girl in a big armoured van even though she's on the train as well, only not in her big armoured van because you can't have a big armoured van on a train because that would be impossible) and Tom Cruise has to beat the baddie or it'll be The End Of The World.

This film is 2 hours and 43 minutes long.

Things to take away from this film:
Pretty ladies are nice to look at.
Italians are also nice to look at, but can't be trusted.
Nothing can stop Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise has lovely teeth.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 01 August, 2023, 01:10:55 PM
The Possession (1981).
Difficult to get hold of for a justifiable price on DVD / BD, but if you fancy giving this head-trip a watch, a very decent version has just been added to Prime UK.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 03 August, 2023, 01:06:11 PM
Magnificent Seven marathon (not the 2016 one)

The second film is the worst by a long way.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 August, 2023, 01:08:08 PM
IDK, I recall the Lee Van Cleef DTV fourth entry being a real snoozer...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 03 August, 2023, 01:17:49 PM
It's certainly not the best but it also shamelessly rips off The Dirty Dozen so the characters, even though they're paper-thin, stand out and the setting (the village where only women remain) is also unique although seeing some of the ladies pairing off with the gunfighters is a bit creepy.

The villain is a big disappointment in that one though. I'm not sure he even has any lines.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 August, 2023, 05:08:50 PM
I forgot there was a remake, and I actually watched it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 August, 2023, 05:12:14 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 03 August, 2023, 01:17:49 PMIt's certainly not the best but it also shamelessly rips off The Dirty Dozen

To be fair the original ripped off Battle Beyond the Stars, and I've heard some weeb even made a samurai version.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 03 August, 2023, 05:36:59 PM
Battle Beyond the Stars is GREAT.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 03 August, 2023, 09:24:32 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 June, 2023, 10:06:22 AMExtraction 2 (Netflix)

...And it manages to be terribly, terribly boring.

Which is a shame, because I wanted to like it.

Primed by your review, I expected to ditch this in short order but I watched it to the end. I did zone out for the slow bits which – near as I can tell – were all heartfelt ruminations on family.
In fairness to the slow bits, they gave me time to defrost the fridge and get the washing up out of the way. Perhaps not what the filmmakers intended, but an ill wind etc, right?

Worth it for the number of times we get to see Extraction Man (I didn't catch the character's name) get the crap kicked out of him and still maintain that perfect insouciant curl to his fringe.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 August, 2023, 10:56:37 PM
Quote from: JohnW on 03 August, 2023, 09:24:32 PMWorth it for the number of times we get to see Extraction Man (I didn't catch the character's name)

Derek. I'm pretty sure it was Derek.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 August, 2023, 11:18:46 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 03 August, 2023, 10:56:37 PM
Quote from: JohnW on 03 August, 2023, 09:24:32 PMWorth it for the number of times we get to see Extraction Man (I didn't catch the character's name)

Derek. I'm pretty sure it was Derek.

Derek Straction
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 15 August, 2023, 03:43:54 PM
Magnificent Seven (2016 version)

This sure was violent!
Some good bits and bad bits, but I feel like the end totally stuffed the entire film. When it's revealed that Chris was after revenge on the big bad guy all along it changes the whole nature of the plot: instead of the battle being about a stand againts hopeless odds, he basically used the other guys to get a shot at his enemy.
Still better than Return of the Magnificent Seven but I think the Lee Van Cleef one was more satisfying than this overall.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 16 August, 2023, 02:31:57 AM
The saving grace of The Return of the Magnificent Seven was the planning and execution of the end battle scene. It demonstrates how you would defend a village against 40+ Bandits with only seven men.

Chris, Lee van Cleef, explains the why and how. Along with an extremely cold delivery of how many of the Seven he expects to loose at each stage. (The rest of the film is generally awful)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 16 August, 2023, 09:10:18 AM
That's Magnificent Seven Ride, but I agree, that bit is excellent. I think it's a decent sequel - the actual climatic fight is good, and the convict seven is a good idea with some good character concepts but most of them get no real chance to do much. On the downside the main villain sucks, it looks like a made for tv movie, and the all the stuff with Chris's wife getting fridged / the widows is badly dated and now creepy and weird.

Way better than The Return of the Seven which is the weakest of the lot imo. Seriously undeveloped characters (two of them barely do anything), ill-concieved recasting, weak climax, Yul Brynner phoning it in, Warren Oates goofing around...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 17 August, 2023, 05:22:19 AM
Quote from: edgeworthy on 16 August, 2023, 02:31:57 AMThe saving grace of The Return of the Magnificent Seven was the planning and execution of the end battle scene. It demonstrates how you would defend a village against 40+ Bandits with only seven men.

Chris, Lee van Cleef, explains the why and how. Along with an extremely cold delivery of how many of the Seven he expects to loose at each stage. (The rest of the film is generally awful)
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 16 August, 2023, 09:10:18 AMThat's Magnificent Seven Ride, but I agree, that bit is excellent. I think it's a decent sequel - the actual climatic fight is good, and the convict seven is a good idea with some good character concepts but most of them get no real chance to do much. On the downside the main villain sucks, it looks like a made for tv movie, and the all the stuff with Chris's wife getting fridged / the widows is badly dated and now creepy and weird.

Way better than The Return of the Seven which is the weakest of the lot imo. Seriously undeveloped characters (two of them barely do anything), ill-concieved recasting, weak climax, Yul Brynner phoning it in, Warren Oates goofing around...
Oops, my mistake. In all fairness the sequels do all somewhat blur together.
One critic referred to the third one, the Guns of the Magnificent Seven, as having "... all the Magnificence of a Dead Burro".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 17 August, 2023, 09:11:58 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 15 August, 2023, 03:43:54 PMMagnificent Seven (2016 version)

This sure was violent!
That sure was shite.
My attention had drifted elsewhere when Denzel delivered his big vengeance speech so I didn't see it and only half heard it.
How wrong can a film be that I zone out for Denzel Washington doing a climactic tough-guy speech?
I'm still annoyed with myself for not switching off long before it got that far.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 09:42:37 AM
How many genuinely great westerns have we got in the last 2 decades?
That Coen bros headed True Grit remake knocks the socks off the original, The Sisters Brothers gets very little respect for just how great it is. Drawing a blank on any other titles worthy of mention.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 17 August, 2023, 10:06:55 AM
I've always had a soft spot for Open Range (2003).
It was such a surprise to enjoy a film starring Kevin Costner.
Also, it's a film without pretensions. The plot is so formulaic that had it been made, say, in the fifties, it would have been a B picture – but the formula is rock-solid all the same.
Honest cowboys take on wicked cattle baron. That's it.

Didn't like The Sisters Brothers, but can't remember why.
Funny thing is, I wasn't bowled over by the book, but then I went and watched the film anyway.
Sometimes I have too much damn time on my hands, I suppose.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 17 August, 2023, 10:07:26 AM
Quote from: edgeworthy on 17 August, 2023, 05:22:19 AMOne critic referred to the third one, the Guns of the Magnificent Seven, as having "... all the Magnificence of a Dead Burro".

Harsh! I thought Guns was the best of the sequels.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 09:42:37 AMHow many genuinely great westerns have we got in the last 2 decades?

3:10 to Yuma is one I enjoyed, not sure I'd rank it as great but better than anything else I can think of. I also liked Godless, although thats a series. I should watch that True Grit remake if you recommend it.
I suspect the age of the great Western could be over.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 17 August, 2023, 10:23:27 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 17 August, 2023, 10:07:26 AM3:10 to Yuma is one I enjoyed
3:10 to Yuma was a good one.
Didn't care for it so much on the re-watch, mind.
I've grown tired of Christian Bale's gaunt intensity, and I got the impression that Russell Crowe had grown complacent with middle age.
On the other hand, it was the first time I'd seen Ben Foster in anything, and he was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 17 August, 2023, 10:48:20 AM
I haven't seen it in a long time but I remember Ben Foster does rule in it.
And poor old Alan Tudyk doing the classic Alan Tudyk 'I'm a friendly character - oh no! unexpected death' routine.

Back to M7 briefly, anyone seen the tv series with Michael Biehn and Ron Perlman? Non-spoilery reading up on it makes it sound like the Littlest Hobo with 7 gunfighters but I'm still interested

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Michael Knight on 17 August, 2023, 12:28:09 PM
I also recommend 'Open Range' with Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall Great western movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 August, 2023, 12:43:33 PM

Was Unforgiven the Last Great Western?

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 01:05:53 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 August, 2023, 12:43:33 PMWas Unforgiven the Last Great Western?


It's close, definitely as far as I can see the last great 'original' take on the genre.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 August, 2023, 01:30:46 PM
There's been a couple of great tv shows since Unforgiven - The English and Godless AND Ballard of Buster Scruggs AND Slow West AND the remake of True Grit.

You could debate if these are actually Westerns or other films that just happen to be set in the 'Old West' - so like Bone Tomahawk is a horror, just happens to be in the Old West...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 01:49:41 PM
Oh, and Deadwood. 'Smack-My-Head' worthy I neglected to mention it if we are considering TV shows, which considering the close interplay between mediums as far as Westerns go would probably be reticent to ignore.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 August, 2023, 02:09:35 PM

Any love for The Hateful Eight? I think it's a good film and enjoy the thing every time I watch it.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 02:47:40 PM
It's a good time, but much like Bone Tomahawk I have a hard time considering it a western.
It's a Whodunnit in yeehaw clothing*.

*To be fair, if you dress anything up in the same regalia as The Grand Silence it's OK in my book.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 August, 2023, 03:22:31 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 August, 2023, 02:09:35 PMAny love for The Hateful Eight? I think it's a good film and enjoy the thing every time I watch it.



God yes. See I would say this a straight western.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 17 August, 2023, 03:27:15 PM
I think same as Hawk, not really a Western, just got Western trappings. I didn't enjoy it much at the cinema, but thats more down to all of Tarantino's Taratino-isms.
I actually think it could work nicely as a play. Take out the flashbacks and it mostly takes place in one room.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 03:34:37 PM
OK, now we're onto 'snow westerns' and I have to do my civic duty and recommend McGabe and Ms. Millar.
Altmans best, sorry M*A*S*H heads.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 August, 2023, 09:07:18 PM
I thought Django was the better Tarantino western. Classic old west story of a man whose woman is kidnapped by backwards savages.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 August, 2023, 10:10:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 17 August, 2023, 09:42:37 AMHow many genuinely great westerns have we got in the last 2 decades?
That Coen bros headed True Grit remake knocks the socks off the original, The Sisters Brothers gets very little respect for just how great it is. Drawing a blank on any other titles worthy of mention.

The Revenant, News of the World, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Old Henry & Prey (are all rather good).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 August, 2023, 08:56:42 PM
Oh, and if you don't think Prey is a western then you won't want me to add The Pale Blue Eye to the list either.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 August, 2023, 10:54:12 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo [R] on 18 August, 2023, 08:56:42 PMOh, and if you don't think Prey is a western then you won't want me to add The Pale Blue Eye to the list either.

I'd be curious to hear what the folks here who are saying "it can't be western because it's just [insert other genre staple here] dressed up as a western" would define as the elements making something unquestionably a western.

(Not looking for an argument, just genuinely interested.)

EDIT TO ADD: I mean, do we discount High Plains Drifter or Pale Rider due to their, perhaps not explicit but certainly heavily implied, supernatural components?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 August, 2023, 11:25:50 PM
It's a bit like saying  Alien or Event Horizon aren't really sci-fi, they're just horror movies with spaceships.

Or like saying H.P Lovecraft isn't really horror, it's just spooky racism.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 19 August, 2023, 07:34:15 AM
Some movie genres are settings, some are thematic: we can combine them. Recall that Shaun of the Dead birthed the rom-zom-com, which begat Warm Bodies. Alien is a sci-fi horror, whereas Aliens is one of the best (sci-fi) actioners of all time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 19 August, 2023, 09:28:34 AM
I think there's a difference between a Western and a film set in the old West, but it all depends how you define a Western and there's no set criteria. This is the sort of stuff you can debate endlessly: my Mum pretty much thinks anything is a Western if they're wearing cowboy hats and therefore the Dukes of Hazzard qualifies.

Having thought about it, I don't think there's a checklist of stuff that makes something unquestionably a Western, but I do think it needs to have a lot of elements and that they need to be to the fore of the film, not only in setting and structure but also in its mood and the 'soul' of the picture.

I don't think adding elements of another genre disqualifies a film from being a Western although if its not the defining feature of the film it could be questionable. In High Plains Drifter, although the ghost element is the main thrust of the plot, it's full of the tropes and elements we associate with Westerns - frontier setting, rugged characters, guns and horses and the like but also personal justice, lawlessness, individual isolation, retribution through violence - that saturate the film more so than the supernatural elements, so its a film about a ghost, but I'd argue its a Western foremost and not a ghost film foremost.

Interestingly having written that above list out they do also feature in Hateful Eight as well, but I don't think they're part of the soul of the picture. Quentin Tarantino is very good at putting genre elements and homages into his films but he's making something different, partly because he's working in a different cultural zeitgiest. In the same way, I'd say that Kill Bill is a revenge movie with a lot of martial arts in it, but not a Kung Fu movie in the same way that the Hong Kong films he's paying tribute to are, nor is it a Wuxia film. I thought HE was a whodunnit because the whodunnit elements seemed, to me, to be the overarching crux of the film (I've only seen it once though and happy to told otherwise!)

It's like film noir: there's a lot of films made influenced by that genre and containing elements of it, but it could be argued there's not really been any major film noir movies made since the 60s. It all really depends on how strictly you define the film genre in question though, like I say - there's no talking in definites here.

TLDR: it's subjective.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 August, 2023, 09:45:16 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 19 August, 2023, 09:28:34 AMI think there's a difference between a Western and a film set in the old West, but it all depends how you define a Western and there's no set criteria. This is the sort of stuff you can debate endlessly: my Mum pretty much thinks anything is a Western if they're wearing cowboy hats and therefore the Dukes of Hazzard qualifies.

Having thought about it, I don't think there's a checklist of stuff that makes something unquestionably a Western, but I do think it needs to have a lot of elements and that they need to be to the fore of the film, not only in setting and structure but also in its mood and the 'soul' of the picture.

I don't think adding elements of another genre disqualifies a film from being a Western although if its not the defining feature of the film it could be questionable. In High Plains Drifter, although the ghost element is the main thrust of the plot, it's full of the tropes and elements we associate with Westerns - frontier setting, rugged characters, guns and horses and the like but also personal justice, lawlessness, individual isolation, retribution through violence - that saturate the film more so than the supernatural elements, so its a film about a ghost, but I'd argue its a Western foremost and not a ghost film foremost.

Interestingly having written that above list out they do also feature in Hateful Eight as well, but I don't think they're part of the soul of the picture. Quentin Tarantino is very good at putting genre elements and homages into his films but he's making something different, partly because he's working in a different cultural zeitgiest. In the same way, I'd say that Kill Bill is a revenge movie with a lot of martial arts in it, but not a Kung Fu movie in the same way that the Hong Kong films he's paying tribute to are, nor is it a Wuxia film. I thought HE was a whodunnit because the whodunnit elements seemed, to me, to be the overarching crux of the film (I've only seen it once though and happy to told otherwise!)

It's like film noir: there's a lot of films made influenced by that genre and containing elements of it, but it could be argued there's not really been any major film noir movies made since the 60s. It all really depends on how strictly you define the film genre in question though, like I say - there's no talking in definites here.

TLDR: it's subjective.


If there's a gun-shot with a PSH-WHAMMM ricochet sound it's a western. Otherwise it's not.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 19 August, 2023, 11:23:57 AM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 August, 2023, 09:45:16 AMIf there's a gun-shot with a PSH-WHAMMM ricochet sound it's a western. Otherwise it's not.

I would argue that the subgenre of PEE-YEOW sounds should not be excluded.
(See the earlier part of Corbucci's oeuvre.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 19 August, 2023, 01:22:01 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 19 August, 2023, 09:28:34 AMI think there's a difference between a Western and a film set in the old West

TLDR: it's subjective.


Oklahoma! is a musical, Stations West is a Film Noir, Jubal is a melodrama, The Professionals is a 'guys on a mission' adventure. All feature men wearing cowboy hats walking into bars through louvre doors but that is about the only connection.

Equally, I'm perfectly happy calling all of the above Westerns.




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 August, 2023, 07:42:35 AM
On a different topic I watched 'Ghostbusters - Afterlife' and sure its a film with problems. There are moments when it leaves you a little stunned with how the plot developments. Significent spooky events that would have real impact on characters and drive reaction are unplayed, well until those consequences are needed to drive the plot forward. Sure it leans way too much into the original films and these become some of the films weakest parts.

However its effortless charm, fantastic cast of characters and performance mean I was able to way those away and was simply able to enjoy a fantastic fun film.

Just really good fun.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 17 September, 2023, 10:16:39 PM
This may well get me run out of town, but just re-watched the original Rollerball, a film I loved as a kid, and even in my 20s but... if I'm totally honest... doesn't really stand-up does it.

Its hamfisted with its themes and ideas. Its not meant to be subtle I accept that but its clumsy in its directness. Which curiously with a modern viewing made it seem almost pretentious. I don't think its was, I just think its not aged well.

Its worst crime however is the way the editing and direction makes the actual game, one which really shoud work, seem ponderous and lacking thrills. I really think that due to the passage of time. I remember it being none of that back in the day but things have moved on. Seen through the eyes of someone whose seen so much high octane modern wonders on screen since this meant a lot to me it just no longer holds up.

I'm still fond of it and did enjoy watching it, but for old times sake and affection rather than as a film in its own right.

Ending still packs some punch though!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 September, 2023, 02:44:28 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 September, 2023, 10:16:39 PMThis may well get me run out of town, but just re-watched the original Rollerball, a film I loved as a kid, and even in my 20s but... if I'm totally honest... doesn't really stand-up does it.

It's always been problematic as a piece, and something of a narrow cult classic. On the one hand, the idea of the sport itself was compelling for youngster me - and action enough. I don't doubt it's aged badly in that regard and could do with being remade. (But, and this is key, not the way they remade it in 2002.)

Aside from that, Jimmy Caan's performance went up to eleventy-stupid on the mumble-ometer. Sure, he was dissatisfied with his corporate payoff (a supplied wife perhaps leaving him feeling emasculated) - and then finally broken when Goose Moonpie bought the farm - but some of those "Jonathan sad now" scenes seem interminable.

One ends up in a situation where you want a re-watch to just be the sporty bits, which rather suggests that the entire message part isn't doing its job well. (Like, in The Godfather, there's no scene anyone in their right mind would cut out. Well, maybe Sonny boffing Lucy Mancini at his sister's wedding - although it does foreshadow his hot-blooded, passion-before-logic nature.)

Having said all of that, there is something compelling about all the rich arseholes torching trees for shits and giggles.   
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tjm86 on 18 September, 2023, 04:31:44 PM
Sorry Colin but if you're getting run out of time I think you're going to have plenty of company.  It is actually quite week in too many places.  The sort of film you can quite cheerfully watch with your mind on other things.

There are plenty of nice ideas but I think the ultra-violence of the game is probably its main selling point.  Unfortunately it struggles to go too far with anything else.

have to agree with Funt though, the remake makes it look like a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 September, 2023, 07:09:01 PM
Here's a dream: George Miller's Rollerball with Tom Hardy.

---

The entire Houston vs. Tokyo match is terribly dated and relies heavily on ridiculous stereotypes. They're short, they wear eyeglasses, they "karate chop" opposing players.

It's difficult to feel too sorry for Moonpie, either - given what's gone before.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 September, 2023, 03:12:25 PM
I get as much out of Rollerball as I ever did.  That said, I've always seen it as a bit campy and janky from the get-go and that's what charmed me.

I couldn't get more than 15 minutes through the remake.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 September, 2023, 03:47:14 PM
The 2002 remake actually has an absolutely buck wild legal case tied to it thats way more entertaining that the film itself. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McTiernan#Criminal_charges,_felony_conviction,_and_incarceration)

Just absolute cartoon shit.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 September, 2023, 07:36:40 AM
The frankly bizarre Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 the title of which pretty much tells you all you need to know.

You get a framing sequence for about 5 - 10 minutes whict sets things up.

About 80 minutes of fight

An epilogue of about 5 minutes, which is a slightly different fight.

That's it. Literally.

The idea here was that middle 80 minutes is filmed in one shot and that makes it very impressive. The trouble is it makes it very boring, though curiously compelling. As the Musashi dispatches his 400 opponents the sword play stops being interesting pretty quickly as (apparently I looked this up while watching) TAK the actor playing our crazy samurai has to use simple technic to conserve energy for this cgi blood spilling marathon. As a viewer therefore it lacks some spectacule in the sword play and becomes an exercise in spotting the numerous floors in its execution. The different ways his victims stagger out of shot, or if they fail there have to be dragged, so they can return to be killed again in a bit. Guessing when any particular wave of attacks will end as suddenly bodies of the slain start to remain in shot. Admiring the 'end of level' boss fights for how they are set up as thrilling and then have to be quite quick and dull, again one assume to preserve TAK's energy.

There are tiny breaks in the fight as Musashi drinks from water flasks he's stashed around the limited setting of the fight, we start in a forest and then move to a largely abandoned village - well abandoned aside from one girl we meet half way through who seems to be collecting wood in all this quickly disappearing blood shed.

Christ anyway I can't believe I've found so much to say about this. I have never seen a film like it and frankly don't need to see one again. If anything I've said makes this sound interesting, it shouldn't yet I did watch it to the end (all be it looking things up about this) for some reason, so there is that I guess.

Its almost as much of an excerise in endurance to watch this as it must have been to film it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 24 September, 2023, 10:07:09 PM
Brotherhood of the Wolf

Loved this back in the day, saw it at the cinema and have seen it often on DVD, but not for sometime. And I suspect quite sometime as having watched it again today it doesn't hold up as well as I remember.

If you've not seen it its a martial arts, action horror period drama. With drollops of political intrigue and meladramtic romance. A 'werewolf'ish film set before the French revolution.

Yes its a lovely mashup of different genre... but there hangs its biggest problem. It takes itself a little to seriously to be one thing and ravels in its audacious action nonsense to be taken too seriously and doesn't in the end quite work as one thing or the other. It was the directors cut I saw this time for the first time which adds about 7 minutes to the original cut I know. To be honest it could probably do with trimming 20 minutes off that original cut, not adding to it. Could be tighter to give it more punch.

Still looks lush, has some lovely scene chewing performances and does feel different to anything else, which isn't to be underestimated. Still very watchable but not as great as I remember.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 September, 2023, 12:14:20 AM
Dungeons and Dragons

The film is fine.  I can see why many found it enjoyable and I can also see why it didn't really have legs.  For the most part I had fun.  It had a very standard and generic story.  It's sense of levity was fine.  I'll admit a guilty pleasure in seeing the characters from the cartoon show up.  I saw that cartoon as a kid and have revisited as an adult and I still thoroughly enjoy it.  The film doesn't benefit from having the reference and it hindered my immersion.  Don't have me distracted by thinking about cartoons I enjoy, film - you're supposed to be keeping me engaged :rolling_eyes:

At times it seemed more like the film was targeted specifically to fans of D&D and not necessarily to a broader audience, which I guess is nice.  Without that connection it's really just another trashy, entertaining, action romp - the bread and butter of my movie nights of late.

I might make time to rewatch the cartoon again sometime in the future.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 25 September, 2023, 01:14:09 PM
Space Adventure Cobra (1982)

This animated sci-fi fantasy movie was briefly up on YT as a tribute to it's recently deceased creator, manga legend Buichi Terasawa.

Once again, a film that, as far as I know, has had little to no release here and so not very well known.

I'm about half way thru and what I wasn't expecting was how absolutely gorgeous it was.

The whole aesthetic is just beautiful, with a real Heavy Metal/euro feel to it. Very late 70s, but in the best possible way.

I wish it was still up on yt so you guys could easily check it out, but it's honestly worth the hunt.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 25 September, 2023, 03:02:17 PM
https://youtu.be/1XqDzcfgN-4?feature=shared

Here's the titles - lovely stuff!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 September, 2023, 06:47:38 AM
A film that does hold up, while being like nothing else you've seen is Danny Devito's Throw Momma from the train.

Its a curious film about writing, love, hate and matricide. Its off beat, funny and while its pretty dated it is in a way that doesn't harm its ugly, ackward charm.

A highly enjoyable oddity.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 26 September, 2023, 02:40:33 PM
Just saw The Woman King and thought it was great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 September, 2023, 04:31:31 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 21 September, 2023, 03:47:14 PMThe 2002 remake actually has an absolutely buck wild legal case tied to it thats way more entertaining that the film itself. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McTiernan#Criminal_charges,_felony_conviction,_and_incarceration)

Just absolute cartoon shit.

*hronch hronch* on the popcorn for that one. Wow.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 September, 2023, 05:24:31 PM
The Flash. Distinctly average, but with fun bits - I let out a heartfelt 'oh for fuck's sake' at the Nic Cage cameo, but I was smiling at the same time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 September, 2023, 05:54:48 PM
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
A very cool sequel to "Into the Spider-Verse" that manages to grow the characters and double-down on the original premise. What it doesn't do *really* well is contain itself, as it's very much the middle movie of a trilogy (or the first half of the sequel) - the "to be continued" really leaves us on a cliffhanger - even more so than Empire Strikes Back, and in a way that Back to the Future managed to avoid altogether by self-containing each of the movies.

What this has is energy, in abundance, and at times is so high-octane that I wondered if even young folk with more malleable brain equipment would be able to follow it all. Right in the middle of complex fight scenes there are little callout boxes that are blink 'n' miss 'em. But it's so self-assured and stylish, and really does make you feel like you're watching a comic.

Spidey's from different comic universes are drawn in different styles, even - so you can have a human chatting with a 3D version chatting with a 2D version chatting with a Lego version - and even there, the versions can have differing art styles. Somehow, it works. There's a sort-of Being John Spidervich vibe about some of it, I suppose.

Oh, and if you don't like it - well, it's not really for you, anyway. The generation coming up are all over it like a rash. For them, this is bleeding edge animation that speaks to them in a way that live action remakes of Lion King or today's traditional animation (read: modern 3D) just can't.


Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
I thought this would be tired, but it's a good movie. Rather maudlin, for all love, but gives all the characters something to do (no mean feat with a gang of eight to manage). The "by the skin of their teeth" factor has been turned up to eleventy-stupid, but the likeability of the group dynamics pulls us through most of the direct challenges to our Willing Suspension of Disbelief bafflers.


Inside
Want to watch Willem Dafoe shit into a bathtub full of his own excrement as he goes slightly mad stuck in a weird existential prison? I mean, it's a bit tough going, but I'm not sure who else I could watch in this one. Saying almost anything else would spoiler this beyond politeness, but I managed to stomach the entire thing. There are plenty of movies that don't get past the 15-minute mark with me, so it was doing something right.


Polite Society
I haven't enjoyed a movie so much in a long time. An asian schoolgirl is worried that her sister is marrying the wrong person so sets out to stop the wedding. Doesn't sound amazing, but it plays out like Bollywood meets Tekken crossed with a Mike Leigh drama mashed into the vibe of St. Trinians. It is seriously kick ass, and exists in its own comedy hyper-reality. The lead is stupendous, but the entire cast is strong as fuck. I'm calling it Best of British, and giving you the pic:

(https://www.universalpictures.co.uk/tl_files/content/movies/polite_society/posters/01.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 28 September, 2023, 08:38:21 AM
I saw Polite Society when it did the rounds at the flix and heartily recommend it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: sheridan on 28 September, 2023, 09:17:42 AM
Is Polite Society the one from the writer/producer/and/or/director of We Are Lady Parts?  In which case I'd really have to make time to watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 02 October, 2023, 11:55:42 AM
Quote from: karlos on 25 September, 2023, 01:14:09 PMSpace Adventure Cobra (1982)

I haven't seen this for about 20 years, but it IS excellent!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 02 October, 2023, 01:09:00 PM
It's great, BB, you're right!

I've been told the TV show is"better" but I can't see it having the incredible aesthetic the movie has.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 October, 2023, 05:11:33 AM
The Bad News Bears (1976) - this movie is batshit crazy, but in a good way. Recommending.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 05 October, 2023, 10:17:05 PM
The Exorcist - 50th Anniversary Edition.

My first time to see it on the big screen and boy, does that make a difference. I can understand now the effect it would have had on cinema-goers at the time. Just as scary and disturbing now as I imagine it must have been when first released. An absolute masterpiece.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2023, 07:27:41 PM
STOP MAKING SENSE (1984)

My god, if you get the chance to see the new 4K on an IMAX screen, take it.
Let the moment wash over you.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 October, 2023, 10:45:10 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2023, 07:27:41 PMSTOP MAKING SENSE (1984)

My god, if you get the chance to see the new 4K on an IMAX screen, take it.
Let the moment wash over you.

Dude, a double bill of this with True Stories would be great. I have so much time for anything David Byrne does.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 October, 2023, 03:12:59 PM
I watched the two Lady Snowblood films.  Enjoyed them both.  The first is a decent revenge story.  I'm not sure what the second film hoped to accomplish - if it was meant to be another revenge story I didn't quite get it.

I also watched Godzilla for the first time last night.  The original.  I liked it.  I was surprised at how much of a thoughtful reflection of nuclear weapons it actually turned out to be.  I was expecting mostly stompy-stompy-smash-smash.  I might watch it's sequel tonight.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 October, 2023, 07:35:47 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 08 October, 2023, 03:12:59 PMI also watched Godzilla for the first time last night.  The original.  I liked it.  I was surprised at how much of a thoughtful reflection of nuclear weapons it actually turned out to be.  I was expecting mostly stompy-stompy-smash-smash.

I make no bones about my admiration for the Gojira franchise, it's as deeply engrained into who I am as pasty barms and hating Man City.
The original sits on a very special pedestal among movies, it gets better with every viewing and it was already a masterpiece.

QuoteI might watch it's sequel tonight.

I can't say don't, but Rides Again is comfortably considered one of the worst of the series, and the melancholic grandeur of the original is gone already.
Maybe watch Return of Godzilla instead, the 1984 quasi-reboot to the series that ignored the rest of the Showa era films save for the original.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 October, 2023, 08:56:26 AM
I wasn't in the mood for Godzilla.  I ended up watching Azumi instead - haven't seen it in a while.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BPP on 14 October, 2023, 12:47:18 PM
The creator features some bomb-bots that are very early robusters ' Ashley woods 3a.

Terrible star child bobbins story but well acted and looks fantastic. A cinema rather than home watch.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 15 October, 2023, 10:45:01 PM
Just watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance for the first time in a dog's age.
Is James Stewart far too old to play 'a youngster fresh out of law school'?
Yes.
Anything else wrong with the film?
No.
Nothing at all?
Nothing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 16 October, 2023, 10:21:16 AM
I saw The Last Voyage of the Demeter at the weekend. It looks good - there's a nicely claustrophobic feel to the setting and I really liked the vampire - very Nosferatu, animalistic in its movements, brutal in its attacks: pure horror, no Gary Oldman or sexy vampire here.

The need to pad it out to two hours though made it a mess. New characters are inserted, the ending is changed, and whilst I know characters in horror films act like fools this one was off the charts for stupid behaviour - having first been told Dracula is onboard and later everyone seeing him during an attack, the cast make all the daftest decisions possible and there's some real credibility stretching stuff at times. It all ends up dissolving any semblence of atmosphere.
At times boring, at other times annoying. Did a film need to be made of this? Absolutely not. Should you watch it? I wouldn't recommend it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 October, 2023, 04:58:32 PM
Quote from: Richard on 26 September, 2023, 02:40:33 PMJust saw The Woman King and thought it was great.


I agree. It has a very mythic feel to it, and the shape of the end is very Star Wars so I thought it might be the first in a trilogy. I've had a quick butcher's but that doesn't seem to be the case, unfortunately. Still, any film that leaves you wanting more is a good one.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 18 October, 2023, 09:44:08 PM
I rewatched Strange Days.  I didn't like it much when I saw it around twenty years ago.  I thought I'd give it another go and see if I could find some value in it.  I could not.  It's a mess of a film and I found every beat it attempted (and it tried many) just failed to land and it ended up being incredibly tone deaf as well.  It seems like one of those disasters of a films that's ripe for a good dissecting because it fails in multitudinous ways to be a coherent piece of art.

I may have given it a pass if it was at least an interesting and/or entertaining mess.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 18 October, 2023, 11:21:36 PM
I love Strange Days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 18 October, 2023, 11:29:06 PM
Quote from: Richard on 18 October, 2023, 11:21:36 PMI love Strange Days!
Starring Angela Bassett and Angela Bassett's cheekbones!

(Also Tom Sizemore's wig, but that didn't have the same box office draw.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 19 October, 2023, 09:43:10 AM
I also love Strange Days!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 26 October, 2023, 06:37:48 PM
Dirty Pair: Project Eden aka The Movie.

Mid 80s sci-fi anime that is just beautiful to look at.

Not entirely sure what the plot is actually about, but huge fun, nonetheless.

It's currently on ol' YouTube in HD.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 26 October, 2023, 08:39:43 PM
I do love Dirty Pair, the original series and OVAs are just some of the most fun to be had in unabashed whole cloth pulp sci-fi outside of the paperback boom. The novels are great too.

Ironically, visually arresting though it may be in the animation department, I always disliked Project Eden, it seems to desperately mischaracterize Kei and Yuri as ditzy airheads and supplants much of their agency for a movie only love interest with the personality of moldering wallpaper.
Still, the OST goes off and good lord the animation IS mighty purdy, yes sir. Mitsuharu Miyamae is a genius of the art form, but he doesn't need me to say that, dude art directed for Do You Remember Love?
 One to watch and switch off to.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 26 October, 2023, 10:03:44 PM
Totally agree. I'm new to the Dirty Pair but I can see that the characters are definitely written drastically different here.

But, yeah, what a visually appealing piece of anime.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: judgeurko on 27 October, 2023, 05:23:25 PM
Pretty Things. Best film of the year.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 October, 2023, 06:04:28 PM
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

If this does transpire to be Martys final ode to the medium, I dare say we could have asked for a greater send off.
I'm not saying we'll never see the likes again, a true genius of the medium working with quite so wide a canvas to such aplomb, but it feels of a dwindling breed.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 31 October, 2023, 01:56:17 AM
The Professionals [1966]
Somehow managed to have missed this one before. It's not perfect (for that, you've got The Wild Bunch, three years later), and you've got to pretend you're not seeing the white-washing - but Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Jack Palance are all on top form on a mission to rescue a kidnapped wife south of the border.

Best lines:
- "You bastard!"
- "Yes, well - for me it was an accident of birth - but you're a self-made man."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 31 October, 2023, 07:39:38 PM
I rewatched Teen Wolf for the first time since I was a kid.

Meh.  It has multiple themes going and none really have time to develop and resolve satisfyingly.  One thing the very explicitly makes sure you understand is it's not an allegory for being gay.  It did so very quickly.  It was like a drive-by but homophobia instead.

I can see why I remembered the film existing but hadn't, until now, sought it out to watch again.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 01 November, 2023, 01:46:03 PM
I saw Teen Wolf at the cinema and remember it fondly, but it is on the whole absolutely terrible. All the 'kids' are obviously about 30.

However it does have a banger from Mark Safan on the soundtrack and the best life advice ever from the coach: "Never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body." These are words to live by.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 01 November, 2023, 03:22:38 PM
The coach was one of the few highlights.  He didn't give a shit.  I also liked the background character, Tina.

Last night I watch GitS: Innocence wrapping up a GitS kick I've been on of late.  This film is just disappointing.  It could have easily rivalled the original '95 film, but the awkward CGI throughout is far too jarring.  Sometimes the use of CGI blends beautifully with the 2D animation, but mostly it distracts.  The soundtrack was a poor rearrangement of the '95 film, and again is just distracting.  If there weren't these missteps, it would be a classic.  This film showcases some of the finest demonstrations of talent I've seen in an animated film - then it cuts to a butt ugly 3D rendition of seagull.

It's still a pretty good film, but the potential that it clearly could have been amazing leaves a sour taste.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 06 November, 2023, 08:51:19 AM
Continuing my journey in revisiting films I haven't seen in a long while I watched Universal Soldier.

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  Dolph Lundgren puts in a fun performance and the narrative is very basic - which works for it's benefit because it's a reasonably dumb film.  Ally Walker brings the much needed charm to counter-balance Jean-Claude Van Damme's robotic interpretation of his bland character (his best moment was a diner scene).  It was all just a lot of silly fun for 100 minutes.

There are sequels as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 06 November, 2023, 05:36:45 PM
The 1989 Pet Sematary, last night. Last time I saw it was probably about 1990.  Pretty good, and worth the watch, with a few good scares in it. Weird how production-wise it looks like a low-key TV drama, but the horror and misery is just relentless.

Next stop, the new version, which looks ok in the trailer though I've already spotted the massive plot change.  I'm not sure if that can be quite as horrific and tragic as what happened in the book and the old film, but I'll hold my judgment till I see it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 06 November, 2023, 09:55:02 PM
Scuse the double post, but I had to turn off the new Pet Sematary - the silly truth is that I couldn't face watching

SPOILER





Church die twice in two nights.  Or four times, now I think of it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 07 November, 2023, 10:05:32 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 06 November, 2023, 08:51:19 AMContinuing my journey in revisiting films I haven't seen in a long while I watched Universal Soldier.

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  Dolph Lundgren puts in a fun performance and the narrative is very basic - which works for it's benefit because it's a reasonably dumb film.  Ally Walker brings the much needed charm to counter-balance Jean-Claude Van Damme's robotic interpretation of his bland character (his best moment was a diner scene).  It was all just a lot of silly fun for 100 minutes.

There are sequels as well.

I love Universal Soldier!
A few years back we embarked on a JCVD marathon and this was comfortably top of my wifes list and close to the top of mine. Van Damme himself, Dolph and Ally Walker are all excellent in it: the plot is nonsense, but it's enjoyable nonsense. Its neither relentlessly grim nor total pastiche, and it's of its time but such a good action film.
Don't bother with the sequels, all terrible.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 November, 2023, 09:35:56 AM
Against all sensible advise I watched Universal Soldier: The Return.  I skipped the two direct tv-movie sequels.

It's a bad film in an interesting way.  It's a collage of derivative elements implemented with, what seems, a lack of a surface level understanding of each part.  A heavy metal soundtrack that screams late 90's and explosions that would make Michael Bay wet with excitement. I'd say the pyrotechnicians bought their A game to this film, with a climatic wall of fire to end the film.  And it pretty much does end with the explosion - it's very abrupt.

Generally speaking, the incompetents on display is impressive.  I probably won't watch it a second time.  The films ineptitude is what kept me engaged and I don't think that has enough value for repeat viewings.

The next sequel, apparently the third direct sequel to the first film, has Dolph return.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2023, 09:45:51 AM
I'll bat for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING any day of the week.

Genuinely excellent little movie.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 08 November, 2023, 10:09:55 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 08 November, 2023, 09:45:51 AMI'll bat for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING any day of the week.

Genuinely excellent little movie.

Of my brief research into the sequels, that one seemed the most interesting and is pretty much the reason I decided to watch the sequels.  I'm still going to manage my expectations going into it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 08 November, 2023, 10:47:41 AM
In fairness I haven't seen that one, and it does sound quite interesting.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 09 November, 2023, 08:53:12 AM
I was going to suggest that Universal Soldier - Regeneration would have benefited from being shorter - but I just checked the runtime and it's 90 minutes.  Oh dear.

There are good ideas in the film.  A lot of stuff is done competently.  Ugly quick-cut action scenes aside, it's shot well.  The soundtrack was atmospheric but not necessarily in keeping with the tone, so created a bit of dissonance (and maybe, with its creepy ambiance, foreshadowing for the film to come).  There were some decent/good performance, but it wasn't universal.
Overall, however, there was a lot of redundancy.  A 90 minute film shouldn't feel that long so there is clearly a shit ton of padding.  I think it was going for a particular tone - given the soundtrack, editing and framing - but it missed the mark entirely.

The Return was a lot worse, but I feel like it's going to stick in my head for a long while.  Regeneration feels like it will be easily forgettable.  Which is a shame, because it's the better film and it's doing some good stuff.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 12 November, 2023, 02:29:13 PM
Universal Soldier - Day of Reckoning

Certainly an improvement over the previous two films.  I like that it went at the concept from a different angle.  The film made good use of what was available.  Nevertheless, I think it was clear that both JCVD and Dolph Lundgren were only available for a day or two and that there was a limited budget.
Not a film for the literal minded as it eschews coherent exposition and narrative in favour for esoteric storytelling - which I'd say was the right call.  If you're going to have to cobble a movie together due to budget restraints then make it a feature rather than a failure.  I'd say I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 12 November, 2023, 09:13:30 PM
I've found myself, not for the first time in my life, going through a temporary Stephen King film obsession. Just finished The Mist (2007). The CGI isn't quite good enough to convince but the ending is an incredibly brave move for Hollywood, and also incredibly powerful.

Also took me a while to recognise Carol and Andrea from the Walking Dead, and the Punisher.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 12 November, 2023, 09:39:17 PM
The Mist was OK. On a par with the novella anyway, and – as you say – a brave ending of the sort that even King had largely chickened out of.
I can't think of any adaptations beyond Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption which actually qualify as good cinema, mind.
That said, the TV version of Salem's Lot scared the bejesus out of me long before I ever even saw it. It was lovingly described to me in 4th class (possibly by guys who hadn't seen it either, but knew it by hearsay and could embroider a fine tale) and ever after I dreaded the sound of fingernails at my window.
To lend weight to my fears, the truly scary paperback leered out at me from every shelf in every bookshop. This, as you'll all remember, was back when popular paperbacks were sold in all manner of establishments, so there was no getting away from those eyes and those teeth.
Brrrrr!

(https://i.imgur.com/DHslsE1.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 November, 2023, 12:06:48 AM
Quote from: JohnW on 12 November, 2023, 09:39:17 PMI can't think of any adaptations beyond Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption which actually qualify as good cinema, mind.

Misery...?
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 12:21:23 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 November, 2023, 12:06:48 AMMisery...?
There you go. I keep on forgetting Misery for some reason -- maybe because I liked neither the book nor the film.
It's a strange complaint to make about a Stephen King, but I found it uncomfortable reading/viewing. Some days I just want booga-booga monsters and wild supernatural shenanigans over more plausible nastiness. Go figure.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 November, 2023, 12:48:38 AM
Sideways Scuttleton says "I only clocked I wuz in anuvver dimension when I realized that The Shining wasn't considered a classic of the cinematic wotsit."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 13 November, 2023, 05:54:33 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 November, 2023, 12:06:48 AM
Quote from: JohnW on 12 November, 2023, 09:39:17 PMI can't think of any adaptations beyond Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption which actually qualify as good cinema, mind.

Misery...?

Dead Zone also. I watched three months ago and it stands up, not least due to the two central performances.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 07:47:37 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo [R] on 13 November, 2023, 12:48:38 AMThe Shining
OK, yeah, well.
I mean, if you're going to bring The Shining into it.
Well, yeah. OK.

(Although for some reason I've fallen out of love with that movie.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 13 November, 2023, 07:50:44 AM
QuoteThat said, the TV version of Salem's Lot scared the bejesus out of me long before I ever even saw it. It was lovingly described to me in 4th class (possibly by guys who hadn't seen it either, but knew it by hearsay and could embroider a fine tale) and ever after I dreaded the sound of fingernails at my window.

I knew the plot of Terminator inside out at about the same age, because it was described in detail from start to finish by my brother's mate John in a big scout tent in a field one night.  His description was just as entertaining as the actual movie when I finally saw it, despite the former spoiling every single plot twist of the latter.  In fact, the SFX of the eye-removing scene in my imagination would prove superior to the ones in the film. 

I still know John well - he's a pilot and a trained weapons enthusiast (but a vegetarian and pacifist - we've shot tin cans together in the woods).  And he has a complete collection of the Fighting Fantasy books, and once made his own Rambo adventure game which I kept and presented to him at a party 25 years later.  (Rambo was fighting Koreans, for some reason, but it was really well made.)

Back to Stephen King - I'm not as bowled over by the Shawshank Redemption as most are, I have to admit.  I mean, of course it's a good film, but IMHO far from the best film ever made, as I've heard a few people say.  The Shining, though - well, it may be more Kubrick than King, but horror doesn't get much better than that.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 07:53:36 AM
Quote from: GoGilesGo on 13 November, 2023, 05:54:33 AMDead Zone
And The Dead Zone, obviously.

(Now would you all please stop making fun of my failing memory and refrain from bringing up any more good Stephen King adaptations? Please?)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 13 November, 2023, 07:57:59 AM
Quote from: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 07:53:36 AM
Quote from: GoGilesGo on 13 November, 2023, 05:54:33 AMDead Zone
And The Dead Zone, obviously.

(Now would you all please stop making fun of my failing memory and refrain from bringing up any more good Stephen King adaptations? Please?)

I liked The Green Mile, me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 08:07:42 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 13 November, 2023, 07:57:59 AMI liked The Green Mile, me.
Stoppit!

Anyway, besides its fine cast, high production values, and whatever else it had going for it, was The Green Mile actually any good?
(It's been a while, and I know I didn't care much for the book.)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 13 November, 2023, 08:37:57 AM
It's been a while for me too, and I never read the book.  But I do remember quite enjoying the film, while recognising that it wasn't exactly classic cinema.  There were some genuinely heartbreaking scenes there and I found myself deeply invested in some of the main characters and their stories.

And Michael Clarke Duncan is a fecking brilliant actor - like John Malkovich, he's equally convincing as both a lumbering man-child as seen here, and a ruthless, calculating mobster in other films. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 November, 2023, 12:28:45 PM
Watched the new David Fincher movie The Killer on Netflix last night.

Surprisingly good, despite the pretty poor promo and "Can I make it through this?" opening credits montage.

I know it's already on the Hollywood cards, but Fincher and Fassbender are only a blonde wig away from a decent Button Man adaptation as it stands.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 13 November, 2023, 12:33:13 PM
Enjoyed The Killer as well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 13 November, 2023, 12:38:01 PM
Predestination (2014)

A time-travel movie, with Ethan Hawke as an agent who travels through time to prevent crimes before they happen.  A very inventive, intelligent and unusual movie with many twists along the way. And Sarah Snook is also excellent as one of the main characters. I really enjoyed this film and would definitely watch it again. Highly recommended!








Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 13 November, 2023, 02:30:01 PM
Quote from: JohnW on 13 November, 2023, 07:53:36 AM(Now would you all please stop making fun of my failing memory and refrain from bringing up any more good Stephen King adaptations? Please?)

And the viaducts!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 13 November, 2023, 04:46:08 PM
Hell's Angels on Wheels

I've a list of films backed up to watch and yet somehow I stumbled across this on Amazon Prime and it got watched. Basically a late 60s (before Easy Rider) biker movie starring Jack Nicholson and its a bit weird. The fact that its from the 60s and got a mainstream theatre release (quite limited apparently) meant that its had its teeth removed somewhat. Even though it had some real Hell's Angels in it including then President, who was also a consultation means it seems to want to be authentic... and yet doesn't quite manage to feel real, or a parody, or a warning or anything really. Its just an odd little tale of 'Poet' played by Nicholson getting accepted to ride along with a gang before being accepted. Getting up to mischief and a bit of fighting... all feeling too safe... falling in love. Then having a very dull climactic conflicit with the gang leader.

All this made all the more woolly by having some of the key 'we're doing biking things' set to some quite cool, but out of place 60s tunes...

... all a bit... tonely curious
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: paddykafka on 13 November, 2023, 06:35:07 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 13 November, 2023, 04:46:08 PMHell's Angels on Wheels

Even though it had some real Hell's Angels in it including then President, who was also a consultation means it seems to want to be authentic...


Have to admit that I had a momentary head-wobble at this, imagining JFK as a Hell's Angel biker.  :lol:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 November, 2023, 07:04:23 PM

"My fellow Angels: ask not what your motorcycle can do for you—ask what you can do for your motorcycle."
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 13 November, 2023, 07:16:18 PM
I stay with Van Damme last night and watched Timecop because it's a movie called Timecop.  It was fine.  Not as good as Universal Soldier, considerably better than Universal Soldier: The Return.  Silly sci-fi action movie - not much else I can say.

I really enjoy 1408.  Never read a Stephen King book, so have no comments about the source material, but I find the film engaging and interesting with a bleakness that didn't seem mean spirited.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: I, Cosh on 15 November, 2023, 12:34:29 AM
Hang on. Are we saying that Carrie and The Running Man aren't great films now?!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 15 November, 2023, 02:39:48 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 15 November, 2023, 12:34:29 AMHang on. Are we saying that Carrie and The Running Man aren't great films now?!

Reg: All right, but apart from The Mist, Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, Misery, The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Green Mile, Carrie, The Running Man, Dolores Claiborne, It and Children of the Corn - what have Stephen King's movie adaptations ever done for us?

Xerxes: Christine?

Reg: Oh - Christine? Shut up!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 November, 2023, 07:01:29 AM

:lol:

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 November, 2023, 07:50:10 AM
The only good King adaptation is The Longoliers.

I am not accepting questions at this time.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 November, 2023, 07:04:46 PM

When I first watched Stranger Things, I would have sworn that King had a hand in it. But nope. Those Duffer Brothers are just as King as King, maybe even slightly moreso.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 15 November, 2023, 09:40:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 November, 2023, 07:04:46 PMWhen I first watched Stranger Things, I would have sworn that King had a hand in it.

Can't imagine why anyone would ever think that...

(https://www.amreading.com/wp-content/uploads/Comparison-600x379.jpg)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 15 November, 2023, 09:45:55 PM
Just finished Bones and All and wow that was an experience. Brilliant, beautiful, disturbing, horrible.

Its not like any other film I've seen, or not for a long time anyway. Its a love story about two young adults forced outside society normals. The reason for that is the horrific backbone of the story and also not as important as the doomed beauty of the growing love and trust for one another in extreme circumstances. As they struggle to find themselves and their place in the world its so moving. And yet the fact that they have a compulsion to eat people means there is a gripping tension all the way through and a deeply sadding knowledge that however hard they try they won't escape what they are.

Fantastic, but be in a good place when you watch it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2023, 01:50:45 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 15 November, 2023, 09:40:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 November, 2023, 07:04:46 PMWhen I first watched Stranger Things, I would have sworn that King had a hand in it.

Can't imagine why anyone would ever think that...

(https://www.amreading.com/wp-content/uploads/Comparison-600x379.jpg)

Wait. I'm confused. Does that mean he did have a hand in it, or not? Tonally, rapscallions on bikes and extradimensional monstrosities felt very King to me. And not in a bad way. 

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: M.I.K. on 16 November, 2023, 10:46:03 AM
He had absolutely sod all to do with it, aside from serving as the inspiration for multiple elements of its look and storyline, right down to that logo font.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 November, 2023, 11:08:48 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 16 November, 2023, 10:46:03 AMright down to that logo font.

Benguiat, font-watchers! (ITC Benguiat Bold, if you want to be picky...  :) )
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 16 November, 2023, 11:10:32 AM
Pretty sure I read that Stranger Things grew out of a rejected pitch the Duffer brothers made for IT.

The series has always been very blatant about its influences - It, Aliens, NoES etc - but the first series is especially King-tastic.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 November, 2023, 08:46:17 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/nQSOwnO.png)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 November, 2023, 05:30:13 AM
Ladies In Black - Oz-set 50's coming of age story, sort of, with a strong cast. Feminist. Feel good. Felt good.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 November, 2023, 10:55:24 PM
Just watched The Marvels.

It's great. Honestly — it won't change your life or anything, but it's thoroughly entertaining for its (engagingly compact) 1hr45min running time. I mean, if you absolutely hated the Ms Marvel TV show (and there's no help for you if you did) then this isn't the movie for you... but this film is smart, kind of sweet, and very funny.

Honestly... ditch any baggage that you might have picked up from Teh Interwebs on this, and you'll have a really good time with this film. Go see it, and know that your ticket money has annoyed the neck-beard incels podcasting from their mothers' basements. :)

(Also: stay for the mid-credit scene. It's only about three minutes into the credits, and I promise you'll be glad you did...!)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 20 November, 2023, 10:49:25 PM
Thumbs up for The Killer on Netflix
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 21 November, 2023, 08:57:30 AM
Watched Bloodsport.  Another film I watched a number of times as kid but never revisited since.  It's okay as an action film.  Lots of clunky deliveries, silly story - what's that?  It's based on true events?  Hahahaha, I don't remember that part, but no.  That's preposterous.  Soooo, I did a little post movie research and it being based on a fraud is my favourite thing about the film now.

I don't remember watching any other JCVD films as a kid, so it's possibly time to move on.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 27 November, 2023, 10:01:58 PM
Just finished Punk Samurai and... well wow that was something... I mean something I even pretend to understand... well once the monkey come in. I mean sure before that the Bellyshakers where kinda weird but that was kinda there thing. Once the monkey's come in is when it goes really ... curious.

Its hilarious and it knows it. The last third makes not a jot of sense and it doesn't really matter. Its like nothing I've seen before and for that it is well worth it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 28 November, 2023, 10:12:19 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 21 November, 2023, 08:57:30 AMWatched Bloodsport.  Another film I watched a number of times as kid but never revisited since.  It's okay as an action film.  Lots of clunky deliveries, silly story - what's that?  It's based on true events?  Hahahaha, I don't remember that part, but no.  That's preposterous.  Soooo, I did a little post movie research and it being based on a fraud is my favourite thing about the film now.

Bloodsport is an absolute Marvel. Its riddled with continuity errors - I think at one point a guy is seen cheering a fight he is actually in - and the acting in it is so abysmal it crosses the event horizon and becomes fun - JCVD is one of the better actors in it which says a lot. One of my favourites is the Filipino guy who is supposedly an arab. Or the OK USA guy. Or the kid that plays young Frank and can barely speak English.

The best thing about it though is 100% what an absolute bullshitter Frank Dux is and I'd urge anyone who doesn't know about him to read up on him because he is hilarious. From claiming he won underground fighting tournaments so secret nobody else in the world knows about them to saying he gave away all his prizes to pirates to secure the rescue of orphans, the bloke is a world class fantasist.

This is the film that kickstarted our JCVD marathon. Although objectively very bad it's got some charm that makes it better than a lot of his other films like Cyborg (boring) Sudden Death (cruel) or Hard Target (humourless and mainly boring). Kickboxer in places is superb, but (as with a lot of 80s films) there's a nasty sexual assualt bit that sours it. If you've seen Bloodsport and Universal Soldier you've done the best of his early ones ones I'd think although Lionheart / AWOL is good as is Double Impact. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 28 November, 2023, 01:53:23 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 28 November, 2023, 10:12:19 AMBloodsport is an absolute Marvel. Its riddled with continuity errors - I think at one point a guy is seen cheering a fight he is actually in - and the acting in it is so abysmal it crosses the event horizon and becomes fun - JCVD is one of the better actors in it which says a lot. One of my favourites is the Filipino guy who is supposedly an arab. Or the OK USA guy. Or the kid that plays young Frank and can barely speak English.

The best thing about it though is 100% what an absolute bullshitter Frank Dux is and I'd urge anyone who doesn't know about him to read up on him because he is hilarious. From claiming he won underground fighting tournaments so secret nobody else in the world knows about them to saying he gave away all his prizes to pirates to secure the rescue of orphans, the bloke is a world class fantasist.

This is the film that kickstarted our JCVD marathon. Although objectively very bad it's got some charm that makes it better than a lot of his other films like Cyborg (boring) Sudden Death (cruel) or Hard Target (humourless and mainly boring). Kickboxer in places is superb, but (as with a lot of 80s films) there's a nasty sexual assualt bit that sours it. If you've seen Bloodsport and Universal Soldier you've done the best of his early ones ones I'd think although Lionheart / AWOL is good as is Double Impact.

I didn't mind Time Cop.  That one was fine.  Nothing especially remarkable or egregious - just okay.

I despise Kickboxer.  The way it handles rape is revolting.  Thinking about it makes me angry to this day. 

I moved on from JCVD films.  Watched The One.  It's fine, I guess.  A short film and it feels like it.  The only real fun to be had with it is Jason Statham's attempt at an accent.  What accent, I do not know.  It's not even consistent.

Maybe I'll watch Ghost's of Mars this coming movie night.  Haven't seen it in a while and it's been on my mind lately.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 28 November, 2023, 02:29:30 PM
Saw Napoleon. Really didn't like it. If it's not historically accurate then at least make it entertaining, but it's not even that. Dire.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 30 November, 2023, 08:16:27 AM
Quote from: Marbles on 28 November, 2023, 02:29:30 PMSaw Napoleon. Really didn't like it. If it's not historically accurate then at least make it entertaining, but it's not even that. Dire.

I think the problem with the film was the scale was just too big. Ridley Scott tried to tell Napoleon's whole life story from young gunner up to his final exile; he really needed to pull it back and focus.

It managed to be both flabby & boring but at the same time crammed with too much detail. As if a lazy 13 year old wrote the script: Pharaohs? Cool. Trafalgar? Never heard of it.

And so many moments are presented with no context. Robespierre turns up for a while, never introduced or contextualised. Then later in the film, after Napoleon returns from exile, the Bourbon King is back in power but again with no context or introduction. Just some corpulent geezer scoffing breakfast being addressed as 'Your Majesty'. Who? How? When? Never explained.

Perhaps the most visually impressive sequence takes place in Egypt but it's so short and pointless (and once again, presented without context) it comes across as merely confusing.

There was definitely a good movie in there somewhere, but the film on release is not it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 01 December, 2023, 02:24:19 PM
I'm putting myself at risk of being called a contrary sod again but I absolutely fucking loved Scotts NAPOLEON.

Dripping in the anachronistic eccentric pomposity of his current works (loved both House of Gucci and The Last Duel so the mans really on a roll in my books), it plays out like an absurdist melodrama of historical events and it's all very fun to get swept up in.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: edgeworthy on 02 December, 2023, 03:20:11 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 16 November, 2023, 10:46:03 AMHe had absolutely sod all to do with it, aside from serving as the inspiration for multiple elements of its look and storyline, right down to that logo font.
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 16 November, 2023, 11:10:32 AMPretty sure I read that Stranger Things grew out of a rejected pitch the Duffer brothers made for IT.

The series has always been very blatant about its influences - It, Aliens, NoES etc - but the first series is especially King-tastic.
Its not impossible that he had something to do with it. And simply doesn't remember?

Apparently he was so out of his head on mind altering substances that he didn't even realise he had written Cujo until his publisher told him about it!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 02 December, 2023, 02:09:03 PM
Quoteafter Napoleon returns from exile, the Bourbon King is back in power but again with no context or introduction. Just some corpulent geezer scoffing breakfast being addressed as 'Your Majesty'. Who? How? When? Never explained.
I've not seen it yet, but assuming it was clear that Napoleon had been in exile, wouldn't that be sufficient explanation for why there's a king again? What more would you need to know?




Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 December, 2023, 04:52:18 PM

Asteroid City. One of those off-the-wall films stuffed with talent and well worth a watch.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 07 December, 2023, 04:10:26 PM
Saw How To Have Sex. Thought it was very good, but pretty disturbing too (as the father of two teenage girls).
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 December, 2023, 08:03:24 PM

The Creator. Pretty cool sci-fi about a future war with AI.

I also enjoyed The Killer and Rumble Through the Dark.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 15 December, 2023, 11:57:58 AM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 15 November, 2023, 12:34:29 AMHang on. Are we saying that Carrie and The Running Man aren't great films now?!

Running Man? More like Running SHITE.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 15 December, 2023, 12:10:10 PM
RUNNING MAN is a lot of fun if you consider it an ideal example of 'Straight Camp'.

Which it is...though I'd dubious on the 'straight' aspect of his. Lotta spandex coated buns in that one.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 16 December, 2023, 10:17:05 PM
Well just watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and...well its quite long isn't it... and does leave you with the question how can something with so many action set pieces be dull for such a chunk of its time.

The reason it is, the set pieces are so ott that I actually stopped caring as there was no real sense of tension, at times it was a bit silly. Suspension of belief was stretched just too far!

The overall story was...okay... it just drifted a bit and at times it was hard to roll with how daft some stuff was, but well... it was better than Kingdom of the Crystal Sh*te but that's such a low bench mark... it was just so okay... I tried not to get my hopes up. Failed as it started and so had my hoped dashed on the rocks...
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dorothywrict on 16 December, 2023, 10:23:53 PM
 
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Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 December, 2023, 12:01:38 PM
GODZILLA MINUS ONE

Exhilarating, a real victory lap for the OG (Original Gojira) to celebrate the dawn of it's 7th decade.
One for the period enthusiasts or for the sick freaks like me who ever asked "What if Jaws but with a big lizard".
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 December, 2023, 10:14:06 PM
NAPOLEON is a bit of a long PowerPoint summary of old Boney's rise and fall. The best thing in it is Vanessa Kirby's Josephine despite it having some epic battles. Phoenix doesn't have much to work with so I don't blame him. For me, another disappointment from Scott.

I'm not going to be the sort of person that bangs on about historical accuracy (it is a film not a documentary after all and it makes this clear from the very staged nature of the opening execution of Marie Antoinette) BUT... Rupert Everett didn't even have a traffic cone on his head. Do *some* research, Ridley.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 28 December, 2023, 07:34:43 AM
Saw Poor Things by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster).
Completely nuts film with Emma Stone, Willem Defoe & Mark Ruffalo. I absolutely loved it but perhaps not for everyone.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 January, 2024, 01:54:13 PM
Squeezed in a few new movies alongside our more-or-less annual LotR re-watch.

A Haunting in Venice proved to be a return to form for Branagh's Poirot after the dismal Death on the Nile. A splendidly overwrought slice of gothic nonsense which m'lovely wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed.

Finally got around to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and was very entertained. I don't hate Crystal Skull as much as most, but it comfortably cleared that low bar and, for me, it was far more enjoyable than Temple of Doom (which we attempted to watch this time last year and abandoned before we even got to the properly racist stuff).

So... pretty comfortably my third favourite Indy film of the franchise, which was a very pleasant surprise. No idea what all the hate was about!

Also, it turns out I've never seen The Muppet Christmas Carol, so we decided to rectify that. Not much to say on that score, other than it's wonderful... but I imagine you all knew that already.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 01 January, 2024, 10:20:56 PM
Just saw One Life with Anthony Hopkins, and people were crying. Definitely worth a watch!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 January, 2024, 08:26:26 PM

Leave the World Behind. This is one weird-ass film about a cyber(something), racism, and deer. Boasting Barak and Michelle Obama as executive producers also seems a bit weird. Predictive programming? A warning? Just a weird-ass film? Who knows. (Better download it, though, if you want to watch it while the global communications network dies and we all find ourselves up to our ears in cervine shenanigans...)

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 January, 2024, 12:07:27 AM
Spiderman: Far from Home

Watched with some friends and with the aid of 'ahem' nondescript substances, which is probably the ideal way to experience it.
Absolute pap (but you already knew that, right?) but it is admittedly fun being in a room with people who are heavily invested in that sort of thing and enthused for the offerings of memberberries.

The Boy and the Heron

Miyazaki plying his trade for the final time...or so he says, mans retired half a dozen times at this point, I expect he has at least one more tale up his sleeve.
It's fun! Absolutely by no means top tier Ghibli and more than a little bit complacent, heavily banking on echoes of recognizable imagery from prior works, but it has charm to spare and looks truly loooovely.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 January, 2024, 09:45:43 AM
Far From Home was the last Marvel film I bothered watching.  After not enjoying the Avengers films that came before it I realised I just didn't have the energy for those films any more.

But I did have the energy to watch all the Trancers films that stared Tim Thomerson.  My favourite was Trancers 3 and Andrew Robinson's entertaining performance.  Good times.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 January, 2024, 09:51:36 AM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 January, 2024, 09:45:43 AMFar From Home was the last Marvel film I bothered watching.  After not enjoying the Avengers films that came before it I realised I just didn't have the energy for those films any more.

Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 07 January, 2024, 12:07:27 AMSpiderman: Far from Home

Watched with some friends and with the aid of 'ahem' nondescript substances, which is probably the ideal way to experience it.
Absolute pap (but you already knew that, right?) but it is admittedly fun being in a room with people who are heavily invested in that sort of thing and enthused for the offerings of memberberries.


I'm seriously no fan no of almost all the Marvel and DC films, have watched chunks via the boy child and curiousity but often don't bother to make it through BUT the third Tom Holland Spidey 'No Way Home' is seriously brilliant and probably my fav Superhero movie after Mystery Men. I say stick with it for that one!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 07 January, 2024, 11:47:47 AM
I remember Mystery Men being fun.  Haven't seen it in years.  Could have aged terribly.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 07 January, 2024, 01:00:36 PM
Quote from: pictsy on 07 January, 2024, 11:47:47 AMI remember Mystery Men being fun.  Haven't seen it in years.  Could have aged terribly.

Not seen it for a while and have a horrible feeling you might be right!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 January, 2024, 08:51:42 PM

Justice League - Crisis on Infinite Earths (Part I). 

Nope.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Le Fink on 18 January, 2024, 07:19:09 PM
Went to the cinema for the first time since the pandemic to see:

Poor Things

The design is superb - lots of strange and wonderful things to look at. Worth watching on the big screen. Emma Stone is luminous and makes you root for her character, Bella. Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo are terrific and it's very funny. And a bit disturbing, which is typical for Yorgos Lanthimos. See: Dogtooth.

Note: It's an 18 for language and sexual content. And it's a bit long (2 hours 20 minutes).

Recommended!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Marbles on 21 January, 2024, 12:29:19 PM
Saw The Holdovers which was excellent - warm, funny and uplifting - the perfect antidote to January blues  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 22 January, 2024, 03:19:10 PM
Morbius (2023)

Bloody Nora.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 January, 2024, 07:18:11 AM

The King. Some decent battle scenes but, on the whole, Shakespeare did it way better (with a little help from Kenneth Branagh).

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 January, 2024, 02:52:49 PM
SALTBURN

Fuck oooooofffff.
Fuck off fuck off fuck off.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 30 January, 2024, 08:25:41 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 January, 2024, 02:52:49 PMSALTBURN

Fuck oooooofffff.
Fuck off fuck off fuck off.

Really? Why? I haven't seen it, just wondering. 
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 30 January, 2024, 09:08:52 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 30 January, 2024, 08:25:41 AM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 25 January, 2024, 02:52:49 PMSALTBURN

Fuck oooooofffff.
Fuck off fuck off fuck off.

Really? Why? I haven't seen it, just wondering. 

To boil it down into as few words as possible, Fennell as a writer/director makes no bones about her opinions on class politics. The lower class' are subhuman, basically parasitic organisms on the underbelly of the upper class. The hyper rich are bad but not because they horde all the wealth and work the lower class' to death, but because they indulge in promiscuous and corrupting gay sex (???) and only the morally righteous upper-middle class' (specifically from well educated Oxbridge backgrounds) who are just the right kind of rich have a moral imperative to dominion in society. There's no yoink and twist here, this is just how the director views the world. Just fuck off Emerald Fennell, fuck right off.
Her Promising Young Woman from 2020 was equally as repugnant in its gender politics, easily the worst director getting major work in the game right now.
Oh but her films are vaguely competently shot and depict the most benign of transgressions for wan shock factor, so of course people are lapping it up for 'aesthetics'. Fucking embarrassing.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 30 January, 2024, 02:41:25 PM
Fair enough. Haven't seen it, as I said, but the trailer seems to match your description, and I honestly don't doubt what you're saying.

I have to admit I was more shocked to see how big Barry Keoghan had become while I wasn't looking. I saw him playing a fairly minor role in an RTE crime drama years ago, and I thought he'd just picked up a couple of bit parts here and there since - suddenly I discover he was the Joker in the last Batman film.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 February, 2024, 09:02:29 PM
THE SETTLERS (2023)

May not scratch the itch for those looking for a thorough breed Chilean acid western (though the shadow of Brazils Glauber Rocha looms throughout the film) but it wears those influences on its sleeve while offering the sort of prestige 'chic' you'd come to expect from a MUBI production. It's a harrowing affair, that largely seemed content wallowing in that misery until that final, brilliant sequence 'At The End of the Earth' took this from an exercise in colonial melancholy to something far more primal. A magnetic last half hour to this one.

THE IRON CLAW (2023)

Fucking insufferable! House of Gucci levels of collective incompetents yet way, way less funny. It's made all the more interminable by the fact everyone playing it so straight, Aaron Dean Eisenberg at least was buying into the schtick and went full ham with both Ric Flairs on-and-off stage personas, this is wrestling camp it up a little!
By the time we reached the Harold and Maude-esque caravan of suicide (not a spoiler it's in the fucking trailer, shut up) I was completely checked out and started revisiting the finale to Ultraman Blazar in my mind. It's a good show, check it out. Looked at my phone (never a good sign when my patience is tested to such a degree) mortified to see there was another hour and change left! This must be how it feels to function in a hyperbolic time chamber.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 February, 2024, 05:54:27 PM

Gods of the Deep (2023). Unmitigated piffle from start to finish.

Bring him to Me (2023). Under orders from a ruthless crime boss, a getaway driver must battle his conscience and drive an unsuspecting crew member to an ambush execution. There is a long drive - and a really good film - ahead. Enjoyed this one a lot.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Link Prime on 12 February, 2024, 04:54:55 PM
Aftersun was on BBC2 last night, and it was great.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 February, 2024, 09:04:10 PM

American Fiction. A fab film about a black American writer who, finding little success with his published serious novels, writes a gutter novel instead. Excellent.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 February, 2024, 07:54:06 PM
The Outfit, a kind of gentrified Reservoir Dogs. I liked it.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 February, 2024, 08:04:53 PM
Rebel Moon (2023)

Kind of baffled by the consensus on this one. It's absolute bollocks of the highest degree but it at least as something of an aligned vision and scope, weirdly reminiscent of similarly flawed sci-fi operatics of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, hell theres some stuff in here visually and on a thematic level that actually kind of works and goes hard in doing so? Like there's a nugget of a gem in here.
IDK, it's guff most assuredly but did it deserve the lashing it got? An intriguing failure to me is of far more worth than a boring safe sell...I was going to put an Immortals joke here, I hope people appreciate how much restraint that required.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2024, 08:55:59 PM

Jones Plantation (2023). Somewhat on the nose political allegory. Think Animal Farm but with humans instead of animals.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 February, 2024, 09:20:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 February, 2024, 08:55:59 PMThink Animal Farm but with humans instead of animals.



Sounds like reality to me.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: nxylas on 14 February, 2024, 09:54:45 PM
Argylle

Definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. Whether I'd recommend it depends on your opinion of the Kingsman films, and your tolerance for the campier elements of Bond.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 February, 2024, 12:25:42 AM

Attack of the Meth Gator (2023). This is a very silly film, as one might expect from the title, but it does more or less what it says on the tin with a certain clumsy charm.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 February, 2024, 10:06:54 AM
The Zone of Interest (2023)

Glazar has this unusual capacity to produce works that sort of rapidly bloom inside you.
The banality of evil is such a well trodden ground that for the first 30 mins of The Zone of Interest I found myself wondering on more than a few occasions 'so we're just going to be doing this again, reaffirming that fascists are some of the most boring none entities to ever waste air?'. And for the majority of the film thats generally seemed to be the treatise, this IS a banal family-work drama that just so happens to be about some of the most evil creatures to ever blight this planet, set to the ever encroaching soundtrack of ceaseless human suffering, always heard yet forever unseen, divided by walls either literal, metaphysical or fixed by the constraints of the eye-lens.
And then that final sequence hits, and the whole thing is cast in a new, temporal light.
I wasn't sure if I liked The Zone of Interest, I'm also not really sure if it challenged me in one way or another, but its certainly made me feel something...I'll have to think on that and return to it someday.
Then I slept on it, and found myself incapable of thinking about it. There's a deeply raw, piercing effect at play here. Deeply effecting, potentially distressing.
A cold, black sun at the heart of a dead cosmos.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Rara Avis on 27 February, 2024, 07:52:26 PM
The sound editing was amazing but overall such a deeply engrossing journey on a well trodden path.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 04 March, 2024, 05:58:22 PM
I watched Dune - Part 2 on Imax this weekend and it was brilliant. If you liked part 1 go and see this on the big screen. The FX was done is such a realistic way that it put all these superheroes FX to a shame. The sound and music really enhanced the movie as well. A very good adoption of the book - again for all those wannabe writers that think they can do better job than the source material you can learn from this (I am looking at you Amazon for destroying Wheel of Time)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 04 March, 2024, 07:37:30 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 04 March, 2024, 05:58:22 PMI watched Dune - Part 2 on Imax this weekend and it was brilliant. If you liked part 1...

And if you've forgotten part 1: Previously On - DUNE (https://youtu.be/QmRfrpXJCKk?si=YpLYODu5HfuoHq17)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 March, 2024, 11:55:45 PM
Quote from: Funt Amenable to Change on 04 March, 2024, 07:37:30 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 04 March, 2024, 05:58:22 PMI watched Dune - Part 2 on Imax this weekend and it was brilliant. If you liked part 1...

And if you've forgotten part 1: Previously On - DUNE (https://youtu.be/QmRfrpXJCKk?si=YpLYODu5HfuoHq17)


Fabulous. Spidey cameo makes it
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 06 March, 2024, 11:56:13 PM
Just saw Dune part two and it was totally brilliant.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: BadlyDrawnKano on 07 March, 2024, 06:08:20 AM
The Sweatbox - An absolutely fascinating documentary about how Disney spent four years working on an animated film called Emperor Of The Sun, directed by The Lion King's Roger Alllers, with Sting providing many of the songs, only for two executives to come along and say they didn't like it. Which led to Allers being let go / fired, and a group of writers all but rewrote the entire thing where it eventually became The Emperor's New Groove. Disney have refused to release this, but it is available to watch for free on the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/SweatboxDocumentaryUneditedVersion - and I really can't recommend it highly enough, it's both a fantastic insight in to how Disney made movies back then, but also the brutality that takes place when two people are given too much power.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Richard on 08 March, 2024, 12:01:24 AM
Just saw Poor Things and it's brilliant, weird, and beautiful.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: PsychoGoatee on 08 March, 2024, 02:54:47 AM
Quote from: Marbles on 21 January, 2024, 12:29:19 PMSaw The Holdovers which was excellent - warm, funny and uplifting - the perfect antidote to January blues  :thumbsup:

So good! Giamatti is the best. Also saw American Splendor (2003) recently, also great.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 23 March, 2024, 09:31:07 PM
Ghost World so it kinda goes without saying its not as good as the comic - which I've similarly just finished. Now this might feel a bit redundant but I kinda think its important... or at least says more about comics that are important.

I'm don't watch loads of comic films as I know more often than not I won't find them as good as the comics. But I'm on quite the Daniel Clowes bender at the moment and he co-wrote the movie so I was very interested to see how it came out.

And pretty good. Not great, but fair from bad. What it can't do is what the comic does and Clowes is smart enough (by far) to know this and so makes it pretty different. In doing that though while keeping the essense of the comic in there  no surprise his own comic- it expose a lot of what mvies can't do which comics can.

There two bits of the adaptation that make it much weaker than the comic. Firstly the episodic nature of the comic allows the story to feel dislodged in time. It feels compact and timeless all at once. You aren't aware of how much time has past. Its displaced moments in an undefined period of time. The events don't seem driven my any sense of connnected plot. It all comes together as you go on but these isolated vignettes don't feel like they have any planned dstination, don't reveal a single driven story. It can be read as - stuff that happens.

This feels so true to the theme of that sense of listless drifting as the character try to define themselves and their lives outside the 'safe' confines of school. Where sharp cynicism is all you need to define your identity. It makes Enid and Rebecca's story feel so true and more powerful.

The movie haivng a singular plot drives a specific story forward. Its a fine story but feels so much more constructed in the movies. The confines of a medium that has to appeal to a wider audience, defines by a much larger pool of creators by necessity dilute the brilliant intent and invention of the comic. It just feels less honest. If you didn't know the comic I'm not sure that would feel a problem but in comparison its so there.

Then the ending. SPOILERS of course. But the move feels so much more bleak. I could read it as almost saying Enid ended her life, getting on the bus so soon after 'Norman' moved on. I saw a very clear reading of Norman having left this world and therefore Enid could well have done the same. Its  not clear, its left for interuptation of course but in the film it feels so much bleaker. Which admittedly doesn't feel true to the rest of the film.

In the comic however, while full of pathos, the same ending is able to be delivered with a curious hope. Enid has moved on. As she reflects on Rebecca as she sees her for the 'last' time so has she. She's just moving on to escape herself, her past, her final words about Rebecca showing she's learning to move past her childish teenage cynicism but needs to do that away from the past that she has so struggled to let go. In the comic its made to work, in the movie it just doesn't.

There's more but those are the two I really pulled out. None of this makes Ghost World a bad movie its a fine movies and if I hadn't read the comic I might have enjoyed it all the more. It struggles in comparison however and so I struggled to enjoy the movie as much as I otherwise might.

Comics are just a brilliant unique medium that offer so much more than movies (or different things I prefer then to be fair). So its a great movies from that perspective!

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 24 March, 2024, 03:20:16 PM
GUNDAM SEED PREEDOM

So went to go see Gundam Seed Freedom last night with one of my best mates. He's a big Gundam head and I'm working my way through the Universal Century series over the last 6 months (banger after banger) but neither of us knew a single thing about Seed other than its reputation being kinda poor among western fans, but wanted to go for the hell of it. Seeing a victory lap movie for a series that ended 15 years ago, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, actually. Had no fucking clue what was going on but shit went hard, turns out Seed might actually be a good show and anime fans are just pissy losers.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Barrington Boots on 25 March, 2024, 09:08:31 AM
I watched Ghost World before I read the comic and I definitely saw the ending as a suicide one - the bus the old fella is waiting on represents death and Enid decides to seek it out after her life falls to bits. Very dark ending.

I think the comic is superior, mainly for the excellent reasons Colin explores above, but I still find myself favouring that ending - perhaps because it was the original ending for me, perhaps because of how it resonated with people I knew at the time. I think it's a strong and sad interpretation, which is one of the reasons I haven't seen it for a long time!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: pictsy on 25 March, 2024, 02:19:06 PM
I think I need to both rewatch and reread Ghost World.

I remember enjoying the film more.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 02:28:32 AM
Just watched Whisky Galore (the 1949 version) at the local cinema - they had a piper in, and drams. I can't remember the first time I watched it (many moons ago, at any rate), but it was well worth the second go. There's some brilliantly choreographed comedy build-ups.

I managed not to hype it up too much for the youngling (11), who was despairing that we were going to see a black and white movie, but left declaring it was one of the best movies they'd ever seen.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 26 March, 2024, 05:47:23 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 02:28:32 AMI managed not to hype it up too much for the youngling (11), who was despairing that we were going to see a black and white movie, but left declaring it was one of the best movies they'd ever seen.

That's fantastic, hopefully a gateway to other Ealings.

I had a similar experience a decade back introducing a neophyte to Kind Hearts and Coronets (rainy afternoon in my living room rather than a cinema screening; lucky you).

The first ten minutes were filled with teeth gnashing at the B&W, and the 'funny' accents. When the credits rolled: joyous declarations of love.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 06:15:14 PM
Quote from: GoGilesGo on 26 March, 2024, 05:47:23 AMKind Hearts and Coronets

I drifted accidentally into that one a few years ago - so good!

---

Finally got around to watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which I'd been avoiding because it was so clearly sun-scorched compared to the rather bucolic original Knives Out.

Anyway - it's really good! One of those rare beasts - a sequel that manages to be either as good as or better than the original. Can't talk about it, though. Spoilers!

Join the ranks:
 - The Godfather Part II
 - The Empire Strikes Back
 - Back to the Future Part III
 - Deadpool 2
 - The Suicide Squad
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 26 March, 2024, 06:28:34 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 26 March, 2024, 06:15:14 PMFinally got around to watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which I'd been avoiding because it was so clearly sun-scorched compared to the rather bucolic original Knives Out.

Yep. It's great. Someone on Facebook was suggesting today that Knives Out 3 should be a Muppet movie, like Christmas Carol with Daniel Craig as the only human character... which I think is nothing short of genius. :)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 27 March, 2024, 12:28:10 PM
Road House (2024)

Shit house, more like
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Funt Solo on 27 March, 2024, 02:44:24 PM
Quote from: karlos on 27 March, 2024, 12:28:10 PMRoad House (2024)

Shit house, more like

Such an odd remake idea. If anyone doesn't know about the original, then Honest Trailers | Road House (1989) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viXEncLNO94) sums it up really well.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: karlos on 27 March, 2024, 03:29:46 PM
I honestly love the original - I think it's is an absolute stonker.  How they got it so wrong with this remake, I'll never know. The first 10 or so minutes are fine and then it's downhill.  A shame.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 30 March, 2024, 03:01:42 PM
Landscape with Invisible Hand

Bloomin' heck that was an interesting film and almost, almost a very good one.

Basically in a near future world alien have come to Earth and conquerored not through villian but economics. They have sold their technology to the richest and used that to gain almost complete control of society while allowing the appearance of freedom.

Having a very different makeup the aliens are a fascination with humans 'primative', emotional ways, particularly romantic love. So one way humans can make money is to with headnode type things to broadcast their relationships a hungry audience for pretty decent money.

A couple who have just met do this. But as their relationship sours get called out and sued by the aliens for dishonestly in their broadcasts. Indebt the mother of one of the kids comes up with an innovative solution... yes it is as involved as it sounds and has real potential that almost gets realised. Oh one of the young couple is a very talent artist who realises you shouldn't compromise your art for money...

... it rattles along, is entirely charming, often funny, often quite emotional but alas bounces around and never lets anything really settle and developed. Its rife for satire and hits things pretty well at times, but has too many ideas so none are fully seen through and it doesn't quite gell.

I'd still recommend it as its not like anything else I've seen. Is full of interesting ideas and presents itself really well. Its one of the best failures I've seen!
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: broodblik on 30 March, 2024, 06:16:04 PM
I just watched Napoleon, I was not impressed. Overall the movie is quite boring. The battle scenes are excellent but the acting in most cases felt unbelievable. Napoleon was portraited as a childish man Jacques Phoenix did not work in the role. This should have been a strong movie but it was a major letdown.
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 March, 2024, 06:21:17 PM

Winnie the Pooh - Blood and Honey. Ooh, I thought, that sounds interesting. But it isn't. It's rubbish. At least, the first 26 minutes are rubbish (up to and including the awful rubber masks, the completely unnecessary and gratuitous nudity, and the wood-chipper), the rest I can't vouch for as I switched it off.

I think there is a good idea lurking in here somewhere, turning beloved characters into genre heroes (Windy Miller - Zero Flour, Mr. Ben - Shop Gun, Sooty - Clean Sweep, and so on), but the filmmakers seem to have overlooked it in favour of artless slash. Hmph.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 30 March, 2024, 07:11:30 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 30 March, 2024, 06:21:17 PMcompletely unnecessary and gratuitous nudity

You have my attention.

;)
Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 March, 2024, 08:01:28 PM


Heh.

Next up was Out of Darkness. This is a really bleak romp about a disparate group of cavepeople looking for the promised land but ending up in a land of monsters. Fairly early on the thought occurred that these primitive humans must have passed through the Golgafrincham camp pretty recently because they all had really cool haircuts. This was more or less the time I started thinking about Predator v Humanity: First Contact, in which an arrogant Alpha Predator discovers Earth and humans - and finds himself totally outmatched from the start; pursued by a tribe of Stone Age human hunters at the peak of their own apex predatoriness, so in tune with their prey and environment that all those fancy invisibility shields are practically useless. Give it the whole King Kong vibe of the tragic, doomed monster. I mean, there has to be some reason Predators come here, right? Maybe it took them ages to even get a "win," and this first encounter sees the Predator using Arnie's mud trick to evade detection, and the chief hunter lets the Predator go with a precious shiny pebble as a souvenir. Anyway, Out of Darkness, okay if you like bleak stories about cavepeople playing out while you think of other things.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: GoGilesGo on 02 April, 2024, 10:43:22 AM
The Outfit (2022)

A widowed tailor who prides himself on using traditional techniques, gets caught in the middle of an old school gang war. Over the course of the night he must make the Don's somewhat useless son look his best and hide multiple corpses as the bodycount increases.

Now, if you're thinking this sounds incredibly similar to dear old Jacob Sardini from The Taxidermist, you are not alone. Watching on Netflix, I had to pause to look and Google if the writers were a couple of Squaxx sailing just this side of a plagiarism lawsuit.

Overall pretty good and very atmospheric, almost channeling Rope in that every scene takes place within the three rooms of the tailor's studio.

Title: Re: Last movie watched...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 April, 2024, 11:59:14 AM
Quote from: GoGilesGo on 02 April, 2024, 10:43:22 AMThe Outfit (2022)

A widowed tailor who prides himself on using traditional techniques, gets caught in the middle of an old school gang war. Over the course of the night he must make the Don's somewhat useless son look his best and hide multiple corpses as the bodycount increases.

Now, if you're thinking this sounds incredibly similar to dear old Jacob Sardini from The Taxidermist, you are not alone. Watching on Netflix, I had to pause to look and Google if the writers were a couple of Squaxx sailing just this side of a plagiarism lawsuit.

Overall pretty good and very atmospheric, almost channeling Rope in that every scene takes place within the three rooms of the tailor's studio.



I only watched it a few weeks ago too - I liked it a lot.  The gradual revelation of the complexity of the tailor's character and history was fascinating.

I hadn't thought of the Sardini connection, but now you say it... 
Though Jacob had to rely on a lot of dumb luck, and while the tailor in the film had to as well, his own wits played a huge role too.
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